Month: May 2017

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Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick 

gwenewg

I am not your crazy fanatic that would purchase 100 colors and swatch them for you. As much as I would like to assist you but I do not have the financial privileged to do so.
I picked up two colors from the comfort matte range.

Thryst – slightly pinkish red

714 – darker red

One thing I’ve learned, DO NOT TRUST the color on the packaging box. Because sometimes they have been exposed to light and the color on the packaging fades. For example, 714 looks slightly orange but it isn’t.

Swatches


As you can see 714 had an orange undertone but has a brighter red finishing to it.
UD also has the metallic finish liquid lipsticks, but I didn’t purchase any of it because it isn’t something I could wear on a daily basis.

As compared to the other liquid lipsticks, UD has not failed in terms of pigmentation and it comes with the standard applicator which is pretty easy and handy to apply it on. It takes quite a while to dry up to a matte finish (about 5 mins) so there’s no worries about the lipstick drying on the tube or applicator on a daily wear but of course nobody leaves it open for a long time. There wouldn’t be any guarantee on that. 


Anyone tried it yet?

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Autumn leaves at Mount Wilson – Blue Mountains 

gwenewg

The end of Autumn is almost here.


The road trip up to Blue Mountains last weekend was spontaneous and breathe-taking

It felt like a painting or a wallpaper.

When the Autumn leaves of red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green and brown waiting to fall off is a sight you’ll never forget.

We only went to the Bebeah garden at Mount Wilson Village which was a 12 acre garden with an entry fee of $8

As most gardens here are private, so the owner has the right to charge you for an entry fee. Some are even $16 for adult..
Blue mountains is huge and i will be awaiting for more trips there.

Food

GPO Cheese & Wine Room #GwenFood

gwenewg

If you’re into Cheese and Wine, then you’d be in for what’s coming up next.

Valentines Day happens to be Anniversary Day for us so we get to have TWO dinners. (We all have to eat don’t we?)

So for the first place which we went on Valentine’s Day itself, H brought me to GPO Cheese & Wine Room which is at the basement/underground of Martin Place.

Four weeks being here and the one place I love to sit during the afternoons or late evening is Martin Place. Being surrounded by it’s heritage building, with such nice view to get yourself lost into.

Being located right in the middle of Sydney CBD, it’s not difficult to find, but the fact that it’s in the basement/underground, maybe some lost little souls would find it difficult to spot it. It doesn’t exactly have a huge signboard at the front entrance as well.

H made a booking at 8.15pm due to it’s limited seats. So if you’re planning to try it out, it would be advisable to make a booking rather than walking in. Because we were the second seatings, we had to wait a little while for them to clear and set the tables for us.

Unfortunately, it was Valentine’s Day, and as all/most restaurants, they have special (restricted) menus for the day.

 Entree looks appealing, I was stuck in a dilemma between Grilled Scallop (Yummy), or the Antipasto Board to Share.

I always have problems deciding on my Mains. Whether to get the steak, or grilled salmon or try something new. And that Cheese Fondue was appealing too!

Desserts oh desserts, don’t we always have space for them as well?

So after much silence discussion and whispering with H on what to order or to share.

We’ve decided on….

ENTREE:

Antipasto Board to Share

Kurobuto Cantipalo Salami, Mortadella, Brillant-Savarin Triple Cream (France), Reypenaer Gouda (The Netherlands) and semi-dried Tomatoes

Now we figured that this is a Cheese and Wine restaurant and the name says it all. Why would we be ordering something that they aren’t famous for? That’s like walking into a burger joint ordering fried rice.

Mains:

Truffle Cheese Fondue

This fondue combines the rich, earthy flavours of Brie Coulommiers aux Truffles with a silky, French Secret de Scey

Dessert

Milk or Dark Chocolate Fondue Dessert Board for Two

Served with Banana, Marshmallows, Pear, Amaretti, Biscotti, Walnuts and Fresh Strawberries

We almost went for the Cheese Board for Two but after having Cheese for Entree and a Cheese Fondue for Main, we decided to indulge in a chocolate fondue to have a little balance with our meal before it gets too cheesy.

I really enjoyed the dinner and would rate it an 8/10.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Please bear in mind that this is a personal preference and it’s my own personal review on this. I am not paid to advertise or talk about this and I do not speak for the public.

Before I give my opinion I would like to mention that I love Cheese. I love my cheese and all cheese like how Jerry the mouse loves his cheese. My love for cheese is also one of the reason why H picked this restaurant. If cheese isn’t your thing, then i’d suggest you try the other dishes on the menu. As i’ve always said and mentioned, everyone is different and it’s just a personal preference. Just like how I don’t enjoy sourdough, eggplant, beer, and the list goes on.

I’d have to give a thumbs up to the Mains which was the Truffle Cheese fondue. That’s because

I ♡ Truffle and I ♡ Cheese. How is that not a perfect combination? Truffle has a very strong distinct taste to it just like cheese and I know many people who don’t enjoy Truffles or cheese as well. But if you’re into both, this would be something you have to try and you’ll enjoy it too.

Prior to this, I’ve always heard of Chocolate Fondue, but who knew about Cheese Fondue? I didn’t even understand how it works or how it would taste like until I’ve tried it and boy was it amazing!!

So if you’re up to try Cheese Fondue or have not tried cheese fondue, or you just want to enjoy some nice cold cuts cheese platters, I’d say give it a try.

GPO Cheese and Wine 

RESTAURANT OPENING HOURS

Lunch: Mon – Fri  12pm – 3pm
Dinner:  Mon – Sat  6pm – 10pm

RETAIL CHEESE & BOTTLE SHOP OPENING HOURS

Mon – Fri  12pm – 3pm
Mon – Sat  6pm – 10pm

BOOKINGS OR ENQUIRIES

+61 2 9229 7701

FUNCTION ENQUIRIES

+61 2 9229 7729

LOCATION:

Food

Knafeh for the first time #gwenfood 

gwenewg

Now how do you pronounce “knafeh”?
P/S. It’s not a trick question.

Last weekend was the final week of April and we decided to use our Groupon-purchased wet’n’wild Sydney tickets before they close the place for winter season. After all, we’ve paid for it.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a gopro or a waterproof camera with us, therefore no pics of all the fun we have in Wet’n’wild
When everything ended at 5pm, H decided to go to Knafeh which was just 10 mins drive away from where we were. Figured since we were an hour away from home, why not.

According to H, it’s not that easy to spot Knafeh or be around then unless you’re on the hunt or you’re willing to drive far out to some random quiet suburbs. But if you’re really keen and interested, you can follow their instagram page where they update where they are located at.

They’ve got two instagram pages

@knafehbakery

@knafehsydney
No idea why they have two different pages 🙄

They don’t have a specific store/location/branch, they’ve got a container-looking storage-box like thing that they use a truck to pull them around.

It’s amazing how a group of guys came up with this idea.
These bearded singing, dancing guys aren’t just pumping up your energy but also cooking you a simple but yet de-licious dessert – knafeh, or known as kunafeh as well.

These look like the “apong-balik”/ 大块面 you get from the Malaysia pasar-malam in peanut flavour (I really thought his would have peanut when I first saw it)

But Knafeh/kunafeh is actually a Jerusalem dessert that is like a cheese pastry. The main ingredient in this is:

  • Sugar
  • Cheese
  • Pistachio
  • Rose water
  • Kaymark

Words can’t even describe how amazing this dish was. It doesn’t taste like the usual cheese tart or cheese cake you get where it’ll be so cheesy you get sick of it after a while.
You seriously need to try to to be able to evaluate it yourself.

*I highly recommend this*

And oh-boy, if I could have it everyday it would be so sinful.

If you happen to be around where they are, you HAVE to try them out.

They first started in Sydney, then to Melbourne, and then all the way across ocean to New York


Let’s see if you would be lucky enough and for those who have tried it, was it a hit or miss for you?