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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Monday 31 December 2012

Christmas lights in Perth's suburbs

Here we are, at the end of yet another year. And what is on my mind? At the moment I am busy trying to catch up on lectures and assignments on an astronomy course that I am doing online via Coursera (online courses offered by top international universities - for free!), and the part of my brain that had been sitting rather dormant since I left my engineering career six years ago is on overdrive with astronomic physics and mathematical formulae. We also just got back from a fantastic Christmas in Perth, and like all our trips home, we were kept incredibly busy with so many people to see but too little time. We had a great Christmas with our families, and it was a rather exciting one for our 4-year-old boy who got so many presents that we had trouble fitting them all in our luggage (unfortunately the large teddy bear that was as big as the boy will have to wait until we return for it next time). We left Perth last Friday in the midst of a week-long 40°C heatwave - very typical of Perth's summers, and something I do not miss - and right into a wintry cold snap currently affecting Hong Kong's weather.

Since it is New Year's eve, I shall keep this short and sweet. As we drove through Perth's suburbia, we saw a few houses decked out with sparkling Christmas lights. On a street near my mother-in-law's house, there was a house with lights that had been choreographed to upbeat techno Christmas tunes. It wasn't quite as sophisticated as the Gangnam Style one (also in Perth, but sadly the guy was forced to take the lights down only a few days after setting them up, and we missed out on seeing the whole thing in real life), but it was still impressive. Here is a 50sec snippet of what we saw:


Here's a pic of another house we saw that was so bright and full of lights, even inside the garage! This one was a simple one with no fancy choreographed flashing to music, but it certainly was a crowd-drawer in this particular street.

Shiny lights:

Hope you enjoyed the video and photo. Happy new year everyone!

Thursday 20 December 2012

Sunday Brunch @ WHISK (The Mira), Hong Kong

G'day from down under! We've been in Australia for almost a week now, and we're having a great time spending with our respective families and friends. I'm stoked that my sister-in-law gave birth to her firstborn two days after our arrival in Perth, which meant that I got to not only meet my 6-week-old nephew, but also a brand newborn niece. The weather has been great and not too hot, although a 40degC day is forecasted for Christmas day (which is quite usual). This will be our first Christmas in Australia since 2005 - 7 years ago! - and also our 4-year-old boy's first Aussie Christmas. All very exciting! At the moment, we are in Denmark, which is about 420km south of Perth, and I totally enjoyed the 5-hour drive on the country road where I could go fast! I am hogging the driving as I know it will probably be a long time before I will be behind the wheel again.

Anyway, this post is about a Sunday Brunch we had a few weeks ago back home in Hong Kong with hubby's aunt and her husband (long-time HK residents). We selected WHISK at The Mira because my aunt-in-law has had her eyes on this restaurant for awhile. We tried to book WHISK earlier this year for dinner to celebrate her birthday, but unfortunately there was a minimum age of 8 years old which meant our son couldn't join us (and she wanted him there). However, for the Sunday Brunch ($675 with free-flow champagne and cocktails, $538 with free-flow soft drinks and juice, and a semi-buffet with a choice of an egg dish and a main course), the minimum age is reduced to include 3-year-olds. WHISK is not the best choice for someone with allergies as there is no option for ordering a-la-carte with allergy requests, and the semi-buffet brunch is rather expensive (HK$395 for children) for a 4-year-old who does not, and cannot, eat much from the buffet spread. We went ahead anyway, and it wasn't terrible. The food was pretty good, however I expected a higher level of service for this kind of restaurant. For instance, our aunt had to request twice for hard-poached egg, and both times the yolk was soft. Then when I asked the kitchen staff to point out desserts that were safe/unsafe for my boy given his allergies, the guy had no idea so he asked another kitchen staff, who helpfully said she will select from the kitchen items that didn't have sesame, nuts or soy. Unfortunately, most of the items she brought out either contained nuts, sesame or alcohol, and the boy could only have one thing out of perhaps eight items. The effort was there, but it could do with a lot more polishing.

The corridor:

There was a live DJ!

The highlight for me was the large spread of seafood, which included oysters au naturale, three types of caviar (the most popular and crowded table so I didn't get a chance to take a photo of it) and lobster. There was also an outdoor barbecue station where we could get huge barbecued shrimps and roasted suckling pig. The quality of the food was good, and we ate too much.

The bread and cheese table (ham and cured meats were further to the right of the shot):

Lobster!

Fish, fish, fish, and oysters! I ate about a dozen oysters:

The dessert table:

Petit fours-type sweets with macaroons (which were pretty good), madeleines, biscuits and :

The outdoor station - suckling pig on the left, and large shrimps on the right:

Carving up the suckling pig at the outdoor BBQ station. I didn't have any, but hubby said it was yum:

Hubby's first plate of many was seafood-focused:

My first plate dominated with oysters:

We could choose from two types of gourmet eggs cooked to order.

Hubby's Fried Egg with Parmesan Foam and Shallot Confit - luxurious and decadent:

My Poached Egg with Truffle & Spinach Crème:

Delicious!

One of my plates with some salad and appetisers:

Hubby's plate of cheese, bread, dried fruits and cured meats:

We also got a choice of a main course, from a selection of four dishes. We decided to order all four dishes (plus a duplicate for the boy) to share. By then we were all stuffed from having a bit of everything from the buffet, that we only had a little taste of each of the main courses. I think that the restaurant should consider excluding this option, which was a bit of an excess, and make the brunch a bit more affordable.

Penne with Peas & Canadian Lobster:

Wagyu Beef Cheek with CoCo Beans & Mashed Potato:

Salmon with Fennel and Mandarin & Fregola:

Confit Duck with Sautèed Mushroom & Black Pepper Sauce:

The dessert plate that was brought out for my son, but the only thing safe to give him was the mini egg tarts:

Hubby went and got other sweets that weren't on the first dessert plate. Dessert is definitely one of the good things going for WHISK's Sunday brunch:

We had an enjoyable time at WHISK, enjoying good food and wonderful company. The restaurant could do with some improvement with regards to allergies, such as allowing for ordering off the a-la-carte menu, or ensuring that staff are well-informed of what goes in the food so that they can assist those with allergies. The Sunday brunch at WHISK is otherwise a good choice for those with no kids and no allergies. I prefer the Sunday buffet at Yamm, also in The Mira, which is better priced and gives the a-la-carte option.

[Prices quoted are exclusive of the 10% service charge.]

WHISK (The Mira)
5/F, The Mira
118 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2315 5999

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Chinese @ May Flower Seafood Restaurant (Milpitas), California

This is my final post on our summer trip to the U.S., and I am filled with great pleasure and fond memories as I write about our final night in California. As mentioned previously, we took the BART from downtown SF to Fremont (about an hour's ride) where Stephanie's dad picked us up and showed us such gracious hospitality that still warms my heart. He drove us everywhere, and I won't forget the fact that he already had to drive a few hours from his home to get us at Fremont, which is the furthest south that the BART would take us to. We were introduced to his family who welcomed us with friendly familiarity, and Steph's sister-in-law even opened up her beautiful home for us to relax for an hour or so while we waited for dinnertime to roll around. We went to a Chinese restaurant in Milpitas called May Flower Seafood Restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious seafood feast. Uncle took care of ordering the food, so we just sat back and enjoyed the company and food. That also means that I don't know the exact names of most of the dishes, but one thing is clear: they were all yummy!

How the restaurant looks on the outside:

Inside, the restaurant looks like a very typical Chinese restaurant:

Fried Rice arrived first upon my request so that the kids can start on their dinner (usually rice is served at the end of the meal):

While the kids were busy with the fried rice, the adults were treated to this delightful Par-boiled Giant Surf Clam. Each of us got one clam, topped with sliced ginger and green onion, and drizzled with soy sauce and sesame oil. It was fresh and fragrant:

Fried Prawns with Walnuts in Special Sauce - this was Steph's brother's favourite dish, and hubby also liked the crispy prawns with sweet crispy candied walnuts:

I believe this is Roast Chicken, succulent and tasty:

Steamed Whole Fish! I must admit I was looking longingly at the fish head, but I can't remember if I grabbed it or not. I sure hope I didn't, because it ain't pretty tucking into the head (the sweetest flesh of any meat are near the bones, and that includes the head in fish):

A sang choy bao-style dish with lettuce cups, with chunks of shrimps with the minced meat. Well-seasoned and thoroughly enjoyable:

At this point, soup was served at the table, which seemed a little late. But, better late than never to enjoy this tasty viscous soup:

Peking Spare Ribs. Hubby liked this one:

The obligatory vegetable dish. I noticed that the ladies helped themselves to the greens, but the guys didn't really grab more than a chopstick-full of it:

The beautiful family who welcomed us as part of their own for a few hours:

We had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner, and we relished participating in a family-style Chinese banquet - something that we don't often get to do in Hong Kong away from our families. We were told that there aren't many good options for Chinese food out there, and that May Flower is the only Chinese restaurant that they go to. We are indebted to Steph's dad for the kindness he showed us that day.

May Flower Seafood Restaurant
428 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
United States
+1 408 922 2700

Mayflower on Urbanspoon

Friday 7 December 2012

San Francisco Day 3: Chinatown, Fortune Cookie Factory & Mission-Style Burritos @ El Farolito

This post is a bit of a photo dump, as I am determined to be done with blogging about our August trip to the US before we go to Australia next week over the Christmas holiday (it doesn't help that in addition to trip preparations, I'm always busy at this time of the year). The following photos document our trek through San Francisco's Chinatown (the largest outside of Asia, and the oldest in North America), and hubby's mission to try out the famed Mission-style burritos (aka San Francisco burritos) out in the Mission District itself. Without much further ado, here is a taste of what we saw and did on our third and final full day of our time in San Fran.

Chinatown

Early in the morning, we walked to Chinatown from our hotel via the quickest route, and that route didn't bring us through the Dragon Gate that we'd walked by late in the evening on Day 1.

Our route to Chinatown from our hotel brought us through Stockton Street Tunnel:

Downtown San Francisco is quite hilly, and many streets have very steep inclines:

Yummy-looking Chinese bakery goodies:

We dropped by the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory:

Inside the factory, there's a sign that says "Hello! If you take a picture, please pay 50c". Here you can watch three women deftly fold discs of warm cookie dough around slips of paper containing fortunes written in English and French. This is a process that needs to be done quickly otherwise the cookie will harden before it has the right shape:

Samples available for visitors to try:

We bought a big bag of fortune cookies for US$4.50, and it lasted us many weeks after we returned back to Hong Kong:

An amusing observation - here is Stockton Street in Chinatown (with the distinctive Transamerica Pyramid in the background), which is less frequented by tourists but represents a more authentic Chinese atmosphere with fresh produce and fish markets, Asian grocery stores and restaurants...

... in contrast to Grant Avenue (where the historical Dragon Gate is), with souvenir stores, mini-malls and restaurants that are obviously catered more to tourists than the local Chinese. This street is cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing, and there are even red lanterns strung overhead:

Mission-style Burritos @ El Farolito in Mission District

After wandering through Chinatown, we made our way to the The Mission for lunch. We took the BART to the 24th St Mission station, and hubby led the way to a popular taqueria called El Farolito which was highly rated and reviewed for the giant burritos. This area had a distinct ghetto feel, and I wouldn't want to hang around on my own or after dark. Nevertheless, we could still enjoy lunch and a leisurely walk through the neighbourhood afterwards.

Inside El Farolito right near the back of the narrow dining area, looking out towards the entrance:

Complimentary basket of corn chips:

Cheesy Quesadilla for the boy (only half is shown):

A Super Burrito:

We chose shrimps for our choice of meat:

The Super Burrito comes with rice, beans, fresh tomato, onion, cilantro, salsa, cheese, sour cream and avocado:

The Mission-style burrito was huge, and one was enough to fill us both up. It was satisfying and enjoyable, and we understand why this is a popular style of burritos.

El Farolito
2779 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States
Tel. +1 415 824 7877

El Farolito on Urbanspoon

Apparently the Mission District is also known for its street murals, and we saw several during our short walk around the area:

After our quick lunch, we hopped back on the BART bound for Fremont, which was about an hour's ride away. There we were met by Steph's dad, who drove us to San Jose where we met the some of Steph's family for dinner. We were treated to fantastic hospitality for that few hours, even though I had only met Steph's dad once before earlier this year. That four hours with Steph's family, particularly her dad, did much to sweeten our experience in California. A post on that family dinner is to come shortly...