Story of peanut butter and I

Last weekend was spent being as couch-ridden as a couch potato. I was very unfortunately down with the flu. I like to rest on my couch more than my bed just because my couch is near the balcony where we like to keep the sliding door wide open so we get lots of light and air. It just feels a lot better than breathing in all the 'sick air'. So that's why it's couch-ridden instead of you know, bedridden.

Anyway when I was younger I was taught that 'flu' is runny nose. Lol of course it's not. Flu stands for influenza, which is caused by a type of virus that comes in specific season - according to information on the net, it's late fall to spring. Common symptoms include severe headache (hate hate hate), exhaustion, muscle aches and fever - exactly what I had. The virus spreads really easily and it is really common. The doctor told me there has been many cases already this time around and it's easy to get it when your immune system is weakened - happens usually when you're stressed because it depletes Vitamin C which helps in boosting your immune system. Smoking does it too.

I went to school yesterday eventhough I wasn't feeling completely alright but because I had to get some things settled in school I dragged myself out anyway. I requested for early leave because I decided to see a doctor later that afternoon, which was how I found out I had this viral infection but the thing is it was already my 4th day with it, I wasn't feeling as crappy anymore. I just went to the doctor for a peace of mind and I wanted to get the doctor's prescription for some drug anyway. 

The doctor said it is highly contagious and advised me to stay home and rest for a few days until I am completely recovered before I go out and see the world. So he gave me 3 days sick leave WOHOOO! And when I was at school earlier one of the teachers told me "Hmm let's hope it's not contagious" which I actually took offence at at first because hey, I'm sick here instead of showing concern you're telling me about being contagious? Ugh. But oops. Looks like I am contagious hahah.

And the funny thing is for the past few days of being sick I was guessing that it's a mild food poisoning eventhough there's no vomiting and diarrhea... Ok truth is I've been eating expired peanut butter. I know, people are going to tell me "WTF why do you eat expired food?!" I tell you why!

There's a jar of crunchy peanut butter which is expired, and a jar of smooth peanut butter which is not expired. I hate smooth peanut butter, only bought it for baking purposes but I loooove my peanut butter! So I decided to eat the expired one. Also because I have this mindset that if it says "Best Before", means it's ok to eat after the expiry date. If it's "Use Before" like milk or cream, means it's NOT ok to eat after the expiry date.

So for the past few days I was mentally beating myself thinking that it's the PB. After visiting the doctor's yesterday, looks like it's not the PB's fault :)

Anywaaaaay. I've already thrown that expired PB out already before anybody come telling me I shouldn't eat expired food.

Yesterday while we were doing some Asian grocery shopping, I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some Teluk Intan Heong Peng!

Let's hope it's good! I super hate heong peng(s?) that are soft.

When we saw the biscuits Wk immediately asked me hesitantly how I usually eat them. I looked at him and said "On it's own lah what else" and he told me he used to eat it with guess what?

CONDENSED MILK! 

Ew?? Heong peng is sweet on its own I don't understand how could people eat it with condensed milk lor! But anyway he insisted to get a can of condensed milk so that he can eat with it or he won't buy the heong peng wtfffff.

 

These are apparently the famous Apple Strudel from Perth!

The first apple strudel I've tried was from Frutti, it's a cafe in Panmour area, near Delta tuition centre. Students always hang out around there before/after or even during (ponteng) class. Speaking from experience hahahaa.  They claimed their apple strudel was from Australia but back then I didn't know what an apple strudel was and I didn't give a shit so I just tried. It was disgusting. The pastry was soggy, the custard was too much and bleghh, didn't taste any apples. That was probably the first and last I've ever had apple strudels.

On Monday Kai Mun gave us this long block of apple strudel which he brought back all the way from Perth when he traveled there. It is apparently really really famous and good, from this pastry shop called Corica. Tried it the moment he brought back and at that time I was actually still pretty sick to be eating dessert but from the looks of it, I couldn't resist. I had to have a slice. It was so good! I can imagine it being 10 times nicer if we could eat it fresh.

There's a good balance of custard and pastry. The custard is really good, it's what a good custard should taste or smell like. The level of sweetness is just nice. Pastry was not crunchy anymore since it's not fresh but it's still nice and light, not soggy! My favourite part? The fine sugar crusted layer of pastry at the top. Overall everything was just a pleasure to eat. You take a mouthful but everything's light and fragrant, not cloyingly sweet or dense.

It's been a year

since I first came to Melbourne.

Has it been a good year? I don't know but I will definitely celebrate the things I've learnt, the changes I've gone through, the changes I've made to myself as a person. It was definitely good to be able to reunite with my other half after 4 years of long distance relationship. We were planning and we were hopeful with everything in the future eventhough we weren't sure if it would work. Well, half worked, half didn't. 

There were two things I wanted when I decided to come here - PR and a job. After almost a year, I'm really glad my PR application was approved. With PR, I can stay here indefinitely with Wk while he works and build his career, while I can work without limitations too as well as figuring out what I want as a career. We no longer have to stay apart. Sadly, I still have not gotten a job due to being a full time student now. I came here as a tourist thinking I could convert my visa when we apply for PR. Plans had to be changed when we found out I couldn't apply while I'm holding a tourist visa, I needed to at least be on a student visa. It led me to enrol in a course which I've never wanted to talk about because of many petty reasons. I figured since it's been a year here and after going through so many circumstances, I'm finally feeling comfortable to mention it.

I'm currently a full time student doing a Diploma of Beauty Therapy. The course goes on for a year. You may wonder, what does a beauty therapist do? Nothing related with music that's for sure. A beauty therapist performs all services related to beauty which include waxing, manicure, pedicure, body massage, facial, makeup, spa and aromatherapy. 

Music is a part of my life, I didn't want to waste time and money on a music course or a school that is not decent. Even if I am qualified to enter a good university to do a Masters degree, I couldn't afford to pay the fees as an international student. I'm too old to be taking money from my parents and I have 3 other siblings who need the money more than me. 

What I needed was something affordable, short in duration and I have interest in. I initially only took it as a stepping stone to my PR application as ultimately, I don't want to abandon music. I wanted to do makeup  but was told it's not offered to international students at that time. Instead, I was convinced to do beauty therapy and switch to makeup when it's available, which they presumed wouldn't be long. When I had the chance to switch finally, I decided to stick with beauty therapy. Simply because I was half way into the course  already (6 months) and it would be a waste to not finish it when I'm that close. Besides, I think it has a better career prospect than makeup, it makes me more marketable/employable, and I somehow became interested in it. I still have interest in makeup but I guess the timing was just not right.

I should be finishing before August this year and I have no idea what's in store for me but I have made plans for what to do after this. Now what's left is to hope everything works out fine.

Nothing comes easy, I get it. I just have to keep trying my best.

Some random food pictures, as always.

Beatrix

It's a breakfast place at North Melbourne. It seems to have garnered quite some good reviews and ratings but honestly, I find it so-so. Can't remember what's that roll called, it was a weekend special. Most people praised their sweets. The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was again, so-so.

Homemade Katsudon

The first time I made Katsudon my pork was as tough as old boots because I didn't know how long I should deep fry them for. This time, it was good but I wished it could be a little bit more tender.

Laksa King

Had lunch here after an interview because it was only 2 train stops away. Great place during those laksa-craving days. Their teh tarik is seriously fawesome! Nothing I've tried in Malaysia was as good.

Beautiful night sky view with 2 stars. Can you spot the crescent moon?

On turning 20 something

Do I look like a Korean? =D I thought they look quite cute so I asked for a pair of powerless geeky glasses from Korea when Maggie travelled. 

So we went to Squires Loft Steakhouse on my birthday. But we didn't have steak cos we wanted to eat their lamb scotch fillet which I ate once and really liked, and their pork spare ribs which Maggie recommended. Both were really good! If you wanna have some nicely done red meat, Squires Loft will not disappoint. However, I think Meat & Wine Co. makes better chips so I'd say if you were to pick either baked potato or chips, get baked potato. The chips are forgettable. Their meats are good enough on their own so you can do with our without their sauce, which you'll have to pay for anyway. Also tried the baked mushroom and feta,  quite similar to gratin. Quite nice but quite salty.

I wore this Topshop Fit & Flare Tunic, it's black but it has multicoloured metallic fibre all over which is not visible in this picture. And wore my new heels which almost killed my feet. We boarded on the wrong tram which went the wrong way so we had to get down to catch another tram. But we waited really long and there wasn't any tram and we were running late for our reservation so we decided to walk there. Freaking 1 kilometre. IN THOSE 4 INCHES HEELS. I was cursing and cursing and cursing, and then Wk decided to buy me bag to shut me up lmao.

Got some presents from some amazing friends! =D

When I was at Kit with my friends I was telling them how good this body scrub smelled and I was about to get it but because it was kinda pricey for a body scrub, I decided to put it in my wishlist. One of them got it for me! Aaaaaah it smells so good! Smells like caramel + maple syrup!

Yes an apron! One day my friend asked me if I wear an apron when I cook. I told her I wanted to get an apron but because aprons here are not cheap, I have to put it on hold. (I know, nothing is cheap in Melbourne) And they got one for me! And this apron is so freaking cute ok! It comes with a hand towel with velcro loop, and there's a velcro hook on the apron. So you can actually attach/detach the hand towel to/from the apron. How handy! You can't see it in the picture, but the piece of cloth I'm holding out, that's the hand towel. So when your hand's filthy, just wipe it on the hand towel. No need to dirty the entire apron. I don't know what you can put in an apron pocket... a mobile phone maybe hahahaha.

Another awesome gift from some of my friends - kitchen organisers from kikki.k! More about it later. I always keep recipes, plan my meals and have a shopping list whenever I do grocery shopping. And they got me a recipe organizer, magnetic meal planner and magnetic shopping list! My friends know me inside out ♡♡♡ I used to print a schedule to plan my meals and stick it on the fridge with scotch tape. I also have a regular shopping list pad but it's not magnetic. Now not only do I not need to print, I don't even need to stick. It's magnetic, and the shopping list is right next to it. Handy maximus!

 

I was looking for a new pencil case so about 2 weeks ago I decided to pop into kikki.k and have a look, and I fell in love with these 2 items. The charcoal felt pencil case and the 2012 Botaniska planner. Which then Wk decided to buy them for me for my birthday! =D Look at the emoticons which indicate mood and weather of the day, how cute!

kikki.k is a Swedish lable which designs stationaries and home/office objects. Think ikea design (Swedish too) but in stationary forms. Er... no flat-packing though lol. Their designs are basically simple, elegant and thoughtful. It's one of my favourite places to go to whenever I need stationaries or organisers.

On the same day after our dinner, my parents called me and wished me too. My dad said, "all the best blessing. happy birthday . sour 1st sweet later.owe u a present" lol =')

If any contributor of the presents are reading this, once again thank you! xoxo

A lil' eating and shopping

Sea Salt | Fish and Sushi Bar

If you're looking for awesome sushi or fish and chips for awesome price, Sea Salt is the place. I first discovered this place when Lenny, one of my classmates brought me there to get some sushi rolls. They're awesome because not only do they taste good, they're affordable. I especially love their inari (beancurd pockets), so huge! I ordered this Sea Salt Fish Burger the other day and omg it was massive. I swear there was like 3 pieces of fish bites in the burger along with vege, cheese and a fresh sesame seed bun. For healthier option, they even have grilled tuna or salmon burger, which are only a dollar more than their normal, battered fish burger. Those taste really good as well.

Ramen-Ya | Melbourne's Best Japanese Ramen Noodle Restaurant

I haven't tried enough of ramen in Melbourne to know if they are really the best, but their ramen is indeed good. Not cheap but still affordable. Apart from ramen they have bento boxes but I've only tried the Tonkatsu Charsu and Shoyu Gyoza Ramen. I'd say if you were to try, go for their specialty which is the Tonkatsu Charsu. I'm not a huge fan of ramen and these definitely didn't blew me off my mind but they're decent-tasting and the warm soup's great for a cold day.

Kenzan @ GPO

I can't seem to find the website for this restaurant but doesn't matter because I don't quite like the fact that their food does not justify the price at all. The dish in the picture for example, is their Sake Teriyaki which is basically grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce, served with vege, mashed potato and steamed rice. That cost $22! Ok for salmon, maybe that's alright but seriously, $22 for a single serve, don't you think it's too much? We ordered this entree of 4 shitake mushrooms with minced prawn filling, and it cost us S16! That's like $4 for 1 freaking mushroom! And their Agedashi Tofu is S10. Will I go back and give it a second chance? Hrm... not keen. I can see that there's a lot of attention to details put into the preparation of each dish, and ingredients are fresh but I can't help to think that they are a little overpriced for something that tasted 'good' and not 'omg I want more'.

***

Online shopping is my bestfriend now. With Ebay and Asos and a friend to onlineshop with to save on shipping, who steps out of the house to shop anymore? Hahah.

 Colour contact lenses

I can't seem to find the info page to these contacts from the website I got it from, maybe they don't sell them anymore :/ but look how cute the packaging is! They even gave free gifts which were a pair of lenses (which was crap, naturally) and a cute animal lens case. The colour of the free lenses were slightly different when worn so I threw those away already. My animal lens case are pig faces! ^@^  <--- obligatory lala emoticon to go with the pig face lens case hahahah!

 Ardell false lashes

Can I just say putting on individual false lashes is a bitch? They are so tiny and flimsy and it's so difficult to put them in the right position. That being said, they look so much more natural than the strip (full) ones.

 Asos.com

Currently waiting impatiently for these few items to arrive at my doorstep! 2 dresses, a top and a slip.

MAC Morange & Ruby Woo Lipsticks

I didn't buy these online, never buy MAC online unless you know the seller sells genuine stuff. MAC counterfeits are everywhere and they look real. Anyhow, I would never get lip products online cos you never know how long they've been kept. Lip products are essentially liquid/cream so they generally don't have long shelf lives. 

I've always been afraid of loud, bright colours but recently got the urge to try so when I got to pick 2 lippies for B2M (Back 2 MAC), I decided to go crazy. I knew I wanted Ruby Woo (as the name suggests, it's a red) for the first, for the second one I decided on an orange. I went to 3 MAC counters to finally find Morange, and I'm so glad I tried searching for it instead of settling for something else. 

These pictures are obviously edited, it doesn't really show how bold the colour is. It is truly bright and I luff it =D

云吞

With food/recipe magazines everywhere, anyone can cook! =P

Today I attempted to make wontons which turned out pretty good. The recipe said to use chicken mince but since chicken meat here is so expensive, I decided to go with pork mince. I mean come on, who makes/eats wonton with chicken meat anyway? At least I don't, for all I remember wontons are always filled with pork. I think it would be a completely different texture if it was chicken meat, possibly not as 'soft'? Which defeats the purpose of making wontons cos literally wonton or 云吞 means 'swallowing cloud' which indicates the wonton being so soft it's like swallowing clouds. 

My version is probably a cross between Cantonese and Shanghainese. Cantonese serves it with noodles, Shanghainese uses only pork and wombok (no prawn) and wraps it the way I did. The first time I tried to wrap it, I didn't know how to do it as the instructions weren't clear in the recipe. It turned out looking really ugly and weird so I looked up Youtube and found the right way to wrap them. Seriously, the internet has just about anything you're looking for it's not even funny.

By the way, I just finished watching Lord of the Rings (all 3) yesterday. I know, so freaking late. It was out when I was 15, at that time I probably still didn't have that much freedom to hang out with my friends and watch movies so when the 2nd or 3rd movie came out, I didn't watch it cos what's the point of watching when I didn't watch the first movie, right? Can I just exaggerate how freaking long the movie is? 3.5-4 hours for one movie, are you serious? Lol. Nevertheless, it was good. Next, The Matrix. Yes I haven't watched that either, because the name sounded boring hahaahh.

My Mexican Cousin

  1.

2.

3.

On Sunday we went over to St. Ali for brunch. It's said to be famous for their cofee but I don't know much about coffee so gimme a cuppa macchiato and I'm good to go.

Wk had a latte (1) and the Daffy's Whole Egg (3) which has roasted assorted mushrooms with soft boiled duck egg, sauteed spinach and smoked sea salt. I of course had a long macchiato, and for my brunch I went with My Mexican Cousin (2) which is their secret recipe corn fritters, baby spinach, haloumi and kasundi with poached eggs. Maggie had the Napoleon Complex which is their french toast, you can see it in the second picture.

Loved the corn fritters! Corn fritters instantly reminded me of my Form 5 English literature subject where we had to read a book called The Pearl. Anyone remember that? Anyone? I really enjoyed the book so maybe that's why I can still remember the details. By the way corn fritters is not 'jagung goreng' ok... it's similar to pancakes but with corn in them. I guess traditionally people deep fry the mixture so maybe that's why it's called fritters but I'm pretty sure mine's not deep fried, it didn't taste oily at all.

I'm don't know much about coffee but I did enjoy my long macc. Food and service was good too but I heard they're always crowded and you can't book for a place though. They have quite an extensive menu, would love to go back and try other stuffs.

When we were on the way back to the city we passed by the Convention Centre and noticed there lots of people and some people with costumes so we decided to get down and have a look. I still don't know what was going on that day cos I was too busy looking at all the different costumes haha.

4.

 5.

The Star Wars characters were all getting their photos taken (4). Then we grabbed a Stormtrooper for a picture (5). I did take pictures with them but... gosh I look so fat if I put it up it'll break the screen wtf.

By the way, speaking of Stormtrooper, I never knew they were called that until Wk and Kai Mun mentioned! All these while I've always referred them as "the white soldiers" or "the clones" haahahah. Even my brother calls them clones lol.

Their costume was really, REALLY cool btw. When they talk the voice goes through something in their headgears that digitizes it and make it sound semirobotic, exactly like in the movies. When Maggie and I was about to take a picture with one of them, we dropped our shopping bags ith the boys and the Stormtrooper asked us "Have you been shopping today" in that digital voice hahahaha it was so freaking funny. That day was a really warm, sunny day. I cannot imagine how hot it would be for those people wearing those costumes. Especially Darth Vader hahaha. I was kinda disappointed to not see Chewbacca though.

***

Teaching went pretty well last week! :) It was a piano distributing company, which is the sole distributor of Steinway & Sons in.. I don't know if it's Victoria or the whole of Oz but omg... a huge lot full of pianos! Steinway & Sons some more! I would choose to get a Steinway over a car... since Wk can buy a car hahaahah!

Ok time to go.

I like to post food pictures

because I can.

The tallest slice of cake I have ever eaten, the french vanilla slice at the front. Had this at a random pastry shop near Saint Kilda. At the first few spoons it tasted good and almost satisfying because you get to eat that beautiful looking thing you had always looked through the glass at... and then there's a little bit of resistance in your tummy... and a little bit more... until it becomes unbearable. It was worth the try anyway, such a pristine looking thing.

Maggie returned from her trip in Sydney with a little souvenir for me. If you don't know Adriano Zumbo, go watch Masterchef. Anyway, she brought back a box of macarons of different flavours from his patisserie. My favourite's the one with white bits around it, Salted Popcorn. So nice! And she even knew I would like it she popped 2 in. Thank you Maggie! :D

Just because myeyelasheslooksuperfakebutIputsomucheffortputtingitsoIhavetoincludethispicture. Korean food here is awesome. Back in Malaysia seriously nothing compares. Or maybe I didn't try enough...

---

Wanna talk about something totally random. I was in class and the teacher was doing revision with us. Our class has quite high ceilings and these tall windows and you can totally see another building on the outside separated by an alley. We were copying stuff from the board and then suddenly one of the students said she heard something. And the whole class went silent... and then... WE HEARD A WOMAN MOANING.

Not moaning in pain, it's the sexual kind and we knew it because it was ongoing and it sounded damn 'hiao'. One of the girls ran towards the window and looked through it and turned around, face horrified and said she saw a man's bum at the window on the opposite building.

And then the whole class went berserk for a while and then quickly settled down, continued with what's on the board. It was silent... and peaceful... UNTIL SHE MOANED ONCE AGAIN. And the whole class went berserk again lol.

Seriously! All you horny people. Shut the damn windows and pull the blinds down! For goodness' sake you're living right in the heart of CBD, right next to an alley, right next to a school!

---

Ok that's it. School has been boring but ok. Made some friends and I'm glad this whole starting again isn't as bad as what I initially thought it would be.

Oooh I just downloaded WhatsApp and omg why didn't I get it earlier! It's so freaking convenient and worth it especially when I need to catch up with my whole bunch of friends in Malaysia! So... any of you who has my number and has Whatsapp, whatsapp me!

Burch & Purchese: It's a sweet revolution.

I don't think I have ever seen so much of effort, techniques and thoughts laid out in a slice of cake until I visited Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio. Well of course the ones on TV doesn't count. I get to see AND taste! :D Darren Purchese appeared in Masterchef in an episode and through that we got to know about his sweet studio and naturally of course Maggie and I decided to have a look since it is located in Melbourne and not too far away. 

The pictures obviously do no justice to his actual cake since we only got slices of it. The assembly of the whole cake looks more impressive. His cakes are like works of art. It's as though they're fine art in the form of cakes; you buy them and you don't just look at and appreciate them, you get to consume them!

Unlike the usual desserts, their cakes have very  straightforward names. They're named after what they are made of, which I think is kind of hard to remember lol.

This cake here has a total of 8 freaking layers of elements. I certainly applaud the techniques and thoughts put into this, but the taste... I'm on the fence. Not a fan of that aniseed there. It's strong and overpowers everything else instead of complimenting them, IMO.

Smoked White Chocolate, Coffee, Aniseed, Lemon

Smoked white chocolate cream, crunchy almond meringue, coffee buttercream, coffee sponge, aniseed syrup, brownie sponge, lemon curd, dehydrated choc rock.

This one's pretty good. The flavours come together quite well.

Vanilla, Pistachio, Lemon, Green Tea

White chocolate & vanilla mousse, pistachio cream, crunchy green tea meringue, lemon cream, pistachio cake, green tea macaron, brilliant white chocolate spray

Unfortunately I don't remember what these are called exactly. If I'm not wrong, it could be Lemon, Blackcurrant and Raspberry Lego. I do remember they're basically fruit flavoured mousse on the inside, chocolate velvet spray on the outside to achieve that velvet-y texture. Tastes really delicate and quite tangy, a good one in between all the sweet cakes. And doesn't the shape look absolutely adorable you can't wait to tuck in?

This one... I'm not sure but I think this is the name of it. I'm typically not a fan of any desserts which has alcohol (e.g. rum and raisin ice cream) but I was ok with this one, the rum isn't very out there which I like.

Banana, Caramel, Rum

Caramelised white chocolate & vanilla mousse, macadamia spiced speculaas, caramelised banana cream, passionfruit jelly, ascorbic rum jelly, caramelised milk solids, passionfruit curd, chocolate velvet spray

Visit the Burch & Purchese Blog to gawp at some unreal looking cakes.

By the way, if you're thinking of dropping by the studio to grab a cake and maybe chill and have a cuppa, forget about it. Maggie and I first thought it's a dessert place where you can sit down and slowly nibble on your cake but it isn't. It's a small shop where you can only buy or customize cakes/sweets, and that's it.

Osso Bucco

Anyone still reading? Hahah.

Sorry for the sporadic posts. All I've been doing was go to school, come home and cook, TV, assignments, sometimes have a little bit of fun over the weekend (movie, brunch, chocolates) and that's it. We've been working on our PR visa and trying to get everything sorted out as soon as we can. 

Speaking of cooking... I've been watching Masterchef a lot lately. Hrm... 'a lot' might be an understatement. Maybe I should say I watch Masterchef religiously? Hahah. I watch every single episode I can and I've been watching the previous season whenever I'm free. They have it in their website and everyone can watch for free! And it even has all the recipes of the dishes shown in the show! How nice right! These days you can find just about ANYTHING in the internet.

Ok anyway. I've been cooking a lot and venturing a lot as well. The thing I really like about cooking here is that you can find almost any ingredient you need. There are so many things available, there are so many things one can make!

I found this cooking method on Youtube that shows how fried chicken can be done using an oven! How freaking convenient! No need to use up cups of oil and not knowing what to do with it afterwards. And as well as the sauce... or I would rather call it the glaze. So easy to make yet so tasty.

Tried making chicken schnitzels, with sides of supposingly spaghetti Aglio Olio but I went a little heavy handed with the parsley so it turned out looking weirdly green. We didn't have enough breadcrumbs so we used some of our expired, frozen bread. If you're wondering, the breads here expire in about 2-4 days, so to keep it edible we freeze it. To eat, just toast it and eat it immediately, prefectly fine. In our case, chop/blend it up, season it and use it as breadcrumbs! Worked out alright.

Tried this recipe I saw in Youtube, Curry Carbonara. Not too bad but tasted funny. Probably because I went overboard with the curry powder... it tasted a little powdery.


This was just a simple spaghetti with chilli tuna. I tried twirling the pasta like how chefs do (as seen in Masterchef, of course) to give it a better presentation. Quite fun playing and decorating with food :)


Today, I tried making Osso Bucco (modern version). It's just like lamb shank but instead, this one uses veal shank. Braised with stock, herbs and vegetables until the meat is tender. Garnished with gremolata; made of parsley, garlic and lemon zest. We prepared sides of mash potatoes and baby spinach. Have to say, the gravy was really good but some of the veal shins weren't tender enough. And in my opinion, I personally prefer the texture of lamb shanks but this was worth the try.

Finally you know what Osso Bucco is! Hahah. I talked about it in my Facebook and Twitter and a couple of people came asking me what that is lol. I would be too. I've seen this cut of meat in the market and have been wondering what it is until it's introduced and cooked in Masterchef. It's a popular winter, slow cooked meal.

Lastly, I made these:

Pretty little cupcakes!

Naah. Joking. Bought this earlier this afternoon when I saw it in the shop. There's this cupcake shop at QV, The Cupcake Family which makes amazing cupcakes. I like to eat cupcakes but honestly, not many I've tried were good. The cakes were either too dry or bland in taste, or the frosting wasn't smooth and not sickly sweet. Maggie first introduced me to The Cupcake Family and I've been hooked since!

Their cupcakes may not look the prettiest but its taste will make you go back for more. It's not like you'll be blown away, but it's addictive. Especially when they make new flavours, it makes you wanna go back and see what new stuff they have and you wanna try them all.

Recently they released some deluxe flavours for this winter which after getting these 2 I've officially tried them all; Chocolate Peanut Butter which omg is to die for, Raspberry White which is the white one above, Sticky Date and Chocolate Orange which is the dark one in above. All taste super good, especially when the cupcakes are warm.

They also have mini cupcakes which are cheaper and smaller, which is a good way to test out different flavours. And also macarons, which I found out recently they tasted a lot better than before. And they increased the price of the macarons! Probably because it was selling well...

We were on the way to get groceries when we passed by the shop and I was staring at the cupcakes on display for 10 minutes with that "aww" face and Wk decided to buy me one. And I got another, hee hee. And while waiting for my Osso Bucco to cook I couldn't resist it, I ate both. In the end I was feeling so full I couldn't finish my plate of Osso Bucco lol.

Alright enough about food. Time to sleep. By the way, please don't ask me what I'm studying because I don't feel like revealing yet. Thanks for understanding. And those of you who know, you know I told you because I trust you.

Forgot to mention what we did today. This blog is not my blog if I am not ranting, is it?

We went to Medibank for our visa medical check up, which basically is a health check required from immigration when we applied for our visa. Basically you'll have to do a health check when you apply for whatever visa in Australia... except for traveling visa. Anyway, we had to do blood test and omfg I almost fell off my chair when the nurse took the needle out. I've never done a blood test in my life (except for the one where they use something to prick your finger and get a drop of blood) and today just scared the crap out of me.

So there's also another urine test, which if there's things like blood in it, you're required to redo the test. Naturally, they detected blood and they told me to go see another doctor and have my urine tested (cultured and blablabla) and have the doctor send a report to them. Which means I'll have to pay an additional AUD 60 for consultation and another sum for the pathologists who will be testing my urine. And for the medical check up I already had to spend almost AUD 400! And not forgetting how I had to do another x-ray even when I've already done it a month ago when I applied for my student visa. Which I paid freaking AUD 200+ for it.

SO. DAMN. RIDICULOUS.

I paid so much I would think I have the rights to keep a copy of my x-ray results, no? With that, I can use it and not have to do it again for another health check (for another visa application)! And why the hell can't they let me do the urine test again in the place? Why the hell should I go elsewhere and have it checked, and have to pay more for it??!

In total I would be spending a minimum of AUD 500 (RM 1500) for a very basic health check of urine test, blood test and x-ray. In Malaysia, I would certainly not need to pay RM 1500 for all that. Which makes me even more furious thinking about it. But oh well. Life sucks.

MoVida Next Door: A Beautiful little corner bar in Melbourne

Finally had the chance to visit this frequently talked about Spanish tapas bar. There's a total of 4 MoVida in the city, we went to MoVida Next Door which is next to the original MoVida, in Hosier Lane. It's hard to miss the lane cos the walls are covered with overwhelming graffiti. I heard to dine at MoVida (original) you need to book weeks (some said months) ahead! MoVida Next Door does not take reservation, only walk in. So if you try your luck you most probably will get the chance to eat there. 

I wasn't (still am not) into alcoholic drinks so I had a cranberry juice. Aileen and Wk had Sangria (Spanish wine punch) and they both loved it.

 

Right after we ordered, we were served complimentary bread and olive oil, and a slice of tortilla de patatas, which is a Spanish tortilla or omelette, made of eggs and potatoes. That bread and olive oil is one to be remembered cos the olive oil actually tasted like GOOD olive oil! Which reminded me how I've never actually enjoyed having bread and olive oil this much, most of the time I eat it only because it's on the table and meant to be eaten. 

The 3 tapas we ordered:

Queso Idiazabal - Smoked sheep's milk cheese. I love to eat cheese but I won't say I know a thing about them. I just enjoy the flavour. This one to me tasted a lot like parmesan. It's served with some dried fruit but I don't know what it's called. I know I used to eat this when I was a kid and I quite liked them.

Bomba - Chorizo-filled Catalan Potato Bomb with a spicy sauce. It's the ones which look like boobies in the picture. I first saw this on Masterchef Australia 2010 and I had to try it. Honestly, quite disappointed. It's nothing fantastic although I quite liked the spicy sauce that goes with it.

Croqueta - Fried Croqueta with wild mushrooms. THIS. IS. TO. DIE. FOR! It looks boring and not appetizing but once you bite into it, you'll be blown away by the rich, creamy taste of mushrooms. It's like eating deep fried cream of mushroom, a really good bowl of cream of mushroom. Every one of us had this surprised expression on our faces when we bite into the Croqueta. It was unexpectedly delicious.

Dig in!

Anoter tapas we had was this fried whitebait served with a lemon wedge and dip. I can't remember what it's called cos it's not on the menu, it was one of the specials on that day. Very nice! 

Raciones are basically a larger portion of tapas, meant to be shared. We ordered the Lengua, which is ox tongue, chargrilled with chorizo and chickpeas. I didn't know what to expect but I can say I quite like it but it's not something mind-blowingly good that I will want to eat it again.

I saw the table behind us ordered this and I got really curious and wanted to try it as well. It's called Alcachofas, fried globe artichoke with almonds and lemon. Very very salty and dry. I always see artichokes when I shop for groceries but never knew how it taste like. It's a vegetable by the way, looks like a flower. It was alright, not a fan.

Lastly, of course we had to try some churros, Spanish doughnuts dipped in hot chocolate. You may say we had it as dessert but actually churros are usually eaten for breakfast in Spain. I can't help but to compare this with 'yao zhar guai', or 'you tiao', Chinese doughnuts. They're both made of flour, deep fried, and eaten for breakfast. Mmm I miss eating yao zhar guai. The ones here in Melbourne sucks. Anyway, the churros tasted alright, I think I prefer the ones in San Churro. The hot chocolate wasn't smooth and thick, which is how I prefer it to be.

It was an enjoyable dining experience, in my humble opinion I think this is a great place to get the taste of authentic Spanish stuff.