Macau : Tiny Bites

Celebrating Chinese New Year around the Pacific Rim

5 Comments Tiny Bites ConsultingJanuary 26, 2009

We timed our getaway to Asia with the crazy Christmas and New Year festivities in the Philippines and received an unanticipated bonus: witnessing the lead-up to the Year of the Ox. Macau and Hong Kong went buck wild with red and gold, so we joined in on the ride, completing the celebratory circuit last night at Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre. Here’s the tour.

We left the eternal Christmas of the Philippines for the glitz of Macau in mid-January, expecting relief from the crowds that large holidays beget. Not so. The cultural duality of Macau meant that large Chinese New Year floats were already set up in San Malo Plaza. Portuguese edifices were laden with red lanterns and strings of lights. Media and tourist alike vied for the best ops in front of each New Year’s structure.

Coincidentally, we had chosen Long Kei, one of the few Cantonese restaurants in the city, for our lunch spot. From our table on the ground floor, we chewed on some of the most light-handed Cantonese cooking we had ever ingested while watching group after group tromp to the upper floor for what I guess to be dim sum (quite comical really; it was like a circus clown car in restaurant form).

Fish maw and egg drop soup

Braised seasonal vegetables in oyster sauce

Steamed pork spare ribs in apricot sauce

Typical multi-lingual format of restaurant menus in Macau

4 subsequent days in Hong Kong meant more Chinese New Year sights, sounds, and culinary delights. Disneyland Hong Kong happened to launch its New Year’s makeover on the day we decided to visit. It was a treat to see childhood Disney favourites wrapped in Asian apparel and to pick up Disney souvenirs that were decidedly one of a kind.

Mickey mouse fruit

Love against the castle

Happiness display

No trip to Hong Kong is complete without a banquet, so we corralled as many friends as we could muster on short notice to join us for an extravagant set dinner at Peking Garden Restaurant. We savoured Peking Duck (my favourite and the specialty of the house), an assortment of delicate meats, vegetables, and seafood, and a cool demo of handmade noodle-making in a spacious, sumptuous dining room.

Sliced whitefish with olives, vegetables, and scallion oil

Peking duck!

Noodle-making demo

Since we had so much fun enjoying the imminence of Chinese New Year in Asia, it seemed only fair to join in on local festivities upon our return. New Year’s Eve was spent in Aberdeen Centre in an atmosphere that reminded us all too fondly of Langham Place in Mong Kok.

The meal that we had at Northern Delicacy did not remotely compare to the food we enjoyed in Macau and Hong Kong. The handmade noodles were bland; the honeymoon fried rice compensated for its lack of complexity with a coronary’s worth of grease. Our favourite dish, the spicy wontons, was glaringly absent.

The one point of redemption was the steamed pork dumplings (known to me better as “soup dumplings”). Lesson learned: we’ll revert to our routine of having dim sum at Northern Delicacy and finding someplace else to satisfy our dinner cravings.

Northern Delicacy
4151 Hazelbridge Way | Aberdeen Centre, Richmond
(604) 233-7050

In our attempt to last till the clock struck midnight, we wandered the halls of Aberdeen Centre amongst a most jovial crowd. Perhaps we were too jetlagged or lazy or old, but we faded well before 11pm, with just enough energy to buy a coconut bun from Saint Germain Bakery and take in a Cantonese skit at the mainstage.

Nevertheless, we arrived home full and happy, our sadness at having left Hong Kong momentarily abated, with high hopes for what fortune the Year of the Ox will bring.

Categories: Asia, Beyond Vancouver, Food, Hong Kong, Macau, Restaurants, Richmond, Travel

Bites of Asia Series: all that glitters in Macau

1 Comment Karen HamiltonJanuary 12, 2009

This post is part of the Bites of Asia series – a set of posts I wrote in December 2008 before we left for 27 days of exploring the Philippines, Macau, and Hong Kong. If you’d like updates of our trip as it happens in real time, subscribe to my Twitter feed or better yet, follow me on Twitter.

Last time I was in Macau, my uncle took me on a sleepless tour of the casinos from midnight till dawn. Neither of us was much of a gambler; we hopped from site to site in search of a place that offered sustenance at an ungodly hour. The verdict? It seemed that everyone else up that late needed only alcohol, cigarettes, and the thrill of victory to keep them going.

This time around, I’m travelling with my husband, who does a fairly decent job of supplementing our monthly income with his online poker winnings. He is itching to tour the poker tables at the new Venetian: the largest casino in the world. It presides over Macau like a bloated monarch, oozing decadence onto the wide colonial boulevards that surround.

I am more interested in capturing all that shiny-shiny with my SLR. My point and shoot photos from last year didn’t come close to doing the glitter of Macau any justice.

In the day, we plan to tour the city’s architectural and culinary facets. I’d like to take Kurt to food faves such as EOD Cafe and try out some of the places that Rick Green of BC Brews suggested:

For all the times that I went to Macau when I was living in Hong Kong, I never went gambling; I have no interest. I occupied my time during the day walking through the streets, touring the historic sites, seeing the gardens, and visiting museums. In the evening, it was eating, eating, eating. Macanese food is absolutely essential — Fernando’s, Litoral, Riquexo, Sol Nascente.

Categories: Asia, Beyond Vancouver, Food, Macau, Restaurants, Travel