Brain Fuel

This is the current snack centre in our audit room and it has all the essentials (the 4 C's): chocolate, chips, cookies and candy. Absolutely necessary to keep me functioning during the day!

DG

Dim Sum

My mom and I went for dim sum today at the Noodle Express on Rupert (just off King Street). Dim sum (also referred to as yum cha!) is served in the late morning to early afternoons and basically involves ordering small dishes of bite-sized foods and drinking tea. The push-cart style is more fun because the food actually comes to you but at most places you'll just make your picks on a sheet which is actually more practical because you don't have to be on the lookout for your favorites (and there's no peer pressure to order more once you're full). 

I'm a dumpling girl so they are always my first choice (seafood and shrimp dumplings pictured below) but my favorite today were the "Golden Dumpling Buns" (top right in 2nd pic) - little steamed buns with a sweet, custard-y filling. 

Also pictured above are the "Bean Curd Rolls" (top middle) and the "Taro Root Cake" which were both awesome. In Cantonese the word "dim" means "dot" or "order" in English and "sum" means "heart" - so you could say that the literal translation of the phrase is "order from the heart". Great advice, I always do!

DG

By the coffee station...

Absolutely nothing makes my day more than going to grab my morning coffee at the office and finding a sweet surprise awaiting!

Happy Friday!

DG

Thai Cooking Class

Today is our third day in Chiang Mai (and Aimee's last day with us!!) and we all decided to sign up for a Thai cooking class which are highly recommended on the things to do in Chiang Mai. It started off with a tour of a local market where we learned about some of the key ingredients in Thai cooking. 

Then we went back to the centre and got right into the cooking! Everyone got to choose one dish from four different categories (noodles/rice, curry paste & curry, stir-fry, and dessert). You are given all the ingredients on a tray and then have to mix up the sauces and chop up the vegetables before frying it all up in the wok. 

But the best part was obviously eating the finished product! We would cook one dish and then sit down to eat it so there was a little break between each dish and we got a chance to sample eachother's work. I made the pad see uw (fried thick rice noodle) with chicken, green curry with chicken, priwe wan (sweet & sour mixed vegetables) and the mango with sticky rice. 

We did the half-day morning course (4 hours) at the Thai Kitchen Centre (www.thaikitchencentre.com) and I would give it full marks. They did a really good job of making you feel like a MasterChef, the kitchen had a nice set-up, and all the instructors were very helpful. We had so much fun, learned something new, and got to eat...a lot - so basically it was a great day!

DG

Pad Thai in Bangkok

We just arrived in Chiang Mai after spending approximately 18 hours in Bangkok. We stayed on Khaosan road and, despite not getting to our hostel till 2am, still managed to take in some of the action on the streets. Of course, I had to sample some of the street food because it is sooo cheap and I know that eating should be driven by hunger, not availability, but sometimes I can't help myself. Also, Khaosan road has, in my opinion, the best deal in Bangkok - pad thai with egg for 30 baht ($1).

Probably the best pad thai you will ever eat in your life and definitely worth every baht. You know you're in Thailand when you're eating pad thai, in a tuk tuk, on the way to a ping pong show. 

DG

Thai suki

We left the island of Ko Phi Phi today and are currently in the Phuket airport waiting to board our flight to Bangkok. While killing a few hours in Phuket town on our way back from Ko Phi Phi we stumbled upon this place - MK Restaurant (www.mkrestaurant.com) - which is apparently "the most favorite restaurant in Thailand". They serve Thai-style suki - a spin on Japanese sukiyaki which is a soup served in Japanese hot pot style with a spicy sauce for dipping. Hot pot is both a delicious meal and a fun activity because you get to add the ingredients to the broth and watch the soup come to life in front ot you! We chose an assortment of vegetables (mostly greens and different types of mushrooms), shrimp cake wrapped in seaweed, green egg noodles and a few raw eggs to cook in the broth. 

This soup was a welcome change of pace from all the rice and curries and fried dishes we've been eating a lot of in Thailand - it's like the Asian-version of a big salad because you get a good-sized helping of vegetables and it has a light, fresh taste. It was a great find on an otherwise uneventful day of lugging our backpacks around and trying to find a good Wifi connection. 

DG

Mango sticky rice

Despite all the curries and pad thais and everything else I ate in Thailand - the one I still think about all the time is the mango sticky rice. First of all, Thai mangoes are really good (a bit sweeter than the kind we get back home) and mango is one of my favorite fruits - so already we're off to a good start. But the best part is the coconut milk which is drizzled over the mango and sweet, sticky rice. Although you can find it on a lot of menus it is way better from the street vendors and will only set you back around 50 baht (~$1.60) so you have to keep your eyes peeled. Ashley spotted this little guy on our way to the beach yesterday and it looked just like the mango sticky rice I had been dreaming about. 

Dreams do come true!

DG

Prata

Just spent a busy 2 days, 1 night in Singapore and I felt like I was on an episode of the Amazing (Food) Race! I was able to catch up with a few old friends on our first day including kaya toast, Yong Tau Fou, and prata.  A roti prata (roti means "bread" and prata means "flat") is the Singaporean spin-off of an Indian flatbread that more closely resembles a crepe because it is rolled out super thin and can be filled with either eggs, cheese, onion, mushrooms, etc. There is also a sweet variety such as the chocolate and banana prata. 

Once the filling is added the dough is folded over and fried on both sides so it is a little bit crispy. My favorite is the egg & cheese prata because it is more savoury than the plain version but doesn't take away from the delicious taste and texture of the prata dough itself. It is served with a little bowl of curry sauce for dipping. 

There was a great little prata place close to my old apartment in Singapore and my roommate Cara and I tried to convince the owner to move to Winnipeg and open up a restaurant. Although he did add Cara as a friend on Facebook, we're still waiting on that prata place. 

DG

Nasi Campur

It's our last day in Indonesia and we are back in Bali - this is very upsetting to me because I was just starting to discover some of my favorite local dishes. Nasi campur (which means "mixed rice" in Indonesian) is one of my them - the name is self-explanatory as it is essentially rice with an assortment of vegetables and meats or tofu. It's right up my alley because I can never decide what to order and this way I don't have to! The version I had last night was vegetarian and it came with pickled vegetables, tofu curry, Balinese salad, potato patties, sweet tempeh and rice crackers. 

My favorite part is the tempeh which is a soybean patty, fried or grilled, and served in a variety of ways but commonly chopped up into little pieces as above (between the rice crackers and the potato patties). I also tried the satay tempeh (grilled and topped with peanut sauce) as seen below. I was introduced to tempeh at the night market on Gili Trawangan and I just love it - it can be a bit spicy but its crunchy texture is so satisfying. 

I love it and I'm going to miss it so much. When I get home I'm going to hide tempeh recipes in my mom's Chinese cookbooks and hope she takes the hint. 

DG

Seafood BBQ

Our days on the island of Gili Trawangan are basically structured around our next meal. We wake up and have breakfast at our hotel. Then we'll do a little activity like snorkelling or biking until we're hungry at which time we'll have lunch. After lunch it's shower & relaxation time until we're all prettied up and ready to source out some dinner. Ya, it's not a bad life. Yesterday, after a long afternoon of biking (/pushing our bikes through sand) we had dinner at this restaurant on the beach that had a large balcony overlooking the water. 

We've been eyeing the barbeque seafood for a few days now as there are several places along the main road with grills and fresh seafood set up on the street trying to entice passerbys. A common theme at our dinner table is for one person to announce their order and a second person to say "Me too!" and then "Me three!" and then Ashley will say "Same!". We all had the seafood kebab which had prawns, calamari and salmon - it was fantastic. 

Every day I am reminded how extremely fortunate I am to be able to live this life and have such wonderful company to share it with. :)

DG

Gili Night Market

Last night we went to the night market on Gili Trawangan which is filled with food vendors selling a variety of local dishes. You can buy 10 satay skewers for $1 and a whole grilled fish for $3.50. Some people get a thrill from extreme sports like skydiving or bungee jumping - I get it from eating street food. There are so many cheap, delicious options it gives me an adrenaline rush just thinking about what I'm going to eat tomorrow. 

Ashley and I both had shrimp skewers and rice with a selection of three vegetable dishes topped off with a peanut sauce ($2.50/plate)

Loved this!!! It's funny how seeing a rat in a restaurant back home would freak me out but the numerous stray cats wandering around the night market didn't phase me for one second. It's all relative, right? 

DG

Indonesia

We just checked into our hotel on the island of Gili Trawangan which is about an hour by boat from Bali (or 2 hours if you're on the "fast" slow boat) and we are in love with this place. The island is small (3km long and 2km wide) and the best part about it is that there is no motorised transport, only bicycles and horse carts, which is a far cry from Kuta on Bali where you are constantly dodging motorbikes. 

We wandered down the main road to find a little beachside restaurant to enjoy our first meal in paradise. The four of us make perfect travel companions because we all love to eat, we have very similar tastes in food, and our mommas taught us how to share! Today we picked three different seafood dishes: a seafood BBQ platter which had grilled prawns, calamari and fish (bottom right), sauteed prawns in a marinara-esque sauce (bottom left), and pan-fried calamari stuffed with shrimp + fish cooked in an apple curry sauce (top centre). 

Grab a fork and dig in - that's our style. 

DG

Sushi, sushi, sushi

Currently in the Brisbane airport waiting to board our flight to Bali. We came directly from the Sunshine Coast where we spent out last weekend in Australia. It's bittersweet to be leaving because we loved it here but we're definitely excited for the next part of this adventure!

In the top 5 "Things I Will Miss About Brisbane" is the low-priced, widely available sushi joints - it's like fast food here. You can't walk more than five minutes within the Brisbane CBD without passing a sushi place and any sushi roll is between $2 to $3. We probably had sushi at least once a day while in the city because in a  death match between sushi and any other type of fast food - sushi wins every time! It's just so good and we can't get it like that back home. 

I will miss you, sushi. You were always there for me when I needed you and you never disappointed me. Let's keep in touch. Xo

DG

Mackers

McDonald's (or "Mackers" in Aussie speak) can be found anywhere in the world which is very convenient when travelling because you can always count on them for a public bathroom or free Wifi. The menu is mostly the same but there are usually a few items that seem to be catered to the local market - as a nice reminder of where you are in the world! Ever since the first day we arrived here I've been wanting to try the lamb burger even though I'm not much a of meat-eater and have only tried lamb a few times but for some reason this burger just spoke to me. Time was running out since it is now our third last day in Australia so when I saw those golden arches on our walk this morning I decided to go for it. 

I could only manage about half of the burger because it was absolutely massive but I really enjoyed it - the egg and beetroot on top of the lamb patty was a nice touch. 

Truth be told, I didn't feel super great about myself about ten minutes after this picture was taken - still, I have no regrets.

DG

Queen St. Market

Today Sonja and I went to the farmer's market that are held every Wednesday on Queen St. and it was SO much fun.  We went from shop to shop tasting everything that was offered to us including kangaroo jerky which Sonja actually bought (at a bargain price, of course!). 

For an appetizer, we had a skewer of deep-fried cheese stuffed olives. The shopkeeper informed us that the olives could last up to three days - Sonja and I just burst out laughing and responded "um, no actually they can't!"

 

Next, it was time for our main course. We saw this man making this bread roll thingy that intrigued us. I believe it is called "Kürtos Kalács" or a "chimney cake" which is a Hungarian pastry that can be either sweet or savory - we went with savory and had the cheese and olive variety. Delicious!

Finally, it was time for dessert. We have been wanting to try a "lamington" ever since we got to Australia because we have been told that it is somewhat of a traditional Aussie dessert. It is a sponge cake that is coated in chocolate and coconut - dece. 

All in all, it was a great morning - we left feeling happy and full and wondering if you can ship kangaroo jerky back to Canada? 

DG

The Sanitarium

Ashley had to go back to work today so we met her for lunch at the "Kitchen Sanitarium" (www.kitchensanitarium.com.au) because she has been raving about their curry. The word "sanitarium" refers to "an institution for the preservation or conservation of health". Interesting...so basically it's like an asylum for food-a-holics like me. Perfect. 

We all got the same thing (typical) - the curry special which was a Red Curry with Sweet Potato, Corn & Chickpeas.

DG

Falafel

Currently on the bus back to Brisbane and feeling very satisfied with our weekend in Byron Bay. We had beautiful weather, Sonja got to fulfill her surfer girl dream, and we got to try so many delicious foods - there was so much to choose from! In the span of three days we sampled Mexican, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Today we did Middle Eastern because every time we walked down the main road to the beach there was this lovely young lady offering falafel ball samples and after three days of "Oh! What's this?" and "Sure, we'd love to try a falafel ball!" we figured she was probably on to us so we decided to pay our respects. 

We shared the "Mediterranean platter" from this little Middle Eastern restaurant called "Orgasmic". It came with falafel balls, pita bread, hummus, tahini, baba ganoush, salsa, and an assortment of salads. 

You know you've really enjoyed your meal when...

DG

Bar & dumplings

Last night we went for dinner at The Brunswick Social which is a bar and dumplings house in the Fortitude Valley neighborhood in Brisbane - um, what genius came up with this concept??? 

I think Sonja's face pretty much sums it up. 

DG

Sek Fan

In Cantonese the phrase "let's eat" is translated as "sek fan" which literally means "eat rice". That's how much Chinese people love rice - it's like they couldn't even imagine a time when they would be eating and not be eating rice.

Here is a selection of Sunday night dinners courtesy of my mom, Masterchef. 

DG