Made in China Restaurant at Beijing Grand Hyatt

Made in China Restaurant
http://beijing.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/MadeinChina.html

I have often considered Peking duck to be my death row meal (it changes at times but usually bounces back to this) but I am picky. In Australia, even a half arsed Peking duck gets my mouth watering because any roast duck is better than no roast duck. In China, I've tasted a spectrum between "awesomely authentic" and "wannabe" and the difference is huge. Knowing how good it can potentially be, I feel like it's a huge missed opportunity to get anything less than perfection when ordering roast duck in China.

Needless to say, in Beijing the expectations were even higher. As a food blogger, it often surprises people to hear that when I go traveling, I don't research restaurants I want to try. The reason is that as much as I love food, the stress of finding addresses in unfamiliar cities and having to get there by a certain time is just not worth the trouble for me. I also think great overseas food experiences can be had by simply trying their street food or casual eateries.

Tibet and China 8 - Beijing

Beijing

I felt almost ashamed to be a Chinese born who visited China almost every year but had never been to Beijing or seen the Great Wall. This was all amended at this holiday and it was well worth the wait.

Summer palace

We were driven to a section of the Great Wall that was about 2hrs from Beijing. As a result, it wasn't too crowded and we had a great time exploring. I did not expect the Great Wall to be so hilly but it was. What a work out!

Tibet and China 7 - Xi'An

Xi'An

I wasn't really looking forward to our stay in Xi'An because at other parts of our trip I found all the historical and cultural sites to be the most boring. Generally when I'm traveling I'm most enamored with natural sites. My attention span is too finicky for learning new things.

Tibet and China 6 - Chongqing and Yangtze Cruise

Chongqing and Yangtze River Cruise 

Even though we didn't directly enter Sichuan Province, we had more than a small taste of Sichuan cuisine. It's a very popular style of food within China and globally and as fans of spicy flavours, Marc and I found ourselves gravitating towards Sichuan restaurants quite often.

Hot pot buffet

Tibet and China 5 - Guilin and Yangshuo

Guilin and Yangshuo

Elephant trunk hill, the landmark of Guilin

By this point of the trip we were bouncing from amazing scenic location to amazing scenic location. Guilin has to be The Highlight of our entire holiday for me.

The scenery along the Li River and what we were immersed in bike riding around Yangshuo was nothing short of breathtaking. Everywhere we looked was right out of a Chinese painting.

Tibet and China 4 - Kunming

Kunming

Our last stop in Yunnan Province was its capital, Kunming. This city is a giant melting pot of various ethnic minorities and mainstream Chinese culture. Our stay in Kunming was short but I really enjoyed it.

The main site we visited was the stone forest. This all-natural spread of rock formations was unreal. We climbed to a high vantage point and spotted artsy rock shards as far as the eye could see. It was like being dropped into a life sized bonsai-style mountain range.

Tibet and China 3 - Lijiang

Lijiang

Our next stop in the Yunnan Province ended up being one of my favourite throughout our entire holiday. My ideal kind of holiday location involves stunning natural scenery, sunshine and delicious food. Lijiang ticked all of the above.

Lijiang in Chinese means "beautiful river" and refers to the Yangtze River which runs through it. Aside from sites like the Tiger Leaping Gorge (we saw it from the Shangrila side, not the Lijiang side) and the first bend of the Yangtze River, Lijiang has some amazing mountains and lakes.

Tibet and China 2 - Shangrila

Shangrila County

Going into this trip, we didn't know much about Shangrila. Isn't it a fictional location? Wiki tells me that Shangrila County in China used to be called Zhongdian but was renamed in 2001 after the land from James Hilton's novel 'Lost Horizon' to promote tourism.

Songzanlin Monestary

It was originally mapped as part of Tibet but was reallocated as part of Yunnan province, again to increase tourism. The point being that visitors to Shangrila could go on a basic Chinese visa and not have to apply for the pesky Tibet permit.

Tibet and China 1 - Lhasa

Lhasa

I can't explain why, nor do I recall a reason for this but I've wanted to go to Tibet ever since I was a young child. I think the root of this desire is something as simple as looking at a postcard of the Potala Palace and thinking "this is the most stunning building I've seen in my entire life. I must visit in person!"

View out of our car on the ride to Lhasa from the airport

This last holiday, I finally got the opportunity to head to Lhasa. Tibet is one of those places we feel is important to visit while we're young and fit because the altitude can be an issue. We had been planning to travel around China as part of our honeymoon and geographically, it made sense to tag Tibet on to the trip. It's not very straight forward obtaining a permit to enter Tibet but thanks to our travel agency everything was sorted in time.

Back home... China and Tibet in review

China and Tibet in Review

It was so hard getting back on this keyboard to start putting up posts. I have a severe case of post holiday blues. When you go from 4 blissful weeks of no work, waking up whenever you want, eating whatever you want and looking at amazing sites to the mundane reality of home, work and routine, it's a huge decline in quality of life.

This morning, I was unpacking my China suitcase and started feeling teary at the thought that the last time I wore certain items of clothing was when I was in Xi'an, or Beijing, i.e. when my life was still enjoyable. In any case, there's no point dwelling on the past. I'm sure one day I'll have the time and money to go on another adventure... maybe in the next 50 years. :( :(

Eurotrip 16 - Turkey

Turkey

Istanbul

Dear Turkey,
You were the biggest surprise of my trip!

I plugged Turkey onto the end of our holiday with the dual intention of attending a Dental Congress there. It gave me an excuse to spend 4 nights in Istanbul and I was more curious than excited about this stop.

From an expectation and enjoyment ratio, Turkey blew me away. I wish I could have spent more time there. I wish we had a whole month there. I wish I wish I wish.

Eurotrip 2 - Shanghai and London

Shanghai and London

Shanghai

It's a bittersweet situation for me because when I was younger, I would go back to Shanghai almost once a year, if not once every 2 years. It was like a second home and in some regard, I still see it that way. Now that I'm older and more world-conscious (and my parents are no longer funding my holidays), I feel a sense of responsibility to myself to explore more of the rest of the globe. Luckily, on this particular trip, I didn't have to compromise. Marc and I stopped off for a week in Shanghai before flying direct to London.

Xiao long bao from Old Town

I have written a bundle of Shanghainese food posts in the past so I don't really need to repeat myself. For most of our stay, Marc and I just ate. We didn't really have anything on the agenda but we were staying right in the city centre so it was easy enough to walk out onto the street and spot a new place to eat.

Eurotrip 1 - Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau

Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau

Singapore

Both Marc and I had been to Singapore before, even once with each other (recounted here). It's my favourite stopover linking Australia with the rest of the world for several reasons. Firstly, Singapore Airlines is one of the best in terms of service, food and comfort. Next, Changi Airport is a delight to roam through if you choose not to check out the rest of the country. Finally, if you plan an overnight stopover or even better, 3-4 days, the country is so compact that you can fit a lot of touristy business in.

Bar Stories

We only had a one night stay on this occasion so we kept it simple. Marc has a couple of good friends in Singapore who took us around. Something that left a really strong impression on me was the menu-less cocktail bars. We went to two, one called Bar Stories and the other called Maison Ikkoku. The two varied in terms of style and layout but the concept carried through. Rather than leafing through a booklet of cocktail options, the bartender asks you for input:

Do you like sweet or sour?
Fresh or creamy?
What kind of fruit do you like?

Thailand 7 - The Fifth Food Avenue at MBK

The Fifth Food Avenue at MBK

My last Thailand post commemorates the last significant food experience in Thailand. Kat and I were smart in deciding to do our shopping at the end of our trip so that we weren't carting x kg of clothing and souviniers through the hilltribe tour. I saved the infamous Mahboonkrong shopping centre (also known as MBK) for the last day. Literally the last day. As in, we went straight from MBK to our hotel, did a quick repack and cabbed it to the airport.

I had JUST finished lunch at SUMO restaurant on the bottom floor (I ordered AUSTRALIAN beef soba noodle soup at a Japanese restaurant in Thailand; isn't globalization grand?) when I walked into a Wifi zone and Marc got a hold of me. He informed me that I MUST go to the food court at MBK. He said quote "if there was a food court like it in Brisbane, I'd never eat anywhere else". Well, that certainly sold it to me.

I whizzed up the multiple sets of escalators to the 5th floor. Only today, upon Googling the shopping centre, have I discovered that there are actually 2 food halls at MBK. There is the 5th Food Avenue on level 5, which is the one I went to, and another on the 6th floor. I'm not sure which one he meant but I have a feeling it's the 'other' one. I'm not going to ask in case I'm right... because then I'll just feel disappointed.

In any case, level 5 was awesome too.

The The Fifth Avenue is known for its international cuisine. The set up is like so: you get a swipe card when you enter. There are many food booths with their own menus featuring their own style of food. There is shared seating for all the food booths. When you order food, you hand over your swipe card and essentially have the charges put on a tab. Once you finish eating, you exit through a pay counter, hand over your swipe card and they deal the damage.

I was already full from my lunch but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to try at least a few things, enough for me to write a blog post about. See how commited I am?

There was ALOT of food available. I spotted dessert, juice, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Indian, Malaysian, grilled meat, seafood and much more.

I settled for 2 main food items and a crepe for dessert.

My first main was an Indian platter from the Indian food booth. It was a set meal with rice, naan, a piece of tandoori chicken, butter chicken and some vegetable dhal.

 Indian platter - with tandoori chicken, naan, rice, butter chicken and dhal 

The tandoori chicken was a tad cool and tough but the naan and curries were great. What surprised me was the dhal. I'm not usually too enthused about dhal but this one as packed with flavor. I may even go so far as to say that it surpassed the butter chicken in taste.

The other main I chose was from the Vietnamese food booth. I went with a platter of different spring rolls. I really liked this platter because it contained portions of deep fried spring roll, fresh spring roll and even steamed spring roll, which I hadn't seen before.

Mixed spring roll platter - with fresh spring rolls, steamed rolls and deep fried spring rolls

A couple of dipping sauces were provided too. The guy serving me at the Vietnamese counter was just the friendliest soul ever!

I saw 2 dessert booths around and settled for one. I went with a plain crepe with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce.

Crepe - with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce

I think the crepe was just a pre-cooked one that was microwaved. This was a disappointment.

The Fifth Food Avenue was a ball! I wish I had gone there on an empty stomach. I liked the system; it seemed to work well. There was a bar inside too so alcohol is also an option. Next time I'm in Bangkok I'd like to check out level 6 too.

Thailand 6 - Eve Restaurant for Buffet Breakfast

Eve Restaurant
http://www.hansarbangkok.com/eve

Hotel breakfast buffets are one of the greatest perks to staying at a nice hotel. Our first morning at Hansar was limited because we had to leave for a day tour to the Tiger Temple. What was impressive was that Eve (the restaurant where buffet breakfast was served) didn't open until after we had to leave for the tour. I was starving and offered to pay for breakfast from Cafe Boca but the lady at the counter announced "no! I can't let you pay" and made a quick phonecall before inviting us into Eve. They opened early just for us!

We had a rushed breakfast that morning where I scoffed my face and absorbed in the luscious array of food around me. I started queueing up items in a "must try tomorrow" list.

The next morning, we had the luxury of a slow, relaxed breakfast. Much better! I stuffed myself silling trying a bit of everything. Below is a combination of food I had over the 2 days.

Eve had a few islands of food. What drew my eye first were the cakes and danishes. Adjacent to that was the selection of breads (with obligatory conveyor belt toaster), a cereal bar and fresh juice.

The island in the centre of the restaurant housed fresh fruit, cold cuts and cheese, hot Asian-style dishes (many of which seemed suitable for lunch/dinner) and a customized porridge section.

A couple of popular breakfast items were curiously absent: bacon, sausages and eggs. What Eve offered instead was to cook these fresh to order.

Ham and cheese omelet

On the first morning, I ordered a ham and cheese omelet. It came with a couple of potato nuggets and some ketchup (I added the hash brown myself). Despite the perfect cooked-from-a-machine appearance, it didn't taste half bad. The next morning, I went with the eggs benedict. That was pretty good too.

Watermelon, pineapple and papaya

The fruit was top notch, but I could say that for almost any food establishment in Thailand. I guess it's just a country that is blessed with great fruit!

Dahl and roti, pandan chicken, stir-fried mushrooms and rice noodles

I dabbled in the Asian hot food section just to try the different things. The dahl and roti were quite nice; overall, the dishes were tasty but much too heavy for me to have at breakfast.

Walnut bread, mini choc croissant and waffle with maple syrup

My favorite offerings at Eve by far were the bakery items. The banana bread was superb. I think I'm something of a banana bread coinnoseur and this was amongst the best I ever had. I think I had 2 mini slabs each morning I was there.

 Banana bread, mini choc croissand and custard danish

The mini chocolaite croissants were also divine. In fact, I believe it features on 2 of my photos. I discovered these on my second morning and regretted missing out on them the first morning. My favorite bread was the walnut rye.

Eve Restaurant had a solid selection of breakfast items. It isn't the biggest hotel breakfast buffet that I've experienced, nor the most exuberant. The standard of food was above average and in my opinion, the bakery items were a standout.

Thailand 5 - Cafe Boca for Lunch

Cafe Boca
http://www.hansarbangkok.com/cafe_boca

This post is significant because it marks the first proper Western food I had in Thailand, after nearly a week of abstinance, as well as my first real coffee throughout the entire trip. A week of no coffee is not an easy feat for me! I suppose I did have a couple of foul hotel offerings along the way (boiled black water in a pot) that helped me along. Not great but still caffeine.

Kat and I checked into Hansar and we felt like we had stepped into someone else's lives. That is, lives of other people who were more famous, rich and successful. If that seems like an exaggerated reaction to checking into a 5 star hotel, bear in mind that we had just finished a hilltribe trekking tour where seated toilets and hot water were a luxury we dared not even dream of.

The transition from wooden hut to Hansar is somewhat a shock to the system. We were upgraded to the Vertigo Suite and even given a guided tour through our suite. I won't go on about how amazing our living quarters were, to avoid sounding like a hotel rep. Suffice to say I HIGHLY recommend Hansar for accomodation in Bangkok.

We were 2 hungry girls and couldn't wait to head out blindly for food (traffic is awful so things that are close by can still be over an hour away). The easy solution was to check out the cafe downstairs, which happened to be Cafe Boca.

I was enticed by the menu yet apprehensive. It was refreshing to see items like sandwiches and paninis because that was what I had been craving the past few days. However, lots of Asian eateries claim to have 'sandwiches' but what you get is a couple of slices of sweet bread with a mayo-ladden filling.

Latte

I ordered a latte to start with. Happiness and joy! Despite its strange appearance, it tasted very much like a proper latte!! I was ecastatic. I think I dissolved into a seat a bit. I realize I sound like a coffee addict and uh, whatever! That I may be.

Boca club sandwich -  with slow cooked chicken, smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, egg and tomatoes on wholegrain bread

Kat chose a Boca club sandwich for lunch. It was a tall, handsome sandwich with layers of stuff. I loved the look of it, that's for sure!

Roast beef hot panini -  with goats cheese, sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onion

My own pick was the roast beef panini. It was DELICIOUS. Not only was it a proper sandwich, I would have been impressed with this at any fancy cafe in Australia. The combination of beef, caramelized onion, mushrooms, mustard and goats cheese was just the right amount of familiar and interesting. I'm starting to love anything with goats cheese these days.

We were so satisfied with our meal at Boca that we had lunch there again the next day.

Chicken sandwich - with slow cooked chicken supreme, onion, vine-ripened tomato and aioli on multigrain bread

This time, I copied Kat and ordered a sandwich. I went with the slow cooked chicken filling. Again, it was a great sandwich. Each component was fresh and tasty and it all just came together perfectly. Satisfying and not at all stodgy. The chips were perfect too - golden and crunchy.

Bread basket with butter

Kat went for something a bit different this time, a caesar salad. Interestingly, it came with a bread basket. We didn't really understand how the bread rolls/sticks and butter went with the caesar salad but we happily munched on them all the same.

Traditional caesar salad - with romaine lettuce, bacon, parmesan cheese and dressing

The salad itself actually arrived a bit after the bread. It looked like a work of art with a sculpture-like piece of garlic toast balanced on top.

Gang buad fak thong - golden pumpkin in coconut syrup

I finished my lunch with a morsel of dessert. There were a few that sounded good to me but in the end, I went with the pumpkin in coconut syrup. It was a simple dessert with tender pumpkin pieces in a creamy, sweet sauce. It was delicious but way too sweet for me to finish the whole thing. One taste was enough.

I should point out that Boca also serves Thai food (with a modern spin). I really wanted to give some of those dishes a go too but we simply ran out of time. I thought Cafe Boca delivered high standards of simple, Western-style cafe cuisine. The sandwiches we had were all wonderful and the service was warm and friendly too.