My sweet dinner

It's no secret that I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and have no problems eating desserts as a regular meal. I believe that the desserts menu is what really sets a restaurant and/or cafe apart, is usually what I remember the most about a meal. So once in awhile, CharK will indulge me and agree to some unconventional meals.

After running some errands at Festival Walk, I wanted to try Sweet-O-logy a Japanese-style cafe. As the name suggests, the cafe focuses on desserts like souffles, waffles, and soufflé. But interestingly, they also serve all-day breakfast and other light meals like sandwiches and pasta.

A must try for any dessert fans (Photo: CharK)

The cafe has a "European street cafe" atmosphere and so they seating is limited. But even on a Friday night, the turn over is pretty fast. CharK and I waited for maybe 20 minutes for a table compared to other Cafe's which had nearly double the lines.

The meal was definitely worth the wait. I really enjoyed the chestnut cream honey toast. Basically it's thick pieces of lightly fried toast that's encrusted in a layer of honey/sugar. The toast is served with a scoop of Mövenpick vanilla bean ice cream. The whole dessert is also sprinkled with blueberries and hazel, and almonds.

A surprisingly filling meal for two  (Photo: CathC)

CharK also found something he liked on the menu, the English breakfast. Although, one complain he had was that fries were served instead of the tater tots as listed on the menu. But the apple tea that was ordered was a refreshing drink for the hot summer night.

The two orders were more than enough for the two of us for dinner. So it was pretty impressive to see that many of the other tables were able to order at a mains plus at desserts per person. Maybe it's the summer heat, but overall I think our appetite has reduced over since Spring.

Predicting the future by understanding the past

I'm glad that I finally made it out to HK's history museum out in East Tsim Sha Tsui. There are a number of well designed exhibits, and for only 10HKD, probably one of the best deals in terms of exploring the city. I guess it's the summer time, so the museum was actually pretty busy on Saturday with families and kids.

 I'm not sure who the quote is from, but it's been said that " You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been." I think it's a very true statement, especially for a city like HK which had a complicated history with the British colonial rule and Japanese occupation.

My favourite part of the museum was walking through the displays of HK's ethnic groups: Punti, Hakka, Boat Dwellers, and Haklo. I liked being able to walk onto a lifesize replica the boat of typical Boat Dwellers and walking around the homes of the Punti, Hakka. I was surprised to learn that Haklo people worked to mine salt while the Hakka grew rice. It was neat to see all the tools and equipment they used.

The original Boat Dweller's home (Photo: CharK)

The inside of a Boat Dweller's home (Photo: CharK)

My favourite dwelling was the Hakka's stone house. Walking through the Hakka's stone house made me realize that their traditional homes had lower ceilings and narrower rooms than the Punti houses. The curators put a lot of effort to recreate the Hakka home, with lots of nice every day details of the kitchen, dining room, and bedroom.

The traditional Hakka home (Photo: CharK)

The inside of the Hakka home (Photo: CharK)

I thought the type of bedding for the Hakka and Chinese Elite during the British Colonization of HK were very similar. Coincidence?

The bedroom of the Chinese Elite during the British Colonial Rule (Photo: CharK)

Even though most of the museum featured only replicas of personal belongings, the recreation of homes and storefronts made it a very interactive experience. Although I didn't grow up in HK, I've heard a lot of the environment that I almost feel like I recognize it when I see these recreations. I've always enjoyed learning about history (which I always felt like storytelling), so this museum was an even more fun way to learn about HK's past. I liked seeing the contrast of how people lived during in the various eras of HK. Nearly 4 hours later I came away from the museum with a better understanding of HK's environment and its people.