Sunday, April 12, 2009

Food & Easter in Hong Kong (Part 2)

Part 2!

Am working on my 2nd coursework (which I find a much easier task to handle) and just had dinner. Thought I'd put up more pictures of my trip back to HK.

Anyway, an interesting occurence that happened while I was in HK was that I was spotted and asked to sign on with a modelling agency, which I did.

What really vexes/confuses me is how in Asia, I'm deemed reasonably pretty but much too large in size, whereas in UK, the converse occurs - I'm tiny and ugly (I've been told by 10 men at a go once, so I'm very positive of this).

*sigh*

Yes, am working on losing weight.....

Moving on...

It was a Friday when I signed on with the agency and Noel and I kinda have a tradition of trying a new restaurant every Friday night - part and parcel of an unspoken promise to have a 'date' weekly. Usually, I select the restaurant as Noel's busy at work.

This time, I thought to try yakitori at Maguro, which was situated along Staunton Street, Central, HK.

The food was delicious though one must be prepared to pay as serving sizes are small and pricey. Still, it's worth a visit.

Yakitori mushrooms + Mackrel

The mackrel was deliciously fresh. The meat was juicy and sweet while the skin was grilled to crispy perfection. It was really good. (Then again, I am biased towards fish, just so you know)

Grilled cod + Beef

Cod is a must have since it's Noel's favourite. While the cod was good, I thought the beef was tastier.

Zoom in on the Beef. YUM.

It was tender, juicy and aromatic - filled with sweet spiciness from the teriyaki dressing. It literally melted in my mouth.

DELICIOUS.

More fish. This time, the specialty for the day - Salmon cooked in white miso. We had to wait abpprox. 15-20mins for this though it was well worth the wait! Highly recommended.

Tofu with bonito shavings.

This was a surprisingly flavourful dish. Ranks 2nd favourite dish on the list just before...


Tuna collar bone.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENING.

O.M.G.

This was a piece of juiciness robbed from the kitchen of heaven. We didn't know of the existence of this dish initially, until I saw the waiter serve a massive piece of fish to our neighbours and was so intrigued, I asked what it was and was answered with unanimous songs of praise.

In fact, our neighbours were so kind that they ordered a serving for us! And when we were informed that we were going to be served a smaller portion, they had an uproar. But seeing as how full Noel and I were by then, we didn't mind that much.

So the piece you see above is 1/4 the actual slab I saw my neighbours enjoy.

Nevertheless, it was GOOD. The flesh at the collar of any fish is the sweetest and this was no exception. In fact, it exceeded expectations by a mile. The meat was juicy and sweet, the skin was crispy and the accompanying dip made with mirin, sweet soy sauce and a dash of rice vinegar sealed the deal.

Noel and I devoured this baby in no time!

I was still sucking on the bone and licking my fingers long after we stripped the bone of every morsel of meat.

I was a happy camper. I ruled the yakitori. YES!


On Saturday, I was craving some mexican and so we visited El Taco Loco - also situated on Staunton Street.

Honestly, Staunton Street is the place to go for good food. Any restaurant you dine in will please your tastebuds.

Back to El Taco Loco.

Noel and I had just finished an amazing work out in the gym and were looking forward to a good meal.

Let's just say we were more than satisfied with our food.

Jalepenos + Salsa + Mojo - didn't use any of this. It was just to showcase what they offered on the side.

Forgot what this was called, but there were 4 of them in a basket. The wrap sandwiched creamy melted cheese and chicken breast cooked in pesto. Yummy!

A side order of chilli fries.

Hahhaha! I never knew how much Noel loved his chilli until we had this! He was scooping up the chilli all by itself! Apparently, he says it reminds him of his stay in the US and how much he loved it then and still loves it now.

El Taco Loco gets a thumbs up from us - point deduction for the poor service. What's amusing though is how you're eating off disposable dishware and plastic baskets. Intereting dining experience. Large groups not recommended as restaurant is narrow and cramped. Max. no. of persons = 6. (ideally, 4 - to be comfortably seated)

Whenever I'm back, Noel knows that I'm starved for shopping and relaxation so we usually make a trip down to Shenzhen for some good ol' spa and shopping time. Unfortunately, food there is limited so we usually have our meal at Fairwood - a fast food chain serving cheap local HK/Chinese food.

This is what we had.

My curry chicken cutlet.

Boring and bland. The curry gave me a tummy upset (a minor one though as I didn't taste more than a sip of it. Thank goodness too!)

Noel's baked rice + spaghetti combi. Much better.


Okay, this is all folks! Part 3 deals with my shopping spree with Bel and Elaine! Stay tuned!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Food & Easter in Hong Kong (Part 1)

I sure am making good use of my self-indulged break by catching up on blog posts.

Okay, here's a catalogue of my fun fun FUN trip back to HK during Easter! I managed to squeeze all my classes into the penultimate week before the holidays officially began so I won myself an additional week of holiday!

Not bad huh? I was really lucky.

Anyway, on my first night back to HK, I felt like sushi (as I always do) and so Noel and I popped over into the sushi bar just opposite our apartment and had....

A truck load of sushi. Notice the mountain of rice balls - we never eat the rice.

And were damn happy about it too!

And after sushi, we went to Hui Lau Shan for some 'healthy' dessert. I say 'healthy' only because the shop purports to serve healthy desserts by using only fresh fruit. And while this is true, we all know that desserts are never healthy... Hahah! Oh who cares. I was on holiday!

We shared this decadent delight of mango ice cream + mango bits + crystal jelly in mango juice.

After dessert, I still had a craving for egg tart and so we walked just a wee bit down the street and I got myself one.

It wasn't good, but it satisfied the craving!

The next day, I wanted dim sum and so we went for dim sum (muahahah!) This is where I retire from yabbering and let the pictures do the talking.

Sesame balls with bean paste filling.

Innards shot!

Lotus bean paste bun + Char Siew bau!

Noel digging into the yummy char siew bao!

HK style Chee Cheong Fun with Shrimp

Glutinous rice dumpling which wasn't good AT ALL.

Pretty shot but too bad it sucked majorly.

Satisfied dim-sum-ers!

Noel later took me to the Inter-Continental Hotel's The Living Lounge for some tea/dinner. He's been raving about how beautiful it is and indeed it was. The entire lounge faced the HK harbour and the scenery was magnificent.


I ordered a spot of tea that came with a funny looking pistachio biscuit.

Tea set.

I was thoroughly amused with how distinctly different the front and back of the biscuit looked.

Front.

Back.

And along came dinner...

I ordered a grilled salmon with herb butter sauce.

Noel got himself a sirloin steak with herb butter sauce.

Seeing as how I was present, fries were a must.

On days when Noel was at work and I had the day to myself, I spent most of it studying/researching for my coursework.

Cal is a good girl. (NOT - didn't get much work done in the end. :S)

In the shot above, I was at Mix - a salad/sandwich bar just below Noel's workplace. It's one of our favourite spots to meet up for a quick lunch when he has the time to lunch out.


On 2 occassions, I visited Starbucks. I know the coffee there is overpriced and no longer as good as it used to be, but I love Starbucks. It brings back fond memories.

Not to mention, I had a really GOOD cuppa hot mocha one time.

Sinful but GOOD.

On other occassions, I cook. I love cooking (as most of you must have already surmised) but I love cooking for Noel even more. And so every time I go back to HK, I make sure I cook.

Here're are some shots of my dishes:-

My version of spicy ma-po tofu.

Teriyaki cod fillets - I made the teriyaki sauce. :)

Long beans cooked in oyster sauce with dried scallop shavings. One of the 2 veggies that Noel willingly consumes. The other being spinach.

Mushroom prawn (egg whites only) omelette. Noel loves this.

Sadly, whenever I go back to HK, my bodily systems foul up on me and not only do I get severe indigestion, I bloat and bloat and bloat. I think it's cause I'm not used to the oil or the preservatives used. Back in UK, I have a purely organic food diet with no salt, oil or sugar added to my food.

Add to that, I was suffering from PMS and every night, I had a craving for this:

Double-skinned milk curd + Red bean

I'm not a fan of milk, but I am a fan of this milk dessert! Hahahha! How ironical yeah?

Okay folks, that's it for now. Part 2 later on!

Peach Ginger Muffins + Macadamia White Choc Chip Cookies!


I made a batch of peach ginger muffins and macadamia white chocolate chip cookies before I went on my Easter break. It's been a while and I've been tardy in my updates!

Nevertheless, seeing as how I've completed the 1st of 2 courseworks and am taking a break, I figured I'd start clearing my backlog. (heh heh)

So here we go!

I googled and surfed the internet for a peach ginger muffin recipe but failed to find any. So, I'm quite proud to announce that this batch of muffins is an original recipe by ME! Muahahha! I love peaches and I love ginger so this was a good combo in my opinion. The best part about baking your own goodies is that you can tailor the ingredients to match your tastebuds. Since I'm a diet/health freak, this batch of muffins was a heart/cholestrol/diet-healthy batch as I reduced the amount of sugar added, used wholegrain flour and swapped butter for light olive oil.

Okay, onto photos of my baked goods! (food porn alert!)

Peach Ginger Muffins

The finished batch!

I'm so proud of you!!!!

A closer look!

I loved them - they were so yummy! The only point I need to note for future muffin-baking-escapades is that I ought to shake the muffin tray a few times to release air bubbles from the batter before baking. The many pockets of air within the muffin kinda tarnished the experience for me.

Ah well!


Macadamia White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before popping them into the oven!

Cookies OUT! Piping hot and delectable! MmmmMMm!

The finished batch! (There was more but half was packed for Kyle and 1/4 was packed for Noel)

Another close up!

I loved the cookies much more than the muffins! Anyway, I baked this particular cooki only because Noel loves macadamia and white chocolate. Unfortunately, what I didn't know was that he hates cinnamon... But I ADORE cinnamon and tend to dust any batter I make generously with the fragrant spice!

:S Well, at least I know now! No cinnamon for Noel!

Am itching to bake some more! And I wonder who my guinea pigs will be! Guess I'll haveto wait till everyone's back from Easter break! Hehhehehe!

Speaking of which! My flatmate, Ashley, is returning to Bristol this Monday! Can't wait!

Ash & I just before Easter. =)

The place I now call my own.

Taking a short break from coursework at the moment and decided to put up pictures of my new room!

I'm really proud of it, seeing as how I built all the furniture (except the bed) myself! Got them from IKEA. It wasn't cheap but it was the cheapest deal I could find in pound land.

Gosh.

Before I photo spam on my new room, here's a look at what I used to stay in!

En-suite room in University Hall

Small and minimalistic.


My desk. I admit, I miss it. I spent many hours working there. :(

Now for my new room!

3A Northcote Road

Shot from my door.

Close-up on my desk/bookshelf. I love bookshelves. I just LOVE displaying my books. It's a weird thing, I know.

Close-up on my horizontal shelf.

Now for the bed! YES! It's a double! Super comfy too! WHEE! Thank you God.

My bedside table-stool. Lol. Was too much a cheapskate to purchase a proper bedside table. SO opted for a children's stool and made it work. I love it!

What a BIG difference eh?

I'm really happy with the amount of space I have now! And the design/layout! And my bedding! And my furniture! Oh gosh! What joy to have my clothes organised and taken care of properly!

Hahahha!

AND AND AND! I have a proper bed.... Whee!

Also, seeing as how I've been told that I'm bigger than I should be (and I fully agree), I've trimmed my diet down to just salad!

Just spinach and tomatoes. Basalmic vinegar dressing + pepper. Yummy salad! :D

The plan is to get back in shape in time for summer hols. Muahahhaha! Wish me luck!

Okay, back to work. More photos on my trip to HK during Easter coming up soon!

40 days to exams! Jeepers.