Babydoll 2009

2009-07-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

As of lately, I would gladly exchange going out for staying home & cooking & baking! It brings me great joy & pleasure to make & create foods for friends & family. Last Friday night i stayed home to babysit & also baked some yummy yogurt almond & raspberry cupcakes, brought them over to my friends house the next day for some gaming & you-tubing & eating & tea drinking :)

I also went to see PINK that weekend, & boy was she entertaining! I think her theme was 'circus', FUn house is what her album is called me thinks. A quarter of the show was her hanging from the ceiling doing all sorts of cool tricks, her concert was so much fun i really didn't mind having to stand the whole time!

On the weekend of18th & 19th of July, was the Aroma Festival @ the rocks, my first time going & i was disappointed! Mainly because of the huge crowds, & just the fact that we were in the sun most of the day & i might not have had enough sunscreen on booo :(

I still prefer the Good Food & Wine show i went to last month, but have been told that 'Taste of Sydney' is much much better then both of them, so i can't wait to go next year.

Whale watching with my family courtesy of The Bear Cottage in Manly, & we were lucky to have seen this baby whale having fun in the water! My dad saw it and while we were told to yell out 'there she blows!' he was so excited, he yelled 'there it is!' haha :)

I LOVE the bear Cottage, it's located in Manly about 10 minutes walk from the beach, they are just sooo accommodating, and Annie just LOVES going there, she can pretty much stay as long as she wants, whenever she wants! & they always take her to places like the shops, the beach, picnics, all sorts of things. My parents love it too cos they get to relax as well & its just so much fun. Too bad i had work though i would of stayed the full week!

I went to Cockatoo Island with Richard this past weekend, LOVED exploring the place & the weather was awesome as well. More pictures from the photoshoot here.

I also celebrated my birthday this weekend, & had my bestest friends over for a high tea party :) Thanks so much to everyone who could make it, & big thankies to Trish who brought some yummy scones & banana cupcakes! I made the rest, spent Friday night Saturday night & Sunday morning preparing, its so much fun i LOVED preparing & seeing everyone enjoy the food i made (with LOTS of help from Richard!)

I also made sandwiches as well but forgot to take photos of them as they were wrapped up before serving..

Again, thanks guys for coming it was great to have you all there & i hope you all had a good time!

2009-07-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Firstly, would like to wish my good friend Anita Hartojo a wonderful & safe trip to the U.S! I know she's always wanted to travel to that part of the world & i'm so sure she will have a blast (and maybe not even want to come back after 2weeks?) hehe.

Also another good friend is over there currently, Peter Hoang The Dentist & his MUCH MUCH needed holiday. This guy is a total work-a-holic but he LOVES his job. He is on a plane every2-3 days with no time to rest, "rest is for the weak!!" so he said to me yesterday in a brief conversation on msn messenger.

Recently 'The Chocolate Room' opened up its doors in Wetherill Park Stocklands Mall, and there were 10% off vouchers in the local newspaper so i went to have a look with Sambath & Julie (but, we forgot abour using the voucher when we got there hehe..)

This place is kind of very similar to 'Max Brennars'. Instead of a 'hug mug', this place has the 'cuddle cup'!!

One thing different, is their extensive range of hot chocolates! I went with the coconut flavoured, but they had over 20 to choose from (mint, orange, apple & cinnamon and much much more).

I want to come back and try other things on the menu, and maybe take away a box of their hand made chocolates!

Last Sunday Ann played 'model' & i played 'photographer' at Auburn Botanical Gardens. Now i havent been here since i was little, it used to be free but now the f#ckers charge $3 per person!! We paid the fee & trudged on in anyway, and had sooo much fun! More pictures here.

On the weekend of July 3rd to 5th, was the Good Food & Wine Expo held at Darling Harbours Convention Centre. This was me & Trish's first year going so we were both really excited about test tasting food & drinks and seeing really, what is out there in Australia - food wise! Becauase some of the exhibitors are quite new, and use this opportunity to get huge exposure to all their potential buyers!

First stall we rushed to - was Chocolate Suze's, for we were wanting to buy some of her famous biscotti :) I bought 3 packets for $22, and seriously they are so addictive that i just gobble them up like the cookie monster :o

I'm a huge fan of chai tea, and to date, the only place that serves the BEST chai tea, is Badde Manors in Glebe. So when i saw freeby testings of chai tea powder - i was on it!! I bought a jar for $5, totally wish i bought more though cos it retails online for $11 + P&H!!! The one i tried was made with boiling water, but i tried it out at home with soy milk, and its soooo delectable, i had it with the biscotti i bought - pure heaven in the comfort of my own home :)

Trish thanks so much for inviting me, i had a blast and boy was it a work out or what? I think i was carrying about 10KG worth of stuff including show bags, wine, biscuits, jars of chutney, more food, drinks, more food..!

I had some friends over on the weekend also (Ann, Jeremy, Anita & Rob) for dinner, and then watching the Michael Jackson 91' Thriller concert, and then 'he's just not that into you.

It was a fun night, i got to play arnd with Rob's Canon DSLR EOS 450D (i think i wanna switch to Canon!!).

I made fresh gluten free bread, and turned that into some yummy garlic bread (the whole house was filled with garlic smell afterwards it was wonderful hehe), spinach & ricotta canneloni & Ann made a delicious tomato based sauce to go with it. And i made tiramisu for desert!

There was so much food (and Jeremy ordered pizza just incase it wasnt enough but, seriously there was so much leftovers everyone got to take-away ^_~

I'm so so behind on my food blog, i have about 8 or 9 places waiting to be reviewed! I wish there was more time in the day, so i can get more things done. Cos between study, work, gym, & family, seriously - my weeks go by soooo quickly..

2009-06-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, on a Friday night after work - had a traffic jam drive up to Petersham for a twitter meet up - my first ever one.

I helped @Fridley organise a list of mutual twitter contacts that would come here for a super feasting at Peramas. I would say more then three quarters were also from the foodblogger world, since most of my twitter contacts are food bloggers hehe..

It was a really fun & sociable night which included a whole heap of Greek dishes, lots of flashes, & unlimited wine & drinks!

I met another Betty (for the 2nd time, she was at Chocolate Suze's Birthday as well), not surprised that we got along very well :P

@Fridley made these cool badges for everyone that also included a tiny pic of our avatar in the corner.

What i really enjoy about these meet ups is that - you're surrounded by people with the same interests as you. Twittering, eating, blogging, photography. Especially the foodbloggers, they totally understand that when food gets served, photo's MUST be taken before consuming :)

Last weekend me & Rick had a day date with Ben & Wensy. Plan was to browse Paddington markets, play board games, dinner & karaoke.

On our way to Norita we saw this lil fella .. we love our camera's :)

Norita is kind of hidden away, i mean i've walked past this place so many times and NEVER noticed the sign! You gotta walk up the steps (about 3 flights of stairs) to get into the venue. It's a place of deserts, yummy drinks & boardgames. Now i LOVE boardgames, except when i lose.. haha :P

We started off with JENGA - a game of physical & mental skill, in which players remove blocks from a tower & put them on top.

The word jenga is derived from kjenga, the Swahili verb "to build", jenga! is the imperitive form (stolen from wikipedia)

Next up was Scrabble, which is one of my fav games. Wikipedia link here.

i LOVED this place i totally wanna come back with a bigger group of friends! They charge you per person, each game costs ranges, and i think you're also timed as well.. Anyway 3 hours later we emerged with $7 less in our wallets, and starved! Over to Bonta Vita for dinner, where we were all very disappointed with the food.. check out my food blog i haven't posted up the review yet but it will come under 'Malaysian Italian'.

2009-06-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

Last Friday a group of 30 foodbloggers met up for Chocolate Suze's Birthday Bash @ Wagaya. The night was full of chitter chattering, mingling, eating, & LOTS of photo-taking :)

Here are the foodbloggers i didn't quite get to talk to everysingle one of them but im sure this was the start of many food bloggers meet ups to come!

helen: www.grabyourfork.blogspot.com
billy: www.atablefortwo.com.au
howard and minh: www.eatshowandtell.com
sheryl: www.onebitemore.blogspot.com
richard: www.herecomesthefood.com.au
karen: www.citrusandcandy.com
simon: www.theheartoffood.blogspot.com
lorraine: www.notquitenigella.com
reem: http://tummyrumble.net
leona: http://pigged-out.com
mel: http://www.fooderati.blogspot.com
jen: http://www.jenius.com.au
belle: http://ooh-look.blogspot.com
jenny: http://www.panda-n-cakes.blogspot.com
lili: http://www.pikeletandpie.com
betty: http://betty-thehungrygirl.blogspot.com
steph: http://raspberricupcakes.blogspot.com
ellie: http://almostbourdain.blogspot.com
chris and tim: http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com
trina: http://foragingotaku.blogspot.com
trish: http://sugarlace.fragiled.net
tina: http://foodboozeshoes.blogspot.com
pete: http://kitchendecanted.com/
eden: http://nutsaboutmynuts.wordpress.com
grace: http://www.foodchaser.me

2009-06-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Last night me & Rick were at Sam's house till about 11 - taking photo's of water droplets!!

I found a mad tutorial here & wanted to try it out, & it happily coincides with my 52 weeks project theme 'water'

Unfortunately my D60 wasn't compatible with the External flash Commander, & i offered my tripod as a prop, so i sat back & watched Sam & Rick fiddle away with settings.

In the end i got to take about 90 shots (on Rick's camera) and these two were the only ones i were semi- happy with. Gotta try again next time, with a bit more practice maybe i can get some super cool shots hehe..

I've been in a baking mood lately. Yesterday took out the box of BASCO gluten free bread mix & baked a loaf for my Babe. I was a bit nervous i hadn't baked baked before..

But it was surprisingly easy & it turned out nicer then the gluten free breads that you get from the bread isle & supermarkets (Rick has been eating the supermarket ones for almost two months now, and he LOVED this one that i baked).

They were really soft, and chewy (not hard and crumbly), & i tried some with peanut butter & nutella - YUM!!

Basco Gluten Free Bread

I'll probably bake a few more for him until his diet is over.. I hope its over soon i miss eating out at really nice restaurants.

It's my work mate's Wife's Birthday this Saturday, & since he is taking Friday off i baked these muffins today so i could bring them in tomorrow.

Raspberry Muffins with lemon icing

Dropping some off to Trang, Jeremy & Ann tonight!

(they'll make me f a t if i keep em all hehe).

2009-06-15T00:55:00.001-07:00

Annie came home with a bunch of plain vanilla cupcakes. Her project: to decorate, take photo's, & show the teacher on Wednesday.

How excited was i !! :)

red icing fail #1

I used all the food coloring that i had - blue green red pink & yellow.

I made the icing, iced the cakes, and it was Annie's job to decorate~

blue icing fail #2

Not many were left over after rationing them out to friends hehe.

2009-06-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

Armed with my camera & a masquerade mask - i attended Chocolate Suze's Birthday on Friday night - a flashing of 30 foodbloggers - which was fun!

The only two food photo's i got to take was these ones (and i didnt even eat them). I was having more fun eating & chatting so i turned off the cam & just enjoyed myself.

Met a few of the food bloggers that i follow (when i do have the spare time to browse the internet at work) & also Finally met an OLD blogging friend Trish :) She recognized my name & face - we go back like 7 years or so !!

It was a really fun night, great to meet all the cool foodbloggers that came (although probably didn't meet everyone as there was too many people..)

Sunday - went to a bush walk planned by @annies102 @ Kuring-gai National Park. It had been months since my last bush walk so i was huffing & puffing away up & down stairs, all while having my camera hanging around my neck (anytime now i could of just tripped and stacked it head first & my camera would of been the cushioning haha..)

But no it was a safe walk despite ALOT of obstacles like large rocks, steep bits, & spiDERS!

Rick pretending his camera is his rifle

private beaches so serene, calm & beautiful

SPider taken by my nifty fifty

West HEad Look OUt

me Rick & Jay didn't complete the whole track (i had to get back early) but the rest trekked on & went exploring off the tracks along the coast line - & i heard they got a bit wet from the rain as well..

Rick said he didn't feel like he accomplished anything, like a waste of a day.. (since we turned back half way through) but i was so tired my legs burned like hell climbing all the stairs. I wouldn't mind coming back to finish the track once & for all!

Back to work tomorrow boo.. Our Semi-FInal TOuch footy game is on tomorrow night so wish us luck i hope we make it to the Grand Finals xx

2009-06-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

Damn it was cold out tonight - was photo-shooting with @kransky at the bus ways, this is for a project we're both a part of called '52 week' (link to it here). Each week has a different theme (this week being bus stops), its a really fun project so far & 'water' is up next!

This shot i took as the bus went past, had it on bulb at 8 secs with aperture set at f/13.

Earlier i prepared some kiwi tarts (feeling very very betty crocker like lately). All my friends close by get to sample the things that i bake/make (ants ann Jeremy trang Julz&sam) but this time Rick couldn't have any due to his no wheat/dairy/gluten diet.

Had Rick Jeremy & Ann over for coffee (in J's case it was honey lemon tea due to his flu) but rest assured he has his swine flu mask on haha but wouldn't let me take a photo :P

I LOVE to bake & share around the love! I think next up i'll make a batch of simple super choc chip cupcakes..

I've also been feeling very creative lately (it's also got to do with a bit more time on my hands due to 'study' leave hehe)

Hand-Made Cupcake Cards

Birthday Gift Cross Stitch for Chocolate Suze

I love all things arts & crafty but i have ALOT of unfinished projects under my bed its not funnY! I have a tendancy to .. oh yup - short attention span haha..

Lately this has been my meal of choice - avocado on toast with lime & cracked pepper, & eggs fried sunny side up (my favourite way in the world to have my eggs)

Kinda hopin i won't get sick of them cos then .. what else could i eat ! I love my eggs.

Camping on Queen's Birthday

2009-06-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

Rick, Ann, Chris & myself had been looking forward to the Queen's Birthday Long weekend for a while - pity Chris had double booked himself for a work something exchange cross over - so it was just us three. I couldn't wait to get away from civilization (equipped with ipod, DS, PSP & a book) to relax, take lots of photo's, & to spend time with my two besties :)

We left at about 4.30AM, and arrived at 11.30AM (we had a breakkie break inbetween somewhere but other then that we were driving the whole way)

Surprisingly the camp site was empty - except for maybe 3 or 4 other families. Score! I have been camping when its camping season, there's so many people around, you don't really get peace & quiet (and you hear bloody snorers during the night!)

Rick forgot to bring a number of things:

a floor mat
a table
chairs
towel
pillows

But he did bring his gazebo - which was great as we got shaded from the sun during the day :) We had to go into town & get a chair & a mat, which cost an arm & a leg but hey - we'll have it for next time.

After we set up camp, we walked out to the lake - a gorgeous, quiet lake which was only steps away from our tents.

We came back to this fella, hanging around our site! He was missing one ear, and i think he was looking for food.. he was not at all scared when we approached him for photo's (& i touched him a bit for like half a sec with my jumper sleeve). He left us alone after leaving a nasty surprise near our mat Lols..

Saturday night after a meal of canned minestrone soup with bread, we cracked open some bottles of wine & drank a bit before heading to our sleeping bags. Fell asleep to the sound of waves of the beach near by..

Sunday morning me & Rick got up to take photo's of the sunrise, but were a bit impatient.. headed back & got changed to go for a run my idea of course, i had to keep my fitness up!! We ran around for about an hr, just exploring, and finding out where we can go trekking later on.

Breakfast was instant noodles with sunny side up fried eggs - yum! Thanks to Rick's portable gas stove, we still got to eat hot meals. BAsically we just stocked up on noodles, canned soup, baked beans, eggs, chips, chocolate, fruits, water & wine :P

We went venturing to the beach, and walking trails, it was GREAT to have the place sort of all to ourselves..

This lake we came across - was so beautiful the water was SO still, that ripples from one tiny bottle brush went right to the edges. So still that the sky was 100% reflected as if it were a mirror.

We packed some sandwiches for the walk & ended up having them on the beach. While Ann enjoyed the sun up on the rocks - Rick & I were exploring rock pools & collecting shells.

We got back, & headed into town to stock up on some more wine & firelighters :) Ended up having soup & bread again for dinner, stayed up drinking & toasting marshmallows!

This little guy visited looking for food .. & later on in the night came back with his mates to raid our rubbish bags!! (which were hanging on the gazebo & they bloody climbed up!!) Half way through the night i heard hissing and crumpling plastic sounds haha.. & in the morning there were foot prints on Ann's tent lols

Monday morning woke up & caught the sunrise - from a high vantage point about 10mins walk from our tents

After sunrise back for some breakkie (baked beans, toasted cheese sandwiches & more eggs) then off to Bondi Lake - which was no longer a lake it had dried up cos of the drought - and the kangaroos lived here!! We got some great shots with Rick's telephoto lens & my zoom lens.

My favourite wines:

Brown Brothers Muscato Rosa
Brown Brothers Muscato
Brown Brothers Cienna
Rosemont O
Brown Brothers Zibibo Rose

We've decided to make camping our yearly Queen's Birthday Long Weekend tradition, had soo much fun just chilling, exploring, eating :P hehe

More photo's are on my flickr