Tuesday, December 3, 2013

asia trip - winter 2013 part 4


asia trip - winter 2013 part 3

This is my first overseas trip that I travel without my Thinkpad laptop and my Canon 7D DSLR. My Thinkpad had recently been infested with malware and the Canon 7D died due to a power delivery failure. While I spent a lot of time ridding the malware(s), I just do not trust the computer to use for my financial transaction without completely re-installing the OS from scratch. I brought with me my iPad, my new iPhone gold 5s, and an unlocked iPhone 4s. While I missed my Canon DSLR and a notebook computer travelling nearly 6-7 pounds of weight saving in my backpack is very liberating. I never leave them in the hotel so that meant the weight I carry on my back all day long. I do miss the great latitude of the zoom lens and decent DSLR instead of using the iPhone to take pictures. All the photos in the trip were taken with my 4s as it was the phone that I used with pre-paid sim cards.

asia trip - winter 2013 part 2


I have written a few posts on Lin Heung Lau 蓮香樓 and Lin Heung Kui 蓮香居. They are my usual place to go for morning tea (dim sum) whenever I visit Hong Kong.

Monday, December 2, 2013

asia trip - winter 2013 part 1


I generally have very low expectation when it comes to food in airports. I would avoid them if I can. On the day of my departure from Portland International Airport (PDX), I have a rare late morning flight. I used my United miles to book an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong. I prefer Air Canada over United because the flight has better service.

home made andouille sausage

I have been itching to try my hands on preserved meat for some time. However I have been reluctant to begin for the fear of indulging in a diet of cured meat; well too much meat for the matter. What push me eventually is the want for good quality products that are hard to obtain locally here in Portland, Oregon. I few months ago I acquired this sausage stuffing machine from Amazon. I have done a bit of research. Even for home cook that make sausage occasionally you want to invest in a good quality stuffer with solid construction. A cheap one will simply fall apart after a few use. This one has metal gears as well as mostly stainless steel construction.