Real Life (Live) Lotus Flowers/Buds!!!

Mandarin's Burger...

Verdict: SO-SO
Had a craving for good burgers around town and a quiet place for me to catch up on my newspapers and HK Magazines. Mandarin is always a good place for its service and I can stay there for as long as I want and still get quality food and tea. :)
The burger is quite pleasing to the sight but the taste was okay and the beef lack more marinade. I found the fries too salty for me...but then again, I can't take too much salt as it is.
I'm still testing around for some good burgers. I know Big O's is good...there's one called Mos Burger that I'm suppose to give it a go soon. :D

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New Installation at Cafe Causette

These are days that I'm so glad to have my camera with me...
It was a really cool installation indeed - a brass lotus display. Very Indian/Moroccan and yet still very Chinese with the Lotus, stand & bud. I have seen it in the past and always though of it as a fountain...how wrong I was. :P
About the actual installation that day - there was so much color and variety through the spices/ingredients laid out and around...interesting stuff!
Now, it's not only the cakes that I should check out but also this amazing arrangement. :D

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A Real Live LOTUS PLANT!!!!

What a lovely sight indeed! I thought these were fake when I first saw them...but then again, Mandarin wouldn't really bother with fake ones if it was to be in front of their restaurant. I knew it was a real when I saw the water drop on top of one of the buds...and of course, touched it! :P
It was just a lovely sight! I've never seen this in real life and so round and perfect! I normally catch a glimpse of something lotus-like during my golf rounds at Wack Wack but that was a long time ago.
Oh, plus this one had white lotus buds too!! Take a closer look!
I wonder if I can request my florist to have a lotus bouquet! :P Now let's see how much would all that cost me in the end?!? It's going to be one really heavy bouquet, if ever. Hahahahaha!

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High Tea @ Le Goutier Bernardaud

Ali and I had first wanted to try out Crabtree & Evelyn's Tea Room in Wan Chai but upon calling to verify the time and location on Saturday, I found out that they are not open on the weekends - only Monday to Friday 9 to 6pm only! There is totally no way that I can check this place out till I end working at ASM and till I get the free time to just leisurely go! It's so annoying! Oh well...good that I did call to ask since it would surely be a waste of time for us to go to find out that the place is closed. :P
2nd try was to check out China Tea Club but when I tried calling Sunday lunch time, no one seems to be picking up...when it's suppose to be open for lunch then later for high tea. Ali and I met up then checked out the venue...closed!
Hay...strike three's coming and I felt it. I went for the most sure deal - Le Gourtier Bernandaud at IFC, which was also indicated as one to check out for high tea in the last the LIST's Pamper Me issue. :)
<--This is the biggest scone I have ever seen & tasted! I was a bit sad that it was all in one big chunk - which normally comes in two types: plain & raisins, so sharing was a bit harder but managable. Amazingly enough, it wasn't undercooked in the middle or tough, but instead was fluffy and good! This particular scone is cool...can't say that enough. I was just pleasantly surprised that it turned out very well. Too bad that the jam was from a can and that the butter was not whipped. That would have totally "wowed" me. :) ***************** I was fortunate enough to catch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) last week and it was so cool! It's a freebee given to me at the office - for a sponsorship night. There are tons of freebees - cocktails started at 3:45pm and movie started around 4:30pm. There were tons of food and we got drinks and popcorn (two types - salty & sweet kinds) for the movie. Itwa s great! The house as not as packed as normal free movies that I've been to since they reserved two movie theaters. It was roomy and gotta love the IFC movie house chairs. :)
I enjoyed this 5th installment of the series a lot since I read the book and found it so sad with Harry losing his godfather, his only ties to family. The movie is not as sad as how it was depicted! (I can't wait to see how they do the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince - I got emotionally drained after that long read.) After the movie, I got the urge to see if I can get the upcoming book this weekend. :)
On a Harry Potter note: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) is coming out!!! Too many poilers and leaks online....I hope it's as good as the series...since it's th last one. One last "horah" if you will! See below for book 7 details.

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2nd round of visitors:
3) Angela Lauchengco of MyScrapWorks
Angela found my blog through her fellow scrappers and mentioned that I posted a link to their site - My Scrapworks - to help promote Filipino scrapping and basically emailed each other from there on end. She is here in HK but I'm sure she knows her way around since she visits HK often and scrapbook shops - she knows a lot more about getting scrapbook materials around HK than me! :) Do hope I get to meet her in-person someday...maybe when I go back to Manila for good.

4) Joshua (my hs pal and groupie), her sister & nephews/nieces
Though they basically know how to get around town and have a very short trip, we did manage to talk on the phone and got a few recommendations out with regards to HK Island highlights.

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Other announcements around town...

club.8
19 YUN PING ROAD
CAUSEWAY BAY
t: 2972 2680
Summer sales in coming, club.8 is working on a final sale up to 60% off original prices. Come and check out your favorite jeans and tops before stocks are running out!!

Mandarin Landmark is having unlimited wine paired with the special Iberico Ham dishes at Amber. This promo runs until the end of July. It's worth trying out. :)
FYI: Iberico Ham (Jamon Iberico) is a specific kind of serrano ham produced in the mountains of Andalucia, southern Spain. It is considered one of the best types of serrano, as it is produced only from Iberico pigs, a breed of small brown animals native to the region. The pigs have black hooves, leading to an alternative name for the ham of pata negra. The pigs' diet consists almost exclusively of acorns, giving the resulting meat a fine, nutty taste, along with the long maturation period of two years or so. Iberico ham is considered by Andalucians to be of such high quality that it is always served raw, finely sliced with bread, and is never cooked - lesser, more fatty variants of serrano ham are used for this.
Information taken from Recipedia.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7), the last of the Harry Potter series is coming out this weekend! For those you have not reserved their copy, good luck to us all! I'm going to try to do a "walk-in" this weekend, in the hopes of getting a copy for myself. Been debating on whether I would want to pre-order the book over here but I see no point since I can wait and just try my luck on the day itself. I hope it works...since HK is own for their favorite past time - "lining up". :)

MTR HK proudly presents - HELLO KITTY, The MTR Hello Kitty Heroes Collection
From 16 July to 2 September 2007, if you ride the MTR 10 times (except the Airport Express) using the same Adult / Concessionary Octopus card any time from Monday to Friday within any of the campaign weeks, you can get a "Hello Kitty" Hero for just $18. A new MTR "Hello Kitty" Hero will be released every week during the promotion so there will be a total of six for you to collect! A Limited Edition "Hello Kitty" MTR Train plus Theme Song* CD will also be available for redemption for just $30 from 27 August to 2 September. The MTR "Hello Kitty" Heroes and Limited Edition "Hello Kitty" MTR Train plus Theme Song* CD are only available while stock lasts. *Music is re-arranged from Hello Kitty's Fantastical Adventure - "Feeling as I Do". You can listen to the theme song and download the ringtone to your phone (for free) at MTR HK. Instructions are indicated. Not a big Hello Kitty fan but just curious on what these are compared to the photos. :P Expect me to take more MTR rides. :D

Another Hello Kitty promo around town (Hello Kitty OWNS Hong Kong) is with McDonalds HK and they have "Hello Kitty & Friends" - which I'm more inclined to get since they have KeroKeroKeroppi! I have bookmarked July 26 (Thursday) as the day I rush to have McDo and get my Keroppi head. :P Check out below!


Digizines Digital Den: Hooplah auction starts this weekend!!!
There are a good few of interesting kits that even I would like to get. :) Of course, I would rather give other bidders a chance at these "special limited edition kits" so go go and get registered!
Please visit Holiday Hoopla Auctions for further details or my previous posting on this.

For those who want to know dimsum, you can check Dimsum Finds.

PS: Still not feeling fully well...hopefully getting well soon!

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Kit: July 2006 TwoPeas - Perfect Pet
Designer: Rhonna Farrer
Alpha: Mikki Livanos' Sunflower Alpha (July 2007 Gift, Scrapbook-Elements.com)
Program: PS7.0
Font: Gill Sans MT
Journaling: woof woof . stars . giggles . laughter . cute . funny
Notes: One of my SIL's requests for my nephew's bday party...I'm cranking out as much layouts as I can for this little guy! SIL recently gave me a photo shoot of little Jeremy with all his doggie giveaways. He was just in doggie heaven!!! Can't wait to start scrapping that one. :D
Template: SOTB's Doodleboog's 12x12 Template #Fourteen - Polaroidization Paper: SBE's Mikki Livanos' Color My Summer Paper Pack
Ribbon Elements: SBE's Jan Hosford Designs' Scrapper's Toolbox Creative Team Gift December 2006 (Scrapbook-Elements.com)
Program: PS7.0
Font: Forte MT
Journaling: Thank you for making my party so doggone fun! July 28, 2007 Jeremy Jason Y. Chan
Notes: As per SIL's request for the last slide for my nephew's upcoming birthday party's AVP presentation. :D
FYI:
1) this is my nephew's photo shoot with his puppy giveaways for his up coming bday;
2) the puppies are to be his giveaways though i wonder if he would be willing to give it away to people since he seems so darn attached to them already (!); and
3) my nephew's experimenting with a new look - chinos and khaki pants attire. :)
Photos: c/o of my brother, Jay