Grand Adventure 2017 Day 8: Peak Cuisine
Some days like yesterday we didn't have a ton going on so I like to go more in-depth with what happened, today was jam-packed busy so I'll skip the preamble and get into it. We got a great night sleep last night which was good because we needed the energy. I worked out in the beautiful gym here at The Langham and we were off on the road at 9 AM.
We got a quick bite to eat at a Starbucks around the corner after forgoing a big buffet breakfast at the hotel. Jenn got a croissant and hot chocolate and I had my first peppermint mocha of the season (which was amazing) and a cheese bagel. After that respite, we grabbed some of our gear from our hotel room and were off.
Our first stop this morning was one of the main tourist attractions in Hong Kong, and that's Victoria Peak, one of the highest natural points in the city. To get there we jumped on the Star Ferry and made our way over to the other side of Hong Kong. When we got off the boat it had to be 80 degrees and nearly 100% humidity. I knew I might be overdressed for the weather but underestimated the humidity. Luckily after a 20-30 minute walk, we made it to the tram that takes you to the top of the peak. Once there the temperature and humidity dropped substantially and it made for a pleasant morning. When we reached the peak we got outrageously gorgeous views of Hong Kong and it's vast array of high rises and architecture.
Walking around and enjoying the 360-degree views from Victoria Peak was a great way to start the day and get our bearings in Hong Kong. After we spent nearly an hour walking around and taking in the views we took the steep tram back down the hill and into the heart of Hong Kong. A couple of quick observations we noticed today. There are malls everywhere in the city. It seems like at every corner is a new mall. Second is that in many areas throughout the city there are small natural parks, ponds, and fountains to help bring nature back within this sprawling city.
When we got down from the peak we had an hour to kill before our second food tour of the trip. We decided to enjoy one of the many malls in the city of Hong Kong and window shopped and even went in a couple of places. After an hour or so we were off to the meeting location for the Hong Kong Foodie Tour.
The tour was scheduled to start at 2:15 PM and our directions said we'd get there with ten minutes to spare. When we arrived we realized something had gone horribly awry. We were at the address but no one was there. We realized pretty quickly that something was wrong and so we looked at our confirmation and I realized that my calendar entry dropped a "1" off the front of the address. No problem, we could still make it on-time. We went to the new address only to find that once again we weren't at the right place, the store owner said he had never heard of a food tour. Now we were late and had no idea where to go. Luckily the tour texted us and we realized we went to the "West" version of the street instead of the Central and so we were 15-minutes away. So instead of meeting at the starting point, we met at the first of our six stops on the tour.
Luckily the first stop was closer to where we got lost so we were in luck. Ten minutes later we arrived at Tsim Chai Kee Noodle. Here we met up with ten other travelers (6 from Australia, 3 from the UK and 1 other American) who all gave us the stink eye for being late. We introduced ourselves to the group and someone thought I said my name was John so I went with it. Our first tasting was of the Wonton Noodle Soup which was both of our favorite dishes of the tour. Amazing noodles and the wontons were to die for.
From there we walked as a group to five more stops. Next up was Dragon Restaurant, here we had Barbecue Pork Ribs with white rice. I thought Jenn would have loved this one but the meat was a little fatty for her taste. To me, it was another home run.
The next two stops were by far the low points of the food tour. They were Kung Lee Sugar Cane Juice where we had Sugar Cane juice which was OK, and we went to Wong Wing Kee and had some preserved fruits and nuts which were hit and miss.
The biggest stop on the tour was Dim Sum Square where we had Chinese Dim Sum. Both Jenn and I have had Dim Sum with work colleagues in the past, but were excited to see if it would be any different in Hong Kong. The restaurant itself was nice and cozy and looked like a place I could totally see Jenn and I eating at. Here we had a couple of different dishes. We started out with the BBQ Pork Buns which were to die for, one of the best things we had all day. We also had Shrimp and Pork Dumpling which I really liked, Jenn was less into them. We also had some deep fried spring rolls, which were great. It was just the right amount of dim sum, and made for a great tasting.
Our final stop of the tour was at Her Lee Cake Shop right around the corner from the Dim Sum restaurant. Here we had a Egg Tart. It was bizarre. It was a small pie with a loosely cooked (almost scrambled) egg on top. Most people loved it but Jenn and I were not fans at all. The crust was great the almost scrambled eggs on top, not so much. From there we departed our group and walked back to the ferry and back to our side of Hong Kong. It was a beautiful evening in Hong Kong and even though we got a little lost going back to our hotel it didn't matter because we were snapping photos and enjoying the experience of being here in Hong Kong.
