Big bird

My taxi driver this morning missed a turn and then actually turned off the meter while he doubled back. Is this normal? There's also a sign inside the cabin that welcomes passengers to suggest a route to the driver.

Tonight I got a ride all the way out to Sham Tseng, a coastal area whose name means "deep well". On the trip over, I could see the magnificent bridges connecting Lantau Island to the rest of Hong Kong. My checklist of restaurants included going to Yung Kee for roast goose, but my uncle's friends said that it's mostly geared towards tourists whereas Yue Kee was popular with locals.

You would definitely have to live in the area to find this restaurant that's right next to the side of a mountain via a winding single-lane side street. Dinner was just so-so, everyone lamented, and included: roast goose with crispy skin, deep fried "white rice" fish in spicy batter, greens with fermented tofu, beef cubes stir fried with red pepper and mango, eggplant and ground pork, stir fried intestines with sweet pickled vegetable and squid in soy sauce. All the dishes were drowning in oil.

The practice of rinsing out ceramic cups, spoons and bowls with hot water or tea is something that we occasionally do in Canada if the place seems grungy, but here in Hong Kong, even the restaurants expect you to do it. They provide big bowls for you to discard the waste water.

MTV Asia: music videos are a lot more fun when you don't understand the lyrics.

I got a lift back to the Tsuen Wan MTR station, and ducked into an adjacent mall. One snack vendor was selling dried fruit (kiwi slices!) and nuts, jerkies and other bite-sized munchies, an impressive array. No photo, as I've been hesitant about taking pictures seeing as how many shopkeepers have waved me off recently.

Maybe I should play the innocent English-speaking tourist card more often.