World Wide House

World Wide House in Central is mostly known as a place where Filipina domestic helpers go to stock up on products from the Philippines. This means that there are a lot of shops here that sell Filipino snacks, beauty products -- including those ever-present and dangerous skin bleaching kits. Tsk!

However, World Wide House has a lot more things than just snack food and colonial mentality products. There are the usual shops selling clothing, jewellery and shoes, lots of tailors -- two of the best used to be housed here -- and even electronics shops. There are also lots of money remittance and foreign exchange places here with really good rates. Do have a look around, you'll find that they're very competitive. There are also a ton of door-to-door freight forwarders here.

You can also buy all sorts of phone cards for international calls.

World Wide House is also home to Chaip Coin, where you can buy almost any magazine you desire at a discounted price. Japanese, Korean, European...all kinds of magazines that you've never heard of talking about stuff you didn't think people would publish magazines about.

World Wide House also has this watch shop. This guy is quite famous for his hand-crafted watches. He's got some kind of special tourbillon technique. A fellow artisan! I hope to master my craft the way he has his.

And finally, World Wide House has lots of these little eateries with delicious Filipino food, a cuisine that I cannot believe most people have not tried. Filipino food is just plain fantastic. These eateries don't have the best kind, but they're a decent enough introduction. For HKD25, you get a scoop of rice and two viands of your choice.

入口店零食 part 2

I passed by 入口店零食 and guess what they have in stock right now! The big version of those ice cream cone icing snacks! They come in strawberry/chocolate, banana/chocolate and chocolate flavours and only cost HKD5.5 each.

They ran out of these the last time I visited the shop, so I ended up buying quite a few to hoard. These really make very cute gifts for all sorts of people, not just kids.

入口店零食

I can't begin to say how much I like this place. I'm not really big on snacks and not particularly fond of sweets, but I always enjoy browsing here for things to give to people.

The prices for their snacks are much lower than other places like Oishi Land and Aji Ichiban, and definitely much lower than at a supermarket like CitySuper or even Park N Shop. You also get a more varied (and sometimes, more puzzling) selection of stuff from Japan, Korea and China. And I really like the staff that work there, I always end up staying much longer than I intend because I end up chatting with them.

These are the displays out on the sidewalk. You've got juice and cookies. The blueberry ones look pretty good. I hate almond. I was forced to drink almond-flavoured soy milk (and Yakult) in school in Taiwan every day. In fact, a lot of the food I dislike stems from bad experiences in Taiwan, for some reason, even though I've had more awful experiences with food while living in Manila. One day, I might have the heart to talk about when I found a cockroach in my halo-halo and a gigantic fly in an ice cream cone.

Crackers.

And more crackers! The squash-flavoured ones on the right look pretty good, I must say. The nori (seaweed for those of you who don't nihongo) ones on the left don't seem as appetizing. I think it's just that they've scrimped on the nori, and it doesn't look very nice.

Inside, you've got some juice and energy drinks. I forgot to take a picture of a Japanese pop that I like a lot, oh well. Next time, maybe.

Honestly, not too much of a fan. The flavour is good but I don't like that super-crunchy texture.

Pudding. This is the closest thing they have to a healthy snack.

I don't really like chocolate (okay, I'm noticing that I keep saying that I don't like a lot of things) but these were quite good. They're crunchy-chewy oats that are a wee bit sticky but not gooey at all. The coffee- (which I also don't drink, haha...is there ANYTHING I like??) flavoured one is the best.

Little Halloween treat bags.

I need to buy these for my brother! These are instant noodles and, obviously, you cook them in the cup. My brother loves Astro Boy, I guess I know what to give him as a present next time I see him.

Korean crackers. I really like these but they're somehow unsatisfying because they're so light and fragile that you don't feel like you're eating as opposed to just nibbling.

Pretz. I've tried every flavour, and weirdly, I like salad flavour a lot even though -- yes, you guessed it -- I don't like salads.

I hope that poor dude got paid a lot to pose like that. These are pretty good, as well, although a bit on the sweet side. There's very little difference between the original flavour and chicken flavour.

Japanese nori.

And of course, my Korean cousins have to represent, too.

Alas, no Chinese nori. It was enough for us to invent it (I know there's no proof but everything starts from China, dammit), we are gracious enough to let our Japanese and Korean cousins carry out the work we started.

Little bite-sized pieces of seafood! I think these are for kids because I can't imagine an adult being satisfied. I'd have to eat at least ten packets just to feel somewhat okay.

Chinese snacks! They've got dried plums and...I don't know what the rest used to be before they were preserved. I think they're all different kinds of plums.

One thing you have to say about us Chinese, we don't shilly shally with our words. We say it like it is. You know exactly what you're getting from us!

I bought these candy sticks that look like back scratchers (although I suppose they're more for slapping hobbits with). They cost HKD4.5 each, so cheap, no?

However, Chabi doeesn't seem too impressed by them.

I also got these really great sweets -- if you need to buy things for kids, I highly recommend these. They're little ice cream cones filled with something like icing. Kids love them. In fact, I use them as treats for my (adult) guests, who also love them. They only cost about HKD34 for a package of ten.

入口店零食 is in North Point along King's Road. It's right next to Island Place, exit B at the North Point MTR Station, walk towards Island Place and you won't miss it.

North Point Egg Waffle

I don't know what this place is called, the sign on the shop simply says "Delicious egg waffles," so maybe that IS the name.

It's one of the most popular and famous egg waffle purveyors in Hong Kong. You can see from the queue (I think this was around nine or nine-thirty at night).

Lots of food critics and celebrities apparently love this place.

It's HKD13 (just under USD2) for a waffle, and HKD24 for two.

Sorry, I didn't feel like eating a waffle then so I don't have any waffle pictures. However, I have bought waffles there before, and they're quite good. They're very light and not too sweet. Some people like their waffles crunchy all throughout, and if you do, you won't like this one. Their waffles have delicately crispy skin but are soft and chewy underneath. I much prefer this texture.

This place is right around the corner from Island Place (yes, I spend a lot of time there, apparently), Exit B at North Point MTR Station. Keep walking along King's Road till you see Island Place up ahead. The waffle place is to the right just before you cross the street to Island Place.

Honeymoon Dessert + Das Gute Bäckerei Cafe (and Western Market)

You guys will have to excuse me for taking pictures of plastic food because I wasn't feeling dessert when I was around Honeymoon Dessert. I'd already filled up on bubble tea, oops.

Anyway, Honeymoon Dessert specializes in Taiwanese-style desserts. If you are a durian lover like me, you will really enjoy their coconut milk + durian + jelly selections. There are also durian rolls with mochi-type skin, which are really good, but I would need to eat at least four pieces to feel satisfied.

For those who sadly lack the refined palate to enjoy this most luxurious and decadent of fruit but still want to eat something fruity, the mango desserts (my brother really liked the Thai knock-off one served with black sticky rice and coconut cream) are probably better for you.

This is black sticky rice, coconut milk and pomelo.

Durian rolls. They also have mango ones.

A mixture of jellies and fruits in coconut milk.

Mango in mango cream.

I've also enjoyed their caramel pudding and their sticky rice ball sweet soups. There are a lot of things to choose from the menu, as you can see, and the prices are quite reasonable, around the HKD15 (USD2) to HKD70 range.

This is the Honeymoon Dessert in Western Market in Sheung Wan. Take the MTR to Sheung Wan Station and exit wherever it says "Western Market." Alternatively, take the streetcar with the label "Western Market," "Kennedy Town," or "Whitty Street Depot" and just get off when you see the building. There's another one in the IFC building in Central a floor or two above Hong Kong Station (where you can do early check-in). Exit IFC Mall in Central Station MTR. I have no idea where the other branches are.

Honeymoon Dessert is on the right side of the building in this picture where the big-boobs lady is.

Now, Western Market.

It's very unphotogenic lately because of the construction or maintenance going on. Honestly, the Government done fucked up on this because they could have made Western Market a real cool place with local craftsmen or just a place for people to hang out and enjoy. As it is, it's full of tacky tourist-trap shops and shitty food (aside from Honeymoon Dessert and the bakery I will discuss next).

Bäckerei Cafe (you'd think they'd use a more creative name) used to be called Das Gute, although my ex-husband used to refer to it as Das Expensive. It's a Western-style bakery, so you can get stuff like French bread (yes, in a German bakery, haha) there. It's not bad, and I do like their filled buns. I had a spicy sausage one before that was quite nice.

*update* Oops, I was kindly informed that it's still called Das Gute. The whole name is Das Gute
Bäckerei Cafe.

The prices range from HKD10 (just a little over USD1) for a bun and more for fancier types of bread. I do think it's rather expensive since it's not artisanal bread (which I will feature in a future post), but if you need a snack and you're in the area, anyway...

There's another Das Gute in Causeway Bay Station, just after Exit A towards Times Square.

While I was in the area, I chanced upon some uncle selling these things on the sidewalk. That telephone makes me laugh. It's not an antique, obviously, and it just looks so ridiculous. Can you imagine someone actually using it??

I liked the comb and mirror kit, but I was really drawn towards the teapots. I'm obsessed with this type of earthenware. These aren't a good sample, plus they're overpriced. I bought a really gorgeous antique one in the Beijing flea market a few years back that only cost me around HKD100. My parents have it, I think it's time for me to take it back.