February Love 2013

Chinese New Year celebration was in full swing with colorful flowers and kum quat trees being decorated around the house. Lovely afternoon chill time with friends over cake and tea at the cosy “Zelo” located in Pacific Place Shopping mall, which has a really modern and stylish design to its interior.  Painted my nails in green with some glitter to add some fun as we entered the year of the snake!

Ms. C was in town visiting and had arranged a lovely evening for Ms. S’s birthday and also for my belated 30th, at the Domani Ristorante. She had some contacts and managed to get us a lovely table with the view of Hong Kong island, where drinks were prepared in advance. Drinking the night away with champagne, red wine, and dessert wine, while catching up like old times, was definitely a  great way to spend a joint birthday together. Valentines Day came before i knew it, and being still single, i was really touched when i went to Pret A Manger for my morning coffee and salmon/cucumber bun, and  found a small heart shaped short bread placed inside the paper bag along with my breakie. It is these small gestures that really gets to my heart at times.  Quiet stroll along the Victoria Harbour after a filling meal to burn off some excess calories, whilst taking in the beautiful night view of Hong Kong, never fails to impress me.

Spent a relaxing Sunday evening over a friend’s house party where the fabulous host had prepared delicious food and desserts. A pot of hot lychee and rose tea was served into these lovely looking Wedgwood tea cups, which complemented well with the home made chocolate cake, to neutralize the overall sweetness. Regular visits to the Vibe bar at the Mira hotel as of lately, has proved to be an enjoyable experience where my friends and I sit and talk for hours over wine and cocktails. The circular chandelier at its lobby entrance manages to fascinate me every time i go there and i think i’ve fallen in love with it. Lovely daffodils were welcomed into the house to welcome the Chinese new year and to hope for a fresh and better start.

I am blessed for each and every day that was filled with love, fun, laughters, and sharing special moments with people i love and care for. You are my February Love 2013.

Day trip to Granville Island

As those that follow my blog will know, i went to Vancouver for my very first time in December, where i spent my Christmas there along with my two BFFs. I was beyond excited to celebrate such a festive holiday at my BFF’s home town, in a new surrounding and along with new experiences to remember by.

One of the must see places if you ever visit Vancouver is Granville Island. It’s a shopping district located in the False Greek and is one of the major tourist attractions. It’s also interesting to know that this much relaxed area was once an industrial and manufacturing area, and i always like to visit places that has a bit of history to it.

So it was much to my delight when i found out that BFF had arranged for a chilled lunch for us and some of her friends at “the sand bar”, a restaurant that serves fresh and delicious seafood in Granville Island. Ms. C and i were just as delighted knowing we would get to eat delicious food as we were in meeting some new faces, and quickly dragged out lazy butts out of bed.

Upon arriving to the sand bar, we were greeted by a lovely view of Granville Island, and there was even a bit of sunshine to welcome us. The sand bar is a lovely restaurant with wooden interiors and tall windows that allows a great view while you eat away in great company. There were 2 floors and we decided to sit on the lower floor where we quickly ordered our meal. I slowly and surely savored my black cod served with rice and veggies, where the black cod was  sweet, juicy, and smooth in its texture. It was definitely one of the best meals i had throughout my entire trip.

A walk in the Granville Island market was up next in our agenda as everyone were craving for a coffee fix. As this market was indoors, it was also the perfect way to stay out of the cold as the sun started setting in. Like a proper tourist, Ms. C and I wandered around the market where we found ourselves swarmed by endless stalls with people selling their local produces and goodies. The varieties of souvenirs to take home was endless, ranging from fresh fruits, chocolates, candies, pastries, maple syrup and maple syrup tea, to even rainbow colored lollipops with a quirky name like “suckers”. I have to confess, not the best of names for lollipops but it definitely caught my attention.

The non food zone within the market did not fail to ignite my curiosity or admiration either. A quick browse through the flower stands where i stood and admired the gorgeous colors was all it took to make me smile from within. It’s these small things in life where we really need to hold onto that very moment and live it . The were also plenty of DIY stalls for those that are more into the arty stuff.  I could not stop but stand in amazement when i passed by this stall where this lady was selling and making these really cute hand made Christmas decorations.

As the end of the day drew closer, we finished up getting our souvenirs, mostly food, and sat outside the benches to enjoy the view before biding farewell to Granville Island.

Have you ever been to Granville Island? And what great adventures did you have there?

January Love 2013

Finally managed to get a taste of my very first box of macarons from Laduree in Hong Kong, thanks to my dearest BFF who surprised me with them one night. You should had heard my “omg” shriek, hehe. Catching up with a good friend over red velvet cupcake and a mocha at Brick Lane after a very filling Shanghainese dinner. Adding some nail fun with my new American Apparel nail polishes to kick off those cold winter days. Love the golden “Meteor Shower” glitter nail polish!

Walked passed Harvey Nichols whilst taking a walk during lunch hours, and was in love with this gorgeous giant Miss Dior perfume shown on their window display. Stocked up on some crafty decorative tapes to add onto my stationary collection. Finally got my lovely and fave Chloe eau de parfum back in my perfume collection and oh my, how i have missed you sooo dearly. You will always be my fave.

Last min shopping spree and got this golden snake necklace and leopard peplum top for my company annual safari themed dinner party, where i was MC’ing away in Ms. Leopard style. Received these ever as cute flower balloons from a colleague who was leaving our company, such a sweet gesture. Celebrated a good old friend’s belated 30th birthday and enjoyed a “Fallen Angel Chocolate Bath” dessert, which was a chocolate cake with whipped cream and a shot of espresso to pour over it, super delish!

I am blessed for each and every day that was filled with love, fun, laughters, and sharing special moments with people i love and care for. You are my January Love 2013.

Singapore – a weekend get away

As you all may know from my previous post, i went to Singapore for a weekend trip with my family. My lovely sister from London was in town for a visit so it was perfect timing! I had never been to Singapore so i was actually really thrilled about this trip and what’s more was that, my sister and I had planned to throw my mom a surprise birthday for her while we were there!

I have to say, i was quite pleased when we were greeted by sunshine and lovely weather upon arriving to Singapore, because the weather forecast had predicted rain and showers throughout the next few days. After passing thr0ugh a massive crowd at the immigration, we took the taxi to Traders Hotel to drop off our luggage and quickly got changed, and was ready to head out to discover the lovely city, Singapore! Oh and before i forget, the king size bed that my sister and i slept in was soooooooo comfortable, to the extent that it was extremely hard to get up every morning lol.

The lovely view outside our hotel room

King size bed for my sis and I

Our first stop was China town because being my typical mom, she wanted Chinese food and rice, the moment we landed. There’s nothing much to see in China Town and everything seemed closed as it was lunch hour when we arrived, which i found odd. For this reason, it was so hard to find a decent place that had decent Chinese food and my mom was complaining how it was worst than China! I found that super funny but I had to agree with her. In fact, the China Town in London is even better, as the restaurants are opened during day time with no lunch break (as far as i know anyway), and everything is within close walking distant. That’s the other thing about Singapore’s China Town, it’s quite big and there’s a lot of different streets to walk around to. But i still found it a great experience and memory to remember by.

China Town

There are numerous underground shopping malls in Singapore, and i’ve been told it’s to prevent people from heat exhaustion, as it gets very hot in Singapore, especially during summer time. My friend who lives in Singapore said that it can get up to 40 degrees Celsius during summer, which is way hotter than what we get here in Hong Kong.

The first underground shopping mall that we stumbled upon was Suntec City. It’s quite a big shopping mall with international and local designer brands. However, i was more distracted by food when i spotted a local bakery called “Bread Talk”. My mom went in to buy some bread, while i was snapping away and taking photos of some lovely Christmas themed pastries and cakes.

At the local bakery, Bread Talk

Festive Chrismas chocolate muffins

Chocolate donuts!!!

Delicious looking cakes

Festive Christmas cakes

One thing that i love to do is taking photos of random things that i like, at random moments. Such moment occurred when I passed by this shop and saw these super cute Japanese dolls. Don’t they just look so cute!?!?!? I’m also a big time chocoholic so i went all crazy when i saw this shop that was dedicated to Hershey’s chocolates!!!! I think any chocolate fan would die in there right away, lol.

Cute Japanese dolls on a window display

Hershey's Chocolate shop

Later that night we decided to go check out the Night Safari as i’ve had a lot of colleagues and friends suggesting to go there. Night Safari as you can imagine, is quite far away from the city and we had to take the local MRT train and a bus to get there. We tried to do all the things we wanted to as they close by mid night so our schedule was quite tight.

Night Safari Entrance

We saw the “Creatures of the Night Show”, which was more of a family show, if you ask me. But there was one incident that really made me laugh and freak out at the same time.They had an albino snake at one point and asked for a guy to come up for a challenge. They placed the albino snake onto the guy and then all the staffs walked away and turned off the stage lights. Of course, this was just for entertainment purposes, and they quickly went back to the guy. But the face on that guy was priceless!!! He looked super scared and i don’t blame him one bit.

"Creatures of the Night Show"

The Albino snake

We also managed to go on the tour buses to take a tour around the entire Night Safari and witnessed some of the night animals. As it was quite dark, i didn’t manage to take any good photos, so sorry!!!

One of the shows at Night Safari

After a fun Safari night we headed back to the city and to our surprise, all the restaurants in the nearby shopping mall was closed! It was only 10pm and that is considered early in Asia. As sad as it sounds, we ended up getting instant cup noodles, a loaf of bread, and chips in the supermarket, which was closing in 10 minutes! Yes, and i clearly enjoyed my cup noodle and chips when i got back to the hotel because i was starving!!!

And that is the update for now.  At the same time, I’m actually also sick with a throat infection and a nasty cold but i promise i’ll be back for my next blog post very soon!!!

My birthday month – Sweet September baby!!!

Yes, and so it is. It’s that time of the year again where i look forward to celebrating my birthday with close loved ones and not to mention, a marathon of birthday lunches/dinners dates! I always enjoy just sitting down with my close friends and families to catch up over nice food and drinks,  and of course with the cake surprises that awaits me,  as  my friends all know how much i loveee surprises ( i like to give back surprises too so it’s a win win situation!!!).  In fact, i love surprises to the point that my sister don’t get it and finds it lame, lol.

However, this year is not quite the same fairytale and lets just say it’s down to some personal reasons, enough said. But i’ve decided to still enjoy it and try to embrace getting another year older, wiser, and of course, prettier, hehe.

I’ve also been having some major macarons craving these days and so today i decided on a last min impulse to check out this Che Che New York place that i’ve walked past a few times, where they serve some delicate looking macarons and chocolate. In a way, it’s also a little pre-birthday luxury treat for myself, hehe. They have some really interesting and cute types of chocolate such as wafer roll, chocaron,  chocolate lollipop, chocolate bar, and praline. My favorite must be the chocaron and you are probably wonder what that is. I guess the name itself is pretty self explanatory but basically it’s a combo between chocolate and macaron, and i love the idea!!

Here is a photo of their lovely selections of chocarons at their shop.

Che Che New York Take Away Menu

I ended up buying a box of 6 macarons for HK$98 and the flavors were  blueberry, passion fruit, green tea, green apple, and fig. I’ve eaten 3 of them so far and again, they were too hard! I tried the fig and green apple and the flavor was nothing like it but nonetheless, it was still yummy,lol. To be honest, the macarons were not the best and i ‘ve definitely tried better ones.  I guess the reason why i’m having problems finding really truly delicious macarons over here is because i keep comparing it to the ones i tried in Paris at Laduree! I wonder if i will ever find a place that makes macarons over here just as good as Laduree. That would be a dream come true! But i do like how the macarons from Che Che New York are 2 colored, it’s just soo colorful and makes it that much more prettier to look it!

Apart from macarons and chocolates, Che Che New York also sells handbags and other accessories, and their products are definitely more on the cutesy side. They was founded in 2000 and have shops across Asia Pacific, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, and you can find more info about them here. I found these coin purses on their website and they are so cute that i just had to share them with you all!!!

Che Che New York Coin Purses

So tell me, have you ever tried macarons before and if so, what do you think of them?

Macarons, cupcakes, and all that good stuff…

Over the weekend, I went a little crazy and kinda had this major sugar craving. So on my way home on a Friday night, i decided to pop by the The Mira hotel where i could get my sugar fix at their cake shop COCO. I’ve not been there for a year or so, and god knows why – oh i know, there’s too many dessert shops  to choose from over here, hehe. Anyhow, i wasn’t left with much choices to begin with as they close at 8pm, and i arrived an hour before closing. After looking for what seemed hours, I decided to go for a delicately looking cheesecake by the name of Raspberry Chic but i reckon Raspberry Posh would have done the deed just as well, lol. As I’ve not had cupcake in a while, i decided to go with their Mango Velvet cupcake and plus,  i’m a big fan of the Velvet cupcakes!!!

I got home and decided to be extra nice and shared the desserts with my mom after dinner over a nice cuppa Chamomile tea. Ahhhh….i surely had a great chillaxing Friday night and it was just what i needed after a stressful week.

COCO Take Away Menu, yum…..

And you would think the sugar craving ends there, eh? Think again! Nope, i had made plans to meet my lovely girlfriend the next day for a lovely high tea at the recently reopened Ritz Carlton hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong. I went there once  last month and it was fully booked so i decided to go a bit earlier  this time and try my luck. Now you gotta understand how much i’ve been looking forward to this as it’s been the talk of town (at least i think so!) and I’ve seen their food reviews and photos, and it looked simply divine!!!! They have 2 places for you to high tea, either at the “Chocolate Library” located on the 103rd floor, or “The Lounge & Bar” located on the 102nd floor, with a spectacular view of Hong Kong.  Now if that is not enough to persuade you to check it out then i don’t know what will!!!

We arrived to the Ritz at 2pm and the high tea starts at 3pm and so I thought we did pretty well with the time. Wrong! The lady at the lobby said that the “Chocolate Library” and “The Lounge & Bar” were both full house! I was really annoyed about this, especially as it was my friend’s first time to experience high tea and it was already coming to a bad start! So what did i do? I asked the lady in my nicest voice possible on what time is ideal to arrive for high tea and guess what she replied? She said normally 1pm on week days and that on weekends, some people arrive as early as 12pm. Boy, people in Hong Kong truly will go that extra mile for food and yes, to try anything that is new in town! hahaha…i just can’t get up that early on weekends and to wait for 3 hours in advance for high tea is a bit absurd. Oh well, i will just have to squeeze one day out of my  lazy weekends to wake up extra early just for this very special occasion, lol.

Ritz Carlton Lobby Area

On the other hand, to satisfy my high tea frenzy because it just wouldn’t subside until i got a taste of those yummy macarons, i decided to try out the high tea at Lobby Lounge in Marco Polo hotel. Surprisingly, there were only 3 tables occupied and to top it off, the price was not expensive at all!!! It was HK$128 (plus 10% service charge) per person. I say that is a fairly good deal as the other high teas i’ve tried in the past usually comes down to around HK$200+ per person. Now i have to say, i was kinda disappointed with that delish looking rosey macaron because first of all, it was soo bloody hard and secondly, i didn’t know what flavor to make out of it and there was chocolate filling in the center. I’m no macaron expert by all means but i’ve tried better ones in in Paris, like at that Macaron heaven, Laduree. Oh how i miss you Laduree!!! I have to say, the cheese cake was really nice and rich, and the texture was just right! As odd as it sounds, the mini sandwiches  and pastries which sounds quite plain, were actually really yummy too. I forgot the flavor but it was some tuna, egg, escargots, cucumber, or something. The ingredients tasted really fresh and i guess that was the main reason to it being so pleasant to eat. Lastly, the scones were not a big winner for me this time, it was a bit too dry and they were a bit too petite, lol. Then again, I’m pretty sure i will come back again for it’s price and food quality.

I ended the night by meeting another good friend of mine who flew in from New York for a brief stay.  We decided to go for some yummy Italian dinner over white wine, and it was a much needed catch up time indeed!!! But gosh, that was clearly an eating marathon moment to experience and sadly, I forgot to take a photo of my delish scallop pasta in pesto sauce! Although we only managed to catch up once this time, I enjoyed it a great deal and i guess as the saying goes, its the quality not quantity, right?

So have you ladies every had a super lovely or horrible high tea experience to share? I would love to hear all about them!!!:)

Happy Friday peeps!

So it’s finally Friday and I’ve come down with a damn nasty sore throat!!! So much for “Thank god it’s Friday” eh? I actually took a day off work  todayand i guess i had some much needed sleep. Looks like i will be staying in and resting a lot over the weekend. Boooooooooo!!! Yes, sounds like a bummer weekend already.

Here are some inspiring and happy photos that i wanted to share with you all and i guess a reminder to myself to always be happy no matter what!!!:D There’s just so much going on in this busy world that we live in that we tend to forget the smallest things that matter so much more. Sometimes all we need to do is just slow down and appreciate a bit more on what this beautiful world has to offer in it’s simplest form. That’s where true happiness can be found, when you least expect it.

Anyhow, hope you guys have a happy Friday and awesome weekend ahead!!!!

Photo Source

It’s been 2 years…

Yes, so it has. Today marks the secound year since i started my blog. Gosh, time flies. I first started blogging  as a way to express the joys in my life, such as food, fashion, music, and any funs things that i live for. Looking back, i’ve come a long way and i definitely didn’t expected anything like how it is today. Without a doubt, fashion has taken a special place in my heart and I simply love all things about it. It’s been a true pleasure sharing my fashion finds and the little things in life that captivates me, and i hope you guys enjoyed it too!

This past year was especially fun as i met many fab bloggers along the way, and i look forward to another year of it all! I hope all you fellow bloggers will contiue coming back because your lovely comments make me smile and wanna keep going!=D

 

 

Photo source: Fashion Gone Rogue and Tumblr

A happy start to Jan 2011:)

I can’t believe that the first month of 2011 is already coming to an end and yet, i feel like it just started.  As with every ending, there will always come a new beginning and hence, i’m already looking forward to February. I simply cannot wait for February to arrive, which will be a celebration month filled with Valentines day, Chinese New Year, my best friend’s birthday, my other best friend’s returning home from Beijing, and this 30′s themed Shanghai costume party going on for my company’s annual dinner! Gosh, that seems like a pretty packed schedule!

To complete the end of my very first month in 2011, i’ve decided to share with you some fabulous, wonderful, and fun things that i’ve done over the last 31 days. Yes, i know it’s mostly all food related but who are we kidding? Food makes us happy and sane, and that is how i like to kick start it in 2011, yeahhhh baby!!!!

Baking and decorating cookies with my girls on NYE!!!

Happy start to 2011!!!

High tea'ing with my skats at the Four Seasons Hotel:)

All you can eat dessert buffet at the Four Seasons Hotel

A relaxing Saturday with BF over coffee

My fave Japanese Sashimi!!!

The Seasalt Caramel Cheesecake goes just right with my fave Chai Tea latte

My magazine purchases for the month

Bought these cute earring sets at Cotton On

Cosy booties i bought from a local shop

Chase my Saturday blues away…

I’ve come down with a cold over the week and now i’m left with all the suffer from coughing, sneezing, and feeling blah for the weekend! Booooooo, what a bummer for me man. But BF is coming over later to come chill with me so maybe we can just enjoy a light movie or something.

Since i’m feeling the blues on Saturday (just wonderin can blues apply to any day or Monday only?lol), i decided to share some happy moments with you all so i won’t feel as bad and grumpy, haha. You will notice that most of the photos are on food because food makes me happy whem i’m in a bad mood, hehe.  If you’re interested, i’ve also written past posts about food and enjoyments in my life with some mood up lifting photos here and here  

What about you? What lovely things put you in a good mood when you are feeling those blah days???

Enjoy and hope you are all having a fabulous and healthy weekend!!!!

Bf took the trouble and ordered these lovely roses and lilies to be delivered to my work, while he was still living in Ireland at the time:)

My BFFs celebrating a fab bday for me in this Italian restaurant and gave me my first ever Tiffany necklace, awwww, love you girls!!!

I love strawberries – when they’re sweet and dipped in chocolate!!! lol

Sangria - one of my fave drinks whilst chilling with my girls:)

High tea at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and you can see all the fab food as mentioned here. 

Yummy Chocolate Mousse Dome dessert at the JW Marriott Hotel, Hong Kong

Chinese style dessert – Sesame flavored rolls with fresh mango and glutinous red rice

Easter decoration at my nearby shopping mall

Tiffany & Co. Christmas tree in Taipei, Taiwan – my 2009 new year trip! You can see more amazing photos of the trip here.

Strawberry cupcake from SIFT, the frosting is delish!

I saw this Sweet Potatoe Pie flavored ice cream from Haagen – dazs and knew i had to try it! It’s Japan edition too!!!:D

Fauchon – my fave places to go when i’m in Paris. As you can see from the date, this was way back in 2004!!! This defo calls for a trip back to Paris very soon:)

Max Brenner: Chocolat by the Bald Man – this is a must try place in NYC for choco lovers, its dessert paradise! The waffle was soft and warm and the banana in the toffee sauce was yummers!

Fire works at the Victoria Harbour on China National Day (Oct 1st, 2010)

Company Annual Dinner at the Disney Hotel, Hong Kong

BF took me to Powerscourt House & Gardens -  a beautiful country estate located in Wicklow, Ireland. You can read up on my Ireland trip here too. There are loads of photos and adventures explored so do check it out if you have time:)

My sister gave me these fab Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku ♥ Lovers perfumes (Baby and Music) for Christmas last year. I’m still thinking if i should buy the entire collection but it seems abit insane to do so! lol

First time to the Venetian Hotel/Casino in Macau with BF:)

Cute Tiffany & Co. Shop at the Heritage 1881 shopping area, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Coffee break with BF in Cafe Nero back in Aug for my Euro trip, gosh i miss London!!!

Lunch at the pub, Old Thameside Inn, London - my yummy boar sausage, pork sausage, and apple parsnips on mash potatoe with gravy sauce!

(All photos accredited to me)