Mochachocolata-Rita

8 Reasons Why SC Is A Cool Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 15:47:00 +0000

Here are 8 reasons why SC is a pretty darn cool dad.

1. He's pretty hands-on with OB
Diaper-changing, bottle feeding, rocking him to sleep, etc etc etc. You name it, he's done it.
He is great at multitasking too.
As you can obviously see in this picture below...

And those muscles are pretty handy when he needs to carry OB around. Until now.

2. He shows OB that it's cool to be naughty and silly.
There's nothing wrong with making a fool of yourself.

And it's ok to be naughty, you just have to make up for it somewhere else and own what you've done.

3. He'll always have OB's back.

PS. Son, it's ok for dudes to get their toe nails polished.

4. He's OB's first co-conspirator, his partner in crime.

Obviously, conspiring against mama. Hmpfh.

5. He's OB's toughest coach.
Life is tough, son.
So, you gotta be tougher.

6. He shows OB how it's done.
He leads by example.
He didn't mind getting his ass thoroughly kicked in a taekwondo competition; ending up with a broken wrist, because he wanted to show OB that winning doesn't come easy.

Be passionate about what you love.
In whatever you do, give it all you got.
Don't do a half-ass job.

7. He teaches OB confidence.
Work hard for what you want, and when you got it, don't be afraid to flaunt it.
Always put your best foot forward.
Or it's probably just mama's excuse to put up this picture. Don't waste mah...

Pretty much nothing great in life comes easy.
This is what it takes to get that chiseled figure.

And 200 push ups a day.

Plus, he passes on his good genes to OB.
See? Like father, like son.

8. He teaches OB kindness and generosity.
SC is no saint. He's pretty selfish most of the time. But deep down, there's kindness and he's really generous to those he cares about. I'm glad he passes them on to OB.

OB played violin in front of a crowded MTR exit to raise fund for drought victims in Ethiopia. It was so heartwarming to see how others' enthusiasm in supporting what he's doing. All credits went to SC who orchestrated this and encouraged OB to do it. SC taught OB that there's more to life than toys and if we could use our abilities to help others, we should.

Babi, you're our superhero (when you're not annoying).

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY LA, LODAO!

Syut 談風：vs：再說 January 2016 Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 02:00:00 +0000

A wonderful little place hidden in Ngau Tau Kok's industrial area. It's within 10 minutes walk from my office and we've been to this place so many times, it's not even funny. Whenever we have visitors from our other offices, we bring them here. Birthdays or special occasions, this place would always be one of the choices. Other than my colleagues and I, this place is mostly full of young, good looking and super chic people. Opppps. Sorry, colleagues.

We love the decor of the place, the open kitchen, and some of the chefs have long hair, man bun, and/or facial hair. I am very very partial to those things. Ahem.

OK, moving on to the food... they change the menu every month. It is best to visit this place at the beginning of the month, as at the end of the month they are often out of some ingredients from their monthly menu.

We've tried these from their January specials.

One of us is vegetarian, and we're happy that they always have at least one vegetarian option. This is the rocket pesto pasta. It comes with 64 degree egg (my colleague doesn't eat egg, so we requested without), shimeji mushrooms, and roasted onion. The flavors are a tad too subtle for my colleague, but after a dash of Tabasco and a few sprinkles of grated Parmesan, it's all good.

One of us picked the stout pasta from the January specials - it comes with pumpkin sauce, roast onion, and check out that strings of cheese...

We also tried the chicken - with lemongrass coconut cream, lime gel and black garlic puree. The lime gel is the highlight that brightens up the dish, and of course... them crispy paper-thin fried chicken skin!

DAT PLATE! Syut plates things so beautifully, it's crazy! This is the sauteed squid - with sea urchin white wine sauce, ink gnocchi and daikon slices. Very delicate flavors (a tad too delicate) with interesting combination of different textures. It looked and sounded much better than it tastes, unfortunately.

My favorite from this month's menu, the mackerel - with black olive polenta cake, chorizo, basil oil, green olive and dried tomatoes. Bold and bright flavors. The polenta cakes are crispy outside and piping hot inside, the chorizo slices are so crispy, the fish perfectly cooked, and the tomatoes brought everything together. Absolutely delicious and so beautiful to look at. I licked my plate clean.

The pine tree ice cream dessert is so good! Served with homemade dried fruits toast and peanut butter jelly. Those green strands are all edible. Very refreshing!

The chocolate financiers with bergamot sorbet, chocolate jelly, chocolate "chips" and popping candy. That's no financier, it's more like a (very good) molten chocolate cake, with more chocolate served in different textures and balanced out with very tangy bergamot sorbet. We really really likey!

Price: about HKD150 per person.
Lunch sets include bread, coffee or tea, or 50% special drinks (their mixed berries soda or mint ginger soda are very nice).

SYUT 談風：vs：再說
Shop No.B, 10/F, Gee Luen Factory Building
316-318 Kwun Tong Road, Ngau Tau Kok.
Ngau Tau Kok MTR Exit B6
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: 2415 4999

For their updated menu, check Syut's Facebook Page.

MISSHA & OliveYoung Korean Sheet Masks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 15:26:00 +0000

A fine Sunday afternoon after we went for an intense session of strawberry picking and shopping...

SC got these Korean face mask sheets from his colleagues and he wanted to get our little family to play with them. Of course OB very gladly obliged heheheh.

He promptly took a bath with dad in record speed, combed his hair nicely (ahem, because photos!) and placed himself on the bed for dad to help him with the mask. He wanted to be Shrek (don't ask...), so dad let him try OliveYoung x Dreamworks Shrek Hydrogel Mask.

We're pretty sure he didn't need the face mask...but we let him have fun with it for a while. He was really excited, he barely moved. That's a rare occasion for an active 5 year old boy. Heheheh.

SC picked MISSHA's animal mask - tiger.

OB's mask barely fit his tiny face. Heheheh.

Mama picked MISSHA's animal mask panda!
After the mask, our skin felt thoroughly moisturized, and in my case, my skin went lighter (WHAT exactly did they put in the panda mask??). After playing with the face masks we all had a very good Sunday nap. Heheheh.

So what did you do last weekend?

Sunday Spanish Brunch at Alibi, Cordis Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 15:50:00 +0000

Thank you for having our little family over for brunch, Alibi! We had a great time, which you can see from OB's chocolate smeared face.

It's a semi buffet brunch. The buffet serves a great variety of food. We like!

First, charcuterie and cheese.

Ahem, carbs.... which I can eat on weekends. Thank God.

Of course, OB had to do the lightsaber pose with the bread stick...

He enjoyed the charcuterie very much.

We had lotss of oysters.

So many things to choose from, we almost did not have space to try everything.

Seafood paella.

Cheesy toastie sandwiches. Yum!

Slow roasted suckling pig.

Crab claw!

And my favorite, crispy Spanish anchovies!

You can choose to have free flow make-your-own sangria and fruit punch.

Or choose to have free flow champagne.

Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut. I am not really a champagne person, but I do enjoy a bit from time to time ;)

We had a sweet OB & papa moment.

Cheers!

Nom nom nom.

OB munching on crispy anchovies.

We ordered 2 main courses. Grilled USDA rib eye served with salsa verde.

Nicely cooked, we like!

And roasted French spring chicken served with polenta fries (love!), broccolini, port and pepper jus.

After that. Cheesy time!

And then the sweets.

Dulce de leche cheesecake.

Crema Catalana.

Apple Frangipane tart.

And of course, churros!

And this was bound to happen.

Who wants chocolate hugs and kisses from OB? Hehehe

The brunch is available every Sunday from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm.
Prices:

- $358 per adult with free-flowing sangria and fruit punch

- $238 per child with free flowing fruit punch

- Free-flowing Perrier-Jouët Champagne for an extra $200.

Plus 10% service charge.

Alibi

5/F Cordis Hong Kong at Langham Place.

555 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok.

(Mongkok MTR exit C)

旺角上海街555號香港康得思酒店5樓

For booking:

Tel: +852 3552 3028

Email: cdhkg.restaurants@cordishotels.com

Website.

Meatless Monday Potluck Lunch Party - Japanese Food

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 07:12:00 +0000

What did we bring to our #MeatlessMonday potluck party this time?

Here we go!

Vegetarian sashimi.
They are made of konyaku, I was amazed how close the texture and taste to real sashimi.

Vegetarian yakitori including mock beef and mock sausages.

Tangy cold noodles salad. Glass noodles and shredded vegetables in sesame oil & vinegars.
Very refreshing!

Vegetarian pork chop - again, really close to the real deal. I was completely shocked.

To go with the pork chop cutlet, I made this.

Vegetable Japanese curry.
It went really well with the vegetarian pork chop.
I generally have no access to mock meat, so I try to make do without.
The curry has carrot, potatoes, baby corn, broccoli, and mushrooms. Very colorful!
I used my favourite S&B Japanese curry cubes.
Oh, actually I can't take any credits for this. My wonderful helper did it, I simply gave her instructions ;)

Soft tofu with vegetarian "meat floss"

Soy sauce konyaku noodles with mock shrimps.

Cold spinach side dish.
Blanched spinach with soy sauce, black vinegar, manuka honey, sesame oil.

Beansprouts spicy side dish.
Blanched beansprouts, spicy 7 spice powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

And the star of the show...

Toblerone Cheesecake!
Cream cheese & cream & melted toblerone on chocolate crust, topped with shaved toblerone.
There is no way it is no

Who says meatless means not good (or must be healthy?)?
Ahem!

We're having a break next week because Mid Autumn Festival Holiday.

'Til next time~!

Meatless Monday Potluck Party

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 02:27:00 +0000

How to combat Monday blues?
We do it by having #MeatlessMonday potluck party every week and it works!
We choose a theme and plan what we're going to bring (we can't have 6 noodle dishes, no? Nobody would be able to work after that).

We love our #meatlessmonday so far.
It's exciting, it makes us look forward to Mondays, it challenges us, and it makes us realise that meatless does not mean not good!

So here's our menu this week.
The theme is Asian.

Mushrooms and veggies lettuce wraps.

How adorable! Tasty too!

Nam yue (fermented tofu) "pork belly", dried shiitake mushrooms, glass noodles, napa cabbage and beancurd sheets stew.

Vegetarian "pork belly"!
It's amazing how they can mimick the appearance and texture of the fatty part of pork belly.

Beancurd wrapped sticky rice cake and glass noodles in tomato broth.

Too cute!

What did I make?
I made gado-gado, a very popular Indonesian salad.

Blanched: long beans, mini napa cabbage (because I dislike cabbage), beansprouts.
Boiled potatoes and hard boiled eggs.
Fresh tomatoes & cucumber.
Fried: tempe chunks, tofu puffs, crispy sweet potato or crackers.
Dressing: gado-gado peanut dressing + lime.

Yum!
I made a version without boiled egg and dressing without garlic and shallot for our vegetarian friend (dressing = crushed roasted peanuts + salt + palm sugar + lime).

And our dessert!
Our dessert was given a freedom not to follow the Asian theme, because.. cheesecake.
We want cheesecake. Cheesecake is Asian. Cheesecake is everything.

It's no-bake blueberry cheesecake, with reduced sugar and no egg too!

So light and yummy!

Next week's theme: Japanese.
Looking forward to it :)

SC's Birthday Brunch at Cafe Gray Deluxe, Upper House, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 03:31:00 +0000

SC's birthday is normally our annual chance to seriously splurge on a meal and have a date night minus OB.

However, this year is a game changer. I asked SC if he wanted to bring OB and he said yes, he'd love to bring our naughty little monster. He felt that OB's so ready for fine dining.

He's of course - so wrong.

OB is not the type of boy who could sit still and eat course after course of meal (not sure if such a 4 year old exists?), he'd try to stand on the chair and drop utensils on the floor.. argghhh.
To him, meals are boring unless it comes with a toy, or is made of chocolate, or is fries with ketchup.
Luckily, our appetizer did come with some sort of "fries" and OB asked for a couple of servings of ketchup. Soon, he started to enjoy himself and we could all relax a bit and celebrate SC's birthday.

This was the bread.

Crunchy exterior, chewy interior. Tasty dipping. Love.

Wait.
Almost forgot to mention one very important thing.
This place has an AMAZING VIEW of Hong Kong, and we're happy to have been seated by the window.

Ok, back to food.
Beef tartare.

So yummy!

Came with extra potato gaufrettes. Life savior. This kept OB busy.

OB kept asking for more ketchup.

SC had the barramundi as his main. Absolutely delicious. I love how it has enough acidity in it.

I chose the duck "shepherd's pie"

I love the flavors, tasty savoury with lots of acidity, but the texture is a bit like creamy porridge.
We had this with the remaining of potato gaufrettes from the beef tartare and ordered extra bread (low-carb diet FAIL) for some crunch.

Cafe Gray Deluxe has a kids' menu for Sunday brunch, which is awesome.
It doesn't make any sense to order a full adult meal for OB, and to have him eat our food... we wouldn't have enough.
Oh, I so love child friendly places.
They also have high chairs, kids utensils, color pencils if needed.
And there were other noisy kids too (so I don't feel that I'm the only one with a naughty kid teehee!)

We wanted to choose burger and fries for OB, but these days he wants to make his own choices and he asked for pasta instead, so we ordered the linguini.
The linguini arrived rather late, almost after SC and I finished our mains (which we did within 5 minutes after serving). Our servers were very apologetic and they waived this dish from our bill. We appreciate the nice gesture.

Perfectly cooked pasta, tasty tomato sauce. We were worried about how it doesn't have any meat it in and OB may not like it, but we were wrong. The sauce's very flavourful with enough kick of acidity.

Did OB approve?

Yes, he likey!

Drinks.
I ordered espresso martini, but requested them to replace vodka with something else as I am allergic.

Yummy laaaaa. Cheers.

Birthday boy had this redhead... carrot juice X ginger ale.

I don't like the floating carrot bits in this... and I am not a big fan of carrots, so it's all SC's.

Desserts!
OB yelled "chocolate, chocolate, CHOCOLATE!" when we were choosing (I don't know this boy, really... whose naughty kid is that?)
So we had chocolate.
OB is not the boss of me, I wanted chocolate too #denial.

Grand marnier chocolate mousse.
Nicee.

Chocolate & key lime tart for the birthday boy.
The key lime tart was ace!

We were stuffed at that point, so we had our chocolates packed in a box to go.

Happy birthday again to SC!

Will we go back to Cafe Gray Deluxe?
Yes, definitely.

Should I mention again that the view is amazing?
Yes.
I hope to visit again in the evening.

How much?
About HK$366 per person for this meal.
(OB's linguini was waived tho)

Cafe Gray Deluxe
Level 49, the Upper House
Pacific Place, 88 Queensway
Hong Kong
(Admiralty MTR)

Tel: +85239681106
Email: info@cafegrayhk.com
(Yay! Email booking - I hate making phone calls)

Website:
http://www.cafegrayhk.com/

PP Cafe, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 01:49:00 +0000

A nice little hidden place in Kwun Tong, a good option for those who work around here, or happen to be in the area.

Set dinner starts with a little salad. I like how sweet and fresh the melon is.

We were so hungry, so we ordered quite a few snacks on top of our set dinners.
Don't be greedy like us ^_^
Buffalo wings were decent.

Nicely cooked mussels in white wine and cream sauce.
I wanted to pour that sauce over everything.

Baked oysters with creamy cheesy spinach topping.
Could use a little more salt, but not bad!

Nicely seasoned creamy black truffle soup. LOVE this!

The lobster bisque. After adding a touch of salt, it's lovely.

I can never resist lasagna. Even in this super hot and sticky summer. The ultimate comfort food!
Eat it in air conditioned room, ok? :)

I hardly ever order risotto as I am often disappointed by it.
This was not my favourite from the dinner. It's for those who like subtle flavours, I like mine with a little more kick.

Lobster spaghetti. A little under seasoned too for me.
But I do like how it's not overly creamy.

The pork knuckle was lovely. I love how crispy the skin is, and the meat's tasty.
Full of collagen too ;)

Cheesecake. Not bad~

Sawdust pudding. Also not bad...

Mango pudding. This was ok, but I personally like mango just the way it is without being turned into puddings and cakes.

The 4 of us ordered so much food (I brought home most of our main courses) and the dinner costs us HK$225 each (including drinks). Great value for money.
I'll be dragging my colleagues here, I wanna try their meat dishes next time.

PP Cafe
Rm A, G/F, Good Year Industrial Building,
119-121 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong.
Hong Kong
(you have to turn into a small lane to find the entrance)
觀塘巧明街119-121號年運工業大廈地下A舖

Tel: +852 2345 5569

My Favorite Buffet in Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 15:36:00 +0000

This is my go-to place for buffet.

It's the Place - it's in Langham Place Hotel, a lovely hotel right in the heart of... wait for it... MONGKOK.

Ahem.

Hello Langham Place, Argyle Centre phase I and II, Sino Plaza, GAP, HnM, Monki, Cotton On... all my places of worship.

Ahem #shopaholic.

When my sis is in town, or when I have a weekday off to have a nice shopaholic day with girlfriends and we're in the mood to ruin our diets, or when SC and I have a special occasion to celebrate & eat our faces off but we don't wanna spend more than 1k per person, this is the perfect place. It was even more awesome before OB turned 3, as he got to stuff himself with desserts for free. Heheheh.

I love their variety of food.

First of all, hello, seafood.

Hello, fresh oysters.

Say a quick "Hi!" to the matcha fountain, we'll get back to him later.

Sushi and sashimi station. Oh, by the way, they're having a Japanese Special until 30 September 2015.

My darling seasoned carbohydrate, you're in trouble. The low carb diet is OFF tonight.

I ordered a sea urchin hand roll, and it's filled down to the bottom with sweet, silky, creamy UNI!

Oh, and to OB's absolute delight, every night at 8:00 pm, their Japanese Chef de Cuisine Manabu Oikawa does a salmon carving show.

Time for some salad.

And by "salad", I meant...

a little bit of greens with lots of smoked salmon and dressings... and bacon bits.

Time to hit the hot food station.

Nice decor eh? They just redecorated, feels a lot more young and modern now.

Let's hit the Chinese food station.

Don't skip the double boiled soup. It comes from Ming Court, absolutely delicious.

And don't miss their roast meat. Again, from Ming Court.

The international food station has wagyu beef chunks, kurobuta pork chops, seafood paella, Indian curries. So many choices, so little stomach space!

Nom.

Oh, I spotted many kids that night. The place is child friendly, it has nice high chairs, provide kids utensils and the staff are lovely with the kids.

Here's my little dude learning how to peel prawns by himself.

Next, be still my heart.

SC kept telling me that these are worth many many dance classes...

But I couldn't help but have a couple of these babies.

And before we move on to desserts...say cheese!

Obviously, my boys won't wait for me eating and photographing my food.

Mama, what took you so long??

My, oh my! No wonder they didn't wanna wait for me.

I kept saying that I am not a dessert person.

#denial

But I really love ending my meals with something sweet.

Everybody loves watching baked Alaska getting lit up.

Black sesame cheesecake! I love it.

If I ever had to look for OB, he must be somewhere around this Movenpick land.

Ah ha! There he is. His idea of gourmet dessert. It involves gummy bears.

My happy ending. ALL CHOCOLATE, come to mama!

Pretty cool selection of drinks (not incl in the buffet price). OB love the sweet apple juice (ooops, not pictured here)

Now I need to go shopping to burn off the calories.

So worth it tho.

Thank you for inviting us, Langham Place Hotel.

We had a great time and we'll be back!

More pics in my Flickr album.

The Place

Langham Place Hotel, Mongkok, Hong Kong

Ground Floor

Mongkok MTR exit C3.

Prices:

Lunch (weekday lunch = amazing value!)

12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Monday – Friday:

Adults: HK$288 ; Kids/Seniors: HK$218

Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays:

Adults: HK$358; Kids/Seniors: HK$258

Dinner

Sunday – Thursday and Public Holidays:

Adults: HK$588; Kids/Seniors: HK$388

Friday, Saturday and Public Holiday Eves:

Adults: HK$628; Kids/Seniors: HK$428

(plus 10% tax)

Bookings may be made at (852) 3552 3028

or via email (yay to email bookings!)

lphkg.restaurants@langhamhotels.com.

More information about Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong click here.

A Lovely Summer Staycation at Silvermine Beach Resort Hotel, Mui Wo, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 13:28:00 +0000

The last time we visited Mui Wo, we thought of booking in Silvermine Beach Resort Hotel in summer... and we finally did it! We booked it via Agoda just a week in advance, and we had a fabulous family time there last week!

We took the 12:30pm ferry to Mui Wo from Central Ferry Pier. The ferry ride was really enjoyable. Mommy had a lot of fun with OB while papa's busy playing games on his mobile phone. Pffffft.

The view's awesome, and OB pointed out that ICC is a tall rectangular shape while IFC has a rounded top (these things are really important to him hehehe). I promised to show him the pointy triangular BOC next time.

We had a simple lunch in a random charchanteng at the Mui Wo cooked food market.

We didn't choose the outdoor seats as it's super hottttt.

After lunch and the 10 minutes walk to the hotel, it's just the right time to check in.

We love the huge bed! The room is clean, lovely, and spacious enough for the three of us.

We picked the cheapest room with hill view, the price difference for a room with sea view is about HKD500.

Bathroom is clean with all necessary toiletries (shampoo, shower gel, comb, hair dryer, towels), but without a bath tub. We're fine with it as we spent most of the time at the beach and in the pools.

The hotel has a lovely garden, and of course SC and OB HAD to do THIS.

Silver Mine Bay beach is just right in front of the hotel. The part where you can swim is about 3 minutes walk away. The beach is absolutely lovely! The sand isn't as fine as Shek O beach, but it doesn't have as many sharp shells as Golden beach ^_^

The beach in Mui Wo is so full of life! I've never caught live clams in my life and was in awe so see how clams move in the sand. We put all these beautiful clams back into the sea, we had no plans to eat them. Many people caught huge clams and ate them though. Oh well, maybe next time.

What's better after the beach than jumping into the pool?
The hotel has a 50cm deep pool. Perfect for OB.

And thank God for waterproof bag for my phone. Wefie time!
A special shout out to my waterproof eyeliner. It does not smudge at all even after the beach and the pool, and I did submerge my head under water A LOT.
WOW. The brand is LB, costs HKD69 each and I bought it from Sasa.

After a quick shower... we got hungry.
We considered doing a HK style BBQ, but it was just too hot and we were too tired to get BBQ supplies and do our own grilling. Finally we settled for BBQ buffet at the hotel.

Before dinner...

...a lovely encounter with Lantau "local residents"
What a perfect holiday!

The buffet...

Nice selection of appetizer. There's duck liver pate, smoked salmon, salad and seafood station.

As long as there are some melons, decent chocolate cake, some cheesecake and a cocktail of canned lychee with longan and nata de coco, AND ICE CREAM... we - and by "we" I meant OB, decided that it was a fantastic idea to go ahead with the buffet.

Si fu busy grilling the suckling pig.

Huge steamed garoupa.

A nice variety of cooked food. I love the pork ribs.

The BBQ station is at the porch, so the dining room doesn't get stuffy and smoky.

BBQ suckling pig and chicken wings.

After dinner, we had a relaxing walk to the pier to get groceries.
The only missing thing from this trip is SHOPPING.
But mom could live with a weekend without shopping la...

Lovely beach magic hour view.

Back from our walk, SC decided that we must check out the fitness centre.
Yikes. Who goes to the gym on holidays??

SC did his weight lifting, OB bounced around with exercise ball, and I had a great time lounging in these nice rattan chairs watching TV in air conditioned room. Perfect.

And it's a tradition, OB must get hungry at night during holidays.
So we prepared a cup noodles for him.

Next morning...

We went for breakfast at 8. Early birds get the fattest worms, right?
That - and we also wanted to go to the beach and the pools again before checking out.
We requested for a late check out and they let us check out by 1 pm.
Not bad.

At breakfast, they serve ham & cheese, chicken franks, meat patties, hash browns, buns with butter and jam, congee, char siu and custard baos, sticky rice, juices, coffee and tea.

After breakfast, we were ready to hit the beach again.

A completely different view from the afternoon. I felt like we weren't in Hong Kong at all.

This time, the boys decided to catch some fish...

We got quite a few! We had fun looking at them before throwing them back into the sea.

Look what I got! I think it just died, it still looked really shiny and sparkly.

Another pool time...

Too much fun.

There are free mosquito repellent rubber bracelet at the reception of the hotel for guests to grab.
I really love this little but very thoughtful gesture.

Time to go home.
Mom's exhausted from packing.
We stopped by at the Italian restaurant in the Mui Wo Cooked Food Market.

The soup didn't look like much but it's really tasty!

We had to order carbonara to feed our little carbonara monster...

A nice Caesar salad is always welcome.

And whenever I see lasagna on the menu, I couldn't help but ordering it.
\
It was lovely.
We were all in a food coma, and ready to sleep in our bus ride home.

Check out our shell loot from the trip!

We got little crab shell too!

OB & mama had fun pimping our shells.

You like?

The costs:
Hotel room: HKD1,180 per night (I booked via Agoda).
Breakfast included for 2 adult - we had to pay HKD70 additional for OB.
BBQ dinner buffet costs HKD804 for the three of us - that includes the 20% off for hotel guests.
Lunch at the market: HKD160.
Lunch at the Italian restaurant: HKD279.

How to get there?
By ferry from Central Ferry Pier no 6.
or
Take the 3M bus from Tung Chung MTR.

What else can you do in Mui Wo other than the beach?
There's a lovely village, cultural centre, a cave and a waterfall - you can rent bikes too.
Check out our trip last spring.

Cute Easter Bunny Crafts for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 13:23:00 +0000

Here's what we made for OB's Easter arts & crafts homework. A paper cup Easter bunny family!

I surely designed the mom (me) to be the cutest! Ahem.
Rosy cheeks & on-trend skirt ftw ^_^
I am super guilty of not letting OB touch this one apart from coloring the ears and sticking the ears and "hands" on the paper cup.

This cutie pie is the kid (OB). OB colored this one (we used water color) and stuck the ears and hands.
Please excuse the mistake on the nose.

The bunny dad's pretty special. He has a permanent angry expression on his face and he's holding a teeny tiny wire hanger. It doesn't mean that SC is super domestic and always does the laundry, but it is something SC uses to threaten to spank OB with when he's naughty (SC doesn't really spank him laa - he only spanks the furniture), and OB requested me to make the tiny wire hanger as the bunny dad's "accessory".

Ahem. This story will not make a great impression of us at school (or anywhere). But it is the truth.
T_T

So, here's our little happy easter bunny family!

Since the school requires us to make something we can hang, I made a tiny cross on top of the bunny's heads with cutter and string them together using a leftover shoelace. Make a knot under each hole to make them stay put.

What you'll need:

Paper cups
Fairly thick paper (we used an unused box)
Colorings (water color/marker/pencil/crayon)
Glue
Some sort of string/ribbon
Any "accessories" from unused items

Parents tips:

Try to involve the kids as much as possible, I am 100% guilty of not keeping OB involved in drawing the faces. He is actually capable of drawing faces, they will only be a tad zombie-like.

Anyway,
Happy crafting!
Make something cute :)

Every Dish A Pleasant Surprise - Serge et Le Phoque, Wan Chai

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

This was my birthday dinner in December last year.
Oh yeah, I take the whole #latergram concept to a whole new heights.
I am not really sure what were the ingredients of the dishes that I ate that night, but I only remember that this meal was too good and too memorable to not post on the blog.

The place is hilarious. A cool interior overlooking a busy market in Wanchai.
I dig.

Here are the yummy things we ate. We went for the big menu and enjoyed every second of it.
Many dishes offered combination of flavors I've never tried before and did not even imagine that they would work together - but they did, and they are very pretty to look at.

If you haven't tried, please do so.

These are... ok, I won't pretend that I remember the name of the dishes or the ingredients.

Clams, delicious.

Grilled squid, delicious.

Not sure what was this but I remember it being very very delicious.

Obviously there's sea urchin there. Absolutely yummy.

Again, delicious.

Also delicious.

Interesting and delicious.

This one wowed me the least, but still, not bad at all.

Very pretty and delicious.

Delicious.

Mangosteen and chocolates. Delicious.

I'm not a macaron person... but they were my "birthday cakes"

Something lemony with intense heat from chilli.
Interesting and delicious.

Chocolatey and salty. Verrrry delicious.

I can't wait to go back.

How much was it?
HK$8xx per person (regular water and no drinks)

Serge et Le Phoque
Shop B2, G/F., Tower 1, The Zenith, 3 Wanchai Road
Wanchai, Hong Kong

灣仔灣仔道3號尚翹峰1座地舖B2
Tel: +85254652000

Where To Go This Weekend - Mui Wo, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 05:00:00 +0000

My first trip to Mui Wo.
I've been living in Hong Kong for more than 10 years and this is my first time to Mui Wo.
Oh well, better late than never.

We chose to go to Mui Wo by taking the ferry from Central Pier 6.
SC suggested that since we can't afford Business or First Class flights, we try Deluxe Class Ferry.
HAHA.

Bad decision.
It's stuffy and made me feel seasick.
Ordinary is much better.

Luckily, OB enjoyed his ferry ride very much.

We walked around Mui Wo without reading much about it.
That seems to be our modus operandi when we are exploring a new place.
Ahem. LAZY.

It's funny how when we see something like this in another country, I'd take 2348346 pictures of it, and when I saw it in Hong Kong I just took 3 pictures. Heheheh.

It's not really the right weather for the beach, but we let OB play with his Optimus Prime there for a bit.

We saw Big6 parents who stripped their kid completely naked to play in the water. Shudder... I don't wanna think about it.

We checked out the cultural centre, full of cool vintage stuff which prompted SC to take selfies...

Cute things, cute things...

Everywhere cute things.

A lovely sighting of preserved meat...

I resisted the temptation to take a selfie with it.

What are these gorgeous buildings? They can't be people's residence???

We decided to take on the challenge and walk to the waterfall with cranky, tired and hungry OB.

The wonderful things about Hong Kong spring...

... 17C weather and pretty flowers everywhere.

Finally, we reached the waterfall!
Telling my dudes to not climb up there is as useful as trying to stop me eating bacon...

Mommy lets out a big sigh when they got off the waterfall safely.

We took a different route back to the ferry terminal.

Gorgeous blooms everywhere.

Turn a corner, another beautiful sight...

We were so hungry when we reached the ferry terminal.
We had early dinner at the most crowded place, Bahce Turkish Restaurant.

Lovely Turkish tea - HK$30, unlimited refill.

Platter of hot meze. Delicious.

I love their soup.

Beef kofta. Not bad at all.

We decided to take a different route back home. We took bus to Tung Chung MTR station instead of taking ferry to Central.
Both routes result in similar travel time for us.
We went home absolutely exhausted but really happy about the trip.

On to our next adventure next week~
(trying to avoid Toys 'R Us every weekend)
:)

Steak Dinner Date Night - L'Entrecôte De Paris Restaurant, Central, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:32:00 +0000

Thanks to L'Entrecôte De Paris Restaurant for inviting us.

The place is lovely and people can make reservations. Good for those who don't like lining up ;)

Here's what we had...

Love love LOVE this clam dish. The sauce is so tasty, we used the clam shell to scoop and drank it.

I've never been a salad person, but ok - veggie quota of the day gets ticked off our list.

The beef is lean and very tender.

The sauce is tasty.

Yummy fries swimming in sauce - my favorite.

Their desserts... I like!

I am always partial and always have to order the chocolatiest thing on the menu. This chocolate cake is so good! Moist, chocolatey. I love.

The Paris Brest is really good too.

To summarize, these are the things I like:
- You can book a table
- There are appetizers other than the salad
- There is salmon and vegetarian option for those who don't eat steak (I didn't try the salmon though)
- Their fries and sauce
- The desserts

Here are the prices:

L'Entrecôte De Paris Restaurant
3/F., 46-48 Wyndham Street, Central.
Hong Kong
中環雲咸街46-48號3樓

Tel: +852 3182 0105

Many asked how does this one compare to La Vache or Le Relais de l'Entrecote.
I do like La Vache's steak, but I don't really enjoy lining up... and I enjoy some decent desserts to end my meal with. So, I'm torn.
I have yet to try Le Relais de l'Entrecote - maybe one day when I feel like lining up. Heheheh.

Have you tried them all? Which one is your favorite?

Where To Go This Weekend - Kadoorie Farm, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:10:00 +0000

Not sure where to go this weekend? Parents of young children who are tired of spending all of your fancy meals money in Toys 'R Us? Want to see cute pigs in real life?
Check out Kadoorie Farm.

This cutie pie only comes out from 1:30 - 4:30 pm.
Warning: they're so cute, they might make you wanna eat less bacon.

Another animalistic highlight: the mountain cats.
So gorgeous!

Try looking eye-to-eye with this little guy.
This one's a total poser. He worked the camera like a super model.

See you later, alligator!

We brought some food, but we still had to have something from the lovely Sun Garden Cafe.
Fusili mushroom carbonara.
Tasted so good, especially because we're so hungry.

Mushroom and cheese toasties.

Delicious!

This place has more than 2000 species of plants.
So many gorgeous flowers!

So many gorgeous ones that I've never seen before!

My dudes love it here.

It's as though we've been transported to a different world!

Is this really Hong Kong?
Yes, it is.

If you haven't been there, go for it!
My tips are on the blog post of my previous visit.
If you need more info, check out their website.

My Birthday Lunch at Seasons by Olivier Elzer, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:07:00 +0000

Initially, I wanted to go for their afternoon tea (thanks to seeing 1,093,947 pictures of it on instagram), but they were booked all the way to end of the year.
Gahhh... never mind, lunch it is then.

Judging from this R5-D4 (or R15-D10???) poking out of our bread basket, yep, we were checking if this place is naughty-kid friendly.

Bread's not bad.

Starters.

I wouldn't have ordered this. I generally don't order anything "chicken breast", but SC made a wise decision that a basic salad is necessary to feed our naughty monster. This salad might look unfancy (I know, it is not a word), but it's absolutely delicious! Tangy, tasty, crisp fresh veggies, tender juicy chicken, etc etc etc. YUM.

I had the foie-gras pate (yes, I can't not order anything foie). Lovely. It's a little on the sweet side but the crispy toast that came with it gave it the savory balance.

Nyammmmm.

Lobster jelly. Creamy, tasty, sweet-seafoody, delicious!

Chestnut veloute. Rich, creamy... I love.

French onion soup. Not bad la...

The mains..

I ordered this prawn with venere rice (I called it udang with ketan hitam heheheh) - thanks for the recommendation, Dan! It's TASTY!

Chicken breast stuffed with foie. Whoa... I don't order chicken breast and must order foie... what to do when faced with a dish like this? Hmm... get others to order it so I could have a (lotsa) taste(s). Heheheheh. It's good!

Most of us favorited the "special main of the day", the beef cheek. So tender but not mushy, and very flavorful. Perfect.

SC had the camembert. Hmm... I prefer the dessert.

Chocolate ganache and raspberry marmalade. I love anything dark chocolate.

I had the white chocolate fruity dessert. Fruity and refreshing, and OB stole most of it.

In case you were wondering why there was no "happy birthday" anything, well... it's not that I said "oh, no need, no need" because I was shy (are you kidding? I love birthday commotions in restaurants and for photo purposes - I am shallow and childish like that), but thanks to SC who forgot to say it's a birthday celebration, we didn't have one.

Never mind. SC paid for the meal - that is more important than anything else hehehheee.
Thanks, SC!

A special mention to service - it's slow and clumsy, servers don't explain much of anything (but to be fair, we didn't ask also ), servers don't know who ordered what, we had to follow up for the cheese platter- which then came much later than the desserts, and the server (and manager?) looked a bit too annoyed by naughty OB (but why not have no-kid policy then?).

Anyway, I love the food, and I'd go back for it - and I won't bring OB ^_^'
Lunch prices: 288 for 3 course, 368 for 4 course, 448 for 5 course.

Seasons by Olivier Elzer
They have online reservation (yay!), simply click here.
Or phone +85225056228.

Shop 308, 3/F, Lee Gardens Two.
28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay.
Hong Kong.
Near Causeway Bay MTR Exit F.

Easy BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 16:06:00 +0000

In a true Hong Kong C9 manner, nothing excites me more than things going ON SALE!

So, you can imagine the happiness and joy when I saw packs of baby back pork ribs at HK$56.90 each in frozen meat section of Wellcome supermarket (Wellcome doesn't pay me to say this).

Now what do I do with this baby?

Oh! The boots and down feather jackets are out in the streets of Hong Kong?

Time to get the oven going then.

BBQ baby back pork ribs, baby!

Smoky, sweet, sticky, savory, tender & juicy finger licking ribs - very easy to make too!

Recipe

(best if to be made the day before serving)

Meat

1 rack of baby back ribs - peel thin layer of silver/white skin off the back.

The day before - Dry rub

2 cloves garlic

2 shallot

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

white pepper

Mash garlic and shallot into a paste.

Rub ribs well and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.

The day you're serving, preheat oven to 175C.

Place ribs onto casserole with wire rack (lots of fat will render), cover with foil.

Grill for 1 - 1.5 hours (until tender).

Sauce

HP Sauce

Ketchup

Sugar

Add each ingredient bit by bit & mix until you achieve balance between sweet, tangy and savory.

Yes, you may complain about how this "recipe" has no quantity and ratio.

#Sorrynotsorry #ooooops

Crank up the oven to 250C. Slather sauce onto ribs, broil on top rack of the oven - or charcoal grill if you're having BBQ outside - (back first and then front) until beautifully caramelized.

Slather more sauce on them ribs, and serve.

Don't use utensils, get ready to lick fingers.

Culinary Jewelry Dinner - Damiani’s 90th Anniversary Celebration, Tosca, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 15:25:00 +0000

Fine food and fine jewelry! Oh, hello... come to mama!

I was really intrigued when I heard about this Culinary Jewelry Dinner inspired by Damiani's 90th Anniversary Celebration. Food inspired by some serious bling? How would that go? Let's give it a go!

The bread. I absolutely adore the squid ink one. Hot from the oven, crusty outside, fluffy inside & really tasty!

Cured salmon with beluga and snail caviar, porcini mushroom and creamed risotto. How pretty is this dish! Inspired by black and white diamonds. I could see where the inspiration's from, it's a treat for my eyes and my taste buds. Love it.

The dish was paired with this lovely Pinot Grigio. Look at its copper tinge. Gorgeous and delicious!

Next, we had squid ink fettucelle pasta with scallops, lobster, zucchini and tomato. This gorgeous plate is inspired by a black ribbon necklace. Love the sauce and the seafood! I just wish the pasta was a bit more firm.

For the next course, some of us chose the crispy monkfish served with chickpeas cream sauce and fried sage. I didn't try it (I wish I stole a bite off my neighbor's plate. Regrets....), but it certainly looked gorgeous.

This is my weakness. I always have to go for rich, meaty dish, so I went for the stewed oxtail served on potato with foie gras, with balsamic mushroom sauce.

The dish looked gorgeous. It's very luxurious and decadent. Just like the earrings it was inspired by.

The meat dish was paired with this lovely Barolo. I don't drink much, I only think that when the wine tasted good with the food, then it's a good pairing. They were great together :)

On to dessert! Pain d'epice parfait with chocolate ring hazelnuts and five spices sauce. Looks very impressive, especially looking at the bracelet that was the inspiration. When we had this, I think most of us think of Christmas gingerbread cookies :)

All of us went "oohhh" and "aahhhh" when this petit four plate arrived. Jewels on fluffy cloud!

What's not to love?

We enjoyed eating (and taking photos of) the fluffy cotton candy, and I especially love the chocolates.

Look at these gorgeous chocolate "pendants"

Absolutely gorgeous, and they're delicious too :)

I had a great time appreciating how modern Italian fine dining could be when inspired by fine jewelry. Thanks for having me, Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong!

Damiani's 90th Anniversary Limited Edition Collection menu by Chef Pino Lavarra will be available at Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong's Tosca until 30 November 2014.

Tosca
102/F Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong
尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號環球貿易廣場(ICC)香港麗思卡爾頓酒店102樓
Tel: +852 2263 2270

Also, check out what Gary of Joie de Vivre think about this dinner.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 03:10:00 +0000

Thanks to Harold, who sent us a picture of a double chocolate banana bread one day,
I could not get double chocolate banana bread out of my mind.

Double chocolate banana bread.

Double chocolate banana bread.

I tried other things, I went to 7-11 and bought dreyers triple chocolate ice cream.

Double chocolate banana bread.

I ate a packet of Indomie,

Double chocolate banana bread.

I watched endless cute kittens and cute Kpop idols on youtube...

Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.

ARGGHHHHH!
This must be how it feels like being in Stephen King's movies.
Luckily, this obsession is easy to solve.

I just had to google recipes for double chocolate banana bread and make the first one I encounter.
It's Smitten Kitchen's Double Chocolate Banana Bread.

Recipe
My slight adaptation:
I reduced the sugar from 3/4 to 1/2 and I used the sugar I have at home (caster sugar).
I tried to follow the baking time 'til the end but my toothpick came out clean after only about 30 minutes of baking - so I had to take it out way earlier than 55-65 minutes. I recommend frequent testing after 30 minutes.

- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter pan. Mash bananas, Whisk in melter butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla. Mix baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa (I didn't sift as instructed by original recipe - sorry, too lazy) in another mixing bowl. Mix wet and dry ingredients until just combined (actually OB helped me mixing the batter, so I am sure it was overmixed), add chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack.

The cooling process was very hard for me as SC and OB's grabby hands could not stay away from the cake. Warning: very very chocolatey.
WE LOVE IT, and I can finally stop obsessing with DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD... well, until my next craving, or whenever Harold posted another picture of double chocolata banana bread :)

Please check out the original recipe here.

SC's Birthday Dinner at the Principal, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 03:32:00 +0000

SC's birthday is our annual splurge.

(Wow, that's in August!!! That's one hell of a blogpostcrastination, you lazy bum!

Please excuse me. I rant to myself a lot here)

And this one's worth every penny. Thank you for the recommendation, e_ting!

Naturally, I don't remember what these are, but I remember that we love almost everything, including the concrete sofa in front of the restaurant.

No need to thank me for this non-review.

I really should not call myself a blogger.

#SorryNotSorry.

Heheheh.

We had quite an expedition that night. The birthday boy was really pleased. Phew!

Another thing that I love: I didn't have to make a phone call for booking (I HATE voice calls with a passion). Click here to book online.

The Grilled Pork Neck Dish That I Bring To All Potluck Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:28:00 +0000

I don't know how to call this dish... I used to call it sate (or satay - I am not a big fan of this word, Indonesians say SATE!) grilled pork neck because I make it how I make sate, but nobody's convinced because there is no skewering involved, there is no peanut sauce and the end product doesn't look anywhere within 100m radius of sate. So, I see how sate or satay might not be a great name for it :)

So let's just call this the Grilled Pork Neck Dish That Rita Brings To All Potluck Parties. BecauseI really brought this dish to almost every potluck party I attended. People love it (or at least they pretend to), and even if people don't love it - I have no issues finishing it myself. Hehehheh.

It's very easy to make. Idiot-proof level.

I can't think of easy ways to ruin this dish... except maybe if you're bringing this dish to a party naked, and it is not a nudist party. That will ruin the dish. Sorry - I tend to go off topic like that.

Now, to make this dish.

Recipe

Meat

- Pork neck meat (I usually buy frozen ones from Kai Bo. You can buy fresh if you want), or you can substitute this with thigh chicken fillet with skin on.

(Quantity recommendation: if this is one of the many dishes of a potluck party, 1 big slice of pork neck meat that's available in Kai Bo frozen food shop should be ok for 4 people. If you're treating this as one of the main dishes, then 1 slice serves 2. If you're serving this to a crazy greedy pork-lover, allow 1 per person)

Marinade

- Shallot, thinly sliced (1/2 shallot per 1 slice pork neck)

- Kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

- Soy sauce

(Ratio of soy sauce : sweet soy sauce = 1 : 3)

- ground nutmeg, ground coriander seeds, cumin

Dipping sauce

- Kecap manis

- Fish sauce (just a dash)

- Lime juice (or lemon juice)

- Lime wedges or lemon wedges

- A bit of ground nutmeg

- Thinly sliced shallot (just a bit - you can set aside some when slicing shallot for the marinade)

- Chopped fresh chillies (preferably the green birds eye chilli - cabe rawit ftw! or omit if you can't handle the heat)

Mix well & serve in small bowls with the lime or lemon wedges

How to do

(Ideally prepare the night before serving)

Marinating

Defrost meat if you bought frozen. Pat dry, po ke the meat all over with fork (or meat poke...r?). Place meat in container, add marinade, massage the marinate all over the meat and refrigerate overnight (or a couple hours).

Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C, grill meat until the surface gets nicely caramelized. You can baste with the marinade or make more of the dipping sauce for basting. This normally takes about 40 minutes in my oven.

Charcoal grilling would be awesome too.

When done, slice diagonally and thinly, squeeze lime juice all over it and serve with dipping sauce.

And wait for the crowd to ask you for the recipe ;)

Dinner at Kee Club - Delish Red Prawn Linguine

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:58:00 +0000

SC and I had a nice dinner date at Kee Club (thanks for inviting us, Kee Club!), and the dinner started with this dish.

Very simple, fresh. Classic Italian flavors.

And we had a chance to taste this rare olive oil, Chef Roland Schuller personally brought the bottle to most tables to taste. A nice personal touch!

I had the night's special as starter - the langoustine! Fresh, nicely cooked, well seasoned. I enjoyed it.

SC had the fresh quail. Served with ham, zucchini flower, ricotta and melon soup. The quail's nicely cooked. Personally, I'd prefer the dish to have not as many elements, to let the quail shine :)

Our favorite dish of the night. Kee Club's famous linguine with red prawn. We love it!

Perfectly cooked pasta, fresh red prawn, tasty sauce.

SC could not hold back and went rather barbaric during dinner. Hehehe. We'll definitely go back for this dish again.

I had the veal milanese as my main. the meat's nice and tender but the portion is way too big for me.

SC had the Pluma Iberico. The meat's nicely cooked and I enjoyed the creamy and smooth mash.

For dessert, I had the apple tart with vanilla ice cream.

SC had the chocolate fondant with mango sorbet.

And this is the ending to our meal :)


Thanks again for dinner, Kee Club.

Kee Club is an exclusive member's club.

To dine there, there are a few ways: be a member, or get a member to help you with booking, or book through 5-star hotel concierge (Four Seasons, Mandarin, Shangri-La, the Peninsula, Upper House), and American Express Black Centurion Cardholders can access Kee through the concierge.

Wanna to try applying for a membership? Click here.

Budget Dinner: Beef & Radish in Chu Hou Sauce Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 11:02:00 +0000

Fresh beef meat is getting really expensive these days. In Hong Kong, always eating at home does not always mean that you'll spend a lot less!

Here's how to make the most out of HK$20 beef for dinner. My mil's recipe ;)

Recipe

- HK$20 beef meat, sliced thinly just like for stir frying. This saves cooking time too.

- half a medium radish, skin peeled off & cut into chunks

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 1 cm ginger, crushed

- 1 tbsp Chu Hou sauce (we use Lee Kum Kee)

- a bit of cooking oil

- just enough water to cook the beef & radish

Saute garlic & ginger until fragrant. Add beef, add radish, add sauce, add water, cook until radish chunks are soft.

There's so little beef in this dish but it feels so... hearty :)

Enjoy it with 2 bowls of steamed rice or use it as noodles/pasta sauce.

Save the money for your next fancy restaurant meal... or shoes :)

Nicholini's, Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 03:51:00 +0000

A lovely dinner by Chef Luca de Berardinis at Nicholini's. Love many of the dishes & the romantic setting. Considering bringing SC here for a major romantic date ;)

It all started with this yummy parmesan amouse bouche.

Pan fried scallop lentil soup with chestnuts and Montepulciano reduction.

Succulent scallop, tasty everything else. I tilted my plate to clean everything up :)

A lovely little drama involving fennel flowers...

Salted cod with red vinegar flavored potatoes, roasted peppers & black olives. Very yummy. I especially adore the potatoes :)

Beef tartar with crunchy egg yolk, baby salad & black summer truffle.

OMG. The egg yolk has a thin crunchy exterior and then it oozes beautifully onto the beef. YUMMY MAX!

Cream of green beans with egg pasta, pennyroyal and bottarga. Everything's perfect together. LOVE.

Fried smoked eggplants with ricotta ravioli and octopus in pizzaiola style. I love the ravioli, but the flavor combination could have been a little better...

Meditteranean tuna in potato crust with chard, fava beans and mango mayonnaise. I love how each potato "dome" is meant to be different instead of uniform. Flavor wise, my favorite part of this dish is the veggie. Nicely cooked and well seasoned.

Traditional Italian sorbet. Very tangy & refreshing! However, I wish that the green juice wasn't for aesthetics only..

Warm chocolate olive oil cake with strawberry sorbet and balsamic vinegar.

My, oh my! Very yummy!

The petit four, those babies in tiny cute glasses are yummy creamy milky treats with a punch of chilli! I love love love it!

I ended my epic meal with a cup of hot mint tea :)

I'm so going back for more!

Thank you Chef Luca, Nicholini's and Conrad Hotel for the lovely dinner.

Wanna know more?

Here's Nicholini's website.

Here's the Openrice link.

My friend Gary's review.

Party Perfect: Crispy Chicken & Veggie Dumplings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:14:00 +0000

Golden delicious, super cute looking & highly addictive. Perfect snack to serve your guests at a party. It's not hard to make (except the deep frying part - I know, I know) & the veggie in the filling gives it a crunch & sweetness as if there were chunks of prawns. Genius!

This is my helper's recipe. She is da bomb, she rules my kitchen! I know, I am soooo blessed.

Recipe

Filling:

- 2 chicken legs (or breast) filled, skin removed & minced

- 1/2 cup frozen veggie (cubed carrots, corn & peas)

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tsp corn starch

- 1/3 tsp salt

- a pinch of chicken stock powder (optional)

- a pinch of sugar

Skin:

- spring roll skin (square ones), cut into 4

- oil for frying

Mix filling ingredients in a bowl. Prepare spring roll skin. Add 1 heaping tsp of filling in the middle of wrapper & bring the 4 corners together to form a pocket. Deep fry just before serving. Serve with sweet chilli sauce or mayo.

The cute yummies shall be gone in no time.

Crunch crunch crunch.

PS. Drink lots of water or herbal tea after sinful treat ;)