When NPY booked my ticket to leave Toronto on December 23, the busiest day of the year at airports, we wanted the 7:00 p.m. flight but the last sale-priced seat sold and we crossed our fingers and got the 6:30 p.m. flight although I get off work at 5:30 with little leeway as I am in a support division.

Things could happen like the director closes shop down early. Or I would learn during the day that my flight had been delayed. Or I book leaving work a little early and pray the other factor of getting through traffic is ultra-smooth.

When I left work my flight was still on time and I needed my 5:00 coach to the airport to get to the airport in 45 minutes. It circled and got caught in traffic downtown for 15 minutes getting to the last hotel for pick-up and my New York-bound seatmate who also migrated from Vancouver to seek better opportunities, freaked out.

Once we hit the highway it was smooth sailing and I checked my Air Canada app once again and saw my flight was delayed half an hour! It provided the perfect cushion for me not have to sprint across the airport, get through a light security line, freshen up ahead of sitting for 5 hours and stand in the longest line to pick up grub from Tim Hortons. Always get YYZ Tims. (And YVR Starbucks.)

My flight was further delayed because of some flakey passengers (sigh) and while I love to fly and spend time on airplanes, I got impatient! They also turned the lights out at 10:00 p.m. EST although we were flying “back in time” so I didn’t feel right studying.

All this to bring me safely to my first Vancouver Christmas. Have a good one!

******** This is a blog series complementing my regular blog posts with the original idea was to share our parallel lives, NPY’s and mine, while I’m in Toronto and he’s in Vancouver, 3,400 km away. For me, it’s been pretty fun because I’m this long-time blogger and enjoy repackaging parts of my life in “blog bites”. It’s been more difficult for NPY who hasn’t experienced a change in scenery (although I do not think it is necessary) so I’ll be continuing this with just my photos. I might have something every day. I might not.

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I was back in Vancouver for a whirlwind 48 hours over the weekend to take care of some stuff and as much as the flying exhilerates and energizes me and I try to use it to “gain five extra hours” on my life, I was a little dazed from the non-stop schedule. Both Toronto and Vancouver feel like home; in both cities I see people I love. I see NPY over Skype which is not the same as being there in person but then I see him in person like I have for five years. I would catch myself over the weekend forgetting which city I’m in.

My Foursquare tells me that I’ve been to Pearson, Toronto’s largest airport, four straight weeks which is what happens when my departing flight is on a Friday and I return on a Monday. The other two check-ins occurred when mum came through for a visit in November. Foursquare also tells me that I have traveled 2,081 miles since my last check-in ahead of having a feast of a hot pot meal at Top Gun in Burnaby last night!

When I told Vina about what’s lined up for Christmas, I got a little overwhelmed and mostly because I’m a little ragged from a red eye today. Thanks to NPY’s generosity, I’m headed to Vancouver on the busiest flying day of the year and spending Christmas there, where I’ve never spent Christmas before and with people I’ve never spent Christmas with. I’m back in Toronto on another red eye for a couple days of work then going to Halifax for New Year weekend! It is all manageable given it’s just domestic flights and I’m excited for each flight and trip. I am well aware that my excitement may wane very quickly with holiday travel snares but short of a flight being outright cancelled, I have a smooth system for these short trips to domestic destinations including a great carry-on luggage piece, the e-process down-pat, and ample diversions.

******** This is a blog series complementing my regular blog posts with the original idea was to share our parallel lives, NPY’s and mine, while I’m in Toronto and he’s in Vancouver, 3,400 km away. For me, it’s been pretty fun because I’m this long-time blogger and enjoy repackaging parts of my life in “blog bites”. It’s been more difficult for NPY who hasn’t experienced a change in scenery (although I do not think it is necessary) so I’ll be continuing this with just my photos. I might have something every day. I might not.

< Next | Previous >

Shake Shack (Midtown, Times Square)

We could see the new midtown Shake Shack from BiNK’s apartment and determine that at the time we got into New York and the Times Square area at 2-ish, there was no line out the door so we could not get it out of our mind to not go there immediately. Last time, in 2009, I ordered a hot dog while NPY ordered a Shackburger and we did not share although NPY decided it was the best burger he ever had. That means I spent two whole years of wanting my own!

The magical combination of sirloin, chuck, and brisket was juicy and fragrant and we gobbled our burgers really quickly. NPY wondered in the middle of the trip if we’d go back so we were back at lunch hour on Sunday and it was a zoo! We tried the ‘shroom burger which is an expensive and small burger with the oddest crusted portobello “patty”. We still like the original Shackburger best. Next time, I’m trying the scary-sounding Concrete!

Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien (Midtown)

The Shake Shack visit the day before was unplanned but meeting up with Alfred to check out Burger Joint, “the hidden/secret burger restaurant”, was planned. I think I first heard of the restaurant years ago from ljcfyi blog and “hidden” was something easy to remember while the restaurant has apparently remained popular over the years. For a moment, I worried that it was so hidden I would not find it but I looked for telltale curtains and just around the corner was the little neon sign depicting a burger and an arrow.

It is a tight squeeze in the Burger Joint with the order counter, grill, queuing area, and seating occupying just about 200 sqft (could be my bad estimate) of space. There was an overhead list of instructions to most efficiently give your order and I was so anxious that I forgot to mention how I wanted my meat cooked.

It was a delicious burger nonetheless, very juicy and hearty, and a really fun New York experience to hit up that place.

Bouchon Bakery (Midtown)

Last time, we did walk by Bouchon in Time Warner Center but, for the life of me I don’t know why we didn’t order anything. Perhaps I was looking for something really unique I had never heard of or seen before and I’ve since grown up to accept trying things that I have seen or had before but appreciate a different restaurant’s take on it.

So, after visiting and lingering at the hilariously fun temporary Museum of Conan Art exhibit, we got some coffee and baked goods from Bouchon and, not finding any seats upstairs, enjoyed them in the caf area of Whole Foods on the basement level.

The super chocolate-y pain au chocolat was indeed unique but it frightened me so I ordered an Oreo-looking TKO which I now know stands for Thomas Keller Oreo. The dark chocolate biscuit was soft and chewy and the white chocolate ganache sandwiched in between was a dreamy filling. Alfred’s chocolate macaron was also good but even better was the pistachio one NPY and I got a few days later. And the pistachio one was pretty and green.

Rice to Riches (SoHo)

In 2009, we went to Rice to Riches which I heard about from Lil Sis. We went not once but twice and I got two orange Solo containers and rice pudding spoons which have been great reuseable containers over the years… until I disposed of them during the move a few months ago. It was nothing new to try but we had saved room by not ordering much at Teariffic in Chinatown and I decided not to order anything if they could not accommodate my request for a green container.

Well, you can figure out they did give me a green container and instead of a white/cream-coloured rice pudding I went dessert mode with the chocolate hazelnut rice pudding with toasted pound cake crumbs. The volume of food is large although it is stated to serve one person but I felt fine because it is light on taste with the fun contrasting texture of lumpy rice pudding and crunch crouton-like cake crumbs.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (Brooklyn, DUMBO)

While we did pick up a slice at the pizza shop next to Century 21 in the financial district, it was not the right experience so I picked a couple of pizzerias this time to make sure we had a proper thin-crust New York pizza and we checked that off the list when we went to Brooklyn and queued up to get into the famous Grimaldi Pizzeria under the Brooklyn Bridge.

I imagine there is a constant line to get into the famous eatery and we found the end of it while wondering just how long we would have to queue for starting from 2:30 and if we wouldn’t be full still when we went to dinner. The Asian places we went to so far had clipboards where you sign yourself up but I saw no such system at Grimaldi’s. Instead, we observed the host pop his head out of the restaurant and shout something like, “Two more!” before letting the heavy wood door slam shut. The people at the head of the line would figure out which is the next party of two and they would enter the restaurant. Once, in the 30 minutes we waited, the host came out to see which bigger groups were in line for him to save his bigger tables for.

Upon being seated at our table in the restaurant, a welcome thing, we learned just how they managed to handle the constant crowds. Besides having a very simple menu, we sat cafeteria-style with our two-top table attached to three other two-tops. Being that the place was packed with tourists, it was a bit of a fun style of eating and I could lean over and ask the couple next to us what size pizza they ordered and the two couples to my left struck up a conversation that started with asked how the food was and learning they all hailed from the L.A. area.

While some part of my wonky logic would drive me to order a lot because we waited for half an hour, there were other spots to hit up before dinner and we ordered a six-slice small pizza with three toppings: pepperoni, mushroom, and olives. All the red pizzas came with tomato sauce, cheese, and basil. I would have preferred salami or anything other than the dried hard pepperoni disks, the mushroom was barely there, and thus the olives were relatively overpowering. My crappy selection of toppings aside, the pizza was delicious, with good tomato sauce, really good mozzarella cheese, and thin, fresh crust.

Holey Cream (via Seamless Web)

Oh, the thrill of living in a big, fast, tightly-packed, demanding city: BiNK introduced us to Seamless Web for which they have an account and can order from a mind-boggling variety of restaurants home delivery of good food through one integrated system. She suggested Holey Cream and described a donut ice cream sandwich that made me champion the place even more. I wasn’t going to eat it but I wanted NPY to have it!

I went with a blah fat-free (and it tasted like it) coffee almond frozen yogurt and took over customizing NPY’s donut ice cream sandwich with three different ice cream flavours (red velvet, peanut butter chocolate, cookies & cream), adding waffle pieces, and sprinkling it with pink and purple (they forgot the purple) sprinkles, cocoa puffs, and gummy bears. It took two sittings for NPY to finish this dessert.

Norma’s at Le Parker Meridien (Midtown)

BiNK raves about Norma’s and takes all her visitors which means she knows her way around the menu very well. We were green newbies by comparison. I checked out the menu the night before and marveled just how inventive their brunch menu is. Despite that, NPY ordered the most normal eggs benedict where the twist was using pancakes instead of English muffins… so his is not pictured! I ordered the Super Cheesy French Toast and started to get anxious that I would just die from the volume and cheesiness. It was ultimately manageable (unlike the Foie Gras French Toast, I hear) with a cheese-coated ultra-flakey croissant-like bun and most crispy applewood smoked bacon. The accompanying gravy was thin but very savoury to dip some toast and the greens. The potato pancakes were ordered for us all to share but I couldn’t appreciate it much after working and putting away my own meal. The pancakes were okay but it was the sweet carrot puree that I did not initially see as complementing potato so much that was tasty.

BiNK raved about and ordered the Waz-za which is an innocent-looking Belgian waffle  topped with fresh fruit and stuffed with something like a thick and creamy yogurt fruit smoothie. The bananas were slightly seared for the brulee effect and taste. They also ordered the Artychoked Benedict which I would have wanted NPY to order–all he needs is for the poached egg to be present–but couldn’t vouch for the creation until it arrived and is just about the best Benedict idea ever. Instead of Hollandaise sauce that makes my head reel to think about, they used a truffled porcini sauce, a perfect complement to artichokes. I loved my taste of it but it still might have make me keel over if I had to eat a full or even half portion.

Southern Hospitality (Midtown)

BiNK pointed out Southern Hospitality one night but could not recommend we go there for food. And that it is owned by Justin Timberlake whom NPY likes. The next night, we were only looking for somewhere to drink and traditional places like “social” did not appeal and other places like Ember Room were full. At least we could say that we had been to JT’s restaurant. And they had free wi-fi!

Which meant I could check into Southern Hospitality on FourSquare and learn that NPY’s Coors Lite could be comped and he decided we could order an appetizer, at the risk of ruining our appetite for dinner later, and we went with fried green tomatoes, a Southern classic dish neither of us had tried before. They came three to the dish with BBQ ranch dipping sauce. The crust was beautiful, uniformly crispy and fresh and the green tomatoes were firm and a touch sour. It was a good choice that nearly seemed healthy!

Lobster Place in Chelsea Market (Chelsea)

“What’s Chelsea and why are we going there?” NPY asked. I didn’t really know what we were getting into but our afternoon in Chelsea was really nice. It reminded us of a bigger version of Gastown and there were wondrous sights. After eating, we would walk along the High Line which was a really nice and efficient way to walk uptown, but first we went to Chelsea market which I warned him would be like Granville Island’s prepared food section… only better!

The bakeries like Fat Witch and Eleni’s were nice to visit but I wanted a small meal and I was holding out for a meat pie from the Tuck Shop and/or a proper clam chowder from the Lobster Place.

Lobster Place is a seafood market that reminds me of home (Clearwater on Bedford Highway) with fresh and stinky seafood being sold and prepared food offered at the back. A row of serve-yourself soup cauldrons were on a table and it was a no-brainer to go with the red Manhattan clam chowder over the creamy New England clam chowder. The chowder had broken clams and potato and was hearty and just the right small meal to tide us over to the next place!

Dancing Goat Coffee

I’ve long enjoined NPY to take us to Nanaimo and he’s been perplexed why. Well, there’s a great spa everyone talks about in Parksville and Nanaimo might be go for something, being such a familiar name. I was only right on the first count and Nanaimo is famous just because of their confection bar. Otherwise, it is a bit of a drive-through town on your way to something prettier, like Comox Valley or what have you.

In any case, the ferry deposited us in Nanaimo, The Harbour City, and coming from a harbour city, I wanted to compare and contrast. (Halifax wins.) We also got some breakfast since we took a nice and early ferry and didn’t eat on board.

Dancing Goat Coffee has a nice deal on breakfast, $6 for eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, and coffee. We couldn’t really argue and enjoyed its outdoor patio from which you can glimpse the harbour through some trees. We took a different path back to the car and came across Mon Petit Choux Cafe which was more happening and we’ll stop there next time we’re just passing through.

Cherry Point Vineyards

The 90-minute drive between Nanaimo and Victoria took us all day because we broke it up with many stops. After we hit a couple of tourist attractions in Chemainus and Duncan, NPY wanted something a little more grown-up and we started noting the winery signs along the highway. Cherry Point Vineyards was not a large detour after we left Duncan so we stopped by there shortly before they closed for the day.

We did the wine tasting and tried the 2009 Ortega-Siegerrebe (sweetness 1, very light and pleasant, we bought a bottle), a rose (tasted tart as expected and kind of artificial, we did not enjoy it), and Cowichan Blackberry (one of their dessert wines, a deep red with a nice spiciness that definitely pulled by on the sweetness which was rated 8; we also bought a bottle, just $19).

Ferris Oyster Bar 

Upon NPY’s colleague’s recommendation, we hit up Ferris Oyster Bar the first night we were in town. NPY gave me a choice between Ferris and Il Terrazzo and I went for the one with flair and a more special meal.

We aren’t raw oyster eaters so I ordered the baked oysters sampler where we could try all six creations. I also ordered an oyster chowder and crab melt. We were not shying away with some non-seafood main!

I was really happy the oyster sampler arrived in separate dishes instead of in the shell as I meant for NPY and me to share every last one of them. We started with the Rockefeller which was a nice and savoury way to start. Then we had the Seahorse (horseradish, butter, lemon) which was tasty but you couldn’t taste the horseradish. Next we had Cornelius (cornflakes, butter, fresh thyme) which I thought tasted like candied onions–I kept trying to scrape the cornflakes off the dish. Half way through, we attacked the Bottecelli (pecorino romano, cracked pepper, lemon, breadcrumb) which was so pungent the toppings overpowered the poor oyster. In the home stretch, I finally got us to try Beach roast (fresh lemon, tabasco) which had a delayed heat sensation and it was a nice and clean oyster to be our penultimate. I saved the Webster’s boot factory (crab, smoked salmon, cream cheese) for last because it looks like a small decadent meal. It was indeed with great flavours of dill and the oyster in addition made it a most sinful seafood trio.

I loved how the server was considerate enough to bring each of our dishes separately so we did not have to worry about the next dish cooling, like the oyster chowder. It was thin but so creamy with delicate little halved potatoes and two plump oysters. I don’t know what the green oil drizzled over was. Crudely, I thought it tasted like a liquid Alfredo… but better. As we ate the last baked oyster, I realized that our crab melt might very well be topped with some similar mixture (minus the oyster, alas) and I was right. The previous two courses were quite filling so I was happy our “main” was just a baguette each with a salad preceding it to temporarily cut the rich taste. I ate the last baked oyster wanting more dilly crab goodness and the crab melt-topped baguette was perfect.

Ottavio Italian Bakery & Delicatessan

The next morning, we set out for Oak Bay which I vaguely recall running through during my first marathon back in 2006. While I just followed the other runners, NPY actually referred to the marathon route and a map to find places to meet me and so he recognized more than I did. Contrary to what I thought, shops and cafes do not line the beach so after we did glimpse the sandy stretch (pretty), we looked around Oak Bay Avenue for food. Ottavio is a perfectly groomed house abutting a gallery both elegantly set up for Oak Bay explorers.

All I ordered was a coffee and a caprese panini and the total came to over $11! What a tourist-oriented place! I was starving so I though the panini was perfect with thick slices of tomato, fresh bocconicci melted just right, and really savoury ciabatta that was generously herb-buttered.

Abkhazi Gardens Restaurant

For just a few hours later, I had planned for us to visit Abkhazi Garden and enjoy afternoon tea. I do very much want to visit the famed Buchart Garden but the admission is tremendously steep and I did not turn up any deals. Abkhazi admission was $10 each and I dragged NPY around slowly to photograph every neat and colourful flower and take portraits with the beautiful, lushly green backdrop.

I called in advance to inquire about afternoon tea and to make a reservation. I did not need to make a reservation and tea consists of a selection from three teas (all from Silk Road Tea) and three tea pastries. I ordered the Royal Abkhazi blend “Russian style”, scones, and a lemon bar.

“Russian style” tea means to add strawberry jam to it and drink it black or with milk added. I was modest with my jam and did not really taste it. When I did, I must say I didn’t really take to it (perhaps because we were eating already sweet dishes), but I can try it at other times! Although the service was tremendously slow, the server was really nice and offered that we could have one each of strawberry and buttermilk scones. They are a generous size and warm from the oven. NPY enjoyed the scones particularly for even if they were mass-produced, they baked to comforting fluffiness. The lemon delight bar was garnished beautifully and it was a lovely treat to top off our afternoon tea on the patio overlooking the garden. The crust seemed to be partly mixed in with the curd which is different but with good crust, it was tasty anyhow.

Veneto Tapas Lounge

Based purely on the menu, I selected Veneto Tapas for our second night. I was a little nervous because NPY doesn’t usually take to tapas so well and you just never know if it will be worth it. Reviews for the place were also quite good. While NPY nailed down a main dish, I wanted to maximize the tastes we would experience so I ordered a trio of tapas.

It was a little difficult to choose but ultimately I selected the chicken tapas trio (why must the vegetarian one be all spicy?) and was fairly pleased with the size of the portions. We dug into the red curry marinated chicken wings first which was pretty light in flavour. Only when the order arrived did I clue in that “chicken salad” meant the sandwich filling but I was not displeased because the chicken was smooth and tender, the bacon was smokey, nuts gives it flavour and crunch, and the baguette was Texan-style with herb butter. Then we moved onto the center bowl of tetrazzini that was very grown up pasta. The flavour of sherry was strong and the pasta was creamy, smokey, and addictive. The Thai shrimp linguine was the “meat” of the meal but it was weaker in my opinion. There was nothing special about the curry sauce used and the pasta was a little overcooked even, but the shrimp were big and fresh and we surprised ourselves leaving satisfied and full.

Floyd’s Diner

NPY requested a brunch place for our third day so with the help of Yelp, I picked Floyd’s Diner. I wasn’t quite prepared for just how retro and hipster the place would be. Their menu is super fun and I was torn between several items and NPY advised me to get the hash. He, of course, went with the eggs Benedict. I sincerely wished he would get the American Idol benny with avocado, bacon, brie, and pesto hollandaise sauce but he’s a big boy who can order for himself. At least he got the pesto hollandaise sauce, for what it’s worth.

After receiving my B.C. Hash and digging in for a few bites, I stopped the waiter to ask if it was a half-size they brought me and he confirmed it was, laughing that he is often asked that. I did not sign up for so much food! Until you get full (rather quickly), the savoury combination of salsa on eggs and potato and thick sausage is really good. I think the cheese pushed me over very quickly. Being so full and not even done my dish, I only had a bite of NPY’s Eggs Ben-Hur which had roasted vegetables.

Victoria Soda Shoppe

NPY was the one interested in the Soda Shoppe and after I felt like the gelato shops were a huge rip off ($6.95+tax for two scoops), I was on board. While large boards showed beautiful ice cream creations in logo’ed cups, the disposable cups were nothing to photograph. Who wants to see an already melting ice cream float picture?

It seems most shops (at least the tourist ones) is on board with Island Farms and we were glad to have it, too. I merely got a Rocky Road cone while NPY got, of all weird tastes, a mint chocolate chip root beer float. Not being a soda drinker, I don’t really get floats. I thought the tastes would not work out but he quite liked it.

Ebizo Japanese Restaurant

Haha, two and a half days away and we finally succumbed to an Asian meal. For this one, I let NPY find a restaurant as I felt my good-restaurant-finding mojo was drying up.

After Vancouver, the prices are just appalling with nigiri starting at $1.95, no udon noodle soups, and rice bowls starting around $12. On principle, we just weren’t going to go nuts. The salmon don salmon was fresh and NPY loved the rice. I ate my share of negitoro roll which was adequate.

Irish Times Pub

We kept passing by a couple of similar-looking pubs on Douglas and one that stood out in particular, for personal reasons, was the Bard & Banker. The heritage building housing it is beautiful but when it came down to where to enjoy a pint (as they say), I picked Irish Times Pub which looked more happening, “cooler”, and piping out music from a live band. The only problem we found was that while trying to be cool on the patio, we were constantly inhaling secondhand smoke as there was a couple of spots that seemed to be logical for smokers to stand by and smoke. Ugh.

At Veneto I had seen they had a trio of desserts for $9 and I wanted to stuff that in as well but refrained. So it was do-over time when Irish Times had a trio as well. I love having a selection and feeling power in having a choice. There were four desserts to chose from and I ignored the Guinness chocolate brownie.

We started with the apple rhubarb crumble because it was warm and the vanilla bean ice cream was melting fast. We enjoyed it as much as we could with the tartness I think comes from rhubarb. Next we attacked the orchard fruit & white chocolate bread pudding. The white and dark chocolate was so wonderfully rich, punctuated with dried apricot and cranberry. We dipped each bite in the Irish Cream sauce that was pooled beneath and I reveled in bread pudding–I don’t know how I didn’t know it before. We took a short break before topping the dessert off with the Bailey’s Creme Brulee. It was good, grown-up and smooth and light and a perfect wrap to the trio.

The Local Kitchen

After a couple of evenings in Victoria walking around the same streets along the waterfront, we got quite used to seeing The Local Kitchen at the corner of Bastion Square. It looked like a cool place to go and although there was no brunch items, the lunch looked really good.

NPY ordered the turkey club sandwich which I assured him would be cut into quarters and be good. Not only was it not cut into quarters (because it would then look ridiculous), it was supertall! NPY did not like it much and unfortunately I could not share my dish with him. I ordered the salmon burger which was listed to have Asian slaw and peanut sauce. It did not advertise that it was a spicy sauce. (I don’t think it did.) I certainly did not order it for the Asian slaw and flavour and learned through disappointment that salmon burger does not equal salmon sandwich as a burger means a patty. I also wasn’t very thrilled with the tomato basil soup that I ordered instead of fries. NPY pinpointed it when he commented that it tasted like pasta sauce.

Our rooms were on the 33rd floor (a Preferred Guest Level), giving us a two-day preview of the ultra-coolness that the other couple will have living in the sky when they move into the 33rd floor of a condo later this year. Plus, the gym and pool were on the 35th and top floor (I’m so envious) and, being a relaxed getaway trip, we had the time to enjoy those amenity, too.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant

We left after work on Friday night and watched the clock a little nervously. Would we make it to M&S for their happy hour which features super-duper prices? We did make it in time, even with a much-needed stretch break at a Walmart along the way; happy hour goes until 12:30 a.m. and we arrived around 11:30. Cari and I enjoyed kiwi refreshers with all-natural (?)  fruit ingredients forming the mixer. It was a tasty way to start the weekend!

In all, we didn’t sample the happy hour menu so widely but we got a good deal nonetheless. NPY found wi-fi (as he always does, it seems) and didn’t bother perusing the menu–he asked if any happy hour items came with fries and ordered the cheeseburger ($2.95) because it did. As it turned out, the three guys ordered burgers while the three girls ordered shrimp quesadilla ($3.95). We also added some orders of Buffalo chicken bites ($3.95) and prawns. NPY laughed because he thought his burger platter was the best deal and he may have been right! Still, variety is the spice of life.

Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery

The girls got ready to head out for a morning stroll while the guys carried out their favourite activity: playing on their smartphones when they got their big plush hotel beds to themselves. We didn’t have to walk far from our centrally-located Sheraton to happen on Specialty’s Cafe. From the outside, we could glimpse the bakery display and we stopped in. At least it wasn’t a Starbucks.

I went for a chocolate cream cheese croissant which combines two of my favourite breakfast pastries: cream cheese danish and chocolate croissant. I told Cari about how I first tasted danish from Silver Spoon (long since closed) in Halifax, how it had the crumbly cheese that is so hard to find these days. I often hopefully sample danishes to seek out the same crumbly cheese. Specialty’s certainly was not, using a custard-like cheese recipe. On top of that, both my cheese and Cari’s breakfast bread were flavoured with almond extract. Not awful, but not necessary. It was still a warm,  yummy flakey, chocolately pastry and it was a really nice breather to hang out with the girls in a European-esque cafe.

Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant

We went to Green Leaf in the International District because Olive’s parents recently went to Seattle and handed off their recommendations–they are really helpful! We ordered the Vietnamese pancake on their suggestion and I ended up getting the combination bun (vermicelli) dish. We were served with green leaf lettuce to wrap the omelette but found it awkward and mostly didn’t bother with the greens. After just one bite, I wondered aloud if anyone thought the omelette tasted like a Chinese pastry and soon after, Ed identified the taste like that of the innards of a cocktail bun (雞尾包), that is, there was some coconut paste in the omelette.

I ordered a bun (vermicelli) dish which precludes sharing with NPY who was happy to order pho (noodle soup). Sometimes pho just doesn’t cut it for me and I want dry noodles livened up with their clear sweet and sour fish sauce. I ended up ordering Olive’s mother’s suggestion, the combo dish because I hoped the spring roll indicated was the cha gio. It wasn’t, but the filling was much like it, ground meat and vegetables.

The restaurant is deceptively small-looking but we were lead upstairs to another dining level with cool wooden armchairs and benches with big wheel designs on the seat backs.

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese

What’s a visit to Seattle without a trip to Pike Market? After our Vietnamese lunch and another trip back to the hotel to refresh, we meandered down Pike Street towards the water and braved a snap windstorm that turned my Hong Kong souvenir umbrella inside out to form a stiff tulip. We visited in turn oft-dreamed-of Piroshky Piroshky for my warm onion, mushroom, potato piroshky and to snap a picture a the first Starbucks.

Cari told us about hearing about Beecher’s macaroni and cheese and how Oprah loves it so we were happily helping her look for the shop, about a block away from the Starbucks. We wolfed down a larger container of the most comforting mac ‘n’ cheese and I identified a graininess to the sauce that I was so sure came from butternut squash… except it’s not part of the recipe, which is clearly identified in a recipe book for sale in the shop–the sauce is purely cheesy goodness. While we sighed and enjoyed the pasta, we watched workers in the factory carry out the “cheddaring” process of making cheese–it seemed like the guy in the group most intolerant of cheese was most fascinated with the process of making it!

Cheesecake Factory

Gosh, I think I need a new camera. Not an SLR but something that can handle low-light better than mine (that was good once upon a time).

The Cheesecake Factory is just around the corner from our hotel and taunted us every day so we went there for our splashy pre-Valentine’s Day dinner. No reservations were allowed so a few of us went earlier and hung out in the bar which was a fun reprieve from spending the 40 minutes in the crazy crowd milling around the foyer. Why do so many people (presumably not all tourists) risk waiting an indefinite period of time with their dinner group at a very franchise restaurant? Because the menu is so large everyone can find something.

By this point, NPY and I are feeling the effects of eating out every meal for a day and our strategy that keeps our bodies happy is to order between us one salad and one heartier dish. But Olive mentioned enjoying shrimp scampi the last time and I couldn’t push it out of my head! I tried to talk myself into a salad, or a less pricey pasta dish with similar ingredients (but the helpful nutrition booklet told me the calories were more) and both NPY and I ended up with pasta–I am so susceptible to suggestion! Of course battered shrimp makes me very happy and the sauce was brilliantly tasty and although not a lot, enough to entirely coat the angel hair. NPY’s tomato basil penne with pesto chicken was light and the pasta dishes were complementary in flavour. They were also tasty enough for me to pawn off a good portion of my dish to NPY so I could save room for dessert….

While some people were sold on the special cheesecake containing peanut butter and chocolate cake, I zeroed in on the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake (what it looks like under normal light, just brilliant) which, despite being vastly full, I couldn’t stop eating. So smooth and slightly tart cheesecake. Such moist cake.

Dahlia Bakery

Olive asks if I’ve heard of Tommy Douglas and like the good little Canadian I am, I have heard of Tommy ‘Father of Medicare’ Douglas. Seattle Tommy Douglas, however, is an entrepreneur and owns a restaurant group. While we waited for a table for brunch at Tommy Douglas’ Lola, we walked by his Dahlia Lounge to check out the goods at his Dahlia Bakery.

We all spotted the chocolate eclairs lined up prettily in the displace case and ribbed NPY, alerting him to the “Long Johns”  he could order. You could say he blushed in protest but he quickly succumbed and got one. He made me have some and the one-quarter I had was delicious–more like a cream puff in pastry texture with vanilla bean custard. Cari ordered made-to-order donuts that came with (apricot?) jam and marscapone cream cheese for spreading. They were dusted with cinnamon-sugar and fresh-made hot and delicious.

Lola

If you look at the menu, Lola primarily serves Greek and Mediterranean food but they have a good brunch menu–Olive told us Lola’s appeared amongst the best in Seattle for brunch so I was happy for the continuation of my brunch routine with an expanded circle and in a different city!

I ordered an omelette because it sounded lighter than the Lola breakfast of eggs, sausage, potatoes and toast that–funny enough–all the guys ordered. Garlic smashed potatoes is an interesting and tasty concept with lots of garlic encrusting roasted potatoes. The baguette presumably came from Dahlia Bakery across the street and was really tough! And the omelette was perfect to cap off a weekend of frantic and non-stop dining out!

Olive gave us fair warning about the pork-maple sausage, that it was on the sweet side but I liked it because it really cut through the heaviness, in my opinion. I also glanced over at Ran’s scrambled eggs and although I had a folded egg, I coveted his because they were so fluffy and creamy and tasted every bit as good as it looked–I didn’t get a picture and can only show you NPY’s over-easy eggs.

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Going bonkers for Luna and Clif bars

It was a blog post at Lynn Chen’s The Actor’s Diet blog that set me off seeking out Clif bars, after I saw she had a Clif Lemon Bar. I don’t usually buy energy/meal replacement bars because they are horribly marked up sold individually and in Canada so I wouldn’t know the Canadian flavour offerings but $1 per bar was too good to pass up. Cari was also keen on different flavours, having tried all Canada has to offer when London Drugs sells 10 Clif bars for $10. I didn’t find the Clif Lemon Bar as I only got to look for them at Walmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond (falls under the “Beyond” category, I do believe).

So far, I’ve tried the Luna Lemon Zest–my first Luna bar–and found it tasted like a lemon-frosted rice Krispie bar. Unlike any other bar sold in the same section as Luna, I couldn’t stop eating it and there was no weird after taste. However, I was really hungry at the time… still it was good.

Oedo Japanese Restaurant

After being “on the road” for two weeks and having only all different manners of Chinese food, NPY and I were starting to crave Japanese food. It is good in Hong Kong but definitely doesn’t come cheap. NPY’s cousin was so sweet to seek out and give several suggestions from which I chose Oedo–didn’t have the energy to be very fashionable, it was in North Point which is my old “hood” in HK, and we could be guaranteed a table.

I can’t remember what the circumstances were but NPY decided to order just a tomato beef ramen. Meanwhile, his cousin and I flipped through the menu while also glancing at the set dinner for two with eight items and decided to go for the latter, adding a special sushi to ensure it was all enough for three people.

I’ve never before had omakase and this still did not qualify but at least it felt a bit like it–I wouldn’t know to order what we ended up getting but it was all very coincidentally suited my palate!

We started with a small sashimi plate with scallop, salmon, and shrimp. I got through the scallop and shrimp first, saving the best–salmon!–for last. We got more salmon in a marinated thinly sliced second dish. I can’t remember the flavour but it was light and really tasty.

The next two dishes were very meat. When I was younger, I hated green onions (蔥) and picked them out even when they were small pieces, much to Mum’s chagrin. She, like many Chinese mothers to be sure, said that if I did not eat my green onions, I wouldn’t be clever (聰明) because onions and clever (the first part) are homonymic. Now I’m all grown up and I learned that I’ll eat green onions if they are not completely raw and if they are wrapped with mostly thinly sliced beef and grilled to medium raw. Our other meat dish was the teppanaki foie gras served on baguette. It was heavenly.

Next a dish of some tempura vegetables and shrimp. Then another highlight in the form of an egg custard with a sea urchin. I very quickly removed what looked like cilantro contaminating my egg custard and enjoyed the delicate egg custard interspersed with nibbling on sea urchin. I still won’t order sea urchin but if it happens to come with my meal, I enjoy how it has the taste and texture a bit like lobster roe.

The final two set dinner items I did not partake in, so full I was. A wonderfully looking vegetable udon in pork bone soup, and a choice of ice creams from which we selected strawberry and green tea, both of which NPY ate. :)

The two dishes we ordered on the side we ended up sharing equally. I’m used to ordering tomato beef broth with my Taiwanese noodles but it was a first for Japanese ramen. It was so tasty and we suspected the secret ingredient was a healthy dose of MSG. NPY’s cousin thought it was the best dish of the evening. The other side dish was this innovative sushi of Wagyu-wrapped dynamite rolls. At our request, the beef was lightly seared which left it a very fragrant and meaty sushi roll.

Super Star Seafood Restaurant

I have a cousin in HK who lived in Canada many years, as it turned out, but I did not meet him until I moved to Vancouver and he very intermittently visits since he’s moved back to Hong Kong. I saw him once in 2005 or so and was quite nervous about seeing him only for the second time in my life, in 2010. It turned out to be no sweat and a very nice time, even though we waited about 30 minutes for a table at Super Star, around the corner from our hotel. You see, it was hairy crab (毛蠏) season and Super Star happened to be close and one of only a few restaurants serving it he thought worth bringing me to.

I could translate the menu but this post would be much later going out so I’ll try to navigate this by fast-fading memory.

The little dish of crispy fried anchovies/silverfish wouldn’t normally entice me–those black pepper eyes!–but I was hungry and discovered upon my first bite that their crunch and slight saltiness overrode any other anxiety I had. The meal started with a small cold platter of “Chinese ham” and a Chinese salad with tofu strings and a melon-like vegetable that did not appeal to me.

We were each presented with one Shanghai pork dumpling (小龍包). My cousin told me that some crab roe was used in the soup to flavour it and continue the theme of the meal.

When I saw the first two crabs, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I don’t eat crabs–being a lobster girl from the east coast–but I knew there couldn’t be much meat to the crabs only the size of my hand. My cousin taught me the steps to disassemble a crab but I cannot recall them now except to remove the delicate lung else ingesting it would make me very nauseated. We were only going after the roe in the big shell and kind of sucking out some leg meat for show. And I learned that there would actually be three sets of crabs: a pair of males, a pair of females, then a pair of males, each set bigger and better quality than the last. Now, that’s a meal!

As we were about finishing working on our third set of crabs, a congee-like soup was brought out. It cleansed our palates and was the most deliciously flavoured congee/soup. Balance was in order and I enjoyed the dish of stir-fried melons that followed.

Finally, we finished the dinner with a steamer of glutinous rice. The flavour was good and my cousin told me that it’s the perfect winter dish for the glutinous rice is warming–and I was thinking, like Hong Kongers really need warming! It was a memorable meal on so many levels.

H One

I may have been the most excited of the four of us that C2 spontaneously booked a Hong Kong trip and arrived the day before we left and stayed in the same hotel. And so it was with some anxiety when I selected a place we could brunch–show off Hong Kong to the C who hadn’t been to before, while also seeing NPY and myself off in style. It seemed like a safe bet to take us to a restaurant in one of the IFC towers although I didn’t know exactly what to expect in terms of the menu (the site is Flash-based, grr, and trying to research on my iPad was impossible).

When we were lead to our table, we walked by the long buffet bar so it was not too difficult to decide on their Sunday Lunch Experience which included a visit to their “Italian counter” buffet, select from a list of entrees, and a dessert for HKD$388.

From the sounds of “Italian counter”, we expected only the proscuitto, tomatoes, mozzarella, cantaloupe. So it was delightful to find mini quiches, pasta salad, ceviche, and sushi! I was also really happy that I had “copied” Cari and gotten the roast of the day because it was perfectly cooked and the sauce made it even better. We debated what “dessert surprise” could mean for the dessert item and thought it was the just the coffee and biscotti/cookie we were automatically served. But it turned out there was a dessert buffet. A made-to-order creme brulee was just too nice to pass up but otherwise, I was so full from our big brunch!

It was a perfect sending-off day and we strolled around Platform 4 of IFC that was about ten storeys above ground, a rooftop terrace with a clear view of Kowloon. It was  moment of perfection that I was so happy to spend with NPY and friends.

We also went to Yung Kee–an HK establishment famous for their roasted goose and we got the star treatment dining on their third floor–and Jasmine. Even though we had quite a nice dim sum set at Jasmine, it just wasn’t as interesting although I surely have the photos for commemorative purposes.

After we got back from China/HK, my earned Aeroplan points showed up and the table showing my Air Canada Status Miles Earned showed I earned 11,648 in 2010 and 3018 in 2009. That’s it?! Those numbers correspond with the round-trip mileage to China and one-way from New York, respectively. What about the puny 1,440 Aeroplan miles I earn with each round-trip Air Can flight to Halifax (total distance actually 4 times that number)?

A little investigation shows that since I buy the cheapest (Tango) flights–$800 a round trip, if I’m lucky–I earn only 25% of the full miles and they are non-status miles. If I would pay 25% more for a Tango Plus flight, I could earn 100% of the full miles and they are status ones. Something to think about next flight??

It’s kind of sad and ungrateful but in the days leading up to my usual December 23 departure from Vancouver, NPY and I wallow about having to be apart (the weather in Vancouver wasn’t so great we could distract ourselves frolicking downtown and soaking up Christmas spirit) and I moan about how much of my money and vacation days end up in the black hole that is returning to my hometown because my parents run their own business and won’t/can’t retire or step away. Vacationing endlessly in Halifax during the best (single) years of my life frustrates me to no end!

The tally I recently made maddens me even more: Since moving to Vancouver in August 2004, I’ve gone back to Halifax all 7 Christmases, all 6 Mother’s Days (to work), once for Lil’ Sis’ grad, once to participate in a wedding, and August last year to work… and I may have forgotten one other time. Sixteen trips to Halifax in in 6.5 years. ACK!

Oriental Bay International Beijing Hotel

This 5-star hotel on Beijing’s second ring road was not as ill-situated as I originally thought. It was very close to 皷樓 大街 subway station and the immediate area offered some restaurant and shops variety.

The first thing we realized was how a China 5-star hotel is 3-star by our standards and we were surprised by the lack of certain creature comforts, like a shower curtain, wireless Internet, and a working thermostat. I had hoped and hoped before the tour started that the hotel would change as it did for NPY’s parents and we’d also be set up at the Ritz-Carlton, but no such luck. The shower curtain thing was a weird and frustrated fiasco: there were rings and a rod for a shower curtain and the hotel staff feigned not knowing what we were asking for before telling us that all the rooms in the hotel were not equipped with shower curtains. Rather than going out to buy one–and learning that things just aren’t where you thought you would find them–we made do with a showerhead on a cord and I got through it reminding myself of the months I endured showering in a horrid little Hong Kong bathroom. At least the Beijing bathroom conditions were spacious and I felt clean.

It being a Beijing brand hotel, after the tour group of old Canadian folks left, all that remained were Chinese businessmen. The environment of that was palpable when we would have our breakfast in the hotel restaurant, surrounded by them getting their morning grub.

Courtyard Marriott in Hong Kong’s Western District

For months, I Pricelined for a hotel in Hong Kong, tremendously tempted by the winning bids of $84 I saw posted on BetterBidding.com. I didn’t get it for nearly that price–sad–but still saved on having to pay $200 a night as well. And when I started to make our itinerary in earnest after the hotel was booked, I was in dismay that it was actually off the MTR line. Whoops.

It was a beautiful hotel, in keeping with the standards of an international brand like Marriott, and nicer than American ones I’ve stayed in–swank, really professional staff, beautiful rooms. It’s no wonder it has a 4.5 rating on Trip Advisor where I think it lost 0.5 star unfairly for its location.

The location wasn’t so bad, actually. We walked around the first night and NPY could see real Hong Kong, old Hong Kong. As he puts it, it’s Chinatown on every corner, a convenience store and bakery on every block, repeat on the next block. There is a complimentary shuttle in the morning to Central that kind of keeps you on schedule to catch it! We took a tram back to the hotel one rainy, crowded night and NPY was miserable, so after, we only took cabs from the hotel to the nearest MTR (subway) station. The short cab ride only cost us HKD$20 which is just around CAD$3!

Wynn Macau

Given NPY likes the trappings of Las Vegas, going to Macau is a simple day trip from Hong Kong, and we were in the region for ten days, I booked a Macau getaway and where else would we stay but at the Wynn?? (I haven’t stayed at the Wynn Las Vegas yet but of course I aim for that).

I’m a little I intrigued why Wynn was built in Macau Island and not on the Cotai Strip on Taipa Island that will future rival the Las Vegas Strip, where the Venetian and Hard Rock Hotel stand and many more Vegas-style hotel casinos are under construction. Wynn’s neighbor is the uber-extravagant Grand Lisboa which you can see from any part of the city and correspondingly navigate yourself to the Wynn, I guess.

I loved all the branding (of course) and our room was super luxe–cheapest one at $270/night but laid out like a suite. I loved the half hour I spent by the pool, writing a postcard to my sister–a slice of paradise to top off our stay. It seemed like there was extra attention to detail and nothing was too small to throw the high end products at.

Kowloon Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui

When we went to Hong Kong to summer when I was younger, we lived on the east end in North Point and Fortress Hill. Thus my first choice of hotel was on HK Island and I went for the Courtyard Marriott above. But leaving and checking out of our hotel to go to Macau gave us the opportunity to try a different hotel and in the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) area that really developed since my last visit.

The Kowloon Hotel is really centrally located and looks fabulous on its website but it’s a serious case of buyer beware: really tiny, kind of smoky, kind of humid, and ridiculously priced for a 3-star hotel by American standards. It is rated 4-star like the Marriott earlier but not an international brand. It’s clean, I’ll give it that, and they “upgraded” me to receive free wireless Internet, a daily HKD$120 (CAD$15) value. I’m just so disappointed after six days in really swank hotels to end up in a dump by comparison. :(

Note: Our friends C2 arrived in Hong Kong the day before we left and their travel agent booked them into the Kowloon Hotel and I warned them as soon as I knew!! However, they were put into a room on the 11th floor, compared to my they-hate-us 3rd floor, a marked difference. Their room was renovated with the requisite 4-star details–carpeting, bathroom stylings, leather headboard, glass work table–such that the same cramped area looked and felt larger. That was an appropriate room fitting of their advertisements!

Shoe shop in Silk Market

My first shopping experience in China was at Silk Market, a “seven-storey shopping mecca”. Our tour guide didn’t seem enthused that we would make our way there during our free day but I wanted to visit this tourist spot with no other preconception than my aunt’s written instruction, “Bargain at least 60% off”. 60% off, really? The poor merchants! But I was not willing to be a sucker tourist, although I may as well be, with no conversational skills whatsoever in Mandarin.

Walking into Silk Market was like walking into a storage warehouse but each 8′x8′ “store” is packed to the gills with counterfeit goods and repeated in the next “store”. NPY felt the lack of ventilation right away and was bothered by the “shop” owners loitering in the aisles, ringing off their name brands to invite you to take a further look. We only made it to a few floors: the bottom floor of shoes and bags that nearly keeled us over with the leather smell, and the first two clothing floors. My head turned at the sight of bright Harajuku Lovers bags but I was really intimidated by the idle shopkeepers watching their neighbours’ transactions because it was not busy at all on a Tuesday afternoon.

It’s common knowledge how awful Chinese shopkeepers can be, of the old generation: if you try on something, it’s not surprising if they have a small hissy fit if you don’t buy it. In a rules-be-damned market like Silk Market, it’s even harder to walk away after you’ve tried something and the little shopkeeper girl clamped her hand on my arm even when I made my voice firm and I thought I had to hit or push her. The scariest part was how the neighbour shopkeepers minded their own business despite the scene arising.

Lo Wu Commercial City in Shen Zhen

For our second shopping experience, we were fully prepared for more of the same at Lo Wu Commercial City 羅湖商業成, the five-storey shopping center right at the border between Hong Kong and Shen Zhen (China).

However, it turned out to be a well-ventilated and bright mall that throughout the day hides the craziness that comes with Chinese people selling highly marked up counterfeit goods. If you asked at the right shop, they will lead you to another shop whose winders were covered with garbage bags, hiding a room lined with shelves of bags and wallets–the products seemed unappealing, having been rifled through, dropped, and dented by previous customers. In what looks like a watch store, the salesperson will try to interest you in wallets, shoes, whatever, because every shopkeeper can produce the “counterfeit catalogue” you flip through and “order” the goods for inspection. The shopkeepers call up and a system of delivery boys appear several minutes later, delivering the product from the shop’s warehouse in the basement or wherever. The funnest part was the “spas” in the mall: shops with flimsy cheap white curtains poorly hiding hideous tan leather-esque recliners lined up with no space in between. There was chaos within and no refuge from the chaos in the halls of the mall. Another phenomena was the families of the shopkeepers loitering in certain sections of the mall–we were mall rats because my parents owned a Manchu Wok a long time ago, but we weren’t nearly as creepy.

I was armed with the prices at which I should obtain fake LV, Prada, and Chanel bags but it turned out I didn’t buy any of that stuff; still, it was fascinating how you could get a really decent fake classic LV wallet for CAD$25 and leather Prada bag for CAD$100. And they still made some kind of profit since they agreed albeit reluctantly to part with it at that bargained price. I don’t follow designers so I haven’t a clue what miniscule fraction of the real thing these items cost.

NPY experienced what I went through at Silk Market when we tried on some Nike Frees that, in my opinion, were poorly painted. The desperate little shopkeeper–I soon learned how men were harder to bargain with, Michelle said they have more pride–opened at CNY$480 (USD$80) when his rival opened at CNY$250, preposterous! Our friend just got real Nike Free shoes on sale at Nordstrom’s for just USD$50 so fake ones were worth, oh, $10, even if an impressive amount of materials went into it. We upped our offer and left the store when it was refused. The shopkeeper crossed the floor of the first floor, following us, just to make any sale, and accepted our offer, which we expected. But we got a bad vibe, and our offer was too high, so we still refused and the shopkeeper grabbed NPY’s collar! His associate came running out but not to break things up and shopkeepers all around were warily watching but not interfering. On principle we still walked away from our offer–but in bargaining etiquette that was sort of bad form–and walked really fast towards the border to leave China!  At that moment, the seediness of the mall was so apparent to us–who can help it in such a competitive sales environment, peddling fake wares?

Rainy night on Temple Street

One doesn’t need to go to Shen Zhen to get your bargaining on–I was quite happy in Hong Kong at the Temple Street and Ladies’ Market 女人街 in Jordan and Mong Kok, respectively. I was really happy bargaining comfortably in Cantonese and being close to our hotel to just buy a few things and return another day. I’m embarrassed how I ended up going to the market four times in our 10 days in Hong Kong!

Meanwhile, NPY discovered G2000, a real store that I eschewed after getting a high shopping in the markets–what, pay what’s on the price tags?! Besides, I’m not shaped like their target market while NPY was closer to the mark. In fact, we found the G2000 outlet practically next door to our fantastic first hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in Western District.

Beijing: Weiduomei bakeries

The chain we identified was Weiduomei and I loved perusing the aisles because their stuff is so different from the typical Hong Kong bakery. Three items became our lunch and afternoon snack: a savoury herb and tomato pastry in the flakiest croissant crust, a kind of average chocolate croissant, and a strawberry sweet bread that was beautifully flaky and filled with a sort of strawberry jam.

Beijing: Paris Baguette

Paris Baguette is also a chain, the scope of which I don’t know yet. We saw one in the food forum of a mall in Wangfujing. NPY had picked up a rice bowl from Yoshinoya and I hadn’t eaten much because I was holding out for bakery goods. From Paris Baguette, I got a curry chicken donut and an egg tart.

We laughed at the ill juxtaposition of a donut (means it was a little sweet, and fried) with the Chinese curry filling but it was tasty. And the little egg tart with the ultra-crispy and layered shell was the first of many great layered tart shells I would enjoy on the trip!

Hong Kong: Circle K

In addition to 7-11′s on every corner in Hong Kong, there is another convenience store named Circle K all around. They have a staffed kitchen/bakery area so I didn’t feel so lame after getting lost in the area around our hotel and settling on Circle K pastries for our breakfast.

I picked a big pork floss bun because NPY had been eying those for a while, a raisin twist (raisins make NPY happy, just like my father), and a limp Japanese mushroom curry patty. I was sold on the “Japaneses” moniker. The raisin twist was the best, a combination of sweet Chinese bread with a sugar-rush of a glaze.

Hong Kong: Bread Talk

We had such difficulty settling on what to eat at the food hall, Food Republic, when tea time (after 2:30) rolled around and vendors slashed their prices. I ended up getting some barbecued meats on rice that was drizzled with some sauce that made the dish very flavourful to NPY. I was 100% certain about wanting some bakery items from Bread Talk that I kept seeing in Bejing.

NPY told me to go choose for him (“Nothing looks good,” he says when the choice is too much) and I knew a raisin bun was a safe bet. I debated with myself between a chocolate cream cheese bun and a Hokkaido Chocolate Dome. Cream cheese won out and I can’t say I’m sorry–it was like a chocolate danish. But I wish I had also gotten the Hokkaido chocolate pastry even if it would have been a little flattened in my bag by the time we go to it.

Hong Kong: Maxim Bakery

Maxim is a familiar brand from home so we kind of avoided it for a while. But we were in rush, packing up in our first Hong Kong hotel to head to Macau and I had to grab something that wasn’t a repeat of a previous bakery. I got breakfast-appropriate sausage and egg bun and a cocktail bun with coconut filling. For myself, I had to go a little different and exotic and I picked up a tuna truffle bun. It’s a little funny, truffle done at a Chinese bakery?! It was a very tasty flavour to a smashed tuna bun filling.