Guangzhou Nov 2014 - Travel Diary Pt 4

Guangzhou has several attractions and we visited a few (Chiamlong safari park, Chiamlong theme park and the wong fei hong temple/museum). Of the three, I highly recommend the safari park which is basically a zoo. Huge place with several types of animals and shows that will occupy old and young equally (who doesnt like cute elephants performing tricks!), one day is almost not enough.

Best parts of the zoo include

baby animals! Theres a nursery where visitors can see tiger cubs, baby monkeys and this adorable baby chimpanzee; he was adorably mischievous and we spent a good 20 mins watching him get up to his antics 

A train ride round the "safari" where animals were divided into different parts of Africa based on where they originated; we got to see zebras, bears, even camels grazing 

Close up of animals! Visitors get to feed the animals (for a small fee) and it was so much fun! We fed this lovely giraffe leafy greens and took many a selfie with him. Other animals available for feeding include tigers, elephants, cute little monkeys etc

And the main attraction - pandas! 

Chiam long is home to many pandas, my absolute favorite animal; I spent at least a good hour watching these cute animals going about their own business

As luck would have it, we had the privilege of viewing the world's first panda triplets. As the mama panda would only take care of one cub, the other two would have to be taken care by staff. And well taken care they were, with a huge nursery filled with toys. 

Mama panda with the other cub. Awww 

Guangzhou Nov 2014 -Travel Diary Pt 3

More food updates from Guangzhou

Seafood from Shangxiajiu street, looked tasty but was disappointingly one-note; not much taste other than the spices used.

Dim sum at a nondescript restaurant opposite the hotel and darn was it good dim sum

Liu sha bao passed the test

and the xo fried carrot cake was probably the best I ever had. Would go back to Guangzhou just for this dim sum again

Explored the mall next to the apartment, this place serves meat in a large pot with seasoning/spices. This was fish (non-spicy) and the below was prawns (spicy). Both were pretty darn tasty though the spicy version got too numbing after awhile.

GuangZhou Nov 2014 - Travel Diary Pt 2

So we stayed at the GuangZhou South & North International Apartment which was pretty awesome. Luxuriously decorated in typical chinese style (gold accents, chandeliers, brocade wallpaper etc) and comes furnished with microwave, fridge and a washing machine. Each apartment fits 6 comfortably (3 king size beds) but for some reason only comes with 1 toilet so there may be some awkward situations. But still given the location (next to Beijing lu) it was great.

The train station is a distance away (~10 mins walk)

As mentioned Guangzhou is basically a less modern Hong Kong so of course, the food was awesome. Especially so if you are a Cantonese (going back to your roots and all that right)

cant do without your combination plate of meats, not as good as the ones in Hong kong but still decent

Chanced upon this eatery that serves food from another city (cant quite remember) but the porridge filled with peanuts, seaweed and other bits n pieces plus that dumpling soup was excellent.

Nothing beats a chok (rice congee) and cheong fun (rice roll) breakfast. The congee was rich and thick, evidence of many hours over a charcoal stove. The orange one came with cordycep but tasted much like the rest (well at least theres some health benefits?). The cheong fun had too much fun, too little ingredients. Still tasty.

Some  street food at Shangxaijiu pedestrain street. clams and oysters which were way too garlicky it killed off pretty much any seafood taste urgh. I did get some pretty tasty grilled octopus at the stall next door though

GuangZhou Nov 2014 - Travel Diary Pt 1

Some amusing sights from my trip to Guang Zhou in Nov last year.

Victoria Secret's knock-off?

Suggestive trashbin at the zoo

Say what?

Spotted at our apartment (which was pretty awesome, think gold interiors and chandeliers)

That said, Guangzhou is basically Hong Kong just less crowded

Hong Kong Sep 2014 Travel Diary Pt 2

Part 2 of eating around hong kong, a series of table top shots of food lol

One can't go to Hong Kong and not eat dim sum
Must orders - egg tart and the roast meat platter. No one makes it as good as they do in HK

Mmm look at that

Protip : The sashimi in Hong Kong is super fresh and cheap. Just go to any good supermarket and hit the sashimi section. We went crazy and basically had a sashimi party, look at all that uni! And costs us a fraction of what would have been in Singapore

And a late night supper at Tsui Wah of course, I can't resist a bowl of 'gong zai mee' aka Maggi noodles and that toasted bun

close up of them buns

Finally trying this. Truffle scrambled eggs at Australian Dairy Company. Maybe cos we were all so full but it felt over-rated. The truffle taste was very much muted, the eggs were nice and fluffy

In typical Singaporean-ness, saw this long queue and had to try this.  Kau Kee beef brisket to be specific. Protip - skip the queue and go get takeaway. 

And wow this was the best beef brisket, and probably the best thing I ate in Hong Kong.  MUST TRY

And ending off our trip with a bucketfull of tau huey 

Hong Kong Sep 2014 Travel Diary Pt 1

Short trip to Hong Kong for a girlfriend's hens night. Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Shatin which was soo out of the way of everything but what a lovely view!

Ended up not really a hen's party kind of trip but more of an eating one lol (what's new)

No trip to Hong Kong complete without the best eggtart ever, at Tai Chung Bakery. Eat it on the street, when it is hot out of the oven, then double back and buy 12 more because you know you cant stop at one. Tai Chung used to be an old school 'hole in the wall' kind of place but now its pretty commercialized. Still good though

A short walk over to the best Wanton mee ever at Mak's noodle. Do do do order the dry noodle with roe, full of umami goodness and the noodle is so QQ! The beef brisket is pretty kick ass too.

 One meal is not enough! Headed opposite to Tsim Chai Kee for their rendition with huge wantons (like literally 6 prawns per wanton). The difference in both were quite stark if you eat them one after the other. Mak's beats Tsim hands down in my opinion.

Last but not least, some street food. curry fishball anyone?

 
oh yes, and the best dessert drink at Hui Lau Shan. A delicious mixture of mango, coconut, aloe vera etc. Soo good, we had one everyday 

Tokyo Diary Pt 5 - July 2014

Only in Japan - weirdly shaped, ridiculously expensive fruit. I love going to the supermarkets, all sorts of interesting stuff to see + free samples! 

Popped by Uoriki Kaisen Sushi (B1 Tokyu Dept store, connected to Shibuya station) for another sashimi breakfast. The fish here was extremely fresh and so cheap! Highly recommended!

Chirashi Don

My sushi set. So good.  (Btw this cost less than SGD20) 

I amused the chef by butchering my request for uni sushi. But omg, this was so good and fresh I basically moaned in the restaurant eating this. And only SGD3. Sigh I miss Japan. 

At the museum of yebisu beer which was quite disappointing, far too small; we completed the tour in about 15 mins. 

Our favourite place in Tokyo - Uniqlo! I spent at least $500 there but I just love the basics, so comfy + Tokyo has a large range of cool tees + 11 floors Uniqlo -gasp-

big bowl of sukiyaki pork on rice (btw this was a small) at a random vending machine shop 

Day trip to Odaiba, so much fun. I love looking at all the vintage stores here including the old school arcade 

And old school sweets 

Whats Japan without some robots

Gorgeous view on the train towards odaiba

Rounded off our last night in Nagoya where we indulged in bbq once again. Awesome being able to order the best cuts of meat and paying a fraction of what we expect to pay in Singapore. Who says food in Japan is expensive!