Last night.

It’s our last night in Queensland tonight, we’ve had to end it early due to our moneys withering away. We decided last week that we should reorganise our flights so that when we get to Melbourne we won’t be dirt-poor. It’s for the best. We like Queensland but all of this not-working and eating out for breakfast and lunch everyday is pretty dang pricey. And not so good for my figure. In the last week or so we’ve been to Sea World, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Surfer’s Paradise, Mount Tamborine and Movie World.

We’ve also been to quite a few pokies joints. Pokies are fun but its really easy to lose a lot of money there. Don’t get worried though, I’m not saying we’ve blown all our savings at the pokies, just a couple of bucks here and there. They’re pretty depressing. Anywho, we’ve been looking at places to rent in Melbourne. We considered trying to find a place in Queensland but there doesn’t seem to be much work over here and public transport is reeeeeally expensive. We’ve used the buses two or three times and its always been about $20 for us both, and there are no day-riders and tickets are one-way only. So yeah, we’ve been looking for rentals in Melbourne, pretty pricey for a nice place. We’ve been thinking about renting for a short while and then buying a place, for the cost of renting we could be paying a mortgage instead, doesn’t sound like fun but if we can get a place payed off then maybe we could start making some real money.

Anyway I guess I should wrap this up. Hope all’s well on everyone else’s end. Miss all you guys.

“What’s that in your pocket, Big Boy?”, “It’s a lizard” -Young Einstein.

“Scraw!”

Snoozing drop-bear.

Snoozing Kangaroos. Australian animals snooze a lot.

Crazy emu! He was most definitely after my snacks.

Up in the tree-tops of Mount Tamborine

Goat, it’s a goat! Wooooah it’s a goat, oooooooooh it’s a goat. (Sung to the tune of the Badgers song.)

C outside the Harry Potter shop at Movie World

At Point Danger in Queensland

C at the Queensland-New South Wales border.

Me at the border.

I was told to do something funny.

Tastes like minor acheivement.

Queensland

Day two in Queensland begins now! The flight over was pretty bad. We finally got on the plane and into the air but when everybody started moving their seats to go to sleep we found that ours didn’t recline. We assumed that we just didn’t know how to use the chairs so I asked a stewardess how to move the seats, “Oh, they don’t go back,” she said, “There’s an exit behind you so those chairs don’t move.” Since it was midnight and we had only gotten a few hours sleep the night before we were pretty devastated. The stewardess came back a couple of minutes later and offered to move us to different chairs but we would have to split up, we declined, I guess we didn’t want to be separated in case something happened while we were 10,000 feet in the air.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful, no turbulence or anything, we landed safely in Queensland and got a lift to C’s aunties place where we’re staying. I’m liking Queensland so far, it’s completely different to Perth, their are hills and trees everywhere, everyone here seems to have some sort of farmyard animal. Maybe the part where we’re staying is just really country but I’m liking it anyway.

Today we’re going to go to Sea World and probably check out Surfer’s Paradise which should be good. I’ll update my blog periodically so y’all know what’s up.

 

I disturbed this cat’s rolling-around-on-the-floor time.

These cows have business to attend to.

Check this Eel!

Queensland from above.

It’s a stream!

Me pulling a stupid face and C dressed like Elaine from Seinfeld.

 

All in a day’s work.

Here are a few things I did. Give ’em a squiz.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse.

Definitely the strangest plaque I’ve had to write.

My workload for a Tuesday afternoon, six trays of mousse cakes.

 

The times they are a-changin’

Update time! Wow, it’s been a while since my last post. A lot has changed. I got married, got my license, paid for my flights to holiday in Queensland and move to Melbourne. It’s been crazy busy! I took a couple of weeks off work over the wedding and went to a few local cafes which I will have to write reviews for soon. I went back to Jean Pierre Sancho and it was worse than I had remembered. Seriously bad stuff. Anyway, here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

This Pigeon was definitely enjoying Sancho’s food more than I was. I had a rock hard croissant and a bitter horrible coffee. He had the inside of someone else’s sandwich and left the bread. Seriously, ate the salad. Left the bread. That’s gotta tell you something.

So this is the cake that I made for my wedding. It was choc/hazelnut mudcake, fruit cake and lemon lime cake. We opted for the “high-fiving” cake toppers:) There will be more pictures as soon as we get them from the photographers.

Jacob’s thoughts #11

Il Cibo, Fremantle.

So I went to Il Cibo on Saturday with my girlfriend, I have walked past about a thousand times but never gone in. I had heard that there was some sort of Chilli Festival on in Fremantle so naturally I thought I would go and not see what the fuss was about (I’m not a big chili eater). So in the sweltering heat and humidity I braved the trains full of people, that have apparently forgotten how to not cough in the faces of others, so I could get to Freo and have a coffee and a slice of cake and nothing at all chilli related. When I got to Freo I realised that it was far too hot to get a brownie from The Attic so we decided to try Il Cibo (which I always hilariously call El Cheapo). Il Cibo is very peculiarly set up, as far as I can tell it is split into 3 section which are all divided by brick walls, there’s a savoury section, a sweet section, and a weird knick-knack shop (not sure if it’s the same shop). After perusing their wares we decided to just get a coffee each and a slice of bread and butter pudding.

Now I had gotten my girlfriend into drinking Piccolo Lattes because she would always get a regular Latte and then have to make the choice between drinking it all and feeling sick from all the milk or not drinking it all and feeling bad because I paid for it. So a Piccolo Latte is the perfect coffee for her, not too strong like a Macchiato and not too much milk. So anyway, I asked the lady behind the counter if she could do a Piccolo Latte, she said “yeah” so I said “Cool, can I get a Piccolo Latte and a Short Macchiato. And a slice of bread and butter pudding.”, then she glared at me like I had my thumb up my nose and said “Um, they’re the same thing.“, with all the attitude she could find on such short notice. I half expected her to add “You fucking retard, errrrhhhhh.”. I then proceeded to explain that a Piccolo Latte is a Ristretto with milk whereas a short Macciato is an Espresso with milk, all the while she’s staring at me like I’m an idiot. Note to any baristas out there, if the customer has to explain coffee to you then you are not doing your job.

So after kind-of sorting out that all I wanted was a Latte but smaller we went to find a table. Il Cibo has done that typical hipster coffee shop thing of just finding any random old, rusty stool from the side of the road and putting it next to a log or a door or whatever and expecting people to sit. Now, that’s fine as long as it works, as long as it’s all the right height and you can actually sit on the piece of trash without bruising your arse. After fidgeting in our “chairs” inside we had to move outside, it was unbearable. The chairs outside were no better, they were all old, metal stools of different heights and sizes, I had to swap out a tall one with a wide seat for a short one with a narrow seat because I was hurting my back trying to sit comfortably at the table. Now I’m not joking, I think the chair actually bruised my butt, it had a raised metal rim that was being pressed into me the whole time, it hurt to sit for like a whole day. And I don’t even have a big arse, it was just a shit seat. And I was on it for ages, it took at least 15 minutes before we got our coffee, the place was empty, I could see the girl through the window standing around and it still took 15 minutes. And the shit thing is, it was actually alright, and the bread and butter pudding was okay too. We inhaled our coffee and cake and fucked off out of their like I knew the “barista” wanted us to.

Not going back. Shame. 1/5.

Jacob’s thoughts #10

The Lane Cafe. Again. Sorry.

I have to say I went back to the Lane recently, in Claremont. It was a Saturday, I was out, I was in good spirits. I went to The Lane hoping for a nice coffee and a good slice of homemade cake, you know, the kind that a European grandmother keeps under a tea towel on her dining table because she knows that at any minute her entire family could burst through the front doors, coffee and liqueur in hand, expecting to stay for hours telling stories about when they were children, all the while the french press on the counter is getting worked harder than ever before as the smell of fresh coffee and Amaretto and cake fills the room. You know, that kind of cake.

Anyway, I ordered a Macchiato and a slice of chocolate and almond cake (as I do). I was so disappointed. Firstly, I ordered one piece to share with my girlfriend and they sent two, which I felt obligated to pay for, also it was bloody expensive (about 7-8 bucks each slice as I recall). And it was awful. Just wrong. It was made with really cheap chocolate, I’m talking Black and Gold or Home Brand or something, it just tasted like vegetable fat and sugar. It was topped with a heap of the same chocolate and non-dissolvable icing sugar. The cake itself was hard like butter straight from the fridge and all the almond had sunken to the bottom of the cake to form a nasty, gritty, hard layer at the bottom. It was bad. The coffee was pretty rubbish too, bitter and burnt.

I should mention that they had just reopened after new years and I didn’t recognise any of the staff, maybe they have changed owners or something. I don’t think I’ll be going back.

1/5.

Busy Miss Lizzy.

Well, it’s been a while. I’m not sure when my last post was but I’ve been pretty busy. Working every day, practicing guitar in my spare time. Planning my own wedding. Trying to figure out what I want for my wedding cake (I’m making it myself). Anyway, sorry for the neglect, here are some random things.

These are some lemon cakes, the closest one is going to be the top layer of my wedding cake. Still can’t decide on the filling, could be lemon creme or raspberry jam, fresh raspberries or buttercream, maybe even some sort of raspberry jelly set with agar-agar (It needs to be kept at room temperature after all.

This is a chocolate tart, kind of like a baked chocolate mousse in chocolate short pastry with chocolate ganache, the decoration is white chocolate, macarons and ground pistachio.

Not even half of the macarons I made the other day. Chocolate, Rose/Pistachio, Peppermint/Chocolate, Almond/Blueberry.

Segue…

It’s been so long! I’ve been super busy recently, with work and planning my wedding. I will have another review up soon but until then here is some of the stuff I’ve been doing at work recently.

The shop fridge, this is half a day’s work.

Baked Champagne sponge

Unbaked champagne sponge. Also known as Savoiardi or Ladyfingers. Very tricky to make and pipe, requires a lot of care.

Some cakes, all masked up and ready for chocolate shavings

Fondant topped

Filled choux.

Piped choux pastry, takes care and practice to pipe.

Chocolate mousse cakes and White chocolate/raspberry mousse cakes.

One dozen Petits Fours.

Petit Four tartlettes, cherry, lemon and raspberry.

Australia shaped triple chocolate mousse cake.

Jacob’s thoughts #9

San Churro- Rockingham.

So I went to Rockingham yesterday and out of sheer desperation and longing I decided to go to San Churro. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Rockingham or to San Churro but in my opinion neither are worth the trip. Maybe not all San Churros are the same (although they should be, being a franchise and all) but the one in Rockingham is definitely nothing special. The “rat’s tails” and “mullets” don’t make for a very pleasant cafe experience.

I don’t see the big deal with churros, deep fried dough dipped into chocolate is not very nice, the churros are bland and dry and the chocolate is dark and bitter (I have nothing against couverture chocolate but i found the whole thing a little more palatable after emulsifying mine with some of my coffee and a bit of sugar). The coffee is strong in flavour but not at all pleasant, it’s very dark and bitter and needs to be watered down with quite a lot of milk. The baristas don’t seem to understand the difference between a traditional macchiato and a macchiato “topped up”, in fact I don’t think they understand the different kinds of coffee at all.

I ordered a long macchiato topped up and a brownie. A note to anyone that sells brownies, putting non-dissolvable icing sugar on top doesn’t automatically make it look good, especially when it clumps and falls off and just leaves a floury film on top. Anyway, so I got a brownie, I had to try it.

The brownie from The Attic has been nibbling at my brain, so I thought surely a chocolatier would make a good brownie. It was awful. It was dry and sweet and it smelled. I tasted it and smelled it, trying to figure out it’s mysterious flavour. It was so familiar yet I couldn’t remember why. I passed it around the table to gauge other people’s opinions and then it hit me. Vegemite. It tasted and smelled like it contained Vegemite. I’m not saying it definitely had Vegemite in it but that was all I was getting. The others at the table agreed. I had to take it back, I had to let them know. What if something horrible had happened in the kitchen and they used Vegemite instead of chocolate paste?

I took the 3/4 of a brownie back to the counter and said “This brownie tastes like Vegemite”. Several minutes later a waitress approached my table to discuss the situation. She said “I just talked to the manager and they said the brownies are fresh, did you want a refund? Some people find them too sweet.” To which I replied “I don’t think it’s too sweet, it’s just a little vegemite-y, have you tried them?” Then i was laughed at and called weird. I said “I don’t want a refund, I just thought you should know that they’re not very nice. As a pastry chef I work a lot with chocolate and it’s just my professional opinion.” And that was the end of it. I took a sip of my horrible coffee and I was done.

I don’t think I’ll ever try San Churro again, not when there are small businesses out there doing a far better job.

Chocolateria San Churro- 2/5.

Jacob’s thoughts #8

Cafe 55. Fremantle

So yesterday I finally went back to Freo. I haven’t had a lot of spare time over the last few weeks so I’ve been pretty desperate for a good coffee. Cafe 55 did not disappoint.

It’s a bit of an odd place, it looks like a pretty typical Fremantle cafe except that they serve asian food. I was initially pretty hesitant to go to Cafe 55, I had looked it over and walked past it a few times on my way to other cafes but i have to say it was worth the sit down. The coffee was very good, strong but not bitter, the milk was textured perfectly, the atmosphere was nice (away from the busy Freo centre) and the staff were really friendly.

It is pretty odd though. They serve coffee and milkshakes and things but they also serve breakfasts, toasted sandwiches, rolls and asian food. Like serious curries and laksas and stuff. As hungry as I was and as much as I wanted some awesome asian food, I didn’t try any. I couldn’t even think about having a curry with my coffee. I just knew it would all spontaneously combust in my stomach and there were no toilets in site so I gave it a miss.

I will have to go back though, I’ll need to make two separate trips, one in the morning for coffee and one in the afternoon for laksa. If you’re in Freo and tired of Gino’s not-to-gradual decline in quality and service you should check it out. 3/5.

P.S. I also stopped in at The Attic for a brownie and they’re still freaking amazing.

 

For some reason there was a goat in Fremantle. Maybe it’s the new mascot. It’s got that crazy look in it’s eye.