Wanndering - on foot and in spirit

Vegetarian Food in Hong Kong

insomnya05 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:51:19 +0000

When we moved to HK, early in 2011, of the several expectations I had of the place, food was definitely not one of them. I had lived of authentic Chinese food in Taiwan and was not worried too much in HK. Life is a little different from my earlier Asian adventures because I am now married to someone, who apart from other gifts, has great culinary skills. However, we met with a little surprise. HK is one of the best places in Asia for vegetarians who dig Chinese food. Offcourse, Singapore gives a very stiff competition to HK primarily with the Indian fare – which has significant vegetarian options. For HK it is one of its unsung qualities. It is a treat for ovo-lacto vegetarians like us. To start with, for Indians, there are quite a few Indian restaurants and a handful of vegetarian restaurants. The food is not a premium food. It compares to dining in a decent non-Indian place. That is not something that tickles our taste buds – we went to the first Indian place after nearly 8 months of moving; It is the Chinese and Thai restaurants!

Atleast three fourths of good Chinese restaurant, have an additional vegetarian menu or a vegetarian section. They are not the pitiful just-throw-them-in boiled beans and carrots. They are proper dishes with nice spices and tantalising taste. The ones which dont have the vegetarian section, invariably accommodate your request to turn out a nice vegetarian fare which in some cases would be as simple as not adding the bits of meat that would you moved your food on the other side of the culinary fence. Few of my Indian friends who bemoan the options are not as plenty for vegetarians, I ask them how many other dishes they would eat as non-veg? Pork and beef go off the list, some dont like the chicken because it has skin on it etc etc which narrows the menu card significantly down. Net-net for an average Indian taste, we are not losing much as being vegetarians in HK

Some of the excellent places we enjoyed vegetarian food (Without doubt the list will grow)

1. Happy Veggies on 99, Hennessey Road is still our most favourite place. Set lunch is not a great fare. But do have dinner there. The dimsums in soup are the best. It is a ovo-lacto vegetarian place and you have egg options also. They dont have mock-meat stuff. Simple, traditional Chinese dished done with lot of care

2. The Mask of Sichuan, Salibury Road. They have separate vegetarian menu. Spicy and vegetarian go very well for Indians and you will not be surprised that a significant patrons are Indians. This place is a bit of a walk from TST.

3. There are lot of Indian restaurants in TST and a few in Wanchai. Khana Khazana, vegetarian Indian restaurant, in Wanchai is one of our favourites.

4. Gaia, in Miramar TST, is a slightly pricey but a popular mock-meat vegetarian place. They have everything from mock-meat sushi to mock-meat ribs! Not been our regular haunt but highly recommend it if you want to experience the mock-meat cuisine of Asia.

5. If you are living / visiting Tung Chung, Handi is a very good place. Slightly off the frequented roads, but they used to have pickup services in TungChung, atleast till recently.

6. Food Courts – Thai Flat noodles, Vegetarian Kimchi soup, Bibim-bap without meat are some of the excellent options for the veggies

While in HK dont miss experimenting with food, even if you are a vegetarian – it is a dietary choice not an handicap.

US Trip Day – 0 : SFO Airport to Palo Alto

insomnya05 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:23:48 +0000

The US trip was conceived and planned for more than a few months. We have been looking forward for the road trip with the best of our buddies from SFO to Las Vegas. What better way to start your new year partying in LV heading out back home. The plan was to start from San Francisco, go down to LA moving on the Route 1.

A lucky 2 days of leave, we decided to advance our ticket a little bit and spend time in and around Stanford. An STVP blog addict, the worshipper of the Silicon Valley, I could not think of any other University to get a feel of the University and research life.

When we landed in SFO, this being our first US trip, we had quick judgements to pass from immigration to airport to the shared taxis. The immigration office was a bit rude, not overtly so, especially noticed because I am so used to traveling in ‘friendly’ APAC countries. I was to be in the US in 2001 for my studies which never happened. Perhaps, if I had landed in the US then, the awe of the airport would have been a recognised feeling. Unfortunately, we have got a better airport back home in Bangalore and I let the awe of SFO pass without registering. SFO position as an immigrant place was clearly visible right at the airport. Although unfairly classifying the ‘whites’ or more precisely ‘continental europe immigrants’ as the original Americans, I saw hardly anyone in the airport. The immigration official was hispanic, the potters were Asians, the visitors in the lounge all had come directly off the Bennetton Advert, the taxi driver was a Farsi. Of all the things that we did that evening, except Motel registration, were done with ‘non-original’ denizens.

For a few minutes after landing, I left my wife with my luggage and went back a few years. That was when US was THE destination whether it was for making money, or a better life or better opportunities. Not that US has lost its pre-eminence as such a place, but it is no more THE place. Growing up in small town in India, I would have dreamt of such houses, cars, luxuries; perhaps, only with a license, thanks to the stupid Indian licensing Raj. Now with globalisation, India’s resurgence, particularly, Indians’ growth up the wealth levels, the gap has dimmed if not completely gone. 10 years ago, I was struggling to think how will I pay my fees in USCLA where I was admitted. Now, I dont need to blink to do a ‘pleasure trip’ on getting a short break. I dont speak this for myself, I speak it for millions of my generation guys who have seen the growth in economic levels like no other generation.

All of us have seen the US, may not be in person, but in the numerous Hollywood movies, the various books, the magazines that we regularly supply, or simply our friends’ holiday pictures. In my mind, I had some little caricatures of the US that I wanted to see in real and experience. We did exactly that. We stayed in a Motel by Stanford University. I laughed when the motel owner suggested choices for our dinner – the Chinese place on the left and the Thai on the right. We went to a ‘authentic American’ place called Boston Market – another one of my mental caricatures. You cant have food without the cheese. Even our standard Vegetarian fare was so rich – but we loved it. Sat by the window and saw cars zipping along. Funny, When I paid the bill, I experienced something I never thought I would – The American bill was cheaper than that I would have to foot back home (HK for now). I remember a bunch of Indian Americans I met 15 years ago, who were so excited about shopping in India as it was so ‘cheap’. With most of us now used to the regular brands, it costs pretty much the same in the US as in India. Again, another set of new immigrants – Hispanics – at the restaurant.

We came back to our hotel and turned on the heater – a huge monster – a reminder of why Americans are the big green-gas offenders, ate the complimentary sugar-rich pie. I have been counting calories since I landed with so many sugary stuff thrown at us. Hey, let it go! We are here for 12 days. We as well live an American life and get a little fat!

Settling down in Hong Kong

insomnya05 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:52:22 +0000

This is a random post that I decided to put in when I remembered some of the little things when we came to Hong Kong. Having been in the region for a long time, settling down in HK wasnt that big a deal. It helps that it is a pretty organized place, people generally don’t cheat and English is fairly prevalent in all walks of life barring some interior places.

Housing : Finding an house wasn’t much of a problem as we had shortlisted a few places based on where our friends stayed. Expatriates from different countries have their own preferred clusters. If you are like us – Indians, middle management, working professionals; maybe, with kids, then some of our options may be useful in your consideration. There are three major areas in HK

- Hong Kong Island : Midlevels – crowded and expensive, Taikoo – moderately crowded, Happy Valley – residential are. There are the Stanley and Repulse Bay area which are not generally preferred by Indians.
- Kowloon : Areas around Jordan, Olympic, Laguna Verde. There are some who have chosen to be on the far-side of Kowloon but if you are a newcomer, I highly recommend you to stay closer to the MTR and buus lines. Later over years, you can move based on your developed taste
- Lantau Island : One of the areas in Lantau Island is Tung Chung. It was once supposed to be a cheaper and less favoured location and is neither of it now. It boasts of a lot of space, newer housing estates and most of all MTR connectivity. There is a vibrant expat community and sizable Indian population. The places are relatively affordable and well maintained. There is another popular place in Lantau – Discovery Bay. Beautiful beach side living especially patronized by the westerners. I have seen a few Indians around. The only challenge is the connectivity.

Food : Food has been the highlight of our stay in HK. HK is fairly cosmopolitan and that includes food also. If you dig Chinese food, go nowhere else. We were pleasantly surprised with the amoun of vegetarian options in HK. Many chinese restaurants have a clear veg menus. If your tongue is rigidly stuck to the Indian food, there are fairly good number of options. Most of the restaurants are Mughalai cuisine. I will list them separately in another blog

Commuting : Do ensure that public transport is conveniently available near your place of living and the office. MTR , feeder mini buses and public buses are the main modes of transport in HK. Private vehicles are slightly difficult to maintain because of the parking costs. Buy an Octopus prepaid card. It is a convenient stored value card which in some estates doubles up as access card.

Indian stores : There are a few options for Indian stores in the Tsim Sha Tsui area in Chung King and Mirador mansions. The vegetables you are looking for are generally avaiable in the supermarket or wet markets in your locality except for some exotic items like dhania, pudina etc.

Phone connection: There are the obvious options like – Hutch (3), CSL and PCCW. The choice of these connections would possibly depend on your company policy as you might get bulk/ corporate discounts on the connection. There are few who also go for some MVNO connections which give discounted call rates to India. You may check for these options in TST especially Chung King mansion.

Internet connection: Best to go for NoWTV and PCCW broadband connection. They generally come bundled. NowTV is a IP based service provider. There are a limited desi channel options.It is encouraging to see them adding more Indian channels especially the Hindi ones. Call 1000 on your mobile and the IVR takes over smoothly and directs you till the end on getting the subscription.

India & Hong Kong

insomnya05 — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:16:38 +0000

We moved to HK from India with a lot of pre-conceived notions and openness on a few things. The journey of discovery has been interesting so far.

1. Visas : Visitor Visa for Indians is ‘On Arrival’ – one of the few countries that permits it. That guarantees 14-day stay in HK. One can get a stamped visa for longer duration. Work Permit was a breeze! Assuming that HK ‘really wanted’ me, the procedure itself was very smooth. Most of the processing happened without the original documents and one fine day a letter came to my house with stickers. I had to just stick the visa onto my passport and Voila! I am ready to travel. It was the same for dependent visa

2. Sovereignty: China has a sovereignty over HK. When HK was handed over by the British in 1997 after nearly a century of colonial rule, they had agreed to keep the current political system for the next 50 years. Some uncertainties during that period drove many corporates to registering their companies in Bermuda or UK including the likes of Standard Chartered etc, more than decade now, the fear of ‘China will take over’ has gone and confidence level is increasing to the level of colonial days. Hong Kong has the suffix SAR (Special Autonomous Region) which permits it to do most of the things on its own – currency, Passport, visas, legal system, political systems except Defence and foreign Affairs. So, for all practical purposes for an expat, it is a separate country from China.

3. Weather: HK is at the same latitude of Kolkotta. It is humid because it is close to the sea but the seasons are well pronounced – Spring (March to May), Summer (June to August), Autumn (September to November), Winter (December to Feb). Winters are milder with average minimum of 14degrees C and summers are okay but but extremely sweaty at 32 degrees during July-Aug. HK is prone to typhoons are quite common but not very devastating for an average city dweller thanks to the building construction to stand typhoons and the emergency alert systems. Earth Quakes are rare and as a result low on tsunami dangers too.

4. Food : HK has a very cosmopolitan flavour in food. There is a riot of food in HK – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Italian, Middle-Eastern – you name it. I got a pleasant surprise as a vegetarian that many, if not all, have rich vegetarian menus. I have lived in Taipei, ordering customised stuff for myself and was expecting the same here. Surprisingly for an adventurous vegetarian, HK has a lot of options. Stay tuned on the food part on my future blogs.

5. Geography : Traditionally Hong Kong was just the Hong Kong Island. The Island is still the hub of commercial activities and has most of the offices. The British, needing more land, forcefully leased some land from China’s Guang Dong province which is known as Kowloon which is the largest body of HKSAR. Most of the harbours and ports are in Kowloon / New Territories. There were some outlying islands with relatively lesser density including Lantau which is the largest of these, now called the Outlying islands. So, note that HK Island and HKSAR cannot be used interchangably.

6. Religion : Much of HK considers itself atheist / agnostic. But, if money is a religion, HK has the highest percentage of worshippers. There is a significant influence of the traditional Chinese practices of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism in the important social transactions. There is a noticeable number of Christians a bearing of the Colonial era.

7. Travel : HK is connected to all major Indian cities directly through Dragon Air.

8. Indian Consulate: Since, HK is just a ‘state’ in the larger China Republic, the Embassy is in Beijing but there is a consulate office in Hong Kong :

14/F United Center
95 Queensway, Hong Kong

Phone : +852 28238501

P.S. Quirk in Hong Kong. There are no postal codes

Moving to Hong Kong

insomnya05 — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:33:40 +0000

I spent an year in India after few years of staying abroad. The experience was mixed bag. Being back home was definitely a great thing but living in Bangalore had its challenges. Having been used to a little more predictability in life in terms of daily errands, little things like driving, commuting to work, socialising etc had to be reconfigured. I have started believing that we are slowly making our cities un-liveable. After a couple of discussions, a leading company offered me a job in Hong Kong and I jumped at it. I have sworn that if I return to India, I will return to a smaller place and not a big city where you end up only existing and not living. Or, you should be an Ambani to create an aquarium around you and it doesnt really matter what exists beyond.

Of the several options, Hong Kong was a delightful mix of China opportunity and cosmopolitan living. I consider 2 cities in APAC being cosmopolitan – Singapore and Hong Kong. The first has an Indian flavour and the latter very Chinese. Since I am in early phase of life, I thought I will take a dip into a little adventure and chose Hong Kong.

I had my own opinions of HK when I moved in. Lot of people said that it was Communist China but I strongly believe that China will keep the HK neutrality. PRC is very pragmatic – they built SEZs to create oasis of excellence in business and industry. Why would they change the status quo in a ready ‘SEZ’ like Hong Kong. I am sure the new political masters will be exerting a bit of control but daily lives would not be changed too much from its colonial past. HK has always been an open state. It is one of the few countries in the world that permits Visa on Arrival for Indians. I have heard of HK’s entrepreneurial spirit, or like the cynics say, ‘business mindedness’

Embarking on the adventure! Moving to HK with my wife.

Easy Auto in Bangalore – Call one!

insomnya05 — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:57:13 +0000

Last week, I took this auto to office. I was surprised to see an LCD screen in the auto. I did not miss the fact that the auto was well maintained and the driver well dressed. Out of curiousity, I asked the driver about the LCD. He explained enthusiastically that he was one of the 500 auto drivers part of the easyauto network. I had not noticed the details displayed on the auto outside in the hurry to get in the auto.

You can dial for an auto +91 9844112233. You can be assured of all the reliability of the taxi services – untampered meters, no arguments on change, return of items forgotten in the auto etc. You can also pre-book autos to reach at a designated time. The best part is that when you are booking the auto, they will directly conference the auto driver and you discuss all the things about location etc. over the conference call so that there is no problem later.

For the auto-driver, easyauto provides uniforms and insurance. They regularly do the inspections of the condition of the auto and the autodriver.

Check this link to know more. http://easyauto.in/

The next time you travel in Banglaore try them. Let me know your experience

Mandarin / Chinese Classes in Bangalore

insomnya05 — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 05:30:52 +0000

This was an accidental discovery. I was looking for Mandarin Classes in Bangalore for sometime now but couldnt find one for a longtime. Just chanced upon this corner ad in the newspaper and quickly enrolled for this. I can only guess why didnt I get this on google search possibly because it is called ‘Chinese Institute of Chennai’

Chinese Institute of Chennai was setup on the directiosn of N. Balakrishnan who is a Hong Kong Resident. They have been successfully conducting classes for a few years now. The Bangalore Center started just this year and already 3-4 batches have gone through the training. I attended the Level 1 course.

The Level 1 is for 40 hours split into 10 hours per weekend. The sessions are logical split into 4 parts and taught over 5 hours each on Saturday & Sunday. The course has a clear focus – making one comfortable with the day to day conversations in any Chinese City. It doesnt spend too much time in characters which by itself is a mammoth task. One gets to learn pronounciation in Mandarin which is one of the biggest challenges for self learning and teaches pinyin (phonetic representation of Chinese sounds).

The course covers a wide range of topics including how to introduce oneself, how to shop, how to do office conversations, how to order your food in a very systematic manner. It is not very didactic but more practise based. The most imporatant thing is one is compelled to sound out (funny as it may sometimes end up sounding) the words in front of the audience. It takes off a lot of inhibition of speaking Chinese which for the uninitiated looks like making faces.

Mandarin / Chinese has to be learnt in context. Chinese Institute of Chennai – Bangalore Centre (CICBC) has structured its course which utilises audio video content to best give the feel of China. Each day has a video session which describes different cities or different aspects of Chinese culture. There are Karaoke videos played for one to grasp the meaning of the songs with the subtitles.

The centre, albeit small, is run very professionally. The class room is air conditioned, equipped with audio-visual aids and has ample parking places around it for students.The small student – teacher ratio helps in better coordination and learning.

Level 1 courses are conducted 5-6 times per year and Level 2 on demand.

I would strongly recommend this course to anyone who wants to get an introduction to China. Corporate sessions can also be arranged on request.Arun, the centre head is a very friendly person and is more than willing to guiding you with anything related to information on China.

This course is like a parachute; If suddenly dropped in China, for whatever reason, business or pleasure, be assured one will land safely and surive there!

Contact Bangalore Center
No 129, 8th main,
19th Cross, CHBS Layout,
Opp BDA Complex, Vijayanagar
Bangalore 560 040
Phone: +91 98865 42488

Email: bangalore@chennaichinese.com

Web: http://chennaichinese.com/bangalore/index.html

Check Them on FaceBook

Check Them on Google Maps

Day 8 : The Vatican City

insomnya05 — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:09:13 +0000

Last but not the least, we went to the Vatican. This is off Ottaviano Station on the Red Line of the subway. Guided tours cost 35-40 Euros. It is better to pay 10-15 Eur extra over the 23 Eur audio guide and go for guided tours. Vatican museums have the highest density of artifacts and a trained guide points out the most important ones.

I would highly recommend you to read the Wiki article on Vatican Museums before you plan your Vatican trip.

We walked to Castle of San Angelo (our 2nd museum on Roma pass). We spent some time looking over the River Tiber from the top of the castle and returned.

Italy Trip – Main Page

Day 7: Capitoline Hill , Piazza Venezia, Pantheon

insomnya05 — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:53:11 +0000

This was a walking trip

1. Piazza Venezia / Victor Emmaneul II
2. Capitoline Hill
3. Pantheon
4. San Pietro in Vincoli : It is best known for housing Michelangelo’s Moses

A little bit of shopping was in place

Italy Trip – Main Page

Day 6 : Ancient Rome – Colosseum & Roman Forum

insomnya05 — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:43:13 +0000

‘Rome was not built in a day’ and it is evident why it wasn’t during our trip to Ancient Rome. We started off with Colosseum <Wiki>. We used our Roma pass – The Collesseo and Palantine Hill <Wiki> is consider as one ‘museum’. Having the Roma pass also saves the long queues here. We rented the audio guide which spoke about the history. Collesseo has a fascinating history. To think of a 50,000 seater to have been built 2 millenniums ago is almost impossible unless you see with your own eyes. I could relate the Collesseo to the my favourite movie – The Gladiator.

It took us an hour and half to look around. We had a quick bite at the mobile (van) pantry and headed towards Palantine Hill. One can choose to see these two places over 2 consecutive days but can enter each of the places only once. Palantine Hill is right next to the Collesseo. It is a long trek up the hill and down. The Roman forum is below the Palantine Hill. It takes nearly 2-3 exhausting hours to go around. Audio guide is a must without which the place is just well-maintained ruins. I recommend you read a little on Wiki/Roman Forum

We were all exhausted by the time we finished the two places and the bright summer sun drained us a off a bit. We returned to the hotel after a quick bite

Italy Trip – Main Page