The "icing" on my birthday cake

Turning 26. Surely it's not so bad. As I described in an email to some friends - I have made it up the horrendous uphill climb to the big 2-6 (ok, maybe not that horrendous), and the view is pretty damn fine from here! Whilst some may say it's a tumble downwards henceforth, I don't believe it necessarily has to be the case. I think it has so much to do with your attitude and approach to life. I'll definitely endeavour to keep living it up - work hard, play hard, build deep relationships, cultivate my interests, keep learning and growing as a person, and ... just have heaps of fun! And thank you to my Asian genes (and my mum's skin), for the lack of wrinkles thus far... haha :P

Although the actual day is this coming Saturday (boxing day!), I have already started to be spoilt with beautiful and thoughtful gifts from my friends and workmates (thanks thanks thanks!). I'm not usually a present person (rather, my predominant "love languages" are words of affirmation and touch - i.e. i feel the most loved and also express my love the best by verbal/written expressions of encouragement/affirmation, and via physical touch (e.g. hugs)), because in this material consumeristic day and age, us Gen Ys usually buy whatever we want, or at least save up for it and get it anyway. But what touches my heart about gifts is when people know you well enough to choose something that is relevant to your interests and likes. That is often quite rare.

I've been spoilt with, amongst other things - vanilla bean room fragrance (to make my room spell nice - smelling nice is very important to me! haha); a cute handmade card with an elephant and panda; a Christian fiction book about Queen Esther - one of the heroines in the Bible who was both stunningly beautiful and crazily courageous; a bottle of T'Gallant 'Juliet' 2008 Pinot Noir (the heart on the bottle and name was sufficiently romantic for me to love it without even tasting the wine!); a book titled "Coco" which contains info/recipes/pictures re 100 emerging chef talents globally and it even has a lengthy glossary of gastronomical terms; two sets of inspirational gift books - one set about wisdom from famous people over 65 years of age on the themes of Love, Peace, Ideas (by Andrew Zuckerman) - i haven't read through everything but i love some of the quotes thus far; the second a cute set of illustrated mini books with the titles "the Friends", "Shoes, chocs, bags and frocks", "The lady who was beautiful inside" and "A lovely love story" (by Edward Monkton).

As simple as they are, these books are just so "me" - so in line with my philosophy and outlook on life (e.g. the importance of being beautiful inside). My absolute favourite is the "A lovely love story" which talks about two dinosaurs (the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur) falling in love, and how the Lovely Other Dinosaur melts the ice cage that the Dinosaur is trapped in by her kind words and loving thoughts. Awwwwww.. it's so cute! It makes me want to be that Lovely Other Dinosaur that will one day melt the ice cage of some Dinosaur with my kind words and loving thoughts. Lol! :P


I also received a beautiful journal and notepad from Bookbinders (I've already started using the journal, and the notepad will be my new food/coffee review notepad - i.e. I'll take it out to eateries to scribble notes while I eat).

Oh, and beautiful purple flowers. Absolutely gorgeous (see pictures below)! If anyone knows what type of flowers they are, please do let me know. I've never seen them before, and totally totally love them! (Apparently they start with the letter "L".)


So yes, I'm a happy little vegemite with rosy cheeks because of all the blessings, friendships and love in my life. (Now, all I have to do is convince my parents to chip in for my new camera.) Haha

Long lazy weekend lunch @ Sapore (Fitzroy Street, St Kilda)

Sapore (3-5 Fitzroy St, St Kilda)

On Saturday 19 December, I had a little birthday lunch gathering with my colleagues at Sapore in St Kilda. To cut a long story short, I was highly impressed with the quality of the food. Sapore means flavour/aroma/taste in Italian - a very befitting name. Its 15/20 (one chef's hat) rating in the Age Good Food Guide 2010 is well-deserved. It's reasonably priced, great venue, good service, close to the beach. Will definitely be back again!

What I ate:
Entree - Saporetti (a range of small tastes) for $18 - great value for money! Best choice if you are indecisive (or just greedy, or both) and want to try a few different things in one dish! :)

Everything was wonderfully tasty - the items were mainly from the entree list, and included deep fried risotto ball (far right); baby octopus (centre); beef carpaccio with a caper and cornichon dressing, garlic croutons and celery hearts (left); citrus cured salmon with cucumber and dill, capers, creme fraiche and watercress (right)


Main course: Grain-fed eye fillet with truffled mash potato, salsa verde and veal jus

Most tasty steak I have had for a really long time! Perfectly seasoned, tender, tasty.
Also, I usually really dislike potato mash, but this truffled potato was sooo smooth and amazing that I cleaned my plate! Highly recommended!



What we drank:

• Sparkling wine: a bottle of Podere Castorani Prosecco 2007 'Paparazzi' (Veneto, Italy)
• Red: a bottle of Anakema 2005 'Ona' Syrah (Rapel Valley, Chile)

No 35 (restaurant on level 35 of the Sofitel)

I finally got to go to No 35 last Thursday evening - kind of as a catch up, and kind of as an early celebration for my upcoming birthday. I've been talking about going to No 35 for a while, since Stuart McVeigh (of ex-Botanical fame, which received a 16.5/20 in the Age Good Food Guide) came on board in October this year. Friends of friends who know Stuart have said that apparently he has brought in some interesting dishes and ideas.

For some reason, I haven't been able to find any reviews of No 35 as yet - only a few random online comments about the food being expensive, small servings, etc - but that was all before Stuart's tenure. I was pretty excited being able to check this out and being one of the first people to review the food (as amateur as I may be).

The Atrium Bar on level 35 of the Sofitel had long been one of my favourite places in Melbourne. The bar is in the middle and so you can't see the external views directly, but No 35 had replaced Cafe La on the outer edge of the floor - with floor to ceiling views of the Melbourne city.

We had a reservation at 8:30pm (I think you can either go for a 6pm or 8.30pm sitting - not sure if this was just an arrangement due to it being Christmas season.) I was quite excited and so dressed up slightly for the occasion, but my dress got slightly splattered by the rain on the way from work.

The venue: The venue is beautiful and perfect for an intimate dinner - appropriately dimmed lights, elegant and relatively minimalistic decor, high ceilings, tables angled in a way to enhance your view of the dazzling nightview of Melbourne.

We were lucky that the rain gradually subsided and the water gradually rolled off the glass windows over the course of the evning to enable us a clearer view. It was so beautiful I could have stayed there the whole night if it wasn't a weeknight (we both had work the next day).

I'm a firm believer that good views + good food + good company makes for a perfect night out. We probably had 2.5 out of 3 that night - you'll see why below.

The people: The service was efficient, polite and professional, but I found that the different staff who presented our dishes weren't very confident/well-trained to present and explain what each dish was. But I must say that Sommelier (Kyriacos Christodoulou) was great - after we had ordered our bottle of '07 Rusden Driftsand Grenache/Shiraz (Barossa Valley, South Australia), he came up to us and alerted us to the fact that a small minority of people may experience discomfort (e.g. upset stomach) when having oysters with Shiraz. I never knew that - and I thought it was really good of him to alert his patrons of this fact. Thumbs up to Kyri! But we said we should be ok anyway.

The food:

We opted for ala carte instead of degustation that evening - we had started dinner late already, and degustation was bound to take longer, and also, it would give us an opportunity to come back to try the degustation next time.

Starters:
To start, we were given a bit of a pre-teaser - lumps of mozarella in a green (spinach?/pea?) (cold) soup concoction. :( To be fair, maybe I just didn't get it.

We then shared a dozen of oysters with three different tastes, which wasn't great either (unfortunately). If you look at the website, you can find out the different tastes (Claire de Lune, Moonlight en Surface, and the third is sort of like a "flavour of the day" oyster). But the girl who served us our oysters didn't explain what the differences were or which was the appropriate dipping sauce for each. There were bits of broken shells stuck to the oyster flesh. And to be honest, I couldn't see or taste the difference between the three styles at all (besides from actual size of the oysters). Sigh.

I avoided having more than a few sips of Shiraz with the oysters due to Kyri's advice (above). But even so, we thought the wine tasted funny all of a sudden. The oysters (or maybe the cold spinach soup thing) must have affected our palettes/taste buds - the red wine suddenly tasted very acidic and sort of "off" - it tasted and smelt amazing when the bottle was first opened. We had been warned of potential upset stomaches, not upset taste buds... So yes, note to self - red wine and oysters don't go well together! - should have ordered champagne or white wine to go with the starter dish...

No 1:
Next, my entree was the Hiramasa kingfish and scallop ceviche with watermelon, avocado and sesame. The scallop and watermelon were cubed and placed sparsely on the kingfish sashimi, which was quite fresh, but slightly too liquid-logged (not sure why). There was also a small crisps and creamy avocado structure on the kingfish (tasty enough but bore a slight resemblance to avocado dip from the supermarket??). Overall, the dish was ok.

My friend had the warm quail salad with duck parfait and roasted onion for entree. I tried a bit - it seemed more tasty than mine....

No 2:
Next, we both had some sort of aged grain fed sirloin with organic vegetables - probably the best dish of the evening. But at $46 a pop, it was not the best steak I've ever had (however beef quality was good and tender), and I found that my vegetables were salted unevenly. But it did go very well with our medium bodied Rusden Driftsand Shiraz (our taste buds had evidently recovered).

No 3:
For dessert, I went for the No 35 trifle, while he went for the burnt orange creme. Both ok. My "trifle" was a colourful array of cream/icecream, jelly and berry "stuff". At this point, I must say that it's sad I can't even remember it well enough to describe it properly. Sigh. Even I am bored with my own review.

The verdict:

I'm glad we didn't go the degustation option this time.

Stuart McVeigh, please please please do what we are all expecting you to do with No 35. Transform it, bring out your gastronomical genius. We know you are capable of it. Next time I go back (I'll give it 3 months at least), hopefully, you would have had some time to settle in your new kitchen and work some cullinary wonders.

In conclusion, the food could have been much much better given the price we paid, but I had a wonderful evening anyway because of the good view and company.

Deadman Espresso

Deadman Espresso, located on 35 Market Street in South Melbourne, has been open for a few months now, and it's become one of my brunch/coffee venues of choice on the weekends. I've heard that it's open by the same guy that opened Seven Seeds and Brother Baba Budan. In fact, they use Seven Seeds coffee beans.

I remember the first time I went to Deadman a couple of weeks (month?) ago, the moment I stepped inside, I liked it. The venue and vibe is very accessible, modern, intellectual, not too quirky, great music (not too alternative). Lots of brown wood (which gives it a very earthy/nature-embracing element); raised verandah sitting area which looks out to the street... A really really great place for brunch/coffee catch up with friends, or simply go alone wth a book/journal/newspaper on a quiet weekend afternoon - which is exactly what I did today.

Drinking: Deadman Espresso soy latte (x2)
Just look at that! Very easy to drink, mild and creamy. I had to have two!

Eating: Panzanella (bread with olive oil and lemon juice), poached eggs with spinach puree, and spicy smoked sausages ($17) - delicious! it's rare for speciality coffee places to have good food; but I think Deadman keeps the food standard high along with their coffee

Thinking: Sitting on the verandah part of Deadman, staring out onto the street, chilled out music in the background, feeling spoilt and loved by the thoughtful bday gifts from my workmates at lunch yesterday; confused between the conflicting thoughts of my mind and feelings of my heart (as per usual)...

I'm writing in my new journal that the guys at work got me - i love the quote that came with the notebook - "Journal writing is a voyage to the interior" (Christina Baldwin) - I totally agree!

Romance in the midst of a lack thereof

This morning on the train, my thoughts and creative juices were flowing as I gazed out the window... without pen and paper, I resorted to storing the following collection of thoughts temporarily in the sms function of my mobile phone...

(I'm thinking about) romance in the midst of a lack thereof. Think freely. Feel deeply. Vain imaginations? Or are these flutters of the heart a premonition of the things that will come to fruition?

Love has to be much more than the casual exchange and superficial interactions that you hear about. Fling. Flang. Flung. What difference does it make?

Love demands affection and intimacy. It demands depth.

Love is like a beautiful vase on display. Some think it's too much, and find themselves imitations to suffice. Another may admire from afar - "it's just not my thing" - perhaps in fear of disappointment? Others touch the vase, but are not willing to pay the price for it to have as their own.

I don't like vases. But I do like the analogy. And I do like the idea of love. Love that gives and cares and upholds and nurtures. And what about romance? Yes from time to time my heart flutters, but perhaps I'm a commitment-phobe.

Serendipity + music

Today, I had an experiment with Destiny... sort of like Serendipity - to see whether I have any "yun" (Chinese word for fate/destiny) with a certain someone...

While I sat and wrote in my journal, I thought - it doesn't matter whether this person turns up or not.. because I'm happy. My contentment is in God, and His current portion for me. He has and is pouring my cup to overflow with beautiful friendships, great experiences, and lots and lots of fun.

Yesterday, I went to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO)'s Master series concert "The Slender Thread" at the Hamer Hall. Oleg Caetani was meant to conduct, but for some reason the MSO's new Principal Guest Conductor, Tadaaki Otaka (renowned Japanese conductor) stepped in to conduct this concert instead.

First piece was Brahm's "Song of Destiny" - an emotional piece about the serenity of heaven and the toil of human kind (denoted by a 'tumbling down to earth' section). This piece was performed by the MSO orchestra and MSO chorus. My eyes welled up with tears as I read the notes in the program about that piece. I even commented to my friend "I'm so excited I want to cry.".... But unfortunately, the 'heaven' part lacked the emotion/heart-stirring beauty I was expecting. The 'tumbling down to earth' part was more exciting, but admittedly, I was disappointed - the chemistry I had previously seen between Oleg and the orchestra (and even with the Chorus) was not there that afternoon with Otaka and the orchestra. I guess they just need time to bond.

Second piece, Wagner's "The Valkyrie: Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music"which depicts the sorrow and heart-brokenness of the god Wotan. It was performed by the orchestra with John Wegner (bass-baritone) as Wotan. Dramatic, captivating - I had seen John Wegner perform Wagner before (in fact, it was the concert I went to with Stu to celebrate his bday over a year ago - "The Flying Dutchman") - it was exactly what one would expect of John Wegner, and of course, from Richard Wagner.

The third piece - Brahm's "Symphony No 2" - one of his most renowned. It's an audience-friendly piece that would appeal to a larger crowd.

Li and Mike were there also, and I learnt from them the meaning of Allegro non troppo (first movement) - fast but not too fast. Apparently an old lady had gone up to Li during the interval, and, thinking she was a music student, had inquired the meaning of "non-troppo". By the way, yes Li did look like a music student that day. And Mike confirmed that it means "not too much" - i.e. allegro (fast) non troppo means "fast but not too fast" on the internet via his mobile. haha.

The four movements of this symphony were pleasing to the ears - my favourite being the second and fourth movements. The second movement was Adagio non troppo - melodic, romantic - a great symphonic piece. The fourth movement was triumphant and at this point I thought "ah ha! THAT's the MSO that I came to see!" The orchestra was in their element, playing with the vigour and intensity which I love to see and hear. I was so happy and fully engaged. (At this point, I looked over and my companion for the afternoon had nodded off....) All of it made me smile.

And we had amazing seats - they were a bit of an experiment on my part as the lady at the ticketbox had recommended them - Box A seats 5 & 6. The Box is not always open; but it offers great views just above and to the side of the orchestra and chorus. I had wanted to see Oleg's facial expressions while conducting. But I must say, Otaka, although more mild when it comes to facial expressions, was still good to watch in his kindly Japanese old gentleman kind of way. Yes, I am now indeed addicted to the Box seats, as Rosemary (the Arts Centre ticketbox lady) had forewarned.

After the concert, I made a brief stop at BBB for a coffee, and then went to purchase myself an early bday pressie - something feminine and pretty. I am a firm believer that every girl should invest in beautiful intimate apparel. It's part of the whole concept of "Beauty from within" - both figuratively (i.e. morally, sensually, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually) and in actuality (physically).

In the evening, I went to a soiree at my friend's house where his men's chorale performed. They sang in a capella over four brackets - folk songs, French, Latin, more contemporary songs... They looked like they were having heaps of fun performing, which made it fun for the audience as well.

They performed a song called "And so it goes" by Billy Joel, which had lyrics about a room in one's heart which captured my attention.

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

Watching the choir perform reminded me of my old choir days. How I long to sing and perform again....

And it was with this that I signed off on my journal. My experiment with Destiny did not work and who I thought would appear did not do so. So I guess it's meant to be.

I felt deliriously happy the rest of the day anyway.

A cause for nostalgia

Today I went to the Mt Dandenong festival where a band called Jaspora was playing (one of my friend knows the members of the band and had raved on about how good their reggae/soca music is ("you won't stop dancing" - she promised)... The weather was pretty moody, with alternating periods of sunshine and pouring rain. There was a power failure so the gig didn't kick off until pretty late... While waiting for the set up, I found my mind wandering...

I was in a place that held significant memories for me. It was a place that marked the end of something which went too deep too quickly, a relationship which never came to fruition, and a goodbye to a person that I still really care for but has moved on from my life. I know it all happened for the best, but on this day, in this place, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and a pang of sadness, as I continued to remember... Sassafras Village Green, Ripe, Sky High...

It seems that my mind naturally associates places with memories, and the curse is such that I can never go back to a place without remembering the significant memories (whether happy or hurtful).

Lately I've caught myself doing this a lot - I'll walk past a particular restaurant, remember the certain occasion that I had gone there for, and think to myself: "well, I screwed that one up". Then I walked past a particular theatre, remembered the humour of a certain situation, and thought: "yep, I screwed that one up too". Funnily, it's often with a smile that I make such an observation to myself. Bad timing, misread signals, mismatched expectations, unsuredness, not knowing what ones wants, self-centredness ... In hindsight, such "screw ups" may often be blessings in disguise. Who knows. The best may be yet to come.

Melbourne Izakaya fever - an evening @ Izakaya Den

After a great time at an event run by the Hive (www.thehive.org.au) last night where the founder of Lonely Planet, Tony Wheeler, was speaking (he signed my Central Asia lonely planet book!!), I went to check out Izakaya Den - a relatively new addition to the Izakaya scene in Melbourne.

A short prelude

When explaining the concept of "Izakaya", I usually describe it as: a japanese "pub" style venue where you can have sake/drinks with your friends and colleagues (very popular with business men in Japan) and order lots of small plates to share (similar to Spanish tapas). The usual orders may include chicken skewers (yakitori), bite-sized seafood delights (e.g. squid, baby octopus), agedashi tofu, beef tataki (slices of slightly seared beef), sushi/sashmi, small serving of tempura or lightly battered vegetables, etc. Beverage-wise may include beer, sake, umeshu (japanese plum (ume) liquor), shochu (distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice).... My favourite is chuhai - which is pretty much like a cocktail - shochu and carbonated water with lemon/grape/apple/etc flavours.

As I had studied Japanese throughout high school and uni, I had known about the concept of Izakaya, and have also been to a variety of Izakayas in Japan (a must-try experience for every visitor to Japan!)

Up to a few years ago, I was only aware of a handful of Izakayas in Melbourne - my favourite being Izakaya Chuji on Lonsdale St (I love their yukke - i.e. raw beef with egg dish - it's addictively delicious!) This year, I discovered that Izakaya Hachibei had replaced Korean bbq restaurant Kimchi Grandma on Bourke St across from my gym. Hachibei is a convenient and reasonable venue when I am looking for a bit of izakaya love - my favourite being their ox tongue specials dish. Approximately $30-40 will give you a hearty meal there. (By the way, for office people looking for a cheap-ish authentic Japanese place for lunch - Izakaya Hachibei do really reasonably priced lunches - e.g. ladies lunch for $10-$12 which will get a mini don or mini chirashi sushi with a mini bowl of udon; guys can feel free to choose what they want in their $10 bento box lunch sets.) I also went to Shogun Izakaya the other night, an izakaya which prides itself for its yakitori / other grilled skewer dishes. It's a place that attracts diverse crowds - students, Japanese, Aussies, other cultures. Reasonably priced (we spent less than $25pp for the meal), the food is tasty enough but nothing out of the box to report.

So yes, the concept of Izakayas is apparently hitting up a storm in Melbourne - see recent article in the Epicure.


Izakaya Den

The facts:

• Located in the basement, entrance next to the Postal cafe on Russell St, near the corner of Little Collins St.

• Run by the people from Verge (great fusion food venue on Flinders Lane) - we saw Simon Denton running the show with expert professionalism; and my friend also introduced me to Taka, who apparently is a partner in the business and used to work at Verge

The place:

A long and narrow dining room with high-ceiling; mainly black, brown and grey colour scheme (if i remember correctly). Huge mirror at one end which lengthens and "opens up" the space. If you are dining with one or two other friends, the long counter where you can see the kitchen in action would be great fun. Otherwise, there's tall square tables with high seats which would be ideal for an intimate dinner for 3-4.

My friend describes it as "very New York".

The food:

There were two of us last night, and our choices for the evening were as follows:

• Miso soup to start: I was pleasantly surprised with the big piece of crab claw that came inside the soup bowl. The soup was hearty and flavoursome - it's a totally different level from the $3 msg-flavoured miso soup you would get from some other places.
• Deep fried lamb cutlets with red miso sauce on very crispy lettuce: delicious, but the meat was slightly too fatty for my liking.
  
• Ox tongue with finely-chopped shallots/sesame/garlic dressing: very tasty - ox tongue slices cooked to the right level of tenderness vs chewiness, carefully balanced by the freshness of the dressing
  
• Pork belly kushi-yaki (i.e. pork belly skewers): large wedges of pork belly meat, nicely salted, succulent
  
• Lightly seared tuna tataki highlighted by an alternate of horseradish cream and a tangy sauce (i can't work out what's in the tangy orange colored sauce, but it reminds me of the special recipe sauce which J-Cafe places in its spicy salmon sushi burgers...)

The miso soup and ox tongue were our favourites, followed by the tuna tataki. The flavours for each dish were very intense. The meats were all cooked to perfection - it's not easy to grill meats to such succulency/juiciness and at the same time ensure it has adequate flavour without the need for a heavy sauce over the top (e.g. the pork belly). But I must say that both the lamb cutlet and pork belly meat were a bit fatty for my liking - but i guess that's the nature of the meat. I'll need to try some of the non-meat heavy dishes to comment further, but all in all, the food was top notch.

We didn't try any of the huge variety of sake and imported beverages this time, since we both had work to do that night, but definitely will be wanting to try some sake next time (which appears to be served in science laboratory like glassware from what I saw on other tables).

The service:
Professional, efficient, polite staff. No complaints at all.

Value for money: Servings are modest, but typical of izakayas anyway. Expect to spend at least $40-50 for a decent meal (excluding drinks).

The verdict: Being an obsessive Japan and Japanese food fan, I am a little biased. But this place doesn't remind me of Japan. It reminds me of, well, Melbourne. Yes, it has very heavy Japanese slants, and great elements of a Japanese izakaya, but it's very much a fusion venue at its heart. A great new concept. Hip with an air of understated sophistication. The food is great. Another place to pop on my regulars list.

Food 7.5/10
Ambience 7.5/10
Service 7.5/10
Total: 22.5/30

A weekend of unplanned activities + checking out Proud Mary's @ Oxford St, Collingwood

It's really rare for (a control freak like) me to not have concrete plans for the weekend, and in fact, this weekend I really had nothing penciled in the diary at all. So it was a perfect setting to go for a lazy brunch by myself and check out a new specialty coffee venue recommended by fellow blogger Jason - Proud Mary's (172 Oxford Street, Collingwood), a new specialty coffee venue that's been getting rad reviews all over town.

Before I launch into my comments I must note as a big plus that there's lots of free parking around the area (since ticketed parking is until 12:30pm on Saturdays, and does not apply on Sundays - I arrived after 1pm on Saturday 20 November).

Venue: open, laid back; (at this point, i gotta say I hate drawing comparisons because every coffee venue is unique and is its own - i.e. just like every person is unique and is their own person - but, for illustrative purposes only (haha)) PM's does not have the European/funky/trendy vibe of, say, St Ali, or the quirkiness of a venue like the Outpost; BUT what i like about PM's is that it is more accessible - by that I mean it would appeal to a larger, more diverse crowd. Wide spaces, communal big tables as well as smaller ones, and some bench/counter with stools spots where you can observe the superb coffee making OR sit by the window and people watch/daydream (i chose the latter on this slightly mucky weathered Saturday afternoon).

I glanced up and (unexpectedly) saw an old friend from uni who pointed out the mega coffee machine (custom-made six group Synesso) - admittedly I know zilch about coffee machines, I was just there for the coffee. But yes, this custom-made mega machine is a huge deal - go check it out!

Coffee is very good. Appearance of my soy latte was pretty much perfect (by my books). Whilst places like St Ali/Outpost serve a more creamy soy latte (which i refer to as dreamy coffee heaven), PM's is stronger, and, (hear me on this) with greater depth. It really does have this richness and depth about it. They use Five Senses, which I have not been a huge fan of in the past - but here, they do Five Senses very well. I ended up having a second soy latte (I think it's a good idea to have more than one coffee when reviewing, in order to check consistency). Second soy latte was equally strong and satisfying. Tick for consistency (for now anyway)!

Food-wise I had a "Scrambled Mary" - grilled haloumi cheese, chorizo, spiced red pepper salsa with scrambled eggs on thick seeded toast. It was soooooooo yummy!!!
Scrambled eggs were slightly watery/mushy, but the haloumi and chorizo was very tasty!

Great coffee + great food is, of course, a winning combination for success. The staff seem to be still learning to handle the busyness and constant stream of people coming in. So for that, I gotta say there's room for improvement (although the guys & girls are friendly enough). Give them a bit more time, and PM's is bound to be one of the coffee faves in town.

Verdict: 8.5/10 - it doesn't take me to dreamy coffee heaven, but it does take me to this other place of equal satisfaction ( i just don't have a description for it yet)

On leaving PM's, I saw that parked next to my little Nissan Micra was an Alfa Romeo on one side, and a Chrysler on the other. There were people there for the auctions about the place. Lots of warehouse converted into apartments in the area for sale - apparently the one across the road from PM's sold for 980k. Hmm, wouldn't it be nice to own one some day - I think warehouse converted studio apartments are funky and have character. :)

For the rest of my Saturday, I :
- drove to the city;
- went to the gym for a quick workout;
- stumbled upon a small textiles design exhibition @ QV which showcases the work of rmit students in the relevant course;
- watched a bit of breakdancing on show outside State Library, then went inside to the foyer to check out what Alain De Botton books Readings bookstore stocks;
- went to Borders but couldn't find any of the books I wanted so I ended up browsing through the Lonely Planet Asia book and browsed through the countries I may visit on my Silk Road trip next year;
- bought Euphoria eau de parfum (I fell in love with the guy's one first - by the way, Euphoria men and the new Zegna men's fragrance are officially my faves);
- caught up with my best friend Ru at a Japanese izakaya which is famous for yakitori (hmm.. not that impressed);
- Ru and I watched Twilight New Moon @ 9:30pm Hoyts on Xtreme screen (which left me heartbroken for Jacob although I have always liked Edward more (poor jacob!) - no I am not a Twilight book fan - I refuse to read the books to avoid getting addicted to them like everyone else).

Writing about the regular and mundane

Do you take joy in the simple things?

Do you take time to appreciate "the regular and the mundane"?

My colleague Li commented that I seem to only blog about the exciting events or the special restaurants I go to... She said I should blog about "the regular and the mundane".

Sitting in the food court of one of the 'dingy'-er local shopping centres in the area, sipping a cup of Muffin Break soy latte (no, not BBB, St Ali or Outpost this time), I take time to observe the people around me... One guy in 3/4 pants and polo top - his whole outfit splattered in paint; an overweight middle-aged man in casual clothes and thongs (flip flops), shaking his leg under the table (as people often do when they are impatient); retirees with a trolley of shopping resting at the tables, and another old lady pushing her trolley, slowing going about her shopping routine; kids in school uniform, skipping along next to their mummy, no doubt getting an afternoon snack... The decor of the food court is simple - mainly white and grey, with tables and chairs that are probably an ill match with the rest of the colour scheme.

Is this the regular and the mundane?

Thoughts of me on the train home last night, in my gym gear, lugging about my gym bag... There were three guys with a Burmese/Laos background that sat opposite where I stood. The three of them took turns to glance at me. I quickly averted my eyes.

Do I have something on my face? Do I have sweat patches on my T-shirt? Do I look funny wearing yoga pants and a grey t-shirt on a train at 9:30pm in the evening? .... No idea!

Is this the regular and the mundane?

Or walking along Collins Street from the train station to work in the morning - seeing men in suits, women with high heels, all trotting along towards their workplaces - damn, I'm late again... Then seeing Peter Costello sporting a frown on his face - knowing that many a mornings and many a people on their way to work sport a similar frown on their faces. Frustration? Anger? Perhaps, or perhaps not. It's just a frown.

Start with a frown a day, and you'll have wrinkles in a decade. Not me though. Not yet anyway. My eye cream and hydrating skincare must be working well..

The more I think about the regular and the mundane, the more I don't know what is regular and mundane in my life anymore. It could be something that other people regard as unusual, spectacular, fun or silly; and yet, the regular and mundane in someone else's life may spark a smile of curiosity on my face. (Like now.)

So then I bring my cup and saucer back to Muffin Break and ask the owner - "what brand of coffee do you use?"

His reply: "we use our own blend - there's a guy in Reservoir that goes overseas a few times a year to buy the coffee beans from overseas."

"Oh ok, what countries?"

He goes on to list five or six countries, including South America, New Guinea, and a few in Asia...

"Oh ok. The coffee was really nice. Thanks."

And with that I left. He must have been thinking - what a weirdo.

And yet, it's a question that I'm used to asking now, as my interest in coffee increases.

-> St Ali and Outpost uses St Ali coffee;
-> Cumulus Inc uses Single Origin (from Sydney);
-> Brother Baba Budan (BBB) uses Seven Seeds;
-> C.O.T. (aka Cup of Truth - a new "hole in the wall" cafe recommended by Jamie @ St Ali; it's in campbell arcade in the underground subway to Flinders St Station near Degraves) uses 5 Senses;
-> Two Fingers (where I get my regular work-day coffee and tortilla for breakfast) uses Genovese;
-> Zest 89 (new-ish cafe in my suburb with great brunch) uses Veneziano.

Anyway, I've decided I'm going to learn more about coffee.

Derby Day + the almost perfect (friend) date + mini coffee pilgrimage

Sometimes my train of thoughts lead me to absolute confusion. I'm confused and undecided with a lot of things in life. In fact the older I get the more confused and undecided I become... Relationships / boys. What I really want to do with my life. And whether I really am happy or just pretending to be. And the conclusions that I come up with - are those conclusions reached just because they sound good, or because I really believe wholeheartedly in them?

Anyway, with that somewhat incomplete thought, I'll write a bit about my weekend.

Last week was a pretty busy week at work; I felt sick and was grossly sleep deprived. Anyway, this meant I was undecided whether to rock up to Derby Day (Sat 31 Oct) which is one of the major Spring Carnival events. I had never been, and a few of the girls at work and I had been getting excited about dressing up and going along for the first time. I had sent the work girls an outlook calendar request titled "Crazy Sexy Derby Day" in anticipation of the frivolous fun we would have together. I had even arranged for Benjamin to be my (friend) date for the occasion.

But on the other hand, my body was crying out for a bit of TLC & chillaxing; tickets for general admission must be pre-purchased (and cost $70, not including food/drinks)and I had not yet organised to purchase them; and I hadn't had time to order a fascinator online OR make one from scratch with materials from Lincraft/Clegs as I had orginally hoped.

Despite all the pros and cons, in the end, I decided to go along and check it out. And I'm really glad - because I actually had a great day and stayed out till almost midnight! Oh the joys of being young and free! :)

So what was Derby Day like? Well, yes, there were lots of beautiful dressed-up people. Some quite classy and elegant too. Minimal sleaziness (thank God!). I usually hate the whole idea of "checking out" people, but here, I felt the liberty to "check out" all the gorgeous array of dresses and hair accessories on display. Every single person I saw (male / female) looked very good. Maybe the $70 was worth it just for the fashion show. haha

I spent most of my time with Bec, Ray and Ben. We had a bit of a picnic on the grass in front of the big screen (it was too crowded to get close to the tracks - and to be honest, with general admission, we couldn't really get that close anyway). We had champagne, icy poles and nibbled on salami & cheese on crackers and strawberries. Unfortunately, it was swelteringly hot so we didn't get up to much, and we also couldn't locate/meet up with our other friends there.

The fun thing was that I put in a bet for the first time in my life (despite my dad's insistent moral objection of "don't gamble" before I left home, to which I respectfully replied - "horsebetting is not gambling", and "perhaps people shouldn't buy shares if all forms of speculation equates to gambling"). I bet $5 on Rockferry and $5 on Viking Legend for Race 6 (for some reason the lady charged me $20, but I didn't dare to ask why it was $20 instead of $10 coz it was 30 seconds before the race started, and there was a whole line of people behind us still wanting to place bets..haha) Anyway, Viking Legend got third place - so I made 1.90 times $5 - which meant I ended in a net loss situation. Oh well! Winning a small amount is still fun! I tried to collect my "prize money" straight away, but then the lady said "it's not time to pay yet" without explaining anything further. It was only later that someone else explained to me you have to wait until the jockeys weigh in after the race... Gosh, this stuff is complicated!

We left Flemington Racecourse approx 4/4:30pm. Ben and I wanted to see a movie but there wasn't anything on that tickled our fancy. We hung out at Borders for a bit, trying to decide what to do... until a stroke of genius - ah, the Good Food Guide! We flipped through the Guide at Borders, and decided to check out Momo. We quickly called in for a 6:15pm reservation (lucky!).

Momo (entrance next to Grand Hyatt) was excellent - the food, service and ambience was befitting of its 2 hats Good Food Guide status (16.5/20). I'm not planning to do a proper food review on my blog (as I didn't write down the names of all the dishes, and the menu is not readily available online) but here are the highlights of our Momo experience (we shared two entrees and two mains):

- The elevator dims as you get to Momo, as if setting the scene to what's ahead;
- We were greeted by professional and well-trained staff in a retro but classy dining room with rows of crystals along the ceiling;
- Rose scented warm refresher towels to clean our hands;
- To start: Nibble on raw vegies with charred spices served with round Arabic bread with olive oil and pomegranate molassesand - I especially loved the lebanese cucumbers which were deliberately more mature and slightly soft;
- Entree 1: Quail with dijon and feta sauce (this was Ben and my favourite dish! soooooooooooo yummm!!!! The Good Food Guide had said the quail was the dish of the year - but I think it was cooked differently, i.e. what we tried was probably not THE quail dish, but it was still fantastic and dreamily delicious!)
- Entree 2: Crab and prawn and vegetables cooked in parchment (very fresh crab flesh; spring vegetables-like taste)
- Main 1: One of the specials of the day - baby chicken with beetroot and pistachio (the milder chicken taste was complemented in an interesting way with the strong beetroot taste, which gave the dish a very fresh taste overall)
- Main 2: Aromatic duck - twice cooked duck with some sort of mushroom and lima beans - yum yum yum yum yum! (this was our second favourite dish of the evening)
- I also had a glass of Italian Sangiovese which went well with the food - after all the Yellowglen bubbles I had during the day, I just wanted something relatively light and fruity... was a good choice.
- The washrooms are very nice, and they even provide you with a hairdryer and GHD hair straightener!
- We had to give the table back before 8:15pm for the next booking, so didn't get to try any desserts. (Oh well, there's always next time!)
- Cost $80-$100 per head - a tad more expensive than other restaurants given it was only two courses, but it's definitely an experience to be had and savoured!

Very glad we got to check out this new Momo. My family and I really liked the old Momo, so I had been waiting for a while for this new version of Momo to get up and running. Two thumbs up!

After Momo, we went to one of my favourite places in Melbourne - the Atrium Bar on level 35 of Sofitel, which boasts amazing evening views of Melbourne (actually, the toilets do). We looked at the menu of the new restaurant on level 35 - not surprisingly named "No 35" - which had undergone refurbishment and a facelift this year. The menu looks pretty interesting, and apparently Stuart McVeigh has been recently appointed the new head chef in October this year (formerly at the Botanical which received 16.5/20 in the Good Food Guide). Unfortunately I haven't seen any raving reviews of No. 35 yet (only a couple of sour reviews), so I think I'll give it a couple of months for McVeigh to settle in, and then get myself an evening booking - great food with an amazing view - can't wait!

Next we wanted to go to karaoke at K-box on Latrobe Street but rooms are usually for minimum 4 to 5 people, so we ended up going to Brighton Beach (ice-cream @ the beach was an excellent idea)... but then it started pouring cats and dogs... sigh! So there you have it - my almost perfect friend date, and that concluded my Saturday 31 October 2009.

As always, I like my weekends jam-packed, (in the same way that I like my eggs scrambled, cups without saucers, coffees made with bonsoy), so I decided to go on a mini coffee pilgrimage and check out some of Melbourne's best coffee venues. I'm usually stuck in the CBD and rarely get a chance to venture beyond. So since I had the car today, I headed to St Ali in South Melbourne for lunch and a soy latte.

St Ali did not disappoint. Funky/hip (actually more grungy than funky), busy, and reminds me of summer time in Europe - perhaps Spain (although I've never been in Europe during summer.. haha.. but I guess there's this communal and hip vibe about it which I love).. My soy latte took me to dreamy milky coffee heaven. Well-made, not too bitter (I didn't need sugar at all), milky and just right. The lunch (chorizo with salmon and scrambled eggs and chilli jam on toast) was probably more average - but that's ok, coz I was there for the coffee!!!

At 3pm, I had another stroke of genius, let's go to the Outpost (the new brother-store of St Ali, on Yarra St in South Yarra) and have another coffee! Given that the Outpost uses the same (St Ali) coffee beans, you would think the quality would be the same. Yep - you're right! Excellent soy latte. And I liked this one even better so I ordered a third coffee for the day. Yah - three coffees in the space of two hours! hahahahah... It's so bad because I usually try to limit myself to one coffee a day...

I actually prefer the setting of Outpost a bit more - you feel like you're in someone's kitchen - it's more personable and intimate, whereas St Ali is more of a social hub and great as a catchup spot with friends. And the other thing is, Outpost is close to South Yarra station and there's free parking on weekends - so it's more accessible for me. The Outpost also serves a range of savoury dishes/ sweet snacks. I have a feeling I might be frequenting that place (may be with my journal, maybe with my friends) in the months to come!

Pre-theatre meal @ Cumulus Inc.

The location: Cumulus Inc.
-> Eating house on Flinders Lane (near Spring St) headed by brilliant chef Andrew McConnell
-> awarded The Age Good Food Guide 2010 One Chef's hat and The Age Good Food Guide Chef of the Year

The occasion: Solo pre-theatre light meal before meeting my sister Fiona for 'Le Salon' @ Arts Centre on Saturday night.

The dishes:
-> Crab and dried scallop soup with crispy chicken (great as an entree)
-> Sardines and zucchini flower tart with pines nuts (yum yum yum)

The sardines were pan-fried to perfection, with no unpleasant fishy smell, slightly crispy, and were excellently complemented by the pine nuts and zucchini flowers (i really like the yellow-green leaves but on speaking with Fiona about her previous experiences with zucchini flowers - stuffed and at a different eatery - she hates it).

The crab and dried scallop soup with crispy chicken had a seafood chowder-like texture without being too creamy. Nice seafood taste without being too heavy. Succulent crab flesh bits and also bits of dried scallop flesh added to the mixture. My guess is the crispy chicken was used as soup stock and helped to balance the taste of the seafood. It had a drizzle of basil oil at the top which added a dash of fresh vegetable taste to the overall concoction.

Also had a glass of Pyrens Vineyards Block E Shiraz (I should have taken greater care to match my wine to my mostly seafood dishes - but I like Shiraz and was just having a casual meal, so Shiraz it was)- nothing much to report... but my takeaway soy latte (made with Bonsoy) left me a happy foodie as I made my way to Le Salon. (I need to double check - but I suspect they use Genovese coffee...? If so, can never go too wrong with Genovese and Bonsoy!)

Since I had to rush to the theatre, I didn't have a chance to eat dessert, but would have loved to have tried the sago dessert and/or have a couple of madeleines with herbal tea (but required 15 mins prep time).

The menu has changed since it opened (of course, not surprisingly so) - I had gone a few times when it first opened (last year?) but not since then due to long wait lines (no bookings) and as so many other eateries in the area have caught my attention (Coda, Bar Lourinha..) Definitely need to head back to Cumulus Inc more often to try all the new items!

Cumulus Inc also serves reasonably priced breakfasts daily (closed Sunday) - I've tried the full English brekkie previously which was very nice (although I didn't like the blood sausage - not because it wasn't tasty - I just don't like blood sausage). I must head back for breakfast soon and do a proper brekkie review then.

The place: I arrived at 6:30pm on Saturday and the place was already packed out. I squeezed onto the last seat on the counter and had the absolute delight of watching the professional cooking team hurry about their tasks in a focussed and efficient manner. There's a social buzz to the atmosphere and the mostly white and black decor is classy and modern; open, casual and comfortable (not snobby, pretentious or intimidating). There were a couple of people on dates near where I was sitting - I probably wouldn't go to Cumulus Inc for 'the special date' as the venue is more social than intimate - perfect for catch-ups with a friend or two over good food though.

The people: Service was excellent and professional but still friendly and attentive. Spot on.

Value for money: All up, including drinks, my meal was just under $40. For that sort of quality, who can complain?

The verdict:
Food 8/10
Ambience 8/10
Service 8.5/10

Total 24.5/30

Cumulus Inc is back on my favourite eateries list - along with similar quality places like Movida, Coda and Bar Lourinha. They're all very close to my work too - very lucky!

Livin' it up + Melbourne International Arts Festival

Work hard and play (even) hard(er). That's the way I like to live my life. And increasingly so.

On my bedroom wall is a photograph taken by Ken Duncan (I love his stuff) of a beautiful sandy white beach (Whithaven Beach, Queensland). Admittedly I have never been to Whithaven Beach, and generally prefer mountains/lakes to beaches, but what I love most about the poster is the accompanying quote which serves as a reminder to me every day - "Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life".

Living a full life will mean different things to different people. For some it may mean being surrounded by close family and friends; for others it may mean travelling far and wide and seeing/experiencing all that the world has to offer; and yet others it maybe mean success and achievement in their spheres of influence/careers. Or it could be living a peaceful and quiet life, with lots of rest, enjoying nature and good health.

Although I haven't worked it out completely yet, I would say crucial elements of a full life for me would include:

- Friendships/relationships which are heart-deep and which are edifying and encouraging - 'building each other up and not tearing down', and a sense that we are sharing our journeys of life together through different seasons in life;

- Activities and experiences which expand and cultivate my mind and senses, which stretch me and grow me intellectually, emotionally, sometimes physically and even spiritually (may it be travelling to a foreign country and venture around with a Lonely Planet guide in hand, seeing art exhibitions/movies and reading good books which make me think, listening to amazing orchestral music, being inspired by a sermon at church ..) I must say that Melbourne is a great place for such.

In the last few weekends, I have had some particularly fun and blog-worthy experiences and I thought I'll jot down a few thoughts here. I attended several gigs/events as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival (www.melbournefestival.com.au)

-> 'Tyranny of Distance' - a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/ videography gig @ Hamer Hall on Sat 17 Oct 8pm

The first part was "Pictures at an exhibition" arranged by Julian Yu (based on Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite of the same name). It was ten short pieces representing different ideas - like moving from picture to picture at an exhibition. Some playful, some surreal & quirky, some more intense. Without knowing exactly what each piece was originally composed to represent, I found myself picturing a calm sea at times, a ship amongst stormy waters at another time, and a grand building against the music of church bells at yet another...On googling Mussorgsky's original after the fact, I learnt that the imagery I conjured in my mind didn't reflect the original items at all, but it was still fun to let my mind float along imaginatively with the music. The original piece by Mussorgsky was a piano suite - this has been made into an orchestral ensemble by Julian Yu. The experience would have been made more complete with 10 different pictures projected, appropriately matched to the essence of each musical piece.

The second part of the concert absolutely blew my mind. Titled 'Tyranny of Distance' by Brenton Broadstock (Composer-in-residence of the MSO this year). It was astounding, hypnotic, amazing, a fascinating concept and a holistic visual and music experience. I felt visually and audially spoilt. The MSO played with the MSO Chorus, soprano solo, didgeridoo solo and stunning videography.

The piece consisted of 3 movements.

i) Island: angry sounds and rumblings, didgeridoo and the chorus with a whisper/chant-like effect... the visuals consisted of electric-like waves which moved as if it felt the emotional changes in the music.

ii) Journey: intense movement of orchestral sounds and mesmerising videography of images of travelling - looking out of a fast-moving train window, over landscape as if on a chairlift, choc-a-bloc cars in peak hour traffic; and movement along a subway-like tunnel, gradually moving towards the light (exit) at the end of the tunnel. People meet you at the end of the journey.

iii) Home: pictures of greenery, a man (perhaps a father life figure?)... the idea that the journey is the home.

The Notes in the program offered so much food for thought and great quotes which speak of the cultural and philosophical ideas behind 'Tyranny of Distance' - not just geographical or physical separation, but social and much much more. I loved it.

-> Le Salon by Belgian theatre company Peeping Tom @ Arts Centre on Sat 24 October - about a family which used to be very wealthy, but are now in decline. Talks of the screwed up relationships and insanity which goes on in the house. The father has Alzheimers, the wife wants attention, the sons are probably a bit fed up with looking after the father, and the daughter-in-law is fragile and goes a bit mental at the end too. The cyclical patterns of destruction (father despising the wife; then son with his wife)... The main cast of five displayed excellent acting (particularly the father - Simon Versnel) - combined with interesting forms of dance and movements, and some singing. It was a play with a lot of nuances and undertones. Dark, mysterious, with melancholic insanity.

Regrettably, this is not my sort of thing at all - partly because I find it hard to relate to the themes, and I also struggle with periods of intense quiet and contemplative silence in a hall full of people. It makes me feel caustrophobic and uneasy for some reason.

-> Free World exhibition at Federation Square - rap poetry by young pan-African artists, with raw and honest lyrics e.g. re Sudanese refugees experiences in Australia. I was delighted by the talent showcased as part of this community project, and the lyrics really touched my heart and made me more aware of the experiences of young refugees here in Melbourne.


-> Beck's Rumpus Room @ Forum Theatre - gig on Friday 23 Oct
This was one of the funnest experiences I have had for a while! Wendy and I partied hard at the front of the stage - with hundreds of people behind us. The bands/artists were:

i) Ramallah Underground - a Palestinian hip hop/rap duo - they rapped in Arabic so I couldn't understand what they were saying but likely to have various political undertones as per the visual images displayed on screen. They were passionate and very good (I love their hand gestures while they rapped too..lol).

ii) Beans - African-American rap artist who was phenomenal at rapping - he rapped in English and I still had no idea what he was saying, but the beats were good (although tad repetitive later). Wendy and I just went crazy anyway - just grooving to the beats... While waiting for Act 3 to begin, this chick approached us asking which band was next - we said we had no idea; she thought we looked like hardcore fans.. haha.... We also made friends with this Taiwanese guy who had just arrived in Melbourne for 2 days for travels - he had read about the Festival in a visitor's guide and simply came along - he looked like he had an awesome time!

iii) The Cuban Brothers (with Kengo Sam) was a hilarious and entertaining three people group. Think lead singer with a sequenced outfit and the two accompanying dancers in pink and purple suits. They did crazy dances, spun on their heads, got the crowd cheering and pumping... To our surprise, they also stripped down to their underwear (two of them are middle-aged Cuban men, and Kengo Sam is a young Japanese guy) and wore ridiculous-looking tight grey bodysuits with fluoro green tassels!... They engaged the crowd, shook our hands and the lead singer talked obsessively about f***ing and penises - that part was probably a tad confronting and gross. But overall, heaps of entertainment value. They're on as the chief act on Saturday's Beck's Rumpus Room.

I loved the gig - unexpectedly so. The type of music and scene is quite alternative and (I thought) not naturally my type of thing. But the whole being crazy and groupie-like and dancing at the front of the stage and basically having carefree unrestricted fun the whole night (till 2am) was really really great!

Wendy and I will be tee-ing up more random gigs and experiences - so stay tuned. Here's to more random craziness, fake-eyelashes and getting hit-on by random people (more Wendy than me..) Cheers Wendy! lol

Sunday roast - lunch at Ca de Vin

The location: Ca de Vin @ GPO/Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne

The occasion: solo lunch while Fiona went swimming at the gym - I was starving! (in between friend's wedding ceremony at the Botanical Gardens in the morning, and reception in Bulleen in the evening last Sunday)

The dish: Roast Pork with apple and sage sauce, with roast pumpkin, sweet potato and cauliflower gratin
But I asked for other vegetables to replace pumpkin and sweet potato (which I generally dislike) and was given steamed / roast zucchini and corn cobs.

The food: The roast pork was very yum - succulent, weighty, with a bit of crackle (and fat with I cut off). The apple had an interesting texture - it appeared to be Granny Smith, but reminded me of semi-dried apple slices - very sweet. The sauce, because of the apple, was also sweet and complemented the pork well - perhaps slightly too watery though. The crackle (a beautiful dark red and brown) was perfect - slightly crunchy, but slightly sticky and chewy (others may have prefered otherwise). The cauliflower, with a bit of cracked pepper and sicilian sea salt added by me - was nice but slightly soggy. It didn't have flavour of its own and gave me the impression it had been steamed/drenched in water for a tad too long. Eating corn cob with fork and knife presented a bit of a challenge, but I didn't feel up to getting my fingers sticky in the middle of Bourke Street Mall, with pedestrians walking past and watching me eat - in my party dress and best coat.

The place: This brings me to ambience - I really like the outdoor cafe set-up, with random music from buskers further down the mall. I love sitting on the very edge of the area - just next to the tram tracks/walkway - and just daydream or journal in privacy (eventhough people walk past me continuously, I usually zone out when I start journalling). Generally, I think it's a great place to have a coffee and perhaps a snack/light meal - great spot to people watch (or be watched by passers-by - I don't mind too much). The only downside is the passive-smoking since lots of patrons like to smoke in the outdoor cafe part. I haven't dined indoors at Ca de Vin so cannot comment on the decor and ambience inside.

The people: Service is good once you manage to get their attention, but lacks promptness to serve when you first sit down - on several occasions I have found it takes quite a while just to get a menu and see what's available.

Value for money: $22.50 for the roast, which is not too bad, considering that it left me very full. The menu has a variety of small dish offerings (lamb skewers, calamari, etc) for approx $15-20. Otherwise, a pasta dish is approx $20 up.

The verdict:
Food: 6.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Service: 6/10

Total: 19.5/30

The prerequisites of attraction

Last night, while having a quick bowl of Vietnamese noodles after a late night at work, Daniel and Andrew accused me of liking ugly men. They were recounting and describing characteristics that I "supposedly" have revealed about my ideal type of guy (after a few drinks on a Friday night no doubt) - and here are the items described (in no particular order):

1. Caucasian (that is no longer true after seeing Chi Cao in Mao's Last Dancer the movie - twice!);
2. Tall (I think there's something very cute about a tall white guy with a small asian girl together);
3. Intelligent (more intelligent than me; or at least be knowledgeable and be able to converse intellectually with me on a variety of topics?);
4. Loves God (in a more serious conversation I would expand, but essentially, this person must appreciate and value the "depth of who I am" and understand the core of me - and God is at the epicentre of that); ... and
5. (according to Daniel) - UGLY.

Hang on a minute, I highly doubt that I would have said ugly or unattractive. OF COURSE I would have to be attracted to him and feel some sense of connection, but he just doesn't have to be HOT. Part of that (admittedly) is the stereotype in my mind that "hot guys" tend to be grossly arrogant - an attribute which turns me off completely. Ewww. (Except maybe the cute guy from level 7 - which proves there's always an exception as he is both very cute and very nice.) If I may elaborate - he just needs to be cute / attractive in his own way. Thinking someone good looking is one thing, and being attracted to and wanting to be with them is something else entirely.

And this reminds me of conversations with single friends quite recently about their "top 3 characteristics for the ideal mate". First conversation was with a bunch of mostly male friends @ Ruco (at Grand Hyatt - one of my favourite bars in the Melbourne CBD - completely classy, with the ground to ceiling clear glass wine cellar being my favourite feature of the venue.) Someone joked that one of the guys likes girls who would look good in school uniform (now, these guy friends are not the crude type at all - they were just teasing him about liking girls that look young! lol) Confidence (for the shyer / quieter guys), independence (for the recently single-again guy) and not being high-maintenance were also top picks. As was attractiveness...

At this point, I must explain that I'm currently caught in the in-between space of jaded cynicisms ("hmph, for guys, attraction is always number one - so typical!") and naivity verging on ignorance ("...people value inner beauty, not just looks"). I don't think it's good to be in either boat.

Second conversation was with an all girls uni friends group - and the interesting thing about the characteristics that everyone said about their ideal mate - it's just soooo like them. E.g. my friend the awesome swing dancer would struggle with someone who is not coordinated or doesn't dance; my other friend the dietician would strongly prefer someone who loves food (and apparently, a small cringe factor / weird thing about them - and at this point, one of the other girls jumped in and said "how about NO cringe factor!?!").. lol. I love these girls.

And of course it's completely possible (and likely) that NONE of us would end up with the type of guy we prefer or had imagined. God's humour is sometimes like that.

Anyway, my intention is not for this to become a long drawn out discussion about relationships (not now anyway), but simply to jot down a couple of recent thoughts and conversation bits about attraction. So I might just end now with something I was telling one of my guy friends on the issue - I want to discover that "heart beat feeling" again. Perhaps it's something that I haven't felt for a long long time, or perhaps I have never really felt it. ... crazy, reckless (but not irresponsible), passionate, intense, all-in kinda feeling... for me, that's the "X factor" for attraction...