The coldest weekend ever

This has been the coldest weekend that I can remember since being in HK these past 3 years. Being Canadian the cold really shouldn't bother me so much, but I just can't get over how cold it is even indoors. Unlike having the luxury of central heating systems, I just need to wear more layers. Right now, I'm wearing a thermal shirt underneath a t-shirt,a fleece jacket, and socks! But it's so cold indoors that my clothes feel super cold before I put them on. This ice cold feeling of fabric is something I really dread!

It's only 13 degrees inside! (Photo: CathC)

One thing I have to say is that our apartment would be significantly warmer if our windows were better sealed and insulated. Since I'm in a rental, I don't have plans to change the windows. But that would definitely an improvement on making it through the winter more comfortably.

A definite sign of leakage, it's actually a few degrees colder next to the window--only 7 degrees (Photo: CathC)

Rather than stay home in the cold, CharK and I decided to head to the mall. We took the bus over to The One in Tsim Sha Tsui, and it turned out to be pretty good choice. Being one of the tallest malls in the city, there were quite a few shops to explore. Plus it was actually pretty warm indoors, aside from the floors closer to the ground level. As a bonus, we tried a new Vietnamese restaurant. I liked the fun seafood baked rice, which was served inside a young coconut. Unlike the more popular pineapple fried rice, the coconut meat actually adds a very prominent taste to the whole dish. Yummy!

The skewers were actually like a deconstructed vermicelli noodle dish. The lettuce wraps up the pork and noodle inside. (Photo: CathC)

By night fall, the HK Observatory reported that Sunday was the coldest day in the last 59 years. Apparently it dropped down to below freezing on Tai Mo Shan. News reports also showed many people driving and hiking up HK's high peak to see the icicles and frost that had accumulated. As a result of the slippery roads, frigid conditions, a number of people had to be rescued by emergency crews after being stranded on the peak.

Drinking hot tea and snacking on chocolate is my favourite way to stay warm at night. (Photo: CathC)

This cold weather is suppose to last until at least Wednesday, so at least there's warmer weather in sight. This has definitely been a memorable winter, experiencing the cold weather in HK!

A model of my favourite street food

I love egg puffs. You can always smell these delicious, crunchy snacks way before you can actually see the stall or shop selling them. These are also one of HK's most iconic street foods, so not surprisingly a local model shop Tiny has turned this famous snack into a die-cast model.

Happy to get my hands on one of the first editions of the model (Photo: CathC)

Like the description says, coal fired egg puffs are pretty rare. Think I've only had ones made on an electric stove (Photo: CathC)

Today's egg puffs are usually sold in stores or more permanent stalls instead of carts (Photo: CathC)

I love all the details that went into this cart--from the batter to the cast iron waffle press (Photo: CathC)

I've collected quite a few toys and models in the relatively short amount of time I've been in HK. From HK vehicles to Peanuts characters. For me, these having toys are more fun and interactive than just having photos of the memories of my time here. But it won't be long before I'll need some kind of display case to store everything!

Seeing Macau in a Day

Being just an hour ferry ride away, Macau is a nice day trip destination. Last year, I went with a bunch of friends and made an "eating tour" of the city. My post here details all the foods I tried. Today, CharK and I took the day off to went on a self-guided tour around Macau. Normally you can catch the casino buses from the Macau Ferry Terminal to one of the many casinos around the city. But we thought taking a walking tour would let us really see what the neighbourhoods are like. Plus, we ended up getting lots of exercise during our 12 km journey around the Macau Penninsula

I found that even taking the economy class on the Turbojet can be enjoyable. The key is to arrive early for boarding/seats assignments. One the way back to Hong Kong, we ended up being the first in-line for the seat assignments (which starts 15 minutes before the ferry leaves). I asked the agent for a window seat and he kindly agree. So CharK and I ended up with upper deck seats in one of the two-person rows. These seats were much more comfortable then our trip over to Macau, where we werein the slightly more crowded three-person rows on the lower deck.

The roomy upper deck of the Turbojet (Photo: CathC)

One part of our sightseeing that stood out for me, the view of Macau from the top of Mount Fortress. Not only could I see all across Macau, I also had a view of China's Zhuhai. I can see mountains of the Zhuxian Park and all of the new condominiums under construction.

A spectacular view from Mount Fortress (Photo: CharK)

Although the view is beautiful, I couldn't help but notice the contrast between the two cities and even within Macau itself. Most of the housing in Macau looks pretty run down and dilapidated amongst the glitzy casinos. Similarly most of the new construction projects seemed to be going on in Zhuhai instead. Just next to Mount Fortress is the Macau Museum. We were in luck today, because admissions is free on Fridays. I love seeing installations and replica pieces. My favourite exhibit was the living quarters of Chinese and Portuguese.

The colourful houses typical of Portuguese style. (Photo: CharK)

I love the details they put into recreating the traditional Chinese wedding night room (Photo: CharK)

The museum has had these fun installations of street hawkers. The audio track plays and you can hear what each person is selling, like traditional Chinese medicine from a food stall. We got really lucky that it only rained a few hours during hte early afternoon. So we didn't have to worry about bumping umbrellas in the crowds. This made it easier to see the popular tourist sites like the Ruins of St. Paul's.

We didn't even need to make the trip over to Cotai for the Macau's famous pork chop buns. The most famous shop, Tai Lei Loi Kei, opened a chain last year at Largo do Senado. The staff are surprisingly friendly and there are lots of yummy foods to snack on. I really enjoyed the twist on the classic pork chop in a pinapple bun. The pork chop is pan fried not deep frieds, so it's very juicy. The sweet pineapple bun also gives it great flavour. The spicy homemade dipping sauce for the fish balls and squid is amazingly spicy! Just a dab was enough to make me cough.

A good snack after our walk (Photo: CharK)

 I also tried some cute Hello Kitty Portuguese Tarts from another local shop. The tarts were good, very creamy.

The original flavour tastes a lot better than the green tea one (Photo: CharK)

So between the food and sightseeing, it was a fun day in Macau.

A holiday roundup

Lucky for me, I got early days on Christmas and New Year's Eve. So spent part of it wandering around the malls, which were still pretty busy (guess lots of people also had the afternoon off!) But it was easier to take photos than normally on weekends. Snoopy is very popular this year, especially with all the hype from the movie, so not surprising the display was a bit hit with all the mall visitors.

My favourite Snoopy displays of 2015 (Photo: CharK)

After spending dinner with family, CharK and I took a stroll along the Shatin river. The bridge looked so beautiful all lit up at night. It wasn't until around midnight that we were walking around, and to my surprise there were quite a few people on the streets, maybe just finishing up a late dinner like us!

Christmas time in Shatin (Photo: CharK)

A replica of the light display along the Shatin River (Photo: CharK)

Shatin Park is another place to go to see Christmas decorations. Seeing the cheerful display really makes me get into the Christmas spirit. And this display is pretty efficient, the monkeys are probably a tribute to the upcoming hinese New Year Celebrations. 2016 will be a year of the monkey.

Shatin Park (Photo: CharK)

This year we spent New Year's Eve at home for the most part, but went to the mall downstairs to see the celebrations. Some of the kids were already waiting for the start of the show since the around noon.

Setting up for the big New Year's Eve bash (Photo: CathC)

Mostly the neighborhood families and couples were in the audience for TVB New Year's Eve bash at East Point City. Since there are quite a few apartment complexes around here, there was a sizeable crowd. It was interesting to show but the overall atmosphere wasn't that festival compared to the feeling you get being outside waiting for fireworks and a countdown. So after watching the show for a bit, we headed back upstairs to ring in 2016 watching HK's firework's display over Victoria Harbour on tv.

Cast of the last TVB nursing drama celebrating the New Year's Eve show (Photo: CharK)

Happy New Year everyone--hope you had a wonderful holiday season!

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas (Part II)

I couldn't resist picking up a couple of the Peanuts figurines that came out about 2 weeks after the getting the Charlie Brown cushions. These toys are reminiscent of what I had in the kids in that they run on simple mechanisms--springs, magnets, gears.  My absolute favourite is the snoopy spinning underneath a tree branch where woodstock is sitting on top of it.

Video: CathC

I was so excited about the figurines that I even got my friend into it. My friend is visiting from Taiwan, and we took her around Central to see HK's Christmas decorations. The display at the Landmark Atrium is really spectacular this year. We had the perfect view from the 3/F while having lunch at the Urban Bakery Cafe. As we were catching up, we could turn and watch the display that lights up and moves every 30 minutes.  There are also these flying boats that sail around the mall along the ceiling rails. The whole thing was very impressive.

Landmark Atrium's Christmas Display (CharK)

Flying boat (Photo: Chark)

Stanley's Christmas Market

December is one my my favourite times of the year. The holiday mood is in full swing and there are festive decorations everywhere.

This year, our first Christmas event was at Stanley's Christmas Market. Although there were a number of shops selling crafts and toys, the Christmas vibe just wasn't quite in the air. Maybe it was the lack of carolers or shops selling Christmas-y decorations. Somehow the market had more of an arts and crafts theme than Christmas.

But I tried mulled wine for the first time and thought it was pretty tasty. It was nice to have a warm drink in the cool evening, and its cinnamon fragrant made it quite different from any other wines I've had before.

The Christmas Market at Stanley (Photo: Chark)

I've always thought Stanley was a great weekend getaway, even without the Christmas Market. There's a real island/vacation vibe about the place. After walking around the market we grabbed dinner along the Waterfront Promenade. We stopped off at the Buddah cafe and that and the cafe next door were owned by a husband-wife team. The husband is a funny, cheerful guy who made a great host. The wife was in the kitchen, serving up yummy snacks and desserts. CharK and I ordered chicken satay skewers, lobster siu mai, and mango/dragonfruit/watermelon coconut dessert.

After another walk around the Stanley harbour, taking in the beautiful night scenery, we stopped off at a Belgian Bar in the Stanley Market.

Christmas lights along the Waterfront (Photo: CharK)

The Belgian Bar was the real highlight of the night. I tried a fruity beer called Delirium Tremens, it's a cherry flavored beer with hints of grapefruit. I liked it, even more than another Belgian beer I use to drink in Toronto, Fruli Strawberry Beer. This bar was a very small shop in the corner of the market, but the staff made it a great atmosphere.. There was a friendly host who was very skilled at drawing in the crowd to try their beers. As it got later in the evening, The Belgian owner got into a funny singing competition with a French customer. The French guy was giving an impromptu lesson on singing from the belly versus the throat. It was a really funny scene.

A fun night in Stanley (Photo: CathC)

December's off the a great start. It'll be a great way to end the year with a few more weekend get-aways like this.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas

Normally I don't pay much attention to advertisement posters, especially on the way to work. But this morning, McDonald's latest promotion caught my eye. In anticipation for the upcoming Snoopy Movie, McDonalds is selling licensed Snoopy merchandise like cushions, coffee mugs, and various wind up toys.

Today was the first day the cushions went on sale in HK and lots of people went to pick up the whole set which contains: Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Woodstock, and a special edition of Snoopy's Dog House. Actually, I remember thinking that some kid would be very happy night when I saw a Dad carrying a set while I was going to work this morning.

I couldn't resist picking this up on my way home! The detail on this Charlie Brown cushion is great, even the flap on his hat flips up. The whimsical cushion really brightens up the apartment. The bonus is that it's also a pretty good comparison to a life-sized head. So makes for a fun prop too!

An early Christmas Present (Photo: CathC)

Buying just a single cushion costs 40HKD on top of the purchase any food item. Otherwise, the whole set costs 278 HKD, which also includes 50HKD worth of McDonald's meal coupons.