Chau Kee Dim Sum (周記點心+茶餐廳) and their Instagrammable Lava French Toast @ Water Street [Hong Kong] #chaukeedimsum

It's my third dim sum meal in Hong Kong and today, we shall pay a visit to Chau Kee which is located within walking distance from Sai Ying Pun MTR station. Does that name ring a bell? It's because we were in the same vicinity on day four; indulging in a delicious claypot meal at  Kwan Kee and nice dessert at Yuen Kee!

What's the one thing you notice from the poster plastered on the glass facade of Chau Kee? Yes, it's their lava French toast that was featured prominently and that's going to be my objective for breakfast as i am a big fan of french toast!

Space inside, typical of neighbourhood dim sum eateries, is packed tight and while it seemed as if all the tables were occupied, we managed to join a guy who was dining alone. That's the good thing about eating in Hong Kong where table sharing is the norm rather than the exception.

Ordering sheet - of course the french lava toast wouldn't be the only dish i am going to have. The disadvantage of just two persons in a group, with one who's known to be picky, means there's only so much i can request for. I can only pray the queen likes what i order; failing which i would have to eat up everything myself!

Fresh Shrimp Fried Wanton with Salad - this is a simple, fusion twist to the traditional fried shrimp wanton, with the portion being noticeably larger and visually better.

I love the crispy wanton skin and the content within; it's like eating those prawn salad from wedding dinners, wrapped in wanton skin. Extremely satisfying!

Siu Mai with Quail Egg - departing from our usual siu mai, they were pale looking with a knob on top. Dissect it to reveal the generous amount of minced pork. It tasted not too bad although siu mai lovers would be wondering why it doesn't have that familiar taste; more like a pork bun without the bun, figuratively.

Steamed Bun with Custard - a dim sum meal can't do without any order of buns and since their lava french toast is their signature; i guess the above might not be that bad.

流沙包, as the Chinese name indicates, is supposed to refer to the custard flowing. Well, it didn't happen here and the dough skin was thick! Taste was alright.

Golden Lava French Toast - i mentioned earlier i am a fan of French toast and if i am with friends and see it on the menu, there's a 50% chance i would order it so long friends are willing to share. However, i have yet to try a golden lava French toast!

Let's cut it open and let the lava flow out! This is the moment whereby instagrammers would upload to the boomerang video to their account. I forgot. :( and i am not the kind to waste my money by buying another one just to upload for additional likes on my social media account.

My verdict - despite the spectacular visual impact of the salted egg custard oozing out, the taste wasn't what i enjoyed; it was overwhelming, to the extent i can't even recall if the toast is good, yet the flavour was not as rich and not as nice as the kind we get in Singapore.

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Address

地下 H1 號 舖, Tung Lee Mansion, 

1C-1K Water St, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

Map

As above

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Fresh Shrimp Fried Wanton with Salad - HKD $36

Siu Mai with Quail Egg - HKD $24

Steamed Bun with Custard - HKD $26

Golden Lava French Toast - HKD $34 

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.

Yung Kee Restaurant (鏞記) - Signature Charcoal Roast Goose (Siu Ngo), Barbecued Pork (Char Siew) & Preserved Egg @ Hong Kong #yungkeeroastgoose

It was the second last day of my Hong Kong trip and i told myself i die-die must have roast goose before returning back to Singapore! Many friends warned me not to go Yung Kee Restaurant as it's overrated and nor worth the price but the one i had identified, Kam's Roast Goose, had already sold out its roast geese!

Since Yung Kee is not too far away, i guess it's fate for me to visit the Hong Kong's best known restaurant for roast goose, at least among tourists.

Well, for a best known restaurant with a history spanning over 75 years, the dinner crowd was relatively thin at about 7.00 pm on a Tuesday. The decorations were posh, evident even from its facade, and i shuddered at the thought of the pricing for this meal. 

2-Roast Meat Combination - as always, i would prefer to try more of a restaurant roast meat instead of just their signature. After the not-my-type-of char siew at Tai Hing Roast Restaurant (太興燒味餐廳), i believe we should give Hong Kong char siew another chance.

Once again, i wasn't impressed. I think char siew in Hong Kong tends to be leaner which would be preferable by people into healthier cuts but for me, please give me the fattier and slightly charred parts. Darn, so missing the char barbecued pork Roast Paradise from Singapore right now. 

Now, goose is not a common meat in Singapore although i did try it before at Restoran You Kee in Malaysia; and love it! So how would this insanely expensive version compare?

Oozing with oil in every bite, the meat was tough and even with the accompanying plum sauce, i would say this was indeed overrated, as per friends' warning. Even the roasted goose skin, a part i usually enjoy, fails to meet our expectations.

We actually ordered plain rice (cost a pricey HKD $20 each, about S$3.60) with the roasted meat and the weird thing is that this small portion of underrated honey glazed soybean hidden beneath the vegetable was the perfect combination for the rice!

Preserved Egg and Picked Ginger - the best item i had at Yung Kee was definitely the above which we usually call century egg. I am a big fan of century eggs but i would have never imagined there would be one day where i was literally speechless after taking a bite.

It's like an explosion of century egg pungency; the yolk was creamy and the flavour was insanely good (said to be a result of using the highest quality of duck eggs for preservation of about 40-45 days)! Even the home-pickled ginger was different from the others i had; piquant and sweet, it gave a guava-like crunch and the spiciness was manageable which means you can jolly well eat it on its own!

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You can actually buy the roast goose and preserved eggs as souvenirs for home. I was deliberating if i should but HKD $85 for 6 pieces isn't cheap! Okay, now i feel like i have regretted a little bit.

Address

Yung Kee Building, Wellington St,

Central, Hong Kong

Location Map

As above.

Website

http://yungkee.com.hk/

Pricing

2-Roast Meat Combination - HKD $325.00

Preserved Egg and Picked Ginger - HKD $15.00 

Rice - HKD $20.00 per bowl

(Subject to Service Charge)

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.

Adventure Land - Raging River and VR Mine Train @ Ocean Park Hong Kong #adventureland #oceanparkhongkong

I was thinking about how best to blog about the Ocean Park in Hong Kong as it was way bigger than expected! Since the theme park was put into different zones, let's start with Adventure Land today as it has only two attractions! 

Raging River - as the name suggests, it's a water ride and from the look of it, you would need a poncho in order to keep yourself dry! With my DSLR, this would be one risky ride.

It did seem promising though (as in exciting) with such a steep climb! I deliberated and as we needed someone to guard our belongings, it was decided that Alex would take the ride first.

Someone brought a humongous soft toy on the ride too! 

This couple appeared to have enjoyed the ride. Sorry, it can be quite boring waiting for someone even though i should be glad that Alex insisted on buying the fast track pass and my torture should be better mitigated. 

Guess this would be the final 'moment'.

Alex and a young boy who happened to be in the same card as him on the ride. Actually, i needed Alex to go first as i would then be in a better position to gauge how wet i would be and whether it would be worth my while.

I took up the challenge and honestly, i am glad i have the fast track pass as i can't imagine waiting in line for a long period of time just to take this ride. 

It was boring for most part of the ride with the car floating on water with nothing much to see after the steep ascent. The only excitement came with the above drop and its impact is child's play compared to Caribbean Splash at Taiwan! 

Mine Train - both Alex and i love roller-coaster rides as they provide the uncontrollable exhilaration with their twists, their turns and their drops! Hopefully, this mine train will provide us with better excitement than Raging River.

Woah, such breathtaking backdrop and it seemed like quite a long track. It was more a traditional roller coaster with any vertical loop or other fanciful, heart-jumping elements.

Oh my gosh; such a long queue! Again, it's our fast track pass saving the day! As tourists with limited time, it's sometimes better to just pay extra. I was expecting a thinner crowd on Tuesday though.

Samsung Gear VR ride - i had never played with the Samsung Gear before and wondered then if the virtual reality would wow me to the extend i might consider switching from Apple to a Samsung phone! 

The VR gears; guaranteed to ensure it stays on your head throughout the ride.

You can actually choose not to have the VR; in fact, those below 13 years old would not be allowed to use the Samsung Gear. For both of us, of course we have to take the VR for the experience! 

My verdict - lousy for me as i got motion sickness after the ride! The VR graphic wasn't terrific and since we literally had to rely on the content shown to us, some of the 'drops' from the actual roller coaster caught us by surprise in the VR and that, to me, was dangerous as there's a high chance of neck sprains! First time VR would also likely be my last time. 

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Location

Ocean Park Hong Kong

Website

https://www.oceanpark.com.hk/en

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.

The Amazing Sunset Along the Beach @ Ao Nang in Krabi [Thailand]

It was a 600-meter mad rush towards the beach after taking a badly needed shower at BlueSotel Krabi as the day had started to dim and i was hoping to catch the sunset on our last night in Krabi! 

I wasn't disappointed; despite the heavy downpour just two, three hours ago, the sky had miraculously opened up to show us the spectacular sight as above. Together with me were hundreds of other like-minded visitors along the promenade who were also there to gawk at nature's product. 

To be honest, sunset is here everyday and you can see it everywhere. However, it just feels especially nice when one is on a vacation, with a relaxed mood. 

And don't you just love that big cluster of cloud; its existence partially prevented the setting sun from blinding our eyes yet it also helped in dispersing the beautiful sun rays! 

What was that land mass in front, where the setting sun was? I initially thought it's Phuket Island but no, it's actually another island that lies in between Phuket and Krabi; Ko Yao Yai! 

The magic of photography; with the setting sun still giving much illumination, the above photo looked strangely out of place from the orangey-tinge pictures i have shown so far. 

Compared the two photos above too; one was taken with another setting on my camera. That's why i sometimes don't quite believe in the "realness" of photography where you can manipulate aperture and shutter speed. The best way is of course to see it with your own eyes and determine if what you see is what you expected. 

A shot of sun ray! 

Sailfish Statue along the promenade of Ao Nang Beach provided a nice backdrop against the setting sun! Built in 2015, it was erected to commemorate a catch of an "enormous number of the iconic marine animal off Phi Phi Island". 

Last photo - a long-tailed boat operator rushing back to the pier! 

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Click here for the itinerary 

of my 4-day visit to Krabi