Everyone I know (from Singapore, at least) who loves visiting Hong Kong loves this place because of two reasons – the food and the shopping. I’m a fan of the former, obviously, given my current girth around my midsection it’s quite clear where my priorities lie. Also, I’ve never had a high tolerance for shopping – I get impatient and I hate crowds! This probably explains why most of the shopping I do is either done online, and whenever I do venture into malls, I’m either there when there are less than 10 other shoppers on the same floor as me, or I’m in and out within 10 minutes tops.

However, I must say I’ve been converted. Well, perhaps I was always a bit of a shopaholic, I just shop for different things! I mean, how else can one explain how within 18 months, the amount of stuff bunny and I own increased by 35 boxes, with 21 dedicated solely to kitchen ware (including cutlery, crockery, silverware, glassware etc)? TWENTY ONE BOXES. Of KITCHEN stuff. That’s a lot!!!

Evidently, I haven’t been cured of my shoppaholism. In fact, I’ve finally realised why Hong Kong is such a haven for shoppers – only I haven’t found my paradise in the aisles of fashionistas and designer shoes or bags. No, I’ve found my new escape somewhere quite unexpected (even for me): in city super, an upmarket supermarket. I mean, I was delighted enough when I saw their deli counters with pata negra, chorizo, truffle-flecked buffalo mozzarella, and more, but one day I found their non-food section. The first thing that stood out was the range of bottling products: stuff I could only find in speciality cookstores like Pantry Magic in Singapore. I swear I gasped audibly when I found a heat diffuser on the shelves – something I’d been searching for in Singapore for over a year!

Today, though, I really hit the jackpot. I was looking for some bottles in the Causeway Bay city super when I saw a little Le Creuset display stand. My eyes involuntarily wandered over to the price tag and back to my shelf of bottles when I did a double take. A Le Creuset cast iron skillet for under S$50? Suffice to say that I spent the next 25 minutes pacing back and forth in front of the display, and walked out with these two:

You can’t actually blame me, right? I mean, I’ve already written about how much I love my yellow Dutch oven. Oh well. I suppose I now have a happy family of primary colours.

The latest addition to the kitchen is going to be an ICE CREAM MAKER. I know, everyone, sing with joy! This officially means that everyone can please stop buying me ice cream whenever you guys come over to visit – we really appreciate it but now have about a week to finish all the stuff in the freezer (I’ve got 8 tubs at last count, only 2 bought by bunny or i) before the new toy comes in! Watch this space for more ways to get fat, and umm.. if anyone wants to help me clear out the freezer, buzz me! If I’m not wrong, these are the flavours we’ve got:

• Haagen Dazs – Vanilla
• Haagen Dazs – Green Tea
• Haagen Dazs – Coffee
• Haagen Dazs – Strawberry
• The Daily Scoop – Lychee Martini
• The Daily Scoop – Earl Grey Tea
• Ben & Jerry’s – Chocolate Fudge something
• Ben & Jerry’s – Chubby Hubby

I’m pretty free next week, so going to devote my time to finishing it all off (I really only like Vanilla, Coffee and Strawberry, ‘cos I’m very boring that way), and then I’ll be researching ice-cream recipes. I think I owe it to myself (and bunny) to find THE perfect Vanilla ice cream recipe (I’ll probably start in the vicinity of my favourite, tried-and-tested custard recipe), then the next one I’m really looking forward to will be a Masala Chai variation. After that – in the spirit of tea – I plan to crack the secret behind delicious matcha ice cream (and probably will bribe eyes with some of it in exchange for some of her delicious redbean paste thingiebob, then I would really, really love to a spicy chocolate one, much like those Mayan blends with cayenne pepper and what not, which is where hot chocolate really came from anyway. Maybe this way I’ll finally be able to create something chocolate that my dear anti-chocolate girlfriend will like. :)

I CANNOT WAIT.

Edit: w00t!! I don’t care if I’m just a lowly sheep following what seems to be a trend (I’ve wanted my own ice cream maker for at least 7 years now, so shall use poverty and age as my excuses for being so late to the game), I’m pretty pleased at this article about home made ice cream in SFGate.com today! -beam