Monthly Archives: October 2010

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The One With The BBQ At Tai Tam Tuk Village

One of the many things I like about living in Hong Kong is the variety of activities you can engage it. Because of its sheer size (well, relatively speaking from where I used to live at) and geographical location, this country really has its all – from idyllic mountains to quaint seaside, from packed nightclubs to deserted beaches.

Don’t even get me started on the food; I can feel my waistline expanding as I type.

So putting one (place) and one (food) together, you have endless permutations on what you could do. And so my friends and I rolled the dice and did a barbeque dinner at the rural Tai Tam Tuk Village, located at Stanley one Friday night recently.

BBQ at Tai Tam Tuk Village

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The One With Chung Kee Dessert (松記糖水) At Causeway Bay

Dessert shops are a dime a dozen in Hong Kong. Even though I have been living here for more than a year, I never ventured to more than a handful all this time, because:
1) I am counting my calories; and
2) My favourite, Honeymoon Dessert is 5 mins from my place

Maybe it was the delicious dinner, or perhaps a pint too many beer after the birthday dinner, we decided on a whim to have some dessert before calling it a night. And we chanced upon a dessert shop which I passed by every morning on the way to work but never went in.

Chung Kee Dessert (松記糖水), Causeway Bay

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The One With The Quest For Snow In A Winter Europe

The first snow. The surprising fall of snowflakes. The puzzling impossibility that no two are alike. The freshness chill that permeates the air. The laughter of children in a game of snow fight. The dazzling expanse of a white carpet over everything.

Ahhh…. for the longest time I have been yearning to see snow. Yes, I know that I had my first snow experience as a toddler, but how many of us will remember experiences from such an early age?

And so begin my quest to see snow… first in 2008, and then again in 2009. Little did I know that snow does not always happen at the end of the year. The few snow flakes I saw on the very last day of my Europe trip last year, while waiting out the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague was the best I could manage.

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The One With Champs Bar & Restaurant (蒲點美式酒吧) At Wan Chai

I am a creature of habit. My daily routine hardly varied, and that includes my dining out choices. If you are foolish enough to ask me to plan for eating out, invariably you will end up at some place you and I have been to before.

But that changed, for once, when the birthday boy said, “I am sick of thinking of where to eat.” Only then I realised, gosh, that sounded exactly like me every time I attempted a dinner out.

So, as a treat for the birthday boy (whom, incidentally, I last met a year ago and was amongst my first few friends in Hong Kong), we took the road less traveled to… the Champs Bar & Restaurant in Wan Chai.

Champs Bar & Restaurant (蒲點美式酒吧), Wan Chai

I have been to this place once for drinks with colleagues, and it was kind of a love at first sight. Well, probably love is too strong a word, but I do like how uncrowded it was, and the sofa seats were very comfortable and cozy. The phrase “American Bistro” came to mind.

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The One With James Barnes 3rd Symphony – For Natalie

Beautiful piece by James Barnes. The starting was a little clumsy, but the climax was resoundingly beautiful. Very strong brass line, and wonderful harpist.

Pity the incessant coughing in the background though.

By Philips Harmonie… yes, that Dutch company, Philips.

The One With The Revival Of My Blogging Mojo

Sunflowers in the Sky

You may not have noticed that I haven’t been blogging for close to a month. Or if you have noticed, probably you did because you tried to visit my blog, only to be warned by your respective bouncers of a browser that my crown, You Got Me Blogging, has been unduly colonised by an army of malwares.

That despicable act was so unjust, so unfair, that I do not even know where to begin. With the unbloggable dethronement, I descended to the dungeon of misery, navigating helplessly through the Google Webmaster daunting maze while trying to weed out the offending malware. Endless days and nights were spent battling to replace my crown where it rightly should be at.

As it became clear that I couldn’t fight this war alone, I left the dungeon and ascended to my tower of a lighthouse, signaling for help. And help came, in the form of the King of Petphotogs and Princess of WordPress. Together, over endless emails, DMs and MSN, we weeded out the terrorists, moved my crown to a better throne and reinstated my place in the blogging world.

That, my friend, is what you are looking at. You Got Me Blogging is now officially sitting at http://www.razlan.net, not on the .name domain anymore. Kindly update your bookmarks and linkrolls, my beloved readers.

And yes, within minutes of my re-coronation, the silent observer Google cleared my name, and all is good again in the world of search engines.

I have much to rejoice and to blog about. The Bangkok trip that spanned over six eventful days, the downfall of my blog (which rightfully deserves a series of posts on its own, but why wallow in that miserable past?), the endless blogging ideas lined up…

All in good time, my friend. Before you know it, the delicious awesomeness that are my blog posts will once again present itself on your email/RSS/Twitter for your (hopefully delightful) inspection.

Once again, a shout out to Nicholas Lee and Veron Ang, without whom this blog may have not seen the light of the day again.