Continuing on from my blood test results last year, here are the supplements that I have! Other than vitamin B12, the rest aren't essential if you're having a proper, balanced diet. I don't take them regularly because I'm lazy and they're not enjoyable lol. I did consider getting gummies (there are vegan ones on iHerb) but they're expensive and you need to eat quite a few :/

All of these are from iHerb except the Nature's Own vitamin B12 and the Holland & Barrett multi (last photo below). Listed are the current prices if they're from iHerb!

Deva, Multivitamin & Mineral Supplement (A$7.81)

I bought these because the regular size, non-mini ones were always sold out when I wanted to purchase them. The difference is that the tiny tablets have a maximum of 100% daily value for each vitamin/mineral, while the regular size one has over 100% for the B-vitamins. 

Imo the tiny tablets are enough because it's not like I'm relying on it for all my micronutrients! This is a 3 month supply but I've had it for maybe 2 years? By the way they've since changed packaging but formulation is the same. 

Nature's Own High Strength Vitamin B12

Nothing much to say about this other than that the tablets are really small! There's some debate on the efficacy of cyanocobalamin vs. methylcobalamin but I think it doesn't really matter since it's such a high dose anyway (I could be wrong though)

Now Foods, Ultra B-12 (A$11.78)

5ml = 5 half dropperfuls = 5000mcg

1ml = 1 half dropperful = 1000mcg

According to The Vegan Society, 2000mcg once a week is a good amount. Which means 2 half dropperfuls. It needs to be held in the mouth for 30 seconds and it's kinda tastes like kids toothpaste. As someone that hates getting toothpaste on my tongue this is still bearable, especially for once a week. (okay I take this maybe once a month but I should be more diligent about it) I saw in the reviews that B12 deficient people feel super energetic after taking this but I feel nothing which is a good sign! ^^;

The dropper is huge but this is the most it fills up, and I think this is what they mean by half dropperful!

Now Foods, Nutritional Yeast Flakes (A$11.05)

Special mention to nutritional yeast aka nooch. Half a heaping tablespoon (about 1 tablespoon?) contains 100% recommended intake of vitamin B12! It also adds protein and fibre to your food. It's super low in sodium despite tasting salty and cheesy! I usually have this with stews or roasted veggies but they suggest adding it to smoothies......that sounds gross lol

During an internship a dietitian asked me what nutritional yeast is made of. I blanked out because I've never thought about it before, and I answered yeast and nutrients haha which is actually not wrong?

I couldn't decide if this is a supplement or a food but I've just realised that it says Nutrition Facts instead of Supplement Facts!!

Source Naturals, Vegan Omega-3S, EPA-DHA (A$25.89)

I didn't care about DHA and EPA but then I saw this video by nutritionfacts.org and I changed my mind. Maybe I shouldn't be so easily swayed but I trust Dr Greger lol. Especially since I don't eat a lot of nuts and seeds! I take 1 softgel when I feel like it heh

Kirkman Labs, Iron Bio-max Series (A$16.71)

For a while before taking the blood test I was worried whether I'm taking enough iron. Since I don't eat a lot of green leafy vegetables here. But surprisingly my iron status was good! Probably because I eat 3-4 cups of cornflakes every day and each cup is supposed to have 25% RDI of iron. I used to eat air-popped popcorn daily back in Singapore but I don't have a good sized pan with a lid here :x So a more convenient but processed alternative to popcorn is cornflakes. Each week I finish a 700g box which means it's 100g a day (and serving size is 30g) and I don't even eat it for breakfast - it's just a snack. ._. Well I guess the silver lining of my poorer dietary habits is improved iron status lol

Anyway I bought this low dose iron supplement because then I can adjust how much I want to take. I guess I'll only take this when I switch back from cornflakes to popcorn haha

Edit: Don't take iron supplements unless you're deficient and it's advised by your doctor! 

Now Foods, B-12 (A$13.70)

Rainbow Light, Everyday Calcium (A$18.80)

Holland & Barrett Vegan Multivitamin & Mineral

(sorry you can't really see the nutritional info)

These are what I currently have in Singapore. I've had the B12 on the left for years... probably the first B12 supplement I bought? It's gross and the flavour is like tutti fruitti eww. Also I stored it in the fridge but moisture went in when I took it out and the lozenges are damp. Lozenges sounds like those hard candy kind but this is powdery :( I should throw it away.

The tablets of calcium supplement are HUGE and serving size is 4 tablets?! I should throw this away too.

The multi on the right isn't too bad. Mum bought it for me because it was reduced-to-clear but I've not yet finished it and it has long been expired :x The micronutrient profile is pretty good though! The tablets look green and taste green lol

In conclusion, with a balanced vegan diet and adequate sunlight, supplements other than vitamin B12 aren't essential (and you can get it from fortified food too)! Food should be the preferred source of nutrients but supplements might be required during pregnancy, illness, old age and other conditions. I should work on getting more sunlight though haha. Here's a shameless plug: If you're new to iHerb you can use my discount code MPF483 for $5 off your first order!

This is all the nutrition stuff I'll be talking about until I decide to take another blood test. Even though this post is mostly my opinion on how awful some supplements taste here's a disclaimer: Consult your healthcare professional if you're unsure or have any contraindications, and do your own research too!

I'm the only one using these appliances in my house lol ^^

Zojirushi Home Bakery Mini Breadmaker BB-HAQ10

I wanted a bread maker a few years ago - however, the model I was eyeing was a Kenwood one which is sleek but too large for my kitchen counter. Recently Mum said that she was tired of store-bought bread. She did some research and found this! Its usual price is about $300+ I think, but we bought a secondhand one on Carousell for $150 yay

It's probably one of the smallest breadmakers in the market. Nonetheless there's still no permanent space on my kitchen counter but it's quite easy to lift off and on using the handle!

I've been baking bread about every other day. It's super simple - just throw in the ingredients and 2 or 3 hours later it's done! The hole at the bottom (for the blade) isn't too big either. My parents like soft bread so I've only ever used the Soft setting or Light Crust (for quick baking). I've also not tried making pizza dough/cake/jam with it, maybe next time!

I'll be writing a separate post on breadmaking with this breadmaker (hopefully soonish)

Edit: link to the post is here

EuropAce Air Fryer 3.2L EAF332Q

Bought this for $69 at Megatex! It was one of the hourly deals. Those where a salesperson announces prices while aunties and uncles crowd around. I was one of those aunties lol. Original price $98 according to their website! The Phillips one is $300+ but I don't know how it compares. This works like how I expect it to work though haha. It's basically like a small oven but it's faster and things are crispier? I've yet to try baking cake with it...does it come out crispier too? Haha

I used this to airfry dumplings and Mountain Bread crackers for Chinese New Year reunion dinners and it worked really well!

Bosch MCM4200 800W

Out of these 5 appliances, I feel that this is the most dependable and indispensable one! I use it primarily for nice cream, and for this I use the food processor part. I rarely use the blender jug because I make my smoothies mostly in the food processor too!

It comes with several other parts including a dough hook and a citrus press but I've not tried them. Also I've completely forgotten about the existence of side drawer (built within the base) - I just realised that it's there because I had to google to check the model name lol 

Nice cream turns out really smooth and creamy!

Tefal Blendforce Glass 500W

Before the Bosch food processor/blender, I used this. It comes with a glass blender jug and a mini chopper. It was my first blender and I got this because glass should be better than plastic right? But then because the bottom of the blender and the chopper are removable, on multiple times it came loose and the contents spilled out :( I'm really sure that I closed it properly too! 

Another issue was that black things started appearing where the blade turns, at the side touching the food. It's like the motor oil or something eww

Dole Yoyonas Frozen Dessert Maker

This was passed to me by a friend who bought it and lost interest in using it. I tried it twice and I think that my food processor does a better job! The inner blades of the Yoyonas are also kinda tricky to clean! I don't think this is really worth buying - in stores maybe it's sold for $90 but on Carousell it's like $20 lol

These last two appliances have been sitting in my storeroom like white elephants. But not really elephants because they're pretty worthless.

Overall, the Bosch food processor, Zojirushi breadmaker and EuropAce air fryer are good buys but I need to explore more of their functions!

Chinese New Year is usually a tough time for new vegans - family gatherings & eating with people you only meet once a year - but I assure you that it gets better! Either you're more well-prepared or your family realises that swapping a meat dish for a veggie dish isn't too bad ^^

At my maternal grandparent's side we have rice and dishes every reunion dinner!

Clockwise from bottom left:

Grandma's 'fish', tempeh & pineapple curry

Grandma's leek & tofu stir-fry

Aunt's pickled veggies

Uncle's chickpea dhal

Yusheng

My airfried store-bought dumplings

This was last year's and it looks similar...

But this time we have a vegan yusheng!!! My aunt bought a ~$10 yusheng set from the supermarket. Dad sliced some canned abalone mushroom thinly (it resembles actual abalone doesn't it!) and I air-fried (baking/toasting works too) Tomato & Herb Mountain Bread to replace the crackers.

The crackers included in the yusheng set are probably vegan but this is healthier!

Turned out pretty good though the Mountain Bread gets soggy after a while!

At my paternal grandparent's side, reunion dinner every year is steamboat!

I bring my own camping pot lolol this is like 10+ years old or something.

So I cook my food separately haha. Forgot to bring some miso or gochujang, hopefully I'll remember next year! Made more air-fried dumplings and everyone loved it! 

I used the Fairprice housebrand veggie dumplings here. Seawaves vegetarian meat/chive dumplings are good too - the dumpling skin is thinner and the packet is resealable hehe. All have MSG though :x

Bought some vegan bakkwa from the vegetarian stall at West Coast Market! The stall at the left corner facing the road. It's supposedly the only vegan bakkwa that's made in Singapore? (Edit: It's not lol I saw another made-in-sg one at Fortune Centre.) I tried vegan bakkwa like 2 years ago but I think this tastes better! It's $7+ per pack I think. I can't remember if there's 6 or 8 square pieces?

This is like ootd lol but I brought bakkwa (red box on the right) to a dinner on CNY day 2 and had lots of it with rice haha

This was dinner at a family friend's house - they made salad for me, Dad cooked the curry :)

When visiting, it's not difficult to find food to eat imo. Especially since Chinese desserts are often vegan. Every year I eat cheng tng at my relative's place. They don't really understand veganism but they remember that I like eating the cheng tng ingredients which people normally don't haha ^^;

This bobochacha - coconut milk and yam dessert - at Dad's friend's place was yummy!

When there's nothing else to eat turn to the snacks!! 

By the way, Fortune Centre sold vegan love letters and pineapple tarts! It states eggless but I checked and it's also dairy-free. Didn't buy any because my parents don't really eat these kinda things so I'll just end up finishing them lol

Thankful for the effort that my family and relatives put in to keeping me well-fed and included in the festivities haha! And I'm glad that CNY this year was earlier instead of later - back to Brisbane in a weeks' time :( 

✧ Tim Ho Wan ✧

We went to eat at the North Point branch for breakfast because my parents wanted to! Tim Ho Wan's in Singapore also but we've not been there. Lol I never knew that they won a Michelin star. I ate some hotel breakfast earlier because I didn't expect to find vegan items here. I ended up getting chee cheong fun (not on the menu, you have to ask for it (素肠)) and osmanthus cake (on the menu it's Tonic Medlar & Petal Cake) which is this sweet agar jelly with petals. 

The chee cheong fun was smooth and wobbly and the osmanthus cake was herbal-y and refreshing! 

My parents had the non-vegan fried carrot cake here and it wasn't great? Later in the day we went to Three Virtues Veg Restaurant and they thought the fried carrot cake there was better ^^

(I just Googled 'what dialect is chee cheong fun' LOL it's Cantonese. I didn't know that omg I suck. There's this Singapore TV show which mum & my grandmas love and they speak different dialects and I can't tell the difference omg lol)

✧ Galo Portuguese Food ✧

In Macau now! This is Taipa Village (search Rua do Cunha on Google Maps).

This restaurant is right opposite Starbucks. Mum & I were looking for 2 veg places I found via Google but they were closed/non-existent T.T

So we settled for this place.

Fried rice HK$95

Nai bai veggie HK$60

Coconut HK$40

The waitress didn't seem so happy that we were eating there because normally people eat meat and seafood lol so they can't earn much from us? :( So we also ordered the coconut.

But their food is expensive omg the fried rice is like S$18????? And it was so oily?????

(By the way HKD and MOP can be used interchangeably!)

Steamed cabbage HK$60

This looks unassuming but it's actually the best cabbage dish I've ever had?? It's like 3/4 cabbage steamed until it's super soft and sweet omg Mum & I were amazed. Not oily too!

But we spent like almost S$50 here omg. 

I think the waitress was surprised that we ate so much veg because normally several people share a dish ^^; 

If you're hungry in Taipa Village and on a budget just go to all the souvenir shops and eat their samples of candied peanut/sesame LOL

 ✧ Seng Kei Congee 盛記白粥 ✧

I found this place after an extensive search of #macauvegan #veganmacau etc. on Instagram! It's like a traditional Chinese style breakfast place.

One day I was bored and did this lol. 

It'll probably help if you can't read Chinese because they don't have an English menu.

Those I subbed are vegan (as far as I know). Just a correction to the first one, I think it should be plain congee instead heh.

I was actually just here for the 炸肠 aka rice noodle rolls with fried dough fritters aka chee cheong fun with you tiao.

They have peanut sauce which was nice and fragrant!

Search for Seng Kei Congee, Macau instead of 盛記白粥 on Google Maps. They open at 7.30am - we got there at about 8.30am and it was pretty crowded!

✧ Hong Kong International Airport ✧

I've been to HKIA twice before to transit but didn't really eat a proper meal before.

I was surprised to find this at the food court! It's at Cafe de Coral which is a chain restaurant. 

Ok so Mum asked the cashier if there was any cheese and she said 起司 qi3 si1. After a while I was like "...then what is 乳酪 ru3 lao4?" And Mum was stunned that she said 起司 lol. But apparently 起司 is like a modernised way?? When I use Google Translate it's the first suggestion omg I am outdated

It's a really generous portion!!

And more 素肠!

That's it for the 4 places listed but here are a few more!

On the first night we arrived we had supper near our hotel (South China Hotel) at North Point. It was 9+ I think. We ate at this place called Nam Kee 南記 which is a chain restaurant. This one in particular smelled SO MEATY eww you can smell the meat from outside. The cashier was SUPER RUDE omg the rudest cashier I have ever encountered in my life. Like she kept on rolling her eyes and asking us to read the menu ourselves when we asked her for suggestions??

This was plain boiled noodles and lettuce for HK$25.

More 素肠 at Hai Wang Porridge 海皇粥店 (chain restaurant) near our hotel at North Point another day.

Rice and boiled veg at some duck place in Macau. It's a Chinese place with Chinese menus but when we sat down the waitress gave us an English menu and talked to me in English omg how did she know hahaha

That's it for my Hong Kong + Macau trip! Hong Kong is #6 on Peta's Top 10 Vegan-friendly Cities in Asia list and I guess I agree! There's quite a lot more vegan food to try and places to go in Hong Kong and Mum & I feel that it's worth another visit. 

Macau on the other hand...maybe not. I thought that the casino would be fun. I traded in my personal info for HK$38 at Casino Taipa (below our hotel, Regency Art Hotel) lol and used it at the slots machine... nope that wasn't fun. If I go back it'll just be for Blissful Carrot haha ^^; 

✧ Three Virtues Veg Restaurant ✧

Three Virtues Veg Restaurant has 2 branches, one in North Point and one in Jordan. We went to the latter one after some shopping at Ladies Market and Fa Yuen Street Market (nothing much worth buying)

Sorry for all the ugly photos in this post heh

On the first floor of JD Mall there's this small takeaway stall.

Really affordable - prices starting at HK$5 (S$0.90)! Also most importantly the items names are in English too lol

The restaurant is on the 4th floor.

Mum & I went (the rest went to eat meat lol) around 3pm and it was still pretty crowded!

Anyway this is probably the second place I was most excited to try (1st was Loving Hut) because DIM SUM who doesn't like dim sum

Menu is all in Chinese. I don't think there was an English one? Lol my Chinese reading skills suck so I got Mum to read it for me T.T

Those in the box on the top are the dim sum. The large, medium & small size are all HK$17 each but the specials (1st 5 on the left) are HK$26 each.

Those at the bottom are noodles, fried rice and porridge etc! A neighbouring table ordered the second last one on the right (I think) and it looked super good! Too bad we didn't have stomach space.

Here's what we got! It took a while to be served though so the dishes on the left are partially eaten lol

The one on the left is Fried Carrot Cake HK$17 (in the menu it's the last one in the middle column) and the one on the right is Fried Chee Cheong Fun HK$26 (4th item, 1st column)

The fried carrot cake was really good! We were at Tim Ho Wan for breakfast that day and Mum and Dad (he came to eat our leftovers hahaha) agreed that this tasted better - which is surprising because this vegan version lacks the tiny fried shrimp which is supposed to add flavour?

This fried chee cheong fun was recommended by Dad's veg friend who loves it. He normally has it at the North Point branch so maybe it's kinda different? Mum & I didn't like it.. it was like oily and tasteless :(

If you didn't know, chee cheong fun is 猪肠粉 or simply 肠粉. Literal translation is pig intestine noodle but it means rice noodle roll! You can order 素肠 su4 chang2 at many places and it's always vegan as far as I know!

The buns on the left are Mushroom 'Chicken' Baos HK$17 (2nd item, 3rd column) and the one on the right are 'Prawn' Dumplings HK$26 (5th item, 1st column). 

Nothing really spectacular about these and I think there are better items worth eating!

THIS. Mum talks about this to everyone who asks about out trip lol!

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao HK$17 (3rd item, 2nd column)

Y'know I can't remember what the texture and taste of xlb is. Mum says this is shockingly realistic though! I thought the meat is normally firmer but apparently it's mushy? It's shortcoming is that there's just a tiny bit of soup though! But still, it's amazing wow how do they do it

Overall, it's definitely worth coming for the xiao long bao and fried carrot cake! There are probably other yummy items too - would love to go back!! If only they'll open a branch in Singapore T.T

Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant

九龍彌敦道233-239號佐敦薈4樓及地下 D舖

(佐敦 C1出口)

Shop D, G/F & 4/F, JD Mall, 

233-239 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon

Tel: 3622 1888 Fax: 3622 1833

✧ Veggie SF ✧

Veggie SF is an expensive Western/International cuisine restaurant modelled after a San Francisco diner (hence the name). It's 100% vegan since 2016! There's a minimum spending of HK$150 (about S$28) per person.

We went with 2 of Dad's friends who recommended this place - they've been here a few times even though they're not vegan/vego!

We ordered a main and it's and additional HK$58 for a combo meal which includes a soup and a drink. The soup of the day is tomato soup - it tasted really fresh and nothing like Campbell's!

For starters we had the Korean Spicy Salad HK$78

And the Garlic Herb Grilled Portobello HK$88

I can't remember what they taste like now but my impression is that both were really good!

Light Combo HK$138

Seemed really fresh and healthy and not as light as it sounds!

Fisherman's Wharf HK$168

I saw on Instagram that many people order this! If I remember correctly, the 'fish' patty tasted better  than most I've tried!

Trip to Bali HK$158

I wanted the All Day Breakfast but they were out :( This was not bad but not like spectacular? Hmm. Like every part of this dish was good but not something I'll go back for.

As part of the set I also got the non-alcoholic beer (usual price HK$48). I thought bitterness comes from alcohol but for this alcohol-less beer it was really bitter!

Overall, I don't think that Veggie SF is a place that I'll go back to eat at. Actually 50% of the reason is that it's so dark and I don't like eating at dark places. So maybe lunch would be more enjoyable haha. 30% because I was (and I'm still) very partial to Chinese food (after 10 months in Australia lol). 20% because it's expensive (not like I paid but still).

So if you want a break from Chinese food and aren't fussed about the price then this is probably a suitable place to go to! Food quality and service is definitely good!

Veggie SF

10/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong

Mon - Sat 12nn-2.30pm 6-9pm

Reservations recommended

A random addition:

After Three Virtues Veg we had some time to spare before going to Veggie SF. I wanted to go to MANA Fast Slow Food but it was kinda crowded :/

This is super cute though!

So we got a drink at this place opposite called Kasa - not a veg place, serves meat. I had the almond milk (I was expecting the Western type but it's the Chinese almond lol), mum had the soymilk. The pudding at the front isn't vegan. I thick-skinly asked if I could keep the bottle but now I regret keeping it because I've not used it yet haha.

We sat upstairs and the whole shop was so quiet lol. The decor was retro and pretty! A good place to rest your legs heh