Spice I Am

Ja was raving about this Thai restaurant ever since I started school in January. Constantly talking about how good the basil chili pork belly is, how she could eat it every single day if it weren't for her reflux... It was the last straw when she brought me to the restaurant (on our way back from Bourke Street) just to point out to me its location. Okay, I get it. I will go try.

Together with Elise (since Ja was still recovering from reflux, I did not invite her), we took our lunch at Spice I Am. Not to be confused with Spice I Am- The Restaurant (Darlinghurst), though of the same company, this hole-in-the-wall Spice I Am is smaller, friendlier, cheaper. Its dishes are less done-up, which suits me just fine because as long as Thai cuisine is concerned, I'm only interested in the food.

As you can see, the people are sitting pretty close together...

Longan drink, really really good. I think they cook it themselves?

Deep fried whitebait with a sour basil sauce. Really fresh fish, cooked to perfection, crispy. The sauce, wow, is sour, a little spicy and very fragrant. The only thing I didn't like about this dish is: too little sauce!

Kra Pao Moo Gob
Stir fried crispy pork belly with SpiceIam chilli jam, basil and long red chilli- the much raved-about dish and it fully deserves the title. Crispy, tender pork belly, spicy, salty and slightly sweet. I will definitely be back for more.

Shop 1, 90 Wentworth Ave
Surry Hills, 2010

Phone: 02 9280 0928

Opening hours: Tue-Sun 11.30am-3pm; 6-10pm

End.

The best hand-cut 炸酱面 in Burwood, Sydney.

Out of routine

I went through a forest to get to school. How strange does that sound? Why did Heidi want to get to school that badly that she had to trek though soil, fallen dead leaves and tree roots?

To be honest, I did think of giving up and returning home. Twice. But since I am such a goody-two-shoes, I stuck out to the end. Now you know the end of this particular story, you might be wondering what led to it. Don't worry, you won't have to back-track far.

You see, as with all typical Mondays, I slept in. It was a cold morning (as with all other mornings of the week..) and that is all you need for an excuse to stay nice and warm under your blanket with the electric heater turned on. As a result, I was late for my bus. (though I suspect the 518 bus arrived earlier than usual- I was at the busstop only one minute late..) I took the 501 bus, which arrived 15 minutes later, an awful long time that I spent debating whether if I should return home and slumber on. I did not, however.

The 501 bus, unlike 518, brings me to the back of my school, which usually requires a walk through the meandering gardens of the horticulture faculty. I quite like the gardens actually, and would gladly take this route if I could wake a little earlier to catch the early 501 since the garden route takes abit more time. I think by this time it is quite obvious that I was late for school.

Coincidentally, the gardens were closed for a huge make-over, the entire horticulture section was walled-up. One of the construction worker, on his way out, had kindly told us the alternative route to school. Now enter Chris, my classmate who was in the bus with me. While following the given advice, Chris had discovered a little path which looked like a short-cut to school. Perhaps it was our over-eagerness to get to class, we dumbly took the short-cut. It wasn't before long that we realised something was wrong.

The short-cut itself was under construction as well. Great. Faced by a dead end, my only natural response is to turn back and continue with the advised path. Chris thought a little differently and for that I really admire him. He gave his surroundings a good scan-over and said to me: okay, now, we create our own path. Just like that, relying on Chris' sense of direction, we deviated from the stone path and headed for school.


Yes, and that was Chris' chosen path, the fastest way to get to school. He chose to climb a rather steep slope. (above) We stood there for a while, contemplating. This was when I thought for the second time: I want to go home... Then Chris turned around and said: "well, I can climb this. But I don't know if you can..." I wished I said something along the lines of: Of course I can, lead the way! But at that moment, I think I muttered: "let's go..." in a small small voice.

Clutching at dried bushes, trees and Chris' helping hand, together, we spilled onto the bright sunny school field, with lots of soil and dried twigs in my shoes and a few weird stares from passerbys. Thanks Chris. We made it to class, slightly late.

Now you ask, why did I want to get to class so badly? There was a test, duh. Who would want to go to class?

Bits of My Mundane Life

Writing for the sake of writing is pretty lame, which is what I am currently doing because well... I feel compelled to blog, or rather I am bored and have nothing better to do and I am too lazy to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer, hence this is me recycling my old pictures. I don't think I have anything of interest to share with you guys, unless of course if you are family or friends. Now that you have been warned...

I'm going to share my tiny bits of mundane life with you.

As you know, I am a student at LCB, Sydney, in the middle of Certificate IV (Hospitality Management) term 2. I am well into my third week of school after my summer holidays, and I can safely say that school has been quite bland, like gooey porridge. Out of the three subjects I am having this term, one we have covered last term, and one I have covered in high school when I was 13. I am miserably miserably bored at school. You know what I do when the teacher repeat the slides from the powerpoint? I draw, scrawl, invent codes that only I would understand and write French curses all over my lecture notes...

On the other hand, my foodie life is good. I cook a fair bit.. either that, or Elise would cook and I'll head over for dinner. We always try to make the other happy, so you can imagine, dinner is usually quite good. Weekends are usually reserved for visits to bakeries/patisseries/cafes/restaurants. Actually I would love to go on foodie tours on every non-school days (make the best out of my remaining days in Sydney) but due to the lack of company, lack of funding and my desire to not be fat, I will stay home and read books instead. Although on the bright side, I do have a japanese degustation dinner planned at the end of the month. And maybe Tetsuya in July. Maybe.

Two weeks in Sydney now and I haven't had a cup of decent gourmet coffee. Don't know why but something always happen. Last week I had a cold, so no coffees since the caffeine dehydrates you. This week was too warm for coffees. All I wanted was a cold banana and raspberry smoothie. Well, I will be going to campos next week, and hopefully I will be in the mood by then.

I miss Japan terribly. The nice air, food, hot springs and many many things. And you of course, who had kindly taken the time to read this post. =)

Bourke Street Bakery

Hi guys, I'm back in Sydney. Holiday is over, school has started. It will be three months before I return to Singapore, this time for good. So might as well enjoy Sydney while it last. =)

One thing I will definitely miss: Bourke Street Bakery: their tarts! sausage rolls! and their amazing sourdoughs!! I won't wish for Bourke St. to open in Singapore though.. they will loose their magic there. Please don't come! I will visit you instead!

Lamb, harissa and almond roll, $4. I love the huge bits of whole blanched almonds, the sweet raisins and the very fragrant mince lamb!

Ja's raisin snail. She has got reflux, so it is all mild and gentle food for now.

Ja: my best Sydney foodie friend. I will also miss her.

おみやげ

Mackerel pressed sushi.

Home with Chef, Nara, Japan- End

Day 9- we went home.

Morning- I like mornings. The freshness of the air, even in a polluted city like Osaka, tastes good.

Faces in transit (Hong Kong). A little tired, a little bored, a little sad perhaps but definitely glad to be home soon.

おかえり！(Singapore airport)

All packed into the van to be transported home. haha.

I miss Lawson already. おにぎりは　食べたいんです。

End.