Monday, April 15, 2019

Hiking and food = a good combination in Hong Kong! ;b

Farm/home grown vegetables and fruit for sale
 
Traditional peanut candies made before your eyes!
 
As friends who have gone hiking with me know too well, a hike excursion isn't quite complete for me without a stop (or more) for food.  My usual practice is to start a ramble at a time of the day that will allow for us to reach a good place to have dinner before sunset.  I've also been known to stop for a snack of tofu faa or a more substantial repast mid-hike -- especially if time allows -- on trails that take us through a village enclave with a stall or actual dining establishment!
 
Thus far, however, I haven't stopped to buy items being hawked by people who look like they farmed the produce or made the products they sell by the side of certain trails.  Part of me wants to, not least to help support local farmers and producers -- of which there really aren't that many left in rural Hong Kong.  But the thing is that I'm loathe to add weight to my load (which, early on in a hike, can feel on the heavy side because of the minimum 1 liter of water I bring along to drink on hikes in the cooler months and 1.5 liters of water I take along on hikes in warmer weather).    
 
Maybe I will at some point -- but in the meantime, I do like to not only have dinner in the nearest town (or village) from where I end a hike but also then do a bit of shopping in the area before hopping on public transportation that will take me back home.  Among my favorite post-hike destinations are Tai Po, Mui Wo, Sai Kung and Yuen Long.  And Yuen Long was where two friends and I went for dinner post hike this past Saturday.
 
After wolving down our meal at Victory Beef Ball, the three of us went snack shopping in the area.  While one friend went to a discount store for items to bring home and another decided she had to try some siu mai from The Queen of Siu Mai over on Yuen Long's Food Street, I decided to get some peanut sweets from Kei O after watching one of the establishment's staff making faa saang tong in front of the store, right out on the street.  Then it was off to a bar for a round of craft beer because we went and got our bus that would take us back to our respective home turfs! 
 
Two days on, I've consumed more than half of the box of peanut sweets from Kei O that I only opened after I got back home that evening -- and no, I don't want to think of how many calories they contain (vis a vis how many I managed to burn on Saturday's hike, etc.)!  Instead, I'm already thinking that after I finish the box, I might well have to return to Yuen Long for some more of this sweet stuff -- on a day that involves some hiking or maybe not... ;b

2 comments:

peppylady (Dora) said...

I like to stop local market where the locals sell there wares.
Coffee is on

YTSL said...

Hi peppylady --

I have a feeling you'd love Hong Kong's wet markets. They're like farmer's markets in the US -- only they operate daily. I usually buy my fruit and veg at these places. :)