Random Thoughts at 3am

A little different from what I usually blog about but I'm flying off at 6+am which means I have to leave the house at 4.45am. Just finished packing my luggage and it doesn't really seem to make sense to sleep now cause I'll have to wake up an hour later.

Well for those who don't know, I've embarked on a 25days trip to Hong Kong with 3 different group of friends joining me. I've been to HK a lot of times but it's really the first that I'm traveling around and exploring the country like a tourist. It's quite interesting actually, exploring my own country from a different perspective. (I'm a Singaporean and a HK PR)

Truth to be told, I did have a certain impression of people from HK from the stories I've heard; that they're generally a lot more fast paced, rude at times and to sum it up, not that friendly. Well some of it are true (omg the taxi driver today was super rude?!) but I've also met really amazing people. On the first day, the group of us were kind of lost at Mongkok because we still didn't really know how to navigate the alleys. We were just standing, staring at the phone and talking about maybe asking for directions. That's when I noticed that a man about to walk pass us Sounds weird that I'll notice that man out of the crowd but he was carrying a goldfish which makes him hard to miss! 30 seconds later, he walked back backwards and asked if we were lost. I'm pretty sure he heard our conv and decided to help out.

Simple act of kindness but it really made our day. It was so heartwarming that he actually bothered to walk backwards to us when he could have simply go on ahead. He even walked with us and talked to me to know more about Singapore. He ended up walking with us for a good 300m and left us to ourselves when the path was a straight one so he could make sure we won't get lost again.

Speaking about directions, we got kind of lost again at Causeway Bay. This time, more of not being able to find a taxi stand. HK taxis are really interesting in the sense that they are grouped according to where they go to. Red taxis travel to the Kowloon and Hong Kong area whereas green ones go to the New Territories area. In order to travel across areas, you have to take cross border cabs which are red and there are specific taxi stands for them. Being tourists, we of course have no idea where to find such taxi stands.

We initially got on a red cab and asked if he travelled cross border and that's when the cab driver said there's a cross border cab stand behind. We walked for so long but couldn't find it omggggg. That was actually the first time I've heard of cross border taxis (I usually just follow my family) and so I was quite clueless as to what it's all about. So I walked into a shop and said "Um, excuse me but what is a cross border taxi?" HAHAHA. Such a silly question but the guy explained it to me and pointed me in the right direction. So we said bye and left. That's when the guy ran out and said he'll bring us there. Found out where he was staying and stuff like that cause we talked the whole way through.

So there are really nice people in HK and I'm just so blessed to have crossed paths with them (:

Time to disturb Vanessa and pester her for the next hour! Ciao for now!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Festive Cheers

No prizes for guessing which day I wore this outfit! A little late but merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone had a fun time meeting up with friends and family and having a good meal(:

I couldn't help but bring a little Jenesyss to me to HK. I actually told my sister I'd be bringing this skirt along with me a month before this trip. The colour is just so bright and vibrant (perfect for Christmas!) The black leather waistband and thick material makes it a superb midi for the winter season. It's currently still available and you can check out their web for more details!

I initially wanted to wear this midi with a leather jacket but because I wore the leather jacket exactly a day before, I didn't really want to rewear it again so soon. That's when I decided to take the risk and not bring a jacket out. Luckily for me, the sun was out the whole day and HK was a good 20 degrees(: Layering did the trick!

And I can't help but swoon over my set of nails. I got it done here in HK, a few days before Christmas! Everything is hand drawn (yes, including Snoopy) and it took about 2h to do it. So worth the wait cause I keep getting praises for it and I can't help but feel really happy looking at it (:

Collared Blouse - Smoochthelabel

Grey Knit - HnM

Madison Midi (The Bold) - Jenesyss

Watch - The Tinsel Rack, Naked Glory

Espadrilles - Love Bonito

Bag - Hong Kong, Mongkok

"Christmas, my child, is love in action."

Dale Evans Rogers

Wild and Young

Presenting to you one of the many outfits I had planned for the winter season wayyyyyy before this trip.

If you've been following my blog, you'd know that I seldom buy on impulse and would have thought through what I would wear (inserts apparel I'm gng to buy) with. And that's why I bought this dress from Elska. I thought that the colour and flare of the dress is really apt for the winter season, especially when it's paired with a leather jacket! And of course I bought the pair of booties cause I thought it would complete the outfit. So I guess you could say that this outfit was really 'put together' (:

As for the beanie, I bought it from Mongkok on my first day in HK. And the best part is, it only cost $5 (say whaaaaaaat). I've always been a fan of experimenting with looks which explains why I sometimes buy items that doesn't really reflect my personality. I dress up on how I want to be seen that day/ how I'm feeling. I just think it's a really fun way to express my emotions for that day! And for this outfit, I was leaning towards feeling edgy. Anywho, a black ring to top it off and I'm set for a day of shopping!

Fox Trot Neoprene Dress - El-ska

Leather Jacket - Topshop

Bailey Booties - Love Bonito

Wild and Young Beanie - Hong Kong, Mongkok

"Don't make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live."

Gianni Versace

The Coffee Academics

Heyse and I were really interested in trying out cafes in HK and so that's what we did after our friends left and we had some time to explore the country. We googled 'cafes at Causeway Bay' because we wanted to go to the F21 there and I'm not exaggerating when I say we saw 'The Coffee Academics' all over google. TCA is about a 5mins walk from the MRT but you probably would need Google Map to guide you to it.

The staff at TCA can understand English which is definitely a bonus for us. I can speak Cantonese but I really prefer using English to communicate so no issues if you're a tourist! In fact, lots of the customers there were tourists.

Heyse and I were pretty impressed by their menu (as you can evidently see on Heyse's face hahaha). They had a seperate menu for set dinners as well which included all day breakfast. So basically that menu has a column for ala carte and a column for set (inclusive of a drink). We didn't get that cause the all day breakfast frankly looks kind of pathetic. Hahaha the photo was just not appetising so we decided to get from their main menu.

Our Famous Curly Fries with Dip Trio (HKD $58)

How can you give this dish a miss when it has the words "Our Famous" in it. It's like labelled as their trademark item, screaming in your face. The 3 dips are honey mustard, house smoked ketchup and curry mayo. Heyse and I don't usually like our fries with sauces but if it's sitting right there, might as well give it a shot. And the results? LOVED IT! Yes, I approve of the naming of this fries. My favourite dip was the ketchup one and Heyse really liked the curry mayo one. A really good dish to share and to kick start your meal.

Stuffed Potato Skins with Bacon, Onion and Cheese (HKD $88)

We only realised we were having a mainly potato meal after placing our order. Luckily for us, we both really like potatoes hahaha! I wasn't expecting the sauces underneath the potato so it was really interesting to try it. The sauces here are ketchup, avocado and ketchup. I'm not a huge fan of avocado but it wasn't too bad. I definitely would recommend the fries over this but go on ahead and get this if you're a potato fan!

Churros

I can't rmb the exact name and price of the churros but I definitely remember how good it was! The ice cream in the middle is coffee flavoured. Not a huge fan of the ice cream but definitely am for the churros! It's the best I've ever had. Chewy, hot, full of cinnamon. Yummmmmm. Just remember to eat it before the ice cream melts all over it and it becomes soggy! 

Iced/Hot Caffe Mocha ($48)

A trip to a place called The Coffee Academics wouldn't be complete without a cup of coffee would it? Heyse and I both got the mocha and our conclusion was the same: it's insanely sweet! I'm quite a sweet tooth but towards the end, it was too much for me. It's quite dumb actually but TCA had monthly specials but we only saw that poster after we ordered our drinks. I'm definitely gng back there to try it because the Christmas special looks soooooo good. It makes me all warm and fuzzy just looking at the photo!

Oh and TCA also learn from coffee of other countries so they offer a range to cater to your taste. I only can remember that there was one inspired from Okinawa. If I'm not wrong, it's called the brown sugar coffee. Either brown or red (if there's such a thing hahaha). It's really interesting and I definitely reccommend TCA if you're looking for cafes in HK!

-Added-

Paid TCA a visit with Vanny as well and just to add on some of the new things that I had(:

 Christmas Special

Just a little up above, I was mentioning how I'm going to go back to TCA and try their Christmas special and so I did! Everything warm and fuzzy goes into this drink. It kind of reminds me of the phrase 'Sugar, spice and everything nice' just cause of the sprinkles, marshmallows and chocolate on top. Just like the drinks you see on Tumblr! This was the drink of the month for December and it's uberrrrrr perfect for the festive season.

Brownie with Ice Cream

This is just the bomb. Beats the churros hands down in my opinion. Get this if you're paying TCA a visit and I'm sure it won't disappoint! The brownie was nice and warm, coupled with the Gelato ice cream and chocolate syrup? Perfection. Oh and I really like how the brownie is quite big and has just the right amount of chocolate. You know how some brownies are too hard/too chocolatey/too overpriced for the size, well this isn't like the terrible brownies I've had in the past. So I'd definitely recommend this!

The Coffee Academics - 38 Yiu Wa Street

"I had some dreams, there were clouds in my coffee."

Carly Simon

JCJA Goes To Disneyland

Hello everyone! Decided to blog about Disneyland because it definitely was one of the highlights of the trip! I've previously done a thorough post here so I'm just sharing some of my favourite photos from my trip(:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Disneyland is the star, everything else is in the supporting role."

Walt Disney