Friday, July 25, 2008

[Life] Ugly and stupid

I had a haircut today at a Korean salon in Sunnybank.

I arrived drab and left ugly.

The mood really hit rock bottom.

Made worse with being treated as a busybody, stupid and lazy person.

Life is officially ugly and stupid and indolent.

Why try so hard to please?

No amount of macarons is going to cheer me up. Unless they are Pierre Hermé ones......

[Brisbane] Dim Sum at Manor

The Manor Chinese Restaurant
6 Angel Street
Corner Gaskell Street & Angel Street
Eight Mile Plains, 4113


My No.1 choice for dim sum!

Manor at Eight Miles Plain
Located off Logan Road, behind Glen Hotel.

Manor's dim sum
All dim sum offerings are above average.
Deep fried calamari could be a tad too salty.
Siew mai fresh and well-seasoned.
Ham sui kok (deep fried glutinous rice dumpling) skin is crispy yet soft and chewy and NOT dripping in oil (very important).
Seafood dumpling was alright, I detest coriander!
Rice sheet roll is nice without skin being thick and mushy (yes, they can happen together!).
Claypot spare-rib and preserved meat is the star. The spare-ribs tender and fluffy rice cooked to perfection.

Custrad bun
Me and Princess absolute favourite, custard bun!

Custard buns are not executed well in lots of restaurant. Manor makes a kick-ass version. Fluffy skin with sweet yet savoury custard. I enter cloud nine with every bite.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

[Brisbane] Nougat-ed out

My friend has requested me to buy nougat for her.

'Hard, crunchy type in individual packaging,' she said.

Holy moly, I haven't seen them anywhere. I searched high and low from supermarkets to discount shops to delis. Nada, only saw soft and chewy ones sold in bars. I almost got them online but stopped when I saw the hefty $10 shipping costs.

Then I thought I would try those Chinese 'duty-free' shops in Sunnybank.

Bingo, there they were. Packets after packets of Golden Boronia Original Crunchy Nougat. No.1 in Australia, it says on its packaging. Really, I suaku mountain tortoise never know. Aiyo, who ever shops at 'duty-free' shop, I am not a tourist!


GB crunchy nougat
Dang dang in all its glory

Price: 1kg/AUD25, 500g/AUD14, 250/AUD8

Bliss nougat
On my quest to search for nougat, I came across Bliss 'naked' (cut, unpackaged) nougat at Fresh on Carina and asked to take away 2, 1 original and 1 chocolate flavour.

But my jaw dropped when I heard the price. It's AUD2 each. WT# for an 1 inx1 in little little cube??!!

Anyways, I was desperate so I brought them home.

To be fair, they are quite nice. Not too sweet with a hint of almond essence and packed with macademia and almond. But at AUD2, thank you very much and hope we never see each other again.

I am so glad I found Golden Boronia! I like cappucino crunchy! I am so fighting my bro over them, heh.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

[Brisbane] Oishii Sushi Bar

Oishii Sushi Bar
shop2/70 Pinelands Rd
Sunnybank Hills
Brisbane


Oiishi Sushi Bar

Agedashi tofu
Agedashi tofu

Omurice
Omurice

I tasted before feeding Princess. Put spoon in my mouth. Stopped dead in my track.

Oishii!

Chicken with omelette roll
Spider roll

Chicken katsu sushi wrapped in omelette.

Tasted nice but hate those salty yellow bits.

Dragon roll
Dragon roll

As you can tell from the picture, unagi (eel) topped sushi roll. Can't remember the fillings. Orz...

Didn't jot down individual price. Total bill around AUD4x.xx.

[Shopping] Barbie and vespa

Barbie n vespa

Princess' first ever barbie doll (AUD20 on sale at ToysRus)!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

[Shopping] Trade Secret again!

I was on my way to Sunnybank for grocery shopping and thought I would stop by Trade Secret just to check out the $5 and $10 racks.

BIG mistake.

I ended up shopping away from the $5/$10 racks. And went away with a mini loot. Hehe.....

Trade Secret Tee

Blue Sass peasant dress AUD34.95
Pink Mambo tee AUD16.95
Beige Sass tee AUD19.95

Friday, July 11, 2008

[Home] Lunch at home - East meets West

Lunch

Ham n egg sarnie
Ham, egg and cheese sarnie

Princess likes lots of ketchup with er, everything.

Steamed rice roll
Rice sheet roll with sesame dressing

Steam or microwave the rice sheet roll and doused with sesame dressing and hoisin sauce. Delish!

Condiments for rice roll
Japanese 'Kewpie' sesame dressing and hoi sin sauce

Tea
Mariage Frères' Marco Polo tea

How does one go back to drinking Lipton after tasting Mariage Frères?

Monday, July 07, 2008

[Brisbane] A dough, limitless creations

Polish Bakery, Arundel

Pumpkin bread by Polish Bakery
Pumpkin bread from my favourite Polish Bakery A$5.50

The yellow hue is not from colouring but from pumpkin slowly roasted in oven.

Almond croissant
Almond croissant A$3.50

This thing is huge!! Generously filled with custard (proper one not from powder) and topped with flaked almonds.

Brewbakers, Clayfield

Chco chip bagel by Brewbakers
Chocolate chip bagel

I can't remember the price, it's either A$1.50 or A$2.50 each.

Dense and extremely chewy. Their bagels actually reminded me of the bread at Flour Power in Highgate Hill. They just share the same texture. Weird.

Parmesan Bagel by Brewbakers
Parmesan bagel

We also got brioche bread for A$3.50 which is a steal. It's far better than the bagels. Go for the brioche.

Flour Power, Highgate Hill

Rye sourdough by Flour Power
Rye sourdough

I think it was A$5.50 per loaf. Not the kind of sourdough I like. The crust is extremely hard with the dough very chewy and dense. My ideal sourdough bread should be springy with nice airy pockets with a little chew.

Uncle Bob's Bakery, Belmont

Uncle Bob's Bakery

Vienna Roll by Uncle Bob
Vienna roll aka tiger roll

Average.

Chco Croissant by Uncl Bob

Chocolate croissant

Average.

But what really brought me to Uncle Bob's if the offerings I felt were average?

It's those country sourdough bread (not pictured).

They are one of the best I have tasted in Brisbane. Go on, it's worth the drive.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

[Brisbane] Endless Noodles

Endless Noodles 西域拉面
Shop 1, 70 Pinelands Road
Sunnybank Hills

Specializing in hand-pulled noodles

Easily spotted travelling along Mains Rd right next to an 7-11 petrol station.

The whole building lot is dedicated to food, along the same row we have Oiishi Sushi Bar, Chinese Cafe (cha-chan-teng), a butcher and a Korean restaurant on the first floor.

Endless Noodles

Grilled lamb skewers
Grilled lamb skewers (with/without chilli)

This arrived about 10 minutes after we finished our noodles after several enquiries. Meat fatty and chewy, me no like.

Spicy chicken noodles
Spicy chicken noodles

While tasted ok, this is a rather ordinary dish.

Stir fried noodles with chicken
Stir fry noodles with chicken

Again, quite ordinary tasting. Do not come with high expectation. These northern style pulled noodles is too starchy for my liking. They sit quite heavy in the stomach for quite sometime.

I am much much more interested in the sushi bar next door. Next Time.