The Blue Corn, St Kilda

What to do after work on a Friday afternoon? Mexican food and a couple of beers sounds about right to me.

I can't remember the exact name of the dish I had ordered, but it was something along the lines of Slow cooked beef ribs in Sangria (accompanied by Tacos). Here's a picture of the entire meal:

And the close-ups of the yummy goodness!

The tacos tasted fresh and delicious! A great accompaniment to the Sangria beef ribs. The coriander and lime wedge gave an extra kick, refreshing the palate with every bite. The creamy guacamole mellowed out the other flavours quite well.

And now the highlight! I loved the slow-cooked ribs in Sangria. The flavors were punchy, the meat tender, the sauce absolutely delicious. Hmmmm >_< Savoury, tangy and meaty goodness.

What's missing? A beer of course. This time I chose Sol. Wishing they had Modelo though. 

Overall, I enjoyed my visit very much and would definitely love to go back!

Review + Swatches Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Light vs. Essence Silky Touch Blush in Babydoll

In this post we'll be comparing the Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Light and Essence Silky Touch Blush in Babydoll!

*Photos were taken from my iPhone at 2am Melbourne time - will update with photos with different lighting when I have time.

The Rimmel Match Perfection Blush comes in three different colors - I happen to like the one in Light the most, as it seems like a very natural, everyday color.

The packaging is a twist-cap plastic. It's nothing fancy, but that means that it may be a bit more difficult to travel with. 

I talked about this blush a while back in one of my beauty hauls, and I am still loving it! If I have time, I'll use the darkest color to contour my cheekbones a bit, then the pink or peach for the apples of the cheeks. As I'm always running late, I usually just either pick one color to use all over my cheeks, or swirl everything together.

Left: Rimmel Match Perfection in Light

Pigmentation - The blush gives me a pretty, subtle wash of color.It is rather sheer - which is great for when I'm in a hurry (all the time lol)

Texture - The color contains some small shimmers, but on the cheeks, it still looks very natural. It can be a bit powdery sometimes, but still good nonetheless.

Affordability/Price - It's very affordable plus you get 15g of product!    

Longevity, this blush does pretty well on my oily skin, so I would definitely recommend this blush ;)

Now onto the Essence Silky Touch Blush in 20 Babydoll

This blush is a clear plastic and is more compact than the Rimmel one pictured above. 

Color + Pigmentation - It's a watermelon - corally shade with lots of gold shimmers. Very pretty, especially for nighttime. Great pigmentation, and given the shimmers it has, it requires a more careful application. Too bad the pictures don't do the gold shimmers justice at all.

Texture - very silky. For once, the stuff promised on the packaging is true!

Affordability - again, excellent quality for the price. 

Left - Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Light//Right - Essence Silky Touch Blush in 20 Babydoll

Longevity - The color stays on pretty well on my cheeks, but be warned - the shimmers will slip and go pretty much everywhere on your face after a few hours. The dispersed shimmers give you a 'glowy skin' effect like that seen from certain brightening BB creams or foundations. 

All in all, I do like both blushes for different occasions and would recommend both!

xoxo

Another Two Visits to Pappa Rich

Back with yet another food post - will get the haul posts up this week for sure - but in the meantime, more nom nom things :)

I have made two visits to Pappa Rich in the last three weeks' time - each visit ordering two similar dishes to compare. First I tried their Hainan Chicken with Rice Noodles.

Rice Noodles in Dark Soy Sauce (Sweet Type)

The noodles were cooked a tad bit too soft for my liking, which made it rather difficult to eat with the plastic chopsticks. I actually had to stop eating half way through and use fork and spoon instead lol The noodles were sitting on top of a dark sweet soy sauce base and topped with deep fried garlic and fresh chilli. Loved it!

It came with this Hainan Chicken - 

Hainan Chicken in light soy sauce

The chicken pieces were very moist and flavorful, which went really well with the sweet light soy sauce around it. Underneath you'll find thin slices of cucumber, which helps cut through the fat from the chicken skin (though that's the best part lol) and freshen up the palate. This reminds me of the chicken rice in Singapore!

A few days later I ordered Steamed Chicken + Egg Noodles (same Chicken dish, but different noodles this time)

 

This time the egg noodles came in the same sauce and topping, though with the addition of the steamed greens and curry sauce. Personally, I did not think that the curry sauce went with anything seen in the above picture. It just didn't work for me and was taking away from the rest of the dish(es). Other than that, this was delicious. Can't decide which of the two I prefer, to be honest. A two thumbs up for both of these!


xoxo

Taste Baguette @ Monash Clayton

Just after exams were done - and I really mean within 1 hr of having finished all exams, myself and my classmates decided to go try a new Cafe called 'Taste Baguette' located on the main floor of the Menzies Building on Clayton Campus. Our exam was finished at 1 pm so we planned a late lunch.

The atmosphere of the place is nice, and so was the decor, but nothing that stands out from all the other cafes/ restaurants in Melbourne.

There were numerous items on the lunch menu that ranged between $10-$24. I decided to give the Beef Carpaccio with Rocket Salad, Parmesan (I think?), and Truffle Oil a try:

Beef Carpaccio with Rocket Salad, Parmesan and Truffle Oil, $18

At $18 a plate, it wasn't bad. I love Beef Carpaccio anyway, so I am a bit biased in that sense. The combination is a classic, so you can't go wrong with it. Having said that, the only thing which bugged me was the 'truffle oil'. To be exact, I was not able to detect 'truffle' in there at all. The dressing that was used tasted more like olive oil than truffle oil. So in that respect, I was disappointed. But if you're looking for something light and don't want that strong of a truffle scent/taste, then this dish will do just fine.

My friend and I decided to share a side order of chips as well, and this is where I was left more disappointed.

Chips (approx $5 or $7)

We were given a bowl of shoestring fries that were piping hot and moderately salted. Don't get me wrong - this is yummy. But it's just that to me, this wasn't all that different from other chain fast food places where fries cost less than $4 for a large portion.

Am I being picky? Well, maybe. Overall though, it was an okay experience. The verdict? I'd say considering the price, the location and the portion, I'd say

3/5.

xoxo

Part 2 - Food Porn Dining Out: Pancake Parlour, Laurent Bakery, Crown Casino

Here's Part 2 of my food adventures - Dining Out Edition

Pancake Parlour Lunch Special is a dish with chips, potato pancake and fried fish. Yum! And it was less than $12, which isn't that bad :)

The fish itself was cooked nicely, given the number of people at the restaurant that day, I'm glad it wasn't overcooked. The potato pancake was delicious, and so were the thinner crispier pieces of chips! I kind of wished I had ordered the Salad option though. The chips (or fries, actually) were thick cut so they weighed down the meal in general. The potato pancake on its own is a good amount of substance for me, so having both was a bit excessive.

Pancake Parlour: Fish + Chips and Potato Pancake

Onto pastry! This was a pear danish or pear puff from Laurent Bakery.The pastry itself was nice, and the pear was  naturally sweet, so it didn't feel like too much sugar at all - just about right. I like it, although it's not life-changing. The shape is so cute though!

Pear Puff Pastry

After a long night at work, our boss took us to Crown Casino for late night! So I went for a large bowl of noodle soup with crispy pork. Let me first say that I was shocked when I saw the size. It's humungous, like my jaw drops a bit kind of big. There was so much in that one bowl for me that I could not finish everything. The soup and the actual noodles were nice, but I still find that the crispy pork was waaaaaaaaaayyy too salty, unlike how they make it back home in Thailand. Boo. Oh, well. It was still a pretty good meal in general.

Crispy Pork Noodle Soup + Corona, because I can

And what did I have with it? Why ask? A Corona >__< hehe

Alrighty. Off to bed for now (It's 5 am oops). Back tmr with more!

Random Food Pics Part 1- Homemade Edition

I finished all of my exams!! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy so now onto some food porn.

I did a tiny bit of shopping today, but have this funny feeling that I'll go again tmr hahaha that's not a very good sign! I want particular things though - sheer shirts that can be dressed up or down, an A-line skirt, okay and maybe one or two cardigans? hehe

Four posts to come soon - a day at the Races - Caulfield Cup, Shopping Trip, Food Porn (Dining Out Version) and another visit to Shyun in Carnegie.

Beef Bibimbab

Apple, Grape and Spinach Smoothie

Melon and Banana Yoghurt Smoothie

Jjajang Myun

Grilled Chicken Salad and Brown Rice

xoxo

Food Randoms!

Back with some food randoms!

Jjajang Pasta with beef and potatoes + fried egg + salad

Chicken and Veggies stir fry + Avocado + egg + toast

Beef Stroganoff + creamy mashed potatoes

Miso Soup w/ Tomatoes, Spinach, Bacon and Eggs

Long Macchiato + Lemon Merigue Tart

During Interpreting Mock Conference Breaks...

xoxo

Bourjois Special Promotion + HAUL :)

So I was looking for a new waterproof mascara in Priceline when I saw the advertisement in store about the new Bourjois promotion! For a limited time only, if you spend $25 or more, you'll get a free makeup bag with three Bourjois items inside!

So to make that $25 cut-off point, I got two things - the Volume Clubbing Mascara in Waterproof and the So Laque Nail polish in Beige Glamour.

I really wanted to get the Volumizer Mascara that has the two-step mechanism, but it doesn't say that it's waterproof on the package, so I decided not to. Non-waterproof mascaras have an extremely high tendency to not hold curl and more importantly - they tend to create 'panda eyes'!! :(

Close up of Beige Glamour.

Beige Glamour is a bit darker in real life, with a more beige/brown tint to it. Pretty, feminine and appropriate for all occasions, especially for work. I tried it today and  the color is creamy and absolutely lovely. It is now my holy grail nail polish!!

Now onto the freebies!

The bag itself is pretty cute - loving the bright pink stripes. It's made of plastic - it has the exact same smell and texture as those lifesavers at the pool haha

All of the bags contain the same items -

One nail polish in bright juicy watermelon pink (43 Magenta Show), one mascara (Volume glamour max definition) and one eyeshadow quad (05 rose vintage).

My favorite color is pink, so obviously I'm thrilled with all this pink overload.

Volume Glamour Max Definition - 51 Max Black

Sadly this one isn't waterproof, but I will give it a try some time, probably with mascara base underneath.

43 Magenta Show - a fun, super bright watermelon pink!

Having tried Beige Glamour, I am definitely excited to give this one a go later on, especially in the summer!

Eye shadow quad in Rose Vintage

The colors look almost brown in the photo, but in person they are definitely pink. The light color on the left is a light white-pink, the middle color is a slightly darker pink-white, whilst the bottom right color is a deep burgundy-like color with pink-purple undertones. Hm I've just realized how bad I am at describing these colors lol btw all of these are shimmery!

Swatches -

The pigmentation for the two lighter colors is okay, but the darkest one is actually quite nice.

Gotta love freebies and spacial promotions, eh!

xx

A little Priceline/Gloss Haul (Bourjois, Rimmel, V05, Sally Hansen)

Thanks to Jodi from GooRoo Beauty -
(she's a gorgeous beauty blogger and youtuber from Australia - one of my absolute favorites! <3 You can find her blog here: http://www.gooroobeauty.net/)

I found out about a bourjois offer online that gets you $10 off of any bourjois purchase at Priceline! You can just go to www.bourjoisoffer.com.au and you will receive a barcode and numbers. Just show this number (I showed mine from my iPhone) to the person at the cashier and receive your $10 discount :) This offer is valid until AUG 31st.

As usual, a "quick stop" by Priceline for "just one product" never works. I ended up getting two other products hehe. Here's an overview of all the things I got (Priceline + Gloss)

An overview of the items from the little shopping spree!

With the $10 discount, I decided to jump on this opportunity to get the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation that has so many people have raved about!  I wasn't sure about how to match my color, so the lady in Priceline helped me pick out one, and she recommended me the shade 52 - Vanilla.

I do not own any foundations because it feels uncomfortable on my skin. I have sensitive skin that sways between the two extremes of being very dry and then at times very oily. My dermatologist told me once that I had oily skin, but it gets dehydrated very easily.

For this occasion I specifically wanted a foundation or BB cream with NO SPF because I wanted to wear it during night time when I go out, as anything with spf will flash back when photos are taken. Not to mention it makes my face glow weirdly in certain club lighting (I've had parts of my face glow in the dark before, and trust me, you don't want that -__-') With this foundation, I would still be able to put on my sunscreen underneath for day time wear as well. Yay for doubling up!

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 52 Vanilla

I tried this foundation on my skin in the store and fell in love with the finish. It was not overly matte nor dewy. It had the right amount of glow without making me look oily. The texture was nice as well, not overly runny nor thick. It felt comfortable to wear on the skin. I have yet to wear it for a whole day so I can't comment on the longevity of the product (though the 16-hr claim is unlikely), but so far, yes, it is simply a beautiful product.  Love this!

V05 Hot Oil Treatment

With the harsh winds from winter and constant hot showers, my hair has been getting more and more dry. I wanted to get a hair treatment that is budget-friendly (this one was around $5-$6) and one that I can use perhaps once or twice a week. This little set came with 4 tubes, and one tube is more than enough to thoroughly coat my long hair. I Probably won't be using it any more often than that, as it is very rich and I don't want my hair to get too oily. I tried it yesterday and so far, with just one use, I definitely feel the difference! My hair felt more smooth and soft, so again, LOVE LOVE LOVE. If next week the results are the same, this would no doubt be my holy grail hair treatment product.

Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Light

There was a 20% off the entire range of products for Rimmel @ Priceline, so I couldn't resist. This blush was absolutely beautiful. It's a perfect everyday neutral beige-pinky-peachy shade shows up more peachy on my yellow skin tone. For approx. $11 for 15g (!!) of product, this is a great deal. I use this with my Eco Tools Buffing Brush and it works wonderfully! Here's another picture of the product which I edited - just so you can see the imprinted design on the product more clearly.

Will you look at the beautiful design pressed onto the blush? So cute!! The packaging is just like the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder line. There are two other colors - Medium and Dark. I am considering going back to Priceline to see the other colors since I love this one so much.
(Better save money? lol) Anyhoos. LOVE LOVE LOVE this.

And lastly, my nails have been peeling like crazy, so I wanted to try a Sally Hansen Nail treatment. I love nail polish, but I also work in a restaurant, so my hands and nails really suffer from that. (Think detergents, cooking, handling food, etc. etc.) I found this one at Gloss for approx. $5, which wasn't bad at all. So I decided to give it a try.

Sally Hansen Marine Extract Nail Treatment

I have been using this for maybe two days now, and to be honest, so far it is actually kind of working! I'm quite surprised. My thumb nail was peeling so I put on two layers of this product before I go to bed. Now the nail looks more moisturized and the peels are smoother. I'll give it the full 5 days to compare with the claims on the package, but so far, again this is a good product.

It appears I got really lucky this round, since I am loving all of the items I bought in this haul so far! Yayyyyyy

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by ^___^

xoxo

Shyun (Japanese Restaurant) in Carnegie

I went to this restaurant around about 2 or 3 weeks ago with some of my friends after a meeting. I am already a sucker for Japanese food, so I was super excited to go!

The ambience was cozy and welcoming - which reminds me of the restaurants I had been to in Japan. We were there a bit late, so there weren't any tables save for the couple of spaces at the counter. I actually quite liked sitting right in front of all the sushi-making action :)

There was a special for the Shake Rice (Salmon Rice), so being a raw salmon lover, the choice was easy. If memory serves me right, I believe it was around $9-10 but definitely no more than $12

Rice topped with Shake!

This was absolutely delicious!!! Yum yum yum yum. The raw salmon was cut into thin strips then mixed with a sauce (with traces of sesame oil as well?) then placed on top of sushi rice and sprinkled with fresh spring onions. The bowl didn't seem that big, but once you actually start eating it, you get full faster than you think. The freshness of the fish was good, especially at this price range, but don't expect it to be as fresh as e.g. a sushi store selling chirashi sushi @ Tsukiji market. Still, I really enjoyed it!

My friend knew the owner so she ordered some additional sushi that wasn't on the menu -

Torched Salmon Sushi with sweet miso sauce

This was again another wonderful dish! The colors in the above picture have been altered a bit, given that I took this picture with Instagram. But hey, you get the idea. :) The torched salmon went really well with the sweet auce (I'm thinking something along the lines of miso, shoyu, mirin) and I would definitely order more if I knew how to order it! lol

I shared a little bit of my friend's Soy Corokke (not pictured) as well, which I personally liked but my friend did not. I might have been a bit biased though, since I do like soy milk in general.  I also had the tiramisu daifuku for dessert (not pictured - it was way too messy to hold the camera and eat the sticky dessert at the same time) which was awesome! The soft and gooey layer of the mochi matched well with the cool and creamy tiramisu ice cream inside. Yum! Will definitely try other flavors next time.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit there again soon. When I do, I'll definitely share my experience here. For now, this restaurant has definitely gotten a thumbs-up from me! :)

xoxo

Pappa Rich @ Chadstone Shopping Center

Back with another short food post! (As I also need to practice my Spanish writing, this post will be in both English and Spanish)

Un post sobre la comida! (de nuevo) Dado que necesito practicar más el sintaxis español, escribiré en inglés y también en español. Empezemos!

Since I've never been to Pappa Rich before, I was rather excite to give it a try - I've heard good things about certain things on their menu, and not so good things on others. Plus it was after a very long 9am-7pm day, with barely any breaks in between, so I figured, why not. (Mental note: save money rather than spend it all on eating out!)

Dado que nunca había comido en el restaurante famoso "Pappa Rich" me sentí muy emocionada de probarlo. He oído muchas cosas - algunas buenas y algunas no tan buenas acerca de la comida. Además fue un día bastante larga - empecé a las 9 en la mañana y terminé casi a las 7 de la tarde casi sin descanso - y entonces, ¿porqué no? (Nota mental: ahorrar dinero en vez de gastar todo con la comida!)

The food at Papa Rich appeared to be a mix of Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean cuisine. I decided to go for a refreshing drink (I can't remember exactly what this was, but I think it was a mix between milk tea and coffee and jelly as well ($4.90)

La comida en Papa Rich me pareció ser una mezcla de comida de Malasia, Indonesia y Singapur. Elegí una bebida que fue una mezcla de té con leche, café y jelatina ($4.90).

The drink itself was nothing out of the ordinary. I still miss the most awesome Black Canyon Coffee in BKK the most. This just helped curb the craving, and nothing more. When the drink came to the table, I could feel that the glass was warm, especially at the bottom. It made me wonder for a moment if the drink I had ordered was supposed to be served warm. It didn't bother me too much since I was tired, but in general I don't think that's how it's supposed to be.

De hecho esta bebida fue ordinario - nada especial. A mi me gusta mucha el café con leche del restaurante en Tailandia que se llama "Black Canyon". Solo quise disminuir el nivel de unas ganas locas de beberlo que tuve desde algunas semanas. Me ayudé pero en realidad no fue suficiente y no se puede hacer nada. No puedo comprar un boleto de avión a Bangkok solo para beber un café. Cuando llegó ese café, la taza fue un poco caliente, aunque debe ser una bebida fría. No me molestó tanto porque me sentía tan cansada pero generalmente no pienso que no fue correcto.

For the main course, I chose a Roti dish with Tandoori Chicken ($11.90).

Yo elegí un plato con Roti y pollo asado del estilo Tandoori.

Roti + Tandoori Chicken 

The portion was huge! For $11.90, I think the value for the money I paid was justified. Let's take a closer look.

La porción de comida fue larga! Al pagar 11.90 dólares para ese plato, pienso y estoy segura que el precio fue apropiado. Ahora tengamos una mirada más cercana.

Tandoori Chicken

 The chicken itself was tender and moist. It was cooked nicely although I did find that it was a bit too salty for my liking. I had some trouble eating the chicken meat by itself and found that I had to dip it into the dipping sauces to tone down that salt a bit. I still thought it was good overall, but do keep in mind that this is coming from a Thai person who already loves lots of strong flavors. So that means if I say it's salty, then many others may find the amount of salt to be even more harsh for their palate. 

La carne misma fue tierna y fue bastante jugosa. Yo la encontré buena pero personalmente pienso que fue demasiado salada. No pude comer la carne sin mojarla primero en la salsa de yogur. Me gusta el polllo en general pero si fuera menos salada, sería mejor. Y ese comentario es de una persona tailandesa que a ella le gusta condimento y mucha sabor. Entonces, si yo encuentro que es demasiado salado, eso significa que a otras personas (los demás) les pueden encontrar que el nivel de sal es extremadamente fuerte para su paladar.

Roti

The Roti was sooooooooo goooooooood!!! It was the right amount of crispiness and chewiness. The color was gorgeous and it was not too oily at all. I would have been happy to just have the roti with the yoghurt sauce! This was spot-on. Love, love it <3

El pan ("roti") fue muy, muy, muy rica!!!! El pan tuvo un balance perfecto - crujiente y a la misma vez duro. La textura fue absolutamente fantástica. El color fue bonito y además no fue demasiado grasiento. Yo estara satisfecha con solamente ese roti y la salsa de yogur. Hmm!

Yoghurt Sauce

This yoghurt (at least that's what I think it is) was nothing life-changing, but it was life-saving for without this, the dish would have been too heavy and salty. It helped balance out the dish overall. Cool and refreshing to the taste.

Esta salsa de yogur (bueno, adivino que se consiste en yogur) fue normal pero me ayudó a comer la carne como ya he dicho antes. Ese plato sería demasiado salado sin esta salsa porque ayudó establecer un balance entre los sabores en el plato en general. Fue frio y refrescante.

Spicy and Sweet Tamarind Sauce

This sauce was absolutely yummy! It tasted like a mix between the Thai tamarind sauce and the Thai sweet chilli paste. Dipping the roti bread in this then alternating with the yoghurt sauce was wonderful :) If memory serves me right, there were also some bits of dried shrimp in there as well.

Esta salsa fue también muy rica! Me pareció como una mezcla de la salsa de tamarindo y la salsa de chile dulce de Tailandia. Mojar el pan roti en esta salsa y después en la salsa de yogur fue una experiencia maravillosa. Si recuerdo correctamente, hubieron también piezas pequeñitas de gambas secas dentro de la salsa.

Overall, I had a good experience at Pappa Rich and would go back to try some other items on their menu!

En general tuve una experiencia buena en este restaurante y regresaría allí de nuevo para probar otros platos en su menú!

xoxo