Beach Boys With The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

For my husband's birthday present, we decided to purchase tickets to see the Beach Boys. We had read somewhere that Brian Wilson would be performing with them since it was a milestone year for the Beach Boys, but when we arrived at the concert we were sad to read in the program that he would not be there. Ironically, Mike Love, my husband's least favorite original Beach Boys member was the only one from the original band. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra backed them up and added so much to the whole experience. The concert was held at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wanchai and was a more intimate setting than a massive arena. We had great seats with a good view of the stage. Our two kids appreciated the experience and enjoyed the videos for each song that was sung.  

Brunch At Le Pain Quotidien.

Yesterday we found ourselves in Wan Chai walking around looking for a spot to eat brunch. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Le Pain Quotidien was serving customers for their soft opening. I had seen a forum online that the expat community was super excited to have the restaurant come to Hong Kong, so we thought we'd check it out. After a twenty minute wait in line, we were seated and ordered our meal. The service was excellent, friendly, and efficient. The food was ok but definitely not worth the bill that came at the end of the meal.

Lee Tung Avenue.

At one point, Lee Tung Street was known as the street to purchase wedding cards and for the printing industry. In 2007 it was demolished and now it has been developed into an urban complex with pricey restaurants and shops. It's a beautiful street to walk through and has recently been opened to the public. 

Grits In Hong Kong.

We are a southern family having moved from South Carolina and have missed some food items like barbecue, Chick-Fil-A, and grits. We have had a friend who has brought back several boxes of grits back for us from her travels to Georgia, and so we have been able to get our grits fix. However, we were still excited to find a restaurant here in Hong Kong that served grits on their menu. After church on a Sunday, we took a taxi to Wanchai and ate at The Flying Pan. The grits were a different texture than what we were familiar with, and not necessarily our favorite, but it was still a fun experience to be able to order them off of a menu on this side of the world! 

A Day To Myself.

Recently I realized that I am constantly surrounded by people, which is something I love and typically thrive from. However, as a homeschooling parent who is with her children 24 hours a day, I do need the break. But the break from my children usually means meeting up with friends for a girl's dinner out or coffee with other friends. I haven't been completely alone for some time, which is also something I love and thoroughly enjoy. The kind of day where I do not have to answer to anyone but do the things that I enjoy doing. A day that I can work with my own time schedule instead of balancing someone else's. That is a good day. 

So I skipped church and went to see an early movie, bought a chai tea latte from Starbucks, walked down to the Butcher's Club in Wan Chai for a burger with duck fat fries, and took the tram to Causeway Bay for a two hour massage. Pure indulgence. Even with all that alone time, I ended up calling a really good friend and we met up for coffee and a picnic on Victoria Harbour in the evening. As much as I love my time alone, I still crave community and relationships. 

Kam's Roast Goose.

I really love that my kids have the opportunity to eat at Michelin star restaurants here in Hong Kong. Back in Myrtle Beach, we didn't have as many Michelin star restaurants. Actually, we did not have any Michelin star restaurants in Myrtle Beach or the immediate area. Before our Halloween homeschool event we lunched at Kam's Roast Goose restaurant in Wan Chai.

Kids were dressed in costume, which automatically makes any occasion a celebration. We grabbed a number and waited for 30 minutes outside before a space was cleared out for our party of four. Plenty of people had ordered take away meals instead of opting to eat in the restaurant. The restaurant only seats 30-40 people at a time so waiting in line for a table is a guarantee but well worth the wait. 

The staff was wonderful. Very friendly and quick to come to us when we raised our hand. Since it's a Chinese restaurant, we were given the special English menu and our server helped us order. We chose half of a goose, some pork belly, crunchy pork, and veggies. Kids loved the food, and as adults we appreciated the quality of food as well.

Beef & Liberty.

Our family is still in search of the best burger Hong Kong has to offer. We've had burgers all over the city. This past week, we tried Beef & Liberty in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. Floor to ceiling windows provided wonderful lighting in the restaurant. The burger was pretty tasty and the service was prompt, efficient, and friendly!

Singin' In The Rain.

We try to take our children to the theatre as often as we can, and Hong Kong offers many opportunities to take advantage of the arts. Last night, we watched the live performance of Singin' In The Rain at the Performing Arts Theatre in Wan Chai. Even with the 7:45 evening showing, our kids were able to stay awake and thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the performance. As adults, us parents also enjoyed the special effects of the actual rain on stage.

{Photo from the poster/program and not taken by me.}

Trams.

Hong Kong has some pretty great modes of transportation. My personal favorite when I'm over on Hong Kong Island is to take the tram. Hong Kong has beautiful double decker trams that run from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan. Often the trams are packed with passengers and you're rubbing elbows with strangers, but if you ride on the right day and at the right time, you can get a lovely seat up on the top, which is my favorite place to sit. 

Brooms Used By Public Service Workers.

Since we first landed in this wonderful country last August, I have been impressed with the relative cleanliness of the city. Every morning you can see public service workers sweeping the streets, picking up the leaves that have fallen from the trees, getting rid of the trash that people have dropped on the ground. 

We were visiting a public park in Wan Chai and walked by a building that held all these brooms. I love seeing beauty in everything, especially being able to find it in the mundane tasks of cleaning up after careless strangers by making the city a more beautiful place to live. These simple brooms that are used on the streets of Hong Kong.

Chinese New Year Stalls.

Right now the market stalls are full of decorations in preparation for Chinese New Year. The colors are beautiful to see. There is so much red and gold. The color red symbolizes good luck, money, a celebration, and joy.  Gold is a sign for wealth, completeness, and a metal. 2015 is the year of the goat, so you see a lot of decorations around Hong Kong depicting this animal.

Getting Ready For Chinese New Year.

As soon as Christmas was over, the shops here in Hong Kong were filled with decorations in preparation for Chinese New Year. Our family is excited to experience our first Chinese New Year this year. The kids are out of school for a week of holiday, and we will soak in as much local culture as we can. 

In preparation for Chinese New Year, we went shopping for traditional Chinese outfits for our two children. I knew there would be a lot to chose from at the open market in Mong Kok, but we ended up going to Wan Chai simply because we were already in the area. 

Tomorrow I'll share with you the outfits we chose for our two kids.   

Hello Kitty.

You know the waving cat statue that sits at the front of every P.F. Changs restaurant in the United States welcoming you in? Imagine coming upon a store while you're walking through an open market that has a whole wall of those waving cats? They came in all shapes and sizes, but each individual cat was waving at us. 

Playing Tourist With My Husband's Coworkers.

My husband's place of employment took all the new recruits on a tour of Hong Kong their first week of work. He called me and asked if I'd like to come along for the tour. We met up with everyone at the MTR station in Kowloon Tong. 

With our octopus cards in hand, we started off by taking the MTR. We got off at Central where we were shown significant monuments. Then we all grabbed a tram and climbed up the narrow steps to the top where we rode it until Wan Chai. We alighted off the tram to walk through the Wan Chai wet market. From there we walked over and grabbed the Star Ferry and rode it over the harbor to the Cultural Center. 

 

Our final destination was a restaurant that served Indian food. We had to walk through what seemed to be an intricate maze to get to it. We were lead through a building to the back alley, then into a side door, and had to climb nine flights of stairs. The restaurant had a “members only” sign on the front door because it actually wasn't zoned as a restaurant but rather as a home. The food was delicious and we were so excited to have Indian food again. Myrtle Beach didn't have many Indian food restaurants available for us to eat at!

Egg Waffles.

Saturday afternoon, we met a friend of ours in Wan Chai with the intention of eating Filipino food together. We arrived earlier than our friend and while we were waiting for her to arrive we walked around the area. Right beside the MTR station is a stall that sells these amazing egg waffles. 

When we were living in the United States, I had seen a show featuring them and trying the waffles once we got to Hong Kong was on the kid's list of things they wanted to do.

You'll know you are near a stall selling these waffles even before you see them, because the sweet fragrance hits your sense of smell first.

These are delicious. For 15.00 HKD you can purchase two or 8.50 HKD will buy you one. The flavor reminds us of eating fortune cookies. Our family affectionately refers to them as "bubble waffles". I do believe they are more commonly called "egg waffles". The waffles are light and have a slight almond taste. They are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It's easy to break off one ball at a time to consume the waffle while holding it in the paper bag.

These particular egg waffles were purchased from a vendor right beside the MTR exit in Wan Chai. We have discovered as we've eaten more egg waffles, that the flavor and texture subtly varies from vendor to vendor.