Hong Kong Trip June'11 - Eating!

The Wonderful Mr. Wanton!

I look forward to a good bowl of wanton noodles whenever we are in Hong Kong. It is hard to go wrong with this ubiquitous dish, which to me is the quintessential HK dish. Here the Wantons play the central role, proudly floating plump and languid in a wonderful bowl of broth and noodles. This is quite unlike the Singapore version where they're relegated to the sideline, floating limply in what is often overly salty soup.

Our Wanton Shop...
There is a little shop Marie and I found near Times Square the last time we were in HK (just round the corner from the Espirit shop). It's literally a hole in the wall where you squeeze into these tight little cubicles to eat. Perhaps because Marie and I chanced upon it ourselves rather than it being recommended to us, this little eating place is special to us. I think their wanton noodles are better than most that I've eaten, if not the best in HK.

We returned to the shop this time after two years, noticed some touch-ups to it's deco but otherwise it remained exactly the same. The food was just as good.




Yin Yang - a wonderful time for two
The other eating place that made an impression on this trip was a place called Yin Yang, recommended by a friend. This special little resteraunt is known for its suckling pig. We were forewarned that they will only accept you with a reservation and we were most pleased that we got a lunch reservation.

Literally sitting by the street but you wouldn't even know it.

It's  located in one of the side streets in Wan Chai. The entrance was so nondescript that we almost missed it. Marie and I had been walking most of the morning on a rather sunny and hot day so it was nice to get into the cool, quiet interior. When we entered, we were the only ones there. At first I thought we were early as the waiter told us that lunch would start later because a traffic jam had caused the ingredients to arrive late.


As it turned out, we were, in fact, the only ones in the resteraunt  (2 tourist like ladies popped in midway through our lunch and true to their word, the waiter turned them away). So Marie and I had a nice, quiet, slow lunch with the whole place to ourselves.

A curious red beetroot soup that was delicious. The colour was beautiful.

The food was great! The suckling pig lived up to its reputation and the meal ended with an ice cream that we thought at first was green banana from what the waiter said in cantonese but it turned out to be green capsicum ice cream.

However, the best thing I enjoyed about the lunch was the chance Marie and I had to have an uninterrupted stretch to talk. In a house with 3 boys, this is a  rare and precious commodity. I can't remember what we talked about but the time we had together I will remember for a long time.

The star of the show - suckling pig!

Green Capsicum ice cream - interesting end to the meal.

Happy, contented customer

Shared Experience
There is much to be said about these shared experience between husband and wife. In the early years of our marriage, Marie and I struggled with this feeling that we seem to live parallel lives. We couldn't understand each other's experience and perspectives - hers at home and mine in the work place. It often led to tension and arguments. We wanted so much for two to become one but couldn't seem to get there.

Special time for two in Yin Yang

Now 13 years down the road of marriage it strikes me that the one thing we had to do (and how would we have known this at that time?) was just to stick to it. The one ingredient we needed to stick us together was time - and this was one thing we could not create with mere effort alone but with much patience instead. The more time we spent together, the more experience we would share and the more our lives would intertwine.

What a good argument for another trip to HK without the kids :)

Hong Kong Trip June '11 - Shopping!

Shopping is 

Great Fun 

in Hong Kong!

Happy Shoppers!

The reason shopping is fun in Hong Kong is that you'll never know what you'll find or see as you walk through the main roads and side streets. Ben and Jerry's next to an old style Hong Kong Dessert shop, Starbucks next to 'Tea Cafe' (Char Chan Ting) selling egg tarts, Watson's at the bottom of run down flats, high fashion shops next to open air night markets. Somehow they all seem to co-exist naturally - it's what I call "Ordered Chaos". 

All this makes for very good shopping for Singaporeans; and Singaporeans do like shopping -

Evidence No. 1

My wife, Marie, has her name on VIP accounts of several shops in HK - one of them a hat shop even (I find this a most interesting and intriguing nugget of information about her - how does she achieve this seeing that we neither stay in HK nor are likely to visit HK more than once a year. How many hats do you have to buy to get onto the VIP datatbase?)

Marie's hat shop

Evidence No. 2
My best friend Chee Meng's wife and daughter were in HK while we were there. Our trips overlapped by one day and we were wondering if we would bump into each other even though we had not formally arranged anything. On that day, Marie and I stepped out of the HK MTR (our MRT equivalent) to find a gigantic H&M shop (this is a cheap, trendy clothing shop for the uninitiated). We thought we weren't doing too badly for time so how could we resist going in? And once we got in there, who did we see but Chee Meng's better half and daughter. Lesson being? If you want to meet Singaporeans, go to shopping centres.

Shopping is not a guy's thing
Before I go on any further and mislead my readers into thinking that I am saying that shopping is for the ladies only, I must confess that I do shop and enjoy it too. I know, Singaporean guys are not supposed to say that like shopping. They are supposed to say they hate shopping and love football.

Now this is the part I don't understand. Football stars like David Beckham,  Ronaldo and Hidetoshi Nakata  who are revered by their legion of football fans in Singapore are fashion trend setters. Beckham was looking mighty dapper recently at Prince William's wedding; and these days scores of all types of athletes fight to be on the covers of GQ magazine.

http://davidbeckham.fans-online.com

The reality, my fellow Singaporean bros. is that these millionaires probably have professional shoppers choosing their spiffy outfits for them. That is why they're never seen in shopping centres - not that they don't shop.

Guess who introduced me to MUJI?

MUJI (http://www.muji.com/message/) is a Japanese lifestyle store and I love it because they are able to make all the things we use everyday look 'stylo' through clean, simple designs. Everytime I go to HK, I try to visit the MUJI store because it's much bigger than the one in Singapore.

The one who introduced me to MUJI is my best friend Chee Meng. (Yes, you Chee Meng - the one whom I know has been sniggering and rolling your eyes from the time I started writing this piece on shopping; the one who does not shop).

MUJI Nailcutter - mine

Chee Meng introduced me to the MUJI nail cutter. Not only does this nail cutter look chic, it works great and it lasts forever. How can anyone ever make the common nail cutter look great? Can you see why I'm hooked onto MUJI stuff?

So really to cut a long story short, I guess the REAL reason why I'm writing this piece is to justify why I ended up shopping and buying more than I should in HK. No way is Marie going to let me get away by not showing everyone what I bought. So here are the two most expensive items I bought and be kind :) 

Epilogue: The kids got to enjoy our shopping too. Egg Tarts from Honolulu Cafe that we brought home - not to be missed!. They even made a  Jackie Cheung movie at the Cafe (Crossing the Henessey).

Hong Kong Trip June '11 - some thoughts

A lovely cafe in Hong Kong Island - quiet chats with no boys. 

"A Pit Stop – a short, quick recharge. "

A week after our return, I realised that was the best description of the Hong Kong trip that Marie and I took. We’d been working hard in the past six months at home, at work and at church and were exhausted. We slept, ate and shopped – it was great! Best of all, it was just the two of us :)

For those of you who have not 3 boys, the significance of being able to have a holiday without them may be lost on you. It is not easy to find people willing to take 3 active boys at a go. Happily, the boys and my parents have developed mutually enriching routines when they visit. So they were happy to take them for a few days but of course, this was also the reason that we could not have a longer trip – Marie and I are careful not to wear out our welcome.

Hong Kong Desserts - just for two of us to enjoy!

Marie also found a swim camp for two of the boys during that time, to take them off my parents’ hands somewhat as well. Marie is really good at this. When we were first married, Marie’s friend asked her why is it that she did all the organising of our holiday trips and I did nothing (Just to let you know friend – you’re not helping ...). Well the reason is because she is way better at it than me. Left to me, all our trips would be beach holidays – give me a nice beach, a good book, a cup of cappuccino, long hours for naps; and I’m good. Every day at work I make so many decisions, I want not to make any decisions planning holidays or during holidays. That is also why I avoid driving holidays if I can – driving is making decisions.

Marie is very good at organising trips. She says she is not because she thinks she needs to anticipate every possible turn of event. That is where over the years, we have learnt to be a good team. I have learnt that while I do not actively organise the trips, it helps to be interested and to give useful suggestions. When unanticipated events occur, I should not ask why but should swing into action. Once at Heathrow Airport when our luggage was unequally loaded, I swung into action, threw open the luggage right there and then and re-packed. After we had successfully checked in I was feeling rather pleased with myself that I reaslied Marie was still feeling emotional about the situation. It certainly would not have helped to question her about the packing.

What the two of us ate (OK, so they're all food photos - so?)

The mistakes and lessons we have learnt about going on trips is in a small way a mirror of the greater learning of our marriage and making it work. The bonus of learning our lessons well (listen to this kids) is that after 13 years of marriage we still find a thrill in going on trips together.

Oh by the way –  it’s not quite true that we were on this trip alone. There was someone else with us. That enigma will soon be revealed, together with the eating and shopping in Hong Kong...