hong kong (street food and char chan tengs around the city) (part 2)

4.44pm


ok i got sidetracked for the past couple of blogs. blame it on Big Bang and YG family concert! hahahaha..so we're back on track with my hong kong trip part two. 

i have quite a few photos that i want to share with you guys. ok here's what i'll do, i'll pick the best out of the lot and i'll talk about it, ok! bear with me! 

in the above pictures as you can see, it was our breakfast, the next day after we arrived into hong kong. the "char chan teng" (it means coffee shop or tea restaurant, there's tons in hong kong!) was called uncle 4! yup, you read right. i have no idea what that meant but the food was pretty decent and affordable too. we ordered the "polo bao" (also known as pineapple bun (but there's no pineapple inside) which is sweet on its own or you can whack some butter inside, would taste just as great!), hong kong's famous milk tea, honey poured over french toast, giant sausage etc. omg just by looking at these pictures now makes me want to eat it!! ai carumba! it was a good breakfast i must say.

oh i did mention in my previous previous blog (part one) that we stayed at the ramada hotel in tsim sha tsui which is on chatham road south, well  fyi this "char chan teng" is just a couple of doors away from our hotel.

this "char chan teng" sham tseng chan kee is also right next door to our hotel. you cant miss it! you can see freshly roasted goose/duck hanging by the window (as per the picture) and its all roasted to perfection! let me tell you, its worth every bite! you wont be disappointed. so succulent! crispy skin! tender meat. and if you want to lets say doggie bag it, you can do so or if you want to bring it back home (if you're flying off that day), they will wrap it up nicely for you too! (no, not the noodles, silly, but the roasted goose or whatever you want to take away!). they also have roasted duck, roasted pork etc for more choices,

if you're not a goose eater. 

oh you know just before my trip i emailed a restaurant that was famous for its roasted goose and long story short, i told them to either email me that my booking went thru or to sms me. upon arrival, i checked my phone for any messages, there was none. so i thought - ok, my booking wasnt confirmed, darned it - and thats how we ended up eating at this char chan teng. (fyi when i came back from my trip, i checked my email ( in the junk folder), lo and behold, the restaurant did reply back and they did hold my reservation for half hour before letting it go to other people (as that place was always packed, so i read online). oh no wonder! my ipad cant receive junk/spam mails! hahahaha 

those noodles that you see is actually cold noodles served with some preserved veggies, peanuts, chinese parsley and spicy minced pork. just as yummy! thats how a typical char chan teng looks like, where the "see tau poh" (meaning lady boss) will sit behind the counter/cash register, what else, to collect money! 

by the way, a few simple basic words for you to use should you choose to use (hong kongers generally can speak a trickle of english so you'll get by without much difficulty) are like - um koi sai OR dor che (which means thank you very much or thank you), chou sun (good morning), lei ho (how do you do). just so you know, there's alot of foreigners in hong kong kinda like a melting pot. very cosmopolitan, just like singapore. in fact, singapore and hong kong are almost similar except for the weather. they have 4 seasons (lucky them) but lots of bad air pollution which causes the bad haze/smog (unlucky them) thats coming from certain parts china because of the factories as well as even from within hong kong itself. (ie Hong Kong has the world’s highest traffic density as well as coal burning power plants, which contribute an estimated 50% to the total level of pollution). other than that, its a great city hahahahaha 

"lui yan kai" also known as ladies market/street market in mong kok. unfortunately, not all the stalls were opened when we were there. usually opens around 4pm till midnite. 

temple street over in kowloon. nearest mtr is jordan. sadly also this street market wasnt entirely opened. all these flea markets usually opens in the evening till late. but we were there around lunch time therefore not many stalls were opened. oh well. no biggie. 

these photos were taken as we were wandering around the city. oh yes, now i remember this was over at causeway bay. i wanted to take some pictures of street snacks. so there you go. the ever popular street food. yummy. i like the small round egg waffles. they've got different flavors to choose from. free smells just like if you were walking by famous amos cookie stand! you can smell all this different aromas wafting from a distance. almost everything is freshly/cooked/boiled and most of these street food/snacks as you can see, are skewered so that its easy for you to hold and eat as you walk. hong kong is very fast paced therefore its pretty common to eat on the go. fyi no i didnt find any "chow tofu" (smelly fermented tofu) or "smelt" any. however, i did try it once several years ago when i was in hong kong. i have no words but i have sound - bleeaah.. honestly, its either you like it or hate it and guess which one i chose. but hey, if you do try it, let me know your opinion! one man's junk is another man's treasure! 

ok ok i think thats about it. im beat. got to go and prep my dinner. to be continued, folks!

ttfn

5.51pm