Hong Kong Eats: Other Asian Cuisines

By virtue of having a big city atmosphere as well as its general proximity to other Asian nations, we decided to explore non-local cuisines while we were in Hong Kong as well.  See local / traditional eats post here.

First up, Malaysian cuisine at Hainan Shaoye:

They offered 2 varieties of crab - chili or peppercorn.  I meant to order chili, but ordered peppercorn by mistake.  I'm glad I did!  The sauce was incredibly flavorful without being too spicy and the sweet, tender crab soaked up the sauce wonderfully.  If you go, the crab needs to be ordered at least a day in advance.

When you see a drink named "Godzilla", how could you not order it?  The Milo was chocolate malt and Horlick was malted milk.  I think technically there was supposed to be a scoop of ice cream in there to make it "Godzilla".  Ours were topped with whipped cream only, so it should have been called "Dinosaur".  Such cool names!

Aside from the crab, I would also highly recommend the Black Truffle Egg Tofu.  Delightfully earthy flavors and super silky tofu with a crisp exterior.

Though we couldn't go to the original Din Tai Fung (pls excuse the misspelling below) in Taiwan, I was delighted they had a branch in HK.  I've been to the one in LA too, but HK had a much larger menu.

I need to find some Drunken Chicken in SF!

We had previously tried a Japanese all you can eat (AYCE) place in Toronto, but was unimpressed with both the offerings and slow service.  Despite that, Mom is a huge fan of buffets because she always feels she can get a good value.  I think she can as an individual, but we don't as a family since MIL is vegetarian and both kids were charged (USD $20 each child - this is ridiculous for a 1-year old, $30 each adult).  For the cost, we should have just gone to Kanizen (Japanese Crab restaurant) twice.

As with the AYCE in Toronto, service is slow (I'm assuming this is deliberate), but the ordering seems more efficient with massive stacks of ordering slips color coded by type of food and your table number.  The food was actually pretty good and they had a large range of options.  My favorite, by far, was the grilled sushi.  Net, if you are non-vegetarian adults, you can probably get your money's worth.  

Sushi Hiro was highly lauded online, but aside from the chirashi, I felt like it was meh.  Half of the nigiri tasted very fishy and some of the fish was also unintentionally chewy.  It made me question the freshness of the fish and the knife skills of the chef.  If you go, go for the chirashi.  Instead of lightly vinegared white rice, they added what tasted like a a generous dose of savory vinegar flavor and it married beautifully with the fish.

I love food window displays.  And they are even better when the restaurant happens to be closed at the time because then I can stare longingly at it without employees thinking I'm nuts.  At Toi Hokkaido, they serve pizza where the crust is composed of pan-seared(?) pressed rice.  I was fascinated and made my family go later that day.

The stars of the night were the Crab pasta - perfectly cooked crab, noodles infused with plenty of crab flavor, and generous amounts of roe sprinkled throughout, and Litchi Soda.  The pizza was interesting and I'm glad I got to try it, but I had envisioned a very crisp rice crust and there were some mushy areas.  

All in all, I would say about 90% of the food I had in HK was phenomenal and I can wait to go back again!

Mother's Day Eats & My Favorite Kiddo Moments

I meant to post this ON Mother's Day and wish everyone a happy holiday, but didn't get a chance to finish.  So I hope every mother had a wonderful day and every kid found a way to share their love with the mother figures in their lives.

Mother's Day will always have a special place in my heart because my son (and firstborn) was born on Mother's Day 2009.  I remember lamenting (I lamented A LOT when pregnant, I was one cranky preggo lady) in early May that since our son was due 5/28, I'd have to wait a whole year to actually be a mother on Mother's Day.  Well, my son had a special surprise for us.  My water broke at 7 am and at 3pm, he had arrived and I got to be a bonafide Mommy :)

My Mother's Day gifts: my babies (the BEST gift) and some lovely preschool artwork that I will proudly hang in my cube:

Top: Artwork and kiddos playing with water balloons & sidewalk chalk (why they're both looking down)

Bottom: "Flowers" from V and sibling love

We ate a dim sum breakfast, Korean lunch, and a masterfully prepared dinner by my Mother (this lady floors me everyday with how amazing she is.  We are SO LUCKY to have her living with us!):

Top: Lo Mai Gai, Surf & Turf dinner cooked with love by my mother (rib eye, crab stuffed clam, lobster tail)

Middle: Siu Mai, Lobster Congee

Bottom: A gigantic Bibimbap wrap and Bibimbap bowl

I am so blessed to be a mother.  These 2 little beings are our everything <3

My favorite kiddo moments this year:
Upon talking about cowboys and cowgirls, V declares that I am neither.  I am "Cowmommy"

When he wants a hug, he says "I want to love you Mommy" and opens his arms wide

V asked for the remote and I asked him, "What do you say when you want something?"  Baby E jumps up and said, "Please!" (sounded more like PEAS), but we all cracked up.  We had no idea that she had learned that from watching us interact with V.

Related to the above, E also learned "cheese" at the same time.  Whenever I want to take a picture of her, I tell her to go over there and say "cheese".  She gets quite a kick out of it and is turning into quite a ham with the camera.

Whenever we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which is ALL the time), Mickey asks, "Would you like to come inside my clubhouse?"  To which E always responds with a emphatic "NO."  That's right, E, avoid those strangers!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day!

DIY Projects in Progress

My creative side is a little scatterbrained and prone to flights of fancy.  It flits from project to project, sometimes finishing something, but more often going off to start something new.  At the moment, I am working on 4 skirts, 1 dress, 1 top, and a pair of pants.  It's a good thing I also have a rational side, otherwise I'd never be employable!

2 projects in progress - a leopard maxi and a peplum brocade top

I adore the ease and comfort of a maxi, but really wanted something with more coverage as many maxi dresses tend to be strapless or spaghetti-strapped.  I decided to add short sleeves, but as I pondered the dress on the far left, it seemed to skew on the side of being dowdy / old-fashioned.  To modernize it a little, I did a little snipping and gave the collar an angular, asymmetrical look.  It's a small change and it probably still doesn't exactly look youthful, but I like it much better.

My second project is a peplum brocade top.  Inspired by this Vera Wang dress, I fell in love with the notion of beading brocade.  It seems like such a deliciously luxurious idea.  I just recently finished putting the top together so I still need to lay out the bead design and then bead by hand.  

How do you tackle your projects? Do you finish one before starting another or do you start multiple ones as the mood strikes?

Sweet Bow Dress DIY

A couple of weeks ago, I started on this dress with Baby E (instagram pic here) and decided to modify my go-to dress pattern with a contrast waist and a detachable bow.  I considered sewing the bow on, but was a little afraid of how that would fare in the washer.  At the moment, it's attached with a sewn-on pin backing, but depending on the angle, sometimes you can see the pin :/  I'm trying to figure out the best way to fix this.

Pattern:  My favorite bodice pattern McCall's M5972 (adjusted width this way, shortened torso to add the contrasting waist band), self-drafted skirt / bow

Fabric:  Joann's, 100% cotton, 45" home decor fabric, 1.5 yards (this was originally slated for a skirt, but I thankfully had just enough to squeak by with this dress)

Time:  2.5 hrs (over a few days)

Difficulty:  Intermediate

Bright Dress DIY w/ Removable Bow

I really, really love this shape and have made at least 5 of these types of dresses over the last year.  As a short gal with a rectangular torso and a leftover tummy pouch (thanks kids!), the nipped waist and pleated skirt helps mask areas that make me self-conscious.  It's also a relatively easy type of dress to sew!

If you have any bow attachment solution ideas, I'd love to hear them!  Thanks in advance and hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

J. Crew Inspired Jewel Collar DIY Mini Tutorial

How could I look at this J. Crew sweater (here) and not fall head over heels in love?  A DIY version is actually very easy!

Difficulty: Very Easy, no sewing necessary
Time: 5 min for existing items, 10 min to make your own
Materials: Collared shirt and earrings / pins / brooches

I bought some pretty earring multi-packs at F21 and poked them right through a regular collared shirt.  I love reversible DIYs:

Alternatively, you can make your own earrings / pins by gluing the appropriate backs to ornate beads or buttons:

Since my beads were so large, I opted to do only 2 right at the collar tips.

Easy right?  :)

J. Crew Factory 50% Off: Fitting Room Reviews

A perpetual sucker for a sale, I was excited to learn J. Crew Factory was running a weekend promo of 50% off everything in stores (today is the last day!).  I was feeling a bit blue on Friday so went right after work for some retail therapy (and it worked).  :)

Floral Embroidered Cap Sleeve Dress, 0, $59 (here)

I LOVE the embroidered details of this dress and really liked the cap sleeve (though it seemed more like a sleeveless dress with a wider shoulder).  It had pockets and that magical JCF ability to mask tummy pouches.  Ultimately, it came down to me feeling cheap and also feeling like I looked a bit rectangular in it.

Verdict: No, but would consider on sale and then doing a little waist nipping alteration

Printed Sanur Dress, XS, $30 (here)

See also on Gigi.

Gigi hit the nail on the head with her review.  I thought the print was very cute, but did not like how the top portion became more sheer when it stretched over the bust.  Made it seem kind of cheap?  In comparing with this with my first Sanur dress here, the fit was one size smaller and I felt like the material was more coarse and stiff as well.

Verdict: No, I had high hopes for this one but the material wasn't up to par with last year's

Stripe Sleeveless Popover, 00, $32 (here)

I'm a big stripes fan and rather liked the fit of the slim blouse-like silhouette.  Ultimately, I felt like $30 for a semi-simplistic, polyester top was a meh value.  Especially since I know I have striped poly fabric at home. 

Verdict: No, I can make this shirt if I decide I need something similar

Stone Fan Necklace, $27 (here)

I had been eyeing the Fan Fringe necklace for awhile and was excited to see this Factory version during the 50% off promo.  I love the navy / crystal combo and snatched this up quickly.

Verdict: Fervent yes

Textured Charley Sweater, XS, $29 (here)

Charley sweaters fit very much like the Tippi where the chest / arms fit well with a little bit of wiggle room in the torso.  Similar to the Sanur above, I felt like this year's Charley is more coarse than last year's here.

Verdict: No, decent fit but didn't like the feel of it against my skin

Printed Pencil Skirt, 0 (here)

Stripes and red/white/blue? Of course I felt compelled to try this!  This seems to fit one size smaller than the retail No. 2 pencil skirt.  The cotton is a little on the thin side.  It felt more like shirting material than what I would expect from a pencil skirt where the fabric is likely to be stretched for long periods of time while sitting.

Verdict: Liked the general aesthetic but didn't love the material

Stripe Knit Blazer, XS, $25 (here)

Another red / white / blue motif I felt compelled to try.  Sizing wise, I prefer XXS as seen here, but the $25 price tag made it worthwhile for me to alter if necessary.  As it is, it's only a little bit looser in the arms / torso so I will probably leave it alone.  See Sm on me for sizing reference.

Verdict: Bought

$50 for a blazer and a pretty bauble seemed like a fair price to pay, but my $50 gift card made it even better.  Yay for free stuff :D

I then went to check out sunglasses at Off 5th:

Chloe CL2119 in Brown

I think they're cute, but my husband thinks I look like a bug.  They were marked down to $90 from $295.  I tend to gravitate towards oversized frames because I feel like they fit my face width better.  

Verdict: Bought.  My old sunglasses were too tight on my big noggin and these are much more comfortable.

I also got to meet up with my fave SF girls this weekend for food truck eats and fabric shopping:

Ping, Karen, Me (thank you Ping and Tim for the pic!) at SOMA StrEAT Food Park

Looking for more J. Crew Factory reviews?  Hop on over to Gigi's.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Hong Kong Eats: Local / Traditional Foods

Food, always has been and always will be, one of the main reasons I love visiting Hong Kong.  There is no shortage of good eats.  It's times like these I'm thankful we walked so much in HK, otherwise I'd have turned into a big gelatinous ball on Day 2.

We got traditional foods:

We visited Tim Ho Wan, the world's cheapest Michelin-starred eatery, for dim sum:

 "wok hei" is the breath of a wok.  Gives it a unique "heat" flavor.  The closest thing I can think of that would be similar is a grilled flavor.
The Cha Siu Bao was the best I've ever had!  Light, crunchy, slightly sweet crust with savory, tender roast pork filling.  They definitely deserve their Michelin star!
Glossary: "cha siu bao" = roast pork bun, "bolo" = pineapple, "lo mai gai" = rice dumpling w/ chicken

Can you "Where's Waldo" my husband?  :)

We were no strangers to street eats:

We had milk tea. Every. Single. Day:

From street stalls to uber modern cafes, we never had a bad meal:

And we'd top it all off with...more food!

Just putting this post together makes me hungry!