Eat my way to Hong Kong - The cable car with a glass bottom!

Okay, before we scare ourselves to death on the cable car with glass bottom, we need to feed our empty stomachs. And besides the dim sum and wanton noodles, congee is a must-have in Hong Kong. So early in the morning, we took the MTR train all the way to the old streets of Shueng Wan to look for the famous Sang Kee Congee Shop.



Sang Kee Congee Shop, like the name says it all, specialises in selling congee... all kinds of congee that you cannot imagine. They have the single ingredient like beef congee, double ingredients like fish stomach and beef congee, and even the super duper big bowl of triple ingredients like fish stomach with beef and chicken congee! And the price is so reasonable that even triple ingredients congees are just HKD42, which is merely SGD7! Do you believe it?!?



My bowl of fish stomach and beef congee came overflowing with deliciously smooth congee and tender fish stomach and beef slices. The congee is so silky smooth that you can tell it has been boiling there since dawn, and the ingredients are so generous that I still had got more fish stomach and beef slices left when I was almost done with the congee! Hey, with such cheap and good food, I definitely have no problem coming to this small and remote congee place again on my next trip!

With a full stomach, we proceeded to take the cable car. Hmm... didn't sounded right especially when we're expecting some scary glass bottom... But anyway by the time we've queued like one hour to get the cable car tickets, most of the congee and excitement had been digested.

While the Crystal Cable Car with glass bottom is more expensive than the normal one, we took it because (a) the glass bottom is special (b) the queue is shorter.







The whole cable car journey is about 25 minutes, and you can see the beautiful big sea and high mountains on the way. Oh, you can also see the airport. So we kept ourselves busy taking picture in that long 25 minutes ride.











Actually the glass bottom of the cable car is not that scary. Well, unless you've got real serious height issue. Even my friend who were scared and sat one corner for the first few minutes eventually got into photo-taking mode! So don't worry and give it a try! It's cool!



Oh yes, there is actually trails on the mountains leading to the Giant Buddha and we actually see some strong determined people trekking...

Eat my way to Hong Kong - The whole Peak is so damn crowded!

I've never been to the top of the Peak and my friend has never been to the Madam Tussauds, so this time in Hong Kong we decided to go up hill. What we didn't expect was the super duper long queue just to buy tickets for the Peak Tram! And the best part? After queuing for more than half an hour, we found out that the queue for the Madam Tussauds and Peak Tram combo ticket was on the other side, and a shorter one! DOTZ...

Even after we got the tickets, we had to merge in the crowd (no, I didn't see any proper queue...) to squeeze ourselves onto the Peak Tram. What a Peak Tram experience...

The moment we reached the Peak, we got into the Madam Tussauds museum. It is pretty small compared to the one in London and perhaps due to the limited space, you have all the different politicians, historic figures, singers and actors all over the place. With the large number of visitors who will snap at almost every statue, whether they know who they are, it is really not easy to take proper pictures.

Except for our dear MM Lee KY. We chanced upon him at one corner and since nobody else was interested, we could take our own sweet time to take some pictures with him.

There're definitely more politicians and historic figures in London's Madam Tussauds, and it was a more educational trip. They even have one big stage for King Henry VIII and all his wives! While there are more singers, actors and other famous China Chinese in Hong Kong's Madam Tussauds, we found that a lot of them don't really look like the real deal, like Leslie Chueng and Anita Mui. My friend was wondering perhaps the Madam Tussauds team is better with ang mors?





Enough of wax statues! Let's move on to the famous Hong Kong night scenery!











So which night scenery is better? Hong Kong or Singapore?



Time to get down the Peak, which means time to queue up again! Hey, if you think this is a long queue, the one going up was worse!



After all the hassles, time to eat! While we had initially planned for wanton mee at another restaurant, we settled for the Chee Kee near our hotel. But hey, wanton mee anywhere in Hong Kong is still going to be good! The noodles are crispy and bouncy, the prawns in the wanton super fresh, and most importantly, the soup is thick and fragrant!

Eat my way to Hong Kong - Snake soup and egg tarts

After breakfast, we continued our walk along Central and Sheung Wan and chanced upon the old Hong Kong police headquarters. The old British building stands out proud among the modern skyscrapers. I wish we have these historical buildings that remind us of our past as well, and the British did indeed left some good stuff behind. But alas, we have either pulled them all down, or renovated them into hideous offices, or simply sold them away like the Raffles Hotel.



This old tree reminds me of the big old trees in a park at Chin Swee Road where I used to stay when I was a kid. But did those trees dug their roots as deep as this tree on the walls of Hong Kong, or has the National Park people already chopped them all down? I've got no ideas. But I don't dare to guess.



With so many slopes and stairs, I'll say the old folks in Hong Kong must have strong legs!



We visited the Man Mo Temple (文武庙) and prayed for the best for our career in the coming year! Huat ah!



The wall paintings in Singapore are painted only on, well, walls. But the wall paintings in Hong Kong do stretch their way up if needed. This is what I call "creativity" and this is what we lack.



This super duper long escalator at the mid hill of Central is only one way. Before 10:30am, it only goes downwards so that the folks living at the top of the hill can travel down to city for work (but I thought they should be rich enough to stay at the top of the hill, which means they should be driving?). Which was why we reached the escalator after 10:30am so that we go up the escalator but come down by stairs, instead of the other way round which is more tiring!





When in Hong Kong for Winter, one must take the snake soup, which is said to make one feel warmer. Wise words from my parents. And how does this famous snake soup that is brewed from three kind of snakes taste like? Like what the Ang Mors will say. Taste like chicken.



This famous snake restaurant in Central called Ser Won Fun is also popular for their dried Chinese sausages, especially the ones made of duck liver. I can totally understand why. It is so fragrant you can smell it before it reaches the table, the skin is crispy and the liver paste just melts in your mouth. It's even better than the best foie gras I've had and so good that I bought a few sticks back for my mom to cook during the Chinese New Year!



Friendly street vendors selling fresh products to the neighbourhood. You don't see this in Singapore anymore.



After the first egg tart at Luk Yu, we continued our "Egg Tarts Day" adventure and proceeded to Tai Cheong Bakery to try the egg tart that even the ex- British governor loved to eat. It has a western pastry crust, which explains why the ex-governor loved it, and it is so fine that it just crumbled when I merely lifted it up with my two fingers!



After finishing up our egg tarts on the spot, we took a turn around the corner and reached Lan Fong Yun which is famous for its silky milk tea. The tea is smooth and silky alright and very milky. The only complain is that it is kind of sweet. Maybe I should have told the aunty I wanted siew dai...







After all the walking in Sheung Wan and even visited the Asia Games Show 2010, it was time for a break and we decided to visit an authentic Hong Kong cafe at Wan Chai - Honolulu Coffee Shop. Okay, the name didn't sound very authentic, but the drinks and food definitely are!

See that sinful layer of butter on top of the french toast that looked like it has been fried in a thousand eggs? That is why Singapore's so-called Hong Kong cafes cannot make it. Toast too thick and too little eggs and butter.



This is the third and last egg tart of our "Egg Tarts Day", and definitely the best! The crust was super flaky and fragrant, and the smooth egg custard just glides down your throat! This is the egg tart that I'll grab each time I visit Hong Kong!

Eat my way to Hong Kong - ATAS Dim Sum at the Luk Yu Tea House

This morning we woke up early for an early dim sum breakfast. And the best way to travel from Causeway Bay to Central is by the good old tram. Hong Kong's tram has numerous stops along the coastline of Hong Kong island, cost only HK$2 (that's only S$0.35!) to go anywhere, the trams are frequent, and with the route map at almost every stop, it is damn easy to take! Hey, why didn't the British leave us any tram when they left?







The whole of Central and Shuang Huan is so full of slopes and staircases! Now we know why the Hong Kong gals are still so slim after all the roasted goose and BBQ porks!





Luk Yu Tea House is a very famous old tea house in Hong Kong, though it seems to have more tourists than locals these days. It is ATAS, so it is not as cheap as the other old Lin Heung Tea House which is more the tea house for locals. But when in Singapore we couldn't survive chasing after the dim sum aunties at Red Star and snatching dim sums from their high speed carts, so we figured we should just save ourselves from the dim sum snatching battle with the locals and other tourists at Lin Heung and just chill at Luk Yu.

The dim sum aunties at Luk Yu don't have any dim sum carts. Instead they carry the dim sums around their necks! Super aunties!



The tea at Luk Yu is damn good, very fragrant and super strong. And here's the best part. Unlike the tea in Singapore which gets thinner as your meal goes, the tea at Luk Yu just gets thicker. That's because the waiters add tea to your pot, not water!



Delicious har gao with thin see-thru skin and fresh chewy prawn! And no, the skin does not fall off like what they do in Singapore.



Our first egg tart of the day. Yap, it was our egg tart day and this first one did not fail us. Just count the number of layers in its skin!



Luk Yu is ATAS, so it is not cheap. But still, for the same price, you might not get as good a dim sum meal in Singapore, so it's still worth a go. As for Lin Heung, we need to practise more dim sum snatching at Red Star...

Eat my way to Hong Kong - At the Michael Lau exhibition

We were so lucky that we walked right into the Michael Lau exhibition held in a shopping center in Causeway Bay! There was even a big character right in the center of the hall!



Of course you'll expect the famous Gardeners!







Since I'm too poor to get a Michael Lau figurine, I went to get supper instead. Besides a nice and warm ginger milk bubble tea from Gong Cha, I took the risk of getting a pack of mixed beef internal organs soup. Yes I know, very brave. Sometimes I surprise myself too...

Luckily there wasn't much weird taste in the soup, except for one unknown organ that tasted weird (I suspect it was the liver). But the soup was a bit too salty for me though...