a yam yam education

Further to our receiving a Yam Yam at Sushi Samurai after dinner, here are the "fun words" as promised on the outside of the pack. My personal favourite? "Stag Beetle... love it". Love what? Love stag beetles? I am often partial to yelling out "love it" (particularly after a few drinks...), so it was particularly pleasant to find this as a "fun word" inside. Of course, I love "Cat... Say Meow". But that goes without saying.

On another note, it appears that each pack of Yam Yam contains 2 servings, each packing 160 calories. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all the "Starfish... Star + Fish" in one go... (and why does "Golden Egg" not have a matching phrase? I should write to Meiji Seika (S) Pte Ltd and ask).

For those who know me personally, don't worry! I cleaned my desk before laying the biscuit sticks out in random order.

the empire of cotton on?

After spotting Typo at Greenwood Plaza on my recent wanderings around North Sydney, I headed back there today with bag space and carrying capacity. Not too much though, mind you, as that would just be dangerous - in fact I was laden down with 2 packs of snap-closure food storage containers (currently 50% off at Woolworths! Get them along with your 99c cup-a-soups). Couldn't resist this gorgeous pack of labels though for $29.95 (that's only 3c a label! Fantastic value for money. Anything to convince myself that yes, I was completely justified in making that purchase). I wish my workplace would be an appropriate place for using the bulldog clips with swear words on them.


The homewares I saw in Typo remind me a bit of the things I lust over at modcloth, so at least I'm saving on shipping, right? In the meantime, this, this and this will remain firmly entrenched in my wishlist. Not to mention this and this too! (For those out there who actually know me personally and who would be tempted to rush out and buy these things for me, please don't! Knowing my lack of willpower, I will have already purchased all these things by the time you go onto the site. Although having 2 sets of each thing wouldn't be bad... tee hee. I joke. Please don't.)

As I was departing Greenwood, I saw a shoe store called Rubi which had a slogan on the wall that matched a cup that I'd eyed off in Typo - "Shoes make me happy. I'm superficial. Whatever" (not for myself mind you, but one of my workmates actually! Not that she's superficial in a bad way at all! Am I just digging myself into a hole here?) Now that I've got home, it appears that Rubi is yet another offshoot of the juggernaut that is Cotton On.

Also in North Sydney, I spotted a sandwich place called Big Bite on Walker (can't find the exact address, it's near Cibo Espresso which is at 71 Walker Street and on that same side of the road) - is it any relation to Big Bite on Pitt? If so, all you North Sydney office workers, go there now! :) My friend of the Chat Thai deliciousness also tells me that her two favourite places for Hainanese chicken rice are in North Sydney -To's Malaysian Gourmet (3/169 Miller Street) and one in a shop at the food court below 100 Walker Street.

And on that note, here's my first use of my lovely new labels:

All together now - naaaawwwwww!

If you like the labels, you can find a full range of Sukie products here. Sydney readers, I have spotted this before at everyone's favourite mega-bookshop, Kinokuniya (not mega in terms of the number of stores of it around, but in terms of its actual size - I have to say though that I don't like buying books from there because I find it a bit disorganised). Luckily for my wallet, it appears that Chronicle Books doesn't currently ship to Australia (but you can contact their Australia distributor, Hardie Grant Books, to discuss options). I've also just noticed a disclaimer on the little slip of paper that came with the box of labels - "no part of this box may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher." Sukie Ltd, would you really come and pick on little ole me? If so, I will take the photos down. But it'll be your loss really!)

Oooh, stop press! Have just found Australian online source of Sukie goodness :) Plus they offer free shipping for orders of $50! Now I don't have to do battle with the city shopping crowds

recent food obsessions

• cup-a-soup (why must you contain 26% of my daily recommended intake on sodium?)
• sourdough bread
• vegetable juice (so then I don't have to make the effort of actually cooking vegetables for dinner, right?)
• Hokkaido milk loaf from a bakery on Burwood Road, Burwood - as my cousin says it goes well with cup-a-soup. Must make it there to get a loaf before I finish my multiple packets of cup-a-soup (Woolworths, why do you make them 99c a box containing 2 packets? That's just plain evil. My sodium levels are currently through the roof). I've had the loaf before and it is delicious, I'm just not sure how it'd go with cup-a-soup!

recent happenings

I've recently re-discovered origami.

I blame it on this acquisition from our last trip to HK. I've been consulting Pangu's source in preparation for further acquisitions during my next trip in August.

Now, I'm working on flowers that you can learn to make too here.

Otherwise, we had this lovely orange and fig cake from Black Star Pastry which I dragged chapflap to after reading this. $36 and utterly delicious, we'll have to head back another time for the watermelon cake and the ginger ninjas. The garden gnome chair featured in NQN's post is also still there. I would recommend taking the train there though as the parking there is a bit hair-raising, with cars parked on both side of very narrow streets so that they are effectively turned into one-way thoroughfares. Definitely worth a visit, both for the sweet treats and the writing on the wall on a wooden fence back from Black Star admonishing passer-bys that it's not a trough.

Black Star Pastry
277 Australia Street (just behind where the Newtown markets are held)
Newtown NSW 2042

(02) 9557 8656

You can possibly find more information here - as of the date of publishing this post the site was still under construction

blog addiction: tools of the trade

Here's a shameless plug for another google product - Google Reader. I subscribe to about 70 blogs at last count, and I've categorised them into little folders which I read daily in a specific order (just like I read my weekend paper. How could I ever bring myself to read News Review after Spectrum?) There are other things out there that I've never really got the hang of (StumbleUpon? Digg? Delicious?), so if anyone's willing to teach me, let me know!

time to teach an old blog a new trick?

During tipsy discussions with work friends last night, the subject of this blog came up. Yes, it's been neglected for a little while now, but actually not as long as I thought. I think I would like to keep it up, but perhaps take it in a different direction - there are so many food blogs out there already, all of which I love reading... what there doesn't appear to be is a catalog of what blogs are updated regularly. Granted, there are the grabyourfork's and jenius' lists, but I'd also like to share some other blogs which have helped me get through the daily grind.

So without much further ado, let's start!

hiatus

As you can readily see, this blog hasn't been updated since January - basically when I started full time work. Apologies.

Here are some highlights from the past couple of months:

Green tea marshmallow, Tetsuya's, Sydney - chapflap and I went for Valentine's Day; it was a lovely night capped off by 4 courses of dessert. My kind of restaurant...!

Macarons, Sweet Infinity, "East Sydney" - continuing the dessert theme, these gorgeous pink temptations lure me into this patisserie on a regular basis. Sometimes they're fluoro pink, sometimes they're a baby girl pink - I've been told that it just depends on the mood of the baker on the day. Delicious with a coffee and a sure-fire way to make the afternoon just a bit more bearable. East Sydney is in quotations because according to Australia Post it's not a real suburb; despite that we use it for all our work correspondence with no problems.

Eggplant with honey, Soni's, Newtown - an unusual combination which worked. The other big hit of the night was glasses of rosé; I went with the Madame Special cocktail instead. Yum.

Hummus, Sultan's Table, Enmore - "Sultan's Table?" my cousin asked when I told her where we were going for dinner that night, "isn't that where all the foodbloggers go?" Nooo, I exercised a completely free choice in selecting where to head before seeing Shane Warne: The Musical (see it before the season finishes, it's great!) The mixed plate of dips was colourful and flavoursome - will have to head back soon for more hummus (my favourite dip of the night) and to try some baklava (was too full that night). Definitely book ahead - we saw so many people get turned away (it was a Saturday night) - but if you can't get a seat, you could always get take-away...

Mother's Day lunch, Athol Hall, Bradleys Head - this function centre located just beyond Taronga Zoo has wonderful views and delicious food. We attemped to walk off our 3-course feast afterwards by wandering around the boardwalk just below the restaurant. Even though it's mainly a function centre, the place does serve lunch/afternoon tea Tuesday to Friday and Sunday. Highly recommended, but call ahead to double check that they're not closing for a function or fully booked (as the balcony where they serve lunch/afternoon tea is fairly compact).

Graduation dinner, Zilver, Sydney - after 5 long years, I was very grateful to be joined by family (including relatives from overseas) and friends in celebrating my graduation. There's a minimum charge of $650 if you want a private room, which we easily met because we had a table of 14, as well as a karaoke room if you're into that kind of thing and mahjong tables available for an additional $50 (the restaurant opens at 5pm for dinner, so you can get in a couple of rounds before you eat). Above average Cantonese fare matched by good service, this is also nice for yum cha because it serves more interesting dim sum than your typical prawn dumplings and siu mai. You can see a rather trippy photo from the dinner here at my cousin's blog :)

Now, here's hoping I won't make you wait another 4 months before another post...

currently in recovery

There will now be a lull after the recent burst of posting because I am recovering from a knee operation. Check back in a few weeks when I will actually have things to post about (i.e. I am let out of the house).

currently on hold

*to the sound of tinny muzak, in true call waiting style*: "this blog is currently on hold while the author completes her university exams. Be sure to check back in a couple of weeks for actual entries!"