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.
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...
The Zombie Walk in Sydney is an event to raise money for the Brain Foundation. More information can be found at http://www.sydneyzombiewalk.com .
Not sure if there is another walk like this around the world actually?! Please leave a comment if you have. Would be curious to know if there are other ones around the world. But being a Walking Dead fan, this was an opportunity not to be missed... to dress like a zombie, be dead for a day and raise money for a good cause. This walk is a lot shorter than most other charity walks/marathons I have taken part in, as you can see in the map below...
I personally went for a simple and realistic approach to my zombie getup, not one to seek too much attention. I used white and grey face paint to cover my exposed skins. I then used Extra Flesh - Fake Skin (by Mehron) to create the fake cut on my face cheek and the fake bite mark on my arm. I also needed black eyeshadow for the fake bite mark on my arm along with some fake blood. (Pictures below) I used Cottee's thick chocolate syrup mixed with pre-made fake-blood to make the blood texture more realistic. What was not so great were all the flies I was attracting because of the chocolate syrup. Although, all the flies hanging around probably added to the realism of me being a rotting corpse.
Zombie Selfie My Zombie face (kinda look drugged) My fake cut
My friend on the right only wore one contact lens.. definitely added to her zombie look!
Random zombie clown
This fellow wore red contact lenses.
These ladies went all out! I was officially been out-zombied.
This dude was popular with the camera... not everyday you see a zombie with a keyboard jammed into their head.
October 2014 I went to Manila in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago for a holiday. First time for my partner to visit an Asian country for the first time in his life... he described it as an eye-opener. Always is when you come for the very first time. But he loved it! <3 He had loads of fun meeting my relatives and trying the food. Only natural to put on a couple of kilos/pounds while on holidays ;) Should try not to, but the food is so darn good. As you can probably tell, I have unintentionally turned this blog into one all about food. I cross my heart and promise I will have non-food related blogs in future. Anyhoo... I was born in the Philippines but have spent most of my life growing up as a child/teen/adult in Australia. If you have never been to the Philippines, I recommend visiting the tropical island paradises - Borocay and El Nido!! This trip, we spent time in the city of Manila and on the island of Borocay (I will have video footage of my Borocay highlights available on Youtube, coming out in the next couple of days). My highlight would be Borocay, Why this is so....
(In my opinion) Best Mango shakes in the world. Buying Mangoes in the Philippines are like the ease of buying apples in Australia.
Hour long massages on the beach with the sound of the ocean in the background - conversion at the time, it cost us only AU$10.00.
The clear waters and fine as powder sound. It was was bliss!
Fun fact... They have a Starbucks on the island ... with air-conditioning :)
Highlight during my time in Manila would be the Malls & Shopping and the Sofitel Hotel, is a destination all in itself. One of the best stays & the lunch buffet is like nothing I have ever seen (the video below can give you an idea of how amazing this buffet was).
On returning home to Australia, we relished in the fact we could once more drink tap water freely and safely in large amounts. As we had to be diligent in drinking only bottled water and asking every single place we ate at in the Philippines NO ICE please! Otherwise, we would have been very ill.
On a side note, if you are wanting to find some affordable and delicious Filipino snacks to take home for other to try in your home country the following are highly recommended... (Took them to work as my souvenir to my colleagues, or as other Filipinos would refer to as Pasalubong) and they went down like a treat, ALL GONE by the end of the working day, every last crumb!
From Left to right, Jovy's Crispy Pili Nuts, Choco Uron Chocolate Coated polvoron (Graham flavour, 2 in 1 coated) and Philippine Brand Dried Mangoes.
