Beauty and the Beast

I really loved this movie! I don't know why but I wasn't expecting much from it since I'm not a massive fan of live action movies. The original animation was perfect as it was. For those who don't know, I LOVE my Disney (hence why I had to go DisneyWorld when I went to America a few years back, and need to visit Disneyland in LA, Paris and now Shanghai). Belle is probably my 2nd favourite princess after Cinderella, and I love the original storyline as well.

I think the movie did do the original justice with the cinematics, costumes, and really nice details in the castle and antiques which obviously weren't there originally. The emotions got through to the screen as well. Although Emma's voice was quite auto-tuned, the music score was really good. Tale As Old As Time was probably one of the first piano pieces I played for leisure rather than those AMEB pieces, around 10 years ago...

Not expecting much from Mulan at the end of next year...I was never a big fan of Mulan even though she's Asian lol

Hattrick

Another 'sister' cafe of Vogue Cafe and The Missing Piece at Macquarie Centre, but this place offers alcohol and is a lot more spacious. Loved the interior decorating inside and the natural lighting filling the room. It was sometime hard to get the waiter since the place is relatively big.

food spread

 

 

Large capp-$5

Good strong flavour a and nice amount of foam. Initial drinking temps a bit on the hotter side, but by the time you take all your photos, it's ok. I like the gold spoon on the side. Tad bit on the pricier side, regular is $4, +$1 for large. I've had quite a lot of coffees from different cafes, and most places do some coffee art, bold flavoured coffee, good drinking temp, and right amount of foam. Cappuccinos are my go to. Generally you can't go wrong with a coffee from a cafe, but it's a lot easier to say when a coffee is bad cause you know straight away.

Veggie plater: cauliflower, spinach, chickpeas, kale, walnuts, quinoa salad-$16

Sorry, back blogging and forgot the exact ingredients in the dish. The olive oil dressing really tied everything together. Fresh ingredients and good crunch from the walnuts. This salad is actually surprisingly filling.

Citrus Interest: chicken, frittata, salad greens, cauliflower, chickpeas, quinoa, kale, walnuts, citrus/grapfruit/lemon dressing-$18

The Burger: beef, beetroot, salad, aioli with Lazy Yak-$15

Lunch special they offered a free ta bear ($9) when you order the burger. Meat was cooked well with a bit of pink inside, and not too fatty. Wished there was a bit more salad. Good amount of aioli in it. The brioche bun was super soft but still held up everything inside.

  

Taste of Sydney 2017

First time at Taste of Sydney! My friend had a spare ticket, so of course I put my hand up for it. It's an entry fee of $30 plus additional for food, so that's why I haven't been in previous years since as a uni student, I didn't want to pay for entry. The food there isn't cheap as well since it's a 'festival/market' where they have to transport the stuff to a park, hire fees etc, which ends up being pricey dishes for the serving size, but the quality of all the dishes we tried were good, and the restaurants there are more on the higher end compared to other markets like the Night Noodle Markets (which aren't cheap either for one dish compared to having it at the actual restaurant).

Taste credit

You load an initial amount either $30 or $50 then you can top up if you see some staff or at a money station. It's pretty convenient rather than dealing with so much change or your credit cards flying around when you are holding multiple dishes plus trying to get that photo of your food lel. At the end you give the card back and they refund back any amount remaining.

Bouche on Bridge

Wallaby skewers, spiced cashew nuts: wild Tasmanian wallaby tenderloins marinated and cooked over charcoal, served with a spiced cashew sauce

This dish won the number one spot at Taste of Sydney. First time trying wallaby and I wish more places would source wallaby for a 'gourmet skewer.' Wallaby isn't as gamey or chewy compared to kangaroo. The flavour of the meat is milder, and I liked how it wasn't too heavily marinated since you can still taste the flavour of the meat and the char. The spiced cashew sauce was so creamy and a good amount of spice to it, wished there was more meat to finish up the sauce. I also saw the head chef do a demo of this dish. At the restaurant, they serve it on a rosemary skewer, using the branch of a rosemary stalk. Looked so pretty and smelt so good. I wouldn't mind going to Bouche on Bridge just to have these wallaby skewers again. We wanted to have their Icon dish-suckling pig, but by the time we did the rounds and came back, we were too full. I guess that means more reason to go and visit the actual restaurant.

Black Swan Beta-Dips

What a fun concept! They have a sushi train conveyor belt but with dips and suggested items by the staff to dip into the dip.

- Salted caramel banana with mascarpone and walnut + waffle

- Bacon and egg with cracked pepper + mini toast

- Espresso maple bacon + waffle

- Pineapple, coconut and rum + crackers

- Black sesame seed hommus + carrots 

Yummm, loved all their dips! Favourite was probably the bacon and egg and black sesame. The salted caramel was interesting but more on the sweet side. Espresso was initially my favourite but after a few times it got quite sweet since not enough saltiness. The pineapple had a nice hint of rum. I would've bought a tub if I didn't go to Adele later that evening...I don't normally buy dips since I find them generally unhealthy, but these were delicious, and I'll make an exception and buy a tub if I see them in the supermarkets.

Lurpak Cookery School

Skirt steak tacos with chipotle butter

Passionfruit curd tart

For $6, you and your partner makes one savoury and sweet dish each to share. I love these sort of cooking classes, because everything is prepped and portioned out for you, and you don't have to wash up afterwards. Value for money haha. I did the savoury, and yay for pink beef. I don't normally cook with slabs of butter though, so might not make this at home. Passionfruit tart was nice and tangy.

Hayden from MasterChef!

Got there too late and didn't get a seat on the 'real seats', so couldn't try the ribs.

Wine tasting at The Wine Society

I love my wines. In short, the whites were average, rose had a stronger flavour, the reds weren't bold enough apart from Landhaus which was probs my fav out of them all, but still would've done with a bit more ageing. 

Nel.

Truffle hunt: chicken, truffle, porcini mushroom croquette with edible truffle soil-$10

Anyone who knows me know that I lovee my truffles, so when I saw truffle, I knew I had to get this dish. It's a fun concept where you dig through the soil to find a piece of 'truffle' i.e. chicken. The dish smells like authentic truffle (rather than truffle oil). Chicken croquette was moist inside, but there were only 2 tiny pieces. There was too much truffle soil to eat and it was very, very dry unlike your chocolate soil which has some butter to make it moist. Ended up chucking out a lot of the soil since it was so dry like when people eat a spoonful of cinnamon. Breaks my heart to chuck out truffle related food stuff, but I couldn't swallow more of that soil cause too dry...

Also tasted truffle sausages and truffle cheese in the little stands by independent producers. Again, would have actually bought some goods if I didn't have a concert at night. (Truffle honey from Portobello Markets in London was also the bomb but haven't found any in Sydney yet. Too bad a glass jar of honey was too impractical to bring back to Aus...)

Little Nel.

Summer Efflorescence: strawberry sorbet, lychee, champagne mousse, crystallised rose petals-$12

This was our favourite dessert-super refreshing sorbet and perfect for a warm Autumn day. Although it was small, the flavours were really strong without being overly sweet. Everything just came together in one mouthful. The crystallised flowers were a tad bit on the sweet side, but apart from that, everything worked in this one small dish!

Wagon Wheel: raspberry, yuzu and milk chocolate-$6

The least worth item we got. All I could taste was a sweet milk choc and marshmallow. I have a sweet tooth, but not much when it comes to just milk choc. Couldn't really taste the yuzu or raspberry bits cause the sweetness in the marshmallow was too overpowering.

Gastro Park

Liquid pumpkin and parmesan gnocchi, forest mushroom tea-$12

You know something is good when they have only 2 items to choose from. So glad I discovered this liquid gnocchi! It was quite mind blowing. At first look, it looks like an Asian dessert of sweet potato balls in a sweet soup, but this was nothing like that nor like a normal gnocchi. The skin is super thin and once you bite into it, all this liquid goodness of pumpkin and fragrant parmesan burst into your mouth=liquid gnocchi. The tea was quite salty but still had a nice mushroom flavour. If there was more gnocchi or something to help cut through the saltiness of the sauce, would've drank it all. So, so good.

Seared scallop, pork crumble, crab sauce-$12

There were 4 tiny scallops (well more like 2 and they halved it) hidden under the pork crumble. Scallops cooked perfectly, and went well with that rich crab sauce. Loved having a bit of crunch from the pork crumble. Why have I not been to the actual restaurant yet? Putting it onto my list to go (too many places now on my list...)

Banksii

Lavender and rose soft serve w/ red vermouth caramel and pistachio praline-$6

So many firsts at this festival, but first time having lavender soft serve! Really strong and fragrant lavender flavour with a sweet rose powder sprinkled on top. Rose flavoured things can be quite artificial, but this one had the right amount of rose/sweetness. Loved the vermouth caramel which had a slight bitterness in it to cut through the floral flavours. Good crunch from the pistachio praline as well. I didn't manage to visit Provence in France (nor was it the season), but I can imagine how amazing lavender soft serve would be after having this one. I wished this was on Banksia's menu. No idea where I can find decent lavender ice cream in Sydney.

cute chocolate with Sydney suburbs

At the end you could also take a pack go Castello blue cheese for free. So many things I wish I could buy/take, but Adele was the priority of the day lol.

Centennial Parklands

It was really fun discovering relatively new places to eat in Sydney all in one place and trying new things. Thanks for the ticket Bec! 

Elisa_Eats

For those who don't know, I finally made a new Instagram just for food @Elisa_Eats (shameless insta plug). Will be spamming a lot more food pic rather than desserts on my main @its_eliiisa

I have somehow pre-occupied myself so that I'm going out everyday. I guess it's good to not be stuck at home and be productive. Still haven't gone through all my photos yet, or done any of my back log of posts. I think research helps if your supervisor responds quickly, since you save time. I have so many places to eat, but weirdly I don't have enough time. I should actually start studying stuff to keep my brain active.

Did the craziest thing by waking up at 6am for Zumbaron Day which aligned with World Macaron Day yesterday. I feel like macaron day was made just for me lel. More on that later (hopefully).

Mr Stonebowl

Catch up with friends over Sherlock season 4, and a quick takeaway dinner (because no time to sit at a restaurant when watching Sherlock is obviously more important.

Tofu with salty egg yolks-$13.80
Mushroom stir fried with vege-$11.80
Pork ribs in Beijing style sweet and sour sauce-$13.80
Garlic prawns with stir fried rice in squid ink-$18.80

Love the tofu with salty egg yolks-not too salty and fried well without having that oily feel. Decent varieties of mushroom with the bok choy. The pork was pretty average, was a bit soggy and not enough flavours since it was mainly sweet. The squid rice was really delicious when you put the prawns and sauce with it. I wouldn't mind having this in the restaurant since it's served in an actual stone bowl so you get that crispy rice at the bottom.

I hardly ever come to Burwood, but I can see why there are lines throughout the night. Wouldn't mind coming back here for some cheap and decent Chinese food and to try their other dishes. 

The Shed

I've actually passed through this place multiple times at my local shops but never stopped by since they mostly have sandwiches/wraps which are relatively expensive and something that I can make at home (just missing the presentation). They are a franchise though, since I've seen they're at multiple shopping centres.

Topped Toast. Smashing Morning: Pumpkin, poached egg, fetta, herbs, dukkah, sumac, greens, pomegranate w/ quinoa bread-$9.90

Tbh, I can make this at home, minus the fetta and dukkah which I don't have (not that there was a lot of dukkah there to begin with). The egg was poached normally, but wasn't a nicely poached shape (which I can also do at home and looks like the one above). Probably had a bit too much salt on the greens but the pumpkin was really sweet which helped. I don't think I'll pay for a piece of toast again in an open shopping centre cafe, but trying things outside can help me make stuff similar to this at home. 

Large cappuccino: $4.20

Coffee was a tad bit burnt, so it was more bitter than normal. I don't a strong bitter coffee (plus milk), just not that burnt after taste.

ADELE Live 2017-Sydney

ADELE 💜

Adele was absolutely amazing! Definitely worth paying to watch her live. She's one of those artists who sound better live than on recording. 

Set list:

1. Hello (going to the concert because mainly of this song, jks, but it's my fav)
2. Hometown Glory
3. One and Only
4. I'll Be Waiting
5. Rumour Has It
6. Water Under the Bridge
7. I Miss You
8. Skyfall (and this song because I am secretly a Bond fan)
9. Don't You Remember
10. Make you feel my love (Bob Dylan Cover)
11. Send My Love (to Your New Lover)
12. Sweetest Devotion
13. Chasing Pavements
14. Take It All
15. Set Fire to the Rain (literally with fireworks, another fav)

Encore:
16. When We Were Young
17. Rolling in the Deep (and another fav)
18. Someone like you (another fav)

I love Adele because her vocals are so strong, filled with so many emotions, and she is just so REAL! It;s just pure Adele and her songs.  That voice was just amazing to hear (obviously words can't describe it lel), plus her jokes were to die for.

She's not the typical artist who skinny, long legged, dance+sing, amazing sets talented back up dancers plus a large band. Don't get me wrong, Tay Tay is super talented and was perfect with her singing and dancing which is hard to do live together, but Adele just shows that you don't have to be what social media defines as 'normal' to be successful.

She will talks to the whole 95440 people like they're her friends and doesn't care about appearance. Accidentally tripping, almost crying because someone needed medical help, restarting a song and spoiling that there were fireworks, messy hair don't care, sticking her microphone in her bra, telling some behind the scenes of her music videos, plus many other quotes from the note (which I'm sure the media have already covered) just shows her personality and feels like you know her without meeting her. Loved her unique 360deg stage, and I think she equally face each side lol.

(didn't buy a shirt because I don't think I'll wear it)

Helloooo

Skyfall

Make you feel my love

Sweetest devotion

Set fire to the rain

👑

cutest confetti ft quote songs

For those who don't know, I'm actually that weird person who doesn't listen to music apart from radio music. The first concert I wanted to go to was Delta Goodrem but I was too young (and no money), so didn't go. My first concert was Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour, but that was super last minute thanks to a lovely friend who sold me a A reserve ticket 2 hours before the concert started for a super cheap price. So this is technically my first anticipated 'full price' concert (or my 2nd concert). From what I've heard, normal concert tickets are around $100 for B/C reserve. Adele is almost double every other single artist. C reserve at $160 compared to Tay Tay A reserve $150. C reserve you can still see Adele but when you zoom in to take a photo, she's not that clear vs A reserve can take a clear photo of Tay Tay. Tbh I'm there for her voice, and she can still here it from C reserve. Both were completely different, and amazing in their own ways. Just Adele is better live.

She had these balloon/ball things during Rumour Has It, but the wind kept blowing them left so it got congested on one side of the stadium, and from where we sat, only 3 balls went over us but I didn't manage to touch it...I did manage to catch some quotes confetti (but not coloured confetti). I liked her T-shirt gun, too bad I was too far away from a signed shirt. She even included $20 in it lol. She also gave a person in the very back row at the top a signed letter.

I guess it's not your typical type of concert with the mosh pits, which obviously you do not expect from Adele. More 'mature aged; people went, i.e. more grandparents, couples, adults, a lot less children/twelvies (probably unlike Bieber next week). It was a lot more calmer concert with everyone just really absorbing her voice and feels. Everyone sat down in the tiers, occasionally one/two stood up but luckily no one in front of me. If we sat on the ground, I think people would block your view even if distance wise it's closer, but I'm short which makes the tied seating better. 

My friend managed to get tickets to the first night, but I'm glad she did a second show rather than people scalping tickets cause that's not fair. Also means 95000 don't miss out since both concerts were sold.

The train station was indeed packed, but we got there around 6.30pm, and seated around 7pm it was still pretty empty. Apparently at 7.30pm which was supposed to start on time, it was still 65% empty so she delayed so more people came before she started at 8:15pm. Leaving was surprisingly efficient, only 10min walk out then luckily my gate was near the side of the bus bays, and a lot of buses compared to Taylow Swift. They had free transport included in the ticket, so they really did want people to use it.

Thanks for coming to Aus!10 years later is better than never.

Post concert withdrawal symptoms. Currently listening to Adele on repeat.