出差香港. 隨便走走的私人星期一

到香港真蠻多次的，但這還是第一次駐扎荃灣。荃灣，乍聼之下肯定也不陌生，因爲港鉄荃灣綫的終站荃灣，就是荃灣。哈。幾天都必須待在荃灣一個小山丘上的俱樂部，我只爭取了一天下山“入世”的時間。 短短8個小時，搭港鉄直奔灣仔、銅鑼灣、中環。“買東西、吃東西、買東西、吃東西”的時間表已靠想象鋪排好。

早餐沒吃便下山，直達灣仔先以潮苑的手打魚圓和牛肉餅暖胃，再來金鳳冰奶茶順喉。金鳳菠蘿油向來是我至愛，但單凴我一人實在啃不了那麽多。

潮苑和金鳳對街，是每次在香港時都想一逛的“玩具街”。隨意玩賞小檔攤上的商品、挑選幾個模型車給寶貝外甥Ethan、一些有趣的文具和小玩意給侄女玥瑤、比新加坡便宜許多的鋼彈模型給Y、再為自己感受一下熙來攘往。




本想到銅鑼灣的住好啲G.O.D隨便走走，不想已不復再。過橋米綫、榮記車仔面和太興奶茶我也無胃消受。時間催逼下，我很快轉戰中環。抱著還是別太浪費食物的信念，我意識性地遺忘蘭芳園和九記牛腩，決定專心逛逛就好。

我享受大步大步、帶點漫無目的瀟灑步伐。雖然沒買什麽，但為這個休假于香港的星期一塞滿了很多快樂。

Seoul. Mananim 마나님. Amazing Bibimbap and Fantastic Pasta

I was very inspired by my recent dining at Manna Story to share this months-ago experience. This was an amazingly fantastic eating experience with Amazing Bibimbap and Fantastic Pasta in Seoul, at the beautiful Samcheong-dong (삼청동, 三清洞) area.

We were brought to Mananim 마나님 by one of our very friendly and amiable Korean business associates, Kim, who knows where all the good foods are. To me, as only a foreigner to the place, Mananim seemed quite hidden location-wise, and I was not sure how well-known it was to the local, but it was indeed very impressive for its unique and healthy Korean home-style foods which were prepared with lots of fresh organic ingredients.



Apart from the real good food, the lady owner of Mananim, who was also the main and only chef of Mananim, was one of the stars in the cozy eatery too. She's a very true-to-herself person and seriously dedicated to good food in her own way. She self-made all the sauces, cheeses and pickles in her shop, and didn't like to be disturbed at all when she did her work. Kim, mischievously walking around in the tiny restaurant and disturbing her with questions, got lectured! That was indeed a very funny one.



I must say, as a pigheaded fan of bibimbap, having the chance to try the Amazing Bibimbap (방실 비빔밥) once in my lifetime left me with no regret. It was so special, so different, so healthy, yet so delectable. Not to say the Fantastic Pasta (수제치즈  파스타) so rich with the home-made cheese --- the most refreshing creamy cheese I've ever had. Forgive me if I am a bit seized with exaggerating. I am writing this based on memory and this is the exact impression that the combination of Amazing and Fantastic left me with.

Mananim 마나님

서울특별시 종로구 안국동 17-1    |   17-1, Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul   |   (82) 2 3675 8688

新山. Just Want Cafe. 堅持原味

我不喝咖啡，除非提神需要。例如10年前的大學時代，不上課又逃tutorial的，考前一天臨時灌個兩三杯也是要的。又如10年後的今天，工作腦筋轉得比較慢，若要趕上deadline，偶爾選個吉日灌個一兩杯，也不能少。

不喝歸不喝。喜歡cafe寫意的氛圍，我特意去愛上熱可可、熱奶茶。嚮往的就是自我滯留在閒適的空間裏發發呆、打打字、看看人，蹉跎一下。

在新山Permas隨機發現這個咖啡館，隨性坐了一下。喜歡它的吧臺，放空的視線偶爾聚焦在咖啡師傅或冰滴咖啡或咖啡豆或奶泡上，臨近欣賞又置身事外——愜意。工作臺後他們喊著店長的，我私自確定是一位鑾中生。讓我再努力回想一下，下回也許能開口相認。

我對咖啡沒有研究、沒有獨鍾，但還認得一點咖啡香，也對Just Want  Cafe營造出的舒服而專業的感覺有一些認同。誰說這不是一個讓你流露一點閒情雅志的地方？

Just Want Cafe

#0G-04, Blk A, Permas Mall, No.3 Jln Permas Utara, Bdr Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru 
(60) 7 3806 630   |   Mon to Sun 12pm - 9pm

Manna Story. Creates Korean Dining Culture

I've always been a fan of Korean food. Although most of those that I had in Korea are quite incomparable, I frequented Korean eateries in Singapore still. In fact I have only been to a few of them, yet I luckily find some of them authentically good.

Manna Story at Plaza Singapura is my new favourite. I know that I am slow to have only tried Manna Story for the first time very recently. Creating Korean dining culture --- I think the tagline fits well. I could feel an intense Korean dining atmosphere as I stepped in. Some of the settings are really unique to Korean eating houses.

The menu is simple yet interesting. There are hot plates of bulgogi (literally 'fire meat'), dak galbi (diced chicken in chili paste) and topokki (rice cake). We decided to leave the hot plate for our next patronage. This time, what first caught Y and I was jaengban guksu (literally 'large platter noodle') with a big heap of vegetables. We love veggies! And I have serious cravings for sundubu chigae (hot and spicy tofu stew) or kimchi chigae (kimchi stew) too, so I can never have a meal of Korean food without getting an order of them. At the end, we got a sundubu chigae which struck us with its savoury soup. The meal was just solid.

Manna Story

Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road, #B2-22, Singapore 238839   |   (65) 6238 1245

Mon to Sun 10am - 9pm