Monday, April 5, 2010
CNY 2010 - Last night and a BBQ
Our last night with Jan, Sheaby and Ro - a bbq and volleyball at Sham Wan Twrs. We celebrated Bob's upcoming birthday, and just celebrated being together. Great way to end a great visit!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
CNY 2010 - Dinner at the Dai Pai Dong - Java Street
Last night we went out to dinner to the Java Road food market for dinner at the daipai dong. This is very "local" as everyone has told us. Jen and Bob have been a few times. We took a bus and the MTR (through very hot still wet air tunnels) to arrive at a very busy part of Hong Kong. The restaurant area is in northpoint area - north part of Hong Kong island.
The Daipai Dong is a long busy crowded and loud area on top of a food market. The huge space is divided into little individual restaurants, not separated at all except for different chairs or some shrubs. Each restaurant is owned by an individual and people sit at the tables of their favorite restaurant. Some areas were busy to overflowing, others had very few patrons.
According to Wikipedia Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall once very popular in Hong Kong. There aren't many left, only 28 in all of Hong Kong with the license. Sometimes dai pai dong is used to describe open air food stalls along the roadside with foldable tables, but to have the official name, there are licenses given out by the government.
We at salt and pepper squid, breaded spicy fish served on pieces of toast, banana wrapped chinese rice with pork, barbecued chicken, lemon grass vegetable dish, lettuce wraps with spicy pork, chinese fried rice, breaded garlic prawns and more!
Our restaurant is owned by two brothers. One brother is a well known chef who is internationally trained. He opened the restaurant which is constantly busy. The food is just fabulous. We tried everything. Shea loved the lettuce wraps! The lazy susan was overflowing with very interesting looking dishes which arrived in a constant flow from the kitchen. We had wine and chinese beer and the kiddies had cokes!
For dessert, the waiter brought out little individual cheesecakes, lemon, blueberry and some tiramisou (which nodded to the Italian version, but not quite there!).
All in all, a very loud crowded noisy and communal supper. We yelled at each other over the roar and laughed and really enjoyed each other's company. Dave McMaster and his family were there along with friends from Vancouver. And Mike Luciani , who teaches with Bob and is friends with my neighbour in QB, did the ordering for us. Wonderful!
The Daipai Dong is a long busy crowded and loud area on top of a food market. The huge space is divided into little individual restaurants, not separated at all except for different chairs or some shrubs. Each restaurant is owned by an individual and people sit at the tables of their favorite restaurant. Some areas were busy to overflowing, others had very few patrons.
According to Wikipedia Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall once very popular in Hong Kong. There aren't many left, only 28 in all of Hong Kong with the license. Sometimes dai pai dong is used to describe open air food stalls along the roadside with foldable tables, but to have the official name, there are licenses given out by the government.
We at salt and pepper squid, breaded spicy fish served on pieces of toast, banana wrapped chinese rice with pork, barbecued chicken, lemon grass vegetable dish, lettuce wraps with spicy pork, chinese fried rice, breaded garlic prawns and more!
Our restaurant is owned by two brothers. One brother is a well known chef who is internationally trained. He opened the restaurant which is constantly busy. The food is just fabulous. We tried everything. Shea loved the lettuce wraps! The lazy susan was overflowing with very interesting looking dishes which arrived in a constant flow from the kitchen. We had wine and chinese beer and the kiddies had cokes!
For dessert, the waiter brought out little individual cheesecakes, lemon, blueberry and some tiramisou (which nodded to the Italian version, but not quite there!).
All in all, a very loud crowded noisy and communal supper. We yelled at each other over the roar and laughed and really enjoyed each other's company. Dave McMaster and his family were there along with friends from Vancouver. And Mike Luciani , who teaches with Bob and is friends with my neighbour in QB, did the ordering for us. Wonderful!
CNY 2010 - Going to school!
We've had a wonderful day at CDNIS today. We were all dressed for school and out of the door by 6:40 :) The bus took us right to school and we went to the career centre to wait out the hour before classes. Meg and Sarah's friends descended and we had a really nice time meeting everyone. Then we dropped off Shea and Rowan to their classes and had a great tour of Jen's office and the LLAC, this time without people in it :)
Rowan had a double chinese class, and received homework! Shea attended a student council meeting. I saw them both at the cafeteria with their buddies having lunch. I had a great day in a Grade 7 classroom, lots of technology and a great teacher to shadow.
We gathered in Jen's area after school and took the bus home, buoyed by the wonderful welcome we received throughout the day :)
Rowan had a double chinese class, and received homework! Shea attended a student council meeting. I saw them both at the cafeteria with their buddies having lunch. I had a great day in a Grade 7 classroom, lots of technology and a great teacher to shadow.
We gathered in Jen's area after school and took the bus home, buoyed by the wonderful welcome we received throughout the day :)
CNY 2010 Shek O beach
Saturday was Shek O day. We awoke to windows covered in humidity and waited for clearing before we headed to Shek O. We first stopped at South Horizons mall and visited Toys Club where we bought some Star Wars toys and a stuffie for Shea and some great books on China for Jan's collection.
The trip to Shek O constituted two double decker bus rides to Northpoint and around past Stanley on the eastern part of HK island. The road was very windy and wavy and often we were sure that we wouldn't make the corner! Once around the final turn, the view of Shek O from above is amazing! Chamois caramel coloured sand overlooked by peach coloured bluffs and green green vegetation. The water is so green, it's feels very mediteranean. We all commented that it was just like Cadeques, Spain.
We got off the bus in the little village and wandered around the tiny streets. No room for cars, we walk past houses and people having lunch, their homes open to the street. The doorways and buildings are very colourful and everywhere are beautiful fragrant plants and flowers. And laundry hanging to dry! Jen showed us her favorite houses and we delighted in the charm of this little place. It feels so relaxed compared to the busyness of Hong Kong, it was like being on holiday.
Shea Ro and Bob climbed up to see the view from the hilltop pagoda. Then we meandered to the beach where two ladies set up our chairs in a good spot. Overheated from their climb, Shea and Ro immediately jumped into the South China Sea. It's cold! But they soon got accustomed to the cold, and spent two wonderful hours gamboling in the water and on the sand. The air is filled with accents - french, chinese, australian, american and others. The wind was soft, the temperature just perfect - 25 degrees. We had a beer and watched the kiddies play in between the wake board surfers.
After Shea and Ro had a beachside shower, we walked to the Thai Chinese Seafood Restaurant, a favorite of Jen and Bob's. We had a wonderful meal: Thai appetizers including spring rolls, banana leaf wrapped chicken, fish cakes and prawns with sweet chili sauce, beef and broccoli, green seafood curry, young asparagus, egg fried rice and chicken and cashews. We all loved the meal, it was so delicious!
A long bus ride home along the bluffs overlooking Stanley and we were dropped off just up the street from Sham Wan Towers. Another marvelous day in Hong Kong.
The trip to Shek O constituted two double decker bus rides to Northpoint and around past Stanley on the eastern part of HK island. The road was very windy and wavy and often we were sure that we wouldn't make the corner! Once around the final turn, the view of Shek O from above is amazing! Chamois caramel coloured sand overlooked by peach coloured bluffs and green green vegetation. The water is so green, it's feels very mediteranean. We all commented that it was just like Cadeques, Spain.
We got off the bus in the little village and wandered around the tiny streets. No room for cars, we walk past houses and people having lunch, their homes open to the street. The doorways and buildings are very colourful and everywhere are beautiful fragrant plants and flowers. And laundry hanging to dry! Jen showed us her favorite houses and we delighted in the charm of this little place. It feels so relaxed compared to the busyness of Hong Kong, it was like being on holiday.
Shea Ro and Bob climbed up to see the view from the hilltop pagoda. Then we meandered to the beach where two ladies set up our chairs in a good spot. Overheated from their climb, Shea and Ro immediately jumped into the South China Sea. It's cold! But they soon got accustomed to the cold, and spent two wonderful hours gamboling in the water and on the sand. The air is filled with accents - french, chinese, australian, american and others. The wind was soft, the temperature just perfect - 25 degrees. We had a beer and watched the kiddies play in between the wake board surfers.
After Shea and Ro had a beachside shower, we walked to the Thai Chinese Seafood Restaurant, a favorite of Jen and Bob's. We had a wonderful meal: Thai appetizers including spring rolls, banana leaf wrapped chicken, fish cakes and prawns with sweet chili sauce, beef and broccoli, green seafood curry, young asparagus, egg fried rice and chicken and cashews. We all loved the meal, it was so delicious!
A long bus ride home along the bluffs overlooking Stanley and we were dropped off just up the street from Sham Wan Towers. Another marvelous day in Hong Kong.
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