23.10.2008 Sumptuous dinner
Corn and Crab Chowder
Classic combination of corn and crab served in a creamy broth. $9.50
Tomato & Crab
Spaghettini tossed with tomato sauce, chillies, chunky crab meat and garnished with wild rocket leaves. $16.50
Marinara Spaghettini
Mussels, scallops, squids, prawns cooked in white wine tomato sauce with chilli and Italian parsley. $16.50
Savoury crepe
Tomato, bacon and Emmental cheese. $12.50
Macarons.
Sadly, they didn't taste too good, maybe they weren't fresh anymore.
Le Royale
This is really good!
Canele in Shaw Centre is relatively small. There's 8 tables in the indoor dining area & a table can sit two. Meaning they can't take many diners at one time. Good thing we
didn't dine on weekends.
I was satisfied with my meal but the overall dining experience wasn't too pleasant. The service staffs weren't service-oriented to begin with. They couldn't accede to our small request to sit next to the pretty corner of the restaurant when the table was available before our meals arrived. They failed to understand people choose to dine at their restaurant for several reasons. Ignorant! And we turned out to be customers who were lured to Canele by the restaurant deco.
When we finished our main course, the staff didn't attempt to remove the crumbs on the table, before serving us tea & dessert.
It's high time to buck up in service delivery.
16.10.2008 Gorgeous Jacarandas welcome spring!
In mid November, I took a walk around the streets of Brisbane and discovered the purple trees, most in full bloom, as spring is coming to an end. Their trademark purple blossoms are a feast to the eyes. Thus, I "google" to find out more.. and the followings are my findings.
Jacarandas, (Jacaranda mimosifolia), are spectacular late spring flowering trees, which create washes of purple through many Australian towns and suburbs each spring. Jacarandas come from Brazil but they grow well in Australia. In particular mass plantings of jacarandas along the street create a river of purple as well as a carpet underneath the trees when the flowers begin to fall.
Jacarandas are large trees which grow to 10m (30') tall and up to 10m (30') wide with a low, broad branching habit. As well as the commonly seen purple, there are also white-flowering and variegated foliage varieties.
Best climate: Jacarandas do not like frost and grow best from Sydney to Perth and north along the coast. They are well suited to warm coastal areas but will grow inland and further south if protected from frosts for the first couple of years. In colder areas plants may flower later in the season and trees will be smaller in height and spread.
Red meat indulgence
I was starving when we set off for dinner, in the rain. When we arrived at the restaurant, they didn't had our reservation & we had to wait an hour to get a table. Thus we killed time at a nearby Coffee Club, where I warmed & filled my empty stomach with a hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmellow.
We entered the restaurant at 9.30pm with drumming stomachs. After going through the extensive menu, most of us ordered the signature dish, grain-fed wagyu beef, which I waited with much anticipation. The serving was huge & I devoured the big chunk of meat effortlessly as I was very satisfied with the juicy & tender medium cooked steak. After a while, one of my colleagues got so tired from slicing the steak & chewing it. Hilarious! So, you can imagine how big the steak was! The meal was made complete with a dessert, which I shared with two other girls.
The ultimate steakhouse, Cha Cha Char restaurant combines a glamorous contemporary setting on Eagle Street Pier with the absolute best in Aussie beef. One of Brisbane’s most awarded restaurants, this good-looking bistro is serious about steak. You will find a satisfying, red-blooded menu entirely dedicated to beef sourced directly from quality producers. In fact, you’ll barely be able to see your plate beneath the large servings of tender steak, moist vegetables and delicious jus. (jus means the natural juices given off by the food. To prepare a natural jus, the cook may simply skim off the fat from the juices left after cooking and bring the remaining meat stock and water to a boil. Jus can be frozen for up to two weeks.)
07.10.2008
I was curious what French eats in the morning. Thus, I dropped by the concierge, in search for an answer, before stepping out of the hotel to find breakfast.
8.45am at Guest eatery. You can come here for breakfast, lunch & high tea. I love its warm, cozy feel.
This is the first time I come across an unsweetened hot chocolate! I have to add sugar to make it tastes like real hot choc!
This friendly French lady invited me to return during lunchtime for wider varieties of pastry to shoot. She said her boss doesn't like photographer shooting the pastries but she will pacify him if he gets mad with me! Haha! She's such a darling!
An interesting sight. Vendors used umbrellas to block the rain.
Lourve Museum in the morning.
I Love Paris
Have always wanted to make a trip to La Defense again, for the Grande Arche. The last time I visited Grande Arche was more than 7 years ago! On my last trip to Paris, I didn't make it there due to the rain in the morning, before departing the romantic city.
The project to build the 'Grande Arche' (Great Arch) was initiated by the French president Mitterrand. He wanted a XXth century version of the Arc de Triomphe. The design of Danish architect Otto van Spreckelsen looks more like a cube-shaped building than a triumphal arch.
It is a 106 meters (348 ft) white building with the middle part left open. The sides of the cube contain offices. You can take an elevator to the top of the Arche de la Défense, from where you have a nice view on the city center which is only 4 km further.
My dolly at Grande Arche.
A very cloudy day!
La Défense is the prime high-rise office district of Paris. Many of Paris's tallest buildings can be found here.
A quick dinner before I head back to hotel to retire. I ordered a set meal and I was surprised Perrier's one of the beverage options for my set meal. I was super exhausted by noontime & thus my plan to do a night shoot fell through.
