Skeletoooonnnnn

I can feel my skeletooonnnnnCan you feel your skeletooonnnnnnDo you have a skeletooonnnnnnnCause there is the skeletoooonnnnnnnn!

Hypercaffeination to the eyeballs

And a side of narcissism.So I took some leave and spent it all on a somewhat pseudo but mostly fantastic coffee adventure crawly thing. I figured that since I love coffee so much, I'd take leave just to have as much as possible. And when people at work asked me what I was taking leave for, my answer was COFFEE.Anyway, so I went to Bean Drinking first because I wanted coffee from a Slayer. Turns out I went at the worst time possible because it was lunch time. Plus since it's next to Professor Plums it was hard to resist spending a kazillion dollars on lots of fun stuff and things such as a George skeleton for $575. I ended up not buying anything from there, and so hopped over to Bean Drinking. I thought about what I wanted to get but they had so many single origins that I really had no idea what I wanted. So when the people started talking to me I freaked out and wanted the coffee tasting plate. Since they were really really busy they said it would be a bit of a wait but hey I wanted coffee and I was in a good mood so I stayed. I fiddled around with my phone for a bit and I think it was about 20 minutes later that they were able to start working on my coffee.The first one they gave me was a Columbian Geisha on cold drip which was amazing because it was the first time I had cold coffee and wow, it indeed had a liqueur type feel to it. It was kind of weird and bent my brain a little since it seemed to be salty to me? It was awesome though, and one of the customers there had no idea what I was drinking so it was cool to try and describe it though I probably failed miserably. Then the second one I had was a filter. I can't remember where it was from, however I do remember that it was one of the more smooth mellowy ones rather than a bright acidic one. It was still nice but the problem with the filtered coffees is that they always serve a decent volume and I was filling up with coffee fast. The last one was a Kenyan (I think) and that was an espresso via the awesome Slayer. It was super awesome but honestly I don't think I could have tasted the difference between that and a shot produced by an ordinary machine. And personally I would have preferred the filter and espresso swapped around since I like smooth espresso and bright fruity filters.I really wanted to pay for the coffee since I really enjoyed it, but they told me it was free because I waited so long, so that was super awesome yet again. I had theories that maybe they thought I was some secret coffee judge/reporter thingy person thing, but then again maybe they were just nice. All in all a good day!Then Friday was the action packed day of hypercaffeination which I dragged my brother and a lot of my friends into. Started the morning by going to Reuben Hills for breakfast. Wasn't really sure what to expect, so the first thing I asked for was the single origin... but they didn't have one! They did mention that their house blend was really good, so then I opted for the filter. They had a Guatemala and some "la esmerelda" from Panama, but since there was a huge price difference between the two we all ordered the Guatemala, which was really nice and fruity. The food was amazing as well. Usually coffees with good coffee don't have amazingly fantastic food but WOW I ordered a Tradesman Brioche - which was avocado, eggs, spicy relish and jamon and that was so good, it tasted like real mexican food instead of all that boring stuff at food courts and etc. I was very impressed.We then had to trek all the way to Marrickville for Coffee Alchemy since it's supposed to be COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE. And it was true! I think I counted 7 grinders with all sorts of origins, with different ones designed for filters and espressos. Here I decided to be brave enough to order the Esmerelda, along with an Ethiopian "cherry red" and a Tanzania filter. They were all different in their own way, and while I'm not too sure why the Esmerelda was superbly rave-worthingly awesome, it was definitely different. It didn't actually remind me of coffee, it was more like tea, really gentle and fruity at the same time. The Ethiopian was massively cherries and the Tanzania, since it wasn't described to us, was simply yummy with no clue of what was going on. And this place was so awesome that they even have coffee on tap, much like beer. Again it broke my brain that cold coffee tasted like this!Timing was perfect as we rushed back to Surry Hills to visit Single Origin Roasters, since it's my favourite place. They had a beef brisket pancakey-pizza thingy as their special, so I ordered that. And since it was my coffee adventure, I asked them what single origins they had and then ordered accordingly. I think everyone seems to have Kenya at the moment but I'm not sure that I like Kenya, so I chose Mexico on aeropress, which was awesome. They didn't really have too many sweets so lemon lime bitters macarons it was! There was no particular highlight since I've probably visited this place to death but hey, Shoji is there and that in itself is always a squeal-worthy moment (so is Klink but I will talk about that later).That was it for coffee since it was then that everyone was now probably at their caffeine limit, and for me it felt like it was right behind my eyeballs. Apparently I was pretty funny when I mentioned that 1. I was hypercaffeinated and 2. to my eyeballs. I am pretty insane, I know.So anyway with the coffee adventure done for the day, we had time to pass until Sake that night. I've wanted to go to Sake for a long time since it's reputedly a great sushi restaurant. The only thing I was disappointed about was that my booking only lasted 2 hours and we had to leave by 8:30. We ordered a whole bunch of stuff but I'm currently too lazy and time poor to post photos so it's just a continuous wall of text. It was funny because it seemed like I had already planned what I wanted to order (which wasn't entirely untrue), which consisted of tuna tasting plate (with tuna avocado rolls, tuna tataki rolls, tuna taco and sake shots), some sashimi, beef tartare, beef tataki, salt and pepper bug tails, karaage chicken, teriyaki chicken, oysters and a soft shell crab salad.Everything was amazing, and it was my first time trying wagyu tartare. I wasn't sure what to expect and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Luckily the portion size of the tartare was small so I didn't get totally freaked out at it. And the best thing was, I think what got me loving it was the truffle oil that came with it. As soon as the wagyu had truffle oil on it it was OMG AMAZING WOW FANTASTIC. So now as long as there are truffles with my raw beef I will love it. Everything else was delicious as per expectations. Unfortunately no dessert cause we ran out of time. And also note to self to have more time or smaller stomach as Japanese food never fills up. Much prefer a Rockpool Bar and Grill bar burger cause that things is seriously WIN.Anyway. Onto Saturday when I decided to chill at Swallow Coffee Traders with a Tanzania espresso which was bright and fruity, not unlike the distant memory of a Yirgacheffe I had months ago from Single O. Then I found out that I should go to Proud Mary's in Melbourne cause they had it there as their light roast, and that was pretty tasty, with winey notes and stuff like prunes and sultanas I think.Not much else except a house espresso from Workshop and looking for a fancy watch, however now I've decided that I will stick with my current watch and will only buy an eye catching shiny wind up.On Sunday I was on my own and didn't actually have much coffee, even though I went to the Aroma Festival. It was way too crowded and the lines were way too long so instead I bought a chocolate maple bacon cupcake which was funky.Then Monday I went back to Reuben Hills to get the Esmerelda again and it was indeed impressive! I think I tasted cherries in there and it was still tea like and the gentlest filter I've had. I also finally decided to try their house espresso which was quite fruity. Unfortunately I am still too nub to try and figure out what was in it, however there was definitely an AHA moment when I found out their house blend was Nicaragua and Guatemala :).Last stop was Klink where again I kept staring at the barista cause they way he does everything with the coffee is drool-worthy.Also I been chilling to blasts of high school and I think I have scribbled enough to start doing some Photoshop Takes Zero Skill again, which is basically taking a scribble and running it through as many filters as possible to so utterly destroy the drawing so that it can't look bad since it's already so hideous.Gooooooooooooooooooey.

My brother's new camera

My brother decided to get a micro four thirds thingymajig, as his DSLR is too bulky and he doesn't want to use whatever point and shoot he has. He ended up getting a Sony Nex 5N and set me on a mission to go take pictures with it. In a way it was also a way for me to figure out whether I wanted to use one or not, and wow, even though I thought I was getting most of my manual focus shots OK, turns out only about half of my pictures actually worked.So my first project was to take pictures of food. I specifically ordered a flat white to test out my skills, but it turns out none of my 4 or 5 shots were actually 100% in focus. So instead all I have to present are two awesomely lit photos of short blacks (some sort of Colombian single origin I believe) sitting next to their decor.And of course, I fail at taking photos so the best photo taken, ever, was by my boyfriend:

I reckon I took an okay vertical shot, which was at the same time but from a different angle. Also no, size does not matter, it's just that the vertical fits better in my blog which is the only reason the picture above isn't any bigger. Also, I had a dream that coffee was extracted from diamonds that burned in the sunlight.

 After this great adventure, we also bought a fancy percolator and made some swallow coffee at home! He was freaking out that something would die a miserable death where I was too confident nothing could possibly go wrong, even though I had poured water past the pressure valve. In any case, turns out the beans make the coffee in this case - as there was no crema so the intial taste of the coffee is bitter, but then comes the body that instant coffee and stale grounds severely lack, and then it finished with a sweetness that comes a moment after the sip.Anyway, afterwards we had the opportunity to go to Randwick and try out some food from Elysium. It featured in the SMH Good Food Guide, and so I tried out a steak - medium rare sirloin, which was quite yummy with delicious onion rings and tasty baked potatoes! My main reason for going was to try the bombe alaska; my brother had always wanted to eat one ever since he discovered the hilarious name of the dessert but hasn't yet had the chance to taste one. So I went and did it for him! It was interesting enough, I didn't expect it to be pink, and I'm not sure it was quite the definition of a bombe alaska but it was still cool. It was pink meringue on the outside (and no, it wasn't set on fire for us sadly), with some sort of mousse like thing on the inside with choc honeycomb bits. The caramel sauce that the "bombe" sat on was delicious, and there was a nice toffee ice cream that sat on a bed of crunchy toffee nutty things.

And then finally I ran around the city shooting the birds that doesn't afraid of anything! :)

MINE MINE MINE

CHICKEN and coffee

Yesterday there were a group of chickens randomly running around near a fire station. They were so cute! Now I want some chickens too. They are so cute and easy to take care of! And I would be able to get some mighty tasty eggs. Mmmmmmmm!And also, coffee is yummy. I bought a Swallow t-shirt! I'm so happy. Wheeeeeeee!

Zensation tea house

So this weekend I went to Zensation, after I was asked the question, "which is better, The Tea Centre or T2?" and the answer that good old Google gave me was "ZENSATION"The only thing that I wasn't sure about was the fact that they don't sell black teas, only the asian stuff. However, when I got there, it didn't matter, because the place was so awesome looking with an awesome dog looking after the place.I was looking for some white and green teas, since we already have oolong at home. I don't really like herbal infusions because they always smell nicer than they taste. Anyway, so I picked some Silver Needle, Jasmine and this other green tea. It was really busy there - we were asked if we wanted to sit down and drink some tea as well - and since I like fancy places I said yes.We ordered some Gaba oolong and I had a blooming flowery jasmine-y tea thing, cause I think they're too gimmicky so I'd never get them for home, but they look nice in shops :)They had really cool equipment to serve our tea with, which always makes me happy. I then wished I had cool tea/zen stuff in my room, and also the GENIE TEAPOT. Also known as the Bodum Naoko teapot. One day it shall be mine!Anyway, here are some piccies of the tea.