A Girl Obsessed: Nail Polish Giveaway!

I am a girl obsessed.

Im a girl obsessed with butter and sugar. Im a girl obsessed with my cat, and the cats of others. Im mildly obsessed with doughnuts. Im becoming obsessed with beer making. Im totally obsessed with my bike. Im newly obsessed with wearing a bike helmet.

And Im bonkers obsessed with pretty nail polish and wacko nail design. Im. So. Into it!

I want to share my obsession with you. thats why todays giveaway is four pretty NAIL POLISHES! Lets get those finger nails lookin right! Were pretty and we know it (but were totally not snobby just happen to be pretty, right?)(Pfffftt).

Click on in here, theres lots of nail inspiration to be had.

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below detailing your favorite nail color combination this season. Im into glitter. Its major. Comments close Sunday August 14th at midnight. Winner will be announced next week. Win pretty colors!

Gradual glitter. So easy to do! A little on the thumb, a bit on the index finger.more and more, and pile it on the pinky.

Bling!

Grey and bright pink with a silver stripe!

I had a nice manicure lady do this for me. I dont have that steady a hand.

Goth. No biggie.

Im getting closer and closer to having DMV employee nails. Im so excited!!

Inspired Inspiration!

Cindys Half Moon Mani.

Hey, Nice Nails! Crazytown nail art. Go big.

Fashion inspire Tye-die nails!

4 on 1 nails. ps. Love this blog.

How about some Sophisticated Bling?

Straight Foxy!

Get your obsession going! Its time.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Simply MMMMMM at Simply Mel's

It's exciting enough when friends open cafes and restaurants, but when close friends, who are food bloggers as well, open restaurants, WOW, that sets the bar wayyyy up high.... I can't imagine the stress they have to go through, knowing that all these food bloggers will be descending on you en masse. And not only is the friend a normal friend, (no offence to the rest), she's a CELEBRITY. Phwah.

Drum rolll......presenting SIMPLY MEL'S, at the SPHERE, Bangsar South. Easy parking, great ambience, excellent food, charming hostesses, you see, the set up is run by the Victor family. Aly's mum Mel, (Melba...like Dame Nellie) is the chef behind the fabulous cuisine. In order to preserve her Eurasian heritage and family traditions, she embarked on this mission to celebrate family recipes that have been passed down over 4 generations. In case you're wondering what genre of food we're talking about here, it's Portuguese Eurasian, similar to Peranakan, in some ways. And for those of you closer to schooling age, do you know what year this is? Well, yeah, 2011. What happened 500 years ago? That year that was seared into our minds like a branding iron? 1511?


These Portuguese flers were loading their ships, preparing to sail the vast seas, circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope (Tanjung Harapan).....


Presenting Mrs Vasco De Gama and Mrs Alfonso De Alberqueuque...no la, joking only.


All the way from Aboo Dhabi Doo....


For starters, yummy crab cakes,


And Crispy Chicken Wings. It's screaming out for a beer. If you held it close enough to your ear, you'd hear them flapping, TIGERRRR, TIGGGERRR...





Kangkung Belacan. Now, this place is Anti Carbo's Nightmare, because all this food goes SOOOO well with rice.



Lemongrass Chicken. (and it's not just a whiff).


Assam Prawns. Actually my grandmother used to make something like this. A caramelized assamy sauce, imparting a hint of tang to the prawn.





Chuan Chuan Fish. Black pomfret in black bean sauce. I love this dish!


Devil Curry, I think which has since been renamed Logan's Curry. See Video Below.


Who knew condiments can be so pretty. I think the famous Nigel Skelchy is trying to get this named after himself, since all the other dishes have been bestowed names of Aly's g! ood frie nds.


Black pulut dessert....


Gorgeous Glutinous Rice Colored by the Clitoria...slathered with homemade Kaya.


And my all time favourite, Sago Gula Melaka.

The gorgeous mural that adorn the place were apparently painted by fellow blogger's fiancee, Haze Long. Such talent that girl. Wonder how she fits all that brain into her slim head.




Unfortunately her madge, AWHIFFOFLEMONGRASS couldnt stay for the group pic, so we just had to photoshop her in.

PART 2 - The Food Review Session.



Now, I am jumping queue in my blogging ! backlog, because Simply Mel's has RAMADHAN buka puasa specials, and we're already halfway through RAMADHAN, so I thought I better do this quick. There are three sets, RM38++ for Serai Chicken, Kembung Rebus, Kangkong Belacan and Rice, and Sago Dessert,
RM48++ for Beef Curry Malayu, Kembung Rebus, Kacang Bendi Udang Kering & Rice, and Pulut Hitam, and
RM58++ for Pineapple Curry With Prawn, Kembung Rebus, Kacang Botol Sambal, & Pulut Hitam & Fruits for Dessert.


A hot date, to buka with? Glutinous rice, and ondeh ondeh. Sugar rush after a long day of fasting.

Actually, we were split into two groups for the sampling, one group had the buka puasa sets, while we had the alacarte.


Some ulams with sambal belacan.


Crab Stuffing. Such a labour of love. Peeling crab and serving them to someone is definitely a labour of love. Crab shells stuffed with fresh crabmeat, diced turnip, carrots, prawns and onions! Soooo good.


Chicken Seybah. Normally made with oink, but this chicken substitute is also very delicious. Traditionally served for festive occasions, because it goes well with plonk.






Mel's Malacca Laksa. Lovely thick curry gravy. I would have preferred yellow mee than meehoon though. Don't know if there's such an option.



Buah Keluak Curry. Ah, my favourite. The nuttiness of the Keluak Nut, a tough nut to crack, with the curry, simply divine. Jason, the supernutcracker, managed to crack the keluak with his bare hands. He the man.


Lemak Assam Prawn. Rice with this dish is a must.

Apparently this dish has been named Meena's Ketiak. Oops, Keluak. Grrr...





Sambal Kacang Botol.


Sambal Terung. A must for brinjal lovers.


OHHHHHHHHHHH, TONGUEEEEE!!!! Ox Tongue Semur. Mel simmers the tongue for hours until it is tender. I want this dish named after me. I love tongue. I must have tongue.


Eggs are always welcome.


Deconstructed Keluak.


The uncooked Ke! luak upc lose. What does it look like?


Mel's Traditional Butter Cake and Chocolate Cake below. Very homemade, very comforting.













That there is a gorgeous antique pic of Mel as a baby, and below, ahem, Mel with you know who.

Eating in a big group is especially fun when you are trying

Eating in a big group is especially fun when you are trying out a new place; technically the best time that I can sample as many dishes without coming back the second or third time. However, have you ever faced a dilemma as to who should do the ordering or what should be ordered?


Usually, I do the ordering after asking what are the must haves and the don't wants around the table. That night, I decided I become diplomatic and got everyone to choose a dish. Whether that was such a good idea, lets take a look at what we were up to at Glamorous Wok, a new Taiwanese restaurant in town, a place you can't get a table at without a booking.

Similar to the concept we get in the shopping centres of Kuala Lumpur, the place feels fresh, new and modern with a colour printed menu (with a number of spelling errors). Compared to the dated places that has already been around for donkey years, it appeals in that sense.

One of the must have dishes when it is available is the simple poached chicken. This was done quite well but with such a long period between eating it and writing about it, the taste of it has become quite a blur. However, I do know that this was one of the better dishes that night.

The problem lies when you let each person dictate what they want to eat is allowing someone to order the above. The pig intestines were cooked in a gingery soup, which doesn't sound the most palatable dish and also tasted in the same manner. Despite the strong ginger, the slightly foul flavour from the intestines was still obvious, rendering this dish only for the serious offal fan.

I like variety, including meats but another problem with letting everyone choose a dish, is a replication of meats. However that may not be a bad thing as the three cup chicken with stick sweet sauce and basil leaves was a good choice too. Probably one of the most authentic versions I had in Brisbane so far.

The bean curd has a silky thick corn starch sauce with a topping of minced fish meat. This was one of the better dishes, calm and mild, and I must say a genius idea to put it on individual spoons.

A very dis! appointi ng dish; on paper it sounded brilliant; salted egg yolks and bitter gourd. While we all had in mind something that was stir fried, it came in a pool of sauce that was frankly quite putting off.

With a roller coaster of a food experience, we ended with a high, the beans looked deep fried and tossed with minced meat. Like I have always said before, anything deep fried is always healthy.

Fast forward a month or two, we recently popped back to the restaurant but was faced with a full house, so clearly they are doing something right. It might be worthwhile to pop by again to see if the dishes are more consistent or a case of knowing what to order.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3 stars out of 5 stars. Not the best meal that night unfortunately, but there is certainly some potential with some dishes and the constant crowd.