SIMPLE LIGHT

Eating simple is a good change from heavy food once a while.  For dinner I cooked some clear porridge with red dates and dried longan.

Seasoned with a bit of salt and a splash of Japanese salad sauce of sesame oil and soya sauce.

BANANA PIE

With left-over bananas waiting to oxidize I used all up to make a banana custard pie.  As usual the pie is sweet dough.

LEMON CURD

3 eggs; 2 yolks, half cup sugar, 3 lemon grated zest, 4 tbspn butter and 3 gelatine sheets

  1.  Soak gelatine sheets separately (2+1) in cold water till soft
  2.  Whisk whole eggs, yolks, sugar, juice and zest together
  3.  Gently heat mixture and whisk till thickens to coat back of
       spoon.
       Make sure not to boil.
  4.  Stir in butter and soften gelatine sheets (2).
       Leave to cool
  5.  Pour curd into pie shell and refrigerate till firm
  6.  Boil the remaining gelatine sheet with 2 tbspn water till
       melted
  7.  Decorate banana slices over curd
  8.  Pour the melted gelatine over bananas and leave to set

JUMBO SEAFOOD II

Let's continue with the meal. More dishes to come followed the cold dishes.

Egg Yolk Prawns  -  the egg yolk sauce was so delicious enticed one to lick the place clean

Pepper crabs  -  my least favourite.  The peppery taste put me off

Vegetables in 3-eggs

Deep fried Gurami.  The fish was so crispy that not even bones left at the end

Soft and fluffy man-tou for mopping up tasty crab sauce

A sauce pan of chilli crabs in Singapore style.

Cannot resist the char-grilled satay 

We cannot conclude the dinner without desserts even though there was barely accommodating space in our stomach

All favourites - yam paste with ginkgo nuts and coconut milk

Creamy avocado jelly, an usual dessert.  The consistency was well balanced

Mango soup with colorful balls and chunky mangoes

JUMBO SEAFOOD I

The Jumbo Seafood in Riverwalk offers more varieties than the one in East Coast.  Moreover there is individual room with karaoka on request, with a premium.  After dinner one can stroll on the busy street with pubs and restaurants operating along the river.

A cosy room with a capacity of 1 table

Clean and neat layout with porcelain crockery and cups

Started with numerous side dishes

Fruit salad with lobster in mayonnaise cream

Fresh tender asparagus

Duck with mango and cucumber salad

Crispy sweet squids

Deep fried minced tofu with prawns and meat

Fried fritters stuffed with minced squids to be eaten with sweet sauce

Firm big scallops stuffed in yam fried to perfection
  
To continue with main dishes & desserts .....

HAM SALMON BURGER

Cured salmon is indeed expensive but delicious, and able to pamper family with quality food is a blessing.

Salmon cured in dill and brine

Super fresh

Preserved sliced onions in lime juice and salt

Spread bun with butter and hot mustard

Topped with ham and onions

Big pieces of salmon followed with juicy tomatoes

A perfect meal

BONITO SESAME TOFU

Tofu was never my cup of tea but gradually I have come to like it and serve the dish in more elaborate way.

The tofu was served cold with sesame oil fried in garlic and yuzu soya sauce sprinkled with dried bonito, seaweed and sesame seeds.

A simple dish to prepare

BOURKE STREET BAKERY

Paul Allam and David McGuinness whose interests in baking resulted the birth of Bourke Street Bakery and in no time becomes a popular landmark bakery in Sydney.

After tasted the tarts and pies, and read the cookbook co-authored by both owners, brought back by daughter after her last visit to Sydney, this place is marklisted by us as one of the places must visit.

The bakery is located at Surrey Hills, a scenic and quiet area surrounded by charming houses

Never ending queue.  Place is cramp with seats limited and takeaway is the norm.

Pear and almond danish - butter laden pastry with fragrant vanilla soft poached pear

Soft sticky dough with the crunchy nuts and toffee is a real winner

Custard tart with prunes - smooth rich custard with plum juicy prunes

We packed 30 pies and tarts which surprising survived the long trip back home with some perfectly intact.

But not these passionfruit merguine tarts, what a mess - Short crust pastry filled with sweet passionfruit curd topped with pillowy sweet meringue

Rhubard tarts - sourish and sweet. 

The most popular is the ginger creme brulee tart, which unfortunately not producing anymore, which we make do with strawberry vanilla burlee tarts, with flaky crust and caramelised toffee fillings.  The next popular item is the chocolate ganache tarts.

BONDI

Spent a day at Bondi Junction shopping and at end of day managed to short-haul peaches and grapes for home.  Our dinner was taken at Arthur's Pizza at Oxford Street, a short walk across the shopping mall.

Something light to begin with - Chicken Salad

DH's favourite : Hawaii Pizza with big slabs of ham but not enough pineapples which he prefers.

Salami Pepperoni Pizza - Very cheezy and generous fillings

SAFETY

Sydney Australia, to me, is a nice place for holiday but not a permanent place to stay. As night falls you find drunks almost everywhere, especially during weekends.  Drinking is one of their cultures, I suppose as you will find them at the pubs drinking to their heart content anytime of the day.

During our stay you practically heard sirens going on every minutes during end of week and groups of teens partying and drinking on the street.  It was a Friday night where we had our dinner early at a Thai restaurant inside Capital Square so as to retire to the hotel before the "street party" begins.

We Singaporeans should not complain too much about our government. It is fortunate that we are living in a safe and secure environment where we are able to walk freely on the street no matter how late at night without fear for our safety.