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Showing posts from June, 2025

Eating (somewhat) like a local in Hong Kong

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This is literally a taster. There are two reasons why I cannot do complete justice to food in Hong Kong.  The first is because my visit was too short. Some days I was too far, or too hungry, to make my way to the recommended restaurants. The second is of course my quest for vegetarian food in a city that is perhaps best-known for its wide variety of seafood and meat-based street food. I have no regrets on the latter, and I hope to remedy the former by visiting again some day. Till then, here are a few places worth checking out. Some are my own finds while others were recommended by a friend whose turf I has inadvertently stumbled upon. 1. Lan Fong Yuen  - tea and more Probably one of the most popular cha chaan teng (tea restaurant) in all of Hong Kong. It has history going back to 1953 when it was a small roadside food stall. It is also supposedly the place where the famous Hong Kong milk tea was created . It is located on Gage Street in SoHo and accessible by Mid-Levels Esc...

The magic faraway escalator

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Reader Alert: Bite-sized posts are great for my time-starved friends, my family and the world in general. However, some experiences in life deserve more space. This time, I take a few paragraphs to share the story of a fascinating district in Hong Kong. _____________ An escalator. So what's the big deal? In the distant past, my commute in London often involved hurtling down the escalators of Tube stations. On some days I was even courageous enough to purposefully climb up the moving steps. It is common knowledge that the longest escalator in London (barring T5 Heathrow) is at Angel station. I have had many occasions to use it, not the least to visit  Sadler's Wells Theatre or to reach an erstwhile tea-house of interest (shout out to Mai Chai ).  On a related subject, one of my favourite pastimes when using metros in new cities, is to speed-read advertisements along the escalators. A few years ago I noticed that paper posters had been replaced by digital screens at many places...

Bangkok Chronicles: Life along the canal

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There is the Bangkok that millions of visitors experience - ancient temples, the Grand Palace by the Chao Praya river, towering skyscrapers in Sukhumvit and alluring shopping malls that are designed in a manner that ensures swift entry and an almost impossible exit. The other Bangkok is a forgotten city of the past that thrived along its canal routes.  The modernisation of the 1960s led to a rapidly expanding road network some of which was built over long-used waterways. Slowly homes, offices, shops and much of the city's activity shifted along local and arterial roads.  Fortunately, some canals remained and others are being restored. Today life along the canal or 'khlong' displays a unique character. Modest, low-rise developments are interspersed with historic buildings and local buddhist temples.  Let's start with Pratunam Pier along Saen Saep canal. This is a major interchange that connects a few canal lines and is close to a large shopping district and a popular nig...