Friday, August 26, 2011

Father's Day Giveaway

Father's Day is just around the corner. I don't know about you, but I'm still clueless on what to give my dad for his special day.  Did anyone realise that Father's Day is always not as hyped up as Mother's Day? Maybe Mother's Day is celebrated before Father's Day and she will always steal the lime light.  Poor dads.

To prove that you are an awesome son/daughter, maybe this year you should put in an equal amount of effort for dad to make him feel loved too. Dad's crave their children's love too!

Basketcase is a perfect idea for people stuck on gift ideas. They have a hamper for all sorts of occasions; birthdays, get well soon, baby showers, mothers/fathers day and many more.

Since Father's Day is...freakin next week! Argh! Basketcase is kind enough to give the readers of Sugar's Sweet Blog a chance to WIN their Celebration Hamper worth $112! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!


The hamper includes:
  • Australian wine 750ml
  • Byron Bay Coffee 100g
  • Nuova cucina olives 100g
  • Monte Cristo Camembert cheese 125g
  • Maggie Beer paste
  • Australian peanuts 150g
  • Waterwheel Bagelettes 125g
  • Droste chocolate pastils 100g
  • Rice thins 100g
  • Guylian Seashells 33g
  • Leda Chocolate Mintons biscuits
  • Piranha chips 50g
  • Butterfingers shortbread
  • Chocolate coated lollies 100g
  • Pink Lady truffles x 3
  • Presented in a large pandanus tray
  • Ribbon and gift card


    So how to win this awesome hamper you say? Well, simply do the following:

    1. Write a comment below and tell me some fun/awesome fatherly bonding moments you had with your dad. E.g: (and this is real) my dad and bro made a crossbow together last night and he had an epiphany on an automated trigger mechanism that dad invented. Damn that boy was happy!

    The winner will be chosen based on the creativity of the response.

    ***Don't forget to send a copy of your comment, name and address (due to the tight time frame, you'll just have to give me your address now so I can deliver the hamper to you before Sunday!) to sugarpuffi@sugarpuffi.com with the title 'Father's Day competition' so I can contact you if you win. :D

    2. 'Like' The Complete Basketcase on Facebook or 'Follow' @CompBasketcase on Twitter

    3. 'Like' Sugar's Sweet Blog on Facebook or 'Follow' @sugarpuffi on Twitter
    P.S if you already did, awesome. if you did both, even more awesome! *mwuah*

    Competition starts...er...NOW! and ends on 11:59pm Thursday,  1 September 2011.  Winner will be contacted via email.

    Start commenting, good luck and WIN! xxoo


    Thursday, August 18, 2011

    Nazimi, Cre Asion and Citisuper Benkei Crepes

    Hai all! Today, I''m gonna squish 3 small posts together D: You may have noticed that I did that for my last post as well. Since I have a hugeeeee backlog of posts waiting in the harddrive, I'm trying to declog and merging small posts into one. This will also benefit you, my precious reader, because you can experience 3 different foodgasms instead of one. Sounds cool? Then lets begin!

    So I started the day with lunch at Nazimi...which makes me chortle every time I think about it because of MissPiggy's post...*cough adult shop cough*.

    Nazimi

    Edamame $4.80

    Boiled fresh green soybeans with a sprinkle of sea salt.

     
    Tempura Prawn $9.80

    Deep fried king prawn served with handmade dashi sauce. The tempura came out a bright golden yellow and super crunchy with the prawns juicy inside.

    Agedashi Soft Shell Crab $9.80

    Crispy soft shell crab with agedashi tofu. Awesome combination, especially when you want to eat both of them but can't fit two full serves in your stomach.

     
    Aburi Sushi $12.80

    A selection of lightly grilled sushi with negi and mayonnaise.


    Cre Asion

    After lunch, I saw that it was 3:40pm. It is rare for me to be in Townhall at this hour so I dashed to Cre Asion for some delicious macarons.

    Macarons Galore

    Cranberry Macarons

    I arrived at Cre Asion 10 minutes before closing so most of the more popular and exotic flavours such as yuzu and plum wine were sold out already :(

    The macarons are small and a bit pricey ($2.70 ea) but they sure taste good.  The first time I went, the macarons were 14 for $30 but the second time, they jacked up the price to 16 for $40 >-< boo!

    I bought 14 macarons but there were only 10 different flavours left.

     
    Box of Happiness 14 for $30 (now 16 for $40)

    Macaron Stack

    The flavours I had were uh...cranberry, blood orange, green tea, dark chocolate, salted caramel, lemon, vanilla, pistachio, dear chris and red bean (not in order of the stack).

    Citisuper Benkei Japanese Crepe

    On my way back to the QVB, I grabbed a Japanese crepe at Benkei.

    Citisuper Japanese Crepe

    The crepes at Benkei are really cheap and delicious. For only $4.50, you'll get a massive crepe filled with fruit, whipped cream, sauce, a chocolate wafer stick and topping of your choice. Add another $1.50 and you can add a scoop of icecream too!

    Strawberry Crepe in the making

    Array of toppings

     
    Strawberry Crepe $4.50

    My strawberry crepe jam packed with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate wafer stick and hundreds and thousands sprinkles :D

    Nazimi

    Location: Level 1, 141 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000
    Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday 11:30am - 14:30pm and 5pm - 10pm
    Phone: 02 9283 2990

    Nazimi on Urbanspoon

    Cre Asion

    Location: 21 Alberta Street, Sydney NSW 2000
    Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 4pm, Sat 9am - 4pm

    Citisuper Benkei Japanese Crepes

    Location: Shop LG 09, 580 George Street,Sydney NSW 2000
    Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 6am - 10pm, Sat - Sun 8am - 10pm
    Phone: 02 9283 2687

    Friday, August 12, 2011

    Jurassic Lounge and Winter Festival 2011

    From 2 August till 20 September, the Australian Museum opens its doors after hours every Tuesday from 5:30pm - 9:30pm for some art, live music, drinks and entertainment with an 'adultly' twist.

    I grabbed Mr. W and off we go to Jurassic Lounge!

    Jurassic Lounge


    For $15, you'll gain entry and a drink!

     
    Pink Drink

    Who would want a regular red, white wine or beer when you can get a sweet, PINK drink :D

    Next to the bar is the skeleton exhibit where there are humans on horseback...with no flesh :P

    Yeeha!

    And Elephant

    Historical bones not your thing? Well how about live dinosaurs roaming around the museum, trying to steal your bag...


    And perving on your leg...


    We walked to the Games Room where there are some retro games for us to play.  Mr. W and I played a game of Jenga. I must say, we are the best Jenga players in the world as our game still haven't finished when the tower on our neighbouring table collapsed 4 times already.

     
    Jenga

    But if you're up for some flexing, have fun on Twister!

    Twister

    Go a little deeper and you will find a quiet place where the Zine workshop is.

    Zine Making

    Soon, it was near 7:30pm and we went to find ourselves a nice spot at the Atrium Stage for some Burlesque.  I've never watched burlesque before but obviously I expected some kinkiness to happen. The 7:30pm show on the night was performed by Fancy Piece where they uh...did some homosexual SM *cough*.

     
    Burlesque by Fancy Piece

    I took a lot of photos but most aren't really suitable for this kid friendly (really now?) blog. The burlesque show was not my thing but definitely very interesting.

    Behind the Atrium Stage, you'll find a special exhibit called 'Rituals of Seduction: Birds of Paradise' where they are showcasing an array of videos, images and artifacts of birds and how they use their pretty colours/dance to seduce the opposite sex.

    Rituals of Seduction: Birds of Paradise

    It was not until editing that I realised how similar the photos are! See the resemblance of the red beak as the flower, blue feathers and the curved red head feather :D

    Moving along to Level 2, you'll be in the Search and Discover area of the museum. There, you can do all sorts of nerdy things till your heart's content.

     
    Geek Alert!

    Pretty Shells

    This place is not just for the nerds. Bullies can also come here to find their next target to punch or, test out your skills with a kangaroo.

    Pwned!

    I can't help but giggle when I walked past the silent disco...

    Silent Disco

    But I got my karma when I was scared shitless in the Short Film Screening Room where they aired short horror clips. No photo because I think the photos will give me nightmares so I deleted them off my camera. >-<

    In the Surviving Australia Stage, don't forget to sing a song at the Jurassic Karaoke.

    Jurassic Karaoke

    If you have a phone/camera and uses social network, please take photos! For twitter users, use the #FINDIT hashtag to join in Jurassic Lounge competitions. Facebook users, please upload your best Jurassic Lounge photos to its facebook wall to win!

    I never knew my excessive tweeting habits will win me...

    Double Pass to see Beauty Days

    I won, I won! I won a double pass to watch 'Beauty Days' from Possible Worlds: 6th Canadian Film Festival.  This also include two drinks and pizza. Whee!!

    Did I mention that everyone at Jurassic Lounge will also get a copy of the latest issue of Time Out Sydney which costs $4.95 on its own.

    For only $15, you'll gain entry to all the fun, a drink of your choice and a copy of Time Out. This is truely too awesome to miss out on. The shows change weekly so check out the Jurassic Lounge website to see what's on.

    Winter Festival 2011

    Across the street from the Australian Museum is the St. Mary's Cathedral. Mr. W informs me there is a temporary ice skating rink set up so we walked over to see. We arrived and my eyes instantly lit up. There are FOOD! Alpine food to be exact.

    I spot lebkuchenherz!

    Nawww~too sweet :)

    Lebkuchenherz are German heart shaped gingerbread cookies that are usually given to a loved one with a personalised message in the middle written out with frosting. I want one...

     
    Glühwein (Mulled Wine)

    The nice people at the stand gave us some hot mulled wine to sample.

    As I don't know how to ice skate, nor do I want to embarrass myself by holding on to the railings then falling, I opted to stand and stare at other people having fun while sipping on my wine.

    Ice Skating

    Why are they all facing the other way? :(

    How can I redeem myself as a food blogger when I hardly showed any food in this post...

    German Sausages

    By a weiner! sausage!

    The Bavarian Weisswurst $9

    The Bavarian Weisswurst with sauerkraut and sweet mustard.

    Oh hello...what's this?

     
    Giant Nutella Jar

    This baby is super heavy! Imagine all the nutella goodness inside...

    Strawberry, Banana Waffle with Chocolate Sauce and Macadamia Ice Cream $12

    Crispy waffle topped with super sweet strawberries and bananas from Waffle Bite. Considering the price of bananas these days, that is a very generous serving.

    St. Marys Cathedral

    Sadly the Winter Festival for Sydney ended on the 11th but they will open for Melbourne peeps on 18 August till 4 September.

    Sugarpuffi attended Jurassic Lounge courtesy of Matt Ravier from The Festivalists.

    Jurassic Lounge
    From 2 August to 20 September 2011

    Location: Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney
    Opening Hours: Tuesdays 5:30pm - 9:30pm
    Phone: 02 9320 6000
    Website: http://www.jurassiclounge.com/

    Possible Worlds: 6th Canadian Film Festival
    From 8 August to 14 August 2011

    Location: Dendy Opera Quays, Factory Theatre, Australian Museum
    Website: http://www.possibleworlds.net.au/

    Winter Festival
    Sydney from 22 July to 11 August 2011 
    Melbourne from 18 August to 4 September 2011

    Location: Sydney - Cathedral Square
    Melbourne - between Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building
    Opening Hours: 12pm-10pm on weekdays, 10am-11pm on Saturdays and 10am-10pm on Sundays
    Website: http://www.winterfestival.com.au/

    Friday, August 5, 2011

    Millennium Bar Restaurant Pizzeria

    Love gourmet pizza? Food Morning have a voucher just for you! For just $17.50, you will get a Large Pizza or Pasta for TWO plus 2 glasses of wine AND 2 schooners of beer at Millennium Bar! (This means you buy a pizza and get 4 alcohol for FREE!)

    Located on Cleveland Street, it's a super close stroll from The University of Sydney and it would be a perfect in between class eatery or a relaxing place to go and have a drink after a boring lecture.

    What I've been offered isn't exactly the same as the coupon but I assure you the yummy taste would be the same.

     Society - Riesling, Clare Valley SA

    They were happy to exchange the alcomohol for other drinks for the little one. Coke it is for you!

     
    But more alcohol for me! :D

     
     Garlic Bread $4.50

    For only $4.50, you get four lip smacking slices of garlic bread covered in garlic butter, loads of cheese and herbs oh and, each bite is earth shattering crispy too! I've never seen garlic bread so cheap yet tasting so good.

     
    Avocado and Prawn Tower $16.90

    Fresh avocado, potato, tomato and spanish onion tower with top of tiger prawns, garlic aioli and dill mayo dressing. This dish is just wonderful. See, my brother is allergic to prawns and never eats his veggies but he polished this dish clean.  "For the first time in my life, I would like to eat vegetables" was what he said to me.

    There are over 30 different pizzas to choose from so you are bound to find the right pizza for you.

    Bacon Pizza

    A pizza full of meaty goodness, filled with bacon, cheese and tomato.

     
     Look at the stringy cheeeeeeseeeeee!

     Antipasto Pizza

    Roast capsicum, artichoke, onion, sundried tomato, zucchini, eggplant pesto, tomato and cheese.

    They are not shy in piling up the toppings! :D

    The pizza at Millennium Bar is just awesome; a soft base with loads and loads of fresh toppings and cheese. My brother and I both agree that the pizza here is better than Criniti's. Not to mention they are cheaper and there is no line! So the next time you want some good tasting pizza, why don't you head to Millennium instead?

    Simply the Best Pizza? I agree.

    The owner at Millennium is very generous and gave me all these extra goodies to eat. By the end I was so full that I had to take away an entire pizza cause it's a sin to waste such nice food.

    Want to grab a voucher to great pizza and alcohol? Check out Food Morning for this limited offer!

    Sugarpuffi dined as a guest of Millennium Bar courtesy of Food Morning.
     

    Millennium Bar Restaurant Pizzeria

    Location: 103 Cleveland Street, Darlington-Chippendale Sydney NSW 2008
    Opening Hours: 7 days, 12pm - Late
    Phone: 02 9699 3999

    Millennium Bar Restaurant Pizzeria on Urbanspoon