Aunty Nene Wants Tacos

Aunty Nene wanted to have tacos and since dad and I weren't familiar with the way she eats hers, it was her turn to make dinner for us. After going around to get all the ingredients the day before, we went out for lunch, got a few more ingredients, then prepared everything for a mini taco buffet. It was the first time Aunty Nene has onions in her beef mince mix as Shane doesn't like onions. It was also the first time she had tacos with avocado and sour cream. In the end, we ate our tacos like we would nacho chips as the taco shells were really crispy and broke up into really small pieces after two bites. Whatever the case, it was a really fun and simple dinner that was really, really tasty. Might just make some when I get back to Singapore. 

Om Nom Nom....

Lunch With Cousin Manouschka

Got into contact with my cousin Manouschka, who was on the tail end of her Australia-wide tour, and we managed to set a time and date to meet. She was living with her God-father and family, which was only a 10-minute bus ride from Fremantle. Somehow, my sister told her that I love Little Creatures, and she suggested that we go there for lunch. I didn't have a problem with that as I did enjoy the food I had there the last time. 

Dad and I managed to get a parking spot and actually made it there a little early. Looking through the menu, the sardines I was looking forward to wasn't on the menu. In the end, dad and I decided on a really plain pizza (like a garlic naan), and some marinated octopus. Manouschka decided on a chilli prawn pizza as she loved prawns, and we ended up just sharing everything as the whole pizza was a bit too much for her alone. I think I might have just found another favourite at this place. 

After lunch, it was a nice slow walk around the Fremantle markets for a little shopping, and I had to get my favourite dark chocolate stuffed donut. 

Om Nom Nom....

We Brought Oxtail Curry & Roti Jala

Dad's ex-colleague, and FFF (Fishing Friend Forever), Alfred, called this afternoon and asked if we would like to head over to his place for dinner. Since we didn't have anything to do, I agreed and said we'd bring some of the oxtail curry we still had. Later on, Alfred called and asked if he needed to cook some rice, but I told him that dad was already making Roti Jala. Alfred made his wonderful roast pork with perfect crackling and the lovely medley of roasted veggies. It was a strange array of food, but everyone had their own way of enjoying everything on the table. 

Om Nom Nom....

Aunty Nene Craves Nasi Briyani

Aunty Nene asked if we have been to any place in Perth that has good Nasi Briyani, and since I don't really come here for Asian food, I couldn't name a place. In the end, dad and I decided to make Nasi Briyani instead and thought of making some curry to go with it. While we were looking for a good meat to use, we found some really lovely oxtail and decided an oxtail curry would be quite nice. We also had a few fruits and vegetables at the house that needed to be used and I decided to make a quick pickle with them. Finally, we cooked the rice at Aunty Nene's place and this is what we're having for dinner tonight. 

Om Nom Nom

Roadside Watermelon Patch

While we were heading towards Malaga market the other day, I stopped at a traffic junction and dad got excited about something he saw. He slid the window down and then excitedly exclaimed that there was a huge patch of watermelons hidden in the grass. I took a look and realised he was not just talking about a bunch of watermelon that fell off a truck, but rather a bunch of them growing as they were of different sizes and one was almost yellow. Dad decided he was going to go grab a few of them another day, which meant that I had to drive him back there.

So today I decided to go let him have his pick of watermelon and dropped him off at the junction and then drove back to pick him up. Good thing there were no police patrolling the area while we did it, and no one really bothered with what he was doing either. We ended up getting four melons, and I'm sure he'll go back for more.

Quick, Easy, Satisfying

Dad and I decided to have the lamb shanks for dinner today. Dad had bought some bread for himself and it was perfect to eat with the lamb shanks. I was contemplating having mine with rice or pasta, and I decided to try the instant macaroni and cheese I bought. It was rather easy to make, just add cold water, microwave for four minutes and stir in the powdered cheese mix. It was also tasty, and did go quite well with the lamb shanks, and filling at the same time. Easy, quick and yummy.

Om Nom Nom....

Cheap And Good

Dad and I got a good deal on lamb shanks and decided it would be a nice dinner during this cold weather. After looking at the recipe, we needed some dry red wine and could not find any in the house. So as we were heading out to check out Malaga markets (which was closed), we detoured and we directed to Honeywell shopping village. This place definitely had a big Vietnamese community as little messages were posted in Vietnamese instead of English, and half the stores there catered to the Asian community.

Lucky for us, there was a Cellarbarations outlet there and I went in asking for a dry red wine that I could cook with. The guy there asked what kind of budget I had and I said I wanted a bottle as cheap as possible as it was going into the pot. He pointed out this bottle and it was going at $5.99, great for the budget (that I didn't really set).

As I started cooking, I asked dad to help me open the bottle and he was raving over the smell of it. Finally we decided to give it a taste and found it actually really fruity and perfect for drinking with the lamb shanks rather than for it to go in. However, since I did have some acidic vegetables going in, the fruity wine was a good compliment. Now dad is going to look for more of this wine to have with some cheese instead.

Huge Dog Treats

Dad and I went to Canning Vale markets last Sunday and found some really huge smoked bones for the dogs. Since they were rather good girls and the weather was good for a picnic, they got a huge smoked joint each to chew. They were actually chewing most of the afternoon and only decided to come back into the house when it was too cold to stay out.

Wake Up Call

It's been 2 days since my sis and Brendan left for Europe and left these 2 for us to take care of. They're used to being fed really early in the morning, before my sister leave for work, which is before 7 am usually. Today, I get wet noses in my face, a tail whacking the bed, and then both of them lumping themselves on me in bed by 7.30am. Then when I finally sit up, and I get them both in front of me, giving these faces. 

"I want my breakfast now thanks!"

First Pizzas This Trip

Met up with Shane & Karmei today, and as usual, it was pizza on the menu. There's a pizza that is a combination created by Shane that I like, and I also love the bacon cheeseburger pizza from Dominoes. So whenever we meet up, it's an opportunity to have my favourite pizzas and eat them. There was actually more pizzas than this, but I was too busy eating to remember to take photos. One day I shall try some other bacon cheeseburger pizza, but for now, I'm happy with what I have.

Om Nom Nom...

Noodle Love

Aunty Nene was craving some Kon Lo Mein and we got a pack of it at Coventry Village. We almost got a different pack, but she said the colour just wasn't right, and grabbed this pack instead. I wondered if we would have been disappointed with the other pack, but I guess this pack was shining out to us for a reason. 

These noodles are now one of my favourites and I doubt I can find it back in Singapore, but I shall bring some back. I kept my cooked portion out a little longer as I cleaned up a little after cooking, yet the noodles kept it firm bite and springy-ness. I haven't tried them in a soup dish, but I'm betting they will remind me of my time in Hong Kong when I had Wan Ton Mein which was firm tip the end even though it was in soup for at least 15 minutes.

Om Nom Nom....

Good Deals

While searching for things to do in Australia, I came upon a blog that said something about Drovers giving out free stuff every week. I wondered if they were writing about some other Drovers, but it was the one that was close to my sister's home. So today, after getting some things for dinner, dad and I went to one Drovers before heading back to prepare for dinner, and we finally saw the board showing today's giveaway. This week, it is a kilogram of nicely washed potatoes, good for a pot of leek and potato soup (which was also given out free), or a nice roast dinner. Score!

Porkathon

After we got all the pork yesterday, we stayed home again today and had a pork cooking session. Dad made Bak Kwa, Char Siew and some strange Peking Pork. While I just made good old Pork Ribs ala Mom, and Cincalok Pork. Although only some of it is for today, that was a whole lot of pork, and we had 2 pairs of eyes following us from the couch all the time through preparation. The two dogs were lucky enough to get a few bak kwa corners that were not up to dad's quality control standards, while the rest still needed a few minutes on the charcoal grill. The char siew is mean for char skew pao, but I got a feeling Brendan might eat it all with noodles. 

Now the house smells like a roast meat restaurant. 

Highly Sought-After Finds

Before we even came to Australia, dad and I had been taking about getting pig's blood cubes and cooking it with some pickled mustard vegetable. It was once sold in Singapore, but ever since a change in health and safety standards about twenty years ago, the blood cubes were no longer available. People craving it would travel to Malaysia to get a fix, but the last place I saw it was in Australia, and since we're here, it became one of our missions. 

Since we settled in yesterday, dad and I decided to take the car from my sis and head to Northbridge, the area with quite a few Asian grocers and butchers. We got into one store and the butcher gave us some excuse for not having any blood cubes. We left a little sad, but dad wanted to look for fresh duck as well, and ended up looking in another shop. He then came out with a huge smile and I thought he got some fresh duck, but he said:" Got pork blood! A lot! Big big cubes!", and sent me in to get some. 

Seriously, the cubes were huge!

My Claws Are Out

It's the second day in the house, dad and I decided not to take the car, but rather stay at home get settled in. The house needed a clean up, and dad was happy to wash and sweep, while I tried to cook the head cold away. The house was at a nice temperature, but the floors were cold and didn't help my headache, so out came my claws as a nice padding between my sensitive soles and the icy cold floor. Now I just need to keep the dogs away from chewing my feet. 

Great Meal To Start A Holiday

Dad and I were picked up at Perth International Airport by my sis and she later made a nice roast dinner that was perfect for the cold weather here. The weather wasn't as cold as expected tonight, but the warm dinner was a great meal to start our holiday. 

We had roast potatoes, roast pork and gravy, and cauliflower cheese bake. Surprisingly, this lactose intolerant eater managed to enjoy the creamy cauliflower bake without much issue and I even got a second helping. 

Om Nom Nom....

Last Ramen

Dad and I fly tomorrow and I can't bring my packs of ramen over to finish or at least hide them from the moths, I HAD to eat one pack of ramen. Good thing was that I had one more piece of pork chop from my pork craving a few days back. It was a pack with 2 lumps of noodles, and I knew I had to share it with mom, and made an additional omelette to add more protein. I think I added a little too little water to make the broth as it was quite salty, but it definitely wasn't made with MSG as there wasn't the never-ending thirst that followed after. 

I'm hoping my full belly can help me sleep before the flight....

Pretzels For Mom

As mentioned, mom enjoys a good pretzel, and after finishing the last batch, we decided to try a few variations with some additional ingredients, as well as try our hand at getting them in the typical pretzel twist. We started out with making olive pretzels, then stuffing them with some smoked salmon. Then it was pretzels stuffed with hot dog. Dad was happily scoring all of them and placing them on the tray. Soon, we filled up one tray before I can even start on the twists. So this is batch one, hot out of the oven. 

Asian Salad Wrap

When I feel like having a snack at the hawker centre, I find popiahs the best option, however, finding one that has a good balance of flavours and texture can be quite hard these days. I like my popiahs with lots of garlic, and enough chilli to give a bite but not burn my mouth off, with just a slight amount of sweet sauce that doesn't make it into a dessert. The rest of the filling doesn't really matter much to me, but it is nice if the stewed turnip mix has a nice dried prawn flavour to it. Most importantly is the skin. It has to nice and soft, thin enough not to taste gummy, yet thick enough to hold all the damp mass of fillings. Dad has another criteria too, the vendor needs to know how to cut the popiah right through, which can get frustrating if they are not. 

Today's popiah was at the Kreta Ayer Food Centre, and it's one of the better ones I've had. The benchmark was set by Queenstown Popiah, who still makes the skin, but they've given the stall to a neighbour. The popiahs are still good, but the couple running it is getting old, and this might be a good replacement. 

Money Laundering

I've been hearing coins being swished around in a pot lately and I decided to ask my dad what he was up too, getting up every few hours, swishing coins around in some solution he made quietly in the kitchen. I find out that he's been trying to clean old coins from all the from and tarnish they've accumulated over time.

This little money laundering job did prove useful as Australian, European and English coins were found, just in time for the dog sitting trip. The coins also did look a lot more shiny after their washing.