Last week during a whirldwind 30 hours in Hong Kong, I was able to take a few minutes out of my hectic schedule to get some takeaway from the “in” dim sum shop in Taikoo, Hong Kong: West Villa Restaurant. Located inside the Cityplazza shopping center, which like the EAST Hotel, is owned by the SWIRE Group, West Villa Restaurant was highly recommended to me by the EAST Hotel, so I decided to give it a shot whilst I was in the midst of shopping for supplies.

View inside of the restaurant

Not having a lot of time, I proceeded to get two orders of the cha siu bao (aka steamed pork buns) as I am constantly deprived of them in Japan (I know only one good place here and it’s out of the way for me), and even the past two trips to Hong Kong, I wasn’t able to eat any, so this was my chance.

Eats on display...

The manager and a senior staff member spoke English just fine, but after ordering, they tucked off and left me with “the help.” Not surprisingly, this person didn’t speak English, but fortunately we were able to communicate in Mandarin about the manager coming back in a few minutes with my change and food. Not exactly what I had hoped for as I was hoping to get my change right away, dash to the shop next door and buy something and then come back, but at least I knew they didn’t forget about me.

The goods

Finally, after a wait of about 6 or 7 minutes, I received my order and headed back to the hotel after a quick stop at the shop next door.

The result: delicious!!!

I’ve seen some complaints about West Villa Restaurant being too crowded, running out of food at night, etc, but for me, a guy getting take-out in the middle of the day, it was for the most part a very smooth experience. As for the food, the cha siu bao was fantastically delicious. If I end up staying at EAST next time (I usually do Hilton Hotels myself, but Conrad Hong Kong isn’t exactly a business hotel, now is it?), I’ll try to give the dine-in experience at West Villa a chance. For me, this hit the spot exactly when I needed it, and let me chomp on one of my favorite foods in the world during a hectic schedule.

This past Thanksgiving, or rather, Pre-Thanksgiving, I was able to take some time out of a brief trip home (from Japan) to create an even briefer sub-trip to New York City. So nested betwixt my NRT-SFO and SFO-SEA-NRT longhaul flights, I squeezed a San Francisco to New York (SFO-JFK-SFO) trip on United p.s. and flew in business (discounted Z fare) on the outbound and on the way back (upgraded from Economy).

So with just two nights at the Embassy Suites on North End (one night booked using HHonors Points and one night booked with cash…and yes, upon check-in you can ask them to link the bookings so you don’t have to change rooms! However, I did get a welcome snack kit each night thanks to my status!), I decided to squeeze in as much as I could:

November 23, 2010:

• 7:05AM to 3:40PM: SFO-JFK on UA 6 (Z) – flight arrived very early!
• Circa 4:00PM: checked into the Embassy Suites
• 5:00PM: Dinner at Salaam Bombay Indian Cuisine (Exquisite cuisine, though a bit expensive, food is not your everyday Indian but rather perfect for special occasions and fine dining. I’d definitely go back there again!)
• Watched Stargate Universe on SyFy (can’t miss my SGU!)
• Late night carrot cake at Pick a Bagel (yum!)

November 24, 2010:

• Embassy Suites breakfast buffet (pretty solid as far as breakfast at American hotels go, though it’s no Waldof=Astoria!)
• Hook and Ladder No. 8 (Ghostbusters Firehouse)
• Empire State Building
• New York Public Library (used in the opening scene of the original Ghostbusters)
• Radio City Music Hall
• Rockefeller Square (and a very naked Christmas tree!)
• Lunch at Crif Dogs (I will say this now: THE BEST CORN DOG…EVER!)
• Rockit Scientist Records (used as Ray’s Occult Books in Ghostbusters II)
• Times Square
• Quick nibble from a Halal cart by News Corp.
• The Pee-Wee Herman Show (At the Stephen  Sondheim Theater, this was a great trip down memory lane. I’m really happy about the Paul Reubens comeback, and this satisfied both the nostalgia in me and the need for some very current entertainment. It was nice to see Pee-Wee even make a few jokes at himself in passing. This is a must-see for anyone in NYC with a sense of humor and it’s gone on January 2nd so act fast!)
• John’s Pizzeria (I’ve been here before and it was just as good as last time…and a nice escape from the FREEZING cold of a Manhattan Thanksgiving’s Eve!)

November 25, 2010:

• 7:11AM to 10:55AM: JFK-SFO on UA 5 (NC) and had a very happy Thanksgiving

Without further ado, here are the pictures:

New York is always a fun place to visit (I head there one or twice a year), and hopefully next time I have a little more than 48 hours to put around! Hope you all had a good holiday, too.