Eat in Hong Kong - Cantonese Food

The majority of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong are Cantonese, this is not unexpected since most HK Chinese are originally from Guangdong Province. Among Chinese, Cantonese cuisine is considered the finest, since years back, number of Chinese emperors have recruited Cantonese chefs to prepare food for them.

Cantonese food, which is noted for food preparation with high quality (usually either steamed and stir-fried), is known for its fresh, delicate flavors. Few drop of oil and few spices are normally used in order to retain the natural flavors of the various ingredients, this also mainly due to Cantonese are sticklers for freshness. For those who are particulars about cholesterol, Cantonese food is highly recommended. On the other hand, those with active taste buds may find it rather insipid.

Most of the Cantonese like seafood, hence one of the best choice offers in a Cantonese restaurant is fish. It is preferable to steam the whole fish prepared with fresh ginger and spring onions, but equally good are slices for good fish types such as red mullet, sole and bream.  While enjoying the fish, Cantonese believe it brings bad luck to turn a fish over on the plate, so the proper thing to do is to eat the top part of the fish, lift the bone in the air and then extract the bottom part of the fish meat with your chopsticks. Other well-liked seafood choices include sea cucumber, abalone, squid, shark fin, shrimp and crab.

Another famous Cantonese dish is dim sum, which means "light snack" but whose Chinese characters literally translated as "to touch the heart".  Traditionally, dim sum is taken as breakfast, brunch and lunch, and with Chinese tea. In Hong Kong it is very common to use in Sunday family outings, where family members are gather together for chit-chat and enjoy the food altogether. The dim sum consists mainly of finely chopped meat, vegetables, shrimps, crabmeat that wrapped in thin dough and then either boiled, fried, steamed or braised. Therefore Dim sum includes steamed spareribs, fried spring rolls, fishbal, and dumplings.

Many Cantonese restaurants offer dim sum from since early in the morning until late afternoon, in 70s it served from trolleys wheeled between tables, and the waitress shouting out the name of the dim sim in her trolly, but nowadays just as often available from a written menu. The trolleys are piled high with steaming bamboo baskets, so ask the waiter to let you peek inside. If you like what you see, simply let the waiter knows. For big restaurants,  they can offer up to nearly hundreds different  kinds of dim sum.  The cantonese favourites are cha siu bau (barbecued pork buns), har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings), shiu mai (reamed minced pork and shrimp dumplings). A serving of dim sum usually consists of two or four pieces on the bamboo basket and cost about HK$20 - HK$30 per dish.

If u would like to have some special and light supper, try congee, which is a rice porridge usually topped with a meat (can be chicken, fish, pork, crab, shrimp or vegetable). Most of the Hong Kong traditional eating outlets specialize in congee and "wun tun meen" - a bowl of noodle soup with fresh shrimp dumplings. You should not miss it!

Experience Batik Painting in Asia

Batik is not just another piece of painted cloth. It is an art piece of its own. Batik is heritage art that is now recognized as official wear in some South East countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also an outstanding piece to be worked into a trendy fashion piece.

The word batik is derived from the word 'ambatik' that means 'a cloth with little spots. The suffix 'tik' represent little drop, dot or to make dots.

There are quite number of Batik galleries at the central of Kuala Lumpur, Jadi Batek Gallery is one of the largest batik and handicraft center among the rest. Here, skilled artisans trained in the fine arts of customary batik painting create masterpieces, each piece with a unique tale and typescript.
                        

Ever so versatile, batik paintings are even made into shirts, scarves, dresses and handbags. Each piece being a fashion statement traditionally or even contemporary. Batik is a gripping piece of art. The gallery conducts presentations and also offer batik workshops for the visitors to have a first hand familiarity at batik painting. Visitors are treated to a visually and practically exciting experience of seeing how a piece of plain fair cloth can be transformed to an beautiful piece of batik.

Instead of just buying ready made batik pieces, visitors have a chance to bring home their own masterpieces to share with their loved one, an inspirational experience that is offered exclusively to the visitors.

Beyond batik, Jadi Batik Gallery also houses an collection of souvenirs ad local made handicrafts that to delight any visitors. Indeed, the gallery is truly Malaysian offering every visitor an inspiring experience and convenience for shopping in the city.

Riding All The Way

Many tour cyclist set off with a determination to cycle all the way, except when certainly unavoidable - usually ferryboat to cross over seas or rivers. Indeed first timers often assume it ought to be done this way, that they've somehow cheated themselves and betrayed the greater cause should they take the train or a bus when a perfectly ride-able road exists. On this view the ride is an act of distillation; it's just you, your bike and the world. Recognize this as a not uncommon over-adventurous reflex to the routine and predictable life you may be leaving behind; you are up for it and want to get your teeth into a challenge!

In the car-dominated country the environmentally assenting activity of cycling as full-time transportation encourages a certain passion which might turn your back on any form of engine-powered aids. It's something that more experienced riders get over once they realize it's not necessarily about riding, its' about traveling. It doesn't mean you have to hail down a local farmer in a pickup every time a stiff climb or an irritating headwind presents itself it merely recognizes that a bicycle's great advantages includes its natural flexibility - and that one of the better lessons gained on the road is flexibility.

Riding it all is challenging stuff indeed; the downside of this kind of dedication is clear: a fair amount of uneasiness and even threat at times - heading out of owns on hectic motorways or through run-down shanty-towns, riding in excessive of warm and cold, unable to catch up with the favorable seasons for tour.

Lashed to a bus roof, in a downpour or on a ship or aircraft, you can cut out a busy or borning stretch or have a chance to acquainte with some locals and so enrich your live through. Travel gives you the freedom to find your own style as a process of self-discovery, and that is ofen easiest done in the company of strangers where you can re-think up yourself as the miles unroll.

If your have more time to spare, you might want to ride every inch of the way. Otherwise, you will have a lot more fun and get further if you press 'fast-forward' once in a while. The key point is: it is your ride, not someone else.

Exploring Hong Kong

Most visitors think of Hong Kong as mainly an exotic shopping destination. In the past decade, however, Hong Kong has revved up its sight-seeing prospective, opening new city parks and refurbishing older ones constructing community art spotlights, expanding museums or developing new hubs, and reprogrammed sightseeing tours intentionally to give an impressive outlook to the visitors.

Although some attractions closed after the handover, new ones have opened or are work in progress, including own Disneyland by 2006. On the other hand, if all you want to do is hiketramp or lie on any of the coastline, you can do that too.

If you really want to explore Hong Kong, do stay at least 5 days to a week. As the city is so compact and its transportation is so well-organized, you can go anywhere without any issues.

The 4 main activities I would recommended to every visitors to the Hong Kong are:

- Get into the Star Ferry to across the harbor

- Take the Peak tram to the top of Victoria Peak for a romantic, spectacular night time view of Hong Kong, ablaze with glittering lights.

- Ride one of the rickety old trams on Hong Kong Island

- Take a ferry to one of the outlying islands
Nothing can beat the excitement of these four experiences, or give you a better insight into the essence of Hong Kong and its people. What's more, they're all incredibly cheap.

If you still have spare time to walk around, think about taking a night stroll at Tsim Sha Tusi waterfront. It stretch from Star Ferry terminus all the way through Tsim Sha Tsui East, with very romantic views of a lit-up Hong Kong Island across the choppy waters. Best of all is the nightly "Symphony o Lights" between 8 to quarter past 8, when an impressive laser and light show is projected from 18 buildings on Hong Kong island.

The Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront is very safe at night, as it has lots of people. As for Victoria Peak, I have walked it alone several times in the night, but to be honest, it's probably would be better to accompany with someone else.

Will come back to you more about an introduction of yummy food in Hong Kong.

KL Bird Park

The World's largest Free-flight stroll-in Aviary formally opened in 1991. Located within the peaceful and scenic Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens, it is only 15 minutes away from the Kuala Lumpur city hub.

Rambling approximately 20 acres of grassy valley landscape, the park is divided into 4 different zones and is home to over 3,000 birds of 200 local and foreign bird species.

The main characteristic that distinguishes KL Bird Park from any other bird parks is its model of free-flight. Toward the main entrance of KL Bird Park is as if you are stepping into an huge bird cage, where visitors will have a chance to have a closer watch proximity various bird species living together as a perfectly balanced society in this semi-natural environment.

Park highlights include:

Love of Aviary: As you walkthrough this first aviary, you will be filled with overwhelming sensation of hospitality as you witness pairs and pairs of gorgeous Lovebirds lovingly grooming each other.

World of Parrots:The minimal aviary is specially planned to accommodate various species of parrots in our collection consisting of cookatoos, lories, macaws and parakeets.

Hornbill Park: The wonderfully landscaped Hornbill Park is the homeland to our majestic Rhinoceros Hornbill, one of the largest hornbill species in the world.

Bul Bul Land: As you put your feet up on one of the par benches, you couldn't be able to block yourself from imagining that you are in an 'oasis' overflowing with a huge crowd of garishly colored birds.

Flamingo Pond: Catch a glimpse of Flamingos gracefully sun-bathing in a wonderfully landscaped pond completed with an attractive man-made waterfall.

Don't forget to have a drink at Hornbill Restaurant & Cafe, a dining experience to satisfy every discerning enjoymenmet. Located right inside the Hornbill Park of the Bird Park, the eating corner offers a wide variety of local and western cookery, each finely prepared by their skillful chefs. The unique architecture of wooden Malay Kampong house and its crafty interior creates the perfect ambience for your dining pleasure.

Planning and Preparation for a Holiday – A "Remember List"

For the majority people the excitement and pleasure of the holidays starts with the planning and preparation phase. Checking the brochure again for x times, chatting romantic sunsets, choosing which brand is the best sun tan lotion and skin moisturizer, buying a new swimming custome, are all exhaustively enjoyable and indeed 'part one' for the holiday itself.

You most likely already consider it to some extent, the following valuable tips would help you more in planning your holiday. Get them right, and your holidays will be a success, however get it wrong your vacation program will be...

Most travellers fail to remember something when they go on holiday, but not many forget something important like their passport and tickets, or put out of your mind to turn off the bath tap. If you disregard something, it is usually just an annoyance but it can have a greater impact.

As soon as you know you are going away on vacation or a business trip, initiate to compile a "Remember List". That is, a list of the things you have to do or bring. They may not be as vital as your significant or driving license, but forgetting them will be irritating.

A few sample for your remember list may be:

- spectacles

- Address of your relative John who lives out there, as you will visit him as promised

- Prescription sunglasses

- Any prescribed medication that you are taking regularly

- Your herbal tea, or you won't be able to get to sleep at night.

You can also add other things to the list, that to prompt you what not to take.Use this list to capture everything that comes to mind and will be a factor towards you having a really good holidays or worry-free business trip.

In the weeks before your oversea vacations, keep a small notepad along with you. Make a note of anything that comes to mind, things to leave, stuff to bring, things to do etc. You never know how vital the issue you think about may be, so you don't want to risk forgetting something that may be crucial to your enjoyment of your holiday (such as travel insurance).