Map of SSP

If you go to the east of that square, past Nam Cheong Street towards Prince Edwards MTR, there are fabric wholesalers, mainly around Ki Lung and Boundary Streets (I think, from memory). Again, they’re wholesalers, and although I understand they can sell samples (starting from 1 yard, or 90cm), when I asked for some, they told me that a minimum I can buy for ‘that’ fabric I chose, is 120 yard!!! ie: 1 bolt… Or, that fabric is in warehouse in China, so no samples There is a street where people sell retail quantity fabric, but selection is not so great. It’s probably easier & cheaper going over to the 5th floor fabric floor of Lowu Commercial Centre to buy quantities you need (they sell everything from silk, polyester to fake furs).

It started with a casual question of when we can catch up & ends up we can’t catch up with Jude & Haixin with all our travel commitments until mid September unless we do it today! So we just barged into their dinner appointment for 2 & turned into a table for 4, at this hidden gem of a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in bustling heart of CWB.

Menu was comprehensive, varied & very enticing We had variety of dishes, all to share. Octopus & mizuna salad, agedashi tofu, avocado & crab maki zushi, traditional Japanese egg omelette with grated daikon, crab cream croquettes, selection of yakitori skewers in salt & sauce, pancake with eel, avocado, cucumber & crab roes (their signature dish), Korean vegetable pancake, beef rice in hot stone pot – everything was delicious & faultless, with very attentive service (continuous supply of hot roasted rice & green tea, supplies of wet towels etc). Highly recommended for tastes of authentic Japanese home style dishes in the middle of Hong Kong Price was very reasonable too – much less than if you had similar food in the middle of TST.

Must go back there because this is the only photo! (avocado & crab reverse roll). All other food got distributed & eaten very promptly!

After wandering about many interesting side streets of TaiPo, selling varieties of wares, while we’re on a lookout for food places, this place caught our eyes with an open kitchen with chefs busily making xiao lon baus – thin-skinned Shanghainese dumpling with explosive! filling of juicy pork mince. Menu looked enticing (I liked the look of Shanghanese porkchop with veg rice. We also had stir-fried young beans with spicy mince sauce (one of my favourite), sanjiabou (steamed juicy meat filled bun with crusty bottom), soy milk (came with $24 porkchop rice special!) & fresh lemon squash. Nice relief & break from heat outside with delicious tucka

As standard in private kitchens, chef’s set course banquet menu appropriate to the number of guests were served promptly, with detailed explanations from our waiter (in 2, with possibility of 3 languages no less). Those drinking had Japanese citrus liquor courtesy of MeiLing.

Menu items included:
* Japanese hot house tomato with wasabi & sesame sauce (refreshing & yum!)
* Osmanthus flower smoked tea eggs with sliced truffle (hummm… ok)
* Sticky rice & duck cake with abalone sauce (interesting dish – quite nice)
* Soup of fresh ginseng root & chicken (cooked 3h+ for max flavour!)
* Mouthwatering chicken (delicious!)
* Amuse’ (pear?) Sorbet of with swallow’s nest jelly
* Chrysanthamum shaped mandarin fish with citrusy sauce (stunning presentation & delicious, although we thought it reminded of french fries )
* Stir-fry Lilly bulb & vegetables
* Okinawa dark sugar ice-cream (favourite of many of us)

We also had beautiful mango cheese cake courtesy of lovely Snowy who bought it for us (we didn’t have a wedding cake at our official wedding banquet, now that would have been ugly – but that’s another story).

Searching for our photos right now Open Rice reference 囍宴 廚・藝

Feels more like a casual Japanese restaurant than a ramen shop. They stock fair range of alcohol & bento-type set menu. I’m not a ramen connosoir & being a Tokyoite, don’t eat much miso ramen, but it wasn’t too bad. Agedashi tofu was very good.

We found out that the shopping mall the restaurant is in shows 2 WC games every night (& so will whole of MOS!), so we got to watch Artgentina v. Algeria on a big screen

The day started well with a bus ride straight to Central to meet our friends. We even managed to get some tasty Chinese breakfast at the pier. Ferry ride was short, which is good for me

Lamma island was lovely – a very sleepy feel to it, more so than SaiKung – but with similar arrangement of shops, restaurants & expat residents. Like Rottnest (that’s off Perth), no cars are allowed, so lots of bikes & golf buggies. Streets are narrow. After a bit of hike to the beach (very flat, so nice & easy) and a quick dip, we meandered back to the town centre, got few souveniers, filled our tummies with yumcha & seafood, and headed back to Central via the ferry. It was quite hot (30~32oC) & humid, so early start was a correct choice

L/G Hilltop Plaza, 49 Hollywood Road (entry from Graham Road), Central, H.K.

Tel: 2559 1317 Fax: 2559 3494

Our very first private kitchen experience in Hong Kong. Private Kitchens are small, usually family operated, strictly reservation & cash only restaurants. This place has a very good review on Open Rice. Being in Central, Western clientelle was high attendance on rainy Wednesday night we visited.

3 appetizers

mouth-watering chicken

chilli beef

prawns

mapo tofu

We also had 2 soups with vegetables, boiled meat dumplings in red sauce, rice and refreshing tofu, palm seed and white fungus cold dessert. Those who drank had warmed Shauxin wine with salted plum, and others had cold sour plum drinks. All in all, a very satisfactory meal, finished off with the hard-working headchef/wife of the family singing us a Szeshuan opera love song! Much enjoyed the company & food

On a side note, it was a rainy day with long queue for taxi at Hong Kong Station taxi stands at Central & bad traffic – the taxi driver was very grumpy & took me on a $34.5 ride via Sheung Wan (from the start of Hollywood Road?) I would have walked (even though bit of an uphill) if not for the rain. It’s like $3 ride 1 MRT station ride distance! Little did I know that taxi drivers hates those short drives & may have refused if I could speak Cantonese!!!