Resort tea

Silvermine Beach Resort is looking better under new management so we decided to give the restaurant a second try. The prices are slightly higher than cha chaan teng prices in the village. 

But the atmosphere and view is definitely nicer. 

The food was okay, better than when we were first here two years ago. But still, a word of caution. Go for the local stuff because the chefs are obviously local.

Don't bother with the more exotic Southeast Asian food because they simply can't get it right here. This is supposed to be char kway teow, a Malaysian specialty. Instead, it was just rice noodles fried with curry powder, the way they do the spurious "Singapore noodles" everywhere in Hong Kong. It tastes weird, to say the least. 

 Their black pepper beef hor fun, a local specialty, tasted so much better.

Service still leaves a lot to be desired. We had to go and call our waiter and when he turned up eventually, he gave us only one menu to be shared between us. The food took half an hour to arrive.

I must say though, they were consistently slow throughout - the bill took forever to come and we could have walked off for all the staff cared.

Water dragons

This year is the Year of the Water Dragon and it certainly looks like it at Mui Wo's Dragonboat Festival. The morning session was a bit of a washout.

But in the afternoon, the sun came out and the party atmosphere picked up.

I may be biased but I think Mui Wo has the best dragonboat races because you can watch the entire race from the shore. In other places, you only just get to see the boats come in.

Check out the action.

Setting up stalls

The stalls beside Silvermine Beach Resort appear to have all been taken up. They have some pretty stuff there, from jewellery to wooden boxes handpainted with cute cats.

 I think they'll be making a roaring business at the Dragonboat Festival tomorrow.

Jamie Oliver comes to Mui Wo...

... or at least his spices have. 

Loi Chan Frozen Meat Company (Tel: 2984-8346) in Chung Hau has really grown since I last featured it.

It now has a much larger selection of meats, from US Angus rib eye to Brazilian pork butt (!) and New Zealand lamb shank.

In fact, we had to stand by the freezer for a full 10 minutes while deciding between the Cumberland and Lincolnshire pork sausages (HK$65 for 6). We got the Cumberland but I think we'll be going back for the Lincolnshire soon.

Summer planting

The Mui Wo municipal council may be lacking in many ways but what is does well is ensure the town looks pretty with fresh bedding plants.

 The workmen are hard at work putting in fresh flowers in time for the Dragonboat Festival.

It's dragonboat time again

Mui Wo's dragonboat races are set for June 10. Last year we had loads of fun at the races so am looking forward to them again...

 ... especially when they create lots of excitement in the weeks before. I was dozing off on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I heard some commotion in the sea off the dock. Turns out they were unloading a dragonboat in preparation for the race.

 I wasn't in time to catch the boat being unloaded. But I'll probably be seeing it again come June 10.

Fluff and stuff

The recent strong winds appear to have knocked the stuffing out of the kapok trees.