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.
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 steamed dim sum came out first and occupied most of the table.
Everything was delicious.
The deep fried dim sum came out next.
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.
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?
Food looks sooo delicious! 🙂
Thank you. It was amazing.
I always love the idea of traveling and eating. And not to mention, those food looked really amazing! I’m sure they tasted great! I hope you had fun with your trip!
I did Nagi. It was the best holiday ever. My daughters shopped and I ate basically 😃😋
It’s been enjoyable reading your holiday in HK Gary. Glad you had a great time with your daughters…very special. I love turnip cake too (without the bits of meat though).
Thank you very much Sue for your generous and kind words. I am touched that you have read so many of my posts today 😃
I’ve loved reading all about your trip, Gary! Sounds wonderful, and how excellent that you got to share it with your daughters 🙂
Thank you very much. It was the best holiday I’ve ever had. My daughters are the best travelling companions ever 😃😃😃
I’ve not been to Vietnam. I love Vietnamese food.
I was in Berlin some years back. Good food were expansive but the quality was good. I had a beef pho with a rather unusual flavour; perhaps it was star anise but as I finished the last scrape of soup, I spied a strain of pubic hair. I kid you not. My tummy churned!
Yikes that would be horrifying to find.
If you go to Vietnam, I recommend 10 to 14 days and travel north to south.
Thanks for the tip, Gary. A trip to the East is long overdue for me……
Yes, I have heard the Northern part of Vietnam is very different from the South.
Looking forward to hearing more of your travels.
If you type Vietnam into the search line of the blog you’ll see posts from that trip
I did as instructed but it appears that the trip on Vietnam are not available. I had a quick look at the site map but no luck.
I note an interesting food post; crab and bacon sandwich. You weaved your write up (some Asian restaurant) with a lyrical note.
Sorry about that. I had forgotten it was on my old blog before I had moved to a self hosted site. https://garydlum.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/the-vietnam-holiday-summary-post/
Thanks for the link. Will check it out and explore your website in greater details when I have a bit more time.
I hope it gives you some ideas
Travelling and eating, love it. I hope to visit Central Asia in the near future, the road that less travelled.
You certainly have an interesting job.
I loved Vietnam when I visited there. The food changes from place to place. It’s so fascinating.
I’m not sure if my last comment has gone to your spam folder.
It’s a spiritual journey, lol. Prior to my Turkish posting, I lived in the Middle East.
I don’t eat a lot of pork when I lived in London but I do miss pork osso bucco, veal tails, quality sausages and chorizo.
I will be having a short holiday in Istanbul pretty soon. It will be cold but my next holiday is not till the summer. I was in Istanbul on a day trip not too long ago and the food prices are on par with London. At least, I will drink in the sights and feast my eyes.
I’ll have to check my spam.
I’ve only been in London twice. Both for work so food was not a focus. Hopefully I’ll have a holiday in Europe in the next few years. I really like travelling and eating.
Those dim sum are to die for. The prices of dim sum have gone up in London and with other competing priorities, most people do not have dim sum on a regular basis. The quality of dim sum have gone down hill.
I’m currently based in a small city in Turkey; foreigners are very few and so are foreign food (excluding pizza and hamburger). Occasionally, I crave for a noodle soup but there’re only instant noodles here. They’ve ‘bacon’ (more like beefcon, bacon made from beef but I’ve never eaten it. I don’t like the colour).
I was in Athens for Christmas 2015. On one day, I had two pork dishes. I polished off the few pieces of pork cracklings although I don’t eat them usually. These will be the last pork dishes I will have for some time.
I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have access to pork. I don’t eat a lot of bacon but I must have access to it if I need it. Then again, I’ve travelled through some countries where pork isn’t available and like you I avoid beef bacon and turkey ham. I just make do. I hope it’s not too long before you can satisfy your food desires 😃😋