Arrived: Hong Kong

Packaged Chili and Preserved Ginger for the Beef Bowl

I tend to lose track of time when I am back home. No school, no assignments, nothing in particular to do. Just drifting away with time without knowing its actual position. After I carefully counted it, I have been here for almost 2 weeks. Of course there are a lot happening. But to keep things in order, I will start from the beginning of my journey.

July 10, 2006, 6am

Arrived in HongKong and headed to the hotel for our one night stay. At the hotel, we [my sister and I] met with our parents and brother. So happy to see them :))
Despite to tiredness from a long-haul plane [around 15 hours] and the jetlag, we showered then headed out to the streets. For what? For shopping and exploring of course!!

Before I go on, I have to tell you something. I have been to HK quite a lot, maybe more than 5 times. Almost always with our big family who is already familiar with the streets and subway. Almost every district in HK looks like downtown. But we always stay in Causeway Bay area because we know the streets very well already. My big family chose this area mainly because there are a lot of shopping centres such as Sogo and Times Square. They're not the ones who are into sightseeing and cultural activities.

It's only one night that we stayed in HK, so don't count on me on giving you all you need to know about HK! This is just my experience.

Since we've been longing for a bowl of beef bowl, we ate breakfast at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl. This was a past time favorite of my parents while they studied in the US. Apparently, they've passed it down to their children... I chose a classic beef bowl on top of hot Japanese short-grain rice. I like to spice up my beef bowl with sprinkles of chili-and-black-sesame-pepper and added slices of preserved ginger for more zest. You must try this combination!

For dinner, we ate at the noodle shop introduced by our grandparents almost ten years ago. Everytime we go to HK, we will always eat at this place at least once. Our favorite orders are: Wonton Mien [noodle soup with shrimp wontons]; Cha Chiang Mien [noodle with spicy pork dressed in spicy sauce]; Bi Tan Chu [thousand years old egg porridge with shreded pork meat]; and steamed Bok Choy with oyster sauce. Only one staff understands English at this place, so we had to learn the Cantonese equivalent to get us the right orders. Otherwise, point at other people's foods that we're interested in. Unfortunately, I am not able to give you the address of this small restaurant. I am road-blind in HK!

Afterwards, we would normally go to street vendors selling snacks and skewered foods right across Sogo. It's very crowded at night. Our favorite snacks include hot 'n spicy escargot, fish balls, and beancurd skins dipped in sauce. Coupled with the heat of the night, these spicy foods will encourage perspiration, thus coolin gour bodies. To the left of the vendors, there is a small tea-shop selling refreshing mango drinks. We love buying their mango juice that has pieces of mangoes or mango pudding in it. This time, we bought a mango 'n strawberry drink that has pieces of mangoes, strawberries and clear jellies. So very refreshing and healthy, too!

In terms of getting around in HK, it is very easy. To be honest, it has been made easy since the time you step your feet in HK. In the airport, a wealth of information both in Cantonese and in English are available in the form of brochures. They will tell you where to go and how to get there. So, make sure you bring these brochures with you when you visit HK for the first time.

Going into the city couldn't have been easier. You could either purchase a voucher for a shuttle bus to go directly to your hotel, or ride the Airport Express, which is an electric train, to get yourself to the city. The Airport Express only costs you HK$100 one-way and if you're travelling in the same day, you'll only need one one-way ticket. You can check out this website as well.

In the city itself, MTR is a great way to get to one place to another. The touch-screen machine lets you choose the destination, then you simply put some coins to pay for the assigned fee. Coin-changer is also available. Be sure to look at the map properly before you leave so that you won't get lost.

One day went on so quickly...
Night comes, we went to sleep and we barely have time to go around the next day. We had to be at the airport by 3 o'clock since our flight is at 4. Apparently, our shopping didn't stop as we left the city to the airport. We went happily into our favorite snack-shop, Aji Ichiban!! We often go here and buy dried snacks for ourselves and as gifts. Explore it for yourself...

The one day tour in HK is now over...
Wait for more stuff directly from Indonesia :)