Cafe Comme Ca

¥1000 is a lot to pay for one piece of cake, and when I was a student in Tokyo I could only bring myself to do it twice – once with friends and once in a train station when I’d arrived three hours early for my train (oops). Both times it was from Cafe Comme Ca, and both times it was worth it. So when I went back to Tokyo I made sure to stop in again and try another slice. Each cake is sculpted with fresh fruit into rosettes or other incredible arrangements – I recommend taking some time to look at the display cabinet before making a choice (fair warning though – the staff, sadly, won’t let you take pictures of the whole cakes). This time I went for the blood orange and raspberry cream cake, which came out on a plate with cocoa dust in the shape of bluebirds (swoon). The fruit was juicy and covered in a sweet glaze, and the cream was light and not too rich. Western-style sweets in Japan are often sickly sweet, but Cafe Comme Ca gets the balance (and the beauty) just right.

Cafe Comme Ca, 5F Comme Ca Store, 3-26-6 Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku Tokyo  http://www.cafe-commeca.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Sushi Zanmai

Not everybody is a ‘sushi for breakfast’ person, but if we’re talking Sushi Zanmai, I absolutely am. I dragged my colleagues out to Akihabara bright and early, promising that sushi at 7am was something they wouldn’t regret. Sushi Zanmai is open 24 hours and you are always met with a chorus of ‘irashaimasen’ to welcome you. Here, seating at the bar is best, so you can watch the sushi-san work and have a chat. The staff are super friendly and are always happy to give you their recommendations. On this occasion, we were the only people in the restaurant, and had a sushi-san to ourselves, so we started the nigiri feast with salmon, followed by tuna, mackarel, scallops, and unagi (eel). We tried the ootoro (top grade fatty tuna), but all found it a bit too fatty for our tastes. The highlight was the aburi tuna, which had sprigs of spring onion on top and just melted in your mouth. I’m pretty sure that piece alone managed to convince my colleagues of the wisdom of eating sushi at 7am. A must visit for a real Tokyo experience – although not necessarily for breakfast!

Sushi Zanmai, 1F Yodabashi Camera building, Akihabara Tokyo     http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Manoffin

We used the metro a lot in Seoul, and part of the fun is peeking at all the shops inside each station. I can’t quite remember which station we discovered Manoffin at, they do seem to be at a range of metro stops throughout the city. While we were there they had a special range of muffins out for Halloween, which were incredibly eye-catching and creative – there were muffins topped with spider webs, bloodshot eyes, creepy faces and fanged monsters. Obviously I had to have one. I decided to try the ‘blue monster’, which was probably the cutest out of the selection with half an oreo biscuit poking out as its mouth. The muffin itself was a plain vanilla flavour, and it was soft and fluffy, as muffins should be. The icing was a nice thickness, and the monster’s eyes were made of  sweet white chocolate buttons. I also went back to try one of their regular muffins, maple flavoured, which was rich and luscious, served with whipped cream and a disk of white chocolate on top. A good value sweet snack when travelling in Seoul, and  fun way to celebrate Halloween!

Manoffin, various locations throughout Seoul                     http://www.manoffin.co.kr/

Gate 36

Well, apart from the mild agony of it being 6:44am, it’s a nice surprise to find free internet at my boarding gate in HK. I am a little put out with the concierge who booked my airport transfer for 5:15am, meaning that I got up at 4:30am, only to arrive at the airport at 5:30am for a 9:20 flight. Yeah. However, it is nice not to have to line up for anything, and where I’m sitting, you can see the sun rising behind the mountains on one side and out over the islands on the other. Actually, getting here so early meant that the bus company sent a limousine instead of a bus (win!), so an elderly gentleman from London on his way back from New Zealand and I got a stylish lift from the hotel. We had a lovely chat along the way, and he gave me some good tips for visiting London. He’s an ex-serviceman, which reminded me that it’s Remembrance Day today. I’m not such which time-zone’s 11:00 I should observe, but I did notice a few people wearing poppies in HK over the last couple of days.

Right, so last night I treated myself to sushi for dinner, but, surprisingly, the highlight was actually the oysters. The nigiri sushi was thin and small (nothing like Sushi Zanmai in Akiba, which has cemented its title as best sushi place in the world), but the oysters with baked cheese and Japanese mayonnaise were to die for! After dinner I went browsing along Nathan Road, and bought a lovely thick scarf in a burnt orange colour. Can’t wait to wear it!

So now there’s not much to do but wait. My flight doesn’t board until 8:55, so there is quite a lot of waiting to be done. Might go and read for a bit. Ciao for now!

The Essential Hong Kong Experience

Ok, so my last day here is drawing to a close. Before I grab some dinner, I want to put up some photos from last night! I met Kawin at Yau Ma Tei station, and we rode the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui, and met Eunice in an area I remember from when Dad and I stayed there in 2007. It was sooooo great to catch up! We found a Japanese restaurant, and had quite the feast – onigiri, nigiri sushi (chutoro – YUM), tempura pumpkin, kimchi pork (yes, I know it’s Korean, but it was still awesome) and, because Eunice (with me in photo below) wanted them, california rolls.

Afterwards, the girls helped me to find an “Hong Kong umbrella” – for those who know my trust blue umbrella in Adelaide with the nifty slide-cover, this is my definition of an HK umbrella! The weather forecast for London is rain, so I thought it’d be good to have a nice umbrella for when I arrive. After much searching, we found one (a Burberry imitation, no less!), and went for a traditional Chinese dessert.

It’s called “soofabing”, and I had lychee flavour with watermelon and pineapple. The best way I can describe it is like icecream, but in little layers… Anyway, it was so, so good!

There’s no way I could have ever tried this dessert on my own, so I’m really glad I had the chance with the girls. We said goodbye around 10, and Eunice caught the bus with me.

Today has been tiring – the weather was much cooler, but my body still insisted on waking me up at 7:30am – sigh. I started off the day by catching the MTR to Mong Kok East to see the Bird Garden and Flower Market. It was an interesting experience. The Bird Garden was a long strip filled with LOTS of birds in little cages. I’m not sure how humane it is, but the constant chirping and the leafy green promenade was nice.

From there, I walked along Yuen Po Street to the Flower Market. For some reason, the smells of the market reminded me of my Grandparents’ old house on the Central Coast in NSW. I think their garden had a similar scent. Anyway, there were some beautiful flowers, and I had fun taking photos.

After that, I grabbed lunch at Ajisen Ramen (I’m loving how easy it is to get Japanese food here!) and headed back. I had a nap at the hotel and then walked over to the Jade Markets. Last time I was in HK, Kawin and her Mum took us there, and I got a beautiful blue necklace. This time I didn’t have Kawin’s Mum’s incredible magical bargaining powers, so I probably got ripped off, but I got 2 delicate jade necklaces, one in green and one in red. They’re engraved, and each bead has a different colour.

I love the Jade Markets because they remind me of Aladdin’s cave with golden treasures sprawling everywhere. Again, I had fun taking photos.

Once I’d bought my necklaces, I wandered down Temple Street for a bit, but it’s not a really nice area so I turned back less than halfway. Which brings it back to now! I booked my airport transfer for tomorrow morning – the concierge said I had to catch one at 5:15am to get there in time…. So that’s nuts. But I am getting ridiculously excited about going to Europe! I’m still getting my head around the idea of going to the other side of the world! Any tips on how to kill 14 hours on a plane? Luckily my book (The Secret History, by Donna Tartt) is fascinating, but hopefully there’s more choice of movies than the Melb-HK leg.

Before I finish and head out to dinner, here is a little list of things that I love about Hong Kong: the mix of old and new, dirty and clean, the bamboo scaffolding, the crazy neon signs, the ridiculously awesome food and the endless energy.

Next post will be from London! xox

One Crazy City

Well, I made it to Hong Kong! The flight wasn’t too bad – there was no-one in the seat next to me, so I could stretch out a bit. The most interesting part of the flight (apart from watching Despicable Me, finally! Super cute), was with about 3 hours to go (it was night), I opened my window blind and saw a lightning storm outside in the distance. It was amazing – the clouds lit up in a dull burst of yellow, like a mini sun. Very, very cool.

I didn’t get to my hotel until about 3am Adelaide time (uugh), so am pretty tired, but loving being back in Asia proper. In my enthusiasm, I accidently started talking to the Customs official in Japanese… Oops. Apart from the surprisingly large amount of Japanese products (and TV stations) available, Hong Kong has a very different feel to Tokyo, but still has something familiar about it.

This morning I decided to go in search of an authentic Hong Kong breakfast, which can only mean one thing… Yum cha! I’m staying in a hotel just off Nathan Road (which I remember as a main drag from my last trip in 2007), so I went for a walk and eventually came across a place that was open (not too many shops open before 10-10:30 here) on a side-street. Basically I picked it because it was open, and the pictures looked good. I’m glad I did! It was like stepping into a local version of the Ding Hao. I was seated on the same table as a mother and daughter, who very kindly helped me get the waitress’s attention and figure out how to order. It’s little moments like these that restore my faith in human nature. They didn’t have to help me, but they did, and it made all the difference to me. Anyway, I ate 3 amazing dishes – steamed chicken buns, steamed prawn dumplings (a favourite!) and rice rolls with beef. YUM!

The rest of the afternoon (so far) has also been about food – I caught the MTR to Central and found the mall Dad and I had explored last time near the Harbour. I grabbed a Haagen-Dazs pomegranete, white peach and orange blossom sorbet (it was divine), and picked up a grapefruit and poppyseed macaroon to try later. I ducked into Zara (oh the joy of Zara! How I wish we had it at home), and bought a beanie, because I forgot to pack mine. I may or may not have also bought a couple of thin tops for work as well…

Anyway, I’m sitting at a cafe in the ifc mall with a sesame bagel sitting next to me, waiting to be eaten, so I’ll sign off. Tonight I’m meeting Kawin and Eunice for dinner (we’re having Japanese). It’s been nearly 2 years since we last caught up, so I’m pretty excited!

Boarding for Hong Kong