Well off the tourist path

Trying to not look like a tourist in Hong Kong is difficult and not just because I carry a camera around. For all those times when I felt short in Australia, I feel like a giant over here. I've been eating quite well, but tonight I decided to venture well away from the tourist areas to try a place a Sydney chef recommended.

I spent the morning at Mui Wo walking around the Po Lin Monestary and climbing up to the giant Buddha. That was certainly touristy, but something you have to do. In the afternoon, I took the ferry across the harbour to Kowloon and Mong Kok.

This city was more of what I think of when I thought of Asia. Packed, neon signs everywhere, hawker markets, stall selling crap everywhere, and electronics galore. I was getting pretty hungry do I headed towards the restaurant. After a good 30 minute walk east of Mong Kok I finally hit Kowloon City. And I didn't see a single other tourist on that walk. After a bit of searching, I found the restaurant, Chong Fat Chiu Chow.



The restaurant had no menu and the owner spoke only a bit of English. But that was more than my understanding of Mandarin or Cantonese. I can only guess this was the "menu."



After talking to the owner (my guess) I ended up going with goose, prawn and fried rice. Having no idea how they'd be cooked, I just went with it. The goose came out first with a vinegar dipping sauce. I could eat this every single day, without a doubt.



Small slices of rich goose, the small layer of fat and skin with just a bit of cooking juices and soy sauce.

Next came out the prawns and fried rice. These huge prawns were wok charred with an addictive sauce.



It was a bit difficult working the shells off with a chop stick, but well worth it. I also think its the first time I ate the head of a shrimp. Not sure if I was supposed to, but it was crunchy ad rich.



I could have had a few more dishes, but the place was filling up and I didn't want to take the table up much longer. Walking around the neighborhood, there were all sorts of food stalls and butchers, seafood and fresh veggies.

I wrapped up the night watching the nightly laser show of the skyline. This could be one of the coolest skylines I've seen. It goes on for miles and all the sky scrapers have lights on them that they choreograph to music.

Location:Hong Kong

First Impressions of Hong Kong

I'm just wrapping up my third day in Hong Kong, and this city is crazy. It's packed, but not overly crowded. There are new buildings right next to what look like the old world all at the end of an alley crowded with semi-permanent stalls. I need to get out at night to take more pictures so that's my goal for the next few days.

I started on Sunday by going to Macau. The new gambling Mecca of the world. It has more gambling revenue than the Las Vegas strip and has only a fraction of the casinos. After the hour ferry ride and the half hour line to get through customs, I was there. While I wanted to see a few of the casinos (the Sands, the Wynn and the Venetian) I ended up only at the Sands. Had I left that casino I would have been happier, but hey, you win some and you lose some. On the way back to the terminal, I walked past the Macau Grand Prix. There weren't many good viewing spots for non ticket paying spectators, but I did see a few laps. I also took a look around the Duty Free shop since I was in another country. But I held back. Had I won money, it could have been a different story. Sine they had a large vertical range of every single Premier Cru French Boudreaux.







I bummed around the neighborhood I'm staying in looking for a place for dinner and getting frustrated that streets aren't labeled well, if at all. I ended up at a small noodle shop and for about $5 had a bowl of noodles with wontons and a coke which was quite good.

Works been keeping me busy so I haven't ventured out too much at night, but that will change. I went to Yung Kee for dinner on Monday which is a local institution. I had the roasted goose and some sides. It was good, but nothing special. Something to say I went.

Tonight, however, I went to Shui Hu Ju for their Black Chicken.



I'm not one to take pictures of food, but this trip is an exception. I started with a Bean Curd with Spring Onion Oil. And if all tofu tasted like this, I might be able to get on board.



I also managed to eat an inlets with just chop sticks. But the reason I went here was for the Black Chicken. I sort of knew what to expect, but what came out was quite different. Black Chicken is exactly that. A black skinned chicken. The deep fry it and the toss it in the wok with Szechuan peppers. Szechuan pepper is a peppercorn and has a tongue numbing sensation. It was a bit like a dry Arizona heat. I didn't break into sweats like with buffalo wings, but I felt like I was breathing fire. I was cursing under my breath it was so hot and trying to cool it with water and beer. Note for next time, hot tea does not work. You might be wondering how hot could it really have been. Well.....



Yep, those red things, all 60-70 of them, we're tossed in the wok along with the chicken (hidden below the peppers). It was very very addictive, but the heat won out with just a few pieces left.

And walking out of the restaurant into a side street like this.



Old and new, living side by side.

Location:Hong Kong

My Own Shark Week

I think it's fair to say that is one of the coolest things I've done not just while being in Australia, but ever. I didn't put together a bucket list before moving of things I had to do, but the one thing I remember investigating months before moving was to dive with the great whites. Outside of South Africa, one of the best and most consistent places to see them is off the Neptune Islands in South Australia. I was a little worried leading up to it, not because of fear but because of the expectations I put on the experience. It's kind of like going into a meal expecting greatness but having it not live up to the expectations. This experience far exceeded my expectations.

I had to be at the dock at 6:30am to leave for the three hour trip to the Neptune Islands. It was a gorgeous morning with just a few clouds and since it's winter we were up and moving before the sun came up.



With three hours to kill before we dropped anchor, I was able to thoroughly examine the piece of welded steel that would be the only thing separating me from the beasts.


Aside from the bite marks on the boeys, the one thing I noticed was the side of the cage was dented. After talking with James, he did verify that it was done by a shark. While I wanted a bit more excitement than I got in the cage, I don't know how I would have reacted had that happened with me inside.



When we finally got there, I had the plan of not being first in the cage. In the event that there were no sharks, I didn't want to waste my time waiting for them. But as (non)luck would have it, they needed a solo person which was me. As I was getting on my wetsuit I heard everyone talking about the shark. So I sped up and got right in. Apparently it was only an adolescent, about 2 meters. I missed that one by the time I got comfortable breathing with the regulator.

When I finally adjusted to breathing deeply and slowly, I was expecting to see sharks everywhere but all I saw were fish. Loads of them, even inside the cage. At times I'd freak out a bit when I'd step on one not knowing what moving creature I just stepped on. Visibility underwater seemed pretty good, but all of a sudden a monster 4 meter great white appeared.


My adrenaline had to be flowing because I was no longer cold in the 16 degree water. The beast went for the chum, circled the cage and left. A great intro, but I wanted more. After probably 10 more painstaking slow minutes constantly turning in circles not wanting to miss anything, another one appeared. This one got pretty close to the cage.


I remember starting right up at the front of the cage but when I looked at the pictures after, they were all from the back which meant I must have unconsciously backed up as it got closer. As I was backing up I turned around to make sure I wasn't going to run into anyone only to see another white coming at the cage from the other side. I had my own double shark moment. Everywhere I looked were massive sharks. Growing up swimming in pools and Lake Michigan, I never had a fear of the water. After moving to Boston and swimming at the Rockport beach I've always thought that there could be sharks anywhere. Big ones, hungry ones. Swimming in the harbor and "surfing" at Manly, the thought is always in the back of my mind. Now I'm staring at the big black eye of a Great White no more than 4 feet away. And they are just as amazing, if not more than I could have expected.



It was about this time where it dawned on me I should have had a bit more to eat. My stomach started to turn from the bobbing in ocean (I didn't have enough weights in the belt to keep me at the bottom of the cage but I sure as hell wasn't going to get out and miss anything to get another.) At one point I was sure I was going to puke so I started thinking about my escape because I was sure puking underwater into the regulator would not have turned out well. It didn't help when the dropped a bucket of chum above my head.


And then, another shark came back and all was forgotten. I didn't get nearly the number of photos I wanted to, because I was so awestruck just watching them attack the chum, swim right at the cage only to turn at what seemed like the last second I didn't want to miss any of it. That's probably why a lot of my pictures are also through the cage instead of through the viewing window. That's where I was looking and I didn't want miss a thing.


As another shark was circling us, the captain started banging on the cage. Our cue to come up. Everyone else cleared out, but I waited until that shark left before I got out. After getting out, I think they got video of me talking about it and I'm pretty sure I just kept saying amazing and awesome. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get every picture I could of these amazing creatures.











Sitting in a pub today writing this, I kind of wish I booked a second trip for today. Six hours on a boat certainly would have been worth it for another hour in the cage with those animals. The experience wasn't nearly as scary as Shark Week makes it out to be. Even though they weren't very aggressive, I was still glad I was inside a cage. Even if you have a fear of the water or sharks, if you has the opportunity to do this, DO IT. Just make sure to invite me along.

Location:Port Lincoln, South Australia

Weekly pasta

I'm getting better at this homemade pasta thing. The dough freezes quite well too so I made a large batch, portioned it out and froze it. I still makes a mess rolling it out but I'm starting to get the handle on it and it's getting better. The pasta has so much more flavor than dried or even the "fresh" pasta sold in stores. I made a pretty good ricotta gnocchi a while back and I'm thinking about adapting that to use as a filling for some ravioli.

Home Cookin'

I've haven't had much to write about lately. Works been keeping me pretty busy and the weather hasn't been great to want to be outside. So, in some of this down time, I've been doing a bit more home cooking.

The greatest revelation I've had is that homemade pasta us so much better than dried or even the frozen fresh at the grocery store. It definitely takes a bit more effort but it is so worth it. I'm by no means a pro but what's great is that it seems like homemade pasta is pretty forgiving. My last few attempts have been a but wet on the dough but working through adding a bit more flour seems to come out. I think I'd have ether luck if there were two other people helping me roll the pasta out, but doing smaller sheets and making sure the machine is well floured seems to work ok.

Then it's a scant two to three minutes in boiling salted water and directly into the pan with the sauce and you're set. It seems like a 3 to 2 ratio of flor to egg seems to work with a well floured surface.

I need to work a bit on the presentation, but it tasted pretty good with a slow wet roasted lamb ragu and a Tasmanian Pinot.



I think I'll be eating the ragu for a while (I still don't know how to cook a proper portion for one person) so I threw some in top of a creamy polenta. Which worked out quite well.



Plus, cooking at home allows me to dig into my growing wine collection I've picked up through my travels.

It's been a while

I haven't had many reasons to post lately but I thought I'd put a few of the pictures from the past few weeks up. A few weeks ago I spent the day on the harbour cruising around to three or four eastern suburbs beaches. We drove around and when got tired of a beach, moved on to the next. It was a great day and now I want to buy a 37 foot boat.





































I was pretty glad I made it to the dock because that was the result if a fantastic steak and wine. The wine was so good I got online that night ad bought a few, direct from the vineyard.






This was a good Austrian Riesling because it was the Summer of Riesling, after all. And for those who don't drink Riesling, try it. It doesn't have to be sweet. In fact the crap wines are sweet but the good ones are fantastically acidic and they taste of the soil.












Here's the menu at Fix St James. Go there now!!!!!'






Here's the end of the t-bone when the chef let me sign the expediting bar (ignore the phallic look to it):






Sydney then had both the QE2 and QM2 meet in the harbour. The two largest cruise ships in the world met at the opera house. While they were massive, I still don't see the appeal.


















And the perspective shot of the largest cruise ship in the world.






I have just about all the wine I've acquired since being in Oz. I have one more case to bring home, but now it's the fun part. Time to drink.






We then hit a few wines. The winner was the '91 Cullen Reserve Cabernet Merlot.







Some other wines in this time were:













Just finished dinner at FIX again. Great food and spectacular wine. Had a 2006 d'meure Tassie Pinot. This was a wine not on the menu. The restaurant had an allotment of 3. The owner had 1 to make sure it was good, the second bottle went to the wine director if Australia and this bottle was offered to us. Unbelievable. Great softness but monster flavour.





I really wanted the T-bone again until Stu brought out the 48 hour braised lamb shoulder. Yes, 48 hours.






He paired this with a locally made Sangiovese. An unusual grape for Oz but that's the crazy, wacky wines that this list offers. As the owner said, he doesn't run the restaurant for the money. It's so he can drink the wines he wants. If that's the case, I want in.

And now, on to my 30s.