Shoes make me happy. I'm superficial. Whatever.

Contrary to the title, this post is actually about how I spent most of my weekend (though I'm really excited to show you my new shoes(!!!) so I'll do that first). 

Almost 1-2 years ago now I was introduced to the world of Maison Valentino and his to die for Rockstuds. I didn't really do anything about this because though they are a m a z i n g, I've always been content with my 50 pairs of Havaianas. Mid last year, my sister and I travelled Europe where in our shopping destination, none other than Paris, I found a navy blue pair I really loved at Lafayette. However, thinking there would be more colours to choose from at their flagship store on avenue Montaigne, I went home empty handed instead. 

Last semester I told myself that if I found an internship in Sydney I would spend the summer saving up and reward myself at the end of it with one of the many (smaller) things on my wishlist. It is officially the end of my internship. and I have officially rewarded myself :)) 

ta-daaaaa! 

Outfit details: 

Top - Forever New 

Jeans - Topshop (so incredibly comfortable)

Bag - Céline 

Shoes - Valentino

I'm so in love with them (in case you haven't figured that out yet) and find that they're easy to dress up and down which is nice considering I thought I would only be able to wear them to fancy dinners. I'm also really keen to try them out with white jeans for a nice clean look.

I spent half of Saturday brunching at Anvil Coffee Co in Kirribilli, and shopping with the shoes and found them to be surprisingly comfortable (surprisingly comfortable = my feet weren't falling off by the end of it) unlike they normally would be spending the day in heels.

We stopped at The Tea Salon in Westfield for something light for lunch being intrigued by their pretty floral homewares and shared a pot of China Rose tea and a scone each; Rose and White Chocolate, and Lavender. The scones were so soft and delicious I could have gone for another.

I also made a quick pitt stop to Mecca Maxima before heading to dinner and picked up this awesome brow kit that I'm super excited about. It comes with wax, highlighter, two shades of brow powder, three stencils and mini tweezers, brush and spooley - time to up my brow game ;)

Sunday was spent going to morning mass and then brunching at Yellow in Potts Point. It was really crowded and a little under staffed but nonetheless the food was still good. We then ventured to Ikea and walked around picking up things to organise the house and some photo frames to decorate, and had home cooked Carbonara for dinner.

Also, literally while I'm writing this up, there is a Chinese New Year Parade happening on George street that is distracting and entertaining me. There's fire and lion dancing and singing and tap dancing and roller blading and sheep/goats (not real ones) and all these other entertaining things! It's literally been going on for almost an hour.

Hope you guys had a good weekend!

x E

PS: Happy Chinese New Year!

Recipe #1 of 2015 - Teriyaki Chicken

So as I mentioned in my previous post, cooking is one of my 2015 resolutions and can I just say, I think I'm off to a pretty good start ;)

Upon returning to Sydney from a 2 week holiday in New Zealand, I decided to cook dinner for my family as with a 1 year old toddler, eating out may be difficult and tiring, especially after just getting home from the airport. I searched my brain of things to cook as my cooking skills are (currently) very limited.

I decided I was going to cook something Asian as my parents aren't big fans of Western food. Back home in Indonesia, there is a famous Japanese restaurant that serves the most delicious teriyaki chicken (apart from mine :p) and for some reason, that afternoon I was really craving for it so decided to try the recipe out. To serve with the teriyaki chicken I also cooked up some butter mushrooms (literally just cooking mushrooms in butter and adding a touch of salt - gosh I sound like a chef already) and freshly sliced cucumber (don't ask me why, I just felt like it).

How To Make Delicious Finger-licking Crispy Teriyaki Chicken 101: 

(Serves 6) 

Ingredients
3/4 cup kikkoman sweet soy sauce
3/4 cup mirin
3/4 cup sake
6 tablespoons of sugar
6 teaspoons of corn flour
6 tablespoons of water
6-8 pieces of boneless, skin-on chicken thighs

Method
1. Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil
2. Mix the corn flour and water in a separate bowl and whisk. Add it to the soy sauce and continue to cook until a desired thickness is reached
3. Pan fry the chicken, skin down for approximately 30 minutes. No oil is required to do so as the oil from the chicken is more than enough. Once a golden crisp colour is achieved, flip and cook to the other side until the chicken is cooked through. Slice the chicken ready to serve and voila!

x E

5 Days, 2 Islands and a Minivan.

Over the Christmas break my family from Indonesia came down to Sydney before heading off on a road trip around New Zealand. Being an intern, I didn't really have the choice of leave and as the office was only closed on public holidays, I could only make it for 5 days of their 2 week trip (lucky for me Christmas day was a Thursday, followed by Boxing day on the Friday and then the weekend. Oh and my boss gave me the Monday off too :)) So after 3 hours on an Air New Zealand flight (with the most amusing Hobbit-inspired safety video I have ever seen - posted below) on Christmas morning, listening to Michael Bublé's Christmas Album, I arrived in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.

Our ride - the minivan 

Over the 5 days I was there (huge thank you to my big brother for moving his itinerary around so I could see as much as possible), I managed to see a bit of the North Island (Wellington to be exact) and South Island featuring beautiful lakes and charming coves.

The drive to Mount Cook - said to be the most scenic route in New Zealand

Mount Cook Glaciers 

View of Queenstown and it's surroundings from Skyline

Cheeeers Mövenpick! 

Queenstown surroundings

Now to be honest, New Zealand would never have been my first choice for a travel destination, but after seeing the sights and views (and taking 1200 photos in 5 days), I was absolutely sold and here are 3 reasons why:

1. Bay of Many Coves Resort

 26.12.2014 marked my little nephew (Enzo's) first ever birthday and for this special occasion, his dad (my brother in case you didn't make the connection) booked the night at a charming private resort at the Bay of Many Coves. The Bay of Many Coves is situated a 30 minute boat ride away from the small town of Picton in the South Island. Being so isolated, we had to park the minivan overnight in Picton, and hop on board a water taxi which took us cruising past sheltered bays to our home for the night.

Enzo really is a water baby. He seriously loves being in it and splashing around so this resort was absolutely perfect. Upon arriving, we got changed into our swimmers and hopped in the dinghy at my request (being inspired by The Notebook and dreaming that Ryan Gosling would paddle me around). After struggling to paddle and finally getting the hang of it, we headed back to the resort with a crying Enzo who just wanted to be in the water. The rest of the afternoon was spent splashing around in the 15 degree water with the happy birthday boy and exploring the grounds when he dozed off for a quick nap. In the evening, we headed to the resort's restaurant for a beautifully set up birthday dinner by the friendly staff, followed by dessert in our 'apartment'.

2. Lake Tekapo 

Lake Tekapo is one of the South Island's largest lakes covering 83 square kilometres. Being on the way to Mount Cook from Picton, we stopped for lunch and a quick swim (or splash) for Enzo. The beautiful colour reminded me of the amazing lakes I saw on my last trip to Switzerland (which is one of my favourites).

3. Ferg Burger

I guess it's no surprise that food made it in my top 3 New Zealand-y things throughout my trip but don't judge until you've tried this burger. It's seriously the bomb. If the hour long wait isn't enough to convince you of it's deliciousness, maybe the size-being-as-big-as-your-face will (...and if that isn't enough, Ferg burger is even featured in some of Queenstown's tourist apparel).

x E