NSW Farm Tour

Sunday 10/04/11

I visited 3 farms in a day (vegie farm, apple farm & alpaca farm). The day started with a nice sunny day and the cloud started to mess the day ... rain & wind followed us for the whole afternoon. That did not dampened our spirit at all, we came back with plenty of fresh vegies, apple & souvenirs from the alpaca farm. What a one big hectic day.

Hawkesbury Vegetable Farm

135 Carrs Road

Wilberforce NW 2756

Phone. (02) 4576 3529

Joe 0417 443 057

Vicki 0418 696 897

Open Saturday 9am-3pm

Sunday to Friday book ahead

Visitors can have a little tour on the farm, getting the know their produces, how they sell to the market & their low pesticides policy (I was told that by Vicki that they tried their best to use minimal pesticides too, mainly during summertime.Fresh vegies are available for purchase (freshly cut/ plucked) & they last for a while, unlike the usual vegs you buy from supermarket which normally die in 1-3 days =)

Bilpin Springs Orchard

2550 Bells Line of Road

Bilpin - NSW 2758

Phone. (02) 4567 1294

Quite similar to Hawkesbury Veg Farm, visitors can have a tour around the area, getting to know different variety of apples & other fruits, the netting system (to avoid hail storm, birds attacking the trees), bee pollination, DIY apple picking. I really love the DIY apple picking...walk around the area, carry a basket & pick apples (great exercise opportunity too) - fresh, crisp & wax free apples.

Tanglin Lodge Alpaca Farm

128 Tennyson Road

Tennyson - NSW

Phone. 0418 548 242

Visitors can book afternoon tea session (freshly baked scones, fresh cream & strawberry jam, tea/ coffee) whilst the owner run a little alpacas info session explaining history of alpacas (from Peru originally), how their fibres being produced into jumpers/ hats/ scarves, colour of alpacas, and tons more information on alpacas. The scones was soft, crumbly & warm, was really yummy, I bought some home as well. It was such an experience..my very first time ever seeing & touching an alpaca, they are really gentle, happy to get a little pet from everyone..and super soft fur, well behave too (no spitting).

Family run Hawkesbury Vegetables Farm - brocolli, eggplant, capsicum, cauli flower, rocket, spinach, chilli, and many more (more than 20++ varieties)

9 yrs old Jason - knowledgeable boy, helping dad getting rid of weeds

Fresh eggplants

Bilpin Springs Orchard (netting system on the right side to protect the trees)

DIY Apple picking - buy fresh apples from the farm, fresh & crisp

Alpacas - originally from Peru

Pet an alpaca - soft & cuddly

Sydney Royal Easter Show 2011

When I was an undergraduate student (many yearssssss ago when I was young & free from wrinkleS), I used to work @ Easter show during Easter break to earn extra pocket money.
Well ... I did earn some money from the Easter show...and I also spent my earnings on the spot too to buy showbags, foods, or anything I didn't need, sighhhh...young & clueless back then.
I used to have staff pass & I can go to the show anytime, anyday, as many times as I like. What a privilege.

Nowadays, Easter show costs about $34 (entree + transport fee included). They have similar stuff every year, nothing new to me - wood chopping show, animal show, milking barn show, foodhall, art & craft, and showbags pavillion. Eventhough it is the same item every year I still go for the fun, memory of the good old days, dog show, milking barn, showbags and cheese on a stick etc.

Happy Easter everyone, have a great holiday!!

Bite Size biscuits @ Foodhall - they only sell to public during the Easter show, beautiful biscuits, low sweetness & not too buttery

Fresh produces by Woollworth @ Foodhall

Cake decorating pavillion - yes they are all edible cakes !! Amazing art works !!

Gourmet jam by Alpine @ Foodhall

Cheese on a stick can only be found during Easter show....

Freshly squeezed Lemonade

Cheese on a Stick - my yearly ritual @ the Easter show - deep fried battered cheese

Cheese on a stick - Melted cheese

Junk Food Galore =)

Our moment of fame - we met the famous Dr Harry Cooper, my favourite & the best vet ever !!
My friend A, Dr Harry Cooper, me

Kayla's Birthday Party @ the Park

Last birthday party for year 2010, Kayla's 3rd Brithday Party @ the Park somewhere in Maroubra (can't remember the name of the Park).

Kayla's Mom aka Cupcakeholics the domestic goddess made everything from scratch, and she printed little food ID card on each plate. Attention to details is definitely her forte hehehe. Please check out her hardwork.

Corned Beef Balls

Bacon corn & cheese muffins

Mini spring rolls

Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies

Tangy Lemon Cake

Girly cupcakes for Kayla

Sugar Flower made from scratch

Ju-Rin

I am running out of ideas to take my best friend Handi out for his birthday. I realised he has never been to Ju-Rin in Crows Nest. He is happy with the idea as it is a little suburbia and easy for him to find parking. Booking done, we picked the 8pm seating, we were quite lucky to get a table as I did last minute booking (3 days prior to the dinner).

We also ordered the Beef tongue miso udon but I forgot to take photos. The soup is really tasty & the beef tongue is really tender, a definite must have when you visit  Ju-Rin.

Ju-Rin today's special

Torched Salmon with avocado sauce, the sauce is really refreshing & it complements the perfectly grilled salmon

Zucchini flower tempura stuffed with prawn paste, crunchy and tasty prawn paste stuffing

Wagyu beef karubi, very tender and juicy wagyu

Dessert Menu

Sakura Mochi, cherry blossomed flavour mochi with red bean filling, if you like low level of sweetness dessert, this mochi is your best friend :o)

Tempura green tea ice cream red bean, the portion is quite generous, it can be shared for 2-3 people. I marked the tempura ice cream 5/10, presentation yes... the quality of the vanilla ice cream & the tempura batter not so great

The Counter Custom Built Burgers

2012 - The Counter Custom Built Burgers is no longer operational ... sad..sad

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I had no computer and internet for about 1.5 month as my vintage (aka old & dying) computer was problematic. I am glad that my geeky friend fixed it up, save me some $$$$. Time to update my eating adventures now....

Around my neighbourhood we have an American burger joint called The Counter where you can built your own burger & have sweet potato chips.

The only 'Counter' in Australia

Here's the Order form ... full of varieties, so hard to decide what I want in my burger
Well, I can always come back & try a different combo !

Yummy Sweet potato chips .... generous salt :o)
I had to shake off the excess salt

My Burger = Avocado + Boiled Egg + Beef + Cheese + Grilled Onions + BBQ Sauce

I got all my fave ingredients in the burger, the next question was how am I going to eat them ? Eating the burger was a bit of a work by itself due to the height, but I managed to get through the whole burger thanks to fork, knife and hands.
Our table was a big mess at the end. Practice makes perfect ... if I dine in another time I should be less messy.