{Brooklyn} Tea Lounge

I came to this cafe after the trip to Brooklyn Bridge (I thought the two places are pretty near each other but it turned out that I had to spent another 0.5 hour to walk here - a good workout before the treatment!). I tried hot chocolate and chai tea latte here, while which attracted me more is the comfy culture. It could be a super nice place to just chill on couches and sip the coffee. Moreover, the place even provides live music, events and comedy shows. Good coffee is for sure important, while isn’t it lovely that a place can give us a sense of the beauty of life? 

{Saigon} Something to Remember

There are many many things to be remembered from my 2nd Vietnam trip. The Top 5 are:
1. Fruit especially passion fruit and dragon fruit, you just can not see it easily in US;  
2. PHO (Vietnam noodle) 
3. Strong coffee with condensed milk & ice - Vietnam people cannot start their day without it!
4. Vietnam milktea - it is my favorite beverage because I cannot resist the milky and creamy mouthfeel - Yum! 
5. 3D postcard. 

{Seoul} Passion 5

 

Hi Friends,

I am sharing with you my experience at Passion 5, a super fashionable restaurant and modern restaurant in Seoul, Korea. The menu here is very western based - pasta, salad, spaghetti, burger, and lots of bakery items for you to enjoy. However, I was mostly amazed by the beautifully decorated beverages here - the lavendar latte, orange kiwi juice mix or chili juice with icecream, they are just delightful and stunning. 

I wish you all have a very great year with a lot of passion and achievements!

{Shanghai} Starbucks Desserts

Hi Friends!

Somehow the it is snowy again in Buffalo, whenever the weather is chilly it makes me just want to stay at home I have a temptation to write a post......OK, today I would like to show you some interesting desserts in Starbucks in Shanghai. You may think: who hasn't been to Starbucks?? Well, Just like KFC and McCafe, Starbucks also have totally different items catering to local people's preferences, and some of them are even seasonal. Believe it or not, the food I am showing you right now are all winter 2013 menu items, and Starbucks China is launching new things for the spring. 

{Shanghai} Teddy Bear Restaurant

Hi Friends,

Happy Weekend! 

Since it is such a sunny day (can't believe today is 50 degree while only 2 days ago it is 0 degree??), let' s go back to the sunny Shanghai and experience this CUTIEST ever Teddy Bear Restaurant.

This lovely restaurant is located in Shanghai Tianzi Fang (I will write another post about it), a place where cute cafes, souvenir shops, small galleries and old traditional Shanghai houses are all together. On the first floor, it is almost like a teddy bear doll museum and you will see many bear dolls with different sizes and different styles (I love the biggest one and thinking about buying one once I have a big big house). The second floor is the dining area where you can choose to sit inside or enjoy some sunshine in the balcony. Needless to say, even in the dining place there are teddy bears every where (hug hug hug). 

{Vietnam} Cuc Gach Quan

Today let's go back to Vietnam to enjoy some Southeastern Asia food in the sun shining Ho Chi Minh city. 

For me, Vietnamese  food (or South-eastern Asian food) is ranking the 3^rd of my food loving list (Chinese – sometimes Indian & sometimes Intalian – Vietnamese). Three years ago I visited Vietnam for the first time, and I was amazed by how people can use fresh (really fresh and raw leaves that I don't even know how to eat) ingredients to create beautiful and flavorful cuisine. So before this trip, I bought a book to learn more about the origin and characteristics of SE Asian food (I felt that I should have known about it before I came to USA, as someone coming from Asia).

{Shanghai} Muses Cafe

Hi Friends,

I know it is freezing in eastern US now (now it is -2 degree in Buffalo with blowing snow...), so I decided to recall a nice experience at Muses Cafe while I was in Shanghai which gave me a warm memory. 

Most of my restaurant trials in Shanghai were Chinese cuisine while for a chit chat with an old friend from business school, I chose this Muses Cafe randomly, it turned out to be a great choice. The quite and cozy atmosphere was just perfect for heartfelt conversation, plus their garden smoothie, delicate Tiramisu and creamy spaghetti all fulfilled my stomach. The surprise? A cup of simple of earl grey tea with very strong tea flavor since I have been so disappointed by the sweet milk tea powder, and I will never be tired of the scent of milk tea filling a cafe, if it is that good. So if you ever have a chance to go to Shanghai, search for it, and have a quite reading time there will be great.

{Shanghai} Stunning Night

Shanghai is my second favorite city in China - the first one is no doubt my hometown Fuzhou, where I spent 18 years, for me, the beauty of Shanghai is not only the amazing skylines, but how traditional scenes and modern flavor meets. The river, the pretty girls, the skyscrapers, and the quite old streets, everything here has a special flavor coming along with its history and story. 

Talking about fashion, many people will say Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and New York, and I will say please don't forget Shanghai, a new fashion city, and more importantly these years a lot of Chinese designers are showing their own attitude by incorporating Chinese traditional elements into the details, which we call FUSION. Many luxury groups has been targeting Shanghai as their new flagship place in China - Prada, LV, Gucci, Miu Miu...you name it, or in Asia. Now it was 10:00PM, and for many young people, they just leave their office, and the night life just started...

Snapshots - Life on the Go!

Hiking at Niagara Gorge

Last one month probably was my most relaxed time during the past two years (actually I was pretty busy with my work transition and moving into a new house, but I felt great starting a more settled-down life) and I took so many pictures during my travel to Chicago and dining experience several restaurants in Rochester before I leave this lovely city. OK, but there was something wrong with my camera SD card so I have to fix it before I can show you in this blog, hopefully my pics will be safe there since they are my very valuable asset. Life has been great - I moved into a new house and I am already starting discovery of great restaurants in Buffalo/Niagara - I just constantly find new projects for myself to do. The pictures here were all taken by my phone, so they are not very appealing but still records for my life. 

{Milwaukee} Creamy Blue

Several weeks ago I spent a terrific weekend meeting my old friends from different school time in Milwaukee and Chicago. I always feel life is so magical that people from corners of the world can know each other, leave each other, and meet each other again. As you can imagine, my trip was filled with lots and lots of talks to catch up with the tiny details of everybody's life. 

{China Highlight} Back to Yangshuo

If you ask me for suggestions to travel in China, I will give you many names other than Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. You may have seen many fancy cities full of skyscrapers and concrete building, while there are so many small cities or counties that give you totally new experience in China. Yangshuo is one of them. 

{Annapolis} Navy Blue

Having been living in coastal cities in China until I came to US, I have always had a heartfelt love for the blue ocean. The first fairy tale that my father used to read to me was Daughter of the Sea by Anderson (and later I found out I and Anderson were born on the same date).