blog review: hong kong and two honourable mentions

You may have noticed that a large section of my "directory (not food)" is dedicated to the tiny Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. I'm from there originally (came to Australia when I was 5) and have only recently discovered its fantastic goodness (this may have coincided with my first visit there without the parents... sorry Mum and Dad!)

The recent discovery of HK's fantastic goodness may help to explain my obsession with the following sites:

Miss Fong in Hong Kong - Miss Fong, can you please update more often? You are Canadian (which I also claim to be, but only by birthplace) and oh-so-witty (which may go without saying, as all Canadians are witty, right?)

Lola in Hong Kong - the adventures of Lola, whose New Years Resolution every year is "to ooze the sex appeal of Marilyn Monroe at all times". What better place to do this than HK??

Sketches from the Other Side - the rugby references remind me of my best friend from high school, who still plays in a regular women's comp back in our hometown.

You may have noticed the above 3 blogs are all written by women. Never fear, there are male-written HK blogs too!

Hongkie Town - which I like for its slightly technical bend

Big White Guy - the title says it all really

Asian Correspondent: Living in Hong Kong - very informative and comprehensive

In fact, if you're looking for a HK blog to read, there's no better place to start than here, at the aptly named Hong Kong Blogs Review. You could also start on this post though (which evidently you may have done, since now you've read to the end of this post. Presuming that you read from the beginning of an article to the end. There's no hard and fast rule saying that you must do this.)

As for the two honourable mentions, they are going to be specific posts from food blogs that I read that have recently covered HK. Firstly, this post from the catty life had me drooling at my desk (not a good look, but completely justified).

Secondly, he needs food has written this fantastic series of posts which I have diligently printed out and highlighted for my next trip back in August.

Enjoy!

blog review: nippon desu ne

I really, really want to go to Japan. Our first plans were thwarted when I tore my ACL in my first overseas trip to NZ, resulting in an operation that needed time for recovery. Then we considered combining our recent HK trip in December 2009/ January 2010 with a Japan side trip, but I decided it'd be too rushed because I think Japan really deserves a trip on its own. Currently, we're aiming for end of this year. Fingers crossed that it'll finally happen!

In the meantime, I've had to content myself with:

Quirky Japan Blog - as we're currently house hunting, I found this rather amusing. This also prompted a giggle.

Japan Style - this article prompted detailed discussion on my other blog (blatant cross-promotion of blogs! Like product placement, but worse!); and I so used to eat this in my younger years until I heard about salmonella. And why doesn't Haagen-Daza in Australia have these flavours?

Japan Probe - a fairly video heavy blog, which makes it less work hours friendly, but my work IT records will reveal that I couldn't resist clicking on this and this.

Happily, I have managed to visit Sydney's very own 100 yen shop, which is actually located conveniently close to the place of lovely relaxation, aka the place where I get my massages. Unfortunately though the Japanese supermarket in its basement does not stock umeshu, which is what I was after at the time (it doesn't stock any sort of alcohol).