Nursing Room: CWB Ikea

The Nursing Room in Shatin's Ikea totally impressed me…since moving to Mui Wo, we've switched to frequenting the Causeway Bay Ikea instead.  It's easier to access too…just hop on the ferry into Central and straight onto the MTR to Causeway Bay.  

Today's blog post is a view into the Causeway Bay Ikea's nursing room.

Firstly, to access the nursing room, you will have to ask an employee.  The nursing room is located right at the bottom of the escalators down into Ikea (right next to the STANDING cafe area).

There are two private nursing rooms.  Both are equipped with a comfy little chair, pillow to use for support, blanket, little shelving area and a tissue box.  I'm guessing that the blanket could be used as a nursing cover or maybe to wrap baby up!

The shelving area, in my opinion, is totally too small for all the stuff I (and maybe some other mothers out there) have to lug around!  But, it's sufficient enough to put a mobile phone or a bottle of water on top…diaper bags and whatnot can be placed on the floor (but I'd rather not!).  The pull out compartments, though…are really nice to slide stuff into for temporary means, but my diaper bag is just too big to fit comfortably into this space.

The main area of the nursing room is really nice…dim lighting and a comfy little bench to place baby and diaper bags on.

There is one changing table, which makes me think that not a lot of people visit this nursing room.  But, it has a cute Ikea mobile and also night lights to entertain the baby while you change them.  There is also storage at the bottom to put your stuff, which is good...

The cool thing is that there is also a hot water dispenser for quenching your thirst and also for mixing formula.  I'm not sure if it is as hygienic as it could be, but at least it is there if you forget to bring cool boiled water with you to Ikea.

There is also a pretty big diaper bin, which is always a dire necessity of any nursing/changing room.

I really like how this nursing room is quite quiet and comfy.  The dim lighting is perfect for relaxing from an arduously people-crowded walk from the Causeway Bay MTR station exit.  It's also available for families to rest, change babies in.  Though…the nursing rooms are probably exclusively for nursing mothers.

As with the Shatin Ikea's nursing room, the sitting area (bench) was my favorite part.  It's just so trendy looking.  I really dig both of the nursing room's choice of bench decor!  It's attractive to babies as well, or mine!  It's also a nice little space where a baby can roll around or crawl on (under close parental supervision, though).

The coolest thing about the Causeway Bay Ikea's nursing room is that the bench pulls out and there are toys available for play in the bins.  I'm not one to let my little one munch on anything, but…if he wasn't a muncher, I'd let him play with some of these toys.  There is always a novelty associated with playing with something temporarily, right?

But, for older kids, these toys are definitely quite fun to play with…and, like all of the things in this nursing room, can be found right in store. Haha…I love how Ikea markets in their nursing rooms!

My nursing room afterthoughts…

1.  There is a lot of colors and patterns that make this nursing room quite attractive!

2.  The lighting and mood make the experience quite calming.

3. It is a bit old and neglected feeling, though.  I'm not sure if there is a daily cleaning of the room…but it does feel a bit dirty compared to the Shatin nursing room.

Ippudo in Causeway Bay

Does anyone remember that year when ramen because all the rage?  I think it was a few years ago when I caught on to now awesome ramen was.  Actually, I've always enjoyed a hot bowl of noodles…but ramen, for some reason, just makes the noodle eating experience more awesome than usual!

Today, I'm blogging to you from Hakata Ippudo in Causeway Bay.

Hakata Ippudo Info:

Location

2/F 

8 Russell Street

Causeway Bay

***I'm not sure of the name of the building, but when you are walking along Russell Street, you'll be able to see the Hakata Ippudo from street level.  It sits right across from Times Square.

Hours

Monday - Sunday from 11:30 am - 11 pm

***There is a 10% service charge

Telephone

2892 - 2387

***The option to make a reservation is not available, but I've been here a few times and the wait has never been very long.  

The really awesome thing about this place is that there are options on the menu for HALF SIZES.  So, if you are out late and just want to nibble on something, there are not only snacks, but you can get their awesome ramen in mini form.  …though the menu for half sizes are a lot more limited...

We got here a little after noon and it was absolutely NOT crowded at all!  This actually made me think that the craze for ramen might have died down?

 We thought that the decor was pretty snazzy.  I actually never  realize that there were ramen bowls and spoons decorating the walls of the establishment.

Like most ramen places, there was a bunch of condiments that you could add to your ramen.  I think this (especially the garlic) is what makes me love ramen so much.  I like how I have the option to personalize it to my taste.

I got the Shiromaru Motoaji…which seemed pretty plain, but I like plain.

My husband got the Special Akamaru Shinaji because the menu claimed that eating this bowl of ramen would give you a well-balanced sensation!

Mainly, we got those two dishes because they were recommended on the menu.

The outcome of our lunch:

1.  Delicious as always…

2.  Made me want to eat more ramen…

3.  Made me remember the good ole days of living in Japan and having a late night grub at underground ramen shops…

Date Night CWB

We decided to find a new place to eat out for date night, which is what brought us out to Causeway Bay!  We decided on okonomiyaki…mostly because we were going through photos of our trip to Hiroshima and the Osaka area recently and just remembered all the great okonomiyaki we had.

I found a place on Open Rice that seemed to have really awesome ratings for their okonomiyaki and teppanyaki:  Kozy.

Kozy Info:
9/F Circle Plaza
499 Hennessy Road
Causeway Bay

Tel.
2591 - 1281

***I RECOMMEND making reservations!!!!!  This place seemed to be so busy.***

Hours
Mondays thru Saturdays from 6 pm - 4 am

Just looking at the menu, I knew that this was going to be a nice place to eat.  There was a lot of variety, but there were few enough options so that you can feel NOT OVERWHELMED at the food items.

There were also pretty nice drinks:  I got a Calpis and Coke mix!

Since, there were four of us, we got a bit of everything off of the menu.

We started off with edamame.

Then we got a pork dish…at least, it looks like pork in my photo.  I actually thought we got a Kagoshima beef dish, but I could be wrong!  There was a mashed potato under the meat, which was delicious too!

What's a trip to an okonomiyaki place without ordering some okonomiyaki?  We got the Spring Onion okonomikyaki, which was pretty all right.  I actually was expecting a bunch of cabbage with it, but it was another style…that I hadn't had before.  If anyone knows what style of okonomiyaki this was, I'm all ears  I've only had ones with loads of cabbage in the mix before, but this was, again, pretty all right.

We also got an order of grilled veggies, which were so delicious!

Our second round of ordering, we got the Oden dish…which sooo reminded me of the days when I used to live in Japan and hit up the Oden at the convenient marts.

And the last dish of the night was the cheesy omlette.  This was good, but I'm not a fan of omlettes!

Kozy's was such a nice find.  I really enjoyed the atmosphere and also sampling so many things.  I'm glad there were four of us on this date night.

I'd totally recommend checking out Kozy's and also going with a group of people.  They have awesome drinks and a good selection of eats!

A view from Hysan Place later that night.  The Hong Kong evenings are so spectacularly lovely!

Eating the Weekend

There are so many places to eat in Hong Kong.  I have been here for a couple of years and must have tried hundreds of places.  Most of the time, I am amazed at the deliciousness of everything.  It's quite rare to find mediocre foods around, which is great for Foodies.

Here is a sampling of eateries I indulged in over the weekend.

[Friday]

We started the weekend off in Tsim Sha Tsui.  And a street that always has a good selection of restaurants is Hau Fook Street.

Dinner @ Sarangchae

We got the bimbimbap and a beef with turnip dish.  Both were pretty darn good.  I would suggest getting the bimbimbap in the stone bowl because the regular bimbimbap without the crispy rice just isn't the same.

Korean food is always a great way to start off any weekend!

[Saturday]

I was down in Causeway Bay for the day, so my husband and I had breakfast in the area.  Usually, for breakfast I'm always up for the local congee or rice roll place.  I like a simple breakfast!  But, having something like noodles for breakfast is also a pretty good option.

Breakfast @ Nam Kee Spring Roll Noodle Co. Ltd

We got one signature fishballs and noodle dish, which was pretty good.  It was even more delicious when I added condiments and spice to the mix.  The second dish was beef tendon, which was also delicious.  The sauce was what made this dish.

For lunch, I met up with a friend for some grub on Haven Street, which is a swanky little dead end in Causeway Bay.  There are a few really nice looking eateries along this dead end, but Cafe Yawn was the first that I'd tried.

Lunch @ Cafe Yawn

We split a skillet dish and got two mini skillets to eat off of.  Quite excessive, but quite thoughtful, in the customer service sense. 

The dish was delicious and left me satisfied.  Who doesn't love a good potato and egg mix?  And the guava juice I got quenched my thirst.  Guava, by the way, is one of my favourite juice flavours... being from Hawaii and all.

A few hours later, we headed to one of Causeway Bay's popular dessert houses.  This was another totally new place for me, so I was totally up for trying it.

Afternoon Tea @ Chung Kee Dessert

Chung Kee Dessert was actually quite barren during the middle of the day, but probably gets busy during the evenings.  We ordered a mango puff and a mango shaved ice.  The shaved ice melted before I could get halfway through.  It didn't compare to some of the shaved ices I've had back in my Hawaii days, but it was good for the hot weather.

When I go back next, I am definitely going to try the shaved ice cream.  I'm not sure what it is called, but some places have called it the Taiwanese ice cream.  I had it before on Cheung Chau Island and also down in Cheung Sha Wan.  It's always the best fail-safe thing on the dessert menus for me.

[Sunday]

Yuen Long, where I live, was known for food back in the day. It still has a bunch of great eateries, but so does every district in Hong Kong!

Because we were in the center of Yuen Long today, we walked around in the hopes of finding a new place to test out.  I'm always looking out for places where I can comfortable order food, interact with servers who have huge amounts of patience, have orders made quickly, is pretty convenient to get to from my place and is worth returning to.

There is one place that caught our eye…a place that usually has a line outside when dinner rolls around, but for lunch it seemed to have open seats.

Lunch @ Hok Kee 

Congee seems like a lot of people's comfort food in Hong Kong.  

Hok Kee is really in such a convenient location, right next to the Tai Kiu Market.  Also, the food is quickly served, so that you can be in and out within minutes (depending on how fast you eat).  That's something I like about Hong Kong…how FAST fast-food can be.

I can totally understand the presence of the line, though.  The congee is pretty darn tasty.  I mean, usually, you may think congee is dull, but this was nice.  We also got beef noodles, which were also quite nice.

I believe that I will come back here... perhaps make this place one of my regular places to eat a quick and simple meal. I just have to go during non-peak hours.

Dinner @ Go Inside & Friends

For dinner, we went down to Hung Hom.  Originally, we were going to see if the ribs were being served at Go Inside & Friends.  I am starting to think that the ribs are never coming back onto the menu!!!

But, instead of ribs, we ordered pork chop and salmon steak.  Both were incredibly delicious.  I have yet to order a mediocre dish from this place!  I'm not too sure what the soup was, but we ordered tiramisu at the end.

It was a great meal to celebrate the end of the weekend.

I noticed a fawn on one of the columns of Go Inside & Friends


My friends always say how it is easier and sometimes cheaper to eat out in Hong Kong.  I would sort of agree with that thought, but that's only if I am eating at a local canteen or local dai pai dong.  If I am craving some pesto penne, I think that it would definitely be cheaper to make that on my own.

But, living in this city, the atmosphere of going out with friends or having an evening out with my husband makes for eating out a lovely experience.

I would definitely recommend trying out new places every once in awhile.  Trying a new place is like gaining some new life experiences.  Y.O.L.O. right…(does anyone say that anymore?)