2018 Highlights and Recap

If you have been following my blog for a while, you would notice I have been inactive for most of 2018.  I see it as a good thing - it means I've got too many things to do - and if you also follow my IG, you would easily see why...  17 trips, 10 countries, countless cities in a mere 52 weeks!

15,000 feet @ Airlie Beach

Nyonya Kuih Lapis Sagu

When I was making this recipe, I keep thinking to myself, these people must have a ton of time in their hands... The recipe is not difficult at all, it just took a lot of patience and patience is not one of my virtues... so it may be a long while before I will make this recipe again.  (To be honest, I didn't even want to make this to begin with but I had leftover fresh pandan extract.)  Next time you complain kuih is expensive, try making your own.

20 layers @.@

How to Make Pandan Leaf Extract

Boxed coconut milk was on sale at my local supermarket the other day so I went to the market and bought some fresh pandan leaves to make cake.  The store owner asked what I am going to make with the leaves and I told him - Pandan Chiffon Cakes!  He gave me a look of disbelief.  Maybe I should treat him a slice.  LOL! 

 

Chiffon Cakes

Lately, I have been addicted to baking chiffon cakes.  My family has been very cooperative by eating the entire 9 inch cake per day for almost a week consecutively.  So far, I have tried 5 different flavors - matcha, earl grey, pandan, mocha, orange.  The ingredients are very simple - just eggs, oil, cake flour, and water/milk/juice/etc.  The flavor combination is almost endless.  Chiffon cakes very, very, versatile indeed!  I just wonder how can I make this cake in a vegan version since this recipe relies so much on eggs!

Pandan Chiffon Cake

I got my recipe from Just One Cookbook.  Her chiffon cake recipes are very easy to follow and the cake comes out moist but not too sweet.  I also loved the fact that she has measurements for 3 difference chiffon cake pan sizes.  I got my 9 inch chiffon cake pan from IKEA years ago and mostly used it to bake cheesecake.  Her 20 cm measurement was actually perfect for my pan.

2017 Highlights and Recap

What can I say?  2017 has been hectic (in a good way).  Traveled to places beyond expectation for sure.  Keeping the post short for the sake of both of us.  Just some highlights.  For more photos, you can check out my Google Album or follow me on my Instagram. :)

Bedouin Camp @ Wadi Rum, Jordan

Surviving Seoul

Just returned from Seoul for another business trip.  Korea has to be one of the very few countries I constantly feel lost even after a few visits.  So, I decided to put a few pointers that hopefully will help travelers who don't speak Korean to get around (outside the typical tourist spots).

My Best Bite: Sydney, Australia (November 2016)

Seeing that my best nine photos of my IG account are all from Sydney, I can't help but wonder - am I giving this city too little credit?  I guess going there on business really changes how you perceive the city.  Sydney's dining scene gets better every time.  You can tell some of these places showed up more than once in my IG feed.  Disclaimer: I rarely return to the same restaurants unless they were really good and I couldn't get them off my mind.  So, you get the gist :)

Trip to Middle Earth (aka New Zealand) - South Island

Continuing on my post on New Zealand, focusing on the South Island this time~  As everyone else who has been to NZ will tell you, South Island is worth more of your time.

Trip to Middle-Earth (aka New Zealand) - North Island

It's been over 2 years since I returned from New Zealand so why bother talking about it now.  Well, my baby brother told me he wants to go there with his girlfriend after Easter 2017.  You have no idea how worried my mom and I have been since he dropped the news!  According to my brother, New Zealand went from a "10" to an "8" every time he comes and asks me for trip tips.  (My mom never felt that way about me traveling and I am planning a trip to the Middle East... LOL)

Auckland

Nishimuraya Honkan Kinosaki Onsen (城崎溫泉 西村屋本館): the food

So, here's the post on our dinner and breakfast at Nishimuraya Honkan.  When I can still describe how the food taste after all this time, you know it is a very memorable meal!


The most memorable of all~
Grilled kani-miso!

Nishimuraya Honkan Kinosaki Onsen (城崎溫泉 西村屋本館): the ryokan and surroundings

Another year, another crab season.  Did you know the Matsuba Crab is only available from November to March every year?  I had an unforgettable experience at Nishimuraya Honkan in Kinosaki.  It was a splurge but it is worth every penny!  We were definitely spoiled by the food and the hospitality.



Garden view from main entrance at Nishimuraya Honkan



Kagiya (鍵屋) @ Ine-Cho ( 伊根町)

When I really love something, my friends would hear me talking about it non-stop.  Kagiya (鍵屋) in Ine-cho is one of those places.  It is not the easiest to get to  but it was so worth it.  I have been keeping it hush-hush on the blog but I always think about my experience there every year around this time.  If there is a next time, I will need to at least spend 2 nights there, with one day fully dedicated to fishing. :)

 

Ine is sometimes referred to "Venice of Japan" but a lot less known and much quieter. 

[Taipei] Sushi Hui (鮨 蕙)

Sushi Hui (鮨蕙) was one of my favorite meals in Taipei this recent trip.  Located in a quiet alley, Sushi Hui is an Edo-mai style sushi restaurant that serves a limited number of customers every night.

[Taipei] RAW

RAW has been on my bucket list since the day it opened but reservations has been extremely difficult.  After pulling some strings, I finally got a reservation!  As one of Asia's best restaurant, RAW did not disappoint!  The ambiance, service, and flow were great!

[Sydney] four.ate.five

It's not that I don't write about my experiences with the restaurants in Sydney but I guess I never knew where to start...  Sydney does get old after four business trips within 2 consecutive years, with each trip lasting longer than the last...  Food is awesome here but I do find myself eating in, a lot!  (Service apartment with full kitchen spoils me.)  The produce is super fresh here so looking for good restaurants that won't break the bank became too much work!  LOL!  (I'd rather dine in and save up the money and go to a few high end restaurants.)

Seoul Impression

Seoul is the perfect mash up of the old and the new, divided by the Han River.  Work brought me here earlier this year and because of the complexity and issues encountered on the project, I felt like I was here a very long time.  (Indeed, I was working and living here for a total of 5 weeks… in the dead on winter no less!)

[Macau] The Eight @ Grand Lisboa

The Eight @ Grand Lisboa was a Chinese restaurant I have been wanting to try for a long time.  Finally, I took my family there on New Year's Day.  Contrary to what my friend told me, reservation was surprising easy to secure.

[Taipei] Woolloomooloo Xin Yi (WXY)

This is the most "O" I have seen in a word and it's actually a real place in Australia.  This little Australian cafe/bar is a rare find in Taipei.  It has that industrial touch that is uncommon even in Taipei.

[Taipei] Old Sichuan (老四川巴蜀麻辣燙 南京東路店）

It is so cold in Hong Kong / Macau this week.  Only 9C!!! True, it's warmer than Seoul but remember, we got no central heat here so it's the indoor temperature!!!  /shivers  Winter is the most popular weather for hotpot.  As I am counting down the days to the year of the Monkey, I find all my gathering this week (reunion dinners) are hotpot related.  Speaking of hotpot, I miss the Sichuan spicy hotpot in Taipei.  It was recommended by one of my friends and it did not disappoint!

[Taipei] Melange Cafe (米朗琪咖啡館)

Happy 2016.  2015 has been a whirlwind for me.  I expect no less in 2016.  Thank you for the likes, comments, and shares on my blog posts.  I would have stopped blogging if not for you.  I still takes lots of photos when I visit restaurants but I rarely find time to write about them much anymore.  The best way to keep up with me these days is Instagram.  I will still try my best to keep this blog going but I can't really promise more than 1 post a month... So since my Taiwan collection remains the most popular of all, I will continue with this series even though I live in Macau and work in Hong Kong but travel around APAC most of the time.  LOL.

Anyways, this post is about Melange, which is quite famous for its waffles.  My first visit was for exactly that.