Happy Dragon Year Everyone

Fortune cookies are one of those cheesey American things you see on tv, along with mushu pork (whatever the heck that is) and chinese food in paper boxes. So I've always steered clear of them, thinking they are probably shrivelled up stale crackers with lame bits of sayings inside. Anyway we were given some when we went to Langham Hotel for lunch so i cracked one open.

The cookie was actually yum!!! It tasted like a ice cream waffle cone which I lurrrrrve. As for the saying....

Very true indeed *nod head*. It's easy to get caught up thinking of the have-nots. Let's all start counting the haves and forget about the have-nots and the frown will naturally turn upside down. Haha enough cheese yet?

Happy New Year 2012, Peeps!

I know, I know I've been very slack. Anyhoo hope you all had a good one. I had an excellent one surrounded by loved ones reminiscing about the good old days while watching childhood home videos. You know you are getting old when you have "good old days" to talk about.

Sidetrack: My answer to the ever popular question of what would you rescue if your house is on fire? This precious cassette tape which the five of us taped when we were kids and sent to the then 16-year-old Mel who was studying in Melbourne. Hmm maybe I should put it in a fire-proof box?

We also had a wedding in the family recently which added to the hecticness of the holidays. The bride looked gorgeous and the groom looked like he struck the lottery. I will be doing a blog on it when I can be bothered. In the meantime, I have been given the go-ahead to post a photo of Mel and since it's as rare as hen's teeth, I will be posting it on every social medium that I am able to. Enjoy!

Oh and by the way, I broke my resolution on January the 1st. Fail!

Chocolate Brownies with Raspberries

When it comes to baking, I have this system. I would print off recipes on scraps of paper of things that I stumble across on the net and when I finally feel like it, I would make it. If I don't like it, the recipe gets binned. If I love it, the recipe gets copied into my pretty recipe book permanently.

The collection of scraps of paper I have lying around has grown ridiculously over the last few months. I have now got a thick wad of folded A4 papers in my bag that I lug all over the place. Just because you never know when the mood might strike - be it food shopping for ingredients at the supermarket or hanging out at a mate's place and the need to bake strikes!

Anyhooo I've decided I need to get rid of all these papers so recently I've made:

* Chocolate Chips Cookies with bacon ... so good! Photos to come.

* Avocado Cake ... not so good, it tasted like avocado. Duh! Recipe binned. Yay one down!

Last night, I made these so-called Best Chocolate Brownies ever! They aren't bad but I don't know if I would have been so bold as to call them the best ever. Oh well. I'm actually not that much of a pure chocolate dessert person. Chocolates themselves, sure. Something fruity covered with chocolate sauce, I am so there. But pure chocolate chocolate dessert? Meh.

So anyway, these aren't going into the recipe book. But still good. I've also recently discovered a combination that is a match made in heaven! Decadent moist and slightly warm dessert with a dollop of tangy greek yoghurt. S.O   G.O.O.D and healthier than ice cream! Next up, lemon squares!

How you doing??

Definition of A Grown-Up

For those of you who don't know, Dad is a lawyer. When we were younger, we used to love going to his office to muck around. From walking past the busy grocery shop downstairs with the strong exotic smell of fresh coffee being ground up to venturing up the scary dark staircase that led to Dad's office, everything seemed like such an adventure.

Dad's office was the epitome of grown-upness (it's a word!) with the stacks of papers and Dad's special way of filing (triangle of yellow paper clipped to the corner so that the agreements don't crease) and Dad's funny wig and robes (No he does not have a dress up fetish.. it's for court appearances, ok?!). Come Christmas time, there were always stacks of diaries and desk planners for the new year gifted to him from the likes of American Express and what not. He would always give them to us for use and we would feel very grown-up and self-important because of it.

Well looksie here... Hello, world. I am officially a grown-up. Voila, gift from one of our suppliers.

All Over This!

I am SO there!!! Except for the last one cos' that's just nasty.

Chopper Ride December 2011

I was lucky enough to go on a 40 minute helicopter ride with our American visitors at work last week. It was an awesome day in Auckland so the timing was perfect. The trip out to the helipad was a bit stressful due to the heavy Friday traffic but we were only 5 minutes late which was a miracle. Totally enjoyed it and like I always said, nothing beats Auckland on a gorgeous sunny day. I LOVE SUMMER!!

Hong Kong How We Love You

Day 4 in Hong Kong and the plan was to wake up early to go for yum cha at this famous non-assuming yum char place which had been awarded the elusive Michelin star. Best laid plans bla bla bla, we overslept basically. Hehehe... I asked the concierge if we could get there by taxi but he said it was very close so the taxi drivers may not be willing to take the fare. So I made everyone walk the 5 or 6 blocks in mid morning heat to get to this little restaurant. Man, did I cop a lot of "Are we there yeeeeeet?" the whole 10 minutes we were walking there.

I ran ahead of everyone to try and find the place and sure enough, it was easy to spot because of the crowd gathered in front of it - Tim Ho Wan in East Mongkok.

Window covered with articles and accolades:

Anyway I asked one of the ladies waiting as to how long the wait was and she said approximately an hour apparently. There was no way the parental units could stand there in the heat and wait so I decided that we would get takeaway instead.

The place was tiny and had only a few tables, hence the long wait. The system was that - this lady would come out every now and then and hand out ordering sheets with a number on it. Whenever a table became free, she would come out and yell the number out so the lucky sods could then finally go inside.

I had places to be and things to do, i.e high maintenance parents to appease, so I was ballsy and ventured inside to ask the lady if I could place a takeaway order. She said fine, will take half an hour! Holy mackerel!! But I dutifully made my order, went back outside and then told Viv to take the parents to a nearby breakfast cafe to wait for me.

My precious piece of paper....

I was too scared to leave in case it took less than 30 minutes. But in the end, it really did take around that long. Sigh. While waiting, I was observing the mob. It was quite funny because it was like an united nations of food-lovers. No one was grumpy and we were all just eager to eat!! Finally my order was ready and I walked off excitedly with many many envious eyes on me. Hohoho...

Obligatory siew mai - was good but nothing amazing yet.

This was THE reason why I had to try the place out - char siew bun with a pineapple-bun-like exterior. It was worth the half hour wait.

The char siew was sweet and juicy and the bun light and crunchy. Oh so good. Hands down one of the best things I ate on this trip. Wish I got more.

I also got a nor mai gai aka glutinuous rice and chicken wrapped in lotus leaves. Not because it was famous, just because I felt like I needed to get a few more things to make the wait worthwhile. We didn't eat it until lunchtime so it had cooled down by then. But it was still pretty good.

The last dish was the other star dish of the restaurant - Tonic Medlar and Petal Cakes, i.e. jellies with elderflowers and the funny red things that you find in chinese shops.

Very pretty but to be honest, nothing to write home about.

So all up, I would say it was nice but the wait would turn some people off. But the price was dirt cheap for a michelin-starred restaurant - HKD70 / NZD12 for 4 items. I would be happy to go back but maybe at a less popular time as they are open till 9 pm every night.

After that, we took the MRT to Central. Viv was picking her dress up later that afternoon so we decided to hang around the area. We went to the malls there - Landmark and IFC which were full of branded shops. They were more to Dad's standards but to all our amazement, he didn't buy anything!!!

Viv spotted La Maison Du Chocolat so she was super excited.

Goods galore:

She had to get something...

.. the obligatory macaron purchase. I was so macaroned out from Sydney that I only took a tiny bite.

After that, we jumped in a taxi to go for lunch on Wellington Street. It was close by but the day was scorching hot. Luckily I found the world's gentlest taxi driver. When I poked my head in to ask him if he would take us, he laughed and said it's peak hour so it's faster if we just walk it. I acted bimbo-ish and just repeated my request. He sighed and agreed with a smile. Aww, I <3 you taxi-dude-who-was-reading-a-book-about-Buddhism-vs-Christinity-while-driving-us. I was so grateful I tipped him HKD$8 / NZD$1.40. I know.. big shot that I am.

Lunch was at another Michelin-starred restaurant. This one was famous for its roast goose. Wellington Street seemed to be the foodie street because there were a few other "best of Hong Kong" type cafes around there.

Another thing we noticed was that Hong Kong was in the middle of Halloween craze and one corner of the street had loads of Halloween decorations hanging off the lines. It was really cool! It was close to Lan Kwai Fong which is the place to go for clubbing in Hong Kong so that was probably why they had funky stuff on the streets.

Right opposite our restaurant was Tsui Wah, the elusive cafe which was meant to have held the top spot for best polo bau in Hong Kong. Obviously that is now held by Kam Wah which we've had. But I heard about Tsui Wah on my last trip to Hong Kong but never tried it. I still haven't. Apparently their inhouse fishballs are really good. Oh well, next time.

This was the restaurant where we had lunch - Yong Kei. We raced inside to queue for a table and once we were allocated a number, we left Mum and Dad waiting in the comfort of the airconditioned room while we wandered around the street taking photos.

We only eat at Michelin-starred places now... since they are dirt cheap in Hong Kong and a dime a dozen apparently... heheh.

The menu contained pages and pages of awards that they have received in the past for specific dishes.

We were starving and the dishes were slow to come. We wanted roast goose and roast suckling pig but they have sold out of the suckling pig. Sad face!

Mince and eggplant hot pot... yes, we are indeed creatures of habit. Wonder if a tofu dish would show up soon?

Mushroom and broccolli with crabmeat. Love the simplicity of this dish.

Seafood tofu hot pot... heheh.

Mum ordered half a roast goose before I could veto her. The stupid thing came out about twenty minutes after all the other dishes. We were all stuffed by then but had to finish this obviously so I took it upon myself to eat about 2/3 of this.

Juicy and oily. Finger-licking good.

Random pic of the snack I bought previously - dried little crabs.

After that, we went off to pick up Viv's dress and then headed back to the hotel to drop off the precious cargo. We were too tired to venture too far away for dinner and was pretty sick of Chinese food so we decided to have Japanese at one of the restaurants in the mall next to our hotel.

Me and Viv's drinks

Fresh as sashimi:

Fried rice with sea urchin. Me no likey sea urchin.

Deep fried pork cutlet

Assorted sushis:

After dinner, Mum and Dad headed back to our room while Viv and I went to do more cosmetic shopping. Darn Viv kept going on about wanting to eat at Hui Lau Shan, this dessert restaurant we were crazy about the last time we were in Hong Kong. So I obliged her.

We went with the mini degustation deal where we chose one item per row - HKD$42 / NZD$6.50.

Dish 1: Mango mochi with mango slices

Dish 2: Mango icing cake

Dish 3: Coconut noodle with mango sorbet and mango

Final full day in Hong Kong... sniff sniff... We went back to the porridge place for breakfast. The porridge and soyabean drink really are the best.

After that we went off to Tsim Tsa Tsui for the day. We stumbled across this funky mall where the shops all had that one-off boutiquey feel to them and the seats were unique too. Mum and Dad had fun sitting in the teacups seats.

We also had the best yoghurt while walking in the mall. There was a row of yoghurt flavours and you help yourself to as much as you like as you pay by weight. I chose blueberry, pistachio, grape and some other flavour and then added toppings such as M&Ms, fruit pieces, almond slices etc. So good and not that expensive either. It kicked my favourite Australian yoghurt place for sure. Sigh, how come everything Asians do are that much better and more OTT? Darn it.

After that we headed towards to backstreets of Tsim Tsai Tsui where funky little shops could be found. We came across another Hui Lau Shan so we stopped for a snack with the parental units.

Dad's choice - Mango pudding and fruits.

Viv chose the mango sago pudding and Mum chose the black glutinuous rice with sago. They all tasted weak and gross actually. I am boycotting Hui Lau Shan from now on. Honeymoon Desserts all the way for me.

I spotted this stall where I bought a snack from 2 years ago. Haha I remembered I stopped because there was a queue so obviously it *had* to be good, whatever that was being sold. The place was a lot more flash now with loads of pictures of the boss with celebrities such as Sammi Cheng, etc. I forgot to take a photo but I bought taro-flavoured Kai Zai Dan for HKD$12/ NZD$2 - basically waffles in the shape of a tray of eggs. heheh. The funny thing was there was a stall right next to it selling the same thing for HKD$6 but it wasn't popular at all.

Even though it seemed like we ate a lot of stuff already, it was time for lunch. We wandered into Miramar Shopping Centre - this shopping centre that was next to the hotel we stayed at the last time we were here as a family. We whizzed through the centre's restaurant directory and spotted many restaurants with Michelin stars (again!!) so we randomly chose one to go to.

The dim sum were very delicate looking but unfortunately I didn't rate the taste at all. Hence, the lack of photos.

We wandered around Tsim Tsa Tsui for the rest of the afternoon. Just as we were about to head back to the hotel, I decided randomly to go into one of the shops.... and sigh, this was the result.

Dinner was at a thai restaurant in the hotel mall again. We couldn't be bothered looking through the menu so we went with the set dinner for 4 people for HKD$618/NZD$100.

My lovely parents....

Entree 1: Thai Salt and Pepper Tofu - nice and crispy. Very more-ish.

Main 1: Char-grilled Lamb Rack with Green Curry - Not bad but a bit chewy and fatty.

Entree 2: Garlic bread

Entree 3: Thai Prawn Cakes - Your usual run-of-the-mill deep fried goodness.

Entree 4: Soft-shelled Crab Avocado Rice Paper Rolls - Me favourite.

Entree 5: Thai Spicy Beef Salad - Fresh and spicy.

Main 2: Sauteed Morning Glory with Shrimp Paste aka Kangkong Belachan.

Main 3: Hainanese Chicken - not very Thai, issit?

Main 4: Seafood Fried Rice with Pineapple - Now, I love me some fried rice action but I was seriously getting stuffed as each dish was generous in size and the entrees were more like mains!!

Dessert 1: Mango, Pomelo and Mascarpone Cup - tad tasteless actually.

Dessert 2: Purple Sticky Rice with Mango, Coconut Cream and Hazelnut Praline. This was yum.

We should have gone for the set menu for 2 people but it didn't even occur to us that there would be too much food. Wooopsie.

Last morning in Hong Kong and we went to the hotel restaurant for yum cha. Mum and Dad already had yum cha here with our uncle who lives in Hong Kong the day before we arrived and said it was very nice. I had to say I agree. The dim sums were definitely better than the Michelin-starred restaurant in the shopping mall.

Look how thin and delicate the skin of the spinach dumpling was!

Sigh, why is it that it always take forever for something you look forward to to come around and then before you can even blink your eyes, the trip is over! Not fair.

Goodies from the trip: