CHESA @ THE PENN

Dora wanted to treat dinner at The Chesa, our favorite at the Penn.  It was just the two of us, with the expressed purpose to enjoy a trip down memory lane.  Our first dinner there, as a dating couple, was in 1981 when we had to 'save $' in order to enjoy an evening here.  Fast forward 32 years worries about costs are replaced by worries about body fat, that ultimate devil aka Body Mass Index. My excuse was ' ... it is my birthday, who wants to count at such an auspicious occasion?'   The Restaurant Manager is my vintage and our reminiscing added much more to the sentimental mood, and the still mesmerizing ambience.

I used to be critical of my late Father's habit of dining only at familiar restaurants, and ordering the same dishes over and over again. Without any question genes and heredity do run deep.  I am in exactly the same mode these days, while Dora and the girls wear the hat of proverbial critics, of me.

To me, one dines at The Chesa mainly for the following : cheese fondue, rosti, veal in cream sauce, rack of pink baby lamb, and to complete the feast ginger souffle (as shown) which I believe was created at the Penn many moons ago. It was a very satisfying way to start my 63rd year, alarming BMI notwithstanding.  

TAI WING WAH @ YUEN LONG

Right in the middle of Yuen Long old town is the Tai Wing Wah Restaurant, a landmark and a flagship of the rustic New Territory style cuisine made famous by Chef-Par-Excellence 'Hefty To To' .... who single-handedly put his baby on the culinary map.  Its menu is not for the faint hearted in our wimpy world of less oil and less salt, who needs it, except dietitians?  The epitome of decadence at this establishment is; a bowl of steaming hot fine grain rice, top with the equivalent of 'grand cru' in soya sauce, but the Piece de Reistance is warm and gluey lard (yes as in pork fat) to complete the flavor picture.  It is heaven on earth and any one who claims to know or like Cantonese food is bluffing without this baptism, indeed a unique taste and spiritual experience.  Be advised this specialty is only available at dinner!

Dora and I took Mom there for a nostalgia lunch and we had : Steamed Black Head in Preserved Lemon, Free Range Chicken braised in Black Fungus & Mushroom in a bronze pan, Deep Fried Prawns in Black Beans, Chili and Dried Citrus Skin plus a splattering of signature 60's-70's Dim-Sum at the incredible price of $18-24 per sizable plate. The item I chose to present with the blog is dessert, the Fluffy Cake with Patisserie Cream.  It is another house special, one that culminates the fine tradition and immense popularity of Tai Wing Wah ... not to be missed, and you must visit soon before the scene changes.  You are taking in history, a glorious rendition of New Territory culinary history when you patron this eatery.          

One last thing, sharing a large table is de rigueur so insisting on your own table is antisocial.  It is so much fun to sit with another group of patrons to exchange view on the menu, what is good, what is less good (nothing is bad here) and why ... all very humbling but truly educational for any honest foodie.

Tai Wing Wah Restaurant @ 2-6 On Ning Road Yuen Long NT
2476 9888

I TURN 63 TODAY

Incredible as it may sound, at least to me, I turned 63 today.  I am now at the one-third mark of the 7th decade of my minute exisitence on this Lonely Planet. Where has all that time gone?

Instead of the usual celebratory dinners and excursions prevalent over the past years I decided to focus on two women closest to me this year, much to the astonishment of the rest of the family.  Who are they ... my Mother and my Wife.  I spent the first 30 years of my life with Mom, and the balance of 33 years with Dora.  With Mom's  memory fading a bit I harbor this fear that down the road she might not remember me, let alone my birthday and for selfish reasons (if nothing else) I need to invigorate that space.  As for Dora, our journey that lasted a third of a century is solid by any standards but it is only prudent to re-count, re-aquaint and re-commit. I reckon my 63rd is as good a time as any to do this with Mom & Dora, so, here I am.  

LO & BEHOLD

Asia's World City (sic) aka The City of Canines aka the HKSAR's own rendition of an American Classic, The Three Stooges!

Imagine them in Stooges costumes and wigs, from left to right : Moe Howard aka CY, Larry Fine aka Henry and of course Curly Howard aka Albert.  One of them will end up being our Mayor, our Prophet, our Definitive Ruler, our Benevolent Dictator, our Defender of the Basic Law, our Representative Shoe-Shiner to Central and, lastly (bad pun here) our Pied Piper to the Promised Land.

May the Grace of the Almight God be with us, and May there be Mercy upon us ....

ULUWATU

Tour guides would label the Hindu Temple at Uluwatu, located at the southern most point of the island of Bali, as a 'must'. We are to see the unique sunset, the mystery of the age old temple, the ceremonial dances and of course the colony of not quite wild but certainly not domesticated monkeys ... the indigenous inhabitants. It took a while to get to as everyone wanted a picture against the legendary sunset and traffic was worse than a rainy day in Central. Not surprisingly, there was almost zero interest in the temple which was singularly unimpressive by temple standards, so were the dances. Literally hundreds were there just for the sunset, and to be hazed by the damn monkeys. These cheeky animals took great pleasure in stealing hats, bags and spectacles from everyone. I had my cap taken, Dora had both her hat & shades taken and chewed on, which infuriated her.

Granted it is a glorious sunset but it is also an extremely risky move as there is a 500+ feet cliff right behind the spot where most want pictures taken. The surging crowd, the frolicking monkeys, the scared kids running away from the primates ... are only a few feet away from those posing, and the perilous drop behind them. I can close my eyes and imagine that disastrous scene of tourists falling off as in the Pied Piper.  There are no guard rails, not even solid footpaths, just lose pebbles on dirt.

I caught one of these demigods on top of a pillar, with the last glimpse of the sun ... it was good enough for me.

Back at home I took Dora's name brand shades to the spectacle shop and the young man asked nonchalantly ; 'Were you in Bali?' 'How did you know?' 'The monkeys did this, right, you are the third customer here after Xmas ...'

Lonely Planet can sing Uluwatu's praises all they want but let me tell you, it is not worth it. If you insist, do not bother with buying entrance tickets because you only need them for the dances, which not everyone goes. The sunset pictures and harassment by the monkeys are free, so is the hilarity of watching hats, glasses and bags come off fellow tourists ... until your turn, as no one is spared. SPCA should send inspectors here, to protect the homo sapiens. Try somewhere else, trust me.

AQUATONIC POOL

This is a very popular past time at the Ayana. The Thalasso & Spa is 'distinquished by a 650m Aquatonic Seawater Therapy Pool overlooking the Indian Ocean'. It says in the brochure that in addition to being the largest of such facilities worldwide, the venue has been 'voted' ... did not say by who ... #1 Spa in the World. I kid you not, #1, Numero Uno! For HK$500 one gets 2-hour of sheer pleasure in going through an intense circuit of cutting edge Aqua-Body Treatments, in heated sea water. It was fun, and very relaxing. The 4 of us had a wonderful time of sharing, which seldom happens at home as we are all so hopelessly consumed by our day-to-day routine and commitments.

It is pathetic when one stops to think, isn't is, that it takes a therapy pool in Bali to gel us as a family. Well, it is what it is, and I will take it in whichever way I can, and count my blessing. I am just the Father, nothing more, and nothing less!

DIVER'S LUNCH

No tablecloth, no linens, no wines, no heavy duty cutleries, no glasses to drink from .... but man, that lunch on the beach at Matahari @ Tulamben was an experience I must blog. The 'kitchen' was the size of a large desk, with a simple grill and a small cutting board where the fish fillet, pickled salsa, shredded veggie salad, steamed rice all came from. No ceremonies, no attitudes either, but plenty of ear-to-ear smiles from everyone on the staff.

WOW! The dish completely bowled me over. I was expecting nothing more than a bite to fill my stomach but was I wrong. It just goes to prove, over and again, that as long as one cooks with one's heart, and with love, the end result will always be top quality ... Michelin stars notwithstanding!

DIVING IN TULAMBEN

Dora was sick at the hotel, I am clastrophobic under water but loved being in the sea so I accompanied Andrea & Jess for a 3-hour drive to Tulamben, a renown spot for open water diving in South Bali. It was memorable. The USS Liberty, a merchant navy supply ship, was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942 and towed to these waters where it sat until 1963, when Volcano Agung erupted and sank it near the beach. Amazingly the hull was pretty much intact and became a beautiful artificial reef, what is now known as the Liberty Wreck Coral Garden Drop. The dive site starts at 5m and reaches 28m with a visibility of 25m-50m.

All our girls, and son-in-law, are open water divers certified by PADI so this is a must. The best I could manage was snorkeling & watching from the surface ... good enough for me. We used the Matahari Resort as base and spent a glorius day in the blue sea, under blue skies, it could not have been better. Compared to diving in the Maldives it was a steal. The girls booked a very professional tour run by Scuba Duba Doo in Kuta. We spent HK$1000 per person for 3 dives, round trip private van transport, 2 excellent diving instructors cum tour guides, a simple but delicious lunch and above all, an extremely friendly, trusted, and enjoyable company which was priceless!

Scuba Duba Doo Dive Center @ Kuta Bali
(62) 361 761798
Email : info@divecenterbali.com
Website : www.divecenterbali.com

SEMINYAK STREET FOOD

One major regret is we did not do the 'street food scene' at all on this trip, something I would have done a lot more should I be lone-rangering. Rightfully so, Dora has become quite cautious with what she eats these days, and street food is off her agenda. Andrea, being vegetarian, has limitations and Jess is more into American comfort foods like a good burger. Well, that does not give me too many options as their F&B servant. I proposed lunch at the Makasan Padang on Main Street Seminyak, a 3-items with rice for HK$10 sort of heaven-on-earth eatery, and received zero support. Worse yet, shopping took over (what else is new) and we ended up skipping lunch! I had to apologize to the old couple, who must be the owners, having told them earlier I will bring my family and introduce them to classic Indonesian Padang. It was a big loss of face, not to mention a complete waste of a unique eating opportunity as the selection was a mouth-watering gold mine.

OCEAN BEACH POOL

Another spot at Ayana we loved was the Ocean Beach Pool, a sea water, free form pool built over the same cliff. The horizon is 270-degrees wide, and the only other place we have seen this was at Algarve, the eastern most point of Portugal from where one looks at the Atlantic. We watched everyone go through the same routine on the first visit ie stand at the edge of the pool, submerged to shoulder level, and stare into the emptiness of that huge stretch of blue water, and reflect .... it is one of those scenes that make everyone feel small, as a mere mortal. What about us? Dora, who cannot spell 'relax' actually did laps, quite determined too, while the girls and I perfected 'the art of doing nothing' and just vegetate ... I meant, meditate.