Passion for....

Chilli Padi

2007-09-15T19:33:00.000+10:00

Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central, VIC 3000

Chilli Padi, located at the end of a laneway in Melbourne Central shopping centre offers a selection of modern Asian cuisine. I wouldn't have thought so till my 2nd visit to this place. Little is known about the place, the 1st impression cast on it was 'must be one of those suited only for westerners'. This is absolutely incorrect. This place has 2 separated dining areas; along the laneway, in the shop itself and there is a staircase that will lead you up to the 1st level. The menu served on both areas are different. The upper level is a fine dining area, a more exquisite selection and more pricy. Who would have thought that there would be a difference?

My 1st visit was right up at the 1st level, it wasn't because i have an expensive taste but because there weren't available spaces along the laneway and was directed to the 1st level. No one explained to me about the difference, was given a good service, quite surprised by the selection of food and its price. Needless to say, the fine dining area is quite impressive, classy in its interior.

I had the 'hor fun' with beef, a huge plate, which reminded me of the 'hor fun' in Asia. This tasted really good. Well presented too, for a typical cheap meal certainly has been presented well enough (upgraded) to make it as a fine dining selection.

When i left the place, i realised that the menu selection is different if you dine along the laneways and inside the shop. I decided to come back for the 2nd time. This time round i sat along the laneway, i was surprised by the menu. There is a 17 dollars package meal (entree, main and a drink). Wine is one of the drinks selection. Cheap! Obviously, it has to be a budget wine. I doubt you get Penfolds, Brown Brothers, Taylors wines. I couldn't help watching what others were eating, the fried koay teow was impressive, roti canai and even the fried rice was tempting. I had the chicken curry (main), a bowl of spring rolls, wonton and samosa (entree) and a glass of red. The plate of fried eggplant with chilli and mayo dip was tempting, it did sound weird but it tasted good. The mayonaise was a Japanese mayonaise.

The restaurant also serves hawker-style food on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights after 10pm. I'm not sure of the food on the list. Will certainly visit this place again to taste some of its other impressive appearance food.

testing the taste buds

2007-08-27T20:45:00.001+10:00

I had an interesting task at work earlier today, did a stock take with one of the shop floor staff. I'm glad that i hadn't lost my taste buds. What do i mean by this? It has been quite awhile since i last put my taste buds to the test or being invited to a sensory tasting. I enjoy sensory tasting sessions, taking pride in commenting what i think about a particular food. I'm known for my thoroughness. Since it has been quite a while, i have lost my confidence and wasn't sure about the accuracy of my buds.

The purpose of the stock take was to identify the unused processed products and noting down the age of it. I was able to pick up a batch of roasted peanuts tainted with smokey flavour and this was really obvious. A great start! As i progressed on, picked up another batch of peanuts which is two months old from when it was processed to find that it is starting to go rancid. The final identification happened to be roasted cashews which didn't taste fresh at all. Took a sample of each of them to get a 2nd opinion.

I'm glad someone agreed with me. Therefore, i can say my taste bud is reasonably well.

What would i do if i couldn't taste anything? A year ago i had my wisdom teeth extraction. I had a complicated case and was referred to a maxilofacial surgeon for extraction. One of the tooth was embedded in the gum, angled and closed to one of the sensory nerves. During the consultation, the surgeon explained to me the complication and the potential consequences involved. One of the consequences if great attention wasn't given during the surgery was i might loose my taste buds. I didn't think that it would had a huge impact, of course being in the food industry, a good taste bud is important and not having able to taste anything is absolute bizarre. The surgeon was great, attentive and went well.

Stay well taste buds.

round 21 @ the 'G'

2007-08-25T10:07:00.001+10:00

It was good to be at the 'G' earlier tonight with the magpies and swannies supporters. The weather was great, not frigging cold. Its always good to have 4n24 pies and some hot chips while watching footy. I was good without any beer.

andrew's hamburger

2007-08-22T23:08:00.001+10:00

144 Bridport St, Albert Park, VIC 3206

Andrew's hamburgers which need no introduction at all to many of us. One of the known, voted good (a big tick) hamburger take-away in town. It's name after the founder of the business, which is Andrew. I've met him, and goodness me he's such a talker, outgoing, humourous person. He told me apparently he's very famous in Japan, and sounds like he's used to his popularity. This made it an easy task for me to take pictures. It is a relatively small shop, do not underestimate it, you will be surprised with the constant people strolling in and out.

I had the lot, good old traditional hamburger without any creativity added, no alteration. Bacon, melted cheese on top of the pattie, tomatoes, lettuce. Mouth watering.

Yummy! Stop staring at the pictures!

mc donald

2007-08-21T22:31:00.000+10:00

McDonald's, I'm lovin it "M" have served many of us well haven't they? Let it be the ever popular McValue meal (quarter pounder, fillet-o-fish), the Breakfast at 6am (bacon and egg muffin with hash brown, hot cakes with syrup), McHappy Meal to the selection of Deli Choices. The easy quick fix to one's hunger. McDonald's despite being a fast food provider, is cautious about the choices of meal provided. This is demonstrated by the nutritional information provided on the individual meal with some of the choices outlining the grams of fat in them. Would one care about the energy serve or amount of fat that they're pumping into their body when buying the meals from McDonald's? Would chips ever taste good without frying them in oil?

I must admit that McDonalds are creative with the offered selection of meals and you would notice that the dessert range changes all the time. As for the Happy Meal, it suit the children. The constant release of different toys, toys that resemble the characters from cartoon movies certainly tempt the children and some young adults. *Marketing scheme*

There is a McCafe in McDonald's depending on which store you visit. The small range of 'sweet' cakes or desserts are quite impressive: ranging from donuts, to muffins, to truffle roll, to cakes (mini cheesecake, banana and walnut slice, chocolate torte).

Creative!

spare the rod,spoil the child

2007-08-20T22:47:00.001+10:00

It goes with the saying, spare the rod, spoil the child! This is indeed true! This is well demonstrated to me at work with the bunch of people working on the lines i'm responsible for. I've spare the rod and in return i've spoil them. I've been too easy going with them for the past months, in return i get excuses from them when i needed them to get serious about their work. Even when it comes to minor cleaning required, i received a classic excuse, 'oh why do we need to clean, this is a messy product, it will be dirty again'.
Looks like the honeymoon period is over for them, time to bring out the whip and educate them a little bit. It will be painful, but if i do not educate them i will be in a more painful position.

Isn't it a hard task to play miss/mr nice person role? Time for them to listen to their mama.

my little pet

2007-08-19T16:24:00.000+10:00

I've recently kept a little creature in my workplace lab. This little creature was brought to my attention by some fellow workers in manufacturing area. I'm glad not many people knew about this and lucky enough my supervisor was too busy to realise that i've fed it with an almond and an apricot. Surely, it need some sugar to survive. Who knows?

Few days ago, while i was observing this creature, few of manufacturing workers saw me and were intrigued with what i was looking at. I showed them and can't believe they were afraid of it. They think it will die soon which i agreed.

Just in case if you do not know what this is, it is a maggot!

menu of the day

2007-08-17T23:52:00.000+10:00

What have i had at this day, at work? It is amazing how my stomach can cope eating all sorts of food, from raw nuts to roasted nuts, to fruit chews and yoghurt balls. All i do is eat and eat.

What would you like to be?

2007-08-16T20:31:00.000+10:00

If you were given a choice to do whatever you would like to do/be for a day, what would your answer be? A good question, simple but yet required some thoughts. This question was presented to me yesterday. Strange enough, the day before i actually asked a colleague, do you like what you're doing? and have you always known that this is what you want? He burst into laughter,

Chris: Are you really asking me this question, or are you indirectly asking yourself?

Me: Ermmmm, asking you. How do you know whether you like what you're doing or not?

Chris: You would know. A good indicator would be how you feel waking up every morning knowing you have to go to work on that day.

Me: Ok, Chris. I really do wish why can't i just be like one of those people who always know what they want.

Chris: You know what, another way of finding it out is to try it out! You will not know till you try it, and also taking the risks involved.

Me: Ok, Chris, i think you should get back to work. Lets not talk about this.

Chris: Again, burst into laughter!

Am i that funny?

My answer would be, if i were given a choice, for a day, i would want to be a food critic, pick a nice dining area, dine there, put together an article and get it published on The Age, Herald Sun or magazines.

taco bill

2007-08-14T18:08:00.000+10:00

142 Russell St, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Awhile ago, i went to Taco Bill for dinner. Yes, Mexican food, nachos with cheese, avocado and sour cream which is not to be missed. I wasn't sitting still, head up, looked at the ceiling, at the walls, at the surroundings, lightings, paintings, chairs, tables, everything... I like the interior, everything, the colours, painted cactus, painted little man wearing a sombrero, the mexican beer-corona.

This is my 2nd time of experiencing Mexican food, little is known about it, apart from nachos, tacos, tortillas, pinto beans. Well, i can't really tell whether the food is great or not. The least, i did enjoy myself, the nachos, and i had chilli con carne. Yayy.

The Echiladas looked yummy too. Too many options which certainly prompt more return.

another version of myself

2007-08-11T22:56:00.001+10:00

When the world is busy simpsonizing themselves, (I) on a Saturday night decided to simposinize myself. HAH, i like the Bob hair style. In reality, hairdressers said they're not suitable for me, but with simpson's simpsonizing factory, it was plausible.

peanut crackers

2007-08-10T23:59:00.001+10:00

Lately, i've been exposed to an unlimited amount of peanut coated crackers. Addictive. A random thought came to mind, has anyone thought of wrapping these up in a clear film (the ones used to wrap hamper), tie it with a ribbon and put a nice label on it and sell them during Easter? They do look like mini eggs. Does this in some way look familiar? I'm reminded of the mini easter chocolate eggs done by Cadbury, exact same size except we're talking about crackers here and not chocolates. I'm sure these coated crackers can come in other colours.

Something a little different during Easter, apart from the usual chocolate eggs.

almonds

2007-08-08T16:46:00.001+10:00

(Clockwise (from top):-oil roasted, dry roasted and natural)

Almonds, natural almonds, dry roasted almonds and oil roasted almonds. Didn't think that almonds can be oil roasted, in other words, deep fry! The shiny, glossy appearance, the same colour as any fresh oil painted deck. Wasn't even sure whether i would want to taste it, i guess i didn't have a choice. Today, was the day where i ate so much oil roasted almonds, too much till i feel like i'm about to spew out. Eventually, it was too much, and had to ask someone else to taste it for me.

I know, aren't I lucky?

Truffles

2007-08-05T15:11:00.000+10:00

376 Bridge Rd, Richmond VIC 3121

Truffles, an approximately 4 month old 'chocolate' business located on the busy Bridge Rd and right in front of a Tram line.

What do i like about this place and what do i have to say about this place? Looking into this place from the glass door, one could see various chocolates neatly presented in a chilled, glass, typical (most cafes do have) display cabinet. Good enough to catch patrons or anyone's attention while strolling down Bridge Rd. The ambience of this place speak for itself. The brown reddish painted ceiling along with the visible brown bricks line makes it all an interesting presentation. The few golden frame mirrors hung on the wall along with a huge brown mirror cabinet right in front of those mirrors made the place look bigger, 'the mirror effect'. The colour of the couch, lighting of this place, colour of the furniture and even the menu had a matching colour, redish brown colour.

This place has a similar concept as the established chocolatier business;-Koko Black and Max Brenner (the bald man). It serve chocolate drinks, sticky date pudding, chocolate fondue with 4 different types of fruits and a range of chocolates. The chocolates especially appeared hand made and my guess would be they were all made in a small scale and wouldn't be as extensive as Koko Black. It has the chocolate sauce on wafers, and having tried this in my perception there is a difference in the wafer compared to Max Brener's wafer. The wafer here is purely a typical wafer, just right nice. Max Brener's wafer is sweet and you will notice that the wafer has a coarse sugary taste when you bite them.

As for the chocolates, tried the hazelnut crips, almond flake and cherry bite. They were praline chocolates, except for cherry bite which has liquor in them. Praline chocolates which is known to many of us the brand GuyLian. In my opinion they taste ordinary to me and having said so, hand made chocolate making is hard work and require a lot of skills to master them (the tempering of chocolate, and how the chocolate was handled is very critical). Truly well done to this 'young' business. All the best.

A bonus thing from this place, it has free wireless internet, which means you can bring your own laptop to this place and use the internet. All you need to do is obtain the password from the waitor or waitress.

Note: I wasn't paid to write this post and first time ever i have written a posting while dining at the same time. The write up is done, timpe to pack up my bag, pay the bill and leave.

craving-kfc

2007-08-04T15:57:00.000+10:00

A sudden craving which made my week. Guess what... it is KFC. A random thought that came to mind before the end of another working week. Decided to send a friend an e-mail about this, with the subject KFC Party. Should we have a KFC Party tonight. What do you think about this?

The level of saltiness on the chicken skin, the saltiness of the chips, dipping the chips in hot gravy. I love this during winter. Finger lickin' good, good to lick your own fingers? Must be.

Yum Yum.

illusionist

2007-08-02T22:32:00.001+10:00

I really like this movie, the whole set-up, the colour of it (oldie and antiqued appearance). It is based on a book, ahh, can't remember the title and won't have the time to read the book either. I would watch this again, fascinated by the illusion. Well well, it is just a movie and yes none of it is real. I guess it is the cleverness, something that is a little different than normal plot that caught my attention. Mesmering and riveting from the start till the end.

Jessica Biel look great in this movie, i find her lips sexy.

I'm reminded of a book which i've read couple of months ago, 'Carter Beats the Devil' by Glen David Gold, a modern literature and fiction which outlined the story of a magician.

Mesh

2007-08-01T22:48:00.001+10:00

Crown Promenade (Crown), Southbank, VIC 3006

Few weeks ago, my housemate introduced us to Mesh, we were told that this is a good buffet place. The highlight of this place is it has a great offer of fresh seafood (oysters, prawns). The deal is, if you get a main which is at a cost of approximately 36 dollars per head, you get to enjoy unlimited (eat all you can)-seafood, a range of entrees and desserts and a selection of drinks. Great place to indulge yourself after a long hard working week. Everything is under one roof, and need not migrate to somewhere else for coffee or dessert after dinner.

True indeed the oysters and prawns were fresh and the place was very generous with the seafood supply. Waitors and waitresses continually checking the seafood tray and topping them. We get a steamed basket of oysters too, for free! Made all of us hyped up!

The entrees range from bread and butter or dips, different style of salads and even tabouleh was one of it. The mains were-eye fillet, scotch fillet, lamb shanks and etc. It was huge, served with potatoes, grilled eggplant.

One of the mains (which i had):

Needless to say, the desserts weren't dissapointing at all, a selection of ice-creams, cakes and fruits.

As you can see, it is really worth the money. The quality of the food is impressive too and the level of service was up to the standard. Quite attentive.

the society we lived in

2007-07-29T23:07:00.001+10:00

A day after i wrote about first aid, and how i was afraid of blood and etc. I must have jinx myself. While i was driving and waiting for the traffic lights to turn green, i heard a motorbike from afar, Vroom Vroom, Broooom, ear blasting. Who was this Mr cool, trying to be cool on road on Sunday afternoon, when it was congested? Ah ha, Mr Bikey,this is not the place to show off. In a split second, there was 'THUD'. He lost his balance, fell onto the road, and his bike was on top of him.

Great! It happened next to my car! Should i get out of my car to help him? Motorbikes are heavy and it is on top of him. Had a quick look, none of the drivers around me helped. Should I? Should i even be bothered when others don't? In the end, i didn't, and saw that he managed to stand up again on his own and wasn't injured at all. Phew, great relief, no blood!

This speaks 'highly' of the society we lived in. Is there such a thing as good Samaritan?

First Aid

2007-07-27T23:09:00.000+10:00

Today at work, I saw a colleague (Karen) cutting out few printed pictures of my other colleagues. To me they looked like a fugitive, one of those fugitive shot, carrying a plate with a serial number.

Me:Karen,what are they for? They all look funny
Karen: These are for First Aid, First Aid rep
Me:Ok
Karen: They're all males. I've asked some females, but they didn't want to be part of it
Me:Ok, ermm what does it take to be part of it? (In deep thoughts thinking that maybe i could volunteer)

Few seconds later

Me: Karen, i don't think i can, cause i'm afraid of blood, and i can't see people in pain
Karen: Hmm, in this case i don't think you can either. I've learned something about you, the 'bleeding people' or people in pain shouldn't come to you, cause they will die or you will make them die if they come to you.
Me: Hmm, maybe! (I can't perform first aid on people)

Ben Elton-Past Mortem

2007-07-26T22:10:00.000+10:00

Finally! I've managed to finish this book. I've had this book for a while now since May, only to read 2 chapters since i bought it from Myers, Myers can have pretty good sale on books, 35% RRP. Better than Dymocks, Angus and Robertson and Borders. Well the advantage of Dymocks and Borders is they often have 3 for the price of 2 books, and they're popular titles.

It is my first Ben Elton and I really enjoyed it. It is entertaining, engaging, a clever plot and easy to read. I wouldn't have guessed the killer, and only to find out at the end of the chapter. On a separate note, the language usage is a little coarse. MA and S scenes. I give it a 4.5/5. Ben's other titles are quite appealing, Dead Famous, High Soceity, Blast from the Past and etc.

Will have to read his other titles next year.

Time for Potter and more Potter.

gifts and birthdays

2007-07-22T00:00:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was a remarkable day. It all began with the usual marketing chores followed by an intense shopping. I had to visit Borders, and one would know that it was terrible day to visit any bookstores. It was the release of Harry Potter, finale. I couldn't believe my eyes, the long metres of queue outside Borders, some carrying marked balloons (We love Harry). Inside, 5 checkouts assigned for pre-ordered pickup, staff dressed up in black cloak, black/purple wizardry hat and ONLY 1 checkout was assigned for other purchases. To sum it all, terrible wait.

I had to join the queue since i had the need to exchange a cookbook which i've bought earlier with another cookbook. I've decided that my friend (Jane) deserved Bill Granger, everyday cookbook as a birthday gift. Bill's recipes are simple, less complicated and suits her.

The next thing was visiting T2 tea shop. I found a perfect birthday gift for another friend (Sema), a stack (3 different types of herbal relaxation tea) and it wasn't that expensive too! Worth the money and quality. Ahh, i'm 100% sure she will like it.

And....... after this, i made my way back to Borders. I line up for Harry Potter's book and got myself a white Hedwig too. A nice super cool owl. Currently, am reading Ben Elton's Past Mortem, and the next book in line will be re-read the Harry Potter (5th), 6th and the final one. Shall see whether i can finish them all by the end of the year (i doubt).

*Jane's Birthday*

It was great to celebrate a 25th birthday last nite. The 'usual' close friends were invited, her parents came along and was good to see the familiar faces again. Her parents were glad to see us too, ahh the 'close' friends get together. How I met her? 4 years ago, i was living in a different state and happened to be in Melbourne for a conference. We conversed, exchanged contacts and most importantly we are the foodie of the future. Later the year, i made a move to Melbourne and somehow throughout these years, i became part of her life. Thank you Jane!

Made an interesting discovery during the nite. Midori + lemonade + cherry. What a combination!

*Sema's Birthday*

Celebrated a 40th birthday today. A milestone birthday! and Another 'foodie's' birthday. It was another good get together session out of working hours. A typical motherly character whos always checking on me at work. "Are you ok", "You're very quiet today", "Please eat more, you need to eat".

What a busy weekend, need to get some sleep!

Sala Thai Restaurant

2007-07-20T17:28:00.001+10:00

266 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065

I visited this place few weeks ago. I didn't know that there is a Thai restaurant in amongst other shops (clothings, homewares) on Brunswick Street. It was a cozy, relatively small, dimly lit place. There was an option on either dining on table with chairs or on table with cushions on floor. It didn't take that long for the food to come. We ordered few dishes-Tom Yum Soup, stir fried vegetables, red curry chicken and curry fish. I must admit the soup, vegetables and curry fish sauce all tasted sweet (too much palm sugar, maybe?). Oh well, a nice try.

Weird humour

2007-07-18T21:07:00.000+10:00

Weird humour of the day:-

At work, I was at one of the packing lines I'm responsible for. The scenario was, when i arrived at the line, they had sealing problems. The operator of the line, in trying to be funny said to me:-

Hey, why do we get problems when you come, when you do not come we don't have any problems.

I was quick at responding to him. Please explain, why do i hear problems when i come to work? and we both laughed.

Weird.

Literary Awards 2007

2007-07-16T22:07:00.001+10:00

I like visiting the local library when i get the chance, maybe once in every 3 or 4 weeks. Few weeks ago while i was at the checkout station, this yellow flyer caught my eye:-"Boroondara Literary Awards 2007 Young Writers". Interesting, enteries close on Friday 31st August 2007, a writing competition of prose and poetry for young people in Boroondara. I could give this a shot, and most important of all I'm still young (in my own definition). I'm starting to enjoy writing. A friend once said that I should write a book on my life stories, reason being I always have something to tell him whenever I see him and he enjoys listening to them (i think!!).

As i read the inner page of the flyer, one of the headings was why enter?

*free

*improve your writing

*be published

*write any topic you like

Sounds good. Besides, winning entries have a chance of being published in the Progress Leader.

As i continued reading, there was another heading called Young Writer Categories which defined the junior writers and senior writers.

Junior writers as defined here referred to people in school year levels 7-9.

Senior writers as defined here referred to people in school year levels 10-12 or 15-18 years of age as at 31st August, 2007.

Hmphhh, I don't fit in any of the category, neither junior and senior and NOT YOUNG, thereby can't enter.

IL Dolce Freddo

2007-07-13T23:06:00.001+10:00

116 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3054

IL Dolce Freddo, one of the Italian ice-cream (gelati) place people like to visit during warm weather. During summer in particular one would expect to see a constant stream of people in and out of this place, gripping tightly in their hand an ice-cream cone topped with flavours of their choice. Let me warn you, in a hot 40 degrees summer, if you're a slow eater like me, you will be experiencing a melting ice-cream moment and would end up with sweet sticky hand. So, hurry up and swallow them as fast as you can.

This gelati place has a staggering variety of ice-cream, you name it, cookies n' cream, lychee, pandan, mango, coconut, green tea, tiramisu, chocolate roche, nutella and even durian. Ah, durian is a Malaysian thing, known as the king of fruit, the considerably big round fruit with thorns and green in colour. Nevertheless, it carries a distinct smell. If you happen to walk around this ice-cream place and smell some strange smell, this is the contributor.

Few days ago, a friend from interstate visited me and i brought her here after dinner. Goodness me, in this cold weather i can't believe there are still people who would like to have ice-cream. It was a win-win situation where she get to have her ice-cream and i get to take pictures. The happy gleeful smile.

It was a perfect timing where there was no one in the shop apart from us and only a worker was present. For once i could snap all the pictures i want happily without any interference, taking my own sweet time.

Typical working day

2007-07-10T23:00:00.001+10:00

A typical working day:-

Supposedly to start work at 8.30am, but never on time. Hopefully no one noticed that i have been arriving at 8.40am. Blame it on the weather! It is too cold.

Drop my bags in the lab, head to my locker next to get my uniform, off to the ladies to put it on.

Back to the lab to have a quick look at the retail products left on the bench for me

Out to the production area to see what the production workers are up to. Say my good mornings to them, if not some of them will be upset at me. Why didn't you say good morning? Why didn't we see you this morning? Where were you.....etc? Are you happy? Everything ok? Full of concerns from these people.

Today is somewhat a little different, it is one of the girls birthday, i have been reminding myself not to forget about this. Wished her happy birthday, and the next thing i know she grabbed my hand, handed me a chocolate roche, looked at me and indicated stay silent! I have no idea how she sneaked a box of chocolate roche into the factory. Not even sure whether this is acceptable or not, told her so long i don't see anyone in the factory eating roches it is fine.

The routine follows, into the lab to do some benchwork on the products and then out to the production area to keep my eye on the 5 packing lines which i'm currently responsible for. I'm constantly on my feet and the only time i get to sit down is during lunch time. On a good day, there will not be any issues at all.

On a more interesting day, i get products/packaging that do not meet specification. Ahh, not particularly happy about this but it happens every now and then.

I get nervous all the time when i hear complaints from customers. Have i signed off on something which i shouldn't have signed off, have i overlooked some of the details? Really have to be cautious about my judgment.

Do I have an interesting job? Sounds interesting? It is exhausting and the beauty of this is i've done enough exercise everyday, in fact more than enough.

Campari

2007-07-08T18:24:00.000+10:00

2 Waterfront Place, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207

I was at Campari earlier this afternoon for lunch. The interior is huge, nice and cosy. It felt as though the place is separated in sections:-for meals, desserts and drinks. There is a mini bar like set-up offering a selection of drinks. The exterior of this place offers waterfront 'dining on the deck' experience. It would be great during summer, autumn and late spring, basking under the sun enjoying the food at the same time.

Few of the interior pictures which i've taken:

Let me warn you, the meals are quite pricy in this place, mains averaging of AUD 28-35. The Entrees are approximately AUD 20. I had Pappoutsakia-stuffed eggplant topped with cheese. Yummy, i love eggplant. I shall attempt to make my own stuffed eggplant in near future.

The huge range selection of desserts will make you salivate. If you're a sweet tooth person, i'm sure you won't be able to resist the temptation.

I chose to try something which i haven't tried before, which is Diples, a Greek sweet type dessert.

It wasn't that bad, quite nice, soft, not crunchy, a deep fried pastry, served with honey, crushed walnuts, Halva ice-cream and cinnamon sprinkled on them.

The service was great, it didn't take long for the food to come. I would definitely come back again to try other food, awww there is just a huge selection of dishes from all corners of the Mediterranea to try on, tapas, pizzas, pastas spit roasts and my next selection would have to be the Portugese style rotisserie chicken and this is going to cost me AUD 28. Won't visit this place for a while, maybe not till end of the year.

New baby named-Toshiba

2007-07-07T01:12:00.001+10:00

After few months of contemplation, I finally bought myself a new toy! It wasn't a cheap toy and I wouldn't have part with my old toy if it wasn't because it is sooo old that it will die anytime from now. There were constant symptoms of old age, one of them being:-

-couldn't shut down, 3 days in a row (the worse i've ever experienced) and i had to conduct an emergency shut down (unplug the power cord).
-built in fan/cooler was operating really loudly

This sent me off to the 'paranoid' farm instantly! I did a whole system recovery installation afterwards, but it didn't improve at all. It gotten worse afterwards and started:-

-shutting itself down nearly every 2 days after 4 hours max of operation
-passed the shutting down, but yet unsuccessful and i could hear the fan/cooler running really loud

It probably had had enough of me. Yes, I'm referring to my laptop. It didn't take me long to do some research or rather pretty much I know which brand I would go for. I settled on TOSHIBA, without doubt. I wanted something that is reliable like many of us consumers expect, meet the basic operations and most importantly budget. Instantly, TOSHIBA Satellite A200/M01 met all the needs on my list.

I'm happy and love you baby, you have everything I need. I'm such an old school, how did i live without CD writer, DVD player, no wireless internet, no build in camera. I was on Intel M Processor. Geeee!

Time for a change!

Chocolate Dream

2007-07-04T17:51:00.000+10:00

Few days ago, i had a little adventure. Actually,it all happened in my dream. In this dream, i had won myself a Chocolate (Cadbury) factory tour ticket. I was experiencing the 'Charlie' character in the Chocolate Factory. Charlie and Chocolate Factory is a famous children book written by Roald Dahl.

I was surrounded by chocolates and many happy chirpy people (strangely, they weren't Oompaa Loompas from Loompaland). It was an overwhelming experience, the smell of cocoa in the air and surrounded by loads of chocolates. Sadly, it was all dream, wouldn't it be nice to work in a Chocolate Factory.

Cadbury UK has an interesting web-page http://www.cadbury.com/, currently it has a Cadbury new Flake girl, chocolate games and mini cards which you could send it to your friends.

Scones

2007-07-01T16:38:00.000+10:00

I made some scones this morning for the Destinos Cafe get together meeting held in the afternoon. Destinos Cafe is a cafe in Richmond AOG Church at Griffiths St, Richmond. We were asked to bring a plate each to share amongst us. My initial plan was to make some sweet potatoes patties which is healthy and helps bowel movement. I changed my mind due to few reasons:-

-i do not have enough sweet potatoes

-preparation + cooking time required will be more than 1 hour

-it is cold and wet out there, don't feel like visiting Safeway, too cozy to stay indoor

Scones, came to mind instantly, scones with cream and jam and a cup of hot drink is always good during winter. All i need to do is prepare the dough, bake it in the oven and i have few packets of plain flour, self raising flour, few blocks of butter handy at home.

I'm glad it worked, nice and soft. It makes me happy. Yayy, I can make scones! Recipes can be obtained from various web-page.

Suddenly I See-KT Tunstell

2007-06-25T21:45:00.000+10:00

Can't get this song out of my head

Pacific House

2007-06-15T14:51:00.000+10:00

210 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141/240 Victoria St, Richmond VIC 3121

Pacific House, a Chinese restaurant familar to many of us; known for its variation in Chinese delicacies and in particular roasted duck. This place, a densly packed environment where one would expect great food, reasonable price, a high turnover place, a chop-chop meal and out you go. On weekends or some weeknights, expect to see the relentless people lining outside the restaurant await for seats.

Do not have great expectations on the service level, however you will be well served if you ordered 'expensive' dishes. If you can read Chinese, the dishes are written on colourful papers posted all over the walls.

If you can't menus are readily available on booklets all translated in English. Few of the many dishes taken from the restaurant.

Doll House

2007-06-11T21:39:00.000+10:00

Doll house, the largest doll house i've seen and it is in pink. This would be the house where little girls from 3-6 years old put their dolls to rest, pour them a cuppa or even where Barbie and Ken live happily ever after. The age of innocence. The fine details of the house are utterly impressive.

Wilson's Promontory

2007-06-10T22:04:00.000+10:00

A few of the many pictures which were taken during the Easter break at Wilson's Promontory. http://www.promcountry.com.au.

The 2nd and 3rd picture on the 1st row were taken at the summit of Mt Oberon, one of the main highlights and challenging track offered by the prom. A 6.8km uphill climb and downhill walk. Some paths were quite steep.

Just when you think it is too challenging and not worth the effort; it puts an adult especially to shame when some 5-6 years old can hike up the mount with a gleeful smile on their face accompanied by their parents.

Ohh, it was quite unexpected, the Prom sent me a certificate of accomplishment for conquering the prom, for the following activities/tracks in A day: Mt Oberon (6.8km), Lilly Pilly Gully track (5.8km), Eagles Nest Beach (0.4km), Squeaky Beach (o.6km) and Tidal River (0.7km). I survived the next day without any dramas.

I suppose it goes with the saying "every accomplishment starts with a decision to try".

Bloom Can Plant

2007-06-07T18:19:00.000+10:00

Awhile ago, I was in desperate search for something out of the ordinary of which I could actually give away as a birthday present. Something which one would rarely buy. I found this interesting item from the Australian Geographic store. It is called Bloom Can Message Bean. The instruction is all you need to do is water the soil in the can, a plant capable of growing up to 2 metres tall will grow and a message will appear. I was inclined to question the truth! but whom shall i ask?

After an hour of contemplation I decided to buy it, let my girlfriend put it to the test. It worked! It is amazing how a huge like mung bean plant grew out of the can and the happy birthday message was engraved on the bean. The plant is currently growing well despite the cold weather, will see how long it will last.

It is very impressive isn't it? A good purchase.

Random Things About Me

2007-06-05T20:18:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since I've posted something on my blog. I guess it would be a good start to write few things about myself.

A week ago or so I was thinking hard about the response to the question "Tell me about yourself". A generic question which sound easy. Few days later, this question was presented to me in a crowd. To tell you the truth, I do not know where to start. Hmphhhh.

-I dislike sleeping! although sleeping was my hobby when i was in high school. Any spare moments without the involvement of text books were spent on sleeps.

-I'm not afraid of cockroach, spiders, weevil. Give me a shoe, and i will kill them easily.

-I wasn't and still do not fancy soft toys. I wasn't a barbie doll girl either, only had a big teddy during my childhood and that was it.

-I will be 26 years old this year. I find it offensive when people assume that i'm 18. Treat me like an adult please!

-I like listening to all sorts of music. Ahh, i like Lionel Richie, Elton John, George Michael, Madonna, Mariah Carey.. bring on the 70's, 80's and 90's.

In some ways I think i'm one of a kind. Often i find myself fascinated by 'unusual' things, weird, ugly, strange yet interesting things.

-I can't do routine outings/things, otherwise i will go insane. Leave alone the daily Mon-Fri job, working days.

-I will be head over heels if you bring me some donuts, hot jam filled donuts! Please no chocolates.

-I'm easily caught up with my own life issues which resulted in me being in my own little world.

For some reason, most people that i've known always find comfort in telling me their problems. Some who don't know me well tell me their problems too

-I'm a big thinker, i follow my brain not my heart

-I try to read when i have spare time, fiction or modern literature. Oh no, i do not like typical love stories or soapy love stories.

-I enjoy watching Home and Away on weekdays. Yes yes, i know it is endless, he sleeps with her, she sleeps with him, he betrayed her and bla bla.

-Dreamt about becoming an air-hostress, fortunately i'm only 150cms tall therefore can't pursue the dream. Fortunately too, i don't end up like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie.

One last thing, I will be back tracking my blog in the next couple of weeks. People have asked why haven't i blog? Why haven't i try new recipes? Very much indeed caught up with issues.

Saturday

2007-04-28T22:34:00.001+10:00

It was invited to a friend's 'barbie' engagement along the Yarra River; a get together among close friends and their family members. Everything was so casual, lots of laughter, young kids attracted to the seagulls. The bride to be's nephew with his innocent facade asked me if he could feed the seagulls with dips? sausages? tomato sauce? salad? chips? Nooooo

Ahh ha, a pity i didn't take many pictures. The highlight of the day was the massive impressive cake made by Brunetti.

Oh! by the way Brunetti at Lygon will be close down soon/relocating to.....Brunswick (rumour) due to the rent hike.

Citrus Mint

2007-04-27T22:07:00.001+10:00

357 Victoria St, West Melbourne VIC 3003

Citrus Mint an exotic name for a Thai Restaurant. I visited this place partly because it was always jam-packed with people during lunch and dinner hours. An absolute positive indicator. It is a small dining restaurant, tables neatly lined next to one another virtually leaving not much space. If you haven't got a high rise voice and when the place is full of patrons you will be surprised that you can't hear your own voice.The waitresses are friendly.

We had a starter or minced chicken, fresh mint, red onion, red chilli, ground rice with lemon juice. Hmmm, it was refreshing and an indicator of what to expect on the mains.

I was keen on the duck, no no I wasn't craving for duck. It is just an interesting dish and if a Thai restaurant does have duck as a main they normal cook it up in red curry, mint leaves and lychees. Yes, this duck dish was served with mint leaves, eggplant and lychees. Average, I've had better ones at a Thai restaurant at Adelaide.

We had Tom Yum Soup which was served on a plate.

Overall, the food here is a fusion of Thai and Western Food. It you wish to have an authetic Thai meal this is not the place.

Top Five...NUTS

2007-04-23T17:35:00.001+10:00

Top Five...NUTS?? An interesting mini section which was published on A2 Age-21st April, 2007 which mentioned about Top Five... NUTS. There is something about this section which is not quite right, one of those WHAT THE (DUH)...?

This is not a joke, it spun my brain-Top Five NUTS? Well i can understand Top Restaurants/Dining Places in town, Top 100 books to read, but not Top Five Nuts. Besides, there are few doted dots followed after the word Five and what is this suppose to mean? Doubts?

Here are the top 5 NUTS;

1)Wandiligong Nut Festival- May 10-13, Wandiligong. go brightvic.com/wandinutfestival.

I like the statements underneath it,it says:-After chocolate, nuts are surely one of the most addictive of foods and this year they have arrived at our markets, grocers and specialty food stores.

You gotta be joking? Nuts come after chocolate as a 2nd preferance???

The Nut Festival will be held at south of Bright, in Victoria's high country and the festival celebrates locally grown produce, chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts as well as raising money for breast cancer research.

2)Pistachios-sold across specialty shops across Victoria

3)Hazelnuts-Mount Buffalo/Essential Ingredients in Melbourne and other specialty shops around Mansfield

4)Walnuts-available locally from Ovens Valley

5)Chestnuts-Sinclair Orchards' chestnuts-1 Beechworth Road, Stanley

I'm still trying to interpret this section, I think what it is trying to present is the top place where you could get the specific nuts from? It appeared that there are locally grown hazelnuts and walnuts. I need to seek some opinion from the Nuts Guru. A rather confusing article, if it is about top 5 nuts, I'm sure cashews would have to come first. Where's Macadamias? Isn't Macadamias australian owned?? How could this be neglected?

No offense, I think I can present a better article on Top 5 Nuts.

Melbourne 360oC-Obeservation Deck

2007-04-22T19:56:00.001+10:00

525 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Observe the best every bit of Melbourne view from the high above. You will be surprise what you could see with the provided magnified binoculors.

Flying COW Cafe

2007-04-09T21:43:00.000+10:00

9 Falls Road, Fish Creek VIC 3959

This is a one of a kind cafe which one would fall in love with easily. If you're searching for something a little out of the ordinary, this could be IT. I was impressed, extremely, highly extremely, to the far end of the extreme scale impressed with this place. Never have I seen such a thing before. The whole setting of this place coincide with the name of the cafe which is Flying Cow. I had to ask the owner of the place of why they decided to name the business Flying Cow. Cherie (one of the owners of the business) told me that cow is associated with country, therefore this was how the name of the cafe came about.

Check out the numerous pictures I've taken from the place. For once I did the right thing by seeking their permission prior to snapping them.

There is even one especially on the cow's udder and its teats. Udderly delicious!!

One would not be able to take their eyes off the different cow items in this cafe. They even have the different types of old rustic canisters lined up neatly on the shelves assembled on the wall. I wouldn't have thought I would be able to see some real ones and touch them with my bare hands.

Very creative and impressive. I certainly can't get away with the numerous shots, exploring every angle of the place without being noticed.

The food served here is yummy too. The owners had a farm of their own, breeding pig, goat and cows, I was enthused when Cherie told us so and close to following her hubby to their farm for a pig feed action.

Well worth it.

Easter Eggs

2007-04-08T19:37:00.001+10:00

I was given 4 eggs or rather 4 Easter eggs by the 'Cheongs' family for Easter. I would regard this a most creative gift I've ever received. How boring it is to receive chocolate moulded in an egg shape or the shape of a bunny? They came up with real eggs simply because I once mentioned that the chocolate Easter eggs have been sitting on supermarket shelves for months and most would have been processed months ago prior to Easter (WIP-Work In Progress). Furthermore, I'm not a big fan of chocolate.

The eggs were boiled and painted to resemble them, myself and another friend of ours (?)

This is ME.

I'm keeping them safely in my room, hopefully they don't rot or hopefully in near futher i won't come home one day to find my room infested with 'little creatures'.

Hot Cross Buns

2007-04-02T22:27:00.001+10:00

With Easter around the corner, I decided to try baking my own hot cross buns. I'm not a fan of hot cross buns and am only making them for fun.

It worked, it tasted like typical bread and recipe was taken from the internet.

Bedi's Indian Restaurant

2007-03-30T23:04:00.001+10:00

118 Park Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205

Bedi which is a modernised Indian dining environment is well known for its butter chicken and tandoori chicken. The calm environment and the set-up pose a moderate fine dining atmosphere. The service was great, waitors were extremely attentive and we were truly well looked after.

We had Samosa, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, curry lamb and a curry vegetable. The butter chicken and tandoori chicken didn't let us down. Overall, it was a highly satisfactory meal.

A visit to an Indian Restaurant is a rarity for me. Apparently, Kylie and Danni Minogue can't get enough of the food offered by this restaurant. Perhaps, it is worth a visit.

Hand Made Earrings

2007-03-27T22:27:00.000+10:00

Another new addition to my existing passion list, hand made beaded jewellery. My first hand made pair of earrings. I was introduced to basic jewellery making couple of days ago. I struggled with differentiating the flat nose and round nose pliers, the linking technique and even holding the beads still. I even try to convince myself that my hands were meant for food related tasks and not others. Obviously i was wrong about this.

Now that i know the basics, it is an advantage where i can tailor my own pair of earrings to suit my style and needs. Yippy!! I hate complicated and sophisticated designs.

Homemade Pizza-Pizza Supreme

2007-03-26T18:20:00.001+10:00

Last night, I made a large pizza for tea. I copied Crust's Gourmet Pizza-'Crust Supreme' concept.

The ingredients are smoked ham, pepperoni, italian sausage, mushrooms, fresh capsicum, spanish onions, shallots, pineapple and kalamata olives.

However, my homemade version involved smoked ham, salami, no italian sausage although i did see some in the local market, mushrooms, capsicum, no spanish onions instead red skin onions, shallots, pineapple and no olives because i dislike them.

Max Brenner

2007-03-22T21:31:00.000+11:00

Melbourne QV Shopping Centre, VIC 3001 & Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, VIC 3001

This chocolate place needs no introduction at all. A nice elegant set up place with floorboards, shelvings and tables in dark brown colour which are in line with the colour of chocolate. The chocolatier master of this place has found its way to tempt the chocolate lovers. It is known for its 'suckao'- a metal straw spoon to scoop up chocolate, melt them on an oval shape cup warmed with tealight and finally suck it up using the same metal spoon. They have recently came up with something new, another marketing strategy, unique looking cup with the word-drink me.

They have chocolate by products and their merchandise items in store. One of the highly selected delights is the warm belgian wafer served with chocolate, strawberries and ice cream.

Other delights appeared rich in chocolate-to look at a few such as;-
- chocolate pizza-pizza base with melted chocolate, cornflakes, marshmallows, white chocolate drops and honey crunch

-milky hot chocolate cream with popping candies and white chocolate

As for their service level, expect a pathetic service level especially on the weekend and even a poor one on Friday nights.

Eat, Drink Bento

2007-03-18T22:46:00.000+11:00

115 Hardware lane, Melbourne VIC 3001

Eat, Drink Bento a modernise decor at Hardware la has its focus set on Bento lunch/dinner boxes. The food presented is of Japanese/Asian influence: peking duck, vegetable tempura and etc. They do have entrees (sashimi, sushi and even siu mai and many more).

There weren't many waitresses and this didn't resemble their service level. Instead, the waitresses were attentive, friendly and informative. The pricing is good too, especially on the lunch Bento boxes. If you aren't working on weekdays, I suggest you take a stroll on Hardware la, dine in and I guarantee you will like the relax ambience. Give it a try.

Pancakes

2007-03-17T18:38:00.000+11:00

Home made pancakes for breakfast. They're made from few ingredients and not the 'shaky' instant pancake mixes from the stores.

Pancake with honey, walnut, banana and vanilla ice-cream.

In One Night

2007-03-16T23:21:00.000+11:00

It was a superbly outstanding night, not sure what had stimulate my hunger note so much that I ate like a pig. It was a costly night, just for food and drinks.

I had:

1) A bowl of buckwheat noodles with a medium portion of chargrilled beef

This didn't satisfy my hunger and was craving badly for K....F......C......

2) A piece of 'original' chicken, small fries with hot gravy, and a pepsi. Believe it or not, i paid 8.10 for this.

It brought a great relief, and this made my day.... lickin' good

3) Bloody Mary-It all ended with a glass of bloody Mary.

Sat on a couch, sipped the bloody Mary, wondered what was going on in my stomach, will I be paying for the consequences the next morning?? Noodles+beef+chicken+fries+gravy+pepsi+bloody mary (tomato juice, tabasco sauce and pepper). I couldn't careless!!

My friends were indeed in great shock to see me in this hungry state, but nevertheless were patient enough and agreed on going to KFC with me.

Food(s) For Thought

2007-03-15T22:50:00.000+11:00

I came across a highly interesting take away menu offered by a Vietname-Chinese Restaurant which is worth sharing. For the starters, they have 330 dishes on the list which is a vast selection. As i was analysing them and reading them aloud, I was amused by it, it entertained me for about 5 minutes and the question that came to mind was, IS THIS FOR REAL? No doubt, the printed leaflet is real and I have taken one home. These are the selection:

CHICKEN DISHES

-Chicken with Sam Bal Sauce

-Chicken with Ginger

-Chicken with Garlic

-Chicken with Curry

-Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

-Chicken with Baby Corn

-Chicken with Lemon Grass & Chilli

-Chicken with Cream Corn

-Chicken with Spinach

-Chicken with Soy Sauce

-Chicken with Ginger and Spring onion

-Honey Chicken

-Mandarin Chicken

-Mango Chicken

-Lemon Chicken

-Empire Chicken

-Spicy Honey Chicken

-Chicken with Cashew Nuts

SWEET AND SOUR DISHES

-Sweet and Sour Pork

-Sweet and Sour Chicken

-Sweet and Sour Combination (which is??-chicken, pork, beef, fish, lamb??)

-Sweet and Sour Fish

-Sweet and Sour Prawns

-Sweet and Sour Seafood Combination

SATAY DISHES

-Satay Pork

-Satay Beef

-Satay Chicken

-Satay Squids

-Satay Combination

-Satay Prawns

-Satay Seafood

-Satay Scallops

The list goes on and on....Do you not find it interesting?? Chicken with Garlic as a dish? If Chicken with baby corns made it to the list, I think they miss out on chicken with green peas? Chicken with oyster sauce? Chicken with Hoi Sin Sauce, or rather chicken with whatsover sauce you can possibly find on the supermarket shelf. Similarly the satay dishes is the most unique selection I've ever came across. Satay squids?? No offense, why don't they try satay vegetables (brocolli, peas and etc).

Is this some form of mix matching one item with other available items?? Just like a black pant, which goes along well with a white top, blue top, yellow top, brown top, red top and any other colours you could possibly think of.

I find this W.E.I.R.D. Does it now make sense that they have a selction of 330 dishes?

Banana and Walnut Muffin

2007-03-05T21:45:00.000+11:00

As a result of boredom, I decided to make some banana and walnut muffins. It is my first attempt.... I only made 4 muffins, just in case it didn't work out. I'm glad it worked out well.

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

2007-02-28T21:59:00.000+11:00

85 Bay St, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207

A relatively small pizza bar place with no hint of alcohol. They have a vast range of gourmet pizzas and are being categorised into few major categories as such meat, chicken, seafood, vegetarian and finally the old traditional pizza-ham and pineapple. It appeared as though this place specialise in delivering gourmet pizzas to home. There were constant people dropping in for takeaways. There are bar type tables in and out of the shop.

I was most impressed with the selection of pizza base; tomato, cranberry, barbeque, pumpkin, pesto, satay, refried bean (??) and sweet chilli. The base is assigned to a particular type of pizza. It was a tough decision and put one in some form of predicament, torn between the many option.

We had satay chicken pizza, smoked salmon pizza, pesto scallops (my pick) and sweet chilli prawns pizza. They were extremely generous with the toppings and the pizzas were presented in highly appertizing manner.Note:L-R Satay Chicken, Pesto Scallop, Smoked Salmon, Sweet Chilli Prawns

We hardly spoke during our meal, humming silently to express our own satisfaction with the pizzas and busily scoffing them.

It was a whole musical pizza experience for all of us. We were moving the pizzas across the table every 5 minutes. Where was the satay chicken pizza?? Where was the smoked salmon pizza? Even when we were full, we weren't able to resist them.
My rating, 4.5/5. Thumbs up!

Macadamia & Choc Chip Biscuits

2007-02-27T21:38:00.000+11:00

My homemade macadamia & chocolate chip biscuits. Fresh and warm from the oven. Do you think i can sell them? Would anyone be interested in buying them??

Animal Farm

2007-02-26T23:34:00.000+11:00

Another interesting book which I've just read. This is a highly recommended book and is listed as one of the many good books to read before you die. Thanks to a friend who lend me this book, told me that i would enjoy this and that she studied them during her high school. True indeed, most of the high school students in Australia would have studied this in their English literature class. When I was seen with this book I was being asked 'didn't I study this during my high school?' I wished. This book reminded me of the animated movie 'Barnyard' which was filled with some obscene cow nipples. Are animals equally clever as humans except they don't speak the same language as we do? Pigs which are often associated with laziness are portray as the cleverest animal amongst all. I'm sure the animals in the farm yard in some ways understand that they're breed to work and could even sense their own death-bed.

Kitchen Tea

2007-02-24T22:01:00.000+11:00

I was at my friend's Kitchen Tea Party earlier today. My first Kitchen Tea party exprience and hopefully there are more to come. In lieu of gifts, we were asked to bring a dish. I made Pastizzi and it was nowhere close to the ones available from Safeway/Woolies. The pastry which i used was highly incorrect, puff pastry!! Surprisingly, the guests ate all the pastizzis. They must be really hungry!! On top of it, I haven't complete my best recipe recipe which I was supposed to hand it to the bride to be during the party. I have a week to work on this and shall disclose my recipe to her in 2 weeks time.

Sheperd's Pie

2007-02-20T22:00:00.001+11:00

Another home made meal

Memoirs of Geisha

2007-02-16T22:53:00.001+11:00

Finished reading this book. An interesting glimpse of the life of a geisha. For those who have seen me with the book and have read the book said that I would enjoy it. True enough, i did enjoy reading it and was convinced that i would like it right after chapter 1. However, I was over it when i reached the middle part of the book. I'm just not into the 'bitchy' plot.

I shall watch the DVD soon and I doubt the movie will ever match up.

Da Salvatore La Cacciatora Restaurant

2007-02-13T18:10:00.000+11:00

29 Grattan St, Carlton VIC 3053

On the weekend, a friend of mine took few of us to this place. We were told that this place offers a metre pizza. It sure anticipate one hearing 'a metre pizza'. It is a nice dining area. It has the "cottage" atmosphere.

However, you won't be able to experience this atmosphere unless you make a pre-booking to dine in. We didn't pre-book the place and as a result we sat outside. It was still considered nice on a summer night.

This place is known for its different pizza sizes. It comes in 1 metre, 50 cm and 20 cm in length at your choice. This makes it a little different compared to other pizza places in town. I was a little impressed with the menu booklet, I think it is leather bound.

We had a metre of four seasons pizza.

Well, we had two trays of this and if you joined them together it adds up to a metre. Overall, the pizza is no different to other pizza places.

Mango Salad

2007-02-10T14:17:00.000+11:00

My very own homemade mango salad...........

On a fine saturday afternoon, I made this for myself. The mango season is coming to an end.. seize it while you still see them in the stores.

Blue Train Cafe

2007-02-08T22:19:00.000+11:00

Mid-level Southgate Complex, Southbank, VIC 3006
I was at Blue Train Cafe earlier tonight with few ex-colleagues of mine. It is a nice modernised cafe along the Yarra River which provides a total relax environment. I'm not entirely sure why this cafe's name is Blue Train. There isn't a train in the cafe, the cafe is not layout in a train like pattern and the walls of the cafe aren't painted in blue. Blue Train Cafe, huh???

I like the variation of dining environment offered by this place, the choice of in the cafe itself, out of the cafe on the balcony along the river, and in the cafe itself in a separate section with high rise tables and chairs next to the advertisements board with different lightings.
We found a spot on the balcony which was close to the River. That made us totally relaxed, no rush, champagne or any light drinks kept us well prior to dinner.

There is a variation of food served at this cafe, from brekky to entrees (different types of salad dishes) to mains and desserts. There is a mini bar too!! They served pizzas too and they do look yummy! The price of the food is reasonable considering it is situated in the up market Southbank location. From what I've observed, the food was served promptly despite the ongoing flow of customers dining here. This would for sure keep the customers jovial.

I had the Tandoori chicken salad, it was a light meal, plain and simple, served with pappadums, rice and yoghurt. The Tandoori chicken was great and goes well with salad (without any dressing), and the rice.

I would visit this place again and would recommend you visit this place.

Stuffed Capsicums

2007-02-01T18:16:00.000+11:00

Home-made stuffed capsicums, I made them.

Watermelon

2007-01-23T21:33:00.000+11:00

On the weekend, I was surprised by this 'massive' watermelon which was sitting comfortably in my fridge. My flatmate found a home for this red juicy watermelon, yeah it had its best moment in the fridge for 2 days and since then has found its peace in our stomach.

This is first time I've ever come across a huge watermelon. Apparently, there are bigger ones, bigger than this in the market.

I have to grab the measuring tape, have to measure it and it is 37centimetres in length.

McCain Potato Cakes

2007-01-21T19:33:00.000+11:00

My favourite 'smiley' potato cakes. Seeing the smile puts a smile on my face. Ah-ha McCain you have done it again.

They look a little scary don't they? I pipe some tomato sauce onto the 'eyes' and 'mouth'. The smileys look like they're about to spew out some blood........

The Pilot's Wife

2007-01-12T01:27:00.000+11:00

by Anita Shreve

Another "interesting" book which I've just read. Goodness, I'm really exhausted from the late nights, stayed up to read this. An interesting thought delivered by this book, 'how do you ever know that you know a person?' and being bonded to someone never permits one to know the other person entirely. Too deep too absorb?? Certainly didn't know that the book has a hidden meaning behind the story.

I'll let you put your own answers to the question above. A good read and other titles by Anita Shreve appeared to be interesting too.

I need to catch up on sleep, won't be reading in the next couple of weeks, just in time for Australia Open.

RESOLUTION 1: READ, READ, READ... DO NOT STOP READING

Too Slow

2007-01-06T10:24:00.000+11:00

On a hot sultry night, was I melting the ice cream?? or was I simply too slow??

For One More Day

2007-01-04T17:49:00.000+11:00

By Mitch Albom

Another brilliant work by Mitch Albom. Thank you Jon and Trish for this wonderful Christmas present. If you enjoyed 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven', you will surely love this book. A good read and I couldn't put it down. It was a little overwhelming. What a year to begin with, with this book.

"If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it?" "One day spent with someone you love can change everything".

This sums up the message delivered by this book.

New Year Resolution

2007-01-02T21:43:00.000+11:00

Does anyone believe in having few resolutions for a brand New Year? Or rather setting few 'goals' for the year?? It worked for me for year 2006, therefore I decided to do the same for year 2007. In total, I came up with 7 resolutions.

RESOLUTION NO 6: TRY OUT A DIFFERENT EATING PLACE EVERY WEEKEND!!

I think this resolution is already under attack. 52 weeks in a year=52 different eating places!! I seriously think i need someone to fund this project.

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-01T09:57:00.000+11:00

Has the "New Year" effect, we're in Year 2007 sank in? Last night, I joined the thousands of Melburnian at CBD to greet the New Year. Thousands flocked to CBD, roads were closed and policemen were everywhere. I'm glad that I'm still in one piece (no bruises on any parts of my bodies) despite being sandwiched by the crowd.I found a perfect firework viewing spot along the Yarra. At midnight, we were treated with a 10- minute firework display. It lit the sky. All eyes were focused skyward.

One of the best shots I've taken:

Books

2006-12-28T23:25:00.000+11:00

I've just finished Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. I really do enjoy reading. There were days where I would say NO to any social events simply because I would rather stay home just to read.

Whoaa, I'm pleased with the amount of reading I've done in year 2005. In total, I've read 12 books. I enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night Time, Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer and Lemony Snickett's The Bad Beginning (Book1-Series of Unfortunate Events).

Hopefully, I will be able to maintain this habit in year 2007.

Krispy Kreme

2006-12-23T22:55:00.000+11:00

607 Collins St Melbourne, VIC 3000,37-39 South Link Dandenong South VIC 3175, Narre Warren Fountain Gate Westfield VIC 3805

Ho.Ho.Ho! Unintentional and unplanned! Irresistible! I just visited the Krispy Kreme store. Instantly, this became the highlight for the day. They do offer a range of doughnuts.

The original glazed doughnut is my favourite. In the past, I have had the flavoured doughnuts but in my opinion nothing beats the original glazed doughnuts. Yummmm. It provides a light, soft and fluffy vibe when you bite them. I bought a box filled with 6 original glazed doughnuts and had 3 of them in less than an hour. Gosh, I need to hide them somewhere before I pick up another one.

Note: I've created a collage on the pictures taken therefore part of the pictures have been cropped off.

They have cute pictures in their store. Nahh, they are not for sale. It says you're never alone with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Krispy Kreme doughnut is the first thing on every agenda and Krispy Kreme doughnut givers are winners. WOW!

I noticed the statements noted on the box. It reads:

It is at your own liable when consuming the doughnuts, and please exercise. The nutritional information on the individual types of doughnuts is noted underneath the box.

Lastly,

Merry Christmas.....

2006-12-22T23:28:00.000+11:00

Once again Christmas is upon us. I can't take my eyes off the Christmas trees around in town. My favourite tree is the Christmas tree with turquoise ornaments and ribbons on them. The main reason being, it is simple and I like the colour. Take a closer look, one of the Christmas trees do have white feathers on them. Wonder where they came from, white pigeon feathers? White feather dusters?Here are the 5 extraordinary Christmas trees or not a tree. They're indeed very unique, odd but nice.

Michael Jackson would be interested to see the almost black tree and the white tree (Black & White). The top left not a tree is taken from my workplace, and it is made out of business cards. The far right on the 2nd row not a tree is made of shopping bags. The middle one on the bottom row is cute too. It is made out of sticks painted with white colour and decorated with red and silver baubles and gold stars. Very creative, let the imaginary runs wild.

Merry Christmas to you (who is currently reading this). Hope you enjoy the trees, aren't they beautiful?

Churros

2006-12-17T23:40:00.000+11:00

Peel St, Queen Victoria Market

Yes.. I'm not dreaming. Yes, you may think that I'm insane but I'm not. Am I obsess with donuts? Maybe I'm. Does it matter?? Maybe it does.

I went to Queen Victoria Market this morning and I was there to do my food shopping. As my housemate and I were walking toward the grocer area my housemate started; "Sui, would you like to have some donuts?" "DONUTS" How could I possibly resist this invitation?? 'Okay'!

This is one of the best Churro (dusted with icing sugar) I have ever tasted.

Who would have thought that a Churro business can operate on a caravan?

It is a caravan painted with pictures and the big black cow appeared to be their icon. The queue paint a thousand words.

Do not under estimate this caravan, it has the capacity to fill 3 people, few benches to work on and a frying place. The boys would no doubt be saturated with oil within few hours. I was extremely satisfied with the Churros and I had Churros again in less than 24 hours.

Choco Churro

2006-12-16T17:22:00.000+11:00

Shop 7212 Level 2 Highpoint Shopping Centre (120-200) Rosamond Road, Maribyrnong Vic 3032

I love donuts. Oh, let me tell you... the word donut will raise my brows. Did I hear you mention donut? It has been a while since I heard about this shop. Little is known about this shop apart from they offer a range of flavoured churros (Spanish Donut). This little piece of information has elevated my anticipation, which was as high as any mountain you could possibly find in this world.

Today, I visited the place. I decided to try their "Designer Churro". "Designer Churro" by their definition is churro filled with chocolate, caramel, custard, strawberry jam, orange, lemon, lime and passionfruit at your own choice. I chose the chocolate, orange and strawberry jam filled churro.

From top.bottom-strawberry jam, orange, chocolate

The churros were a little tough in texture and it appeared as though it had been deep fried for a lengthy period of time. The other possible explanation I could think of is the churros were left at ambient environment for a period of time. If the churros were fried on spot upon placement of order, it would make a great difference. It is a pity they do not have the capacity to do so as yet and the business is relatively new. A little dissapointed!
*Note: This is my personal opinion

However, a tumb's up for the innovation and the mission to introduce to everyone of Spanish inspired cuisine. Hmm, orange with cinnamon???

Coconut Pancake Rolls (Kueh Dadar)

2006-12-13T21:03:00.000+11:00

Coconut Pancake Rolls or rather known as Malay Kueh Dadar. This is often served as a teatime treat or snack and also makes a wonderful dessert (in Malaysia).

There was a Departmental (Technical) International Lunch at work and the purpose of this event was to expose ourselves to other culture's food(s). Being a part of Technical (Food Technologist) team and a Malaysian, I had to bring a Malaysia's cultural dish. For the starters, I'm not a Malay-Malaysian therefore this event posed a little challenge to me. To feed a troop of people (14 in total), I had to come up with a simple dish (entree, main or dessert) and cheap at cost. Luckily, my housemate had a Authentic Recipes from Malaysia CookBook and was written by chefs of Bon Ton Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur and Jonkers Restaurant, Malacca. Anyone heard of these restaurants??

I found a perfect dessert which was Kueh Dadar. I was pleased it worked. This is the recipe which I had ammended from the CookBook.

Batter

1 cup (150g) flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg beaten

1/3 cup (85ml) fresh milk

1/2 teaspoon of pandanus extract

1 cup (250ml) water

Sweet Coconut Filling

3 cups (300g) fresh grated coconut

1 1/2 cup (375ml) water

3/4 cup (150g) palm sugar shaved

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.First make the batter by sifting the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the egg, milk, pandanus extract and water and stir until the batter is smooth. Cover and allow the batter to stand for 20 minutes.

2.Place all the sweet coconut filling ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes until thick and almost dry.

3.To cook the pancakes, grease a non-stick griddle with a little butter and spoon 3 tablespoons of the batter onto it to make a pancake about 15-20cm wide. Cook over low heat until the pancake sets and browns.

4. To serve, place 3 tablespoons of the filling on one side of each pancake, fold the sides in and roll up.

* Makes approximately 10 pancakes

Patee Thai Restaurant

2006-12-11T19:45:00.000+11:00

135 Chapel St, Prahran VIC 3181/371 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC 3065

I went to Patee Thai Restaurant mid last week with my housemates. It is 20 years now since the business started and is one of the longest established Thai Restaurant in Melbourne. This is one of my favourite Thai places. I love the dining environment.

This is a double storey dining place. The ground floor and upper floor differs. The ground floor is no different to any other ordinary dining places, which is table with few chairs.

The upper floor is rather unique, where you could see cushions lined on the floorboard and underneath the tables. It is floorboard; therefore you’re not allowed to have your shoes on. Not to worry, shoe racks are provided.

We had 2 entrees and 3 main dishes. The entrees-Prawns Tom Yum Soup and Thai Fish Cakes. The mains-Cashew Prawns, Pad Thai (Thai Fried Noodles) and Lamb Masaman Curry.

The Prawns Tom Yum Soup is great. The soup is translucent, and in my opinion the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves contributed to most of the flavour.

The Fish Cakes were excellent. It had a smooth silky texture, fish mince with chopped broad beans and perhaps finely chopped cilantro too. It was served with sauce, which was probably fish sauce, lime juice, and finely sliced red chillis.

The Cashew Prawns were stunning. It was a jumble of prawns, cashews, vegetables (onions, brocolli, capsicum, spring onions) with mild chilli paste sauce like.

The Lamb Masaman Curry was perfect; the lamb cubes were perfectly done and tender. The curry had a sweet after taste, my suspicion was honey was a minor ingredient used.

The Pad Thai Noodles was a noodle (rish noodle) dish with prawns, bean shoots, chives, tofu, egg and crushed peanuts.

It is a truly excellent place, the food would bring me back. It is a relax atmosphere. Besides, the service is impeccable. The gentleness of the waitor/waitress makes you feel welcome. What more could i say about the place but EXCELLENT!!

Even the billing tray caught my attention. I must be insane. Fresh warm towels and dark mint chocolate were served after meal. It brought a vast satisfaction and consolation to the $$ amount spent.

Caffe Moravia

2006-12-04T22:39:00.000+11:00

622 Burke Rd, Camberwell, VIC 3124

This is one of the popular caffes on Burke Rd, Camberwell. Weekends especially, in the mornings there is a continuous flow of people into this caffe.

On one weekend, I decided to have a casual lunch there. I had 2 small slices of pizza. “Pizza Margerita”. Oh, this pizza does not have a slight content of alcohol. It has tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and napoli sauce. This is the first time I have ever had pizza with basil on them. The pizza is lightly toasted upon order and is served with spring salads tossed with balsamic vinegar. This is a light meal, plain, simple and not even a slight hint of oil! Wonderful for weight watchers.

Prior to leaving, I bought a piece of flourless almond biscuit. ‘Flourless’?? I wonder what is in it. Butter and Sugar? It goes really well with a cup of tea or coffee. Interestingly, the biscuit has apricot ‘paste’ like on top of it. Ideal for afternoon tea.

Summer

2006-12-04T21:40:00.000+11:00

Summer’s here. The days are longer than usual. The weather is great, nice, sunny and most importantly, it is still under control.

Dreadful days are on its way, high soaring temperatures, 40◦C. Regardless of the temperature, it would not dampen anyone's spirit. “Beach! Bathers! Barbecues! A bottle of icy cold beer! Basking in the sun! Tennis!

To celebrate the start of summer and to make life more interesting, I decided to start blogging. My summer project! I enjoy writing. Being a food lover, food will always be my main focus. Nevertheless, I will also write on other things that interest me.

Source: The Age November 25th, 2006