2012

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 will be a very very bad year for me. I should probably only  step out of the house wearing garlic cloves or lucky charms all over my body. Actually I probably shouldn’t even step out of the house at all 😦

But surprisingly, I am actually feeling very positive and optimistic about the New Year. It’s going to start off with such a big bang, I will be flying home in two weeks for Jo and HC’s wedding (feels like we’ve been gearing up for it forever), lots of friends and family will be flying in with some visiting Kuching for the first time 🙂 , when I return, I will be attending my ‘graduation ceremony’, that’s kinda exciting too.

And then there’s the arrival of Baby niece, something the whole family has been looking forward to for months and months. Every time I think of Baby, my heart clutches a little bit and I already feel in love with her. Both Jo and I can’t talk about Baby without stars shimmering in our eyes and big silly grins plastered on our faces.  It is possible to love someone even though you’ve never met them yet!

I think for 2011, I attempted to step out of my comfort zone and reach for the sky, that’s an achievement of some sort right? I thought about writing New Year resolutions, but really, every year, and probably for the rest of my life I will have the same resolutions, to learn to appreciate life’s simple pleasures, to be a better person, to be happy.

So on 31 December 2011, New Year’s Eve, I can safely say, I feel happy and very very lucky. There’s so much to look forward to, and best of all, I have the most wonderful family and friends (boyfriend counted as family) to share my experiences with along the way. Thank you for supporting me and being there for me always.

Happy New Year everyone, wishing you all a fantastic and lovely 2012 ahead!!

Ho-ho-ho Holidays

We had a lovely Christmas this year, as usual it involved lots of food, lots of cooking and happy times with friends and family.

Christmas Eve gathering at Calvin’s house. Thank you for hosting Wong family!

One of my contributions for the Christmas eve pot luck dinner, vegetarian beehoon 🙂 The best thing about pot luck dinners, you get to try everyone’s cooking, and all my friends all cook well.

Christmas day lunch at my humble abode. It was a simple lunch, curried pumpkin soup, roast chicken and vegetables , garlic bread, a couple of salads. My house actually looked quite Christmassy for a change because Jo  decorated my house with Christmas decorations. Rudolph now has friends and is no longer the only Christmas deco at home!

After lunch, it was time for HC’s favourite hobby, fishing in Fremantle ! It was extra fun this time because Muffin came along, he’s such a good little dog.

Yeah! Jason caught his first fish! Actually we caught lots of fish (and even crabs) which resulted in a yummy seafood feast a few days later.

I thought we were only going to be there for a couple of hours but ….we were there a long after the sun set. It was my favourite fishing session to date.

It was a really fun and memorable Christmas day. I’m all ready for 2012 now!

Merry Christmas

It’s 9.24am and I’m almost done prepping for today’s Christmas day lunch which I’m hosting. I hope everything goes well and I don’t end up serving burnt chicken.

There’s something nice about cooking for friends and family during Christmas.

I’ll blog with photos when everything is over. Meanwhile, I hope you’re having a really happy and merry Christmas 🙂

Sushi Fuji Station is back!

I can’t remember whether I’ve ever blogged about the dearly departed Sushi Fuji Station. I have fond memories of this little gem in Victoria Park, always popular and buzzing with patrons,we used to snag seats by the sushi bar and watch the chef at work while sipping on a glass of wine, enjoying bowls of yummy udon and soba.

To our surprise, Sushi Fuji Station suddenly closed down for no obvious reason and we could never find such a good, conveniently located Japanese restaurant again.

But Sushi Fuji Station has returned! Only this time it’s named Buen 151 and has shifted to St James. Not too far away at all. The menu is still the same except for the new addition of ramen. Buen’s ramen is heavy on the pepper and tasty, I liked how they managed to get the half boiled egg right, lots of Perth ramen stalls seem to get that wrong.

Jo was happy that her favourite nabeyaki udon was still on the menu. This piping hot udon is a good dish to have on a cold winter night 🙂

This sushi was quite interesting in the sense that it had fish powder in it. Buen’s sushi may not the best sushi in Perth but it’s always consistent.

My favourite soba is still on the menu! This soba wasn’t cold enough but still as yummy as I remembered it last. I love soba (*__*).

We’ve already been to Buen a few times since we rediscovered it. I think it’s going to be a comfortable favourite again.

Buen 151
26B Chapman Rd Map
St James, WA 6102

Our visit to Buen inspired the homemade chirashi dinner that weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve made my tamagoyaki rolls and happily they still taste good! I feel like eating this again …

Jo’s hens tea party @ The Byrneleigh Hotel

Time flies, Jo’s hens high tea at The Byrneleigh Hotel was this weekend, which means that the wedding is almost here!

The theme for the tea party was roses, all the hens were decked out in their best rosy outfits, the bride-to-be herself was all ready with rose sundress, rose earrings, rose bracelet and two bouquets of roses from fellow hens.

Hen Gill helping to put on the veil on the bride-to-be. Does she look like a bride yet?

Time for food! We started off with a glass of bubbly each, scones with cream and jam soon followed and everyone had their individual pot of tea.

Our trays of tartlets, mini baguettes and petit fours. They were all very presentable and yummy.

This was one of our favourites, chicken and caramelised fig with brie mini baguette. Brie is my favourite soft cheese so I enjoyed this 🙂

I think most of the girls liked this blue cheese and walnut tartlet, the bite of sharp blue cheese shone through.

Roast beef baguette with a sort of cumin spiced paste on top. This was alright only.

Smoked salmon baguette. Overall, the food and service was pretty good and we all had a lovely time nattering away and drinking tea. I am liking these girly outings! If only my other sister Jan could join in! That would be perfect. The Byrneleigh Hotel itself was a perfect setting for garden teas, the lighting of the restaurant was really bright and sunny, tall ceilings and lots of greens everywhere. It was very lovely and cosy.

Thank you to all the hens for coming to Jo’s hens tea party and all their well wishes and thoughtful gifts. Special thanks to Gill for helping to organise and preparing all the prop.

Hopefully this hens tea party is an indication of Jo’s blissful marriage ahead filled with lots of laughter, sunny days and happy smiles.

The Bryneleigh Hotel
156 Hampden Road
Nedlands WA
P 08 6161 2722
F 08 6161 2701
info@thebyrneleigh.com.au

December

I tried blogging last night but for some reason wordpress went crazy and now my blogpost on Japanese food is gone! (T__T)

Anyway the colleague at work started hanging up Christmas stockings at work today. She asked me whether I brought in any contributions (I can’t believe we have to buy our own deco now!) and I grunted ‘no’. The truth is, my only Christmas decorations at home are my lone Christmas stocking that Jan filled with goodies one year, and a little red Rudolph with green horns.

I’m not going to sacrifice Rudolph for the office.

Everyone at work is exclaiming how shock they are that December is here. I feel the exact opposite, I can’t wait for Christmas to arrive and for 2012 to start! So many exciting things to look forward to in 2012, Jo’s wedding, Chinese New Year in Kuching, baby niece …

Let’s hope the rest of December flies by 🙂