Food and Laser Show

Wo Mei, Harbourside Buffet, Laser Show

August 19, 2016

Woke up to a clear morning of blue sky and white clouds. Looking out the window, we were hoping that it would be a drier day so we could use the swimming pool at the hotel. We had planned on taking advantage of the swimming pools at the hotels in those hot days but so far haven't been able to. 

Our plan for the day was to get to MOR's favorite restaurant in Jordan for breakfast. We have tried many places for porridge in Hong Kong throughout the years and decided Wo Mei is the best of all. 

I believe it was dad who brought us here first, years ago, and since then this is our go to place for porridge whenever we are in Hong Kong. We were also meeting cousin Mei and her husband for lunch at the hotel.

Right outside our windows is our next hotel stay--Hyatt Regency (the tallest building in this picture) which occupies the 3rd to 24th floors of the K11 building. K 11 is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Kowloon.

Front entrance of Intercontinental Hong Kong, right off Salisbury Road.

From the left of this picture shows YMCA HK (a good hotel, BTW), the Penisula, with Nathan Road right next to it and then the Sheraton Hong Kong and Sogo Department store. A lot of construction work going on at the Salisbury Garden and Space Museum area next to our hotel.

We decided that instead of taking the MTR for one stop, we might as well just walk to Jordan which is about a mile away. It was actually quite interesting as we walked along Nathan Road watching everything that was going on around us. 

Slope in front of the Intercontinental Hotel.

At the bottom of the slope right at the corner (the glass enclosure) is the elevator that takes you down to the MTR Tsim Sha Tsui East station J2 entrance. There is also an escalator further down to the right.

Wo Mei Porridge (Congee)
It was pretty easy finding Wo Mei since we have been there so many times, and the place was filled with customers already when we got there. A mix of locals and tourists, everyone seemed to be enjoying their breakfast. Their famous item is fish belly porridge (魚腩粥), which they fried the pieces of fish first before putting them in the boiling porridge. I am not good at handling fish bones, so I opted for their beef congee which was very good also. I believe this place is being recommended in many guidebooks which brought in many visitors for their share of porridge. Like any other traditional eating places in Hong Kong, service is not of top priority, but food is. Do not expect quality service even though the ladies tried their best serving in such busy and crowded environment. They only have a few small tables in there so chances are you may have to share a table with other customers.

The best porridge (congee) in Hong Kong.

Fried fish balls (鯪魚球) with special dipping sauce. Fried dough in the background.

Tri-lingual menu posted--in Chinese, English and Japanese. Yes, we saw Japanese tourists following their guidebooks joining us at this tiny eatery when we were there.

Exterior of Wo Mei Porridge on Woosung Street and Ning Po Street (75 Woosung Street). 

Woosung Street is still very quiet in the morning. This is a block away from Temple Street. A very old neighborhood. 

After our porridge breakfast, we took the MTR back to the hotel. 

Besides the pictures of Hong Kong history on one side of the underground walkway, there are also photos of important events in Hong Kong entertainment industry on display.

Definitely an interesting passage.

Back to the hotel.

We had to take this flight of stairs after we got off the elevators on the 16th floor...

...to get to the 17th floor where our room was.

"Handy" the courtesy cell phone provided by the hotel for guests use.

Harbourside Buffet Restaurant, Intercontinental Hotel Hong Kong

We just rested a little before going down to the Harbourside Restaurant for lunch. We found Mei and Si already waiting for us at the table which the front desk staff reserved for us when we checked in the day before. The restaurant is truly sitting right at harbourside, with the incredible view of the harbor. We were so busy talking and eating that I forgot to take pictures of the food and the place until it was time for dessert. Food was OK, with an international menu. I did expect more though for the price of the buffet. I guess we were pretty much paying for the view. They did have an extensive dessert display, I must say. All in all, we had an enjoyable lunch. BTW, a glass of red or white wine or champagne is included, plus coffee or tea at the end of the meal.

Some of the dessert items on ChC's plate.

My dessert choices. Loved that ice cream with mango sauce and almond. The other two items were decorated with gold leaves so I just had to try them.

This was good, a mixture of mango and pomelo, topped with a lychee nut.

This is a cake-like item covered with a coat of sugar. Very pretty!

Enjoying a great lunch with good food, fine fellowship and exceptional view of Victoria Harbor.

We were still jet lagged and with the hot hot weather outside, we decided to just stay in and take a nap in the afternoon. A nap that lasted longer than planned. By the time we got up it was after six o'clock and we remembered that ChC wanted to go out to the promenade and get some photos. As we walked out of the hotel, we realized that it was drizzling and probably not a good day for photos. With Avenue of the Stars being closed off for construction work, many people were still waiting for the laser show along the promenade on the misty, rainy evening. Fortunately, the rain stopped just before the start of the laser show. It was certainly better watching the laser show there than inside the hotel.

At first it was drizzling a little,

then it started to rain, quite heavily, everybody left the promenade.

Waiting patiently for the rain to stop at the cultural center.

A touring junk sailed by in heavy rain.

Finally cleared and the show begun.

Only in Hong Kong!

All I can say is, "Wow!"

After the laser show ended, we walked back to the Intercontinental not far away. Then MOR and I decided that we should go to Wo Mei for more porridge. ChC decided not to join us and he went back to the hotel on his own. Once again, we took the MTR to Jordan, which was very crowded at that hour, and enjoyed another meal of porridge. We just have to take every opportunity to savor our favorite food as we don't get to go Hong Kong as often as we like.

The busy crossing in front of the Penisula.

MTR station in Tsim Sha Tsui.