Hong Kong Mar 2016 - Kitchen/Bakeware/Zakka

Continued from
Hong Kong March 2016 Introduction
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail I Cha Chaan Teng
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail II Roasted Goose, Noodles, Congee, Dim Sum
Hong Kong March 2016 - Day trip to Sai Kung
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail III Dining at Sai Kung 
Hong Kong March 2016 - PMQ
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail IV Teakha Tea Cafe
Hong Kong March 2016 - Streets and Sights


 Finally the last post of my Hong Kong trip! And this post is all about my favourite kitchen/bakeware and zakka shopping =D

Discovered this zakka shop called Lost & Found, a lifestyle concept shop selling all sorts of zakka merchandise, from small furniture to accessories to ornaments, stationery and of course kitchenware. I visited this branch at Olympian City 2 and another branch at The One, Kowloon.

Lost & Found Hong Kong
http://www.lostnfound.hk/

I believe every baking/cooking enthusiast would know about the famous Shanghai Street which housed a number of kitchenware/bakeware shops.

Shanghai Street is one long stretch of road, but most of the kitchen/bakeware shops are concentrated around two blocks. What I did was take the MTR to Yau Ma Tei Station, exit C, head west along Man Ling Lane. Once I hit the main road, it is Shanghai Street already. The two blocks between Man Ling Lane (along Shanghai Street and across the street) are the main shops to look for.

 

Chan Chi Kee Cutlery 陳枝記 (block to the left of Man Ling Lane) is a very big shop selling all sorts of kitchenware, bakeware, equipment etc, something like Sia Huat in SG but many more stuff cluttered around in the shop. Prices are very friendly and I found some of the bakeware/kitchenware I bought here were the lowest price among the few shops.

Chan Chi Kee Cutlery 陳枝記
http://www.chanchikee.com/

G/F 316-318 Shanghai Street, Kowloon

 

Kwong Wing Food Industry 光榮飲食 (next door to Chan Chi Kee) is another kitchenware shop which carries kitchenware, bakeware, equipment, machinery and electronic appliances. I found the prices of bakeware here higher than the other shops, and not as much selection as well, probably because it specialises more in equipment. Can actually skip this shop if no time.

Kwong Wing Food Industry 光榮飲食

http://www.kwongwing.com.hk

G/F 312-314 Shanghai Street, Kowloon

Man Kee Chopping Board 萬記砧板 (block to the right of Man Ling Lane) is an even larger scale shop than Chan Chi Kee, with a huge selection of kitchenware, bakeware, crockery, cutlery etc (not so much of equipment or machinery). They carry a good selection of moulds for traditional pastry making like mooncake as well. Prices here quite friendly too, comparable to that of Chan Chi Kee.

Man Kee Chopping Board 萬記砧板
http://www.mankee.hk
G/F 340-342 Shanghai Street, Kowloon

I Love Cake (one shop away from Man Kee) is more of a western bakeware shop, selling bakeware, accessories, packaging materials and ingredients. The shop is small, but well-stock with all the necessary things needed for baking. I love to pop in to check out any latest baking ingredient or cutesy bakeware that they sell. A bit like Phoon Huat but much smaller scale (but still very well-stocked).

I Love Cake
http://www.ilovecake.hk/
G/F 338 Shanghai Street, Kowloon

The shops opposite to Man Kee are worth a visit too. One of the shop specialises in wood products like wooden trays and serve which I was so tempted to buy. A few shops specialises in packaging items.

Walking further up north towards Mong Kok for about 3 mins, is another building which houses two bakeware shops. On Yip Building is located on the left side of Shanghai Street (in the direction of Mong Kok).

On Level 18 is Sweet Decorations, selling mainly cake decorating and baking supplies, a bit like Phoon Huat of Singapore. Although smaller scale, but very well-stocked.

Sweet Decorations
http://www.sweetdeco.hk/
18/F On Yip Commercial Building, 395 - 397 Shanghai Street

Twinsco 二德惠 is another baking supplies shop on level 1 of On Yip Building. They also have a cooking workshop on level 10. Also like Phoon Huat but more well-stocked.

Twinsco 二德惠
http://www.twinsco.com/
1/F On Yip Commercial Building, 395 - 397 Shanghai Street
 

Chanced upon this shop Noble Living at Sai Kung, selling kitchenware and serveware at very attractive prices. Pretty amazed to find a hidden gem in Sai Kung.

In fact, there's another local household-ware shop that I found lots of treasure as well (forgot to take photo of the shop).

Pantry Magic at Central Hong Kong. There used to be a branch in Singapore a few years back but it has since closed down. It's located near to Tai Ping Shan Street area, and since I was on my way to teakha I, decided to pop by to take a look. Definitely on the pricey side since the merchandise sold are of higher quality and imported from the US and Europe.

Pantry Magic
http://www.pantry-magic.com/hongkong/
G/F, 25 Lok Ku Rd, Central, Hong Kong

Here's sharing the loot I got this time!

Bought these from Chan Chi Kee at Shanghai Street. Two moulds for frying eggs and a broad-based spatula which I find super useful.

Assorted bakeware bought from Man Kee, Chan Chi Kee, Noble Living, Twinsco and Pantry Magic.
I'm totally into tarts these days and very pleased to find tart cases of different shapes and sizes, especially the petite ones. And I also found a tiny (ice-cream) 2.5cm scoop which is ideal for making tiny chocolate cookies (Yes I need my cookies to be in uniform size, previously I've been using a 3cm ice-cream scoop).

Assorted serveware bought from FrancFranc, Muji, Man Kee and a local household-ware shop in Sai Kung. Fell in love with the crockery and utensils used at the cafes/Cha Chaan Teng and decided to get a few :p

A special mention about FrancFranc. It's one of my favourite lifestyle concept shop from Japan. There used to be two branches in SG but they closed down few years ago :( Glad to see the shop at iSquare, Tsim Sha Tsui this time!

Random glassware from FrancFranc and Lost & Found. The plant in the glass jar is actually fake! LOL! Suitable for a plant-killer like me :p

Aren't the two glass containers cute? I'm good at this, buying stuff just because they look cute :p

Overall, I really enjoyed my zakka shopping in Hong Kong. Found the selection, variety and prices generally more attractive than that of SG (although still not as wide selection as compared to Japan). (really wish to complain about variety of kitchen/bakeware and baking supplies in SG, it sucks!).

And here, I conclude my 9-part posting on Hong Kong, just a little sharing on my personal experience, hope it's an enjoyable read :)

Rubber Stamp Carving Workshop

Opps, another overdue post, should have posted this entry last week :p

Last Sunday I attended a Rubber Stamp Carving Workshop conducted by LoveSprouts at BFF Zakka Store. When I saw the advert for the workshop on FB, I thought it's super cute and quite fun and since it's just a 2hr workshop, why not give it a try?

The workshop was $88 and inclusive of a rubber carving block, tracing paper, pen knife, carving knife, artist eraser, ink pad and free patterns.

The rubber carving blocks and ink pads are imported from Japan and comes with many pretty looking colours :)

We were taught how to trace the patterns and transfer onto the rubber blocks as well as basic techniques of rubber carving.

Here's my work, quite ugly-looking (I chopped off one eye of the chickadee by accident!). It seems simple but actually requires much focus, meticulous and nimble fingers. I certainly need lots of practice!!

 Here are some stamps created by the instructor, Jo who has been doing this for 5-6 years already.

Each participant was given a free tote bag as well and we were free to use all of Jo's stamps to customize our very own designs on the tote bag =D

An afternoon well-spent where I learned another new craft skill :)

Crochet Projects I

Since I attended a crochet workshop conducted by Sewinlove last month, I've been busy churning out lots of grannie squares, doilies as well as two kiss-lock purses!

Both the grannie square and doily patterns (symbol and text instructions) were included in workshop, and after working on a few, I got more confident. In fact, it's quite fun and addictive and I could multi-task while crocheting like watch you-tube videos or TV.

The blue-border one was done during the workshop, and subsequently I did another two during the same yarn and 6mm hook. Noticed the size got smaller? I think coz as I got more familiar with crocheting, the stitches became tighter.

These grannie squares were completed using cotton yarn and size 5mm hook.

All the above doilies were done using cotton yarn and size of hooks ranging from 4mm to 6mm.

These doilies and grannie squares were also completed using cotton yarn and hook size 5mm.

This was a different doily pattern, which I learnt from a youtube video. Cotton yarn with size 5mm hook.

These two grannie squares were also pattern that I found on youtube. Cotton yarn with size 4 or 4.5mm hook.

While I was making these two projects using the youtube videos as guides, I was very glad that I had attended the workshop because it provided basic knowledge and good foundation. Otherwise I don't think I would be able to understand the youtube videos.

Kiss-lock purse sold as DIY kit. Sooooo sweet!

Had some problems understanding both the symbol and text instructions initially but after some time managed to decipher and figure the crochet stitches. Before starting on this project, I had preferred symbol patterns but particularly for this project, I preferred the text instructions.

Had wanted to complete both purses for my mum and mil before CNY but due to some family matters, only managed to complete this second one recently. I must say this second one was much better done in terms of both crochet stitches and sewing and completed within a much shorter time frame overall.

Most of the grannie squares and doilies were taken by gifted to my mum and mil, including the the two kiss-lock purses :p So now I gotta start making more again! Also looking forward to attending more workshops such as amigurumi or lace accessories. Hopefully could share more on crocheting soon :)

Crochet Workshop conducted by Sewinlove at BFF Zakka Store

Yesterday afternoon, I attended a 3hr crochet workshop conducted by Sewinlove, at BFF Zakka Store.

Now, I must confess that I have very clumsy hands and fingers (cue: I have a number of burnt marks on my hands to prove the point since I cook and bake so much) and I'm absolutely hopeless in sewing. So why on earth did I decide to attend a crochet class that I reckon needs nimble fingers? Haha. Well, coz I was very attracted by the grannie square, doily and fashion accessories done using crochet by Diana, founder of Sewinlove Workshops and Yarnshop. I have a few pieces of doily which I bought in Tokyo and the thought of me, able to crochet my own doily instead of buying sounds good.

And so why did I buy doily in the first place? Hahaha, coz I'm a zakka fan and I hoard such stuff! Actually I hoard a lot of place mats, napkins, coasters and such because I use them when I take food photos. Talking about zakka brings me to another point, yes I've been wanting to visit BFF Zakka Store since it opened last year. Being a zakka fan, how can I not check it out? Just that I stay in the far west of Singapore and Joo Chiat is kind of far :p (ok, excuses). I missed the past crochet beginner workshops last year, either busy or travelling so when notice for this class was posted, I registered immediately! This is killing two birds with one stone! Ok, I digress.

BFF Zakka Store is located in Joo Chiat, on second level of a row of shop house very near 112 Katong. Not difficult to find since there's a hand-drawn motif on the wall at the entrance on ground floor.

Colourful flight of stairs leading up to the shop.

Photography display outside the door.

Welcome to BFF. The interior is long and narrow, quite spacious as compared to zakka shops in Japan.

There's an entire section dedicated to plants. Although I don't have green fingers, I was also tempted by these soothing terrarium.

Display of different knick knacks. In the far end was the cozy area for our crochet workshop.

My favourite section of the store. I always love the soft feel of natural light coming through the window draped with day curtain and accompanied by lovely display of plants and ornaments.

Small section selling serve ware. Felt so tempted to buy one of the tea pot set and glass cups as well.

A full cupboard of assorted stationery and stuff.

Assortment of handmade jewellery. Used to buy so many when I went Japan.

Crochet accessories like necklace, bracelet, ring, made by Diana of Sewinlove.

I like the clock, and the banner.

Eco-friendly cloth bags.

Cozy corner for shoppers to relax.

Kawaii crochet and handsewn soft toys!

Crochet cake. I like this so much!

 

Almost wanted to buy the mugs and spoons, but seriously I have too many at home, so KIV first.

I thought the overall feel of the shop is quite similar to some of the zakka shops in Tokyo, especially those at Jiyougaoka, Kichijoji and Shimokitazawa. It's heartening to see more people appreciating and adopting zakka culture in Singapore, hope to see more new products coming in!

Now, about the workshop. There were seven participants including myself. Each of us received 3 balls of yarn, a crochet hook, a tapestry needle, a stitch marker and a printed set of notes with pattern instructions.

I really like the colours and size of these grannie squares. These are 2 sizes smaller (using 4mm hook) than what we were taught in class. For beginners, it would be easier to start with 6mm hook and heavier/thicker yarn .

Honestly I was quite overwhelmed during class because the stitches and all sounded confusing and I kept forgetting the steps! Like Diana said, learning curve is steep but once I got the hang of it, it all started to make sense. I was so pleased with myself for completing a grannie square (almost, left with final stitches) at the end of the workshop.

Worried that I might forget the steps, I practised another grannie square when I reached home (close to 11pm coz went shopping and dinner). There were some steps which I forgot, luckily there are youtube videos for reference. It was past midnight when I completed the square, but I had strong urge to try the doily! So, I pressed on and completed the doily based on free pattern provided. By the time I finished it was close to 3am! Exhausted but really happy!! Next morning when I showed my work to hubby, he said they were well done especially the doily, I could make more for CNY.

All in all, it was a very fruitful workshop and I'm glad to attend it and learn something new :) I'm already thinking of purchasing more yarn and hooks to make more squares and doilies.

And oh, what did I buy at BFF Zakka Store? Love at first sight when I saw the plant. Although I'm a notorious plant killer, hope that this lovely potted plant will survive ok? And this set of coasters and place mat was on sale, and so I couldn't resist again :p

Paired the new potted plant with my crochet doilies, which looks the best? Each has a different feel. I think I need to make more with different colours like green and brown soon! Need to get my hands on more yarn. Oh dear, I still have a long to-do list before CNY, and with this new hobby coming on board, oopsss....