KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Towards the end of our trip in HK, Ivy and I spent some good time venturing North Point due to the fact that we stayed at Grand Harbour Hotel (got a good deal for this 5 star hotel, that’s a post for another day) the night before. North Point ((北角) is the most northerly point of Hong Kong Island, adjacent to both Causeway Bay and Quarry Bay. It is also a busy neighbourhood with plenty of good food.

We started our morning early and got to Duck Shing Ho to get some famous egg roll. It was around 9.45 am and  we spotted a long queue formed outside already! My friend told me that normally the egg rolls are sold out by noon! Remember to call and make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

德成號 Duck Shing Ho
北角渣華道64號地下
G/F., 64 Java Raod, North Point
Tel: 2570 5529/2571 5049
Opening Hour: Mon to Sat 930am to 700pm
Open Rice page here

By the time we queued and waited for our turn and finally got ourselves 9 big boxes of egg rolls, it was 1030am! We proceeded the street next door to Fung Shing, a Shunde restaurant specialises in Shunde cuisine and some good ol’ traditional dim sum.

Stir Fried Fresh Milk with Egg Whites, Shrimp and Pine Nuts 大良炒鲜奶 is one of their specialties but Fung Shing is only offering dim sum for the morning session.

Yum Cha (literally means ‘drink tea’) is a ‘must try’ dining experience in HK, so here we are. I think that this place is much less chaotic than their famous counterpart Tim Ho Wan and Lin Heung Lao.

So instead of having carts of dim sum pushed around, they gave us a menu/card on which we would fill out indicating the items you want. Fung Shing is also running a promotion on all small and medium sized dim sum – HKD 12 (RM 4.80) per portion. That’s even cheaper than some of the dim sum restaurants here in KL!

Fung Shing is filled with local people having dim sums, so it’s definitely a good sign for me.

We had quite a variety of dim sum; so let me rank them from best to good to mediocre.

Ma Lai Kou 马来糕. The best that one could ever get – warm, light, fluffy and not too sweet.

Char Siu Pastry 叉烧酥. A tender, buttery pastry holds the sweet, succulent cha siu filling.

Beancurd Roll with Superior Soup 高汤鲜竹卷

Har Gao 虾饺.

Fen Guo 粉果.

Siu Mai 烧卖

Steamed Milk Pudding – Yi Shun’s version is far better.

鳳城酒家 Fung Shing Restaurant
G/F & 1/F, Goldfield Mansion, 62-68 Java Road, North Point
Branches: Tsim Tsa Tsui, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, etc
Open Rice page here.

Our eating spree did not stop here! We took the tram to King’s Road just for some crunchy version of Egg Puff Waffle aka Gai Dan Zai (北角雞蛋仔)!

Photos of celebrating trying their gai dan zai and magazine article featuring them were plastered all over the place.

Cispy on the outside and hollow inside, the gai dan zai (HKD 15) is filled with wonderful eggy aroma. It was great fun to snap the little balls one by one and pop it into our mouths.

View Larger Map
勁辣派甜甜掌門(北角雞蛋仔)
北角英皇道492號
492 King’s Road, North Point
Branches: Tsim Tsa Tsui, Wan Chai, etc
Open Rice page here

That concludes our last day in HK ;(

If you like my HK travel posts, remember to click on my 2009 trip and 2010 trip.

When in Hong Kong, one should visit a “bing sutt” in Mong Kok or Yau Ma Tei to get a slice of old Hong Long. My top pick is Mido Cafe, an old, rustic place with more than 40 years in history. However, if your coffee addiction kicks in, go to Starbucks “Bing Sutt” at Duddell Street. It is the world’s first as Starbucks have collaborated with Douglas Young’s G.O.D to create a concept coffee space. 冰室/”Bing Sutt”, which literally means ice room is the coffeehouse back in the 1950’s through to the 1970’s.

Duddell Street in Central, Hong Kong is famous for its four gas-powered street lamps. These street lamps are still powered by town gas. And to get to Starbucks “Bong Sutt”, one has to climb those flight of stairs. Duddell Street Steps and Gas Lamps are declared monuments of Hong Kong.
Continue Reading

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

boarding onto a ‘Van仔’ (Van Zai)

Shopping is an integral part of travel so we just have to make our way to Tsim Tsa Tsui to indulge in some retail therapy. With Harbour City, Heritage 1881, SOGO and the many retailers along Peking Road, Nathan Road and Cameron Road all located within a radius of few hundred meters, Tsim Tsa Tsui is truly a shopper’s paradise.

sexy car wash?

Continue Reading

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

Gong Xi Fa Cai my dear readers! Chinese New Year is the time to feast and binge on all the sweet goodies and one of my favourite festive cookies is the Egg Roll! During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I managed to get myself some to-die-for egg rolls from Duck Shing Ho. It is located just next door to the famous Fung Shing Chinese Restaurant where we had our dimsum earlier.

We got there around 9.45 am and there was already a long queue formed outside! My friend told me that normally the egg rolls are sold out by noon! If you think that is crazy, just read on and you’ll be surprised.

Apart from the original flavor, Duck Shing Ho is offering egg rolls with butter or coconut too.

It was only late November, and they have stopped taking orders for Christmas and Chinese New Year! Which means that patrons can only resume buying after mid February!!

Furthermore, the prices of the egg rolls aren’t exactly cheap. It costs around RM 20+ for 1 lbs (about 453 grams).

We have to first queue up to pay. From there, the store owner issued us a receipt and holding it, we joined another long line to collect our goodies.

old school tin containers

Finally our effort have paid off! We left the store absolutely happy, with both our hands full with tins of egg rolls. We hand carried the all nine tins of egg rolls onto the plane and the egg rolls inside stayed intact! This is because each egg roll were rolled into many, many layers so the end product was thick enough to weather any “external forces”.

source

The egg roll does live up to its fame! The handmade egg rolls were thick, and beehive web effect on the skin is enticing. Doesn’t this reminds you of taro puff (wu kok)? Taste wise, it is definitely much better than some of the commercial names out there. It was so crispy to the point that it shattered once you sink your mouth onto it. The original egg roll has a light egg-y flavor to it and it was not too sweet. The coconut flavored egg roll is sweeter, with a hint of coconut taste.

德成號 Duck Shing Ho
北角渣華道64號地下
G/F., 64 Java Raod, North Point
Tel: 2570 5529/2571 5049
Opening Hour: Mon to Sat 930am to 700pm
Open Rice page here

For our full travel itinerary, please click here

After an early breakfast at Pinda Lodge, we bid goodbye to the beautiful Margaret Region and started our trip back to Perth. We dropped our rental car at RedSpot’s office and went for a walkabouts around Perth CBD.

Once in Perth, it’s easy to get around. Public transport is safe, efficient and cheap to use:

Free Transit Zone ( FTZ )
Within the Perth city centre travel on public transport is FREE! The boundaries of this free travel zone are defined at the Transperth web site. To travel within this zone you can simply hop on any train, bus or CAT. You are not restricted to the amount of times you can use this service and no tickets are required. If you board a train or bus inside the FTZ and intend to travel outside of the FTZ a valid ticket must be purchased and fares apply from where you first board to your destination. If you’re not sure where the FTZ starts or ends ask the bus driver.

Bus Travel
Transperth buses can take you to all the attractions you will want to see. Coins are preferable to use on bus services and change can be given.

Free City Transport
Perth and Fremantle are serviced by FREE CAT buses. In Perth city, passenger can board the RED, BLUE or YELLOW CAT buses, while in Fremantle the route is serviced by ORANGE CAT buses. The CAT services circulate specific routes every five to fifteen minutes during the day. Weekday timetables are more frequent than weekends.

Train Travel
You will find a great network of trains which service the Perth metropolitan area from the Perth city. Tickets are available at each station and must be purchased before riding the train. A variety of tickets are available (i.e. Adult, Concession, Child, Senior, Family) and are valid to be used on all Transperth services including buses and ferries. The distance you plan to travel will also determine how many ‘zones’ you need to purchase with your ticket. Zone maps are found at all train stations to help identify what ticket you will need to purchase.

Ferry Travel
Ferry services cross sections of the Swan River from Perth Barrack Street Jetty across to South Perth and down stream to Fremantle. Regular high-speed ferries also travel from Perth Barrack Street Jetty, Fremantle and Hillarys to Rottnest Island.

Route maps and timetables for all modes of transportation are available at Transperth website.

Larger-than-life kangaroo sculptures were spotted at the Supreme Court Gardens located on the corner of Barrack Street and Riverside Drive. A great place for the “picture perfect” photo opportunities.

Supreme Court Gardens

The Swan Bell Tower is also one of Perth’s main tourist attractions. Situated on the Barrack St. Jetty, it is overlooking the Swan River and the entire city skyline.

Background Story: The St Martin-in-the-Fields Bells were gifted to the people of Western Australia to commemorate Australia’s bicentenary in 1988. Patron of the Bell Tower Mr Laith Reynolds was the one who saved the St Martin-in-the-Fields Bells from being melted down to form new ones, as they had become too heavy for the ancient foundations of the church in Trafalgar Square, London. After this he campaigned to have a specially built tower in Perth to bring them to life for all West Australians.

The Bells ringing times are as follows:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12pm-1pm
Saturday and Sunday 12pm-1pm

There is also a Bells Handling Demonstration during the following times:
Wednesday and Friday 11.30am-12.30pm

Swan Bell Tower
Opens Daily from 10am
Entry Fees : $13 Adults / $8 Concessions. Get 5 AUD discount vouchers from the website

Getting Here:
take the Blue CAT free bus towards Barrack Square Stop number 18

We walked towards Barrack Street Jetty from the Swan Bell Tower to board a ferry to South Perth.

2 section cash fare: AUD 1.70 per person

Here’s a money savings tip: Forget about paying > AUD 50 for a touristy cruise/tours. The ferry is a quick ride to cruise on the scenic Swan River, and a great way to travel to South Perth.

Barrack St. Jerry

Perth City skyline

We arrived to Mend St. Jetty, South Perth in a blink of an eye.

We walked along Sir James Mitchell Park to our dinner venue. Never did we anticipated that the walk is about 30 minutes (!!) long. Fortunately for us, the sunny weather with cool breeze was so good to walk.

We finally, reached our destination – Ciao Italia!

Ciao Italia was opened in August 1999 by a young Italian chef, Spartaco Rotella. It started off as a Take Away Restaurant and soon it gains popularity and the owner decided to put some extra tables inside and since then Ciao italia has grown.

As one of the city’s top eating institution, Ciao Italia doesn’t take bookings, and it is packed out pretty much every night of the week. This explains why there was already a moderately long queue formed up outside the restaurant. I was (still) slightly surprised because it was only 530pm! And the restaurant opens its door at 5pm everyday. We put our name in the waiting list and began our 15 minutes wait.

The place is absolutely bustling with activities. I can’t even hear the waitstaff’s mumbling! As you’d expect from a popular restaurant, it has a casual setting with slightly cramped seating arrangements. I have no complaints there as it added to the unique dining experience.

FREE water

LEMON LIME BITTERS is a very Australian drink.

It is so very pleasant and refreshing drink and we had it almost everyday when we were in Perth.

Ciao Italia is well known for its typical Italian food, including its 14 different types of Pizzas cooked in a wood fire oven. We stole the picture from a bunch of Malaysian students seated next to us. The pizzas were huge and I’m so glad that we did not go for it.

In fact, Ciao Italia is well known for their humongous food portion. Our order of Ciao Italia Fettucine (AUD 25.50) is meant for 2-3 person! Topped with a generous amount of marinated tender chicken strips, sundried tomatoes, spring onions and
fresh diced tomatoes, The Ciao Italia signature paste does live up to its fame. The home made fettuccine strips had a bouncy springy feel to it; and the creamy white sauce was really additive!

Cozze Pescatora (Chillli Mussels, AUD 27.50). The local mussels were fresh and briny, with a firm texture. The tomato sauce with chilli flakes was really good too. I was hoping for some bread to dip in that delicious sauce.

One can’t leave Ciao Italia without trying their legendary Tiramisu (AUD 8.50)! Again, the tiramisu was so huge that I would call it a Tiramisu Block!

The tiramisu was divine! The cake layers were expertly soaked in the right amount of alcohol and espresso. Between the layer is this lofty layer of creamy, soft marscapone. The cocoa sprinkles on top has a bitter aftertaste. This has got to be one of the best tiramisus that I have had!

Ciao Italia is definitely one of the must visits in Perth especially for their tiramisu! Everything that we tried was so delicious and are of enormous portions! Service was prompt and friendly too. If you have impatient stomach, take away and enjoy your meal by the foreshore of Swan River.

273 Mill Point Road
South Perth WA 6151
Corner Douglas Ave
Australia
Tel: 93685500
website: http://www.ciaoitalia.com.au/Aboutuspage1.html

Business Hour : 5pm till 10 pm (Tuesday to Saturday)

After such a heavy dinner loaded with liberal doses of cream and fats, we took a stroll along the Swan River and watched the countless stars emerge to fill the night.

the night skyline of Perth CBD

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

Our magical day does not end here…

We continue to enjoy the wonderful magic of Disney at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.

The hotel is tastefully decorated in an old world Victorian-style.  The moment we stepped in, we knew immediately that we would be in for a real treat.
Continue Reading

Happy New Year and welcome back to work/school everyone! While I’m still in the holiday mood, just like the rest of you, let’s take a look at some happy holiday pictures!

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

Bed & Breakfast is always a preferred choice over a regular hotel when we go travel. Unlike big-city hotels that involves no interaction with others, B&B’s give us the personal touch and always guarantee a warm and friendly stay.

During our recent trip to Margaret River, we chose to stay in Pinda Lodge which is nestled between Margaret River and the ocean. It took us 10-minutes to drive from the town and less then that the wineries and the beach. From the verandah we can hear the Margaret River rapids and, on a still day, the sound of ocean waves beyond. It is truly a beautiful place!

The hosts, Jan & Rob who live on the premise are wonderful! They recommended us plenty of local attractions, helped us with dinner reservations and prepared a delicious homemade breakfast every morning. With a personal touch from the hosts, this unique guesthouse ensures our comfort in every way.

Continue Reading

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

Hong Kong Disneyland

A place where the atmosphere is so magical you feel like a child again.

Thanks to HKDL, we spent magical 2D1N in Disneyland Park as well as Disneyland Resort Hotel. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is located on Lantau Island, and is accessible via an array of convenient transportation options.

We took the MTR and interchange for the Disneyland Resort Line. The Disney train is so cute complete with its Mickey Mouse handrails and windows.


Welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort!

Continue Reading

We just came back from our Hong Kong trip! It was my third time to Hong Kong but the city never ceases to surprise and inspire me. Together with Ivy, we’ve had some great meals, met some great people and did quite a lot of shopping (look away in guilt).

Here’s a roundup of where we’ve been and what we have gulped down. Detailed posts will be followed shortly, just like our HK Trip in year 2009. Scroll down and enjoy the pictures!
Continue Reading

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

The bustling region of Mongkok is one of the busiest and highly populated district in Hong Kong. Most tourists would have been to Tung Choi Street aka Ladies Street, Fa Yuen Street aka Sneakers Street and the many streets with quirky name such as Bird Street, Sai Yong Choi Street, etc.

While street snack is widely available throughout Mongkok, there is one particular Macau Portuguese food stall in the cooked food market that ignites our interest.
Continue Reading

For our trip itinerary, please click here.

roaming the busy streets of Wanchai

I just came back from another fruitful trip to Hong Kong with my comrade,  Ivy. Fruitful in terms of shopping this time, more about that later! One of our many great finds was the egg tart from Honolulu Coffee Shop.

Honolulu Coffee Shop is a 40 years old establishment in Wanchai that serves up typical Cha Chan Teng fare. It is also a place where you can find people from all walks of life itching their scratch for milk tea, toasts and pork chop rice.

Continue Reading