The journey to Sha Tin was smooth, but when I reached there, the place was thronged with people. Turns out that it’s the Qing Ming weekend, and Sha Tin has several ancestral halls and temples, so the human traffic flow was incredibly slow around the Sha Tin MTR station. In fact, it was so crowded that I missed the sign to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery by barely 10m, and walked a huge round trying to find the entrance. The monastery is at the top of a hill, so I actually went up and down several paths asking for directions till I finally got back to where I was near the start.

So, are there really ten thousand buddha statues in the monastery? Well, the steep and long path up to the monastery is lined with buddha statues, each one unique from the other in action, position, look, or dress. (Yes, I was trigger-happy, but no, I didn’t take a photo of every one of them.) But those don’t really make ten thousand despite seemingly unending during the tiring climb up. The name actually comes from one hall where there are (looks to me) thousands of small little buddha statues lining the high walls. Quite a sight indeed.

It was time for a quick bite after the buddha statue overdose, so I dropped by IKEA at the foot of the hill and bought 4 chicken mid-wings for HK$12 (S$2), 1 ice-cream cone for HK$2 (S$0.33), and 6 mini cream puffs for HK$10 (S$1.67). It was impossible to find even a single seat at the IKEA Restaurant, so after I walked around holding a tray for 10 min, I gave up and asked for a paper bag to put the chicken in. The other two items I bought thereafter at the IKEA Bistro, where I ate the chicken as well. The chicken mid-wings actually takes almost as good as the full wings in Singapore!

After meandering through a maze of a giant mall and its peripheral shopping centres (and the crowd), I finally got to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The standard of the museum is really quite high, given that the ticket is only HK$10 (S$1.67), and I ended up spending almost three hours inside. By the time I was done, it was quite late already, and I decided against making the trip to Sai Kung. Besides, how does one person alone eat a proper seafood dinner? (Sour grapes, I know!)

And so the hunt began for a decent dinner at Sha Tin, and I practically walked past all the 30-40 eating places in the New Town Plaza (actually I think there’s New Town Plaza I, II and III all combined) without finding something suitable. The prices were high, and/or the cuisine inappropriate, so I gave up and headed to one of the peripheral malls, where I saw this noodle shop with lots of people queuing outside. Intrigued, I decided to try it out as well.

Being unable to decipher the Traditional Chinese words on the menu, and having extremely poor Cantonese vocabulary, I just pointed to a “set” that cost HK$45 (S$7.50). I mean, a main course or dish was going for HK$80 and above at the eateries in New Town Plaza, so how wrong can I go right? I even ordered a plate of century eggs for HK$15 (S$2.50) to go with the noodles.

When the food came, my eyeballs almost popped out. The bowl was huge, and much bigger than what others were eating individually! And given that I was sharing a table with 5 others, it was really quite a sight… And to make it more hilarious, two of the other 5 (they sat down later), ordered EXACTLY the same two things I did, and they shared the food!! Imagine Yong Tau Foo + Mixed Pork Parts + Mixed Chicken Parts + Vegetables + Noodles. I took a picture of the menu listing the things in the bowl, so if anyone feels like deciphering it for me, please do so.

The other 3 at the table were whispering to one another, I’m sure they were making bets if I could finish my food. Well, I did finish all but a bunch of noodles, so I think I’ll be skipping breakfast tomorrow.

Click on the ‘Photos’ link on the left column and enjoy!

Hong Kong

The problem with good massages though, is that they can be highly addictive.

Food tasting was undoubtedly my highest priority, so here’s the list of what I ate/bought in my 8 hours there:

1. 水饺面 (dumpling noodles) from 好到底面家 (Ho To Tai Noodle Shop) – At 23 HKD (~S$4), it felt rather pricey, given that the size of the bowl is that of a rice bowl. The noodles were incredibly springy though.

2. Siew mai from 妙舒 (Miu Shu) – At 7 HKD (~S$1) for 4 pieces, this was well worth it.

3. 3 HKD (~S$0.50) egg tart from a random bakery – Don’t know why but I think that anything eggy/custardy from Hong Kong is delicious.

4. Plastic bag cold noodles & honey peach slush at Kingswood Richly Plaza – There were all these youngsters standing around eating noodles out from plastic bags that I had to try one too. It’s like ordering Yong Tau Foo, except that the various food ranging from seaweed to ham to corn to oysters to crabstick to fish skin to meat pieces to noodles come in tiny little packets that cost 2 HKD each, so you just pick as many packets as you want and put them in a little basket. The pre-cooked contents then get mixed with some sauce using an electric food mixer, and voilà, your meal is ready to eat. At 12 HKD (~S$2) for both noodles and drink, it was a great snack indeed!

5. Beef brisket noodles from 学记面家 (Hok Kee Noodle Shop) – At 20 HKD (~S$3.35) a bowl, this was a let down as the portion was small (rice bowl size), with very little beef. Didn’t look appetising enough for a photo even. The noodles were once again incredibly springy, and I conclude (after a very small sample size of 2), that noodles in Yuen Long and maybe even Hong Kong are all done and served like that.

6. Mango sago dessert from 泛后甜品 (Fan Hau Dessert) – Despite costing 24 HKD (~S$4), which is more expensive than the two bowls of noodles I had earlier, I enjoyed this dessert immensely, with the slightly tart mango pieces contrasting beautifully with the sweet rich sago syrup. Perhaps I just have a soft spot for mango desserts…

7. Peanut candy from 港澳冠环球食脯专家 (Kun Van Kau Food Company) – 10 HKD (~S$1.65) for 16 small pieces of peanut candy, in 3 different types. This shop sells several other made-on-the-spot foodstuff like bak kwa, muah chee, etc.

8. Hang Heung lau po bing and mini lotus paste puffs with egg yolk – Having too much of a good thing can backfire, so I decided to buy back 2 of each of these, when I usually get 6 lau po bing in a box. Each item cost 5 HKD (~S$1).

Did I do anything other than eat?? Yes, I did the short but interesting Ping Shan Heritage Trail, and explored the big Kingswood Richly Plaza at Tin Shui Wai which is like an air-con “Chinatown” with many shops selling all kinds of things including food. Prices can easily rival that of Dongmen in Shenzhen. I also tried to see if there’s anything fascinating in Yuen Long Old Market, and can safely conclude that there isn’t. Oh, and I bought a Magic Wiper with 50 cloth wipes (for cleaning the floor) for just 33.90 HKD (~S$5.65).

That about sums up my half-day trip to Hong Kong. It amazes me how I managed to spend more in the eight hours than I do in one week in Shenzhen, but that’s the thing about going “overseas” right? Besides, it all added up to less than S$30, which might be the cost of just one meal in Singapore.