Yum Cha @ Dragon Boat, Lonsdale St.

Dim Sum at Dragon Boat was a below average gastronomical experience. Well, they may serve good pan fried turnip cakes and very palatable egg tarts ( As good as the ones back home, nice, adequate flavours plus the thin, crispy pastry which nestled the silky custard in place ) but most were plain, or should I say, suitable for cheating Caucasians and tourists?

Despite my rants, the place is PACKED, yes, as busy as that little restaurant at Boxhill, you know which one I’m talking about... And in comparison to size, Dragon Boat at Lonsdale is a giant.

Previously, I mentioned of this restaurant. They serve good Chinese food. Nice Peking roast but, bad dim sum.

And being at its peak state, I was given the worst service ever. Well, judging by my nerdy look ( I’m wearing my glasses ) and this gives me the whole “I’m student” package, plus my heritage ( Priority to the Caucasians, you bloody Asians, curse you! Curse you! ) and that dark brown Abercrombie hobo inspired jacket, they must have thought I can’t afford dim sum. Oh me gosh, Jesu Kyries!

I kept on telling them: “I CAME ALONE”, but they seemed to be deaf, or pretend to be deaf, the manager whisked me aside and I waited for like, 5 minutes, I was waiting for nothing really, there were empty tables which could house 2 people comfortably, like 10 of them, and I had to wait. DAMN!

Fine, fine, not too fussy, Michelle, I heard my mom in the backdrop of the ra-ra-ra of the crowd. Okay, I settled down, having chopsticks thrown on the table of mine, the waitress barely smiling. Okay, I understand, I used to work, I was in such a mood but AT LEAST I DON’T THROW HANGERS AT MY CUSTOMERS.

I was already praying, my mind registering a knelt figure of mine in front of my ancestors, chanting good dim sum, good dim sum, good dim sum... I was going to die of hunger from all the walking, I needed good food. Bless me with good food.



The crowd- So much worse that what I experienced in Ipoh's Sun Lee How Fook during the Chinese New Years. But at least, at Sun Lee How Fook, we get good food.




And there, the first plate arrived, pan fried turnip cake. It was soft enough, clearly they had enough water. The taste of turnip strong, subtle, not weak. I was immediately happy, smiling, I forgot the earlier woes, my tiredness worn of like a cloak being torn away from my body. They did not have shrimp in it, but they had waxed meat instead, it suited perfectly. Still it's lovely.



Next up, were chives and prawn dumpling. It was a HORROR. The rice sheet layer was thicker than my eyebrows which were constantly plucked to prevent it from looking like Hermione Granger’s frizzy, untamed jungle, and the prawns, I can’t call them prawns. Really, in Boxhill, I get the WHOLE, FRESH, UNFROZEN, FROM THE LAKE prawns. At Dragon Boat, John So’s gig, I got frozen leftovers.

And how can they even proudly name it chive dumplings when all I got were BITS? They could do so much better. They should hire my mom to make dim sum!

I threw the rice sheet layer away, which is usually my fave. Too thick too disgusting. Reminds me of hostel food.



Egg tarts. =D



The Jin Dui, however, was a different case. They had enough azuki bean paste inside, making it a great dim sum. But, they better had to pan fry it properly. It was like an oil keg itself. I had to dunk the whole thing in my tea ( Tempted to but did not do that ) if I could, save the embarassment, I used a tissue paper to dab, dab, dab.



I had beancurd rolls with vegetarian. The filling was good. They had black fungus, enough mushroom, reminds me of the Lo Hon stew but the beancurd was harder than an elephant's skin, I kept chewing and chewing and oil started oozing out. I gave up, with much disgust. threw the beancurd away.



Lotus buns here had not convinced me for a second comeback. The white layer was too thick. The fillings were actually trying to tell me, “I’m made to let them earn more.” But it was still alright, I still accepted it but I threw the outer layer away.




But, they managed to pull off well with the insides. Lotus and salted yolk are a match made in heaven. The sweetness balances out the saltiness, making it a perfect combination for those who are aiming for an equilibrium in taste.

This makes me miss those mooncakes they sell in Hilton. Chocolate and Baileys. Yum!




The sago dessert was alright. Not too bad, it has enough sago but what the heck, no fruits. You expect me to drink coconut milk?! I should have gone for the tofu curd dessert instead!



The red bean jelly was poor. At that time, my mind was screaming: FULONG RULES! No mandarin peel in this one, it was all coconut. Shites, what’s with coconut and them?






If we were to protest like that back in Malaysia, Samy Vellu would send a bunch of SWAT team inspired people to shoot water at them.



40 CDs for 50 AUD. =)

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Footnotes:

1. YES, OH YES, I'VE FINISHED THE HOI READING LIST. I LOVE HOI SO MUCH, I DON'T EVEN NEED TO STUDY 'THAT' CIVILISATION. 6 TOPICS, YOU MALAYSIANS KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!

2. Claudio Bozzi= Max Choong Sut Nin.

3. I've got the curtains done. =D

4. Do catch the next post. It's about Carmencita. =D

The Sea.

On my way back to the grey building which I still could not bring myself to call ‘home’, I decided to lift my head up to look at the skies. I don’t usually do this as the skies were always grey, sometimes, black, threatening to send rain down. The last thing needed was to get myself wet.

Today, however, was exceptionally different. When I turned to the last page of The Age, one of the famous broadsheets in Australia, the forecast had words like ‘showers’ and ‘cloudy’. In other words, it would be a rainy day. My anorexic inspired umbrella was calling to me, telling me that I should take it along in case the pregnant skies decided to give birth to what the Australians really need: water. There was never enough for them. And as a Malaysian, rain is the last thing I would want. Especially if I have to walk from the hostel all the way to Royal Parade. Thirty minutes tops. I would cry for suicide to be immobilised by a downpour.

I glanced up to the heavens above. Heaven. Har har. I could almost laugh. I didn’t quite comprehend why my mind was operating in such a way. Instead of the monotonous, dull, grey hues, the clouds had a golden, slightly pinkish tint on them. The empty parts of the skies were of bright blue. So beautiful, it reminded of how the sea looked like when the sun was doing its farewell, sinking into a world of unknown. I realised that the skies were like the sea. The birds were the fish. We’re living in an aquarium.

And I realised, all along I’ve been swimming in this world, living in this world of projection, speed and motion.

Somehow, right now, I’m drowning.

“There had been no night...that [she] had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.”

-Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451. Page 20.

Living on the Park. =D

Mom, you oughta see this:

Well, let's just say these pictures are for your Mother's Day present. I will not waste over 10 AUD to send stuff back. I rather just give you a call and wish you. =) Every mother would wanna hear their daughter's voice over the phone.


The view from the other room.

They don't have lock for their doors. Only the toilets. Strange.

The other room that would be rented out. I'm considering 800 AUD per month.

Dryer...


They have a washing area.



The living area. Isn't it just huge? And it overlooks the beautiful park.


The stove, rangehood and the oven.

Sylvie and Ellie. =P

Ah, why am I dressed up so proper? Check out the next post to find out more!


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Footnotes:

1. This post is a sprint. I've done it hastily, I know. I treated my words badly but fret not, the following posts shall explain more of what I've done in the past few days.

2. I've nicked 3 CDs from the Music Library at Melbourne University and copy every song into the pendrive.

3. Can't wait till Sunday! It's Mother's Day, it's my day out. I've booked table for two at Lemongrass. 12.30 pm Sunday seafood and grill buffet. If you want to come along, do drop your name in the Cbox. No, I'm not buying anyone lunch. It's 32 AUD if you want to come. Or not, I shall go solo. I know I'm gung ho like that.

4. Some people should shut up. You know, they deserve the O' Reilly treatment.

5. I've been playing the piano lately. I'm resuming the Blue Danube again. I had the score with the excerpts, I had the original work in my PC itself. I'm going to analyse the music and jot some notes down on the book.

6. I love Bach's simple tunes, Chopin's anguish ones, Mozart's child-like but not as innocent as one as expect ( He's a confusing womanizer, you bet! ), Strauss' constant happiness in his pieces and Debussy's cocktail effect. Really, till now, I could not exactly give Debussy's work a proper adjective. It makes me want to cry, laugh, reminisce the past, look ahead, wander...

7. I did not play my waltz well today. It was bad. I guess I'm too tired. Yesterday, I did my best. It felt good. Today, I felt like slime.

Rude gestures.

I want to laugh right now. Yes, in your face. Thanks for informing me, thanks for telling me that early. How glad I am, to have such good mates. Wow, life is just so lovely.

Thanks for giving that happy guilt trip which is non-existent. You know what, no one told me anything. Wow, I'm really invisible. I'm probably too ugly for my own good. I'm too fat, that's why. Another reason to be skinny again. And this is like what, the first time? How I wished IT IS. At least I won't feel such happiness coursing throw my veins, pulsating with the low hum of my sinewy heart. Ooh, all that artful words, all the quaint sentences, a speech of a literate!

Sometimes, I feel that I'm not even part of here. Maybe because I had different inclinations, different aspirations and inspirations, thus I shall not move my feet to accomodate with things I consider secondary. You make my life real easy. But guess what, no matter how you rub it in my face, or shoot accusing glances, I will feel very good of myself. In fact, I'm quite proud of myself that I never yelled at you.

=) Man, don't you just love me for my words?

And my famous last words for this will be famous, controversial post: I love you guys so much. Jet'aime, Jet'adore!!!!

*Back to logarithmns*

101 things. (III)

61. I've just made sweetcorn like 30 minutes ago, yes, which explains how this 101 things I've listed in not done in one shot. OMG, I think I'll take a million minutes to finish writing 101 things, and this includes the time taken to overcome the hurdle of a writer's block!

62. I went to Boxhill twicce and I'm proud of it. Not many people would be crazy enough to just go to Boxhill with the intention of eating dim sum. Well, I'm just trying out. I know well enough the city has a lot of Chinese restaurants to accommodate my cravings for dim sum but you know what, it's best to start in the suburbs. I'm aiming for Springvale's Gold Leaf. =D

And to get to Springvale, it means that I have to take a train instead of the ubiquitous trams.


63. Mom, they have this in Fu Long!

64. I loved the water chestnut cakes. =) It's authentic and pure water chestnuts. I just hate it when they pollute good food with chemicals. As if they'll taste any better.

65. Jin Dui!

66. With azuki bean paste. Now, I know where to feed my cravings.


67. The other day, I had the vegetarian beancurd rolls. This time, I had the one with pork, char siu and chicken. They also have the one with duck legs but not yet. Maybe next time. Mom, this is very similar with the one we had in Hong Kong back in 1999!




68. The crust was too hard for my liking but the custard filling was brilliant. It's more corn than custard, not too buttery. It's very amazing to find this bun not oily. Some pineapple buns are reeking with oil, like you can see all the butter oozing out from the corners of the bread, forming oil spots on the plate. Very disgusting I know. But I just don't like the fact that the pineapple crust keeps poking the roof of my palate.



69. I could not make myself love this dish even though I love aubergines very much. Yes, the purple plant which I hated for the first 17 years of my life, and I came to fall in love with it after being introduced to eating a curry eggplant dish back in Kuala Lumpur. The aubergine taste really funny. It was soaked with oil. Every bite was oil laden. It's like they fried it with low heat instead of using intense fire. It's such a waste you know. They had good fish paste but the aubergine was a failure. The dressing too. I felt that the dressing, with or without it, does not alter the taste of the aubergine.

This is one of the dishes I DO NOT RECOMMEND HAVING in Fu Long.



70. The pork dumplings, however, was a huge contrast to the aubergine dish. This one was a marvel. I am not a fan of pork dumplings, usually it's steamed taro dumplings or chive dumplings. Never pork dumplings. The closest one I usually have its the much related Shanghai dumplings but they are usually steamed instead of being pan fried.

Yes, this dish is brilliant. It has enough pork, they are generous with their spring onions and carrots. I recommend dipping this in the vinegar, it makes it even better. =D



71. On the way back home from Boxhill.


72. Allans Music. They have one at Kew and one at Bourke Street. It's one of those music stores which sell the well renowned Steinway and Sons.

I want a Steinway and Son, oh Jana, why do you have one????? Me jealous can!


73. The engineering of a piano.


74. 150 thousand AUD. You can buy a house at the suburbs with this much of money.

75. I bought Kim Chi, now I have an alternative to lunch. Lunch at the hostel is boring. It's fried rice and fried noodles everyday. I kept up with it for a month, found myself become unhealthy so I decided to cut it off, once in for all, and now I survive with plain Greek yogurt ( healthy fats ) or oats. Sometimes, I'll have my favourite Heinz Beans ( 300 calories per 420 grams but still, it's high in protein ) and sardines.

76. I've been eating a lot lately but usually it's the greens and super lean meat. I love the fact that the hostel serves lean meat. Those super hard ones that most people tend to avoid. Yes, they are dense with protein. And since I WILL NEVER HAVE FISH BECAUSE MY HOSTEL RARELY SERVES THEM, so I use that as a substitute.

77. I still hate canned peaches even though I eat them to not waste them. Period.

78. I ran in the rain today. OMG, with the 1 kg yogurt I'm and the 1 kg bananas in my right hand and a box of kimchi on my left. But Kuan Yin Ma is so great, she saw me running, the rain stopped. When I got into the hostel, the rain started again. A thunderstorm.

79. I'm never going to St. Paul's Cathedral again. It's Anglican. I don't favour the Anglicans. I'm super biased. I favour the Catholics. So I shall head to St. Patrick's near Albert Park instead. =D

Don't hate me for this.

80. I have like, 31 more statements to make. Bear with it, I know I'm boring the shit out of you but SHIT HAPPENS!