The Astronomer and I started off our final day in Hong Kong with a run. I tried my best to find joy in circling city blocks, but I couldn’t lie to myself very well and stopped after ten minutes. The Astronomer braved the traffic and crowds and got in a solid forty.

After showering up, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast at a Japanese bakery nearby. The Astronomer chose a blueberry cheese one ($6.50 HKD). After several bites, he sadly realized that the only blueberries in the entire pastry were the ones on the top. No one likes false advertising.

My egg tart ($3 HKD) didn’t fare much better. Firstly, it wasn’t kept warm. Secondly, it was flimsy because the filling didn’t quite set. And thirdly, the crust was too crumbly. Sigh. Perhaps we should have stuck to the house specialties like Japanese cheesecake.

After our quick bites, we headed to Bo Innovation in Causeway Bay for our much anticipated lunch, which I will report on in a separate post. Here’s The Astronomer composing a postcard to his family back in ‘Bama as we waited for lunch to be served.

Even though our meal at Bo included two desserts, I procured an egg tart from the Happy Cake Bakery because I was in the neighborhood. I am convinced that this little whole in the wall makes the city’s best. Damn, I could sure go for one right now.

After lunch, it dawned on me that I still hadn’t purchased any souvenirs during my stay in Hong Kong. The Astronomer and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for the perfect keepsakes for my mom and me. Although I was tempted by the tacky Mao wrist and pocket watches, I couldn’t bring myself to close the deal.

Afterwards, we headed to the Temple Street Night Market. On the way, The Astronomer bought an egg roll filled with daikon and carrots ($5 HKD) from a nameless stall. It wasn’t amazing, but it was deep-fried and thus pretty darn good.

The Temple Street Night Market ended up being a lame tourist trap, so we tucked into the Denny’s of Hong Kong (Jordan Road near Parkes Street, Kowloon) for an early dinner.

The Astronomer was in the mood for noodles and ordered a plate ($12 HKD). It had a bit of onion, a little soy sauce and a healthy sprinkling of MSG. Simple and satisfying.

We shared an order of pan fried dumplings ($12) stuffed with pork and scallions that were excellent. Although the boiled variety is healthier, the crispy skins are just plain yummier.

I washed the dumplings down with a wonderfully refreshing glass of cold sweetened soy milk ($7 HKD).

And for dessert we shared some sweet tofu ($16 HKD). The silken bean curd was served cold and topped with fruit cocktail. I must admit that the dessert looked quite ghetto, but it actually tasted really fabulous thanks in part to the fruit’s light syrup. Heavy syrup would have been too much.

On our post dinner stroll, I spotted a little joint called Hotel San Diego. I vow to stay here on my next trip to Hong Kong.

After Denny’s, we walked to the Kowloon waterfront to catch a little somethin’ somethin’ called Symphony of Lights, which is a nightly light display organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. The show stars the city’s skyscrapers and is set to music. I got bored after ten minutes. The skyline is impressive as is and doesn’t need the enhancement of lasers and muzak.

Here is the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, also located on Victoria Harbour. It’s a controversial piece of architecture due to its lack of windows. I like how it curves ever so slightly like the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Shiny happy people.

Here are the official mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. From left to right – Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

For our last supper, we went to Hing Kee Restaurant (19 Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei) for some classic Hong Kong clay pot rice. The Astronomer and I shared a hefty clay pot with Chinese sausage and chicken ($25 HKD).

The flavors were homey and comforting. The sausage was lovely, as was the crispy rice at the bottom.

And lastly, we ordered a side of Oyster Cake ($20 HKD), which is more or less a deep fried omelette with oysters and scallions. It tasted really great, especially dipped in a mild chili sauce.

After dinner we explored a nearby mega mall and marveled at the 14-story escalator.

Coke was holding a special event on the ground floor of the mall to hype the upcoming summer games. Activities included taking pictures with the Olympic torch and running on treadmills. Guess which one The Astronomer chose to participate in? For running his heart out for one whole minute, The Astronomer was awarded with a stuffed hockey playing polar bear.