Alpha's Summer Adventure

[Alpha eX]

What do you mean by layered seating in the cinemas?

The rows of seats make a shape like this: \
The height difference between the rows is much better as the seat in front is much lower. In UK cinemas, when someone sits down, you see the back or top of their head unless you are very tall, it's annoying for me as i'm quite short.

[Fatal Exception]

What do you mean by layered seating in the cinemas?

The rows of seats make a shape like this: \
The height difference between the rows is much better as the seat in front is much lower. In UK cinemas, when someone sits down, you see the back or top of their head unless you are very tall, it's annoying for me as i'm quite short.

I've never been to a cinema that wasn't like that Unless you mean it was more steep than they are over here.

[Alpha eX]

What do you mean by layered seating in the cinemas?

The rows of seats make a shape like this: \
The height difference between the rows is much better as the seat in front is much lower. In UK cinemas, when someone sits down, you see the back or top of their head unless you are very tall, it's annoying for me as i'm quite short.

I've never been to a cinema that wasn't like that Unless you mean it was more steep than they are over here.

It was much steeper.

More updates coming, i'm behind a few days so have 3 to do including today.

[Igor]

Jubeat?! Jubeat?!

[Rubix]

Good pics. Why have I not been in this thread before, I wish I was there

[Deception]

Only now getting a chance to reply to this thread, but have been reading it every day. My girlfriends going to Hong Kong the end of July so I've been keeping an eye on the things your getting up to, and passing them onto her. We both agree Pudding is all sorts of cute.

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

Anyway, keep us updated.

[SEP]

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

I strawberry floating love Korean food. Haven't had any since leaving Afghanistan, though. Loved bulgogi especially.

[Deception]

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

I strawberry floating love Korean food. Haven't had any since leaving Afghanistan, though. Loved bulgogi especially.

Bulgogi is actually really easy to make, have a google about and you'll see what I mean. strawberry float, now I want some.

[Alpha eX]

Only now getting a chance to reply to this thread, but have been reading it every day. My girlfriends going to Hong Kong the end of July so I've been keeping an eye on the things your getting up to, and passing them onto her. We both agree Pudding is all sorts of cute.

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

Anyway, keep us updated.

Oh there was kim-chi, just didn't take a picture of it. I don't like it that much. The BBQ stuff is lovely, could eat that for every meal

[Rog]

Jubeat?! Jubeat?!

Jubeat - raped him of his money with little return. No surprise there.

[SEP]

Only now getting a chance to reply to this thread, but have been reading it every day. My girlfriends going to Hong Kong the end of July so I've been keeping an eye on the things your getting up to, and passing them onto her. We both agree Pudding is all sorts of cute.

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

Anyway, keep us updated.

Oh there was kim-chi, just didn't take a picture of it. I don't like it that much. The BBQ stuff is lovely, could eat that for every meal

Korean food is lovely. I could definitely eat it every meal. In fact, they have a damn good idea of how to eat in that general part of the world.

[Deception]

Only now getting a chance to reply to this thread, but have been reading it every day. My girlfriends going to Hong Kong the end of July so I've been keeping an eye on the things your getting up to, and passing them onto her. We both agree Pudding is all sorts of cute.

That Korean BBQ looks yummy, I always end up wanting more of the beef bulgogi. I don't see any Kim-chi on the table mind Alpha.

Anyway, keep us updated.

Oh there was kim-chi, just didn't take a picture of it. I don't like it that much.

I didn't either at first, but the combination of that and soju is immense.

[Alpha eX]

Father's Day on Lamma Island
21-06-09

Father's day seems like a big deal in Hong Kong. There are lots of tv shows and adverts about it, huge billboard ads, in-store displays and even public art pieces like the giant chess set to celebrate and create public awareness of the Hallmark Holiday.

We was up very late last night making Antonia's father a card. We did go out looking for one the previous night but the shops had sold out and the few that were left were ones from the son. The card was well recieved and we planned to go out for dinner in the evening. We decided on going to the Rainbow Restaurant on Lamma Island, famous for it's fresh seafood.

Rainbow Restaurant is on Lamma Island, about 30/40 minutes out from Hong Kong Harbour by boat. The restaurant offers free boat rides to the island for it's customers which is a great way to draw people in. We arrived at the Harbour around 5 so it was still light out. The weather wasn't so great, grey skies and felt like it could start to rain. We waited at the peir for the boat to arrive.



The boat finally came into view after 10 minutes of waiting, it was a small boat with the Rainbow Restaurant logo slapped on the front.




When we got on the boat was already half full, there were just two seats at the top on the viewing deck, one at the front side and an aisle seat nearer the back. Antonia and her mother decided to let me and her father take the top seats. Antonia's father took the one at the front, the best seat.

Before the boat left, Antonia's father offered me the seat and told me it would have a great view. This was a kind gesture and very unexpected. I accepted the seat and the boat set off for it's first destination, Kowloon island.




When the boat reached Kowloon, nearly everyone got off, freeing up the top deck. Antonia and her mother came up to join us and we took the whole front row, perfect seats! We had to wait for a while before the boat set of again but had a nice view from the dock.



The boat ride took about 30 minutes from Kowloon, the wind was strong and the waves made the boat jump up and down like some sort of fair ground ride. The boat circled Hong Kong Island a bit before heading out towards Kowloon, in the distance I could see huge cargo ships and distant islands.




As we pulled in towards Lamma Island I could see some structures in the water that I assumed were for fishing but it was their way of creating new land for docking ships and even homes.

As we docked it was getting dark, the lights were all on and I could see the Rainbow Restaurant on the land. It looked great and had a nice view out to sea.




We got off the boat and walked down towards the restaurant, a narrow alley of shops and restaurants on a peir like structure. It felt very local with the poor lighting and style of furnishing.



The restaurant wasn't too busy, I guess because it's so far out and the island is quite small. There were some large parties eating here with tables full of seafood. It's best to let you know that I never eat seafood, I haven't eaten it for years and don't like it at all. It was to be one interesting meal.





We sat down and was served wine. I took the chance to look out over the harbor while it was still light as the sun was setting behind the mountains on a neighboring island opposite us.



It wasn't too long before the appetiser arrived, as soon as I saw it my appetite was gone. 1000 Year Old Eggs and Ginger. I took one look and wanted to gag, it looked like a rotten yolk in a weird dark jelly but it is actually a preseved and treated duck egg.



Antonia's father suggested I try it as he was eating one. He told me it was ok if I didn't want to try it as not many people do. Antonia knew I wouldn't try it but I proved her wrong when I went for it with my chop sticks. I didn't realise how slippery the damn thing was as it flew out of the grip of the sticks. After a while I managed to get the thing on a spoon, topped it with a slice of ginger, closed my eyes and took a bite... not as bad as it looks, tasted quite good but the texture put me off, hard jelly outing with a gooey strange tasting center.

Everyone was surprised and glad I tried it, Antonia's father seemed impressed with my courage for a forigner to eat such a strange thing. We then had to go up and order our food, from the fish tanks.



The fish here is all fresh, it's kept in a series of tanks for you to point out and choose. After a fish is chosen, it's fished out with either a net or by bare hands. In the picture you can see a guy pulling out a fish with his hands, he obviously knew what he was doing as it didn't fly out and flap to a slow death on the floor.

We went back to our table after ordering and drank wine and talked until the food started to arrive. The first dish was Lobster which I had never tried before.



When I saw this, I could only think of Pinchy from The Simpsons. Thankfully, I didn't have an emotional attachment or halucinate about this and took a peice. I actually really liked it, I was surprised and had some more.

The next dish was Giant Clams stuffed with Rice Vermicelli which is a type of noodle. It didn't look very appealing...



I started by eating the Rice Vermicelli, carefully avoiding the large muscle inside. I was enjoying it until it had all gone and I was told to eat the muscle. I tried to take a small bite but it was too tough, I had to eat it all in one go. I picked it up and slowy put it in my mouth and began to chew and continued to chew for quite a while. I didn't enjoy this, it didn't taste good and was far too chewy, I wanted to gag at first and was relived when it was gone.

I was excited about the first dish when I saw it on it's way to the table. At first glance I just saw something deep fried, I love cripsy foods with a sauce. When it was placed at the table, I was told what it was, Fried Calamari. I was suddenly a lot less interested as I thought it would be endlessly chewy.



I took the smallest piece I could find but I knew it had a large tentacle inside. I ate it all at once and was prepared to chew for at least a minute but to my surprise, it wasn't that chewy and actually really good! I took another peice and smothered it in the chilli sauce, perfection! Antonia and her mother wasn't eating this so me and her father ate the whole lot between us.

The next dish arrived on a large plate. As I looked over I was taken back when I noticed it looking at me, it was the giant fish we had put to death. With it's mouth wide open and a look of horror in it's freshly cooked eyes, I felt sorry for the poor thing as it was set down and attacked by knives and chop sticks.



I never eat fish, never. My mother is allergic to sea food so my family has never had it. I'm a very fussy eater so stear away from foods I don't like the look of, fish is one of the foods i'd usually turn and walk away from but there was no escaping this beast of a fish. I was given a few small pieces and ate it without hesitation. It was actually really good, very soft and full of flavor. I've been missing out.

The next dish was a large crab, another food i'd never tried before. I felt sorry for the poor thing when it's shell was smashed with tools and pulled apart.



I was given a small piece of this to try but I didn't like it too much. The meat had a distinct taste that I wasn't too fond of. The rest of the family seemed glad that there would be more crab meat for them.

It took us a long time to eat all of the food. There was quite a few sides that I didn't mention but these seemed like standard dished. When the food was all gone the desert followed.

The desert was Mango Pudding. A thick jelly like desert with chunks of mango in it. As you may have guessed from reading my blog, i'm not much of a fruit eater so I wasn't ready to dive into this. A large dish of melon was also placed in the center of the table.




I was assured the pudding was sweet and that I would like it. I trust Antonia so I took a small bite which was almost instantly followed by a much larger bite. It wasn't long before the pudding was gone and I was longing for more...

The pudding was that good, seriously.

We had to leave quite soon after finishing our meal to catch the boat back to Hong Kong island. The boats run every half an hour or so and we had about 20 minutes to get back to the pier and wait. By the time we left, around half nine, the place was very quiet.



We got back to the pier early, it was very dark and there were hardly any lights compared to Hong Kong Island.




The boat ride back seemed a lot quicker than when we first went to the island. I tried to take a lot of pictures but I quickly discovered my camera does not like taking pictures in pitch black while moving, resulting in a lot of blury photos and an email of complaint to amazon.




We got back to the harbor in about 20 minutes and took a slow walk back to where the car was parked. I really enjoyed today, it was nice to go out with the family again and good to try new things. Everyone back home is surprised and shocked that I tried seafood, I am too, i'm even more surprised that I enjoyed it. I'll be keeping an open mind to more seafood while on the rest of this trip.

[Nook29]

I could not have eaten most of the stuff you ate at that restaurant (except the fruit stuff), good on you for giving it a go though.

[Fatal Exception]

Alpha's eating all over the world.

I don't eat fish, but I would have tried that stuff. Fresh. Fish is the only food stuff on earth that is off once it smells like what it is.

[JiggerJay]

You pussy Nook! I would have been like "1000 year egg?" gimme some of that bitch!

And Calamari is so full of win!

[Eyes of God]

Awesome meal Alpha! I watched a programme about different cuisine a while back and those eggs featured. I think they are raw eggs that are left for a year in ash and they harden up. A chinese family were eating them and a family from t'yorkshire tried them. They almost spewed.
The the chinese family tried some mature yorkshire cheddar - same effect. Horses for courses.

[Memento Mori]

I've never seen a sky that dark. Kudos to you Alpha for trying that 1000 year egg.

[Chocolate Jim]

Who's the guy on here that reviews chocolate? I'm currently eating Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's and have a pack of Almond M&M's in the draw, they're lovely! If anyone wants a pack let me know and i'll bring some back, should be about £1.50 posted to you from UK.

Writing two updates, Pudding goes to the Vets (don't worry he's ok!) and Double Date. It's nearly 5am and Antonia is up slaving over a lovely handmade father's day card.

Nearly finished the M&M's, I want to try the Almond ones but shouldn't pig out too much before bed.

Alpha still bloody loving these posts! Pudding is perhaps the most adorable dog I have ever seen! Thanks for the e-mail .. keep up the good work!

[Mogster]

I don't think I've posted in here yet, but I've been following this thread at work, and I've really enjoyed all your updates, Alpha. I adore seafood myself, and that restaurant looked amazing. You lucky git.