New Beginnings

"Time for a break, give me a piece of that Kit Kat bar.."  Yay, a time for celebrations for our friends wedding in Phuket, a perfect getaway trip for 4Days and 3Nights. :)  In the midst of transitioning at work, this was a good opportunity to have some fun before work gets busier in April. 

En route to Phuket flying with Thai Airways and surprised to see a special spread on different types of goldfish. Actually each time we're away from home we think about our little goldfish and wonder how Speck is doing.  After the trip J bought this spiffy Izon camera to monitor him so next time no need to worry! haha What we do for the little guy..

Exploring our resort approximately 25 minutes north of Phuket International Airport and meeting up with other HKIS friends who are also staying at the same place.  It's pretty far from the main Phuket area but overall not crowded at all and very close by to the wedding villa.  The two main complains which I had was the overly puffy pillows and no water on our last night. I mean no one could take a shower after after we came back from the party celebrations at 2am lol. 

Afternoon snack time! Time for coconuts, Singha beer, and other Thai foodies.

One of many coconuts enjoyed on our trip. This one was rather small but still very refreshing nonetheless.

Dinner at านอาหารท่านุ่นซีฟู๊ด (Tha Nun Seafood) where we ordered one too many dishes.  :P They had super-size-me portions compared to our hotel so we had to doggy bag a lot of the food back.  Nevertheless this random place made a mean green curry and tom yum goong. <3 Back in HK I enjoy my occasional Thai food but the taste here is like 10x better, like an explosion of flavors.

 Day 2 - Massage @Hotsprings and then we all went over to the villa enjoying sweet mangos while the groomsmen practiced their walk-in.  They danced to Pharrell William's "Happy" which was very cute.

Dinner with all the friends and relatives at Sala Resort. Oh my gosh the curries (not pictured) were realllyyy good and the dessert booth served up a nice variety of traditional sweets.  My favorites were the Kanom klok made up of coconut, rice flour & light sprinkling of sugar.  Still warm from the iron pan.

Day 3 - Chilling and tanning (or getting my shoulders burnt) by the pool side w/ some friends before the wedding reception at 4:30pm.  Enjoying some beautiful weather and we all enjoyed a lazy lunch by the poolside.

Polaroids & scrap book time!! yay :)

Breathtaking views of Villa Jia, of Jivana Villas.

The umbrellas was a nice touch. We were sweating and scorching even in the late afternoon.  Amazing to see the bride so pretty with her make up (most of it is probably all natural) because I would have melted the moment I stepped out from the room. :P

The bride and the groom looking absolutely stunning. <3

Shots at the 'Fun Table' ;-)

Surprise fireworks at 10pm. There was a light drizzle towards the end of dinner but fortunately it was very brief so all the party festivities were unaffected. *whew Wouldn't want to miss dancing would we?

Romantic & magical sky lanterns. Make a wish and then release them free as they are filled with enough hot air.  My very first time doing this and each n' every paper lantern soared high until they became little dots of light.

Keep your head up and know that tomorrow is a brand new day to do better.

Colorful Jewels of Life

Last weekend we took a road trip to Xinhui with my two families. :) It was my very first visit to the LKK food plant and I finally got to see the huge and colorful koi pond.  Koi fish in Japan means good fortune or luck, they are also associated with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose because of their constant movement and ability to fight water current.  How long can you swim against the current?  As spring is arriving here in Hong Kong, things are slowly falling into place at work.  These past two weeks have been a transitional period and from April onwards I'll officially transfer to the department that I've been wanting to develop and grow in.  Really excited for the challenges up ahead.

Throw in some fish pellets and then *eeek they pile up together with their mouths open hungry for food. Reminds me of the scary moment I placed my foot into a fish spa.

These are the huuuuge ones.. they look like they can gobble you up.

A little food tasting at the canteen for lunch. Good memories of the Tsinghua shi-tang :)

Visiting the soybean fermentation vat.

 In between plant visits we took the golf cart around. Later that evening after dinner J gave me a private tour around and even went off road to visit the construction area. heehee fun juvenile behavior.

heehee charging this bad boy up after an awesome trip around the premise.

Visiting the Lee ancestral home where things began from humble beginnings.  The following day we went to visit the LMT High School as part of the USC SCervice volunteer day and we took the opportunity to visit the classrooms and sports field.

Sneaking a peak inside. They keep all their textbooks here rather than carrying them back and forth but danngg look at this pile of books. Sure doesn't look easy being a teenager. :S

On the hand, they have a really good art program here and it's truly inspiring to see all the different works of art by the students. From black and white sketches, abstract paintings to even Japanese animation drawings.  Typically when you think of a school in the Mainland you think of a rigid learning technique or focus on sciences and language but it was refreshing to see a good balance of creativity and freedom.

Which classroom would you like to go back to if you could time travel?  Mine is definitely art, geography and design & communication! 

Weeee..I'm flying!!  Having a go at these gif makers. :]

Spring Blossom

Welcome March - a month of new changes and a better, healthier me. :) Whats a better way than to try fresh pressed juice from Genie Concepts. Although our body detoxifies naturally, this method accelerates the process of rejuvenation.  Excited and nervous ball and hoping I don't steer off n' cheat by grabbing a pastry.

Saturday night delivery with two packs of genie cooler bags. I like their personalized touch and can't wait to start <3

The pamphlet that comes with the pack gives a good summary of how fruit and vegetables in their raw form are among the richest available sources of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Drinking this juice in raw form, allows nutrients to pass rapidly into the blood stream because they require very little breaking down in the digestive track. Hence the liver and kidneys are given time to recover from working overtime. Originally I was thinking of getting the Vitamix to make my own juices but now after Karen showed me the youtube clips of the different brands I'd like to do some more research on different slow juicers like Hurom, Omega and Kuvings.  Slow juicers differ by grinding and pressing fruit/vegetables separating their juice from their solid content. These juices do not expose enzymes to the friction and head that other juicers do.

Ta-da all 6 bottles looking very colorful.  They recommend taking our sweet time to take small sips rather than gulping it down in one go. Roughly one bottle every two hours, are you ready?

The Smooth Operator was my favorite and you can imagine the look on my face when I started my morning with this.  It reminds me of a yoghurt, apple and honey combo that I love to make. This is made up with a blend of banana, avocado, spinach, chia and vanilla.  Before starting, I added their lil package of psyllium husk to a glass of lemon water. Not a bad start at all, fairly filling and gets you going with a smile. :D

Went to the gym for about an hour and then came back to have the Pink Panther. Since I loved the first bottle, this one was a tad disappointing even though I normally love tangy & sour things.. Maybe because the ginger wasn't paired with sweetness so I'll need some getting used to it but definitely got my circulation going.

Feeling hungry at this point and reached for my Four Leaf Clover which I packed into the Genie cooler bag with 2 ice packs - perfect on the go!  Relieved that this one tasted much better with spinach, apple, parsley, celery and pink himalayan salt.

Tick-tock tick-tock looking at the time to have my next bottle :P Had my Life Blood (carrot, beetroot, apple, lemon) at 2pm and then a short nap on the couch heh. Added extra chia seeds and need to find out where I can get these.  Not pictured is my 5th bottle Sawadekah with kale, spinach, cucumber, pineapple, coriander, lemongrass, lime.  I think it was the lemongrass but definitely my least favorite and took the longest to drink. Still had an aftertaste an hour later so I'll definitely drink it with a straw tomorrow :S

Last but not least ending my evening with Chia Dreams. Delicious and made of filtered water, raw cashew, raw cacao, raw honey, cinnamon, vanilla, raw cacao nibs, pink himalayan salt. This is a really nice and guilt free treat. After one day of following their intermediate juice plan, I don't feel any detox symptoms yet *Symptoms may include headaches, cravings (not yet), weakness, dry mouth, runny nose, nausea, cramps, constipation or gas. It does feel weird knowing that I won't be needing my wallet to buy any groceries or snacks. Nice break to just grab a bottle and have my meals all planned out. :)

Bear & Bunny Weekend

21 Feb 2014 - Watched my first Giselle performance by La Scala Ballet and cheering to a glass of Moet right after work on Friday.  I was eagerly waiting all week long and it was one of the most beautiful performance that I have ever seen. :) Although I wished I could watch Svetlana Zakharova perform the lead role, I guess I'll need to keep on waiting because we can't have it all right? Act II just took my breath away with the female supernatural spirits floating effortlessly against the moonlit backdrop.  During the romantic era of the 19th century, poets, novelists and artists became infatuated by the supernatural or spirits/ghosts who control the hearts of mortal men. Its this same era that gave rise to the classical 'ballerina' with the development of pointe work and idea of weightlessness.  So aww-some!

Grabbing a light snack on Sunday afternoon and looking up at the pretty orange flowers on this tree with the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences and Argenta appartments right behind it.

Having a cup of cappuccino and sharing Cafe Deadend's B.E.L.T. sandwich made with bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato on homemade buns from Po's Atelier (sister company next door).  I've been wanting to try this place for some time and I'm pretty happy that we got to spend such a relaxing afternoon here. We roamed around  the Po Hing Fong and Tai Ping Shan neighborhood for a good few hours checking out the stores and trendy cafes.  Next time I'll definitely try to come earlier and try their scones (freshly baked around 10am) and their apple tarts which ran out around 3pm.. Or enjoy Teakha's freshly brewed teas and cakes ^^ 

After walking around some more, it was time to grab an early dinner and beat the crowds. So off we went to Chôm Chôm for some much missed Vietnamese flavors.  I haven't had pho in a while, kinda missing Nha Trang that closed down near Hopewell area..

Spicy tuna roll with fish sauce+XO dipping sauce. Really small portioned but I love the herbs rolled inside.

The closest thing we got to classic Vietnamese noodles was the pho rolls with grilled beef, pickled daikon, light sprinkling of baby garlic, chopped peanuts, onions and chilis.  Looks ordinary but makes me salivate for more.  Not pictured was the Kafir lime chicken cabbage salad fried to crispy perfection. If I get a chance to come back I'll definitely order the VFC (Vietnamese Fried chicken) and BBQ Ribs :D


Shaking beef with beef tenderloin, watercress, garlic, cherry tomatoes, peanuts cooked up beside a bowl al dente jasmine rice (just the way I like it).  Finished approximately 70% full which means just enough room for dessert later on.

Love you not at all WAFFFLE!  Looked promising with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and graham crumbs but the waffle itself was totally undercooked one inch in and looked like some kindergarten's few months old yellow/greenish play-dough.  It was warmed up pathetically on the grill and was far far away from being light n' crispy. Belgium waffles do not taste like this so don't waste your calories or money. Blehh  

Anyways going over to another extreme, counting down to my first ever juice detox! ;) Couple of my friends have tried with pretty good feedback so I'm looking forward to giving this a go while J is away in Chicago next week.  Genie Concept will deliver my first 2 days of juice on Saturday night and then starting first thing Sunday morning hehe. Let's see how I feel cutting out on processed sugars and carbs (Byebye bolobaos, muffins, croissants or any munchies at work).  Easing out the snacks this week by eating more fruits/veggies :) Wish me luck..

A Kaleidoscope Star

Unlike the previous years where we ordered in and stayed away from the crowds of people carrying expensive bouquets and set dinners during Valentine's day, this year we were invited to J's parents V-day dinner gathering. :) Given that we had no plans or dinner reservations we decided this might be a good idea and it was a really fun night with close friends.  After eating, we sat together and shared the happy memories of how we knew he/she was the one, or as we call it the moment.  For many people it may have been a series of events that developed the relationship over time, maybe it was love at first sight, perhaps a rational decision or there was a moment/epiphany where everything lined up perfectly clear and you just knew.  When you realize how much this person really means to you, always be thankful for what you have together and remind each other how you got to this present day. <3

Paula brought balloons! Wee :)

Ghormeh sabzi pictured here is a popular Persian stew and some might even say that it's the Iranian national dish. Ghormeh means stewed and sabzi pretty much means green herbs. Its made up of parsley, coriander, various herbs and spices like turmeric & dill, onions, kidney beans, beef and dried Persian lime. This aromatic dish is super comforting with a tangy savory first bite.  

Hehe If you love tartness foods, then this is for you - barberries and rice (zereshk polo). So cute, popped upside down looking like a chunk of cheese. 

Devouring Ms B's Ruby Valentines Day Cake. Strawberry sweetness with pomegranates scattered on top with a layering of red velvet and vanilla chiffon.

 Giving myself some slack on Vday and nibbling on J's triple chocolate cupcake from Sift. Hmm detox can start in March :P

Remembering when we made a wish one early morning and planted a seed for new beginnings~