Housewarming/Christmas Party 2012

Just 2 days before what seems like the biggest day of the entire year, K and S had the brilliant idea of hosting a get together and combining both their housewarming and Christmas celebrations.

It is the congregation of seemingly endless food, drinks, family, friends, receiving presents (and maybe giving them) all over the world that makes this short, yet so big part of the year just so special.

K and S are newlyweds themselves and using their prime honeymoon time to help all the other couples getting hitched during this period, they barely had any down time to enjoy their Just Married status in between.
So a big thank you to them, for taking time out of no time at all to organise such an enjoyable day for everyone who probably deserves it so much less than they do :)

Lamb Spit Roast

This was a sight to behold for guests who s-l-o-w-l-y trickled in, as I waited as patiently as possible as my starvation levels hit climax.

A slightly charcoal, hazy meat roast smell lingered teasingly in the air as the whole lamb rotated slowly on the rotisserie; a continuous motion that gradually cooks the meat and crisps up the craggy surface as the skin turns to a glistening brown.

Oops, better stick to societal norms...

P had a glance at the carcass's ass and thought we were having pork that day, which triggered this response from K. We definitely did not have a deformed pig roast, haha.

If only all misassumptions had explanations as clear as this!

Slow, almost TOO slow cooking of the lamb

This meat show is really an audible process, with the slight spitting sounds and almost robotic like movement of the rotisserie as it rotates the lamb.

Standing even a small distance away, the blasts of heat from that strong invisible flame is intense (I'm probably just feeling the sun, on this 35 degree Celsius day) as it slowly transforms the outer skin into a crisp and crackly layer.

Not a giant sausage

The body of the roast; lean, tender and basted in a mixture of herbs coating every inch of flesh in every mouthful.

Before the party on the lamb roast started, everyone snacked on much tamer food at the table.

A big plate of assorted breads fuelled me early on, with mini toasts, sliced turkish bread and bread sticks. I couldn't stop eating those bread twists! I think I had a mild addiction to their slight spiciness and salty flavour, with specks of what I think were bacon and chives.

The essential salad component of party food was delivered with this smashing pumpkin salad, with sweet pumpkin cubes, crumbled feta, and toasted pine nuts atop a bed of baby spinach leaves.

"Caesar" and "salad" were just meant to be

Caesar salad is a most popular choice when it comes to salads, probably because there is just nothing that salady or healthy, especially with the heavy pouring of creamy salad dressing before giving it a thorough toss. And NOTHING is left uncoated, ever.

There's just something so indulgent and enjoyable with a big plate of crunchy cos lettuce leaves, boiled egg, salty bacon strips, parmesan cheese and crunchy croutons, laden with calorific dressing on top.

Yes, loads of bread left over at the end of the day, even after enthusiastic scooping of all the tubs of dips provided. The amount of products made into dips these days is mind boggling!

This simple antipasto platter was a winner among guests, with an assortment of semi-dried tomatoes, thin crackers, marinated olives and salami twiggy sticks, paired with a creamy onion and bacon dip.

A surprisingly close winner also is the raw vegetable platter in the background, with sticks of raw carrot, zucchini and celery - collectively termed "rabbit food", and should probably be everyone's diet after the festive season.

A very simple cheeseboard on the day, featuring a small mix of cheeses.
This was barely touched; just not anybody's cup of tea or slice of cheese that day!

Dangerously moreish are these party platters with small snackable sized food items, which I realised after making a huge dent in the plate.

Roasted with a lime and sweet chilli flavour, all the salted peanuts, almonds, cashews, macadamias, brazil nuts and crisps are just too easy to pick up and pop into the mouth, and just too hard to stop.

Party helpers did a wonderful job of dessert duty (with the aid of the miraculous Thermomix - maybe, maybe not? ;)) and made bowls of refreshingly sweet mango pudding and almond jelly (not pictured) for all the [now plump] guests.

Lets eat!...and eat, and eat some more...

Deep fried spring rolls was also on the crowded table, with a choice of vegetable or taro fillings.

And I haven't even mentioned the rolls of buttery garlic bread, mountains of fresh fruit, L's box of delicious moist chocolate brownies, the hot dog station cranking outside the house, the big box of party junk food that didn't end up being opened, and the aromatic batches of grilled marinated chicken wings that definitely warmed the entire house up with delicious smells at this housewarming event.

And a special mention to the burnt red velvet cupcakes that never made it to the party.

Ready for some Dirty Santa action

A fun and playful method of gift giving is a game of Dirty Santa and all the rivalries created from gift snatching.

The only dirty thing about this game is the right to steal (and the mind of the person who decided to buy a revealing French maid costume as a present).

Indoor spearfishing

Note: NERF guns - always popular with the male species, no matter how old you are.

Evidence?

The boys trekking to the nearest shops, buying 5 new guns and turning the new house into a battlefield.

Take a break (from plain old red and white packaging!)

I came home heavier than I had expected! (Not the extra food baby I was now carrying. Obviously.)

It was this very beautiful and enticingly packaged box of assorted kit kats that L had generously lugged back from Japan, the land where kit kats exist in more than just their brown and white chocolate forms.

Kit Kats: Strawberry, Green Tea, Rum & Raisin and Wasabi flavours

Even though I was stuffed and in a horizontal position on the couch straight after lunch, the moment of kit kat distribution was the kick I needed to realise there was still room in my stomach.

These are still resting in my fridge, reserved as my "break glass in case of emergency" sugar fix for when urges arise unexpectedly. I'm still working my way through, slow and steady, one flavour at a time.

Hello, my name is Antisocial. If you ever need me, I'll be in the corner.

So before I do a few rounds and forget, I hope you all had a magical Christmas.

May you all be merry, laugh lots, eat as much as you want to, get fat, then lose it all after the new year again.

Yeah, I wish too.

Maylands Street Festival

Perth has become festival-happy in the crazy fast lead-up to the festive season, and so have I.

Festival hopping results in excessive spending, but is a worthy expenditure when these hard-earned dollars in turn work even harder to contribute to a local community that is playing a role in Perth's rapid development.

Organised by the not-for-profit Maylands Business Association, The Maylands Street Festival is a bi-annual event taking place on the 25th of November this year.
As a great initiative to promote businesses in this emerging suburb, the festival brings out the creativity and culture it has been hiding and showcases the interesting character of (and characters in!) this thriving neighbourhood.

The bustling crowd on 8th Avenue

The festival, albeit smaller than most others, took place on a small but abundant strip in the suburb and undoubtedly had strong unanimous community support from local residents and visitors alike.

It attracted a steady crowd of people and immensely popular with families, with many activities aimed at the smaller people :) Children were spoiled with choice from all the games, face painting, amusement rides, art and craft workshops, and a live animal farm they could get their hands on (literally!)

As to keep us bigger ones amused, an abundance of market stalls stood amongst a constant movement of talented street performers, buskers and other forms of roving entertainment.

Don't wait 'til the Royal Show!

Once a yearly treat to get excited about, but now the pop-up showbag stand is everywhere where the kids + adults combination can be found.

Good news to the kids; but a detrimental effect on parents' wallets.

So that's what it feels like to be inside an orange...

Many items become so much more amusing when made into either a giant of miniature form, and this is no exception. Slightly ruined however, as this sadly, very very sadly, reminded me of Annoying Orange.

Because really, no matter how you think of it, this is also a talking orange.

Get down and dirty (Your hands)

In the artsy craftsy corner of the street lay a dedicated station loaded with bright, colourful paint mixes for every kid to be a kid and every adult to become a kid.

MYO Umbrella!

Sighted at just about every festival I have visited are a plethora of kids crowded around this particular art station, set up with a sea of plain paper umbrellas as a blank canvas for every person's artistic ability (or wild and senseless scribbles) to be released on.

A very creative idea to bring out the child's imagination, and a very practical item giving much needed shade from the harsh, unforgiving Aussie sun.

Colouring In and Silhouette artwork

We walked past a wall display of some impressive artwork done by primary school students, which only made me cringe at the rubbish I managed back in year 4.

Only I believed they were true indecipherable works of art (just like a true artist does).

Adventureland Bouncy Castle

A bouncy palace, fit for every little king and queen in every Mum and Dad's hearts :)

The Western Bull

And it wasn't just the kids who enjoyed a thrilling ride that day!

Kangaroo Drop

Kangaroo Drop, a much smaller scale of the ride I am too chicken to go on.

Add caption

As expected, there were queues for food and drink but nowhere near as long as frustration extends to.

The guys from Milkd sure did fill the air with the ubiquitous carnival smell of sausages and onions, sizzling away in a lifesized fry pan and baristas pumping out cups of milky brown liquid desire that people are so fond of.

Need this for my home

A one pan fits 10 meals approach - a genius solution to efficiency, or just pure laziness :)

Just one of many

While food is popular, others sold pre-packaged cups of bubble tea, sweet snacks and desserts to keep everyone going for the day.

Delish Ice

The Delish Ice mini caravan sold various gourmet popsicles at $3.50 a pop, a perfect companion and enemy of the heat.

Scrawled on the blackboard were the flavours available, including classic foolproof favourites like banana, strawberry and choc chip and orange and strawberry.

Venturing into more exotic choices, there is a ginger beer, mint and lime choice and the Herbes de Provence, infused with Madagascan vanilla and thyme.

For the alcohol-happy among us, Delish Ice have a range of cocktail inspired popsicles including the Mojito (mint and lime) and the Basil Smash (a gin inspired syrup) of elder flower and basil.

Mrs S stand

Following their prominence on the breakfast scene in Perth and the Maylands cafe strip, the Mrs S. team had a very prominent corner on the street with a steady queue for their sweet and savoury offerings.

Hot off the hotplate

Mrs S. has given the standard sandwich a slightly fancier cousin famously known as the manwich, a macho combination of pulled pork, aioli, rocket and beetroot relish for $8.

The same $8 also gets you more standard breakfast fare - piping hot bacon and egg rolls with homemade BBQ sauce compiled fresh off the overworked barbeque.

Refreshing chilled beverages

Salted Caramel Popcorn - $4

Bags and bags of popped joy - salted caramel sure has had rocketing fame lately!

On dainty little flower entwined cake stands sat beautifully decorated and presented sweets and cupcakes.

Temptations up for grabs included eton mess for $7, chocolate raspberry brownies and lemon curd cakes, both for $4.

I didn't have any, but I'm just as delighted to look at them :)

...

Primarily residential in nature, it is great to see the joint efforts by local businesses committed to bringing Maylands' transformation into a foodie's, fashionista's and artist's hub.

Admittedly it only took under 15 minutes to wander through the whole festival, which also featured live music from local bands and entertainment on stage. I ended up eating at one of the restaurants open for business instead, after keeping my stomach empty for all the food I anticipated at the festival.
A greater focus on food produced by local businesses would have amped up the deliciousness of the festival - the most predictable foodie speak right, I know.
(Hey, I am a foodie after all, what did you expect to hear!)

Originally under the threat of cancellation due to lack of council financial support, the festival stood strong. Evidence of a supportive community spirit shone through, with philanthropic financial contributions from the people with generous hearts behind the Dome Coffees and LJ Hooker business names.

There's still faith in humankind :)

***
For future updates:
http://www.facebook.com/MaylandsStreetFestival

***

Spencers Village Food Court

If you can't pick, pick them all.
Whether it be food, clothes or places to work (I just do not learn).

There's one little trusted place in Perth that cures all (Asian) cravings, that brings a small slice of Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, [insert any other country here] here to Australia in the form of delicious, authentic tasting food.

All in the one central location, under the same roof, spans this global village of hawker food galore to take your pick from, similar to Cambridge Forum. Located just metres away from each other, it has never been more convenient and cheap to go country-hopping from one to the other.

Durian Smoothie - $5

Most international food courts have a token drinks stall residing in the food court, with no other stalls selling any beverages. The Panda drinks stall at Spencers Village sells a delightful range of drinks for both the Western and Asian palate - there's smoothies, then there's Asian smoothies.

Durian smoothie...tasted real, and definitely smelled as real as stink.
A pleasingly real stench that wafts of durian.

Chee Cheong Fun - $4.50

Entree is always the same no-brainer choice, and is always delivered up by the ever busy Fook Kee store selling good value for money Chinese eats. Keeping a small menu and offering less choice works to their advantage as the customer does not need to bombard the brain with overwhelming choice.

It is always exciting to prance around with a $20 note in hand, and be googly eyed at the vast range of options to satiate yourself with.

Ooh, the way that skin gleams with liberal coats of sticky sauce...

A favourite at the Fook Kee stall is its beautifully simple chee cheong fun dish, its popularity evident from its presence on just about...every one of our visits.

All their menu items are small sized dishes and tastily priced, as are these soft rice flour rolls topped with beancurd skin, and bathed in coats of sweet soy sauce before the finishing touch of sesame seeds.

Yong Tau Fu - $6

Another essential dish is the yong tau fu (stuffed tofu), which will give you a pleasant surprise if all you are expecting is stuffed tofu.

It is a collective name for a plate that brings you not only tofu blocks stuffed with pork paste, but also eggplant, capsicum, fish balls and fried tofu skin. If sharing, be prepared to share intimate bites, since you don't get many of the same food item in one dish.

Assorted dipping sauces

The yong tau fu is delivered with a trio of dipping sauces to dab or drench your food in.
The range being given includes a sweet soy sauce, chilli sauce and a thin garlic, chilli sauce.

Penang Fried Kuey Teow - $8

A satisfied his noodle craving with a plate of Penang fried kuey teow, complete with bean sprouts, eggs, chicken and beef amongst the charred aroma and flavour of flat rice noodles.

I love being able to taste that recognisable wok hei flavour in this dish, achieved by stir frying the contents in a wok over a high-heat but controlled flame.

Curry Laksa - $7.50

I was forced to order laksa from another stall when I was told that the Izyam Malay stall's laksa had finished for the night. I knew laksa was the only thing that plagued my mind that night as I shop-hopped, determined to get my soupy fix for dinner.

Curry laksa, up close and personal

This laksa was a very worthy substitute, evident in the way that I scooped and scoured my way further and deeper into the empty bowl of soup at the end of the meal, full of false hope, like I was never ever going to eat a bowl of laksa ever again.

I made sure not a single strand of noodle was left alone in that sea of fragrant coconut milky soup. Life would be a lot easier if noodle dishes came with strainers...

Laksa - aerial view

A very satisfying bowl of laksa with all the familiar goodies - your fish balls, fried tofu, chicken strips, prawns, bean sprouts and 2 different types of noodles; a mix of the standard hokkien egg noodles and rice vermicelli.

The tempting call of a ridiculously flavoursome soup is just so easy to succumb to.

Nasi Ayam - $9

I fell in love with a meal I once ordered from the Izyam Malay store that has left a deep imprint in my mind with its DELICIOUS rice, infused with particular spices that I could not identify.

I have ordered a few other dishes from them in a blind attempt to find that dish I ordered again, but with no luck. This nasi ayam dish had slightly overcooked chicken with fried shallots, and disappointing yellow rice (disappointing only because it wasn't the rice I was trying to find).

I would probably go with one of their many other chicken dishes.

Bak Kut Teh - $8.50

If there was an addictive substance that can get me hooked, it is definitely the ingredients inside a pack of bak kut teh spices. A must have, if spotted by my bak kut teh prone vision.

What's not to love?

Bak Kut Teh is a very generous offering from the Penang Cuisine store, consisting of meaty pork spare ribs, tofu skin, fried tofu, plump Chinese mushrooms and champignon mushroom buttons in a clear, hearty broth.

It is absolutely perfect when eaten over a hot bowl of steamed rice or, with my way of doing things, by emptying the bowl of rice into the goodie-laden soup instead.
That way, you are more likely to fit more in the one mouthful :)

...

I'm hanging out for the next visit to Spencers Village, which probably won't be for a while since the drive there costs an arm and a leg's worth in time. I envy those who live nearby, who can get cheap, authentic and fast meals whenever they please, without losing an arm or a leg.

It may be a food court, but service is personalised a little by every stall's ordering procedure. Ordering and paying is standard, but then having your food delivered to your table is a nice touch that saves your bottom leaving the wooden bench seating (even if they are uncomfortable)!

Don't expect flashy surroundings, or even an average ambiance at that. Spencers has built up quite the reputation over the years, but in the opposite direction, attracting negative publicity regarding its food health and safety violations.

Once dubbed "the food hall from hell", it could not be any more misleading.
If this here is hell, I would love to go to hell.

***
Lunch & Dinner: Wed - Sun
(Imagine my rage fit when I turned up nice and early on a Tuesday after a 30 minute drive)

***

Loy Krathong Thai Festival

Loy Krathong is a traditional Thai festival that is celebrated on the evening of the full moon in the 12th month in the Thai lunar calendar.

This translated to a sunny, breezy and slightly cold Sunday in mid November, where a decent crowd gathered to join this annual festive celebration with lots of food, performances and activities for a good 4 hours.

Originally I was quite nervous when trying to find the actual festival as it was quite well hidden away, but upon discovering it I was met with a mass of illegally parked cars which made it quite impossible to miss it!

Kiddies Ferris Wheel & Bouncy Castle

Catered to be a family friendly event, there was no shortage of children's entertainment.
Kids were kept busy with colourful amusement rides, bouncy castle, games and a showbag caravan stall set up; much like a mini fair.

The centerpiece of Ozone Park that day

Being centrestage at the Thai Festival was this stage dedicated to the various singers, dancers and performers that evening.

Run by the Thai Australian Association of WA, highlights of the evening included an impressive fireworks display, a food market with Thai food galore, a "Miss Noppamaht" beauty pageant and a stunning waterscape of floating lanterns being launched into the river at dusk, as a sign of respect to the Water Goddess.

A flurry of handmade lotus-shaped flower lanterns could be purchased from vendors for this event, with these traditionally being filled with either food, flowers, money, incense sticks or candles, before sending these off with a wish or a prayer.

Moo Ping

With food being prepared at home for a 7.30pm dinner, we joined the food queues and took it easy with anything eaten here being pre-dinner appetisers.

I found it hard to go past the smell of freshly grilled pork skewers from the Big Boon stand, and its highly intoxicating aromas permeating the air. These traditional barbeque pork skewers sold for $2 each, and are reminiscent of the Vietnamese pork skewers at UWA's recent Springfeast.

These are equally as juicy but less sweet, with a sticky caramelised marinade that wraps the tender pork. My only further request would be to buy one straight off the barbeque instead of from the warmer!

Pad Thai

Our indecisiveness between Pad Thai or Green Curry was abruptly but pleasantly interrupted when a new, piping hot, fresh batch of the stir fried noodles were being emptied into chafing dishes, ready to be eaten.

We're having Pad Thai! - The quickest and most certain decision ever made, in my life.

$7 gives you a container of tamarind flavour noodles, stir fried with egg, shrimps, fish cake and vegetables, and topped with a handful of raw beansprouts, a lemon wedge and crushed peanuts.

For those with a mild tongue, the vendors ask if you prefer your cut chilli and chilli flakes scattered or lumped to the side (the empty side served with absolutely no pad thai) :(

Meatball skewer

To complement our meatless pad thai, we purchased a skewer of firm but bouncy beef balls, which were consequently dunked into a mild sweet chilli sauce when served.

Thai sausage [bits]

I had every intention within my body, mind and tastebuds to try these Thai sausages, which were sizzling appetisingly in pans at the back of the stall. In the end I couldn't justify the reasons for paying $1.50 for each sausage "bit" in this dish.

I very nearly used my hands to pick up a sausage bit and eat it, thinking these were free samples!

These would have appealed to me a lot more if they were served whole or deliberately made smaller, rather than being cut up into sections like so.

A bit of Petanque action on the green

Definitely not just something for the oldies, with the apparent kid:adult ratio!

Spring rolls, curries and boxed meals for sale

There were many food vendors like this one, selling home cooked Thai meals.
No surprises that pad thai, green curry and papaya salad made multiple appearances that night!

Being busy and hot with the griller

These sausages were then transferred to plastic takeaway containers, and sold for $7.50 each with fresh salads.

Chilled drinks, fruits and Salted Duck eggs

There was a diversified range of items for sale, even though they put all the eggs in one basket :P

Mango stall

A very popular stall that night taking full advantage of this current booming mango season.
Boxes of fresh, sweet, juicy mangoes lay waiting to be peeled, carved and cut up upon selection by the customer for $5 per box.

Temptation was at a record high, but I refrained due to the 40 mangoes I already had at home, the fact that I have been eating mangoes everyday at a crazy rate for the past month and knowing that I had a bowl of it waiting in the fridge for me already.
$5 saved.

Making Som Tum

The making of green papaya salad with a mortar and pestle, with all the crushing, pounding and grinding to combine the sour, salty and hot flavours from this dish's ingredients.

Check out her arms. There is no better way or thing to work out with than som tum.

Thai Mart

This little pop up stall presents a mini Thai supermarket, selling drinks and Thai snacks and everything other packaged item you could imagine.

Takeaway containers galore!

The Thai in Town store really brought loads of Thai food to town, with mountainous stacks of pre-cooked food ready to eat.

Menu items featured Chilli & Basil noodles, Pad Thai, Chicken Satay, Thai style BBQ pork, sticky rice, Thai curries, sago ball desserts and sweet coconut milk ice desserts. With such a large selection, they are also available to cater for parties, functions and hold scrumptious (as I can imagine!) cooking classes.

Freshly cooked Pad Thai

This is the stall that we ended up giving our money to, for some wonderfully just-cooked-just-then pad thai.

The ubiquitous Ice Cream van

Making its appearance just about everywhere, is the ice cream man and his van.

Aren't you just loving those Hello Kitty car seat head rests! :)

Grilling in action

Quite a few stalls were set up that had continuous grilling going on in the background to feed the crowds.

A selection of flavours to choose from before ordering a refreshing beverage, that was instantly made to order.

That fluorescent pink colour representing ice tea is just a teeny little discerning though!

The desirable, irreplaceable bags of pork crackling, which can only be replaced by another bag of pork crackling.

Chicken Satays

As the eating drew to a close, we finished up with a dessert of chicken satay sticks, at $3 each.
I was very distracted by the huge bubbling pot of red curry, filled to the brim with fish balls, graciously bobbing away in that deep, vibrantly red soup.

Green and red curry noodle soups to the rescue, on an increasingly windy evening.

Coconut Jelly at the dessert stall

With such a delectable range of sweets and desserts, Thai desserts take on such vast colours, ingredients and textures. I love the prominent featuring of coconut milk, sticky rice,  durian and mangoes that combine ever so seductively in their desserts.

The beauty queen pageant involved contestants running for Miss Noppamas, saw ladies dressed in beautiful traditional Thai costumes for the evening. They were more than happy to pose for photos with anyone who wanted to be sandwiched by colours :)

4 out of (probably 100) photos captured

As the festival drew closer to its end, there were still masses of people eagerly waiting for the fireworks display. As we are nearing Summer, the 7pm sky was not yet dark enough a canvas to paint with explosions of light and colour.

I have never enjoyed taking photographs of fireworks as photos are nowhere near as spectacular as the real event itself, however now armed with a DSLR camera and its TOO MANY settings, I took an immediate liking loving to having fun with some long exposure shots.

Definitely get along to this Thai festival next year!

If eating is on your agenda, TAAWA also organises a Thai Food Fete at Asia House, on Stirling Street in Perth. The last session is this Sunday, and I am devastated I have left it too late!

...

As 2012 draws to a close, there are a multitude of different festivals and events happening, particularly to welcome the silly festive season that seems to have already arrived.

Perth: once a shy, quiet wallflower, has blossomed into maturity in past years, and has grown into a vibrant and bustling city with a socialite personality. From a recent catchy and successful marketing directed at promoting Perth,

Yes, I would love to get to know my beautiful home town a lot better.