Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar

Ok, it’s about time that I blogged about the sweets and chocolates I bought in Dallas. I bought quite a few but have given most away to friends who were very keen to try them out! ^_^

Here’s all of them, but I am going to split these into several posts.

Never had these before, so I’m trying them all out!

So first off is Hershey’s Milk Chocolate.

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar… The King Size one


It looks nice. It smells ok, but unfortunately there is a very sour aftertaste, and it lasts forever. 😦
Looks like chocolate to me!!

Mr Bear had this a few weeks ago, and his housemate wanted to burn it and never taste it again! Hahahahah. Well actually the chocolate tastes like chocolate but it is made with sour milk, and there have been posts saying it tastes like vomit. Sorry about that.


I have tried refrigerating it and tasting it afterwards. It tastes great at first, but then there is that everlasting aftertaste of sourness in your mouth…Yeek!!

I don’t think I’ll be buying this again, but you can find them in UK stores. My brother Mr Stingy found the Hazelnut one in a local grocery store I believe…

You have been warned!

Simple Spring Rolls

I’m writing this post for my friend Mrs Hen who LOVES spring rolls. Prawn ones. Vegetable ones. All the spring rolls in the world! Hahahah!! ^_^ 

These are real basic instructions that you can just follow (and I’m sure there’s millions of posts and videos out there that will show you the same thing). The ingredients do not have to be exactly the same as the ones shown here! My friend, who I will call Mrs Travels, used cheese and prawns, and they were delicious (she’s Chinese as well, and married to a Frenchman a.k.a. Mr Travels)…

So basic ingredients needed are as follows. You can use vegetables alone if you don’t like to add meat or seafood. The wrappers cost £1.50 and there’s 50 wrappers in the packet. Pre-cut vegetables for £1. Cooked shrimps were £2.50 (from a stall in East Street Market) and the egg – I guess this cost a few pennies but they came in a box! ^_^ So this Chinese snack cost just over £5! Not bad. In most restaurants and takeaway stores they will sell 2, 3 or 4 spring rolls for £1 or more!! Shocking!
My ingredients
Here’s the picture instructions and full instructions are below (sunlight was in the way for the first few pics, whoopsie ¬,¬”)…


Place wrapper diagonally 


Place a tiny amount of vegetables and 2 or 3 shrimps at the end facing you


Fold the tip over the ingredients


Roll once (or twice if there’s loads of ingredients)


Fold in edges, then roll


Use some egg white to seal the roll


Prawn and salad spring roll made ^_^


34 wrapped spring rolls!!!! Made in half an hour!!!


Add the spring rolls into the preheated pan and oil


Cook for 2-3 minutes per side (it’s like cooking a sausage)


Done! Some tasty spring rolls ^_^

Ingredients:
1. Cooked shrimps (the ones above I bought from East Street Market, which were in salt water). Or you can use defrosted prawns
2. Pre-washed and chopped up vegetables (you can prepare your own if you wish)
3. 1 egg (use only the egg white and you can discard the yolk)
4. Defrosted spring roll wrappers, which you can find in any Asian store – there are largers ones available. You can also use the round ones.
5. Vegetable oil for frying

How to prepare and cook (you can find instructions on the spring roll wrappers too):
1. Take one of the defrosted wrappers, making sure that one of the pointed sides is facing you (as in place it diagonally)
2. Take a small amount of the pre-washed vegetables and place at the pointed edge facing you, but leaving some space at the end…
3. Add a couple of shrimps on top of the vegetables
4. Fold the tip of the edge (the one facing you) over the filling
5. Then roll over once (or twice if you have a lot of ingredients)
6. Fold the edges inwards, then continue to roll
7. Once you reach the end of the rolling, dab a little egg white and then roll it over once more. The egg white will seal it.
8. Place in a plate and cover either with a clean damp cloth or a piece of kitchen roll
9. Repeat the above until you have run out of ingredients or until you have enough

Next…
10. Heat your frying pan (or deep fryer or big saucepan), add your oil
11. Slowly add in your spring rolls (about 5 or 6 at a time – depends on the size of the pan you use… I added about 11 or 12 in one go)
12. If you are using a frying pan, fry them for 2-3 minutes on each side (like frying a sausage)… For a deep fryer or a sauce pan – for about 3 minutes or until they are golden brown
13. Remove the spring rolls and place them onto a plate. You can use some kitchen towel to remove the excess oil…
14. Repeat steps 10-13 until you have cooked them all… Otherwise you can store them by freezing them until you are ready to use them. You can cook these frozen so you don’t need to defrost them)
15. Finally let them cool for 5-10 minutes before eating and serving them

And that’s how you make spring rolls!! ^_^

Easy?

SPLAT! Magazine

Have you got a child who needs a magazine to read? Why not try out SPLAT! Magazine, which you can purchase online via iTunes. It’s currently available for the iPad, and unfortunately I don’t have an iPad… But not worry! I got to use Miss Pinky’s!! Lucky me!! (Don’t ask me how I got to look after it… it’s a long story…). So I logged in using my login details. I know you are thinking – I don’t like Apple and I’m using iTunes… The Apple app is not a problem it’s just the hardware and their ridiculous pricing… But surprisingly the iPad is ok for me! I’m slowly getting into Apple things… Very slowly…

Well, anyway, here’s a few sneak peeks with the owner’s permission of some of the pages he had sent me, (well there are not many sneak peeks, as I would be spoiling it for you!).
Opening the app on the iPad

It is quite interactive with some special buttons on some of the pages that you will need to press to get some sounds or pictures. 

There are some giggly / laughing ones which I thought was very funny in this first magazine!

SPLAT!’s first magazine cover

There’s a page that shows you how to use SPLAT! on the iPad.

Instruction page


The page with the funny laughing and giggly noises ^_^

There are quite a few comics, jokes and some very factual scientific stuff in this magazine. And here’s just one that you can have a quick scan of…


Teenage Mutant Heroe Turtles are still popular!! Wow!!


Find out more facts from http://www.BinWineevils.com


You can also enter competitions and win a few things…

Who can complete that maze?


I love games!

As well all the above there are book reviews, interactive games and wallpapers you can download. So go and have a look!


SPLAT! is mainly aimed for kids who like sci-fi, games and comics. ^_^ So it’s definitely a geeky magazine!! (^_^)b

A second magazine is already out, and hopefully there should be one out later this month!! I think these magazines are not only just for kids (4+) to read and interact with, but they are also for adults who can have a read through… especially if you like comics. 😀 


Here’s SPLAT! Magazine’s press release. This looks like official stuff to me!!


I definitely recommend this magazine if you have bored kids who are playing on the iPad all day long, or who just need something to read. I also hope there will be an Android app soon (as I’m sticking with a new Android phone for another 2 years). Fingers crossed. 😀

And here are the covers of the magazines again. Better quality and courtesy of SPLAT! Magazine. 😀



Website: splat-mag.com


You can also join them on:

Currently only available on iTunes for the iPad.
Cost per magazine: £1.49
Subscription for one year: £15.99


aobaba in Longdan Express – Elephant and Castle

I am being a lazy blogger… I’m playing Candy Crush and I’m on level 117… I hate this game by the way. It becomes frustrating when you’ve almost finished a level and then you don’t have any more moves left!

Er… uh-hm, what? Oh. Am I supposed to be talking about aobaba? The cafe / restaurant that has FINALLY opened in Longdan Express. Uh well yes I am!! Whoopee!! ^_^
Outside aobaba


Inside aobaba


Another view


The leaflet


The other side
So last Friday after work I went to have a look at it. I was dying to have a taste at their bubble tea, and see if it is good enough as those other places that serve bubble tea. It’s funny how bubble tea has become so famous in the UK all of a sudden. You can see shops of them all over the place i.e. China Town…

In aobaba they give you a choice of making your own mixture of bubble tea. So you choose the type of tea you want milk (which is 50p more than the other tea base) or black tea / green tea / crushed ice. Then next you choose are the type of bubbles you want in the tea… tapioca pearl, boba or jelly.

The first one I went for was the green apple tea (don’t know if it was green or black tea used), and the girl at the counter suggested I choose the lychee topping (can’t remember if it was tapioca pearl or the boba). The green apple tea tasted sour. Yeek. But the lychee topping compensated for the sourness. If you like sour stuff, go for the green apple flavour!!
Green apple tea and lychee bubble tea
aobaba also serves food. Woohoo! 😀 So I also asked the girl what to have… She recommended the spring rolls, and I found myself ordering the mix and match spring rolls. They were good. But expensive at £4. 😦
My mix and match spring ro



Total cost: £7

After you have ordered, they will call out your receipt number so you can collect your food. It’s a bit like going to Argos! Hah!

I went back the next day to try out there pho.
Another view from the inside
It was a good day because it rained, and I was sure that this would warm me up for a bit. I had taken the leaflet that I was given. I was contemplating whether to have the beef pho or the OMG-bun than… I was thinking I would go for the latter but subconsciously ordered the beef pho! What was I thinking?! I also ordered the strawberry milk tea with strawberry pearls… Was it good?
Strawberry milk and strawberry pearls bubble tea

Hm, the beef pho’s soup was a little salty to my liking. The pho was ok. There was thinly sliced beef and beef balls (they are like fishballs).The sliced beef was ok, but not as tender as the one I had in Dallas or Cafe Mama Pho. I could taste and smell some of the herbs that were in which was bearable…
Beef pho


A different view of my beef pho



The best part of this dining trip was definitely the strawberry milk bubble tea! Oh it was definitely tasty than the apple green tea! I would definitely recommend all the milk bubble teas (I haven’t tried them all yet ¬,¬”). They are the best!

Total cost: £10.50

I dined alone on both occasions, and so did a lot of people who went in there. Some were in groups too. It is a big dining area, but the bins in purple are quite hard to see. I actually left my tray on the table on both occasions because I did not know where to put them! Some people were handing them back to the people at the counter… Something that needs to be improved on in time…

Would I recommend aobaba? Yes – definitely for the bubble tea. I think I will need to try out the other food in the nearest future.

I forgot to mention there is also free wi-fi!! After purchasing your food, you will find a password (which changes everyday) on the bottom of your receipt. I used it twice on both occasions, and the reception is not bad…

My geeky rating: 4/5

Good points:
– Get to choose your own mixture of bubble tea
– Food is freshly made for you
– Dining area is really spacious
Free wi-fi

Bad points:
– A little expensive
– Could do with some visible bins
Salty soup (recipe change needed)

Address: 128 -132 Walworth Road, Elephant & Castle, London SE17 1JL 
Website: http://www.aobaba.com/


View Larger Map

Ping Pong Restaurant – London Southbank

Following on from the Tate Modern post, Miss Pinky and I went to find food. We passed a few restaurants, Miss Pinky said her favourite food is Chinese food. I eat it all the time, so it’s second nature to me. I actually enjoy other Asian foods, Indian, Japanese, Korean… and even the odd Vietnamese or Thai food… So what to eat? We passed Feng Sushi, which I have never been into before, and then it was decision time… It was Ping Pong in the end, which wasn’t very busy… ¬,¬… Should’ve persuaded Miss Pinky to eat Japanese…
Outside Ping Pong in Southbank

I have dined at Ping Pong in Southbank a few times, and I never seem to learn my lesson when I’m there! The concept of Ping Pong’s dim sum dining is ok for those who have never tried out dim sum before, and they serve this all day long. But to be honest I actually dislike dining in Ping Pong. It is a very different style from an actual yum cha experience. So take away the Chinese waiters and waitresses but keep the Chinese chefs, and order food using the piece of paper that they give you…

So firstly, we had to wait for a seat. It was a little empty except for the outside dining area as it was very hot that day! Usually they would ask us if we have dined there before, but that didn’t happen on this occasion, and I had forgotten what to do. There was a big bamboo basket in front of us, and I took out the ordering paper and pencil. Then Miss Pinky and I had a long look for dumplings with no prawns. It’s hard. As most of the dumplings on the set menu have prawns in it! Anyway, it took quite a bit of time for someone to actually come and serve us. I had to eye one of the waiters to get their attention. It’s hard getting attention these days… only joking… get too much sometimes!!

I had ordered a set menu, the Super 8, which is served only on weekdays 12 – 5 pm. But unfortunately I was told they couldn’t serve it on that day (which was not stated on their menu)… Bank Holiday Monday is a weekday right, or would you consider it as part of the weekend? A bank holiday is actually a public holiday and not part of the weekend… Strange. I had a look at their website as well just to make sure… Not stated there either that I couldn’t order the Super 8 on a bank holiday!! Not happy at all…!! I had to order another set menu… The Healthy Selection… ¬,¬ But thankfully we ordered a few more items…

First was my drink (Miss Pinky had a Heineken beer). I had a lychee and ginger iced tea. It was a bit weak for my standards. Needed a bit more sugar. Jasmine tea was a bit too weak for me too. It was like tasting one of those new Ribena flavours. A very weak iced tea. 😦 I actually recommend their flower tea…
Lychee and Ginger iced tea

Miss Pinky ordered the Ping Pong Selection, and this is her food…

Miss Pinky ate one of the spring rolls before I could take a picture!!

Small selection of dim sum – I ate 3 of these!!

 Miss Pinky didn’t touch her rice pot! She was too full!!

Chicken and Mushroom rice pot

And as you know I ordered the Healthy Selection…. It was ok. There could have been more in the sticky rice parcel. I didn’t like the soup much, a little spicy for a Chinese soup, but drank it all because it was supposed to be healthy. The broccoli was actually quite nice!

My healthy selection of dim sum

It’s supposed to be wonton soup… really?!

Steamed broccoli

The additional items we ordered were:

Cha siu baau (BBQ pork bun). This was good.
Cha siu baau

Beef dumplings. Miss Pinky had these to replace the ones she couldn’t eat. She didn’t like the edameme beans added on top…

Nice looking beef dumplings

And this is the new seabass dumpling which I had. This was a bit too fishy for my liking. But I dipped into some soy sauce, which took away some of the fishy taste and smell…

New Seabass Dumpling

Overall the food was filling, but I’m afraid Ping Pong always disappoints me. It is a nice introduction to people wanting to try out dim sum without having to go to a real Chinese restaurant and having to order in Chinese. Their ideas of new dim sum is great, and I do like their concept of introducing new food items. Service, otherwise could be better. However, food here is genuinely expensive compared to the food you can find in China Town. The bill came to £44.39. Humph! That’s an average of £4.19 per dish minus the drinks.


My geeky rating: 3.5/5 (from all my experiences put together at this restaurant)

Good points:
– Food is filling
– Nice introduction to dim sum for those who haven’t got a clue about them

Bad points:
– Expensive compared to China Town (my main complaint really!)
– Service could be better

Address: Festival Terrace Southbank Centre Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

View Larger Map

Tate Modern – London Southbank

Last Monday was Early May Bank Holiday, and so what do people do on a bank holiday. Some go out, some work (and get the 1 and a half or double pay) or some people just stay home… For me, I was going to stay home and do some spring cleaning. But that didn’t happen (and still hasn’t ¬,¬”). I was invited by Miss Pinky’s little brother Master H to go to the Tate Modern for his school project the night before. I have been pass Tate Modern many times, but never went in. You see, it’s sometimes good to have a younger sibling… Unfortunately, on the day, Master H didn’t come with us. He got a better offer and went to Madame Tussaud’s  So Miss Pinky and I went instead.

First off we stopped by Southbank Food Market to eat lunch. So we looked around the stalls before deciding to have some Caribbean food. Just to let you know the one at end (the red looking one) is very spicy, like Korean spicy food. I had the medium one, which was the one closer to me, and had it with Thai white rice.
Caribbean food

We sat upstairs where I knew there was a bench (from one egg hunting experience), as the bottom seating area was practically full!! That’s how busy Southbank was that day. 😀 However that bench was already occupied by a family, and so we sat on the snake (you would know what I mean if you have been there)… After eating, we went to find a bin but we didn’t want to go downstairs to throw our stuff away, and at that point, Miss Pinky spotted the American director Tim Burton and his wife Helena Bonham Carter who were out with their children…! “Who?!” I said to Miss Pinky. “You know, Tim Burton that director, and Helen something” she said… Who?!! That went on for a few minutes, before it registered. Tim Burton was looking at us in his sunglasses probably thinking we were crazy! But stick a famous Chinese star in front of me or someone who I adore like Benedict Cumberbatch, and I would be like WHERE?! Hahah. My friends also thought I was crazy… ¬,¬”” I don’t seem to get star struck either! I have met a few Hong Kong stars in my lifetime and never gt star struck. I took a quick pic of them walking towards the bridge. People were stunned, shocked, gasping and amazed… But no-one bothered them as such.

Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter and their children
out on a sunny bank holiday! … it is them by the way!!

Now onto the Tate Modern!! 


Before Tate Modern was created the building used to be a power station. And it was only made into an art gallery since the year 2000. And I’ve said this is the first time I have been it!

Tate Museum

There are 3 free galleries on each floor and there are a few you would need to pay for. Miss Pinky and I went into all the free ones!!


I can’t seem to remember which floor these were taken on!
Two dead birds (not real) on the wall!

???

A Picasso painting!!

Something from WW2


A French painting

I like this one! Not too weird…

Cool artwork on the cafe wall!!

This one is not a painting. It’s just me taking a picture of the outside from I think the second floor of Tate Modern. It’s where the coffee shop is…

Lovely view from the balcony!


This is not my idea of art… Quite scary in fact!!

Very colourful

Not sure what this is!

Do you like to knit? I do!

Neon lights

I have no idea what this is supposed to be ¬,¬””

Que?
Lichtenstein Exhibition is one of those that you will need to pay to get in to see…
Outside the Lichtenstein Exhibition
I’m afraid contemporary / modern art is not my thing. I’m more into oil paintings and old stone sculptures or classic vase artwork than something that looks hideous and strange.

If you have a chance, have a look into Tate Modern. I think all art students would be most interested of this place.

Address: Bankside,  London SE1 9TG
Admission: free (except for some of the exhibitions)

Nearest station: Blackfriars Station

World Photography Awards Exhibition 2013 – London Somerset House

I seem to find out loads of information about exhibitions, shows and many exciting things from my colleagues. Well, one colleague of mine shouted out about the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition 2013 in Somerset House, and what do you know, I love photography. So I decided to go. Unfortunately it isn’t free. Ticket cost £7.50. I purchased mine online, but that meant I had to join the WPO World Photography Organisation’s website… That’s quite cheeky I think. Once I had purchased my ticket it stated that I could go on any day until it ends on May 12th.

I have always passed Someset House, but I have never went in to have a look. I’m a Londoner who has never been into Somerset House? Yep that’s right. I’m sure many Londoners have never been in there before, as a majority would see no point or they may lead busy, busy lives to even go in and have a look around it… Here’s just a glimpse of it from the outside as you enter into the centre area. 😀 The Geek becomes Tourist Geek again but in her own hometown! ¬_¬”
This is as you enter from the Strand End

People enjoying the sun last week!!

I went on a Thursday after work…

Now on with the photography! Well, it’s a smallish exhibition and I managed to go through all the rooms within half-an-hour, and this was straight after work. Not bad!


Some of the pictures didn’t inspire me or excite me with the photographer’s inspiration. But I guess each photographer has their own way of expressing their lives and other people’s lives through their camera.

The photos are categorised into age groups and types of photos they are and here’s a few photos that I did like from the exhibition…

The hallway at one end

Heheh. This is a very good picture as it depicts someone selling food in the cinema..

This is great fun! It must’ve taken a lot of time and energy just to get this one right…
especially for the first picture at the front

Love this!! A Swedish photographer in Hong Kong!

One of my favourite animals ^_^

Brilliant capture!!

This is a really beautiful capture of so many lanterns!

Inspirational picture

This one is quite spooky looking… Look closely!


And the following are some more pictures of Somerset House!

More water 😀

Somerset House as I leave 

Don’t forget the exhibition ends tomorrow on May 12th! But even if you don’t have time to go, there are other exhibitions, the shop and of course Somerset House that you can enjoy!!!


Event: Sony World Photography Awards 2013
Cost: £7.50

Address: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA7

Website: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/world-photo-london

And http://worldphoto.org/about-the-sony-world-photography-awards/


View Larger Map

New World Restaurant 新世界 – London China Town

It was Sunday. My mother wanted to go out. So we went out. She wanted to pay for my ‘lunch’ (my breakfast really) of noodle soup. I didn’t want noodle soup, so I kind of persuaded and convinced her to go and yum cha at New World Restaurant 新世界 (san sai gaai, lit. New World). I haven’t been in there for many, many years!! I used to go there quite often with my mum and brother when I was a kid, my dad often worked on weekends so he didn’t come along with us (that’s what happens when you’re a Chinese chef. Work very long hours in the old days!!). Meeting my parent’s old friends, grandparents friends and discussing family stories. It was a meet and greet time, plus eating time!
Outside New World Chinese Restaurant

We got there just after noon. The waiter started pouring our tea for us. That’s kind of a new procedure for someone to pour my tea. Usually the waiter would ask what type of Chinese tea we would like, but the waiter didn’t on this occasion! This restaurant serves dim sum on the traditional trolleys which you would see in most Hong Kong restaurants that serve dim sum. In the old days New World Restaurant had mainly Cantonese speakers but nowadays they speak in Mandarin, whereas the waiters/waitresses speak both Cantonese and Mandarin. I’m actually quite happy for going to Mandarin classes now!! But definitely speak slowly for me. I think the lady in the cheung sam (long dress) at the reception desk has been working there for many, many years. I think she even still remembers us! :-S

According to some articles it was closed in 2011 due to hygiene issues, but it still looks the same as always to me. The have seating upstairs if I remember correctly too!!




Pushing a trolley of dim sum

My mother told me not to order stuff that I already can buy frozen i.e. siu maai (pork and prawn dumpling) and haa gau (prawn dumpling). So I ordered all these things… I even took the chicken feet even though I always eat it, but my mother and I both like it!

Not sure what this one is called – I think it’s Steamed pork wrapped in a wonton wrapper


Chicken Feet – sorry for blurry picture!!


Meat Croquette


Spring Rolls


Fried Shrimp Balls


Shrimp Cheung Fun


Stuffed Tofu Skins with Pork


Chinese egg tarts

When you finish asking for the food you want, they will tick the item on a piece of paper that is located on your table.


All of the food was fresh. You could tell that the chicken feet was not store bought as it tasted sweet and not too spicy. However some of the dishes were a bit warm. Not much gas or hot water in those trolleys!!

Total cost came to £29. That’s right £29 for all of that, and I paid too (my mother was supposed to pay though)!! I was stuffed in the very end. I always like cheap, cheap food. 😀 That’s an average of £3.63 per basket / plate. Each basket and plate has their own pricing, but it’s not indicated on the paper that they tick on. So I’m afraid I can’t help you with the pricing here…

My geeky rating: 4/5 (only because some of the food was warm)

Good points:
– Traditional Cantonese or Hong Kong style dim sum dining in London
– Loads of choices and very filling
– Good total price, not sure if this is the cheapest throughout China Town, but it’s very competitive out there!!
– Nice, spacious restaurant

Bad points:
– Some of the food was a bit warm

Address: 1 Gerrard Place, London W1D 5PA
Telephone: 020 7434 2508




View Larger Map

Little Orient 小東方超市 – Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre

Isn’t Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre supposed to be knocked down by now? I’m sure there were plans many years ago to close it down and rebuild it…

But anyway, surprisingly Mr Bear spotted this Chinese supermarket one Saturday evening and had informed me when I got back from holiday. My holiday posts have taken a long time to put up so I have only just been able to blog about this now.

Little Orient Supermarket 小東方超市(Canto: siu dung fong chiu si; Mando: xiao dong fang chao shi). This is located on the first floor in Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. If you’re heading towards the train station, and you use the escalator on the ground floor, you would find it on your right hand side. It’s very noticeable!! (Sorry for some fuzzy pictures… was taking them with my phone).
小東方超市 Little Orient Supermarket
It is a medium-sized store. It is not as big as Longdan Express which is not far from this shop, but they sell items at a very reasonable price!! This is a good Chinese supermarket for people who don’t like compact Chinese stores… It’s quite spacious!! Plus it’s probably good for a first-timer shopping in an Asian store…



There are a few aisles, a few freezers and a small chilled area…

Little small shelves

Loads of special offers available

Lots of dried stuff

There’s a freezer on another side 

Soy sauce is cheap here than it is in other places!!

Small fridge area

Korean and Japanese food items available

It’s not busy yet… But it will be one day I bet!!
I think some of the items are shipped from Singapore such as these noodles…
Loads of pot noodles and noodles at cheap prices

Buy 10 get 1 free XD
They also have some deals for lunchtime. I think people who are not used to Chinese treats should try these!! ^_^
Lunch special

Another lunch special
Some of the items are not very cheap, but it is also good to make a comparison with other Asian stores as I keep saying on these posts. It’s always good to see a new store around with different items.

I bought a lot of items, and I think it was just over £10 or £11. More items for less money. That’s what I like to see. I bought loads of Nissin noodles which was buy 10 get 1 free (I haven’t finished them yet)!! Yeah!! This is my kind of store.
So many items!!!

Singaporean packaging of Nissin noodles

Japanese crackers… Miss Pinky was looking for something similar in Dallas
Mr Bear wanted to go there one Sunday, but unfortunately it was closed. I think they could do with a bit more to the store i.e. more shelving, more items, more fridges and freezers!! 

Good luck Little Orient! ^^ 加油!

Address: Unit 237C, Elephant Castle Shopping Centre, New Kent Road, London SE1 6TE
Nearest Station: Elephant and Castle Station
Buses: Any that go to Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre

Opening times: Monday – Saturday 10.00 am – 7.30 pm; Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm

Website: http://www.littleorient.co.uk/ (I’m afraid it’s in Chinese)


Hawthorne Suites by Wyndham/Love Field Airport – Dallas, Texas

Before I move onto the confectionery that I bought in Dallas (will be in a future post), I’m going to first post about the hotel Miss Pinky and I stayed at.

First of all, it is in a very good location. It’s located about 25 minutes by car from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and about 10-15 minutes depending on traffic from Dallas Love Field Airport. Not a bad location at all.
Outside Hawthorne Suites

The apartment / suite they gave us was very satisfying!! There were two queen beds as I had requested in a non-smoking apartment. One bed was downstairs (the bed below is the one I slept in) and there was one upstairs, but Miss Pinky asked me not to take a picture until later (when she tidied up!)…


Downstairs bed
So here’s the stairs instead.
The stairs

There were two bathrooms!! Two!! Wow. I feel like I’m in someone’s house. Didn’t take a picture of Miss Pinky’s… She was too busy telling me not to take pictures…

My bathroom area

We had a small kitchen, but I forgot to take a picture of that. It has a microwave. An electric stove with an oven. Kitchen sink. And there was a massive fridge and freezer. You can even make ice in the freezer by pulling the lever up. An ok kitchen, but it needed bigger pots and pans. A toaster is available, as a coffee machine… But there’s no kettle!!


Here’s the desk by the door.
Desk by the door

And here’s the outside near the entrance. There’s a free shuttle service which you would need to notify the reception an hour ahead or the night before, that you need to use it. They only cover a 5-mile radius. So find out where you need to go first!!


Parking area


The shuttle


Bus stop 526 – there is another one further up the road

Food there was not the best I’m afraid even if it is free. I advise to actually go and find food. American breakfast is not my thing. Biscuit, sausages and egg (scrambled or boiled). Waffles you have to make yourself… And they also have cereals! The coffee is the best stuff they’ve got by the way. I think they have a routine of what they serve for dinner every week, like pizza on Monday, pasta on Tuesday, fried chicken on Wednesday. Main dinners are served only on Monday’s to Thursday’s. You will need to find food from Friday to Sunday!! If you like walking I advise to go to Pappy’s or the McDonald’s… It’s about a 15 minute walk to either place! Otherwise take the bus or a get a taxi.


Wi-fi was excellent! But you may have to enter the password from now and then. So remember the password!!

Laundry service – there’s only 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. Washing machine costs US $1.75 and drying costs US $1.50.

Parking is free I think and there’s a small swimming pool plus a tennis court!

So all in all, it was a satisfying stay. The noise level was a little bad. We had some noisy weekend stayers partying, mockingbirds that would not be quiet throughout a few nights (use ear plugs), and you will also get to hear a few toilet flushes from somewhere! all the piping is connected.

Also house-keeping is usually every 2-3 days… So don’t expect a clean apartment after you have been out all day long…

Buses: 404, 526 and 527
Nearest train station: Inwood / Love Field (take the 404 or 526)

Address: 7900 Brookriver Drive, Dallas, TX 75247 United States
Telephone: 1-214-688-1010