i really hate how around 80% of our assignments this sem is group work. i hate group work. even if you're working with friends, people just do stuff last minute, and i really don't like telling people to do stuff. but they all manage to do things 1/2 days before, but i can't. and then everyone has different ideas/writing styles, so it's hard to make things flow.

and with our pharm assignment, so angry, spending over 6 hours researching, but can't find something decent to write on, since not sure what our main purpose of the assignment is. they only have us one sentence, and we're supposed to work out what to do from the super vague marking criteria.

handed in my 7 month long assignment the other day, and a few prac assignments the day before that. still got 2 new assignments to do, and yes, one of them is another group work which is due like beginning of stuvac. which sucks because i want to get started rather than use study time later one...but have yet to figure out groups....

assignments on top of 5 exams before finals even start, so all within 3 weeks D=

half price and new flavours

the chilli is actually chilli. had to have water after the ice cream.

flavours for the week: creme brûlée and peach in a cup-$3.80

quite a generous serving compared to last time. the creme brûlée was so creamy and delicious, just missing the blow-torched top...peach was a very sweet peach. too bad aqua s isn't directly across from  my bus stop anymore. watched my bus go and waited an extra 20min because of this ice cream detour...

and don't get me started on the new bus changes. wasting 10min to walk further to my bus stops, so wasting at least 20min each day since they moved my bus stops further down and away. and then there's a million traffic lights and intersections to catch the buses from the city to uni. doesn't help that since they reduced buses on george st, they're increased police at intersections to catch j walkers. seen one almost every day when i do my daily walks. yes, i do get an extra 20min of frustratingly walking in the city with people in the way and my laptop and equipment on my back, and the buses are a tad bit faster since you're not stuck in the city for 10mins. but i would much rather be stuck on a bus with aircon, so i have a bit more time to study/look at notes, rather than waste time walking there. and don't wan't to think about what happens when it rains...goodbye the times when i just crossed the road and had a daily dose of live Sunrise at Martin Place in the morning. also the buses from uni to town hall only stop at museum and martin place, not st james, so good bye quick window shopping at pitt st mall after uni if i needed something...and goodbye those convenient buses from town hall to central, trains cost so much more ): all those buses have just moved, and just waste so much time walking.

tl;dr: bus changes didn't make my travel journey faster.

haven't touched my laptop since thursday midday. been out/working constantly the past few days...and sleeping at 2am then waking at 8/9 the next day...the last time i washed my hair was last thurs...and today is sunday lol. doesn't help that we lost an hour of sleep today.

feet are so dead. standing, walking in heels for a few nights, waiting for buses for over an hour yday due to the massive fire which they closed off the road even at night..oh what an adventure (loljks). save that story for another day...

i'm grateful for work, but no time to do my assignments D=

so dead. actually crashing. but need to finish... ):

life update/photos when i finish at least one of my assignments.

PappaRich and Messina Take 2

Lovely catch up with some high school friends. What a coincidence, same break last year, we also went here. (One day earlier than last year lol)

Just some snaps from the night. My phone ran out of memory, so borrowed my friend's iPhone 6. Don't really remember the prices/names either. I've been to PappaRich a few times now, and it's generally decently priced and delicious. I've pretty much have had all the non spicy dishes here.

drinksss. my one on the right: soya pudding w/ grass jelly-$5.90

Congee+chicken-$13.90

Vegetarian noodle dish

Beef Rendeng w/ rice-$15

Pan mee soup noodles-$14

This didn't have enough mushrooms ): Egg was so soft though :)

 

Roti Canai w/ curry chicken-$8.90 Roti Teur Bawang w/ curry-$13.90

 

other stir fried noodles Char Koay Teow-$14

 

0.5L-$12.80+ 'artistically' placed spoons

Pannacotta w/ Fig Jam and Amaretti Biscuit, Blood Orange, Tongue Thai'd: Peanut and coconut gelato with cashew dacquoise and lime curd

We always seem to have something coconutty, and then blood orange as our staple sorbet. So yum and full of citrus flavour. I think I've pretty much have had most of the interesting Messina flavours as well (chocolate, vanilla etc is classed as non-interesting and probs not worth paying for). Love the creaminess of the pannacotta based gelato. The special I chose didn't have enough dacquoise in it or sourness form the lime, mostly coconut flavoured.

Thanks Happy Apple for the super delicious brownies!

      

Yesterday I said to myself, oh wow, the moon is so big and round. realised when I got back home it was Mid Autumn Festival. we don't celebrate it, and i don't really eat moon cakes either, but i do love my snowy/ice moon cakes, and was so happy when my mum remembered to buy some for me (without me even saying anything). they also watch Pan yday, and said it was pretty decent. 

chocolate pearls and pandan flavoured white bean paste-$6.80

inside

apparently these were over $8 before. not sure which store, just some place in eastwood. first time having pandan flavoured one. it was super subtle, the lotus flavour was pretty dominant and sweet. loved the more modern infusion of those choc pearls, reminds me of oliver brown's hot chocs.

been sleeping at 2pm the past few days. going to sleep at 1am today...work tmr (or later today). so much stuff to be done. also had uni today which was surprisingly useful (and also reminded me of all the things i don't know). 

21st at Haven Tailoring Coffee Joyously

21st season has begun, and I think it's about time I posted about my 21st. Planning does require some time and research, so for people out there who are thinking of venues/ideas and are like me who go on blogs, well you've come to the right place! My (non existent) mid sem break catching up on posts over a month ago.

I originally wasn't going to have a 21st, since it technically meant sacrificing travel money and shouting people food, but I've had from memory, a 5th Maccas party, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th party (and possibly more in between), so it made sense to have a 21st, especially since I had relatives coming from overseas for holidays. I'm actually the first of my high school/uni group to host a 21st, so thinking I've ideas/venues/things to do was quite challenging, but it all worked out in the end. I opted for something more 'small scale' and something to do with brunch food. Also, didn't hire a photographer, so used that money for cake and more food, so photos below are from a compilation of photos. 

Dream cake! (insert love heart eyes emoji)

Unbirthday Bakery: small hybrid cake

2 shades of purple buttercream, pink and chocolate crown, macarons, fruit, edible flowers all covered with edible gold. old school vanilla cake inside.

Specially requested for 2 shades of purple (since I love purple a bit too much), and extra gold paint and glitter. Edible flowers are also the best! I actually don't wear purple/glittery/floral clothing, but I love eating that sort of stuff.

 
top view

I've been following Unbirthday for over a year now, and decided turning 21 calls for a special cake which is so pleasant to look at. Should have picked it up earlier just to stare at it. Full description here

Venue: Haven Tailoring Coffee Joyously 

Super convenient place right opposite Central station, and quite a spacious cafe compared to other places in Surry Hills. Staff were super friendly, could tailor the canapé selections, free to decorate the place (although I'm not very creative, so just had really simple things), set up a 'Photo Booth', and super generous with everything. 

21!

My friends know me as kinda of the foodie for the group. (Not really a food blogger because I don't have the time or money to constantly go out and eat. Plus, I've been constantly eating during my birthday month, which is probably not the best idea). I planned to have the cafe's specialities, and things I wanted to try from their main menu, but in smaller forms.

Mini Polenta, Mushroom and Tomato Kasundi Bites

Love a healthy option of polenta. The kasundi wasn't too spicy, and gave good flavour to the mushroom, and freshness from the watercress.

Pork Belly Kimcheese Sliders
Pork Belly, Kimchi, Bocconcini Cheese, Grated Apples, Kale & Aioli

One of their signature dishes, it was my first time having it that night. So, so delicious. I don't even like spicy stuff/kim chi, but it actually enhanced the flavour of the pork without being. The pork was cooked well, esp since there were so many pieces to cook. Wanted second but these were gone way too quickly.

 Mini Roasted Pumpkin, Goats Cheese and Pomegranate Bites

Another vegetarian option. Vego stuff can be quite nice. If only the pomegranate wouldn't keep slipping off the pumpkin. Did you know I used to hate pumpkin when I was younger. This pumpkin wasn't too overly seasoned, and kept true to its flavours.

Genmaicha Chicken in cups

Miso seared Chicken, Fried Cabbage, Flaked Almond, Genmaicha Tea & Sweet Soy Aioli

Food in cups! So glad I made this decision, definitely a crowd winner. They normally come in burgers, but since there were too many carbs already, decided to put these into cups (hence why there was a lack of proper coffee cups for coffee). The chicken was so juicy with flavour, and roasted tea with that super delicious aioli, and a generous serving of cabbage under that, definitely took care of everyone's vegetable intake at this event. Coriander garnish to add another fresh element.

Soy Seared Mushroom with Carrot and Wakame Sliders

I love wakame, and this paired perfectly with the juicy mushrooms. Everyone was already quite full at this stage, we ended up taking home over 15 of these sliders...

Mini Masfogato : Dark choc brownie, frozen mascarpone, espresso shot

 Another signature dish but in mini form. There is a strong coffee hit from the espresso, some people had to even put sugar in it since the brownie definitely had a good amount of dark choc with minimal sweetness. Frozen mascarpone gave it some creaminess without it being too heavy. A good sized portion considering everything we had before.

Soba noodles for 'older' people.

Had these the first time we went to this cafe, and thought it would be suitable, with some tea flavours and more familiar Asian ingredients

BYO drinksss 

iced tea, hot tea

Everyone had 2 drink vouchers to use on any drinks. I had the Perfume iced tea mocktail (rose, lime, honey, cold brewed jasmine), and a mocha. Both drinks were really nice

 

trivia timeee

Did not expect the questions to be that hard, haha. Half of the answers were kind of on my Instagram (i.e. food related). No speeches because I'm not a huge fan of making speeches. I love hearing other people's speeches though! Also, didn't bother with technical stuff since you have to source them/hire mics/projectors etc yourself, and that money was definitely better spent on food and cake :)

 

the cake that stopped a party

 

two cakes are better than one

Vanilla and Berry custard cake made by Haven

It's a non sweet cake option. Custard incorporated into a sponge cake. It looks dense but quite light when you it eat, with a subtle vanilla custard flavour. Berries mixed into the cake as well. Super interesting texture and flavours, should try it when you're there and they baked it that day. They put all 20 candles around, and not 19....which meant I blew out 22 candles =/ oh well, at least they were spaced evenly. (Anyone recognise that name plaque? hehe)

silently cringing when cutting the cake, it's too beautiful to cut into!

layers

finding dresses to match my cake

balloons!

last to leave

party bags-reminscent of my childhood birthday parties

(took over 4 hours to hand pack)

There you have it-details of food on the night :) (this actually took me over an hour to type up, so I did hope it was useful in some sort of way, even if you're just enjoying the slightly not in focus photos haha)

Memorable night filled filled with delicious food! Thanks dear family and friends for all coming! Definitely worth all that money and study time put aside to plan this out!

Ben and Jerry's

Ben and Jerry's were giving out free ice cream the other day, to say farewell the Chuny Monkey in Pints (tub form). I knew it was happening, but I was omy to uni, and I literally walked past it. What was best was it was just before the office hours lunch break, so only took about a minute to get. They also gave everyone 2 (but no spoons)

snap chat photo because my phone ran out of memory...

slightly melted after an hour...

Trying to find spoons isn't that easy at uni...This flavour is sweet like bananas. Chocolate chunks were a tad too big for my liking (I'm not really a chocolate fan), and would have preferred more walnuts. Free ice cream, can't complain. Ate half a tub before I had to stop myself getting overly fat...

2 scoops: $7.20  

Peanut Butter Pretzel Batter: Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Sweet and Salty Pretzel Swirls, Chocolate Nougat Swirls and Chocolatey Chunks

Affair Vanilla Ice Cream: Chocolate Cookie Swirl, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

First time actually buying scoops from their scoop shop in Aus. Got some in NYC last year where it was super cheap/big. I got the 2 scoops one to share, 1 scoop equals to 2 mini scoops. Loved the peanut butter with chocolate chunks not too big. Normally I don't like choc chip, but this one had cookie pieces so it's an exception.

Earlier this year, free ice cream. Loved the pretzels in it :)

didn't guess as much in today disease test. took until the 4th exam to not guess over half the paper. but then afterwards i checked and thought the stuff i knew right, it was actually wrong D= please, 50% will do. currently failing diseases atm ))))))):

finals exam timetable, all exams done in less than a week. why you no spread it out? at least don't have 2 exams on the same day.

watched a bit of the bachelorette, and it's hilarious! all girls do is talk about each other behind their backs, but guys are just so upfront and funny (well the producers are very creative in telling what the guys should say).

Mum's birthday the other day, but didn't have time to buy cake even though I really love to buy (and eat) cake. She was full from the Fine Food expo which I missed out this year since I needed to study...she had over 4 scoops of ice cream/gelato, so jelly. Opted for 2 individual cakes from Zumbo :)

Citron tart-$6

Man vc coconut: coconut curd, sour cherry jam, coconut and tonk a bean sponge, coconut and maple syrup mousse-$9.50

The citron tart has been on Zumbo's menu ever since the beginning, so finally tried it. You get the first hit of acidity, then the sweetness comes in, and it was quite sweet. The base isn't too hard to cut through with a spoon, and not too buttery.

inside

Yes, the cake prices have increased (but not as dramatically as N2 ice cream). Surprisingly, the coconut cake wasn't actually sweet. A good amount of coconut and not sugar, mousse only had a but of sweetness. Would have preferred more sour cherry flavour and tonk a bean flavour (so subtle I wasn't sure I was tasting it).

Grandpa is 91 today! He had a massive 90th birthday party which my mum went to last year in HK. Wish I could go HK to celebrate with fam...

Last day of the food expo-Mum's free food haul. Bringing back part of the free food which I didn't have time to try.

Dad's haul (yesss, duckkk)

Yay for free food! (but D= for making me fat)

my break next week is going to be even more busier than uni )):