I absolutely love going to Tokyo. Now I don't bother to lug around my zoom lens anymore, I just fix by 28mm onto my 60D and leave it there. For some reason, the black and white mood seems to fit quite well...
I love the busy streets of Tokyo.
The energy of the place is almost visible as people dance around each other.
This little boy caught my attention as he ignored the brightly lit stands and stared at the faded drawings on the ground.
Not a candidate for black and white, but I love night shots of the city with the bright white lights from offices and the streaming orange lights from traffic. Visible in this shot is also the beautiful bay with the rainbow bridge spreading across it.
List of things to order is pretty standard. The only question is whether you want a portion, half or whole goose. *Shinta has decided that instead of ordering half a goose, next time just order 2 portions of the goose leg. That way you get the juiciest, most choice part of the goose. Strangely, the standard was a little inconsistent over my 2 visits there. The first time, the goose was hot with crispy skin and tender juicy meat sandwiching a generous layer of fat. The second time round however, the goose felt a bit overdone and not as yummy as before.
I'm a fan of the cured meats, although the rest of my companions each time weren't, and I had to struggle to finish it all. Next time I'll just order a portion of my favorite liver sausage and not the entire mixed plate. The traditional sausage is not bad as well, but not particularly special. These are of course available for take-away. Just slice it up and put it in the rice cooker, and let the fats drip into the rice as it cooks.... mmmm.....
When I accidentally forgot to order the famous century egg with pickled ginger the first time round, the waiter not-very-gently reminded me about it. These melt-in-the-mouth delicacies don't have the pungent strong taste that haunts many other century eggs. Believe it or not, these can also be bought as take-away in a box of 6, which I ended up doing so for friends back home in Singapore who were craving this particular Yung Kee version of it.
I wasn't particularly keen to order this when they brought it around on a tray offering it to each table (not sure why they did that...), but my friend likes it a lot so we took a plate. It was nice and gooey, but in general a bit too sweet for my taste.
There are a whole lot of other good dishes to order at Yung Kee (the first 5? 6? pages of their menu lists all the accolades they have won), but unfortunately my party was never large enough (or hungry enough) to indulge in ordering anything more than the "must-orders". Next time I guess!
A few years ago, mango related desserts were really popular in Hong Kong and there were branches of Xu Liu Shan popping up everywhere.
Now, however, they seem to be mostly on Kowloon side and I couldn't find any around Central at all. Instead, when I needed a break in between shopping, I headed to Lan Fong Yuen near the mid levels for their famous milk tea.
Obviously you don't go to this kind of place for the ambiance. Much as I wanted to try the hot version, the stifling weather (unusual for autumn) forced me to go for the cold milk tea. Exhausted and dying of thirst, I probably enjoyed this a lot more than I normally would, because it was a little bit bitter.
Since each time I went it was just supposed to be a "pit stop", I had to restrain myself from ordering the heavier dishes. Went instead for the sweeter stuff such as the toasted bun with condensed milk. While it looked great, my sweet tooth would have prefered a more generous topping of the condensed milk.
The other well-known snack there is the french toast. This one was as unhealthy as it looks in the photo below, and as delicious as it was unhealthy.
I had a bit of trouble finding this place initially. Gage Street is not exactly a major road and hard to find amongst the confusing maze of back roads. The easiest way is probably to head to Lyndhurst Terrace where the famous Tai Cheung egg tart bakery is.
Entrance to Gage Street is along Lyndhurst Terrace just before the shop, and Yan Fong Yuen is on the left at the start. 
I loved wandering around the paths surrounding by water and gorgeous green plants.
Even the flower gardens were beautifully arranged.
We could also enter the buildings and admire the old Chinese furniture.
Imagine if your study window looked out into this view.
The other area I managed to see was the Suzhou Industrial Park. There's an eating area very much like Clarke Quay by the lake where there are many both international and Chinese restaurants located. Taking a walk by the lake after dinner was a very pleasant experience with the cool weather.
There's a saying "上有天堂，下有苏杭". From the little that I managed to see of Suzhou, I think there's something in it! If you're in Shanghai for holiday, given Suzhou's proximity especially with the high speed train operating, there's no excuse for not visiting the place.
Was going around Jiangsu and passed through its capital, Nanjing. Sadly didn't have time to check anything out, except for a 10min walk by Xuan Wu Hu.
Our dinner was held near the Qin Huai River, allowing us a good view of the activities.
At night the entire area is lit up, and you can see the Confucius Temple which is popular with tourists. River boats also ply the area for tourists willing to fork out the cash.
Nanjing looks quite interesting if you're into Chinese history and all. For me though, I think I like Suzhou better, which will be the subject of my next post.
The lobster is always good...
Not sure what these guys were doing, but I guess they are quite entertaining in their own way...
Decided to try catch the Big Bang guys at the Padang after the preliminary runs were over.
At first we were stuck behind some barriers at the back, while the hoards of people who had probably waited for hours were in front. Luckily for us, the security guards decided to open up the front area and we managed to get a really good close up view of them.
Have to admit I'm not as familiar with Korean music as I am with J-pop, and even worse when it comes to Korean rap. Seungri I think is really good looking though!
Crossing my fingers that I'll get to go again next year! 
Only had tickets for the Friday practice run this time, but the excitement was still in the air. We went early as usual to check out the events and take a ride on the flyer.
Cityscape of Singapore just before the sun starts setting looks pretty good although slightly hazy.
The Singapore flyer is probably one of the fewtourist attractions I would probably bring out of town friends to.
Highlight of the F1 is not so much the race but the Pit Walk. This time I made sure I took photos of the soon to be crowned champion Vettel's garage.
View from the drivers' seat?
Managed to snap a shot of Vettel as he waits to exit the Pit Lane.
One of the key reasons I enjoy going to the F1, is to try practice my panning shots. Managed to get a nice one of Webber...
Overhead shot of Hamilton...
to be continued...
