HK: from Tai Po to Craftsteak

we stayed for 2 nights in the Sheung Wan district (never again in that hotel!)

it's near Causeway Bay but far from the other places especially the Tai Po market 

where Anthony Bourdain tasted the best roasted goose! he's right!

but it's a restaurant that took us 3 transfers to get to so we decided it was worth the visit

but not a second time. unlike this sushi place where we ate twice during our stay in HK.

our number was 336 but we still waited :)

after eating, more walking. 

street food vendors

 the next day, we saw this guy drying the mushrooms
beside the road while waiting for a taxi. 

Sheung Wan is surely the mushroom district
and Shark's fin too!
 we saw them being sold at every shop there! que horror!

finally, we arrived at Craftsteak for lunch.
this is the bone marrow that Erik ordered. it was just an appetizer!
he ate 3/4 of it by himself. tsk tsk...

this is the half Caesar salad. i don't recommend it. 

lacks the sour taste of Caesar dressing. it's quite sweet actually 

(maybe it's the bacon which was not salty)

but this one's really good: 

Italian Burratta Cheese with Marinated Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic

we also ordered the USDA Ribeye.

erik didn't like the spices on top. he wants his steak with salt and pepper only. 

but i liked this because it's tasty.

ribeye good for 2

Craftsteak is located at Elgin Street in Soho. got this reco from chuvaness.com :)

afterwards, with our luggages one of the Pinoy staff got us a cab then we went straight to the airport. 

so long, Hongkong...

last 2 days in Ho Chi Minh

4th day was a blur. i think we woke up late and then went out to write. we had lunch at Pho 24. i wouldn't recommend this place. it was the cheapest eat at only 90,000VND (P200+) which included fried spring rolls, 1 noodles, 1 rice meal, one Coke and one coconut juice but the meal was forgettable. then had dinner at Vietnam House where we met up with Bianca and Osh. the food wasn't great but i liked the ambiance of the restaurant and i didn't feel hurried which was good. 

5th day - we checked out at 12nn then went out for last minute shopping. wala na kong nabili kasi wala na kong pera. we decided not to have Vietnamese food for lunch so when we saw this Armani Caffe in Vincom Center, we decided it's time for some Italian!

Armani Caffe

eggs benedict with overcooked egg

the pasta i ordered was fettucini with baby scampi and arugula salad. i loved it! i started taking the pictures above after i devoured all of it. 

then we transferred to Paris Deli where i tried to write. but the most pleasant surprise came when i discovered that they serve passion fruit! i remember tasting passion fruit 10 years ago but i couldn't remember anything except that it was delicious. so i was really excited to find the fruit while in Vietnam to remember the taste again and so that Erik can taste it too, since we just watched it being used as ingredient on Master Chef. 

they serve the fruit with honey. if you want it a little sweeter just like me, put a little honey before you scoop the fruit inside with teaspoon. it tastes of guava but better! 

passion fruit with honey!

gooey but delectable passion fruit!

then we walked around, took some pictures. aimless while killing time. 

motorcycle nation

street vendor

dinner came and we decided to go back to Com Nieu Saigon where we ate lunch on our first day.  i didn't get to eat the first time we were there because i was full but this time i was hungry so i sampled everything. Anthony Bourdain was right to recommend it! i would love to eat here again!

crispy soft shelled crab

clams, tofu with mushrooms, shrimp in red sauce

now i'm back in Pinas. if asked if i would want to come back to Vietnam, i would say NO. 5 days is more than enough to spend in Ho Chi Minh. actually, 2 days is enough. i love the shopping but how many times do i need to buy North Face and Crumpler bags? once is enough.

though i would understand why Anthony Bourdain almost decided to live there. it could be very enticing for Westerners but not for Asians. Philippines is still better for me.