Causeway Bay, HK

I've been busy lately so that's why I haven't updated... though I can't even tell you what I've spent most of my time on...! It's a combination of things :)

Anyway, yesterday after class, I met Karen at Causeway Bay. It was a little weird because usually I'm in Hong Kong during the months when we have no school. So, to "vacation" and have to go to class at the same time felt different, but we were too busy with eating and wandering and walking around aimlessly that I forgot about how I was a student here. It’s pretty ironic that I said "wandered" because we ended up wandering for a long time that we ate dinner late. Oh, and we saw so much stuff that we wanted to buy hehe, so we're definitely going back sooner or later (?)! Hopefully :)

We had lunch at Itamae Sushi, snacks at Ireland’s Potato (small store that sells fries and popular among Hong Kong people), and had dinner at Macau “cha chaan teng,” which is kind of hard to explain what it is. My best explanation is that a “cha chaan teng” is a popular kind of restaurant in Hong Kong, which serves a large variety of Hong Kong style food (which is usually a modification of some other cuisines). For more info, please read about it on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha_chaan_teng. Too bad we were too full, because we had planned to share a crepe from Marion Crepes (originated from Japan). Anyway, I had no intention of making this a food blog, but I think I’m always talking about food because I'm too “wai sik,” which is a Cantonese word that literally translates to “for food” and is used to describe someone who always craves for food. I don’t think there is an English word for this, but if there is, tell me! Some pictures:

Sushi, hand rolls, and sashimi rice bowl:

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We had fries with bacon and cheese:
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...And dinner: Macau's famous egg tarts and macaroni in stew:

Okay, I hope I didn't make you salivate too much! Just kidding, I'm probably going to miss eating American food in a few months... maybe?... I don't know, just not now hehe.

My New Rice Cooker

After comtemplating between buying a pan (and using the electric stove in the pantry) and a rice cooker, I've decided to buy the latter. The rice cooker is truly multi-functional :). First of all, and the most obvious reason, you can cook rice with it. Not only that, but you can cook food with it as well. Last night for dinner, I made some Indonesian "Mi Goreng" noodles and it was extremely easy and convenient (I let it sit on my desk and did some readings while waiting for it to cook right next to me).


Today's dinner was a little more complex. I had only a few ingredients to work with (Chinese veggies, tofu, and a can of chili bean sauce) so I just put everything in the pot and made a stew.

These are the steps:

1- Cook the rice first and let it cool, 2-Add some oil from the chili bean sauce/stir in the tofu cubes and a spoonful of sauce, 3- Add the Chinese veggies


4- Stir and put the lid on, 5- Serve over rice!


You can tell that I'm very satisfied :); My hallmate also had a "thumbs up" :)


This is so simple (but we're actually trying to think of chicken recipes for next time). Oh, by the way, I just wanted to mention 2 things that you should pay attention to when you cook rice (especially if you're a clumsy person, like myself). One is that when you cut open a new bag of rice, you've be careful that the rice doesn't spill everywhere. The bag is usually vacuum sealed, so when you cut it, it tends to deform and spill quickly. (You might've guessed, but that's what happened to me before hehe). Tip two is to make sure that you press the "Cook" button, and not leave it at "Keep warm". This is one of the most common things people do, and I've gotten into trouble with my mom (for forgetting to cook the rice) numerous times!
I hope that this entry has inspired you to cook some easy meals :)

Hong Kong

I must say that HKUST, in terms of its campus, location, and residence halls, is better than I had expected. There are stunning views of Clearwater Bay everywhere on campus, but honestly, I'm not really into the whole seaview thing hehe. The campus is HUGE and there are about 30 to 40 lifts (not "elevators" because we speak British English here) that take you up and down the campus because it's located on a hill. Also, there are residences for staff and their families. In order to get to my dorm from the main level, I would need to take 3 lifts (a total of about 25 levels down). It's really secluded and quiet here; the school even has its own supermarket, hair salon, 3 different banks, Chinese dim sum/tea restaurants, a large cafeteria, McDonald's, and so on. I've been taking the busses/minibusses to the nearest subway station to escape- a subway ride then takes me to the city center :)

Look at how blue the sky is. This is rare in Hong Kong:



My side of the room (before and after):



That's it for now, I'll do a continuation of this next time (hopefully soon).