Thursday, March 31, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1.  I Hate Homework
Lots on the go - it's been busy at work and I'm doing a course for work/professional development (Public Sector Finance - sounds thrilling, right?)...and I gotta admit...I hate having to do homework again!  I finished my designation back in 2001, so it's been 10 years since I've had to crack a book open.  Blech, yuck, patooey!

2.  Weekend
This weekend is going to be a busy one -- Saturday night is my BFF's work goodbye party, so tomorrow night I'm going to be whipping up some goodies and doing the weekly cooking early.  This is a pre-emptive strike, as I'm feeling that Sunday morning...well, I might not feeling much like cooking, if you know what I mean!  Wine and scotch will likely be flowing freely, so I might be a little rough.  I committed to meeting friends for a walk Sunday morning though, so I don't plan on getting too crazy...but best laid plans, right?  Ha!  I don't really want to be super hung over, and I have to do a whack of homework on Sunday as well.  And....18K run scheduled for Saturday as well...can't forget that!  I haven't run that kind of distance in a while, so hopefully it'll be good...I'm going to try and maintain a slightly slower pace at around 6:00/km so I don't burn out.  Gah, and just realized that I didn't fit in a tempo run this week either, like I was hoping.  Sigh.

3.  Registered
It's official...Hubs and I have registered our little butts for the Oak Bay Half Marathon.  Game on!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

No Words Needed


Duuuuuuuuuuude. 

Gratituesday

Ooopsie.  I just realized that I didn't do Gratituesday last week, even after I said that I was going to.  My bad!  Best laid plans, right?  So what am I grateful for this week?

  1. I am grateful for fabulous friends.
  2. I am grateful for IMS - hurts like a mofo but works like a hot damn.
  3. I am grateful for my awesome physiotherapist.
  4. I am grateful for sore muscles - it means I'm getting stronger!
  5. I am grateful for amarula.  Oh yeah, baby.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Gettin' Better!

Yahooo!  I went to see my physio today, and she's really happy with how I'm doing...she kept squealing (she's so cute!) and getting excited because she could see that I've made progress and I'm doing well with the exercises she gave me to work on.  She went through all the exercises with me again today, and we worked on really tweaking the finer movements to make sure I was getting them right.  She was testing my movements and could tell that I was holding myself and moving differently, and noticed that I was looser with less muscle knots because more of the power was coming from my core (thanks to numerous core exercises) rather than all in my legs.  And it felt like on the last run, I was running more efficiently (less side to side leg movement and body roll) and engaging my core more to hold myself up.  Woohoo!  All this good news however, didn't mean that I was able to escape without another killer IMS session - today's session was seriously epic.  She did about 5 or 6 needles each in my butt, lower back, upper back and upper inner thigh (I hate those ones!)...afterwards I felt like I'd been beat up!  Definitely taking a rest day tomorrow and letting my body rest and recoup.

So happy.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Half Marathon Week 6 - 13K

Just realized that there's only another six weeks to go before I look for half marathon redemption!  This morning I was lazing about in bed before our run, and I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to sleep in much longer - marathon training starts pretty much right after the half, and during the summer we had to get out there early or we'd wilt in the hot summer sun.   Anyways, we enjoyed our sleep in and got out there around 10-ish or so.

Oy VEY, the first few kms were really hard!  The trail is slightly uphill for the first probably 4K or so, so for the first bit both Hubs and I struggled to get our feet moving and get into a groove.  Actually it was funny because both of us complained about this today, and I was reading my latest Canadian Running magazine and this guy they interviewed said that no matter if you're an elite runner or a beginner, the first few minutes of running are always hard, which is why he thought that a lot of people say they hate running if they're first trying to get into it.  I can see it!  It took until about the sixth km before I started feeling good.  So I wasn't going to post my splits today, but I had to cuz I'm going to brag just a teeny tiny bit.

1K:  5:52
2K:  5:48
3K:  5:44
4K:  5:37
5K:  5:22
6K:  5:36
7K:  5:18
8K:  5:43
9K:  5:42
10K:  5:43
11K:  5:18
12K:  5:56
13K:  5:00 <------HELLO!!!!!

Check out the last split!!  Where the heck did that come from!?  Overall stats, 1:12:43, average 5:35 mins/km pace.  Wooot!!  My goal pace to reach a sub 2 hour half is 5:41 mins/km, so if I could keep that average pace up, I'd hit a 1:57 half marathon.  *crossing fingers* 

Other good news - getting more used to my "new form" and no foot pain today.  Pretty awesome.  Going to see my physio on Monday, so I think she'll be happy with my progress.  This week I'm going to start throwing in some tempo runs and speedwork too, as we do tons of hills at bootcamp.  Oak Bay Half, here I come!

Friday, March 25, 2011

All or Nothing

Gaaaaah - does anyone else suffer from the "all or nothing" food mentality?  I've been so bad these past few days...I'm out of sorts because we've had some work-related events that have taken me out of my normal routine and I've been...let's just say...indulging?  One thing that I find is that if I slip up on my eating, I can't just let it go and get back to it for the next meal...I always figure I've blown the day so I may as well go big.  Go big or go home, right?  The last few days I've made bad food choices first thing, so then I completely blow the rest of the day.  And it's weird, because even as I write this, I'm still snacking and nibbling.  Oh, le sigh.  At least I've kept up with the workouts (I did miss one though) so all's not lost.

So...back at the 30 Day Writing Challenge!  Yep, still doing it...as you've probably figured out, I'm  not doing it consecutive days, but kind of interspersing it throughout the blog. 


Day 5 - a time you thought about ending your own life.  Hmmm, heavy topic.  I'd say there were two black periods in my life...the first is my TSN turning point time and another period when I was around twenty.  Now as bad as my TSN time was, I never ever considered ending my own life because even though it sucked, I knew I had an amazing support system of family and friends around me.  I never, ever felt alone.   The friends I have now?  These are people who I know I can put my life in their hands, and they'll come through for me.  My parents are understanding and really good to me.  Hubs is like my rock and supports me completely.  The other black period...well...not so much.  I was meandering around, completely unsure what I was going to do with my life.  I wasn't at ease with who I was, and lacked confidence in every facet of my life...I honestly thought I was stupid and would never amount to anything.  I felt like the gawkiest, nerdiest and most unattractive person who walked the face of this earth.  I had people in my life who I called my friends, but...well to put it simply, they were pretty mean to me.  I fought with my mom constantly around then.  I remember withdrawing a lot, and would go for long drives all over town just thinking because I really had no one to talk to.  I recall a few times thinking that life sure sucked, and really...no one would miss me anyways, right?  I'd lost my way.  A friend's dad had done the deed by carbon monoxide in his car and I remember thinking that it would be a painless and easy way to go. 

Well, thank goodness that I'm a big old chicken!!  I couldn't bring myself to do the deed mostly because I just couldn't do that to my mom...she would have just been devastated.  And after a while, things started to look up.  A year or so later I met Hubs, and started getting my shizz together.  I went back to school and figured out that I wasn't stupid at all and moved towards my current career.  I started meeting new people, and have people now in my life who are going to be my friends forever.  I didn't completely dump those old friends, but I know clearly what type of priority they have in my life and what type of people they are.  My relationship with my mom started to improve.  In short, life started to get better.  In retrospect, I'm so glad that I was a chicken!

So there you go.  I don't love thinking about this period because honestly it sucked. So with this, I'm closing that part of my memory bank forever because life is too short to dwell on the crappy stuff.  I've got too many races to run, too much food to try and too many things to do on my bucket list, right?  Ha!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

My Bucket List


We've all heard of the bucket list, right?  I was nonchalantly perusing some blogs today (OK, OK...I was poring through them like a crazy woman - I'm totally addicted to all things bloggie) and saw that Kathryn over at Eat, Play, Namaste had done a "32 things to do before I turn 32" list.  Kewl!  I'd started a bucket list a few years ago of 101 things to do before I died, but never quite finished it.  I like what Kathryn did so this is going to be my offiical "50 things to do before I turn 50" list!  So here goes, in no particular order:
  1. Complete a marathon
  2. Tour all throughout China
  3. Learn to swim
  4. See the Pyramids of Egypt
  5. Own a dog
  6. Own a cat (this might be difficult since Hubs is deathly allergic)
  7. Get a tattoo (something running related WHEN I run my first marathon)
  8. Take professional cooking lessons - I want to be an amazing cook one day
  9. Qualify for Boston
  10. Run through Central Park in New York
  11. Learn to play the piano
  12. Travel the world on a food tour a la Anthony Bourdain
  13. Own my own business doing something I absolutely love (food/health/running related!)
  14. Plant a veggie garden
  15. Learn how to preserve/can foods
  16. Eat pho in Vietnam
  17. Run the New York Marathon
  18. Volunteer for a food-related cause i.e. food bank, working in a soup kitchen, etc.
  19. Own a piece of John Lennon's art
  20. Learn to walk in stillettos
  21. Own a pair of Manolos
  22. Do a triathlon (must do item #3 first though - heh)
  23. Try hot yoga
  24. Do a proper cartwheel - I could never do these when I was a kid
  25. Learn how to skate
  26. Become a full time blogger
  27. Learn how to make flaky pastry
  28. See the Northern Lights
  29. Go on a crazy girl's trip to Vegas
  30. Do one hundred pushups in a row
  31. Volunter helping seniors
  32. Read 20 classic books
  33. Do the flexed arm hang for 30 seconds - anyone remember this from school?  I'm still traumatized because I couldn't do it at all!
  34. Bake bread from scratch
  35. Work for Lululemon
  36. Have laser eye surgery to improve my vision
  37. Cook my way through a classic cookbook a la Julie and Julia
  38. Go organic
  39. Become garbage free - recycle or compost everything
  40. Do ten chinups in a row
  41. Fill a room with wall to wall cookbooks
  42. Walk the Great Wall of China
  43. Create a vision board
  44. Learn more about yoga i.e. spiritual side
  45. Meet Prince Harry (yes...I have an inappropriate crush on him...I have a thing for redheads!)
  46. See the Dalai Lama
  47. Take up Tai Chi
  48. Go on a cruise
  49. Watch a Formula One race live
  50. Get into awesome physical shape
Hmmm...that was actually easier than I thought!  Once I got going, they started coming a lot easier.  I'm sure I'll be adding to these as times runs along...but a good start.  I also like writing these down and putting it out there because I definitely believe that you attract what you put out to the universe.  Better get busy!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Half Marathon Week 5 - 12K

Errrh...OK, confession time.  The run today was supposed to be 13K, but I just couldn't go on any longer!  You know some days you just don't have it in you?  Today was one of those days.  I was feeling extra tired and got winded really quickly, I think because of my "new form."  I went to see my physio on Thursday, which was good timing because my foot was still hurting and my right calf muscle was really tight from last week's 16K run/10K walk bit of business.  She had me stand up to see how balanced I was and immediately noticed that I stand with my right leg almost at the midline of my body, whereas my left is in a straight line below my hip, where it should be.  I'd never really noticed it before, but totally makes sense with my foot pain and how I strike.  She showed me how I should be walking and running...and honestly, it felt like I'd just gotten off a horse...so weird!  But I guess I'd gotten so used to walking the way I was, that anything would feel weird.

So today's run was more of a practice run to test out my new form, and not so much for speed.  I really had to concentrate hard and keep things slow otherwise I'd get tired and sloppy...all throughout the run I kept having to repeat in my head "knee out, straight from body, tripod foot, take off on ball of foot, don't let foot turn in" constantly so I wouldn't lose my form.  And I think because I was running in a way that was so foreign to me, I was getting tuckered out quickly!  I didn't even bother to time myself, but I think for the 12K it took around 1:15 to finish it.  Anyways, towards the end of the run, my new form started to feel a bit more comfortable.  I know I was definitely using muscles that hadn't been used in awhile because my inner and outer thighs definitely felt more tired than usual.

So...even though today's run wasn't so hot, I'm really feeling hopeful that practicing my form combined with all the exercises I've been doing will allow me to conquer Marathon Quest 2011.  I even dared to start thinking about the marathon, and let myself imagine what it would feel like to cross that finish line in October!  I hadn't allowed myself to really think about it for a very long time....but I'm really feeling good that this is gonna be my year!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Ten Ways I Break the Rules

OMG...I saw this awesome post over at Shut Up and Run and I just had to do it too - who doesn't love to read other people's confessions and dirty little secrets, right? 

  1. I don't floss every day.  I do it maybe three times a week, and halfheartedly at that.  My hygienist is always riding my butt about it...but he does say I'm an excellent brusher.
  2. I re-wear stuff I've worked out in...I don't sweat much so I figure it's no big deal and it's just me and Hubs.  I figure I've already hooked him so what's he gonna do, divorce me?  Whatev!
  3. I don't wash my fruit before I eat it.  How dirty can it be?  Meh.
  4. I swear all the time.  I keep it pretty clean at work, but guaranteed that as I'm sitting there at my computer, curse words are flowing through my head.  I'm swearing right now as I type.
  5. I pretty much never stretch after runs.
  6. I sprinkle uncooked instant ramen with the seasoning packet and eat it as a snack. Sick, I know.  I eat way too much sodium.
  7. I'm not very good with using sunscreen.  I just hate how sticky it feels.
  8. I defrost meat on the counter. 
  9. I rarely ever shave my legs in the winter.  I do get a little embarrassed when my physio has to touch my furry legs, but I figure she's seen worse!
  10. I never rinse my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.  My dishwasher effing kicks ass (see point 4).

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Hong Kong Part Four - The Food

Oh dear.  I've been a wee bit remiss in finishing off my picture posts from our trip to Hong Kong!  I started this post weeks ago, and kept meaning to get back to it and well...you know how it is...life happens, right?  Sorry guys, my bad.

After we got back home, I asked Hubs what it was about Hong Kong that he enjoyed the most, and he said hands down, the food...and I have to wholeheartedly agree.  The city itself is amazing, the shopping is spectacular...but come on, we're foodies!  Hong Kong is a food lover's dream....different tastes, textures, things that you just can't get anywhere else.  Ahhhh...where to begin?  Oh...and warning...this is going to be a looooong post....so go get your coffee and make sure you're nice and comfy...here we go!

Day 1:  First Taste of Hong Kong

The first day that we arrived, my inlaws met us at the airport and took us back to the hotel...we were soooo incredibly tired after a crappy flight (Cathay Pacific - what the eff is up with your seats?!), so just wanted to get back to the hotel and get cleaned up.  We got in at 7am Hong Kong time so by the time we were showered up and ready to go, it was just in time for lunch.  Bring on the food - gimme the good Chinese stuff!  Dim sum, congee, succulent BBQ meats...let me at it 'er!

Yeah....NO...wasn't gonna happen.  My MIL mom loves Chinese food, but my step FIL isn't a fan.  My inlaws had also invited some friends from home (UK) to tag along on this trip, and they don't like Chinese food either, so we ended up going to a British pub.  I was a little bit "WTF?!" in my head, but thought OK...this is the first day...there's lots of other opportunities to eat Chinese food so I ate my curry like an obedient little daughter in law.  Note, no pictures because while it wasn't bad, it was unspectacular.

Dinner was different though - we went to the Happy Valley horse races that night, so had worked up a good appetite by the time we were done.  We found a little restaurant that my MIL had noticed and had the best congee that I'd had ever had (in the pic, it's the one at the top):


Congee is a savoury rice porridge that is a staple meal for the Chinese - basically you take white rice and boil the heck out of it in some type of stock, and then add yummy things to it.  Mine was minced pork with thousand year old eggs, garnished with fried bread (that's the brown stuff on top) and it was delish - flavourful, thick, and hearty.  So good.  Hubs had curried beef flank noodle soup (his favourite)...also very good.

Day 2:  On Our Own

Day 2 was similar to Day 1 - we hung out again with my inlaws and their friends and headed to Stanley Market where we, once again, went to a British pub.  Again, "WTF?!" popped into my head...and do you know what I ordered?  A hot dog.  A bloody stinkin' hot dog.  Hubs and I decided enough was enough,...we travelled thousands of miles to sample one of the finest cuisines that the world has to offer, and I was eating friggin' meat in a tube!  

We decided that we were going to branch off on our own and would try to meet up with them for the occasional dinners or something so as to not be toooooo antisocial.  We separated soon after that, and ended up wandering around Central for awhile, with thoughts to try and find this noodle house that we'd read about in the guidebooks.  Unfortunately we couldn't find it for the life of us...we weren't sure if they'd moved or what, but ended up going to this little place:



Yum!  I had these awesome boiled Shanghai dumplings with a vinegar-y dipping sauce and baby bok choy and Hubs had more beef flank noodle soup.  A few days later we were checking out a Michelin food guide for Hong Kong and it turns out this place had received a Michelin star - cool!


On the way home from dinner, we noticed there was a bakery that was right around the corner from our hotel.  We couldn't resist, so picked up a few of these for dessert:

Deep fried sesame ball with red bean paste (Hubs loves these):



And egg custard tarts (my favourite):


Day Three:  Roast Goose

Day Three was our little ferry ride over to Kowloon and we went to this rando restaurant for some dim sum with the inlaws.  Again...my step FIL doesn't like Chinese food so not a fan of dim sum...so we ended up only getting a few things that were pretty vanilla.  Sigh.

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow) and steamed BBQ pork buns (cha sui bau):


Steamed pork dumplings (sui mai):



And chickens' feet in black bean sauce (don't knock 'em til you try 'em - these were really good!):


As we were walking to the subway from lunch, we happened on a few outdoor streets carts, selling stinky tofu (the square stuff in the back):


Now I'm game to pretty much try anything, but even this churned my stomach...you know what garbage smells when it's been sitting around on a hot, summer day?  Yep, that's what it smelled like!  Maybe next time I'll try it.  Maybe.  We'll see.

After Kowloon, Hubs and I headed back to Central for a fitting at the tailors, and wanted to hit up some place for roast goose.  Apparently Hong Kong does goose like nobody's business, and it's actually one of my dad's favourite foods but unfortunately not widely available in Canada.  We went to this restaurant for dinner, as we'd heard that it had won numerous awards on its roast goose alone:


Thousand year old egg and pickled ginger appie to start:


Chinese broccoli:


Roast suckling pork (on the left) and the piece de resistance, roast goose:


The roast goose was fantastic.  Amazing.  I can see why this place won awards for it.  Crispy skin, juicy meat - Hubs' eyes practically rolled back in his head as he'd never had roast goose before.  The roast goose was something that we'd remember forever...seriously, that good.  I can die happy now.

Day Four:  We Lived

Another day of hanging with the Brits.  My MIL was meeting an old school friend for dim sum, and she  wanted to meet us.  Sadly, although there was more variety than what we had the day before, it was still too meh for my liking. 

Something that you just have to get used to doing in Hong Kong...washing your dishes at the table.  Don't know why, but the dishwashers don't do a great job, so you need to rinse your stuff off before you eat.  Here's my MIL doing our dishes (they provide the bowl and the hot water in the tea pot, so it's a normal, expected thing):


And here's our food - clockwise starting at the top - chickens' feet in a peanut/abalone sauce, deep fried bean curd, egg rolls, deep fried squid, beef rice noodles, deep fried potato pancake, turnip cake and in the middle, curried singapore noodles:


For dinner, we wanted to be daring, so decided to go and eat some street food or what the Hong Kongers called dai pai dong.  These are a bit of a dying thing, but you can get some really good, cheap food.  This one was in Central:


We grabbed an open table, and I ordered some won ton noodle soup:


And Hubs once again, had beef flank noodle soup (I know, does the guy eat anything else?!):


Both bowls ended up costing us $32 Hong Kong dollars, which works out to be about $4 Canadian - so cheap!  And good.  And we lived to tell the tale.  Ha!  The Brits were aghast that we would even consider going to one because they were worried about how hygienic this were, but we wanted to eat where the locals eat.  So there. *sticking tongue out*

Day Five:  Nom Nom Nom

Day Five was a great food day!  We headed back over to Kowloon to cruise the crazy Harbour City Mall (this is the 700 store behemoth) but wanted to hit up this cafe to gather our strength for some marathon shopping. 


More goose - pretty good, but not quite as good as the first place:


Mantis prawn....this was delish!  Called mantis prawn because it has these long front "arms" or feelers or whatever they're called like a praying mantis.  After it's deep fried, the skin gets kind of crunchy so you can eat parts of it. 


Check out the "arms" on the head of this prawn - these were sharp so I didn't eat those!


This is what these look like before they hit our plate - they're huge and are almost translucent:





And milk tea or nai cha (really strong black tea with evaporated milk) - Hubs and I'd never had this before, but we're hooked now:


Day Six:  Food Courts and Frogs' Legs

I must say - food courts in Hong Kong are nothing like at home.  I always think greasy fast food offerings when I think food courts...not there.  Some of the stuff we ate was better than some of the restaurant food I've tasted at home - no lie!  This food court was way the heck out in the New Territories, where we stopped on our way back from the Tian Tan Buddha.

Our meals - huge vats of Korean deliciousness - vermicelli, seaweed, cabbage, ground beef topped with a fried egg:


Hubs' meal - some kinda spicy soup:


We had no big dinner plans, so we went to check out a Vietnamese place around the corner from our hotel:

Pho (not bad - we'd heard Vietnamese food in Hong Kong is lacking, in particular the pho.  This wasn't bad, but I've definitely had better in Vancouver:


Morning glory - I don't know if this is the same morning glory that's a weed at home, but whatever it was it was good:


Deep fried frogs legs with butter and garlic...I could have licked the plate and yes, tastes like chicken.  This was one of my favourite things that I had while in Hong Kong:


Day Six:  Beware of Durian

On Day Six, we met up with Hubs' friend from high school who moved to Hong Kong six years ago to teach English.  We went to this coffee house that he said had fantastic coffee that was $10 CDN a cup (it was good! sorry, forgot to take pics) and a huge variety of different types of food:

Hubs' kimchee soup:


Hubs' sushi bar salad:


My lunch - Korean ox tongue on rice with egg on top - different but I liked it:


After lunch, we walked around Kowloon and checked out some more street food - looks like fish balls and some bacon wrapped goodness.  I didn't try any of this, even though it smelled good:


Hubs' friend lived in the fishing village of Sai Kung, a small quiet village in the New Territories.  One of the touristy things to do there is to go to the watefront and have a seafood meal.  Basically you go and pick the fish or whatever it is you want, and take it inside the restaurant and they'll cook it up:

Big fish tanks at Sai Kung:


Geoduck:


Horseshoe crab:


Cuttle fish:


This cuttle fish is checking me out!


For dinner in Sai Kung, our friend suggested Thai for dinner, so we went to another dai pai dong.  I had the best thai green curry ever...all the flavours were so fresh and bright.


Tom yum soup - this shizz was hot!  I can handle spicy and even I was sniffling and wheezing:


Pomelo salad - oopsie - forgot to take the picture before I started to eat.  It was chunks of pomelo, fried onion bits, bean sprouts and pork...a bit spicy and full of flavour.  I love pomelo!


More morning glory:


Pad thai (surprisingly, this was just so-so) and in the background, the delish green curry:


We decided to finish off the evening with some durian *insert scary music here*.  Now not sure if you guys have heard of this stuff, but in Singapore you're not allowed to have it in public places because it smells so bad.  Honestly...this stuff smells kind of like cat poop mixed with rotten onions.  People love this stuff, my parents included...so I had to give it a try.

Hmmm...I wonder if I should be worried - this restaurant had a durian and non-durian side:




Here it is...the dreaded durian pancake - a green crepe (don't ask me why it's green) stuffed with a chunk of the fetid fruit and whipped cream.  It comes in a plastic container, and the smell when you open it is enough to knock your socks off.  Whew.

The pancake innards - we steeled ourselves and dove in:


So...how did it taste, you ask?  Better than it smelled but still not great.  In your mouth you don't get the 'eau du litterbox' scent, but more of a creamy, slightly onion-y finish.  Very similar texture to avocado, a little fibrous.  I can say with a clear conscience that I tried it, and I'm not a fan.  I'm willing to try it one more time though - next time it has to be a fresh one because apparently it's better.  We'll see about that!

I tried to get rid of the lingering onion-y aftertaste with this mango tapioca dessert that Hubs ordered.  It was almost like a cold dessert soup - I liked it! 


Day Seven:  Handmade Noodles

Hubs and I are huge fans of Anthony Bourdain, ever since his Cook's Tour days on the Food Network.  We love his new show No Reservations - he's a chef, turned writer, turned celebrity.  One of our favourite episodes is, of course, the one that he did on Hong Kong.  In this particular clip, he watches this guy hand make noodles, a slowly dying art in Hong Kong.  It's something about the music, the hushed, reverent tone of their voices and the way this guy uses his body to make the noodles that I just love...(you'll see Tony wax poetic about goose too):



That was it...we had to find a place that made handmade noodles, in the old fashioned way.  Ah-ha!  We found it...Mak's Noodle, tucked away in a food court at the China-Hong Kong City Terminal (ferry terminal between Hong Kong and China). 

What else?  Beef flank noodles for Hubs:



Beef tendon noodles for me...the tendon is stewed so long it's really tender, and takes on almost a gelatinous texture.


Pork chutney noodles (noodles with a sweet pork sauce on top):


Claypot rice with chicken and chinese sausage - this was also featured in Tony's Hong Kong episode, and by chance we saw people eating this so we had to order one.  I think this was Hubs' second favourite after the roast goose.  He keeps pestering me to try to make it, as apparently it's pretty simple to make.


Winter melon soup - this was better than a lot of soups that I've had in expensive restaurants at home!


After spending the day checking out the Hong Kong Museum of History, we decided to grab an early dinner, so stopped by the Guangdong BBQ House, another place suggested in our guidebooks. 

More goose:


Roast squab - I liked this but Hubs' didn't like quite as much...he found it a bit too livery for his taste:


Day 8 - Chinese New Year's Eve

On Chinese New Year's Eve, we decided to go check out some malls as not much else was open - pretty much the city shuts down.  On the way out to the subway, we saw this fellow cooking some stuff on a cart.  Intrigued, we had to go check it out.


Cool!  These were like waffle balls, maybe slightly more eggy:


Yum!  We scarfed down the whole bag.


We cruised Pacific Place Mall but a lot of stores in the mall weren't open so we decided to...you guessed it!  Eat.  We went to the food fair, and they had a White Spot!  We had to try it, to see how it compared - strictly for comparison purposes.  Ha!  The fries tasted the same and the burger tasted the same except the bun was a little different.



After cruising Pacific Place, we stopped in at Sogo, a Japanese department store, one of the few places that was open.  It was busy!  For dinner we checked out the food court in the basement...and as usual, we weren't disappointed.

Ramen:



Unagi (eel):


Unagi on rice (Hubs' dinner):



Day 9 - Chinese New Years Day

Sigh.  Our last full day in the city.  And what a better way to end a wonderful visit to an amazing city than with a delicious dinner.  We decided to check out the buffet meal offered at the hotel, because as part of dinner we were given tickets to hop up the the top floor and watch the fireworks.

Seafood station:


Food, food and more food:






Before we started dinner, they served us all a delicious soup, chicken with shiitake mushrooms...it was piping hot, straight out of the oven and so flavourful.  Again, the Brits irked the snot out of me because none of them (out of a table of 12 people) tried it.  They didn't even open it to see what it was, they just flat out refused to even so much as taste it.  Hubs, my MIL and I were the only ones and we were tucking right in and oohing and aaahing because it was that good.  Now the funny thing?  The Brits special ordered a plate of french fries and they were practically fighting each other over them!  *shaking head in pure disbelief*



So there it is!  My last recap of what turned out to be one of the most memorable trips I've ever had.  Hope you enjoyed getting a taste of what Hong Kong is like.  I truly adore this city, and I'm honestly counting down the days until I'm back there. 



We'll see you soon, Hong Kong!