Yumei - Capitol Square, Haymarket

In a bid for a quick lunch before the movies, Yumei is instantly thought of, as it is never crowded and relatively quick.

Menu time

As I've said before, I profess my love for picture menus, however sometimes they can work against you...

Complimentary cold noodle dish, this is the first time I've received a free starter at a Japanese restaurant!

Grape Calpico

Salmon aburi - not as nice as I previously remembered, I was missing the chargrilled taste that I've come to be addicted to!

Crab croquettes - these were nice, deep fried with creamy mashed potato inside, couldn't detect any "crab" at all, but then again, I wasn't expecting to

Grilled cheese scallops - Back to the menus... These look nothing like they were meant to, and were quite disappointing! The menu didn't show a massive mound of rice under the scallop, and plus these were barely warm when we received them

Wagyu beef kushiyaki

Katsu-don

Overall not the best Japanese place compared to the other yummy places available, but it's not bad, and you are basically always guaranteed a spot without a wait (my pet hate when dining is having to wait ages in line!)

Yumei Japanese Restaurant
69/730-742 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 9212 6665

Pretty in Purple at Oroton

I haven't liked or purchased anything at Oroton for years, but the new collections have caught my eye.

Linea tote - I love the vibrant purple colour, and it's very gorgeous in real life too, soft leather and big enough to store all my junk, I'm holding out for the 30% off sale though

I also love this colour too - a pale lilac gorgeous, really nice in real life too, I'm tossing up between this and the brighter colour. What do you guys think?

And they have some other pretty stuff in store as well too, I think I'm attracted to this season mainly because of the lovely colours, but I will definitely pick up a few things when the sales roll around!

Miss Saigon - Hurstville, Sydney

A craving for Vietnamese food a couple of weekends ago, meant a trip to the local Miss Saigon in Hurstville.

Simple menu laced with engrish

My staple order - deep fried spring rolls, I love the smaller size of Vietnamese spring rolls 

And the sauce

Special broken rice with pork chop and egg - This version was a fail, and nothing compared to the Cabramatta versions (which I was craving!) I will need to make the trip to Cabra for the awesome version soon, as my craving is still not satisfied!

Miss Saigon

185c Forest Road

Hurtsville NSW 2220

Ph: (02) 9585 0068

Seafood lunch @ Emilio's Ocean Grill - Manuka, Canberra

In memory of the warmer weather, and hoping to bring on summer, a seafood lunch over the weekend was in order.

Emilio's Ocean Grill in Manuka

Grilled prawn salad - This was fantastic, extremely fresh Mediterranean style salad, with creamy feta, capsicum, tomato and the BIGGEST prawns ever!

Half Lobster Thermidor - Can't go wrong with a hearty serving of delicious lobster in a creamy Thermidor sauce

Emilio's Ocean Grill

36 Franklin Street

Manuka ACT 2603

Ph: (02) 6295 1036

Canberra shopping trip - Alannah Hill & Tony Bianco

Gosh, it seems like lately all I do is buy things from these two stores! Alannah hill this, Tony Bianco that... I need to save my money for my upcoming holiday (2 weeks + annual leave in September - should be heading to Singapore, Hong Kong etc)

Anyway, everything was on sale, so it's somewhat justified!

Alannah Hill 'Steal My Ideas' skirt for $59! The zip was broken hence the bargain price, but it can easily be fixed! 

Love the frills, and it's a pretty blush colour too

Tony Bianco Mace flats for $60 (without flash)

With flash - a lovely navy colour in suede with satin bows and gold stud details

Another bargain AH purchase 'Lift My Mood' blouse - $75 due to the broken press stud (again, easily fixed!)

OPI Shrek - What's with the cattitude?

Carrying on my testing out of the OPI Shrek collection, the next one that caught my fancy was 'What's with the Cattitude?' Cute name, huh?

A pretty pastel blue, almost like the signature Tiffany blue, this picture is without the flash

This is with flash, and probably closer to the real life colour

Gorgeous - I've received a few compliments on this polish already!

Weekend in the Berra - Brekkie & Outfits

Landed in Canberra on a chilly Friday night, a few hours late due to a plane delay (seems to be quite common!)

Was very tired and extremely looking forward to a nice sleep in and a lovely breakfast at my favourite cafe in the morning:

Beess & Co

Half serving of spanish omelette & chorizo - love how they plate up the servings when you share, as I've mentioned before

A delicious and healthy concoction of watermelon, apple & cranberry

Saturday outfit

Alannah Hill cardi

Portman's pale yellow tank

Sretsis flora skirt in the peach colourway

Black opaques

A better view of the cardi - definitely one of my faves!

Sunday outfit - my $10 top from Portmans is taking for a Yum Cha outing

Winterfied outfit, with a black leather jacket + Burberry scarf

I have tomorrow off too, so it's an extended weekend for me, and a short working week, Hurrah!

Floral mania - Forever New

It's still winter and freezing cold, but I'm loving the floaty, girly spring dresses that makes up Forever New's collection in stores right now.

Beautiful floral fabrics, soft pastel tones, gorgeous frills, bows, beading and flowers.

My picks from the website:

Frill trim ditsy print dress

Bow front dress <3

One shoulder floral dress

Flutter sleeve floral dress

Ribbon detail prom dress

Love everything in store at the moment, I have my eye on a few dresses, tops and accessories. This store is dangerous!

Encasa Spanish Restaurant - Haymarket, Sydney

I love an early dinner when it's cold, and tapas is calling my name at Encasa on a Thursday night, straight after work.

Interesting and fun decor

Hungry hungry hippo, perusing the menu, I only had eyes for the tapas though, even though they have pasta and pizza too

From the specials menu:

Jamon & leek croquettes, these were so tasty, packed full of creamy potato and jamon deep fried goodness

Patatas Bravas - Loved this too, especially the generous amount of salsa & mayo

Vieras en Azafran - Scallops in a creamy saffron sauce - these were OK, not amazing

Pinchos de Pollo con Mojo - Chicken skewers with red capsicum, olive oil, cumin and vinegar

Ok, so I said I only had eyes for the tapas, but we ordered this small meatlovers pizza too.  I like the small size! (I guess it sort of counts as tapas since it's so tiny!)

And to top it off with dessert:

Churros with white chocolate sauce - the sauce was actually more like a hot chocolate, not sure if that was how it was meant to be

Overall, it was an cheap and cheerful place to dine, and I'll be back to try the other tapas, and the paella perhaps?

Encasa restaurant

423 Pitt Street

Sydney 2000

Ph: (02) 9211 4257