Life as a Bon Vivant

Insight Vacations 2013 - Paris / Luzern / Munich

2013-03-30T03:15:00.001+08:00

I know, it has been a long while since I last posted but my job as a travel consultant with Flight Centre Hong Kong has been both rewarding and busy at the same time. Writing blog post seems to be a luxury nowadays but I am trying my best to post and at the same time tweet and ido Instagram as often as possible. Traveling is now my favourite pass time and a great way to relax along with the culinary delights that I am going to enjoy along the way as well. Recently I went on a 7-day escorted with Insight Vacations and I loved it! Cities I visited include Paris, Luzern and Munich! I am usually not the the type that would join a tour but this trip changed my view. I think for those who wanted to explore more than 2 countries and more than 3 cities in a single trip and wanted everything to be organised, it is the best way to go around indeed. You may question the comfort-ness of the coach I was travelling on but to my surprised, Insight Vacations is very proud with the fact that their coaches have one of the most leg room and I can personally say that it is true! I think it is even better than many regional business classes on flights! Here I have attached some of the pictures I have taken and hope you would enjoy them as much as I did. Next post? It will be my trip (March 2013) to Singapore and the newly opened Legoland in Malaysia.

Sheraton Macao Cotai - Part 1 / 3

2013-01-13T14:00:00.000+08:00

I talked about Macau (Macao) in quite a lengthy post previously, mainly about the city as a gaming capital in south east Asia. This time I am going to talk more about it in a slightly different perspective I suppose. I have been to Macau many times but most if not always just day trips because of the convenience of the 24 hours ferry services running between Hong Kong and Macau. I was lucky enough to be invited by the newly opened Sheraton Macao hotel in the Cotai area. What's in the Cotai area? I think it is basically the Macau version of the Vegas strip with countless hotels and casino establishment in the area. A quick look around you will see countless construction sites nearby with other major hotels planning their new openings in the next few years. The Sheraton Macao Cotai hotel is the largest in terms of number of rooms within the entire Sheraton chain worldwide, with a total of room count of 3,896 rooms situated in its Sky and Earth Tower. With that large number of rooms, there are pros and cons obviously which I will talk about later.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the hotel was the sheer scale of it. The lobby wasn't the largest I have seen but it was the check-in area that truly shocked me! Look at that queuing setup! I suppose if 20% of guests check in together, it would be quite a scene! Imagine if the occupancy rate was about 80% that means 3,896 rooms x 0.80 ~ 3200 rooms ~ 2pax per room ~ 6,400 guests .... okay, yes, a proper queue system is required!!! Oh wait, apparently the weekend we checked in, the occupancy rate was almost 98% !!! (Note: 1,948 rooms of the Earth Tower is yet to be opened, likely in Feb2013, but still ...)

Then again, I was glad and happy for the 98% occupancy rate because without that I would not be upgraded from a Club Deluxe room to ... one of the only 8 Presidential Suites!!!!!! How does it feel staying in the Presidential Suite all by myself? Of course it was ... NICE ... but to be honest, even if I am traveling with my girlfriend, this is a bit too much, too big to a point I feel slightly lonely and overly quiet in that huge suite with 2 en suite bedrooms + living room + media room + meeting room + kitchen and .... a treatment room!!!! if you are traveling as a couple, I suggest to go for the Club Deluxe Suite which you can check out on Dorothy Ma's post. I was too lone and hungry that night I went to her room to order room service at 2am! Her room was much more cozy for couples! If you are traveling as a family, of course Presidential Suite is an option! :) Or perhaps the Ambassador Suite which is slightly smaller but enough for a family. Let me show you what I mean. My DSLR lens was not wide enough to take interior images so I used my iPhone instead so please excuse the lower resolution for the following interior shots. :)

Living Room(s)?

Media Room (controlled by Crestron central remote control)

Meeting Room? Dining Room?

Treatment Room! yes a treatment room!

Master Ensuite Bedroom with OSIM foot massage device!!!

Master En suite Bathroom with Bathtub and .... waterproof Crestron remote for TV in bathroom! (shower room on the side as well)

Guest Room

Guest Room Ensuite Bathroom

Now you can imagine how big the suite was right? It took me 15 mins to decide which room I should sleep in, the master bedroom or the guest room closer to the entrance? Oh and I did take a bubble bath! they have everything for the guests!

Most of the other rooms of different categories are quite spacious but my favourite is still the Club Executive Suite. Again, check our Dorothy Ma's post for more details. Other than that, one of the room categories I really liked was the Family Room! Not many hotels nowadays would offer family room and even if they do it would simply be like connecting rooms and similar. However, here at Sheraton, they put some efforts into making a family room a truly family room in my opinion.

I was quite surprised to see very cute bunk beds as well as little potty for kids in the bathroom!

They also provide kids amenities as well. I didn't show the image here but they also have bathrobes for kids!

Even in the 3 different pool areas, they have special facilitates for kids!

For those into exercises, their gym is quite large with the usual equipment as well.

I mentioned about the sheer scale of this hotel in terms of room numbers, one thing worth noting is that even if you are staying at the Club level, having Club access for daily breakfast there can be a chance that you have to wait in a queue in the morning depending on the occupancy rate during your stay I suppose. However, no worries, you have the option of heading to one of their restaurants as an option. We picked the Feast which is basically a buffet restaurant. I will cover more on that in my next few posts. Enough to digest for now right? :)

Sassy’s Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide for Guys! (2012)!

2012-12-10T15:27:00.000+08:00

Last year I contributed to the Sassy's Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide for Guys and this year, let's keep the momentum and check out what sort of cool items I have recommended for this year's Christmas! My favourite got to be the Herb-savor but apparently it is no longer available in Hong Kong so I need to see where else I can get it!! Argh! ... Now that I am into travel, I tend to check out more travel gears and accessories so I will start posting more frequently on food, travel and gadgets, I promise. I have been trying to adjust and settle in at my new role as a Travel Consultant with Flight Centre Hong Kong and I can confidently say that I am now ready to get back into action to ... SHARE! Want a sneak preview of what's to come? click to Read More! :)

So what's to come on my blog?

Macau (Dec 2012) - Sheraton Macao Hotel
I will be covering more than just the new hotel but also the overall development of Macau in the past few years and what I think about it in general. Oh, possibly a brief mention of the Guincho a Galera at Hotel Lisboa Macau as well, great deal for lunch in my opinion!

Paris , Lucerne and Munich (Jan 2013)
I will be heading for these three destinations in Jan 2013 partly for work. Lucerne and Munich are new destinations to me and I am quite excited to take some photographs, especially city scenes with snow! Oh the coldness!

Island East Markets (Hong Kong)

2012-10-01T15:27:00.002+08:00

Simply put, it is fun to be part of something great! My Fashion Birdcage along with Vintage& participated in this weekend's Island East Markets in Quarry Bay! Quoting from their website, Island East Markets is Hong Kong first Sunday farmer's market to promote the best of "Hong Kong, be it fresh produce grown by Hong Kong’s most dedicated organic farmers, handcrafted goods made by local artisans, or the best local brands and bands." I always wanted to see such a regular Sunday markets in Hong Kong similar to that of London'd Spitafield Mrarkets but I surely cannot recall one that was of this scale and with such wide varieties of vendors, you name it you they got it! You would not be leaving empty handed for sure, or hungry for that matter! I was too busy at my booth yesterday to take any pictures for the events but you can check out comprehensive coverage by 1) The Wanderlister+ Asia as well as 2) You Got Me Blogging. Yep you can find our booth (My Fashion Birdcage & Vintage&) in both articles! Sigh, I should have dressed up in a vintage shirt right? The Island East Markets runs every Sunday until 21 October 2012 from 10am-5pm, so drop by and have some fun, show some support! Follow their Facebook Page for the latest updates!!!

Travel Consultant - Flight Centre Hong Kong

2012-09-19T23:58:00.003+08:00

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I will be venturing into the travel industry in Hong Kong and it is now official! I will be working for Flight Centre Hong Kong as Travel Consultant! Yes I am quite excited about the role because as many of you know, I am passionate about travel and tend to over-share my travel experiences online via various social media outlets. As Travel Consultant, I can now either share my travel experiences [and gastronomic adventures]with clients or help them arrange the whole trip as if I am traveling to that destination!!! If you or your friends have any upcoming travel plans, drop me a note at jason[dot]tse[at]flightcentre[dot]com[dot]hk (or call me @ +852 2830 2793) and let me handle the rest! If you so happen to pass by Happy Valley, drop by our retail shop to say hi! :)

Untitled - My Rare Rant on Current Affairs

2012-08-29T05:35:00.001+08:00

I wanted to write something on macro economy for a long while but never found the time and I think it is a good time to do so mainly because I am in the mood to do so. Marco economy may not be the right term for what I am going to talk about but something in relation to that perhaps. Hey, I am just expressing what I have in mind aka BLAH! ... Anyhow, here we go. Over the past year or so, the world economy has been in turmoil for various reasons, one key concern is of course the EU debt crisis. I am not here to talk about that but rather on the overall development of China which the whole world has been paying attention to for more than we care to admit.

News over the past year have been covering how the Chinese economy has been slowing down especially the manufacturing / export sectors. Why are we so surprised with that? All developed countries such as USA, UK and even Hong Kong as a developing city have been through such development stages in the past. Low value manufacturing often takes up a huge percentage of GDP for developing nations during the initial stages and gradually moving upwards to either valued added manufacturing or the service industries or hopefully both in order to remain competitive. Is China moving towards that trend? Can China's so-called amazing growth be sustained in the long run? Who knows, it all depends on the actions / policies being implemented in the distant past and future.

Let's travel back in time for a bit for a brief history review. China was a gold mine for cheap labour in the 1980s when the nation first open its door to foreigners and manufacturing of course was the first industry to be concentrated on along with along of capital injection into infrastructures by the local and central government which contributed a large % of growth even to this date. What I am more interested in is to look closely at the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) over the last several decades ... by companies of different NATIONS. Again, I did some simple research and the following statements are based on my own researches and please correct me if otherwise.

Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong took the most benefits out of the open door policy initially. Hong Kong is close to China especially near initial Special Economic Zone in southern China where cheap labours were plenty. Most if not all Hong Kong businessmen took advantage of the cheap labour (and being Chinese of course) and started manufacturing of all sorts of items for export. Oh there were plenty of riches but most if not all items being manufacturing during that period or even up to the late 1990s by these Hong Kong-owned factories were low-valued products which gradually have lower margins due to higher labour cost and etc. Many of these factories were closed down in recent years especially those without the vision of upgrading their production line or business objectives to more valued added products or change their whole business model to fit into the current macro development of China.

What about the many US-based MNCs which wanted the cheap labour in the manufacturing sector of China as well? True that they wanted to take advantage of the cheap production but the main objective of many US-based MNCs including that of McDonalds, Wal-Mart, GM or Nike for example are beyond that. Their target is China's growing domestic consumption market which has tremendous growth simply due to the size of the population. Cheap production can be migrated whenever needed but the high savings rate and huge domestic consumption potential is what many US-MNCs are looking at! The pie is getting larger by the day as the income level of Chinese is increasing as we speak. The size of the so-called middle class is the drive of consumption and the US MNCs can see that way back in 1980s while many Hong Kong-owned factories in China were busy pumping out socks or plastic toys.

What about the Japanese? Yes they did put an effort in the manufacturing businesses as well like the Auto industries but their key contribution to the growth of China over the past few decades was in the infrastructure businesses. Equipment, technology and even skills were somewhat transferred as well. Many roads, bridges, highways and high-speed railways were built with the help of Japanese firms and their investments. The same applies to German's investment during the past few decades of rapid growth in China. Oh almost forget about the many energy projects and infrastructures which the Japanese and German investment have contributed. Guess who invested the most on the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, especially the power turbines and generators etc?

The named nations above are just a few examples of how they contributed to the growth of China in the recent years and what their major focuses, specialisations or objectives were / are for China. So what can China do to avoid being led by other nations and be great economically speaking? Well, I think many State Owned Enterprises (SOE) or formally SOE now public companies are moving in the right direction by acquiring new technologies, management skills as well as specialisation in producing value-added / high-valued products in the manufacturing sector and rapidly developing the financial & service industries. This is the best way to turn China into a consumer-based market.

So what exactly is my point of writing this post? I am not quite sure, just want to share what I have in mind for a while and hence the title of this post. I guess one thing we should be careful is how to evaluate a situation from both sides. A drop in the manufacturing / export figures may not be a bad sign for the overall growth of China as a whole and the amazing growth over the past few decades may not be solely the results China itself but with contribution from companies that you may not pay attention to normally. These companies / MNCs have long term interests in the Chinese market with their respective objectives.

Of course, one should also pay attention to how much China has been spending on infrastructures since the 1980s and how much of those monies are borrowed in terms of debts. Airports, roads and highways are great and necessary infrastructures for the development of a city / countries, however, international airports built geographically NEXT to each other in terms of provincial regions using tax payers / borrowed monies may not be so wise in all aspects. The reasons as to why such White Elephant infrastructures were built without much planning between provincial governments are matters cannot be explained fully in this post because of the complications and complexity of how the Chinese government works, or more accurately how the officials are being evaluated annually in terms of performances. I will not open the can of worms in this post, perhaps the next?

end of blah blah blah ... more to come perhaps?

Bali, Indonesia (Aug 2012)

2012-08-25T01:23:00.001+08:00

It was my first time visiting Bali and after my recent stay, I now truly understand why people rave about it so much that one would return whenever possible. The sunset along the many amazing beaches was truly memorable to say the least! However, there were many surprises, some being pleasant while some being shocking confusing to me as a tourist. Firstly, the weather was beyond amazing! I was expecting high humidity like Singapore but during my stay it was nowhere close to being humid, the climate and weather was so good! What I dislike the most about Bali (which many may agree) is the terrible traffic! I am quite speechless about the traffic because I really don't know what can be done to improve the situation unless the government demolish a whole lot of buildings and existing roads to widen them. Kuta and Seminyak districts are seriously congested ALL THE TIME! (Note: All images are by iPhone 4, experimenting with smartphone photography)

The government is quite smart in implementing the Visa On Arrival (VOA) system for many common wealth nations of which one simply arrive at the airport and pay USD25 for a 30 days VISA. Based on my research before the trip, for less than 7 days, one needs to pay only USD10 for the 7 days stay but apparently the real situation as different even when I asked the only answer I got back was ... "USD25 please." Not a bad way to gather foreign currencies. Oh remember not to use up all your local currencies before department because there is a Passenger Service Charge of IR150,000 (around USD15), another interesting fee in my opinion.

Also, due to the unit of the currency, don't be surprised your purchases / returned changes being rounded up by the thousands in monetary value, it is their custom I hear. Some shops may give you candies instead but based on my experiences, they just round it up.

If you plan to travel to many tourist sites including historical buildings in the different parts of Bali, it is highly recommended that you hire a car and a driver. Average cost is about IR600,000 (around USD55-60) for 10 hours and you can basically go anywhere for that period of time. Realistically, you are hiring the car and driver for less than 10 hours because of the terrible traffic. If you opt for taxi, make sure travel by the meter. There is also another option which is to use hotel taxi which take you to any destination within a specific district for a fixed price, pre paid as well. The cost would be about 30% - 35% higher than by the meter but in a much more comfortable ride of course. Is it worth it? I think so especially the taxi fares are quite cheap even in Hong Kong standard.

Alright, even with the boring stuff, here are some of the places I have visited and would definitely return / recommend.

Dala Spa at Villa De Daun
Literally an oasis in the middle of the city. Located behind the busy streets, you can find this cute little villa resort with this wonderful Dala Spa! We spent an afternoon here being pampered and then followed by a simple yet satisfying meal under the sun listening to the music performed by the wind and the leaves. (http://www.villadedaun.com/)

Anantara Seminyak Spa Resort
Sunset in Bali is usually around 6-615pm and quite on time as well! So if you do plan to watch the amazing sunset, make sure you head to whenever you want at least an hour in advance due to traffic! The SOS Supper Club at the Anantara Seminyak Spa Resort overlooks the Seminyak Beach and with their large beds one can sit back, relax and enjoy the sunset while enjoying a glass of cocktails. (http://bali.anantara.com/) Oh of course you can also dine under the sky while overlooking the sunset as well here at the SOS Supper Club.

Potato Head Beach Club
Almost anyone visit Bali knows about Ku De Ta, it is beyond famous as the beach side lounge but I personally prefer the nearby Potato Head because of the atmosphere. With a minimum spending IR500,000 (around USD45-50) you can have the bed! Trust me, it is quite easy to achieve that amount. (http://www.ptthead.com/)

Sardine
Dining in a rice field under the sun, enough said! (http://www.sardinebali.com/)

Theta Spa by the Sea
This spa is not as upscale or as luxury as the Dala Spa but the packages are much more reasonable. The premise is by the sea, being part of the Ramada Bintang Spa and Resort so do make sure you book the room overlooking the sea to get the best bargain! If you are not a spa person, go for their foot massage option in a separate glass room overlooking the sea / beach as well. (http://www.thetaspa.com/)

Breeze @ The Samaya Bali

Dinner by the sea. Enough said. Excellent Service! Quite a memorable dining experience to dine by the sea eating Indonesian cuisines haha. I quite want to stay here on my next trip to Bali! (http://www.thesamayabali.com/)

Bali, I will be back next May! I hope the traffic problem can be improved!!!

My Paris Favourites

2012-08-02T02:43:00.001+08:00

Many who don't follow my twitter or foursquare ask about my recent Paris experience in terms of food, here is a list of places I went to (or should have visited) during my stay which I like to recommend. I will update this list continuously as an excuse to visit Paris soon perhaps? :)

Au Bon Accueil
Reasonable prix fixe menu for lunch and dinner. Great food and service but the best part is how the restaurant is basically under the Tour Eiffel. Pick the tables outdoor on the sidewalk and enjoy the sun, food and atmosphere. http://www.aubonaccueilparis.com/
14 rue de Monttessuy, 75007 Paris (Métro Alma Marceau)
Tel: +33 01 47 05 46 11

Huîtrerie Régis
Oysters, oysters and more oysters. This small joint serves only oysters so get ready to indulge oysters by the dozen! http://huitrerieregis.com/
3 Rue Montfaucon, 75006 Paris (Métro Mabillon or Saint-Germain)
Tel: +33 01 44 41 10 07

L'Écume St Honoré
Oysters + Seafood! If you aren't satisfied with just oysters, stop by this casual joint in the city for some fresh oysters and wild selection of seafood! While you are there, you can simply stand by the counter and pick your items! :) http://parisbymouth.com/lecume-st-honore/
6 rue du Marché St.-Honoré, 75001 Paris
Tel: +33 01 42 61 93 87
Closed Sunday + Monday

Crêperie Beaubourg
Lovely authentic-enough Creperie at a great location overlooking Centre George Pompidou.
2 rue Brisemiche, 75004 Paris, France
Tel: +33 01 42 77 63 62

Pierre Hermé
Just the name says it all right? Just a tip, make sure you go to the right one because not all outlets have pastries. Also, you can buy the pastries and eat at the nearest sidewalk cafe enjoying / observing the French way of life. Make sure you free up at least an hour or so for this sweet destination. http://www.pierreherme.com/
72 rue Bonaparte 75006 Paris
Tel: +33 01 43 54 47 77

Should have tried:

Le Meurice http://www.lemeurice.com/le-meurice-restaurant
Le Chateaubriand http://parisbymouth.com/le-chateaubriand/

Amazing Summer Surprises!

2012-08-01T01:05:00.000+08:00

Quite a lot of surprises the past few weeks and I would like to share them with you very briefly. It is no secret that I get invited to various events including tastings as well as restaurant openings. Really thankful for the opportunities. Recently I have been invited by magazine Fashion & Beauty, yes a fashion magazine, to attend the opening launch part for Sony's new water resistant smartphone Xperia arco S releasing early August. Okay that's the first surprise to me because I got invited to this sort of event. Don't get me wrong because I won the lucky draw and won myself a brand new Sony Xperia arco S. HAHA a happy surprise indeed! Perhaps it is time to give Android OS a try?

Some say I have gained weight, I say I gained ALOT of weight to be exact! Thanks to the large amount of butter I like to consume nowadays. Oh that was suppose to be a compliment to butter! :) So what are the second surprise? For those who follow my Facebook, you may be seen a picture of me ... well, me with a slight makeover perhaps. It was a fun and quick costume makeover organized at the birthday party of Gentlemen's Tonic at Landmark. Thanks to them and the image, I have decide to get a circular glasses and soon you will see me with a new look! :)

As for the third surprise, it is sort of an announcement about the end of my tai tai lifestyle for the past year or so haha. I will soon work in the travel industry (starting September) so if you need to purchase air tickets or travel packages with hotel accommodations, do let me know and I will help arrange everything! More shameless promotion to come closer to September. In the meanwhile, start thinking where you would like to take a break for Christmas! Oh almost forgot, I will be traveling quite a bit this month as well so stay tuned or follow me on Twitter (@jasonbonvivant), Instagram (@jasonbonvivant) and Facebook (facebook.com/jasonbonvivant) for live updates! :)

Ngong Ping 360 + Tai O Day Trip (July 2012)

2012-07-26T06:00:00.002+08:00

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car has been in operations for many years and it is considered one of Hong Kong's key attractions to both local as well as foreign visitors. True that there were certain incidents over the past few years which affected their reputation but the way I see it, incidents happen in all sort of transportation including air flight or even cruise but it doesn't mean one would stop using them right? You are entitled to your own opinion but for me, I have been looking forward to such a cable car ride for what it is especially when the only other cable car ride in Hong Kong is the one at the Ocean Park. I have to admit, one of the reasons I was so looking forward to it was because I like to find out what sort of experience to expect from such huge investment in constructing this attractions just for the purpose of visiting the Ngong Ping Village, Giant Buddha and en route to Tai O Village?

My day started with a cable car ride from the Ngong Ping 360 Station in Tung Chung. The queue was longer than expected so get their early! To shorten your wait, get the crystal car cabin!

For a small price difference, I would definitely pick the crystal cabin with a transparent floor which passengers can look down at bird's eyes view! The ride took us about 25 mins and on a day with temperature around 33C, the cabin was quite cool without air conditioning, perhaps because of the height and proper ventilation. A suggestion is to pick a non-foggy day to visit because otherwise quite difficult to take a clear picture of the landscape during the ride. One thing I don't like was even for the higher priced crystal cabin, you still have to sit with plenty of strangers, max 8 per crystal cabins. Of course it depends on your luck whether visitors picked the crystal cabin option.

Arriving at the end of the uphill ride, the Ngong Ping Village awaits. Good that I was looking forward to a good tan, otherwise you better get your sun screen lotion ready. Oh of course you can get your umbrella ready to shield yourself from the sun as well. :)

The Ngong Ping Village isn't huge but there are quite a number of food outlets, ranging from Chinese to Pizza. I think traveling to Ngong Ping Village via the Ngong Ping 360 wasn't really for the food but for the experience. Treat the trip as an outing, an opportunity to take a day off, to enjoy the sunshine and walk off the excess fat (if any). Of course it can be a pit stop on your way to Tai O Fishing Village. Walking down the main street of Ngong Ping Village, you will see the Giant Buddha sitting peacefully on top of the mountain, one can access it from the Ngong Ping Village if you choose to climb all the stairs to reach it of course.

On the day of my visit, the Village hosted a special performance by the Shaolin & Wu Dang Kung Fu masters from China. It actually fitted the theme and atmosphere with the Giant Buddha at the back and traditionally styled structures along the main Village street.

The Ngong Pin 360 actually offers certain packages which include a shuttle service to Tai O Fishing Village from the Ngong Ping Village and include a boat ride around the village as well as dolphin sighting. We took the 15mins shuttle from Ngong Ping Village to the Tai O Fish Village. The first thing I saw was the local famous salty fish all around the side streets.

That was the first sighting, the first smell was the rich aroma of shrimp paste! I can't help but to take a few deep breath because I was in love of the aroma! Tai O Fish Village is also known as Venice in Hong Kong because of the type of sea side settlement as well as how boats are the main mode of transportation.

The different parts of the village were connected by bridges but it is much easier to transport by boats.

Most houses here are stilt houses constructed above the tidal flats because residents in this community for generations do not feel safe on land and much easier access to the sea for their liveihood.

The atmosphere and surroundings of Tai O Fish Village haven't changed much over the past several decades from what I can see and it should be kept this way if possible to retain the local traditions as well as their way of life. Changes are part of urban development but changes can be non-destructive if done properly. Sometimes happiness can be attained without much effort, it is often a choice you make that defines how far you are from happiness. This charming old man's smile made my day and his charcoal grilled squid made my stomach smiles! So please try to smile more for life's little things around you and let happiness find you by slowing down! :)

Tour Eiffel - Paris (June 2012)

2012-07-13T16:31:00.001+08:00

We often travel with the objectives to find the best restaurants, hunt for bargains or even to find the best location to photograph (with) iconic structures as an alternative to having a signboard saying "I was here." Hey, I am guilty as such at times but is that the best way to experience a city, to understand the culture and ... travel in general? It is an open-ended question for all of us to think about but my recent trip to London and Paris, I tried something different, I travel without my DSLR and only with my iPhone with me. Yes I mentioned about that in my previous post but in additional to illustrate smartphone photography as a valid category of photography, I wanted to travel through my own eyes and not through the viewfinder.

In the case of Paris, sitting at cafe by the street, having a cup of double espresso and eating my favourite sweets from Pierre Herme .... for 1.5 hours without any real plans what to do next and observing the way of life in the neighbourhood were few of the best travel activities in my opinion. There is no need to be in a rush during your travel, take your time, enjoy the moment, enjoy the atmosphere. I strongly recommend you to try these sort of activities on your next vacation!

What is a meaningful job?

2012-07-06T19:26:00.000+08:00

I am not certain if I posted the following personal entry on this blog before but I am doing so because ... I can. The entry was written almost 2 years ago but nothing seems to have changed in terms of my view towards the topic. We are all working towards some sort of an objective in life and to attain that we often have to take the path less travelled. Some are more fortunate to have the option to do while some require a bit more effort in doing so. The reality is, at this stage of age, it is almost impossible for everyone to start the race from same starting line. Accept this fact and work towards overcoming such disparity if you like to call it as such. There is no point in whining about it because it would not change anything just because you say so. What prompted me to say all these? Someone recently asked me for career advice and my reply was quite straight forward, "there is no such thing as a career nowadays, create your own career and build on it." Perhaps it was a bold statement for the kid about to enter university but I personally think if one cannot understand the changing definition of a career, he/she is in for quite a surprise down the road. The ability to anticipate change is very important and it takes more than piles of textbook to learn about it. I was then asked or more accurately been informed the ideal situation is to find a job that is meaningful. OKAY, there is no such thing as a meaningless job, it may be meaningless to you because you labelled it as such due to your dislike of it but it surely is meaningful to someone else you may or may not know. Guess what, someone may even envy your so-called meaningless job for many reasons. While the word meaningful is very subjective, do think of the following passage the next time you want to use the word to describe the job you picked.

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[from my personal blog July 2010]

I came across the following passages while reading about biscuits, the story of producing biscuits to be exact in Alain De Botton's recent work titled: "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work." I find it quite interesting and true how he relates the topic and expresses his views towards the meaning of work.

When does a job feel meaningful? Whenever it allows us to generate delight or reduce suffering in others. Though we are often taught to think of ourselves as inherently selfish, the longing to act meaningfully in our work seems just as stubborn a part of our make-up as our our appetite for status or money. It is because we are meaning-focused animals rather than simply materialistic ones that we can reasonably contemplated surrendering security for a career helping to bring drinking water to rural Malawi or might quite a job in consumer goods for one in cardiac nursing aware that when it comes to improving the human conditions a well-controlled defibrillator has the edge over even the finest biscuit.

But we should be wary of restricting the idea of meaningful work too tightly, of focusing on the doctors, the nuns of Kolkata or the Old Masters. There can be less exalted ways to contribute to the furtherance of the collective good and it seems that making a perfectly formed stripey chocolate circle which helps fill an impatient stomach in the long morning hours between nine o'clock and noon may deserve its own secure, if microscopic, place in the pantheon of innovations designed to alleviate the burden of existences.

It made me think about my job and how it fits in the bigger picture of life or of the society. Are we or am I somewhat contributing in the microscopic ways for the advancement of culture or society? To be honestly, I have no idea, I am yet to grasp the ability to view things in this direction or perspective but I do want to attempt. I believe the wish to do so is already a big step to begin with. Perhaps minor things I do can make a huge difference in one way or the other.

A quick look around town, retailers and consumers continue to benefit from each other in a magical way with a common denominator we call money. Everyone works hard to earn a living, earn some extra bucks to spend, to satisfying their desire in whatever ways they can afford. I think it is a fair way and no objection to that at all. However, I am sure at some point in life, one would step back and ask oneself the question of "meaning in life / work." Unfortunately, I don't understand why such "reflection" usually happens during times of turmoil or times of turbulence? Such thoughts or ideas should be equally prevalent during boom times am I right?

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee - London (June 2012)

2012-06-18T07:16:00.002+08:00

Like I said, the best camera is the one that's with you. I was quite serious when I said I will document (visually) my recent travels using just my iPhone instead of my DSLR. As promised, I carried just my iPhone in my jeans pocket during my recent visits to London & Paris. The results and overall experience turned out to be quite satisfying. Smartphone photography has its technically limitation but with enough practices, one can overcome them with different smartphone photography software as well as acquired skills. Let me share some of the images I took in London using my iPhone with post-processing applied using Snapseed, Instagram, Camera+ and TiltShiftGen.

Oxford Street

It wasn't planned but my London visit turned out to be during The Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration. The city was full of joy, full of cheerful mood and the Union Jack can be seen almost in every corner of London. Whoever supplied / manufactured those flags are smiling for sure! Many Diamond Jubilee themed products can be seen in most, if not all, stores you step into. I was amazed at the scale of the celebration and truly wonder about the cost of it and how much taxpayer money was spent on this week long or perhaps month long (including preparation and the extra bank holiday) celebration. As stated in the The Guardian, "The culture department has estimated that the extra bank holiday could cost Britain's ailing economy £1.2bn," and the "cost of Queen's ceremonies 'unknown as yet'." I am not saying that it is not worth the celebration, it was truly a celebration that was once in a life time for the country as well as the Queen. As commented by many, Queen Elizabeth II is one of the few or perhaps the only one in England's history that acted as the head of state for such long time without a single flaw since her coronation 60 years ago. The word 'flaw' is quite tricky but generally speaking, we haven't heard any negative thing about the Queen right? Or she misbehaved in any sense? Anyhow, enjoy the smartphone photographs I took! :)

St Pancras Station (International - EUROSTAR)

Brown's Hotel Afternoon Tea - Diamond Jubilee specials

No Bathing? - Hyde Park

Carefree as the Duck or Free as a Bird? - Hyde Park

Relaxing

What? What is Closing Down???

What is your favourite colour?

Meat Fruit @ Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

le Miserable

Luxury should start young right?

Instagram ME @ Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong

2012-05-12T02:22:00.000+08:00

No longer a 9-5 person, I live an interesting lifestyle which may or may not appeal to everyone. Do you wonder how a typical day of mine goes by? Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong recently asked me to participate in their Instagram Me feature, to document my day via Instagram. Check it out <here> or stalk me via Instagram at @jasonbonvivant.

The Danger of Generalization

2012-05-12T01:22:00.000+08:00

Recently the "food blogging" community in Hong Kong has been under a degree of pressure or more frankly speaking direct criticism from media as well as the F&B industry in Hong Kong. Alright, criticism maybe a strong word, perhaps, for a lack of a better word, concerns for the rapid growth of the so-called "food blogging" industry in recent months. Criticism is a natural byproduct of increased popularity and unfortunately it is the case in question with regards to "food blogging." First of all, one must understand the difference between "food blogger" and "bloggers who blog about food," because there is a difference and I repeated, there is a difference between the two and it is wrong to put both under the same category as "food bloggers." Such generalization is very dangerous indeed. I am not trying to distinguish myself between the two and I really see no need to do so because it matters not ... really. Let me show you a few examples:

"oh you write about food once a week on your newly started blog? Great, you are a food blogger."

"oh you post about food on your FB? Great you are a food blogger."

"oh you don't have a blog? oh wait, you tweet and you Sina Weibo right? Great, hello food blogger."

"oh you write about food cultures? so you don't do restaurant reviews? Nice talking to you."

"oh you post food reviews on Openrice? Great can I interview you as a food blogger?"

So please explain to me what exactly does it mean by being a food blogger? I am not sure myself. It really matters not what I am being called since I blog because I like to share my experiences via words and images. What happened to the blogging community in Hong Kong you ask? As I mentioned, the blogging industry in Hong Kong is still in its infant stage and the rapid growth in recent years are good for its development. However, depending on the direction of the participants in the community or to put it bluntly, how bloggers discipline themselves, the development can hindered greatly.

Recent growth of the blogging community in Hong Kong is a result of technology advancement, particularly the greater uses of smartphone which allow users to "blog" on the go using various social media platforms. Blogging in general is no longer restricted to a website, many different forms are out there such as Tumblr, Twitter and Sina Weibo. Like it or not, they are being accepted as blogs nowadays to a certain degree. However, when it comes to "food blogging," many neglected a key element which contributed to the current scene. It is the push & pulled factor created by the F&B establishments. The OVERabundance of food tastings specifically for bloggers, events targeting just bloggers and to every so subtle hints of asking to blog about it asap contributed to the rapid growth we are seeing recently.

Many F&B establishment rushed to the hype of social media in recent months because it is the "next big trend," and many jumped on the bandwagon without really thinking through the approach or what best their own establishments. The easiest for them is to organize bloggers events or blogger tastings so increase the exposure in a short period of time, hence to sudden surge of bloggers tastings. Don't get me wrong, these events are quite common among the blogging communities around the world and many treat these events like traditional media events, but the issue is what do people look for in return, what sort of roles are the bloggers and what do restaurants want in return? A simple compliment to the chef for the good meal or an immediate spread of information via blogs? what happened to the value of word of mouth? With the increased number of tastings is the increased number of blog posts about them. With the increased number of blog posts there are more readers finding their "new found" interests in sharing their dining experiences online via various social media channels. The cycle continues. In other words, the restaurants created the demand for "food" bloggers and the community supplied them with an overabundance of bloggers to fill that gap and now "concerns" are surfacing for the quality of the supplies they help created? I feel that this vicious cycle is putting a negative image to bloggers in general no matter what you blog about due to the generalization issue mentioned.

Once again, I am not distinguishing myself from anyone or saying that I am different because I do attend invitations every now and then. I would write about my experiences stating that the event was an invitation or not. What put me off sometimes with invitations is the bold assumptions many of the restaurants or PR assume. I once rejected an invitation for tastings and the immediate reply I got was, "oh how come? It is a free meal." What is that suppose to me? I am coming because of the free meal? I should come because it is a free meal? Because you are inviting me over for a free meal I have the obligation to write about it? This is a very dangerous assumption and I have no idea how this comes about. Perhaps I am the very few that would actually turn down invitations!?! When did blogging become my job and I must attend to every single event, because the last time I checked, my bills are not being paid from blogging.

I do not represent all food lovers who blog but I for one is not a professional food critic (perhaps a food writer at times); I simply enjoy sharing my gastronomic adventures with my words and images and try to learn more about the food that I am eating. What does that make me? a food blogger or a blogger who enjoys blogging about food?

Travel - Singapore (April 2012) - Oasia Hotel

2012-05-09T04:48:00.000+08:00

Situated just 2 MRT stations away from Orchard Station, Oasia Hotel @ Novena turned out to be much more convenient than I imagined. I stayed at the hotel over the Easter weekend in April and thanks for the generosity of the hotel, my accommodation was free of charge. While it was a big help to have free accommodation, the air tickets to Singapore seem to be climbing every quarter since a few years ago. There are over a dozen daily flights to Singapore operated by various airlines but never seems to be enough I suppose. Then again, Singapore, as mentioned previously, is an international financial center and is Hong Kong's closest yet most fierce competitor in terms of economic as well as policy development. I am bringing up this topic once again because the Oasia hotel is situated in the middle of the Novena district, a medical hub of Singapore serving not only the locals but as well as foreign visitors for various intentions. In other words, Singapore is investing as well as prompting the development of medical tourism. Hong Kong government once mentioned the idea of promoting medical tourism but like many other policies and initiatives, hardly anyone knows what happened to them. I will talk about this issue on a separate post, this one I will stick with the sharing of of my experience at the hotel.

Oasia Hotel opened late last year around November and the whole exterior as well as interior carried a very contemporary feel to it. It may seem like a business hotel by design, it can certainly be for leisure purposes as well with the various facilities and of course its location close to Orchard Road. Being in the center of the Novena district, Oasia Hotel is the only hotel surrounding the various medical facilities, which means for those wishing to stay during treatment or visiting can stay here and within walkable distance can reach to the different facilities. Even smarter is how the hotel transform the first few levels into medical services or so-called medial specialists center where "medical suites" (similar to what we call clinic) are in place.

There are 3 main types of rooms, with Superior and Deluxe occupying most of the floors up to 21/F. 22/F and above are Oasia Club Rooms (and of course the few Club Suites). The key difference between the normal and Club rooms are the exclusive usage of the club lounge, the Living Room on the 21/F where there is also a sky pool for Club level guest enjoyment

The 100 Club Rooms and 4 Club Suites are all designed by Super Potato with wood being the main theme. What I love about all their rooms is how the don't use carpet! Carpets to me are no longer the trendy thing for hotels because they get dirty quite fast and a main cause of allergies for people like me.
Most of the Superior and Deluxe rooms are filled with sunlight thanks to the large windows. All blinds are electronically controlled, wonderful for lazy individuals like myself! Oh by the way, don't be surprised on the different configurations of the rooms on the same level and/or the next room. That's their creative styles!

The following are Superior / Deluxe Rooms:

The following are Club level rooms designed by Super Potato:

Being a business / leisure hotel, there is a gym as well as plenty of conference rooms as well for guests.

Happy Birthday!! I am 3 already?!

2012-05-06T18:12:00.000+08:00

Time flies! I just realized the blog has turned 3 sometime last week and I almost forgot about it. Yes, I have been blogging for 3 years and mostly on food obviously and lately general lifestyle. However, I think it is time to turn a new leaf once again and do something different! I am still going to blog about food of course but it will be photographically driven with just the right amount of words. Details of the the new approach will follow along with a new face lift for the blog as well. Stay tuned!

In the meanwhile, something of a preview perhaps + shameless promotion? Many of you know how I have a growing interest and passion into photography as well as smartphone photography in recent times, and I plan to further promote / share my experiences in my upcoming trip to part of Europe (TBC) on the go! Smartphone photography is more than just the ability to capture the moment using your phone almost immediately, it is the ability (or possibilities) to share images almost instantaneously through different social media channels such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Sina Weibo and of course Instagram. In other words, you are able to tell your story through your images almost real time!

If you are interested in my upcoming travel(s) on the go, please do stay in touch via one of the following channels. (Click to access)

Instagram / Twitter / Sina Weibo / Facebook / Foursquare

An-tico Enoteca & Pizzeria (Hong Kong)

2012-05-06T01:50:00.000+08:00

Stepping inside An-tico reminded me of NYC, the lofty atmosphere, the subway tiles, the high ceiling and the 1920’s style custom light fixtures made me feel right at home. It is rare for a Hong Kong restaurant to have such a huge space but all of WindyCity's restaurants especially the notable Dan Ryan's and Amaroni’s outlets in Hong Kong have huge space. An interesting observation is how all of Windy City's Hong Kong establishments are situated inside malls / venues that have a cinema. I wonder what was the logic or business decision behind that. Anyhow, thanks Barbra and her company for treating me to this meal and I do wish her to have a great trip to Guam in October!

We started out lunch with the signature An-tico's Wing Bites. It wasn't what I expected, instead of deep fried, they were partly grilled with strong hints of rosemary. I have to be honest that the presentation was not the pretties but I guess the flavors compensated the look. After all, the taste and flavors should be the key right?

If you love Avocado, you will love the Crab Stuffed Avocado. The flavor of the crab meat matched the subtle taste of avocado. The texture ... well, just like another other avocado I suppose haha. Nonetheless, a great way to start the meal with.

I forgot the exact name of the dish but what I do recall is the name pastry Cigar and Cod Fish somewhere in the name or in the ingredient list. We were all expecting something like a normal fish stick but instead of bread crumbs the outer layer would be made of thin layers of pastries. We were partly right in that respect, the outer layers were of thin pastries but the inside was more like Portuguese style Bacalhau croquette.

For pizza we ordered the Trevisella (Neopolitan Pizze style) which came with plenty of rockets! I like how they serve the pizza in a separate rack so to save table space. You can put stuff underneath as well like pasta! I did exactly that!

For pasta we ordered the Fettuccine with shrimps and scallops. Very generous with the seafood as well as pasta, can be shared between two persons easily! The scallops were quite large and retained the freshness and sweetness to them.

The Housemade Soft Gelato was alright, nothing overly exciting if you ask me. The Soft Gelato served was more on the creamy side for your information.

The dessert highlight got to be the Banana Boat!!! Childhood memories! Once again, thanks Barbra for inviting!

The Art of Bullshit

2012-05-04T00:15:00.001+08:00

I wrote this following post quite a while ago on my personal blog (which I no longer update because I plan to consolidate all my thoughts and express them here on this platform). What triggered to dig up this old post was the large amount of bullshit I have been hearing recently. I have no doubt that we all have our fair share of bullshit but when one is being bombarded by them in a short period of time, headaches!

So do you like to bullshit? Why do we bullshit? How do we distinguish a lie from a bullshit? I just finished reading a book titled On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt attempts to answer the above questions in a philological approach. The following introduction and excerpts I found to be rather interesting. What do you think?

One of the most salient feature of our culture is is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in it ... we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves ...

What bullshit essentially misrepresents is neither the state of affairs to which it refers nor beliefs of the speaker concerning that state of affairs. Those are what lies misrepresent, by virtue of being false, since bullshit need not be false, it differs from lies in its nonrepresentational intent. The bullshitter may not deceive us, or even intend to do so, either about the facts or about what he takes the facts to be. What he does necessarily attempt to deceive us about his enterprise. His only indispensably distinctive characteristic is that in a certain way he misrepresents what he is up to.

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press, 2005.)

Beertopia! Hong Kong - 28 April 2012 [Event]

2012-04-19T02:13:00.000+08:00

Attention Beer Lovers! A new beer fest Beertopia! is coming to town, this time with over 90 craft beers from around the world including Hong Kong's microbrewery, Typhoon Brewery. The festival will take place at the historical Western Market in Sheung Wan on the April 28, 2012. Tickets are limited and range from HKD250-300. Not a big fan of beer, no worries, attend and learn about them and enjoy the live music, beer lectures as well as play games such as beer pong and flip cup. Oh beer pong! I am definitely going to be there to try out some craft beers and support my friend who dedicated his time to organize this event because of his love for beer! Cheers to all! Stay tuned stay informed on Beertopia! Facebook Page! Almost forgot, check out the beer list <here>.

Travel - Seoul, Korea (Jan 2012)

2012-04-17T17:36:00.001+08:00

I just realized that I did not really blog about my short trip to Seoul back in Jan 2012. Two reasons, one being I was there for a mere 24 hours so didn't many opportunities to explore around and the other reason being I didn't bring my DSLR with me on this trip. However, like I said at the Smartphone Photography talk during the Social Media Week Hong Kong 2012, the best camera is the one that is with you and in my case iPhone is more than qualified to be the best camera at that moment. Smartphone Photography is getting very popular and an increasing number of aspiring photographers (as well as professional photographers) are getting more involved with smartphone photography for its mobility as well as a treating it as a separate category on its own. No matter how one defines smartphone photography, to me it is a a form of photography and it is evolving as we speak.

With so many photography software / apps designed just for smartphone, we can now edit images on to go to a degree that may or may not be compared with desktop equivalents. Some are quite powerful like Snapseed which changed the way how I photography as well as edit images taken with my iPhone. Below are some of the photographs I took using my iPhone (+ various photography apps) during my Seoul trip. Enjoy! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @jasonbonvivant ... happy eating and photographing! :)

Greyhound Cafe @ Harbour City 海港城 (Hong Kong)

2012-03-31T05:05:00.000+08:00

There was such a hype when Thailand's Greyhound Cafe opened its first overseas outlet a few months ago at the IFC Mall, Hong Kong. Bookings were required a few days in advance for lunch and dinner. I have been there twice and both during off-peak hours because I have heard mixed reviews on its service during other times. My experiences at the IFC Mall outlet was not quite memorable on the service as well as food. Of course given the fact that both my visits were during the first few months of opening, things may have improved by now. I guess a revisit is required? Oh wait, this post is not about the IFC outlet but the recently opened Harbour City branch across the Victoria Harbour. Since this visit was an invitation by Harbour City, it would be quite difficult to accurately judge its service (which was great of course) or even perhaps the food. What I can say and do want to share is that my experience at this outlet was more enjoyable for various reasons. One being the wider selection of items only available at this outlet and the another being how I can actually have a complete conversation with my friends without yelling at the top of my lungs!

Let me go through the usual suspects here at Greyhound Cafe. (I think I should head over to Bangkok to do a quick comparison perhaps?) The Greyhound Famous Fried Chicken Wings was a definite must just because it is the so-called signature dish. Many complained about the wings being quite dry but I keep an open mind on this because they were consistently dry on different occasions across outlets and the same applies back in Bangkok as well. Perhaps they wings were meant to be on the dry side? It reminds me of Nagoya Tebasaki (fried chicken wings) which is suppose to be on the dry side somewhat due to the double (twice) fried recipe. Not only does the texture matters, the flavors can be equally important which we should not ignore. If you prefer juicy wings, sure, some may prefer them dry maybe? What about me? I prefer juicy wings yet drier wings are perfect to go along with beer, just like pairing jerky with beer!

The Greyhound Iced Tea is the signature drink with the ice cubes chilled from the tea instead of plain H2O so the flavors would not be diluted as the ice cubes start to melt. I think they made a slight improvement with the iced tea to suit local preference, which is to reduce the sweetness. I still recall the shocking sweetness from the iced tea I had on my first visit to the IFC Mall outlet when they first opened. Did I mention it is quite an addictive beverage?

Please excuse Rita of Mochachocolata-Rita and her hungry pose for the Pork Stick. I had to stop her from eating before I take a few shots of the dish! It was fun fighting over those sticks! Let the duel begins!

The Salmon Carpaccio was simple yet flavorful. The dipping sauce or the chili sauce on top made it a very appetizing starter. Surprisingly thin but anything thicker would make it quite ... heavy.

Alright, here we go again! Please excuse Rita's love for carbohydrates. It was the Fried Tiger Prawns with Thai Spices and Rice that put that big smile on Rita's face! I quite liked the mixture of spices and flavors but a bit more sauce would be better to go along wit the rice.

The Pita Pizza with Seafood Stuffing was perhaps their version of quesadilla. We actually re-ordered this ... twice? That should say something about how we liked it right? If I have to pick one thing to criticize about this it would be how the seafood stuffing was not event distributed!! The first "slice" I had was all prawns and the second piece I had was all squid! I liked both but I would love to have both the prawns and squid in one single bite! :)

The Spaghetti with Thai Anchovy was a dish of mixed feelings. I mean you either love it or hate it depending on your love towards Anchovy. While I am a fan of anchovy, you have to make sure to consume this dish while hot!! If you let it cool down just for a moment, the intended flavors would forever be gone and much would go to waste.

Oh this Coconut Crepe Cake is one of the items that is only available at this particular outlet. Limited supplies per day, the coconuts used are shipped from Bangkok and must be made fresh every day. Like Rita said, this is OUT OF THIS WORLD, MUST TRY! I have to agree with her, perhaps because I am a dessert fan plus I love coconut! For those who visited the Bangkok Greyhound Cafe and tried this Coconut Crepe Cake, you may have spotted how the Hong Kong version only has TWO layers instead of THREE layers in Bangkok. Why? Too many reasons if you ask me, one being the cost of course.

If you are not a coconut fan, try the Mango Crepe Cake for something equally refreshing to satisfy your sweet cravings.

I didn't try this Coffee Mania because I was too busy tackling the coconut crepe cake in front of me. I had to fight off multi forks from all direction trying to have a piece of it!

Once again, thanks Harbour City for the lovely invitation and it was a great gathering of friends as well. The experience at this outlet was a much more pleasant one compared with my experiences at the IFC Mall branch a while ago. Just to be fair, I should revisit IFC Mall outlet to see if any improvement has been made. Happy Eating!

Preloved Fashion Pop-up Sale! Get Ready! (21 April 2012)

2012-03-29T18:14:00.000+08:00

What!? You forgot that I mentioned about my new venture into fashion? No worries, I am more than happy to remind everyone here. :) ... Shameless promotion? Sure! My Fashion Birdcage is one of my new ventures and it is a recently launched London and Hong Kong based online fashion business. We are committed to provide every new or up-and-coming designer around the world a platform to showcase their work to the world of buyers looking for products that are a bit different. To satisfy our fashion-conscious customers, we are always on the lookout for new interesting items to sell. We also stock a mix of brand new and pre-loved authentic fashion items by well established designers such as Prada, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Gucci, Lanvin, Salvatore Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton and a lot more. This guarantees certain web traffic to our website which is extremely beneficial for up-and-coming designers. Living in London? in Hong Kong? Wonderful! Visit us at www.myfashionbirdcage.com and stayed informed by LIKE us facebook.com/myfashionbirdcage for updates or follow us on Twitter @myfashbirdcage !

Oh what else? Something exciting is coming up! We are going to be participating in the upcoming Preloved Fashion Hong Kong event on the 21 April 2012 (Saturday). As the name suggests, it is a pop-up fashion sale event featuring brand new, barely worn, and vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories. Check out the Facebook Page for a preview of the items to be on sale and mark your calendar & get ready for some shopping! Oh Hong Kong Fashion Geek will be there as well!

Ask the Foodie - South China Morning Post

2012-03-22T20:41:00.000+08:00

Just in case you missed it, I was being interviewed by SCMP a few weeks ago for their weekly section titled Ask the Foodie. I was being asked questions regarding my background and how I started blogging a few years ago then gradually moving into lifestyle writing and photography as well. It was indeed quite a journey and definitely no regrets. I am still enjoying the journey! The interview ended with a photo-shoot session in the middle of Pedder Street x Queen's Road Central. Quite an interesting experience, I may try to take some photographs like that later, anyone want to volunteer? Oh and how do I look? What do you think of my double chin? Don't you know that double chin is the new trend!? Oh one more thing, if you are into fashions, check out my new venture My Fashion Birdcage, a new London-based fashion destination for up-and-coming designers items and of course pre-loved fashion accessories!

Lufthansa LSG Sky Chef - Culinary Excellence in the Air: Behind the Scenes

2012-03-21T03:39:00.002+08:00

Many of us had our fair share of rants on plane food, no matter what class you are travelling in. Common complaints are often related to the lack of flavours, the level of moisture of your rice or perhaps how tough your beef is. True that in some cases, the quality of the food varies a lot depending on the airlines and their respective catering services, however, I often feel that many passengers forget the fact that they are having their meals at 35,000 feet, inside a pressurized environment with humidity close to 10% or even lower. To prepare food at this high altitude is no easy task and more challenging than many would expect. I always know how the boiling point would reduce to around 80C at that altitude which affects the temperature of the food being consumed after the reheating process. However, my recent visits to one of the world's largest airline catering service providers Lufthansa's LSG Sky Chef facilities in Hong Kong turned out to be quite fruitful in learning more on the limitations as well as regulations of how food must be prepared for safe consumption at 35,000 feet.

The event was sort of a tasting event or behind the scenes visit for Lufthansa's upcoming China Menu for its First Class passengers flying long-haul from China to Germany. One of their initiatives over the past many years is to invite renowned chefs all over the world to participate in their Star Chef program by creating new dishes for the airline's long-haul flights. This year's Star Chef for the China-Germany route is Chef Steve Grein, currently the Executive Chef of the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai. He created a whole collection of Chinese as well as Western dishes for this project.

While chatting with him, one of the key things I learned was how challenging and different it is to create dishes for passengers at 35,000 feet compared with diners at any given restaurants on ground level. It is a entirely different beast so to speak. With the circumstantial limitation such as the low humidity, many things need to be taken into consideration in the creation process. Just to name a few:

(1) most if not all food need to be designed so to be suited for reheating on board without losing too much flavors and moisture
(2) At 35,000 feet, not only does the boiling point changes, our taste buds (ie: sensitive) change as well and depending on the dish, extra flavors may need to be added, yet if too much salt are added, salt would absorb the moisture. A great balance must be achieved.
(3) For chilled items, the richness of the flavors would be further reduced
(4) Portion control is important because there are limited space on board, meals and menus need to be designed accordingly to fit into the custom trays
(5) weight of the food is an issue which can affect the overall loading of the flight.

I was surprised by the number of limitations with regards to food preparation at 35,000 feet. From now on, before I complain about my plane food, I certainly will remind myself of the list of limitations and restrictions in preparing the dish. Let's get back to the objective of the event, First Class Hot Menu. Alright, I was quite impressed with the largest selection of the dishes / menu available for the First Class passengers, I guess they paid "extra" for their extra mile for such services. Basically each First Class passenger will be guaranteed their choice of meals instead of a first come first served basis at the Economy Class all all airliners to my understanding. In addition to Welcome Drink, First Class passengers can an Amuse-Bouche as well!!! This Crab Purse, I want!

One of the featured dish was the Slow Roasted Beef Carpaccio Basil Pesto, Parmesan Shavings. Not exactly Carpaccio in terms of rawness but as explained by Chef Fritz Gross of LSG Sky Chef Hong Kong, it is a food safety regulation that raw meat (or semi rareness) cannot be served during flight. Taste wise? Not bad at all as a cold starters on board! The extra sauce is given for the extra richness of flavours at 35,000 feet.

There were quite a number of dishes being served for tastings, so I will simply list them out there for your reference. Most of the items tasted quite good given the fact that they were all prepared 12 hours ago and reheated during tasting to simulated the real situation as closely as possible. Alright, not at 35,000 feet and First Class environment but let's not get overly technical here okay? :)

Slowly Braised Beef Cheek

Classic Prawn Cocktail

Salmon and Scallop Roulade

Flaked White Fish, Arrugula, Radish Salad

Salmon Tartar, Cucumber-Citrus Vinaigrette

Steamed Pork Belly with Mashed Garlic

Seared Tuna, Carrot Carpaccio

Cherry Glazed Duck Breast, Baby Greens, Dry Cherry Vinaigrette

Marinated Duck Breast

Needle Mushroom and Beef Rolls

Quite a number of choices indeed. It would be an even better experience if I can tour the kitchen but I understand the difficulties in doing so. Aside from a full stomach, what I have learned from today's behind the scene LSG Sky Chef event is how many of us as passengers neglected to look into the efforts put into making airplane food no matter for First or Economy class, the same theories, standards and concepts apply. I do respect the efforts behind airplane food be it a simple dish of salad or a main dish of chicken, beef or fish. Of course I would take a more in depth appreciation of the food if I were sitting First Class for a 12+ hours flight as well!! And you know what, another fact I found which amazes me as a avid traveller; on selected Boeing 747-400 long-haul configurations, "as well as your comfortable First Class seat, there is a separate bed over two metres long available to you." Let me repeat, "there is a separate bed over two metres long available to you," next to your seat to be exact! A separate bed! Gees, I am still not over the fact that they have a separate bed! Alright, Emirates A380 has a entire SUITE but the flat bed requires manual conversion, not a fixed bed. Well of course Singapore Airline's A380 Suite is a different story. Okay, time to purchase lottery tomorrow.