2013

We live in circles. All our lives in cycle; Am to pm, Monday to Friday, January to December, year after year. Some of us consciously, most of us unconsciously.

It’s been an ebb and flow kinda year, fabulous none the less.

Peanut butter parfait, Golden Fields.

Highlights: Seeing mum for the first time in six years; Seeing my whole family, together, after ten years; Visiting thirteen new cities over ten countries; A tiramisu I had in Rome; The legendary peanut butter parfait and sorbet ice cream from Golden Fields; Photography sessions with Zina; and pedro ximenez – you are all sorts of yumness!

The Fam Bam in Amritsar.

Most memorable meal: A pork shoulder roast with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings at Pig & the Butcher, London. Although the buffalo wings at Cassette 9, Auckland, was pretty A-mazing!!

Pork shoulder, Pig & the Butcher

Most memorable dessert: The corn ice cream with caramelized pop corn from Mamasita.

Corn ice cream, Mamasita.

Most memorable moment: Laughing until we cried on a bus to Wellington. I may have peed, just a little, in my pants.

The best Tiramisu, ever – Rome.

Shoreditch, London.

Venice.

Berlin, I’ll be back just for this – curry wurst. So YUM.

Prawn, caviar, roast peppers – Quimet y Quimet, Barcelona. I seriously recommended this place. Sangria’s for 2.50 Euros, ah what a night!

Henna at my brother’s wedding, Amritsar.

Florence.

Dubai.

Darren Purchase at Taste of Melbourne 2013.

Zumbo opens shop in Melbourne.

Paella at the Night Market at QVM.

Paris is always a good idea. I’d like to go back.

Brunswick.

My god, these were good too. Huxtaburger, Fitzroy.

This is some good pastry, Prague.

Good coffee, Wellington.

Rosetta, Melbourne.

Jacob’s Creak Winery, Barossa Valley.

A special thank you to my ex boss man for sharing his experiences – I’m going to miss you x

Hope you’ve enjoyed my moments with me. Thank you and happy 2014.

Live laugh love eat x

Grown Ups

I really don’t know how grown ups do it: wake up at 6am to be a parent, go to work, come home, cook, clean, feed, and do it all again the next day.

I guess I’ll have to grow up to find out.

Meanwhile, here’s me in Paris, at the top of Sacre Coeur. The view is simply breathtaking x

14 (Jolly good) memories of London

Had no expectations, it was the best thing ever!

Quirkiness at Camden Market. I could live here. Seriously

Coffee and croissant at Euphorium bakery, Islington. YUMMO

Made me laugh out loud. Oh the humor. British humor makes me laugh.

Mmm.. the best Butter Chicken, Delhi Grill, Islington

Of course I did.

Sitting on the top deck of a double decker bus, feeling all touristy

Big Ben is the name of the bell in that tower. Fact.

Borough Market, how can a foodie not!

Discovery of fabulous coffee. Tip: if they do flat white, they do good coffee. Nude Espresso, Shoreditch

Coffee looked better than it tasted. We were too early for lunch, they offered us coffee, and asked to sit outside. No yummy treats in sight. Note to self, a restaurant is not a cafe, in London.

One word: Harrods!

Shoreditch. This is where you thrift shop, drink soy chai lattes, and watch artists do their thing. Brunswick in other words.

My second beef burger, ever. Loved it. Brixton Village Market, a magical place.

Had a Jolly Good time London. Can’t wait to go back!

The Urban Trailer Park

I love it when food trucks unite. It means I don’t have to chase after them.

They’ve been getting together at Village Melbourne, formerly Belgian Beer Garden, on the weekends, trailer park style, from noon to eight pm. The outside bar is still in operation.

I spent last Saturday afternoon, sitting under a heater, on a park bench, eating chicken and sausage gumbo from the Gumbo Truck, taking mouthful bites off my guy’s Beatbox beef burger, whilst stealing his chips, and I washed everything down with decent drop of red. Bonhuer!

To finish things off, we shared a salted caramel and Nutella & Strawberry cream brûlée from The brûlée Cart.

I was happier than a bird with a French fry.

Familiarity

It was nice to see faces of familiar strangers on the way to work today. It gave me a sense of comfort, and it made me smile.

It’s good to back after packing and unpacking, long lines, restless sleeps, sore bottoms and muscles.

Never the less, traveling through nine different cities also has its upside – food, culture, experiences and, of course, people watching!

Here’s a cup of espresso from Gilli, Florence or Firenze as the Italians call it. I don’t know much about Cafè Gilli, but I do know that the espresso was bloody good.

Wishing you a blessed Monday, I hope to share more of my travels soon x

Anticipation

Some I know recently said “that travel is 90% anticipation and 10% recollection”. It’s a quote by Edward Streeter.

For the past three months, my dear friend, who’s crazy enough to travel with me, and I have spent many sleepless nights and coffee dates discussing and planning our big European adventure.

About a month and a half ago, we finally finalized our travel route, and started actioning our plan.

In all honesty, our journey to Europe begun a year ago when our dearest friend, who’d been living in London with her English man, set their wedding date – 6th July 2013.

Ever since the announcement, we have been looking at airplane fares and comparing rates between airlines, and making lists of things we must to do and places we have to visit. ‘Well if we’re going all the way to London, might as well see a bit of Europe right!’

Much of the fun has come as we share our plan with friends and family. Encouraged by their excitement, inspired by their travels, we added and edited destinations, resolving to eight cities in one month.

London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Venice, Florence, Rome and Barcelona

With only 26 days to go, I am totally thrilled to bits. The thought of walking down unfamiliar street and lane ways, getting lost in different cities, and eating my way through Europe excites me.

xox

Mamasita

I get asked, on many occasions, if I have eaten at Mamasita..

‘Not yet,’ is my usual response.

Naturally, ‘why?’

‘I waited in hunger, and gave up.’

You see, I have waited to be fed at Mamasita, twice, and on both occasions I gave up and walked away.

One of this was on my birthday, last June. It was a cold and wintry Thursday evening. We have been waiting 20 minutes when the maitre d’ announced that ‘it will be 40 minutes from the door to the bar, and another 15 to 20 minutes to a table.’ We had just made it pass the door.

In November last year, during Taste of Melbourne 2012, I sampled a Yacutan Ceviche from their food stand, and I must say it was absolutely yum. This gave hope of another attempt at dining at Mamasita.

Last Saturday, I decided that it was time. With a plan, brilliantly executed, I finally made pass the door, up the stairs, and onto a table with a 30 second wait time. I ordered the jug of Sangria straight away.

We started our mid afternoon feast with the Elotes callejeros – chargrilled corn with chipotle mayo and lime.

The best I’ve had, ever!

Next I ordered four out of the six variety of tacos on offer – Beef, Prawn, Fish and Ox tongue. The prawn and Ox tongue were my ‘I’d definitely eat that again’ favorites.

Then it was that beautiful Yacutan Ceviche that gave this place its third attempt.

Fish in coconut milk with green tomato, chili, mint and lime.

The pulled pork tostaditas lacked seasoning, but a few drops of the green habenero and a bit of pico de gallo (that green salsa you see) solved that easily.

My favorite moment was when the dessert came out. Not only did it make me smile like a cheshire cat, it also brought back childhood memories of eating caramel popcorn at the cinemas (which was a very rare occasion for us) and eating ais cream potong (cut ice cream) after school. Saving every penny from our pocket money, my bbf and I would buy this once or twice a week. For me it was always the corn ice cream, as I loath red bean anything.

Corn ice cream topped with caramel popcorn.

Overall, I must say I enjoyed my afternoon at Mamasita. The food is simple, and tasty. The service lacked, but I’d definitely go back to try their Quesadillas and something from the ‘Comida para la familia’ section of the menu.

At present, it sits second on my list of good taquerias in Melbourne.

A gift from a Mother

She taught, she gave and she shared

She taught me
to love and forgive,
and told me be independent.

She gave me
her expensive taste
and sassiness,
and said always go for the best.

She shared her
experiences and lessons
she learned along the way,
and asked me to learn from my own.

She taught me
to stand on my own feet,
never to depend on anyone.
She gave me strength
to go against the world,
to never give up.
She shared her wisdom,
her take on life
and said everything will be okay.

There is nothing more a girl expects from her mother – Love you mama.

 

 

Happy Mothers Day to all the mama bears out there ❤ ❤ ❤

A celebration of Chocolate

I remember my first Easter in Melbourne. It was ten years ago, I was living with my aunt and uncle.

My uncle came home one day after work with what looked like a golden rabbit. That night he unwrapped it, and I discovered that it was actually chocolate, in the shape of a rabbit. The chocolate was yummy.

A few days later, my cousin offered me an egg. Much to my surprise, it was chocolate in the shape of an egg. Mmm.. yummy chocolate again.

For several weeks, more chocolate eggs and rabbit filled our pantry, and every night, after dinner of course, we would indulge. Then one evening my aunt came home with a basket full of chocolates, with a note stuck on it – Happy Easter!

‘What’s with all the chocolate’ I asked my uncle, he smiled and said its Easter this weekend. I was like ‘huh?!’ – I didn’t think non-Christians celebrated Easter.

As the years passed by, it was apparent that Easter and chocolates had a lot in common, regardless of your religious believes. It was a norm to give and receive chocolates, at work or among friends.

And the Easter long weekend, is time off work everyone looked forward too.

This was my Easter weekend this year.

Green juice (from Spring St Grocer) and soft boiled eggs for Sunday brunch. The Easter eggs and bunnies were gifts from friends.

Hot cross and Easter egg macaron from La Belle Miette, afternoon tea on Good Friday.

Homemade pancakes for Sunday brunch

Easter Bunny from Lux Bite, on Easter Monday, just because.

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A simple pancake recipe

I made pancakes yesterday. Its been ages since I last made these lovelies. It’s easy to make, and it’s so much more tastier than the pre-made mixes from the supermarket.

1 cup of self raising flour
1/4 of icing sugar
1.5 cup of milk or butter milk
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1 egg
A pinch of salt

Place flour, sugar, salt and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl. Add egg, and mix through. Then add half a cup of milk, and whisk well. Add another half, and whisk. Repeat for the last half cup of milk.

Heat a non stick pan, a small one preferably. Brush pan with butter, scope in about a ladle full of pancake mixture. Let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes or until brown, before flipping sides. Repeat with remaining mixture, brushing pan with butter in between batches.

Serve with honey and blueberries, butter and fresh lemon juice, or what ever tickles your pickle.

Makes 5-6 pancakes.

Hope you had a fabulous Easter x

The North Island

I recently got back from NZ (by recently I mean three weeks ago; and by NZ I mean the North Island). I was there visiting mama bear.

Four hours south of Auckland, in a beautiful little town, home to a very big kiwi fruit, away from all the chaos and first world problems, mother lives happy and very blissful in her own world. She loves it. I could see why – the grass was greener, the air was fresher, and life was simpler.

I found this in my mum’s garden.

The Big Kiwi

The Kiwi orchid. Home to most of New Zealand’s Kiwi Fruit. They also turn Kiwi Fruits into liquors. YUM.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen my mother. I’ve missed her so much.

They say when things change, people change, but my mother has to be an exception. She’s still the same, hard working as ever, and set in her own way. She’s very giving, and trusting, and she loves her four diamonds (us kids) with all her heart. Spending time with her made me realize how much I’ve grown to be just like her. Its true, if a guy wants to know what his future wife will turn out to be, he should spend some time with her mother!

Mum decided that we were going to take the bus to Wellington. Eleven hours on a bus, I wasn’t looking forward to it, but hindsight catching the bus to Wellington was probably the highlight of the trip. I guess the drive up would have been exhausting for her, as I don’t have my license yet, and the scenery was breath taking.

The bus made little stops along the way, and it was the best way to see the North Island. If I had more time, I’d definitely would have loved to spend more time at Rotorua and Lake Tapau. It looked amazing.

Rotorua

Lake Tapau

In the middle of Some Where

At one of the stops, I tried this ice cream. Ohmegod, it was AMAZING. So creamy, but light. The white chocolate divine. I craved for more.

In Wellington

I found some good coffee and some pretty amazing eateries in Wellington. Most of them was off Cuba St,which quickly also became my favorite street in Wellington.

Coffee

First coffee shop, Memphis Belle. Good coffee. Serves amazing small bites. Love the deco!

Second coffee shop, The Hangar. A coffee roaster and cafe. Supplies local cafes, like Memphis Belle, with Flight Coffee beans. Amazing Coffee. Its similar to Melbourne’s St Ali’s, but smaller. Friendly staff, vibrant atmosphere.

Latte, and a Long Mac

Coffee place number three: Punch Coffee Bar. Cute coffee joint, owned by an American coffee enthusiast. Friendly lad, good coffee. He also sells a small selection of bake goods to go with your coffee.

Food

Floriditas: We only had dessert, but it was scrumptious. Dark Chocolate Tart with apicot and vanilla ice cream and the Apple and Rhubarb Crumble. I also had a glass of their tempranillo, divine. Finished up with a hot water and lemon in a bone china. Lovely!

Street food: A must try. Found a beautiful French lady serving up some beautiful french crepes.

Mac Brewbar: We had lunch here after visiting the Te Papa museum. Fabulous food.

Naturally, we ordered a bottle of wine, some Green Lipped Mussels, a Seafood Chowder and Fish & Chips. Everything was fresh, yummy and brilliant. I’ll definitely be back for more.

El Matador: We discovered this place on our second last night in Wellington, but it was late and kitchen had already shut. We decided to come by again the following night, for drinks and dessert. It didn’t disappoint.

We tried the churos with hot chocolate sauce, and the drunken plums served with hibiscus sorbet. It was YUM. The boys at El Matador were certainly charming, it was the perfect way to end our last night in Wellington.

Places to visit

Wellington Botanical Gardens. Beautiful. Simply gorges. Make sure you wear comfy walking shoes tho.

And you take the Cable Car up from the city. The views are magnificent.

Te Papa Museum. A must. It holds most of the history and artifacts of New Zealand. Definitely gave me a greater insight of New Zealand and its origins.

The view of Wellington Harbor from the Te Papa museum.

Willis St. I’ve been told its one of the major streets in Wellington. I fell in love with this church.

We pretty much walked every where in the city. Its a beautiful city. Similar to Melbourne, where people take their food and coffee seriously, but on a smaller scale. I loved it. Love the coffee culture, and it’s general vibe. Cuba St is the place to be. From food to fashion, night life and street art, it’s got it all. Ill be back!!

Auckland

I was only in Auckland for a day and a half, so I just walked around the city like a tourist. I caught the bus from Te Puke to Auckland. Saying goodbye to mum wasn’t easy. I promised her I’ll be back soon.

 

Food

Cassette Nine: Because I were only in Auckland for a short period of time, I didn’t eat or drink much here. However, a few hours before my departure, I discovered Cassette Nine, hidden in one of the alley ways. It was a Friday afternoon, and one of my most memorable TGIF’s.

Cassette Nine is bar/food joint, serving American inspired food. We (boyfie and me) ordered the Hamburger, Spicy Buffalo Wings, chips and a Reuben. To wash everything down we ordered a couple of beers.

The food was so good, I didn’t want to leave.

And this my lovelies is a NZ brew. An amazing one may I add. We had wine when were at Mac’s Brewbar, if only we had tired the beer, I think it would have been a legendary lunch.

Oh, and I did forget to mention that boyfie flew to NZ with me. Yes, he met Mum. Yes, I was nervous. Yes, Mum gave her blessings. Wee..

FYI we found some Mac’s down at the Acland Cellars (St Kilda) last weekend. Happy days!

Visit

Sky Tower. Yeah, we did the only touristy thing we could in Auckland. It was pretty amazing actually. Definitely a must.

The tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

View of Auckland city.

This reminded me of Flinders St Station.

 

Auckland Square, just off Queen St, similar to our Federation Square – live Jazz on a Friday arvo, after an amazing lunch, superb!

Lord Auckland. I wonder if the city was named after him. Mmm..

Over all, I enjoyed my trip. One week isn’t enough to see everything, but I had a blast. I got to spend some time with mama bear, and a week off work is always good. I’ll be back Auckland, to find more gems!

Can’t wait for my next adventure!