Blog Adventure 4 (Photos 1)

 

Webpage from "Ho Lee Fook" 

Man Mo Temple

Former HK Police (Parade Ground and Offices)

Former HK Police Barracks

Hong Kong Harbour from Kowloon

Blogs Adventure Ep3

The flight from Hong Kong to Japan was 9.15 am and we needed to be at the airport 3 hours early (to make sure we didn't miss the flight).

The airport was 28 mins away meaning a taxi could pick us up at 5.45 and get us there in time. So the holiday company booked one for us at 5.00 am. (to make sure we didn't miss the flight). 

We had a private transfer organised because relying on the local fellas would mean I'd have been writing this blog from the hotel foyer a month after we started flagging one down.

The hotel were very concerned that we might starve to death in the 28 mins it took to get to the airport so they gave us a "Breakfast Box" filled with all sorts of things Brits don't eat until lunchtime. (And one or two things Brits wouldn't eat any time of the day).

Given our experience with taxis so far we did wonder if the taxi would actually turn up. He did. At 4.30 in the morning. (to make sure we didn't miss the flight). It was a good job that Mrs Blog set the alarm 45 mins earlier than I would have done or we might have kept him waiting.

We nodded our farewell to the place, filled with memories of taxis, the Harbour, Man Mo Temple thick with heady incense, HK Police parade ground where Grandpa-blog would have paraded and the old streets filled with stalls selling lucky red charms. (Photos in next post)

When we arrived at the airport we had a nice long wait for the check-in desk to open. Checked in, we headed to the airline lounge where we grabbed a second breakfast (in case we starved in the few hours before boarding) 

Flight called, we duly boarded. Given the timing of the flight, landing early afternoon in Japan, I hoped for a light lunch. However it seems there is more than a little hobbit DNA in our far eastern cousins because we got another breakfast five minutes after take off.

Mr Blog spent the journey looking for lifestyle progammes on how to lose 2 stone in 3 hours. 

Blog's Adventure Ep 2

Hong Kong food/drink can be a bit strange.

Having sat in a coffee shop that ranked No1 in the WHO "dirtiest coffee shops in the world" we discovered a shop in Kowloon proudly promoting...

"Meat Floss Croissant"

In Cantonese it is known as Sum Yuk.

The Blogs passed up the opportunity. 

Later in the Botanical Gardens we stopped for a snack. The cafe folks said they could do a ham and cheese sandwich, just the sort of food we felt we could trust! Mr Blog waited for the order and watched bemused as the chef made the sandwich and then stir-fried it in a wok until it was luke warm. The chef looked very happy so we just ate it without further comment.

According to Tripadvisor one of the top restaurants to visit is Ho Lee Fook. Given our food experiences so far we decided to check out the website first. The landing page boasts...

"Cantonese and proud of it, the tone is an opulent night out, faint memories of wild nights out in Hong Kong, the smell is just as familiar as Mom's dumplings"

The Blogs passed up the opportunity.

Dinner found the Blogs retreating to western food (in our defence it was the nearest place to the hotel and we were flagging). 

"Pizza Express" in Kowloon needs to change its name to "Pizza sometime before we close". It also needs to get the Michelin inspectors round because anywhere that charges £78 for two ham and cheese pizzas ought to be thinking about how many stars they're aiming for.

Thankfully the food, like the taxis, got better when we made it to Japan 

PS Pizza Express Kowloon doesn't have any Michelin stars