Wattamolla Attempt #1

The trip to Wattamolla was our second attempt to reach the area; the first try was on foot. In hindsight, it was a little ambitious as it would have been a 20km hike in total. Moral of the story, drive to Wattamolla rather than completing the hike from Bundeena. And always wear insect repellent.

Meeting Ice Pandora!

This is a very long overdue post. Back in August after my two weeks in Mongolia, I headed to Hong Kong for a few days. On one of the days, I organised to meet up with Mei from Ice Pandora! I have followed Mei for many years now and if you don't know her blog, definitely check it out! This was my first time meeting someone through my blog which was a little nerve wrecking. I have previously met up with two people online back in my LiveJournal days so it's not entirely foreign to me.

It was a bit difficult to meet up as I wasn't too clear with my directions which reminded me how difficult it is to find someone when both parties don't have working phones! Nonetheless, we finally managed to find each other and had a coffee in a very weird cafe. It also was a reminder of the shortcoming of being illiterate; I can get by with my basic knowledge Cantonese but cannot read or write at all.

It was a wonderful meeting and I actually hope to meet more people who I know from my blog in the coming year. If you are coming to Sydney or from Sydney and are interested, let me know!

The Local Mbassy, Ultimo

After checking out of the hotel after a staycation in Sydney CBD, we headed 600m down the road to the reasonably rated cafe, The Local Mbassy, in Ultimo. From a quick look on Instragram and Zomato, it was easy to see that the appeal of the place boiled down to their red velvet pancakes. See screenshot below.

Although I don't mind red velvet, I am actually not a big fan of pancakes and much prefer a savoury dish for breakfast. I ordered a flat white and the open melt.

Open Melt // thinly sliced pork belly, spinach, mozzarella cheese, fried egg, house onion pickles, melted onto freshly baked artisan bread.

One of the weirdest parts of this melt was the fact that the bread was not toasted at all which meant it ended up being quite soggy due to the pickles and the egg. The second weird thing about it was the fact that mozzarella cheese consisted of 80% of the dish. I love cheese and especially love it when it is melted, however it was the only thing I could taste. It overpowered everything and I honestly couldn't even find the pork belly hidden underneath the thick layer of cheese.

The coffee was decent although a little on the burnt side.

Overall, not a place I would really head back unless I was in the area of Ultimo. As I was leaving, I saw a girl standing on top of her chair to take a photo of her food (including of course the red velvet pancakes).



A question to my readers, what kind of coffee do you normally order at a cafe? I used to order lattes however I slowly got tired of burning my fingers on the glass cup and have now transitioned to flat whites.

Christmas Tree Hunting

There is something magical about seeing those giant Christmas trees in Europe or North America. Alas, there are Christmas trees here in Sydney but they are all fake and honestly, they don't feel as special. But here is a post dedicated to the Christmas trees in Sydney CBD.

QVB Swarovksi Christmas Tree
Every year, a giant Christmas tree adorned with Swarovksi crystals is set up in the centre of the QVB. It fits snuggly in the gap between the floors and it is not possible to take a photo of the entirety of the tree.




George Street Christmas Tree
This identical tree popped up last year on George Street. Almost the entire street has been blocked off for over a year now for the light rail project that ... well hasn't started . Yet, the council has placed a Christmas tree up instead.



Martin Place Christmas Tree
For the past 4 years, the same Christmas tree has been put up in Martin Place. You can text a message to a number and the message will appear on the electronic banner around the Christmas tree.





Custom House Christmas Tree

Jasmin 1

When people ask me what my favourite cuisine is, I am slowly gravitating towards answering middle eastern (Turkish, Lebanese, Iranian) rather than Japanese or Italian which is what I have done in the past. Over the weekend, we visited the popular Lebanese restaurant, Jasmin 1, in Auburn for dinner and it was fabulous!


Mixed plate $17 // Combination of grilled chicken, kafta, shish kebab, falafel, fried kebbe, tabouli, served with hommus, baba ghannouje, garlic dips, pickle salad, lebanese bread
There is something amazing and very addictive about garlic sauce with lebanese bread. My favourite from the plate was probably the grilled chicken and kafta.


Kibbeh


Fattoush $8 // A mix of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, onion, parsley, capsicum, shallots, mint, dressed with fresh lemon juice and olive oil, and topped with fried crispy Lebanese bread

The salad was a nice break from all the carbs and meat from the other two dishes. As the salad was topped by something deep fried, of course it made it that extra bit special!

Too much food was ordered and I was so full by the end of it. Another highlight of the meal was the complimentary cinnamon tea which was a nice contrast to the heaviness / oiliness of the dishes.

Lazy Sunday at Wattamolla

On Sunday (and the last day of being 24 years old), we headed south to the Royal National Park to Wattamolla Beach. There is also a small waterfall however as there hasn't been any rainfall, the waterfall was only a small trickle. There were quite a few people when we arrived at 10am and already 25 degrees.




Some 'light' reading about the British rule in India

Melbourne

I had 30 hours in Melbourne however that was enough time for me. This was my fourth visit to Melbourne and there wasn't anything that I really wanted to see in the CBD that I had not seen before.


I loved the borek from this store last time I visited Melbourne. As you can see in the photo from then and the one now, the dough is a lot thicker now. Since my trip to Turkey in 2015, I also tasted what a REAL borek should taste like and I think neither of them are very authentic. But definitely not the one I had that day, almost like a pide but not! 










This was my eleventh trip as part of #take12trips. To see previous trips please click here.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing II

Wordless post

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.