another jap treasure

list of things which i love from the japs:
- fruits
- food
- junk food
- clothes
- cartoon characters
- gadgets - cameras etc
- music
- culture
- the list can go on till forever!

that just have shown im those die hard jap fans! i have my back up for this ... i havent been working long but i have to say i have met quite a lot of people already from all over the world... so far all my jap clients will come with a gift when they meet us and mind you, we are only their supplier. Their huge sense in manners earns my respect for them!

I found this place which does quality teppenyaki, not those circus acts where chefs throw eggs at your bowl, or juggling pepper and salt mill up and down just to sprinkle some on the meat and last but not least writing thank you with the salt sprinkler... this place is just full on quality ingredients, skillful knife/cutting techniques and right mixing of sauces.

Pricing wise I think its quite acceptable 350 pp for a set meal with prawns as big as your arms (ok i exaggerated a bit there!) scallops and quality beef (but for other things they can be super pricey). A really cute thing they do is they put a piece of toasted bread under the meat and veges to soak up the oil! But the toast was too hard to resist so I ate it before it could soak up anything! I suggest to everything to ask the chef to make an extra toast to eat, trust me its really good!

Sorry for the bad pics, I only had phone cam with me and this was not my phone either so it look like 2 months before I could actually do this blog (wuge: yes im talking to you...thanks for the QUICK sending of pics!)

http://www.hanasakazuki.com/ - for details

Ko.

claudes

Please tell me this is the most perfect souffle you have ever seen!
It is so delicious, too. we were seated upstairs on the night, there's a small pastry kitchen right next to our dining room, and as it gets towards the end of the night, the head chef chui lee luk was busy whisking away egg white with a whisk and copper bowl! I admire her, not only she is a female chef but also she owns her restaurant and relentlessly make souffles for us lucky souls! we had a bitter orange souffle this time, it has a contreau cream on the side, it's so yummy. But my favourite was a hazelnut souffle with almond praline and cream I had in the last two visits, oh it's like I've died and gone to heaven!

Claudes deliver time and time again, I love this restaurant, it's my favourite out of all the 3 hatted restaurants. This place's got soul, it's not flashy, it's elegant. food is so well done, service is attentive, the restaurant is small and intimate, best of all they encourage you to BYO and corkage is only $15.

I am sure i will be be back! (when I come back to sydney!)

D.

how to dress like ther perfect couple by ashton kutcher

I heard a while ago Ashton Kutcher is writing for bazaar and I am thinking, what an odd pairing. But trust me, I came across this article he wrote in US bazaar, it was so cute and funny. and he let us in on a mystery abt men and fashion, enjoy!

It was another hot, humid iowa summer afternoon. My eight year old fingers managed to fasten a bottle rocket to the back of my GI Joe, using only scotch tape, while I watched ny sister, Tashua, dress up her Barbie doll for some fancy party that I hadn’t been invited to. I had a brief visual showdown with her nude, slightly arrogant Ken doll, who was a few plastic tidbits short of being a man. (his lack of man parts seemed only fair, given I had been solely disappointed weeks before to find that Barbie herself lacked the answers I’d been looking for.) The GI Jow launch was a rousing success and Ken shuddered in fear, knowing he was next. I went in for the swipe. But Ken was snatched up just in time by my sister, who was a little bit bigger, faster and bitchier than I was.
“you cant blow up Ken,” she said. “he’s coming to the party”.
“ But how’s he gonna go to the party naked?” I asked.
Little did I know that I was about to receive a sage piece of fashion advice from my greatest adversary. “barbie gets dressed first, then the shoes , then Ken then the bag,” she said with a smirk. “ and if you blow up Ken, I’ll kick u in the nuts.” Enough said. Ken lived.

I believe there’s wisdom with which women enter this world that men will never understand. Its like how a woman can cry for no reason, then an hour later still be crying. But now it’s her man’s fault, because he didn’t console her while she was crying for no reason. While this remains a mystery, in the summer of 1986, thanks to Barbie’s party preparation. I was let in on one of the greatest female fashion secrets of the modern era. I realized that when it comes to getting dressed, men are a little bit more important than handbags but less important than shoes. At any rate, we are merely accessories.

In a day and age when most American men would rather be blowing something up than getting spiffed up for some social occasion, I imagine getting your significant other to wear even a suit can seem like a Sisyphean task, let alone matching said suit to your outfit so you actually look like a couple. Here a few insights that might make this feasible.

If you got dressed up and asked your guy how you looked, how would you feel if he replied, “ You look tough”? Likewise, guys don’t like to be told they look nice, pretty, or cute or they clean up well. We want to feel dirty, rugged and most important that you feel safe when you are in our company. So when your guy finally tries something that you like, tell him that he looks like James Bond or Tony Montana. Feel free to be even more vague than that: “wow that suit makes you look like that hot football player!” Or just ask him if he feel like he can still throw a punch in the outfit, just in case he needs to protect you. Trust me, say sany of this and tou wont be able to get him to take the damn suit off. Before you know it, he’ll be wearing an Armani tux to league night at the bowling alley.

You never want people to notice your accessories. When you walk into a room, heads should turn. The desired effect is for everyone to say or think that you look beautiful. If people comment on your shoes or bag, they’re not appreciating the entire essence that is you. If you go to a museum and see a statue on a podium, you don’t want people to say, “wow, what a stunning podium. Where can I get one of those?” Your entire ensemble should be so captivating, so cohesive, that one particular thing cant be singled out. It supports you,; you don’t support it. In this same way, your man should not upstage you. He is here to highlight you.

Men’s clothes, for the most part, are simple but looking like stylish couple is in the details. When you go shopping for Lanvin flats to match your Marc Jacobs dress perfectly, swing by the men’s store and pick him up a shirt tie, vest or sweater that works with your palette. Because if there’s one things that men hate more than getting dressed, it’s going shopping. This may also helps us forget how much money you managed to spend due to that “incredible sale!” that oddly never seems to end. But make sure that look isn’t too matchy matchy; you don’t want to seem like you planned it all out. Youe best bet is to match the man gear to that great new Balenciaga bag that you’re planning to carry. If your bag works with your outfit, so will he. Always make sure that your jewelry is in sync that he is not more or less dressed up than you are.

A word of warning, however: Don’t tell him that you’re doing any of this. Just tell him he looks like he can kick Ken’s ass.

by ashton kucther, from US bazaar September 2007

Fruits

Japs somwhow have the brains to do spectacular things thus making them a market leader in many things. When it comes to fruits and food, they are also the best! (but the price of their stuff is scarrrry)

After dinner, a common dessert will be fruits, my first question is ... "is it jap fruits?" if yes i will jump up and grab for them! my favourites are:

1) Grapes - big and juicy! has a tiny bit of an alcohol taste inside! open a hole on the top and you can suck out the whole juicy grape and spit out the skin!

2) pink peaches - i call this "the explosion peach", when you get a good pick, you take a bite, and the feeling will be of a peach has been exploded with juice in your mouth, water will start running from the sides of the mouth cos there is just too much juice! Best to put in the fridge so when eating it, its like drinking ice cold peach juice...

3) Strawberries - every single strawberry is in the perfect shape and is super sweet. Just like strawberries seen on drawings... its that perfect!

All Jap fruits seems to be always very juicy, I wonder why?? I really admire the japs by how their country is so united together and protective of their own products. All their best products is only served to their own country, try going to Japan and try the chips, they are usually so much better.

Will do another blog later on fruits from other countries which are as exciting as the japs! stay tuned...

Ko.

good lips to ... kiss!

hey im still alive !! for all my blog readers... just have been laying low to avoid any unnecessary expenses

several months ago, i wrote a list of possible blog entries i can possibly write about for the future and in the list i found "carmex" ... good idea!

"carmex" - my favourite lip balm which has been in my bag all the time!
as everyone knows i have a really bad habit of always picking the peeled skin off my lip and its always chapped so i have been trying many lip balms which can heal these chapped lips as quick as it can possibly do... so far after testing many brands, carmex has been my personal pick! before it arrived in hongkie land, i had to get my bro's gf or whoever to bring me some from syd! now i would like to announce carmex is now available in watsons stores !! yayyyy!!!

i will try to write another blog reallly soon!

ko.

melbourne bumper special - food 02

kokoblack - royal arcade bourke street

this is my favourite chocolate palace in melbourne.
it's like a boutique kinda chocolate shop, I grew so sick of max brenner in sydney, it's used to be good!

kokoblack made the best ruffles, because it is made fresh, I am a purist and only like the classic belgium, see it says on the box you must consume withing 7 days, hence I have none left and therefore no image of it here, hehe.

I remember 3 years ago I went to melbourne and it was the day before new year and i was about to leave melbourne to go back to sydney, so I loaded the rental car with kokoblack truffles, thinking that I will enjoy this while i watch the fireworks. so back in sydney, just half an hour to midnight, i opened the the box with excitement but all i saw was molten chocolate!

what was I thinking? like chocolate will not melt in 36 degrees heat inside the boot. so you see how much i cherish each and every piece of truffle this time around!

kokoblack in royal arcade has a cafe upstairs, their ice choc is to die for, it's not sickeningly rich, i think it's cos they made it with proper dark choc. it has one scoop of vanilla and choc ice cream in it....hmmmm...

heard they are planning to open one in canberra and possibly one in sydney!
D.

melbourne bumper special - arts

looks like sulley is gonna gimme a good old slap!

I went to the pixar exhibition at ACMI at federation sqaure in melbourne.
luxo (the desk lamp) is there! he even brought his little ball that he is going to crush!

the exhibition was amazing! they showed a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Apparently it takes pixar 4 years to do one animation. they also showed all the short films that you see in the beginning of every animation. Apparently you can buy them all on itunes!

I urge everyone to go and watch ratatouille, it's nothing like cars! the story is very good but children might find it a bit long and might not get the jokes.

D.

melbourne bumper special - food

rockpool bar and grill at crown casino

I didnt have super high expectations of the place but man was I blown away!
by far the best steak I ever had! the menu was so extensive, it covers fish, lobsters, pasta, salads, soups.....but I stick to my guns and since they have a meat hanging/drying fridge, baturally I went straight for the steak!

the one that's sliced is the wagyu I had, aged for 49 days. the marbling is perfection!
and it's only like 200 g so you dun feel like it's too rich.

something abt the wood they use for the grill, it's a got a sweet and smoky flavour.
the sides are very very good, too. we had a potato and cabbage gratin, it's a must!
it's thin layers of potatoes and cabbage baked with cheese on top, cheesy and sweet at the same time. even an very ordinary sounding boiled veg with lemon and olive oil was fantastic. and if u ever go to any rockpool establishment, u must have their salads, it's the most well dressed salad in sydney!

to finish we had a passionfruit pavlova (I hate passionfruit, but i love this dessert) and a blood orange sandwich. we had a long black with it and it was soooooo delicious!

service was perfect, wine list was perfect, food was perfect, interior was perfect (they have really comfy club chairs) I cannot ask for more!

D.

Bouillabaisse

whipped this fish soup up the other day, I used to do it with a donna hay recipe, but I think this is the best tasting one I have made when I didnt follow the recipe! yummy....it's not too fatty and full of goodness of seafood!

1. browned leeks, garlic and fennel in a pot2. add prawn heads, until it's changed colour, add salt n pepper to taste

3. add fish stock, saffron, can of tomatoes bring to the boil.

4. add pieces of fish, prawns, whatever seafood you can get

5. serve with parsley or chives

traditionally bouillabaise is served with toast and aioli (like a garlicky mayo)

but when u are cooking for one, who'd bother? you should be lucky you find rice from last night in the fridge!

D.

lovely jubbly

I want to post a shoutout to all my lovely friends here, thanks so much for my lovely birthday presies!

I will keep them forever and who knows, if i have a daughter I can always past on the little black dress to them! (trust me, I wanna be a cool mom, I will try and keep everything that's cool and that might come back in fashion for her)

and this fluffy print from the lovely kay! this is definitely an heirloom item!

I am so looking forward to hanging this in my new room in hk!

kay went into so much trouble getting the print, pls note the stamp on the envelope, it was posted on 3 aug! so thoughtful!

it is signed and numbered by the fluffy illustrator, simone lia. she was so nice to have drawn fluffy on the postage envelope and she even wrote kay a little note, too sweet!

as you can see the excessive use of exclamation point here, I cannot contain my excitement.

thanks again everyone!
d.xoxo

my new hoodie

I am such a die hard fan of american apparel!

I bought this salt n pepper hoodie a few weeks ago and I love it sooo much!

i try to find every oppotunity to wear it...to the gym, at home, to work!

it fits perfectly, it just sit on the bum and although it's unisex, it gives that sexy slouchy fit on a girl, and seriously the hood on this hoodie is so nicely shaped, I feel so ghetto fabulous when I have it on! haha

it's unisex and quite roomy and looks very nice with the sleevs pushed up!

just like how nicole richie wore it.

its warm, too!

ps. I am so in love with her sunnies!

D.

pps. sorry abt dropping off the radar completely, work been too crazy!

i promised I will return with some supersize blog next week. it's my way of farwelling sydney, too! =(

new favourite

My dream is to do something i love e.g. fashion for my career... obviously this dream didnt come true. I guess it was only a dream cos when it comes to it..im totally not good enuf!

Found this website www.polyvore.com which you can make collages sorta like pages in a magazine.. theres tonnes and tonnes of pics to choose from so you can be as creative as you can be

i did my most wanted list haha.. its a really crowded page!! (meaning theres so many things i want to buy!!) This actually took me an whole hr of my work time i was so addicted i had to finish it before i stopped!

Ko.

flowers and flowers and flowers...

went to a wedding with really amazing flower arrangements... this is the only time i can say the florist well deserves to earn the money! its truly beautiful!

i realised the flowers used during the day at church are cut up into pieces and rearranged and created a totally different look at nite for table decorations... fantabulous !!

never really liked flowers but a girl really cant resist this!

(sorry for the really ugly pics)

Ko.