Trip to Osaka Area 070720 - 26 (1)

(Rose Garden in the Nakanoshima Island inside of Osaka City)

This is the 3rd time I came to Osaka this year. Still cannot believe that I'd fall in love with this "addicted-to-express-oneself" city only at the end of my 4-year stay in Japan.


Actually I've seen nearly most of tourist attractions in Osaka city during my last two visits (still need to put them in my blog ;-)) except for the supposedly famous aquarium and Universal Studio. As it's easy to find substitutes for both, they simply cannot get any appeal in my visiting schedule. I came back here this time for a special reason - TENJIN MATSURI (天神祭, i.e. festival of heavenly deity).

(Tenjin Matsuri - chariot carried out from Tenmangu Shrine)

Apart from 2-day matsuri, I took the chance to visit the earliest Buddhist holy mountain in Japan - Koyasan (高野山) and explore the 21.5 km pilgrimage track (Choishimichi, 町石道) used by numerous devout Buddhist monks and religious Japanese since around 900AD. It's a very refreshing 2 days of sun & forest bathing, and I felt recharged with energy.

(The Kohondaito - Essential Pagoda - in Koyasan)

Well, all in all, Osaka area (incl. its neighbouring Kyoto, Kobe, Nara and Wakayama prefecture etc.) is a region where one can always find something interesting to do and frequently gets oneself surprised by novelty. If you are curious about what kind of city it is, stay tuned for the coming stories...

070607 - 12 Trip to HK III - Gourmet's Paradise 2

If you don't have a local gourmet to guide your palate, you'll probably never be able to find Lin Heung Tea House (蓮香樓) at Central Hong Kong.

Before my best friend SY, married with a HK guy and living in HK for 10 year, took me there, she warned me seriously that Lin Heung Tea House is not a FANCY restaurant, and I probably would feel very uncomfortable with their rather shabby outlook, chaotic atmosphere and lack of service. She, however, definitely wanted to show me this typical Cantonese restaurant, for it might be the last one which still serves dim-sum (or yam-cha in Cantonese) in the old way. It's, of course, not a difficult task to satisfy someone just getting back from Nepal, especially concerning food.

To my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best experiences I had in HK during my 4-day visit. I enjoyed its food and atmosphere so much that I even went there twice. A Hong-konger sitting next to me during my second "tasting" told me that he is a regular there, and it's the BEST DIM SUM restaurant one can find in HK. I believe him, for my friend SY's husband's grand grandfather went there for dim sum, and it's a well-know dim sum place with over 80 years history.

Savour delicious dim sum in an authentic set with a sort of melancholic atmosphere when you are in Hong-Kong next time. As a gourmet, you wouldn't want to miss it.

The restaurant is at the Wellington Str, next to the SOHO restaurant area.