Jasmine Chia: Ron

Family - Thursday, July 02, 2009

Road trip to Penang - Day 1

The weather today is awfully hot but that doesn’t stop me from making my way to Penang. The land of my favourite CKT, after my last trip her...

Food - Monday, June 01, 2009

Tampopo @ Liang Court

Not too long ago, a friend mentioned to me a good Japanese restaurant in Liang Court. So Ron and I decided to try out this place called Tamp...

I’m a dessert loving person. When in buffet, I’m always the first person from my table to breeze through main course and dive to the dessert spread. In Macau, you can easily see many shops selling Portuguese tart. These egg tart are more caramelized then the standard egg tart you get from Hong Kong. During my stay there I’ve tried the tarts from a couple of shops such as Koi Kei but the one that I truly like is the one from Margaret’s café.

Margaret’s Café e Nata (瑪嘉烈餅店)

This quaint café is situated at a back alley behind some very busy roads. The façade of this place is very distinct and has a very casual setting. They offer mainly western spread such as sandwiches, quiche etc. but their best seller is without a doubt the Portuguese egg tart. As the egg tart here sells very well so one may need to wait a while for their kitchen to replenish the stock. On my first visit there, I was slightly disappointed, as their egg tart has all sold out.

Not giving it up so easily, on my 2nd visit to the stall Ron and myself bought 6 egg tarts to eat, each of us having 3 tarts. This is after our very fulfilling lunch eating the oyster noodle that I mentioned in my earlier post. I can be quite a glutton when it comes to food that I like eating. It’s as if my stomach have this amazing way of expanding itself, or rather I force it down my throat through to my stomach, just like my trip to Penang last year Dec, where I walloped a bowl of prawn noodle and 2 plates of char kway teow, all these within the span of an hour. Of course I try not to do it often and only do it when I know that those nice food are hard to come by.

OoOooo Look at the flaky yet buttery skin. Don’t you want to just sink your teeth right on to it now?

The next day after my 2nd visit to the stall that is also my last morning in Macau, Ron and I headed there again for our second round of egg tart (also eating 3 egg tart each). We really enjoyed the egg tart very much. I heard there is another famous egg tart shop by the name Lord Stow’s but unfortunately I didn’t have time to try that and it’s on another island in Macau. Apparently this 2 shop owners used to be husband and wife. After the divorce, that did not end up amicably, the wife opened her own shop.

Getting there:
From Grand Lisboa main entrance, stand at the position where the casino is behind you and you’re facing the road, turn right and keep walking along the road until you come to a road with a traffic light. Look out for an alley directly opposite where you are standing; you should be able to see a sign pointing in the direction of the café. That’s the café that you should head to for that oh-so-delicious egg tart.

Food - Sunday, March 01, 2009

My favorite food in Macau - Part 2

I’m a dessert loving person. When in buffet, I’m always the first person from my table to breeze through main course and dive to the dessert...

Food - Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Road trip: Penang

Just came back from a road trip to Penang on Monday. I was there with my buddies from my company, together with our partners. It was a trip...

During my birthday, one of the things I had is dim sum. People close to me will know that I love dim sum a lot. I don’t go great length for it because dim sum in Singapore can be pricey but Ron will go the great deal to find me the best dim sum for me to enjoy. His recent trip in Singapore, he has brought me to this authentic Cantonese restaurant called Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental. I felt that though it’s a Cantonese restaurant, but the setting within the place feels Shanghainese, not sure if the Chinese Jazz songs they played that morning had a role in making me feel that way.

My brother, who happened to be in town as well, joined us for the breakfast too. I think 3 people going for the dim sum buffet feels just nice because most of the dishes that arrive are in the portion of 3.

Although it’s a buffet but there is no huge crowd at the restaurant or overcrowded tables. The dishes are made upon order, so you can avoid food-fighting scene with unruly people, if any. Because of this we were able to get ourselves soaked into the seductive voices from the Shanghai Jazz album, which after that I too went and bought the album.

If you’re ever going to try out the buffet there, some of the must try dishes are the wasabi prawn and the avocado dessert. The wasabi prawn is because all freaking reviews I read said must try but personally I prefer the avocado dessert, maybe because I was easily amused by the presentation of the dish. When it arrives, it arrives in style with lots of smoke coming out due to the dry ice underneath the bowl. The avocado is nice too, my only complain about it is the portion maybe too a little small for my liking, I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MORE YOU KNOW!!! But again, I was also rather stuffed by dessert time, so I didn’t order my 2nd helping.

The rest of the dim sum was good too. Ingredients were fresh and also of good quality stuff. I shall let the pictures tell the story. Ron and myself won’t mind going back again for the food, in fact we are planning to go there again on his next trip down because we really love the dim sum there. Now, I’m waiting and hoping that it will be soon ~ can’t want.

Family - Monday, October 20, 2008

my favourite cuisine - dim sum

During my birthday, one of the things I had is dim sum. People close to me will know that I love dim sum a lot. I don’t go great length for ...

Relationship - Saturday, April 12, 2008

Woman and man… on wedding ring

Man: I think you shouldn’t wear yours. You should keep it at home since you always lose your things. Woman: I think so too, since my ring...

Relationship - Saturday, April 12, 2008

Woman and man… on cooking

Woman: Let’s cook something together for the weekend at home. Man: Let’s sign up cooking lesson (sending her link of a website on MSN). Wo...

One of the many things we enjoyed while our trip in Japan is the はなみ (Hanami, Japanese word for flower viewing). Our last few days in Tokyo coincide with the bloom of Sakura flower. It’s a sight to be seen by one’s own eyes. No camera will be able to capture the beauty of the flower, to enjoy it; one must really see it yourself. The sight of thousands of Sakura flower in full bloom at once is a breathtaking and mesmerizing moment.

One good place to enjoy a good はなみ is Ueno Park. On my last day in Tokyo, Ron and I make a trip there to see Sakura flowers. We initially planned to go to Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 and even bought the ticket before that but we make away with the plan because we have decided to spend more time at the park enjoying the flowers, after all not a fan of anime either.

To get to Ueno Park, we took the JR Yamanote Line from Shinjuku station to Ueno station. Japan subway station is huge by size, so be careful of getting lost while there. We were a bit lost when arriving at Ueno station as there are more then one exits in the station but only one leads to the park with minimal walking distant. So, coupled with Ron’s maps reading skill and my half bucket にほんご. We manage to make our way there and spend some a lovely time there.

The entrance fee to Ueno Park is free, so save a bit on the pocket but the food is worth every penny to try. So, don’t pinch when you are on holiday.

A close up shot of the Sakura flower, this was taken outside the hotel that we are putting up

A shot of several Sakura flowers together

Sakura that I have seen are mainly white, so this is something different from the rest. A little of pink tint.

Another variation, stronger tint of pink slowly turning white towards the inner of the flower

The sight of a thousand flowers

The enormous amount of people from all parts of the world crowding together to see the Sakura flowers

The Japanese with their quirkiness. We had to take a shot of this seemingly "dead"frog, probably due to alcohol overdose. The locals here fancy picnic in the park during the はなみ season. They are seen everywhere in the park feasting and having a good time with their friends or family.

P/s: Looking at how all these flowers suddenly spring into life out of sudden as compared to the days before I left Tokyo for Osaka, I somehow have this nudging feeling that these flowers have a secret pact or something to bloom and wither together all at once.

Japan - Tuesday, April 08, 2008