The Lonely Planet
Brrrrr .... the weather in Hong Kong was sooooo cold today. Temperatures fell below 10 degrees in the evening. Walking along the streets of Kowloon, my hands turned white and began to hurt from the chill. Still, it is fun to be in cold weather.
Anyway, speaking of the Lonely Planet, it is truly a gem of a book for the road warrior. It is filled with interesting nuggets of information such as things to do, places to eat, places to drink and pub. Generally, you cannot go wrong when you refer to the Lonely Planet. I have used it effectively in places such as India and Australia, and it has been helpful.
So when I came to Hong Kong, naturally I referred to the Lonely Planet once again for guidance on good places to eat. Johnny and I were at Tsim Sha Tsui today, and with the help of the Lonely Planet, we decided to go to a restaurant called Fook Lau Moon, apparently famous for its Cantonese cuisine. After we seated ourselves, the waitress presented us with the menu. Our eyes popped when we saw the price on the menu - Shark fin's soup for HKD 2000. The rest of the dishes such as chicken, beef etc were cheaper, but were no less than HKD 200 per dish.
In the end, we ordered, chicken, broccoli, soup and e-fu noodles. With the exception of the herbal soup, there was nothing remarkable about the food. It certainly was not what I had expected from what was supposed to be a famous restaurant. Anyway, the total bill came up to HKD 800, which I must say is quite pricey for food which tastes .... ordinary. Or perhaps there it is just me? I wonder if my taste buds have already been spoilt by all the good food I have eaten, because I seem to find most Hong Kong food ordinary.
After dinner, we went to Ladies Street to check out the night market, stopping only at Hui Lau Shan, the dessert chain, when the weather became too cold. I needed a new travelling bag, as the one I had was mangled by a careless cab driver at the Gold Coast. At Ladies Street, I spotted a bag I liked, and was somehow able to bargain it down to half the original price. Even when I gave her a ridiculously low figure when compared to her original quote, she came down to my asking price with little resistance. I would have felt better if she had put up a fight. Damn. I suppose I should be happy with my acquisition for the price I'm paying.
Anyway, speaking of the Lonely Planet, it is truly a gem of a book for the road warrior. It is filled with interesting nuggets of information such as things to do, places to eat, places to drink and pub. Generally, you cannot go wrong when you refer to the Lonely Planet. I have used it effectively in places such as India and Australia, and it has been helpful.
So when I came to Hong Kong, naturally I referred to the Lonely Planet once again for guidance on good places to eat. Johnny and I were at Tsim Sha Tsui today, and with the help of the Lonely Planet, we decided to go to a restaurant called Fook Lau Moon, apparently famous for its Cantonese cuisine. After we seated ourselves, the waitress presented us with the menu. Our eyes popped when we saw the price on the menu - Shark fin's soup for HKD 2000. The rest of the dishes such as chicken, beef etc were cheaper, but were no less than HKD 200 per dish.
In the end, we ordered, chicken, broccoli, soup and e-fu noodles. With the exception of the herbal soup, there was nothing remarkable about the food. It certainly was not what I had expected from what was supposed to be a famous restaurant. Anyway, the total bill came up to HKD 800, which I must say is quite pricey for food which tastes .... ordinary. Or perhaps there it is just me? I wonder if my taste buds have already been spoilt by all the good food I have eaten, because I seem to find most Hong Kong food ordinary.
After dinner, we went to Ladies Street to check out the night market, stopping only at Hui Lau Shan, the dessert chain, when the weather became too cold. I needed a new travelling bag, as the one I had was mangled by a careless cab driver at the Gold Coast. At Ladies Street, I spotted a bag I liked, and was somehow able to bargain it down to half the original price. Even when I gave her a ridiculously low figure when compared to her original quote, she came down to my asking price with little resistance. I would have felt better if she had put up a fight. Damn. I suppose I should be happy with my acquisition for the price I'm paying.
