Red leather red lips red wine

Thank you Net-a-Porter for your biannual sale!

Thank you Karl Lagerfeld for being a brilliant edgy designer.

Thank you DHL for redelivering my present.

Isn't she a beaut? I cannot wait for the weather to cool down (my dislike of heat is unbelievable and summer fashion is never as fun as autumn/winter).

The Onyx red leather jacket - Karl by Karl Lagerfeld is the perfect mix of rock and roll, biker chick. Paired with anything from shorts and tee with biker boots to skinny metallic jeans from Mother or soft leopard spots of Current/Elliot jeans or simply yet just a pair of black skinny Levi and a printed tee/silky shirt paired with heels to a little black dress (or red or hey why not floral!) - it is the essential jacket!

It is hot.

It will see me wear it way too many times.

I cannot wait!

Bistro Guillaume

Bistro Guillaume was my restaurant of choice to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant occupies what used to be Allure bar and restaurant and underwent a $7 million face lift. The interior has so much colour, mainly shades of lime green, black and cream. There are puffy sofas, pantaloon lightshades, mirrors and an outdoor area overlooking the renovated pool area. Impressive.

Family and myself were placed by a window overlooking the pool and the best thing about it wasn't so much the impressive renovation done outside or even the coziness of where we were sitting, but rather who was opposite our table... *DRUM ROLL* The chef and owner Guillaume Brahimi in the open kitchen working away and olympic swimmer and owner of Louis Baxter cafe, Eamon Sullivan in the company of one of Australia's celebrated chef's, Matt Maron (having their dinner, obviously). So hey, that means we were in for a treat right?

We started off the night by having a Charcuterie plate to share. A rather generous plate with a variety of meats, sausage, cornichons, lettuce leaves, quince, terrine, parfait, pork rillettes, and of course sourdough bread. I'm usually not a fan of charcuterie plates, mainly because I find that the quality of produce and the taste isn't all that great, however, Bistro Guillaume, proved to me that there can be great charcuterie plates, enjoyed it thoroughly.

Charcuterie plate

(unfortunately already have eaten!)

Since there was 7 of us, we decided to share the salad Nicoise with rare yellow fin tuna.The salad came out deconstructed, which was kind of nice, allows you to pick at it a bit more. The tuna was actually slightly seared, juicy, 'fat' and so fresh. The salad was refreshing and the beans were so good. So far, rather satisfying start to the dinner.

Salad Nicoise with rare Yellow Fin Tuna

Bf also grabbed himself a French Onion Soup, he's been craving it ever since I ordered some from Ptite Ardoise restaurant. The onion was so sweet, there was decent amount of cheese, and toasty crisp bread on top, but it didn't do much for me. I think Ptite Ardoise did it better, but still not bad.

French Onion Soup

As for the mains, mum and I decided to share their "meal for 2" and opted for the roasted whole liveringa organic chicken served with their very creamy, silky Paris mash and an aromatic rosemary sauce with a salad of salad. It was meant to be dish for 2, but everyone ended up having pieces of it, far too much for just 2 (unless you have a massive appetite). I'm usually scared of ordering chicken, it tends to get too dry, but not this one; the chicken was moist, juicy and flavoursome.

Roasted whole chicken 

Paris mash

The Paris mash is to die for - honestly one of the best potato mash ever! Silky, smooth, creamy, potato goodness served in a cute pot! We got an extra to share. It was that good.

Bf got his favourite type of meat - Berkshire pork belly with salad of lentils, green apples and tarragon vinaigrette. The pork meat was juicy and tender, crackling was crispy (the way it should be) and the whole dish went beautifully with the lentils and apples, although the sauce was a little too sour - someone over poured the vinaigrette.

Berkshire pork belly with salad of lentils, green apples and tarragon vinaigrette

Dad and little little bro had the rangers valley sirloin steak with kipfler potatoes, watercress salad and bearnaise sauce. It was just your perfect chargrilled steak delight. Nothing else needs to be said.

Sirloin steak with kipfler potatoes, watercress salad with bearnaise sauce

My little bro had the venison tenderloin with beetroot, parsnip and horseradish. The sauce on this dish was just heavenly! The venison was also rather tender even for such a game meat. However, the poor boy, a big eater of protein was a little disappointed by the amount of meat on his plate. But hey, at least it was polished and he loved it immensely. 

Venison tenderloin with beetroot parsnip and horseradish

Then the best bit of the night happened - and I thought I had enough lovely dishes, but no the desserts topped it all. But then again, we are at a French restaurant, if they couldn't do desserts I'll be worried.

I ordered the chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream. The staff recommended that I place the pistachio ice cream into the souffle and after it was mixed, and I had my first bite, it was absolute deliciousness. Orgasmic!

Chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream

Bf had the profiterole with vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce (the chocolate sauce was poured over the profiteroles). It were probably one of the best profiteroles ever. 

 Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream with warm chocolate sauce

Little bro had the Riz au lait with poached rhubarb and strawberry sorbet. Razzled rice pudding, creamy, sweet with a refreshing punch of the sorbet. He loved it and I enjoyed the small share he gave me. 

Then to top the meal, I had a glass of wine to boot. Velvety goodness to drown a year of getting older. 

The food at Bistro Guillaume is impressive and it really was a lovely birthday treat. The service was impeccable. Although, I'm not sure if I like the casual look of the waitstaff. But, I suppose it adds to that light, casual but stylish service in a beautiful room, filled with relaxed ambiance. It's probably one of the most relaxed fine dining places ever.

Have a go, be pampered and enjoy Bistro Guillaume's simple, beautiful French cuisine.

PB and J

The naughtiest thing to put on a toast (especially on wholemeal bread..) but also one of the most satisfying is peanut butter and jam (from the Berry Farm).

It's just like the good ole days. Except now I feel bad for my waistline.. Even if I did go for interval training for 20mins and went to a bodypump class.

A moment on your lips but a few inches on your hips and waist.. Worth it?

Hell yeh! I like to think it's better than grabbing cake!

White Elephant Cafe

There may be no actual elephant at the White Elephant cafe, but I take the cafe's name as a metaphor for the way the waves roll in and out of the beach, I mean after all the cafe is situated on the beach, quiet literally climb over the patio and you'll have sand between your toes and the waves lapping at your feet. Beautiful and the perfect location.

As for the food? We had a very early breakfast and the White Elephant offers the standard breakfast menu filled with your big breakfast of eggs, bacon, mushroom, hashbrowns, then there was bircher muesli, pancakes and toast.

We were trying to be very good, so ended up ordering a big breakfast for MC and BB and a chocolate crossiant for me and mum and of course all accompanied by coffees.

Not having tried anything other than the breakfast usual, I can't really comment on the food, except that the chocolate crossiant had enough chocolate to satisfy me and the big breakfast was hearty goodness.

The coffees - well made, not brilliant but wasn't bad.

The views? - spectacular!



Just be aware to get there early, it gets busy rather quickly.

Berry Farm

Berry Farm will have to be one of my favourite places to visit. It's situated in the Margaret River region, tucked away on Bessel Road, in the Rosa Glen valley. It has a huge ground to cater for their berry trees- boysenberry, strawberry, raspberry, mulberry trees as well as having avocado trees and a huge area for kids to play in. It's all so picturesque and lovely.

The farm specialises in homemade jams and berry wines and the cellar allows you to try the full range of wines and jams, dressings and their "Cahoots" range of sauces. Apart from their very yummy jams and sauces, the Berry Farm Cafe is so picturesque with native birds and flowers of all sorts, it's the place to relax and enjoy the farm's homemade, delicious food. A place for any food lover.

When I was last there, we cut it really fine to get served their lunch menu, arriving at 2:55pm (lunch finishes at 3pm, after which afternoon tea starts). But I'm so glad we made it on time because the lunch was just what was needed after a long day of travelling around South West of WA.

BB, MC and I ordered the infamous South-West slow cooked beef in red wine sauce pie. It was just divine.   Big chunky pieces of beef in a lovely sauce with delicious, fluffy puff pastry. No wonder it's Berry Farm's top seller. To top it off it came with lovely fresh salad. 

Mum wasn't in the mood for the pie and she wasn't in the mood for the just salad, so she went for the fish of the day - which was the dukkah coated barramundi with salad. It wasn't too bad, but the size of the barramundi fillet was little to be desired and it was a little dry. The salad, mixed with the farm's dressing on the other hand was fresh and light. 

Lunch is never complete without dessert, and the other great thing about the Berry Farm is their scones with homemade cream and jam. The scones were light and fluffy, perfects scones - two is enough to share between four people after having a rather filling lunch, and paired with their cream and jam, a tea favourite was just the perfect something naughty post lunch.

If the scones weren't enough, and us being a little too hungry, we also ordered the Boysenberry Pie. Filled with juicy boysenberry in homemade pastry. It's a little on the big size after such a big meal, but nonetheless it was polished. Definitely one that can be shared on a lovely afternoon tea. The only thing I would comment on is that the pie was a little on the dry side. Needs something like cream or better yet, ice cream. Then it really would be fantastic.

After lunch, we walked over to their cellar and stocked up on fresh avocados (a decent sized bag for $10!), and their homemade jams. Couldn't have ended a late lunch on a better note.

If you are down by Margaret River, make sure you check them out and go for lunch or if not for lunch, definitely for tea of some sort, you won't be disappointed. The garden itself is a delight!

Chapels on Whatley

Maylands - well to be precise a small strip that's on the corner of Eighth avenue and Whatley crescent is one of my favourite places for decent cake, pastry, coffee and teas. As well as for chance to wonder around the very few boutiques that's around there, OH and shop at its very cool butcher/specialised continental shop. After all it is home to my favourite bakery/patisserie - Sherbet.

Along that strip, there's a cafe that is decked out in a very Asian theme called Chapels on Whatley.

It's decor is something out of a Chinese movie and you be forgiven if you thought you were at some Zen or Yue garden when you step outside to their courtyard. After all there are replicas of life sized Terracotta warriors and a "lillypond" (I use that term very loosely...) with a floating Buddha head and goldfish (?replacement Koi) with lots of red Chinese umbrellas to shade you. It's a rather lovely, quaint and pleasant. Oh and how lovely that they had the water sprinklers on to cool us down from above! Just perfect on a hot day!

The ambience is chilled and relaxed although I wish they didn't use such high pitched Asian music in the background. Maybe I should introduce them to Jay Chou and the Asian pop scene (with more the love songs to play in the background - at least the love songs aren't so irritating on the ears).

Anyway, I wasn't there for very long... More an afternoon catchup with a gf I haven't seen in a couple of months due to our conflicting schedule of holiday making.

But I'll let you know that they have an extensive meal menu, catering towards breakfast/lunch/brunch (even at 3pm!). They also have a nice and sweet dessert menu and a lovely range of coffees, frappas, iced teas and of course hot teas. So really you can make it a day chilling out in their courtyard garden! or book out their private function area upstairs (I think it'd be perfect of Hen's parties/kitchen teas/baby showers/birthdays).

But for us - afternoon tea it is. Being hot (poor and I'm feeling a bit fat as I've had a bad week at the gym) we settled for one alligator strawberry frappe for MM and one Lychee iced tea for me. We also had a plate of cream, jam and scones to share - one plain and one fruit. But they do a proper two hours high tea! Just give them a call to book!

 

The frappe was beautiful with freshly blended strawberries topped with ice cream and cream (I had a sip). The lychee iced tea - was a little watered down and could've been more flavoursome, was nonetheless fruity (thanks to the additional two lychee (probably canned) fruit at the bottom and total refreshing on a hot sunny afternoon. 

The scones on the other hand were a bit of a let down. Skimping out on the cream and jam. Scones themselves were a little on the stale side (although was warm). We should've had the macaroons they looked great! Nevermind, next time.

I also recommend, if you are a tea lover just get your hot tea because at $5 it's a bottomless cup, meaning buy just one cup and you can sit there and get refills for the same tea or any of the other teas on their menu!

Overall, Chapels on Whatley is such a lovely place to catch up chill and have a nice long chat! And afterwards you can wander around the area and have a look at the boutiques and heh why not check out the things Chapels themselves sell at the back?

Happily Ever After

I just had the cutest sweetest and one of the most touching weddings. Yes, it's on a Tuesday, but today was their 7 year as a couple (anniversary) together.

It was on the banks of Matilda Bay overlooking the Swan River and our city. Beautiful sunny day, which cooled down to a lovely night by the bank of the river.

There was all these lovely personal touches and everything was DIY'd or friends helped do it/make it, such as the wedding cake, the celebrant and the hair. It was fantastic, it was intimate, it was heartfelt.

Congratulations to Katrina and David!

You deserve the very best and the happily ever after!

Weight loss

Ok, so I'm not complaining that I lost weight. In fact I'm so glad that all my hard yard at the gym and every few months my ability to watch what I eat (for at least a couple months) has meant that in the last 2 years I have lost 10cm of my waist and close to 10kg of weight. Slow and steady. This isn't bad considering the fact that I did it the healthy way and as you all know by now I love to eat, and you can tell that hasn't stopped. No fad diets - just portion control, calorie counting and healthy choices (which I am still yet to fully control, because you see I love to snack and have a weakness for hot chips and chocolate!).

Anyway, the upside of losing weight is that I'm healthier, fitter, and probably looking the best I have been in ages. Very much happy. Also I love to exercise now and if I don't I feel a little BLAH.

The downsize is that I

can't fit into half my clothes. The other half I can because they were previously a little on the tight size or they were clothes for when I was smaller. This is a real fiancial burden! My work shirts are huge they don't sit the way they ought to at all, but I really don't have the money to overhurgh my whole wardrobe. Partly because I don't want to throw out all my clothes nor do I want to keep it all.

Usually I would give it to Saint Vinnies, but because I'm a little strapped for cash, thanks to having a mortgage and I really want to go to USA/Canada at the end of the year, so I'm dipping back into eBay. But I'm going to start of with just one item to test the waters.

So I decided to sell and part with a dress I don't wear so much anymore - there is nothing wrong with it, and it's not really outdated either! It's just a waste of a perfectly pretty dress to be hiding at the back of my wardrobe. It's a Wayne By Wayne Cooper strapless dress.

If you like check out the eBay listing here. If this is sold I will be posting more of my preloved and very well looked after clothing. I mean come on, a barely worn (I swear I have only worn it about 3 times!) Wayne Cooper dress for $9.99 it's a bloody bargain!

Anyway, wish me luck! Otherwise it's off to the swapmeets I go! Downside to swapmeets is waking up at an ungodly hour to get a place to start up!

The Apple Daily Bar and Eating House

I haven't had a chance to catch up with many of my friends since I've come back fromholidays so last night, I arranged an intimate dining and drinks with a few of my bestest girlies. We decided to try new, exciting and somewhere we can dress up to and have a good laugh with good drinks and good eats. We ended up at the Apple Daily. It doesn't take bookings so we had an early dinner at 6:30pm (worth going early because it gets packed pretty quickly!).

The Apple Daily is located on the second floor of the Print Hall building on St. George's Tce in the city. Having explored the Print Hall on numerous occasions, I've been looking for an excuse to eat at the Apple Daily. It's decked out in "hawkers" styling of Shanghai and the grand ole days of Chinese eateries, with wooden styled booths and bar stands and seats, except instead of being all wooden they provide you with comfy leather seats and fancy bar stools. Authentic enough I guess.

To start of the night we tried their fancy sounding cocktails - our three choices were amazingly yummy. Loved it. Definitely a place to try their entire list as well as their hidden cocktail menu (as "secretly" told by our waiter - who was very pleasant, accommodating, friendly and chatty).

 

The menu at the Apple Daily is very much catered to share - almost tapas styles, except that the size of the dishes is bigger, allowing people to have more than just a bite of the dish. We had a lot of trouble choosing because a lot of the dishes sounded very appetizing or at least interesting because we had no clue as to what it contained. 

So...

After much deliberation and "hmmm.. umm... ahh.. oo.." we had the following dishes to share.

SL and I had freshly shuckled oysters (one of Print Hall's pride and joy) - oysters from Coffs Harbour may I add. It was accommpanied by a wedge of lime, lemon, a pot of vinegar and a pot of sweet chilli sauce. I placed a squirt of lime, a slight drizzle of vinegar and a fair amount of sweet chilli to my oyster and washed it down a little too quickly. It was delicious, it was fresh and I wanted more, but at $4/oyster, I had to be satisfied with one.

The oysters were followed by the Som Tum, which was a papaya salad - one of my favourites, especially when my grandma makes it! It's refreshing, zesty and with a dash of chilli sauce, it just one of the best summer salads around. However, the Som Tum at The Apple Daily gave us a shock. It was zesty and it was refreshing, until you get this massive HIT OF CHILLI. It was HOT. All three of us were coughing. Needless to say we did not finish it. It would have been so good, if only the chef could have controlled just a teensy bit of the chilli.

Our Som Tum chilli scare was made bit when the BBQ Beef salad came out. Although it had cut fresh chilli through it, it wasn't as hot and the beef was tender, juicy and the whole dish was refreshingly good. A nod to the thai cuisine.

An asian style night isn't complete without having fried rice - The Apple Daily fried rice had smoked trout through it and the rice grain they used was one with a bite, which I like (I don't really like really soft sticky rice, unless you are having sticky rice!). It had a smokey taste and smell through it, simple and yet delicious.

Then there was the soft shell crab. The crab was fairly meaty and we got 4 decent sized crabs on the plate and drizzled with the sweet, sour chilli sauce it was an enjoyable dish. Crispy, juicy and delicious crabs.

 

The last dish of the night was the grilled chicken with satay sauce. The chicken wasn't dry it was juicy but luckily there was the satay sauce otherwise I felt as though the chicken would be a little flavourless. Definitely needed more marinating time. But there was a fair portion of chicken on the plate.

Overall, the Apple Daily Bar and Eating House is an awesome place for a nice casual night out with a great drinks list and a menu that gives a nod to South East Asia, in particular flavours of Thai (from the dishes we had anyway) - lots of sour, zesty chilli flavours. They do have a disclaimer that there are lots of nuts in their dishes so those with allergies need to inform the waitstaff, but they should also have little chilli symbols to also indicate how hot and spicy their dishes are as well! Because I can assure you that, although I'm a lover of spice, a few of my friends would have struggled to find any dishes they could have eaten at the Apple Daily.

As for the service at the Apple Daily, our waiter, Pal(? spelling?) was funny, accommodating, friendly and was always concerned about what we thought of the food and if we were enjoying ourselves. This is a stark contrast to the Assistant Manager (whom I believe is called Annie/Anne) who was rude, took away our drinks menu that we were still looking at (didn't even ask if we still needed it..) but rather just snatched it off the side of SM's plate and she kept walking. Then she came and ask us if we were ready to order dessert straight after she dumped far too many desserts menu into my hand - and SL wasn't even at the table yet so how could we have been ready? To top it off when we paid the bill there was no politeness of "how was your meal?" but more running to another waitstaff and telling her what to do? All I can say is that they need to get another assistant manager, because really how can you get an assistant manager with no idea of service? If they can't provide and uphold service at a place how can the manager expect their staff to? Pity really because our waiter was awesome and that lady, assistant manager needs to learn a thing or to from her staff!

- So a part from that HUGE hiccup - I enjoyed the Apple Daily with its interesting menu, chilled vibe and amazing cocktails. I'll be back for more tastings of the food and drinks and will be perfectly content as long I never ever have to deal with that Anne/Annie assistant manager lady - so damn rude!