Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year, people! :)

May the year of Monkey brings you good health, fortune and prosperity! 

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Operator 25

Missing Melbourne Brunch so much. So here's one of the brunch places in Melbourne that has good brunches. I've been here too many times so I am just going to post all the food that I've tried here before.

Operator 25 is located in the Melbourne CBD on Will Street. The menu of this place changes every quarter so you get a variety of choices and you can always try something different. I would definitely go there at least once every semester. If I were to bring friends from Malaysia around in Melbourne to try the food, I would always bring them here. Not only the food is good, the coffee as well.

Well, I am not a coffee lover but my friends and parents are. According to them, the coffee here is pretty good. So, here's a cup of cappucino that my mum ordered.

My very first time to Operator 25, I tried the corn fritters. Any brunches places I go, I will always go for their corn fritters first. If they don't have it then I will pick something else on the menu. 

The all time favorite, Sweet Corn Fritters, Tomato Salad, Goat Curb with Fried Duck Egg

This was smashing! Totally love it! So muchyyy. I went back there twice that same week to order the same thing right before flying back to Malaysia. When I came back, they already changed the menu and this wasn't on it anymore, left me heartbroken!

Pulled Pork Burger with Sweet Potato Wedges, Fried egg, Chilli Mayo, Coriander, Cabbage and Carrot Slaw on Brioche Bun

This was another signature dish from Operator 25. They kept this on their menu for two quarters but have already change it now. If it comes back, this is definitely the dish you would want to go for. This is my second favourite from Operator 25. Totally loved the sweet potato wedges. 

Elderflower sago with chia seeds, rhubarb and strawberry compote, with white chocolate foam and freeze-dried mango

This was a dessert after deal for me and it indeed a flavorful and delicious one. The flavors were refreshing and it wasn't too sweet. Everything was just nice. The white chocolate foam and strawberry compote match pretty well! AND Who doesn't love desserts with sago? Anything dessert with sago is never bad.

Sweet Potato Fries/Wedges

Each time I go there, I will definitely ordered this one here. This was by far the best sweet potato wedges in Melbourne. It 7 aud for a basket of chips. It's usually not on the menu but you can always ordered them from the waiter/waitress. 

Granola with poached figs and syrup 

When I am not too hungry and want to go for a healthy brunch dish, I would order the granola. I like having granola because its not too filling for the tummy and its also a sweet dish. This one here also also good and especially love the poached figs.

Chicken A La Normande with braised apples, pickled shallots, kipfler potatoes, green beans and almond. 
Another good lunch dish from Operator 25. I had this twice there, totally love how tender the chicken fillet was and the braised apples were really good. It does feel weird having to have braised apple and chicken together but trust me, it was smashingly delicious.

This is their most recent menu of the last quarter of 2015. 

Matcha Crumpets with Poached Pears,Macerated berries,kaya sauce, lychee pearls and Mango

For those matcha lover, this matcha crumpets does really have the matcha crumpets. By itself, its a bit tasteless but mix with everything else and the kaya sauce, then it'll taste good. However, my many times there, this dish was the one I least enjoy.

Soft Shell Crab on Squid Ink Brioche, Lime Mayo, Nam Jing dressing, coconut and herb salad

This one was delicious! My mum ordered this and I stole a bite and totally love it.

Balinese Pork, Pork Fillet and belly cooked in traditional Balinese Spices, marcilla, sambal malah, lemongrass broth, stir fired corn, green beans and mushroom

Pork Belly, always the favourite dish that we would ordered in any brunch places and this was really done well and delicious. The pork fillet was tender and with the spices and broth, it blends together all so well. 

Address :

25, Wills Street,

Melbourne CBD

Phone :

(03) 9670 3278

Opening Hours

Monday - Friday 7am - 4pm

Saturday & Sunday 9am - 4pm

Webpage ; www.operator25.com.au

It Brew My Mind 

~ Operator 25 ~

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Cairns Queensland, Australia

Actively updating my blog recently because I have more spare time. It's good in a way so I can jot down about all my travelling experience all over as well. Some places might have been a super overdue post.

This trip was quite recent in late November. This was after my exams and was also a graduation trip with my friends. #GRDT30001 was the hashtag we use for our instagram. Well, because in University of Melbourne most of our subject codes were like that so same concept but we turn our grad trip to a subject. A subject we will never fail because the only thing it requires is to enjoy ourselves. Its funny how when we study for finals, burning the midnight oil is a torture but if we go on trips, staying up late was perfectly normal.

So, Cairns is known as the gateway to Great Barrier Reef. Visiting Cairns is mostly about doing the watersports there and also the diving and snorkeling and explore the beauty of the reef. Great Barrier Reef is the only wonder of the world that is visible recognized from the outer space. It is also the state icon of Queensland. We took a trip there for 4 days 3 nights. Technically it was only 3 full days cause we leave Cairns early in the morning on the 4th day. I would say it was too short to be able to visit everywhere and snorkel almost all the island. So here were the places I visited and the things I did there.

1. Palm Cove Beach 

Landed in Cairns and it was already 11am. Had our lunch and headed straight to Palm Cove Beach. Wasn't that impressed with the beach because it was pretty dirty but the walkway with the tree was nice.

As you can see the water at the side there is brown in color. Compare to the beaches in Tasmania and the water there, this was not even close to it. 

However since we were there! Might as well get a photo there! It took us almost an hour plus to get there from the city and for 6 Of us the bus return ticket cost us 66 aud! It was pretty expensive. 

Selfie with my girl on the bus ! 

2. Sunset Harbour Cruise, Cairns City

Because we arrive that day itself and it was already afternoon by the time we finish lunch, we couldn't really do much so I managed to books us for a sunset cruise which only cost us 40 aud with refreshment! I would totally say the cruise was worth it! Like I always do, it's good to have a look around the city first before heading out to other places! 

Before the sunsets, this was the view we were getting from the cruise. After awhile we decided to head out to the deck to get some air and also take photos! 

Here's me and my crew ❤️

Cheers to Graduating, Class of 2015

Sunset Moments

Cairns City Sunset View

The cruise totally worth our time. It took about three hours. Took us around the place. It was really relaxing as it was tired to take an early morning plane. Instead of going straight for all the water sports, taking this cruise was definitely a good choice. All we did was sleep, chill, relax and talk. The best part was we all just finished our finals so it helps to calm the mind. 

3. Fitzroy Island

Fitzroy Island and Green Island are two hot spot for tourist. What I did was I sign up for a full day tour to the island. The tour included all kind of activities which were boat paddling, kayaking, glass bottom boat tour, snorkeling, and the trampoline jump. It also include our lunch and only cost us 110 aud per person. Most of the other tour would cost 150 aud and above and I was glad that I could get this cheap. I booked with travstar.com and they were really friendly people. Although I would have to say they are pretty strict when comes to renting the gear! 

Me likely the clear blue water! The water there was really clean! There wasn't much rubbish everywhere considering it to be a hot tourist spot as well! 

Snorkelling around Island

We were chasing after turtles but fail to caught up with it. We got to see lot of fishes and coral around the island. There were so many colourful corals. While we were on the glassboat tour, they gave us a brief introduction of the coral.Coral are colourful due to the fungi growing around it. When it dies, the coral would then turn white in colour. He also told us about how we can determine the depth of the water at the area based on the colour that is reflected from the sunlight. It was indeed a knowledgeable glass boat tour.

Kayaking crew, we spilt in to two group of boat of 3. 

Trampoline Jump - Yippeeeeee

4. Great Barrier Reef, Diving Site - Miles Reef & Club 10

As the great barrier reef is extremely big, there are many places to dive and there is also many places to dive from. So, I took a tour to visit two diving/snorkelling sites which depart from Cairns City. Do note that certain diving sites are pretty dirty. The one that we went was actually really clean and totally love the first diving site. The corals were so pretty. All these tours depart early in the morning and this one was 6am. 

All the sleepy morning facesss..

All Suited Up to Snorkel and Dive

The tourguide, crew, and this photographer here was the nicest people ever. They were pretty helpful and they would not hesitate to help you at all

Snorkelling in the deep blue sea with Aleqiu

Sneak Peek of The Corals! I didn't have much photo because we only took videos of the corals. I tried uploading up but it didn't work as all the files were too big. Trust me, its even more beautiful with your own eyes. 

The only catch of this corals is you gotta really go far and look for them. Some were pretty normal but some were just extraordinary. However, only Miles Reef was good. The second site we went had only fishes, stingray and a little bit of coral. The others saw baby shark but me and my friends did not see any at all. 

Oh! The seasick we had was horrible! The current and wave were really strong that day. Out of 6 of us, only 1 of us survive. The rest of us were just gone, took the seasick medicine and slept until we reach the sites. It was just so horrible but that didn't stop us from going into the water. I thought I wouldn't be having any seasickness but turn out I was wrong. It was so bad. Thank god we were well prepared to get the medicine in Melbourne before flying to Cairns. 

This tour cost us 115 AUD for snorkelling but for diving it probably cost about 160AUD++. Two of my friends went diving but because they only decided that day so they had to pay extra. I was so sad because I couldn't dive as I was having pretty bad sinus and the people were really strict. I asked them if I could go diving with a mild sinus, they were like No, we don't encourage. I regretted so much. My friends said with diving, it's even more prettier!

5. Cairns Esplanade Swimming Lagoon

So, right at the city near the piers, they have this swimming lagoon which is a safe swimming location and is open all year round. Right beside it, they have the boardwalk and also a sandy beach swimming pool. A lot of families would bring their children there to play as there was also a mini playground nearby as well. So what we did was, right after diving, we went over there to play after returning to the pier. We did lots of random stuff, took lots of video and also did the hair flip. Even the guys did it. We were trying to get the right shot so we did a couple of time and trust me, the next day our neck hurts so bad. 

 Here, it was more like chilling and relaxing with friends. Instead of ending our last day with seasickness from the ride, why not end it with a nice relaxing and chilling place at the swimming pool. After all, we are already there, might as well enjoy what it has to offer.

This trip was definitely super enjoyable, we totally love the activities and also the place we were staying,

We were staying in Vision Apartments in the city. It's really strategic as it was just walking distance to the pier when we go for the tours, the night market, food area, swimming lagoon and even the casino. The casino was pretty old school, not the typical classy casino you will see. Back to the apartment, it was really cozy and big! We stay there for 3 nights and it cost us only 970 AUD! It actually pretty decent considering the size of it. It was a 3 bedroom apartment with two toilets, a big kitchen, living room and balcony. For an apartment this big and nice, 970 aud is actually a pretty decent price.

Leaving Cairns was really sad for us, we wanted to do more, we didn't do the River rafting nor did we go the Kuranda Railway and Cable car. If I were given another chance to go back there, I would definitely go there again and more snorkellinggggg =D

Its a big world out there, it would be ashame to not experience the beauty that it has to offer. Don't just sit back at home, come out to see the world and you will be amaze to know what's out there!

Signing off....

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Sarawak - Places To Visit

Apart from being a big fan of food, I personally like to enjoy the culture and scenic view of what a place has to offer. Being in Sarawak for 5 days 4 nights was definitely not enough to visit all the places. However, these are the places I've visited and definitely would recommend to include in your itinerary. 

1. Riverwalk, Kuching City
Its always good to go around the city before heading off to other places. So, we walk along the river on a sunny and hot day. However, when you are walking with your friends and talking, it doesn't feel that bad. It's been awhile since we all catch up so we talk as we walk and also took a couple of photos as well. 

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building 

Riverwalk Hornbill Monument

With my girls <3 

2. Carpenter Street

The Mural Art on the Street

This street has all kind of shops, food, furniture, bird nest stores and also bar. There is this pretty nice bar called the Drunk Monkey, looks like a pretty cool place. This was where we had our coffee in my previous post Sarawak - Food Hunt. The place was called Black Bean Coffee. However, because we went there late evening after 5.30pm, most of the shops were already close.

4. Jong's Crocodile Farm

Jong's Crocodile Farm is one of the largest captive breeding crocodile farm in Malaysia. I was told that Sarawak has one of the most crocodile and once in awhile, there is always cases where humans are eaten by crocodiles and the most recent was last two weeks. I was never that afraid of crocodiles but the way it was described scares me. Trust me, the amount of crocodiles in this farm is massive. It gives you the chill that you are surrounded by crocodiles even though there is a barrier there. However, it was indeed a good experience. They had bird exhibition, wild boars, bears, monkey, snakes and fishes as well. 

 Welcome by this Giant Crocodile the moment we enter the farm

 Group Photo with the Giant Crocodile

Group Photo Take 2 - Before entering the farm 

This is a legit crocodile remains that they caught. Oh my this was indeed a big one. 

Baby crocodiles 

 Golden Crocodile 

 The tailess Crocodile

 One funny looking crocodile 

The farm was really a swamp forest area which actually allow you to experience the crocodile natural habitat itself but with barriers of course. So, you are actually right above, beside all these crocodiles. There was also the feeding shows which is only at 11.00am and 3.00pm. According to other tourist, the feeding show is amazingly good but because we miss the 11am feeding time and had to go off before 3pm, so we didn't get to see them feeding the crocodiles.

Iguana Glass Exhibition

The Bird Exhibition Area :

 I talked to the peacock for a long time but it just wouldn't open up to me so end up I only the photo of it staring at the camera. Oh wells...

 Fish Exhibition :
Oh my.. the fish they had called "Koi" was big. Extremely big

Porcupineeeeeeee....

Wild Boar

Cute bear bearrrrr...

My favourite was the bear because they were sooo cuteeee. The scariest thing was the crocodile! Meet this Bujang Sedang crocodile, Pak Indon!

The entrance fees for non Sarawakian adults was RM22.00 and RM12.00 for Sarawakians. For children its RM11.00 for the non Sarawakians. I do think the entrance fee was pretty reasonable considering the variety of animals it has to offer but it really does give you the feel of the animals real habitat

5. Annah Rias Hot Spring & Bidayuh Longhouse

So, we decided to get our leg dipped into hot spring and head to Annah Rias. It was a long drive indeed. Took us an hour to get there from Jong Crocodile Farm. The drive was scary was the road was bendy and there was this wooden bridge we had to cross with the car which looked terribly unstable to get to the hot spring place. So, we finally reached the hot spring place but there was so many mosquito. Entrance fee was RM5.00. Pretty cheap eh but it was a challenging trust for us to get to the hot spring area as we had to cross the river which current was pretty strong that day. We still try to cross over to get our legs dip even though we were totally not dressed for it..

We had to get to the other side for the hot spring. The water was extremely hot, it was hard for us to dip our leg there long as well. The river stones were like punishing us for crossing over as they were not smooth but so pokyyyy!

I wouldn't recommend to ya'll if you prefer the easy way of hot spring but it was an experience indeed. Next stop, we came down to visit the Bidayuh Longhouse. It was truly indeed an experience to see how Bidayuh live and their house. The house were made of all bamboo including their floor! AND they make really good rice wine as well. They welcome us wit their homemade rice wine and tadaaa.. got a photo with them

We could get the rice wine, per bottle RM10. The bottle is pretty big as well

This is where the Bidayuh stay and how the floor of the houses are made of.

I did not really get many photo of the place as I was too busy exploring every little angle of it and totally forgot to get my camera out after getting this two shots. However, I would recommend this place as well, if you are looking to experience real Bidayuh lifestyle and the houses they stay in! One thing that amaze me was despite the house being super tradition, the interior design of each room were actually similar to a normal house. 

6. Serikin Market

This market is the border between Kalimantan and Malaysia. It's also where you get really cheap stuff and some of the quality are not bad as well! The market is available only on the weekend from Friday evening until Sunday. Here's some photo I've got while I was there and before I started my shopping spree.

The market was extremely long, it took us 3 hours there shopping along the border! I've pretty decent stuff but I think the most interesting one was the craving on the keychain. You could crave anything on top for a price of RM3 per key chain! Thats extremely cheap and I don't think you can get that price anywhere especially not in KL.

7. Sarawak Cultural Village

Last place we visited before heading back home to Kuala Lumpur on the last day. Sarawak Cultural Village consist of all the cultures that they have there which includes the Bidayuh, Melanau, Penan, Iban, Malay and Chinese houses. 

The tickets are pretty expensive for tourist who are non Sarawakian about RM60ish. However, I would say it's totally worth going because of the knowledge you'll get and learn. It's said to be a living museum and they have people there dressed up in their respective costume! 

The part I love most about was the passport they gave us to enter where it include the things you need to know about the village, different cultures and also they had this mini task to collect chops from all the mini village. It's a good way of making sure the tourist goes to all of the villages and did not miss. The passport is everything you need to guide your way through! 

Started off our journey at the Theatre. Well we reached there at 12.20pm where we just missed the show AGAIN! Oh wells.. They have two slots:

11.30am - 12.15pm

4.00pm - 4.45pm 

So be sure to be there at this time or you would miss it like be. Plane was at 7pm so had to leave early. :( There is always a next time. Even though we miss the show there was still plenty more to do there. So from there we begin our educational adventure... 

Bidayuh 

Iban

This was really interesting. To complete it, it will take months and would cost you thousand. The lady was kind enough to show me how it was done =D

Melanau

Chinese Traditional House

The house was a traditional house where all the pots and pan and cupboards are all olden equipment. Even the bed as well. It was not like what we see in dramas at all.

Penan

 The Sword Making House and also me and the bull skull. Man..it was heavy..

There was also the Malay House and Orang Ulu house but somehow I could not find the photos! Wonder where it all went. I did notice that I am missing quite a lot of photos in this trips. I remember taking them but somehow I can't find them in my phone. The cultural village was indeed a MUST VISIT place. It was really educational and you will be amazed but the things that they over. There were a lot of houses where they were cooking their traditional kuih. 

I manage to get a few from the place made from sago ! Well we had a few but before I took all the photo we already finish some of it. 

So, that's a wrap up our trip to the Cultural Village!

OH! Not to forget, the village is located near two resorts with a lot of activities to be done there. There was a beach near by as well. The resort is called Damai Beach Resort. The next trip in Sarawak, I will definitely stay there a few nights there. I would also wanna go to Serian and Luduk the next time. 

There is also a Matang Wildlife Centre which I missed going. We actually went there but it was already close. Turn out it closes at 3.30pm that day. There are so many more places that I have never been yet, which is where I would go back there again to continue visiting more good places like this! 

Already can't wait for my next trip thereeee 

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