Strange Flavours (Some are limited edition)

Sighted some interesting flavours in the supermarkets lately...

Hotdog flavoured Twisties

Raspberry Bannas? Normally they are Banana flavoured.

Couldn't believe my eyes... My most beloved Cadbury chocolate and Vegemite - but combined?! Well I never? Not game to try this one yet. Normally I eat each of these things separately. 

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love 

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Writing Amateur

Attempting to be a Writer:

I took extra time off, using my work leave to attempt to the whole “being a writer” persona. Thought it would be fun to give it a go. Having finished university and finally found full time work in a job that I love (took ten years after high school)… I finally have some time to try and chase dreams I set aside while I was studying all those years.

I took my fully charged laptop to nice little cafe’s all over Sydney over a period of a week.

The whole point was to set aside proper time to connect with my creative side. This was a lot harder said than done. I felt as though I was dealing with a situation similar to the episode in The Simpsons, where Lisa Simpson attempts to write a book in a n episode you may remember, known as the “The Book Job”. Hilarious, because I could definitely relate to this.

The reality ended up being very different from what I originally thought might happen. I thought that the environment of a trendy cafe (with that hippy and modern vive) and the pure sustenance from constantly ordering food and drinks containing caffeine would really get my creative juices flowing.

In reality, I would end up obsessing about finding power points (to ensure my laptop always had juice). Going to cafe’s for hours, meant that instead of my home surroundings helping me to procrastinate I had a cafe menu to keep my tastebuds happy and to replace my usual procrastination… which was a shock to my wallet, because all the dollars and change added up… coffee here, small snack there and before you know it, the week’s food budget has been reached?!

Although this was a fun little activity to try, after only writing 2 pages worth of a script I was working on (technically, the equivalent of a minute’s worth of footage), and I only wrote one page of a children’s novel I have been wanting to create, and overall… I found it to be a food filled, impractical and expensive little writing experiment. 

Below are a few food pics and pics of my favourite place in which I settled down to write / imagine / eat / go broke at... The MCA cafe....

(From left to right) The outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art building, then an elevator up to the cafe on level 4 with plenty of seating and the right most photo is one of the many spectacular views from the cafe (Too bad their was a cruise ship docked at the Circular Quay that day).

Mushroom and cheese on toast.

Coffee and Berry tart

Banana bread with salted caramel butter

TIP: Helps to pick a cafe with plenty of sitting areas, with powerpoint and wifi, also super handy if the cafe happens to be near Libraries (wifi, plenty of other random resources for research, study spaces and powerpoint. Also, helps to prevent unnecessary spending)

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Christmas is the perfect way to end the year

My warm fuzzies about Christmas...

Here down under in the southern hemisphere, we don't get snow. Its gets hot and humid. Although admittedly, this summer is whacky because the weather is bipolar. 

Sunny blue skies and then cloudiness sets in as afternoon rolls around... Rain, Thunder and Lightning!

Enough about my observation of the weather, more about christmas. 

Never a disappointment, family, an abundance of food and Presents!! And of course, being catholic - Happy Birthday Jesus :) 

My family celebrate christmas starting on christmas eve - Not the traditional idea of Christmas day celebrations.. Because my family and I celebrate starting on christmas eve, chatting and eating right up until midnight, so we make the instant crossover to Christmas Day and open all the pressies - no sleep (or time for Santa to leave pressies) between christmas eve and clocking over to Christmas day. To me this is the best Christmas tradition EVER!

This year's festivities started with attending Christmas Mass at 10pm. Followed by driving around to find houses in the local area who got creative and motivated enough to put up christmas lights. As you can see below, I took some snaps of my favourite ones!

Tree wrapped with lights

Stuffed koalas in a tree

The Grinch + Minion stealing Lights

Blow up carousel and Santa

Spelling the official Christmas greeting in lights

Precious little lit up reindeer

These are not fireworks, but pom pom lights hanging in a tree

Then feasting begins, glorious eating of food whilst chatting and taking pictures with family. Then the countdown to midnight as if it is New Year's Eve, without the kissing. Then we bust out the presents (skipping sleep and straight to the excitement). I mean think about it... trying to sleep from the excitement of Christmas day - Why wait?! Lol.

And of course pictures of the spread of food can't be forgotten (a memorable snapshot to commemorate the effort of mothers' home made cooking) - my life very much revolves around the enjoyment of food...

My Family's Christmas Eve Night/Early Morning Feast

My Partner's Christmas Day Lunch Feast.

Merry Christmas and (very soon) Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading my Blog!

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Magnifique Eclair eatery in Sydney (Bondi) 12 Pics

Eclairs like I have never seen before! It's food ART! Magnifique :)

If you are a sweet tooth and want to read about how I came about this dessert discovery then read on..
Was driving along Bondi Rd in Sydney heading towards the Sculptures By The Sea annual event (which takes place from 23 October - 9 November 2014, another blog + video to come soon about this event). 

Naturally, I love food and waiting in the insanely bad traffic (because of Sculptures by the Sea) I noticed a sign for an eclair shop. I am a hug eclair fan, it the combination of pastry and chocolate and cream that is so decadently irresistible and very naughty for a ladies waistline. However, you only live once and I am a sweet tooth and hence did not resist.

I insisted and begged my partner to take the detour with me to check out this place. My friend was there also, and our eyes popped open, jaws dropped and we started a salivating over these gorgeous, or should I say magnifique array of eclairs. In various colours and flavours. This changed my whole perception of the traditional, cream, chocolate and pastry eclair.

I felt like I fell into some sort of eclair room in the Willy Wonka factory!

With no regret, I spent the most I have ever spent on eclairs in my life! Bought four eclairs to share with my family, this set me back about $30 from memory, as the eclairs ranged from $6.50 to $8.50 for the normal sized eclairs. As there were mini-me sized eclairs available, I think they were about $3.95 or so.

And now the best parts, admiring these delectable eclairs... and yes (to me), they taste as good as they look...

 If you want to know what it looks like from the outside... And of course want to know the darn name of the place of course ... La Maison De L'Eclair

A few more inside pics, there is seating.. but a limited amount, not for huge groups of people. Notice on the bottom right, the giant jar of Nutella, HUGE (knowing how I eat Nutella, if it didn't expire so quickly... that size would be like a 4 year supply for me.. lol)

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Sunshine and summer is coming... Yay!

The sun is out and the Jacaranda trees are in full bloom in Sydney.

I was working at Paddington last week and decided to take a stroll under the sunshine. A stunning reminder of the summertime to come. What a beautiful day it was a week ago. 

Funnily enough, today was the opposite?! Thunderstorms and heavy fat rain, flooding the streets leaving giant puddles everywhere ... Anyhoo.

Took some pictures to capture the feel of the sunshine I caught last week. Jacaranda trees only come out around this time of the year, as you can see they have bloomed and already the flowers are falling to the ground. I think they must have similar life spans to Cherry Blossom trees... they might be cousins (I am making this up of course and have not thoroughly researched this, simply making an observation).

While in Paddington I finally got to see some Yarn Bombing in action, normally I just see these in pictures, but last week I got to see some real Yarn Bombing. Even better in real life. Something very cool about knitting beautiful wool/threads around a tree, wish I got to the see the people who did it.

I always wonder though if the tree is still okay with the knitted fabric covering it? I visited again a day ago and the trees seem as Happy and alive as ever, so it is probably fine for the trees. Will check up on it again in a years time probably :)

Thanks for reading my Blog!

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Cute Animal Shaped Desserts/Cakes - (Awww and YUM! at the same time)

I saw these cute animal shaped edibles in Sydney (Australia) city today (November 2014). Thought they deserved their own blog post.

Spunky little chick bird with a top hat and tiny fin-like wings

(From 85º Bakery, George St, Sydney CBD)

Adorale round piggy with little legs and hoofs, and Puss-in-Boots like eyes.

(From 85º Bakery, George St, Sydney CBD)

 Aren't these little pups precious, bow and all!

(BreadTop, inside World Square shopping mall, Sydney CBD)

Also saw some fun looking ice creams which were animal & Hello Kitty inspired ice creams in Westfield Chatswood the other day (Shop was called "Pop Choc 'n' Rock")...

Just wanted to share some of what I literally consider eye-candy!

Delicious, colourful and great looking all at once - Almost seems a shame to eat such edible artworks.

Funnily enough, I do find it hard eating foods shaped like animals, especially when they are soooo cute! So I might eat a bit of the leg first, then the arms, then the torso.. eating the head always seems to be the difficult part. 

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog. 

Borocay Philippines... Tropical paradise!

Borocay 

My second visit to this island paradise :) 

I would highly recommend this holiday destination to anyone who wants to go to paradise on a budget. There are expensive luxury resorts on this island, but you don't need to spend too much to enjoy the natural paradise that surrounds you on the island of Borocay. 

The view from the beachfront bar of our stay at the Whitehouse. 

Accommodation: 

Stayed at the Whitehouse, it was like hotel/motel, affordable and decent. I would stay here again, but would probably like to try a different stay next time. Key benefits would be the air-conditioning, the beachfront bar area (as pictured above), the super friendly and attentive staff and a refreshing drink on arrival. Something you may want to try are the affordable massages on the beach, hearing the ocean while getting a massage is an experience I often  do not get to experience everyday ... the 1hour massage cost me what I sometimes pay for lunch, AU$10! (400 Pesos at the time).

Keep in mind the bar food is so-so, if you do not want to be disappointed order something fried or something from their traditional filipino menu. Some cons, issue with the water pressure in the bathroom, which they fixed within a day, and the hotel furnishings and and general fixtures could use some refreshment. 

Shopping:

There was a small main island shopping area, which was open air, so it felt like a market. There were a few air-conditioned shops in this main shopping area, was not compelled to buy anything while there, as they were things I have seen before on my travels. Saw some nice bathing suits, but the size large was the equivalent of a size 10 here in Australia. The only thing I physically bought were a few knick knack type souvenirs for friends. I bought a shell purse and shell bracelets. Spent much more money on food!

Food:

Good food was hard to find while on the island. The only place I enjoyed eating was at Gerry's Grill, so delicious! (but obviously not a useful eating recommendation for vegans or vegetarians - sorry). Interestingly, there was a Starbucks - a welcome sight for my partner who was homesick from the familiar. Also, I highly recommend you try a 'Mango Shake' while you are in Borocay... they make them so well on this island.

Enjoying the warm weather and cool, calm and aqua clear waters.

If you want to see some brief video footage of the highlights of my trip & see fire dancers pull some awesome moves, you can watch all this in my video below...

Keep it sweet <3 

Teacup Love

All photos, videos and written content are under copyright 2014 © by the account holder of this blog. Seek permission via ilikeilove.teacup@gmail.com to use blog photos and content for commercial purposes. If using for non-commercial purposes, feel free to use but with acknowledgement or a link to this blog.