Do's and Don'ts

      Since my last post was so amazingly good I thought that my next post should be more informative so I'm going to combine two day's worth of eating into one in order to bring us back to a more realistic perspective... because it is extremely unlikely that your everyday meal will be THAT tasty. Your stomach (and mine) can only consume so much food, which means you must prioritize what goes in. So today I'm going to use two day's worth of food to show what you should and should NOT do when traveling abroad.

DO grab some freshly made 葡式蛋撻 (Portuguese-style egg tarts) from various Florinda Restaurants (澳門茶餐廳)all over Hong Kong. These egg tarts are not the typical ones found in dimsum places or Chinese bakeries all over the world. These are way better. The skin is crunchy and flaky and the custard is a whitish color unlike the typical boring yellow in the pastries. 

DO NOT let your Grandmother convince you that there is a such thing as a "high class" Dai pai dong because that simply doesn't not exist. Dai pai dong are unlicensed food stalls that provide cheap everyday food. They usually operate on the side of the road with little foldable tables, chairs and no air-conditioning. Awesome, yo! That  being said... it's quite obvious that the same street side food experience cannot be recreated in a nice upscale setting despite what your Grandmother tells you. I suppose it's still worth noting what we picked up that day since we ended up at an upscale food court-esque place that had all types of different food-western, Southeast Asian, Chinese, etc. We went with Japanese and Indian: Smashed tuna sashimi over rice, tendori lamb, tendori prawns, & garlic Indian bread. Though this choice was less than amazing food wise... I have to admit it was entertaining speaking Chinese with the Indian chef. Awesome! BUT aside from this food fail, it was a great learning experience. It taught us that 1) Street food can only be found on the street despite what others say and 2) Being abroad means that you have to entertain family and friends, which not only means every meal is not guaranteed to be amazing, but also that you should not waste your stomach space on such mediocre food. Also a reason why I prefer to eat things off the street. The dirtier equals the more authentic, and the better!

DO take a break from all your eating to discover the special cultural offerings found only in Hong Kong. (Not even Chinese from other parts of the world even know about this practice. For a small fee, this old granny pictured on the right (in red) can wish eternal damnation on your worst enemy, your boss that's giving you a hard time at work, or even your cheating husband! Known as Da Siu Yen or 打小人, simply bring in the person whom has been giving you bad luck's birthday and name to the old lady. She will promptly write down all that information onto a handy "form" and proceed to shout horrible damning obscenities at that person all whilst taking the sharpest high heel there is and hitting and beating the person's form, which represents the real person. Damning sayings include: "I hit you and damn you to be forced to work until the day you die," I hit you until you die of starvation," "I hit you until you until you die and become poor," "I hit you so hard that may your children's children be beggars", and the most horrific curse of the all: "I hit you until you become bald." Some may call it voodoo or harsh, but it's just an awesome part of Hong Kong Cantonese culture that cannot be found anywhere else. And personally I wouldn't mind if my worst enemy became bald. By getting rid of your bad luck, you just might get that promotion or test grade you've been aiming for!

DO NOT have lunch with your Grandpa at an all you can eat buffet at a hotel located the World Trade Center (yes, HK has its own World Trade Center) Gramps has taken a liking to chilling here. My choice of food: 1) Prime rib & sashimi (You may ask did I really just put sashimi on the same plate as cooked food? Why yes... seriously guys? It all comes out the same way so why waste another plate) 2)mango crepe paired with more sashimi 3) various cakes 4) chocolate flavored Dou fu fa. (豆腐花) It's basically a popular Chinese dessert made with tofu. You don't really see chocolate flavored dou fu fa everywhere so you gotta snatch it up when you do! Most of the other patrons there were people staying at the hotel. Many times when you are traveling abroad and stay at hotels, you get these breakfeast vouchers where you get to eat "free" breakfeast buffets at the hotel you are staying at. But seriously... you should never waste stomach space on food at a hotel. If you're in another country, why would you waste time doing that?

DO go and visit the street markets to buy fresh food. In a day and age where people wear face masks out everywhere and perfer to go to really nice supermarkets where everything is very nicely packaged in plastic, many tend to forget that freshest and best food is still found on the street. This may seen gross to some, but I can assure you the cha siu (BBQ pork) is better than any Panda Express crap version of it you've ever had. Collage picture above: shows fresh fish, eels, crabs, and other seafood as well as cooked pork, chicken, duck, BBQ pork, goose, etc. 

Pictured: A really delicious goosestick? (goose drumstick) It definitely can hold its own with those gigantic turkey legs from Disneyland. Goose is way better than chicken or duck so definitely try some if you ever get the chance. They don't have it in the U.S. 

And lastly... DO like my sister and pose with a McDonalds delivery motorcycle! McDonalds delivers 24 hours a day. Hot and fresh right to your door-for free as long as you buy a relatively small minimum amount. A word to the wise you should always try Mickey Deez no matter what part of the world you are in because they have specilaities depending on what place you're at. For example, along with all the regular stuff on their menu, HK's McDonalds also offers Lychee slushie, hamburger buns made with sticky rice, chocolate & taro baked pies, etc. I've been to the McDonalds in Thailand and it's super good. Also, Fast food places are actually quite nice in Hong Kong. Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken look more appealing than our TGIF restaurants. 

-Happy Eatings!