The Gold Coast

Tuen Mun's Gold Coast Piazza is one of my favorite places to go during the summer months because of the nearby Gold Coast Beach.  Since it is still sunny and a bit warm, we headed over to the Gold Coast to soak up some sun and to also catch check out if anything had changed over the past year.

One thing that changed, which might be old news to everyone but me!, is that the Gold Coast Piazza doesn't have their independent handicraft sellers along the promenade anymore.  They do have some kiosks within the Piazza, but it doesn't seem as lively as it used to be,

Like most of the public spaces around Hong Kong, there are Christmas decorations displayed to welcome the holiday season.

One of the great places to soak up some sun and also catch the sunset is along the Gold Coast Piazza's promenade.  It overlooks a yacht docking lot, which is pretty amazing to view.  Ever since I moved to Seattle, I would look out at yachts and wonder what cool things they had inside, where they had come from and where their next destination was.  So, it's really nice to sit and just view the yachts in the lot and day dream about going around the world in one of them!

Another wonderful thing about the promenade is that there are benches to take a rest on.

The sun, nowadays, seems to begin setting around 5:30 pm, which is right before dinner time.  So, it was perfect to just sit and watch the sun set and then have a romantic dinner somewhere in one of the eateries in the Piazza.

While we were watching the sunset, I also spotted a hummingbird, which I tried to capture with my camera.  Impossible.  If you can spot it, you have a wonderful eye for detail.

This was actually the second time that I had seen a hummingbird up here in the New Territories.  The first time I ever saw one was when I was walking along the waterway.  I actually thought a huge wasp was buzzing around one of the flower pots along the path.  But, then I realized that it was the smallest bird I'd ever seen.

Also, it seems like it must be graduation season because there were a lot of people along the promenade that were taking photos dressed in graduation cap and gowns.  It definitely was quite a picturesque time of day.

Though the Piazza is quite small, there are quite a bit of places where you can eat.

Because I was craving some Ebeneezer's again, we headed over to get some lamb briyani, mango lassis and palak paneer.

For dessert, we got some cotton candy from one of the vendors nearby, which totally took me back to childhood.  I can't even remember the last time I had a cotton candy.

I would classify today as one of the best days of my week.  It was lovely spending some quality time with my husband…especially up at the Gold Coast.  It sort of felt like we were on holiday, just wondering around and enjoying life (though Tuen Mun is not too far from Yuen Long).

And the loveliest part was ending the evening enjoying some people watching around the Gold Coast Piazza's Christmas tree.

The Outback in Tuen Mun

I feel like I am the last person on the West-Rail side to know that there is an Outback Steakhouse in Tuen Mun.  We discovered it today after we watched Sicario at the Tuen Mun Cinema.  The Outback Steakhouse is located in a pretty nice area of the mall.  It also has the dual option of sitting inside, where there was a wait list, or sitting outside, where we opted to people watch.

I've never been to an Outback Steakhouse before, not even the one in Seattle.  The idea of having a steak and their infamous blooming onion lured me in.

We ordered the soup/salad, which was pretty typically normal.  The tomato-based soup was pretty good, though it looked like Thousand Island dressing.  The salad was just the typical, tossed together green salad.  Nothing special.

 The bread and "butter" came next, which was pretty good.  I always appreciate a good dinner roll.

Then our BLOOMIN ONION came and I was so over excited.  The sauce was pretty good and we could get a refill when it was out.  It was actually a bit too oily for me.  There was more batter to onion ratio than I'd prefer.  But, the first 10 bites were heavenly.  Afterwards, I just started getting that greasy feeling all over…you know the one?

We also ordered the usual iced-lemon tea, which is a Hong Kong staple.

The last thing that came to our table was our steak.  This was so delicious, so tender, and so lovely to eat.  It's pretty rare that I have a steak, so this was really a great treat.

If asked whether or not I would return to the Outback Steakhouse, I might say, "probably not."  It wasn't anything extraordinarily special.  There are, as I've said time and time again, so many other places that I have still yet to try!!!

But, it was really nice to sit in the indoor/outdoor patio area and people watch.  The service was so quick and the staff were so incredibly nice.  It was a lovely experience!