Metropop x Sony 星級音樂人C.Y.Kong 試聽分享會

Thanks to Metropop and Sony for inviting me to this event.

At the event, I got a deeper understanding of Sony's High Resolution audio products.
Products with this logo have been designed to maximise the sound performance of High-Resolution Audio.

Renowned composer CY Kong shared his views on music and the recording industry.
 著名音樂人C.Y. Kong 分享音樂創作心得及對音響的產品追求
It was really entertaining knowing more about the music industry and Eason Chan.
I could really relate to CY Kong because he went to UNI in London with friends from I.C and King's and he also watched the V-Show (according to his website), but it was way before my time obviously!
My appreciation for Chinese music and culture started then and I miss the V-Show!
[V-show is a variety show each year by the University's Chinese society]
We then took a break to try out the new audio products and it was good to see that almost everyone was a Sony user from their phones to cameras!

Sony Hi-Res Audio Products showcase (Sony 高解析度音訊產品試聽):

-New Linear PCM Recorder to Record True Sound with Extreme High-Resolution Audio that is closer to the original sound
-Portable Headphone Amplifier PHA-2 for High-Resolution Audio Quality

-XBA-H and MDR-10 High-Resolution Audio Headphones for the Ultimate in Music Enjoyment

It was really nice testing out the headphones and listening to quality music because modern life and the music industry have changed, people no longer go out with disc-mans or have the time to really enjoy music.

Fun with got milk? magic straws collection!!

Thanks to Hong Kong's Octopus Inc for sending me the latest collection of got milk? straws.

There were six flavours: banana, strawberry, cookies and cream, chocolate, wild berry and orange cream.

I only managed to take one photo of the magic straws in action because it was hard taking a photo whilst drinking it.
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Banana:
The banana was quite sweet with a strong vanilla taste and a hint of banana which tasted natrual.

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Strawberry:
I was expecting the strawberry taste to be strong but it was not.

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Cookies & Cream:
The taste of this was similar to the chocolate but it was not so chocolatety.
Visually it was really pretty with the contrast of white and brown in the straws.

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Wild berry:
The taste of this was interesting and reminded me of something which I can't remember!
It may have been Hubba Bubba chewing gum, but it was definitely a Western candy.

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Chocolate:
This was my favourite flavour and probably the most popular flavour because it is just fuss free simple tasting chocolate.

Here is a photo of the chocolate in action

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I also had fun trying two different flavours together.

Here are the combinations I tried:

Strawberry and Wild berry

The combination of strawberry and wild berry resulted in a wonderful fruit of the forest flavour.
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Cookies & Cream with banana:
The flavour was quite cute and tasted like banoffee pie.
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Orange cream with chocolate:
Orange and chocolate always pair well resulting in delicious chocolate with tones of orange!
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As a summary, chocolate was the best, next was the banana which was surprisingly good because it was not artificial and then orange cream.
Each magic straw is sufficient to flavour one glass of milk.
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Crispi I Fruits

Got these vacuum dried fruits from Octopus Inc or you can get them here:

http://shop.ilovemama.com/deals/20140225d_driedfruit/

There was freeze dried pineapples, longans and bananas which I have not tried before.

It feels really interesting holding a bag of these vacuum dried fruits because I love the clinking noise it makes when you rattle the bag just like pieces of ceramics clinking together and it feels so weightless too because all the water has been drawn out in the vacuuming process.

I love vacuum dried items because it keeps the nutrients while the flavour gets concentrated and intense.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Banana:
Usually banana chips are fried so it was good to try the vacuum dried version which are non oily and crispy. The fried version is really hard and not so nice.

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Longan:
The vacuum dried Longans were quite sweet but then the fresh ones are real sweet anyway and the colour was interestingly brown.

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Pineapple:
The vacuum dried pineapples taste better than fresh ones because I've never liked them fresh as they were too juicy and the fibres were woody.

But as a vacuum dried snack, the fibres are brittle and the pineapple pieces are crispy with natrual tartness of the pineapple.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Lemongrass tea infusions

Got these teabags from Octopus Inc.

There were two flavours: Lemongrass and Lemongrass with Pandanus leaves.
Each box contains 16 pyramid tea bags.

 
 
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I must admit I am not a fan of Lemongrass but the smell is not annoying as the ones you find in Asian restaurants.

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The Lemongrass with Pandanus leaves were really calming and soothing because the smell and taste was really pleasant.

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They also have Longan Beverage powder too.
http://www.supersupergirl-food.blogspot.hk/2013/12/hot-longan-beverage-for-winter.html

Hot Longan beverage for the winter

If I did not get this from Octopus Inc, I would not have known about this drink!
The Longan hot beverage is a lovely comforting drink for the winter

All you do is add water to it, and the drink is slightly thick but not viscous with a lovely hint of longan.

For a stronger Longan taste you can add some freeze dried longan into it or add less than the required water.
Other drinks in this series are:
Pure lemongrass tea
Pure lemongrass tea with Pandanus leaves
http://www.supersupergirl-food.blogspot.hk/2013/12/lemongrass-tea-infusions.html

Animal cookies from Market Square

I have to admit, I am a big kid! So when I got these cookies from Octopus Inc I had fun taking them out of the packet to see what animals were inside before eating them.

These cookies were just as fun for me as well as for children, especially for lunch boxes or when kids are travelling.
Each flavour has a colourfully designed boxed with a theme on it.

It comes in four flavours: Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate chip and Cinnamon grahams.

All the cookies tasted natural and did not have any weird aftertaste nor were they oily.
My favourite flavours were the Chocolate and Vanilla which brought back memories as a kid and the biscuits back then because of the taste.

Hong Kong distributor:
http://www.octopusinc.com.hk/?wpsc_product_category=yummy-food
Market Square website:
http://www.marketsquarefood.com/

POCKET PRETZELS Peanut butter filled pocket pretzels

Pretzels are boring on their own, but when they're filled with Peanut butter, now that's a different story!
These POCKET PRETZELS are addictive!
Basically boring Pretzels made delicious.

I loved the salty surface of the Pretzel pockets and inside it was filled was delicious velvety peanut butter.

Anyway, this is a popular American snack which I haven't seen before in the UK.

Thanks to Octopus Inc for sending me a packet or I would not have tried such a delicious snack.
I will definitely get a stash for my friends back in the UK from Hong Kong!!