Now, it’s been slightly more than 2 months and I’m settling here fairly well. I didn’t experience any homesick yet since I don’t stay with my parents at Singapore so that’s an advantage. So, now I would like to share bits and pieces of my life to you. The famous Santa Monica beach.

The beach was not really crowded that day. I guess it was still early when I reached there. 

I’m not sure if these are houses or hotels. Anyway, both must be damn expensive.

Shutters on the beach is a hotel!

I think this is on the pier? Can’t remember

Elmo in Lakers jersey

Darth vader and the girl in white I’m not sure her name. Clearly not a Star Wars fan.

What are you doing Batman?

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, like quite popular. But, as a poor student, I’ve never tried it before.

3rd Street Promenade. The place I usually go during weekends.

It’s an open air mall. Only for cool countries.

Love the blue sky.

Apple store! Always full of people!

Can you see the clock right there? The time is actually wrong. I don’t understand why they don’t want to adjust it to the right timing. This is a public place after all and how can the clock be wrong?!

Band performance, they usually have this on weekends. Some are really entertaining and funny!

Such a great artist…

Handwriting Analysis. I don’t believe.

Psychic Reading…lol

I loveee the color combination of the flowers. So pretty!

I’ve always been interested in hotel buffets and one of the last buffet I had was at The Rose Veranda @ Shangri-la Hotel. When I was searching for buffets, there were a few high tea buffet that I was interested in. However, the thing that attracted me to The Rose Veranda was the range of teas (128!!) and the buffet starts at 11.30am till 6pm which is a pretty long time.

Hotel lobby.

I felt the pricing was quite reasonable to enjoy such a long buffet although I didn’t sit there for 6.5 hours lol.

Ok so let’s start with what food they have.

Japanese Cuisine!

Chinese food! My favourite food is still chinese food!

Dim Sum! Siew mai and Har Gau. I felt they were pretty good but of course not as good as Hong Kong standard.

This is one of the best dish there! It’s sort of at this place where the chef will slice this for you and put it on your plate. Not sure what the dish is called but this is seriously good! It’s actually this something like croissant kind of bread wrapping salmon and some vegetable.

Hate the one on the right! lol

Let’s move on to the dessert section:)

This is obviously for the chocolate fondue.

Must try the durian cake! One of the popular dessert here is the durian cake and I would say it’s really good.

Chocolates! I haven’t been to a buffet which serves chocolate like they do. I find them too sweet though.

Ok enough of dessert, I’m drooling already. Let’s move on to their teas.

This is the main teacup design which they use.

How the tea works is that looking at their menu, there are two types  of buffet you can have. One is the ‘high tea’ which means you can choose only one type of tea at their menu but you can get it refilled as many times as you want. For ‘high tea with premium tea brews’, you can try as many types of tea as you want. Since I’m not so much into tea, I only got the high tea. However, there are 128 types of tea and I was spoiled for choice. I think it’s better not to try those exotic kind in case it doesn’t taste good and you have to keep drinking that particular tea you ordered.

The names of the tea sounds really nice.

This is another teacup design. I think they ran out of the previous one.

My tea! They have matching teacups, cups, saucers and napkins.

I didn’t know what tea they were using until I saw them having displays of TWG tea cans displayed outside. Really nice design, don’t you think?

Another important thing I would look at is the ambience of the buffet place. I felt that this is not the kind of noisy buffet, its pretty serene and peaceful. Best if you want to have a quiet chat with your friend. Though at the seats closer to the entrance, they have long tables for more people so it is inevitably noisier. But I sat at the end of the buffet, which was kind of quiet.

Overall, I would think that although there are not much variety of dishes, the quality of the food was good. And plus you can have your lunch and dinner together if you want to stay for long, or try many varieties of tea,  the price is reasonable.

Small pic instead of the one I usually use to prevent for scaring you guys.

If I want to have double eyelid when I go out, I use the double eyelid glue. Personally I have oily eyelids so I feel that after a few hours of using this, my eyelids get oily and the oil sort of clumps together with the glue so the effect is probably gone after a few hours. The glue also looks more obvious on the eyelid. 

One of the more popular ones that are more easily available is this particular one:

Eyetalk by Koji

The last one I use and probably the best is the tape. The tape I’m talking about is actually like a double sided tape. However, its not cheap but I find that it’s most effective and looks most natural. I bought this in Hong Kong at Bonjour (or maybe Sasa…anyway they’re tonnes of them around) I’m not sure what is the brand actually so here are some photos of how it looks like.

The cover page of the leaflet

Instructions on how to use the tape

Comes with a small glittery case with a stick

There’s another very popular one called wonder eyelid tape but the difference between them is that for that one, the ends are sharp. The width goes gradually thinner till the end for both sides which I think is better than this one cause its partly visible at the corners when I use this one. However, I don’t have the wonder eyelid tape so I’ve not tried it personally before.

The answer is HONG KONG!

Seriously I miss the egg tarts at Hong Kong now.

Actually there are 2 places with the best egg tarts in Hong Kong. I’ve tasted both and I love both of them.

The most popular one would be from Tai Cheong!

Didn’t manage to get one directy in front of the shop cause there were some Japanese girls posing in front of the shop.

I can’t describe why it’s so great but it really is. The crust has a strong buttery taste and the egg custard inside is just perfect. The whole egg tart is just baked to perfection. But it’s probably a tad sweet for some I think. But I still love it to bits!

Another shop is called Honolulu. I’ve known some people who prefers this to Tai Cheong’s egg tart. The crust is the sort of crusty kind. I’m not sure whats the word for it. Overall it’s really great and it’s not as sweet as the Tai Cheong one.

Both Tai Cheong and Honolulu can be found at Central. There are some other branches out there but I have only been to the one at Central cause I always go to Central. Both of them are not really too far from each other. Approx 10-15 min of walking distance between each other.

Sad to say, it wasn’t really a good experience for me. The sun was blazing hot! Battlestar Galactica was closed. It has been closed for quite sometime already actually.

When I reached there, it was around 10+ am. I’ve heard of some of the popular rides which was recommended. So, to start of, I went to the ‘Ancient Egypt’ and my first ride was ‘Revenge of the Mummy’. This was the best ride at USS. I’m not saying it’s really good, it’s just ok. I find it not thrilling enough.

Next, I went to ‘Far Far Away’ and went to watch the ‘Shrek 4-D Adventure’. I would recommend this. Not bad but just not my cup of tea.

At the ‘Lost World’, there was also a show going on a few times each day which was ‘WaterWorld’. It was really entertaining at the start because *spoiler alert* the actors of the show would actually spray water at the audience before the show start! The effects were nice! Definitely recommended!

The last ride I took on was the ‘Jurrasic Park Rapids Adventure’ at ‘The Lost World’. This is basically a ride where you sit on a float and it will bring you to a stream to look at different types of fake dinosaurs T_T. You need a poncho for this! I would have been completely wet if I didn’t buy the poncho at the stall beside the ride. Not recommended if you don’t want to get wet but there still a way. Actually there are a few seats which you probably wont get wet. Look carefully at the seats and there is one which says ‘Caution Wet’ or something like that. Don’t sit there and the 2 seats beside it. I sat at the one in-between and the guy beside me who didn’t have a poncho got drenched completely. Btw, do you want to know how long I queued for this? ALMOST 2 HOURS!

Some of the pictures I took at USS.

1. After passing thru the gates of USS.

2. The popcorn car which you probably have seen in thousand other USS photos

3. When will you be opened again Battlestar Galactica!

4. Outside Betty Boop store

5. Inside Betty Boop store. Oh look at her sexy legs.

6. Outside of the merchandise store.

No other pictures because camera died halfway and other pictures were crap. The above were crap too you might think but the ones I didn’t upload were far worse.

I think it’s not really worth it for S$72 I spent there. The rides were not really that great. Better to wait for the Battlestar Galactica to reopen. I can’t stress enough of this but it was seriously freaking hot on the day I went! Probably should look at the weather forecast before making a trip down.

At Namco Namja Town which is located at Sunshine City at Ikebukuro, there is this particular store selling this ‘Miraclefruit’. After eating this fruit, sour food will taste as sweet. I have tried this personally and it is true! When I went there, I bought a lemon sundae and it tasted really sour at first. After taking the fruit, it became sweet. However, there was still this slight acidic feeling from the lemon which burns your tongue a little.

Below are some of the pictures I took, its really out of focus. This was taken with my really old camera. If you realise, my HK trip photos are much better cause I bought a new camera:) All my Japan trip photos are really lousy:(

1. Brief description.

2. Fruit and lemon sundae.

3. This was on the wall. I don’t know japanese so I can’t decipher this. But the drawings are kinda cute.

The first time I was there, I wasn’t sure of which one to order as they had so many types of dessert I have never seen before. The waitress then recommended me the ’Durian and Thai glutinous rice’. Basically it is a scoop of durian and glutinous rice in vanilla sauce. Just mix them together and it is ready to eat. It tasted really really good! Everytime I go HK, I never fail to have it at least once.

I didn’t take a picture of the one I ate but I saw these nice food model thingy so I took a picture. The one i recommend is at the first left on the second row.

The restaurant was really full. Almost everyone had to share table. Even there was a couple who had to sit separately. So, if you’re going there alone, you would definitely have to share table with other people. That shows how packed the restaurant is.

Personally, I didn’t really like the macaroni soup with ham. I can’t help thinking that the soup was just full of MSG. I’m not sure if it does, but just by adding macaroni and some slices of ham, I don’t think you can get that kind of soup. If it’s not MSG, then I would think that the macaroni was quite good.

The scrambled egg would be the star of the meal and I would say, it’s really really nice. Really fluffy and delicious. If you ordered the same meal as I ordered, the waiter will ask if you would like to have the scrambled egg or sunny side up. Definitely go for the scrambled egg.

The tea was nice too. I was just telling my mum how difficult it is to get a nice tea from KK but in HK it is the other way round. It is difficult to get a bad  tea from HK. For the few teas that I had in HK, all of them were really good so definitely check them out.

Something embarrassing happened to me when I was in that restaurant. I was deliberating whether to tell the story but finally plucked up my courage to tell you this story. So here’s how the story goes…when I sat down at the restaurant, the waiter immediately brought each of us a cup filled with chinese tea. Initially I wasn’t thirsty or anything so I just left the cup there. If you have been there, you would know that they usually serve the tea or coffee only after you finish the macaroni and toast. So after I ate the macaroni and toast, I wanted some kind of drink but the waiter has not served me the tea yet. So, I just drank the chinese tea on the table. After my tea came, then I started to drink my tea and in my head, I thought it was pretty good blah blah blah. To my surprise, a guy who just sat opposite my dipped his spoon and fork into his chinese tea. I then realised the chinese tea was not for me to drink (chinese tea and tea, pretty confusing huh?). It was so embarrassing ok. Then I looked at almost every single customer at the restaurant to see what they did with the chinese tea and turned out most of them also had their spoon and fork dipped into the chinese tea. After that, I quickly asked my mum to pay the bill. So, that’s the end of my embarrassing story.

I only took a picture after eating. Looks more like I’m taking the picture of the car.

When we reached Four Seasons Hotel, we managed to navigate our way to Lung King Heen. I didn’t book for the view at the harbour because I felt it was too troublesome. Therefore, we just sat at a normal looking corner of the restaurant. We were pretty full to start with, after a heavy meal at Fu Sing shark fin seafood restaurant.

Somehow, I felt that I underdressed. The female customers there wore elegant dresses and stuff like that. I just wore quite plainly like a tourist. We were served by such obsequious waiters and waitress that I felt so weird. Seriously, a part of me felt like leaving. I felt so weird being in such a high class restaurant, underdressed to the point that I felt ashamed that I took the pictures below stealthily. Why am I’m like this

Anyhow, I just went on and ordered some of the popular dishes I read online.

1. Complimentary appetizer. I think it’s special and nice.

2. 密汁叉烧. Not as good as the one from Tsui Hang Village

3. Crispy Japanese Pork in Marinated Red Bean Curd Crust with Pancakes. I’m not going to write my comment on this because that time I was too full already. I had this takeaway and it tasted surprisingly nice back at the hotel.

4. Baked Egg Custard Puffs. I loveee this!

5. Free dessert.

6. See how great the service is. Even the water is made sure to be kept warm by boiling it the whole time. The metal casing is the toothpick casing.

7. View from our table.

We also ordered Braised Superior Bird’s Nest with Shredded Fish Maw. I didn’t really like it though. I didn’t take a picture of it though it should be sort of the specialty of the dinner at Lung King Heen.

8. Phew, finally out of the restaurant. View from the hotel.

9. Same view

10. As I was having my dinner, my mum made a trip to the washroom. I wanted to go after the dinner. I mean, seriously, it’s definitely worth going since I might not staying be at Four Seasons Hotel ever or even be coming down here for a meal anytime soon. My mum told me the washroom was gorgeous when she was back. It indeed is.

11. Probably the best toilet I’ve been to so far.

1. Simple white and jade green cutleries

2. I love the ceiling. I love the chandelier.

3. The environment of the restaurant

4. Bird’s nest egg tarts. I can’t remember how much this costs.

5. A different angle of the bird’s nest egg tarts. So that you can see the amount of bird’s nest they actually placed on the egg tarts. I really love this. Therefore it deserves another pic :)

6. After a bite

7. Can’t remember what it’s called exactly. Some sort of custard bun I guess? I didn’t really like this.

8. Osmanthus jelly with red bean

9. I like this.

I also ordered 密汁叉烧 which is probably the best I’ve ever tried. It tastes better than the one at Lung King Heen. I can’t forgive myself for not taking a picture of it. I only realised that after I’m back in Singapore.

Another thing I ordered was the 豬腸粉. Delicious!

The 叉烧包 was quite normal I think. Not exceptionally nice or anything. For the best 叉烧包, Fu Sing shark fin seafood restaurant wins ok!