A week in photos

I'm back with more instagram snaps from the past week!

Had a dim sum date with M and L, who were coincidentally both dressed in florals. It was nice to finally see them. All of us live within a 10 minute walk of each other yet we hardly meet up at all. Yummy food, good conversation, lovely company- I couldn't ask for more. And of course, you can't have dim sum without mango pudding ;)

Christmas shopping with D. As you can tell, we took a lot of eating breaks. Coffee at Seven Seeds, followed by what D calls "flat noodles" (really char kway teow) and blood red raspberry gelato. I was less adventurous and had vanilla or something; so unadventurous I can't even remember what it was.

Taking time to enjoy the warmer weather at the outdoor cinema along Lygon Street and at St Kilda beach. I've recently had this fear that I'm going to get melanoma but it seems like my fear of being white and pasty overrides that because I just can't stop baking myself in the sun.

Lastly, a pho dinner at Hung Vuong in Footscray. I've been there many times and have never been disappointed. The place is so popular that by the time we got there at 8, they had run out of beansprouts and some of the other pho combinations. I also love the banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) from another shop around the corner, but I usually get that for lunch.

Hung Vuong
128 Hopkins St
Footscray, VIC 3011

A very food-filled week indeed!

Drove to Lakes Entrance a couple days ago, which is about 300km east of Melbourne. It was beautiful, but I'll post just one scenery photo because any more would bore the heck out of you. There are a few more photos posted on Instagram (if anyone's interested, the link is on the right) of things like dead crabs, pelicans, a motel Shar Pei, and little ol' me against vast mountain backdrops. I'd say the drive is worth it just to get out of the city and breathe some fresh air. The only downside is that if you spend the entire drive listening to the radio, you will inevitably get annoying songs stuck in your head. Songs with words like "I have died every day waiiiiting for you", "You could be my it girl, baby you're the shit girl, loving you could be a crime", and "I only miss you when I'm breathing, I only need you when my heart is beating". Ok that's enough *rolls eyes*

My advice? Listen to your own music. But jokes aside, it is a lovely place. You also get to pass through and check out all the small towns on the way, which actually kept reminding me of Hart of Dixie, a show I've been obsessed with that's not coming back until the END OF JANUARY! *distressed*

I'm going off on tangents far too much in this post. Time to head to Vic Mart to get some fish and fruits! Oh, and to hunt for some polenta/cornmeal (I think they're the same thing?) to make corn muffins. I've been craving some for ages.

Another "week in photos" post coming up soon!

Oh please, say to me

“Other bands, it’s about sex. Or pain. Or some fantasy. But The Beatles, they knew what they were doing. You know the reason The Beatles made it so big? ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ First single. F*cking brilliant. Perhaps the most f*cking brilliant song ever written. Because they nailed it. That’s what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have such a feeling that they can’t hide. Every single successful love song of the past fifty years can be traced back to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’. And every single successful love story has those unbearable and unbearably exciting moments of hand-holding."

- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist


And of course, the original, which needs to introduction. Always, always, always puts a smile on my face.

A week in photos

Craft shopping, Christmas nail painting, vegetable roasting and muffin making!

Cutie pie Poppy and his dog house.

An early Christmas dinner at T's.

Beautiful skies. First shot taken while jogging by the Yarra, second one taken from my balcony. One of many times I wished I could take photos with my eyes. What I saw was so amazing, infinitely better than what any camera could ever capture.

Since Christmas is fast upon us, it's only appropriate that I dress like a candy cane.

Took on the role of a tradie (all of them have tattoos; I fit right in!) and that was the view from where I stood.

The bar at Joomak, a Korean restaurant where I had quite possibly the best beef bulgolgi I've ever had in my life (not that I'm a bulgolgi connoisseur or anything). They had really cute booths that I presume are fashioned after traditional Korean houses but unfortunately those were all full.

Joomak
Basement 407-409 Swanston St
Melbourne VIC 3000

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”

— Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Obsessions

Some photos of what I've cooked recently. I realise I go through crazes, phases, obsessions? Can't really think of the right word. First it was guitar playing; I could spend the entire day in my room strumming the guitar. I still sound terrible, and if I plan on becoming a rock star, I still have a long, long, loooooong way to go. On the bright side, I've definitely improved, and I don't plan to stop practising anytime soon. You know what they say, practice makes perfect...

Next it was cooking. I trawled the internet for recipes, clicked my way through tonnes of food blogs, wasted significant amounts of ingredients when things didn't turn out quite right, confused my poor little brain while dealing with the conversion of American measurements to metric measurements, but also had a whole lot of fun in the kitchen. Chopping, stirring, kneading, and even washing the dishes is strangely therapeutic.

My current obsession has been running. Sometimes I like to pretend I lead a healthy lifestyle. This week's most definitely one of those times. I've run close to 30km this week; quite a feat for someone who used to consistently fail 2.4km runs in secondary school. The cool Melbourne weather certainly helps, as does having a friend run with you.

I wonder what I'll get up to next week...

Beatbox Kitchen

I'm pretty sure many Melburnians have tried the food at, or at least heard of, Beatbox Kitchen- a moving burger van whose location can only be tracked via its Twitter and Facebook feeds, usually less than 24 hours before they park their van and start serving up.

I, for one, had been following Beatbox Kitchen (and the Taco Truck, owned by the same people) on Facebook and Twitter for quite a while, but had never gone to try their food. Today I was in the car, scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I realised the Beatbox Kitchen was going to be a few streets from where I was in a mere 10 minutes!

I got the Raph burger, named after owner Raph Rashid. The burger was pretty good, but I reckon what keeps people coming back is the spontaneity and "cool factor" of the whole experience. I know I'd definitely be back for more.

I also spotted this cool guy one of the walls next to where the van was parked. I'm absolutely in love with Melbourne street art, but that's another post for another day.

Beatbox Kitchen - Facebook // Twitter
Taco Truck - Facebook

A week in photos

One of my favourite iphone apps is instagram; I don't think I go a single day without uploading a photo. Here are some of my instagram photos from this week.

Coffee date at Seven Seeds. To be honest the only thing I've tried is their iced chocolate. It's beyond delicious so I just get the same thing every time. Might be a good idea to venture out and try some other things on their menu. People rave about their coffees, but since I'm not much of a coffee person I may try some of their food next time instead.

Seven Seeds
106-114 Berkeley St
Carlton VIC 3053
http://www.sevenseeds.com.au/

Views from A's place. November storms and me... pretending to be the queen of the world ;)

A shot taken while shopping at Sportsgirl. Their store displays never fail to amaze me. I must say their visual merchandising team is brilliant, which is probably why people like me, who are suckers for packaging, always end up spending a bomb.

And of course, after shopping up a storm, nothing's better than a hot bowl of ramen on a "it's already November, why is it still so ridiculously cold?!" night.

Ito Japanese Noodle Cafe
122 Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Cookie crazy

Spent my Monday morning in true granny style- baking cookies! Made salted butter chocolate chip cookies and cornflake cookies.

The taste of salted cookies takes a bit of getting used to. I don't know if I added too much salt (may have added about a half teaspoon extra, I wonder if that little makes a difference?) or if it's just my taste buds, but I found the cookies rather salty. My test subjects (hehe) thought they were fine though, so maybe it's just me.

COOKIE TOWER!

Cookie recipes here and here

Sunday best

Snaps from Camberwell market