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Lulu La Delizia - take 2!

Sometimes restaurant cravings are really annoying. I mean, I love going back, but they cost a lot! And they tend to take a bit of planning, reservations wise. I've been wanting to revisit Lulu la Delizia since my first visit there made such a good impression, but I never quite felt it was the right time. However, I've been craving Lulu for a month now, so I decided, not 4 hours beforehand, that I'd book a table for myself. I was surprised that there were tables available at such short notice, but it was because the only timeslots available were before 5:30PM, or after 9PM. So, early dinner it was!The popcorn snack is still here! It was more addictive last time - and by more addictive, I think I mean to say that it was less salty this time around. Still yummy though!A lot of the menu was really tempting, but since I was eating alone, I didn't want full sized things because I'd be limited in what I could try, as well as be at risk of overspending. So, I went for the chef's menu this time and let them do the deciding. The only thing I really wanted was their pasta special, and so I asked especially if I could have that as part of the chef's menu. The waitstaff was happy to request it for me!So here we are again with the pan e sugo. This was tastier the second time round! I still marvelled at the knifework on the vegetables, good knife skills never go out of fashion! While I was eating this my mind wandered over the old Slap Chop ads. I wonder, exactly what does a Slap Chop do? I don't even remember if it claims to finely dice. But if it does, I am a little curious about the results because I think that it can't replace a skilled chef and their knife.Yes, an oyster! Jackpot! I wasn't sure if oyster would make it onto the chef menu, but lucky for me, it did! These "omakases" are actually quite intriguing and fun to do from time to time! I can't remember exactly what the vinaigrette was, but at first, I thought it was far too much for the actual oyster. However, the quality of this oyster was very good, and its sweetness and flavour actually held up really well against the sharpness of the vinegar. I was impressed!I would never have chosen the cured kingfish with gin, citrus and celery, because there were more interesting things such as fried mozarella, meatballs and burrata to choose from. That being said, this seafood experience was actually different, even though I've eaten quite a few cured fish dishes in my time. The kinfish itself was firmer than most, and the sauce had a very aromatic citrus flavour to it, moreso than normal. The celery was a great flavour and texture to have here - I don't actually like celery because it tends to be overpowering, but this worked really well!I don't know what it is. I shouldn't be that blown away by just how good the flavours have been so far, but they've exceeded my expectations! Maybe this place really is the best Italian restaurant in Australia?I mean, I couldn't even fault the asparagus and egg sauce (that's what the waiter said) with cheese. I forgot what cheese, but it didn't sound like the usual parmigiano? It was very deliciously pungent in its aroma though. And egg sauce... is mayo? I'll just say it's a very nice egg and vinegar emulsion, with both the yolk flavour and the vinegar flavour very balanced, so that one didn't overpower the other. The flavours were loud, but not shouty. Wow, am I really getting gushy over this place?Plus the asparagus was delicious! I'm sorry Bread in Common - I know I said your asparagus dish was great a couple of weeks ago, but this is even better. The flavour of the veg was incredible!Oh yeah. Wow. This is what my life is all about. This was today's pasta special - squid ink bigoli, squid, roasted artichoke. I really, really wanted this, so I asked the waitstaff to include this as part of the chef's menu if possible. I'm so glad they obliged! This was mindblowingly good. Like, wow. The waitstaff had described the bigoli as a fairly thick pasta. In my uneducated head, I thought she meant wide, like pappardelle. Oh, it's actually THICK. Basically, a super thick spaghetti! I get it now! And I loved it! I found that the extra thickness gave this a really good bite, my favourite thing when it comes to pasta. The squid was also unbelieveably sweet, I've not had any squid this delicious in ages! (My last instance of squid was crumbed squid rings from a fish and chips shop and it wasn't that great) And of course, artichokes are always a winner.One thing I did notice immediately about this dish was the salt. There was a lot of salt here. I would say it was almost too salty, but it kind of worked, so I didn't mind. I am pretty sure I noticed this last time I was here too, that some dishes seem to really push the saltiness, but hey, it's not like I do this too often so I'm sure my heart remains happy. It didn't quite unbalance the flavour of the dish, so this is more of a thing to note than any real criticism.Oh, another pasta dish? Whoops I must have miscounted, I thought I hit 5 courses already? Maybe the bread wasn't part of it? Maybe the oyster was an extra treat? Maybe the special was thrown in for free?? Maybe I miss out on dessert??? I have no idea. I actually wasn't expecting the same size of pasta again, but I managed to eat it all anyways!This was a pork sausage and pea pasta, with a side of grated parmesan so that you could add your own to taste. This was much less of a flavour bomb than tonight's special, but still very good. The pasta here was a complete contrast from the bigoli - this pasta was thin so it tasted a lot softer. Almost too soft, but maybe that was just because I'd just had a very bitey pasta. I don't think I can accurately assess this particular dish as a result.How cute!!! It looks like I do get dessert - tiramisu in a spoon! I was really happy my bite sized treat was served like this! Call me hipster, and yes, I know it's been done in Melbourne as a thing and got made fun of, but for me the serving size was perfect, so I had no issues with this. I also love licking spoonfuls of cream and other things at home, so I felt like this was the right thing to do.Okay, either there's something wrong with me, or I haven't had enough restaurant experiences this year, or my appendicitis last year was doing weird things to my tastebuds for my first visit, but this tiramisu tasted amazing. So much better than last year! Is it possible that this restaurant is even stronger than before? I have no idea but I gotta say, I absolutely am in love with this place.And for my last course, a crostoli with cinnamon sugar! Yes! Sweet fried Venetian pastry! It actually looks a lot like a sweet fried version of the pork sausage pasta! I guess this makes 9 courses? This was light, crispy and delicious! A perfect end to the night!I love this place. It's exceeded all of my expecations. Overall, I loved it just as much, if not more than my first visit here. The flavours are bold and incredible, but never heavy. I've always claimed that I like this place better than Tipo 00, but I don't think that's fair on them??? Both places are amazing and generous. They both serve similar food. Today's squid special here blew Tipo's signature squid ink pasta out of the water. But I don't think I would ever recommend one over the other, simply because they are in different locations. They're not competing; they're both superstars in their respective states. I will tell everyone to love them both!For the $69 I paid, what I can compare is this: Tipo and Lulu cost the same for the chef's menu. The service from both were great. Tipo gave far more food, but I also couldn't finish it. So for a normal person, both places serve more than enough food - you'll be super satisfied and won't go hungry. Splurge on both!I love traditional Italian food!!!

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Hello again, Singapore

After my Cebu stint, the trip back involved an overnight stopover at Singapore. There were aspects of this place that I absolutely loved before so I made them my first priority!Another season, anther fixture! Last time it was the giant rooster, this time, a giant boat! It turns out it's mid autumn festival or whatever the mooncakey festival thing is, which is pretty cool! Not only was the main street lit up with bright fixtures, but there was also heaps of incense being burned on all the streets.First stop, claypot frog porridge! I loved this place last time and I didn't even know frog porridge was its specialty! This time I ordered the actual item, instead of the ginger claypot frog and adding porridge to it. The porridge tasted so good, but I felt the frog may have been a bit overcooked compared to last time. Still delicious and a great treat, but I think I prefer the ginger claypot with porridge separate - the sauce of the standalone frog seeps into the meat better. And I'd love to eat the chicken feet from here again!I'd also deliberately undereaten because I decided that I'd take my chances at Burnt Ends too. The porridge was enough that I could continue eating, but also if I didn't manage to get a table, I'd be satisfied and not hungry again till morning. So after a short trek through Chinatown, I came upon a closed Burnt Ends. Oh, they're not open Sundays... which meant no extra feed, but my wallet thanked me!!Instead I snacked on this croissant taiyaki since last time I had the mochi version. Not bad, especially as this was freshly made!A quick scout of Chinatown also meant to opportunity to say hello to these adorable foxes!Alright, hotel time! As this was an overnight stay and I'm not allowed to splurge, I decided to test out a capsule hotel! I chose one that wasn't quite budget and seemed rather nice and had decent ventilation according to reviews. I ended up at Cube, which had some cool and hip interior design. Just don't expect much in the way of their continental breakfast; the hawker fare 2 minutes away is so much more worth it.How cute! It came with a towel and water bottle, a main light and a reading light, three pull out compartments, of which the largest doubled as a table and had a mirror installed, as well as a towel rack at the end of the bed.There was a secure set of doors located below this capsule to store luggage.I actually found this quite roomy! There were also charging ports and a powerpoint tucked away, which was really convenient. I think I like small spaces like this, I wish my bedroom was this size!And how the capsule room looked. Here you were supposed to place your shoes in the lockers just outside this room, but I guess most people ignored that. You can see the massive air conditioner that did really well to keep the temperature regulated, but also, the capsules had pull-down blinds. This meant there was a draft into my capsule though, and moving cold air prevents me from sleeping well. I managed okay, and it was better than being stuck in a place with no air movement at all.The bathroom was located across the lobby though, I found that setup a bit odd since you'd have to walk in your pyjamas through a public area. There were more bathrooms on the other floor, but I didn't venture or explore the full setup.Also, I didn't anticipate that because these were just capsules sharing a room, with the only privacy being a blind, that there's no way to tell the time and you can hear everything. So.... how does one set an alarm if they need to be up at a specific time? No idea. But if I was ever on the clock, I wouldn't choose a capsule hotel. My flight wasn't till midday so I let my body clock do its magic. However... that didn't stop me waking up to the sound of someone else's alarm at 2am!Morning came around, and luckily, having had the same morning schedule 7 days a week meant that I got up at around 7AM - 8AM. Perfect time as most hawker shops should start opening soon! And here are more foxes!I circled the stalls at Chinatown Complex, wanting the 1950s cafe I went to last time. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find it, until after my third lap I realised it was closed. Maybe it's closed on Mondays? That meant I had to find some other food to eat. I also did a round of Maxwell Centre, and in the end went back to Chinatown Complex and tried out the vegetarian shop.Time to do the point and choose thing! I ended up with noodles, tofu, soy "chicken" thing? And hopefully that white stuff was radish cake. I said no to extra soy sauce, and I think the lady thought I was weird for saying so! However it had enough saltiness as is, and was actually rather enjoyable! Man, the food here is so simple, so cheap and so good!My final mission was also supposed to be impossible. When I had heard Kurasu Singapore opened, I thought I wouldn't have the chance to try it since I hadn't planned a Singapore visit. But hey, when opportunity presents itself... I had to get this cafe when it opened at 9AM, try all the coffees I needed to, and then get to the airport as fast as possible to check in for a 12PM flight. Okay well, it was made slightly easier because I already had my boarding pass and my luggage was automatically being transferred cross planes.This is such a nice space! It wasn't too difficult to find Odeon Towers, but my GPS wasn't playing nice this visit so it did take some fiddling and old school map orientation efforts to get to all my places this visit. In addition, Kurasu is located on level 2 of an open office, rather than an actual shopfront.Like all Japanese cafes, Kurasu has a lovely and clean aesthetic. Lots of Kalitas and nice glassware! Single O's Reservoir blend was great as an espresso, and the filter by Mount Coffee was quite nice too! Would have loved to spend twice the time here to really take everything in!But alas, it was airport time, where I actually had another goal. Last time I visited I had some great beef tendon noodles with a really good flavoured sauce, but I couldn't find it again. Maybe it was a different terminal? So I settled for this other cantonese place and ordered similar, but this didn't quite taste as amazing, but was good feed before my flight.Man, Singpore is so cool! I really should come back and explore things like the art gallery and surrounds. Maybe even pay more attention to Suntec City and Raffles. Plus maybe even actually save up to enjoy Burnt Ends!!But different adventures are lined up for me in the upcoming year, hopefully!

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Cebu, Philippines 2018

My adventures this year have lead me to a place I didn't think I'd ever get to visit - the Philippines. Even rarer that I'd end up away from the capital city. But here I was, with a super short trip to Cebu.The way there wasn't overly complex, but did take some time. Also, I confirmed that flying budget isn't my thing. There's actually nothing wrong with the flights themselves, which were quite pleasant. It was just that I was used to all the mod-cons of full service - inflight entertainment, USB charging ports, and a constant offering of free water. Time sure crawls when there's no distractions in a restricted space!One quirk I was bemused by was that my first leg from Perth to Kuala Lumpur had a plane decorated both inside and outside, with anime style girls - an ad for a Chinese mobile game called "Girls Frontline" apparently.I had a five hour stopover at Kuala Lumpur airport. In order to save money, I didn't opt for lounge entry. Instead, I'd planned ahead and packed myself a good book to pass the time.There was a decent selection of food at the airport, and the first thing I decided to try was some beef ball soup. Not too bad, but nothing special either.What did catch my attention though, was the durian McFlurry, and then also a "Milo dinosaur McFlurry party"! Both were probably unique to Malaysia/Singapore, so it was hard for me to decide which I wanted, but I ended up choosing the stinky option. Yep, just like the artisan durian gelato I had last year in Singapore, this also tasted like raw onion to me. I certainly appreciate the sweetness that did come through; I can taste the deliciousness, but it's just so tucked away behind a really strong unpleasant flavour.Several hours later, and finally landed in Cebu!The ride to the hotel was interesting. Everything was poor, old and dusty. There doesn't seem to be any kind of modern public transport (trains, large buses), instead, just small open air vehicles about the size of a large van/small bus, taxis, and motorbike taxis. Most intersections also didn't have lights, instead relying on human traffic controllers.While stuck in traffic (I feel the roads are congested since it seems to be the only mode of transport), individuals would walk up and down between the lanes, selling bottles of water. For some reason this didn't seem all that unfamiliar, though I can't recall where I may have encountered it before. I feel my adventures in China and Cape Town meant that I kind of knew what to expect in non first-world places.Crossing the road was also a rather daunting activity since even in the city, traffic lights were few and far between. The locals were used to casually walking across several lanes of traffic, wheras I, in contrast, ran across in panic for fear of becoming roadkill. I'm pretty sure there was nothing to worry about though!What was a bit of a surprise for me, was the state of the street shops. So many stray dogs and really dingy looking shopfronts. Most of the area had incredibly old looking shops which I imagine sold super cheap street food, but given that tap water isn't safe to drink here, I wasn't allowed to experience local life. Instead, I had to play it safe and stick to hotel food, which was interesting enough for the couple of days I had - dried fish, adobo chicken, vegetable stews, and lots and lots of rice. Turns out pandan sticky rice is amazing and I should figure out how to make some myself!Well, I was here for a specific reason, so I attended a group dinner at a place in Beverley View. It was a super nice place and heaps of food prepared, home cooked style - with some delicious beef soup! - as well as this gorgeous suckling pig! I really wish I could have asked to take the head and eat it, but this wasn't a foodie trip and I had to remain lady-like the whole time.Here I got distracted by a kitten!There was a performance for us by the local dance group who had performed internationally too. They were adorable and had so much enthusiasm for what they do!Then it was a big day as there was a dance competition on, so my camera got a small workout. There's a much larger and more enthusiastic audience here than compared to Australia!The dancing and partying continued all night!! The people there were all super friendly and what was really funny was that everyone's a fan - if you're in costume, passers-by will ask for a photo taken with you!I was only here for the competition so I wasn't able to get a full feel of the place, but I'm also way too used to built up cities that I don't think I'll end up back here. Instead, it was onward to my overnight stopover in Singapore on the way back home!

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