Hong Kong 2013 Day 4: To Hong Kong Disneyland

Day 4: 2 November 2013 (Sat)

The last 2 days were the most anticipated days for this trip and the main reason we were in Hong Kong - Hong Kong Disneyland!

We had been thinking which is the best way of transport to go Disneyland from our hotel without a taxi. Looking at the MTR map, we could take the hotel free shuttle bus to drop off at Prince Edward MTR, then travel by MTR northwards to Lai King interchange, switch to Tung Chung Line to Sunny Bay station, and then finally transfer to Disneyland Resort Line. That sounds like a long and troublesome journey especially with the young kids and our luggages.

I figured out another easier way, that was to take the airport express shuttle bus (which we took when we arrived on the first day) to Kowloon Station, followed by Tung Chung Line to Sunny Bay station, and then finally to Disneyland Resort Line. The only worry was, we were not going to the airport and whether if we were allowed to board the shuttle bus without a return ticket. We decided to try out anyway. Luckily, nobody checked us. :)

Here is the Kowloon Station where we transferred to Tung Chung Line.

Boarding the train towards Sunny Bay station.

If you are going to Hong Kong Disneyland, I recommend you to at least take 1 train trip on the Disneyland Resort Line. It will be a wonderful experience. Because the trains are specially designed with Disney theme!

The blue seats are cushioned. Quite crowded on a weekend morning.

Mickey mouse handles.

Disney characters displays.

Mickey Mouse windows

Seriously, the train trip was so short that I didn't even have enough time to take photos and we already reached the station. Lol!

As this would be our last MTR trip, we returned all our Octopus cards here. While waiting, took photos of the entrance of Disneyland, which is just outside the station (although it was still a long walk to the ticketing counter inside).

Before entering Disneyland, we still needed to go to our hotel to deposit the luggage as it was still too early for check-in. This was where we took the free resort shuttle bus that travels between Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Hollywood Hotel and the Disneyland Resort.

Next: Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel

School Holidays Special: KitKat and M&Ms Chocolate Cake

It's the March school holidays this week. I baked this KitKat and M&Ms Chocolate Cake yesterday to 'celebrate' the break. (Actually I prefer no school holidays, less noise at home, haha!) Well, the real reason is, I wanted to try making this cake so badly after seeing this cake everywhere online and at some bakery shops too. And I'm sure the chocoholics at home, including me, will love this cake very much. In fact, this cake is so easy to make that I will encourage you to bake and decorate it with your kids (if u have) during this school holidays!

Step 1: Make a chocolate cake

You can use any recipes that you prefer. I'm using a chocolate chiffon cake recipe from Carol.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

4 egg yolks
15g sugar
25g vegetable oil
45ml milk
50g cake flour
25g cocoa powder

4 egg whites
65g sugar
5ml lemon juice

Bake 160 deg C, 35-40 minutes

This cake is baked in a 8 inch round pan in the book. But I recommend a 7 inch or even 6 inch cake pan to make the cake taller, as the kitkat chocolate is quite long. Use a removable-base pan. Invert immediately after removing from the oven (just like baking a chiffon cake) and let it cool completely before slicing the cake into 3 even layers.

Adapted from：烘焙新手必备的第一本书

Step 2: Make chocolate ganache

100g dark chocolate
100g dairy cream

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put in a bowl.
Heat dairy cream in a saucepan until just about to boil (when you start seeing some bubbles).
Pour the cream into the bowl of chocolate, set aside for a few minutes. Then stir the mixture until chocolate dissolves and a smooth ganache is formed. Leave it to cool and slightly thicken.

Spread the ganache between the cake slices and all around the cake.

Step 3: Decorate the cake

Place KitKat all around the cake and then pour as much M&M's as you want on top of the cake. Chill in the fridge for a few hours for the ganache to set.

Step 4: Slice and eat!

Slice, serve and eat!

Hong Kong 2013 Day 3: Street Shopping and Flower Market

Day 3: 1 November 2013 (Fri)

Our 3rd day was supposed to be a relaxing day. We were not planning any places to visit as we wanted to save the kids energy for Disneyland for the last 2 days.

So after the dim sum, we went on separate ways. Me and my mum continued to walk around the streets in Mongkok. As I was saying about the covered walkway, here's more information about it. 2 maps here, sorry, I'm a map person cos I have no sense of directions without a map. Haha!

See the green covered walkway in the map? Our hotel is just beside Grand Century Place which is a shopping mall and also linked to the MongKok East MTR Station. From our hotel entrance, we need to turn left, walk through the shopping mall to the covered walkway. The walkway links all the way to Mongkok MTR. In betweeen, there are several exits. So we can easily access to all the famous streets like Fa Yuen Street and Tong Choi Street for eating and shopping. It is quite a good location, except for its distance to the main MTR line, about 800m away. Maybe a bit tiring for kids or elderly if they walk too much.

We got out of one of the exits along the walkway and spotted a local market (I hope I got the exit in the map correct). Mum bought some dried food products here.

We found a quite famous local pastries shops along Fa Yuen Street.

From the HappyCow website, Ones Vegetarian (I think it has now either changed or renamed to Greenfeel Vegetarian) is just somewhere near we stayed. Mum settled her meals quite often here.

Greenfeel Vegetarian
145 G/F, Sai Yee Street, Mong Kok (nearest MTR: Mong Kok, Exit B3)

This fried bee hoon tasted so delicious!

Her dinner

We went back to our room for a short break in the afternoon. Part of the stuffs we bought in supermarket and along the streets to snack in the hotel room.

Around evening time, we were out again. My nieces found an outdoor playground at the 5th floor of Grand Century Place. It is just outside the food court. Too bad I didn't explore this shopping mall. While they were having fun, me and mum visited the Flower Market. From our hotel entrance, turn right and go down the escalator. You will see a main road, the flower market is just opposite the main road. The bird market is there too, but we skipped that.

Flower market

The view of our hotel from the flower market.

Photos of the Flower Market, we got some seeds there.

Continued our street shopping along Fa Yuen Street and Tung Choi Street for the rest of the night. More street food along the way.

Next: To Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong 2013 Day 3: Traditional Dim Sum

I better quickly continue my Hong Kong trip before I forget!

Day 3: 1 November 2013 (Fri)

So, after a good night's rest, we started Day 3 with a Traditional Dim Sum breakfast brunch actually. :) From our hotel, we walked towards Nathan Road through the covered walkway which links from Grand Century Place (beside our hotel) all the way to Mongkok MTR. Will talk about the walkway in the next post.

View of the morning street from the walkway.

We walked along Nathan Road, looking for a good place to eat. Spotted this London Restaurant 倫敦大酒樓 and decided to try it. The place was quite crowded, considering it was a working day morning. The place seemed to be full of locals. I wonder why they no need to work? Or is it their culture to yum cha every morning? Anyway, I love this kind of old school dim sum restaurant where you can order your hot dim sum from the push carts or trolleys.

Grabbed a couple of food. Not sure if all the photos were taken as all of us were busy eating! Let the photos do the talking!

The HK Char Siew Bao. I don't really like to eat red red char siew bao in Singapore. But this HK one is an exception!

The Rice Roll was so smooth!

Falling in love with the Radish cake here in Hong Kong. So smooth and QQ!

The Steamed Egg Cake (马来糕）was ok. We prefered Tim Ho Wan's.

Egg tarts were so yummy! Flaky skin and super smooth custard.

Saw many people ordering, so we took this too. Taste like steamed milk pudding in coconut. Nice!

Next: Street Shopping and Flower Market

Aspiring Bakers Last Theme - Rainbow and Ombre Party!

If you have not read my previous announcement, YES, Aspiring Bakers is ending this month. Let's not be sad. We want to end our last theme with the HAPPIEST food on Earth - Rainbow and Ombre Party!

Photo from The Baking Biatch

We welcome any bakes/desserts that are rainbow or ombre (with at least 4 colours). Cookies, cakepops, cakes, tarts, cheesecakes, pushpops, jellies, agar agar are all good, anything that you can think of! Sounds good?

If you have been waiting to try but still procrastinating, this is it! Make it once and you will be addicted. If you have no ideas or inspiration, check our our host's blog - She has plenty of recipes and tutorials to get you started.

Do join us for our last party! Looking forward to a colourful month!