Sugar Hit - Gallery Tea Lounge @ Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

So it's time to bid farewell to the Sydney International Food Festival again.  Did October really fly past that quickly?

After a quick dinner wolfed down standing up at the very crowded Night Noodle Market, it was off to the conveniently located Sheraton on the Park for their Sugar Hit offering.

This dessert sounded the most appealing out of all the Sugar Hits, and despite the many lukewarm reviews, I really enjoyed it.

Pretty tropical tonka bean panna cotta on boysenberry and finger lime-infused compote, served with a crisp chocolate almond biscotti

A lovely and light dessert, fresh raspberries always go down a treat with me too! 

Sheraton on the Park

161 Elizabeth Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9286 6000

Christmas break - Off to Melbourne!

I have 10 days off over the Christmas break as our department shuts down from Christmas Eve to the 4th of Jan.  

I took this opportunity to book flights for Melbourne! 

Cannot wait for the awesome shopping and cafes.  I booked a secret hotel which turned out to be the Sofitel on Collins street, which sounds excellent.  So excited!

Sugar Hit - Number One Wine Bar, Circular Quay

Even though I eagerly booked for this Sugar Hit, it wasn't necessary, even for a Saturday night - as the restaurant was empty, save for a few tables finishing their dinner at 9pm.

Number One Wine Bar is easy to locate as it's just opposite Circular Quay station

and has a cosy and intimate feel, would love to come back and try dinner one night

Brown Brothers orange muscat & flora

Creme Caramel with strawberry and Champagne jelly

Number One Wine Bar
Goldfield's House
1 Alfred St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 82529296

Takeru (2) - Sussex St, Sydney

Takeru is always a top choice for Japanese comfort food - think Japanese pizzas and pastas.

A planned afternoon high tea session was scrapped last minute, as I was starving, and needed food instantly.  I also happened to walk past Takeru, and that sealed the deal.

This never fails to make me smile, as it is so me!

Green tea latte & ice coffee, both with generous scoops of ice cream

Potato salad - refreshing salad holding a heart dollop of alarmingly pink mashed potato

Takoyaki pizza - so strange, yet tasty!

Chicken karaage ramen

My half dish - omurice, delicious fried rice wrapped in a omelette and mince sauce - pretty big for a half dish!

1/2 serve Salmon cream spaghetti

Tonkatsu curry - 1/2 serve

Seafood Doria - so creamy & filling!

Takeru

Shop 10, 339 Sussex St

Sydney NSW 2000

Hong Kong Makeup Haul - Nail decals, Fibrewig & Anna Sui

It seems like such a long time since I was overseas, but I still haven't finished all my posts! 

Most of the following items were purchased on my last day in Hong Kong, in a mad rush at Harbour City and then duty free at the airport.

Cute 3D nail stickets - cherries, roses & bows

Flower nail decals - they look like real flowers with the intricate detailing, but are made out of paper thin material!

Since I've heard so many rave reviews about Fibrewig mascara, I had to pick one up.

False eyelash tape - haven't tried this out yet, so not sure if it's a good alternative to lash glue or not

Anna Sui makeup haul

I love her OTT packaging with flowers, butterflies and the whole lot!

I bought two shadows - a pretty lilac shade, and a bronze colour

Mirror mirror...

With a lip palette inside

Because I bought 2 items from the current collection, I got this free pretty makeup case, I love it!

It's massive enough to fit a good portion of my makeup in, and it's got gorgeous rainbow pastel flowers all over it, and pretty Anna Sui zips <3

Hero Teppan - Chatswood, Sydney

The roadworks at Chatswood on a rainy and busy Sunday meant that there was horrific traffic built up throughout the detour.  By the time we arrived at Chatswood Chase, my first choice for dining, New Shanghai was packed to the brim, and at least one hour wait.

I took a ticket and tried to persevere, but as you can tell by the title of this post, I didn't make it to New Shanghai! After a quick half hearted attempt to browse the stores, hunger got the better of me and we headed back down to look for something to eat.

This little Japanese Teppanyaki place, Hero Teppan is next door to New Shanghai

Their menu - mainly consisting of teppanyaki, grill & tempura items

They also had sushi and sashimi offerings 

I decided to try and be healthy and ordered a jasmine tea

Fried udon noodles with pork - loaded with veggies and pork, I wish there were more noodles though! You can choose from soba or udon noodles.

Wagyu steak with garlic/onion sauce - there is also a choice of wasabi butter or a balsamic sauce, nice and tender beef, but because of the way it's plated, it reminds me of Pepper Lunch

Chicken yakitori

Hero Teppan

Shop 40B/ 345 Victoria Ave

Chatswood NSW 2057

Macaron Madness @ Adriano Zumb- Rozelle, Sydney

It seems these days, everywhere I look, it's macarons galore.  Every little cafe, shop, market stall and restaurant are making their own versions.  I'm sure everyone has heard and read about Adriano Zumbo's macarons and other creations, you'd have to living under a rock not to!

I've been saying I'd go since 2008, but never have gotten around to trying them! Until now. Mainly due to the crazy parking stories, but since they opened the Rozelle store, parking seems a bit easier to find around the new store.

My precious package

I bought one of each flavour on offer, unfortunately they were all jammed into this box and some of them were crushed and broken. Sad face.

Finger bun - I loved this one <3 The filling was exactly like a real finger bun!

Macaron stack

My stash - I can't name all the flavours, but they included blackened vanilla, mont blanc, coconut & pineapple

After polishing all these off, I'm a little over macarons.

Bought some pastries for breakfast too - Apricot danish

And vanilla Sugar Lips - cute name!

Adriano Zumbo Cafe

114 Terry St

Rozelle NSW 2039

Comfy shoes haul

I went a bit crazy with buying cute and comfy shoes in Hong Kong.

I like the light purple colour of this pair of peeptoes + embellished anything and I'm so there...

Cute bow flats

Flower power

And another pair of embellished flats I couldn't resist

All but one pair of these shoes were purchased from Sogo in Causeway Bay, one of the main department stores in Hong Kong.

The 12 Chinese Zodiacs @ Brahma Palace - Wuxi, China

I find it funny how star signs and zodiac descriptions of people's personalities can be spot on.

I was born in 1987 - The year of the Rabbit. According to this site, the rabbit is described as keen, wise, fragile, tranquil, serene, considerate, fashionable, sneaky and obsessive.  Not sure how many of those apply to me, but some of them seem quite contradictory!

One section of the Braha Palace housed these 12 animals, each with a money box and most people giving money and touching the statues for good luck.

Tiger

Rabbit

Dragon

Snake

Horse

Sheep

Monkey

Pig

Dog

Rooster

Ox

Rat