Ocular Therapy Clinical Skills and Lindt Cafe Take 4/5

guys, i don't get out of my way just to get free stuff. i was going to past it/come close to it anways, so i went again.

this time on george st, the person asked for my name, maybe to make sure i won't go back. at george st lindt cafe, you get a free lindor for every hot beverage purchase, but my coffee was free and i still got one (:

mocha

no layers.

i didn't specify dark or hazulnut or whatever mocha, just mocha, but this one didn't have as much dark choc. again, each barista has a different touch, so i guess there isn't any "quality control" over their coffee. this didn't have froth by itself and choc sprinkled on top, but hey incorporated colour into it. it's pretty in it's own way. saw a person eat the dome cake (at 11 in the morning...). i don't get the logic behind it. you pour hot chocolate onto a hard choc case to melt it just to get to the ice cream. like if it was tempered choc it would taste different, but using chocolate to melt other chocolate...?

purple snail

main part of the day. went to uni to help out this post grad clinical skills day since they needed eyes to test on, so i basically opened my eyes for four hours and getting stuff shoved. ok, it wasn't that bad, it was actually pretty cool to get paid to sit and open you eyes and to also eat. it was pretty good pay, i'd say about double the average of what my friends earn per hour (: too bad it was only for a day. should've gone to the lecture in the morning, apparently it was easier to understand than our super disorganised visn1101. ocular therapeutics is a post grad one year course, you don't have to do it, but as a practicing optometrist, a lot of people do to learn more skills/do more stuff in your practice. 

some people i talked to had their own practice for over 13 years. some were about 50-ish, and there were more females as well, i guess the trend still continues. learnt some stuff as well. also, i have a lot of iris processes (no idea what is was), which occurs in about 30% of the population, and may be cause by trauma to the eyes. well i don't remember anyone bashing my eyes, nor any family history. i have a deep field of view, which is pretty good, but then i have inward growing eyelashes, so it was in the way of people checking for gonio. they put these mirrors on your eyes to see different angles of the lens inside your eye. some people were so steady, but there were other optometrists who were so shaky =/ must learn to be steady.

stuff is so expensive. i heard them say stuff like a pair of tweezers they bought were around $150. then they talked about the metal stick which they use to flip your eyelid fully. that must be like 300, even though it's literally a metal stick only about 5cm long. they're both not electronic! can't imagine how much other stuff like lenses/hand held eectronics/big machines would cost.

eyes felt so tired after, one of the test they did was trying to get oil out of our eyes. i was put in that station twice, and the latter group found it difficult, most likely because all my oil was already drained out. at the end of the day, the supervisors checked our eyes to see if it wasn't too badly damaged lol.

free lunch!

it was hard to take a nice photo standing up. but the food was so good! about 6 types of gourmet sandwiches, 2 types of quiches, 3 types of sushi, 3 types of skewers, 3 types of bagels (which were slightly hard), spring rolls, fruit and other stuff. the sushi ran out fast ): i couldn't eat a lot since i was so full form the coffee, but i still stuffed myself =/ i already avoided the biscuits etc. also took home a plate of sanwiches since they were going ot chuck it out. so happy (: 

went again to martin place. different day, completely different staff. this time the person didn't even bother to scan my phone. 

this is the mocha macchiato-$5.90. this is what i had last time! they only have this at martin place. last time i asked for a dark choc mocha, but got this and didn't know this was the mocha macchiato. i only saw signs which said "new" but didn't have any names. this is my favourite! better than the dark choc mocha.

not as pretty this time-layers aren't as distinct, and the choc shot at the bottom isn't as high as last time. also the piece of choc on top seems smaller/fell through the froth more. didn't bother scooping out all the chocolate, since i was stil super duper full from lunch.

i was so looking forward to going on a tram to family friend's house. turns out they had track work to start taking off the monorails, do they just had buses ): they didn't even check for tickets, and i remember last time i went on a tram, they made sure everyone paid/had a tickets.

why did we have to go someone's house for dinner? you know one coffee can last me throughout the day of uni without eating. i had two and a massive lunch, and then bbq for dinner which had steak and lamb cutlets! i literally couldn't fit anymore food into myself ): only ate a tad of each thing. the past few days i've only been eating a little bit of meat/dinner to compensate for all that chocolate in drinks, but today just failed. had sparkling red wine today, wow, it's so carbonated, even more than soft drinks =/

gta 5 is pretty cool. you can fly big planes/do sports. watched now you see me, it's pretty good (:

Zumbo

I'VE FINALLY BOUGHT SOME ZUMBARONS! so happy (: i've been wanting them since i first saw them on masterchef in 2009. first time buying macarons from a patisserie which featured on masterchef (: 

i earned some money today helping with some psych research, and i paid them with my own money, so it feels even more satisfying! 

the star wasn't as far as i thought it would be, it's just next to darling harbour. i never knew there was a patisserie there until about 2 years ago. maybe back in '09 he didn't have as many patisseries, so i used to think, how do i get to Balmain?

i was so scared to cake would melt/macarons would crack before i got home. 

didn't realise how pixelated my touch camera is, oh how i love retina display on iphone. don't like to spam my phone camera, and my normal camera has better focus/better at night, so i still use it.

yum! i didn't notice before (as in a few years ago), but he trade marked "zumbarons"

macarons are still $2.50, just like they were 4 years ago.

from left to right: almond and pear, blackcurrant, salted butter popcorn, caramelised banana and balsamic vinegar, bread and butter pudding, finger bun

so colourful! at the same time, they're not fakely coloured like i've seen some cafes/shops which have neon coloured macarons...

i was going to get salted caramel on toast, but i already have something salted and something bread-ish, so i guess i can imagine the flavour. didn't get passionfruit/salted caramel since i've had the packet mix flavours before and i presume it would be something similar since it's the same brand. bitter said the lcychee and coconut had a very overpowering coconut flavour, so didn't get that. not a massive fan of chocolate, pecan danish looked nice and pineapple seems kind of plain-even though it's my favourite fruit, so i settled for the above flavours (: 

i've only had three, i don't want to have them all in one go, and when i mean "have three" i eat half then the rest of my family shares the other half, since my dad is internally fat ie can't have buttery/fatty foods, my bro doesn't have a lot of interest, and my mum loves them, but it's late-ish at night and she didn't want too much sweet stuff. texture wise, they could have a tiny bit more of a "crunch", it did have a crunch, don't get me wrong. 

wanted to try the banana and vinegar the most. yeah bitter, i couldn't really taste the banana, it was there in the biscuit, but super subtle. the ganache was the most butteriest, but the balsamic vinegar balanced it out, luckily there wasn't a lot of vinegar since it was very strong.

then i had the finger bun, it was the biggest of the lot, so fat i accidentally squished a tiny bit when taking it out since i took it out at a weird angle. yes, it tasted like finger bun, except it would have been better if there was a tad less coconut. the biscuit didn't have a real distinct flavour, just a tiny bit of sweet stuff, but that ganache was good.

third for tonight-almond and pear. it was fat as well (: this one was the sweetest, but i didn't mind. you could smell the almond, but you could definitely taste the pear, and i really liked the pear. nice combination, and it had an almond inside (: 

FOURTH MACARON: bread and butter pudding. the ganache was so good! it reminded me of gingerbread, and it had cinnamon and other spices. the shell kind of tasted like bread, but it was super, duper subtle. again, the ganache was gooood.

blackcurrant had a hard jelly-like centre, so not a butter based ganache. it reminded me of this lolly. the layers of purple were quite pretty when you cut into it. the flavour was prominent. the shell was sweet and the filling was sour like a natural/un-ripened blackcurrant

last one-salted butter popcorn. yum! tasted exactly like it sounds. the ganache was very buttery, but hey, a good box of popcorn is heavily salted and buttered (even though its super unhealty. hk people like their pop corn sweet, we like it salty). it had the right balance of saltiness, and the pop corn on the shell was quite cute. 

favourite ones? i love all of them (:

i really liked the ganache/flavours he has to offer. another good thing is that he has boxes for 2, so you don't have to buy 5/6 macarons just to get a box. it's also good since if knew flavours come along, you can just buy 2 to satisfy those cravings (: (although i try my best to "spread out" my eating macarons from more "well known" patisserie experiences...)

wunderbar $9-sable biscuit, raspberry compote, pineapple cremeaux, vanilla creme fraiche mousse, fresh raspberry slices & red chocolate.

it's really good. the sourness of the raspberry perfectly balanced the pineapple and vanilla mousse. the cremeaux and it had real bits of pineapple! mousse/cream was so good. it looks like cream (btw, i'm really picky with my cream, i don't like chinese cream/cheesecake shop cream/cakes which overdo cream), but this is mousse and creme friache, so it wasn't creamy at all, and not as dense as mousse, so good balance again. you could also see the vanilla beans! the red chocolate is just white choc, but hey, it's pretty (: you cannot cleanly cut the sable biscuit (it has some nuts in it) even if you got your sharpest knife, which means each biscuit had to be made individually, well i guess they used moulds. so it's not like they make a massive cake and cut it down to slices, doesn't work like that, which makes the $9 more worth it.

how could i not buy a slice after looking at his website? it's worth the money. like at lindt cafe, a slice of cake is 9.90, and it's just lindt chocolate, pretty boring tbh since you can buy their choc anywhere, and i bet they don't even make it themselves, probably from a different location, then delivered to their cafes. when i was there, i saw about 6 people brushing massive sheets of pastry with egg yolks, so i assume they do most/all of their cakes on site. also, many cafes these days have slices of cakes for at least 6 bucks, and they're pretty normal cakes which they probably didn't bake on site, so $9 isn't way too overpriced, especially if you rarely have this type of stuff, like me. the idea of the "dessert train" is cool, but i think dine in is $10 a slice, so i would rather take it home. with these more expensive slices, i prefer to share them, since i want to taste it, but not feel guilty for eating the whole thing which is kinda expensive. sharing is good.

that ice cream cake on masterchef, no idea what i had two years ago, but damn, i kinda regret not going with Bitter for her bday to try that cake. i still haven't had messina before. the first "bite" i want is from there mini cakes, so until they re-open then, i'll try to not have any of their gelato, despite passing it many times now.

what cake to buy this year? the choices are endless. only factor i'm scared that if i buy it far away, i'm scared it will melt. last year for my cake, i got it from my local patisserie which is about 2min drive, and i had to rush home (carefully) with the air con on since i was paranoid it would deform.

view from level 10, library.

MRI Scan/ECG

i actually didn't read the info they gave me, just went with the flow.

actually woke up before 7am today. first ever hospital brain scan. it was pretty cool, apart from the whole lying still for an hour, but hey, i shouldn't complain, getting paid to lie down =D apart from the researchers, a radiographer is also going to exam the stuff, and let's hope my brain is functioning healthily. free brain scan and getting paid=win.

ecg was exactly what you think it would look like in those sciency/"mind reading" criminal shows. getting hooked up to various things while they test your brain function/monitor other things. the stuff they tested was kind of like those brain training games (my ds is super dusty after not playing it for over 2 years...) some of the tests were pretty interesting. 

boost has buy one get 2nd for $1 today and tomorrow! $1=almost free, since you can't even buy anything things days with a dollar. did you know, catching one stop during peak hour is $3.60! feeling so ripped off. going to city is only $5.00 peak hour for trains. (student and child are the same during peak hour). buses are better, only $3.60 concession whenever and whatever time. 

i got pavlova and all berry smoothie. i thought pavlova would be really sweet like a meringue, but it wasn't, you could taste and see the fruits, which is what boost is all about. easy way had free smoothies at wynyard today, but i haven't had easy way since yr 10, and plan to keep it that way for a while. their artificial flavouring sickens me. i've had all the smoothies, but not all the juices at boost. i used my gift card today! it's pretty cool. so yay for free boost (:

I KNOW WHAT I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY, (yep, i always think ahead for my birthday)-fine dining at Masterchef restaurant. wanted to go last year, and want to go this year.

ok, i've been looking at the website/thinking about it for over 2 hours. 

1. it's quite hard to get through ticketmaster, probably cause it's the first day for the public to buy.

2. it's super expensive. $115 for four courses. even though there's a well-known chef heading it, the actual restaurant has no awards.

3. no one willing to eat with me.

4. not everything on the menu appeal to me eg, their last item on the menu has vegemite. if i don't eat it, it would be a waste of money, but i don't want to force myself to eat expensive things. 

5. they have high tea for 42, but as i said before, you need to be in a place with meaning/history/renowned for it to be worth it, and unfortunately, even though it's masterchef renowned, deep down in my head i'm telling myself it's a pop up restaurant. maybe when i've been to some hatted/michelin restaurants when i'm older and can afford it myself and if masterchef is still around, then i'll go (or if they have the restaurant next year and i absolutely love every single item and i have a job lol)

since it opens on my birthday, i'll properly go to the bar and buy something there since you don't need a ticket to go in. masterchef food truck in parra this week. ceebs, and even though they have some of the contestants dishes, $12 for a piece (or two if they're generous) of "fast food" chicken isn't worth it. i'll wait for next week and see what they have, but i really want to try something before they jet off. it's like the environmentally friendly pop up restaurant they had in syd 2 years ago. wanted to try it, but by the time i knew about it and was going to go, they closed. turns out the guys now in perth (since masterchef went to his restaurant again, but it looks pretty permanent in perth ): ) 

"Hunger and Dining Experience"-Guinea Pig Take 2.

uni has more people during break compared to exams. actually, there's just heaps of kids running around, and heaps of tourist/asians taking photos.

easiest 10 bucks made today. getting paid to eat. the view was also pretty good, could see the planes flying off/beach etc. apparently in the end, she told me they were actually researching how much a person weighs and how much they eat, not to see if we were hungry and how much we ate, trippy. i had two massive cookies, they were alright, not the best. oh wells, it was real money, unlike when i helped out with this other thing and they gave us gift vouchers. it was a pretty easy job scanning stuff, so i shouldn't complain. i don't go grocery shopping anymore, so just gave it to my mum in exchange for going out to eat this break. i'm on a roll, everything (except for the yum cha thing i had last year) has been $10 or less from groupon. yay more food adventures to come (:

since i was already in the city, i decided to get my third and last free moochi. i've had all the flavours except peach, salted caramel and chocolate from moochi now. tbh, i think moochi has the worst flavour and texture out of the places i've been so far, but i have been there the most. why? because it's the cheapest, and i've managed to go to a few grand openings and i have had many free froyos from there.

last time i had taro from george st it wasn't bad. today, argh. first of all, look at that serving (it was bigger than unsw opening but still...) different sizes. (scroll down a bit, and the 2nd free froyo i had was a decent, almost equal serving). THAT TARO TODAY WAS SICKLY SWEET. you could feel that sugar in your throat. (can still taste the sweetness left behind in my mouth =/). horribly sweet and yes, you could taste taro, but it was very subtle since the sugar overpowered it. green tea (which is naturally supposed to be bitter) wasn't very strong, and i was hoping that the bitterness would balance the sweetness form the taro, but it didn't. i don't really like wasting food, so i managed to finish that taro. which is why, as i have said many times, yogurt world is so much better/best i've had so far. there taro was pretty good, not overly sweet and tasted (and looked) natural. i've had moochi 6 times this year, and only once i had paid full price. time to use them noggi vouchers...

next week i will be in sooo much pain. did i tell you, next week was the optimum week for me to get teeth taken out. i had to balance it between: parties, dinners, church stuff, yum cha, lunches with people, outings etc.