First letter from Korea

Yesterday, I received my first mail from Korea. XD A blogger friend is currently doing postgraduate studies in Seoul. :3 Thank you Sam!



It arrived in a cute envelope, with a souvenir card (with some hanggeul words.:D).

I will write her this weekend and hopefully mail it in time before she leaves Seoul.

FOOD : Cookies Quartet, Hong Kong

Received this earlier today. The packaging is very nice. :3



The inside is carefully thought-out as well.



Included is a card and crochure with all of their products and description.





Beautifully arranged cookies. It smells very nice too.



The cookie with blueberry bits and a hint of cinnamon. Oh, I love cinnamon.



Cookie with "five kinds" of grains.



Cookie with sesame seeds.



There were also nut cookies, chocolate cookies, pistachio, egg, and the typical butter cookie which tastes really good! :D



If you happen to be in Hong Kong, I think this is worth a visit.



It's also the perfect gift for friends and family back home.:3



They are located on some of the better-known districts -- Causeway Bay, Kowloon, and TST. But here are some of their other branches.



***
Cookies Quartet @Hong Kong
www.cookiesquartet.com

Avance Drip Coffee - Kilimanjaro Blend

Picked up some japanese goods from the supermarket the other day.

A lot of new stuff coming in. This was one of the things I bought.XD



It seems to be a pretty normal everyday coffee at only 19yen per cup! Here it costs more because I got it for 1.5x the regular price in yen.XD

There are 20 bags inside.



The top most part is cut off to allow the hot water in.

cut along the arrow indication.


Fill it up and wait for it to drip and fill the cup.



Japanese ingeniuty is amazing. It fits most cups perfectly. So convenient.



The coffee smells insanely good. As soon as I opened the package the aroma filled the air.:P



The mere smell of it on a weekend morning waked my senses. XD

Can't wait to have more of this good stuff. :3



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Also on my instagram @xxpepperonixx.

Follow if you haven't already. X3
See you there.

Dreary sky and a quick update

Last Sunday's dreary weather.



Happy Halloween people. I don't have anything as close to Halloween to post this year.

But, just a quick update, I've been busy. (I know, I've said that a million times!) But really. I just realized my trip is in about 7 weeks and I haven't fully prepared!!

I'm printing out some maps and will later mark the places I'm going to visit. Will do 1 city a week and hope I finish in time. Doing a lot of day trips this year so that adds to the list of maps I need to prepare.=_=

I've also been totally missing all my scheduled posts on my photoblog so I will probably move those to another date since I missed some of the memes. :O

UCC Taste No. 117

Cute message on the side of the package.



UCC #117



Info on the back.



Upon opening, it looks like this. I love Japanese packaging! :3



There were 10 sticks inside.





Front



Back



The perfect blend to perk one up in the morning.



The colour looks absolutely beautiful.



And the taste definitely did not disappoint. :3

Visa got

Soz I haven't been on here in a while. Have been busy with stuff and am too exhausted to write a post in the evening.:3


At one of the buildings in the Central Business District, where the German Embassy is located.

So.. in August, I read some travel books and some forums, deciding on which cities we will be visiting this year. ^_^ Indeed, with the long list of places we want to visit it is not too difficult. But there are many things to consider.
1.) the embassy we are applying at -- I have to stay in that country the longest.
2.) the transportation to and from the next city. (Some transfers are just too impossible to realize and with only 12 days max., time is everything. XD)
3.) the round trip tickets. Coming from Southeast asia the airline choices are limited. So not every city we plan to go to are easily reachable. Or--- the city of our last destination does not fly to the country I live in.
4.) the accomodation. Depending on the embassy we're appling our visa at; the German Embassy requires accomodation to be paid for at the time of application. And finding a good place to stay requires time.:D -- location, rooms, and service are important, in that order. (I do not wish to relive the accomodation in Florence. (It spooked me out-- that's for another post!)

In September, retrieving legal documents from here and there. Writing deatiled itinerary. Provision of plane / train/ bus transfers in between day trips and cities. After completion, calling up the application hotline for details and interview schedule.

In October, the actual interview. This year, there was a (new) younger girl at the German embassy doing the questioning and she was very very rude. You don't have to be so rude to everyone?! I have never seen such attitude elsewhere (the Spanish embassy was ok, the German embassy in the previous years was also courteous). What surprises me is that her German superiors just walk right past ignoring her rudeness towards the applicants. She literally barks and SHOUTS at every applicant. I cannot believe it. And I cannot stand it. =_= [Puh-leez]
Luckily the lady at the other window reviewed my application. She did not smile all throughout and asked straightforward questions. She was in authority, yes. There's a difference between being in authority and being rude. And the consul who reviewed my application was not rude. She was the typical officer who would ask you questions about your travel and means.

I so wish there was a comment box there for me to write about it.

--

This year, the German Embassy was just as efficient having sent my approved visa within a week.
:3 I can officially finalize my reservations and buy my tickets. Next Friday the train schedules and sale for the winter months will be up.:3 So I will be busy again.^_^

This past week, I have printed maps of some of the smaller cities we'll be visiting.^_^ Nothing compares to having a physical map. Mobile map is too much hassle. Haha. But, I have downloaded some on my phone just in case.XD Do you prefer mobile maps or old school maps? :D

1 for 1 Pizza deal.

You read that right.XD Pizza Hut came up with this limited offer of 2 family-sized pizzas for the price of one. Ate so much I didn't want to move. XD



We had the Roast Beef american-specialty-pizza (there were others too) // and Perpperoni pizza (which was the 2nd pizza but with only a few simple ones to choose from)









A laid back week for me, waiting for my Visa. Last week stressed me out so much.
Also, the termite people are scheduled to proof the house this coming weekend. I cannot wait for them to start. Really dreading what will become of my room if it drags on any longer.

Weekend morning - breakfast

20140817

Weekend mornings are lovely; for one, having slept 10hours at least is more than enough.:3

But mostly because I have time to enjoy breakfast...XD



See what I could whip up on a weekend! Lol.



I think it looks nice.....



Was made with Strawberry-flavoured (extra-thick) youghurt and Kellogg's Special K (original).



Top it with raisins.



And voilà!



....akthough it'd be so much easier to just pick up a spoon and eat from the cereal bowl...XD
But knowing me I like playing with my food (when I can).

~

If you already follow me on Instagram then you might have come across this last photo... If you haven't then it's about time you do. *wink.wink* ;D

Go Pro Hero3+ Black Edition - Surf

I had already been contemplating about getting GoPro because it's so friggin small and records videos with astounding quality.



Since we had an extra work holiday this week I went out shopping (with no intention of buying GoPro). I wanted to go out and hit the summer sales.
(I will write some posts next week once I get the photos together)

/>

It comes in a very cool case. (It actually comes with a remote but I was too excited to unbox and have taken it out already before taking these photos.XD



Camera with the remote.




Like I said, I had no intention of buying the GoPro yesterday. But then I passed by this camera store and saw it on the display I went in to take a look. *A* And then I found out about the price reduction and blah blah... The next thing I know my card was being swiped. I was buying it.X3



I care less about the accessories (well, mounts in particular) -- they're all held together with 3M.)



I took some test shots around the house but not anything post-worthy yet.XD So when I manage to go out and capture something nice I will post it.^_^


--

I found the make and the buttons to be very cheap -- (but the camera itself was not too expensive to start with). The battery is very tiny and seems to last about 2 hours+ I think more (but with WIFI turned on it drains twice as quickly..) Very easy to view, delete, and capture stuff with phone app. What I wish the camera had was a tiny viewfinder at least.XD But the camera wasn't made for this purpose so I guess they just didn't have that in mind. (in 2001 or 2002 I bought a cheap japanese camera called Che-ez... The quality was awful and it worked in the same way as this one (very tiny and light)-- but it had a viewfinder. It was like a toy!)

Look how small!


I love how it's superwide (it does, however, distort people, distort food), the image quality isn't so bad but the video is just outstanding. Does not do very well in low light but it captures what you see with a lot of noise (better noise than blur though). I don't think I will be using the waterproof case (The sound is very bad with the case on). I will see if they have the skeletal case or just the lens cap. I'm afraid I will scratch it very soon because everything's a mess inside my bag.^_^

I'm really enjoying this new toy so much at the moment.X3

..

The beautiful sunset from my room yesterday..



X3


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20140905
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some photos below taken with the Go Pro. These were taken from inside a moving vehicle. (and some photos show some not very pleasnt parts of this city.)

The infamous Jeepney, that takes you pretty much everywhere.



Arch separating Chinatown from the Sta. Cruz Plaza.



Santa Cruz Church on a sunny day.



Front of a Jeepney and a man pushing a cart selling cold drinks.



Rizal Park (this is the back entrance)



Along the Avenida, a dangerous place for walking in the evening. Decades ago this avenue used to be the go-to, with the best cinamas, theatres, and shops. Now it's full of old buildings, some from the post-Spanish period. Also a lot of abandoned (but is now home to the poor) spaces.



[Not my bext photo of this once bustling avenue. But, I have some waiting to be posted on my photoblog. XD]

So, those are some sample shots during the day and the night. I think it takes pretty decent photos. :3