Saturday, May 28, 2016

MENU Goes East - Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, Dim Sum

Sunday in Hong Kong. We took one of the old trams
and sat on top. They go at a fair clip in their own lines. Its a good way to see Hong Kong
We got off at the Bank of China building
and walked up the hill through the park. It was Sunday and all the domestic workers had a day off and were picnicking
Old bastion walls among the new, modern Hong Kong buildings
We were on our way to the Peak tram
NOT the place to be on a Sunday morning, we discovered 
The queues were epic and it was hot
It took us about an hour to get to the tram, but once you are in the queue... Sunshades were essential
A dragonfly on the fountain wall enchanted. It was one of the few insects we saw
The fairly orderly queue to get on the tram
When you get to the top of the peak, you are guided to the top of the tallest building and then asked to pay a king's ransom to get onto the roof
We went next door down these many levels 
and had a lovely free view of this beautiful modern, clean city
And looking in the other direction you can see Stanley and some of the many islands
One does wonder how high they will go?  We could solve our housing problems with just a few of these blocks of flats
The very strange architecture of the new Peak building
Inside we found the famous Paris Patisserie, Fauchon
and asked to be allowed to take some pictures of all the delights
Luckily we don't have sweet teeth
Although we could have been swayed by these chocolate temptations
However, you need to be rather wealthy
gooey brownies
bottle-cap sized fruit tarts
We took a bus back down to our hotel. It follows this amazing cliff-hugging road
Some of the architecture leaves you stunned
Time for some food; late Sunday afternoon and a tube ride of three stops 
We found the address of one of the best Dim Sum restaurants in Hong Kong on the Web
Small but busy even at 4pm on a Sunday
Usually you have to queue, but we got a table quickly
 The menu with our selection
Prawn dumplings
Steamed beef balls
Shu mai Pork and prawn dumpling
Cha sui Bao Feather light steamed buns with barbecued pork inside
All served with soy sauce and copious amounts of Puer tea. And a little light chilli sauce if that is to your taste
The lotus wrapped rice we ordered was sold out, so we substituted Fried Turnip cakes.  Our bill was HK116 (R208!) Amazing value
Wandering back to the tube we saw this bargain. Three excellent value t-shirts for John for HK50 (R33 each)
The ships in the roads at sunset, with the one remaining junk, now a tourist boat, and one of the old Kowloon ferries
The sunsets from our hotel were lovely, such soft smoky light
and it got softer as the sun sank
till it turns rosy pink as the light dies
Next episode: 
MENU goes East - Hong Kong, Cheung Chau Island
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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