Nuffnang Christmas Blogger Challenge - My favourite blogpost of 2010

Oh yay it's the time of the year again when families gather, give each other prezzies, eat loads of yummy food and everyone goes on holiday. Yups, it's Christmas time and Nuffnang is hosting a Christmas Blogger Challenge for all of its bloggers.  This month's challenge is to pick out the most favourite post of 2010 for a chance to win an Apple iPad!!

This is my second Nuffnang blog in a row! I love Nuffnang so much so gimme the iPad pleaseeeee!!

I'll be super sad if I don't win :(

Sad puffi because I didn't win the iPad

Happy puffi after I win :D

It was definitely a tough job picking just ONE post out of the whole YEAR. I used the elimination method to select my post and I was down to around 4-5 that I couldn't pick because I loved them all.  It's a very cruel decision and by the end I was torn.

Anyway! After a very hard and selective process, I came down with one post that I could say was my favourite of 2010.  It was a recent post made in October called 'SIFF 2010 Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki and Bacco Wine Bar Pasticceria'.  There are a number of reasons why it would be the favourite post. 

The first would be that it was my first SIFF event...EVER! Before I started writing a food blog, I had no idea what it was.  I started my blog in mid October last year and every other food blogger was raving on about SIFF and I was sad that I didn't get to do it last year so I vowed to do it this time around.

Second is that I had soooo much food, especially dessert on this occasion and I just simply can't resist sweet stuff although eating dinner plus 2 Sugar Hits was really pushing the limit. Eating is just so much more fun with fellow food bloggers.  This would also be my third reason why.  No one to complain about getting fat, no one to complain about taking photos while the food goes cold and we can admire the presentation and taste after taking trillions of photos in all sorts of different angles. 

Fourth is the use of my super sexy new DSLR.  It was the first time that I've used it and I was totally in love with it.  I popped my DSLR cherry with it so it was very memorable to me.  I just totally loved the high quality pictures I took with it although it is still very amateur compared to others but it was a big improvement to the ugly ones I took with a point and shoot.

Here is a picture of the sexy Glace Apricot and Milk Chocolate Ganache Tart from Bacco which was the best dessert I had on the day.



So all these reasons add up to make the post my favourite post of 2010. :)

If you are a long term reader, please also tell me what was your favourite blog post from Sugar's Sweet Blog.

CSN Stores Winner

Today is 30 November so it is time to announce the winner of the CSN Stores giveaway!!

The winner is....Christina!! Whom was the 17th commenter. Congratulations :3
More giveaways are coming soon so if you didn't win this time, make sure to enter the next.  You gotta be in it to win it!

Share

Tweet

Nuffnang Christmas Party and Masuya

Omg I havent blogged for nearly 2 weeks! First I had Photoshop problems, then I forgot to bring my USB to work so I can blog at work, then work got too hecktic, social life and FINALLY! I have the time to blog. I hope you didn't forget about me :(

Soooo, I went to the Nuffnang Christmas Party at Bavarian Beir Cafe on 10 November and met up with alot of lovely bloggers: Adeline, Angie, Howard, Jacq, Janice, Karen, Leona, Mae, Minh, Rita, Simon, Stephanie, Susan, Thang and The Ninja (sorry if I missed anyone)!

Have to thank Nuffnang for the lovely party and also for the bar tap and food! <3

Me, Janice, Mae and Susan

 

First started with 500mL of Mango Bier... Oh hello Suze! 

Easy! No Problems! Bring on the next one please.

Then I finished a Lemon and Lime Vodka...

 

Then wine...and I finished off with a Lychee Flavoured Ladies Bier

Awww Minh and Suze was sad cause the bar tap is nearly over :(

Me and Janice (picture taken by Janice)

Me and Mae (picture taken by Mae)

The Food

Ohhh pretty

Didn't manage to eat any of them because it was quickly moved to another table and we got a plate of fried goodies as a replacement.

I think this is cucumber with cherry tomatoes and sour cream

Grilled Mushrooms

The Plate of Fried Goodies

From Top Right: Fried Beer Battered Fish, German Sausages, Pork Belly, Wedges and Chicken Schnitzel

We had a choice of the 'healthy looking' plate or this and all the food bloggers squealed out together and said PORK BELLY! So the choice was obvious...

Mmmm....Pork Belly....

Cheese Platter :D

Later we went to Masuya for dinner since it was just one shop down. Hoho.

Masuya

I Love Masuya

Spider Roll (Tempura) $19.80

Kara-age Chicken (Main) $25.60

Marinated thigh fillet of chicken with soy and mirin served with sweet chili and garlic sauce.

Kingfish Wing Nitsuke $ 16.80

I loved this dish! The kingfish was marinated and cooked perfectly with mirin, soy, giner and served with tofu. The flesh was tender, soft and full of flavour. It is one of Masuya's House Special!

Bavarian Bier Cafe

Location: 16 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9221 0100

Website: http://www.bavarianbiercafe.com/

Masuya

Location: Lower Level, 12-14 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9235 2717 / 02 9231 0038

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri Lunch 12pm - 2:30pm (last order), Mon-Sat Dinner 6pm-10pm (last order)

Website: http://www.masuya.com.au/en/

Share

Tweet

SIFF 2010 High Tea - Marie Antoinette High Tea at The Westin Hotel

I've been longing to go to High Tea for god knows how long and the opportunity arised when it was SIFF time!  My very first High Tea experience started off with a low as the rainman decided to pay us a very friendly visit and showered us with rain droplets.

I came late, in heels, dress and drenched from head to toe but it did not erase my excitement in going for High Tea, especially when it is named Marie Antoinette!

Ayana, Janice, Julie, Mae, Rachel, Stephanie, Viviane and I gathered around the table and started to play with the decor.  We then passed the tea menu around and being good food bloggers, we each chose a different kind of tea for photos.

Delicate fans and masks are the perfect props for a posh Marie Antoinette themed High Tea.
 

During the SIFF event, the High Tea includes a Brown Brothers Zibibbo Rosa for $45 which means you get a glass of wine for an extra dollar! Bargain.

Friendly Waitress with Zibibbo Rosa

Stephanie gave me her drink cause she doesn't drink alcomohol.  YAY! I should have more friends like that to satisfy my alcoholicism.

JING Tea

We each chose a different tea for photo taking but here's just two.

Whole Rosebuds

Lychee Black Tea

Photo taking time while we wait for our food!

Me, Janice, Mae and Rachel

Omg *drools*

The Savouries

"there is nothing new except what has been forgotten"

Slow Cooked Roast Beef with Creme Cheese Stuffed with Baby Belle Peppers

I adored this as the elements on the canape complimented each other perfectly.  The tender beef coupled with soft creme cheese and the baby belle peppers adds a subtle sweetness which made the canape work wonderfully together.

Deviled Egg on Toasted Brioche

I'm not a great egg fan so I think it was too 'eggy' for me but the canape was cut into a cute heart shape<3

Kiwi and Orange Croissant with Mascarpone

The rich mascarpone with citrusy sweet orange and kiwi makes it a nicely balanced canape.

Avocado and Shrimp Tartar

The filling is wonderful! You can't really go wrong with avocado and shrimp combination but the roll was very very sad.  It was dry and resembles those cheap Vietnamese pork roll buns.  I think paying $45, we will be able to get better rolls than that.

The Sweet Stuff

"let them eat cake!"

Beetroot and Cherry Cupcake

We ooh'd and ahh'd at this pretty little cupcake as it had such pretty pink colours decorated with a pink sugar flower and glittering silver balls.  I didn't really taste much of the beetroot but nevertheless, it was still a moist, sweet and cute cupcake.

Lime Curd Meringue Tart

A portrait of Marie Antoinette on fondant! We all took heaps of pictures from all angles cause it was just too awesome.  I'm not a great fan of tarts and this one had a huge chunk of it but I guess it was to balance out the lime curd as it was definitely on the strong side. 

Chocolate Cream with Exotic Fruit Caramel and Candied Walnuts

Not very popular with the girls as the middle layer of 'exotic fruit caramel' (which I think it's passionfruit) tasted out of the ordinary.

Macaron with Fresh Blueberries

A striking blue macaron with blueberries and dark chocolate ganache. I saved this baby till last cause it's just too precious to eat but then I regret it because by that time, I was soooo full that I only managed to pick out the blueberries and eat half of the shell :(

Scones with Double Cream and Strawberry Jam

Mini scones that comes half with raisins and half with none.  We had 8 people but had only 3 tiny trays of cream and jam so we were scooping the bottom for more cream at the end.

Westin Hotel - Marie Antoinette High Tea

Served daily from 2:30pm - 4:30pm
$39/$44 for Loose Leaf Tea or Espresso Coffee
$46/$51 for Chandon Rose
$56/61 for Moet and Chandon

Westin Hotel Lobby Bar and Lounge

Location: No.1 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am-late, Sat-Sun 10:30am-late
Phone: 02 8223 1111 (Bookings Essential)
Website: http://www.westin.com.au/sydney/dining-lobbybar.html

Share

Tweet

China Trip Tuesdays - Shanghai Part 1

Its been a hella long time since I did a China Trip Tuesday! No, I didn't forget about it, I just didn't have the time or energy to write it up :( Starting with Shanghai now and there are only 2 more after this so hopefully I can get it over and done with by the end of November...which....I highly doubt cause there are A LOT of backlogs that urgently need catching up plus, it's a month of birthdays for me so wish me luck!

Day 6 in China is a day of shopping and then World Expo at night, wearing just thongs.  My feet doesn't feel like they belong to me anymore...

Lunch at Orange House

Orange House is a (fake) Western styled cafe restaurant. From what I heard,  it is very popular in China and I don't get the hype.  Maybe people in China don't really know or have the opportunity to eat authentic Western foods and they think this is it but to me, it just doesn't cut it. I mean, the taste is ok but it really isn't authentic in any way. It's like Mongolian Lamb and Sweet Sour Pork to Asians. Get it?

Orange House 橘子工房

Italian Style Baked Cheese Toast with Eel 意式焗烤鳗鱼饼 ￥25 (approx $3.74)

The crust was really really hard and dry instead of being crispy so I was a little disappointed in that.  The tomato paste also tasted artificial...

Curry Seafood Croquette 咖喱海鲜可乐饼 ￥22 (approx $3.29)

The croquette size is very very sad :( It was just slightly bigger than a 50c piece. Paying ￥22 is totally not worth it in my opinion.

Mexican Tortilla Rolled With Wild Mushroom 墨西哥野菌卷 ￥22 (approx $3.29)

The tortilla was HOT! My tongue was burrrrning but the taste was alright.

Southeast Asian Styled Squid Rolls 南洋风味墨鱼卷￥22 (approx $3.29)

The squid rolls was pretty nice but it could be a lot more flavoursome and it was sliced to the size and shape of mini crispbreads which was kinda cute.

Jumbo Shaved Ice 超级波霸刨冰￥25 (approx $3.74)

They didn't lie. It was massive.  The jumbo shaved ice was the size of a large noodle bowl filled with a mountain of shaved ice topped with tapioca, kidney beans, red beans, taro and drizzled with a generous amount of sweetened coconut milk. It was definately the highlight of the meal.

The waitress noticed that I was taking photos and stopped me! D: Gee, it's not like I'm trying to steal your recipe or anything...the food wasn't even that great. Chill.

Shanghai World Expo 2010

We entered the World Expo at 6:30pm and most pavilion closes at 9pm so we only managed to look at the UK Pavilion and Italy Pavilion that day.  Seriously, by that time, I just wanted to collapse somewhere and pass out...and we did...

There was a huge area just outside the UK Pavilion where we just laid on the ground, trying to resuscitate ourselves.

All the pictures was craptacular (no secret about that)! My camera was very sick and over worked so it wasn't being very nice to me.  The dark environment didn't help either so I just chose a very limited amount of pictures to show.

Pakistan Pavilion 巴基斯坦馆

Taiwan Pavilion 台湾馆

Saudi Arabia Pavilion 沙特阿拉伯馆

Named the 'Moon Boat', the line to enter this pavilion is 8 hours! So naturally I didn't even attempt to line up for it.  Apart from the Chinese Pavilion (220 million), it is the most expensive pavilion built costing a whopping 160 million dollars! *Faints*

India Pavilion 印度馆

The top is a glimmering gold colour but my camera sucks so it looks more like a bronze colour in the photo.

UK Pavilion 英国馆 Stamped

Blah! I had to blur the faces of other people because they don't want to show their faces :(

We are all holding our official 'World Expo Passports'.  Most pavilions offer a stamp that could be stamped inside the passports to show that we've been to the pavilion as a cute memorabilia.

The 'Seed Cathedral' is built with 60000 transparent rods which extends to the exterior.  During the day, the transparent rods draw light to illuminate the interior and a light source inside the rod will glow at night allowing the whole structure to glow. 

Seeds in Perplex inside the UK Pavilion

Seed in Perplex inside the UK Pavilion

Italy Pavilion 意大利馆 No Stamp

Woodworker at work with a lot of Pinocchios!

I wanted to bring one home but the gift shop is closed already :( No Fair.

Shoesssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!

My jaw dropped when I saw this and poked Natasha to see because I know how much we love shoes!!! We both squealed in excitement and started to take trillions of pictures of it hehe :3

It is a HUGE red stiletto with it's heel covered with many normal sized stilettos. I just wanted to yank the shoes off the heel and hide it in my bag :D

At the end of the day, we went back to the hotel tired, sleepy and with aching feet. There was a foot spa right next to our hotel so I suggested to go there and relax our poor feet.

Rose Water

I chose the Rose Water which costed ￥10 extra (approx AUD$1.5) and it smells soooooo nice and sweet :D Totally worth the extra money.

While our feet was soaking in the water, the masseuses massaged our legs while we watched TV on the recliner (some fell asleep).  After, they dried our feet and massaged the foot.  I was very scared that it will hurt because as you all know, the nerves at the soles of your feet are connected to all parts of your body but, they did cater to my pain tolerance.  Well, it was quite hard to use a lot of strength when I kept screaming LIGHTER PLEASE!! eventhough it didn't really hurt and I was just ultra scared.

The one hour massage ended quickly and my feet felt relieved.  The total price for the one hour pamper was only ￥40 (approx AUD$6). I love Chinese prices.

PS: Yes, I do have tiny feet, I do have swollen legs and feet due to 6 days of 16hour non stop walking, I do have the typical 'Thong Toes' because I'm Aussie. Thank you. :)


Orange House 橘子工房 (徐汇店 Xuhui Shop)

Location: Level 4 Pacific Department Store, 932 Hengshan Road, Shanghai 上海市衡山路932太平洋百货4楼

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 10pm 7days

Phone: 021 - 57575777

Share

Tweet