2nd day in HK was so full of activities and makan, Marpig am sure you wil 流口水 at the end!! :D
Been to HK many times now and had been to most places touristy. HK is really quite similar to the Leetle Red Dot in terms of tourism; they have sorta "run out" of tourist attractions but they dont need to build casinos (therez Macau) and so, the next new attraction in HK is~~ 昂平 360!!
Sm time ago, there was an email circulating on the web bout cable cars with transparent crystal base in HK. So, 昂平 360 wasnt really "tt" new!! Just tt Marpig hasnt had the chance to visit until now!! And so, every1 (Marpigz dad, sis, BIL and his parents) embarked on the great dae out!!
Despite a super rainy and windy morning, they took the MTR to 东涌, where 1 of the 2 cable car stations is. The other is on Lantau Island
Itz been a few yrs since Marpig took a cable car / funicular. Think the last time was with JM in Montserrat
The cable car with the see-through base where the manz legs were. Eh... cant really tel but they didnt get on one, since itz much more x. The cable car is BIG (bigger than the Leetle Red Dot maybe) and all of them + 2 more adults can be accommodated comfortably in 1
See the rain on tt gloomy dae? The wind was strong too, since they were going up and over mountains, in HK!! Yeah... the black speck. Smth got into Goldiez eye, need to send it for service soon!!
A trail on Lantau Island as seen from high above. According to BILz parents, HK police do train by running the trek up the mountains!! (NOTE: BILz bro is a HK police) Ding!! Shanny!! Letz go trekking in Lantau next time lah!!
And the rain got heavier, clouds got lower as they went higher and higher. Marpig was enjoying the ride bcos itz interesting to see nth admist the obscuring clouds and suddenly, out of the grey, pop, out came an oncoming cable car!! Like magic!! :PMarpig wasnt afraid then, since 1 cant see anyth and thankfully, they didnt take the see-through cable car; Marpigz sis was more afraid than Marpig and had been clinging onto Marpigz dad for the entire ride!! Wat was she afraid of? Heights and tt the strong wind wil break the cable. Not in HK 吧!!
After bout 30 mins or so, they finally reached the new attraction, 昂平 Village!! Ah~~ Marpig just so loves 古色古香的地方!! Although itz not really historic, it stil xxxciting!! No wonder Marpig wanted to tour China!! Wonder why Tang Dynasty was closed!! :S
A classic 茶室/茶楼 building where all sorts of chinese tea and tea sets are sold. Itz not a rest/tea house, itz really just a dedicated (ex) tea souvenir shop. Marpigz dad, sis and herself stayed for a bit to watch the 15min 功夫茶道 and savour freshly brewed jasmine tea. A-ok only, but the tea set!! Marpig wil get one set next time so tt she can enjoy drinking tea, eating mooncakes and chit chatting to frens!! Ah~~ already thinking of retirement!! :P
Walking past lotsa rests, specially vegetarian rests (the Village is near to 宝莲禅寺 & 天坛大佛), they came ax a mini 荷花池!!
The Village is pretty much themed ard Buddhism and even has an animation showing the story of how Buddha gained Nirvana. Similar to the Jap shrines, there was a board outside sm place where pple would donate and 许愿!!
And itz stil raining!! TTz the other gate of the Village, away from the entrance with the cable car station. Past this gate and one see~~
天坛大佛!!
And 宝莲禅寺 is only just 5 mins away from the 昂平 Village, how convenient!!
Yeah, just look at the wind and clouds!! As all of them had been to 宝莲禅寺, hence, they decided to get onto the island bus and go to the next interesting place where 星爷z 龙的传人 was filmed!! :D
大澳!! :D The bus ride took only 20mins and was so enjoyable cos it wound past the forest, reservoir and also a prison!! :DMarpig had always wanted to visit the less touristy areas of HK and this time she 如愿以偿 (although 大澳 has tourists but less)!! 大澳 is a fishing village but do u noe tt itz also known as the "Venice of HK"? :P Plus, itz a gd place to see sunset!! :D Wll try it next time!!
1 of the must-see places (although most pple nowsadaes cant be bothered... sigh, sad, pity) is the Tai O Rural Committee Historic and Cultural Showroom where 1 would find all the 怀旧老古董s!!
Wah man, 以前的嫁妆!! Compared to contemporary, 真的是天壤之别!! "Mai hiam" (Hokkein) umk!!
怀旧艺术照 no.1!!
怀旧艺术照 no.2!!
怀旧艺术照 no.3!! 大澳街市!!
大澳 is faymoss for itz many seafood produce and specially the BIG 4 大澳土产!! Salted fish, 鱼肚, 茶果 (didnt come ax!! :S) and~~
虾酱!! Even the brand is so 亲切; 老友记!! Suddenly rem 1 of Marpigz fav zi char dishes, 虾酱鸡!!
Therez also Marpigz fav, the delicious and 好意头的蚝豉!! Good in soups, stews and porridge!! :D__Therez also the dried and ready to BBQ/eat fish roes!!
Also came ax other 街边小吃 like 茶叶蛋 (quail eggs too!!), BBQ cuttlefishies and every1 would love this; 木桶豆花!!
Oh oh!! Therez also the 刚刚出炉的杏仁饼!! The baker was airing them and offered us free tasting. Yum yum yum!! 香!!
Along the little streets were seafd rests where 1 wil select the fresh and live seafd they wanna eat outside, take a seat in the rest and wait for the chef to prepare the dishes in whichever way u want them to be cooked!! So good!! Next time must really try it with fellow 大胃王s!!
Other 大澳小菜 include the above!! :D__ 流口水啦!!Despite slightly past lunchtime, they didnt have lunch in 大澳. Instead, they went back to 东涌 where the BIG shopping centre, Citygate is, for lunch at Food Republic!!
NOTE: Not all food are shown = they had more!!
Therez 上海拉面 and 小笼包
Marpigz fav 菜肉包 and gyozas to share
Korean scallop bibimbap with runner beans
Classic Thai pineapple seafood rice and this was wat Marpig had!!
Taiwanese mee sua with oyster, rice with 卤汁, fried chicken chop and vege!!After late lunch, they went for window shopping at Citygate!! (THE place to go next time for big labels at factory outlet prices, apparently) Marpigz sis nearly bought a 20 pound, yes, 20 pound hair band; she thought it was cheap bcos she convert (HKD to pound) wrongly!! Heng, she didnt buy it bcos Marpig corrected her!!
Anyw, after Citygate, BILz parents went home while the rest of them continued shopping at Causeway Bay for HTC mobile phone and Samsung Galaxy Tablets!! :D
It was also at this time when Marpig met up with Dingko and Shanny cos Marpig had invited them to join her fam and relatives for a scrumptious dinner at a local 老字号 rest:
The rest was near where BILz parents stay and itz been ard for 50 - 60 yrs for 2 generations. However, the 3rd generation didnt wanna continue the biz plus, a developer had acquired the entire 大厦, hence, tt night was the restz 最后一夜!! :S
Boo hoo!!
Lots of us have been to touristy rests but how many of us have been to where the local HK pple frequent? Yeah, Marpig loves this place cos of itz 气氛!! Itz just like Marpig prefers hawker centres over food courts!! The tee bee then was replaying the Royal Wedding (over and over again over the next few daes in HK) but actually, most pple were quite nonchalent after the initial xcitement. Ho humAnd now!! Marpig shal 回味 the dishes tt night!! :D__
脆皮烧乳猪!! Eh... Shanny was afraid of it then (right?) Yeah... dont look at it too long, just eat!! (Cos itz kinda 可怜... ... ...)
Fillets of a BIG grouper
Another dish which was the rest of the BIG grouper (therez stil lotsa meat!!) with vege
星洲炒米!!
姜葱炒蟹!! Think there were many other dishes like prawns, chicken, etc which Marpig didnt take pics of bcos therez so many pple eating (9 pple in total!!) and itz kinda rude to keep taking pics with so many 长辈 ard!!Next up, wil be wat Dingko and Shanny have been waiting for!! Hohoho!!
