on my birthday...
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Friday, June 9
Thursday, June 8
R66 // Buffet Dinner
Tonight, my sister is treating me + family to buffet dinner at R66 Revolving Restaurant in Hopewell Centre, Wanchai for my birthday!
Read more!
Tuesday, June 6
Sunday, June 4
Patterns Patterns Patterns
I can't help but notice the variety of patterns and colours on the jockeys' costumes during the races. Pictured below is a wallpaper printed with these small costumes and of course I took a snapshot of it.
Diagram - Jockeys Costumes
Read more!
Diagram - Jockeys Costumes
Racecourse in Shatin
The Parade Ring + Retractable Roof
Before each race the horses come out of the rooms (below the screen) to the Parade Ring for a quick review. Then the horses are led to the gates on the racecourse in preparation for the race.
Horse Racing Sunday
Heading to the Start
Horse racing has always been a popular activity or hobby in Hong Kong that appeals very much to the gamblers in all of us. It is a little bit of stereotyping, but consider the popularity of Mah Jong and you will know what I mean. As for this Sunday, after breakfast at Paris Cafe, we were on our way to the Racecourse for the very first time!
There are two racecourses in Hong Kong, one in Happy Valley (HK Island) and the one that opened today is in Shatin (New Territories). From September to June is the racing season. Of course, before the racing season ends this month, I ought to experience the largest spectator sport in Hong Kong AND the excitement that only watching live races can bring.
Unlike 649 or Mark Six (HK), Horse Racing takes on a different type of betting experience. The variables are very well documented in newspapers and HK Jockey Club website. The races are broadcasted live on TV and Radio.
Placing some bets and watching the races is a lot of fun but do not get addicted!
Racing in progress
- the largest single taxpayer in Hong Kong
- not-for-profit business model
Monday, May 29
Sunday, May 28
Friday, May 26
Pottinger Street
Off the escalators, I walked over to the next few streets. Pottinger Street (砵典乍街 / 石板街) is well-known for the stone-slab steps that still remain today. Lined with traditional street stalls, they mainly sell ribbons, bows and buttons. On another street, one of the stalls that catches my eyes sells these colourful lanterns -
Central - Mid-Levels Escalator
I spent HK$1.70 for the ferry ride from TsimShaTsui to Central, heading to IFC. After getting half-price movie tickets ($40/ticket) for this Sunday (Da Vinci Code) at the cinema, I explored a bit of Central by taking these Escalators. It always amazes me that this structure is built to serve just one purpose, people mover. In a dense urban area, these elevated walkways are neccessary to alleviate pedestrian traffic from the roads.
Thursday, May 25
Wednesday, May 24
巴士阿叔, Bus Uncle (雙語字幕, Bilingual Substitle)
The "Bus Uncle" clip made quite a headline in Hong Kong. Recorded by a video phone was the argument between a teenager and a man in his 40's. All the people involved (except the "uncle"), the teenager (Alvin) and the photographer (John) called in and were interviewed by radio station. Check out the clip!
Take a breather, afterall, everyone is under immense pressure! hahaha!
Read more!
Take a breather, afterall, everyone is under immense pressure! hahaha!
Read more!
Saturday, May 20
Tuesday, May 16
Monday, May 15
Sunday, May 14
Two-day celebration for Mother's Day
Day 1 - Saturday May 13
Dinner at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant. It is similar to some Japanese Izakaya where the dishes come in small tapas-sized portions. The difference is that they do serve sushi and sashimi (not at izakaya). My favourite is Watami's Drinks menu!
Sake with Sakura Syrup - Sakura syrup is served in the shot glass, then sake is poured right before your eyes until it overflows into the wooden box. You can then drink from shotglass first, then finish what's left in the box, which is sweeter because the syrup flows out of the glass at the beginning.
Interior of Watami
Day 2 - Sunday May 14 Mother's Day
On Mother's day we had dimsum at Chao Inn,
a Chiu-Chow Style restaurant at One Peking Road, Tsimshatsui.
With delicious dimsum, nice interior, and one of the best views to HK Island, it has become my favourite dim-sum restaurant!
One Peking Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Sources: HKU Case Study+HKU Photo Gallery
Bird cages are reminiscent to the
dimsum teahouses (香港舊式茶樓) in the early days of HK
Marinated Platter with goose, pork,
eggs, sausages, tofu, and lotus roots
Toward Hong Kong Island:
Roof of HK Cultural Centre
Tower of Central Plaza
Read more!
Dinner at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant. It is similar to some Japanese Izakaya where the dishes come in small tapas-sized portions. The difference is that they do serve sushi and sashimi (not at izakaya). My favourite is Watami's Drinks menu!
Sake with Sakura Syrup - Sakura syrup is served in the shot glass, then sake is poured right before your eyes until it overflows into the wooden box. You can then drink from shotglass first, then finish what's left in the box, which is sweeter because the syrup flows out of the glass at the beginning.
Interior of Watami
Day 2 - Sunday May 14 Mother's Day
On Mother's day we had dimsum at Chao Inn,
a Chiu-Chow Style restaurant at One Peking Road, Tsimshatsui.
With delicious dimsum, nice interior, and one of the best views to HK Island, it has become my favourite dim-sum restaurant!
One Peking Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Sources: HKU Case Study+HKU Photo Gallery
Bird cages are reminiscent to the
dimsum teahouses (香港舊式茶樓) in the early days of HK
Marinated Platter with goose, pork,
eggs, sausages, tofu, and lotus roots
Toward Hong Kong Island:
Roof of HK Cultural Centre
Tower of Central Plaza
Friday, May 12
HK Fast Food Restaurant
You gotta love those fast-food restaurants in Hong Kong. With decent services, prices and quality, the combination is hard to beat. Though fierce competition in the industry has resulted in a series of new interior designs and company images.
One of them is the recently renovated Maxim's MX.
Table with inset televisions (給電視撈飯迷)
and double seat benches
and double seat benches
Wednesday, May 10
Dai Pai Dong 大排檔
This dai-pai-dong (sidewalk food stalls) has been around at least 20 years. What used to be very popular in the 50's and 60's has now become a diminishing business as these open-air food stalls are replaced by indoor food courts.
Today's visit was a nostalgic experience.
At breakfast, instead of iced ovaltine - my all-time favourite as a child, I got yuen yeun 鴛鴦 (coffee+milk-tea) which I believe is a local innovation, along with a breakfast combo that consisted of satay beef with instant noodle, white bread with butter and two eggs. HK$19
Read more!
Tuesday, May 9
Yau Ma Tei
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Tuesday, May 2
Arrived safe and sound...
Time flew by rather quickly on the plane as there was personal entertainment.
Movies that I watched:
- Chronicles of Narnia
- Aeon Flux
- Transamerica
- Memoirs of a Geisha
In just a little over 15 hours, we arrived!
Read more!
Movies that I watched:
- Chronicles of Narnia
- Aeon Flux
- Transamerica
- Memoirs of a Geisha
In just a little over 15 hours, we arrived!
Read more!
Monday, May 1
non-Farewell gathering
In less than 7 hours I'll be on my way to HK!
Karaoke at Twister was the most fun because your excellent singing talents! Yes that means you Matthew, Manter, Catherine, Angela and you Timo!
Timo - keep working your "Korean" charm so we can get extra time at the karaoke again and recommendation to a good Korean restaurant!
Have a great summer you guys! I'll miss all of you for the entire summer!
Read more!
Karaoke at Twister was the most fun because your excellent singing talents! Yes that means you Matthew, Manter, Catherine, Angela and you Timo!
Timo - keep working your "Korean" charm so we can get extra time at the karaoke again and recommendation to a good Korean restaurant!
Have a great summer you guys! I'll miss all of you for the entire summer!
Read more!
Friday, April 28
EVERYTHING A GO-GO!!!!!!
TWO DAYS - Saturday and Sunday April 29 - 30
Garage Sale Extravanganza
Location: 18 D'ARCY STREET, Toronto
one block south of Dundas Street
just off McCaul
Time: 10AM - 6PM Sat+Sun
Come for great bargains and refreshments!
Everything is priced to GO-GO-GO!!!!!!!!!
Visit the website for more information!!!
Event organized by Chloe and Juhee.
Read more!
Tuesday, April 18
Easter Weekend
Members on the tour:
Timo - Driver
Matthew - Navigator
Chris - CD selection
Me - Walking guide
Destination: Montreal
This post is a bit long as I tried to recap our trip. To spare you the details here are some of the highlights:
- No less than five times that cop cars' light was flashing on our road trip
- Laval Transit $2.90 + Montreal Transit $2.50
- Coin-acceptor on buses takes only one coin at a time
- Llama-feeding to lamb-chop hunting
- St. Eli's courtyard is still charming as ever
- Holiday Inn Chinatown does have a chinese garden!
- Jacket-swapping between Kristi Matthew and me
- Never buy umbrella just when it rains
- Club 737 opens 10pm on weekends
- Labanese food is very yummy and filling
- Pour ici ou pour emporter?
- Sunday grill - rabbit, steak and mussels
- cafe and chess on st. laurent
- hotel+gas: 2-nights/12-hour drive
- Ka-ching $109.05
Friday
Leaving the gray sky in Toronto behind us, we were promised of good weather when the blue sky was creeping through the clouds as we approached the French autoroute
signs. In less than six hours we arrived in Laval, a city across a river from Montreal on the north - but a suburb really - with its malls and big box stores. After hotel check-in, we had our 3pm lunch at a nearby A&W, gulping down root beer and iced tea served in chilled pint glasses. The 10min commute from Laval to Montreal included a bus ride to Metro Henri-Bourassa.
The "critical walk" commenced at Metro Mont-Royal. On axis of rue Mont-Royal is Mount Royal and the olympic stadium, visible on either end. The street seemed especially vibrant on this sunny day when people were sitting outside chatting on the doorsteps, and a guy playing guitar sitting on a window sill. We walked a good portion of the street before we headed over to the east slope of the mountain to the Cartier monument to check if the Tam-Tams was happening. To no avail, as it might only happen on sundays, we continued to explore and criss-crossed between Rue St. Laurent and Rue St. Denis towards rue Sainte-Catherine on a beautiful friday afternoon.
Across from Places-des-Arts, we checked out a shopping mall, the Complexe Desjardins, entrance flanked by Terra Nostra and a restaurant, only to discover that a "farm" was on display in the atrium complete with a few goats, rabbits, pigs and llamas. Timo and Matt took the opportunity to feed them.
Taking advantage of the beautiful sunny day, we slowed down our pace in the evening at one of my favourite bar off rue Ste. Catherine, Le Saint-Élizabeth Pub Européen, boasting one of the most gorgeous courtyard/terrace in the city. The outdoor terrace is framed by the two-storey pub and three 45-foot walls covered in vines. There are a number of gas-powered torches to keep us warm in the "in-between" s/s season. On offering was still the happy-hour-before-8pm $4/pint local Boréale that comes in blonde, rousse, noire...
With Timo's craving for lamb chops that stemmed from animal-feeding earlier in the day, we headed to St. Laurent to look for lamb chops in restaurant menus and discovered Cabane, a pub across from Schwartz the smoked-meat place. Suprisingly delicious sirloin steak (my comment) and lamb chops (commented by Timo and Chris)... By the time we finished dinner it was almost 10pm.
Saturday
The gray weather did not let our spirits down. Our itinerary was to visit the remaining part of Montreal. A metro ride on the Orange line brought us to Place d'Armes where the Palais des Congres with its colourful facade was located next to Place Victoria. Then we had a quick visit to Old Montreal. We started heading back to the front gate of McGill to meet with Kristi just when it started pouring. Got soo soaked, we went to the Holiday Inn for shelter and waited out until the rain stopped. Finally we met up with my friend Kristi.
After quick introductions, Kristi and I came to the conclusion for a good lunch spot - Santropol. 10 minute walk from the front gate of McGill, we first were seated in the front of the restaurant, but knowing how nice their outdoor backyard is, we decided to move outside to a table under the awning. Infamous for their gigantic sandwiches and the landscaped outdoor patio, Santropol was one of my favourites. Pepper Island Sandwich with ham was my choice. Kristi and I both had ice-cream floats and it got us kinda chilly. She first asked me for my jacket, then I felt cold so I borrowed Matt's. Funny situation on the coat swapping, but the hail then rain didn't help with the situation! Weird weather...After lunch we parted with Kristi and continued our stenuous walk, sightseeing and window shopping.
On St. Laurent, we stopped at a little convenience store to get $5 umbrellas. You probably guessed it, we hardly used them for the rest of the day! Rue Ste. Catherine was very busy as usual and our plan was to check out Club 737 on top of Place Ville-Marie tower for their 5-7pm happy hour. After getting lost among the shops on Ste. Catherine all the way west, we made our way back to College St. to discover that we passed PVM long ago and on top of that (pun intended) the club's not open until 10pm on weekends!
Little disappointed, we went to an italian restaurant for little snacks and drinks. Timo's brilliant idea of getting labanese food was fulfilled when we came across one (on Ste. C) of the many labanese restaurants in the city. (we found out the very next day) Shaved beef and chicken with tons of lettuce, rice, potatoes and pink-pickled turnip as garnish are the platters.
After the hotel breakfast, we got into Timo's car and off we went to Mont Royal. The relatively short ride along the less-than-winding road brought us to an observation area where we could see the Olympic Stadium and La Ronde amusement park. Our car trip continued along rue Mont Royal to the stadium. We didn't stay long before we headed back to the city on St. Laurent where we continued our window shopping.
We had lunch at Janos, a portugese grillade on St. Laurent. They all ordered grilled rabbit and I was the unadventurous one who got grilled rib steak. Picture: Matthew bought the colourful figures from a gift shop and they are not easter eggs. In the paper bag was grilled rabbit from lunch - what a combination in the easter weekend.
At one point, while Timo and Chris were checking out a clothing store, Matthew and I waited outside and decided to get a coffee a few doors down. The cafe was filled with chess players and cigarette smoke. I ordered a latte and matthew got espresso with biscotti. We got a table with chess all laid out on the gameboard near the entrance so we could keep our eyes for Timo and Chris while playing a game of chess. We did miss them walking past the cafe, however, the two came back to find us. After a few more chess moves of the Kings and Queens, what seemed to me to be a losing game turned out to be the opposite! Beginner's luck!
I insisted that Chris should try the Montreal smoked meat from Schwartz so while Matthew and Timo waited in a bookstore across, Chris and I lined up outside Schwartz for 30min+ to get their legendary $9.95/lb Montreal smoked meat.
A visit to the City of Festivals always brings back the good memories and offers new experience. In two years time since my 4-month visit in 2004, Montreal has changed for the better as one of the great cities, namely with its vibrant streets, new and historic architecture and great food! Probably it is about the European vibe from the francophones that makes Montreal special.
On Sherbrooke, a new hotel with
adaptive reuse portion (left) and the
new music department at McGill (right)
PS: you did not miss any significant details - no we did not go to strip clubs that are infamous for this city...there's a lot more that Montreal offers!
Many thanks to you guys for this wonderful trip!
Read more!
Timo - Driver
Matthew - Navigator
Chris - CD selection
Me - Walking guide
Destination: Montreal
This post is a bit long as I tried to recap our trip. To spare you the details here are some of the highlights:
- No less than five times that cop cars' light was flashing on our road trip
- Laval Transit $2.90 + Montreal Transit $2.50
- Coin-acceptor on buses takes only one coin at a time
- Llama-feeding to lamb-chop hunting
- St. Eli's courtyard is still charming as ever
- Holiday Inn Chinatown does have a chinese garden!
- Jacket-swapping between Kristi Matthew and me
- Never buy umbrella just when it rains
- Club 737 opens 10pm on weekends
- Labanese food is very yummy and filling
- Pour ici ou pour emporter?
- Sunday grill - rabbit, steak and mussels
- cafe and chess on st. laurent
- hotel+gas: 2-nights/12-hour drive
- Ka-ching $109.05
Friday
Leaving the gray sky in Toronto behind us, we were promised of good weather when the blue sky was creeping through the clouds as we approached the French autoroute
signs. In less than six hours we arrived in Laval, a city across a river from Montreal on the north - but a suburb really - with its malls and big box stores. After hotel check-in, we had our 3pm lunch at a nearby A&W, gulping down root beer and iced tea served in chilled pint glasses. The 10min commute from Laval to Montreal included a bus ride to Metro Henri-Bourassa.
The "critical walk" commenced at Metro Mont-Royal. On axis of rue Mont-Royal is Mount Royal and the olympic stadium, visible on either end. The street seemed especially vibrant on this sunny day when people were sitting outside chatting on the doorsteps, and a guy playing guitar sitting on a window sill. We walked a good portion of the street before we headed over to the east slope of the mountain to the Cartier monument to check if the Tam-Tams was happening. To no avail, as it might only happen on sundays, we continued to explore and criss-crossed between Rue St. Laurent and Rue St. Denis towards rue Sainte-Catherine on a beautiful friday afternoon.
Across from Places-des-Arts, we checked out a shopping mall, the Complexe Desjardins, entrance flanked by Terra Nostra and a restaurant, only to discover that a "farm" was on display in the atrium complete with a few goats, rabbits, pigs and llamas. Timo and Matt took the opportunity to feed them.
Chris and Matthew at St. Eli's
Taking advantage of the beautiful sunny day, we slowed down our pace in the evening at one of my favourite bar off rue Ste. Catherine, Le Saint-Élizabeth Pub Européen, boasting one of the most gorgeous courtyard/terrace in the city. The outdoor terrace is framed by the two-storey pub and three 45-foot walls covered in vines. There are a number of gas-powered torches to keep us warm in the "in-between" s/s season. On offering was still the happy-hour-before-8pm $4/pint local Boréale that comes in blonde, rousse, noire...
With Timo's craving for lamb chops that stemmed from animal-feeding earlier in the day, we headed to St. Laurent to look for lamb chops in restaurant menus and discovered Cabane, a pub across from Schwartz the smoked-meat place. Suprisingly delicious sirloin steak (my comment) and lamb chops (commented by Timo and Chris)... By the time we finished dinner it was almost 10pm.
Saturday
The gray weather did not let our spirits down. Our itinerary was to visit the remaining part of Montreal. A metro ride on the Orange line brought us to Place d'Armes where the Palais des Congres with its colourful facade was located next to Place Victoria. Then we had a quick visit to Old Montreal. We started heading back to the front gate of McGill to meet with Kristi just when it started pouring. Got soo soaked, we went to the Holiday Inn for shelter and waited out until the rain stopped. Finally we met up with my friend Kristi.
After quick introductions, Kristi and I came to the conclusion for a good lunch spot - Santropol. 10 minute walk from the front gate of McGill, we first were seated in the front of the restaurant, but knowing how nice their outdoor backyard is, we decided to move outside to a table under the awning. Infamous for their gigantic sandwiches and the landscaped outdoor patio, Santropol was one of my favourites. Pepper Island Sandwich with ham was my choice. Kristi and I both had ice-cream floats and it got us kinda chilly. She first asked me for my jacket, then I felt cold so I borrowed Matt's. Funny situation on the coat swapping, but the hail then rain didn't help with the situation! Weird weather...After lunch we parted with Kristi and continued our stenuous walk, sightseeing and window shopping.
On St. Laurent, we stopped at a little convenience store to get $5 umbrellas. You probably guessed it, we hardly used them for the rest of the day! Rue Ste. Catherine was very busy as usual and our plan was to check out Club 737 on top of Place Ville-Marie tower for their 5-7pm happy hour. After getting lost among the shops on Ste. Catherine all the way west, we made our way back to College St. to discover that we passed PVM long ago and on top of that (pun intended) the club's not open until 10pm on weekends!
Little disappointed, we went to an italian restaurant for little snacks and drinks. Timo's brilliant idea of getting labanese food was fulfilled when we came across one (on Ste. C) of the many labanese restaurants in the city. (we found out the very next day) Shaved beef and chicken with tons of lettuce, rice, potatoes and pink-pickled turnip as garnish are the platters.
Sunday
At one point, while Timo and Chris were checking out a clothing store, Matthew and I waited outside and decided to get a coffee a few doors down. The cafe was filled with chess players and cigarette smoke. I ordered a latte and matthew got espresso with biscotti. We got a table with chess all laid out on the gameboard near the entrance so we could keep our eyes for Timo and Chris while playing a game of chess. We did miss them walking past the cafe, however, the two came back to find us. After a few more chess moves of the Kings and Queens, what seemed to me to be a losing game turned out to be the opposite! Beginner's luck!
I insisted that Chris should try the Montreal smoked meat from Schwartz so while Matthew and Timo waited in a bookstore across, Chris and I lined up outside Schwartz for 30min+ to get their legendary $9.95/lb Montreal smoked meat.
A visit to the City of Festivals always brings back the good memories and offers new experience. In two years time since my 4-month visit in 2004, Montreal has changed for the better as one of the great cities, namely with its vibrant streets, new and historic architecture and great food! Probably it is about the European vibe from the francophones that makes Montreal special.
On Sherbrooke, a new hotel with
adaptive reuse portion (left) and the
new music department at McGill (right)
PS: you did not miss any significant details - no we did not go to strip clubs that are infamous for this city...there's a lot more that Montreal offers!
Many thanks to you guys for this wonderful trip!
Read more!
Wednesday, April 12
Tuesday, April 11
Thursday, April 6
Royal Canadian Air Farce 2006
When Manter and Matthew mentioned that there's upcoming free show, I said yes right away with no hesitation. This evening it was a guys' night out (Manter, Matthew, Chris + me) At the CBC recording studio here in Toronto, we were part of the live audience at RCAF, a comedy troupe that performs humourous sketches about the most current and newsworthy people and events in Canada.
Coming up: Friday April 7 at 8:00pm on CBC Television
On the show: Ralph Klein’s Freedom 55; Harper daydreams on the Throne; Driving With Alan Park; Dave the Cabbie; Nancy Wilson looks at the NHL and Reality TV; and more!
Thank you Manter for the tickets!
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Read more!
Coming up: Friday April 7 at 8:00pm on CBC Television
On the show: Ralph Klein’s Freedom 55; Harper daydreams on the Throne; Driving With Alan Park; Dave the Cabbie; Nancy Wilson looks at the NHL and Reality TV; and more!
Thank you Manter for the tickets!
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Read more!
UN's Abolishment of Traditional Chinese in 2008
say NO to United Nation's Abolishment of Traditional Chinese in 2008!
Sign the Petition here
"...UN's action to "unify" the Chinese characters and recognize ONLY Simplified Chinese will have devastating impact upon the Chinese language, culture, history. Internationally, Traditional Chinese would be forgotten and neglected, it would only be a matter of time before Traditional Chinese becomes the next “Latin”. (the dead language) Along with this lost of language, would be a culture and histories lost forever."
聯合國文件廢繁體字？ 2008改用簡體為唯一標準
"全球掀起華語熱，許多外國人士選擇到中國，或是香港、台灣學習語言，不過北京有消息指出，中國應用語言學會會長陳章太表示，根據聯合國決定，從2008年以後，聯合國將一改過去簡繁體字並存的情況，一律使用簡體字。"
Read more!
Sign the Petition here
"...UN's action to "unify" the Chinese characters and recognize ONLY Simplified Chinese will have devastating impact upon the Chinese language, culture, history. Internationally, Traditional Chinese would be forgotten and neglected, it would only be a matter of time before Traditional Chinese becomes the next “Latin”. (the dead language) Along with this lost of language, would be a culture and histories lost forever."
聯合國文件廢繁體字？ 2008改用簡體為唯一標準
"全球掀起華語熱，許多外國人士選擇到中國，或是香港、台灣學習語言，不過北京有消息指出，中國應用語言學會會長陳章太表示，根據聯合國決定，從2008年以後，聯合國將一改過去簡繁體字並存的情況，一律使用簡體字。"
Read more!
Wednesday, April 5
Tuesday, April 4
Public rooms in one day
clockwise from top left: powerplant on waterfront; union station; distillery district corkin gallery; walkway next to union station Read more!
Sunday, April 2
a relaxing sunday afternoon
Tea with big eye gal at the Maxim's on a relaxing Sunday afternoon, especially after a day of hotpot and gamecube. It was perfect time to catch up while sampling some of the cakes at the cafe. It's been a long time! Usually I would get White Chocolate Cake or Tiramisu, but Hazelnut Mocha Cake topped with a mini meringue as garnish was surprisingly delicious!
Read more!
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