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The Michelin Experience (Cont’d)

by ccue

Michelin is an experience to share, to appreciate, to enjoy.

The Latest California 3-Michelin-stars Experience

I don’t remember when we started celebrating birthdays and anniversaries with fine dining in Michelin restaurants. In the birthday celebration earlier this month, we had an amazing experience at the Single Thread. Located in Healdsburg,California, Single Thread has its own organic farm and serves a set menu. It comes across as a fusion of 20% French with cheese/butter, 10% California, and 70% Japanese Kaiseki style.

The 3-Michelin-stars Single Thread in Healdsburg has been arguably the most expensive birthday dinner. Without wine, it costs about $700 per person for a set menu. At the end of the day, do I remember $700 more or do I remember the very memorable dining experience on my birthday? The latter without a question.

The Berlin Facil Michelin Experience

Located close to the venues of the Berlin Film Festival, this 2-Michelin-star restaurant is among my very favorites. It is not a set menu. We all can pick what we like the most. Some fine dining restaurants do not strike the balance between attentive service and put the diners at ease. Facil just strikes the perfect balance in its service.

The Buenos Aires Don Julio Michelin Experience

Some consider this as the best restaurant in Latin America and ranked in the top ten of the world. Located in the Buenos Aires Palermo area, Don Julio lives up to the 1-Michelin-Star rating. It is not easy to get a reservation but not impossible. Even with reservation of the first evening slot, foodies can expect to line up outside of the restaurant before the restaurant opens at 7pm; and be prepared that some servers may not be very fluent in English.

The Unique Manresa Michelin Experience

Manresa was a restaurant in Los Gatos, California that specialized in California cuisine. It was founded in 2002 by chef David Kinch. It earned three Michelin stars in 2016. In one year, Forbes rated Manresa the best restaurant in the United States. In November 2022, Kinch announced Manresa’s closure with its final day being December 31 of that year.

Manresa was among the first Michelin-star restaurants we visited during special occasions.

Manresa was among the first Michelin-star restaurants, if not the first, we visited during special occasions. It was many years ago, when it was a 3-Michelin-stars restaurant and was arguably closest to our residences. We went to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We did not know what to expect and ended up more than impressed. The dining memory has unfortunately faded over the years; and at that time, there was not yet the practice of taking photos using mobile phones to immortalize the experience. After a good number of fine dining experiences, the detailed experiences become hard to recall.

We would however always remember Manresa. Like other 3-Michelin-stars restaurants, its exterior is not eye-catching. We overshot and needed to make a U-turn in some side street in a seemingly residential area. Our wedding anniversary is in October. It was somewhat dark in the neighborhood. That was before Google Maps. We had to find a safe spot to make a U-turn. Maybe there was a sign that said no U-turn. Just when we did the U-turn, a police car showed up out of nowhere. The police ended up giving us a traffic ticket!!! We went ballistic. Traffic tickets in California are never cheap. Thankfully we recovered just before the dinner to have a good time, and not let that spoil the occasion. Over the years, sometimes, I still ponder that had we told the police that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, would he let us go without a ticket. We would never know, but in the grand scheme of life, this forever memory may just be worth more than the ticket.

The Best Price-Performance Michelin Experience

Among the Michelin restaurants, this 1-Michelin-star Yat Lok Roasted Goose definitely is a living evidence of how foodies can compromise comfort for tasty food. Located in Central, Hong Kong, the street is not well maintained. The restaurant’s exterior is unassuming and looks no different from many BBQ shops commonly found in Hong Kong. There is always a line outside across the street. The service is at best a 3 out of 5. The restaurant does not take reservations and in fact, they do not have individual tables. The interior is so crowded that we are just a couple of feet away from other diners, complete strangers, sharing the same table. The food makes the wait worthwhile, and the price is affordable for this 1-star Michelin experience, so that I would return on my next trip to Hong Kong. This Yat Lok is among the most unique Michelin Experience. Yet, in Hong Kong, there are just so so so many restaurants serving super delicious roasted ducks. If it is not for its Michelin star, would I visit Yat Lok? And how many Michelin Stars would the Michelin Inspectors give to the many many other shops in Hong Kong serving roasted ducks?

Within the same central area, there is a 3-Michelin-stars restaurant Caprice. Located in the upscale Four Seasons hotel, Caprice stands tall with its Michelin stars and its harbor view. The harbor view and busy harbor traffic are scenes that one would not get tired of watching. The harbor view pairs perfectly with the fine cuisines and the perfect service. Its location makes it a great place for business or executive lunches. Its price is attractive compared to other three-Michelin-stars too. Ask for a window seat on your visit.

Dear Diary Hong Kong Misc. Travel

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Rekindle Life-long friendship with reunions

by ccue

2025 marks the beginning that I have been in the California Bay Area longer than Hong Kong , a city where I was born and raised. To which city am I supposed to be homecoming?

Every trip to Hong Kong reminds me that happiness is tied to human connections. Trips in Hong Kong are less about sightseeing, more about connections with families and friends. There is the delight to find families and friends doing well. Special events often play a role in firming up our travel plan. This year, the special event turned out to be the 125th anniversary of my secondary school.

When I was still studying in secondary school, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of school. This year is the 125th anniversary of my secondary school, 45 years since the 80th anniversary. I made the trip to join the anniversary dinner with over a thousand other graduates in Hong Kong. How amazing is that!

Despite many complaints about the demanding nature of Hong Kong education systems, the Hong Kong system appears to offer a better environment for students to build lasting friendships. I personally experienced the life-long friendship deeply again with the multiple reunions with the secondary school classmates on this trip.

The Hong Kong pre-college education consists of kindergarten years, 6 primary school years and 6 secondary school years. In my days, the students have just a few subjects we can choose: art vs science, geography vs history, etc. Due to the limited varieties, I had many classmates taking the same curricula with me. That created so many shared memories. The classmates may drift apart for years. Some of us may move to different places of the world. Often when someone, like me, comes back to Hong Kong for a short trip, we get together, the bonding revives so naturally and so quickly. It is a life-long friendship with a class of friends.

Comparatively, the Bay Area education consists of pre-school years, 6 elementary school years, 2 middle school schools, then four high school years. There is less continuity when the kids grow up in their teen years. The rich choice of subjects mean most kids hardly are on the same curricula or with the same teachers. After graduation, the classmates would settle in different parts of the US if not of the world, far away from each other. Sometimes, I am concerned about the few friendships one can sustain after graduation especially for those who may not be a social butterfly in their teen years. In spite of its heavy homework and strenuous studies, the Hong Kong system is better in terms of life-long friendship.

The school celebrated the 80th anniversary of school when I was still a teenager. The school did not jump from the 80th anniversary to the 125th anniversary. I skipped many, if not all, the between, and jumped 45 years for a special anniversary dinner.

The 125 anniversary dinner was held in the 5-star Hopewell hotel in Hong Kong, with 125 tables, 10 per table. When I arrived at the hotel, many current students in the CheongSam school uniform were there at the building entry, showing us the ways to the Grand Ballroom on the 16/F floor. They bridged all the years, and brought back so many memories of my own school days. They just looked to be the refined and upgraded versions of our generations. When I got to the Grand Ballroom, it became immediately apparent that the organizers had put in tons of thoughts in setting up the venue. It certainly felt star-studded an Oscar experience with classmates, students, teachers and principles. I immediately felt at ease and it was easy to find my table among the 125 tables. A couple of my classmates were already there. One also flew in from California. We had not seen each other for years. Just seeing her made my trip to Hong Kong worthwhile. Soon the tables were filled. The conversations bridged all the gaps of the years. My school is a Girls’ Christian school. We were busy chatting, and did not notice the noise level of a thousand of us catching up with each other in the Grand Ballroom. It took some effort for the MC to kick off the evenings with school songs and prayers. The school song has a phrase that tells our hearts to stay together even if we will be far apart. I certainly felt that I had not lived up to that phrase after drifting away for many of the years. The performance of the current students has been impressive, and the farewell set up for the current school principal has been thoughtful and heartwarming. What I like the most is the opportunities to catch up with each other, reminisce about our school days, see our teachers, and other familiar faces. We took a bunch of photos together.

It was an evening that I would remember for a very long time. I am thankful that after all these years, we can rekindle our friendship and are still young enough to have some remaining years together. We met again shortly after the anniversary dinner and look forward to more happy times in the years to come.

If you graduated from high school this year, and your school continues another 45 years, you will join your school anniversary dinner in the year 2070. How special will that be for you?

Dear Diary Hong Kong Misc. Travel

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Let’s go the ageless Pop Concerts

by ccue

Watching a concert is a good live-in-the-moment experience. In the concerts, you are in a different place, and forget about a lot of troubling happenings in the world, or stress at work, or other hardship. You got into the theatre, you waited as a collective unit for the star to show, you clapped, sang, or screamed collectively. The audience came alive as an entity.

Last October, we went to Napa, California to watch Christopher Cross in the uptown theatre. It brought back childhood memories of how we listened and discovered our favorite songs, and how much the world has changed since. We carried the theme of childhood reminiscence into 2024.

Valentine’s day this year was a few days after Lunar New Year. On Valentine’s day, we caught the Air Supply concert at the San Jose Civic center. There was nothing more fitting to watch their concerts on Valentine’s day. Their songs literally created love in the air. The songs in their 1980 “Lost in Love” album and the 1981 “The one that you love” showcase their talents at the peak. At one time, I remembered the lyrics of almost each song. Several decades later, the duos are still at it, still passionate at singing in concerts every week at different venues. I can no longer remember the lyrics as well as before.

We continued the ageless concert theme during the President’s long weekend a few days later. We went to watch the Wynners, from Hong Kong, at the Reno event center with a friend. We watched Sam Hui last May at the Reno event center. If you were in Hong Kong in the 70s, it was impossible not to have heard of the Wynners, just as every HongKongers grew up with the songs of Sam Hui in that era. The Wynners, made up of Ah B, Alan, Chan Yau, Ah Kiang, Ah Jian, was the most popular boy bands of the era. The five members never broke up even when they went solo over the years. Ah B, Alan and Ah Jian went solo with great successes. Chan Yau, the drummer, went to film production. Ah Kiang, the most quiet member, immigrated and kept a low profile. For one night at the Reno Center, they were together again. They sang and danced. They were energetic in their 70s. They looked happy, healthy and united. I was particularly impressed with the solo of Chan Yau and Ah B. Alan Tam was the most popular of them all in the 90s. Alan seemed to have grown so much in width and in depth. Maybe he just enjoyed food and enjoyed life with all the money earned. We had a great time as their songs transported us from our childhood to the present. Ah B seemed to still be at it, while others looked more settled into other things in life. It was a good show!

It took us almost eight hours to drive from Reno to the Bay Area due to the heavy snow and rain. The concert was worth the hassle.

In a nostalgic way, it could be the last time they would show up together in the US to present a concert. Check out our Wynners 2024 Reno Sound Track on YouTube.

Concerts Dear Diary Misc.

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2023 Travel : Part 2 | Hong Kong, Macau, Foshan/Shunde (香港、澳門、佛山/順德)

by ccue

I have not been back to Hong Kong since December 2018. It marked my longest absence. Finally, there were no longer the many days of quarantine requirements and the city has opened up. Our travel decision was made instantaneously when Sam Hui, the Cantopop legend, announced to open a series of Concert in April.

Airfare was hard to get and there was no longer any shoulder season pricing. Hotels were not cheap either. The HK ID appointment slot needed a smart strategy to get. These were surmountable obstacles. After almost five years of absence from our beloved city of Hong Kong, we made our trip back.

The family is one of nature’s masterpieces!
True to the tradition of family gathering, we gathered around food and had a few beautiful dim sum lunches. The most beautiful dim sum dish has to be Victorian Era (香江花月) which blends the oriental and western culture in Hong Kong into the dim sum served with elegant aromas, gold flakes and creative flora additions.

If you visit Hong Kong, it is worth planning a few extra days to visit the “remote” islands, some unique villages and hike some famous and beautiful trails, such as Maclehose Trail, Wilson Trail, Hong Kong Trail.

We visited Lai Chi Woo with my bro and sis, did some hiking to the nostalgic “walled village”, and enjoyed a special Hakka meal at Green Villa at Sam A Tsuen. It takes an hour one way for a ferry ride from Chinese University station to Lai Chi Woo. There is only one ferry each day in each direction. If you miss the ferry ride, there are not many options other than a couple of hours of strenuous hiking. Hong Kong has so many places, like Lai Chi Woo, with a variety of hiking trail, unique landscapes.

Macau, once a Portuguese colony, is another special administrative region of China. It is connected to Hong Kong with the recently opened “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge” as well as a different ferry. It has been years since the last visit, when the children were young. We took the Golden Bus and that bridge is a true feat of engineering with tunnels and artificial islands mid-way. Sadly, it is hard to imagine this project scale can be done in the United States just because it has taken us so long to construct a small length of a subway route. Macau is right next to Hong Kong on the map. The Easter holiday and the change of China Covid policy, seemingly have overloaded the small Macau. It took us over three hours – a bus ride to the Golden Bus, a long queue to get on to the Golden Bus, the Golden Bus ride on the impressive bridge, then the hotel shuttle to the Venetian Hotel. We still arrived well before the check-in time, and were able to check in.

The three days of Macau were a trip of continuous snacks and cuisines (吃吃喝喝,飲飲食食). The famous food street, Rua do Cunha, is within a comfortable stroll from Venetian Hotel. The street was just packed with people with long lines outside of many take-out food stalls. We split ourselves into different snack groups to line up for the Portuguese pork chop bun (Tai Lei), the world-famous Pastel de nata (Lord Stow Bakery), the omnipresent strong-favored cow internal organs. We passed through the food street many times over the few days, but the crowdedness is not the best companion for delicious cuisine. We also tried the shark fin soup at Fok Lung Street which has unique and historic shops. There are different desserts such as “steamed milk custard”, “steamed egg custard” and ice cream. As a pattern, many renowned restaurants turn out to be not as good, but there are other neat surprises. The winner of the desserts went to LemonCello Gelato, a Michelin recommended shop. The winner of the best coffee went to this food market coffee booth located on a multi-story grocery and food market off the Senado Square. The owner used Chinese ceramic pots to prepare coffee, not Chinese herbal medicine. Surprisingly, the process brings out the aroma and flavor and gets rid of the coffee bean bitterness. The most memorable and delicious congee has to go to the Lok Kei Noodles and Congees. If you were in Macau, their large pot of crab congees and the no-wheat beer is a must-try.

No matter how many times we have been there, the Ruins of St. Paul’s, the Senado Square and the magnificent hotels (MGM, Wynn and its fountain shows, Venetian, Paris, Londoner, and the Lisboeta) are worthy of visiting both during the day and in the evening. The Monorail is convenient to hop on when you are tired of all the walking. Surprisingly, the busy schedule left us with very little time for these world renowned casinos in this small city of Macau.

From Far and Wide, Friends Collide!
The connections with people always matter, as we age, it matters more. It is also a source of enrichment as each is on a different journey. Technology has enabled us to stay connected with our friends across the world, but it is not in the same league as face-to-face gatherings.

I enjoyed the nice morning walk along the coastline corridor to Admirable for a Dim Sum lunch. The light shower created a nice memory of walking in the rain. There has been such an effort going on to beautify the city and to “invent” more recreational areas. These progresses have been largely unmentioned and in a way, left me with delightful discoveries.
I had these fun chats during the dim sum lunch with ex-workers at the I-Square, hardly noticing the ever shrinking harbor.
I cherished the dinners with best friend(s) enjoying food together in this “capital city of good food”, such as Rabbit Fish Congees (泥鯭粥), Peking duck (北京烤鸭).
I have been thankful to have a friend to take us to my parents’ hometown Shunde (顺德). It has been eye opening to experience the convenience of the customs checkpoints, the impressive hi-speed train systems in China, the didi ride (Chinese and probably better version of Uber), the subways as well as the great food in Shunde. If someone told me about these progresses in China some decades ago, I would not have believed. Compared to the experiences of traveling to China just after my college years, it felt like it was a lifetime ago. There are still many many things that can be improved. I wish for more of one mind to make things better to improve the livelihood of billions of people.

Sam Hui Concerts (許冠傑 – 此時此處演唱會)!
We had the time of our lives watching Sam Hui on the stage of the Hong Kong Coliseum. The concert stage was designed to model his home, and the concert felt like an invitation to his home to join a singing party of ten thousand folks. It was heartwarming, full of positive and happy spirit to share with Hong Kongers. We knew all the songs, their lyrics and sang along.

We also bought the 414 Global Livestream of Sam Hui Concert on the last day of this concert series. We ordered a Suckling Pig from the Tai Hing restaurants at a price of HKD 880, and brought it to my brother’s home to have a family party, while enjoying the show. The suckling pig was a hit. It was a happy gathering. Heaven cannot be much better.