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!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
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!
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.
There are no pictures of the rest of the food we ordered, because we were too busy eating!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
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?
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.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
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.
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:
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