Christmas Abroad

[Continuing Series on HK  #4 of 10]

We celebrated Christmas twice here in HK... meaning we FEASTED twice!

First was with Matthew's Canadian relatives who happened to be vacationing in HK the same time we were...

Here we are with Auntie Eugenia/Uncle Roy (3-Goo-Jeh/Jeung) from Vancouver and Auntie Hannah/Uncle Fred (4-Goo-Jeh/Jeung) from Toronto.

Do you recognize them? Yes it's the same 3-Goo-Jeh/Jeung from Vancouver! Seriously, we have seen them three times within five months... that's probably more times than I've seen my parents back home. The blessing this time around was that we got to see Matthew's other aunt/uncle from Toronto, Auntie Hannah (who has the same name as my little daughter) and her husband. They are Matthew's dad's youngest sister or #4 sibling. They were unable to attend the wedding in November so it was great to be able to show them pictures during dinner.

Matthew's sister, Matthea and her family traveled with us to HK so they were part of the big reunion with relatives.

Our menu was definitely a 10 course meal..

Roast Pig

Stir fried squid with broccoli

The so delicious (and banned back home) shark fin soup

Dried Scallops over lettuce

Abalone, oyster, and mushroom over spinach

Abalone and mushroom over baby bok choy

Steamed black cod

Crispy Skin Chicken (sorry.. it was gone by the time I got my shot.. but the head is there for you to see)

Sweet Sticky Fried Rice (oh so so good!) It was my favorite!

Beautiful desserts that Matthea got from a HK bakery

Red bean soup with black sesame mochi balls

My nephew, Timothy, loves the spinach.. check out how he holds his chopsticks.. hey.. whatever works right?

Our Hannah M. with her Great-Aunt Hannah M.

On Christmas Day, we celebrated at Serenade Seafood Chinese Restaurant with old friends and new.

Our frequent travel companions from home, Sandy & Willie

Willie's sister, Wendy and her husband, Levan, who live in HK

Carolyn and Greg, friends of ours for 25+ years, who are currently living on the mainland

Shawna, Emily's classmate and Sandy & Willie's daughter, with Emily

Priscilla, Greg & Carolyn's daughter, and Hannah

Cory and Craig, Greg & Carolyn's sons, and Nathan and Marcus, Levan & Wendy's sons

We adults had our own table, and the kids had their own table.

We had to figure out what each utensil was for. Apparently the black chopsticks is used to get your food and the nice decorated chopstick is for you to eat your food.

Serenade is a very 'nice' restaurant; they cover your jacket behind your chair to protect it from any food dropping when they come serve it.

Here is our menu.. big thanks go to Willie who helped us translate and decide on what we should eat. It was so delicious and made Christmas very memorable!

Cold Cuts Chinese-style

Bird's nest soup: we had the choice between bird's nest or shark fin and Willie wanted to be environmentally-green so we opted for bird's nest

Lamb stew

Pea sprouts with dried scallops

Stir fried chicken, shrimp and broccoli

Deep fried milk and shrimp balls

 Dried Scallops over bok choy

E-Mein

Steamed black cod

Fu-Jian Fried Rice

Abalone over napa cabbage

Crispy Fried Chicken

Peking spare ribs (the kids ordered).. smaller than what I am used to back home

Red bean mochi ball soup for dessert

Mini Cheesecakes

Almond Cookies

We were so blessed to have spent Christmas 2012 together!

NEXT UP: Treasured and Protected

Amerinese

[Continuing series on HK #3 of 10]

I think an American can feel at home in HK. English is freely spoken (although Mandarin is quickly dominating). Many American foods do exist... but in a different way.

Pizza... is seen as fine dining... like fancy Italian fare.

This is Pizza Hut in HK... you can make reservations.. they have tablecloths and a menu book!

Specialty pizzas are the rave plus pasta dishes. Check out the Crayfish Delight Pizza. And Cheese pizza is an oddity.. who wants just cheese they ask?

We ordered a super supreme and another pizza with half cheese and pepperoni for the kids.

The pizzas were quite delicious... probably like our California Pizza Kitchen. It was funny trying to describe to HKers what the Pizza Hut was like back home. :)

This is Pizza Hut in my hometown. 

Basically it's a place for you to pick up a pizza; no menu book; no tables to sit at, just a cashier behind the counter.. and the pizza quality does not compare to the one in HK

McDonald's in HK offers different items unique to it's city..

HK McDonalds... the only one that has a double fish fillet....did you know that the fish fillet is a very popular choice for Asians? It's like our Big Mac. And they have spicy chicken wings.. they were delicious!

Coke light was their version of 'Diet coke'.. it didn't taste the same for me.. plus without the ice it definitely was not the same.

Shakey's Pizza... I was expecting it be like Round Table.. Mountain Mike's.. even LaVals.. but no.. here too it was Italian fare..

We ordered the lunch special for two which included mushroom risotto..

A tomato, ham combo pizza plus soup

Priscilla had a kid's spaghetti meal that came with potato wedges and creme brulee.

Hannah ordered penne with meat sauce; Emily had a kid's cheese pizza with creme brulee and chicken wings.

Now we did go authentic and had Dim Sum...

Chicken Feet

Siu Mai

One of our favorite restaurants was Cafe de Coral

I always ordered the same thing: steamed chicken with ginseng chicken soup: all of the above was only $49HK which was a little over $6.00US

Matthew got roast duck and BBQ pork (chasu) over rice

The girls shared a spaghetti bolognese (baked spaghetti with meat sauce)

Another favorite for us were the food courts... especially Pepper Lunch

Pepper Lunch: Basically, it's meat, rice and veggies (an egg is optional) that is served to you on a hot iron plate and it cooks as you mix all the ingredients around on the plate. Very hot (in temp) and delicious! Love how it makes the rice crispy!

The girls got another favorite... ramen. Their chasu (pork) was so tender and delicious it just melted in your mouth!

Another favorite food for me was the egg custard tart... 'dan tat'  and the best ones had flakey crusts and were sold at the street bakeries for about $0.30 each

I got a cocktail bun, or 'gai mei bao' for only $0.10. It was huge and so soft!

But I have to say that my most favorite pastry this time around was the Portuguese Egg Tart that was sold at KFC. Instead of a biscuit they give you a 'Po-tat' which was soooo good that I goobled it up in two bites. Also instead of mashed potatoes and gravy, they offer rice with mushroom sauce which also was delicious! Unfortunately I was unable to go back to KFC to have one more Po-Tat before I left! :(

At Kentucky Fried Chicken, a chicken wing, po-tat and rice with mushroom sauce

Christmas was celebrated like it was a huge PAR-T-A! Yes... a big party!

Lights and decorations were everywhere!

People congregated at the harbor to watch the light show, which is displayed or projected from 44 different buildings on the waterfront. This was taken at 10:00pm!!

People taking pictures of themselves everywhere

Some giving out 'Free Hugs'... I know... what's with that? We saw quite a  few people with these signs walking around but not yelling and being obnoxious... that's not the Chinese way.

Is it crowded enough for you?

There was a line of people waiting to go inside this lighted tree. Inside are dozens of cameras lined up 360 degrees around you. The result is a 'bullet time' photo of you ala Matrix style.

There was caroling...

Mall displays were very extravagant...

Huge trees everywhere

Ocean Terminal had this horse/reindeer display at their entrance

The IFC mall showcased an acrobatic show with Santa fast roping down from the top as the finale...

The really only Christian reminder that Christmas is about Christ was this Nativity scene which was displayed in the lobby of our hotel... which was the YMCA.

It wasn't really Christmas to me since we were away from our families and the true spirit of Christmas, I felt, was missing. It was replaced by a huge amount of commercialism and the feeling of being a part of one huge outdoor party.

But that does not mean that I did not enjoy my Christmas. I enjoyed it and it was memorable due to the friends, old and new, that we shared it with this year.

NEXT UP: Christmas Abroad