This is some damn good ramen. I'm not talkin' fancy Japanese ramen either. I'm talkin' grade-A straight outta the packaging instant noodles called Demae Itcho [Chinese: 出前一丁 or chut cheen yut ding]. I'm sure you've seen it before. It's the brand with the little blond Japanese kid with the wooden sandals. Yeah, that's right. Throw in some fried chicken, a side of ginger and scallions, a bit of veggies, a few dashes of Maggi sauce, take away the soup and you've got yourself a lo-mein masterpiece [or lo-ding as they call it here]. Oh, and don't forget the best friggin' hot milk tea in Hong Kong. 
We're here chowing down at a dive called Lan Fong Yuen, our new addiction. Ray took us here last week and we've been back several times since then. The place is basically a dai pai dong (street dining) that moved into a hole in the wall. Believe me, that's considered an upgrade. 
Part of the kitchen is outside, where a man wearing a newspaper as an apron is frying up various meats. Next to him is a woman stationed at a big sink with buckets of dirty dishes waiting to be washed. 
And across from her is a dude in shorts and a wife beater whose only job it is to brew up the magic milk tea. Walk past the pseudo-kitchen and enter a crammed dining room filled with locals, business people on their lunch break, and tourists alike. Don't expect to sit at your own table, and be prepared to dine with a total stranger like he or she is part of your party. 
Today, we're sharing a table with three other couples. We can tell from their Cantonese that one of the couples is from HK. The other is speaking Mandarin, probably from the mainland or Taiwanese. Then there's us... the Americans speaking English. Funny how we're all so similar, but so very different in many ways. Regardless of our origins, we're all enjoying our lo-dings. Order the "sum daw daw" and you'll get a smorgasbord of fried chicken wings, a runny egg, marinated pork, and veggies over a bed of chut cheen yut ding noodles. 
Wash it down with their famous hot milk tea and maybe an order of condensed milk toast as a chaser, and you'll be needing rehab before leaving the door {if they had a door). Or, you can just sit there with a big grin on your face like the wifey. I think she's happy. After basking in instant noodle bliss, we make our way up to Victoria Peak to enjoy the sweeping views of Hong Kong from 1,810 feet above sea level.
There's a funicular called the Peak Tram that climbs straight up the mountain, but the line is filled with mainlanders so we decide to take the siew baa [minibus] up instead... a much more pleasant experience. Once up there, we make our way up the Peak Tower. Yeah, everything up here is named the Peak This or the Peak That... not very original, but you get the idea. Anyway, the Peak Tower is a peculiarly shaped building that looks like a giant slice of watermelon with an observation deck, a perfect place to fight the crowds to catch a glimpse of the beautiful sunset and snap a shot of the skyline. Random Stuff:
Today is bank day. We visit the HSBC building to admire the architecture. The building was built with feng shui in mind, and legend has it that the owners wanted it designed in such a way that they could take it apart and ship the whole building somewhere else in case the 1997 Handover didn't go well. - A little known fact: you can go up to the 43rd floor of the Bank of China building to admire the views.
- Tsui Wah Restaurant has hella good buns. Yum.
Bank of China Building
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