Melbourne, Victoria
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! First stop in the “land down under”, Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria. The streets of Melbourne are filled with hipsters, fixed gear bikes, and Melbournian street kids. It may have its true alternate culture somewhere, but I couldn’t find it and it wasn’t really the friendliest of places. However, I did find some cool graffiti art and Tiger was in town for the Australian Open. And have I mentioned no high-speed internet access?
PNB
Cool Graffiti Alley
Same Cool Alley, Different View
Mom Shot and Loves This Picture
My mom and I walked the city of Melbourne in just one day. The ‘CBD” City Business District is no joke, 8 blocks by 8 blocks. A cool thing about Melbourne is the free City Circle tram that goes around the entire city. The tram service operates within Melbourne’s central business district and passes major tourist attractions, as well as linking with other tram, train and bus routes in and around Melbourne.
Now, you can only ride the free tram so many times. After almost 8 days of 8×8 we started to go a little stir crazy. What better way to mix it up than some good food? Well, that would be a negative on the good food. We certainly didn’t come to this conclusion with out a whole lot of trying, believe me. We even gave Mc Donald’s a shot and that even disappointed. The best thing we had were some samosas at the fast food Indian joint next to the hotel. Not to mention, the service overall in Melbourne is less than to be desired. Especially in Chinese restaurants. Terrible! Manage your expectations and just don’t expect any service anywhere!
The best food in Melbourne…meals my mom cooked in the serviced apartment and some fruit we bought at the grocery store.
The Biggest Mango Ever!
These Calypso Mangos are huge! Bigger than a normal sized head. Ok, bigger than my head. It’s so big that you can actually spoon it out as you would a watermelon. For those of you who know me, you know I love mangos and I could easily eat 3-4 mangos in a sitting. I could hardly eat 1/2 of this bad boy!
Calypso mangos have a small seed to cheek ratio, giving you much more meat. They are also fiber-free, so no picking your teeth for hours after eating. This is the first new mango to be introduced to Australia in 20 years and is technically named B74. Thank you biotechnology!
Passion Fruit
I couldn’t believe passion fruit was sold by the bags for next to nothing here! Love it!
Now with food exploration checked off the list, it was time to really explore the great state of Victoria. I love the ocean and what better way to discover Victoria than a tour of the Great Ocean Road? Arguably, one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. The Great Ocean Road is a 150 mile stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia.
First stop on the scenic drive, world-famous Bell’s Beach on the Torquay surf coast. Bell’s was made famous because of its incredible surf and its part in the movie Point Break, when Bodie (Patrick Swazye) is talking about the 50 year storm, he says he will be at Bells Beach.
Dude, Bell's Beach!
No 50 Year Storm Today
Lorne Surf Coast
The Great Ocean Road is home to some of the most scenic coastline in the world, because of its dramatic natural limestone and sandstone rock formations. These formations have been created by erosion from waves and rain and include Razor Back, Loch Ard Gorge, and most famously the Twelve Apostles.
The Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles from the Gibson Steps
The Twelve Apostles
Heli Tour Anyone?
The Amazing South Ocean Coastline
More Coast Line
12 Apostles From the Air
Fun!
The Amazing Coastline on the Way to Razorback
Razorback
Loch Ard Gorge
We spent our last day in Melbourne in Southbank. This part of town stretches along the southern bank of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne’s CBD. Southbank is lined with shops, restaurants, trendy cafes, bars and the Crown Casino. Crown is no ordinary casino, it is a hotel/mall/entertainment complex. (Oh, and speaking of entertainment, 2012 was a great movie!) And a big thank you to the Crown Casino for paying for our last day beers along the bank!
Southbank
Cheers!
Goodbye Melbourne
Sydney
Well, I’m at the Apple store and its a no go with uploading the photos. It was worth a try. Maybe at the airport.
G’day From the Land Down Under
In Melbourne…going to Sydney in the morning. Its been a nightmare trying to load pictures up on the blog. Apparently all of Australia is way behind on the internet speed thing. High-speed in nowhere to be found! Hopefully I’ll be able to find a faster connection in Sydney.
Bye for now mates!
Cheung Chau Island
I’m finding there is much more to Hong Kong than shopping, eating and shopping. Just about 45 minutes by ferry from Hong Kong Island is small dumbbell shaped island called Cheung Chau. This outer island is a fishing village with working fishing fleets still based out of the harbor. Walking of the ferry ramp on to the island I’m taken back in time to when my brother and I used to sneak on the fishing boats and sampans in Hong Kong harbor. Reminiscent of my childhood the island’s small harbor is crowed with fishing boats, Chinese junks, and sampans. Most of which is now nonexistent in the Hong Kong Harbor.
Local Fisherman
As a fishing village, Cheung Chau offers fresh seafood and all kinds of salted or dried marine products. I personally am a huge fan of anything salted and anything from the sea. This is the first time I was able to get up close and personal with the salted fish making process. I found out that it is covered in salt for three to four days then the fish is ready to be dried in the sun for another couple of days. Total, just about a week for a perfectly salted fish. My favorite way to eat this wonderful salty goodness is “ham yeu jing jue yook”, salted fish with steamed pork. Mmm, just like mom makes!
Drying Fish
Drying in the Sun
Finished Product Ready to be Sold
In Chinese cuisine, dried shrimp are used quite frequently for their unique flavor which is very different from fresh shrimp. I would describe them as having a wonderful oceanic taste. Its used in one of my favorite sauces and is a staple in my fridge, Cantonese XO sauce. Dried shrimp is also used in a variety of different soups and dishes. These little critters also have a home in my fridge. “Les poisson, les poisson. Hee hee hee, haw haw haw.”
Raw Shrimp Ready to be Dried
Shrimp Drying in the Sun
On the day the we happened to visit Cheung Chau island it was the “Double Yang Festival”. The I Ching says, nine is a yang number, therefore, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month has too much yang. This is a traditional Chinese concept and thus, a potentially dangerous date. To protect against the danger of too much yang, it is customary to climb a high mountain and drink chrysanthemum wine. On this holiday many Chinese also visit their elders and graves of their ancestors to pay their respects.
Paying Respects to Her Ancestors
Paying respects to your ancestors often involves burning of paper that represents, gold, money, and more recently, cell phones, Ferraris, Rolex watches, really whatever can be replicated into paper. The burning of the paper ritual is said to send the goods to our ancestors in the heavens. You name it, you can send it! The woman above is holding a bag full of specially chosen paper goods for her ancestors and the red bin is what she will use to burn the goods and send them to the heavens.
Mini Fire Engine
The island is well-developed with shops and houses, but roads are so narrow that normal motor traffic is impossible. Instead, there are small motorized trucks officially termed “village vehicles”. There are mini-fire engines, ambulances and police cars. This is my kind of town!
Mom Putting Pops to Work
With such narrow roads many of the local residents get around the island by bike. As, my mom put my pops to we work we ride over to the east side of the island to Cheung Po Tsai Cave. Fulfilling our Double Yang Festival duties, we hike up a bamboo lined concrete trail to the opening of the cave. Cheung Po Tsai cave is a small cave said to be where the 19th century pirate Cheung Po Tsai cached his booty. The booty still has yet to be found. Here’s an interesting factoid, the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End depicts a pirate named Sao Feng. This character is based on Cheung Po Tsai himself. Kind of cool!
Cheung Po Tsai Cave
Cheung Po Tsai's Booty Tunnel
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
After fulfilling our Double Yang duties (totally by coincidence) we are off to pick out our lunch. And I mean literally, PICK OUT our lunch. We head over to the island fish market where there are aisles and aisles of fresh tropical seafood. Everything from razor clams, mantis shrimp, exotic prawns and so much more. Really, the most wonderful selection of seafood you could imagine!
Tiger Shrimp
My Lobster Lunch
Lunch is Served - Steamed Shrimp with Garlic, Steamed Fish with Ginger and Green Onion, Green Crab Deep Fried then Stir Fried with Green Onion and Ginger. WOW!
Mantis Shrimp Fried with Red Peppers
Roasted Pidgeon - This was an interesting addition to lunch. Yummy!
Here’s just one other food highlight I just couldn’t spare. One of my favorites!
Fried Yummy Goodness!
"Jai Leung"
For all of you out there who LOVE ”jai leung” this is for you. You all know who you are! This simplistically wonderful dish is made of fried dough (chinese donut) that is wrapped in steamed rice flour (kind of like a giant rice noodle). It’s then served with a sweet soy sauce and your choice of hot sauce or hoi sin sauce. It’s just fabulous!
After an all day long marathon of eating it’s time to burn off the calories at the beach.
Tung Wan Beach
And what better way to do that than a little windsurfing? There is a famous bar with windsurfing and sea kayaking rentals just right of Tung Wan beach. This spot was made famous by the owner’s niece, Lee Lai-Shan who won the only Olympic gold medal for Hong Kong.
Windsurfing
Hanging With My New Friends
I however, will not be winning any medals for Hong Kong. I wish someone had told me that you can’t windsurf without any wind. With what little wind there was that day I drifted all the way to the other end of the island. Stranded in the dark, I literally tried to paddle back to the other end of the island (as if I was surfing) with the sail propped on the board. Mind you, it was a one hour rental and I wasn’t back on land till about 3 hours later. Thanks guys for kayaking out and saving me!
Saved!
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Next stop… Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! I’ve never been to Malaysia and was excited to see what this relatively new city had to offer. KL is the capital city of Malaysia and it’s rapid development triggered a huge influx of foreign workers from Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam just to name a few. The mix of all these different cultures can really be seen through the local Malay cuisine. What’s the best way to actually live like a local? Why, eat like a local of course!
My Malay Lunch
I wanted to have a true Malay lunch so what better place to find it than a mall food court? I swear the food courts here are like none you’ve ever seen back home. The server did not speak any English so I pointed to whatever didn’t look familiar and ordered it. The highlight…black curry. This was a first for me and can I just say, AMAZING! The Black curry was rich and deep in flavor with the tang of lemongrass, tamarind and lime with more than a hint of heat! The dish actually originated in Sri Lanka and has been tweaked with a little South East Asian flavor. This is just one of the many examples of how Malaysian cuisine reflects the multi-racial aspects of Malaysia. The red curry on the plate, Indonesia. The green papaya salad, Thailand. The green okra salad, I honestly don’t know, but if anyone does please let me know. Now this is what I call “fusion” cuisine!
The Towering KL Tower in the Background
The Kuala Lumpur Tower (officially known as Menara Kuala Lumpur) is a communication tower that reaches 1,381 feet (421 m), which currently makes it the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world!
YAY!
On the day that we decided to visit the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world…hold on a sec… let me set the scene for this one…My mom and I were admiring the sprawling city view from the observation deck with our guided tour headphones on then..BAM! Someone falls out of the sky from the fifth tallest building in the world! Screams of “Someone jumped!”, “Oh my goodness!”, “Help!” echo through the observation deck. But wait! There falls another, then another and another and another. Are all these tormented souls? No, it just happened to be the day of International Base Jump Merdeka Circut. Apparently, for a mere $350 Ringgit ($103.10 USD) you too can base jump from the fifth tallest building in the world. I’m going to save base jumping for my next visit to KL.
Notice the Man Falling Out of the Sky!
Picture of The Petronas Towers taken from the KL Tower
After an eventful afternoon at the fifth tallest building in the world, we decided to visit the world’s tallest twin buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers. Remember the movie Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones? Well, the Petronas Towers was the setting for some of the scenes in the movie. Most memorable was the scene on the sky-bridge, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world.
Petronas Towers
To see the Petronas Towers up close and personal is surreal. Looking up at the glowing towers I felt as though I was on the set of a space age sci-fi movie. SO COOL!
Skybridge
Food Paradise
Welcome to Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur’s food paradise! Jalan Alor is a bustling street in the heart of KL’s Golden Triangle. It comes alive every night with sights and smells of street food and cafes. Stalls are parked all along the busy street and you are overwhelmed with the sights and smells of Malaysia. You can find everything from satay, grilled stingray, razor clams to fresh fruit stands.
Mom and Pops at Jangalor
The Chicken Wing Man
Oh, the chicken wings! They are to die for. Smokey, juicy and oh so tasty! Out of all the chicken wing stalls on the street my pops swears by this stall and this chicken wing guy. I would have to agree this dude knows how to smoke some wings!
Grilled Stingray, Crab with Ginger and Green Onion, Chicken Satay and Sweet Potato Leaves with Garlic
Grilled stingray is INCREDIBLE! The texture is amazing and the tangy dipping sauce made of lime, vinegar and peppers complements it perfectly.
Mountain Lychee
Durian Dude
Out of all the times I’ve been to Asia I’ve never tried the very odoriferous durian fruit – also know as ” The King of Fruit”. The name is derived from the Malay word “duri” meaning thorn – due to its thick, tough and thorny husk. So, what better place to give it a try than in the country that gave it its name?
Durian Fruit
It’s described as tasting like heaven and stinking like hell. The fruit is actually banned in public places in Asia such as hotels, malls and subways. The smell is incredibly pungent, but in some strange way tempting. I can only describe the smell as sweet fruit in garbage. My mom loves durian and swears that Malaysian durian is the best in the world.
The Verdict...
Its said that once you’ve tried it, you’re likely to seek it again. The rich creamy texture can only be described as warm cream cheese and onions. There was a sweet and strange after taste that lingers for hours. I mean hours! That said, I will not be seeking the durian fruit until my next visit to KL.
This Guy is Everywhere! How does he do it?
Wan Chai Wet Market
Wanchai is hands down my favorite district in Hong Kong. My mother was born and raised in what is now the Wan Chai wet market and has claimed it as her “village”. Wan Chai “little bay” in Cantonese started out as a tiny fishing village and is now a mix of the modern and traditional.
Wah Chai 1968
What my mother remembers as the “village” is now a colorful street market where the locals shop for a variety of household goods, fresh fruits and vegatables, seafood and meats.
Wan Chai Road
Wan Chai Wet Market
Fresh Meats
Fresh Produce
Wong Tai Sin Temple
Winnie and I needed to make our trip official by visiting some type of historical landmark in Hong Kong. Non-stop shopping in Causeway Bay doesn’t count. So, my mother suggested Wong Tai Sin temple for a little fortune telling. 
Wong Tai Sin Temple is one of the most famous temples in Hong Kong. It is dedicated to Wong Tai Sin, or the Great Immortal Wong. Wong Tai Sin is know as a great healer of physical health, but also the health of relationships and business. How could we resist? So, its off to the southern side of Lion Rock in northern Kowloon!
All visitors must "bai son" (pay their respects with incense) before entering the temple.
The area where the Wong Tai Sin temple is located is very different than my mother had remembered the last time she visted the temple over 40 years ago. She distinctly remembers a secluded farm village with a dirt road that lead to the temple and the pungent smell of human manuer that was once used to fertilize vegatables. (For those of you who know my mom…”Oh, so stink!”) The temple is now surrounded by sky scraping apartments, schools and markets.
Temple surrounded by sky scraping housing
Wong Tai Sin Temple is located in Kowloon, which means 9 dragons. The name Kowloon came from the nine dragons represented by eight peaks and a Chinese emperor: Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate’s Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow’s Nest and Emperor Bing.
The nine dragons of Kowloon
Turtles are said to symbolize longevity and one’s hope and wish for a long life. It is believed that if you drop a coin on a turtle’s back that your wish will come true. Hence, all the coins in the water.
Make a wish!
Again, for those of you who know my mom this won’t be a surprise. She decided to take the wish making a bit further and take a turtle out of the water in hopes that it would make her wish come true. Gotta love her!
Love it!
Getting our fortune read was CRAZY! The fortune teller was right on about so many things. Good things are on the horizon…
Good fortune is on its way!
Arrival in Hong Kong
OK, so apparently its near the end of Oct…. I don’t know where the time has gone!!!
Winnie and I arrive in Hong Kong and the first stop is the local “dai pai dong” (local street food vendors) for dinner with the folks. The streets of Hong Kong is home to some of the most amazing street food. We feast on alimango (mud crab) with fresh red chilies and green onions, stir fried noodles made with a special soy sauce and bean sprouts, and stir fried Chinese chives. If I could only send over the taste and the smell of the food over the internet…it’s unreal!
One of the local "Dai Pai Dongs" in Causeway Bay
Alimango (mud crab)
Dinner is served.
