This nursery is huge, specializing in tillandsia 铁兰属植物. I learned about it from a small air plant seller – Airplantation (actually it’s the seller’s home, not far from here) in 2023 – yes, all my purchase from Airplantation are doing well.
This nursery suffered from the hurricane and are still recovering from its effects.
The office is at the end of the road – everyone should go there to check in first. The young lady in the office said that this was a hobby her stepfather had started around 50 years ago. There is a long snake skin pinned on the wall, near the ceiling, that he brought back from Peru. I told her about snake banquets each autumn in Hong Kong, which I miss very much.
A pleasant and comfortable seafood restaurant offering good service, decent food, and perfectly presented dishes.
We’ve
– crab cake: really good w/o remoulade sauce
– calamari: ok
– baked oyster: fine, but hardly any oysters
We arrived early, at 4:30, due to the nursery. The bar is busy, but the restaurant is empty. Both house wines are excellent, especially served in Reserve by Libbey. The food is rather bland, but I’m very glad to see the teardrop peppers (also known as Sweety Drops or Biquinho peppers – Amazon), which I’ve had a lot of in Greece recently.
The lighthouse painting is classy. They’ve Peking Duck Wing: but I didn’t order because of tariyaki sauce.
Although most Chinese restaurants serve dumplings, this one specializes in them, nearly exclusively. However, their dumplings have no folds, like 2D, and are flat. The folds give the dumpling three-dimensionality, making it more appealing. The interior is simply red and simple.
The bus ride into Flushing is smooth, although a bit crowded. The fare is $2 ($1.50 for seniors), can be paid with coins and credit card but not bills. However, I only have 50¢ and unfortunately, my two credit cards won’t work – or the machine doesn’t work. The female drive kept on saying, that I might be fined $100 for not paying. Gosh, make your machine work!!! A young woman changed me four quarters.
The seats have charging port, but the one I tried isn’t working. Oh well.
This is one of my go-to places for XLB (soup dumplings). They’ve upgraded to this location, which is just a few doors down from their original shop. This is larger and has a high ceiling.
I actually had DTF (Din Tai Fung) at their London location in Selfridges two nights ago and decided to try it again. I ordered their regular XLB and noted the following:
– The size is larger than I remembered.
– The skin is thin.
– The soup is plentiful and clear.
– The meat is well-prepared.
Overall, it’s still my favorite spot, now in a more spacious environment.
I visited at 10:30 AM, and they weren’t busy at all. From the waiting area at the lower entrance, I could see they are likely busy during lunch and dinner times.
We wanted to visit the Mithraeum, but it was closed for a school function. So we come in for a little pick-me-up: all is good!
The St Stephen Walbrook @ 39 Walbrook, is a church. The domed building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) following the destruction of its medieval predecessor in 1666, the Great Fire of London (Sept 1666). It is located in Walbrook, next to the Mansion House, and near to Bank and Monument Underground stations. It’s 5-minute walk to the Royal Exchange.
