輕生, virgin suicide

2012 Spring review: 八方雲集 (Altogether), Quarry Bay, HK

This shop may not be the best in making dumpling but it's the best to me in terms of price and food freshness and cooking in Taiwanese style. I found out a set of pig's intestine soup, 5 dumplings and a soy bean drink at just HK$30. Need to update our overseas friends that right now the food price has been at around 20-30% increase due to the minimum wage implementation. So taking a lunch at a local restaurant cost about HK$40-50 (was HK$25-35). Besides, most waiters and waitresses are always having a black face. Why? Their bosses can't afford so many minimum wage staff and so need to ask 1 staff to work for 2 staffs' job.

So I really get amazed at this shop for keeping the $30 set and yet the quality and service aren't bad, and much beyond my expectation. The pig intestine's noodle soup is my favourite but almost none of my friends would take it. So it's good for me to have this set by myself. Another remark is on their food freshness and freshly made on order. Their beef noodle is also very nice with quite 1 big carrot cut and turnip and a big veggie, as well as 1 big tendon (very well cooked), big brisket and beef chunk. Note that the soup is very authentic Taiwanese in a "hot burnt red oil" soup. Though I don't like it too oily (I would take that out carefully), it's very aromatic in the soup. So it's just HK$39 for such a big bowl of renowned Taiwanese "hot burnt" beef noodle soup (and with some healthy veggie fiber). Highly recommended to get some low cost nice food during this tough time of super jump inflation.

Wanchai West, Hong Kong

Do you still recognize the last 2 photos of where they are in Wanchai West?

他的智能世界與她的迷失世界 His Smart World vs. her Lost World

Friends on Hai Phong Road 海防道 Tsimshatsui, HK

Finally they are reaching out to the mansions on the other side. Silently they have been sheltering us from the hot sun overhead.

On a night like this

Xiao Tian Gu 小甜谷, Tai Hang, Causeway Bay HK

This dessert has been getting more and more popular over the past few years. I tried visiting this place several times but so crowded. Finally I could get a table when passing by this place. My friends and I tried the below dessert (red bean pudding/double steamed milk/sesame walnut sweet/almond egg white). The red bean is a very selected one and cooked to a perfect texture. Walnut and sesame sweet is very smooth and aromatic, so is the almond egg white. However, just like most other shops, some important thing seem to be minor but to me it's very important. It's the use of salt, sugar, sauce and seasoning. If this is just a common dessert at HK$10-12, I wouldn't bother what sugar they use. Since the chef do have quite some effort and time on all these desserts, they should pay attention to getting some better fine sugar for all these desserts.

Sheung Kee Restaurant, 嫦記, Happy Valley Hot Food stall, Hong Kong

There are some dishes and soup that I miss quite much, like the salted duck egg, pork and mustard veggie soup 芥菜咸蛋肉片湯. Sheung Kee made it just right to my appetite, right proportion of salty duck egg, pork and veggie. Next to it is the must-try sweet and sour spare ribs. Then we had salty fish chicken tofu casserole, preserved veggie steamed with kai lan 正菜蒸芥蘭, and the deep fried garlic chicken. Very dai pai dong - powerful high heat cooking or what we say in Cantonese high "wok" heat 鑊氣.

Fa Yuen Street 花園街，Mong Kok, Kowloon, HK

No matter what changes have been made in this street, we can still see the unchanged melody. I was somewhat surprised to see Na Ra Ya has a store here.

Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

It was a long time ago when I first visited here. I recalled it's a very crowded and noisy market selling a lot of local snacks and sarongs (batik). Now that it has undergone quite a change. Cleaner and more tidy. I still see some very old time memory (photo 7/8).