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My last day in Hong Kong, as my afternoon flight back to Toronto approached, I hung out in my favourite locale, Times Square / Causeway Bay. Whereas the weather had been cool for most of my trip, this last day was a balmy 20 degrees and sunny, and I enjoyed just lounging around outside people watching.

Soon, however, I had to plan what meal would be suitably safe and satisfying to last me on my trip back. Genki Sushi, connected directly to the Causeway Bay MTR, seemed a safe choice: a typical Japanese conveyor-belt restaurant.

Before I even began eating, I had two interesting experiences. One was the way tea was served; I had to watch another diner to figure out that there were “taps” at each seat, and that the anonymous black containers contained green tea powder. As someone who frequently asks the service staff for more tea, I thought this was a brilliant idea.

The tea powder itself was pretty interesting; it was such a fine powder it could easily create green puffs of “smoke”, and dissolved quite readily. Tasted about as good as I might regularly get at a restaurant, and it doesn’t “water down” over time either!

The other notable pre-dining experience was when my neighbour asked me about my camera, as I was taking pictures of the hot water dispenser. A personal note, but I was surprised I could carry on a conversation in Cantonese about what kind of camera I had, how new it was, and the lens. Really, I was surprised, I didn’t think I knew enough words (though the conversation was short and simple).

On to the food!

Naturally, being the last meal in Hong Kong, and having a lengthy flight ahead (and that I am happy for any excuse to gorge on good food) I decided on an anything-that-looks-good selection criteria, as the dishes passed by.

It began with soft-shell crab maki:

And then I simply could not resist this oh-so-fatty tuna as it came by (I tried! Guilt held me back until the third time it passed by!):

Being a fan of properly made unagi (i.e. good texture, not drowning in sweet sauce), I was very happy when this delicious unagi nigiri “fell” off the belt before me:

Some of the dishes looked better than they actually were, and hence I don’t really remember what fish this was (seared tuna?):

And yet another poor choice with some kind of beef nigiri; how silly of me to try to have red meat at a sushi place:

The dining experience picked up again with a shrimp tempura maki:

And then plateaued a bit with some salmon nigiri/sashimi (no complaints, but salmon tastes the same everywhere it seems), and a crab claw (interesting, but not much else):

Trying to inject a little more health into my diet, and feeling pretty full, I took a “breather” by slowly snacking on some edamame:

Until I finally caved and just *had* to try that fatty tuna again (equally great the second time, even when full!):

As I sipped some tea in satisfaction over a luxurious, but surprisingly food-coma’less meal, I surveyed the damage:

Gluttonous indulgence? Assuredly. Great experience? Absolutely. That beautifully marbled fatty tuna belly still haunts my foodie dreams. :p

Tai Woo restaurant was glowingly listed in my loaner guide book (thanks, Lukybee!), but it unfortunately was very busy that evening. Most places seemed to be pretty busy though, so a one hour queue ensued.

But the food did not disappoint! Ordering was pretty easy, as they had menus in English, and a set menu that prominently featured an ingredient I had been advised to make a point of trying in Hong Kong: abalone.

It began with some Roast Spare Ribs and Jellyfish (I love jellyfish):

Followed by a deliciously savoury Shark Fin’s Soup with Crab Cream:

Some excellent stir-fried vegetables to balance the diet (featuring a variety of mushrooms, yay!):

Injected partway through the meal was my side order of Steamed Shanghai Pork Dumpling with Royal Crab Roe (good, but I like Ding Tai Fung more):

Brought out in a fancy holding bowl, I thought this was the abalone at first, but discovered instead Sundried Sea Cucumber with Black Fungus and Wild Mushroom in Abalone Sauce (I really liked the sauce!):

Finally, the climax of the meal, braised Abalone in Oyster Sauce; the sauce was delectable, the abalone tender, and the taste better than any abalone I’d had in Canada:

As usual in Chinese multi-course meals, Fried Rice with Conpoy and Egg White followed near the end (satisfyingly “light” and “fresh”):

The denouement then began, starting with Deep Fried Sweetened Dumplings (no complaints, don’t care much for them normally):

A little bit sweeter with Double-boiled Bird’s Nest in Coconut Juice (yum!):

Finally finished with some wonderfully strong (yet not bitter) Tie Guan Yin tea:

This was probably the “gourmet cooking” highlight from my trip, and well worth the time and money!

While in Hong Kong, I took a day trip to Macau. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was looking forward to riding a high speed hydrofoil like I did as a kid.

Instead, I got seasick on the TurboJet… particularly near the coast where the waves were the largest. Despite my thoughts that it was merely an unfortunate one-off occurrence, I now realize it was a harbinger of things to come… especially the ride back.

Did get to experience “premium” tickets though. I (mistakenly) thought they gave you the right to ride the TurboJet at the specified time or up to six hours *after* the specified time. Great, a license to be late! Apparently the correct interpretation is actually six hours *before*…

Good food in first class though:

The vomit rocket:

There are some nice cars in Macau, naturally; cars like these are perfect in Macau, where there are no stop lights:

The original Macau casino, the Sands. Too bad photography inside casinos is forbidden, the Sands was really extravagant, all open spaces, live bands, etc.

Inside another casino (the Wynn?), I discovered a couple hundred people milling around the lobby, the roof covered with these extravagant zodiac designs; I discovered the limitations of only having a 50mm lens with me.

To my surprise, the roof opened up to swirling lights:

And a chandelier descended:

To be met by a tree that rose out of the floor:

All to the appropriately grand music. Very impressive, fun to watch, even when virtually lying down on the floor to compensate for poor lens choice.

On the other hand, said lens was perfect for catching these drummers’ performance:

The afternoon was spent trekking to the ruins of St. Paul’s church, and picking some snacks along the way.

Incidentally, that trek to the church is what I think finally did serious damage to my ankle, which had already been hurting from the previous days of roaming around Hong Kong. Lesson: Advil doesn’t actually cure anything.

On the way back to the TurboJet, passed by this fountain performance in front of one of the casinos. To the crystal clear music of a James Bond song (Diamonds are Forever?), the synchronied water jets and lights moved to create visually gratuitous displays, finishing with bursts of flame at the end. A treat for the senses.

After this gorgeous performance, I almost felt recovered from the torture I’d been putting my ankle through, and the huge and slow moving crowds in Macau. In terms of storytelling, the final experiences from Macau were short, but they certainly did not feel that way as I: 1) discovered that I threw out the return ticket instead of the receipt for the original ticket, 2) discovered that my tickets didn’t entitle me to arriving late anyway, 3) discovered that a their ticket machines reject a credit card used twice in a given day, 4) spent time cooling my heels in an unpleasant waiting area, 5) got *super* seasick on the way back. #5 bears repeating; I feel nauseous just recalling how my head was spinning. As much as I wanted, I just could not sleep through the waves.

So yeah, Macau was “interesting”, but I think for the week afterwards, I would have happily given up the casinos and the pictures for the return of my physical equilibrium.

Yes, I did gamble. 骰寶 (Sic-bo) specifically. I won a little at first, and eventually lost it all (of course), but my biggest regret was the point where I started talking big about betting on 17 (1.4% odds, 50:1 payout), and I chickened out, only to have it come up anyway. Stock markets or casinos, clearly I can’t do this right.