I’m slowly going back to old photos on my hard drive. I have so much to share and one day I hope I get to put everything on the blog even if it some events happened ages ago (hello, Philippines, Melbourne and Gold Coast vaycays 2011!! LOL). I vow to do that because I’m blogging firstly for me and my family–I want to immortalize everything that makes my everyday memorable thru photography and writing.

For now, I’m focused on publishing the times we spent with my Mom when she vacationed here last Autumn Her travel was a food and shopping experience because that’s all we ever did whenever we go out. The sequence of events are usually like this: we arrive at the place, have a look around, find a place to eat, sit down and have a meal, walk off what we ate by shopping, sit down to rest and eat, walk and shop again, sit down to rest and eat again, do a bit of walking before finally going home. It’s just a cycle.  My Mom and I (and also my Dad) are best buddies when it comes to eating and shopping so it’s always enjoyable to hang out with her.

We spent a whole day in Chatswood because it’s one of the places in Sydney Metro that we both enjoy eating and shopping. It’s been years since she’d been here and it amazed her that the place changed with more food and shopping establishments.

We slept in and arrived for late lunch at Towon Chinese Restaurant (Shop 214, Level 2 of Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood). I had the Sweet and Sour Pork Bento while Mom had her favourite Chicken Omelette. Huge servings for deliciously prepared meals with reasonable prices. 

We started shopping inside Westfield right after lunch and only stopped for coffee at Oliver Brown Chocolate Cafe (Shop 212, Level 2 of Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood). We still felt full from lunch so we only had chocolates.

After coffee, we set out to Chatswood Chase and shops along Victoria Avenue for more shopping. By early evening, we got tired from all the walking so sat down at ZenQ Desserts (Shop 223, Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood) for a dessert dinner. Since we were full from lunch and afternoon tea, we decided to bail on real dinner and have dessert instead.  We shared a bowl of Mango Shaved Ice with Mango, Mango Jelly and Ice Cream and this huge Honey Toast.

Honey Toast is made of strips of bread coated in butter and icing sugar, placed creatively inside half a loaf of bread. The bread is perfectly toasted that each bite is crunchy. Our Honey Toast came with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberries and cream. It was sweet, delicious and filling.

We visited Chatswood on a Thursday so we can also explore the Mall Market in Victoria Avenue and Anderson Street. The market consists of food; home & gardening; art & design and clothing & accessories stalls. During the evening, entertainment is also provided by the council.


After our dessert dinner at ZenQ, we had a little food trip at the Mall Market. I finally got to try Mamak, one of Sydney’s best eats. The Husband got me their Roti Canai, crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. It was sooooo good and comforting, I want to bring it with me to bed (haha). I enjoyed dipping it in curry and spicy sambal sauce. 

And because I ate most of the Roti Canai, the Husband and Mom got themselves some Takoyaki from Colotako. If you want an array of sumptuous Takoyaki, get it from Colotako as they are the masters in making Takoyaki. 

When we’re all stuffed from all the food we ate at the market we had one final stop–Daiso (inside Mandarin Centre, 65 Albert Avenue Chatswood), where we shopped some more.