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Wine Tasting @ Bimbadgen Estate

2012-02-12T13:35:00.000+11:00

The day before while boys played aqua golf right across from us they had won a voucher for a free bottle of wine from Bimbadgen Estate. So on our last day at Hunter Valley we happily made our way there. The vineyards were so pretty!

Athiya was being so grumpy on the drive there and he was so happy to finally be let out of the car and run around lol.

Inside, the first thing you see is the massive winery and production facilities. It sounded and smelled very much like fresh wine.

We went down into The Cellar Door which was where the wine tasting bar was and Kevin was happy to oblige us with a number of wines. First we started off with our favourites, Rose, Pinot Gris & Moscato.

I was never really a fan of red wine...until I tasted the most beautiful pinot noir that was poured for us. It was so subtle and sweet and it didn't have the usual bite that most red wines have.

Then after our wine tasting experience we all went outside for a lovely group photo.

It sucks that Viz had work and that he wasn't there with us. Poor hubby had to wake up at like 5am just to get to work on time. But at least we met up with him for lunch at Erina Fair, where some of us did some crazy shopping. Then we went to Avoca Beach and chilled for a bit. And then we made our way to Chatswood for dinner at Mandarin. MY GOSH it was the longest day full of driving. I am definitely coming back with Viz to the Valley for our anniversary or something. It was one of the best experiences being with family and having fun. Totally worth every hour of the drive!

Golfish, Hunter Valley

2012-02-12T00:58:00.000+11:00

We were so extremely dead tired & starving after our fun in the pool, and since it was our last night at the Valley we took a short drive down to the Tempus Two Winery again where we decided we'd eat dinner. We all originally sat at Oishii, a Japanese/Thai restaurant, but we were a bit taken back when they said that we could only order take-away....and it was only 6.30pm. So of course, Viz, KC & I stormed off to another restaurant...next door lol...at Goldfish, where we settled for a meal with so much better service than Oishii. But then everyone else in Viz's family stayed at Oishii, who's waitresses suddenly changed their minds and said that they could eat there. But still. Oishii lost my vote, sorry.

Mel's dad also won a free drink at Goldfish from playing aqua golf, so he ended up staying and eating at Goldfish too. Our meals came soo quickly.

The usual LLB.

Dried hot beer beef with sriacha dipping sauce & hot crispy chorizo & mixed vegetable tempua

We had ordered three snacks, and one large meal for us to share. First came our dried beef, followed by the chorizo, and then our vegetable tempura.

Seafood hot plate

I'll say it again, this was by the far the best meal I had eaten in my entire trip to Hunter Valley. I'd strongly recommend this place for good food, service & value. We finished everything on our plate, with nothing left over and no guilty conscience for our expenditure.

happy chaps.

I'll admit, I did go back to Oishii for dessert, but only because Goldfish didn't serve any. Again, Oishii had pretty hopeless service, with the waitress refusing to let me pay by eftpos and then suddenly changing her mind....bloody pathetic. At least their chocolate mousse was decent. Anyway, after dinner we went back home just in time to watch the Tennis Grand Final. Wooot!

KC found this little frog right outside our door. It was as tiny as a 10c coin! Cutie. I would have loved to take the little thing home but I figured that that would be pretty slack. Lol. My, what a good night!

Hunter Valley Gardens

2012-02-10T09:15:00.000+11:00

Day two of Hunter Valley was spent with all the boys playing aqua golf, while all the girls + Athiya took a trip around the Hunter Valley Gardens. Now I know what all the hype is about the Valley.

Border Garden

I didn't realise how huge the whole place was with a huge collection of gardens all joined together by the footpaths. We were lucky that day because a wedding expo was on in the main cafeteria where we scabbed a lot of free samples of wedding cake and chocolates. Then away we went through to the rest of the gardens.

Chinese Garden

Indian Tea House

The waterfall view of the Sunken Gardens

We kept walking along and we suddenly found ourselves amongst a lot of apples, which we took the liberty of picking from the trees.

Apple tree!

We even found a baby sized apple for Athiya!

After all the excitement of picking our own apples, we eventually found ourselves at Storybook Garden, which was probably both mine and Athiya's favourite.

Mel & I at a mad-hatters tea party!

We then found ourselves back at the Formal Gardens where Athiya took a ride in a helicopter.

The last of the gardens that we visited was the Oriental Garden, which was very peaceful. My second favourite of them all.

After the Gardens, we met up with boys for lunch in the park near where they were playing aqua golf. We had the pleasure of eating the cheese, crackers and olives that Mel & I bought the day before.

Then we all just spent the rest of day chillaxing, taking photos, running around and whatnot.

LOL @ AA.

When we got back to the villa, we played the most intense game of volleyball-slash-newcomball-slash-tennis with tennis scoring.....in the pool AHAHAHA. Then we all got ready for dinner at the Goldfish.. stay tuned :) x

Villa Provence, Hunter Valley

2012-02-08T16:50:00.000+11:00

We spent the night before out in the city celebrating Maria's birthday and we didn't get home til about 2.30am. We did the hugest rush job of packing everything for the weekend, and instead of meeting up with Viriya's parents at 10am like we had previously planned, we ended up meeting at about 11.45am, and we left Lane Cove at about 1pm, instead of 12pm. It took us a little over 4 hours to get to Hunter Valley instead of the estimated 2.5hours, and I ended up driving for a majority of the drive there, instead of Viriya. Hence, a lot things didn't go as to plan, but eventually we got there. Mind you, driving on the F3 was probably one of the scariest roads I've ever driven on!

Our accommodation was courtesy of Ariya & Mel. Absolutely gorgeous!

Mum & her girls :)

And it came with a pool...

View from the balcony

Loserpoo.

The room we stayed in was really nice too.

Once everyone was settled and unpacked, Mel & I took a little drive to the Smelly Cheese Shop at Tempus Two, and they had the hugest range of cheeses, crackers and olives to choose from.

Walk-in fridge full of cheese.

When we got back they had already started the barbecue for dinner. We were starving.

Day one of Hunter Valley ♥

Rockpool B&G

2012-02-06T09:05:00.000+11:00

It has been so very long-awaited, but we finally decided on a night which Viz & I, and Eric & Maria were free for dinner, firstly to celebrate her wonderful 22nd birthday which was in January, and secondly to catch up on everything we must in between not seeing each other before we leave for Singapore & Taiwan! So we rightfully decided to eat at Rockpool Bar & Grill on Hunter Street in the City. We ate at the bar.

Above is a preview of the entire bar, sitting from the far left corner. The entrance is there on the left. It's a shame that they don't take bookings for tables, but it's okay because they're willing to take your name down and let you know when the next available table is ready. We had a 20 minute wait for our table, which is decent I suppose. It sucked because all the couples that walked in got tables straight away. I guess it's also because we had a baby as well. And to the tall dark senile waitress who refused to take my umbrella for cloaking but then took everyone else's...shame on you! I hope you get fired for lack of service and a total lack of being warm and friendly. But anyway, don't the Riedel glasses look amazing! Then we ordered our drinks.

Pinot Gris & Pink Lemonade

Peroni Nastro Azzuro & McLaren Vale Dry Lager

I like the way the beers were served...in a fancy goblet! And I'm proud to have desisted the urge for an alcoholic beverage. We then ordered our meals, and they came quite promptly. There was no way I was not going to get something that had wagyu in it.

David Blackmore's Full Blood Wagyu Hamburger with Bacon, Gruyere Cheese and Zuni Pickle

Wagyu Bolognese with Hand-Cut Fettucine

I'll be honest and say that although the burger was pretty amazing after the first bite, it wasn't totally and utterly incredible that I wanted to eat the whole thing. In fact, I didn't end up finishing and Viz & Eric had to eat the rest of it for me. I'm not too sure how the bolognese was considering I only took a bite, but I'd expect that it was probably just as average as my burger. It seems pretty harsh of me, especially since it is a two-hatter...I don't know. Maybe it was my mood, and the fact that I wasn't feeling very well that night, that impacted my ability to enjoy good food lol. I was also pretty devastated that I couldn't stomach dessert. In fact, we all agreed to go to Moochi after and eat dessert there but I was really that sick that we all ended up just going home. Fail. I'm also quite annoyed at my camera on the night because it failed to take any non-blurry shots of PEOPLE, and not so great foodporn...ugh. But all in all, I had fun. We toasted to birthdays, jobs, holidays...what more could I expect? I got three good things, good food, good company, and a good night!

P.S. I am completely lagging behind in my blog for my trip to Hunter Valley. I'm also lagging in my assignment that's due while I'll be overseas. TOTES DEVO :'(

My boy walking!

2012-01-24T14:36:00.000+11:00

I've been meaning to show you all how grown up my little boy is. Viz has been thoughtful enough to put everything up on facebook/youtube all for you to see! This one is by far my favourite video of Athiya walking. He's so confident! :):):)

To subscribe to Viriya's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LAOazn?feature=watch

CNY 2012

2012-01-23T09:58:00.000+11:00

Even though I'm not Chinese, and neither is anyone else in my blood & marriage-related family, gong hey fat choy ! We don't normally celebrate Chinese New Year but considering we had plans to have friends over we thought that we might as well enjoy Chinese New Year celebrations by cooking up an Asian meal.

Before...

As pictured, we had peking duck, dumplings, dim sims & a nice fat omelette. I'm glad Jack came over to help eat up everything. Otherwise we would have been stuck with so much food and not enough tummies lol. So ay-shunn!

...After!

Then after dinner, Jack & Viz set up mahjong and they played around with that and attempted to teach me. We also had moochi for dessert.

Then Tramie & Hayley came over! They just recently got back from their Asia trip so they stories to tell lol :)

This was the first real Chinese New Year that we officially sat down and 'celebrated'. I'm sure next year we'll be more organised and not so on the spot lolol. Oh and I'll be sure to organise fortune cookies and red pockets haha.

I'm so excited for next month!!! RAHHHHHHHH :)

New Years Day

2012-01-13T18:42:00.000+11:00

The first day of 2012 was spent with family. First with mine at Curl Curl beach. The weather was so perfect!

I was so annoyed at Viz for not swimming. He apparently claimed that he had a sore throat, which I believe was absolutely not an excuse for jumping in the water with me. Hmph!

I'm glad that Athiya wasn't scared to go into the water. He loved it.

But omgsh he tried to eat the sand LOLOL.

My silly boy! Viz, Athiya & I left around 6.30pm to meet Viz's family in the city. We ate at some restaurant near Meet Fresh in Haymarket and I'm glad I don't remember it's name because it wasn't that great and I'd be defaming the hell out of it. It had really really crap rice and I couldn't finish my meal because of how gross it tasted with the rice. They even tried to rip us off for trying to make us pay the public holiday surcharge, which is completely illegal for not putting it on their menu and so what did I do? I tell them that I work for a law firm and that what they're doing is illegal and can attract heavy fines. So what did they do? They removed the surcharge. Ha. I can be such a bitch sometimes. But oh well. Love to my family and for spending it when them on the first day of the year! x

NYE 2011

2012-01-09T10:36:00.002+11:00

So new years eve, Viriya & I are like, 'so what are we doing?' and I go, 'I don't know, invite people?' And he goes, 'Yeah ok'. So we spent the lovely night with Dan & Lucy :D But prior to all our fun, Viz & I had an absolute crazy time getting everything cleaned for the new year. Lucy did my pretty fruit basket!

New Years Tradition #1: 13 fruits

I swear I'm gonna get Lucy to do my fruit basket every year, she does it so nicely! And typically, the guys spent most of their time playing on Viz's PS3.

And Lucy & I did what we do best... ;)

I'm proud of our boys though, because they cooked up such a beautiful feast for us!

Then after we dinner we had about 4 hours until the countdown to midnight. So much of that time was spent chillin'. And playing tennis doubles on ps3. LOL good times :)

Then soon enough began the count-down to midnight and then it was hello to 2012 :)

New Years Tradition #2: sparklers.

Yes we are indoors, but luckily our smoke alarm didn't go off. I love playing with my camera. Well actually Viz was the one who changed the shutter speed and did the timer and everything. But it was my idea LOL. We tried to do it with our phones as well but some of our phones turned out really bright.

We had such a fun new years eve and I'm so glad we were able to share it with close friends. You know what they say: start well, end well :)

New Years Tradition #3: polka dots!

♥
Oh yeah, btw do you like the new layout? I feel so much more organised looking at it LOLOL.

Christmas '11

2012-01-07T01:32:00.000+11:00

Mine:

Viriya's:

Athiya's:

Need I say more? ;) This was by far the best Christmas I've ever had, when it comes to presents.

It's a hard knock life

2012-01-05T23:43:00.000+11:00

We ended the year 2011 with Viz taking me out to watch Annie the Musical at the Lyric Theatre in Star City on Friday 30th. Oh my goodness oh my goodness I adored it.

I'm glad they kept the classic original songs. The new songs that they added into the musical were okay. It's a pity they had to cut out some of the other songs that I was expecting. But then again, the original movie was pretty long so it's no surprise how much they cut and what they changed. Anthony Warlow was mesmerising as always. I think my favourite scene was the radio scene, and my favourite song was You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile. Rahhh. Such a good way to end the year! So here's to my first post for 2012. Cheers!

2011 Review

2011-12-31T15:12:00.000+11:00

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Besides being a mother and a wife while also studying full-time? Let's see ;)

I became quite the foodie and had my fair share of fine dining experiences and Chef's Hat restaurants.

For the first time ever I visited Nan Tien temple. And I attended Buddha's Birthday Festival in Darling Harbour.

I single-handedly organised Athiya's Christening. And got some help with organising his Baci.

I attended an engagement party for the first time, and also attended a Lao wedding for the first time.

I celebrated my first ever Mother's Day.

And Viriya & I celebrated our first year wedding anniversary, and our overall three year anniversary.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolution(s), and will you make more for next year?
I can honestly say I didn't make any specific resolutions for 2011. I do however remember telling myself that I will endeavour to find a new apartment and move out of our crappy little granny flat. And move out we did!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. But my close friend's girlfriend is pregnant with her second boy.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My church pastor, and my sister in law's mum.

5. What countries did you visit?
None, but soon to change in 2012 :)

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Self-discipline, motivation and time-management. All study-related of course.

7. What date(s) from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why
February 14th 2011 and July 3rd 2011.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I managed to get through year without deferring any part of my course. On top of that, I managed to keep up a full-time study load. I also graduated from my Arts degree exactly as I had planned to, and I was elected as Golden Key Treasurer, my first ever executive position on the committee.

9. What was your biggest failure?
The amount of times I have resolved to get my GPA above 6.000. FAILwhale.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I hit my head pretty hard earlier in the year and I had the worst headache for a couple days. I freaked myself out and convinced myself that I had a concussion, but then after a few days the headache was gone so I don't know?

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Tom Ford wayfarer reading glasses - $480.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Teehee <3
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
One of my good friend's boyfriend of 5+ years cheated on her and had been cheating on her for the past year and a half. Epic douchebag. I would love to give him a piece of my mind...and my fist.

14. Where did most of your money go?
I only just realised the amount of money I spend on my hair. And not just the hair on my head - which includes the regular haircut; fringe trim; keratin straightening; colour - but also the constant maintenance of hair removal including waxing and laser hair removing various parts of my body. It sucks being a girl sometimes, honestly.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Usher concert...OMG. And climbing the Harbour Bridge.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Good Feeling - Flo Rida

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. Happier or Sadder?
Happier.

ii. Thinner or Fatter than last year?
Thinner...which is a a surprise considering I did have a baby.

iii. Richer or Poorer?
Poorer....ugh :(

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Study.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spend.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I had Christmas Eve dinner at Viz's parents house. And [hot] Christmas Day was spent at my parent's house...in their pool. Gosh damn I miss it.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Everyday, always the same person.

23. How many one-night stands?
A few drunken nights with....my husband lolllll

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Omgsh 2011 must have been the year I discovered TV: HIMYM, Pretty Little Liars, Big Bang Theory, Masterchef, Beauty and the Geek, Celebrity Apprentice and Underbelly Razor.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Yup. Well not that I hate hate them. I actually sort of feel sorry for them. What I look forward to is hardly ever seeing their face. fucking slut :)
26. What was the best book you read?
You know what? Besides my law textbooks I don't think I picked up any book to read this year...omg. Don't worry, next year next year.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Singstaaaaaar!

28. What did you want and get?
A new apartment, a summer law job, new laptop, new wallet.

29. What did you want and not get?
A summer clerkship.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Bridesmaids. Effing hilarity.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Dinner with mine and Viz's family in Din Tai Fung in the city; Golden Key Reception; Dinner with Viz at Universal; Lunch with my best friends at Quarter 21. I turned 22.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less of the hectic domestics.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Psht what fashion concept? I've been a frkn hobo lately. Though I guess the only thing I can say I consciously did was that I never left the house without my Mimco Turnlock Zip Top.

34. What kept you sane?
Laps in the pool, my phone; my diary; my sister; Sooby and Viz.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Eamon Sullivan. Olympic Swimming Gold Medallist, Winner of Celebrity Masterchef 2010, competitor on Australia's Greatest Athlete, and CLEO's Most Eligible Bachelor 2011. Yum.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Julia Gillard's big fat lie about not having a Carbon Tax.

37. Who/What did you miss?
My parents and siblings.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Anna N, from my Equity 2 class.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?
Everything happens for a reason. It might look absolutely shit now, but it'll all make sense later. Just be patient, because you will get exactly what you want (if not, something even better) later. Trust me. Because it's SO true.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Riccochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down, but I won't fall
I am titanium
You shoot me down, but I won't fall
I am titanium.

Song: Titanium - David Guetta ft. Sia

--------------

Merry belated Christmas & Happy New Year guys!
Hope you all have a safe & happy holiday. I'll be back next year with my Christmas post and New Years event and whatever else I may find myself up to before the end of the year. Hopefully I'll also get a new layout up and running by then too.

God bless,

Dez xx

xmas...2 days to go!

2011-12-23T12:49:00.002+11:00

The other day Lucy single-handedly organised Dan's surprise birthday dinner at Bodhi Restaurant in the city. Once again, I managed to forget to bring my camera but it was such a good night and Dan had no idea what we planned for him! The food wasn't too bad either considering all of it was vegetarian. But you seriously couldn't tell it was all vego. That's vego food for you hey. After (and during) dinner the Christmas lights show was on St. Mary's Cathedral just outside. We were so awe-stricken. It was so pretty.

I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner! I'm so glad that Viz & I were organised enough to get all our Christmas shopping early, before all the hustle and bustle swept over all the shopping malls. But it's a bit crappo how I don't really get a break over December and January because....I got a new job! I now work as a paralegal/legal research assistant at a small boutique commercial law firm in the city and it's awesome because it's mainly work from home, and I come in once a week. Too bad it's only over the summer. But hey, a law job is a law job.Zomg Christmas soon! I can't wait.. xx

MJ's 2nd Birthday

2011-12-22T11:16:00.000+11:00

On Saturday, we celebrated my Godbrother's son's second birthday party at Liz's parents house in Rooty Hill. I can't believe he turned 2! I can still remember holding him when he was only about 7 months old when he came to my wedding. My gosh time flies.

YUM for ice-cream cake. I am totally getting Athiya an ice-cream cake when he turns 2 because this cake was seriously just to die for. Almost everyone had a second serving of the three-flavoured cake, which is always a good sign at any birthday party.

Kuya, his Mrs & lil MJ.

MJ playing with his kah-kah LOL soo cute! And evidently he's expecting a baby brother next year in Feb, how exciting! I'll admit I did feel extremely clucky that day and I felt all pregnant-homesick. I sort of miss being pregnant, and I sort of don't. It's the baby, not the giving birth that I want, heh.

Athiya trying to play with Superman.
Actually come to think of it I really wouldn't mind having another one.....just not any time soon. Maybe in like 2-3 years? Yeah, 2-3 years sounds like a good age gap. So for now I'll just enjoy my little cutiepie while I still can.

♥ ♥ ♥

Athiya's 1st Birthday Party

2011-12-16T16:53:00.002+11:00

OK so, if you came on Sunday you would have seen that it was SO sunny in the morning so Viz and I happily proceeded to Clifton Gardens in Mosman and set up a nice barbecue, as pictured above. But to our ultimate dismay, the light showers turned terrential and we ended up all huddled under a tent that my dad had set up and we all frantically hurried to get everything packed up into our cars. That was also a bit of a drama as well because a lot of food was left uncooked and taken home by the wrong people and we lost some beers and almost lost our parcel for pass-the-parcel. There was also a huge wastage of waterbombs that I had prepared the night before, together with some prizes that we had bought for all the games that we came up with. SIGH. At least we were able to relocate everyone (or mostly everyone) to Toby & Amelia's place in Neutral Bay. What champs for opening up their home for us.

How bloody AWESOME does his cake look? We picked it up a couple days before and I was so scared that it was gonna melt or something. Valerie was nice enough to and have it done for us just before she left to go overseas. I swear I love her cakes. She also did Sury's cake from his birthday, which is where I discovered how awesome she is at what she does. Check out her stuff here. So anyways. We played a whole lot of games which we were adamant about getting through because we bought so many prizes (or "prizes" lol) for the winners. I was exceptionally impressed with people's responses to the 'How Well Do You Know Athiya' Trivia that Viz & I put together the night before. It was no surprise that the Mum's Team and Mela's team won equal first with a score of 19/20. In second place was "Team Chatswood" who scored 13/20. LOL my highlight was reading everyone's [ridiculous] responses HAHA. Then we played pass the parcel and camera hot potato (which failed!) and guessing the snakes, and then finally we cut the cake.

He's such a lucky baby for getting two birthday cakes. So spoilt! Then again, I guess the way we spoil him, is the way that Viz spoils me. Teehee.

NGAWWW he was so excited to blow out the candle...which we didn't want to put on his cake so as to not unnecessarily ruin any part of it lol.

Athiya had no idea how to blow out his candle, which is strange because he knows how to loudly blow into his recorder. Odd much?

Cutting the cake! How classy of me to hide my cleavage....LOLLLL. It was so sad cutting the cake because it looked so perfect, argh. But I'm glad that we managed to distribute most of the cake to everyone because I hate wastage, especially with a cake as good looking as this one.

We'd already given half our guests the cake and we still had almost a whole layer to give out! But then again, like I said before, we had enough to give to family who couldn't make it. I am so very grateful for all our friends who came.

Poo, this photo was taken after a whole lot of people left. But it's ok. Because I'm glad that everyone who could make it came and celebrated our son's special day. Love to you all! ♥

High Tea @ Swissotel

2011-12-08T14:05:00.001+11:00

On the Tuesday after Alex's surprise birthday we celebrated Marie's birthday with High Tea at the Swissotel in the city. It was a surprise for Marie as well because she had no idea what we had planned for her. Gosh I love surprises!

I am so amazed at how the waiter knew exactly how to use my camera. So when I discovered his competence I changed my settings to manual. Bahaha.

It was funny how long it took for the waiters to bring out our tea compared with how long it took them to bring the food. I love the tiered stands they come in. So pretty. It was a tad shame that they didn't have original tea, like at QVB. But T2 tea is still good.

Early Grey; Strawberry & Cream; Strawberry & Cream; Honey & Lemon Grass

I have a thing for toasts. If ever there's an event organised for a special someone I am inclined to give them a toast. Because they deserve one on their special day. So of course, I make it a rule that no-one take a sip of their drinks until we've done a toast for them. And that's precisely what we did. After that began a long-awaited catch-up session of which time stood still (or went so fast that when we checked the time again it was like WHOA where did our time go?).

After the second tier, we were absolutely stuffed. It must have been the friands and cream. We all must have underestimated how filling they would be. Either that or they were the scones with jam. But whatever it is we barely scraped through the top tier, which was probably the best tier of the rack. I was totally devastated.

I think the best ones were the orange-chocolate tart, the chocolate mousse and the creme broulee. Soonafter we gave Marie her present.

I'm glad she liked the bag and shoes! Something for her to wear and bring to work as a teacher. Gosh I can't believe we've all known each other for eleven years already. Time freaking flies man.

LOVE LOVE LOVE
xxx

Surprise

2011-12-07T13:00:00.000+11:00

On the Sunday after Staff Development, Jesse & I single-handedly organised a surprised birthday dinner for our girl Alex. I can't believe how much we stressed in trying to get timing right. But I'm glad it was a successful surprise and Alex had no idea what he planned :)

But I FAILED to get any good shots. I have this one shot of Lex when she first walked through the door but I won't put it up because she looks a little scared LOL. Why oh why do I always fail to get any good shots when they're needed :(

Staff Development Day

2011-12-06T12:26:00.000+11:00

On the Friday following Athiya's birthday it was our Staff Development Day at my work. I find it almost weird when we get told that we have to attend Staff Development Day because when I was little I used to think Staff Development Day meant that we didn't have to go to school. It's just weird being on the other side of the coin. But whatevs. It's a full day's pay to listen to people's presentations which doesn't really bother me. For our Christmas lunch we ate at the Boilerhouse. It was a tad dodgy though because we didn't actually eat Boilerhouse food. Laaaame.

Speaking of the Boilerhouse, I still haven't food-blogged about the time Viz & Athiya came to visit me at work and we had lunch there. Super poshy. I'll blog about then soon. But anways. Uni results came out yesterday! I'm pleased to say that I passed everything, which is the norm for me, because I have never failed a subject (and I intend to keep it that way). And even though I know that some of my friends did worse than I did....I'm actually quite disappointed in my marks. Then again, I've done worse before i.e. the semester I found out I was pregnant. So I guess it's ok-ish. I'll do better next year.

Athiya's 1st Birthday

2011-12-05T08:19:00.001+11:00

On Monday 28th of November, which was the day after Viz's work Christmas Party, we celebrated the most important day of my bub's first year: His 1st birthday! Viz took the day off work and we had so much planned for our little man but he ended up with a fever so we couldn't take him out as much. We still got him his birthday presents and party with the fam cake though.

Viz and I totally stressed out on getting everything ready and in the end we had both our families come over for cake. Cake was courtesy of Faye. Athiya was so confused when we took it out for him to blow the candles, haha.

Seeing it was his birthday, we thought it would be ok if we gave him some of his own birthday cake. And he loved it! My sugar boy.

And then my favourites:

one.

two.

three.

I can't wait til his party this week! ♥♥♥

Ausgrid Christmas Party

2011-12-01T10:58:00.001+11:00

The Sunday after was Viz's work Christmas Party and the weather for it was absolutely gorgeous! They went full on out too. There was a water slide, jumping castle, reptile petting zoo, and an area full of lots of toys, all for the kids. I can imagine what their depot looked like before everything was set up.

Athiya had so much fun riding on all the different bikes and cars and scooters he could find. My cutiepie!

The reptile zoo was fun. We all had a go at holding the huge python, and patting all the lizards and playing with the turtles. Athiya wasn't even scared. He even leaned over to grab one of the turtles and I was so scared that he'd hurt the poor creatures. My brave boy!

For lunch we had spit roast which was yum. I couldn't finish their salad though. Athiya & I fully pigged out on the junkfood, especially the twisties lol. Typically, Viriya couldn't resist going on the jumping castle. But then again neither could I. LOL. Athiya was so scared of it though. Ngaw.

And being the cruel evil parents that we are, Viz and I took Athiya to the Boardroom where there was a pirate doing face painting. I wasn't sure that Athiya could sit still enough so the pirate suggested that we only do half his face. So we got half a puppy dog. My half breed LOL.

There were also heaps of games that the kids (and the men) played and Viz managed to win heaps of prizes, which he let me choose :) The final part of the day was when Santa came out to give all the kids prezzies. And they weren't cheap presents either.

I wonder how they were able to buy so many presents for all those kids. Lucky children. The party was fun, and I'm looking forward to Viz's Christmas Party next year if it's going to be like it was this year...because then by that time Athiya can walk! And he'll be able to actually go down the slides by himself! Anyways after the party we drove up to Mosman to check out the park where Athiya will be celebrating his first birthday. I can't wait! It's going to be so awesome having a bbq on the beach. We had dinner with Jack & Wendi and Dan & Lucy at Twelve Spices in Canley Vale afterwards. My gosh, it's been such a busy weekend. But that's holidays hey.

Sera's 24th

2011-11-30T17:55:00.001+11:00

The same day as KRay's wedding was Sera's 24th birthday dinner at Stonegrill in Wetherill Park.

I quite liked eating at Stonegrill. It's kind of scary though because I nearly burnt myself. It's sort of like eating at Korean BBQ except that you get your own hot plate lol. Now I don't normally blog about work dinners and stuff but I have a feeling that...hmmm. Let's just say things aren't the way they used to be at my work and nobody really likes it. It's quite sad really.

Happy birthday to my FISH!

Rah it really sucks because instead of me looking forward to work I actually dread it now because it's like any minute now they're gonna change something else, yet again. I can't say too much, because my vulgarity or my 'colourful tongue', as some call it has gotten me into hot water before. Put quite frankly, things are SHIT at work. I love these people though:

The best workmates + team leader ever.

KRay's Wedding

2011-11-30T15:49:00.001+11:00

On Saturday, the first weekend-day after my exams, was Ray and Kaylene's wedding at Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong. That day was also the day that Viz spent over an hour on the phone booking *something* that I won't say or else I'll be implicated at work. But it's finally been booked and you'll all find out soon enough! But anyways. We were cutting it so close to time but eventually we got ready and we gave Dan, Lucy & Ash a lift there as well. When we got there we were only about 20 mins late. I can't believe we thought that they'd be running on azn time. Oh how wrong we were.

We walked in just as they were exchanging their rings I think. I'm glad we didn't miss them saying their vows. It was sooo sweet! I even cried LOL. I'm such a sucker for weddings, seriously. Probably because I know exactly how they're both feeling: OMG I'm getting married!

After the ceremony there were light refreshments in one of the dining rooms and then everyone rushed off, probably to get to the reception I'm assuming. That left us to have our own shoot on the lawn outside the Main Shrine. Teehee.

I reckon the drive back to Sydney was longer than the drive down to Wollongong/ Maybe because Dan & Lucy fell asleep in the car and so we weren't going as spastic as we were before lol. When we got home Viz & I conked out. We were so seriously buggered.

Over

2011-11-25T15:08:00.001+11:00

Disclaimer: Exam rant up ahead.
So I've finally finished exams and I managed to a kill a whole rainforest in the process.There's about 4.5 inches (or about 12cm, give or take) of lecture, tutorial and study notes that I had to put together as you can all see above. There's also a preview of the progress of my Pandora bracelet. Btw, these notes are for three subjects. If they were just for the one subject I'd seriously go jump off a bridge at the amount of printing I'd done. So anyways! Exams. I think I did ok. I would love to say that I pwn'd but then I'd be lying, because I got absolutely hammered in my last exam. I can't believe how hard they made it. Either that, or I just didn't study enough for it. Which I'm not surprised because I had two exams in a row and after the first one I was just completely buggered and I was so over exams that I just wanted them over with. This was completely different to my first exam which I was so
pumped for because I studied so hard for it because it was the subject I was doing the worst in. And I must say that I think I'm quite happy with how it went. Expecially because I did all the tute questions prior to the exam and the problem question was pretty much exactly the same so I just copied everything word for it. Gotta love them open-book exams. If there weren't any I'd be so screwed. My second exam also went ok. And I got three eggs instead of two when I cracked them that morning, as pictured. Isn't that supposed to be lucky or something? Coincidentally in the exam the problem questions turned out to be problem questions that I pwnd in class...fancy that! So all I had to do was copy everything I'd written down. Again, thank God for open book exams.
I wish I could say the same thing about my last exam, but as I've just said, it was a living nightmare and I just wanted to go home. I know I passed, that's for sure. I just...was hoping I could've done better. It was my fault for not studying smart enough. Doh! Oh well. I've got the next three months of freedom ahead of me so there's no point crying over spilled milk. Guess we'll see when exams results come out hey. Oh but the cherry on top for me was Viriya taking us out for a nice family dinner at Holy Basil in Canley Heights. I can see what everyone's been saying about their deep fried ice-cream because it was absolutely to die for. I was also craving nem cao, which I satisfied last night. Their som tum was nice because their paw paw was crunchy. Definitely eating there again. And I can see myself craving food from there when I'm pregnant so that's really saying something. WOOT for holidays. I have so much planned in the next couple weeks. It's Christmas soon too...YAYYYYY.

Golden Key New Member Reception

2011-11-08T12:40:00.003+11:00

The biggest event in the Golden Key calendar is always the New Member Reception. This is where we induct all the new members who received an invitation into the society. Due to many resignations within our Executive committee, we were reduced to a three-woman team...three! So we were all hands on deck leading up to this big day, which happened to be the day of my birthday. The whole ceremony went smoothly up until it came to the Vice Chancellor's speech when the screensaver of our projector came up...with my photos from my USB. Oh the embarrassment! Thank God I didn't have any photos from me giving birth...LOL that would have been SO fail, FML. We had a lot of guest speakers at the ceremony, including Sacha (aka Alex) who spoke about his new book. It's hard to believe I went to high school with him, he's so pro now haha.

After all the speakers and guest speakers, awards were then presented to the Committee. I was proud to receive my certificate of recognition as the Chapter Treasurer.

Then we moved onto handing out the certificates to the new members. This was the most tedious part of the ceremony. There were a few mishaps, especially when peoples names got called and they didn't have a certificate, or vice versa. The latter was worse because the recipient would just be standing there waiting for their name to get called and it wouldn't. I guess it's small lessons like these that we've learnt for next year's reception. The final part of the Ceremony was the reading of the Charge. This was where the recipients were asked to stand and take a vow to be the best they could possibly be for their chapter. I had the honour of reading it :)

And last but not least, at the conclusion of the ceremony was the 'light lunch' that we had to provide for the students, their families and our guests. And my gosh were we in for a surprise.

Photography by Nancy Trieu

This was, by far, the best lunch that we have ever served at a New Member Reception. All thanks to our President who did such an amazing job at organising this arrangement. I'm so glad she got President again for next year. I'm even more glad that I'm the VP for 2012. We have such an awesome committee. The bar has been raised, and the standards have been set. I can't wait to see what we come up with next year.

Standing Tall

2011-11-04T13:46:00.001+11:00

If you don't have me on Facebook, then you wouldn't have seen the photos that I put up of my little boy trying to stand up on his own....my cutiepie! I was soooo proud of him!

Alphabet Mat, courtesy of Ace & Jess.
I can't believe how fast time has flown. I can still remember when he couldn't crawl yet, let alone stand up on his own. His first birthday is coming up too...RAH more planning and stress to worry about. On top of this I've got exams around the corner and I am barely ready for any of them. I seriously can't wait til exams are over. Because then all I have to look forward to is nothing but Athiya & I at home doing whatever I bloody want instead of trying to fit in study time when he falls asleep. I also have another wedding to go to, but I got offered a shift to work at Stereosonic from 10.30am til 11pm, which is on the same day. The pay would be EPIC. But oh well. At least I've got an excuse to go shopping. Anyways, time to get my study on. I doubt I'll be blogging anything except rants and whatnot for the next couple of weeks. Either that or I'll be MIA. Guess we'll find out. Ciao dearies.

P.S. The Golden Key AGM was held earlier this week and guess who's the new Vice President....me! :) No doubt being Treasurer for the year was fun, but I figured it was time for me to step my game up. Maybe next year I'll run for President...maybe.

My Birthday Part III @ Quarter 21 - Girlies

2011-10-28T15:04:00.004+11:00

I had planned to take my girlies out for lunch at Quarter 21 in the city for my birthday and it turns out that they ended up taking me. I'm swear to God I'm spoilt rotten. So I met them outside, and I requestfully ordered our drinks (& a toast for moi !)

I thought that the group menu might be easier, so we all went with that. And we all got the same entree LOL.

Caramelised suckling pig, white asparagus, garlic, malted milk, honey & pistachio

OMG white asparagus! I didn't even notice the honey. There were three choices to choose from for each course, so I was happy for more diversity with our mains haha :P

Marie & Alex's rib and rolled loin of Riverina lamb, peas, mint & balsamic

My roast skate wing, stuffed courgette flower, fennel, crab & noilly prat

Jesse's grilled Rangers Valley bavette with heirloom carrots, fricassée of mushrooms & jus poivre

I can't believe how long it's been since I last saw my girlies...since my graduation! And Alex I hadn't seen in frikkin yonks lol. But in a way it's sort of good, because then it makes our catch-up talks more juicy haha.

Then it was dessert, my favourite course of every meal.

Jesse and Marie's banana crème brulée, salted peanut brittle & milk coffee sorbet

My warm 68% Alto Beni Zokoko chocolate pudding, orange & tonka bean ice cream

Alex's spiced baba, citrus, white chocolate mousse & buttermilk sorbet

Then my girlies gave me my presents... TOTALLY unexpected :O

NGAW and I even got a personalised card! And inside the BIG box...

As pictured:

I also got a 10 pack box of OPI's Best of the Best collection nail polish which I LOVE LOVE LOVE! And I will be camwhoring my nails for you all to see in due course ;) THANKYOU to my ladies for an AMAZING lunch out! (Even though I had every intention of it being my shout, but was adamantly refused...even the waiter told me off for wanting to pay for my birthday lol). This was probably the highlight of my entire birthay... thankyou to my beautiful ladies! Me love you long time ♥ ♥ ♥

My Birthday Part II @ Universal - Vizfizz

2011-10-27T00:14:00.000+11:00

My whole day was taken up by Golden Key responsibilities (which I will happily blog about once I get a hold of all the photos!), which meant that the only time I really got with Viz & Athiya was in the morning and late afternoon. Viz made me breakfast, and then I rushed off to get my nails done. Typical me.

French tips.

Note that I took this photo a couple days ago, so my nails aren't as perfect looking as they really were lol. Anyways, I quickly rushed back home to get changed, and then I had a Golden Key ceremony at my uni which went from 10am-4.30pm (like I said, my whoooole day was gone...boo). But Viz & Athiya came around 2, and they watched me deliver my pre-written speech :) After that, we went shopping a Parra. Then we went home, got changed, dropped Athiya off to Ariya & Mel's, and had dinner at Universal in Darlinghurst.

I quite like the setting of the restaurant. It was outdoors, but I wasn't cold because of their outdoor heaters. The restaurant seems dark, but it's not really. It set the ambience nicely. I, of course, ordered our drinks. They have the funniest cocktail names. Viriya ordered a 'Designated Driver' and I had ordered a 'Missionary' cocktail, which I can't remember it's exact name.

Viriya's 'Designated Driver' and my 'Missionary' cocktail.

Then the waiter explained the menu to us. The light meals started at the start of the menu, and went all through to the heaviest meals. And naturally, we ordered two light meals for our entree and two heavy ones for our main.

spanner crab, watercress, mint and coconut salad, green chilli salsa

hiramasa kingfish tartare, sweet grilled eel, ginger sesame seaweed, shiso and finger lime

We ate half the meal, and then switched. We both enjoyed the spanner crab, which is what we remembered from our cooking class. The gap between each meal was just a tadbit tedious, albeit enough time for photos, of course.

Then finally our mains came. We made sure not to order too much so as to not deprive ourselves of dessert.

sichuan pepper mandarin duck,green bean sambal and XO chilli

rare roasted lamb, garam masala potatoes, peas and spinach pakoras

I was SO excited for dessert, not only because Universal is renowned for being in the top 10 for the best dessert (and 2 Chef Hats and I have the hugest sweet tooth), but their entire dessert menu sounded absolutely to die for.

gaytime goes nuts

mocha bomb

I am seriously speechles when it comes to these desserts. I LOVED them. In fact, I would happily go back and have three courses of desserts. They were just absolutely AMAZING. I'm so glad Viz took me here. It was the perfect choice!

♥♥♥

We even tipped the waiter because not only was the service really great, but I just couldn't get over how amazing their desserts were. Seriously! Anyways, we ended the night with going to the movies and watching What's Your Number. It was such a cute movie, sort of similar to Bridesmaids but not as vulgar lol. LOVE to my Vizzfizz for a memorable birthday xx

My Birthday Part I - Familia

2011-10-26T14:04:00.002+11:00

Viriya's dad and I share the same birthday, fancy that! So since Viriya had intended that he celebrate my birthday with me, and since my family also wanted to celebrate my birthday, they had planned dinner for both our families at Din Tai Fung in World Square on the night before the 15th. I wish I had taken more photos :(

It's soo cute the way the restaurant cranked up their azn rendition of 'Happy Birthday' when they brought the cake out, all for everyone to stop eating and look up to find out who's birthday it is. There were 13 of us on our table, and the restaurant didn't take bookings, which meant that we had waited 2 hours for our table. I say it was well worth the wait, considering the restaurant being well-known for having the best dumplings and I totally just loved their happy birthday song. I got so many presents that night that I can't be bothered taking photos of all of them. No doubt I love what everyone got me, but I'll leave you all with these two, because both are probably the things I wear the most often nowadays.

Thanks Faye!

Thanks KC!

Both my siblings must have gotten the memo about my love for coffee and mimco... teehee ♥

Hannah's birthday @ Foveaux

2011-10-21T16:12:00.000+11:00

On Thursday 13th October, I took my girl Hannah out for dinner for her belated-birthday at Foveaux in Surry Hills. I wasn't expecting the restaurant to be the way it was, not in a bad way of course. It was probably because it was very dimly lit with soft piano music playing in the background. Everyone must have thought we were lezobians walking in together AHAHA. Then again, what else would you expect from a Chef's Hat restaurant? Bear in mind that this entry is very photo heavy, filled with extensive food porn. As per our birthday tradition, Hannah chose our drinks:

'Passion Sorbet' and 'Think Twice'

Not long after our drinks were served, we were given complimentary amuse bouche.

Curry, lentils and warm yoghurt soup

To be honest, I found the amuse bouche really powdery. It must have been the curry or something. I wasn't really a fan. But meh, it was complimentary anyways, and I had booked the table a week ahead. I arranged for us to have the 6-course tasting menu and being the food critics that we were, we ate half the dish, and then swapped. Because we're awesome like that.

Soused sardines, vongole, white gazpacho, yellow capsicum butter, parsley and toast

Buffalo ricotta cannoli, cucumber, tomato, olive and provencal herbs

I love how nicely presented all their dishes were omgsh. Between the two, I like the cannoli better.

Caramalised pork belly, ceviche prawn, black pudding puree, shiso and prawn rice cracker

Crispy chicken wings, morel cream, sweet corn, jamon, scampi and basil

I'm a bit confused with their online menu so I'm not sure that I've captioned the meals above correctly. Meh. They were delicious anyways.

Roast king salmon, zucchini puree,cuttle fish, green olive jelly, coriander and popped skin.

Roast palmers island mulloway, bouillabaisse foam, white polenta, black olive and tomato

I can really appreciate how much work went into the puree and presentation after attending that cooking class. Personally, I like the zucchini puree better than the other one.

Wakame roasted lamb rump, squid ink, salt and pepper tofu, miso puree and fennel

Braised shin, smoked sirloin, swede, celeriac and toasted pearl barley foam

The squid ink didn't taste like anything. And the miso puree was interesting. I wonder how they pureed a something soup-based. The sirloin was ok, I found it a tad overcooked, but I quite liked the puree that accompanied it. That was the final main that we were served and after that we were served complimentary pre-desert:

Spiced apples with milk sorbet and bread crumbs.

Apparently this was supposed to clean the palate for the main dessert. The bread crumbs were heaps crunchy, but I found the whole dish amazing.

Salad of pineapple, milk sorbet and macadamia nut praline, with bananas.

Ginger sponge, carrot marmalade, cream cheese ice cream and walnut powder, with chocolate fudge.

Again, I'm not too sure if I got the dessert right in terms of the captions because I just copied from their menu online but it doesn't look right lol. I'm glad that they stuck a candle in for Hannah's dessert though. And they even added fudge for her! The milk sorbet was absolutely divine. But I liked the pre-dessert better than both, to be honest.

Happy birthday to my pretty babe! Thanks for being the one person I can bitch, hate and rant to and for being so into food the way I am. I love you to moon and back! ♥

P.S. Now I bet you're all dying for me to blog about my birthday hey? I have a heap load of pictures from my special day, so be patient kids. Muah x

Ariya and Mela's Wedding

2011-10-14T16:23:00.000+11:00

I know it was awhile ago, and so much has happened in between, but I finally got a hold of some photos from Ariya and Mela's wedding. It was over three days, starting with an afternoon garden wedding on Friday at The Dairy, Western Sydney Parklands in Abbotsbury.

Photography by Sarah-Kate McAleer

I nearly cried watching Mela come down the aisle. She was so beautiful! The whole wedding was beautiful. I really loved their theme - like a teaparty. I remember the weather was gorgeous, especially after a week of rain. Catrine, who was the witness at Viz & I's wedding, was the celebrant for the wedding so everyone who was there included very close family and friends only. This was completely different to their soukhoane/baci which was the next day. I remember freaking out because Viz and I thought we were so late, but thank God for Asian time. That morning I was so excited to wear sinh, and Viriya's mum was kind enough to get me a pink one to wear for the day. I also remembered to put in the SD card in the camera but then later found out that it was full and I hadn't emptied the card yet. How fail. Luckily Kerry gave us a spare one and I was able to snap up some shots then. We got to Mel's house in the morning and because we were from the groom's side we had to wait outside. Then the hae keuy procession began to the house.

We were told to make heaps of noise LOL. So there was lots of singing and cheering and screaming. Then there was a negotiation process where a 'price' was agreed so that Ariya could enter the house. Then finally when a price was agreed on, the ceremony started.

After that there was a huge lunch served in Mel's backyard followed by heaps of photos.

Later that night was the reception at Roma Function Centre in Liverpool. I'm spewing at the moment because I have apparently lost all my photos that I took on the night. FML! So these photos are the ones that Mel gave me. As family, we got to the function centre early, and soon the whole room was filled - with over 600 guests! HUGE. First there was speeches and addresses, and then entree was served. Then Mel did a Lao dance which she dedicated to her Mum.

Following that, the main meal was served, and then AA and Mela did their lam vong.

Soonafter, Mela changed into her wedding dress and they eventually cut the cake. This was my (& Kerry's lol) queue to change out of sinh and into our evening dresses. Again, I am absolutely S P E W I N G that I have no photos from my camera :(

Congratulations AA and Mela! I've never had an older sister (or brother...but I inherited AA on the day of Me and Viz's wedding lolol) so I'm glad that I have Mela to look up to now ♥ It was a beautiful night, and I think they did an awesome job at putting everything together in the amount of time that they had.

Quidditch!

2011-10-07T15:11:00.000+11:00

On Thursday 29th September at 9:30am, I got my wizarding robes on and graduated from my Arts degree at UWS. And it's about. Freaking. Time. I have been absolutely waaaiting to graduate from my degree since I missed out last semester because I was one subject short. But no matter! I finally got my robes, my hat and my testamur on this momentous occasion.

It was funny because I was actually late on the day. I was supposed to register at 8am that morning but being slothful me I rocked up at 8.45 and the queue for robes and checking in was horrendous. But I made it on time, thankfully. The ceremony wasn't til 9.30am so I thought I would be ok for time, and I was.

My girlies :) They were the best surprise I got that morning. I can't believe they came all that way! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I really don't know how I made it to the ceremony on time. Lucky my seat was right next to the door on the side when I walked in.

First the Chancellor said his speech, then there was the first round of awards, and then more speeches, and then finally moi walking across the stage.

That walk across the stage was such a trek! I kept telling myself not to stack it in front of everyone or else that would be an epic GG. But luckily I didn't. Because I'm awesome.

Oh and did I mention what Viz got for me for my graduation present?

These capsules are AMAZING! Volutto, my favourite! ♥ Heaven can wait :)

Altitude - Make Me A Chef Cooking Class

2011-09-30T10:35:00.000+10:00

On Saturday 17th, Viriya and I attended Altitude's Make Me A Chef Cooking Class at their restaurant on top of Shangri La Hotel in the city, courtesy of Jesse; our belated wedding present! Awarded One Chef's Hat in 2011, I had always wanted to go to Altitude. And to go to a cooking class held by the Executive Chef of the Restaurant was an added bonus. We had stayed at the Shangri La before (our wedding day, thanks Alison & Maria!) so we weren't that unfamiliar with the place. But nonetheless the views were still absolutely breathtaking.

I like that the restaurant is on top of the hotel. But it's a little odd that it's not part of it. It's a pity Altitude doesn't serve lunch either. But oh well. We got the whole restaurant to ourselves!

We were in a group of 12, and received champagne on arrival. After everyone had arrived we met the chef and he took us into the private dining room where our kitchen benches were. We worked in pairs, and again, the view from where we cooked at was stunning. Talk about cooking distractions.

For most of the morning, all we did was watch Steve (our chef) do cooking demonstrations, and everyone took turns in chopping up some veggies or whatnot. It was a shame we didn't get to use our stove-tops. So technically we didn't really "cook" anything that morning. The top-ups of champagne and water were a nice touch though. Soon after we moved back into the main dining room to watch another demonstration. Then after that we made some pasta. This is where all the fun stuff started happening.

We had fun making linguine and angel hair spaghetti. But with our dough we were all taught to make tortellinis. Everyone kept taking the huge circle cut-outs so Viz & I had to use the small ones instead. When we were all done, Steve put them all in a big pot of boiling water.

Apparently our tortellinis were the most interesting looking ones he's ever seen! LOL. Not bad for beginners aye? Anyways, after that we all had a go at deboning a fish!

You would think that after all the hard work we put into getting the food ready we would at least get to eat it. But we didn't. What we got was even better. A two-course lunch of the perfected version of what we made that day.

I'd usually caption what we ate but since our meals were not on the current menu, I can't label what we've eaten. All I can say is that both meals were divine. The purees were so smooth and creamy and the tortellinis were light. We also got matching wines with each meal, which didn't sit too well with me because I was totally tipsy by the end of the second meal. But afterwards when they served the petite fours and coffee my tipsiness went away. It was such a beautiful meal! I'd gladly go to Altitude again for dinner. It's a bit hard to say what the best thing to eat is because there's no real signature dish. But all in all, it was fun cooking class with a down-to-earth chef, and a meal fit for a king. LOVE. Thankyou so much Jesse! It was a wedding present I'll never forget.

P.S. I officially graduated from my Arts degree yesterday! Photos up soon, stayed tuned xxx

Before...

2011-09-26T14:27:00.000+10:00

I got a haircut last weekend. And fyi the pictures above are from before I got it cut. And my oh my it's terribly short now. But that's not to say I don't like it. In fact, I was actually quite bored of my long dead locks. Especially my t.b. orange tips, which was unintentional of course... and same with my horrendous regrowth. And even if I continue to list the numerous imperfections of my rough, dry, split-ended hair, I can't deny that I miss it. I guess that's what I get for jumping into rash decisions and chopping it all off. If/When I grow some balls I'll take some pictures of my bald head. JKS. As if I'd cut it that short. Or would I..

Anyways, I'm officially on my midsem break...woo! Which means more time to finally catch up on some study, and more time to blog of course. Also this week I finally graduate from my Arts degree. HELL TO THE YES. I really hope it doesn't rain though. That'll be so fail. Especially since the marquee is on the grass. How the hell are people going to take nice photos on a crap rainy day??!

So yeah back to study now. Btw like the new layout guys? I got bored of the old one...just like my hair. LAWL.

Love On Top

2011-09-19T14:12:00.000+10:00

Baby it's you,
You're the one I love
You're the one I need
You're the only one I see
Come on baby it's you,
You're the one that gives your all
You're the one I can always call
When I need you make everything stop
Finally you put my love on top

* * *

I love this song. And I love bludging. Especially when I have essays worth 50% due LAWL. I put the PRO in procrastinate like that.

Four In Hand Dining

2011-09-16T13:52:00.000+10:00

On Sunday 11th September, the day before our three year anniversary, Viriya surprised me by taking me to our first two chef hat restaurant, Four In Hand Dining in Paddington. It was a little bit of a trek getting there, and it was pretty busy for a Sunday afternoon too. Viriya, my lovingly adorable husband, put so much effort into not watching the footy which was on in the bar next door. And it was worst for him because where we were seated was right next to the window looking into the bar. Poor bubba.

♥

It didn't take us that long to order because we sort of already knew what we were getting. We also distinctively both had a small breakfast so as to be sure we ate everything. Soon after we ordered, the waitress came out and gave us our entree, which was not what we ordered, but were compliments of the chef.

Amuse Bouche, smoked fish soup with orange and lemon

I quite liked the taste of the soup. Pretty tangy, but nice.The tiny tea cups that they were served in were adorable!

What I love about fine dining is how the waiters and waitresses keep such a firm eye on you, making sure that as soon as you finish your dish, the next one comes out promptly. So as soon as we finished our soup, our entree which we ordered, came out fresh.

Tuna Sashimi with Avocado, Apple Jelly and Snow

We were told that there were a few updates to the menu that day, and instead of having seared bonito it was replaced with tuna sashimi. I liked it nonetheless, and I don't know how much of a difference there would have been if we had the bonito instead. As pictured, we shared the entree so that we would have enough room for our main.

Twelve-hour braised lamb shoulder with kipfler mashed potatoes, yoghurt, baby carrots, salsa verde and rosemary jus, for two people.

I'm glad that we already had an idea of what to order before we came. It was good as well because what we ordered wasn't on the menu, but a lunch special. I really like that it was cut up for us before we sank our teeth into it.

Voila!

I figured out that the meal had the best combination of flavours. And this I figured out by putting bits of everything in one bite. Absolutely divine. The other really thing that I love about this meal is how it's in The 50 things every Sydney food lover should try. Awesome, no?

I'm really surprised that we managed to finish all it. But in doing so, we had absolutely no more room left in our stomachs for dessert. Which is a shame because not everyday does one get to taste the entree, main and dessert of a two hat restaurant. but considering the big hole in our wallets as it was, we passed on dessert and paid our bill.

I know it doesn't look like much from the outside, but I can say now that this restaurant is one of my favourites. I hope that the next time I visit their standards haven't changed. Then again, it's sort of no surprise coming from a two-hat restaurant. One should expect nothing less!

Thankyou for a wonderful day out. You always know what makes me smile (and what makes me cry..grrr!), but nonetheless you spoil me rotten. Thankyou for three amazing years, and one beautiful son. Happy Anniversary! I love you forever Vizfizz! xxx

Practically Perfect

2011-09-14T08:57:00.001+10:00

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS :)

I can't believe how amazing this musical was. It was just so good. This is by far my favourite musical that I have see thus far and I would happily see it two, maybe even three times more. My favourite character was Mary Poppins. She was cast practically perfect in every way. And my favourite scene was the one above. I really don't want to spoil anything for you guys. It is an absolute must that you see it before the season ends. A must. GOOOOO :)

P.S. Viz & I went to see it for our 3 year anniversary. Like omgwtfbbqsauce we've been together three years already??! He not only took me to Mary Poppins but we went out for lunch as well, which I'll blog about soon enough once I get through another uni essay. So stay tuned. Ciao dearies!

Athiya's Christening

2011-09-11T07:40:00.000+10:00

So the other day we finally got photos from Athiya's christening, from May. We had it at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta - the same church where Viz & I got married. And the priest who baptised our little baby was Father Wim - the same priest who married us. How special! From what I can clearly remember, even though I had help with the planning and preparations for the day, I was surprised to find how stressed I was in the morning whilst getting everything set up in the hall. But thanks to our lovely friends, we had all the help we needed with the food, table, music and decorations.

We decided to have his Christening in the chapel instead of the Cathedral because we didn't have a massive amount of people just like our wedding. And also because I think the Chapel is absolutely gorgeous.

Father Wim was nice enough to wait for people to arrive instead of starting right on the dot. That was lucky for us to because Athiya wasn't properly dressed so we had enough time to get him changed. Soon enough the ceremony started. First with readings, and then a short homily.

Then after the readings, we headed to the front of the chapel, where the font was, and then the water was blessed.

I'm so proud of Athiya because he didn't cry at all! In fact he was asleep for most of the ceremony haha. But I heard that if babies don't cry during their baptism it means they're strong-willed or something. My strong little boy!

Proud parents.

Right after the ceremony, and after a billion photos taken with our very large familes, we proceeded to the church hall for lunch. I'm glad a lot of our family each brought food because if they hadn't, I'm pretty sure that there wouldn't have been enough food for everyone. Which would have been so fail.

I pretty much begged my parents if they could bring spit roast for lunch. And they happily obliged. Apparently my dad woke up at 2.30am that morning just so they could roast it. LOVE my dad.

The final product.

The other thing that I was pretty insistent on was the cake. Thankyou to Viz's mum for getting exactly what I wanted, from the flavour write down to the writing on the cake. It was delicious.

On a side note, the "speech" that we made that day was totally on the spot. I hope we didn't forget anyone in our list of thankyou's. We had so much help that I really don't know what we could have done without everyone. Thankyou thankyou thankyou! And lastly, a few of my favourite shots from the day:

My favourite people ♥ ♥ ♥

Photography by James Zhao

Father's Day

2011-09-10T23:16:00.003+10:00

I seem to not only be neglecting this blog, but also my camera which I have failed to get any good photos of this momentous occasion: Viriya's first father's day. I managed pulled myself out of bed in the early hours of Sunday morning to make him pancakes and bacon & eggs with milo, aka breakfast in bed. Then we spent the remainder of the day shopping and visiting my parents, and then later that night we had dinner with Viz's family to celebrate both Father's Day and AA's 24th birthday. It's been such a busy week that I'm surprised I've managed to find the time to blog. Speaking of which, the other significant event that has also heavily impacted my studies is the sudden death and funeral of the pastor at my church. I never thought I'd ever experience losing someone of such close proximity to me; someone who I've known since my childhood, and a very close friend to not only me, but my family. It was a sad day and up until now I can say that I'm still shaken up by all of it. RIP Fr. R Bray.

Houeswarming & Athiya's Soukhouane

2011-09-04T11:01:00.001+10:00

On Saturday 27th August, we celebrated a combined baby blessing ceremony, the soukhouane (pronounced "soo-kwan") for Athiya and our house-warming with both Viriya's & my family. We totally stressed out during the days leading up to it, not only because the whole house was a total mess, but also because we weren't too sure if we would be able to fit everyone, particulary Viz's very large extended family. But thankfully we did, and it was lucky that a lot of people came to help out with setting up and cooking food.

The phakhouane

I'm glad that Viz's mum and all his aunties came early and set everything up. Everything had their own place. Even Viz & I's place of seating was carefully placed as well. We were told that we had to sit in the east.

I guess that's a sneak preview of our living room xP I can't believe we managed to fit everyone inside. We must have had forty or so people come over that day. I am quite impressed! Anyways, we started the ceremony with chanting, and Viriya's dad presided. Then afterwards, everyone gave us their blessings by tying white strings ('sai sin') around our wrists.

Athiya was pretty calm at the start of the ceremony, but towards the end he got super cranky and he fully chucked a tantrum. Poor bubba. It was because he hadn't had his afternoon nap. So soon enough he conked out and everyone went ahead with tying sai sin around his wrists.

Oh yeah and our son is now cashed up as well lol. Lucky thing. We haven't counted how much he received that day, but I know it was a fair amount.

I'm happy that both our families were there. I'm more happy that my family enjoyed themselves as well because I know they had never been to a soukhouane before and they were probably freaking out about what to do, but in the end they were happy with all of it. Food was amazing as well because there was just so much! Thankyou so much to Vizfizz for cleaning the balcony because if he hadn't then we wouldn't have been able to barbecue all our mouthwatering food. We had so much left over, which is good because that means no cooking for this week.. woot woot.

Photography by KC Chittasy

:)

2011-08-29T12:00:00.003+10:00

Ryan & Maria got us this awesome present for our house yesterday. I absolutely love it. Beacuse it's so fitting for our mansion HAHA. But Viriya and I are too scared to put it outside our door because we don't want anyone to steal it. So what we're gonna do instead is put it out only when we have guests over, and then bring it back in when they go home. That's what I call being careful right thurr LOLOL. On a side note, I got my last installment of my scholarship money last week. And instead of paying my HECS fees as I've done in the previous years I decided to to spend it. Because I can. And my gosh its such an awesome feeling being able to spend heaps without feeling guilty. But it's sort of sad at the same time knowing that as of the moment I decided to spend, I have incurred a HECS debt. But it was sort of inevitable because my scholarship was only for four years, and my course is five...and a half. So in a way, that means I have a HECS debt of 2 years of my course...eff me :(

2011-08-19T11:43:00.002+10:00

He grabs my wrists as my fingers turn into angry fists. And I whisper, "Why can't you love me, I'll change for you...I'll play the part..."

And I say baby, yes I feel stupid to call you but I'm lonely,

And I don't think you meant it when you said you couldn't love me,

And I thought maybe if I kissed the way you do... you'd feel it too...

He said, "I'm sorry."

I'm Sorry

2011-08-17T10:04:00.001+10:00

“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.” - David Harkins

I am not even going to begin to try to express my condolences for M's loss. Because I don't know what it feels like to really lose someone. The only thing comparable to what I can empathise with is her pain. Because as much as I don't know what it feels like to have someone close to you pass away, I know what it feels like to hurt. RIP D Souvannavong.

PS. I'm Sorry - There's something about this song that makes me want to cry every time I listen to it. Sigh.

Ori's 30th

2011-08-08T11:22:00.003+10:00

A few Saturday's ago we were invited to Viz's cousin's 30th at Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove. I'd driven past there so many times before and it's been awarded "two schooners" by the SMH Good Food Pub Guide 2011 so I was keen on seeing how good it was....and the food was so good. Viz & I went upstairs into the Garden Terrace and quickly ate dinner while watching the Rugby, which was obviously Viz's idea lol. The terrace was heaps nice too. Then after the game we hung around the pokies for a bit before heading back down to the Under Bar for Ori's.

Happy 30th Ori!

Luuuucy ♥

looosers.

It was a good night, and I'm glad that Athiya was just around the corner when we went to pick him up. I guess it won't be like that anymore from where we're staying at lolol. Speaking of which, our new place is still in an absolute mess...sort of. I've managed to squeaky clean the kitchen and both bathrooms (aha! Yes we have two in our new place :p), put all our clothes away in their rightful places in our wardrobes, and I've sort of caught up with our evergrowing basket of laundry. I have yet to put away my old textbooks and unpack 3 boxes of "miscellaneous stuff". But overall, our place is livable lol. I can't believe the first week of uni has already gone by. I haven't started any of my readings which means I'm already behind. Gg.

FINALLY.

2011-08-05T09:17:00.003+10:00

To my ultimate surprise, I've managed to neglect this blog for the majority of the holidays. Which is sort of understandable because a lot happened and now I find myself blogging at work (like always) and uni has already started. LAME. But despite this I managed to get heaps of stuff crossed off my holiday to-do list such as having dinner with all the friends that I said I would have dinner with at the start of holidays; getting my full license...which was long overdue but I finally got them; and most importantly, Viriya & I finally moved into our "Mansion". YUP. Because that's exactly what it is in comparison to our tiny tiny granny flat. And I can genuinely say that it has everything that we were looking for (plus so much more) in an apartment and we fell in love with it the moment we stepped into the front door at its inspection. I'm so happy we were able to snap it up. I won't take photos. Dear friends, you must come visit us and see for yourselves :)

Hairspray The Musical

2011-08-04T10:19:00.002+10:00

The best thing about being a frequent Ticketmaster user is the type of deals they offer. Like the other day I got tickets for Viz & I to see Hairspray in Premium Reserve seating for the price of one A-reserve ticket. Feckyeeeea. Our seats were right in the middle in the front of the Stalls so that was awesome. I don't know where to begin if you ask me how the show was. It was absolutely spectacular. Vocals and chori were amazing. All characters played their roles so superbly and I think my favourite character is Velma von Tussel. The show was full of SO much energy that I seriously wouldn't mind seeing it again. Totally can't wait to watch the movie and see how it compares.

Vizzfizz's 22nd Birthday

2011-07-15T13:50:00.000+10:00

On Sunday the 10th of July my husband turned 22 and it was such a fantabulous day. Please note that this entry is extremely photo heavy (of course) so better watch that badwidth kids. The plan in the morning was that I was supposed to take my love to breakfast but that didn't happen because he asked me yesterday if he could sleep in. So that plan failed lol. But that was ok because that meant that we both got a good night's sleep. So anyways, I drove to Chatswood for a surprise family lunch at Kam Fook Yum Cha :)

I'm such a dork for not taking that many photos at yum cha, but I know it was a nice surprise for Viz to see his family there. After that we went to his parent's place for cake. And my gosh I was totally looking forward to it!

Happy Birthday baby :)

Of course I got this cake for my love considering how much he loves watermelons, as if I wouldn't. I'm happy he was happy when he saw it :)

LOOOOOOVE ♥

Thankyou sooo much to Viz's cousins Ori & Sury for picking up the cake! I was so completely stressed out because I ran out of time to pick it up myself. I don't know what I would have done without them. At about 4.30, we took Viz to surprise #2. Viz wanted to drive there so I let him...with the exception that we nav there lol. And we nav'd all the way to G-zee's place in Bankstown, and then to Minto GoKarts :)

The boys

We got to Fastlane Gokarts in Minto at about 5.15pm, but we had to wait for a few latecomers to come even though some of them were literally working 10 minutes away (AHERM RYAN). Then the boys signed up for their licenses and did their first run. And the result...

Chittasy boys

My winner ;)

Coincidence? I think not! Either that or there must have been some major sucking up to Viz since it was his birthday LOLOL. And out of all the shots I took while those boys were racing this was the most decent:

Lame how its all blurry. But anyways. After that Viz had to accompany KC to drop AA off, and so in the meantime the rest of us headed off to dinner at Seven Hills RSL. Why Sevo? Just because :)

Our table minus me lol

Both tables.

Well actually I chose Sevo RSL because I'm bedazzled by their chocolate fountain and their sushi train. And for $21.80 for all-you-can-eat, HELL to the YES. But I was a tadbit disappointed with their azn-fob waitresses who couldn't understand a thing I told them - especially regarding bringing out Viz's cake. I specifically told them to wait 20mins and what does the fob do? She brings the cake out straight away. DOH-MAAA?!!

But it was ok. Because my love was happy when he recognised where it came from :)

Oh and the other thing, because the waitress brought it out straight away instead of waiting 20mins like I told her, the cake didn't thaw for long enough which means it was literally solid frozen.

I'm glad that when I bought the cake the Glace lady told me how to cut it. Or it would've been gg trying to cut through the chocolate LOLOL. I guess it was sort of gg anyways because it was solid-frozen, but it was fun [?] trying to cut through it and make some sort of slices from it AHAHAHA.

My gosh I really should have thought it through about thawing the ice-cream. How fail. But eventually we managed to get everyone a slice including ourselves.

And one lucky last surprise....

So Viz is now a proud owner a Motorola Xoom Tablet and I must say I am extremely happy that everyone that came was happy to chip in, despite me nagging them to come gokarting and dinner. Thankyou to everyone who played a part of Viz's special day. My special mention goes to [1] Ryan for hooking me up with the tablet in the first place & getting me a good price for it, despite how far-fetched it was LOLOL, [2] Ace & Jess for picking up the cake from Glace and storing in the freezer.. I was totally freaking out about where I was gonna store it for the whole day. And most importantly: all of Viz's friends who helped me organise his birthday and were able to share his birthday with him, whether physically or financially lol. It really means a lot! ♥♥♥

First Anniversary ♥

2011-07-09T19:33:00.000+10:00

On Sunday 3rd July Viriya & I celebrated our First anniversary and it was amazing. I don't want to ramble on too much because the pictures say it all. We pretty much lazed around in the morning and after dropping Athiya off to our parents' place we made our way to The Rocks and prepared ourselves for an exhilarating experience...climbing the Harbour Bridge!

Halfway up

The Top! East side.

West-side

It was seriously SO. F#CKING. AMAZING! I'm so glad we got the night-session because while climbing up the sun was setting and then climbing down we had the city night scene. Absolutely gorgeous. At the end of the climb we ended up getting all the photos, evidently. After that we had dinner at Tokyo Ria in World Square (again, just can't get enough Jap food lol), then we watched Transformers 3. When we got home we ended up staying up playing on our new phones. I am now the proud owner of a Samsung Google Nexus S, and Viriya now owns a Samsung Galaxy S II. It was such a beautiful day, and I can't believe it's been a year since our wedding day. We've had such a tumultuous year, with some moments bumpier than others, but we have nonetheless pulled through and are undoubtedly stronger than ever. I love you Viriya! ♥♥♥

Lawn Bowls

2011-07-07T13:56:00.000+10:00

The day after Vee's 21st, Viz's cousin Sury celebrated his 26th birthday at Paddington Lawn Bowls. I know it's like wtflawnbowls??! But it was actually pretty fun.

Viz doing it like a pro

I honestly don't understand the technique with lawn bowls. Because the balls are weighted on one side so no matter how straight you try to roll it it will always curve. I felt like such a nooooob.

Ori teaching me...

Me noobing it -_- AHAHAHAHAH

Yup. I can't do lawn bowls for crap :( But it was fun anyhow. And Athiya enjoyed himself playing on the fake grass lol.

I really like how the pictures came out on my camera. They look so nice and bright. Cake was nice and bright too lol.

Transformer cake!

Birthday boy

It was such a lovely day to be playing lawn bowls. Lucy did an awesome job organising the event. Cake was nice too. It was heaps freezing by the time we finished our game though. But Viz was there to keep me warm teehee.

love.

Vee's 21st

2011-07-06T13:01:00.000+10:00

I know it's been aaages since I last blogged and as usual so much has happened, so hang in there while I get through all my happenings. On Friday 1st July it was Vee's birthday and she themed it "Favourite cartoons". She did such an awesome job dressed up as Totoro.

Totoro, Peaches, Super Mario LOL

As can be seen is Viriya & I's poor attempt at dressing up as Super Mario & Peaches LOL.

The macaroons were soooo good. In fact I think that they were so good that I had one too many. And mixed with one too many drinks resulted in my first and worst chunder I've ever experienced in my life. After that night I'm seriously never drinking again (maybe) LOL. I'm officially broke with all these birthdays and especially Viz's birthday coming up...rah :(

Cafe Sopra, Walsh Bay

2011-06-26T16:06:00.000+10:00

For KC's birthday we had a family dinner at Cafe Sopra in Walsh Bay. This was the day of the Sweet Tooth Tour so Viz & I thought we wouldn't be able to fit anything in for dinner but the wait in the queue extinguished our fullness. In fact, we waited in the queue for over an hour. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I guess it shows the quality of another Chef's Hat restaurant. Speaking of which, I totally was not expecting a cafe like this to be awarded a Hat. That's not to say that it's a bad cafe/restaurant or anything. It's more the fact that it's situated within Fratelli Fresh which is a grocer. I don't know. The way these restaurants get awarded just bemuses me.

My Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

KC's Crisp Polenta with Gorgonzola and Oyster Mushrooms

Viz's Linguine with Lemon Chilli & Pangrattato

The wait for the food was totally worth it. Well actually the food didn't take too long, but the waiting in the queue was worth it. It was only after eating the meal that you can tell that the worthiness of its Hat. It was a bit loud though, because the tables in the cafe were pretty squished together. But still, it was a nice family dinner.

Chittasy Extended Familia

Mine.

We didn't realise that Ariya & Mel had already pre-organised a cake for KC that night which meant that KC had two birthday cakes, one from La Bannette that we got from the Sweet Tooth Tour, and this one:

"Strawberry Mess"

I am completely in love with anything with meringue at the moment and so I thoroughly enjoyed eating this "mess". Happy 17th Birthday KC!

Travelicious Tours - Sydney Sweet Tooth Tour

2011-06-22T11:22:00.000+10:00

OHMAGAH I'VE FINALLY FINISHED EXAMS!!! That means more time to blog just like I said. So here are the pictures from the Sweet Tooth Tour that Viz took me on a few weeks ago for my Mother's Day present. Enjoy (:

The first place we went to was Sparkle Cupcakery on Foveaux Street in Surry Hills. The head pastry chef came out and gave us a little bit of history on how he started the store and where he gets his inspiration from, and most importantly we were given samples of their bestseller muffins & macaroons.

They've successfully managed to market themselves with David Jones who now sells them in the food hall in Bondi Junction and Pitt Street Sydney, which is heaps good. Well done to them! Our next stop was Black Star Pastry in Newtown.

This cafe/bakery is usually the last stop according to our tour guide, but they decided to reverse it because apparently people don't eat any of the samples anymore which is a crime lol. This was by far my favourite stop out of the entire tour. The cakes were absolutely amazing.

Banana bread macaroon

We started off with this macaroon which literally tasted like banana bread! And no, not bananas but banana bread. Then we tasted their infamous strawberry-watermelon cake with rose cream...

There was literally slices of watermelon in the cake! FRIKKIN. YUM. We then tried some of their gluten-free brownies and some danish pastry, which I won't put any pictures up because it just doesn't quiet cut it for me just like the strawberry watermelon cake above.

After that we headed to La Banette Boulangerie Patisserie in Glebe, after which point I was starting to panic because I wasn't sure if I would be able to fit anymore sweets in....but of course I fit it all in. The French-Vietnamese people were heaps nice to us, and were even reluctant to give us a particular sample only because they thought it wasn't fresh enough. How sweet of them.

The thing I noticed about this patisserie is how perfect-looking all their pies and tarts look, along with the smell of their freshly baked bread. Sonoma better watch out.

I like the placement of this stop in the tour because it meant that I had an appetite for something cool & light...like ice-cream! What I learnt from that day is that gelato is just Italian for ice-cream and that there's no difference. AHAHA talk about ignorant. The other cool thing about this ice-cream place, neatly tucked away in Leichhardt, is how everything in the shop was made of ice-cream. Like these boxes for instance.

It's so tempting to say cake when really they're not. Even the lady was getting annoyed about me saying cake all the time LOL. If ever in the summer there's a birthday party or something I am totally getting an ice-cream cake for the birthday girl/boy. The last and final stop was at Adriano Zumbo's Cafe in Balmain.

From left to right, top to bottom: Pandan, Salted caramel, Satay, Black sesame licorice & lime.

Clearly we must have picked a good day because it was wierd-flavoured-macaroon day, notwithstanding a nice salty caramel flavoured one. Because we'd been to Zumbos plenty of times before, and since Hannahbby used to work at the shop, I wasn't completely in awe of the shop like our tour guide said about everyone else. So yeah. Nothing too special about this one.

Did I mention that Viz & I were the only ones on the tour? Talk about VIP! All in all, it was such a beautiful day to be out eating beautiful tasting food. I love how hospitable the cafes and patisseries were (excluding Zumbo...bloody fame has gotten to their heads that they were too diva for us tbh) and of course loved the food that we got to sample. If only they did tours for Hat'd restaurants...now that would be awesome. What topped the day off for me was that we had dinner at Cafe Sopra that night. LOOOOOVE ♥

Toscanis

2011-06-21T15:36:00.002+10:00

I had breakfast with Hannah at Tosacani's Cafe Bar & Restaurant in Parramatta a few Saturdays ago. Regular coffee with this woman means there's some serious drama-shxt happening in our lives at the moment. So much drama, seriously.

Affogato

I very much like how they served my affogato. There are very few ways a cafe can serve such a drink and I really like how this one turned out. The next time I order this drink elsewhere I'm gonna fully scrutinize them and see if they can make it just as good as this one.

Hannah's BIG Breakfast - grilled bacon, poached eggs, chipolatas, hash brown, sauteed mushrooms, grilled roma tomatoes & thick toast

My Canadian Pancakes - stack of pancakes with bacon & maple syrup.

Whoever thought of mixing bacon & maple syrup with pancakes was an absolute genius. It sort of reminds of the McGriddle that I had in Japan with Viriya. Love it! Also love this girl right here:

Spuds.

As we were leaving, I realised that the waitress who served us was my friend Emma from primary school. What a small world! We didn't even recognise each other lol. I remember rushing home that day to get ready to have lunch at the Fish Market with Jen & Dan. Then the following day we had yumcha at Phoenix in Rhodes. This going-out-every-weekend really isn't doing my grades any good.

Mela's Hens

2011-06-18T12:51:00.000+10:00

On the Saturday 18th, after my exam, Amelia organised Mela's hens activities. We met up at her place in Neutral Bay and then we walked to Sydney Cooking School on Military Road. When I asked Amelia where we were going she said she made sure that what she planned for that day was in walkable distance. And indeed it was.

Inside the cookery it was soo warm, and our chef said that it was because room temperature needed to be warm to keep the chocolate soft & tempered. YUMMMMMMM.

Chef Brett & the blushing bride to be :)

So first Mela mixed the chocolate for the chocolate tart and then we rolled balls for our truffles. My truffles turned out so flat and unround. Hmph.

My ugly truffles. But Viriya loved them, so that's ok lol.

Our table of truffles

Then there was a scary encounter with a blow torch where we had to burn the tops of our creme broulee, and then finally (the best part..) we ate it!

The final result! Left to right: Fondant, Chocolate peice with rasberries, Chocolate tart, Creme Broulee

The fondant was my favourite. Apparently there was barely any self-raising flour put in which means it was just holding together and that the inside would be all gooey with chocolate...which it was :)

We were all completely stuffed by the end of it. But not Mela. Because Mela just loves her chocolate :)

After our cooking class, we headed back to Amelia's place and chilled for abit and then we carpooled to the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace and watched Bridesmaids. I swear it was such a vulgar movie, I really thought it was just your average chick flick (which, for the most part it was) but generally it was just like watching a guys movie except with girls... I don't know. But I must say it was extremely hilarious and it's one of those movies that if I get my hands on I'd watch over and over again. After the movie we went back to Amelia's place and played a few games while we waited for our boys who were out at Ariya's bucks night. I didn't see my husband's face until about 2.30am that morning. YAWN. But overall, props to Amelia & Toby for organising such fun-filled Hens & Bucks nights for Ariya & Mela. I can't wait til their wedding! :D

stress & 11 ♥

2011-06-10T08:57:00.007+10:00

I know I really should be studying considering I woke up at bloody 6.30am just so I could get a lift with Vii to his parents house so I could study there while they look after Athiya, but then I thought to myself: it's before 9am on a weekday and I think I deserve a short study-bludge blog break. Just a few things to recap since I last blogged:

Athiya's Christening went absolutely smoothly and I can't freakin wait til we get the photos off James our photographer (who also did our wedding, [1] [2] & [3]).
I was a workshop facilitator for Midnight Basketball which was run by the Golden Key Society at my uni, to which I am the official treasurer and so I had to be there - but I don't regret it for a moment because I had such a fulfilling experience working with all those kids.
I got 91 for my Viva Voce assessment for my law ethics subject which is fxcking awesome, but also ironic considering I have not touched the textbook except for that one viva topic so now I am ultimately screwed for the final exam despite a victorious HD in the assessment.
Viriya took me on a Sweet Tooth Tour as my Mother's Day present and I must say I have never had so much dessert in a day in my life!
We had dinner at Cafe Sopra for KC's birthday and I totally didn't expect its kind of ambience from a Chef's Hat restaurant, but it was nonetheless another fun dining experience that I can't wait to blog about :) And finally,
Viriya & I celebrated our 11 months on the 3rd and we watched The Hangover II - absolutely hilarious, albeit not as LMFAO as the first one. But still, pretty funny shxt.

I honestly can't wait til after exams, not only because all the stress is gone, but mainly because I can finally concentrate on the more important things like:

Finding another place to live because our lease finishes soon.
Working on my summer clerkship applications.
Planning our next overseas trip. And most importantly:
Spending more time with my friends that I haven't been able to catch-up with because of uni and work.

I am totally looking forward to:

Visiting my friend who just found out that he & his partner are having another baby :D
My future sister-in-law's hens day/night activities & wedding. And of course,
Blogging about all the events aforementioned above.

Now that's a lot of dotpoints and numbering for one entry so I think I'll leave it at that. Wish me luck for exams! Ciao lovelies xxx

Athiya is for A

2011-05-16T11:23:00.004+10:00

I celebrated my first Mother's Day on the Sunday of Buddha's birthday and it was such a good day! I woke up next to my love who later told me stay in bed while he makes some breakfast - breakfast in bed teehee ♥ So for the most part of the day I remained in bed while Viriya did all the cleaning (NGAWWWWW) and then we went out to Top Ryde and I picked out the above charm for my pandora bracelet. I picked the letter 'A' for Athiya because I figured that if it wasn't for my little man I wouldn't have a Mother's Day to being with. We went out for dinner as well and we ate at a Japanese Restaurant in Epping. It was a pretty nice restaurant and I'm glad we managed to find a nice Jap place near our house because we absolutely love Japanese food. My two favourite dishes on the night were:

Chicken Karaage

Fish Nitsuke

I can honestly say that I can never get enough of Jap food. Love love LOVE to my boys ♥

Another thing, prior to this auspicious occasion, Viriyalove emailed me a few days earlier to tell me that my real mother's day present will occur in June when he & I go on a Sweet Tooth Tour, and I can't freaking wait! So stay tuned for that folks :) I will be going on a short break to prepare for upcoming final exams. Big big kisses to you all! Just like this:

Mwaaah! xxx

Buddha's Birthday

2011-05-16T10:46:00.004+10:00

The other weekend we celebrated Buddha's birthday in Darling Harbour. We parked at Viriya's work (YAY free city parking lol) and we walked from there. This was the first time I'd been to this occasion and I must say I had fun :)

Us & a tiger! HAHA

When we came it was just after 1pm and we registered for the Baby Blessing Ceremony which was at 2. Perfect timing :) It was so incredibly crowded though, but I'm glad we got Athiya blessed.

I burnt my hand when I put the joss stick into the sand :( All for a wish! Maybe then it'll come true..haha. There were heaps of performances on the day, and lots of food. I can't get over how good the mushroom pie was LOL. I totally didn't even notice that there was no meat on the day. Shows how good fake meat tastes then eh? We got a nice spot on the grass in front of the stage but I really wish we brought our picnic blanket to sit on :(

Viriya looks like such a tool in this pic AHAHAHA ♥

It was a good day, and I'm glad I got to catch up with a whole lot of people that I hadn't seen in ages. I can't believe how freaking cold it got that night as well. We would've stayed for fireworks but Athiya ran out of milk and we didn't want to risk him getting cranky (or sick, for that matter) so we just went home. Oh well. There's always next year :)

10 ♥

2011-05-06T08:27:00.000+10:00

Viriya & I celebrated our 10 month wedding anniversary on the 3rd this week. He came home from work with some marshmallows (& macaroons!) from Sweetness The Patisserie in Epping. That is, the way Adriano Zumbo does macaroons is the way this patisserie does marshmallows, how exciting! I was gonna do a review with food porn and everything but I'll save that for another day when I actually visit the shop. Also on the night my mum offered to babysit Athiya while we went to the movies to watch Fast 5. It was such an awesome movie! Even though I'd only watched 2 Fast 2 Furious the night it was on TV, I thought it was pretty epic. I had such a good night out with my love :)

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out ♥

xxx

Laos New Year

2011-05-05T12:47:00.000+10:00

On Friday 8th, Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th of April we celebrated Lao New Year at the Lao Temple in Bonnyrigg. We only went for dinner on the Friday and the Saturday, but on Sunday we were there for pretty much the whole day.

Bonnyrigg Lao Temple

In the morning there was morning offering, then we ate a bit, and then Viriya took us around the temple.

ປີໃໝ່ :)

The thing we're standing in front of is a sand mound. Part of Lao New Year is that sand is brought into the temple and made into stupas and decorated and then given to the monks as a way of making merit. Oh and I borrowed Mel's sinh to wear that day :)

Then we poured perfumed water over the Buddha images for blessings of long life and purity.

The last Buddha statue that we poured water over was the big Buddha:

Then after that there was the Nang Sangkhan Procession from the temple to Bonyrigg Town Centre Park, followed by Baci Soukhouan Ceremony and bathing of the Buddha. I was gonna do a massive post about the ceremonies and have pictures everywhere & such but I can't really commentate because I don't know what's going on. Oh well. I was glad to be part of what I can assume we'll be taking part in every year. So give me a few years and then maybe I can give you the full lowdown ;)

Sydney Royal Easter Show

2011-05-02T11:30:00.002+10:00

Howdy readers. I'm blogging from work and I feel like such a badass LAWL. I was supposed to finish off my blog from Lao New Year but I left my usb and my pencil case at home and I'm totally spewing. But anyways, the week after LNY, Vida got us tickets to the easter show.. YAYAYAYY!

Choo-choo train!

The first ride we went on was the little kiddies train & we took our little bub and Viriya's little cousin who is SO cute. Totally love being on little kid rides. I can't wait til Athiya can walk, because that's when I'll have the most fun haha.

We went into the woolies dome first. I love how intricate all the displays were. I can't imagine how long it took them to set up as well. I remember watching on the news the ladies in charge we're stressing out about finishing them on time, but they did & it looked so awesome. We also bought oysters (which didn't taste that fresh lol) and Viriya braved 10+++ chilli. I chickened out. Ha. After that we went into the animal dome.

My boys & a mule

Baby alpaca & I.

I don't get how animals can win first place for looking good. I know Girra always used to win at the Easter Show when we still had a cow and when we put our sheep in. But then we sold the cow and I don't think I saw Girra in the Easter Show this year? Hmm.

Also there was this HUGE bull at the show. I know it doesn't look that huge in the photo, but it was seriously so huge that I can liken it to my car. After that we ate and played games, the usual. And I also forced Viriya to go on at least one rollercoaster with me. It was so EPIC. I totally love the thrill of rollercoasters. I would've dragged him onto more but instead we took our little boy on the ferris wheel.

♥

I love the above shot of my boys. Viriya looks so adorable! When we went to get showbags I was so devo that the Cleo show bag was sold out. So I ended up getting the Gossip Girl bag, from which Viriya took the travel mug lol. We didn't really buy any of the junk food showbags which was probably due to us feeling sick from riding on the rollercoaster right before. But I got heaps of showbags for my little siblings because I'm such an awesome big sister ;p We left right after the ferris wheel. And we were so completely buggered. Thankyou to my loves for such a fun family day :)

I love all the silly things you do for me...including being in the 5028374320498 photos that I take.

Oh yeah speaking of my love, I had the most stressful two weeks ever. I hate how you get assignments due right after midsem break because then it means you don't really get a break because you have to do it during then. Vida was such a darling who was there for me when I completely stressed out and broke down and drowned him with my emotionangerpmscrankybitchinessROAR. Thankyou for understanding and making my life so much easier.

Doctor Zhivago

2011-04-04T11:12:00.001+10:00

Viriya & I got tickets for it for last Friday night and it was absolutely moving. I loved every single part of it. The gist of it is about a crazy love story set in the middle of a war; a scandalous love affair; three men who have fallen for the same woman, and a wife so terribly in love with her husband who loves someone else. I even cried. My favourite scene was when Dr. Zhivago's wife and his mistress met each other. So beautiful. And Anthony Warlow has such an amazing voice. I seriously LOVED it!

The Cove at Drummoyne

2011-03-30T13:52:00.002+11:00

It's become almost a routine that I meet up with my girl Hannah at least twice a month. She's the one person, excluding my sister, that I can just bitch to. And when I say bitch, I literally mean bitch. So anyways we met up for lunch at The Cove at Drummoyne, which is near where she works (@Adriano Zumbo, huzzah) and also because I've wanted to eat at this place for ages now because it's 10 of the Best Views according to SMH Good Food Guide 2011. Foodie junkie, I know.

I can totally see why it got Top 10 for the best view - the view of the Iron Cove Creek is just so pretty. Not only that, but you can also partly see the view of the Drummoyne Pool below (and all the hot bods that come with it HAHA!). It sort of sucks that the Iron Cove bridge construction is right next to it and ruins it a bit. Especially with all the noise. I also did the most stupidest thing that day...I left Athiya's stroller, OMGSH. So that meant he was either in my lap or his high chair - a first.

Athiya's first high chair!

I'm surprised he could actually sit in it, but only after putting some cushioning lol. The food came at a steady pace meaning there was plenty of time in between to just catch up & carry on with our rantxbitchxcomplain session.

My Linguine with king prawn tails, calamari, scallops, roast cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic & parmesan

Hannah's Potato gnocchi with sautéed king prawns, sundried tomato pesto, asparagus, white wine, parsley, cream & parmesan

We were pretty stuffed after that so we shared dessert. This baby right here:

Mars bar cheesecake with crème anglaise & vanilla gelato

The epitome of gluttony right there. Because we can.

Rouse Hill

2011-03-30T10:47:00.001+11:00

A couple of weeks ago I met up with my LG girls (excluding Jessebabe..boooooo) for breakfast at Rouse Hill. I can't believe Alex how long it had been since I'd since I'd seen Alex! Not since the babyshower...OMGSH! Which means she hadn't met Athiya yet meaning... it's been more than four months! TSK TSK.

♥

I quite like how this photo turned out. But I hate how not all the photos I take on my dSLR can turn out with the same colours and such. Maybe it's the lighting, meh. Anyways I had a really good catch-up session with these girls, like always. And I can never wait til the next time we catch up. It totally sucks that Jesse wasn't there though :( But in a way it just means we have more to talk about the next time we're all there. Ha can't wait!

LOVE.

P.S. The cafe that we ate at was horrible, which explains why there's no food porn in this entry. I had a fruit fly in my bacon and eggs and so I only ended up eating half of what was on my plate because I was so turned off. Then there were fruit flies in the lemon that they put in our water. Definitely not eating there again. Fxcking gross man.

Usher OMG Tour

2011-03-29T09:52:00.001+11:00

Last Monday we saw Usher in concert, and he was so OMG amazing. Especially from our Hot Tottie view. I can't say that what we paid for was worth the waiting in the long-ass queue and the sweaty bodies around us in the mosh. But hey, at least I got a few decent shots of Usher up close. Gotdang he's so fxcking hot. Quite personally I think I prefer my gold-reserve seating as opposed to standing up the whole time. Nonetheless this was by far the most exhilarating concert experience I've had as compared to Lady Gaga & Supafest. Speaking of which I don't know if I want to go to Supafest this year or not. It's at ANZ Stadium this year which is new, compared to it being at Acer, which means I could possible work at the event if I wanted to...but do I really want to work as opposed to enjoy the line-up? I don't know. Decisions decisions...Sigh.

The 90's

2011-03-18T17:47:00.001+11:00

Following Toby & Amelia's Engagement party, Viz & I rushed home to change into our 1990's outfits and also to pick up his laptop. I rkn we did a pretty awesome job at getting ready in 10 minutes lol. Their birthday was on the Rooftop at the Retro Hotel on Sussex Street and I can't believe how packed it was. Especially with the number of hens nights going on each floor.

Happy 21st Birthday to the happy couple

FYI, I'm wearing Viriya's old rugby socks (clean of course lol) & we didn't mean to match our wrist bands....LOLOL. To be honest I actually don't really see how what we're wearing had anything to do with the 90's. Except maybe Viriya's double collared shirt (that all the boys used to get from Cotton On) and his big headphones.

Photobomber lol

Birthday duo

Speeches were hilarious. I like how they were all pre-recorded by everyone and just played back on the screen. And I'm glad Viriya's "speech" turned out the way it did considering he stayed up til 4am trying to get it right. My silly mister.

Mine.

Toby & Amelia's Engagement

2011-03-15T17:01:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago Viriya, Athiya & I attended Toby & Amelia's engagement party held at their house. It was by far the most fun I've had getting ready for a party so far this year.

In the car.

When we got there it was sooo packed out! They had set up a marquee on their tennis court (omfg they have a tennis court! I failed to notice that the last time we visited their huge-gigantic place) and they hired wait staff, bar-attendants and catering.

Me and my two favourite people.

Us and Vida's parentals.

The marquee at night.

I really like the above shot that Viriya took of the marquee. Because you can see the lights & shadows and I think it looks very pretty.

Engagement Cake

By the end of the night there were fingerprints and holes in the cake from all the little kids poking into it. It's a shame we didn't get to taste it because we left before they cut the cake.

Cake & biscuits table.

Apparently everything on this table was made by Amelia and Toby's sister & mum. I really like how much effort went into all the little cakes and labelling and stuff. So intricate! Hardly anyone wanted to take anything because it looked so pretty. That's not to say it tasted bad, everything on the table was delish!

Us and the lovely engaged couple.

The speeches were so funny. Especially Toby's dad. I nearly cried when Amelia made her speech because she serenaded a song to Toby...ngaw! We left right after the speeches and headed home for a quick outfit change for Ace & Jess's 21st...which I will blog about soon. Stay tuned xxx

And yet another dinner

2011-03-06T20:53:00.002+11:00

Just a quick post because I realised I had it saved but I never published it. And I so can't be bothered doing uni work right now. And I know you're all probably getting sick of reading my food blogs so I'll take a break from that. One of the first outings that we took Athiya to was the dinner organised by Viriya's friends in early January this year to celebrate Athiya being born, as well just a get-together with uni friends. We ate at Kelly's Bar & Grill in Bondi Junction, and it was probably one of the best outtings I've had with Ryan & Co :)

Alison, Kylie, Maria, Dez

Groupie.

After dinner, we had dessert at Max Brenner, where Joey & Timmy joined us.

Girlies

The gang.

I really love hanging out with this bunch :) I also really love this loser right here:

♥ ♥ ♥

Chat Thai

2011-03-04T12:49:00.003+11:00

Last Friday I had an appointment with my fellow Golden Key members to change signatories on our bank account for our new GK President and GK Treasurer, aka Yours Truly ;) And afterwards Viriya, Athiya & I had lunch in Chat Thai, Haymarket.

I was really looking forward to eating here. Because just like Mamak, there's always a queue or at least a short wait prior to being seated. Unless of course you've made a booking, which we didn't. We had to wait 15mins before we got a table. But it was a stroller-friendly table so that was good. The first thing we ordered was our drinks.

Left to Right: My strawberry ice shake; Viriya's watermelon ice shake.

Then we ordered salad...

Som Dtum aka paw-paw salad.

Viriya said we should've eaten our mains first before eating this because our tongues felt like they were on fire from all the chilli. But it was nice. I like the way Viriya's mum makes it better though.

Viriya's Khao Ka Mu: Smoked pork hock caramelised slowly in five spice reduction, served with poached chinese broccoli and pickled cabbage on rice.

My Khao Na Ped: Five spice barbequed duck on rice with a rich duck gravy, accompanied with steamed water spinach and pickled ginger on rice.

I absolutely loved my dish. Everything sat perfectly well with each other: the spinach, rice & ginger all in one bite was just divine. Viriya really enjoyed his meal too, which apparently is his favourite, and I remember eating it when we were in Cabra one time.

Viriya & Athiya choosing dessert for me lol

At the end of our meal I was still eager for dessert but Viriya wasn't. In a restaurant that boasts top 10 on SMH Good Food Guide's 10 of the best sweets for 2011 AS IF anyone could NOT eat dessert here??!

Viriya picked this out. I forgot what it's called but it was soo nice! It's pretty much bilu-bilu, except not in a soup lol. I also ordered some coconut jellies and these green pandan & coconut pudding tarts which the waitress suggested we take-away rather than eat at the table because it would make us too full. I absolutely love Chat Thai. Although it was busy, that in itself added to its breezy ambience, highlighted by soft Thai music that played while we ate. Food & value were unbelievably incredible. Service was questionable; it took awhile to get the waitress's attention but I guess that's typical of a busy restaurant. But nonetheless, I would definitely definitely eat here again. In fact, I feel that this blog entry barely does it any justice because I have yet to explore the extent of its entire menu. I'm particularly more interested in its desserts which I really can't wait to order when we eat here again. I'm such a glutton, seriously.

TenRen's Tea

2011-03-02T22:35:00.002+11:00

Last week Viz, Athi & I went out for dinner with Jess & Jono. We carpooled, taking my car to Chatswood. We originally decided to eat at New Shanghai in Lemon Grove, but when we got there we got shoo'd out by the waitresses who said that the kitchen was closed and that they're not taking any more people. So we made our way to New Shanghai in Chatswood Chase but the same thing happened. How annoying! We walked down Victoria Ave before finally settling at TenRen's Tea.

Since it was more a night out with friends rather than an opportunity for me to scrutinize another restaurant I'm not gonna review any of the dishes we ordered. But I will post up photos :)

Our table

I can't believe how many drinks there are on their menu. Apparently there's over 50 or something. And pretty much all their dishes are "tea flavoured", which I think is pretty cool. I don't know how long it took for our order to arrive at our table because Viz & I left to change Athiya right after we ordered. And when we got back our food was already there. Our tea-flavoured food lol.

Jess's BBQ Pork Noodle with Tea Flavour

My Shredded Pork Noodle with Tea Flavour

My meal was ok. It wasn't the "tea flavour" that downgraded it for me, it was the veggies. I had a little too many in my soup that I couldn't really taste the savour of the meat. Rah so much for not reviewing the meal aye?

Jess & Jono.

♥

It was a good night out and we had an awesome conversation talking about life & shizzle. I can't wait til we go out for dinner again. We'll probably try to eat at New Shanghai again but this time we'll leave at like 6 or something LOL.

Mamak

2011-02-24T11:09:00.002+11:00

A couple of weeks ago, Viriya & I celebrated our seven month wedding anniversary as well as our 900 days anniversary (and you're probably all the thinking "WTF, you're counting days??!!"), as they both happened to fall the day after each other. We watched Black Swan on the first night and oh my freaking gosh I loved it. I love how psychologically thrilling it was, adorned with Natalie Portman's talent as an actress. Her award for best actress was definitely well-deserved for this movie. And I totally love how she graduated from Harvard University - talent, beauty and brains! But anyway, I'm detracting from the highlight of this entry: On our second night we ate at Mamak.

We initally planned to eat at the Goulburn Street restaurant but then it started raining and we figured that since we would have Athiya with us we might have a drier (if not non-existent) queue waiting experience at the Chatswood restaurant - but how wrong we were. Just driving past the restaurant we could see how long the line was. But being able to see the chefs make the roti made the wait seem really quick. Actually come to think of it, waiting in the line for Mamak wasn't that long at all. We were seated at a table that was very stroller-friendly and we ordered our drinks first.

Limau ais - Fresh lime with syrup on ice, Teh tarik - Classic Malaysian tea.

I really liked my lime drink. It tasted like sprite without the fizz. Viriya's hot drink that apparently "everyone orders it" was nice too, but I don't think I could ever flush down my dinner with a hot coffee drink so we ordered some water as well. Then we ordered our mains...

Sambal udang - stir-fried tiger prawns with fiery sambal sauce

Nasi Goreng.

I really like the prawns. I think they were my favourite dish of the night. I wasn't expecting them to be really chilli but I guess thats why I really liked them. The Roti was heaps nice too. You honestly can't go into Mamak without ordering their Roti.

Roti Canai - The original roti.

Roti Bawang - roti with red onion

Murtabak - Spicy lamb, cabbage, eggs and onions.

Viriya liked the original roti the best. I guess so did I. I wasn't expecting them all to be really really spicy. We even had to take small 'breaks' in between the meals lol.

My babies

We didn't end up eating everything; we still had two rotis left and heaps of nasi goreng, which we ended up taking away. But just because we couldn't stomach the savoury didn't mean we couldn't stomach the sweet!

Ais kacang - Mix of red beans, corn, grass jelly, rose-syrup and sweetened milk on a mountain of shaved ice.

This dessert was weird for me, to be honest. I think it might be the corn. Corn mixed into a dessert just confuses me. But other than that it was a fantastic meal. Perfect value & food. Ambience was ok. It was an extremely busy restaurant and I find it pretty smart that they don't take bookings. Because it constantly has a queue and I guess it makes their restuarant look really popular. The music in the background totally diminished it for me because we ate to the sounds of Rihanna's "Rude Boy" and T-Pain's "Take your shirt off" among other contemporary R&B songs...LOL. I would've thought they'd play something more formal. Service was a bit on the careless side because they served us with our adjacent table's order by mistake. But all in all, I loved eating here. I really want to try the Goulburn Street restaurant though, just so I can see if there's a big difference. Their One Chef's Hat in 2009, and award for Best Asian Restaurant was well deserved and I would definitely eat here again.