Mizuya, George St

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY everyone!

As I've promised K, I would make a post on my birthday dinner. To be honest, I have a very vague memory of what the dinner was like.. but I will try my best.

This dinner was for my birthday celebration, decided to try Mizuya out on George St because it was new, (or at least we haven't been to?). and interestingly, it was a failed attempt at trying to imitate Wagaya. the touch screen layout was exactly the same, (in a different colour), the seating arrangement were similar (but VERY squashy compared to the amount of space you get in a wagaya seat) LOL! and the food rather slow. Not a place I'd return to for another dinner. (aww sorry if it sounds really bad>< AHHAHA)

Anyways, to the food:

started off with a salad, smoked salmon I think it was? (looks like it.. XD) other than there not being enough dressing I guess it was okay. (but dressing is like the most important thing in a salad!!)

they had really pretty looking drinks. LOL yes, we ordered them because it 'looked' good, but tasted terrible, it had star signs drinks instead of monthly drinks compared to wagaya =O this was the capricorn drink, considering it was kiwi, I didn't think it'd taste too bad but after one sip, I didn't touch the cup for the rest of the night =) I should ask L how this tasted, because I seriously don't remember.

the other one was strawberry.. which was better. (a much safer choice too compared to kiwi! LOL)


and then we ordered grilled scallops, with cheese.. , it was very oily..

and then we went off to order something more safe, SUSHI! I mean, sushi can't really taste bad unless the sashimi is not fresh or the rice is from overnight or something!? HAHAH


and fried rice, which tasted very, CHINESE. ==" knowing that it is a japanese restaurant.


and I have no memory of what this is. some potato thing I assume.. some help K??? LOL! if you remember please add to this (I'm so sorry I'm such a terrible blogger)

after eating all those not so lovely food we decided to head off to seek for better food =) (unfortunately we didn't manage to eat another dinner. but we did buy some desserts?)


FROZEN FRUZ from World Square. =) as you can see K is already in the background having her spoon in her mouth. ready to eat =] tastes pretty nice and fruity. (I don't remember the flav anymore)

mission accomplished! 4 weeks delayed post. This dinner was on the 16th JAN 2010 =) hahahaha thankyou all for reading. (it's very rare for G to make a post!!! =D)

The Corn Exchange, Four Points by Sheraton

Okay, so this was from Christmas, and yes we are in February...let's just pretend it's still Christmas LOL

So for Christmas we went to The Corn Exchange for some buffet lovin' and we had it for two for the price of one with the viva Sydney deal.

We ate seafood a plenty...

and made our own seafood salad too LOL!

had a bit of the hot food...

(sorry this looks unappetising.. it's got a bit of everything there, veggies, steamed fish, cous cous, etc etc...)

then finished off with a gazillion desserts, both festive and non!

The Corn Exchange

Four Points by Sheraton

161 Sussex St

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9290 4000

Miss Chu, Darlinghurst

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been volunteering at the Mental Health Association (MHA). Well last week when I was there, Bec and I found this really cool place for lunch called Miss Chu. It's this little hole in the wall with a few stools on the side of the street and at first I thought it was a cafe. I still kind of think it's a cafe because it's got the buzzing atmosphere of a cafe and they do sell coffee hehehe

the awesome menu with a picture of miss chu's visa on the back

It was really busy when we got there but most people seemed to be getting take away so by the time our food came out the crowd had dispersed and there were chairs a plenty ^^ There's a bunch of Asian bananas hanging from the sheltery thing. It was quite amusing trying to discern whether they were really bananas or just some random yellow decoration thing...i changed my mind may times as to what it was before we crossed the road and reached Miss Chu's and confirmed they were, in fact bananas =]

I got the warm seared Tasmanian salmon and vermicelli salad (above + below). I was a bit disappointed at the lack of greens but found out pretty soon that it was all buried at the bottom. The salmon was cooked just right and slightly pink in the middle. It was a tad bit on the salty side though, mainly because the sauce wasn't mixed properly throughout the vermicelli so I had bits that were completely covered in sauce and some bits that were pure white.

Organic Chai Lattes $3.50

Bec got her Chai Latte first and the first thing she said was "THERE'S GINGER IN IT...It's nice but THERE'S SO MUCH GINGER IN IT..." I DID taste the ginger and I did agree it was nice but there wasn't THAT much ginger was there? We found out in the end that her's had actually had GINGER PIECES whilst mines only had the ginger flavour...I think they made them together but Bec got all the ginger chucks and mines didn't get any. But yes, it was a great Chai Latte - my favourite at the moment (because of the ginger - genius way of linking it back to the Asian food!) and because it's organic and because I think they used soy milk in it.

failed attempt to take a picture of the ginger in Bec's Chai Latte

Steamed Dumplings (Asian Vegetables with garlic chives) $4.50

There were two types of dumplings and Bec tells me one tastes better than the other (I foret which is which) but overall we both loved our meals and our chai lattes =] They also had these interesting looking desert things though we didn't have enough stomach space for it. We aim to try it this Thurs! ehhehe Did I mention that Miss Chu also claims to be the "queen of rice paper rolls"? I think we better check out that claim next time too LOL

Miss Chu

Shop 1/50 Bourke St

Darlinghurst

Ph: 8356 9988

Website: http://www.misschu.com.au

Open Mon - Fri 11am - 9pm

Sofitel Wentworth, Viva Sydney Deal

Hey guys!

So a while back I stayed at the Sofitel Wentworth and it was stay one night get one night free with the viva sydney deal. It was a great way to take a break without the stresses of leaving home plus I wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford staying at a five star hotel so it was a great, short trip =]

mini bar in the room - it was sooo pricey!

We had dinner at the restaurant in Sofitel - Garden Court - which was also buy one meal and get the second one free but it wasn't that great. The service was quite bad and I didn't even bother taking pictures of our meals! We did get complimentary breakfast during our stay as well but it was the same bunch of people serving us form the dinner so we didn't enjoy it as much as we might have.

The high tea at the Sofitel was another story though, excellent service and the staff were really helpful - we waiter went and asked the chef whether he could accommodate another high tea stand even though we didn't have a reservation. Hawflake girl even popped by which was really nice coz it was sooo hot that day!

high tea stand for one

I've pretty much forgotten what was on the stand but all the food was quite nice. I had even more fun sharing the food or at least, trying to persuade people to eat it with me hehehe To be honest I think it was the company which made the food so good =]

Our stay also coincided witht he first night of the Sydney festival which was practically happening right outside the hotel!

acrobatic lady on a colour changing hot air balloon - the balloon was actually being pulled by people on the ground!

Staying at the Sofitel was really a great thing to do, even though I'm still on holidays from uni I've been even more busy that during the uni semester with work, summer school and catching up with friends - I have actually been quite stressed at times. I'm currently volunteering at the Mental Health Association, promoting the Stress Less Campaign which is all about sharing tips about how to stress less and to increase community awareness of the negative consequences of stress. The campaign is tied with a monthly facebook competition for the best stress less tip entry as well as a stress less tip of the month. For January it's "Sign up for that course, join that club" which I think is not only a great way to relive stress but to also learn something new. My friend Korkong girl has actually taken up this advice and she's going to a cooking class at the fish markets tomorrow! I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR PAELLA!!

If you've got a great way to relive stress and would like to share it with the rest of us I encourage you to enter the facebook competition. Up for grabs this month are vouchers for the Sydney Community College and double passes for Life is an Adventure!

Ice + Slice, Newtown

HEY GUYS!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas =] Mines was filled with heaps and heaps of chocolate!! I kinda wish I'd waiting so I could have taken a picture of my stash of chocolate but I guess I didn't have the foresight to think of that. What I've done instead is make a dodgy collage of googled pics of choc to show you guys how much chocolate I've eaten these past few days (mind you, I ate it all myself).

Also got this from work except it was to be shared between everyone. I'm still very happy that it arrived on the day I was working so I got to see it in all it's glory! It's still sitting at work, half of the choc gone LOL

Anyway, I thought I'd post something up before the new year and what better way to end the year than with CHOCOLATE! ahahhaaa So Korkong girl and I went to this place called Ice + Slice a while back when we'd just finished our uni exams to eat dessert. We had the chocolate pizza (below) to share and it was sosososooooooo GOOD! The warm oozing chocolate and the aroma of the oven baked almond slivers and the cold vanilla ice cream were such a good combination!

It was REALLY messy to eat though, I dare say the messiest thing I've ever eaten. It was actually a bit traumatic trying to eat it all before the ice cream melted completely and on top of that I just got told that provisional marks for one of my subjects had just been released - OMG it was hectic. But it was still heaps of fun, Korkong girl and I even took pics of ourselves covered in choc and taking bites from the pizza, though you guys aren't seeing those pics =P

The mess we made - hehehe luckily I had wet ones =]

Korkong girl also had an Affogao al caffe (above) which was also quite good. She was instructed to stir it well and be careful coz the icecream would *explode*...haha - not really...

Well I hope you all have a safe & happy new year and eat lots of chocolate! hehehe

Ice + Slice

Gelateria E Pizzeria

135 King St

Newtwon, NSW 2042

Ph: (02) 9516 4595

website: http://www.iceandslice.com.au

MERRY CHRISTMAS =]

lookie at what i got at work!! (above) one of the doctors actually baked us all a plate of Christmas goodies =] =] it was soooo good too! Especially the one in the cupcake patty (not sure what it was) but i couldn't get enough of it! The Christmas pudding thingy was soo cute and it looks so easy to make! i might give it a go myself hehehee

and raffaellos! ahahha someone gave my mum this and now it's mine! WOOT! i didn't want to cut the ribbon tho! amazingly i refrained from opening this for ONE WHOLE DAY! i got it yesterday but i ended up cutting the ribbon today ='( if only i could put the ribbon back together again, that would be awesome!

anyway i'm expecting heaps more Christmas treats and I hope you guys get heaps of treats too!

Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous Stuffed Capsicum

HELLOOOOOOO!!! LONG TIME NO SEE =]

I've finished exams and now on holidays! Even the exam marks have been released, 'twas a relief seeing that i didn't screw everything up *phew* and now it's time to get back to blogging *yay*

Okay so I received a pack of this new gourmet pearl couscous from Erin a while back and I have finally had the time to try it out. Pearl couscous is different from traditional couscous in that traditional couscous is about 1mm in diameter when dry but pearl couscous is much bigger coming in at 3mm - like a pearl =P Random note: I always thought couscous was a type of rice, but it was only through trying out this pearl couscous that I've learnt that it's actually a pasta! Blu gourmet pearl couscous has been toasted in an open flame oven who allows it to absorb liquid and sauces, making it jam packed with flavour whilst remaining al dente.

I did get some recipes along with the couscous but in the end I decided to use make up my own thing =] I did poke around on the internet for some ideas but I didn't strictly follow any recipe - I just used ingredients I liked and stuff that we already had at home.

Blu Gourmet Pearl Couscous Stuffed Capsicum

Ingredients

1 cup of gourmet pearl cous cous

4-6 medium sized capsicums

1/4 can of chickpeas (100g)

150g canned corn kernels

1/2 medium sized Lebanese cucumber

2-3 small button mushrooms

50g crumbled fetta cheese

50g sun dried tomatoes

1. Cook the gourmet pearl couscous according to the instructions on the packet (1 cup couscous to 1 1/4 cups water or stock), stirring occasionally.

2. Whilst the couscous is cooking, cut the tops off the capsicums and put them aside. Clear the hull of any seeds and don't forget to preheat the oven to 180C =]

3. Finely chop the cucumber and mushrooms. I did pour some hot water over the mushrooms so they cooked a little in hindsight I don't think that was really necessary.

4. Drain the chickpeas and corn and give them a quick rinse to get rid of the funny canned water taste.

5. Mix all the ingredients together with the couscous and season as desired.

leftover couscous mixture

6. Stuff the capsicums with the couscous mixture, replace the tops and bake in the oven for 20min or until the capsicum skins start to shrivel. (you can reduce the time needed in the oven by blanching the capsicums beforehand but I just let them cook in the oven)

*TADAAAA*

You could really tell that the couscous absorbed all the liquid, I mean the other ingredients weren't that heavy yet the stuffed capsicums were SO HEAVY! It did take me a while to figure out how I could best eat this, in the end it required a knife, a fork AND a spoon! LOL The couscous was really chewy and fun to eat, the texture was kind of like the pearls you'd find in pearl milk tea! I only used water to cook the couscous but I think they would be even more flavoursome if I tried using stock next time ^^ As for the other ingredients, they are all more favourite foods so I liked it all hehehe (except the chickpeas - I only put them in because a lot of recipes online seemed to use chickpeas. Next time no more chickpeas for me! LOL)