Restaurant Review!

Chai Wan Industrial City l Chai Wan l Hong Kong

Private kitchens have been a phenomenon in Hong Kong for decades now. People will open small illegal restaurants in any space big enough to hold 6 tables and a kitchen. This means you’ll find them in offices, warehouses and even homes. The concept here is a small venue, six tables or less, and a set meal at a set price. They may not advertise but they will get written up in papers. Despite this, they are rarely shut down by the authorities though there was a recent crackdown which has left the city with fewer choices but they are starting to make a real comeback. I know that many other cities boast these sorts of establishments but none have quite so many as Hong Kong and definitely not operating as openly.

It was my great pleasure to go to one located just a block from my office in Chai Wan. Deep inside the bowels of an office/warehouse complex, by day, it was the office for a wine importer, but by night, it served spectacular Cantonese food matched with a flight of wines. The chef had once served as the anchor for a fairly famous chain in Hong Kong which spanned 5 locations including one operating at the Peak. He is still well paid for his skills here while his wife works the front room and the wine importer matches wines with the courses and mingles with the customers.

Most of the private kitchens which I have been to, though good, often felt like amateur chefs who liked to eat and talk about food. Although enjoyable, I felt like I had paid for the pleasure of eating in someone’s kitchen.

The pedigree of the chef and the skill of the sommelier made this a completely different experience. Some of the highlights of the evening included a perfectly tea smoked chicken. Absolutely succulent and moist, the tea smoking left it with a complexity that didn’t run all over the flavor of the free range chicken. Another highlight? One of the best dishes I have ever had anywhere was deep fried rice served with a salted egg yolk broth. The rice was crispy like…well…rice crispies and to those who are uninitiated, salted eggs have yolks which develop a powdery consistency and an intense flavor with an earthy edge. Needless to say, the flavor of the yolks, sweetness of the broth, and crispiness of the rice was pure genius. And of course, the flight of wines was worked well for all the courses but sadly; I must admit that I can’t remember wines when I’m working through a whole series of them.

Why, you may ask, am I being so mysterious about the location? Why, it would break my heart if this place was lost during the next crackdown. At $70 a head including the flight wines, it would break my heart indeed.

Beef and flat noodles in swiss sauce

Restaurant Review!

Tai Ping Koon l Causeway Bay l Hong Kong

Come, sit at my feet and listen to mine words. Let me spread but a bit of my humble wisdom upon the subject of restaurants for like people, they may be your friends or enemies. Some may not share your views on how ingredients should be handled and respected. You will find these places may even go so far as to oppose all that you stand for and believe in. Others may so agree with your outlook on life that you will always be comforted and at ease within their embrace. I have the misfortune of actually having a crush on one of the oldest and most venerated restaurants in Hong Kong: Tai Ping Koon.

Established in the 1800’s, it has been serving Chinese style western food with a such a slavish dedication to its roots that upon entering one of its 4 locations, you can’t help but feel that you’ve been transported to an older and unchanged Hong Kong. One with a glamour that is unmatched by all but a handful of establishments in the city. Wood paneling, smoky interiors, and a wait staff no younger than 50 all contribute to the sense that this place is so self assured; it obviously doesn’t give two shits about what the rest of the world thinks of it. Even the customers have an old world air about them. I’ve seen old Shangainese émigrés having lunch with their furrier and while being measured for new mink coats. I’ve seen dapper old men dressed to the nines almost melt into the ambience. There’s a languid air about the place that seems to exclude the rest of the city and its usual hectic mayhem.

It’s most famous dish is its Swiss Sauce chicken wings. The story goes that in its earliest days some European merchants were dining and exclaimed that the sauce for the chicken was sweet. Mistaking the words “sweet” for “Swiss”, the restaurant staff thought that they had somehow stumbled upon some ancient Swiss recipe and immediately pushed it to the forefront of its menu. On this particular day, I had Beef with flat noodles and Swiss sauce. The Cantonese have something called the “breath of the wok.” In essence, what you need is a well seasoned wok and a gas burner like a jet engine on afterburner and you will imbue the food with a smoky steely flavor. Not harsh and metallic but full and warm. This dish has it in spades. The beef and the sweet soy sauce mingle perfectly with green beans and soft flat rice noodles without being greasy or overpowering. The braised ox tongue with spaghetti is another established dish that you’ll also find in many Hong Kong eateries but here you can find its roots in a pared down, simple, yet ultimately honest dish which balances the rich, meaty ox tongue with a simple spaghetti base.

Like real crushes, things that you would usually find despicable, like say, oh, anti-Semitism, suddenly become adorable and charming. In this case, it’s the intractable belief in its own methodology. There’s no substitution. There’s no veering from the course. This is great coffee but what do you mean I can’t have some proper cream instead of this evaporated milk? You’re telling me that you don’t have any cream in the kitchen? Bullshit! Why…I ……Oh, I can’t stay mad at you. Black coffee will be fine. Now let’s go have some lie down kisses.

Macaroni and cheeses for baby Jesus! I was wrong!

Krispy Kreme l Causeway Bay l Hong Kong

I had a dream that I was walking along the beach with baby Jesus. I said to baby Jesus, “I’m fading here. I really need a taste of home. Nothing’s cutting it here. Everything is wrong. Mcdonald’s special sandwich has a bun made of rice cakes! Why can’t I find solace?” Jesus replied, “Look back my child. Do you not see our footprints in the sand? And where you see only one set of footprints, that’s where I left and opened a Krispy Kreme in Hong Kong so that you could have melt in your mouth Donuts and a proper strong cup of coffee when you were fading. Do you not remember when you use to drive all the way down to Seattle just to get your hands on their soft, ethereal goodness and you would bring them back for your diabetic uncle? Maybe that part wasn’t so thoughtful of you but do you remember?” Oh thank you baby Jesus. Thank you.

Mutton dumpling with handmade noodles

Restaurant Review!

Wah Fu l Central l Hong Kong

Let’s all do some calisthenics together. Let’s stand with our feet shoulder width apart. Place your arms at your sides. Now while keeping your elbows pressed against your sides, raise your forearms in parallel and forward until your elbow is at a 90 degree angle. Now turn your palms upwards and then shrug your shoulders.

That’s basically how I feel about this Central eatery which has made a name for itself serving hand made noodles and dumplings. We started out with chilled cucumber in a sesame sauce, sliced tomatoes sprinkled with sugar, and cold smoked Shanghainese fish. It was alright but the sliced tomato dish really didn’t make sense to me. I mean I just didn’t understand why you would do that.

For my main I had the lamb dumplings, which was decent, with handmade noodles in light broth. On an especially wet evening, it seemed like the right thing to have and you could really taste the lamb. However, I often find that places that make handmade dumplings and noodles have a sort of rustic taste to everything. Like it’s just a little too doughy and lacks a certain refinement. I’m not saying it needs to be a dish which has layers upon layers of flavors and textures piled upon each other until it feels like you are solving a gastronomic Rubik’s Cube in your mouth. It just shouldn’t taste like my homemade pizza from Home Ec class.

That solid white line may was well be a wall

Surrounded by the red team

Tokyo Drift

I’ve been driving in Hong Kong for a few months and it’s always a bit of a challenge. There are a few good rules of thumb to get you through things. Being aggressive is rule number one but you need to always keep your eyes open too.

Rule 1: Grand Theft Auto

You really need to know where you are going before you get started. There’s no real grid system so you need to know where your exits are and which direction the streets go. If you miss your turn off, you are in for a long series of detours to get back on course. The signage is also last minute too. You can be assured that if you see a sign for where you want to go, it will be at the exit. I haven’t had to know the streets this well since I had to do a drive by mission for the Yardies in Grand Theft Auto.

Rule 2: Tron

You know how you aren’t supposed to cross the solid white lines when you drive? Well in Hong Kong crossing a solid white line guarantees you a ticket. It is one of the most infuriating experiences when all you can do is stare as your exit wizzes past you with no traffic impeding you except for that damn white line. Those lines show up everywhere so you need to make sure you get into the right lane when you get the chance. This also causes traffic jams as cars rush to change lanes while they still can. It’s like a desperate game of Tron and the red team (taxi cabs) is the worst. They will cut you off at the first available moment and will not let you in no matter how desperate you try to push in. Many a time I’ve been tronned by cabs and forced to take a roundabout route to get to my destination.

Rule 3: Chicken

Driving is also a lot like playing a game of chicken. Cars will not let you into their lane unless you make them let you into their lane. What this usually means is the person with the more expensive car usually loses because they are less likely to want to get that pretty car scratched up. When traffic is tight you just edge your nose in and that luxury car will always give way and let you into their lane. That still doesn’t explain why I couldn’t wedge my way into a Benz SUV the other day. That car was just determined. I was so taken by surprise that it felt like a crime against nature. It was like the time my dog kept breaking out of the yard and going for daytime sojourns all day long. I’d come home and the gate was open but my dog would be asleep in his dog house. A neighbor had to tell me that my dog was the littlest hobo all day long but instead of helping people, he would chase squirrels and crap in yards. I didn’t know if I should be amazed or humiliated.

Rule 4: Frogger

Pedestrians always lose.

Outside in the heat
Curried Prawns: better than it looks

Restaurant Review!

Shek O Chinese and Thai Seafood Restaurant l Shek O l Hong Kong

I must admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of Thai food. People always go on about Pad Thai or some other much beloved Thai dish but I often find the food seasoned in an over handed manner. More often than not, the food is cloyingly sweet and lacking in all subtlety. Even when the Thai food is enjoyable, I must say that I never crave it. It just comes across as big flavors that seem to be trying to mask something.

I’ve always chalked it up to Vancouver just not having any good Thai restaurants. Our distance from the indigenous ingredients of Thailand is also a factor as freshness makes all the difference in any dish. I’ve had Thai food in cities such as San Francisco, Boston and Seattle and though they are definitely better, (especially San Francisco) I can’t say that they’ve ever won over my heart.

Which is why I’m suspicious of the Thai restaurant with the longest name possible, Shek O Chinese and Thai Seafood Restaurant. I actually find the Thai food honestly enjoyable at this beachside eatery. It might be that this open air environment is more in keeping with the Thai climate and surroundings. Hong Kong is notorious for not having particularly authentic food but I just don’t get that sense here. It just doesn’t have that Chinese sensibility that a lot of other places do. The deep fried prawn cakes with lemongrass have an unbelievable brightness to it. You can taste the difference that the lemon grass and lime leaves make with each bite. The curried prawns have an intense coconut and curry flavor that balances each other perfectly. The hot and sour seafood soup never overpowered the squid and mussels in the broth. This is one of the few places where I can taste the constituents of each dish.

Logically speaking, Thailand has some of the best fruits and spices this planet has to offer. Surrounded on three sides by ocean, seafood should be plentiful and myriad. Why not let those flavors take center stage? It just makes sense that the deep fried chicken wrapped in banana leaves should have nothing more than the light floral notes of the banana leaf clinging to it. It just makes sense that I should go to Shek O and eat myself sick on the pretext of measuring a playground we are bidding to replace.

I might try to head over to Thailand and sample things first hand but in the meantime, I will continue to crave Shek O Chinese and Thai Seafood Restaurant.

The macau egg tart: a waste of eggs

Does Macau mean no ingrediants?

Restaurant Review!

Macau Restaurant l Tsim Sha Tsui l Kowloon

The thought has crossed my mind that people might feel that all I do is give positive reviews. What I may have neglected to mention is that many of the restaurants reviewed so far are places that I’ve visited before and of course want to enjoy while I'm here. As the blog progresses, I’m certain that things will change as I try new places. Let’s just be clear that I’m not some sort of restaurant whore, spineless and eager for the leash.

Although Hong Kong is considered to be a cosmopolitan city, it is also fairly homogenous and hence, it is shockingly difficult to fine some authentic food. I had a discussion with a coworker where I had to explain that the Japanese food here is total shit and she looked at me incredulously. People here love Japanese food but much like everything else here, I often find it has a Chinese taste which I find absolutely infuriating.

Case in point: Macau Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. This place gets big write ups in the local newspaper and is perennially busy. The curried beef was practically flavorless, the Portuguese buns were so soft as to be cake-like (which is considered the height of baking here), the Macau fried rice had a poverty of ingredients and the Ong Choy (A Chinese vegetable akin to a hollow stemmed spinach) in Macanese spices tasted like the same dish served in thousands of Cantonese restaurants around the world. The only thing that was added was some spiced dry shrimp which was apparently the summation of all that Macau had to offer.

I guess that this sort of thing occurs around world. You need to dumb down flavors so that locals will be more likely to be accepting of the food. I see this sort of thing all the time and it always makes me think of that movie “Big Night” where an Italian restaurant goes under for being ahead of its time. There is always an education process involved with unfamiliar food. I just hope Vancouverites realize just how good and inexpensive their Japanese and Chinese food is, and I’m not talking about Hon’s either.

Needless to say, I had to visit the lady with the shiny cart in the Choi Hung MTR station to get over the disappointment.

I guess I'll just stare at the wold's biggest shark's fin while listening to my iPod instead

Macaroni and Cheeses for Baby Jesus!

Why does baby jesus hate me so much? Look at all these bands in Vancouver! Cat Power! National? Bonnie Prince Billy? Sufjan Stevens? Of Montreal? This happened the last time I was in Hong Kong and is simply a case of geography. We get the bands either starting or ending the legs of their tours in Vancouver so our shows are spring and fall heavy.

Cat Power is the one that I'm really miffed at. She's infamous for stage shows which border on mental breakdown. She's cancelled a number of shows already for "health reasons" and there's no reason why I wouldn't expect if for this tour of the show either. I liked the way she has an early and late show. Maybe she'll just show up for the late show. Maybe she'll have a nervous breakdown after the first show and not be around for the late show. You just don't know! The best part is that despite her emotional instability, her songs have a beautuiful stripped down clarity to them.

I must admit though that I did have the chance to see DJ Shadow here but I was just unwilling to shell out the $140 cdn to see him. Truth of the matter is though, if you want to see a show, that's just what you have to pay. I should have gone.

While I'm ranting here, I've noticed that conversations I have here in Hong Kong often have some sort of connection to my weight. The most common one is: "Hey, you finish this food. You're a big guy!" I like the way it infers that I'm in an eating contest. The second most common one centers around some story with a fat guy in it: "...and he was even fatter than you!" Great, thanks. That explains why the last time I saw a doctor here he said my ideal weight was 140 lbs. When I said that was like 20 lbs lighter than what I thought my ideal weight was, he told me those charts are for white people. I immediatly grew suspicous and looked over his "degrees." I had to calm myself down by asking "What would Jesus do?"

Apparantly, this is totally my MO

Podcast!

My first podcast is now ready. Here’s the mix.

Tsuen Wan Mix

I Formed A Band – Art Brut (2005)
Panda – Dungen (2005)
Set You Free – The Black Keys (2003)
The Price – Wax Mannequin (2000)
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth – Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah (2005)
Playhouses – TV on the Radio (2006)
Sometimes Always – Jesus and the Mary Chain w/ Hope Sandoval (1994)
Jacksonville – Sufjan Stevens (2005)
Airbag – RJD2 (2006)
I Changed My Mind – Quannum Projects (2000)
Turbo – Ellen Allien and Apparat (2006)
Just – Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald (2006)
A Bailar Calypso – Eli Medeiros (1987)

To subscribe to the podcast, all you need to do is highlight this following link: http://www.switchpod.com/users/barbapapa/feed.xml and then copy it. Go to iTunes, highlight podcasts and then under “advanced” you can click on subscribe to podcast. Paste the link into the field and then click update to start downloading!

The deal going down

Note the plastic wrapped remote control

Restaurant Review?

Lady with the Shiny Metal Cart l Choi Hung MTR Station l Kowloon

There’s one thing that always makes things seem better. More exciting. More delicious. More fashionable. Yes, that’s right. Make it illegal!

Many years ago, MTR (subway) stations use to be surrounded by illegal hawkers selling all manners of street food from shiny metal carts. Then in the 90’s, there was a serious crackdown and they have now all vanished. Or have they?

The last few nights, as I’ve exited the Choi Hung station on my way home, there’s been the usual crowd of kids pushing cable TV and the lady with the neurological disease selling Kleenex. However, a shiny metal cart caught my eye. That and a big line up. Selling desserts in Styrofoam bowls, she was doing a brisk and steady business. The choices? Watermelon or mango with tapioca, black sticky rice with coconut milk or red bean soup with condensed milk. I bought a bowl of mango with tapioca and took the first mini bus home.

A large push for shutting down the carts in the 90’s was due to the horrendous sanitary conditions in which much of the food was made. Not wanting to take a chance I waited until I had made it all the way home before I dug in. The verdict? It was surprisingly good. I mean better than I expected. The mango was young tasting and it was packed with tapioca in a cold thin cream sauce. I inhaled the bowl in a manner of seconds as it was so refreshing on a muggy Hong Kong evening. It was so suited for this heat that immediatly started thinking about going back again. I’ve had this particular dish before but I’ve never tasted one that tasted quite so sweet, so unique, and so illicit.

Honolulu Cafe and Egg Tarts

Restaurant Review!

Honolulu Café l Central l Hong Kong

If it hasn’t become obvious in my reviews yet, let me tell you now that I have a great fondness for eggs. I love them in sauces, custards, on their own, and in any recipe imaginable. It should be now surprise at all to find out that I’ve had an ongoing love affair with egg tarts.

Egg tarts came to Hong Kong the way of Portuguese traders and the nearby Portuguese colony of Macau. The locals quickly accepted it and it’s been served in dim sum restaurants and tea shops ever since. Now, people will extol the virtues of “Portuguese” style egg tarts where they will broil them and caramelize the top. It leads to a browned custard and crispy crust. Lies! What you end up with is a custard that’s lumpy and a crust that’s gummy. The higher temperature never lets the custard set evenly and the pastry never develops that proper flakiness.

Honolulu Café (no affiliation with the one in Vancouver) has been baking the epitome of the egg tart for years. There are a number of locations throughout Hong Kong but for some reason, the location in Central is far superior. The custard is perfectly set with a smoothness that lies tantalizingly between solid and runny. The pastry is buttery with a flakiness that explodes when you bite into it. The whole package is the type of gastronomic magic you only get when you take two such complementary extremes and take them to their highest levels. Sort of like fried chicken and waffles but that’s another review all together.

And by the way, thanks to all the people who have taken the time to put comments on the blog. I understand if you don't want to sign up before you comment but if you could sign off or initial off so at least I have some idea who put down the comment, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hong Kong, Miami Vice Style

Our neighbor's 19 year old daughter, Dolars, asked me to go on a boat cruise with her and some of her friends. I expected something consisting of a large group of carousing kids crammed onto a small boat. It turned out to be 50 foot mother of a boat tearing the harbour a new asshole!

It was a perfect day for a cruise with 32 degree weather, which seemed cooler on the water, and blue sky after blue sky. We tore out of Central and headed out towards Sai Kung for some seafood on one of the smaller islands. The italian yacht made impressive time, beating the ocean into submission and outpacing everything else on the water.

We had a languid lunch on a quiet island surrounded by other boats and wakeboarders. It turned out that one of Dolars' friends had studied abroad and had brought along a friend from New Zealand who in turn had a friend brought from Singapore. It turned out to be far more relaxing than expected as there were only 7 of us and I got the chance to have some conversation in english for a change.

After lunch, we cruised out to Clearwater Bay for some after lunch swimming and sunbathing. The water was impossibly warm and I swam out to the sharknet and back before laying out for a quick snooze on the deck. After an hour or so of sun, Dolars and I got chaffeured onto the packed beach on a zodiac like the Normandy of the rich and famous, hitting the sand and picking our way through the crowds and umbrellas.

Heading back home, I found myself invigorated and full of zeal. The cruise and relaxing afternoon was the detoxifying experience that I needed to get some much needed energy back. I was beaming when I told my mom how great the afternoon had been.

She asked me if I had exchanged any phone numbers. I hadn't realized it was that kind of cruise I thought. She looked at me incredulously. How are you suppose to see those people again if you didn't get their numbers? Well, I said with slowly dawning dread, I guess they didn't want to be my friend. Now I feel like I need another boat cruise to get over this boat cruise!

Green Onion Pastry

Green Onion Pastry
Restaurant Review!

Wing Lai Yuen l Whampoa l Kowloon

Wing Lai Yuen is a Shanghainese restaurant which has been around for generations. Starting out as a wooden shack in the area of Diamond Hill, it has continued to expand and improve its locations until its present location at the Gourmet Center in Whampoa.

The slow fried fish was delicious. Crunchy yet fresh tasting, the slow frying process allowed you to eat the fish, bones and all, yet the flesh wasn’t dried out in the least. The Sugar and red vinegar pork chops were reasonable and competent. The green onion pastry however was flaky with an intense green onion flavor. The steamed pork dumplings were surprisingly good. Filled with especially sweet juice and a pork filling that had tones of ham, it had a complexity that was often lacking at other places.

So, what is my feeling on Wing Lai Yuen? It’s definitely decent but there are better places in Hong Kong. My favorite part of the meal was listening to my mom’s stories of skipping school to eat at Wing Lai Yuen when it was nothing more than a wooden shack in Diamond Hill.

Late Lunch at On Le

Restaurant Review!

On Le l Shau Kei Wan l Hong Kong

Texture plays a big part in Chinese cooking and it plays a big part in fish balls. On Le is renowned for not only serving the most delicious tasting fish balls but also serving ones with that perfect amount of spring and consistency. Throughout the day, fish are filleted and skinned with the meat being pounded into fish balls and fish cakes while the skin deep fried to be served with soup. A victim of its own popularity, On Le has had to fight copycats lining the cramped and winding street. Some have even taking up the same name! On any given day, you will find dozens of cars illegally parked up and down the street just to eat at one of its two locations sited kitty corner from each other.

My favorite dish is the soy sauce dry mixed egg noodles with sliced fish cake and beef brisket. The egg noodles have just the right spring while the brisket is cooked tender and bursting with big beef flavor. Finally, the clean, sweet taste of the fish cakes acts as the perfect foil for the dark soy noodles and meaty brisket. Wash it down with a frosty bottle of Coke and you have the reason why I ducked out of work early today.

Sonya Thomas

The Bad Boys of Dim Sum

The Location: Whampoa Gourmet Center
The Weapon: Vegetable Dumplings
The Fight Song: ZZ Top’s “Legs”

The bad boys of the Hong Kong competitive eating circuit showed up for an epic eating contest. I had heard inklings of this event and it had taken me a few phone calls to track it down as the event was sparsely advertised. The contestants had 12 minutes to consume as many vegetable dumplings as they could with me and a room full of uninitiated locals cheering them on.

The first round saw two combatants go toe to toe before both reaching a total of 53 dumplings with both eaters ending with an eye watering sprint. The crowd was starting to get into it and murmurs were going throughout the room.

The next round saw the first true competitive eater. He ate standing up and barely swallowed, dropping the dumplings into his gullet like a drug mule. He pounded through them and ended up with a grand total of 74.

The Rocky Balboa moment of the tournament came through in the third round with an unknown sprinting his way to 73 before bogging down in the final minutes. His 8 year old son broke out of the crowd to stand in front of his father to cheer him on. With gargantuan effort, he made it to 75 in the dying seconds of the countdown. Then he threw up and got disqualified.

The next round saw Hong Kong’s eating champion Johnny Wu show up with all the fanfare of a professional wrestler. Despite his confident gait and stylish sunglasses, all he could muster was 74.

The final round was what I had waited 3 hours for. There is one competitive eater who I honestly thought I would never get to see in my lifetime, Sonya Thomas, aka The Black Widow. Weighing in at just 100 lbs, she is a champion of the highest order. She broke into the competitive eating circuit 3 years ago, demolishing competitors more than twice her size. The announcer went through her list of championships yet people only seemed to perk up when they heard how much prize money she’d earned. The announcer tried to play up a competitive eater from Shanghai as her main competition this round but looking around, I realized that no one knew just what Sonya could do. When she said that she had planned on breaking her dumpling record that day, I knew I was in for something special. I yelled “Take’em down Black Widow!” but people just looked at me like I had Tourettes. From the starting bell to the final countdown, Sonya double-fisted dumplings at an alarming rate, never slowing until she reached her final tally of 176. At the very end, she stacked all the empty bamboo steaming trays and posed with them, all smiles and with zero discomfort and hands pumping in the air in victory. The bad boys of dim sum just stared dumbfounded, like Ceausescu's orphans.

Australian Dairy Company

Restaurant Review!

Australian Dairy Company l Jordon l Kowloon

One of the amazing things about Hong Kong is the fact that you will find the best scrambled eggs here. More specifically, you’ll find them at the Australian Dairy Company. Constantly busy, this Hong Kong mainstay has been around for generations and turns out the smoothest, fluffiest, eggiest scrambled eggs you will find. Always just set and buttery, they are moist and delicious in that way which talks directly to your reptilian back brain, turning off all conscious thoughts and leaving you with nothing but animal pleasure. Served with thick buttered slices of toast and that Hong Kong invention of macaroni and ham in chicken broth, it is the quintessential breakfast.

Strangely enough, I had always known the place for its piping hot custards which are smooth and creamy. I arrived one morning, noting everyone ordering scrambled eggs and tried some for myself. I was shocked and instantly hooked.

Rumors swirl around just what makes their eggs so unique. Some say that they add corn starch to the eggs to allow them to set at a much earlier and hence smoother stage. Others point to the stark yellow color as a sign of extra egg yolks. Still others note that the use of a wok may give for a greater surface area to allow for a more even surface area for the eggs to set.

There are even rumors that the wait staff is actually composed triad members given well paid jobs in lieu of extortion money. I just chalk their curt manner to the need for brisk service in one of the busiest restaurants in Hong Kong.

Apartments in Quarry Bay

Hong Kong is a city that's been hit by a couple of major diseases. SARS and bird flu have both left a mark on this city and there's a new sort of ettiquite that's grown around that. If you sneeze or cough people look at you like some sort of pariah. People are expected to put on face masks and they wash their hands all the time. That's a good habit to pick up I think.

Anyways, as a side effect of bird flu, my mom has put her birds in the bathroom instead of out on the terrace. She's got 3 songbirds and a talking Mina Bird. They are usually pretty quiet except when I take a shower. Then all hell breaks loose and the Mina Bird won't shut up and the song birds are whistling. It's like I'm being cat called in my own washroom.

Anyways, this is my first blog. I'll try to lay out some podcasts soon. Talk to you soon.