Friends and Food: A Retrospective
Interlude
Summer is in full swing and with a recent trip to NYC followed by a cold, I’ve not take the time to properly sit down and write. Thank goodness I have an article in reserve. This is something I originally wrote in my 100 day series “Thank you, Asia,” as our family was preparing to leave Hong Kong and move back to Wisconsin. In it I share a bit about my food obsession! And just to get us started, here are a few food moments from our recent trip in New York City.
A Retrospective
It seems like nearly all of my pictures with friends include one of two things - views from amazing hikes or beautiful dishes of food. This will mostly be a bit of a tour around Hong Kong's culinary scene. I am far from a foodie, as I have no vocabulary to talk about food. But I certainly do enjoy it.
I have come a long way from first having yogurt at the Luther College cafeteria, thereby expanding my Midwestern palate.
I would have to say that my present top ethnic food choices are Thai food and Indian food. I don't believe you will see any pictures of Indian food, (perhaps because it doesn't look that appetizing in pictures.) Pictures that follow have been taken within the last two years in Hong Kong and are representative of many amazing meals with cherished people.
On Lamma Island Brent and I hiked and then had a set lunch at a seafood restaurant. This is their calamari.
This is the sticky rice at Ruam, a Thai restaurant in Wan Chai that Brent and I enjoyed when only two were allowed at a table due to Covid restrictions.
One of Adam's favorite restaurants was Veggie SF. I returned there alone this year, missing my son. This is the vegan dish "Trip to Bali," Indonesian Gado Gado salad with coconut rice and tofu.
One of the fun things to do is make and assemble Vietnamese fresh spring rolls at home. Don't forget the sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce.
While we couldn't get to Macau for the amazing Portuguese egg tarts there, I did manage to get one in Hong Kong. Best when fresh and warm with a light, puffy pastry.
A restaurant I was just introduced to this year was Artemis and Apollo, an upscale Greek restaurant in Wan Chai. Here colleagues and I were gathering to wish Kelly well before her maternity leave. She is now mother of TWO boys.
More recently I returned to Artemis and Apollo with my good friend Michelle so that we could say our final goodbyes and enjoy the best lamb chop ever!
One of the kinds of restaurants our family first discovered while living in Seoul is called a shabu shabu style restaurant. With a burner on your table and broth brought to you, you can get all the veg and meat you want, and then create your soup right there. Not long ago, we finally ate at a shabu shabu in HK.
I couldn't leave Hong Kong without finding some Peking duck. Here we were at an upscale restaurant in Soho called The Monogomous Chinese with our good friends the Forresters enjoying their duck.
Around Brent's birthday we headed to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant called Nadaman in Admiralty with our good friends the Morris's. Alec and Robbie have been friends since fifth grade.
Not long ago we headed to a German restaurant in Kowloon called Biergarten Fass with our friends the Shirley and Ian. Brent finally got some rösti potatoes after many years away from Monroe, Wisconsin. The beer was good, too. Oh, and we were sitting inside a beer barrel!
One of Brent's favorite places to go for Vietnamese pho is in Central to Nha Trang. I love it too but prefer the chicken version rather than the beef.
And, then there's the Korean BBQ that we missed have so much that we ended up going two weekends in a row. First with the Lovelins - Dave is the HS principal and Theresa is a good friend and school nurse. . . Here we are with all the side dishes.
and the meat on the grill. . .
and the kimchi.
We returned the next weekend with Don and Kathryn Drake - Don is the Associate Head of School at HKIS and had been my principal at KIS. I taught two of their four children and took a third to India on Interim. Our families have known one another for nine years!
Of course not every amazing meal must be found in a restaurant. Mhel our domestic helper has been cooking us amazing meals all year long, including salmon about once a week.
Upon returning to Hong Kong last summer after dropping Adam off in Wisconsin, we were home-quarantined for two weeks. What a blessing to have a meal dropped off at our door by our friends Gayle and John. (Who recently dropped off a loaf of bread in our final days in HK. Thank you!)
We shall cherish our memories of Hong Kong and all of the variety of cuisine available here. But mostly, we shall cherish all of the laughter, sharing, and moments with one another and with friends while at some of our favorite restaurants.
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
Life Cheat Sheets
Riffs on Wisdom Teachings
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Author of Me Time: Self-care in a Challenging World. Available at https://www.bookemon.com/store/987322
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com
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All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2023 unless otherwise credited.