Wednesday 29 February 2012

Peak Walk - Spring 2012

I thought you might be interested to see why I get so excited with blue skies at this time of the year...

Here was my Peak walk this morning after I dropped Prince PTT off at school....





As you can see, Hong Kong city has all but disappeared...




The Peak Tram tracks on the way to the clouds...


And down again...


Beautiful yet eerie.... Plus with nothing but mist for days on end I get slightly claustrophobic...

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Tuesday 28 February 2012

The winner of today's superfluous baby product goes to...

I do love a superfluous baby product - don't you?

Here's today's little gem....


Geez I wish I had one of these in the delicate few weeks when Prince and Princess PTT could not yet walk, but as I was not yet through the looking glass parenting wise, I feared they might try to suddenly walk independently and bolt away from me simultaneously... NOT!

Who buys this stuff?

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Sunday 26 February 2012

Zuma Brunch for M's Mr P

Today we all tripped off to Zuma for their infamous free flow champagne brunch. The occasion was M's Mr P's birthday...

Future visitors to Hong Kong be prepared to whet your appetite as you will most probably be dragged along to a Zuma brunch if you join us on any given Sunday...

A little birdie told me that I have a habit of starting every restaurant review with a 'cheers'  shot...  Personally, I don't think anyone can ever over-cheer but due to popular demand I'll start this post with a shot of my first plate of nibbles from the buffet...



Here we all are when things were nice and civil...


Here's my delicious beefy main...


I diligently stuck to peach Bellinis throughout the celebration but some of us slid down the slippery sake slope...


Here's the shared dessert bucket thingie which Zuma pushed the boat out and stuck a candle in to really get us in the birthday celebratory mood...


And here's Mr P blowing out his celebratory bucket...


All the Mr's who claimed to be too full for dessert stepped up to the mark once the bucket appeared...


I've never seen anything sweet pass M's lips since I've known her - she's more of a cheese girl - but she seemed quite taken with this chocolate peppermint concoction. She's either found her dessert du jour or it was that evil sake whispering in her ear... Whatever the reason, I am proudly a dessert girl myself and I found this little confection delicious...


Anyway... "brunch" lasted for some of us until 7pm but good fun was had by all. The poor birthday boy had to fly off to far flung lands in the evening though... And N had to go home to channel Martha and whip up 35 cup cakes for her daughter's birthday celebration at school. See its not all fun and games up here... we are VERY serious about our work commitments and parenting. Speaking for ourselves, Mr PTT and I made it home in time for books and goodnight kisses to Prince and Princess PTT. Might I say that the Bellinis and sake made the expression in Pinkalicious exemplary.

The Zuma Sunday brunch makes it on to the Hong Kong Bucket List because it is fantastic value, they don't hurry you and the food is delicious...

Please note that Zuma on a normal day is good - but not bucket list worthy...

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Friday 24 February 2012

China Club

Tonight we went to the China Club as guests of our new friends S and R. C, Mr M and C's sister visiting from Oz also joined us...

I wore my Zara LBD accessorised with my Dries Van Norton belt. I carried a black Jimmy Choo Clutch. C was nice enough to take wardrobe photos on location as I forgot at home...

I smelt like my new Clairns Eau Dynamisante perfume. I used to wear this years ago and recently, I've got in the mood again...


I had to sweep my hair up into some sort of bun arrangement as the humidity at the moment is horrendous...



I also debuted my new fluffy chia pet style stole... It sat in all its stylish glory on the shoulder I wanted to keep warm at that particular moment whilst the other one looked on enviously. Don't worry - they took turns throughout the evening...



Here I am toasting David Tang's magnificent artwork collection...



The view from the rooftop bar was gorgeous...




The dim 1930's style main dining room was stunning - very retro-lucious... I wish I would have taken more photos but I was too caught up "in the moment"...




 If I could have stolen six of these etched wineglasses and their champagne flute sisters I would have...




This is the sort of place that I'd love to show off to our overseas visitors but unfortunately you have to be a member or a guest of a member in order to dine. They even did a cute little noodle show and tea pouring ceremony...


Yours, 


Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Madam Sixty Ate

M, D and I trundled off to Madam Sixty Ate to experience their special set menu in celebration of HK Restaurant Week.

Here's M in all her cocktail ring glory...


Here's the lovely fishy entree we both had....


Here's D with her chicken soup and eel concoction...


Here's the main dining room... it's a big space with an open kitchen but still feels quite intimate


For main I had a lobster knuckle risotto (No! I didn't know lobsters had knuckles either... fascinating isn't it!) with chicken. They made it all 2012 by serving it with a crumble, foam and ubiquitous smear...


M and D had lamb complete with ubiquitous smears and artistic flavour ribbles...


I restrained myself dessert wise and just had a little pineapple cannoli bauble as I knew the China Club awaited me in the darker hours...


Meanwhile, M and D had this chocolate/date/smear/white chocolate pepper snow assortment... Pretty isn't it?


All in all it was a nice lunch. I'm not champing at the bit to go back for dinner but I'd defiantly do another little set luncheon in the near future...

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Thursday 23 February 2012

Princess PTT's Questionable Mothering Skills

Is it concerning that today when Princess PTT was playing with her dolls she put a blankie around one and put her in front of the iPad with the words "Aunty is just in the kitchen, Mummy is just popping out to the shops"?! 




She did come back to give the poor baby snuggle time and bought her a present at the 'shops'. And the baby had just done three hours of Montessori school and had walked the 20 minutes there and back so probably needed a little break...


Thoughts?

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xx

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Bouncing around in a taxi

As per the Wednesday schedule, Princess PTT and I headed by taxi to ballet this afternoon. It always alarms me that kids in Australia need to be fully restrained in a government approved car seat until they are 7 years old and in the UK, I am sure they are in some sort of restraint until they turn 12 or a certain height. Yet here we are in Hong Kong, bouncing around in a taxi with just a lap belt. I have to admit though, Prince and Princess PTT are excellent in the taxi and know to belt up and stay still. Plus, for most of our journeys, we are just winding down the hill in nose to tail slow moving traffic... Still its one of those moments when you question "am I doing the right thing?".



Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Rain, rain go away!

I am sick of this weather! PTT's Hong Kong Headquarters is freezing at the moment and rain is expected for most of the week... 

Here's Princess PTT walking to school...



A rather sweet visual until you realise how sticky Hong Kong rain is...

Bring on the sun, I say!

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Monday 20 February 2012

PTT's HK Headquarters - a mini tour

What PTT's HK Headquarter's lacks in size, it tries to make up for in personality. Look! Here is our cheery London Transport Poster from when PTT had a London Headquarters....



Here's the PTT Family's collection of silver napkin rings. We've each got one from our christening and some other family members (Like Mr PTT's mum) has given us theirs to add to our collection:



Here's a lovely Spode plate given to me by my Nanny (Nanny PTT's Mum). Ironically, I've always loved chinoiserie but now I feel I can fully embrace it now that we live in... well... China!


Its always nice to surround yourself with things that mean something - don't you think?

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Sunday 19 February 2012

A family that exercises together, stays together

On Sunday we took Prince and Princess PTT for a walk around the top and then down the Peak. It was icy cold but that's what you get this time of year.

Revelling in nature...


Yet Hong Kong city is not very far away...


Playing 'can you spot our apartment'?


Naturally rest time was at every seat opportunity...


Can you believe this is Hong Kong?



Ah yes! You can believe you are in Hong Kong when you see questionable signage like this along the way... Why is the Picnic Area 'Temporary'? It has been open during the four years we have lived in Hong Kong - is it now permanent? Why fully landscape something so temporary? Why erect such a fancy sign?


Naturally we couldn't help but take the opportunity to teach Prince PTT his 'Place Value' facts... (i.e. 'What is the Place Value of the 2 in this number?). I like to take my home schooling 101 out of the classroom.... In case you are wondering - No! I don't home school but Prince PTT's school expects you to do a lot at home so sometimes I feel as if I am a homeschooling parent!


Princess PTT ended up being chauffeured by the end... typical!

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx

Friday 17 February 2012

Fish Bar - JW Marriott

Tonight, Mr PTT and I had our belated Valentines Day Dinner as we didn't want to face a multi-course extravaganza on V-Day. I wore my cream Zara Dress and new grey Vicky's snakeskin heels.


I carried my snake skin clutch that I picked up on our last trip to Bali. I wore my cream wool Juicy Couture Coat and cashmere scarf. I smelt like Jo Malone 'Bluebell'.



And then I changed all but the Jo Malone as I was so cold!

The Fish Bar is the JW Marriott's pool side restaurant. You order your fish and it comes with a choice of chips, mash or baked potato. Creamed spinach, green salad and buttered corn comes as standard. It's one of our favourite places to go as it is one of the few places in Hong Kong that does good old fish and chips that isn't covered in batter and if you squint hard enough in the right direction you can imagine you are on holidays at a resort.

Mr PTT had Red Emperor...


I had snapper... Here I am slapping on the homemade tartar sauce as I do love a good condiment...


The Fish Bar is the first entry in the Hong Kong Bucket List... You can look for these gems in the labels list. They are the restaurants that we always go back to because of the food in general, a particular dish or overall ambiance and service. If you have any suggestions for the Hong Kong Bucket List, please send me a message!

Yours,

Pseudo Tai Tai xxx