Friday, September 21, 2012

A Birthday Visitor!

Apologies as I continue to play catch up on my posts.  A brief recap on a wonderful last weekend:  my friend Amy came to Hong Kong for a whirlwind visit, landing on Friday night and departing Monday morning.  We tried to make the most of it, and I am very happy to say that we did!

Friday night, we walked through the craziness that is LKF, in order to reach a zen foot and body massage parlor at nearly midnight.  After being kneaded and pressed nearly to death (they do like exerting pressure and eliciting pain here), we rolled out, relaxed yet refreshed, to find a 24-hour dimsum joint.  The first place we went turned out to be closed / nonexistent.  Undeterred, we hopped in a cab and asked our driver to recommend a place.  We ended up at a very local joint in Tin Hau, right next to the MTR.  When we emerged at nearly 2 am, the sidewalk was cluttered with the ubiquitous red taxis, sitting empty and dark as their drivers and owners sat inside, slurping down soup, fried noodles and a variety of dim sum dishes.

Saturday morning, we ate a breakfast of congee and fried crullers, topped with an iced milk tea.  Then we headed to the piers to take the ferry boat to Lantau island, where we ate at the Mui Wo seafood center before heading to Cheung Sha beach.  It was all very relaxing - a long stretch of sand, the gentle lapping of waves and the distant cries and reverberations of children's feet as they pounded along the beach.  I definitely dozed off.  Then I awoke to some smells and deep grunts.  The feral cattle were on the beach!  They brought with them a horde of huge dragonflies.  While the dragonflies seemed harmless, their size and buzzing were certainly menacing.  That night, we celebrated Amy's birthday (her 30th, wahoo!!) by eating a LOT of hotpot in Wanchai, and then heading to Sevva, a really lovely and fancy shmancy bar in Central.  The drinks there were nice, though a bit sweet for my liking.  The BEST part though was organizing the surprise cake slice with the candle.  Sevva has lovely desserts, and I opted for a fluffy angel cake with sugar crunchy bits scattered on top.  After Amy made a wish (a very good one that will come true I am sure), we made quick work of the sweet. 

Sunday was our champion day.  We got up, went to dim sum at Lei Garden, took the peak tram up to Victoria Peak, walked Lugard Road, loaded up on fruit juice and sour candy for energy, then cabbed it to Stanley Market and Waterfront, where we sipped on icy cold coconuts on the boardwalk.  After walking that, we ventured into the market to try our hand at some bargaining and shopping.  I emerged with some silk placemats, which I am quite satisfied with.  After that, we bussed it to Central, where we boarded the iconic Star Ferry boat to cross the harbor to TST.   Although the ride was short, it was so very picturesque.  It may be quite familiar to me now, but the Hong Kong skyline is still breathtaking.  After that, we snacked on cured pork jerky, ate wonton noodles and tripe and tendon with spicy sauce, ate fish balls and cuttle fish balls off the stick on the street, and ended our feast with a stop in a local dessert store for some mango and pomelo shaved snowflake ice.  I was pretty impressed by everything we managed to do!

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