Hello again

Pictures from the past month. Obviously there were supposed to be much more but I've already tried my best to carefully select the ones "worth" sharing. I hope your computer doesn't have too much trouble loading this page.

And as you can see, I haven't really had the chance to cook much the past month. In fact, I can hardly remember the last time I really had to cook my meals. Kitchen's getting rusty. Anyway, enjoy =)

Awesome food from Mum's one month visit not too long ago. Here we have, Mee Siam.

Mum brought over Kuching Laksa paste that she bought from KK. Lots and lots of "liao", i.e. ingredients.

Sardine fish that Mum bought from Vic Mark. Cheaper than other fish too. Fried til cruncy and very enjoyable to eat! Also, this dish once again backs up my theory that the smaller the fish, the sweeter (and more intense) the taste. Same goes for small crunchy prawns compared to big chunky ones.

Mum with her big heart whipped up a storm for my close friends in Melbourne. So much time and effort to preparing all those dishes and I love her so much for it!

Hands down my FAVOURITE brownie in Melbourne. Very thin and crunchy on the outside with little crisps of nuts on inside. Not too sweet and THICK as most brownies tend to be. I love it. You can get it at David Jones Foods Hall (basement level). Try it!

Went to Live Bait @ Docklands for dinner. Was great cause we had enough dockets to eat half price otherwise would've been soo EXXX. Really nice calamari salad. The dressing went really with the fried calamari and salad. LIGHTLY dressed but intense. Just the way I like my dressings!

Lamb cutlets. Prime example of how I like my medium rare red meat. Great job. Perfection.

Interesting dessert. Pavlova on outside...

... and a volcanic eruption of all the good stuff inside. Interesting.

Whoaaa this one I LIKE. Looks like nothing special, but best dessert in the house. This trio layer thingo was rich but not in a sickening way. Too bad I couldn't make out what the crust was made of. Best part of the dessert. Try it. Live Bait @ Docklands. Collect the "Split the Bill" dockets from Herald Sun to get 50% off at a whole list of restaurants in Melbourne!

Almost every time when my friend, Calvin, comes over to study. The three of us would whip quickly whip up a study snack to keep us going. I'll definitely miss these times when we graduate. Here, baked frozen lasagne and fries for three =)

For a friend's 21st, we went to Rockpool at Crown for dinner. They recently started serving Mishima beef. Which according to them, was the more original and authentic type of Wagyu beef. This small 200g of steak costed me $80. Was good but definitely not worth the money. Couldn't top the one we had at Nobu last year. Of course, pricewise also cannot top lah.

I ordered this the last time I went there and liked it so I decided to order it again to see if it is still good. Am glad that it still is =)

There was a Festival of Nations at Uni the other day. I love how Melbourne is such a melting pot of cultures. And I love it even more because one of the most evident way to experiene most of it is through all the food from around the world that you can find here.


Oh. Failed attempt to making Tiramisu cake for a friend's birthday tee-hee. Good experience though. I didn't get to taste it, but to me it looks like something you would serve as a punishment to people ;P

Holy cow! I was looking for an authentic Indonesian Restaurant so I asked my Indon friend to reccomend me a place to eat. And when we got to Meetbowl on Clarendon St, saw that they sold a bowl of DEEP FRIED CHICKEN SKIN for $3. Course I had to have it!!!

Fruit platter my housemate and I prepared for my sister's birthday BBQ. We cooked so much variety of food that night but was too busy til didn't get a chance to take pictures of all of them. Actually made REALLY good mushroom sauce that night, even I was surprised. Secret ingredient, half a glass of dry white wine. But no pik =(

For my sister's 21st, we ordered her favourite cake from her favourite cake shop. Because the one in the city didn'y have a key shaped mould, we had to order it from the suburbs.

Peace!

Of good times and sweet memories

Wagyu beef from Boxhill. Marbelised meat and fats. Before...

... After

Mum's awesome soup with chicken feet, nuts, carrots and red dates. Mmm...

Mum's Bday dinner at this French restaurant, Vue de Monde. First time having French cuisine. That's their authentic duck liver dish, Foie Gras. AWESOME.

The famous snail dish, Escargot. LOVE IT. Nothing like what I imagined.

Another authentic French dish, Duck Confit, i.e. duck cooked for hours in its fats til it becomes braised. NICE NICE NICE.

Apparently French people like to cook with 7 kinds of fats. Chicken, beef, duck, etc. That golden brown potato was fried in duck fats. Sounds disghusting, but SO GOOOD. Rich flavour blended so well with the mild sweetness of the potato.

Specialty of the restaurant, a kind of pear tart. Was baked with 8 kinds of herbs and had to be baked upside down so that flavour could be infused much more nicely. Best pastry I ever had. Conclusion? French Cuisine is AMAZING!! Too bad it's not something I can afford to eat, ARGH!!

Went to Pac Hse again. Hehe...

Never gets old, I tell ya...

Housemate cooked this special dish for us. Baked chicken with sweetcorn and evaporated milk. His grandma used to cook it for him

Tau Fu Fa @ Gold Leaf, Docklands. Very smooth. Syrup had a hint of ginger and not too sweet. Just the way I like it.

Durian Egg Tart! YAYUH.

Specialty at Ling Nam, Chinatown, Shells in spicy XO sauce. Mmmm

One of the best chinese dishes I've had in Melbourne! Fried pork intestine with shrimp and pork meat. Courtesy of Ling Nam.

Tasted SOOOOO goood! Tastes much better than it looks!

Uni Week 1

3 in 1 Tenom White Coffee. Tenom is this little town slightly out of KK "city". Slightly sweeter than usual coffee but I love it. Hits home =)

Been meeting Mum in the city for lunch then dinner at home every day for the past week. Shared half a Summer Sunset with Mum @ Grill'd.

Made Wat Tan Hor one night. Mum really liked it. Chinese cooking wine made all the difference.

Catching up with coffee with the guys (and girl ;p) at Seven Seeds. Love the froth in the coffee here but didn't really like how my coffee was lukewarm.

Went straight to Mart Cafe right after that for brekkie. Ordered extra hot latte. Really good coffee too. One of my favourite cafes in Melbourne.

The specialty at Mart Cafe. Corn fritters. Bacon was done really nicely. Their homemade relish went so well with everything, mmm...

Was at Boxhill yesterday and went to their market to get Wagyu Beef. $99/kg but got 2 slices for $21. Cooking it tomorrow night, let's see how it turns out.

There are 3 restaurants that my relatives and I ALWAYS go to. Always have our family dinners at these restaurants. First is this really good claypot restaurant at Boxhill. This was one of their herbal soup. Mmmm...

My favourite dish from the restaurant, pork patty with salted fish. Very traditional Hakka dish. LOVE it.

What I enjoy most about eating claypot is the burnt rice on the sides. Another reason why I love this place is cause it is burnt just enough to enjoy the texture but not too much til it gets stuck to your teeth.

Anyway the other restaurant is Pacific House, Richmond. They serve the BEST roast duck, hands down. Actually the last one is this Malaysian restaurant with really awesome authentic curry, but that's all the way at Carnegie.

Deep fried Golden Scallops. Always order these 2 dishes every time we're there without fail. Pac Hse, Richmond was also the first place I ate at when I arrived in Melb.

Tried out the wild hibiscus syrup thingo from Sydney

Then fill it up with some bubbeleh bubbeleh. Adds some fruity sweetness to your champagne/sparkling wine. Girls will love it.

Mum really liked it. You can eat the flower too which is pretty cool.

Suh-suh-suh... SUCCESS! =D

One of the best Chirashi Sushi I've had in Melbourne. Can get it at Ume Sushi, b/w Elizabeth and Queen on Lt Bourke St. They have students discount too =D

Got a new kick ass grill pan for $99. Since I'm always cooking steaks, chops, fish etc.

Made Avocado salad. Followed Phebe's recipe. Just salt, ground pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Best lightly dressed.

Brought back really good salmon from this salmon farm from NZ to cook for mum. Had sashimi at the farm without wasabi, can really taste the sweetness. Nice.

Made Teriyaki Sauce earlier this week. So confusing cause had so many diff recipes. FINALLY after 2 attempts and approximately 2 hrs in total in the kitchen trying to perfect it, it turned out pretty good! YESSS!!! Thank God =) Also used the Jamie Oliver grill pan for first time, very nice. Worth the money.



Dinner with ALL my highschool buddies from kk @ Mercadante's, Lygons. Really glad that most ppl turned out tonight, esp the ones that I RARELY get to see! =)



19 ppl altogether. And about a handful from our circle who couldn't make it. Love these buggers to bits.



The girl in yellow is a really good friend of mine from highschool! She's here on exchange for a semester. Always great being able to catch up with old friends. Truly blessed. It was the people there tonight that made the dinner amazing.