A peachy distraction

It's the first week of Summer, and I almost forgot that this means the arrival of stone fruit season! I was reminded of this when I had, not one, but TWO consecutive ripe, juicy, honey-sweet white peaches, with just the right amount of give, from the fruit drawer of the fridge. It was so juicy that juice literally flowed down my arms to my elbows as I was devouring them, one delicious bite at a time. The skin could even be peeled off quite easily, without prior poaching of the fruit. Amazing. I don't know about where you are, but here in Australia, I find that even when fruits are 'in season', they are not always perfect, like you'd imagine in-season fruit to be. It is nigh on impossible to find the perfect peach, which is pretty much of the description given above.

And yes; that is why I've decided to jump online to blog about it. I get excited like that when I come across these rare occurrences. What's more, these peaches were purchased from my local Woolies (!). Forget all the talk about mass-consumerism and big-chain supermarket monopoly; if supermarkets can provide me with a steady supply of the Perfect Peach, I will haunt their fruit and veg section. Heck, I will even buy their overpriced-with-sometimes-only-little-usable-portion leeks and defrosted potatoes.

Happy Active Nation Day, everyone!

I hope everyone made an effort to be active today :)

Lovely lace

You will not believe how many 'draft' posts I have sitting in my blogger account, waiting to be finished and published since... well, let's just say a very long time. I have completed another project during this time, but since I have yet to block it and take pretty pictures of it, I shall leave that for another day -  I will definitely publish that post and soon! - and report instead on the project I currently have at hand: I am working on my first knitting project design! yay!

Okay, so it's only going to be a small, rectangular scarf, but still! One has to start from somewhere, right? I've knitted my own scarves before, but this is different; this will be my first grown-up, elegant scarf that can (hopefully) complement a polished, dressy outfit, rather than just being a chunky winter scarf, with little technique and noteworthy detail. For this project, I will be using the 100% pure superfine alpaca yarn by Artesano, which is a lovely, 4ply fingering weight yarn. The main feature of the scarf will be a simultaneously knitted lace edging. That's the plan so far, anyway.

I am still trying to decide on whether or not to add beads to the scarf edging. I found some new packets of seed beads in my stash, 2 of which I thought might work with the red: silver-lined glass beads and crystal AB ones. My sister, who the scarf is for, can't decide either, so I guess I might resort to just trial and error-ing to see which look is best. 

I think I've overcome my fear of lace knitting, after having done a few lace projects and becoming comfortable enough with lace techniques; hence my newfound love of lace knitting. I think after I complete this knitting project, I will be ready to take on more advanced lacework, using lace-weight yarn. Bring it! 

Sweet yarn dreams x

Dudley Street Espresso & Collectables: the best caramel latte ever?

Dudley St Espresso and Collectables
494 Ipswich Rd, Annerley QLD 4103
Opening hours: 8am - 3pm weekdays

I have a bit of a weakness for caramel. Especially when it's paired with chocolate or coffee. If you've been reading my blog regularly, you'd know that I'm a relatively recent coffee convert. But even 4 years ago, I was positively addicted to the Creamy Caramel Crunch Chiller (minus the 'crunch' part) at Gloria Jean's Coffees. It didn't help that there was a shop in the food court (edit: of the shopping centre -) where I worked full-time for a year, and that there was the added incentive of a 10% centre staff discount. I would get one almost every lunch break, topped with whipped cream and drizzled with extra caramel sauce. I couldn't even keep track of the number of free ones I scored with the loyalty card, after buying x number of drinks. I'm not sure if it's the sugar or the caffeine I was addicted to, but there is no doubt that it is a dangerous combination. It's amazing I didn't, and still haven't (touch wood), developed diabetes. I've since learned the unhealthy evil of my ways and have slowly cut this beverage out of my diet.

Crème Brûlée Chiller @ Gloria Jean's Coffees

(Okay, maybe not completely. I'll admit that sometimes I am a bit naughty and still get the very occasional one; although they have since discontinued the Creamy Caramel Crunch Chiller. The closest thing to it is the Crème Brûlée one, but this has a marginally stronger coffee taste.)

I have since curbed my sugar intake, and have developed a habit of not adding any sugar, or adding very little sugar, to my tea and coffee. (Yes, it is do-able, people. No matter how sweet you like your food, if you try to abstain from it for a while, you will eventually become accustomed to the less-sweet taste, and may even prefer it. Try snacking on something healthy, like grapes or carrot sticks, to put your mind off the cravings/withdrawal effects.) It is not easy to cut out sugar entirely from our diet, and I do believe that the key to healthy, happy living is eating everything in moderation; that is to say, I think it is perfectly okay to give in to not-so-healthy indulgences every now and then. After all, we do have to look after our emotional health as well as our physical health.

Even superheroes have their weaknesses, and I think I have met my new match in the Caramel Latte at Dudley St Espresso & Collectables. The other coffee variations they make are not bad, but this is by far my favourite, and the one I keep going back for. The latte is wonderfully smooth on the palate and the caramel adds the perfect amount of sweetness to this dreamy elixir. On a reality note though, they do add a whole shot of caramel syrup to the small size, so if you're going to order a large, you may want to kindly ask the barista not to add any more than this amount (as I'm not sure if they do or not).

(Edit: 24/09/13: Of late, after having ordered the large with half a shot, I have decided that it tastes better with the full lot - and no, they don't add anymore than 1 shot of caramel syrup, and hence, the large actually tastes slightly less sweet than the small. On another note, the guys who currently own the place (one of them being the barista) have sold it and will officially stop working there at the end of this month. As such, I don't know if the caramel lattes there will ever be the same again :( But I will keep you posted.)

Caramel latte

The coffee that they use at Dudley is Grinder's Giancarlo coffee blend. While I'm not a huge fan of Grinder's coffee (I'm usually more of a Campos girl), it just seems to work so well for this caramel latte. Or maybe the barista there is just great at producing the perfect cup. I went around to a few different coffee shops to try their caramel lattes recently to see how they compare, but, thus far, I've been unable to find one almost as good. So, I guess I'll be regularly haunting Dudley for a while.

Luckily for me, and everyone who lives/works in this under-developed suburb of Annerley, where the café is located and which usually brings to mind unattractive strip malls filled with second-hand and bric-a-brac stores, rather than a place to head for lunch with friends, this funky little corner café offers good food as well as good coffee. They don't make food to order, but there is a glass cabinet filled daily with freshly-made sandwiches with delicious fillings, and a mouth-watering selection of sweet offerings (mini Baci chocolate mousse cake, anyone?). The ready-made options make it extremely convenient for those wanting to quickly buy food takeaway on the way to work, or during short lunch-breaks. Most of the sandwiches use herbed bread, which makes the sandwich all the more aromatic and scrumptious, and the sandwiches are lightly toasted, at time of ordering, to crispy-crusted perfection. My favourite is the turkey with cranberry sauce and Maleny Brie - who, indeed, could ever resist warmed, oozing, soft white cheese? No, not I. In fact, I could do with one right now.

A delicious sandwich with dill mayo in it

Quiche of the day with basil pesto
(I love the addition of the pesto, as it provides another flavour dimension)

Various sandwiches (+ caramel latte)

Besides sandwiches, hot soup is also currently available, and comes with a ciabatta roll and butter. Last week, I had their soup of the day, which happened to be mushroom soup. The seasoning was spot on, and the soup was nothing short of delicious. I love the nubbly texture of the soup, which assures one that it is full of the natural goodness of real mushrooms.

Mushroom soup with a ciabatta roll + butter
(and yes, that is a caramel latte in the background!)

Prices are quite standard at around $9 for the sandwiches and $10.50 for the soup. A small caramel latte is $4.

As its name suggests, the café also sells collectables, which form part of the shop's décor, adding a quirky charm to it, and helping it to 'fit in' with the theme of its surroundings. There are a few small tables and a bench, but these usually fill up fast at lunchtime. As such, the food in the cabinet also goes pretty quickly, so I would advise dropping in earlier rather than later for lunch, to avoid disappointment. I have read some reviews, in which there are complaints about the busy, noisy street that the café faces, but I personally haven't found the street noise to be a problem at all, in terms of affecting my dining experience or appetite. There is always the takeaway option for those who might prefer to eat in the perfect silence of their car or home. The staff at the café also seem to be lovely people.

I'm not sure how I have only just started going there in recent months, as it first opened its doors back in 2008. I would hate for others to have to wait 5 years to discover this place. In truth, I do have an ever-so-slight ulterior motive for posting this review: as much as I'd like to keep this little niche to myself, and reduce competition for sandwiches (the selfish little thing that I am), I know that the only way to ensure the never-ending availability of said sandwiches and the best caramel latte in town, in the years to come, is to promote (even) more foot traffic.

With the new, expensive housing units and property developments in the area, as well as the popping up of a few quality cafés, like Dudley St Espresso, I am sure that this long-neglected suburb will get a total facelift some time in the future, in order to meet the demands of a more becoming locale.

Who's your favourite superhero?

I've never read any graphic novels by DC comics before, bar the short comic strips in the newspaper, when I have nothing else better to read (I'm more of a Calvin and Hobbs fan); hence, I judge all superheroism of comic characters from the big/silver screen adaptations. I like the Spiderman movies the best, but - let's face it - Superman is by far the best-looking one of them all. Yes, it's a fickle world, both in fantasy and reality. 

I've never really been a sneakers kind of girl, but when I saw the DC comics and Converse collab collection last year, I had to get a pair. This is the hi-top pair I ended up choosing:

The shoes also come with one complimentary set each of blue with white spots and plain white shoe-laces. I personally like the blue laces best. I'm not too sure they really fit in with the rest of my going-out wardrobe, but I'm sure they'll look just right with a pair of trackies or super skinny jeans. I've worn them to the dance studios before, and although I don't really take hip-hop classes anymore, I think they would fit right in. In fact, which Converse shoe wouldn't?

I think they're really cool, so naturally, when I was notified that Converse had released a few more DC comics designs recently, I jumped online to see what was on offer. What caught my eye this time was a pair of pink low-top shoes with a simple design of the Superman logo and the words printed on either side of the shoe. Like the other pair, this one also comes with spare shoe-laces in pale pink and white. I rather like the low-top ones more than the hi-top ones, because I don't really think the latter suits me much.  

I will admit that they are not the most comfy pairs of shoes in the world, as you would probably know if you are already the proud owner of Converse canvas shoes (I wore the new pair to dance in recently, and let's just say it was an experience on the side of discomfort). However, I like the rubber sole and shoe cap, and I think the prints are quite funky, if you're into comics and Superheroes. Just remember to wear them with a pair of thin, cotton anklets for the most comfortable fit. :)

Ice-cream chocolate bars!

These days, I'm starting to see more and more ice-cream versions of chocolate bars available in supermarket freezers. I love homemade ice-cream, the gourmet varieties, and so on and so forth, but sometimes I feel that only the mass-produced, fun-flavoured confectioneries hit the spot. These particular ice-cream bars are fab for when you can't decide between having ice-cream or chocolate. I love all of the following, but I think the Snickers one resembles its chocolate bar version most, and it's also the one I like best, because it really feels like I'm eating the chocolate bar, but in a much bigger size, and with ice-cream :) What's not to love? 

A word of warning though: since they contain ice-cream, they are probably more fatty than their chocolate counterparts (I haven't directly compared the nutritional info though, so don't quote me). They are also very more-ish, so are probably not suitable for those counting calories!  

Melbourne: Pei Modern - a review

Pei Modern
(www.peimodern.com.au)
 Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening hours: Mon-Fri (+ Sat for dinner only, 5pm - late)
Breakfast: 7.30am - 11.30am
Lunch: 12pm - 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm - Late

I can't remember the last time I walked into a random restaurant for a proper sit-down meal without having read up on any reviews prior. I had zero expectations and only the barest inkling of the price point. Thus, this restaurant review will run slightly in reverse, in terms of my usual format. It was on the first day of my recent Melbourne trip that I stumbled across Pei Modern. 

I stayed by myself at the Sofitel hotel on Collins Street on the first night. While the hotel itself is quite nice (once you eventually find your way in) the format of the entrance is quite strange and confusing. Basically, there is no main entrance. I ended up accessing the escalators to go up to the hotel lobby by walking around the bend behind the Collins Place building, which is where Pei Modern is hidden. At a glance, it looked pretty closed off, and I couldn't see inside it, so it didn't appeal to me at all. Like the Sofitel, the entrance to this eatery is also not immediately obvious. The name sounds Chinese, so I assumed it served modern Chinese cuisine. 

So how did I end up going there? Well, by the time I got back to the hotel that night, it was already approaching 9pm, and the restaurant I wanted to go to, Maha Bar and Grill, closes its doors at 10pm. Since it was already late, I just wanted to go somewhere for a quick dinner; for just a main and a dessert. Upon enquiring about the opening hours and table availability at the hotel's restaurant, No35, at the hotel reception, the person on duty, noting that I was just eating by myself, kindly advised me that since said restaurant was bordering on fine-dining, and menu prices would reflect this (he estimated $50 for main and dessert), he could recommend some good casual-dining places close by that are more reasonably priced for a solo dinner. He mentioned an Italian and a Mexican eatery, but I opted for his first suggestion of the Pei Modern bistro, since it was just downstairs, and he said it was modern French cuisine. I figured that since the receptionist is French, he must know good French food from bad, right?

Before I launch into my review of the food, let me clarify first up that the food at Pei Modern is not French at all, but very much modern Australian; although, I guess, the food may well be vaguely French-inspired. The price point of the menu items, while not extortionately high, are also not the 'casual-dining' prices I was led to expect. In fact, looking at the No35 menu now, online, the prices are comparable. Despite the inaccurate information I was given, I have to thank that receptionist for introducing me to this bistro. 

The interior:

I was shown to the bar while I waited for a table in the dining room. The bar area is partially closed off from the dining area by a wooden partition, but there's also a few tables with tall chairs here that you can choose to sit at. Here, I ordered a mocktail composed of orange, apple and lime juice, watermelon soda, and mint ($9). I've never had watermelon soda before, and having a carbonated mocktail was definitely a bit different. It was refreshing and tasted quite nice. My table in the next room was ready in a matter of minutes, and I was seated in a cozy corner with comfortable padded seating, the open kitchen to my left. Apart from this type of seating along the wall of this side of the room, the rest of the furniture consisted of white, plastic chairs and bare four-legged wooden tables with natural or white-coloured table-top surfaces. Paired with dark-coloured walls and ceiling, wooden accents and dim lighting, the bistro takes on a simple yet contemporary and chic look. The atmosphere is casual and relaxed, and guests can freely chatter loudly. 

The service:

I was served by 2 different waitresses during my whole sitting, and both were very friendly and knowledgeable about the dishes on the menu. It's great to be made to feel welcome by waitstaff at a restaurant. It's the way it should be in the whole of the hospitality industry, really, but unfortunately, I've found this to not always the case.  

The food:

The house-made sourdough bread was served in a rustic cloth bag, with some salted butter alongside. There's nothing usually much to say about bread and butter, but I remember this particular butter being much creamier (in a good way, of course) than the usual. 

The waitress recommended most of the items on the menu, so I ended up choosing the wild barramundi with diamond clams and green tomatoes ($38). This dish was lovely and delicate, dressed in a simple clear broth, and garnished with micro herbs and tiny white flowers. The absence of a rich, creamy sauce allowed the fresh flavours of the food to take centre-stage. The barramundi was nicely cooked and the skin was wonderfully crispy. The clams were nice, but few; I think there were about three on the plate. The most interesting element in this dish, for me, was the samphire, which I've never eaten before. A fleshy stem-like plant that resembles super skinny baby asparagus, the samphire is a coastal succulent that grows along the Victorian coastline, as well as on that of Scotland and other parts of the UK. Overall, I loved this dish. I think the last time I was this impressed by a fish dish was when I had a swordfish dish for lunch at Gary Mehigan's Fenix, which is also located in Melbourne. 

Main: Wild Barramundi, Clams, Samphire and Green Tomato 

For dessert, I was tempted to get the stuffed caramelised tomato with star anise ice-cream, because it sounded interesting and is the bistro's signature dessert dish, according to the waitress. I don't particularly like liquorice-y flavours or raisins, with which the tomato is stuffed, so I chose, instead, the buttermilk and banana ice-cream with hazelnut praline, chocolate ganache and chocolate tuile ($15). 

Dessert: Buttermilk and banana ice-cream, hazelnut praline, chocolate ganache, chocolate tuile

I didn't mind the ice-cream; it tasted of ripe bananas, like its name suggests. However, I was not a big fan of everything else on the plate. The chocolate tuile had a burnt taste, and I wish the hazelnuts were just toasted and not pralinéd, so that there wouldn't be too much of the hard crunch element present. There was also a flat, rectangular piece with a cake-like texture, resembling a softened chocolate biscuit. I'm not too sure what it's supposed to be, but whatever it was, the dish could have done without it.

Despite the fact that I didn't love my dessert, I was still overall well pleased with my dining experience here. I will not lie; the serving sizes for both main and dessert are small, and may not appear to be worth the cost for those with very big appetites, but I find it is perfect for someone like me with a small stomach. For those belonging to the first category, I would definitely recommend ordering an entrée as well, to ensure you won't leave hungry. Will I go back again? Very likely.

Now, the interesting thing is that when I was Googling this restaurant online, just before writing up this review, I found out that my serendipitous discovery, contrary to my belief, is not at all just a random hidden bistro waiting to be discovered, but one opened just last year by Mark Best (owner of renowned Sydney restaurant, Marque), Peter Bartholomew and David Mackintosh (both from my favourite Melbourne Spanish tapas restaurant, MoVida), and which has been awarded the title of 'Best New Restaurant' by this year's Good Food Guide. The Pei kitchen is headed by Matt Germanchis, who has worked at MoVida, and the bistro is managed by Ainslie Lubbock, who is from Attica, a highly rated fine-dining restaurant in Melbourne.

It's probably a good thing actually that I didn't know Pei Modern is owned by Mark Best, because I probably would have avoided dining there. I haven't written up a review for Marque yet, which I dined at last year, but in summary, the food was okay, but my whole experience there was ruined by the snooty attitude of one of the waiters there that served us. When he asked whether our party wanted still or sparkling water and we replied that still, plain water would be fine, he didn't bother hiding an arched expression on his face, and said in a condescending tone that the restaurant filters and carbonates its own water, so regardless of which we choose, we would still have to pay $4 per person. Basically, he was suggesting, and assuming, that we had chosen what we had, because we were being cheap, and his attitude made it clear that he thought we were somehow unworthy of his service and of his even feigning a genuine smile.

This was not the first time I've met waiters who think they can have a high and mighty air about them, just because the restaurant they work at is fine-dining or quite popular; however, this is not acceptable, and should not be accepted by customers, especially those paying good money for the food and service. Thus, I make a point of never revisiting restaurants that give me bad service, especially if the food is not that particularly outstanding. I'm glad that the service at Pei is at the other end of the spectrum from what I received at Marque.

The last point of interest I discovered is in the reasoning behind the Asian-sounding restaurant name. (Clue: The bistro is at the 'Paris end' of Collins Street.) If you're thinking about the Louvre pyramid in Paris, you would be correct: the name is a nod to the Chinese-born architect, I.M. Pei. Unbeknownst to me, until I read the hotel newsletter in my Sofitel hotel room, his architecture firm, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, actually designed the Collins Place building (completed in 1981), which is incidentally where Pei Modern resides. Interesting, non?

My finished knitting projects!

I'm proud to report that I've finally finished two projects that have been in hibernation for a while, over the last two days: the Knot Sleeve Blouse by Olga Buraya-Kefelian (for Blue Sky Alpacas) and the Short Stays by Larissa Brown (for Jane Austen Knits, 2011). According to my Ravelry project pages, I started the former in December 2011 and the latter at the end of March 2012. Yep, I know; I'm pretty slack, huh? But at least I got there in the end! 

The main reason I stashed these projects for so long is because I've been trying to lay my hands on some professional blocking tiles, in order to do a proper job of it. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but in the past I've been using the ironing board to block small items like scarflets, and a thick towel over my quilting board for bigger pieces. Ever since reading some pretty good reviews on the 'Knitter's Block' blocking tiles by cocoknits (www.cocoknits.com), I had my heart set on getting a set for myself, convinced that it would change my blocking results forever. 

I ended up buying the large set of 18 tiles, because the small set of 9 doesn't seem like it would form a sufficiently large blocking area for large items like shawls. At $85 plus about $50 for postage and handling (more if you want to send it via express or registered mail), I had high expectations for this rather costly investment. 

Knitter's Blocks

I will keep this to-the-point: I regret buying this product; I should have just bought the children's play mats of this likeness. The carpet-like fabric covering of the tiles is supposed to gently grip the knitted fabric, which I think it sort of does. However, when I blocked both of my garments, I found that even after a full 24 hours, they remained very much damp. This is rather unusual, because when I've blocked other items via my previous methods, if I block them in the morning, usually by evening they'd be dry; most definitely after airing overnight. 

After over 24 hours, I needed the blocking tiles for my blouse, so I had to remove the still slightly damp short stays and hope that it would be okay. I'm not sure if it's because of this, or if it's due to the fact that the shoulder straps in the design are not wide enough, but the edges still retained the tendency to curl under slightly. Probably a combination of both. Anyway, upon removal of the garment from the tiles, I realised that the surface of the tiles were still quite wet, which is why the side of the knitted fabric touching it was also damp. The non-absorptive surface of the tiles is supposed to speed up the drying process, but it seems to do the reverse in my case. It appears that the moisture gets trapped between the fabric and the top of the tile covering and can't evaporate. Thus, after 24 hours of blocking my second garment, the Knot Sleeve Blouse, I whipped out the hairdryer and used that to dry out the fabric while it was still pinned to the tiles. Worked a treat. 

The inclusion of the cotton sheet to help with the blocking was nice, but it felt a tad oily and it also took forever to dry out, despite squeezing out as much water from it as I could before laying it over my garment. I wish the tiles were thicker too, so that the T-pins could be secured in them more firmly without stabbing into my mattress below. In the future, I think I should probably lay a towel between the garment and the tiles both to help absorb the water as well as to add more thickness to the blocking medium. Doing without a towel, I'd probably flip the tiles over to use the non-carpeted side. Hence, I should have just bought some kids play mat tiles, since these will do the same job, by the looks of things, and at a much cheaper cost, too. I don't know how this is working better for other purchasers, but for me, it's not as great as it's cracked out to be, and I feel rather jipped.  

Complaints aside, here is my Knot Sleeve Blouse:

Blocking on the Knitter's Block tiles

(By the way, I am loving the stitch holders by Clover. I bought another 2 small-sized ones when I was in Melbourne just for this garment, because of the wet blocking it had to undergo with live stitches on holders. They hold the stitches securely, and being plastic, there is no danger of them rusting like the metal ones might after soaking in water.)

The completed blouse, after blocking, grafting of the sleeves and attachment of the MOP buttons.

It was my first time grafting two pieces of knitted fabric together, so it was a new technique for me. For the first strip, I got distracted and forgot which side I was up to and whether it was time to slip off the stitch or prepare it, so I ended up with two extra unworked stitches on one needle when the other was emptied of stitches. Oops. My tension for the graft was a bit too tight for the second strip, but I tried to even it out as much as I could. The last two strips worked out fine, but I still have to work on making the edge stitches at the start of the grafts neater somehow. I also didn't realise until after I'd finished all the grafting that I hadn't bothered to fashion the strips on both sleeves in the same orientation before grafting; so now the shape, in terms of bulkiness, looks somewhat asymmetrical. The moral of the story is to always use lifelines on both pieces of fabric being grafted together. 

Front view

The knot feature in the sleeves is quite pretty - indeed, it is what attracted me to this pattern in the first place - but as some people on Ravelry have pointed out, the bulk of the fabric forming this has a danger of making the wearer look like they have big arms. It definitely looks better on the model on the pattern pamphlet cover than it does on me, but I think I can get away with it. Just. 

A better view of the knot sleeve detail

Back view

This is probably the best-fitting garment I've ever knitted, although if I was to knit it again, I would probably opt for the bigger size or do some maths and make some adjustments to the stitch count in some areas. The latter would probably be a better idea, since, as you can see from the above picture, the garment is already a bit on the looser side around the waist area. The armholes are a bit on the small side, sitting pretty high up. The yarn is nice and soft, and the fabric is stretchy, so it's not exactly uncomfortable, but with more movements during a day of wear, I'm not so sure this will still be the case. I will have to try it and find out for myself. From the picture of the front view, it is also obvious that the button band is pulled a bit out of shape towards the top, from the stretch across both front pieces. I like my button bands to sit flat and neatly on top of each other, which is why I'd probably add more stitches in the bust shaping section next time. 

I'm sure I've sung my praises for the yarn I used at some point or other, but I'll do it again. I am talking about the recommended yarn for this pattern; the Blue Sky Royal yarn by Blue Sky Alpacas. This 100% royal alpaca yarn has a beautifully soft hand and knits up to a wonderfully soft and light fabric. I have been handling this project well over a year, and have not experienced any problems with pilling, scratchiness or itchiness. I am head over heels in love with it, and already look forward to the next time I can knit with it again. 

Overall, I love what the pattern with this gorgeous yarn has created. The design is modern and feminine, and the fitted shape, together with the fine-gauge yarn and small, delicate mother-of-pearl buttons, make the garment one that has the benefit of being made from a luxury fibre by hand, without the rustic, homemade look, that most non-knitters stereotypically associate with hand-knit clothing. 

Short Stays:

Being blocked. There were 6 tiles to begin with, but after  blocking for 12 hours, I removed 3 due to space restrictions on the table I had to shift the lot to. 

The completed short stays after blocking and with the neck edging knitted on. 

I was prepared to love this piece, I really was. The ties took forever to knit, but it was a relatively quick knit after that. As you can see, the shoulder straps ended up being too long on me, which is why the garment is not sitting where it's supposed to. If I was knitting it to function as a stay, it would be no good to me at all. As is it, however, it makes a cute little vest that I can wear over fitted work shirts. Well, so long as others don't look closely enough to observe that there are bust darts seemingly knitted in the wrong places!

Front view

Back view

A lot of people on Ravelry have noted the off-centre panel at the back, so I was prepared for it. I agree that it looks a bit odd; like it's an error in the pattern. I don't mind it too much, but if I was to ever knit this again, I would probably centre it, just because I like symmetry. 

I'm not overly crazy about the neck edging that is knitted on at the very end. It matches the front edging, but it is wider at the back, which makes it look a bit weird. I wonder why the back shoulder straps weren't designed to be just as wide as the front ones (sans edging), so that the edging thickness would be the same all around. Is it to prevent curling? It's nice and firm and thick, so it gives structure, but I'd much prefer a more refined look. 

Back neck

I'm glad I have finally gotten two WIPs out of the way. Phew! Like last year, one of my New Year's knitting resolutions is to finish all WIPs before starting new ones or buying new yarn. I've got at least 2 that I'm still interested in finishing, one of which I aim to finish before the start of Winter. Hmm we'll see how that goes! I wonder what I should do with the yarn I've bought specifically for certain patterns that I haven't attempted yet, but aren't really interested in making anymore. Should I knit them anyway, or use the yarn towards different projects? This is exactly why I need to concentrate on one project at a time.

Meanwhile, it's that time of the year again to start working on my annual premmie beanie contributions to the hospital! I shall start these tomorrow :)

Exercising the brain

I walked past a Riot Art and Craft store the other day and couldn't help myself but pop in to have a browse. I have been drawing since I could pick up a pencil, but haven't had time to do a lot of it in recent years. Looking at all the art supplies in the shop made me feel like waking up the creative side of my brain again, so I decided to buy a new set of Derwent soft graphic pencils and pick up a new, convenient A4-sized art diary, so that I could easily carry it out and about to draw in, when inspiration strikes. I dug out some of my other supplies when I got home too, which includes the tin of 72 Derwent Studio pencils that my mother bought me when I was about 12 (don't ask how many years ago that was)! Several of those pencils are only half their original size now, but they're all still intact and none of the set are missing, so I'm quite proud of myself for having maintained them so well. The coloured, coated ends of the wooden barrels are a bit cracked now, but I'm sure the pencil cores should still be fine. 

I'm no longer a regular diary writer, so I'm trying to develop my skills in expressing emotions through my drawings instead. It's not quite as easy as doing it in writing - for me, anyway - especially since I'm used to drawing mainly still life, so that's something I have to work on, to evolve as an artist. I will get cracking on this once I get my hands on some blender and burnisher pencils. (Queen of Procrastination; that's my title.) 

Meanwhile, I have received the copy of Marc Levy's 'Et si c'était vrai' that I ordered online a few weeks ago. It's actually much thinner than I thought it would be. I really want to start reading it, but one part of me is nagging me to read 'Le petit prince' first; to not try to run before I learn to walk. Then there are the two Astérix et Obélix comic books that one of my classmates lent me, which I am due to return next week. I'm not big on comics and mangas, but I am told it is a good way to ease myself into French books. 

Well, at least all these activities will keep both sides of my brain occupied for a while! 

Speaking of brain training, have you all read the article in the Daily Mail about the plans of incorporating knitting back into the British National education curriculum? You can read it here. Apparently this idea came about when one of the primary schools found that it helped to improve its students' behavioural, writing and mathematical skills, while encouraging them to talk to each other as opposed to play on their phones. Frankly, I'm most surprised by the fact that primary school-aged children are even allowed to bring proper mobile phones to school. Times have definitely changed. No wonder why so many teenagers these days are so active on social media, but are severely lacking in real-life social skills. 

I knew there was more to knitting than simply being a blissful, tranquil way to pass time. Ah, if only I had started this hobby at a younger age! It will now be my new excuse for not being as 'number-smart' as I could potentially be, as well as for dedicating more time to knitting - not that I need one!

    

Coconut oil: some quick facts

I was watching a cooking segment of Better Homes and Gardens on TV on Friday night, which happened to feature Scott and Luke, a pair of contestants from the current season of Channel 7's My Kitchen Rules. Before I stopped following the show, due to the very obvious new direction that the producers decided to take (dramatisation, rudeness, nasty comments, and bickering between contestants, which sparked a lot of personal attacks and then racial slurs from viewers on the show's social networking sites), i.e. shifting the focus from the food to villain-ising contestants in an attempt to increase ratings, this pair of personal trainers from Bondi was one I was keen to see cook, because they had established themselves as the contestants who cook tasty, healthy food and had said at the outset that they wanted to promote healthy eating to the Australian audience. So imagine my shock when Scott added a generous tablespoonful of solidified coconut oil to the pan to cook his barramundi in, and explained to the show's host, "it's our preferred oil of choice. It's a saturated fat, but it's actually a good fat." I personally think it's a bit irresponsible to start saying something and then not fully explain it, especially when it could be misleading, and viewers are likely to just follow your suggestions blindly, because they are led to believe that you're a healthy-eating guru.

I felt compelled to write a quick post on the matter to clarify this, in case some viewers just take his word for it without doing some research, and proceed to completely substitute their cooking oils at home with coconut oil.

Image taken from Melrosehealth.com.au

I will admit straight off that I am a coconut lover and a big fan of all coconut products - young coconut meat, coconut milk, shredded coconut, desiccated coconut, McKenzie's Moist Coconut Flakes (I was so excited when I first saw this on the supermarket shelves!), coconut water.... you get the gist. And this was even back in the day when we all thought that products made from coconut flesh were all full of the same bad saturated fats as those found in lard. Hence, I, of all people, especially look forward to the day when research shows us that it is actually very good for our health to go a step further and incorporate coconut oil into our family's daily diet. Unfortunately, for the time being, we are still playing the waiting game.

Let's start off with some of the established benefits of using coconut oil, from a culinary perspective:

1. Tastes good;

2. High smoking point, so can be used for cooking things over high heat;

3. Quite stable and less likely than other plant oils to go rancid, since it is mainly comprised of saturated fatty acids. The shelf life is therefore generally longer; about 2 years. 

4. Is solid at room temperature, so it can be used to replace butter and lard in recipes that call for solid fats, e.g. pie pastry.

Now, why are there claims out there that coconut oil is good for you, health-wise?

Coconut oil and other coconut products are traditionally used for culinary purposes in many Asian cultures, but the popularity of this oil in Western countries only arose in recent years, after research revealed coconut oil as a saturated fat that doesn't behave quite like typical saturated fats. The fatty acids in coconut oil are more than 90% saturated1; however, it has been elucidated that a high proportion of these are medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), as opposed to the long-chain ones (LCFAs) found in animal fats. Research shows that the shorter-chained fatty acids are more readily oxidised to produce energy, which means that, unlike their longer-chained counterparts, they are generally not retained as body fat.1,2,3 'Their fast metabolism and transit into the body is associated with increased energy expenditure and earlier satiety, which can help to avoid overconsumption'.3 Additionally, unlike the other saturated fats, coconut oil seems to increase HDL-cholesterol (the 'good' cholesterol) levels a lot more, which may theoretically help to somewhat offset the increase in LDL-cholesterol (the 'bad' cholesterol) that it causes. These factors may in part explain why obesity and high cholesterol do not appear to be major problems in countries that traditionally use coconut as a main food source.

In fact, outcomes of a study by Feranil A et al4 indicate that coconut oil may be related to a beneficial lipid profile in pre-menopausal women in the Philippines, where there is a strong coconut presence in the diet of its people. However, the study used the 24-hour recall method, which doesn't really give extremely reliable, accurate data, and contrary to these results, in a study by Tholstrup et al,5 a diet partially substituted with MCFAs yielded totally opposite outcomes, with overall increases in total plasma cholesterol, in the LDL:HDL ratio, as well as in total plasma triglycerides. When looking at correlations between culture and food, we must also think about confounding factors, such as lifestyle and other dietary intake. For example, white rice is a staple in the Chinese diet, but despite what we know today about its high carbohydrate content and its higher glycaemic index compared to unrefined grains, this was not associated with overweight/obesity issues in the Chinese villagers back in the day. This is likely because the people did a lot of manual work in the fields regularly, which helped to offset the energy intake. Nowadays, these health issues are probably not as uncommon, especially in the more developed regions of Asia, where there is an increasing availability of processed foods, growing fast-food industries, influences on eating habits by American media, and, of course, lower physical activity levels due to the conveniences that ever-advancing technology offers. A similar sort of story rings true with the Mediterranean diet.

The health benefit of coconut oil is also suggested by the results of a study by Liau et al2, which examined the effect of ingested MCFAs in the form of virgin coconut oil (the variety containing the highest concentration of these fatty acids) on the anthropometric markers of obesity. There appeared to be a statistically significant decrease in waist circumference in the obese male study participants, averaging 0.97% from baseline; however, there were no significant improvements in the female participants, or significant reductions in any other markers. Nevertheless, this finding, plus the other aforementioned theoretical benefits, imply that coconut oil may have a promising role in weight management strategies.

Moving away from obesity and onto dental health, a team of scientists at the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland have also recently identified that enzyme-treated coconut oil inhibits the growth of most strains of Streptococcus bacteria, which commonly reside in the oral cavity and cause tooth decay, including S. mutans, which is known to produce tooth-decaying acids .6 This antimicrobial activity means that modified coconut oil may potentially be a useful additive in oral healthcare products. Don't go gargling coconut oil though - the study also concludes that coconut oil in its natural form has no such antibacterial effect.

On to the negatives.....

There is a protein called haptoglobin, which, when produced by adipose (fat) tissue, is directly related to adiposity (i.e. 'fat-ness'), and the blood level of which is typically elevated in people with diabetes and obesity.7 An animal study by Bueno et al,7 in which mice were given a diet enriched with various dietary fats, shows that both lard and coconut oil independently increases the gene expression of haptoglobin in white adipose tissue in mice, although it is area-specific and depends on duration of treatment. Other studies have shown that both MCFAs and LCFAs may increase serum pro-inflammatory cytokines via direct or indirect pathways, including certain ones that stimulate the expression of haptoglobin in fat depots.7 Collectively, these findings suggest that saturated fats are positively correlated with obesity, and coconut oil, though not definitively, may potentially contribute to it.

Although there are some obvious positive findings in regards to the health benefits of coconut oil, most, if not all, of the studies have been conducted over short periods of time only, so the long-term benefits and the long-term effects on blood lipids remain unclear. Longer term studies are important, since there are already some conflicting trial outcomes. Some studies show, for example, a decline in the enhanced weight loss, energy expenditure and feelings of satiety a few weeks into trials examining MCFA-supplemented diets, with some of the authors speculating that some sort of compensatory mechanism in the body may be responsible for this.7 Moreover, if we are to view coconut oil as a possible weight loss tool, there needs to be more studies based on people with existing weight problems, in order to more accurately assess the effects. Due to its variable effects on the blood lipid profile, more research is required to determine its relationship with heart disease. Without clarifying all these factors first, it is probably not advisable to use coconut oil as part of a weight management plan in those with existing risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) disease.

Another issue is that even if MCFAs prove to be fantastic, the concentration of these vary between different species of coconuts, and different coconut oils may have varied ratios of LCFAs to MCFAs; i.e. you may not get all the theoretical benefits, and may even end up ingesting more 'bad' saturated fats than you expect to. Once determined, it will also be interesting to see the dose required of commercially available coconut oil in order to reap its purported health benefits. One must keep in mind that regardless of if a fat is 'good' or 'bad', there is a limit to how much it should contribute to our diet. The World Health Organisation recommends that total dietary fats should contribute to no more than 30-35% of energy needs, and saturated fats, no more than 10%.1 Excess energy intake may not only lead to weight gain and increased health risks, but may also reduce appetite and therefore consumption of other food groups, which contain many macro- and micronutrients that our body needs to optimally function.

In my humble opinion.....

It is an established fact that coconut oil is healthier than all the other saturated fats and, of course, infinitely better for you than trans-fats. As with many food sources derived from plants, coconut oil may well also contain a whole heap of healthful phytonutrients that we are yet to find out about. But while it has been associated with some evidence of potential weight-loss benefits, albeit short-term data, its effects on cholesterol and CV health are still a bit on the hazy side. Looking at its effect on cholesterol levels alone, even if it may significantly increase HDL-cholesterol levels, it will definitely still increase LDL-cholesterol levels, whereas with the polyunsaturated oils like safflower, sunflower, and corn oils, they will both increase HDLs and decrease LDLs. Thus, at present, the healthiest choice of cooking oil, especially in terms of reducing CV risk, would still be the polyunsaturated oils.

Certainly, it wouldn't harm to occasionally use coconut oil in sensible amounts, and perhaps it may even be beneficial to use it in combination with polyunsaturated oils; but I definitely wouldn't go substituting everything with coconut oil, at least not until there is some solid, long-term evidence to support this.

And that includes for cooking barramundi, too, unless you want to add a lovely subtle coconut flavour to its flesh.

..........................................................................................................................................................

Well, that took me longer than expected to write up! Hopefully you'll now be able to make a bit more of an informed decision about whether or not you want to jump onto the coconut-oil-is-the-latest-and-greatest-health-food-discovery bandwagon ;) If you do decide to try out coconut oil, I would suggest getting the virgin coconut oil variety, since it theoretically contains a higher proportion of MCFAs than the norm. Also, if you're planning on using this oil as part of a weight management plan, please remember that exercise plays a very important role in achieving your weight-loss goals as well, together with a balanced diet.



Disclaimer: I am by no means a nutritional expert. I just happen to like knowing the basic nutritional profile of what I put in my mouth, and have access to certain peer-reviewed research journal articles (there is a great wealth of 'information' out there on the www, but be aware they're not all trustworthy, especially if it's regarding unestablished health benefits of certain products - any random person could have posted it). The above information is only what I have found at the time of posting this (I'm sure there's way more research papers out there with various findings, and more to come in the future); my personal interpretations of them; and the conclusions I have drawn from them. For professional advice, please consult an accredited practising dietitian. 

Reference List: 

1. Wahlqvist M. Food and nutrition: food and health systems in Australia and New Zealand. 3rd ed. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 2011. p. 289-90, 293, 538. 
2. Liau K, Lee Y, Chen C, Rasool A. An open-label pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of virgin coconut oil in reducing visceral adiposity. ISRN Pharmacol. 2011;special section:1-6. 

3. Clegg ME. Medium-chain triglycerides are advantageous in promoting weight loss although not beneficial to exercise performance. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2010;61(7):653-79.

4. Feranil AB, Duazo PL, Kuzawa CW, Adair LS. Coconut oil is associated with a beneficial lipid profile in pre-menopausal women in the Philippines. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2011;20(2):190-5.

5. Tholstrup T, Ehnholm C, Jauhiainen M, Petersen M, Hoy CE, et al. Effects of medium-chain fatty acids and and oleic acid on blood lipids, lipoproteins, glucose, insulin, and lipid transfer protein activities. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79(4):564-9.

6. Digested coconut oil could combat tooth decay. Nutr Perspect. 2012;35(4):17.

7. Oller do Nascimento CM, Hunter L, Trayhurn P. Regulation of haptoglobin gene expression in 3TC-L1 adipocytes by cytokines, catecholamines, PPAR-gamma. Biochem Biophys Res Comm. 2004;313:702-8.

Pearl Café: a review

Pearl Café: 28 Logan Rd, Woolloongabba QLD 4102

I had a day off work yesterday and the weather was sunny and fine, so I decided to go out for a spot of lunch at Pearl Café. I was quite looking forward to it, since my sister has been raving about their breakfast menu for a while, and is a regular customer of theirs. Unfortunately, it did not impress me at all, and even my sister, who hadn't tried their non-breakfast options before, expressed disappointment. I don't want to waste too much time blogging about an eatery that I don't personally recommend, so I will make this review brief.

Where to start?

The food we ordered: 

Citron presse: 'fresh lemon juice, mint, sirop de gomme, soda' ($7). 

'Fresh, natural Coffin Bay oysters' ($3 each)

'Pulled pork, cabbage & caramelised onion toastie' ($18)

'Roasted duck salad, quince..' ($24)

The Negatives:

1. Café temperature is set ridiculously low: Being a beautiful, fine day, it was neither too hot nor too cold outside, but the inside of the café was like a refrigerator, despite looking all cozy through the front door. If it wasn't because it took so long to find a parking spot, and that I really wanted to try out their food, I would have walked straight out of there. The cold temperature mirrored the atmosphere of the place and the attitude of the staff.
2. Extremely slow service: We arrived at about 12.15pm. The drinks came out pretty quickly, but my citron presse was way too sour, even for a homemade lemonade, so I had to let the ice melt to dilute the acidity, before I could consume it. We ordered half a dozen natural oysters, but they didn't come out until at least 12.45pm. They were served natural, so required no cooking whatsoever, and were dressed only in some diced onions, shallots and cracked pepper. So why did it take so long? Were they waiting for their stock to defrost or something? They did almost have a full house that afternoon, but the café is small with only 7 other small tables (mainly with couples) on the inside and 2 out the front, so it seems more like a time management issue. If they have problems with putting food out in a timely manner at lunchtime, I wonder how they cope with their dinner service. With the long waiting time, I expected the oysters to taste amazing or to have a really delicious dressing. Alas, they tasted just like how they looked - ok-in-freshness oysters topped with crunchy bits of raw onion. I've had fresher oysters with tastier dressings and a significantly shorter wait. Our actual lunch dishes took another 15 minutes or so to arrive at the table. Around this time, we had to add more money to the parking meter, because we had not anticipated that we'd need to spend any more than an hour at the café.
3. Extremely mediocre food: A picture paints a thousand words, and I'm sure you can see from the image of my 'toastie' above, that the top half of my baguette was burnt right across its length. I personally would be too embarrassed to put that on the table. If I burnt my bread at home, I would at least scrape off the burnt bits with a knife or slice it off, because it's not healthy to ingest. The toasted bread roll was too hard to work on with a knife and fork, so I ended up wrapping my serviette around it to pick up and eat directly. It was so oily that the oil seeped through the thick serviette to my fingers. I would not have minded so much if the food tasted good, but, sadly, it did not impress. Despite the oiliness, the pork filling tasted dry, and the sliced cheese triangles atop this filling were also dry, without enhancing the overall taste. On the contrary, its strong flavour overpowered the taste of everything else, except for the even stronger tarry burnt taste of the bread. I think there needs to be some sort of sauce in there to bind it together.

My sister's roasted duck salad was small in serving size, dull in presentation, and probably needed more duck meat in it to justify its name. She didn't enjoy it and didn't finish it, despite its meagre portion size.
4. The price: because of the above-mentioned points. I don't mind paying more money for good quality food and/or service, but this place was not up to scratch in either arenas.

The Positives:

Sorry, none perceived at this time.

If you're so very inclined to try out the Pearl Café, I'd give lunch a miss and maybe take a gamble on their breakfast offerings instead. Since my sister and quite a few people on Urbanspoon seem to be die-hard fans of their breakfast menu, I'm sure they must be capable of making some nice things. However, as keen as I am to try out good breakfast places, I don't think I'll be returning to this particular café any time soon. The experience has left me cold. In both senses of the word.

Melbourne: meeting Leehom Wang + the 'Music Man II' concert

Leehom 'Music-Man II' 王力宏 《火力全開》concert tour
The Plenary, Melbourne Convention Centre  09/04/13

I touched down in Brisbane on Friday afternoon, after spending most of the week in Melbourne, and I had the Guy Sebastian 'Get Along' concert to attend the same night I got back, so it's been, oxymoronically, a busy week of leisure! I never get to sleep early or well when I'm away from home, and somehow my skin always gets into a horrible, dry, unsightly state, especially when I'm in Melbourne, regardless of the use of my regular skin care products. Must be the bipolar weather. Fortunately, Melbourne's strong redeeming feature is its brilliant food culture, which, in my humble opinion, is second to none in Australia. This is why I travel to Melbourne at least once a year just to satisfy my gastronomic cravings. Of course, there are the musical productions that choose to snob Brisbane, too.

The main event I flew down for this time was the concert of my favourite Taiwanese singer, Leehom Wang - his first concert tour ever in Australia. I've been listening to his music since I was in high school (which now seems like a lifetime ago!), so it was, in a way, like I was finally fulfilling a longstanding teenage dream. The occasion was made all the more exciting by the fact that I was also 1 of 100 ticket holders to win a ticket to attend his autograph session the night before the concert. The experience was truly special and something I won't forget in a long time. For a multi-award-winning, extremely talented, handsome, famous singer, he is super nice and laid-back. I still can't believe that he offered to have the professional photographer on stage take photos of him with each and every fan at the autograph session. What a very kind gesture! He deserves all the love and respect he gets from his fans.

Shaking hands with Leehom Wang at the Autograph party (Mid-City Arcade, Bourke St, Melbourne)
(Photo credit: China Town Cinemas, Melbourne) 

With my autographed concert poster!

The organisers of the event laid down strict rules at the outset about not attempting to take our own photos with the artist and not asking to have anything else signed besides the official concert promotional poster (which we had to purchase from them for $5, at the time of ticket collection), citing security reasons. I wasn't told this until the afternoon of the autograph session, when I went to pick up my ticket. I had been spending some time preparing something to have signed back home, so I thought I'd try my luck anyway. This item is a new Moleskine music manuscript notebook that I had purchased last year, with the intention of working on compositions, but I have been putting it off, mainly due to lack of time (and laziness). When I was thinking about what sole item I should ask him to sign (I guesstimated each person would get about 3-4 seconds max. to 'interact' with him), I figured, what better to inspire me to write songs than to have one of my favourite musicians autograph my music book?

I proceeded to make this book, which was to become the most special music book I'd ever own, that little bit more special by cross-stitching a cute Margaret Sherry design to incorporate into a fabric book cover I was going to make for it. I changed the design a bit by stitching the tennis ball into a quaver instead, to make it more music-relevant; to suggest a pun: When in doubt, hit some notes/play music/etc ;) However, as you can see from the pictures below, I ended up sans book cover. I had spent a long time at Lincraft selecting which fabrics, patterns and colours to use, and had it all sitting in its shopping bag at home, ready at my disposal. Sadly, I just didn't have the time, and I realised I would have to sew a thin, rectangular opening on the back fabric cover to accommodate the elastic closure, which I had totally forgotten about. I literally finished doing all the backstitch the night before my flight, and had to wake up extra early the next morning to iron on the interfacing, cut the aida cloth to size and directly glue the cross-stitch design onto the front cover of the book. Thankfully, the finished product still looks good (to me at least). And yes, Leehom did agree to autograph it for me :)

For those of you who are not familiar with him, and might not know what I am harping on about, you can get an idea of what a brilliant singer he is from the following YouTube clip of his duet with the multilingual Canadian songstress, Lara Fabian. It is sung in English and titled, Light of my Life: (the music video is from 13 years or so ago, so the quality is, sadly, not that great.)

   

....Well, what do you think? Silenced by both the singers' great vocals? I expected nothing less :)

The concert itself was phenomenal and lived up every bit to my expectations. Leehom is a fantastic vocalist and a ridiculously talented musician in his own right. He performed brilliantly on the piano, the violin, the electric guitar (which was shaped like a dragon!), and the erhu, which is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. Like the violin-playing member of Zac Brown Band, he has inspired me to pick up the violin and to start practising the piano again. I'll never be as good as him though - my fingers are too short and clumsy; my technique is weak; and, let's face it, you need some degree of innate talent (which I obviously lack) to be really skilled at an instrument. Perhaps I should focus more on the Chinese zither (gu zheng), which is an instrument I think I might stand a chance at being as good as him at, if I practise harder.

At the concert!

As faultless as the concert was, I do, however, believe my experience would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't for certain factors pertaining to the venue and the fans, which are totally out of the control of the artist, of course:

a) my seat and the one next to it had visible big blotches of dried blood stains on their fabric covers - gross!;
b) one of the security personnel kept physically pushing me back even when I was just standing there at some distance from the stage, not causing any problems (are they even allowed to touch me? I don't think so.); and
c) I wish the other fans were more respectful and mindful of other people around them - I had an avalanche of screaming girls crush against my head, shoulders, and back, such that my glasses were knocked off my face, when Leehom made a manoeuvre to shake my hand. This is how people get injured at concerts. Seriously, do other people really cease to exist when you're in the presence of your idol?! I certainly would not do that to anyone. Safety first. And where were the security guards then, I wonder?

But anyway, on to foodie matters, I took full advantage of the time I was in Melbourne to eat to my heart's content. My sister and I managed to make table reservations in advance at Shannon Bennet's Vue de Monde and at Attica this time round, to try out their degustation menus. It was all very exciting, so I think I might just write reviews up for them before I do the Sydney ones. Expect a whole heap of food reviews to come!