French Toast in a Cafe

After shopping at Mong Kok for a day, I went into a cafe in Langham Place for afternoon tea. The cafe is operated by Italian Tomato, an amazing cake shop where I pick up my Classic Strawberry Cream Cake every year during my birthday.

Very few people would walk into a cafe where you are supposed to get a piece of cake and a coffee to order a french toast instead. But since my love for french toast is too strong, my mind didn't really give me a choice.

It turned out to be really nice. The toast was hot and crispy enough to melt the cream almost completely within 1 minute after serving. The blueberry jam and caramel sauce go so well together. Perfect level of sweetness and lovely little fresh berries. 

Sum up my AIESEC exchange experience in Kuching

Time flies. The past six weeks were like a dream, so intensive yet memorable. Six-week time wasn’t terribly long, but surely wasn’t short either. It was enough for you to find your true self, explore your abilities and build life-long friendship.

Throughout the project, I was working at Sarawak Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) to prepare for an international conference about animal welfare. The conference is going to be held in October and we had to start sending cold emails and draw as many delegates as possible. I had the chance to sit down with the chairperson and the president of SSPCA to discuss about strategies and details. I just started picking up Photoshop before heading off to Sarawak and I never thought the skill would come so handy. I helped to design conference materials, newsletter pages, promotional emails and posters. The more I practiced it, the better I became. That was the time when I realise design might be the right thing for me.

Besides, I helped at the animal shelter twice a week. I cleaned the cages, fed the cats, washed the dogs and updated the animals record. It might sound like a paradise for anyone who likes animals but we also got to face the reality, seeing how unwanted pets being dumped by irresponsible owners, suffer from sickness and being poisoned by cynical neighbours. Protecting animals is never easy, but still there are millions of people and organisations around the world protecting what they think is worthy everyday.

On weekends, I spent time travelling around and exploring new things. Within Kuching, I went to Bako National Park for hiking and camping and Pulau Satang for snorkelling and watching green turtles. Outside Kuching, I went to Bali in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Penang in West Malaysia. I experienced so many first-time-in-life in those six weeks, first time diving, snorkelling, parasailing, climbing mountain, seeing fireflies, seeing turtles on the beach, travelling alone, bowling, playing pools, playing GoCar and so much more. The world is actually so much larger and so much more fun. There are so many things that we could not experience in Hong Kong. I was totally wonderstruck by everything I came across.

Of course, the best part of the project is the people, people who filled my experience with laughter and tears. People are so different from Central Asia to Western Europe and from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Believe me, they are different from the mono-styled factory-made Hong Kong students you used to meet. I experienced the true variety of humanity, nasty yet genuine, destructive yet friendly, wild yet serious. I took time to get to know, accept and understand. There were people you started awkwardly with but ended up crying and hugging at the airport. There were people you never could understand until we started copying each other’s little quirks and pet phrases. There were people who started off as acquaintances and ended up as long-distant couples. Things became so different from where we started. Although separated, we keep our memory and friendship alive.

It feels complicated coming back to Hong Kong. Not having air-conditioning was one of the my biggest worries before I headed to Malaysia, but now I started feeling a bit cold under all the unnecessary air-conditioning everywhere in Hong Kong. My other EP friends from environmental projects used to preach me on food waste and plastic bag usage all day and now I found myself feeling guilty wasting food and using plastics in Hong Kong. Surely impacts are there, but it’s entirely up to me whether to incorporate my new habits or to go back to my old way of living.

A total of seven weeks in Malaysia, I got out of the Hong-Kong-way of thinking. Less about utilitarianism and competition, more about passion and dreams. Walking away from the designated path drawn by the society, I discover what I truly love and where my passion really lies. And most importantly, I was simply genuinely happy with who I am and what I do.


A preview of my most precious photos! Gonna write about them one by one later. More stunning photos coming up! :)

Crème Brûlée

Yesterday, I finally made my first Crème Brûlée. I found a recipe from BBC goodfood. They have really nice recipes for all sorts of dishes and detailed cooking steps. But still, I usually go to Youtube to find a proper demonstration video. The dessert turned out to taste really great! 

Recipe:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2745/ultimate-crme-brle-

Hong Kong Egg and Beef Sandwich

Sun Heung Yuen (Sham Shui Po) - Egg and Beef Sandwich Address: G/F, 38 Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po

Cha Chaan Teng is definitely one of the attractions in Hong Kong. Sun Heung Yuen is a traditional one located in Sham Shui Po, one of the oldest district in Hong Kong. The most famous dish here is of course the egg and beef sandwich. They are made only after your order, fresh and hot. In the 31-degree summer, it would be great to have an iced Hong Kong-style milk tea as well. It may not be as comfy as in other restaurants, but it’s still worth it to have a quick sandwich breakfast. 

Waffles

Last week, Mum and I had an afternoon tea at Sweetology after shopping at Festival Walk for half a day. We tried the Matcha Crème Brûlée and the Strawberry Waffles.

Sweetology (Festival Walk) - Matcha Crème Brûlée (HKD 50)
Address: Shop UG-22, Level UG, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong 

The red beans are quite sweet so they also provided you with a pot of nice Matcha to neutralise the sweetness.

Sweetology (Festival Walk) - Strawberry Waffle (HKD 75)

This waffle reminded of the same waffle I had in Dazzling Cafe earlier during my birthday. 

Dazzling Cafe (The One) - Strawberry & Ice Cream Waffle (HKD 90 + HKD 15)
Address: Shop 22, L3, The ONE, 100 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

Sweetology is a Western restaurant and Dazzling Cafe is a Taiwanese restaurant. Dazzling Cafe has a better version of the dessert. With an extra 15 dollars, you can request a texture level-up. The waffle is more chewy on the inside and more crispy on the outside. 

Sweetology’s waffle is too bland. The dried strawberry on top is sour which affects the overall blending of taste. But of course, they have a difference of 30 dollars. 

Insect Ice-cream

Insect ice-cream in four flavours

Last month, I was finding summer jobs on the internet. I will only be in town till July 9th, so I could only look for temporary jobs in two to three weeks. I found this job ad that promised a really nice salary. I gave it a try and went up to their office for an interview. During the interview, the interviewers kept asking if I am an adventurous person who likes trying new stuff. It scared me a bit but I just went with it. It's the salary after all.

The job turned out to be a promoter giving out free insect ice-cream on the street. At first, I thought it was just a joke or prank. Soon I found out that it's the real insects they are talking about. I didn't want to try at first, but the ice-cream itself is too yummy that I nearly forgot about the bugs inside. Now, I found myself totally accepting it. 

In fact, they are promoting the Economist magazine with a really cheap trial price. Since the magazine had a story about why eating insects make sense last year, they use this as a marketing strategy to attract people with insect ice-cream and let people have a taste on what kind of stories the Economist might have. 

According to an article in the Economist last year, the world population is reaching 11 billion at the end of the century. With all the food shortage problems and global warming issues, insects act as a more sustainable food source than meat and crops. They are protein-rich and has nearly no fats. Most importantly, they are cheaper to raise than any livestocks. 

Scurry Berry (Berry flavour with critters)

Strawberry and chocolate with all the bugs!

The ice-cream is from the Italian brand i-Scream while the bugs are imported from Thailand. The bugs are carefully raised and treated to become edible. They are dead and cooked before mixing into the ice-cream and added extra on the top. 

They have four flavours in total, including chocolate, strawberry, berry and chocolate with strawberry. Each has their special insects in it. Personally, I like Choc Hopper the best, which is chocolate together with grasshoppers. The grasshoppers are crunchy like nuts while the chocolate is so rich and smooth. If you would like another texture, you can go for strawberry with mealworms, the worms give a more chewy texture instead. 

After having the ice-cream, you may want to take a picture with the Pixta. Pixta is like an iPad with a special kind of Instagram that has frame designated for the campaign theme. After taking the picture, you may choose the filter you like and a frame that corresponds to your ice-cream flavour. You may then give your email address so that the picture can be sent directly to your mailbox. After that, you can save the photo and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. 

A photo taken with the Pixta

We serve the ice-cream in crowded places, from 12PM to 4PM on weekdays and around 2PM to 6PM on weekends with an ice-cream trike. Some people screamed and walked away while some excitedly accept them. Usually, their focus were completely dragged to the bugs and never realise that we are actually selling the magazine subscription but not the ice-cream. Even I explained, they were not really listening, until they had their ice-cream in their left hands, phones on their right hands. 

Nearly 5 hours under the sun each day, I sweat a lot and got so much tanner. I bear the impoliteness of some customers and still had to fake a smile and go on. This summer job is not easy, but it's creative and interesting. I am still happy to be part of this innovative marketing campaign. I do not regard myself as a super excellent promoter, but I am learning to become one in the future. 

Bingsu

Bingsu has been a great hit in Hong Kong since the Korean wave sweeps across Asia. Korean restaurants take up the whole Kimberley Street in Tsim Sha Tsui, where somebody now calls it the “Korean Street” instead.

NORAYO K.Cafe (Tsim Sha Tsui) - Oreo Chocolate Bingsu (HKD 55)

Address: 2/F, Southgate Commercial Centre, Granville Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

NORAYO K.Cafe is one of the many Korean restaurants which located near Kimberley Street. Besides Bingsu, it has many other Korean traditional food which makes it a nice place for a proper Korean meal. 

Hanbing (Harbour City) - Oreo Snow Ice (HKD 75)

Address: Shop 4201K-4202K, 4/F, Gateway Arcade-Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui

Hanbing is a Korean Dessert Cafe located in one of the biggest shopping mall in Hong Kong. Its Oreo Bingsu is less sweet and has less Oreo than that in NORAYO K.Cafe, but it has one more ice cream at the bottom. By the time you reach the bottom, the ice cream has already melted with the tiny ice flakes floating in the liquid. 

Hanbing (Harbour City) - Mango Snow Ice (HKD 78) 

Hanbing (Harbour City) - Citron Smoothie (HKD 30)

Hanbing mainly focuses on dessert, though it also provides other Korean snacks, such as Topokki, Carbonara and sandwiches.

The Story of a Free Coffee

Yesterday, a good news popped up on my phone: my friend Kawaii got hired by Pacific Coffee! I know this is not some amazingly exciting news, but for coffee lovers like us, working in a relaxing coffee shop is quite a dream. 

I asked Kawaii where’s she working but she wouldn’t tell me. That could be weird telling everyone that you got hired by some coffee chain stores. It’s like telling people you got a job from the Park’n Shop, and it’s a leading-university student we are talking about. At least that’s what some Hongkongers would think. 

But I, her BFF and a fellow freedom chaser, had never been locked up by these shallow social values. Working in a coffee shop is just awesome! Although she didn’t tell me exactly which branch she is working in, she told me the district. 

Today, mum and I went shopping together in that district. Around 3 pm, mum had a facial booking. I hanged around and went into this new Pacific Coffee. Although there are countless Pacific Coffee branches around, I still got the feeling that I was going to see Kawaii there.

I went in and walked up the stairs and there she was! She was wearing a red tee-shirt and a black apron, just like “the girl at the coffee shop” in movies and novels. The moment I stepped in, our eyes met with incredibleness and Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again” started ringing in my head. Though I somehow knew I was going to see her, I couldn’t help turning around and giggle. She did the same thing. 

We were so excited and I went up to throw out a few meaningless sentences, until I saw someone all in black and I thought he must be her manager. I quickly brought myself under control and sat down quietly at the corner. I really didn’t want to get Kawaii into any troubles on her first day of work. 

Few minutes later, I went out to order a vanilla latte. It used to be our favourite coffee during public exams. I passed by the counter and eyed Kawaii who was cleaning the bar behind the counter with a long meaningful look.

“Can I have a tall Vanilla Latte, please?” I said calmly to the manager who was standing at the cashier, as in nothing special ever happened.
“She doesn’t know how to brew a coffee yet.” he joked. 

“Sorry?” I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react. I was expecting him to continue the drama with me. “Oh - it’s okay, haha,” I said, suddenly picking up everything with an embarrassing laugh. The corner of my eyes could see Kawaii giggling at the back. 

Back to my solo drama, my fingers scrolled purposelessly across my phone monitor without any new messages. I didn’t dare to glance at Kawaii. I didn’t want the manager to think she is some kind of blabbermouth who tells everything to her girls. 

He started brewing my coffee right away. When he finished, I took out my octopus card to pay. Then, he held up his hand. What does that mean? I gave him a “what?”-look. He repeated again. Then I realised he didn’t want me to pay. Obviously, I am not the kind of girl who is used to being treated with a dessert at a restaurant or a drink at the bar. My slowness in getting the whole situation gave away my inexperienceness completely. I said “thank you” with a brainless grin as soon as I realised what was going on, covering up my incessant shock in this 3-minute conversation. 

I took the cup of coffee with the perfect latte-art and went back to my table. it took me some time to calm down and thought through the whole process carefully to see if I had ruined Kawaii’s first day at work. I quietly sat there and occasionally glanced up to see if Kawaii was around. Looking at her, I did feel a great pleasure for her new job. 

I saw another all-black lady taking Kawaii between washrooms. She must be the other manager. Usually, one boss is the angel and the other must be the devil. If the guy who treated me a coffee is the angel, then she must be…umm… something else.

I had been waiting for my mum for 20 minutes then. I wanted to go to the washroom but I stopped myself as soon as I imagined Kawaii cleaning up the mess afterwards. After my mum was done, I rushed to a shopping mall nearby for washrooms.