Hong Kong Day 07 - 22 May 2013

priceless expression when dear saw his coriander filled bowl

my favourite combination - crab roe dumpling, lettuce, radish, little spicy, normal sour, no noodles, more bean sprouts and green onions 

brunch at Rice Noodle House 星林居雲南米線餐廳 - http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=12807
i love this place as they allow you to not only choose your own ingredients, you can also determine the spicy level, sour level and most importantly, choose to go with/without noodles, more or less or no condiments (eg. coriander, green onion, leek). you can have it almost any way you want it. =)

finally we get to meet the giant rubber duck at victoria harbour

dear stealing a kiss >.<

countdown to wedding day : 170

Hong Kong Day 06 - 21 May 2013

brunch at Yan Wo Dou Bun Chong 人和荳品廠 - http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=32057&tc=bc
recommendation: 豆腐花

chilled original milk tea 冰镇原味奶茶

roast goose 明炉烧鹅

crispy pork with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce 回味菠萝咕噜肉

water spinach in casserole with shrimp paste 大砂煲嘟嘟虾乾通菜配虾皇酱

dinner at Tai Hing 太興 - http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=3448
recommendation: 冰镇原味奶茶, 大砂煲嘟嘟虾乾通菜配虾皇酱

dessert at Lucky Dessert 發記甜品 - http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=79086

countdown to wedding day : 171

Hong Kong Day 05 - 20 May 2013

Ocean Park Hong Kong

countdown to wedding day : 172

Hong Kong Day 04 - 19 May 2013

贡茶 - HKD14 (SGD2.30 equivalent) for a huge cup of 珍珠奶茶

brunch at itamae sushi outlet located at the ground floor of our apartment. landlady said the best sushi is right downstairs and she is absolutely correct! it was a great way to start off the sunday. dear suddenly had craving for bubble tea and we decided on the nearest choice - gong cha.

met up with shirleen and kee to go shopping at ap lei chau - horizon plaza where the more upmarket factory outlets are. the heat this summer is the most deterring factor for exercise. we wanted to go cycling, but i guess the most sensible option in this hot weather is to hide in the comfort of air-conditioner areas. >.<

dinner was a 5-10 minutes walk after alighting at the 2nd stop of the horizon plaza shuttle bus.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=15871
we had beef and lamb steaks (HKD208 and HKD148 respectively) which were on their dinner set menu and i have to say both live up to our expectations.

countdown to wedding day : 173

Hong Kong Day 03 - 18 May 2013

pork and cabbage dumpling noodles & mutton and green onion dumpling

the sick boy was asked to give a satisfied face =P

both dear and i agree that the mutton and green onion dumpling was nicer as compared to the pork and cabbage option. will definitely be back to try the pan fried version.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=15350

managed to board the new tram back to causeway bay

decided to join the crowd at sogo - causeway bay. the departmental store was packed since friday due to the 28th anniversary thankful week. managed to catch some good deals at longchamp and triumph. =)

tai O revisited

solo cafe at tai O

solo cafe specialty coffee

much as the weather remained not conducive for outdoor activities, we (shirleen, kee, ariel, dear and i) went ahead with our plan to visit the island. abandoned the idea to hike and took bus 11 from tung chung to tai O instead. after about an hour of exploration, and satisfying our cravings for grilled oyster/scallop with cheese and tai O donut, we found our resting point at solo cafe. the outdoor seating provided a quiet and peaceful view of tai O waters. 
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=31013

took bus 11 back to tung chung and alighted 1 stop before the terminus. dinner place was about 15-20 minutes walk. i cannot be sure if the below link is correct, though 東記火鍋小廚 seemed familiar when i searched on open rice.
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=133810
recommendation: 咸鱼猪肉煎饼, 三蛋菜, 水煮鱼

countdown to wedding day : 174

Hong Kong Day 02 - 17 May 2013

brunch at 喜喜冰室 - 特餐 was not ready and we settled for their normal set meals

toys r us at windsor house, causeway bay

tram ride to admiralty

went to victoria harbour to visit the giant rubber duck, only to realise that it has been deflated for maintenance. it will be up as advised by the management early next week, we would probably be back again to check it out.

met up with shirleen for our hike at quarry bay. i was really glad we could do it as weather has been unstable, rain and shine within minutes. as dear was not feeling well, we decided to do something easy - sir cecil's ride. great catch up with shirleen during the walk and that is one of the reasons why we like to hike when we meet up besides keeping a healthy lifestyle. =)

took us 3 hours to eventually reach our dinner place at quarry bay - enoteca and met up with simon and ariel. kee could not join us as he had work to do.
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=75551
recommendation: weekend promotion for a jug of cocktail and thin crust pizza at HKD150
the cocktails were decent, except raspberry rosso (do not order it unless you like the taste of cough syrup), and the pizzas were yummy (personally like forest mushrooms best). the white wine platter is a good choice if you are looking at adding on other side dishes as it provides a variety. 

countdown to wedding day : 175

Hong Kong Day 01 - 16 May 2013

waiting for flight at changi airport terminal 3.

my breakfast

took us a while to find the shop where we were supposed to collect the keys to the apartment booked through wimdu. thank you dear for braving the rain to come back with the keys. *muacks* the place was within expectations, especially with the recent negative reviews, i was sort of prepared for the worst. however, besides the musky smell that lingers in the room (we bought air freshener x2 as they were on offer at wellcome), it is not too bad considering the price we paid. 

please do not ask me why we ate at 三哥 again. i believe this is a must have for dear each time we visit hong kong and there is a high chance of having it more than once. =P

dear and his favouritest iron man

Mark I

Mark II

Mark III

Mark IV

Mark V

Mark VI

Mark VII

dear was so happy that the iron man exhibition is still on at hysan place. it is organised by hot toys and there is a similar one at bugis junction, singapore.

http://www.homeless.hk/
a very interesting life style store which we chanced upon last december (located opposite hysan place, near times square). both of us like the place as it has loads of ideas for home decoration. we would probably be back early next week for purchase. =)

weather was still drizzly and we headed to mong kok for our toys hunt. took tung chung line as i wanted to check out the original 添好运 outlet that had relocated from mong kok to olympian city 2. to those singaporeans who queued for the awesome dim sum at plaza singapura, why queue for hours? *smirk* no doubt it is still my favourite dim sum place, i personally find it not worthwhile to physically queue for 2-3 hours to get a seat. they should implement the system of giving out numbers and allowing customers to come back at an approximate timing as practiced in hong kong. much as i was tempted, we proceeded to visit the toy stores 1st.

we walked through 女人街, CTMA centre, richmond shopping arcade and ended off empty handed which was surprising. it was quite a disappointment as iron man related items were sold out or over-priced and there were no good deals. it was already 830pm and i decided to go for dinner either at 添好运 (if it was not closing any time soon) or any available food stall in causeway bay.

was pretty glad that i managed to have my favourite dim sum for dinner on the very 1st day, without having to queue. *grins*

countdown to wedding day : 176