Creature of Habit

As much as I like to find new places to eat, but I find myself frequenting the same restaurants over and over again. Probably because they're so good.

Went back to CPK in Times Square tonight. Quiet at first (got there early) but it was packed by the time I left.

The delicious Szechuan Lettuce Wrap. So good that I didn't even mind eating the mushrooms. Those of you how know me should know what a big deal that is.



Pizza a'la mode? Actually, those 2 scoops are sour cream and guacamole. This is the Santa Fe pizza. A kind of Mexican dish. Lime marinated chicken, sour cream, guacamole and salsa. A nice complement to the spicy lettuce wraps.

Old reliable.

Went to Sunning Restaurant for dinner tonight. I've been going there for over 15 years now (heck, even my parents went there when they were young). Obviously, there's a reason for such longevity: the serve an awesome prime rib. The rest of the menu is pretty good too, but I never order anything but the prime rib when I visit.

They always cook it to just the right degree so that the meat is really tender yet there's none of that nasty blood gush when you make the first cut. Plus, most places tend to over-salt the roasted surface portion, but Sunning gets the seasoning perfect.

The Large Prawns Baked in Cheese are also delish. As is the Crabshell Baked Rice.

Chinglish

This is from a newspaper article voicing concerns over the low level of English skills shown in the recent Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination:


It's ironic that education is increasing (today's primary schoolers are learning things that were taught to highschoolers 10 years ago) and yet when it comes to English, skill levels have taken a nosedive. I think it has a lot to do with pop culture. The popularity of English songs and movies comes in a distant 4th place when compared to Chinese, Japanese and even Korean entertainment. It's hard to get a grasp of a language when you seldom use it.

But enough seriousness. The real point of me posting this article is that it made me LMAO when I saw some of these answers. My favorite? "Jagon" (dragon). I guess you need to be local to get that one, but it's just so typical Chinglish. In some ways, you have to admire whoever it was who wrote that; at least he knows how to spell phonetically. And "walking in the Victoria Harbor"... maybe this guy was witness to a miracle?

But there's one entry I couldn't figure out: "can don't throw". I tried directly translating into Chinese but still couldn't decipher it. Was the writer's intent simply something along the lines of "don't throw" as in "don't throw, contents fragile"? Or does the "can don't" mean something like "may" (可唔可以)?

Feel free to share your theories on this one.

11th hour

Just as I entered the final month of my current contract, I got called with a job offer. Ha, talk about timing; a week or so later and I'd have already renewed my current contract, meaning I'd have to breach it (and pay a hefty penalty).

Despite longer work hours and a much farther commute, my new job offers a great opportunity for me, and I'm really looking forward to making my mark.

Hmm, only 30 more days in the Wan Chai area. Better make the most of it.

Private Pool

Went to the outdoor pool of our clubhouse for a swim. Turns out I was the only one there and I had the whole pool to myself. The lifeguards were looking at me like "Are you serious?" I figured out why the moment I dove in. According to the pool thermometer, the water was 23C.

Luckily the sun was shining so I got used to the cold pretty quickly. It was fun swimming around in an empty pool. I'll have to take advantage of the coming 10 days before the pool closes for the season.

Hong Kong Park

Didn't want to waste the sunny day but couldn't really think of anything to do, so I went to Hong Kong Park.

Love is in the air



First time visiting the Bird Aviary. Seems everytime I visited before, it was always closed.







I'm not a Gear Freak and I still firmly believe that it's the Man not the Machine that makes a good photo. However, Bird Photography is one of the very few exceptions where gear really does matter. Those 4-figure priced lenses really do make a difference, especially with their large max apertures and VR/IS capabilities. Since I don't have any of those in my arsenal, I had to make due with my 18-200mm VR and 70-300mm G (hence the high noise levels from the high ISO settings and fuzzy focus).

While I was panning around with my lens, I happend to see this. What the Hell?

Ah, turns out some guy was recording bird calls.

Cool. While everyone else was busy capturing visuals, it was refreshing to see someone capturing his aural experience.