Madame Lily

Thursday 5pm normally is not a time I will choose to go to Plaza Indonesia. The traffic to Thamrin - Sudirman area during that time on a weekday is famous for its capability in turning someone's happy mood to extremely fussy mood. No? Only me? Well...

Anyway, last Thursday was the first time I was willingly to do that and the only reason was because I'm meeting up with my girlfriends, one of my most favorite comfort moment. :)

Where to stay in Hong Kong & Macau

Here are list of places I ever stayed in Hong Kong and Macau. I will also list down some places which I heard also good via friends' recommendation. I will mark which one is personal experience and which one is not.

The Excelsior by Mandarin Oriental (5*)

Address: 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay

Comment: Very nice! My personal favorite hotel. Location is superb, near all shopping and food places, MTR station is only 3 minutes walk, across with WTC shopping mall, just steps away from SOGO. Room is not big but very comfy, clean and smells nice. I truly enjoy my stay here. Very recommended.
Oh yes, do go to the cafe espresso in the lobby, they have the famous Macau Lord Stow's egg tart.

**personal experience**

Iluminare Ristorante

Last month before Lebaran holiday, I met up with the girls for an afternoon lunch. One of the girls stayed at SCBD area and she told us that she frequently passed around two Italian diners with busy crowds every night, Torino Osteria and Iluminare Ristorante. Since both were located in the same area and we didn't know which one is nicer, we agreed to just pass both of the places and see which one suits us.

One Tuesday at Summarecon Mall Serpong: Lots of food, lots of fun.

I always enjoy going to a place I never, or in this case, barely go. When my bestie called me up for a day out to Summarecon Mall Serpong, I quickly said yes. A place I barely go with many new exciting diners to try surely can be something to enlighten my Tuesday, not to mention having it with a good company as she is, someone who always okay that her diet plan getting ruined by me, her "always curious" best friend. *grin*
The moment I ended my conversation, I scrolled down the note pad on my Blackberry, and there it was "Places to eat in SMS", Sunny Side Up, Mama's German, Warung Talaga, Quench, The Barrel, Bakerz Inn Artisan. I texted my bestie, we should at least eat at 3 places! She replied... Ok! with a wink. Aw... my food hunting partner. :)

So, proudly (or shamelessly?) to say we did manage to go to 3 places, and here they are:

Tai Lei Loi Kei: Macau's most famous pork chop bun

One of the must eat in Macao beside the famous egg tart is definitely their pork chop bun. Basically it is a toasted bun with grilled pork chop. No lettuce, no cheese, no mustard, no tomatoes, just as simple as that yet so surprisingly well known that people quoted, you haven't go to Macao if you haven't taste their pork chop bun.

I am never someone whose into pork, so during my several trips to Macao, I have never interested in trying one. Last month Lebaran holiday was the first time I go to Macao with my hubby, and he is a true pork hardcore. So it was in my agenda to bring him to the Tai Lei Loi Kei, a place very famous for their homemade pork chop bun.

Things To Do in Macau

Macau is definitely a must visit when you go to Hong Kong. Beside the fact it only took 60 - 75 minutes by ferry ride from Hong Kong, the city itself is so nice to spend a day or two. I know that Macau is famous for their casino, but it's not all about that only. If you are not into casino, like me, there are still plenty of things can be done in Macau. Personally, these are my suggestions on things to do in Macau:

Things to Know about Hong Kong

Ok, I'm no HongKong-ners so the post might not cover all the things need to know about Hong Kong, but I do my best to summarize things that I know from all my trips there. Here it goes:

• Basically Hong Kong is a country with three big area, HK Island, Kowloon and New Territories. Most of the attractions in HK settled in the part of HK Island. The most famous area in HK Island is Causeway Bay. Kowloon's most famous area is Tsim Sha Tsui, where one of the most famous attractions in HK, Avenue of Stars located. While New Territories is more to island, from the most talked about Lantau to Lamma island famous for the fresh seafood.

Things to do in Hong Kong

What I can say about Hong Kong is hands down one of my favorite city in Asia. My first time to HK was during my elementary school and since then the city has took a place in my heart. Yes, the people can be rude, I hate that too but I love the rest. I never once get bored of the city. Even at midnight, you can see that people are still crowding the streets, and most of their diners closed at 2am in the morning. I love the food, the fashion and the fact that it is so convenient to go anywhere with their MTR subway, even to Shenzen. 

Grasshopper Thai

A very late post. I even almost forgot that I haven't review this one. About three months ago, I went with hubby to Alam Sutera, an area that we are very very and very seldom go to. Hence, I was very excited and I remember telling my husband that I wanted to eat at least at three different restaurants on the area. Guess how many we went that day? One, this was it. Grasshopper was the first place we went in and we didn't order much to ensure we have enough space for other food, we weren't full but after a scoop of Island Creamery's ice cream and Cha Time's bubble drink, we were bloated up.

[CLOSED] Xi Men Ding

Xi Men Ding is a Taiwanese cuisine concept franchised from Singapore, brought to Jakarta by the same management who owns Pancious. The restaurant took the previous place of Hoka Hoka Bento at Senayan City. During their opening quite months ago, the place was reviewed in most magazines and media online in Jakarta and I have been wanting to come here since. Back then, when I went to Taipei for holiday, Xi Men Ding was one of the place I went several times. It was not a restaurant in Taipei, but more to a place mostly known as the Harajuku of Tai Pei. It is a pedestrian area which eventually emerging into street market fill with fashions to local street foods. The nickname of Taipei's Harajuku was given due to their major crowds for locals and tourists. 

B-Side Wakai Cafe

Last week, I went to Plaza Indonesia by my self. A menswear which my hubby likes was having a 50% off and that was my visit's purpose until I spotted a new cafe connected with a Japanese fashion's brand, I remember a fellow blogger, Cindy, reviewed it a while ago on her blog so I decided to stop by for a quick bites. 

Starbucks Autumn 2012 Media & Food Enthusiasts Gathering

Yesterday, several bloggers and I were invited to Starbucks' media & food enthusiasts gathering at Kota Kasablanka. As always, Starbucks comes with selections of their seasonal F&B and this time the gathering was held to introduce their Autumn's food & beverage. We were spoiled with kept on coming bread and cakes selections, not to mention their newest soon to launch Autumn blend coffee and Sea salt caramel mocha. 

The Twig Cafe

A cute little diners at Pantai Indah Kapuk had caught my attention for a while since its opening in July. The very first reason of my curiosity was because of their appealing food pics on their FB page. One Monday afternoon I went there with my bestie and turns out they closed every Monday. What are the odds? So, several days ago, I finally able to satisfy my curiosity towards the place on a weekday dinner.

Paradise Inn Jakarta

Couple months ago, I received an invitation from Paradise Inn for their soft opening blogger gathering. Unfortunately, I can't go due to other appointment. When I read all the positive comments reviewed by several fellow bloggers, I was very much intrigued to try yet only until last month during Indonesia's independence day that I finally went there for a family dinner.

Bluegrass bar & grill

Ever since we went to Otel Lobby, I had been looking for a good time to try the other most talked about diners at the moment which located on the other side of Otel Lobby. So, on our 72 months anniversary, we went to Bluegrass hoping for a good dinner.

We reached there almost 9pm. They have their own private parking and it was loaded with cars. I was quite surprised with the busy crowd as it was almost 9pm on a Monday night, luckily we got seated directly. The interior was ok, dark ambiance with dimmed lights. They have a very long bar positioned from one side to the other side of the room. Looking through the menu, their selections was quite vary from western, Indonesian, Italian to Asian. Prices were quite affordable aside from the grills. 

Sengoku Noodle

If most of the ramen in town were franchised mostly from Japan, Sengoku Noodle set their foot at the busy dining district of Pantai Indah Kapuk as the authentic Japanese ramen franchised from Seattle, USA. They opened few days earlier than Ikkudo Ichi, one of the busiest ramen shop in North Jakarta, located at the same streets, even Sengoku had a much more better location yet their crowd was nothing compare to Ikkudo. I actually found out about this place first before I got to know Ikkudo, but something about Ikkudo attracts me more, I'm not sure whether it was the line of congratulations flowers, the better marketing selling point or the fact they took more effort on the design concept. Whatever it is, it took me in a non eagerly way to finally tried Sengoku.