Picture Post July

Another month passed. Let pictures explain my month ^^

#1 My office in Kwun Tong

#2 Favourite BBQ place at BBQ King

#3 Claudia came visit.

#4 My favourite perfume bar atm – Bebe Powder from Log On. I smell just like baby now ^^

#5 We went Lamma Island light hiking on weekend. Good sunny day. Too sunny.

#6 HKU accepted my application to study law. Decided not to accept the offer though. I know it’s silly. I sent in the application, the reject the offer. But I have on-going plan, I couldn’t afford to pay both. Knowing I’m qualified to study law in HKU, there’s really no rush in getting it now, I can do it anytime. So, final decision to this is : POSTPONED.

#7 Finally seeing& playing with Baby Sophia and catching up with her mother after almost 3 months. Baby Sophia chooses her own English name. Apparently she has reaction and smiles when we call her Sophia. She does smiles like an angel. Top left of this picture, she smiles to me when I say ” Sophia, smiles ! ”

#8 Current favourite yogurt ice-cream ! Bought from Circle K convenient store.

#9 Also my current favourite, Japanese Beef on rice with chili flakes and kimchi !

Lastly, ending this lazy post with ….

BABY SOPHIA ❤ ❤

*Hugs & kisses*

Tokyo Day 2

Second day in Tokyo? It feels like first as yesterday we basically arrived in the evening and starts our day after 6. Anyway, the second day of our 4days3nights mostly spend in the exhibitions at Tokyo Big Sight. Which means, it’s totally business day. Visiting our business partner’s booth, understanding the current inquiries and trends, knowing the Japanese companies.

#1 Breakfast at Yoshinoya, a 24/7 franchise in Japan. Roy said ” Once you’ve tried Japan’s Yoshinoya, you will never satisfy with Hong Kong’s Yoshinoya”. I couldn’t agree more! HK’s can never compete.

#2 Entrance of Tokyo Big Sight. After entering, it’s 5 hours of visiting and understanding, also known as working/ business trip.

#3 What I wore: Simple rose pink dress from Taiwan; pantyhose from LogOn HK; sling blue bag from Nose MY

#4 One of the favourite thing in Japan is Vending Machine everywhere! With all kind of drinks. Be it green tea, red tea, black tea, coffee, soft drinks, yogurt drink, vitamin/ genki drink, sports drink. I almost check out every vending machine I passed by.

#5 Holding on to my like of vending machine, I was excited to try out this! It’s a franchise too. Basically you pick your food and pay via vending machine, it will drop you a ticket to pass it to the staff of the shop, all you have to do then is sit and wait for your order. They will send it to you.

#6 Food I order: Duck broth soup with handmade udon. It’s so delicious. The best I’ve ever tasted ( I only tried once in Hong Kong’s Japanese restaurant 😛 ). Roy order: Sesame cold noodle. It’s good but it really depends if you like sesame sauce a lot to replaced it with sesame instead of shoyu soup for noodles.

#7 After work, we went back to the hotel and change into casual before heading down to Harajuku 原宿!

#8 Here we are at Harajuku’s famous street – Takeshita Dori 竹下通. Please be aware that most shops closed at 8pm.

#9 One of the oldest crepe shop at Harajuku !

#10 Walk around the neighborhood of Harajuku. Small streets especially. It’s unique. Unlike shops along main road, these little shops in alley and by-lane attracts me. You feel like a real local.

#11 Local shops. I wanted to shop but… I promise myself to only start shopping after I achieve my goal weight! Still fighting with my fats!

#12 Self declared as the Japan No. 1 traditional Takoyaki – Takohana 第八蛸華丸!
Address: 渋谷區神宮前5-11-3
Operating: 11:00 – 21:00
You can exit from JR Harajuku Sta. Omotesando 表參道 exit, it’s 7minutes walk away.

#13 Japan first Forever 21. Many know, Forever 21 and H&M are US brand. First H&M in Japan is at Ginza, the second one is here at Harajuku.

#14 Almost all Japanese house have this kind of tag. I really like this. Thought of having one when I have my own apartment. Although it means your neighbor or anyone passing by know who’s living in this premise but I like it anyway.

#15 I realized the local hair salons are so pretty! You wouldn’t have guessed it’s a hair salon from the outside. I secretly promise to come back for a hair cut and perhaps some Japanese styling when my hair grew long, when they reaches my waist.

#16 Dinner is the famous Mai-sen 泉. Established 40 years, they serve very good quality pork. The dessert is peach sorbet, really fresh and delicious.
Address: 渋谷區神宮前4-8-5
Operating: 11:00 – 22:45
Website: http://www.mai-sen.com

#17 Barbecue restaurant underground

#18 Shibuya junction! Saw Shibuya 109?! walk from Harajuki to Shibuya!

#19 How can one not have a crepe when one is in Japan? Choose one from the best 10. Tough decision

#20 Me and my crepe. I end up picking Banana with Vanilla ice cream. Safe and it is yummy 🙂 satisfied.

#21

#22 Local food stall under the bridge. I
Something I saw on Japanese drama! Wanted to try but still very full from the crepe :p

Called it a day. Second day in Tokyo done. Work done. Looking forward for my third day in Tokyo as it would be purely personal ^^ Till then…

*Hugs & kisses*

Tokyo Day 1

Packing to Tokyo light and easy. A set of business wear, and another 2 set of casual wear each for Roy and myself. It’s all pack in my lavender medium luggage. Alongside is an empty backpack inside a hand carry. Too much? I don’t think so.

#1 We called the 20% off taxi service to airport. Everything about Japanese makes me excited, just like this little window stickers.

# 2 Got my boarding pass at the self-check in counter. It’s silly to go through a long queue, self-check in counter is way faster.

#3 Everyone know about the shiny book of travel. It’s has all useful tip for first timer. Because this trip is last minute, we don’t have time to plan out where to go and what to do. But with this book, at least we did not waste time on getting lost and make full use of our time to some “must go” places.

# 4 Flying to Tokyo Narita Airport with Hong Kong Airline. It’s my first time with the airline. Although there are bad reviews on the internet but I personally feel comfortable with it. It’s an airbus, 3seats a side, 6 a row. Clean and bigger space compare to CX. Air stewardess are young and polite. The downside is – there’s no personal screen for entertainment.

#5 In flight meal – lunch. I must say, korewa oiishidesu! This is so delicious. They served Soba as appetiser; main is chicken with Japanese rice; and dessert is HK-famous Shan Shui Tofu Fah. It’s been a long time since I last have decent in-flight meal. CX and SQ used to be good.

#6 After 4 hours flight, landed and collected our luggage. We went straight to the JR East Travel Service Centre to get the “Suica x N’EX”. Suica is like a MyKi (Melb) or octopus card (HK) where you reload the card prepaid style and beep it while you travel with JR/ Tokyo Metro/ Subways. You can also use Suica to purchase drinks at the vending machine or at convenient store like Family mart. N’Ex is Narita Express, express train to Tokyo and other City’s station.

#7 From Narita Airport to Tokyo station is approx. 50minutes. What to do on N’Ex? Study the JR/ Tokyo Metro/ Subways map. Although it looks complicated, but it’s really easy. The signs at stations are clear. If you really have to, ask the station police, although they can’t speak English, they will show you the way, even walk you there!

#8 This is my Suica. It works like the Octopus card of Hong Kong

#9 The boyf and my medium size lavender luggage daddy & mummy bought me. I like this type of luggage even it’s heavier than those made with cloth. I like its toughness and not getting wet when it’s raining. The compartment is very organized. And that I can sit on it when I’m really tired !

#9 First “group” picture together at the escalator

#11 Our hotel – Hotel Niwa Tokyo! Free wifi. Clean and comfortable. Quiet and convenient. After an hour of N’EX, reached Tokyo station, took JR to our hotel located near Japan University at Chiyoda, approx 15minutes from Tokyo.

#12 First meal in Japan is Bo Do Ramen at Shinjuku! The staffs are really friendly. And please go with empty stomach, big bowl of Ramen to be served. I order the ¥700 chasiu ramen. How to get there? Exit from the East of JR Shinjuku Sta. walk 5 mins towards 歌舞伎町.
Address: 新宿區歌舞伎町1-23-12.
Operating hrs: 11:00 – 04:00

#13 Beside their 元氣Genki drink, peach yakult is one of my favourite from the vending machine! ¥100 per can.

#14 That’s all for my first day in Tokyo!

*Hugs & kisses*

Food Review: SML Restaurant

Good day earthlings 😀 Everything is pretty much settled. Had the right to abode in Hong Kong; and new job starting next month which is less than a week. Going to stay in Mainland during the weekdays and only be back in Hong Kong for weekend. Pray hard everything would be smooth and happy.

Anyway, the weather is getting warmer, and more humid now. Today top at 24 Celsius with 90% humidity. I hate the sticky wet weather here. It makes my mood swing, and uncomfy to stay outdoor. Sigh. It’s just the beginning of Spring and here I am wishing Autumn and Winter don’t be late.

Accompanied Roy to Causeway Bay to meet up with Selina at La Maison Du Chocolat Paris, Lee Garden 1. Had their cold chocolate drink. Totally chocolate overdose!! Some final documents to sign and the MDRT-membership fees to be paid. Then we had late lunch/afternoon tea at SML Restaurant at Time Square.

# It’s pretty obvious. SML means Small – Medium – Large. All dishes come in SML. Small is for taste. Medium is a meal. And Large is for sharing. Pretty good.

# Like the environment. It’s cosy in there. The staff there are friendly and helpful. They can speak pretty decent English too! Other customers are quite classy. Ain’t loud. No tourist from mainland. So, it’s quiet with a comfortable lightning.

# My drink – Hot lemon tea. Like the cute table paper with the sketch drawing saying “drink me”

# My order. Small Clam Linguine. Clam is super fresh. It has the natural sweetness. Linguine is perfectly cook with pints of garlics and some herbs. I like my pasta this way.

# Roy order this Medium Hanger Steak with chips Hanger steak medium cook, with special house sauce blend well with the steak. Chips aren’t fried. It’s roasted. Like this too!

Food: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Value of Food: 8/10
Ambiance: 9/10

SML Restaurant
11th Floor, Times Square
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2577 3444
Fax: 2577 3434
Website: http://www.smlrestaurants.com

*Hugs & kisses*

大富霖 Da.Fu.Lin @ Taipei, Taiwan

Good morning 🙂 I’m still in Taipei, Taiwan. Couldn’t wait to share one of the good food I’m having here! Have been going back twice in 3 days. Perfect place for brunch. Well we normally skip breakfast because .. That’s what free and easy do! Nahhh, I’m joking silly 🙂 It’s because we woke up late from last night’s night market.

Spicy Duck Blood & Smelly Tofu 麻辣鴨血臭豆腐 is definitely a must have in Taiwan. Duck blood is juicy but not bloody, smooth to eat. Smelly tofu came in block. I suggest to cut in pieces so it absorb the spicy soup.

Another must eat dish in Taiwan – 滷肉飯 Braised Pork on Rice. I didn’t get a chance to try the famous one in Jin Feng 金峰 but this is better than Yuan Zhan 圓站. Braised pork is nicely braised with just right amount of sauce so it won’t cover the original taste of pork. It uses different ingredient to braised which all blended together to form this tasty but not oily dish. Love it !

Steam veggies with braised pork sauce instead of soy sauce or oyster sauce 清燙青菜. Veggies in Taiwan is really fresh and have this original sweet taste from it. The other dish is steam squid 蒸魷魚. Nicely cook. Chewy but not hard like you’re chewing rotten meat. It’s just an easy bite. Dip it in the wasabi and soy sauce, perfecto!

Omg this two is really must have in this shop! Braised pork leg 滷豬腳 and braised duck egg 滷鴨蛋. The flavour is full but not thick. Pork leg doesn’t have the strong pork smell at all ! So much collagen attached though 🙂 Well, the shop specialty is braised so I guess all braised related dishes are just awesomely yummy!

Braised Swan Meat 滷鵝肉 also must eat ?! It’s not fattening. Just slight fat layer but definitely not oily. The meat is so juicy! I can’t stop eating it even before the rice is serve hahaha

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Food: 9/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Service: 6/10
Money Value: 9/10

大富霖 Da Fu Lin
臺北市信義區光復南路423號
Tel: +886-2-2345-8089
Opening Hours
Mon-Thurs : 11AM-11PM
Fri-Sat : 11AM-12Midnight
Sunday: 11AM – 10PM

Effort in Love & Food Review @ Kariyushi

Kariyushi @ Ocean Walk

Roy and I normally spend our Sunday together. He’d go war gaming in the “jungle” with his boys once a month, but we still have some “us” time. This Sunday we had dinner at Ocean Walk, then walk along Tuen Mun Pier.

– Interior of Okinawa Ryori

Friends have been praising, showing envious heart on our relationship. We’d smile and say it’s not easy. What’s making it working smooth and well is really the effort we put in. Both of us. We don’t maintain it, we keep it growing. It’s bullshit if someone say “true love doesn’t need effort, you just fit perfectly”. Love itself doesn’t but to live with and to keep it growing, you need to give in. There’s no free lunch, remember that.

Honestly, to love someone is easy. You really just need a heart to do so. It’s the being together and growing old together physically and emotionally challenging all couples. Growing your love to forever young is hard. ♡

Roy’s dinner set. I forgot what fish is that but it taste good. Juicy and just enough salt added. Miso soup is obviously not freshly homemade, I’m pretty sure it’s the same packet I have at home. Not bad but just not good enough.

My dinner set – Salted Pork and Vegetables in Pot. The hot pot is suppose to be salt soup base but they ran out of stock ☹ exchanging it with udon soup base. I think it really spoiled the original idea of it. It taste just like ordinary udon soup dishes. And it look totally different from the menu’s intro pic! Once again, picture can be deceiving. Why didn’t I learn that ?

Look of the day ;- ✌
Neck warmer : Index
Long sleeved wool-like shirt dress: Index
Tights: Cotton On
Bag: FX Creation
Shoes: Elite Group

_____________________________________________________
Food: 5/10
Services: 5/10
Environment: 7/10
Value for Money: 5/10

Kariyushi 沖繩
Shop 51-52, Ocean Walk
168-236 Wu Chui Road, Tuen Mun
Tel: (852) 2404 9818

Cute food

Ok, this post is super random.

I blog about it mainly because i’m bored. And because I’ve change my iPhone’s font, I like it and wanna read it more. In case you haven’t know, I blog via iPhone’s WP apps ever since I got it.

Browse through the net, googled “cute food” and pictures popped out. There are cute cakes, cupcakes and of course Japanese bento box. I really admire the Japanese of their art, skills and patience in preparing bento box. They look absolutely yummy!

Last but not least 🙂

So tell me, which one do you wanna bring to school/work?
……
…..
….
…
..
.
Err really, you don’t have to choose. Just rotate it everyday!

Food Review: Celadon Royal Thai

Long long time ago, my brother brought the family to Celadon. Celadon, the royal Thai cuisine is located at Pavilion.

The interior of the restaurant. Sort of fine dining 🙂

Hmmm it’s been so long I don’t even remember what’s this call and how exactly does it taste like 😦 so from here, let’s just look at the pictures!!

Oh I remember this is the lychee mint ice blend.

Quite a yummy steam fish with fish sauce and vinegar and some chili sauce.

My favourite Kangkung! Had 2 plate of this.

Green curry with fried salty fish skin.

Quite spicy tomyum soup.

Pandan chicken.

Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Price: Slight expensive
Ambiance: 7/10
*all based on personal taste*
Type of cuisine: Asian, Thai

Celadon Royal Thai
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Lot 6.37,
Level 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603)21488708
Opening hours:
Mon–Sun: 12pm – 10pm

Food Review: Bangkok Thai Cuisine

I’ve always love Asian cuisine. Thai cuisine is my top five. After two weeks in India, I figured I should put aside my diet plans and enjoy some favorite. Last night before movie – Real Steel !!! Highly recommended – I went to Tuen Mun plaza for dinner with Mr 64.6 and another couple. Chooses Bangkok Thai Cuisine because it is newly open, and we all haven’t been eating Thai food for long time.

Always go for set if you’re first timer. For the four of us, we ordered a 2 person set combo dinner and another 2 dishes. *ps it’s cheaper that way. don’t go for the exact 4 person set, you will be stuck with their recommended dish and have no space for some personal order 🙂

Set’s Starter: Thai Sausage Salad with spicy & sour sauce. The sausage is chewy. Rich flavor but it’s kinda covered by te spicy & sour sauce. Mix it with the salad though, it do played it’s role as starter – getting your tummy ready for the following dishes.

Set’s dish: Fried rice with salted shrimp paste. We all love this ttm! It’s not overly salted. The rice ain’t sticky nor dry, just enough moist in it to be chewy. Right amount of the shrimp paste brought out the wonderful smell of the dish. It creates such beautiful and orgasmic reaction while in touch in your saliva. Perfect dish!

Set’s dish: Mixed vegetables. I always order a plate of veggies. Better it be mixed. It’s just a simple dish, having cauliflower, greens, bean sprouts, carrot, and mushroom. Ordinary.

Personal order: Pork & Beef Satay. Although I’m Malaysian, I’m not a big fan of Satay. So I didn’t have a bite at all. Anyway, according to my companion, it is juicy, not dry, well marinated, the sauce is a yes or no as the satay itself taste good.

Personal order: Pork mince with Cabbage – “Sang Choi Bao”. Second favorite after the fried rice. I’ve tried this in a few Thai restaurant in Hong Kong, but this is so far the best! Herbs mixed in the pork mince brought out the original taste of it with the good herbal smell. It’s moist & Very well blend. Put the cabbage leave on your palm, a spoon of pork mince or according to your cabbage leave’s size, roll it like you are making dumplings, and one bite to finish it. Let the pork mince burst out from the cabbage leave, I assure magical feeling left on your taste-bud.

Set’s dish: Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with Thai King Sauce. Too creamy for me. Thai King Sauce is basically beans, carrots diced mixed with liquid form of egg white, curry powder and corns. Soft shell crab is soggy after soaking in the sauce. I prefer dry style of deep fried soft shell crab.

Set’s dessert: it is pretty ordinary. Coconut mixed jelly. Coconut layer cake. Pandan cake. Banana slice & coconut slice in panda roll.

*ps you must be wondering where is Tom Yum soup? Thai food ain’t complete without a bowl of Tom Yum soup. It’s in the set, but we finished it before I remember to take a picture. It’s normal but with strong taste of prawns. Not spicy enough though. The soup is on the set.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 6/10
Value: 7.5/10 – very reasonable price
Ambiance: 6/10
^All ratings are based on personal experience and taste.

Bangkok Thai Cuisine
Shop 12-17A, 1/F, Phase 2,
Tuen Mun Town Plaza,
3 Tuen Lung Street Tuen Mun
Tel: (+852) 2469 1883
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 1130-2300

Cafe Zambra (Wan Zai)

Ahhh so hardworking. Continuously writing food review post from last week. I know… Another backdated post! But at least I scheduled to blog despite the laziness. It’s not a long one though 🙂

I went Wan Zai’s VTC the other day to collect my certificate for IIQE papers. Met up with Mr 64.6 for lunch of course! His office is nearby at Causeway Bay. Like a station away from Wan Zai’s. He chose Cafe Zambra!

Picture credited to http://www.beanhunter.com (I took one but mine is ugly compare to this hahaha)

It’s located at the corner of Jaffe Road. Easy to find. I like that the owner choose to have natural lights by adopting the glass walls. It gives a warm feeling. The whole environment is bright and definitely proposing a positive aura.

My order. Spicy sausage & mushroom on angel hair with herbs & olive oil. I love angel hair among all choice of pasta! It’s not thick and not too thin. Give just enough chewiness. Spicy sausage ain’t really spicy, but is a mouthful of juicy meat seasoning with salt, butter and peppers. As for the sauce on it, herbs with olive oil ! Just the right amount of it, not oily at all. Love love it 🙂

Mr 64.6 order this. Spicy tuna & olive on angel hair with herbs & olive oil. Honestly, I don’t like this one. Compare to my spicy sausage, this taste really bad. Oily too! The smells and flavour of olive is too strong it covers the taste of tuna. I only have a bite of it anyway :p

It’s set lunch (HKD68 per set) so it came with drinks r you can choose to have soup of the day. For that day, green pea soup.. Err.. Not my cup of tea. Ordered ice cappuccino instead. Coffee is always my cup of tea ❤

Cafe Zambra
239 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai
Hong Kong, China
Tel: (+853) 2598 1322
Website: http://www.zambra.net/
Opening hours : Mon to Thu : 0730 – 2200 Fri, Sat : 0730 – 2300 Sun : 0900 – 2000 Public holiday : 1200 – 2000

Food : 6
Ambiance : 7
Service : 6
Price : 6

Overall, well. I'm not sure if I will come back for other food. Their pastries and cakes look yummy. Haha.

Signing off o(^_^)o