Introducing Nessie the Coff-ness Monster... *ahem*

One random Tuesday (last week)... I went down to the local Good Guys and got myself a new baby...


She's so smooth and sleek.. and makes the yummiest coffee ever...


She came with a milk frother...


Everyone say "Hello!" to Nessie the Coff-ness Monster =)


Doesn't she look so pretty...??

Oui Oui!! Ooh La La...

(Old picture from: SMH)

OMG! OMG!... Sudden heart palpitations... sweaty palms... butterflies in my tummy...

I just saw the teaser trailer for Masterchef 2010.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

And that is all I wanted to say...

I'll post up some Jamie pictures tomorrow... been languid lately

Crown Palace (Han Palace) @ Vermont South

Aight! This dinner in Crown Palace took place during the 7th day of Chinese New Year (FORGIVE ME... I am forever slow)...

The 7th Day is also known as "Yan Yat" (in Cantonese), which literally means, "Everybody's Birthday".

The shot below has nothing to do with food, I just loved how red my dress is and how I was the ONLY one in red!! *sigh*



Crown Palace does a wicked Garlic Prawn Cracker... *yum*



The restaurant, as you can imagine, being CNY... was packed and extremely filled with noise, crying (from babies) and laughter.. typical!


And then...

So... "When are you two getting married?"



*Cringe*... (please stay away from me and stop asking me stupid questions!)

Delectable oysters with two different sauces

Family gatherings in particular those with aunties and uncles that want to know a lot about you now, when they couldn't care less in the past is something that happens to every family (every Chinese family at least), I feel... and CNY is a time to reflect and wonder why, we keep up with those traditions? Fear? Love? Respect?

Tradition in the Boy's family here to have Lobster noodles... a variation of the Sang Har Mein

Somehow, I feel that this year, being back in Melbourne (Although I did just spend a very nice 2 months back in KL), that I've come to question a lot of traditions, culture and the reasons why we (Chinese/Malaysian/Asian) act in certain ways.. or should I add, have to act in certain ways.

Look at the beautiful Lobsters

Recently, Madam Mummy sent me a message saying, "Please don't be a Bridesmaid for more than 3 times, else you won't be able to get married yourself!"

To which I nearly replied, "What about 27 dresses??".. or "Are you implying the Boy and I will not last?"

After nearly 9 years together, I'm still getting silly advice...

*sigh*

Four cuts of meat and Jellyfish (Pork, Chicken, Chinese Sausage)

I also forgot to be a vegetarian on the first day of CNY this year... and did I get any bad omens? Well, my year can't get any worse than it already has been, right? *fingers crossed*

Braised shredded scallop with vegetables

If a girl/woman does something that isn't acceptable by social norms (Asian norms), such as, dating a foreigner (not Asian), has she really brought shame to the family?
What really do the parents have to do with it? Do they have the right to threathen to disown her?

Roast Chicken with plum sauce

Maybe we, people in general, should be more open minded and be more accepting of others. How else can we achieve peace?

I'm sure the men who set up the ground rules of religion never said, "Ostracise those who are different from you. If they don't follow/believe in what we believe in, we shall make them pay for it!"

I highly doubt that was the case.

Seafood basket of scallops, prawns, macadamia nuts and snow peas

So let us all be more open and caring. More accepting and forgiving. We can all learn from the past and be happier people. It is only when you are forever angry, forever complaining and forever unchanging that the world moves too quickly away from you, and nothing ever goes your way.

Braised mushrooms, sea cucumber and vegetables

Maybe I'm going through some melancholic mood... or possibly entering depression (I'm not really... it's the dark cloudy sky!), but today, I just felt like venting...

Steamed Barramundi

Life is hard... and amid all the problems that surround us, keep happy. Something small will give you that smile. Learn to laugh even with arguing, and peace will ensue.

Red Bean Dessert

Apologies for the random rambling and lack of a proper Food Review, just look at all the pretty pictures =)

Overall Food Rating: 6.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10

Address:
(Han Palace)
495 Burwood Highway
Vermont South

Tel: (03) 9887 9822

I'm Not Dead

I thought I better revive this whilst I still have some readers!!

I have so many food picturessssssss... but I have been so busy with work that I haven't the time to even sleep!

I've been constantly:

A.) At Work
B.) Sick
C.) At the chiro/radiologist/medical centre
D.) Events...

I promise to put up some reviews and recipe ASAP...

However this week, I've got BRITNEY!!! Yayyyy to Miming!

xoxo
I-Hua

Black Cat

I slept at 8pm last night and woke up at 8am this morning!! How cool is that?!

After all our morning activities, I suggested that we go home and take a nap.. which earned me a glare from the Boy...

"WHAT?!", Did I say something wrong? I can never have too much sleep...

Anyhoo, things changed, and the boy took out cold bottles of beer (mine is the gay Beez Neez...)... fried up some chicken strips, nuggets and fries...

Sat back and watched the AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final.... since the Doggies (If I had to choose and support), were not in the finals, the Cats were my team for the day!!

The Boy gave up watching half way as he was getting increasingly frustrated at how the Cats were playing.. I sent him off and away...

I just kept eating.. I eat when I'm stressed and it was a very painful 3 quarters for me!!

And somehow the CATS WON!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ms. Tinymouse... HAH!!!.. BOO TO YOU!!!!.. I'm such a bad winner ;)

WE have come to the conclusion, that if the Boy supports a certain team/player, during a final and watches it... that unfortunate team/player will lose... better if he hides himself in the room and not watch!!!

NOTE: Look at how much White and Blue I put up in the picture!!!

Can't Shake It

Oh my GOODNESS!!!

I can't believe that I haven't even log on to read any blog postings from anyone nor put up any postings myself for over 2 weeks.

Seriously, I am not even bother to back track on posts and will just move on from this date.

My life has been a steady roller coaster and all I want to do by the time I go home is just sleep!!!

Many exciting foods have been eaten and have been planned for the next few weeks.

A trip back to KL is also in the works in December (as well as a side trip to Egypt *fingers crossed*)

Will try and put up as many postings as I can this weekend, as it seems pretty quiet.

Ms. Tinymouse.. you are just as slack!

Fashionista - I haven't cooked in 2 weeks!! Can you imagine that?! No experiments for my little goddaugther just yet... *sigh* I am a lousy Godmother.. wish I was a fairy, then I could sprinkle some fairy dust and everything would be done....

Tra la la....

Work sucks...!!!

Life rocks!!!

I'm still alive... albeit.. barely...

Toodles for now.. o blogosphere and my 5 readers or so... =)

Nothing Else Matters

Good Monday people of the world.... Hope you like this video from Ukraine's Got Talent.

Now don't whinge and enjoy =)

Jamie Oliver's Baked Barramundi Recipe

I am cranky!

Cranky that it's Monday again... (Oh, but you don't have to work, so why do you even hate weekdays?)

Well, I'll tell you why. Weekdays means that I'm home alone for a minimum of 8 hours with zero human interaction minus that of MSN, email and Facebook.

Oh yeah, and the gazillion of job application rejection letters that flood my inbox.

BAH!

I'm also cranky, because the Boy is at work, and I want him at home... to entertain me...

:(

So... anyways... Ms Tinymouse... WOMAN... of course I did not doubt your efforts... and I'm over the whole driving thing... if I get it, I get it, if not... I'm learning how to ride a motorbike!

And... it'll soon be all noisy again from Friday!!!

My BFF is arriving with her Man in tow (I say man and not Boy, cos he is older than all of us)!! Ahahaha.. YAYYYYY....

Although, I am cranky that I can't get this place to look any nicer and to look any prettier, cleaner, BIGGER!!!...

It's a very cranky Monday.

Oh and yes, my Gigolo (who is one of my male BFF's) so please... he would like me to start plugging him on my blog postings...

A very talented individual, newly single (and enjoying himself), with new fantastic Quicksilver frames to line his err... MACHO jawline... he would like to have some nice girls (and maybe boys) to find him and chill and chat with a nice glass of beer (preferably Guinness) whilst he charms you with his witty humour.

Oh, and he's pretty good with the camera too (And I'm not saying that he'll take naked pictures of you, that is of course optional and entirely your own suggestion!)

So with that, to cheer myself up, here's a recipe which I imitated from Jamie Oliver (back when he was still naked)... I think he might have repeated this recipe in his newer programs.. but I saw it first.. when he was still naked!

Ingredients:

The only important thing here is the fish (Barramundi), lemon and ginger... cancel out the other two (Broccoli stems and Hash Browns)

NOTE:
If you don't like ginger, you can skip the ginger (it's not part of the recipe)... but I find that it adds a new taste dimension when it's cooked



Slice the lemon and ginger, like so.



Now, the key to this extremely fast and simple recipe.

Take aluminium foil, and fold it into half, sealing the edges to cover up and to make a shiny envelope.
The size of the envelope you make equates to the size of the fish you have and the size of your oven/ toaster oven



Marinate the fish fillets with olive oil (2 Tablespoons), sea salt and cracked black pepper



Next, you want to open up the envelope, and place the fish fillets, sliced lemon and sliced ginger onto it, placing a huge dollop of butter on the top (about 2 tablespoons)



Fold it back up and toss it into the oven. I used a conventional oven toaster.



Set it for 15 minutes



And mouth wateringly, the sauce oozes out of the packet when you open it.

Tantalising your taste buds with a buttery, lemony, yet ginger zest light sauce.



Yes, it is that simple.

Request Line

Could I please make a request?

Could I ask someone to please direct me back on the right path?

I seemed to have lost my way somewhere along the way.

"Sorry Sir, can you, could you point me in the right direction?"

"Mam, how do you do, I got a tad lost, could you find me my life again?"

If only life were that easy.

I would like to feel alive again.

I would like to be part of the crowd again. I can't help it.

I am so very tired of shining and smiling. So very tired of trying to remain positive and to not allow any negative thoughts and emotions to slither into my soul.

Somehow, the harder I try, the more lost I seem.

Everyone else seems so happy. I try to be happy myself and I am happy for them.

I want to go out and not worry about the world, about the money, about the food.

I just want to enjoy. But I can't, can I?

It's a small tiny request, or is it?

Where am I? What am I doing? Where am I going?

I used to have plans. I had short term plans and I had my proper 5 year plans.

It's all come crashing down on me. How? Why? When?

I need someone to guide me. I don't want advice and I don't want sympathy.

I just want you to say, "Go there. Over there. Someone there will tell you what to do. They will show you the way."

Any more of this unemployment uselessness, and I might just drop dead.

Everyone with me now... *HAIHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

Help.

Still Waiting

What do you think about when you're lying in bed at night?

Watching the shadows playing across the walls... what thoughts are running through your mind?

Lately, I've just been laying there with my eyes wide open, listening to the easy rise and fall of his breathing.

Watching the shadows race across the ceiling, listening to crazy possums having a party on my ceiling.

Thinking about everything that was, that could be, that might have been, that will be.

Thinking of how I went wrong in my life. Wincing at all the wrong moves I made.

Silently cursing and inwardly praying that everything will be alright again.

Counting puppies... (much cuter than sheep).

Repeating Buddhist mantras silently in my head...

Thinking thinking...

Time ticks away... tick tock tick tock...

Before you know it, you've been in the same position for the last 2 hours.

Night after night.

Day after day.

Nothing has changed.

Yet...

Banana Pancake Recipe

What I would like to have eaten today, but was too lazy to put any effort into it was grilled prawns and pork see images below!




The Boy is grumpy at me, because I didn't feel like cooking or ordering in Pizza...

He's now watching the final James Bond before Pierce Brosnan comes in... License to Kill.. and I'm out here all on my own... fantasizing about a good dinner...

And at the moment, I <3 Facebook more and more!!... I've found one of my best friends from primary school.. or she's found me!! And I'm sooo happy!! I have been out of contact with her since standard 6!! That's nearly 15 years ago!! Anyways... I made banana pancakes instead... I wanted to do the Penang Banana Pancakes... (if you read this blog, and know the Penang shop near the jetty that does this... you should know what I'm on about)... So anyways, I just called my mum and told her that I attempted the pancakes, and she kindly responded.. "Oh I also forgot to mention, that you need to do this and that and this.... I watched when the lady cook the pancakes!" Now she tells me!!! Oh well.. it turned out more ang moh then Penang.. but passable... I'll make modifications as I go along (in the next round) La Ingredients...

 

Whisk the egg and add in about 1/4 cup of milk...



In a separate bowl, add in 1/2 cup of self-raising flour, 2 tsp of brown sugar, and a pinch of salt



Mix it altogether until you form a smooth consistency



Slice some bananas... Pisang Raja would be ideal.. but since I'm in a foreign land... I have to make do with giant bananas *ahem*



Place about 1/4 cup of mixture into a hot frying pan



Sprinkle sesame seeds, sultanas (raisins) and the slice bananas generously, and then flip it over...



Yummmmy!!... Although it was still slightly thicker than the Penang version.. haih...



I wanna go home and on a FOOD road trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Favourite Things

Undeniably, when people come to visit my home. Their eyes are drawn to 2 of my larger bookcases.

Why? Because I have a lot of interesting books. I am a collector. I like my books all shiny and new and in the same publishing series.

Which is good. Because I get to steal the spotlight, as no one notices the Boy's transformers collection. Which happens to be right next to my Eoin Colfer, Harry Potter, and miscellaneous collection (not in pictures, as it's another bookshelf).

Unfortunately, I have an OCD condition with my books and I will bark at anyone that bends, the book or pages.



Everyone seems amazed at my collections of fantasy novels.

It's taken me a long time.

A year ago, I lost a lot of precious books to me... Termites had gotten a hold of them in my home in Malaysia, and although I had managed to bring the majority of my collections here, there were many others that had fallen in the tragic circumstances.

The books here that I have, are treated with the utmost delicacy and respect as they have suffered the lost of their fallen comrades.

My Hardy Boys, 3 Investigators, and yes, some Nancy Drew, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, all gone. Gone.

The new innocent shiny books that I have acquired during my time here in Melbourne are like innocent souls. They don't understand the pain that the others have gone through. How scarred they are. How scared they are.

And I will strive to keep their innocence intact. To never let them know the fear of fire. Of termites. Of death.

Ain't It Funny

Just a quick entry.

I had to put this out there.

A couple of days ago, I received an email telling me that I had received a new comment on my Photoblog account. I have no posted on my photoblog for months as I didn't like the new direction it has taken, but haven't gotten around to actually deleting the account.

It was interesting. And made me just think. What on earth are people thinking off when they check out other people's blogs or websites?

You see.. my photoblog started up as a place for me to put up random pictures, but mainly pictures of all the food I've had the joy to experience. Just pictures. No comments or ratings.

This one "viewer" left this message for me:

"I have been going to RT Pastry house at Danau Bus. Center at Tmn Danau Desa for the past 3 months. Everything were great except that one afternoon when I brought along my sister to the shop. She has bought the marble butter cake for the first time and it was TERRIBLE!!! She has to throw it, in the end. It cost RM 14.
Why RT Pastry is charging so expensive on this cake and it taste so BAD. Next day, I have complained to the cashier and she just stood there doing nothing. In addition, my neighbor was also complaining on the marble butter cake they bought from this outlet two weeks later. Please, I urge the management to look into this matter.......your butter cake is a disaster and yet sell at RM14. My contact is 012-283-9939. I hope the people out there do not purchase the marble butter cake from this outlet!!"


Somehow I felt that this commentator was taking out her frustration on me. WTF?

Why do people not do proper research? It would save them some embarrassment.

Smooth Criminal

The world has lost a great legend.

When I think MJ, I think awesome, sleek dance moves. Soft silky voice.

To name my favourite song from MJ would be impossible... but he was ever the "Smooth Criminal"

He inspired so many and so much.

Let us remember him for the wonder and beauty he brought us.

Thank you for letting us enjoy your music.



Take a bow... Michael Jackson the King of Pop has left the building.