cny reunion dinner

*back dated entry*

after my papa saying he want to eat pen cai (盆菜) for a couple of years, this year we finally gotten one as i saw a pretty ok deal on deals.sg.... normally the 盆菜 price at restaurants like crystal jade will cost about $400+ for 6 pax but the deal i saw only cost $158 for 6 pax but only for takeaway & somemore have complementary yu sheng from hotel Re!.... so i thought hey, quite a good deal, just get one & try... & again... there is a catch which i shall talk more about it later on....

since this year we gotten the pen cai, so we thought of cooking lesser food since the portion is for 6 pax & we have only have 7 adults & 2 babies.... i tell you... wrong move... NEVER believe what they state online.... when my mama called in & arrange for collection time & date, the staff said the pen cai is for 4-6 pax... as usual, they will state the max number of people online... but ok... we give it to them & thinking 4 pax for pen cai should be still quite a large of amount of food.... so this year i cooked lesser food, i only prepared corn + fish maw soup, mushroom+oyster+fat choi & prawn for dinner...

pen cai

yu sheng

yu sheng with salmon slices

 ok.. from the picture, i think the pen cai looked pretty decent.... i would say was really average... there wasnt much ingredient inside... it had 6 abalone, some mushroom, several oysters which tasted super salty like salted fish, radish, fat choi, broccoli & some yong tau fu thing....  i would say the portion really not enough for 4 pax, not mentioning 6pax UNLESS everyone is super small eater... the yu sheng was pretty pathetic too but it was complementary so i shall not complain much about it... but i would say the portion was too little for 6pax if you had to pay for it.....

the reunion dinner dishes = pen cai, mushroom+oyster & prawn

so due to our over expectation of the pen cai... i would say this year reunion dinner we didnt have as much food as we used to.... of cause we didnt go hungry but probably will have a more sumptuous meal next year....

review: osaka ohsho

*back dated entry*

went to have casual dinner with friend & met up at westgate.... wanted to try miam miam but my god... the queue was so damn long at about 6.30pm... of cause we can join in the queue but my principle is why queue so damn long for food UNLESS i DIE DIE want to eat at that place, which we dont... so went to try our luck with other restaurants in the mall.... normally i will prefer to eat japanese food cause it suits my taste & not so oily.... naturally i recommended osaka ohsho since i like their gyoza... the queue was ok there, about 4 groups of people in front of us, so we waited about 15min before we were seated....

the menu

shaku me still not very used to using a pad pad as a menu.... well is good since it saves the trouble of waving frantically to catch the waitress attention in order to take our orders.... & it also give you a rough bill after you placed the order....

karage

my bf's set... some mix fried with egg

my fried rice

actually i only ordered karage & fried rice since both my bf & our friend dont take pork... so yeah... got free gyoza.... normally i dont like japanese gyoza... i dont like the dumpling skin... i find it too thin & the filling doesnt suit my liking... i prefer the chinese guo te style... juicy filling with thick skin... but the gyoza from osaka ohsho is really nice.... no wonder the store is so famous in japan.... i think in general the dishes are quite nice there... prices are also average... approx $20 per pax for a set + a drink.... so is good to have a nice meal there once in awhile =)

i PASSED my defense!!!!

today is one of the most important day in my life, my phD defense day!!!! actually since the first day i embark on my postgraduate journey, i kind of dreaded the defense date cause i knew i will be super nervous & cant answer the examiners questions, so it did occur to me many times that may be i should just graduate with a master then just need to write thesis, dont need to present = sure pass... but of cause, i decided to just continue & brave through the next 2yrs and arrived today = the DATE for defense.... i wont say i m super prepared for it as there will always be unexpected questions being asked... but i did try to think of as many questions as possible to preempt myself & practice the presentation many times..... & true enough, unexpected things happened....

1st: i didnt know that the chairperson is appointed by the department, i always thought will be 1 of the examiners, most likely the external one
2nd: & the chairperson is someone i kind of fear due to his ability to ask so many questions
3rd: external examiner dont need to be present, then in the 1st place why ask me to go & find 1... kns....
4th: almost ALL the questions i prepared were not asked... like WTF... ok... but at least did predict afew
5th: examiners asked me very general questions & stupid me forgot to prepare for those... like OMFG i wan2 die when they asked me those questions but i still have to act brave....

BUT..... sad things aside..... i still managed to pass my defense!!! like OMG YEAH!!!! i think the examiners kind of took pity on me... see me so poor thing, endured 4yrs of studies & kena bombarded by questions till can see the i am so dead face...... but.... dont care.... I DONT care what are the reasons... the main and most important thing is that i PASSED!!!! of cause still need to make amendments to my thesis & brush up on my general knowledge but hey... at least today is worth celebrating!!!!!

really want to thank everyone who have helped me in any ways, be it the admin staffs who booked the room for my defense, collaborators who helped in the research, lab members who helped me in my work, prof for all his guidance, examiners who came down, anyone else whom i have forgot to mention but still helped me in one way or another, support from my family... & lastly is my fiance.... who really helped, supported and encouraged me throughout the 4yrs.... thank you darling =) so with this, i can finally embark officially on planning for our wedding!!!! yeah!!!!

hello 2014

went MIA for about 2wks as i was away for holiday!!! i think a holiday will make you mentally and psychologically recharged but body will be super drained.... or perhaps is just the way how i plan my trips... i m the super kiasu kind.... i felt that you paid so much to travel to those places then of cause must make full use of the time there so i always planned my schedule until super pack... we will be practically running from one location to another.... as a result, always feel so tired after the trip......

so for this trip.... i went to taiwan from 24th Dec 2013 to 30th Dec 2013 then 31st Dec 2013 to 5th Jan 2014.... went to taizhong, cing jing and taipei in taiwan & the last 3 days in hk was just visiting relatives.... just touched down at 5am this morning.... feeling very tired now..... i would say this trip was ok... not say super exciting but at least get to experience some cold weather..... shall slowly upload the photo & blog about the different locations that i went =)

Day 12 & 13 - hk

 *back dated entry*

the last 2 days in hk was more of relatives visiting & buying the stuff my mama asked me to get from hongkong....

4th jan
had morning tea with one set of relatives then went to jordon there to get dried seafood for mama... we went to 德兴 at number 1 吴松街... apparently this store is pretty famous as when i told my aunties that i am going there, all of them were like "oh, that store".... & then as this store is famous, there are ALOT of fake 德兴 around the area.... so must go to the outlet at number 1 吴松街, there is  NO other branch....

the street sign

the signboard

this outlet....

 lucky for me, i only saw this 德兴 & not any other outlets... this store business damn good man.... ALOT of people there & they buy expensive stuff like abalone & bird nest kind.... of cause they do sell cheaper things like walnut, salted fish kind.... after buying the required stuff, the bag weighted like 5kg or so... kns heavy so we went back to hotel to put down the stuff before meeting another set of relatives for dinner....

lunch/tea break.... hk mac.... yummy

5th jan
again... morning tea with aunty before going to 尖沙咀 to see the victoria harbour....before making our way back to shatin to have dinner & take A41 back to airport....

the cute duck custard bun...

SOGO closing sale.... my god... i didnt know sogo can close down 1 lea... really hard to do business

our dinner... not nice... but dont know why still got so many people queuing

scenery at harbour

the ferry terminal

foggy...

ferry....

some bruce lee statue that ALOT of people take picture of, so i just join in

so with that, it marks the end of my 13 day trip in taiwan & hong kong.... i would say the trip was pretty fun especially visiting the farms in taizhung area as well as cingjing..... taipei was pretty much the same... more of shopping than sightseeing i would say.... as goes for hong kong... i wanted to visit more places in hong kong but due to the tight schedule, it was no possible... but oh well.... there is always a next time... to end off... i will post some of the food items i bought for this trip =) yummy =)

老婆饼，this is my favourite brand but now like not so nice

some mushroom floss thing that i bought in taiwan

almond biscuit & love letter from macau store... yummy

my favourite almond puff from maxim

almond cookie

the freebie from taiwan tourism board

Day 11- hk

*back dated entry*

another take it easy day.... had lunch at shatin area before visiting one of my aunty....then we went to boston restaurant for dinner... is my favourite steak house... cheap & nice... the restaurant is at wan chai... get out from 修顿大球场 exit then turn left... cross the traffic light at the cross road then turn left again & walk to the end then will reach the restaurant...

the menu

nice soup & bun

steak on the trolley... waiting to be served

my flamming steak

after the flame is gone

my bf steak

drink

signboard

after dinner... we crossed the road to take tram to 红棉道station then walked up to the peak tram station

tram route directory

tram station

the tram

sidetrack... my favourite dreyer's ice cream at the peak 7-11

scenery at the peak 480

i bought the tram ticket + the peak 480 or 540 observatory ( i cant remember the exact degree) was 63hkd but that's for one way tram ticket cause the amount of people queuing was insane... so we decided to take the bus back.... the bus has lesser people queuing but my god... the ride down was like roller coaster... firstly the road has many turns since is down the hill... worst was the driver... drove like F1... i was like in a centrifuge... being spun around... kns dangerous lo... so for that like 20min ride... i had a hard time standing... & after that my bf and I felt pukey....

sad thing aside, i think the peak is another must visit attraction in hk... if you have time, should go there earlier... like late afternoon, evening time so that you can walk around the area.... before going up the observatory to see the night scenery.... then if you are want to have a nice meal with great ambience, then the peak restaurant is THE place... is just beside the peak mall... it look like a cottage... food are not bad but ambience is really nice... & of cause the price also very nice.... as the peak is a tourist attraction & where the super filthy rich people stay... food there are not cheap... i think cheapest will be mcdonald... so i advise people to grab their meals before or after going up the peak =)

Day 10 - hk disneyland

 *back dated entry*

today is DISNEYLAND day!!!! this is my 2nd time to hk disneyland... the amazing thing about disneyland is that no matter how many times you go, every time is a new experience & you will always enjoy it, well at least for me.... i have been to hk disney 2x including today, tokyo disneyland, tokyo disneysea & LA disney... i think among them, tokyo disneyland is prettiest in terms of souvenir but both theme parks are always FULL of people.... both time i queued like mad for a ride.... LA is the biggest among them, not many people queuing for rides but souvenir sucks... whole US disney sell same products... unless tokyo & hk which have different products packaging each season.... hk is the smallest disney in the world but i think it is still a must visit =)

so back to the actual topic.... we took A41 from hotel to 青马收费广场, this stop was quite far from the hotel, approximately 40min ride... is after the 青马bridge... & i dont see any mall around so i dont understand why it is call 广场... but anyway... that stop also have a lot of airport bus since is on the way to airport... from there we changed to bus R8

the bus stop

on the way to disney

disney!!!

the mickey fountain

the entrance ticket price increased again... now is 450hkd but i think still cheapest in the world.... from now on... will be more photos than words...

mickey at the entrance

even the deco is mickey head

& we were welcome by duffy!!!!

 i didnt know about duffy till i first went to japan in 2009... almost all japanese school girl will have either duffy or shery-may accessories on their bags... & now hk disneyland also sell duffy!!! my god!!! lazy me wanted to buy the duffy bag before we leave then dont have to carry but by then all sold out!!! kns.... who to blame but myself.. haiz....

duffy store!!!

duffy!!!

more duffy!!!

mickey display

my favourite ride = buzz light year... very fun, must go early or else will be very long queue

the sleeping beauty castle

carousel!!! my favourite

at the carousel... yeah

the new ride... some corney dog or wad...

the dinning hall... so nice

another new ride... viking... too scary for us

this parachute thing looks damn scary... we heard the scream!!!!

new area

the boat ride

gizzy bear ride... new also... quite exciting... love it =)

grizzy bear =)

pretty mystic mansion

display along the boat ride

more display

the small world...

entrance to the small world....

africa... very colourful

some rainforest thing

i quite like this... very pretty

 after went for some rides... is time for the parade!!! for weekday i think there is only one show at 3pm...

dumbo

mickey

& other characters

pooh

& friends

disney princesses

back view of the princesses

jungle

tinklebell

stitch

toy story

minnie

i dont know why this ride had to wait like 1hr... but wasnt as fun as it looked... so we didnt queue up

so with that, it marks the end of my disney trip.... the firework was awesome.... really worth the wait... but sadly... didnt manage to get duffy =( but nevermind... i shall get my duffy when i go japan this dec!!!!