299 of Project 365: 榴莲 (Durian)

果中之王 - 榴莲

它的魅力何在?

喜欢的人，赞不绝口。不喜欢的人，退避三舍。

可是，我已经好久没尝到真正好吃的榴莲了。

每当和家人一起吃榴莲的时候，我们都会重谈好多年前在吉隆坡吃过这生中最好吃，最难忘的榴莲。

现在的榴莲的气味似乎没有那么浓郁了。有时走到榴莲摊前都闻不到香味。

我有多爱榴莲呢? 以下或许可以从中了解。

当年我应该还是个小学生，爸爸买了几粒榴莲回家。也不知何故，没马上吃。隔天，下课回家后，看到那诱人的榴莲在面前却不能吃。天啊！那是多么折磨人啊！

怎么办呢? 当时，我就自己拿了一把至少一公斤重的大菜刀，把那几粒完整的大榴莲劈开，然后完好无损把那金黄的果肉取出，放在盒子里再摆进冰箱等晚上和家人一起吃。当然，在这之前，我吃了一颗解馋。

现在正是榴莲季节，你吃了吗?

ISO: 100

Exposure: 1/40 sec

Aperture: 1.7

Focal Length: 20mm

Flash Used: No

水闸 (Chui Chak)

我们一群人浩浩荡荡准备去拍日落了！

你看我们多么的专业，还带了高脚梯去，就为了捕捉水闸稻田和日落最美的画面。

最牺牲的应该是提着高脚梯坐摩托的阿辉哥了。听说我驾摩托的表弟才刚拿到执照的哟！

298 of Project 365: Waiting



ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/30 sec

Aperture: 3.5

Focal Length: 14mm

Flash Used: No

标语 (Courtesy Slogans)

在香港的地铁站，地铁车厢和巴士都可以看到这些有趣的标语，以轻松有趣的方式提醒乘客们。

在新加坡的环线，我也看到类似的标语。可是，本地的似乎缺少了幽默，而且句子也比较长。



庸记 (Yung Kee Restaurant)

庸记 (Yung Kee Restaurant)

This is another must-try restaurant when you are in Hong Kong.

All the great reviews I've read online only served to fuel my curiosity to try it for myself.

In order not to disappoint myself & the 7 others in the group, I made a reservation for lunch one week in advance from Singapore. You can either call or make your reservation online via the restaurant web site. However, for group of more than 6, you have to call to make your reservation, which was what I did. The staff requested for a telephone number, so I provided my Singapore mobile number but was told that they would not be able to make international call in the event that I'm late, and the table would only be held for 15 mins. The staff was very polite & efficient and the whole reservation process was done in less than 5 mins.

I was asked why I go during lunch when it would definitely be very crowded because many people working in Central would go there for lunch. Well, I've read that if you go too late, some of the limited items would be sold out & horrors of horrors, I've came across someone who said that the roast goose was sold out when he went there for dinner. How can I possibly allow that to happen?

Boy, am I glad I made a reservation because the restaurant was really packed when we arrived but we were immediately directed to the second floor where our table awaited us.

Enough talk, let your eyes feast on the best roast goose I've ever had!

I'm busy! Don't disturb me!

Guess what little kitty was busy doing? It was busy filing its claws on the wooden plank. It was really intent with filing its claws until my approach.

Well, maybe little kitty was really shy or on alert when strangers approached. Either way, it stopped his activity & turned to face me so I quickly take a good pic of its profile before it walked away.

Recently, I've been considering getting a pet. I think these days, the variety of pets we can keep can range from the exotic (think reptiles) to the common (your usually cats & dogs).

I'm undecided between a dog or a cat. After weighing the responsibilities to take care of a dog or cat, I'm leaning more towards getting a cat. This is because my mom would be the person spending the most time with our pet, so it should be a good companion without being too taxing on my mom.

So I'm wondering if a stray would invite itself into our house like what happened to one of my mom's friend, when one day a kitty just walked into her house & became a part of their family for more than a decade.

297 of Project 365: Warning

You have been warned!

 

ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/15 sec

Aperture: 3.5

Focal Length: 14mm

Flash Used: No

添好运 (Tim Ho Wan)

添好运 (Tim Ho Wan)

Address : Shop 8, Tsui Yuen Mansion,

2-20, Kwong Wa Street,
Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

This is a must-try place when you visit Hong Kong. Would you believe just by looking at this picture that this restaurant had been awarded the Michelin Star?

We visited the branch at Mongkok which is near out hotel. There is also another branch at Sham Shui Po.

We went twice because the dim sum was simply great & most importantly, the price was very reasonable.

Be prepared to wait at least 30 mins to 60 mins, but I can tell you that it's definitely worth waiting for.

Just tell the staff the number of diners & they will write a number on the order slip. The number will be called out when the tables are available. The order slips come in Chinese & English, so if you can't read Chinese, request for the English version. The place is really very small, so the diners are basically sitting shoulders to shoulders.

Since went twice, we have basically try almost 90% of menu because we can share our food.

296 of Project 365: Perseverance

Took this pic of an old man walking down the stairs at the famous Central - Mid Levels escalator in Hong Kong.

ISO: 125

Exposure: 1/60 sec

Aperture: 5.6

Focal Length: 45mm

Flash Used: No

Elderly Friendly Country

Over the years, our government has done their part to make our environment more elderly friendly. The range of infrastructures include handle bars, ramps, lift-upgrading for HDB, subsidies for retro-fitting flats of elderly, etc.

This is the first time I see this special traffic light outside Tiong Bahru Plaza. Elderly with their EzyLink card can tap their card for longer crossing time. Since the card reader is still under wrap so I guess it's still not ready for use yet. I was quite excited to see this & was telling my mom that next time when she see such traffic light, she can tap her card so she can have more time to cross the road.

These are some of the hardware which our government can put in place to enhance our environment, but the software is still something which we have to work on.

Citizens in various estates had voiced their concerns & protested the building of elder day centers at their void decks, citing reasons like lower home values. I am for the idea of building elder care centers at void decks because if we can have child care centers, then why not elder care centers. 

40 Hands (Forty Hands)

After our walkabout around Tiong Bahru, we finally found 40 Hands (78 Yong Siak Street) to take a break from our walk & the sweltering heat. The cafe was pretty cramped & the indoor air-con sitting area was almost full, so we decided to sit at the non air-con backyard.

七星针

I heard about this plant many times from my mom about its rich medicinal properties but have never seen it for myself. My mom said that my aunt (my mom's elder sis) in Malaysia have this plant right in front of her old house, which I have never noticed.

这就是传说中的七星针.

Unique leave pattern which is just one of the plant features.

Look out for the thorny stem which is one of its distinctive attributes.

指甲花 (Henna)

During the walkabout at Tiong Bahru with my mom, we came across this plant. My mom told me this is known as 指甲花. When I Google this, I found that this is what we commonly know as Henna. Wow, so surprised to finally see the plant itself. Well, I really glad that I learnt something from our little excursion.

295 of Project 365: Auspicious Number

There's a Chinese saying "六六大顺". A simple explanation is everything will be smooth sailing. Most importantly, how can we forget the red colour which enhance the overall auspiciousness.

ISO: 100

Exposure: 1/1000 sec

Aperture: 5.6

Focal Length: 20mm

Flash Used: No

Tiong Bahru Walkabout 2

It seemed like not so long ago when I did my last walkabout at Tiong Bahru, so I was quite surprised to find that it had been slightly more than 2 years when I did my first Tiong Bahru Walkabout.

This time, I brought my mom along because she hasn't been here before, and I believe she'll enjoy checking out the ground floor mini gardens. 

I observed that there are more newly renovated units compared to my last visit, which wasn't unexpected since this is quite an up-and-coming neighbourhood for both the expats & local. I believe in time to come, most of the original shutter windows and iron grille might be gone forever.

Enjoy the pictures and see for yourself the differences between the first & second walkabout.

Oh, I've finally switched to the GF1 pancake prime lens which had been in storage for a long, long time. 

294 of Project 365: 烟灰缸, 火柴盒与杯垫

ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/13 sec

Aperture: 5.4

Focal Length: 33mm

Flash Used: No

Coliseum Cafe & Hotel

Address: 98-100 Jln Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

My cousin brought us to this nostalgic cafe for lunch. Everything from the decoration, furniture, table setting, seemed to have frozen in time. It was a very interesting dining experience compared to the posh, modern western restaurants which we are more familiar with. 

The food was decent, nothing spectacular. There are quite a few Hainanese-Western dishes which add a touch of fusion.

293 of Project 365: 水闸的稻田与天空

ISO: 100

Exposure: 1/250 sec

Aperture: 5.0

Focal Length: 14mm

Flash Used: No

292 of Project 365: 极乐洞

ISO: 400

Exposure: 1/640 sec

Aperture: 8.0

Focal Length: 14mm

Flash Used: No

291 of Project 365: Group Photo

Our one and only group photo taken at Ipoh on 3 May 2012.

Clockwise starting from the bright red Skechers sneakers belonging to my cousin Choy Kwan, Victor (my brother-in-law), Joanne (my cousin's buddy), me, Cheng (my younger sis), my mom, last but not least, Ah Fei (my cousin's employee, who is also our guide for our Ipoh trip).

ISO: 160

Exposure: 1/50 sec

Aperture: 5.4

Focal Length: 33mm

Flash Used: No