The Cube

A couple of my friends visited me early last month so I joined them and played tourist in Melbourne. One of the activities was a wine tour to Yarra Valley. My friends looked up the tour and booked it through Klook. Not sponsored so we paid and showed up at the picked up point at Arts Centre Melbourne Spire. Thank you Melbourne for a fairly good weather day. 

Our first stop was the popular Yering Station Winery. I didn't have a good experience the last I visited Yering Station Winery but it was remedied this time. The staff who gave us the guided wine tasting was excellent and witty, which attributed to a positive experience. 

After the wine tasting session, we were given some time to walkabout at the grounds. I had very similar photos from previous visit too.

We then moved on to the second winery, Soumah. Soumah is an abbreviation for "South of Maroondah", a highway in Victoria. 

After wine tasting, we get to choose which wine we want for lunch. We were given a full glass of the wine we chose to accompany our lunch. Lunch selection was pre-ordered when we were in the bus on the way to Yarra Valley. 

Antipasti was shared and my lunch selection was the Fettine (pan grilled minute steak, served medium, garlic butter roasted mushroom cap, pecorino polenta chips, glazed carrots, cavolo nero, Syrah jus) and paired with The Butcher. One of my friends chose grilled barramundi, served with steamed green beans, cherry tomatoes, garlic and caper broth. Another has intolerance to dairy products so her perocino polenta chips were swapped to a different side. 

This venue gave a more upmarket feel but the wines weren't to my taste unfortunately but beautiful grounds though. We did a quick round the lake. 

A couple of the tour members opted for gin tasting and they were ushered to the Four Pillars Gin across the road. From the wine tour organiser website, it looks like there also also an option to switch to beer. We continued with wine option and stayed at our fourth tasting at Payten & Jones. I prefer the wines from the first 2 wineries comparatively. 

Last stop was chocolate and/or ice-cream dessert before we were dropped back in Melbourne. We chose ice-cream.

Another work trip to Sydney which happened on Thursday and Friday. I took the opportunity to extend through to the weekend as my manager said it is allowable. Not great weather but as it wasn't pouring so still good enough to make a trip to the mountains. 

Many years ago, I went to Katoomba and Leura but I wanted to be a little more quiet this round so Blackheath was my choice this round. I don't know why I make questionable decision of not going to the more famous Grand Canyon Walking Track even though it really wasn't that much of a longer distance. 

Anyway the journey was easy as I was staying just across from Central Station so it was just a train ride away. I took the 7:16 AM train and reached Blackheath just before10:00 AM due to some signal issues at one of the stations. 

After a toilet break and grabbing a croissant from the service station, I walked towards the Govetts Leap Lookout. I must've taken a wrong turn because a certain part of the walk involved going through some rocks that didn't really look like a well trodden path but all was well as I got there. 

I haven't been travelling to Sydney for work for awhile, and my manager offered that I could extend to the weekend if I want as I was flying in on a Thursday and would be in the Sydney office for Thursday and Friday. 

I did lug my camera to Sydney but not many photos were taken because I was dining with friends who either didn't take photos of their food or I just grabbed off them. I did get around to a few different places because it has been awhile since I caught up with some friends in Sydney. 

27-41 Magdala Rd, North Ryde NSW 2113

This is one of the dining option in North Ryde RSL I was having dinner with a friend and this was near his place. There are a few different restaurant within the RSL and I was told the Asian restaurant, House of Tong is decent too. Might try that next time. 

Friend shouted me dinner, and I chose crispy skin barramundi but kind of had food envy when friend's food came. He ordered a chicken schnitzel with toppings of tomato sauce, avo and cheese. I asked if I could pinched his chips so he ordered a portion to share. 

210/298-304 Sussex St, Sydney NSW 2000

I've also finally made it to La Hacienda Peru. Food was tasty, generous portion but the shop was so warm and stuffy unfortunately. South American food, sadly, is very expensive in Australia. 

Shop 4/8 Bourke St, Mascot NSW 2020

I initially wanted to go to Pawfect cafe and have their mochi waffle for breakfast because I saw it online. However, it wasn't on their menu when I was there. So I walked back towards the station and went into Anita's Fusion. 

I had lunch plans with friends and didn't want to eat too much for breakfast. So I ordered a vegetable croquette burger and iced long black because it was too hot when I visited. 

33 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000

We were seated downstairs with a fan facing us and even with that, it was warm. The portion was good sized but I find it on the pricier side. We ordered larb, papaya salad with salted duck egg and a prik khing with 'fluffy salmon'. The first 2 dishes were decent but I couldn't identify the components of the dish including salmon. This dish is no longer found in the menu today, not sure if it was a specials for the month kind of dish. 

I feel there are more good Thai restaurants in Sydney which are much cheaper, so unlikely to return. 

11/35 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket NSW 2000

It was very warm inside Porkfat so we moved to a different location for dessert. Homm is just across the road from Porkfat so Homm it was. Luckily they had a better air conditioner. We ordered Pink Himalayas Avalanche Bingsu and Thai Tea Avalanche Bingsu to share and a drink each. 

6 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000

I was indecisive between hot & spicy pork dumpling and dan dan noodles. I went with dan dan noodles because it was marked as 'must try' on their menu. I did a takeaway and ate in the airbnb as it was too early to have dinner at that time but I knew I would be hungry if I didn't eat. As it was in a takeaway container and didn't look pretty when I was ready to eat, I didn't take a picture. I would go revisit especially if they have a branch in Melbourne, but they don't. 

2/127 Forest Rd, Hurstville NSW 2220

A work colleague told me about this shop when I mentioned that I was meeting a friend for lunch in Hurstville. I reached Hurstville earlier than meeting time so I decided to visit while waiting. Tart and coffee were good but I find the staff who attended to me a bit grumpy. 

131 Prince Edward Park Rd, Woronora NSW 2232

We had dim sum lunch and friend brought me here for coffee/drinks with views of Georges River. She's very thoughtful and suggested places that she thinks I have not been. The iced tea on offer were good. We ordered mango & passionfruit and peach & lychee, staying away from milk based drinks because it was very warm and we were stuffed from lunch. 

My trips to Perth nowadays are mostly to visit sis and famiy. However, usually sis would organise activities or go to places I've not been to maximise my visit and I am appreciative. This round aside from camping at Hamelin Bay, we caught the Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor exhibition in the WA Museum Boola Bardip. 

The exhibition has now finished and only a very small fraction of the warriors 'travelled' to Perth. It was still a pleasant surprised because I fully expected that maybe only one terracotta warrior was being loaned, and of course, I've not been to Xian.  

313 William St, Northbridge WA 6003, Australia

After exhibition, we walked to the Northbridge for an early dinner. Dinner venue choice this round was Cambodian food at My Bayon. There were 3 adults and 2 kids. We got an appetizer to share, 2 main dishes with rice and drinks to share. 

2/447 Cambridge St, Floreat WA 6014

Souffle pancakes are best when shared. We ordered 2 drinks and 2 pancakes to share. We ordered their seasonal souffle pancake which was sunny mango at the time we visited. The other one was something pandan kaya which I thought was in their regular menu but I can't seem to find it on their menu now.