Yoshinoya is famous for their….BEEF BOWL! Thin slices of beef over perfectly cooked rice seasoned with their signature sauce…

Beef bowl

For the regular beef bowl with cola, I think it’s around 17-18 HKD, forgot the exact price.

From 6pm onwards, they also offer this shabu-shabu style dish with beef slices, mushrooms, noodles and veggies with unlimited broth. Perfect for HK winter weather. This is sold for around HKD 47, good for 2 to 3 persons.

With so many yummy foods in HK, I always look like the shape of steel drums upon going back to Manila.

Here are my chocolate finds during my recent HK trip:

Dark chocolates and mint chocolates are love! Want some?

Airport A21 bus

If you’re hotel is in Tsim Sha Tsui, this is the bus you’re going to take. Fare is 33 HKD, accepts Octopus Cards or prepare exact fare. It has spacious luggage compartments located near the door so that you can sit comfortably while travelling and enjoy the view of Tsing Ma bridge. Travel time from the airport to Taisan guesthouse is 45 minutes, bus stop number 13 from the airport.

For detailed bus routes, click here.

bacon wrapped sausage (lower right)

fish balls

isaw! I still prefer our very own inihaw na isaw, they fry their isaw in HK

Street foods costs 10-12 HKD.  I tried the fish balls but they taste bleh, if it wasn’t for the spicy sauce. But the bacon wrapped sausage is yummy. The intestines smell and taste funky…

It’s really fun tasting even unfamiliar food sometimes even if it’s not appetizing to look at like strawberry covered chocolates bought using shari’s berries promotion code.

How about you? From the photos, what do you like to try?

certified Michelin starred restaurant

Fortunately, some of the first batch finished eating and numbers are rolling. While waiting for the number 11 to be called, we ticked our order slips to be handed out before we were seated.

Number 11!

Finally, we found ourselves squeezed elbow to elbow with a group of Chinese teenagers already occupied with their tower of steamers and baskets of dimsum. Don’t be a diva and ask for a separate table because this restaurant only sits 30 people.

We are clueless on what to order because aside from the order slip and some newspaper clippings in the restaurant, we just have to base our orders on what other diners are eating. What we ordered:

Steamed fresh shrimp dumplings, 19 HKD

The shrimp is very fresh and succulent, the skin is very thin. The whole dimsum is very soft I have to carefully pick them without breaking them apart.

Just an okay dimsum, didn’t eat the bean curd at the bottom. But the meat itself is soft.

Chicken Feet, not on the menu but we saw other diners order this so we pointed it from other table

A little overcooked, the black bean sauce is flavorful though. But I prefer the chicken feet from Causeway Seafood restaurant.

I had a hard time picking these babies up with my chopsticks. Just like the shrimp dumplings, shrimps used in this one is fresh and melts in your mouth.

And for the star of our Tim Ho Wan experience:

These three pieces of bread may seem unappealing, look like ordinary breads. But wait till you catch its smell of sweet freshly baked bread. The top is crunchy and sweet, and the best part is the filling!

inside the pork bun

The filling tasted like asado, but the pork meat is so soft that blends well with the delicate texture of the bread. Melt-in-your-mouth asado. I want to take home some to Manila.

When you’re in HK and you’re in the vicinity of Mongkok, Tim Ho Wan is worth the visit and the wait! Just come early and eat fast.

Tim Ho Wan

2-8 Kwong Wa St.

Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

How to go there: Take Exit A2 of Yau Ma Tei MTR Station.

Dragon’s Back is the most popular hike among locals and tourists alike due to its accessibility and spectacular bilateral views of the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the east and Stanley Peninsula and South China Sea in the west. At the end of the trail, one can freshen up at Tai Long Wan (Chinese name of Big Wave Bay) with its big waves (hence the name) and fine sand.

panoramic view of Stanley

There are two options in going to Dragon’s Back, the easier and shorter trail that will only take an hour to get to the ridge. But we took the longer route which is the Stage 8 of the Hong Kong Trail, this trail starts from To Tei Wan bus stop along Shek O road and ends at Big Wave Bay (Tai Long Wan).

From Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, we went to Admiralty interchange station to transfer from the red line to the blue line going to Chai Wan. We then alighted at Shau Kei Wan MTR Station Exit A3. There is a bus terminus just outside the station along Aldrich St., we looked for Citybus No. 9 going to Shek O. We asked the driver to drop us at To Tei Wan bus stop, Jeff and I had to repeat it twice and uttered “To Tei Wan” clearly as we don’t want to get lost in the suburbs of Hong Kong. Thankfully, bus stops along Shek O road have been labelled so aside from waiting from the driver’s heads up, we’re also vigilant about the bus stops.

bus terminus at the Shau Kei Wan Exit A3

Spotting the To Tei Wan bus stop is easy, it’s clearly marked with a wooden signboard and a map of the Hong Kong trail, there’s also a portable toilet at the site.

To Tei Wan bus stop, start of Dragon's Back trail

Following the signboard “Dragon’s Back”, the trail starts with wooden stairs surrounded by shades of trees and bamboos. After a few minutes, the trail begins to show rays of light and cool breeze from the wind. The grass sways according to the wind’s movement, as we go along, the air became colder and the howling became louder.

dirt path and rocky parts going up

the other side of Dragon's Back

Upon reaching the ridge, our eyes feasted on the panoramic views of the sea, the outlying islands and the nearby village surrounding the mountain. This panoramic vista starts from the first peak, Shek O Peak, then along the slopes of Dragon’s Back, and ends at Pottinger’s Peak.

with my Mrs. Fields cookies at the peak!

The trail slowly goes downhill, there’s a wooden signboard going to Shek O Road and Tai Tam Gap. Choosing Shek O Road will obviously shorten our hike and won’t let us visit Big Wave Bay so we headed for the longer route, Tai Tam Gap.

to Tai Tam Gap

The walk is fairly easy, just passing through a dirt path and some rocks but despite the long walk, we’re sheltered with the shades of the trees.

Big Wave Bay village

After passing through Big Wave village and a large parking lot, we then saw a small gem between rocky parts, a short stretch of sand disturbed slowly by the waves from the beach. There are some surfers despite the chilly weather, 15-degree Celsius. We momentarily explored and savoured the beach before heading to the bus stop along Shek O road.

Tai Long Wan/Big Wave Bay beach

While waiting for bus no. 9, a mini-bus kept honking at us and signalling us to ride. Puzzled at the bus’s signboards which is in Chinese, Jeff asked the driver if he’s going to the MTR Station, the driver nodded so puzzled as we were if the driver really understood our English, we rode the bus. The driver was a charming old man, he counted from 1 to 9 just to tell us that the fare is 9 HKD (Octopus Card is not valid here), so we paid him 20 HKD and gave us 2 HKD change, reminds me of the Philippines’ jeepney style. Though we can’t comprehend his English very well, he still dropped us at the Shau Kei Wan MTR Station, which means the end of our hike in Hong Kong island.

mini-bus to Shau Kei Wan

Now I know why this is the most popular hike, aside from the spectacular views, one can seek refuge in just 30 minutes away from the city. How I wish it’s like this in Manila, unfortunately, to be able to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, it will take a 2 to 3-hour drive just for a quick escape, not to mention the pricey bus fare…

brochures and HK maps

True enough, I find brochures and print-outs inside the drawer, but what caught my eye are these three printouts…

my blog posts about HK

A smile creeped into my face the moment I found print outs of my blog posts, call me conceited but I find it flattering that others find my posts helpful. So a BIG thank you to a reader/friend who took time to print these out and made them as your guide. I hope that my posts and future HK posts will be helpful to other travellers as well. Now for other topics like slimming wrap, you can check out my health and beauty blog.

For your reference, here are the links for the three Hong Kong guides:

Shopping in Hong Kong

Hong Kong food trip

Tourist Attractions in Hong Kong

Meanwhile, sharing this McDonalds meal I had last night. 6-piece chicken wing, fries and coke for HKD 39.20.

McDonalds Chicken Wings

Enjoy your Sunday!

Since we’re going to Hong Kong, it’s the perfect time to scout for affordable waterproof digital cameras because it will fit our outdoor lifestyle. My LX3 is too precious to get wet. We’re eyeing for a Panansonic Lumix DMC-TS2…

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2

It’s beefed up with awesome features, HD video recording, 14.1 megapixels, shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof and dustproof. The perfect camera for adventure lovers like Jeff and a clumsy person who keeps on dropping things like me, haha…