Top 5 Eye Candies Spotting Bars in Hong Kong (for Her) - #5

Men, women, grannies, the girl next door, MooMoo (my 6-years old female Shih Zhu) – who doesn’t like eye candies, right?  Even if you’re married and unavailable, it’s still legit to feel good being in a bar surrounded by hot people.  I always call this kind of visual activity a hormone-balancing healthy exercise for the body, mind and soul (and soothing for the eyes too, of course), especially after a long day at work.  So ladies, what are you waiting for?  Read on for the top 5 countdown eye candies spotting bars in Hong Kong.  *drum roll*

 ZUMA LOUNGE & BAR

 

Wooden floorings, dimmed warm lightings, leather stools and floor-to-ceiling glass windows overseeing the buzzing street are what you would be getting from Zuma Lounge & Bar, and of course, eye candies too during after work hours.  Getting up this award-winning Japanese restaurant and bar originated from London’s prestigious Knightsbridge district might be a little tricky though.  No, I don’t mean you need to be on the VIP guestlist or flirt with the bouncer in order to earn your entrance but the only elevator to go up to the 6^th floor of the Landmark in Central is somewhat secretly hidden across from miumiu near the mall entrance on Queen’s Road Central, so good luck finding your way up!

Renowned for its list of signature cocktails and sake, Zuma Lounge & Bar is a popular place for after-work pre-dinner drinks for the Central 30+ year-old crowd.  Its convenient location means you don’t have to hike up the hill to LKF in your stilettos under the summer heat.  Here’s a sneak peak of some signature drinks the bar serves –

[left to right]

1. Zuma Mai Tai – Zacapa 23 year old, shaken with plum sake, fresh pineapple puree and blood orange juice, with a touch of almond syrup, $130
2. South East Asian Cooler – Żubrówka Bison Grass vodka mixed with fresh passion fruit, mint, cinnamon and pressed apple juice, $130
3. Rubabu – Rhubarb infused sake shaken with Ketel One vodka and fresh passion fruit, served as a martini, $130

So how’s it to sip on an exotic booze under the sexy ambience with light trance music playing in the background and a good handful of eye candies?  The waitresses do seem rather unhelpful, rude and obnoxious though.  Head directly to the bartenders instead.

Zuma Lounge & Bar, The Landmark Level 6, 15 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong, +852 3657 6388, http://www.zumarestaurant.com

10 Types of 30-Year-Old Single Guys

30-year-old guys are a curious bunch. Find me a group of 30-year-old men and I'll pick out one overgrown frat dude living with roommates, another guy who just dropped his two kids off at school, a few who are well into their careers and a couple soul-searchers looking for work. Some will tell you that they've finally figured it all out and some more will say they feel hopeless for the first time in their lives. It's a motley crew. But perhaps the motliest part of this crowd is the ever-growing group of 30-year-old single guys. If you want a case study in humanity, 30-year-old single guys have pretty much all the bases covered. Let's examine some of the common types:

1) The Total Package

The Total Package is smart -- he went to a top college. The Total Package is an athlete, a musician, and an avid traveler. The Total Package is handsome -- and you better believe he's well-groomed.
The Total Package has a hell of a career going, but don't you for a second suggest that The Total Package would be a workaholic -- The Total Package is a family man.
There's just one thing The Total Package seems to be having a hard time finding -- a girl worthy of his greatness.
Yes, the woman fit for The Total Package will be the ultimate icing on his cake of perfection. He imagines her often -- gorgeous as they come, she turns heads; bursting with charm and charisma, she lights up every room she enters; she's a brilliant rising star in her career and beloved by her many friends. And that's just her public persona -- at home, she's fantastic in bed, a spectacular cook, loving, selfless, and devoted. Oh and she also speaks French, plays tennis, sings beautifully, reads voraciously and she's a history buff. His Juliet.
Unsurprisingly, The Total Package is single. He's immersed in a fierce battle between his superhuman standards and his terror of being 40 and single -- because 40 and single is not supposed to be part of The Total Package's story.

2) The New Lease On Life Guy
As long as anyone can remember, The New Lease On Life Guy had been dating his longterm girlfriend. He never seemed that happy in the relationship, but everyone just assumed they would eventually get married. Now, after a long and difficult breakup, The New Lease On Life Guy has reemerged with a bang and is suddenly acting like he just got called down on The Price Is Right. He's not really sure how to be single but he's goddamn happy he is, and he's sure as hell going out tonight.
He's also the arch-nemesis of The Resigned Fiance, who's in an equally unhappy relationship but just kind of kept going with it, unable to resist the sweet, sweet inertia, and who most certainly does not want to hear about The New Lease On Life Guy's latest exploits.

3) The Guy Who Has To Marry Someone Of The Same Ethnicity Or His Parents Will Never Speak To Him Again
It's hard enough finding someone to be your life partner, and this guy's parents are really not making things any easier. He tried to rebel briefly, but after his last girlfriend was not allowed in his parents' house, causing her to cry, he gave up on that.
He'd also really appreciate it if his mother would stop setting him up on dates.

4) The Misogynist
The Misogynist hates women, and women hate The Misogynist. The Misogynist doesn't know a whole lot about the other gender, but he can tell you the exact number of them he's slept with -- 214.
He did quite well with girls back in his earlier days when many were in their attracted-to-assholes phase, but lately, only those with the lowest self-esteem seem to gravitate towards him.
The Misogynist's close cousin is The Perpetual Cheater. They're different but they understand each other.

5) The Guy Who Peaked Too Early
Back in the day, The Guy Who Peaked Too Early had everything a 17-year-old girl could ever dream of. His sky-high confidence carried him smoothly through college, and no one was surprised when he landed a smart, sweet, beautiful girlfriend in his early 20s. But The Guy Who Peaked Too Early was just getting started. There was a field that needed to be played, and he broke up with his girlfriend when he was 24.
Now it's seven years later, his hair got bored and left, and his high school lacrosse glory isn't part of the conversation that much these days. And he's noticing that girls like his ex-girlfriend don't seem to be all that into him anymore. Realizing this about five years after everyone else, he takes a deep sigh and cranks his standards down a few big notches.

6) The Guy Who's Finally a Good Catch
On the other side of the coin, after losing some weight, getting decent clothes, and having early career success, The Guy Who's Finally a Good Catch is getting more attention each week than he got in his first 25 years combined. Girls find it endearing that such an appealing guy has managed to maintain his humility, when it's actually just that he's assuming every girl is out of his league at all times.
Once his new situation starts to sink in, he enters an unfortunate new phase, stressing out his male friends out by doing things like winking at them over the shoulder of a girl he's dancing with and offering them a fist pound when an attractive girl walks by on the street.

7) The Normal Guy Who Just Hasn't Met The Right Girl Yet And He Really Wishes People Would Stop Looking At Him With Those Pitying Eyes
Ah, The NGWJHMTRGYAHRWPWSLAHWTPE. The NGWJHMTRGYAHRWPWSLAHWTPE is enjoying his life. He likes his job, he likes his friends, and he likes being single just fine. He's in no rush to be in a relationship and feels totally confident that at some point, he'll meet the right girl and get married.
He's also not quite sure why everyone who knows him is trying to figure out "what the problem is." His parents are worried, never wasting an opportunity to ask him if he's been dating anyone. His friends want to help, setting him up on dates every chance they get. He appreciates all the unsolicited support, but he also thinks it would be pretty great if everyone stopped thinking there was something wrong with him.

8) The Aggressively Online Dating Guy Who Can't Believe He's Not Married Yet
The opposite of the previous guy, The Aggressively Online Dating Guy Who Can't Believe He's Not Married Yet can't believe he's not married yet. Through high school, college and his twenties, he was always The Guy With A Girlfriend. He spent years enjoying pitying his single friends, and somehow, he's now 30 and single.
He has four online dating profiles, and when people ask him if he's dating anyone, he explains that he's just too busy with his career right now for a relationship.

9) The In-The-Closet Guy
The In-The-Closet Guy is so close to being the perfect catch -- he's handsome, he's well-dressed, and he has a great job. He's funny, articulate, and charming. The only tiny little inconvenience is that he's not attracted to females whatsoever.
His antithesis is The NGWJHMTRGYAHRWPWSLAHWTPE, who's had just enough of the theories about him being gay, since he's completely straight and, for the hundredth time, just hasn't met the right girl yet and is really very okay with being single right now.
10) The Guy Who Has Just Fully Quit At This Point
The Guy Who Has Just Fully Quit At This Point never tried that hard in the first place, but at least there used to be a semblance of effort. He doesn't like going to bars, refuses to try online dating, and both the bong and the X-Box are back in the living room following their brief stint in the closet after his friend gave him a pep talk one day four months ago.
Deep down, The Guy Who Has Just Fully Quit At This Point is pretty frightened about a lot of things, but his fear manifests itself in indifferent denial, and passivity usually prevails. There is only way that things change for The Guy Who Has Just Fully Quit At This Point, and that's to find himself squarely in the sights of The Girl Who Relentlessly Pursues. Until then, the whole thing isn't really his issue.

*REPOSTED from Huffington Post

I Will Be Back | Soft Creme

I've first read about Soft Creme from people's photo tag on instagram, and this ice-cream shop was so new that it wasn't even posted on OpenRice back then so I googled on it to get the address.  One day Missy Mo and I decided to go chill at Tai Hang, and Soft Creme immediately came into my mind.  We grabbed a quick bite then came here to check it out.  Probably because it was still new and not alot of people knew about it yet, there wasn't too long of a line-up.

Ice-cream numbers 1-4 were made from Hokkaido milk (uh oh, I sense radiation) and A-D used cereal milk, not really sure what that was though.  I really wanted to try the special of the month which was the Moet champagne flavor but annoying Missy Mo rejected my craving and ordered the Flamed Bacon. sad

We were watching the food experts preparing the cups behind the counter and thought that we gotta try the Australian honeycomb next time.  Meanwhile, I also kept glimpsing at the cute cashier guy while waiting for our ice-cream... ;P

They put dry ice at the bottom of the cup underneath the ice-cream to prevent it from melting too quickly since it's "soft" ice-cream and not the usual ones you take out from the Park n shop freezer.  I tried to take picture of the smokey effect (oooo, spooky) but was a tad bit late.  Anyway you get the point, I think the dry ice was just another gimmick but in terms of taste, the ice-cream was indeed very soft and was surprisingly good with the bacon bits.

I went to Tai Hang again the following weekend but this time there was a long line-up outside the shop, and I'm never a fan of queues PLUS the cute cashier wasn't there this time...I will be back.


Soft Creme, G/F 6-7 Shepherd Street, Tai Hang, +852 2370 3205
District:  Tai Hang
Overall Rating:  4 / 5
Cost:  $42 per cup

Woot woot. TOO hot!

A Hidden Butterfly in the City | Papillon Cafe

I randomly found out about this restaurant hidden on the 17th floor of Hopewell Centre one day en route to my adhoc jogging session at Bowen Road, so decided to give it a try one night with my D mates in our little pre-celebration for Mid-Autumn Festival. While waiting for the rest, including myself, to arrive, Missy J started chatting with the waiter and learnt that the restaurant was under the same group as Zen / Zen Too. Ah, no wonder the name Papillon...which in French means butterfly (Chinese name of Zen is also called butterfly).

Set dinners were served here with price ranging from 12x to 200ish. Came with soup and a dessert, I thought the prices were very inexpensive. Apologies for not remembering to take a photo of the menu but I vaguely remember it included something like pasta du jour (which was grilled salmon with squid-ink spaghetti in tomato sauce), salmon wrapped in pastry, roasted chicken, steak, linguine vongole, some kinda risotto and duck breast.

Soup du jour was corn and pumpkin which was served hot and nicely blended. The soup was so thick that it was like a dip sauce for the bread. Flavor was good too.

I guess we're all so health conscious in avoid having carbs at night so we all coincidentally opted for the roasted chicken and duck breast. I highly recommend the roasted chicken which was served in decent portion. While still moist and tender on the inside, the chicken was slightly crispy on the outside yet not too dry. Definitely one of the best roasted chicken I had in town other than the one from Chez pearlorange of course. The reduced orange juice added a refreshing spritz to the duck breast. The chef did not go crazy with the butter which made the mash tasted just right. We also ordered a bottle from Côtes du Rhône to share. This light-bodied blend of red from Southern France was very easy to drink with a fruity and smooth finish. Went well with the meat.

Evenings tend to be slightly quiet due to the location but definitely a highly recommended hidden gem in Wanchai - hearty food served at very good price.

Venue:  Papillon Caffe

District:  Wanchai

Must-try:  Roasted whole chicken

Overall Rating:  4.5 / 5

Cost:  $250 ph - Dinner

Address:  17/F Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen's Road East, Wanchai

Phone:  2527 9282

*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Pricey Small Scoop | Gino's Gelato

Had my virgin...hike at Twin Peaks with Mr. K on Saturday and after 2.5 hours of intensive Step Master, I decided to reward myself with a sweet treat at Gino's. They have gelato and yogurt which comes in quite a wide range of flavors.


I always like my ice-cream in waffle cones, and I chose the passion fruit flavored yogurt thinking I wanted something more fruity under a 30 degrees sunny afternoon.  Mr. K was very stuffed from the heavy lunch though so we shared the cone.



I believe it was something like $45 for the one small scoop of ice-cream which I thought didn't even taste like passion fruit although Mr. K kept insisting something was wrong with my tastebuds. The waffle was average - at least it wasn't soggy.

Passion fruit yogurt in cone

The shop wasn't very big but could still fit two small tables and bench seats so we ate the cone there thinking that the cream could last longer under the air con than in the heat outside but very soon I found out that the air con might've been broken since it was getting warmer and warmer as we sat down nibbling on the scoop.  Don't think the cone was worth the price but I guess anything works after a 2.5 hour intensive workout.  Things in Stanley do tend to be overpriced anyway.


*Photo courtesy of Mr. K






Gino's Gelato, Shop 5, G/F, Stanley Plaza, Stanley, +852 2899 0314
District:  Island South
Overall Rating:  3 / 5
Cost:  $45 ph


*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Traditional Moon cakes with an Untraditional Twist

A series of phenomenon are set to occur on September 9^th this year.  Well yes, Apple is going to announce its launching of the new iPhone 6…but it is also a day (or night?) when we will have a supermoon, the third and last occurrence this year.  With the moon coming closest to the earth in its yearly orbit, this is also the day after the celebration of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.  Not only is the festival traditionally known as a time of family gathering under the humongous bright moon, but also a time for kids to play with lanterns, and everybody else to stuff themselves with the 1000-kcal white lotus paste and yolk moon cakes.  Well, if you’re one of those who ain't big fan of moon cakes just like me, one of these five traditional treats with an untraditional twist might be able to arouse your appetite.

1. Haagen Dazs

Imagine substituting the dense white lotus paste with creamy ice-cream.  Oh yes, mid-autumn just can’t get any better now.  Haagen Dazs’ Twilight Collection is showcasing the strawberry “moon” surrounded by eight “stars”, flavored in chocolate, Belgian chocolate, blueberries and cream, summer berries and cream, caramel biscuits, strawberry, vanilla, macadamia nuts, and cookies and cream.  How can anybody be disappointed?

Original price:  $599 (discounts applicable to Haagen Dazs VIP and selected credit cards)
Address:  http://haagen-dazs.com.hk/html/shops/index.aspx?lang=en-US

2. Ms B’s Cakery

Celebrate mid-autumn the posh way.  Ms B’s has launched its Signature Moon cake which comes in 2 or 4 pieces.  Beautifully wrapped in their fancy cake boxes, these are literally cakes – vanilla chiffon as the base topped with mango and coconut mousse with fresh pomelo and cream.  These designs were apparently inspired by Chinese lanterns.  Ms B must really be a contemporary (and abstract) (food) artist.

Price:  $280 for a set of 2 or $520 for a set of 4
Address:  39 Gough Street, Central / Shop 202, Level 2 Pacific Place, Admiralty / Shop G111, G/F Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, TST





3. Passion by Gerarld Dubois
Death by chocolate.  You may not be able to associate the moon with this dark-colored chunk of chocolate brownie but just take a bite, and you may be surprised to find the passion fruit "moon" hidden within.  A must-try for all the chocolate lovers, at an economical price too, well at least relatively.

Price:  $49 each.  Buy at least 2 pieces to have them wrapped in an elegantly ribboned box for free.

Address:  74-78 Johnston Road, Wanchai / Shop A, G/F Lyton Building, 32-48 Mody Road, TST

4. Chui Lau Heung

While mid-autumn’s supposed to be a time for family gathering, I’m not sure if these exotic durian moon cakes from Chui Lau Heung would gather people together or actually scare them off.  Comes in a box of four, you get to pick from flavors ranging from D24 to D13 to Musang King and many more.  But oh, all of them are still durian-flavored.  There’s no escape, sorry.  Although I absolutely adore durians, I never know they come in so many variations.  Let’s have a little Durian-101 here (left to right, top to bottom):

1.    D24 – sweet, tender and flavor-rich

2.    D24 charcoal – rich in calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron; all good for detoxing (Really? Hmm…)

3.    D13 – less fructose than D24 and reddish orange in color.  Grown in Segamat of Johor, Malaysia

4.    XO – full bodied flavor and fragrance

5.    Zu Zi Kia – creamy with a tint of milky flavor

6.    Mao Shan Wong (Musang King) – name should say it all.  King of durians.

7.    Golden Phoenix – golden and creamy

Prices vary.  Check their website for ordering locations:  http://chuilauheung.com

5. The China Club

Mysteriously tucked inside the Old Bank of China building, The China Club is well known not only for its exquisite Chinese dining and decor but also the Chinese art paintings and sculptures inside the club.  Living up to its name, The China Club this year launched its exclusive traditional moon cakes boxed in a beautiful Chinese palace.  It does look rather exaggerated, but isn't that part of the Chinese culture nowadays?

Price: $388 for a "palace" box of 6
Address:  13/F Old Bank of China Building, Bank Street, Central

Happy Mooncake Festival!  (And, I can’t wait for iPhone 6 to be out!  Already getting really sick and tired of my 4S...)

*Reposted on FoodnSpot