MangoVine
Adventures in East Asia

Thailand & Cambodia posts coming up!


Welcome! Please note that MangoVine is updated daily pending travel net connections (honest!), but the post dates show when our experiences happened. Thanks for reading! (Mark & Linh, Jan 10) 02 February, 2010
Tuesday Chinese New Year Cartoon Lanterns in Hong Kong
As Chinese New Year approaches (February 14th) decorative preparations have already begun anywhere and everywhere public in Hong Kong. At Shatin Central Park, the end next to the bridge over the Shing Mun River is paved over (incorporating water features) and like last year (or perhaps annually), has been populated with large Chinese lantern characters.

Lanterns-428-1

I took some photos late afternoon, just after the lanterns switched on and though there are alot of them, the displays still haven't been finished yet.

Read more... 24 January, 2010
Sunday Hong Kong Shopping Mall Seasonal Displays
In Shatin's New Town Plaza shopping mall, they've just put up yet another massive display in the "main hall" - the largest open area in the complex which happens to be viewable from the entrance to the mall from the Shatin MTR station.

New-Town-Plaza

These displays, which must have cost a bomb by Hong Kong standards, appear every time there's a possible reason (seasonal, events, sponsored exhibition etc) and its not just Shatin, but most other large malls it seems. We see what happens in the Shatin New Town Plaza regularly as we go to the Physical gym there.

Read more... 16 January, 2010
Saturday Eating in Yuen Long
Out in the north western New Territories sits Yuen Long, a New Town that was on our list to visit purely to continue on via bus to Lau Fau Shan, an oyster gathering and fishing village a few kilometres away.

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However, we found ourselves there this evening as some of our UK friends visiting Hong Kong were staying there. Since we went on a Saturday evening, the town was pretty busy with people out to eat.

Read more... 15 January, 2010
Friday Portable Travel Photography
The weight of my camera had always been a consideration of mine when I first began planning our travels but I took photo-documenting what we see seriously so I never settled for less than a DSLR. I've been lugging a three-year-old Nikon D80 about with an 18-70mm lens.

Incense-Burner

When Olympus released their E-P1 (disclaimer: affiliate link), a smaller compact camera with interchangeable lens and a DSLR quality photos, I kept my eye on it closely, as the price (over £600) kept me from buying it straight away. I then heard about its slow focusing and then subsequently saw Panasonic release their Lumix GF1 model (disclaimer: affiliate link) which touted much faster focusing.

Read more... 31 December, 2009
Thursday Impressive Bamboo Scaffolding Tower in Hong Kong
I mentioned my early "appreciation" of Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolders earlier in the year, and so was equally amazed at the scale of the use of this renewable material on a few tower blocks in my local town Tai Po.

Taipo-Tower-Bamboo-Scaffold

Clad around the surface of what looks like a forty-storey tower block must be the mother of all bamboo scaffolding. I know nothing about construction but my guess is the structure facilitates workers to carry out light exterior work to the building.

Perhaps those platform outcrops extending every ten floors or so are there to catch any fallen workers. 21 December, 2009
Monday Tim Ho Wan - One Michelin Starred Dim Sum in Hong Kong - World’s Cheapest Michelin Star Restaurant
I came across a ripple of blog posts online about a newish dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong (Kowloon) which had recently been awarded a Michelin Star and of course, Linh and I had to go. Called Tim Ho Wan, the place now seems to be the world's cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant.

Tim-Ho-Wan2

If you didn't know it, Michelin ratings range from one to three stars and there are only a few hundred awarded in the whole world. Practically all serve expensive meals.

Read more... 21 December, 2009
Monday Finding Cheap Branded Beauty Supplies in Hong Kong
Two things I love about Hong Kong's retail industry. Shops move fast with old places closing and new ones opening quickly in the space of a few months, and different areas of Hong Kong can specialise in certain products creating hubs for some types of goods. Both these things seem to create and reflect the competitive nature of one of the Hong Kong people's favourite pastimes (shopping, with another being eating), and clusters like-minded shops together for the convenience of customers.

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I came across a post on the blog Hong Kong Hustle about finding cheap beauty supplies, meaning cheaper than other areas in Hong Kong and not just internationally. Of course, this was for Linh and not me.

Read more... 04 December, 2009
Friday Street Food in Bangkok
Unless you're a street food phobic, the stuff is unavoidable in Bangkok, but for good reason. Street food is everywhere, quite varied and cheap as well as delicious! This post isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing or guide to what's available - Nomadic Matt has written a great post for that - but it does show a few of the things we saw and tried out.

Pickles3

For snacks, it wasn't surprising to come across a box of spices to go with some cut pieces of green mango and other fruit. Being a fan of pickles, seeing the stuff makes my mouth water!

Read more... 03 December, 2009
Thursday Avoiding Rip Off Taxis in Bangkok
Avoiding rip-off taxi drivers in any country is a common tip in many a guide, but of course we have our own experience to share, which luckily didn't put us out of pocket. In fact, having now visited several countries in East Asia, we found that we begin to grasp the legitimacy of many transactions we make as visitors anyway.

Pink-Taxi

With Bangkok, the crowds of adorable pink taxis really make you think that nothing can go wrong but as far as the drivers go, they still want your money.

Read more... 03 December, 2009
Thursday Tickly Fish Therapy at Suan Lum Night Bazaar
After a busy day walking, a fish massage wasn't necessarily going to rub away the aches and pains, but a dip in the water would help refresh my feet. Linh had already given a go at fish therapy in Singapore in September, so I had to try it out too.

Sl-Fish2

After washing my feet in a separate basin, I then took a seat over a tank of doctor fish and began a 15 minute feet session. Well, I'm not a massive fan of foot massages generally, and having particularly ticklish feet, I couldn't leave them at the mercy of the fish for more than a few minutes at a time!

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