Shark Fin House Dim Sum in Melbourne

:: shark fin house ::
\
Yum Char Siew Pao

A friend from Uni and her hubby relocated over to Melbourne recently. We were invited to the city by another Uni friend, YC who was having brunch with them for dim sum. 

Over here in Australia, dimsum is known as Yum Cha. 

Initially, Mr. C and I declined but changed our mind. Who can say 'No' to Yum Cha, right??

Apparently, some people can. *hehe* But definitely not us!

We woke up late, hurried ourselves to the city on Sunday for a mighty fulfilling lunch at Shark Fin House. Since moving to Melbourne, I've been told this is the place to go for a good meal of dimsum. 

But I've only been to TaiPan at Doncaster and Gold Leaf at Burwood.

So, it was good to have a chance to sample the highly acclaimed tasty morsels offered here.

Liked the pork ribs best, tastier than others and less fatty 

Exotic chicken feet (only Mr. C had this)

My glorious Liu Sha Pao!!

Perfection

Piping hot salted egg and custard steamed bun

Be careful of the hot golden liquid

Oooooh my... best Siew Mai and Ha Gao

Comparing with the other two dimsum restaurants, I think Shark Fin House is my current favourite! I like the pork ribs at Tai Pan but the one here is even better and tastes less fatty. The char siew pao (roasted pork bun) was the best tasting one I've had so far in Melbourne, too! A yummy one is hard to find, it's usually too sweet and not so tasty.

The Liu Sha Pao was another thumbs up. The ratio of salt and sweet is just right. And I love it when the liquid oozes out instead of being coagulated. 

Hmmm... what else was delicious? 

The siew mai (steamed pork with prawn) was top notched. Not fatty in tasting. And I loved the taste of the generous prawn nestled closer to the bottom. In Malaysia, not all siew mais have prawns.

This place was packed. Unfortunately, the person who waited at our table was  abit of a blur case. We had to ask several times for chilli, for my liu sha pao and our tea. Gosh. We stopped asking him after awhile and flagged down other waiters. 

You definitely have to make reservations beforehand or risk not having a table or waiting in a loooong queue or rather a forever queue.

Suffice to say, I had a truly fulfilling meal. Satiate my dimsum cravings till the next time. :)

Tokyo Deli and Aviv

Ever since Sally introduced this two places and I, in turn intro-ed to the hubby, we've been back here rather regularly. Despite our incompatibilities and differences, I like how Mr. C and I are sometimes in sync and have the same makan (Malays for eat) food place in mind.

That's what happened on Saturday, we both had the same thought to go to Elsternwick for Jap food at Tokyo Deli and my yummilicious vanilla slice from Aviv! It was a 30 minute journey from home and boy, were we hungry by the time we arrived.

Headed off to Aviv first to purchase the famous Vanilla Slice. Kiasu that the shop will run out before we finish our lunch few shops away at Tokyo Deli. Lols.

:: aviv ::

Look at the gorgeous sweeties on display 

Was a bit disappointed the last time and this time I had my vanilla slice. The flaky top and bottom tasted like it was baked a tad too long. :( Oh well... hopefully it'll be back to awesome the next time I go back for some.

:: tokyo deli ::

 

The food as usual was delicious. The hubs had the Terriyaki Chicken Bento set $9.80 and his Edamame. I had the Yakiniku Beef Don $8.50. We shared or rather fought to finish the Agedashi Tofu! Yum! 

Lol

Bottom line, I always leave here filling full and satisfied! *thumbs up*

If you earn the money here and not convert currencies, pricing is pretty alright for a Jap meal. :)

Whilst you are here for lunmch, you can also do some grocery shopping. Check out their site HERE for their menu and grocery shop. Simple but attractive and easy to navigate website!

Gloomy Monday

Pic taken from Google

It's interesting how the weather can affect one's mental state of mind. Last week, I was feeling gloomy except Wednesday and Thursday when the sun was out shining brightly.

Then again, I would credit God for taking my gloom away.

I was tired of feeling blue (when do I not?) and did say a quick prayer in the morning on the way to work. I asked God to take away all my blue Eeyore feelings and just fill me with happiness and positivity and I did feel lighter and happier.

But Mondays... well, it's hard to be all chirpy on a Monday. Especially when the gloomy grey skies greet you in the morning. And especially when I slept late last night. Read a book and was so engrossed that I lost track of time. Thinking it was only 12am when it was half past 12! Bah!

Anyhow, here's to a great week ahead for all of us!

Happy 13th Anniversary!!

{backdated}

13 is infamously unlucky

but not for us

13 years since we first met
meaning 13 years together
13 years of ups and downs
13 years and still,
we're together

Thank you for having such a big heart,

a heart full of love,

a heart full of affection

Constant affirmation

and for being with me despite it all.

Here's to many, many more
lovey dovey moments
annoying one another moments
working on our relationship moments
and most importantly,
growing old together moments!

HAPPY 13TH ANNIVERSARY dearest!


At Jimbo & Rex in Crown, Southbank for a simple anniversary dinner

Beer & coke

Dudes at the bar

Lightbulbs up there

Us 

AUD10 for a meal and a drink, we had YUM Chicken Parma!

Followed by oh-so-divine ice cream at Il Dolce Freddo in Lygon

Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter

{backdated}

 

You know what? It's freaky. It's freaky how this year has progressed so quickly. How do I account for all the months, weeks and days that have passed me by? I didn't even realised it's the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter till someone mentioned it yesterday.

 

Wow. It's June. See what I mean? I feel liked I slept through the first six months of the year.

 

The second half of 2013 has started. Winter is upon us. Well, for those in Australia.

 

Six more months to fulfil whatever 2013 goals or resolutions one made at the beginning of the year. I wanted to but never got around to sitting my butt down to reflect upon 2012 and ponder what I wanted for 2013.

 

Oh well. Life goes on eh.

 

Well, can't complain much. Life is good. Definitely better than last year this time where I was jobless.

 

So, Happy Winter everyone. Time to bring out the winter scarves, jackets and boots!

 

Pictures taken off Google Images



 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving forward

Every time I fall, I try to pick myself up. I tell myself, it's ok. What's done is done. No point crying over spilt milk. Every day is a brand new day. A clean slate. A fresh start. Let the negativity go and may the positivity flow in. Thinking happy thoughts isn't easy especially to one that is pessimistic by nature.

Think about it... who ever wants to be sad and miserable?

Who likes to think of only the bad stuff that snuff out the sunshine in our lives? 

That's just it. NOBODY.

So, the next time you have a friend or family that's down and upset, don't go saying "chill la..." "relax.." "don't be so sad" "don't be negative". Often times, people just need a few words of encouragement. A hug. A shoulder to cry on. A listening ear.

Not a criticising, best-of-intentions-ill-advised, holier-than-thou friend.

When we're down, it's easy to let the hurt, disappointment and pain gnaw at our insides. Because at that point, we're at our lowest. Our most susceptible and vulnerable moment. However, that's just part and parcel of life. 

We will go through all sorts of trials and tribulations throughout our life. When we're kids, we have exams to contend our little minds with. In Uni, it's all about assignments, exams and the usual peer pressure coupled with boy girl relationship issues. As we enter the working world, it's all about deadlines and if you are unfortunate, crazy bosses.

But despite it all, what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. And a positive attitude / mindset will really help one to go a looooong way. You only live once means live life to the fullest not do stupid things that you will regret forever. Never take anyone or anything forgranted. Let bygones be bygones. No one is perfect and to err is human. Forgive others even if they don't deserve it. Love your neighbours as you love yourself and do unto others as you want others to do unto you.

Never give up. If you have goals and dreams, pursue to them to the very end. What you sow, you will reap. Life is all about experiences and learning and growing. God never gives us more than we can deal with even when we think we are stretched too far, we still can cope.

Somehow, with Him, it's possible. Moving forward is possible. Being happy and free is possible. :)

TGIF and fat me

One thing to be glad of the whole week- it's Friday. The weekend officially begins!

I have been blue the whole week signalling that annoys-me-to-no-end time of the month. I hate it when I am blue for no particular reason. Doesn't make sense but it makes me blue about everything else; life, work, friends (or lack of) or lack of communication from them etc.

Fret not. I'll be fine by mid next week. Hopefully.

But with this moody broody feelings, I always feel bloated, fat and ugly.

What's new, right? Reckon it comes with the territory.

It's one thing to feel fat and to know that I've packed on a few kilograms, it's a totally different level when my blur-about-these-kind-of-things hubby asks me if I've put on a little bit of weight as he inspects my thigh.

He's lucky I didn't punch him there and then. I would have had the perfect alibi anyway... crazy hormones. ;p

Oh well, time to cut down on my sugar, again and start three times a week exercise. To start, I shall be trying out Zumba on Wednesday with two colleagues. This should be interesting. Hope it turns out to be a long term endeavour in my bid to shed some weight.

Hate this feeling

Oscar de la Renta

After swooning over Elie Saab (whom I always thought was a lady designer because of the name)'s gown, I proceeded to drool over Oscar's.

Oscar de la Renta is yet another fashion designer well known for his beautiful creations. I am not a fashion expert and neither am I super into fashion but pretty dresses, that I know how to admire.

Oscar is no young man at 81 years old. A Domincan, one of the few couturiers to have had the privileged to dress Jackie O, wife of the famed 35th American President, John F. Kennedy. In current times, he designs gorgeous gowns worn by celebrities on the red carpet and of course, anyone who can afford his elegant, high fashioned gowns.

Now, why can't awesome dresses like the below be more affordable to the general population? More like, people like me?

Imagine me waltzing to office in the many gorgeous gowns below. Hilarious. Ok. Imagine waltzing down one's wedding banquet in such gowns... definitely have everyone gushing about the dress.

Of course, having the right figure makes a difference, too. Dang it!

 

 

love the colour!!

can hardly go wrong with black that oozes with class and elegance

Used to be a silver fan over gold but now, gold's my colour

 

 

 

Simple and yet, beautiful. Imagine black and cream or black and red...