Despedida Dinner with my family

While in Manila and 2 days before our departure,we arranged a dinner out with my family.

The Venue was in "DAMPA"(in my language it means a small & humble native house).The place is a food center where in you can choose anyone of the food stalls with in and bring your shopping bag of seafoods or meat to be cooked anyway you like it paying a sum of lets say 1-2 euros per kilo for every dish you order.Other ingredients is on the house,just bring the fish or meat and ask them to prepare it grilled,fried,sauted,etc.etc. Because Dampa is a seperate area within Farmers Market,you can buy everything fresh in the market.

I had a last minute comitment and lunch date with some of my friends that day and combined dinner with my family at 7:30,we were coming late so i phoned my son to shop for the seafoods that i have in mind and have it already prepared while waiting for us.We arrived 30 minutes late.Mom told me that my Auntie was already having tantrums because of hunger and i asked them to order something else to eat before dinner is serve but we did´nt wait long ,dinner was served within 15 mts upon our arrival.Drinks are to be bought seperately,beer for the men,water or juice for the children and fresh cocunut juice for the older ladies.

Here below are some photos:



We had butter & garlic prawns,calamares,grilled squid,roasted pork meat(lechon kawali),sweet & sour lapu lapu (small grouper)and a delicious head of salmon fish soup ( sinigang na ulo ng isda)supose to be for the children as they like soup but we all end up sharing the soup.



After everybody is satisfied with their stomach,this is what became of my grandchildren later. I have been hearing a commotion & laughter from some people as if they´re having fun and they really are.I look around & saw my grandchildren on a stage acting and posing as super heroes for pictures,lol!!!


My grandchildren on stage. Only one is missing in the picture.she was not able to come as she´s in the province 300 kms from manila.


My youngest son J.Michael with 3 of his children.A happy and proud father of 4 lovely children

Food Experience

The hotel where we stayed for 7 days in HK,4-5 mts walk to the metro station,bus stop on the other side of the street,45 mts by hotel bus to and from the airport.

And another photo of a building with other buildings reflected on the glass ,picture taken in a bus while passing thru.

We went to Stanley Market that day by bus that took us about 40 mts to get there. Stanley market is the best place to shop for bargains though we are not really interested in shopping to avoid having excess luggage as we are still flying to Manila , but as usual we could´nt resist buying souvenirs like HK T-shirts and a D & G fake bag as requested by one of my daughter in law.Prices are not really as cheap as we thought it would be as we found out later when we were already in manila.

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Photos at the market of beautiful orchid flowers and fruits below:



We walked & walked around the stalls to see what we can find interesting up to the last shop, only to end up to a find some food stalls by the seaside promenade.Nothing much to eat except sandwiches,we are feeling hungry and we´re looking for something warm to fill our stomach.Its quite cold that day and we did´nt bring a proper clothing to keep us warm.
Finally we left the area to find and ask people a place to eat.Nada,we cant locate the restaurant that somebody said we can eat well.

Within the market,i saw a signboard looking promising with nice photos of noodles soup (picture below).We cant see the inside so i challenge nubby to give it a try,remembering our experience in a small restaurant in singapore.He laugh and said " lets go!!" we were so hungry that we can eat anything,lol!!



We pass thru a small alley as you can see in one of the photos below:

The alleyway and the anbience inside...it was full house!! Then a guy walk us thru in a small room with electric fan and 3 tables set (the room must be a sleeping quarter at night)
We ordered won ton soup with noodles and beef noodles,H2o for me and a beer for hubby.Then hubby pointed to another delicacy he wans to taste,fried crispy fish skin,i said ok,anything goes when were hungry.



The menu and in front of our table in one corner a place for offering:



The Dining Area and our Special room:



The Kitchen and Service counter:



Did we enjoy our food?? Its just another day of food experience,we´re just glad we did´nt upset our stomach.

We ate in the hotel that evening to compensate ......

Note: You can click photos to enlarge

Visiting HK History Museum

Not wanting to avail of some travel agencies package tour on our first day,we ventured on our own with just a guide map at hand and an Octopus card that you can use for your transportation (bus and metro)
You can buy the card at any metro station counter for as low as 20 HK $ or more (depends of how long you intend to use public transport).Just make sure you validate the card each time you used it. By using the card,transport fee comes cheaper than when you are paying straight to the bus driver for your transport.The card also gives discount for seniors citizen,no need to show your ID to prove your age.
Anyway,hubby´s card came out cheaper than mine :)And so by taking the metro we started our tour at HK history & space museum located at Chatham road,Tsim Sha Tsui.

Riding the metro can be a lot easier and quicker than bus but with the bus,you will see more and appreciate Hong Kongs tall buildings

Photos below:











After the visit,we had our lunch ,roam around the shopping area then back to our hotel where we had our dinner

1st Night Out In Hong Kong

For a firstime traveller to an asian country,please be warned that most shops and restaraunts closes as early as 20:30 hrs.Therefore no shopping after 20.30 on roadside shops or eating in restaurants after 10:30,except of course in the hotels.

After a long rest in the hotel,hubby and i are ready to have our first meal of the day.It was 20:00 hrs and i did´nt want to eat in the hotel so we ventured outside to find a place to eat.There were still some small roadside restaurants open but my attention was caught on a bigger restaurant nearby when i saw a lot of clients inside.So we went in and was immediately ushered on a table,and served a pot of tea and the list of menu they served written in chinese with english translation.

Hubby and I (picture below)looking fresh after a long rest from our 24 hrs journey to HK.




The waitress does not speak english ,she has to call somebody who can.Service is very quick and so with their english,i cant understand the explanation she made with regards to my question.So,i ordered a steamed fish,a plate of vege,and fried rice with prawns.The waitress pointed us to an aquarium to choose the fish to be steamed.Hubby went there to check and take photos as i choose a small grouper,one of the fish on the photo (poor thing :))



Food arrived and served within few minutes.Typically chinese way of cooking,everything is cooked and done quickly.The secret? all ingredients are prepared beforehand,a Wok and a strong fire!! Food was perfect but be warned with your bill,we paid more than 60 euros for this order!!

Here are the dishes we ordered,it was too much for us!!



Guess where we had our coffee and dessert???



As they dont serve coffee in the restaurant,so we went to McDo nearby to have a coffee and an apple pie!! Not bad!! Chinese food for dinner and western coffee and dessert to end the night.