Frankly Cross Eyed

I Can't Stop Watching This Dog!

2011-12-26T11:02:00.000Z

So cute!!!

This dog has rhythm and knows how to chill to acoustic guitar. *pat pat*

The Dog and the Chicken

2011-12-17T23:37:00.000Z

Back in Melbourne now and here for V&A's wedding. Set in Mantons Creek Vineyard, it proved to be a relaxing place to sip wine in the sunshine. I even got burnt despite it being quite overcast :-/

Hello ladies! Nice to see you! More photos can be found on Kahuna's FB.

The vineyard also had some chickens wandering around. This was especially stimulating for the beautiful Border Collie who spent the entire afternoon tail-gating one particular hen. Seriously, it wasn't for like 10 minutes. This kept going for a good 5 hours and continue as we left at dusk.

It's so nice that the dog could be entertained so easily! I *heart* dogs. The chicken was so nonchalant.

Cheers to the newly married couple, V&A! *clink champagne flutes*

Kuranda

2011-12-11T21:21:00.000Z

I had to drive pass the Skyrail many times on my previous stay in Cairns. I was curious but didn't have enough time back then to take the ride. So when I asked Spu what he wanted to do for our second day of adventure, he asked 'What's there to do in the Daintree forest?' I said, 'It's a rainforest - not much. It probably looks like any other rainforest in the area.' So with that, we decided to go to kill two birds and check out the 'Skyrail Rainforest Cableway'.

We booked a tour which started with a ride up via the Skyrail cable car to the town of Kuranda. We were given free time to explore the town and then a ride down back to Cairns aboard the Kuranda Scenic Railroad.

I will say one thing - This was frickin expensive. A one way ticket on the Skyrail was $44! What the hell, it's only 7.5km of cable and if you opt not to get off at the two stops and instead head directly to Kuranda, this ride would take about 30 minutes tops. It definitely wasn't on the same level of value of when Moo and I each paid €41 (approx AU$51) to spend an entire day at Parc Asterix. You could see why it wasn't teeming with tourists. Is the money going towards conservation? It better be. Either that or it's paying off the debt incurred by it's construction.

Spu in the cable car. Me in the cable car. Nice lush views.

First stop - Red Peak.

Spuey enjoying the boardwalk path. It felt just like the Daintree!

Treehugger.

Next stop - Barron Falls.

The gorge/falls was not at it's peak today and the waterfall was more like a water trickle. From the photos I've seen it looks pretty spectacular when in full force though. Here at this stop was also a 'state of the art' interpretive centre, where the touch screen computers didn't really work and it more or less felt like a bad kiddie museum.

Making our way to Kuranda, I crossed the Barron River. So did Spu.

Next stop - Kuranda.

Walking up the tree covered path to Kuranda - very nice! Cooling too. Spu never realised that trees could be so shady. A dead amphibian. Only in the tropics.

The small community of Kuranda is fairly dependent on tourism with their markets selling plenty of souvenirs and knick knacks. Good for people into that stuff. Me and Spu? Not so much.

Here's a store which has found it's niche between the kangaroo fur and hand made soap stalls - wine... derived from mangoes!

Spu and I tasted everything Golden Drop had to offer. All the alcohol was chilled so it all went down a refreshing treat. The mango-ey smell was a pleasant bonus on the nose. I liked the cello least but I could have easily bought their entire range. The main thing stopping me from doing so is that we didn't want to carry it and secondly ...maybe I should cut back on my alcohol?? So I just settled on a single bottle of the medium dry wine.

Me and the miner.

Spu and I decided to overload on tropical rainforests and followed Jum Rum Creek - Jungle - River walk nearby.

Creek pit stop.

The walk brought us all the way back to Kuranda's train station where waited to board the next Kuranda Scenic Train down back to Cairns.

All aboard the Hogwar...err. Kuranda Express!

Now at Barron Falls from the opposite side.

The train curves around the mountain.

I couldn't get a photo like this from the train, but this was the highlight of the ride.

The train in total took three hours to get back to Cairns. Not to undermine the significance of the train's history (it was built to shuttle miners up and down to Cairns) but after about an hour, the train ride got pretty damn boring. Worse for Spuey, he sat on a seat which didn't get the window breeze (the train carriages weren't air-conditioned) and only realised so when we were about 15 minutes from Cairns! He'd been sitting and sweating the whole time.

We pulled into Cairns train station and after having a quick rest, we stuck to our promise of returning to Gunbaranba.

Spu had the cheesy ramen. Yes it sounded a bit weird but that was part of it's appeal! The flavours weren't conventional but it still worked! I had one of the cold soup ramen. Yum yum!

Just to be extra greedy, we ordered a side of tuna salad and sushi rice. They were just ok.

That's it for the touristy stuff in Cairns. Spu heads home tomorrow and I return to the work grind. I'll kinda be glad to leave in a few days - it's nice to wake up in the morning without sweating!

Snorkelling with Spu

2011-12-10T21:33:00.000Z

When in Cairns, one must go to the Great Barrier Reef. I had a most fun time swimming with the fishies last time, I really wanted to go again but not as a Nigel this time. Cue the Spu.

Spu was a bit worried that he wasn't a strong enough swimmer for snorkelling. I said, 'I reckon I'm a worse Asian swimmer than you and if I could snorkel last time, you can do it too.' We contemplated diving but the health restrictions recommended not flying within 24 hours. Best not to risk it but anyway, it was much more expensive.

We examined a bunch of brochures and settled on the Moore Reef Cruise from Sunlover. I had thought my previous tour had a big boat but this Sunlover boat was about double the size.

Our boat. Ok, it's a catarmaran.

Spu sitting next to Mr. Green Sea Turtle.

First pit stop. Fitzroy Island! This seemed more to be where locals got off with their BBQ and cricket bats.

A good 30-40% of passengers got off the boat at Fitzroy Island, leaving Spu and I with a LOT of rowdy Mainlanders. Of course we were mistaken for them too.

Once we reached the Sunlover purpose built pontoon, we all jumped off ready for our chosen activities. Spu and I decided to snorkel first.

Spu and I channeling our inner ninja. Stinger season peeps! I don't need a stinger bite.

The view from the pontoon. Water so clear. Fish so bright and pretty.

These pics were taken by a disposable waterproof camera and the grainy appearance is genuine, not Instagram filtered.

Fishies so close to me!!! Spu and I each tried to touch them but they were too quick.

We also saw a Green Sea Turtle :D I couldn't get a photo but I'm so happy to have seen one especially as I was quite disappointed at missing out last time. I can die happy. Content with our snorkel adventure, Spu and I decided to hit the buffet lunch and of course missed out on the fresh prawns because they'd been attacked by the Mainlanders. Grrrrrrr.

Next actvity - the semi submersible tour. It's almost a submarine.

Spu decided that it was too hot for a shirt. Mainlander demonstrating a Camera Stance.

Next activity - Glass bottom boat. It's so dangerously close, it's a wonder they don't hit any of the coral.

My view through the glass bottom.

Better idea of the view through the glass bottom. My favourite coral is there too! The spaghetti looking coral. I like how it wafts in the water.

Next activity - petting zoo. Ok, it's not a zoo, it was a touch tank.

Spu not enjoying the big black sea cucumber. Me enjoying it too much. It was slimy and squishy and we were discouraged from squeezing it. It would spurt water otherwise.

Another sea cucumber I think. It looked like a loaf of bread in the water, but when removed became deflated and bit sad :( Me so happy to have a baby starfish in my hands. It was alive!

Next activity - presentation on the Great Barrier Reef. Held on the pontoons underwater theatre. This was very pretty and an excellent way of seeing up close the fish you didn't get to meet while snorkelling. I could sit here for hours just staring at them..... or I could stare at a screensaver. Nah, real fish are better.

Look at the parrot fish! It has human buck teeth!

I was pretty satisfied that Spu and I did EVERYTHING available on the pontoon bar the extra optional activities. So with our fours hours up on the reef, we boarded the catamaran and headed back to Cairns.

Now for dinner. I had eyed a ramen bar near my work and even though it's never soupy weather in Cairns, nothing was stopping Spu and I from scarfing up some tonkotsu goodness. Hearing Japanese spoken within the restaurant is always encouraging and we were seated promptly. Spu and I had popped in at a good time because shortly afterwards, a queue formed. Also, when a ramen bar gives you the option of stipulating how 'hard/chewy' you want your noodles to be.....well that's a good thing.

I ordered the Tonkotsu I think whereas Spu, feeling the heat ordered a cold soup ramen. He was a bit apprehensive but happy with his very tasty and refreshing choice. We also ordered a serve of the homemade gyoza.

The reviews for this place are generally positive and while it's probably not the best bowl I've had (soup was tasty but some more topping wouldn't have hurt) I was pretty happy overall and Spu (being the less fussy eater) was super happy. We shall return!

Spu's here!

2011-12-09T23:30:00.000Z

Spu arrived last night with an hour delay *groan* but that didn't really matter because I was only staying a 10 minute drive from the airport.

Anyway today I worked while Spu spent the day exploring Cairns CBD. He bought a new mobile phone, checked out Rusty's Markets, took a dip in the lagoon and then lounged poolside reading Harry Potter. Aaah what a life.

Then we went for dinner and took advantage of the several Japanese run joints in Cairns by eating at Sushi Train. I'm still annoyed that no Japanese person has taken this franchise to Melbourne. It's probably not the best but the quality is decent and consistent.

Some of our dishes.

Fried salmon skin. Mmmmm omega three goodness. The Volcano roll. It looks like an erupting volcano! The roll itself was not as spectacular as the appearance. Karaage chicken (yes fried chicken) and takoyaki balls. Yum!

Yah I must make the most of having an eating buddy while in Cairns.

Cairns - again!

2011-12-06T22:47:00.000Z

I thought I'd guarantee myself a bit of a Summer and headed up to Cairns for work once more. I really liked the vibe of the town last time and was more than happy to return. As usual, I've been supplied an apartment (a much better one than last time) and also a car.

Here's a tour of my abode.

Open plan lounge and kitchen.

Off we go upstairs. Upstairs. I have a two level apartment.

Main bedroom and second bedroom. Both had ensuites. Apartment - too big for little old me.

My rental car for the next two weeks. Never driven an Hyundai before and will probably never buy one, but given that it was brand spanking new, it was a pretty sweet, zippy ride.

Clearly this apartment is too big for one person. Ma really wanted to come and visit but unfortunately being retired means that her diary is jammed pack with activities such as watching live Viet concerts. Given that Spu is still a bum and has never been to the Australian tropics, I have forced him to come and visit me :D Our adventures will follow!

McDonalds in Asia Rocks

2011-12-03T19:44:00.000Z

A shout out to SuBoo for showering me with some gifts from McDonalds. SuBoo just happened to be flying in from Hong Kong for the weekend and these toys were just released before her arrival so I think that it's fate that I should be the recipient.

Hello Kitty on the side.

McDonald characters on the other side. What the hell is Grimace anyway?

The back of the boxes. So much effort.

Hello Kitty dressed up as the McDonaldland characters.

These 'toys' are just too good to unwrap so I am going to be a Comic Book/Star Trek/Star Wars nerd and leave them in their original packaging, never to be opened. Fanks SuBoo!

Snag Stand

2011-12-02T22:53:00.000Z

A list of some of my food vices:

poison pork rolls
hamburgers
fried chicken
moist cupcakes with icing
(good) macarons
jamon
anything custard-like (e.g dan tart, creme brulee, pannacotta, snot blocks etc)
hot dogs

It's a surprise I'm not very fat. I stick to the 'in moderation' principle as much as I can, even though that's very hard to believe if you read the food related postings on this blog. Anyway so it was a blessing in disguise that DOP Pasta's portions were not excessive. That meant there was room for another item on our To Eat Hitlist - Snag Stand.

With a name like that, how could I not buy a hot dog!?!

I first saw Snag Stand in the newly built Westfield Sydney a few months ago. I didn't managed to sample any of the 'haute dogs' - as they like to call them - but I had been told they were good-diddily-ood.

After spending about five minutes deliberating, Spu and I settled on the following two dawgs.

Spicy cheese kransky with semi dried tomatoes, sriracha chilli mayo, cheddar cheese on a toasted brioche roll ($8.90). Greek (lamb, rosemary and oregano sausage) with fresh tomato, onion and olive salsa, feta and tzatziki served on a toasted poppy seed roll. ($9.90).

When reviewing the menu for this blog, I noticed that while the menu in Melbourne and Sydney were identical, some of the hot dogs were $1 more expensive in Sydney. How do they justify that? Higher rental at Westfield?

The spicy cheese kranksy oozed cheese from within and it definitely had a chilli kick. Not too hot for me but maybe for some folk who can't tolerate chilli.

These hot dogs were definitely good. Some might not be able to approve of the $7-10 price tag, but hmmm yes, I would happily pay for this again. I mean, if I ate two, I would be completely stuffed for $14-20. The brioche hot dog bun was enough for me to want more. So light, so fluffy, so yellow! I know that certain Europeans (ohai moo) would have a fit at paying such a price for these hot dogs but Snag Stand do have a fairly extensive menu and offer some alternative toppings that one wouldn't normally get from a hot dog stand in Germany/Austria/other hot dog stand nations.

Snag Stand's location on the corner of a busy intersection means that it is poorly equipped for those wanting to sit down and eat their dawgs. A few stools are supplied by why sit there when you can just take the escalator upstairs and enjoy the Melbourne Central dining hall/food court? That's exactly what Spu and I did.

Then that gave me the opportunity to buy dessert from Cupcake Central.

Choc-mint cupcake and a boysenberry cupcake. Yum.

So yep, Snag Stand. I'll be eating some more hot dogs from them in due course.

D.O.P Pasta

2011-12-02T21:52:00.000Z

Another night, another eating mission to complete. Tonight's dinner was at D.O.P Pasta, more officially known as Carlton Espresso and brought to you by the same peeps who own D.O.C Pizza. Sticking to their rustic food policy and (suspiciously fake) Italian-accented only waiters, Spuey and settled into our wooden stools and waited for our pasta.

Erm, I can't remember what my dish was but it had pancetta in it (rigatoni amatriciana??) and I paid $1 extra for rocket lettuce. Spu had the lasagna. Each dish was about $18.

Um the pasta was good but nothing mind-blowing or memorable. Spuey noted that his lasagna wasn't very oily which is a plus. I was a bit, 'Yeah, ok' about it. Portion size was modest and just filled our stomachs. I guess the point is that if you've eaten any side dishes and/or entrees, you'd be full.

So yeah, D.O.P Pasta - not stirring up the same reaction in me as their pizza counterpart.

Izakaya Den

2011-12-01T23:40:00.000Z

I first ate at Izakaya Den shortly after returning from full time London life. Moo was nowhere near to Muenchen and we went for lunch. I recall the bar/restaurant being empty because it wasn't peak hour. Like numerous Melbourne bars, it was not an easy find. Poorly signposted, it was only found after descending a flight of nondescript stairs, pushing open the glass door and pulling aside a black curtain. Oh yep, now you're in an uber-cool basement bar. Kudos to the coolness.

But I was there to eat and after paying $60 for lunch for two, I left underwhelmed. Australia sure had gotten expensive in my time away and I was appalled at dishing out ~£40 for lunch. Wtf. We had the set lunch plus non-alcoholic drinks and it was probably the beverages which tilted the meal over into the expensive. Food was average, portions teetered on the 'just enough to not be starving' side but at the time I recall not being in a rush to return.

Anyway this place is lauded with rave reviews and I had been told that dinner was better than lunch, so I was happy to give it another bash. Spuey again ready to help me out.

Our water is served in cute cups.

The menu is somewhat seasonal and there are daily specials. I can't remember prices of some dishes we ate but I'll give it a go.

Kingfish sashimi ($17), miso soup with clams ($10) and grilled pork belly ($15?).

The kingfish went down a treat. Nice and plump pieces of fish with a tasty dressing. The miso soup was a huge serving and I guess the $10 price tag covers the cost of the clams. Pork belly - well you can't really go wrong with a pig's tummy but not my fave dish tonight - a bit bland.

Sweet corn kaki-age ($7), tuna tartare with avocado, sesame and ginger ($15) and quail three ways ($15?).

The sweet corn kaki-age were just corn fritters. Tastes like what you'd expect. Like corn. Tuna tartare was yummy but I could have eaten an extra serving. The quail was served with three dressings - horseradish, a salty chilli sauce and some herby, basil pesto like sauce (can't remember). I had expected maybe three or four pieces of quail but maybe I'm a greedy guts. I didn't really like the salty chilli sauce but Spu thought it was ok.

I understand why dishes need to be small - it's an izakaya and they traditionally serve bar snacks, intent for sharing. But $7 for a plate of corn fritters? Reduce it to $5 and I won't moan. Six plates between Spu and I was a good number to get us satisfied although much of the belly filling was due to the miso soup. Nevertheless we of course had left room for dessert.

Apple mille feuille ($10). Black sesame and orange creme brulee ($10).

Watching the dessert chef make the mille feuille - wah much effort yet easy to do. Spoon out a layer of apple sorbet, put on an apple chip, then repeat those two steps until you reach a desired height. Top with honey. Probably the healthiest dessert to have ever existed - it's an apple! The creme brulee was super tasty and Spu cleaned out the ramekin to his best ability. I don't want to ignore the effort required to make the mille feuille but it was essentially just.. an... apple and it tasted like... an... apple. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good! The creme brulee was just better with the intensity of sesame flavour undeniably potent.

I can't help but continue to think that Melbourne still has gotten the short end of the Japanese food stick. The food definitely wasn't bad at Izakaya Den but it was still something that is in abundance on the Sydney Japanese restaurant scene. At $70 a head it wasn't cheap and I'm convinced that I can get a similar meal in Sydney for $50-60. I should probably stop the comparisons but I can't help it! I am spoilt for choice in the Harbour City. That being said, it seems as though new Japanese restaurants are popping up everywhere in Melbourne and I have yet to check them out.

In short, the Den deserves it's reviews but only just. I'll be back for dinner again - the dishes were definitely better.

Loving the Porky

2011-11-30T17:51:00.000Z

Vietnamese pork rolls rock. Their reputation took a bit of battering a number of years ago due to a spate of food poisoning episodes (including deaths) during which the media called them 'poison pork rolls' (PPR). Not so poisonous nowadays but the label has stuck. My advice? Choose your Viet bakery wisely and make sure they have refrigerated deli displays.

*rings Spu's mobile*

Spu - 'Yeah what?'

Me - 'Can you get me a poison pork roll?'

Spu - 'Yeah ok'

Yep, you are one of my favourite foods. I normally avoid white breads but for you PPR, I will always make an exception.

I have to say, PPRs are probably one of the best things to result from the French colonisation of Vietnam. (Obviously other not so great things happened too but this is not a political discussion). PPRs are a fine example of fusion food. A baguette lined with pate and egg mayonnaise, filled various cold cut slices of pork, topped off with pickled carrots and sometimes daikon, a stalk of spring onion (or an onion variant), coriander, cucumber, optional chilli and finished with pepper and a dash of soy sauce.

Just analyse that. A baguette. Not quite a French baguette but a baguette clearly influenced by French cuisine, right down to a scored surface. The main difference is the use of rice flour instead of wheat flour and shaped more like an AFL football rather than a stick.

Pate. It is highly unlikely that Viets ate pate before the French rolled around. Same with mayonnaise.

Pork. This includes cha lua and a pink rind pork slice (forgot it's name) amongst others. I suspect these were 'ham/jambon substitutes' as the French style ham probably wasn't readily available in Viet-land.

All the vegies and condiments. That's so Viet. I reckon the Viets thought, 'Hey, we eat a lot of fresh vegies with our other foods. Let's see how tasty we can make this roll.' Hey presto, the 'French ham and pate baguette' was elevated to a whole new, super level.

I was a bit surprised to see in Paris that the PPRs used French style rather than Viet style baguettes. I guess there's not need to imitate the baguette when you're in the Land of Baguettes. However, the baguettes found in Australia are actually more 'authentic' and similar to that in Vietnam..... assuming you could label 'authentic' onto something that is essentially fusion cuisine. I say yes! It has gained authenticity in it's own right!

I *heart*pork rolls and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. *muah!!*

San Churro

2011-11-29T23:56:00.000Z

Oh and because I needed to add more fat to my fried chicken dinner, Spu and I dropped by San Churro on the way back to the car. This once-single-store-on-Brunswick-St has now exploded as a franchise around Australia.

Depending on the skill of the person manning the deep fryer, you'll either end up with nice or not nice churros.

Ours were nice but way overpriced ($7.50 I think. Wtf). I love fried dough but this is a bit much.

Gami - Chicken and Beer

2011-11-29T23:37:00.000Z

It's no secret I love fried chicken. I hold it in utmost regard as one of the ultimate comfort foods to have ever existed. So when I first noticed Gami - Chicken and Beer and realised they served Korean fried chicken, I said 'Yee-haw! I gotta get me some crispy chicken!' Of course, food is best with company and joining me tonight was ready-to-eat Spu, Gami-neighbours Tina, Shazza and Glenda and Dr. R who just happened to be in town.

The sign doesn't lie and yes, I can confirm that Gami sell chicken and beer but they also serve other Korean dishes if you've (weirdly) decided to come here not wanting to sample the namesake food. We ordered a few on the side to supplement our plates of chicken.

Beer is available in a mini four litre keg which is their own 'famous house beer' ($42). I had a small glass. It was nice but I'm not sure how it compares to any other beer given that I'm not a beer drinker.

Oktoberfest has distorted my view of steins. Any stein not holding a litre's worth of beer looks abnormal to me now.

Shazza and I shared some Korean raspberry sweet wine ($25). Tastes like ribena!

We were given some complimentary nibbles with our drinks - prawn chips and pickled daikon cubes. Acid helps wash out the chicken fat.

Our entree/side dishes:

Mandoo (fried dumplings, $12) with cabbage...doused in thousand island dressing and tomato sauce!?! Cheese and corn ($9).

I'd read many favourable reviews about this unconventional marriage of vegetable and dairy. The sweet corn is mixed with mayonnaise, given a layer of supermarket grated cheddar and then grilled until a slight cheese crusts forms. It weirdly kinda works but not really. Then you wonder how drunk a person must have to be when they decide to mix the three together.

Onto the chicken. You have the choice of original, sweet chilli (I think it's covered in gochujang) or sweet soy garlic flavours. We of course, had to eat all three.

Half sweet soy garlic, half sweet chilli ($30). It's a whole chicken.

Full plate of original flavour ($27). Again, a whole chicken. We demolished both plates. Not a single piece survived.

What can I say. It's fried chicken. The meat was super moist with a crispy external batter. That takes super-frying skillz. You'd think maybe some of the pieces may be unevenly cooked but the chef in the back has portioned the chicken in such a way that allow all pieces to be cooked perfectly. Not a cold bit of chickie in sight.

Is it better than KFC? Probably not. Is it worse than KFC? Definitely not. Can I eat this as alternative to KFC? Damn straight I can. Having different flavours is a bonus. If I want plain fried chicken, well it's a tough choice between KFC and Gami. Maybe the Colonel's 11 secret herbs and spices just have the edge. If I wanted any other flavour of chicken, Gami is where it's at. The chicken I enjoyed most? Sweet chilli. Much like other Asians, I do enjoy KFC hot and spicy. Gami's is a nice, sticky, sweet alternative.

For those not wanting a full chicken, Gami also offer half chickens, boneless pieces and wings starting from a six pack. Gami is the place to go when you want to eat your fried chicken in a more civil manner. I realise that 'civil' and 'fried chicken' do not really belong in the same sentence but hey, if a place serves fried chicken on a plate and not a box, then it's civil to me.

I'll be back for sure! *licks fingers* Oh and Gami has two CBD locations just in case you're at the other end of town.

Cafe Cibi

2011-11-27T14:34:00.000Z

Continuing on our Eating Mission, Spu and I checked out the traditional Japanese breakfast offerings at Cibi. I'm not sure if we were lucky but breakfast was still available to us at 2pm. Cibi is housed in a cool bit of converted warehouse space and there was something a bit hipster about it that made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was all the hipsters sitting inside, wearing their non-prescription hipster spectacles and hipster clothes.

After scanning the menu, I settled on the Traditional Japanese Breakfast with all the bells and whistles ($14.50 I think).

Brown/white rice, potato salad, poached salmon, tamago and green beans.

It also came with miso soup, nori, a sour plum, fermented beans (Tasted like smelly feet. I didn't finish it.) and pickled cucumber.

Spu had the soba salad ($12 I think). Nice but I've made soba salad myself and it's not $12 worth.

There's no doubt that Cibi is a different and healthier take on the usual breakfast offerings around town but I didn't feel there was anything that special about it. It's nothing I've never eaten before and I find no novelty value in eating rice (or Asian style food for that matter) at breakfast. The hipsters surrounding me certainly didn't help the situation. I couldn't help but implant thoughts in their head - 'Bacon and eggs? Hmph, that's so mainstream.' *adjusts hipster scarf*

Cibi. Nice but I'm just not won over by it.

The Bogan Burger

2011-11-24T22:32:00.000Z

I'd never heard of the Bogan Burger until Tina mentioned it while eating at Abla's. Served at the Napier Hotel, it comprises of a steak fillet, chicken schnitzel, potato cake, bacon, egg, pineapple, beetroot plus the usual trimmings of cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato.... why have I not heard about this burger!?!?! On the side you're also given wedges and coleslaw. You know, just in case you're still hungry.

Spuey said that he'd eaten it twice before and was prepared to join me on his third endeavour. In preparation for the meal, I had only eaten salad all day and I was starving by the time I finished up work at 7.30pm. I did contemplate sharing the burger with Spuey but hungry minds think alike and we ordered one each.

Believe it or not, it was smaller than I expected but I checked and yep, all ingredients were included. Although we didn't really get a schnitzel. It was more like two chicken crispy strips. All this for $19. The classy toothpick umbrella is complimentary.

Spu digs in.

This is point where I surrendered. I did pretty damn well. The 'bun' is actually foccacia and not a burger bun.

Spu nearly polished off the whole plate. The only thing that stopped him was me telling him to stop and the fact that wedges aren't very nice cold.

What can I say? It's something I'll eat once and never again. Weighing in at an estimated 7000 kilojoules, I'm ashamed and embarrassed of what I've devoured. *hangs head* The produce used in the burger is very much on a bogan basic level and I couldn't wipe from my mind images of bulk-buy packets of bargain steaks, giant bags of frozen potato cakes and sacks of frozen chicken strips. It is what it is - a collection of a bogan's favourite foods altogether in a burger.

Eat it if you dare. Starving for an entire day beforehand is suggested.

Abla's

2011-11-22T23:12:00.000Z

With my release from the chains of studying, I am now undertaking an Eating Mission. Partner in Crime will be Spuey. He's got nothing else to do until he gets handcuffed on to work, so might as well live a bum life to the fullest. While I was busy studying, I delegated one task to Spu - compile a restaurant hit-list. We are gonna trawl the streets, knocking down restaurants one by one.

So today immediately after picking me up from the airport, Spu and I drove to Abla's. No pit stop to drop off my luggage, nah no time for that. Must eat food. Needing to bear the food load, Tina and Shazza completed the quartet and we were ready to draw comparisons to Rumi. We learnt from our previous attempt that a weeknight reservation is much easier to obtain than Saturday.

The restaurant itself is a modest, converted Victorian terrace with minimal, dated signage. I've driven past it numerous times and never realised it was there. Walking upstairs, we caught a glimpse of the kitchen which looked tiny.

I have been avoiding alcohol in desperate attempt to retain brain cells for my exam. Well, now it's time to destroy them!

Our initial plan to 'order every main plus starters' was met with a 'that's too much food' from the waitress. Tina had his doubts but lucky for us, the waitress was right and no food wastage eventuated.

Complimentary pickled... radish (we think) and olives. Mixed dips with flat bread (labnee, hummous bi tahini, baba ghanooj), $15.

Mjadra (lentil and rice pilaff served with yoghurt), $15. Lahem Mishwee (marinated grilled lamb fillet with tabbouleh), $25. Farrouj Mishwee (marinated grilled chicken with garlic sauce and tabbouleh), $25.

Cabbage rolls (cabbage leaves stuffed with minced lamb and rice, cooked with tomato, mint and lemon juice), $25. Chicken and rice (rice pilaff with minced lamb, chicken and almonds), $25.

Dessert. turkish delight, $3. Lebanese coffee, $3. Home made baklawa, $3.

There pictures don't really demonstrate so, but servings were decently sized and we were all pretty full. Taste wise, there's nothing I could complain about. Surprise of the night - chicken and cinnamon go well together! All the food had a home-cooked feel to it, like it came out of a Lebanese mama's kitchen.... which it kinda did. The mama's name is Abla. This is the kind of place you would come to if you craved the comfort of your Lebanese/Greek/Turkish grandmother's cooking. That seems to be what fellow diner Helen Kapalos did - she was on the table next to us!

Overall I can't say that Abla's kicked ass all over Rumi but there was something ... better about it. Maybe it's the grandma vibe.

Student Eats

2011-11-21T21:49:00.000Z

I had screwed myself over by failing to adhere to my intended study schedule for an upcoming exam. Getting back into studying mode after an eight year hiatus was pretty EFFING difficult. In the end, I pretty much ended up cramming out of sheer panic. This behaviour was unheard of for me in undergraduate days when I was quite the study champ. I've been so damn stressed that for the past three days I have been waking up with heart palpitations and had episodes of dry-retching. Bloody hell, if I had to encounter this amount of stress on a regular basis, no doubt I would be lying in an early grave.

Anyway with studying comes student food. Having holed myself up in a Sydney hotel room for the past three days, apart from eating a wedding lunch, I've been making the most of the nearby food options in Chinatown.

Daikichi Ramen. It was average. Reminded me of an instant noodle ramen I had, which for an instant noodle costing about $1 a packet was pretty good.

Chicken Teriyaki Don from Kura. Very much a uni student's paradise. So far, so not a very nutritious trip.

Having been disappointed by Daikichi, I went to Menya. Even though Menya has slipped down my rankings after being spoilt in NYC, they still serve up a decent bowl with tasty stock. I'm also happy to report the return of the hanjuku egg with a soft yolk :D Maybe they've had a change in management.

I'd like to say all that stressing and studying paid off but no, it kinda didn't. I don't have my marks yet but the exam was full of stuff that wasn't covered in the lectures. So unfair. How dare they make me waste my energy.

So my post exam treat was a Korean ice cream.

No idea what it says but I liked the look of vanilla ice cream, honey and nuts for $2.

Yah I liked this.

Goodbye Aussie Burger

2011-11-07T21:03:00.000Z

Whilst searching on FB for Hungry Jack's locations, I came across this group. What the hell. THE AUSSIE BURGER IS GONE?!?!?!?!? After checking the Hungry Jack's menu online only to confirm the worst, I was so upset that I had to FB Moo the bad news. The link on my last Hungry Jack's related post had also died. I didn't want to believe it, but it's true. I will no longer be able to eat an Aussie Burger again. Crinkle cut beetroot and a microwave 'fried' egg will never adorn my burger once more. Had I'd been aware of it's impending death I would have given it the good-bye it deserved and delivered a farewell chomp.

It seems I'm not the only upset one. There are several FB groups petitioning for the return of the Aussie Burger and many upset customers mourning it's removal on the Hungry Jack's FB wall.

I might have to look at this in a positive light. This might just be a personal message to me from the Hamburger God. The McFeast and the Aussie Burger have both been removed. They were my default orders at Macca's and HJ's respectively. Maybe I should... stop... eating... burgers?!?!

R.I.P Aussie Burger, R.I.P. I do hope to see you return temporarily for promotional periods.

Goodman

2011-10-30T22:45:00.000Z

It may appear that I went into overdrive on the meat consumption in the past week but that is not true. This visit to Goodman occurred about a month ago but I forgot to blog about it. It was a balmy night in London - an Indian Summer as they like to call it - and Smee and I decided to eat at his newly crowned 'Favourite Steak Place'.

Goodman, like other decent steak joints, offer steaks by the 100g. The cuts and the location from where the beef is sourced can vary which ensures quality. Upon entering the restaurant, there is a real 'City Boys Club' vibe and the snooker table, cigar lounge feel reinforces the atmosphere. The clientele were mainly men in work suits, enjoying and entertaining (Big bonuses? Maybe not in this economic climate) with post-work beef. I spotted about five women including myself. Women - don't let that put you off digging into some steak here.

Onto the food:

I had a 400g fillet steak. I can't remember where this cow came from or whether it was grain or grass fed. Probably grass. Probably Scottish. Price? I can't remember.

Smee went overboard. Wtf. He ordered a 700g (or maybe it was 600g) T-bone steak. I learnt something new tonight. A T-bone is actually two steaks! A porterhouse (bigger bit) and a fillet (smaller bit). He actually didn't want it so big but that was the only T-bone choice available. The funny thing was, afterwards we saw a nearby couple SHARE the steak between them. Hmmm in hindsight maybe that's what we should've done. No idea where this cow came from but I think it was grass fed. Price? Something expensive.

Our sides. Yummy yummy chunky truffle chips with sea salt (£5.00). I actually preferred these over Heston Blumenthal's. Bigger serving and nothing can beat a bit of truffle oil on crispy, fluffy chips. Mac 'n' cheese (£4.00). Yummy!!! A bit more textured in comparison to Hawksmoor's due to the larger pasta but just as tasty. We also both decided to have a slice of fried foie gras on the side (£14.00 each). If we didn't have a heart attack tonight, then we would have to thank the glass of red for cleaning out our arteries.

Yes Smee. I know, I know. We have too much food. Yes I know. Your steak is almost as wide as you.

Smee is so Asian. He made sure there wasn't any wastage. Don't worry. He was stuffed.

Dessert. Just one for me. Smee was going to explode. Banoffee pyramid - banana mousse with caramel and a ginger biscuit base (£6.50). You can't lose with banoffee pie, although it was a bit weird to have it served as a pyramid. I'm not complaining but a home-style pie would've been preferred.

Again, Smee and I have eaten well into excess but that's just a demonstration of how much we enjoyed the food here. If you want steak, you have to mosey on down and give Goodman a shot.

Hawksmoor - Spitalfields

2011-10-26T23:46:00.000+01:00

Smee is part of a (self-created) Men's Only Steak Club which has allowed him to not only explore his caveman side but also sample some of the finest steaks around London town. The surprising-yet-not-so-surprising discovery is that we live within close proximity to a lot of excellent steak houses! One of these beefy temples is Hawksmoor near Spitalfields Market. Hawksmoor have three branches (so far) but Spitalfields is the original. More pointedly, they recently opened a new branch within the Square Mile - even closer to us! Due to some building maintenance, Smee and I weren't able to eat at their Square Mile branch so off we trotted to Spitalfields.

Smee ranked Hawksmoor quite highly on his beef scale and I can see why. Good quality, British steaks, cooked to perfection, yesiree. Flannel-shirted waiters walking around a rustic, oaky wooden pub - a pretty casual atmosphere.

To start we had the Grilled Bone Marrow with Slow Cooked Shallots and Toast (£6.00) and Macaroni Cheese (£4.50).

Bone marrow. You either love it or can't stand the thought of eating blood stem cells. I am of the former opinion. Yummy!!! The toast was a bit burnt but I we just ate around it. The macaroni cheese was actually a side dish and man, it was effing good. I love cheesy, creamy stuff so I'm prone to bias but it seems that everyone is singing praises for the mac 'n' cheese. I could definitely detect the presence of more than one cheese but not being a cheese connoisseur, I couldn't identify what they were. Parmesan on top - yes, cheddar somewhere in there too, a third or maybe even a fourth cheese? I'm not sure how accurate this recipe is but I might have to give it a shot and re-create it one day. On a side note, I've heard and read many things about Neil Perry's much lauded macaroni cheese. I've never eaten it but am keen to give it a Pooey taste test one day but with a $15 price tag compared to Hawksmoor's £4.50 (~$7.00), Neil Perry better impress us with some ass-whipping.

Our steak and other sides:

Chateaubriand (950g at £12.50 per 100g), creamed spinach (£4.00) and our sauces bearnaise and stilton (£2 each).

The purpose of tonight's visit was to eat Chateaubriand. I've never heard of the cut before but Smee had eaten it for the first time at Steak Club night and was left mighty impressed.... and yep, this steak was yummy! Mmmm... so tender, so flavourful. Yum! The creamed spinach is exactly what it is.

If you think we ordered too much food then you're correct. It was a struggle but we got to the finish line. If you like steak, you gotta let Hawksmoor cook one up for you. Don't forget to order the sides too!

Poor Monopoly Man

2011-10-26T21:16:00.000+01:00

The Occupy London protest has set up on the steps of St. Paul's and while it's now even more crowded in an ever-crowded bit of tourist/work/public space, it's good see the space is being used efficiently for displays like this:

A broke Monopoly man! Hehehe. Look there's even a silver boot.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

2011-10-23T22:00:00.000+01:00

I first heard of Heston Blumenthal was while watching cooking shows in London. In amongst the usual Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall offerings was this guy with an unusual name. Maybe it's not so unusual in certain parts of the world, but I'd certainly never come across either his first or surname before... well except for Moses (Charlton Heston).

After watching several of Heston's shows and seeing his slant on cooking, I was keen on eating at The Fat Duck. Then I found out it was in Bray not London. Aaah... too far. Me and Smee too lazy. So when I heard that Heston was opening his first London restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, I added it to my mental hitlist of places to chow down. Unfortunately, it's not a replica of The Fat Duck and did not offer degustation. Boo. The menu was more pared down but it was going to have Heston's touch nonetheless. The running theme at 'Dinner' is that the dishes are inspired by historical British fare and the menu lists the approximate date the dish's origin.

Smee and I manged to dine at Dinner tonight, months after the initial grand opening frenzy in February. Not to say it's lost it's popularity - you still need to plan ahead for a table! Reservations dates are released on the first day of each month for the following month i.e bookings for February can be made from 1st January. I waited on Australian soil for London time to tick over and - bam!! - made a booking online. You could try your luck getting a reservation on the day - the restaurant certainly wasn't full when we arrived at 6.45pm - but it's best to book ahead.

Dinner officially has no dress code and suggest that diners be 'comfortable'. Should I turn up in my pjs and slippers then? Maybe I should wear the Snuggie blanket? I'm pretty comfortable in that. It's a bit of a laff when you look around at the diners who can afford a £70-80 a head dinner. The restaurant is situated within the refurbished Mandarin Oriental hotel, opposite Harvey Nichols and steps away from Harrods. Stop fooling yourself - no diner is turning up in a pair of thongs.

Service was impeccable and maybe sometimes, excessively friendly tipping over to stupidly insincere. After Smee returned from the men's bathroom, he got a 'Welcome back, Sir.' Contrary to that, I did not receive such a greeting on my return from the ladies! *jealous face* Orrite enough babbling - onto the food!

Stepping into the restaurant, we're given a glass-fronted view into the kitchen.

Smee and I spotted the pineapple spit, slowly turning, roasting the pineapple to be served with the famous tipsy cake.

Our complimentary bread and butter. Nothing special here.

There were several dishes on our must-eat list. When I first watched the below video, I was fascinated by the meat fruit and was so :D :D :D to see it included on Dinner's menu. I love liver parfait, pate, foie gras and anything else similar. This dish was already a winner.

How cool is that!?!?!

Another must-eat dish was the Savoury Porridge (c.1660) with Snails, Girolles, Garlic and Fennel £14.50. Her's my Meat Fruit (c.1500) Mandarin, Chicken Liver Parfait and Grilled Bread £13.50

So happy to have my meat fruit!!! Look how real it looks! It's a real leaf from... a mandarin tree? Not edible, just there to enhance the illusion.

Cutting into the meat fruit. Yummy, yummy chicken liver parfait. Not enough! Give me more!

To get an idea of how much Smee enjoyed the Snail Porridge, Smee said if he wasn't in a public place, he would've picked up the plate and licked it. It was very tasty (so much umami goodness) and I think even the most snail-averse person would've been won over by this dish. The size was decent for a starter but like Oliver Twist, we wanted more! *smacks lips*

We opted to share the Wing Rib of Irish Angus (c.1830) which was served with Mushroom Ketchup, Red Wine Juice and Fries (£72.00). In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have done this. This was not strategic eating! We didn't sample as many dishes as possible! Oh well. I'll just have to come back :D

Giant rib of steak. Can't complain. Triple cooked chips. Chunky, crispy and fluffy on the on inside. Just how I like my chippies.

I should also mentioned that we rounded it out with a mixed leaf & tomato salad. That wasn't very exciting though.

Smee and his lovable rib.

We placed our order for desserts and while waiting for them, Smee couldn't help but bring out the tablet to play Angry Birds.

Dessert was a difficult choice. So many things I wanted to eat but not enough stomach space.

Smee chose the Lychee Frozen Ice (c.1590) with Rosehip Jam, Barberrie Granite and Red Currant (£9.00). I couldn't go past the Tipsy Cake (c.1810) with Spit Roast Pineapple (£10.00). I actually had to pre-order it with the starters and main because of the 30-40 minute preparation time.

I couldn't help but be a little ho-hum about the Lychee Frozen Ice. No doubt a lot of skill went into the dish but I've been eating Passionflower lychee ice cream for years and couldn't help being reminded of it. My tipsy cake was so freaking awesome though. Fluffy brioche baked on top of a warm vanilla custard. *gurgle, gurgle* The pineapple had a crispy, caramelised surface due to the slow spit roasting and went well with the cake. Smee was a bit disappointed with the tipsy cake (despite gobbling it down) because he thought we were meant to receive an ENTIRE pineapple! Smee, so silly.

All diners receive a little complimentary cup of tea after each meal. Or is it??

No, it's cup of Earl Grey ganache! Served with a caraway shortbread. Tea-flavoured ganache! A small serving but just enough to not overdo the richness. (On a side note - it wasn't either of our birthdays).

Well, there's not much else to say except I wanna come back dammit and eat more food. A few other dishes which tickled my fancy included the Roast Marrowbone (c.1720), Powdered Duck (c.1670) and Brown Bread Ice Cream (c.1830). Maybe one day, Smee and I will make that extra effort to try The Fat Duck and really gorge ourselves. But for now, I'll just work on my return to Dinner.

Asda Toffee Sundae

2011-10-10T10:12:00.000+01:00

I finally got around to visiting an Asda and followed up on the suggestion that I try their toffee sundae after raving about Waitrose's version.

First impressions - it's cheaper. I can't remember the exact price of either, but I remember thinking that Asda cost about 40p less. I mean, I will only make a significant saving if I eat about 100 but if that's what it takes to save £40, then I'll eat 100 sundaes! Hahaha.

Second impressions. Looks a lot damn like the Waitrose version. Even right down to the packaging and the order of which the layers are... laid.

It even has the dollop of whipped cream on top. Just like Waitrose. Then the toffee custard, toffee sponge cake bits, toffee mousse and cream mousse. Omfg, so yummy.

Here's Waitrose's version. I don't have any more photos dammit. Might have to eat some more and take photos next time.

Third impressions. Wow, this could definitely pass for Waitrose's version. If someone stuck a Waitrose sticker on it, I don't think I would have questioned it's origins. In fact while eating it, I thought 'Hang on, are these made in the same factory!??!' Asda's sundae pissed all over Sainsbury's version and I haven't tried Tesco's attempt so I can't comment there. Although from what I've seen in Tesco, I don't think their sundaes have the sponge cake.

Anyway, it's been a while since I've eaten the Waitrose sundae (difficult to find sometimes) so maybe my analysis is somewhat skewed. I think this comparison will be best done when I can place the sundaes side-by-side. Not sure when this will occur as the closest Asda to where I live is about a 20 minute bus ride into the ghetto. I shall add it onto my to-do list.

Funny Stuff

2011-10-09T21:39:00.000+01:00

Moo and I went costume shopping today for her slutty Halloween outfit and we saw this sign.

If found anywhere else but a costume shop, this would not be so funny.

Rock of Ages

2011-10-08T21:36:00.000+01:00

When I heard that Rock of Ages was opening in Melbourne I wanted to go. Understandably when I saw ticket prices, I decided to hold out until it opened in London. It was a bit unusual that it wasn't already showing in London but maybe they didn't have enough theatres available.

The background story is set in downtown LA in the 1980s, when The Bourbon Room, a bar on the Sunset Strip, is facing demolition from developers. Oh no! Two of the The Bourbon Room employees, one an out-of-towner girl chasing her LA dreams and the other a boy wishing to be a rockstar are clearly interested in each other until he inadvertently gives her the impression they're just friends. Oh and then the typical love compliations ensue. Listen, it's an effing shit storyline, much like Never Forget and merely a way to loosely tie the songs together. But, Rock of Ages is more than aware of that.

Moo and I got some £20 tickets and some nosebleed seats in the upper circle which weren't too bad actually. We had a decent view of the stage.

Our view of the stage. Note the bra hanging from the chandelier.

Some lucky theatre-goers were also given an LED cigarette lighter to hold up in the air during the ballads. I was envious and wanted one too!

During the intermission, someone left theirs at the souvenir counter. It's mine now! But then I refused to hold it up during the ballads. Hehehe.

Let me say this. If you do not like any sort of 80s glam rock/classic rock/power rock ballads, then DO NOT see this musical. You will HATE it. The music is played louder here than any other musical I've seen and it will feel like you're at a rock concert. So very appropriate for the cigarette lighters!

Just an idea of how loud it is.

The woman sitting next to Moo was clearly enjoying her time and got a bit rowdy, cheering and screaming at many points of the show. While watching Rock of Ages, I also couldn't help but think, 'Omg, I'm becoming a bogan! I have an inner bogan in me rearing it's head!' This show is a fun one if you can (even mildly) appreciate the music genre and it is most definitely one for the bogans. If you're already put off by the idea of hearing these songs, then save you cash and watch something else.

I might watch it again, but I mustn't forget my mullet wig next time. I should also mention that they're making a movie version of this musical...... with Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx?!?!

Eating With Moo

2011-10-08T15:42:00.000+01:00

Moo's in town and that just means a whole lotta eating has got to be done. On the way to afternoon tea with SEM and Leesh, Moo and J decided that they were hungry enough to contemplate pre-tea cake. Ok guys, you go for it.

After deciding that the Soho Hummingbird bakery wouldn't cut it, we walked in to the cafe next door and admired their cakes. That is where Moo and J settled on a passionfruit meringue.... which J didn't end up eating after all! It was brought to afternoon tea but we all ended up being too full of cake to eat anymore. Soho is where I also picked up some unusually flavoured chocolate from Paul A Young. Marmite or kalamansi chocolate anyone? Actually the marmite one was quite naice!

Onto afternoon tea. The venue chosen was Soho's Secret Tea Room.

It's a secret because... the sign outside is very small?

Actually it is kinda secretive because the room is located upstairs of a very typical, grotty, British pub. Once inside the pub, there is no obvious entry to the tearoom, instead you must notify the bar staff, who then telephone upstairs, confirm your booking and then allow you behind the bar, through the kitchen and up some narrow stairs.....

.....into this quaint little room. Lovely!

We all had afternoon tea with various teas and a selection of sandwiches and cakes.

Scones and more cakes.

SEM slathered up a scone for me with clotted cream and homemade blueberry jam. Yummy! But not as yum as Fortnum and Mason's clotted cream. In fact, well below par.

Overall, it was a pretty average afternoon tea experience. It wasn't outstanding but it wasn't bad and the bigger drawcard is the whole 'secret-business' of it all. I do have the say, that the sandwich bread seemed a bit stale? The cakes were all nice, especially the carrot cake. Scones were warm and scone-y. The cupcakes were nice but I think I was in sugar overload. Hmmm, I think for now, I will stick to having afternoon tea at F&M. Their clotted cream gives me nice dreams.

Mooey's In Town...

2011-10-07T23:09:00.000+01:00

.... and that means FOOD!!!!!

Yes that is a whole roast duck. Don't worry, Smee was there to help us out.

This Made Me Laugh

2011-10-06T22:48:00.000+01:00

Yes, this indeed made me laugh. I so want a dog! :D

Santa Maria del Sur

2011-10-02T23:00:00.000+01:00

All that rope climbing and zipwire flying left Smee and I hungry, so what better to feed our muscles than a good lump of protein? Smee had been wanting to try Argentine grill, Santa Maria del Sur for while but couldn't bear the thought of eating all that meat alone, so of course, I'm here to help.

To share we had the Parrillada Deluxe (£27.50 pp) which includes a 14oz prime Argentine Sirloin steak, a 10oz grilled Argentine Fillet steak, two Argentine style pork sausages, morcilla and provolone cheese. All served on a hot grill still being cooked by.. coals I think. If your meat isn't cooked to your liking, just chuck it back on the grill :D Don't let the cheese get burnt though.

The meat was super succulent and the grilled cheese, well who doesn't appreciate the ooziness of grilled cheese? Delish! Mmm mmm mmm!!!

Well we were definitely satisfied but I still had room for dessert.

I had the cheesecake de dulce de leche (£5, milk toffee cheesecake) while Smee had the flan casero con dulce de leche (£4.50 home made crème caramel with milk toffee).

Ok so the desserts were fairly so-so. Smee's creme caramel was better than my cheesecake though. I realise that I prefer my cheesecake more creamy than baked and dry.

Santa Maria del Sur is a bit out of the way for us to get to but for a local, it's definitely worth a try. Have a bottle of red though - that'll help wash out the artery clogging effects.

Go Ape

2011-10-02T22:48:00.000+01:00

After deciding that we weren't flying out of London for the weekend, Smee and I decided to take advantage of the weirdly excellent weather and get our chimp on at a Go Ape ropes/zipwire course. I first went two years ago and it was super super fun! If it was possible, I would do this every day! Smee couldn't make that occasion and had to run away on a jet place back to Oz. His fear of heights certainly caused an excessive reaction. But just recently, Smee had decided that Go Ape was 'easy'. I showed him clips - 'Easy' he said. I showed him the Tarzan rope - 'Easy' he said. I don't disagree at all, it is easy! But for Smee, I was a bit worried.

We initially wanted to do the Leeds Castle course but it was booked out for the day :( so we headed back to where I first did the course at Bedgebury. A word of warning when travelling to Bedgebury. Give yourself a buffer of about 30 minutes 'getting lost' time because the GPS will direct you to the wrong entrance of Go Ape! (Don't worry, the correct entrance is just a few hundred metres down the same road.) This is what happened to us and we ended up arriving 15 minutes late to our safety briefing and understandably annoyed many of our fellow climbers. We can also blame the extra slow service of the Park Gate Inn who took far too long to serve our food. Nice surroundings in the pub though.

With the harness and carabiners on the ready, we started on the first section which involved a short six metre rope walk and a zipwire with a maximum height of I dunno, two metres. Smee initially got off the zipwire and said 'I'm going home'. We didn't end up going home - he then decided he wanted to prove he was more manly than me!

The second course. So tough at the base of the rope ladder. Smee found the rope net quite comforting. Smee giving me the thumbs up from the ground.

Smee's nervousness eventually gave way but only after verbally abusing the ropes. 'This is bullshit', 'Wtf', 'I should be home playing computer games'. All lovely things to be heard by the very confident seven year old girl behind Smee and egging him on.

Smee goes across the wobbly planks.

Hmmm. They should probably think about replacing some of their ropes.

There are some videos of today's adventure but they are full of expletives. Anyway, we completed the course and had HEAPS of fun. I got a few bruises from bumping the ropes too hard and Smee ate too much tan bark from his bumpy landings but all in all, a good day out. More importantly, Smee is less scared of heights and wants to do the course again! :D

Hurrah!

Seriously peeps, get your butt down to a Go Ape course.

Buckingham Palace

2011-09-27T22:46:00.001+01:00

Whilst serving a self-induced banishment in Rad-City, I came across something that tickled my excitement - Kate Middleton's dress going on display! In the same way I was confused about how much I cared for the British monarchy, I was again a little confused about my excitement for Kate Middleton's dress. The whole concept of royalty is outdated and based on battles and plundering! But.. but... I couldn't shake off The Royal Wedding fever!

Having lived in London for three years, it was never my priority to tour inside Buckingham Palace. But now with the dress on display, hey, why not? I had initially try to book tickets online on the day of release but the server crashed and I was left a bit disappointed. Knowing that tickets are limited, I figured I missed my opportunity. However, the drive from Heathrow to London home, passes the palace and I thought, 'Hey, I'm gonna try to get tickets again!' Yay. Ticket purchase successful! Smee and I opted for the full works ticket which included access to the palace state rooms, Queen's gallery and mews. The importance of pre-booking tickets was shown when we turned up at the palace gates. So many other tourists were turned away as the daily quota for ticket sales had been reached.

First stop, the Queen's Gallery.

The Queen's stuff... for public adoration!

Appreciating the stuff.

Next stop, the State Rooms within the palace. No photography was allowed indoors - boo. But it's as grand as one would expect. Detailed decals, gold plated staircase, all that stuff. I had the audio tour but I've pretty much forgotten everything that was said. Kate's dress looked as it did on TV but even more impressive up close (or more like, as close as the general public were allowed). Her shoes looked unworn and more importantly - my size! Also on display were Kate's earrings, a replica of her bouquet and part of the original wedding cake. The tradition is that the newlyweds keep the top two layers of the cake aside t o serve at their first child's christening. Wedding cake can last that long?

The only photo I was allowed inside Buckingham Palace was actually outside the palace back entrance.

Next up, the Royal Mews. This shows how poor my English is - I had no idea what was a mews. In my defence, I've never come across a real mews in my life because living in Oz, they probably never built any! Anyway, it's where the horsies and their handlers reside.

The Glass Coach. Wow so much history! I'm so close, I can almost touch it! Believe it or not, there weren't any security personnel in close range either.

The Gold State Coach. Even older!! That wheel is massive.

A brown horsey. The youngest of them all. *pat pat* Smee got a lucky shot because when it was my turn to pose with the horsey, he turned around and showed it's bum.

This is a Royal Watcher's delight but for everyone else, it's just an optional touristy activity. For those interested in tickets, just be aware that the palace is only open over the Summer months. As I said before, try to book your tickets at least the night before and avoid the lottery of trying to purchase them on the same day.

Wahaca

2011-09-26T15:28:00.000+01:00

On the other side of the world, Smee and I decided to check out the new Westfield Shopping Centre in East London. Being a weekday and post-hype, we were fortunate enough to be not be squished among squillions of people. It was pretty much a replica of the West-End Westfield. *yawn*

After all that mall trawling, we needed to fill our stomachs. We'd always wanted to try Wahaca in Covent Garden (always full) so we were happy to see an outlet at Westfield Stratford. A table for two please!

Wahaca serves Mexican street food and I had kinda been skeptical of the concept. Mexican... for British tastes... hmmmm. Would it be much like Wagamama (yuck!) which desecrates much of Asian cuisine? Very possible. With the not-so-pleasant experience of the cuisine-similar Newmarket Hotel in mind, I wanted to see how Wahaca stacked up.

To start, Smee and I ordered:

Pork pibil soft tacos (£3.95 for three on a plate) and a Chipotle chicken quesadilla £3.85.

Then we also added:

MSC ceviche salad £7.95 (edible tortilla bowl!) and a British steak burrito £6.85 with Baja cheese (45p extra).

Smee showing me the portion size. Pretty generous!

Ok, I'm going to discuss the tacos first only because I can directly compare them to the Newmarket Hotel. Wahaca gave us three for £3.95 (AU$6.25, approx $2 each), whereas Newmarket served us two for AU$14-$16 (approx $7.50 each). Taste wise they were just as tasty. Wahaca's had a little less greenery but portion size was otherwise identical. Eating tacos at Wahaca made me even more angry about Newmarket Hotel. As a gross generalisation, food is better in Oz, but now Wahaca has made my world topsy-turvy. I can't believe that London food is better than home! The quesadilla chicken was nicely smokey and cheesy. The ceviche salad surprisingly massive and filling. The burrito was good too.

Wahaca can't really be called a chain yet - it only has five outlets - but for a mini-chain, Smee and I were pretty impressed. Whether Wahaca serves genuine Mexican fare, I can't really comment. A Mexican person might express the same attitude I have for Wagamama - blergh!!! All I can say that I'm happy to try more of the menu at Wahaca. Give it a shot if you're sick of the usual British fish and chips, sandwiches and curry.

Añada

2011-09-23T23:54:00.000+01:00

From the disappointment of today's earlier encounter at the Newmarket Hotel comes the absolute awesomeness that is Añada. Cheap Spanish food is an oxymoron anywhere outside of Spain but Añada's menu, specifically the tasting menu is a damn pretty good deal.

Spu, Tina, Glenda and I were adamant that we were living life to the full and decided that we wanted the $70 tasting menu. This came with not seven, not eight, not even ten tapas/raciones but the more hearty number of 12 tapas/raciones. Yes. Twelve. Ok so they were to present the 12 plates as a course of five but still... 12 plates people!

My new motto - A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. We enjoyed a bottle of tempranillo.

(L-R) Coffin Bay oysters with lemon. Celeriac soup with black salt. Joselito Jamon Iberico. All yum and nice way to start the dinner, although they could have been a bit more generous with the jamon.

(L-R) Rabbit empanadilla. Charcoal grilled quail with pomegranate and freekeh. Stuffed squid with sumac. Nice, nice, keep it coming! The quail reminded me of that served at Barrafina.

Up to this point, we were all still a bit hungry. However, we were about to reach the turning point.

(L-R) Otway Ranges pork belly with fennel seed& smoky aubergine. Gem lettuce & chervil cress with crispy garlic,barberries & 12 year old Andalusian whitebalsamic. Grilled prawns with soft egg.

Mmmmmm the pork belly was simply superb and the crackling just.. crackly. Not fatty either! The prawns and egg went surprisingly well together. By now, we were pretty stuffed but there was more to come.

(L-R) Savoy cabbage and caper berry salad with walnuts and sumac. Slow roasted beef cheeks in Oloroso with favabean puree. Mmmm yum but we couldn't appreciate it as much as we should have on our full stomachs.

We were pretty glad to realise that the dessert tasting plate would be our final dish.

(L-R) The "Dessert Tasting Plate". This was not a tasting plate. These were full sized! Churros with chocolate. Moscatel and pomegranate sorbet. Crema Catalana. Lemon & yoghurt sponge cake with pistachio crumb.

We really couldn't give the desserts the enjoyment they deserved but we did a pretty good job at polishing them off, leaving only the sponge unfinished. Great value though as these desserts are usually $12 each.

When comparing similarly-sized menus, Añada's 12 dishes for $70 comes out on top of my earlier visit to Wabi Sabi which offered eight dishes for $80 (and no bowel runs either!) The food was all tasty without any low points. Our waiter was awesome too and seemed to genuinely revel in our enjoyment of the meal. The restaurant itself is fairly small but it wasn't difficult for us to get a reservation within a week's notice. So, get to this place peeps and book a table. My suggestion? Starve yourself before committing to the 12 course tasting menu.

Newmarket Hotel

2011-09-23T16:24:00.000+01:00

When I first saw the Newmarket Hotel menu online, my mouth started to salivate. I told Spuey 'Let's hit this place' and he obliged. The parentals decided they also wanted a bit of food action and came along for the ride too.

The restaurant is a slick bit of space and in the Summer, the outdoor bar area would be an excellent place to sit and enjoy a jug or two of sangria. But we were here for the food and once seated within the Mad Men-esque decor, our hipster waiter arrived to take our order. It was suggested that we begin with a few shared starters (as I intended) and then go on to a few larger dishes to share.

Starters:

(L-R) Guacamole with native lime salsa fresca, taro, jicama & tortilla chips $12, Soft tacos with prawns, fragrant herbs and jicama slaw $16, Crispy chicken wing tacos, cucumber slaw and spicy peanut mole $14, Pork carnitas with soft tacos, baby gem, spicy pineapple salsa and hot adobe sauce $16.

Ok so not all of the pictures are there but I will say this. We ordered two rounds of three different taco plates. Each plate of 'tacos' had two tacos on it. That's right - TWO tacos on six plates - 12 tacos to be shared between four people. That equates to... hmmmm, each individual taco costing $7-8. You've got to be kidding me. When they brought the plate out, I had been expecting three, maybe four tacos on a plate given that it was priced at $14-16. But only two? C'mon people! That being said, they were tasty but not $7-8 worth of tasty and especially when each taco can be consumed in one and a half bites.

Larger dishes to share (they weren't actually that large at all):

(L-R) Wood roasted octopus salad with chorizo, pumpkin, lime & olives $18, Today’s fish seasonally garnished - can't recall what fish it was $30-something, Spring quinoa, lemon & broad beans $9

Tasty? Yes. Happy? No. All up, lunch was about $47 a head. For that amount of money, one should feel full from lunch. However, what stopped me from 'becoming full by ordering more' was knowing that it would end up be about $60+ a head in order to achieve so. Who pays $60+ a head for a 'casual' lunch which is not in a fine dining restaurant? That's dinner prices!

The parentals weren't complaining but I more or less felt that this was an extortion racket. I'm not the only one who thinks so, just read a few of the more negative reviews. I put a stop to Newmarket hustling us - no more food to be ordered! Our stomachs were settled but for $47 a head for lunch, I expect to be overstuffed. Service was pleasant but hipster-haters could easily be offended by the mere wannabe vibe of the whole joint.

So yeah, go if want, but I suggest going at dinner time when you may feel a bit more inclined to spend more. As we left the restaurant, Spu and I agreed 'Yeah, let's go get a pork roll.'

Durian Cupcake

2011-09-22T23:58:00.000+01:00

About a year ago, I bought cupcakes from The Cupcake Family. They were moist and lovely little things but the one thing I missed out on was the Durian flavoured cupcake. So whilst I was getting my greys dyed today, I messaged Spu with a request to buy me a one. He succeeded. He also got a blueberry cheesecake one too. Good boy Spu. *pat pat*

I tell you what. The cupcake sure smelled durian-y! Yum!

So yep, I ate it. I am on a food mission this week. It was durian-y but the cake base was a bit dry today. I might have to try it again another time.

D.O.C Carlton

2011-09-22T23:17:00.000+01:00

Who doesn't like pizza? What is wrong with you? You probably fall into the same group of people who don't like fried chicken either. Fried chicken is a unifying food and I believe it could be the key to world peace. Ok, I digress. Tonight's food hunt was at D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella Bar and non-imaginary guests included Spuey, Yetapee, Mischka, Kahoons and Constable.

With six guests in tow, I thought I'd do the smart thing and make a reservation. D.O.C told us we didn't need to book and 'just turn up' which we did.... and then we waited in a queue for a table. Nothing to whine about as we were seated within ten minutes but hey, I could have been seated ten minutes ago!

I'm not a fan of overly doughy Pizza Hut-style pizzas because I do appreciate the thin crust. Well here is a place where you can only get thin crust. *thumbs up* The other great thing about D.O.C is that it is BYO and a bottle of 2006 Langmeil Three Gardens washes down pretty well with pizza. (It had been left in the cupboard at home and was dying to be opened).

I made sure that I maintained the Asian stereotype by preventing everyone from eating in order to photograph their food. Here are the delights we enjoyed tonight:

D.O.C Antipasto platter. Such a good thing that Yetapee doesn't like cheese. I'll happily eat your share of the smoked mozzarella ball :D

Pizza Salsiccia - sausage with creamed broccoli and mozzarella. Pizza ... I don't know. Pepperoni I think.

Pizza Tiger Prawns - with endive and chilli. Pizza Speck - with mushies.

A few of us underestimated the power of the pizza and were surprised to be full at the end. Nevertheless that didn't stop three of us from ordering dessert.

Sweet pizza with belgian white chocolate, ice cream and strawberries. Sweet goats cheese tiramisu (YUM!). Mixed gelati.

Yep, this place is what it is. A decent pizza joint serving rustic pizzas. I'll be back for sure.

Wabi Sabi Garden

2011-09-19T23:08:00.000+01:00

Hunting for food is something I do when I'm back in town and am formally permitted to eat in a civilised setting with non-imaginary people. Today's non-imaginary person was Spuey and the setting of today's hunt was Wabi Sabi Garden in St Kilda. (Not to be confused with their Collingwood spot.)

I had assumed that Wabi Sabi would be located in the bustling part of St Kilda but no, instead it was on a residential street which otherwise had nothing else going for it. A bit of an odd place for a restaurant but hey this is Melbourne and odd places are the norm. The 'Best Japanese Restaurant in Victoria' award on their website simultaneously elevated my expectations and excitement levels. *rubs hands with glee* I've said it before and I'll say it again - Japanese food in Melbourne is only so-so and Sydney does it way better. I was hoping in anticipation I would find my Melbourne Japanese gem in Wabi Sabi.

Spuey admires the indoor iron tree.

I find a rope monkey hanging from the branches.

Because we were ready to go all out, Spuey and I had the Wabi Sabi Signature Share Plate Course. You have the option of either six ($60pp) or eight ($80 pp) dishes to share and of course, we chose eight.

(L-R) Hiramasa Kingfish Sashimi with ponzu lime dressing, garnished with mint and garlic chips. Oyster tempura with asparagus sauce. Lightly scorched ocean trout and scallop nigiri with lemon.

(L-R) Oyster mushroom and fish tempura. Duck breast with mustard sauce. Crumbed minced lamb balls infused with spices and red wine miso sauce.

(L-R) Delicately poached broadbill tuna in a tasty thin bodied Japanese stew. Wagyu meat balls with a dark miso demi-glace sauce.

So did I find my Japanese gem? The short answer is No. Overall, the food was quite average and nothing mind-blowing. Nothing was 'bad' but nothing was 'omg I have to return for this' either. It was all just 'good'. Basically Wabi Sabi didn't go beyond the usual expectation of a Japanese restaurant. At the price of $80pp, it is average in terms of value and both Spu and I were definitely full. The one thing Wabi Sabi did do well was offer dishes which are otherwise not seen on typical Japanese (but run by Chinese) menus. I'd say that is worthy enough to book yourself a dinner and test the waters.

I figure it might be me with the problem. I do have a slight issue with bias because eating Japanese at excellent places really does set the bar quite high. It was only a month ago that I was left super-impressed with the dishes I sampled at Tokkuri located in suburban Sydney (no blog though). I had left thinking 'Gee I wish this was my local Jap place.' Why can't more of these places exist in Melbourne? :( My thoughts about Japanese food in Melbourne have only been reinforced.

Oh the other thing I should add - both Spu and I had extreme bowel movements immediately after dinner - or in Spu's case, late during dinner. Whether this can be attributed to consuming excess amounts of food or other causes related to restaurant hygiene, shall remain a mystery.

Cupcake Central

2011-09-19T17:07:00.000+01:00

I do wonder when the cupcake trend will die. At the moment it's still going strong. (In larger cities anyway - I haven't seen a dedicated cupcake shop in the 1950s time capsule that is Rad-City).

I had every intention of eating cupcakes today and in the midst of searching for a rival cupcake store to add to my 'eaten' list, I stumbled across Cupcake Central. The back story was charming enough - an incidental, follow-your-dreams business borne out of a GFC job loss. I scoured the menu, ranked the flavours I wanted most and studied the baking schedule to ensure I came in on a day when Salted Caramel cupcakes would be available.

Cute slogan - Hatch that Dream!

Well I couldn't just buy one so I bought a box of ten.

(1st column) Chocolate Malted Milkshake, Cookies and Cream.
(2nd column) Vanilla Vanilla, Cherry Pistachio, Red Velvet.
(3rd column) Boysenberry Cheesecake, Citrus Lemon.
(4th column) Salted caramel... three of them.

So what did I think? They were nice and moist and a re-purchase is likely in the future. I was pretty happy with the cake to icing ratio and the mini size also prevents cupcake overload. I think I hyped up the salted caramel though. I had hoped that it would reignite memories of a Parisian macaron but of course, it didn't. It doesn't matter anyway. As long as they cupcakes stay consistent, I'll be back!

Alaskan Malamute x Golden Retriever

2011-09-16T19:43:00.000+01:00

I don't understand the high turnover of puppies at this particular pet store located within the Bogan-central shopping centre where I spend my days toiling for cash. There are only so many bogans in the world and only so many puppies that one can properly care for. The bogans can barely look their human selves, so how they cope with a dog completely baffles me. To observe this pet store turning over new puppies within 2-3 weeks makes me kinda angry. The cynic within rears it's head and I find it hard to believe that all these puppies are going to a good home and worst still, they probably never came from a good home to begin with.

Anyway, as much it makes me angry, I also can't stop cooing when I see puppies like these.

Awww, his/her little howl is so painful!!! I want to scoop it up and give it a cuddle.

Even still, who thought of cross breeding a Malamute with a Golden Retriever? It's a little unconventional and completely stinks of backyard breeding. I will admit the Retriever temperament would make a Malamute a more agreeable though and I also do love the Malamute fur colouring with the Retriever floppy ears. However, I will not succumb to buying one. I will not perpetuate this vicious cycle!!!! *shakes fist* Hopefully, this litter did not come from the same Retriever who gave us these puppies. That would make me very sad indeed.

Charlie & Co. Burgers (and other stuff I ate)

2011-09-11T14:29:00.022+01:00

I'm back in Sydney. Time to see friends. Time to eat. Lectures? Yeah, that too but that's too boring to blog.

First stop for Friday's dinner was Shan Cheng Hotpot King. I didn't take any photos but check out this guy's blog. His photos make the venue look much more open and cleaner than the reality. The seating arrangement (one word - crowded) was a fire escape hazard. The hotpot broths were very tasty and we opted for a half chilli/half non-chilli base to satisfy our various tolerance levels.

I've never been a hotpot fan as I don't really care much for cooking my own food in a restaurant or more specifically in this case, dipping frozen food into a boiling soup. That doesn't really require much skill. Everything tasted the way it should - yum quail eggs - but there weren't any culinary surprises. The next day wasn't good though. I woke up nauseous and with a sore stomach. TK didn't fare so well - she had the runs! Ok, I am so not coming back here.

Saturday night was dinner at The Passage for Dru-poo's birthday. Now this was a cosy-almost-hole-in-the-wall restaurant bar. Food - naice. We had the $45 sharing platter set menu which included a most impressive antipasto platter. Wine/cocktail list - naice. I arrived nursing my sore stomach from last night's venture anticipating that I might have to leave early but alas there's nothing a glass of red can't fix. It must have washed away all that hotpot bacteria! As the night wore on, we were treated to an awesome mix of RnB retro hits. Errr, by retro I mean about 8-10 years ago - uni days!! The group consensus can't be wrong. Check it out peeps!

Sunday lunch was with ##s and JB, the latter whom I haven't seen in 6 years! The relative tourists that we are, we decided to explore our lunch options at the new-ish fancy food court in Westfield Sydney. It really was about time that Sydney CBD got jazzed up with a decent shopping centre and the Westfield party surely didn't miss a beat. If you've been to any of the new Westfield foodcourts lately, you'll see they've raised the bar high above the fastfood, cheap laminex foodcourts of the 1980s.

After moseying around, I settled on Charlie & Co. Burgers. I'll have to return for the gourmet hot dog stand another time.

The Federation Burger - Seasoned Angus beef pattie with tomato relish, tomatoes, lettuce, aged cheddar, fried egg, bacon, sautéed onion and aioli. $14 take away to the food court or $16 eat in in Charlie & Co. cordoned off area.

Was it nice? It sure was. I was stuffed. Was it worth $14/$16? I dunno. Grill'd do the Mighty Melbourne (aka Almighty if bought outside of Victoria) burger for $12.50 and it's pretty much the same. I'll eat Charlie & Co. again but if Grill'd opens up shop nearby, I'll be heading there instead.

Whopper with Cheese

2011-08-29T13:16:00.131+01:00

I'm on my way to the Harbour City again and so that means doing time in an airport. I had cleaned out my fridge in anticipation of being away and hence didn't have any reasonable lunch options in my apartment. However, I did manage to eat a decent bowl of porridge for brunch. Clearly it wasn't decent enough because upon realising that my flight would only be serving a snack (ugh I'm so sick of those biscuits!) I decided that I should top-up my stomach at the airport.

Airports aren't renown cuisine destinations and while I did contemplate the healthier options, I really didn't want to be surprised with a substandard Asian meal again, so I settled on Hungry Jack's Whopper with Cheese. I would at least be confident of Hungry Jack's consistency in delivering their 'flame-grilled' burgers.

Yes, this is exactly what I expected.

My blogger stats report has informed me that I've had unusually high traffic to my blog since my McFeast post. That was not the intention but I'm glad to see the flurry of excitement generated by the return of a most loved burger. So I'd thought it be worthwhile to comment about the Whopper with Cheese as it is a most acceptable McFeast substitute.

It's been a while since I've had a Whopper, probably about a year. I take my public duties seriously and I'm glad to report to that the Whopper still tastes the same. It is a good burger outright but certainly doesn't appeal to me the same way to me as a McFeast. Despite not really liking the Macca's McOz, my default order at HJ's had always been the Aussie Whopper. Something about a microwaved 'fried' egg appealed to my senses. Maybe I should have stuck to that default order as it was only afterwards that I realised that my intake would have been lessened by 373 kilojoules.

I'm somewhat more of a McDonald's girl and I think it all comes to the patty. Macca's and HJ's meat patties have a distinctive taste and I tend to prefer the Macca's patty because weirdly, I think it tastes 'healthier'. I know that's a pretty stupid thing to say when comparing fast-food chains. I'm not sure if HJ's proudly claim that all their beef comes from Australian cows like how Macca's do but the HJ mysterious meat is by no means terrible. Their flame-grilled patties, do taste 'flamey' but in a microwaved-nuked way. The inclusion of mayo on a Whopper is another thing which differs it from the McFeast. I have no complaints about the mayo - it's just another condiment which gives the Whopper it's unique taste.

Anyway I gobbled up my Whopper with Cheese and am pretty satisfied that I won't feel the urge to eat another one in a long time. In fact, I kinda feel sick now.

McFeast

2011-08-17T12:26:00.000+01:00

My blog usually runs behind and most of the time my posts are backdated. As of today, it is up to date, relevant to all current affairs and political matters. This is great timing because I am pleased to announce *drum rolllllllllll* The McFeast is back on the menu! *clapclapclapclapclap*

I try not to make a habit of eating McDonalds, but you know, I do have my days of weakness. The McFeast was my favourite burger from Macca's and had been my default order since I was about 10 years old. I use the past tense because it was removed from the permanent menu a few years ago. I'm not saying everyone NEEDS to try this burger because when it comes down to it, a McFeast is just a Quarter Pounder with lettuce and tomato. I didn't even mind that they revamped it in the mid-late 1990s with a new name - McFeast Deluxe - and added a mayonnaise-y sauce.

I was distraught when I walked into McDonalds, in I dunno 2007 (??) and asked for the McFeast, only to be told it had been replaced by the McOz?!?! The McOz itself has since been discontinued. It was ok, but it didn't have a tomato and it wasn't a McFeast. I think that is what won me over - the tomato. I have since eaten the tomato-inclusive McAngus burgers, but it's not quite the same.

However, every so often, Macca's will put the McFeast temporarily back on the menu and today is that day. MCFEAST LOVERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! Enjoy it while it lasts.

Chef's Gallery

2011-07-27T22:21:00.087+01:00

Dr. R and I meet up in various cities around the world and tonight's city was Sydney. We were joined for dinner with our old college neighbour Dr. A who dragged along Dr. X, her fiance not the guy from X-Men.

After first contemplating Din Tai Fung, Dr. R said he'd eaten there just recently overseas and so I suggested Chef's Gallery. The Drs. were easygoing for anything but I had an ulterior motive - I wanted to eat the Piggy Buns. I first came across these when someone posted it on my FB feed.

The Piggy Buns! With a sweet, black sesame filling. One is a boy, one is a girl. So much effort. The eyes are black sesame seeds and are probably placed in position with tweezers.

So happy to finally eat these.

They were nice and exactly what it was - a sweet, steamed sesame bun. The rest of dinner was pretty average. The zhajiang mian was below average of any that I've eaten. Some of the dumplings were undercooked and the rice flour wrappers a bit hard. Maybe we didn't order the right stuff.

The restaurant has an open window into the kitchen where you can watch the chefs make handmade noodles and dumplings. All chefs wear a clear, plastic mouth guard to emphasise 'We are a clean Chinese restaurant and we will go to extremes to not spit and breathe on your food'. (See this review for pics.) A bit over the top and pretentious if you ask me. If this was really a huge issue in the restaurant industry then why doesn't everyone wear one? Maybe Chef's Gallery should concentrate on churning out better and consistent dishes, rather than being distracted about the 'clean' appearance of the staff. They might be wearing a mouth guard but did they wash their hands after using the toilet or cigarette break?!

I'll come back but only for the Piggy Buns.

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part XIII

2011-07-03T16:10:00.045+01:00

Two things I'd like to share with you today.

Twisties - Cheeseburger flavour. It has it's own FB fanpage.

I've kinda 'grown out' of eating Twisties. I used to love the chicken ones but when I ate them about two years ago, they were kinda yuck. I'll still cheese ones but that is a very rare occasion. I just happened to wander down the chip aisle at Woolworths (searching for Toobs incidentally, hai Female Lymbo!) and this caught my eye.

I love cheeseburgers and burgers in general. I couldn't say no to Cheeseburger Twisties. I was aware that this could turn out bad but I was pleasantly surprised that it REALLY TASTED LIKE A MACCA'S CHEESEBURGER. I was particularly impressed with the obvious 'pickle' flavour too. I have promised Smee to save him a packet. Anyway, it's a limited edition so get your mitts on it if you're keen and just in case you can't find it, I have only seen it in Woolies and not Coles.

The second thing I'd like to share.

Haigh's Dark Chocolate Speckles

I had a chocolate hankering but I decided that I didn't want 'bad' chocolate - you know, full of sugar and oil. I wanted the 'better' stuff and in a way, 'healthier' stuff. If I'm going to eat something bad, I might as well eat the better version of it (Twisties - I had no choice.) Anyway, these are ADDICTIVE!!!! I can't stop eating them. I also bought a packet of the milk chocolate speckles (I got a discount if I bought two packets) and it didn't have the same effect. They were too sweet. Go out and buy a packet peeps.

Shocolate

2011-06-27T20:18:00.001+01:00

I am still on a not-so-active-just-incidental search to find a macaron in Australia which can satiate my cravings for those found in Paris (or any place where I can get fresh Pierre Herme). Shocolate might have a good shot. They've won the award for Best Chocolate Macaron. Just around the corner from Naked for Satan, I stopped after our lunch and bought a few to test the waters.

A random selection.

I made sure I bought prize winning Black and White macaron.

Biting into the B&W chocolate and the salted caramel macarons.

What can I say? I think I am destined to be disappointed by any macaron not made by Pierre Herme. They've set the bar too high. The shell was almost soggy. What the hell. It was like they'd been kept in the fridge and absorbed moisture. The flavours were decent though but the texture kinda blergh. I might try it again in the future - maybe today wasn't a good day in the patisserie.

Naked for Satan

2011-06-27T19:19:00.256+01:00

Before even venturing to the Basque Country, I had wanted to try out Naked for Satan.

Before I had any idea what pintxos were, I'd heard that Naked for Satan had Spanish nibbles and I was keen to inspect this strange bar food they called 'pintxos'.

It's a very nice space inside and it oozes urban, Fitzroy coolness. You can read all about the history and how the bar got it's peculiar name on the website.

Yeah - I am a cool looking bar.

The food is set out on the counter much like in San Sebastian and Bilbao. The only difference here is that hygiene practices are observed and you gotta use tongs.

Like in the Basque region, the honour system is place (bring your toothpicks to the counter) and this brave, new concept is partly responsible for drawing in the crowds. The price of each pintxo, $2, is another reason. The third reason is the food, but I'll get back to that later.

During happy hour times (see the website for details), the pintxos are reduced to 80 cents each. 80 cents?!?! How long can you run this for? They do make it very clear on menus placed on tables that they are just a bar and not a restaurant and urge you to order a drink with your food as that is their main source of income. Fair enough I say and people should respect the owners and pay their dues.

Spu and I did what was asked and ordered drinks. What I really wanted was a kalimotxo but I couldn't see it on the menu. It's not a hard thing to make (coke and red wine) so I thought I'd ask if they do it. 'Do you serve kalimotxo?' The barman looked at me quizzically like as though I just made up an imaginary word. I was hoping that the barman (possible owner?) might have been to the Basque Country and may have known what I was referring to but alas he didn't. That's fine. When I told him what it was, I was hoping he'd offer to make it up for me, but he didn't. Oh well. Cranberry juice it is then.

Now onto the food. Spu and I grabbed a plate each and this is what we got:

Various pintxos, mostly on bread. Various spreads with toothpicks holding extra toppings on it. The baguettes were very... Vietnamese.

More breaded pintxos. Every so often a waitress would walk out and offer you a tray of hot pintxos and we had a few of those too. Nearly everything is on baguette slice. Ok, I understand how they can charge 80 cents.

Initially it seems to be much like what I ate in San Sebbie and Bilbao, however on closer inspection, many items resembled nothing of what I encountered in SS an Bilbao. That is not a bad thing. Taking a country's cuisine and making it your own - a la poison pork rolls - often surpasses the original. In this case, I don't feel that was the situation. I'm not saying the food was terrible, it just was a poor man's pintxos. Basically, they've tried to replicate the great pintxos bars in Spain and have come up sub-par.

My biggest criticism is the use of 'jamon'. You can't just slap a piece of cured ham to bread and call it 'jamon'. That is sacrilege. Most, if not all of that cured meat was definitely Italian prosciutto. It was just too salty to be jamon, lacked the jamon aroma that fills your mouth and more pointedly looked exactly like prosciutto I've bought from the supermarket! Hence, the flavour was all WRONG. I also had an arancini ball (what's that in Spanish) which was served cold. Err, shouldn't it be hot? On top of that, it was dry, tasteless and I had to spit it out.

I think people have been blinded by the 'wacky' concept and cheap food (and maybe too by the alcohol) that they overlook what they are eating. The food could stand to be a bit better and I'm not saying that just because I've eaten in the heart of Pintxos-land. It actually wasn't... that... great. Yes, Naked for Satan is technically a bar and you could argue that the pintxos are an added bonus but they certainly have no pulling power over me. Ok, fine, maybe I am being a food-snob. I know I sound overall a bit cynical about it, but I must applaud Naked for Satan for putting pintxos on the Melbourne map. I would go back for a drink but my only suggestion would be to add kalimotxo the menu!

Bistro Guillaume

2011-06-26T23:48:00.068+01:00

When Ma told us she was having dinner at the casino, Spu and I thought, 'We'll go eat at the casino too!'. We looked at the restaurants available, decided that Rockpool tickled our fancy and then got excited at eating the famous macaroni and cheese, which is no longer $10 but a hefty $15. Anyway our excitement was deflated when I rang up to reserve a table but was told nothing would be available until 9pm :( That's too late! Ma would have thrown all her money in the pokies machine by then! So we booked at the more reasonable hour of 7pm at Bistro Guillaume.

The restaurant is like a posh-er version of the bistros you see in Paris. By posh-er, I guess I just really mean cleaner because the building is less old. They had pretty light fittings though - like bubble skirts! It used to be a much snootier fit-out but I think this renovation ties in better with the food they're serving.

I have a fridge magnet which sums up most of my meals - 'A meal without wine is a like a day without sunshine.' I can't remember which red I ordered.

Spu and I pondered over the menu and decided on the following:

Charcuterie plate to share. Love my cured meats, pates and rillettes. Ok, I don't really like rillettes as much as the other two - too chunky.

Because of Rumi's slightly disappointing lamb yesterday, I had the Sunday plat du jour - roasted lamb shoulder with braised vegetables and lamb jus. Ratatouille to share. Spu had the steak frites with béarnaise sauce.

Happiness is eating your steak and frites, knowing that you're getting a free meal because Pooey is paying for dinner.

We were both pretty full from dinner, but I insisted on having a tarte tartin with cinnamon ice cream. It was partly because I saw someone make tarte tartin on TV today and realised I'd never eaten one before.

Happiness is eating a tarte tartin for the first time. Although this will probably be my last time as I don't think I can ever be truly impressed with a puff pastry-based tart.

Nothing bad to say. The food was just like how it is in Parisian bistros. The staff were all French-accented too which added more to the atmosphere. Go eat there if you miss Paris!

Rumi

2011-06-25T23:08:00.105+01:00

When I told Tina and Shazza I'd be back in town for dinner, we decided to book Abla's as it's been on both of our to-eat lists for a while. However, it will remain on our to-eat lists because Saturday dinners are booked until August! Wtf.

After deciding to stick to our Lebanese/Middle Eastern theme, we plus Spuey (who got excited cos he thought we got a reservation at Abla's) settled on Rumi which also has some outstanding reviews.

Arabic stencil separating us from the kitchen.

For those in the know, Rumi featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Melbourne episode. Matt Preston was his host for the city and by the looks of how much Matt was sweating, it was a sweltering day.

Fast forward to 6.31 to see Anthony's thoughts on Rumi.

We decided on the five course banquet at $45 a head. It's a seasonal menu and pretty cheap by most standards. The only thing that I really wanted to try were the succulent lamb ribs which Matt and Anthony raved, gnawed and licked their fingers over. I quote - "Hands down the best f**king thing I've eaten in Melbourne so far." That's a BIG statement.

A Rumi 'course' consists of usually more than one plate of food. So our entree consisted of some flat bread, dips, pickled vegies and sigara boregi – cheese filled pastry cigars. Our second course included Persian meat balls, spiced school prawns and braised greens.

Cabbage and mint salad, quail kebab with seasonal marinade (forgot what it was) and fried cauliflower. I had read much about how good the cauliflower was here. But in all honesty, it is what it is - fried cauliflower with sweet currants. Neither Spu, Tina or Shazza felt the dish deserved the accolades it was receiving. It's fried cauliflower FFS!

Freekeh salad, cos and herb salad. It appears that they no longer serve lamb ribs but instead have spiced lamb shoulder. It was dry roasted and served with a maltose syrup. I was getting pretty excited about this... but it was just... ok. Not bad, but nothing like the experience I was lead to believe I would have. Mr. Bourdain and Mr. Preston - do you really know your stuff?

Dessert course - Turkish delight, arak poached apricots and either sweet Lebanese coffee or peppermint tea. These were nice but how much can a Lebanese restaurant screw up Turkish delight?

Overall, we were all pretty ho-hum about Rumi. The food was good but not outstanding - none of us were 'enlightened' by the experience for sure. We all agreed that we're probably not going eat there again anytime soon. There's a good possibility that Rumi may be a victim of the TV exposure. I suppose the restaurant was run off it's feet when that TV episode first aired back in 2009 and standards have probably declined since.

A little bit disappointed and still wanting something else to eat, I made Spuey drive us to Box Hill because I wanted some Asian dessert and I knew Monga Dessert House would be open. I can see why people come here. It's great for late night snacks, drinks and chatting. However... I won't be coming back. Like many other reviews, the desserts themselves weren't that great!

Spuey had the mango sago and I had the peanut glutinous ball tong sui. The peanut balls were ok but the ginger soup was pretty bland. Same with the mango sago. Let me find a recipe! I reckon I could make a better version!

Anyway, don't matter, there will be plenty of times to eat more food.... like tomorrow!

Snuggie Love

2011-06-21T20:16:00.158+01:00

Ok so what I'm about to tell you makes my (very high) position on the Cool-o-meter hit rock bottom - I bought a Snuggie blanket. If you have been avoiding all types of media for the past few years and don't know what a Snuggie is then you should watch this very informative video.

Mine wasn't an original - oh the shame! - but one of many replicas available at any homegoods store. As much as the advertisement has been the butt of jokes and ridicule, I was sold. I needed this blanket dammit and had even asked Suboo to make me one. I've been caught in those exact situations where your hand was too cold to reach out for the remote! I didn't know what to do!! Should I reach out, let my hand turn cold but be able to change the channel?!? Or should I keep my hand inside, unable to switch to something less mundane?!?! Oh, the dilemma.

One of my workmates mentioned how she and her hubby would curl up on the couch with their Snuggie blankets and I was reminded that I had not yet joined the cult. So off I went to the blanket area at work and made my purchase.

$16.83 for a Snuggie which zips itself up into a cushion! Dual function! A pocket at the front for your remote! What an ingenious addition! It also had a 'foot pocket' so your feet wouldn't escape to the cold!

The love for this Snuggie did not last long. It smelled like petrochemicals and gave me a headache. I kept breathing in the fibres through my nose and I felt like a cat who kept getting furballs at the back of their throat. So I washed it. It still smelled and I was still getting furballs. So I washed it again and tumble dried it.... again and again. The smell stopped lingering after about four washes but the furball effect just never let up. My love turned to anger >:-( Do you understand my frustration? I wanted to love this blanket so much but all it was doing was twisting my pure, wholesome love into pure.......unadulterated...........hatred. I had thrown out the receipt so I couldn't return it either :-S

Not liking you at all, you Crappy Snuggie.

Anyway it reached a point where I could tolerate it no more. I had to do something about this terrible Snuggie and so I went on a Snuggie hunt. Lucky for me, I found my solace quite quickly at Target and more disturbingly so, I felt REALLY HAPPY to find my new Snuggie. It was like... alll this pent up, buried anger just disappeared. I can't believe the passion I felt. It really frightens me and I'm afraid I might be bordering on a psychotic disorder.

There a few things about the new Snuggie - Target called it a Cuddle Blanket - which made me so happy. The material was a billion times better - it was the typical polar fleece which although synthetic is very soft to touch and it was much thicker than Crappy Snuggie. I didn't breathe in any fumes or fibres either. Also, it had velcro attachments at the neck and at the back - your Snuggie need never fall off! It didn't a foot pocket but that didn't matter because it was loooooonnger than Crappy Snuggie. It didn't have a remote control pocket either but with all those other pros, this new Snuggie was the outright winner.

The other thing that gave me pure joy was the price - it was $15. Already $1.83 cheaper than Crappy Snuggie. But not just that, it was $15 and on special for $12.83!!!! With that in mind, I took two blankets to the counter with the intention of giving one away. To my absolute delight, each blanket scanned in at the register at $8.91!! PURE JOY!!! :D :D

I waddled back to my apartment with my two happy Snuggies in tow. Overjoyed by my bargain, I excitedly told Spu who seemed underwhelmed by it all. But I was eager to share the love and I was still pretty annoyed that I thrown $16.83 down the drain for Crappy Snuggie so the logical thing to do was to buy... two more!

So... er, that's exactly what I did the following day. Thus, 11 days after my initial Snuggie purchase, I am now the proud owner of four Snuggie blankets. I didn't have much of a selection in colours so I've got one red one and three evergreen ones. Don't worry, I'm not completely crazy, I just sharing the love - one is for Ma, one is for the Magic Couch/Me, one is for Moo for her Bavarian Winters and one is for Smee for when he is gaming at 5am.

Oh yes, I sure am happy now. This is just what I needed in life.

Spuey disrespecting the Snuggie and demonstrating improper use. Tsk, tsk. Put your arms in the sleeves please!

I hope someone out there understands what I was going through with my Snuggie frustration? Someone? Please?

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part XII

2011-06-13T20:43:00.001+01:00

As promised with yesterday's post, here are a selection of goodies I've been eating while alone.

Appenzeller cheese and a glass of Grant Burge Hillcot Merlot. Naice naice. I am so classy.

I really should avoid Breadtop but those displays of baked goods.. dammit.. are just so tempting! The worst part is one is opening up next door to my work soon! Now that's going to really test my strength.

I bought a custard bun and tried to even it out by having some anti-oxidant rich green tea. *looks side to side*

The custard was actually quite bland. At least I'll know not to buy this again!

Breadtop - you're not winning the war against me just yet!

Cheese and Chilli Kransky

2011-06-12T21:32:00.009+01:00

Ok, so it's back to the reality of work and eating alone once more. I know that they are bad for you, but I like sausages. I do try and avoid those really fake footy frankfurters with the unnaturally red skin but I guess what I'm eating here is not really much better - cheese and chilli kranksy!

Out of the fridge, onto an oven tray. Already unhealthy, I'm not going to fry it.

Oops, left it in the over for a bit too long and the skin cracked.

Mmmm... oozing cheese. Just how I like it. Notice that I am eating this with a salad.

Tomorrow marks the return of more 'What you eat when you're alone' posts! Yay!

San Sebastian - Day 2

2011-05-29T21:43:00.149+01:00

On the recommendation of the locals Smee spoke to last night, we hit up Bar Goiz Argi for some pintxos lunch. They said to try to signature grilled prawn pintxos.... your wish is my command!

One of the smallest pintxos bars we'd come across. Just a tiny door and no windows.

This appeared to be a family run joint with Mama Basque manning most of the main counter. She was such a cutie-Mama, constantly smiling and truly enjoyed her job. She showered us with an 'Arigato!!!' as we left. Hilarious.

Hmmm.. What shall we order?

We found our spot at the counter. Mama Basque getting dishes ready.

Smee and I went a little nuts. The same story goes, everything was tasty and cheap. Some jamon and prawn pintxos to whet the appetite. The signature grilled prawns with a salsa of sorts on it. Yes, it was very tasty indeed! Smee and I had two servings! Smee loves his padron peppers so Smee did his best point-and-thumbs-up to the fresh ones and they fried them up for us.

Grilled squid. So simple, yet so so delicious. Another plate thanks! There were some other peppers next to the padron peppers, so we got a plate of those as well. I decided I wanted a beef ball of sorts. It was nice but not as good as the other dishes.

Yup, eating I'm eating away! Smee loving his squid.

No meal is complete without a glass of kalimotxo. This is probably the only way someone can get me to drink Coke. I've never drunk Coke so often in my life!

After lunch, we took a walk down to Zurriola and La Concha beach. It's not high Summer but the weather was so nice and I even got an unwanted tan.

La Concha beach. Reminds me a bit of Bondi.. but not really.

Smee and I then went on a 'Titty Hunt'. They take their tanning seriously in this part of the world and there were plenty of bare breasts on display.

Smee on the beach, Smee on the beach! One of the worst boob jobs ever. Terrible!!!!

Before heading back to Bilbao airport, we wanted to return to La Cuchara to sample the other items we didn't get to eat last night but like most other pintxos bars, they were shut for the afternoon. Boo hoo. So we return to where it all started, Bar Txalupa. In hindsight, this was a comparatively mediocre bar.

Goats cheese and onion pintxo. More chicken wings for Smee. A little sausage for me. We didn't eat these but they had chicken nuggets on a skewer. C'mon, that's zero effort. Some more fried calamari.

One for the road :D

Me getting ready to ride myself back to Bilbao airport. As if.

Yep, it was a good idea for us to have our hotel right at the bus 'terminal'. It's not really a proper terminal but more where the buses park and drop off/collect passengers. The PESA ticket office is just down the main road (Av de Sancho 'El Sabio') and if you didn't do your research (like several tourists trying to board our bus) you need to buy your ticket from them and not the driver. Our driver was so nice though. He saw a 'China Chica' run to the ticketing office and did a few rounds while waiting for her to come back. Now, that's very thoughtful. He could have easily just driven off without her.

Anyway, I'm totally loving the Basque region of Spain - one of my fave areas in Europe so far! There's a nice village atmosphere and the people seem genuinely happy. Who wouldn't be with the sun shining down on them and the awesome, cheap food?! Not like grumpy, old London. There are so many more bars I'd like to have tried such as A Fuego Negro, Borda Berri and of course, the Michelin star restaurants including the famous Arzak. I definitely want to return to San Sebastian before it becomes inundated with more tourists. The fact that there are pretty much no direct flights to San Sebastian (most go via Madrid from London) has sheltered it from the hoards of Brits, me thinks. Smee please buy us a holiday home here - fanks.

For anyone planning their own eating adventure, remember that in Spain a lot shops are closed on Monday so take that into account in order to maximise your enjoyment. Otherwise, bubbai San Sebastian! Hopefully we'll meet again soon! :D

San Sebastian - Day 1

2011-05-28T22:42:00.271+01:00

San Sebastian, aka Donostia. The alternative name is due to the Basque language (Euskara) spoken in the region. It explains why when you're in the Basque region, instead of seeing the 'normal' Spanish language signs, you see signs with a lot of x, k, z and t. I have to admit, I'd never heard of San Sebastian until Spuey was recommended to go there on part of his Great Europe Trip. He said it was a really cool town and got into the groove of having siestas. Since then, it's been on my hit-list.

Anyway, San Sebastian is an awesome place y'all. Relaxed to the max with cheap (and more importantly decent) food galore. Smee and I were impressed with yesterday's food in Bilbao but in San Sebastian they take it to another level. This is a city which can proudly claim the title of having the most Michelin-starred restaurants per capita. Even 'crap' food is done well.

Our journey to San Sebbie today started with a bus ride from the Termibus depot in Bilbao. This is the most efficient way to travel between the two cities with services running about every 30-60 minutes depending on the time of day. Don't bother taking the train, it's not actually any faster. Some guy wrote up a useful PDF with all the details and you can check the Pesa timetable here.

Buy your tickets at the Pesa booths and don't believe any guides that say you can buy your ticket from driver. He'll refuse you!

We stayed at the Amara Plaza which was conveniently located right outside where our Pesa bus made it's final stop :D The location itself was a bit weird - giant roundabout and then bam! Let's stick hotel here. It was still quite convenient to the Old Town - a 20 minute walk or you could take several different bus routes in.

We arrived shortly after lunch and needed to hunt down food.

The Mercado de la Bretxa. Surprisingly modern and not rustic market-y at all. It really was a place for the locals to stock up goods and not full of eateries. More food exploration needed!

We delved further into the Parte Vieja (Old Town) and saw that it was littered with pintxos bars :D :D :D On the recommendation from friends, we were told that you didn't have to go to a Michelin star restaurant to eat well - you could eat very well for very reasonable prices at many of the pintxos bars.

First stop - Bar Txalupa. We just walked into the first one we saw.

So happy to eat. Chicken wings. Smee loved them! Escargot, basque-style. All up, I can't recall, about €12.

Next was Munto. Just two doors down I think.

They were actually shutting up shop for the siesta, so we just quickly scarfed down a jamon spread pintxo and a octopus one. Small but packed full of flavour.

One of the many alley ways in the Parte Vieja.

St Mary's church. A famous San Sebastian landmark.

Very close to the entrance of the St Mary's was Bar Porteletas. Unlike a lot of the other pintxos bars, it was open and Smee and I were still on food forage.

Blanched octopus with paprika skewers. Smee took advantage of the hot pintxos on offer and got some fried calamari. I hadn't taken advantage of the cheap foie gras while in Bilbao so here was my first chance. I ordered the "Foie a la Plancha con Compota de manzana y Bálsamo de Módena", although all I understood was 'foie-something-something for less than €3!!!'

I had expected some tightass sliver of foie gras but much to my surprise, I got two decent chunks!!! I had no idea what sauce they had topped it with but it was sooo, soooo delicious and complimented the foie gras perfectly. Googling the details afterwards, I found out that I had eaten 'grilled foie with apple compote and Modena balsamic'. Yum, yum, yum! After taking my first bite, I actually shook my head and said to Smee, 'Don't eat it, it's really bad' to which his face turned to shock horror. Tee hee, little did he know I was actually trying to keep it all to myself!

Next I thought, I wanna eat some cake.

A San Marcos cake. I thought I would like it - chantilly cream, chiffon cake and a custard topping. It ticks my boxes but it wasn't very nice. I was kinda stale. Maybe I just got a bad version of it.

Walking back to our hotel, we stopped by the New Town area and went to the San Martin 'market'. It's really just an underground supermarket. The main high street shops also line the pedestrianised roads in the area.

This is how the Basque folk buy their frozen veggies and seafood - self-serve scoops!

Can't go anywhere in Spain without bumping into a jamon shop.

After carting back some essentials (ie. Spanish snacks) back to the hotel, dinner time rolled around again :D The Spaniards eat quite late which suit Smee and I fine.

The was some big soccer match tonight of Barcelona vs. Man U (I think) and La Cepa was packed out. We wriggled through and managed to order some food though.

Yay, an English menu. Our hotel pintxos mussels. I think they were both mussels, I can't remember.

A jamon shaped beer tap. Serving jamon-flavoured beer maybe? I'd try that.

The pintxos bar which we really wanted to try was La Cuchara de San Telmo. I had read so many rave reviews, I wasn't gonna leave this town dammit until I ate here.

The spoon sign outside.

Ignore any reviews which tell you the address of this easily-missed bar is Calle 31 de Agosto 28. It is NOT on that street. It actually on Plaza Valle Lersundi, which is a tiny courtyard off Calle 31 de Agosto. Smee and I walked up and down Agosto about three times before finding it.

Smee thought this place was tops. The crowd inside the tiny bar says it all. Even this golden retriever wanted to place an order!

Our very stressed out bar/waiter making our kalimotxos. Stressed out but still very patient to help us non-Spanish/Basque speaking folk. I was impressed at how he managed to remember which order belonged where because there was only minimal order/note-taking made. It's organised enough to work and that's what matters.

The best thing about La Cuchara and what draws people to the bar is that all their pintxos are made to order. None of that sitting on the bench stuff. All tasty too!! La Cuchara is considered expensive in the pintxos bar stakes - you know, charging €3-€5 instead of €1.50-€3. *rolls eyes*

Hmmm... I don't understand you Mr. Blackboard Menu.

Oh, but I understand you, Mr. English Menu! Ignore these prices, they don't apply. The prices from the blackboard apply.

Smee and I had the veal cheek in Rioja wine, ribs of Iberico pork glazed with modena vinegar and honey and of course, foie gras with apple compote. Yum, yum, yum! We also asked for the slow roasted suckling pig but they had run out :(

These dishes, seriously, are fit for a fancy degustation menu and deserve to served at inflated prices, not the €3-5 per plate we were paying. The most expensive part of dinner were the kalimotxos! Even still, they were pretty reasonable at about €4-6 each.

In the madness of it all, Smee got chatting to some locals. The San Sebastian peeps sure are nice folk. Despite it being very crowded in the bar, there was no sense of push-shove-omg-I-better-get-to-the-front-or-else-they'll-run-out-of-food urgency. Everyone got their dishes eventually and people in the bar are very polite about it. Shouting orders at the bar waiter from behind people is normal custom too. A real jovial atmosphere.

Today's introduction to San Sebastian totally cements their status as an eating Mecca. If we had enough money, Smee and I would buy a holiday home here!

Bilbao

2011-05-27T23:42:00.161+01:00

For the Bank Holiday weekend, Smee and I went on an eating fest in Spain. What we specifically wanted to do was overdose on pinxtos. Now, don't you dare confuse pintxos with tapas or refer to pintxos as a type of tapas - I find that offensive! We originally only wanted to go to San Sebastian but it appeared that it is not well serviced from/to London. Weird! There were more options for Bilbao which is located just over an hour from San Seb so we decided to hit the two cities in one shot.

From Bilbao airport, the Bizkaibus A3247 takes you to the city centre in about 30 minutes for less than €2! There isn't very good signage when you exit the airport but head towards the right and there should be a small sign or at least a small crowd. After checking in to Hotel Ercilla (don't let the modern exterior fool you, the room are in dire need of renovation) we caught the metro to the Old Town.

The Kukuxumusu shop.

Mmmmm... jamon legs.

Plaza Nueva

The 'problem' with Spain is that it's just tooooo relaxed at times. They take their siesta seriously. People shut up shop and the streets become deserted. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a public holiday. Smee and I were hungry so we searched for 'anything open' and found Berton. Our first of many pintxos stops to come!

Pintxos on display. You are allowed to just pick them up and pop them into your mouth. If prefer a plate just ask for one. The custom goes that you walk into a bar, grab a pintxo or few, order a drink if you want and when you're done, tell the waiter how many you had and then pay for it. The honour system works! Please don't be a tightass tourist and rip off the owners. You'll ruin it for everyone! People don't tend to eat heaps of pintxos in any one bar, most of the time it's just two or three and then you bar hop.

Jamon tortilla, scallop (I think, can't remember) on bread, grilled prawns and jamon croquettes.

There's always the chance that the pintxos on display have been sitting there for hours. You just have to make a judgement call and take the risk. Most bars however also offer a hot, cooked to order pintxos selection and the menu is either written on a board or printed on a menu card.

What the hell!?!?! Foie a la plancha (grilled foie gras) for just €2.70!!!!! The Basque Country totally kicks ass.

Making our way to the main market, we saw some feet and hands in a hedge.

On the banks of the estuary, we saw some interesting machines. We realised they were for exercising! That's pretty cool.

Yup back in time for the market to re-open.

Little piglets with no eyes on display. Oh those poor little piglets. I feel sorry for you..... even though I know you are very tasty and have will have awesome crackling skin after you're roasted.

Outside the very famous Guggenheim Museum.

Yes, this building is certainly a masterpiece. A giant spider. Hey! This used to be in the Tate Modern turbine hall!

Smee and I got confused about the location of the entrance and ended up walking around the entire building. Disappointingly, it was about 30 minutes to closing time by the time we found it so we didn't go in.

I had a feeling the giant puppy was telling us 'Here is the entrance!!'

We found a supermarket in our local metro station and stocked up on some basics. It was very tempting to buy a jamon leg.

Dinner time rolled around and so what to do? Pintxos bar hop, of course!

First stop - Bar Jvantxv. Don't be put off by the scrunched up serviettes on the floor. It's the locals way of saying 'This place is good.' It felt weird to litter at first, but then Smee and I got into the groove and starting taking great joy throwing our used serviettes on the floor.

Jamon and some spread on bread. Baby eels (angulas) on top of some salmon and bread. Although it's not real eels anymore, it's surimi-based.

Next up, Bar Bvsterri.

Smee had seen some young locals in Bar Jvantxv ordering a red wine/coke mix over ice and asked them what it was. Luckily for him, they actually understood English and told him it was kalimotxo and so we ordered a glass each. It sounds like a weird mix but it works! It totally WORKS! I don't usually drink coke at all but I couldn't help myself but order myself one again at Bar Bvsterri.

Octopus with paprika. An egg and jamon bocadillo.

Our final stop - Bar Sotero. More bread-topped pintxos. Even the cheap house wine was great. It's bit more white bread than I would usually eat but we have plenty of time to correct for that with some a la carte items from the pintxos city of San Sebastian. :D

Shrek: The Musical

2011-05-26T23:37:00.070+01:00

I've watched the Shrek movie. I liked it but not to the extent of how much I loved the Toy Story series, but it's very good nonetheless. I was pretty excited though to hear the that Shrek musical would open for previews just before I left London. :D Who doesn't like seeing lots of people in costume?

Yep, there's a big, green S with ears. That's gotta be the theatre. The show had taken over the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where I had seen Oliver! last year. Wow, I didn't know that the theatre has been around since 1663.

I wasn't a lone theatregoer tonight as Leesh happily joined me and we had a quick dinner at nearby Cote before heading into our awesome stall seats.

Our view of the stage. Damn that is a good view.

Some of the memorabilia for sale. It was tempting to buy a gingerbread man.

For those who watch Britain's Got Talent, you will recognise Amanda Holden who plays Princess Fiona. I was initially, 'What?' but then I read she's been in musicals before. Duh, that makes a lot of sense why she'd be a judge on such a show.

The music is an entirely original score and a pretty good one at that. The costumes were so, so good and reminded me much of the Beauty and the Beast production. I also must give kudos to the person who decided that Lord Farquaad (he's so camp!) should be played by a grown man walking on his knees. That was hilarious enough in itself and more especially so when he'd occasionally elevate himself using his real legs. The speedy transformation of Fiona from princess to ogre was very impressive too. The characters from the movie were just exactly as they were but on stage - Pinocchio had his high pitch wail, Donkey sounded just like Eddie Murphy! The Dragon (a HUGE puppet) was just magnificent. Just watch some of the videos from the website, you'll see what I mean.

Go and see Shrek if you're in London. There's just so much to enjoy!

The Wizard of Oz

2011-05-25T19:36:00.053+01:00

The Wizard of Oz is one of those classic movies which is like The Sound of Music. I can watch it every time it's aired on TV and still find it entertaining. So when I saw that there was stage version playing in London (those tube advertisements work!), I promptly booked my ticket. It was also probably going to be my only opportunity to see the great Michael Crawford on stage as he had the title, yet relatively minor role of The Wizard.

Outside the Palladium theatre. Where I had also watched Sister Act and The Sound of Music.

I paid £40 for my upper circle ticket which is a bit on the expensive end considering the seat location but the show has only recently opened. It was a pretty crap seat too - the bottom left corner was obscured from my view! I asked the usher if I could move and I was give seat I19. It was a bit further back but at least I could see the entire stage.

My better view.

Anyway, what can I say? There's not much to criticise - it's the movie but on stage! Michael Crawford got a small applause when made his entrance and he gave us an acknowledging wave... that was nice. I was impressed with the real dog playing Toto. It was so well behaved, although it was pretty obvious it was just chasing doggy treats on stage. The actress who plays Dorothy won the role in a competition search. The wicked witch was scary, green and melted nicely into the stage. Pyrotechnics were used when pyrotechnics were needed.

Overall, a very watchable show and good for a family day out but don't expect much of a deviation from the movie.

Parc Asterix

2011-05-22T21:36:00.390+01:00

I've never read an Asterix comic. There were plenty opportunities, they were always around the house but I just never picked one up. Smee on the other hand read them all and would still happily re-read them to this day. Smee loves Asterix and especially likes Dogmatix. While chatting to Frenchie Cuz last night, he mentioned that he liked 'Idefix' to which I asked 'Who?'. 'Obelix's dog!' 'Oh, you mean Dogmatix?' Idefix is the French name for Dogmatix! How cool is that? Frenchie Cuz was so surprised but we both found it awesome that the English translation was such a good interpretation of the original French name and if anything, better than the original French pun.

I'm not sure how I discovered the existence of Parc Asterix but I think I might have been researching Paris Disneyland and this was offered as a more grown-up alternative. I was taken to the official website which back then only had a French verison and despite not understanding anything, I understood this place had ROLLERCOASTERS. Not crappy, kiddy rollercoasters, but destroy-your-back-adults-only rollercoasters.

I have been wanting to tick it off my bucket list ever since and I had been bugging/begging Moo over the weekend to allocate Sunday as Parc Asterix day. Smee, even though he is not a maniac for rides like me, has wanted to go to Parc Asterix for the sheer experience of being immersed in Gaul cartoon land. There was some genuine anger when I told him that I would be visiting Gaul land without him. Yeah, he was pretty upset with me. Don't worry Smee, I'll take you there! Today is just a practice run! Muwahaha.

Despite retiring quite late from last night's shenanigans, Moo and I heroically made the extra effort to wake up early to maximise our day. There are several ways to get to the park and we opted for public transit which all up took about 30-40 minutes. The park is about 35km out of central Paris, about the same distance as Paris Disneyland. We dropped off little baby Gnoudesavanes at Chatelet station and hopped on the RER B3 (blue line) to all the way to the second last stop, CDG Airport Terminal 1&3. We headed upstairs from the platforms to find the ticket booths marked 'Parcs de Loisirs'. Although not a very official looking booth, it was quite obvious and situated close to the bus terminal and toilets.

Here Moo and I bought the combined entrance (€40)/shuttle bus (€6.90) ticket which cost us €41, a saving of €5.90. Deal! I had no idea what the ticket booth guy was asking but luckily Moo kinda did. The shuttle buses depart every 30 minutes and we jumped on excited about today's adventure.

Oh yeah. Here we are. A giant Asterix on top of the mountain greets us.

Mooey with the map. Listen to the atmospheric music!

The park is divided roughly into sections of the different empires featured in Asterix. Here we go to Ancient Gaul. :D

The next I return to Parc Asterix I'm gonna try for a weekday. Yes, I am that definite about coming back. The queue into the actual park wasn't long but the wait for some rides were up to an hour. The first ride we went on was due to excitement and it had a short-looking queue - Epidemais Croisieres.

I made sure Moo fulfilled the 1.30m height requirement.

Moo with the Bavarian-looking Swiss. Me with some errr.. Asterix characters.

Moo and I realised this was a kiddie ride and we were pretty much the only adults without kids in the queue. We devised a plan to get on all the monster rollercoasters and titled it 'Get on the all the rides that Smee won't go on.'

Next up - La Trace du Hourra.

Moo not so happy about the 30 minute wait time from here. We already had been in the queue for 15 minutes!

During our wait there was plenty of time to inspect the track or more like, come to the realisation that 'Hey, wtf, I think this ride has NO TRACKS!!!' I verbalised this thought a few more times at various points during the wait because I simply could not believe it. Then I saw a part of the ride where, yep, it was confirmed, your cart is not attached to the track.

Mooey and I in position. Ok, so this was not the smartest time to whip out a camera but I had to get a memento! At least if things went wrong on the ride, there would be evidence that Moo and I went out with a bang.

I swear, they employed some darn good engineer and physicists to design this ride. Newton's Laws were certainly obeyed and I'm appreciative that the designers understood them better than I did. As Mooey pointed out, we were essentially in a giant bobsled for most of the time and I did yell 'THIS IS SO UNSAFE! THIS IS SO UNSAFE!' during the ride. However, I was also simultaneously laughing my head off and screaming. Man, if the queue wasn't so long, I'd jump right back on this ride.

Next was Periferix, a mini rollercoaster. Parents, if you want to train your kids to enjoy big rollercoasters, this would be a good starting point.

The queue was short-ish so we joined. Moo and I were both impressed to see attendants kicking off kids who were clearly too short off the ride. Why are some parents so dumb? There are signs everywhere informing you about the height restriction.

On our way to the next ride, a castle smiled down at Moo. She smiled back.

Next up, Goudurix, a corkscrew rollercoaster. Not one or two but SEVEN loops! YIPPEEEEEE!!!

The queue was short-ish, still about 30 minutes. This ride FREAKING ROCKED!!!!

We both felt a little dizzy after the ride but soldiered on and wobbled towards the Tonnerre de Zeus.

60 minutes from here. A good, old fashioned, rickety wooden rollercoaster. Doesn't really look safe. The wooden joints moved with the carts. There are so many joints, how does the maintenance guy keep up? Eeep.

Moo and Zeus.

Zeus wears floral undies!

We were unlucky enough to queue behind the French equivalent of English teenage chavs. Ugh. They constantly felt the need to spit on the ground for no reason. Anyway this ride... kinda hurt. The cart seats were not cushioned and banging our backs against the hard seats didn't do us any good. The sudden stop at the end threw everyone's neck out. But... it still was fun!!

Hungry by now, Moo and I wandered around the grounds and decided that we wanted to eat amusement park food. Hot dogs for lunch it is. I got annoyed at myself for spilling tomato sauce on my white dress :-S

Hehehe Obelix on a merry-go-round. Moo heads to the Gaul Village with her Asterix-themed doggy bag.

Now this was a bit tightass. I was hoping to see (several) Obelix and Asterix walking through the park grounds and get a photo with them. Instead they were behind a wooden fence and you had to pay for a professional photograph! Moo and I got our own unofficial ones anyway.

Awwww Dogmatix/Idefix's kennel.

We tried on Obelix's shoes. Big, they were.

Helping out with roasting the dinner.

Well at least there were some druids wandering around town. All hail me, the chief of the village!

We had smartly left the water rides to the end and with our tummies satisfied, queued up at Le Grand Splatch.

A 30-40 minute queue wasn't bad. Inside the cave leading to the water ride. This was a relaxing way to finish the day. The views from up top were nice. The water splash at the end wasn't too big. I'm not really a fan of water rides. Who wants all that dirty water on them?

I was a bit disappointed to not have gone on more rides, but we were both fairly tired from the whole weekend and the long-ish queues, well what can you do. We stopped to buy a few souvenirs - as if I was going to leave without buying something! - and hopped back onto the shuttle bus.

For those interested in going, just be aware Parc Asterix is not open year round. But for anyone who loves rides, get your ass down here - this place was SUPER-FUN! I can't wait to go again! I don't understand the few bad reviews about the park. Long queue times? C'mon what do you expect? Which major theme park have you been to where the queue is less than 15 minutes? Crowded? Don't go on a weekend or public holiday, you idiot.

Smee was the recipient of my purchases. Dogmatix t-shirt, a mini dogmatix and figurine magnets of Obelix and Asterix. Moo bought a giant Obelix which I kinda really wanted too but I had so much stuff to carry back to London, I just couldn't fit him.

Tired from all the weekend activity, we decided not to venture too far for dinner and settled in at a local brasserie.

Tuna tartare, escargot and the house special cheeseburger.

Aaaah Paris, you never disappoint. :D

Mooey's Birthday

2011-05-21T23:58:00.002+01:00

Moo's move to Munich has meant that her life is comparatively Asian deprived. All those things she took for granted in Oz are simply not available in good old Bavaria. Paris is a city with a large Asian community and Moo needed to take advantage of that and eat Viet food.

Each time I've attempted to eat at Le Bambou has been foiled by one reason or other. Today was the day when I'd be successful. It wasn't full for lunch - yay! - and we were seated immediately. It's a good thing that Moo and I recognise what dishes we wanted from the Viet menu, not needing the French or English translations.

So happy to eat food on sunny day in Paris.

Moo hasn't had spring rolls in aeons and wanted that for her main. Sugarcane prawns for entree.

What you traditionally do with the sugarcane after you've eaten the prawn mince - pretend to smoke it.

I ordered my regular - pho special beef. This bowl was massive. I ordered the large bowl thinking it would be the standard size in Oz, but this was like a bucket of pho. I can't complain - look at all that stuff!!!

This is a big, big, BIG call but I have to say.... this was the BEST BOWL OF PHO I've ever had and well, I've eaten a freaking heap of pho in my life. It had all the usual trimmings and they were very generous portions. However, I will point out a few things which may not appeal to other pho connoisseurs. Most bowls of pho have a fairly clear broth, this one was exceptionally dark. I would guess that the flavour achieved by the clear soups would be partly (or even mainly) due to the addition of MSG. The broth was quite sweet and this was probably achieved by adding extra rock sugar or hoi sin sauce. Not everyone would like that but I always add hoi sin to my pho bowl!! It was like getting a bowl with pre-added hoi sin.

The next thing on Moo's to-list-in-Paris-Chinatown list was 'buy a claypot'. Boring stuff but Moo just wanted to soak in the atmosphere of being in an Asian grocery. Aaaaah, feels like home. Afterwards, we did a spot of shopping at BHV which despite my numerous visits to Paris was unaware of it's existence.

Moo and I decided that we needed extra time to pretty ourselves up for dinner and returned to the apartment to make the necessary transformation. Dinner was in the Bastille area at Bofinger - no, not Bo-finger mate, it's Bo-fon-zhay *french accent* - a brasserie which has become something of a Parisian institution. We had super helpful waiters who were obliging with our crappy French but we also had the assistance of two native speakers on our table. I've read some bad reviews complaining about their service but we had nothing of the sort tonight.

Some of our food:

Foie gras. I learnt tonight that when eating with brioche, you do not spread it like butter (Oh non! So not French!) but rather you cut it and place it on the brioche. Moo's langoustine salad. My omega3 grilled salmon.

Well I can't leave a nice restaurant without dessert and I can't enough crème brûlée. I was even more impressed when they flambé-d it. I've never had it flambé-d before!

Afterwards we took advantage of our proximity to the Paris bar district and returned to where Moo and her friends got trashed more than half a decade ago.

My cocktail. Served with sugared, soured marshmallows. Not a nice addition.

It dawned on us that we weren't getting any younger and the best decision for the night was to catch one of the last Metros home rather than party on like little tikes. We needed to rest up for tomorrow's fun!

Paris - Musee D'Orsay and Montmartre

2011-05-20T21:34:00.124+01:00

Today was the final day for the Bro and the Dad in Paris. Moo was joining us later in the day so we had to fit in a few more activites. First stop - Musee D'Orsay.

We got there at the reasonable hour of 10.15am-ish. The queue was no longer than what Moo and I encountered back in 2007 where I recall being in line for about 20 minutes. Today we queued for nearly an hour. Wtf. I soon realised it was Inefficiency Day at Musee D'Orsay with only two screening devices available and security staff, I dunno, going on coffee breaks, sometimes leaving only one person working. It definitely wasn't the zoom-zoom I remembered. If there is a next time, I'll be pre-booking my tickets thanks.

After being agitated at having to queue for so long, I was confused to see 'No photography' signs in the gallery. Huh? Since when? Too many tourists spoil the gallery, I guess. Parts of the musee were undergoing renovation and so a lot the works I'd seen last time were on loan to other galleries. Boo.

Next on the list - Montmartre and a crepe break.

What an epic street name.

Hang on this cafe looks familiar...

It's the cafe where Amelie worked! Café des 2 Moulins is just metres from the Moulin Rouge at 15 Rue Lepic, on the corner of Rue Cauchois.

Next up the basilica. This was going to be my first time in the crypt (boring and not worth the extra fee) and the dome (exciting).

Me pointing at some random piece of architecture.. a towery, Eiffel-y structure.

By now Moo had choo-chooed into town. Leaving the Dad at the hotel to mind our stuff, we trotted off to St Germain for some Pierre Herme macarons and cakes.

Moo found Babar on the way.

So purdy especially with the gritty Gare de l'Est in the background.

Yummy!! I've forgotten what they were but Moo's was something along the lines of a giant raspberry macaron with lychee and rose petal ganache/cream. On further interwebz googling, I found that Mooey had the Ispahan. Mine was the Tarte Vanille Infiniment. Mousse-y, vanilla-y goodness. So smooth, so num but...cake overload!

Tonight was also the night for me to move into the apartment Moo booked. It had a most odd arrangement in the main bedroom.

A bath (not a bathroom) behind the bedhead. This makeshift 'bathroom' was tiled mirrors. Weird. A basin awkwardly placed in the opposite corner with errrr unicorn-shaped hot and cold taps. What were these people smoking when they decided this? What kind of weird shit used to go on in this room? Swingers, we finks.

Tomorrow more fun in Paris, my new home :D

Paris - Les Catacombes

2011-05-19T22:29:00.194+01:00

Today, we ventured on different paths - the Bro to the Lourve, the Dad to see some more long lost friends. Me? I was heading to Les Catacombes!

I've wanted to visit an ossuary for some time now. I don't think I have a morbid fascination with bones but I'm just not freaked out by them. Seeing a neatly stacked display wouldn't make me lose sleep. Not that I'm trying to be insensitive to the remains of those who may have died under violent and political circumstances e.g the displays of The Killing Fields. Of course that is very sad.

The Paris Catacombs are not associated with any such aforementioned activity. Rather, they contain the bones of those who were unable to afford a proper burial and back in Medieval times that pretty much was everyone except for the obscenely wealthy. No less deserving of respect but that's how things were done back then. Mass graves were the norm for centuries but as you can imagine, sanitation wasn't up to scratch and decomposing bodies weren't exactly the best addition to the water collected from a well. Destroying the bones wasn't an option so the government in the 1700s decided to relocate the remains of six million or so people to the outskirts of Paris. The city has since grown and this is now in arr 14, right outside Denfert-Rochereau station.

The official website doesn't exactly allude to the fact that the entrance took the form of a not very official looking, non-descript green shed. Finding the catacombs isn't hard but the entrance can be easily missed if you're not observant.

My task was made easier when I saw people queuing outside the all important shed.

Entrance to the catacombs is staggered to only allow 200 ppl at a time. The temperature is a cool 14 degrees so it's the place to go to get some respite from warm summer days. I smartly brought my jacket.

After queuing for about 20 minutes (short by Parisian standards) I paid my €8 entrance fee and made my way down the stairs.

Down we go. No toilets from here on in.

The catacombs consist of many kilometres of tunnels but only 2km is open to the public. It's a one way walk so there's no chance of getting lost/trapped unless you purposely try and find an alternative track.

No alternative track here.

After descending the stairs, you still need to walk through a long tunnel before reaching the ossuary. I was on my own for the most part of this section - other tourists came in packs. It's a bit slippery with water dripping from who knows where, so wear good grippy shoes.

Just me and my footsteps.

Not the most exciting job but good on him!

No flash photography is allowed and the dSLR folk were out in full force. Another lone tourist took this photo of me. I thinking too hard about whether to smile, remain stoic or put on a sad face.

So my face ended up like this.

I realised that I had accidentally touched a skull while positioning myself. :-S

I had skipped the offer of an audio tour at the entrance on the assumption there would be lots of information plaques to read. Alas there were only a few and after a while (it sounds a bit insensitive to say this) I kinda got bored. I thought there would be displays of bone chandeliers and errrr artistic arrangments. But no, for the most part, femurs and tibias were stacked in a neat, concise and space efficient manner.

Very neat piles.

A skull stick man.

Make a wish!

The bell tower. The bell shaped forms as the quarry ceiling collapses around weakened areas. It has since been reinforced.

The catacombs exit opens on to a back street with no clear instructions how to get back to the station. That is what maps are for. I wouldn't put the catacombs on the must-see list. It's definitely not for everyone but for those who do go, read up about the history and take an audio tour for a better appreciation.

The Dad, the Bro and I all reconvene back the hotel set off to visit one of our fake-relatives. He had the the biggest puddy-tat with the biggest eyes I've ever seen.

Meow, meow.

Dinner was where else but downtown Chinatown! True to my declaration. I wasn't getting sick of it either.

Bun Bo Hue.

Durian thickshake!

Tomorrow... more Parisian fun in the sun :D

Paris - Write Off

2011-05-18T20:27:00.000+01:00

Well it seems that Monday's gastro-induced lethargy was still in my system and yesterday's action had been just a bit too much for me. Despite waking at the reasonable time of 8am, I returned back to bed thinking that I'll snooze for another hour but ended up waking at 1pm. I was startled when I saw the time on my phone and even more startled to see the Dad and the Bro had left me alone! Well the Bro had plans to go out to Versailles for the day (I don't need to go there again) and the Dad... well he left me with no note and no indication of where he was venturing off! I later found out he made his way to La Defense and to find a long lost old friend.

By the time I was up and ready, it was mid afternoon. So I wandered up the nearby Rue de Montorgueil and marveled at the chicken rotisserie. Smells...so... chickeny..... mmmmmm.

I also bought a baguette, camembert cheese and slice of pate too. Num nums. Then I shuffled down Rue de Saint Honore for some minor shopping. I didn't end up buying anything and I was unsuccessful in fufilling shopping request for a friend. (In case you're wondering, I had to find a Longchamp bag of a certain colour. It's seasonal!)

By the time I was done, the Dad and the Bro were back in town. True to yesterday's declaration, we returned to Chinatown to have another Asian meal. It was pretty average.

Europeans and their small mussels.

Not the best roast duck I've ever had.

The Dad thought the place was ok but I thought it was so-so at best and stated that I wouldn't eat at this particular restaurant again. Pooey, the food critic. Yes I am. Tomorrow - won't be a write off!

Paris - To The Max

2011-05-17T21:39:00.002+01:00

Today was all about fitting in as many sights as possible. It was a bit of a re-hash for me but hey, there are worse things that I could be doing. It was the Bro's first time in town and the Dad's second (or maybe third) but the Dad had always done it from a tourbus and he noted that he never went up the Eiffel Tower. Task One for the day - get the Dad to the summit.

So happy. He's going to be at the top soon!

Waiting in line.

This was the queue at about 10am. We should have prebooked dammit.

Evidence of going up to the summit!

After enjoying the views, we paused for a crepe break and then headed off to St. Michel for the Sandeman's Walking Tour. Task Two for the day - get an appreciation of the history of Paris. It was the same tour I did last time but with a Dutch fellow instead.

Oh is that how you translate 'The Hangover 2' into French? I'm sure it's said with a lovely French accent.

Must force the Dad into ridiculous force perspective poses.

We paused for a ice cream and drink break on the Champs Elysees. Task Three for the day - go up the Arc de Triomphe. Why not? Let's enjoy the other view.

Enjoying the other view very much.

Appreciating the model.

On deciding what to have for dinner, I declared 'I'm happy to eat Viet food every night!' and so off we trotted to arr 13. We had a wander around town and settled on a restaurant which had newly opened. The Asian-ish bouquet of congratulatory flowers gave it away.

My bowl of pho. It was ok. Not the best, most definitely not the worst, just run of the mill.

I guess this post is kinda short and doesn't give the impression of a action-packed day but it's all been done before, the only difference this time is that I had grown two men in tow.

Paris - Fifth Time and Counting

2011-05-16T22:18:00.071+01:00

Last night after Hever Castle, Smee, me, the Cuz, the Bro and the Dad all had dinner at Zizzi's at One New Change. We were all pretty happy with the food and nothing seemed awry with my fettucine carbonara but it was a different story at 2am when I had the telltale signs of food poisoning induced gastroenteritis. This happens to me frequently. I have a super sensitive stomach.

Anyway, I recovered to the point of being mobile enough to take the Eurostar to Paris. Yay! Trip #5 to Paris was not ruined. My belief that it never rains in Paris was reaffirmed with the sunny weather which greeted our arrival. Day One of Paris with the Bro and the Dad was merely just an evening. Not really having enough time to do anything touristy, we had dinner at one of the cafe in Les Halles.

I haven't had a bad cuisine experience in Paris yet, but hey, there's a first time for everything. While picking through my nothing-special salad I found half a cockroach. Nice. Half a cockroach. It was obviously cut cleanly in half with a very sharp knife. It would've made a nice crunch under the blade. I wish I took a photo but I think I was too traumatised. I can't remember the cafe name, but I will know it when I see it next time!

After I pointed out this dent-in-my-dinner, I was offered a free creme brulee. I really didn't want it but because none of us could speak decent French and the waiter wouldn't take my fervent head shaking and 'No, no, no' for an answer, he brought it out anyway. There weren't any cockroaches in the creme brulee and I ate it with an weary and unhappy face.

At least I didn't get any more food poisoning. Onwards and upwards from here!

Hever Castle

2011-05-15T21:31:00.071+01:00

On one of Smee's Day Out adventures, he visited Hever Castle and ever since has been telling me how picturesque it was and that we should return for a picnic. It is the birthplace and childhood home of Anne Boleyn and until the last century was left in a state of disrepair. It then came into the ownership of a very rich man - William Waldorf Astor (of the Waldorf hotel fame) - who subsequently gave it the fixer-upper it needed.

All I needed here was my medieval dress and Smee his chain mail.

Today was a bit colder than anticipated so we packed a few extra blankets and pretended to be homeless while eating our lunch. The gardens were lovely much like Leeds Castle and for some reason the lake area reminded me of Versailles... although in retrospect there is barely any resemblance. I wasn't being very Asian today and not many photos were taken! Many ducks and other birds were out and about and socialised very well with some well behaved pet dogs.

A few ducks did try to attack our lunch but we shooed them away.

It wasn't the time of the year for the falconry and jousting shows (boo!) but the castle itself was open for viewing. We did see the room where Henry VIII supposedly stayed but I am not sure if any rumpy-pumpy occurred. Also on display were letters sent between His Royal Highness and Anne. Written in 'ye olde English', they didn't really appear to be romantic to me but it was probably dripping with desire in those days.

Yup if you're interested in history and want a English countryside day out, Hever Castle is an option!

Jamie's Italian

2011-05-10T17:15:00.098+01:00

My friend DDQ was in town for a London job gig and we decided to catch up for lunch. We met at London Westfield nearby his accommodation because he was technically 'working from home'. With several dining venues on offer we chose Jamie's Italian, another one of Jamie Oliver's offerings. For someone who only ate at her first Jamie Oliver restaurant three ago, I sure was getting my fill.

The restaurant was pretty empty but hey, it's was a Tuesday lunch in a suburban shopping centre.

We started on the crispy polenta chips with rosemary salt and parmesan which came out unbelievably hot. Very tasty though. Who'd have thought it? Then DDQ chose an artisan meat board. I can't remember which meat was chosen but we were both shocked at how small the 'board' was and how few 'meat' pieces on it. It was tiny, about 10x10cm.

Then came our mains.

I had the truffle linguine (I think it was a special that day because I can't find it on the menu) while DDQ had the risotto Milanese (creamy saffron and parmesan risotto with herby roasted bone marrow and lemon & parsley gremolata).

I didn't expect my linguine to look so plain and devoid of truffle. Both DDQ and my face morphed into subtle surprise. I thought I would get large shavings, not tiny little specks! Nevertheless, a little truffle goes a long way and it was a tasty dish but... you know, it still could stand to have some more obvious truffle-ling! DDQ's risotto was nice and he did the Viet thing and sucked out all that marrow. The lemon flavour was surprisingly dominant.

Overall, it was a pleasant meal but a bit skimp on the portion size. The food was clearly well executed but there was a lingering feeling of disappointment. Probably because I was expecting too much from what is essentially a rustic, Italian meal? Anyway, it won't stop me eating there again.

Boyce Avenue Concert

2011-05-09T23:54:00.119+01:00

I first stumbled across Boyce Avenue while writing my Thriller Live review. I was trying to find some performances by the Token White Guy and saw him sing an acoustic version of Leona Lewis' 'Bleeding Love', which made me then type 'bleeding love acoustic' in the youtube search bar. Just an example of how surfing on the internet can lead to discoveries.

Anyway, I came across Boyce Avenue's version:

This is already an awesome song and an acoustic version was just as nice to listen to. I watched a few more Boyce Avenue clips and thought, 'Hey you guys are waaaay better than a lot of commercial acts out there.' They flew off my radar for a while until someone posted this on my FB feed:

Waaah! So good woar!!

So I went back to watching more clips which had become slightly more sophisticated and saw that they had accrued a pretty big fanbase. It wasn't hard to see why - they have a pretty good knack at turning bad songs to good and good songs to even better! So when I found out they would be performing in Munich, I told Mooey and we made a mental note to go. However, we underestimated their popularity and tickets were sold out by the time we were ready to purchase them :( Boo hoo.

I saw that there were tickets still available for their London performance and decided to ask if any Londoners wanted to join me. The good news was that they were already going! Yaaaaaay!

Our view of the stage.

The venue was Koko in Camden which has housed many famous acts usually in their up and coming days. I had hoped that they would perform a lot of the covers I'd seen on youtube but they mainly performed original material which were okay. Maybe they just weren't to my musical tastes but honestly, I couldn't picture any of the original songs becoming huge international hits. Maybe they need a little hand in the songwriting department.

The covers which they did performed were tailored for the British crowd who got pretty excited at Take That's 'Back for Good' and Oasis' 'Wonderwall'. Yay! Will Boyce Avenue be a huge band one day? Who knows but they sure do have the potential.

Borough Market Again

2011-05-07T15:17:00.051+01:00

I like cheese. Both literally and figuratively. Today I had the literal stuff in the form of raclette..... warm, melted raclette cheese. Smee and I are quite lucky to have Borough as our 'local market'. I use that term in the loosest sense, as it is overrun with tourists and true essence of a locals' market is not quite there. Smee and I don't really buy a lot of produce here but instead treat it like our personal snack/lunch factory.

I'd always seen the Kappacasein stall at Borough but always bypassed it. I think it was a case I was already stuffing my face before I reached the stall. Anyway today was the day for melted cheese. Whilst in the queue we were told that this was the last weekend for them - boo hoo! They were moving to the nearby (but not that near) Bermondsey Market. Damn.

The cheese wheel halves being melted by a machine that serves no other purpose.

Grilled, melted raclette cheese, scraped from the cheese wheel and served on top of potatoes, gherkins and pickled mini onions.

Smee showing us how sticky it is. Do I really have to state the obvious? It was yum yum!

Unfortunately it was not enough and I had to get a mackerel bap. A whole mackerel. Sometimes you get two!

Mmmm yummy fried fish.

Neuschwanstein Castle

2011-05-02T20:15:00.298+01:00

I have wanted to see Neuschwanstein Castle for a very long time. I can't remember when I first came across images of the solitary, mystical, hilltop castle located in the middle of the Forest of Nowhere. (Ok, so it's in Bavarian Germany but to my child-brain, it might as well have been in a fictional place). Just do a quick Google image search and check out the impressive photos! Neuschwanstein Castle is truly was the stuff of fairytales. Walt Disney thought so too - it is the architectural inspiration for the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty castle.

Back to the actual castle. Who would build such a magnificent structure in such a location? A mad man, that's who. Good old King Ludwig II. I think I must have a pretty good gaydar because before I had even read this wiki entry about the dear man, I had a hunch that he was in the closet. Written down in history as an eccentric? Building a fantasy castle devoted to Richard Wagner's operas? Not interested in running in the country? Likes pretty things? Loves the arts? The Swan King? He wasn't a Mad King at all - he was just a (flaming) Queen! Anyone with a half decent gaydar would have picked that up.

Ludwig. C'mon look at his portrait. He's a queen!

My original plans to see the castle were stalled last year by the 200 year anniversary of Oktoberfest. Having the Dad and the Bro in town this time, it was all the more reason to do some touristy stuff. Little did I know, the Dad had already been to Neuschwanstein! Gee, thanks for telling me Dad. Now I feel like I'm just dragging you along! Anyway, he was happy to go again because his previous visit was on a tour bus and didn't involve entry into the castle.

Neuschwanstein is located about two hours out of central Munich and if you want to explore the nearby Hohenschwangau Castle, it's best to allow the entire day. There are no direct trains to Neuschwanstein. Instead one must take a train from Munich Hauptbahnhof to Füssen and then catch a dedicated bus (they coincide with the train arrivals) which takes you the teeny-tiny village of Hohenschwangau at the base of the castles. My personal travel trip - if you don't know where you're going, just follow the other Asians. (They have probably done more research than you.) This tip only works if you're not in Asia.

We purchased our train tickets and printed off a timetable from a DB Bahn vending machine. What an awesome ticket machine. You can print off a timetable for any journey! The train we were boarding involved a transfer a 10 minute transfer at Buchloe but it was pretty seamless and we didn't even have to change platforms. Another tip - if you can't find Füssen in the list, type 'Fuessen' because 'ue' is the same as 'ü' :D. With three grown adults along for today's ride, I made sure that we purchased a Bayern (Bavaria) Ticket. It's a bargain at just €29 for unlimited travel for up to five adults! We could have taken strangers with us! Anyway this site and the official site have good advice about how to get there.

We were treated to some nice views along the train ride. Everything in countryside Bavaria looks like a fairytale.

Once we reached Füssen, it was a bit of a dog fight to get on to one of the buses. One of the private tour buses took pity on the crowd and picked a few of us up for the 15 minute drive. The Bayern ticket covers this cost too!

A restaurant at the base of the castles. A fairytale restaurant.

Must go buy entrance ticket first before heading up the castle. Yeah, in hindsight, we should have booked it online but the queue wasn't too long today.

Here's the yellow Hohenschwangau Castle on the way up to Neuschwanstein. We debated whether to walk, ride a horse carriage or take a bus up the relatively steep hill. We opted for the €2 bus ride.

The bus stopped at Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge) which offers a most superb view of the castle. Not for the acrophobics whose fear would have been exacerbated by the rickety, wooden bridge.

Must photograph signs with the intention to read them later.

Welcome to my castle.

Get out of the way, you damn tourist. Enjoying the castle in all it's spectacular-ness.

Now, off to the castle! Follow the sign to Disneyland!

Must be like other tourists and pause for another photo.

Here's my yellow castle again, located in the valley.

The view of turrets from down below.

Our tickets were timed and we had wait at the gate for our tour number to be called. Now I'm in the courtyard waiting to go inside the castle!

No photography is allowed indoors but honestly, there wasn't a lot of see as the majority of the interior was never completed due to Ludwig's untimely death. The tour only lasted about 30-40 minutes. The coolest room was the grotto - a fake cave within the king's quarters! How fancy.

The Dad and the Bro looking back at Marienbrucke. Wow, so high above the gorge.

By the time we had our fix of the castle and stocked up on cheesy souvenirs, it was nearly 2.30pm. A late lunch was had on the conveniently located Hofbrauhaus situated on the path down to the village.

Go ahead, have that beer.

I had a jaegerschnitzel with croquettes while Dad and the Bro both had sausages, sauerkraut and potato. The servings were a little smaller than what I was used to but it's all relative - you're normally served too much food in Germany!

Our journey back to town was a bit disappointing. Germany efficiency failed us! One of the scheduled buses back to Füssen never arrived which resulted in a larger than normal crowd of tourists and eventual mosh pit scenes. Good thing that the train ride back was uneventful.

So yep, Neuschwanstein. Another tick on my bucket list!