China Town, London

Yau Wa Ra Road (China Town) 耀華力路 BKK

Photo 1: I guess I have brought almost everyone I know to this restaurant in China Town. Someone liked this shop so much. After all, China Town hasn't changed much, and still our trace to something nostalgic and suspended in time. *2&3: Very nice freshly squeezed pink guava juice.

Park Regis, Clarke Quay/China Town, Singapore

Park Regis (an Australian branded hotel) is in between Clark Quay and China Town. If possible and if you know Singapore well, better get a hotel not near the Marina, Financial and Orchard areas. There will be surcharge of around HK$500 to $700 for weekdays. So if you book a 4 star hotel (like this one) at HK$2,000, that will be even more. Then air ticket also has surcharge for weekdays. Actually there are quite different surcharges. I even found out the taxi has double the fares with those surcharges on this visit. I paid S$20 ($11 fare and $9 surcharge for rush hour and CBD) for a journey about 2km (but that taxi driver took a big turn). S$1 = HK$6.5 now. Was S$1 = HK$3.8, then 4, 5... So it's HK$130 for a 2 km trip.

Actually over the past few years, if I go to Singapore, I need to book a hotel near the subway. There are times if I had my dinner and it's about 10pm. You can hardly get a taxi. It's because after 11pm, there is 50% extra charge on the fare. There comes a scene that most of the taxis are on calls in the street, because on-call also has surcharges of S$3-5.

Back to this hotel, it's a very new one. The design is a bit strange that the living room is at the back end (facing a wall) with the bath room in the middle. As you can see, if you have kids, they would love to play hide-and-seek in this room. Overall, it's a good room as compared to other hotels I stayed before.

Chan Zhoy Yue Chinese restaurant, Yaowara, Bangkok, Thailand

Had a very nice dinner this Easter at this Chinese restaurant on Yaowara Chan Zhoy Yue.

1. the table. 2. Oyster chewy omelette. When compared to the one posted by TC, this one didn't look all right. Oil leaked out from the omelette. When pan frying this one, the yam powder mix and egg should be handled carefully. It shouldn't be too separated. The oyster wasn't cooked thouroughly. I believe it's a mis-handling by some inexperienced chef.

3. deep fried seafood pastry. Pretty good and quick dry-out for the final step. 4. Stir fried bitter gourd leaves. It's also a mis-handling dish.

5. After much disappointment from all the malls being closed, we got a nice chicken soup with fins. Some Chinese herb were put in addition to dried scallop and Chinese golden ham. This portion is good for 10 bowls. 6. Stir fried sea cucumber. Pretty good and quite an alternate way of taking it.

7. Suckling pig. What a baby one. Sorry... 8. Sugar coated taro.

9. Kung Fu tea. What a nice waking up. 10. A warm greeting from the shop.

Hua Seng Fung (和成豐), Yaowara (China Town), Bangkok

It was September 1997, my friend's daughter being a CX staff got told by his Thai friend about this restaurant in China Town. Then we went to this restaurant, and fell in love with it. However, for no reason, we have switched to other restaurants. This midnight we went there again for some old memory. Glad the shop lady still recognised us. Maybe in the old times our regular monthly visit really impressed her.

1. the shop inside and don't think there will be anything fancy, but I like it to keep in the way it is. 2. the menu is on the neon board.

3. the iced chrysanthemun tea is the shop's signature drink - so cool for a hot day off. 4. wow, this is impressive. Tonight we could tell the difference. The soup is unlike the other shops - thick and salty. This one is in a very refreshing taste. Also, the ingredients are very fresh.

5. stir fried morning glory - at my first glance, it looked a bit over-cooked. It's not and it's pretty nice. 6. This is my regular dish and they can still keep it so well - stir fried silky rice noodle. Yes, it's silky tiny but not mashy. Stir frying this type of thin noodle really needs a very good quick frying technique. Besides, it's not oily at all. My no. 1 recommendation!

Tien Lung (天龍) Restaurant, China Town, Bangkok

I guess I have brought most of my friends and families' members to various Chinese restaurants in Yaowarat (China Town). This one should be the latest one. The second best is 義福巷 on the soi next to White Orchid Hotel. However, since the lady I know left, the quality got dropped. Then I went back to their parents' shop Tien Lung (the other one is Mei Lung) opposite to it at then beginning of Yaowarat Road.

1. crab meat fried rice B120 - a must for me every time I order. 2. bitter gourd leaves - also a must. This leaves taste really sweet.

3. shark's fin B300 - I don't recommend ordering the higher price one. As they use some common oyster sauce and ingredients, it's kind of waste to cook some precious shark's fin. To me, the best way to cook precious shark's fin is to double boil it with high grade chicken soup.
5. baked snail - B120. Not my usual order as baking snail is a bit too chewy. 6. stir fried noodle - another must!

7. Sizzling oyster omelette - note this is the original style (the way I cook is an adaptation as I wanna use less oil) - egg and the yam transparent chewy custard-like should be separate. 8. If you are still hungry, why not for a toast from one of the street stall in Yaowarat!