Weekend Getaway to 香港 Asia's World City (Part III)

Wow, I ended up having more posts on Hong Kong than I expected, but as promised the third (and hopefully last) Hong Kong post! Enjoy~

The antics these two get into!

Day 3: Dim sum and the Peak

Sunday morning I finally got my 點心 (dim sum)--keeping up with traditions from back home, haha. In Chinatown back in New York City, Sunday mornings or afternoons are usually the time to 飲茶 with the family and can serve as breakfast or brunch (sometimes lunch too!)

飲茶, which literally means "drink tea" in Cantonese (it means that in Mandarin too, but 飲茶 is more a Cantonese phrase--Mandarin uses 喝 for drink), refers to going out for 點心 (although it seems that in some overseas Chinese communities the two are used interchangeably). Having grown up eating 點心, I am always at a loss on how to explain what it is to people who don't know. Literally meaning "touch the heart," I have also heard 點心 being interpreted into English as "pastries", "small snacks", or "light refreshments". I guess because of the small size of the dishes, people who aren't familiar with 點心 will think of it as a light snack, but actually we usually eat 點心 as a full meal, either for breakfast or brunch. I have seen people go 飲茶 by themselves, but usually we'll go with family or friends.

點心 is charged by the dish, and usually they are separated into sizes, 小 (small), 中 (medium), and 大 (large), with the small sizes of course costing the least and the large sizes costing the most. In a traditional 點心 restaurant, there would be ladies pushing around carts of food and if you want that dish, you would wait at your table for them to pass by and then call them over and tell them what you want, whereupon they will give you your desired dish(es) and place a stamp on your bill in the corresponding section (小, 中, 大). Most of the similar types of foods will be in the same cart, so the 腸粉 in one cart, the dumplings in one cart, the 甜品 in one cart, the steamed buns in one cart...et cetera. Nowadays at a lot of restaurants, you will just mark down what you want on the order sheet, and they'll make it for you, but I've always preferred the more traditional style with the carts and everything--that way you can see (and smell!) all the delicious food and get it right away. Plus there is something to be said about the bustle of the traditional 點心 set up.

So what type of dishes exactly can one expect to find in a 點心 restaurant? In addition to steamed dumplings and siu mai, you can also get different kinds of 腸粉 (which I think is translated into English as rice noodles, but they're not really noodles), steamed buns (both sweet and savory), 粽 (rice dumplings? I think they're called in English), meat dishes (鳳爪, 排骨), soups, and dessert dishes (豆腐花, almond pudding, red bean soups, pastries, 蛋撻). You can usually order a rice or noodle dish too for those who want more of an actual meal as opposed to a bunch of little dishes. And of course, we can't forget the tea--it is called 飲茶 after all! Most places will serve you a pot of hot tea as soon as you're seated and although it's usually complimentary to your meal (like a glass of water at a Western restaurant), some places might charge you for the tea. Usually they will ask you what kind of tea you want, some of the choices being jasmine, chrysanthemum, bo lei (pu-erh), green. The tea is really quite a nice way to wash down your meal and to counteract some of the oily foods you just had. If you want a refill, leaving the lid of your teapot slightly open will signify to the waiters that you want more tea.

Like so; image courtesy of Excited By Life!

This works as well; image courtesy of Travels in Translation

Anyways, I bet you are all excited to see all the delicious food we ate, so on to the pictures! I admit, having wanted to try dim sum in Hong Kong for the longest time, I had kind of high expectations--Hong Kong is the origin of 點心 after all! Plus I wanted to see how New York City compared in terms of authenticity and quality. We originally wanted to go to 一點心 (One Dim Sum), so we took the MTR to 太子站. As we were looking for it however, we passed another dim sum place 名點心 (Famous Dim Sum) and decided, why not? So in we went. It was about a quarter to eleven at this point and while the restaurant was not extremely busy, there were quite a few patrons in there. Unfortunately it was the order sheet instead of the traditional food-on-cart type of restaurant, but I'll let that one slide (it just means that next time I have to go to a more traditional establishment!). Since one of my roommates is a vegetarian, we made sure to get a fair amount of meat-less dishes. Actually many dim sum dishes have meat in them--in fact the best ones do, so sometimes you will be a little hard pressed to find good dim sum if you are a vegetarian. However I have been to vegetarian dim sum restaurants before and it can still be as good as the real thing (if you are ever in New York City, I recommend Buddha Bodai for some delicious vegetarian dim sum--and their mango pudding is a must too!)

As expected, we were served tea as soon as we sat down--unfortunately it was not free and cost HK $3 per person (which is only about 40 US cents per person, but still). One thing I noticed (also from going to 蓮香 two nights back) is that the tea is also used to wash bowls and utensils. In addition to the tea pot, we were given another little bowl in which we could pour the tea into to rinse out our bowls, cups, and spoons. Of course, the dishware have already been washed before, but I think this is just the custom here. Anyways, on to the food!

Luckily for us, the menu had both Chinese and English and pictures on the wall too; I'm more familiar with the names of the dishes in Cantonese and while I can read a little in Cantonese, having both the English and pictures helped immensely for the dishes that I was less familiar with. The nice thing about ordering via the sheet is that all of your food will arrive at once. We also decided to try our luck with the 奶茶, but again, while it smelled fragrant, it was rather dry with an odd aftertaste--next time I think I'll get it iced so that I don't have to try to figure out how much sugar I should be adding. My vegetarian roommate got herself a 龍井茶葉蛋 (or just simply 茶葉蛋 tea egg) and we were a little surprised by how white the egg still was under the shell, but it still tasted pretty much 差唔多--you can't really go wrong with tea eggs (okay I lied--my cousin and I tried to make tea eggs once. The color turned out nice, but the flavor was just a little bit lacking, so I guess you can go wrong with tea eggs). Anyways, we also decided to go the traditional route and get 腸粉, 蝦餃, and some steamed 包, These are definitely must-haves when you go 飲茶. I generally like 牛腸 and 蝦腸, but as we wanted to make sure our vegetarian roommate could share in the delight, we decided to go with what they called the "Traditional rice noodle rolls" or 布拉滑腸粉, which was basically the 腸粉 without any filling.

With a good amount of 豉油 for flavor

Actually we weren't sure which options were vegetarian so I went up to ask and the woman kindly marked all of the vegetarian options on the order sheet for us (for those of you that are curious, the Cantonese word for vegetarian is 齋 (zaai1 in jyutping) and if you want to say that someone is vegetarian: 佢食齋 (keoi5 sik6zaai1)).

For steamed 包, we decided to go with the classic 叉燒包 (char siu bao) and a sweet 流沙奶黃包 (custard bun--the smooth round buns in the picture). I should have gotten a picture of the 流沙奶黃包 filling. Usually when I have it, the custard filling tends to be semi-solid, semi-liquid, but in this case, it was all molten and drippy and delicious. I like it both ways but be careful with the liquid center--it is hot and it will drip. And of course, we couldn't not go for 點心 and not get 蝦餃! These shrimp dumplings are a dim sum classic and favorite. I have even heard that the quality of the 蝦餃 is a reflection of the chef's skill. If you have never had a 蝦餃 before, they are basically a big shrimp (or shrimps, sometimes with other meats and veggies too) in a sticky translucent wrapper. Hence, the dim sum chef is judged on: first, the skin, which should be both translucent and thin, yet sturdy enough that it won't break when picked up, and which should not be so sticky that it will stick to the paper at the bottom of the steamer or to the other 蝦餃; second, the shrimp should be well cooked, but not overcooked and the filling must be generous but small enough to eat in one bite. The last item in the picture to the left above is a 原籠馬拉糕, or a brown sugar steamed sponge cake. It was soft and slightly sweet, nothing too flavorful, and one slice was surprisingly filling. In addition to the six dishes above, we also decided to get 小籠包, 燒賣, and 竹笙灌湯餃 for my vegetarian roommate. The former two are also classic 點心 items, which I always get. 小籠包, despite being a Shanghainese dish, is commonly found on any 點心 menu. Meaty and soupy these dumplings are a must try anywhere and despite being of a smaller size when served for 點心 it was not any less soupy nor any less delicious. 燒賣 is also referred to as a dumpling, but they're not quite dumplings. The filling is made usually of ground pork along with some veggies and mushrooms, wrapped in a (usually yellow) wrapping around the sides and bottom and then topped with a piece of shrimp. These are heartier and more dense than a normal dumpling and I'm sure you can get full on these alone. The 竹笙灌湯餃 juicy bamboo fungus soup dumplings that my roommate got looked good, but all her dumplings had gotten so soft in the soup that the skin broke.

All in all, this restaurant had pretty good food and friendly staff. It wasn't too bad either, at I believe HK $222 for the three of us, which makes it HK $74 per person; that is US $23.64 altogether and less than US $10 per person (about US $9.50). I do wish that there were more choices though as there were a lot of dishes that I felt were missing, but for a tiny little restaurant it had a decent selection and I was not disappointed by my Hong Kong dim sum experience.

Awaiting the tram

It was almost around noon by the time we left the restaurant and since one of my roommates had an earlier flight at 3 (mine and my other roommate's was at 5:40), she decided to head to the airport. With some time left before we had to leave Hong Kong (nooooo), my other roommate and I decided to do one last must-experience touristy thing: The Peak, otherwise known as 山頂, a mountain standing 552 meters (1,811 feet) high on the western side of Hong Kong Island where you can get a view of the surrounding areas. We took the MTR to 金鐘站 (Admiralty Station) and from there followed the signs to the Peak Tram. Of course, there was an extremely long line for tickets that even queued across the street, but surprisingly the line moved pretty fast (at least in comparison to the line for the 昂坪 cable cars anyways). I think that also might have had to do with the fact that there were two separate lines--one for if you just wanted tickets for the Peak, and the other if you wanted tickets to the Peak and to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Needless to say there were just as much people on the line for Madame Tussauds as there were on the line for just the Peak alone. When we finally got our tickets,there was of course more waiting, but the wait was not too bad. The Peak Sky Pass round trip ticket (which grants you access to the tram and the Sky Terrace) was surprisingly cheap at HK $83 (about Us $10.71) and even cheaper if you're a child or a senior. The waiting area was a Peak Tram Historical Gallery about, as the name suggests, the history of the Peak Tram, but it was hard to see the exhibit with so many people crowded there and waiting to move ahead. After we got through the ticket collecting gate, we still had to wait a little more, this time to actually get on the tram, but it wasn't too bad as the tram came regularly and fit a fair amount of people.

The tram is here!

The tram ride was surprisingly fast...and surprisingly steep. We arrived to the Peak in less than ten minutes and we weren't even going that fast, and then there was the angle. It wasn't really something that you could tell unless you were sitting at the edge of your seat, in which case you would feel yourself start to lean back, but when you looked out the window, everything was at a funny angle. It was a little scary to think about actually.

There was a rainbow in the sky! I don't know if you can really tell from this picture though

There were tons of shops and restaurants in the Peak Tower

The tram actually took us to the Peak Tower and from there we still had to take a few escalators up to Sky Terrace 428 (so named because it stands 428 meters above sea level) to get a view of Hong Kong. Each visitor was also given a touch screen audio tour (available in six languages: Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and French) and a set of headphones to borrow. The audio tour gives visitors a little historical background to the Peak and Hong Kong and if you wanted to learn more about any of the many areas highlighted on the map, you could simply click on it to hear more about it or see a timeline. The view of course was amazing--it was too bad it was so hot and sunny though. It made it a little hard to see and you had to be careful with the metal railings--they were scorching. There was also a Sky Terrace employee standing there to take pictures for visitors--it was kind of funny actually listening to him calling out different poses for people. I think it would be worth it to go to the Peak at night and see the Hong Kong skyline. I'm sure it would be amazing.

Going up!

The view was amazing!

The clouds are too!

Declare your love at The Peak!

I Love You Hong Kong!

I know I keep saying this, but look at that view! Can you imagine watching the sun set from here?

Panoramic shot from the Peak

If it weren't so hot, we probably would have stayed a little longer, but as it was about two, we decided it would be best to leave and start making our way to the airport. :( There were a lot of cool shops and restaurants in the Peak Tower and while we didn't buy anything we did browse a little (well I did) and then it was back down via the tram!

Post your Love to the Future~

Going down!

Can you see the angle we were going at?

It's a little easier to see here

The fountain signifying where you can buy your tickets for the Peak

Afterwards, we headed back to Hong Kong International Airport via the Airport Express and from there we were just in the airport waiting to board our plane back to Taiwan...but not before we had one final meal, in the airport, but still--I was determined to get something quintessentially Hong Kong.

Must we really leave?

They even broadcast flight times on the Airport Express TV too

雲呑麵 and 蛋撻

And that, my friends, concludes our weekend getaway in Asia's World City.

Everyday Cantonese Dim sum Edition

• 飲茶 (jam2 caa4) - Literally "drink tea;" it used to mean to go out for dim sum
• 點心 (dim2 sam1) - Literally "touch the heart;" dim sum consists of many different types of Cantonese cuisine, served in small portions (so you can eat more obviously hahaha) usually in bamboo steamers
• 腸粉 (coeng4*2 fan2) - Usually translated as "rice noodle rolls" these are not actually noodles, at least not in the traditional sense, although they are made of wide strips of rice noodles (or same ingredients at least) and can be eaten alone or with a filling such as beef (牛腸 ngau4 coeng4*2), shrimp (蝦腸 haa1 coeng4*2), dried shrimps (蝦米腸 haa1 mai5 coeng4*2), barbecued pork (叉燒腸 caa1 siu1 coeng4*2); it is usually served with a slightly sweet soy sauce
• 粽 (zung3) - Often referred to in English as "(sticky) rice dumplings" these are made of sticky glutinous rice with filling that can be savory (such as meat, salted egg yolk, vegetables) or sweet (red bean, yellow bean, bananas) and wrapped in a bamboo leaf, often in a tetrahedral shape (although this depends on the region); in addition to dim sum, these are also eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth month of the lunar calendar
• 糯米雞/珍珠雞 (lo6 mai5 gai1/zan1 zyu1 gai1) - A variation of 粽 which is rectangular and also made of glutinous rice and filled with chicken, mushrooms, and Chinese sausage (sometimes a salted egg yolk) and wrapped in a lotus leaf before being steamed
• 鳳爪 (fung6 zaau2) - Literally "phoenix claws," this classic dim sum dish is actually chicken feet which have been deep fried, boiled, marinated in a black bean sauce, then steamed giving them a moist, tender texture and a dark red color, although sometimes they are cooked plain (in which case they will be white) and served with vinegar
• 排骨 (paai4 gwat1) - Spare ribs, usually cut into cubic pieces and can be fried, steamed, or braised
• 茶葉蛋 (caa4 jip6 daan6*2) - Tea eggs; pre-boiled eggs with cracked shells which are then boiled again in a soy sauce-tea mixture (sometimes with additional spices) for flavor; the cracked shell gives the eggs a marbled pattern
• 蝦餃 (haa1 gaau2) - Shrimp dumplings; these are a classic dim sum dish and how well it has been made can be used to judge the skill of the dim sum chef
• 燒賣 (siu1 maai6*2) - Siu mai; these are considered dumplings though they are not quite dumplings in the traditional sense; made of meat, mushrooms, and veggies, they sort of resemble a little pouch of meat and are usually topped with a piece of shrimp (sometimes crab or peas are used instead)
• 小籠包 (siu2 lung4 baau1) - Soup dumplings; these are actually a Shanghainese cuisine, but have since become a popular dim sum menu item, and are smaller than your traditional 小籠包
• 包 (baau1) - These are your steamed buns and they can be stuffed with savory fillings, such as barbecue pork in 叉燒包 (caa1 siu1 baau1), chicken in 大包 (daai6 baau1), or sweet, such as custard in 奶黃包 (naai5 wong4 baau1)
• 蛋撻 (daan6 taat3*1) - Egg custard tart; a popular dim sum dessert item, the crust can be anywhere from soft and flaky to thin and hard, although ones served at dim sum tend to be of the flaky variety