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Last day of uni (Black Star Pastry + Grill'd)

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Last Friday was our last day back at uni, it was kinda sad but more exciting at the same time! We had made plans to celebrate afterwards at Newtown.  I've seen so many people raving about the Strawberry Watermelon cake at Black Star Pastry so that's we decided to settle for dessert. We finished uni at 4, got a little speech from our lovely coordinator, took a year group photo and set off on the walk to Newtown. It was kind of early for dinner so we decided to have dessert first. We got to Black Star Pastry at 5:01 and were devastated to see it had already closed! We were late by a minute (they close at 5). Despite our efforts of knocking on the door, the staff inside did not open up to apologize. But while looking at the door we realised there was another pop-up store at Town Hall. We had to decide whether we would chase it or leave it, and we chose to do the former, for obvious reasons! We desperately wanted that cake! We went to Town Hall and took a while to f...
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The Emporium

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This cafe has a great welcoming atmosphere with options to dine in or outside. We went on a weekday so it wasn't that busy. I wasn't that hungry so I ordered a side. It was filled with Dutch, purple and orange carrots with Harissa dressing. It was great in the beginning but after a while, it got boring. It would've been better if they had one or two other veggies (rather than just carrots). Roasted Dutch carrots, cashew dukkah, harissa dressing $9 Chocolate cremeux, honeycomb ice cream, chocolate soil, dulce de leche, espresso gel $16 The dessert however, was delicious. It had lots of crunch, texture and flavour. There was lots of bits and pieces like bread, chocolate, ice cream etc. The amount was good in terms of portion control. Yes, I know the photo doesn't look as appealing as the lighting was poor but it looked way much better in person.
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Our Wedding Day

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Engagement + wedding band : I did not have any specific requirements, except I wanted something in yellow gold and a solitaire. Mashayek went with Australian Diamond Brokers and revealed very little as he wanted to keep it as a surprise. I absolutely adored both rings and how beautiful it turned out.  Wedding planning Planning duration : four months Our approach : we set ourselves a very tight goal and we found ourselves on go-go mode the whole time. The upside was that we did not dwell on one task for too long. We picked a job, assigned responsibility, completed the work and moved on to the next one. However, this also meant that many of the tasks were rushed and we did not have time to do it as well as I would’ve liked. Vision : my own first priority was finding photographers who would understand our culture and would be able to follow with our style. Photography is very close to my heart and I looked into this right from the beginning. I wan...
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Daddy's birthday 2015 | Buttery fruit cake

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Happy birthday daddy! This perfectly describes how he continues to inspire me! And he always is!  In the past, I always used to purchase cakes because I did not trust my baking skills enough to be able to pull off a fancy cake for a special occasion. But this year, I've been a bit of an experimental baker so I thought I'd give it a go.  I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. Initially, he said plain cake again (probably because he did not want to trouble me during my final days of thesis writing). After I pressed further, he gave me buttery fruit cake as an answer.  I was happy with this because I had never baked one so it'd be fun to do one. I started my recipe hunt. Most traditional recipes use alcohol but because I don't drink, I had to look harder to find one that didn't so I could eat it too :D Eventually I found this. I've followed this recipe pretty closely with some little changes.  Normally I would not use ...
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Parramatta Lanes

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I heard a lot about Parra Lanes last year so I thought I'd make a time to see out this year. At first, we had a lot of trouble finding out where we needed to go. I've heard Parra Lane gets spread across over multiple stations to distribute the crowd. However, the problem was that the places aren't always easy to find. After walking around for some time, we managed to get hold of a map from a security staff. My main reason for coming was to try some knafeh; I've heard so much about this dessert from people who came last year. But we realised this particular shop was furthest out from our location. First stop was Koi Dessert Bar but there as a long line. While waiting in line, I decided to try the strawberry watermelon gelato from N2. I've always been a huge admirer of the strawberry watermelon cake from Black Star Pastry . I thought it'd be an interesting combo to have it in a gelato form. It surely was, I quite liked the gelato cake, it had a very stron...
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Moong dal and pumpkin curry

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Mum left some moong dal in the fridge, I've never cooked with it before so I wanted a recipe to use it. This was probably one of the easiest curry I have ever cooked! So simple yet so delicious :) Recipe adapted from: http://www.steamingpot.com/pumpkin-moong-dal/ I modified the recipe as I did not have some of the mentioned ingredients. Ingredients 1 TB EVOO 1 cup of boiled moong dal (1/2 cup raw) 1 onion, finely chopped 1 tsp of garlic and ginger paste Turmeric powder (sprinkled) Curry powder (sprinkled) 250g pumpkin, finely chopped, skin on  1 red capsicum, small cubes 1 tomato, small cubes  Cumin powder (sprinkled)  Few green or red chillies  Fresh coriander Method 1) Boil moong dal (refer to instructions above- easier if done beforehand) I already had my boiled moong dal so I started from step 2 2) Add EVOO oil 3) Add onions, garlic/ ginger paste and turmeric powder once oil is hot 4) Stir for a few seconds 5) Add pumpkin, boiled lentils a...
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Trattoria La Vigna

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Today was my first time at Camden which is in South West of Sydney (past Campbelltown), we saw some farms and country scenic views on our way. The atmosphere of this restaurant was lovely. The restaurant has an overlooking vineyard. I knew it was going to be a special, memorable lunch already :) I haven’t made pasta in the last few weeks, so I was pretty excited to try some authentic Italian food. We were welcomed by a friendly staff with a very strong Italian accent, almost made us feel like we were in Italy! The garlic prawns we tried for entrée were delicious, and prawns were cooked well. It was nice to have some tomatoes in there (the only vegetable in our meal). The olive oil was great for dipping the bread. Gamberi all ‘aglio- Garlic Prawns ($20) However, I was slightly disappointed with the mains. The gnocchi I tried was swimming in a plate of creamy pesto. Don’t get me wrong; I love basil pesto. But there was just too much of it. It kind of makes reminded m...
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Bodhi Restaurant/Bar (vegan) + Le Pain Quotidien

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I had a reunion with some of my old uni friends. The perks of meeting up with old friends is, it feels like time hasn't moved at all when you meet them! I can't believe it's been almost two years since I saw them properly. It's crazy how quick time flies! We have been trying to meet up for sometime now, but everyone is busy with either work or study so it's really difficult to fix on a date. We set this date back in early July and we all kept our word :D We chose this place so we could accommodate for a friend who is vegan. This was my second time eating a full vegan meal so I was quite excited to see what vegan dumplings would be like! The staff were very friendly and organised. We were served with water and sauce soon after we sat down. Bodhi works just like any other yum cha place, the food keeps coming around and you pick what you like. However, the downside is you can't say yes to everything so you have to turn down some. I started off with satay...
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Pizza Design Co.

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Presenting the deep fried Mars bar with ice cream *drum rolls *  Deep fried Mars bar with ice cream ($9) I know what you're thinking, it doesn't look that great?!  I must say I was initially skeptical to the combo because I'm not fond of Mars bars (couldn't remember the last time I had a Mars bar), and I don't like deep fried foods either.  And then, I reluctantly had my first bite... I was surprised at how good it tasted! I know the picture doesn't look as appealing, but it was very delicious! The outside layer was crispy, and the inside was soft and chewy.  It just melts in your mouth with the ice cream. It's the kind of dessert you could have during summer and winter- because it was hot and cold at the same time!  I'd come back here for this again, and also to try a custom made pizza, I've heard they're very yum as well. 
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Khaybar Restaurant

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Two of my friends recommended this place, it was my first time trying Afghan cuisine so I was quite excited. I was told they have really nice eggplant and meat dishes. There weren't many people as we went on a weeknight but I have heard that they are really busy and often hard to get a table. We started with their famous eggplant dip. The 'Buranee-Badenjan' came with large naan bread. The dip was rich in flavour but it was just too oily. I did not expect there would be this much floating oil. The bread tasted quite nice with the dip but it was hard to tear and manage. We would've liked if it had been cut in smaller pieces. Buranee-Badenjan as an entree ($6.90) For mains, two of us ordered the 'Qaboli Pallaw' (one chicken and one lamb shank). The chicken was soft and cooked well. The rice was topped with carrots, raisins and pistachios. I enjoyed the combination of sweet and savoury in this dish. Qaboli Pallaw Chicken ($14.95)  Buranee-B...
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