Sydney: 2D1N work trip

Heading to Sydney

Unlike the previous years, I have not been travelling to Sydney till early last month. It was also a strange one (to me) because we were flown up for a meeting. So it was a short 2 day 1 night trip and managed to secure a room at the excellent Swissotel again ;)

The previous times I stayed in Swissotel I didn't see this smartphone on loan service, maybe they have just started this.

I am also happy to know that I still know how to swim. Thank goodness. Haha. Yes, I woke up at about 6 in the morning, went for a swim before breakfast on my second day yo. Yes, I managed to try different eating places this time though. So here goes.

Ipoh Town (I went to the one on York Street)

I am always on the hunt for good char kway teow and I saw that they have it on their menu so that was the main reason this shop was in my list to try. I changed my mind on ordering the CKT though because my colleague told me that they used the thin type of rice noodles. I ordered the Ipoh Hor Fun ($11) instead, it was pretty good and I won't mind going back for a fuss free lunch.

Yayoi, The Galeries
I caught up with an ex-colleague for dinner and the food below were shared. They were good! Yumm.

Nasu miso, $10.80

Yayoi Gozen which consisted of pork loin cutlet, salmon salad, salmon teriyaki and sukiyaki, $32

shima hokke shio-yaki, $19.30

We didn't have any dessert but went to have tea at another location.

Bluebird Coffee Sydney at Regent Place
They had taro latte on menu on the day of my visit and I wanted to try it despite just had a very full meal. It wasn't heavy nor sweet, so I did enjoy it.

Being extra, we also ordered 2 cakes to share and I had the bigger share. Both were good but we preferred the tiramisu as the crust for the cheesecake felt too thick at some parts.

Tiramisu

Cheesecake

Devon Cafe Barangaroo
This cafe is more pricey than average cafe but I had my eyes on the truffle menu!

Espresso to kickstart the day

Truffle egg sando

The staff were attentive, a bit too attentive.. haha.. they would walk over and check on me whenever I turned to look at the counter side. I was sitting with my back facing the counter. The waitstaff thought I was trying to ask if my food was ready, in actual fact, I was looking at the menu and contemplating if I wanted to grab a matcha latte takeaway. Hahaha.

I didn't have time to go out for lunch on my second day, and it didn't feel right to do so as well, especially when my colleague wanted to take the 3:30 PM flight back to Melbourne (I just booked the same time as her to make things easier). So we ended up grabbing an expensive sushi roll in the airport to tie us over to dinner.

Back to Melbourne

Side note: Hopefully the last 2 calls to tradies this week [-o<

Perth: Hifumiya Udon and Ippudo Ramen

I pretty much eat at home when in Perth but the couple of occasions we went out, we had Japanese food. Once udon and the other ramen. Hahaha. Hence the title. First up, udon first simply because we had udon first.

Udon at Hifumiya Udon Noodle House

The concept of the shop is a bit like casual udon or soba shop in Japan where you order and pick up at the counter yourself, then add toppings as you like before you paid. The shop itself gives the vibe of school canteen like. Haha.

I initially wanted the Hifumiya Original (deep fried bean curb, slow-cooked egg, seaweed, dried bonito) but as sis also wanted to order the same, the glutton brain decided that we should try more variety so I went for Kamatama Mentai (Chilli cod roe, slow-cooked egg, butter, black pepper with original soy sauce), $8.80.

Sis had already started eating when I got my bowl because I had to wait a little. I preferred Hifumiya Original because I find my choice a little too salty for my liking. Aside from that, it was good. We also shared a kakiage $2.80. Options of hot or cold tea or water are free of charge.

Ramen at Ippudo
Hahaha... yes, Melbourne has finally have yummy ramen because we now have our very own Melbourne Ippudo outlet. There are always long queue to get into Ippudo so when I had Ippudo in Perth, I haven't been to the one in Melbourne. (This has since been remedied, I have since went to the shop with Little P last month).

We ordered 2 ramen (karaka tamago and akamaru tamago) but one very blur photo so only one ramen here. We also ordered extra serving of noodles for the kids (plain.. haha) and grilled unagi don.

3 adults and 2 kids shared one dessert of Kurogoma panna cotta (original black sesame panna cotta, berries and mint). It was delish.

Side note: Any dramas recommendations? 

Perth: Autumn leaves at Raeburn Orchard

Persimmon, not pumpkin.. haha

Please kindly overlook the fact that autumn had way finished and we are actually in the last leg of winter months. I have a pretty valid reason for the delay. I moved house (again!) and hopefully not again for a very long time. I need to stop saying I dislike moving because fate has it's wicked sense of humour. I find the more I dislike it, the more it would happen. I've moved a grand total of 5 times in the last 10 years, which means on average I moved once every 2 years. -__-
I still have tradies visiting way too frequently but hopefully this will soon pass.

Anyway, I was in luck to catch some remaining orange autumn leaves in Perth even after a day of heavy rain. Sis drove us (sis, niece, nephew and me) to Raeburn Orchard on a Sunday. They charge a fee for entrance of $4 for adults. Child enters for free. One can pay for entrance fee at the main area, where they also have fruits for sale.

We didn't linger very long but enough for many shots and the kids had a blast running around.


Side note: I need many quiet weekends to recharge...