~ Eating Frog Legs on the Streets of Hong Kong ~

There's something about eating outdoors that makes me feel all special. Maybe it's because when I eat outside, it must be really nice outside and nice weather always makes me feel good. In America, eating outside seems like such a luxury with those iron cast tables and chairs and maybe a nice little umbrella to set the mood. Well, in Hong Kong, eating outside is pretty....well ... normal and definitely not as glamorous. Seriously, that was our table.


We went to this restaurant for their famous chicken. It was in an alley and they were so full that they had to open a table for us in front of a doctor's office.


The food was pretty good though. We had broccoli and frog. Yes, I said it. It's frog.


See? Frog legs. Frog really just tastes like chicken.


And this is the famous chicken. See the yellow skin? That's some good stuff!!! I just noticed the frog bones in the back. Just ruins the whole picture doesn't it?


It was a little cold though. But it was still fun to eat with my mom and my aunt there.


This street is pretty much empty with stores on both sides during the day. At night, the restaurants just bring out all the tables and people eat on the street. Hong Kong people love eating at night!


There are a lot of snacks you can eat on the streets too. Just standing there, no tables, no chairs. I will show you guys that over the weekend :)

~ Hong Kong Shopping Haul: Skincare/Makeup ~

In Hong Kong, beauty super stores are on every corner. There's Sasa, ColourMix, Bonjour, Angel and a million little boutiques with beauty products. I couldn't resist and bought a bunch of skin care products and a few makeup. My favorite store was ColourMix. I don't know why. On two separate occasion, my mom and my cousins spent more than an hour in that store. I didn't even want to buy makeup, but after a few hours of looking at this....


Well, isn't it so cute??? Look at the Lioele logo! It's like a Cinderella carriage! Just love the way the packing is done.


I don't even use blush that often, but this one is just too cute. So I bought it. I haven't tried it yet though.


I also got the BB cream because it was recommended by the sales lady. It's a very moisturizing forumla. I will write about it more later.


One of my favorite product I got was this serum called Hydra B5 Soother. My mom loves it and was buying a dozen to bring home. So, naturally I took a few for myself. I have been using it for a few months now and my skin feels so much more hydrated.


It's made by this Korean company called A.H.C. It has Vitamin B5 (Panthenol), Hyaluronic Acid, Portulaca Oleracea Extracts, and Kava Kava Extracts. Any word with "acid" worries me. But, I looked it up and it seems ok. According to Wikipedia, "In 2003 the FDA approved hyaluronan injections for filling soft tissue defects such as facial wrinkles. Restylane is a common trade name for the product. Hyaluronan injections temporarily smooth wrinkles by adding volume under the skin, with effects typically lasting for six months."


I was going to get some "My Beauty Diary" Masks, but the sales lady said these are better. So, I got a few for fun.


This looks the most promising. Haven't gotten around to it yet, but I will soon! Probably tomorrow.


I also got a couple of these Coreana Water Active Cream because it was on sale and .... I don't know. When the sales lady keep telling you to buy, you just cave in sometimes. It felt good when she put it on my hand...


These Cola flavored lip balms are fun. I have never heard of the brand Laino before. Looks French to me. It's not that moisturizing, but the cola flavor is awesome. My fiance put this on the other day, took a sip of water and handed me the cup. When I drank the water, it tasted like coke for a second!


I got a peeling gel for my face and body. This one is for my face by Hazel Lazia. I got this from a little beauty boutique that my aunt found. It was their most popular item. It is supposed to exfoliate your skin when your rub it in circle. You will see your dead skin forming into little lumps. Every time I use it, my face feels really smooth. So, as of right now, I like it.


This tub of peeling gel is for my body. This one is okay. I haven't noticed a major difference after using this.


I don't even know what this is! My mom said it's good stuff though. But, I don't know how to use it.



This is what I got when I tried to control myself. Imagine what would've happened if I didn't control myself. I think it would've taken a week for me to just blog about everything I would've gotten :)

~ Hot Pot Hong Kong Restaurant Style ~

It's so cold today! What happened to Spring? This weather reminds me of...well...hot pot! When I was in Hong Kong, we had hot pot often. There's a restaurant that has 1/2 off everything after 9pm so it's an awesome deal. And bottles of coke and soda are 3 for $10HKD. That's only like $1.25 here. Restaurants here charges like $2 for a glass of coke!

So here are some of the things you can order for hot pot. This is thinly sliced beef.


Squid...


This is one of the best hot pot ingredient ever. It's tofu skin wrapped into a loose cylinder. You just throw it into the pot and count to 3 and it's ready. Delicious!


These are like beef balls and shrimp balls and fish balls. The frozen ones you can get in Chinese grocery stores in America are all precooked. These are fresh. They are so fresh that the shrimp that's in the shrimp ball was probably still alive in the morning.


Of course, all kinds of veggies and mushrooms.


There are a lot more ingredients like seafood, clams, fish and a lot of other stuff. But, I think I lost some pictures :( Besides the ingredients, you also need to pick a soup base. They have super spicy one, chicken broth, pork bone soup, drunken chicken soup and chinese herbal soup. When the soup is boiling, it's time to add the food!


Then it's just a waiting game.


Besides awesome hot pot, there's also awesome dessert! This is my favorite red bean .... soup. Super delicious!


I really miss wish I could've hot pot today. But, I had good spicy Thai food instead. Pictures to come soon!

~ Unique Polymer Clay Flowers ~

I have been selling polymer clay flowers in my supplies shop for a while. I love them because they are so cute and pretty! I just love the details each blossom has.


During my trip to Hong Kong in 2008, I saw this rose bouquet and I was in awe. It has the most gorgeous glossy finish! I am no expert in polymer clay beads, but I have never seen any flowers like this. I got 2, but I couldn't figure what I want to make out of it. So, when I opened up my supplies shop, I put them up for sale, hoping they'll find a happy home.


This past month in Hong Kong, I went to look for more of these flowers because I think these are really unique. They don't have that rose bouquet anymore, but I found lots of other awesome flowers! Isn't black roses so alluring and mysterious? Look how glossy it is!


I also found these little glossy pink roses. They are only 7mm wide, but so cute! They will look so good if they are woven into crystal charms or used as bridal hair pins.



I also love these matte plum color flowers. I have no idea what kind of flowers they are supposed to be, but they are gorgeous. These are a lot more sophisticated then most polymer clay flowers.


I have just finished listing them in my shop. You can click on the pictures to go to the listing. I hope you like these as much as I do. Which one is your favorite?

~ Hong Kong Shopping Haul: Boots ~

Hong Kong's weather is slightly warmer than DC. By the end of February, almost all the stores I saw had boots on clearance in anticipation of the spring sandals. I passed by this one tiny store and saw these awesome boots.


The sign says $899. I wanted them, but I am not paying that much for boots when I won't really get to wear that much till next fall. So, I commented to my mom that these were nice, but too expensive. Then the owner appeared out of nowhere and said that all the boots are $100 because of end of season clearance. As you can see, I bought them. I am sad to say that ... they don't fit me! I am a size 39 in European sizes. These are 38. When I was at the store, they felt snug, but I could walk in them. Now that I try them on again, they don't fit! They are very, very tight! How's that possible?

Good thing I got another pair with rhinestones. I am not crazy about the ones near the top, but I love the rhinestones on the heel.



Another pair of black boots...but these are very special! They are made from a super soft, suede material that hug my legs like tights. And they go up to my thighs. You can also fold it down so it's calf-high. The only thing I don't like is how pointy they is.


More rhinestones! These are brown and have ribbons on the back. So girly and pretty!



These boots are perfect. They fit well and they are comfy. Looks gray right?


It's really silver!



I think they are pretty good quality boots because they are lined with a very soft material on the inside. Boots from China are usually not even lined with anything and they cost about $79 to $99HKD. So, yeah, I spent an hour at that one store and got 5 pair of boots. Then, I told my aunts and they got a few pairs too. She got so many pairs that I had to bring them back for her because her suitcases were full. She got these nice brown soft suede boots. No fair. I don't remember seeing these.


During the 5 weeks I was in Hong Kong, I also bought another pair of casual brown boots to wear with skinny jeans, 2 pairs of gladiator sandals, a pair of "Juicy" sandals, some jeweled flipflops and a pair of red strappy heels. I think I have enough shoes for now. Don't let me see any deals with Endless.com and DSW please!!

~ What is Dim Sum ~

Still not done unpacking yet. So, no pictures of my new supplies and other items from Hong Kong. Instead, I will tell you more about food! Have you ever had dim sum? It's pretty much a Cantonese thing. Dim sum is a kind of food that's served in very small portions usually for breakfast or lunch. It's kind of like tapaz. Most dishes are steamed though some are sauteed or fried. In America, when you want dim sum, you would say you want dim sum. But, in Chinese, you would really say, "I want to 'drink tea'" because drinking tea is a big part of the meal. The servers will usually ask you what kind of tea you would like when you sit down.


Anyways, I had dim sum like at least 3 times a week when I was in Hong Kong. Not only is the food really good, it's also a very atmosphere for gatherings with friends. The food comes out slowly and you get to hang out with your friends and family and drink tea at the same time. It's definitely very fun. There are a lot of traditional items for dim sum. In the back of the following pictures, you can see siu mai which is pretty much pork and shrimp wrapped in a delicate yellow...wrapper. The white dumplings are shrimp dumplings. It's beef balls in front of the dumplings and the thing to the left is chicken and other stuff wrapped in tofu skin.


This is sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf. There's usually chicken, black mushroom and other meats in the middle.


Very tender steamed ribs with black beans and chili peppers.


Chicken feet and taro wrapped in tofu skin. Other typical dishes are bbq pork buns, chicken feet, and steamed rice noodles (churn fun).


Traditionally, the dim sum is wheeled around in a cart while the server yells out what dishes she has in her cart. When you see something you want, you tell the server and she'll give you the dish and put a stamp on your receipt card. Now, most restaurants don't use carts anymore. Instead, they have papers with the dishes and you check off which ones you want. Then, you give it to the servers and they will bring out the dishes for you. Every dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong has different specialty dim sum dishes. Here are some pictures of specialty dim sum. Everything was delicious!






There's plenty of desserts amongst the dim sum dishes too. This one is quite popular when I was in Hong Kong. It's called something like "flowing cream bun". The cream inside the soft white bread is so deliciously creamy that it will flow out of the bun if you are not careful.


Looks like creme brulee right? I don't remember what it was though.


Can you tell which pictures I took with my DSLR vs the phone? Unlike my brother who took his camera everywhere, I was way too lazy. In Hong Kong, I had to walk and take public transportation every where. It's a pain to carry the big DSLR around. Besides, I was shopping most of the time. My hands were full with shopping bags :)