Day 5

I normally try not to sleep in too much on holiday, but this morning it was well needed, so we missed our included breakfast. Alot of late nights are catching up.

After doing some blogging in the morning our room service lady came in and I requested an iron so I could prepare my clothes for the wedding tonight.
I wouldn't call myself an expert at ironing, but I managed to make myself look presentable (I think).

With that aside, Michelle and I headed out for some brunch. Ended up at a pretty fancy Japanese restaurant near our hotel. Michelle ordered a Wagyu Beef Stir fry and I got a Tomato Soup with Udon Noodles with Burger Meat and Salad - which I really enjoyed! It hardly seems Japanese, but tasted good!

Michelle ended up finding a decent hair salon to prepare for the wedding tonight and I headed back to the hotel to finish my ironing (yes, im slow), shave, etc.

We were finally both ready to get to this wedding so we got our hotel staff to hail us a cab and headed through the tunnel to Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island at The Regal Hotel where the reception was being hosted.

The Regal was a very nice hotel! Michelle and I both agreed that we looked posh enough to fit the part! :) ...for tonight anyway.

The reception was held in a function room in the second basement and was filled with family and friends. Although most of the people were family who live in Hong Kong, there were also a few people from Thailand, and Jillian (who is good friends with Henry - Julia's husband) and us from Melbourne.

The reception started with some speeches and photo slide shows and then onto a traditional Chinese Banquet.

I have to say it was pretty cool! The banquet consisted of about 10 courses of traditional Chinese food where every table had a staff member handing out bowls via a Lazy Susan.

I had never had alot of this food, and managed to have a taste of just about everything. Being typical tourists, every time a new dish would come out, the 3 of us would pull out our cameras to take some photos - this was pretty new and exciting for us :)

Below are the photos and descriptions of the dishes we had:

Barbequed Whole Suckling Pig

Sauteed Scallops and Elm Fungus with Vegetable

Sauteed Shrimps with Birds Nest and Vegetables

Braised Marrow Stuffed with Whole Conpoy (which is a dry Scallop)

Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Birds Nest and Shredded Chicken

Braised Whole Abalone and Sea Cucumber with Vegetables

Steamed Fish Sea Garoupa

Fried Rice with Diced Chicken in Abalone Sauce

Sweetened Red Bean Cream with Lotus Seeds and Lily Bulbs AND Chinese Petits Fours

In addition to all this food, there were drinks coming around constantly too. There were soft drinks and juices, which were surprisingly really popular, tea, red wine and some really strong cognac!

This cognac has a pretty nice smell, but as I tipped the glass to have a drink, the smell became so powerful it felt like the fumes were burning my nose and eyes! It's probably just because I don't normally drink cognac, but it was seriously strong!

All in all, I had a pretty good time, and I considered myself lucky to be part of a traditional Chinese banquet. I don't know how many Aussies would get to experience this very traditional family event.

Gan Bei!