let's get ready for christmas! (and a tokyo shopping haul)🎄

Life in Hong Kong: Christmas vlog Let's start! Hello from 'Home Kong' This week we're going to get the house ready for Christmas! But first we need to set the festive mood And I think only Frank Sinatra can do that for me (Ok and Nat King Cole but we don't have his Christmas record yet) I'm so happy we found this vinyl on Carousell! Now I'm really getting excited for the holidays 2023 really flew by Not only are we going to set up the tree but also this calendar we got in Tokyo! (If you live in the US/Canada it is cheaper to buy from Crate & Barrel) MOMA Design Store 2024 Stendig Poster Calendar ¥12,186 (after tax refund) / USD 83 The Stendig is a 1960's calendar designed by Massimo Vignelli You can use 3M adhesive or velcro stickers to adhere to the wall I've been wanting to fill up this blank wall for a long time And I think this oversized calendar adds a nice visual 'pop' to the white walls Putting up the Tree Now that we have 2024 covered, let's set up the Christmas tree haha Since my friend Laura left Hong Kong and moved to Canada She gave me her 6 foot Christmas tree The one thing I don't like about most fake trees is how visible the 'trunk' is We try to spend more time 'fluffing' out the branches so it looks more full To make the Christmas tree more 'full' in appearance, I shove a garland into the gaps to plump up the tree haha Adding fairy lights instantly makes everything more magical and 'Christmassy' I need to take a small break before we decorate the rest of the house Shall we open 'presents' from Tokyo? :D Tokyo Shopping Haul It appears we have an orange/green theme this year haha Hey guys! Welcome back to Hong Kong Today we're going to start off with doing a quick little shopping haul of all the things we bought in Tokyo. So let's get started! First up let's talk about the things that we got for the home cafe These are some of the coffee beans that we got in Tokyo This one- first off- is from Passage Coffee One of my favourite coffee shops- we got 1 kg of this one And then we have two from Leaves Coffee One from Fuglen And then the most expensive one: KOFFEE MAMEYA Next up are these home cafe accessories that I got from Flying Tiger If you saw the vlog, I purchased these Christmas mugs from them One is the TikTok gingerbread man and then this one is the snowman I got these mugs from Flying Tiger for our Christmas home cafe This one is a snowman with a silicone lid/hat And Victor has the gingerbread man As you guys know we love shopping for vintage in Shimokitazawa so these are all the used clothes that we purchased I got a rugby shirt from Ralph Lauren And then two cable knit sweaters also from Polo Ralph Lauren I got a flannel jacket from a vintage store curated by Flamingo I like the colours of this- it's very fall And then I got a denim workwear jacket That has nice stitching on it- the white stitching and it's very structured And then lastly I got a blue Polo Ralph Lauren shirt with the red logo As you can see we love our vintage Polo Ralph Lauren! We also went to Tokyo DisneySea as a part of this trip! And I bought some souvenirs for my friend Laura These are the 40th anniversary and Duffy And these are the Mickey Christmas items! For sneakers, I always wear Converse This one we got at the White Atelier Converse store It has the 'React' sole so it's more comfortable for walking long durations And then the one I wanted to find in Tokyo were these 'Converse Addicts' Also with a cushioned heel sole In collaboration with 'Vibram' This is the olive green colour And these are only sold in Tokyo so they're very special! These items I bought from Kuramae, from 'Tool Shop Nobori' Two of them are ceramics and one is a pair of Japanese tongs I have no idea what this is but I just love that decorative fluted edge And then I also bought a silver plate And then for steak we got some metal Japanese tongs I like the shape of this one- that's why I picked it out! And these are also made in Japan It's very minimal- I like it So from the brand 'Today's Special' which is a lifestyle homeware shop I bought a couple of pasta magnets as little gifts And then we also bought a spatula because we just need a new one This is from a lifestyle store we stumbled upon after Fuglen Coffee I saw this colour of a notebook And I had to get it because.... It's just so nice! Ok all this stuff is from one of our favourite stationary stores called HIGHTIDE They're a Fukuoka-based stationary brand They come in a lot of colours and we like their travel packing cubes and essentials I also got a new Twemco clock They have one in collaboration with 'Penco' but it's not available in Hong Kong We also bought this large tote bag but we got the wrong size We were hoping to pack our taxi lights in there But apparently they have three sizes and we grabbed whatever we did and it's the wrong one Super random but I got this coconut fibre from Daiso because I want to put it in on top of my plants as just a decorative detail As you guys know we love our vinyl And we wanted to find some Japanese jazz this time around So this store is from Disk Union And we found some very cheap vinyls! We don't know what they sound like But they look good and they have a bit of jazz artists that we like so we decided to try it out! They were about ¥800 each They're quite cheap, they're used and I guess they are quite good quality They're very well maintained- they're all in their plastic wrap still Pretty sure they're going to sound great! And from Le Labo I got a new perfume scent It's exclusive in Tokyo called the 'Gaiac 10' And then I have it printed with my name and a heart shape and 'Tokyo' on it! Next up is from Victor's favourite brand 'Beams' They were doing a collaboration with Polo Ralph Lauren So we ended up getting the cardigan and a sweater The Polo logo is on the reverse side They're both in cream and it's just a very nice classic to have! Although I don't think the quality is that great because there's a bit of pilling already on Victor's cardigan I wore it 2 days only Next up is a crossbody bag You may have heard of the Uniqlo viral crossbody bag It's similar but a little bit bigger And I like the colour because it's also in green! (And I can borrow it too!) "Yes" Last but not least we have a couple of items from Prada and Bottega Veneta When we were in Japan we weren't intending on buying luxury items But if you purchase at Isetan you can get a 5% off guest card On top of the 10% tax back you get Coupled with the fact that the yen is very low right now we were able to save several thousand dollars on all these items So first up we have Victor's Bottega card case! The colour is quite similar to my Cos bag but it's also a little darker I was trying to find a card case for a long time with enough slots for all my cards At least a minimum of 6 and this one actually had like 6 plus a wider middle section So it was a great purchase! In an avocado green that he loves So I've been wanting to buy a Bottega Veneta bag for some time now But I was looking more on the preloved market- I just couldn't find anything that was suitable for me at the price point I wanted So when I went to Isetan I was considering buying the new 'Hop' bag or a Jodie And this is what I ended up buying: I got the medium size Jodie bag in 'fondant' And I like how this is very oversized and in a very dark colour I decided to get it new in the store because I ended up saving around HKD 8,000 With the tax back and the guest card Actually I've started using this already as soon as I bought it! The next day I took it on the airplane with me So this is my new bag! I think I'll do a proper bag review next year So if you want to see one of those stay tuned! Up next we have a couple of items from Prada My friend wanted a nylon hairband so I helped her purchase it at the store in Isetan Apparently it's really hard to find so he said as soon as you find it you should just purchase it And I helped her save about HKD 800 getting it in Japan Originally the sales associate showed me the one in velvet But she didn't want that one- she wanted the classic nylon So I got her the narrow one And last but not least I was passing by the Prada in Miyashita and I spotted this jacket in the window And went to try it on and fell in love with it It is from their Prada nylon with Magnum Photos collaboration This is what the packaging looks like I ended up purchasing it at the Prada in Aoyama just because I felt like that store was so iconic in its architecture; I just wanted to get it there Here's the jacket It's a cropped nylon style with just a Prada logo on the side The sales associate was really nice and ended up giving us this 'Prada Reporter' coffee table book in a colour that Vic obviously loves And then we also got a photo print as well from the Magnum Photo collaboration Hope you guys enjoyed that little unboxing and now we got to clean up our living room! Bakehouse Brunch Bakehouse, Wan Chai We were invited to Bakehouse with our friends to try their new brunch menu! When your girlfriend is a light stand Raspberry Frangipane Tart We decided to share a bunch of plates Avocado toast, steak and eggs, corned beef potato hash, blue crab omelette, hash brown nuggets It's always fun to catch up with friends after everyone's travels Desserts are here: Brioche French Toast Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme They also gave us a bunch of baked goods and a cute tote bag! Thank you, Bakehouse! Marks & Spencer Popped into M&S to pick up these cookies for the home cafe But I spent a lot of time looking at their decorations There aren't as many shops that sell Christmas decor like North America I was so tempted to buy this I love the icicles but they seem so fragile to keep in storage :S British themed baubles! I was so close to buying a light-up cookie tin I'm secretly happy the Christmas mugs I got in Japan are cuter haha Tinsel Tree and Holiday Drinks Back home and ready to decorate the house some more But first let's make a holiday drink! Mixing some hot chocolate Double shot into Mr.Gingerbread I'm surprised he was able to make latte art in this mug Omg I'm ded: it's Gingerbread² Time to add some decor on the tree: I admire people who can spend an entire day decorating But I'm the type of person who does a little every day (because I'm so indecisive about the theme haha) Originally I wanted to tie silver bows on the tree since I've been a little obsessed with the balletcore trend But then I saw a picture of a Christmas tree from the 1950's And I wanted to recreate the tinsel tree If you've seen my previous Christmas tree decorations, they've always been very cheap and DIY (just time consuming!) One year I did a Chanel cookie theme Since Christmas is only for one day, I don't want tostore too many decorations so I like to make them Plus every year I want a new color and/or theme hehe To make the tinsel tree you need to trim the top of a tinsel curtain And then separate the tinsel every 6 strands so it looks like fake eyelashes My tinsel is from Daiso so it's not very fine I also decided to halve each strand (my tree isn't tall) and staple the center to secure the strand I'll hang these until tomorrow morning to decorate the tree I didn't want the tree to look like a ghost so I had to shorten the tinsel I don't need a perfect Christmas tree, I just want a fun one haha Now on to decorating the rest of the house It's always fun to see what items are in the 'Christmas Box' It's like a surprise because I always forget what's in it (I bought red balls one year and regretted it) I try not to buy to many Christmas props but these are so cute! I got this at a shop in Shimokitazawa back in 2015! A few glass Christmas ornaments I'll hang on the tree My Christmas tree skirt is usually a random piece of fabric Colour dependent on mood and theme of the year lol I got a couple of advent calendars I've been waiting to open This one is from Maison du Chocolat I've been eating a lot of baked goods and chocolate this week Christmas always induces sugar cravings in me haha I'll hang the advent calendar right here so I can get my daily fix of chocolate here They also sent this sweet box How do I even eat this- it's too pretty to break Next is an advent calendar from The Peninsula! Actually when I started to open it, I realized maybe it'sjust a very fancy gift basket in the shape of an ornament (Because there aren't any numbers on the box) I ended up opening all the boxes haha Christmas Tree Butter Cookies Assorted Fruit Mini Candies (Oops) Blonde Pecan Nut Praline (Festive Pin) even though it's not an advent calendar, it was full of surprises! Dark Chocolate Carrés This is probably my favourite Christmas decor I got 2 years ago It's a bunch of 'snowy' garlands we zip-tied 2021 Christmas We decided to tuck them around our mirror this year It reminds me of winters in Canada Spent a lot of time untangling lights- now on to decorating the garland If you want to keep holiday decor to a minimal, I thinkfairy lights and some evergreen are enough to create that festive mood Some miniature Christmas ornaments I also like to burn pine-scented candles to make our (Hong Kong) home feel like a cabin in the woods (That is my imagination because it's still T-shirt weather here) These mini candy canes are from the Dollar Store in Canada I end up putting tree ornaments everywhere but the tree haha I hope the tree doesn't look like a 👻 I may trim some of them later on! night mode Our most watched show on Netflix: Fireplace 4K: Crackling Birchwood from Fireplace for Your Home We need to pretend haha Santa's Elves: Packing Orders We got a new batch of taxi lights and have been fulfilling allthe new orders we got while we were in Tokyo We hope you guys also like our new postcards! There are 4 new designs to look out for Can you tell Victor's olive green obsession is real We also got them in cream and lavender (not shown here) Here are some A5 orders we are shipping off today Since we're hosting a lot of holiday gatherings I've been baking non-stop There's nothing better than a big, warm chocolate chip cookie They go well with a post-dinner coffee from Victor A touch of sea salt for a savoury note I keep a big batch of cookie dough in my fridge for whenever we have guests (Guests including myself haha) I pop these in the oven right after dinner as an indulgent dessert Going to reward myself with a slice of pumpkin pie after all that baking Key Lime Pie: learning how to bake something new for the holidays! This Christmas season I wanted to learn how to make a new dessert I'm usually not a fan of sour desserts but I thought a key lime pie would go well after a heavy turkey dinner I found this recipe from Claire Saffitz Victor had to help me juice the limes haha And I like how you only need a bowl and a whisk for this recipe We're hosting 18 people tonight so I'm making a couple desserts to suit different tastes I think this pie will add a bit of brightness after a heavy meal I forgot Japanese eggs are more orange so the colour of my custard is going to be slightly different Once the pie is cooling, I'll prepare the cream top I chose this recipe because it has a lemon cheesecake flavor By whisking a small amount of cream cheese into whipping cream It looks like a giant egg tart As a chocolate person, I appreciate the bright colours of a key lime pie As I'm zesting you can smell the fragrance of the lime I will try a slice because... quality control right? Also this is my first time making this! Look at these layers I also made tiramisu (I make this every year haha) Topping the mascarpone with cocoa powder Let's see if people like this dessert tonight I didn't really vlog much during dinner because it was so busy But I think our guests prefer tiramisu haha All our coffee orders from tonight I'm pretty exhausted after hosting and cleaning up So I'm going to reward myself with a cookie (or two) hope you're having fun preparing for Christmas see you next week :)

Channel: Sam and Victor

Views: 92,659

Keywords: hong kong, vlog, home cafe, hong kong vlog, home kong, daily vlog, sam and victor, victor and sam, sam is home, ootd, home baking, christmas, vlogmas, christmas 2023, tokyo shopping haul, bottega veneta jodie medium, bottega veneta, prada jacket, tokyo, shopping haul, christmas tree, gingerbread mug, key lime pie

Id: UWOEZ5DFmPc

Length: 28min 18sec (1698 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 04 2023