A few shots from the HK - Zhongshan ferry:
The best one was on the door at the Zhongshan hotel... it tells people to "Anti Lock" (Farn Saw) themselves for their own safety. hahahhaa.... it should have been "please double lock"...
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Laughable English
From an apartment sign on Bonham Road:
A few shots from the HK - Zhongshan ferry:
The best one was on the door at the Zhongshan hotel... it tells people to "Anti Lock" (Farn Saw) themselves for their own safety. hahahhaa.... it should have been "please double lock"...
A few shots from the HK - Zhongshan ferry:
The best one was on the door at the Zhongshan hotel... it tells people to "Anti Lock" (Farn Saw) themselves for their own safety. hahahhaa.... it should have been "please double lock"...
Virgin Atlantic - Upper Class experience - HKG -> SYD
Citycheck at HK Central is such a fab invention... allowing me to check in before going to church and lunch... even have time to do some final shopping at CWB before heading to the airport.
We enjoyed the new Virgin "pieces" luggage allowance system.... we had 5 check-in luggages weighing over 100kg! insane! I can blame Mrs Chan for her 13 books, or blame me for some car care products and an iron.
Mrs Chan had a final minute crave for Cafe de Coral's baked pork chop rice at the HK airport... and they've sold out! She resorted to a very expensive ($45HKD) bowl of fish ball noodles:
and some deep fried fish skins:
Still got some time to kill at the lounge and took a nice hot shower before boarding.
Not a bad lounge at all, but nowhere near the CX lounge in HK or SQ lounge in Singapore.
Food is fine... pan fried sole fillet washed down with a glass of Burgundy red
Almost a full cabin in J... only 2-3 seats empty.
The "leg shot"
The seat has comfy leather that folds down to become a flat "bed". Not as good as Air NZ, but a flat bed is a flat bed! wonderful to stretch out on a night flight.
The advantage of these 45 degree angled seats is that we can choose our own take off/landing seating position. Like this :)
Bye bye HK....
Ambience is pretty chic...
Dinner was served 1 hour after take off. With zero expectation going into this meal, I was pleasantly surprised by the very edible quality of the good. May be Richard Branson did do something in response to the infamous food complaint letter.
Entree - Salad with caramelised chestnuts, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes and truffled vinaigrette. Quite nice!
Main - chilli beef with rice - quite nice as well!
Cheese platter and apple dessert - yum...
Love the salt and pepper shakers...
Wa hahahahaha...
Managed to snore for about 3-4 hours ... and breakfast was served 1 hour before landing:
Fresh fruit and yoghurt; Danish.
English breakfast - bacon, mushrooms, tomato and scrambled eggs. I wonder how they do scramble eggs on a plane... although it doesn't look that great, the taste was very good!
I have never had such a wet Sydney landing...
Summary....
* Service - efficient and thorough.
* Seat/bed - decent.
* Food - good.
* Lounge - good.
Air tickets courtesy of AMEX.
We enjoyed the new Virgin "pieces" luggage allowance system.... we had 5 check-in luggages weighing over 100kg! insane! I can blame Mrs Chan for her 13 books, or blame me for some car care products and an iron.
Mrs Chan had a final minute crave for Cafe de Coral's baked pork chop rice at the HK airport... and they've sold out! She resorted to a very expensive ($45HKD) bowl of fish ball noodles:
and some deep fried fish skins:
Still got some time to kill at the lounge and took a nice hot shower before boarding.
Not a bad lounge at all, but nowhere near the CX lounge in HK or SQ lounge in Singapore.
Food is fine... pan fried sole fillet washed down with a glass of Burgundy red
Almost a full cabin in J... only 2-3 seats empty.
The "leg shot"
The seat has comfy leather that folds down to become a flat "bed". Not as good as Air NZ, but a flat bed is a flat bed! wonderful to stretch out on a night flight.
The advantage of these 45 degree angled seats is that we can choose our own take off/landing seating position. Like this :)
Bye bye HK....
Ambience is pretty chic...
Dinner was served 1 hour after take off. With zero expectation going into this meal, I was pleasantly surprised by the very edible quality of the good. May be Richard Branson did do something in response to the infamous food complaint letter.
Entree - Salad with caramelised chestnuts, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes and truffled vinaigrette. Quite nice!
Main - chilli beef with rice - quite nice as well!
Cheese platter and apple dessert - yum...
Love the salt and pepper shakers...
Wa hahahahaha...
Managed to snore for about 3-4 hours ... and breakfast was served 1 hour before landing:
Fresh fruit and yoghurt; Danish.
English breakfast - bacon, mushrooms, tomato and scrambled eggs. I wonder how they do scramble eggs on a plane... although it doesn't look that great, the taste was very good!
I have never had such a wet Sydney landing...
Summary....
* Service - efficient and thorough.
* Seat/bed - decent.
* Food - good.
* Lounge - good.
Air tickets courtesy of AMEX.
Che's Cantonese Restaurant - Yum Cha
One of my sis' fav yum cha joint - Che's - located on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai, hidden on the 4th floor.
Signature crispy skin pork buns:
Wow... Top crust is sugary and crispy. Even the bottom of the bun is crisp! Filling is moist and tasty. Must try!
All dumping skins are very well made skin - soft and elastic.
Wonderful flakey mini egg tarts:
This is certainly a yum cha place worth returning. Not expensive too - about $100HKD/person.
Signature crispy skin pork buns:
Wow... Top crust is sugary and crispy. Even the bottom of the bun is crisp! Filling is moist and tasty. Must try!
All dumping skins are very well made skin - soft and elastic.
Wonderful flakey mini egg tarts:
This is certainly a yum cha place worth returning. Not expensive too - about $100HKD/person.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Le 188 - X'mas lunch
Le 188° boasts a fabulous (188 degree) view on Level 41 of Harbour Grand Hotel at North Point.
(note: why use a French name when it has no French influence in the cuisine? and the view is definitely more than 188 deg).
My entree (or Appetiser) - "Nitro Prawn" - Prawns are a bit tasteless. The "nitro" bit refers to the seafood sauce (which tastes like your supermarket thousand island) that has been frozen by nitrogen. As the chunks melt, it returns to a liquid state.
Mrs Chan's porcini mushroom ravioli - quite bland to be honest.
My lobster bisque - there's no lobster meat in it, but the taste of the soup is pretty good! There''s also some diced celeraic at the bottom.
My American Pork chop with sauerkraut spring rolls - the pork is nicely grilled and the meat is flavoursome and tender. The wasabi mash and apple chutney go well with the pork. Not a fan of sauerkraut. This is perhaps the best dish of the meal.
Didn't take any pics of desserts... we shared a choc mousse and a carrot cake. The mousse is fine, but carrot cake had far too much cinnamon!
Verdict - come here for the view, not for the food.
(note: why use a French name when it has no French influence in the cuisine? and the view is definitely more than 188 deg).
My entree (or Appetiser) - "Nitro Prawn" - Prawns are a bit tasteless. The "nitro" bit refers to the seafood sauce (which tastes like your supermarket thousand island) that has been frozen by nitrogen. As the chunks melt, it returns to a liquid state.
Mrs Chan's porcini mushroom ravioli - quite bland to be honest.
My lobster bisque - there's no lobster meat in it, but the taste of the soup is pretty good! There''s also some diced celeraic at the bottom.
My American Pork chop with sauerkraut spring rolls - the pork is nicely grilled and the meat is flavoursome and tender. The wasabi mash and apple chutney go well with the pork. Not a fan of sauerkraut. This is perhaps the best dish of the meal.
Didn't take any pics of desserts... we shared a choc mousse and a carrot cake. The mousse is fine, but carrot cake had far too much cinnamon!
Verdict - come here for the view, not for the food.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
La Salon de The (Joel Robuchon) - high tea
This cafe is at Landmark at Central HK. The Salon de The (Tea House) is located beneath the L'atelier.
The food has absolutely stunning presentation and execution.
In terms of taste, I love the desserts more than the savoury pieces.
A lovely reminder of real french pastries....
The food has absolutely stunning presentation and execution.
In terms of taste, I love the desserts more than the savoury pieces.
A lovely reminder of real french pastries....
Zhongshan food safari
In Feb 2008, Mr and Mrs Chan were amazed at the fine cantonese food at Zhongshan. So we've made another trip there this time.
Some highlights from the "Shek Ki Lo" Restaurant...
This is probably the highlight of the highlights - Pineapple bun! Freshly baked from oven.
Inside:
The bread is very thin and the crust is crunchy. The filling is made of pineapple pieces and pineapple custard. Given how hollow these buns are, it didn't take much effort to devour 3 or 4 of these.
"Nam Long" soy sauce pork. Very delicious. Note - i didn't eat the fatty layers.
"Shek ki" pigeon - A specialty dish here.... very juicy meat with crispy skin.
"Gee So" pork. Not very photogenic. It was very tasty.
And finally... plastic wrapped crockeries! hahaha...
Some highlights from the "Shek Ki Lo" Restaurant...
This is probably the highlight of the highlights - Pineapple bun! Freshly baked from oven.
Inside:
The bread is very thin and the crust is crunchy. The filling is made of pineapple pieces and pineapple custard. Given how hollow these buns are, it didn't take much effort to devour 3 or 4 of these.
"Nam Long" soy sauce pork. Very delicious. Note - i didn't eat the fatty layers.
"Shek ki" pigeon - A specialty dish here.... very juicy meat with crispy skin.
"Gee So" pork. Not very photogenic. It was very tasty.
And finally... plastic wrapped crockeries! hahaha...
Hokkaido Dairy Farm Milk Restaurant - Egg sandvo - Thick but bland
I went to Hokkaido Dairy Farm at Causeway Bay as they are also famous for their 3 inch thick egg sandwich.
The thickness is surely impressive but I don't think there's much egg taste nor enough seasoning. To be fair, the style is different from Aus Dairy Co. - this is more omelette style rather than the more scrambled style.
Damage = $20 per serve.
Verdict = still a few miles from the ones at Aus Diary Co. - I can confidently verify this with my visit to ADC again this morning :)
The thickness is surely impressive but I don't think there's much egg taste nor enough seasoning. To be fair, the style is different from Aus Dairy Co. - this is more omelette style rather than the more scrambled style.
Damage = $20 per serve.
Verdict = still a few miles from the ones at Aus Diary Co. - I can confidently verify this with my visit to ADC again this morning :)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Australia Dairy Co. - The perfect egg sandwich
Fluffy (crustless) white bread like a pillow + silky smooth scrambled eggs. The two combine to melt in my mouth as my fingers try not to squash the delicately soft sandwich.
A "must eat" for me every time I go to Hong Kong... no exception this time.
And I am still AMAZED at how good this egg sandwich is, even after so many visits over the past 10 years and knowing what it should taste like!
THANK YOU AUSTRALIA DAIRY!!! A very rewarding and well spent $13HKD ($1.9AUD) if you ask me.
p.s. Although the cafe is named "Australia Dairy". It doesn't have Australian milk... actually.. there's nothing Australian about the whole eatery.
A "must eat" for me every time I go to Hong Kong... no exception this time.
And I am still AMAZED at how good this egg sandwich is, even after so many visits over the past 10 years and knowing what it should taste like!
THANK YOU AUSTRALIA DAIRY!!! A very rewarding and well spent $13HKD ($1.9AUD) if you ask me.
p.s. Although the cafe is named "Australia Dairy". It doesn't have Australian milk... actually.. there's nothing Australian about the whole eatery.
Virgin Atlantic - Premium Economy... still very economy
Using my AMEX reward points reserve, we redeemed tix to Hong Kong on Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy.
Seat - it's OK, a bit more room than Economy, but still miles behind Upper Class.
Food - Crap.... even by Economy standard.
Chicken had a terrible "frozen smell" to it. Average choc mousse cake.
Service - Good.
Seat - it's OK, a bit more room than Economy, but still miles behind Upper Class.
Food - Crap.... even by Economy standard.
Chicken had a terrible "frozen smell" to it. Average choc mousse cake.
Service - Good.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Ultimate chocolate chip cookies (recipe by David Leite)
I first came across this recipe by David Leite on Chez Pim's blog, and then read numerous rave reviews about this recipe. Finally, after drooling over this every time I re-read the recipes/reviews, I put this into real action this week.
The things that set this recipe from the rest:
* good quality dark couverture (french for "cover") chocolate - they melt better in the baking process.
* large pellet/button/feves - whatever you want to call those shapes
* sea salt - this no doubt lifts the dimension of flavours
* RESTING the dough for 24-36 hours - just like all good steaks and wine, resting does make a difference according to Leite.
Notes about the recipe:
* the units are american units, so need to convert to metrics
* I decreased sugar contents because the recipe is written for Americans!! Dropped white sugar from 227g to 120g. Dropped brown sugar from 283g to 200g. I think it turned out fine. Can't imagine how sweet it would be if I followed the recipe.
* I am too lazy to find cake/break flour, so I just used homebrand plain flour.
* As for chocolate, I used Lindt piccoli bittersweet (58% cocoa) buttons.
Photos of the baking and end result:
The result is a cookie that is crunchy on the outer ring, soft and fluffy in the middle. The choc discs melt and become stratas of oozing chocolate. The ooziness (word??) is still there after the cookie is cooled :)
You can read more about Leite's 6 month research on making the ultimate cookie here.
The things that set this recipe from the rest:
* good quality dark couverture (french for "cover") chocolate - they melt better in the baking process.
* large pellet/button/feves - whatever you want to call those shapes
* sea salt - this no doubt lifts the dimension of flavours
* RESTING the dough for 24-36 hours - just like all good steaks and wine, resting does make a difference according to Leite.
Notes about the recipe:
* the units are american units, so need to convert to metrics
* I decreased sugar contents because the recipe is written for Americans!! Dropped white sugar from 227g to 120g. Dropped brown sugar from 283g to 200g. I think it turned out fine. Can't imagine how sweet it would be if I followed the recipe.
* I am too lazy to find cake/break flour, so I just used homebrand plain flour.
* As for chocolate, I used Lindt piccoli bittersweet (58% cocoa) buttons.
Photos of the baking and end result:
The result is a cookie that is crunchy on the outer ring, soft and fluffy in the middle. The choc discs melt and become stratas of oozing chocolate. The ooziness (word??) is still there after the cookie is cooled :)
You can read more about Leite's 6 month research on making the ultimate cookie here.
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