Days In Hong Kong - Che's Cantonese Restaurant

Although Tim Ho Wan's dim sum is cheap and good, we weren't keen on queuing again. So we made a reservation at Che's Cantonese Restaurant, situated just a block away from the husband's residence in Wan Chai.

I'm glad Lin told me about this place or I would never have known of its existence. Thanks for the recommendation!

Some photos of our yum cha and pardon the bad lighting. Trust me, the food tasted a lot better than it looks :)

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Che's Cantonese Restaurant

4th floor, The Broadway 

54-62 Lockhart Rd

Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Days In Hong Kong - Itacho Sushi

I like Itacho Sushi very much and make it a point to visit a branch in Hong Kong when I am there. (Itacho Sushi is a well known Japanese food establishment in Hong Kong which has also expanded to Singapore.)

Dinner was delish and after stuffing ourselves silly with dim sum, noodles and roast meat, it was nice to have something different from the usual Cantonese fare.

Salmon sashimi is a must

Jumbo scallops - so sweet and melt-in-your-mouth!

Miso soup

Cha soba - I love everything associated with green tea

Chawanmushi

Grilled terriyaki salmon

Foie Gras Salad - One of Itacho's best dishes in my humble opinion

Tempura Prawns

Tempura Pumpkin

Unagi Sushi - Good, but I thought the version I tried in Singapore was more marinated and tasted better

My 7 Links

I first started this space last May, because I was sick of churning out paper after paper and crunching numbers at work. I've always preferred writing to numerical analysis, hence the inspiration for the blog address and title. I desperately needed an outlet somewhere to pen my frivolous thoughts. Most of my entries, as you can see, revolve around the wedding and other random aspects of my life which I adore, like food, travelling and sometimes fashion & beauty.

When Miss Ene tagged me to do up a meme on 7 links, I must admit, I was a little frazzled. This blog (my 3rd one) is less than 1.5 years old. I don't blog that regularly. I hardly open my heart and pen my thoughts, because I don't feel comfortable revealing too much here, but that's just me. How was I going to dig up the posts required to feature in the entry?

But nonetheless, I've sieved through my old entries and here're my 7 links.

1) My Most Beautiful Post - 2010, in retrospect
I don't know about you, but I get a little emotional every year around New Year's Eve when I look back on the year that has whizzed past. This was a rare post where I reflected and revealed a bit more than I normally do.

2) My Most Popular Post - (500) Days of Summer Wedding Inspiration
Thanks to Blogger's stats, I found out that this post had the most pageviews, which I'm sure is because of good old Google.

3) My Most Controversial Post - Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #14: Hey, I'm Not For Sale!
On hindsight, I could have offended some people when I wrote about my disdain for this Chinese wedding tradition.

4) My Most Helpful Post - Confessions of a Bride-To-Be #3 - The Bridal Studio Part 1
Judging by the blog stats, this entry was one of the top 5 entries with the most pageviews. I hope my two cents' worth helped (and still helps) BTBs who were/are sitting on the fence on bridal studios.

5) My Most Surprisingly Successful Post - What's In Your Bag
This entry received the 2nd highest number of pageviews. I never knew that people were so interested to know what's in my bag, hehe.

6) My Most Underrated Post - Confessions of A Bride-to-be #6: Tips for the Pre-Wedding Shoot
Like Miss Ene (who in her case had written about how to store a wedding gown), I wrote this post, thinking it might help BTBs when preparing for their pre-wedding shoot but based on the lack of comments, it seemed that nobody had found the topic useful.

7) Post I Am Most Proud Of - Our Little Modern Resort
It's no luxury beach resort. Heck, we don't even have a sea view! But it is our first home and I'm filled with happiness and pride each time I step through the door.

And now for my turn to tag the next 3 bloggers whom I hope are reading this. Have fun!

The Girl At The Traffic Light Junction
A Fresh Start
The Journey Of Becoming A Mrs

Days In Hong Kong - Wilson Trail

Mention Hong Kong and most people will think of good food and shopping.

But did you know, it is also home to many beautiful hiking trails?

We were keen to see the quieter side of the country and decided to check out the Wilson Trail, a whopping 78km long trail which traverses eight of the Country Parks and is broken into 10 stages. (Only managed to complete the first stage which is 4.8km, in one afternoon!)

A word of advice to those interested in hitting stage 1 of the trail - do not underestimate it. We didn't think it would be painful cos hey, we climbed Mt Kinabalu so this should be easy peasy, right?

Not true.

We started with an ascend up 1000 steps and the rest of the undulating trail which consisted of a mix of ascends and descends, was long and challenging.

 

Stage 1 of the trail starts off at Stanley and finishes at Wong Nai Chung Gap

Only just the beginning!

Still cheery, but not for long

Couldn't help but sing Step By Step by NKOTB along the way

 

 Still climbing

 

I desperately needed a break

The terrain changed dramatically and this section of the hike reminded us of Mt K

 

 Deja vu

 And then it was downhill

With a beautiful view of the rolling hills

My camera battery died after this photo and I had to rely on the iPhone to capture the rest of the shots.

 

 After going downhill, it was uphill again.

 And downhill, then uphill. Can you spot the trail?

Tai Tam Reservoir

Combined with the unforgiving summer heat and a lack of canopy shelter, it was a tough hike.

But as with all treks, the beautiful scenery more than made up for it. Although it kills my knees, I enjoy hiking because it's peaceful and I like being surrounded by nature (not the mosquitoes though). It's just too bad that we don't have many options when it comes to hiking in Singapore.

If you have some time to spare in Hong Kong, do hit this part of the trail to experience its tranquility and beauty.