Chinese desserts in Campsie!

Last night i went to this small cosy restaurant situated near Sydney's inner west, Campsie. I was recommended this restaurant by my work friends who are heavily into their Chinese H.K. culture.

I am always keen to go out late at night to have dessert and when they mentioned this place i was quite excited to check it out. My expectations was quite ampped up even more when my work colleges said this place is a contender or even better than the asian dessertery L.N.C in Chinatown. The only problem was it was actually quite hard to find. I drove past it a few times before we decided to actually get out of the car and walk to see if we could find this place. It's called W.D.Z Restaurant but i don't think anyone knows of it by it's English name! lolWhen we walked in we noticed that inside the decor was actually quite cute and homelike. These balls hanging from the ceiling, only held there by string and sticky tape, the silhouettes of cherry blossoms, swallows, snowflakes that they obviously cut out of cardboard themselves (very talented!) and also the bansai trees scattered all along the side of the shop. After that me and Nat got worried as we noticed parts of their dining menu plastered around the room all in Chinese!

It was ok though, one of the waitresses could speak very good english and their menus had english translations on it too, i was quite relieved. Their menu also featured a lot of traditional chinese dinner dishes, from snacks to even hotpots.

When we sat down we were greeted with complementary tea with these cute little cups! Surprisingly these cups were chilled.

We got the 'Chestnut and taro sago with coconut milk' hot because we added black sesame glutenous balls with it. And we also got the 'Rainbow'.

The Chestnut and taro sago is the on pictured on top, quite nice hot. It was sufficiently sweet but no where near the 'Too Sweet' zone which i really liked. Sesame balls were good also, and the chestnuts were crushed so it was pretty cool to have the taro,sago and chestnut in a even quantities when you eat it.
The Rainbow (which wasn't very rainbow at all) had herbal jelly, glutinous rice balls, taro and coconut juice with ice shavings. This was a cold dessert, the ice shavings was quite fun to eat, and you could mix it up with all the things in the bowl. This dish is quite similar to the Malaysian 'Ais kacang' and just like the ais kacang, the odd combination of ingredients actually make for a pretty good dessert. Although I'm not a fan of the rice balls and these ones in particular tasted a lot more like flour, so that part was my least favorite. I just looked at the menu now and it's supposed to come with mango but ours lacked that, i wish she had at lest mentioned it to us.

The place was not the best but defiantly a cheap gem, if i was in the mood for chinese desserts and did not feel like trekking out to Chinatown, i would definitely head out here again.

The place is located on Beamish street, Campsie. Not too sure on the shop number but it is loacated on the north end just before you hit the first roundabout.

Car wash fail.

Yesterday, i washed my car in the morning. It was raining the night before. My car got bogged, thus it was stuck in my backyard for half an hour. I tried everything i could, i rocked back and forth, i put timber underneath and i also put carpet too for extra grip!

I ended up calling Clifton over to help me push..... lol!

Clifton took a picture of the end result.
Then i had to wash the car a second time!

2011 WRX STI ad.

Glenn moves!

The other day i helped out my mate packed up a lot of shit into boxes to help him move. Long story short, it took us about 4 hours to pack away his life into boxes. And to top that off his whole life of belongings managed to fit into two cars and half of it was food!

This was the kitchen after 2 solids hours of packing, now his place reminds me of a hotel room which only has the bare minimal.
This was Glenn's civic jammed up with all his shit. It looked quite funny to see a little green civic packed to the roof of shit, also the civic looked dumped because of the extra weight! lol.

Sure it was tiring but it was also somewhat fun to play tetris with everything and making things fit into one box. I wonder when it will be my turn to pack my whole life into boxes and move out. Ahh, can't wait! Actually no, wait i take that back, i can wait. I'll be waiting for the day i get a proper fulltime job and a steady income.

Bund Restaurant & Karaoke

Today we (Da Haung Kung-Fu) was asked to help out to open a new restaurant in Haymarket. It's called Bund Restaurant and Karaoke but in Chinese they called themselves "Shanghai hotel" something something (So sorry my Chinese is horrible). It is as it's called, the main area inside is for patrons who are just there for the food, then there are a few other private rooms which is available for karaoke and dining. Man these types of places are opening up quite a fair bit now, I know of a Japanese restaurant that does quite close to the same thing.
The front was decked out with Chinese style bouquet of flowers and so was the whole entrance leading into the main dining area. This is a traditional custom that all restaurants do when they first open, it's partly a sign of wealth and other reasons that do not come to mind but it also helps to attract new/more customers. Each bouquet has a pair of ribbons streaming down it forming a triangle and down each and everyone there is little scripts written on it. Some stating the date of opening others wishing the restaurant wealth and lots of business.

We were just about to leave the door with this lion for today. I actually quite like this one a little bit more than the others only because it's newer but also it's the lightest. But instead we left with the silver 'hok san' lion (which i didn't get to take a photo of).BeforeAfter

This time the 'Cheng' which is chinglish for ......... I have no F'ing idea actually, i think it might be lettuce but it ain't quite right. But today's one was a bit different from the normal, usually it would be a lettuce with a red pocket inside hanging from high up somewhere and we would jump up and eat it like so. This time though it was a lucky fruit platter with 8 mandarins and 1 massive grapefruit.
The story goes something along the lines of this and i'm not 100% sure, but the fruit symbolises hidden wealth and the lion will come around opening each and everyone of them up to 'unleash' that hidden wealth and prosperity to the owners of the restaurant. And so the bigger the fruit it is believed there is more hidden goodness inside thus the big grapefruit.
I ate the mandarins four at a time and the grapefruit last, the mandarins was ok to peel open but was slightly bit challenging to rip it in a way where it is presentable. The grapefruit on the other hand was amazingly difficult, even though before hand i made two small cuts into the skin so i could get my nails in easier but even then... oh my f'ing gah! My nails felt like they were close to breaking, so i left it barely opened, lol. The symbolism is all still there so it's all good.
Kevin today was his, well our first time lion dancing in about 5 months and his back was in agony. Me? Well i was ok, other than the unstoppable hand tremors i got after and even now my legs and lower back is still a bit sore.

Hahaha, oh well i guess it's a sign to actually put some effort into training.

Sydney fish markets

So today me an Nat decided we would go check out the fish markets today for some sashimi! Despite it being a Wednesday the fish markets was surprisingly busy, loads of people checking out and eating all the 'fresh' seafood there. And loads of tourists too, which made me think why is this place such an attraction? It's not at all fancy and the seafood is not necessarily 'freshest'. Well unless proven wrong i don't think the managers would throw out a day old fish with the fresh catch. Casting that aside we just got a shitload of salmon sashimi. Yum yum.
And half a lobster mornay. Naughty me, shouldn't be eating too much cheese, but damn it was nice just to have the cheese!
Even though it was the markets it wasn't particularly a cheap feed. The sashimi turned out to be close to $15 and the lobster was about $20, so a $35 feed between two (just as a snack by the way!) wasn't the biggest of bargains. But we did get a lot more sashimi for 15 bucks than what you would get at a typical jap restaraunt.

Boat Orchids.

At home we have these lovely little gems growing around the side in the shade. And i believe these flowers are definitely worth a mention, they are called Boat Orchids or otherwise known as Cymbidium Orchids. It has taken such a long time to discover the name of these flowers because, 1) It just never occurred to me that these are in the Orchid family, and 2) I only knew what they were called in Chinese and in chinglish its ~Lan Fa~, literal translation would be "Broken Flower" or "Lazy Flower" not too sure if that's anywhere close to its translation but it sounds like it to me.

What also makes these flowers extra special is that they only flower once a year! That's why it's such a gem. Also they make for great cut flowers, according to Everything Orchids these flowers when cut can last up to a month! All it needs is a regular water change and a new snip on its spike every now and then.

I did manage to get a stalk or two for someone and wrapped it up enshrouded with green jacaranda leaves and it looked great! Too bad i didn't get a picture but yes, these flowers do make for a great gift!

Timmy is Sex!

IS

Didn't get to actually put it together and i missed out on making "IS" but it still entertained me.

40-Foot Optimus Prime Transforms Beijing Skyline

Visitors to China's Green Dream Park—not far from the 2008 Olympics' "Bird's Nest" stadium—are currently being greeted by a 40-foot tall, six ton Optimus Prime made from five truckloads of car and truck spare parts. Take that, Gundam. The park opens Friday, and features other environmentally friendly attractions designed to get visitors thinking green. Of course, were I face to face with this behemoth, I'd only be thinking a) how far away is Megatron, and b) where's the nearest eco-conscious hiding place?

*Taken from http://gizmodo.com

Fuck!!! Massive crack in my windscreen. All because of a tiny chip off the side i could never see and i don't think i would of ever noticed it.

The crack is about 20cms long now but it didn't start off that big and it's still growing. Gah i just want to get rid of this thing!

Greg Williams Feat. Megan Fox.

Megan Fox by Greg Williams for Esquire HD from Greg Williams on Vimeo.

This should be good!

Omg! Just found this in my dad's new DVD collection. Just the right time considering "The karate kid" is out too!

Awesome!

Edit- Wait wtf? 'Jackie Chen'? Who the heck is that? Is this just a piss poor pirate movie? lol

Go pro HD

Its been a while since i posted anything cycling related, I actually think now this blog lacks anything cycling. It makes me wonder is cycling is still a part of me.

Anyway, just a small promo clip i found from GoPro. Great clip of the pro Dj'ers jamming it up. I think the GoPro is great, it's beginning to bring new camera angles, a wider range of movements and not to mention the broader range of advertising mediums.

Fifa Fan Fest!

Last night/this morning. A few of us decided to make the grueling effort to stay up or in my case to wake up at 3am for the semi-final match between Germany and Spain.
So 3am comes around, equipped with 4 layers of clothing and a nice hot thermos of tea and I'm out. First to pick up Mavis then Field's to pick up the rest of the guys. This is when we started to say to each other "Did we leave too late?", "Is it going to be packed?", "Would be be able to get in?", would i be able to find parking? M5 was closed but it was ok, 4am traffic is a breeze to get to from anywhere. Parking? Plenty of parking, horay! (Free too!).
When we got there, walking towards Cockle Bay Warf it didn't seem like there was much commotion. No line to get in, security was carefree and you know what, there was actually not that many people there.
I guess Sydney does not have that big of a hardcore soccer fan base. I did overhear some guy say this was actually a really big turnout for a 4.30 session!
Walking in the arena i was delighted to see a lot of the lamp posts to be decorated with these cute lamp shades. Good to see Sydney getting into the spirit.
When we got there which was about 4, i was delighted to see that they had some pre-game entertainment on the main stage. Just a host making small chit-chat and comments on the fans out there.
There was 3 big screens floating high up above the water, all three situated facing the southern corner of the wharf so it provided a good view for anyone. There was also a big giant soccer ball sphere which also had 3 screens around its surface.
The game itself well, it was pretty darn boring for a semi-final match. Spain was favored to win and it clearly showed. They dominated throughout the whole match. In the first 30 mins, Spain had 70% of the ball possession.
Germany's defense was definitely strong but their offense just had no 'umph!'. So it wasn't until halfway through the second half did Spain eventually score. This is when i noticed the minority of the supporters on the western edge were cheering for Spain, the rest however stayed silent.
So despite the light drizzle of rain and, coldness of 4 am in the morning and the quite mundane semi-final match, it was quit fun to be there. Will I be there for the final? Maybe.

You know its definitely an authentic Indian ingredient when there is a illustration of a British man on it.

Hot off the press!

Not too sure if you can see it clearly but check out the print numbers on each of the notes. 51 through to 55! These notes were so crisp, new and clean, i just wanted to keep them.

Viriya & Lourdes's wedding

So last Saturday was Des and Viriya's big day. So exciting! This would be the first wedding i attend where the bride and groom is someone i know personally and not a distant relative i only see once a year.

It was a good experience and it was just a joy to watch the ceremony. Although there was something that i noticed during the ceremony, it was a religious ceremony and one of the verses that they read from the bible was quite... hrm... Well one which the Reverend pointed out specifically was "A good wife is a silent wife", i assume this was taken from the old testament. It did unnerve me a bit but this is religion, so i wont say any more about it. The religious side of things was definitely something for me considering the fact in this last year i have been attending many Buddhist temple days. I was definitely amazed at myself for still being able to recite the Lord's prayer, something that i have not heard or spoken in years. I was somewhat touched, and did feel a bit strange maybe it was awkward? I'm not too sure. Religion is something I sit on the fence about.Such a beautiful day. Viriya and Des both looked great. I'm so happy for them both. You two look great together.

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day. I know you will remember it always and so will I. All the best to you guys.

Vuvuzela

Thredbo 2010!

So the snow season pretty much just started so a bunch of us decided to head down to Thredbo. The snow was ... Well it wasn't the greatest but it was good enough to have a challenge at skiing on icy/rocky/slate like snow. lol


Surprisingly a lot of the chair lifts were opened but the 'Kosciuszko express' was not opened to skiers or borders only walkers. It was a shame because due to that it cut out the 'Supertrail' run in half.

Oh and on these chair lifts is when i noticed that there are some people who ski/board with their parker unzipped, no beanie, no neckwarmer and with just goggles. These people i believe don't fear the cold like i do.

We went to the snow via this company called "OZ snow" which can provide transport, accommodation, ski/clothes hire, lift tickets and breakfast. The trip costed everyone about 700 (give or take) for 3 days. That may sound expensive but it was the lift tickets itself which too up the majority of the cost.

The food was horrible as expected. Last time i went with this company, it was shithouse also so i didn't expect much from it. Also 'The river inn' was were we had lunch everyday. It's a bistro on the slopes, also absolutely shitfuckinghouse, service was shat, expensive, food came out slow not to mention luke warm. No idea why we kept going there everyday.

This is me at the slopes. Cover up, no amount of skin showing quite like a ninja. This is why i was amazed at what some other people were wearing at the snow and why they felt comfortable enough to no zipp up the parker.

Discussing where we should head off to next. We had many of these.

See i was dressed as a ninja.


The gang. Minus William.
Us at the bar. Funny story with the bar. We all didn't expect to drink too much but when the bar can't be fucked making you food you originally ordered and instead gives you bolognaise slopped ontop of chips, they shouted us two jugs of beer. That's when the .... well we just got free beer! Then we all started buying drinks we didn't intend to buy at first. Also the bar had good music, live music and a good fireplace to warm up to.


lol.
Lots of spills and thrills from falling. And i think Field had both the worst and the second worst fall of all of us. If you look carefully his face is quite scratched up, lol!
I hope Karen still had a fun time while she was there. She fell onto the metal bridge hitting her knee while walking to the river inn. That must of been painful, that and her bindings broke on the last day. =(
All in all, it was good fun. May have been not the best of snow but good clean fun.

*I hope facebook never shuts down or else if i ever come back to read my blogs i will lose alot of memories.