Friday, July 31, 2009
Hong Kong, China SAR, 23-26 Jul 2009: Food Chronicle
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Was in HK for another whirlwind meeting. Checked in at the Sheraton, Tsim Sha Tsui. Went for midnight rice porridge meal near Woo Sung Road. Followed by cold red bean soup. Next day, had after-meeting dinner with friends at Sheraton's Celestial Court. Dinner set comprised Peking Duck, Sharks' Fin Soup, Stir-fried Prawns & Scallops, Steamed Grouper, Lobster Noodles, Braised Beancurd Skin & Bakchoi, Mango Dessert. Went to the Peak that night. Dessert supper at Sweet Dynasty. Lantau Island excursion on the third day. Visited Great Bronze Buddha and Po Lin Temple. Entrance fee HKD 23 included free vegetarian snack - incredible deal. Returned to HK Island, checked into midlevels hotel. Dinner at Tsui Wah Canteen, on famous food street, Wellington Road. Delicious Wonton Noodle Soup plus Crispy Fried Prawn Noodles. Herbal Turtle Jelly supper, at Wanchai. Last day, Yum Cha breakfast at Kin Heung Restaurant - feisty waiters scurriedly refilled mugs of bitter tea, while venerable aunties hawked dim sum in pushcarts. Before leaving HK, had Beef Ramen at HK airport. Great with smooth Bubble Milk Tea. |
Friday, October 03, 2008
Shanghai, China, 25-28 Sep 2008: Street Food
Cheap & Good
In Shanghai for a short trip. The street food is great, and prices are really kind to the wallet. My favourites are juicy Xiaolongbao and Shengjian - steamed and pan-fried versions of pork-filled dumplings. My best XLB experience was eating 32 of them at the Nanxiang Mantou shop in Yuyuan, Shanghai Old Town. There is invariably a long queue at the takeout counter of the famous shop. The counter cooks efficiently toss baskets of XLB into paper cardboard trays for the eagerly waiting and hungry customers. The queue moves relatively fast, but is interrupted by 10 to 15 minute spells of agonizing wait as fresh batches of XLB are steamed. Dining in the restaurant offers more variety, but at much higher prices. Wujiang Road, near Nanjing West Road, has a busy food street. Crowds form quickly at 2 popular stalls - Xibeilang Barbecue Shop and Xiao Yang Fried Dumplings. The barbecue meat is spicy and deliciously moist. Yang's Fried Dumplings, Shengjian, are said to be Shanghai's best. Prepared fresh, the hot juicy soup filling bursts out unexpectedly as you take the first bite. I squirted some on my shirt. However the taste more than compensates for the minor sartorial mishap. |
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Taipei, Taiwan, 10 -13 Oct 2007: Taiwanese Street Food
"Pai Hang Bang" - The Hit Chart
Street Fare Countdown No. 10: Fried oyster omelette, Shi Lin Market, NT40No. 9: Stir-fried mutton, Linjiang Night Market, NT90 No. 8: Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle, Ximending, NT55 No. 7: Shaved ice dessert, Linjiang Night Market, NT35 No. 6: Onion pancakes, Shi Lin Station, NT25 No. 5: Beef noodles, Ximending, NT90 No. 4: Fried chicken chop, Shi Lin Market, NT45 No. 3: Cold beancurd dessert, Shi Lin Market, NT25 No. 2: Intestines stuffed with glutinous rice, Ximending, NT20 No. 1: Sweet potato soup, Hill-top Canteen, Datun Recreation Area, Yang Ming Shan, NT25 How to Get There Shi Lin Market: across the road from Jiantan (not Shilin) train station, open in the day-time but best at night. Linjiang Night Market: 10 minutes' walk southwest of Grand Hyatt Hotel or Taipei 101. Shi Lin Train Station: hole-in-the-wall shop to the left of the station entrance.Ximending: an impossibly crazy place, but you'll not miss the rice noodle stall - look for the long queues in front of the shop. Many illegal street hawkers roam about in a cat-and-mouse game with the police. Datun Recreation Area: wander along the paths in Yang Ming Shan Garden to Datun (Ta Tuen) Falls, go up the winding stairs on the right to the narrow bridge in front of the waterfall. Then climb 356 breath-sapping steps to the top of the hill, where you will be rewarded with ginger-spiced hot sweet potato soup. Simply the best. |
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Bordeaux, France, 25 Oct 2006: Bacchanalia Burdigala
A Day Of Wine & Roses
Burdigala is the ancient Roman name for Bordeaux, famous for her climate, soil (perfect for growing grapes) and blended vintage wines. A total stranger to oenology, I went on a organized wine tour of three vineyards in the Médoc region: Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac, and Château d'Arsac in Margaux. The wine-growing regions are divided by a strict classification system into appellations, each comprising adjoining vineyards that share similar microclimatic conditions, soil, grapes and wine-making art that impart unique identity and personality to the wine. So important is the impact of the terroir on wine quality, that each vineyard, or château, is rigorously ranked into first, second, third growths, etc in descending order of prestige based on this. Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande produces fine second growth vintages. The female owner injects her personal touch and love of beautiful things into the château: rose bushes lining the borders of the vine fields, painted wine barrels, extensive art collection exhibited on the premises, a handsome private residence. From the patio of the château, the famous tower of the premier cru Château Latour beckons alluringly from the distance while we sipped the proffered red. After lunch, we made our way to the fifth-growth Château Lynch-Bages, also in Pauillac. More libation rouge. It also boasts a museum of antique wine-making equipment. Our last wine tasting of the day, Château d'Arsac, sits on two different appellations separated by a foot path: Margaux and Haut-Médoc. Previously fallen on hard times, the vineyards and wine production have since been painstakingly restored by new owners, with the château grounds reinvented as an open-air modern art museum. Wine tasting, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande |
Labels: art, Bordeaux, food, France, wine
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Malaysia, Penang, 9-11 Sep 2006: Dancing And Dining
Sojourn With Friends
 I went on a short trip to Penang to deliver 2 talks to thalassaemia patients, parents, nurses and doctors about diagnosing iron overload in the heart.I had a room at the Crown Prince Beach Hotel, Tanjung Bungah. The view from my room, especially at sunset, was achingly beautiful. |
 Penangnites are well known for their hospitality. On the second day, my new Penang friends drove me to Gurney Drive for afternoon merienda, and then later to Ferringhi Beach for a sumptuous seafood dinner.After dinner, there was some spirited dancing, Peranakan style. |
 On the last day, I had the choice of itinerary. I requested to go to Penang Road, for delicious chendol. You'd have to pay a little more to sit at the table in a nearby coffee shop to enjoy the chendol. They do a mean char kway teow too.The last time I tasted these was almost 10 years ago ... |
Labels: food, friends, Malaysia, Penang, people, sea
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Bangkok, Thailand, 13-16 Jan 2007: Chinatown Up Close
Colours, Smells And Sounds
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| Nestled between Yaowarat Road and Charoen Krung Road is a warren of side-streets. Battle the teeming crowds that throng the market. Raucous shouts, frantic bargaining, pungent aroma from strange seafood, raw, cooked or dried, fill the hot sweat-drenched air. |
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Labels: Bangkok, food, market, Thailand
Friday, March 30, 2007
Bangkok, Thailand, 13-16 Jan 2007: Chatuchak Market
After The Bombs, Business As Usual
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| Two weeks after the 2006 New Year's Eve bomb incidents, our intrepid group of 7 arrived in a Bangkok unshackled from the fear and uncertainty that had gripped the city only days before. Business was as usual. Chatuchak weekend market spilled over with shoppers. Stalls hawked everything, from the banal to the exotic - tee-shirts, trinkets, lotus flowers, etc. |
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| There were thousands of food stalls. Some sell cooked meals arrayed buffet style; others, dried seafood, stirfries, fruits, etc. Watch out for a young boy, barely ten, intently cracking tiny quail eggs over a burner, turning each expertly as it cooked. He then gingerly plied them into polystyrene saucers. Doused with fish sauce, 20 for a buck. Any takers? |
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| We were surprised to find the (in)famous pet market still open, having read news of a recent clamp down on the animal trade. See, hear, smell and touch yelping puppies ("Pick me! Pick me"), screeching parakeets, jittery squirrels, etc. Not to everyone's taste, I guess. |
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Labels: animals, Bangkok, food, market, Thailand
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Ventimiglia, Italy, 26 May 2006: Friday Market
By the Beach
  Ventimiglia, just across the Italian border, is about an hour's train ride from Nice. The old town virtually sits on the Mediterranean Sea. From here, a wide expanse of white pebbly beach stretches eastwards - the modest beginnings of the Italian Riviera.   |
  Friday is Market Day. Seaside stalls hawk local produce and knock-off imitation goods. Visitors flock here, drawn by 12 Euro/kg Parmigiano Reggiano and 9 Euro/kg sundried tomatoes, etc - available at twice the price on the French side of the border.   |
  Restaurants and cafeterias are plentiful; meal choices, unlimited. However, nothing beats the simple pleasures of freshly-baked lasagna and ice-cold aqua on a hot afternoon. |
Labels: food, Italy, market, sea, Ventimiglia
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These are the 30 countries that I have ever set foot on. Airport stopovers don't count!
