Bye Shenzhen!

Yi and I got up earlier than usual (9:30 am) so we can get to HK when the malls just open. However, at Luohu Center, where you go to take the train to HK and other places (remember, it's the largest immigration center, train staion, shopping center all rolled into one), we were waylaid. For those who have never been to Shenzhen, listen up! Don't waste your time in Dongmen or anywhere else, just stay put in the train station, go to the building called Louhu Commercial Plaza and get lost in it like we did, for 4 hours! In that time, we only covered one floor, the 3rd! That building is crazy, a floor for clothes, another for books, another for bags, another for electrical goods...I've never seen so many white people in China. They are all shopping at Louohu CP! I chatted with a guy from the US called Chance, and he knew much more about shopping in Shenzhen and China than I did.

Finally, exhausted even before we got to HK, we sat down for a light dimsum meal, and it was one of the best we've had.


Yee noodles with dried scallops and assorted mushrooms

What can I say? Can eat a whole plate by myself! Have you noticed that Cantonese food is not oily? I was happy to find that all the dishes we've eaten in Southern China were not overly salty, unlike Northern Chinese food, and I hardly tasted any msg. Restaurants in Malaysia cook with msg by the spoonfuls!


Hagow

Bless the person who first made these!


Crispy fried squid tentacles

I can eat a wokful of this...


Plain rice cheongfun

In HK, do ask for 'cheongfun' and not 'geecheongfun' like we do in Malaysia. That's like asking for 'hamburger' instead for 'burger'. Not cool.

Bryan, there's drool on your keyboard!

Shenzhen Day 3

Fill your tummy now before you proceed because the food just gets better and better!

The third evening Nancy and Yangmeng brought us to a Hakka restaurant. We were like wide-eyed country people because all we knew about Hakka cuisine upto then was stuffed tofu, pork belly slices with yam, that sort of dishes. If that's you too, be ready to see some of the best food we ate on this trip:


Boiled chicken with special sauce

If the chicken's good, the best way to cook it is boil it! This chicken is corn-fed so it's extra flavorful and smooth. I normally like my plain boiled chicken, well, plain. But the sauce was so so yummy, I could've had 3 bowls of rice with it. To tell you the truth, I was secretly making sure the lazy susan was rotated with the chicken infront of me all night. When there was only one piece left, I nonchalantly asked "Nobody wants this? Ok, I'll take it, don't waste...".

On the way out of the restaurant, I stopped by the section where roasted meats and boiled chicken were displayed and as casually as possible, asked the guy what brand of soy sauce he used. He said,"Hai tien" (Sea sky) and added that he blends the sauce with other ingredients. Just then the manager came forward and he stopped talking. I thought briefly of bribing her... In Macau, I bought a bottle each of Hai Tien Superior and Premium soy sauce, carefully placed them with the new clothes I had bought and prayed the bottles don't break when the luggage is checked in because thanks to the terrorists, we can't even bring soy sauce in our hand-carry (everybody does that don't they??). What a travesty! I used to bring fermented beancurd too. Hmmm!


Assorted braised meat

This was another perfect rice companion. On that plate, there's belly pork (called "5 flower meat: 1st layer of meat, followed by 2nd layer of fat, 3rd layer of meat, then 4th layer of fat and lastly a 5th layer of skin), pig tongue,tendons and chicken feet laid over fried and braised tofu balls. Tasty but I think nobody beats the Shanghainese at stewing/braising meat.


Pork tendons with veg


Stuffed brinjals, bittergourd and tofu

Typical Hakka dish. Yum. Would be better if they served a chili padi dip.

Boiled kale with a blanket of ice

Very refreshing! It didn't need any sauce because it sorts of cleans your palate for the other dishes which are more imbued with flavor and sauce.

Pumpkin cakes

The first (and best) pumpkin cakes I ever ate was in Shanghai. Like a first love, you measure all others by that first impression. These ones failed.



This is the restaurant but I can't remember the location...

After dinner, Nancy and hub (such a nice couple!) drove (Yangmeng's the craziest driver I know! Zipping in and out of the lanes and cutting in within 5" of the other cars) us to Snake's Mouth, an area of intersecting highways that radiate in all directions into the horizon, to different places and cities. Amazing, what China has done in the last few years. We were there to see the new bridge that just opened on 1st July this year which connects Shenzhen to Hong Kong. It only takes 15 minutes to get to HK from there! Because it was so new, even the locals weren't sure where the bus would stop in HK so we opted to take the regular transport, subway train.

Shenzhen Day 2

Shenzhen is located only an hour by train from Hong Kong. As the first Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen attracts workers from all over China so you get to hear many different dialects spoken here, including Hakka. Shenzhen together with Guangzhou are the major centers of manufacturing in China. With a population of about 17 million, the city is notoriously crime-riddened. We saw a lady running after a snatch thief right outside our hotel. Shenzhen also has the infamous reputation for all kinds of faked and cloned goods, from handbags to ipods and one of the best deals, pirated CDs/VCDs, for only RMB5.00 each (MR2.50/US$0.70).



Wawa (doll) fashion is so ugly! We just couldn't buy anything even though there were lots of cheap clothing.


Roadside kebabs

My HK friends tell me these are very unhygenic. Hardly looks appetising too.


Spicy ducks' heads

This shop sells the tops and tails of ducks (or geese?), plus the insides such as hearts, intestines...

For dinner, we had the best vegetarian meal ever. In KK, we avoid vegetarian restaurants because so much msg is used, and every dish is a gluten imitation of some meat. This restaurant, however, uses very fresh ingredients and the food is light, tasty and refreshing. Totally different from any veg restaurant we've ever tried. Only thing is at the end of the meal I knew for sure that I'm a full-blooded carnivore.


Lily bulbs (baihe) and mixed veg

Delightful, you could taste the sweetness of each ingredient because the seasoning was so light.


Young bamboo and preserved veg

Yi loved this. But then she loves any bamboo dishes.


Tofu, mushrooms and other veg

How come we don't get silky soft, soya bean-fragrant tofu in KK?


Spicy imitation snails

This was very tasty and crunchy, heck, it was better than the real thing!


Black sticky rice cakes

Simple but yummy, just like all the dishes we tried.


Roasted pumpkin seeds with tea leaves

The recipe for this snack is created by the restaurant's chefs and the seeds are very addictive, especially over a cup of tea.

Note: If your pic turns out blur, it is good to have a daughter who can photoshop it, artistically, for you!


Chinese tea ceremony

This is another restaurant that banned photo-taking. We were lucky because our hosts, Nancy and Yangmeng, know the owner (guy in yellow). After dinner, guests can choose to relax in the tea lounge and sip Chinese teas. We were treated to a precious pu er tea that gets better and sweeter with each pouring. All Chinese dinners should end like this!

Shenzhen Day 1

We decided to take the bus instead of the recommended train from Zhuhai to Shenzhen because we wanted to see the countryside. That's fine if you have four hours (because it was a Sunday and traffic was horrific) instead of two and you think banana plantations are scenic. Plus if you decided the scenery looked like that in Malaysia and decided to doze off. And you don't mind paying RMB95 instead of RMB30.

My bro has a son and DIL in Shenzhen. Two other kids decided to bring their spouse and kids from Guangzhou and made a 3-hour drive to meet up with us. A cousin-nephew came along too. We felt very honored, to say the least. And they treated us to such scrumptious meals we felt like kings. And to think some of us never met till last December. Blood is thicker than water.

While waiting for the kids to arrive, we went to this super high class mall. Yi tried on a red dress that looked like it was made for her. Super. Then I saw the tag: Ungaro. So I asked the lady the price and she said,'It's not expensive, just RMB4,080'. We left, me feeling incredulous that a short 7 years ago there were hardly any designer names in China and now the Chinese are so rich.


Shopping in Dongmen

I didn't like it. Things were not only cheap, they were downright cheap-looking. Plus it was very hot. People were nice and polite though, unlike those Shanghainese.



Hub's a gem; didn't mind us off-loading our heavy bags on him. He knew what he was there for, other than eat.

Eating time again:


Suckling pig (poor thing)



Stuffed lotus root


Chestnuts with lamb



Veg with pig tendons


Meicai pork


Celery in superior stock


What was this??


Frogs legs

Looked so fresh and yummy, but I just couldn't make myself eat it.


This cutie is my grand-neice!


Dad should've been there



Longans (sweet, crunchy, thick) on the left and huang pe meaning 'yellow skin' (sour, soft, juicy) on the right. Looked the same but totally different in taste. The huang pe skin and stems smell like curry leaves.



Never seen this kind of pear before. Nothing to tell about except its crunchy, bland and juicy.