.hongkong.2013.(.part.4.).

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Rise & shine for Day 4 of Ving’s Hong Kong trip!!
(You can check out Part 1 of the trip here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.)

We decided to have Korean food again for our first meal of the day, at Sorabol Korean Restaurant.
No regrets for our choice! Was glad we didn’t give this a miss.

Address: 132 Nathan Road, Miramar Shopping Centre, 4/F, Shop 4B, Tsim Sha Tsui
Station : Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit B2)
Hours : Daily 1130am – 3pm; 6pm – 11pm
Contact: (852) 2881-6823
It’s like The Hand from Addams Family was enjoying Korean food.
Clearer picture of the Spicy Seafood Soup pot we ordered + the Banchan (side dishes).
Omggg I’m missing the delish soup pot badly….
Can’t be helped. I’m an Asian after all.
What to do after a hearty meal? Shopping of ‘cos!!!
We went around Tsim Sha Tsui, including Grandville Road.
Although we were very full, we couldn’t resist not eating these when in Hong Kong………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it rained!!! Luckily I brought my brolly out, but we still ended up being ‘lil drenched grrr………….
We were such gluttons, but how can you NOT eat dessertsss when in Hong Kong???
So it’s to Sweet Dynasty while waiting for the rain to get lighter.

Address: 28 Hankow Road, Hong Kong Pacific Centre, B/F, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Station : Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit A1)
Hours : Mon-Thu 8am – 12am / Fri 8am – 1am / Sat 730am – 1am / Sun 730am – 12am
Contact: (852) 2199-7799
Their desserts were rather yummy!
Thanks, but no thanks to the rain!
We decided to head back to Causeway Bay for more exploring and of ‘cos, SHOPPING.
Guess what greeted us the moment we stepped out of the station??
DEMONSTRATION……….!
I could see no end…
(Here’s a short clip which I took of it.)
Today’s stash! (mainly gifts to bring back home)
Those Pretz were of interesting Hongkie flavors:
Abalone in Oyster Sauce / Shark’s Fin / Seafood
Good to buy back for friends and family! ‘Cos they were packed in nice individual boxes of smaller size.
Here’s a closer look at the small packs.
After putting down our buys back in the hotel room, we decided to pop over to Lan Kwai Fong’s Tsui Wah Cha Chan Teng again for some *ahem* supper recharging.
It’s just about a 15 minutes walk from our hotel! *thumbs up*
I shall be narcissistic today, and end off my post with a victoriously smirk picture of myself.
(p.s.: that’s my super-loves new cap from Izzue!)
Do check back again on next Monday for the last part of Ving’s Hong Kong trip!! *cheersss* ^_^

.hongkong.2013.(.part.3.).

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Rise & shine for Day 3 of Ving’s Hong Kong trip!!
(You can check out Part 1 of the trip here, and Part 2 here.)

We decided to check out the McDonald’s near our hotel for lunch to see how it’s like.
Here are the similarities and differences between Singapore’s and Hong Kong’s:
1. Fillet-o-Fish, Fries,and Orange Juice are the same
2. HK Mac’s Ice Lemon Tea is actually like those home-made lemon tea — brewed tea + lemon slices + sugar syrup for you to add in
3. HK Mac’s Steamed Corn comes in a black plastic container (as seen at the bottom of the picture below), instead of a plastic cup form
4. Hk Mac’s McSpicy is actually more of like SG Mac’s McChicken (I wonder how HK Mac’s McChicken will be like, ‘cos they do have it in their menu)
Such pretty-looking macaroons!
We couldn’t resist buying them to try, from the little pastry shop next to our hotel.
Their colors and texture are perfect, but sadly, they lack in the taste factor.
Time for some shopping!!

We went to check out the only New Era shop in Hong Kong, ‘cos I really really really like this cap from the Jeremy Scott x New Era collection.
UNFORTUNATELY……….. They didn’t have any more stock for it in my size!! *SOBX*

Address: 61-65 Chatham Road South, Park Hotel, G/F Unit 2, Tsim Sha Tsui
Station : Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit P3)
Contact: (852) 3523-0626
We went over to Silvercord next for more shopping………
Address: 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Station : Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit A1)
Contact: (852) 2735-9208

This label ish sho cuteeee~~~~~
Came across it in the I.T boutique inside Silvercord.
Its clothes are quite my kind of style too, but the service staff’s attitude sux.
Dinner time! @ Macau Cafe (near Silvercord).
Cheap and delish!

Address: 25-27 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Station : Tsim Sha Tsui (Exit A1)
Contact: (852) 2366-8148
All printed with their details.

Their Pork Chop Baked Rice is really yums……………… One of their must-try.
We were so full from dinner, we decided to walk it off a ‘lil.
Hence we popped over to Temple Street Market to check out.
It’s Hong Kong’s largest night market, filled with lotsa street food stalls and big tents selling a lot of those merchandise which you can find in our local pasar malam.

Address: Kansu Street & Jordan Road, Mongkok
Station : Jordan (Exit A)
Hours : Daily 4pm – 12am

My purchases for the day!! (mainly gifts to bring back home)
Do check back again on Thursday for Part 4 of Ving’s Hong Kong Trip! ^_^

.hongkong.2013.(.part.2.).

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Rise & shine for Day 2 of Ving’s Hong Kong trip!!
(Check out Part 1 of the trip here.)

Initially we wanted to check out this Japanese restaurant called Nan Tei (that’s near our hotel) for lunch, but they were about to close for the afternoon by the time we got there.
So we wandered around the area that’s filled with restaurants, and stumbled upon this hidden gem called Cenacolo.

Address: 45-53 Graham Street, G/F, Shop F&H, Central
Station : Central (Exit D1/D2)
Contact: (852) 2525-2430

Their 3-course set lunches were very worth it and yummy-licious!!
For HKD108+ (approximately S$18+), you get a soup or salad + main course + dessert.

 

This is by far one of the most lip-smacking white wine based pastas I’ve ever tasted in my life.
I’m missing this sticky date pudding dessert too!!
Can you spot Ving??
After a satisfying lunch, we proceeded to Horizon Plaza for some outlet shopping.
It is a converted warehouse with about 150 shops selling all sorts of stuff spanning 28 floors. Few of the bigger retailers are eg. Lane Crawford, Joyce, Max Mara, and I.T, amidst many other branded labels’ outlet shops.
So for those who would like to get pieces of your favorite branded label(s) at up to 70-80% off, this is the place you should come when you visit Hong Kong!!
It was rather out of the way, hence we grabbed a taxi down from Central (journey took about 30mins for HKD100).
Alternatively, you can also take Bus 90 from Exchange Square Bus Station in Central to Ap Lei Chau Estate Bus Terminus, whereby from there you can take the free Horizon Plaza Shuttle Bus to the building.

Address: 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, Aberdeen

We couldn’t take pictures when in the store, but here’s one which we secretly took.
Ving really, really, really fancies this pair of heels by Giuseppe Zanotti!!!
But they are still wayyy over my budget even after discount. =(
While waiting for a taxi to Causeway Bay, Ving had a really bad experience with some unreasonable human beings.
There was a big group of Caucasians + couple of Hongkongers in front of us in the taxi queue. Horizon Plaza’s kinda out of the way, hence not many taxis came into the area. Not long after, this big group went out of the queue to an area further down in order to see if they can get any taxis that were coming in. Since we were behind them, naturally we became the first in line after they left. Finally a taxi came in which the passenger on board alighted, so we stepped forward to ask the taxi driver if he was ok to drive us to Causeway Bay area. He said no, and just sped off.
Since we didn’t manage to get it, naturally we would step back into the queue at the first spot where we initially were. To our surprise, there were 2 Caucasian males and a Hong Kong lady at our spot. They were part of the big group that had left the queue earlier on, and insisted for us to queue behind them.
“We were here earlier, and have already waited for 40 minutes for the taxis. You should join the queue from the back”, they shouted at us.
WOW… They didn’t even flinch when saying such unreasonable words.

We didn’t want to argue with them, so we just walked quite a distance out onto the main road and hopped onto a bus that goes to Causeway Bay.
Surprisingly, it was a rather short bus ride and it took us straight to the heart of Causeway Bay. Just nice since we planned to go over to Times Square for some shopping as well as dinner.

While waiting for our table after taking a queue number, we went to shop around the restaurant area. I ended up getting a collaboration t-shirt with Lego for my younger brother from Aape by Bathing Ape shop.

Address: 1 Matheson Street, Times Square, B2/F, Shop B225, Causeway Bay
Station : Causeway Bay (Exit A)
Contact: (852) 2146-7801
Details : Collection of A Bathing Ape’s collaborations with other labels

Dinner time at Sen-Ryo! It is a Japanese sushi bar that is rather similar to Itacho Sushi.
They do sushi well too! *slurps*

Address: 1 Matheson Street, Times Square, B2/F, Shop B222, Causeway Bay
Station : Causeway Bay (Exit A)
Hours : Mon-Fri 1130am – 1030pm / Sat-Sun 1130am – 11pm
Contact: (852) 2506-9366


 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to put down our shopping buys and freshen up a ‘lil, before heading out again to check out Lan Kwai Fong’s nightlife.
Here’s what Ving bought for the day!
— Black Leather Loafers by Mercibeaucoup
— Skull Cushion by Mastermind
— Aape by Bathing Ape x Lego T-shirt
Lan Kwai Fong on a Saturday night.
Wearing our new shoes!
Supper time at Tsui Wah Hong Kong Cafe!
Still one of my favorite Hong Kong cafes to date!

Address: 15-19 Wellington Street, Central
Station : Central (Exit D2)
Hours : 24hrs
Contact: (852) 2525-6338
We couldn’t resist getting more stuff from 7-11 after supper!
Do come back here on next Monday for Part 3 of Ving’s Hong Kong trip! ^_^

.books.

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Ving recently bought some new books from Prologue’s sale! Let me share them with you…

Finally owned my first illustration book from 幾米 (Jimmy Liao, Taiwanese)!
I have always liked his child-like drawings, which actually kind of give me a calm feeling whenever I see them.
Shall slowly collect the rest of the illustration books which he had published.
I have waited for long for the movie to be out, which it will finally be come end August.
Before the show which I had highly anticipated started screening, here are 2 books from the movie to keep me occupied for the time being!
(The ‘book’ in the second image is more of like a postcards collection for the movie.)
I super love the textured cover of this book!! Couldn’t resist from getting it.
It is a dark book though haha… (I am not called Dark Lord for nothing. *evil laughter*)
This series written by Haruki Murakami was not newly bought though.
Being not strong in my Japanese, I got the Mandarin-translated ones instead.
I usually prefer Japanese novels being translated into Mandarin to English, because I can still imagine a strong Japanese feel to the writings.
English-translated ones kind of lose this Japanese feel which I will look for in such books, and simply became “English style” instead.
Having said that, I have only read Book 1 of this 1Q84 series.
It took me a rather long time to finish it, as it was so intense I could not read past a certain number of pages each time.
Till now I still have yet to get started on Book 2.
I wonder when I will. >.<”
Have you read any books lately? Do start on one if you have not.
It is therapeutic!

.hongkong.2013.(.part.1.).

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Ving recently had a trip to Hong Kong!!
Here’s a bunch of cheery vegetables welcoming us at the departure hall.
One of my travelling companions!
We got our air tickets at quite a steal, less than a month prior to this trip.
Plus, the flight timing was kinda sh***y and exhausted us out (departed at 1+am, reached Hong Kong at 5+am).
But that also meant we got to spend more time in Hong Kong!!
Reached Hong Kong!!!
This was taken while on board the Airport Express to City area.
Had to wait till past 6am before the Airport Express commenced operations.
It was only about 7+am by the time we reached our hotel, Holiday Inn Express @ SOHO (Address: 83 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan).
Still too early for check-in, we decided to go for our first breakfast in Hong Kong at Lin Heung Tea House, which is about a 10-15mins walk from the hotel.

Address: 160-164 Wellington Street, G/F, Central
Station : Sheung Wan (Exit E2)
Hours : Daily 6am – 11pm
Contact: (852) 2544-4556
Being one of the oldest Hong Kong style restaurants around, it has an unmediated slice of old Hong Kong in it.
We had to share a table with couple of other uncles and aunties, as the tea house was packed at the time in which we were there.
We were even mistaken to be Japanese students (must be ‘cos of our sans-makeup faces hahaha).
It cost about HKD70+ (approximately S$12) for the 3 dim sum dishes which we had.

There were 2 of such bulletin boards outside the tea house, filled with very old and faded pictures related to the tea house.
Such retro feel! *like*
Part 2 of our breakfast!
We went to check out Lan Fong Yuen Hong Kong Cafe which was about a 5mins walk from Lin Heung Tea House, cutting through Peel Street to get to Gage Street.
Apparently many celebrities (eg. Chow Yun Fatt) frequent this place!

Address: 2 Gage Street, G/F, Central
Station : Sheung Wan (Exit E2) / Central (Exit D2)
Hours : Mon-Sat 8am – 8pm / Closed on Sundays
Contact: (852) 2544-3895 / 2854-0731
Having it the Hong Kong way!
They are known for their Nissin Noodles, Pork Chop Bun, and Silky Milk Tea.
So we ordered these plus another breakfast set, which totalled to about HKD80 (approximately S$13+).
Their service was really good too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After checking into our hotel and freshened ourselves up, it is…………………. Shopping time!
H&M + Topshop
Here are the other shops which we had checked out (I didn’t manage to take pictures of them though).

F.I.L. by Visvim
Address: No. 8-9 Sun Street, Wan Chai
Station : Wan Chai (Exit A3)
Contact: (852) 2528-3880
Details : Full collection of Visvim plus collaborations. There is an outlet in Raffles Hotel Singapore.

Kapok
Address: 5 St. Francis Yard, G/F, Wan Chai
Station : Wan Chai (Exit A3)
Hours : Mon-Sat 11am – 8pm / Sun 11am – 6pm
Contact: (852) 2549-9254
Details : Multi-label boutique for inspiring quality goods. Well-known for introducing emerging exclusive creators to Hong Kong.

The Monocle Shop
Address: 1-4 St. Francis Yard, Wan Chai
Station : Wan Chai (Exit A3)
Hours : Mon-Fri 11am – 7pm / Sat 12pm – 8pm / Sun 12pm – 6pm
Contact: (852) 2804-2323
Details : Monocle (magazine) products and collaborations.

YMO YNOT Pop-Up Store
Address: 18 Wing Fung Street, 1/F, Wan Chai
Station : Wan Chai (Exit A3)
Hours : Daily 11am – 8pm
Contact: (852) 2968-0069
Details : Collaboration between Yohji Yamamoto, Stanley Wong & Mao Jihung. Specialises in fashion-forward garments marked by a strong touch of Oriental aesthetics and wisdom.

I had sucha long list of food places, initially we didn’t know where to go for our first dinner in Hong Kong!
We finally decided on Secret Garden Korean Restaurant that was located in Admiralty.

Address: 12 Harcourt Road, Bank of America Tower, G/F, Shop G5, Admiralty
Station : Admiralty (Exit B)
Hours : Daily 12pm – 3pm; 6pm – 11pm
Contact: (852) 2801-7990

Our Spicy Rice Cakes + Spicy Black Codfish Soup (really yums!) totalled to HKD363 including service charge (approximately S$60).
I simply could not resist shopping at a foreign country’s convenience stores like 7-11.
They always seem to have many stuff which we do not see in Singapore’s!
(Ok the Coca Cola drinks in the picture below do not count. I bought them in order to get this limited edition X-Large x Coca Cola towel that comes in a can container! As can be seen on the top left of the picture.)
Hong Kong 7-11 outlets were having this ‘promotion’, whereby you collect stamps as you spend, in order to exchange for Toy Story’s or Monsters Inc.’s toys. (The stamps are really nice!)
HKD20 for 1 stamp, HKD30 for 2 stamps, HKD40 for 3 stamps, and so on…
We spent so much, we actually managed to fill up 3 Stamp Collection Cards, which entitled us to get 3 free toys.

It had been a long first day of the trip!
Do check out Part 2 when it is out on Thursday! ^_^

.if.ving.can.cook.,.so.can.you.!.(.part.2.0.).

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So Ving took up a challenge in preparing a potluck feast for 12 adults and 4 kids.
Time for grocery shopping!
You think that’s all??
There’s more!! (Looking like an overload of Enoki mushrooms.)
The dishes prepared are….. *drum roll*

1. Chilled Tofu Salad
(tofu + cherry tomatoes + japanese sauce)
2. Cabbage Soup
(cabbage + corn + baby carrots + white radish + enoki mushrooms + onions + white pepper + sea salt + sugar)
3. Honey Chicken Drumlets
(drumlets + honey + soy sauce + chinese wine)
** Too chaotic that day forgot to take pictures of this dish!!

4. Herb-spiced Mid-joints
(mid-joints + mixed fresh herbs + honey + black pepper + soy sauce + sea salt)
5. Stir-fry Vegetables
(broccoli + capsicums + fishballs + enoki mushrooms + garlic + onions + oyster sauce + sea salt + sugar)
6. Pan-seared Dory Fillets with Sauteed Mushrooms
(dory fillets + shimeji mushrooms + onions + garlic + olive oil + black pepper + sea salt)
7. Stir-fry Soba with Asparagus & Mushrooms
(dried soba noodles + asparagus + white button mushrooms + garlic + sesame oil + japanese soy sauce + sugar)
8. Stir-fry Angel’s Hair Pasta
(angel’s hair pasta + baby carrots + corn + garlic + olive oil + black pepper + sea salt)
9. Grass Jelly & Longans Dessert
(grass jelly + longans)
Conclusion:
It was totally not easy cooking for such a big group of people!
Kind of estimated the portions wrongly haha so there were quite a bit of leftovers, plus it can get real chaotic in the kitchen.
Also, the sequence in cooking the different dishes needed to be planned out proper.
Nonetheless, it was an awesome first time experience!
(Though after this, Ving stayed away from the kitchen for about two weeks, not wanting to lay hands on the pots and pans at all.)