Donut-ing with Smee

Smee had to buy some souvenirs from Queen Victoria Market today and I played my part as escort.  We already had lunch at Hutong (Smee was very happy with the chilli wontons and xiao long bao) so we didn't bother eating anymore.

Well that was the intention until I saw the American Doughnut Kitchen van.  I like doughnuts/donuts.  Fried dough whether it be in the form of yau cha kway, langos, donuts or churros is always a winner with me.  Despite all the good things I've heard about these donuts, I don't think I've ever eaten one.

So despite it being a harsh 30-something degrees and not really hot donut weather, I told Smee I was going to join the queue and buy a pack of 6.  I think it was 6 for $5.50 or $1 each.  He asked 'What for?  Are you really going to eat them all?'.  I replied 'Yes!'

The queue was an impressive four metres and continued to grow while I waited for my fried pillows of dough.  The best part of the queue was the elderly Asian grandpa in front me.  He ordered a bag of 6 and I thought it was cute that he was either going to eat them all by himself or share them with his grandkids.

The donuts were warm.  The jam freshly pumped into them.  Sugar-coated balls of happiness.  

My verdict?  These are good donuts indeed.  So light and fluffy with a nice crispy shell.  My personal preference is that they could have been just a touch more generous with the jam.  I would guess that the van purposely don't overdo the jam because that might just make it too sweet.  Some say the donuts are overrated but those opinions are the exception.  I'll definitely eat these babies again!  Nums nums!  Oh, and Smee ended up eating half of them.

Bowling with Smee

It's me and Smee hanging out time and today we decided to go bowling at Chaddy.  I'm going to classify this as exercise because this is the biggest workout I've had in a long time.

Game 1.  I won!!  A fairly respectable score may I add.  

Game 2.  I won again!  I didn't mean to win but I couldn't help that I finished with a strike and a spare.   

Sorry Smee, I won both games.  Smee is surprisingly ok about it. 

Pho-ing with Smee

Smee has a few tasks to complete while back in Oz.  Eating pho is pretty high up on that list.  I already had my lunch for the day so I merely functioned as an escort.

Look at his face.  So happy.

Smee's favourite place is Pho Dzung or as he affectionately calls it 'Chicken and Cow Pho' due to the  laughing cow and chicken in their logo.  My last experience of eating here was tainted by the fact they chlorine bleached their chopsticks.  How did I know?  After dipping my chopsticks into the broth to collect some noodles and bringing it to my mouth, there was the unmistakable smell.  Needless to say, I lost my appetite and have avoided the place since.  Well, they seemed to have redeemed themselves as I can report that their chopsticks no longer smell of bleach.  They've solved the need to 'bleach' their chopsticks by replacing the typical restaurant yellowy chopsticks with black ones.  Asian smartness!

Being Appreciated

I like my job.  It is definitely not the passion of my life but for what it is, I get a decent income, I never take my work home with me and relatively speaking, it's kinda stress-free.  However my work is heavy on people interaction and if you have a poor bedside manner.. well, you really shouldn't do this job.  That being said, members of the public can be very, very annoying at times and often my tolerance is taken to the limit when I get a bunch of mentally and emotionally draining ones.

Today was my last day of working three weeks at this particular place and upon leaving was given a bunch of flowers.  :D  It sure is nice to be appreciated and the ego boost doesn't hurt either!

They were pretty adamant they didn't want their full-timer to return from holiday.  He sounds pretty shite.

Hardware Societe

Hardware Societe was yet another recommendation from the very useful Urbanspoon.  Nestled in the non-spruiker section of Hardware Lane (technically Hardware Street) next to Pugg Mahones, this is a cafe easily missed.  The cuisine on offer is a mix of cafe, French and Spanish yet somehow when surveying our plates, it just all looked 'Australian' to me.  A vague cuisine of no distinct definition - a mish-mash of many cultures - yet it all still works.

Some reviews pointed me towards the baked eggs with chorizo.  Mmm mmm mmm.. I love eggs!  I love chorizo too!  Yes, I had settled on what I was going to order.  Stupid me didn't read the blog review properly and it was only when me, Spu and Ma got there that I was informed that the eggs are for breakfast only.  Boo.

Spuey not so sure about being photographed for the blog. 

I'm a bit cautious about ordering coffee in public places.  Not because I dislike coffee but because of my lactose intolerance.  Soy milk it is!  I had a mocha, Spuey had a hot chocolate and Ma ordered a latte.  Nice, nice.

Ma's a bit funny when eating food not of South East Asian origin (Strange foods!  Don't know what to order!) so Spuey decided that she would like to have the grilled scallops.

I had the confit duck with quinoa, goats cheese and beetroot.  Spu had the pork belly with cous cous.  Ma's grilled scallops with potato rosti, jamon and watercress. 

For the typically cafe price of ~$16 a main, this was quite decent.  Ma even chirped 'This is cheap!'  It's a slow shift but I am now getting used to prices in Australia and yes, for the size of our dishes this was indeed a pretty good deal.  Ma was particularly fascinated by the jamon, urging Spu and I to taste it.  (Hehe Ma so cute!)  We both declined as neither of us are strangers to jamon.  In fact, I consider myself a Jamon Lover.  None of us have a bad word to say about our dishes.  We all thoroughly enjoyed them.  I usually am not a big fan of goats cheese but this was quite mild and was a nice touch to my duck.

Despite being full, I decided to treat myself to some takeaway macarons.  I really did consume an excessive amount in in Paris but I thought, 'Hey, why not?  Let's see how these stack up.'

Several flavours were on offer and I chose the rose & vanilla, raspberry and lemon. 

They definitely were not the prettiest which I've seen - bumpy shells, tsk tsk!  But oh well, we all can't be Pierre Herme.

The shells were just a bit too crumbly and the meringue no way near as dense as the Parisian versions but I have to say, these are probably the best ones (most moist) I've had in Australia so far.

So yes, Hardware Societe gets my thumbs up.  I'm going to go back for the breakfast menu one day.  I should also mention that the service was very genuine and friendly.  The team all were cheerful and ensured that our water glasses remained full.  A word of warning though - bring cash.  I was surprised to be informed that no card payments were accepted!

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part IX

Ok, this post is a not depressing like the other ones in the series.  Trust me, I don't always eat crap.  I just like posting when I do eat crap.  I did not feel like cooking-for-one this being a Friday night so I asked Smee for takeaway suggestions and he told me to treat myself to Sushi Train.

Sushi train is the perfect lonely-person food as the equalising seating arrangement makes it ok to intrude on your neighbour's personal space.  I thought about sitting at the bar but given that Sushi Train is only downstairs from me (yay!), I had take-out so I could dine in front of the TV.

I'm anti eating out of a box, so I took all my sushi out and made myself a nice platter.

Lemme name all the fishies starting at 12 o'clock.  Salmon and tuna sashimi, mackerel nigiri, squid nigiri, octopus nigiri, grilled salmon rolls, kingfish nigiri, sea urchin ships and in the middle of it all, surf clam nigiri.  Num nums.  

In this instance, I made an exception for eating out of a takeaway container.

All the sauce sat near the bottom! Takoyaki balls.  One of my many weaknesses.  

I also had miso soup on the side and a Japanese caramel custard for dessert.  I am very full.  And very happy! :D

Neckie the Giraffe

I had made my forceful request for a Mrs Perkins giraffe back when Suboo first posted about her here.  Fearful that I would deliver my threat of stealing her, Suboo made the quick smart decision to become a surrogate and recently gave birth to my very own Mrs Perkins giraffe.

Yay!! Having adopted my very own Mrs. Perkins I decided to re-christen her as Neckie. She almost became Leggy but I think Neckie rolls off the tongue a bit better.

Neckie settling in at her new home nicely. She's made friends with totoro already.

Neckie and I having a staring contest. I let her win.

Thanks to Suboo for my new pride and joy.  Neckie will be loved addition to the family.  I suppose you may want to hear Suboo's version of the birth?  Click here!

Maze Melbourne

I first ate at Maze in London back here and I had been quite impressed with the nosh and overall experience.  Hence, I was pretty keen on seeing what the Australian outpost had to offer.  Technically it's French cuisine (reflecting the skills of Gordon Ramsay who heads the chain) but the menus are heavily influenced by local produce.

The occasion of the day was a certain someone's 21st (hehe).  For a lazy Sunday lunch, it was rather puzzling to fight a traffic jam on the way to the casino.  It all finally made sense when we neared the Exhibition Building to see that Sexpo was on!  Along for the meal (though they were probably there for Sexpo too) were Moo, Suboo, Male Suboo, Mona, Bao and litle Sbee.  Maze were very accommodating and provided a most comfortable highchair for Sbee.  He sure seemed to enjoy sitting in it and showed us his new found skills - projectile raspberry-blowing, shrieking randomly and charming the pants off all the wait staff.  One waiter in particular was so taken aback by Sbee, that he dropped Mona's tuna tartare.

So far, so good.  We were given the set lunch menu.  Huh?  When I made the reservation, I was informed we could have the a la carte menu *whiiiiiiine*  Ok, whatever.  The lunch menu had a decent sampling so we all settled on four courses each.

My cocktail.  I can't remember what was in it.  Passionfruit juice and basil I think.  Moo and I enjoying our drinks. 

The menu is no longer online so I'm a bit airy fairy about describing some of the dishes.  A few photos of what we ordered:

Pork belly.  My 'winter vegetables with pork terrine'.  This piece of terrine was cut with a ham slicer or something.  It was that precise.  My winter vegetables were laid out using a ruler and a pair of tweezers.  Barramundi with butternut squash.  

Tuna tartare - very nice!  Artichoke with baby root vegetables.  Marinated beetroot with goats curd and cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette - also yum! 

Wagyu beef (or was it lamb?)  Smoked eel and green pea veloute.  It didn't sound that great on paper but it was very tasty too!  I like food surprises! 

Despite ordering four courses each (including dessert), I decided that we could fit a few more morsels and doubled up on some of the dishes.  The dishes were very technical, precise and pretty but the portions were small and degustation in size.  Or maybe I'm a pig.

Dessert.  I really wanted to try the Maze Lamington but it wasn't a Sunday option :`(  However I was not disappointed by the alternative.  Dish of the day, I'd say!  Chocolate jaffa with freeze-dried (forgot the more culinary term) mandarin pieces and mandarin sorbet.  Yum yum!!!  Mooey was the only person who didn't have the jaffa and settled on the coconut pannacotta.  I'm sure it was nice but the jaffa was better!

A *bonus* part of the day (or repulsive, depending on how you swing) was the people-watching.  The large Maze windows faced a block of Southbank apartments and one male resident in particular enjoyed coming out to his balcony in his tracky-dacks.  He gave us a friendly wave.

Overall I have to say it was a positive experience at Maze.  Having been to the London counterpart, the Melbourne version does feel more casual and less snooty despite having similar decor and identically clothed wait staff.   That probably has more to do with the crowd who tend to frequent such restaurants in class-divided UK versus the more egalitarian (eating) scene in Australia.  Of course that's not to say that the cooking standards dropped accordingly in Australia or that I received haughty service in London.  However there was definitely an 'air' within the London restaurant.

The Australian prices were comparatively cheaper too even with the strong dollar - $49 a head for four (albeit small) dishes is still a good deal from an institution which tips into the fine dining category.  The price range for the a la carte dishes was $12 to $24.  Very reasonable.  You could argue that it is still quite expensive as you may require more than four dishes to be full but let's put it in perspective - to dine out decently these days your budget has got to be at least $50-70.

Friendly and efficient service, well executed, tasty, pretty dishes and casual atmosphere.  All good things yet I can't shake the feeling that there was something hollow about Maze.  It was like a well oiled Tin Man, just off the production line with an empty heart *sob sob*.  I'll still go back though.  I want to eat the nine course degustation menu, Tin Man or not!

Earl Canteen

I check out Urbanspoon frequently for public opinion regarding eateries around town.  It's also a good resource for finding places that you would not know about otherwise.  Over the past few months, one of the eateries which has featured highly on the 'Talk of the Town' list is Earl Canteen.

You can classify it a lunch time sandwich bar, serving not-your-everyday type of sandwiches, made to order on the spot.  I wanted to know what the fuss was about so Tina and I had lunchies there today while basking in the glorious sun.

We both settled on the Pork Belly baguette.  At $13.50, this certainly is not cheap.

The description goes: Crisp skin Otway pork belly, apple, cabbage and fennel coleslaw and wilted silverbeet on a baguette.

Earl prides itself on it's produce and yes the pork belly was sublime.  The pork crackling was cooked to the point of candied and this was certainly a nice fresh chunk of oink oink belly.  It was a bit difficult to eat everything in one bite, so here's me enjoying the candied crackling.

My criticisms.  The baguette portion wasn't long enough.  While I don't doubt it's freshness, the baguette outer crust was a bit too hard.  It was difficult to chew and there was no way you could squish the baguette down and take a big bite.  This was also made worse by the baguette being cut open along it's short axis rather than it's long axis.  While this might have made the presentation of the pork belly nicer and gave the impression of very large baguette, it just was too difficult to 'eat it like a sandwich'.  I ended up having to bite sections of the bread off, chew and then bite into the pork and salad.  In other words, it was bit annoying to eat it.

Ok.  I am whining about how to eat a baguette.

For $13.50 I would have expected to be quite full.  I was content for sure, but I definitely had room for a crepe.  Too bad Le Triskel was shut.  We had cake instead!

So....Earl Canteen.  It certainly has it's fans and yes the ingredients were great and after years of living the UK and eating sandwiches ad nauseam, it sure would have been nice to have an Earl in London.  But that baguette really put me off and if I was to eat the pork belly baguette again, I would ask to substitute it for another piece of bread.  Overall, I was a tad bit underwhelmed by Earl.  However, I definitely do want to return and sample their other offerings before deciding it's worthiness!

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part VIII

I'm now back in Rad-City and this of course marks the return to the intermittent eating of crap.  I don't know what I was thinking in the supermarket but I bought not one but two packets of tomato flavoured chips.  I initially only wanted to buy the Smith's Heinz Big Red, but thought hmmmm I would like to try the Samboy Atomic Tomato ones too.

The Smith's version is not part of their standard flavours so I absolutely had to buy a packet.  With that in mind, I thought I should test drive the Samboys to see if they would be an adequate substitute for the Smith's Big Red.  I didn't skimp on the size and each bag was 175 grams.  Pretty big for one person.

In short, the Samboy chips really didn't cut it.  The flavoured powder was poorly distributed in comparison to the evenly coated Smith's chips.  Judging from how much I enjoyed the Smith's chips, I could probably drink a bottle of Heinz tomato sauce.

Ok, I'm reviewing chips.  I've hit a new low.

Nuit Blanche

Another weekend, another trip to Paris.  I almost tire of it.  (Just kidding, as if!)  This trip was going to be a quick one - 12 hours in Paris to be precise - as we were only there for Nuit Blanche.  With my crappy French on hand, I made the literal translation of 'Night White' and had incorrectly assumed that Nuit Blanche was an annual event whereby all the museums in Paris would be open for visitors from dusk until dawn.  Smee and I got quite happy at the thought of running through the Lourve at 2am.

It was only about 2-3 weeks prior to the trip that I was informed that Nuit Blanche in fact translated into 'sleepless night' and no museums were open.  This was a night to enjoy light and art installations which are placed at random locations around the city.  Hmmm not quite what I expected but Paris is Paris and it will be fun nonetheless.

Smee, Temzy and PF and I boarded our Eurostar and arrived just before the crack of 8pm.  Hungry, we roamed the streets of arrondisement 11 and after being rejected at a few full houses, we stumbled into the bohemian and cosy surroundings of L'Oga, a restaurant whose specialty was exotic meats.  The menu was entirely in French but our skinny, effeminate, funky and patient waiter happily translated any of our queries.

My foie gras de canard and pain d'espice toaste.  Toasted spice cake was so nummy!!  Smee's antelope steak - nummy too!  My cafe delice dessert, a selection of three mini desserts and an espresso.  

We could have very easily resorted to a kebabs so it was a nice surprise to have bumped into L'Oga.  Onwards and upwards to the Nuit Blanche displays!

We were all caught out by the surprisingly warm night and bit by bit we had to peel off off our hats, scarves and jackets.  We had managed to get our hands on an English press pack which detailed each piece and their location which was the reason why we were in arrondisement 11.

Kaleidescope.  Iconic images of contemporary China.  Hypnotic.  (Very stuffy room.)

Comfort #4.  Inflated tubes coming out of the windows.  Looks like worms!  A good time for PF and Smee to participate in a tug-of-war game.  They didn't win :(

Mon Repos Aux Tuileries.  A burnt out van lit from inside by a chandelier.  Naice! 

I can't remember what this is because I can't find it in the guide.  These carvings are actually also musical instruments.  I'm enjoying stroking this block because it sounded like a soft harp!

Harmonichaos.  This was a room filled with vacuum cleaners with harmonicas attached to the head.  Every so often the vacuum cleaners would turn on and make the harmonica sound.  Cool in a creepy way.  Klub Europa.  A decapitated dinosaur.  

Snooze.  Ok this photo was taken with a flash, but the room was actually pitch black and only lit by the LED lights of the alarm clocks.  By this time, it was about 5am and it seemed to be a refuge for people wanting a quick nap.  

Other pieces of note were the Offrez Moi Votre Silence, Lucioles and Metroscope.  Two didn't photographed well because of our lack of skill and the other was a visual installation on the Metro .

Offrez Moi Votre Silence had all the lights in and around the Notre Dame switched off.  This emphasised the natural illumination of the church's stained glass windows.  It was also the place where we had a little break and watched some freestyle French rapping and beat-boxing.  So cool woaaaarr.

Lucioles was a pretty display of little green lights suspended over a hospital courtyard and with the warm night with us, it was very relaxing to lie down and stare at the green little electric fireflies.

Metroscope was on Metro line 9 between Republique and Strasbourg St. Denis stations.  The line ran all night and slowed down between the two stations to show performers posing in giant batwing-like cloaks to resemble certain letters of the alphabet.

The Metro crowd was most pleased.

After walking around all night long we returned to Gare du Nord for our 8am Eurostar.  This was the first time I had stayed up all night in a looooooooooong time and yes we were all beat and grumpy.  

Outside the Gare du Nord McDonalds, Smee and I found this 'bonus' art installation.  I couldn't find him listed in the official Nuit Blanche guide.  

Nuit Blanche - would I return?  It was a lovely night and there was a definite vibe in the city but I wouldn't make a special trip for it again.  I would only go if it happened to coincide with my Paris visit and if I had a hotel room.  I can't pull all-nighters anymore.  I'm too old for that shit!  

Fino

Smee couldn't wait for me to come back to London so that we could eat at Fino together.  It is a sister restaurant to Barrafina and unlike the latter, they accept reservations (yay) so there is no need to queue for 40 minutes.  Smee had his first taste at a friend's birthday and was especially impressed with the suckling pig.  Despite all the dreams about eating more piglets, he managed to resist returning to the restaurant in my absence.

Tonight was the night and with the bucketing of rain outdoors, it was sure nice to walk into the cosy restaurant den.  We began with a nice bottle of Rioja and then waited for our food to arrive.

Pimientos de Padron.  Seasonal seafood is available daily.  We settled on squid in it's own ink, wrapped in panchetta and razor clams.  Num nums. 

Tuna tartar with guacamole.  Food blogging comes with it's risks and because I am such a duh-brain, I dropped my camera into the guacamole :-S  Grilled octopus with capers drizzled in paprika olive oil.  (I think). Mixed tomato salad.  Num nums again. 

Chorizo and aioli tortilla.  Same as the Barrafina one - nothing impressive.  The piece de resistance - suckling pig with crispy skin.  These little oink-oinks must be ordered 48 hours in advance.  We were not a big enough party to warrant ordering an entire Segovian piglet but this quarter hind was quite enough.  The little pot of piggy juice to eat with your succulent piggy meat.  NUM NUMS!!!!! 

We were full but hey, why not go all the way and have dessert too?

Leche Frita - literally, Fried Milk/Custard.  I could not resist.  My mouth waters looking at this picture.  Spanish donuts.  Well, they're just normal cinnamon/sugar dusted donuts, but when they're fresh they are so yummy.  Yummy I tells ya!  

Yep, I'll come back here.  Priced towards the moderate end of the market, I would say that the cost of each dish is still fair without feeling entirely ripped-off.  Our dinner was a little bit more than the average meal because of the piglet.  I guess I'll always have a more expensive dinner bill because when I return, I'll be having more piglet-goodness!

Bottled Boat

Those familiar with Trafalgar Square will know that Nelson's column sits in the centre with the famous four lions at it's base.  Four plinths are placed at each corner and while statues adorn three of the plinths, the fourth one has remained empty since the 1800s.  (They ran out of money hehe.)

For some years now, they have kept the plinth as a site for temporary pieces of modern art.  Recently, they allowed members of the public to climb on top of it and perform whatever they wanted.  That was pretty cool.

Something just as cool is the latest piece of art - a giant ship in a bottle.

You don't think it's cool?  Well, I think it's pretty cool.

Fortnum & Mason High Tea

When tourists visit London, they all run to Harrods which in my opinion is a bit overrated.  That being said, if you've never been you should still tick it off your list.  The Harrods foodhall is certainly impressive but in terms of buying 'English' foodstuffs (tea, biscuits, chocolates, jams etc), I would suggest checking out Fortnum & Mason's selection.  It's nice to get something with the Harrods logo but I think F&M do have a super (if not better) range on offer.  It probably also helps that it is easier for me to get to F&M rather than Harrods.

Anyway today was another day for eating.  I've been craving Afternoon Tea for some time and I was waiting for Moo to come over to London so we can do it London-style.  The last time Moo and I had afternoon was at the National Gallery.  The cakes sure were nice (courtesy of Peyton and Byrne) but the sandwiches were rather stale.  Wtf.  I wasn't prepared to have a shitty experience this time, so we opted to go to St. James's Restaurant on the top floor of F&M.

We were given a choice of three different afternoon teas and settled on the Fortnum's Estate Afternoon Tea.  The food was pretty much the same (unless you got the High Tea) but the accompanying teas were different.  Not that I am a tea connoisseur but the I liked the sound of the Goomtee First Flush.  Moo liked the sound of Yunnan Orange Pekoe.

Now for the food.

To start - a selection of canapes.  Goat's cheese tarts, sausage rolls (hehe) and salmon spread (I can't remember) on crispbread.  My fave was the sausage roll and Moo's fave was the tart. 

Bottom of the tier - finger sized sandwiches with no crusts, thank-you ma'am.  Middle tier - madeleines and scones.  Top tier - raspberry jam biscuits, ginger parkin (what? I had to google that) and cakes-a-plenty.  When the cake tray was brought around for us to make our selection, my greedy guts kicked in and I asked 'So how many can we have?'  Must.... make.... strategic cake decision! 

Mooey with the tiered stands.  Sterling silver?  Maybe.  

We were given two little pots of jams - raspberry and strawberry.  I don't mind jam but I certainly never crave it. But this was the nicest jam I've ever had.  EVER!!  Moo and I wondered what they were going to do with the jam we didn't consume, so I made sure I piled on a heap on each of my scones and madeleines (even though I don't think you're meant to eat jam with madeleines).  Do they just throw out the left jam?  *gasp*  What a waste!  Do they spoon it out and re-use it?  *gasp* That's gross!

Now, I must say some kind words about the clotted cream, that lump of yellowy goodness sitting there on my butter knife.  I think I've mainly had jam and scones with whipped cream in Oz and not the clotted dream cream which was served at F&M.  This stuff is the SHIZNIT.  I'm sure the uppercrust Brits would love to know that's how I describe it.  I couldn't stop piling that stuff on my scones and Moo thought it was rather amusing.  I understand that clotted cream could be at it's maximum 85% milk fat but what is life if we can't enjoy it?  Why can't I enjoy my fatty goodness?  Why?  Shuddup, you calorie-counting biatches!  I will enjoy it, thank-you very much!

Me and another butter knife scoop of clotted cream.  Moo eating cake.  

I actually don't remember too much about the cakes we ate.  All nice I would have to assume, as anything bad would have surely stuck in my head.

At the end of the meal as the waiters cleared away our dishes, I waved a teary farewell to my leftover clotted cream.  However, I felt a little bit better when asked 'Would you like to take your jam pots with you?'  :D  Yes please!  I considered asking for a pot of clotted cream, but I knew that wish would not be fulfilled.

Clotted cream - I shall return one day to rescue you from dieting monsters!

Waitrose Toffee Sundae

One of my favourite pre-made desserts is the Waitrose Toffee Sundae.  I first saw this dessert last year when I was in one of those weak moods and had hankering for something dessert-y.  Surveying the pre-made dessert shelf, I pondered, 'Well, I've had the profiterole dessert and chocolate sundae... Why not try this toffee sundae?'

On that particular day, I couldn't wait to dig in so I collected a plastic spoon on the way out of the supermarket and started stuffing my face.  Mmmmmmm nummy!  Toffee mousse, toffee custard, sticky toffee cake pieces and whipped cream.  So fattening but so nummy!  It totally won me over.

Anyway, my local Waitrose doesn't seem to stock the Toffee Sunday anymore :(  I looked for it at John Lewis on Oxford St but couldn't find it there either.  I got pretty upset and assumed that they had discontinued the product but I was relieved to see that was still available online.  But boo at the fact that my local doesn't stock it anymore.

As a result, I have been on a hunt for a toffee sundae replacement.  I had seen one at Tesco but it did not look appetising so I have not bothered to try it.  However, my local Sainsburys had a toffee sundae which seemed to be practically identical in it's components to it's Waitrose counterpart.  I got pretty excited, took it to the counter and gave my donation to the Sainsburys register.

It was pretty good, but nothing like my favoured Waitrose one.  Generally, the consistency of the cream, mousse and toffee cake wasn't as nice as Waitrose's.  The other notable difference was that there was too much plain whipped cream.  All I could think while eating the Sainsburys sundae was that "I am eating plain cream".  That in turn made me feel fat.  It makes no sense, but the utter deliciousness of the Waitrose toffee cream was so enjoyable that the thought of eating fatty cream didn't cross my mind.  I figure this Sainsbury sundae will suffice as a substitute though.

Still happy to try more desserts, I spotted this new Caramel Frappe sundae at my local M&S.  Ooooh, caramel and cinnamon - well that's just two of my favourite dessert ingredients.  This sundae was already half-way there for me.

I was hoping for a bit of cake in the sundae but no joy :(  It's definitely not a toffee sundae, but with it's butterscotch mousse, caramel, cream and cinnamon, it has it's own decent qualities.  The consistency of the mousse is on par to Waitrose's quality and as I've come to expect; M&S and Waitrose desserts really do kick ass over Tesco, Sainsburys and the other chains.

So, while I'll continue to hunt my Waitrose Toffee Sundae, it is nice to know I will have some alternatives.  (Sometimes, I really do eat too much.)

Busaba Eathai

Smee and I were just hanging out today and part of hanging out involves eating.  Why we settled on eating at Busaba Eathai I'm not sure but I think it was mainly due to proximity.  This is another Alan Yau contribution to the London food scene; this time Thai food.  I'm not sure if Mr. Yau has cut his ties to Busaba like how he did with Cha Cha Moon, but judging from the decent food Smee and I had today, my guess is that he hasn't.

My Guava Collins - guava, lime and coconut juice.  It was very nice and refreshing but it was served in the smallest glass ever.  All that shaking in a cocktail shaker and this is all you serve?  Don't call this drink a Collins unless you serve it in a Collins glass with the extra millilitres!  

Char-grillled duck, pandan chicken and pad see euw (I think).  All were quite nice and I especially liked the duck.  

So yes, despite the smallish drink, Busaba gets a tick from me (for now).  I'll pop by there again if I have a Thai food craving.

A Munich Walking Tour and an Airport Hobo Stint

Moo had her official business today and so I did my usual free walking tour.  For those interested, I add my observation that no there was no Mike the Hottie.  I've forgotten the guide's name but I do remember he was Irish.  Once again, it was a beautiful day in Munich-town.  Perfect for a stroll!

We were first introduced to the most overrated, boring tourist attraction in Munich, the Glockenspiel at the New Town Hall.  Yes, even the guides dislike it.

They were the ones who warned us of it's slow, uneventful crappiness!

The Frauenkirche, also known as the church the Devil built.  A cold wind surrounds the church all year long -  ooh spooky.  The story goes that in order to construct the church quickly, the builder asked for the Devil's help and promised to make it a windowless structure.  Little did the Devil know that the builder had tricked him so when the Devil came to inspect the completed church, he stomped his foot angrily and here the footprint remains.

Also within the walls of the Frauenkirche is a little plaque featuring the current Pope.  He's a Bavarian and supposedly enjoys a beer every now and then.

This gold cobblestone is located on Viscardigasse, a little alley located behind the Feldhernhalle.  The gold strip indicated the path people would take to avoid having to give a Nazi salute.  Hence the nickname, Dodger's Alley.

The lucky lions.  If you rub the noses of three, you'll have good luck.  If you rub the noses of four, you're a greedy bastard and you get nuffin.  

Inside the Hofbräuhaus, where men used to pee under the table (just unbutton the lederhosen flap) while simultaneously drink their beer.  In olden times of course.

The Jewish synagogue.  An interestingly shaped modern building.

Munich's maypole.  One certain days of the year, if one city successfully steals another city's maypole, the loser city has to throw a party for the winners.  Yay! 

My final hotdog for the trip.   

Afterwards, I met up with Moo at the Hauptbahnhof to catch our relevant trains.  I marvelled at the German efficiency, watching each S-Bahn train pull into the platform, minute after minute.  Moo bid me adieu while I began my journey back to London and she headed off to Belgium.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I boarded my S-Bahn airport train and chugged my way towards the airport.  My train would arrive 90 minutes before my scheduled flight which is a nice (though some would argue - too long) buffer.  Six stops into the journey, the train remained sitting at a station for about five minutes.  A bit odd, but I figured the train was being held back to regulate the too-efficient service.  An announcement was made in German but no one seemed bothered by it.  After 15 minutes of nothing, some people started getting antsy and began leaving the train.  Another announcement was made and more people started moving off the train but some remained in their seats.

I asked the hot guy sitting next to me what was happening.  He had been speaking Spanish on his phone but he was obviously one of those awesome, hot, multilingual, European guys.  He informed me (in his lovely accented English) that there was a problem with the train and they were unsure when it will be fixed.  (Thank you hottie European man.)

Oh f**k.  It was chaos at the station with an Oktoberfest-inflated population trying to catch buses and flag down non-existent cabs.  After flapping my arms for awhile and doing nothing useful, I decided the best option was to return to the Hauptbahnhof using the underground network (the U-Bahn trains were still functioning) and get a cab from there.

The underground was packed like how the tube is at peak hour with severe delays.  So after 1.5 hours of starting my journey, I was back where I started at the Hauptbahnhof.  I couldn't see any available cabs but then yay (!) I saw an airport bus loading up passengers and sardined my way on.  My flight was leaving in an hour and the bus journey would take 45 minutes.  Yes, I was going to miss my flight.

But the saga didn't end there.  Arriving at the airport, I was advised to queue in the non-moving ticket queue.  My patience was taken to the limit and after 50 minutes of standing in line, I cracked it.  I left the queue and tried to muscle my way to the Bag Drop-Off counter.  The woman sent me back to the ticket queue.  I hadn't asked the two guys standing behind me to mind my spot but I just gave them a pathetic face with a 'Can I pop back in here?' and they let my sorry ass back in.

When I finally got to the front of the queue, the last flight back to London had just closed and the best they could do was book me on the 6am flight the next day.  Oh and make me pay €50 for the flight change!!!!

So that's the story of how I ended up doing this in Munich airport.

I was too pissed off to consider an airport hotel.

I felt like a homeless hobo. 

A fellow hobo.  

I was hoping for a shower in the terminal but once I cleared security, there weren't any!

I did the next best thing and washed my feet in the bathroom sink.

The good thing is I can now add 'being an airport hobo' to my list of travel adventures.