Padang Padang Beach

During my 3-day trip to Bali in summer 2015, I went to different beaches every evening for the breath-taking sunsets. On the third day, I went to Padang Padang Beach, my favourite beach of all.

I entered the beach by walking down a dark swampy stairs. It was so dark that I needed to turn on my phone torch. When you thought you were walking down to a muggy damp cave, you arrived at the door of a wonderland.

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. The sun sets right in front of you till it reaches the same horizon you are standing on.

My friend and I walked around a bit. We started off with the comfy white sand on the beach, then walked towards the water. The water was shallow at that time. There are little islands of stones and rocks among the shallow water. We walked and skipped across the little pieces of lands as we saw algae flickering under the sunlight.

After walking for around 10 minutes, we arrive at a large piece of land with millions of green algae. 

When you stand on the algae land and look ahead, you see the firing skyline and the huge roaring waves. When you look back, you see the peaceful and clear water reflecting the sky and clouds. The magnificence and dynamics of nature are opulently set before you as you turn 360. 

As the sun sets, it gets darker and I dare not to walk too close to the ocean. I headed back and it has turned completely dark when I reach the sands again. My friends have been waiting for the two of us but we were captivated by a few caves before us. So we quickly took a peep and the most surprising thing happened. We saw little yellow lights blinking and dancing in the dark. It's fireflies! We dare not to breathe for fear our noise would scare the beautiful creatures away. Both of us watched quietly in awe. We tried to walk closer into the cave but we stopped as soon as we heard sounds of flapping wings. Bats, i guess? 

We went there for a short 2 hours, but it definitely has become one of the most memorable experiences in my life. 

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.