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Day 4 in Osaka

While the rest of my family went to an onsen town today, I explored Osaka on my own. 

Started the morning off by heading to Kuromon Ichiba Market, a street that sells lots of fresh seafood, beef, and fruit. I had heard of Japanese white strawberries in the past, and when I saw them, I knew I had to try one. They came in different sizes, at different price ranges. Some were also more pink than white. The one I bought was the size of a regular-size strawberry in the US, but cost 1000 ‎¥‎, which is approximately $10USD. Was it worth it? I don’t know. It wasn’t as sweet as some of the other strawberries I’ve had here or in the past, but it’s definitely something to try. I probably wouldn’t buy another $10 strawberry though. I also had baby octopus, freshly opened and grilled scallop, and a box of salmon and sweet shrimp sushi while I was there.

After leaving Kuromon Ichiba, I headed to Osaka’s aquarium, aka kaiyukan. The aquarium is known of its whale sharks, which were gorgeous. I wish I could’ve gotten a picture, but I would need a wider lens. It was hard to get a picture of them when they were further away because the water was kind of murky. However, I did get a couple cool shots of other things, and I got to pet a sting ray while I was there. For some reason, I always expected sting rays to have a sandpapery texture, like sharks, but to my surprise, sting rays are actually pretty slimy.

I then went and checked out Uncle Rikuro’s cheesecake in Namba. I had read good reviews in the past and decided to stop by and try it for myself. I had a slice and decided to buy a whole cake to bring home to share. These cheesecakes are very different from New York style cheesecake. It’s much lighter and arier in texture and almost melts in your mouth. My dad usually isn’t a fan of cake or sweets in general, but he enjoyed it. He and my uncle have almost finished half the cake on their own (while everyone else is out shopping). 

Tomorrow will be my last full day in Osaka, so I’ll probably be doing a lot of shopping. Hopefully, I’ll get some good pictures, but if not, I have more from today to share.

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Day 3 in Osaka

This morning, Ceci and I went to Kimono Teahouse, which offers a kimono wearing experience in addition to a tea ceremony. Tomomi, our host, taught us how to put on our kimonos then explained to us how matcha is prepared and enjoyed in a traditional ceremony, but let us make our own matcha, as opposed to making and serving it to us. The entire session was conducted in English, which was awesome.

We then went to Nara to check out the deer park. The deer were super cute, but some of the males got pretty aggressive about food. We were chased and headbutted a couple times. Luckily, they didn’t have their horns and couldn’t do too much damage. The deer there also knew how to bow, so if you have food and bow, they’ll bow in return for a deer biscuit, the way dogs will do things for treats. The deer go crazy around tourists with food, but surprisingly, they don’t bother the deer biscuit vendors. They just stand nearby and wait for tourists to buy a stack of biscuits before surrounding them and nudging them for food.

Afterwards, we returned to Osaka station and did some shopping and eating around there. We visited an izakaya known for tuna. Unfortunately, they were out of the fattiest cut of o-toro, so I went for the medium fat instead. I’m typically not a tuna fan, but I thought this was alright. I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t have the fattiest kind though, especially since I tend to avoid tuna sashimi because it isn’t fatty like salmon is. We then went to a katsu place at Shinsaibashi before heading home.

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Day 16 in Hong Kong/Day 1 in Osaka

Woke up super early this morning to catch our flight to Osaka. We arrived around 4pm and made our way to our AirBnB before going to Gyu-Kaku in Dotonbori for dinner. I wasn’t expecting much, since I’ve had it in New York before, but here, it’s all you can eat for two hours for about $44USD per person. Everything also tastes much better than it does in New York.

The kids and the adults then split up after dinner, and we (the kids) went to an arcade where we tried our luck with claw machines. Unfortunately, we didn’t win anything. We then went to Don Quixote and shopped around for a while before heading to a convenience store to buy ice cream.

Since our AirBnb is split up over three floors, the kids have taken over the third floor. We definitely have a camping vibe going on, since we only have one shared bath and are rotating amongst 10 people. My brother has made himself a little fort in the tatami area. Ceci and I are sharing a bed, and Gabriel has the other.

We’ll be heading to Kyoto tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll have some non-food photos to share.

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Day 15 in Hong Kong

Spent the majority of the day with my cousin, Ceci. We got lunch and dessert at Dazzling Cafe, then steamed our legs. Basically, we put our legs into a wooden container where they added herbal mixes and steam for approximately 45 minutes. I chose the mix that was supposed to be beneficial for people with lots of tense muscles. At the end of the session, they look at the water to analyze your health condition. They told me that I’ve been eating too much oily/fatty foods lately--which is totally true, since I’ve been trying all sorts of things here in Hong Kong over the last two weeks.

We then walked around Tsim Sha Tsui before meeting up with the larger family for Thai dinner.

We’re heading to Osaka, Japan for a couple days tomorrow. Super excited to visit Japan, but I know I’m definitely going to miss Hong Kong, too.

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Day 14 in Hong Kong

Don’t really know what to talk about, but tomorrow will be my last full day in Hong Kong. Time has seriously flown by ):

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Day 13 in Hong Kong

Today was another chill day, where we did nothing but eat and shop. 

Funny story about how terrible my brother is: this morning, when my brother and I were heading out to New Town Plaza, we planned to take the bus. However, one had just left the station, so I told him I was gonna check out 7-Eleven or Circle K. He then ditched me to stand in line alone while he went to Circle K himself. When he got back, I went over. I then got a call but couldn’t hear him. Apparently he was on the bus and had ditched me. When walked out of the store (which was 2 steps from the bus stop), the bus pulled away. 

If I were him, I would’ve waited to board the bus--not get on first, then call. WHO DOES THAT?!

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Day 12 in Hong Kong

Woke up early to go to Tai O today. Tai O is a fishing village in Hong Kong, so obviously, there’s lots of good, fresh seafood. My cousin’s grandparents live there, so they were able to get some of the best seafood, for amazing prices, for us, since they’ve got connections with the people there. The food was delicious, but unfortunately not very photogenic, so I didn’t really take photos during lunch.

While we were in Tai O, we took another hike up another mountain. The climb up was on an unpaved path, full of small rocks, which made the climb particularly tricky for me. Being a short person, I don’t have long legs, so I had a hard time finding steady ground and not slipping down the mountain. Definitely got a good work out in today. This area is apparently known for chinese white dolphins, but we didn’t see any in the water. The only dolphins we saw were the four that made up a statue at the top of the mountain.

I love how many dogs just wander around in the more rural parts of Hong Kong. While I would love to pet them all, I don’t know how the dogs would respond, since there are no owners I can ask. Seeing them everywhere really makes me want a dog even more.

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Day 11 in Hong Kong

Honestly, today was pretty uneventful. Spent the majority of the morning in bed, since I slept late last night, and all we really did today was shop and eat. Thus, I don’t have very many photos to share today (only the first two, to be exact). So here are some other photos from previous days that I couldn’t upload due to tumblr’s limit of 10 photos per post.

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Day 10 in Hong Kong - Day Trip to Macau

Despite how close Macau is to Hong Kong, I had never been until today. My brother and I had to get up at 6 this morning to meet up with our parents to take the TurboJet to Macau. The trip lasted about an hour or so, and as soon as we got off the boat, we got food. Of course. Because Macau used to be Portuguese territory, Portuguese egg tarts are incredibly popular there, and pretty much every shop that sells food sells them. I prefer regular egg tarts, but these were fantastic.

We visited both the Venetian and Parisian hotels before heading to the Ruins of St. Paul. Along the way, we passed by lots of shops selling handmade almond cookies in addition to the Portuguese egg tarts. After visiting the ruins, we also took a short--but steep--hike up to the armory where we were able to overlook the city of Macau.

After we came back down, we met up with my dad’s uncle--my paternal grandmother’s youngest brother. He and his wife took us around the city and took us to the birthplace of Macau’s version of the Portuguese egg tart, Lord Stow’s Bakery. Those tarts were definitely on a different level than the other ones we had during the day.

Dinner consisted of amazing Thai food at a restaurant called Jade Palace. I’m not usually a fan, but everything was fabulous--especially the curry crab we had. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as photogenic as it was delicious, so I won’t upload a photo here.

We took a late boat back to Hong Kong, then transferred to a bus home. It’s now past 2am and I need to sleep... 

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Day 9 in Hong Kong

We went to Yue Kee, a Michelin guide restaurant that specializes in roast goose, for lunch today. I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of the goose meat, but the skin was super crispy. It would’ve been great for Peking Goose (as opposed to duck) We also had goose tongue in addition to intestines and other innards, which were all surprisingly good.

Afterwards, we walked around the area, where I took pictures of the bridge and my unassuming brother.

We then headed back to Mong Kok where we did some more shopping and eating. The gai dan zai (eggettes) here is a lot crispier than the ones in New York. The ones sold at the little stands in New York are usually cut up and a lot more cakey/doughy than the ones here. I’m not sure which style I prefer though. There are pros and cons to both.

We then headed home for dinner at my grandparents’ and that’s basically it for today. We’ll be heading to Macau tomorrow, so we’ll see what adventures and foods we’ll find there(:

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Day 8 in Hong Kong

Today, two of my cousins, my brother, and I went out together without the adults, so Ceci was our tour guide for the day. Our first order of business was to get cheese tarts from Bake, in Sogo at Causeway Bay, where we were meeting Gabriel. (As you can tell, I don’t necessarily upload photos in order in each post. Otherwise, the cheese tart photo would come first.) She told us that when the shop opened, the line was 3 hours long, because they bake the tarts on site. It was good, but I personally wouldn’t wait three hours for the cheese tarts--plus, they limited sales to six tarts per person.

The place we were going to go for lunch wasn’t open (maybe because it’s still considered a public holiday here in Hong Kong today) so we went next door for noodles.

We then took a van to Stanley Market. We didn’t get anything, but we walked around a bit and hung out near the rocks by the water. I’m honestly surprised at how warm it is in Hong Kong. Even by the water, it was incredibly warm. What’s really strange, though, is the fact that many people are still in thick, winter coats. It was in the mid 70s today, and for me, that means shorts and a t-shirt, but apparently not for the majority of the people I’ve seen. Weird.

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Day 7 in Hong Kong

Today was pretty uneventful--which was nice. Unfortunately, this also means that I don’t have very many photos to share today. My brother and I actually got to sleep in today, since we didn’t have much planned. We then went to New World Plaza for lunch, which we got from the Yata food court. I got the charsiu ramen while he got a pork katsu curry with an omelette on top.

We then went out to Kowloon City, since my aunt said she would take us to another place for more food. We stopped at a place called Islam Food. There, we got the meat-stuffed pockets, jelly fish, scallion pancakes, and a hot and sour soup. That meat pocket thing incredible. It doesn’t look like much but the outside was super crispy while the meat inside was super flavorful and juicy. All the meat juice you see there came from the one pocket that was cut in half.

We walked around that mall for a bit and my brother got his first Portuguese custard tart of the trip. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look very well burnt, the way it should be. He still said it was good though!

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Day 6 in Hong Kong

This morning, we decided to go on a short day trip to Lamma Island, one of the small islands near Hong Kong. I wasn’t expecting much, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. Not only was the seafood we had for lunch super fresh and amazing, but we also went on an hour-and-a-half long hike that took us from one port to another. Along the way, we got to stop by some breathtaking spots in addition to grabbing lots of snacks. 

I’ve always been a fan of the beach. I love to get my feet wet and stare out into the horizon because it’s incredibly calming for me. The water at this particular beach was super crisp and cool, and the beach had many little tide pools. It was so nice to stop and take photos. Unfortunately, we had dinner reservations, so we had to hurry along. Otherwise, I probably could’ve stayed there for hours.

The hike over to the other port/pier on the island was uphill most of the time, but the views from the top of the island were breathtaking (see panorama). I only wish my DSLR could take panoramas, but the iPhone does a pretty good job here.

For dinner, my aunt took us to a hot pot place. When they brought out a tower of 9 pots, I was extremely confused. That’s not how hot put usually works, but apparently, at this place, the lowest “level,” or pot, is for hot pot. Everything else stacked on top of it is a steamer filled with seafood. We had multiple types of clams, fish, lobster, crab, and even abalone. As all the different levels steam, the juices fall back into the bottom pot, which creates a super flavorful soup that can be had alone, or as a soup base for hot pot. As a huge hot pot fan, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My aunts and grandma seem to have picked up on the little happy dance (or, more accurately, my happy wiggle) that I do when I’ve got good food...which looks a little like this:

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Day 5 in Hong Kong

Today was a day of good food and lots of desserts. We started the day off by trying to get more offical stuff done, and the government office we went to happened to be next to a couple traditional-looking houses. It was really interesting for me to see this small, traditional space situated by a large and very modern shopping plaza. One thing that really caught my eye was the Fisher-Price-style toy car sitting in front of a traditional house. The juxtaposition between new and old fascinates me.

We didn’t end up getting document stuff done today, so we walked around New World Plaza for a bit before meeting my aunt for lunch. Christmas decorations are still up in all the malls around here, but I loved these mini trees at this mall. For whatever reason, they look a little messed up and almost even a little drunk. They crack me up xD

We had so many desserts today--the three pictures above are only some of the things I had. I also had a durian mochi and also tried some of the desserts that the others ordered. The food we had was also amazing. My aunt took us to what could be considered a hole-in-the-wall “diner” place. We’ve had this thing going where my aunt would ask us to rate, from one to five, the food we’ve been eating, and this place earned our first 5 star ratings. I didn’t catch the name of the place, but we definitely need to go again. Before dinner, we stopped by a market to get groceries and I was mesmerized by the seafood options. Just look how colorful those two types of lobsters are!! I’m so used to seeing brownish/orangeish lobsters, but these also have blues, purples, and oranges on their shells. Too cool.

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Day 4 in Hong Kong

Started the morning off with another round of dim sum--this time with a couple more items than the first time, since we had more people there. Pro tip when it comes to getting dim sum: go with a decent-sized group. The more people you have, the more you can order and try more varieties of dim sum.

We then went and shopped nearby the Mong Kok area and ventured along streets such as Apliu Street and Fa Yuen Street, where vendors sell all sorts of things, from clothing, to electronic gadgets, to fruits and other assortments of foods (such as traditional Hong Kong sweets). The lady with all the bowls was bagging up a traditional, steamed, red bean pudding called “put chai ko,” but the store also sold lots of other traditional HK desserts such as black sesame “jello” and other goodies.

Fa Yuen Street had lots of the same types of vendors but also had more fresh fruit vendors than at Apliu Street. They even had some fruits that I had never seen before, such as the little white and purple-striped one. It sort of tasted like a mild canteloupe. I later looked it up and found out that it is a pepino melon, and is actually related to the tomato and potato. Not quite sure how, since tomatoes and potatos are very different things, but that’s what Google linked me to.

Another traditional goodie vendor (Ki Tsui Cake Shop) had some of the best traditional cookies and pastries I’ve ever had. We stopped by because we noticed a huge crowd of people around the storefront, where a couple ladies were busily taking orders, cash, and handing out goodies. I’ve always been a huge fan of red bean, but their glutinous rice cakes with red bean filling were so good. Just thinking about them makes me want more. We got a couple things to try the first round and then went back for more, so I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the Mong Kok area and want to try some traditional pastries.

By late afternoon, we decided to call it a day and head back to my grandparents’ to chill and have dinner at home. While dinner wasn’t the most photogenic meal, it was definitely delicious.

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Day 3 in Hong Kong

Today was a longgg day. I’ve been sleepy for the past couple of hours and am tempted to go to bed, but I’ll do that as soon as I’m done typing up this post.

Started off the day with a classic Hong Kong breakfast with macaroni and ham, toast, and milk tea before heading to the immigration office to get all my paperwork and ID stuff renewed. Then we headed to the nearby Convention and Exhibition Center, which was hosting the 14th annual Hong Kong Food Festival. Admission was cheap, and the expo offered lots off food and drinks. One of the most interesting things I had was a sample of durian coffee. I’m not usually a coffee drinker, and durian + coffee definitely sounds like a questionable combo, but it was surprisingly good. I also found out today that I quite like moscato, so I bought a bottle to bring home with me.

After the expo, we went to the Flagstaff Teaware Museum, which showcased historic/traditional tea sets in addition to more recent works by current artists. Being someone who loves tea, I found it really interesting. I wanted to buy some teaware, but I don’t think I can justify spending ~$50 USD on a very small teapot. Admission is free, so I would encourage anyone to go check it out if they have the chance.

We then decided to head up to Victoria Peak. At this point, we had already done lots of walking, but unfortunately the line to get tickets for the tram up to the peak was almost two hours. It was killer, and I definitely need a foot massage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the clearest of nights, but the view was spectacular nonetheless. Worth that long of a wait? I don’t know. It’s definitely worth checking out, but it would’ve been nice if we didn’t have to stand around for so long after having already walked a lot earlier in the day.

Ended the day with some beef fried rice and wonton soup. All I need now is a foot massage and a good night’s sleep.

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Day 2 in Hong Kong

Don’t really have photos from yesterday because I honestly didn’t do much. The only photos I really have are family photos. 

I have a feeling most of my photos from this trip will be food photos. Met up with Mandaline this afternoon! It’s always nice to meet up with friends--especially in places other of Plano. The mall we went to in Mong Kok had a Star Wars display and they had this porcelain Stormtrooper. As strange as it looks, I also find it really cool. We also did some shopping around before getting desserts at  눈 (Nun), a Korean dessert place. I’ve never had spaghetti ice cream before, so obviously I had to get it--for the picture, of course.

In the evening, we (as in my family) went to Sai Kung to walk around and eat a little here and there. Apparently, there’s this really popular bakery for pineapple buns there, and the line was pretty long. Not the most photogenic bun, but it was fresh out of the oven, so it was warm and good. I love how fresh the seafood is there (even though we didn’t actually have seafood there). Vendors were literally selling stuff from their little boats on the water. 

Basically all we did there was walk around and check out the little food places. We made a couple stops and would grab a couple bites at each place just to try. We stopped by a little taiyaki shop, then I got to try some things that my mom and aunts grew up on as snack foods. We ended the night with a more filling, sit-down type meal at a Thai place.