Echo! (echoo)

Our apartment is so empty at the moment (hence is echo-ey). Last night we had to squeeze into a single mattress - something we'll have to put up with until we go to my parents for the last couple of nights in Perth. Surprising it wasn't too uncomfy (although ask me in a couple of days' time and I'll probably give you a different response). I h.a.t.e. moving. It doesn't help that I'd only finish work a few days ago, and we only had this weekend to move our big stuff if we wanted help from friends. Thank goodness we live minimally - the guys helping were actually standing around saying "Is that all?" Thanks Brett, Brian and Lawrence for helping with the move.

We also had our going-away affair last night. Thanks all who came and brought yummies to share. And kudos to all who were brave enough to pick up the mike and belt out those tunes :) I had a fun night (although I was pretty exhausted from lack of sleep and was a little bit out of it). We ended up going clubbing at the Rise in Northbridge and didn't sleep until 3am.

Went to Subi markets this afternoon for the final time to buy some fruits. Bought a rockmelon and a honeydew. Melons are hideously expensive in Japan so I doubt I will be having any melons for the next year. Savouring the abundance of fresh fruits while I still can..

Some photos from last night:


















Good on you two for being the first ones to pick up the mike


Belting out to the tune of "Uptown Girl"


Ah Mary and Adele - you guys were a good sport singing whatever I chose ("Barbie Girl" by Aqua)


(Thanks hun for dragging me up there :))

Choccie balls - turning a flop into a success

I am feeling quite pleased at the moment, although four days ago I was feeling quite annoyed. See, we told Dad and Hania that we'd bring dessert for lunch at their house on Sunday. So I thought I'd make something nice, something that I'd done before and that I know would work. I'd made a chocolate cake before which received good feedback so I decided on that. Only it didn't work out as well. The flour wasn't right (that's the trouble with buying flour from a bulk dry goods store like Kakulas Bros where the labels can be easily mixed around) - I have a feeling that the flour was actually bread flour (strong flour) instead of self raising flour like the label indicated. The resulting cake mix was quite dough-y, like bread dough. Hm. I thought I'd bake it anyway and at the end of the cooking process: "Rob, the cake looks very much like bread". Indeed, instead of the yummy moist chocolate cake I was expecting, the cake was dry and crumbled to bits. I was pretty annoyed because this is the first thing I made for Dad and Hania and it was a flop - and my first cooking flop too!

Anyway, as expected, there were lots of leftover cake and I was at a loss at what to do with them. I hate throwing out food, especially when lots of good ingredients were used to make it (all that yummy dark choc!!). I googled and didn't find many suggestions for leftover cake crumbs except for making biscuits or trifles. And then I remembered making truffles for Christmas, and I'd used the crumbs of plum pudding for one of them. Hehe..

So I turned this flop into a success! I still remember Rob's reaction when he tried one of the choc balls :) I brought the choc balls to work on my last day at work (amongst the sushi platter and pizza) for the morning tea I held for my collegues to commemorate the occassion. There were no leftovers..

Ingredients

Leftover flop a.k.a. dark chocolate cake
Honey
Jam (I used a mixed berry variety)

Method

1. Remove the ganache coating on the cake and crumb the cake.
2. Mix the cake crumbs with some berry jam and honey until the mixture attained a sticky consistency (add a little at a time to ensure that you are not left with a gloopy mess). Use your (clean) hands for this job!
3. Roll into balls and coat with coconut or caster sugar
4. If the weather is cool, then it is okay to store outside the fridge. In fact, I found that refridgeration will cause condensation which will make the sugar coating dissolve.

Spending the day in the hills..

On Sunday we went to visit Rob's dad and his wife Hania at their beautiful house in Roleystone. Their balcony has a great view of the hills, which kinda (but only kinda) made me want to live away from the city. Rob's dad made us lunch using all organic produce and the food was really yummy! Although Hania was in pain for some part of our visit, we still had a good time catching up with everyone.

Part of the balcony:


Clouds:


Rob and his younger sister Aleesha (she's behind the glass):


Aleesha and Hania:


The family:

Dimsum lunch at Northbridge Chinese Restaurant

On Saturday, we took my family out for dimsum lunch at Northbridge Restaurant on Roe Street. We've been here before, I think for Mother's Day this year (we wanted Hoi's Kitchen but unfortunately they've decided to shut down at the end of their lease). Like other restaurants, this one doesn't take advanced bookings for dimsum - it's a first come first served basis. It gets quite busy during lunch time, so it's best to come early around 11am to beat the crowd. The food itself was quite good, but I thought it was on the pricey side (dimsum everywhere else will be pricey once you've tried Hoi's Kitchen).

My favourite dimsum dish? Chicken's feet. So fatty and unhealthy, but you can't get it anywhere else but at dimsum affairs. My mum used to cook chicken's feet when I was a kid in Malaysia but I think chicken's feet are somewhat difficult to obtain at the shops here.



My second favourite dish? Those tantarts (a.k.a egg tarts - quite similar to custard tarts but more eggy).. So unhealthy but it's yummy :) These ones are not the best I've had, but then again it would be pretty difficult finding a place in Perth that does tantarts as yummilicious as the ones you can get in Hong Kong.



Hargao, steamed prawn dumplings, are pretty good as well.



At this point I was pretty hungry so I just took a table shot and nothing else of the food. We had the usual standard dimsum dishes like siumai (pork dumplings), harcheong (prawns wrapped in rice flour and doused in soy sauce), yaoyusou (deep fried squid tentacles), deep fried yam cakes, taufufar (soft silken tofu in sugar syrup) and mango pudding. We also tried a few of the restaurant's specialties like the deep fried soft-shelled crabs (which was quite salty) and a few other sweet things. Mmm..



And a few shots of my family seated around the table:

Apfelstrudel

Had leftover filo pastry in the freezer from back when I made the Chicken Filo Parcels so I decided to make use of the apple season and make apfelstrudel (i.e. apple strudel). Granny Smiths are great for cooking and baking as they are crisp and tart, so use these green apples for this recipe. I was lazy with the filo pastry and didn't bother oiling each sheet like you're supposed to, and instead used the whole stack of pastry and brushed the top layer with butter to assist browning in the oven. I also used half of the sugar called for in many recipes and it was plenty sweet. In case you were wondering, the breadcrumbs act to absorb excess moisture from the apples to prevent soggy pastry.

It's simple and easy to make, and is quite tasty and healthy.

Ingredients

600grams apples - peeled, cored and cubed (~1cm)
1/4 cup sugar (~50g)
bread crumbs of one slice of bread (~40g)
1/4 cup sultanas
1.5 tsp cinammon
~250g filo pastry (perhaps 10-15 sheets? I didn't count)
melted butter for glazing

Method

Preheat oven to 180degC (lower temperature ~165degC if using fan-forced). Combine the cubed apples, sugar, bread crumbs, sultanas and cinammon in a bowl and mix well. Lay out the stack of filo pastry on a clean, flat surface and spread the apple mixture evenly over 3/4 of the pastry surface lengthwise. Carefully roll the pastry from the filled end towards the empty end. Place in a greased baking tray and brush the top of the strudel with butter. Bake in the oven for 40minutes or until the top of the pastry is nice and lightly brown. Best served fresh out of the oven. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of days - eat cold or reheat in microwave.

Olive Tree Restaurant, West Perth

Last week, we had a pseudo-farewell dinner with my friends from high school at the Olive Tree Restaurant. The dinner was initially organised for us all to meet each other's partners, but this proved difficult with all of our busy schedules, and it kept being postponed until we finally did it!

The Olive Tree Restaurant specialises in set menus, which is not so good for small eaters like me especially when the minimum they serve for dinner is a four course meal ($40). The website says that they are flexible and can do a-la-carte, but in reality they actually don't make it easy to go for a-la-carte. I'm glad that Rob was there to help me with the food.

The interior of the restaurant was quite nice. There is a function room out the back for bigger groups. Service was professional (I'll give the waiter credit for trying his best) and prompt. The food itself? It wasn't bad, but not really anything wow. They certainly like using cream in most of their dishes, so for someone like me who dislike cream and creamy things in general, there wasn't really much variety to choose from. Fortunately for the restaurant, the majority of diners out there are not like me and I can safely say that the food will be enjoyable for you. Serving sizes are quite generous, and it's good value for money if you have the Entertainment Card, and can eat everything.

Garlic bread

What can I say? Garlic bread is... garlic bread. Nice, warm and freshly toasted.



Entree

Fettucine with Chicken and Saffron Cream Sauce - Rob selected this dish, and it didn't even occur to me until just now while editing the photo that penne pasta was served instead of fettucine as described in the menu. Ah well, pasta is pasta, and Rob really liked this one. A few of us ordered other pasta entrees, and they all commented that the serving sizes were pretty generous for entrees.



Prawn Cocktail - this was nice and light, but I felt something was lacking. Perhaps the prawns weren't as fresh as they could be? Perhaps it was too plain and I kinda expected something more flash?



Mains

Chicken Involtini with a Spinach, Almond and Rice Filling & Veloute Cream Sauce - veloute is just a fancy name for a white sauce. Rob loves his stuffed chicken dishes. I thought this was only okay. The taste didn't really hit it for me. The chicken meat itself had an odd taste different to the sauce and I could not figure if it was meant to taste like that but I didn't really enjoy it. Other than that it wasn't too bad.



Catch of the day (red emperor), Potato Mash and Lemon Butter Sauce - I was kinda disappointed with this actually. The lemon butter sauce was made with cream and the texture of the fish was kinda rubbery - a sign that it was probably overcooked. Rob thought it was yummy though.



Dessert

Generally the desserts were okay - nothing too "wow" about them.

Profiterole - This was nice, but tasted like any other profiteroles. The custard was quite nice and the pastry wasn't soggy.



Mango, Apple and Coconut Crumble - this one tasted like any apple crumble. We couldn't taste any mango at all. It was nice and hot though.




All in all, the food was pleasant and we had a good time catching up and getting to know our significant others better. Would I come back to Olive Tree Restaurant? Honestly, probably not.

Pain and misery :(

Today I took the day off to go to the doctor and dentist. Went to doctor to get the results of my endoscopy which was done a couple of weeks ago and the doctor confirmed that a nasty bacteria called H Pylori lives in my guts. This bacteria is a known cause of stomach ulcers and other what-nots, but is easily treatable especially since I don't have ulcers. So the good news is that it certainly explains my stomach problems and I don't have to do further tests. Bad news is that I have to take antibiotics, which is a cocktail of pills. I think one acts to reduce the stomach lining to get to the bug, another one to eradicate the bacteria, and yet another one to reduce the stomach acid. Four pills, twice a day for 7 days. Yay. Unfortunately I get nausea which is a side-effect of the medication. Double yay. I can't remember the last time I took anti-biotics - would have been more than 6 years ago when I was still in high school.

Went to dentist to check on my wisdom tooth. Haven't been to the dentist for a few years. Good news is that the wisdom teeth on both sides bottom are coming up nice and straight and extractions are not necessary. The dentist even said I had nice teeth. But, he said that the gum on one side is covering the tooth which is the cause of my sore toothache because food gets trapped inside etc etc. Bad news: the dentist took out his surgical equipment and said he can cut off a bit of my gum to give room for the tooth to grow, and proceeded to do so. Yeah, it was painful (injections into an already sore gum is very painful!!) - and the pain after the local anaesthetic wore off is awful. It didn't help seeing blood either.

So it has been a double wammy day for me. Especially considering I have not taken medication for a long time (I avoid taking even painkillers if I can help it and I don't take any supplements or vitamins - big believer in doing things the natural way) and then having to deal with taking four pills twice a day and the nausea that comes with it. Plus I haven't been to a dentist for a dental procedure since primary school, and then having to deal with a sore and bleeding gum after my first visit to the dentist in a long time. I am feeling pretty miserable. And yes, I need sympathy.

This better be worth it.

Feelings come and go

Would you believe it, after posting my previous entry, I'm back to feeling enthusiastic about going to Japan. Last night, we went to a dinner organised by the WA JET Alumni Association to farewell the new JET recruits. We had the dinner at Kido's Japanese Restaurant in Nedlands, and a few of the JETAAs (who are ex-JETs) mingled amongst the 30 or so of us Perth JET participants. It was great - Rob and I had a good time. The food itself was okay (the restaurant is not very well-equipped to serve large-ish functions) and it was sorta fun talking with fellow JETs and the JETAAs over dinner. The real fun was actually after dinner.

Somehow Rob and myself were the last to leave and were invited by the three JETAAs to go for coffee. So here we were, tagging along in one of their cars at 11pm looking for a cafe that was open (a lot of grumbles about how we wouldn't have this problem if we were in Japan). We finally found a cafe/bar/pub place somewhere in Claremont. It was refreshing meeting new people and talking about random topics. All three were quite different, and in fact we made an odd group - this guaranteed interesting conversation topics though. The conversations did not just stick to Japan-related stuff - polyamorous (a.k.a. open) relationships, agnosticism and dealing with issues in an inter-racial marriage, just to name a few.

All three of these ex-JETs synonymously agree that one year in Japan would not be enough but three might be OTT (two of them stayed for two years on the program, and the other who stayed only for one year regretted not staying for a second). Of course, the people who join the Alumni will be those that had a fantastic experience on the JET program so the testimonies I get from them might be a bit biased so I will try to remain realistic and not have any expectations.. As they say, ESID - Every Situation Is Different (a catchphrase that is constantly fed to us JET participants).

I realise that we have been too comfortable in the same routine of doing the same things everyday. Yes, the very same familiarity that I talked of in my previous post of being a little scared to leave behind. I mean, all we have time to do nowadays is meeting up and talking with the same people, and not really making an effort to go out and meet new people (having a full time job doesn't help either). It's getting boring. So, last night made me realise how much I really want to break this boring life and meet tonnes of new people, expand my knowledge base and experience lots of different things. Not just meeting Japanese people, but all the other JETs from all around the world. It'll be fun!!

It's interesting to observe the feelings I go through in the lead up to my departure for Japan. I was really excited when I initially found out in April that I was accepted in the JET Program. Then guarded apprehension dominated (although lasting no more than a few days) when I found out about my inaka placement in May. Then it was back to excitement as I chatted more with my predecessor and others who have been to or are from Japan as I was given lots of things to look forward to (amongst things not to look forward to).

Right now? For the past couple of weeks I've been feeling overwhelmed and a little bit scared. Overwhelmed by the amount of things that we still have to do. Scared about leaving the familiarity of Perth, family and friends, and being chucked in a foreign world where I don't know much of their language and can't understand their spoken English. "Ma-ku-do-na-ru-do? Oh, you mean MacDonald's!" and vice versa (Not that we'll be going to Maccas - I honestly cannot remember the last time I had Maccas.. maybe five years ago?)

A tiny part of me wants to find a good reason to stay behind, but the logical and sensible part of me (thankfully much bigger than the former) knows that I wouldn't want to live with regret of what-could-have-been if I don't grab this opportunity. It's a bit of a surreal feeling to know that in a mere three weeks time, I will be calling Japan home for the next year. At least I won't be by myself! Thanks Rob for being so supportive :)

I'm sure that once we establish a familiar routine in Japan, we will probably like it so much so that we will be reluctant to leave Japan to return back to Perth. Who knows?

Chicken roast dinner and Japanese topics

We had our Japanese tutor, his girlfriend and fellow Japanese learner over for dinner at our place. I decided to cook a roast dinner (we were aiming for a non-Asian meal, and it's one of the few non-Asian meals I can do!). We had a fantastic time. The conversation ranged from talking about eating whales, horses and raw chicken, to Akai san's attempt at justifying gambling with a highly amusing analogy of gambling with putting chicken in the oven. The conversation flowed really well and we learnt quite a bit more on the Japanese customs and food amongst other various topics. And the best thing (for me as the hostess)? There weren't any leftovers! Which meant that our guests enjoyed the meal :)

Thanks guys for the great company, and thanks Rob for preparing all the veges!

I have previously posted up a blog entry on how we do chicken roast, but it appears that I was lazy and didn't go into much details. Since Akai san is interested in how I made the cheese sauce, I will endeavour to go into a little bit more details this time. Quantities are only estimates.

Chicken prep

Bought a 1.5kg free range chicken - and it's well worth your money. It was a lot less fatty than the standard chicken available and the flesh was nice and firm. Everything was less greasy in general. The chicken marinade consists of:

olive oil (maybe ~1 tablespoon)
the zest and juice of half a lemon
some rosemary (~1 teaspoon)
minced garlic (~4 cloves)
paprika (~1/2 teaspoon)
salt and pepper

Rubbed the chicken with the marinade (including the breast under the skin), stuffed with the stuffing and left in the fridge overnight. Roast in an oven at 180degC for 1.5 hours (allow 30 minutes cooking time per 0.5kg), turning it over halfway through. Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes after removal from the oven to let the juices go back into the meat before serving.

Stuffing

For some reason I always end up with more stuffing than can fit inside the cavity of the chicken. This time I had only 3 slices of wholemeal bread left for crumbing and was worried that it wouldn't be enough. I worry for nothing. The blender is your time-saver friend when it comes to crumbing. It works well and fast. I usually include chopped mushrooms and celery but forgot to get some. If you prefer a drier stuffing, omit the egg.

some olive oil (1/2 tablespoon)
1 chopped onion
minced garlic (~2 cloves)
breadcrumbs from 3 slices of bread (~1.5 cups)
some stock or water (1-2 tablespoon - just enough to 'deglaze' pan but not too much otherwise you'll end up with soggy stuffing)
1 egg
Parsley
Salt and pepper

Saute the onions until it is translucent and cooked. Add the garlic and stirfry for a minute. At this point, if using celery and mushrooms, add them and stirfry for a further minute. Add breadcrumbs and stir well. Add the water/stock, the egg and lots of parsley and stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roast veges

Had the usual vegetables for roasting: carrots, butternut pumpkin and sweet potatoes. The veges were cut into similar sizes and then I coated them with some olive oil, honey, rosemary herbs and salt and pepper. They were roasted for about 45 minutes - the latter half of the chicken roasting time (we usually put them in the oven with the chicken after turning the chicken over).

Cheese sauce

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cornflour or flour
1 cup of milk
1 cup of grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter, then cook the cornflour/flour for a minute over medium low heat (taking care not to burn). Heat the milk and gradually pour the milk into the butter/flour mixture, stirring constantly to maintain smooth consistency (I found that using cold milk will cause lumps in the sauce). Bring to a simmer and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cheese and stir until cheese melts and the cheese sauce is thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper, and serve with steamed brocolli and cauliflower.

Cancer is not just an ugly word...

... cancer is an ugly reality for many people. Rob's dad's wife Hania was diagnosed with stomach cancer a few weeks ago, underwent surgery two weeks ago and had about 70% of her stomach removed. We found out yesterday that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and the doctors have advised that strong chemotherapy treatment would be necessary for six months beginning as early as six weeks time. Poor Hania was still in hospital since her surgery so we decided to pay her another visit yesterday and take Dad out for lunch to cheer them up a bit. The doctor said that Hania could leave the hospital for a few hours so she joined us for lunch (she couldn't fit much food in her tiny stomach though). She said that it was good being away from the hospital for the first time in two weeks. And it was amazing - she actually enjoyed the Malaysian food we ordered (she's usually quite a fussy eater) but that's probably because she is sick of hospital food, and also probably because we took them to Malaysian Gourmet at Broadway shopping centre in Nedlands near UWA (Rob loves their hofun and charkueyteow!) and my friend's parents who owns the business are pretty damn good cooks..

I cannot imagine what Dad and Hania are going through right now. I mean, to be faced with doctors telling you that your only chance of survival is to have chemotherapy, which is basically poisoning your body anyway. Obviously, chemotherapy is not the route that Hania wants to take. Her problem is not losing to cancer - it's the suffering. She feels that chemotherapy treatment would only give her a few extra years, and that they would be years of suffering from the after-effects of chemotherapy. They hope to look for alternative routes, and the first thing would be to change their diet to eat healthy organic food. I suppose it cannot hurt to eat healthy (after all, a good diet is the basis of good health), but we feel that it's more of a preventative route rather than a treatment.

Rob has done a bit of research into alternative and experimental cancer treatment and has passed on the information to them. I pray and hope that God will give them the wisdom to choose the right option for themselves.

Update

Keeping a blog up to date is quite time-consuming, isn't it? Maybe I should take less photos so I won't feel so obliged to post them and write about them..

Anyway, just thought it was about time to give a lil update on what's happening in terms of preparations to go to Japan. A few weeks ago I informed my manager and HR and the director of my division at work about my plans to go to Japan, and received the OK to take a year off on unpaid leave. So I'm glad that I am able to keep my options open with regards to my work and career back here in Perth.

I said in a previous post, I will go to Tokyo first for my orientation, then onto my prefecture to settle in and Rob will follow a week or two after. However, the past two weeks I've been reconsidering this decision and Rob and I have had lengthy discussions over whether or not Rob should come with me to Tokyo. Spouses and children of JET participants can accompany to the Tokyo orientation but airfare and accommodation are obviously to be covered by the JET participant, and spouses and children cannot participate in any part of the orientation. So my biggest problem with Rob coming with me to Tokyo whilst I am on my orientation is what he is to do while I'm busy doing my stuff, and what he's going to eat during the meals that is provided for me. Cost is another factor (August is Japan's peak travel time as it is during the summer holidays), but it is secondary to how Rob is going to spend his time in Tokyo.

Anyway, after many to-ing and fro-ing with this topic, we decided that the bottom line is:
1) It would be nice to have some familiarity when settling in a foreign world
2) Having company on the long long flight to Japan (I will have company with the other Perth JETs, but what about Rob all on his lonesome self if he came after?)
3) He'll get to experience Tokyo with me (and on his own too)
4) We'll be together (and this is the most important thing, isn't it?)

So last week, I had to contact the Japanese consulate, the travel agency in Sydney who is taking care of the Australian JETs air tickets and accommodation, and the Ishikawa Prefecture Board of Education and let them know that I've changed my mind and will have Rob come with me. We've told our families of this change of plan, and they said (almost with a sigh of relief) that they think this arrangement is better than my original plan. Why didn't anyone say that earlier?

So now, we're in the process of figuring out what to keep and what to chuck from our apartment. Then we have to figure what to do with the stuff we wanna keep. We're also trying to suss out exactly what we are going to buy from my predecessor as she herself has a limited time in which to get rid of her stuff in Japan.

Lots to get done in such little time..

Weekend social obligations: Altitude 9 and the Atrium

Phewy, finally a chance to sit and write a quick entry. Pretty packed weekend - and it seems that the closer we get to our departure date, the busier we get with our social life (just to add to the fact that we already don't have much time to sort out our sh*t).. I'm not complaining coz I won't get to spend these times again with friends, family and collegues for the next year or so..

Work do at Altitude 9

So, Saturday night, we went to Altitude 9 - a function centre on the 9th floor of the Esplanade Hotel on the Esplanade - for my company's social club annual dinner dance. Here's a short spiel on what I think of the place and the food/catering in general. Nice spacious area for big functions with a great view of the river. Would be nicer for daytime functions. Food was okay and the service was professional and friendly enough, though not wow enough for me to want to have a wedding reception there. Here are photos of the food we had tonight (table service).

Entree On the menu, the entree is described as "Crisp snapper fillet with a piquant tomato salad". Hm. Well the fish wasn't crisp but it was still nice. The tomato salad was tasty too.



Main This is meant to be chicken breast marinated with mint and yoghurt. We couldn't taste the mint at all, but it was pretty tasty in its own right.



Dessert The first one is "Palm sugar creme caramel with sorbet and glazed chillies". Meh. Rob said it tasted more like golden syrup, and the sorbet wasn't that fantastic. The idea of the glazed chilli was innovative, but I don't think chillies work very well in desserts. The second one is the "Gourmet cheese plate", and this is where I tried blue cheese for the first time, and never again!! It wasn't a very pleasant experience. The brie was pretty good though.






Lunch with Rob's family at the Atrium

This was meant to be a family reunion with all of Rob's brothers and their families before we leave Australia, but *sigh* only one brother (Jason) and his family came (the others pulled out at the last moment). Rob's given up trying anymore (this latest attempt was by his mum who was trying to get everyone together before we leave). The last attempt at a reunion was for Easter lunch, and again, only Jason and his family came. And the sad thing is that Jason lives all the way down south in Serpentine (more than 1 hour's drive from Perth) whereas the rest of Rob's brothers live in the metro area. So yeah, Rob just doesn't care anymore. Anyway, enough b*tching.

Lunch at the Atrium was very pleasant, and it was also Jason's birthday. We are getting kinda bored of buffet food (we came here for Rob's birthday a few weeks ago with his mum) but the food was tasty as it always has been. The company was even better than the food and I can't believe how big baby Nic already is! Sooooo cute with such chubby cheeks! And Tayler was as bubbly and cheerful as always.

My first plate - Mmmm yum seafood













So yes, a pretty full weekend, but I ain't complaining coz it was all good :)

Warm and fuzzy feeling

My family suggested going out for dinner on Friday night so they asked me to book Warwick Chinese Restaurant (a family favourite) for two Peking Duck courses. We only found out at the dinner table that the occasion was to treat Rob and myself a farewell sorta thing. I thought that was a very nice gesture :) - thanks guys!!

I've already done a review of the restaurant but there are a few additional things worth noting. Apparently the restaurant has recently changed management and although the food was tasty, it wasn't the same. Serving sizes aren't as generous as it used to and you're now charged extra $1 per plate if you ask for extra plates of vege sticks for the pancake course, and $1.50 for extra lettuce leaves for the sanchoybao. My mum usually ask for cut chilli and we were charged 50c for it tonight. One Peking Duck course also has increased by $1 to $55 (one duck = 3 courses which is plenty for 5 adults). All these aren't much additional costs but we are comparing it to what we are used to and weren't as satisfied as we would usually be. Also, it wasn't as crowded as it usually is for a Friday night, and I have a feeling the place is losing its usual patronage. There were lots of non-Asians in the restaurant so the restaurant is definitely still popular amongst them. Don't get me wrong though - it's definitely worth a try if you haven't been before. Rob remarked that he really enjoyed the food tonight (his only complaint was that there weren't enough vege sticks and lettuce leaves).

I had a good time tonight catching up with my family. I will miss them when we're in Japan and tonight expounded that fact even more so. I still have another month here so I will make an extra effort to spend more time with them.. Sigh - if I only didn't have so much preparations to do as well as full time work.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took tonight..





First course - duck skin



Dave demonstrating how to roll the pancake with the duck skin whilst Ian and Seth shows how it is eaten





Second course: duck soup



Third courses: sanchoybao and duck noodles





Rob pulling a face