Hong Kong is known for any number of things, scenic views, neon lights, and definitely dim sum. Of course Mark, being who he is, found us one of the best places to have dim sum. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, kind of a diner feel to it, but that’s what made it good.
These are meat filled buns, not steamed like I was used to, but maybe baked? They were delicious and definitely worth the walk to find the restaurant.
It was kind of perfect because a lot of the dishes came in groups of three so we all had a chance to try them.
Here we had turnip cakes and shrimp wontons- I liked the turnip cakes more than I was expecting… Alex didn’t mind that there were only two of those, he did not want anything to do with that.
Shrimp dumplings and char siu buns- chinese barbeque pork filled buns
Above is a spinachy dish, which was very fresh and delicious, and below is a pork and shrimp dumpling.
After eating all that food, it was a great time to take a walk and see some sights. We found a famous garden to go see, Nan Lian Garden and it was a perfect post lunch way to spend the day. This was an interesting time too because Hong Kong hadn’t had many cases yet, but there was a distinct tension around. From an area that had been hit hard by SARS, they took the threat of this new virus very seriously.
Wooden models of some of the buildings of the garden, they are very detailed, and made by hand, there were also models of other buildings that we didn’t see while we were there.
This guy has the hard job of holding up the roof of the building- I only thought to look for these guys because of the model buildings. In the models there was a similar guy in every corner, so when we got outside, I checked every building for a totem holding the ceiling up.
I think along with the zoo, this was my favorite place in Hong Kong– It was peaceful and calm, beautiful buildings, and even a store full of rocks– really pretty decorative rocks, but still rocks. I didn’t get a picture in there because you weren’t allowed, but it honestly made me want to buy a rock.
I don’t know why you can’t get close to the little pagoda, it was bright yellow and looked so very inviting, but the bridge on this side was closed and the walkway on the other side was blocked off as well.
Everywhere you turn here, there was something beautiful to see. This fountain statue has information carved into the base, latitude and longitude, something about the sun, It was educational as well as pretty to look at.
My masked up boys, still enjoying the lack of smiling
I never know the right name for this creature, is it a lion? Is it a dog? Is it a dragon? This one looks more like a dog to me, but I think it’s still a lion. This one is a male, but there is usually a female counterpart sitting on the other side of the entrance. How do I know it’s a male? Because there is a ball under its front paw, and a female lion will have a baby lion(dragon, dog thing) under its front paw. I will share Alex’s joke that he learned from a professor here…. ” You can tell that its a female because they take care of the babies, and because guys always play with their balls.” He’s had a colorful education here being with adults all the time, Alex loves this joke and tells everyone he can, regardless of the audience or situation!
This was a little bonsai garden right outside the rock store, in the picture below you can see some of the decorative rocks in the background that they sell, except inside the store were gorgeous rocks with an almost turquoise color mineral running through them.
I really like the water wheel here, and the water fall in the picture below- I know I’m not alone in this, but the sound of moving water is very calming for me. I could sit by this area all day and enjoy the warmth of the sun, the slow moving water and people watch.
I’ve become really interested in the Chinese Phoenix- I think they’re beautiful and I like the concept behind the phoenix and rebirth from the ashes. I think I prefer the brightly colored versions more than the stone statues though.
There was a big pond in the middle of the garden with tons of Koi fish, I tried repeatedly to find this one huge Koi that was black with orangey gold accents, but every time I would have him in focus he would dart away.
So I had to settle for taking pictures of other beautiful Koi. Again these were all taken with my new camera from Mark, and I was amazed at the zoom I was able to get without losing any of the crispness of the picture. I don’t do ads or anything, but honestly, this is the best camera I’ve ever owned and if you’re in the market for one, hit me up and we can chat about it.
There were tons of fish around, but I didn’t see anyone feeding the fish.
This golden orange guy is my consolation prize for the black Koi I couldn’t capture. He was bright and shiny but a little slow so I could finally get a nice in focus picture of him.
Every where you looked there were hidden things around the garden to catch your eye, I don’t know if there is a meaning behind having this dragon above a door, but I imagine it’s for safety or luck or protection.
I have not seen a dragon statue quite like this one before, it’s actually on a pedestrian overpass looking down on the road beneath.
Attached to the garden, or more adjacent to the garden is the Chi Lin Nunnery, built as a retreat for Buddhist Nuns. It’s all done, the garden too, in the style of the Tang Dynasty- which seems to be an aesthetic I’m fond of.
Chrysanthemums are often seen in Buddhist temples as offerings- I thought these yellow ones were the perfect shade of yellow.
Water lilies and dragons in the fountain, these are a few of my favorite things.
I know the pink and purple of the lilies above and below look photoshopped, but I promise they aren’t. These were some of the brightest and most vibrant lilies I’ve ever seen.
The building of the Nunnery is Tang Dynasty too, and I love the attention to detail on the roof, they didn’t leave anything plain. It reminds me of the craftsman style in the US.
Another one of my guys holding up the roof. Each one is a little different too, with a unique look and personality.
This picture below is a picture of the light fixture around the temple, I thought it was such a good representation of the temple and the garden echoed back in something as small as the light fixture.
And used again here in the cover of the storm drain. It seems a little silly to get excited about a storm drain, but the thought that someone put in to having all these little matching details that most people wouldn’t notice– it makes me love this place even more.
All in all, this was a pretty spectacular day in HK- a lot of things that had been on our tourist list of things to do were closed, but we found more gems like this to spend our time. I can’t remember where we ate dinner this night, Mark is reminding me of places I only vaguely remember. One night we went to Indian around the corner from our hotel, it was good but not amazing. One night we had burgers around the corner from the hotel, good but very expensive… one of my favorite dinners in all of HK though was when we went to Tesco and picked up bread and cheese and some salad stuff , and we had a movie party in our hotel room with Alex and watched Singing in the Rain with him.
Traveling Expat Family 