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!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
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...
Instead of stopping his car and exchanged details, he sped away.
I should have chased after his car and...
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| Stopped him in his tracks |
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| 'I want an apology!!' |
Friday, April 19, 2013
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, April 8, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, April 5, 2013
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.
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!
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?
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.
The Wilson Botanic Park is a great place for a picnic, or a leisurely walk around the park.
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.
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| 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!
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| 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?
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| Boardwalk |
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| Hoo Hoo Tower |
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