Weekend Picnic at Inspiration Lake

Finally! We've found a patch of grass we can sit on in Hong Kong! We were so happy it didn't rain yesterday, we had our picnic with Joe, Athena and baby Alice at Inspiration Lake.


The place is beautiful and it's easy to get to. Simply take the MTR to Disney station, and take the R8 bus to the Inspiration Lake recreation area.

We settled ourselves on a clean patch of grass, under the shade of a tree. We brought some simple food...sandwiches, hot dogs, shrimp paste grilled chicken wings, marinated meat and fish balls and Chinese sausages, and fresh melons.

There's a 7-11 there, so actually you don't have to bring any drinks or food. We didn't know that ^_^'

I made roast duck sandwiches...


I used mini croissants, store bought roast duck, slices of fresh pear, and mayonaisse.


The hot dogs had cheese sausages, sliced cucumber, mayo, ketchup and spreadable cheese in them. I used cocktail buns, the inner part buttered and lightly toasted.


I also made apple caramel sandwiches. They're filled with slices of fuji apple, which were lightly salted to prevent them from browning, and slathered with some butter and toffee caramel spread.


The babies enjoyed their own food...and some of our buns...


And it was too hot, we decided to let baby Marcus try some popsicle.

He was shocked by how cold it was...at first.

Soon enough, he grew to love it...


...and kept asking for more.

So much for trying to not let him eat anything unhealthy until he's 10 ^_^'

It was so hot, we were pretty much melted, sun burnt, and bitten my mosquitoes/various insects, but we enjoyed it much, we're gonna go back when the weather is cooler.

The full set of pictures are posted on my Facebook Page. Like it if you haven't already ^_^

My Hot Dog & Poutine Wannabe Dinner

I've never tried Poutine in my life...so, how weird of me to try "recreating" it at home. How was I supposed to know how it tasted like? Therefore, please excuse my beyond inauthentic poutine wannabe and just go along this yummy ride, will ya?

From what I heard, poutine is essentially french fries served with cheese curd and gravy.
They had me at cheese.
Heck, they had me at fries!

So, here we go...
My Poutine Wannabe
The Fries

I planned to use store bought french fries or frozen fries. But since I couldn't find any that day, I just sliced a couple of potatoes, rinse them until the water runs clear to get rid of the excess starch, pat 'em dry, and oven baked them with some butter and olive oil. I try to avoid deep frying whenever I can.

The cheese

In a sauce pan, I threw in 2 tsp butter, 1/2 cup of skim milk, plenty of grated cheddar cheese, a pinch of salt, white pepper, a dash of paprika (I just did it for the love of red dust) and a bit of corn starch dilluted in water to thicken. I added a few chunks of cheddar at the end.

The gravy

I despise store bought gravy, plus, I need to prepare my lunch for the next working day, so I used the gravy of this beef dish on my "poutine". Saute a clove of crushed garlic and a quarter of diced onion with a bit of butter and olive oil, add beef chunks, add mushrooms, drizzle some red wine, add some diced vegetables (I used peas, carrots and corn), add beef/chicken stock (optional) or just hot water, add mixed herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and thyme), season with salt and black pepper, thicken with a bit of corn starch dilluted in water...and I got my version of gravy sorted.

The assembly

Two servings of "fries". Since they will get soaked in sauces anyway, don't worry too much about them being not as fluffy or crispy as normal french fries...and you don't need to season them.


I couldn't resist but adding a few chunks of beef before pouring some gravy over 'em.


Topped with the liquid gold...cheese sauce with chunks of cheddar cheese...
Yum. Amen.

I went even more inauthentic with the next serving...but I didn't regret it...

I added the whole beef, veggie, and mushrooms with the gravy altogether before pouring the cheese.
At least it is healthy---er, right?

...and while I prepared the hotdogs, I keep them in low oven to keep warm...

It's amazing how I could peel myself off them.

They were begging to be consumed right away.

Oh my~

The hotdogs

Johnsonsville's Turkey Cheddar hot dogs on lightly buttered and toasted hot dog buns, served with mayo, ketchup, relish, sambal ABC (Indonesian chilli sauce) and grated mixed cheese.

Nothing else I could say but yum!

PS. SC blamed me for the 2 lbs he gained after this meal :(