Paramount Coffee Project, Surry Hills

It's no secret that I love brunch. It's borderline lunch time but you get to have your breakfast fix. Nothing cheers me up quite like it, I must admit. Paramount Coffee Project has been all the rage lately. I see people posting picture after picture of it on Instagram. The place is immaculate.So obviously, I just HAD to check it out.

Routine calls me to start off with a long black. This was undeniably a good cup.

This is a soft shell crab po boy! YES, I had it for breakfast. But no, I didn't finish the entire lot, I did however split it with my friend. I have a soft spot for soft shell crab. It's just dang tasty without the hassle of trying to yank things out of their shells. The batter was crunchy, there was coleslaw in there which I'm never really a fan of. It could've used something with kick, dibs on SRIRACHA! Came with some chips and pickles. The chips were waaay too salty. After one or two, you won't be keen for another, sadly.

A Healthy (But Faaaaaar Too Oversized!) Brekkie

A breakfast I had sometime in May 2012 (yes, my extremely long backlog really is extremely long). At that time, I was really conscientious about my food and trying to eat clean BUT it was during this time that I started packing on the pounds because food became a bit of an obsessive problem for me, and I was too lazy to exercise (it's true what they say - inactivity breeds inactivity. And there is no inactivity quite like unemployment inactivity).

Baffi & Mo, Redfern

For a change, me and my friends decided to have brunch instead of the rather typical lunch/ dinner.

I love brekkie, and possible brunch even more!

As always, I was on the hunt for the BEST place to dine. Again. That's my job!

MOUSTACHE.
perfect for MOVEMBER.

It's got that chill retro vibe.
Really, really LIKE!

Apparently, Baffi & Mo is one of the top of the tops!

That only meant that we had to try it out!

Breakfast on Bondi

Thumbs up, thumbs up.
Reason to chill.

I've been pretty ridiculously busy. I don't know how it happened. Well, there's my degree which always proves to be a pain, grandparents visiting, 2 days work per week, and lots and lots and lots of night outs and hanging around sort of things. But I've got to admit, nothing gets me pumped like being busy. It's fun trying to juggle everything but only until a certain degree until you realize that you miss the things you love such as this blog, exercise, and sleep.

Don't you find the sky just gorgeous?

Anyway, when I was fresh off the stress/ busy with school train, my friends and I decided to spontaneously hit up the Breakfast on Bondi event. We decided the arvo before which wasn't insanely spontaneous anyway. 

Didgeridoo folk.

&& the lovely orchestra

We woke up around 4:30am-ish so that we'd arrive at Bondi right around 6am in time for the sunrise! Props to Ozzy for picking us all up! We got there right at the right time I reckon, there were quite a few people on the beach already, the didgeridoo just started playing. After a while, the orchestra started playing.

Hello, Jericho

I'm not going to pretend that I remember every single place we visited during the tour, because I certainly didn't! In lieu of educational descriptions, I will just entertain you with lovely pictures.

I do guarantee, though, that I remember the food really well. Here's what I had for breakfast the day we went to Jericho: scrambled eggs, baked cheesy potatoes, and more eggs baked in tomato sauce

And my bread plate. YUM. This is why I got fat.

And my cheese plate, with gorgeous peaches.

Breakfast, Masada, and Lunch

One of the things I've learned from life is that you gotta be a trooper. I think that the time in my life when this was really drilled into my head was when I visited Chloe in Sydney and she made me walk to the gym (in 17 degree weather) and exercise, and then made me walk elsewhere (at the speed of 8 km per hour) for a long, long, long, long time. My knees were screaming and so was I! Being friends with Chloe has really made me a stronger person, literally! Kidding. (Or only half-kidding).

Anyway, I managed to put all my endurance/trooper powers to good use during the Holy Land trip, because it required walking and climbing and waking up really early. (but don't take this the wrong way, because it was BEYOND WORTH IT – especially the breakfast).

So here's what I had for breakfast on the first day I was in Israel. Here we have eggs baked in cheese and tomato sauce, and cheesecake thing (yes, they had that at breakfast).

And here we have the most awesome omelet. I don't know if I only found it awesome because the line for it was so long or because it was really awesome. I'm guessing both factors contribute to its awesomeness! It had onions and cheese in it and was wonderfully fried. For such a normal thing (omelet), it really was good. That's what I meant when I said there was magic in Israel, because there really was. The bread was also TO DIE FOR. In fact, the bread was the best part of the breakfasts there. They had a whole selection of whole grain bread (and also white ones) and a couple of huge jars full of jam, nutella, honey... I was in heaven.

Finally, Proper Breakfast

Okay, GUESS!

This is my first proper breakfast after a hangover what felt like the longest week. It's been a one of meeting deadlines, handing in papers and projects, and presentations. I haven't gotten more sleep than 4-5 hours in a day as well, oh, and on the last day, I just had 2 hours of shuteye. I was practically a zombie yesterday.*

Today I woke up to a beautiful morning. The annoying screech of my alarm was nowhere to be heard, it was just peaceful with the occasional noise of a few cars humming by every now and then. I sat in bed for a while just reading, and reading. After a while, I got hungry, and decided to make myself a nice breakfast.

Toast The Way Mum Makes It, Fond Memories Too.

Hey Mum,

How have you been? Have you got any new brilliant recipe that you'd want to share with me?What have you been having for breakfast lately? Do you still make this my favorite toast? However simple the toast may seem, I still miss you making it for me, the memories, you know?

All my love,
Chloe

Mum's Toast

What's your first memory when it comes to food? Mine happens to be fish and chips*, lemon sorbet from New Zealands Natural**, and my mum's toast.

Breakfast and Lunch in Egypt

The first leg of our Holy Land tour was in Egypt, because we were following Moses' exodus route. 

The food we had at the hotel in Cairo wasn't probably true-blue Egyptian cuisine-- it was definitely leaning toward Western palates, but as with everything, the local culture always seeps in and makes itself heard, tasted, or seen. 

For breakfast I had a plateful of scrambled eggs, chicken sausage (Egypt's a Muslim country, so there was ZERO pork to be found), grilled tomatoes, and gorgeous pan-fried mushrooms. 

More Airport/Airplane Food-- to Dubai!

First stop before heading to Dubai? The airport.* Which equals food. I think it is important to mention that we were flying Emirates, unlike in my previous blogs (here and here) which were written about food we had when flying Cathay Pacific.


Here we go! In the airport there was...

Tuna sandwich and baby sized cream cheese bagel for me. Loved the bagel!

A pizzette, bread, and cheese and butter and another tuna sandwich

A Breakfast of Sizable Proportions

Today I would like to begin with non-rhetorical questions.

Am I a pig? Yes.
Have I been intern-ing all day, sitting in front of my laptop for 9 hours? Yes.
Am I extremely jittery, antsy, and full of pent-up energy because of aforementioned experience? Yes.
Am I going to be a skinny pig? Yes.
Will I be seen with gazelle-long legs worthy of being serenaded The Girl From Ipanema? Yes.

I know I'm not making much sense, but really. As I've said (or questioned myself?) earlier, I've been doing my 9 hour intern job all day and it's muddling my brain up a bit. Honestly, after sitting in front of a computer for 9 HOURS, I'd really rather never see a computer again (slight exaggeration) but being a devoted blogger (not an exaggeration at all, wink wink), here I am!

So before I embarked on the fruit of my intern idea, I was lazing around and having long, leisurely breakfasts...

Beautiful steel-cut oatmeal, topped with toasted oats, stewed cinnamon apples, and honey

Potatoes & Bravery

One happy morning in Hong Kong, my siblings and I gallivanted out of the hotel in pursuit of breakfast!

We ended up in Tin Lok Bakery (which was only, like, 10 meters away from our hotel. Hahaha)

I think the Chinese there means Happy Day Bakery, but it's anyone's guess! Hohoho.

Individual pizzas on display

A Beautiful Breakfast

So my backlog is really, really, REALLY long but I just had the most fabulous breakfast today and I can't resist sharing it! I think this is the first updated post I've posted (redundant much?) in a long, long, long time! 

Last night, I was reading my sister's copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society* and flipping through Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Dinners. I chanced upon his recipe for FRENCH TOAST, and decided to make it for breakfast!

PHOTOFLOOD:

Crusty, thick bread, buttered on both sides

Stewed Peaches with Cinnamon & Toasted Macadamias on Oatmeal

Fact: I like Oh Mercy!

Fact: I love breakfast!

Fact: You know it's going to be a great day when you're listening to Oh Mercy and having breakfast.

Fact: I have oatmeal around 4 times a week for breakfast.*

Fact: OATMEAL COULD BE INTERESTING & LOVELY.

Proof: Stewed Peaches with Cinnamon & Toasted Macadamias on Oatmeal.

What Brekkies Looked Like When D Visited C in Aussie

Heck of a time in Aussie.

Eating here and there, it was never ending.

Before starting each adventurous day, there was the rocket fuel called breakfast BREKKIE.

Toasted muffins laden with
cream cheese+salmon+scrambled eggs!

Chef Laudico's Bfast: All Day Breakfast Cafe, Makati, Philippines

Bfast at Ayala Triangle Gardens

Some of their deserts seemed inspired and pretty appealing.

A place to have Filipino breakfast with a twist.


It's an all-day breakfast, could it get any better?


All day breakfasts are a win, no brainer!


Well, the concept was amusing. Recycled and repurposed materials made up most of the interior, cool ey? Then again, food might just turn out to be another story.

CWC Clubhouse, Camarines Sur, Philippines

That was when we went island hopping.
It was before we got swallowed in a storm.

I had a smashing holiday. I've had enough misadventures to last me for the rest of the year, or maybe enough for now.

So before a tiring day of wakeboarding and other fun things, we had breakfast at the CWC Clubhouse. I liked the fact that non-breakfast items were available even during breakfast! This calls for a feast!

My mum's Filipino brekkie

The Filipino breakfast had "bangus daing" (fish) that was evenly brown all throughout, it was well seasoned too. There wasn't a whole lot to say about this dish because it was rather self-explanatory. There isn't a whole lot that could go wrong, is there?

The breakfast of my dreams

Guess what I had the other day, after 1 2/3 days of pure cranberry+apple juice hell.

Drumroll....







A fried egg, garlic rice, and corned beef with tons of onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shall I describe it to you? Food porn time. The egg was perfectly and shamelessly FRIIIIIIIIIIIIED to perfection! Crispy, crunchy, egg-y, and ever-so-slighly salty. The rice was tasty, extremely garlic-y, with a hint of olive oil. And the corned beef was juicy and succulent, perfect with the caramelized onions...



And here's how this beautiful breakfast of mine looked:

Brekkie Brunch

I've always been the type of person to take breakfast for granted. The maid always cooks oats, pancakes, sausages, eggs- YOU GET THE PICTURE. And all I'd have to do was scarf the food down. Basically, I was eating just for the sake of it, just to have my tummy full for school.

Thing is, since I've moved to Aussie, I have to make my own breakfast. At first, I ate a whole lot of cereal  until I finally got tired of it- it's just not worth it! So, I always take time to make the perfect scrumptious brekkie. But wait, I'd actually consider it brunch, since I find myself waking up at 10 am on a day to day basis, and yes, I do go to school.

My 6 Favorite Brekkie-Brunches

1. The Single Lady Oatmeal Pancake with Maple Syrup- I absolutely adore pancakes and I'd have them at least once a week!;) I'll share the recipe for this one soon! 

My Eggs and Cheesy Soldiers!

2. My Eggs & Cheesy Soldiers- My variation on the old time favorite!

3. Oh My Omelette- Eggs are amazing, and this is my favorite way of having it! I often put sun-dried tomato cheese, mushrooms, tomato, rosemary, and chives! What a stunner!

4. Low-fat Greek Yogurt with Honey & Seasonal Fruits- I used to have the yogurt with all the fruits processed and blended into it, but it's really CRAPPY once you try Greek Yogurt. It has this full creamy body that is just  scrumdiddlyumptious and a gazillion times healthier too! (The one I have has no preservatives whatsoever) And fruits are just such a joy! My favorite right now would be the combo with Kiwi and Banana. DROOL.

Hank's EPIC Jam

5. Jam on Toast- It's a very traditional thing. I started loving jam since I made a Rhubarb-Honey Compote, but then I started spreading it on my toast. (I put it on my Greek Yogurt too!) It's utter heaven. Since then, I've been a huge fan of jams! I'm loving Hank's Jams at the moment! They source the absolute BEST ingredients- so pricy! So, I reckon I should really start making my own ones, SOON!

6. Muesli in a Hurry- For those days that I simply have to eat and go! I just pour milk over some muesli and chop in some fruits! VOILA, simple gratification! I know that I should know better and make my own muesli, trust me, I will, SOON!

My love, Mister OJ.

As for my preferred beverages, OJ is definitely the way to go! I buy the 2L cartons from the grocery, they're FRESH PURE ORANGE JUICE! My favourites are Berri and Original. Must you know, I prefer the pulpy goodness.

And for those chilly days, there's English Breakfast with Skim Milk and Honey. It gives that nice warm fuzzy feeling. I always go for Twinings!

I'm so freaking careless, I ALMOST posted this on my school design blog! WHOOPSIES.