Auto & Opinions: Best Tesla Model S-Friendly Car Park Map For Hong Kong

My map marking both good and bad car parks
Image from Locky's English Playground

Can't say I'm struggling with time, but I have place my research projects and assignments higher on my priority list than last semester, which is why I'm finding it difficult to keep up with 3 posts a week these days, but if there is anything interesting enough, I will always share it here.

This is one of the projects I have been working on since August 2014, called Best Model S-friendly Car Park Map. At that time, I was not yet a frequent driver, so I did not frequently visit car parks in Hong Kong. Due to the size of the Tesla Model S, its width in particular, and the smallness of parking spaces and entrances for most car parks in Hong Kong, I reckon newbies like me will need a little help in choosing the best car park around Hong Kong. Turns out, other Model S owners have had the same concern and my map has helped quite a number of people in finding the safest parking spot at unfamiliar districts.

Car parks are separated into 3 categories, charging Model S-friendly car parks (consists of red, blue and light green stars), non-charging Model S-friendly car parks (consists of purple circles), and blacklisted Model S-unfriendly car parks (consists of black diamonds).

Legends:

Red Star: Superchargers and Model S-friendly
Blue Star: 40A or 32A chargers and Model S-friendly
Light Green Star: 13A chargers and Model S-friendly
Purple Circle: Model S-friendly
Black Diamonds: Blacklisted for various reasons

Whether the car parks are considered Model S-friendly or unfriendly depends on the comments provided by fellow owners who have experience in that particular car parks, or internet sources such as YouTube and newspapers.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Say for example the Olympian City 1 car park, it has been given a light green star and thus it has a 13A charger available, by clicking on the star, additional information will be displayed, including YouTube videos of drivers entering and exiting the car parks, condition of the charging spots, discounts related to the car park, spending amount to enjoy free parking, as well as the official website of the car park.

Basically, it provides a quick glance of a particular car park and its key information at your finger tips.

Since this project is on-going, it will only get better and better with the increasing amount of sharing from fellow owners. It is recommended that you too share your comments with me and share this map with friends who owns big cars. All rights reserved though, particularly the concept of this map.




Resources:
Best Tesla Model S-Friendly Car Park Map For Hong Kong @Google My Maps
http://goo.gl/zT52ul

Cooking: How To Cook A Piece of Perfect Steak And Lamp Chop

Brilliantly well-cooked medium lamp chop
Image from Locky's English Playground

This may be a little late for Valentine's day, but it is never too late for to learn to cook a great meal for your love ones. Two years ago, I wrote Cooking: How To Cook Steaks with Sticky Wok and Clean Easily, I explained one method of cooking steaks, today I have another way to cook it, except that this one almost guarantee the perfect piece every single time! 

Meatloaf in plastic bag
Image from Locky's English Playground

I actually learned this method from watching one program on TVB Pearl of which its name I failed to remember. The question here is how to make sure the inner layer is cooked just right without burning the outer layer too much!

The basic principle behind this method is the use of a cooking bag.

Recycling a cooking bag
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I recycled a cooking bag originally for Oden, placed the meatloaf inside, sealed it and put it into boiling water for about 5 minutes. The duration really depends on the thickness of the meat and the gradation of cooking preferred. For me, I prefer medium to medium well.

Steak ready for searing
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After the cooking bag step, it is simply back to searing and browning.

Flip every 20 secs
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The suggested browning time is one flip every 20 seconds.

After 1 flip
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Since the meat has already been cooked to medium in the inner layer, browning the outer will seem quicker than usual.

After 6 flips or so
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But as long as you keep an eye on it, your steak will be juicily prepared in no time!

Medium steak
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Just look at the juice! Don't you just want to buy a piece and try out this method tonight?

Lamb chops
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The same method works on lamb chops as well!

Crispy outer layer
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Crispy outer, juicy inner!

Juicy medium lamb chop within
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After one success, you will not want to try any other methods again because it is just so hard to not getting a piece of meat perfectly cooked with this!

Try it and leave a comment for me after your success!


Resources:

http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/cooking-how-to-cook-steaks-with-stick.html

Temperature (Meat) @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_(meat)

Food & Opinion: Prime Taste Singapore Laksa feat. Chilli Crab La Mian

Instant Laksa!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

I have a friend who is a big fan of laksa, so much that he will carry bags of laksa soup and noodles separately from Singapore to be shared and served in Hong Kong. Now there is a solution, cheap(er) without a sacrificing quality.

Prima Taste series!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Prima Taste instant laksa from Singapore packs some rare excellence you find in instant noodles and in my humble opinions beats restaurants in many sense. First, it just costs $20-ish, as compared to $50-ish from Singaporean restaurants in Hong Kong.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Second, it is convenient, as you can take them anywhere you want.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Third, it is clean and well-packaged.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Instructions are simple and clear, everyone can cook a decent bowl of laksa easily.

Shrimp paste
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It comes with a packet of rich-flavoured, generous portion of shrimp paste,

Coconut powder
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and lots of coconut powder adding that tropical punch to it.

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Here you can see all the ingredients,

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but for me, what matters most is surely the taste and texture of the noodles.

Boiling noodles in soup
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The cooking is as simple as adding 500ml of water to all the soup base and then throw in the noodles to cook for 7 minutes,

Clams and shrimps added
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Then in the last minute, throw in your choice of meat or vegetables. I love bean products but unfortunately I couldn't find any on the day of cooking.

Uniqueness in every bowl!
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Even leaving the noodles for 30 minutes after cooking, the noodles still remain as the most chewy and real laksa-like, which is quite remarkable as this is the kind of quality you might not even find in restaurants. And the soup! Oh!! The soup!!!! Tastes unbelievably original than anything I have tried! And it just tastes better as you add more ingredients in the process of cooking.

Image from Locky's English Playground

On the other hand, there are several more choices from Prime Taste apart from Laksa, say this Chilli Crab La Mian,

Chilli crab paste
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The cooking procedures are kind of similar to those of the laksa,

Image from Locky's English Playground

except that this time round you don't cook noodles in soup, you add sauce after the noodles have been cooked.

Slightly red noodles
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Maybe it was just me, but it seems that the noodles didn't turn out to be as colourful as that on the packet,

Added beef beside it
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and for me, it wasn't spicy enough. But hey, my level of tolerance for spiciness is really high. My wife cannot stand even a little bit of this, so...

Overall, I still think the Laksa is the best bargain, and if you are a laksa fan, you have got to try this!

Resources:
Prime Taste Official Website.
www.primetaste.com

Living: New Goodway Garment Steamer

Goodway's latest garment steamer
Image from Locky's English Playground

Turns out that no only was the previous garment steamer recommended by the Consumer Council was no good after 2 years. Guess it was good in practicality but not in durability. With leakage of water and electricity, it was time to find a decent successor.

Turns out, I have discovered a pretty good deal!

It comes with a stand
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Goodway is definitely a Made-in-Hong Kong brand that has captured many many mid-aged housewives' fans, and frankly speaking, I have never thought about getting a Goodway ever in my life, but this G-SQ1 has proven me wrong.

Soft brushes
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For like HK$500, it comes with the steamer, a stand, two soft brushes, and two extra soft brushes in another box.

Brush detached from iron
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Oh, forgot to mention that this garment steamer is in fact an iron in disguise, but this iron doesn't flatten creases on cotton, because it maxes at low-temp for silk.

So, how well does it work?

Have you got a good garment steamer? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.


Vocabulary:
crease -- (c)[N] a line on cloth or paper where it has been folded or crushed



Resources:
Living: How To Clean Your Garment Steamer? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/04/living-how-to-clean-your-garment-steamer.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/crease_1