Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La Hotel (Let's Do Dessert) - Sydney

Food	★★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★✰
Total	11.5/15

Personal Favourite: Milk Chocolate Delice.

Milk Chocolate Delice

Subsolo Spanish Restaurant & Bar Review - Sydney

Food	★★★★
Setting	★★★★✰
Service	★★★★
Total	12.5/15

Personal Favourite: Crumbed Meatballs with Melting Manchego Cheese Centres - At first glance they look quite ordinary, but once you take a bite the Spanish sheep cheese hits you with a well developed flavour and a creamy yet slightly piquancy taste.

Crumbed Meatballs with Melting Manchego Cheese Centres

We started off the night with Charcoal Spit-Roasted Portuguese Chicken Fillet Espetadas, These were tender and juicy chicken fillets with peri-peri, however, the peri-peri was too mild for my taste.

旬採鮨処 Shunsai Japanese Restaurant Review - Taipei

Food	★★★★★
Setting	★★★★★
Service	★★★★★
Total	15/15

Personal Favourite: Otoro - Supreme Tuna belly, one of the tastiest raw fish you can eat. All the seafood at 旬採鮨処 Shunsai are brought in fresh daily, with the majority air shipped from Japan. This ensures the ingredients are fresh, which is important when you are eating them raw.

Otoro

Cafe Opera Seafood Buffet Review- InterContinental Sydney

Food	★★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★
Total	11/15

Stand out dish: Slow roasted wagyu beef topside - It's as if the cow was on a strict diet of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Marshmallows. The slices of sweetness simply melt in your mouth.

Slow Roasted Wagyu Beef Topside

M and I decided last night to try the seafood buffet at Cafe Opera. Since we've got the day off we decided to book for lunch instead of dinner and go for a stroll afterwards around Circular Quay.

Moo Poo Tart Review - Sydney

Food	★★★★★
Total	5/5

What are Moo Poo Tarts you ask?
They are the perfect balance of sweetness and flavours from the meringue and custard on top of a thin and fluffy vanilla cake.

Moo Poo Tart

Moo Gourmet Burgers Review - Crows Nest

Food	★★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★★
Total	12/15

Personal Pick: Wagyu Beef Burger - The combination of 100% Northern Tablelands Wagyu beef, Tasmanian brie and caramelised onions is so amazingly juicy and mellow that I didn't stop to talk until I was half way through devouring my burger.

Wagyu Beef Burger

Ed and I went to this gourmet burger joint during lunch time on a weekday, and was pleasantly surprised by their $15 lunch special with any burger (except the Deluxe Moo Double Decker) and hot chips. Ed ordered the Big Moo, and we both also ordered their Traditional Milkshakes. The milkshakes were served in metal shakers which I liked because it's more environmentally friendly. The shakes themselves were also thick and heavenly.

Mumu Grill Review - Crows Nest

Food	★★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★★✰
Total	12.5/15

“Grasslands” Scotch Fillet

One night after gym, M and I decided we need some quality protein, so we headed over to Mumu Grill in Crows Nest. Mumu's steaks are healthier because they are 100% grass-fed. Compared to grain-fed, grass-fed beef has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more Vitamin E, beta-carotene, Vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats including omega-3 fatty acids.

Malaysia Trip Part 3 - Kuala Lumpur

KK to KL, not our plane

M loves the shopping in Kuala Lumpur (KL), They have a few big international brands here that are not yet in Sydney. And the prices in KL are often cheaper than Sydney as well. So we've actually spend the majority of time in huge air conditioned shopping malls such as the Pavilion. For eating out, we would recommend Madam Kwan's, they are a chain restaurant serving up authentic Malaysian food quite similar to PappaRich in Australia.

Malaysia Trip Part 2 - Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort

Deluxe Room - Photo by Shangri-La Rasa Ria  

In Part 2, we spent 4 nights at Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort in Kota Kinabalu.

Rasa Ria is about an 45min car ride from the airport, but depending on traffic it could take upto 1.5 hours, so make sure you allow plenty of time when catching a plane. After you check in at the resort you can choose to relax or get your activities planed out with the activity coordinators. At Rasa Ria they offer a two or three free activities through out the day, such as cooking class, yoga and beach volleyball. There are also a wide variety of motorised water sports available, we had lots of fun with the jet ski and segway. The resort has a few fine dinning restaurants and a few casual places on site that are on par with what we can get here in Sydney, the buffet breakfast however was quite average.

On TripAdvisor.com Rasa Ria is rated the best resort in Kota Kinabalu, and it's not hard to see why once you've stayed there.

Malaysia Trip Part 1 - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Bah Kut Teh - Syarikat Yu Kee Bah Kut Teh (佑記肉骨茶) - (5.984753,116.077498) 

In our 10 day trip in Malaysia we spent 6 days in Kota Kinabalu (KK) and 4 days in Kuala Lumpur. Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the bustling capital of Sabah in East Malaysia. It has some of the most beautiful seafood I've ever seen, and is close to tourist attractions and resorts.

In Part 1, we stayed 2 nights at Hotel Eden54 (www.eden54.com) near the the city centre of Kota Kinabalu. Eden54 offers clean comfortable rooms and good service at an unbeatable price. If you are budget conscious, this is the place for you. The cheapest rooms here are under $40 AUD a night. In order to get to the hotel we prepaid the taxi fare from inside the airport, and hand over the paid ticket to our cab driver, I think this is a good way to prevent tourists from getting ripped off with a running meter. 

On the first day we had the best Bah Kut Teh in KK at Syarikat Yu Kee (佑記肉骨茶), Bah Kut Teh is a must try in Malaysia, it is make with pork ribs cooked in a broth made with tea and unique tasting spices. One bowl and I am hooked.

The Central market right next to the sea has plenty of fresh seafood that can be bought and cooked in front of your eyes. They looked very tempting but I was told that a tourist's stomach might not be able to handle it, because at this particular market there is no running water, so to clean the dishes they had to wash them in a bucket with dirty water..

After dinner M went to South Sea Sanctuary for her massage. South Sea is a pleasant place to relax, the staff are friendly and skilled. So I think $50 AUD for an 1 hour aromatherapy massage is well worth it. I went for a walk around the Filipino market, I loved the fresh fruits and seafood on display, there are also plenty of street foods to feed the crowd.

Enter the numbers under a photo (xx.xx,yy.yy) in Google Maps for the location at which the photo is taken.

Sushiro Review - St Leonards

Food	★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★★
Total	11/15

Sushiro opened its doors in The Forum, St Leonards in early May. And since the location is so convenient for M and I, we just had to try it out.

The Good: As we stepped in the restaurant a friendly waitress greeted us and sat us at a booth next to the sushi train conveyor belt. I much prefer these booths over sitting at the counter, as it allows for a more private conversation and it also gives me more room to frame my shots.

Scallop Salmon Avodado - Thumbs up

My Sweet Memory Review - Chatswood

Food	★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★★
Total	10/15

Macarons

The first thing we noticed when we walked in My Sweet Memory Café Chatswood is the amount of interesting yet non-edible products on display. It ranges from stationary to bags and antique cameras. The next thing you will see is the decadent looking cakes and macarons. So we went ahead and ordered 4 Macarons for $10, their Red Velvet Cake (raspberries and white chocolate) approx $5, Iced Coffee $4.50 and Mango Smoothie approx $6.

Jamie Oliver's Sticky Carrots Recipe

This is a super easy and tasty snack to make, all you need to get is some fresh carrots, everything else you should already have in your kitchen. Yet this simple dish has the ability to put a smile on your/someone's face!

Sticky Carrots

Vivid Sydney June 2013

Vivid Sydney is an annual outdoor cultural event started back in 2009 featuring immersive light installations and projections, performances from local and international musicians.

The event is held over the course of three weeks in May and June. This year the centre piece is the western side of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It is estimated that more than 500,000 people attended.

Blues Point

Grill'd Burger Review- Chatswood

Food	★★★✰
Setting	★★★
Service	★★✰
Total	9/15

Personal picks: M loves their burgers, and her favourite is the SUMMER SUNSET $12.50 with

Grilled grass fed lean beef, avocado, crispy trim bacon, golden pineapple, salad, relish & herbed mayo.

For me it's the BAA BAA BURGER $12.90 with Grilled 100% grass fed lean lamb, avocado, tasty cheese, salad, relish & herbed mayo.

Grill'd - Summer Sunset, Hot Chips, Baa Baa Burger

The bad: Service attitude of the girl cashier - Cold and cbb (can't be bothered), a stark contrast with the other waitstaff, but since she's the first one you see, it drastically effects the whole dinning experience. 

The not so good: During one of my visits to Grill'd Chatswood I noticed there are quite a few flies buzzing around at the back corner of the restaurant. We all know that flies are everywhere in Australia during summer, but it was during a cool autumn day in May, so to me this signifies uncleanliness.

Din Tai Fung Sydney Review - World Square

Food	★★★★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★★★★
Total	13/15

Must try: Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) - The Pork Dumplings are little pockets of happiness with nectarine like broth that bursts in your mouth. I can eat nothing but these dumplings for weeks and still not get sick of it.

Din Tai Fung Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)

Circular Quay Opera House Darling Harbour Walk

Vampire Tourists Hiding from the Sun

After lunch at Cafe Opera, we went for a much needed stroll from Opera House to Darling Harbour. At a touristy pace it took us around 1.5 to 2 hours including stops and rests.

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Sydney Conservatorium of Music