Farewell

I'm heading back to Switzerland...

This is my last blog entry.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone, for motivating me

to do the blog and inspiring me to carry on. Though I had a busy time here in Hong Kong I enjoyed writing every bit.

But everything comes to an end. And I'm leaving Hong Kong. 

But one day I will return. 

Anyways I will keep this blog up for anyone who wants to read or go through it will stay available.

Thank you everyone for reading. Farewell!

Felix 

A normal Day for me in Hong Kong!

As requested here it is! By the way, this is my second last post, since the end is near!

So let's start.

A normal working day for me here in Hong Kong looks like the following:

Every week my day starts with wakening up from bed at 6:30.

I drink a coffee, get ready, brush my teeth, standard procedure.

Then I take the Lift from the 29 Floor down and walk out of the building, I walk another 10 minutes through the crowed life of Mong Kok's busy morning.

            Many people stumble along. Concerning their own routine working or school life.

After minutes of using the escalator and stairs to go way below underground and I hop on to the MTR (Mass Transportation Railway, which is the Underground Metro in Hong Kong) 

                                              It needs a bit luck to find somewhere to sit down.

After 20 Minutes with the MTR trough various stations we halt at a place called Kwai Fong. That's where I get out. I then transfer over to the Minibus which will take me to my destination. Those buses are very old school seemingly, compared to the uber modern MTR.

The bus driver hardly speaks a word of English. So in order to communicate, one shall say: the street (in my case "Wan Lung Gei") and "Yau lok" (=get out) when approaching the bus stop, so the bus driver knows, that at least one dudes gotta get out.

Time passes. Another 20 minutes elapses. I look out of the window listening to my Ipod enjoying a small measure of peace.

At my arrival in Tsuen Wan (where I work), it takes me only 2 minutes to the office.

But since I've got about 20 minutes to spare I eat breakfast in a Cha Chaan Tang (Yes!) near the office. Everyone's very friendly to me and we can't really communicate but luckily I picked up a bit of Cantonese. I do manage the order in native tongue. And everyone's always much exited once they see me coming into the restaurant since they know right away I'm foreign but that I know a few phrases and such. Since I'm a total milk tea junky (haahaa!) It's never missing.

Afterwards I leave for work at 9:00 a.m.

Now I can't tell you too much about work, since it's all about a security company. Top secret, stuff like that.  I think the best thing I can do is just show a picture of some ugly dude smiling silly in the camera while sitting on his desk. :D

Time goes by, and lunch time is rolling in. At 1:00
I am acompanded by a good working College and we go to a nearby place to eat lunch.

After that, work work work till 6 P.M.

Then at around 6 P.M.  I get to watch the sunset going down, will I take the MTR in Tsuen Wan back home to eat dinner and rest...

That's how my normal day looks like. :)

Rush hours

This is as busy as it gets! 10 minutes to get out of the freaking MTR tube and you can find this. That's just life in Hong Kong. Pros and Cons. But I guess as a tourist, it might just seem like fun. But everyday life during rush hours for a citizen living here for a decades can be somewhat more uncomfortable.

Your Opinion about Dim Sum!

Please be sure to leave a comment on Dim Sum. I interested in knowing if you you like the concept and would be willing to try the food and the style! As always thanks for any kind of support and I really love when someone comments on my posts.

Announcing a daily Day in my Daily Life of Hong Kong

So as a friend requested, me to post how a whole "normal" of mine would look like in Hong kong I'll be soon making a post on that subject!

Dim Sum Habit No. 4 and 5

If some one pores tea into your cup you can either just say nothing, say thank you or you can thank by tapping two times with the finger on the table.

And if the pot seems to be empty, you can leave it open. It signals that the pot is empty and the waiter will refill it.

Dim Sum Habit No. 3

About them stereotypes that barfing is the normal habit. It's not really a custom in Hong Kong. Nobody barfs and it can be considered rude. Where are your prejudice now, ha? 

In general many Hong Kong Chinese will tell that such rude habits as making ugly noises and other come from the mainland Chinese, which didn't grow up in Hong Kong, but not because they want to show delight for the good food. (Hey I'm just the messenger)

Dim Sum Habit No. 2

In some Dim Sum places you will find that the food is transported in trolleys. This trolleys have the path which they follow the whole time. It's quite useful for tourists because you sometimes can just point what you want or the English name of the dish is sometimes written down.

Dim Sum Habit No. 1: Refilling

You should try to pure tea to your neighbor as much as possible. Even if their cup is half full. If someone respectful such as your father, mother, teacher, uncle, aunt, grandfather, grandmother is present it is considered respectful to serve them first or at least give hints that you want to serve them something. Lots of time they are going to say, that you should just help yourself, but it's important to go through this steps. If you understand this, you understand a bit of the Asian mentality. It comes down to sharing and showing respect, even if you know how the answer will already be. The thought is important.   

Some Dim Sum Sweets

While there are many savory types of food, there are many small deserts too, which are eaten either next to the savory, or after.
Here are only some examples, but some of the best:

You know it! (Custard Tart)

Crispy sesamy ball with red bean inside

Steamed Sponge Cake (because of its looks)

Custard Bun

  

Sweet tofu with sugar sirup

Mango Pudding

Next up are a few some custom rules and habits in Dim Sum.

Dim Sum

As I mentioned in the last post, Dim Sum is a kind of food which doesn't fit to the Chinese stereotype of food. It is only made for lunch. Though many people skip breakfast and will eventually only eat Dim Sum.

The Dim Sum is only served in Yum Cha (which means "drink tea"), which is a special kind of restaurant/way found all over in Hong Kong. 

The concept is that you drink a lot of tea (see the connection to the Yum Cha!?) and that you share many little bite size specialties with one and each other. The sharing part is very important. You do NOT (NEVER) take your own portion. (Except if your alone...yeah that sucks) 

If you ever come down to Hong Kong or eat Dim Sum, please don't leave me hanging and share. :)

We always share and everyone is always polite. Sometimes you'll just find that all the last pieces are left, because no one would dare take it because it isn't respectful.

Most of the dishes are steamed and you are not likely to find these dishes anywhere else than in Yum Cha Places. Many workers and some families go under the week to eat Dim Sum, but you will mostly find that Sundays are full with families joining to sit down for a couple of hours, eat, talk and enjoy life. 

Every Sunday’s just about all Yum Chas are packed. Hell.. I had to wait nearly two hours to get into a Yum Cha to eat with friends or family. Around 50 people standing in line...

So what will you get you ask? As I said lots of varieties which are not common to eyes which haven't seen or ears which haven't heard Dim Sum yet. They are commonly served in bamboo baskets.

Barbecue pork bun

Lotus leaf rice

Siu Mai

Chicken feet (Haha tourists normally are not willing to try it, but I love it!)  

Shrimp dumplings

Lots of other buns

And many more!

Next up are some Dim Sum sweets. (I'm getting hungry and it's like 12 o clock midnight over here

Cha chaan teng!

So I think Cha Chaan teng needs explanations, as some have stated to me. It wasn’t my intention to post an empty Entry on my blog...

So here's the explanation I owe you folks! 


Cha chaan teng is something we don't come across back in Switzerland.

It's a good alternative to the common breakfast everyone back home eats in there houses.
Cha chaan teng are casual dining places, where you can eat like just the whole day!

It's what you get, when you fusion brunch, afternoon tea and easy dinner with each other. Though dinner isn't always guarantied, brunch and lunch are always available. It's an easy going joint of a kind, which has lot of varieties and set menus with drink for a very cheap price too. I'm talking around 24+ HK Dollars per Dish (3+ CHF)

(My favorite part in this post is where I get to show some of the Pictures I made of the typical Cha Chaan Teng!)
You guys already heard of the custard egg tart (the post I made once, if not go look it up ;) ). That's one of the stuff you might find in cha chaan teng. There are many more to follow!

Here are a few typical things to order:

The Egg Sandwich (The Egg is only cooked for 15 Seconds in the pan which was heated up)

The famous Hong Kong milk tea. (It gets you quite addicted)

Set menus such as noodle with soup with an omelet and sandwich plus drink. (Maybe around 30 Hong Kong Dollars (3-4 CHF), for the whole stuff!)

Another Set Menu with Chicken Wings and hot milk tea.

The Pineapple Bun (a sweet Pastry, but isn't really made of pineapple. look closely at the bread top and you will know we they call it "Pineapple bun"

Pork Chop Bun. It looks so delicious, but mark my words. It tastes even better.

Some other Pictures:

Noodles, Sandwiches, Coffee, Meat, Vegetable, Buns, you name it! And everything meant for breakfast too! I eat my breakfast just about every second day in a cha chaan teng.

Next up’s Dim Sum, which is one of my favorite. Dim Sum is an assortment of lunch goodies. They are served in Yam Zahs, which are always full with people and with many food which seem hardly Chinese stereotypical with the beliefs of many visitors!


Just a short note: Sometimes breakfast in Hong Kong can also just look like this :) :

A brief break, but I'm back!

Sorry folks, the last few days were quite busy.
I totally lack time and so on, this and that.

But I'll start putting up posts again!

Anyways,
Regards

Felix

Shopping Centre Guide: Citygate Outlet

I'm starting a series of posts about various Shopping Centres because Hong Kongs diversaty of shopping offers so many varieties and locations to go shopping. From clothes, electronics, gadgets, accessories to food and many more! So I wanted to introduce you people to some very good shopping locations if you ever intend to come to Hong Kong.



First up's the Citygate Outlet:

Citygate Outlet is located in Tung Chung, which is very close to the Airport of Hong Kong.
It's very convenient that the entrance to Citygate Outlet is right by the MTR Station of Tung Chung.
Another advantage is the very fast MTR Line heading there. The connection from Tung Chung to the stations on Kowloon or Hong Kong Island is very good indeed. It is located one stop after Disney Land.

It's an Outlet, were you will find around 80 brands offering Sporting Goods, Accessories and Fashion Clothes. It will feature shops such as Timberland, Burberry. Levis, Calvin Klein, Adidas, Nike, Puma, Esprit, Giordano, I.T, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo and Vivienne Tam. Maybe it doesn't belong to one of Hong Kongs largest Shopping Centers, but it tends to be very lively and busy there.

Because it's an outlet you'll find lots of products from last season which will be sold cheap. You will often find discount through out the year which can go down from 30% up to 70% (which is insane!). You’re going to find the latest collection too, but for the normal price.
Citygate Outlet includes a couple of restaurants and fast food places as well. Additionally you will find a Cinema built in the Shopping mall.

Geography Class opened!

This is a post I guess I should have posted much sooner. ^.^' ... oh well


Here's a quick overview about Hong Kong on the geographical base and how exactly Hong Kong looks like in the maps.
So here's the basic:

Hong Kong is located on earth which is found in this phenomenal outer space miracle called Milky Way:

... ok quit the silly jokes.


Hong Kong is located on the south eastern side of China. It is close near to the Island of Macau and Taiwan:

The major City part is Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. New Territories and Lantau aren't really much crowded. If one refers to Hong Kong as City most of the time they are talking about the southwestern part of Kowloon and the north of Hong Kong Island.

Other Facts:

-Hong Kongs size is as big as Kanton Zuerich.
-Around 7 Million People live in Hong Kong.
-Currency here is the Hong Kong Dollar (Exchange Rate: 1 CHF=8.34 CHF)
-Its climate is very tropical, which means basically it's warm all day long. (They only do barbeque in winter, because it is too hot during summertime)




Class dismissed

Small thanks to you!

Thanks to all of you who come here to read my stuff. I really appreciate it. ;)
It motivates me to post more stuff on my blog, because I’m lately running out of time.
I'm just involved in too many plans. Many of which I’m the cause. xD

Also, if one of you guys or gals has got a question concerning me or Hong Kong answered, just go ahead and go ahead and leave comment on bottom section down below :)

This is me at work in front of my computer. It's far to cold indoors and the bloody wind got into my back. So for now guess i have to stay in the shadows. (@ Jony, i felt a little bit like Huk with his hoodie. :D)

Family Gathering

This post is intended for people who I know.

This are most of my relatives, uncles, aunts and cousins in Hong Kong. Of course there's my mother and sister too. The Chinese love to make family gatherings, especially if one part of this family is on that side of the world and another on the other side of the world. This is at one of my uncle’s home.

                                                         Gathering of the Chinese Mafia Clan :D





 There’s hardly a family reunite without food^^

This is just called the hot pod (for Suisse people -> fondue chinois)