Good Bye, El Bulli

We wanted to try and see if we could get last minute reservation for 2011 before they close for the next possible 2 years. Unfortunately, we have to say Good-Bye to El Bulli and we may never see it reopen again.

I guess we were very very lucky to have met the man in person and to dine at his exquisite restaurant. We hope to meet again!

Becasse, Sydney, Australia

This was our first fine dining experience since arriving back in Oz and were itching to see how the restaurant scene has developed. Becasse Restaurant was French cuisine utilising Australian produce. Made sense in theory, but lacked when put into practice. From course to course, it lacked in balancing the quantity of ingredients or it lacked in bringing out the quality of the ingredients. Possibly I was going in with too much expectation, but I have to say that Becasse was slightly "B" class. Having said this, we still need to give it a second go considering head chef Justin North was not present on the night.

Private Kitchen - Chez Nick, Sydney, Australia

Strolling the streets of Sydney, we stumbled across the very exclusive private kitchen Chez Nick. Entree of Cauliflour Veloute; Mains of Victor Churchill Wagyu with Roasted Veges, pear and blue cheese salad; Topped off with a inspired deconstructed Banana Creme Brulee. Tres Bien! Unfortunately bookings are few and far between and therefore feeling very chuffed to be one of the lucky few.

Macau, China

Macau has boomed and grown exponentially since I have last seen it over 10 years ago. Largely driven by the Chinese genetic gene for gambling, the casinos were all a bit too overwhelming. Thankfully there were still the nice old streets of Macau to escape the "hurking" and passive smoking of the casinos. We did tick off all the things to do in Macau, (1) Gamble (2) Have a portuguese tart - Very Yum (3) Have Portuguese Chicken (4) Have Almond Biscuits (5) Have Beef Jerky and lastly (6) Take a picture of the burnt down church of St Pauls. Very low probability that we will be back, but the Portuguese tart may sway me.

Ayuthiya & Bangkok, Thailand

From the crumbling temples of Ayuthiya to the rooftop bars of Bangkok, we could see within a couples days, hundreds of years of contrast and development. This was of course in between the sessions of Thai massage that are very very addictive... No, not for the reasons you are thinking, sick people. "Somebody's car Thailand" and hope to be back soon for more Tom Yummmmmm.