Just the two of us

Just the two of us, watching Thomas on a Friday evening. He's very tired.

Cafe Deco and service in HK

My succulent grilled lamb from Cafe Deco Bar & Grill

It took us almost an hour to get up to The Peak on a wet Sunday afternoon (Ferry ride to Hong Kong Island, walk from ferry terminal to Peak Tram station, queue up to buy tickets, queue for the tram.) My back was aching by the time we got to the Cafe Deco Bar & Grill. It came highly recommended, but I suspect it was more for the view than the food.

The service was FANTASTIC though.

A trainee waiter spilled apple cidar on Terence, and there was a flurry of activity after that. It all zoomed past like a video on fast forward mode. Waiters apologised profusely ("He's new, please forgive him!"), someone cleaned up the table, removed the bottle, handed Terence wet towels, and ushered him off to the toilet. It all happened in a blink of an eye. One minute Terence was there, the next second gone. I was left nursing my latte with the view in front of me.

Manager came over to apologise personally after that. They waived the apple cidar and desserts for both of us were free! Terence was little embarrassed; he didn't even kick up a fuss. I said: "Well, you could be wearing a pair of pants from LV or something and they didn't want you to sue."

"Well, I'm not wearing LV pants!" he said. (He doesn't own one. The reason why I said LV was because a female tourist from China behind us was wearing a lilac-coloured LV pants. The famous LV monograms were all over. A nouveau rich with lousy taste or is it fake?)

We ordered the fish and lamb by the visiting chef who's supposedly worked with Jamie Oliver before. It was nice, but I wish my lamb was little more pink. The molten chocolate cake was overdone though I won't complain. It was free!

A HK date

It's nice to get away for a few days without Kai. Sure, I feel guilty for leaving him behind and for leaving him with MIL. But for just that few days I don't have to think about baby food, diaper change, making sure he's got books to read over lunch, whether he's drinking enough water, dragging my feet to his room when he cries in the middle of the night, whether he's warm enough at night... you get the picture.

Yet we're always thinking of him. Here's us before heading to Harbour City for shopping... to look for warm clothes for Kai (for the Perth trip) and the toddler size Thomas the Tank Engine toy.

Lunch that day was...

...Krispy Kreme.

My hands were shaking when I messaged Terence.

I had a small ice lemon tea and one Rich N' Dark. It came up to S$5.60! And the drink was more expensive than the doughnut at S$3.20. *FAINT*

Frankly, I preferred the glaze and doughnuts at Doughnut Factory. Terence said I should try the original Krispy Kreme--the one with the plain sugar glaze.

What else did I find?

Om... look and you shall find... I stood outside Omm like an idiot until I realised the door ain't gonna open for me--I needed to pull the lever of the Yoni-Lingam towards me. Subsequently I couldn't get out; the lever inside the shop was spoilt. I medidated for a few seconds, plucked up my courage before I asked the shop assistant for help.

Really old school

HK is well-known for its colourful signs. I liked this in particular. It reminded me of those old school Hainanese Western food stalls. Yes, I was hungry.

Getting lost in HK

Lanterns outside Island Beverly

One thing I love to do in HK is just getting lost. I do that when Terence goes for his conference, which means I'm left to my own devices.

All you need is an idea of where your final destination is, and head in the general direction. You'd be surprised at what you find along the way. I started off at Island Beverly (opposite Sogo at Causeway Bay) and my fancy took me towards Lee Gardens Two. (Island Beverly is similar to what you find in Singapore's Far East Plaza/Lucky Plaza--lots of tiny little shops filled with racks that are crowded with locally-designed and made clothes/accessories.)

Original intent was just to check out the kids section at Lee Gardens Two (Causeway Bay). I found:

Sistyr Moon (their web site's not up at press time). Perfect place for followers of off-beat cult brands. It is reported to carry a range of imported foreign labels the likes of Karen Walker, Jill Stuart, Robert Cary-Williams, Roberto Cavalli and paper cloth denim. I fell in love with a pair of "jelly shoes" from Melissa.

Hip, rock wear for kids at Hysteric Mini. Think Ed Hardy and Bejewelled. But a t-shirt easily costs S$100+. Why would a growing toddler need such an expensive t? It's just cool.

What's in? Maybe it's leopord print for jackets. (This could be a windown display of a Vivienne Westwood boutique. I can't remember...)

An unexpected find: Avenue Restaurant and Bar

Terence was invited to a drug trip to Hong Kong, and he asked if I wanted to tag along. An overseas date with my husband. A long weekend just to sleep-in, eat, shop and sleep late was just too tempting a proposal.

Of course I said yes.

All the meals for the doctors (and their spouse) on the trip were catered for. I had ZERO expectations, and so was pleasantly surprised by our first meal after touch down.

This little find is situated right at our hotel, the Holiday Inn Golden Mile. Called the Avenue Restaurant and Bar, it has been named one of HK's Best Restaurants by HK Tatler for four consecutive years. It was a sit-down lunch with a really classy long table setting, and the selection for your mains is placed at each plate. The appetisers and desserts are buffet style.

First impression: It definitely stinks of a typical hotel Western buffet. Mass produced, lousy quality.

But we were suitably impressed by the appetisers. Even if it was in a buffet style, the quality was definitely a cut above the usual buffet fare. We both had the beef for our mains. It was so tender that at one time, Terence was just slicing it with his fork.

Service? Perfect. The staff took note of who ordered what. No one asked: "Who's having the fish? Who's having the beef?" And we were a table of 20.

I'm always get ahead of myself when it comes to food. By the time I remember I need to take a photo for the blog, the food's already in my stomach. So no, oops, no photos of our beef. :p

Quick post from HK

Posting this from the HK MTR (Central). Found Krispy Kremes. Expensive affair.

Was looking forward to roast goose from Yung Gei, but the China government banned imports of geese for the week. *SCREAM*

Went to H&M. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

I'm limited to just 15 minute at the free Internet terminal. 2:54 min left.

Ciao. Back to the boring hotel room.

Do you remember?

For the Chows: After the last post, I couldn't resist digging up our Laos pictures.

I had a good laugh, again. :)

You guys think there's a trail, where?!?!

Right down here!

We'd be off to...

Perth!

Yes, again.

This time, I'd like to explore Cape Naturaliste, and bring Kai on a short trek to/around the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. This thought got me going to the gym today again, doing the routine I did before I went up Mount Ophir. It shouldn't be that tough this time physically. It's just that preparing a toddler for the trek, carrying him around, and making sure he (and we!) stays safe and hydrated would be a sure test of our parental prowress and mental strength.

It's season for whale watching too, so I hope to catch some action.

(Maybe the Tays can join us?)

Terence is dreaming about the scenic cottages we can check ourselves into, that should ideally contain a nice fireplace, a beach right in front of our porch, a big jacuzzi bathtub, and a fully equipped kitchen (i.e. it must come with a dishwasher).

I'm not sure he's aware of my plans at the moment. I'm also dreaming about his lamb chops, and a decadent meal at Voyager Estate.

Anyway, I look forward to the day where the Chows would be able to join us for a holiday too. (Dear Sharon, I'm sure we'd find some activity that won't shag the hell outta the whole family. We'd get a SUV, not motorbikes this time.)

I wanna go a wandering

The travel bug is biting. It's been a long time since Terence and I took our annual two-week holiday to some country that's sure to give me "Delhi belly", or where we've to crap in the bushes, or quarrel with each other over directions because everything is in another language (I almost kissed the floor of the Heathrow airport after two weeks in France the last time).

I think most of all, I miss trekking. But can you imagine trekking with a 15-month-old toddler? We don't even bring out his stroller anymore because he can't sit still in it for more than five minutes, let alone sleep in it. So he needs to be carried when he gets tired of walking, and who does he prefer most of the time. Yes, mommy; and he's a 10kg toddler.

So should I get one of those baby carriers where baby and parents look absolutely happy to be using (and not to mention, look absolutely sporty in). But I can imagine this happening:

1. Terence will finally give in to my plea of buying the baby carrier
2. We'll fight over how it should work
3. Kai will struggle when we attempt to put him in
4. Terence will have to lug the baby carrier to the foreign land
5. We successfully put Kai in the carrier
6. Five minutes into our trek, Kai struggles and cries to be let out
7. We take him out
8. We stuff him back in after he tries to put some leaves in his mouth, or attempts to wander into the bushes
9. He cries
10. He gives in, sits quietly but struggles after another five minutes
11. We go back to the car
12. The baby carrier becomes a white elephant, and will never see day light again

I turn of age

Photo courtesy of Chien Way

You know you're growing old when you:
1. Forget to tell the pet delivery guys that you've moved
2. Start driving on the second lane, most of the time
3. Start feeling sleepy by 9.30pm every night
4. Feel too lazy to go watch a midnight movie with your spouse
5. Sneak off on your birthday so no one will try to find out just how old you are