Oh my, but it is a BAD sign when you can't remember your own URL. So anyways, I'm back. It's been 6 months since I last posted! What a terrible blogger I am. I've gotten a couple of international trips under my belt in that time that I'm planning to post proper entries on in the near future. In the meantime, I've been looking at my passport wistfully and thought I would post some pictures here, because maybe you're like me and love the look of stamps? Haha.
Voila mon passport. (By the way, if this makes you think of "Foux du Fafa", we are now best friends.) I bought the passport holder from YesStyle many moons ago - in fact, I think I blogged about it? Maybe not on this blog, maybe on one of my other abandoned children :/
The actual cover. I always keep my Suica and my last Japan boarding pass in here because I have a weird notion that maybe I'll need to fly to Japan at a moment's notice and need my Suica? As for the boarding pass, I can't explain that. Superstition?
I was going to post a picture of my ID page but decided against it on the ground that a) I hate the photo so very, very much; and b) I remember reading something once about terrorists stealing passport numbers through the internet or something. Mostly the photo thing, though. I think next time I'll just take it myself. The good people at Australia Post are lovely but they're not great at making you look like Not A Swamp Beast.
Memories! This was the first overseas trip that Ant and I took together, and Ant's first time in Japan. My goodness I was so happy. We flew in and out of Narita that trip (obvs) but we also went to Kyoto by shinkansen and did some day trips around Kansai.
This page cracks me up. "We are French we will just stamp wherever we damn well please, even if it makes everything illegible." Also on this page, a bundle of Singapore entries. Some of these were actual trips, one is just a day pass in transit to Japan. It was Ant's birthday that day and we thought we'd go to a qualifying session of the Formula 1, seeing as how we were there. But as it turns out, standing room tickets? $400 per person. For QUALIFYING. Seriously, Singapore? So instead we just did what we always do and ate a whole bunch of char kway teow.
Another trip to Singapore, and a couple of Europe stamps - immigration into Schipol last year (which is a GREAT airport, by the way) and leaving Venice back in 2009. That was actually awesome because we got a free upgrade to business class! Huge blessing because we were travelling with Ant's sister Ruth and her husband Trav, who were pregnant and freakishly tall, respectively. Trav is still freakishly tall.
Aww, these trips. The left one was a trip with a bunch of friends who were all in Japan for the first time. The second one was a church trip, and the immigration guy flipped through my passport while idly commenting "しきりに来ます" (you come here often). And I was like "もちろん、日本が大好きです！" (of course, I love Japan!), and then he stopped what he was doing and bowed super deep to me and told me he was sincerely grateful. It's not often I get weepy before I'm even in the country, but that guy managed.
Dubai. This was a 24 hour transit on my first trip to Italy. I can't really recommend Dubai based on my limited experience with it, though I sure do love Middle Eastern food. Emirates put us up in a transit hotel for free, and buffet at the restaurant was damn fine. I was very dubious about it (I mean come on, free food is almost never good food) but it was actually fantastic. The ful medames was probably the best I've ever had.
My San Marino visa! One of my travel goals is to go to all the European microstates. So far I've done San Marino and the Vatican (who don't stamp your passport, boo). I have Andorra, Lichtenstein, Malta and Monaco to go, and I'm hoping to get at least Monaco (maybe Andorra too) crossed off next year. KL stamp is just because you have to clear customs, retrieve your bags then check in again if you have a connection through the KLIA LCCT. Shortest time I've ever legally spent in another country - around about 20 minutes before going through immigration again.
Last year's cherry blossom trip (blogged!), and entry to Rome from my first Italian trip. That trip is unlikely to be retroactively blogged because that was during The Fat Years and I try to pretend most of that never happened.
This year's stuff. Into Haneda on New Year's Day! I got to say "あけましておめでとうございます！" to the immigration guy, who was quite surprised and chuffed about it. Hee. The KL stamps are for a free (!) trip to KL that I won (!!) on Facebook (!!!) from AirAsia. I'll blog about this soon.
It's another (slightly dumb) travel goal of mine to pick up Japan entry visas from all of their international airports. (OK, it's a seriously dumb goal.) So far I have Narita terminals 1 and 2, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka. I've also travelled domestically to Chitose, but no stamp there.
...ok I just googled to find out how many more I have to go and it turns out A LOT, because a lot of the small airports have flights to Korea, Taipei and Shanghai. Revised goal! All of Japan's first class international airports? That just leaves Chubu, but I don't know how likely it is that I'll ever fly into Nagoya :/ Maybe this is a goal I won't achieve. Never mind.
And lastly a lonely stamp right up the back from Australian immigration. What the heck, guys? Everyone else puts their stamps in the first handful of pages but you aim for the very back? TBH I don't mind because I don't get AU stamps now that they've introduced SmartGate technology for AU passport holders.
So that's that for now. I have another ski trip in Japan already booked for the end of this year/start of next (in and out through Narita; maybe I should change to Chubu? Hahahahahaha.) More excitingly, Ant surprised me by planning a trip to Paris for our 10th anniversary next year T______________T He wanted to just surprise me by taking me to the airport but he decided that it would be better if we planned it together. He's been secretly learning French!!!!! I was really very moved T_____________________T So there's that too :D
Coming up soon! Japan ski trip last January! KL trip a couple weeks ago!
I have so much going on all of a sudden! I'm still recovering from my tooth op - stitches are still very sore :( - but I've been busy busy! In no real order, here are the best things going on right now:
Went to a wedding on the weekend which was lovely and moving. Congrats Erin and Dave! A quick shot of Ant and I between the ceremony and reception:
Booked tickets to JAPAN in January!!!! Going skiing with some friends in Sapporo. I've never been to Hokkaido and it's been a dream of mine for a while so I'm really excited :D
Last but definitely not least, I have a new niece!! Ruthie suspected that she would arrive early and she did! She was born just after midnight this morning. Her name is Ruby Eleanor, which I LOVE. I'm going to see her for the first time after work today! Yay yay yay :D
Be warned - this post is full of nasty medical descriptions that may put a few people off. If you are sensitive to that sort of thing (Dad) then maybe just enjoy this video of Maru the cat instead:
For those of you interested in gore and photos of my blown-up face, read on.
OK, here's a blow-by-blow account.
Day 1
I don't have to go into the hospital until 11.30am so I'm quite edgy (the builders outside woke me at 6.30, otherwise I would have slept in a little more.) I'm allowed to have breakfast of a slice of toast with Vegemite (no butter), black tea and a glass of orange juice at 7.30am, along with my medications (antibiotics and anti-inflammatories). 9.30am I'm allowed 1/4 cup of clear liquid - water, apple just, iced tea or (ew) flat lemonade. I go with water.
I tidy the house. What else is there to do? I blog the Rochelle Adonis entry, fold the laundry, have some prayer, take a really long shower. I end up spending a long time grooming and I hope that they don't read too much into it. I make sure that I redraw the dot for where my IV drip has to go, and then put a seriously stylish hiking sock over that arm to keep my veins nice and puffy. I'm already feeling pretty anxious about it all :(
11.15am Ant comes home and we go to the hospital. I've chosen Mercy Hospital, a small private one five minutes drive from home. Better make that health insurance pay for itself, right? (Actually it is paying for quite a lot - all the hospital fees, most of the anaesthesia, a good wallop of the surgical fees. I'm still going to be quite a bit out of pocket, though.) I sign in at admissions, give Ant a somewhat lingering hug, and he leaves.
1.30pm. I'm still in the waiting room because the lady occupying my bed is taking a long time to recover. I'm damned hungry, and seriously parched :( The admissions nurse takes me through to an office to double-check my paperwork and give me a pill. She sends me back to the slightly nicer waiting room on the discharge side. I have a recliner lounge now. Wish I'd brought a book.
2.15pm. Finally they take me through to my room. By now I've watched the morning news hour, an episode of Ellen, and most of an episode of The View. I don't understand the popularity of shows that are on during the day.
The nurse shows me to my bed and preps the one-size-fits-all hospital gown for me. It does not fit all. The neckline is wider than my shoulders. I spend time origami-ing it behind me to avoid any awkward moments. She comes back, gives me some more medicine (definitely a trap, looked like water but was the most bitter thing I've ever tasted) and puts some numbing cream over my drip site. She leaves again. I really, really wish I'd brought a book. I resort to reading the hospital information guide. Not even as interesting as hotel information guides, and that's really saying something.
I should take this opportunity to point out that everybody I dealt with at the hospital was exceedingly nice and concerned for my well-being. I'm not upset that I had to wait around for ages - complications happen in this sort of work.
There's no clock visible but I think about half an hour goes by before they come and wheel me over to the theatre pre-op room. There are three other people in the pre-op room with me and they're all seniors. One man is having a hip replacement, a lady is having two knee reconstructions, and the lady next to me is asleep but I think is also having some sort of leg work. I feel sort of guilty for being nervous about my comparatively minor work.
My anaethetist's assistant comes to see me and wheels me through into the operating theatre. He's SUPER chatty and friendly, and calls me "darling" a lot. Confirm he usually works with old ladies. Hahahaha. They wheel my bed next to the operating table and tell me to scoot over to it. I am pretty sure that I accidentally flash my underpants at several people but they are all pro about it and pretend not to notice. My surgeon walks by and assures me he will do an excellent job. Of course he'd say that, but I choose to believe him.
The chatty assistant covers me with blankets and a seriously nifty hot air pad. Apparently being under anaesthetic causes you to lose the ability to warm yourself. Interesting! He says that women having Caesarean sections get anaesthesia on the bottom half only, so their top halves shiver uncontrollably without being properly rugged up. He then starts placing heart rate monitors on me, and without any warning peels my gown down to my waist to put some on my lower ribcage. The medicine they gave me earlier must have been a sedative because I manage not to shout WHOA THERE COWBOY at him. He places the monitors quickly and covers me up again. Again the pro theatre staff act like they don't notice. I guess they see this sort of thing a dozen times a day.
My anaethetist comes over and puts my drip in. It hurts a bit, but I'm a regular blood donor and it's not too different to that. Chatty man puts an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose and starts stroking my forehead. I'm surprisingly pretty calm already, but it's nice to feel reassured. The anaethetist fiddles with my arm for around 10 seconds more and then says "ok sleepytime now." My arm feels ice cold. That's the last thing I notice.
I come to in the recovery room. I'm back on my bed. Who moved me? My eyesight is funny but I assume it's the oxygen mask, which has ridden up a bit. I try to wiggle it down to where it was but they think that in my drug-addled state I'm trying to take it off entirely, and pull my hands off it. A few minutes later they wheel my back to my room.
The surgeon comes by for another 20 seconds to say that it all went well, there was no damage to my nerves, and I'm going to recover just fine. That's a nice thing to hear, because my various x-rays showed that the roots of my teeth were pushing the nerve canal up against my jawbone, and there was a pretty good chance that the nerves would get bruised and I'd have (potentially permanent) loss of sensation in parts of my face. My surgeon, as it turns out, really is as good as he claims to be.
The nurse takes off my oxygen mask at this point, unties the ice pack around my jaw, and removes the packs in my mouth. Two things are immediately apparently to me - my tongue is numb (like when you wake up after having your mouth open all night, and it's dried out? However mine is not dry, it's local anaesthetic) and, more worryingly, my eyesight issue was not caused by the mask after all :( Each eye works fine if I close the other one, but I have double vision with them both open. I tell the nurse and she seems quite worried but tells me to wait half an hour and see how it goes. She gives me a bucket to spit blood into while she's gone. My mouth is so numb I don't even know that I"ll feel it pooling in there. I hope fervently not to be drooling blood when she gets back.
She comes back later and nothing has changed. She goes off to call the anaethetist. He hedges his bets and says to call him first thing tomorrow if it's not better. I compensate by only using one eye at a time. It's exhausting, and more than a little bit scary. The nurse tells me that she's off to have a quick dinner while I rest a bit more, and after that she'll walk me to the toilet, and if that's OK she'll call Anthony to take me home.
She comes back to carry my IV bag into the toilet for me. My body feels fine, even sprightly, but I stumble a bit because of the eyesight thing. I don't actually need to use the bathroom since I haven't had any liquid in 9 hours at this point, but she insists that I can't go home until I do. I humour her. I also try to have prayer about my eyesight while I'm in there but my tongue is so numb I can't talk. The nurse takes me back to bed and pulls out my drip. It squirts some of my blood on her shirt. Normally I'd be horrified but apparently my judgment is impaired because I laugh at her instead :( I feel pretty immediately awful because she's been so nice to me. She doesn't seem too worried by the blood or the laughter. She's even nice enough to say that she's impressed by how little my mouth is bleeding. She lets me get dressed, and then I lie down again until Ant arrives.
He comes about 20 minutes later and has the good grace not to laugh at how enormous my face is, but he does point out that I'm already developing a nasty bruise on both sides of my face. D'oh. The nurse gives me a showbag with some syringes to wash my tooth sockets with, an instruction manual, and a jar with the teeth in it. I wonder if the tooth fairy still makes house calls? I could use some money to cover the operation :X Ant signs a piece of paper to say that he is a responsible adult (dubious) and they let us go. I tell him about my double vision, which is really starting to stress me out. I feel like it's probably related to the local anaesthetic, but they've told me that will take at least 12 hours to wear off, and I can't wait that long.
We get home and I get into bed. Ant fetches me an ice pack to wrap around my face. He has some prayer for me and the double vision disappears instantly. Phew. Thank you God. I'm feeling pretty good at this point, though I can't talk without serious discomfort, so I grab my computer and start emailing him instead. I email my family and tell them that things are ok. I choke down a tiny bit of food to take my medication with, and go to sleep.
Day 2
My face feels HUGE as soon as I wake up. I stagger into the bathroom and sure enough it is. Remember this photo from last week's skincare post?
Remind me never to complain about my jawline again, because here's how it is now:
Not clearly visible are the huge bruises on both sides of my face. (You can sort of see the purple-y grey on my left cheek, but I assure you it is much more hideous in person.) Ant makes me an iced coffee so I can have my medication. The swelling is pretty painful so I take a panadol too, then put on my ice packs. They make me look like I'm convalescing in a Jane Austen novel:
Hahahaha so pathetic.
So anyway the local anaesthetic has well and truly worn off. Pros: the inside of my mouth feels pretty normal, and I can move my tongue and swallow ok. Cons - my cheeks feel like I've been hit around the face with a baseball bat. I think it's to do with the stitches as much as anything. Take some Panadol and cross my fingers. Quite amazingly I seem to have zero bleeding - no stains on my pillow or anything. Coughing up a little bit of bloody mucus but I think it is from yesterday during the operation.
I email my boss the picture of my swollen cheeks to invite sympathy for all the sick leave I'm taking, and start composing this blog post. I spend 20 minutes trying to decide if the word "convalescing" is what I'm after.
I make Ant buy me some Panadeine as the Panadol is really not cutting the pain in my cheeks at all. Also my crappy freezer is not getting the ice packs particularly cold, unfortunately.
I play Pokemon White 2 for hours. Picked Oshawott as my starter as I had Smugleaf in White. I try to get a freebie Genesect but I can't remember our Wifi password. Dohhhhh.
One interesting thing is that I have zero appetite whatsoever, and considering I am such a glutton normally, this is somewhat of an improvement. I'm forcing myself to eat so that I can take medication. Perhaps I really will lose weight out of this like I've been joking.
Day 3
My bruises are HUGE and purple. Look like a domestic violence victim :( Also I'm feeling really queasy today and am sick a number of times. Can't be bothered blogging. Feel like I'm going to pass out around midday and end up sleeping for hours despite the loud building work going on right outside the bedroom window.
I have been rinsing my mouth out every hour with salt water as prescribed by the surgeon and it seems like I might be getting an infection on one side. I'm running a nasty fever and have this constant feeling of bile in my throat. Ant reminds me that I said this was going to be a fun and relaxing week. He's lucky that I feel so rotten or else I'd throw something at him. I go to sleep early.
Day 4
Feeling MUCH better this morning. Fever is gone and the swelling in my cheeks has decreased so much that I can actually open my mouth a little bit. Sort of wish I hadn't, though - it's now apparent to me that the bruises on my cheeks are actually the less-awful back of the ones inside my mouth. They're black. It's revolting.
Ant makes me some very soft scrambled eggs for breakfast. I highly recommend getting a husband who makes good scrambled eggs. His eggs really are excellent.
I've lost three kilos since Monday. I still feel like I'm retaining a litre of water in my face, so perhaps we can call it 1kg per tooth?
Decide to upload this entry now as the recovery process is likely to make for even more boring reading. I'll edit it if anything noteworthy happens.
My darling sister-in-law Ruthie is about three weeks away from giving birth to her second child, so the lovely Ishi suggested that we take her out for high tea at Rochelle Adonis in Northbridge.
Oh. My. Goodness.
The food at this place is AHMAHHHHHZING.
Before food shots, though, here's a nice photo of the three of us:
Nice right? Ant took it for us sitting on the bed. (Please excuse my dopey face I was quite tired.)
Okie dokie. Shots at Rochelle Adonis.
General ambience shots before the food arrives. It's a very sweet little shop with a mismatched collection of vintage china and silverware. It's really small so bookings are essential. (Dunno why all my shots seem so dingy on upload. The lighting wasn't great where we were sitting, but I didn't think it was that bad.)
Savoury course arrives!
There's mushroom pie on celeriac puree, a Moroccan lamb meatball with slow-cooked vegetables, a sort-of insalata Caprese (but cooked so that it is safe for preggy ladies, v. thoughtful) and a fish croquette with aioli.
More of the same. Included this shot to explain how I nearly came to drink salad dressing whilst distracted by conversation - that serving dish is easily mistaken by your hand for a water glass, right? Anyway the food was incredible. My favourite is probably the mushroom pie but it's all a pretty close competition. However having said that, for me it all paled in comparison to the desserts *^^*
Strawberry sorbet palate cleanser before the dessert platter arrived. Here it is!
That shot doesn't do justice to the majesty of the desserts, so here's one I pinched from Ish's instagram *^^*
Yum yum yum. Thanks Ish! Time for individual portraits and explanations:
Top row: chocolate churros with chocolate ganache; rhubarb tart with orange and pistachio
Bottom row: strawberry and buttermilk pannacotta; salted caramel sundae on baklava
For me the big winner of the day was the salted caramel sundae. It looks quiet and unassuming but I assure you that it was heaven in a cup. I wish I had a jar of that salted caramel sauce with me right now, and a big spoon *^^* I was seriously contemplating using my fingers to dig out every last little bit of sauce from the bowl, it really was that good.
So after dessert we rolled back to my place and lounged around for a while which was really nice :) I don't have girlfriends over to my house very much for some reason! So it was really lovely to have the girls come round. Thanks so much to Ish for coming up with the idea, and to Ruth and her belly for being a nice excuse to hang out and eat yummy food :)
*****
Off to have my teeth out in a couple of hours :X Do not wanttttttttt.
Mango season is coming! I read that the first box of Northern Territory mangoes was sold yesterday, which means in just a few short weeks I will be in mango heaven. I hope it's a good season! (As an aside - used to hate mangoes. Hate hate hate. Then one day, very suddenly, I started loving them, as well as a whole bunch of other foods I used to despise - olives, feta cheese, coffee, dolmades, canned beetroot, etc etc. I was seventeen, I think. Who knows what clicked in my brain to change it all? Still can't stand rocket.)
ANYWAY.
I'd already been craving mango sticky rice since I saw it in Xiaxue's blog post about Thailand like two months ago. Reading about mangoes in the news was the final straw so I decided to just go ahead and use the tinned stuff. It's not as good, but it's not bad. Presenting Hayley's Mango Sticky Rice Recipe!
You will need:
1 can coconut milk, ~1/2 cup worth. I like Ayam brand. Mostly that their product is good, but partly the chicken logo.
1 1/2 cups glutinous rice
Mango slices (no brand loyalty here, this is what they had at the Asian market. This was tasty though.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
water
Add rice and 2 cups water to a large pan. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low until water is absorbed.
Done!
Meanwhile, bring sugar, coconut milk and 1/2 cup water to the boil. Remove from heat.
Once the rice has absorbed the water, stir the coconut mixture through. Allow to cool for 1 hour (or a bit less if you're greedy.)
Looks hideous, tastes delicious. Brutto ma buono.
Serve with mango slices and eat! Fresh mango slices are much, much better - these were really not hitting the spot.
Look, I even arranged it nicely. Wouldn't have done that if I wasn't planning to blog it.
You can make a sauce of thickened coconut milk to top this with but I don't bother. Also I would normally garnish with sesame seeds but apparently I'm all out. Phooey.
Serves at least 4, depending on portion size. The one above is not the whole batch! I'm a glutton, but I'm not THAT gluttonous.
PS Don't you think it's fascinating how many disparate food cultures have recipes for rice pudding? There are Middle Eastern versions with rosewater, arroz con leche and all its derivatives throughout Central and South America, Scandinavian risalamande, a vast number of Central/South/South-East Asian variants, and all the European versions. Is rice pudding the thing that unites us all? (Well, except Africa, unless they do a version there I don't know of. I know they have it in Egypt, but it's really the Middle Eastern edition I'm pretty sure.)
I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of the yummy meals we've had recently. Ant and I live in Mount Lawley, which is only a couple of minutes from a dizzying array of excellent food choices in Northbridge and the CBD.
Time for a Perth fact check - Northbridge, so named for being just North of the CBD over the Horseshoe Bridge, is Perth's biggest nightlife district. This means that unless you love being hassled by drunken idiots, you should avoid it after 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. However, it's also where you can find *loads* of excellent (and cheap!) Asian eateries. Up around Brisbane Street there are a lot of Vietnamese places, there's a Chinatown-kinda area between Roe and James St, there are lots of Dim Sum places dotted around, and there's plenty of variety worth trying on William St too. Notable places on William St that get a lot of our money - Shanghai Tea House, Good Fortune Roasting Duck, Tak Chee House, Mela, and (not Asian but) Perth's Best Pizza at Dough. I do not say this lightly, but Dough rivals some of the best pizza I've had in Italy, and trust me, we are *very* picky about pizza.
I don't have photos from all of the places mentioned above, because I'm quite greedy and tend to dive in and forget to take photos when food arrives *^^* But I shall endeavour to do better in future and write another one of these soon!
Starting in the CBD with Pepper Lunch! They are a Japanese chain (quite popular in Singapore I think) that opened a Perth branch a few months ago. I always order the Beef Pepper Rice with added cheese:
Left is how it arrives, right is after a minute of stirring. The metal plate is sizzling hot - I think it's magnetic induction? - so you can cook your meat to your liking at the table. There's yummy garlic butter hidden inside the rice that melts as you stir it up. I add the cheese because I like the texture it adds (and I like the flavour of burnt cheese *^^*) Ant often orders the J Curry Hamburger:
It's a nice, fairly mild curry flavour. Ain't no Pepper Rice though *biased* But srsly if you like Japanese curry you will definitely enjoy this dish.
Sticking with the CBD we have Zensaki on Barrack Street. Again I am quite predictable and usually order the same thing whenever we visit. Here is Hokkaido Butter Corn Ramen:
Usually comes with a slotted spoon for the corn, as well it should! The soup broth here is very good. This is the place I usually go for ramen in Perth now. I used to prefer Arigataya on Roe St but I had a couple of dodgy meals there early in the year. I think they are under new management now so I will have to give them another try.
Also in the CBD, Burger Bistro. This is the Emmental burger, and a really good strawberry milkshake:
Quite a nice burger but I still think the Summer Sunset at Grill'd is the best burger you can get in Perth. The milkshake was really quite superb!
Moving up to Northbridge, here's a few shots from the very creatively titled Northbridge Chinese Restaurant on Roe St. This is definitely one of the best dim sum restaurants in Perth as far as I am concerned.
Pictured - watermelon juice, bbq beef pastries, prawn dumplings, steam pork buns, steamed custard buns (very good, nice rich, runny custard). Not pictured from that day - tea, squid tentacles, any of the veggies we ordered, the *super spicy* chilli oil for dipping, chee cheong fun. We were *very* late that day and really just got what was left over from the lunchtime rush, but it was all still super delicious. All out of yam cakes and congee though :( I love that the tablecloths are more like drop sheets haha. They know their customer base pretty well I guess (ie. greedy people).
Next up, the place that we probably go to the most frequently - Hawker's Cuisine in the Chinatown complex on Roe St. (Another contender for Most Creative Name.) I am actually shocked that I don't have many photos, but here's what I do have:
Above we have Nasi Lemak, the ever-present Iced Ribena Lemon, Fuzhou Tofu, Salt and Pepper Squid Tentacles, Hawker's Fried Rice, and rice with Butter Prawns (no shell, I am lazy) and Marmite Chicken. Other things we frequently order but I have somehow never photographed - Mee Kolok, Nasi Goreng Special, Roti Canai (with beef for me and chicken for Ant), and hot milo and teh tarik. Ant gets fried wontons quite a lot too but they have yet to make the Greatest Hits list. This place is not exactly a best-kept secret so you often have to wait for a table.
Speaking of popular places where you often have to wait for a table, Viet Hoa on William St:
Pho and Goi Cuon. I believe this is called a White Person's Order *^^* but it's delicious so I don't mind being predictable.
One (inexplicably yellow) shot from Tak Chee House, which allegedly is Perth's best Hainanese Chicken Rice:
The rice portion is definitely the best - I hate when the rice is not very lemak! - and the chicken is silky enough. I've had better chili padi though. Tian Tian Chicken Rice in Singapore is probably the best chicken and chili padi that I've ever had, but I don't think I've ever had a dish where all the components were amazing. Fussy or what?
Roast duck noodles from Good Fortune Roasting Duck:
These are really very good. Roast duck rice is also excellent. This place is another table queue-er.
Closing out this entry with two places that are actually not in Northbridge or the CBD, but a) I had photos on my phone, b) they were delicious, and c) it's my blog so I can change my own rules mid-entry if I want. Here's a couple things from Tenkadori in Subiaco:
Mixed grill, takoyaki and renkon chips. The takoyaki were for Ant, who is a veritable takoyaki *fiend*. He says they were good but they're no Tako Tako King. Spoilt for life. The renkon chips are really, really good.
Finally for now, breakfast I had one time at cantina 663 in Mt Lawley. Their menu changes very quickly and this was gone within the week :( I'm still cut up about it because if I had my way I'd eat it every weekend:
Vanilla rice pudding with citrus salad, mint and poppy seed mascarpone. Boom. That sound you just heard was me dropping the microphone and walking offstage. OK but seriously this was incredible. I begged them to keep it on the menu but apparently my pleas don't mean that much. I live in hope for the day this returns.
Long entry complete! I will try to get some photos from other places in the near future. Hope this hasn't made you too hungry! (I'm starving now and all I have to eat is yoghurt. Sigh.)
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