Food

The good thing about living in Sydney is that we can celebrate Christmas twice every year. There’s a thing called “Christmas in July” in Australia because our winter season falls from June to August.  The phrase “Christmas in July” is used by establishments in ads and it is quite true. It is during this time that we are all bundled up in thick coats, scarves, gloves and beanies. It is during this time that some areas in Australia experience the falling of snow. We got the whole winter thing going in a different time of the year so it’s a good excuse to celebrate Christmas in July. A part of winter may seem gloomy but the thought of celebrating Christmas in the middle of year brings joy and warmth. 


I used to organize Christmas in July parties with friends but this year, the Husband and I were busy with other social events, I actually forgot about it. I only remembered two weeks ago during grocery shopping when a piece of ham caught my eye. I decided there and then to have our own little Christmas in July at home by cooking something festive and sinful for dinner.


Since I always cook ham during New Year’s, and have also baked one when my Mum was here in April, I decided to make a Roast Pork Belly with a siding of chips and carrots.


You know what I love about Christmas in July? We get to celebrate it without having the fuss of gift giving.  It’s Christmas with just the celebration of joy, togetherness, gratitude and of course, good food.

Christmas in July!
Christmas in July!

The past weekend blessed us with great weather and sunshine, company of friends, delicious food and fun moments filled with laughter.  

We started our weekend on Friday afternoon where we (finally) conquered North Strathfield, a suburb located in the Inner West of Sydney Metro.  It was a plan we’ve had for awhile. As some of you may know, the Husband and I live a partly-Korean lifestyle already, hence, we visit places where there’s a Koreatown so we can buy Korean products and ingredients, eat at Korean restaurants and cafes, etc.  North Strathfield has a few Korean restaurants so we invited our friends to have dinner there on Friday. 

While we waited for the others, the Husband and I had coffee at Cheeky Chocolate, a fancy dessert cafe which offer pastries and cakes made by Adriano Zumbo. We shared a Salted Chocolate Mud Cake and two pieces of Salted Caramel Macarons.  Will share more about our Cheeky Chocolate experience in a separate post.
Dinner with friends was at the Bakehouse Garden Korean BBQ Restaurant. The food was delicious! The marinated meats were all juicy and flavourful. We loved their soups too.

We went back to the Cheeky Chocolate for dessert.  This time, the Husband and I only had tea while our friends had coffee and hot chocolate. We decided to try two pastries: some berry tart and a dome made of chocolate and hazelnut (I forgot the name).

Below is my Husband’s best capture that night.  Jackie, Teena and I love to eat and cook. They also love to bake and while I’m not into baking much (I can bake but I’d rather buy cake), I’ve always been a happy recipient of their works of art, forever grateful that I get to sample their yummy concoctions straight from the oven. This photo says it all. It’s like we’re Masterchef judges because we were seriously tasting the cakes we ordered. You can even see Jack pointing her finger at the spoon she’s about to put into her mouth because we’re figuring out what’s in the cake we were about to taste.

The following day, we were blessed with more sunshiny weather as we met with friends for lunch at Coco Cubano (Parramatta). We had a blast, especially the ladies–it actually felt like a ladies’ day out for us wives and mommies. Lunch at Coco Cubano was a great start as we had mouthwatering food and the most refreshing Sangria.  The Husbands and kids were left to their own devices so we can enjoy “Magic Mike” in the cinema. It’s really a ladies’ movie.  It’s funny, sexy and entertaining. I’ve never been to a strip club ever in my life so with this movie, I felt like I had a little experience of that.
Add caption



Meeting Annie. She’s a friend of one of my high school friends who just came back from her Manila vacation. My high school friend sent me a care package (thanks Majo!) thru Annie. The nice thing about it was that we got to meet new friends here.  We’re grateful for Annie and her family for bringing us Majo’s gifts and even more grateful that Annie was generous enough to get to know us and invite us for dinner on Saturday.  

Sunday was just spent at home doing the usual weekend chores and resting up so we can face another busy week ahead.
So how was your weekend?
I cannot emphasize this enough: It’s always wonderful to find a place that serves good coffee and good food by just following one’s senses. While the Husband and I have it in our bones to plan for when we go out or travel, we always leave room for discovering unexpected things.  If you’ve been following this blog and have read a few of my travel experiences, you would know that we have a knack for research and planning before our travels but we also have this habit of abandoning plans and walk thru a path of uncertainty (we don’t mind getting lost). This is also how we live a married life: a balance of planned directions and goals but having enough room to question, explore and discover.  

On the Saturday we had lunch with relatives, we woke up late, hence, no time to have a proper breakfast at home.  We dropped by the shops and made a quick errand.  We had less than 30 minutes but we needed a faux breakfast and coffee. We noticed a quiet and almost hidden cafe as we’re about to leave the mall and quickly decided, “Let’s coffee here!”  

We each had a cup of coffee, Cappuccino for me and a Latte for the Husband and just shared four slices of Fruit Toast. The brand of coffee they used was Caffe Molinari.  Two birds with one stone: we discovered a new place to have a meal and try out a different brand of coffee.

My coffee was well-made, warm and creamy, placed in cute cup painted with a graphic of blue jeans.  I loved the harmony of bitterness and sweetness that it brought to my tongue.  When the cup’s finished, it didn’t leave any bitter aftertaste. Just smooth and easy, the way it should be on a relaxing Saturday.


Ginny’s Cafe and Restaurant
Shop 3062
Westpoint Shopping Centre
Blacktown NSW
Phone: 8678 8434

One Friday afternoon of Autumn, a walk along the streets of Glebe Point Road led us to a rustic looking patisserie called La Banette Patisserie.

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



The view of two abandoned coffee cups seemed inviting.  We decided to have coffee and pastries for a bit.

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)
Ahhhhh life in Sydney.  I’m currently curating photos and planning to compile my Life in Sydney series into a collection.  

La Banette is a bakery cafe.  We immediately saw the counters full of bread and pastries as we entered the premises.

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)
La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)

On the far end of the shop, we can see someone kneading dough.  It was a lovely sight as it shows how freshly-baked their breads are. 

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



The dining area is tiny.  We’re grateful we arrived at a good time as there were a few seats available for us.  

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



They’ve got cute looking tables and chairs too.  The table is only as wide as the chairs we were sitting on.  

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



The Husband and I each had a cup of coffee; latte for him and long black for me.  We got the Chocolate Danish and Apple Tart.  The Chocolate Danish was crispy on the outside but pillowy soft on the inside. 

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



The Apple Tart became an instant favourite with its perfect crust and apples fresh and sweet.

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)
La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



We enjoyed the time we were at La Banette.  The place may be small but I found it cozy and non-intrusive.  It was our beautiful find that one fateful day in Autumn.

La Banette Patisserie (Glebe, NSW)



La Banette Patisserie
18 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, NSW 2037
Phone 8095 9688