good food and fresh air post-cold

Alas, it was bound to catch up with me. That nasty hack every few minutes, that terrible throbbing ache and the feeling of absolute and utter exhaustion. Ugh. Well, after a few days of rest, i was ready to climb out from under the duvet and venture outdoors.

We met up with my Mom's side of the family for a yummy Chinese meal at one of Hong Kong's most reputable restaurants in Kowloon,

Spring Deer. We had pre-ordered two days in advance the "Beggar's Chicken", which is basically a whole chicken stuffed with mushrooms and pork, wrapped in clay and baked for what i assume is a long time. See pic of waiter opening up the clay case with Uncle Michael looking on. The meat was tender, juicy and melted in your mouth. A must-try!

The next day we went to another one of HK's famous islands, Cheung Chau. Shaped like a dumbell, there are no cars driven on the tiny island, only bicycles and little motorized carts. Here, you did not feel the usual hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, instead there was a sense of calm and peacefulness. Very pleasant.

We were astounded at the number of fishing boats and sampans in the harbour. With the bustling harbourfront markets and seafood restaurants, the place is a complete photographer's dream. Besides fishing, tourism is the other main industry and I was happily surprised to see how readily marked (in English and Chinese) all the streets, trails and temples were.

After a hike up to the lookout point north of the island, we had a most delicious - and MESSY! - lunch of fried spicy codfish, sweet and sour prawns, deepfried seafood eggrolls and local veggies cooked with garlic.

We walked off our lunch by strolling down the beach where Hong Kong's first Olympic medalist for surfing, Li Lai-Shan, practiced, wandered the "Mini Great Wall", saw "Human Head Rock", meandered our way through the tiny alleys, shops, restaurants, gutters...

Apparently Cheung Chau is one of the most densely populated place in Hong Kong, and one can see how since the island is basically all steep slopes with no flat land, and so most live in the centre of the island, crammed together, on top of one another. See pic of Sue and Guy walking down the street under everyone's washing. No shame here in hanging out the dirty laundry for all to see!