Dining next to the gorgeous Jake Gyllenhaal

I've arrived in the US of A! The flight was delayed by over two hours and it wasn't the most comfortable journey. Although exhausted, the family decided to head straight out in an attempt to overcome the jet lag. Our first destination was Hollywood, then a drive along Sunset Boulevard and a tour of the homes of the rich and famous.

First day in LA and we managed to fit in 3 meals in within the space of 4 hours. Mid afternoon snack was at Roscoes (fried chicken and waffles) followed by an Italian dinner along Rodeo Drive.

Then after dinner, we were highly recommended the best burger EVER.

As we were escorted to a round table, we realised we were seated next to Jake Gyllenhaal!


Only a day after the apparent break up with Resse Witherspoon, Jake too was having the famous burger at Comme Ca, a French restaurant on Melrose Drive. The ladies were smitten and the men were trying to devise a plan to get a photo and an autograph.

After dessert, Big Bear turned around (that's how close we were) and asked if we could take a photo. He politely said it wasn't a good time and engaged with us in a friendly conversation for a minute or so. So gorgeous and so lovely :) *the heart flutters*

Although we were all star struck, there is no need to forget the lovely restaurant we were at. David Meyers, the owner, came around to have a chat because we had travelled from down under. Hearing of our travels, he wrote down a list of restaurants to visit. The decor is simple and chic and the burger was excellent! A great way to start our American adventure :)

As promised...

Sorry, the photos are in the wrong order but there is still a whole lot of yumminess contained in this post...

Let us rock the pool

My after work hours has been filled with food food and more food since the arrival of my Daddy...and boy does my belly have to show for it!  

Tonight, it was an early dinner at Rockpool. As most of you would know, this restaurant originated from Sydney and is owned by Aussie chef Neil Perry. On this note, I'll take the time to share with you a work event involving a Neil Perry. I'm part of the committee which has been trying to raise funds to take a class of 25 kids to attend a show at the Melbourne Theatre Company. As a group, one of the ways we came up with was to conduct an auction at a work event of items donated by the committee and/or Partners of our firm. A few pieces of jewellery from U-Fhern.com were sold but a last minute entrant was a Neil Perry inspired Asian meal for five couples, cooked by one of the Partners himself. 

This item drew a great deal of attention with a group of grads battling against the PAs for the highest bid to enjoy a night with one known to a few as the BFG (a big guy with a great heart). As the bidding drew to a close, the bidding sheet was surrounded by a dozen people. The exclusive night out went for over $500.  

After tonight's meal at Rockpool, it was no wonder the dinner attracted bids from across the firm.  

Firstly, the waitress was absolutely wonderful. She looked rather spunky with short hair and a mega long fringe like in Japanese Anime but she knew her stuff. She described the different types of beef with the emotion and detail as if you were to describe your idol. She pulled out napkins depending on the colour of your outfit. She said "This black napkin is for you since you're wearing black". I thought it was just a joke and another thought that the pattern of black and white napkins was to represent the spots on a cow - if you haven't been in, the place and the menus are decorated with cows, so it was a possible explanation. But then I overheard the waitress explaining the reason for the black and white napkins and it was to ensure that if you were wearing black, you wouldn't have white lint after your meal, and vice versa. So on that note - terrific service!  

Secondly, the food was amazing! Everyone was happy :) everything from starters to desert was lovely...the menu tonight seemed to have expanded and the decision was so hard to make. A few outstanding dishes: 

~ Oysters (can't vouch this myself as I'm allergic, but Big Bear and two other friend spent $800 on them + drinks, so they must be pretty damn good!)

~ Meat platter (you get to taste a variety and I can't remember which one, but because there was one where the animal was fed acorns and the sweetness penetrated through to the meat)

~ All the different types of beef (depends what type of taste/texture you're looking for - ask the waitress for a low down, but all were well received)

~ Desserts were yummy yum yum - we restrained ourselves to share a few amongst us, and the list was again, extensive (personal favourite was the strawberry macaroon)  

Now with a big and content belly...I'm off to slumber :)

Yummy photos will follow shortly! xo

Teeney weeney cupcakes

I had pretty pretty cupcakes to celebrate my twenty first. They were very in at the time after Carrie Bradshaw's book launch party. But on a more practical level, I thought you couldn't really go wrong with one cupcake each because you won't have guests saying, "I'll just have half that slice" which just results in messy leftovers.

These cupcake were ordered from a stall at Prahran Market. They were packed extremely well to reach their destination and the colours were perfect for my party.

But as with most other things, bigger better developments happen (well in this case, smaller)...

Little Cupcakes - Too cute to resist.

Little Cupcakes have now opened near my work. I must say they're not a cheap treat but I see many colleagues making a trip downstairs to satisfy a sweet craving (or two...maybe even three). Late Friday night, I returned to work (sad I know) to pick up a few things and I noticed the lights on and chef hats bopping around by the window. I walked down the alley a little and noticed two Chinese youngsters working the Kitchen Aid and piping the icing to freshly baked cupcakes. It felt like being a child discovering the elves who worked for Santa. Though this kitchen of two would have been on a much much smaller scale.

Check Little Cupcakes out...now also at Goldsbrough Lane (Its the building on the corner of Bourke and Williams Streets - where Nine West is). And you can also pay me a visit at work too :) Enjoy! xo

Bear me some fruit or else...

Mum said something to me quite funny today. She showed me 2 huge mangoes from our garden. I was quite surprised because about ten years ago, the trees went crazy dropping mangoes like nobody’s business. We had one at a record weight of almost 3kgs. But after the rather fertile streak, the trees just stopped producing. 

We tried all sorts of methods – fertilizers, cutting branches to give the tree more sunlight and we even tried smoking it, but to no avail. So the tree was just a tree in the garden with no sweet treats for almost a decade.

My family had always been hopeful until one day they told the gardener to go threaten the tree. So there he was standing in front of the tree saying “Bear us mangoes or I’ll chop you down”. My grandaunt came out, touched the tree and said a prayer. Next thing you know, we get big fat juicy mangoes :)

Excuse my poor drawing skills. I should just stick to jewellery, but this was the first thing that came to mind.

Malaysian Poh-Wer

After scoring my first goal for the season (thanks to a wonderful pass from Koops), the rest of Sunday evening was spent glued to the t.v watching the Masterchef Final. Though many felt the need to boycott the finale after Chris was kicked out, the show scored outstanding ratings...apparently the highest for a non-sporting event.

Poh

Would have loved Poh to win - she created some very exciting dishes throughout the show but it was quite disappointing to see that the last dish was Hainanese Chicken Rice. I'm sure it tasted great, but Poh is loved for her intriguing and sometimes "disgusting" looking compositions. Having said that, I'm not overly shocked Julie took the crown of Australia's first Masterchef given whenever she had the opportunity to speak, she'd pull at the heartstrings of the judges and the viewers.

A Bucket Full of Happiness

I've been feeling rather ill this week and last night was the first night I got to spend with Big Bear with no studying to do (well there was plenty to do, just that I didn't do any). It was pay day yesterday so I thought we should go out somewhere nice...but all he had in mind was some KFC and some t.v.
So off to Chapel Street we went, found what seemed like the perfect spot until I noticed the road signs (luckily because 10 minutes later, there were inspectors marking the unlucky ones). We ordered a meal for two and then changed our minds of eating in in light of the horrendous attacks recently - it's all making Melbourne quite a scary place sometimes.

Dinner was spent around the coffee table with greasy food and watching Masterchef :) Rather enjoyable I must say becuause it didn't matter that you were eating with your hands and double dipping into your sauces. Not such a good idea for my illness, but it felt great at the time!

For those who didn't tune in to MC last night, it was a shock elimination given Julie's plates weren't exactly worthy for the camera for a cookbook...but unfortunately the poor "execution" of Chris' dishes sent him home. The final will be on this Sunday and I'm a bit sad I didn't follow this show earlier because it has proven to be quite good and it is actually not a 2nd grade version to an American show.

Got "Lice"?

Friday night marked the end of a working week and boywas I happy to get out of there. Big Bear had booked a table for us at a a cozy little Japanese place in the suburbs. It's rather busy so it was one of those in by 6.30, out by 7.45 kinda place. Waiter was friendly, specials on the board looked yummy and the sushi never fails to disappoint. The wind was cold and we were looking forward to our warm mains. 

First came the miso eggplant (I looove eggplant - any shape or form) but because of the sauce, we needed a bowl of steaming hot sticky Japanese rice. After placing our order, a Chinese waitress comes back and says "Soli, your lice will be ledy in a few minutezzz". Big Bear and I burst out in laughter (after she left of course). 10 minutes later, still no rice. Then I see the owner coming in the main door carrying takeaway boxes with what looked like rice.

This place gets five stars from me (I'll close a blind eye to the microwaved takeaway rice)

This cannot be. Rice is a Japanese staple - how can they not have rice stocked in the kitchen?! We were awfully disappointed especially when the rice was the normal kind, not thing sticky Japanese type. And I have a feeling the takeaway was brought to the back and microwaved *sigh*. The least he could have done was walk through the back of the restaurant rather than shatter me like that.

We continued with our dinner not questioning where the rice had come from and then I turned my head to the bar and what did I see? RICE written in block letters on the white board as a reminder. Has the GFC really taken a toll even on the basics?

Popia Rolls

Whenever I feel like I need a huge dose of veggies, I make popia. They are a Malaysian version of rice paper rolls and you can put pretty much anything inside. The only downside is that it take ages to do all the shredding and chopping. My favourite fillings include:

• Lettuce
  
• Thick black caramel sauce
• Chili Sauce
• Carrots
• Turnip
• Tofu
• Cucumbers
• Eggs
• Crunchy Chinese doughnuts

Didn't manage to take a photo of my own rolls before they got eaten up but they look something like this. Healthy and hearty in a roll :)

I use ready made sheets from the freezer section of the Chinese grocer. Unfortunately I opened too many packets assuming that I was cooking for a bunch of hungry monsters but they disappointed me..miserably. I put the remaining sheets in the fridge and the next day they were stone hard! I tried microwaving it (thinking like rice, it'll soften)...but it just made the sheets brown and even crisper - reminds me of roti a little. Note to self: find a more appropriate storage method to keep sheets nice and soft.

Why do you have to be so mean?

As most of you would know, Gordon Ramsay was in Melbourne as part of the Food and Wine Festival. But most people were aware of his visit as a result of a war on words between himself and Nine Network's Tracy Grimshaw. With topics such as his affair and failing business a no go zone, he hit back by making comments about Grimshaw's looks and sexuality. The battle hit the papers and the radio the next morning. I am rather disappointed at Ramsay's poor behaviour but others seem to disagree. Most callers to Mix 101.1's morning show felt his stand up was as, if not more impressive than his cooking.

Oh Ramsay, why do you have to be so mean? Didn't anyone teach you how to be a gentleman?

Navigation without a Melway

Is not a smart idea. On the weekend, Big Bear and I had to attend a work function at a Partner's holiday house in Merricks Beach. Boy did we struggle getting there! We left an hour before our expected arrival and it took us almost 2 1/2 hours. I printed out directions from whereis.com and it turned out most of it was wrong. So here we were driving happily along...the scenery was nice but it started to get extremely frustrating when we weren't even close to the coastline and it started pouring! 

With no Melway in the car, no one we called could really help us. We resorted to stopping and asking people along the way. We finally got to the esplanade and thinking we had arrived. Wrong - yet again.

We got there eventually, and I decided that someone should create a GPS system which you can call using your mobile so it detects exactly where you are and gives you the correct directions. I am sure it'll be useful...especially for those people you always hear getting lost on treks in the bush!

Anyways, we got there, had a good time, and according to Big Bear - nearly K.O'd trying to avoid getting my shoes wet at the beach. Thank God I brought dessert instead of entree. At least our lateness was hardly felt.

My Oreo Cheesecake...yum-meeee!

Salvaging Strawberries

I think I spoke too quickly when I blogged about my tray of red red strawberries because not long after, I came home to strawberries growing mould! *boo hoo*

In a desperate effort to save my $25 worth of sweet treats, I blended together all the unaffected strawberries. I was planning for a refreshing glass of redness before work and went to bed hoping that no spores would start making their rounds at night.

Morning came and what did I find in my fridge? Strawberry pudding in its most intense state! I still don't know what I did wrong but it was an epic fail for fresh juice in the morning and a great complement with vanilla ice cream on a Friday night :)

Sweet Strawberries

Please refer to my Mother's Day post because at my Mummy's request, I went to Victoria Market to buy a box of strawberries...

I paid $25 for 16 little boxes. I probably should have tried bargaining but because I'm no longer in China, it no longer comes naturally. So with all these strawberries I've had to find lots of uses for them. I hear Victoria Beckham is on a strawberry diet but of course I have no desire to look anorexic but let's see how if the antioxidants in all those strawberries will have an effect (hopefully before diabetes hits me).

I was feeling rather bleh after coming home from work so I thought I'd make myself a 5 minute chocolate cake in the microwave. I didn't have milked so put water in instead. You think being a baker I'd be smarter ~ the water just created lots of steam in the microwave...

Mixing up all the dry ingredients

After exiting the microwave...quite disappointed that the chocolate "cake" was stone hard! I thought putting some ice cream on top and decorating with fresh strawberries would make me feel better.

Food For Thought

Shop On Fridays

Instead of pub crawling for after work drinks, try scheduling in your supermarket shopping instead. An audit of supermarkets suggests that you can cut 20% of your weekly food bill by shopping on Fridays.

Shop Local

Groceries do a whole lot of traveling before arriving in your shopping trolley. Source food at farmers' markets so you do your bit for the environment and save on transportation costs.

Shop At The Deli

Instead of buying packaged meat, cheese and olives from the supermarket, go to deli to avoid all the extra packaging. It works out cheaper and you only buy exactly how much you need.

Take baby steps

Try make a difference one step at a time. For example, try buying products with less packaging. When buying coffee, bring a mug with you. If you forget just ask them to forget about the plastic lid.

Take your own bag

I leave the green bags near the door so I don't forget when I'm on the way out to the shops. I find that they are easier to carry compared to plastic bags when the load gets heavy, so why not kill two birds with one stone?

Thrifty Thursday

While Friday is the day to shop for groceries, Thursday is the day for fashion buys. Thursday evening 6-8 weeks after an item arrives in store is when prices start dropping. Late night shopping was just meant to be!

Beauty Bargains

Ask your beauty therapist or hairdresser where they buy their products. They just might know a wholesaler who sells to the general public. No harm asking!

Lunch Time Love

A friend of mine once thought he’d found out the reason behind 3:30itis…it was the MSG in his lunch that was causing him to feel tired and groggy once the lunch time bell rang and it was time to return to the office. I love Melbourne for all its good food, you can get all cuisines within the CBD, but usually at quite a price.

I’ve aimed to pack my lunches once in a while…it has made a difference to my bank balance already and makes me feel healthier because I know exactly what goes into my Tupperware boxes. I’ve found the best way to pack my lunchtime munchies by including dinner’s leftovers. This not only lets me clear my fridge, stop me from wasting, it also means I can cook a fresh meal the next day. You should try it too!

Markets, markets, markets!

I love markets. They are a prominent feature of many cities and the perfect place to find a good bargain. On all my trips overseas, I will schedule in some market time and will hardly ever return home empty handed. No matter how big or small my purchase, I’ll usually have something to remember my trip by. Some of my favourites:

Melbourne:

• Victoria Market ~ This is definitely Melbourne's most popular market. You'll find souveniers, arts and craft, fresh produce and lots more!
  



• Camberwell Market ~ Popular for bargains and second hand goods. It's nice even just for a stroll because you'll see some interesting things (e.g.: I saw a man selling all sorts of wires and all sorts of chords, of all different lengths and another stall featuring only vintage weighing machines)
  



I set up a stall at Camberwell Market with a friend on a Winter's day and it poured all over our pretty car space!

London:

Portobello Market ~ One of the most famous street markets in the world and is a popular destination for tourists and Londoners alike. Portobello Road leads to the heart of Notting Hill, made famous by the romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.

Hummingbird Cupcakes...yummeeee!

You'll be able to smell this store from a mile away as you make your way through Portobello Market

Camden Town ~ A rather colourful market where you'll find some quirky things. Clubs nearby are often frequented by celebrities such as Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Sadie Frost.

A little section of Camden Town (there is also a little river cruise you can take here)

Hong Kong:

Ladies Street ~ It is a great place to have the Chinese market experience. Despite the name, the market sells clothes for men and women and you'll have plenty of cheap Chinese curios to cast your eyes on.

Temple Street ~ I'll always try schedule a visit to "Miu Kai" whenever I'm in Hong Kong. It can get very hot during the summer so bring some water and dress light if you plan to rummage through strands of beads, pearls, jade and antique pieces. 

Temple Street: You'll be sure to find something hiding in one of these stalls!

While out visiting markets, keep an eye out for local restaurants nearby. Wonton noodles and congee are popular dishes, and although they make this stuff in Singapore and Malaysia, they just don't do it like Hong Kong does it!

Beijing:

Ya Show ~ Clothes, clothes and more clothes...be sure to haggle your bottom off!

Peking duck at Quan Ju De (a popular chain restaurant in Beijing...they have one in Melbourne now too! I shall drop by when in need of a dose of BJ)

Xiu Shui Jie ~ I can't believe I can't find a photo of this market in my archive considering how much time I spent here! If Chinese fashion isn't your thing, it just means you have to spend a lot of time digging and sorting, but once you've done that it is so worth it. But make sure you haggle, haggle haggle! There are bags, shoes, clothes, tailors and on the upper floors, there are beads, pearls and ready-made jewellery.

LAN Club

This is a must visit in Beijing. It is right across from Xiu Shui Jie. Though I might not be visiting with bags of shopping, its definitely worth going to if you're ever around the area. The club covers a massive space with Mongolian style tents serving as private rooms, lots of French paintings (even on the ceilings), Phillippe Starck furniture, each of which are slightly different. Its too beautiful to put in words, just drop by to experience it for yourself. 

Pan Jia Yuan ~ Beijing's biggest antique market. I visited it on my last weekend in Beijing and didn't have time to come back again to finish it off :( You'll find some of the most interesting things. Even if you don't buy, its a good place to visit. 

A stall selling the cutest old-school kinetic toys (some apparently older than me). The owner was up for a chat on an early Sunday morning, and I found out that his brother-in-law lives here in Melbourne running a similar shop somewhere in Richmond. But nothing beats finding something vintage in a market.

Some pieces of jewellery I’ve made with market finds... Available at U-Fhern.com

Fishy Business

The Frog Prince

Mambo

Saturday Night In

Yumminess... but nothing beats the fresh taste of warm caramel popcorn (I've only ever had this in Asia. They only have sweet popcorn in the packaged form here. If someone knows of a place serving up fresh sweet popcorn... LET ME KNOW!)

Instead of painting the town red and spending lots on drinks and various other entertainment, grab a group of your girlfriends and raid through your DVD archive for a girl’s night in. Pop a bag of popcorn in the microwave and you’re set for the night. Some girly flicks to try:

• Never Been Kissed
• Sex And The City
• Clueless
• When Harry Met Sally
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Pretty Woman

You’ll save some money and save yourself from going through all the effort of dressing up and waking up on a Sunday morning with a hangover. So get organising and gather your BFFs for this weekend!

Apologies: I organised a pizza and movie night with my girlfriends the other day. 40 minutes after placing my order, I was wondering why there was no sign of a delivery boy. Then I wondered, why was it that when I ordered my pizza, they only asked for my number and not my address. 5 minutes later, four hungry girls set out hunting for this pizza joint where I had requested for "take-away" instead of "delivery"...silly me! So sorry ladies! Wont happen again ;)