2am:dessertbar, goodbye my photos and hello to HK

I have just completed my two-week apprenticeship at 2am:dessertbar. This experience gave me an excellent opportunity to have a first-hand view of how a dessert place operates inside out. I feel very fortunate to have made friends with the people who work there, as they have taught me so much more than I had expected. Moreover, they’re extremely fun (and funny) people to work and play with, so I usually find myself smiling on the drive home as I think back on the night’s events. I think the most important thing is, that I have reaffirmed the choices I have made in my career-to-be, and I am clear that the path I have chosen is the one I want to concentrate on for this part of my career.

On an unhappy note, my untrusty Fujitsu Tablet, which I admit has served me for a good five years, has died, taking along many of my newer photographs, including the ones I took in Hong Kong in my recent trip. While I’m not the biggest photo-taking addict I know, I do like the idea of capturing the events that occur as life passes by, seeing how my friends and I have changed over the years. I think this lesson has taught me one thing: back stuff up!

Lastly, I now know where I’m going to live in Hong Kong and when I’m going to head there (last week of August)! This information makes things feel abit more REAL. Exciting. Can’t wait.

Diana Saw A Whale Shark in Osaka

Diana Does Kyoto

Kyoto was recommended by both the internet guides and friends who had been there as a must-visit in Japan for its a look into a more traditional Japan, with its many shrines and gardens. Even for someone who doesn’t have very good directional skills, Kyoto is relatively simple to navigate. For free-and-easy travellers, it’s sufficient to get the one or two-day bus pass (which costs about 500 YEN), the buses stop nearer to many of the attractions than the subway. Not wanting to experience shrine-fatigue, I made very very selective choices.

Kinkakuji Temple - The Golden Pavilion. Very pretty.

I enjoyed an organic dinner at Bio Tei, which is a cosy setup located near the Kyoto National Museum (second floor above a boutique). This cafe serves light, cleansing meals for over 1000YEN (about S$15). For my set, I had a nato omelette, two kinds of salads, miso soup and brown rice. 

The next day, I decided to visit the Fushimi Inari, located at Fushimi-ku (in between Nara and Kyoto), after an early morning visit to Kiyomizu-dera (also very beautiful), to kill time before lunch. According to Wikipedia, the shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. Hence began my journey to become the StairMaster Queen as I trudged up and down the seemingly neverending trail of footpath through these gates known as torii for the next two hours.

After building my endurance level to L8, I decided that I deserved a good meal at the Minokichi of Kyoto restaurant in the Hotel New Hankyu Kyoto, right opposite the central exit of the Kyoto Station. It was the most gorgeous meal I had ever eaten, in Japan and anywhere else.

The set lunch consisted of typical Kyoto cuisine. I think this meal for me was the epitome of how I see my Japanese food experience - it was satisfying, but never filling or overdone. Everything was just right.

Diana Does Hakone

On Friday, we decided to head down to a traditional Japanese ryokan, Ichinoyu, in Hakone, for some good onsen (hot springs) soaking. This ryokan was recommended by my guidebook (Frommers), for both the food (yay!) and the ambience.

Ichinoyu opened its doors in the 1630s, and some parts of the ryokan apparently are preserved from that era!

Me in the traditional onsen outfit. You’re supposed to wear this (sans everything else) everywhere within the ryokan. 

A photo in the lobby.

THE FOOD NOW. We choose the Dinner Set B, which added a sashimi on top of the standard shabu shabu set.

SASHIMI - worth the trip

The tofu in gravy tasted home-made and had a very soft, slip-down-your-throat texture. The pickled greens with bamboo and a fish cake was not as memorable. 

Fried fish

The rice was cooked in yam and vegetable bits, and behind that is the shabu-shabu.

Scallops baked in olive oil and tomato salsa

Our palette-cleansing yuzu sorbet

For those who haven’t tried going to an onsen, you must. It’s a liberating experience as you go through the process entirely exposed with other women of all ages. From what I observed, going to a public bathhouse is a bonding experience for both men and women with friends and families. It was heartening to see aunties helping to scrub the backs of their friends while they chatted happily amongst themselves.

In other news, I have officially become a graduate! Yesterday’s Grad Night was a good opportunity for me to meet my old friends and find out how everyone is doing. Apparently, many people thought that I had left for Hong Kong for good (A common refrain: You’re back????). Well, it’s still a good one month before I’m heading to the Pearl of the Orient to start a phase in my life. Within this time, I’m actually going to do an internship/apprenticeship with 2am:dessertbar for two weeks. Let’s see how it goes!

 

Diana does Tokyo (Day 2 and 3)

Day 2: Cafe in Daikanyama

Cheesecake

Chestnut cream tart (I love this)

Berry cake

Very pretty coffee cup

Day 3: Tsukiji Market

Don’t ask me why, but I always thought that the Tsukiji Fish Market would be kind of like a Disneyland-type of tourist attraction. In my mind, I thought that there would be a main entrance where you would be guided towards the different areas where there would be on-going auctions, people explaining the market’s history and operations etc.

It was only when I arrived at the market that I realised, oh, this is ACTUALLY a real market. It looked like one, it smelled like one, and more importantly, it felt like one. The workers were rushing from one location to another, on their mini fish truck vehicle, and more often than not, eager to get awe-struck visitors like us out of their way. We had arrived at around seven am, and had missed the auctions, but there was still much to see as we strolled ducked and sped along the stalls.

TUNA, I like.

Many many varieties of seafood

Of course, my much-awaited part of the excursion was the eating. We had decided on a small and crowded (but not as crowded as the one next door) eatery located about two streets away from the market grounds.

We were packed in like sardines, and like most customers, we went for the set-o, which went for 3500 Yen (about S$60). It consisted of seven pieces of nigiri, six rolled-up sushi slices, and a miso soup made with fresh mini clams.

The o-toro (fatty tuna) nigiri was one of the best I had ever tasted in my life. I savoured the sweetness from the marbled fat as it slowly melted into my mouth. It was truly truly truly scrumptious. After that, I knew I could never eat in some of the sushi restaurants in Singapore without comparing its heavenly taste again. NEVER.

Day 3: Ramen in Shibuya

One of the must-dos for a tourist - ordering from the ramen machine

The soup was miso-based, and again, it was delicious. I like that in Japan, you can land up in a nondescript shop and still be assured of good quality food.

Diana Does Tokyo (Day 1 and 2)

Japan rocked for two things - its people and its food. Even though many Japanese don’t speak English, they try their best to help you out how ever they can, which is indeed very helpful for a Lonely Planet traveller (ie sans tour guide, staying in hostels) like myself.

Of course, my main aim for this trip was to EAT. That, I did. My conclusion is, I can honestly say that I want to eat Japanese food for most of the rest of my life. I love the freshness and the way it is presented. Everything is ornately placed, intricately prepared and generally YUMMY. Because I took over 500 hundred photos during the trip, I shall make the effort to talk less, and show more.

Day 1: First supper at the hostel in Tokyo

Chocolate milk and nato sushi wrap

Day 2: Grilled meat sticks at Shinjuku

Grilled chicken cartillage

Grilled chicken meat

Grilled enoki mushrooms wrapped in pork slices

Chocolate cake and coffee at a cafe in Harajuku

Day 2: Picnic at park in Shinjuku (we bought our food from Isetan food hall - it’s Japanese takeaway heaven!)

Tonkatsu galore!

Day 2: Picnic at an ex-imperial park in Shinjuku (with Ai!)

Our picnic food!

I was in a tonkatsu-kind-of-mood.

My picnic companions’ sushi bento

Tonkatsu sandwich - odd, but it works

For someone who calls her blog dianadoesdesserts, how could I have missed the Pierre Herme macarons!?? I tried the Ispahan and Chocolate - both extremely delicious.

Me sitting pretty (and full).

 

The Vanilla Series: 3 Vanilla Cupcake

Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit has always been one of my favourite sites to ogle at for its beautiful photographs of intricately-made cupcakes. Therefore, as a present for the GMG + significant others at tomorrow’s long-awaited reunion, I decided to make use of this recipe and the last pod to whip up something special. That said, the 3 Vanilla Cupcake (with Vanilla frosting) should definitely also be in the running for the ultimate vanilla recipe. It uses vanilla extract, vanilla seeds AND vanilla sugar (which fortunately I had on hand due to me saving the scraped-out pods in caster sugar).

For extremely clear instructions, you should click on the link to the site. I simply halved the recipe, cut down on the sugar content in the cupcake, and used light cream cheese for the frosting. Also, I didn’t sprinkle vanilla salt.

 

To add an individualised touch to the cupcake, I used my rainbow pearls (bought in Hong Kong way back in August last year at a supermarket in Tung Chung) to spell out the first letter of each of their names.

Glad to have met up, GMGs!

With this final post, I come to the end of The Vanilla Series, which I thoroughly enjoyed conceptualising (I like how this word makes it sound as though I did lots of planning and strategising). For future posts, I would definitely like to come up with more themes, perhaps lemon zest, or coconut, or purple food or whatever crazy ideas you guys would like me to try out. Just leave me a comment, and I’m game!

Also, this hurried chain of posting was not because I went mad. Rather, by tomorrow, I will be on my way to eating around Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka until the 3rd of July. I won’t be posting until then, I think.

So little money, so much food to try - Japan, here I come!

 

 

Dessert Tour in Central, Hong Kong

During this trip to Hong Kong, I was very fortunate to have made a new friend whom I shall introduce as The Architect (as seen in The Matrix) of The Brunch Club. Like me, she has a passion for food and baking, and thus invited me on a dessert tour, visiting dessert places around Central that I hadn’t been to, one rainy afternoon.

First up, a bit about The Brunch Club. I’m proud to say that I have visited the cafe at least once in every of my trips to Hong Kong. The first thing that strikes you when you step in is how cozy the place is. There are several tables with sofas, which is perfect for a lazy afternoon with some tea, dessert and of course, catching up on your gossip, fashion, world events etc from the wide variety of magazines available for browsing (and for sale as well).

Note our choice of reading material

We had the salmon omelette (I forgot if it was with bacon or cheese) which comes with toast, a hashbrown and salad. It was delicious and quite enough for two to share. What I like about The Brunch Club is how it isn’t just a cafe to get coffee. It’s like a place to chill with friends, meet new people and basically spend an afternoon away from the hustle of Hong Kong. In the coming year ahead, I definitely see it as one of the places I’ll be spending time in on the weekends.

Okay, back to the tour.

Sweet Secrets (Address: 32 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, 2542-2816)

We shared the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake, which came with a side of fruit and mango sauce. The cake was smooth, and the cheese/chocolate textures and tastes blended well together. The only gripe I had was the addition of the mango sauce, which basically added a confusing level of sweet tartness to the flavours. In any case, I would definitely go back to Sweet Secrets if I ever had a cheesecake craving.

Cake-a-licious (Address: Lower Ground Floor, 11 Lyndhurst Terrace,, Central, 2815221

First of all, the name is simply adorable and very to the point. I always look down into the shop, which is located in the basement, as I walk past, and see an assortment of colourful cupcakes on display. I decided to try the Lemon Cupcake, as I wanted something zesty.

I find that unlike other forms of dessert, the simpler and more unadulterated a cupcake is, the better it tastes. This cupcake fit the bill and left a slightly tart aftertaste without being too saccharine sweet.

Sift Dessert Bar (Address: 46 Graham Street G/F Central Tel: 2530428

I was particularly excited to go to this place because of a reason that I will reveal in July. Sift Dessert Bar pairs desserts with wine, which is a novel concept that is slowing gaining momentum in Singapore (read: 2am:dessertbar). It has an open-kitchen concept, where you can see your dessert being made behind the bar. However, 3pm is rather early for alcohol inhalation, so we settled on:

Sift Chocolate Cake - There is one chocolate cake that I can never resist, and that is one with hazelnut praline in it (I have always wanted to replicate such a cake at home). Every bite of premium chocolate mousse and hazelnut crunch bits was simply heavenly.

My friend’s order was the Ispahan, which, according to the website, is an ”homage to Pierre Herme”.  The lychee ice-cream was incredibly cleansing to the palette, which provided a contrast to the raspberry macaroon filled with lychee buttercream and fresh raspberries.

To say the least, I was on an induced sugar high at the end of the tour, and for several days after that. Of course, for me, desserts always are well worth it. Thank you, The Architect!

“Hiking” at The Peak + Le Petit Paris + Famous actor sighting

Day 6: The Peak (not much eating, just lots of walking)

We spent the morning of Day 6 strolling on The Peak, which is quite a fun, leisurely weekend thing to do. There were some points where our route was almost deterred by the mud, but we managed to come out unscathed and somewhat clean.

 

Michelle really takes very amazing photographs.

This could be a postcard.

Notice Michelle is holding an empty ice cream cone - it used to hold hazelnut gelato.

Day 7: Tea at Le Petit Paris

Address: IFC

If you didn’t have tea in the afternoon while on a holiday in Hong Kong, you would have missed a quintessential experience redolent of its colonial past. So we did just that. Fortunately, the IFC is just an escalator down our place, providing ample choices for our tea party for two. Eventually we settled on Le Petit Paris, which has a lovely harbour view.

Alas, the window seats were not open to tea lovers such as ourselves (only for dinner). Our tea set consisted of four dessert samplings as shown below.

 

From the left:

1. Raspberry mousse with a gelatinous texture - A tad too tart for my liking, but I guess it helped to counter the sweetness of the other desserts.

2. Caramel toffee mud cake - This actually gave Michelle a headache. Perhaps it was much too intense in its flavours.

3. Chocolate tart with raspberries - I liked that they didn’t over-sweeten the cocoa pudding. However, three quarters in, I started to feel like I was eating cocoa powder in the raw.  

4. Cheesecake with raisins, I think - My favourite of the lot. It came slightly frozen, which triggered lovely Sara Lee memories. The texture and flavours were evenly balanced. Yum.

Tea is fun.

After Michelle left for Singapore, I went down to Sang Kee Congee Shop (Address: G/F 7-9 Burd Street, Sheung Wan, 852-2541-1099, 6.30am - 9pm). In the guide, it had shown a very schintillating photograph of its Crab Congee, where it used whole female crabs, and you could stir in the roe. Sadly, there was no crab congee in the menu (perhaps it wasn’t the right season). In any case, I ordered what the guy next to me was having - Fish Congee - and wasn’t disappointed. There were whole large chunks of sweet fresh and light fish meat, which I dipped in the prepared soy and spring onion sauce.

Just when I was deep in concentration in trying to dissect the fish chunks to avoid inhaling bones of any sort, I recognised this Hong Kong veteran actor who was seated right next to me at the table! At first I couldn’t put a name to his face, but I knew I had seen him in several old Hong Kong movies and even a Singapore-produced drama serial (Brave New World - or Xin Ah Lang) back in the 1990s.

The Internet eventually provided the answer - Lau Siu Ming - who has been in several iconic films, namely A Chinese Ghost Story (as the Tree Demon), Police Story (starring Jackie Chan) and Swordsman. Amazing. I was quite awe-struck, I must say, and tried to maintain an elegant demeanor while tackling my fish. Haha. 

I love celebrity sightings!

 

Things I ate in Hong Kong (part 3)

Day 5: Dinner with Cora at Chao Lou restaurant

Address: Address: 10/F, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

On Day 5, we met up with Cora, a fellow foodie who really knows her stuff (she has tried so many restaurants and cafes that I think she should come up with her own Michelin guide!), for dinner at Chao Lou Restaurant, which specialises in Teochew food.

First piece of evidence of her great foodie status - she specifically picked the table which had a magnificent view of Hong Kong and its harbour. I felt as though we were eating amidst the clouds, looking far into the lit-up Hong Kong night.

Second piece of evidence - She managed to get the kitchen to make their Teochew specialities on that night when the restaurant was serving from a special Father’s Day set menu, which consisted of shark’s fin and abalone dishes, basically stuff we didn’t want to order. 

Stuff she ordered:

I like duck. I like lotus roots. I like braised stuff. Therefore, I like this dish.

 

Fried taro and shrimp cakes.

Sliced fish congee - heavenly

Taro chips with coconut sugar - quite avant-garde, I must say. It’s like a dessert AND a savoury in one dish.

Day 5: Dessert at Tang Chao (The Sweet Dynasty)

Address: Somewhere in Tsim Sha Tsui

Opposite the restaurant, which specialises in tong shui, is Louis Vuitton. If you can’t afford anything in it (like myself), you take a photograph outside it!

We had the almond paste dessert and a mixed fruit beancurd pudding. I preferred the former, which had the right amount of sweetness and is said to help improve one’s complexion (what’s not to like about a dessert like that!).

After dessert, we adjourned to Cora’s place, which I hope, one day, I can live in. Nuff’ said.