Okonomiyaki

The JETAA held their end of year get together at Matilda Bay foreshore with an okonomiyaki BBQ picnic. It was also to thank those who volunteered at the Japan Pavilion.

I didn't eat okonomiyaki that often in Japan but when I did, it was always so good and way too filling. The okonomiyaki-dojo near the Akashi station was always a hit.

Daryl & Wee Nee's Wedding

Early in the morning we headed to Sandalford Winery to help set up for Daryl and Wee Nee's wedding.

It was a freakin' hot day and running around in heels and a restricting skirt didn't help either. After setting up the chairs and dressing them, tying the umbrella flower bunches and helping the florist arrange the table pieces, it was showtime. Wee Nee looked beautiful and Sandalford was the perfect backdrop for the wedding.

Then a cocktail reception was held under the old grape vines. Highlights were Daryl singing to Wee Nee and the yummy oysters.

The dinner reception was held at a chinese restaurant in Northbridge. The food was tasty and it was great to catch up with the gang.

Nick and Sooks with the itty bitty cute Lauren

The love birds

Farewell dinner

We farwelled a church friend with a huge, tasty dinner at Catalano's in Victoria Park.

I had the lasagna and boy, was it massive! I had to give a quarter to Nick and a slice to Ken. It had a million layers and a big side serve of salad. There were even layers of bacon in it and the price was very reasonable.


Take care matey and all the best. Hope to see you again maybe back in Perth or in Singapore.

Puff Pastry: my new best friend

I missed having an oven when I was living in Japan. So now I've been making up for loss time with puff pastry. It's just so easy to use and yummy.

Here are some treats I've whipped up.

Spinach, sun-dried tomato and cottage cheese (it was next to the ricotta and on sale) pastry squares. Healthy too!


I still miss Japan a lot and craving for St. Marks chocolate croissants (chococro) doesn't help. So I decided to see if I could make my own by wrapping a piece of puff pastry around a slab of Cadbury chocolate and topping it with crushed peanuts (I didn't have almonds). It tasted okay straight out of the oven but they don't keep very well or taste too good when they cool down. I must find out that secret pastry recipe.

I'm a big fan of chevups; the skinless sausage. A BBQ without the chilli beef ones just isn't a BBQ. So I decided to wrap it up with chesse and sun-dried tomatoes. Nice.

Red Bull Air Race 2006

It was an extremely hot day but we decided to head down to South Perth to watch the Red Bull Airshow.

Traffic was crowded and banked up everywhere but luckily on the bike, we could slip through traffic and easily score parking. We met up with the others who were enjoying a picnic under a tree to watch the show, although Marina's gourmet sandwiches were all I could concentrate on.

The speed and manoeuvres of the planes were very impressive but I wanted to see one of those inflatable gates go down.

Backyard tourist

Today we headed to the Swan Valley to do some touristy things with Pam's triathlon friends visiting from the Philippines.

We had lunch at Elmar's in the Valley, a German brewery restaurant. The cheese kranski was super tasty and the pork shank could have easily fed a small family of four.


Then it was off to Caversham Wildlife Park to feed the kangaroos, cuddle a huge-ass wombat, pat the koalas and all the usual stuff.

Our last stop was at the Margaret River Chocolate Company (Swan Valley) for a quick sweet fix.

Dinner at Tsunami

Finally we had dinner at Tsunami Sushi Restaurant in Mosman Park. I'd been wanting to try it for ages and have only heard good things about it.

It was quite busy on the Friday night we visited and I had booked quite late so the only tables available were outside. It was quite nice outside in the garden under the fairy lights minus the bugs and cold wind.



We had the tsutsumi age and tataki for starters.




Followed by the pantagonian toothfish - karai (the sauce was very hot and spicy) and the wagyu sirloin stonegrill for mains.

Dessert was a sampler of black sesame, green tea and ginger icecream.

We were both very full (perhaps too full due to our greediness) and will be back to try the omakase menu. Sometime soon I hope.

Pizza making at Mike & Yen's

Who's your papa?

Beard Papa's has opened up a store in Morley Galleria in Perth.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw an ad for it in the JA news (Japanese newspaper) and quickly emailed Cheryl about it. She was the one who first introduced me to their delicious shu kurimu (cream puffs) and heavenly chocolate fondants. The aroma of Beard Papa stores are intoxicating, especially the one at Tennoji train station. You just know when a Beard Papa store is around.

So Rui and I trekked up north of the river just for a box each.

They aren't as big as the ones in Japan and the puff shells weren't as soft, but the thick, creamy vanilla bean filling was just as tasty. Hopefully the fondants will be better when they start selling them. You just can't beat Japan.

Visit by the Governor of Hyogo

Governor Ido was in town with delegates from the city of Ako. As a Hyogo Goodwill Envoy, I received an invitation to a welcome BBQ reception to be held in Rockingham.

So I dragged Brendon along and had a nice time chatting to some lovely people over a yummy lunch, and caught up with Steph too. It was well organised with a petting zoo set up, face-painting, tastings of the south's tasty seafood and wines and performances by a childrens' choir, Aboriginal dance group and Scottish band.

Governor Ido making friends with a snake

The guy sitting next to me had his face painted like a lion - so cute!

We then visited Brendon's Aunty Gina who lives in Rockingham. In the 30 minutes we took to get to her place from when we called her to say we would be dropping by, she made us ricotta and spinach pastries and cheese and sweet relish crackers - she's such a sweetie.