October Love 2013

My first time to try liquid nitrogen ice cream, where i excitedly waited for my sea salt caramel ice cream as the fog slowly started flooding out from the ice cream blender. Getting my health back on track and starting my mornings with oatmeal mixed with fresh fruits, and drizzled with a bit of maple syrup. Enjoying a chilled Friday night at Wagyu Lounge over steak and wine for a dear friend’s birthday.

A belated joint birthday dinner for my friend and I at a cosy Italian restaurant, Assaggio Trattoria Italiana, where four girls enjoyed  a night of great food and company, and laughed the night away. Fell in love with theses lovely color blocking heels, which were calling my name to take them home and that’s just what i did. My lovely sister being ever as sweet and supplying me with my fave glossy fashion magazines.

The joys of discovering a new cupcake shop, Kisses Cupcakes, while going home from work. Each bite of the Baileys Chocolate cupcake was slowly savored while it lasted. Lazing on weekends while down with the flu and watching one of my fave old American series, Sex and the City. I have almost forgotten how good and funny SATC used to be. The peacefulness of enjoying lunch by myself,  as i ordered a Japanese pork ramen and gyoza (Japanese dumplings).

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 October Love 2013.

The big 101!!!

Yes, peeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have finally reached over 100th followers where i’m now down to the big 101st!!!!! It is truly an amazing feeling and i can’t thank enough for all you fabulous bloggers out there that took the time to click the “follow” button and listen to my non stop rambling about fashion and life.

I know that 101 followers may not be a big sum in the blogging world, but i know every little support and appreciation means a lot to me.  I still remember when i first started this blog as a hobby and was worried i wouldn’t be able to stick to my daily, weekly, or even monthly blog postings but oh boy, how wrong i was!!!!

It’s been a fun journey in the blogosphere world where i’ve come across so many great people and inspirations that i can only wish to keep blogging, and hopefully reach out to more people.

Thanks for all your support and love throughout these 3 amazing years!!!!

Photo source: weheartit

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!!!:)

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)