Mong Kok and my 10 min. relationship with streetfoods

On my second day in Hong Kong, we walked along the busy streets of the city. Jenny, our tourist guide described Tsim Tsia Tui as the Makati of China. I wondered why she said this since I don’t see any offices around but when we looked around she described it rightfully so. 

The place is teeming with signature items! Although it’s not like a business district, the shops along Nathan Road are comparable to the high-end no-buy-look-only outlets we see in Makati. 

While walking, I came across a very attractive shop with the name Paul Lafeyette. It had a display of artisan cakes that will surely make anyone gawk at the craftsmanship. It’s looks really good that your food libido will nag you to satisfy it. It's a visual gastronomic aphrodisiac! The sad part is that it’s very expensive at 40HKD (240 pesos) with is already enough to buy you a decent meal in Kowloon.

Drool beybeh. :)

 

 

That afternoon we rode the MTR, an underground train similar to MRT/LRT,  going to Mongkok where the night market was located. 

One thing I noticed is that the escalators in Hongkong seem to move faster than the ones here in PH. I think we should so that here also para wala nang babagal-bagal. Faster people, more productive people right?

Instead of pressing buttons to buy tickets like how we do it here in Manila, the ticket issuing machine here allows you to press the location on a touch screen map. In addition, there are different rates for children and adults.

We alighted at Mong Kok station and made an exit to Argyle street. It was a crazy world out there! The place was teeming with people buying, selling, eating, etc. It’s like the Divisoria of the Philippines. There were banketas that sold  souvenir T-shirts and other locally made products. I bought a nice watch and some silk boxers here. And the silk boxers feel like heaven! It will makes you sing Katy Perry's Domino, "I'm feeling sexy and freeeee!"

 

I saw these in one shop. Believe it or not, these USBs are up to 8gb memory. They look so cute although them being enclosed in a transparent casing reminds me of the clones in Dragonball Z.

And of course, who wouldn’t forget about food?  I got to try some Chinese street food as well.  There were fishballs which for the longest time I thought to be flat (this differentiated them from squid balls). They have a special sauce here that tasted like curry.

They also have some cuttlefish tentacles dipped in the same curry-based sauce.

I tried to take a picture of the store itself but all I got is a shouting vendor who was pointing at my cellphone. Still, I managed to take a picture of the streetfood while she was busy attending to other customers. Taray looking nila ate oh, HAHA!

I also got to try steam-fried conch which I believe is a sea creature. I didn’t know exactly what it is but I tried it. It tasted like kuhol or popularly called escargot. 

I am really fattening up myself in HongKong. But no regrets, I only get to try new things once in a while.

Hello Kowloon!

My family and I went to Hong Kong for my sister’s birthday last weekend.  We boarded the plane from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark and had a two-hour travel going there. Upon arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport, I was amazed on how the entire structure looked like. Obviously, it was far better looking than the one where we came from. The airport is very spacious, the restrooms are clean, and the entire building has many shops that it looked like a mall in itself.  And not to discount the fact that the entire place is covered by free WiFi!

Although the place is stunning, I noticed something when we were passing through the immigration: Chinese employees hardly ever smile, or talk. I don’t know if they’re just not very fluent in English or it’s a cultural thing that makes them look stiff. I found this one drastic difference between Filipino and Chinese immigration officers. And it sure does play a big part on tourists like me.

We met with Jenny, the tour guide from the travel agency we had. After she gave us the itinerary for the next three days, we boarded a bus and we were dropped in our hotel.  I we stayed in Guang Dong Hotel along Prat Avenue in Tsim Tsa Tsui district of Kowloon. It was a very nice hotel however I still felt the stiffness of the hotel personnel like the immigration officers from the airport. I hope this doesn’t come as a racist or discriminating remark but I think the hoteliers in the Philippines are more beautiful (not that I mind a lot).
 

Prat Avenue is a street that is teeming with restaurants. They have McDonalds, Thai, Vietnamese and even Japanese restaurants. For that day’s lunch we ate at The Executive Lunch, a Korean restaurant.

And. The. Food. Was. Heavenly.  

After we placed our orders via a long process of sign language, we were served a trio of what looked like kimchi, toge, and kangkong. My mom and I (brother and my sister ate at McDonalds) pigged out on the kangkong which seemed to be steamed and oiled with sesame oil. Our orders came after a few minutes. I had spicy squid with vegetables (50 HKD) and my mom had spicy pork (40 HKD). I know it doesn’t really look aesthetically pleasing but it was the best meal I had so far from a Korean restaurant. The rice was really, really good. It felt soft and light in your mouth. On the side, we ordered kimbab the Korean version of maki (40 HKD) which was also equally satisfying.

It seems so ironic but we ate in this Korean restaurant for a good couple of times even though we’re in Hong Kong. My mouth still waters when I imagine these food.

Should China Wage War

Waging war with the China would definitely cripple the Philippines.

First is because we would be deprived from food that we Filipinos consider as “staple”. I imagine China banning us from using their products and ingredients as part of their retaliatory tactics. A Philippines with no single siopao to eat as a snack, an impoverished student deprived of the twenty pesos siomai rice meals (which is actually a major percent of my diet when I was still staying in a dorm), and no instant noodles to cook during times of calamity are just some of the horrific events that could take place. To add to my forecast is the mass closing down of food establishments/businesses such as Chowking, HenLin, etc. and all we could stuff ourselves are burgers, french fries and fried chicken at fastfoods.

Second is the possible effect of stopping almost all the trade going on in Divisoria where apparently every Chinese starts off in business. Say goodbye to the fashion savvy yet buget friendly merchandise they offer. I shall miss hearing the heavy Chinese accents (pity-payb for fifty five or wan-pity for one hundred fifty) whenever I ask the tinderos on how much their product costs. I guess we also shall saying goodbye to China Town by then is also inevitable.

The next big possibility is the withdrawal of all fireworks. We shall see less and less of those fancy and colorful lights and more of those firecrackers with the most unconventional of names, say Superlolo, Bawang, Hudas, Good bye Earth, and the like.

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The Spratly’s Islands is this era’s place du jour. Different countries placing their claims on the resource rich group of islands makes me want to think that there must be something in it worth fighting for. There is currently much debate going on the television, politicians each saying their pieces, the military sending patrols within the Philippine territory, a re-nomenclature of geography (changing names from South China Sea to West Philippine Sea), governments filing complaints against another, and other hullabaloos projected from the media. Should a war be waged against the second most largest economy in the world, the Philippines is clearly a no-match with the current economic and military insufficiency. The Filipinos are not in dire need for additional territory and natural resources, the proper allocation of present resources should be the one to put emphasis on.