I am so surprised to see this link working, but thrilled. Vintage Pulse is where my Etsy Vintage Team does it's thing--posts, photos, advertising, stuff. I'm finally getting the hang of it, but Blogger is running the show and honestly I'm not to keen on Blogger. It's been a big headache, since now I am posting the street team's Daily Dose which is kind of fun. This means every day I get to pick some great piece from a vintage shop and post it to share. It's like the best kind of show and tell, except I can't show my stuff; obviously, a conflict of interest. I can however show them off here.

I just found this fabulous Chinese tea tin from the 1950s, from Kowloon which is in Hong Kong.

The address matches the original Kowloon store of Ying Kee Tea Co. and their website "museum" had this photo along with the history of their tea company.

This is Mr Chan Chau-Ying the store's 1881 creator, during the Qing Dynasty! (I want to go back to Hong Kong and walk the Ying Kee Tea Co. trail!)

Now, of course, I don't want to sell the tin. Sometimes it's very hard to part with such a spectacular find. :-) Isn't he the austere gentleman? It makes me want to bow and say thank you.

I LOVE this sleuthing job! dahlila.

In a previous post, I've mentioned Magushi on Peel Street, a new yakitori restaurant which found its niche through offering a wide selection of sake (rice wine) and innovative yakitoris. Yakitoritei, on the other hand, took a safer approach, offering a very solid selection of traditional yakitoris; you won't find some fancy beef rolled into balls marinated with stuff you've never heard of before. Rather, you'll find the usual beef, chicken, lamb, etc. in their "original" form.

Anyway, my buddies and I wanted siu yeh and so we decided to visit Yakitoritei's Tin Hau branch the other night because they have a Late Night Special Menu (available from Mondays to Sundays from 23:00 to 02:30, except eve of special holidays and special holidays). The deal is HKD 10 per skewer of a la carte yakitori, but at least 2 skewers per item.

Don't expect to find lamb racks for HKD 10 though, the "a la carte" menu serves a reasonable, but small list of items to choose from; if you still want lamb racks, that'll still set you back HKD 30-40 per piece!

Even with a supposedly good deal, the bill ended up to be about HKD 150 per head with drinks (in our case, a bottle of Asahi Beer each). Definitely not cheap especially if you are going during regular hours, but frankly, Yakitoritei is quite the setting to be chit-chatting with your buddies over beer and some great beer food.

Yakitoritei (燒鳥亭) Tin Hau
G/F., 10 Tsing Fung Street
Tin Hau, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2566 9982

Yakitoritei (燒鳥亭) Happy Valley
Shop C, G/F., 49-51A, Sing Woo Road
Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2838 5377

At 1900 (+0800 GMT), Singapore's Feng Tian Wei (Ranked 9 and sixth seed) will take on Tie Yana of Hong Kong (Ranked 10 and seventh seed).

Upon the completion of the first semi-final, Singapore's Wang Yuegu (Ranked 7 and forth seed) will take on Li Xiaoxia of China (Ranked 3 and second seed).

Will Wang Yuegu create the second major upset by defeating Li Xiaoxia?

Would we see an All-Singaporean Final in this World Cup?

I met her immediately after chatting a bit with Mum and Sis and looking at how big Seth has gotten now. Matt was carrying him and putting him to stand on the desk in our room and he just looked so chunky and clueless as usual! Kirsten was napping so I didn't managed to see her before I left. :(

We cabbed up to Stanley Beach and went straight for the beach cafe to fill our stomachs.

I actually managed to finish six slices out of the eight slices of the pizza and picked all the pineapples off it. The anticipation of arriving at the beach must have left me really famished.

At one point, Libby and I remarked how contented we were right at that very moment. We were tucking into our food and drinks, the sun was bright, the sea breezes were calming and the cafe's stereo had Keane playing. We were quiet and just people watching and I smiled to myself for a long while.

Libby and I saw a couple of Caucasian models. The girls were beautiful and leggy while the guy had a great body, albeit a bit too skinny. He was wearing a tight brief with, ehem, his crotch proudly shown to the world. The wait staff at the cafe were so taken, they were hanging by the balcony, armed with a pair of binoculars, perving on him while Libby and I laughed our guts out.

After filling our stomachs, we headed out to the sand to get a spot. However, it was already 5pm by then so I didn't manage to get much of a tan. However, we managed to spot the cutest, fattest boy we've seen in Hong Kong and actually got to snap a picture with him!

By the time we got onto the mini public bus back to Causeway Bay, I was snoozing on the ride. The sun always exhausts you, doesn't it. We explored Delay No Mall (yes, that's really the name of the mall), opened by the people behind the witty G.O.D. Pictures to come.

Looks like my mobile phone's camera served me well today!

O Earl de Wessex irá assistir aos Jogos Paralímpicos de Pequim 2008, na China, como Patrono de Associação Paralímpica Britânica.

Sua Alteza Real visitará a República Popular da China de 8 de Setembro a 17 de Setembro e irá assistir a várias competições em Pequim e Hong Kong.

Durante a visita, o Earl irá estar presente em eventos em nome da Associação Internacional do Prémio Duque de Edimburgo.

Thanks to all who were concerned with the problems I faced as a student of a private educational institute in Singapore. Hope you guys would NEVER experienced what I went through because it was just totally unfair, absurd and demoralizing! But then again.... Private institutes and the MOE in Singapore just don't seem to give SERIOUS students the protection and encouragement they need to push through in their learning. Let's not forget that the academic industry isn't all as rosy as what we idealize!

As what I've told twin, I've sold my soul and joined the rat race. As much as I don't like doing it, I'm not going to hate myself. Life's too short for that. Still trying to make the process a little more enjoyable though! I miss the rebellious side of the younger me sometimes and I still crave for an anarchy. Not in the world, but at least in my personal space.

So... Enough of that. I'm feeling way better after undertaking some changes on my views as well as embarking on a project which I would reveal in time. School has started, I did not quit my job, which means less personal and social time.

But for now, I shall share the pictures I took in Hong Kong and Macau with everyone! I'm glad I went for that trip. A much needed getaway before all hell broke loose!

Anyways, I realize that I'm taking lesser and lesser photos with each passing year. Why is that? I used to LOVE taking snapshots and nowadays, I'm too lazy to even bring a camera out. Thanks to Celes, who diligently captured our memories on the SD card. I shall rekindle my passion for crazily snapping pictures once again!

More after the break!

I think they got pretty bored waiting for me to arrive. Heh. My personal assistant is really quite a nice lady!

The one in the middle is my personal assistant. Yup! The one holding that paper in the picture on the  left above and so darn eager to shake my hand.

We got quite a pleasant surprise when we went into our hotel room. After staying in YMCA Hotel for like what 3 times? It's kinda nice to get a lovely place with nice view and bigger space. Not to forget, the cosy little bathroom.

Soft, comfy bed. They've even got a "Dream Menu" for you to choose the pillows you want!

The second day was spent in the hotel watching movies. There was a typhoon and most of the shopping centres were closed, save for the eateries. Being the stubborn people we are, we still went out in the morning for breakfast and to try our luck to see if they MIGHT just be some shops open.

Nah... NO shops were open. But we managed to eat out! And it was pretty exciting experiencing the strong winds and heavy rains! I know I know... It's not supposed to be fun but pardon this very much protected Singaporean here; I've never experienced a typhoon before!

The warning flashed on TV.

Goofing around in Langham Shopping Centre which is just next to our hotel, since we have nothing much to do anyways.

When the rains seemed to get lighter, we went out for dinner! It's really quite boring to stay in the hotel room the whole day.

Gosh! I've never ever seen Hong Kong this quiet! Especially at night! Without all the hustle and bustle it did seem quite.... Dreary.

Langham Hotel's umbrella is STRONG! It aided us in the battle against the winds and rains. But the poor poster add on that building in the picture on the right is falling off!

Had a very nice sleep that night thanks to the sound of the winds and rain. And did I mention that I love sleeping beside the window. Nice view to put me to sleep and to wake up to.

Headed to Macau the next day. I like the sights at Macau but it's a little too touristy and overcrowded. Once is enough for me. Don't think I would want to go back again.

I was pretty disappointed with the casinos I saw in Macau. I expected much more granduer than that granite mountain look-a-like and blocks of sand thingum. Maybe it would look better at night with all the neon lights? Or maybe I expected a Vegas twin?

I'm glad they retained the Portugese words on the road signs in an attempt to maintain their roots. THe road signs look so much better this way.

First stop was the ruins of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Gosh! I wished I could see it in its former glory! It must have been awe-inspiring!

Relics and paintings from the cathedral. I'm agnostic. I don't know for sure if there is any igher being but I don't believe in any religion. Religion to me is just a set of rules and what not's set up by people looking for organized worship. But still religious artwork has always sparked some sort of awe and respect in me.

Next stop is the Macau Tower.

I have total respect for people who are able to build things out of Lego just for the fact that I do not have the patience nor talent to do so.

The view of Macau from the the Macau Tower.

I wanted to try that but not enough moolah. Nevermind. Next time!

There's how high Macau Tower is if you guys were wondering.

Food is next!

Of course you have to eat Portugese cuisine in Macau. There were so many other good food but we were  only staying for half a day so there's still lots of good food that we haven't tried! But the lunch we had there was DELICIOUS! If I remembered correctly, it was called Dumbo. (Yup! That flying elephant!) Their potatoes were heavenly!!!

Have I mentioned my fascination for bridges before?

Back to Hong Kong, then I went to snip off my curly and very dry locks! Oh man! Felt like an air-head after that because my head felt so light! Love it!I was never a long-hair person. In fact, my hair was at its longest ever when I cut it this time.

The next day was spent shopping again! Like what else can be done in Hong Kong? Nothing much really. Oh and eating. Hong Kong provides one of the highest quality of eateries in Asia man. You could walk into any cafe by the street and most probably their wanton noodles is way better than what is sold in Singapore's foof courts and coffeshops.

Thanks to my family members who love that noodles. I had to walk around Jordan finding that shop. Wtf. But we still managed to do some last minute shopping! :)

That's us!

I think people would get sick seeing the amount of Hong Kong posts I have on my blog. Hur.

Of course there are other places I would love to visit but for now, Hong Kong is my favourite of the more affordable getaway destinations. I like going to Hong Kong and I'll keep going there till I vomit on the plane. So save the effort. Really. Stop dissuading me from visiting Hong Kong.

]]> http://poorgweilo.wordpress.com/?p=6 Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:32:29 +0000 southsidehk http://poorgweilo.wordpress.com/?p=6 I've always been a bit suspicious about those beach temperature displays, no more so than at Shek O earlier today as the temp cranked up to a supposed 37 degrees. Yeah, it was hot, but not that hot.

After a couple of hours sizzling on the beach it was off to the Happy Garden Thai Restaurant

for a bite to eat. The chilli prawns were great but I'll be giving the salmon in lemon and mange sauce a wide berth next time. $360 for three dishes plus rice was a great deal.

This past week has been orientation week or "o'week" here at the University. I couldn't help but to join up with some of the organizations that were offered. 

I've joined:

track and field team

kendo

linguistics club (for learning cantonese)

Danso (hip hop dance club)

and MSA (Management of organizations student association) 

So these should keep me busy... Also this week I was able to go see the University of London Symphony Orchestra, and the ticket was payed for by the school! It was a great show, I managed to snap a few shots and even a video before I was caught. 

Otherwise, this place is slowly starting to feel like home, although there are still things that need to be adapted to. My dorm room is now totally occupied, although its missing something on the wall. 

Last night we went out to Kowloon Tong and Mongkok, where I saw and interesting sight. This mountain looks like it has icing. 

Also last night I think I saw the scariest movie, I've ever seen in my life. It is called REC. I don't know if they have it theaters in the states right now, but I haven't jumped in my seat like that since I was a little kid. I highly recommend the movie for a wild ride. Here is the poster. Its the first Spanish scary movie I've seen and it's scarier than any asian horror movie.

Thats all for now, I will continue keeping you updated!

At that time, he was supposed to meet Daph when he was back in Singapore for a visit and Daph happened to be with me when I was going through the shitty breakup. She forced me to move out of the dreadful place I once shared with Fat Matt (hahaha, for the uninitiated, that's how my pals have very proudly differentiated the ex and my boyfriend now, who is now known as Fit Matt to them. hahhahahaha, I still can't get over it though they announced this to me four months ago.)

Anyhow, Josh was supposed to meet Daph that night and conveniently, Daph got Josh to help pick up some of my belongings so they could send me home. I still remembered how Daph offered to stay home with me that night and thinking back, I couldn't have done it without her during that period.

So Josh saw me at one of my skinniest periods, with me breaking off in tears every now and then during the two hours we spent with Daph at Maccers in East Coast Park. The next time I saw him was a good night months later at Arab Street after Serene's wedding. I was looking, of course, significantly better and I'm glad Josh managed to see me at a better condition, if not, I think he would have the frail and dowdy Yi Lian forever etched in his mind. Hahahaha

I met him again last Friday (after another nine months, I just realised!) for a Singaporean dinner at the end of Central, close to Sheung Wan. I was spoilt for choice with Beef Rendang rice, Katong Laksa and Prawn Mee and in the end, went for the laksa since he's got me thinking about it for a week.

I'm not particularly close to Josh but it's really nice just to have a fellow Singaporean friend in a foreign land and since we share a mutual friend, we relished in talking about her for a bit. Haha!

He then brought me to this place called Sahara - just like your typical Arab Street cafe with shisha and Lebanese food. The food smells divine but we were full so no more food! We had really sweet mint tea which I had to dilute with hot water and shared an apple shisha but my body is perpetually against vices such as alcohol and smoke so every puff I took was accompanied by several bouts of cough.

Even that few puffs which didn't had me coughing was due to me forcing the coughs down. The Middle Eastern couple sitting opposite us was amused by me and I saw them laughing at my direction a couple of times from the corner of my eyes so I decided to be more glamourous and gave up puffing on the shisha altogether.

Josh and I were just chatting a bit about everything and it's great to see that his stint as a hedge fund trader (or banker? dunno lah.) hasn't changed him much since I last saw him. I was afraid he might just become an arrogant prick whom I would have completely no similarities with but he was pretty much the same from the last time I spoke to him. It also helps to hear Daph always gushing about how sweet and nice Josh is. Hahaha

He then took me on a quick tour of his neighbourhood around the SoHo, Hollywood Road areas and he actually bumped into four friends within that short span of 30 minutes! I told him it's been affirmed that he's been localised.

He brought me up to Azure, a bar and restaurant on top of Hotel LKF on Hollywood Road and we both agreed it was pretentious as hell, complete with beautiful people but I have to admit the view and decor are pretty neat.

After a quick 10 minutes, we headed to The Fringe Club where he showed me the rooftop garden too. We then called it a night and agreed to meet another time and I was happily home by 10pm to go on Skype with Matt. Hee.

Am heading to the beach with Libby later! Weather's looking great but my ixus 860i's flat with its charger and my other ixus 40 in the office. Damn. Let's see what my Sony Ericsson can do for me later then.

Yesterday I finally got a new camera. Had my eyes on the Lumix LX3 for a while, waiting for it to finally be released. It's very similar to my previous defunct camera, but with a fast, wider-angle lens and bigger, more sensitive CCD. Zoe also got a couple of new toys yesterday. She's had her eyes on a bead maze toy for a while.

Global economy woes shake markets

Japanese shares felt the force of the economic uncertainty

Fears about a global economic slowdown, heightened by worsening US job figures, have continued to undermine stock markets around the world.

London's FTSE 100 index lost 2.3% - taking its weekly decline to 7% - its biggest since July 2002.

Markets in Paris and Frankfurt fell by 2.5% as economy concerns spread.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones index clawed back early losses to edge higher despite figures showing the US economy shed 84,000 jobs last month.

But the benchmark US index still had its worst week since May.

Earlier, Japan's main share index fell nearly 3% while markets in Hong Kong, China, Australia and India all slid 2%.

'Ugly' data

The US labor market figures - which showed the unemployment rate rising to 6.1% - were a further jolt to investors who have had to swallow a slew of poor economic data in recent days.

Economists had been expecting 75,000 jobs to be lost while the government also revised upwards.

"This was an ugly number that pretty much confirms that our economy continues to trend downward," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank.

"This just knocks the legs out of any hope of seeing much economic improvement right now."

'Uncertainty'

Amid the uncertainty, few investors are willing to buy Masayuki Otani, Securities Japan

The FTSE 100 closed down 2.3% at 5,240.70 points. The last time it lost so much value in a week was more than six years ago in the wake of financial scandals such as Enron and WorldCom.

Markets in Paris and Frankfurt continued their recent downward trend, both the Cac-40 index and the Dax-30 dropping about 2.5%.

The Dow Jones index, which lost 3% on Thursday, rose 32.73 points, or 0.3% to 11,220.96, but still ended down 2.8% on the week.

"Given the fact we were down so much yesterday we're seeing a bit of a reflex rally with investors wanting to take advantages of some of the bargains," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at Morgan Asset Management.

The Nasdaq index slipped 3.16 points, or 0.1% to 2,255.88, ending the week 4.7% lower.

Earlier Japan's benchmark Nikkei index fell 361.54 points to 12,196.12 amid a widespread sell-off of shares in Asia.

The Hang Seng index fell more than 3% in Hong Kong while markets also fell sharply in China, Australia and India.

"Amid the uncertainty, few investors are willing to buy," said Masayuki, Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan.

"Several bad things happened at once," he added, explaining the fall.

Gloom

Worries about inflation have prevented central banks in Europe from cutting interest rates to help forestall a slowdown.

But analysts believe this could change soon with economic forecasts across Europe looking increasingly gloomy.

The European Central Bank cut its 2009 growth forecast from 1.5% to 1.2% on Thursday while the UK economy stalled in the second quarter.

In a separate development, the Russian rouble fell against the dollar a day after Russia's central bank intervened to support the currency amid concerns about a flight of foreign capital after the conflict with Georgia.

The central bank sold up to $4bn in reserves, the Financial Times reported, after the rouble slipped to its lowest level since February 2007.

Yes all you Clevelanders can now impress your friends and family by writing Cleveland in Chinese (I believe its the first two symbols).

This street is quite close to our apartment and is in an area where we never explored before last night. We met up with a few friends at a restaurant called Pumpernickel and it was quite good. Pretty much all pastas.

Today we set off on our Junk Boat trip so I hope to have a report up later tonight. But I couldn't wait until then to post the Cleveland pic!

Oh Hamsap F.C. lost 1-0. Not good, not good at all.

(轉載自: http://atheistdemo.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/%e6%8d%8d%e8%a1%9b%e7%a4%be%e6%9c%83%e5%85%ac%e7%be%a9%e6%8b%92%e7%b5%95%e7%a5%a8%e7%ab%99%e8%aa%bf%e6%9f%a5/)

請各位支持公正公平的選舉,不要向票站調查員提供任何真實的投票意向,無論你是否支持泛民主派,但你一定要支持真正反映民意的選舉,令中共的魔掌原形畢露,即只可以在投票站內做手腳! ]]> http://hkfoodblog.wordpress.com/?p=78 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:08:01 +0000 hkfoodblog http://hkfoodblog.wordpress.com/?p=78 First of all: Nice! Your are back for more! A friend of mine introduced me to this hidden little gem in "21 Gough Street, Sheung Wan" - noodle shop "Kau Kee". You can either walk down the steps from Hollywood Road to Gough Street, or make your way up from Queens Road. The area is pretty cool - you can find some nice restaurants, furniture/home deco shops and other interesting things. It is worth to go browsing, once you are there. I believe most of you know "ypmaps". If not... here you go: Very useful tool with nice search functions - easy and convenient.

There are several Hong Kong style restaurants in the area, so you gotta make sure you find the right one. If you are coming during peak hours, just look for the place with the longest cue. If you go on a weekend, around lunch time, expect a minimum time of 10 minutes, before being seated. Regulars keep up with standing in line up to half an hour, just to get their bowls of noodles.

Once you are in, it is an easy deal. They mainly serve two dishes, only. Beef noodles in a clear broth, or curry beef noodles. I prefer the clear broth version with flat white rice noodles: "Au Lam Ho Fan". The curry goes better with the yellow Chinese style vermicelli. You can never go wrong ordering some veggies (eat your greens, la!), so I like to order a portion on the side. Add a cold Yuanyang (milk-tea and coffee mixed) and you are ready to have a perfect HK style lunch.

The combination of mouth-watering beef, delicious soup and scrumptious noodles is close to perfection. The vegetables, I had "Sam Choi", had a very nice texture and were dipped in the broth. A solid nine on a scale from zero to ten. Their broth is so outstanding, that they can afford to charge six Honks Hong Kong Dollars for it. Really something unusual in HK to my experience. In other noodle shops you just ask for more soup and that's it. Bowls are rather small, but if you have your veggies and drink on the side, it shall be enough to get you full. Another nice treat is their homemade chili sauce. If you like to add a little spicy twist to your meal, try some with a piece of beef or just put a small spoonful in your bowl and mix it with the soup. I went there for lunch with some colleagues. I believe it is always a good idea to ask locals about their opinion on local food. They agreed to the fact that those are some exceptionally good noodles. Kind of surprised them, how a Gweilo could find and like such a shop...

...told them that I should be ready to surprise them again, soon!

This guy posted some pretty cool videos about HK.

Enjoy!

I tried facing my health direction but it was a awkward direction on my desk and I ended up getting an achy right shoulder. So much for health. I can face the direction for romance but my left shoulder would ache too. In the end, I just stayed put in the direction that is most physically comfortable for me even though I feel a bit blah about the fact that it's not my best direction. :(

Libby was nice enough to offer me her desk since she would be leaving in October back to London (sad) but on the other hand, I was really getting comfortable in my current place and I told myself to screw the directions and make up with plants, crystals and pictures of mountains behind me instead.

I'm still in the midst of personalising my cubicle and I can't wait when I'm finally done with it. Meanwhile, Angel has requested for a new laptop for me since the current old one I'm using seems to have a life of its own. New gadget! Woohoo! And faster speed please. I must have been too pampered by my own MacBook. Anything lesser than it and I get impatient. :/

Libby and I had heard about how you should have afternoon tea at The Peninsula when you go to Hong Kong so we were planning to visit the grand lady a visit today, thinking it's just about S$40 per person but after I made a call this afternoon and found out it's actually HK$268 (about S$50) plus 10% service charge, we had second thoughts and decided to postpone the visit till the end of the month after the next pay day.

She came over instead while I made lunch (I'm quite the domesticated one, ain't I! hahahaaha). Steak with mushrooms and asparagus, Chinese dumplings with Chinese vinegar and honey garlic grilled chicken wings. And after that we watched Lipstick Jungle in an extremely zombie mood. Must be the heavy (and yummy. hehe) lunch.

Libby leaves in a month's time and I dread the thought of it. She's the only one in the office who's my age and we're surprisingly similar in so many ways - personality, opinions, fashion and food preferences. I wish I would be able to make such a chummy colleague/pal like her after she leaves. :(