Electives Part I - Madness in Dermatology

I look out the office window and admire the beautiful vista of the Opera House, Sydney Harbour, State Parliament House and Library. It is my last day of a fast-paced 2 week placement and I want to commit this view to memory.

When I turned my back on a Law degree, I never imagined a doctor could have office views like this. The offices I was accustomed to so far were the dungeons of the hospital, 4 walls and a measly window if you were lucky to get one.

But alas, such beautiful and therapeutic views were but a deceptive illusion to the action that occurred within its walls.

I find myself sitting in this office after being picked up daily by my elective supervisor, a dermatologist. Seeing we live only streets apart he insisted, it wasn’t hard to refuse…Sydney public transport or a 7 series Bimmer; a tough choice indeed. He has a post-it note to remind himself to pick me up, 715am each morning. He is a mad dermatologist (other dermatologists being more sane with 9am-5pm days) and he happily confesses this to me day 1.

The list is packed 8am to 6pm sometimes 7pm appointments, 10 minutes apart. Within the first hour we already run an hour behind and he manages to shift into a higher gear. I blink and he has re-appeared in another room (I accuse him of taking ninja lessons whilst still an undergraduate). CEOs, barristers and priests from St Mary’s come and strip down to their knickers for annual skin checks, flinch and yelp at Botox injections. The phone rings during each and every consultation. At one point he is juggling 6 people all wanting to talk to him. He jokes with his patients, discusses business, argues with them, attacks them right left and centre with the liquid nitrogen. I think he is superhuman, I find it embarrassing that a girl like me half his age is mentally and physically exhausted yet he still goes on sharp as a nail diagnosing, managing and getting through patients.

We finish an hour later than we should and make a quick exit to the hospital outpatient clinic where 3 dermatology registrars are seeing patients. He whizzes in and out dictating treatment plans. By magic we wrap up the clinic at a reasonable time. On other days instead of rushing to the hospital we make an equally speedy drive across the bridge to “God’s country”. Another consulting list awaits, with the added challenge of his cosmetic clinic upstairs which he simultaneously juggles and where I bear witness to many laser and botox treatments.

He is a brilliant doctor. He genuinely cares for his patients; he waives his fee for those who have difficult financial and social circumstances or only bulk bills. For each excision, he takes the time to do subcuticular and vertical mattress sutures; making sure the edges are aligned and everted to achieve the best cosmetic and functional results (by the end of it I think they are seriously the prettiest stitches any patient could ever want!). He genuinely cares for his staff and also a lowly medical student - imagine your chairman or boss picking you up from home and dropping you off everyday AND buying you lunch everyday! (Though lunch is really a race to see who can finish first without choking).

But my favourite times are the ride home at 9pm. We act like big kids and binge on jelly snakes. He reminisces and tells me crazy and downright hilarious stories of his time in training. The winner by a long shot is the story of legendary Dr X, the obstetrician/gynaecologist. Cut short, this gynaecologist was found by the anaesthetist to have passed away whilst performing a hysterectomy with his head slumped such that his face was in direct contact with what we call the "gynaecologist's landscape"! Sounds like something straight out from Gray's Anatomy, but he reassures me this truly occurred during his days as a medical student.

There is never a dull moment - take for example his introductions for me: as a random patient sitting in for fun or maybe a member of the Dermatology Board here to make sure he is in line; worse a girl he's picked up from the beach that morning after a boat has delivered me from China. (We tell the truth afterwards of course).

He reveals on the last day that he was terrified to take me for a fortnight placement - he has taken medical students, registrars and doctors at maximum for a few days but never as long as a fortnight - and he didn't quite know what exactly he was going to do! I can't help but laugh out loud. I realise that I've never laughed this much during any placement in my 5 years of Medicine nor had this much fun. I tell him that I haven't only taken away general dermatology learning but life lessons as well. Most importantly though, relief that there are mad (but brilliant) doctors around like him; the knowledge that you can deliver high standards of medical care while still being your crazy mad self and have roaring fun with your patients.

The Top 10 Trials and Tribulations of a Medical Student

Hello Spring! The glorious poppies in bloom at Wagga Botanic Gardens.

Exams are done! Let the celebrations begin :D


It is a fact not universally acknowledged but acknowledged somewhat that prior to exams, some of us put our lives on hold.

(Self-inflicted lockdown.)

And so it was goodbye to aimless rolling on my bed, to sunshine and Spring, to fun and frivolity... hello to a paper jungle of a bedroom, to daily dosing of vitamin D supplements and the occasional stress-induced palpitations/feelings of impending doom. We've shared tears, sleepless nights, the "baby" (I guess exams can incite feelings of cluckiness?)... and of course that pesky psychosomatic diarrhoea come D-day. Yes, it was times like these that I/we asked ourselves what we were thinking to put ourselves through this?

But in the space of an hour, 4 stations, facing 4 pairs of examiners testing what 'knowledge' we had accumulated over the last 5 years, all the hard work has paid off - 5 years of Medicine down, 1 more to go baby! :)

Actually I have to admit I had a pseudo-Slumdog-Millionaire-turn-of-events!

For my pharmacology station, the case presented was of a lady 3 weeks post-partum who was suspected to have a pulmonary embolus. Just the week before, the Wagga crew had to do a series of non-assessable case presentations... I had decided to present a case on a pregnant woman who had a recurrent PE during pregnancy (amongst many other things) and focused on anticoagulation in pregnancy. What's more, for the anatomy station, the topic was on chronic pancreatitis. During my surgery rotation earlier this year, the case presentation I gave was actually on chronic pancreatitis. I guess someone up there was really listening when I was imploring to whoever would listen to help get me by!

And after the exams, we had over to Lake Albert for some post-exam shenanigans and a good old BBQ...

Lake Albert by dusk.

With Psychopathwitch, MissLovelyP and MrProjectRunway and an amazing backdrop of a sunset.

Caught: a Fat Duck!
But hopefully we won't be eating this fat duck at THE Fat Duck ;)

So the top 10 trials of being a medical student?

(Warning: possibly ranty post to come...this was scribbled during those times cramming which I really did question why I was doing med in the first place...that's right being a trophy wife is actually quite difficult - just kidding! =p). Anyways here's the list:

1. Spending six whole years at uni. Yes we might get to make the most of the concession travel cards but that's because we're poor. We get to watch all our friends graduate, work and place a deposit on their first property and still find ourselves being a full-time student at uni. There are better chances being an electrician or plumber and probably a lot more sanity by the time we graduate as well.

2. Nurses and midwives. Being a medical student is the only chance it seems midwives and nurses can get back for all the times doctors write up "patient needs enema". (This however does not apply to country nurses and midwives who sometimes have been too good to be true!)

3. Exams that test you on six years worth of assumed knowledge. Law peeps get open book exams, not us. Plus no more spoon-feeding days means six worth of assumed knowledge = pretty much self-directed knowledge = Wikipedia.

4. Becoming a hermit / dubbed anti-social by your non-med friends (aka the rest of the world).

5. Getting shafted to places via an 8 word email. Point being me. A 2 line email delivering a 2 year sentence. And no it doesn't matter if you don't have the finances to support yourself during this time, nor if you just got engaged, nor if you find out your grandmother is in hospital with end-stage renal failure and might not get dialysis and you just want to spend your next 2 month rotation back in Sydney (as I found out a fortnight before exams)...nope these are not valid reasons for you to get out of your rural secondment.

6. B-blockers, anti-depressants and Temazepam. Doctors apparently have the second highest rate of depression / suicide (behind dentists). But as Quality Use of Medicine dictates, consider an appropriate medicine when a medicine is considered necessary. For the timebeing I'm sticking to my non-pharmacologic option...chocolate.

7. 100% employment... wait that was yesterday's news. So the government has doubled medical student places without facilitating an equal increase in the number of internship places available. International students have been notified that they might not be able to secure an intern placement after investing $40000p.a. to study here. That's nearly a quarter of a million dollars by the time you graduate...

8. When you realise it's only the start....and know that ahead of you are: 100hr+ weeks, sleepless nights being on-call and yes nearly another decade of study before you get to the end of all exams...

9 and 10: So I kindof stopped at no. 8 since I thought 8 points were quite depressing already, but if anyone has anything else to contribute - feel free to comment.

Of course having written all that, I do consider doing Medicine a privilege and that yes when you put your hand up for Medicine you are ready to accept the above. People enter Medicine for different reasons, I wanted to live a comfortable life (not too extravagant and not difficult, just comfortable and content) doing something that would give me reason to get out of bed every day (the ability to alleviate pain and suffering) as well as being able to have a family life and my priorities in check (GP, part-time consultant? we will see). The hope is that the hard work and sacrifice to get there will be worth it in the end*


*And my fortune-telling skills predict that it will be a yes. As long as you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, family and friends you love, then that's all you need to be simply happy. Like I am now. It also helps that I'm post-exam and know I've passed ;) (Hang in there for Sydney medstudents less than a week to go!).

1 week in Jakarta, Part II - Kopi Luwak

There are many loves in life, and for many coffee is one of them. Unfortunately I can't attest to this. For me, coffee has always been saved for the nights coming up to an exam or deadline. Keeping my caffeine tolerance low means that when I need coffee, I'd be able to maximise its caffeine effects (or on the occassions I give in, to spend the night tossing and turning in bed!).

The beans making Kopi Luwak come from the digestive tract of this cute little animal...a literal take on one's wastes are another's treasures!
Now Jakarta does not have a strong cafe culture per se. But upon hearing about 'Kopi Luwak' - the "most expensive coffee in the world"..."from the butt of a weasel-like animal" I knew I couldn't fly back to Sydney without trying a cuppa. (Disclaimer: I am not usually this enthusiastic about trying foods coming from the other end of the digestive tract!). It is because the Luwak ((the less scientific name given to the cute furry animal above; scientific name: Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) can't digest these coffee beans that the enzymatic actions of its stomach acids give the beans both a unique fermentation process and taste.

With a horrendously busy schedule, my hopes dimmed down as the days flew by and my day of departure arrived. Luckily, on this very last day, I came across the 'Kopi Luwak' cafe whilst rushing to have a last meet-up with my cousin.

"A pound of Kopi Luwak will run you about $300 or about $50 a cup..." - Oprah Winfrey

And since the Luwak is a local of the Indonesian islands Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, a cup will set you back AUD10 (and not the US50 it will cost you in other parts of the world)...all the more reason to give this coffee a go.

My much anticipated 100% cup of Kopi Luwak!

So the verdict?

A really rich, bitter tasting coffee with depth of body and an earthy feel to it. (Ok so definitely not a coffee connoisseur but thats the best description I can come up with ;) )

Would I drink it again? Probably not. (But now I can tick that off my things-to-do-before-i-die list...not that I had it on the first place but now I can add it and cross it off!).

The last and final part will actually be on the reason I was in Jakarta in the first place (just to show that it wasn't all about the food!). But for now, I must stock up on my coffee beans, sit tight and stay awake to study study study for my exams. See you all on the other side :)

Wagga's nerdiest cubicle?

Top of my Want list at the moment...tragic that my DIY skills leave a lot to be desired for.

---
http://www.kopiluwak.org/new/coffee-shop.htm
Grand Indonesia Mall
Jakarta

1 week in Jakarta, Part I - Brunch @ Hotel Mulia

Thats it, I confess I am a repeat offender. My crime? Blog update tardiness.

To be honest, I have never been known as being the late one to events. This I know is hard to believe knowing that I have Indonesian heritage and one thing Indonesians are known for is "jem karet" (lit = rubber time) i.e. tardiness. Anyway, I will endeavour to bring you up to date with what has been happening to me over the past 6 months. (What other perfect way to procrastinate - my barrier exams for my 5th year medical exams are coming up around the corner *yikes!*)

Figuring that I would spend the year holed up in Wagga, it wasn't hard to persuade myself to apply to be part of a delegation of 20 medical students from around Australia to spend a week somewhere in Asia. This year chances had it that the conference would be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Now, the only reasons one ought to go to Jakarta is 1) if you have family or 2) for business purposes. Lucky for me, this trip fits into both categories.

Fast forward half a year later, 1 overweight bag (yes this was pre-departure! and yes it included a 5kg box of cherries and 3kg of honey for relatives some of whom I wasn't sure how I was related to...) and I arrive in hot, humid, bustling Jakarta. I come in at perfect time for it's my dearest cousin's birthday! And to celebrate she has booked Sunday Brunch at Hotel Mulia...

The glorious entry into the restaurant

The beautiful interior, decked out in colonial French style

Unfortunately it clashed with my conference registration and day 1 plans, but in life family does come first...and in retrospect I would have killed myself had I known what I would miss out on - unlimited appetizers, a 4 main dish per person meal and unlimited desserts (high tea quality!).

Yes, and all that for the Australian equivalent of a standard high tea (~AUD40).

Some of the appetisers to choose from...

...and yet more appetisers!

And after stuffing yourself with so many appetisers, don't forget to leave some space for the mains!

It is never polite to turn down desserts...1 of the 3 dessert plates I brought back to indulge in ;) (no judging please!)

Overall, the unlimited appetisers and desserts were pretty much a dream-come-true (did I forget to mention that there was a tower of PANNACOTTA?!?! or the unlimited stash of smoked salmon for you smoked salmon lovers out there). The mains were quite a let-down though, the originality, taste and execution were actually below average. Not that I'm complaining - I'd just be happy stuffing my tummy silly with the delicious appetisers and desserts :)

- - -
http://www.theorient8.com/
+62 21 5753278
Hotel Mulia
Jl Asia Afrika Senayan
Jakarta 10270
Indonesia

Home is where the heart is.

The hoe (garden variety).

The half-arrow.

The V-shape (think birthing position).

These are some of the moves I learnt today (don’t worry it wont be coming to a dancefloor near you) doing yoga with MissEnergizerBunny in the common room. The reasons to promote these moves are equally if not more bizarre than the names: to prevent skinny-ness, to prevent a receding hairling, to improve sex appeal. So if they do what they say they would, I guess I’ll maintain a healthy BMI, retain my hair and you can figure the last one out (though its wasted here in Wagga! Joking!)

Nonetheless, its great to wind down on a Friday evening stretching out the muscles you’ve strained spending hours in front of a computer or standing for prolonged periods in the operating theatre.

In other news, forgive me for my tardiness in updating this blog. I have been somewhat lazy and needed a bit of a reminder from Mister Panda.
So highlights of my life thus far (I realise, as ironic as it may seem, that I’m having more of a life here in Wagga than I might have led in Sydney. I attribute this to my bludger’s status, being unemployed as opposed to being busy working at least 2 jobs in Sydney):

Roadtrip to Canberra for the “Masterpieces from Paris” collection @ The National Art Gallery


Van Gogh's Starry Night - one of my favourites on show (yippee)

Think Monet, van Gogh, Gaughin and even a piece from Picasso and more. Leaving before daybreak from Wagga to arrive in Canberra and finding a queue already there....brought me back to the days in Europe where one would wait 2-3hours in the rain waiting to enter the Sistine Chapel. But it was worth it. My favourite period/style of painting is Impressionism (possibly due to my idealist views reflected in the liberalism of the brushwork creating a dreamy finish to artworks of this period) and of course Monet my favourite artist. Interestingly, I was more taken aback by his "Woman with Parasol" (+ In the Norwegian, London Tower) than his more famous Waterlilies. Was also impressed with the pieces they had of Van Gogh (self-portrait, bedroom, flowers + STARRY NIGHT - which was amazing seen in the flesh! to see the brushstrokes and colours e.g. forget me not brilliance or yellow/pink flush of the stars). Last surprise was seeing the pieces of Monet that the National Art Gallery has on their permanent collection (Haystack + Nympheas, which is a more simplified version of Waterlilies). Especially since the Waterlilies have been described as an artwork that would most describe me in a pyschoanalyses game played amongst friends (yes weird game!). Overall, despite not knowing my art too well, this sure has given me some culture to stave off Boganism that bit longer!

Pier Restaurant
Had the chance to have dinner at Pier with some friends. 8 courses and matching wines. Ok so it was a refined place, that you feel as though you ought to make some fancyschmancy conversation and bear yourself well etc. Well after 6 glass of wine I think thats an excuse to bring some fun into the equation (huzzah!).


Start of the night. Refined. Wine: 0

End of the night. Cuckoo. Wine: 6 (Unfortunately you will have to use your imagination, limiting the amount of incriminating photos of me in the public eye! =p)

Anyways I realise that food at this end is more a thoughtprovoking exercise! The dishes were pretty and delicate, and being seafood quite light (8 courses was manageable leaving you feeling pleasantly sated and not bloated). My favourite of the night was the cauliflower agedashi tofu with scallop + foie gras in lobster consomme where the cauliflower tofu melted and broke away with the lightest touch and melted in your mouth. Highlights have to go to the green apple sorbet + powdered goats cheese (imagine goats cheese tasting snow!), ginger sherbet and mushroom foam.


Murray Cod with different textures of mushroom


One of their prettier dishes: Green Apple Sorbet & Goats cheese

Given the price tag, will need to save up for these events though next absolutefoodlust outing will be the Fat Duck when I hit the UK next year (yes I foresee 2 min noodling, cereal dinners..but it will be worth it!).

Risk
If you've never played this before, the aim of the game is world domination. Understandably if you're dealing with competitive people there is a good deal of aggression (vocal and possibly physical) and expletives involved. Expect a lot of sweet talking, politics, back stabbing as people make and break alliances. Now being next to the common room, I get to hear and subsquently be enticed by the fun I'm hearing. So when I put my hand up I find out it'll be me (first-timer) against 5 other guys. My only goal for my first game is to hold on to a continent for just 1 round (and considering I was aiming for Asia, the biggest this is not quite an easy feat). The great thing about being a girl and getting swamped by the guys working the floor to secure alliances and move up the ladder is that I get to stay low. At this point, I have to say that seeing guys work it hard and sweet talking is possibly worse than girls b*tching! It's quite scary really. Anyways we knock out the owner of the game when we get the chance (he apparently is a strong player) and he leaves with his tail between his legs. Fast forward 4 hours and I manage to get my foothold on Asia, watch the boys annihilate each other and somehow gain the upper hand without going back on my word throughout the game (proving you can win with your integrity intact!).


The face of one who realises his army is about to get whooped! by me!


What world domination looks like. I didn't have enough black men so had to recruit some blue ones...


And of course...the bragging rights!

I can now say that the feeling of beating 5 guys is better than what I think getting spaced out (Amsterdam brownies!) would be like!*

Delia Challenge
Unfortunately I’ve put this on the backburner. My recent trips back home means bringing back mum’s homecooking and eating them for 5 days straight (yes amazing, I haven’t given myself self-induced gastro *touch wood). However, baking days are still happening and if I haven't mentioned before its ever so lovely to walk in a bustling kitchen with tantalising aromas and food (feels like home :)


What sexylady and MissLovelyP got up to one autumn afternoon


MissLovelyP and her cupcake in a cupcake


MrChinUps and his banana cake

And it gets even better when the boys do some baking too! Mr Chin Ups decide to dish up some banana bread to get rid of the 2 bananas before we hit up Sydney. And this is when I find out the lesson of not to enter when no one answers your knock, you deserve what you get! Upon gathering in the kitchen to devour the banana cake we realise we're missing a certain someone. I volunteer to run out to let them know...door ajar, knocking and no answer. Without thinking I push open the door to find 2 people on the bed. Watching TV of course. It could've been worse! Important life lesson learnt.

:)

* now officially retired from Risk. Nothing could beat coming on top from a 6 multiplayer game of Risk =p

2 weeks. Rewind.

Revelation of the day...I realise that to maximise self-possession of groceries I can drink straight out of my carton of OJ, and not feel guilty! Hurrah!

Highlights of the past 2 weeks:

1. 12 hour shift with the paramedics.
That's right, I got to sit in with the ambo, sirens blazing, 150km/hr+ down a 60km road, cars parting like Moses and the Dead Sea, out bush retrieving patients. "Sorry about the bumps back there" says Paul, reknown for his wild driving. Guess he doesn't see the smile plastered across my face, I think it's more like a fun theme park ride. First patient we get is a man in.. cue rural sounding name (ok so I've already forgotten but the description we get on the display screen to help = "red Nissan truck + 1 horse"). Needless to say we had to traverse dirt roads, walk out and step over dung, cattle dogs running around. There is a man lying down, covered by the shade of the truck. Apparently he was just about to go up into the hills, herding cattle before he started to vomit blood. He is pale and diaphoretic. There is a patch of grass covered by fresh dark red blood. The medstudent in me thinks "cool, fresh hemetemesis!". Twenty minutes later, IVC in, fluids, 15L O2 and wait for it, he empties his stomach and spews fresh blood all over the back of the ambulance. Back up is called (we are half an hour away from the hospital) but he manages to hang on, goes into resus and the OT. Recurrent esophageal varices haemorrhage secondary to cirrhosis. He's lucky to survive. The rest of the shift goes slowly, an elderly woman stuck on the toilet, heading into the Kapooka army base (complete with golf course + cinema! plus kangaroos) before the night time psych cases. There is an 18yr old girl handcuffed on the lawn, policeman nearby. Attempted suicide, mum and brother with bipolar. The inside of the house is a maelstorm. Then another young 16yo boy, OD-ed on his antidepressants due to a fight with the girlfriend. It's been a decent shift and I see how the psych patients can open up during the ambo ride to the hospital, before the bright lights, busy doctors, busy nurses, and general hustle and bustle of the ED wards. It's times like these when I feel old (yes really), when you see patients as young as your siblings with their whole lives ahead wanting attention to help them. And its seeing this that I keep it in mind to try and not to be the type of doctor that will see "18yo girl, suicide attempt" and roll their eyes, sigh and think "another psych case".

2. FOOD
You knew this was coming! Wednesday afternoon, the patient I was looking up is taken away to get radiotherapy at the private. What to do? Productive procrastination of course (aka baking). There is Close the Gap for Thursday morning tea and I nominate myself to be SexyLady's sous chef. 3 hours later, 40 or so carrot cupcakes with lemon frosting and lime zest, 1 chocolate vegan cake with coffee ganache and 1 vegan lime cheesecake..back to the wards to finish off with that patient. Perfect.


Miss Lovely P's vegan lime cheesecake with blueberries - Crowdpleaser!


Goodies on show. Confession...I had 7 cupcakes + 1 sneaky melting moment for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea!


Mr NextTopModel with the baking maestros :)

A brief tangent - Smith recipe of the week - Spinach, Pine Nut lasagne with 3 different types of cheese! (was meant to be 4, but couldnt locate the Gorgonzola here *shakes fist in air)


Lasagne - which sticking true to the student lifestyle I ate for 4 days then realised that it might be a good idea to throw the rest out...

3. Friday Night Outs
So with 3 houseparties under my belt, the pros of wagga night life:

* If its not within walking distance, then it might as well be another town.
All the houseparties were closer than my primary school to my home - crazy! Crazier still is the proximity of the main street with the pubs and clubs from your doorstep (<10 minutes). Perfect for the Walk of Shame back (no, not THAT type of Shame...the Shame when you find out you're one of the last patrons at the bar 3am in the morning type of shame!)

* You can get away wearing a leopard print dress with CROCS on
Yes I know, they are hideous and can cause temporary blindness but in my defense, they fit in with the houseparty theme "wild".


Only in wagga.

* You can get away with no ID, no cash and CROCS in a Wagga Club - tried and tested!
However, I wouldnt recommend it unless you have a liking for WEIRD men to come up and start touching your crocs?! That's a new one.

* You can get away with no ID and an ED admission - not tried and tested yet
So I forgot to bring my ID and cash (in the midst of getting ready I thought I didn't need it). And I was right. When you're walking distance from the ED, know the intern in ED and have the regs and other interns at the houseparty..I think you're more than covered!

* You can pull out a home-grown zucchini and have it entertain your house full of guests


The questionable steroid driven monster of a zucchini!

The cons being:

* You basically have the same work, home, social group.
As much as I love them, I'm spending more time with them than I ever did with my own family!! Woah.

* To realise the above point before doing anything stupid and showing your face on the Monday ward round.


Excited for the Easter week break to Sydney!!!!!!!!!!!!

Becoming diabetic.

Apologies for my tardiness - when you spend a fortnight in Griffith, a weekend in Sydney and then back to Wagga you start to feel like a D-grade Getaway crewmember and of course overlook your blogging commitments. That said, I still have to work on "packing lightly". I will achieve this by the end of this year (I promise!).

Anyhows, I love my weekend sneaky trips back to Sydney. With the limited time, I find I tend to try and make the most of it (as opposed to the usual bumming around I'd do given I was still in Sydney). It also helps greatly that everyone seems to make it special and an effort to meet up even though I'm only a couple of hours away and still in the same state (hehe thanks guys! though this effect seems to be wearing off on my family *hint* =p). My recent trip back also reaffirmed a great weakness of mine - food. Some girls get high on designer bags, some people on illicit substances, I think I can get high on good food and can honestly confess that you can seriously get orgasmically high on foodporn (sometimes I feel like the dogs in Pavlov's experiments that salivate whenever they heard the bell ring signalling FOOD is coming!). And secret, if you ever manage to get on my wrongside (though this will be a feat in itself), everything will be forgiven with good food (kind of like how oxytocin makes women forget the pain of labour so they'd be willing to go through it all over again). Maybe I should stop here. But no, I'll go on.

So I went to 3 sweet shops (+1 Asian dessert place) on the weekend. A late night catchup session at our local haunt Tea Inn over their drinks&desserts, a visit back to La Renaissance tucked in a cute cobbly alleyway in the Rocks, a visit to Guylian cafe an hour after (...with more cake, all onus on my dining companion!) and lastly to Black Star in Newtown. I guess the magic of food for me is the ability for every little part of me to get consumed by one bite of something divine. And divine can be the intense sweet bitter dark hot chocolate when outside its pouring, grey and miserable as in Guylian. Or when you find a heavenly composition of food elements like the Strawberry, Watermelon, Rose water cake from Black Star:


Our goodies on the nifty cardboard tables


Close up of the watermelon, strawberry, rosewater cake


With Tepi who recently gained 5kg from her stint in Tokyo but has managed to lose it again, Biggest Loser has nothing on you Tep. Can you tell how happy I am? Wish I could have had both but am proud to say I behaved and stuck to my share.

Now this stuff can be classified as dangerous. Dangerous because it is deceptively light, refreshing and I could eat a whole cake and still want more:


Deconstruction? More like destruction.

It doesn't help that the chocolate caramel tart gives an amazing caramel - not sickeningly sweet but just the right shade of salty dark mellow sweetness:


Foodporn chomp chomp


Ginga Ninja makes a surprise appearance!

And what about the Delia Smith challenge? Well, I'm happy to share that I've held my first mini-pseudo-dinner party (with help of course from Delia Smith). I'm also happy to share the secret of dinner parties, i.e. to reveal the menu when the guests arrive thus compensating for any surprising turns during the cooking process ;) (though rest assure there were no big dramas like how one reg cooked rabbit the week before and managed to inflict gastroenteritis upon himself!)


Baked Canelloni with salad - we upped Delia by making the sheets from scratch rather than cheat with lasagne sheets!


Spiced apple pecan cake with ice cream and honey

Now with every good thing there must also be a downside (I know this is unlike me to focus on the negative but this is reality right, and I have to face the facts). Thus, with all this good food, I have come to the ugly truth that I might be nurturing a foodbaby. I'd say mine's 1-2months gestation, named Peaches. Feel free to pat. I wonder if resorting to a typical student diet i.e. mie goreng 7days straight but for me I'll stick to cereal morning, day and night will do me any favours? Hmm.

And to give some hope that there is decent food in the country, here's Josh with some pizza we got from Mama Rosa in Griffith.



My other remaining task is to find a decent Chinese joint out here. Though admittedly I don't have high hopes for this one.

And if you managed to read all this, then please redeem a hug from me next time you see me!