The Cake Club, Bonifacio High Street

I was craving ensaymadas, the special ones that can be bought either at The Bakeshop, Coffee.com or at Diamond Hotel. Micah and I actually went hotel hopping late at night as I was on the look out for them special kind. Sadly, Coffee.com ran out while Diamond Hotel's lobby restaurant was closed.

This led me to head to The Cake Club by Diamond Hotel in Bonifacio High Street a week after.

It was pretty quiet when we got there.

I initially planned on ordering just desserts so I can try a lot but Em-J wanted to have his meal first which also led me to order a meal for myself. 

Em-J decided on the Baked Salmon on Risotto (455 PHP, 14 SGD) while I had the Grilled Reuben (310 PHP, 9.5 SGD). I loved both our orders, the flavors were very subtle and I couldn't stop eating.

We also got ourselves an order of truffle fries (180 PHP, 6 SGD) which we can't do without anytime we see one on the menu. 

By the time we got to our desserts, we were already full. 

I had the cheesecake while Em-J had the chocolate cake. I, maybe, had my hopes too high but the desserts were just so so. I did like the intricate detail on the chocolate cake.  (Desserts at 250 PHP, 7.5 SGD each)

I guess, I'll have to come back to try the other non-traditional desserts. And what about my ensaymada? I ended up not getting one because I was too full, I couldn't bear to think of ordering anything extra. 

 

The Cake Club

UG Level, East Superblock

7th Avenue cor 29th Street

Bonifacio Global City

Taguig City

Last Day in Hong Kong

I woke up early on our last day in Hong Kong as I wanted to look for other places that serve Chinese breakfast. To my dismay, while the shops close till late, they also open quite late but all is not lost as I enjoyed my time walking around the vibrant streets.

I went back to the hotel and had macarons for breakfast, we chanced upon Ladurée the other night in Harbour City Mall  and waited it out to get the delectable treats. Surprisingly, the macarons were really affordable. I actually don't remember how much a piece is but it was about 3 SGD, 100 PHP.

At nearly 11, Em-J and I queued to have an authentic Hong Kong diner's experience at Ho Hung Kee. It's a quaint restaurant, no fuss, eat-and-go style. It was fun watching everyone at the restaurant at work.  I figured if I worked there, I wouldn't be able to maintain the kind of energy they have as they're very fast, it reminded me of like Flo of Diner Dash.

As we were flying out that day, we decided to just stay within the area where I saw this cool G-Star store.

We fell in love with the egg tarts from Tai Cheong Bakery that we tried when we were at the Peak, good thing they have a store nearby so we trooped over there to have our fill. 

We also spent a lot of time in GOD as they have lots of really cool stuff. It doesn't look it from outside but the store is huge! We all day dreamed of living in Hong Kong and filling our flats with the stuff from the store.

The nearby Lee Gardens where the Apple store is also had Hollister. I loved their video wall outside and how the store is designed.

After making a few quick stops at the Goldfish place and having a quick bite, it was time for us to leave.

Their airport is huge and had an amazing ceiling. Tip: If you're catching your flight in Terminal 2 like we did, make sure to eat before clearing immigration as there are not a lot of choices once inside.

Ladurée

3F Gateway Arcade

Harbour City, Hong Kong

Ho Hung Kee

2 Sharp Street East

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

+852 2577 6558

Tai Cheong Bakery

42 Jardine's Bazaar

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

+852 3188 9511

GOD

Leighton Centre, Sharp Street East

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Hollister

2F Hysan Place

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Quick Trip to Macau

As Macau is just one ferry ride away from Hong Kong, we decided to pay it a quick visit. We were most excited about visiting the hotels and casinos there so we booked the Cotaijet ferry as it docks near the casinos at the Taipa terminal as opposed to the other ferries.

We booked our tickets the night before so we headed to the Sheung Wan terminal in Hong Kong just 45 minutes prior to our departure to claim our tickets and clear immigration. The terminal is connected to the MTR station so you won't get lost. Try not to be extra early as there is nothing to do at the departure gate. If you're hungry, grab a quick bite outside as there's also no place to buy food inside. 

The ferry looked new and the seats are quite spacious. I managed to get a glimpse of the first class seats and there's really not a lot of difference from the regular seats so save your money. 

The ferry ride lasted an hour. Upon exiting the terminal, we were greeted by different free shuttles that would take you to any one of the major hotels along the Cotai strip. Take your pick! Naturally, being the most famous of all, we boarded the shuttle going to the Venetian. The shuttle ride took just about 10 minutes.

The Venetian is huge but we didn't marvel at it as much as we thought we would. I guess, from looking at a lot of photos, it has become all too familiar.

We grabbed a quick bite at Fat Burger and I stared in surprise at how they prepared our burgers using bare hands. You could say that I'm already a bit wary as I don't want to experience the ordeal that we had during our Bangkok trip.

We went outside and headed to Conrad just across. Their lobby is even more impressive.

They also have this huge space that could be described as a shrine to whoever that god is.

We also met the cutest and playful gingerbread man.

We then hailed a cab to take us to the Ruins of St. Paul. It was relatively near as it took us less than 30 minutes to get there.

By the way, we passed by MGM hotel on our way to St. Paul and I must say, they have the coolest hotel facade that I have ever seen.

As we were pressed for time, we didn't get to visit any other tourist spots as they were out of the way. The last place we checked out was Galaxy Macau and their lobby blew us away.

We took the shuttle back to Taipa ferry terminal and we cleared immigration in less than 10 minutes so if you're heading back to Hong Kong, don't rush. Allot a maximum of 30 minutes and you should be fine. 

Exploring Hong Kong: Asia's World City (Day 2)

The next day, I skipped the hotel breakfast and headed back to Cafe de Coral to sample their breakfast menu.

We then passed by the Apple store which was just walking distance from our hotel.  The people lining up outside were waiting for their chance to get their hands on the iPad mini which was just being launched that day.

I loved how spacious their store is, there are three floors of store space similar to the one pictured below.  They are also changing the way they do business as they processed our transaction using an iPhone right there in the middle of the store.

As part of our itinerary for the day, we wanted to take the Star Ferry to see Hong Kong's coastline. 

The actual ride is quick at just about 7 minutes but the view is spectacular.  I was in awe the whole ferry ride.

There are two terminals where you can take the ferry:

Wan Chai which takes you to Tsim Sha Tsui 

Tsim Sha Tsui which takes you to Central

Tip: Board the ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui as the terminal in Wan Chai is quite far from the MTR.  It was a good 15-minute walk to reach it.

There is a Jollibee in Central near BDO and that's where we had lunch as Em-J was craving chicken joy. To get to Jollibee, follow the walkway to Connaught Road, get down as soon as you see BDO and you'd see the store in an alley near it.

Elements mall in Kowloon was our next stop as Em-J wanted to check out H&M. 

We then proceeded to Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, Exit J.  It is essentially just a boardwalk which provides stunning views of the coastline.  We didn't pay much attention to their Walk of Fame as we didn't know their celebrities.

When we couldn't take the cold anymore, we hurriedly looked for a place to stop which led us to Harbour City.  We didn't know where to eat and my feet was already killing me so we ended up in Food Republic. I didn't know there were tons of great restaurants there. :( Oh well. 

We ended the night shopping in Mongkok.  I chanced upon this interesting experiment of free conversation in the middle of the busy street.

Wilson also queued for this stall's pretty popular curry fish balls. 

What's great about the city is that shops are open till very late, photo below was taken at around 10:30PM and the streets were still bustling.  

Star Ferry

www.starferry.com.hk

Jollibee Hong Kong

G/B Eurotrade Center

13-14 Connaught Rd.

Central, Hong Kong

Elements

1 Austin Road West

Kowloon, Hong Kong