nykeiko travels and eats: Four days and three nights in Hong Kong![Just food pictures here]

Since I am going to Asia again by end of this month, I thought it was a good time to finally finish my post about what we ate in Hong Kong. We visited Hong Kong last October with my parents. For me, I had one goal in mind and it was to eat. Oh yes, it was also for my mom's birthday so we had to make extra sure she had extra fun. My dad never liked Hong Kong because of the crowds but after this trip, he kind of warmed up to the city. The subways were super crowded while we were there, more than usual due to Occupy Central. 

Before going to Hong Kong, we asked a few of our friends to provide us with a list of their most recommended eats in Hong Kong. Knowing a few foodies out there, our friends gave us some really comprehensive lists with some tips about reservations or when it's best to visit etc. I was getting so excited reading all the recs but overwhelmed by the amount. We were only going to be in Hong Kong for 4 days and there were enough restaurants for 4 weeks. Dave being super handy with his spreadsheet skills, congregated all the list of restaurants into an excel sheet and then added each and every single eatery onto Google Maps. He even wrote who recommended it and what dishes to order. He couldn't have made it easier for us. By purchasing a sim card and using Google Maps, we could find the closest recommended restaurant everywhere we went, right at our fingertips. If you want to see the map, email me and ask nicely :)

Sadly, we couldn't eat at every single restaurant but my for me, I just had to try genuine char siu, wonton noodles, pineapple buns and milk tea. Here is our list (with pictures) of almost every restaurant we ate at! Most of them we liked but a few of them we thought was a waste of our stomach's real estate. We were really picky about what we were putting in our mouth because our stomach can only hold so much food at once. My mom was really funny and always asked us if we were eating somewhere famous or popular. If we couldn't fit it in our schedule and had to eat somewhere not highly recommended or unknown, she ate a bit less and held out for the next meal. She said she just couldn't eat as much as before anymore. 

Here goes!!

nykeiko travels: A glimpse of Occupy Central seen on October 14 2014 [Hong Kong]

In Mongkok - Occupy Hong Kong

It has been exactly a month since Occupy Central began. When we decided to book a trip to Hong Kong with my parents, Occupy Central was non-existent. 

 It was right after we booked our flights and apartment in Wan Chai that the protests began churning and of course, it was too late to cancel anything (well, not without a fee). We weren't too worried about it and we were ready to back out if government issued some type of warning but that never happened. We just needed to stay away from the protest areas and everything should be fine (we had hoped). As days passed, there were waves of violence but closer to our date of departure, the number of protesters decreased and we were pretty assured that it was safe for us to travel to Hong Kong. Our only concern was, will these protests prevent us from eating yummy foods? (Nope!)

On the first day we arrived to Hong Kong, we needed to kill some time before dinner and while we were on the subway from Wan Chai to Central station,  I asked my parents if they wanted to take a peek at the protests at Admiralty subway station. That's where the root of the protests began right by the Central Government Complex. Dave assured them that the protests have died down and tourists were able to visit and at moment's notice, we hopped out of the subway train and on our way to visit the site. I reminded my parents...didn't we agree to stay away from these areas? Curiosity killed the cat. 

When we exited the station, we heard some ruckus yet it didn't stop us from moving forward. We were even more curious to see what was going on (common sense, out the window). Turns out, it was just anti-protester giving his piece of mind and a bunch of people swearing at him. It was all in cantonese. Despite it, the rest of the protest area was calm and quiet. It was a nice cool day in Hong Kong. It was actually cool the whole time we were there except on the last day contrary to the hot and humid weather we were expecting. Some people were napping, some were setting up their tents, a few were hanging out or reading and maybe studying (many of the protesters are students). There were electronic charging stations, first aid tents and a row of boxes full of donated supplies including food, water, blankets and some rubbish. What surprised me was the lack of authorities. We saw maybe a dozen policemen by the Government Complex but none inside the protest site. You know, to protect people in case shit goes down.

A woman was on a makeshift stage speaking about something which was broadcasted over loud speakers but we have no clue what she said. We applauded when everyone else did so we didn't look too out of place. Probably did not work since we were obviously tourists (My dad's big camera was a big clue.) There were many visitors on the site and signs saying "pictures are welcome but no faces to protect the students" were posted.

So here are some of the pictures we took in Central and Mong Kok (two out of six protest sites) on the same day. It was all very interesting to see. I didn't even check out Occupy Wall street in New York when it happened and here I was gallivanting Occupy Central while it's hot. That week, at night, there were some clashes with the police but we were far away and safe.

More pictures after jump...

nykeiko eats: Aziz Ansari told us to eat here...[Kam Wah Cafe, Hong Kong]

We watched Esquire Network's The Getaway which is about celebrities visiting one of their favorite cities in the world and talking about things they like to do, drink, eat, shop and more in that city. You should watch it, it's a pretty good show. It is produced by Anthony Bourdain and all. Anyway, I have never heard of this show until last month. As we were anticipating Aziz's show at Madison Square Garden (on Sept 9th), I started looking up Aziz's materials on the internet and stumbled upon his Getaway episode where he was visiting Hong Kong! What a coincidence because we were planning to go there as well!

In the show, Aziz was visiting Hong Kong for the first time so he needed some guidance from local know-it-alls but he saw plenty. I watched the show intently and took mental notes of things he ate and places he went. One of these places was Kam Wah Cafe for Buo Luo Buns (pineapple buns). Aziz and that Canadian blogger who joined him (from That Food Cray) didn't lead us astray. Those buns were so yummy as they were freshly made and served warm. Crunchy on top and fluffly on the inside, they are actually not made with pineapple, just the top looks like one. We had just eaten dinner and were pretty full so we only managed to stuff two buns down. There was also a one drink minimum per person so we all ordered a cup of milk tea (steep price at 16 hkd). The buns were only something like 6-7 hkd. Dave and I kind of still think about these buns and wish we had more. We tried buns from another cafe but it just wasn't the same.

Mmm...If we ever go back to Hong Kong, I'll make sure to stop by and maybe try it with butter!

#TBT= My #ThrowbackTravels #25: Tian Tan Buddha, Ngong Ping, Hong Kong

Tian Tan buddha 

This was seen last weekend so it counts as a TBT right?

Picture taken by my dad

nykeiko travels: A century old journey in Hong Kong

From New York to Hong Kong, from one bustling city to another, I finally crossed Hong Kong off my travel bucket list.

During our four days stay in this eclectic city, we were pretty productive and feel like I could recommend some things to do and eat (oh my god, the food!) but one thing that made it to the top of the list is a ride on Hong Kong’s tramways. They are over a century old (just turned 110 years old this year) and pretty unique in the world. They are fully operated by electricity and run exclusively with double-decker trams making them a really fun and unique ride.  Oh, and the fare is darn cheap too (30 cents USD!) What was meant to be a 5-stop ride to our destination, turned out to be a full-hour ride from east to west and back to Central.

Riding on these trams is almost like time travel as you are riding the same routes taken by the trams back in the early 1900s.

Of course, everything around it has changed so it’s just incredible that with all the new mode of transportations available, the tramways are still heavily utilized.

Here’s a video (thanks to Instagram’s Hyperlapse app) I took of my journeys on the Tram:

Thanks for stopping by xx

Hello from Hong Kong!

There is a lack of posts on my part because I'm traveling! I was in Taiwan for a few days and currently in Hong Kong with my parents for 4 days! This is one of the first trips my parents have taken out of the country without a tour so it is our job (with a lot of David's effort and all the suggestions we have received) to make this trip worthwhile for them.

I've eaten like a hundred meals already since I've arrived and my tummy has incited questions about a possible pregnancy. That's not a good sign.

Here are some of the pictures I already shared on Instagram. 

Hopefully I will be able to write a post about Hong Kong (after finishing my posts about Iceland?!)