Lane Crawford Home

One of the most fabulous stores I have been to in Hong Kong is Lane Crawford Home. My brother loves going to this store and no visit to Hong Kong is complete without going to the store to check out new home stuff.

The store has wonderful furnitures and home stuff.

It also offers nice products such as Cire Trudon candles, designer rugs from The Rug Company, quirky and artistic Fornasetti products, and a range of furnitures to choose from.

Cire Trudon candles from France

The Rug Company rugs

Fornasetti products

Lane Crawford Home store is located in Pacific Place mall in Hong Kong. It is a cool stopover where you can see great home stuff. It is certainly a place where you can get good ideas too if you like fixing up your home and it is also a place where you can find cool stuff that you can give as gifts to your loved ones. 

Aesop

One of the recent beauty products that I have tried is Aesop products.

Aesop store at Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong

They carry a range of natural and wonderful skin, hair and body products.

Aesop is an Australian brand and their products are made from high quality ingredients.

I have tried their shampoo, hair conditioner, body wash and lip balm products.

To know more about Aesop, you may check out their website: Aesop website.

French Macarons in Hong Kong

During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I went to Laduree and Pierre Herme.

Laduree, a well-known brand for macarons in Paris,  offers various macaron flavours and tea selections. They have a dine-in area at the Times Square Mall store in Hong Kong. 

It is a good stop over for an afternoon tea break. Simply choose the macaron flavour you want and pair it with a good pot of tea.

Everytime I see Laduree, I actually remember fond memories of my Paris trips.  I remember going there for the first time with my brother to try their famous macarons after a day of shopping at Champs Elysee area and going to their small shop at the Saint Germain area.

Various macaron flavours and nice boxes

A Hong Kong designed box for 8 pieces of macarons

Macarons paired with your choice of tea

Another French macaron brand that is now available in Hong Kong is Pierre Herme.  Pierre Herme is a pastry chef who trained under the legendary Patisssier Gaston Lenotre in Paris. 

Pierre Herme is famous in France, Japan and the United States. 

Pierre Herme has been called by Vogue as "the Picasso of Pastry" since he has revolutionised the art of pastry-making with regard to taste and modernity.

Pierre Herme shops carry a lot of interesting and innovative macaron flavours. I remember that when I tried it for the first time before in Paris I had to line up for more than 30 minutes since a lot of tourists and Parisians buy from their shop on Rue Bonaparte. Apart from the macarons, the French also love to buy their mini cakes.

Pierre Herme shop in Hong Kong's IFC mall

Box of 7-piece macaron in a Paris landmarks designed box

For me Pierre Herme is the best macaron that I have tasted. It's soft and the flavours are bolder than other brands. I simply love it!

The Pierre Herme shop is certainly a cool stopover in Hong Kong. It's a good place to get gifts that you can give to friends back home.

To know more about Pierre Herme, you may visit their website: Pierre Herme website.

Going Green at Hotel Icon

One of the cool hotels that I have been to in Hong Kong is Hotel Icon.

Hotel Icon is unlike the other hotels since it is a hotel filled with art, design, delicious food selections and good customer service.

The hotel is also a "learning environment" for the hotel management students of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University since it trains Hotel and Tourism Management students.

What's cool about Hotel Icon is that it mixes design with eco-consciousness. It's a hotel that believes in "going green".  They have a cool restaurant aptly called "Green" which has a green wall with more than 8,000 live plants.

The hotel serves good food selections.  I tried their "Market" restaurant at the 2nd floor for lunch and was pleased when I saw the variety of dishes that the open kitchen style buffet set-up included.

Make your own salad station

Rib eye and lamb chops

Seafood station

Sushi station

"Egg-citing" pana cotta desserts

For a cool and relaxing lunch, you might want to stopover and have lunch at Hotel Icon next time you go to Hong Kong.

To know more about Hotel Icon, visit their website:  Hotel Icon website.

No Reservation restaurants in Hong Kong

I have read good reviews about two small restaurants in Hong Kong frequented by expats and foodie Hong Kong locals called "Yardbird" located in SOHO area and "22 Ships" located in Wan Chai.

Yardbird is known for the  yakitori dishes. The restaurant does not accept reservations since it is a small restaurant so if you plan to try it make sure you go there early. They also have a policy that they only seat their guests in tables once the group is complete.

Some must try dishes at Yardbird are the cucumber salad, chicken yakitori (breast part), sweet corn tempura, Korean Fried Cauliflower and the Ox tongue with salad greens.

Cucumber salad

Sweet Corn tempura

Chicken yakitori (breast)

KFC- Korean Fired Cauliflower

Ox tongue with salad

 If you like spicy food then the KFC(Korean Fried Cauliflower) is something that you should try.

The other restaurant that I tried is 22 Ships. The restaurant is bar type restaurant that offers various tapas.

The food is good and it is a popular choice of expats and foodies who work around the Wan Chai area.

Although the pork dishes are tempting, I made a decision to stick with a healthy choice and got the Cauliflower salad and the grilled King prawns.

Cauliflower salad

Grilled King Prawns

Goat cheese ice cream with honeycomb

Strawberry with toasted marshmallows

Other daily specials are listed on their blackboard

To know more about 22 ships, visit their website : 22 Ships website.

Seizing our limitations

I have watched a video of Phil Hansen talking about his inspiring story on how as an artist he went from having "the shake", which was a physical limitation, to "embracing the shake" and making great artworks.

Phil shared how he was able to embrace his own limitations and how this has even help him become more creative. He mentioned that embracing his shake also made him learn more about life skills and made him think out of the box.

Below is the link to Phil Hansen's video"Embrace the shake".

Sometimes we have moments in our lives when we feel stuck or we feel that we are in a rut.  By changing our perspective and attitude we can actually change our situation in life.

It is important for us to love ourselves unconditionally and seize our own limitations. At the same time, we should continue to harness our creativity by thinking of ways on how we can change our lives for the better.

Watching the video made me realize that life can be filled with challenges but it is really up to us on how we will turn these challenges to opportunities that can make us shine. 

I remember during my trip to Bhutan last April, my friend and I met an artist who had cerebral palsy. He created beautiful artworks that he had carved using his feet which he sells to travelers to make a living. You would see that he is happy doing what he does and everytime he sells one of his works his smile and the glow on his face shows fulfillment and purpose.

At some point in time we can experience a dark moment in our lives but what is important is to remind ourselves that we do not have to be perfect to be happy or successful.  We always have a choice to rise above our challenges and keep a positive attitude that would lead to great changes in our lives.

Life goes on so embrace your shake and make a difference!

Going Beyond fashion at Agnes B

Agnes B goes beyond fashion.

Apart from offering clothes and accessories, they have stores in Hong Kong that offer flowers, chocolates and cafe style food choices.

It is a cool stopover after shopping since the vibe is casual yet relaxing.

I recently tried Agnes B cafe in Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong and found the cafe to be simple yet hip.

The cafe wall includes fashion photos from the 80s and 90s.

                                                                                          

Their grilled chicken Ceasar Salad is a good choice for healthy eaters.

                                                            

     The Agnes B flower shop and chocolate shop offers various choices.

Agnes B flower shop facade

It offers lots of nicely packaged goodies to choose from.

It is a good stop over for snacks and for buying nice gifts for family and friends.