Confessions of a beauty product addict + Chloe EDP by Chloe

I confess. I like collecting things. When I was little, it was stickers. Then it was postage stamps. Then it was cooking books (ok, you got me; I still collect those). Now, as I'm getting older, I'm paying more attention to appearances, and hence, I find myself spending a lot of time browsing skincare and cosmetic products online. I started to realise that I was starting to buy things out of obsession rather than practical need, after accumulating quite a collection of Jill Stuart make-up products, when, heck, I don't even wear makeup normally, save for the handful of times when I'm attending a ball or going to a fine dining restaurant. In fact, I think it's because I am in possession of so much cosmetic products that I feel the need to find occasions to use them, so as to not waste them; after all, they're only good for maybe a year or so after opening.

Remember how I said in one of my previous posts that I used to be a fragrance collector, until I discovered Jo Malone? Well, turns out I was wrong. I recently broke my perfume ban and bought a 50 mL bottle of the Chloé EDP by Chloé. I've been wanting to get this since purchasing the solid perfume necklace of the same fragrance last year, but have been suppressing the urge to, due to the aforementioned self-imposed ban. I finally caved in and I'm glad I did, because unlike some of my previous perfume purchases, of which I've come to regret soon after, I am actually head-over-heels in love with this fragrance. For the moment, anyway.

This signature scent of Chloé fuses classic with contemporary to create a unique fragrance that embodies the very essence of elegant chic and femininity. It combines the powdery floral notes of the classic rose with a modern twist of sweet and fresh lychee, peony and freesia, creating a sweet, light floral scent that blooms into the warmer, woody base notes of lily of the valley, magnolia, amber and cedarwood, which beautifully meld together with the predominant rose base. Although floral fragrances are typically more suited to evenings, especially in warmer weather, the luscious top notes renders a light spritz of this not too heavy for daytime use.

This exquisite fragrance is housed in a simple rectangular bottle, which features vertical ridges around the body, inspired by the pleats of a Chloé blouse sleeve; a silver-plated collar bearing its name; and a hand-tied champagne-pink ribbon. The understated elegance of the outside well reflects that of the sweet distillation that lies within. Similarly, the scent serves to draw out the inner natural elegance and femininity of its wearer.

Of course, my newfound perfume love doesn't mean that I've forsaken Jo Malone. I took advantage of a recent David Jones 10% off all Jo Malone fragrances one-day offer and re-stocked my favourite Nectarine and Honey Blossom, in the 100 mL bottle, which retails for $170. The price is definitely a cut above many other perfume houses; however, if the fragrance becomes an everyday favourite, which it has in my case, it is more economical in the long-run to splash out on this size than to keep purchasing 30 mL bottles for $90 each.

Back to beauty products. I have in my possession products from a variety of brands - Shiseido, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Christian Dior, Jill Stuart, La Prairie... My collection is ever growing as I continue my search for the perfect companions for my complexion. In order to help other girls from spiralling down this same path, sacrificing both time and money, I've decided that I'll start posting beauty product reviews on my blog. You're welcome.

Les Intouchables

I have been wanting to watch the multi award-winning French movie, Les Intouchables, since hearing about it from someone in my French class earlier in the year, so I was very excited when I found out recently that this movie was now showing in cinemas - with English subtitles, of course. I went to see it last night with some friends, at the Palace Centro cinemas.

Les Intouchables, which has been directly translated to 'The Intouchables' for the cinema screenings in the US and here in Australia (I don't get why they didn't alter the spelling), is based on the non-fictional memoir by Abdel Sellou, titled 'You changed my life'. It tells of how a Senegalese immigrant (the author is actually Algerian), Driss (Omar Sy), an ex-con who lives off welfare benefits, gets employed as a carer for a wealthy French aristocrat, Philippe Pozzo Di Borgo (Francois Cluzet), who had become a quadriplegic after a paragliding accident. The story follows the time they spend together, the development of their friendship, and basically how their encounter affected each other's lives. It's more comedy than drama, and it views societal stereotypes - physical disabilities, race, socioeconomic status - in a light-hearted manner.

I like feel-good movies, and I really enjoyed this one. It's definitely the best French movie I've seen so far. You will leave the cinemas with a positive vibe, believing that there is a light at the end of every tunnel (but sometimes you just have to really squint... behind a pair of binoculars), and that there is a glimmer of hope still for humankind.

Now to add the book to my reading list!

Say cheese!

This morning, I whipped out from the fridge the two cheese products that I bought from the Good Food and Wine Show, the weekend before last, to try. It is a fact universally acknowledged that all soft cheeses, especially of the crumbly variety, are in want of crusty, fresh bread as their partner (I'm sure Ms Austen would agree). Hence, for this cheese-eating occasion, I bought a French stick from Coles last night, from their seemingly new freshly-baked-on-the-day, sans preservatives/artificial additives line. 

Bread and cheese, anyone?

Pictured on the left is the Pesto Fetta by High Valley Wine and Cheese, a company based in Mudgee, NSW. The only fetta cheese that I normally buy is the Persian Fetta by Southcape; however, this fetta cheese, which, as its name suggests, is marinated in a blend extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oil that is infused with basil, garlic and pepper, is actually quite delicious as well. This is why it pays to be open-minded about food and to try new products!

The other cheese that I bought is a round of 'King River Gold', produced by the Milawa Cheese Company. This washed rind cheese is a soft cow's milk cheese that tastes similar to Brie. For some reason, it tasted more creamy and delicious when I sampled it at the food show than it does at home. Perhaps I should have left it out to rest at room temperature for even longer before serving?

I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that I had the above bread and cheese for breakfast. But at least I didn't pair it with wine, right? ;)

Add some sparkle to your day, the natural way.

As a follow-up to my last post, here is a picture of my blood orange soda-making attempt that is sitting on the table in front of me, as I type. I poured a bit more than one-third of a glass of the juice, then topped it with chilled Perrier sparkling mineral water. The soda water makes the drink taste a bit more sour than the juice alone, because of the carbonic acid. I don't really like this; I guess I didn't expect it to affect the flavour that much. You can still taste the blood orange, but it's just not the same as the commercially available drink. I guess my easy way out was just too easy to work! 

For those of you trying to make your own natural homemade blood orange soda, I would recommend doing it the conventional way (uh, well, as conventional as making your own flavoured soda can be), by making a syrup to mix with the carbonated water. That is to say, boil down the juice with some sugar to form a concentrated blood orange syrup, cool down completely, then add chilled sparkling mineral water to a few spoonfuls of this syrup per glass, adjusting the amount of syrup, according to taste preferences. If you're into the full making-from-scratch thing, you could even carbonate your own water. And no, I do not mean going out to buy a carbon-dioxide cylinder to manually shake up your own, or using yeast and the fermentation process for carbonation. Too much effort; it's not the way I roll, sorry. Domestic carbonation systems are now commercially available virtually everywhere, even at Target and K-mart, with models starting from $100 or even less. These systems use carbon dioxide as well, but you just have to press a button for them to release the desired amount of gas. One of the more widely known brands is called Sodastream (www.sodastream.com). 

I guess the advantages of making your own flavoured soda are that a) you're in control of what goes into your soda; b) you can control the amount of sugar you're consuming; c) you're being environmentally friendly, by reducing material waste; and d) you can have a fizzy drink whenever you feel like it, without having to drive, or walk, out to the supermarket! 

Enough about carbonated drinks, I have to talk about my latest snack obsession - chocolate-coated coffee beans! 

Chiasso Coffee Roasters: Choc-coated coffee beans
http://www.chiassocoffee.com.au/

It all started in the Summer of 2010, when I went to visit the Kauai Coffee Company plantation in Kaua'i, Hawai'i, where I bought a packet of their chocolate-covered peaberries. Prior to that time, I've never really taken an interest in coffee consumption, bar the iced frappacinos at Gloria Jeans Coffee (which I was positively addicted to at one stage - not sure if it was the sugar or the espresso content) and the occasional iced mocha, because I'm more of a tea person. While on the topic of Kauai Coffee, I should mention that all their coffee products are 100% Hawai'ian, and, in fact, all their coffee beans are from their own estate (where I visited). The beans are grown, processed and roasted on site. I remember one of the employees there saying that their coffee is better than Kona coffee, although the latter, which is produced by their sister island, the Big Island, is more popular and famously represents 'Hawai'ian coffee'. Here's their website address, if you're interested in reading more about them: http://store.kauaicoffee.com/kauai-coffee-choc-covered-peaberries-p78.aspx. They do accept internet orders, but, unfortunately for us southern hemisphere-ites, shipping costs as much as the products themselves.

But where was I? Chocolate-covered coffee beans. Recently I've been finding that I like buying them and keeping one in my handbag, for when I'm feeling peckish or in need of a coffee hit. My latest purchase was from the Chiasso Coffee Roasters stand at the Good Food and Wine show, the weekend before last. They are a Brisbane-based coffee company, which sources beans from international locations, but roasts them locally. I had a coffee made by them too, which tasted nice, but left a slight acidic taste on the palate, a bit like the 'Feeling Woolly' blend by Black Sheep Coffee. I can't remember which blend of coffee they used, but they said something about it being the 'House special'. The chocolate-covered coffee beans are quite yummy, but I find that the actual beans in the centre are quite a bit harder than the ones made by other brands, such that if you're not careful, the hard pieces of the bean could scratch almost painfully against your gums when you're chomping on one. Sadly, I have yet to come across a brand of chocolate-covered coffee beans better than the one from Hawai'i.

Natural vitamin C goodness!

I have always loved blood orange juice and blood orange-flavoured carbonated drinks; however, I've never really consumed fresh blood oranges or their juice freshly squeezed. The fruit relies on low night temperatures to develop anthocyanin, the pigment responsible for the deep blood-red hue of the fruit's flesh, which was why I was surprised to see them make an appearance at the West End markets, over the past few weeks. Sure, we've been getting a few bad thunderstorms with heavy rain in recent days, but it is still incredibly hot, at temperatures soaring over 30 degrees C. Definitely not my kind of weather. So anyway, upon setting my eyes on this beautiful citrus fruit, I had to make a purchase. Then again the following week.

Blood oranges tend to be a bit smaller than their standard orange-fleshed cousins; in fact, the ones I bought were only the size of a tennis ball. At such a small size, I found it a bit awkward to cut them into  wedges to eat, because a lot of that lovely juice would be lost in the slicing process, and there would literally be only a single bite of flesh per wedge. So what do I do with a kilo of these, on a hot day like today? Why, juice them of course! This type of orange tends to be less acidic than the average, but can come in both tart and sweet varieties. The ones I bought were, thankfully, of the latter kind, so they were perfect for juicing, without having to worry about blending it with other fruit juices to sweeten it.  

To match the fancy orange, I had to use a fancy orange juicing device (in the sense of both an adjective and noun), aptly named Mandarin, which is made by my favourite designer kitchen/tablewear brand, A di ALESSI. And to match the device to its name, the designer of this cutie, Stefano Giovannoni, constructed it to resemble a Chinese man in ancient era attire. In case consumers do not understand the allusion, he even threw in the stereotypical squinty black eyes for good measure. The juicing cone forms the hat, when flipped upside-down, and the body forms the juice-collecting cup, which doubles as an oversized goblet, which you could either use to serve the juice with (there is a beak for pouring) or to drink from directly. The grooves, which encircle the peak of the cone, allow the hat to rest comfortably over the cup, regardless of which way up it is. Creative, huh?

Like with your standard fruit-squeezer, the juicing cone keeps the seeds and the majority of the pulp from entering the cup. You still have to be careful of the smaller seeds though. Also, if you're planning on squeezing the juice of blood oranges, I would recommend doing it in the sink, like what I ended up having to do. Otherwise, it will end up looking a bit like a kitchen massacre. I was wearing a white work shirt at the time - without an apron - and now it has purple-red speckles over the front. I also wore food prep gloves, as you can see from the picture, because the juice is awfully pigmenting, and you don't want your nails to look like you've been trying to stop a recent nose-bleed.

Rinse your juicing hat - et voila! - you've got a chic-looking juice-serving jug, ready to go. The only thing I don't like about the design, is that the rim of the pouring beak touches the 'hat', which means that you have to take it off before pouring the juice out. This wouldn't be a problem at all, if not for the fact that the juicing cone dips into the cup contents, if you plan to have it even half full, and even if you flip it around, the juice is still going to drip through the straining slits. Besides this, I love this design to bits.

And how gorgeous is the deep crimson colour of the juice? No artificial colours or sweeteners. Did you know that the aforementioned red pigment in the fruit, anthocyanin, is also an antioxidant? Hence, naturally, the blood orange contains more antioxidants than your average orange, which are important for protecting cells from oxidative damage. The vitamin C content (also an antioxidant) should be similar to other oranges, as should the other nutritional qualities, such as fibre. So there we go: unique in colour, sweet in taste, less acidic, and full of health benefits. It's no wonder why this orange is the choice variety grown in Italy now.

I am going to mix this with sparkling mineral water tonight, when I get a hand on a bottle, to try to recreate the delicious Italian carbonated blood orange drinks, like those made by San Pellegrino.

Meanwhile, I just received the Christmas catalogue from the Jo Malone counter at David Jones, in the post. I absolutely love their products. If they weren't so pricey, I would be gifting these products to everyone, to share my love for the brand. After I buy myself all the products I want, of course!

A week in review + Maru Korean BBQ Restaurant

So I ended up taking the DELF A2 test on Tuesday morning. It started at 9.30 and ended roughly at 12 noon, including waiting time between the written and speaking components. Surprisingly, there was only one other person sitting for this level - someone who is actually taking twice-weekly B1 level private lessons at Alliance Francaise. He must have felt so wronged being told by his teacher to take the A2 level, because even I felt it wasn't too much of a challenge. Having said that, I'm sure I made at least 2 errors in the listening part, and some grammatical errors in the written. The speaking part, well, I'm sure I passed it, but definitely not with flying colours. The concepts weren't hard; my French speaking skills are just very weak, as I don't get to practise speaking French at all, outside of my once-weekly French classes. I just hope that my score for this part isn't too low, or I won't really feel that I've achieved the level that this diploma certifies. 

I guess it comes to show that I can't really rely on my French speaking skills to get me around France without a tour guide. I'm sure I would be fine communicating with pen and paper though! Yes, I am planning to go on a holiday to France next year. Very exciting! I have almost a year to plan for it, so hopefully I will be able to come up with a well-planned itinerary, and improve my language skills in the meantime. Everyone else in my class have been to France before, and I suspect this is why their listening and oral expression skills are better than mine. That's the excuse I'm sticking with for cultural immersion anyway. 

On to food-related matters, I tried out a new Korean restaurant yesterday for lunch, called Maru Korean BBQ, which is located along Elizabeth Street in Brisbane City. 

Marinated beef with rice ($13.80)
Maru Korean BBQ Restaurant, 157 Elizabeth St Brisbane CBD

I went there on the recommendation of my sister and her boyfriend. Supposedly the food is better than at Madtongsan, which is where I would normally go for a quick fix of Korean food. I am not a big fan of Korean food, mainly because a lot of dishes tend to be on the spicy side, which seem to disagree with my GI tract; so I'm always keen to look out for fab, non-spicy Korean dishes.

On the whole non-BBQ option menu, there were only two dishes that appealed to me and which weren't spicy: the Korean-style dumplings and the Marinated beef with rice. The waiter couldn't suggest which was the better option, so I ended up choosing the beef option, because it comes with rice and meat. As usual, the dish arrived with a few side platters, which you can see in the picture above. There was the usual kimchi, as well as pickled white onion and some sort of savoury bean cake topped with chilli sauce. I love that there's side dishes, because you have something to nibble on, even if the dish you ordered doesn't turn out to be that great. The main dish I ordered was okay, but not unlike what I can get at other Korean restaurants; however, they give you quite a bit of sliced beef. This is probably good news for those who are big on meat. The dilemma I often encounter when ordering meat dishes is that I am not a big meat eater, but I still like to eat some meat, for a balanced diet. So when they give a large quantity of meat, more than I desire, I feel that I have no choice but to eat at least the majority of it, so as to not waste food. Thus, this factor diminishes my pleasure in eating it, and is why I  usually like eating with other people, whom I could share the food with.

If you eat alone, which I did, and feel a bit bored, you could watch a Korean music program that they show on the TV that they have in each section of the restaurant. Prices were average, food came out in a timely manner, service was good, and the lady at check-out was cheerful and asked politely how the food was. Overall, nothing special, but a nice little place to go to for a quick lunch. I will probably go back to try the Korean dumpling soup, when I next feel like eating Korean food.

Edit: 26/11/12 I went back last night for dinner with a friend, and ordered the ox bone soup with rice noodles and rice, which is also a non-spicy dish. Normally when you order beef anything, there would still be quite a bit of meat in there, but this one only had a few strips of beef. This was fine with me, since, as explained previously, I'm not a bit meat-eater; however, the carnivores out there might be disappointed. It didn't occur to me to take a photo, but the dish looked pretty bland, because there wasn't much else in the bowl of noodles except for the milky-coloured broth. In fact, it tasted a bit bland too. I think they deliberately under-seasoned it though, because they presented the dish with a little dish of sea salt, so that you can adjust the saltiness level yourself. Why they do this with this particular soup and with no other is quite beyond me. I guess it is a good thing for people who have a salt restriction in their diet, or for those who simply prefer a blander flavour.

After seasoning the soup myself, it definitely tasted better, and I quite liked how the soup is different to any other Korean beef soups I've tried before, probably because it actually tasted like they made the broth with real bones, and it was less salty. I recommend taking the soup with spoonfuls of the rice, because it tends to break up the boringness of eating the rice noodles, which, because of the light-flavoured soup base, tasted pretty bland. Overall, I quite enjoyed the dish, as well as the autonomy I was given over the saltiness of my soup. It was also nice to see that they changed the selection of side dishes too. I have yet to try the Korean dumplings, so I will be back.

French immersion through music

So I was watching The X Factor on television tonight, and jumped onto good ol' YouTube to have a listen to one of my favourite songs that one of the contestants happened to sing on the show (Dreams by The Cranberries). Then inspiration struck: since I am to practise French speaking comprehension, but am getting distracted all the time by music and the internet anyway, why not watch French music shows on YouTube to benefit from this inevitable procrastination? Brilliant! - Except that normal-speed conversational French is so much harder to understand than in practice recordings; especially when they contract and merge words together.

Anyway, I came across this beautiful French song by Zazie, which was first released as part of her second studio album, Zen, in 1995. This song is called J'envoie valser, which I believe translates to 'letting go', in English. The melody is hauntingly beautiful, and the choice of instruments wonderfully work together to create music that evokes images of romantic rendez-vouss in old world Paris. The style and instrumentals also remind me of the song, Once upon a December, from the Disney movie, Anastasia. You'll know what I mean when you listen to it. The lyrics are also very pretty and speaks of true, pure love, which requires nothing material to show for it. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the lyrics, it's still lovely to listen to a song so stripped-back that plays on the raw emotions of the listener. The idealism and innocence of the words, which seem so out of place in our modern society (and amidst the very different genres of music that people listen to these days), is still ever-relevant to the little part of us, deep, deep down, shrouded by societal expectations and disappointments in life, that secretly longs for a fairy-tale love story.  

Here is a YouTube clip of the song, along with the lyrics. Enjoy!

J'envoie Valser

par Zazie

 

J'en vois des qui s'donnent, donnent des bijoux

dans le cou

c'est beau mais quand même

ce ne sont que des cailloux

 

des pierres qui vous roulent, roulent

et qui vous coulent

sur les joues

j'aime mieux que tu m'aimes

sans dépenser des sous

 

moi je m'en moque

j'envoie valser

les truc en toc

les cages dorées

toi quand tu m'serres très fort

c'est comme un trésor

et ça

et ça vaut de l'or

 

j'en vois des qui s'lancent des regards

et des fleurs

puis qui s'laissent quelque part

ou ailleurs

entre les roses et les choux

j'en connais des tas qui feraient mieux de s'aimer un peu

un peu comme nous

qui nous aimons beaucoup

 

et d'envoyer

ailleurs

valser

les bagues et les

cœurs

en collier

car quand on s'aime très fort

c'est comme un trésor

et ça

et ça vaut de l'or

 

moi pour toujours

j'envoie valser

les preuves d'amour

en or plaqué

puisque tu m'serres très fort

c'est là mon trésor

c'est toi

toi qui vaut de l'or


 

Book signing: Ian Thorpe - 'This is me'

I've long been a fan of our Australian Mens swimming team; although, admittedly, I was more of a fan at the start of the millennium, when Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett, Michael Klim, and Geoff (Skippy) Huegill were still in the game together. In fact, this group of men was the reason I started watching competitive swimming on TV in the first place (the first sport I ever willingly watched, actually). They are such strong sportsmen and did Australia proud in the FINA swimming championships and the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. I, along with the rest of the sporting world, was quite sad about Ian Thorpe announcing his early retirement in 2006, so when he decided to make a comeback in time for the London Olympics, I was very excited indeed - swimming had not been really worth watching anymore without him and Pieter Van den Hoogenband.

Okay, so he didn't qualify for the Olympic Games this year; but who cares? He's back in the pool, which hopefully means that, with a bit more training, he'll soon be winning gold for Australia again (no pressure, Thorpey). But in the meantime, he's just released an autobiography, titled, This is me. I only just bought this book yesterday afternoon, so I've only read the first 18 pages of it, and can't give a book review just yet. I do feel like I should have read it before attending his book signing at the Dymocks bookstore in the city today though...





The man himself finally makes an appearance!

The turn-out was underwhelming. I probably shouldn't be saying this, and it might sound a bit selfish, but this is what I love about book signings at Dymocks - other than A4 printouts of instore appearance announcements on the store windows, there is little other promotion for these events, which helps to eliminate long queues on the day. Frankly, I think I'm too old now to arrive at a celebrity signing event 2 hours in advance to line up (yes, that has happened in the past - don't ask). Of course, I realise that most writers do not attract the same type of (crazy) fans as the entertainment industry celebrities do, bar the ones who get a lot of media exposure, like those who appear on popular reality TV shows, like MasterChef, but I did expect that even with low-level promotion, Ian Thorpe, being an Australian Olympic legend with world records and several gold medals under his belt, would somehow attract most of the local sports enthusiasts. Perhaps more people turned up later after I left.

I will be honest: he didn't look like he wanted to be there. It reminded me of the time when Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris (judges in the Australian MasterChef series) came to do a book signing at the Angus and Robertson bookstore in the city, to promote their joint cookbook, Your Place or Mine?. While Gary was cheerful and lovely as always, George was quiet, unsmiling, and unhappy-looking. The Thorpedo looked at me as though surprised, unbelieving, maybe a bit amused too, when I said that it was so good to finally get to meet him (like a, "Why would it be?" look). In an attempt to make conversation while he was signing my book, I said what I sincerely meant: that I was so glad to hear that he was swimming again. Again, I received an unexpected response: he looked up at me with an unreadable expression - was it scepticism? Annoyance? It was almost as though I had said something that was somehow offensive to him. I knew he was unhappy about my comment anyway, because he didn't say anything in reply, and just looked down again to finish scribbling down his autograph.

Did I miss something? Did he already decide to give up on swimming again, perhaps? I have got to read that book!

All smiles for the photo

......But at least he smiled for the photo! Or I would have been so sad, since the whole experience was not exactly how I pictured it would turn out :(

Kinder Bueno - "Le plaisir pour les petites faims"

Recently, I had to write a few paragraphs for French class outlining the differences between Australian and French advertisements. Being both a chocolate and tennis fan, I couldn't get past the second intallment of the French Kinder Bueno television advertisement, featuring French tennis great, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and French actress, Laetitia Fourcade. You can check it out in the YouTube vid below:

Notice how there's a message displayed across the screen throughout the whole ad? It translates to, "For your health, do regular physical activity". The web address that is included at the end links to the website of Manger Bouger ('eat, move'), a national nutritional health program. Interestingly, this is because French law requires that all television and radio ads for food products must have accompanying messages about the benefits of balanced diets, or, judging by this ad, I suppose on the importance of exercise for good health.

On the other hand, I think Australian food advertising regulations only specify that advertisements are not allowed to give false nutritional information (which shouldn't need to be said anyway), and must be able to substantiate general health claims or have pre-approval by FSANZ (Food Standards Aus and NZ) for more specific nutritional/health benefit claims. I don't know if this is also the case for French regulations, but how good would it be if these two systems were merged? Physical activity, eating from all food groups, and moderating intake of alcohol and foods high in saturated fat and sugar might sound like the obvious thing to do for most people, but, believe you me, there are people out there who just don't get it, and who believe what they see and hear on TV or the radio more than what health professionals tell them.

But, where was I going with this? Ah, yes: the chocolate in question.

I had to watch the ad several times, pausing and replaying, to try to catch all the words for my transcript. You have no idea how much it made me crave for a delicious stick of Bueno, which has long been a favourite chocolate bar of mine. Admittedly, the ad itself is not that great - a bit annoying actually, if you have to watch it over and over - but, for me, the chocolate pretty much sells itself, and it helps, too, that Tsonga displays such cute and animated expressions, which you don't normally see when he's playing on court.

I don't believe there is anyone who hasn't had this chocolate bar before, but for those who haven't, this is a chocolate product by Italian confectionary company, Ferrero. It's a stick of milk chocolate-covered crunchy wafer, encasing a creamy hazelnut filling - delicious! Ferrero also makes a similar, and equally tasty, product called Kinder Happy Hippo, which is smaller, shaped like a hippopotamus, and its bottom is dipped in crunchy bits of what tastes like rice crispies. However, this product is not as readily available in supermarkets; I've only ever seen them at the counters of big warehouse pharmacies (oh, the irony).     

Having said all that, I don't think I need to explain what I bought as part of my post-dance class snack shopping last night....

Post-dance and study snacks (*ahem* very healthy choices, as you can see)

YUM. Need I say more?

Time to hit the books again.

 

Whipping out a French-inspired design Christopher Vine notebook and my Waterman fountain pen, filled with French J Herbin ink, to put me in the zone. Not pretentious at all.

So I've been playing with the idea of sitting for the DELF A1 exam (Diplôme d'études en langue française, i.e. Diploma in French Studies) since our class was told about it earlier this year. The DELF and the DALF are internationally recognised official diplomas awarded by the French Ministry of Education to certify the competency of candidates from outside France in the French language. As well as looking nice on the resumé, some French Universities also recognise the certification for the French language requirements for entry (not that I'm planning to study in France any time soon). For me, this exam is just to assess myself to see where I'm at.

 

There's 6 levels in total, each of which assesses all of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills: DELF A1 and A2 (Basic), DELF B1 and B2 (Independent), and DALF C1 and C2 (Proficient). According to my French teacher, attainment of the B1 diploma already allows you to enrol at some French unis, although I think B2 is the standard requirement. I have actually sat for the Japanese equivalent of the test, the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), which has a similar structure, but only assesses reading, writing and listening. It has Levels 1-4, 4 being the lowest, where level 2 proficiency means that you're good enough to be a teacher in the language. In fact, one of the Japanese teachers at my highschool actually failed her level 2 test. I sat for the level 3 at the end of grade 12 and passed it. I'm glad I decided to do it, because apart from the annual Christmas letter I write to my penpal's family, I don't utilise my Japanese language skills at all, so it's all but ebbing away with time. At least there is now a document in my certificate folder as proof of the peak of my learning in the language.

 

Before I knew it, the Sunday just gone by was the last day for registration for the November DELF exams, the last chance to do it for 2012, and there I was, the day before, still mulling over whether or not to do the A1, since the exam is in two weeks' time, and I haven't actually been studying. One of my French classmates actually decided to stop enrolling in our weekly group classes at the end of last semester, opting instead to have private lessons, in order to focus on passing this level. I asked my teacher for her opinion on the matter, but was not expecting her to tell me not to do it..."because I should be sitting for at least the A2 level or the B1." She reckons our class is already at the B1 level, but I don't know, because we're still at an A2 sublevel this term. I had all of 5 minutes to decide which level to register for, so I ended up choosing the happy medium of A2. Thinking about it now, and looking at my l'escargot studying rate (I only got through the preamble at the start of the first section in the DELF A2 prep book today), I think I've been thrown in the deep end.

 



Mocha: Yahava Romeo No. 5 coffee + Green and Black's Milk chocolate + Henry Langdon Cocoa powder

I think more coffee will be in order for the next two weeks. This feels like SWOTVAC all over again.

Eagle Farm Markets + Black Sheep Coffee

 

Brisbane Racing Ground, 230 Lancaster Rd, Ascot
Opening hours: 7.00am – 12.30pm

I love farmers markets. So when my friend asked me to go with her to the Eagle Farm Markets today, I enthusiastically agreed to. We planned to get there at around 8am, but, perhaps due to the cloudy, cool weather, we both ended up running late (sleeping in, in my case) and got to the markets almost an hour later. There were already heaps of eager shoppers there. Unlike some other Brisbane markets, here, there is an entry fee of $2 per person. I guess you could take it as payment for using their carpark.

I had never been to this market before, so it was an interesting experience. The market stalls here sell similar things to the ones at West End - freshly baked bread, herbs, fresh produce, fashion goods - but is much bigger, with a larger variety of food vendors. I was not expecting a vendor that stocks vanilla products by Broken Nose Vanilla (a review of this line can be found in one of my previous posts: http://knittingtearoom.blogspot.com.au/#!/2012/08/regional-flavours-2012.html), so that was a nice surprise. I think they were selling at a slightly higher price than the actual company does though.

A large variety of herbs were available for purchase at the markets

One of the food vendors that we came across was Lángos Hungarian Snacks and Food. As the name suggests, they sell the Hungarian fried flat bread, or Hungarian pizza, by the same name, as well as other things, such as Pretzels, Palacsinta (Transylvanian Herb Pancake), Lepény (Transylvanian stuffed pastry), and Fánk (Hungarian Star Doughnuts).

Lángos Hungarian Snacks and Food

After sampling a piece of their Lángos, my friend and I couldn't resist buying a plain garlic one to share. It was freshly made, hot, and delicious!

Garlic Lángos

Right after receiving our order, one of the stall helpers put out another tasting plate; this time for the the Lángos option with all the possible toppings of garlic, shredded cheese, sour cream, tomato sauce, and a tomato salsa (tomato, onion, parsley, basil). I instantly regretted not ordering that one instead. It looked fantastic on the plate, with all the vibrant colours of the fresh topping ingredients, and tasted amazing for street food. As you can see from the photo, it didn't take long at all to clear the plate. Yes, it is oily, but you wouldn't expect otherwise from fried food. We're allowed to have some naughty food once in a while shhhh.....

'The Lot'

We also made a new coffee discovery at the stall of Black Sheep Coffee. This Brisbane-based business started small at a farmer's market, but it has since expanded its horizons, and its coffee beans are now distributed to various cafés and restaurants around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Furthermore, it is the supplier of the coffee beans for Gordon Ramsay's Melbourne restaurant, Maze. Impressive.

To create its unique blend, the 'Feeling Woolly Blend', Black Sheep Coffee sources its beans from different estates around the world, including Columbia, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Guatemala and Ethiopia. The green beans among us would be glad to know that the business tries to source beans that are certified organic, Fair Trade and of Rain Forest Alliance origins, although this is not 100% guaranteed. The beans are then hand-roasted locally by Black Sheep Coffee to control the flavour they want to create.
 

 
Their market stall only sells the beans, grinding on purchase as well, if so desired, but they also have a coffee machine there, to make samples for shoppers to try before they buy. The coffee that the man there made was good, although not the best coffee I've ever had; however, it was this seller who swayed me into making a purchase. He was engaging, enthusiastic about the product, and had a good sense of humour. The business was smart to employ someone who could charm people into buying their product. The logo is cute too. I would have to say that the fun description at the back of the coffee pack was the first thing that made me want to try it out.

 

I ended up buying a 250g pack ($10) and had it coarse ground for use in a French Press. As you can see from the picture above, the beans were roasted only 4 days ago.

Cute Black Sheep Coffee bag + the freshly baked pumpkin and pepita sourdough bread that I bought from another stall (sounds nice, but really wasn't that tasty).

I know that the flavour is pretty much lost and continues to be lost after the beans are ground, so I tried it out straight away after I got home to make a cappuccino. It's not as strong and full-bodied as the Yahava Romeo No. 5 blend that I bought in Perth (review of that still to come), but it is still nice. The fruity, chocolatey, Shiraz-y notes that are described at the back? Hmm.. I wouldn't say that I could taste any of that until near the end, when the liquid is much obviously sweeter. I wonder if it would make a difference if I steam-extracted the coffee?

 

Ascot is a bit far to go to on a regular basis for me, but I would definitely recommend it to others. If I get the chance to go again, I'm definitely going to get one of the giant lamingtons that were sold out by the time we decided to head off!

 

Perth: Louis Baxters

One of the places I had on my 'To go to' list in Perth was Louis Baxters Espresso Bar, which is a café jointly owned by Australian Olympic swimmer and Australia's Celebrity Masterchef of 2009, Eamon Sullivan, and a former Masterchef television producer, Laki Baker.

Being totally new to Perth, I had a bit of difficulty finding my way there. I hopped on a bus to Subiaco, and got off where the bus driver assumed was close to Subiaco Square, where the café is situated. Turned out the bus driver was way off the mark. The locals weren't very helpful, and even the staff at the Subiaco stores had no idea where the café was or that it even existed. I guess it only opened in August 2011, so it is still relatively new. I think I was more shocked that some people I asked didn't even know who Eamon Sullivan is, especially since Perth is his home town. People should seriously watch less football and start supporting other sports. I guess the public can't take the full blame for not being overly enthusiastic about swimming though, because the Australian Mens Swimming team did become weaker after Ian Thorpe called it quits 6 years ago. Still, qualifying for the Olympics team is an achievement in itself, and Eamon Sullivan, who has won Olympic silver medals and has previously held world records for the 50 and 100m freestyle, deserves more recognition. Of course - who am I kidding? - it is his passion for cooking and his stint on Celebrity Masterchef creating the Chocolate Delice that have won me over. Being young and handsome works in his favour too, obviously.

Anyway, back on track. After a long time of walking around the suburb, encountering some shopping distractions, and $110+ later, I finally found it (in hindsight, catching a cab would've been more economical afterall). Turns out it's right next to the train station. Must keep this in mind for next time.

Louis Baxters: Shop 2, 50 Subiaco Square, Subiaco WA 6008
www.louisbaxters.com.au

This end of Subi seems a lot more quiet, but there were still quite a few customers at the café when I arrived. The interior is quite small and simply furnished, but the two-tone colour blocking, the dangling light bulbs, and the low wooden tables and chairs give it an edgy, but relaxed, contemporary feel.

I think the lady sitting at the table on the left is the co-owner



Awesome wall art

For the coffee lovers out there, you will be glad to know that this café exclusively uses roasted coffee beans from Campos Coffee. For juice lovers like myself, you can rejoice in the knowledge that they stock Preshafruit juice - my favourite juice brand. For those of you who have yet to discover this product, it is produced by a 100% Australian owned juice company that utilises a high pressure processing technique to cold pasteurise their juices. Heat can destroy some nutrients, so the heat pasteurisation process that is carried out by most other juice companies would theoretically be less healthy and taste a bit less natural. Having consumed this product many times before, I can tell you that it tastes a lot lighter and fresher, and the apple juices are clear and have a crisp, refreshing taste. My favourites would be the Pink Lady apple juice and the Apple and Passionfruit juice. The company also claims to not add any preservatives, concentrates or other additives to their products. You can check out the range that they have at http://www.preshafood.com.au/.

All foodies will appreciate the fact that Louis Baxters uses free range chicken and eggs (according to their website). The menu is quite simple and unpretentious, with items you would expect to see at your local café, plus a few more interesting breakfast dishes, like porridge with quinoa, soy milk, figs, almonds and maple syrup, and Spanish eggs, which I really like when made well. I must admit that I expected Eamon Sullivan to prepare a more creative menu, having been on Masterchef and all, but I suppose he must want to show off the quality of the ingredients and perhaps the cooking techniques involved in the simple dishes. As far as price point goes, it's actually quite reasonably priced and ranges from $5-15.

The kitchen closes at 2pm, and I arrived past that time, so unfortunately, I was only left with the ready-made glass cabinet options, which were not many. I opted for a slice of the bacon, tomato and onion quiche, which comes with a side of garden salad.

House-made bacon, tomato and onion quiche with garden salad

I love quiches and this one was quite well-made and tasty. The garden salad was fine, but it caused me much embarrassment. Notice how it's served in a small bowl? I am used to eating salads with a knife and fork, so that I'm not smearing salad dressing all over my face with the salad leaves; however, listen well, learn from my mistake, and do not try doing this when the salad is in a bowl, because you will send salad flying off your plate, and make loud clinking noises against the bowl with your cutlery. So embarrassing.

Louis Baxters is a nice little café and I would definitely love to go back again - before 2pm - to try out the other menu offerings. Hopefully when I go there next time, I'll bump into the Eamon Sullivan himself as well! (and yes, I did ask about him while I was there, but the guy behind the counter said he was in Sydney :(. I guess it just wasn't my day!)

Perth: Miss Maud, Zensaki, Presotea

Perth time is 2 hours behind Brisbane time, so even though the plane landed in Perth at 3pm Brisbane time, I still had pretty much a full afternoon to meander around the city.

My first food stop was at Miss Maud's bakery, which specialises in Swedish pastries. She also owns a Swedish hotel in Perth city, which is quite highly rated on Trip Advisor. I wanted to stay there after reading the reviews, but all the rooms were booked out already. Her pastry shop also had some good reviews, so I decided to pay it a little visit. 

One of the Miss Maud's pastry shops in the Perth CBD

I bought a mini hazelnut cake and a Bienenstich. I was expecting the cake to be like a mini sponge filled with flavoured cream, but it was nothing like that. It was extremely sweet and was basically a thick layer of buttercream sandwiched between two layers of sweet puff pastry, then topped with icing. I couldn't get further than a few bites. Not a fan of it. 

Miss Maud's Bienenstich is also different from the German Bienenstich, or Bee Sting Cake, that comes to mind. Instead of being a sweet yeast cake with a pastry cream filling, this one has a sweet shortbread-like base with the caramelised flaked almond topping, characteristic of the traditional Bienenstich, and half-dipped in chocolate. It reminds me somewhat of a florentine...but not as good. In fact, I don't think I've tasted any florentine better than the one I bought from a bakery in the Sydney CBD. Makes me feel like having one now actually. I hope I go past it when I'm in Sydney at the end of the week, so that I could buy some *drool*. All in all, I was a bit disappointed with my Miss Maud purchases.



For dinner, we went to a Japanese eatery called Zenzaki on Barrack Street, in the City. Again, I went by the recommendations on Urban Spoon.

This is one of those eateries where you have to order and pay at the counter before making your way to a table with your order number. I'm used to staff at Japanese restaurants being very friendly, but the girl at the register who took my order looked uninterested, was unsmiling, and brusque in speech. I can forgive that, since it's not a proper restaurant with table service, but it's still always nice to receive friendly customer service. I ordered a Combo Set C, which includes original ramen (tender sliced pork, fishcake, seaweed, beansprouts, spring onions) in a miso soup base (other choices included shoyu (soy sauce) and shio (garlic salt) soup), plus a salad and a side dish of takoyaki, for $15. For the price, it's pretty good for the amount of food you get; although tastewise, it could have been better. The soup base was quite salty, and I couldn't really taste any other flavours. It was a good thing that the salad was there, as it served as a reliever from the saltiness. The takoyaki was tasty, but I guess no different from anywhere else I've tried. 



Original Ramen + salad + takoyaki
 (Zensaki: 83 Barrack St, Perth WA 6000; www.zensaki.com)

My dad ordered a rice dish with teriyaki salmon, which is pan-fried salmon with teriyaki sauce, for $10-15. It also came with a little salad side and miso soup. I think this dish was lacking in presentation, and my dad said he didn't enjoy it. He didn't like the way the fish was cooked and he thought both the fish and the soup were way too salty. Overall, for me, the food wasn't totally intolerable, so I would possibly come back again on occasions when I'm not in a gourmet mood and only want something quick and average-priced to fill me up, and it just happens to be close-by. To be fair, they do have some other nice-looking options on their menu, so I can't blacklist them until I've at least sampled some other bits and pieces.  

Teriyaki salmon + rice + salad

Next door to Zensaki is a tea shop called Presotea. I think this is another Taiwanese franchise, but I'd never seen it before anywhere else in Australia. According to their website, they supposedly brew the tea fresh at time of order, which is a big tick for me. Being a pearl milk tea fan, of course I had to make a purchase after dinner. 

It looks pretty clean inside, and the drinks menu has some interesting options. I really like how they offer a variety of different tea leaves, such as my favourite, Darjeeling. 

Presotea: 81 Barrack St, Perth, 6000http://www.presotea.com.tw/eng/pro.asp

I ordered the Special Pearl Milk Tea for myself and the A-Li-Shan Iced tea for my dad. I really liked how it has a nice, strong tea taste, compared with a lot of other tea shops, which tastes more of milk and sugar. Dad didn't really enjoy his drink, but then again, he doesn't usually like drinking iced teas from Asian tea shops. I didn't appreciate how the guy who served me told me about the Panda Iced Milk tea, which has both black and white tapioca pearls in it (white being quite unusual), and got me all interested in it, before telling me that they had already run out of the white pearls for the day. I really, really want to try it now. If only they would open up a store along the east coast! It's definitely one of the better pearl milk tea shops, so do check it out if you come across it.



(Left) Special Pearl Milk Tea, (Right) A Li Shan Iced Tea