Vivid Sydney 2011

This year, Vivid Sydney took place from May 27 to June 13. As I missed it last year, I happily joined Jocelyn, a Photography Club friend of hers and her brother to the city to be part of the event.

As the Southern Hemisphere's largest festival of light, music and ideas, Vivid celebrates and showcases the creative genius that is right here in Sydney, as well as extends an invitation to the world's best creatives to unleash their talent on buildings and the harbourside.

Vivid's lights go on every night from 6:00pm. From just about every vantage point on the foreshore, I could see the spectacular lighting of the Sydney Opera House sails. The World Heritage-listed icon permits bespoke lighting only for very special occasions and the annual Vivid Sydney festival is one of them. It is an image that is screened around the world and this year, the high-profile installation called Lighting the Sails is by French design collective, Superbien. We actually started from the back of the Opera House - the smaller sail:

Then, after an embarrassing discovery of where the stairs were, we went to the front part of the sails:

How cool is that colourful stingray (or jellyfish?)!?!


Love the reaction of the kids in the video. Honestly, I was very impressed with it myself. I was wondering how they managed to get all those lights onto the building until I turned around and saw this:

Ah, so that's where the shots are called. Apparently, they used the technique of projection-mapping, which maps video onto the actual shapes of the sails to create a 3D-like effect. That is one hell of a powerful projector they have there!

With over 40 stunning light art installations from local and international artists in a free outdoor exhibition where children are encouraged to climb on interactive sculptures and aspiring photographers can put their night camera settings to the test, the whole city is bursting with life despite the cold! I did not get to see all 40 but I did cover the few that were situated along the foreshore of Circular Quay.

One of them was C/C by Singaporean artist, Angela Chong.

This futuristic and functional sculpture is made from acrylic sheets fashioned into this public chair. It is illuminated by night with low energy, colour changing LED lights to bring its playfulness to light. The work uses light to blur the lines between reality and imaginary fiction.

Further down was Positive Attracts by Singaporean architect and sculptor Edwin Cheong. He is an environmental, kinetic, light-art artist, educator and writer. He holds a Master of Architecture and is a design and art lecturer. His interest in three-dimensional arts sees him work with broad scope furniture, landscape and sculpture. He is the celebrated creator of Singapore’s 33ft tall Youth Olympic Games Commemorative Sculpture.

We got to interact with our 'Heroes' up close to bask in their positive energy. These life size light statues had Infra Red sensors to detect when you are in close range and trigger their LED lighting effect. The artist wanted the rainbow waves of colour to charge us, the spectators, with doses of optimism. We got to guess the real life heroes they are named after from the quotes at the base of the statues, like this one:

This was my personal favourite. Do you know who said this? No? Well, it was Steven Spielberg.

Just next to this was Melody by Sun Yu-Li. He is one of Singapore’s most notable sculpture artists of the past 20 years. His celebrated 12-metre high steel work “Harmony”, created in 2001, symbolizes China-Singapore close relations and is featured on national stamps and minted coins of both countries. Sun Yu-li’s work inquires into the origin of aesthetics, putting solid form to the conscious moment.

Melody implied the rhyme of the Sydney Harbour in Circular Quay and the music emanating from the Sydney Opera House as part of the magical precinct it was located in. This free flowing ribbon form, beamed light from inside and invited admirers to touch, sit and walk through its perforated stainless steel sculptural frame to enjoy the ambience.

A few steps away was Light Wave Action by a local Aussie team from Haron Robson’s lightmatters®. Multi-lighting design award winner Bow Jaruwangsanti, from Thailand, industrial designer and illumination student Kristy Philp from Fiji and design engineer Christa Van Zoeren from the Netherlands used their diverse backgrounds, both cultural and technical, to promote a rich collaborative effort for sharing ideas and considering solutions from varying perspectives.

We got to wander through this wave-like sculpture for a multi-sensory experience, inspired by nature, reflecting the subtle colour of twilight skies and paying homage to the sea – representing nature’s power in the movement and formation of waves. The artists used the interplay of lighting and form with low energy LED to reflect on the subtle and emotive performance of nature.

32 Hundred Lighting, founded by Iain Reed, is one of Australia’s most innovative event lighting and audio companies responsible for many big profile events, from fashion shows to charity events to Sydney New Year’s Eve installations. For this year's Vivid, they put together Skyscraper Illuminati, where they theatrically transformed Sydney’s Circular Quay's five buildings with illuminations coordinated with next generation animated lighting. Cast Lighting effects ‘conversed’ across Circular Quay Railway Station, Gateway, Sydney Harbour Marriott;

and Four Seasons Hotel Sydney to form one large canvas and presented a regular 20-minute show, created through a wireless IP network to show the very latest in low energy LED colour lighting technology.

This was my favourite part of the evening: Unfamiliar Customs by The Electric Canvas, an award-winning Australian company recognised internationally as a leader in architectural projections. The company has worked on prestigious projects worldwide presenting immersive projections using large-format filmstrip and high-powered digital projection. The in-house art department is known for their creation of dynamic, theatrical experiences.



Cool right?! I was so amazed! The installation was created entirely on a virtual model using computers driven by the visibly smart 2nd Generation Intel® CoreTM processors. Customs House literally appeared from sand as the projections both celebrated and sometimes mocked the iconic architecture in a playful creation reflecting its 160 years standing on the shore of Sydney Harbour.

On the other side of the quay stood three cute jellyfish-looking light sculptures. French lighting designer Pascal Petitjean, co-creator of Lighting Balloons, teamed with Australian film light expert Simon Lee and Singapore architect Aamer Taher to create Jellight. Petitjean has been involved with projects such as The Titanic and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Lee has been involved with lighting films including Moulin Rouge, King Kong, Australia and Avatar. Taher trained at London’s School of Architecture and is a council member of the Singapore Institute of Architects.

Jellight giant jellyfish floated magically above the harbour in this film-like installation. The artists created these imaginative light Jellies to be imagined as floating away from Earth. The sculptural, eliptical light balloons depicted jellyfish departing the polluted oceans to escape into the universe as ‘reverse UFOs’. The colourful light emanated from the robust lighting balloons, producing 360-degree non-glare light sources. Due to the massive crowd, I could not take get close enough to take better pictures.

As we walked past the Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Light Wheel, by local lighting designers Andre Kecskes & Mark Hammer, animated itself and cycled through its colour spectrum with pulses and ripples with clever LED lamps that created a mass of moving patterns. The sculpture ran entirely off one 10amp outlet using just LED technology.

Hammer lit the Harbour Bridge for its 75th anniversary and has been the lighting designer of the Sydney New Year’s Eve Bridge Effect since 2008. Kecskes specialises in large-scale event lighting design, as well as private events, such as the Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban wedding.

We were just in time for the FireDance, an incredible performance of dancing flames that used 40 jets of flame higher than a three-story house that exploded five times a night every night of Vivid Sydney. Choreographed to music using the same technology that controls the Harbour Bridge fireworks every New Year’s Eve, FireDance featured two different shows, alternating between each other on the eighteen incendiary nights of Vivid Sydney.

The spectacle of dancing fire in this intimate harbour arena erupted every hour from 7:00pm for six to seven minutes as the firejets flared and flamed in a choreographed balletic performance to the magic of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite


and the Katy Perry hit Firework, remixed by renowned artist Pee Wee Ferris.


FireDance used a pressurised non-toxic hydrocarbon liquid in its firejets, and its warmth could be felt literally tens of metres away. It was warm even from where I was standing! FireDance was produced and created by Howard & Sons, a fourth-generation family business and leading exponents of flame-projector technology.

Well, since we were on the other side of the Opera House, we had a bigger picture view of the entire show, which called for a video-taking session!


We capped the night by walking the night market over at The Rocks, where we stumbled upon illuminate by Daniel Mercer and Richard Neville. Richard is a young Australian lighting designer whose work spans professional theatre, concert, television, dance party, recital and corporate projects around the world. Richard has collaborated with Daniel – one of the founding directors of Australian lighting and visual design company Mandylights - and Alex Grieson, a young creative designer.

illuminate drew on the collective power of numerous tiny, highly efficient light sources in creating this appealing lighting design using less power than the existing lights for The Rocks Square. Some 140 hanging tubes were filled with individually controllable LEDs producing 9000 pixels of light, re-lighting this space with continuously changing colours and patterns.

Next year, I am going to make sure that I get to see all the sculptures. And so, I would have to be properly prepared - must look up website prior to going and have warmer clothing!

Moved, again

This is now the view that greets me each time I return to my room.

Yes, I have moved, yet again. But for good reasons.

First, it is cheaper than the previous place.
Second, it is nearer to uni than the previous place. As in, right across the road, which means
Third, I do not need to train to uni.
Fourth, Woolies is at the doorstep.
Fifth, Aunty Pat is nearby.
Sixth, new housies, which means new faces and places to add to my database of life.

I wonder what kind of experiences await ahead...

Teaching children respect

by Deborah Lambeth

Everyone needs respect. In a world where the current mantra seems to be "it’s all about me" there seems to be a loss of respect in many different areas—loss of self-respect, respect for property, and respect for others. If this is the situation from an adult perspective, then how do we teach children to have an attitude of respect?

Most of the schools across America have been implementing what they call "character education." While this is a good approach to teaching children different good character traits, I believe the teaching of these begins and home and continues long after the curriculum has been taught. The character education curriculum is comprised of teaching children many different aspects of character—trustworthiness, responsibility, fairness, and respect just to name a few. In the teaching manual on respect, they list six components:

• Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
• Be courteous and polite.
• Listen to what other people have to say.
• Don't insult people, or make fun of them, or call them names.
• Don't bully or pick on others.
• Don't judge people before you get to know them.

These seem to be very basic tenets of being an all around good person. But how do you teach a child respect? There are several ways.

1. Modeling. This is the simplest way children learn. If a child hears your opinion about not liking other races, for example, the child will begin to emulate that, as well. On the flipside, if a parent exhibits a kindness towards people who are different, the child will begin to see the world as an opportunity to learn from different types of people.

2. Start at the very beginning of your child’s life. When children are old enough to play and share, it is important to teach children how to take care of their toys. This is one aspect of teaching respect for property. Teaching children how to share is also a component of respect.

3. Teach your children how to talk with people (not to people). Asking how someone’s day is going, complimenting a person on what they are wearing, etc., being concerned about something that person may be experiencing are ways of teaching your child to respect other people.

4. Expose your child to different things. Take your child to a cultural festival so they can see and experience cultural differences. Unusual foods, interesting customs, different types of music and dances can be a way a child develops interest in and acceptance of people of different races/cultures. Cultural differences abound in this country. Rather than look down on people who are different, look at cultural differences as an opportunity to learn and experience something different than your own.

5. Demonstrate respect. Do something kind. Make it a goal for you and your child (or children) to do something kind for someone at least once a month. Give your children choices and help them decide what they want to do. It may be taking used clothing to a shelter, selling lemonade on the corner and giving those proceeds to an organization that helps children, or going to your local shelter to serve a meal to the homeless.

6. Teach your child to say no. Say no to drugs, premarital sex, inappropriate touches, unwanted behavior, cigarettes, etc.-anything that would have a bearing on their development physically, socially, and psychologically. One of the more difficult challenges is to teach a child respect for themselves, but in order for a child to exhibit respect to others, they have to learn how to respect themselves. This means teaching your child that some things are just unacceptable. The bottom line is that everybody is worthy of being treated with respect—even the individual!

Aretha Franklin’s song is a good one that we all should remember however old we are! As a mnemonic device, you might want to consider this a way for your child to learn respect:

R-Respect yourself
E-Everybody deserves respect and kindness.
S-Socio-economic status has no bearing on whether someone should be respected.
P-Property. Respect other people’s property by not abusing or damaging it.
E-Environment. Respect the environment by not littering, conserving, and recycling.
C-Cultural differences should be embraced, not criticized.
T-Things. Respect the tangible and intangible things that are yours as well as others. Respect the wants and wishes of others. Respect other people’s opinions.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T—not a hard word to spell, actually and not a hard word to implement either.

(Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/teaching-children-respect.html)

Down memory lane

Perhaps it is due to recent happenings in my life that I have flashbacks of the past as I prepare for bed at night. Unconsciously, people and places that used to matter to me stop by in their journey on my train of thoughts to smile and wave at me. Reflexively, I smile and wave back.

The autumn colours along the pavement in uni and the piercing cold winds that are ushering winter into the year bring back memories. Special ones which make me think that I have experienced much; emotionally, intellectually. I did not realise how much one person could have an impact on me, especially one whom I was confident was a passerby in life.

Goes to show how much an ass I made out of myself.

Sometimes, I cannot help but activate my iPhotos to browse the photos that were taken during the autumn adventure I was on last year. It was one that continued to be a wonderfully memorable winter, with me doing random unanticipated things. Things like take a train in the wee hours of the morning to spend a whole day with a person I hardly know to places not set foot on for a photo-snapping spree.

I walk down this lane pretty often. This lane has windows of memories; some which I merely look into while some are which I open to have a better look inside.

As much as I do not enjoy thinking and saying this, but I feel that this stroll down memory lane is a happy one. And it reminds me heaps of you.

Sudden goodbye

I was shopping in IKEA when my mobile phone vibrated in the right pocket of my black Giordano hoodie. It was an SMS from Dad:

Yesterday, mum went to... On the way, she dropped in two see Grandparents. Both alert, she said. I'm in Tawau today. She just called to say that Grandpa has passed away.

I went blank for a bit and because I was in IKEA, I tried to contain myself. I did well until Mum returned my call and said this at the end of the conversation:

No need to fly back, okay? Gong-gong can't see or hear you anymore. When you come home next time, we will bring you to pay your respects to him, okay?

I replied with a mono-syllabled nod. I had to turn away to wipe the tears that were bulging at the edge of my eyelids.

Grandpa,

I will always remember the added festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year that you never fail to create by coming home for reunion dinner half drunk from drinking beer at your mahjong sessions down at the kopitiam singing at the top of your endearing tenor voice.

I will always remember my first and only ride on your pink Mini Bus (yes, those that used to conquer the roads before RapidKL and Metrobus).

I will always remember the combination pork porridge you packed from that porridge stall at the Pasar Besar Serdang to let me have as comfort food when I had fever.

I will always remember your jovial character and how you laid on the cool tiled floors with one leg crossed on the other while reading the papers.

I will always remember how you would jump up and ask, "Have you eaten? Want something to eat?" every time I come to visit you and called out, "Gong-gong!"

I am proud to have had the chance to be your granddaughter. May I have this honour again next life, please?


Love you, Grandpa.

Celebrating 2,600 years of Buddhism

Wesak in 2011 marks the 2,600th year of the Buddha’s enlightenment and the teaching of His Dharma. And to celebrate this special occasion, many temples around the world hold various programmes including courses,seminars, exhibition, drama, and movie screenings to help the public understand and appreciate His teachings.

Buddhist friends and devotees are also encouraged to participate in devotional activities such as alms-giving, blood donation, chanting, meditation, and Dharma talks. Different temples would have their own ways of collecting donation, such as through oil lamp lighting, or monk robe sponsorship.

Wesak Day has always been a day I thoroughly enjoyed since understanding the Dharma more. I disliked it when I was younger because I had to get out of bed really early in the morning and join the crowd at the temple. Sometimes, I got lost and when your height was up to an adult's waist, that was no fun!

The day begins with alms-giving, donation and chanting at the Maha Vihara in Brickfields. The atmosphere is colourful and vibrant. The soothing sounds of chants float in the air while we queue to join the others in the main prayer shrine to partake in the water blessing ceremony. Here, we also receive threads of yellow string - a typical Buddhist symbol - to tie around our wrists.

Mum then makes donations for incense and candles. These candles are no ordinary candles. These candles come in the shape of a pink lotus flower sitting on a green lotus pad. Mum normally makes separate donations in the name of the family and the centres. She also donates by sponsoring oil lamps and monk robes.

The above are daytime happenings. After tucking ourselves into a light vegetarian lunch in a nearby Indian restaurant, we head home to rest in preparation for the activities in the evening, which to me are the highlights of the day.

My Wesak memories are filled with the float processions that go through the city with the picturesque Kuala Lumpur skyline as a backdrop. I always have enjoyed walking for three hours with a whole entourage of devotees and some curious tourists. Perhaps also, it is simply something else that I relate to and enjoy with my parents.

So if you are enjoying the bright full moon in the clear night sky right now with a lovely cup of tea in hand, or if you are in KL right now with thousands of others ready to take to the streets with colourful floats, I wish you Happy Wesak and metta.

Buns for Books!

I came across Mari Kita Membaca (MKM) a few months ago through a friend's facebook page. Literally translated as Let’s Read, MKM is a project to bring books to children living in the rural and under-served areas of Malaysia and to encourage the love of reading.

They believe that by cultivating the love of reading and independent learning they contribute towards empowering local communities. They work closely with grassroots organisations and partners on the ground supporting local initiatives. They take inspiration from the local communities, who despite the lack of resources, work hard to provide education opportunities for their children.

Education, like in any socially stratified society, is the key to breaking the cycle of inequality and discrimination. I have also found this in UNESCO and UNICEF reports, which support the work of their consultants and other personnel in imparting education and care skills to local communities in hard-to-reach areas. They go by the saying of how giving a man a fish will only let him eat for a day whereas teaching a man to fish would help him eat for a lifetime. By equipping the local communities with skills and knowledge, they come to realise the power of education thus would feel motivated and would strive to provide their children with a better future.

Currently, they have provided Library Boxes (the books are packed in lovely boxes!) to Orang Asli (indigenous) villages in Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Johor and Sabah. They also conduct reading activities in many of the villages.

In support of their good work, I managed to get the co-operation of the Malaysian Students Association (MSA) in uni and PappaRoti Australia to help me in raising funds.




A big thank you to Clayton for coming up with the designs above and for being the messenger between the MSA committee and I. Also, a big thank you to Junda and his PappaRoti team for sponsoring the buns.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday!

A to Z Fun Things to Do & Places to Visit with Kids in Kuala Lumpur

This was an e-book, to be precise, which I found while browsing through the blog of the very creative Emila Yusof, whom I have now added to my blogroll. She is a professional blogger painter, children's book writer and illustrator, as well as a freelance illustrator.

I like the clean layout of her blog and if you ask my close friends, they would say that it is a very 'me' blog. I think it is more me than my own blog!

This e-book is basically a children's guide to places of interest in KL. I would think that children would be attracted to the illustration and would be motivated to recognise the words used. Without realising, children are developing several skills, such as literacy, language, social and conceptual among other skills. I will go into more detail about these skills in a following post.

I am heartened with the fact that there is someone out there in Malaysia producing some good quality stuff for our kids. More importantly, stuff that is relevant to the lives of Malaysian children.

She has made it free for all to download for personal use. Please go to http://emilayusof.com/kids/, scroll down to nearly the bottom and you would be able to see it on your right.

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

Despite having lived in Sydney for the past eight years, I have not dined in many of the eateries in Chinatown. One place some of my friends have frequented for quick feeds is Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet.

I finally had a chance to eat here with an invitation from a friend who wanted to catch up with me and was concerned for my health. He had 'healthy' intentions but everything we ordered for tea that arvo was far from healthy. Just have a look at what we had:

The egg tart made me miss the Portuguese egg tarts sold at King's Confectionery. This egg tart had soft pastry and a centre which melted in the mouth.

The Hungry Bon Vivant left a comment on Street Food saying that the 油条 (yóu tiáo) with hot soy drink is a traditional Taiwanese breakfast and this establishment is filled with Taiwanese in the mornings. Literally, it means oil strip.

For Malaysians like me, I suppose we are more used to crispy golden you tiao sold at a roadside stall with a big black wok with oil only God (and the stall keepers) know how old. I do not know about other people but I use more of the Cantonese pronunciation of 'yao char guai' than the proper Mandarin 'you tiao'.

The next time I return to KL, I have to be sure to take photos of the other varieties of yao char guai, as well. Perhaps some photos on how we Malaysians have it with bubur cha cha, bak kut teh and porridge?

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet
Shop 1-4, 86-88 Dixon St, Chinatown 2000
Tel: +61 2 9211 0288
Open 7 days 8:00am - 8:00pm
Unlicensed, BYO, Corkage $1 person
No Cards (Cash only)

AJ's Indian Restaurant

AJ’s does not need any introduction to the local community. Their outstanding blend of food and services has earned them many prestigious awards and a wide array of delighted customers. Among the awards that they have garnered include the 2010 I Love Food Award (NSW State Winner) and the 2010 Best Restaurant Of The Year.

Due to its convenient location (less than five minutes by car from Aunty's house to be precise), we have dined there a few times. Every time we do, we never fail to order their mango lassi.

We have also tried their Sabzi Pattie, a delicious, purely vegetarian entrée, which reminded me of something I had in Adelaide with Yu Sheng, Jeng Yie and their Bruneian friend a few years back.

For mains, we have tried their Aloo Gobhi, potato and cauliflower lightly braised with tomatoes, onion and spices...

... their Daal Tarka, a thick soup-like red lentil dish with a flavoured oil dressing...

... and their Pista Murgh, chicken simmered in a combination of crushed pistachios, yoghurt, cream and cardamom, something we ordered out of curiosity.

Instead of having rice like we normally do, we often opt for the Mixed Basket of plain, garlic and cheese naan to go with the mains.

We, especially Aunty, also enjoy their accompaniments of Pappadums and to be eaten with the Pappadums, Raita, chilled yoghurt with shredded cucumber.

If you live nearby, do give them a try but be sure to make a booking beforehand, as they can get very packed in the evenings. For Muslims, fret not, they serve halal meals.

AJ's Indian Restaurant
58a Balaclava Road, Eastwood, NSW 2122
Tel: +61 2 9874 9090; Mobile: +61 421 363 697

Early learning matters

Early learning is one of the smartest investments that we can make. Children should not be playing catch-up when they enter kindergarten, and yet so many do. If we want greater success later and a better-skilled workforce, we need to ensure the proper development of our most at-risk children at these earliest ages.

This video is by Save the Children, the world's leading independent organization for children. Their vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Their mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Working in rural communities across the world, ensuring children living in poverty have a chance at a fair start, Save the Children is one of the many such organisations doing such work.

Chefs Gallery

There were mixed reviews from friends when I asked around for people to join me on a trial meal at Chefs Gallery.

Some tell me that they are not worth the price paid, which made me even more curious! And also thanks to a very food-savvy friend who showed me tempting photos of some of the food served there. I am glad I patronized, as the first visit had me going back there for more!

They sport a bright interior, with high ceilings and some Chinese pottery pieces, to add to the 'antique-ish' feel. The high ceiling also helps to make the place seem more spacious.

It seems that the open kitchen concept is catching on. Their kitchen is fully visible and they maximize it by showcasing their noodle-pulling techniques.

The noodles are not called hand-pulled noodles, or la mian for no reason. Literally, 拉 (lā) means to pull or stretch, while 麵 (miàn) means noodle. The hand-making process involves taking a lump of dough and repeatedly stretching it to produce many strands of thin, long noodle.

There are several styles of twisting the dough but they all employ the same concept: a piece of dough is repeatedly stretched and folded onto itself in order to align the glutens and warm up the dough for stretching. Then it is rolled out to a workable thickness and cut into workable portions. The end pieces of the starting dough are never used because the glutens are not as aligned as the middle pieces. This dough is then pulled to about an arm span's length. The puller then makes a loop with the dough, joining the two ends into one clump of dough, and inserts his fingers into the loop to keep the strand from sticking to itself. Doing this, the pull has doubled the length of the dough while fractioning its thickness. This process is repeated several times until the desired thickness and quantity is achieved.

Made and cooked to order, the chef in charge of your order would serve you, a concept I have not experienced before. I suppose, we get to 'meet' the person who made our food. They come all armored with occupational health and safety gear, like the mouth-guard they wear.

Chefs Gallery also provides patrons with a coat cover, which is like a pullover for your jackets and what-nots that you place over your chair. This helps prevent your clothes from smelling like food or from soiling.

Among the noodles that we tried were the thick handmade noodles wok fried with Chinese mushrooms and bean sprouts in premium soya sauce...

... and the diced chilli chicken tossed with handmade noodles.

This dish was the main attraction for me because the spicy-sour-sweet taste reminds me of my favourite dish of pig trotters in vinegar.

There are other things there, which were stellar, as well. For instance, the cucumber served cold with a hint of chilli oil was addictive with its cold and spicy crunch effect.

The handmade egg tofu lightly panfried topped with preserved vegetables was perfect for the egg and tofu sucker in me!

Their fluffy Chinese roti, or 手抓饼 (shǒu zhuā bǐng) resembled our roti canai very much. We reckon they make them better than Mamak - personal opinion only.

We also ordered the cute little piggy face buns.

No, they were not cha siew paus, they were sesame buns. Haha!

We also had a basket of what looked to be pumpkins, which had lotus paste inside.

And I totally recommend the dessert they have on their menu. The osmanthus and goji berry jelly had just the right sweetness and would be very refreshing on a hot day.

The mango ice cream served with mango puree and a lightly fried sweet potato ball was an interesting combination. It also came with almond shaving, which added another dimension to the taste palate. Loved it!

Price is reasonable, taking into account the service and ambience. But be prepared to queue so try to avoid peak meal times.

Chefs Gallery Restaurant
Shop 12 (facing Bathurst Street), Ground Floor Regent Place, 501 George Street, NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9267 8877, Fax: +61 2 8004 8143

Sunday at home

I will miss Sundays like this one, when we randomly felt like making our own 'chapati'. Being the ignorant missy I am, I did not know that it was just as simple as mixing water with flour and kneading it to your preferred texture. And then, of course, flattening it with a rolling pin.

It was an oil-free pan and thank goodness for housemate's non-stick Tefal!

We had it there until it turned slightly brown for that little crispiness.

She cooked up a bowl of lentils (sudden crave for lentils for some unknown reason) and a plate of potato stir-fried with tuna and sweet chilli sauce (which was super yum!).

Oh, and I will forever remember how I woke up to this lovely note stuck to my door from the other housemate:

Trust me, he will miss my perky voice and other housemate's loud house slipper's 'pik-piak' sounds.