Chinese flower plaque workshop with Wingkei, Choi 蔡榮基

I have always been fascinated with bamboo scaffolding because it is used instead of metal on skyscrapers..
Bamboo structures are also used in Chinese Flower plaques 花牌 which are bright red and made with bamboo frames, wire mesh, paper and plastic.

I discovered that there was a Chinese flower plaque workshop held for free at Caritas by Wingkei, Choi, the owner of Wing Kei Flower Shop 榮基花店 so I had to register for it because you don't often get to participate and it was a good experience to learn how the flower plaques are made.

Before I attended the workshop I initially thought the bamboo frames were already made so all we had to do was to decorate it with the bits and pieces.
It was really fun because everything was made from scratch, we got to saw the bamboo, split the bamboo into four pieces vertically and this big frame was made by tying it together with wires.
No glue is used hence bamboo splinters are made to hold things together, however staplers are used to staple the flowers onto the board.

The lessons were held on Saturday afternoons and the first lesson was sawing and splitting the bamboo, the second lesson involved making metallic flowers and building the bamboo frame, the third and fourth lesson was Chinese calligraphy and fixing the writings on to the frame.

Sawing and splitting the bamboo into four:

Making metallic flowers:

Making the Flower Plaque frames:

The main Flower plaque frame by Wingkei Choi:

Lining the Flower plaque frame with newspapers and stabilizing it with bamboo splints:

Stapling the flowers to the frames:

Painting the Chinese characters:

Attaching the sheets to the plaque:

I shall post an update again next year when they put these Flower Plaques up in early January 2018!!

English media on Wingkei Choi:
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2020649/how-hong-kong-flower-plaque-maker-bringing-craft-west

Organizers of the Flower Plaque workshop:
一刻 社區設計館 Magic Lanes
https://www.facebook.com/magiclanesstudio/

明愛莫張瑞勤社區中心 (MCSKCC)
https://www.facebook.com/mcskcc

榮基花牌（香港）有限公司
https://www.facebook.com/wingkeiflowerstore

傳統花牌扎作班！[Quoted from 明愛莫張瑞勤社區中心 Caritas FB]:
非常榮幸 榮基花牌（香港）有限公司 蔡榮基師傅親自教授，我們一眾西區街坊一起落手落腳實實在在製作一個12呎闊、15呎高的大花牌！師傅話呢次同街坊一齊合作真係開創歷史先河！
我們會在這裡繼續分享花牌的製作的進展，並會完成後於 #西營盤 #常豐里 #一刻社區設計館 開幕典禮展覽！

#傳統花牌扎作班
#真正的花牌
#榮基花牌 #常豐里
#街坊參與
#社區
#花牌

Loyal to Loyal Dining

Loyal Dining used to be in Central but they have now moved to Wan Chai.

They pretty much serve everything because I would go there for the all you eat dimsum when it was on promotion and I would take my friends there for roast pigeon.

At this new location, we decided to make it a memorable dinner so we ordered the Giant Sizzling plate as it was on promo for $498.

Basically a huge plate of meats enough for six. There was Grilled Australian Sirloin Steak, Grilled Spring Chicken and British Tenderized Pork Loin. As well as that there were German sausages, bacon, sunny side up eggs, baked potato, broccoli, tomato and zucchini served with a choice of 3 different gravies (black pepper sauce, BBQ and garlic sauce).
The pork chop was really good because it was soft and tenderized.

On the side there was Waldorf Salad Served with Homemade Deep-fried Shrimp Balls.
The pairing was interesting but I like Waldorf salad because of the crisp apples and celery while the shrimp balls were springy and crispy.

Next was a favourite of famous Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat.
There were two different toasts, one was sweet and one was savoury.
The sweet one was peanut butter with condensed milk while the savory one was preserved bean curd and sugar.
I always spread preserved bean curd on my toast so clearly I loved it because it has a salty taste which you can think of it like Chinese marmite or blue cheese.

The Loyal Chicken Wings Simmered in Homemade Sweet Soya Sauce are a popular item.
Everyone orders that but I was quite full after having all that steak.

I was really looking forward to the dessert because they had the Loyal Soufflé (Ovaltine).
It had a lovely Ovaltine aroma to it and it was not too sweet.

Loyal Dining:
5 Tonnochy Road

Hong Kong's first mini karaoke booths

I went to Red MR 紅人派對 to experience HK's first new mini karaoke rooms which are now trending in Asia.

Each of the rooms are approx. 20 square feet with functions same as the rooms except music and vocal comes out from the headphones.

The price is 15mins for HKD30 and 30mins for HKD50. Currently there are 2 mini karaoke rooms in Causeway Bay and 1 in Tsim Sha Tsui outlet.

I really liked it because you can hear your own singing more directly through headphones which is good for singing practice.

There are curtains either side that give you privacy.

As well as these booths, they have different themed rooms.

My favourite was obviously the one with the Union Jack cushions and diva Microphone.

There is an area for games if singing isn't your thing!!

Skye 1st anniversary set lunch

As a fan of Gary Rhodes, I went to SKYE for lunch to try the 1st anniversary set lunch inspired by Gary Rhodes.

As it was a clear day, there were beautiful views from the window.

Started with bread which was served with butter, salt and pink peppercorns.
It was such a treat with pink peppercorns because they have a lovely aroma that doesn't have a strong spicy kick to it.

It was followed by white tomato soup which tasted like tomato consomme mixed with milk.

Autumn foie gras:
This was silky smooth foie gras with tart berries and I loved the way the caramelized brittle gave it a touch of sweetness enhancing the flavour.

Moving on to the truffled mac and cheese which was cheesy yet balanced by the spinach leaves and earthy mushrooms.

The lamb loin was tender and juicy drizzled with appetizing gravy.
Since the pink peppercorns were still on the table, I put some on the lamb and it tasted fab.

Finished with the bread and butter pudding which is the best I have ever tasted because there was a strong vanilla taste and the top had a crisp caramelized sugar crunch to it just how Gary demonstrated in his video on how to make bread and butter pudding.

[SKYE]
310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.

Spicy night at [THE BALCONY]

I don't normally dine in this building but one of my favourite Chefs is there so I decided to try it out.
He said the food was going to be spicy but I underestimated how spicy it would be.

Anyway tried three spicy items: chili lobster soup, spicy clams and spicy whelk.
It was impressive how the spicy taste was different for each dish and not the same dead boring chili.
The lobster soup was fantastic because it was loaded with my favourite Basil and the lobster was fresh and it even had roe as well!

The spicy whelk in wine, obviously spicy had Sichuan peppercorns so it had a Sichuan touch to it.

The chili clams were the spiciest!!!
I would rate that this one had a strong chili taste and you can visually see how spicy it was with that orange chili oil surrounding it on the left!

The bread was buttered with something unique, it tasted like the ginger oil that you get with Chinese chicken but it was actually lemongrass!!

Normally I can taste what is in the ingredients but this Chef is one of the the good Chefs that can confuse your taste buds!!

There was blueberry and beetroot soup which was an interesting pairing however I managed to taste tomatoes in it.

If you have tried Jimmy's kitchen, there is a famous dry curry and the dry curry lamb rack tastes exactly like that with a crispy coating that tastes like curry bits of short crumbs!

On the menu was the Kiev which bursts out with filling when you pop the knife into into it.
I loved the crispy coating!

The dessert finished with this Japanese inspired sweet potato mash mixed with plum and yakult, again my taste buds were confused because I tasted apple.
It was paired with soothing ginger icecream!!

Definitely will be back soon!

[THE BALCONY]
https://www.facebook.com/TheBalcony118/

[Ashima Yunnan Restaurant] Yunnan specialist in Tai Koo

I love Yunnan food (known as the DIAN cuisine) but there are not many places for it.
There is one in Kowloon City but there are more options here like soup, strange insects and Chinese cheeses!!
Started off with a memorable glutinous rice tea which was really fragrant.
Unfortunately, they give you some pickles which are charged.

Baby chairs are available:

Here was the food I had:
+++++++++
As a carbs lover, I got the rice with peas and Chinese ham which was delicious because it was fluffy and tasty flavoured by the ham and sweet peas.

++++++++
The beef with lemon was an interesting combination so I decided to try it out and the taste was surprisingly good because the lemon made it appetizing.

++++++
Chinese cheese was a must for me but there were two types on the menu Rubing and Rushan.
I had to ask the staff which one was the savoury one because one is sweet and crispy served with rose!
The texture of the Rubing was like halloumi cheese flavoured by the saltiness of the ham.
It was slightly gamey but the ham balanced it.

++++++++++
Ashima Yunnan Restaurant:
18 Tai Koo Wan Road, Tai Koo Shing