Aroma Festival!

Guess what?!

I went to the Aroma Festival over at The Rocks late July.

Cause really like coffee.

It's addictive.

I think it calms me down and relaxes me.

Plus I feel like an adult whenever I have it- shmo-phisticated.

Tazza Cafe, Quezon City, Philippines

Daryl implemented a great use of * ASTERISKS in her past few posts, therefore I shall be a copycat. I think it makes things more detailed and interesting! Let's get started!

Taaza Cafe is hidden in one of backstreets of Quezon City where I could hardly navigate myself! It happens to be one of those tambay cafes where people wait for their cars to be washed, etc, etc. It's been there for a couple of years which would probably explain the dated interior. And apparently, it used to be a cafe that people would fall in line for and everything. These days, it still hosts a fair bit of customers but it doesn't seem to have that sparkle that it used to.

I couldn't figure out the deal with the type of cuisine that they had there. I think they were aiming for fusion but the whole idea was a little rattled cause it wasn't refined enough.

The wonton wrappers and the dip came in separate containers
but we decided to pour the dip on top!
PIG.

Ever since the first time me and my sister dined at Cibo, she's been loving their spinach dip. So now, she saw this spinach dip thing on the menu. And the answer is YES, she did demand to order it. Instead of crostini, pita, or crackers, this spinach dip came with deep fried wonton wrappers as it's vessel. It's a very inspired idea, up until you dip it. Upon dipping, the wonton wrapper just sags and you'd hurry to put it into your mouth before it drips- EVERYWHERE. The dip screams for CHEESE too.

So What Would You Consider As A Pig Out?

Chicken Charlie. Ristras. Serenitea. Yes, it's the J. Abad Santos Trio.

I love having foodie friends who are much like me- they aren't afraid to indulge and try new things.


And this is where my friend Cheska comes in.


It's been forever since our last food trip, and Thank GOD we actually had time to catch up and everything!


Oh and this is the day that I totally said BYE BYE to my diet!

This is me being impatient.

WEDGES.

First restaurant on our agenda, Chicken Charlie which is constantly being raved about these days especially with this fried chicken frenzy! We started with a side of wedges which had a crisp brown skin, the sauce was much like ketchup with a certain plus pluses. Would it have possibly come from a freezer bag? YES, a definite YES. 

Billy Kwong, Surry Hills, Australia

Billy Kwong on Crown Street

Here goes Kylie Kwong, the woman with a telly show on the Discovery Lifestyle Channel, cooking away talking about szechuan pepper and organic produce. I'd initially think that her restaurant would be a lot bigger and it would span a larger variety of food. But it was a quite exclusive, like you'd really have to wait outside her restaurant before 5pm, in time for the opening. The day we went, it was raining and it was quite a burden to wait outside.

Hand-written Specials Menu

Some dishes on the menu are said to vary from day to day since they try to buy locally grown, organic, and biodynamic food! I found it quite interesting and apparently they just use organic produce cause it's more expensive.

It was quite cozy and packed

The waitstaff were really accommodating, and they also explained the specials that were on for the day. We took a fair amount of time making up our minds on what to order since everything looked smashingly good.

Slipping Away for a Bit: Friday Night Markets

3 more weeks and uni will come to a close. I'm handling too much drama right now. There's failed ideas and concepts, sleepless nights, and these sick days. I hate being sick, sickness for me usually comes in the form of cough and colds. Just that? Yeah. I can hardly breathe through my nose and my voice is husky. It's disgusting.

gotta love T2.

Despite these things, I managed to let time slip away a bit. A wee little bit. I just had to relax and focus. First thing after uni today, I went to T2 to replenish my tea supply. I'm such a sucker for a good cuppa tea. I spent a good 20 minutes in T2 trying to figure out which packs of tea to get. Trust me, averaging at $12-$15 for 100g, you'd want to be sure that you're getting the perfect ones. Since green tea is just something that I have to have, I sniffed my way through their selection of green tea before I decided on which to get. I chose Marrakech which is a middle-eastern blend of green tea and peppermint. As for the second one, I picked up Monk Pear, a delicate all day round tea- really fruity and floral.

i think street food reflects a country's culture and cuisine more than anything

by far, the most takoyaki griddles i've ever seen!

Headed down to Chinatown with fingers crossed to try this new Taiwanese dessert place that has been constantly raved about these days. The line was way too long that my friend and I decided to pass. There happened to be Friday Markets in Chinatown, so we planned to grab some food and head to Darling Harbour. There were so many Asian street food stalls to choose from, we took ages trying to come to an agreement what to get. We ended up getting BBQ Beef and an assortment of Takoyaki.

you're looking heartbreakingly smashing!

On the way to Darling Harbour, we passed by of the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. My friend happened to jump up and down! She saw Callum Hann from Masterchef. Callum is definitely one of my favorite masterchefs, he's brilliant, inventive, and determined! My heart leaped for joy! I absolutely love this guy! He knows what he wants and he is focused to achieve it. I looked like such a tourist yanking my camera out of my bag and constantly snapping pictures of him. Can you say paparazzi? I also caught glimpses of Matt Preston, Adam Liaw, Rove, and Stan Walker. This made my day, really.

CHOW DOWN

see what i mean when i say it looks really really good?

The Takoyaki would probably be the best that I've ever had. It was really chewy and squishy. Not the usual invisible pieces of octopus, prawn, and crab. These were really eye-catching ones! You could see the tails and claws poking out. They were very generous with the Bonito fish flakes and the sauce which makes it CHECK PLUS, PLUS!:) Oh, I might've wanted a lil bit more veggies inside!:P

the letdown

However, the BBQ beef however was a downer. Maybe it's because I've just had my fair share of moreish ones? This was nothing compared to Bee Chiang Hiang. And it costs quite a bit as well.

T2
Sydney Central Plaza
450 George Street
Sydney 2000