Hello from Hong Kong!!! and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Home is INCREDIBLE so far and jam packed with things to do, food to eat. I haven’t had much time to blog, but rest assured I am reading your blogs and takin’ pictures of my adventures!
In an hour, I’ll be on a plane to Taiwan, so here’s an abridged version of Hong Kong’s greatness (so far)!!!!
The Greatness Countdown begins here…
1. Green Tea Frappucino
You have to order this off the secret menu that all locals know about (kinda like In ‘n Out Burgers)!
Tastes…sweet, but so green-tea-ee! Icy cold and topped with optional whipped cream, this is seriously worth every penny and (almost) every calorie.😛
2. Getting your food made in front of you.
Example: Japanese Cuttlefish Balls
Other street food examples include: Ice-cream filled crepes, PB waffles, Bubble Tea, and Fruit ‘n Veggie Juices!
Six Fresh, hot balls in a small order. Perfect for a snack mid-afternoon!
Tastes: Like a savory piping hot pancake ball that is soft, moist, and fresh. Topped with bonito flakes (dried fish I believe?), Japanese mayo (which has a sweeter flavor and runnier consistency than American mayo), seaweed flakes, and a tart terriyaki-like sauce…SURPRISE! cuttlefish chunk right in the middle for ya.
3. Crowds
You either love ’em or hate ’em, but they’re hare to escape in Hong Kong. Especially if you count down in SOHO.
4. The Sea Views
Free and hard to escape from. Hong Kong is found in 2 parts. The island, and the mainland (Kowloon), which is attached to mainland China. Harbor views and mountain views are common here. Don’t ever leave Hong Kong without taking the Star Ferry!
5. Tradition
For The New Year, Cantonese (HK people) eat “Pun Choi”, translates directly into “Bowl of Vegetables.” Clearly, this isn’t all vegetables. In fact, this is a 6-persons meal in a ginormous bowl filled with traditional roasted duck, roasted goose, roast pork, dried oysters, scallops, mushrooms, taro, turnip, fish balls, BBQ pork, broccoli, and flavored broth.
Oh my goodness delicious. We eat this over a hot plate on the dining table and then add our own vegetables, tofu, fish balls, noodles, and more.
6. Street Food
Aka street vendors, you can find anything and everything from Curry Fish Balls…
to BBQ Scallops (4 scallops for $3 US…crazy no?)
Fresh, plump, and juicy scallops eaten with a bamboo skewer. Nom.
7. NO TAXES!!!!!!!
Goodness, I’ve missed this. $20 means $20 here, not $23.49 when you get to the cash register.
8. Good Old Home Cooking
Welcome to my home.🙂
Mom, dad, my brother and I sit across from each other with our dishes to share lined up in the center. Our family is strange and we don’t eat rice often. Noodles are more popular with our fam.
So that is Hong Kong for you in 8!
If you love food, views, culture, great weather (It’s 60’s here in January), shopping, nightlife, and having ENDLESS things to do, you MUST come to Hong Kong!!!!! And did I mention there are NO TAXES?😛
Enough of my gushing! What do you love about YOUR hometown???
That green tea frap looks INCREDIBLE! I am very jealous of it. Totally worth every calorie!
All the food looks soooooooo good. Have a safe flight! ❤ jess
xoxo
Awesome! Thank you for sharing this about your hometown.
What’s awesome about mine(Boston) I’d have to say is the spirit. You can not not be a fan of something, especially sports.
wow what a great home town!! that green tea frap is AWESOME i bet!
Yay awesome, Michelle!!! First, I’d LOVE to try those cuttlefish balls! I’ve never had anything like that, but they look really delicious. Also, I love the scallops! I love that they include the entire scallop – I asked my brother why here we only eat the white part – where does the rest go!? I’d like to try those, too! Happy New Year! I’m glad you’re enjoying your family!🙂
all sounds and looks delicious!!! I miss HK street food so much!! actually that’s what I like about HK the most, its food!! sooooo good!!!😀
glad you’re enjoying a lot your stay in HK and even traveling to Taiwan. Eat their street food for me PLEASE!!😀
Oh my gosh that green tea drink looks great.
Those crowds are crazy – the food looks so interesting – unlike anything I have seen before.
Thank you for sharing these pictures and telling about your hometown!
Michele, amazing post and greetings from the WEst Coast, all the way to HK!!!
We just got home from Aruba 48 hrs ago and thanks for the great comments you’ve left me the past few weeks while we were there🙂
Street food…Anthony Bourdin (ever watch him? he’s great!) anyway he talks of street food anywhere as the poor man’s ability to make cheap food taste great. Not only in HK but everywhere and I would agree. So when clean and safe, I love street food..it’s a taste of the local flair for cheap (usually).
I grew up in MN and IL but have lived all over the US so I am a mutt. I just posted yesterday though that in general our food supply in the USA for fresh produce is 2nd to none and we should all be grateful!
Happy 2010 hon!
I love to try out different street foods, and it looks like a fun food filled night too!
Looks awesome! I want to visit!!!!!!! (and is that kabocha at your family dinner?!) Love street food… I miss that from the markets in London. Tastes so much better when you watch it made in front of you! SO cool about the taxes! That bugged me (and shocked me) when i was in the US- we pay taxes in the UK but it’s added before you checkout so the price you see is the price you pay.
What I like most about my current hometown…castle bang in the middle of the city centre! And all the crazy history, the tiny winding cobbled streets inbetween major roads and of course, that my mom and dad are nearby!
Looks amazing. I would love to go to Hong Kong at some point. I have been to China, but never makde it to Hong Kong. Everything looks so neat. Glad you are having a great time.
Food all Looks great!
Wow, everything looks so good! HAPPY NEW YEAR MICHELLE!
AHHH so glad your enjoying yourself!! Green tea fap!!! All that food looks delicious! and top it with 60 degree weather, beautiful views, and family, you have what I like to call a wonderful time!! Happy New Year girl!❤❤
Hey now, I always order green tea lattes from Starbucks, and often order them iced in the summer. No reason they can’t blend them, right?😀 Looks like you are having a great new year’s with your family over there in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong sounds wonderful (especially now with the temps in the single digits here). I’d love to visit sometime!
I love the lake and the smaller town feel of my hometown. No traffic here!🙂
Awww I love this post, Michelle! Holy cow, Hong Kong has a toooon of people! Haha, that’s so crazy!
The street food sounds amazing and there really is nothing like home cooked food🙂
Happy New Year! I wish you all the best, girlie!
those balls look to. die. faw. hahaha😉
ugh it sounds like you had a cuuhrazy good time and there’s for real nothing like getting home for the holidays!
everything looks amazing. I love the fact that have such fresh easily available street food. I think that is fantastic!!
Love your recap of Hong Kong, and to have that as your home must be awesome! We visited in October and loved it so much. The food is amazing! The best thing about my hometown food-wise are the small, local pizza joints.
wow! all the food looks so interesting and different from anything i would usually eat, but super yummy! i used to be not so adventurous but now that i will taste bascially anything, i bet i would have a lot of fun going from food cart to food cart🙂
my favorite hometown foods are so stereotypical — bagels, pizza, italian ice, and schickhouse hot dogs. HAHA!
LOVING everything! can’t wait to hear more about your tripppppppppp🙂 yum, you just made me so hungry!!!! live it up girly XOXO LOVE
Such a great and delicious recap of Hong Kong! I would love to try the green tea fraps! Happy new Year!
wow I’ve never heard of the green tea frap – sounds good!
AH! love this post. thanks for sharing! those balls look similar to the aebelskivers that i made awhile back. but way fancier. HAVE FUN!!!
MICHELLE! Take me to HK with you! Please! I want those takopachis! And all that other street food…droooooling….
I love the close Great Harvest, and Whole Foods in my neighborhood back in VA!
I used to Love panera in Pasadena and Coffee Bean and Tea LEaf’s version of Green Tea…but hands down: Bean Town, where I practically carved out my dissertation.
MICHELLE!!!! i am admittedly so behind on your blog – but LOVING LOVING LOVING this hong kong recap. and those curry fish balls! gah, they had something similar in thailand without the curry, but i have a feeling the addition of curry is so much better.
hope you had safe travels – happy belated new year!!!!!
DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
esp. love the fish balls!! MMMMMMMMMMm
curry fish balls – yum!!! i used to stick those on chopsticks when i was a kid and pretend they were lollipops.
HOLY CRAP everything looks amazing. I am so jealous right now.
Happy New Year, Michelle! You’re in Hong Kong?! That is AWESOME! I can’t wait to go one day. Can’t wait for recaps on all the wonderful food I hope you’re eating!!
everything looks all too familiar with your delicious home cooked meal. my parents cook up the same foods. so good!
so with all that street food that looks so good but not good for you, i wonder how chinese ppl still stay so thin in asia? wait…or are they? it must be the tea!
hope you’re having a good time in hong kong and thanks for stopping by my blog so i can find yours!