Ibyang
Ibyang

Afternoon Tea At The Choc Pot (Burwood, NSW)

28 April 2014 1 Comments Category: Restaurants

One of my girlfriends, Chloe, had some free time last week so we met up after work for some afternoon tea. Chloe discovered this chocolate cafe in Burwood and when she shared photos on facebook, I requested that she take me there soon. And so we did went to The Choc Pot for a delightful afternoon filld with chocolate desserts.
We had Genmaicha Tea (Japanese Green Tea with Brown Rice) to partner with our chocolate desserts, which we found were both our favourite.


Our choices that afternoon:

Crispy Topdeck Mousse, white and chocolate layered mousse topped with chocolate-covered rice crispies, whipped cream and strawberries. Creatively placed inside a glass, the chocolate was smooth, light and not too sweet.

Chocolate Souffle with Salted Caramel and Ice Cream. The chocolate souffle is light and fluffy on the outside but rich and oozing with melting chocolate on the inside. 

The best part was pouring the sticky salted caramel on top of the souffle. Soooo good!

Grateful for the delicious chocolate desserts and fun catch-up with Chloe.

7/1 Railway Parade
Burwood, NSW 2134
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Breakfast At Baroque Bistro (The Rocks, Sydney)

23 April 2014 0 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

A french restaurant that serves delicious breakfast was a great choice during my morning walk with Mom at The Rocks last year. I’m glad that I got to try dining in this restaurant with her.

“Bienvenue!” means “welcome”, the sign on a bike at the entrance of Baroque Bistro. 

The rustic interiors of Baroque Bistro were dark and sexy, in hues of black and red. The huge windows gave great light to anyone taking a photograph.

My Mom had hot chocolate which she enjoyed and I had a cup of long black coffee which was comfortingly strong on a Friday morning. Just what I needed!

Raw sugar in cube form = love.

Eggs and Bacon Cocotte. Smoked speck, mushroom, tomato, garlic, hollandaise, served with grilled Sonoma sourdough. It smelled wonderful and tasted more beautiful than this photograph. 

Eggs Benedict in Baroque Style. Serrano ham, tomato, basil, hollandaise, toasted brioche bun. Eggs were perfectly poached, Serrano ham was divine and the hollandaise sauce was light and tasty. 


Baroque Bistro is also known for their pastries, bread and macarons. Our breakfast was very filling, hence, we had no room for dessert. Maybe next time, I’ll come back for afternoon tea or dessert.


88 George Street (corner Hickson Road)
The Rocks, Sydney
Phone: 02 9241 4811
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Easter 2014

Over the years, we’ve somehow made a few family traditions during Holy Week and Easter celebrations.  It all starts with Palm Sunday mass which we attend on Sunday morning. This year, our parish priest, Father Peter’s message was, “As we begin the celebration of Holy Week and place a small palm across our homes, let us be aware of the need to weave the cross through our experiences”.
Good Friday was devoted to attending the Stations of the Cross. After that, we got together with relatives and had lunch together. Once lunch was over, we went back home and spent the rest of Friday and Saturday at home. The time spent at home was a chance at rest, reflection and some quiet time. 
On Easter Sunday, we left home early to hear the Sunday mass at St. Peter Julian’s Church. It was our first time to celebrate Easter in the city. To celebrate, we had breakfast at Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe. 

For lunch, we met up with our friends at Chinta Ria where we had a sumptous Malaysian lunch. We spent a few hours sharing good food and great company.

In the evening, we met up with relatives once again and had dinner together. Easter Sunday was a long day for us but we enjoyed it with people we love. 

Easter Monday is still a public holiday in Australia. We stayed at home just resting and getting ready for the work week ahead. Easter won’t be complete without Hot Cross Buns so we had a bun each for afternoon tea. We got our hot cross buns from Adriano Zumbo this time and it was very thoughtful that they included a small block of Lurpak butter with our purchase. Zumbo’s hot cross buns had a lot of raisins and apricot bits but quite heavy on cinnamon flavour.

It was an amazing four-day Easter break.  One of the best we’ve had. A time for God, family, friends and myself. All I have is gratefulness in my heart.

Hope you had a great Easter break too!

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Food Find: Haagen-Dazs’ Sakura Ice Cream

8 April 2014 2 Comments Category: Food, Japan, Travel

I’m seeing a couple of photos of friends having a great time in Japan under lovely Cherry Blossom Trees. And because of that, I just want to give friends a heads up about Haagen-Daz’s Sakura Ice Cream.

Based on an article from Japan Daily Press, Haagen-Daz Japan has gone pink this year and in celebration of their 30th anniversary in Japan, they came out with two floral ice creams: Sakura (Cherry Blossom) and Rose.

We were fortunate that we visited Japan towards the end of Winter, hence, we encountered a couple of food and drinks in relation to Spring. In one of the many nights we passed by a convenient store on the way back home, I found the Sakura Ice Cream. 

The ice cream consisted of a jelly-like layer on top which tasted like cherry. The base ice cream was vanilla and it had swirls of raspberry and Sakura powder. It tasted more fruity than floral to me. The Sakura flavour was subtle. 

Over-all, it was a good tasting ice cream. I’m quite fond of cherry and vanilla so this was something that was worth a try for me.

If you’re in Japan and love Haagen-Daz ice cream, have a try of their Sakura flavour.
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March on Ibyangram

Ibyang + Instagram = Ibyangram

While my instagram photos are shared on my twitter page and sometimes on my tumblr and fb page, I would like to have a monthly dump of ibyangrams on AWCL too. It is thru instagram that I share everyday moments and random finds. I use instagram as my real time mini-blog. Every end of the month, I’ll be choosing a couple of photos from my instagram and share it here because I have something more to say about a certain ibyangram.

While my instagram photos are shared on my twitter page and sometimes on my tumblr and fb page, I would like to have a monthly dump of ibyangrams on AWCL too. It is thru instagram that I share everyday moments and random finds. I use instagram as my real time mini-blog. Every end of the month, I’ll be choosing a couple of photos from my instagram and share it here because I have something more to say about a certain ibyangram.

March seemed to passed me by so quickly. Maybe because it was a month of transitioning back to our normal routines in Sydney. The month of March was filled with unpacking our stuff,  sorting things out in the home, getting my rhythm back at work and seeing loved ones too. Then there’s getting over our wonderful Japan adventure. We miss Japan. We miss travelling. Instead of daydreaming, the Husband and I used our time creating photobooks out of our Instagram photos (I’ll share them soon). 

A few highlights on my Instagram feed:

Art inside Narita International Airport. The first day of March meant the end of our two-week holiday in Japan and going home to Sydney. Our flight was scheduled at 2pm but we went to Narita Airport in the morning. We had breakfast and lunch there and went around the shops before we boarded. The flight back home made me a bit sick because it was stuffy (something must have been wrong with Korean Air’s plane’s airconditioning) so when we had a layover at Incheon Airport, I was kind of out of whack and can’t wait to arrive home.

Back home in Sydney on the second day of March. Loved ones welcomed us with a delicious lunch and then capped it off with Tim Tam & Adriano Zumbo collaboration flavours. 

Going thru a few keepsakes from Japan as we have coffee (we missed our Nespresso!) and biscuits.

A little treat in the middle of a workweek. Marshmallow Pops in Nutty Sea Salt Caramel, a delicious find in Hunter Valley.

Received our first IG photobook which holds our Kyoto, Nara and Osaka photos. Here’s the Husband who’s very happy to see the results of our creative efforts.

Tried to be creative by turning this pretty washi tape into a border and pasted a “happy birthday” cutout in the middle.

Australia celebrates Harmony Day – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. The message of Harmony Day is Everyone Belongs – from the traditional owners of this land, our first people who represent a continuous living culture of more than 60,000 years, to the 300 cultural groups who have recently made Australia their home.

Phoenix dinner with the Husband. My fortune on top, Husband’s fortune at the bottom.

On a Friday off from work so I get to have proper breakfast: Chicken & Spinach Arrozcaldo, Omelette & a cup of Nespresso Decaffeinato.

The best way to get rid of travel blues is to see dear friends. So glad that our social calendar were pre-occupied due to special people having their birthdays.

85th Birthday of my Grandma. A whole day of celebrating the life of my Grandma with family.

We’ve done well, month of March. Hello, April! 🙂

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