I cannot get used to this...

The last time I came to visit my family in Hong Kong was 4 years ago, and my grandma obviously would prefer to have me visit more often (which is hard when you have no money and plane tickets are expensive). So you might be able to imagine how spoiled I'm getting right now hahaha (I was treated to a stir-fried lobster tail dish in my first dinner here!).

Yesterday (Sunday) was my grandma's birthday (my trip was perfectly timed!), so we obviously had to celebrate. Let me tell you, if you've never been to Hong Kong, the Chinese here know how to celebrate birthdays (usually very big/lavish feasts). So to celebrate her birthday, my uncle first took all of us (me, my grandma, his wife and daughter, and my aunt) to a brunch buffet at one of the many Hong Kong Jockey Club centers here (of which he is a member). If you don't know about the Hong Kong Jockey Club, they do everything with high-class style (and if you do, you'll know how my brunch went without further reading haha). In the simplest way: the food was awesome. Juicy, tender roast beef, fresh tuna and salmon sashimi, Australian oysters (don't eat the local ones if you ever come to Hong Kong...take one look at the nearby water and you'll know why), shrimp on ice and in cocktails (with scallops), crab legs, roast quail, duck breast cooked to a tender medium, custom-made ice cream (similar to Coldstone Creamery...except you can obviously choose as many toppings as you want...mmm pecans haha), all-you-can-drink-including-alcohol (Carlsberg beer, my fave), veal with white tuna sauce (it was great, trust me), creme brulee, light and fresh lime sherbert, caramel pudding with citrus compote, chocolate fondue, real parmesan cheese mashed potatoes with truffles...I could go on forever but there was too much to list, and I'm getting hungry just thinking about it again haha. But I got caught up in the lavish food and atmosphere and forgot to snap some pics!

It's not over yet...then for dinner, another feast. This time, my uncle took all six of us to another fancy looking restaurant. I had real abalone (not a small one either), shark fin soup with bird's nest (usually you'll just get plain shark fin soup...if you've never had bird's nest, I know it sounds disgusting, but all you need to know is it's considered a delicacy and to be very healthy, it's clear and tasteless, has a jelly like consistency, and is obviously quite expensive), Japanese snow crab legs...like I said, the Chinese in Hong Kong really know how to eat (if they can afford it). And again no pictures, because I left my camera at my grandma's house (it's a long story which I won't elaborate on, but basically I went directly to the restaurant from another place where I didn't need my camera)! The traditional Chinese don't usually eat birthday cake on their birthday, instead they eat a lotus-paste-filled bun that is white and purple and shaped to look like a peach, I only know its Cantonese name: sao bao (Google it to see a pic of it). Very delicious, especially when it's fresh and piping hot. Usually for big banquets, they're made very small so everyone can get one and the restaurant saves money (think one-bite size), but these were huge (the size of my fist)! I really wish I had my camera!

So was it a good day? My stomach would say "Yes!" But I definitely cannot get used to this, since I'm on a budget and Japan is expensive (meaning I'll be eating much less and much less lavishly). Tomorrow is my birthday though!...I can only imagine what dinner will be like hahaha. And I'm working on getting some pictures up, my Internet connection here is very slow, and the computer is very old.