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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

Thursday 26 June 2014

An educational day in Nagoya (Japan)

When we were in Nagoya not too long ago, we were still figuring out how to travel with two children. Baby girl was only four months old, and though this was our second family trip since she was born (after Melbourne for my younger sister's wedding in February), this was the first one where the itinerary was primarily eating and sight-seeing. Most days we couldn't leave the hotel room until past 10am, by which time we would most invariably decide that any plans for the day had to be pushed back in favour of getting food in our tummies first. Our second morning in Nagoya began like so, everyone (but me whose body seems to have an inbuilt alarm clock for 6am) woke up later than usual due to the previous night's late bedtime, and we started our day out with an early lunch. Then we headed to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, but only after stopping by a Japanese-style bakery to pick up some baked goods meant for snacking later in the afternoon, however we ended up eating them all when we sat down for some tea and coffee before going on the subway for the museum.

At Sun Levain bakery on the ground floor of the massive Matsuzakaya department store. The bakery's entrance is on Hisaya Odori between the subway entrances to Sakae and Yabacho stations:

Though all the baked goods were so tempting and we wanted to buy everything we saw, we limited ourselves to choosing one item per person. Sakura Anpan (sweet bun with cherry blossom filling, as it was sakura season), Mentaiko Furansu (baguette with salty cod roe - hubby is not a fan of it, but turns out that the 5-year-old is!), and a Pain au Chocolat (the boy's most favourite bread):

The delicious and sweet sakura anpan:

For nostalgia's sake, we made a small detour to the nearest Tully's shop for some Matcha Swirkle indulgence. Hubby got the seasonal Macadamia Latte, which was creamy and quite lovely:

Did you know that Toyota started as a textile firm? Thus began our educational time at the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. The 5-year-old loved the hands-on activities for the kids in the Automobile Pavilion (where all the cars are).

The first part of the museum contains an exhibition of textile looms ranging from the almost ancient to the modern machinery:

Free guided tours, and the English language tour is only on Sundays. It was fun to tag along with the Japanese group and watch the guide demonstrate how the machinery evolved over the years. This was one of the older (but not the oldest) wooden loom:

And the fully automated and computerised modern loom:

There is a timetable of demonstrations that visitors can watch. We watched a casting demonstration, which was in Japanese, but it was still good to watch:

The boy was given a tiny piston as a keepsake by the lovely gentleman who did the demos:

In the Automobile Pavilion, there was a section devoted to children, where kids can make their very own pull-back cars:

With his dad's help, our boy made his very first toy car. And a mobile phone attachment, too (though he doesn't have a mobile phone to hang it on):

At Nagoya station, we walked past a baumkuchen cake shop with a large window where passersby can watch the chef brushing and baking each layer on. This cake is popular in Japan and coincidentally we had eaten some of these layered cakes the night before, so this made for a good watch for the 5-year-old:

We then headed back to the hotel for the kids' bedtimes and for me to pack up again for the next leg of our trip: Kyoto!

Monday 23 June 2014

Revisit: Lunch @ Madam Kwan's (KLCC), Kuala Lumpur

When we were in Malaysia last month for my cousin's wedding, we spent half the time catching up with relatives, and the other half eating. It was great when we could combine the two! On the day after the wedding, I spent much of the morning texting my cousins to arrange an impromptu lunch date before people started heading back for their home away from Kuala Lumpur. I suggested Madam Kwan's at KLCC since we previously had a great experience, and the location was convenient for those of us who had stayed overnight in the area after the wedding (and for my poor cousin who got called to go in to work on Sunday morning!). The food was three to four times more expensive than what we can get at the hawker centre, but the comfort and hygiene levels were infinitely better, and dining in the air con is so much better than sweating it out in the hot humidity outside. Especially when there are little ones! No one objected to my suggestion, so everyone made their way to Madam Kwan's for a delicious meal.

The 5-year-old requested the Nasi Bojari - Madam's tri-coloured rice with assam prawns, beef rendang and deep fried chicken drumstick (RM24.90). He ate everything but the assam (tamarind) prawns and the beef rendang which would have been a bit too spicy for him. The boy especially loved the fried chicken:

You can also order the Fried Chicken Drumstick on its own (RM10.90):

One of hubby's faves, the Char Kuey Teow (RM18.90) - flat rice noodles with chicken, prawns, squid, egg and beansprout. Delicious:

Another of hubby's favourite Malaysian dish is the hor fun, kind of like char kuey teow, but with a viscous egg sauce. At Madam Kwan's, it is called Fried Beef Noodles (RM19.90) - flat rice noodles with sliced beef, ginger and spring onion in egg sauce. Also delicious:

Curry Laksa (RM15.90). Each Malaysian state has its own regional version of laksa, and this particular bowl sparked a discussion about the differences between the laksa types in Penang, Sarawak and the curry laksa found elsewhere:

This curry laksa was superb:

Claypot Seafood Beancurd (RM25.90). I liked it so much last time that I had to reorder it:

Cendol (RM8.90) - green jelly and red beans served in coconut milk with gula melaka (palm sugar) on the side. So, so good. Definitely a big upgrade from the 50-cents cendol I used to buy as a kid from the motorbike vendor who rode past my house in Malaysia every afternoon:

Ais Campur (RM8.90), aka Air Batu Campur (ABC; "air batu" means "rock water" for the ice and "campur" means "mixed") or Ais Kacang ("kacang" means "beans" or "peanuts"). This is another childhood favourite, a shaved ice dessert with sweet red beans, attap chee (palm seed), sweet corn, grass jelly and nuts under the shaved ice, with a generous drizzle of sweet syrup and condensed milk:

Madam Kwan's is a solid choice for trying out the local hawker fare in the air-conditioned convenience and comfort of a luxury mall.

Madam Kwan's
Lot.420/421, Level 4, Suria KLCC
Jalan Ampang
50088, Kuala Lumpur
Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel. +60 3 2026 2297

Friday 20 June 2014

One day in Milan (Italy)

I am finally writing my final post on last summer's European trip! After spending a week in France - both in pretty Paris and beautiful Brittany - and another week in Italy - where we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, explored the Cinque Terre region and visited the gorgeous Portofino - we headed to Milan for an overnight stay before boarding our flight back home to Hong Kong. At first I intended us to stay two nights in Milan, but hubby's aunt (who is always travelling) advised that only one night in Milan would be sufficient and that we ought to use that extra night in Cinque Terre instead. I'm glad we heeded her advice, because I found myself wishing we had more time in Cinque Terre even with that extra day.

Arriving at the vast Milano Centrale Station:

Trying to find our way around Milano Centrale Station to catch the Metro line:

The Milano Centrale station is an architectural delight:


We arrived in Milan around 2pm, and after checking into our hotel, we went back out to see Milan's main tourist attraction: the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral). Though our hotel was a good three Metro stops away from the Duomo, we decided to walk there, as hoofing it is the best way to see and experience a new city (and a good way to work exercise in at the same time!). We would have missed all the following sights if we had taken the Metro or bus. The streets are a mish-mash of old and new, buildings and public vehicles alike.

Taking care of very important business first - gelato! This shop was just around the corner from our hotel near the Porta Romana Metro station, and these two cones of double scoops cost us a grand total of 2&euro! By far the cheapest gelato we've ever had, and so delicious too. Shop name is Carmen e Massimo SNC, on street Corso Lodi No.2:

Stopped by a playground along the way:

A view down one of the side streets full of old buildings:

The old type tram:

And the sleeker-looking modern tram:

Piazza Missori - an old bronze monument of Riccardo Ripamonti (1916) juxtaposed against the backdrop of modern buildings. Also in the background is the ancient brickwall remains of a crypt of a former basilica church:

A closer look at San Giovanni in Conca, a crypt of a former basilica church that dates back to the 4th century:

The façade of the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral):


Two-thirds of the Duomo's 3500 statues are on the exterior:

One of the world's oldest shopping malls - the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, standing opposite the Duomo. The arcade contains luxury shops selling haute couture, jewellery, books and paintings, and there are also restaurants, cafes and bars:

The arch detail at the entrance to the Galleria facing the Duomo:

Beautiful architecture, designed in 1861:

In the central octagonal space topped with a glass dome:

A statue of Vittorio Emanuele II in the middle of Piazza del Duomo:

It was evening by the time we headed back to the hotel, again on foot. We had a morning flight to catch the next day, so we opted for a simple but delicious focaccia dinner at a bakery we encountered on Corsa di Porta Roma (street name). It had basic facilities for dining in, so we took a moment's rest from walking to fuel up for the night.

A bakery on Corsa di Porta Roma:

An olive focaccia:

A pizza-like focaccia with plenty of vegetable topping:

And another pizza-like focaccia with ham topping:

And thus we have come to the end of our 2013 summer trip to Europe! We have taken four other overseas trip since then, and I still have photos of Japan and Malaysia to blog about, so stay tuned!

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Lunch @ LE SALON DE THÉ de Joël Robuchon (Elements), Hong Kong

Last week hubby celebrated his birthday and took the day off from work. The 5-year-old was at school, and we had someone trustworthy to take care of our baby girl for a few hours so that we could enjoy some time together without the kids. We took the opportunity to try out the lunch and a-la-carte menus at Robuchon's LE SALON DE THÉ in the Elements mall, where we also enjoyed the afternoon tea a few months ago. This time the experience was far more relaxing (no kids), and there was no waiting in ridiculously long queues. The lunch set menu is available from 12:00 to 14:30, three courses for HK$378, and we could select from three different choices for the appetiser and main course, and from two options for dessert. The a-la-carte menu was also available to order from. Service was attentive but non-intrusive, and the food not only tasted delicious but also beautifully presented. I'm glad we now have French so close to home, and from our favourite chef too!

The view of the restaurant from the inside (a different angle than last time):

Hubby's cappuccino with blue mountain and kona coffee (for HK$28 extra):

My Ginger Latte (HK$50) which was delicious:

Hubby's choice of appetiser from the lunch set - pan-seared scallop and baby leek, hanaho with passion fruit sauce. The scallops were sweet and juicy, cooked to perfection. The tart passionfruit sauce seemed to overpower the scallops, but it was beautiful on its own. And the flavour of the hanaho (flowers from shiso was reminiscent of the sakura (cherry blossoms):

For main course, hubby ordered the poached cod fillet with fennel slaw and konbu bouillion. This was very Japanese in flavour, and the cod was so good:

The crêpes are the specialty here, and I got the foie gras crêpe, with chestnut, onion confit, apple cider reduction and green salad:

A generous hunk of foie gras lay underneath all those salad leaves. Delicious, but foie gras is a bit too rich for me after the third bite (I ordered this mostly for hubby who loves foie gras, and he enjoyed it thoroughly):

Hubby had the choice of ice cream with crêpe or a cake from the showcase, and the Mango Tart spoke the loudest to him. Here it is with a birthday candle:

Lovely mango tart, and I really liked it, but hubby said it wasn't as good as he expected:

We had to also try a sweet crêpe, and we ordered the Mont-blanc (HK$108) which had chestnut cream, vanilla ice cream, cassis mousse and meringue. A very good combination, and we enjoyed it a lot:

Gold foil accents are aplenty at Robuchon's restaurants. Can you spot it here?

What a lovely mid-week lunch! I would love eat here again.

[Prices quoted above do not include the 10% service charge.]

LE SALON DE THÉ de Joël Robuchon
Shop 1020B,
1st Floor Elements
1 Austin Road West
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2351 6678