Anak Anak Malaysia Taste Of Malaysia

Saturday, 26th August 2017

In conjunction of Merdeka Day on 31st August 2017, Eco World Group hosted the abovementioned event in South Yarra that day, inviting people to pop in for free Malaysian food.

What's not to love about free food, eh? :)

We arrived at the venue at noon and found the place backed with mostly Malaysians and Singaporeans. 

Upon entry, we were given our ticket cum food voucher which allowed us to select 4 items from each category. I thought it was pretty generous, hehe, but it might not be enough for some to have a full meal.

The choice of satay gave us 2 sticks and they were really delicious. The small square piece of murtabak was paled in comparison. As the satay was made on the spot, the stall always had the longest queue.

The kuih was a hit and miss. I was informed by the stall owner that the rainbow coloured kuih lapis was the Sarawak one but honestly, I don't recall Sarawak kuih lapis tasting so artificial. Perhaps it's due to the amount of colouring used for the kuih.

For the mains, we had the Mamak Mee Goreng and Curry Mee (not stated in the voucher) and both were good. We took home the Mamak Mee Goreng and had it for dinner. :D

I was pretty excited to spot Diana Chan, Masterchef Australia 2017 when she appeared to officiate the event. She held a cooking demo in the developer's office (indoors) so I wasn't there. I never knew she was so tall!

Later on, everyone had an opportunity to have their photo taken with her. We took the chance and I don't think I managed to say anything meaningful to her besides, "Congrats on your win!"

Screenshot of photos from Yarra One Apartment's Facebook page.

Brendan was very mesmerised by her. Diana did try to cajole him to smile but all he could do was look at her with googly eyes. :D

As for me, sigh, why didn't anyone tell me I needed a haircut and better fitting sweater?!

Right after the event, WH and I popped into Zumbo. We practically drooled over the selection but after deliberating for almost 30 minutes, we walked out with a very small purchase: 2 pieces for me and 3 for her. :D

The cheesecake looked really good!

I opted for the passion fruit tart (based on raving reviews) and salted caramel tart. I was sorely tempted to buy a piece of brownie as well but had to force myself to walk away.

The passion fruit tart turned out to be just so-so. Hmmm, I honestly can't remember how it tastes now, perhaps it wasn't tarty enough with passion fruit flavour. The salted caramel one was much better, but hehe, I'll have to say right now that the taste of Bibelot's salted caramel tart is the one that is stuck in my head right now!


Zumbo Patisserie
18 Claremont St
South Yarra, VIC 3141

Bibelot
285 - 287 Coventry St
South Melbourne, VIC 3205

So Much Eating And So Little Running

With the in-laws in town and with the weather a bit crazy every now and then, I haven't been running as much as I would have liked. I'm sure there is a way we can get around it and hopefully we'll get that started next week!

We drove up to Silvan last Saturday to check out the Tesselaar Tulip Festival. AT AUD$22 per entry, I thought it was very steep. I offered for the hubs and I to wait in the car while the in-laws went in but the MIL insisted everyone went in.

Thank goodness we had brought a picnic basket, otherwise we'd have to spend more money on food inside!

I made sure the PILs were right behind me. Heehee!

With rows and rows of brightly coloured tulips, the first one to capture my interest was the 'Queen of the Night'. So dark in colour and looking black at first glance, they are really just a deep shade of maroon.

My other favourite is the Rosalie, which is a pretty shade of purple.

The place was crowded and no one hesitated to pay the entrance fee (except us*). With temperature as high as 27'C, I suppose it was a beautiful day not to be wasted indoors.

*I offered for both the hubs and I to wait in the car while they went in to explore. :D

We spent two hours inside and eventually left the place, only to find ourselves at the National Rhododendron Garden where no entrance fee was required! We didn't manage to walk right to the end of the park as we turned back halfway through. 

The place was equally crowded and its parking area was filled with cars.

(I'm not much of a flower person but I now know what rhododendron and Chinese cedar are!)

Despite protests from the FIL not to stop by for pie, we did find drop by Pie in the Sky anyway. After driving so far, surely we had to stop at tourist traps spots to cross something off the list!

We ordered the Beef Curry, which was dry and lacked the spicy aroma one would expect from curry. It was instead rather salty and its meat wasn't tender. An extremely forgettable choice.

My favourite is definitely the Korma Chicken, and MIL thought it was nice as well. The minute I cut through the pie, its gravy oozed out, making it extremely inviting to dig in. I suspect its filling is almost creamy that makes it a delicious pie. It's a multiple gold award winner!

(I really hope I can try making it one day!)

Melbourne Eats: Eating Out in Mt Beauty

We spent the Queen's Birthday weekend in Mt Beauty with the main purpose of climbing up Mt Bogong. As Mt Beauty is a small town, there are a handful of eateries in the vicinity without the need to drive far.

On our drive up to Mt Beauty, we made a quick pit stop at The Provender Country Bakehouse in Yea for a light lunch, comprising of 2 pies and 1 coffee, and a sticky lemon passionfruit muffin to take away. I can't remember which pies we had, possibly a steak and cheese one and a veggie pastie. The coffee wasn't great, but the place was packed, as always!

We first stumbled upon this place when we were driving back from Bright (for the Razorback Run) and we liked their pies. The bakery has been a regular Great Aussie Pie Competition winner for years now, and you'll see a plague in the bakery stating just that.

Address: 56 High Street, Yea, VIC 3717.

Links: Trip Advisor

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Flour + Water

171 Kiewa Valley Highway

Tawonga South, VIC 3698

Links: Trip Advisor | Website

We were early for dinner!

We had dinner there on our 1st night and ordered a pizza and one of the specials. The roast pumpkin pizza was topped with pine nuts, feta and baby spinach and I enjoyed it very much.

The lighting doesn't do the food justice. :)

The special was creamy dreamy prawn linguine which was not very dreamy at all, in my opinion. It was bland and sure, there were a lot of prawns, but the sauce lacked depth. There was no prawn-y taste in the creamy sauce, as they may have been cooked separately and added later to the dish.

We shared a bottle of beer. With beer, wine and liquer, I was ready to fall into bed!

Melbourne Eats: Three Bags Full, Richmond

It is impossible to walk past cafes in Melbourne and not be curious about it. Why the queue, and why is the place packed? The food (and coffee) must definitely be good, then!

Earlier last Sunday morning, we were in Studley Park supporting a few friends who ran Race 1 of the Salomon Trail Series. (I took a few random photos at the event.) We were expecting to arrive at the cafe in time for brunch but we got there just as lunch hour began.

Three Bags Full

60 Nicholson Street

Abbotsford, VIC 3067

Links: Website | Facebook | Urbanspoon

The place was packed to the brim but we were lucky to get two seats at the high table. Not the best spot to admire the interior and sneak a few photos, but it had to do. :)

A round table for a big group.

A waitress came and took our order for drinks before our seats were even warm. Talk about fast service!

Melbourne Eats: Auction Rooms, North Melbourne

There was a lot of hype about this cafe some time back, and I vaguely remember reading about the place being packed and patrons having to queue for a bit before being seated. Oh, and not to mention that their coffee was great.

It has been a while since we ventured out into the city for a bit of a gastronomic adventure so we thought, what the heck, better get out there and try some place new. 

We were seated at one of the tables at the front window.

Auction Rooms
103 - 107 Errol Street
North Melbourne, VIC 3051
Links: Urbanspoon | Website | Facebook

We ordered a cappuccino and a latte, although we already had coffee in the morning. One has to taste the coffee due to its rave reviews, no?


I really must not order latte anymore because milky coffee is not what I want. The latte I was served with was more milk than espresso, and the cappuccino was no biggie. Hmmm.

Top: Cappuccino.
Bottom: Latte.

Our food came in huge plates. One of the items which we initially wanted to order had run out, so we decided to go with the today's special and a baby cos lettuce salad.

I felt like a real grown up eating fancy looking food!

 How utterly clueless I am! 

It goes to show that I don't eat out much. Bwahaha! :)

Is that a giant Caesar salad?

Melbourne Eats: Ditzy Dani's Cafe, Preston Market

We went to check out Preston Market last December, hoping to grab some decent priced seafood. We were told that it was pretty decent over there so how could we not be curious?

I found out that rainbow trouts and salmon are cheaper over there, compared to the usual fishmongers at Box Hill Centro. About AUD$10.99 per kg, I think?

Food wise, I wasn't sure what to expect. I found a couple of rave reviews for some of its eateries, but when we were actually there, I wasn't sure.

I was curious about Ditzy Dani's cafe Dutch pancakes but to my disappointment, they reminded me of kaya balls back home.

The choices were, maple syrup and butter, cream and lemon, or something like that.

But once they served us a plate with both of choices combined, we didn't know what to make of it.

So. Not. Impressed.

Meh.

A cannoli for AUD$1.50.

We shared a cannoli while waiting for our kaya balls Dutch pancakes and I'm not sure what I was expecting. The custard filling was bland and tasted more of cream. It needed a bit more sugar.

But what do I know!

Coffee was not impressive either.

Definitely a no go for us.

Melbourne Eats: Eating Out in Bright

Over the weekend in Bright for the Razorback Run that weekend in November 2013, we only ate at two places.

Il Centro Pizza House

94 Gavan Street

Bright, VIC 3741

Links: Urbanspoon 

We arrived in Bright in time for dinner and decided to fill up our tummies before making our way to our accommodation and race briefing.

We wandered around the city streets, not knowing where to go and what exactly our tummies felt like eating. We eventually settled for this place just because it was crowded. 



Shrimps, mushroom, bacon and ham pizza. I think.

Their choice of pasta was rather limited so we resorted to ordering a pizza and fish & chips.

Fish was supposed to be in beer batter, but we couldn't taste much of it. 

Despite it being busy and packed with customers, service was OK.

Our bill came to AUD$44.00 as we had some beer. Except for the pizza being a bit on the salty side, the meal was a forgettable one.

Melbourne Eats: Lim's Nyonya Hut, Glen Waverly

Disclaimer: Opinions are based on the dishes we had and does not reflect our view on its entire menu.

Lim's Nyonya Hut

240 Blackburn Road

Glen Waverly

VIC 3150

Websites: Facebook | Urbanspoon

It was one of those exhausted weekend nights where we craved for something Malaysian. A quick browse through Google for the nearest best char kuey teow, and upon checking its reviews on Urbanspoon, we made our way there.

Our first visit was at 8pm on a Sunday night (27th October 2013). We ordered their popular dishes, the char kuey teow and assam laksa.

Char Kuey Teow (AUD$9.80 or AUD$10.80, I don't remember).

It looked authentic enough, with evidence of some 'wok hei' (essence of high heat  cooking from the wok). There were three prawns and slivers of Chinese sausage in this dish.

It was decent enough for us to give it a 7.5/10. :)

The Assam Laksa (AUD$9.80 or AUD$10.80, I don't remember) is a Penang's local dish, a sour fish-based soup with thick rice noodles. The sour taste was there, and there was plenty of fish meat, although the broth was a wee bit on the sweet side.

Halfway through the dish, I was tired of the taste. Luckily I was sharing half of it with the hubby. I personally think the serving was too huge for one person and would be best shared.

Coffee pudding (AUD$4.50).

We shared a dessert, which was delightful. A bit like caramel pudding, but with a hint of sweet coffee. It also seemed like a local favourite among the patrons as we saw some of them ordering the same thing.

Sold at AUD$1.00 for 3 pieces.

The lady who served us that night offered us a free plate of onde-onde, a traditional Malay kuih. It is shredded gula melaka (palm sugar) wrapped with glutinous rice flour, coated with dessicated coconut.

It was lovely!

The burst of sweetness in the mouth was like a tiny piece of heaven.

Melbourne's First Night Noodle Markets

If you've been in Melbourne for so long and missing the hustle and bustle (and a variety of street food found in one area) of night markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and most Asian countries, make that trip down to Alexandra Gardens at 1 Boathouse Drive today, tomorrow or any day until November 30.

Calamari (AUD$10.00) from the Thanh Phong stall.
More information on them is available at Website | Urbanspoon

In conjunction of The Age's Good Food Month, the Night Noodle Markets gather around your favourite Melbourne eateries to rustle up your favourite Asian dish on the spot.

We were there on Saturday, 24th November 2013 after 7pm and the place was packed! 

Despite the gloomy skies and occasional showers, the weather did not deter everyone from having a good time with friends and family, and some hot food.

He doesn't need an umbrella, banana leaves are good enough for shelter!

There was a massive queue at some of the stalls so we walked around to observe the crowd and which stalls offered what.

Melbourne Eats: Bali Bagus, Muleta's and Perk Up Espresso Bar in CBD

Disclaimer: I'm not a food connoisseur nor a food blogger, so opinions and views are entirely our own and restricted only to the dishes we ordered. It's best to compare other reviews for a better picture.

Bali Bagus

85 Franklin Street
VIC 3000
Links: Facebook page | Urbanspoon

We wanted to try out Captain Melville's across from Bali Bagus but apparently the kitchen wasn't ready to serve. It was 12.15pm when we inquired, so it caught us by surprised when we were given the option to wait (30 minutes until they were ready to serve) or go some place else.

Saturday 7th September 2013.

It was empty when we arrived for lunch that weekend. The crowd slowly trickled in while we were midway through our lunch.

Browsing through the menu, there were plenty of dishes priced around AUD$10 and below. It was easy to see why this place was clearly a favourite among students or anyone looking for cheap eats.

I ordered the Ayam Penyet (AUD$8.00) and I loved the sambal!

How do I make such delicious sambal? I really must put this on my To Do Recipes!

It was spicy and I was perspiring after a while.

I think Wen Dee ordered the Fried Chicken with bumbu sauce (AUD$8.20) which looked tantalising enough for me.

She said it was OK, not too bad.

Kelvin's Balinese Fried Rice (AUD$8.80) was a good sized portion for two person sharing, if you're on a diet. ;)

It had enough 'wok hei' so I liked it. We all thought it was not too bad.

YB opted for fish with bumbu sauce (AUD$12.80) which he said was just OK. The fish's tummy wasn't cleaned properly so the flesh at that area was a bit bitter. 

Verdict: Can't complain for the price you pay. A good place to go if you have a budget and crave for Balinese food.

Anyway, right after our visit, I tried to locate a recipe for bali sauce (bumbu sauce) which looked like the ones we had but I'm still searching! I keep coming up with curry sauce recipes, which isn't what I'm looking for.

Melbourne Eats: Eating Around Box Hill Central

Box Hill is a suburb located 14KM away from Melbourne's CBD. It is a predominantly Chinese area, mostly from China and a scattering of other Asian nationalities such as Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Koreans, etc.

We don't eat out very often, as a meal for two can easily cost AUD$35 on average. We have tried a few eateries so far and we will keep on trying. We more or less have our two favourite restaurants, the ones you'd fall back on if you can't think of a fancy new place to try.

Disclaimer: Opinions and views expressed here are purely based only on the dishes we tried and does not in any way reflect the general menu of the eateries. :)

Tien Dat at 3, Carrington Road serves fine Vietnamese cuisine and is a popular favourite among the locals. There never fails to be a queue outside their door during peak hours.

It was 12 hours after I had landed in Melbourne. YB had been here before and he thought I could try it out too.

YB ordered the Crispy Chicken Maryland with Tomato Rice (AUD$10.80) and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Is that really tomato rice?"

I ordered the Traditional Beef Rice Noodle (AUD$10.00).

We must have not been very clever in choosing our dishes, or maybe our dishes did not fall under the category of 'fine cuisine'. We found that our food was a bit too salty and laden with MSG, and you could especially taste it on the chicken's crispy skin.

Yarra River Run. Brother Burger And The Marvelous Brew

With a few more weeks to the Melbourne Marathon, it was time for a long road run. We've been spending our weekends running the trails that I fear we would forget how to run on tarmac. :P

So on Saturday, 24th August 2013, we drove into the city and parked by the tan track. The area was busy with runners and walkers, it was so different from running in the suburbs where you'd only bump into a handful of runners.

I chose the Yarra River because I thought I'd have a chance of bumping into Gordon Ramsay training for his triathlon or something, but haha, fat chance!

We ran towards the city first before following the river out towards Kew.

There were plenty of college students kayaking in the river, with their coaches cycling along the river bank, yelling out instructions to them. It was a busy Saturday morning at the Yarra River!

There is a trail you could follow as a guide, just in case you're not very sure whether you're heading the right direction.

We both had a bottle of electrolytes each, which we refilled with water along the way. There were a few water fountains along the way for joggers and cyclists to hydrate so you don't have to worry about not carrying a bottle with you.

Some parts of the run was quite boring, despite passing by runners and cyclists. It was interesting however, to note the colourful or dull attire and shoes. I noted that most were Nike wearers. :P

Galleon Cafe, St Kilda, Melbourne

Address: 9, Carlisle Street, St Kilda, VIC 3182.
Opening Hours: 7am to 5pm daily
Telephone: 03 9534 8934
Website: here | Facebook page: here

Eating out is a weekend affair and it usually involves browsing through the ratings and reviews on Urbanspoon for something (or some place) worth checking out prior to the outing.

Good coffee and good burgers were for a must for us that day (11th August 2013) and we drove to St Kilda that bright and blustery that Sunday afternoon, excited. It was my first time in St Kilda, a tourist place with a small amusement park by the beach and cafes and eateries on both sides of the street. Wow!

Parking is a bomb, at AUD$4.70 per hour (or AUD$10.50 for the whole day) but there are some places where parking is free up to noon. Lesson learnt: go there for breakfast or brunch, not lunch and tea! (But if you're really lucky, you may just be able to find free parking somewhere!)

That brown paper stuck on the glass door is the waiting list.

Lunchtime is a popular hour and we had to wait for 30 minutes until we were seated. Then it took us a while to study the menu to decide which burgers we were going to have.

The cafe was crowded. :)

A vodka shot to perk you up?

Each table was given a bottle of water (with no charge) which is a common thing over here. We ordered a large latte to share (AUD$4.40) as we already had coffee at home that morning. It was good.