Madeline Peyroux @ The Barbican

After a long day at work, we were in need of a serious chill out session. We ventured over to the Barbican to watch one of our fav jazz singers, Madeline Peyroux.

After a bit of a wait, she finally appeared with her 4 piece band. The night was perfect! The ambience, the intimacy, and the melodic vocals of Madeline were all perfect! The highlight of the night was when she sang our fav song "La Javanese". The song just exudes romanticism and paints the picture of when she played her music on the streets of Paris.

Anzac Cookies

Seems we have put up quite a few posts this weekend. Sorry to all those that may think we have a boring life...=P

Since I didnt get my fav Anzac biscuits this year, I decided to whip some up. I think it was in the oven too long, a bit too crunchy for my liking.

Happy 6th Birthday Yuki!

Happy birthday darling! Unfortunately we are unable to celebrate our little girl's birthday this year, but she did still get a special treat courtesy of her grandma and granddad. Via webcam we wished her happy birthday while she chomped blissfully on her roast lamb leg. We are both missing her dearly! Love you lots lots..muah muah muah

Relo from Home

As I went for a hair cut at a Japanese hairdresser yesterday, Trent met up with his cousin-in-law for a beer or two. We then met up at Princi for a quick coffee and pastry before we headed to 1* Wild Honey (sister restaurant of Artbutus) for dinner.

The food was alright, not as good as The Ledbury but way better than L'Autre Pied. The ambience was pretty good, warm and inviting. The waitress was also very helpful, till the Maitre'd kept reminding us that our 2hr time slot was almost up!

We had the veloute, sea bass, veal, chicken. Followed by wild honey icecream, cheesecake and a tapioca panna cotta. I thought it was a weird combo, the tapioca made it more like a pudding and so the panna cotta lost its smooth and softness!

Monaco here we come!

hehehe...we finally received our F1 tickets this morning. Hami here I come!!!

Best Roast Duck in London

Sometimes, Trent & I get a little too lazy to cook dinner and we are very lucky to live down the road from London's famous Four Season. Everyone raves on about their roast duck, we must admit, it is much better than Sydney!

Though we have been eating it on a regular basis, I dont believe we have ever posted pics... here you go...

Can you go offroad in a Nissan Micra?

During our trip thus far, we are heavily reliant on our wonderful TomTom GPS (Thanks again for the present!). It has steered us through Belgium, Wales, England, France, Switzerland, and now into an unmaintained road in rural Italy.  Having rained heavily the night before, the road had turned into a clay and ended up taking the Nissan Micra for a slippery dip ride down hill.

Presented with the perfect opportunity to meet the locals, I gestured in true Italian style and was replied with "Mamma Mia!" and a tractor soon after. Another testament to the fact that great adversity presents great experiences!

In Love with Italy - Part 5 (Milan)

On our last day in Italy, we visited the fashion capital, Milan. It was a far cry from the quiet and peacefulness of the countryside, but it did have its own little charm. Unfortunately Easter Monday meant that a lot of the temples of haute couture were closed. 

In Love with Italy - Part 4 (La Villa)

Marisa managed to discover a truly memorable place to stay while we were in Piedmont. La Villa is a restored 17th century palazzo that brought all the modern luxuries but still kept the character and warmth of the Italian countryside. We are now considering visiting again in time for the truffle hunting season!

In Love with Italy - Part 3 (The Food)

Marisa is always the sceptic on Italian food. Always with the comment "They all taste the same!" and nothing a bottle of Dolmio can't do. After this trip, I am fairly positive we have a convert to love the freshness and simplicity of the food. We even had the chance to continue our Michelin star tour at Ristorante Donatella in the little village of Oviglio.

In Love with Italy - Part 2 (Portofino)

The glitz and glamour of the Italian riviera was definitely evident in Portofino. After a 2 hour drive from where we were staying, the clouds slowly opened up to reveal a beautiful Spring day. Seafood, luxury yachts, and Italian's with 5 o'clock shadows and cardigans wrapped around their shoulders.

In Love with Italy - Part 1 (The Wine Region)

We took advantage of the Easter break to travel to the Piedmont region in north west of Italy. Blessed with great weather (never trust weather reports) we drove into the wine region of Barbaresco! Surrounded by the picturesque Italian backdrop, we.. or should I say I sloshed down the vino. With each sip, the landscape looked more and more beautiful! 

A beautiful Spring Day

It was a beautiful warm and sunny spring afternoon. A good wander in the park.



Tomorrow is my first day at a temp job...hopefully it will extend longer than expected!