The DON Burgers - Victoria Park

What can I say about the DON burgers? This pop-up restaurant in Victoria Park has certainly caused a commotion on social media. For the last month, there hasn't been a day where I have not seen a photo of this ramen burger on Instagram! However, much to my disappointment they were only open on weekdays lunchtime, which really has narrowed the opportunity for me to check it out, especially with all my friends working full time or busy with Uni exams. Well, fortunately my good friend Miss D, from Cranky Tummy finally finished her exams and was free on a Friday for lunch!

Varsity Bar - Nedlands

During Uni semesters, Broadway in Nedlands is always packed with students looking for an affordable and delicious feed, especially during lunch. Well I was one of those students not too long ago. There was one place I've never entered though, the Varsity Bar. One, I don't drink alcohol, so going to a bar, during a weekday lunch-time no less, did not appeal to me. Two, the prices on the menu were nearly double the average prices of other restaurants in Broadway. As a penniless uni student, living off my parents' money, every dollar was precious!

So now, a couple of years later, with a bit more change in my pocket, I was curious to try Varsity Bar. My curiousity was sparked when I went to Ciao Italia in Nedlands a couple of weeks ago and saw that Varsity Bar was a buzz with activities!

The Cheeseburger ($12)

Ciao Italia - Nedlands

Chapter 88 is no longer with us. A smart move by Ciao Italia, you know how the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." This was exactly my thought when the good people at Ciao Italia changed Chapter 88 back to Perth's favourite Italian restaurant (I don't think I'm making too big a claim!).

I've loved Ciao Italia for as long as I can remember, the atmosphere, the food, the tiramisu! Well when my friend invited a bunch of us out for dinner for his birthday to Ciao, I immediately volunteered to organise it for him. By organise I mean just ask how many people were coming and called the restaurant to make a reservation. Yes, you read correctly, Ciao Italia in Nedlands accepts reservations (Halleluyah!!!). This made me love Ciao even more!

Garlic Bread ($5.50)

Pun of The Day

Spice Express - Myaree

Another Saturday, another opportunity to eat out! This time it was to try Spice Express in Myaree, a restaurant I've walked past many times before to reach Sundays Everyday, but never thought of trying because I thought they were exclusively vegetarian and I'm too much of a carnivore for that.

Ok, so in my relationship with Mr. T, I'm usually very assertive in regards to where we eat. This is because everytime we discuss eating out, he always allows me to decide. He's one of those people that goes to the same restaurant over and over again, he knows what he likes and sticks to it. I'm the exact opposite and will complain if we go to the same places too many times, so I think he's given up and just lets me choose where we eat (sorry Mr. T)! However, he was the one to introduce me to Spice Express. 

We had an appointment in Myaree, and for the sake of formality, I asked him where he would like to have lunch. I was taken aback when I saw his face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning, and said we were going to Spice Express. I was not keen to begin with, but he was not taking no for an answer, so off we went!

When we arrived I was even more surprised to see a line outside of Spice Express. I began to see a glimmer of hope. It took about 15 minutes for us to get a table and I was immediately proven wrong about Spice Express being a vegetarian restaurant when I saw chicken wings at another diners' table. By this point my meat-loving heart was getting very excited. 

Chicken wings ($2 ea.), Sardine curry puff ($2 ea.)

Bali Day Three

For the rest of our Bali trip
1. Bali Day One
2. Bali Day Two

Our third day in Bali was also our last day in Bali =(. Unfortunately it also had to be a short day as we had a plane home to catch later in the day. But, we still packed as much into our day as possible.

To start our day we needed a hearty breakfast, and what's better than pork?! We went to to Pak Dobiel, which serves suckling pork very similar to Babi Guling Candra. This place was also featured in the May edition of the the Jetstar magazine. Pak Dobiel is very well known and sells out very quickly, they are only open until 4pm everyday, but may run out much earlier than that.

Bali Day Two

For the rest of our Bali trip
1. Bali Day One
2. Bali Day Three

After a wonderful and eventful first day in Bali we slept like babies and awoke the second day ready to explore more of Bali!

The first thing on our list was Sunday Mass. We did a bit of research and found that the closest Church to the hotel was St. Maria Bunda Segala Bangsa. We went to 8am mass that was in Indonesian. The Church is located along the street along with a Mosque, Christian Church, Buddhist Temple and Hindu Temple, to symbolise peace among the five major religions in Bali.

Inside St Maria Bunda Segala Bangsa Church

Bali Day One

For the rest of our Bali trip
1. Bali Day Two
2. Bali Day Three

From the 18th until the 20th of April 2015 a group of us went to Bali for a quick weekend getaway. This was only a couple of weeks after I arrived back from Jakarta, so I admit I was not in need of a getaway, but I never turn down the opportunity to travel! Before travelling I made a detailed itinerary and already knew all the places (restaurants) I wanted to go to. Below are the highlights of our first day in Bali.

We stayed at Santika Hotel in Nusa Dua. It is not a fancy schmancy hotel or villa, but was very affordable at Rp.500,000 per person per night with breakfast and afternoon tea included. The breakfast was also very pleasing, with lots of Western and Balinese options as well. During our stay in Bali we also hired a driver to take us around, we had arranged for this before travelling. It cost Rp. 550,000 for 12 hours including the car and petrol but excluding tolls and tips.

The first thing we did in Bali was head down to Tanjung Benoa and joined in some water sports. Actually we were a bit of a party pooper and only did two water sports, parasailing and the donut. Actually, I didn't even parasail, so  really I was just dragged on water on a giant donut. In my defence, I had a lot of fun!

The Old Laundry Bar & Eatery - North Perth

I always refer to Urbanspoon to give me ideas of where to eat, it is such a handy website and app. One restaurant that has been top 10 "Talk of the town" is The Old Laundry Bar and Eatery, so when another opportunity arose for brunch I immediately suggested we go there.

The cafe is located on Angove Street in North Perth, that street is already packed with other cool cafes and so parking can be a challenge. We were fortunate enough to be able to venture here on a weekday, even then it took a few minutes before we found a spot. The Old Laundry is spacious with plenty of outdoor seatings, which was redundant on this particular rainy day. There was also bar seating available. We chose a seat next to the window and started poring over the menu.

After umming and ahhing over the menu I finally settled on poached eggs with pork hock, peas, potatoes and pesto.

Pun of the Day

 

Thanks to Mr. T's close friend for introducing me to this punny pun!

Hylin - West Leederville

Saturday should be renamed Brunchday. Following the tradition of so many people and myself, Saturday is a day to check out the latest cafes or go back to old favourites. Last Saturday Mr. T and I did the former and ventured down to Hylin in West Leederville. The weather was atrocious but that didn't stop us, and many people as there was a massive crowd in Hylin. 

It took about half a hour to finally get a table, but at least the waiting time gave us time to ponder over the menu and chose what we want to eat.