Valentine's Day and Baia The Italian

Happy (one month late) Valentine's Day everyone!
I've been waiting to share my Valentine's day experience with everyone (:! So very behind on posts x)!

 Just a little something I was prepared, a little surprise after he drove me home! I started baking and making the goodies one week in advance to allow time for errors :P . I made Chocolate dipped marshmallows pops, crystal rock candy, vanilla melting moments(biscuits) and some random vanilla cookies. Everything wrapped and decorated with purple and white. Ron keeps opening them, looking, then closing them but he hasn't tasted it yet >: . Boooo! Doom on you! Doom on you! He better like it! >:)

chocolate dipped marshmallow pops are ready to go!

rock candy is growing, day 2

 Crystal Rock Candy

 This turned out better than I expected. Even though these sugar crystals had to be chiselled out of the jars because the crystals grew onto the jars too.

Box of wrapped goodies for Ronald McDonald Weasley!

This year was my turn to decide on a place to eat, so I quickly settled with Baia on Darling Harbour. I reckon it's a great place to hold a special dinner, for that special someone ;) because of the marvellous night/sunset view of the harbour and also Baia's great food is worth the note. 

Ron was surprised. He thought I'd simply go for a dessert store instead -.- . We were offered the chance to sit outside and feel the cool evening breeze, or to dine inside where's it's cosy and dim lit. Of course I had to go with the more intimate seats inside.

We seriously did not know what to pick because everything on the menu was soo tasty and by then (7:00pm) we were starving our butts off! So I ended up with Pappardelle al Granchio (Pasta with Arctic Crab). This was my second time having this dish! I love it because of the yummy sauce, it's a rich tomato with spicy chilli in it. When I first saw the two flavours I thought.. chilli and tomato? No go. But then I decided to have a try. It ACTUALLY tasted good, if you're a chilli lover, you will love this dish!

While Ron chose the Lasagna alla Paesana (traditional lasagna), which tasted alright like lasagnas from other Italian stores.

Happy Ron!

 Gift/card exchanging time! 

Happy me!

I was astonished when I saw what he got me :D. "Aww you shouldn't have!" While the little tien inside my head was screaming "YESSSS!!! My one and only, first Bobbi Brown thing!"

Bobbi Brown Bellini palette
(with mirror(top rectangle))

What gorgeous neutral colours! I lurrrvveee it!

Pretty pink lip glosses!

Fine One One by Benefit

All in one, Blush, cheek toner, cheek highlighter
(can be used as a lip stain)

both items were boxed in this cute box :3

 I will not use either of these products! They are soo precious to me! ): Too precious! I will furnish it in my mini make up gallery at home.

Din Tai Fung

On a few occasions my friends and I have decided to try Din Tai Fung because it's been around for a while and has received good reviews on many websites. Din Tai Fung first opened in Taipei and now there are two restaurants in the heart of Sydney! We tried the one in city Westfields, on the food court level.

 I was quite delighted when I saw the ordering system, you simply grab this ordering page and tick in the boxes the yummy things you want. I quite like how the chefs work their dumpling magic behind a glass screen, so we can see how well and clean they are. I am quite impressed with how clean and tidy this store looks. They are generous with packaging and plastics, you can get soy sauce in these little, cute plastic bottles with a red cap, or chilli oil in a handy snap container...and even their ginger were bagged in little individual zip lock bags. (Yes, wanting to bag some cute soy sauce bottles did cross my mind hahaha).

 Here are some photos from two trips to Din Tai Fung in Westfields:

Hot & Sour Soup

 This soup tasted similar to shark fin soup, except it was slightly more sour and hot... not much though. I would prefer it if the soup represented it's name. If only it was a tiny bit more sour and spicy, then I could eat this for days :D.

Mango Pudding

 I really, really, really like their mango pudding! It has these yummy coconut fibre bits in there too! This is probably my favourite item from Din Tai Fung (since I have a friggin huge sweet tooth). For those who don't like pudding, maybe this one will change your mind.

Vegetarian Dumplings

 These taste pretty good! This place lives up to it's name, the dumplings are just right. Not too much meat and not too much flour. Soft flour, I like!

 Just an aside, they cook their rice really well ( as silly as judging rice sounds), each granule is not soggy and it still retains most of the rice's plump texture. Feed me more rice plezzz. Nomnomnom!

Veggie Delight

 Their so called signature "Veggie Delight" dish is not a stand out, it was okay to have but it's not a dish I would return to this stall for. It kind of reminds me of those little side noodles you get with the Japanese bentos.

Pork and Green Beans

 Tasty. I would have this dish again. However, the servings are not that generous considering the fact that they are just green beans.

Spicy Sesame Noodles

 Tasty for the first few minutes, too creamy in a sickening way afterwards. I could not even finish these noodles. The noodles themselves are well made though. Perhaps I should have tried the noodles in a different sauce/soup.

Prawn and Pork wonton in Spicy Sauce

These are nice, even the spicy sauce is nice. The sauce is not too intense, which goes well with the already slightly salted wontons. (:

I would certainly recommend this place! I haven't tried the bigger Din Tai Fung at World Square, but I know will be just as nice (if not even nicer).

Have a try!

Sydney Fish Market Excursion!

Hi guys!
Have you ever been to the Sydney Fish Market before? Who am I kidding, everyone in Sydney probably has. We've probably been dragged there when we were small or maybe some of us venture there to fulfill our tastebud's curiosity.

Anyways, I managed to drag myself out of bed extremely early today to take a little trip down to the fish market before uni started. I don't remember the last time I visited this so called famous fish zone, so the trip was new and pretty exhilarating for me. I never travelled to the fishing zone  by myself before, nor have I ever caught the Sydney Light Rail alone, but thank goodness for my multi2 pass. You beauty! Anyway, I boarded the 'tram' outside Capital Square and took it on a beautiful route pass Exhibition Centre, The Star and reached Sydney Fish Market in a matter of 15 minutes I think. After that, the little 7 minute walk to the big centre was not that hard to find since there were arrows and pointers along the way.

There were many stores selling fresh seafood catches, to casual restaurants tempting customers with a choice of fried/bbq/fresh seafood. I do not remember why I didn't take a photo of the entrance :/ . All the seafood looked really fresh, and relatively larger than the creatures sold in the local market eg Cabramatta. I spotted these prawns that were the size of my whole hand, some of them were even bigger. They were BIG ASS PRAWNS.

prawns of some sort

Salmon, sashimi

 I was craving sashimi, so I bought a slab, they sliced it and sold it by weight. This piece came down to roughly $12, which is really good value compared to sushi trains or Sushihub.

Scallop salad? I forgot & Sashimi

 What else did I find at this large sea life aquarium?

Huge King Crabs

 Aww why do all of them face away from people? Okay guilty feeling. Poor sea creatures. But they taste soo good )):: . It's not as if I have seafood on a regular basis anyways.

Red lobsters! So red they look fake!

Some takeaway for luncheonz! Half BBQ octopus in a tasty herb/lemon marinade and fried baby squid in salt/pepper/ garlic (also very tasty). I really want to replicate both dishes (: .  

Fried Squid, BBQ octopus

 Coming to the Fish markets at around 10:30 to 11am is a good time. Me likeyy!

Cream Tangerine

Flashback to Australia Day!

Where do I begin? I was invited to Cream Tangerine thanks to Vivian (@  adelaidecravings.blogspot.com.au )  and Trisha. This was a very exciting opportunity to welcome Australia Day on a brilliant, sun deck roof of the Grand Swiss Hotel. This roof top looked out towards the Bondi Beach and the not so clear sky that day, unfortunately.  

View from balcony

However, the gloomy weather did not stop Viv and I from enjoying the great view, food, music and 'FAMOUS' set-up. (Yes, the party was sponsored by Famous magazine and it was very hard to not see this theme being plastered on everywall and stage.) We arrived there early, so we had the chance to try out their delicious variety of BBQ sausages. After that day, I now know that Chorizo sausages accompanied with tomato relish is deeelish! I made not one, but two trips back to the bbq zone :S . What can I say, I was fuelling my energy for the so called 'mosh pitt'. There was a DJ, with a nice little area for the mosh pitt in front  (it's just a dance floor, but I like the sound of mosh pitt better hahaha) and this area led up to a summery bar.

Stairs lead up to a bar

When I stood up there, I did feel like a star. The casual onlookers from the main shopping floor kept looking up to see where the music was coming from and why there were so many people (who arrived later on, during the day). On another note, I really love the fake grass that covered the ground, it was very very green and easy on the feet. Anyways, I really enjoyed having a catch up chat with my sweet friend Vivian, whilst enjoying the view, chill music, BBQ and gossing over the magazines. 

Vivian & I

We also received these two coins for complementary cocktails and a ticket for a goodie bag(which was filled with great stuff, like phone cases, perfume, spray tan and much more). 

Pirate Coins Arrr!, Goodie Voucher, Access Band 

 In the Afternoon, we hit the dance floor and joined the crowd. The DJ was great, he mixed some old school   hits to fresh songs that everyone loves like "Everyday People" by Arrested Development to "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia. It was fun to dance amongst people who were really into the music, they started dancing using the Hawaiian wreaths and some guy even danced with a toy flamingo hahaha (that made my day). But I was surprised that no one jumped into the little fountain/ mini pool adorned with floaties yet.

We left the party early, but I really wonder how much more the party would've kicked off during the night, when the fireworks were launched. It must've been even crazier than the guy with the flamingo!

Anyway, it was a very special day! I've never experienced anything quite like that before! (:

Beauty Haul!

 Hello there!

 Let me start off with a little showcase of these lovely lipsticks! My mum's friend, who works at the pharmacy, gave these amazing lip colours to me! MANY Thanks! 

Lancome Color Fever Lipsticks

close up

#300 Pink Drip (Sparkles series)    &    #334 Lancome Rose (Cream series)

Pink Drip (bottom) & Lancome Rose (top)  -Without flash

Pink Drip (Sparkles)

Lancome Rose (Cream)

My review: 

The Pink Drip was slightly more moisturising than the Lancome Rose, as the Rose was more matte and pigmented. The Pink works well as a gloss with a subtle, beautiful pink hue with gold sparkly glitter detail. I quite like the colour, although it is a lipstick, the light pink colour is versatile enough for every work wear. 

I absolutely adore the Rose cream since it's a very vivid and light fuschia colour (the bright fuchsia is not very apparent in this shot). This colour contrasts against your teeth to give it a whiter appearance. However, you have to have reasonable soft, non-flaky dry lips to wear the Rose since chapped lips are a no-go with the pigmented cream. 

I prefer this stick because it makes my teeth look whiter! ^ ^

Ooh la la! Such a cute palette (: . Many thanks for this palette! Forever grateful! I have yet to try this one though, waiting until mum uses it first xD .

Napoleon Perdis Prismatic Eye Shadow Quad - 1

purrdyy!

Now for some more products :D ! Hurray!!

I am still very excited! I just received some more goods in the mail today. Woohoo for online buys!

Here are some photos, reviews on all soon!

TonyMoly Intense Care Snail BB Cream

Easy squirt nozzle

Etude House Collagen Eye Patch

Baviphat Juicy Mask Sheet (Strawberry)

I can't wait to try these out! 

Also the other day I went to Darling Harbour, Harbourside shops and followed a sweet scent all the way into a candle/scent oil store. The store sold natural candles, scent stones, scent oils and they are all Australian made. I grabbed three 'Scentlogs', which are scented waxy sticks that are to be melted on top of an aromatherapy burner. Apparently you only need to cut off a small section of the log to melt, which means I can mix and combine different scents (like a potion :D ). I took a long time sniffing up all the 30 or 40 different scents.. and an even longer time choosing which three sticks to buy. I ended up picking Honey Suckle (apparently purchased the most), Mango and Pomegranate(for my sister). I didn't even need to melt the sticks before my room was engulfed in the sweet Honey Suckle aroma, I only left the pure bar on the table for 30min. I quite like these sticks. 

Scentlogs in Honey Suckle and Mango

Just a little aside, if you guys ever go to Harbourside stores, you should try a Chewy Strawberry Bonbon at the British Lolly Shop (second floor). I am hooked on these chewies *guiltily stares at my jelly tummy*, it's worth it ;) .

Chewy Strawberry Bonbons

Anyway, thanks for surviving through my not so professional photos!

Red Sichuan (Canley Vale)

We (Mai and I) tried out Red Sichuan in Canley Vale for the first time. The Red Sichuan was established a while ago, but we never really ventured in there because they always had a few customers, even on a busy night like Saturday night. We were the only ones at that time... and it was already 7pm. But who am I to be judging them based on their customer count haha.. We ordered the Summer salad, Chicken salad, Bean curd  noodle Salad and the Vegetable pan fried dumplings.

Summer Salad

Chicken Salad

Vegetable Pan Fried Dumplings

Bean Curd Noodle Salad

 Firstly, let me just start by saying the SUMMER SALAD IS AMAZING! I love it! From start til end I could not have enough of it! The unique Sichuan flavoured dressing tasted great with that chilli and garlic flavour.

 On the other hand, the Chicken Salad and Bean Curd Salad tasted mediocre. I can sort of taste the flavour in the Chicken Salad, however, it isn't that strong as I would've liked it. I do prefer the signature "mouth-watering chicken" dish from other Sichuan stores over this salad. The Bean curd salad tasted quite plain as well, it was only slightly salty and the herbs on top mildy flavours this dish only.

The pan fried dumplings were quite nice, they didn't live up to my expectations though. The dough on the outside tasted very soft yet crunchy and I really admired that. The filling didn't taste that nice though, it tasted rather stale. This plate took the longest to make, it was quite sad that we almost finished the other salads before this dish came out. I'm not sure if they hand-make these daily because we had to wait about 15-20 minutes for it.

I would only recommend the Summer Salad.

That is all for today (: !

Scavenge for desserts!

Thursday night - Desserting with Mai (my little sister)! After having dinner at Thainamic, (sadly I forgot to take photos of our meals) we went on a little walk down the road for a decent dessert cafe. Unfortunately there isn't much to choose from in Canley Vale. We settled with Little Star, a relatively expensive store compared to the dessert cafes in Canley Heights.
I ordered ice cream in pineapple! I chose two ice cream flavours: Lychee and Thai Milk Tea. 

Ice cream in pineapple

 The ice cream tasted average, like something you could get from any Asian gelato stores. However, they had Thai milk tea flavour which is hard to find. When I finished the ice creams, I munched on the fruit salad of watermelon and pineapples underneath all that ice cream. (: I guess this was worth it for $11.50.
My sis ordered an iced coffee, it was an average one with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. However, it was a generous serving, a really big glass of it. 

Mai Tran the pretty :3
eagerly waiting for the ice coffee!
(my sister)

 demolished, empty pineapple shell
(me)

 Apparently we look like twins hehehe! 

Friday Night-Ron (my little cute guinea pig, jokes, my adorable boyfriend) and I hit up Max Brenner at Macquarie Center. We chose the Chocolate Fondue for two and a chocolate Soufflé! The chocolate dips- just delicious - as usual. The strawberries were slightly sour that day :/, anyway the delicious milk chocolate dip made up for it.

Fondue for two

Chocolate soufflé 

 This cake is very rich in chocolate and it has a very soft and super rich centre! I am not a big fan of this cake though because I thought the outer rim of the cake tasted a bit crumbly and not that moist. I prefer Lindt's Chocolate Lava Cake, which tastes similar but is more moist and rich.

That is all for today (:, I hope I put you all in the mood for dessert >: ) !