Noteworthy

There are a few things I want to share with you this week. Maybe I'll start doing a regular 'noteworthy' post of the things that have made me smile. Blogging is all about sharing, right? What do you think?

Ivy's wish

First and foremost is a blog entry by Tiffany Treganza at Three Ring Circus that is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Her little girl Ivy has a rare and severe chronic illness that affects her immune system. Ivy was recently granted her wish from Starlight to dance on stage with the Australian Ballet at the Opera House. In her blog entry, Tiff writes about the joy brought to Ivy and the rest of her family.

Ivy's smile is so cute, and seeing her dance and in awe is heart melting. I have read the entry three times now, and cried just as much each time. Amazing. Please, please read this post and be reminded at the joy in the world.

Please also consider donating to Starlight, to grant other sick children their wishes. I donate and am so glad to see my money bringing smiles to those who need them.


Tiff has given me permission to share some of the gorgeous pictures with you on my blog.

 Ivy and her twin brother Noah.

 

 Ivy received some signed ballet shoes.

 

 She danced on stage.

 

 And more dancing and spinning. Just gorgeous.

A Sydney adventure - guest post by Sydney Shop Girl

My regular readers will breathe a sigh of relief to know that this is the first post in November that does not feature Darren Hayes. And my concerned commenter can rest assure that I haven't drowned in my obsession (I will address that perception when I'm not so busy living a Hayesless life this week). This is a story of the other things I did in Sydney. Mostly eating and drinking. Fact.

Tonight's post is a guest post by the equally lovely and beautiful Sydney Shop Girl. When In Sydney I was privileged to spend an evening with her and Sandradee from St Frock. It was a gorgeous night harbour-side, and as I sat eating and drinking extravagantly, I realised I was in the company of two smart, funny and strong women, who have overcome such adversities. I admire them a lot, and I am so glad that we are friends. 

Sydney Shop Girl wrote this post on her blog so brilliantly I wanted to reproduce it on my blog. (It's actually lazy blogging - I am still in a food coma from my Sydney eating, and asleep on my feet from my Darren Hayes OBSESSION. Actually I am about to prepare for a pretty big week ahead. Got stuff to do). Take it away, SSG!

I'm a bit of a nanna when it comes to going out on a Friday night after work.

I like catching an early evening bus because they're usually pretty empty city bound and I get a seat and some piece and quiet whilst I listen to my BBC podcasts and try not to smudge my dramatic evening makeup.

This usually means I get to my destination early enough to have a soothing cup of tea before pre dinner drinks.

Soaking up the atmosphere outside Jamie's Italian on Friday night.  As you do.

And I also have an older persons dislike of queuing for dinner.  Or in the case of Jamie's Italian on Pitt Street (really hard to find actually), lining up in the the line to wait for the chance to have dinner.  Apparently, if you get to the start of the queue I was in, you get to wait 2 more hours for dinner.  7.30pm on a Friday?  I think not.

Luckily, Carly and S, who I was meeting for dinner felt the same about all the waiting.  We met, turned on our heels and walked to the Opera Kitchen, which is a relatively new development in the concourse area of the Opera House.

Where good food, seats and a bit of quiet came our way pretty quick smart.  We were blessed with perfect weather and clear skies.  The Sydney sky line at night always takes my breath away.

We decided to sample dishes from a few outlets at the kitchen, starting first with Kenji.  Kenji Nishinikagawa was originally the sushi chef at Koi in Woolwich (one of my favourite local haunts and I'm so sad it's now closed) and this sushi kitchen at the Opera Kitchen is his latest venture.

I'm cursing the decision to try and take photos in total darkness but I had no other choice.  The photo above was meant to be of our bento tower which was served high tea style.  We also each had a bowl of miso.  This wasn't overly salty but lacked a strength of character.

The top layer was an assortment of vegetable, prawn and calamari tempura. The batter was crisp and the vegetables had bite to them.

Underneath was a platter of mixed sushi and sashimi.  I was pretty impressed with the freshness in a 'food court' setting though the flavours were not as delicate and refined as at Koi.

The final layer was sashimi.

It wouldn't be a Friday night amongst friends without bubbles.  For me it was also a celebration of surviving a rather long and draining week.

I think Miss Chu will forever remind me of Carly, S and K (who was unable to join us on Friday).  We met earlier in the year at the original Miss Chu in Darlinghurst and now here we are at the Opera Kitchen ordering a few of our old favourites.  Unfortunately, they were all out of rice paper rolls.  I can safely say that this outpost of Miss Chu's is every bit as delicious as the mother ship.

The pork dumplings were juicy and well seasoned.

The 3 of us all eyed the final duck pancake.  But alas, there could only be one winner of a second serve.

There's always room for a bit of the 80s on a Friday night and we had our flash back with a prawn cocktail from the Cloudy Bay Fish Co.  It was deluxe.  The dressing wasn't fluorescent pink or too thick and there were plentiful prawns and a crisp vibrant bed of greens and red onion to boot.

We still had so much to talk about after all that food that ending the night with a dessert stop was the logical next step.  S and I managed to sweet talk (love the unintentional pun) Carly into going to Guylian for dessert.  Carly isn't the biggest chocolate fan but we convinced her that there would be non chocolate items on the menu - macarons, danishes and the like (or at least we thought we'd seen these foods at Guylian the last time we checked).

We needn't have worried.  Once we entered the chocolate coated world of the Guylian Cafe (link to menu) at Circular Quay, Carly decided that she'd bat for our team just this once.  We ordered a tasting plate which included a hot chocolate that our waitress kindly offered to divide into 3. In hindsight I wondered how 1 person alone could finish a hot chocolate as well as the array of desserts that accompanied it.

The hot chocolate is served with a Guylian chocolate seahorse at the base of the cup.

Then someone with a steady hand like S pours hot chocolate over the seahorse and you stir the 2 together.

It was heaven and a little goes a long way.  Carly was impressed.  Here she is modelling the Diva replica of the Duchess of Cambridge's sapphire engagement ring.  We were both lucky to get ours as they sold out at full price at practically every Diva store in Australia.  Apparently Kim K's version is now going for half price.  I might investigate this during the week.  Carly, if you want me to pick you up one, please let me know ASAP.

Yes, that's the tasting plate.  The scoop of vanilla and berry ice cream was delicious actually.

A cup of chocolate dipping sauce with strawberries and a selection of beautifully decorated cakes.

I am pretty sure at least one of them was a chocolate sesame cake, another a chocolate mousse cake and the pure pleasure cake with almond in it.  There were also chocolates.  There was too much choice.  The orange gold flakes scattered on the plate looked gorgeous.  If I wasn't so full I would have tried them too.

What more can I say?  Here's to friends, food and Friday nights!

Girls night out at Miss Chu's + The Victoria Room

Friday night in Sydney was a girls night out. It was so much fun. I dressed up in my St Frock dress :) How beautiful is it?! The purple and the beading and the blush is so special. And it has a special place in my heart as Sandradee kindly gave it to me.

Sydney Shop Girl, Kristy and Sandradee and I dined at Miss Chu's, a Sydney streetfood institution. It was lovely seeing my friends become friends :) And Kristy is a big fan of Sydney Shop Girl's blog.

Sydney Shop Girl took this picture. Isn't it quirky?

I loved the shuttlecocks and bamboo steamers hanging from the roof hanging over the pavement.

 And the bananas. Such an expensive decoration!

We sat on milk crates, watching Sydney Shop Girl brave the long queue, filled with pretty, stylish young things (including YOU, SSG). Girls wore corporate casual with style - high waisted skirts, pearls, funky dresses and sky high heels. We admired.

The menu is fresh and tasty Asian. So cheap too.

Water came in plastic bottles resembling hip flasks. I loved the look. We wished we'd gone to one of the many bottle-os along William Street for some wine.

 We were served food in paper bags.

 

 We ordered heaps! Twice.

Chicken rice paper rolls (they'd run out of duck and banana flower ones) - so fresh and cool. Peking duck pancakes - rich and warming. Eggnet crab spring rolls - not greasy, nice and seafoody.

 Scallop dumplings and Shanghai dumplings - fat and juicy with spicy sauce.

 On our second order, Kristy and I ordered Wagyu pho. Spicy, lemony, slurpy goodness. Wow.

And we also ordered more pancakes. Yum yum yum.

We were all so impressed with Miss Chu's and I was excited to learn there's one in Melbourne. Must. Go. Soon.

We then walked up a large hill to the upmarket Darlinghurst bar, The Victoria Room.

Sydney Shop Girl had a Cinderella moment and changed her amazing sky high shoes to sensible yet stylish flats.

We saw two more Cinderella moments - this carriage at a lavish Russian home decor (??) store.

We lamented that Kate Middleton won't be having a horse drawn carriage at her wedding, and I remembered Kirsti from Melbourne on My Mind went to school with Kate Middleton when she was known as Catherine.

The third Cinderella moment was more bogan, more relatable. A nearly empty bottle of beer and one shoe. I hope she found her prince.

Once we braved the hill, we had cocktails at The Victoria Room. I found it hard to choose. I chose rose and lychee.

 I felt so grown up at The Victoria Room. So plush and posh.

We shared dessert - I had the privilege of choosing them. A divine rose pannecotta with strawberries. So light and creamy, and just sweet enough. It was my favourite of the two.

And this, an apple tart tatin, which I adored only a millimetre less than the pannecotta. SSG and Sandradee loved it! It was warm and rich, and had a sticky sweet caramel sauce.

Friday night in Sydney was the perfect end to a perfect day. Here's to my friends becoming new friends. You can read Sydney Shop Girl's blog about the girls night out here.