Tutto Bene

"Where should we have dinner?" Lynn asked. Hubby and me met up with Lynn and husband, Peter for dinner on Thursday. The gals have no idea which restaurant we should try this time. After some surfing and discussion, we decided on Tutto Bene know for their risotto.

Hubby order Cape Sante - tasmania scallops risotto. (can't find the exact name from their online menu)
I ordered a Classic Risotto. Funghi misti - mixed wild mushroom, parmigiano and aromatic herbs.
Peter's main in the background: Salsicce
Lynn and Peter side dish: Insalata Caprese - slices of tomato, basil and mozzarella pearls extra virgin olive oil and balsamic Hubby and Mine side dish: Ruchetta selvatica con scaglie di parmigiano, olio e limone - wild rocket with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, lemon and parmigiano

All of us were happy with our main. 1st time having such al denta risotto! They were excellent!

Since the serve wasn't huge. All of us still has space for dessert.

Peter's dessert: Biscotti fatti in casa - a selection of traditional in-house made Italian biscotti. A mixture of in-house bake + chocolate + biscuits.
Hubby's dessert: Zucotto - layered hazelnut, chocolate and vanilla mousse in rum soaked sponge with crunchy toffee. It's was so nice! The favour of the hazelnut was really strong. I love it!

Mine's dessert: Lemond curd (not on the online menu). I love this too! Initially thought it will be a tart but was suprised by it's appearance.

Lynn's dessert: Creme Brulee (not on the online menu). Were told this is a very new dish. The brulee is very smooth. It doesn't look like it's being baked at all! The sobert that came with it is fill with strong liquor favour (can't seem to recall what liquor it is). Lynn enjoy it so much that she can't stop saying Mmmm at every spoonful she take.

It's such a good dining place. The waitress is really attentative and polite. Service is great and so is the food especially the dessert! Hubby even rated the place 9/10.

Factors that affected the perfect score 1) small potion in the risotto 2) limited choice in side dish

But definitly Tutto Bene will be the place when we have craving for risotto.

Lynn and Peter gave me a bake book for birthday present, Title: CRAVE a passion for chocolate. AHHHHHH!!!!!I'm trying to lose weight and beginning to hit the gym a lot and now I can't stop fliping it. I'm also starting to itch to try some of the recipes! *faint* There goes my weight lose project.

BULA (Part 2)

Finally I can continue my part 2 which is Day 2 in Fiji....hehe. I know I'm getting lazy but can't blame me! I have being going to the gym after work for the past few days. Trying to lose some weight OK?

Back to the topic.

Day 2 10-11-2007

Hubby was the 1st who woke up. He was so energentic, fully recharged after having an early night the previous day. After checking the sun, the sand and the sea from our balcony, Hubby decided to dig me up from the bed and get prepare to go snorkelling at the resort beach!

But to our horror we can't find our contact lens SOLUTION!!!!!OH SHIT! How are we going to dive without our contact lens??? I only pack 2 sets of lens per person for the whole trip! SHITTTTTT!!!!! After discussion, we decide skip snorkelling and go for a walk. Once we get the solution, we will start our wet activities. Better to play safe and keep the lens for diving.

The weather was very sunny. It was getting high tide at the beach, just nice to do some snorkelling. The water is so CLEAR!!! We were so tempted and Hubby is getting disappointed.



So I suggested that Hubby snorkel while I kayak. He is still able to see without glasses. But for me, I'm totally blind without my glasses. I even tried popping into the resort supermarket to try my luck but I wasn't lucky.But I did found out that I'm able to get the solution at the nearby town call Sigtoka and need to get there before 2p.m. as the chemist is only open for half day on Saturday.

We continue with our activity happily.
Taken by hubby during snorkelling
Me happily kayaking

We were both starting to feel hungry after spending about 30mins at the beach. Decided to go to Sigatoka for breakfast, stock up some food and most important to buy the contact lens solution.

We paid FIJ$20 for return trip to Sigatoka. The ride is about 15mins. We were really early, arrive there just after 0800. The 1st tourist to be there! We walk around and finally found our life saver!

Our Life Saver

Next task is to get breakfast. Found this eatery which seem to be run by chinese next to the market and bus station.
Ordered 2 plates of Fried Noodle, an Egg, 1 piece of Fried Chicken and 1 plate of Curry Chicken.

My Chow Mee. Tast pretty nice. Most important, there are vegetables in them.
Egg and Fried Chicken. I wanted Fried Egg but they only have Hard-Boiled Egg. I initially thought the eggs on display are raw, only cook when I order. But I was totally wrong. The chicken is nice on the appearance but is totally tastless on the inside.
Curry Chicken. Taste alright. Different from the curry back in Singapore.
Total cost of breakfast $17. Expensive? This is so much cheaper when compared to Outrigger charging $33 per person for breakfast. Food at the resort is really expensive!

Shopping time after breakfast!
Hubby shopping at the local market. We bought some bananas and 2 papayas.

What can you get for FIJ$1 in the market? You can get 5 mid size papaya or a bunch of bananas. We paid a old lady FIJ$1 for 2 papayas and another FIJ$1 for 4 bananas. She kept insisting us to get the rest but we told her we can't finish it and ask her to keep the rest. Expression from her is priceless.
The only stall selling fish in the whole market. Wonder how do they keep their fish fresh when there isn't any ice surrounding the fish + weather is so warm.

Next stop was the local supermarket. We grab a fork, a bowl, some instant noodles. That will be our breakfast for the next few days. Few bottles of milk coffee, packet of fruit juice and bottle of soft drink. Can keep them in the hotel room fridge. We even bought some local KFC and fresh baked bread roll for lunch!...hehe.That's 1 way to save on food. By this time, tourist start to flood the local little town.

Last stop is the local post office. We bought a few postcards and I suggested to look for their post office to post them back. After walking under the hot sun for less than 5mins with all the stuff we bought, I was planning to make a U-turn back to the pick-up point and return to the resort. Hubby insist of continuing and we came upon 2 policemen and I asked them for direction. The post office is just less than a few meters away.

Happily, we send off 3 postcards. 1 for Liew's family, 1 for Tan's family and 1 for Melbourne home.
3 postcards

Finally all tasks completed at Sigatoka. Back to resort.

We spend the next few hours booking activities for the rest of the trip. It's handy when there is a day trip travel agency located in the resort. We book our day cruise to Mana Island and White Water Rafting with Rosie Travel. Called up the shark dive operator to book our dive and also booked some dives with the resort dive operator.

When all are done, we change into our swim wear and laze by the pool. Reading story book, listening to ipod under the sun.

Hubby suggested to have a really nice dinner at Ivi Restaurant which is located in the resort. He read a lot of good review about the restaurant when he was doing research for the trip. It is a MUST TRY restaurant.

Waitress serving my Entree - Fijian Ika Kokoda
My Entree - Fijian National Dish of Marinated Island Fish in Fresh Lime Juice with Coconut Cream and a Hint of Chili. It is really nice and I love it! I had doubts when I ordered it because I'm not a fan of coconut but it turn out I feel in love with it!

Hubby's Entree - Oriental Duck Spring Roll and Taste of Fiji. It's very juicy and Hubby love his Entree too.

Hubby can't wait to attack his Main dish - Succulent 'Malolo' Marine Local Lobster - Hand Pound Thai Red Curry with Plump Red Grapes, Island Pineapple,Enriched Coconut Cream, Jasmine Rice and Fresh Basil. OMG was both our reaction when we had our 1st taste. Bet Hubby still dream about....hehe

My Main - Homemade Linguini with
Prawns and ScallopsTossed in Olive Oil with Fresh Tomatoes, Roasted Shallots, Garlic, Island Brasil and Shaved Parmesan. A very safe choice I will say. Taste alright, nothing fantastic when compare to Hubby's curry.

We didn't end the dinner with any dessert as we were pretty full after 2 course. More important, nothing fancy caught our eyes on the dessert menu.

It was a nice experience having dinner at Ivi Resturant. Their service is good and food is delicious. But we find that the lighting is too dim, a bit to see what exactly we are eating sometime.

We ended the day early again as we have to be ready at the lobby for our pick up the next day at 0645.

p.s. Till today the solution is not found, confiscated by the custom??? Initially thought we left it at home but after a week back from vacation, there is still no sign of it. Hmmmmm..........puzzle

Chocolate Mint CupCake

It's been a long day for me. Woke up really early!! Even earlier than my usual working day! Am I crazy or what?? -_-

Spend the whole morning on the net. Uploading most of the pictures taken during the Fiji Trip onto Facebook. Honestly, I'm getting hook on Facebook. Love the quick speed of uploading photos! Unlike Friendster, I still have to try sizing the pictures down and slow uploading speed. Althought I will post some photos on blogger, but DO check out my Facebook for all the pictures!!

Me and Hubby just sign up to Fitness First Gym. We seriously need to lose some weight and tone up our body. Got to start somewhere. Hopefully is not going to be just a 3 minute thingy for me. :P

Hmm....must be wondering why a cupcake title without mentioning food. Here it is!












Hot from the oven, Chocolate Mint Cupcake!!!
Baked 12 big and 12 small cupcake to treat my colleagues tomorrow. Coz it's my BIRTHDAY!! Whoever birthday, he/she has to bring in a cake. So I decided to bake instead of buying. The cupcakes are suppose to be decorated with icing but decided to skip that to make it more healthy.

Hmmm.....should I actually take one and taste it to make sure it's edible? Or should I take a gamble and just let my colleagues to be the 1st to taste? 1st time trying this recipe. Guess I should take a gamble as the recipe I tried from this website all turn out to be nice. Did I bake enough cupcakes? Will all of my colleagues turn up in the office tomorrow? Or the cupcakes will be 1st come 1st serve?

BULA (Part 1)

I'm back from FIJI! The trip was fantastic! Both of us fell deeply in love with Fiji. People are really friendly and country is really nice. I will try to recall each individual day and jot the activities we had each day. It's going to be a long entry plus pictures.
Day 1 09-11-2007
We only manage to have a couple hours of sleep as we have a 0600 flight to catch to Brisbane. Both of us had no problem waking up :P. Instead of crawling or rolling out of the bed, we jump out of the bed this time J
1^st was a 2 hours flight from Melbourne to Brisbane reaching at 0700 (Brisbane is behind Melbourne 1 hour due to daylight saving).

Follow by transit flight to Fiji at 9+. Flight journey to Fiji is more than 3 hours. Finally we arrive in Fiji at 1445. Btw Fiji time is 2 hour ahead of Brisbane.
Weather was really sunny and humid! We manage to adapt to the humidity quite fast.
Journey from the airport to our accommodation, Outrigger Resort for the next 6 days is 1.5hrs!!!
Both of us got so excited when we finally reach Outrigger. Both of us are hungry + it's been a long day for us. After checking out the room, we decided to find some food.
We walk to the Cafe beside Outrigger. It's called Beachside Cafe and we knew about it from the travel books which we have been reading during the preparation for the trip J
Sorry, we were too hungry that we totally forgot to take some pictures of what we ordered. I had Fiji Gold and a Ham & Pineapple Pizza. Hubby had Chicken Curry with rice and roti and a cold coke.

We had a really early night as both of us are really tired and decided to call it a day and start tomorrow early.
p.s click on the photos to view more photos

From FIJI

We(Hubby and me) are now using Outrigger PC paying $30 for 2 hours usage to check emails, do a bit of blogging and updating ourselves what's happening outside Fiji. We are doing all this coz the weather is bad! It's currently raining veru heavily! Inital plan was to go diving which we booked on Sun morning but I was too tired and decided to cancel it. Planning to join the village tour orgainse by the hotel but it was cancel last minute due to the weather. Hmmmm beinning to wonder am I able to spend my afternoon by the pool later.

This trip is fantastic. A bit of summary on the activities we had so far.

Fri : Arrive Fiji. Check in hotel and had an early rest

Sat: Woke up very early. Me Kayak and hubby snokel. Went into nearby town to get some food stuff. Food is expensive!! Afternoon organise activities for the rest of the trip.

Sun: Cruise to Mana Island. Did 2 dives with Aque Trek. Visibility is good! Saw turtle.

Mon: Went for SHARK Dives! Did 2 shark feeding dives + 1 wreak dive. Loving it!!!! Can't wait to come back for more!!!!!

Tue: Suppose to do another 2 dives. But cancelled it. Village tour also cancel. Hmm most probably going into nearby town to get food + rest and relax by the pool

Wed: White water rafting for the whole day!

Thur: Spa + massage in the morning and back to Melbourne.

We took a lot of photos + video during the shark feed. I will post it when I get back to Melbourne!

Ready! Get Set! GOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Just as I thought we are all ready to go, I remembered we miss out 1 of the most important documet! Without them, we CAN'T dive!!!!!!!!
That's our Dive Log Book and our Diving Certificate!!!!

Manage to do most of the packing last night. Packing was suppose to be done on Tue during Melbourne Cup Day but we went sailing instead.....hehehe. Excuse given "a warm-up for me before all the boat trip in Fiji". I don't wish to go for a slimming programm again (I'm tend to suffer sea-sickness *-*). It's a good sailing trip! Weather was fantastic! Took some nice photos with the captain + deckmen, will post it when I get back from Fiji....hehe. Can't expect me to do it tonight as I have a freaking early flight to catch tomorrow!

I will be back in Melbourne on Thursday, 15th Nov. So that also mean my next entry will be earliest on Sat, 17th Nov.

C U Folks!

Salmon Sashimi & Ikura

Salmon Sashimi on Rice

Prepared a simple Japanese cuisine for two on Saturday. Salmon Sashimi + Atsuyaki-Tamago (rolled omelet) + Ikura (Salmon Roe) on Sushi rice and miso soup. All the fresh ingredient are purchase from Prahan Market after our breakfast at Mojito.
Japanese Cuisine for Two

Ikura

Packing

Liz's & CL's Diving Gears

Camera Housing................................check!
Liz's blue atomic split fins.................check!
CL's black tusa split fins...................check!
CL's 3mm rip curl wetsuit.................check!
Liz's blue tusa mask + snorkel........check!
CL's black tusa mask + snorkel......check!
CL's yellow touch light.......................check!
Liz's booties.........................................check!
CL's booties.........................................check!

Packing for Fiji trip has started!

Me in my split fins!

Fiji Countdown!

Hubby just knock off from his night shift, his last shift of work before he start his 1 month annual leave.

N we are going to FIJI!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Departing Mebourne on Friday and returning a week after. It is a super last minute decision and we just booked our accommdation + air ticket on Wednesday night. we have been spending the past few days surfing the net + reading up lonely planet to find out more about Fiji + most importantly DIVE SPOTS! Planning to spend 3 days diving and 2 days doing other activities. Hoping for SUNNY weather so that I can tan myself.:) I will definitely blog about the trip when I'm back + tonnes of photos!

Photos time.....hehe (photo says a thousand words...agree??)

Hubby called me from work and wake me up. He is bringing me to Prahan Market for breakky. Althought I only slept for 4 hours, once he mention food, I will just jump off from bed without any problem...hehe

We had breakky at Mojito. I ordered an Egg Benedict while he had Mojito Works + two Mocha. Photos taken using Nokia Hp again but this time round, hubby manage to capture pretty good quality picture especially on my Egg Benedict......dun you think so? It is because of the lighting or we are starting to get the hang of taking food pictures?...hmmmmm *-*

Egg Benedict

Mojito Works

After breakfast, we went to shop around Prahan Market. There is an shop which have being on my shops to check out for quite some time. I never really get to it unless hubby offer to bring me there. Can't blame me, I'm a lazy bum.

The place is call The Essential Ingredient. It's a PARADISE for me!! They sell a wide varity of quality food, cookware and culinary books. Food, cookware, cook books are everywhere so what is so special about this place. I manage to find food like belacan from malaysia, leatherwood honey from tasmania (it's x'mas gift frm a fren whose family stay in tassie. even my parents love the honey), The Bread Bible which Lynn loan me (which I bake a very nice banana bread), Silpat Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat (thought I might need to order online if I really want it), whole range of KitchenAid product and also different types of Lindt chocolate in blocks, chips, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, big packet, small bottles etc.

Told hubby I could easily spend two hours browsing every item and end up spending a lot. Didn't have the luxury to do it this morning as hubby is getting very tired. I can't wait to pop back into the shop next time.

This round, total damage from The Essential Ingredient is AU$35. We bought a Creamy Tomato and Pesto Pasta Sauce and The AGE Good Food Guide 2008. All pick by my dear hubby.

Sauce + Food Guide