Hong Kong 2013 Day 2: Baking Supplies Stores

Day 2: 31 October 2013 (Thu)

After we left Toy Street, I managed to get some spare time for my own shopping. Easy to guess right? I went looking for the baking supplies stores in Hong Kong. Before the trip, I did a quick search for the baking supplies stores here and found Cathy's post extremely useful as she got a long list of shops that she had visited! Also got some info from Wendy who just returned from Hong Kong before my trip. :) Knowing that I won't have sufficient time to shop, I targeted at 3 shops here, but in the end only visited 2.

Baking Supplies Stores

Here's a map that I roughly made markings and directions of the places I went to. I took the MTR from Wan Chai back to Yau Ma Tei. Exit from A1, walk along Pitt Street (碧街), cross the road at Shanghai Street (上海街) and turn right. Walk past a few shops, you will find On Yip Building (安業商業大廈). There are 2 baking supplies shops located in this same building.

Took the lift to Floor 8, this is 二德惠 （http://www.twinsco.com/）. They have other branches too. It's only after I returned then I realized they have a branch at Wan Chai too. Haha!

After that took the lift to Floor 1, this is 淇趣蛋糕烘焙工房 (KK's Cake Workshop).

Not sure if photography is allowed, so I just quickly took some photos. I spent more time and bought all my stuffs from 二德惠 as they were cheaper and more variety. Some of the things that I bought back. I did not spend a lot though.

M Garden Vegetarian

After shopping, I went to look for vegetarian food for my mum. If you are a vegetarian, you can find vegetarian food all over the world from HappyCow website. I bookmarked a few before the trip. There are 2 vegetarian restaurants very near to us here at Dundas Street (登打士街). We went to M Garden Vegetarian which serves vegetarian Chinese food and dim sum.

A few simple and tasty dishes.

Some info for anyone who is vegetarian.

M Garden Vegetarian
2/F, Omega Plaza, 32-34A Dundas Street, Mong Kok (nearest MTR station Yau Ma Tei)
Open Mon-Sun 11am-11pm

The other vegetarian restaurant Jade Vegetarian is somewhere diagonally opposite this building at the ground floor, easier to spot and seems cheaper! Haiz!

Jade Vegetarian
Shop B, 124-128 Portland Street, Mong Kok
Open Mon-Sun 10am-11:30pm

Kwong Wa Street (廣華街)

After the food, we intended to walk back to our hotel. We walked along Dundas Street and found a whole street selling fruits, vegetables and dried goods. We stopped by for a look. My mum bought some stuffs back. At the end of the street, we got a bit lost of the directions. Didn't know how to and how far to walk back. As we had more activities later at night, we decided to take a taxi back. The taxi fare was HK$20. I read the map after we were back and found that the street was Kwong Wa Street (廣華街). :)

Next: The Peak

Merry Christmas 2013

This Christmas, I made a Christmas logcake for the first time.

The cake was made of chocolate chiffon cake, spread with nutella. The logcake was frosted and decorated by my nieces with nutella whipped cream. I did tried to help them to make the cake neater, but I was equally bad at it, haha! Luckily, once all the decorations were put in, the logcake looked pretty good! :)



The remaining of the chocolate cake batter, I put into my new mini flower chiffon mould. It was really cute!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

May everyone be blessed with good health and happiness!!!

Hong Kong 2013 Day 2: Tim Ho Wan - Toy Street

Day 2: 31 October 2013 (Thu)

On Day 2, we woke up and saw the great view from our hotel room at the top floor!

Tim Ho Wan

We started our day with the famous Michelin Star Dim Sum at Tim Ho Wan 添好運 in Hong Kong. There are a few branches in Hong Kong. We visited the one at Sham Shui Po nearest to our hotel.

This map is taken from Google Map and I try to show its location from Sham Shui Po MTR station. We walked to Mongkok MTR station from our hotel, took MTR to Sham Shui Po Exit B2. It's quite a few streets away from the MTR station though.

From Google Map

G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon
九龍深水埗福榮街9-11號地下
Nearest MTR station: Tsuen Wan Line, Sham Shui Po, Exit B2
Opening hours: 8am-9.30pm daily

You will know you are there when you see this big sign on the street!

We thought it opened at 10am and we got to queue for a long time. But it was already opened when we arrived at about 9am and there was no queue at all. We got seats immediately! And the menu was given.

Being not the foodie type, haha, I wasn't really aware of the 4 heavenly king from Tim Ho Wan. But we did order their famous Baked Bun with BBQ pork 酥皮焗叉烧包. It comes 3 pieces in a set and this was one of my favourite!

There were 3 items from what we ordered that left a really good impression. Until now, I still can't help thinking about it. :) One of them was the BBQ pork buns above. The other was the Steamed Egg Cake (香滑马来糕）. It was very soft and had a very strong and nice caramelized sugar taste in it. It was unforgettable!

We ordered a variety of dim sum from the menu. My third favourite was the Pan Fried Turnip Cake (香煎萝卜糕). Cos the texture was different from Singapore's one, soft and QQ. Most of the other dim sum are nice too.

Vermicelli Roll

Osmanthus Cake

The Glutinuous Rice Dumpling was probably the most disappointed one for me. It was tasteless and very little ingredients wrapped inside.

Overall, the meal was good! We spent only HK$264 (~S$44) for so many items. Do give it a try if you go Hong Kong!

Tai Yuen Street (Toy street)

After the meal, we weren't very sure where to go. So I suggested Toy Street, should be quite fun for the kids. Took the MTR to Wan Chai Station Exit A3. The Toy Street, Tai Yuen Street (太原街) is just across the road.

Not much photos here as we were busy exploring the shops and stalls along the streets. After getting some toys, the kids were tired and went back to the hotel for their nap. So I took the chance to explore elsewhere. Guess where I'm going? :)

Next: Baking Supplies Stores

Hong Kong 2013 Day 1: Royal Plaza Hotel

Day 1: 30 October 2013 (Wed)

Royal Plaza Hotel

By the time we reached and check-in Royal Plaza Hotel, it was already 10pm! We took more than 2 hours! We were lucky, or maybe due to the late check-in, we managed to get a free upgrade to the royal club room at the top floor!

Our room was at the top 19th floor. We were very delighted once we entered and saw the room. It was huge! We were recommended to this hotel because of their huge room size of 350 sq feet (33 sq m). It can accommodate at least 3-4 people, just nice for a small family. So glad that we will be staying here for 3 nights! :)

We got 2 big and comfortable queen-sized beds in our room! There is a 46" LED TV (no photo) and a mini-bar cabinet with a variety of beverages, a mini fridge and a Nespresso coffee machine too! What I love most is the free in-room WiFi cos I needed it to check my emails, facebook and instagram, haha! Plus there are plenty of USB powerpoint in the room for charging and iPhone/iPod Docking Station, all just beside the bed. So I can use my phone while lying on the bed. :)

The very modern bathroom with bathtub and rain shower head. Well-stocked bathroom amenities and hairdryer. Then we discovered something more special for the bathroom. It is actually a see-through bathroom, of course you can put down the blinds if you need privacy, hehe! For some strange reasons, we couldn't find the door lock for the bathroom. Maybe it's supposed to be unlocked? :)

Kam Wah Cafe 金華冰廳

After all the "exploring" for the room, it was already 11pm. Me and my mum went out for some dinner/supper. We were like very careful not to lose our way as we were new to the place. But there were plenty of signs to lead us. My method of finding ways is just need to recognize a few important street names - Fa Yuen Street 花園街, Tung Choi Street 通菜街, Bute Street 弼街. :) We found the way there by walking through the shopping centre Grand Century Place just beside the hotel, down an escalator to reach Bute Street. For your info, it was very safe to walk around here, the streets were still full of people at this time! Hong Kong-ers don't sleep! :)

The famous Kam Wah Cafe is right in front. They are famous for their pineapple buns 菠蘿油 and egg tarts, but not at this late hour. We quickly settled for a fried rice and then went back to rest. (Too bad, I didn't have the chance to be back for their pineapple buns :()

Next: Tim Ho Wan - Toy Street

Hong Kong 2013 Day 1: Arriving at Hong Kong

Day 1: 30 October 2013 (Wed)

Jetstar to Hong Kong

I went to Hong Kong for a short trip with my family last month. We took quite a late flight actually by Jetstar. The departure time was at 3:50pm and thankfully, the plane departed on time and we reached Hong Kong airport at around 7:40pm according to the schedule.

As it was already night time, we were quite anxious to get to the hotel soon. Unfortunately, things were a bit slow at the airport over here. First there was no connecting bridge from the plane to the airport and we had to take a bus to bring us there. After that, we waited for very long for our luggage. :(

Airport Express

As we were going free and easy, we took the Airport Express to Kowloon Station. After that, we took the free Airport Express Shuttle Bus Service K5 that would drop us directly at our hotel. This complimentary airport express shuttle bus service stops at quite many major hotels in Hong Kong. So if you are travelling on your own, it is quite a good idea to stay at the hotel which is connected by this service.

Do check out any on-going promotions. We managed to get the group tickets at HK$220 for a group of 4 adults to Kowloon. The usual single journey ticket cost HK$90 per adult and HK$45 per child. You can get the tickets from the Airport Express Counter in the airport. We got our Octopus cards there as well.

From MTR official website

The Airport Express was a very comfortable ride and took us to the city in just about 30 minutes.

After that, we transferred to the shuttle bus. Our hotel was the last stop - Royal Plaza Hotel.

Next: Royal Plaza Hotel

Bake-It-Yourself Bigger and Better Location Opens Today!

Good news to all baking enthusiast! The Bake It Yourself (B-I-Y) Store is opening at a new location today!

For your information, Bake It Yourself Singapore was launched in 2008; it is an all in one bakery, course centre, and retail shop selling a wide assortment of cake decorating and baking tools from Wilton, PME, CK, and many more. They offer globally recognised cake decorating courses such as Wilton's and PME's. They have also recently launched their international ecommerce website, which allows customers from all over the world to purchase their products easily.

The brand new look of their new store in sweet pink & turquoise candy colours!

4 Floors of pure cake decorating heaven! 3 floors of retail space, B-I-Y Course Centre on entire top 4th floor, fantastic new bakery kitchen on 1st floor! A store directory on every floor so you won't get lost!

B-I-Y Retail Store

3 floors of large retail space with the widest range of baking and cake decorating products! B-I-Y specializes in cake decorating, sugarcraft products and ready to use decorations. They are also Distributors for top quality world-renown brands like Wilton, Knightsbridge PME, CK Products, Phines, Silikomart JEM, brands known for their quality and well-loved by all cake decorators. B-I-Y also has an online store, you can just click and pay and you'll receive your package within 2 -3 days! For international customers, they also ship internationally!

B-I-Y Course Centre

Bake It Yourself Course Centre conducts cake decorating courses for all skill levels and all ages. They conduct full range of the world renown Wilton Method of Cake Decorating Courses and Workshops and PME Professional Diploma for Sugarpaste, Sugar Flowers and Royal Icing in Singapore. They also have specialised classes and workshops for baking, cake decorating, cookie, cupcake, cake pop workshops.

Look at their brand new, large and fully equipped classroom on the 4th floor!

Their 3 Gaggenau ovens in a row, and brand new 2 metre tall Gaggenau fridge.

B-I-Y Bakery

B-I-Y Bakery also sells Ready-To-Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, Icings and Icing images, that are made from premium ingredients. You can buy the cakes and icings separately, then decorate the cake yourself. Fully custom design cakes are also accepted.

Do drop by their new shop today!

Bake It Yourself
www.B-I-Y.com

Address
9 Circular Road, Singapore 049365
Retail Tel: +65 6-100-2253
Retail Email: shop@b-i-y.com

Class Enrolment Hotline
Tel: +65 31-529-529 / 31-526-526
Skype: b-i-y_class
Email: class@B-I-Y.com

Opening Hours
Mondays to Saturdays, 9am – 7pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BakeItYourself.SG
Twitter: twitter.com/bakeityourself8
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/bakeityourself/

Chiffon Cakes 14 to 16

Hihi! I'm back from my Hong Kong trip! While still looking through and sorting out all the photos, let me first post up some of the chiffon cakes that I had done before.

Chiffon Cake #14: Raw Sugar & Sweet Potato 黑糖番薯戚风蛋糕

17cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
40g raw sugar (I use 35g)
50ml vegetable oil
50ml water
80g cake flour
100g sweet potato, steamed and diced
1.5 tsp toasted black sesame

4 egg whites
30g sugar

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Adapted from：好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手

Chiffon Cake #15: Orange Rice Flour 香橙米粉戚风蛋糕

20cm chiffon tin:

5 egg yolks
10g sugar
40g vegetable oil
50ml orange juice
60g cake flour
30g rice flour
60g candied orange peel (I substituted with 1 orange zest)

5 egg whites
5ml lemon juice
50g sugar

Bake 160 deg C, 50 minutes

Adapted from："烘焙新手必备的第一本书"

Chiffon Cake #16: Black Sesame 黑芝麻戚风蛋糕

17cm chiffon tin:

3 egg yolks
30g sugar
30ml vegetable oil
70ml water
80g cake flour
40g black sesame powder
1 tsp baking powder

4 egg whites
30g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (I omitted)

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Adapted from：袅袅烘焙香

Happy Birthday Kids - Baked Donuts and Fondant Hello Kitty Cupcakes

My nieces birthday all fall in the month of September. So I made something for the goodie bags for their birthday party in school.

These are mini baked donuts with different toppings.

I packed them in these cute cookie bags. So girlish, I hope the boys didn't mind. :P

I did something more challenging for my elder niece after a few practices with fondant.

These few fondant hello kitty topping took me like 2 hours to complete.

Then I bake the cupcakes on the actual day of the party. And put the toppings on. It was very fun to play with fondant actually!

I'm taking a holiday break to Hong Kong this week. Hope to share some photos when I am back. Meanwhile, drop by my facebook as I update there more often. Cheers! :)

Chiffon Cake #19: Chocolate & Pandan 双色巧克力斑兰戚风蛋糕

Hihi, here's another chiffon cake that I bake recently. Sorry I have to skip my chiffon cakes series from #13 to #19 first because I want to support the Pandan theme hosted by Joceline that is going to end this month. :)

Chiffon Cake #19: Chocolate & Pandan 双色巧克力斑兰戚风蛋糕

17cm chiffon tin:

4 egg yolks
16g sugar
40g vegetable oil

Mix the above and divide batter into 2 portions.

Using homegrown pandan leaves

For pandan flavour, add:
28g concentrated pandan juice
(I blend 12 pandan leaves in some water, let the mixture stand for few hours and use the bottom layer)
32g cake flour

For chocolate flavour, add:
28g water
22g cake flour
10g cocoa powder

4 egg whites
70g sugar
8g corn flour

Whip the egg whites to stiff peak. Divide into 2 equal portions and add to the pandan and chocolate batter.

Bake 170 deg C, 35 minutes

Recipe adapted from: Okashi: sweet treats made with love

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up September - Pandan hosted by Joceline @ Butter, Flour & Me, organized by Zoe@ Bake For Happy Kids and Mui Mui @ My Little Favourites DIY.