Bought this guide book 2 weeks ago in HongKong…..it was published in Nov 2008 and received lots of harsh critics from local connoisseurs of food specaily with the low rating of the famous Chinese food restaurants in HongKong/Macau. However because of these critics  I went to get the book..a free marketing I guess.

According to the rating guide from the book their star rating(1-3 while 3 is the best) is based on quality, combination, technical skill and flair with their preparation,clarity and combination of flavours value for money and the consistency (since they had revisited  the restaurants to test them).. The location, ambience, equipments, even service are not being considered

And there are only  one   Star rating to most of the local well known Chinese favourties like Yung Kee, Forum , Fook Lam Mom( famous for those Shark’s Fins Soup, Abalone dishes)…etc, only one new Chinese Restaurant at the Four Season Hotel got a 3 Stars rating, therefore those connoisseurs saying that the westerners(actually we dont’ know the inspectors are either westerners or chinese or whatever) don’t really appreciated the art of chinese food, therefore they will treat the guide book as a joke.

Well after I have read through the book I am surprised  quite a number of worldwide Chef’s owned  like the Nobu, Spoon by Alain Ducasse at InterContinental Hotel, or Ruth’s Chris Steak House well as some other famous Hotel Restaurants offering western food  like Grissini of Grand Hyatt, Gaddi’s from Pennisula , have not received even one Star, on the other hand some small places like the Noodle/Congee shop Ho Hung Kee, at least received a recommandation.

Everyone of us have our own preference on choosing food and or restaurnats - my favourite may be your worst. I still think this book is quite  informative and useful for finding my next meal in HongKong though I will also take the service, ambience  into consideration.

  A recap of the Xmas 2008

Woke up in the Christmas eve morning and wah-lah…..Snow Fall again.. and it’s very heavy, according to the news later it’s a record snow fall in Vancouver  and the first time White Christmas. across the whole Canada…for me I have to operate a flight to HongKong in the afternoon so have to get ready early. Because ot  the heavy snow fall the company had arranged taxi for those who needs a ride including me….

We and the passengers boarded the flight as normal, door closed and we started to wait for our turn for de-icing the aircraft before take-off, the waiting time was 2 hours at the gate as xmas eve there were tons of flights needed to depart specaily those domestic flights and there are only limited facilities at the Vancouver International airport to perform this safety related procedures… and the the control tower will not put you on the waiting list untill you havee all the passengers onboard the flgiht…We did offereed a light snack and drinks to our beloved passengers and they were very understanding for the situation. By the time we were airborne, we were 3 hours late…not that bad..but tat meant our Xmas eve and Xmas day will be inside the aircraft…..

After over 14 hours and 28 minutes we arrived safely into HongKong and we stepped out of the aircraft  just in time to say Merry Christmas i.e 5 minutes before the clock hit mid-night of the Boxing day….

On the Boxing day  headed out to the city with my friend Alwin,  we went to the Elements Mall it was very crowded with  lots of activities, with the Highlight of a Can Can Dancing show we were a bit late therefore could only watch the show from the back….

After that we walked around the Pacific Place before going for our Boxing day dinner at Louis Steak House and the steak there is really good and the most interesting is they still prepare the Ceaser Salad dressing and toss the salad as well as preapring the dessert Baked Alaska at your table side

Operating the flight back to Vancouver on 27DEC afternoon, and what a surprise our Baggage/Cargo handling agent walked out of duty for 3 hours  on that afternoon since their negotiation with thier company regarding some issues brokedown. Therefore we had to bring all our stuff and  went to the Passenger Terminal directly and wait for further information around the information counter inside the restricted area

Luckily after about an hour later we were allowed to board the aircraft and the passengers came to board the flight about another 45 mins after us, by the time we left we were 2 1/2 hours late…..

Back to Vancouver on the 27DEC and went to a co-worker’s place for a xmas dinner….very tired after the flight but it’s the festive spirit which  brought me the energy, as well as the food …

Share this clip here, this 11 year old kid sings well  he’s a contestant of the Britain’s Got Talent show this year and before his voice changes, let’s  enjoy his performance, and just like me he’s a half Pinoy……:P

Yesterday was 21DEC and also the Winter Solstice  meaning the shortest day time of the year, in the Chinese tradition they celebrate the begining of the Winter..and this year Vancouver has just had her coldest Winter since 1970..

It was snowing here in Vancouver the whole day since midnight, and was covered with  at least 15cm snow which is quite wired as Vancouver usually has a mild winter with lots of rain instead.

Since it’s been snowing on and off for a week and my apartment manager didn’t( or he couldn’t) clear up snow/ice from the drive way, I couldn’t drive. and being stucked at home till my friend drove his 4-wheel drive to pick me up for a hot pot dinner

Woke up at noon today and glad to see the Sun and roads have been clear….and the forcast saying there are more chances to rain than snow when the temperature goes up in a few days, maybe no more White Christmas????

Had an early Xmas Dinner in HK on Thursday quite delicious and hahahaha it costs 10 times less than the Lunch I had in Dubai…   The Restaurant is Catalina’s of the Headland Hotel at the CX city in CLK Lantau Island and we were the only table for the whole night…..

the Soup  Trio – a Taster’s Choice –  3 types of soup at the same time

Ceaser Salad

Chix

Beef with Fioe Gras and Eggplant with stuffed Truffle

10 times less than th Al Mahara in Dubai….

Spotted this Phrase from another Blog   and found it very interesting.Actually it’s quite true to how we see and celebrate all kinds of Festivals all over the world nowadays, take the biggest one – Christmas for instance….

For the past 2 weeks, all the shopping malls are packed with people busy with their Holiday Gifts shopping either for their families and friends or business associates, the malls themselves also spendsa lot with the special decoration or even have some special functions or activities during the whole period till the end of Dec.

And if you happen to have a chance to ask the kids what does Christmas mean to them, the very first few answers are: Holidays, Christmas presents, Parties, Christmas Tree,  or holiday trip and even Santa Claus……only a handful of them will remember that it has a religious reason behind..

It’s nothing wrong the celebration has been very commercialized, because it’s very important to keep the world’s economy moving which we definitely need……

Finally the first snow of Winter 2008 in Greater Vancouver started around 2000 Sat night  while I was driving out for grocery shopping in Richmond after my 16 1/2 hrs ‘Coma’ and luckily it was a light flurries….by the time I got back home about 45 minutes later, the snow got heavier……and now the whole town is covered with a white banket, so calm, so festive……

However since I’m not a winter sports lover……I don’t really like snowing,,,,,it’s quite dangerous to drive on the road since the majority of the people in Vacnouver BC don’t really know how to drive in the snow as Vancouver doesn’t snow as much as the inner and east coast cities,  and once it starts melting….the water is soo dirty  and thre is  ice everywhere on the open air and make it very slippery to walk……

Hope everything will be cleared up by the time the Sun comes up tomorrow

someone sent this link to me(in Chinese) regarding a KFC branch in Hong Kong, sometimes right b4 the store close, how those staff prepared the take away order…….incident happened  in Nov 08 and been talked about by the local media……

Time flies, just got back home after a 2 weeks holiday( though quite a lot of Happenings during this time in Thailand and India,lucikly all have come to an end) The high light of course is  my trip to Dubai, my very first time to visit the Middle-East…a place and culture whch is very new to me. The majority of the people I have encountered are Filipinos, people from other Middle-east regions in stead of Dubai locally, Indian, with some Caucasian and Chinese…

Arrived Dubai very early in the morning, didn’t do much but getting ready for the lunch at the Al Mahara Restaurant , a World class restaurnat of the Burj Al Arab. The food there is superb, the dining room as well as the Fine Dining Serivce create a very Luxury  atmosphere which make it a  Enjoyable and Memorable experience.

A very proper table setting with salted and unsalted butter

Lobster Bisque with Lobster Dumpling, Fresh Oysters

A properTable setting for a Fish Dish

Lobster Themidor, Sea Bass

Ready for Dessert… Chocolate Philosphy

Cappucino Gold and complementary sweets/pralines

And the living creatures accompany you while you are having your meal..

Seeing the old face of the city by visiting the Souq  while going to the  Shopping malls for the younger face…

the Latest Dubai Mall  with  the big Aquarium and the Mall of Emirates with indoor ski

Desert Safari is a must cos it’s much fun!

And some Heritage Tour to learn more how Dubai starts from a fishing village to a port of trading Pearl, Gold , Oil and now an Aviation  City…

I haven’t been to every corner of Dubai on this trip cos I don’t think you can, though it’s not a very big  place, the developement is still on-going which mean every time you go, she will have something new for you to see….