WASHOKU spring dinner buffet at La Scala: Media preview

Spring is here and La Scala have just launched a WASHOKU Japanese-themed buffet.

There are Robatayaki delights, seasonal sushi, seafood, freshly shucked oysters, grilled steak and a new yoghurt DIY corner.

For the health conscious, they have a Japanese-style salad bar with okra and other healthy treats.

The cheese section, a must for expats!

Sweets for kids:

Ginko nuts:

Japanese grilled fish fins:

Oysters:

Cantonese roast:

 Sushi and sashimi counter:

Here was what we had:
There is something for everyone but as a carbs lover, I liked the Hainan chicken rice and pasta.

At this media gathering we got to try this realistic sashimi don cake.
When I was taking photos, I assumed it was vegetarian sushi but then it was revealed that it was a dessert made with blood orange jelly and raspberry to mimic the salmon and tuna.
The wasabi was mimicked by green tea mousse.

We also got to make a mini version to take home.

Coming in April, there will be a new tea set in collaboration with Benefit Cosmetics, featuring girly treats!

The best quiche in Hong Kong

I used to be in Laichikok all the time, in those days there were hardly any Western restaurants and D2 didn't exist.
All that has changed and I discovered this place because there was a cat and I love cats.
(previously this place used to be Egg tart king.)


When I went in I was wowed by the huge croissant and Cantonese Pineapple bun model.


What impressed me more was that they had quiches in a seemingly Chinese bakery.



This bakery was quite famous last year for their mooncakes which came in a Vintage yet funky packaging but at that time I didn't know it was this bakery.
I got a good mix of Western and Cantonese bakery to try.
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Broccoli quiche:

When I saw this, I knew it was going to be good. In fact this is the best in Hong Kong in terms of size and price.
This is the size you would get in the UK and the pastry was done just right because it was not sweet or made into a quiche tartlet which is just not a real quiche.
There were generous chunks of broccoli that were not too soft or hard and the egg filling was really tasty and you could taste the broccoli infused into it.
It was so comforting to get a good quiche that tastes like home made quiches without being too salty or sweet.
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pain du chocolat:

The pain du chocolat is another European favourite and it would taste great warm when the chocolate is soft.
It had a lovely buttery aroma and the chocolate wasn't too sweet.
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Cheese balls:

The puffs are basically Japanese pontikeges which are sold in the morning and normally sold out by the afternoon.
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Purple potato balls:

Another treat that blew me away because it was real purple potato mash in the middle encased in this delicious flakey pastry. Again it was not too sweet.
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Chocolate bun:

The buns are basically filled Mexican buns and the chocolate one is jazzed up by the coffee powder on top with chocolate filling in the middle. On a hot day, you can expect the filling to be runny.
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Custard bun:

I was so glad I got this because their custard filling is so moist and fluffy without being two sweet which makes up for the mooncakes which I didn't know about last year.
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Overall, a great bakery with a good Western and Cantonese choice that is not too sweet.
The quiche is a must get at $20 a slice, where can you beat that!
I am going to be back for quiche and this coconut pandan croissant that I spotted on IG!~

SAY HEY BAKERY!
https://www.facebook.com/%E5%9B%9B%E5%96%9C%E9%BA%B5%E5%8C%85%E8%A5%BF%E9%A4%85-617982941575321/?fref=ts

Indeed a miracle phone EVERMIRACLE S

I only write about gadgets when they are worth bragging out.
Recently my mobile phone died so I had to get a new one asap, so I got a Samsung J1 Mini thinking it would be good but it was slow and the battery goes fast.
In desperation I got another phone which turned out to be a miracle just like its name EVERMIRACLE S.
Before I got it, I googled this phone but all I got was French and Arabic because the makers EVERTEK are located in Tunisia.
Anyway, I decided to risk getting it and it turned out to be so good I found myself wanting to get another one for backup but sadly I had bought the last one :(

The phone specifications were clearly labelled on the factory screen protector which I have stuck to the blue back cover.

Without being wowed by the functions of the phone, I was already impressed with the contents in the box.

Back covers in three different colours and a clear hard cover protector:

Screen protector and contents in the box:

I have never bought a phone with all these included.
These are often slipped in free of charge if the dealer is nice.

Anyway, now to the phone.

Here were the functions which I thought were cool!!!
As I am not a professional tech review, I am just pointing out what I feel is cool so to be honest, I don't know if these features are part of android 5.0 or they are part of the functions from EVERTEK.
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Parental:

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Fake call:
If you press the fake call button, it will countdown from 15 seconds and you can stop it within the 15 seconds, when it reaches zero, the phone will ring as if someone called you with a withheld number and you answer it like normal.

The funny thing is that if you do answer the answer the call, it will play a female voice in English saying "hi, can you send me the file as possible please!!"
It was a bit difficult filming from my other phone so you can only vaguely hear the voice.

(Hopefully I will explore that sometime by setting the language to French and see if it will speak French on the fake call.)
I am curious to know if there is a database of pre recorded languages so it will speak the relevant language according to the language setting on your phone.
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Timer for face masks and boiling and egg:

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Scheduled power on/off:

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Reasonable macro focus:

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Record conservations when there is a incoming call by pressing record before you pick up:

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Face lock option:
I haven't tried this yet because I don't want to risk locking up my phone permanently.

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Included cache cleaner:

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Eco mode:
(not quite sure what this is, but I hope it can help block spams on some applications.)

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Other lovely features are pre-installed Facebook and messenger, app to that reads office docs and a reasonable battery endurance which last for a day.

http://www.evertek.com.tn/Android%20Series/EverMiracle%20S.html

[Review 5824] Colourful drinks in an old bingsut @ 集蘭冰室 Chap Lan Cafe

04/03/2017

Colourful drinks in an old bingsut
2017-03-04  
I rarely go to Chinese bingsuts as the food there is not my cup of tea.
Recently saw people posting fancy drinks at these bingsuts served in a black and white cup so I decided to go an try it.
It was actually quite hard finding a cafe that serves it, finally did and I must have been the first to order it as their reaction was weird.
The purple potato was surprisingly nice and not too sweet but the powder has not been completely dissolved.
The green tea was too sweet and bitter because they put too much powder, after diluting it with water, it tasted better.

集蘭冰室 Chap lan cafe
荔枝角青山道520號地下
G/F, 520 Castle Peak Road, Lai Chi Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/colourful-drinks-in-an-old-bingsut-e2741024

[CheckCheckCin] Healthy and stylish drinks

In Hong Kong I rarely get too many choices for drinks that I can't decide but here I found it hard to pick a drink because there were four I wanted to try which is a good sign.

They specialize in Traditional Chinese herbal medicine where they have turned them into healthy and delicious drinks with a young twist from the packaging to the store outlook with cute pastel colours.

They even had yoghurt drinks made with real yoghurt, not the weird tasting Calpis or Yakult which is laced with sugar.

Anyway, I decided to go for the Nourishing Raspberry almond milk which was a surprisingly wonderful combination.

I had it hot (served warm), any hotter than and that I don't think it would taste nice.
To my amazement it had real raspberries in it, not sure if they were fresh or frozen but at least they were not the dehydrated ones.
There should be more raspberries in the picture but it tasted so good I drank half of it before I took pictures.

Not to mention the benefits for health, I loved the taste because it was so natural especially the raspberry and you could taste hints of almond as well without being too milky.
Normally milk doesn't mix with sour berries but in this case almond milk does.
The beauty is that this drink tastes good hot or cold so it depends on what mood you're in.

I was back again for the banana yoghurt rice water, secret rice water, detox fig leaves tea with dried longan and warming apple cinnamon oolong tea which I purchased at different visits when I was in Sheungwan.

https://www.facebook.com/CheckCheckCin