Posted by Ling on February 8, 2011
I remember when I announced that I was leaving Glasgow to go off travelling and Australia would be the final destination.
I remember wondering if I was making a crazy decision by leaving my family, my friends, my well-paid job, my newly bought beautiful apartment (I still miss it dearly) and my faithful yellow car…
I remember that my friends were shocked. Yes, me, Ling, going travelling…on my own…and not planning to come back.
I remember my Mum being very supportive of my decision. “Go, go!”
I remember the tears that were shed on the day I left – and even my Dad had wet eyes!!
I remember feeling lonely and homesick.
I remember the Skype conversation I had with my Mum when I was in Sydney – before I had made any friends and before I had met him, who is now my Husband. My Mum and I were both tearful as we confessed how much we missed each other. And then, she said, “Ling, just come home!” If you know me, you will know that I am an obedient daughter and whatever Mum says, I usually will follow her desires. But surprisingly, even though I was sad, lonely and homesick, I answered, “No, Mum. I’m supposed to stay here in Australia. I don’t know why, but I am.” Even with the dodgy webcam, I could feel the disappointment in her voice.
I remember when I Skyped my Mum again a few weeks later. “I met this guy. Nothing has happened, but I just feel that there’s something.” My Mum and my sister both laughed at me – they thought I was talking nonsense.
I remember when he became my boyfriend and a few days later, he booked tickets to Scotland so he could see my family. Talk about fast mover!
I remember when we got married in Australia…and then Scotland.
I remember how happy my Dad looked on our wedding day. I have never seen him happier!!
I remember how awesome God is for being with me every step of the way in this journey.
I remember this is the Bible verse which was precious to me in my times of struggle.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Please remember.
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Posted by Ling on February 6, 2011
Being total cheap-asses, you may be wondering how we ended up having lunch in Shoya, one of the high-end Japanese restaurants in Melbourne. Well, we were there to celebrate my lovely friend, Minda’s birthday. Shoya is situated in one of the lanes in Melbourne’s Chinatown and it look deceivingly small from the outside because this Japanese restaurant has 6 levels!
Anyway, Shoya does a number of lunch sets which start from a reasonable $24.80 to $65.
I chose the UME set at $28 which consisted of :-
Savoury egg custard – silky smooth steamed egg topped with an edemame bean which had shitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots in the bottom layer – this was simply gorgeous!
Sashimi – Presentation was excellent. The raw fish was placed on top of half a frozen orange – we wondered whether they would reuse it? Does anyone know?? Anyway, the fish was fresh and tasty with wasabi and soy sauce paste.
Tempura – Two prawns and the rest were vegetables. The tempura batter was light and crispy. Loved it.
Grilled eel – The unagi was simply delicious – very moist and tasty bathed in its sauce. The annoying thing was that I only ate a quarter of this because my Husband ate the rest while I was chatting away to the girls. Grrr!
Teriyaki wagyu beef – OMG! The beef was cooked to perfection. The meat was extremely tender and moist with nice bits of fat through it. I took a bite off the chilli and it nearly killed me – I was surprised that it was so hot!
Mixed steam rice – this was bland in comparison to the rest of the dishes
Green tea ice-cream – Yummy goodness.
Although the food was exceptionally good, I did have a few dislikes about Shoya.
1. For a high end Japanese restaurant, you would think they would serve complimentary green tea – but no, they don’t.
2. There wasn’t enough time for me to enjoy each of the courses because the food came rushing out. I was even more annoyed that the waiter served the ice-cream BEFORE I had even finished eating the mixed steam rice!
3. We were the only table left on that floor and it felt like that they were trying to rush us out. If I’m not mistaken, they brought the bill immediately after the ice-cream; without us asking for it.
In conclusion : Shoya serves high quality Japanese food but needs to slow down and let slow eaters like me enjoy and savour the food.
Would I go back? Yes, but only if it was for a special occasion.
Posted by Ling on February 5, 2011
There are THREE more sleeps till my parents arrive in Melbourne! How exciting! This is going to be an interesting holiday for my parents because :-
1. My Mum and Dad rarely go on holiday.
2. My Mum and Dad rarely go on holiday with each other!
3. My Mum and Dad will have to sleep in the same room and in the same bed!
Yes, for 20-odd years, my Mum and Dad have slept in separate rooms but somehow, they have managed to have 7 children!! (Let’s not picture my parents doing “it” – EWWWW!!!)
Anyway, the Hubby and I have been busy getting our house ready for their arrival. Today, we built the double bed and it has a squeaky bed frame.
“If there’s any squeaking, we’ll just pretend we can’t hear it!” – were the wise words from my other half.
To my Mum and Dad, please be on your best behaviour. While you’re living under our roof, you will have to abide by our rules!!! Just because it’s the Chinese year of the rabbit, it doesn’t mean that you behave like rabbits! Is that clear? Haha!
Just to be gross – Imagine you caught your parents doing “it”! Picture that scene NOW!
Posted by Ling on
Melbourne City’s Chinatown seems puny in comparison to the suburb of Box Hill. Seriously, there are Asian eateries all over the place here. We fancied a change from our usual haunt, Wong’s Lucky Bar (which I have yet to write a review about)and decided to try Grain Asian Cafe which is located in Box Hill Shopping Centre.
However, the guys weren’t hungry so I ended up ordering food for myself and they got drinks. Yeah, how weird is that? The only female eats while the guys just have a drink!!??
Anyway, I’m from Scotland so I LOVE anything deep fried. Can you guess what I chose to eat?
Pat yourself on the back if you answered correctly. I ordered the chicken rib with spiced salt on rice. The funny thing about this cafe is that once the waitress takes your order, you have to pay. A bit weird…but maybe they have had bad experiences with customers who left without paying??
I was pleasantly surprised at the large portion. The chicken ribs had been coated in a light batter and then deep fried perfectly. I enjoyed munching the crispy chicken skin. BUT I could feel the MSG burning my throat after I chowed down 2 ribs. I was also rather disappointed with the lack of spice – the topping of minced garlic, spring onions and specks of chilli were inadequate to satisfy me – it needed more fire. Also, because the ribs were dry, I found it really hard to swallow the dry rice. The dish needed something to help with the dryness, e.g. some cucumber or soy sauce would really help.
In the end, I only ate half and packed the rest into a plastic container to take home. It actually tasted even better when I reheated it for lunch the next day because I added soy sauce and chilli sauce.
Would I return to Grain Asian Cafe? Yes. I saw lots of people order dumplings with soup noodles – so that’s something I want to try next time.
Posted by Ling on February 3, 2011
In English : Happy Chinese New Year
In Cantonese : Gung Hei Fat Choy
In Mandarin : Gong Xi Fa Cai
If you didn’t know already, it is Chinese New Year for us yellow-skinned people today. Every year, it starts on a different date depending on the moon.
There are many traditionss associated with Chinese New Year. For example :-
1. Sweeping and cleaning the house to say goodbye to any ill-fortune
2. Decorating the house with red paper with Chinese writing on it
3. Feasting – roast duck, roast piglet, etc
4. Chinese firecrackers and Chinese lion dance
5. Married couples giving out red envelopes containing money to single people (in Cantonese : liy see and in Mandarin : ang pow)
As we are now married, we have to give out these red envelopes containing money to any singletons greeting us with “Gong hei fat choy“. It’s times like these that I am glad that I am not living in the UK where I have six younger unmarried siblings and I know plenty of young kids – haha!! Only joking!
It’s also the year of the Rabbit – what significance does this have? I don’t know! But I thought I’d leave you with a picture of me in my pink bunny costume. PREPARE YOUR EYES! And please, no jokes about any toes from hump-backed animals please! Thank you!
Wishing all my readers (Chinese and non-Chinese) a Happy Chinese New Year! May 2011 be a healthy and prosperous year for you in all areas of your life.
For any red envelopes / liy sees / ang pows, please ask me next year when I will hopefully have a decent job. But it means you have to be single and unmarried. And do you really want that?? Hmmm???
For more info about Chinese New Year, please click this Wiki link.
For more info about the Chinese calendar, please click this Wiki link.
Posted by Ling on
I’m a dentist by profession so I LOVE it when people like desserts because it keeps us in demand – haha. Anyway, I have been to Monga Dessert Lounge a few times and like the boring old fart that I am, I have ordered the same dessert every time – red bean sweet soup with lily bulbs and lotus seeds.
I LOVE this Chinese dessert sweet soup because it comes in a relatively large bowl when it is piping hot – I’m a hot or cold person; I hate lukewarm. The sweet soup has the perfect amount of sweetness for me – many places make this sweeter and often, I dilute it with more hot water. The red beans, lily bulbs and lotus seeds are cooked to perfection too – soft but still got that tiny bit of bite to it. And that is why I have ordered it E-V-E-R-Y time I go there. Some may say that it is expensive for a bowl of sweet soup at $5 – yes it is, but then again, I don’t mind paying for something that I enjoy eating.
I have tried their other desserts by sampling the Husband and friends’ orders and alas, nothing compares to the red bean sweet soup.
Red bean pancake – I would describe this as red beans wrapped in glutinous rice paste and deep fried. I thought that it was oily but it did have a nice chewy consistency and not too sweet.
Mango sweet soup with popping boba, pomelo, sago and grass jelly – last time I checked, this cost $8.50. It sounded interesting as I have never tried popping boba – it’s basically small balls filled with sweet liquid which burst when you bite into it. However, this dessert was lacking for me – the mango was sour, the pomelo was non-existent and the soup base was just far too sweet.
Mango sweet soup with pomelo and sago – this is another mango-based dessert from Monga Dessert Lounge which did not impress me.
Watermelon with herbal jelly drink – refreshing on a hot day
Monga Dessert Lounge is quite a popular hang-out during the weekends. The decor is pretty cool and is supposed to remind you of Hong Kong. I’m being safe by ordering the same red bean dessert every time because everything else I have tried so far is pretty dire to be honest. Would I recommend it to friends? Yes – like I said before, these dessert places keep my job in demand!
(Disclaimer : I am a HUGE fan of mango-based desserts of Hong Kong dessert places like Hui Lau Shan and Honeymoon Dessert so my palate has been accustomed to superior mango-based desserts so nothing else can compare)
