An outing with Yuki! – Westfield Sydney + The Rocks Night Market!

Me and fish went out with Yuki recently and we decided to have dinner at the relatively new Westfield Sydney's food court.

I had eaten there with fish previously and on our first visit, i tried the Snag Stand and fish tried .. i don't know what the stall's name is, but they advertise their reuben sandwich quite prominently.

I really like the Snag Stand.

I ordered their Toulouse (Bangalow Pork) – Freshly grilled w/ sauteed onions, rosemary mushrooms and truffle aioli on a toasted brioche roll $10.90

It was sooo delicious! The sausage was cooked perfectly, it was delicious and juicy! The truffle aioli sauce tasted just like a intense cream of mushroom soup sauce. yum yum.

The fries are great too! You have to order them! They are $3.90, made with 100% Tasmanian Russet Potatoes w/ Natural Sea Salt Flakes. They are so crunchy and the sea salt adds a very nice salty edge to the crispy fries.

They also have a range of dipping sauces which you can try. I tried the Wasabi Aioli and Chipotle Mayo but the next time i'll be trying their Truffle Aioli (which was on the sausage) and House Gravy.

Fish on the other hand, got a Reuben sandwich in a plate, so it doesn't come with bread, but with sides instead.

It's a waygu corned beef (i think) with an assortment of roasted veggies and pickles. The meat was really good and the vegetables were well roasted. Only thing though, we were so excited to try their roasted potatoes which were roasted in duck fat, but it was a little disappointing though. nothing special, maybe because it was left out and not freshly roasted.

Now, to skip to our outing with Yuki, i decided to go with sausages again!

This time, i tried their Pork & Fennel Italian sausage – Grilled w/ sauteed tri-color capsicum, sauteed onions, balsamic glaze & shaved parmesan on a toasted brioche roll. $9.90

With fries for sure!

This one is quite nice too, but i don't like gamey meat and this was slightly gamey for me, so i wouldn't order it again but it was still delicious!

Fish ordered from the same place as he did previously as well! but this time, he ordered crispy skin pork instead.

It came with almost the same sides but without gherkins but with apples instead.

The pork was nice and everything is good. but this is definitely a more fine dining kinda feeling since it's price is quite expensive but yet you feel like you're not really getting what you're paid for.

The portion of the meat isn't huge and the veggies are all pre-roasted and displayed.

Now for Yuki! We walked around and she was attracted to a fish dish from one of the stalls. She ordered a grilled barramundi with fries and salad. She didn't complain, so i presume it should be quite okay!

Next, we sat 555 to circular quay as we wanted to go to The Rock's Night Market. On the way there, for the first time since i'm been here, we saw a huge luxury cruise liner!! I so wanna fo for a cruise now!

Then we walked around the night markets and i bought 2 little bowls that i intend to use to as dipping/sauce bowls. They are hand-painted.

After walking, fish was still hungry and we decided to go for dessert at Pancakes @ The Rocks!

I had my favourite drink there – a lime soda!

Fish had Bananarama crepes and me and Yuki shared a Bavarian apple crepe + pancake combo!

It was good!! We were very full after this!

** Thank you to Yuki for helping me get my kitchen gadgets from Japan! and thank you too for your souvenirs!

This is so kawaii! Hello Kitty Takoyaki! I hang it on my camera pouch! Thank you again Yuki!!

5th Year Anniversary – Lunch Cruise!

For our fifth year anniversary (which we originally mistook for 4 years), i surprised fish with a lunch cruise.

We couldn't have chosen a worst timing, it was raining extremely heavily in Sydney that week, so 21/07 was the day, and so we insisted.

 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DARLING! this post is a little late though.. hehe :)

Aussie Farmers Direct!

I’ve been ordering items from Aussie Farmers Direct for quite sometime now. and i really love the convenience and quality of their items.

My biggest biggest favourite from them is their Apple Juice!!

 
I love love this apple juice and we get through this really fast. My delivery days are every Wed and Sat and we basically have fresh apple juice every wed and sat. I love it!

Another staple that i only really use in baking but fish loves it in his cereal etc. is their low fat milk!

I tried their orange juice for the first time this week. and hmm.. i dunno. i’m not into into it. Freshly squeezed ones still tastes better. i think i’ll stick to the apple juice next time! We go through apple juice much much faster, i think it’s easier to drink that’s why – not acidic. i think.

I’ve also been using them to get my free range eggs, they’re my sole supplier of eggs now. We’ve also tried their fruit loaf which fish loves and used it to make a butter and bread pudding which he loves loves loves.

I’ve tried their meats once or twice and they’re ok.

I also always get my cream from them. They have 600ml bottles and they’re cheaper and last longer than those in the supermarkets.

I’ll be getting their new veg box next week to compare! :)

Fish is awesome!

I love it when fish cooks for me. cause he’s great. he just doesn’t know it. hehe

One night, me, fish and hui were downstairs watching Babylon 5. and i had a late night hunger craving.

One of my favourite food that fish makes is a pizza bread. So i leaned over and whispered that i would like some pizza bread. He thought for a while and got to work. yay!!

 
It’s quite simple.

Just normal white bread, with spaghetti sauce.

He made 2 versions for me. The one in front is with bacon. and the one at the back is with japanese arabiki sausage (which are amazing – get yourself some!). Both are topped with an insane amount of mozzarella cheese!

I got so full eating these 2 breads. but they were delicious and lovingly made.

Thank you fishie!! :)

Herbs in a Container

I’ve been wanting to grow herbs for a long time. but we used to stay in an apartment with no balcony and fish and hui said no.

so. i didn’t.

but now. i have a front porch and a front balcony. and so i set off to get my herbs growing.

i am growing them all from seeds. i praying really hard that they will grow. considering that it has been really really cold these days. and the sun doesn’t really get into the balcony that much. the sun shines on the other side of the road, not mine. We’re also going into winter time soon, so it’s really quite cold these few days.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the 7th of May 2011. the sun was out shining. so i decided to start.

I used yates premium potting mix and a self watering trough. I poured the soil in and mentally divided the pot into 5 sections – for my 5 different herbs.

These are the herbs that i will be growing – these are the ones that i use more often. Parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives and spring onions.

Here are pictures of the seeds close-up. they are really tiny!

Really small seeds.

They take around 2 weeks to germinate. so i am crossing my fingers. i am slightly afraid though, cause i might have overcrowded it with too many seeds. We’ll see how it goes, if they manage to grow perfectly, i’ll weed out those that aren’t growing too well to thin it out.

For now, i’m just anxiously waiting. it’s like a baby. because we don’t get much sunlight and when we do, it moves across the porch, so i have to leave it nearer to the pavement at night, cause that’s where the sun hits in the morning, then move it into the front balcony when it’s late morning/afternoon for it to get as much sunlight as possible.

Today was really cold and cloudy though. and there was no sunlight at all. and i decided to bring the pot into the balcony instead of in the open where the sun would hit it, cause the wind was really strong and i didn’t want my growing seeds to feel too cold. (sounds weird eh.)

but yah. i’ll keep you guys updated on the status of my herbs. hopefully they grow soon!

Meat Delivery!

Well. Well. I had a meat delivery today. Yes. you will be surprised to find out that we basically get home delivery for everything. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not lazy (i think) or anything like that but sometimes, home delivery is great. and shopping online means i get to control the amount of money i spend, hopefully get a good deal and get it delivered!

We’ve stopped the fruits and veg delivery for now because it delivers way to much for us to consume in 2 weeks. This was around $60/mth and it is great value considering that previously, every time we went to the supermarket, we would run up a bill of $100+.

As for meat, i don’t eat much meat, but fish loves his meat. He doesn’t like the smell of the butcher and for me, the butcher is a little far away – i don’t mind if it was like something that i wanted to cook today and went out to buy it but otherwise.

So i found www.butcher2u.com.au on the internet, it’s a butchery run by Gary who is really nice. I’ve ordered twice and my delivery day is a tuesday and for both times, i only confirmed my order through email after 12midnight and he still gets them all packed for me and delivered to my house.

What i like it that he’s a real butcher – you know those that you watch in shows where you can go in, have a chat, get your butcher to do things for you.. well, the supermarket can’t do that. so for that, i look for Gary. the best is, i can tell like i want 4 chicken thighs and i want them to be separated into 1 in one bag and 3 in another bag, and he does this happily and vacuum seals it for me. Then he sticks on the price tag with what meat it is, when it was sealed and how heavy is it. The previous time, i think i gave him a little more notice, so he froze the meat for me as well. Today, not so much time, so it didn’t come frozen – but not a problem.

I was watching Maangchi on youtube and came across a cut of beef called the LA Galbi. and i really wanted to try making that dish. so i sent an email to Gary with a picture and he said he could cut that for me. awesome!

So i ordered 1.5kg of LA cut.
6 chicken thighs – kaarage in the making!
3 minute steaks – all separately packaged
and beef mince.

I wanted to make hamburgers but the mince that he had on the website was an extra lean one. and i don’t like extra lean. i like fats.

so i asked him if he could mince up 600gm of chuck steak for me. nice amount of fat on this mince. i can imagine how they would taste at the end….

that was all i got today.

and tml. we are expecting another home delivery from another company for our eggs and milk. I was drawn to their milk since it has no permeate in it – i wanted to try and see if there was really a difference.

i’ll let you guys know tomorrow. with pictures i hope.

tada!

(By the way, i just realized, if i were talking to you about this – this would be almost exactly what i would say. oh god. my dad would say that i’m naggy. i think i agree. i should go now. bye)

Yay! New house!

So, we had to move. we got the notice just as semester started. it was frantic looking for a house.

there were silent requirements that had to be met. some requirements people won’t understand why we are insistent on, but by a stroke of luck, we managed to get one, that wasn’t too bad.

a little messy. hehe.

what i love is that we have flyscreens on all the windows. the kitchen’s a little small – but workable. and there are no carpets. i like.

It’s a landed property – right in the front of the road, so we get a small door at the pavement, then a few flight of stairs and then the main door with the balcony. and i couldn’t be happier.

Some mornings, i just sit on the sofa, with a cup of tea and biscuits, open the balcony door and just let the fresh air circulate. very nice.

 
Taken from the stairs. The main door is on the right side.

Yes, if you noticed, we have 2 fridges, basically 2 of everything. cause we used to live separately and when we moved in together, we had double of almost everything.

On the left side, where you can’t see, is the laundry room and a toilet. There is also a flight of stairs leading down to where we call the ‘dungeon’. haha. it basically is the basement garage, where we have our own secured parking garage.

 
A closer look of the kitchen. The oven is great. never been used before. There are a lot of cupboards in that small kitchen, which is ironic since there is little to none elsewhere, where we really need it.

But for now.

I love our new house. i’m almost glad we have to move. our rooms are smaller, but we can live with that.

oh. and we don’t have to wake up when there are deliveries. we agreed with the postman that he can just leave our parcels at the door. awesome. since the post office is now a 20 mins walk away – my speed. I just sit a bus there now. lol. only had to go there once, so hopefully. no more!

i’m just happy i have to nice cozy home to come home to with fish and shi hui. :)

Love ya all!

My Internet’s back!

Hello everyone!

Many many things have happened since the last post. and i have been kept busy and happy. :)

I’ve got much to share and loads of pictures to let you guys see. I’m just going through them all now and editing them. and boy! does my eyes hurt. well. it’s late. but there’s a good amount of food and some of my new home (which i love by the way).

I’m rather busy with assignments this week, but i’ll be back on track soon enough and upload all those pictures and document all the wonderful happenings.

I hope you have been well and i pray that you have been as happy as i have been.

Loads of love! :)

Kobo e-reader

First the tablet pc next the e-reader.

I got my tablet pc a few years back and i love it. simply because after 3 years of undergrad studies, i don’t end up with a huge pile of paper notes which i really don’t need anymore but can’t bear to throw them away because of the time and effort put into them. I got all these safely stored in my external hard disk – which is perfect.

I’ve been buying a good amount of books to read since being here and although i could have read the books on my tablet, it just isn’t as convenient and as easy. So i’ve stuck to paperbacks.

So when fish got me an ipad for christmas, it was perfect, i downloaded an app and started purchasing ebooks instead. and the ipad is great. there’s color, i can connect my books to facebook and the page turning is interactive. the only problem with the ipad is that although it is light, it is still of a certain weight and reading it on the bed makes my hand a little sore. though i still really like it.

The app i downloaded was called Kobo. and they have their own e-reader, much like a kindle but it can also read any generic epub and pdf files. which is why i chose it over the kindle. Borders.com had a reduction in the Kobo e-reader’s price and since US dollar and Aus dollar was almost at parity, i decided why not? It was cheaper than buying a second hand Kobo through ebay and borders au was selling the Kobo at AUD$179. I bought mine for USD$100 + $9 shipping. A second hand e-reader on ebay was selling for even more expensive than this.

Enough talk.

 
They have 2 colour schemes in the borders US shop, either black or white. I chose the black version – i dunno why. maybe it’s easier to clean. or maybe i had thought to test drive it for my dad and if it is not too bad, i can give it to him. but. i’m liking it too much now. so we might just get another one. hehe

So the screen is e-ink. and the screen you see above is when the reader if switched off. yes. it does not go blank.

 
One of the books i’ve just finished reading.

The screen flickers every time you turn the page or try to access the side bar. It isn’t too big of a problem, but there is a slight lag, so don’t expect instantaneous action.

 
The best thing about this is that since it isn’t a kindle so i can purchase ebooks from any site – i usually just use www.kobobooks.com since it’s most convenient, but i can also read loads of free ebooks. Without getting into whether it’s legal nor not – that is an option that is available with using this instead of a Kindle.

I also tested it with chinese pdf files and a picture brochure. Both were obviously in black and white since the e-reader does not support color, but they worked. You could zoom in at the pdf file and change it from landscape to portrait. and the e-reader remembers your choice if you’ve changed it, the next time you read it, it will be exactly as how you left it.

So overall, i’m loving it. Only downside (well, not actually a downside), is that i can’t read at night. This is e-ink which means there’s no backlight. You have to have external light to read it. I like to read in the dark using the ipad. but i can’t with this, so i suppose it is good for my eyesight – so not really a downside.

Oh. and it can sync with my ipad, so if i’m reading a book on both devices, and i sync them through the computer they would ‘inform’ each other on which page i’m at.

Happy reading! :)

I’m back!

Hello!

I’m back after a very long break. I’m back in Sydney for my masters.

Holiday in Singapore was… good. Had to work, got a new oven (i can’t even bear to look at the oven we have here in sydney after getting the Gagganau).

but now, i’m back and will blog more often. :)

Let’s review a little about what happened in Singapore.

We had another laska party!

 
Delicious! Made with Prima Taste Laska Paste. Added more onions and dried shrimp.

I also made more brownies before coming back to Sydney!

A little more cracked on the top but delicious all the same.

I also made it in a rectangular dish since my relatives were going to have a gathering at my house the day after i left. and it looked like a volcano. haha.

Cool eh. It will flatten down when it cools.

My mum has been going for vegetarian cooking class at the same place where we take guzheng classes. One of her first dishes she learnt was to make 发糕. So since it was chinese new year and we had to pray, so we made up a batch of coconut 发糕 – a big one and many small cute ones. :)

 
Dinner one night with just me and feng guang. so i cooked up a simple fried tofu with leeks and kaarage chicken!

The chicken was great. Only thing is that i should have added a lot more ginger and garlic. Yum Yum. Have already bought chicken thigh to make this soon soon! :)

I made cookies too! This is a delicious delicious peanut butter soft chewy cookie. What’s with the cracks? Can you see the chocolate oozing between the cracks? hehe.

 

ohhh… how pretty is this… i wish i could bring this oven over with me!

Other than these pictures.. i still have some more about places that me and fish and his family and my family (in different combinations)..

This is all for now though! :)

O week starts tomorrow so i’ll be going to join in the fun!

Foggy says hi!