Easy Recipe for Chinese Mid-autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the largest festivals in a Lunar calendar and Chinese community. As the date of every 15th of August of the Lunar Calender, which means autumn has come. In this year, the mid-autumn festival is 15 September 2016 (Thursday).

On that day, family will reunion and enjoy a dinner earlier and then have the mooncake for the dessert under the Full Moon. The next day of the Mid-autumn festival is a public holiday in Hong Kong.  

Mooncake is a very traditional baked cake, made of egg yolks and lotus seed paste. Various ingredients such as nuts and Chinese ham are also available for another variation. Usually it is sweet. I recommend the best way to taste the mooncake is to bake for few minutes (180C ) so the crust is more crispy. Some of mooncake lovers will have mooncakes within that week / month as the mooncakes are only available for sales in mid-autumn festival. 

To pair with the mooncake, I am sharing my recipe which is also a dessert of Hong Kong : 
Pomelo, Sago and Mango Drink , let's do it.

POMELO, SAGO AND MANGO DRINK  (for 1 pax)

Ingredients:

Mango :  1 piece (Matured)

Pomelo : 2 slices

Sago  :    2 table spoons

Fresh Milk :  half cup

Coconut Milk :    1-2 table spoons  for seasoning
Coconut Sugar / Sugar  (optional)

Equipment:

Blender

Method:

Boil sago for 10 minutes until cooked transparently (can keep in the container for serving)

Now we make the mango drink : 

(1) Peel mango and cut into small pieces

(2) Put coconut milk, milk

Combine (1) and (2)

Blend together to smooth mixture

Then combine pomelo and sago, with the mango drink to serve. It is a no sugar added drink, as mango already contains sugar as sweetener.

Serve it chill is recommended.

Enjoy! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Easy Recipe - Pain Perdu , good for tea time !

Pain Perdu, meaning a "Lost Bread" from French, is one of recipes from France. This one is easy to cook at home, and less fats than the version from Hong Kong. The one from Hong Kong is deep-fried and with peanut-butter filling between two of the sliced breads, which is deemed as a high calories tea break item in Hong Kong.

So, today I will use one piece of bread for my tea time serving with some fruits and my coffee, hoping that it is less calories... :)


Ingredients  (1 pax)

1. bread of your choice 
2. 1 egg
3. 30 ml of fresh milk
4. cinnamon
5. salt
6. butter

Method

1. beat the egg in a mixing bowl
2. add a pitch of salt
3. add a pitch of cinnamon
4. mix well the mixture
5. put the mixture on a tray with milk
6. soak the bread until all mixture is absorbed (cut your desired size in advance)
7. heat the skillet with butter
8. pan fried on medium heat and serve with Nutella or toppings of your choice.

Bon appétit!

Yo-kai Watch - I love Jibanyan !

I have not watched an animation so crazy before, when I watched Yo-kai Watch. Yo-kai (妖怪) are spiritual beings whose influence is responsible for every one of the strange, paranormal events in the human world.

There are many Yo-kai and each Yo-kai also have many evolved versions. Some Yo-kai are the key characters such as Jibanyan, Komasan, Komajiro, USAPhon, Whisper and every one has the background and stories behind.



Jibanyan (地縛貓), a red and white cat was named Ruby and was died in the car accident when saving the life of his master, Amy.

Jibanyan is so cute just because he is like one of friends around, eating chocolate bars, being a fan of MeowKB , a group of singers in Japan. If you have asked him to help you, just using the medal to call him out. He is always with you.

Komasan and Komajiro, two brothers were from the rural areas of Japan living in a shrine. The story is taking about how they live and are adept in the city.

Komasan, the elder brother is so naïve sometime but he always wins the heart from his interpersonal skills.

Komajiro, is more easily adept to the city and both brothers are showing respect and support to each other.

I know there are many games such as watch and medals, playing cards, Nintendo etc. for this animation but I am not yet get into it.  However, I support their merchandises....

Another Yo-kai from the season 2 is USAPhon, who died in the rocket experiment in USA. That's why he always keep manufacturing a spaceship for a next space journey.


They have many songs and games for dancing too. That's why they have promotion campaigns to showcase the dancing. Look at Jibanyan how he dances, so ROCK.

Wanna make some Jibanyan Cookies? Click my recipe here 

Easy Recipe - Organic Soya Milk

Soya beans are rich in protein so it is good for vegetarian. Even though I am not a vegetarian, I suggest you to make soya milk at home instead of purchase the packaged one, with less sugar and more nutrients intake.

I picked the organic soya beans here.

Organic Soya Milk

Ingredients:

Organic Soya Beans : 250 grams
Sugar : a little (optional)

Equipment:
Blender
Filter bag

Method:
1. Soak soya beans in the water and remove the skins (it takes time to remove)
I recommend to remove all beans for mise en place and keep in the fridge for preparation.

2. Use a blender to blend the amount of your desire , the pictures shown here is only 3 tablespoons of beans I have made.

3) After blending, use a filter bag to filter the milk.

4) Boil the soya milk and add sugar if you prefer.

5) Serve it hot or chill !

As soya milk cannot keep long, so it's good to cook desired portion for consuming.

Let's try!

Soya Beans - After removal of skins

Boiling

Feng Shui - Eat your way to fortune

Do you know what is "Feng Shui"? Do you believe in it?

I just bought a book taking about "Eat your way to Fortune" from the book fair last week. The author of the book is named Mr Li Kui Ming, a renowned Feng Shui Master in Hong Kong.

This book is taking about how to change your fortune by eating what kind of food , wearing what colors and what to do to change the fortune according to your date of birth.

There are five elements in Feng Shui, let's me explain first. Five elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth . And they are complimentary and intertwined.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing

He classified four types of fate according to the birth date, you can refer as below:

Four Types of Fate:

Type 1:

Date of Birth from 19 February to 4 May : Lack of Metal

Type 2:

Date of Birth from 5 May to 7 July : Lack of Water

Type 3:

Date of Birth from 8 July to 7 November : Lack of Wood

Type 4:

Date of Birth from 8 November to 18 February : Lack of Fire

In general, Feng Shui for fortune telling request "8 words" meaning the time of your birth in year, month, day and time to calculate your fortune. However, master Li has classified into 4 types of fate for our easy reference, because :

Type 1 is born in Spring. Spring is full of WOOD,  METAL is required to overcome the interaction. Thus, people need more METAL in the daily life for a good fortune.

Type 2 is born in Summer. Summer is hot and symbol FIRE is on. Thus, people need more WATER in the daily life for a good fortune.

Type 3 is born in Autumn. Autumn is in the Feng Shui we called "Month of Metal" so people born in Autumn without WOOD in the "8 words", thus WOOD intake in the daily life for a good fortune.

Type 4 is born in Winter. Winter is cold and lack of FIRE element. Thus people should get more FIRE elements for a good fortune.

During reading the book, I implement my eating habits and waiting any positive impacts to me.
I will share more contents to people who are interested in Feng Shui in later posts.
I am still learning it as I am a beginner to Feng Shui. Forgive me for any incorrect explanation.

Book Credit : Li Kui Ming - Eat your way to Fortune

Easy Recipe - Pearl Barley Drink for Hot Summer

Summer time what do you like to drink ? There is a popular drink for Chinese culture that is Pearl Barley Drink, which is a drink for dehydration of water of the inner body. It helps for weight lost too.

Ingredients: (for 4 portions)

Pearl Barley : 100 grams
Oat (optional) : a little
Sugar (optional) : a little

Method:
1) Soak the pearl barley with water overnight
2) Another day, Boil water and put all Pearl Barleys for cooking until all are soft
3) Add some oat for tasty option
4) can serve in hot or chill for serving.


Eating the barleys can change your fortune if you are born in summer time.

You can keep a bottle of drink , no sugar added , for the diet season.

Soak overnight could cook pearl barley easily.

Tai O - A fishing village of Hong Kong

Hong Kong was a fishing village in 1800's. Nowadays people living in Hong Kong are living in tiny apartments and working too hard for living.

But there is a village still remaining the heritage of Hong Kong and people will go there for an excursion on weekend, that's Tai O, locating at the west of  the Lantau Island, a village that is full of exciting travelling spots.

Tai O is a remote area from Lantau Island, so it's better to go in the morning or spent at least 5 hours to visit Tai O. You are recommended to take a bus No. 11 at the MTR Tung Chung Station. The travelling time takes around 45 minutes.

People living in Tai O are living on the water, and there are many seafood you can enjoy on the water. You can buy some seafood products from the stores such as Salted Shrimps Paste, squids, pearls, starfish, calm sauce or premium dried scallops sauce (XO Sauce), and many food products to taste for souvenirs.

The pearl necklace is value for money.

Actually I went there because a heritage workshop showcasing the ancient fishing tools and living conditions of Tai O or old Hong Kong will be closed because of the termination of the lease. The closing date was 17 July 2016. That's why when the news is broadcasting, I decided to go to Tai O once.

The Building is near 100 years, and the owner of building decided to rebuild a new building.

 

Some food are famous at Tai O, you can have Hong Kong famous snacks and bottled herbal drinks around the small town but make sure that the snacks are made by charcoals, it's yummy. And also you can enjoy beancurd pudding which is a typical choice at Tai O.

Charcoal Squids

Beancurd Pudding (Tofu pudding)

Other scenery of Tai O such as Sun Ki Bridge, a bridge was built in 1979 and financed by the local residence. You can take a boat ride to visit dolphins (if you have time). 

A very beautiful landscape in Tai O , suggesting to take pictures at the sunset time, near the Tai O Heritage Hotel. To go to the Heritage Hotel, a 20-minute walk from the bus terminal, walking towards to the Shek Tsai Po Pier. The hotel was a former police station and it is a Grade 2 Historic Building. A 20-minute free guided hotel tour is offered everyday but online reservation is required.

A fantastic view from the Sun Ki Bridge

Take a picture in the front of the Heritage Hotel.

Other fun decoration and starfish you can bring home for decoration

Thank you for reading.

Recipe - Homemade Pesto Sauce

Easy recipe to share tonight is homemade pesto sauce !

I have bought a basil for my herbal garden and tonight I hand picked some fresh basil for preparing my pesto sauce for my linguine.

Ingredients: (for 2 pax)
Fresh basil leaves (see photo)

Parmesan cheese (grated)
Pine nuts 30 grams

Seasoning :
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
Salt
Black pepper

Equipment:
Blender with chopping function


Method:
1) wash the fresh basil
2) toast pine nuts (optional)
3) put grated parmesan cheese, basil leaves, and pine nuts with all seasonings
4) blend it all into a mixture



I have blended too much and not added so much olive oil, so the mixture is less fat (actually parmesan is fatty) .

Let's try!

Homemade Pesto Sauce with Linguine

Easy Recipe - Gazpacho

It's time to share my recipe again since talking so much on art and cultures.

Here I would like to introduce my secrete recipe of Gazpacho - a soup originating from Andalusia of Spain.  It's a very low cost, high in nutrient and yummy recipe! Sometimes I have left little vegetables like half of cucumber, bell peppers, then you can just buy some more tomatoes to make Gazpacho. 
Gazpacho serves chill so it is ideal for summer.   

Ingredients:  (for 2 pax)

8 large tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 clove of Garlic
1/4 of green bell pepper
1/4 onion
1/2 slide of day-old white bread

Seasoning:
Olive oil (Extra Virgin)
Salt
Black pepper
Basilic leaves / mint for garnish

Luxury version: add Spanish ham on top (optional)




Cooking Method:
1) Cut a cross on the bottom of tomatoes and boil under hot water, to remove the skin of tomatoes
2) Cool down the tomatoes in a room temperature
3) Wash all vegetables and cut into cubes , leave some vegetables cubes for garnish
4) Use a blender to blend all tomatoes, bread and vegetables, seasoning with salt and pepper
5) garnish with mint/basilic leaves or Spanish ham for topping , with extra virgin olive oil.
6) Lastly, chill them before serving

Volia! Let's try ! Really good for summer and it can keep up to 2 days.

Low-Cost Heritage Itinerary at the Area of Prince Edward, Hong Kong

For any Hongkongers or travelers, I would like to suggest a low-cost heritage itinerary for the area of Prince Edward, Kowloon, Hong Kong. A half-day walking tour let you know more about the history and the heritage of Hong Kong.

Prince Edward, is one of the stations of MTR, was named under Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary.

Prince Edward district, is nowadays one of commercial and residential areas of Kowloon, at the hub of Hong Kong. There are two major roads you are worth to go, which is Prince Edward Road and Boundary Street.

Prince Edward Road :
The road consists of two mainstreams Prince Edward Road West and Prince Edward Road East. The roads were named after Prince Edward in 1922, later Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (later The Duke of Windsor), after his visit to Hong Kong. He had various activities and passed by a road with trees at both sides with some developing houses and the road was not yet named. He sent compliments to this development and architecture buildings in this area. After leaving Hong Kong, the Government officers has named this road as Prince Edward Road.

Boundary Street :
On signature of the 1860 Convention of Beijing, which marked the end of formal ended hostilities in the Second Opium War (1856–1858), Britain acquired the area from the south of Boundary Street on the Kowloon Peninsula for a rent-free under a perpetual lease. In 1898, the Qing government reluctantly agreed to the Second Convention of Peking that compelled China to cede a further area north of Boundary Street to the Sham Chun River along with more than two hundred nearby islands (we called as New Territories and Outlying Islands)  for the 99-year lease which expired at midnight on 30 June 1997.

Highlighted Destinations :

1) Lui Seng Chun Historical Building

Lui Seng Chun, was a property of Family Lui, a large Chinese family starting his trade in medicine. The founder Mr Lui Leung, a renowned businessman who had invested in transportation business in 1933 that's nowadays the Kowloon Bus Motors, a developed bus transportation business in the Kowloon and New Territories areas.

It was built in 1931 in a traditional Chinese styled building with balconies before World War II. A four-story building with a total areas of 6,000 square feet.  It is now a declared monument as a Grade 1 Historic Building, which is qualified as the highest heritage value and a building of outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible. 

On the ground floor, it is open for public to visit without reservation. And you can try the herbal tea at the shop inside. There are some exhibits of the past about the family and the history of the building. The upper floors are converted to the School of Chinese Medicine of The Hong Kong Baptist University. Services includes acupunctures, Chinese medicine consultations and herbal medicine subscriptions. Booking in advance.  

  
Free Guided Tour
Monday to Friday : 2:30pm / 4:00pm
Saturday : 9:30am / 11:00am
Tour takes 30-45 minutes
Number of Participants : from 4 to 20 pax
Registered online in advance: Individual booking 



Visit official page

MTR Exit : MTR Prince Edward Station Exit C2


2) Flower Market and Yuen Po Street Bird Garden

Flower Market is a major market of flowers for wholesales and retails. There are near 100 florists in this areas offering a large variety of flowers and plants, seeds and accessories. And the prices are cheaper.


Yuen Po Street Bird Garden is a Chinese-style theme park. It occupies an area of about 3000 square metres and is bounded by Boundary Street, Embankment Road, Prince Edward Road West and Yuen Po Street, with its main entrance facing Boundary Street and another entrance facing Yuen Po Street. There are 70 bird stalls for bird traders.

MTR Exit : MTR Prince Edward Station Exit B1
Opening hour: 7 am - 8 pm daily



3) Prince Restaurant

Let's take a break after visiting the bird garden and flower market, I recommend one of the old restaurants, which offering a variety of tea sets. The most exciting tea set is Baked Escargots (HK$60), or you can select Baked Scallops , served with a cup of coffee/ tea . It is a very one of a kind  tea set in Hong Kong I could say. That's why I recommend you to come.

If you come on Wednesdays, there is a  music concert by Freeman from 7:15pm to 9:15pm playing instrumental music for 80-90s Canton and English Pop music.  It's good for pairing your dinner of old Hong Kong style.





Address: No.162 Prince Edward Rd West,, Prince Edward  
MTR Exit : MTR Prince Edward Station Exit B1
Opening hour:  12 noon to 11:00pm

Tea Set Menu

  

Exhibition - Bruce Lee : Kung Fu, Art, Life

I actually went for the exhibition of Claude Monet, the Impressionist master for his greatest landscape masterpieces last Friday. After that, I also spent time to other exhibition hall which is also worth to go.

Bruce Lee : Kung Fu , Art, Life
Exhibition Period: Now to July 2018
Venue: Hong Kong Heritage Museum

I am not his fans and he passed away before I was born. But in this exhibition, it exhibits why he is succeed and he inspired me how to live.

What is your vision?
Although he died young but he actually have set some targets for him to achieve. He has vision and he wrote them down. He was also confident to be a superstar, when he was a child starring a film.

Do you manage your business well?
He had a teaching school for Martial arts in California and he had developed a good marketing scheme for his students such as a certification scheme, which was taking about 1950s. The tutorial prices also increased when he was getting famous. Generally speaking, he had a successful marketing mix.

Are you well equipped yourself ?
He had continuously keeping up his exercise and training no matter he was a superstar ( he had been a regular icon on major cover page of Kung Fu, Entertainment and Films magazines respectively). He also spent time to keep fit and reading books which improving his business and martial arts areas.

Photo Studio Programme - Limited Time Offering
If you come to Hong Kong or you are a Fans of Bruce Lee, there is a "Bruce Lee Fans' Photo Studio" you can take a photo with "HIM" from 1 July 2016-30 September 2016, from 4pm - 5pm for every Sunday and Public Holiday.

For more information : Hong Kong Heritage Museum

Housekeeping Tips - Removal of Cup Stains

People drinking tea or coffee could leave the coffee or tea stains easily inside the cup. There is some cleaning detergents for that but I have used the cheaper option and I highly recommend you to use.

It's Baking Soda!  You can see the before and after effect below:

Before and after (left to right)

 Method:

1) put a teaspoon of baking soda into the cup
2) add a little bit of water (1-2 teaspoons)
3) use a kitchen wrap or paper to remove the stains

Have a try!

View Related Article - DIY Body Scrub

Enjoy An Eco Tour In Malaysia - Agarwood Forest, Charcoal Factory, Mangrove Forest

As mentioned in the previous blog, Ipoh is one of a cultural and heritage cities of Malaysia. Actually there is a flora and fauna in Malaysia where I have just selected some destinations having been with my travel buddies for 2 days at Ipoh. Some eco destinations are highly recommended for visit near Ipoh where takes 1-2 hours by car.

1) Gaharu Tea Valley Gopeng  (務邊沉香園)


Gaharu, also named in Agarwood, Eaglewood, Oud or Jinko in different part of the world. But agarwood in Chinese culture actually plays a significant role in medical treatment. Because agarwood leaves can be used as Tea, and also the wood can be transformed as fragrance. They also can be used as cooking ingredients in chicken soup, herbal egg with their leaves. I also tried the soft serve in agarwood flavor (RM2), which I cannot tell you the taste, as it is very unique and with a long after taste of the agarwood. It's worth to try.

There are over 200,000 agarwood trees in the forest distributing in 5 mountains according to the local guide. Some of the areas are open for the tourists. Tourists are escorted by their private vans for transportation. This Gaharu Tea Valley in Gopeng is the only one open for public in the globe, sharing the trade secrets and promoting the usage and the awareness of the Gaharu Tea. Gaharu Tea is rich in vitamins, calcium zinc, iron and manganese. Gaharu leaves contain high anti-oxidant functions. It reduces blood sugar levels and lowers the blood pressure etc. That's why there is a market for gardening Gaharu Tea.  

Gaharu (Agarwood) Tea Valley, Gopeng

For information: www.hoga.my  ; www.gaharu.com.my
Opening from 9am to 6pm (Monday to Sunday and Public Holiday)

2)  Kuala Sepetang Charcoal Factory 

A total area of 40,711 hectares of forest area divided into three regions, namely Kuala Sepetang, Kuala Trong and Sungai Kerang which were managed under a "30 Year Work Plan" by the Perak State Forestry Department.

This charcoal factory locates at Kuala Sepetang.

Trees from Mangrove

7-Ipoh Wall Art Murals by Zach

It's first time to visit Malaysia, and I headed to Ipoh, a city with a lot of heritages and cultures.
Ipoh is a home town of Michelle Yeoh, the Hollywood superstar.
Ipoh, is a name in Malay meaning a kind of tree, but nowadays there is only one and the only one existing at Ipoh, locates in front of the train station.

When visiting Ipoh, one of the cultural visits is searching the 7 wall art murals,the latest collection of by Ernest Zacharevic (ZACH), who painted murals on walls along the streets of Penang’s Georgetown.

Ipoh is famous with their white coffee, so the artist features coffee on the painting. This one features the old man drinking a cup of white coffee.

Next to a car park, there is one featuring the hummingbird.

Opposite to the hummingbird, there is a huge mural with 5 iced coffee , they call as KOPI (coffee) in Malaysia , and the packaging for iced tea is using a plastic bag.  The painting is awesome as it illustrated like a real one with water drops on the plastic bags.

This one is unofficial without Zach and the government mentioned , but our tour guide said this one is also an artwork by Zach. The tour guide said it was painted in overnight. But I think this one is a test drawing by Zach before he painted the large one, do you agree?

This one named "Girl" is very active in motions, like she is catching the bird in the birdcage.

This one is near the Coffee and Old Man . It is an awesome artwork too.

This one is a Chinese painting style. But too many tourists there I cannot take a full picture.

I like this one so much, as it shows the man doing job for living and the shaw you can take photo with it. 

The map of Art of Old Town, you can search the 7 mural artworks by visiting Ipoh, drink the white coffee, enjoy a day in Malaysia.


View another article about Eco Tourism in Malaysia