Monday, July 27, 2015

ABBA Deal - S.Korea - Seoul - Bags and Tags


ABBA Deal
South Korea - Seoul - Bags and Tags

*New 2023 Sharing*
ABBA Contribution by Joshua Raj
Those doing ICN, if you’re looking for a place to do embroidery, just come out from the hotel and turn left.

Immediately take the stairs down to the Namdaemun underground shopping centre.

Once thru the doors, turn left and walk a few meters you’ll see the shop. Can’t miss it.

My luggage tag was 11000₩. With custom name and he has the SQ tag pre-made.

OG Option 2
 
 
 Your shopping bag and bag-tag needs
*Info shared by Man Cheung and Chong Yang* 
The shop is Mr Bag Man, though there is another shop directly opposite it that also sells mamasan bag, which is called Corner Bag Shop..
1. Take the subway to Itaewon, exit Itaewon market (should be exit 4)..
2. Facing the main street, turn left & walk
about 5-8 minutes down until u see Corner Bag Shop.. Big yellow signboard so u can't miss it..


3. Mr Bag Man is in the small alley just opposite it..


4. There are a few shops that does the embroidery for the bag & bag tag but if u like to visit the crew shop, it's further down the alley but he only opens after 11.30am.. U can ask for directions to the shop from Mr Bag Man.

*NOTE TAG MAKING SERVICES CLOSED ON SUNDAY!!!*
 *Some other guys shop who does the same thing but open on Sundsays at Itaewon*
A Mamasan bag costs 13,000 won (S$15) and embroidery 2,000 won (S$2.5) irregardless of length of name. Lady from Bagman brought me to the embroidery shop directly. Very amazed the embroidery is done without aid from any template. 

Mile High Shot 23July2015 A view of Hong Kong


ABBA Deal San Francisco - Salon (Sia Amma Hair Braiding services)


ABBA Deal
USA - San Francisco - Salon Services
*Sponsored Ad*
Click here to see and Like our facebook page

SIA AMMA's
Hair Braiding - Weaves & Locks
256Taylor Street

ABBA Travel readers get a 10% discount




Home style Braiding at affordable prices with the nicest of ladies. Feel right at home at her salon for quality, fast braides. Free wifi available on site!!


 

"We've got lots of quality hair products available for purchase!"
Sia Amma is probably one of the nicest, warm hearted braider/comedians you're going to meet. She also runs several art shows and a fun-filled standup comedy performances at her LittleTheatre located around the corner. Click here for more details.
My LittleTheatre is a fully charitable project, where 100% of the funds collected from ticket sales goes towards building of schools in South Africa. 
Sia Amma, "One of the reasons I always travel to Africa is to educate women and girls on ending female circumcision."
Click here for ABBA location of 256Taylor Street for Braiding Services

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Hong Kong - To Eat 17July2015 (Joy Hing Roasted Meat, Honolulu Cafe, Fu Xing Sharks Fin Restaurant, Hoi Kei Yi Xiu Lap Restauruant)





Hong Kong - To Eat
Click here to Like ABBATRAVEL on Facebook. Get the latest updates!



Joy Hing Roasted Meat
(265-267 Henessy Road 1.1km from Excelsior Hotel)
Nearest Wan Chai Station



Joy Hing is a small joint located on ground level which had both a local and a surprising number of expat diners. Free seating as usual and you can help yourself to their condiments. (Amazing Chili as well as plum sauces. Ask for their chives and garlic condiment which is often served with their chicken. You don't need to have the chicken in order to enjoy this though.)

Ordered On:
17July2015

Meat platter for two. Choice of Roast Goose, Char Siew and Roasted Pork.

The basic trifecta of roast eats when in Hong Kong. 

Char Siew - For future reference, one can select the type of cut they'd like for their Char Siew. Namely, extra fatty, lean or the more charred bits which we were eyeing from the patron seating across from us.

Goose - Served warm as though just fresh from the oven, and thus far one of the fattier and better goose I've tasted. Where there is fat, there is flavor and boy does this deliver in folds. However, my compatriot thinks it maybe be duck which was served which tasted like a scam going on. (More to come when the total bill came. Read on...)

Roast Pork - To Hong Kong Standard.

X2 Milk Tea HKD16

Free House Soup upon request.
 
Total paid HKD254. Fed2

Once a must take away for my friend, but the pricing was way to steep from his usual take aways orders, that it left him with second thoughts to do a take away later.

A basic rice with char Siew and Duck from the menu goes for about HKD33 but once you go for a combined platter sufficient for two (off menu) they seemingly hit you with a fat bill. The goose serving, pictured was about 100HKD and the rest another 100HKD.
*Goose or Duck?*
Although from a taste stand point alone, the goose and other meats was indeed better than those located nearer to some of the other places in causeway bay, but price point wise, it did leave a sour after-note. In fact  it felt like a little bit off a scam, that when foreigners order off menu, prices are jacked up. A whole goose would have gone for about 300+HKD. You do the math.

For approximately the same price for a goose with rice and side order of vegetable, one can go across the street to Kam'sRoast Goose, Michelin Recommended joint,
for approximately 100HKD++, and spare funds to top off with egg tarts at milk tea at Honolulu coffee shop where Jacky Cheung and Tang Wei filmed “Crossing Hennessy”(Both yet to be reviewed).

No joy here, at Joy Hing Roasted Meats. Good but perhaps a switch on the meat and jacked up prices. Order individual combination plates for regulated prices. 
ABBATip
- For future reference, order individual plates over the combination meats to share and ask for the pricing first. It maybe common practice amongst some restaurants to jack up prices when going of menu.
- Select your choice of cuts for Char Siew.


Am sure most cafes in Hong Kong have pretty much the same standard of pineapple buns and egg tarts. This place best known for their egg tarts which is  favored by the ex-governer favored.
Ordered On:
09March2016

 Came here right after Kam's Goose located down the road (Towards Causewaybay).
I should have read my own review to remind myself that the buns here are served cold. A better alternative is at Hong Lin Restauruant, which is also known for their Pineapple Bun and Tea!

Fed3

Ordered On:
24thJuly2015

 

Polo Bao (Pineapple Bun) 
*A little disappointed. They served the Polo Bao cold?
Usually its served warmed with a nice cold cut of butter on the inside. We had to ask for it to be heated up, but they just nuked the thing.*

Ying Yang

Milk tea

Egg Tart

Fed2 Total72HKD

An alright place. For one to grab their sweet tooth fix, or breakfast and visit 'made famous' joints to try out their foods. Nearby are Joy Hing Goose and Kam's Roast Goose (Michelin recommended, yet to be reviewed).



Fu Xing Sharks Fin Restaurant
(Michelin recommended)
Opens only at 11am
About3-4 items on Dim Sum Menu are ONLY AVAILABLE on WEEKENDS/Public Holidays


A short walk from Excelsior Hotel. Recommended by others as, once you've had Dim Sum here, you can stop looking to other locations for good Dim Sum fix. Not to mention that this Restaurant is also Michelin Guide Recommended. Located on the second floor of the iconic round about overhead bridge. 
ABBATip:Avoid the roast. They do push for it, but its way over charged and not all that great. (Read review of it dated 22July2015. Stick more to their Dim Sum specials and the one's that have special mention here. Not all are great, but most of them are home runs for sure with double orders.
*Stand out orders:
- Shanghai Dumplings with Chilli

- Spring Rolls
- Steam ball with salted egg yolk
Ordered On:
10March2016

 Steamed Juicy Meat Dumpling, Shanghai Style
*As good, if not better than Din Tai Fung's famous xiao long baos! Super juicy on the inside and good flavor. However, still the topper is Lei Garden's crab xiao long baos. A golden soup on the inside!*

 Chili Steamed Dumplings x2 re-ordered*Good Order*
 *Its really good. Sweet interior with a soft, smooth skin. The secret is definitely in the sauce as well! A nice warm chilli oil that's light in heat and not over bearing. The sweet, soy sauce at the bottom compliments these dumplings and the mixture is absolutely stunningly. We were dipping other things into that sauce. Its that good.*

Deep Fried Spring Roll x2 re-ordered

*Really nice. Loads of ingredients stuffed in a freshly fried roll. Goes very well with the vinegar dipping sauce.*

Tripe
*Hong Kong does tripe a little differently. It is very flavorful and it served in its full form. Worth the try and its one of those things, its either you love it or its just not for you.*Steamed Stuffed Fish Maw with Prawns*Pretty okay*Glutenous Rice Balls

*Its a nice dessert. Mochi/tang yuan,  elegantly done*

Fried and Stuffed Dough Fritters, steamed in Rice Flour*Its a nice textural play on the pallet.
Crispy interior with a soft silky exterior. Pretty delicious!* 

 Steamed rice rolls with prawns and pine nuts.

*Pretty standard, but also probably not as amazing as we were already quite full by then.*

Steamed Ball with Melting Salt Egg Yolk*MUST ORDER*
Glutenous Rice*To Standard*Beef Ball
(reviewed as below.)

Har Gao
*To Standard*

Sui Mai

*To Standard*

Complimentary serves of Dessert
Mango Sago
*Like Hui Lau San, this mango dessert was perfect.
Full of mango flavor, creamy and delcious!*

Total Fed 4  Total HKD922
Having been here a 2nd time and trying more of their orders, its definitely safe to say, stick to their Dim Sum Menu. They do try to push for their so called specialty items (often expensive and/or over rated like the char siu on a hot plate reviewed below.), but most of the Dim Sum orders are of good quality and made-to-order (steamed only when ordered).

Waiting for food may take a while (30mins even though we were the first few there.) I'd return, but probably for a weekend/public holiday to try some of the other dim sum which looked really good. They were however frustratingly NOT available on weekdays.
Pricey but you are paying for quality.
Ordered On:
22July2015

Standouts:

BBQ pork buns

*A contender to Tim Ho Wan BBQ pork bun. King's Cuisine comes in a close second.*

Salted Egg Yolk Bun

*Unbelievable.You've got to get this and no sharing! We double ordered this.*
Century Egg Porridge

*A good standard with loads of ingredients and bit found inside.*

Walnut chicken pie

*A nice sweet filling. Something unique and one of their signatures.
Leans towards sweet over savory. Can try but nothing fantastic.*

Rest of the Orders

Xiu Mai

*To Std*

Har Kao

*To Std*

Chicken Feet

Rice Roll with pork and sweet sauce

*Nice thin wraps, with sweet pork and an interesting addition of onion. Really good*

Steamed beef balls

*Good sized but didn't really fancy the chives that went in.*

Fried fish Maw with fish paste.

Roasted pork HKD119

*Pricey for such a small serving actually. You do have your distinct layers, but the skin could've been crispier. Good flavor but in my opinion
still looses out to King Cuisine Roast Pork and at Yat Lok*

Hot Plate Char Siew HKD180

*Promoted by the serving staff that this was a recommended order, we bought into her marketing stint and gave it a try. A lot of flair during its presentation, but it failed to deliver the wow in flavor. Meat was a little lean with only some meat bits having some fat. Not too bad, but not justified by its price point. Its the same meat, along with onion which goes into their steamed rice rolls.*

Fed4. Total HKD940

Overall consensus, it's alright but it doesn't have that wow factor with the exception of the few mentioned dishes. If without the additional hot plate char Siew and roast pork orders, price point would make it much more palatable. For the same price, it was shared that one could have their Dim Sum at City Hall Maxim Place at a more traditional Di Sum joint. Going early is an absolute must. Click herefor review.

The special standouts mentioned above are definitely the must orders. You can pass on the roast pork and hot plate dishes, as they definitely are over priced. I'd return for those few specific dishes mentioned, and definitely for the salt egg custard buns. The rest to standard dishes you can get pretty much anywhere else. Overall, in my opinion, I find that the misses at this place aren't as high as other, run of the mill Dim Sum Joints previously reviewed in Hong Kong. Free Wifi is available on site.



Hoi Kei Yi Xiu Lap Restauruant
(located in Borington Market) 

Wanting to try other eats from Borington Market, we tried a seemingly popular fish dish from watching locals ordering them on a previous day.

Ordered on:
23rdJuly2015

Fish with pickled vegetables HKD40 each

*A fresh water fish, believed to be Song Fish. Nothing really special really. Because its a fresh water fish, there's little flavor to the meat itself. A return for one, but a once off for another.*

Chicken served atop vegetables HKD63

Kang Kong with bean paste HKD28

Pork Trotters along with pork soup came complimentary.


Total Fed3 HKD180


Separate order of Mutton Curry 40HKD


Spicier than it's counterpart across the hall, but falls short. Not bad,
but there's a reason why everyone goes to Wai Kee for mutton. Halal certified mutton in HongKong, and a must for others.

Overall, not worth the tried tested, Mutton Curry alternative at Wai Kee. Their chicken was fairly good, but am sure, one is pretty much splitting hairs to say which chicken and/or duck was better. One can give a miss to this place with better alternatives around.