Asian Snack Challenge in DiVine

You guys!

I told you the Asian Snack Challenge was heading for the big time!

I have written an article about it, and the article has been published in DiVine.

It is different from the actual Challenge, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

You can view it here.

Thank you for reading.

PS: the DiVine articles are archived at the end of each week. If you would like to read any past articles of mine, you can find them under the 'Me elsewhere' heading on the right hand side of this blog.

Brunch at Fraus Crepes and Chocolat

Today I had brunch with a friend at Fraus Crepes and Chocolat (345 Victoria Street North Melbourne).

My friend is Adrienne, today was the first time we've met in person. She gave me the gorgeous necklace for my Vogue Forum Kris Kringle last year. It is by Wiyomu. I adore the necklace and wear it a lot.


It was great to meet Adrienne - she is really nice and we hit it off straight away. I look forward to catching up with her when she is in Melbourne again, or I am in her state.

Here we are at Kids in Berlin.


Fraus has just reopened after a month of renovations. I missed it when it was closed. I have always loved Fraus, but after its makeover, it looks so elegant! So grown up! It now also stocks a large range of chocolate

For those not familiar, the highlight of Fraus is the hot chocolates - thick like custard and an array of flavours. I have tried imitations, but none compare to Fraus in North Melbourne. Others have been weak and watery. Fraus is rich and delicious.

The staff at Fraus let me take photos and blog about my time there today.

Adrienne and I both had the classic hot chocolate. I actually always have this because I am not good at making a decision from a large menu. Other flavours include raspberry, stawberry, tiramisu, hazelnut, white chocolate and many more.

You can see the rainbow of the feature wall reflecting in this hot chocolate.


The food at Fraus is delicious. There is a great breakfast menu featuring crepes with fruit or traditional hot breakfast type toppings - my favourite is the salmon hollondaise, some savoury galettes for meals later in the day - I will remember the roast duck curry inspired galette for my next trip, and a plethora of dessert crepes.

Adrienne had the crepe topped with seasonal fruits, marscapone and pistachio crumble.

She enjoyed it. Apologies for the dimly lit picture - no flash that time.

I had the same crepe as Adrienne, but with berries instead.

It's not often I choose the sweet crepe, but I enjoyed this one. I think I'd like it with some maple syrup over the top too.

As I mentioned, the cafe has undergone a makeover. The atmosphere is really beautiful. It reminds me of a bar now.

There are big communal tables with bench seats. The counter is glamourous. The service is still fantastic. The menu is also fantastic, but has gone more glamourous.

This is where the hot chocolate is churned. It's made in a slushie machine. I want one in my kitchen.

This is the feature wall. It's filled with Fraus chocolate mix that you can buy and make at home. I love the colours and the abbreviation of the flavours. 'Strwbry'. 'Rspbry'.

Here are gourmet chocolates in the counter.

And here is a wall of chocolate filled with things - nuts, berries, citrus. I want.

I love the way these berries look in the white chocolate.


I recommend Fraus Crepes and Chocolat if you are after a decadent brunch. You will be really pleased you ate there!

Sydney trip - the food and the purchases

I enjoyed the food and shopping in Sydney, though both activities were quite brief. Amazing nonetheless.

On Wednesday night, it was windy and rainy. Blustery really. The State of Origin football match was on. I was convinced that a famous rugby player was staying at my hotel. Ian Roberts I think. He smiled at me. I'd like to think it was him.

I met the gorgeous Kristy at my hotel and we walked up the street to have Greek food.

We both had moussaka to avoid food envy. It was meaty, bechamel goodness.


I had a cocktail. It was pina colada. It didn't really fit with the blustery weather or my sky high boots.


The service at the restaurant was poor. The olives were not pitted. The food and company made up for it.

Here is Kristy and I looking lovely. I really didn't need the skivvy for Sydney's weather.


In the morning, I needed to get from Circular Quay to Pyrmont so I decided to eat at the hotel before I left. It meant stress free dining. I've never had a hotel breakfast buffet before that day. The breakfast on Thursday 27 May 2010 will be etched in my food memory forever. I loved it!
This is fruit compote. Lychees. Peaches. Pineapple. Pear. Yum!

Egg, salmon, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, hashbrowns, cheese.

The style section of the Sydney Morning Herald. Bircher muesli in a shot glass. Berries suspended in jelly in a short glass. A pastry. I am still coming to terms I had jelly for breakfast. Two jellies in fact!

This amazing breakfast buffet is at Sir Stamford, Macquarie Street Circular Quay.

The Sydney Magazine came with Thursday's Sydney Morning Herald. Confirming my suspicions, it is almost identical to the Melbourne magazine that comes with the Age on the last Friday of each month. Guy Pearce on both covers.

The feature articles are the same, but they do have Sydney and Melbourne centric articles.

Lunch at the conference was salads and wraps. I didn't photograph them because of my no blogging about work rule.

But I did photograph some pretty aspects of the food at dinner. It was too good not to do so.

This is a meaty terrine thing wrapped in bacon with butter smeared on the plate, some sort of berry jam and marscapone.


This is a dessert plate. It contained pistachio and olive oil cake, lemon meringue tart, coconut cream, another meringue, chocolate and peanut tart and some other delicious things.


In between the conference and dinner, I went to a wonderful deli next to the conference venue. It is called Signorelli Gastronomia.
It is located at Ground Floor, Trouton Place, Pyrmont, Darling Island Wharf.

It was everything I dreamed of, and I was so pleased to visit it after the conference. Organic produce. Cold meats. Wine. Pasta. Pasta making courses. A cheese room! The staff let me take photos for this blog I thought I'd taken more photos but I was probably too excited at finding this amazing store.
The cheese room. Amazing. My sort of heaven.



My favourite yoghurt. Yalla. There is currently a tub of the vanilla and cardamom yoghurt in my fridge.

The chef making pasta.

I bought a few things from Signorelli Gastronomia.

This is Belgian chocolate. I tend to only eat good quality chocolate. These are cardamom and white pepper, and Indian spice.

This is elderflower cordial. I once had some elderflower drink in Tasmania and loved it.

This is paella spice mix, a present for my parents. They cook paella.

I really wanted to buy cheese. But realistically, unless I ate it in the hotel, it would not have traveled well.

Sydney foodie folk - you really have to go to this deli. It is an experience. You can eat dinner there as well as shop and do cooking classes. Sydney Shop Girl, I set you a blogging challenge - visit it and blog about it!

The next day, I went to Paddington. I did very well, or poorly on the shopping front, depending on how optimistic you are about my bank balance. I didn't buy much. The reality was, the shops that I could afford to shop at were places I frequent in Melbourne. The really interesting and unique shops sold things far out of my affordability range. I thought, if only I didn't frequent those affordable stores in Melbourne quite so much...

I bought the following from Ariel books:

A sticker label stationery set.



A present for Kristy, to be posted tomorrow.


I also bought season one of Underbelly. The one featuring Callan Mulvey. The one that can't be screened or sold in Victoria. I have watched five episodes already.

While Callan was nice to look at, and a great actor I didn't care for the violence or glorification of gangster crime so close to home. And I really wished Callan played a character that lived longer.

A funny thing happened when I walked through the city. Cathy, a blog reader, saw me and recognised me. She wrote on my blog comments that she did a double take, wondering why I was in Sydney not Melbourne!

So that was my short trip to Sydney in many pictures. I had a great time. Can't wait to visit again. Thank you for reading.

Sydney trip - stopping to observe and appreciate

Although my trip to Sydney was for work (apart from Friday when I had the day off), I felt so relaxed. I spent the time taking things in. Slowing down. Stopping to observe and appreciate.

I didn't watch TV. My internet was limited to the iPhone. It was nice.

I read a book. I can't recall the last time I've read a book! Over a year ago. I was engrossed in Jodi Picoult's House Rules on the plane there and back, and in the hotel room on both nights. Like most of Jodi's books, it was formulaic, but I enjoyed the depth of research she has done to create the characters and the plot.

Sydney's weather was cold to people who lived there, but balmy and warm to a Melburnian like me. Its 16 degrees didn't have the ice of Melbourne's 16 degrees.

I will blog about food in a separate entry. It was that good!

I picked up some really great messages from the conference I attended. I considered the way I want to further make a difference in the disability community. And reflected on my own achievements, and the goals I want to make in the future.

One of the lines spoken at the conference was 'will it be your condition or decision that will change your life?' I think about this a lot, even before I went to the conference. I believe life is about who you are and what you do in the world, and if you have a difficult card dealt to you, make the decision to live well and make a difference, rather than wallowing.

I met some inspiring people that I am excited about keeping in touch with.

Here is what I stopped to see. I took note of the beautiful architecture and the history. I thought of the British settlers building these magnificent buildings from 1788.

The next bit is image heavy. I took a lot of photos. Taking the photos really allowed me to look at minute details.

Good morning Sydney! Oh your possibilities. You're more beautiful than I once gave you credit for.



Late night walk down Macquarie Street. It was lovely.




Amazing light projections on Macquarie Street buildings for the Vivid Sydney celebrations. There was a story on each main building in the street. My photos don't do it justice. So spectacular. Thank you taxi driver for pointing this out to me.



The Sydney Harbour Bridge at different times of the day and from different angles.



A gorgeous shop in Paddington. I wanted to take more photos of the terrace shops, but I was torn between shopping and taking photos like a tourist. I chose a little shopping.

The view from the plane as I left Sydney. I love how I can see the sea and the land and the clouds.




Here are some photos of the beautiful sunset as I flew in to Melbourne through the clouds. I really enjoy looking at the texture of clouds and the colours within. I imagine being cushioned in them.






As I wrote on my Facebook status at the airport, Oh Sydney! You've tired me out! Balmy weather. Shopping strips. Work function. Looking forward to walking into the arms of my Melbourne soon.