2 exams today. first one was a supposed to be not stressful turned stressful exam. forgot to put units, frame didn't sit properly (even though I do this at work everyday). and no one knew what this exam was even supposed to be...no other instructions apart from just turn up to it.

last disease module test today. this module probably had the thinnest amount of notes, but I felt like i studied the wrong things, and forgot the basics ): and I can't extrapolate stuff to interpret electrophysiology stuff. studied it but the stuff in the test was different. another failed test. the ones i passed were written not by the main guy, but i normally fail the main professor's test...and the finals is written by him...can't deal with 1 min per mark. and there's going to be long responses/paragraphs to answer in the finals. max a 'short answer' can be is 10marks...how to write an essay in 10 mins...

Halloween Aqua S version: Blueberry Cheesecake and Blood Orange-$3.80

They have now put up different cup sizes on their menu, before it was unofficial writing on the cups for price. The coloured the sea salt to a grey as well...i think this is my 7th aqua s, which is roughly almost $30 spent here...requested blueberry to be on top since i wanted more go it. so creamy and cheesecake like, wished there was more blueberry though. Blood orange was quite sweet but had some acidity. Not as good as messina's sourness, but not as rich/sweet as connoisseur.

 

free food for volunteering this year for the statuary place. this place on campus isn't bad...

4cm of disease notes

let me introduce you to diseases. this semester of diseases has taught be two print 2 pages per page each side. i used to do a4 pages for typed up notes/readings. each page also has 6 slides (as per norms). each slide and typed up notes has tiny font. i already didn't print out the stuff they say in lectures, or the case studies (around 50 pages each module, so around 300 pages...) i.e. that 4cm is just basic essentials, without textbook readings. looking back at first year when i had the luxury (tim( to write notes, this stack is about the same height as my first year notes, and roughly the same height for my 3rd yr 1st sem notes. now this is just for one subject this sem. so screwed. you know how i said i was screwed for diseases last sem? well that amount of notes is 1/3 of that pile...and readings last sem weren't really tested even though they were compulsory. but this sem like more than half comes from the readings D=

wow, i realllllly legit actually truly wish i can go through just 1 semester without feeling like i'm going to fail or wishing for a supp. if i don't get a supp, well i know i've failed. they don't even give you supps unless you pass everything single other component...i think only first year first sem where i didn't think about failing, then after that, i would try hard during semester, but my marks are borderline fail/pass, and then towards finals it's like i just really want that 50 to pass.

still 2 assignments. 1 is group work filled with stats. no going to use spss/other stats program since no time to use/figure out how to analyse stuff properly, so going to lose marks on that...

productivity died tonight. finals in less than 2 weeks. work in between. optm pracs no instructions/clue on what to do.

see you on the other side...food posts which come up were all done before lol

Sol. Cafe

Lovely catch up with some church girls at this cafe in the Hills area. Wow, times have changed. I remember I used to always get driven to the Baulko junction to catch a bus to school, but now everything as been turned into property. Even though this cafe is quite quiet and we parked at the shops and walked over, I think once the buildings are done, it will probably get busy.

cute and simple decor

 

menu

Regular capp-$3.50

No coffee art, and too much cocoa powder combined with sugar. I never had sugar in mt coffee, so this added sugar on top made it too sweet. The coffee itself was nice, and loved the generous amount of foam on top. 

baked eggs-$17.50

parmesan on top :)

Loved the added parmesan which gave a huge aroma once it arrived on the table. Realised I haven't had baked eggs this winter/year, so decided to order this. 2 eggs, decent amount of ham and rocket. Sauce was slightly spicy, but a good amount of slice. Would have like 2 pieces of bread to easily mop up the sauce (although that would be even more carbs...)

Not a bad place for cafe hangs in the Hills area.

Chicken burger

Pulled pork burger

Smashed avo+poached eggs

Homemade Meat Feast

do you guys remember when i met the winners from mkr 2015 and got a $50 voucher? well my mum used it today from the local butchery. we hardly ever (rarely) by from them because it's just so expensive, even if it is nicely placed, clean and good quality meat, woolies/coles is just cheaper, esp when my brother is all about quantity over quality, but i am the opposite.

had a belated celebration of good food/meat feast for dad's bday.

american pork ribs-$22/kg, porterhouse steak-$42/kg, lamb cutlets-$49/kg

normally we buy pork ribs at 16ish, cheaper steak at 10-20ish, and cutlets for 20ish per kilo, so their prices are very expensive. the meat above was $60, with the lamb cutlets around $4 for one piece. think about going outside to eat, it's not that expensive. $30 main dish would probably get you 2 cutlets and other stuff on the plate, plus they cook and wash for you. here you have to prep, season everything, cook and wash...so eating good meat outside isn't too bad. like $45 1kg rib platter with sides at a restaurant, and compared to $22 here, so you save time since home made ribs are the most time consuming. meat was so soft, sah good. they said it was porterhouse steak, but it wasn't super thick...btw, i didn't do any cooking (just saying). oh how i have missed these long ribs...last week was only short ribs...

still missing that $130US steak i had last year with the fam back in NYC...best steak ever...

definitely miss calculated the number of assessments i still have. beginning of this week was actually 6, then had 2 yday. the practical one went so overtime, so waiting to get tested/asked questions, the theory one was so dodgy. that lecturer receives the award for the least organised/badly worded test ever. she made 3 versions of the exam to prevent other people from cheating since we were in a lecture room, but each row had the same version, so people could still glance to the side...? as if you can glance over the top, the levels were really shallow. for diseases there are 4 options, but same questions just diff order. normal optm exams also have at least 3-4 options, with people left/right, up/down diff version. so don't get her logic there. anyways, it was a 30min exam but couldn't go into depth with anything. only just finished in time. questions were so badly worded, like 'show working' but there were no measurements to do calculations on...like what? and all 3 exams had different levels of hardness. other exams normally have same questions but diff numbers/values. we were all like 'what does she want from us??' after the exam. wording sah vague.

2 more exams, 2 more assignments before finals begin. no time to study for finals D=

Dad's birthday today, and to keep things simple (and save money since my cake was pretty much twice the family's budget for birthday cakes), just bought a simple cake from Zumbo. wow, even the bags don't have any print/says Zumbo now...

Two Dittos-$9.50 (description above cause ain't nobody got time for that)

inside

everyone in the fam loved this one. pineapple on the outside, not overly sweet mousse on the inside. there wasn't much sponge so would have like more of that. Zumbo's cakes aren't cheap nowadays ):

also had a salted caramel cheesecake from Sara Lee (bought it when it was on sale). haven't had frozen cheesecake in so long. the salted caramel part wasn't a complete layer through the cheesecake luckily, since it was a lot more sweet caramel than salty. still nice though :)

so screwed for everything. holiday planning dilemmas again.

Signorelli Gastronomia-Sugar Rush

Goal achieved-posting this before Good Food Month/October ends.

Despite uni always being busy, especially with finals approaching (still have at least 3 assessments/exams before finals even start), so glad to go out and have some dessert with my annual dessert girls. It's now under #sugarruch and not #letsdodessert. I prefer the later....this year not many jumped out to say 'eat me', and most had chocolate in it which I try to avoid in these desserts...Also, too many desserts had a lot of nuts in it...

First time coming here, and it's inside one of the buildings/under offices, so coming in here the entrances were actually locked since it was after hours...but luckily a guy came out just as we went in, so else no idea how else to get inside...

They started dessert only bookings from 8pm, even though the restaurant wasn't really full that night. The dessert took around 20mins to plate up both dishes. I guess that's understandable, like desserts from Quay took around 15-20min since it's made on the spot. This one just had a lot of stuff going on the plate.

Description

Under the Sea-$26 for 2

I love how it's a shared plate, since that means it's cheaper and it helps cut down all that sugar/calories/fat. This plate had so many textures and flavours, it was impossible to get every single component together in the one bite. 

The hazelnut semifreddo was quite nice and surpringly filling. Was expecting it to be colder though. Couldn't really tell the difference in terms of the 'treasures' inside, but the spicy pineapple was definitely spicy. There were some hard bits, and the menu said they were banana and orange croutons, but couldn't really taste the flavour. The jubs were also quite minimal as well. The salty waves were indeed very salty, and you really had to have it with the semifreddo or that icing they used to stick it up in. The sand wasn't actually really buttery, which was surpassingly nice. Loved the lightness of the sponge coral, but the nougat flavour was very subtle. As for the dessert wine, it was quite sweet compared to others I have tried, and super sweet for a wine (didn't take a photo of it, but it was in a small glass).

Overall, the dessert probably had too many bits and pieces, but it did look like what it said on paper (though harder to photograph).

Quick google search of Vincent Gadan on Masterchef came up with the perfume spray bottle dessert, which I actually blogged about wanting to try a few years ago...but now he doesn't work at that patisserie anymore, but upgraded to be a chef here. 

Sokyo Ramen

Kind of dragged friends to come try ramen with me at The Star, since we were coming to Pyrmont to have dessert later. Wanted to go to this pop up for a while now. I think pop ups are nice, since you get to try hatted restaurant's food for a 'cheap' price. I guess it's not cheap, but for ramen with a chef's name and restaurant on it, it always cost more (like Ippudo, and Momofuku which are renowned world wide, which both have ramen). They are here till end of November, but probably won't have time to go during exam, so this was a good opportunity.

I think there used to be a chinese place here...

Surprised that quite a few people actually came here on a Thursday night to have ramen (or everyone was probably like me just coming to try it once and never again)

menu

Yuzu Ramen-$15

bowls of goodness

To be honest, I hardly have ramen. Checking back on my blog labels, this is actually the first time this year having ramen, so I am not ramen expert, and don't really have anything to compare it to. Opted for the yuzu to try something different. It wasn't too salty with some slightly sourness, and was really light and refreshing, especially with the greens/rocket on top. That chilli paste to stick the seaweed was indeed chilli, but through it was cool how they printed the name onto it. Would have liked a bit more thicker slices of pork. The other one with the normal soy based was pretty nice as well. The actual noodles themselves were good (but haven't tried other popular ramen places in sydney...even though they have been on my list to go for over a year now). Decent pop up and serving size, so still worth trying.

Night Noodle Markets 2015

Originally wasn't planning to go since I don't really have time, but decided to go anyway since I really didn't want to miss out on things (and needed a break from another horrid disease test, and a break before a finals next week). They had less decorations this year, but a lot more stores. It was lovely catching up and seeing friends :)

As always, things are at least $1/2+ more expensive and smaller compared to the actual restaurant. You're here for the vibe and the convenience of all the stores around you. It does cost that extra few dollars to get to some places or petrol money for food around Sydney, so it's expected prices here are higher.

I only tried things which you can't get normally, or are a special collaboration. Wanted to get skewers since I've never had them before at the markets, and for the novelty of eating them, but line was too long, and I wouldn't have been able to finish it myself.

that liquid nitrogen

Teafogato: strawberry watermelon cake smashed w/ N2 gelato w/ a tippity hibiscus rooibos tea soza and freeze dried cherries-$10

Yes, it's small and expensive, but it's different. I've actually had that gelato before at Sweet Street earlier this year. This one didn't really have any cake in it at all, and the flavour was a lot more subtle. This dessert was different, the tea was like slightly carbonated water and very subtle in tea flavour. Once the gelato started to melt, it had more flavour in it. Defs good for those people who don't really like sweet stuff. I would say this was strange but worth trying

Miso Corny: miso and sweetcorn soft serve, coriander and lime syrup, azuki beans, burnt butter popcorn and corn flakes-$12

by Devon Cafe

Only Devon on Danks in Waterloo has their soft serves, but that's too much of a detour going to uni. It's close by car, but buses are another story. In hindsight, I should have showed them the Insta photo, since this portion was small compared to it, and obviously not placed right...the cornflakes were at the bottom and lime syrup wasn't fully filled in the pipette. This had some saltiness but it was quite sweet. The corn flavour wasn't super prominent, and neither was the burnt butter. The red bean paste made it even more sweeter. The syrup was very interesting. Main thing was that it melted way to quickly. It wasn't super hot, but already started to melt when they first gave it to me. Not sure if it's the consistency or just because they had to make it at the markets...

Another collaboration! Singleton Whisky and Momofuku Milk Bar

Singleton whisky and maple cookie by Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar in New York!-$3

They were free if you purchased a $9 whisky, but I'm not really a big fan of whisky and was really after the cookie.

looks so plain, but so good

Her cookies were packaged and shipped from New York, but it retained that chewiness without being hard even though it's been refrigerated. It's quite buttery and sweet, but the whisky helps cut through without being too rich. Sah good and chewy.

that time last year in NYC. some of the stuff I purchased :) both of these items are also trade marked, like all iconic NYC desserts

The Choc Pot Take 2

Taking relatives out for food runs in Chatswood, and decided to visit this place again. I love collecting points, so was sad when last time I spent $30+ and didn't collect points. Roughly 30 points can get you a coffee.

Large capp: $4, French Earl Grey w/ Milk Choc Latte-$5

The coffee was actually not great, definitely watery but my mum wanted a coffee...but really I'm here to try their other drinks/desserts. The french early grey latte was so delicious. Exactly like the tea but in latte style with a little bit of chocolate to sweeten it without it taking away from the fragrance of flavour of the tea.

Trying their cold drinks, crepes and waffles which I didn't get a chance to last time.

Banana Choc-$8, Pine Mojito-$8

The Splits (left): crepe with banana, whipped cream, honeycomb pieces, melted Belgian choc w/ salted caramel on the side-$14.50

S'more Nuts: crunchy waffle with nutty butter, melted belgian choc, roasted hazelnuts, toasted home-made marshmallows

We actually shared these desserts between 7 people which was a good idea since we had a massive lunch before hand, I had an ice cream, and chocolate is generally decadent. 

EyeBall 2015

EyeBall was last Friday..so yes, back posting again... this year with the full optom crew (last year one person didn't go), and since one of my friends might leave for med next year, this was probs our last time to go together. It was held at the renovated Dolton House, Hyde Park. entrance door was quite obscure and small, but once you went inside and up to level 3, it was quite grand.

don't normally take selfies, but only photo of this part of the building

this year we had drinks and canapés on arrival! last year was only drinks. canapés were held on the side room with expansive mirrors and fancy lounges. ticket were an extra $10 this year, so $90, which is the sponsored price. i guess that's why we have the specsavers logo on our hoodies, since you can definitely tell the difference between more sponsors and less. canapés were pretty good, from memory around 5 different ones: salmon cream cheese things (not crackers, but something else), buffalo ricotta tarts, vegetarian samosas, bbq pork buns, har gao (prawn dumplings). i was kind of full before we even had our proper food. waiters were surprised when we passed on drinks. 

not bad quality either

table

the tea did a pretty good job. they had place cards shaped in scene clappers, sheets of 'who am eye' trivia, which was quite hard, and then just other stuff which made it nice.

function room

menu

food was pretty decent, better than last place.

actually had crab in it, lovely and refreshing

tried a bit of the chicken. sauce was a bit spicy so luckily i didn't have this dish

beeef

quite a huge chunk, but it was really soft. gave half of the potato to my friend who is a potato lover (already had too many carbs, like had 2 pieces of not so fresh bread...). lots of people didn't finish their mains. already full from drinks/canapes lol

tried a bit of fish. the healthier option with minimal sauce, but slightly over cooked

dessertttt.

so many components, a lot fancier than i expected for a place like this. really refreshing flavours and not too sweet. loved the bits of metallic paint on the biscuit.

creme brûlée!

since i do tend to eat a lot...i was super duper full, but i couldn't pass on my friend's dessert which you only ate less than half of. there wasn't much crack on the top and it wasn't served in ramekins...but it was still custardy goodness. had to specifically ask for my coffee since they stopped giving it once they dimmed down the lights...they also had pretty decent prizes, like a guy from 5th year won a gonio lens (worth around $500), which is used to look at the angles of the eye...

 

chandeliers made it so grand and fancy

not bad song choices either, well i knew most of them. Photo Booth was so good this year! it was sponsored, but the probs were so good and funny with heaps of different worded signs, and a lot bigger than last year. if only i had the money for that sort of stuff for my 21st...but i'm pretty sure hiring a professional Photo Booth with instant photos would cost the same as actually having a 21st in the first place lol. they also hired a professional photographer this year, so i guess my $90 was used wisely by the committee. didn't dance too much since we were all tired from standing lel.

entrance with heaps of mirrors