Food review: Dinner@Brasserie on the Eight, HK

Has been awhile since I blogged about food though I have been going eating like a piglet...Since I had some time tonite, decided to load some reviews of the recent places we had dined in for my man's birthday.

The first place we went to was Brasserie on the Eight@ Conrad, serving French Cusine. There was a moment of panick and flurry of furious phone buttons pressing because for some reason when I tried to call Brasserie a week ago in advance, it was the front desk who had picked up and directed me to the cafe instead. I didnt realise till the staff called to confirm on the actual day at 5pm for the 730pm dinner reservation. It was a stroke of luck that I caught her said cafe in the midst of her rambling and mumbling...that i realised the earthshattering mistake. Thankfully they still managed to slot me in...in case you think the place was empty when we got there, it wasnt. It was full house...so that was why I said I was damn lucky! It would be horrible to inform my man "Sorry love, it's leftover braised pork and stirfry veges from last nite for your birthday coz the hotel screwed up and booked me under their cafe..." We could laugh abt it now but it sure wasnt funny at that precise moment!

Anycase, after we were nicely settled down and browsing through the menu, I was pleasantly surprised at the food options. The choices sounded lovely from head to toe. I have never had a menu that I had wanted to try almost everything listed before. It was like a menu of classic all time favorites from duck confits, to grilled meats to seafood and lamb. I didnt know which to pick and which to forgo! To me this is a mighty feat in itself because I am fussy and I dont like to choose things if it sounded like I wont like the cooking style or if it has nasties like cheese and stuff in it.

In the end, I went with the Crab and Lobster fried cakes while my partner selected the signature Alaskan crabmeat Salad for our starters. For main, I opted for lamb rack while my man got the grilled steak.

 The Alaskan Crab Salad with sundried tomatoes

 My very meaty kingcrab lobster crabcakes.

When I cut it in halves, u could see nothing but mouthful of meat!

While waiting, we were served some crackers something looking like ham paste like tasting dip. It looked like canned cat food to be honest...so it tasted better than it looked....

Looking like cat food dip 

The starters did not disappoint. I absolutely loved my crab cakes while I thought my partner's salad was excellent too! However in terms of full punch flavor, I think the point goes to mine. The quail egg in his dish was alittle weird and out of place in the lot.

For the main, my lamb rack was cooked perfectly and it was in good portion size that filled me up just right. Not some teeny weeny lousy small pieces but something that actually was filling is a good indicator that some chefs do realise that portions and good cooking is what keeps customer coming back. Pretty or well decorated plates doesnt.

My husband's steak was unfortunately a little more cooked than he liked. He asked for medium rare and he got something closer to medium - to medium well. We didnt return it because we didnt want to wait for another 40mins for the main to arrive.

While waiting, we were looking around at other guests and noticed this couple seated at the far end being really stupid. When i say stupid, I mean being anti-social with each other. For the full 2.5 hours we were there, they were both playing with their iphone and ipad respectively the WHOLE time, barely talking.

Even as they were talking or saying something to each other, their eyes never left their devices. Even when they were eating, they were still playing with their devices. SERIOUSLY DUDES, why come to fine dining and not have a good time together? Isnt it cheaper and better if you stayed at home and cook some instant noodles? Afterall, you guys are not even really spending time with each other. I just dont get some people... what could be soooo darn important that both parties couldnt just let go of their phone and actually have a proper conversation with each other since you already taken the time and effort to be here with each other? It amazed me sometimes the stupidity of some couples...So the next time round you are tempted to take out your damn phone to play with the games or apps while having dinner with friends or family, think again. Dont be as silly as the couple above.

Anyway, back to food.
The dessert I had was the supposedly trio choc. I said supposedly because I had requested not to have the white choc and opted for 2 choc pudding instead. The choc pudding tasted more like brownie really which works perfectly for me. My man had the rum cocount which was ok but not mind blowing. Their mains is defintely more of their forte and they need brushing up on their desserts.

All in all a very lovely meal though service was abit lacking. I had specifically told them it was a birthday dinner and to write a happy birthday thing on the dessert but it was NOT done. No one even realised the mistake until I went up to the staff and told them their oversight. They tried to make it up later presenting the conrad bear with a candle. Still, I was already alittle let down.

The waiting time was also on the "longer" than usual being that there are only 4 chefs in the kitchen but for the great taste and quality, I have no problem in that.

The whole meal's damage was HK$1870 including a glass of dessert wine at $120. So I thought it was a rather reasonable fine dining meal for 2, considering the quality of the food.

Now the defining question.
Would I be back?
Definitely.

Asian High Tea @ Conrad HK Lobby Lounge

Had high tea today with my ex-classmate. Havent seen her for 2 months now since she gave birth. So it was good to catch up, eat, and chill in the Conrad Lobby lounge.

This is probably like what, my only 3rd high tea in my lifetime, with first 2 in Singapore and my first here in HK. Nope, never bothered with the Peninsular crap since it's more like a "hype myth" and "luxurious" experience than really good food. Of course, cannot deny that Peninsular have way better views:) However, whatever view which we didnt have was compensated by a very roomy 6 seater area all to ourselves, with plenty of space between the separate seaters. We both love space and hate cramming or have someone next to us staring at our table so this was a perfect seating.

After having had a very good dinner experience at Brasserie @ Conrad, I thought I would give the rest of the dining spots a go. Wasnt expecting much but according to my gf who had been to a few high teas, she said this is easily one of the better High teas she had been to in HK.

The portions were good size, and the food was tasty. We picked the Asian High tea @ HK188/pp instead of the Western option (same price) that comes with a choice of coffee or tea. Since I was gunning for the Peking duck wrap, the choice was rather obvious! hahaha.

In the Asia pick, you have 2 tiers of savoury bites which includes a smoked salmon with cheese (tasty for a non cheese and smoked salmon lover),

 a sandwich which i had forgotten what it was, my peking duck wrap, a foie gra terrine over a super crispy biscuit which I really liked. The 2nd tier was a pork neck bun, an asparagus wrap, and a fried crab claw. the last tier consists of the sweets which is a red bean coconut, a Chinese jelly, a red bean glutinuous seasame seed ball and a custard puff.

Then there was a separate basket of 4 raisin scones with jam and clotted cream.

I thought overall the meal was rather good with some hit and miss. While everything was tasty, I thought the pork neck bun was a little on the chewy side and the custard bun not as soft as I would like. The scone was also not as good as the one from Island Gourmet @ Shangri-la. However, overall, I didnt have anything major to fault with and we couldnt finish everything. I couldnt even finish my sweets though I did have a few bites from each item to get an idea of what they tasted like.

The coconut red bean was nice without being overpowering nor too sweet. The osmanthus flavour jelly was surprisingly light without being sickly sweet or too bland. Both of us really like that!

We easily spent 3 hours there and time flies...all in all a good day. The only embarrassing bit?

I forgot my wallet (lol!) bleh so my gf had to pay for my share!

Heading to Japan, again

Been suffering from a bout of neck ache from stiff neck for a week now. Comes and goes. Damnit. What the hell is wrong?

Anycase, this is like the what 10th time already to Tokyo and I am still not getting sick of it.Can I get a frequent traveller card please? hahaha. Actually I aint that bad, almost all mt classmates have been to Japan more often than me.

Japan, to the Hongkongers, is like one of those magical playground nearby with with a short trip away. Which works out great for me because their love and passion for Japan results in alot of Japan imports for me, more than Singapore. Oh and its way cheaper too thanks to the shorter distance. Damn I will miss HK if I do leave...why do Singapore sounds shittier by the day with all the negative posts I read recently? Has it really slide down that badly? I was telling my partner that perhaps the people shouldnt go down so hard on the govt about those flash floods...just look at poor Bangkok...I hope their plight will ease soon!!!

back to me...Been spending, or more like wasting days and time hunting down hotel for kyoto at the last minute but it seemed impossible to find somewhere decent without breaking the bank. It was really hard work doing through trip advisor and the individual sites for location and availability check, until my dear friend  told me about hotelscombined link. Saved me soooo much effort. However after narrowing down the searches....Would I want to cough up USD$900 just for 2 days of roaming around? No not really, especially considering that I had already been there before. I like autumn foliage but not thaaaat much for the ridiculous price. Initially, was only considering Kyoto since my man hasnt been there and since we will be in Tokyo, thought will be good to just "swing by".

By the time you add up the Shinkansen and everything, I basically told my husband it was pointless, even though I had already spent good hours and effort to plan the spots to visit and routes. Oh well...

So I guess it will be down to just Tokyo and perhaps little Edo city half hour away since I have basically done all the possible citites near tokyo and this is the only one left. Instead of  Kyoto, now I have to focus all my energy on searching for good food to eat. Leave it to the hotel concierge and they will point the way to high end expensive or tourist infested hangouts.

It's a pity I couldnt remember where was the Jap place I last dine at Nishi Azabu/ Hiroo. It was good and reasonable and now I couldnt find it. Feeling shitty about it. However came up with more new searches below. Shall see if I have got time to try them...Ooo the thought of heading to Sushi Dai@Tsujiki Market is making me drool already....though I am definitely not looking forward to the 3 hours Q in line in the cold.

Dining Suggestions
- Shabusen@ Ginza
- Fukuzushi@ Roppongi
- L-Garden@Roppongi
- Katsukura
- Teyandei Izakaya @Nishi Azabu
- Ippudo Ramen@Ginza
- Kenjiro Hashida @Kachidoki for their omakase
- Uroko @Nakano station for grilled seafood
- Kitchen Tachikichi @Shibuya for their Gyoza

I canx wait to take my place to Roppongi to try Harb my fav dessert place too! I think I am getting too familiar with Roppongi now...even more than Kowloon in HK which is just across the waters....What does this say? lol!

Cross fingers no more blackout, earthquakes, radiation leaks etc while next week I am there. Looking forward to checking out Haneda airport! Japan here I come!

I HATE Google auto language display based on local IP and the adobe script error

Is there anyone else out there that is as annoyed as me with Google's arbitrary decision to FORCE people to read their websites in the local languages based on the local IP?

While it's great idea for commercial websites and retailers for their company websites, it's a BAD idea for a browser because they completely ignore the fact that when people travel and uses public computers, this decision to unilaterally force people to read a foreign language with no option to change back to ENglish is a bigotry move.

Some people say "oh u are travelling you should speak some foreign language. It's your own fault" Hey dude, SPEAKING and READING are two completely 2 different bloody matter.  What's more if it concerns security on a PC where I would not like to like traces of my actions and account id on a foreign PC. Trying to navigate into the control options is a chore. Plus, try reading Greek....it's like reading a bunch of cute shapes and sizes characters pieced together.

I remember when I was staying in Greece where the hotel provides laptop to each room for internet surfing. We were not able to "use" facebook because everything was being forced to translate back to Greek. When you try to surf and search for information, all the Greek stuff keep popping up even if you type the root google.com without the local country appendix.

When I tried to clear the history and cache, even when I manage to get into the right navigation that leads me to the control setting based on memory, it was not easy because I had to waste time going through one by one of the option until I hit jackpot. You should see more than 2 dozen of accounts of other people and their password stored in that computer because either they couldnt be bothered or they didnt know how to clear cache.

Even when I use my blog, i HATE it when they keep using Chinese instead of in the past where I can easily opt back to the English menu. Luckily I read mandarin, can you imagine if I was residing in Israel temporarily? All the navigation would have been a pain in the arse. Why did Google remove the option for us to change the language is beyond me.  I think the company is trying to provide a wrong service. Let the users choose for themselves what languages they use. PROVIDE THE DAMN OPTIONAL LANGUAGE OPTION. Stop being such an authoritarian entity.

What is even more annoying is this adobe script error that has been creeping up everywhere in the seeting and layout mode when using my MAC. Does anyone else have this problem and solved it?

New Salon by Japanese stylist formerly from Hairdo HK

Am sure many HK locals are familiar with the Japanese salon Hair-do (website) in HK. Despite some ups and downs in the initial sessions trying out various stylists, I had finally settled with Ito-san Senior Designer as my hair stylist. The thing about Hairdo salon, they aint cheap (not the most ex either) and you wont be happy if you try to go with someone below the senior level if you are particular about your haircut.

So now after close to 2 years, my stylist had left but fret not. I found out he had started his own salon still in Causeway bay! YippEEE!

One of the reason I like Ito san apart from his friendliness but not overly talkative, is that he is serious about his work, does NOT push any hair products unless you ask him for opinion. Despite reading many people complain about their curls not lasting from Hairdo (with no indication who was their stylist), Ito san did my first curl perming and it lasted over 1.5 year, and this is despite the fact that I abuse my hair alot by not blow drying it nightly as advised, I go swimming regularly, and washing my hair nightly without special shampoo. Even though the curls have significantly lessen over time now, it still has that slightly natural wave. I suppose how long your curls last also is highly dependent on your hair texture and nature, as well as how chemically damaged it is from previous treatments.

When my mum visited me in HK, I brought her to Ito and she LOVED her new haircut. Mind you, my mum is a super fussy not easy to please woman who complains alot about all the hair stylists in her long years of cutting hair. Not that her opinion should influence anyone else but I'm just saying...:)

So for those who are looking for a good Japanese hair stylist, here is Ito's new address, and no, I do not get any benefit or discount personally for recommending him. I just happen to understand the frustration of not finding a good hair stylist that doesnt dent a big hole in your pocket at haircuts starting over $600+ like some big names.

I just went for my haircut 2 days back. His current July 2013 price is ($450) for cut under him and cheaper for junior stylist but I forgot to look at the price. I did a hair treatment too which really soften my hair and it cost HK$600.

The place is definitely not fancy or done up like hairdo without the view, but its clean efficient and pleasant environment. Honestly, which is more important? The material stuff or a good stylist? I definitely love the cozy and more comfortable seating here than the stiff hard chair in Hairdo. Incidentally, I went to hairdo page and notice ALOT of senior stylist had left in this year...makes me wonder what happen but I didnt want to probe.

Meet my galfren today whom I havent seen for 2 months and she thought I had my hair permed or curled again but I told her i didnt, not since my perm 1.5years again. Heaven knows how many inches I have cut away since.This was just the layering cut that Ito san did for me and she loved it. I think this says alot of what good skills can do, creating a new look without having to shelf out hundreds of dollars.. So if this is the sort of look (more Japnese) you fancy, Ito may be the guy for you.

I should hav taken one shot just after he cut and blow dry my hair but I had forgotten being too happy. So instead this is the 3rd day, taken with my iphone after shower without dry blowing look ( without any hair product ).

(Left: Taken 1 year ago, 6 months after perm. ) 

(Right: Taken today, 1 year later with just layering cut. )

Oh! After the end of my session, Ito san even let me pick out a pair of hand made ear rings as a thank you for patronising his new salon. How thoughtful and sweet!

AR salon (Updated Jul 2013)
15/F, Circle Plaza, 499 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
( 銅鑼灣軒尼詩道499號永光中心15樓全層）
Tel: 22414600 (11am-7.30pm)
I think Monday is restday.

AR Salon Facebook (Here)

Peace out.

PS: Those who are concerned and only speaks Cantonese, Ito san also has another HK stylist Beedy who did my perm recently. See my new summer look 2012! Took this shot yesterday while having my hair done - May 2012 (Link). Pampered like a Princess !

Hairstyling sessions updates

New Short Hair! 2013, May. - Link
New Perm for my growing hair. 2013, Nov - Link

Summer hair cut. 2014, Jun - Link
Going for a overdue haircut! 2015, Jan - Link

Travels: Food in Istanbul

Before heading to Istanbul, I will confess that I didnt know what to expect for their food. I mean I know its Mediterranean food but since I tend to avoid them in Asia, quite frankly, I didnt quite know what constitute a Mediterranean diet apart from cheese and olives. So it came as a pleasant surprise when it was meat, seafood and fish galore in Istanbul! Yipppeee!

Apart from all things cheese and olive that I avoid since they are not my favorites, I must say Istanbul does their fried calamari flawlessly, grilled fish superbly, and baked or grilled lambs to die for! Steak not so great esp if you prefer yours not to be well done, and desserts are a tad too sweet for me. It's all cream and huge doses of sugar enough to crash your kidney from all the intense sugar rush! I love the Turkish Apple tea, that is until I realise they put in loads of sugar in them to balance the sourish flavor. When in Istanbul, one seemed never to go wrong with fried calamari and anything that says "Lamb". Their Icecream are great too. Nope, not refering to the touristy hawks of "turkish" icecream. I am refering to the other ice cream specialty stores. I had the most yummy ice creams here in Istanbul. Sorry Greece, you lose out on this though you have the most fantastic cakes I had ever tasted in Oia@Santorini!

One more thing that I loved in Turkey, are their bread and fruits! Their honeydews and watermelons are so freaking sweet that one would think they watered these fruits with sugared water instead of just normal water. Their breads are surprisingly soft on the inside too. My partner isnt too keen on their savory breads but I like them. Kinda remind me of curry puffs except in a bread dough.

One thing NOT to miss, their freshly squeezed orange juice! OMG! It's sooooo freaking deliciously sweet! No added sugar, just plain pure goodness. For a normal cup, it's about 2Tl in non touristy place and 5Tl otherwise. 

 One of the best place in town for cheap and great food is "Fish House" near the Sultanmeh area.

 Turkish Strawberry cream cake@Mado...not great. Think I will stick to the japanese's ones in future.

However Mado's icecream are great! 

1.75Tl perscoop cone compared to freaking 5Tl for the Turkish icecream

 This funny cake caught my eye! Looks like...Ostrich? Adam Family's Cousin I.T's cousin?

My first introduction to Apple tea

Excellent Milk Pudding with Pistachios drenched in choc sauce @Pasazades.

 Seriously yummy braised duck over rice @Pasazades. This place deserves all the good comments!

 Lamb pieces with potato crisps@Pasazades. Oh so delicious. 

Not to be missed dining spot for Ottoman Cuisine

The Turkish eat rather healthy raw vege salads too!

Since I hate pure solid cheese and yoghurt and avoid them as much as possible, this is my week's breakkie diet combined with ham and bread.

Travels: Istanbul iPhone Teaser Shots

Here's some teaser shots while waiting for the camera stuff...

Travel: 29th - 05 Oct 2011.

 View from the room. We spoiled ourselves with the "penthouse" at the top.

 "Fish Market" established to fleece tourists who didnt know what good food meant.

 Beautiful Murals uncovered on the walls of the Hagia Sophia mosque

 Lovely Stroll over to Blue Mosque within a stone's throw away. Had a freshly squeezed promengranate juice and it's arse kicking SOUR! Lol

On way to Topkapi Palace Museum and saw this, didnt know if the rug was on sale or being sun...

 Beautiful dishes on sale.

Lovely wares up close. Forgotten to get it after the palace trip.

 Plenty of beautiful tiles

 Gorgeous weather and skies. Sea View from Topkapi Palace balcony

Heading back in the Evening after a long day of walking and snapping pixs.

Travels: Conclusion of another lovely hol to Istanbul and Greece

Back from Istanbul and Greece...Yeah!! Except for the accidental and unwanted tan on my face (with bonus color on my nose & did I say obvious line from my shades? Damnit!) , neck (did I mention with an obvious round collar tan line. arrrgggh!) and upper segment of my arms (yes, clearly defined just like a damn bread toasted on one side!).

I say accidental because I jumped off the plane, hit the ground running roaming the historical sights. In all the excitement, I kinda forgot the number #1 rule of applying plenty of  sun block in that dreaded noon sun...No wonder all the Greeks seemed to have wrinkled dark skin as they get old....looks great when you are brown in your 20s, possibly hot in your 30s but darn awful like a shrivelled dehydrated prune when you hit 40s and beyond. Not to mention those darn freckles...looks cute on little Annie but not so cute on a grown woman...

So...Apart from all that sun coloring, all is well and good. Most importantly, I got back safe and sound with absolutely no unsolicited excitement from the workers strike that happened in Athens, from the general pissed Greek population over the enormous euro debt that somehow spiraled and gone brushed under the carpet for the last 10 years by everyone....

We missed the strike by a day thankfully. The strike was on the 05Oct and we had our flight from Istanbul to Athens on the 6th...When we got there and chatted with our driver, he told us it really wasnt that bad and it was typical media circus playing up the news and sensationalised the whole "incident". However judging from the loads of still uncleared rubbish that were piling up mountain high EVERYWHERE along the streets, I suppose there are still alot of angry people walking around who rather "not work" than come up with something more beneficial to the economy. No offence to the Greeks but I seriously think the lot need to have a change in their mindset and attitude. When you chat to some of the locals, they still think it's their entitlement to retire at 55, have an easy life like they had for the last 10yrs and get away from paying tax as much as possible. That's a sweeping statement and again I must emphasize, it's an impression, not a fact.

The same period I was there, a Singapore chap had gone missing in Athens for about 9 days when I got there. Apparently he had made a missed call to his fren and was never seen again. No one knew where he had gone. If only he had "check in" to facebook location as often as I did, then perhaps at least the police will know where to look for him. Right now, no one knew if he is on the mainland, or on the islands. Judging by the "attitude and efficiency" of the troopers....I dont have much hope if he is still missing up to now. He could have slipped off a cliff, fallen off into the waters and no one knows...none of the high area were barricaded...if he was robbed, I dont see a reason for killing him. It's not like its a ransom bid. I dont know...the Greek govt tried to downplay foulplay saying that the country is safe but the locals I had spoken to told me otherwise. That the streets are getting nasty with a heightened increase of mugging, deaths, murders etc because alot of people are jobless. One said her cousin had been jobless for 3 years and she rather live on the islands than in Athens because she felt unsafe. Watching Tv and seeing all those "missing person" posters, including the Singapore chap, makes you wonder the real crime rate in the state. However if you look at it in another perspective, if the Sg chap had kept to the tourist route that covered 90% of the main sights that the tickets covered, I seriously wondered how would he be attacked in broad daylight (since the attractions close at 5pm) . There are so many people there. The only way he can get attacked is if he played gungho and went roaming the city late at night by himself.

What i found a little funny was messages from my friends who kept asking me to "keep a lookout" for this missing Sg fellow. I didnt want to be rude but seriously people, if the police force, the Sg foreign affairs people and his wife are searching for him, do you think he will be like what... still sightseeing waiting to be spotted? Hello? Think for a minute right. It's not like he will turn off his phone and still be holidaying right?  In the end, I joking replied a fren "Yeah sure, if he is still sightseeing along the same sites I did while his wife and greek force are all out searching for him, then yeah sure, I might spot him."

Anycase, having been on a 2 weeks stretch between the 2 countries-cities, I have to both places have their beauty and "flaws". Generally speaking, the people in Turkey are waaay much friendlier and they dont have a sour dough face like the world owe them a living. How should I put it. In short, the Greeks I had on the streets, vendors etc had given me a feeling that they "over-prize themselves like the goose that lays golden eggs, but have attitude like a disturbed prickly porcupine, and efficiency of a slow snail." There isnt alot of smiling faces in Athens. I dont know if they are a sour lot by nature, or the sour economy has a hand in the ton of black faces I had seen. You would think that they should be happy that people are still coming in to spend $$ in their country and helping to bring in revenue...but no not really. I just wished I didnt feel like I had to constantly avoid being fleeced at every corner. Then again, most countries are such. Then again, I didnt know if I should put it down to "Some Greeks are bad in Maths" or "Some Greeks are dishonest to tourists." One has to check the prices and change very carefully...However, not all Greeks are so. I did meet nice ones, and the funniest thing? The nicest friendliest and smiley lots I met are the airport staff, esp those in charge of the Xrays. At least they crack jokes and try their "foreign" tongue abit. The people at Santorini are real nice and friendly too! Especially some of the places we ate in.Maybe it's just rather stressful to live in Athens now...

I was also joking with a fren that they probably aint getting a lot of China tourists yet because I havent been thrown the death glare from people yet. Most days, everywhere I went, they all thought I was Japanese and kept greeting me with Konichiwa -Hello/ Good afternoon. For many years now, I had been saying we are from HK. Too lazy to explain the specifics. Only some are smart enough to pick up our accents to know we really aint local HK. All of them could guess my partner being Australian but 100% are wrong in guessing I am from the States. Yup. No one guessed I am from Singapore. Terrible isnt it. Either Singapore isnt very well known, or they are stereotyping all Singaporean with the Singlish accent. What was even funnier, when the Istanbul guy heard I said, Hong Kong, he went "Jackie Chan!!!" with much excitement. Talk about successful country ambassador! I remember when I was in Santorini, the restaurant owner asked me "You speak very good English for someone from Hong Kong." I told her I really wasnt a HK local and the first thing she said was "From US?" I told her no, from Singapore. She didnt have any acknowledgement or recognition that I felt it was almost hilarious. Previously when I had said HK, she was like going Ooooo and aaaahhhhh. Guess Singapore is still relatively viewed as "nobody" here in Europe....well maybe except our ex-colonial master the Brits.

Some people I encountered, also do not read airport signs very well, in their own language. Take for example, there were 2 lines at passport control. One says "EU citizens and Locals", the other says "Non Citizens and other passports." Signs were written in Greek, English and something else. The EU passport line was direct and short , while the Non citizens was a round loop and longer. Everyone made a beeline to the EU line esp the China people who obviously want to be "first" in everything. I was the only one who went to the non citizen line. When the couple before me cleared my counter, I approached the counter only to be "told off" by this girl from the Q next to me, who loudly stake her claim "EXCUSE ME, I am here FIRST." I turned to her and replied "Sorry but you are in the WRONG Q." She was either trying to act stupid or suddenly English is an Alien language and she repeated "You are behind me." I repeated to her as if she was slow witted child "Too bad, YOU are in the wrong passport line." She was about to argue but the officer told her she was wrong, waved her off and validated my claim. She looked shocked. She started to speak in Greek thinking that will win her some favors and brownie points but the guy just shook her head and pointed to my line, which now has a long line of people waiting because the airport staff realise alot of travellers are not good at reading simple instructions and put them back in the right line... 3 cheers to the airport staff! Meanwhile that gal looked lost and tried to say something more. Meanwhile, I just calmly handed my passport over without further ado. There is no arguing with a fool. Seeing she wasnt going to budge, the officer in the EU and citizens Q decided to "take" her passport.

Turkey was all great until you try to buy a Turkish handmade carpet. If you want to see master of con at work, and how sweet those serpent tongues can be, go experience a rug buying in Istanbul, You will be amazed....at how a complete stranger can try to swine you with every possible trick and lies, and claiming the huge 60% discount from like what, a 300% mark up profit? I wasnt really keen to buy one but reading all the writeup, I thought I would go experience it myself. Ha! It was funny. I have to admit they have BEAUTIFUL carpets of varying workmanship and designs and colours. All good if you have wads of cash to spare and burn, but if you want a decent price rug....forget buying it because you will be certain to be ripped off unless you dont care and you are truly in love. Like what the sales person tried to say to me, "it's a relationship, when you fall in love, you are in love and you need to be together... and they dont depreciate in value only increase..." yeah rite if I believe those crap.

It was funny when he tried to sell it as an heirloom and trying to convince me he was selling me at a price like I am his Turkish sister. Hahaha!! I was laughing so hard inside and trying to keep my face straight. He was trying to convince me that the carpet I liked was worth US$12K, that's after 60% discount. You believe that fellow? We asked someone who used to work in a carpet industry in Turkey and he said for the size...it's probably worth $4-5k.

I felt like telling the sales guy, Sorry buddy, I aint no heiress or countess for a need for such expensive stuff. I dont have a freaking huge castle or $10million mansion to go with it either. Plus, saving them for my kids? That's even more impossible. If I have any kids, I will leave absolutely nothing to them. No debts no money. If they want something expensive and valuable, go make your own money buddy coz you aint getting any from papa and mama. Good thing no one is my kid huh. Lol! In the end, I got out of the place explaining I need to think about it. He knew he lost me there. You should see his crest fallen face. Seriously....the change was so apparent....

So apart from that interesting carpet escapade, Istanbul is really a lovely place. Warm people and for a Muslim state, it really was rather secular. The only thing that really reminds you that you are in a Muslim state is the Mosques are dotted all over and hearing the prayers at fixed intervals, and of course no sale of pork. However, bars aplenty and no strict Muslim practices like those in Middle East or Malaysia. In istanbul, one feels the tolerance of the Muslims of other practices and that is great. Makes me respect these open minded people here. Roaming the sights do make me want to tell off some Westerners. It IS a known rule (common knowledge) to wear a headscarf or something to cover the head when u are inside an active mosque when praying sessions are in on. There are English signs all over the place but some women just choose to openly IGNORE and gave no care or whatsoever. They do as they please. The irony, it isnt that they didnt have something to cover their head with. They had the damn scarf on their freaking necks. Does it make me want to strangle them? Yeah it did because I couldnt understand why it was so difficult for them to just respect the local practices. And there are English signs that says "NO FLASH" yet these westerners just didnt care. No wonder some locals want to yell at these selfish ignorant nincompoops to stop.

When one travels, we see and meet all sort of people. I suppose that's what makes the trip good, great or bad. These 2 weeks had been great. The weather up till Athens was fantastic though it really rain on my parade in Santorini. Still. Rain or shine, I had an enjoyable but tiring time. I finally got to Athens after all these years of think about it. I had never gotten the chance to join my classmates for the Europe Art Tour back in schooldays, and so it felt great to be finally able to do it now, stepping on ground zero where all the real stuff and history sites are.

I should load my pictures but that will probably take forever...maybe I should just share some of my iphone teaser shots first before I consolidate my camera shots.  Have fun waiting!