Hong Kong: Part I
Since we first travelled together, there has only been one void in time in which we had no plans to go away, and we consciously decided to not let that happen again, because it was rubbish. At the end of May, we took our first long haul trip together, to Asia. Mark's sister lives and works out in Hong Kong, so it was the perfect chance a) for me to finally meet her and b) to be guided round an incredible city by someone who arguably likes to eat and travel more than we do.
We wasted no time getting our gobble on, and after a 12 hour overnight flight, arriving at around 5.30pm local time, we dropped off our cases and headed straight out for dinner. Melissa took us to a fantastic Thai restaurant,
Chachawan, followed by Belgian beers and some interesting Daiquiris at a couple of the bars local to her apartment.
The meal at Chachawan, on reflection, was probably one of the best of the holiday. The uncomplicated spicy Isaan dishes, hailing for Northeastern Thailand, were presented to share and centred around grilled meats and salads. We ordered flash grilled squid (Pia Mauk Yung), deep fried pork meatballs (Larp Tort) and plenty of other succulent meat and veggie dishes in between. The most impressive and recommended dish on their menu is the salt-crusted whole seabass (Pia Phao Glua), which is stuffed with lemon grass, padana and lime leaves, and cooked over a fire. Unfortunately, we were so knackered and hungry, we forgot to take any pictures! We finished the meal with coconut rice dumplings in salted coconut cream, which was like a lovely, warm hug after such a long journey, and one I might try to recreate when I'm in the mood for some comfort food!
We spent the rest of the weekend trekking around the greener parts of Hong Kong Island and dropped in at the indoor market in Wan Chai. We visited the monkey park, where a cheeky orangutan took aim through his enclosure bars and tried to pee on us, and spent a morning at the Peak to take in the incredible view. We also took the ferry over to Kowloon, wandered around the pier a bit and lunched at the cheapest michelin-starred restaurant in the world (?),
Tim Ho Wan, a Dim Sum place that now has a chain of outlets across both Asia and Australia. We ordered a small but delectable selection, consisting of steamed pork buns and dumplings.
The weekend ended with a fine dining sushi experience at Sushi Sei, located at the IFC mall in Central. I have never eaten sushi like it. There were familiar items, like California rolls, and salmon and trout sashimi (which was the freshest, creamiest-tasting salmon I've ever eaten!), plus some food firsts. We ordered the sea urchin and grilled eel on Melissa's recommendation, and I threw a portion of firefly squid in to the mix. The squid was interesting, and tasted not unpleasant, but frankly was just really bloody weird to eat visually and texturally!
That night, after dinner, we caught the train from the IFC to Hong Kong International for an interim trip, four nights on Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. More about that next time.
Places we ate:
