full

Fri 23 July

5-course meal and dessert by Chef Byron

Tonight I had a small "post-French students reunion" dinner with Melody and Byron (and J) at Byron's place in Kensington. It was also a farewell dinner for B as he was only two weeks away from a 2-year stint in Paris studying at Le Cordon Bleu, the famous culinary school.

It was fascinating to see B cooking - the kitchen was filled with pots and pans and dishes and bowls, but it was all under control (with all of us helping out on the easy bits) and the results said it all.

Dinner was delicious! We started with dumplings in soup, followed by raw beef salad ("yook-hwe" in Korean), then roast duck and finally beef steaks in a creamy mushroom and onion sauce with rice, with oysters throughout the meal. Dessert was a very professional looking and yummy tiramisu style cake, also made by Byron. To top it off, Mel had bought some tasty pastries from a shop in Surry Hills which we also enjoyed.

The conversation was good fun, and we were entertained with plenty of Korean pop songs and music videos throughout the evening. I was so happy to be seeing my French-class uni friends again - when I think about it, it's probably been close to 12 months since I'd seen them last, if not longer.

Sat 24 July

Lebanese banquet at Al Aseel

J and I had a pleasantly long walk to Al Aseel in Surry Hills for a dinner with Dave and Rebecca. It was my first time meeting them, and as far as my memory goes it was also the first time I'd been to a Lebanese restaurant. Funnily enough we also bumped into Byron on the way, who was running late to a karaoke date with friends. We were running late too, so we said a quick hello and parted ways.

The food was great - we had all kinds of dips, meats, felafels and salads. I don't remember any of the names, but the tabouleh and fattoush salads were quite tasty. There was so much on the table that even with a combined effort we weren't able to finish all the dishes. We definitely gave it a good try though - I knew there was a reason I didn't want to wear a belt tonight!

It was a night of good food and good company, just like Friday night, but different. There was even a belly dancer performing throughout the restaurant!

After dinner I also had a chance to meet Dani at the Sanctuary Hotel... well almost. There was a huge queue outside and of course there was no way I'd be getting into the venue. Sadly they wouldn't let out Dani either, so we had a phone conversation whilst waving and laughing at each other through the glass wall. Shortly after we'd started chatting on the phone, a bouncer rudely told us to line up or keep moving, so I waved goodbye to Dani while still being on the phone. That was a strange feeling, but despite the distance it was great to see her again.

Sun 25 July

Glorious dumplings and desserts at Din Tai Fung

Friday was a dinner with my friends, Saturday was a dinner with his friends, and tonight was a dinner with unknown friends. By this, I mean that we were seated at a round table with various other customers because the restaurant was so busy.

The walk in the rain was worth it. J and I had dumplings, a spicy wonton noodle soup and tasty hot desserts to finish off what had strangely become a very food-focused weekend. (To backtrack a little, we'd also had lunch at Baia earlier today where we sat outside and did a bit of seagull-, toddler- and people-spotting.)

The golden taro bread was as good as I remembered it. I feel lucky to have been to Din Tai Fung twice in the space of a couple of months. Maybe it's because of the constantly long queues, or maybe it's the efficient service of the bustling waiters and waitresses, but it feels like a special treat to be at the restaurant.

tired musings

Writing because I can't be bothered starting my tax assignment tonight. I'll get some rest, try not to get any more sick than I am (otherwise that will make me actually sick, not almost-sick), and start it in the morning.

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The funny thing?

The reason for which I dislike a handful of girls I know, actually exists within me too. Funny how you can hate somebody or have less respect for somebody because of what they do, even though you've been there yourself. I tolerate them because I'm no better than they are, and I know the kind of mindset they have; and one of the key reasons I can restrain myself is because I'm sick of fucking up my life. I really am.

Anyway.

I'm actually not depressed!

I had a wonderful day today actually. Really productive day at work, despite all the distractions, which were also a lot of fun.

Had a lovely lunch with my boyfriend at a restaurant/cafe called Rosebud. We had a sharing platter which was quite tasty, and I had an Egyptian tea with rose water and actual mint leaves in the glass. Easily the best thing I've tasted all year.

I'd like to live in Balmain. The whole area seems peaceful and friendly; there are lots of dogs being walked all the time; it's near the city but not bustling like the city; it's near the water; and it feels a little like a quiet semi-busy street in Melbourne but with better weather.

Bought a box of Belle Fleur chocolates for Mum as an early Mother's Day gift, and bought a couple for myself as a small treat. I felt that 2 chocolates was enough self-indulgence, so I shared the other 2 with my boyfriend.

The weather was also fantastic - radiant blue skies in the day, glowing full moon in clear skies at night.

What a wonderful day :)

TBTTHTMT: Egyptian mint tea with rose water. Incredible.

because i feel like blogging.

Today I tried making curry rice for the first time. The curry wasn't as thick as I would have liked, but it was still yummy with rice. I'm glad I finally know how to make a dish that isn't baked!

I also tried making cookies using Belle's recipe (I now call them Belle's cookies, hehe), and they turned out to be very yummy! Soft on the inside, exactly like she said :) Although because I knew just how much butter and sugar had gone into the mix, I felt guilty to have eaten 3 or 4 of the 12 cookies that I made. I'm sure that most cakes and cookies have similar amounts of butter / sugar that go into their production, but mum always puts in less sugar or butter than the recommended amount "because you don't actually need that much and it's fattening / bad for you", so I've naturally adopted this attitude too.

It's really spooky, just how much of your parents' behaviour you adopt. I believe some of it is nature, and some of it is nurture. Especially if you've lived 20+ years with them.

I'm on a mission to obtain all the lyrics for Ben Harper's songs so I can learn them properly. I would also make this attempt with Dave Matthews Band songs, were it not for the fact that some of the words he sings are quite difficult to comprehend properly, and so I don't know how accurate the lyrics will be when I find them on the internet. In any case, by tackling Ben Harper's studio album discography I'm taking on around 100 songs so this will definitely be a gradual process.

I'd also like to learn more of Angelique Kidjo's songs. Shs sings in a variety of languages though, so tracking down the translations as well as the lyrics could be a bit difficult. I saw Angelique Kidjo in concert at the Opera House last night, as part of a double bill with Ayo (who was wonderful on stage with her band), and she was absolutely fantastic. She's got such a powerful spirit that it really seems indefatigable. The energy exuding from her singing and dancing was really uplifting to experience, and I feel so lucky to have seen her perform live.

a culinary mistake

Ok so I asked for some Mi Goreng for dinner tonight.

We have two packs at home that I bought ages ago - one was the standard MG, and I decided to buy a satay-flavoured one for a different taste.

Mum calls me out to the kitchen because she can't remember what to do with the flavour satchets, so I begin emptying them out onto the plate as usual. Except there seems to be quite a lot of packets to open! It looks a bit odd because I recognise some of them from the standard packet, but there's also new satchets I've never seen. Therefore I assume that they're all a part of the satay-flavoured MG.

I go back into my room to do something, and then Mum calls me back out to eat the noodles.. and I see a huge pile of noodles on my plate. At this point I realise what has just happened - she'd opened both packs of noodles, hence the many flavour satchets.. oh man.. biggest mistake ever! I can't believe we ended up mixing both packs of noodles together. It wasn't very tasty. My first mistake was probably the purchase of the satay MG - maybe it was because of the unfortunate combination, but there was a weird aftertaste that I really didn't like. The noodles were also a little on the runny (i.e. too moist) side because the water hadn't been fully drained out. Oh man.. I think this is the stuff epic fails are made of.

In an effort to save the noodles, I mixed in a generous amount of sweet chili sauce into the noodles and managed to eat at least half of what was on my plate. But I definitely wasn't able to finish it. Let's never do that again.. probably serves me right, I should be making my own dinners at my age..