Where in the World - JAPAN

Avoiding weight gain is an impossible feat. But when you're eating food that rates exceptionally high on both palatability and presentation, the extra kilos are justified. 


A 10 day trip venturing through the sleepless streets of Tokyo and the sometimes forgotten corners of Hiroshima, Takayama and Kanazawa was the gateway into Food Heaven. 


Ramen, the cutest little baked goods and green tea flavoured EVERYTHING. It was in a tiny cafe on a street corner in Hiroshima that I discovered my love for Matcha Lattes. Thankfully the barista gave me the recipe: 40g matcha green tea powder + 12 ounces of steamed milk = 2 mugs. SO SO GOOD. 

Matcha Latte

x Emma

Where in the World - SOUTH-EAST ASIA

So here begins parts of my travel experiences around South-East Asia for three weeks:

First destination was Singapore!

I arrived in the evening to catch a taxi straight to my hotel and I was overwhelmed by how beautiful this city was - the lights from all the buildings, trees strewn with fairy lights, the endless amount of shopping centres along Orchard Road - I wanted to stay there forever! Oh and did I mention that my hotel was also along Orchard Road? I was so tempted to wake up early and stay up late the 4 nights I was there to wander the streets/go on a shopping spree!

It seemed as though Singapore had EVERY shop you could ever imagine - All I needed was some cash to spend!

It was everything a true shopaholic, like me, could ever want although I wasn’t so fond of the eager shoppers as they prodded their way through the crowd!

(This was my Breakfast!)

When I wasn’t spending all my time shopping I went on the Singapore flyer and was given some audio device with commentary about the history of Singapore and how obsessed they are about feng shui but seeing the city was a wonderful experience!

Then it was off to the Botanical Gardens where I saw hundreds of orchids in so many colours!

Next stop, Malaysia!

For the first week I was in Penang and during my stay, I'm sure that I gained 5 kilos from eating non-stop as my eating habits were astonishing! The food stalls were so cheap and so yummy - you can get a plate of food for RM3 which is equivalent to $1!!!

I went on one of these rickshaws to look around Penang and although areas looked run-down (i.e the ocean opposite my room was extremely polluted) that didn’t take away the beauty of the numerous amounts of temples and buildings that I saw!

Langkawi Island

The views from my resort were absolutely breathtaking!

Waking up to this every morning, the sunrise and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks...Why would you ever want to leave? Well, actually it was an inconvenience to go all the way to the lobby as my chalet was about a 10 minute drive by what resembled a golf buggy.

This was done at a handicraft market!

Also, I tried something daring and went to a fish foot spa where you essentially put your feet in a spa and these little fish nibble away at your dead skin. Yes, it sounds disgusting but you adjust after a while. I was booked in for 15 minutes but spent most of that time screaming and jumping!

Lastly, I rode an elephant as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do although this poor fellow looked so miserable :(

On another note, if you ever find yourself in Langkawi Island, do make sure you go on the cable car!! You get to go about 700m above sea level and see amazing views such as this:

After being on a ferry for about 2 hours I arrived in Kedah. Nothing much to do there so we decided to take a road trip to the border of Thailand, Hat Yai, on the spur of the moment!

If you go to Thailand and shop around the little stalls, you need to know how to bargain! Who cares if they don’t speak any English whatsoever, this is when sign language comes in handy!

By the end of my trip I was beginning to talk just like a local adding ‘lah’ at the end of each sentence and learnt two phrases (one useful and not so useful) ‘Selamat Detang’ meaning ‘welcome’ and the other phrase ‘Tutup Mulut’ with its direct translation being ‘shut your mouth.’

On my last day I was exhausted waking up in the early hours of the morning to catch a flight from Penang to Singapore, Singapore to Melbourne and waiting around for at least 3 hours to catch each plane (this meant I could wander around the Singapore airport to spend the last of my Singaporean dollars though!)

There’s so so so much more about my travels that I haven’t mentioned I could go on for days! It was such an amazing experience and I loved every second of it so much so I’m already planning my next trip!

x Emily

Đối Muốn Ấn Phó

I know they probably do not even compare to Springvale/Richmond but the pho from here was not bad at all!

Vietnam Noodle House

251 Swanston St Melbourne

Whatever you do, do NOT order their drinks as good as they may appear. JT had the Pennywort - basically they put random green leaves into a blender and claim it as a drink. I tried the Kiwi Smoothie and it was so so sour (N)

For a really refreshing Vietnamese Avocado Smoothie try

Rice Paper

245 Swanston Street Melbourne

only a few doors up from Vietnam Noodle House..

x Emma

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

They may not be raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings

But these are a few of my favourite things...

MEET BOSTON

Named after one of my favourite cities in the world, this is my dog Boston. For those true dog lovers, your pet really is one of your best friends. Boston enjoys catching flies, peanut butter toast and sleeping under the bed.

BREAKFAST

Sunny weekend mornings or even lazy week days, there is nothing better than catching up with friends over an indulgent breakfast. Pancakes, French toast, omelettes, bacon and eggs; breakfast is undoubtedly the MOST underrated and overjoyed meal of the day.
My favourite places to go to breakfast is Zanetti in Ivanhoe (132 Upper Heidelberg Road,
Ivanhoe) or when the city calls, Degraves.

TINTED MOISTURISER

Despite a red satin box overflowing with make-up, Benefit's You Rebel Tinted Moisturiser in Lite is still undoubtedly one of my favourite products. In my opinion, the versatility and quality of this product is yet to be matched by any other brand. Rosy smell, SPF 15 and old school tube of paint packaging, this tinted moisturiser works great as either your primer that goes under your foundation or replace the foundation altogether for a light smooth coverage.
Benefit products are available in most Myer stores.
This tinted moisturiser retails at $55 from Myer.

RAIN BOOTS

Splish, Splash, Splosh! Rain boots not only keep your feet nice and dry when you miss those muddy winter puddles, they can also be a very stylish and very adorable accessory. There are a range of ones that you can get that not only double as water proof wear but possibly the must have shoes for a chic winter.

My fave ones are my Hunter boots (mine are the Original Gloss Short Wellington Boots in Black, Hunter has a myriad of really cute colours). I only paid around ₤55 or AUS $90 for my pair. If I were to buy mine from Melbourne, the only place I found them was from the boutique Cactus Jam in QV for around $140 so I think I definitely got myself a bargain.

Other Rain boots that are on my wishlist...

Vivienne Westwood and Melissa West End Rain Boots

Burberry Rain Boots

x Nancy

ARINTJI

Arintji - Federation Square

Cnr Flinders & Swanston St

Melbourne

So far I've tried their hot chocolate and Cosmopolitans...

Hot chocolate. They used to serve it in a really cool way, one cup of hot milk sitting on a warm candle holder placed on a tray with little chocolate pieces and chocolate sauce. It was PERFECT during winter and cool that you could combine all the ingredients as you liked :) But then they stopped making it that way..now it's just served in a small glass..nothing special.

Cosmopolitan. EIGHTEEN DOLLARS. I thought they were joking. But it was nice and had those floating icy pieces on the surface which I love! With NS & EC, good times :)

Arintji's in a really nice location and OMG THEIR OUTDOOR CHAIRS..are so so comfortable - the type you could literally fall asleep on :D Go just for the chairs!

x Emma

PASSIONflower

Shop 2
168 Bourke Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000

Sunday to Thursday: 10am - midnight
Friday & Saturday: 10am - 1am
Public Holidays: 10am - midnight

Four out of Ten..

This is the 'Mission Impossible' - 13 scoops + honey, chocolate, strawberry flavouring in shot glasses for $48.
We went to eat here for EY's surprise birthday :)

I'm not really a fan of Passionflower..it's really overpriced for what you get. In places like Freddo on Lygon st and Trampoline they present the ice cream such that saying 'no' is IMPOSSIBLE.
But at Passionflower, the ice cream in the cartons look like they literally came straight off the delivery truck...very unappealing.

There are some pretty good flavours though. Passionfruit sorbet is the scoop on the very top of this photo and it was pretty amazing.. red bean (Azuki) is also one of their best.

x Emma

What's In My Bag - Emma

• Smash Water Bottle
• Iphone + headphones
• Starbucks serviettes
• Plane Boarding passes
• 'Tangled' brochure :)
• 3D Glasses
• Sunglasses
• Papaya Ointment Lipgloss
• Wallet
• Keys

x Emma