I’m not really going in chronological order with my Hong Kong/China vacation posts. I’m following my Flickr photos and my memory (if it’s that helpful). Anyway, this originally took place on May 2nd (that’s most of the pics) and May 10th, 2009 (repeat because of hauling stuff back home – NYC). To read the previous HK/China posts, follow this link.
After eating dim sum at Sportful Garden Restaurant with my uncle’s relatives, my aunt took me to one of Hong Kong’s major shopping districts, Causeway Bay to explore a huge ass mall that I’ve never encountered before, Sogo. Instead of taking the cab, we took public transportation – the subway.
Subway ticket vending machines, fares and map, and my one-way ticket
My Hong Kong/China vacation took place on April 29 – May 10, 2009. As you might know, I post at a very slow pace, so please bear with me. This is a summary of my two dinners at Sportful Garden Restaurant.
During the evenings of my second and fourth days of vacation, my aunt and uncle planned dinners at Sportful Garden Restaurant to celebrate my cousin’s (their daughter) wedding. (In case you don’t know, there’s a lot of food involved in Chinese wedding traditions.)
My aunt was the mastermind behind these dinners – one was to try it out with us six (me, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, Samuel, and her in-law’s) before the massive invite of relatives.
For this restaurant, they offer a prix-fixe, family-style meal as well as the typical a la carte. I don’t really recall the pricing of the dinner but I believe came out roughly about $40-50 (USD) per person for a menu that can feed a typical banquet table. Here’s the menu:
Appetizers
Plate of apps
Fried stuffed beancurd
Most of the appetizers contain at least a portion of crispy suckling pig, fried dried bean curd stuffed with black trumpet mushrooms, and cold jelly fish. The obvious differences between the two dinners is the portion size but both times, the appetizers were delicious – fresh, balanced flavors and it’s delicious. Continue reading “Dinners at Sportful Garden Restaurant, Hong Kong” »
My Hong Kong/China vacation took place on April 29 – May 10, 2009. I know I’m way overdue on these posts but at least I’m writing it – in a sloth-like pace. This post is an overall review of the multiple times (four, if you need to know) I’ve eaten dim sum at Sportful Garden Restaurant, with my aunt and uncle or with a larger crowd of relatives. It’s mostly food porn rather than a useful review, perhaps. I’ll let you be the judge.
Part of the Interior
When my aunt took me to Sportful Garden Restaurant for the first time, I am a bit astounded how the decor isn’t garish unlike NYC’s Chinese restaurants. It’s understated in neutral color palate with a touch of gold and the expected fish tanks near the kitchen. (Note: The English name doesn’t come close to the translation of the restaurant’s Chinese name.)
Tea with some snacks
The typical pot of tea (we like chrysanthemum) with roasted peanuts on the side for snacking. What is sort of unusual is the pot of hot water is served with the pot of tea – to reduce the amount of times you need the server to refill your pot. Good idea.
Wilted Romaine Lettuce
My aunt is a health nut and always order a plate (or plates, depending how large is the party) of wilted romaine lettuce with light soy sauce on the side. It’s healthy, fresh and it tastes good.
Pork congee
During the weekend before I left Hong Kong, one of the specials that day was pork congee for $9 HK (equivalent to $1.20 US). A bowl that is large enough to share with three people. It’s filled with lots of marinated salted pork meat and little bits of what I think is watercress. Delicious and cheap. Continue reading “Dim Sums at Sportful Garden Restaurant, Hong Kong” »
Taken place back on April 29th. Yeah, I’m that behind. This is Day 1 of my vacation that dates from April 29th – May 10th (May 11 was my flight back to NYC.)
Flying from JFK to Hong Kong International was a long and sort of exciting. It’s my first solo international flight that lasted for nearly 16 hours and I haven’t been to Hong Kong ever since I was 6 years old!
Waiting to fly out of NYC
My aunt Amy picked my slightly-jet lagged self up from Hong Kong International Airport. Thankfully, the last time we actually seen each other was two years ago, so we can still recognize each other. We hugged each other and talked about my plane ride. The awful thing on my end is my horrible Cantonese. Understand almost everything said to me but my brain can’t come up with a complex sentence.
We walked over to what looked like a train platform, shielded in glass, and we took the Airport Express train to Hong Kong. As confusing as it might sound, the airport is 24 miles away from the city.
Whizzing faster than the speed of sound (my ears popped several times during the train ride) through Tsing Yi and Kowloon’s station under 30 minutes, we hailed a cab to my aunt’s apartment.
As some of you might or care know, I’m back from Hong Kong (nearly 2 weeks ago). I don’t know whether I should be excited or be impartial coming back to NYC but seeing my bed was probably the highlight of coming back home! And I suffered from jet lag for nearly a week. I never felt that awful in my entire life; not knowing whether or not I should be sleeping or working due to the 12-hour time difference.
I’m highlighting random bits of things I observed during my trip abroad (food and not food related) to give you a feel of what it’s like to be in Hong Kong, parts of China (cities I visited were Shenzhen and Zhuhai), and Macau. Continue reading “Observations of Hong Kong & Parts of China” »
Subway ticket vending machines, fares and map, and my one-way ticket
