Local Eats - Chatime in Glenferrie

Local Eats - Chatime in Glenferrie

While we live in a small town with only a small strip of shops, all the essentials, the next town over is a student village with all the lunch offers, cupcakes (we have a asian bakery in town, though I've yet to go there) and Bubble Cup is at! Or in this case Chatime.

Located on the main street it's left of the station exit on the main road, cross at the McD/movies or at the corner on the other side heading towards Town Hall (interesting fact, our house in Hawthorne was build in the 1880s before Town Hall, and has a fireplace in each room! - not as old as our house in San Francisco though). 

There's plenty of seats during non-peaks, lunch and when classes end.

So many choices...  I always get the coconut milk tea, but since I do know how to make that. Prices range from $4.80 though most choices are $5.50. I'm interested in trying the strawberry milk tea, though the fear of yucky flavouring is very real. Here's the menu online.

A Student Edge card is definitely worth it (free from WA), if you spend over $3 you get a free drink at McD for example. You can apply for one online. Gingerbread and Strawberry are on my list for next time.

On our first visit we ummed and ahhred over the menu, settling on the premium with pearls $5.50, the classic with black tea and light chewy tapioca pearls that have a hit of sweetness. They aren't though marbles of chewy rubber I recall back home. Do I like pearls? Not really. I love boba/popping pearls though. Also lychee jelly cubes. 

Another visit had us ordering the 'Matcha Latte Milky Iced Tea'. 50% ice. Full sugar. Wasn't that sweet though there's a powdery aftertaste. $5.50 no toppings. Red bean was the recommendation though. I didn't really like this one.


Service was great from Kidson who made an attempt to look me up (forgot the card, as I didn't plan on going out today). At 11.30am it was very quiet. Quieter than Starbucks ever.

Do you have a favourite drink at Chatime/BubbleCup?

Do you make them yourself at home? We love making Thai Milk Tea!

SFS Summer Fashion Style at Musee Rodin

SFS Summer Fashion Style at Musee Rodin

What a day; Street Fashion Sydney (SFS) had already taken a walk near the Tour Eiffel and met a local green grocer with amazing produce, as you do in Paris. Then Vivienne and I headed over to the Rodin Museum to check out the work of that great French master, and also the 20C German master Anselm Kiefer in a special celebratory 100th anniversary show. And since I am posting this a week late I can tell you there was more classic Parisian joy on this day yet to come! So stay tuned; follow SFS on Facebook and click that link to see 30 shots of the artworks from Anselm Kiefer, the KIEFER RODIN show. Currently in the vineyards of Beaujolais with shocking internet but much more to come so please stay tuned!

Telling Stories in Pictures all over..

Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.

0433 796 863

kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.fashionphotographysydney.blogspot.com/

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Local Eats - Ka-Chin on Bridge Rd

Local Eats - Ka-Chin on Bridge Rd

Friday 31st March

Woah it's bright out here!

Through Liven we discovered Ka Chin tonight on Bridge Rd open till 11pm on a Friday! It's not a party bar, but a cozy restaurant  (I say cozy because it's nice and  warm inside, it's not small).


A tea and coffee specialty place with $3.50 coffee, but $2.50 if you bring your own! Not being a caffeine addict alas I don't have one. For 5am starts on the field we use thermos.

Here for a snack we had spring rolls and deep fried dumplings. I believe we just came from a show at the comedy festival tonight.

Veg Spring Rolls with sweet and sour sauce on a bed of lettuce (2 pieces for $4). Better than average though a bit oily. They were larger than normal and more like cigars though. Oh how I wish spring rolls were as easy to find as chips!

Red Bean Dumplings with Ice Cream $8

Dessert was the highlight of my night! I've had dessert dumplings before, even fried wonton but I've never had these ones. Sweet and fried they were amazing! Reasonably priced too, and of sharing size. I'm excited about returning for dessert. 

The service is as warm as it is inside! At 9.15pm I was the only customer other than a smoking party outside.

Monday 15th May

The day is quite bright, the afternoon and the dark a bit, well dark. 

Will we ever find the perfect balance? Of light and dark.

In town for a meeting we're excited about dropping by for a $10 lunch special. All seemingly typical chinese food court menu dishes, though I'm sure they're better than that.

Pictures always help us make decisions.

A modern & clean interior, I do believe they just opened up earlier this year. 

Lemon Chicken $10 takeaway from Kachin, which we're excited to return to, post dental surgery. There was a huge gap where we ate nothing for quite sometime. Well nothing but pie filling. 

The lemon chicken was very good though the dish itself reminds me of food court but better. It was sweet and tangy, not oily or chewy. Would have preferred more salad and less rice though, perhaps I'll ask next time.

Friendly service, cheap lunches, those deep fried dumplings - what else could you ask for?

A great location, a bit further away from the city than the Town Hall on Bridge Rd, get off at the Chapel x Bridge and walk a block or two, KaChin is located on the right.

Lunch ends at 3pm on Sun/Mon, they're closed on Tuesday. 

We'll be back for the satay chicken wrap and prawn dumpling noodle soup!

*Shall update this post*

Exploring Prahran Market

Exploring Prahran Market

By now we've been to Prahran Market a few times and would like to share with you a round up of them all, except for the market tour, which runs monthly and definitely worth $15, you get to taste a few things and find out a few secrets. :P

It's most fascinating I find that popcorn comes from corn itself! Especially when you can buy it still on the cob itself. Actually it turns out that there's only certain types of corn that can turn into popcorn, meaning some corn can turn into popcorn, but not all.


We love visiting Damien Pike's stall for all the mushrooms! He also stocks pistchios and limes, as in cavier limes, and truffle too. Yes everything is expensive, this isn't a cheap market.

There's an entire shop just for turkish delights!

The market is inside a shed like building, smaller than Vic Markets.

Orange blossom baklava, these are $2-ish a bite though deliciously dense, that's all you need. They're very popular as interstate gifts we were told.

There's a van that sells mussels, jas was lucky enough to be a model for one of the tour shots :P I was there, but only in headwear. With the mussels, you can buy fresh ones to DIY at home or eat-in. 

Sweet Greek located the Cheese Alley/Deli are has some awesome looking treats! Most of which we have yet to try, so many things to eat, so little time and that pesky diet! We had the vanilla slice which wasn't as sweet as expected.

The Meat Hall, where you can buy bones for bone broth (mine is still in the freezer :P) and they'll cut up a limb for you (so you don't look like a serial killer on the tram XD). On weekends during lunch you can buy pre-cooked sausages, another thing we're eager to try. I hope they do sausage sizzles :P.



Some of the super fresh stuff we had our eyes on. Though as I don't really cook we bought mainly fruit. And now we have about 8kgs of fruit in the freezer, also don't freeze pears, they go mushy and weird.

While there's only one florist they have everything! From classics to natives. Our favorites? A bouquet of purple flowers! There's a bit of fear in natives *refer to spider bomb incident*.

We love the end of day deals, we even did a post on it.

Cheese toasties we love too! Check out our review here.

For a meal we loved stopping by Mama Marija's for these beef cigars.

What are your market favourites? Do you shop at the market?

AN OZZIE BUM IN AUSSIEBUMS

AN OZZIE BUM IN AUSSIEBUMS

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Noosa for my sisters wedding. Destination weddings are becoming oh so popular and the choice of location was meaningful for the couple tying the knot. Noosa is approx 30 mins from Sunshine Coast Airport with beaches all the way up the Queensland Coast. So once my duties of Man of Honour were over, it was time to throw on the dt's and jump in the pool and head to some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. 

A brand I like to wear while being active in the water is Aussiebums. I like to support Australian products and brands as much as possible and Aussiebums is run completely from its headquarters in Sydney. The creative team design colourful cut swimwear and underwear in numerous flattering styles and materials. 

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

Having hours to spend on the canals of Noosa paddling in canoes the Loose fit 1.5 dry quickly constructed from super thin nylon. The style above come with drawstring only around the waist which allows for great comfort when rowing for hours or kicking back with a beer soaking up the view of the canals.

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

I am not a fan of wearing items of clothing with big branding splashed across them. Adidas T-shirts and CK T-shirts are a pet hate of mine. Aussiebum give you the selection of not including their logo which I think is a very smart move. That way your swimsuit is always in style like this WJ Loose 2.5 Miami swimsuit. Again this has a drawstring pouch and wonder jock technology in the front. 

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

The Classic 1.5 comes is a variety of colours. I adore pink. It is such a refreshing colour on men at the beach. Real men wear pink! This classic style is made from Nylon making them quick drying and ultra lightweight. They are perfect for running in and out of the surf and naturally easy to throw in your carry on luggage. The narrow waist and low cut style enhances your assets making them perfect for hours of soaking up the sun. 

Swimwear: @aussiebum_team

Don't be shy and cover up in long board shorts. There is nothing worse then being tangled in your swimwear when at the beach or pool. Ditch the board shorts once at the beach and get back to basics. There is a reason the old fashioned swimsuit is a classic. 

Mama Marija's Cafe @ Prahran Market

Mama Marija's Cafe @ Prahran Market

Saturday 18th March

On this particular Saturday we're heading over to market and lunch. Enjoy it while I still can, because we've got more dental surgery coming up followed by a month on the liquid diet.

There is no sincerer love than the love of food - Mama Marija 

On the counter were pastries, oh how I wish Agatha was here! 
Where does one find a good croissant?

Mama Marija's Cafe is an all day breakfast and lunch spot at prahran market, to the right at the cross lights but also between the cheap cheese place and newsagent.

Plenty of seats we opted to sit outside due to the lack of air conditioning inside.

Breakfast or lunch? Oh gosh idk... my heart was set on the smoked salmon but I can't eat bread (not unless it's soft and not at all crunchy anyway). So we had meat cigars instead. Also I know what smoked salmon is like, and love trying new things (not Anchovies though). I asked what was most popular, typical brunch said the friendly guy at the counter, though this, he recommended was his favourite item on the menu.

I've never been a fan of dessert for breakfast, even though I'm a sugar addict. Yes we'll have that fairy floss brioche one day, but not anytime soon.

Mama's Cevapi Cigars $18

8 homemade beef cevapi (seasoned beef premium cigars) severed with grilled eggplant and paprika relish, with warm flatbread and greek salad. Yes you can add chips for $8, we decided not to push it (had a molar removed recently).

Woah this dish is a platter!! With protein, carbs and a salad this meal ticks all my boxes. In hind sight I believe this dish is for two, order this and another to share.

Beef cigars,  moist juicy well seasoned and not too salty but just right. They're perfect!
Soft flatbread, less flat than expected. Greek salad - red onion, feta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, purple k olives (pip-less) with a balsamic dressing. Lettuce. Plenty of things other than lettuce! Good mix, not everyone does this.

I've love that meat cigar in a sausage sizzle! As in the meat hall there's plenty of sausages on the bbq! You can buy sausage sizzles here!! Not at 3-4pm though, more around lunch time. One day we shall return!

The platter was huge and delicious! We're completely stuffed! A tip when shopping is never go shopping empty/peckish as you're more likely to purchase processed foods and junk food. Today I can say we've ticked that box!

I'm so glad I went for something new rather than the favorites.

Service was very friendly. We can't wait to return to try some other dishes.

A hidden gem, I'm surprised that they aren't more popular given the location and all.