If you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you’re enjoying whatever it is you celebrate.
If you don’t celebrate at all, I wish you a safe and peaceful day.
I just wanted to share a piece of art that my friend Jennifer did for me to celebrate Christmas.
I hope whatever you’re eating today is as tasty as I reckon this barbeque pig would taste after slowing turning and cooking for a few hours.
Looking back over 2016
This year (2016) has been pretty good for me. It started with a holiday in Hong Kong with my daughters. It was the best holiday ever. I really loved spending nine nights there and spending time with my girls. We did a lot of things including a lot of shopping. For me, the highlight was the food. OMG! I ate so much.
Work has been very fulfilling and very rewarding. I tend not to write much about work, but I am fortunate to have excellent and very supportive bosses right up to the secretary of the department. I’ve also loved being able to continue practising medicine in ACT Pathology at The Canberra Hospital. I have the perfect balance work wise.
I’m also experiencing a great balance in life too. As well as blogging here at Yummy Lummy, I’ve started a YouTube channel with some videos on the food I eat. If you have watched them I hope you enjoy them. I’d love it if you would leave comments, like the videos and subscribe.
Podcasting is fun
The other thing I’ve started this year is a podcast named Medical Fun Facts. It’s a great outlet for my sense of humour coupled with my professional interest as opposed to my food interests.
Work has been great
Work has seen me visit Manila and Helsinki this year for various aspects of the work I do.
I love reading other blogs
I’ve also been enjoying reading blogs from quite a lot of bloggers.
I’d like to shout out to my friends who I share comments with and who regularly comment on Yummy Lummy.
PS. One thing I do mourn now at Christmas is that my favourite Christmas song, viz., Six White Boomers, is now dead to me because of the criminal behaviour of Rolf Harris toward women (the link opens an NSFW photograph).
The last eight posts on Yummy Lummy have been about my recent Hong Kong holiday.
Hugging on Victoria Peak
I have links to each post below.
I thought I’d write a summary post with some tips and ideas on travelling for an Hong Kong holiday. This holiday was a family affair with my three daughters, viz., Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20. The planning was undertaken by Ms18 and Ms20 and my job was to pay for the flights, accommodation, ground transport, and tickets to Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park and the Hong Kong 3D Museum. In addition I looked after most of the meals. The girls brought with them spending money for shopping.
Here are some things (in no particular order) to consider when travelling for an Hong Kong holiday. I’m grateful to Miss14 for her input.
Walking shoes: Good quality shoes that will stand up to >33,000 steps a day are a must. The weather can be inclement so pools of water to step over need to be considered as well.
Band aids for blisters: If you don’t have worn in shoes or if you don’t have decent shoes make sure you start the trip with plenty of band aids. Of course new band aids can be purchased from dispensaries or pharmacies.
Google maps and transit routes especially station and bus times: It’s often said Google maps can be inaccurate and we experienced this too, however, the benefits for use outweighed the occasional GPS inaccuracy which was probably because of the tall buildings. A simple turning off and on of the app often fixes the problem. The Hong Kong public transport system is simply fabulous. The best I’ve experienced anywhere. Even better, Google maps lists all the options for trains, trams, buses including times, distances and walking requirements. Having a smartphone with Google maps made our holiday orders of magnitude easier and harmonious. We had no bickering or arguing because we’d gone in the wrong direction. Google was there to help. The added benefit we had was that the Cosmopolitan Hotel supplied for our use an Alcatel smartphone with a 4G sim card so we could use it as a wi-fi hot spot and also use the MTR and Google apps on it for navigation and assistance.
Power packs: You can now buy cheap power packs for smartphones, tablets and even small cameras. With an overnight charge these handy little devices can keep your smartphone juiced up all day. It wasn’t uncommon at about 10.30 am for one of the girls to say they were at <50% battery power for their iPhone. With wi-fi everywhere and so many selfies being taken and so much Facebook and Snapchat being used it was little wonder each of them needed to have a charger (except Ms18 who with the aid of low battery mode and an iPhone 6 managed most days on one overnight charge). The best thing is you can buy short (10 cm) and long (2 m) cords to connect the power pack and smartphone to suit your situation. I wore a jacket most places and could keep the power pack and iPhone on me and continue to use the device while it was charging. BTW for those interested my Snapchat user names are garydlum and yummy_lummy Follow me if you like.
Octopus card: The public transport system in Hong Kong is fantastic. You can buy an Octopus card at the airport when you land for HKD$200. This gives you straight up HKD$100 credit to get you to your hotel plus probably a day or so around Hong Kong. Not only can it be used on trains, trams and buses but it can be used as a debit card in many shops including shops at the airport.
Travel with someone good with directions: People who know me know I have no inbuilt compass. I am hopeless. Completely, utterly without any sense of direction nor an ability to read a map confidently. Fortunately Ms20 has an excellent sense of direction and could remember over each day the direction of where we were meant to go. In addition she can remember where every shop is she has entered in case a return visit is necessary.
Smartphone for maps and camera: This carries on from the Google maps piece of advice. If you don’t have a smartphone, try to get one and get used to it about a month before hand. You won’t regret it. In this day and age, being au fait with a smartphone can help you enormously. Shooting photographs with your smartphone isn’t just for sharing on social media and for blogging and for holiday memories, the photographs with the geotag GPS information can help you find somewhere you’ve been and need to return to. The photographs can also be used as evidence in case of mishaps. I highly recommend having a smartphone on your person at all times.
Smartphone for apps like swarm, snapchat, Facebook and Twitter: I’m not sure how many people use social media. I know a lot do. I was in awe watching my girls use their iPhones for all sorts of communication with friends. I thought I had a good handle on social media, I’m a novice by comparison. You can checkout where I’ve been by my swarm/foursquare history. You can see what I’ve posted on Facebook and Twitter too. By using hashtags like #HongKong and #holiday as well as specific location hashtags I could ask for assistance and advice as well as receive unsolicited comments and advice. Even if you aren’t a regular social media user, for a holiday, it can be a real help. I use an if this then that recipe that sends my swarm check ins to my Google calendar so when I write a blog post I know where I’ve been each day. The possibilities are endless.
Camera bag: Camera bags are a very personal choice. My advice is use one you’re used to. I have a Lowepro sling bag which was just perfect for my camera body and lenses as well as my power pack, hat, sunglasses, lens cleaning cloths, Platypod, close up filters and cords and cables. I prefer a sling bag to a backpack because it’s easier to get my camera out. I use a wrist strap on my camera which makes it easy to pull out of my sling bag.
Coat with pockets: If it’s cool weather this means you can distribute stuff on your body rather than a bag. If it’s summer, wear shorts and shirts with pockets. Yeah, I know not fashionable. You need to decide for yourself what will suit you and what level of dagginess you will tolerate. Those that know me know I’m a total bogan/dag so I don’t care what I wear so long as it is practical. Miss14 felt pockets were essential especially for easy access to things like her iPhone and Octopus card.
T-shirts: In temperate weather like Hong Kong, it never got too cold or too hot. Wearing a coat was helpful in the air conditioned areas and on New Year’s Eve when it got chilly. Wearing a T-shirt underneath meant I could regulate my body temperature more easily. I used a combination of short and long sleeve T-shirts depending on the weather conditions.
Power cube: I love my power cube. While it has four AC outlets and 2 high power USB ports, you can really only use three outlets at any one time if you rest the cube on a bedside table. Each night I could charge my devices and camera batteries as well as my power pack without any problems.
Book a small room: You don’t need a large room. We aimed not to be in the room unless we were sleeping. Make the most of every minute of every day you’re on holiday. We had two double beds in the room. The bathroom was pretty good with a combination shower/bathtub. You just need room for beds and bags really.
Book in advance: Some trips are cheaper and easier, e.g., Ngong Ping cable car
Grab free Wi-Fi wherever you can: This is a no brainer. I am fortunate. I have a Vodafone roaming account so for AUD$5/day I get all the calls and data I need like I’m at home. I also regularly use HolidayPhone to purchase SIM cards before a trip if there is no Vodafone coverage and also for a small portable 3G/4G wi-fi router. I’ve been particularly grateful to the support (Scott) from HolidayPhone when there have been hiccoughs, so I’m happy to recommend them. That said, there’s nothing like exploiting wi-fi whenever you can. Do it safely though and be careful. Be alert to on-line security.
Foreign money cash cards: I use QANTAS cash which lets me have a MasterCard in common currencies. This worked brilliantly in Hong Kong. I could withdraw cash when I needed it and use the Qantas cash MasterCard credit card to make purchases. I always alert my credit card company of overseas travel just to be safe.
Don’t bring anything unnecessary: Pack light and travel happy. Like I said, I’m not fashionable and so I stayed as clean as possible and wore some clothes again. I didn’t bring my regular everyday leather RM Williams boots. Even though I knew we’d eat in some nice places, I was confident my casual shoes would be fine. The added benefit was that I didn’t have to remove my shoes for airport security.
Hand sanitiser. Toilets look clean and generally are clean but when you see how people behave in toilets and how they’re cleaned you’ll think twice. I didn’t go into the detail I’m known for when describing my squat toilet experience on New Year’s Eve, sufficie to say I’m glad I had hand sanitiser. Hand sanitiser can also be used to clean toilet seats.
Medication: Bring your supply of medication. I now need to take some regular medication, it’s important to ensure you have a supply and keep it safe. If there is any doubt about whether you can travel with it, speak with your medical practitioner and if necessary get a letter to cover you. I also found with all the walking and carrying a sling bag, my back got sore every day so having some analgesics in my bag was always helpful.
Spare set of spectacles: If you need spectacles for reading, you MUST bring a spare pair. Even though I had three girls with me who at times read things for me when my glasses were in my bag, you need to be able to read.
Sunglasses and a hat: Eye and skin protection are always important.
Poncho or rain coat: Hong Kong can have wet weather. On the Sunday we went to see Tian Tan ‘Big’ Buddha, it was wet. We also got wet on one of the rides at Ocean park too. A poncho or rain coat would be helpful.
Planning: This is from Miss14 and you can tell she’s the daughter of an emergency manager. Having a plan is good. Being flexible about the plan as situations change is also important. Having an idea at the end of each day for what the next day held was really helpful. We usually discussed the next day’s plan on the way back to the hotel the night before. We’d talk about it again at breakfast. The good thing is as the situation changed, having travelling companions who are flexible is also great. Travelling with my daughters was an absolute pleasure.
Make the most of each day: Again this comes from Miss14. She was a great example of doing as much as possible with every minute we had.
I’ll update this as I get more ideas from Ms18 and Ms20.
Here’s a list of all the posts so far from our Hong Kong Holiday.
It’s Monday morning and we fly back to Brisbane later in the evening. Today we had our last and best meal in Hong Kong before the flight home.
No it wasn’t breakfast. This is the last breakfast I had at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. It was certainly not our best meal in Hong Kong.
Scrambled eggs with condensed milk and jam on toast with dim sum
After breakfast we set about packing our bags. Our check out time was 12 noon and Miss14 and Ms18 had done most of their packing the night before. As for Ms20 and me, we needed to sort out our suitcases and things. We’d agreed that we would try to check out at about 11.30 so we could have one final meal somewhere close.
I was very impressed with my daughters. They had planned for a long time for this holiday. They came with plenty of room in their suitcases and they bought enough to fill the gaps without any extra bags necessary. Ms18 in particular had packing down to a tee. She was like a travelling expert. Her suitcase was immaculate in the way everything went together. She is so neat.
Me on the other hand, I travel a lot but for this trip I just threw everything into my bag. My focus for this holiday had been keeping my daughters happy and shooting some photographs for Yummy Lummy. I brought along a bag for my camera body, lenses and power supplies.
We were ready by 11.30 and set off for Times Square. My plan was to get a table at Lei Garden which I had heard was a very fine Chinese restaurant. When we arrived we secured a table on the understanding we would be finished by 1.30 pm. That wouldn’t be a problem.
The yum cha menu looked pretty good and we set about discussing and agreeing on what we’d like to eat.
You can see what we asked for in this photograph of our request sheet.
The yum cha menu at Lei Garden
The steamed dim sum came out first and occupied most of the table.
Steamed dim sum at Lei Garden
Everything was delicious.
The deep fried dim sum came out next.
Deep fried dim sum at Lei Garden
I love turnip cake. My grandmother used to make it for me. I could eat it all day.
Then things got a little out of order. We were served egg custard tarts but there was one more fried dish to come.
Egg custard tartsDeep fried dumplings with sticky rice and pork
This was simply the best meal in Hong Kong of our holiday. That’s not to say we didn’t also enjoy the hospitality and ambience of cheap and cheerful local establishments like Toby Inn and Eat Together.
After lunch Miss14 was determined to spend her last Hong Kong dollars on her Octopus card so we explored some little shops.
As we walked back to the hotel to wait for our bus to the airport we stopped at McDonald’s for a soft drink.
The bus ride to the airport was uneventful. I wrote a couple of quick TripAdvisor reviews for the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Buffalo Tours.
When we got to the airport we were allowed into a lounge and had an afternoon snack.
Of course the girls wanted to do more last minute shopping. They found another Victoria’s Secret shop!
We boarded QF98 HKG to BNE without delay or problem and were on our way back to Brisbane after a fantastic holiday.
Yes, we shared an overnight flight with two babies!
The food on the flight home was pretty good.
I had a nice duck salad and caramel mousse for dinner and eggs for breakfast.
When I got to my parent’s place I said goodbye for my daughters. It had been such a great holiday and their absence left a hole in my heart. It had been my best ever holiday. We made the most of everyday and every waking hour. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
To satisfy my craving for Atlantic salmon I had salmon for lunch and tea in Brisbane.
The following day I flew back to Canberra. I managed to get an upgrade seat (thank you Qantas) and enjoyed a toasted sandwich for breakfast.
So this isn’t the last post for this Hong Kong holiday. I’ll post a summary with tips on travelling soon.
If you’ve been to Hong Kong what was your best meal in Hong Kong?
On our last full day we decided to visit the Big Buddha Hong Kong. I didn’t know much about the Tian Tan Buddha, I just knew it was a must see in Hong Kong.
We woke up to a cloudy day with drizzle. It didn’t look good but we weren’t going to waste the day.
First up breakfast!
Breakfast waffle with fruit, jam, condensed milk and a croissant
Getting to the Big Buddha would take a couple of hours so we made an early start. It was good that we did because the fog and mist were getting thicker.
On the way to Causeway Bay MTR station we stopped at a McDonald’s because Miss14 wanted a hash brown.
Miss14 with her McDonald’s hash brown
We’d become so familiar with the walk to Causeway Bay MTR station and catching the trains it didn’t feel like a long journey at all. From Tung Chung MTR station it was a short walk to the Ngong Ping Cable car terminal. We bought return tickets for the crystal cars so we could see through the bottom of the car.
The cable car ride would be spectacular on a fine day or even a cloudy day, on this Sunday we were enveloped by foggy mist and at times couldn’t see the next car in front of us let alone anything around above or below us. When we got to the Ngong Ping station high up on Lantau Island we couldn’t even see the ground at sea level.
Ngong Ping cable car terminal at Tung Chung stationSelfie from Ngong Ping cable carAt Ngong Ping Station near Tian Tan Buddha (this required a lot of post process editing in Adobe Lightroom).
There was a whole “Hello Kitty” thing going on up at Ngong Ping with the Ngong Ping 360 company. I don’t understand the Hello Kitty phenomenon. It’s beyond me. That said, I know people who are into it so here is one photograph.
Hello Kitty Ngong Ping Station (again lots of post processing editing in Adobe Lightroom).
I felt a touch cold up there
Me at Ngong Ping cable car stationNgong Ping and the path to the big buddha
There are 268 steps to the Tian Tan “Big” Buddha. Fortunately it’s not a continuous climb, while steep there are flat sections every dozen or so steps. The cool misty morning was a good time to do a stair climb.
At the top the foggy mist was such at seeing the Buddha’s visage was impossible. I had to do a lot of post process editing to get this amount of detail.
Tian Tan ‘Big’ Buddha in the foggy mist
At the top there are signs asking visitors to refrain from photography. Inside the buddha is a lot of information material on the construction and history of the statue itself. Nearby is the Po Lin monastery and a temple of gold buddhas which is beautiful.
After visiting the Big Buddha and monastery we spent some time in the Ngong Ping village looking around the shops.
Feeling hungry we decided rather than eating the monks’ vegetarian delights we’d head into Tung Chung and try some more food at the Food Republic.
Miss20 and I had a Japanese inspired rice omelet with pork chop and scallops.
Rice omelet with crumbed pork chop and scallops
Ms18 had mentioned a few days earlier that she would like to visit the Dragon Garden in Sham Tseng which was a bus ride away from Tung Chung.
When we arrived at the front gate we discovered it was closed. On further inquiry the garden is only open one day a month. Ms18 was quite annoyed.
Ms18 at Dragon Garden gate
So what to do when there are no gardens with dragons to walk around? More shopping of course!
We went to Mong Kok and spent some time in Langham Place.
We also had afternoon tea.
Double chocolate almond croissantSinging in Mong Kok
For dinner we went to a cheap and cheerful place called Eat Together. Like Toby Inn on our first day this place had character. The owner sat at one of the tables when we entered and offered us her table. She sat with another customer. After we received our menus she was at our table again expecting us to have decided what we wanted to eat. This place was where locals ate. We had some of the best fried dumplings there we’d had on the whole holiday.
Eat TogetherEat TogetherDeep fried porkDeep fried vegetable and pork and shrimp dumplingsDeep fried pork neck
After our meal at Eat Together we went back to langham Place so Ms20 could have some green tea ice cream.
Green tea ice cream
Our plan had been to return to McDonald’s near Times Square but when we arrived the ice cream machines were broken. We were disappointed.
While the weather had been less than ideal the day turned out to be quite enjoyable. As a last full day in Hong Kong we were pretty happy.
Ocean Park Hong Kong is a place I’m in two minds about. I loved the rides and I loved learning about the fauna there but that fauna is held captive.
Before we get to Ocean Park Hong Kong we need to show a photograph of my breakfast from the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Scrambled eggs and jam on toast
Prior to leaving for Hong Kong, Ms20 had arranged ground transport with Buffalo Tours from our hotel to Ocean Park Hong Kong. After breakfast we waited for our shuttle bus. It was delayed but not too delayed. The guide on the shuttle bus was very good at explaining what we should see and do when we got to Ocean Park. He was also very careful to explain our pick up point and pick up time.
The Grand Aquarium Ocean ParkThe cable car at Ocean Park Hong KongOcean Park cable carInside an Ocean Park cable carOcean Park from a cable carDeep Water Bay Hong Kong after a lot of post processing in Adobe Lightroom. The haze was very severe.
The Hair Raiser Roller Coaster at Ocean Park Hong Kong
The Hair Raiser was the best ride we experienced in Hong Kong.
I found this YouTube video which shows just how much fun it is.
Best ride in Hong Kong.
Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with Deep Water Bay in the backgroundAll the Christmas treesColourful plastic vegetables and fruitColourful plastic vegetablesMiss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with a Giant PandaGiant Panda doing what giant pandas do best
There are four giant pandas held captive in Ocean Park Hong Kong. Two are kept in the open and the other two in a closed in enclosure.
Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with a giant panda in the backgroundA panda eating. I couldn’t get a decent shot of its head.Giant panda faeces. It looks like a tangle of bamboo shoots.
After the cable car ride and visiting the Giant panda and panda exhibit we went back to the area of the rides. We went on two roller coasters which were great. As good as any roller coaster ride I’ve had in Australia and as good as Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland.
After the rides we went for lunch. We thought we’d try the Terrace cafe. It looked nice but the maître d’ was incompetent beyond imagination. we walked away after 20 minutes of waiting and being ignored while others (who could speak Cantonese) pushed through and got tables.
We ended up in the cheap and cheerful eatery. I had roast duck and pork with rice.
Roast pork and duck with rice
After lunch we went to the arctic and antarctic exhibitions.
In the arctic exhibit there were seals and a couple of walruses. The walruses were huge.
Sea lionSea lionWalrusThis walrus has very ugly mouth partsThis walrus has very ugly mouth partsPenguins in the Antarctic exhibit
After the arctic and antarctic exhibits we went to the dolphin show. I shot about a hundred photographs but when I looked through them all I saw were dolphins held in captivity. Ocean Park Hong Kong makes a strong point about conservation, animal welfare, protecting marine ecological systems and zöological research. I still feel uneasy about these animals being trained for entertainment.
A dolphin leaping highParakeet
In the south American rain forest area there were some Capybara. These rodents are huge.
CapybaraMiss14 and a Capybara replicaMs20 and a Capybara replicaMiss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with tree giant pandasFarewell Ocean Park Hong Kong
It was an enjoyable day at Ocean Park save for the lunch episode at the Terrace Cafe.
After we left we went to Times Square in Causeway Bay and enjoyed dinner, albeit an expensive dinner at Greenhouse.
I had Singapore noodles with lobster and bacon.
Singapore noodles with lobster and bacon
After such an expensive main course we went to McDonalds for dessert
Strawberry Sundae
And so ended Saturday in Hong Kong. It was a good one.
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