Flori Flower & Korean Café

I'm probably the worst person in terms of taking care of one's own body. My iPhone died again (and this time, it didn't even fall into the MTR gap) all by itself, so I had to go back to Apple in Causeway Bay twice in two days to get it fixed. Luckily, it was free of charge, and since I'd bought Apple Care, I just got a new one. Again. That's three new iPhone 6's in the space of slightly more than one year.

After "repairing" my phone on the second day back to Apple, I knew I was already super sick. I hadn't been feeling well for a while and I even had a small bout of fever the night before. But I kept my mouth shut so my parents wouldn't suspect anything because I wanted to go to a nearby café called Flori Flower & Korean Café.

Sickness aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the little gem. It's already been circulated quite a bit on social media, nothing new, but I didn't expect it to actually be opened by a Korean family. They serve traditional Korean snacks with a modern twist and hold flower-cake workshops regularly.

Oh, and after visiting... I fell super sick with the worst case of flu since primary school or something. I was bedridden with a fever, a sore throat, no voice, and plenty of phlegm and snot for more than a week.

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Healthy Chicken Opens in Quarry Bay!

Dear Healthy Chicken, please sponsor me. Yours sincerely, your biggest fan.

That's all I really gotta say about my favourite eatery (okay, maybe tied with Outback, which you all know is my ride-or-die restaurant). I've introduced many of my friends to Healthy Chicken and eaten there myself multiple times, but it wasn't always convenient because it's all the way in Central. Well, guess what? They just opened a new branch in Quarry Bay, conveniently close to my home!

The new store looks nicer and is bigger with actual tables (instead of just five seats to a bar table crammed at the side of the Central store). It means I can eat there any time now. This time, I brought my Dad to buy takeaway with me. I'd always wanted to bring him to try their meals because they're big enough for a huge eater like my Dad (and me) and they're not too expensive... sadly they increased the price and the portion of chicken breast they gave me seemed smaller. Sigh.

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My 23rd Birthday: Verde MAR

I tried Verde MAR a month ago for lunch when I met up with vegan extraordinaire Angie, but we only had the salad, so this time I decided to have my birthday dinner there. I especially wanted to try their chargrilled cactus, and I had the crazy idea to stick my birthday candle on it since I didn't really feel like cake. When I called to make a reservation though, the male manager dismissed me right away, saying that the cactus was "too thin". Well, I wasn't about to give up. I brought my own candles.

The service was terrible. No, it was a mixture. The only female waitress was super, well-mannered and even advised me to stick my candle into the tomato instead of the cactus. Then she lit my candle for me without me having to ask and even offered to help me and my family take a photo. The male manager and the male senior manager (I'm assuming that's who they are)? They were rude as hell, all sour-faced and purposely ignoring me. Probably annoyed I still brought my own candle despite them saying no-can-do. It's not like I'm shitting on your tables or swinging my dick at your other customers, dude.

The food was alright. We ordered the salad, the cactus (which tasted like okra, if you were curious), tacos and a beef stew. It was nothing special, I've never tried Little Burro or Calimex but I'm pretty sure the takeaway options from there just taste the same.

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Just Helen's

Somehow, my personal blog became a food blog *insert laughcry emoticon* This is unintentional, by the way. It's just that since 2016 began I've become slightly obsessed with cafés. I guess I'm just caught up in the whole social media thing, trying to take pictures of nice places with food.

On my birthday, I was free after class so my Mum asked if I wanted to have lunch somewhere near home. I jumped at the chance because I'm friendless and no one wanted to eat with me. So I went on Openrice, and randomly found a little family-owned bistro in Quarry Bay called Just Helen's serving salads, sandwiches and pastas.

The bistro turned out really cute! The chef is called Helen and I think her Dad or something took our orders. Their set menus are really cheap, each main comes with a drink and soup, and they also do free delivery in the area if you spend above $100.

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Family: January, February & March 2016

Family time that I photographed these few months! Nothing really special, the amount of outings I've gone on with my parents has actually decreased a lot, reason being I have no day offs anymore during the week, unlike my first semester of my master's degree. I study full time and I work part time now too, so if I have a free day from school (which is only Wednesday, sigh), I go to work on that day. My weekends are usually spent with friends and Jason... so... sorry Mum and Dad! (We still eat dinner together though!)

Photos include: Chinese New Year meal, Yeye's birthday, trying out McDonald's NEXT with Dad (where I got a salad! It was so expensive, the quality was bad, it wasn't worth it basically) and dinner at Dandy's Organic Café with my parents.

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Tea Time at OVOcafé

I'd only been to OVOcafé once before this and it was a year ago, on the first day of 2015. Since then, another OVOcafé has sprung up in Central serving slightly different food. I haven't been to the newer branch yet, but my research (and trust me, I do intensive research on restaurants and cafés before I actually check them out myself) tells me that it's more restaurant-like... you know, serving lunch sets in a slightly more formal setting. Both OVOcafés are, like their namesake, cafés, but the Wanchai branch is more casual.

Anyway, I couldn't think of where to have tea one lazy afternoon, so I brought my Dad to the flowery oasis in Old Wanchai Market. I actually wanted him to eat healthier (he eats the worst food for his health!) but he ordered a waffle with ice cream... yeah.

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New Years Eve Family Feast

Usually, my New Years Eve feasts are spent with the maternal side of my family. The last two years (read: 2014 and 2013) we'd had a hotpot-and-bingo night, followed by me rushing to get to IFC's rooftop to count down with my Architecture friends. This year, though, it was slightly different. My Grandma and my cousin's family were on vacation, and it just so happened that the paternal side of my family decided to do a New Years Eve family feast!

We had a many course meal with steaks and turkey and tons of meat in general. Oh and some fish and salads I suppose. It ended with desserts of every sort - my Mum's homemade red bean coconut cake, other western cakes, waffles, ice cream... man you name it. We were stuffed. No pictures unfortunately because we were all too hungry to wait, haha.

And check out the pictures in this post: my cousin Timothy and I, trying (being forced by my family) to recreate a past photo of our young selves taken in 1998). And the last picture is my Maamaa with her outfit hilariously matching the sofa and cushion of my Uncle's place.

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Christmas Eve Dinner Feast

My family and I have always had the tradition of having a lunch buffet in a nice hotel on Christmas Eve (read: 2014 and 2013), but this year, I was working so we didn't book a place in the end. I was working full time last year too, but we had a complimentary day off. Wasn't as lucky this year, haha! Instead, we decided to have a home cooked feast that I returned to after work, which turned out equally as delicious! Note: Photo doesn't include all of the food we had!

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Farewell to Life Café & Restaurant

All good things must come to an end, and after opening 11 years ago, Life Café & Restaurant is closing its doors - all of its branches. I remember back in 2013 I would buy their salads almost everyday cos it was so tasty, especially their quinoa salad and their special Life Salad. Even though I frequented it a lot back in 2013, I haven't been there for a long time now. The last time was more than a year ago, during summer when Janet came back to Hong Kong.

They officially close on Saturday (tomorrow), but since they were offering free food all day in the weekend I was afraid there'd be hoards of people. So I dragged Mum with me today to savour their delicious Life Salad for the last time ever.

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N1 Coffee & Co.

As always, we only cross the harbour when we really need to because transport costs are expensive, so before my mole removal follow-up appointment, Mum and I went on a little lunch and coffee date in Tsim Sha Tsui. This time, we tried N1 Coffee & Co. which is located right next to Passion by Gerard Dubois on Mody Road. It's a little independent coffee shop but since neither my Mum or I drink coffee, we only ordered food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't excellent or anything either. The decor of the coffee shop was really nice though!

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