Fried Chicken

There are some foods that I just can't go past without wanting to stop, sniff, do a mental calculation in my mind if I can afford the extra kilojoule intake, then ignore that and eat it anyway. Like fried chicken. 

Yesterday we had dinner with the family, and we deep fried taro and sweet potato chips. And since there was surplus oil, we made fried chicken as well. This is probably only the seond time in my life that I have deep fried meat at home. Not that it is a testament to my lack of participation in the kitchen, but it is because deep frying is just so.. messy! So, it is probably good that we fried at my MIL's house... :) 

She marinated the wings with salt, pepper, egg and soy sauce. Southern style buttermilk fried chicken would have tasted wonderful too! I covered it with corn flour and Gaz fried them. Knowing how terrified I get with oil jumping out of the wok and at me, he volunteered for the job... After doing a good job with about 30 wings, I think he can now qualify to work for Colonel Sanders. I wonder if they have staff discounts for spouses?

My Week

It's quite a boring day today for me. Gaz is working, and I am at home. So I use this time to remember the things that have happened during the week.

I received an unexpected parcel from an overseas friend early in the week. It was a beautiful hand made diary, just nice to fit in my bag, and a hand made card. They are such thoughtful gifts from a childhood friend. Thank you, dear Harriet :)

Found out mid week that one of my colleagues will be leaving the team. It is a little sad since we were becoming closer to each other over the past two months.

Had pork belly sandwich in a cafe for lunch. It was awesome! Love the crispiness of the pork belly, but not a fan of the tangy apple slaw in the sandwich. I ate it, fat and all.

We had a farewell lunch at the end of the week for someone who has been with us for more than ten years. Seems like most of the people I have known since I started is slowing leaving. Felt a little nostalgic for the old times when we would cramp together in a small office, have a drink and pull each others legs.

Caught up with family yesterday and even had the pleasure of unwittingly hosting someone's birthday dinner! Gaz's cousin had brought along her friend, who is celebrating her actual birthday in a few day's time, but we thought we would celebrate it in advance with her anyway. I am glad they liked the dishes I prepared, though most of them looked presentable but were not totally edible. Like the okonomiyaki which was a little raw in the inside...

Gaz did the cleaning yesterday, and I did the shopping on Friday and yesterday so all I have to do today is to cook a couple of dishes for our lunches during the week. It's almost like Sabbath for me today!

Food Republik, Box Hill

Gaz and I went to Food Republik in Box Hill for dinner recently. It was surprisingly quiet, even the red velvet rope marking where the queue should be into the restaurant swung pitifully lonely in the wind.

We satisfied our inner glutons by ordering 5 dishes between the two of us. We ordered mee sua with pork intestines, black pepper beef with rice, spring onion pancake with egg, mantou with pork belly, and xiao long bao.

Most of the dishes were quite small, so we had no problems finishing all the food we'd ordered. The size of each dish seemed to have shrunk from the last time we were there. Even the xiao long bao's seemed tinier.

We had to attract the waiter's attention for water, and this was how much water we got. 1/4 of a small cup. 

The mee sua was very tasty, albeit small. For the price ($6) I guess that is an entree / snack size.

There are no pictures of the rest of the food we ordered, because we were too busy eating!

Green Roses

I am enamoured by green roses at the moment.

In the world of roses, I imagine the red roses would be the ones dancing and flirting with all the men in the party. The pink ones would be the ones sipping their fruit punch shyly by the corner, but with all the guys looking at her, interested.

The green ones would be the ones driving Prius with bumper stickers like 'Honk if you're a Vegan'. They would be the ones using natural washing products such as egg whites on their face, and bicarb soda for their kitchen sinks.

I even bought some green carnations to match the green roses. I have not seen the green variety of rose plants in the nurseries here, I wonder where I can get a pot?

Foodtopia, Bayswater

Foodtopia is a newly opened fusion Indonesian, Thai and Malaysian restaurant on Mountain Highway, Bayswater. The restaurant's decor gives it a country cosy yet classy look. I believe they serve cakes and coffee during the day, as well as hawker style lunch specials such as pad thai, fried noodles etc for $9.50.

For dinner, there is a small selection of curries and stir fried main dishes, mainly seafood. When Gaz and I visited, we ordered the chilli fish, and salt and pepper prawns upon the owner's recommendation.

The chilli fish was deep fried fish fillets with thai curry sauce, cashew nuts and veges. Our fish sat on another table for a few minutes by mistake so by the time we got it, the fillets were not as crunchy as I would prefer it to be. The dish was tasty and went well with rice.

The salt and pepper prawns however were fried to crunch perfection. They certainly did not skimp on the serving size. There were at least ten big prawns on the plate, reasonable for $15.90

While we were dining in the restaurant, there was a group of rowdy teenagers who brought their own alcohol to drink in the restaurant. They were very noisy and were having fun at others' expense. Once, one of them tried sitting in a baby's high chair for laughs. I must say that no one else besides them really had a laugh at that prank. Gaz and I scoffed our food down just so that we can be away from them.

This incident shows that running a restaurant is not only about the food, but also about handling all sorts of customers - happy, unhappy, disruptive, dishonest. Once, I overheard a customer demanding a refund for a king prawn dish on the basis that the prawns were not fresh, but she had already eaten half of the dish! The restaurant refused the refund. Running a business is certainly a challenge!

Maedaya Richmond

A little haiku to celebrate the idea of relaxing with food..

Grilled skewers of meat
over hot charcoal
makes my eyes water
with joy

What I really enjoyed about our dinner at Maedaya, Richmond was the variety of little food dishes on the menu, sake, and good company in a bar/pub environment that is not too rowdy.

Maedaya serves tapas style Japanese food which goes well with their offering of sake. We were given an ipad on which we ordered these dishes to go with our sampler of 3 sake:

Crab claw - not the ordinary frozen variety.

Agedashi takoyaki - takoyaki which is served a la agedashi tofu style, with soy sauce in the bowl. It went well with rice.

Maedaya special skewer combo - from left: chicken balls (not what you're thinking), chicken thigh, inari tofu skin, pork belly and beef. The skewers were cooked on charcoal, giving it a fragrant smokiness.

Rainbow roll - tuna, salmon, avocado, tobiko with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Very colourful!

Grilled unagi - was extremely small for $6

Lotus root chips with spices - not a big fan of the herbs they sprinkled on top but loved the texture.

Black Toro, Glen Waverley

Fresh with the memory of chomping down tapas in Spain, we went to Black Toro in Glen Waverley and ordered the banquet for two. For $45 pp, these were the dishes which arrived on our table in good time (i.e. didn't have to wait 15 mins between each dish):

 Oyster with tequila and lime - Fresh!

Potato and chorizo croquette - salty, deep fried, fluffly, what else can I say.. yum

Mezcal cured salmon, avocado puree, smashed coriander meringue & salmon roe - delicious! Loved the coriander meringue which was so light and dainty. Lovely combo.

Deep fried soft shell crab - the sauce around the plate was very hot! I like the thought of soft shell crabs, but dislike the taste which is usually fishy because it comes frozen.

Wagyu beef sliders - It was filling. 

Roasted barramundi, marinated tomatoes, olives and radish - The fish was crispy, but the star of the dish was the marinated tomatoes which were savoury and sweet with strong tomato taste.

This is considered a grande plate (main) but the size is small, only one and a half slice of barramundi. This was the last dish of the banquet, we were hoping for more meat. After we left the restaurant, I decided to hop next door to Ocean King and get a take away serve of char siu and sausage to fill up. 

Gaz ordered an extra dessert of frozen Nutella parfait, broken tres leches cake, toasted meringue & banana. I think we will try another dessert the next time.

Still missing the tapas in Spain...

October is Mental Health Month

Did you know that October is Mental Health month? And that World Mental Health Day is on the 10th of October each year?

Mental health is very important but it is often brushed aside because of the stigma attached to it. In recent years however, there have been more much needed discussions around the care and funding required to treat mental disorders and awareness of mental health wellbeing through campaigns such as Mental Health month.

The World Health Organisation describes mental health and well being as the state in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Around 20% of adults are affected by some form of mental disorder such as depression, anxiety disorders etc every year. Nearly half of the population will experience a mental disorder at some stage of their lives. 15% of people will eventually take their own lives. Yet only 1/3 of people affected by mental disorder seek help (www.sane.org)

Stressful life events and hormonal changes can lead to mental disorders, but the causes of mental disorders are varied and difficult to pinpoint. Most people affected by mental disorders make full recovery.

Recently I experienced big changes at work. When one is working 12 hour days everyday and experiencing sleeplessness thinking about work, this is hardly a good thing. This has sapped my energy and made me irritable. No one seems to understand. There have been countless times where negative thoughts of my self worth in handling the situation has entered my mind.

I consider myself mentally well, but I was not kind to my mind. In helping deal with my situation, I especially like #10 on the list of tips to promote mental wellbeing (www.mentalhealth.asn.au)

1. Walk whenever you can
2. Call a friend and catch up
3. Surround yourself with reminders of what you love
4. Let go of what you can't control
5. Learn more about something that amazes you
6. Write it down
7. Make time for fun
8. Go out of your way to make someone's day
9. Offer and accept help
10. Do one thing at a time

Keeping my mind beautiful with worthy thoughts that bring life.

Kotajaya, Bayswater

We are starting to see new, good quality restaurants pop up around the outer East area. The other weekend, dripping with sweat from our climb up and down the 1000 Steps, we stopped at Kotajaya for lunch.

Kotajaya is a new Malaysian restaurant on Mountain Highway, Bayswater. They have a lunch special menu which has dishes such as Hainan chicken rice, char kuey teow, sar hor fun, mee goreng, wonton noodles, laksa and so on for $9.50

It looks like the chicken rice is a popular dish, only available from Fridays to Sundays so we ordered that, and sar hor fun. We really liked the chicken rice which goes well with the garlic chilli sauce. The rice is fragrant and not too greasy. The sar hor fun has breath of the wok and was very tasty. 

The main thing I liked about this new establishment is that it does not rely on overuse of lard, oil and msg to make its dishes tasty. The price is reasonable, the food is authentic. It is no wonder then that the restaurant was full of Malaysians on the day of our visit! Parking can be limited though as it is a standalone building with no off street parking nearby. 

Besides their hawker style lunch dishes, Kotajaya also has an extensive dinner menu. We will definitely return to try their dinner menu one day!

Are You the One?

Recently, we have been watching a Chinese quiz show called 'If You are the One on television. In the show, 24 single, young ladies are presented with a male candidate. He introduces himself through 3 short videos and takes questions from the young ladies for the purpose of scoring a date with one of them.

Within the 15 minutes, the girls can choose to reject the candidate at any time by switching off their light. If there are more than 1 girl who have left their lights on for the candidate, he can choose who he wishes to go on a date with by switching off all lights bar one.

It turns out that this show has been popular in China since 2011, but has only hit our shores recently. Since discovering this show, Gaz and I have been hunting down previous episodes of the show on the Internet as well as religiously watching the weekly episodes on telly as they air.

What we like about the show is the occasional fairy tale ending of a 'prince' finding himself a 'princess' through the show. But more often, we witness the 'demolition' of a male person's ego and confidence as the 24 lights switches off in quick succession.

The complexity of the human mind comes to light in this show. Sometimes, the lights switches off at what I would think is a benign statement, such as, 'I do not mind my future wife to be unambitious in her own career as I am able to support her'. How would this be a turn off coming from someone who has a successful business? Would anyone mind withdrawing from the rat race?

Obviously, some people would not miss working for anything. Recently, I spoke to a lady who is preparing for the birth of her first child. She shared with me her plans of getting back to work post the birth. It went something like this:

Month 1: Give birth
Month 2: Take care of the baby
Month 3: Work

Given that the family is quite well off, I did not think that money was an issue. I can only attribute this to her dedication to her employer!

Golistan Restaurant, Box Hill

Almost everyone in the office have been in limbo over the past few months. We have been anticipating a big announcement to come from the top echelons in regards to a restructure of the business for some time.

When the details were finally announced, they were as clear as muddy waters. What follows next could be inspiration aplenty for daytime soapie writers - they can easily spin at least 50 episodes on the drama that unfolded. But office politics is not something I would like to watch, particularly when it affects those close to me and makes me ponder on the negligible value of people to an organisation.

As for me, I will be entering into new territory. New, out of the box but not totally unfamiliar, not unlike the restaurant we visited yesterday. Golistan Restaurant on 768 Station St, Box Hill is Afghan restaurant serving halal food. I believe this would be the first time we visited an Afghan restaurant in Melbourne.

The menu is limited, but adequate. There were lamb and chicken korma, briyani, kebab and tandoori.

We were recommended mantu ($12), which is dumpling made with the thinnest skin filled with minced lamb, chopped onions and herbs. It is steamed then drizzled with tomato sauce and yogurt. Something familiar, but different.

I ordered bhurani ($12) - which was eggplant. This dish was drizzled with yogurt as well. It was smoky, mushy, delicious. Lots of oil on the bottom of the plate, which I suppose is synonymous with eggplants since it absorbs so much oil in the cooking process.

We used freshly made bread to mop up the lovely flavours of the manto and bhurani. The bread accompanies the dishes, but is also sold individually for $2 per piece. It is about 100 cms long but is broken before being served in a big basket (below).

When it first arrived on our table, we did not think that we would be able to finish the bread (there were about 3 pieces pp) but because it was so delicious, I could not stop eating and soon finished my half plus a little of Gaz's.

The bread is similar to turkish bread, but thinner and crispy. It is also made to order so the bread arrived hot and steaming to our table. Something so simple, but tastes so good.

While we were there, we saw many people ordering the tikka kebabs. These are grilled to order on a charcoal fire. We felt a bit left out, and will order the tikka kebabs when we visit next.

Gong De Lin Vegetarian Restaurant

Chinese restaurants serving purely vegetarian food are hard to come by so when I heard about Gong De Lin, I just had to try it out.

Their location at Swanston St is central, but nondescript. The only advertising is sign with an arrow pointing to Noodle Kingdom, the restaurant on the ground floor. Diners enter Noodle Kingdom and do a quick shuffle to the left where a small lift awaits. There are other restaurants in the building but in my excitement to get to Gong De Lin, I neglected to observe the board showing the other tenants in the building.

Our lift opened into a clean and tidy seating area with floorboards. We were ushered up the steps by a friendly waitperson to a little nook near the big windows which had 3 booths.

We ordered aubergine with bean paste and spicy mock beef. Dishes were served and eaten on clear and coloured glass dishes which I found so different to other places. Generally one would find ceramic and melamine dishes, not glass.

I liked the aubergine dish. The aubergine is first fried, then stir fried with hot bean paste and a little sugar for balance. It also had minced mock meat just like the non vege version.

The mock beef dish was also in the same sauce, so it felt like eating two of the same, just with different ingredients. We should have paid more attention to what we ordered but the rule was my friend would choose a dish she would like to have and I would choose the other to be fair. 

The food was good, and is a good break from the Cantonese style Chinese vegetarian restaurants around. The restaurant is easy to get to, so Gaz should not have any excuses the next time we go to the city!

Dumpling Kitchen, Blackburn Sth

There are several dishes that come to mind on a cold winter's night - steamboat or hotpot as some would call it, herbal lamb pot and boiled dumplings! Tonight we tried a new restaurant called Dumpling Kitchen on Canterbury Rd, Blackburn South. Opened only for three months, this family owned restaurant serves home made dumplings and noodles.

We ordered the Shan Dong noodle soup, fried rice noodles with beef slices and 10 pieces of Xiao Long Bao. Gaz loves XLB, it is his benchmark for a good dumpling restaurant.

The fried rice noodles were delicious, full of breath of the wok. Importantly, it did not appear too oily as some others are.

The Shan Dong noodles were highly recommended by the friendly owner. The family originated from Shan Dong province in China. The term Shan Dong noodles probably refers to the type of noodles and how it is made rather than the way the dish is cooked. In Dumpling Kitchen, the noodles are served in a home made chicken broth with chinese cabbage or wong nga bak, chinese mushrooms, slices of chicken, prawns and ginger. We were assured that the home made chicken stock will be free of any MSG. True enough, the soup was subtly tasty and the noodles were springy and fresh.

The XLB though not home made was pleasantly light. I have read somewhere that XLB is considered a peasant food as the filling is made from fatty bits and pieces of pork which produces the 'soup' in the dumplings. The owner told us that the rest of the dumplings are home made by her mother. The next time we visit this place, I'll be sure to order some of those!

Multicultural Harmony Fest, Knox

Last Saturday, Gaz and I spent half a day basking in the sun enjoying food and non-stop entertainment from around the world. This event was held at the Hungarian Community Centre on Boronia Road, Wantirna and organised by the Knox City Council alongwith representatives from the community.

We had great fun browsing the many stalls set up on the big lawn of the community centre. Some of these stalls sold merchandise, some provided information, the rest sold food. Yummy food from all over the world! We tried Persian meatballs with rice, Filipino roast pork (from a spit) with rice and spring rolls, Polish dumplings, Hungarian goulash (it was really delicious!), Hungarian cabbage wrap and German sausage in a bun. To end our meal, Gaz bought a cheesecake which he had most of. I am glad that they have priced each sample plate at $5 because it is a much more reasonable price compared to $10 charged in similar fests in other places like Glen Waverley, Box Hill and the CBD. The price was a big driver for us to sample food from more stalls.

The entertainment was great too! We watched the police band perform the bagpipes, a Persian dance, Indian dance performed by little 'prince and princesses', and Filipino dance.

We really enjoyed our day, and hope that the Fest next year will be as good or better!

Road Rage

Someone hit my car the other day and drove off. The damage was minimal but very unsightly. He (I saw the driver, but could not catch his plates) left a big dark scratch against the side of my right mirror.

Instead of stopping his car and exchanged details, he sped away.

I should have chased after his car and...

Stopped him in his tracks

'I want an apology!!'

Pappa Rich Glen Waverley

My colleague from Hong Kong asked me this question when we were dining at Pappa Rich, 'Why did they name this restaurant Pappa Rich?' I really don't know why... Perhaps the name embodies the vision of the franchise's founder? To be a rich person? Perhaps the name is an influence of Robert Kiyosaki who wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad? If anyone knows, pls let me know too.

Despite the lingering question of the name of the restaurant, there are no questions about the food. They are good! I must say that I am converted! I used to have deep reservations about PR... We tried the one in QV and found that the Char Kuay Teow to lack wok breath, and the Hainan Chicken Rice too oily. The chicken was literally drenched in oil so much so that my lips could pass for an Orang Minyak's.

Thus, it is with distrust and disbelief every time I pass by the queue into PR Glen Waverley. Luckily I was persuaded by a colleague who wanted to try the place to have lunch there one day. Well, he was treating, so he called the shots.

We had Nasi Lemak Special, Wat Tan Hor, and Hainanese Chicken Rice. The chicken curry in the Nasi Lemak was delicious, and the Wat Tan Hor had wok breath. The chicken in the Hainanese Chicken rice was a little overcooked, but I loved the chicken flavoured rice!

Two days later, I went back for another round and had the Briyani with Ayam Masak Merah and Sambal Brinjal. It was equally delicious. With prices around 12 to 15 dollars per dish, it is reasonably priced for the quantity provided.

The other M'sian hawker style restaurants in GW, watch out!

Gameshow Cooking

Programs such as My Kitchen Rules and Masterchef often push their contestants to cook under extreme conditions. Cook underwater? No problem. Create a dish with stale bread and an egg? Voila, panko crumbed onsen egg! Cook with no modern kitchen appliances? BBQ, here I come!

There are so many other potential extreme environments that they can dump the contestants into. They could even morph two shows into one to capture more audience. For example, they could have the contestants run and bike for 10 km, swim 10 laps then cook three courses with quinoa as the main ingredient. Ironman & Ironchef, who will reign supreme?!

I must say that time limits, making do with what is in the kitchen and cooking for specific ocassions are really exciting for me. Tonight, I had to unexpectedly cook 4 dishes for dinner in 30 minutes as a guest had to leave early. And the reason for the early retirement? To catch a tv program.

Red House Asian Kitchen, Scoresby

Red House Asian Kitchen in Scoresby is doing a good job in attracting diners to the restaurant with their tasty dishes and good service. This restaurant has only been opened for a couple of months yet when we visited them recently it was bustling with activity. I only heard about this place from a friend who had dined there recently. She told me that their Shanghai fried rice cakes were the best she had tasted!

On our visit, we tried their dinner menu and ordered steamed duck with monk vegetables (another funny translation from Chinese - it just means assorted veges) and one of the chef's specials of braised pork knuckle.

The dishes were smaller than the normal portions in other Chinese restaurants however prices were reasonable. They did not skimp on the duck meat nor the pork knuckle although my complaint was that there was not enough meat in the pork knuckle dish. Yes, I did expect lots of fat and tendon, but I did not expect no meat whatsoever.

Other than that, the dishes were delicious and well cooked in the Cantonese style. Although we did not receive complimentary soup as is the custom in other Chinese restaurants, we did receive complimentary prawn crackers, fruit and dessert.

Gaz reckons the friendly waiter who conspiringly told us not to save money for his boss, and to request seconds of the fruits and dessert if we wanted to, warrants us a second visit to this restaurant.

Food for Thought

Gaz has been teasing me recently about my efforts to reduce waste in the household. It all started when I reused some chicken drumsticks which I had used in a soup (ordinarily we would discard this as the flavour and texture of the meat would have all been boiled out of it for the 3 hours it has been in the pot!) for a new dish.

The dish is a Hakka dish called Suen Lat Choi. It can transform leftover meat into an appetite provoking, deliciously spicy and tangy dish. My mother used to cook this with leftover roast duck or roast pork, mustard greens, assam keping, tamarind juice and dried chillies. The meat should preferably have been roasted, to add depth to the dish. I think it is an ingenious way of transforming leftovers into a new dish altogether.

However, Gaz was not impressed with it. He would not have liked it even if I had used freshly roasted chicken for it because he does not like spicy dishes. He likens my dish to pagpag!

Literally translated, pagpag means to dust off (maggots, dirt etc). Think of your half eaten KFC chicken, collected and thrown into a dumpsite, which are then scavenged by the poor. Meat are picked off the bone, and eaten straight away if they smelled OK. If not, they are washed in water and re-fried (to kill bacteria) and eaten. There are some who cooks pagpag and sells them to others.

In the Phillipines where this is happening, pagpag is sometimes the only way of providing for the family's only meal for the day. There are areas within the city which are home to squatters who are below the poverty line. While some people can afford to eat at fast food restaurants (which are generally more expensive than local eateries), the less well-to-do can only afford to eat whatever that comes out from the back end of the restaurant.

This is not isolated to the Phillipines alone, but is an issue present in most developing countries. Hunger and poverty forces people to go to the extremes. We are very lucky in being able to have enough food for leftovers. Some simply have no choice but to eat only discarded food.

Wilson Botanic Park

I came across Wilson Botanic Park in Berwick while surfing the Net. It is conveniently located close to the exit of Monash Freeway, at 668 Princes Highway, Berwick.

The Botanic Park comprises of 39 hectares of walking trails, lakes, and grassland. The driveway into the park is lined with oak trees. The first thing we saw was a rose garden! Luckily there were some roses in bloom. The roses were so beautiful and fragrant.

Rose Garden

There were many lakes within the park, one of which had water lily plants. There were no water lily flowers in bloom when we were there, just buds. It will be a wonderful sight when all the water lilies are in full bloom, and the lake is covered in a sea of pink!

Water Lily Lake

Besides lakes, there are two fossil seams in the park. The fossil sites contain fossilised wood, leaves, and pollens of flowering plants and conifers dating more than 22 million years! Another highlight of the park is the boardwalk. Does it not look dreamy?

Boardwalk

There is also a lookout tower in the park. From the Hoo Hoo Tower, we could see new and large residential towers, the freeway, and large reserves of green.

Hoo Hoo Tower

The Wilson Botanic Park is a great place for a picnic, or a leisurely walk around the park.

Good Friday?

The Chinese are among the most pessimistic people.. Growing up, I would hear things like 'Don't climb up the stairs by yourself, otherwise you will fall and break your head', or 'Don't drink your soup too quickly, otherwise you will choke to death'. To a little kid, it seems like every corner is harbouring Death and Doom.

So when I was invited to a bilingual Chinese/English Good Friday service this year, I was not surprised to hear that the translation for Good Friday means 'Day of Suffering'.

Surely the words Good and Suffering cannot be more different (unless you are Silas the monk in The Da Vinci Code). On a more serious note, I do think that Good Friday is more aptly described as the Day of Suffering (hey I was brought up as a Chinese after all!). Good Friday is the day Jesus suffered immense agony and sacrifice for our sake. Because of His suffering, we are freed and have hope.

This Easter, I will remember His sacrifice for me.

Busy Melbourne

 What can $3.50 buy in Melbourne? Quite a lot actually. On Sunday, I took the train to the city. Weekend travel on public transport is capped at $3.50 on Saturdays and Sundays.

First, I watched the first participants of the annual Run for the Kids cross the finish line at the Botanical Gardens. There were a huge crowd there that morning. Some of them wore identical tops, some were sponsored by companies, others just a desire to be known as running for the same team. I spotted about 10 people wearing purple tops running for Karli who, according to the dates on the tops, lived for just 3 days. I felt really sad but at the same time, happy that her memory lives on through the team of family members running for her.

Then, it was a short stroll to the Government House where I had registered for a free Chamber Music recital. The Liutenant Governor welcomed us on behalf of the Governor of Victoria to the Grand Ballroom of the Government House. After that, we were treated to 50 minutes of chamber music by the Firebird Trio who played 5 pieces of music on the piano, violin and cello. We were also served refreshment after the concert!

The architecture of the building and the Ballrom was beautiful. Chandeliers hung like stars from the high ceiling of the ballroom illuminating the gold on the wall and ceiling.

A short distance away at Federation Square, Viva Victoria Multicultural Fest was on. There were stalls selling knick knacks and food from the countries such as Spain, Nepal, Indonesia, Germany, etc. There were also entertainment lined up for the whole day including singing, dancing and drums.

What a busy weekend!

Old Kingdom Surrey Hills

A modern decor and contemporary paintings on the wall sets this branch of Old Kingdom apart from the branch in Collingwood. The Old Kingdom in Collingwood being the original branch and has a dark and old interior with teapots to match (on our visit there, we were served tea in the teapot with a chipped spout as black as a chimney. It must have been the same age as the restaurant itself). Surely the Surrey Hills branch with its new modernised look should be called the New Kingdom.

We ordered two Peking ducks which came with thin pancake crepes, scallions and cucumber for the famous wrap for $55 each. The skin was crispy and as the breed of duck used for Peking Duck dish is different, it had a relatively low fat content.

The bones are used for a spicy preserved vege soup with pieces of tofu. The soup was clear and not oily, and not too spicy either.

The duck meat was stir fried with bean sprouts but we also added two serves of noodles, one ramen and the other chow mein for an additional charge of $8 each. There seem to be more duck meat in the dishes here compared to the Collingwood branch. The noodles were tasty too. But the service leaves much to be desired.

We were waiting for the waitress to finish splitting the ramen dish into six equal portions for all of us, when she realised she had made a judgment error and there was not enough for six portions. She continued to scoop up the last bits in the dish and and presented us five bowls of noodles instead. So what's the sixth person on the table supposed to do?? Wait for us to finish our ramen while he stares at the creepy painting of amalgamed red babies floating in mid air above a city skyline?

At one point in our meal, one of us requested for a pair of chopsticks, and then quickly added a request for our empty teapot to be filled. The expression on the waiter's face was as though we had asked him to walk to Darwin and back.

I think one of the most common complaints about Chinese restaurants is the customer service. The restaurants often have the mentality that people will keep coming back if they serve good food. Unfortunately as I prefer the much more fragrant Cantonese roast duck better and do not care for waitresses who leave out a patron when serving out portions, they will not be seeing me at their restaurant again.

Fiesta Malaysia 2013

Silat, satay, batik, cucur udang, kuih - what do all these have in common? They were all at Fiesta Malaysia! It was on at Federation Square this Saturday and I was there to show my support. The fest was organised by the Malaysian Students' Council of Australia, Victoria (MASCA Vic) and sponsored by the Aust & M'sian governments and other corporate sponsors such as Mamee and Signatures Wedding.

There were performances such as silat cekak, gamelan, and lion dance which makes the homesick heart twinge. Add to that rows of stalls selling satay, murtabak, kuih, nasi lemak, cendol and it's enough to make one sniff. And salivate.

The turnout might not be huge, and information on the website regarding the event just a little sketchy but it is a tremendous effort by a student council and it is enough to transport me back to good ol' M'sia.

Et tu, Tutu?

Being an avid fan of ballet, I was filled with excitement when I read that the National Gallery of Victoria is collaborating with Australian Ballet to exhibit ballet costumes.

This exhibition is on the second level of NGV International and showcases about 15 costumes used in various ballets. Some were designed by designers such as Akira Isogawa and Valentino, most of them were simply marvellous and out of this world.

My favourite one of the exhibition is the Black Swan tutu - classic yet different, a little daring, so beautiful!

What's that I hear you say, tutu? You too, think the same? :)

Fried Chicken Chickillia Style

Gaz and I tried out a restaurant at the back of a Korean grocery store in Glen Waverley last week. We would never have picked out this particular store for harbouring a fried chicken cafe at the back if not for Urbanspoon. It's a cozy place, with only about 30 seats.

It's boast to fame is it's twice fried chicken with Chickillia spices. From what I can gather, the Chickillia brand originated from Korea, and this is the first franchise in Melbourne / Australia. The owners' daughter was giving another customer the spill on the cafe and the brand, and the rest of us in the cafe listened quietly. There was a friendly family atmosphere in the place when she was talking.

We ordered an egg pot, kimchi pork stew and a small serve of Chickillia wings, spicy soy and garlic flavour.

The egg pot was steamed egg in stock topped with some slices of mushroom served in a clay pot. We enjoyed this dish very much. The egg was silky and slides well into the trap!

The kimchi pork stew ($24) came in a large clay pot and was heated throughout our dinner on a portable burner. There were thin slices of tofu, thin slices of pork belly, kimchi cabbage and chopped garlic in the soup. The size of the pot was big but disappointingly, it seemed to hold more soup than solid ingredients. There were probably about 20 thin slices of pork belly the height and width of two segments of my index finger and 1/6 square of a tofu block in the soup.

The plate of fried chicken arrived last on our table. This had been pre-empted earlier, as we were informed the chicken are made to order and the cooking process would take about 20 minutes. The chicken was fried with skin on without batter, was not greasy and was coated with Chikillia seasoning. The seasoning tasted good - sweet, spicy and salty on the chicken however I suspect it contained some MSG as I felt quite thirsty afterwards.

Naughty foods like fried chicken are usually delicious, but somehow the star dish of that night for me was the healthy egg pot.

A Balletful Friday

It has been a while since there was free to public ballet performance. After a hiatus of 5 years, the Australian Ballet finally performed at Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl again. Thanks Telstra! I went with some friends to the concert. Luckily we managed to reserve adjoining seats for the rest of the group when we arrived at 6pm. While the Bowl filled up rapidly, there were many people who were equally happy to lay a mat down on the lawn. My friend had invited several other friends to the event and I had a good time getting to know them better while perving at the male dancers on dancers doing their warm ups! We all agreed that the dancers have wonderfully defined muscles... Hopefully we get to see them in action again next year!

People's Market Collingwood

Last weekend, we visited the People's Market in Collingwood. The area has changed wuite a bit from the last time we were there. Now, there are hip restaurants next to small newsagency and fruit shops. There is a big hole opposite the old building housing Kathmandu, no doubt ready for development of an ultra modern apartment building which seem to mushroom from the earth overnight these days.

Back to People's Market... Located at Stanley Street, off Smith Street, this little vacant block of land has been transformed into a bustling little community hosting artists and vendors selling food and wares. What I found really interesting was the use of discarded materials such as old shipping containers to create shops from which vendors sell items like stationery and books. They have also used milk crates, pipes, and planks to create a bridge and an enclosed area to exhibit works by artists. I like the concept of using discarded materials to make them useable again, and to see this accepted and work so well is wonderful.

While we were there, we tried some dishes from several stores. They were all delicious! We tried fried zucchini flower and twice cooked lamb on yorkshire pudding from LBD, meat dumplings topped with caramelised onion and bacon from another stall, ham and gruyere cheese toastie from the Melt Shop and banana waffle from the Waffle Club all washed down with an acai berry smoothie. The market was definitely worth checking out!

Peony Pavillion

Yesterday, we watched Peony Pavillion at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda. Quite different to the Peony Pavillion ballet performed in the Arts Centre last year, this one showcased Chinese dance instead. I had stumbled on the show by accident while surfing the Net but boy, am I glad I went for it!

Peony Pavillion is a Chinese opera play written in the Ming Dynasty. A full length PP chinese opera can reach 20 hours! Thankfully, this PP was only 3 hours. The dancing was superb. The choreographer showed the audience the versatility of the cast by mixing acrobatics, chinese dance, chinese opera moves and contemporary dance in the show. The props were amazing and brilliantly used. There was a scene with a set of 3 - 4 chinese wooden doors used to show the comings and goings of the people in the house which I thought was cleverly set.

The choreographer captured the essence of PP in this show with interesting scenes and on a nice pace. It also helped a great deal that the synopsis of each act is clearly displayed on two large tv screens on either side of the stage to provide context to the audience. I wish they would do the same for ballets, so that the audience can understand the background of each act without having to buy a programme.

The show ran for only 2 sessions. Perhaps it was due to the lack of publicity but it was a little surprising that the theatre was not fully packed on the opening night.

Secret Recipe Forest Hill

Last week, Gaz and I were at Forest Hill Shopping Centre and decided to try out Secret Recipe cafe. Secret Recipe was a big casual dining brand in Malaysia, and is well known for its cheesecakes. It serves Western meals as well as local favourites such as nasi lemak etc.

The reason I used the word 'was' is because I am not too sure if it continues to be popular, as the last time I visited a couple of franchises whilst on holidays in Malysia, I found the quality has dropped dramatically. The servings were miniscule for the price charged and the taste was lacking.

The franchise appeared in Melbourne last year, with one opening in Knox Ozone. We visited the place once for drinks after a movie but have not tried the food there.

We ordered the award winning lamb shank (not sure what award it won) and stir fried somen.

Unlike in Malaysia, the portions are reasonably sized in the franchises in Australia. The lamb shank rested atop a pile of creamy mashed potatoes and baptised with a generous ladle of gravy. It was comfort food to the max!

Gaz' stir fried somen had lots of vegies in it - cabbage, carrots, fresh salad. There were also slices of chicken meat in the dish. It had the breath of the wok in the dish which I loved.

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised at the quality and quantity of the food. The shank was $21 and with a discount coupon we received the somen for free.

Update: This restaurant is now closed after the Secret Recipe chain went into administration.

Meko Dining

Following our V Day drama which caused us to miss our reservations at the original restaurant Gaz wanted to go to, we were lucky enough to dine at Meko Dining without prior reservations.

We were served complimentary bubbly and I received a complimentary gift of a rose candle for the ocassion.

We were saved from the trouble of choosing our food, instead the restaurant had a set menu for V Day. A 2 course menu for $68 or a three course menu for $78 per person.

The food in Meko Dining is fine dining quality, without the accompanying pretentious pomp. The plates are not huge, the servings are not tiny. I did not have to eat KFC or McDonalds after our meal.


For amuse bouche, there was a deboned chicken wing stuffed with anchovy and prawn mousse topped with sweet chilli sauce. We had to ask the waitstaff what we were eating as the dish was served without explanation (this attests to the restaurant's unpretentious style, but the dish was a little too complex to decipher without proper description). I am not a big fan of sweet chilli sauce, but it does it's job to open up the taste buds.

Chicken Wing stuffed with Anchovy and Prawn Mousse

Gaz ordered the san choy bow as entree.

San Choy Bow

My entree was Salmon Tartare with Seaweed Caviar. With what? Seaweed Caviar is created through molecular gastronomy using seaweed. I missed the popping salt water flavour of non-vegetarian caviar though.

Salmon Tartare with Seaweed Caviar

Gaz's main of eye fillet. He loved the sauce very much, and I loved the mushrooms on the plate. I would like to ask the chef how the sauce was made, it was really tasty! The dish was had mashed potatoes (Gaz thinks his mash is richer and tastier!).

Eye Fillet with Mushroom Sauce

My main of barramundi with macadamia crust on a bed of daikon. The crust was surprisingly light and crunchy. Although it was quite brown in some places, the barramundi was so tender and cooked beautifully. The daikon underneath was cooked, and taste a little salty. It was just delicious!

I wondered why is it that they serve two little fillets of fish instead of one big piece. Then I noticed Gaz also had two little eye fillet steaks on his plate instead of one big steak. I think the chef was thoughtful enough to provide us with servings like this so we both could share each other's plates without the hassle of dividing the food.

Barramundi with Macadamia Crust

Our dessert platter had a delicious dark choc mousse which paired really well with the sweet pistachio ice cream. I did not like the candied tomato which was a little tart, but Gaz liked it. For me, I could do without the tart element on the plate.

We also received a passionfruit sorbet in between the courses as a palate cleanser.

Pistachio Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Mousse with Candied Tomatoes

We really enjoyed our dining experience at Meko Dining. The food was delicious, innovative and thoughtful with honest serve sizes without the long wait time. For special ocassions, it is the perfect restaurant to go to.

Update: This restaurant is now closed.

Locked Out!

I received this flower arrangement from Gaz on Valentine's Day. Beautiful Oriental Lilies with such wonderful perfume.

Gaz had also booked a Japanese restaurant in Armadale for dinner however due to some unforseen circumstances, we had to cancel our reservations.What happened? We got locked out of our house!

We were both ready for a good night out when Gaz discovered he'd locked his car keys in the house and asked me for my keys so he can open the door. Then I realised I'd also left my keys in the house. Panic!

There were no unlocked door or windows that I could test my contortionist skills. Then I found a hair pin in my bag. I've seen it done on the telly, it cannot be too difficult! I spent 15 minutes trying to pick our front lock. I reckon that if I had another hair pin I would have been successful. Unfortunately that was not the case and we had to be rescued by a locksmith instead.

My ego dashed, the locksmith arrived within 15 minutes and opened the lock in 5 seconds. From the time he got out of his vehicle, opened the lock to the time we paid the $150 bill, he'd only been there for 30 seconds.

It turned out to be a much more expensive Valentine's Day for dear Gaz that he'd expected!

Happy Chinese New Year 2013

Happy Chinesssse New Year! It's the year of the snake this year. People born in the year of the snake is said to be insightful, wise and influential. To me, the snake is another animal in the Chinese zodiac that can be eaten. Of the 12 animals - dragon, rabbit, tiger, horse, goat, ox, dog, rat, monkey, pig, rooster and snake, 11 of the animals have landed on the Chinese dinner table as one form or another. If the Dragon was not a mythical creature, it would have been on the table too. Maybe that is why it is considered the luckiest of the zodiac sign...

This CNY eve, I had the opportunity to help out in preparing the quintessential Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner. The Reunion Dinner is definitely one of the biggest occasions in the Chinese culture and is the sole cause of the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the cities in China in Jan/Feb each year.

On Saturday, I helped Gaz's mom prepare and cook 8 dishes and 1 soup. Our day started from 12 and lasted till 8pm at night! It felt like running a marathon, except that when you cross the finish line in a marathon you usually get a free bottle of water and a medal. I guess having 8 dishes and a soup to sit down to at the end of all that work is as good as, but by the time all the cooking was done, the appetite's gone.


On the table was braised mushrooms, dried oyster and black moss, steamed fish, and white cut chicken (steamed chicken with spring onion and grated ginger), oyster sauce lettuce in addition to prawns with capsicum, beef with brocolli, a delicious pot of soup plus a take away order of roast pork. Gaz's cousin also brought a home made tiramisu, which was was very delicious.

No, there is no snake on the menu.

 And add two very tired persons at the table to the tally..

Photo courtesy of D

Bangkok Gardens, Boronia

Recently there have been so much publicity about Jessie and Biswa of My Kitchen Rules, or the Spice Girls as they are called in the show. Regardless of what people think about them, the show has collected more viewers than ever because of the controversy the duo has attracted. I was a little disappointed that they were eliminated in the first round of the competition as I would have liked to see if they can really cook. They should be given a second chance to prove themselves...

Talking about second chances, Gaz and I dined at Bangkok Gardens tonight. It is not exactly our favourite restaurant, no thanks to a mix up that left us humiliated a year ago. Although we were a little apprehensive about dining there again, we had received a discount voucher for the restaurant which we thought we should use.

We ordered our favourite red duck curry (no lychee, but still delicious!), a deep fried fish fillet with cashew nut and entree of fried calamari Thai style.

We found the calamari a little on the sweet side as they were topped by a sweet topping of grounded nuts. The calamari itself was battered and fried till crispy, delicious!

The fish was also lightly battered and fried, then stir fried in a chilli sauce with cashew nuts and capsicum. It was a little bit on the oily side but it was very tasty.

We could not fault the red duck curry, which came with pineapples, capsicum, baby corn and generous serving of duck.

I am glad that we gave them a second chance, because our dinner tonight was delicious!

Australia Day 2013

Gaz and I watched the Australia Day fireworks from the Sidney Myer Bowl again this year. This time it was more beautiful as we watched it from the top of the hill instead of from the seats in the bowl.

No crowds, no jostling, no BO, unparalleled views of the night sky. Beautiful!

La Tour De Creek

There has been plenty of talk and discussions over Lance Armstrong's admission of doping in all of his 7 Tour De France wins. The fact that the wins were assisted by illegal means is very disappointing.

I'm not qualified to discuss the psychology of why he did it, and whether or not he meant his apology in the interview. I can only imagine his admission of his wrongdoing is a big burden off his shoulder and we can look at this as a deterrent to others.

My cycling story is a lot less sensational but is still quite a memorable experience in my life. I first learnt to cycle at the advanced age of 9. My brother demonstrated how it was done, held the bike steady for the first hour or so while I struggled to coordinate my feet, bum and hands. My mom supervised my progress from the cool of the house.

As the learning experience stretched past half a day, a day, two days, they quickly had 'other things to do' and left me to continue on my own. I wanted to join them too with whatever they are doing, but I know I would never be able to hold my head up high when ALL the neighbours in the WHOLE housing estate had been monitoring my progress from their windows throughout the week!

Thankfully by the end of the week, I was coordinated enough to get my bum on the seat and wobbly pedalled about 15 metres down the road whereupon I promptly fell down with the bike on top of me, hurting my leg. I am sure it was a little bit of an anti climax for all the neighbours who had been watching. Some might even have lost some money on me! Luckily, I took to the bicycle like a duck to water when my leg had healed.

One would have thought that after such an embarrassing experience, I would know better than to forget how to ride a bike. But forget I did...

So, 3 weeks ago I re-learnt the bike, sans the neighbours. I practiced in the privacy of my yard, until I could at least get my bum on the seat for more than 2 seconds, then Gaz and I went to a nearby bike trail. Now, this trail had dips and inclines, dogs and pedestrians. It felt like I was in a video game and if I successfully avoided the hurdles I get to stay alive. Which is not far from the truth.

Anyway, at the first instance of a pedestrian walking a dog, I fell down with my bike on top of me. I scraped my knee and hands but pride lifted me straight up and I continued on as though nothing had happened. Both the pedestrian and her dog must have been bedazzled at my ability to fall on a level road.

I might have sustained just a few dozen bruises on my legs and hands, but hey, if I am posed with the question 'Can you swim?', I can at least counter with, 'No, but I can ride a bike!'. Not knowing how to ride a bike AND to swim is just.... bad.

Dawdle dawdle

Don't get me wrong here.. Gaz is very good around the house. I am very thankful that he is willing to help out doing chores in the house. He occasionally washes the dishes, vacumms, does the laundry and cooks. But he dawdles! 

I would have finished vacumming and mopping the house in the time he takes to put away one load of laundry. 

Nowadays, he is much better!