Fried Udon

SIL is away to Bangkok till Sunday, so I decided to cook something real simple for my nieces before I meet Brenda and Verlin. So I went opened up the fridge and took out whatever I can find in there and here's my delicious fried udon!

Serves 3
Ingredients:

• 2 pkt udon noodle
• Cooking oil
• Garlic - chopped
• 2-3 eggs - beaten
• Lean pork - sliced and marinated with light soya sauce, pepper & sesame oil
• Fresh shitake mushrooms - sliced
• Cabbage - shredded
• Carrot - shredded
• Prawns - whole or diced

Seasoning

• Light soya sauce 
• Pepper

Method :

1. Heat oil in wok and stir fry chopped garlic till fragrant.
2. Pour in egg and stir fry till cooked, break into small pieces while stir frying.
3. Add sliced pork and cook till it changes colour.
4. Add in mushrooms, cabbage and prawns, continue to cook till the cabbage soften.
5. Add udon noodle and stir fry till cooked.
6. Lastly, season with light soya sauce and pepper.
7. Serve while hot.

Notes :
You may use other ingredients like button mushrooms, fish balls, fish cakes etc.

Chicken Rice - The Rice Cooker Style

Anna always say:" OMG! This is so so so easy and delicious can?! " Hahahaha indeed it is! Finally I decided to try this today since I knocked off early. Thanks to her recipe :)

Ingredients (serves 4)

(A) - Marinated for 30mins

• 6 - 8 kampong chicken wings or 3 thigh - cleaned and pat dried
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 5 shallots - sliced
• 2 cups rice - washed and drained
• 2 cups water
• 2" ginger - lightly bashed
• 1/2 tbsp margarine
• 2 tbsp light soya sauce
• Panda leaves - washed and tied into a knot

Garnishes

• 1 cucumber - sliced
• Chinese parsley - cut
• Spring onion - cut

Method :

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry shallots till lightly browned.
2. Put rice and water into rice cooker.
3. Add in fried shallot (including the oil), ginger, margarine, light soya sauce, chicken wings and lastly pandan leaves on top of rice. Do not stir the ingredients.
4. Cover and cook the rice.
5. When the rice is cooked, let the rice stand for at least 10mins before opening.
6. Remove chicken wings onto a serving plate. Discard the ginger and pandan leaves then fluff the rice. Put back the chicken wings to keep warm if not serving immediately.
7. Serve hot with garnishes.

Viola! Another 自家菜 in my cooking list :)

The Rice Cooker Style - Chicken Rice

From Mandurah to Margaret River

It was almost 2rish when we left Mandurah City. Without much delay we headed south via Forrest Highway > Old Coast Road >  to Bunbury Forum Shopping Mall situated along Sandridge Road to do some marketing before dusk fall and shop closes.  The journey from Mandurah to Bunbury took us about 75mins and another hour to Busselton and lastly, 45mins to reach Margaret River

IMO, Bunbury is more about Dolphins and Shopping. If you have time, you might want to visit the following? However, we visited none and head further south to Busselton Jetty after getting drinks and snacks at Bunbury Forum.

Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre         
Lot 830 Koombana Drive
Bunbury WA 6230, Australia
Open Daily (except 25th December) as follows:
October to May: 8.00am - 4.00pm
June to September: 9.00am - 2.00pm
Big Swamp Wildlife Park

Prince Philip Drive, Bunbury, WA
Open Daily 10am - 5pm

Balingup Lavender Farm

Corner of Balingup and Nannup Roads,
Balingup WA 6253, Australia
Open: September - April
6 Days 10am - 4pm (Closed Tuesday)

Bunbury Lighthouse on Marlston Hill
Ocean Drive, Bunbury, 6230
By the time we reached Busselton Jetty, it was all pitch dark except the stretch of light along the Jetty! It was quite sad to miss the dayshot of the Jetty. Nonetheless, we got out of the car and do a quick tour around the Jetty on a windy chill night. I was almost frozen with the amount of cloths I worn!

Busselton Jetty at night

Unable to see and explore much further, we left the Jetty shortly to grab our dinner along the way to Margaret River. And soon after 40mins drive, we had reached MR and check-in the Admiral Stirling Inn!

On my left: Single bed for Caf

On my right: Queen siz bed for Me and Cecilia

Common Bathroom

The Inn is essentially an extension of the Bridgefield Guesthouse (that is where you will check in)

Admiral Stirling Inn and Bridgefield are under one boss

Outside our room

We settled our breakfast at Nathelie's Cuisine in Bridgefield which is under the same management. All guest from Admiral Stirling are entitled to 10% off the bill. HOWEVER, please confirm the rate again with the hotel via email becos when we paid at the cashier, they claimed it to be only 5% until I shown her my the email confirmation which I had previously enquired.

Nathalie's Cuisine

Fruit Salad with yogurt spread

My AUD20 breakfast

There's so much about Margaret River! From stunning scenic views, white beaches to fantastic attractions like wineries, breweries, forests, caves and lighthouse and so much more.

Margeret River Chocolate Factory
415 Harmans Mill Rd, Metricup WA 6280.
(08) 9755 6555
Open Daily 9am-5pm

Cape Lavender
Carter Road (off Metricup Road),
Wilyabrup WA 6280
Tel: (08) 9755 7552
Open Daily 10am – 5pm

Our next stop was Duckinstein Brewery, it was about 10mins drive from Cape Lavender but we lost the track and ended up stopping along Cowaramup Bay Road to catch a few pics of the moo moo cows.

Leeuwin Estate

Stevens Rd, Margaret River 6285
Tel: (08) 9759 0000
open daily 10am – 4.30pm and Saturday evening for dinner

Chocolate Margaret River Cafe

Wine Tasting

Leeuwin 2008 Shiraz for ADZ

Leaving for Augusta, we stopped by Redgate Vineyard to catch a glimpse of the unenclosed vineyard Nothing fantastic and we just took some pics for evidence that we were here before.

Redgate Wines Pty Ltd 

659 Boodjidup Road, Margaret River, WA, 6285 

 Tel: 08 9757 6488

Nice beach on our way to Leeuwin Lighthouse

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
Augusta, WA

Leeuwin lighthouse is our last stop of the day. It's about an hour drive from Margaret Town. Our our way back, we did stopped by Hamelin Bay to try our luck for Dolphines and Stringrays. Unfortunately, we see none! The place was very very windy so we didn't stay long and left shortly for our dinner back in town.

Arrival of Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Ticket to Lighthouse

We settled our dinner @ this Settlers Tarven. It was a nice, relaxing pub restaurant with live band going on. And what's more?! There's free WIFI!!! Love it!!

Settlers Tarven
114 Bussell Hwy, Margaret River
Tel: (08) 9757 2398

Settlers Tarven Pub Restaurant

Side: Fried Calamari

Main: Beef steak

Main: Salmon Steak

Eat wisely!! Aussie food aren't cheap. Just 2 mains and a side cost us about S$100!! :'(

皇帝药材鸡 Herbal Emperor Chicken

For someone who is lazy but speak about quality like me, this is definitely a simple home-cooked meal for a small family of 2-4. Buying the herbs individually is definitely more economical than buying the pre-mix pack. Since it's my first trial meddling with real herbs, I brought a pre-mix pack, replaced few herbs and added some others like angelica sinensis, wolfberries and red dates etc of my own.

Ingredient
- 1 Kampong Chicken
- Assorted mushrooms (Shiitake/Button/Enoki）
- 8 red dates 红枣
- 8 slices of Angelica Sinensis 当归
- 2 pieces of Codonopsis Pilosulae 党参, cut to approx. 2 inch length
- 2 tsp of wolfberries 枸杞子
- 6 garlic cloves (optional)
- 2 inch ginger, finely sliced
- 1-2 cup of wood ear fungus (optional)

Marinade Sauce:
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp grated ginger

How to do it

• Steam all herbs with 500ml of water for 5 minutes
• In a bowl, marinate the chicken with the marinade sauce. Turn the chicken halfway through the marinating process to ensure that the marinade sauce is absorbed evenly
• Add assorted mushroom etc... and place chicken (breast side down) in the aluminum foil
• Stuff some herbs in the cavity and scatter the rest around the chicken and pour the water used together with the herbs and seal the foil
• Steam over medium-high fire for about 2 - 2.5hrs
• Add salt to taste and serve

Note:
Remember to keep checking the water level
Keep a kettle of hot water ready; to add in if the water level is low
DO NOT add cold water!

My simple fix!

皇帝药材鸡

Banana Cake

It's ABN fruit day on every monday and wednesday. But well, I guess my colleagues do not like fruits cos there's always alot of it left at the end of the day so I decided to take home some over-ripped bananas and  bake 'em into banana cake.

Baking in process

Ingredients
(A)
115gm cold butter
250gm caster sugar - I used only 180gm

(B) - Lightly beaten together
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

(C) - Mixed together just before adding into batter
60gm plain yogurt
1 tsp baking soda

225gm over-ripe bananas - mashed (I used Del Monte banana)
215gm cake flour - sifted
Banana - sliced

Method :
   1. Preheat oven to 175C. Line the base of a 9" x 9" pan with non-stick baking paper and grease the side with butter.
   2. Cream (A) with a 'K' beater till light.
   3. Gradually add in (B) and beat well after each addition.
   4. Mix (C) together and add into the butter mixture, beat well.
   5. Stir in mashed bananas.
   6. Fold in cake flour till well incorporated.
   7. Pour batter into baking pan and decorate top with sliced bananas.
   8. Bake for 45mins or until done.

Notes :
    * Need to cut down the sugar as its very sweet. Try 150 - 200gm next time.
    * Chopped walnuts or raisins can be added into the batter or as a topping if desired.
    * Can try baking in paper cups.

The texture is so soft and yummilious! Simply love this recipe!

South Perth

IMO, self driving would be one of the best way to to experience the unique scenic and landscapes of Western Australia. Car rental services available at the Airport include Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty. You may also choose airport shuttle or taxi from airport terminals to Perth city, The journey will take bout 20 to 30 minutes and cost approximately AUD$20 - A$35 to Perth and about A$50 to Fremantle. There is no fee or charge for luggage, but there is a ground transport fee of A$2.00 for trips from the airport.

After going through several car rental companies for enquiries, we decided on renting a Toyota Camry Auto with Australia Wide Car Rental at AUD342  for 3 days. The rate was inclusive of GPS rental, Premium Road Side Coverage and Reduced damage liabilities. Always read the T&C carefully before proceeding with your booking. You will not want to get a shock of your bill at the end of the day with those hidden costs.

We touched down Perth International Airport at 9.15pm. Picked up our car and headed South to Mandurah, which is only 50mins to an hour drive from Perth. We put up a night at Mandurah Holiday Village. A 2-bedroom apartment with kitchen, fully equipped with an oven, stove, microwave, cutlery and utensils etc. FYI, this unit could take up to 6 pax at least!

living room

kitchen 

Boiling hot water

Bedroom 1 @ ground floor

Bedroom @ 2nd floor

I don't know the guys but I had a good sleep last night and this morning we check out early and head out for our morning coffee at Dolphin Quay

There's a few cafe along the quay and we decided for Cafe Moka.

Cafe Moka

Telephone: 9586-9642

Address: Shop 2 Dolphin Quay, Mandurah Ocean Marina, Mandurah

Moka Cafe

Delicious Pancakes

Discover Coffee is my life ^.~

Rare find! But we saw a black swan at the quay river. We were quite lucky, aren't we :)

We left the quay soon to catch the 11.30am cruise ride as planned. Unfortunately, there wasn't 11.30am cruise so we took up the 12.30pm lunch cruise. Having to wait 1.5hr for the next cruise, we adjusted our itinerary and proceed to lunch first at Cicerellos, WA No.1 Fish and Chip, followed by cruise and "not to miss" dessert @ Simmo Ice Creamery.

Cicerellos Mandurah

Unit 6, 73 Mandurah Tce, MANDURAH WA 6210, Australia

Complimentary bread

Grilled basic

Traditional Fish & Chips

Bouvard Cruises Mandurah

(1 Hour Dolphin and Scenic Canal Cruis)
80 Mandurah Terrace, MANDURAH WA 6210, Australia

Simmo's Mandurah Icecreamery

Unit 6, 73 Mandurah Tce, MANDURAH WA 6210, Australia
(08) 9582 7177
open everyday from 10am

Famous Ice Cream that hails all the way from Dunsborough

Almost 2/3 of the day gone after the cruise. Next, we drove up from Mandurah to Bunbury Shopping Mall and lastly to Busselton Jetty before settling down at Margaret River for a 2 nights stay