Hong Kong - Dim Dim Sum (點點心）

As some of you would've known, I visited HK with my fellow ratchet friends from University a week after our exams ended to chiongsua all the food and shopping there (bankai x10000). Our first meal in HK happens to be at Dim Dim Sum (點點心) at Mong Kok, since it is around 10-15 minutes walk from our Airbnb apartment!

We ordered the Chee Cheong Fun with bbq pork in it and I must say, that this place serves the best Chee Cheong Fun I ever had in my ENTIRE life. No joke. The soya sauce really binds the entire dish together.

Pighead Egg Custard Buns (Liu Sha Bao) is alright, I would not say it's the best I've ever had. But it is one of those foods like the panda buns at River Safari back in Singapore or your llaollao froyo, which I call "Instagram Food" = Presentable but not really that impressive by taste. 

I still find the idea of eating Chicken feet gross, like imagine all the chicken poop, worms and dirt that this Chicken had trampled on before it died and got served as a dish on your table. #justsaying But my friends who ate it said it was not bad, so if you're a fan of it.... you can try the chicken feet here!

Crystal buns and Fried Wasabi Prawn Balls (below) were pretty decent and worth every cent. But the best dimsum I had that day apart from the Chee Cheong Fun was the Har Kau. I think only my mum knows, that my favourite dimsum is the Har Kau. I can eat like an entire meal of just harkau and still feel happy. According to the pros, what makes a good har kau is not only just the freshness of the prawns, but also the thickness of the translucent skin. The skin of the Har Kau must not break after steaming and when you lift it up from the steaming baskets. The Har Kau at Dim Dim Sum was not those cheapo har kau that uses pathetic small prawns, but big, sweet and juicy prawns with a skin that had adequate thickness that did not tear when I lifted it up. Thumbs up to the chef!

Give this coconut and corn dessert a miss. Though it was an interesting mix, we were not really impressed by it.

It is always good to go to Hong Kong with a group of friends, I would suggest 3-4 friends as it really comes in helpful when you want to sample lots of food at an eatery. The bill for this meal came up to around SGD8 per person and for the portion each of us ate, it was really worth it and much cheaper than what we have to usually pay for dimsum back home in Singapore. Each steamed basket's price range went from less than SGD 1 to around SGD 2.

Dim Dim Sum is a good place to have lunch at if you are in the vicinity of Mong Kok, and here's how to get there!

Dim Dim Sum
112 Tung Choi Street

Mong Kok

Hong Kong

11:00 to 02:00 daily.

*it is a really small shop, hence its hard to miss so do look very carefully for it!

Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive and almost done with freshman year in University!

Yellow Light

We are almost reaching the half-of-sem mark.
In all honesty
I have no idea how I made it thus far.
The days, unlike last sem
passed like a blur.
I know exactly what I am doing everyday,
but I have no idea what I was doing this time, last week.

I hang out less
(I miss writing)
I have more alone time
Which is good in a way, I concentrate better on my work and spend less time on distractions
But somehow it resulted in an emptiness created within me

I feel like a thread
weaved through throngs of fabric
but still feeling hollow in the middle

Though the cold won't send shivers down my spine
Though the tension won't lead me to snap
I still feel like something is missing.

Maybe all I need is a needle to guide me through.

And what type of needle would that be?

I’m looking for a place to start
but everything feels so different now.
Just grab a hold of my hand,
I will lead you through this wonderland.
Water up to my knees
but sharks are swimming in the sea.
Just follow my yellow light
and ignore all those big warning signs.

Somewhere deep in the dark
a howling beast hears us talk.
I dare you to close your eyes
and see all the colors in disguise.
Running into the night,
the earth is shaking and I see a light.
The light is blinding my eyes
as the soft walls eat us alive.

MIN-Gone Hobbiting

This trip was the many of firsts: First time in New Zealand, first time being ahead in time comparatively to everyone else in the world, first time having indigestion so bad I puked, e.t.c. New Zealand is my definition of summer, as they have comfortable sweater weather summers with the country dwellers not having to sweat it out while being grilled by the sunshine that is so strong its skin cancer inducing. As usual, neither my mum nor I could drive, so we joined a package tour to the North and South Island of the Hobbit's hometown.

Before you think I'm a big fan of the Hobbit, I'm sorry to say that I have never watched a full movie of LOTR/The Hobbit and I'm more of a hugeass Potter fan having read all of the books and watched all of the 8 movies and getting so emotional when Dumbledore died. #TEAMPOTTER but yeah still I decided to head down under and discover this wonderful land of which many of my friends have fell in love with.

Started our trip in North Island from Auckland, then to Rotorua and back to Auckland again. North Island's focus was mainly on the Maori culture and it was heartwarming to see the kiwis placing so much emphasis on preserving the aboriginal heritage. Not many other countries do the same so I felt pretty touched to see them so proud to present their culture to us tourists. Experienced some Maori Madness when I was pulled out of my seat to do some... Maori dance (Till this date I have still no idea what I was doing on stage. My face throughout the whole thing was just like a SAVEMEIMDYINGFROMEMBARRASSMENT) during the Hangi Feast and performance on some fateful night in Rotorua.

South Island was all about scenery.... and also sleepless nights spent having truth or dare/beer and cider/card game parties with the rest of the teens in the group till like.......... latest 4am? We just died the next morning I swear. But this is my first time meeting people so insane within the group, we did so many crazy things like attempting to invade a cow grazing pen, taking jump shots and sitting down in the middle of the road, climbing over balconies, prank-calling our tour guide past midnight, e.t.c. I can't even describe how much (mindless) fun I had with these people for 10 wonderful days of my winter break. Best groupies, ever.

Looking out of the window yesterday in the bus back from school, I listened to Kodaline's Brand New Day again and reminisced about the days when there was nothing outside the window except for mountains, plains, rivers and millions of sheep and cows. Then, I realised, sadly, that it would be hard to recreate the same feelings I got back in NZ whilst listening to that song on those long coaching journeys.

But nonetheless, I would totally do the same things all over again.

Riding on waves, walking on sand 
Digging in caves to find the treasures of the land 
And if we find gold 
Well, we’ll just throw it away 
We can write stories bout the journeys that we made 
(we could be big in Japan) 

 I’ll be flicking stones at your window 
I’ll be waiting outside 'til you’re ready to go 
Won’t you come down? Come away with me 
Just think of all the places we could be 
I’ll be waiting, waiting on a brand new day 
Waiting on a brand new day 

They said they’ll keep me here 
But I couldn’t do another year 
I said I’ll see you soon 
Because I whistle to a different tune 

Think of all the places we could be 
Think of all the people we could meet

Stay hipsterrrific,
Ming Rui