handcrafted baby blanket

some more handmade gifts for babies that were born in dec & jan...  made with lots of love from me <3

i used a mother goose vintage style printed quilting fabric sewn together with printed soft baby flannel.

hong kong story

the hong kong museum of history in tsim sha tsui is really worth a visit, whether you are of chinese descent & have some roots established on this little island, or just a visitor taking a holiday. its located on chatham road south & just a very short walk from the popular shopping locations in tsim sha tsui.

the museum is fairly large & has a very comprehensive permanent setup displaying the history & culture of hong kong. i've been to this museum twice... & both the temporary exhibitions as well as the permanent exhibition has fascinated me. the current special exhibition is "knowledge-power" which is about the imperial exam system of the qing dynasty... very informative & interactive. the museum is great for young school aged children as well as adults. the displays in the galleries are a mix of recontructed history or authentic collections. if you are interested in history & culture & plan to have a good look around, i would allow 3 hours for a good browse. admission is free on wednesdays check their website for times & details. also across from the museum of history is the science museum.... also has free admission on wed & open in the afternoon till around 9pm.

:: folk culture in hong kong ::

salted fish (very popular food for the older generation)

fishing junks

life sized boat dweller's fishing junk, family worked & lived on these

chinese opera

puppets

:: birth & early growth of the city ::

some displays of the influence from the british

general store, mostly selling dried foods

pawn shop

home from the 60's - 70's 

textile & clothing production in the 70's, one of the major industries for hong kong

reading comic books whilst queuing up for haircuts (i think some of these kids have actually had their haircut... but are lingering to continue reading the comics.)

initial cafe

this pretty cafe in tsim sha tsui caught my eye last time i was in hong kong, so this trip i made sure it was on the itinerary*..... & boy i was not disappointed with my experience here!

the cafe is decorated in the rustic, vintage, shabby chic style which i adore, & is associated with the initial fashion brand which stocks a gorgeous collection of men & womenswear that is reminiscent of the classic style of yesteryear... think robert downey jnr & jude law style in sherlock holmes. a slight sidetrack here, but its definitely worth mentioning that their 2011 winter menswear collection is worth checking out if you love vintage style. they had a beautiful range of classic woollen & tweed jackets, vests & boots. visiting their fashion stores in an experience in itself... the retail assistants model the gorgeous fashion & are a group of very chic men & women..... need i say anymore? oh, "how do i find their stores?" did i hear you ask.... well, here is their website. when you visit the cafe make sure you wander through the back section behind the cafe, they have their fashion retail in the same location behind the cafe.... its worth a visit. if you need an excuse, just use their toilet facilities, you need to pass through all the ladieswear if you're heading to the toilet!

back on the topic of my visit to the cafe....  i took mister & sister along to visit the cafe. unfortunately, because i couldn't remember the exact location of the cafe, the three of us walked up & down cameron & granville roads for about half an hour before we found it... of course the other two had no idea what to even look out for so it took a bit of encouragement to keep them following me. when we finally found it we realised we'd walked past it in the first 5 mins of our search (but we were on the other side of the road)...  suffice to say, they weren't disappointed when we found it, here are a few pics of the decor in the cafe... there are some good pics on open rice that other patrons have taken.

:: menu ::

their menu is a selection of modern fusion food... with a selection of salads, pasta, noodle, steaks, dessert & drinks. they have a tofu salad with sesame & lotus root (sounds so good); pumpkin, potato, egg & japanese fried white bait with mashed potato; tomato soup with beef chuck & japanese noodle; grilled ireland rib eye steak with mashed pumpkin & mushroom cream.... their menu is here

we ordered two lunch sets (which comes with soup/salad, pasta & coffee/tea) & dessert...

:: entree & drinks ::

pumpkin soup

garden salad with japanese salad sauce

green tea

iced coffee

strawberry smoothie (very yummy)

:: main ::

linguine with sea clams & white wine

black ink spaghetti & seafood with mushroom cream sauce

whilst both dishes were nice, the linguine gets a special mention because it was great. the sea clams were very fresh & the subtle flavour of the white wine was wonderfully infused into the dish... i'd highly recommend trying this pasta. 

:: dessert ::

to top it off, we had banana waffles with ice-cream, this was delicious.

the waffles tasted freshly made

so, next time you're passing through tsim sha tsui... make sure you visit!

*hint: the cafe is at 48 cameron road which is just a short walk to the hong kong museum of history 香港歷史博物館 which has free admission on wednesdays so you can add both to your itinerary if you are visiting hong kong. you can check out my post of my visit to the museum here if you are interested.