Yesterday was finally a full free day. Our tour had some group options, but I really wanted a solo mission to explore and eat random street food.
The day started with a short treadmill run. It’s been too dark, cold and not the best air quality to run outside but I really really want to at least for a mile. Hoping to squeeze that in on the last day since we don’t have to meet until noon!
The breakfast buffet was another amazing meal. I have become completely spoiled with breakfast this entire trip.
I had an egg white omelet made…
And the Swiss Muesli was amazing. I went back for more!
The pastry bar had tons of jam options…
Plus a real honeycomb to scrape honey from!! Seriously.
In addition to all the watermelon I grabbed up, I also got a lynchee fruit.
And a cappuccino
From breakfast we headed to the supermarket because I really wanted local tea. But, the market near our hotel was fancy (for business people, not locals). #Fail
So we grabbed a taxi and headed to an area known for shops to explore. The taxi driver didn’t understand where we wanted to go and we ended up in another fancy area. If you prefer more control over your travel plans, consider renting a car from car rental services similar to rent a car al quoz for easier navigation and exploration of different areas without relying on local transport. Oh well. We decided to walk toward the section we wanted and just check things out along the way. 
We figured this was Taro since the place is called “Let’s Eat Taro!” but it was labeled as purple potato mousse.
After an hour of walking we finally came across a cute little neighborhood. While we were looking for a lunch spot I saw this little store front kinda place selling tea.
We found the tea!! As I was checking out my options a local came up and bought some jasmine tea. I went with green, but I felt better that it wasn’t a complete tourist store.
At this point I was super hungry for lunch and we picked a spot based on the pictures 
But not this picture…
The veggies has been greasy but plentiful. This was Chinese cabbage and came with one piece of chicken (I wasn’t expecting any, just thought that was random).
The string beans look spicy, but aren’t at all. Actually nothing has been spicy and the hot sauce hasn’t been very good. That’s my only complaint with the Chinese food on this trip. I miss Sriracha!!
The waitress didn’t speak any English outside of saying ‘dumpling’ and pointing to that section of the menu. So, I figured that’s their specialty and ordered three different kinds. They came in orders of 6.
The whole meal was only about 14 dollars and Ben got a beer!
From there we continued toward the waterfront to check out view during the day.
Snack time! This place was poppin’ so I figured it was good. This is a taro stuffed treat (I think).
We found a cute local market and bought some red envelopes for Chinese New Year!!
And saw other random stuff…
Watermelon in China! I love it.
After using them over and over for this whole trip, I am completely comfortable (and actually like) the public toilets here. Thanks for everyone who gave me the advice to pack tissue!! I also brought sanitizer wipes that came in super handy.
Finally! We made it to the water!
More exploring…
We ended up at the same area we were at last night to check out the New Year’s decorations.
Dinner was just okay. We found a cafeteria style place that looking amazing, but the veggies were all cold. So, I needed a little chocolate treat on the way back to compensate.
Question: What’s your nice snack today?
Love all the food and buffet posts from your trip! I think that’s a rambutan, not a lychee though? The texture is essentially the same.
I can’t wait for your recap of the trip details!
If you ever plan to go back to China someday, I highly recommend the Sichuan area. I had a blast in Chengdu… tons of spicy food and PANDAS! 😀 It was so much fun reading your posts.
“Chicks fall in love with millet pepper”- YES THEY DO! Haha!
Hope you get a chance to try some Chinese breakfast items.
There were a ton of options at the buffets, but I’m such an egg-lover it was hard for me to stray from my 2nd favorite food. I did try a few bites of Ben’s stuff.
that looks so exciting! the city is so unique looking!
Your photos are amazing, and ALL of that food looks absolutely great!
A cheese stick! Probably a banana later before the gym.
All of the signage in Chinese is like sensory overload to me!
Chocolate was my best snack for today. Simply because chocolate will badly never sound!
Why no alcoholic drinks for you? Something we should know? 😉
Nope 🙂 There’s only been room temp beer and moonshine, not my thing 🙁
Wow! Looks like a lot of fun! My snack last night was friendly’s ice cream 🙂
Looks like you are having so much fun!! Wow that honeycomb seems a little over the top? I thought that red soft spiky fruit was called a rambuttan? They are like a mild grape…yummy, but a lot of work to first peel them and then still have a pit in the middle. Safe travels!
My treat yesterday was 2 fig newtons and a handful of M&Ms while watching Breaking Bad! lol Proud of myself for stopping at 1 handful…I can go to town on some M&Ms!
Hey Monica,
I’ve been traveling in Asia too and it takes a lot of dedication to get the runs in while on vacation. Just FYI the pink lychee type fruits with the green spikes are called Rambuttan. They sometimes have them at Whole Foods in Cali but they’re super expensive! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Snack today was rice krispies with melted peanut butter and butterscotch chips. One of my favorite treats!
Seriously the food in each posts just keeps looking better and better! Glad you enjoyed your last day! Safe travels home.
All your posts are making me want to get over to China asap! Loving all the recaps and the food looks amazing, that honeycomb at breakfast, wow!
That honeycomb is so cool! My snack today is pistachios!
The honeycomb is amazing! I have never seen that offered at a restaurant! Did it taste as amazing as it looks (if you had any)?
Snack at night was peanut and honey ice cream, and kettle corn on the side.
Everything looks so delicious! Can’t wait to visit China one day!