Well it’s been some times since my last entry, some of you may know that I have a problem with the loading of pic on my blog entry therefore the frequency of my new entry will totally depend on whether the problem will occur or not….

Anyway the past 2 weeks I have been very busy flying between Hong Kong and Vancouver as usual, while most of the week-ends in Vancouver with beautiful nice weather  and the week days in HKG where was either hot/sunny with some thunder storm….

Last week had a Korean Dinner in Vancouver for a colleague’s birthday..only three of us but the 3 dishes we ordered plus all the kimchi , soup and rice it’s really a very filling dinner… The restaurant is called Jang Mo Jib the have different locations and we chose the one in Richmond

Spicy Pork Ribs Pot

Grilled Beef sapre-ribs

Grilled Fish

After dinner went to have some birthday desserts at the True Confession at Robson Downtown, which was a bit of disappointment…

Last Wedness was in HKG and brought my friend Alwin to try  the Tonkichi which werve very good Japanese Fried  Pork dishes……It is quite a popular place since they do serve very nice Tonkatsu,  the side dish shredded cabbages refill automatically and the servers are very attentive and effecient , and if you want to make a reservation please expect a 2 weeks in advanced however just go to the store and wait, though a long queue up but it really worth for the wait..

FRIED OYSTER & TONKATSU LOIN

Japanese Curry Tonkatsu set

SPINACH W/ BONITO FLAKES & DASHI

Anyway have a Happy Father’s Day!!

I read this news early in the morning before I went to bed, I aldy known the out come would not be very positive, still I kept my hope for the best. Woke up at noon and all the medias talking about it with negatives reports: Air France

Rest in Peace!

Sad News 2…after 2 days using the Firefox. which  I’ve just downloaded 2 days ago…….I once again cannot choose the uploaded pictures on the editing page again…….why? even I have followed all the suggested steps from xanga help menu…looks like it not helping anyway….sent them an e-mail….hope they can help……

Finally I can edit my new entry with my choices of pics which been uploaded….for the past one week the IE was not working and I also opt for Safari which  failed  and finally using Firefox at least the last one is working for the time being…..

Anyway spent my Dragonboat Festival in Hong Kong last week actually I didn’t aware that it’s the festival last Thurs after I arrived on Wed morning, until I checked the commets on my FaceBook . Though it’s one of the biggest Chinese Festivals it has never been my favourite cos it always mean to me that every year the final examination won’t be long…….

On that day Dragonboat racing competitions all around HKG throughout! and of cos most  people enjoy an extra day off

And of course having Rice -Dumpling is also a traditional ….and this year I also totally forgot it, till Fri afternoon I took the last opportunity to get 2 pieces of the sale items from the bakery p and ate it on my flight back to Vancouver…
Sticky Rice/Brown Rice Dumpling with  Red-beans paste

The Big  Sticky Rice Dumpling  with pork, Green Beans, dried scallop , Lotus seeds, mushroom,salted eggs

During the stay I’ve been to 2 inteesting palces for food…

The Toast Box origianlly from a food group in Singapore offering Singapore/Malaysian style food and snack.

Kopi (coffee)
 
Ice Milo

Nasi Lemak a typical lgiht meal whcih can be served anytime of the day from Breakfast, Coconut flavoured  steam Rice, small dried anchovies,  Frid chicken  with sambal sauce

Curry Chicken with Bread Toast….

Laksa , curry soup with slices of fish cake, prawns, bean sprouts and thick vermicelli

Kaya Toast, Toast with butter and Kaya Spread, it tastes even better with soft broiled eggs and white pepper and soy sauce

I also been to a new Dim Sum restaurnat with a very vintage decor and service…..

the Dim Sum cart…which is rarely been seen in today’s restaurnat in HK, and don’t wait for the dim sum cart auntie come to your table to service you , otherwise everything will be gone look at me, I have to go and grap my dim sum too!!
and one funn ything at this old style restaurnat, you hv to look for your own table cos noone will be assisting you, so you will find people standing besides your table  mayebe even staring at you while you are eating…and so want you to finish as quickly as possible  and have your table……

Just got back from my holiday in HongKong, wow a week off passes just like a few blinks…During this stay I didn’t make any side tirps but meeting up with friends eat, drink and gossips……however the very first thing they saw me was questioning what I was not wearing a face mask since I was back from Vancouver which is also one of the  H1N1 flu infected cities in North America,, and each time I have to tell them because I was not infected and in NA it is suggested that those who’re not feeling well to wear masks aim to stop spreading any kinds of germs or virus….and If I were that panic I would have not only wearing mask but with a surgical goggles, cos the virus can catch us through our eyes…..

Anyway been to a couple of new places for food this time… mostly western style food..

Had burger at the Absolute Burger which is located at a shopping mall in CWB called DeLayNoMore, if you know Cantonese you will know how it sounds and the meaning…..back to the burger though I apprecaited they were prepared once you place your order, the taste was quite ordinary, and with the severe competition with Burgers all over HongKong…. I guess they have to work harder on their business..

Chicken Burger and a Deluxe Burger set with mushrooms fries

Then a Sunday brunch at The Pawn Wanchai, serving English food, a Restaurant located inside a historic building which used to be a Pawn Shop…..though the price is a bit steep the quality and quantity are good provided you like the simple and wholesome style of english food with a decent serivce

Mushroom with  Truffle Butter

Spinach Salad

Roast of the day

Steam Choco pudding

Another afternoon tea at the Harlan’s a place says giving you the Fine Dining Experience, my verdict: is while the food is at the high quality the service is appalling, which as a whole I couldn’t feel the Fine Dining Experience as they claim….. The servers have no Fine Dining Etiquette, as simple as placing the cutlerly, side plates or tea set, they just do it on their own convience, and they have a kind of expression on their face that you shouldn’t ask too much question…and you can feel the coolness when they serve

Pizza tihe pepperoni and cheese and veggie

Molten Chocolate cake with Vanila ice-cream and a chocolate soup

and spotted this exhibition  by a cake artist on the way to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Enjoying my holiday in Hong Kong other than meeting Friends and having food, I have been watching movies in between gatherings. Last Friday watched Angels and Demons, which…..was ok, very preditable plot, luckily the flow was quite intense which made the movie interesting to watch.

Sun watched a Korean Movie Frozen Flower a love story between a Korean King, his personal guards’ commandor and the Queen…hahaha Homosexual topic…..Frankly after I’ve seen the clip from the youtube, I thought it was a typical  x rated movie showing off all the sex scenes either man to man or man to woman

It turns out to be a really well made movie, with great production and acting to tell you a very Sad Love Story. and I was touched………and eventually it’s my favourite movie so far in 2009….once again it’s called ‘Frozen Flower’ in Chinese 霜花店-朕的男人

wow…it’s been a couple of weeks since my last entry…..what was happening? quite a lot, as all you know there is a new kind of flu spreading aournd and the media been covering all the updates and stories regarding the flu, it’ a bit ok in North American, since the over 99% reported cases  are  recovered, the symptoms  are usually mild and lots of them even recovered without medication….however back in Asia, maybe because of the SARS in 2003 they are more alerted and  taking more serious measures…

For instance 2 weeks a go a Mexican tourist went to HKG and stayed at a hotel in WanChai  felt sick and being confirmed he carried the new virus, he then been hopistalized and the hotel he was staying was being blocked and isolated with all the staff and guests..after the 7 days quarantine period….all the guests and staff were released and non of them found sick.  Some people said the HKG government was a bit over reacted, I think with their past experience of SARS  and have no concrete information of the new flu at the very  early begining fo the outbreak, their action was totally understood however by now  with more updates and infos, they should also make some adjustments to their planning, and eveyone of us should take care of ourselves and others, stay healthy, when feeling sick wear a mask, go to get the correct medication, rest, rather going to school or work…

Before the MNL trip last week I acutally spent 1 1/2 days in Hong Kong…. arriving HKG on the Thursday morning since I slept so well inflgiht even though in Economy Class, I had a quick breakfast at one of the fast food chain ‘Fairwood’ then wnet back to my friends place and freshen up, and headed into town for shopping and even went to the Barbie show at the Ocena Terminal ( the Mall) .

The Barbie room

At night joined with other 3 friends for dinner at the Le Pain Grille (agnes b. cafe) which was introduced to me by another Xanga blogger curry69curry’s blog entry some times ago..

Non-stop serving of the warm bread basket

French Iced-Tea with fresh Pineapple Purée

French Onion Soup

Nicoise Salad

Veal Cassoulet

Duck Confit

Spring Chicken

Lobster Omelette

Mixed nuts cookies

Before taking the flight to MNL on Friday night went ot have High/Low Tea wtih another group of friends at the W Hotel Hong Kong in the afternoon High Tea includes, Cantonese Savouries while the Low Tea set with the Western stuff.

The Living Room (a.k.a. the Lobby Lounge)W Hotel HongKong the decor really looks like a living room with allthe couches and books…..

Angel Iced-Tea –  Iced Camomile tea with Berries Ginger Sorbet.

Cafe Latte set

Cappucino set…..no cocoa powder  on the foam…so don’t know the difference..

High/Low Tea combine set

Reception area…..

Free Candies

will you take the candies right after you wash your hands in the washroom?

Havn’t been back to Manila for 20 years one of the reasons is  most of my relatives have moved to either US, Australia. and  I think it’s nice to have brief revisit to my home country to see how she’s been doing. Arrived MNL very late at night due to a 3 hours flight delay, I guess this is so far the longest delay I’ve  ever had when I travel, and 3 hrs….. you can actually fly to MNL from HKG and back….hahahaha. On the other hand the good thing was you can pass the immigration counter, and the custom check within minutes as compare to the long wait during the normal hours….

Woke up early in the morning,after having the Breakfast, started to go around the city. Took the hotel’s complimentary shuttle to the shopping mall Greenbelt at Makati which is a popular place for the High-ends labels, brand name and upper markets restaurnants

Buffet Breakfast at the Mandarin Orenital Hotel

so much cravings in the morning

Tiny Blueberries

The Greenbelt Mall  has 4 sections and this is number 3

Inside the open area of the Mall

ducklings running around freely..

Then touring at the Intramuros and old city  which was built by the Spainards in the 16th century

Inside the Casa Manila

Tour the San Agustin Church which is loacted just next to the Casa Manila

being built with Adobe Stone

the church’s Muesum

University of Manila

haha the Pinoy really like Buffet a lot too…..another Buffet lunch

Halo-Halo the most popular Dessert… this version is from the fast food chain Chow King

Garlic Rice and Pinoy ’s version ’chopsuey’

Sisig the restaurant Gerry’s Grill house special version

NightLife at Julio Nakpil Malate Manila, guess what  my ancestral home was around these area, and it used to be a residential area. Though not the prestige area, not that many clubs and bars and even seeing poor kids begging for money or selling flowers as it is today…..

I had soo much feelings towards this place

The next day before taking the night flight back to HongKong went to the Mall of Asia which is located at the Pasay area, and claim to be one of the largest shopping in the world just behind the on ein Edminton Canada , and Shanghai, China(What a bout the Mall of Dubai????)

one of my favourite Sponge Cake from the Phillippines

the cake is from this Goldilocks Bakery

a sales person demonstrating the KTV system and semms enjoying the free KTV very much, actuallly even when you go into a CD shop, whenever there’s a song playing there will be at least one sales person sing-a-long. No wonder why the  new OPR Original Philippines Remake (remake or redention from the western i.e. local Pinoy singers singing western song and sales CD instead of sing Pinoy music) music market is getting so huge.

This is not my meal just want to show you how the Pinoys having chinese food, this one is quite typical, dumplings with rice and soy sauce

Manila does change a lot over the past 20 years like other commercial cities in the world with lots of skycrappers, skytrain system,  developments…… on the other hand just like all developing countries,still lots of problems she  hasn’t addressed yet, pollution, the majority of the population are still  poor( specailly when you are outside  of the Makati Business area and it’s easily to be seen….those senerios just like the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire”) Though I was not born and grew up that, I still wish her all the best for her continue development.

Finally going  for a holiday…this time going back to Manila Phillippines…..my motherland…..and it’s been 20 years since my last visit..though I did operate some training  flights to Manila, however as I have mentioned before…those were turn around flights and  my foot didn’t even touch the ground……..more details later….

For those who have been visiting my blog for some time may remember that I did a concert in HK last year with a group of friends, it was a great experience, and  it’s been a year..! Though we are planning for our next one, it will be another 3 years….