Style I Love ...

What I'm loving at the moment

A pair of black tapered trousers for work and for play

From left (clock-wise): Black tapered pants, Topshop (http://www.topshop.com/), Blouse with corsage (out of stock), Blouse with sequins, Black elegant bag, Style Reverie (http://www.stylereverie.com/), Costa tan heels, Tony Bianco (http://www.tonybianco.com.au/)

Little House Treasures

Six months after settling into our new place we are still discovering little hidden treasures ...


From our guest room we saw a bird nest on with little chicks. We also discovered a cherry tomato tree in our backyard.

Sometimes I wish the world can be a little less serious ...

I have donated to the Haiti disaster ... have you?

On Good Food

Long-time friend from high-school and wife, who are currently residing in Melbourne, visited Perth earlier this week and wanted to catch up. Now being lovers of good food they also requested that I, the Perth-ian, recommend a good restaurant.

Horror.

Now, if they were travelling from any other city in Australia or from overseas, then the job would have been easier because I can either take them somewhere which I regard as good or at least let them try cuisines that they do not often get at home. But what can a Perth-ian offer the Melbourne-ians, whose city is known as the city of good food? Any restaurants we have, they have more, and probably in better quality too. It's like asking me to recommend a good Perth shopping place to a Melbourne fashionista!

However.

I did discover a very peculiar thing through conversations with them - and that is, for all the Greek, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, bakeries and 1,001 sweets shops that Melbourne has to offer - they cannot remember seeing a German restaurant. The good ol' German restaurant. Well, not only does Perth have a few, we have a couple of really recommendable ones too.

We took them to my favourite German restaurant, the Alpine. To those who have not heard of this restaurant, it is a well-hidden gem within the suburb of Carlisle, a house-turned-restaurant that is easily miss-able from the outside to those who are unaware (quote a friend who lives down the road: Is that a restaurant??). It carries through a similar theme inside the restaurant - you walk through the main door to a cosy common hallway that is filled with a quaint decorations and handful of tables. If you look carefully you can see a picture of John Howard on the wall (taken with the owner of the restaurant), nestled amongst the many Restaurants of the Year Awards they have won in previous years. There are separate rooms to accommodate more diners to the side and down a flight of staircase to the back.

In relation to the food there are a couple of things you need to be aware of:

1. You will have to be prepared to wait. For quite a while. The restaurant is solely run by a husband and wife team - husband as chef and wife as waitress with no additional help. The chef also takes a lot of pride in his cooking and is persistent that you will have to wait in order to get good food (and he is right). A tip: Have a cool, thirst-quenching malty German beer while you wait.

2. Although there are a few of the dishes that are superbly delectable, not all the dishes are equally yummy. A good indication to start with is - always order the German dish i.e. if you're torn between a choice of the pepper steak and the Schweinehaxe - choose the latter.

3. Be prepared to have lots of meat. Lots and lots of good meat.

My personal favourites are: the Schweinehaxe (a 1kg baked pork hock with crunchy skin and extremely soft flesh), the Gebratene Ente (half duck stuffed with apples and herbs also baked to perfection) and Kasespatzle and fried camembert for starters.

Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying myself the other night I did not take any pictures - here is a picture of the Scheweinehaxe for your hungry eyes, courtesy of the Alpine's website:

Saturday Mornings

My favourite time of the week ... Saturday mornings.

Reasons:

1. I spend all of Friday looking forward to the weekend, and this is the first indication that it has arrived.

2. I can sleep in.

3. I can spend time at my leisure sipping coffee, reading the entertaining Saturday papers and surfing the net, in peace and quiet (my sister does not usually wake up til noon).

4. I can eat whatever I want for breakfast (it is a self-imposed rule that I have to eat healthier when I am working).

My breakfast today - seafood ramen with an egg mmm

Weekend Ramblings

Evolution of the WA anti-hoon law

Spent the last couple of days being amused by firstly, how restrictive and inflexible our state's anti-hoon law was (any car found contravening the law would be seized, regardless of whether the driver is the owner of the car e.g. the car would be seized even if the mechanic is the one driving it), secondly, how resistance to change the minister was to the law, even when it was not making sense and thirdly, I was even more amused by how quickly the minister was willing to change the law after the news has been published and was criticised by the public.

Watched The Avatar (finally!)

Gotta blog it (just because 1. it's my first ever 3D movie and 2. everyone else has an opinion!).

Anyone who have been reading the papers or out and about would have known to either book their tickets online or rock up early to ensure tickets availability. Well, I knew, but I just didn't get around to doing it.

There were only 40 seats left in the room when we bought our tickets, so not only did we have to sit in one of the front rows, our seats were on the left hand side. So we had to sit through the movie in an awkward angle, my stomach was slightly queasy from the 3D effect from a wrong angle, and I had to use my hand to keep the 3D glasses on my non-existent nose bridge throughout the movie.

Having said that I really enjoyed the movie! The plot was not original (we came out feeling like we have watched a replay of Pocahontas, or Dances with Wolves) but there were a few things that kept me intrigued and engaged all throughout, if nothing else:

- The breathtaking sceneries and exotic creatures on Planet Pandora, and the angles from which the movie was filmed (lots of close-up's and zoom in's) to create the most amazing 3D effect

- I found the blue species of "people" strangely very attractive and captivating in their lean, fit forms, large eyes, skimpy costumes and smooth movements (Sam Worthington looked better blue)

- I always love fantasy movies and watching things which are pure creations of the minds, things which can keep my mind off the real world for a while (I am a kid at heart like that)

I found the 2.5 hours, $20 and sore arm to be worth my while - what about you?

My handsome blue hunk

Love the box

Have been looking forward to the weekends more these days. It's more than just the fact that we're not working and I can sleep in... but it is also the 2 days of the week when Will and I can sit down together (on the comfortable couch which I picked) and watch our latest favourite Korean dramas.

Latest fave: IRIS

If you like action movies, or movies about detectives and CIA agents, or movies about conspiracies, or if you just like watching the flawless features of Kim Tae Hee, you would enjoy this drama. Apart from an all-star cast, the drama also has a catchy sountrack and some spectacular scenes shot from Japan and Hungary. IRIS is still currently being aired in Korea as I type this, so I think a translated or subtitled version will only be available in DVD a couple of months from now.

The flawless Kim Tae Hee

Hot Weather and Steamed Fish

With the hot (sometimes disgustingly so) weather creeping in on us, Will and the boys have been going through a fishing frenzy. Apparently the hot weather attracts the fishes. Herrings, taylors, even blowies. Signs that I suspect they have an obsession with fishing:

• Will and Justin went on a 10-hour fishing trip, in a little dinghy, starting in the wee hours (ie. 4 am) of New Year's day but did not catch anything. Coming home smelly and tired they swore to be off fishing for the next year or so. Less than 2 days later they decided to go fishing again.
• That day we had planned to visit Will's parents in the evening; that afternoon we received one phone call invitation to go fishing, and his parents would have to wait.
• Eric mentioned a sale at Anaconda, and all 3 boys ended up with discounted rods and funny-looking hats with lamps.
• Each conversation they have had whether in person or on Facebook inadvertently leads to fishing.

With all the fishes the boys are catching, a new worry emerges. I had to dig up old books, ring my mom (who is currently in Malaysia) and spent time googling for fish recipes. What good are freshly caught fishes if they are not freshly cooked and consumed?

Last Saturday night they brought home 8 fishes, 4 taylors and 4 snooks. I decided to cook the taylors using one of the most traditional Chinese methods of cooking fish. Steamed fish has remained a true favourite with the Chinese because whilst being quite easy to prepare, it is the best way to ensure the flesh of fish remains smooth and silky and that the fresh taste of the fish is preserved. I have decided to share the recipe of this dish (this is a combination of my mom's recipe, the technique of a friend I recently spoke to and Kylie Kwong's recipe online):

1. Soak a couple of Chinese mushrooms in water until soft. Once soft, slice the mushrooms.

2. Slice some ginger and spring onions into small sticks.

3. Place fish into a heatproof plate together with the mushrooms, parts of the ginger, some water and sherry.

4. Place a tray over a wok that is filled a quarter with water. Place the heatproof plate on the tray.

5. Cover the wok and steam the fish for about 8 minutes until the flesh is cooked. To test you can either use a chopstick or finger to poke the thickest part of the fish (just slightly below the gills). The flesh should be soft and white (not translucent).

6. Pour the remaining ginger and spring onions onto the fish. Mix some water, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil together and drizzle over fish.

7. Heat some oil in a separate frying oil and when moderately hot, pour over fish. Serve immediately.

Note: Recipe works best for small to mid-size fish. I think you should also be able to use it on fillets. If you try this let me know how you go!

Remnants of the steamed taylor - picture courtesy of Eric.

Our Merry Trip to Cervantes

Happy New Year! Funny how I am supposed to be on holidays and yet have had a busier schedule than when I was not ...

On Cervantes

Only 2.5 hours drive away from Perth is this quiet and serene beach, and surprisingly still very much untouched by commercialism. Long stretches by soft sand, amazing blue green water just a few metres from shore, irregular coves for the fishermen and parasailers. It is the perfect holiday destination for people who love the beaches without the commercial luxuries.

If you are one who is up for more excitement or sight-seeing, the Pinnacles and Jurien Bay are only within 30 minutes driving distance away, where you can witness strange but amusing ancient rock formations or go swimming with the sea lions. Lancelin is also just off the path to Cervantes where my sister and Justin decided to stop by for sand boarding.

What Cervantes has a lot of ...

• Sea breeze, wind
• Fishes - Will and Justin caught their biggest catches ever and we had fish for dinner on both nights
• Skillful fishermen - a couple of kids no older than 10 came up to us on the jetty and showed us their catch for the day - a squid!
• Parasailers, swimmers, beach cricketers
• Boats
• Crayfish - even the local petrol station cafe sells them

What Cervantes did not have a lot of ...

• Residents - a 2006 consensus estimated the population to be around 500
• Shops - we counted 1 grocery shop and less around 5 eating outlets

We spent only a couple of nights in the small sleepy town but felt like we have had a good relaxed break. My verdict? I think it's worth visiting for anyone who's either looking for a quick getaway from Perth or loves fishing or both!