18 grams...

is the amount of ground coffee required to make an expresso and also the name of a little gem cafe i found on openrice.com on monday when i was craving some real coffee on this little island of inhabitants that prefers drinking tea.

we visited the mongkok 18 grams cafe, which is located at shop b04, gala place, 56 dundas street. the eat street is a bit hidden... if you are heading from nathan road, you need to walk past the main entrance to the gala place arcade... continue past starbucks and you will discover the entrance to a smaller arcade of eateries. 18 grams is tucked away at the end of the arcade. you will notice the posters advertising the cafe and their menus before you actually reach it. they are open 7 days, between 11:30am - 9:00pm.

the little bit of research i did on this place tells me that, 18 grams is run by glory coffee, who are local coffee importers and roasters. the location of this cafe at the end of the arcade helps provide a cosy quiet feel... something that is quite rare in hong kong. we arrived around 3pm on a weekday, so it was very quiet...  lovely and relaxing.

because of the time of the day we arrived. we chose to have their afternoon tea set with coffees (of course!). lasagne & house blend coffee and spaghetti boscaiola & cafe americano.

firstly, the coffees.... it was like the sweet complex but well co-ordinated tones of a symphony after a week of going without coffee. i had the cafe americano, which i suspect has been prepared more as a long black judging by the beautiful layer of crema that was still evident. the blend was smooth & full, with no acidic after taste.... it was great.

our barista...

the pasta were both in smaller portions for afternoon tea, the spaghetti was cooked al dente with a really nice good resistence. the cream sauce with mushrooms, bacon & onions was combined wonderfully.  the lasagne tasted fresh and homemade with beef mince, eggplant, tomato, italian herbs... the flavours mixing together in a wholesome and fresh combination. ooh i so missed my western cuisine & thoroughly enjoyed the food & coffee served at this little gem of a cafe.

did i mention that this meal was a steal at HKD $106! and for travellers, they do understand english... and this cafe had photos of sydney on one of their walls... talk about pulling at the heartstrings! they also have cafes in causeway bay (i intend to try this one, it has been described as an australian style cafe) & also at tsim sha tsui.

spaghetti boscaiola

lasagne

"long lunch" @ district dining

district dining... a restaurant that i have been eagerly anticipating to eat at, a foodie friend has been raving about this restaurant & loves it so much she even held an intimate surprise wedding dinner at this venue about three months ago. so when dext arranged lunch on sunday... i just could not refuse the invitation.

firstly, they are located at 17 randle street, surry hills. they have the sunday "long lunch" for which they are open from 12pm to 5pm and there is a set menu for $70 which includes entrees, mains and desserts. my first thought was that this is a little pricey for lunch... (its even more expensive than the press club), but it didn't take long for these thoughts to be forgotten.

first impressions... we were the first to arrive & the restaurant was very quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, a nice spot to have a long lunch on sunday. the location is very convenient, if you are driving, there is lots of street parking available & if you are catching public transport - the restaurant is just a walk across the road from central station. the staff were very friendly & the service was delightful. we were directed to our table which oddly ran alongside a wall where there were a set of lift doors, the lifts never opened, but sitting next to it, i had this feeling that i'd hear a "ding" at any moment & the doors would open with people wanting to come out... that was a tiny bit off-putting. however, as we were a large group, this was probably the best location for us to sit. however, if you have a smaller group i'd recommend getting a table along the side where windows are... much better lighting for photos of the food!

once i got over the possibility of suddenly hearing chilled out elevator music coming from behind me, it was easy to settle in & enjoy myself at district dining. we were served bread, italian nocellara del belice olives (which are beautiful to look at & wonderful to taste), and olive oil as a pre-lunch nibble. the atmosphere is very chill, we weren't rush to order food or get on with it... it was enjoyable to be able to spend a long lunch with friends, & to talk uninterrupted except to be served delicious food. parents with babies had lots of room around the table for prams, & doing what they have to do with a sometimes restless baby... we had three little people & three prams, the bubs were very well behaved & even caught up on a few Zzz at the restaurant (that must be saying something!). some helpful trivia for parents, i was informed by two of the mums that there is a bench in the ladies' that is big enough to change nappies on.

:: entree ::

this was lightly seared kingfish... cooked on the edges & raw on the inside

kingfish is my sashimi of choice, i thought this was nice & light, a good entree for summer

i particularly liked the wasabi pannacotta... it gave the dish a bit more depth

:: main ::

the ras el hanout spices had a little zing to it, i found it a bit too salty for my taste, but otherwise the duck was succulently tender.

the sweet potato chips & pomegranate were a lovely combination with the ras el hanout

:: dessert ::

i chose the chocolate mousse, because i was craving it massively

the serving was very generous. it was good & rich... so if you don't have a sweet tooth choose a lighter option, or if there are a few of you... choose something lighter to compliment this.

the hazelnut crumble was ridiculously delicious & very crunchy. i really enjoyed this but could only consumer a third of the dessert.

some three and a half hours after arriving at district dining, we finally left... i really enjoyed my dining experience here & would return for more, especially for the sunday long lunch. i was really impressed by the total package, it was a great venue with nice ambience, wonderfully helpful staff who was nursing one of the babies for a time there (hehe, he was offered free lunches & dinner for life... i guess that's food sorted for him). and the food was as good as it looks in the photos.

handmade gifts for baby bella...

there have been a barrage of babies popping into the world lately (and more to come!)... i've been so busy making gifts that i didn't even photograph some of them before i gifted them.

luckily i had time to take some photos of this baby blanket & bunny softie i made for peggy's little girl bella, who joined us little earthlings on mon 17th october...

under the sea...

i'd like to be under the sea

in an octopus' garden in the shade

we would sing and dance around

because we know we can't be found

i'd like to be under the sea

in an octopus' garden in the shade

how pretty are these jelly fish?

thanks to work for shouting us an afternoon to the sydney aquarium

the dugong with a smirk on its face.

does it know something we don't?

turning three

master julian was the talk of the town amongst all his little friends this year, he doned on his superman outfit & flew in a jumping castle so that all his little friends could enjoy themselves. life's so easy when you're three...

birthday boy master julian... he's such a superhero!

big sis tries out the jumping castle 

when he's not being superman... 

he's just a very shy clark kent (one that loves miffy)

three candles for the birthday boy

miffy diligently guards the birthday presents, 

i don't think anyone would be brave enough to take miffy on

thomas, the happiest little 3 year old i've met

"jazz hands" ryan

amelia... hot property amongst all the boys!

(we counted there were about 3 boys for every girl)

yup... more boys!

baby shower...

amongst my group of close friends from uni, there have been 4 children to 3 sets of parents... however this year, we got to celebrate our first ever baby shower! all of the other parents celebrated the chinese way... opting to celebrate after the birth of the baby, when the baby reached either 1 month or 100 days. this year, we had our inaugural baby shower... for peggy. there was just a small group of us, it was very cosy & it was wonderful to spend some girl time together.

we met for afternoon tea at peggy's house & each of us bought something to share. sus had the very special job of organising our entertainment.

shortbread cookies made by sus, our resident baker (they were yumm!)

baby scramble

guess mummy's girth

practical training...

i think peggy's thinking this is easy!

until... the baby does a poo (oh dear!)

hmm... what will peggy do now?

peggy only wants to change "clean" nappies...

the other mummies are intrigued... seems its something that only a mother could love, apparently this specimen is very healthy (i know why i'm not a mother!!)

you can tell which one is the mum & which isn't quite a mum yet

happy baby shower!

p.s. i need to mention that theatrical effects were used in the making of this post... susanna used a mars bar to create the illusion of baby poo. also, no babies nor mummies were hurt in the making of this post :)

don't think, just shoot - instagram update

knitted beanies from simple knitting by erika knight

i've been upskilling myself & learnt how to crochet last year. so this winter i decided to get a bit more into knitting & committed myself to improving this skill. i bought this wonderful book from amazon.uk (i like the uk site better because its usually cheaper than the us site & has free shipping to australia). i found "simple knitting" by erika knight (isbn 978-0-312-66833-4) from online research.

this is the book with the new cover

there were loads of positive comments & feedback from users. one of the main things that sold me into purchasing it were the gorgeous images (photography is by yuki sugiura. good photographs in books motivate me to make the items, so this is a must for me).

montyknits.blogspot.com has done a nice simple review of the book & has photos of the images (why reinvent the wheel when a great review has already been done!). i do really recommend this book, it has all the basic info to help a beginner get started... it explains materials & techniques & has step by step instructions on casting on, knit, purl, explains continental method of knitting, increasing & decreasing stitches, casting off & knitting terminology.  then its got the stitch library, which shows squares of knitted work of the different patterns you can make by combining different patterns & methods of knitting & purling (there are instructions for these).  then it has detailed projects you of things you can make.

so after skimming over a few of the pages, i decided to jump into an easy project, i'm very impatient & not good at reading instructions through first before i start something. i like to just get into it & troubleshoot as i go, so that's what i did. i chose the beanie because it was classified as "easy" & because i will have something i can actually use this winter. the book shows the steps & explains the pattern.

it took me a couple of evenings to make this beanie. i was so happy with myself that i practiced my newly learnt skills & made second one as a gift to a friend & then a third as another gift!! i like random acts of kindness gifts, nothing like sharing some love & warmth around. the pattern was very simple, stocking stitch & then reducing at the end to make the top & then sewn together.

keke, i can say that it was simple now having made three of them.

my beanie is the plain pull-on hat on page 90 of the book

(there are 20 projects in the book, see list of the projects at the bottom of the page)

this is 1st & 3rd beanie

winter gift for a dear friend

::projects in the book::

::basic::
muffler (scarf)
dishcloth
foldover pillow
notebook
shopper (like a tote bag)

::stripes::
stripe pillow
stripe throw

::shaping::
pull-on hats
rag bag
mittens
round pillow
two-needle socks
four-needle socks

::cables::
cable scarf
cable hot water bottle cover

::colourwork::
colour-block throw
fair isle pincushion
rose teapot cosy

::fully fashioned shaping::
woman's v-neck jumper
woman's pocket cardigan

don't think, just shoot - instagram update

granny squares for vanessa

i started crocheting just over a year ago... i was inspired to make something as a gift for vanessa (who i endearingly call littleness... because she's a little bundle of joy) to welcome her into our world. i made a brightly coloured baby throw/blanket for her which i decorated with scalloped edges and added purple & yellow double layered flowers on alternate squares. i got the pattern for the granny squares, flowers and scallop edging from an Australian Women's Weekly Mag from 2006 which can be found here on the internet.... it has very easy instructions to follow which could be completed by a crochet first timer like me.

i was so excited about the blanket & giving this to vanessa as soon as i finished it (i finished it a couple of weeks after she was born) that i didn't even photograph it before giving it to her. so i must give special thanks to issy (vanessa's mummy for taking such a beautiful photograph of the blanket for me so i can post about it). thanks issy!

i love giving handcrafted gifts, its a part of me that i give to those i love.

vivid 2011

don't think, just shoot - instagram update

don't think, just shoot - instagram update

ryan & thomas

had a lovely day at the park with some friends & their kids today... i love watching kids & their reactions. at this age there is nothing to hide, no ulterior motives & no care about what other people think, so you can wear your emotions on your sleeve. pure feelings & emotions, why can't adults live without worries & be true to ourselves & others too. life would be true & simple. worth thinking about.