A Neighborhood Tour and a VERY Simple Dessert

Since we've been here for over 2 weeks now, it's about time I take you all for a little tour around our neighborhood!

We are living in Central, which is well-named, and has a mix of expat and local residents. Just by walking around the block, you can see how much there is to offer in Hong Kong, along with a taste of the local culture. There are so many restaurants in this area, we definitely won't go hungry, and we've loved a lot of the ones we've tried! Just within a few blocks of our apartment, we've tried Cantonese, Peruvian, Spanish, Egyptian, and Italian food - and there are so many more types to try! I know - shocking that I'm talking about food. There is also the major night-life area within walking distance to us - Lan Kwai Fong - and we've explored this once so far, and plan to check it out again in the near future!

As you can see below, some of the streets around us have a lot of local vendors! In one of the past posts, I briefly mentioned the meat and veggies that are sold from street vendors - so I wanted to give you a look:

Yes, that man in the apron is selling the meat

Every day, meat and veggies are delivered to these vendors on trucks. The meat is delivered as basically an entire animal (I saw hooves!) and then the man in the photo above takes the meat and butchers in right there on the table, and sells it to people right away. If you grew up here, I'm sure that you will be fine eating all of this. Since Bryan and I didn't grow up here... we'll stick with the grocery stores. Still great to see all of this in person though!

The street that Bryan and I both walk down on a daily basis, leads to the escalator system. Before we got to Hong Kong, we were told that Hong Kong has the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world! It's difficult to imagine exactly what this looks like, but since Hong Kong is a mountainous island, this system makes it much easier to travel up and down the main streets. It technically goes through the mid-levels and central, but it leads all the way into the IFC mall (a large, very high end mall), encouraging shopping, eating, and allowing those who work in the IFC (international financial center) to get to work without the direct heat of the sun - which is very important here in the summer!

Escalator System

Above is a view of the escalators! For a portion of it, it's a moving walkway, and then higher up where the streets are steeper, it becomes a regular escalator. There isn't air conditioning and the sides are just open (not super clear in the photo above), but it still allows for protection from the sun and most of the rain. I say most of the rain because sometimes the rain here "falls" sideways and so a cover on top of you doesn't do much of anything. Since half of this walkway is stairs, it allows the escalators to change direction depending on the time of day. From 6am - 10am, it moves down (towards where many people work), and from 10am - 12am, the escalators move up. It's a great system!

Now that you've seen a little bit of where we live, I'll show you what I made today. It's the most simple dessert there is, and many people wouldn't even consider it dessert because it requires two ingredients: pudding mix and milk. I saw this package in the store, and couldn't help myself because I love chocolate pudding, and I thought - this doesn't require an oven!

So here are the ingredients and instructions:

• Chocolate (or flavor of your choice) pudding mix
• Milk (I found lactose free here!!)

1. Put milk in a bowl
2. Add mix
3. Whisk
4. Let it set, and enjoy!

I know, very very involved and difficult - probably the biggest challenge I've given you yet :) Enjoy!

Our Weekend in Macau

Happy Monday everyone! For our second weekend in Hong Kong, Bryan and I decided to explore Macau. Since we love (and frequent) Las Vegas, we wanted to give Macau a try and see how it compared. The main difference was that is was almost solely focused on gambling, and a lot of it! Las Vegas has such a giant night life - clubs, walking the strip, etc., and Macau is much more focused on gambling inside. But I can't blame them because its 100+ degrees F, and SO humid.

I have to digress slightly to explain the humidity. Imagine this: you're standing in front of a heater, that has moist air, and it's constantly blowing on you. The trouble is, you can't get out of the way, and have to continue to standing in front of this moist heater. That's walking through Hong Kong in the summer.

Now, if I'm truly going to explain our visit to Macau, I have to include the good and the bad. Because I am a positive person, I will start off with the good - we had a lot of fun trying new games, the food was delicious, we saw "Beauty and the Beast" live (amazing!) and the one club we found had a great band (although they played the exact same set list both nights - so maybe we'll try to find a different place if we go again!). It was also a lot of fun being able to spend the weekend with Bryan, and give him the chance to kick back and have fun.

The major con was the hotel itself - the Venetian. Do NOT stay at this hotel if you go to Macau. Yes, it's beautiful, and yes it's popular - but the customer service was the most terrible I've ever seen. And yes, this sounds like the beginning of one of those online reviews where someone is overreacting to a tiny little issue - but I'm not that type of person. Our big issue: Bryan had multiple chips stolen directly off of the casino gambling table, and the hotel did NOTHING. After hours of waiting, and then having to contact the security team and explain the situation multiple times, they finally told us that the videos confirmed that we were stolen from. Unfortunately, their response to this was almost as bad as the theft itself. No apologies. No reimbursement. With an air of offense (towards us!), they explained that it was simply out of their hands. The thieves had left the casino, and until they returned, the Venetian wasn't responsible and couldn't help us. They said the only way for us to be reimbursed was if (major if) the thieves returned to the casino, the cameras spotted them, and they were caught by security. In addition to this, they can't send money in the mail, so we would have to pay for tickets to come back to Macau to be given back the money that was stolen from us. In other words - NO POSSIBLE WAY of being reimbursed. As if the thieves would be idiotic enough to return. And every single person we spoke to at the Venetian, in every single level, was beyond rude and seemed like we were wasting their time - horrible. So after this rant, I'm obviously saying - do NOT visit the Venetian Macao ever. They will not be held responsible for anything. They will treat you with complete disrespect. And they will look smug while doing it. *major eye roll*

Now that I've gotten myself worked up thinking about this, I'm going to have to change the subject back to something more positive. Bryan handled all of this with absolute grace, while still being stern with them, and I really appreciate him for that. I flew off the handle a little bit and had to rein it in because it wasn't really helping anyone. But we even each other out :)

I've included some photos below of the fun times we did have there. We had both seen "Beauty and the Beast" (live) when we were about 10 years old, and it was so much fun to see it again! We both grew up with all of those original Disney classics, and by far this is my favorite Disney movie. I love Belle and the Beast, and it was a wonderful show - and their voices were great!

So, although our issue with Venetian put a temporary damper on our weekend, we didn't let it ruin everything. We did have a fun time in Macau in general, and I just enjoyed spending time with my wonderful husband.

Side note: For the photos - I apologize that they are all selfies, as we didn't have any other "friends" to take the photos for us. See this hilarious video to see what I'm talking about: A Better Kind of Selfie Stick (College Humor)

Waiting to get on the Ferry

View from (and slightly inside) the Ferry

Beauty and the Beast Live!

View from our Room

The Blondie Brownie

Good night to the US, and good afternoon in Hong Kong!

We've been here about 2 weeks now, and this second week went by quickly! I had my second day of Mandarin today, and Bryan has been at work all week (which is good, considering that's why we're really here!). Mandarin is an interesting language to learn - I'm just barely learning a few vocabulary words, but the tones and sounds of the letters themselves are so different from English, that it's definitely going to take some time to get used to (let alone actually learning the words and speaking any of the language) - but I'm excited to learn something new!

After class, I was able to meet Bryan for a delicious dim sum lunch - I meant to take photos, but we ate everything too quickly (whoops! - but can you really blame us?) I'll try to remember to take photos next time :)

When I got home, I wanted to try another dessert. So for my second attempt at microwave-baking, I chose a "blonde" brownie. Brownie consistency, but not chocolate (although there are chocolate chips because I love chocolate!). As with the banana bread, I took photos, and I will outline how I made it below. I am making every recipe miniature (about 2-4 servings max) because we have limited bowls, a small microwave, and it's just the two of us, but feel free to make the recipe larger.


Here are the ingredients (I made this in a mug):

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter, melted (**I used a spread but use REAL butter!)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 egg, beaten (I beat an egg, and then used only have of it for this recipe)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 small handfuls of dark chocolate chips (minis are even better!)
  
  

  

  Blondie Brownie Ingredients - use REAL butter!

  
  

  So now that the ingredients are ready, I got out my measuring cups and spoons, two bowls for mixing, and a mug to bake in - then I was ready to go!
  
  Directions:
  
  1. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
  2. In a separate bowl, melt REAL butter (I think I may have stressed this enough at this point - but it's just so much better with real butter. You can definitely taste a difference). Then stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and mix well. Add 1/2 of the beaten egg (pre-beat, as stated above) and vanilla to this mixture.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture, and stir until just combined.
  4. Oil the mug (or vessel of choice) with the vegetable oil, and pour half of the batter in. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, slightly pressing them into the batter. Pour the remaining batter in, and sprinkle with more chocolate chips on top.
  5. Bake in the microwave for 2-3 minutes (keeping an eye on it so it doesn't overflow as it puffs up). Since it's in the microwave, you can open it mid-bake to check on it, and then continue baking.
  6. Take out of the microwave and enjoy!! 
  1. You also have the option of letting it cool slightly, turning it out of the mug, and cutting it up - your choice if you want to share!
     

  

  Batter's all mixed up!

  

  Ready to Bake!

  

  Option #1: Eat straight from the mug!

  

  Option #2: Take it out of the mug and cut into pieces!

  
  

Banana Bread in the Microwave!

Hey everyone!

For my first baking adventure (using just the microwave, stove-top, and/or mini fridge), I decided to make banana bread with a chocolate icing. This was inspired by Bryan's birthday because it's similar to what I normally make for his birthday cake, and I wanted to have something like a cake for his birthday!

Since I haven't baked since we've arrived in Hong Kong, I had to get ingredients. This proved to be a little bit difficult, as I had to go to three different stores before finding what I was looking for, but now I know where to buy it! And I was surprised I even found everything, considering so many people here don't have ovens. Also, just a word of warning: if you want to bake in Hong Kong, the ingredients are going to be sold in much smaller quantities, for a higher price - as with most grocery items here it seems (unless you want to buy your meat and veggies from the street vendors). Many locals do buy their produce and meats from the street vendors, we just don't want to risk anything since we're not accustomed to that. But I digress.

So here are the ingredients:

• Vegetable Oil - to coat your bowl/mug
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I could only find more of a molasses sugar, but true brown sugar is better)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (please use the real stuff, not imitation - not good)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 banana, mash this up with a fork!

  

  Ingredients

   

   

 Once you're all set up with the ingredients, you're ready to go! I just take my portions straight from the bags because I'm not on a fancy cooking show, but you're welcome to pre-portion everything out before getting started on the mixing!

1. Coat a microwave-safe bowl or mug with the vegetable oil (I used a paper towel)
2. In a different bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until combined. Add the egg, and mix until it's just incorporated. 
3. In another separate bowl, mash up the banana, and mix in the vanilla, oil, and milk. 
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.
5. Pour into your prepared/greased bowl or mug.
6. Put it into the microwave for 3 minutes (just 3 minutes!) and get ready to be amazed!
7. Remove from the microwave, and let cool slightly.

Right Out of the Microwave!

 Now you have the option of making it prettier - if you don't want to just eat it straight from the bowl! The decoration is definitely easier if you baked it in a bowl. If it's a mug, just add chocolate to the top (or not), and enjoy!

Chocolate Topping:

• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1-2 tablespoons of milk

Instructions:

1. Flip the banana bread out of the bowl, onto a plate
2. Let the banana bread cool all the way. Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate topping.
3. For chocolate topping - melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl or mug, 15 seconds at a time until melted. Mix in between each melting to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn. Once melted, add in the milk, and microwave for a few more seconds. It will be slightly thick. 
4. Take a knife, and spread the chocolate mixture over the top of the banana bread.
5. Let cool in refrigerator. 

Step 1: Flipped Out of the Bowl

Now enjoy!!!

Finished Product!