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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Thursday 29 December 2011

Phuket Old Town and the Weekend Market

Phuket is known for its beaches, bars and nightlife, but this popular tourist destination is so much more than that. I am not very good at being a beach bum, and I packed our itinerary with as much as travelling with a toddler would allow (got great tips from this blog written by an expat who has lived in Phuket a long time). After our delicious lunch, we called for a taxi to bring us to Phuket City for 500baht. That's quite pricey by Phuket's standards, but it was a very comfortable 30-minute ride in a very nice vehicle. It's worth to just pay a little extra to make life easier for travelling with a young child. At some point during the drive, I negotiated with the driver to bring us not only to Phuket Old Town, but also to the weekend market and then back to our resort on Kata beach. The driver was willing to take out 3 hours of his time waiting for us at each site and doing that round-trip for only 1200baht (he was asking 1500baht), and we didn't have to worry about how to procure transport between locations and back to our hotel. (In our pre-kid era, we would have gotten around the local way of using tuk-tuks and taken on the streets and language barrier by accepting that getting lost is just part of the experience - but having a kid changes everything.)

These are shots of what we saw, did and ate that day in Phuket City.

Phuket Old Town

Phuket Old Town is historically rich, and Thalang Road is lined with 100-year-old Sino-Portuguese 'shophouses'. Walking down the road reminds me of my mother's hometown Malacca which was also subject to the Portuguese rule for 130 years.


A traditional outfit we encountered, very similar to the Nonya Kebaya. My maternal grandmother is of the Nonya heritage, and a lot in Phuket Old Town reminded me a lot of my mother's side of the family:

A typical mini-bus in Phuket - not exactly the safest way to get around, but probably safer than hiring a scooter:

Talad Tai Rot (Phuket Weekend Market)

The weekend market in Phuket town is also known as Talad Tai Rot, which means "car boot sale". According to this website, these types of markets started after the East Asian financial crisis in 1997 when many lost jobs, and selling housewares from 'behind the car' was a means of survival. All sorts of things can be found in this market - clothes, shoes, watches, various knick knacks and food. We spent most of our time in the food section, after I'd bought a pair of sandals for me and sunglasses for the boy. The market is off Chao Fah West Road opposite Naka Temple (Wat Naka).

We arrived at the market around 4pm when stall owners were just setting up shop. This shot was taken on the periphery of the market, where it wasn't so crowded. Part of the Naka Temple can be seen to the right of the shot:

Khanom bueang (crispy pancakes) in the making:

Various fish balls and meat balls skewered and ready for cooking:

Squid satay sticks on the grill:

The internationally popular Thai fish cakes being fried in a deep-fryer:

We got one packet of 8 fish cakes, which were yummy:

The boy eating a fried sweet potato ball (after checking that it didn't contain any of the ingredients he is allergic to - my list of allergenic ingredients translated into Thai came in very handy):

I'd heard of Phuket pineapples, and these were the best pineapples I've ever eaten:

Very sweet and deliciously juicy:

A stall selling various cakes and sweets wrapped in leaves:

There was one stall selling crispy insects, and I bought a little of everything for 20baht, to try later if we were game:

Back at the hotel, the sweet goods we bought at the cake stall. Very similar to the Nonya kueh that I love so much. The spherical gray balls to the top of the image is sakoo sai moo (steamed tapioca balls filled with pork and peanuts), and are savoury and a little spicy:

The insects. Just hearing them clatter onto the plate made my skin tingle:

Our adventures in Phuket continued onto the next day, when we went on the Multi-adventure Safari tour - which included elephant trekking, watching Muay Thai and Thai cooking demonstration

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Christmas Lunch @ Main St. Deli, Hong Kong

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. Mine started out not so great. I woke up feeling ill, and I had not only caught a cold off my son, I had also somehow gotten a stomach bug. We had decided to do Christmas a little different this year, to enjoy a festive lunch held by one of the nice hotels - the ones that require a deposit with the table reservation - instead of inviting guests over to squeeze in our tiny apartment for a roast turkey lunch as we did in the previous four years. I was really disappointed to have to cancel the expensive lunch buffet plans, but at the same time I was glad that we weren't hosting Christmas otherwise my illness would have affected more people than just our family. By late morning I wasn't feeling so sick, and I decided to salvage part of our Christmas celebrations and make the effort to go out for a light lunch (still not well to take on a buffet), but by then most good places were already fully booked. I recalled that the turkey we ordered from Main St. Deli at the Langham Hotel for last Christmas was pretty good, so hubby rang them to make lunch reservations and thankfully they could take our last minute booking.


Main St. Deli was great for a casual Christmas. Inspired by New York's famous 2nd Avenue Deli, Main St. is Hong Kong's first New York style deli. There were party hats (feather hairbands for the ladies) and glittery party horns on the table which helped add to the festive mood. The service was a little patchy, but I understand that the kitchen must have had massive catering orders to fulfill that day. The 3-course festive menu was reasonably priced at HK$338 (+10%), and there were two options for the appetiser and dessert courses, and three options for the main course. We even got a visit from Santa!


The Chocolate Milkshake was seriously good. We ordered it for the boy, but we had to order another one because we couldn't stop drinking it:

Hubby's appetiser - Cream of Spinach. Very tasty, and the thick slice of rustic bread was a good accompaniment:

My appetiser - House-smoked Salmon. This was also really good. Not too salty or strongly fishy:

Hubby's Roasted Turkey with Roast Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce. Excellent choice, and even the 3-year-old approved. It's no wonder many people choose to get their Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys from Main St. Deli:

My main course was Pan-fried Swordfish - unfortunately this was average at best. The fish was a little overcooked, and everything was just a little boring - I can do better at home. Go for the turkey if you're here for the festive menu:

Christmas Pudding with brandied custard - delicious spicy fruit mince:

Pumpkin Pie. I've never had traditional pumpkin pie before, but this was very much like a pumpkin-flavoured cheesecake. It was yummy:

All-in-all, this was not a bad save to Christmas day. I still couldn't eat much, but hubby was happy to eat more for my sake. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and just enjoying each other's company - the boys spent quality time assembling Lego vehicles from our son's new set, and the boy loved playing on the mini keyboard we got him. This Christmas was a nice laidback change to the previous few Christmases, and I could enjoy a relaxing time with my family.

Main St. Deli
Lower Lobby Level, Langham Hotel
8 Peking Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Tel. +85 2 2132 7898

Saturday 24 December 2011

Happy Christmas Wishes

Illuminated Christmas greeting on a building across the harbour, as seen from our apartment:

This Christmas will be our fifth one away from 'home'; our 3-year-old son still has yet to experience Christmas as we used to celebrate it with family back in Perth. We do of course still celebrate Christmas, as we have always done since we moved overseas, but it's somewhat different without the big family affairs. There are many expats in our situation in Hong Kong, and as much as I hate to admit it, seeing all the extravagant (and sometimes over-the-top) Christmas decorations and lighting all around this city does help a bit to get me looking forward to Christmas. The following photos are just some of the Christmas decorations I happened to come across - mostly at shopping malls, and I'm sure you'll agree that they are quite grand. (There are many more such grand decorations all over the city, but I am not one to go out of my way just to look at decorations, and I detest crowded places.)

At Harbour City, a place that we avoid like a plague on weekends because it draws huge crowds of shoppers. This year the 'Toy to the World' decorations proved hugely popular:

We needed to be at Harbour City one recent weekend, and while we hated the crowds, the boy loved the Toy Story themed Christmas decorations. As you can see, it was crowded, and this shot took in only half the length of the Christmas display, at which point I was just eager to get out of the squeeze:

Inside Elements mall, there were gold and silver reindeers and Christmas trees hanging upside down:

At 1881 Heritage, a 'Royal Christmas' decor was set up, featuring nine hand-painted royal carriages. It looks like a life-size version of a music box:

Every year around Christmas time, locals, expats and tourists alike flock to both sides of Victoria Harbour to enjoy the kaleidoscopic Christmas illuminations, and I am ever so grateful that we are able to take in the view at a distance from our apartment without having to deal with the tight crowds (this time last year I also posted up a video of the nightly light show from our balcony). This is a panoramic shot from 3 images that I took on a recent night (click on image to see larger version):

On that note, I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas - may you all enjoy this time with family and friends, and (for those who believe) celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Our own humble Christmas tree, decorations and lighting:

Friday 23 December 2011

Thai & European @ Mom Tri's Kitchen, Phuket

We arrived in Phuket on Friday evening, and after a good night's sleep, a big breakfast and a morning visit to the beach, we headed off to enjoy lunch at Mom Tri's Kitchen at the Villa Royale. I'd read that this hotel is one of the best known in Phuket, cleverly situated in the rocks between two of the nicest beaches, and home to one of the best restaurants - and I was eager to check it out during our trip to Phuket. I made reservations for a table online, and my requests and notes about the boy's allergies were handled promptly and well.

The lovely view we enjoyed during our meal:

Villa Royale was designed and built by Mom Tri, a renowned architect, so it goes without saying that the restaurant was very nice: beautiful landscaped gardens leading down to the restaurant on one side, and gorgeous sea views on the other. The service was excellent, and we were well-looked after by the waitstaff who ensured that we were comfortable (placing a fan near our table to cool us down after our 30-minute walk from our hotel in the midday heat and humidity, and making sure our glass was always topped up with water).

The bread basket and the accompanying tomato dip and olive tapenade. It was a lot of carbs, but we needed to replenish the energy expended from our walk. You can just see the stroller to the left of the post, where our son had fallen asleep as soon as we started our walk, and he remained sleeping until we were almost done with dessert - granting us some sort of a date:

Hubby got a Blue Lagoon cocktail:

And I ordered a Virgin Margarita:

Although the lunch menu was more limited than the dinner menu, there were still quite a number of both Thai and European dishes to choose from (no less than 6 pages), catering for a wide range of taste buds. After flipping through the pages of the menu, we decided to make things easier for ourselves and order one each of the Special Western Set Lunch and the Special Thai Set Lunch (990THB each). Both sets had four courses, with two choices for the main course. Beautifully presented, the food was delicious.

Starter

Kata Noi Crab Cake - Andaman fish, blue crab and buffalo mozzarella cake with sun-dried tomato aioli, mango and coriander relish. Hubby and I really enjoyed this, as the crab cake was mostly crab and fish and no additional fillers such as breadcrumbs. The mango was sweet and the coriander wasn't too overpowering:

Por Pia Sod - fresh spring roll with shrimp, vegetable and peanut sauce. This was a refreshing starter with crisp vegetables and a light sauce that didn't overpower the subtle shrimp flavour:

Soup

French Onion Soup with Gruyere croƻte. Delicious and rich, but a bit too salty for me:

Tom Klong Talay - spicy herbal soup with seafood in a broth flavoured with roasted dried chili, tamarind and Asian shallots. Typical Thai flavours in a bowl: slightly spicy, sour and sweet, and fragrant from a good combination of herbs and lemongrass. There were plenty of tasty seafood, including a large mussel that was pleasantly tender and not rubbery:

Main

For his main course, hubby chose Duck Mango - roasted breast, mango & ginger sauce served with roasted root vegetables. Crispy skin and tender breast with a delicious mango sauce. I knew that duck and orange make a good pair, and now I know that duck and mango work great together too:

For my main, I ordered Goong-Pla Chu Chee - prawn and fillet of fish with creamy curry sauce served with jasmine rice. This was simply beautiful: tender, moist fish and large, juicy prawns in a delicious curry rich with coconut cream. Not even a drop of curry was left on the plate:

Dessert

Duo Chocolate Mousse Cake - dark and white chocolate mousse cake. This dessert was dense and not too sweet, unlike most mousse desserts I've had in the past. I only wished it was more chocolatey. :

Tempura Banana - deep fried Phuket banana with toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream. YUM! This is the gourmet version of one of my favourite childhood street-side snacks, goreng pisang. Even hubby, not a fan of fruit fritters (the result from years of working at a fast food shop that served banana and pineapple fritters), said that this was good ("as far as banana fritters go", he added):

From the Children's Menu

The 3-year-old woke up from his nap in the stroller just as we were finishing dessert, so we ordered his lunch. The kitchen was careful to exclude the ingredients he is allergic to, and the fried rice that arrived was so tasty that both hubby and I took more than a taste and a prawn each, and the boy surprised us by eating more than he usually does when eating out.

Fried Rice with Prawns from the Kid's Menu (220THB - a great value because the serving size was generous):

Hubby and I really enjoyed our little 'date' by the sea. Obviously all this don't come cheap, especially by Thailand's standards, but the cost reflects the high quality and standards of the food, service and atmosphere. We have definitely spent more at equivalent restaurants in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong, and a meal at Mom Tri's Kitchen was well within our budget. I highly recommend this restaurant for special occasions in Phuket.

Mom Tri's Kitchen
Mom Tri's Villa Royale
12 Kata Noi Road
Kata Noi, Phuket 83100
Thailand
Tel. +66 (0) 76 333 569

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Kata Beach in Phuket

Our family just got back to Hong Kong after a short vacation to Phuket. It was our first time holidaying at a beach destination as a family (so it was the boy's first time to the beach!), but we spent surprisingly little amount of time on the beach. As is typical of our trips to anywhere in the world, our itinerary was packed as full as our circumstances would allow (i.e. travelling with a toddler). On one day we took part in a multi-adventure safari tour where we did all sorts of activities such as 'fish spa', elephant riding, and watched Muay Thai; and on another day we went on a ferry trip out to Phi Phi Island where we saw beautiful scenery, swam with the fish and went snorkeling. I have barely started sorting through the photos, but in the meantime, here's a panoramic shot of Kata Beach which was 5 minutes' walk from where we stayed. The ironic thing was that although the picture shows beautiful weather, the forecast for the duration of our 4-nights stay was thunderstorms. It did rain on most days, but thankfully the rain clouds arrived at the end of the day, and only for a brief period.

Panoramic shot of Kata Beach. It was not easy blending the exposures of four separate images, but it gives a good idea of what the beach was like. The beach was relatively sheltered so waves were small, which was great for little kiddies to play in the water (click image for larger size):

Thursday 15 December 2011

Scandinavian @ FINDS, Hong Kong

I count myself blessed for the opportunities I get to eat cuisines from countries afar, allowing me to have a taste of faraway places (and precursor to an actual trip to those countries, perhaps?). We ate Scandinavian food only once before, but one time is enough to make a lasting impression. In this big smoke of a city, you can find many types of cuisine, and I was thrilled to discover FINDS, the only Nordic restaurant in Hong Kong and perhaps all of Pearl River Delta. FINDS may appear to be a funny name for a restaurant, but it is an acronym for Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden - a pretty cool name, really.

The restaurant with its central bar:

The decor is colourful and slightly funky, with a casual and friendly service. The food served is modern and traditional Scandinavian, and it's great to know that bread is baked twice a day and all ice cream, stocks, sauces (even the tomato sauce/ketchup!) are made at FINDS. Apparently Finnish chef Jaako Sorsa, who oversees the kitchen, has cooked for presidents and royalty all over the world, and even has written a book (called "Scapas Dining", where Scapas stands for Scandinavian tapas).

Fresh crusty bread, with butter, olive oil and creamed cheese:

At the moment FINDS is serving a Christmas set lunch, but there was also another menu available for those who don't feel like having a festive meal just yet. We chose the set lunch as it appeared to be good value, and there was flexibility to choose the number of courses we wished to partake (1 course for HK$128, 2 courses HK$148 and 3 courses HK$168). Hubby went for the full three courses, and since there was only one option for dessert on the Christmas set lunch, I got two courses and ordered dessert from the main menu to avoid having two of the same desserts. The Kids' Menu wasn't that bad (as kids' menu can be at many restaurants), and for the first time in our history of dining out as a family, we ordered from the kids' menu for our son. The 3-year-old got a kids-size Swedish Meatballs, but he predictably latched onto the fries. Hubby and I noticed that the tomato sauce/ketchup was homemade, and I appreciated the rustic-looking sauce and its taste.

Swedish Meatballs with lingonberry sauce, tomato sauce and with a serving of fries on the side - quite yummy, as far as a kids-size meal goes:

Hubby's appetiser - Turnip Soup with Crushed Gingerbread. Quite frothy, and flavour is quite plain. You could taste the gingerbread, but only just barely:

My appetiser - Assorted Herrings (tomato, mustard and onion) with Warm Dill Potatoes (potatoes not shown, in bowl to right of shot). Preserved herring is probably the most recognisable food in Scandinavian cuisine. These were good, but quite strong-tasting - better eaten together with the potatoes or the bread:

Hubby's main: Honey, Thyme & Lemon-glazed Turkey Breast with peppered cherry sauce - quite nice as far as turkey breast goes. A nice little twist with using cherry sauce instead of the traditional cranberry sauce:

The brussels sprout, roasted potatoes and stuffing that came with the turkey made good accompaniments:

My main dish - House-smoked Salmon Fillet with creamy morel sauce, fingerling potatoes, dark dill sauce. The salmon was perfectly cooked (rare in the middle), and the potatoes were fun to eat. This was really good, and worth ordering again:

Coffee or tea is included, and our cups of cappuccino were served without sugar (which is fine by me as I don't take sugar in my cappuccino, but I think hubby would have liked some sweetener):

Hubby noticed other people ordering Christmas Nordic Mulled Wine, and it piqued his curiousity. Served warm with a slice of lemon, the mulled wine was quite mellow and spicy:

The dessert from the Christmas set lunch - Chocolate Pudding & Lingonberry-vanilla Parfait. Chocolate pudding was served warm and soft in the middle, and the parfait was chilled and not too sweet - a good combination:

I ordered the 'Daim' Parfait from the main menu, as we were told it's FINDS signature dessert. Meringue, almond, caramel and nougat - inspired by the Swedish candy bar. I've never had Daim before so I cannot compare, but the dessert was nicely executed. Crunchy meringue chips, soft chilled nougat and a base of caramel and slivered almonds - it was quite a delight eating this dessert:

It was a good meal, and I'm happy to say that I love Scandinavian food! I would love to one day visit that faraway place and try the food in its homeland, but for now, I'll settle for the food at FINDS.

FINDS
1st Fl, The Luxe Manor
39 Kimberly Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Tel. +85 2 2522 9318