Product of the Month

My last Product of the Month review was way back here.  But now that I've welcomed a new man into my life - my orthodontist - a new obsession with oral hygiene has developed within me and I feel the urge to share my thoughts about a product which has made my life easier.  (Off the topic - my orthodontist set off my gaydar big time, but then I found out he is married to a woman and has two children.  I guess I can't really pick them.)

Not that my teeth were dirty to begin with but my new man is so demanding that I floss and brush after every single meal.  Uuuuuuggghh it's actually quite an inconvenience especially as I sometimes don't have enough time to eat lunch as it is, let alone do the whole floss/brush routine.  However, I should look at the bigger picture because if I don't adhere to his requests I'll probably develop cavities, something which I can proudly say *beaming face* I've never ever had to deal with and don't really want to either.

Carrying floss in my handbag wasn't a big deal but having to carry a toothbrush and toothpaste, no matter how small was just plain annoying for me.  Enter the Colgate Wisp with their mini single-use brushes, each containing a freshening bead to eliminate the need for toothpaste and water for that matter!

Ok I admit this is not the most environmentally friendly product in the world and I do feel a bit guilty peeling back the foil seal, using the cotton-tip sized brush and then tossing it into the bin .... but for me, this is a much more convenient option.  Otherwise, if I sat an office desk all day and had plenty of time to brush my teeth at work, I wouldn't even think of buying the Wisp.

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part VII

I saw an ad on TV and was reminded how much I loved these bikkies when I was kid.  Then went out the next day and bought a packet of Kingston biscuits.  Advertising works people!

For those not in the know, the Kingston is basically two Anzac-like biscuits with a chocolate filling sandwiched between them.  Mmmmmm... crunchy, chocolatey goodness.

Don't worry I didn't eat the whole packet in one sitting (there's about 15-17 biscuits in each packet) but it's pretty easy to easy about 5 in a row.

Cupcakes & Macarons

There was no other reason for buying these Joy Cupcakes and Cacao macarons than purely for my own pleasure.

Mini strawberries and cream cupcakes.  Minimum purchase of three.  Oh well, I'll just have to buy three won't I?  Yes, they are quite bite-sized. 

Meringue cupcake and red velvet.  The red velvet was a bit dry and I've had better. 

An assortment of macarons.  The shell was a bit too crumbly.  I've eaten about eight of them (salted caramel - the best!) and can officially say that I will have to steer clear of macarons until I return to Paris! 

Must... stop.... eating!!!!  (For now.)

Book Review: My Favourite Wife

It's been a while since I've read a book.  You may have noticed that the 'Currently Reading' sidebar has not changed for a few months and it still lists My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons.  It still shows that particular book, because I have not progressed any further in the story.  I took a break from reading it in December and managed to finish and review Superfreakonomics in that time.

I have no idea where My Favourite Wife is now.  I brought it all the way over from London in November last year and then I took it all they way back to London in April this year.  Now, I think I left in London for Smee to read.

I couldn't care less if I don't finish this book.  I really did try to push on but after working my way into the first third and I just couldn't take it anymore.  It was utter crap.  How did Tony Parsons manage to publish multiple books?  Ok, admittedly I've never read any of his other publications but based on this book, I'm not likely to.

The writing was unsophisticated but the worst part was that it was obviously trying hard to be so; it reeked, reeked, REEKED of desperation in trying to elicit emotions from the reader; the characters were outrightly annoying (they all needed a punch to the face) and were horribly stereotyped and the story, well it was just plain old SHIT and I could see from a mile away it was heading into Clichéville:-

British family make the difficult move to China for British Man's career.  I didn't get this far in the book to confirm it but I predicted that British Man has affair with local Chinese Girl.  British Man deals with the consequences.  Who cares what happens next? 

 Boring, boring, boring.  

I read a lot of crap (and I enjoy it too!) but this has got to be one of the worst books I've ever read.  I laughed after reading some of the 1-star reviews on Amazon.  I'm glad I didn't get too far in the book as many reviews call it derogatory and racist and I might have totally........cracked...........it.

Quality of Content: 1
Readability: 1 (both of these really should be 0 and not rate at all)
Would I recommend this book: Hell no!!!!
Who to: Only to people who like reading drivel

Mabrown

Ok, I have really been on an eat-fest but can you really blame me?  Poor old eating-meals-alone-me.  Tonight's dinner was with SuBoo and Mimsta, with Mimsta driving allllll the way over from the Westside. *makes 3 finger gesture*  I have promised Mimsta that we shall leave our Eastside cocoon and venture into her hood next time.

Tonight's venue was Mabrown in Balwyn.  SuBoo highly recommended the spicy quail.  Little birds full of spicy flavour?  Sure thing for me!  But huh?  Mabrown?  What kind of food is that?  I then saw that it offered Chinese, Malaysian and Thai food.  Still, that doesn't explain what Mabrown means.  I found it's Chinese name, 味也同 (pinyin - wèi yě tóng - still doesn't sound like Mabrown) which translates into 'tastes the same'.  Ain't nothing Mabrown about all of that!  So the name of the restaurant still remains a mystery to me.

Anyway, for a place which just looks like a not so special suburban restaurant and unimpressive Chinese restaurant decor, it was a full house on Sunday night with extended families dominating the 10-12 seater tables.  SuBoo had pre-ordered as suggested by the restaurant staff to avoid unnecessary delays with our food.

I requested the loh bak.  Crispy beancurd skin goodness.  Just maybe a little too salty towards the end but this serving was intending for four people and here we were, three mini Asian women.    

The spicy quail.  I had asked SuBoo if we could have two birds each but then realised that they cut the bird in half and I would have to eat 4 servings... which would be a bit too much.  Every other table also ordered the quail which says much about the little spicy bird.  Yes they were finger licking good. 

We had also ordered mapo tofu, sambal stringbeans and a beef stir fry but I forgot to photograph them.  It was a bit too much food for the three of us but despite that, our appetites were still piqued by the dishes coming from the kitchen.  The duck really got my mouth watering.  Hehehe.

We really couldn't finish our mains and eat took home a doggie bag.  But women being women, we left enough room for dessert.

SuBoo and I had a gula melaka and Mimsta had a ... something I can't spell, but it was banana in coconut milk.  

Mabrown - ignore the dated decor and go for the food.  With a pre-ordering system in force and a restaurant full of Asian families on a Sunday night, it surely can't be wrong!

Matteo's

Last night I joined Tina and Shazza for degustation delights at Matteo's in Brunswick.  I've heard mainly good things about Matteo's but what I didn't know that it's been in the game for over 15 years.  Whuh?  Really?  I gotta brush up on my restaurant review guide.

Getting back to my point of hearing 'mainly good things'.  Some people complain about the poor service given by the two hat restaurant.  I have no idea what those reviewers are talking about because our waiters were impeccable.  They were keen to neatly roll up our serviettes whenever one of us left for bathroom relief.  They explained the content of our dishes and wines.  They were also very thoughtful to ensure we drank our wines from left to right in order to best compliment the food.  Bad service?  I think not.

Tina and I decided that we wanted to go all out and have the tasting menu with the matching wines.  At 100ml per taste and having seven tastes for the night, well, it's good that Shazza was designated driver.  Maybe a more seasoned drinker could cope with 700ml of alcohol over the course of dinner, but my liver isn't quite there yet.

The name Matteo's suggests that the cuisine would be heavily Italian-Mediterranean based but nope, nothing could be further from it.  Instead, the restaurant is classified as Modern Australian which really.... wtf does that mean anyway?  It's the kind of label given to restaurants which don't quite fall into a distinct category and with such a broad definition, you could break it down into sub-categories.  Given the mish-mash of cultures in Australia, Matteo's in this case would be further sub-categorised as Modern Australian Asian.  Blah, blah, blah.... stop rattling on and show me the food already!

First course (L-R):  Carpaccio of Hiramas kingfish, prawn remoulade, shiso Japanese basil sauce. Yellowfin tuna tartare and seared bonito tataki, horseradish and beetroot sauce.  Confit petuna ocean trout rolled in toasted nori, wasabi guacamole.  (Look, I photographed the paper menu orrite?  This isn't written from memory.) 

I have to admit, it felt a bit weird to be eating sashimi with a knife and fork.  I kept thinking they would present us with some chopsticks any second now.  But good food = happy Pooey and as you see, I was pretty darn happy to be given my plate of omega3 goodness.

This was matched with a glass of sake and a gewurztraminer.  I'm not a fan of sake.  There's a reason why it's served in tiny cups.  I always think it's like drinking metho.  Anyway, this sake was definitely nicer but even still I did struggle to down my 100mls.  The gewurztraminer was also nice, but I think I was more or less using it to wash the sake out of my mouth.

Second and Third Course (L-R):  Tempura zucchini flower filled with fetta, watermelon, radish and coriander salad, tamarind vinaigrette.  Spanner crab raviolo, stir fried iceberg lettuce, warm chilli sauce, taro chips.  This was matched with a verdelho and a chardonnay.  Chinese roasted, western plains suckling pig on kimchi cabbage, black vinegar glazed beetroot, tonkatsu sauce.  Oxtail and mushroom pie, sauteed peas, leeks and thyme, horseradish and mustard sauce.  This was matched with a pinot noir and tempranillo.

Alcohol is starting to take it's toll when you decide to pose with the giant wine glass.

The zucchini flower went surprisingly well with the melted fetta.  The raviolo was nice too but the alcohol was starting to affect my memory and it was making me go cross-eyed.  I do remember enjoying the oink-oink and the hit of the horseradish on my pie.  Yes, I have to say it was all very nice but I wasn't quite in a critiquing state.  The red wine certainly went down a treat.

Next up was our dessert:

(L-R) Brendan's Golden Gaytime honeycomb crumbed, toffee and vanilla ice cream terrine.  Kaffir lime and tofu cheesecake with honeyed almond crunch, framboise macerated strawberries.  This was matched with a botrytis semillon blend. 

I was warned that dessert wasn't that impressive, but when you are kind of drunk, it probably didn't matter what was put down in front of me.  Yes, it sure did taste like a Gaytime with a shortbread popsicle stick to boot.  The kaffir lime flavour was evident and lime-y but the almond crunch was a bit tough and I nearly had to break my plate in order to break it into manageable bite size pieces.

I was initially worried that I wouldn't be full from dinner but my stomach had pleasantly plumped up from tonight's offerings.  Overall I left the restaurant in a happy state and I would come again to check out the a la carte menu.

Noodle Kingdom - Preston

I'm back in town for a 4-day weekend.. .yippee!!!!  That means I get to eat .... with people!  I touched down at 1pm and instead of heading home, me, Moo and Moo's friend RachiePoo detoured to Noodle Kingdom.  I do make the distinction that it was the Preston and not the CBD branch.  The main block of High Street has become quite the Asian culinary centre of the north in the last few years.

Anyway, after fighting it out in the Preston Market carpark, we joined the queue inside Noodle Kingdom who specialise in handmade noodles and xiao long bao.  I can always do with zhajiang mian and xiao long bao.  I wasn't quite expecting a queue at 2pm but aaah that can only be representative of good things to come.

Initially the waiters seated us along the main side wall but as a group of three, we were essentially WASTING a fourth seat.  Just as we plonked down, we were then asked to move to the back of the restaurant.  Nice.  Even nicer was RachiePoo's seat which blocked the waiter's path.  As if it was her fault and as if she was a heifer, she was asked to squeeze in closer to the table.  You need to reconsider the seat configuration, Noodle Kingdom!

Anyway, that's not totally unexpected for Chinese restaurants so we brushed it off and started analysing the menu.  Never underestimate the eating prowess of three hungry Asian women.  We ordered a commendable amount of food.

Zhajiang mian, Dandan mian (which I thought I'd eaten before but realised I in fact haven't), xiao long bao and cumin mutton ribs.  We only ordered the ribs because we saw someone else eating them and they looked freaking good. 

Moo happy to be fed. 

Well all this food has gotta be quenched with a drink right?  Here's my sour plum bubble tea.  

Me and my wibbies.  Wibbies here I come!  Some were a little bit fatty but the crispy, cumin batter - num nums! 

Moo playing her wibbie harmonica. 

I've read the negative reviews and most seem to complain about the service.  But meh, I didn't think they were any more rude than most Chinatown places.  Otherwise, we were all very happy with the food especially Moo and RachiePoo who had been disappointed with last night's dinner at Dumplings Plus.  I didn't get food poisoning so there's another plus!  Forgiving the slack service, I'm likely to return to Noodle Kingdom again whenever I need a noodle/dumpling fix!

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part VI

So, I had psyched myself up for a lonely person's meal and I decided that it would be at Wasai Japanese Kitchen.  I turned up to the half-full restaurant and asked for a Table For One.  The waitress said, "Sorry we're fully booked tonight."  As if I didn't already feel like a loser, I was a loser who got rejected!  So fine whatever, I ordered takeaway (not that waitress even suggested that as an option to me).

Waiting for my takeaway, two blokes came in and asked for a table.  The same waitress this time pulled some effort to see they could be slotted in but then they were given a 'No'.  Just as they were opening the door, she stopped them to let them know that some customers were leaving and if they could wait for five minutes then the table would be theirs.  Ok you could argue they were lucky but for f**k sake, this is a restaurant surely you have an idea of when patrons would be coming and leaving.  I was a bit pissed off.  I thought about giving the waitress a hard time, but instead I did what most people do and sat there fuming in silence.

My rage was only placated after I saw three more couples get rejected and so I'll try not to let this sour any future eating at Wasai.

Anyway, I thought I should redeem the recent food sins and hence my dinner choice tonight.

Salmon sashimi don. 

Seaweed salad.  

Salmon and seaweed hanging out together.

But.. I guess.. you're not going to see what I'm having for dessert!

Things You Really Shouldn't Eat (Even If You're Alone)

I like hot chips.  I especially like them crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.  Who doesn't like eating a bucket of chips?!!?

I saw these chip buckets in my local food court with some odd looking chips and then I realised....

... these were buckets of pork crackling.  

Ok, I know my previous posts show that I am in a bit of a dietary low, but even I won't stoop to this level.

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part V

I don't really eat ice cream that often.  There are periods where I might have it daily, but then there are periods when I won't have it for months.  I'm now in a period of eating it about 3-4 times a week.

Sara Lee Irish Cream Dream.

If you like Baileys liqueur than you'll like this.  I want to melt it and make an Irish Cream thickshake!

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part IV

After having a really blah day at work I needed to console myself and decided that I was craving KFC chips, which by the way are soooooooooooo much better in Australia than the UK.  The chips are crispier and they have chicken salt - something which does not exist in the UK!!!  You will get a most puzzled look from the cashier if you ever happen to ask for it.

Well, I couldn't really go to KFC and not have some chicken right?

So I ordered a snack box which included two hot wings. 

Mmmm smells so good.  

I also ate a plate of pasta for my dinner afterwards.  Don't worry, I'm only blogging the bad stuff!  I do eat balanced meals for dinner!

Totoro (or Things You Buy When You're Alone)

I have wanted a Totoro plush toy since forever.  I only saw the movie a few years ago and whether I liked the movie or not, I still wanted a Totoro.  It's pretty stupid. 

However, I have been walking past this display for about a month now and it's killing me.

That giant Totoro comes almost to my hip! 

I have resisted temptation this far, but now with a 30% discount my purchase would be suitably justified!

I was so happy to have a friend with me here in Rad-City. 

The following day at work, I saw this mini Totoro and well, he only cost $9, so I guess I had to take him home too. 

Mini Totoro hanging out on my work desk. 

Now Big Totoro has a buddy in Mini Totoro.  It's great that they keep each other company when I'm away at work. 

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part III

McDonalds has a Shrek food promotion on at the moment and one of the menu delights on offer includes a Green Apple Fanta Frozen Coke.

I can't remember when I last had a slurpee but this was surprisingly very nice!  

Trying to finish my egg nog with some strawberries.  No, this was not my dinner.   

Things You Eat When You're Alone Part II

Chocolate cookies and egg nog topped with cinnamon.  Don't worry, this was not my dinner.