Sunday OOTD

I have been dying to wear this dress eversince I picked it up in the markets at Brisbane. It's a nice little pleather skater cutout dress with an animal print, to keep it fun, but not too crayzee that I couldn't wear it to work. Friday afternoon I ran around Met Centre trying to complete the outfit.

I needed a belt having decided that I haven't got the time to get the Tory Burch skinny belt I really want (fast as shopbop might be in their delivery). A colleague had tipped me that Sheike was selling these lovely coloured skinny belts for only $20, so I was there in a jiffy. Not before this cute twill jacket from Ally's caught my eye though. It was only $40! Score! Much needed in this cold weather.

Modelling pics. The belt matches the colours in my Collete necklace perfectly

 I wore it to a darling friend's engagement party which was an intimate yet casual affair at Bondi Social, which overlooks the beach. Lovely house sparkling and a simple but tasteful selection of beer on tap. The food was really good too at this place. Great Fish and Chips, and I wish there was more of that vietnamese spring roll that was packed full of flavour. But I only got the one sadly...


We finished off the engagement party winding down at Moo's, a Black & White burger, washed down with a Berry Ripe Milkshake. Yummo!

 In a semi food-coma now so am just gonna knock off here and veg out...

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1467257/restaurant/Sydney/Bondi-Bondi-Beach/MOO-Gourmet-Burgers-Bondi-Beach"><img alt="MOO Gourmet Burgers on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1467257/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

Last night at Blancharu

The title says it all. we went there for dinner yesterday and I swear it'll be the last time I ever pay money to eat there again. The service there is atrocious!
So many things I can list that went wrong last night:

1) The waitress walked past me three times with the bread basket and didn't serve me bread
2) Took forever to get their attention to get a wine list
3) The Reisling they served (at $42 a bottle) was warm
4) The Grenache we ordered to go with the mains came out only after everyone was halfway through tucking into the mains
5) The coffee and tea order was taken after we were served desserts
6) Sugar and milk for our English Breakfast was brought out only after we had already consumed one cup of black tea

I am not sure if I missed anything else, but for a place that has faultless food and a respectable wine list, we didn't enjoy the experience one bit which was a terrible shame and the reason we only left a 5% tip instead of our standard ten.

Granted, the company was my restaurant crowd, a group of us who trained together in the art of wine appreciation and table service back in uni when we all worked in a Darling little restaurant in the Harbour. It may not have been my most glamourous job yet, but it certainly taught us the art of enjoying a fine meal and sealed some lasting friendships amongst us, a teenage group of ungoverned students living in a world of opportunity and hope.

Now, on to the plus of last night. I don't think I could really fault the food, a French-Japanese affair.
My three course meal of $55 were constructed of the following delights:

Roasted quail breast, gourmet salad, porcini Madeira sauce, Poisson Du Jour, Minute bake gateau chocolate, strawberry cream tower

Other Mains around the table: Spatchcock en croûte de sel a la Haru, Twice cooked Lamb saddle, lamb rib, couscous and ratatouille, Slow cooked duck “Akita sugi-ita yaki”

Other Desert options: Refreshing Lemongrass pannacotta with coconut sorbet, pineapple salad, Traditional Crème Brûlée with coffee ice cream and crushed almonds

All the goodness of the rich food has left my tummy a little unsettled this morning. Or perhaps it was the consumption of the warm reisling. I am sitting at my desk this morning, sipping on some good ol' Lipton (Not fortified as the cup may imply).

On to prepping for the engagement party next. Enjoy your day lovelies, I know I'll be sipping away at bubbly!

Save or splurge

I am in a shopping dilemma. Maybe it's work wearing me down this week but I am lurking around shopbop a lot this week, trying to find material means of happiness satiation.

I have two things in my cart and I'd love to press "proceed to checkout" if only a) the Aud didn't slip ever so slightly to below parity, and b) I had a spare $700 that I didn't intend to spend in KL when I go next week.

The odds are against me, but I can't help but feel I am already saving if I told you what my true fashion aims were for:

Louis Vuitton Pomme d'Amour vernis leather belt vs Tory Burch skinny patent logo belt in red.




 

Chanel single flap bag or the Rebecca Minkoff quilted affair bag?


Grrr.... To buy or not to buy? Tough question to answer


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Mother's Day

I was drawn to this crop of a shot where my new husband was weaving us through the tables at our reception, making our way to our Central Park table. I was stunned by how similar the expression on my mother's face in the background mirrored mine and remembered how she had shared with me that her happiest moment at her own wedding day was when my Dad also weaved her through their tables, stopping at each one to proudly introduce his new wife, all the while hanging tightly on to her hand, as if that if he did let go, all this might just not be real.

This was possibly the latest moment I had a nice picture taken with my mum. Being apart sucks. Being married and having your own family keep telling you that your in-laws are like family now and that I should treat them like I respect mine, makes it really interesting. Whilst I don't disobey my family, this instruction makes it hard to rock both worlds at the same time because they are all so different and each person want something from me that is different.

Just this Mother's Day has been testament to that. I rushed around the Farmer's markets yesterday, trying to find the finest fromage, the gorgeous flowers, basil and heirloom tomatoes to make a salad for my Mother-in-law, who bless her soul had offered to cook her own Mother's Day dinner despite our numerous pleas for her to sit back and enjoy herself. Apparently being a Mother and fussing over us would be her greatest present already.

At least she seemed to enjoy the home-made Spanish salami and garlic prawn pizza and the apple pie with Pavlova Passion ice cream dessert that we contributed to the meal last night. But I know my own mother would have been a lot more excited to be eating gourmet tomatoes and being fussed over. Or perhaps that was ten years ago, cause when I called home to wish her well last night and to promise that I owe her a grand Mother's day meal when I am back in two weeks, she plainly declines and demands instead that all she wants is a grandchild. *Gulp*

Thing is, we are just not ready yet and guiltily, I am spending Mother's Day resenting my own because she isn't here to see how hard it is for the two of us to get to know each other again now that we are living together. How financially stressful it is that we are carrying three mortgages on our shoulders and how little work there is for my husband that keeps him engaged in his role and how often it is he thinks of just leaving all of this behind. I told her all this the last time we spoke and she has decided that the best solution is to have a child anyways. That if it doesn't ground him and he still leaves us behind, at least I will have a child. One that she'll get to fly over here to take care of. I know that will never happen because talk is cheap and its easy to cajole someone else into making a life-long commitment than to really put yourself into their shoes and weigh out the benefits that do not seem to outweigh the cons.

So, I have nothing else to say but to just tell her no, that my in-laws tell us not to pressure ourselves with children if we aren't ready and I have to obey their wishes too. And just like that, her Mother's day has been turned around into the worst one ever and I am left trying to figure out how did I handle that one so wrong and how to deal with this emotional guilt I have in me now.

I just want to go back to six months ago when she and I were just happy at the same time, having achieved the same goal and was appeased. When I wasn't failing her and certainly before we both knew what lied ahead of us.

Exploring BrisVegas

Mr.HEA and I had never properly experienced Brisbane, and the reasoning behind why it warrants the nickname BrisVegas eludes us.

Exploring the Southbank of Brisbane last night might not have yielded any answers, but it certainly had a charm that was friendly, relaxed and inviting. Or at the very least that was the company I was with.

The two companions that were showing me around whisked me to QPAC for the last night of the Green Jam sessions where we caught the last hour of the Euan Cumming Jazz Trio. Such a novel concept, Hazily strewn cushions on ikat mats, low backed sun loungers, fairy lit trees with the sweet strains of Blues. We should do this in Sydney!

 

We strolled around more afterwards shopping the night markets (yep I bought a skater dress. Animal print of course) and settled in at Sardine Tin, picked for its industrial fit outs and Ferran Adria cookbook display. We were not disappointed at all! The little shared bites we ordered to accompany our Tasmanian Pinot noir were gorgeous to every last morsel and flavorful in every bite.

 

Clockwise from the top: Roast quail with carrot purée and raisin jelly; divine ceviche served with kumara chips on a rockbed; menu booklet; Scallops and veal cheeks on a smear of cauliflower purée. We also ordered this rustic but honest Heirloom tomato, basil and goats cheese mousse salad, and the truffle pecorino gnocchi which don't plate up as prettily, but are definitely moorish dishes.

Lotsa laughter and a bottle of wine later we went back to their apartment where we sobered up with a palate cleanser of marinated watermelon and a generous plate of haloumi, Pistachio, almonds, mint and rose petal pilaf rice from a Nigella Lawson recipe whilst we discussed freely the necessity of school and the inequities of the Malaysian education system.

I crawled into bed well fed, well spoilt ( they left chocolates on my pillow!) and happy for having had a grand time with amazing people tonight.

I was woken up five hours later to the smell of newly made pancakes, and sizzling bacon. A cup of aero pressed coffee and fluffy berry pancakes were produced on the breakfast bar to wake me up from my zombie state and prepare me for my flight home.








I have some delightful friends in Brisbane! Makes it all the harder to say Goodbye...




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