Peking duck, etc….Hong Kong–

POW!  Here we are gobbling away at a restaurant called Spring Deer located on Mody Road in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong, and this place is rockin’ it for us…jaaaa!!

Spring Deer is all about northern Chinese food–especially Peking Duck–and everything here is making us happy.  We do the Peking Duck–it is tasty, juicy, and covered in perfectly cooked crispy skin–served with a plum sauce that makes my mouth water even as I write this…fried shrimp–crunchy and sweet and shrimpy–mmmm!…thin sliced bbq beef–beefy and delectable…plus some sauteed green veggies to help our digestive tracts along–PERFECT!  All of this is washed down with multiple bottles of Tsingtao and glasses of dry white wine–YES!

Spring Deer is a long time staple of the Peking food scene here in Kowloon…the staff are warm, delightful, helpful, and totally welcoming to everyone including gringos like me…the vibe is lively and bustly…and the food is top-notch.  If you are looking for mild and multi-layered flavors of northern Chinese cuisine, then you can’t go wrong with this place. . .please consider dining here during your next visit to The Fragrant Harbor. . .you will love it–I gar-ron-taaaay!

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It’s lovely out there.

New favorite dining spot…Hong Kong–

MMM!  This is my new favorite dining spot here in Hong Kong: Hing Kee Restaurant on Nathan Road in Kowloon–jaaa!!

Hing Kee is run by the woman you see waving next to me above…a totally happenin’ lady who is  clearly in charge of all she surveys in this cozy room.  Hing Kee is small…you will probably have to wait a bit when you arrive, but the food is totally worth any amount of time you have to cool your heels.  Just settle on in and enjoy the ride–mmm, aaaahh!

During our visit we gobble spicy chili oil clams–totally delectable…garlicky razor clams–magically delicious…special abalone–absolutely lovely…spicy fried fish–GOBBLE…sauteed kale stalks or stalks of something fresh and green–really good…and a typhoon crab that has a spicy yet sweet punch that makes us go OH MOMMA!  All of this fabulous food is washed down with bottles of Tsingtao and sake…perfect.

Hing Kee is apparently popular with lots of prominent Chinese actors from Canton and other provinces…the most famous ones are allowed to sign the walls giving the dining room a cozy Sardi’s or The Palm kind of feel.  I asked if I could sign the wall…the owner unambiguously said, “NO.”  Drat, foiled again. . .but we shall return again and again because the food here ROCKS.

Please consider eating at Hing Kee if you ever find yerself lookin’ for good grub in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong…you will love it–I gar-ron-taaaayy!

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It’s lovely and tasty out there.

Drinks atop The Peninsula–

BAM!  We are thirsty…gotta wet our whistles before we head out into the urban jungle of Hong Kong…so we head to the penthouse bar atop the new-ish tower of The Peninsula Hotel, and we are quite satisfied.

The bar at the top of The Peninsula tower is called ‘Felix’…it was designed by Phillippe Stark, the French modern-minimalist dude, and this place is certainly modern, minimalist, and somewhat ‘stark.’  It is a good place for a sip of wine or three. . .they serve dinner up here, but it is a bit too shiny for us to sit down and eat…so we drink up and head on out.  Plus, it appears that only guests of the hotel or slick Cantonese dudes with sparkly ladies patronize this place making it less desirable for us to spend more than a half-hour doin’ our thang here.  Much more warmth and goodness awaits us out in the streets and alleyways of Hong Kong.

Definitely consider popping up to Felix for a drink. . .you will love seeing the lobby of The Peninsula, which is spectacular, and you will get some good views of Hong Kong proper across the harbor…not a bad way to begin your evening–mmm, aaaahh!

To see more stupendous images from around our teeny tiny planet simply click on a location of your choice in the category menu on the ‘About’ page of this blog. . .do it. . .so much to see and sooooo little time.

It’s lovely out there.

New construction…”old Hong Kong?”–

BOOM!  The Hullet House is a relatively new construction that attempts to recreate some sort of old Hong Kong feel in a restaurant, bar, and hotel amidst the modern high rises of the Kowloon peninsula.  It sort of succeeds cuz it feels somewhat rustic, cozy, and inviting…but this place fails a bit because it all feels forced and out-of-place.  Nevertheless, the location of Hullet House cannot be beat–it is just a five-minute walk from the Star Ferry Terminal, the giant shopping mall called Harbor City, and from the waterfront walkway along the Hong Kong Cultural Center. . .great place for a whiskey on the way to catching the ferry over to Central…jaaaa!

Please consider popping in here for a beverage and a snack while shopping and exploring Kowloon…you will find it all somewhat satisfying knowing that bigger and better and more ‘authentic’ tastes of Kowloon await you deeper in the peninsula itself.

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It’s lovely out there.

Culture amidst the storm–

BOOM!  Storms of all kinds are brewing all over the planet, and we have a particularly good one happening here in Hong Kong at the moment.  Nevertheless, culture marches on…people gotta dance…songs gotta be sung…poems gotta be recited…and music has gotta be played. . .yes indeedy-dee.

The Cantonese/Chinese people here are full of life and vigor and goodness. . .a storm hangs over the harbor yet none of these things are ever tamped down inside the inhabitants of this great island/peninsula city-state.  Every day people are laughing and singing and eating great food and drinking lots of beer and wine and doing their best to enjoy the passage of time no matter what kinds of storms pass overhead be they meteorological, ideological, political, etc.. . .mmm, aaahh!

Where all of this struggling with storms leads to no one knows, but we do know this: the struggle will never end until there are no people left anywhere on the planet.  Life is struggle. . .enjoy it, embrace it, and you will be good-to-go.

To see more profound images from around planet Earth simply click on a location of your choice in the category menu on the ‘About’ page of this blog. . .dive on in. . .so much to see and soooo little time.

It’s lovely out there.

Dis place is gaw-jus!

JAAA!  The hallways here in The Peninsula of Hong Kong feel like geometric time/space portals leading us infinitely deeper and deeper away from wherever we are standing–though we are simply always right here, right now. . .wow, that’s heavy stuff…I gotta lay off of the rice liquor.

The lobby of The Peninsula looks just like it did way back in 1928 when this place opened. . .another time portal that connects us directly from here to then, a mere 89 years ago.  I can feel the vibes of all the people who have walked through here, sat here, chatted here, snacked here…just like I am doing right at this very moment with my tasty Peninsula Lobby Club Sandwich and wonderfully strong coffee. . .mmm, aaaahh!

We are all connected to everything around us. . .we humans are all interconnected with all folks from the past and all folks to come in the future.  What an honor that we get to exist right in this very moment. . .just a short time here, I know, but so much fun to soak it all up…luxuriate in everything…and know that wherever this is all going, it’s gonna be ok…it IS ok…and it shall be ok forevermore.

Just sending you some minor thoughts from the magnificent lobby of The Peninsula Hotel here in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong. . .feel them. . .they may make you smile for just a split second or so.

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It’s lovely out there.

Cozy gobbling above The Fragrant Harbor–

POW!  We are hungry…my wife’s work colleague invites us out to dinner here in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong…he chooses a place called ‘Hutong’ in a tower high above the city streets…we are very happy with this choice–hao-hao!

Hutong specializes in northern Chinese food–Beijing-style, some might say–and everything that we gobble here is delicious.  Northern Chinese food is mildly seasoned with aromatics and herbs and spices that tantalize our noses and our taste buds before, during, and after each bite. . .I tend to prefer Szechuan or Hunanese-style Chinese cuisine–food with more of a kick–but the subtle and multi-layered flavors of Beijing-style grub are absolutely worthy of our attention.

With the overcast nighttime skyline as our backdrop, we ingest slightly spicy razor clams, special spiny lobster, braised short ribs, delectable codfish, a soft-shell crab chili stir-fry of sorts, slightly spicy shrimp fried rice, special garlicky kale stalks, and a dessert of green tea, oolong tea, and tofu ice creams–EVERYTHING is tasty and delectable…we are extremely happy. . .and all of this is washed down with a couple bottles of Sancerre–PERFECT!

The atmosphere of this restaurant is in the style of the old hutongs of Beijing–a hutong is an alleyway of old houses and shacks that millions of people used to live in throughout Beijing and beyond, but these are now considered old-fashioned and most of the original hutongs of Beijing have been plowed over to make way for new highways, apartment buildings, and office towers all over the capital of China.  Hutong the restaurant is an homage to these alleyways and the food of the north of China. . .totally worthy of a visit if you ever find yourself wandering around here in Kowloon lookin’ for somethin’ good to jam into yer belly–jaaa!

I send you lip-smackingly satisfying vibes from Hutong…feel them…they are good for your skin and circulation.

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It’s lovely out there.

#1 hotel…Hong Kong–

MMM!  The Peninsula on Salisbury Road in the Kowloon section of Hong Kong gets our vote as the number one hotel in town–hao-hao!!

This place is OUTSTANDING.  Everything is smooth and easy here. . .the location is wonderful with magnificent views of the the Hong Kong skyline across the harbor…check-in is simple and efficient–no b.s. of any kind…the lobby is resplendent and pretty much the same as when the hotel opened back in 1928–great people watching while sipping coffee and gobbling a snack…the walls and hallways are crisp and pristine…the rooms are simple, focused and totally digital–one i-Pad controls EVERYTHING from the temperature to the window-shade configuration…the beverages and food and amenities are all tasty and top-notch…and the staff are all sweet, friendly, and totally switched-on. . .mmmm, aaaahh!

We could stay here for a long long time and never tire of the warmth and welcoming feeling that we are experiencing each and every moment. . .but we will have to leave soon and move on to some other destination and some other adventure. . .until then, let’s eat, drink, be merry, and sleep well.

Please consider staying at The Peninsula the next time you visit Hong Kong…you will love it here, too–I gar-ron-taaaaayy!!

To see more magical images from around our teeny tiny planet simply click on a location of your choice in the category menu on the ‘About’ page of this blog. . .dive on in. . .so much to see and sooooo little time.

It’s lovely out there.

Day 115…HKG to LGA via DFW–

BAM!  Final legs of the journey back to New York. . .flying for free so we gotta pop through Dallas…okeedokee, we are in no hurry to get back to the winter weather in the big city so let’s take our time, be sure we are staying hydrated, and contemplate all the good things ahead of us in the Year of the Monkey.  People keep asking us, “what is the significance of the Monkey Year?” and all that I can say is, “monkey jump around.”…maybe not as much as we jump around, but monkey definitely jump around quite a bit so get ready for lots of movement and up-n-down this year. . .always fun when things are up and down and here and there and who-knows-where.  Enjoy the ride, it’s the only one we got.

We continue to feel gratitude for the opportunity to jump around anywhere let alone Southeast Asia for these past three or four months. . .be appreciative of all of the experiences that you are having right here, right NOW. . .time is very short, kookiness is happening all over the place, people are a tad bamboozled everywhere, the universe is mysterious and mostly unknowable, our existence is fascinating and magical and worthy of endless contemplation, and all we can do is keep rockin’ and rollin’ to the very end. . .not sure where any of this is leading, but we will keep choosing joy despite everything.  How about you?  What are you gonna choose moving forward?  Hope it’s something good.

Thank you for following along with the wacky adventure we have been having. . .gonna head back to NYC, rest up a bit, and get back at it toot-sweet.  I send you nomadic vibes from Hong Kong and Dallas and New York. . .feel them. . .they will keep you warm during the remaining winter days and nights in North America…jaaa!

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It’s lovely out there.

Day 21…get to the typhoon crab–

We sit and contemplate our upcoming 17-hour flight. . .we sip delightfully tasty lattes as we do so–the Centurion Lounge at DFW Airport is quite nice. . .mmmm!

The long flight is smooth and easy–most wonderful!. . .finally, we float above Hong Kong Airport awaiting permission to land.  There is no rush as we have a vibrant sunset to gaze upon as we approach the Fragrant Harbor–I never get tired of staring at the tops of clouds from 30,000 feet up in the air. . .jaaa!!

  

After checking into our hotel, we are soon racing toward the center of town in a cab with the windows wide open and our hearts open even wider–so much goodness lies before us–gotta appreciate it all NOW. . .hao-hao!                                

Aaaah!–mission accomplished. . .we are jamming typhoon crab claws into our gullets before we can say “nee-hao-maaa!”  This nomadic wandering thing is good. . .real good.  Please go somewhere fun and eat something delectable TODAY!  Time is short. . .do whatever you wanna do NOW!

I send you ecstatic vibes from Under The Bridge Crab here in Hong Kong. . .feel them. . .they are tangy and oh-so satisfying.  So much more to come. . .

To see more stupendous images from around our teeny-tiny planet simply click on a location of your choice in the category menu on the ‘About’ page of this blog. . .do it. . .you can go just about anywhere that you like right here, right NOW.

It’s lovely out there.