Thursday, October 24, 2002

Hello Kitty Onigiri Maker

Weeeell, Thursdays are my shopping nights... and my place happens to be quite near to an extremely large shopping mall and district. This mall happens to contain a Toys'R'Us, a little gift store called Attitude, an Electronics Boutique, two large supermarkets (with attached liquor stores) and - wait for it! - a Sanrio Gift Gate. I don't think my weekly shopping could possibly be catered for any better. :D

I actually picked up a lot of cool stuff at various stores tonight, but the standout at the moment has to be this onigiri (rice ball) maker set. You get three pink moulds in the shape of Hello Kitty and two of her friends, the bear and the rabbit. (Their names escape me right now, but trust me, if I were at work I'd know thanks to the Kitty style guide. ^_^;) You drop the front face into the mould, push in lotsa rice and put the back on, then push it together to pack the onigiri tightly. Then you pull off the back and push out a cutely shaped onigiri!

The only problem with these is that the face details get seriously lost in the rice - it's hard to even get Kitty's bow to a noticeable level. The outer shape is still pretty easy to discern, though. Besides, onigiri are just kind of cute anyway... 9_9 The moulds are also really easy to clean.

As to the single test drive so far: sukiyaki furikake makes for very nice rice balls. EvilHayama and I both found quite quickly that trying to eat onigiri like they do in anime (i.e. *gulp!*) simply gives you heartburn and stops you from talking. Chew well.

Posted by Pirotess @ 11:52 PM AEST [Entry and Comments]

Monday, October 21, 2002

Vanilla Coke [link]

If you're in Sydney and you haven't heard of Vanilla Coke yet, you're probably quite comfortable living there under that rock. ;) I first had this at Animania the other weekend, and since then I've been drinking at least a bottle a day. This is surely not something to be proud of, but it does say something about the drink since I never really drank Coke for the taste before.

You can tell it apart from regular Coke by the cream cap and slightly different packaging. It basically tastes like a Coke spider without the actual creaminess and froth that the ice cream generates. If you don't like Coke spiders, you're going to think this drink is crap. If not, you'll probably end up needing it on an intravenous drip like I will by next week...

Posted by Pirotess @ 01:55 PM AEST [Entry and Comments]

Monday, October 14, 2002

Foodchain
Riverbank Shopping Centre
330-342 Church St, Parramatta

Wahhh, this store was evil. We actually stumbled into it during Carnivale weekend, walking out loaded down with groceries. *much arghing ensues* Foodchain has actually been a part of Riverbank since it opened around last Christmas, but I'd always managed to avoid walking in there. Yesterday I found out exactly why I'd been avoiding it.

If you've never been in a boutique supermarket before, it's a bit of a shock after your corner stores and your Woolworthses and your Coleses. Even the better ones. Foodchain generally has all the brand-name fare of the aforementioned stores, but usually for a bit more. Where it becomes worth it is the fresh food/deli section and the weird obscure food that I really enjoy buying!

The best parts of our haul included Swiss Emmenthal cheese (oh, how I've missed you), tangelos, limes, maple and macadamia ice cream, honey mandarins, genmai-cha and a hefty smoked salmon quiche for dinner. EvilHayama also grabbed a sourdough loaf after dribbling at the bakery section for a while. They also have the coolest Japanese grocery section I've ever seen outside of an Asian grocery, including honest-to-god white miso!! I haven't been able to find that stuff for yonkers. Part of their deli section includes a dinner section where you can either order a take-home meal or buy a pre-packed one... perfect if you're tired and stressed-out half the week like I am.

Anyway, you get the picture. If you go there expect to eat extremely well, but obviously pay a lot more!

Posted by Pirotess @ 11:48 PM AEST [Entry and Comments]

Thursday, October 3, 2002

Carne Station
100 George St, Parramatta

If you like your meat (and lots of it), you'll love it here. Despite the somewhat scary name, this Korean BBQ restaurant has lunch and dinner deals which involve all-you-can eat buffet food, including meat/vegetables/seafood which you cook at the table yourself! The staff were hyper-efficient, clearing away plates and replacing our cookplates without needing to be asked.

Dinner's a bit pricey ($21.50 for an adult), but it turned out pretty decent for me since I hadn't actually eaten a thing all day due to being nervous about graduating. They have an unlimited dessert bar, too, consisting mostly of fruit and incredibly rich cake. You can have as much water to drink as you like, but there's also a wide range of drinks to order as well. (The soft drinks aren't post-mix, they're real!!)

All in all, Carne Station is a great place to take a big group of very hungry (carnivorous) people. While it is possible to eat vegetarian there, it's easier to find restaurants where a vegetarian can have far more fun. Early evenings early in the week are the best to go for an impromptu dinner, but make sure you book for lunch or late (after 6pm) dinner - it can get insanely busy, not to mention hard to park near, at times.

Posted by Pirotess @ 01:40 PM AEST [Entry and Comments]