283. Day in Yorkville

Yorkville is sort of like Toronto's equivalent of 5th Avenue, Avenue Montaigne, Ginza, New Bond Street, etc (but not really. Of course ours is on a much smaller scale). It's the perfect area to stroll around on a warm day. A couple days ago I went there for a company meeting in the morning, then lunch with my sister (who works around the area), then to check out the new Louis Vuitton flagship, then Holt Renfrew, Pusateri's, etc..


So this is the new Louis Vuitton store - they opened a few weeks ago and I finally went to check it out - it's a lot nicer and bigger than I had expected!! ah I need another vernis bag...









Quick lunch with my sister at Whole Foods - their food is so good!! (& I assume healthy as well)

Then Pusateri's - too many choices!!!!

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This post archived in: Toronto

282. Momofuku at the Shangri-La, Toronto

Momofuku is one of the restaurants at the newly-opened Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto. They have locations in New York as well, and was talked about a lot here so I was curious to try. They opened less than a week ago & every night there has been a big lineup for a table (they don't take reservations). This weekend I went there on both Saturday & Sunday for dinner - yes, I loved it that much!


On Saturday night we had drinks at the 2nd level bar as we waited for our table. After waiting an hour & a half, our table was ready.



As you can see, the menu is pretty small. I ordered this Chicken & Egg rice bowl. Five thick and tender pieces of smoked chicken..it's amazingly delicious!! The rice was mixed with cucumbers, scallions and egg - loved it a lot.
My friend ordered the Kimchi Stew. He said it was really good as well.



Last night/Sunday I went once again with a different friend. They took down my name and said it'd be a short 20-min wait for the table. So we went over to lounge at the hotel lobby first. I love the seating by the fireplace..and the drinks menus come in that little case of books. Sorry for the bad quality photos - didn't have my camera with me!

This is what my friend ordered - the "Momofuku Ramen". He said it was a bit too bland and unfortunately unimpressed with it. I ordered the same Chicken & Egg rice bowl once again (it's really that good!). This time we sat at one of the long tables. The great thing about those is that you can easily strike up a conversation with your neighbours, so even if you come here alone, you won't feel so lonely.

& this is the Shangri-La Hotel. I've been looking forward to their opening for years now (after receiving this). So far I've only seen the lobby & it's SO beautiful. I love the atmosphere and ambience there. Officially my favourite hotel in Toronto. I love all Shangri-la Hotels!!

PS: if anyone's interested, I created yet another Tumblr blog here where I will be making a short photo-post every day. I want to post one picture to sum up each day. Hopefully I won't get lazy with it.

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This post archived in: Toronto

281. The Spoke Club

The past week was quite eventful - went out most nights and still pretty busy with work. A few days ago I sort of umm..injured myself (my lower back) so I couldn't sit at a computer for too long, as it hurt. Slowly recovering now.
Last Monday night I went to Nikki Beach at the Spoke Club once again. Here's some photos of the night:







After that we went for late-night food (breakfast) at Fran's. For those who don't know, Fran's is a 24-hr diner type place. I've been finding myself here way too often in the middle of the night lately. My friends & I have really messed up eating schedules hhaha..

Some more random photos:


New skincare and makeup haul!


"What's in my (laptop) bag?"

I love that my company deals with every industry I love..so now I don't feel as guilty spending $/time on reading magazines! Need some fashion ones as well..


Berber Lounge


Anything I drink (usually) must be blue.

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This post archived in: Toronto

280. London | Notting Hill

Thanks to my new internship I've been so incredibly busy all week. PR is such a fast-paced industry, I've been waking up to 10+ emails of new tasks from my boss every morning (& more throughout the day). But I'm still enjoying it. I manage their blogs so unfortunately have been focusing on those and neglecting my own. I'm also behind on a lot of your posts! But I will be back to regular blogging soon.
I've been Tumblr-ing for my company and decided to finally get my own Tumblr as well. I can't believe it's taken me so long - I LOVE Tumblr.. Follow me!! PS: who took the username Leftbanked already? :(
& Did you notice my new blog layout? I don't like it that much but it's only temporary.

Enough about work - here are some photos from London. If you are new, I went there back in May. It's literally taking forever to post all my vacation photos...

On the first day, I arrived at about 9am in London. After the flight I was jet-lagged, lacking sleep and stressed about my lost luggage. Took a lot of effort to resist just passing out for a much-needed nap on my very comfy bed. Took even more effort to resist obsessively checking the online luggage-tracking page to see where all my stuff was. Eventually I managed to drag myself to Notting Hill! One of the places I was looking forward to the most. Portabello Road of course.

The more I used it, the more I loved the Tube. So efficient, and so many foreigners/tourists using it. On the way to Notting Hill I was happily squished in the center of a group of cute Italian boys. Normally in Toronto I HATE crowded subways and avoid them if I could. Is it just me or does this photo look a bit amusing (guy on the left in black jacket vs. guy on the right in grey. Looks like they're mad at each other or something):





Once I arrived here I forgot all about my lost luggage. It was so cool to finally see those colourful houses in person that I've seen so many times before in photos. Portabello Road was extremely packed, but I didn't mind at all. I already fell in love with London at that point. There's just such a great energy in this city.





Caffe Florian at Harrods. I love all the restaurants at Harrods, but this was my favourite. (The original Caffe Florian is in Venice). I spent way more time in Harrods during my trip than I want to admit. I went there to avoid the rain, for meals, to avoid the Queen's Jubilee crowds, & also to purchase everything you see here (except the iPod):



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This post archived in: Travel