just a quick post for today… xmas is creeping up quite fast so the biscuit orders have been piling in which is why im yet again working on a public holiday bah holiday? theres no such thing! ergh i cant wait until its 2009! i wont be at the hawkesbury city of sydney markets this fri because the brother unit is graduating but i will be at epping markets in the arvo/night. edit: i dont think i can make it to epping either my bad… my lil external hard drive is about to conk it with the amount of photos its holding so i spent $100 on a spanking new 320gig desktop hard drive. ive named him mr miyagi heh. somehow the boy has guilt tripped me into joining his mixed touch footy team. doesnt matter that i dont know how to play he says. doesnt matter that ive never even held a football either? apparently i just stand on the grass hmm…

lol i mustve been on overdrive that first day we arrived in malaysia… after several hours of shopping we went to a chocolate cafe!


theoboma chocolate lounge in 1 utama


milk hot chocolate (RM12.90) smooth sweet and tasty!


the brother unit ordered an iced milk chocolate (RM10.90)


sadly the belgian waffle (RM14.90) was a fail when compared to my beloved max brenner… esp when i had to pay another RM4.90 for extra chocolate sauce bah!


chocolatey goodness


for dinner we went to a kopitiam that my dad reckons has the best hokkien mee. i wont argue look at all that fried pork fat bits! mmm heart cloggingly tasty


popiah! kinda like soft spring rolls but BETTER. especially if theres more pork fat bits hiding inside…


my fav the oyster omellete! i like the omelettes here not becos of the oysters which are delicious fat juicy globules of briny sea goodness but for the gooey bits which can either be potato or chestnut starch mmm


the bro, me and the boy with our usual drink of choice in malaysia… bottled water is a must for the brother, f&n sarsi is my only liquid and noods always gets this weird super sour fruit juice…


but wait whats for dessert? we’ve sadly missed out on the all you can eat buffet of durian because the season was just ending


but theres still plenty to eat see? tadah!


durian the king of fruits


lol noods isnt crying but we arrived in malaysia in monsoon season hurhur it pretty much poured every day in the arvo thru to night


heh i liked the makeshift sink that was set up. so thoughtful!

it was the boy and i 7year anniversary yesterday and to celebrate we went to Euro Lounge (Shop 21, the Piazza Castle Towers Old Northern Rd, Castle hill) for their degustation menu ($82.50)


signage


the duck consomme tasted like 100 ducks had given up their lives to be a part of the extremely fragrant liquid to warm my hungry soul


Modern “vitello tomato”, duo of roasted veal & tuna tartare with crispy baby capers & truffle vinaigrette. Loved LOVED this take on the vitello tomato with the melt in the mouth diced tuna and the slices of tender veal and omg the crispy deepfried capers covered in the heady truffle vinaigrette were so very moreish


Lobster & prawn ravioli with spinach, tomato concasse and champagne veloute. i turned into a ravioli convert after eating this- soft noodley parcels hiding lobster and prawn chunks and covered in a buttery, creamy sauce topped with the salty goodness that is the miracle of cheese


Ravioli of braised lamb with Spanish chorizo & mint. noods missed out on my ravioli because of the prawn so this was his substitute and i have to say it was almost as awesome as my dish… so much so that i ended up stealing forkfuls whenever he wasnt looking because the lamb innards were so tender and tasty


Twice cooked pork belly “Majorcan art” served with sautéed apricots, jamon patata bravas & marsala sauce. i was a little disappointed the crackling wasnt very crispy but oh the pork belly, my second favourite part of the animal (you know, after the skin heh) was delicious and packed full of melty fatty goodness


Rare roasted venison with a risotto of forest mushrooms & flash fried leek. heh we got a special bonus course courtesy of super chef alex and i reckon this was my 2nd favourite course (fav was the main). The venison was tasty but the risotto was freaking awesome! Cooked perfectly to al dente it did indeed taste like a forest of mushrooms had been culled just to make that risotto so tasty


Gin, lemon & mint granita. the palate cleanser was refreshing and provided a much needed break between the foods. the boy and i were pretty surprised at the size of the granita but we loved it especially the candied lemon rinds (hee see our banner on the table?)


Pan roasted Grimaud duck breast, sauteed green beans, potato pearls & hazelnuts served with a honey and sherry sauce. There were two options for the ‘main’ and im always a sucker for duck and look at that beauty! Fat strips of juicy ducky with crispy skin mmm and i was super happy it wasnt in an orange sauce cos i hate duck and orange sauce lol


Grain fed fillet rested on wilted spinach, crushed kipfler potato served with morel mushroom sauce. By this stage noods was clutching his stomach but he said his beef was tops


Belgium chocolate tart with blood orange gelato & chocolate sauce. So so rich but not to worry this is where your emergency second stomach comes out to play and soon youll find the plate licked clean heh


We had to take away our petit fours because we were just too full bah fail! a giant thank you to the staff at euro lounge for the awesome service, our customised table complete with banner and confetti, and of course for the fantastic food. we loved everything and hope to come back realllll soon =D


happy anniversary noods! i <3 you!

the boy turned a quarter century on saturday and to celebrate i organised a surprise getaway to hunter valley with some high school friends. but being the super loving gf that i am (im still iffy on using the term fiance lol), i told noods that i had a market in hunter and he HAS to drive me heh =D


the sky it was preetty


heh noods giving me a pained smile. all week he was complaining ‘i dont want to drive 2 hours to go stand around selling biscuits!’


id told noods that before we went to the ‘market’ we’d stop and have lunch first. except then we got lost. so i had to ring mr baz and pretend i was talking to the restaurants reception and ask for directions…


Esca Bimbadgen (790 McDonalds Rd, Pokolbin) was fantastic with awesome food, extremely friendly service and looked so very impressive on the drive up.


i pushed noods into the restaurant towards our table and he thinks its a huge coincidence that our friends were there. with 2 empty seats. heh it took him a while to realise there was no market to go to.


i <3 you =D


noods and mr baz my partner in crime


boey with her trademark pose


mig &#8216;3rd string’ and me


matty likes his wine


and so do i


mmm matching wines for my entree, l-r: Bimbadgen Estate Semillion ’07, Bimbadgen Estate Pinot Gris ’08, Bimbadgen Estate Chardonay ’07


White Entree Tasting Plate ($32)


Gravlax of ocean trout with jerusalem artichokes, avocado, salmon roe & lemon caper dressing. bright and colourful, the thinly sliced cured ocean trout were delicious and the salmon roe fresh with briny salty goodness


Char grilled sumac calamari with couscous, preserved lemon, mint, almonds, yoghurt and harisssa. the calamari was so soft! absolutely nothing like its chewy, rubber band form that i normally associate it with.


Seared scallop with a fennel and saffron risotto. the fat, juicy scallop was cooked perfectly and he sat proudly atop a mound of tasty very moreish risotto


Sichuan spiced duck livers with a garlic chive pancake, smokey eggplant & a black vinegar dressing ($22). boey and mig shared this and i think they were glad they shared it cos it was huge and very rich!


Double baked gruyere souffle with an apple, walnut & chervil salad ($22). i wasnt feeling really hungry so i ordered an entree instead of a main and oh boy was it delicious! the souffle was soft and melty filled with cheesey goodness and went well with the refreshing apple salad


Salt & pepper barramundi with a cucumber, snake bean & lime salad ($36). noods ordered the aussie fish and while i found it a tad on the salty side he declared it tasty and cleaned off the whole plate


Quail &#8216;saltimbocca’ with roasted balsamic tomatoes & sage butter ($36).


Wood spit roasted duck with a braised witlof, ginger & mandarin ($36). the duck looks burnt but it was actually nicely caramelised and the skin was so delish!


Seared scallops with a fennel & saffron risotto ($36).


cheers! no dessert because we were a little pressed for time and wanted to hit some vineyards and cheese shops. we still hadnt told noods that we were staying overnight but instead told him we’d head back around dinner time to baz’s house.


because we wanted to surprise noods apparently baz did several laps around the carpark to find a space that wouldnt be in direct line of view of his distinctive numberplate and to be safe they even taped paper on the numberplate. heh the above foto was after lunch of noods pretending to be ditzy and not looking at baz as he &#8216;hides’. stay tuned for part 2!