Hui Lao Shan , Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong

My favourite dessert in Hong Kong .. todate (since last trip). Simple stuff which is available locally BUT still seems to taste so much better there. One, Hak-Chi-Ma-Tongyuen aka Glutinous Rice Ball Filled With Thick Black Sesame Paste within. Look somewhat like this. Unbelievably so but I kept forgetting to take pictures although been visiting a particular shop at Tsim Tsa Tsui. *Bow head in shame* Err.. cannot even remember the quaint shop’s name. Consequence of total friend dependency.

Okay, *put on brave front* on to my second favourite dessert at the ever buzzing metropolitan – Mango Pudding! Don’t fret as for this dessert I have got plenty of pictures although most turned out quite blurry. Must be my stiff fingers due to having iced desserts in the moderately cold weather. On second thoughts, maybe it was due to my notorious shopping girlfriends anxious to get back onto the streets. Nevertheless this trip we managed to have it twice. Wheeee..

Cash only:- HKD30.00 about RM15.00 per bowl of ecstasy.

Location:- This shop has branches dotting on almost every corner.

Note:- We did try a few other items on the menu such as this Coconut Milk with Birds' Nest and Mango in Coconut Milk with Glutinous Rice at the bottom.Verdict:- I'll stick to my simple plain Mango Pudding.

Mangoes available in Hong Kong are imported from Philipines. As promised in my earlier post to tell a tale, I googled and took a bite here.

Long time ago, so this Philippine myth goes, in a wooden villa deep in the forest was a beautiful lady. An only daughter of an old, old couple, they wanted her married as soon as possible. They feared dying without seeing her married. This Philippine myth says Pangga was her name, meaning “object of love” in the vernacular. Aside from her arresting natural pulchritude, she was very industrious, kind, and smart with rustic wisdom. Moreover, Pangga knew a lot of trade skills that had earned her quite a bit of money. Thus, her parents wanted nothing but the best man for her. But Pangga fell for a local poet, a professional dreamer. He was known in the village as a desperate writer whose works of poetry made meager money. This Philippine myth continues that Manong, the dreamer, lived in the fields and slept in mangers. He was the town’s vagrant. But one thing about him; he had a knack for speaking sweet nothings, a full-pledged sweet talker who could promise the sun, moon and stars to the one his eyes beheld. Girls in town went crazy for him (though they never bought his poems) but his eyes were only for Pangga. His sweet nothings never fooled old folks, though. His own parents, when still alive, often remarked “Please cut out the sweet pleasantries!” when he was at his verbal talent again. In the vernacular the remark went “Manong magtigil ka nga!” So, as this Philippine myth goes, they gave him the nickname Manong. Pangga’s parents never bought Manong’s promises of bringing down the sun and moon to shine on their forest-dimmed bungalow and other sweet nothings. “You’re always saying that sun-moon conversation of yours. That’s all you know!” Pangga’s parents mocked him. But Manong and Pangga sought to stubbornly keep their love vows till their dying day. Then, the Philippine myth says, one day they disappeared in the woods.The Philippine myth ends with a discovery of a new kind of tree. Its fruit was a bit crescent-shaped like the moon, yellow like the sun, and sweet like Manong’s tongue. It was rich in nutrition as Pangga’s multi-faceted genius. In time it was called “Manga,” a mix of their names, and today’s vernacular for mango.