So the NYU gang is headed to
Japan for "reading week" (ha, who really reads during reading week anyway). The day started out as any normal day. We headed to Mong Kok, again, to pick up the plane tickets and get other affairs settled. We were quite famished afterwards since the ordeal took so long and none of us had eaten yet.
SO! To start off, we went to a local favorite,
Gindaco, for some takoyaki. I don't know why Phil always insists on knowing what is about to enter his body and possibly lead to hours on the toilet - it takes away from the fun of eating it! Hehehe.
After that "snack," we wandered around, trying to find this local noodle place that Anita's mom took her to, but to no avail. Luckily, we saw the beautiful orange sign of Yoshinoya calling us over. We all got the student discounted beef bowl - basically a rice bowl with really fatty meat and beef fat soaked rice. Dericious. Phil almost choked to death on the mango jelly dessert that came with the meal. Logically, since Phil almost killed himself, we just had to make Paul give it a shot. As always, we had to be loud and obnoxious Americans, making a ruckus everywhere we go. Thus, we began egging Paul on to slurp the mango jelly in one gulp, without choking of course. Phil tried to give him a bit of advice: "Bring it in, slurp, to the side to the side, bring it into the cheek, cheek, we want puffy cheeks, and then slowly chew. Puffy cheek, then chew. Slurp, GO!" Ah, that was a good video. Yoshinoya, woo!
Now, every time I go to Mong Kok, I have to make a stop at my beloved Hui Lau San. But! Anita and I remembered there was a Beard Papa nearby! Since Paul never had a Beard Papa before, and Phil's only had it once (can you believe these kids. crazy, I know.), we just had to go. And! They have ice cream puffs here! Ah, chocolate ice cream, scooped into a Beard Papa puff goodness. ::drool:: They taste better here than in Manhattan. Yea, that's right. Be jealous. HA!
Paul had to be a party pooper and actually went to class (pshhh, what a loser). Anita, Phil, and I headed to Causeway Bay to kill some time before Anita's friend, James, came to join us. When he got there, we didn't know what to do with him. Naturally, we thought of more food and took everyone to a popular durian dessert place near the World Trade Center, Lucky Dessert. Anita loves the durian shake, James had quite a bit too, Phil was a trooper and tried it, and Kathy chickened out and ate the mango mochi =P I know it's surprising, but even I have my limits.
Now Lucky Dessert is situated right next to this popular sushi joint, Itamae Sushi. It's a conveyer belt sushi bar that's really cheap, so it's always packed. Last time we tried to go the wait was about 3-4 hours. Our number was 187, and they were up to number 43. o_O.... Right before we went for durian, the place was empty. Not even half an hour later, it was packed and the line was already starting to form! But, we were fated to go because there was room for 4 in the corner of the restaurant. We killed quite a bit of sushi considering it was only supposed to be a snack. The fatty tuna there was so delicious. It just melted in your mouth. Oh man. And the soft shell crab rolls were also really good. I hope we get to go again some time.
If all this wasn't enough (yes there's more), 7-Eleven was right around the corner, so to put a nice close to our unexpected prequel to Japan day, we went for some ice cream mochi. Unfortunately I stabbed the crap of mine, rather unexpectedly, causing Phil to drop it on the floor. Haha, whoops.
Everyone went home after that and assed out from food coma.
Gindaco
Yum, takoyaki.
don't we look so sexy.
Yoshinoya
the beef bowl of fat.
taken right before he choked himself half to death
Beard Papa
ice cream puffs?! no way! it's ingenious i tell you, ingenious.
the regular || chocolate ice cream puff || eclair puff || chocolate ice cream puff
Paul approves.Lucky Dessert
durian shake || mango mochi || strawberry tapioca sago thing
Phil contemplates life after eating the durian.
James: "Do I really smell that bad?"
The mango mochi was good.Itamae Sushi
the sushi belt.
sushi, that comes to you?? what more could you ask for!
Cheers, to the dericious soft shell crab rolls.
our conquest.
do you see that line?? that's not even everyone.7-Eleven
ice cream mochi outside of 7-Eleventhe bus
two words: food coma But, me being me, I went out again with Danny for some Dou Jian (soy bean milk) and herbal jelly. Ha..ha..ha..
And after all that, I never got to eat that bowl of intestines that I was dying for. -_-
I've come across quite a bit of durian in my journeys through Asia. When I was in Thailand and Malaysia, this stuff was everywhere. Oh man. That stench just would not go away no matter how hard I tried to escape it. There's a dessert place here, Lucky Dessert, in Causeway Bay that specializes in Durian pancakes. To me, it tastes the way it smells, and has the texture of mashed potatoes. Bleh.
and bread.
Drooool.
