Took so many photos using the RAW setting that my hard drive has overloaded and have a number of food posts in the works however, having less than a week to start my pre-readings I’m afraid things will have to wait around these parts until I catch myself up on real life.  I’ve also decided to give up this blog for Lent (along with a full fast once a week) so I pretty much won’t be back until after 1 April 2012!

Q: Are you giving up anything for Lent?

In the meantime, check out these blogs I’ve nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award:

• (makes sense to me)
• teres major
• fy[i]: faith, hope, love.
• Life is Beautiful
• handmadelove
• peterbvn
• A Moment With Kat
• Rachel P.
• The Very Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Wayfaring Chocolate
• Apples Under My Bed
• as she thinketh
• Leeleegirl’s Life
• Life Blessons
• Thisislife.tv

Thanks to Subhan Zein for nominating me on 15 February 2012!

For this award you have to do a couple of things as follows:

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.
4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

Seven Things About Me:

1. My knees go red when I’m nervous.
2. I can’t ride a bike (yet).
3. I love anything with berries in it.
4. I flew in a helicopter onto Uluru once.
5. I’ve become a gym junkie (I went 3 times while on holiday!).
6. I’m going to start scholarship tutoring for the first time tomorrow – nervous!
7. I got sucked in by a TVShop commercial and just bought an InStyler – fun times ahead :D.

Hope you’ll join me in a month or a bit if not over at the other blog ;).

♥ Ames

We got a table right near the mini stage before we all went to scout out some food.  For me, I was on a mission to try some Germany sausages! My uncle (who is also a bit of a foodie!) had been raving about them for a while so I was determined to find out what they were all about…

I wasn’t sure which to choose so the lady behind the counter suggested the ‘Kransky’.  I added Onions and Cheese for $1 each.

The bread was like a Vietnamese roll which made it a bit crumbly to eat but it was worth it.  The Kransky, which apparently originates from Poland (so says the half-Polish guy sat beside me), was rich in flavour and very different from the humble snags that I’m used to on the Aussie barbie.  Onions were a bit cold so I’d probably skip it when I try a Bratwaurst next time.

I wasn’t quite full yet and was keen for some Dutch Pancakes however, one of the girls highly recommended Honey Dumplings so…

I was recommended to try the Honey Dumplings with chocolate and ice-cream and then requested a sprinkle cinnamon and nuts on top ($7.50).

So what are honey dumplings?  Essentially, they are deep fried balls of doughnut dough dipped in honey and then the topping as described above.  It was YUM!  Lol, there are 5 in a serve but it is incredibly filling so I got some of the guys to share some.  I liked how the chocolate topping froze dry… haven’t had Ice Magic for a long, long time!

As for the rest of the market, most things are overpriced but if you have the time you might find a good bargain.  The atmosphere is great though and of course food a plenty :D.  The Night Market is on for two more Wednesdays (until the end of Feb) for grab a few friends and have a great night out!

In total, I spent $17.00 on food that night and so set aside $8.50 for:

♥ Ames

The Groove Train has a number of franchises and as I’ve found out, they are all slightly different.

The Groove Lounge, Williamstown

I took the Werribee line for the first time to get down to the Groove Lounge.  I was technically still on the Daniel fast at this time but since Ray was shouting, it was difficult to just still to the greens…(not sure about the prices)

1. Vedura Mista Wood Fired Pizza top left

I thought I would be eating most of this pizza with mushroom, eggplant, roasted capsicum, pumpkin, spinach, onion, mozzarella cheese & Napoli sauce topped with basil pesto but I think they were a bit too generous with the pesto and so I found it a bit oily.  The base was just right for all the pizzas :).

2. Tandoori Chicken Wood Fired Pizza top right

Pretty good though nothing that was particularly memorable.

3. Greek Wood Fired Pizza bottom left

Really enjoyed this pizza as the tzatziki on top was a refreshing contrast to the marinated lamb strips.  Spinach, fetta and the Napoli sauce were good accompaniments.

4. Greek Salad bottom right

Was good to have something else besides pizza lol.

The Groove Train, Melbourne Central

Went for a bit more variety this time with our core team however, now that we were paying for it, we realised how expensive the place is :S.

1. Groove to the Caesar Salad ($18.90) top left

Just a basic caesar salad – I would have liked the egg to have been a bit more runny but still a good side dish to the other mains…

2. Salmone Wood Fired Pizza ($20.90) top right

Smoked salmon, Napoli sauce, Spanish onion, cream cheese & capers = fail-proof combo :).

3. Chicken Calzone ($17.90) bottom left

I liked the presentation though it took me a while to get to the filling…

4. Traditional Fettuccine Carbonara ($18.90) bottom right

Can’t go past a good Carbonara with pan-fried bacon & spring onions, tossed in a creamy egg yolk & parmesan cheese sauce though for the price you pay, it’s not that great money for value.

For our meal at The Groove Train it worked out to be about $15.00 per person and so I put aside $7.50 for:

See the story behind the Eat Out: Help Out Project here.

I wouldn’t mind going back to The Groove Lounge if it wasn’t so far off but I think in future (unless someone else is shouting!) I won’t be heading on The Groove Train any time soon :P.

♥ Ames

Well, first off – I’ve finished the 30 day guitar challenge!  I was pretty good for the first 20 days but once I got through the beginners guitar book my friend Ada lent me,  I found it harder to know what to practice.  I ended up trying to perfect the C- Am-F-G progression which I’m still working on… I’m not quick enough with my transition between the chords yet but I’m not gonna stop just yet ;).  There’s definitely a newfound appreciation of guitarists and string instrument players in general!

Secondly, I want to thank Soph for the Liebster Blog Award!  The Liebster Blog Award is for blogs with less than 200 followers, allowing for lesser known blogs to be appreciated and recognised.  [I must just quickly interject here to say that my blog follower count on the right ---> is a bit deceptive... somehow, since these blog posts are automatically publicized on my Facebook page, WordPress includes the number of 'friends' I have from there as well... in reality, I have 26 WordPress blog followers and 3 E-mail blog followers = 29 followers though not including those through RSS feed... so much less than 200!]

I met Soph in real life through a friend of a friend back in 2009 (that’s when we think it was) and I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with her via Twitter and other social media mediums since then until we met again in real life before her trip overseas.  I love the way she writes as well and always appreciates it when she visits so go over there and give her some blog lovin’.

1. 6ixx - choir buddy since primary school; she’s the one who inspired me to start a blog way back in 2008
2. Mama Bea’s - best baker her age that I know; I know who is creating my wedding cake one day ;)
3. Vintage Pearl – another real-life-friend-turned-blogger; love Hannah’s quirky style and love for all things vintage!
4. Imani – Rosie’s a new blogger too and her blog posts always challenge me to look deeper than the surface
5. Lydia {takes pictures} – always inspires me to get out there and make better use of my DSLR :)

It was difficult choosing just five so I wanted to also give Honourable Mentions to bloggers who already have an established fan base but that I HEART as well :)

• Lorraine from Late To The Party – she’s amazing.  Go join the party!
• Amy from My Infernal Journal - mum to be (again), avid reader and resident author of Chapterhouse Lane
• Chessie from Chester the Best-er - one of the most  awesome-est chickadees on the blogwaves; ’nuf said.
• Ms I-Hua of The Chronicles of Ms I-Hua - seasoned food blogger and the first food blog that I really followed seriously
• Winston from The Hungry Excavator - keep an eye out for this young rising star on the Melb food blog circuit… he’s making waves already ;)

I better stop there as I could go on and on about the amazing people I’ve ‘met’ through blogging, it’s been a pleasure :).

Now moving on to the really big announcement!

If you have been following this blog, you would have known that I began a Daniel fast last month which meant fasting from meat, bread and sugar.  There was a lot of time for personal reflection (and new cooking experiments!) and one of the things that came out of it was this new foodie idea/project/initiative…

Click through to find out what it is all about and I hope you can join in too.

And one final announcement, whilst on the fast, I also gave thought to taking a new direction with my old blog.  I’ve decided to open it up to a wider audience now (though not yet confident enough to post them directly to Facebook) so you’ll find the button on the right sidebar and I’ll give updates here every once and a while :).  I hope to have special posts on Fridays to feature a book, song, quote or anything else that has inspired me but this Friday (tomorrow) I’ll be develing deeper into the idea behind the ‘Eat Out: Help Out’ project and how it’s going to work.

OK, I better hit the sack with an optimistic plan to go to the gym before the last day of work tomorrow :D.

♥ Ames

SO, we arranged that make up tutorial that I mentioned earlier and she gave me a basic formula that I can somewhat pull off in 10-15 mins every other morning :D.  One of the items she recommended to me was NARS Blush/Bronzer Duo.

Mookxi estimated that it would generally retail for $54.00 AUD (do we put the currency before or after the $ sign?) so she suggested I buy it online.  Ebay = ~ $40.00 AUD brand new including postage and of course I had to get the one with the free nail polish hehe.  Lol, now I know what you are thinking (well, I think I do!)… you are thinking, “What?!  I signed up for recipes and foodie reviews!  What’s this stuff about make up?”

WELL, as mentioned in the previous post, this isn’t strictly a food blog and though I have a backlog of food posts to write, I hope you’ll bear with me as I gush a little bit about my first make up online purchase :D. [However, you can skip to the bottom for a note about an upcoming foodie project!]

Firstly, let’s open the box:

Pretty-ful! (btw, if any future law firm recruiters see this post, I promise you I don't write like this anywhere else except on the blog!)

And open the lid (sounds like the ‘Jack in the Box’ nursery rhyme!):

The colour of the blush is called ‘Orgasm’ (hmmm…) and ‘Laguna’ for the bronzer.  When Mookxi tried it on my face the first time, I really liked how the natural flushed look the blush gave to my cheeks and the bronzer (as I’ve now learnt) helps create shadows and definition to your jaw line and cheekbones *nods knowledgeably*.

I probably should post a photo of me with the make up on but I’m currently in my PJs and have no intention of putting on make up at this time of the night! Hence, you’ll just have to trust me that it looks awesome with my skin tone :P.

I was also really pleased with the colour of the nail polish because not only does it match the blush colour, it gives a nice shine without being too obvious and bright for the workplace (not the most flattering photo of my thumb nail but this left-hander was having trouble taking a photo on the SLR with her right hand!):

I’m still of the mindset that makeup should be for special occasions/purposes rather than the norm BUT a bit of make up know-how probably is a good thing for the professional work environment :).  Give Mooki’s blog some love if you are interested in beauty products, ukulele covers and other nifty things!

♥ Ames

P.S. Check back soon for a new foodie project/initiative that I’m launching in a few days!  This idea has been bubbling away for the last few weeks… the hint: linking the love of food with the love for those in need :).  Ames over and out!

After a recent comment on the first food date I had with my Cannon 550D, I was reminded of the time I had the pleasure of Ms. MoreBlindDates’ company.  We met more recently over an orange juice and coffee at 330 Briks, but I’ve had the photos from our visit to Auction Rooms’ lesser known neighbour, Fandango, sitting in my Lightroom catalogue for way too long…

It was a cold wintery day in Melbourne post-exams and Ms MoreBlindDates had chosen Fandango for our catch-up spot.  I’d never heard of Fandango before but had been warned to get there early…

Fandango is the unassuming cafe next to the Salon and just one shop down from Auction Rooms (the blue building on the right):

I was a bit late for our scheduled 9am breakfast but I’m glad Ms. MoreBlindDates got there first as the tables were mostly taken when I walked in.  ’Fandango’ is the name of a lively Spanish couples dance (so says Wiki) so perhaps that’s why the cafe was made up of mainly tables for two (about 4) and one larger table for four.  We sat closest to the bar on the communal table (and I’m not sure why I felt I needed to tell you that…).

Anyway,  we placed our breakfast orders and as I was going through my chai tea phase, I ordered one while Ms. MoreBlindDates ordered a latte(?)… In the past, I’ve had my chai tea either takeaway or in a glass cup (as in Seven Seeds) so imagine my surprise when the waitress put this in front of me:

I had to double-check she’d heard my order right but had secretly fallen in love with the little teapot cover already (I enjoyed drizzling some honey each time I refilled my cup as well)!

Soon enough our hearty breakfast came:

I had done a bit of research on Urbanspoon beforehand and many had recommended the Beetroot Feta Eggs (can’t remember the price, sorry!) so I knew I just had to try it!  Firstly, the colour of the beetroot was just beautiful!  It made me happy just looking at it :D.  The beetroot feta combination was great and the eggs were poached perfectly.  The spinach and sourdough bread matched well but the winner by far was the extra pot of mushrooms that I ordered alongside:

SOOOOOOO good!  When I first bit into one, the juices just exploded in my mouth and I must have made such a fuss about it that Ms. MoreBlindDates grabbed one and had the same (well almost) reaction!  It was kind of sweet too but not in the sugary kind of way… just the natural flavours with the slight charring on the grill. Definitely get the mushrooms if you visit!

Ms. MoreBlindDates ordered the French Toast:

She declared it pretty good and I liked it too after I stole a bite (when I wasn’t scoffing down the mushrooms!).  If I recall correctly, I think she thought the bacon was a bit crisper than she normally liked it but the toast itself and the apple accompaniment were very yummy!

The staff are very friendly and there’s a nice ambience to the place :).  Definitely get there early or you may be waiting a while for a seat.

♥ Ames

P.S. I just wanted to say welcome to a couple of new readers who subscribed over the last few days – WELCOME!  It’s always a good feeling to know that people actually enjoy your posts enough to click ‘Follow’ and ‘Like’ and I’m also humbled to have just come to the realisation that I was listed as a food blog on where’s the beef? after I got a few clicks from there recently!  This is not strictly a food blog but I do write often about food since most family and friend gatherings involve sitting around a table of good food hehe – SO, a big shout out of thanks to the guys at where’s the beef? and The Hungry Excavator for adding me to their list :).

Easy Zucchini and Rice Slice

Taken from Coles Summer Magazine 2012, page 49 :)

Serve 4

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 250g pkt microwave long grain white rice
• 3/4 grated cheddar cheese
• 2 zucchini, trimmed and grated
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 3 spring onions, chopped

Method

• Preheat oven to 190°C or 170°C fan.  Line a 20cm square pan with baking paper.
• Lightly whisk eggs in a large bowl.  Add rice, cheese, zucchini, peas and spring onions.  Mix to combine.
  • ADDITION:  A friend gave this a go recently and recommended that you add a bit of salt for more flavour.

• Pour into prepared pan, smooth top with a spatula.

• Bake for 30-35 mins or until set.  Enjoy!

Ta-da! Easy, right?

It was delicious and the family loved it :).  The zucchini keeps it moist and the cheese adds a bit of saltiness.

The recipe suggested to pack some grape tomatoes and a few slices for lunch…I think I’m going to bring some tomorrow!

♥ Ames

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!

It’s only fitting that I spend a few moments to say how much I love being an Australian.  I love our tendencies to fight for the underdog and the general consensus that everyone should be given a ‘fair go’.  I love the fact that we’re so multicultural (well, Melbourne more than most – IMO) and have large parks in the middle of the city.  I love how I can enjoy days at the beach and road trips to wide open spaces in the country and yet feel at home in the hustle and bustle of the CBD.  I’m proud of my Australian accent and love it when I’m told how strong it is hehe.  I’m so glad I was born and raised in the ‘land down under’ and no matter where I travel to in the world, Australia (and specifically Melbourne) will always be home :).

Having expressed my patriotism, I also have to say how much I love my Chinese heritage and background.  And of course, that’s the cue for me to say a belated, Gong Hei Fatt Choy (Cantonese) or Happy Chinese New Year (CNY)!  I guess it’s not that belated given that celebrations traditionally go on for 2 weeks.  CNY is all about family and gathering together to give thanks for the past year and then wish each other well for the year ahead.  Our CNY celebrations have taken different forms over the years and it’s never quite certain who will we have around the table, but you can always be guaranteed that it’s always over lots, and lots of good food!

Take 1: Family Dinner on Friday Night

We went Viet-style with some amazing food that my very talented Aunty cooked for us.

What's happening here...?

Spring Rolls of course :D

Banh Xeo galore...

Too much food!

Take 2: CNY Festival on Saturday (Box Hill)

When you’ve been once to a CNY Festival, you’ve been to them all really.  This was a bit of a spur of the moment thing but it is nice to go for the festive atmosphere.

We had a friend who was working at one of the stalls and she gave us complimentary Twirly Korean-style potatoes!

WIN!

No CNY Festival is complete without…

... a fresh sugarcane drink and beef or pork jerky!

I should just take the time now to say that I failed to abstain from meat over the CNY weekend :(.  Meat just seemed to be in every dish at our family dinner and I didn’t want to offend the cook by not eating anything she made… I changed to a partial fast the following day – hence my excuse to eat some jerky! I did get back on the bandwagon after CNY though (lol, I don’t know why I feel like I always have to justify myself on this blog!)…

Take 3: Church Family Dinner on CNY Eve

Everyone was to bring a dish so I helped mum put together Yee Sang which I think has it’s origins in Singapore or Malaysia:

I will be sharing the recipe for this soon too!

This was the seafood and nut free one we had for the kids but I love this photo :)

Nothing gets better than homemade dumplings except when you make the skin too...

Lots of helpers :)

Ta-Da!

some more viet food...

Savoury

Sweets

And Chinese New Year would not be complete without receiving red pockets from the relos!

Looking forward to giving out my own one day ;).

Hope those who celebrate CNY enjoyed and continue to enjoy the Year of the Dragon and for all those Aussies readers out there, Happy Australia Day once again!  Hope you make the most of the public holiday :).

TTFN!

♥ Ames

As previously mentioned, I’ve been attempting to re-learn the guitar for at least the last 10 years and in the last 10 days I’ve learnt: 9 chords, 2 scales and 4 songs that I can somewhat comfortably pick away at (Silent Night, Morning Has Broken, Amazing Grace, Waltzing Matilda)! Pretty happy with the progress though I’m developing calluses on my fingers (as should have been expected). It’s funny how I’ve been so precious about my fingers all my piano-playing life and now I’m purposely causing them pain… oh well, ‘no pain, no gain’ right?

Alongside this little challenge, I’ve been diligently eating only fruit and vege (though I ate two pieces of bread out of desperation since there was next to nothing without bread at one of those catered lunches!), I’ve been coffee-free, tried out lots of new recipes, got my gym program all set and going, started a new job, gone to Boot Camp once in the Flagstaff Gardens (so great to workout outdoors and run around the greenery!), watched Hugo (mmm, wasn’t the greatest), had a water balloon fight with my bro plus done a massive overhaul of my wardrobe, bookshelf and room in general. 2012 hasn’t started off that bad after all ;).

One lesson I’ve learnt is that less is more. I think it’s very easy to fall into the habit of accumulating more things, wanting the latest gadget or fashion. However, at the end of the day, it’s all just ‘stuff’. And stuff takes up a lot of room – my bedroom can vouch for that lol. I’m not against acquiring new items (I just invested in some new makeup thanks to Mookxi‘s suggestions) but I think it has to be balanced with giving away of either things we don’t use anymore or things that we can bless others with. In particular, cleaning out my room has made me evaluate: exactly how much of my resources and time do I spend on myself and those I care about compared with how much I spend on people who could never pay me back in return…?

Food for thought.

Lol, sorry this went in a more philosophical direction than I intended. This was really just an update on my progress and a note to say that I MISS YOUR FACES – such a Lor thing to say ;). I miss blogging – I guess you never realise how much something has become a part of your life until it is gone. So I figured, that since I have been a good girl with the guitar playing I don’t really need to bane myself from the blog… right??? I don’t think I’ll be doing proper reviews until after this 30 day challenge is complete but I may drop by everyone once in a while ;).

Hope your 2012 has been just as amazing!

♥ Ames

I’m going to give it a try.

1. I’m going to try to NOT blog or Facebook for 30 days lol so that I can learn to play the guitar in 30 days.  Learning to play the guitar has been on my ‘to-do list’ since forever and though I’ve tried many times, I seem to always find something else to do rather than practice it.  SO, every time I’m inclined to blog or check facebook, I’m going to go and pick up the guitar (and try to do that every other day too). —> REVISED: I fell through on the self-bane from Facebook on 15th Jan however, will attempt to resist blogging until the 30 days are up!
2. I’m also going to try being a vegetarian for 30 days which is also apart of a ‘Daniel fast’ I’m doing until the end of January.  This will be tough since my family always jokes about how I always need my meat lol!

What would you like to try for 30 days? (I won’t be replying comments for the next 30 days but I’d be interested to hear your ideas)

Have a great 30 days then, everyone!  I’ll see you on the other side ;).

♥ Ames