Yum Cha or Dim Sum?

The Husband and I went to this restaurant on what was maybe our third or fourth date, long before it became the Yum Cha café and I made a dirty joke about my deep fried banana which resulted in him thinking I was a creeper and we nearly didn’t have another date.  He has probably realised that I really am a creep by now.

Needless to say, we did have another date and the poor sucker hasn’t been able to get rid of me since.

Our second date was a disaster too. I called a friend whilst he was in the bathroom to fill her in on how the date was going and used a code name for him, and unbeknownst to me he had walked up behind me and heard the end of the conversation, resulting in him thinking I had been on TWO dates that night. 

We decided to head back and try out the Yum Cha (or is it Dim Sum?), but it was only with me twisting his arm. 

Yum Cha cafe is at 193 Exhibition Street, Melbourne - corner of Exhibition and Little Bourke.

Right opposite my favourite place, China Bar.

Every thing is very red in here, including the front door.  It was a theatre night and no booking needed.

I really have no idea what all of these are, but some of them were definitely ginger prawn dumplings, beef bun, and the rest most likely contained some form of prawn also. 

I had no reflux after these too, what a win. Not like the shifty place near my work where if you find a hair in your dumpling they say 'eh, it happens'.

Every time I order a mocktail from, where else but the mock tail section of the menu, The Husband double checks with them that there is no alcohol in it. It's like he thinks I am boozing up on the down low.

I really must just hate the taste of alcohol because I am loving all of these mocktails.

Calamari with spicy salt.

I found these to be really rubbery, a let down after the amazing dumplings unfortunately.

You win some, you lose some. 

I don’t know why, but I was kind of surprised when the bill was $130. 

I suppose because you are eating such little meals in rapid succession, you don’t expect it to add up so quickly when there are only two of you and you are in and out in 45 minutes.  The dumplings were definitely worth it though. 

You also don't get told how much things are, they just wheel them around, you pick and they write a code on your bill. 

I know this sounds silly considering I would normally think that $130 was normal but at Asian yum cha I just expect a bargain. Same with eBay - I just expect a bargain!

I'm wearing:

Target Skirt

Portmans vest/top thing

Random belt

Sandler wedges (I know, I really need to buy more shoes!!) 

OPI Black Onyx on nails

Some form of Essie red polish on toes

My ghetto booty was the topic of conversation yesterday, I think I have always had a booty but pregnancy has really added to it! Go me. 

I'm not weighing myself so couldn't tell you how much weight I have gained,  but I think majority of it went to my bum.  

CHINA Bar

Last night The Husband picked me up from work and as we were driving home I mentioned that I was making vegetable omelett’s for dinner, which prompted him to say, perhaps too quickly, “Let’s go out for dinner!”.

On Monday when I told him the same thing, he said he was already on his way home with pizza.

Perhaps I need to take the hint, he doesn’t want me to cook him an omelett for dinner.

Either way, with all of the eating out we have been doing lately and the reduction of my boxing classes, I am becoming a little heffa.

We decided to go to the new China Bar which opened recently on the corner of Exhibition and Little Bourke Street.

From the minute that we walked in, the service was impeccable.

I had my Parlux hairdryer in a box as it was delivered to work (over night shipping, yes please!) and as they had originally put us at a table kind of near the entrance, where lots of traffic goes past, they moved us to a nice booth so that my parcel would be more secure.

It was explained to us that the Asian style food was downstairs and the Western food was upstairs. I couldn’t help but exclaim “TWO levels of food?! OH MY GOSH!!” haha.

The décor is gorgeous, and I love the coloured glowing lamps on each table.

Can you see the third object in our marriage on the table?

Usually with buffet places the seafood and food in general is not that fresh but it was ridiculously fresh at China Bar!

As soon as something was taken, the staff would top it up and keep everything full.

As you probably know, I love seafood. Love love love.  This was heaven for a girl like me with a seemingly bottomless pit for a stomach.

I didn’t touch the mussels though as I don’t like this type, and I need my mums special vinaigrette to eat them anyway.

As soon as the shell bowl on the table had food in it the waitresses would appear from nowhere to change it for a fresh one. 

Hello Swan.

Hello Husband in the background. 

The hot food area was amazing also. EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING!!! 

Hello. Dumpling Heaven. Ding Ding Ding!!!

I am annoyed now that I only stuck to the foods that I already know I like, but next time (and you better believe that there will be a next time) I am going to sample one of everything, even if it kills me. 

I ventured upstairs but it was just roast and steak stuff. Nothing that excited me. 

Moscato. I feel like I wasted valuable stomach space on alcohol. Why oh why?! 

Taken from upstairs. 

Fruit. FRUIT? No No do not waste stomach space on fruit. Or rice. 

Dessert Time. 

The Husband did not even notice the Chocolate Fountain but you better believe that he got excited when he did see it.

I don’t know how many times we remarked to each other “I LOVE this place!!!!”.

There was also a big thingamagummy full of ice cream. Mmmm. 

As you can see by the state of my appearance, I didn’t know we were going out to dinner otherwise I would have put my face on and brushed my hair.

No excuses for the terrible outfit though. 

Nice and Blurry. I'm getting used to The Husband taking blurry shots around food. He is in such a rush to eat that he just snaps and moves. 

The Manager came around and offered us fresh, piping hot, Chocolate Soufflé but there was no way in hell that I could finish it.

By this stage I was leaning back against the booth, rubbing my belly and slowly inching the elastic on my tights down further and further until they were nearly falling off.  I just didn’t need the added pressure on my belly.

I had 6 plates, but The Husband had about 10 and his plates were piled high, unlike mine. I don’t know where they put it all.

The Husband suggested we get a cab home. I kid you not, we live so close that there was no hope in hell of any cabbie accepting the fare. We slowly walked/rolled home and then went into a food coma on the couch surrounded by our buddies like The Office, Nurse Jackie & Californication.  

All this for the bargain price of $59 each (plus drinks of course). So cheap, so delicious! Hell yes. 

And because I have a crap outfit on in the above photos I took it upon myself to show you what I wore to work on Monday.

I got this Portmans dress for about $80 on sale, bargain. I love the color and the chain but it is very short and the fabric a bit bulky. The lining also rustles as I move so I may cut it out.

Fair to say that Abbey Lee Kershaw wore it better, but next time we come up against each other, I have faith that I will win. 

Until we meet again. 

I'm a Farmer.

Don’t let the title of this post fool you. I’m not really a farmer.

I was just masquerading as a farmer on a farm that harvests nothing.

I had to head up to country on Saturday to visit my mum for Easter, but me being the silly girl that I often am, decided to rely on my iPhone and Vodafone to get me to this unknown destination.

As soon as I hit Ballarat, my phone lost reception and I had no way to call my mum to ask her for directions. All hope was lost.

I pulled over and got the Sat Nav from the boot, only to discover that the charger was missing and it was flat as a pancake. No prizes for guessing who I think lost the cord.

I decided to wing it, and after driving for 3 hours (knowing it was only meant to take me 1.5 hours maximum) and seeing signs indicating that I was getting closer to Horsham, I panicked, took a mean right turn down some dusty road and prayed that I would get closer to my destination.

I had a full tank of petrol, a slab of water in the boot but also a hangover and CD’s that I was quickly getting sick of.

After driving for another hour, I ended up in a town called Talbot and stopped at the milk bar for directions, and they gave me the happy news that I was only about 10km away from my destination. They drew me directions and I set off with hope. After driving 20km, I started to panic and stopped in the next town at the Police Station, for more directions, only to discover that they were shut. Great going, Victoria Police.

After I flagged down a local who gave me directions to turn back, I sat in my car on the side of the road crying for 20 minutes at the thought of my mum, worried that I had ended up in a ditch somewhere after not showing up nor calling her.

20 minutes later I decided that the time had come to go to someone’s house and hopefully use a phone.

I left my car on the main road, incase the inhabitant decided to kill me, I figured my car would be visible at least and might help the police locate my dismembered body.

I knocked on a door and thankfully a lovely lady helped me out, rang my mum and we found out I was literally only 5 minutes away from them.

Mum came and got me, and it turns out she was in the main town looking for my car, and she was indeed panicking.

So, a 1.5 hour drive took me 5 hours. I’m not usually such a crier, I am the sort of person who thinks running out of petrol is fun as it leads to an adventure, but knowing that mum was already worried about me driving over the Easter break, paired with frustration, was enough to make me lose my shit. 

Anyway, on to hilarious photos of me pretending to be a farmer, cork hat included.

Don’t judge my terrible outfit choices. It was freezing on the farm and I only packed minimal clothing so had to wear it all at once.  I literally have 2 pairs of pants on, 2 tops, 2 cardigans and a hoody on.

Mum walked around the land, whilst I rode the ride on after hearing stories of snakes.

Her one piece of advice whilst we were collecting fire wood? ‘Make sure that the stick does not have a head or a tail’. Great. Believe me, I was looking for movement with every damn step that I took.

I’m just not a country girl.

Whilst going to look at some land nearby, I stopped and took a photo of this cow and then it looked like it was going to bull rush me so I mildly panicked. 

Mum had said that she wanted some trees and seedlings for Easter so I stopped on the way and got her a lemon tree and apricot tree. At least if I ran out of petrol whilst lost I could munch on lemons. 

We had a great weekend of reading, eating, conspiracy theories and ghost stories.

I had to make a dash to Maryborough K-Mart to buy some slippers and warmer clothes.

Don’t get used to seeing me like this.

Today’s manicure consists of China Glaze Jitterbug with an accent nail of China Glaze Lorelai’s Tiara. Perfect for this frosty Melbourne weather.

Yesterdays outfit photos are pretty terrible as the bedroom has shocking lighting and I forgot to take advantage of the bathroom mirror at work.

I was wearing:

Zara Cropped Pants (full length on my short and stumpy legs)

Caroline Morgan Belt

Portmans Top

Zara Blazer (not pictured but you know the one, it’s black)

Tony Bianco wedges.

Embracing pants as I can't be bothered to shave my legs. 

I look extra mini and super shiny in this photo, but I assure you, I am not mini. Shiny perhaps, but not mini. 

It’s been pretty fresh to death here but I still like to eat my lunch outside in the fresh air, so have to struggle through the bone chilling wind that whips around.

I need to take some more skin photos to show the results of my peels at Miss Fox because my skin is looking pretty good!!! 

I know I have mentioned this lip balm before, but now I have to grumble about it.

What is the deal with lip balms which grow a skin over the top within a day of non use?! Seriously. I have to peel off the gross hard skin, wasting a crap load of the lip balm in the mean time, and get to the fresh gooey stuff.

If you are reading this, Figs & Rouge, this is really, very annoying. 

In other news, my Kony 2012 bracelet arrived. I actually have zero intentions of wearing something that will make it look like I am associated with kabbalah but bought it with good intentions of donating a little bit of cash.

Seems like everyone has forgotten about Kony.

I’m eating my Lite n Easy dinner for lunch instead today as I have boxing and need the extra energy. 

I’m not sticking to Lite n Easy religiously, as I am not doing it for weight loss, only for convenience, but am still pretty happy with it. Except for the fruit. It sucks. 

Thanks for all the entries in The Makeup Box Shop give away so far, was shocked to discover that it would get over 200 entries within 24 hours! Amazing.

The Husband is still in America, and I have been slowly compiling lists of things for him to bring me back, but at the moment it only consists of mascara and nail polish, oh yeah and glittery toothpaste for Ashleigh-Rose.

I’ve been scouring the usual websites, Macys etc, for things that I might like (looking for wedge sandals and general fashion items etc) but so far no bueno. I mean, there are things that I want, but it would probably be easier for me to just buy them on-line rather than send him out to forage for them..

I’ll just be happy when he comes back safe and sound, and if he remembers to bring me the hotel shower caps, that is an added bonus.