Leo, meds, nail polish, soggy chips and I'M LEAVING BRISBANE IN 6 HOURS

Today's been a good day.

By that, I mean, today has been a lazy day.

Sometimes, I find that no matter how tired/busy I am, if I'm not doing anything I'm just BORED. I can't seem to appreciate the lull in activity and I start fretting and pacing up and down the stairs thinking of ways to kill time.

Which is just odd because on my busy days, all I want to do is sleep and the idea of doing nothing seems like the greatest thing on the planet.

All it is is a case of 'grass is always greener...'

Not today though, today's been good.

I'm flying back to Shanghai midnight tonight. When I was a kid, I could get excited about a holiday months in advance. Now that I'm old and jaded, I can't start thinking about free time until it's right in my face. Even now, it doesn't seem real. But I'm starting, just starting to get the first twinges of anticipation.

Got the goods - my luggage

I packed my stuff in about 30min flat. Despite popular convention, I'm not planning to shop my way through the entire trip. This is more to do with lack of money than some stand against normal female behavior. For that reason I've actually packed clothes rather than arrive in my flight clothes and buy anything that's needed as I go along.

Aside from clothing, I've got my trusty new camera (we shall see JUST how waterproof and shockproof it really is), hair iron, a pair of chucks and a pair of thongs.

I always feel a bit weird wearing thongs in Shanghai because some streets get real dirty (people spitting is just one example) and I get terrified to see what's stuck on the bottom of my feet.

The rest of the day was spent

• Watching a movie - whoever told me Shutter Island was good... and there are several of you... are out of your minds
• Running errands - apparently Australia has a good supplement industry because I've got a special request of fish oil to be brought into China
• Eating Red Rooster - this shan't be repeated anytime soon. I nearly died from salt OD. And the bad thing about soggy chips is that they're just as unhealthy (or even more so) than good chips, but without any benefits of sinning
• Buying necessary last minute purchases - like nail polish

P.S. these bottles have a wide brush and dry quickly. Recommended.

New additions to my collection

I bought a third bottle too but it got lost in transit from the shopping center to home (most likely rolling around the floor of my car). I hope it won't explode from heat by the time I get back.

See you all in a week's time.

Little Greek Taverna

Little Greek Taverna
http://www.littlegreektaverna.com.au/



Being the West End junkie that I am, I walked past this place a few times before finally getting the chance to eat there. I make it sound like it's really difficult and exclusive because in a way, it is. One time, we were reading the menu outside to see why this place was so popular when a waitress came over to politely inform us that if we didn't have a booking, there was no point in looking at the menu anyway.



Well, a couple of weeks and numerous haloumi cravings later, I made sure that we gave it another go. This time, it was real late on a weekday and there was 1-2 tables free. Late on a weekday and the waitress still had to look around before confirming that yes, there was a small space for us to squeeze in.

Moving up in the world

YES

It's finally happened.

I've been waiting for this day for a long, long, time (~ 1 month, to be precise).

Hungry Kittens has finally gotten the rank of no. 1 Brisbane food blog!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has clicked into this site, read any of my posts or even made a comment. This food blog is pretty much my only hobby.

Every week, the greatest fun I have is finding new places to eat with my friends and writing about them on here. Knowing that there are people following along and maybe getting some inspiration on what to have/where to go for dinner really brightens up my day.

Thanks for being with us through the good...

and the bad...

I promise many more reviews and hopefully (when I get less lazy, which will be forced upon me when I move out of home again later this year), more cooking posts too.

Here's a coffee toast (we heart cafes and pubs, if only because the former is more suitable for weekday enjoyment and for people still on their P's) for all my readers. Thanking you all again; please keep reading :D.

Ceylon Inn, Bulimba

Ceylon Inn
http://www.ceyloninn.com.au/



Having a meal at an Indian restaurant always feels like a treat because no matter how you order, you somehow always end up with a table full of plates, bowls and cutlery. Besides that, the food itself is warm, hearty, spicy and shared. It feels like a feast and a celebration.



When I blogged Bombay Dhaba, an anonymous reader posted a comment saying Ceylon Inn was better than it AND Night in India. Of course, this left a huge impression on me and though I was doubtful, I knew I'd have to give Ceylonn Inn a go.

Mud Dessert Bar

Mud Dessert Bar
http://www.muddessert.com.au/



Waffle cravings are nothing out of the ordinary and one hit me the other night. I started Googling for waffle cafes but alas, none exist in Brisbane. What I did find was a new dessert restaurant called Mud Dessert Bar in Bulimba. I like to keep on top of the specialist dessert eateries in Brisbane so this was an instant must-visit.



After finishing tapas at Alegria, we had room for sweets so we made a special trip to Bulimba just to try Mud. Parking at Oxford Street always freaks me out but luckily there is allocated parking at the back of the restaurant.

Alegria for a tapas night

Alegria Mediterranean Bistro and Bar
http://www.bistroalegria.com.au/



Contrary to what I wrote 2 weeks ago about embarking on a healthy lifestyle change of exercise and reduced restaurant trips, I have been eating out like a mad woman these past few days. It's not entirely my fault. Most dining events have been circumstantial rather than volunteered. And in my defense, I did manage to be good for 1 week.



Last night, I was meeting up with Mochi and Hien for dinner. I was already full from lunch with my grandparents so having been granted the power of choice, I went with a tapas restaurant because that gives the option of keeping your meal light.

The Smoke BBQ for delicious ribs and chicken wing torture

The Smoke BBQ
85 Merthyr Rd, New Farm



The Smoke was formerly known as Blue Smoke BBQ and under that name, established wide acclaim as Brisbane's best rib house. I did a bit of reading and found that they're the only place in Brisbane (and perhaps even all of Queensland) that smokes all their meat in house.

Arabella's Charcoal and Middle Eastern Cuisine

Arabella's Charcoal and Middle Eastern Cuisine
Shop 32, The Village Shopping Plaza, 1932 Logan Road, Upper Mount Gravatt



I heard about Arabella’s from a couple of classmates in the tea room. They were planning to go there for lunch but then remembered that we had an afternoon seminar and thus only 1 hour off (including travel time to get from clinic to the seminar). The way Arabella’s was described, as a Middle Eastern restaurant that had healthy cuisine with stuff like haloumi and falafels, instantly appealed to me.



In fact, Arabella’s leapt to the top of my restaurant go-to list, beating out many other places that had been in waiting for years. What can I say, I love that kind of food. Turkish, Greek, Persian, dips, breads, grilled meat and haloumi. LOVE.

Just Soy Cafe

Just Soy Cafe
Pacific Center, 223 Calam Road, Sunnybank Hills



In the time before I FINALLY managed to move on from my learner’s license into the world of independent driving, I relied heavily on lifts from friends, parents and classmates. One time, after clinic, I was riding with 2 guys in my group who live at Sunnybank and they decided to stop for a quick afternoon treat. Hey, I have no complaints about spontaneous dessert-eating at all.



Just Soy Cafe is located in Sunnybank Hills in a little plaza complex. I’d been to the complex for a few of their restaurants in the past but had never noticed the little café in the corner. They call it a café but it doesn’t deal with coffee. Rather, as the rest of the name suggests, they specialise in a soy product: namely, ‘soy custard’.

Breakfast at Planet Matterz

Planet Matterz
http://planetmatterz.com.au/



I’ve always found it quite disappointing that hardly anyone is keen to get up early enough for an outside breakfast. It’s not easy to arrange when you have an early start 5 days a week and want to sleep in on the other 2. The sad fact is that I love a good café/bistro breakfast and have spent quite a few nights looking wistfully through breakfast menus online. The other night, I saw someone’s photo album on Facebook and after seeing their plates of waffles, corn hashes, crispy bacon, poached eggs and more, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

People are divided about eating out alone. Some do it regularly whilst others think it’s the ultimate declaration of being a social outcast. I personally have no problems with sitting at a café by myself and in fact, depending on my mood, may find that more relaxing than making conversation with someone. Coffee plus a good magazine or book at a café that doesn’t feel rushed is one of life’s great luxuries.

Chip and beverage pit stop at Cafe Di Luna

Cafe Di Luna - Revisited
28a Mains Rd, Sunnybank Plaza, Sunnybank



This might sound a bit silly but the only reason we stopped here to get a coffee and snacks was because I thought it was too early for dinner. Does anyone else ever do that? At home I don't mind but when I'm out, I feel weird sitting down for a proper meal any time before 5pm.



I did a quick search on my own blog and found that Cafe Di Luna had been blogged about for their scones. Ok fair enough but chips are very different so between the 2 posts, I might have captured a slight representation of the snack offerings at this cafe.

Hakataya Noodle Shop in Sunnybank

Hakataya Noodle Shop, Sunnybank
http://www.hakatayanoodle.com/



In my first placement location of this semester, I was sucking up lifts from 2 of my classmates who live at Sunnybank. They're both quite in the know about Asian food so in those days, rather than make my own decisions on what to have out for dinner, I just squeezed recommendations.

One place that was mentioned was 'the new ramen shop at Sunnybank Plaza'. A couple weeks ago, Hien and I went looking for this place. I was driving and still hadn't gotten my P's. Also, I couldn't park very well so when we couldn't locate it first attempt, I was too scared to repark at another spot, especially when I wasn't 100% sure of where we were going. The quest for ramen was abandoned that day.

Vespa Pizza at the Gabba

Vespa Pizza at Woolloongabba

http://www.vespapizza.com.au/

My week of attempted fitness and health hasn't been too bad. The hard thing is to stick to it. But, in my opinion, if you're going to make an exception and indulge a little, it better be for something good.

For this reason, we drove in a huge loop around Brisbane last night (starting East, then heading South, West and finally ending up around the CBD) looking for somewhere suitable to eat. Anyone who's tried to keep to a diet will understand the feeling of 'I don't want to waste my kJ allowance/stomach capacity on something crap'.



After running through a few lists of potential food candidates and pointing out certain restaurants before driving past them too quickly (and unwilling to make a U-turn), we finally decided on Vespa Pizza. I only know of the place because I saw it the other day on my way to coffee in West End and thought it was the coolest looking pizza shop I've ever seen.

7-8 for unergonomic dining and Asian pasta OD

7-8 Cafe Restaurant Revisited
Shop 5, 17 Barrett St, Robertson



We were visiting our friend Mark in Sunnybank Hills and decided to get dinner. The original plan was to go to West End but rumbling stomachs deterred us from traveling that far. Instead, we decided on 7-8. I've blogged the place before in what seems like a decade ago (in actual fact just a few years) and loved it at the time. Since then, my opinion went down and I stopped going. This was a chance to see if my change in opinion was warranted.



7-8 has limited seating on their regular tables and a large, side area that is for people to sit on the floor, Japan-style. I'd seen it a few times but never actually eaten on that half of the restaurant. On this day, the tables were all occupied so we were forced to the floor area. I didn't really mind because the concept appealed to me.

Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ Restaurant

Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ Restaurant
480 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley



Last Friday was a big day for me. It was my second attempt at the practical driving test. The pressure was on because I really NEEDED to get my license. I'm on placement about 40min from home, outbound, and it was a real task for me to get lifts from mum (she works in the city). I failed my first go because of real unlucky circumstances and I passed this time round because I was super lucky enough to have a nice examiner.

It's been the biggest burden off my shoulders.

To celebrate, we all went out for dinner Friday night, with the intention of heading out to a birthday party afterwards.

Coffee Square

Coffee Square
Shop 21g, Market Square, 341 Mains Road, Sunnybank



It might seem odd for a food blogger to admit this, but I've been eating out too much. Just eating too much full stop. This weekend, I've succumbed to all-you-can-eat Mongolian (will be posted later), dad's birthday dinner (Peking duck + a cake I made), milky beverages and MORE. Right now, I'm lying in bed, thinking about the quantity of food devoured and feeling queasy.

This is going to stop. Queue fitness and proper eating as of tomorrow. Goal = prevent myself from being a lard tub come Summertime.

There still will be food posts. After all, eating out and photo-snapping is something that makes my life worthwhile. But rather than making a clean sweep of my plate, plus taste-testing everyone else's food and asking for dessert after, I'll take it easy on my poor stomach.

Fending off the last of the Winter chill with hot pot from Endless Noodles

Endless Noodles for Hot Pot
Shop 1/70 Pinelands Rd, Sunnybank Hills




I've blogged Endless Noodles before but that was a long time ago and besides, this is different. I'm allowing myself one repetitive post per dining location. Doesn't it make my chronicles more thorough?

A couple of days ago, it was the first day of Spring. Like a switch it seems, the temperature went up and I'm no longer rustling around the house with trackies, hoodie and uggs on. In my mind at least, hot pot is a fundamentally 'Winter' style of eating.

Sweet Dessert Shop for Sweet Dessert

Sweet Dessert Shop
Shop 10, Market Square, Sunnybank



Just a quick post here. You see a few Asian dessert places around now. Typical flavors that you wouldn't see elsewhere include: taro, red bean, grass jelly, almond, coconut and pandan. Most things are in the form of 'soup', custard, pudding plus/minus sago and evaporated milk. That to me sums up what Asian dessert is all about. You can add bubble tea creations into the mix too.