A Note to Dearest Husband

Dearest Husband,

Find a quite place and pop your earphones on. Enjoy this beautiful song. 

Know that, I love you so very much.

Love,

Aim xx

Test Run GoPro 360

Couple of weeks ago I diy-ed a 360 swivel pole for dearest husband based on the cheapest and simplest tutorial I found on the internet and boy, I am so proud of the outcome of it. *pat self* So to give it a go after weeks of sitting at the corner of our work area, we just had to have a quick test run around the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Museum - not too far from our house. Made a quick editing to the video and voila, here it is! Video shot using our GoPro Hero 3+ and background music by Nantes (Fly). 

[HD] GoPro 360 Fitzroy from Aim Aris on Vimeo.

Heatwave

Last week was one of the hottest weeks for Melbourne. 40+ deg in 4 days and straight in a row was a total MADNESS! But above all, what else can you do except to just embraced it, slapped a good amount of sunscreen lotion and took a train to the beach. ;)

SUMMER SWIM AT WILLIAMSTOWN BEACH

[Shot using GoPro]

[Background music by Bloc Party (This Modern Love)]

Simple Pleasure

Sorta like a spontaneous decision we've made, 2 hours before the sunset. Took a tram nearby our house and off we went to St Kilda Beach. Sat at the deck for a good 40 minutes with a cuppa latte, embracing the cold and super windy weather just to get this shot. No tweak, no edit to the video. Just the way it is. :)

[HD] Sunset St Kilda from Aim Aris on Vimeo.

SUNSET AT ST KILDA

[Shot using GoPro]

[Background music by Arcade Fire (Photograph)]

Melbourne Coffee: Tomboy

Quirky name ey? This cafe is located in Smith St, just a cycle away from our house. To be honest, anything passed Johnston St, we tend to overlooked any good cafes there as we're so busy cafe hopping to those cafes around our house like the good ones in Collingwood, Fitzroy or parts of Abbotsford. But couple of days ago, we've determined to give Tomboy a go as they're using Seven Seeds beans for their coffee. The verdict...good coffee and good food!

Tomboy

Address: 356 Smith  St, Collingwood
Hours: Monday - Friday, 7.30am - 4.00pm; Saturday, 8.00am - 4.00pm; Sunday 9.00am - 4.00pm
Website: www.tomboymelbourne.com.au/
Coffee Beans: Seven Seeds
Broadsheet Review: Yes
Personal Review: 
Good coffee and good simple but yummy food. I ordered the usual stuff, poached egg with smashed avo and feta cheese on toast whereby husband had pea and haloumi fritters with wilted spinach, poached egg and verde salsa. Love! And the ambient of the cafe is really nice, very "vintage-y". Will come here again, absolutely!

Melbourne Coffee: A Little Bird Told Me

Not sure why most cafes chose "bird" as their favourite phrase for cafe name, i.e. Bluebird Espresso, Birdman Eating, A Little Bird Told Me, etc. They must have a thing with bird. Haha. Anyway we stumbled upon A Little Bird Told Me after reading about it in Broadsheet Melbourne. Since the cafe is freaking close to RMIT, we thought yay! Another good coffee place which is like a walking distance from RMIT Swanston Library. ;)

A Little Bird Told Me 

Address: 29, Little La Trobe St, Melbourne
Hours: Monday - Friday, 7.00am - 5.00pm; Saturday, 9.00am - 4.00pm
Website: www.alittlebirdtoldmecoffee.tumblr.com/
Coffee Beans: Seven Seeds
Broadsheet Review: Yes
Personal Review: 
Loving the minimalist layout of the cafe. Good coffee - knowing the reputable beans that they've used, no surprise about that. Very close to tram stops (Elizabeth St or Swanston  St). Come back here again? Definitely!

Melbourne Coffee: Tiny

I think we're too attached with Fitzroy and Collingwood. Can't imagine if we need to stay at other suburbs apart from Fitzroy or Collingwood. Haha. Wishful thinking ey? But seriously, how can you not love Fitzroy or Collingwood. Everywhere we go, there's always good and beautiful cafe around. So I decided, to blog about it. If I had the time, mind you. Anyway check out my list of the coffee places that we'd been before, those in Melbourne of course. ;)

Tiny 

Address: 51 Cromwell St, Collingwood
Hours: Monday - Friday, 7.30am - 3.30pm
Website: www.somethingtiny.com.au
Coffee Beans: Coffee Supreme
Broadsheet Review: Yes
Personal Review: 
Probably the tiniest cafe we've ever been. Love the layout of the cafe. Sustainable cafe, I reckon yes! And if you ask me if we wanna go again here? Definitely. Oh and the coffee is good too!

The Spring Has Sprung!

The Spring is here! As much as I'm happy to welcome the spring with open arms, and the fact that the sun is shining longer than before, I gotta be honest to you that I've missed winter already. :( 

Husband at East Melbourne Library, nearby our house. 

Victoria Parade - tram stop nearby our house, circa 1980s.

RMIT University, City Campus (Swanston St).

Luxbite + N2 Extreme Gelato collaboration project. Me and husband are the first ones to taste this amazing creation - Deconstructed  Kaya Toast.

Weird but beautiful looking plant - according to Murni from Mimpi Murni, this is Bells of Ireland.

Blooming flowers at East Melbourne.

Love-shaped latte made by husband.

No more gloomy - Atoms for Peace vinyl.

Tuesday Things #9

1. I need to dust off my blog regularly as it seems to pile on dust. And this Tuesday Things, I remembered that it should be a weekly routine, isn't it?

2. I'm kinda worried about my final year project as I'm about to enter my week 6 already. Thermal and TRNSYS, I must get you guys done quickly!

3. Husband's new playground. For the time being I reckon?

4. Fitzroy + Collingwood have been blessed with new and exciting eateries like Jimmy Grants, N2 Extreme Gelato, St Crispin' and etc! Go Fitzroy/Collingwood!

5. Our new baby at home. Records and turntable, okaylah before we wanna get the all new Rega turntable.

 

 

Tuesday Things #8

1. Nowadays you can see me either in library or coffee place, surfing and doing research for heaps of things in life.

2. After the previous desserts overload thingy, I've not yet bake anything. But who knows, tonight or tomorrow morning perhaps? Hahaha.

3. Cracking my knuckles up to start planning a good framework for my final year project. I need to nail this one up.

4. Husband's gonna embark on a new journey in his life. Wishing him the best of luck!

5. I think my acupuncturist is damn right. I can feel that my Qi is in balance. Gotta reduce spice and dairy in my diet.

Tuesday Things #7

1. I know it's a bit weird to say this, but I'm all geared up for my next semester. I'm feeling inspired to write my final project thesis! Haha. Hope my enthusiasm will last until the very last day of my next semester. 

2. I didn't sew anything this semester break. Sigh. 

3. I got a bucket list of things to cook and bake, as usual. And now, not to have to rely on natural lighting is fantastic! Cheers husband for 'belanja' me the light tent. Hahaha. 

4. I'm converting myself from "quick and toss" to "gourmet". Will talk about it very soon. Stoked!

5. I got my last semester results already. Alhamdulillah! Hope Allah shall ease my study for upcoming semester.

6. I love cooking with husband but I'm annoyed with his time management. Hahaha. Anyway husband suddenly wanted to make these last Monday, roast beef with veges and homemade Harissa sauce; fresh salad with fennel, coriander, mint, pomegranate and toasted pine nuts in it dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice; spinach, tuna and ricotta cannelloni; and mini meringue with orange sauce, orange curd, pomegranate and toasted almond. Love!

If you need the recipe to any of these, let me know and I shall blog about it very soon. Cheers and happy upcoming weekends guys! :)

Recipe: Pakistani Biryani

The night of husband's birthday celebration at home I made him Pakistani biryani, simply because it looks interesting, perfect for a fiesta food and the fact that we haven't found any decent biryani here in Melbourne. Haha. I particularly got the recipe for the Pakistani biryani from Azie's blog but I kinda follow the recipe and tweaked a bit according to my preference. So here's my version of Azie's Pakistani biryani:

Pakistani Biryani

Serving for 2

Ingredients:

3 cups of basmathi rice

4 pcs of chicken drumstick

4 pcs of star anise

2 pcs of cinnamon stick

6 pcs of cardamon pods

6 of cloves

1 tbsp of ground coriander

1 tbsp of ground caraway seed

1 tbsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of turmeric powder

2 red onions

4 tomatoes

3 potatoes

3 pandan leaves

2 tbsp of minced garlic

1 tbsp of minced ginger

2 cups of Greek yogurt

3 pcs of bay leaves

chicken stock

4 pcs of hard-boiled eggs

1/4 cup of fresh milk

oil

saffron and red food coloring

Optional:

Crispy fried shallots

Coriander

Green chili

Sultanas

Cashew nuts

Directions to make biryani:

1. Marinate the chicken with a bit of salt, half of the garlic and ginger, ground coriander, ground caraway seed and ground cumin for an hour or more.

2. Heat oil and saute the remaining ingredients like the garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, cardamom pods, pandan leaves and diced onions until fully browned.

3. Insert the marinated chicken and stir gently. Pour in chicken stock and let it simmer.

4. Combine diced tomato and yogurt and pour into the chicken. Stir thorough and let the sauce reduce a bit.

5. Season with salt and sugar according to your preference and put aside once cooked.

Directions to cook basmathi rice:

1. Soak the rice for 20 minutes before drain. In a pan, insert a bit of oil, water, 2 pcs of cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves and a bit of salt.

2. Let the water boil before putting in the rice.

3. Cook the rice until 98% cooked, mine's around 10 minutes.

4. Drain the rice completely and put aside.

Directions to assemble the biryani:

1. In a rice cooker pot, layer the basmathi rice as a first layer. Pour in few tablespoons of milk, saffron and red colored food coloring.

2. Put in the slashed hard-boiled eggs, a bit of coriander and crispy fried shallots on top of the rice.

3. Layer the cooked chicken with a bit of sauce until the rice is fully covered.

4. Layer the basmathi rice until the cooked chicken is fully covered. Put in a bit of coriander, saffron and red food coloring onto the rice.

5. Repeat with the cooked chicken.

6. Finish off with green chili, coriander, cashew nuts, sultanas and crispy fried shallots. Let the biryani cook in  rice cooker for a while before serve. 

Enjoy guys because at one point of your life, you really need to try the Pakistani biryani! :)

Happy Birthday Dearest Husband!

Sharp at 12.01 am in the morning, 7th of July 2013, this is what I wrote in my Facebook's wall:

"Salute to the one and only man in my life, after me late Dad. Love you and hope god will bless you and us with good things in life! Thank you, thank you for being the biggest fan of me as I am to you. Happy 32nd birthday and keep on rocking Love!"

So again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST HUSBAND! I bet you're wiser and funnier when you're with me than before no? Hahahaha. :)

Anyway couple of hours back before his birthday celebration (and it was only with me, mind you), I seriously don't know what to bake for him and just kept googling for good but simple recipe as I have no clue what to bake! So when I walked with him before he took a tram to work, husband suddenly requested that he wanted "everything chocolate" cake. So, poof! I knew exactly what I wanna bake for him. Grin. Hence with clear goal and high hope, I then baked him this, the "everything chocolate" cake, which is my interpretation of his wish. Hahaha.

The cake's pretty much made from my favourite chocolate cake recipe, icing from Lauren's Latest and heaps of Maltesers on top of it. And oh, since I made Pakistani Biryani together with the cake, I'll post the recipe very soon as I got few people asking me for the biryani recipe already. :) 

Tuesday Things #6

1. HOBART.  That's all I'm gonna talk about in my Tuesday Things this week. Haha.

My Tuesday (and husband's as well) was very well spent at Hobart, Tasmania, a gorgeous city that's not really far from Melbourne...literally an hour flight from Melbourne with flight ticket that can be as low as $40 per journey per person from any cheap airline flying off from Melbourne. Promoting much ey? Haha. Anyhoo, while I'm typing this blog post, both of us are still stuck in Hobart Airport, thanks to Tiger Airways. What should be a flight flying to Melbourne at 7.45 pm is currently rescheduled to 11 pm! So I pretty much got heaps of time to update my blog lah.

It's actually a city escapade for both us, as husband has worked his ass out for 10 consecutive days and I pretty much lepak at home, doing nothing on my semester break. Haha. Okay back to Hobart, I know the best way to travel around Tasmania is by renting a car but knowing us, we're too lazy to drive around and we're pretty much comfortable roving around cities in Australia by public transport or private entourage. And speaking of our itinerary this time, it's perfect for laid-back people like us. :D

Hobart City Escapade Itinerary

Day 1: 

• Reached Hobart via Jetstar flight at 6 am. 
• We then took airport shuttle to Hobart city via Hobart Airporter and cost us $30/person for return trip. 
• Checked in at St Ives Apartment for 2 nights. We took the studio apartment with kitchenette for $99/night. The room is so clean and love its perfect location!
• Walked around Sandy Bay Rd and Hampden Rd before we stopped at Jackman & McRoss for a quick and decent breakfast.
• Walked to Woolies (10 minutes walk), shopped some stuffs, cooked lunch and sleep. (-_-")

Day 2:

• Woke up early for our Mt. Wellington express tour. Cost us $25/person. Great service, friendly and informative tour guide and Mt. Wellington just plain amazing! Too bad the weather was a bit gloomy but still, seeing Hobart and some parts of Tassie from the second highest point in Tasmania, just AMAZING!
• Dropped off by the tour guide at Hobart CBD, so we then strolled around snapping photos, eating fish and chips, munching Valhalla's yummy ice cream and having decent coffee at Tricycle Cafe, in order to sambung nyawa my husband only. Haha.
• Walked around Salamanca Place, Kelly Steps, Battery Point and Hampden Rd. 
• Dinner at Magic Curries at Hampden Rd and we had beef vindaloo, prawn burada (cooked in coconut milk, cashew nuts paste and their own homemade cheese), keema naan and pista kuhfi (pistachio ice cream). Good and yummy food! And I personally loved the keema naan and prawn burada. 
• Sleep!

Day 3:

• Checked out from St Ives Apartment at 10 am.
• Walked straight to Henry Jones IXL Building. Had decent coffee, yummy Valhalla's macadamia nuts ice cream and truffle chocolate at Jam Packed Cafe.
• Walked around Salamanca Place a bit more before we headed straight to Jam Jar Lounge at Hampden Rd for a cup of coffee, my dose of caramel milkshake and Japanese beef curry. 
• Took the airport shuttle back to airport and now we're still waiting for our flight back to Melbourne.

Here are some photos that we've snapped while strolling around Hobart City. And heaps more in my Instagram page.

Breathtaking view of Hobart city and some of the regional Tassie from Mt. Wellington.

The private conservatory at Mt Wellington.

Heading back to civilization.

Hobart CBD.

Franklin Square, Hobart CBD.

Hobart CBD.

Youngsters playing chess at Franklin Square, Hobart CBD.

Constitution Dock.

Salamanca Fruit Market, Salamanca Market.

The Henry Jones IXL Warehouse Factory.

The Henry Jones IXL Warehouse Factory.

Kings Pier Marina.

Kings Pier Marina.

Jam Jar Lounge, Hampden Rd.

Beautiful Hampden Rd.

Hampden Rd.

Hampden Rd.

Cottages and Hampden Rd.

An hour and 20 minutes to go. Wish we can board our flight as per scheduled. We're missing Melbourne already.