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From what I understand, Chuen Cheung Kui (泉章居) has 2 locations: one on Nelson Street in Mongkok, which was the one I have been to. The other one on Lockhart Road in Wanchai/Causeway-Bay, perhaps that's the one you have been to? I read many bad reviews on Chuen Cheung Kui on openrice.com. My evaluation of it is okay. The salt-baked chicken was good. Braised pork belly with preserved vegetables was excellent. And the beefballs with choy sum was good. The service was so-so, but the price was good - around HKD100 pp for dinner.

Actually I think Vancouver is a close second to Hong Kong, Cantonese-food-wise. In some cases may even surpass Hong Kong because of the quality of ingredients. It's a more affordable trip for us, if just to sample the food.

So that they make sure they don't introduce foreign tastes in the duck??? Your dim sum in Cleveland pictures look interesting, Nancy. But if you get a chance, you gotta go to the Cantonese food Mecca of Hong Kong to sample the best ones.

LOL! That's what I would do too. If you are willing to go through the torture of making dim sum, you wouldn't mind walking a few extra steps would you?

Wow! Fanta! I havent had one of those as long as I haven't had a bottle of Green Spot. I haven't seen them in the USA. I like Green Spot more. It seems to me that Fanta is a bit watered down.

I know that condensed milk makes a big difference in taste. I always like the Vietnamese coffee too as they use condensed milk also. I also thought that the HK style of making coffee is to boil the coffee beans in water for some time, instead of the modern day's dripping boiling water through the coffee beans, may have contributed to my perceived "better" taste - at least they taste different.

It may not be quite "complimentary". They charge you for these. HKD 5 to 10 pp. In addition to the tea charge. They are "mandatory" appetizers. As discussed here. ahuacatl (Your online monikor is about as hard to spell as mine. ) BTW: do you live in Hong Kong? Or you are visiting?

How much does a meal cost in Hong Kong? From my experience in this trip... and we are talking about just a casual lunch/dinner, not the elaborate ones: Lunch: around HKD 30 to HKD 50 pp. I know a bowl of wonton noodle soup is about HKD 17. A rice plate is about HKD 25. Eating dim sum would be higher, definitely. When we went to the "upscale" eateries like Yung Kee, Victoria City and Farm House, we spent about HKD 200 to 300 pp. So that's the high end. Dinner: around HKD 50 to HKD 100 pp, typical. Of course you can have a Big Mac for 10 or so. Or Cafe de Coral for 20 something. The private kitchens charge around HKD 300 to HKD 500. There are these "banquet" style packaged meals that my family members like. And they run typically HKD 600 - 800 for "half" (means for 6 people), or HKD 1000 - 1500 for "full" (means for 12 people). Those are meals and drinks (beer and soft drinks or fruit juices) included. So it's roughly HKD 100 pp. In "upscale" eateries, I would imagine that would be from HKD 200 to 500, depending on restaurants. (Note: Conversion - HKD 7.6 = USD 1.00) So the spectrum is quite wide. You can get yourself stuffed with as little as HKD 20 (USD $2.50), or a typical of HKD 50 (USD $7.00), or eat "nicely" by paying HKD 200+ (USD $25.00+). But whichever level you choose, the food is mostly decent. I had only a few so-so meals in Hong Kong out of my 21 days.

I don't think this is entirely correct. The new generation of kids in HK does drink fresh milk. I used to drink a bottle of milk or chocolate milk from Dairy Farm everyday when I lived in HK. And I am sure there are people like myself. Dairy Farm has been doing fairly well.

I haven't been to Tai Po Market for many, many years. I learned that they have moved the KCR (train) station. Where is this Cooked Food Centre in relation to the KCR station? Is it nearby? Do they run this like the food centres in Singapore? Every stall has a standard size (I noticed the numbering (address))? They share tables and chairs?

In general, fresh milk is not found in Chinese cooking. But there is one dish called "Dai Leung Chow Seen Lai" [Cantonese]. Dai Leung is the name of a city (I think???). Chow Seen Lai means "stir-fried fresh milk". I used to see this dish offered in many restaurants in Hong Kong but have never tried it. It struck me as odd too how can fresh milk be "stir-fried".

Yes, in Hong Kong the Portugese Tarts are named "Po Gok Tart". "Po Gok" is translation for Portugal or Portugese. In short, that is "Po Tart". When I was in Hong Kong, regular egg tarts (Hong Kong style) are about HKD3 to HKD5 each. Po Tart usually are higher. Probably in the HKD5 to HKD7 range? I had some in Macau. HKD6 each. (Yes they use HKD in Macau. The conversion is about the same.) Welcom to the familiy ahuacatl!

Hi insomniac! Really good to hear from you! Re: Gold Mountain... Yeah, the old nick-name translation for San Francisco is "gau gum san", or old gold mountain. The name stuck. And in general, Chinese people refer to the whole USA as Gold Mountain, though the history started with importing cheap labor from China (mostly from the Toisan region) in the gold rush days.

"Gum san ah bak" or "Gum san ah sook"? ← They are of my generation. Some are even older than me! Really I should only be "Gum san dai low".

Yes, jah yu pei - fried fish skin. Very tasty stuff. Not available in USA (mostly).

Tripe: which kind? Ngau Tou or Ngau Pak Yip [Cantonese]?

It depends on the size of your cup and the size of your nor mai gai! If you make those miniature (again) nor mai gai like some restaurants, 1 cup of rice can yield 5 to 6 gai's or more! They are already at the size of a duck egg. I think pretty soon I will find them the size of my thumb.

Did you find the sizes of the baos shrinked over the years?

I looked into it. I was really tempted to try it. But unfortunately most of them (at least those that I checked) would not entertain parties of two. The minimum is like 4 or 6. There were only the two of us. The rest of my family are economic eaters and would never pay that price tag (e.g. HKD300 to HKD500 pp) for dinner. So... next time I will drag my high-school buddies along to try them. But then it might mean I need to treat them. The uncle from Gold Mountain they called me.

Yes they are great! And thanks so much for your suggestion aprilmei! Sorry to hear about that experience. But I can probably handle it.

Thank you bethpageblack. We used to do some cloths and misc stuff shopping in Hong Kong. But we don't do that any more. The main reasons are: 1) in most shops you cannot try the cloths on. You can only shop with your eyes and your fingers to feel the fabrics. 2) no refund. Once you pay at the counter - before you even stop out of the shop, the merchandise is yours forever. 3) style difference between Hong Kong and USA. May be we (USA) are lagging or old fashioned. But... why buy something that we only rarely wear? Our shoppings now are distilled to only on food items. I would love to have brought back some beef jerkies and the likes. But... US Custom rules... When one lives in a place, one typically doesn't pay as much attention to the places of attractions in the area as visitors do. Visitors have limited time, they tend to maximize on the use of their time while being in once place. During this trip I had visited many places that I didn't normally visit (like museums) while living in Hong Kong. I had been all over the NT when I was a boy scout. Going back on some of these trails was a way to relive my teenage years. But now they are much more demanding physically. I almost gave up going up to the Lantau Peak, but I am glad I finished it. If not now, it may be never. Decades ago, we used to rely on maps and compass to find our ways. My high-school buddy said to me: nowadays all you need to do is look at the high-rises. You won't get lost. He's right. Everywhere you go in Hong Kong, you can see high-rises somewhere (except in Sai Kung Peninsula). You won't get lost! With the well-marked trails along the Wilson trails and MacLehose trails, and signs telling you which way to go, how far, how long it takes... you don't even need a GPS. Except for those who are stupid enough (like me) to walk on these trails well after dark without a flashlight... And always buy a few snacks and bring with you to the trails! They are very conveniently sold in every subway station now.

Okay, all the teaser pictures are done. Now I can take my time to write the full reports. So see you all in two months!

Day 7 Teaser Pictures: Day 7. Museum day. Made it to the famous Victoria City Restaurant in Causeway Bay mentioned on this board (and many others). It is indeed great! One of their house specialties: pork/vegetable dumplings (choy yuk bao) covered with sesame seeds. The crust was very flaky to the bite. Thin. Lots of fillings, which was a mix of minced pork and vegetables. Full of flavor. I have rarely seen it done so well. Another one of their house specialties: Fried cheung fun (rice noodles) with XO sauce. The brown, curly shreds on top was dried scallops, the main ingredient of XO sauce. This was superb! Never had any fried cheung fun done so well! A sweet sauce condiment was provided. Another house goodie: Xiaolongbao with hairy crab roe. On the outside, it looks like a regular xiaolongbao. But on the inside... once you bite into it... you would notice the difference. The added hairy crab roe added an extra dimension to this tasty treat. Rich, eggy taste. If you are ever in Hong Kong, go and try out Victoria City Restaurant and you won't be disappointed. Hong Kong's Museum of Defence History. A British tank shown at the entrance. There were plenty of exhibits explaining the history of Hong Kong, once a British colony and all, since the Opium Wars. Since we were in Shau Kee Wan, we got to pay pilgrimage to the famous On Lee Restaurant for their fish balls and fish cakes. Yes, with pictures of celibrities posted outside and all. The lines were long during peak hours. We dropped by during "off" time at 5:00 pm. So, no waiting. The fishballs (and rice noodles) indeed tasted great! I was disappointed that they went out of fish skins. The owner explained: fish skins usually got sold out before 2 pm. Each day they use only so many fish to make their fish balls, and thus only a limited quantity of the fish skins. Lesson: next time, go to On Lee early. Just strolled along the Shau Kee Wan East Main Street, one can find plenty of eateries offering all kinds of eats. How could we pass by a batch of "hot, hot, hot - right off the oven" egg tarts without buying/eating some? In a different store, a worker handled a big, round, flat pan-ful of pan-fried pork/vegetable baos (choy yuk bao). Hmmmmm.... just something gotten casually on the street, almost just any street in Hong Kong, better than any of the Chinese restaurants I have tried in the USA! Spatula? Who needs a spatula while I can handle these baos with two putty knives? Shook, shook, shook... You see? The night scene of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour was indeed very beautiful. To top it off, now they run a light show every night at 8:00 pm. Laser beams and blinding spot lights were bouncing around, synchronized to the music. The best place to view it is along the harbour-front pedestrian walkway outside of the InterContinental Hotel. Get there early! It's very crowded! (A full report of Day 7 will be provided.)

I have indulged myself in Hong Kong Cha Chun Tien's coffee (Tea Restaurant's coffee) for 3 weeks while I was in Hong Kong. I don't know what it is. The coffee served in these Hong Kong "tea restaurants" tastes quite different from the Starbuck's coffee (or other generic coffee serverd in the USA). The flavor seems stronger (more "coffee" taste and aroma?). It's sweeter. And I prefer the Hong Kong style coffee. Can anybody tell us what makes the difference? Hong Kong tea restaurant's coffee versus Starbuck's coffee. I know for one thing, they use condensed milk in Hong Kong. Starbuck's only uses whole milk or half N half. I noticed that the conventional way of making coffee in Hong Kong's dai pei dong: they use a long bag to hold the ground coffee beans. The bag is submerged in a tin kettle filled with water. Water is boiled with ground coffee beans in the kettle. Then they pour out the coffee when a customer orders a cup of coffee. Can this make a big difference? Does anybody share the same experience (that you like Hong Kong coffee better)? I have tried the Starbuck's coffee when I was in Hong Kong. It tasted very generic. Just like those I had in the USA.

That's an interesting question. From all commercial outfits, obviously they tend to stuff as little filling as possible and lots of dough to sell their food to make more profits. In the old days, baos were big. Today baos are smaller, and they give you more quantity-wise. Making baos smaller, they can use more dough and less filling. I have seen some dim-sum places miniaturized their dim-sums (baos and other things). Again: miniaturize... more dough, less filling. A dan tart the size of a quarter! 3 in an order. What has this world come to? When making this at home, it's probably a personal preference. I usually (yeah, right... like I do it often... only three to four times in my life) do half and half, or 1 to 1 ratio. I like the fillings, but I also like the carb.