En route to ... Our honeymoon!!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have had an obsession with the United States- not in a weird way, but Dad and Mom always spoke about it and I watched heaps of American shows (and still do). Plus Luke and I are not people who would sit on the beach for weeks on end so we thought we would take this opportunity to head to the United States.

The planned route: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington DC and the Bahamas!

So excited! And the day is finally here!

Xoxo

Operation Cactus...

Hello - what is going ON!

That's totally what he's saying.

I bought a cactus for my friend Mikey's birthday, and made some eyes. Simple project but unfortunately I like it so much that I don't really want to give it away now! It's such a lovely companion to have on your office table!!

Make one and tell me that I'm wrong! :)

Happy Friday!

xoxo

Compulsive shopper much?

What started off as an innocent "I'll just pop in here and see what's what" ended up costing me a good $35. And a whole new project.

I was at the Reject shop. I was shopping for pretty paper to make a pinwheel for a birthday card for a special someone (Nicole, this one has got your name written all over it!) and I was somewhat distracted by all the cheap things in there.

First of all, let's talk American candy. They have them. It took everything from me to remember that:

a) I was on a diet; and
b) I'm going to the States soon, so why would I eat American candy in Australia when I can eat American candy in the States. Seriously.

So, I walked through the rest of the shop. Which was a HUGE mistake.

CHOCOLATE SILICONE MOULDS.

I bought FOUR of them. AND I don't even know how to make homemade candy. I suppose there is no time like the present, but seriously, I need to stop it with these projects!

Ialsomighthaveboughtsomemorecontainersforthehouse,anotebook,aprettyboxandaribbon.

Hmmm... off to do some research on candy making then! Toodles!

x

Mocha mocha...

I rarely drink hot drinks. Not only because I can't gauge the temperature of the drink (and therefore, end up burning my tongue and it really HURTH) but because I drink my hot drinks sweet. Not mind-numbingly sweet, but at least a couple of teaspoons of sugar (and maybe an additional one or two when I have an iced milo!) So I go without. I'm just weird that way. I would eat cake and ice-cream knowing that they are loaded with sugar, but I feel worse when I am adding teaspoons to my drink. #psycho

However, I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't HAVE to have a coffee in the morning, so it doesn't really affect me either way. Don't get me wrong, I love my coffee when I do have it and when it is done well.

Mornings like this though, I desperately need a coffee to keep my eyes open. I was up to the wee hours of dawn trying to get some tickets (which I will reveal in the next couple of weeks, I just don't want to jinx it) and then, was awoken another two hours later by the dog howling because she was having the hiccups. Seriously, Rose? Drink some water. No, the silly thing had to bolt into the backyard to eat grass. WTF. I mean seriously Rosebud, how on EARTH did you develop hiccups while you were asleep?? #mydogisjustweirdkindalikeitsowner.

Needless to say, at 4am, I was less than impressed. Fortunately, my wonderful and amazing husband offered to stay up a little longer to wait to let her in. And the whinging stopped. By that time, it took me another ten minutes to get to bed (which was unusual because I usually fall asleep like that *clicking my fingers*).

What was I talking about again? Oh, that's right. Coffee. So I needed it this morning and I was in a bit of a bind because I didn't want to have to break my diet/ path to well-being by having a bit steaming sweet mug of coffee, which then usually is accompanied by a biscuit from the company cookie jar! Then it dawned upon me... I will make a mocha protein shake!

How?

First, make a shot of espresso. Pop it at the bottom of the shaker. Add one cup of light milk (within 10 seconds, did you know that an espresso shot "dies" within 10 seconds?), and the required protein powder (mine was chocolate, and that's why it's a MOCHA shake), shake and consume immediately. It definitely did the job! Without the guilt!

Happy Tuesday!

x

Day one of my weight loss journey...

For breakfast this morning, I had a cup of Special K dry. "Dry?" you say. Yes, that is exactly what I said, I ate it dry. The reasons are twofold:

1. as I am eating my breakfast in the office, I often get interrupted and therefore, the  cereal would lose, as Sheldon would put it "all its molecualr integrity" and I would be left with a bowl of mush; and
2. I find the Special K quite tasteless when I have it with milk. When I am eating it as a crunchy snack though, it is a bit sweeter and therefore, I don't feel like I'm just crunching on horsefeed.

And the milk that I would have had in my cereal can go into my protein shake for a snack later! Hurrah!

Healthy crunchies...

When I was first trying to lose weight, I tried this diet called the BodyTrim diet (you might have heard about it... ) It was basically a protein based diet, where you ate three meals of protein and three protein snacks a day. The premise of the diet is keep your body's metabolism up, by constantly feeding it. By feeding it only protein, the body has no option but to burn fat (hey, I'm just quoting a theory, don't mock me) and not sugar that carbs and sweet things give you.

The problem with that sort of diet (aside from being quite difficult to follow, especially for an Asian girl who cooks a lot of Asian and has lots of rice and noodles in her diet) is that all the food consumed seem to have a similar texture. SOFT. There is no crunch. Unless you eat some crunchy vegetable or the toast in the morning, it is really not that interesting.

I love crunchy things - healthy crunchies are always a challenge for me. In Malaysia, we could rely on the trusty kacang putih man to provide some crunchy deliciousness, roasted chickpeas, roasted green peas, roasted broad beans (just to name a few). But not in Hobart. Either these things are not available, or too expensive or of really poor quality. More often than not, it was a combination of the latter two.

NO MORE.

I have discovered something crunchy and satisfying and not all that bad for you. While it will have the same amount of carbs (probably, I'm just guessing) as potato chips (but probably not if you went with a wholemeal option), it lacked the copious amount of oil and salt that often accompanies the potato chips. AND it's cheap too!

What is it, you may be asking?

PITA chips! HOME MADE pita chips.

Absolutely delicious.

So, what you will need are:

a) pita bread;
b) olive oil (whatever sort you like, I used extra virgin olive oil, and not too much, probably a spoonful or so)
c) seasoning (whatever you like, grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, any sort of herbs - I just used Tuscan seasoning)

What you will need to do:

a) preheat the oven to 180C
b) tear the pita bread into bite sized bits
c) toss the pita bread with olive oil and seasoning
d) lay the pita bread on a baking tray
e) bake for approx 10-15 mins (or when crunchy)

Then, enjoy!

Crunchy deliciousness!!!

As with everything, eat in moderation!

xoxo

Weekend epiphany...

What a lovely weekend! There was a patch of torrential rain yesterday, which was lovely and this morning we woke up to a bit of snow and a patches of white on the treetops. I am one of those weird people who like the winter better than the summer. It is always easier to keep warm than it is to keep cool. Plus, the cold and the rain gives me an excuse to snuggle up and be lazy in front of the television. Winter is also when the footy season is in full swing, so no guilt in spending lazy afternoons and evenings under the doona (OR, more recently, my knock off Snuggie), watching some exhilarating matches and eat delicious hot, comfort food. Don't judge me, it's my thing. :)

I did get some sad news though - I spoke to some family at home and they told me that my beautiful 80-year old grandmother is giving up on life. She is just tired all the time and she senses that her time on earth is up. It makes me sad that someone who was so full of life and energy is now tired and is ready to face the afterlife. I love her dearly and when I spoke to her, I said to her not to give up, that in alot of ways, 80 is still young. But the grandmother that I had, the one who has always been funny and cheeky could only sigh and said that she was tired. And that someone was coming for her. Due to the meds she has been taking, her blood pressure has dropped significantly, so she gets really dizzy and as a result, she has no appetite. The lack of food has made her weak, and she has been having strange dreams about the afterlife (which could or could not be attributed to the lack of food). She was also lacking haemoglobin and very nearly a blood transfusion.

All I can do is keep her in my prayers and hope that this is just a minor bump in the road. I always thought that my grandmother would live until she was 90, so I really really hope that she can.

Receiving news like that always makes us assess ourselves. Am I really taking care of myself as well as I should? I think the clear answer is NO.

After my wedding, I have been joking that now that I'm married, I can be fat. And I haven't been watching what I eat. Surprisingly, I haven't gained any weight (even though my clothes feel snug and I feel like I have gained weight). Now anyone who has read this blog knows that I love my food and I do NOT like giving up anything delicious.

So what's a girl to do?

I think that I need to do something about my weight and more importantly, I need to device a method that works for me, where I still eat delicious foods (so I don't be deprived), which does not cost Luke and I a fortune, and adhere to a regimen of cardio and Pilates.

I need to lose 25 kilos. Who is with me?

Tomorrow will be day one. But for today, I think some mushroom pizza is in order. :) (not that my mushroom pizza is unhealthy).

x

And....

Ok - confession time. I did not JUST buy the multi-cooker at habitat. In addition to paying the excess amount to purchase the multi-cooker, I might have also purchased a pizza stone. And a pair of kitchen shears.

For the longest time, I have been dying to try making the perfect New York slice pizza at home. Not that I have been to New York, so it's not like I know what it tastes like. But nevertheless, I wanted to make  pizza at home because buying pizza is such a rip-off. Plus, I always feeling like I need to buy meatlovers pizza or BBQ chicken or something to make my money worth while. I would NEVER pay for a magherita in Hobart. It's just sauce and cheese and they are not that much cheaper than the other sorts of pizza, so no thank you!

End rant about the exorbitant prices of bread and sauce, aka pizza.

So, it turns out that all my life I have been making pizza the wrong way... the crust was always soggy in the middle where the toppings were. I have tried quickly baking the pizza crust beforehand and then putting the topping on there and melting the cheese but to no avail. SO, imagine how excited I was when I stumbled upon this recipe for a delicious pizza crust. It did call for the use of a pizza stone, but instead I used my metal pizza tray. I put it in the oven and blasted it on full heat so that the pan was also piping hot when I put my pizza dough on it. And I used my wooden chopping board as a pizza peel. It was delicious. My mother was suitably impressed (she was visiting from Malaysia then, and she LOVES pizza). But I think we can do better with a pizza stone.

And we did. It was delicious. I'm never buying pizza in Hobart again.

It was simple, garlic and mushroom pizza. I will update this post with photos when I take them. (of course I'm making it this weekend again)

I also used my breadmaker to do the hard yards for me. I should mention that this is NOT my own recipe, but I can't remember where I got this recipe from now, so I can't credit the person who created it (sorry!) Recipe below:

·  2/3 cup whey (or just water, if you don't have any whey)

·  1 teaspoon sugar

·  1.5 teaspoons of dry yeast

·  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or 1 3/4 cups bread flour

·  1/2 teaspoon salt

·  1 tablespoon cornmeal (optional) 

Chuck all these ingredients in the bread maker, press “menu” until you get to “dough”  and press start. Check the dough after 8 mins and touch it, if it is sticky and too soft, add some flour (one TBS at a time). If too dry, add water 1 TBS at a time as well. The dough should not stick to your fingers (but tacky).

I also dusted the pizza peel (in my case, it was still my trusty wooden chopping board) with semolina, which gave it the extra crunch. I just topped it off with garlic, mushrooms, some extra virgin olive oil and some mozarella.

Turns out I can't roll a round pizza - this was taken on my "peel" with the dustings of semolina. 

Delish!

xoxo

Have you been introduced?

One of the fun things you get to do after a wedding is SPEND THE VOUCHER SOMEONE GAVE YOU! Yes, they could have contributed to your honeymoon registry, or they could have bought you something on the list, and while some might argue it is highly impersonal, I love receiving vouchers. They give you an excuse to buy something that you would not ordinarily consider paying for.

Take for example this voucher I got from work. It was worth $120 for me (and Luke I suppose) to spend on whatever I wanted from habitat. And bless the person who organised the voucher. I love habitat. I love buying new fangled kitchen gadgets that purport to make my life easier (and from experience usually end up being more trouble than they are worth, but I never learn from my mistakes!) This time, I saw in the catalogue that they were selling this 6-in-1 multi cooker. I was sooooooooo excited. Apparently it slow cooks, deep fries (frys?), pressure cooks, sautes, browns, steams, cooks rice and soup. I was completely intrigued. Our old slow cooker has gone kaput and we were on the hunt for a new one. And after eating the most delicious soup I have ever had at the Mitsakis', I was determined to buy a pressure cooker as well. This multi-cooker would have cost the same price if I had bought the two gadgets, so we thought that we would take the plunge.

So. It is my pleasure to introduce to you my new friend and kitchen-mate, Mikanta the Multi-Cooker!

Don't ask me why I named it Mikanta - it was the first thing that popped in my head. That is how I name my stuff!

Being slack and getting back into writing...

Indeed.

The wedding has been over for about three months and I have done SFA - seriously. I think I might have taken laziness to a whole new level.

My excuse is that I have busy at work. That's not an excuse? Well, I will have to think about another one then because that is all I've got. But I should make it part of my mid-year resolution to do something about this blog. For starters, I need to finish writing about my trip to Hong Kong with Mom. I think she will be keen on reading it! Sorry Mom!!!

For all those who have been/are married, do you find that people always ask you "How's married life?" Um, it's the same as not married life? Especially if you were already living with your partner beforehand. The other difference is that I have an extra piece of bling on my finger. Other than that, nothing has changed much. I am not changing my surname either!

Which reminds me, people also keep asking why I don't want to change my surname. As much as I love Luke, there is really no need to change my surname. My reasons are basically two fold:

a) there is too much stuffing around - I have to change my Australian papers, my Malaysian papers and now that I'm a Company Secretary, I have to also change my papers with ASIC. No thank you!
b) This is a more important reason. When I was born, my father said that he only wanted one child because he wanted to be in a position to give me everything I ever needed. The townfolk (I'm not saying this to be melodramatic, but Mom and Dad did come from a very small town) laughed at him, told him he was a fool and that he should have another one. A BOY. To carry down the family name. But he thought that my welfare was more important than carrying down the family name. That was the sort of father Dad was.

So take that, small townfolk - I am keeping my surname. These are modern times, and I have an understanding, wonderful husband who is not pressuring me to take his surname. AND if we were lucky enough to have kids, then they would also have my surname incorporated into theirs, so which proves the point that you don't need a boy to carry down the family name.

Point - J. P.

x

DIY Cufflinks...

Maybe Tiffany should consider carrying this... :)

So the theme for my wedding was black and white and a splash of red. I would have totally have had a black and white wedding, but I don't think my mother would have been very happy with that decision. As it was, she and my mother-in-law were not happy with the fact that the bridesmaids dresses were black. Oh well.

As my splash of red accents throughout the wedding, I thought that I would incorporate little red buttons. The reasons for the red buttons are twofold:

a) Luke and I used to have a "tradition" of giving each other cards by John Sands. In particular Elliot and Buttons. Adorable.
b) there was a surplus of red buttons in my house which I used for a previous project
c) oh, and there is a third. I remembered that my previous project was my engagement party invitations! (which by the way was more work than my wedding invitations).

So, for the men, I decided to make little red button cufflinks... and the girls would wear red button hairpins and red button earrings.

It was as simple as buying the cufflink backs and supergluing the red buttons on.

Cufflinks... doneski. They also doubled up as a lovely gifts of the groomsmen.

Immensely pleased...

xoxo

My wedding cake...

Sooooo.... where do I start with my DIY? Let's start with the CAKE.  As previously mentioned, it was initially seen in a book at Eastlands and the minute I saw it, I thought to myself - I want a cake just like that! A perfectly white, two tiered quilted cake with black satin ribbon and fresh white roses.

While I am quite contented with my limited cake making skills, making a seemingly simple cake such as this one was still concerning. For starters, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to stack the cake perfectly and if the base was not perfect, there was a very real chance that the whole cake would topple over. Knowing me, that was also entirely possible. Then it hit me.... FAKE BOTTOM CAKE! I would make (well, cover with fondant) a fake tier at the bottom and sit a real cake on top of it! I spoke to Croyule cake decorations at Bellerive (good ole Lila) who didn't have any styrofoam cakes, so she refered me to Creating Cakes in Sorell. They were also brilliant there and $16 later, I had myself some fake styrofoam cakes.

While I can make my own fondant, I didn't want to risk ANYTHING for my wedding cake, so I went with a standard white fondant from Lila. Four kilos worth.

The top bit of cake was a very rich chocolate mudcake (so rich that it is about 600 calories a slice!) with a beautiful rich chocolate ganache - it seriously was one of those "death by chocolate" cakes!

The end result? Not too bad at all...

I ended going without the quited pattern because I could not just get it RIGHT. My beloved Elizah was brilliant in helping me with this cake, so I have her to thank for the success of this cake! THANK YOU for making my dream of having this cake at my wedding come true. :)

xoxo

It's all over!!!!

The wedding is over! Everyone complained about what a long engagement it has been, but the wedding came around quite quickly and before I knew it, I was fast running out of time! Now that it is over, what am I going to do with my free time?

For starters, I'm going to help my friend in her wedding (well, as much as she will let me!) AND I am finally put all my DIY tutes and wedding details on my blog. So watch this space!

And for all those who are interested in knowing, I totally enjoyed every aspect of the wedding preparation - after the engagement party when I had a complete meltdown and was crying and carrying on like a freaking nutjob, I decided that I would not be that stressed on my wedding day. I just thought that if something didn't get done, it wouldn't make it to the wedding and no one would be any wiser.

A few major hiccups leading up to and during the wedding, but hey - I married the love of my life, so I'm not going to sweat the small things. So if I may be so bold as to provide ANY advice to ANYONE, it is to enjoy the journey and the day and your day would be perfect. :)

From a very giddily deliriously happy WIFEY. :) xoxo

Blessed Easter everyone!

So instead of putting Rosie's adorable face on my blog, I thought that I should include a photo of my latest cake creation. I won't take any credit for this as the design was given to me by a woman at work. She however tied a ribbon around the cake while I decided to sit a pretty chocolate bunny on top (which makes little tinkle sounds) to make it an Easter cake!

It is definitely death by chocolate: chocolate mudcake, chocolate ganache, kit kats around and smarties on the top with the chocolate bunny! It just screams Easter, doesn't it? :)

Blessed Easter everyone! Enjoy the chocolate but let's not forget what Easter is truly about- remembering our Lord who died for our sins so that we can live forever in His love. I am eternally grateful.

Homemadee tortillas!!!

Let's set the scene... no wait, I'm too excited. I'll just skip to the end - THEY WERE DELICIOUS.

So I did heaps of cooking on the weekend. Now that winter is here and we are eating less grilled meats but more stews and hearty food, I thought that I could cook for the week. This meant that all Luke and I would have to do when we got home from a tiring day at work would be to reheat our food and mooch on the couch.

SO, Sunday was chosen to be the epic cooking day. I made curried sausages, chicken stew, a huge batch of chili con carne (con beans and musshrooms too might I add!), glutinous chicken rice AND some begedils! (They deserve their own post, which I will write in time...). When it came to today (Tuesday), Luke and I were spoilt for choice... WHAT WERE WE GOING TO EAT....

We decided on the chili, but as it was already cooked, I thought that I should try my hand at making some fresh tortillas. I had just found a recipe online and it looked easy enough... so why not?

The outcome?

They were PERFECT and absolutely delicious! It is true what they say, once you have had home made tortillas, you will NEVER go back to store bought! After devouring this for dinner with my chili, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream - I agree!

Nom nom nom...

x

Vale Jimmy...

This is a bit late, but it was hard for me to write anything about Jimmy and not burst into tears.
The world lost this amazing man on 20 March 2012. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and two children.




Thank you Jim, for saving our beloved footy club, for working tirelessly with the underprivileged youth, for helping so many achieve their potential. Thank you for fighting your illness so courageously, giving hope to all who were the in the same boat. Thank you for showing us all that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Thank you, for your incredible legacy.

Rest in peace, Jimmy. You were larger than life and well loved by many. Gone, but not forgotten. The world is definitely a lesser place without you.

x

Summer on a plate...

One of Luke and I's weekly rituals was to attend church bright and early on Sunday morning and stop by our favourite brunch place to have breakfast and some delicious coffee! However, in our attempt to be frugal, we have been making brekkie at home, and I was particularly proud of the one we made last weekend.

BRUSCHETTA.

My favourite thing about summer (and yes, I'm a freak, I hate the heat bla bla bla...). For all intents and purposes I was going to try making eggs florentine due to my love affair with spinach. BUT, when I came across marked down turkish pide ($2 for 4 huge bits), marked down basil ($1.49 per bunch) and cheap tomatoes ($2 a bit 2 kilo bag). I felt like my hands were tied. :)

All in all, breakfast was quick, delicious and cheap cheap!

Nom nom nom...

Bruschetta - not the traditional style, but Nessie style!

Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes, chopped finely
• 1 bunch of basil
• a quarter of red onion
• Turkish pide (one big bit each - what's in the photo is ONE serve... I believe in quantity)
• Balsamic vinegerette or blasamic salad dressing (this is where lots of people will say to me, "you have to use balsamic vinegar, bla bla - whatevs. I like it this way) and
• Good extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Half the turkish pide and spread some olive oil on each side
• Pop into a 150C oven until crispy at the edges, but soft and chewy in the middle
• in the meantime, prepare your fresh ingredients
• Pop all the ingredients in a big bowl except for the dressing and the oil
• Just when the bread is ready, add the oil and the dressing to the fresh ingredients and spoon mixture on the hot pide
• Serve and enjoy!

We served ours with freshly squeezed orange juice. Food like this makes me feel like a lucky lucky girl. :)

Lots of sunshine to wherever you are! xoxo

Wedding cake!

Who loves wedding cakes? I know I do, and more than anything, I love CAKE. CAKE and ICE-CREAM are my two sweet vices. Don't really care for chockies and sweets or biscuits, but CAKE and ICE-CREAM!

No, that was not a segway into telling you that I'm going to make an ice-cream cake for the wedding. Hardly. It was just me wanting to emphasise how much I love cake and ice-cream!

Back onto wedding stuff... I did my wedding cake trial this weekend. But like with most wedding things, the photo will not be available for viewing until after the event. Sooooo.... the sneak peek below. :) That's all I'm giving you!

Do you think you can make out what the cake looks like?

But what I can show you is what I made with the leftover cake! It is a bit messy at the bottom, I may have gotten too excited with the pizza cutter and cut too close to the edge! I know to do better next time (if there is a next time!)

Someone I know said on facebook that it looked like a marshmallow. Whatevs Gerald. :)

Needless to say, this exercise has renewed my love for cake decorating, which is fortuitous as I have cupcakes and a wedding cake to make for my friend Jules' wedding next week!

Did I include photos? No, I don't think I did! And I realised why... I didn't take any! I will next week though.


xoxo

Three months!!!!

And so the countdown begins!!!! X

Snap snap snap...

A break from writing my Hong Kong adventures (not that I have been diligently writing), to upload a couple of photographs I took last weekend.

Check it...

Day 2 of Mom's birthday present!

This morning I woke up and it was almost like a scene from Oliver Twist... "Who will buy this wonderful morning..."

Mom and I ate the noodles we bought from the supermarket last night and it was delicious! I was still in a fix because I didnt know where we were going to go, but then we finally made a decision to go to Central. I was kinda dreading taking the MTR and the train, but it actually wasnt too bad. Furthermore, my luggage still had not arrived from Jetstar yet, so I had to resort to wearing my summer clothes in the Hong Kong winter. Looked like a downright tart! :S

Even though I was upset about my luggage, I still had the presence of mind to grab a few Hong Kong brochures while I was at the airport. Through these brochures I found out that it was a "Tiffany" Christmas at Statue Square, so I thought that we should check it out. I also found a few self-guided walking tours and the first one I picked was from here.

I was delighted when we arrived at Central and Statue Square was redone withe Tiffany colours! As part of the Hong Kong Winter Fest, it was a Christmas by tiffany's theme where there were Tiffany coloured presents everywhere, a candy cart in Tiffany colours, photo booths and even mailboxes which I suspected stamped Tiffany were in their signature aqua. Awesome. They even sold a limited edition Tiffany postcard with a Tiffany stamp. I tossed up between buying then and decided against it. Just another thing that I will have to find a place for in my tiny unit. No thank you!

As we were following the walking tour of Central, which was really written quite well, Mom and I got distracted with the surrounding Tiffany things and wandered off track. To get back on track, we looked for the Legislative Council building which was the second stop of our walking tour. To no avail. Turns out that we were walking around it and didn't realise what it was! How funny!

The beautiful architecture of the Legislative Council Building... which we managed to miss a few times!

After some hysterical laughter of realising that the building we were looking for was the building we were walking around, we had a bite to eat on a nearby bench and then wandered off to the Peak Tram which would take us to Victoria Peak. Reading so many guides on the way, I was aware that there would be a crowd waiting to get on this tram. But I didn't realise that it was an HOUR wait (at least). I don't even wait that long for food! :)

Yes, this is how we passed the time... taking photos!

No worries, Mom and I managed to entertain ourselves and when we finally got into the tram, it was a very steep ride to the top though! Eeeeeeeppppp! It felt like almost a 90 degree incline! Check out this photo:

Steeeeeeeeepppppp!!!!

The tram ride was so terrifying that a 8-10 year old child was screaming and throwing an absolute tantrum when we were on our way down for the WHOLE TRAM RIDE. It was horrendous, but I think she was absolutely petrified. What was hilarious though was that there was a 4 year old boy sitting next to me when this was going on and he looked thoroughly embarassed... the look on his face had me in stitches!

However, the wait and the scary tram ride was totally worth it. The view at the top was absolutely magnificent and breathtaking. I was so excited, but Mom and I thought we would take care of business first: LUNCH. :) Thinking that there was not much to eat at the Peak, and every restaurant seemed to be full, we decided to head to Burger King. And surprisingly, there was a fantastic photo op right outside Burger King! So here's a tip, if you don't have the extra mulla to head upstairs to the Sky Terrace, just head to Burger King and get a photo or two there. True story.

Of course I had the Mushroom Swiss. Amazing. Hungry Jacks Australia, you should be ashamed that you call that sorry excuse for a burger Mushroom Swiss. No where in the same league. SHAME ON YOU.

Beautiful Hong Kong...

However, we decided not to be tight and paid the additional fare to go up to the Sky Terrace (I mean, why wouldn't you, after waiting for so long!) It was so amazing but there were heaps of people there (if the wait for the tram was anything to go by... can you imagine??) There was also some sort of Art structure there with the theme of "Say I love you at the Peak" where there were paper hearts for you to write a message to the one you love. OK, so I wrote one. Guilty. :)

The said structure...

My message to my love...

 I kinda went crazy with the camera - but the views were so amazing, I wanted to get it all in!!! The result? THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS!!!! :)

There were heaps of stores in there selling little knick knacks, nothing that Malaysia didn't already offer. But what was funny was that there were plenty of places where we could grab a bite to eat!!! We just didn't know that there was more to the Peak than the building where the SKy Terrace was... there was a whole other building and a lovely outdoor area to sit and enjoy the sun. THere were cafes and coffee shops, gelato stores... everything you could imagine! It was great! (and a bit of a shame, but hey, we found a sneaky place for pictures!)

After we descended from the Peak, I made a beeline for the Tiffany candy stall! I couldn't believe my eyes, there was a Tiffany's candy stall complete with Tiffany candy! Lollipops in Tiffany's signature colour! I loved it! So I snapped a couple of photos and left!

I felt like I died and went to Tiffany heaven!!!

Off Mom and I were to find the HSBC lions. For those who don't know, there are two stone lions who guard the HSBC building. It was believed that rubbing these lions' paws were good luck. So of course we had to find it. I needed all the help I can get - it is going to be a tough year for those born under the Dog (in the Chinese Zodiac) in the year of the mighty Dragon...

After a few back and forths, Claudia and I also managed to agree to a time and place for dinner. We took a train to Yuen Long and met her there where she took us for an authentic Hong Kong steamboat! It was amazing!!! She ordered enough to feed six, but I really believed that if we sat there long enough, we could have eaten it all! There were delicious dumplings, a platter of meatballs, vegetables, MUSHROOMS (which turns out no one liked but me), bean curd and some bean curd puffs! They were DELICIOUS! All in all, a very nice meal and more than anything, it was lovely to catch up with my beloved stupid roommate. :) Thanks for the lovely dinner!

Love you stupid room-mate!!! :)

 And to top off an absolutely lovely day... my luggage arrived! Ah, Jetstar... thanks... FOR NOTHING!!! :) But to be honest, I am thankful that it at least arrived!

Onward to day 3!! x

Day 1 of exciting Hong Kong!!

Day one was off to a FLYING start! (note the tone of sarcasm here...) Jetstar left on time and actually landed in Hong Kong ahead of schedule. Which was fabulous but I had a nagging feeling that they would have stuffed up my luggage and it would not be here waiting for me. And I was right.

I saw Mom's plane get in. If all goes well, I would collect my luggage and meet her at her carousel, but alas, my luggage never arrived. How could one airline be so GODDAMN USELESS????? Jetstar, I daresay I'm never going to fly with you again!!! I had a sneaky suspicion that my luggage was on its merry way to Beijing.

Yes, Mom was quite insistent that we take a few photos with the Christmas decorations!

Anyway, after complaining and asked that they will deliver my luggage to my hotel, I met up with mom and took a shuttle bus to our hotel, Harbor Plaza Resort City. As advised by many, it was quite far away (like a 45 minute drive from the airport) but I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. The room was spacious and fairly modern but I didn't pay much for it, so no complaints here!

Mom and I were starving so after check in we headed to the shopping mall next door (Kingswood Ginza) to seek out a food court. There wasn't one per se, but we found this little cafe that served roast duck and pork and a variety of chicken dishes. As there was an outbreak of bird flu, mom and I have sworn off chicken this trip and so we settled on a pork chop and baked rice kind of dish. Buying it was an experience in itself as it took me all of two minutes to order, pay, be swept into a mini queue to get my food and have my food served to me. Before I knew it, I was spat out of the other end of the queue with my food in hand and not quite sure how I got there in the first place! I didn't even have time to put my change back in my wallet!

Mom and the snowmen...

No photo as we were way too hungry and it really didn't look that good. However, it tasted GREAT! the pork chop was lovely and tender, and it sat on a bed of rice and completely doused in tomato sauce. Not just any tomato sauce, but a homey, not too overpowering, sauce made out of actual tomatoes (they had heaps of tomato pieces in them). Beautiful! Luckily mom and I had the good sense to stake out someone else's food before ordering so we just ordered one to share as it was huge! I couldn't walk after eating my half! At the cost of HKD$33 a serve, it worked out to be AUD$4.40, an absolute steal considering mom and I had to share, so it worked out to be AUD$2.20 per person. Lunch DONE.

We walked around a bit more and scoped out a handbag for me, some clothes that I may need to buy if my luggage doesn't show up and HK SIM card for my phone. What I have found rampant in this shopping mall were Japanese food shops, electronics and gifts!

After going back to the hotel to make some phonecalls (hello Claudia! And FREAKING Jetstar who didn't have any news of my luggage,) mom and I headed out again to buy the Octopus card, just to be organised. But we were informed that they did not sell them at the convenience stores, nor the train station across from our hotel. Apparently this train station was Light Rail and was completely different from the MTR. No matter, I'm sure we'll be able to get one tomorrow.

Upon receiving that information, mom and I decided to head to the supermarket to see how the people of HK live. It was an amazing experience (well, for me at least- plus I love supermarkets anyway in general, I am my mother's daughter after all...) It was at the top of a shopping mall and was massive! The produce was beautiful and so cheap! The green Chinese veggies were to die for and there were many islands which housed food for steamboats. There were fishballs galore, beautiful stuffed veggies (kinda like yong tau foo but with beef), seasoned beef mince, all sorts of dumplings, the list was endless! I even joked with mom that we should get a pot and have steamboat in our room. Half joked. I'm kinda digging the idea. But not tonight.

For dinner mom and I settled on a box of unagi sushi which was only HKD$42 which equates to AUD$5.6. It was another massive meal which we shared, there were twelve bits of sushi there all with grilled eel cooked to perfection with a beautiful sweet sauce. Yum yum!!! And as HK is famous for it's "wife" biscuits, we bought a packet for dessert. I think it might be an acquired taste .... really, nothing to write home about. **

"Wife" biscuits, unagi sushi and an assortment of fruits... cheap as chips!

What we also did was to buy a couple of cup noodles for brekkie tomorrow because when in Rome... :)

That's all for Day one. I need to start prepping for day 2 now! Hasta la vista!

Xoxo