VANILLA LATTE is a blog dedicated to food & travel with occasional random stuff thrown in. It is managed and written by me, Maggie Ha.
I love paris! It’s my favorite city in the whole world. Of all the times I’ve been to Paris, this was by far the… coldest. I’m talking gloom, snow, and ice. The last time I was in France in late November, I wore a jeans, t-shirt and a jacket. This time, I had on every piece of clothing I could layer on (about 4 before cutting off my circulation), a coat, scarf, double socks and boots. Besides that, it was also quite magical and delicious. Who can say no to butter and bread at every meal?
Mmmm Barcelona. I think I ate the whole city. This was my second visit to Barcelona, I had a done a weekend trip there back in college when I studied abroad in London. This time, there was much more eating and way less drinking. I had my list of must-visit and must-eat’s and even though we didn’t get through the entire thing, we did some serious fooding.
I know… I’ve been missing in action for a while. I’m not going to give a long list of excuses but there’s been lots going on! First, I have a new job, well it’s not that new anymore but it’s still exciting and I am loving it. I no longer need to spend half my time commuting! Woohoo! Which leads me to the second news, I moved! Just to a different part of Manhattan but I’ve got a bigger kitchen now! I have been cooking non stop since moving in. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to take pictures or post any new recipes. Guess this means I’ll have to remake everything to post it! The next big news is that I bought a new camera! I’m very excited to start blogging again and hopefully take beautiful photos of my creations.
This is the first year I am not cooking Thanksgiving, well at least for the past 3 or 4 years. This year we’re going to Barcelona and Paris! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I get to spend 2 weeks planning, a week shopping and then 2 days cooking. I would never trade that in… unless it was for a trip to Paris! So stay tuned for my next travel posts!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Au revoir!
One of the touristy things to do… take the old tram up to the peak for a fabulous view of the city. Well, unfortunately, it was all covered with fog by the time we got up there. We got some great shots of the fog though!
I did this tram/peak thing when I went to Hong Kong about 15 years ago. It was actually one of the few things I remembered from the trip. Perhaps because my mom and I had one of those touristy picture-on-a-plate things made from up there. I think it still sits on her dresser.
The peak was completely redone a few years ago and now has a shopping mall attached with some gourmet restaurants and fancy pants dessert places. It’s pretty much expected that in Hong Kong, anything worth while will have a shopping mall attached.
This is by far the cheapest way to see Hong Kong – on the Star Ferry. There’s 2 decks – the older lower level and the newer upper level. They’re pretty similar, one has air con in the Summer and one doesn’t and it’s only like a HK40 cent difference. You can ride from one island to the other for about HK$2 that’s like 60 cents!
Although I didn’t have the best luck on the night view on the way back… rocky seas make for rocky pictures!
There’s several different types of Hong Kong breakfasts. 1 – traditional congee with various other savory dishes like Chinese donuts, rice noodles things, and turnip cake. 2 – sweet buns, pineapple buns with a huge slab of butter, milk tea, milk coffee or both milk coffee and tea. 3 – yum cha or dim sum. I’m sure a 4th includes McDonald’s. They love McDonald’s in Asia – not just HK, all of Asia! More on McD’s later!
Boy was I in heaven. There are plenty of vegetarian restaurants around Hong Kong. Might not have very much luck with street stalls but restaurants are open pretty late and you’re bound to find something. And there’s a street market in just about every area. Most markets have a section that sell fresh fruits.
On our second day in Hong Kong, we hoped on the MTR to Tung Chung on Lantau Island. Took the cable car up to the Tian Tan Buddha. It was a super foggy day and it was beautiful the way the fog sat over the mountains and over the statue. Once we made the pilgramage up to the top, we stopped at the vegetarian cafe for some snacks before heading back to Kowloon. YUM!
Old boat & about 1/4 of Hong Kong Island
The other end of Hong Kong Island
Goldfish Market near Mong Kok
When it comes to seeing the sights in Hong Kong, there’s not that many. Not saying it’s not a spectacular city, it’s phenomenal! But not in the same way a place like Rome fills your day with sights. Hong Kong’s splendor lies in the majestic city scape both day and night, the different islands, and most of all the food and the people.
We spent equal time on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon side. Both are very different yet very Hong Kong. Not sure where to begin so I’ll just split it up into several posts!
Singapore was exactly the type of trip I wanted: SHOPPING & FOOD! We only had 2 days in the city but boy did we take advantage of it! And we sure did eat a lot!
I love that in Singapore, it’s perfectly okay to have about 8 meals. Unfortunately you can’t chew gum, spit or be gay. Not gay as in happy, gay as in homosexual. Apparently it’s illegal?! Well, we still happened to stumble upon 3 lesbian bars on our last night so I guess it can’t be that bad.
We landed in Singapore around 1pm, got to the fabulous Scarlet Hotel and ventured off to do some shopping. We went a little shopping crazy on Orchard Road – I missed Zara so much – and after about 5 hours of shopping we decided, it’s time for food. We made our way back to Chinatown and found the hawker center in the Chinatown Complex. Vini had chicken rice and roast pork with rice for about $5. I had some vegetarian plate for about the same price. SO CHEAP and SO GOOD!
My local favorite is currently Ground Support in SOHO. I go there almost every day for a smooth creamy soy cappuccino or if it’s hot out an iced soy latte. When I’m not in a hurry to run out, I try to take a few extra minutes to enjoy the coffee in the shop… you know, chat with the staff, catch up on some calls and best of all… people watch. Always some interesting characters in NYC!
