Lunch for 8 at The 8

Burning off some calories with a quick walk of the historical district of Macau got me in the right mood (and appetite) for lunch at the Eight as part of our weekend getaway at the Grand Lisboa Hotel. We knew full well the lunch was going to be awesome given the caliber of the restaurant (with the Michelin 3 stars and all), the chef and the fact that we dined at the invitation of the hotel PR team, and somehow they still delivered beyond our heightened expectation.

New Perception of Grand Lisboa

Several times in our previous trips to Macau we stopped over at the Lisboa Hotel complex for meals, whether that be for a formal dinner at the top-floor Robuchon au Dome, classic Chinese at The 8 or lunch at the casual Portuguese Guincho a Galera, but for whatever reasons it never came to our mind of staying at the hotel. And that's partly because there's always something newer that we were more curious to check out. So I was glad that the kind PR team put us up for a weekend at Grand Lisboa Hotel so we could experience what it's like staying inside this legendary hotel with so many nice restaurants under one roof.

Morning Heritage Walk

Staying over on the Macau Peninsula side meant it's much easier to explore the historical part of this city known not only for its gaming industry but being rich in the unique architecture style left over from over 400 years of Portuguese colonial rule.

The Revamped Don Alfonso

A few weeks ago we spent part of our weekend in Macau courtesy of the PR team at Grand Lisboa Hotel. Our ferry from Hong Kong in one late Friday afternoon got us in right on time for dinner at Casa Don Alfonso at the hotel after we checked in and settled. The restaurant just recently completed the transformation from Don Alfonso 1890, the restaurant serving fine Italian cuisine, to Casa Don Alfonso, still under the same culinary team headed by Chef Claudio Favero but in a more casual setting and a menu geared towards family-style dishes.

Très Bon Tairroir

With a few other Hong Kong friends happened to be in Taipei for the weekend, we met up for lunch at Tairroir on Sunday. I felt like we have booked out the whole place when the eight of us took up the two big tables in the cozy dining room of the restaurant.

Gen Creative

We followed our friend and fellow Instagrammer deeseebeaucoup's IG post and booked for dinner at this casual Taiwanese restaurant called Gen Creative. This 2-year-old restaurant was often mentioned as one of those new establishments following the latest trend of combining western cuisine with local ingredients.

Then and Now

We usually came to Taipei with no specific itinerary, and just eating and drinking and shopping our way through at our familiar spots. But this time we managed to follow a similar routine but with a few new shops just for a change to try out something different.

Stars Gala

It's highly unusual that I made a second trip to Macau in less than a week (more on that on the post later this month), but then this is for a highly unusual event. Michelin is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Hong Kong/Macau this year with a grand gala dinner as part of the annual announcement event, this year held in Macau's City of Dreams complex and I was invited to attend.

Post Concert Yakitori and Cheese

We were desperate for food the moment we stepped out of the Cultural Centre after a classical concert on a Friday night, and I remembered there's this new bistro/bar which just opened in TST East just a few weeks ago. So after a quick phone call to make sure their kitchen is still open this late  (we wanted some hot food), we hopped on the bus and made a quick ride over for a late night supper.

The Evening with Snakes

A bad flu I caught over the weekend didn’t stop me from joining some friends to the Pottinger private kitchen for dinner. I was there late last year for what I thought was the last time at this venue (since the building is poised for re-development), but turned out it’s been delayed for another year, so maybe this time it is the last.

Touring Middle East 18: The Finale Feast

Before the trip I have been told by those who joined the same tour previously that the first and last meals were usually the highlights as far as food is concerned. So that gave me something to look forward to as we were drawing our 2-week-long journey in Jordan and Israel to a close at our last stop of Amman, the Jordanian capital.

Touring Middle East 17: Art Walk on Sabbath Day

The taxi driver seems baffled when we asked him to take us to the Mahane Yehuda Market in the afternoon - "you know everything is closed on the last day of Sukkot, right?". Of course little did we know he literally meant just that. When we were dropped off at our destination, we found ourselves standing on an empty street, with absolutely NONE of the shops - Jews or non-Jews - were open for business.

Touring Middle East 16: The Two Ruins and the Dead Sea

We spent the later parts of our trip enjoying the magnificent sights of more archaeological sites near Dead Sea and in Jordan. On our last full day in Israel, we were taken on a scenic route along the coast of Dead Sea and paid a visit to the popular tourist spot of Masada, an ancient fortress built on top of a rock plateau in the middle of nowhere.

Touring Middle East 15: The Two Museums

We spent the whole day museum-hopping in Jerusalem as part of our itinerary. Our first stop is the Holocaust History Museum as part of the Yad Vashem complex, built by the Israeli Government as the memorial to the victims of Nazi Holocaust.

Hairy Crabs at the Club

Turned out it's a blessing in disguise that our annual crab feast at Shanghai Fraternity Association was pushed back for an extra week this year because of some scheduling conflict, as the Shanghainese hairy crab season was also delayed by some government bureaucracy, so we barely caught the early part of the season even with the later date. It's already the third year we joined our friend C and A who organized this friends' gathering at their home club famous for the exquisite Shanghainese cuisine. (previous ones in 2015 and 2016)

Bar Crossover

A few days ago I dropped by Okra in the afternoon for a sneak preview of the upcoming collaboration dinner menu featuring dishes by Chef Max Levy and drinks by Yuta Inagaki of Bar Butler in TST. The full menu was a 10-course long meal completed with 9 different cocktails but this time we had the abbreviated menu with 6 of those dishes.

White Diamond Dinner

Price for white truffles this season has been ridiculously high this year (low production due to uncooperative weather), so that means I had to be frugal and thought twice on where I put my truffle money on - First World problem, I know. I have always heard the restaurant at Hong Kong Club serves one of the best valued white truffle menu in town so it's too big an opportunity to miss when a group I am (somewhat) associated with was organizing a dinner there.

Full House at Caprice

Our weekend of non-stop eating began with a buffet dinner at a hotel near our home Friday evening then with lunch at Caprice on the next day. It's good to see the familiar faces of the front and back teams at the restaurant returning from holidays or guest chef appearances elsewhere - we certainly picked the right time to visit with a full house at work.

#DimSumDuets

For all the how-many-hands dinners we have attended, the Dim Sum Duets series by Hong Kong Tatler Dining (now with the hipster-like name T.Dining) was by far the most impressive, and we said this not because our friend C was organizing it. For 4 evenings in November, four different chefs known for their innovative cooking were paired up with two chefs specialized in traditional Chinese cuisine for a series of pop-up dinners featuring new dimsum dishes.

Sasa Sushi Lunch

I happened to walk by Sasa Sushi in Taipei on Friday afternoon so I went inside to make a booking for lunch the next day. A bit random I know, but we are always eager to check out sushi restaurants while we were in town, as they were often of great quality and reasonably priced.

Xiaoqi in Taipei

I tried to load all my shopping needs in Taipei in one single afternoon on my first day before CYY arrived later at night. I called that my "Golden 6 hours" that I could be on my own and get everything I want without someone nagging over my shoulder. So I dropped by bag at the hotel, briefly said hi to my friend S who works in the hotel over a cup of tea at the lounge, and went straight to Chifeng Street a few bus stations away to a series of shops owned by the "Xiaoqi" (小器) team.

Already a Fan - Two Nights at MO Taipei

Speaking of lounge and luxury travel... this time in Taipei we spent both nights at the Mandarin Oriental, courtesy of the hotel's PR team. And I must say our experience was perfect from the moment we arrived at the door to the time we (reluctantly) bid farewell.

Centurion Lounge

I don’t usually write about airport lounges - cuz doing so made me sound like a humblebrag - but then this is the one I was truly excited about. I have never visited the American Express Centurion Lounge before - they started operating a few in US after my time (would have loved to have a few of those when I was flying regularly for work), but recently they expanded to a few overseas locations, starting in Hong Kong this past October, which obviously is a good news to me.