Little Hong Kong, Sunnybank

I had a lovely, quiet day today but wanted to go out to eat, so MLH and I braved the chilly, windy weather this evening to have dinner at Market Square!
We walked past all the restaurants before deciding on Little Hong Kong, in the middle of the centre.

As soon as I saw the glistening birds hanging from their hooks, I knew what I wanted - Roasted duck with greens and egg noodles!

MLH ordered the BBQ Pork with steamed vegetables, rice and plum sauce, and we also ordered some spring rolls. I didn't try his pork, or the spring rolls because I was too busy with my mountain of egg noodles. He said the pork was nice, but it didn't really taste like plum sauce. The spring rolls were very crispy and looked lovely and freshly cooked.

Our meals came out within 5 minutes, which was impressive as the restaurant was completely full! Wait staff were helpful and the prices are excellent for the size of the meals. Our bill was about $26 for 2 mains and an entree.
Ahh hooks of delicious crispy meats - this is my ultimate food porn :P

I love love love Market Square, it's always busy and fun and I never feel like I'm actually in Brisbane. Next visit I will be heading to Little Singapore. It was PACKED full of people and as we walked past, the sight and smell of everyone's meals was incredible!

Lazy Saturday

The last 2 weeks at uni have been so crazy! I had 2 assignments due yesterday and have been leaving early and coming home late to get them finished.

I cannot express how wonderful it was to wake up of my own accord this morning, rather than to the lovely latin dance number I have set as my alarm. Despite the overcast weather, I went for a mid morning walk to get some fresh air and exercise.

My local block of shops is pretty lame.. They have a foodstore, post office, chemist etc.. but the building is kind of run-down and old. Since I've lived in the area, the Fruit and Veg shop has changed owners about 3 times, and the last owner had debt collectors after them, and were only operating for about 2 weeks.

When a friendly looking family bought the shop a couple of months ago, I was so worried they would go out of business too.
On my walk today I went inside to have a browse, and I am TOTALLY in love with their store!!! I am so proud to have such a gorgeously decorated and beautifully stocked fruit shop in my suburb!

The women who run the store are so friendly and chatty, and they have outfitted the shop with trinkets, and stocked fresh yogurts, honey, sauces and cheeses. I was sorry I only took loose change with me, but bought some amazingly fragrant basil to bring home. I will definitely be making more regular visits, so impressed!
Next time, I will ask to snap some photos for my blog!



For lunch today I made my low-carb favourite, and used the gorgeous basil aswell. Deli ham and cheese rolls :) So cute with the fresh basil! Yum :)
Sitting back with my laptop, watching Food Safari on YouTube and perusing my favourite blogs.. I sooo needed this!



Heading out to dinner tonight with MLH. Still undecided as to where we will go.. I feel like sushi train, or maybe ribs, or um... something awesome?
Rest assured, there will be photos!

Cat on a cold carport roof

Today just started out strange... It's not that anything particularly odd happened, actually it was a completely uninteresting day... even so I literally felt 2 steps behind myself. What does that even mean?

I have this weirdly OCD morning routine which goes something like this -
Wake up (always too early). 15 minutes of stretches. Make breakfast and coffee (always 2 cups, as one is never enough with breakfast). Read blogs, check email, FB, twitter etc on my laptop which finishing breakfast. Shower. Stand infront of my closet from anywhere between 2 - 20 minutes while deciding what to wear. Check handbag for essentials / check weather for umbrella, scarf, etc. Leave house.

Honestly, to conclude this day with the appropriate level of weirdness - there is absolutely no point to this post WHATSOEVER.

The only thing I can attribute this to is the fact that as I was leaving the house... there was a cat on our carport roof. Staring at me.
Cat. Staring. There isn't usually a cat. But today... staring.



Yeah... definitely OCD.

Jan Powers Markets, CBD

Gorgeous Brisbane weather and delicious sweets from the CBD markets today = perfection!


I skipped lunch and had desserts instead!


First stop: Louey's. His market stall has two cabinets with mini cakes and tarts. So so so adorable. I chose the rasperry white chocolate tart and the caramel tart. LOVED the raspberry! Shortbread shell, raspberry mousse, white chocolate ganache, topped with a tangy raspberry coulis-type topping. The caramel was also lovely, topped with white chocolate.


Also sampled a vanilla and chocolate custard canolli from the awesome guys at the olive stand. One end has vanilla custard, the other chocolate, and the inside of the pastry is coated with crackly dark chocolate. So good! I asked the boys if they make the traditional ricotta canolli's, and they said they make them to order only. Picking mine up next Wednesday! Thanks guys :)

Chocolate end. Yum :) They advised me to eat the vanilla side first... because the chocolate is so much better! I loved both, but tend to agree :)


Lastly, a slice of dark chocolate and raspberry cake on a hazelnut crust. Oh my god...this was SO great. Now my only problem will be resisting the urge to visit this stall every week!
Today was so deliciously indulgent and I felt very justified venturing out into the cold tonight for my walk with MLH!!

Asian Grocery - Win!

Why do I love grocery shopping so much? I wonder if other foodie type people enjoy this as much as me. My lovely husband (who I shall affectionately refer to as MLH) occasionally does the weekly shop, and becomes similar to a truck with no brakes. He is on a mission from the moment he grabs the trolley, and seriously, old ladies stay clear! He just really despises the whole event.

For me, it's like a stroll through the park. I am completely unaware of other shoppers, unless standing next to someone in an aisle, when I will more than likely strike up a random conversation about mayonnaise or something.
I absolutely love the process and it really leads me to better understand the whole hunter / gatherer concept!

Anyway, I spend alot of time in the city and find myself quite often browsing the Asian supermarkets around town. Today I went into Formosa Asian Market on Mary St.

These places fascinate me because all the food looks delicious and I can't read any of it, so my imagination really goes into overdrive! What is in those lovely frozen buns?! Make your own Dim Sum - Yes please!

These look like mooncakes, but I don't know. And also there are these sesame covered glutinous rice cake thingies that look yummy. What fun!

CANDY!!!!!! It's all so pretty and seems so much brighter and kookier than the regular candy... but again, this could just be simply because I can't read the labels and make up my own instead.. hehe.

They have peanut mochi! Om nom nom! I love anything with peanuts or red bean! So good.

Blogs and books

I seem to read food and fashion blogs more than I read actual books of late. Having said that, I am always in the middle of at least 2 books. I think the positive thing here is that I love love LOVE to read!

While on my afternoon stroll, I paid a visit to one of my favourite places in the ciy, Archives Fine Books on Charlotte St.

This store is great, the whole place is packed from floor to ceiling! It's quite large, with a great back section that houses my favourites - cookbooks and travel writing. They also have a really great Sci-fi / Fantasy section!!

Yay, knowledge!

Gah, I really love this place. I can EASILY spend 2 hours here without a second thought. I ended up with a lovely looking travel novel by the Author who wrote Under the Tuscan Sun (great movie!!).

Being the dreary, overcast day that it was, my next move was naturally over to Zaraffas for a Cappucino and the first 2 chapters!

Loving the book... but it's doing absolutely nothing to stop those pesky travel urges!

My pretty city

It's nearing the end of semester for Uni, so naturally I'm reaching catastrophic levels of procrastination!

In between studying at QUT Gardens Point, I took some time out for a relaxing stroll through the city. Sooo good to clear my head!

I love Gardens Point campus because it's right next to the Botanic Gardens. It was overcast and cold today, but a walk through the gardens seemed to suit my mood perfectly.

So random, I hadn't ever seen this statue before. Also I didn't realise how many fitness groups there are in the gardens around lunch time! It almost made me want to break into a run or start doing jumping jacks or something... almost.

Another discovery today was the Tea Room in Old Government House. They have the CUTEST mini cupcakes, for only $1 each and some pretty pretty tea's. Definitely making a visit for High Tea with the girls from uni after exams!

Finally I popped my blog cherry!

I made a blog!

After months of browsing through many many MANY local, interstate and international food, fashion and travel blogs I have decided to make my own.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what direction to take this. I have become absolutely fascinated with the food blogosphere recently, and they have opened my eyes to new restaurants and recipes both locally and abroad! I would like to contribute in some way to this weird and wonderful world!

I think the first step to making sure I keep this blog enjoyable and sustainable is to invest in a new camera. I need a new phone, so I will probably make do with that until I can afford an actual camera.

Reflecting on the numerous blogs I read weekly, I have started to wonder -
a) how will I afford to visit enough places to make my blog interesting? I fear I will run out of money in the hope of creating something people will want to read and something I will enjoy posting.
b) actually there is no b), I'm pretty much just concerned with the cash-flow problems at this point...

Meh! That's laters problem!

What I really want to document and share are things that give me joy, pleasure and are beautiful and meaningful to me.
I often spend an afternoon after uni classes walking through different parts of the CBD, Southbank, West End, Paddington etc, just exploring the area, shops, cafes and restaurants and watching people.

There are so many great things about Brisbane, I just want to share my thoughts with others and capture each wonderful experience!

Here's to food, fashion, travel and good times!