Mido Cafe.

During our time here in Hong Kong, I learned that Mido Cafe is an institution among hipsters and tourists. I'm sure it' popular among the local crowd, but I didn't see anyone other than the young hipster type eating. The service was definitely gruff and to the point. There was no friendly welcome and you were made to feel more an inconvenience than a guest. I ordered a pineapple ice and Hong Kong style french toast. The drink was definitely refreshing after walking from the Star Ferry, but my toast was tuff and tasted like it had been reheated. 

Time With My Daughter.

I love spending one on one time with each of my children. I find that it's harder for me to accomplish since we've been homeschooling, since I am constantly with my children and when I get an opportunity to be alone, I would prefer to be alone. But I have remind myself that I am investing in the lives of my kids, and they greatly benefit from the time that they spend with one parent and the quality of the attention that they receive when they are out on a date with us.

For The Love Of Reading.

What do you get when you mix a bookstore with a coffeeshop? The ideal place for a homeschooling family to spend some time. This Mama gets her coffee fix and the kids disappear into the aisles of books and get transported to the worlds on the pages of books. I have never ceased to be amazed at how close these two kids have become since we started homeschooling. It's not an uncommon scene in our home for my son to read to his younger sister for hours at a time. I am thankful for the friendships that homeschooling has deepened between my two kids.

Mum's Not Home.

Thanks to Instagram, I discovered that there was a really unique venue in Yau Ma Tei called "Mum's Not Home". While my husband was off from work, we decided to take a day and check it out. Mum's Not Home is a cafe and boutique with a heavy bohemian-artistic influence. We walked up the stairs to the first floor of the traditional walk up, where we had to ring the doorbell to be allowed in. As soon as we walked in, the guy that opened the door for us, immediately recognized our family from Instagram.

The boutique welcomed us at the front of the store, and I perused the handmade jewelry and vintage inspired clothing. There were a couple tables constructed from slabs of boards, a handful of chairs, and many plants. A large section of the floor was taken up with a low lying table and woven cushions. We took off our shoes and sat on the floor where we ordered "Butterfly Tea" and a "Pineapple Barley Tea", as those were our only vegan options.

My boys played around on the guitar that was there and we made friends with the other people that were hanging out. The longer we stayed, the cafe started gradually filling up, after a few hours it was completely full, so we left to make more room for the guests. We definitely will be back, as it is a nice place to relax and the staff is so friendly.

Jade Market In Yau Ma Tei.

Beneath an overpass and encompassed one four sides by a wall is the Yau Ma Tei Jade Market. As soon as we walked into the doorway, we were bombarded with shop owners trying to get us to look at their wares. There were some prices marked on items, but most items that we pointed to, we were told to offer a price. One time we were quoted a price way higher than the what the price tag said. We walked from shop to shop and ended up with some Christmas ornaments for our kids and a small Chinese chess set that we know we paid too much for! 

Kubrick Cafe.

Back in 2001, Myrtle Beach had a coffee shop called "The Living Room". The Living Room was a coffee shop with a used book store. My husband {boyfriend at the time} loved playing the guitar and singing on Thursday night's at their open mic nights. I had just graduated from university in Virginia and moved down to South Carolina to avoid having to do a long distance relationship. My now spouse and I spent many hours in The Living Room, where we would browse books, drink coffee, and make life long friendships with professors from the local university. 

Kubrick Cafe immediately transported us back to 2001 and for a moment we both felt as though we were back in the United States as opposed to where we actually were... Hong Kong. Our two kids loved exploring the novels that were available to purchase. They are avid readers and my son will read out loud to his sister for hours at a time. The bookstore and coffee shop were fantastic and we will definitely be back.

My First Cup Of Coffee.

Some of our friends, that live in Jordan, had told us about a movie theatre with a bookstore and coffee shop attached to it in Yau Ma Tei. I had a doctor's appointment at a clinic right across the street, so I chose Kubrick's to be the place for my first cup of coffee in 365 days. I ordered my latte and it was presented to me with some intricate latte art on top. After a year of Thai milk teas and chai tea lattes from Starbucks, this cup of coffee smelled delicious and was pretty to look at. 

Temple Street In The Rain.

There is something magical about Hong Kong when the rain pours down and everyone is running for cover with their umbrellas. I had Indian food for dinner with a friend out on Temple Street and when we left the restaurant it was beautiful to see the rain falling through the market stalls.

Nathan Road.

I love Nathan Road because it gets us so many places. It is the main road on the Kowloon peninsula, so naturally we take it a lot. The parts of the train line run underneath Nathan Road. Apparently, Nathan Road was the first road that was built in Kowloon back in the 1860's. In the early 1900's Hong Kong named it Nathan Road after the thirteenth Governor who served three years. His name was Sir Matthew Nathan.

A Chef In Yau Ma Tei.

The other night I was going to a girl's dinner at a friend's house in Yau Ma Tei. As I was walking from the train station to her place, I came across a restaurant with a line down the street of people patiently waiting for their turn to eat there. Then I saw probably the most interesting looking chef I have seen cooking outside over open flames.

Look at all those individual skillets over their open flames. I'm not sure what he was cooking, but he must be hot since he took his shirt off. He was concentrating pretty hard on that food. He never once looked out into the street at the people walking by.

The restaurant was nothing fancy. Next to the spot where the chef was cooking, were the piles of trash in baskets ready for the dump. Sometimes I wonder what food safety regulations pertain to Hong Kong and if restaurants have to meet any standards before they open for the public. {All that wondering is the former SC Department of Health and Environmental Control employee in me coming out.}

Street Food.

If you put anything on a stick, you could pretty much call it street food. We've stayed away from the chicken feet and stuck to beef, chicken, and pork kabab's. On nights when I don't feel like cooking and I don't feel like going to a restaurant, my go to dinner is to have my husband pick up some kabab's. We'll make rice and a vegetable to go with it, or simply eat dried seaweed with our rice. My daughter is a big fan of cuttlefish balls on a stick. She'll eat dried cuttlefish that you can get in the local grocery stores. 

Fruits In The Open Market.

I love walking through any type of market, but walking through a fresh fruit market is my all time favorite market to walk through. I love the bright colors of the fruit. I love seeing all the different types of fruit. I love that the shop owner used a blue plastic crate to display his durian on. Market stalls are not fancy. They are economical. I love that.

Temple Street Market.

Markets are such a big part of Hong Kong culture. We happened upon the Temple Street Market this past weekend. It's primarily a night market, and at the time of day that we walked down it, the road was completely devoid of stalls. After we had eaten our late lunch/early dinner and walked back up the market, vendors were starting to put out their wares.

This market was originally known as the "Men's Market" with wares catering more to the male population, with watches, jeans, t-shirts, shoes, and even condoms. {This was an area of Hong Kong that I wasn't expecting to see as many prostitutes standing out on the street in the middle of the afternoon as I did. Thankfully, my children are still completely oblivious and don't pay them any attention.} We saw a stall selling just CD's that looked cheaply made. And while typically items that you purchase in an open market are supposed to be cheaper, I've found that you really need to be careful and it helps to know whether or not you're actually getting a good deal. I do find that items in an open market are more cheaply made and tend to fall apart quicker.

Steamed Buns.

I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty pathetic when our family will try something just because it reminds us of something we saw in a movie. Although she's referring to a book instead of a movie, in the words of Kathleen Kelly as she's writing to NY152, 

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void."

Well dear void, my family and I were walking the streets of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei when we walked past a corner shop selling steamed buns that reminded my husband of the movie Shaolin Soccer. I've mentioned in a previous post that this is a favorite movie in our family, and so we had to stop and sample the steamed buns that the movie character Mui makes. 

The kids loved them. We're pretty convinced they loved them simply because of the reference to the movie. My husband and I found them to be pretty bland. We did not have sauce to dip them into and they reminded us of siopao that we eat in the Philippines, without the meat filling in the middle.