Dubai Airport Lounge

What was the Dubai Airport Lounge like? Epic. 

Amazing interiors (or ought I say, architecture?)

Beautiful and high-ceilinged.

Now for the equally beautiful food!

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. 

Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream and Zumbo, Manly

It's time for a photo dump.

My hair was so flat and messed up from the wind.
So pay more attention to the ice cream!:)
The flavor itself was called Royal Copenhagen.
It had honeycomb and that sort of malted milk taste.
Love it is.

Mocha Almond Fudge
and
Tropical Passionfruit.

Check plus plus plus plus.

With the addition of slivered almonds,
and hot chocolate fudge.

Well, before all the shibang about modern day ice cream and desserts, there was Royal Copenhagen. It's honest to goodness ice cream. They even have a waffle contraption out back where they hand-roll the cones. That's why they're so golden crunchy and flavorful. Then the ice cream is heck creamy like you wouldn't even imagine.  Not to mention there's a self-serve counter where you could douse your ice cream with caramel, hot fudge, slivered almonds, and sprinkles. This is old school bliss. Classic.

Ola, Zumbo.

Are you sick of my ever recurring Zumbo posts? I have to admit, I love that man and his pastry. But this time, Zumbo was a rather unexpected disappointment. Like I've said last time, it was quite unfortunate when I reached Zumbo in Balmain cause they've ran out of macarons. This time, it was nearly 4pm and I was glad to see the display cabinet still filled with trays of macarons. I was anxious to give the new flavors a try.

Bar Italia, Leichhardt

Bar Italia on Norton St.

I have a soft spot for Italian food. There's just something about it that's genuine and true. It never fails to feel homemade and hearty. I've got to admit, it's my favorite cuisine out of everything that's out there. Different regions in Italy have their very own specialties, which makes Italian cuisine so diverse, not to mention interesting.

In Sydney, there's no place better to go for Italian food other than Leichhardt.* I've been there at least five times. I mean I would be there more often if it was closer to home. Anyway, that means I've been to a couple of restaurants. Notable ones include Cafe Moretti and Bar Italia.

I first read about Bar Italia in Time Out. Apparently, they have gelato that is to die for. After a late night of doing schoolwork in uni, my friends and I head over to Leichhardt for dinner, and of course, there's always room for dessert. So I suggested Bar Italia. The gelato was good, I emphasize gooooood. 


So then after a week or two, I went back there for both dinner and dessert with some other friends. We were heading there for dinner as well cause I've been hearing about the scrumptious pastas that more or less fall in the $15 range- they're supposedly spectacular especially considering the price tag.

So, that's the wide range of pasta.

They've got other mains too!

There was a whole board filled with the varieties of pasta. It made choosing nearly impossible. But then, I narrowed down the things that I usually like- red sauce, olives, capers, basil, etc. You sort of get the picture. After running my eyes down the menu for the- I guess 5th time, I've finally decided.

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

Sydney Fish Market

To me, the fish market is more than comforting. It's impossible to not get fresh good food here. It's the reassurance and the lip smacking food that keeps me coming back, and back, and back. Oh lovely.

The beautiful view outside.

So when a visitor is in town, it's impossible for me to skip out the fish market. It's always on the agenda.* My friend and I went on a Saturday, and when it comes to weekends and the fish market- oh the crowds could kill. Nevertheless, that wasn't going to stop me.**

Another impossibility would be me not ordering fish & chips or a fisherman's basket that comprises of fish, calamari, and you've guessed it- chips! It's the particular dish that zaps me back to my 4 year old self who's up to shenanigans in my parents' fish & chip shop in Manly. I remember whisking the big bucket that almost towered me, it was filled with the beer batter. I had to exert all my effort to even just swish the whisk around in a circle. It was fun though, real fun. So was getting flour all over my face.

The more Asian stuff in the market.

Bugs and Lobsters.
YUM.

My ultimate favorite place for seafood would be Peter's. It's where I ate the first time or at least my recollection of the first time eating in the fish market. They cook to order (at least for the fried goodies) so everything is pretty fresh and hot once they're handed to you. I guess that's why there's always a queue there as well.

The Chocolate Room, CBD

I think you wouldn't disagree that The Chocolate Room is a rather catchy name. How bout the goodies though?

RIGHT.

I have a chocoholic friend, and more often than not, she's the one I'm with whenever I visit a chocolate cafe or bar whatsoever. We had a lovely dinner and it was almost impossible to end the night without a sweet note. And of course, ever so predictably, chocolate was on our mind. Great minds think alike.


So far from all of the chocolate cafes that I've been to, this place had the largest range of hot chocolate- from gianduia to zabaione to meringue. Strange, but just equally as intriguing. But I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous that particular night, I went straight for Dark Chocolate.*

DARK Hot Chocolate? $5.95
For the connoisseur, a rich intensely flavored dark chocolate
which contains a richness only found in the finest quality of cocoa beans.
I beg to differ.  

Once our drinks reached the table. We noticed the cups were dopplegangers of the ones they have in Max Brenner. Drinks were hot and the mugs barely had enough insulation for us to cup the mugs in our hands. Now, that is what you call bad design.

Mother's Day Lunch at Emperor's Garden

I actually posted this a couple of days back, but since blogger was really retarded and it sort of malfunctioned, I'm editing everything all over again. POO.

My 5th birthday party!
The theme was fairies and pirates?
Something like that.

I think my mum is wonder woman. I know it sounds quite funny and maybe even a tad bit retarded, but it's entirely true. 

Here are some of the reasons why:

1. She manages to do so many things in one day. She has said before that she wants to be a stay at home mom, but we all know she can't cause she's a stress junkie. 

2. She pretty much cooks all of our lunches and dinners.* Mind you, it's not just cooking for the sake of it, she actually plans a menu and makes sure that we have a balanced diet. Plus she makes most of the stuff from scratch too.

3. She tutors my little sister who is really tricky and naughty**

4. Did I mention she works full time as well? She handles all sorts of difficult people, she's also the glue that binds the company together.

5. She's always got everybody's back no matter what situation we are in.

6. She gives the best advice.

7. She knows how to turn a gray day into one bursting with sunshine.

You see, I've always loved eating.
In this case, it was cotton candy.

Now, do you see why I think she's one in a million wonder woman? I guess her efforts were acknowledged but sometimes under-minded in the past since I'd expect all mums to be flawless like her. But since I've migrated to Australia to study, I've realized how much effort she actually exerts for my life to be such a breeze. She's the BEST! 

High-HO to Hunter Valley We Go

I've never thought I'd say I LOVE WINE until I'm old- like 40 or something when all the wild years have already passed. But life could be pretty surprising sometimes! I'm admitting that I LOVE WINE. Love, love, love wine. And someday, my husband and I would own a beautiful vineyard, we'd also have a cheese shop, and we'd live happily ever after- that's the new dream. 


While I would admit that I love routine, an out of the ordinary trip is something that I'm always up for. However lame it may sound, I think this might be my first sort of out of town trip in Sydney.* My uncle invited me on a trip to Hunter Valley.** Hunter Valley is ever famous for the hundreds of lush vineyards that produce a lot of Australia's wine. So I was virtually jumping up and down inside.


It's a 2 hour long sort of scenic ride from say Sydney CBD. I don't mind a little scenery here and there, and I'm a-okay when it comes to long rides- so everything was tip top.

The trip to Hunter Valley was based on the region of Pokolbin. The first two stops were Tempus Two Cellar Door and Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop. I think I'm the only one who actually enjoyed the cheese shop. I loved the cold storage portion as well where they housed shelves just filled with plenty of gorgeous cheeses. If you could think of a cheese right at the top of your head right now, you'd probably find it there.  It's perfect for shopping around when you're making that luscious grilled cheese sandwich.*** YUMMO! 

Esca Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley

The vineyards of Bimbadgen

I've been fairly busy recently, Daryl is no different. I miss blogging more than ever! Thank God I'm jumping back into it now! 

The Bimbadgen Estate

Esca Bimbadgen

During the mid-semester break, I was a bit of a bum. Well bit might be the biggest understatement of the year. But now, I'm back to school, back to life! I kinda appreciate going back to my routine! I like the stress and pressure every now and then. Luckily though, I did do something new and sort of productive over the break- going to Hunter Valley. I've never been to Hunter Valley and as usual, I'm up for visiting new places and an adventure! I'll blog about that trip soon!

The kitchen at Esca

Dining Area.
Such a shame I didn't take a picture of the view.

When we were in Hunter Valley, my uncle treated us to a pleasant pleasant lunch at Esca Bimbadgen. The dining atmosphere was by far one of the most pleasant I've ever had. It was in a well lit spacious room with an amazing view of a green landscape and the town of Pokolbin. It's bliss.

Figs with Ricotta and Honey

There hasn't been a lot of posting action on the blog lately, and no, the blog isn't dying or coming to an end. Daryl is travelling to distant countries and I have absolutely been swamped with schoolwork. Other than that, I've been on a cleanse which is intended to detox my system, clean my insides, and spew out the junk. So there's not a ton of eating going on. More on that next time, once I've actually completed the whole course of the cleanse.

Would you believe me if I said it's the first time for me to have real fresh figs? This was one of my meals while I was on my 7 day cleanse.* It's simple, uncomplicated, straight to the point. Glorious! I just planned this dish out of thin air since I saw some gorgeous figs while I was at the market.