Alaskan Malamute x Golden Retriever

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)

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

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

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

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

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.