Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear friends,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! May every cake you bake turn out beautifully, your tummies always full, and a prosperous year ahead!

Wok About, Knoxfield

Wok About is a small corner shop in a nearby neighbourhood shopping strip. It's run by a M'sian couple. It's a very homely store, serving only a small selection of dishes such as prawn noodles, nasi lemak, fried rice, dried style won ton noodles etc. Another one of their distinctive marks is that they use Corelle servingware! It shows to me that they're willing to spend more for quality, which speaks the same for their dishes.

Nasi Lemak - the curry chicken was delicious. The patron next table kept complimenting to his guests that he had two plates of nasi lemak the last time he was there because it was so good. He wasn't wrong!

Prawn Noodles - fresh prawns galore! The stock is made with fresh prawns, probably from scratch. How do I know this? Because it gave Gaz an allergic reaction!

Update: This restaurant is now closed

Yes Sushi

Yes Sushi may be a very small place - counter seating for 4 people, but serves very fresh sashimi. We first went on a Thursday and the sashimi was a good serving size and flavourful. We went again the week after on a Wednesday but the fish was not as flavourful as the first visit. I suppose Thursdays are when the restaurant gets it's fish therefore was fresher and tastier during our first visit. Nevertheless, this place is highly recommended and it will be one of our fave haunts for sashimi.

Sleep

If ever there was a prize to be won for the ability to sleep anywhere anytime, I think I will win it. It's nothing much to boast about, but I can sleep almost anywhere, anytime. On a table, in a different bed, on a chair, in a train. My favourite time to sleep is when I'm studying - I remember giving myself 10 mins break between text book chapters and waking up the next morning wondering where the time has gone.

Uni was fun... no one ever dictated whether you should go to class, so I sometimes skipped classes. Not to go partying, not for socialising but to sleep. In fact, I slept through Uni. A lot of my time was spent in my warm dorm room (Aust weather was cold for me back then) snoozing. No wonder I didn't do very well...

Now, I find myself with less and less time on my hands. It's already hump day tomorrow, and it seems like the weekend had only just passed! Rushing to work, working late catching deadlines (they're called DEADlines for a reason... by time the you manage to meet it, you're dead) all plot to snatch the sleep away from my eyes.

I sleep at 11pm these days, and even then I don't feel like I get enough sleep. On Saturday I fell asleep during a symphony orchestra concert. Gaz will tell you it's because it was boring. But I'm telling you that I was lacking sleep. So there!

Meeting New People

When was the last time you walked up to a total stranger, engaged in a conversation with the view of walking away with something you wanted from him?

Tonight in a training environment, I did just that. It wasn't easy. I am attending a two day course aimed at imparting networking skills. To put our new learnt skills to practice, we 'hosted' a business seminar for some 'customers'. Of course, these 'customers' were really just managers in disguise. My objective was to go up to at least three of them, engage in small talk and move progressively to some serious business conversation ultimately walking away with their business card and agreement to tee up a meeting later on during the week.

Oh man... it's the most difficult thing to do... this walking up to a complete stranger business. Sometimes I encountered periods of silence where my mind went absolutely blank for want of new questions to ask. One time a customer was talking about exporting his goods while I talked about importing. Another time the 'customer' had to throw me clues about what else to talk about.

Thinking back, I've been doing this my whole life. Sure, not in a polished way and not always for the same objective. Nevertheless, we've all done this. Starting from first day at kindergarten - striking up conversations with complete strangers for friendship, at school, at uni, at work. Making new friends, asking for information, etc. But boy, it doesn't get any easier.

I succeeded in reaching my objective, and learnt a couple of things during the exercise.
1. The person talking to me is probably as nervous as I am meeting them for the first time. So, relax...
2. Wearing clothes that have two pockets is easier - you can use one pocket for storing cards received, the other for your own business cards.
3. Engaging in a networking conversation is never just a 'go with the flow' exercise. It involves some planning, strategy and practice.

I never anticipated tonight to be a fun night, but it was!

The First, The Last and The Never

Last Saturday, in an attempt to embrace the joie de vivre, I decided we should try something new and go for qi gong/meditation class. So why qi gong? There must be gazillions of activities out there which exudes more vivre than qi gong right? Well, I blame it on the heat of the day when I first saw the leaflet, and the word 'free' on it. (also because I have heard of the superhealing powers of qigong. Me learn qigong, me heal people, me become famous...).

But what transpired took all my joie away. First, we ended up at the wrong place. The poor little lady who answered the door must have been very puzzled to see us standing outside her door in trackie pants asking about qi gong. She might have been about to say, 'No no, whatever you're selling I don't want any', when we wised up. We eventually got to the right address, and found we were the only participants in the class. The teacher was dressed in a monk's garb, and the interior of the place looked like a temple short of incense smoke wafting about.

Meditation was where we spent the next half an hour in the lotus position concentrating on breathing. For Gaz it was concentrating on not falling off his mat. He wobbled so much I thought he was jerking every now and then trying to keep awake. It was hilarious, I could not understand how he could be wobbling so much. He told me later that he can't really sit cross legged. So, while Gaz was concentrating on making the clock go faster, I was concentrating on not laughing at him.

Next came the qi gong practice. It entails 7 different movements, all of which we forgot as soon as we learnt it. The only thing I learnt here was that there are seven chakras in our body - root, eyebrow, crown, throat, chest, navel and second last (can't remember name) in no particular order.

After the class, the teacher sat down with us and engaged in some small talk. We ended up giving our contact details to him - must have been the water he gave us. But we chatted for another half hour during which time I got a little suspicious of the place, their intentions, the cult factor etc and wished to go home.

So, my little experiment was a big flop. I think from now on I shall derive my joie de livre from simpler, known pleasures. Such as sleeping in and eating ice cream on a hot day. And probably will not attend another one of those classes ever again!

Mary and Max

Mary and Max is one of the best movies I have watched in a long time. It is an Australian claymation directed and written by Adam Elliot and voiced by some famous Australians including Toni Collette and Eric Bana.

The story is about a random, most unlikely friendship between an ugly ducking of a little Australian girl and an overweight 44 year old man in America that blossomed and grew across the seas and spanned nearly two decades. What could they have in common? Very little except that both of them were lonely and life had dealt them a deck of unfavourable cards. With that, their unlikely friendship stumbled along their lives, survived through the death of parents, admittance to mental institution, diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, marriage, divorce, graduation from University, etc.

A most poignant moment was when Max wrote to Mary in one of his letters after the latter had particularly hurt him, ‘You are my best friend. You are my only friend. Friends are imperfect, you are imperfect. Therefore I choose to forgive you.’

In the end of the movie, Mary traveled to America to meet Max but the path the friends were meant to travel on was destined to never meet. He passed away peacefully in the morning she arrived.

It is the movie that made me sob my heart out for ½ hour AFTER it had ended. Thinking about it now makes me all teary. I think this movie touches on the fundamentals of life – friends are integral to everyone’s lives, and friends make mistakes no matter how close they are, they may hurt you but when they do, good friends choose to forgive.

My friends, forgive me when I have hurt you as I am usually clumsy with my words and actions. I do not mean to. I hope you choose to forgive and remain friends for life.

Kobe Jones

Kobe Jones is a Californian Japanese style place in Docklands. Gaz and I heard about their $25 all you can eat sushi and was compelled to try it out because of the good value for money proposition. Knowing that this is a branded restaurant, I made the booking well in advance - at least two weeks before. We scheduled our appointments around the booking so we can drive all the way to Docklands, which takes us about 40 mins and sample the food.

When we arrived, the manager was outside the restaurant explaining to two guests that the restaurant is still in set up mode and for them to wait a little longer. Overhearing that, we went next door where there was a Sri Lankan roadshow going on. There were booths set up where exhibitors showcased their wares - from sarees to travel services. After about ten minutes we went back to the restaurant to be greeted by the same scene where the manager was explaining to another guest why the restaurant is not ready yet.

I was determined to wait in the restaurant so I stood around while she finished her spill and then tell her that we had a reservation for lunch starting 15 mins ago. She was surprised and went in to check. Later, she came out to tell us that the place was booked out for the Sri Lankan fest lunch, sorry we can't have lunch there etc etc. All I was interested in was why didn't anyone call us to inform of the change?? How difficult is it to track down the bookings of the day? Well, it seems it is a complicated process, that even the manager herself did not know if the restaurant was 'Kobe or not Kobe' on the day (what this means, we don't know) etc.

The manager then asked us if we would like to pay a cheaper price of $45 per head and taste the Sri Lankan buffet that afternoon instead. I was disappointed that I had to correct her - that the Japanese all you can eat is $25 therefore paying $45 is NOT a better deal.

Kobe Jones must really be struggling if they had to depart from their cusine and cater Sri Lankan food. Perhaps they would gain more patronage if they did not offend their guests while trying to get more business.

Jing - Crystal

Gaz's aunty from Hong Kong came to Aust for a visit recently, and brought me this hand made present. A necklace with a crystal pendant with a matching bracelet (not pictured). Aunty had made this herself, stringing the crystals together to form a flower. It is absolutely beautiful and I am stricken by the delicacy of the pendant. Thank you Aunty Margaret for this wonderful gift!

Thai Tables, Bayswater

Gaz and I felt like a little Thai food this week, and we know of a great Thai restaurant in the local 'hood. Thai Tables is the name of the restaurant, and it's reputation is so good that we needed a booking (luckily we got a booking, there were only two of us, which makes it easier) on a Thursday. During the hour we were there, we observed guests dining and leaving, tables being cleaned only to be filled up again, and countless people walking in for their takeaway orders.

Thai Tables indeed is a very busy restaurant but the service was good, and attentive. So, how about the food?

We ordered 'crab meat and chicken mince in tofu skin'. Gaz had a hankering for something deep fried, which was fine with me. There were visible crab meat in the patties, which was great.

This duck curry was just excellent! Roast duck, in curry with lychee, pineapple and capsicum. I love duck, and this dish did not disappoint. The duck wasn't too fatty which was good - I didn't have to waste time separating the fat from the meat. The curry sauce was sweet, thanks to the coconut cream and not too spicy. It was delicious!

Beef in satay sauce. The peanut sauce was creamy, and sweet.

We had the dishes with two serves of steamed rice and roti to mop up the curry. Thai Tables serves such great Thai food that we would definitely be seen again here, if we can get a booking!

Cocoro Japanese Restaurant, Fitzroy

One year ago today, Gaz and I exchanged our vows in a little church in front of our friends and family to love, honour and obey till death do us part. To celebrate the ocassion, we decided to visit the restaurant where he popped the question two years ago.

The suburb landscape has changed a fair bit since our visit two years ago, but the restaurant remained unchanged. Still the same waitress, the same layout, the same layout of shelves against one side of the wall showing their hand made pottery ware for sale.

No pictures because Gaz forgot the camera and all pics from my new phone is blurry. No pictures to commemorate the big first year anniversary... goes to show that we've degenerated into a totally unromantic pair after only a short period of married time!

We had this dish two years ago - bonito sashimi, now no more on the menu. I remembered it was salty, and the flesh was rough. This time we ordered salmon sashimi instead which was better.

Chicken karaage (same order) and teriyaki salmon.

Gaz made me walk down a wall of shelves showing the restaurant's hand made pottery (also for sale) until I reached this shelf where he had pre-arranged the ring, flowers etc. It took me a while to pair the words together before I realised what it meant. He knelt down on one knee, and spilled out strings of words which I hardly comprehended because I was so embarassed with the whole restaurant looking on. And the rest as they say, is history...

Update: This restaurant is now closed

Shiraaz Indian Restaurant, Ferntree Gully

It seems like Gaz and I have been eating out a lot lately, a result of having a few birthday celebrations, events and meet ups in the past month. Having eaten out so often, I've also grown lazy to cook.

Last Thursday, fueled by one of my lazy moods, we visited Shiraaz in Ferntree Gully. I was pleased to find the place cozy and warm because it was pouring cats and dogs outside. The decor was definitely better than other suburban restaurants, but was very dark inside.

I had planned to order a little bit more so that we can take away the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. My plans were foiled when we saw a note at the end of the menu stating that any food that requires doggy bagging will be charged an additional cost. I suppose taking away leftovers in an Indian restaurant might not happen very often since the portions are normally small. But if a Chinese restaurant tried the same trick, they would be forced to abolish it almost straightaway. Chinese patrons are so kam siap (stingy) that they wouldn't stand for it!

Gaz ordered a mango lassi. Very refreshing... and too sweet for me!

A garlic naan to go with the dishes.

Eggplant potato - Eggplant and potatoes in a light gravy sprinkled with ginger and fresh coriander. This was medium hot. I liked the eggplant which was well cooked. It was not too hot which suited our tastes.

Chef's special Shiraaz steak. The piece of beef was coated with tandoori spices, served on a sizzling plate with a big serve of greens on the side consisting of beans, peas, cauliflower. I didn't quite like the steak - a bit sour, but the meat was very tender.

The service was incredibly good. Wait staff made sure we had everything we need, and passed by our tables asking if the food was OK etc. Overall, it is a good restaurant for when one need some decent Indian food and attentive service.

Back to School

I'm officially studying again. I'm studying a language this time. And it's a language that I should have been fluent in, if not for my constant class waggings. It's Mandarin!

I've been considering taking Chinese classes since two years ago. At first I thought I could learn on my own, but the task of learning hundreds of characters most of them bearing no sense at all was too tough for me. I am hoping with structured learning the characters and their meaning will finally stick in my brain.

My first class was a little boring because I already know the basics - pronouncing and writing 1 - 10, and simple words like 'female, child' etc. I wasn't the only Chinese in the class though, there were two others who like me, realised their folly and is now pursuing the language. Other people in the class were foreigners who were interested in pinning down a challenge, or who were learning the language for business or for fun (geeks!).

I've had a look at next week's class and there are some characters in there that are new to me. Yeah, I like to prepare in advance of my classes when I can. Hopefully by the end of the term I will be able to read some words in a Chinese paper. And flaunt this mercilessly in front of Gaz :)

Tempura Hajime, South Melbourne

As a treat, Gaz and I went to Tempura Hajime for dinner tonight. After hearing so much about this restaurant that specialises in tempura, which happens to be one of my favourite foods (anything deep fried... yum yum) we just had to pay it a visit. This nondescript restaurant is almost invisible to the naked eye. Located between office blocks, the only thing that made me pause in front of its entrance is its wooden door against the other glass office building doors.

Everything in Hajime is in the minimalist fashion. And looking at the space we understood why. It's tiny. Guests sit around a bar looking at the chef operate his two copper woks full of hot oil, with a maximum seating for 12 people. The chef is assisted by two waitresses, who announced their presence each time they entered his open kitchen (hot oil... very dangerous).

Gaz and I had a great time chatting with the chef. We talked about his favourite food in Japan (ramen), the ingredients he used, kitchen utensils - he even showed us a directory of industrial kitchen gadgets he had - it's as thick as a phone book! We talked about where he is from, places to visit in Japan etc. We had a lot of fun that night, so here are pics of the food, but with limited descriptions because I wasn't concentrating on listening to the waitresses as they described each dish.

King fish, ocean trout, and another type of fish mixed with sour plum. The last one was very appetizing. Hajime served freshly grated horseradish with the sashimi, it was very fresh and strong!!

The above came with this dish - seared beef slices, in a broadbean and vanilla cream sauce. Underneath, there is a Japanese spring vege (the waitress mentioned a Japanese name, but I couldn't catch it).

King George Whiting wrapped in shiso leaf.

Behold the oyster...

... which gave us so much eating pleasure!

The humble corn. Steamed, then fried in tempura batter. Very juicy and sweet.

Stuffed mushroom with prawn meat. This was very nice :)

tuna roll with avo, a dot of mayo.

Asparagus.

Midway the meal, we were served cold seaweed salad. Which was just as well because I could feel my body temperature rising due to the heaty courses we had.

Prawn tempura, always a favourite.

Sweet potato, first steamed then fried in batter. Very sweet and soft.

Last course of fried seafood and vegetable tempura on rice with teriyaki sauce.

Yogurt jelly with a muscat sauce. Very refreshing.

The tempura was not oily at all, which happens when the food is cooked at the right temperature but I did feel my body overheating in the middle of the courses. This was well anticipated by the chef and the chilled seaweed salad served to cool us down. Tempura Hajime's is a unique dining experience indeed. It is a good experience for the special occasions.

Some of My Favourite Foods

Char Kuey Teow. Stir fried flat rice noodles with fish cakes, chinese sausages, chives, egg, prawns, beansprouts and the secret ingredient - lard!!

Prawn Noodles. Hokkien noodles in chilli prawn stock with hard boiled egg, prawns, beansprouts, pork slices and fish cake. It takes a lot of effort and time to make the stock, which includes boiling prawn shells & pork with sugar and chilli for many hours. My friend Martin makes the best prawn noodles but since he's left for Sydney I have found another alternative - Tean's prawn noodle paste! Taste almost like the real McCoy and a fast way to satisfy my cravings.

Nuts Chan, Mount Waverley

Nuts Chan... Guess what this is? Is it a brand of peanuts? Or a man called Chan who is crazy? No... it's a restaurant name! Gaz suggested this place yesterday. I thought he was pulling my leg, but it really existed! OK, now guess what sort of food this restaurant serve..... it's Japanese!! Hmm...

At the restaurant, I ordered an oyako don, Gaz had their deluxe bento consisting of miso soup, beef stir fried with ginger sauce, 6 slices of sashimi, and katsu chicken. We ordered crab croquette as entree (deep fried mashed crab meat with potatoes). My food came taste challenged. I dumped half a bottle of the Japanese chilli pepper flakes on my dish, but it was still very bland. I ordered another entree sized sashimi instead. The fish slices came in generous thick slices, but there is a little fishy aftertaste with the salmon.

While we were having our dinner, a Japanese salaryman (Gaz's term, not mine) came and sat at the table next to ours. He ordered in Japanese, and we were awed that a Japanese had come to the restaurant. It means the food must be authentic and good right? (Except my oyako don was very the tasteless....) He got the royal treatment... he had a BIGger pot of tea than us (I bet he had more tea leaves in his pot too! We had barely any in ours), and he was soon brought a bowl of something which looked like sashimi and tofu on top of rice. We wondered if that was really what locals ate in Japan. We must be ordering the wrong thing!

Whatever he had, he looked like he enjoyed it so much. He slurped and finished the whole bowl of rice while I looked on and wondered what went wrong with mine.

Selamat Hari Raya!

Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf zahir dan batin...

Nursery Rhyme with a Difference

This is hilarious!!! Brings back good memories of growing up in a multicultural society. I probably watched as many Hindi & Tamil shows as English shows growing up, so I can appreciate the beats in this video.



Thanks Farizan for sending the vmw!

Pictures of Spring (except the last pic)

Shira Nui, Glen Waverley

Tonight, we went for Gaz's birthday celebration Part 2 at Shira Nui at Glen Waverley. It's a widely reviewed place, but we have not had a chance to visit the place until now.

I made a reservation for omakase (chef's selection - we sit at the counter and the chef delivers dishes made on the spot to us till we popped) about 3 weeks ago - that's the most organised I've been, and was lucky I made the reservation early because there were bus loads of people in the little place even though it is a Wednesday night.

So does it live up to the reviews? Let's take a look at the food we had tonight:

The first dish - snapper with lemon juice and salt. Nice tang to the tongue because of the lemon and salt.

Seared salmon seasoned with Japanese spices which had a little chilli, citrus and pepper. The salmon melted in our mouths... very yummy.

Another view of the salmon showing the two tones of the salmon - seared on top and raw at the bottom.

Mackerel with white seaweed sheet and sesame seeds. Very pretty. The seaweed sheet was very tasty.

Grilled wagyu beef - Beef was tender, sweet. We chatted with another guest as we were eating and he said that this dish is his favourite. It's not far from being ours too.

This was only so-so. Ark shell sushi. It was crunchy and didn't have much flavour.

Toro or tuna... this was my fave dish. Melted in my mouth, so delicious!

Tuna tartare with quail's egg on top, and the other one is okra tempura. I couldn't eat the quail's egg - I don't like raw eggs so Gaz slurped it away for me. We thought these two were so-so. The okra tempura was crisp, but I didn't like the bitter taste to it.

Kingfish. Doesn't it look nice? It's like a fish in itself!

One of the best dishes - lightly grilled oyster topped with mayo. Hmm... very nice and creamy.

Couldn't go past my unagi. It was on my request. Seared on both sides. It was only so-so, quite chewy. Which goes to show... leave it to the chef!

Complimentary dessert - crushed ice with syrup and fruit

The food was good, but I think we'll let the credit card rest for a bit now...

Update: This restaurant is permanently closed as at March 2025

Hakka Tea House, Glen Waverley

We went to Hakka Tea House at Glen Waverley for Gaz's birthday celebration with the family. Here are some of the dishes we had:

Tofu with bok choi and mushrooms.

The star of the show - mud crab with noodles. The noodles were delicious, enveloped with lots of sauce and the crab had plenty of roe.

Salted chicken. I miss the salted chicken sold in the local night market in M'sia where the chicken is wrapped in grease paper, and buried under a pile of coarse salt smoking in a wok. The flesh practically falls off the bone and smells wonderful!

Update: This restaurant is now closed