Saturday 17th October


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Thursday 15th October




In celebration of my last class for my course we went to Pierre Roelofs’ Dessert Evenings at Fancy Nance. Located in South Yarra in the lane before Burch & Purchase this place is only open every fortnight on a Thursday evening. 



A clean quirky wonderland feel with pink flamingos, giant toadstools paired with white tablecloths set the scene for tonight's adventure. We're just missing fake green grass. 





Background - "After five years running Dessert Evenings at Fitzroy’s Rosamond, pastry chef Pierre Roelofs has “grown up” and will be taking up residency at Adriano Zumbo’s new venue, Fancy Nance... Running every second Thursday... the menu will feature three courses of dessert as well as one of Roelofs’ famous dessert tubes. 

Pierre has worked at Michelin Star-rated restaurants The Vineyard at Stockcross, The Fat Duck and a little place in Spain called El Celler de Can Roca - recently ranked the world's number one." - Broadsheets

No I didn't get a picture of Pierre. :P 


First up was their famous and awesome dessert tube, it's not the B&P variety but a small flat based test tube with the diameter of your middle finger.

The menu changes each fortnight, which is each time they're open (yes only once every two weeks on a Thursday) and tonight it's a raspberry cheesecake tube! Did you know we have cheap raspberries and other berries back home?

Back to the tube. Served chilled you dip it into a beaker with very warm water for 3 seconds and then suck it. It was awesome!  







Orange creme (custard), orange marshmallow, caramel jelly, vanilla gel, vanilla meringue (???) This is what the menu tells me the dish is. It's quite interesting, what I describe vs what the menu tells us it is. 

I thought it was salted caramel meringue and jelly w Vanilla cream, custard drops and coconut marshmallow. Yum! I love coconut and vanilla, while he loves salted c so this dish was perfect! Only wished there was more :P 




Third course ice cream, passionfruit with a ricotta on the bottom and topped with a coconut crumble, within the ice cream there was something that reminded me of cereal, crispy spheres. Smooth, pearls and crumbly cheese. Yum. Though I'm not sure about the cheese, that was a weird combo. 




The fourth dish was too complex with too many elements for me to describe. It was a cheesecake, not NY style or baked though. Not spongy or doughy, but similiar to something else. There was purply-pink cubes of ice cream, banana creme and slices and dry cake crumbs. It was interesting, but I didn't love it. It would rank 4th with everything else we tried tonight.



No. 1 and 2 was my favourites, the ice cream was very good too but a bit simple for the level that everything else was on.

Mother was my +1 tonight as everyone else was working or at a work thing. Her comments were: music style was not classical - her choice, everything was slow and the water tasted funny, also she wanted everything served one right after the other, and everything was too sweet (she doesn't need to try it to know that life is sweet). She also said they take ages (no it was not ages, normal people talk during dessert, we don't) to serve each dish, so they can charge more for parking... 

At the end of evening she rinsed her mouth at the table and gargled the water before spitting it back into the glass. Why? Because she said it tasted like chlorinated tap water. So the next time anyone asks why she's not invited that's why. And the funny thing is she's not a hillbilly (though she sure acts like one), she's a health lecturer back home and here. 




Everything was very good, but worth $65? Hmm... depends on who you ask. If you're a massive fan of fine dining perhaps. For me, it was a very good experience with matching service, but it's a bit much. For dessert I'd prefer to get some slices from Luxbite or tubs from B&P. Alice, my friend who's a chef might have a different option with greater understanding of the skills required to create these dishes. 

Every fortnight, Pierre creates a new menu, three courses and a dessert tube. It's a pop-up with Fancy Nance playing host, the 4 course dessert degustation costs $65 and will take you about an hour. 

As it is a degustation, eat dinner before you come, but not to a level where you need to be rolled to your next event. XD



Thanks Melbourne To Do for the tickets! 

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Wednesday 14th October




In partnership with Yelp x Chillbro have a free popsicle deal. This one's a winner. Perfect size for a diet too. All you have to do is check-in on the app. Which turned out to be a real challenge for me as I used a signal scrambler so they can't track me via my phone. Yes I am a bit paranoid, and up myself to think I'm important enough to be stalked, but just in case. :P



Why do apps need to suck all the info out of your phone and watch you? Granted snapchat is a bad example as it actually does need the camera, but there are many apps that don't.

Work shortened by tech issues. I do miss the American accent, the artists we're working with are from NY. Flashing lights and synch, pretty awesome. Since that was short and we were already in the city work sent us out for a great night.



Work sent us to a circus/cabaret show which was amazing! It even included a few acts I've never seen before/that are rare like sword swallowing, fire eating and acts on bendy poles. 



LIMBO’s stunning international cast features: Coney Island’s sword swallower, Heather Holliday; French gravity-defying Chinese pole master, Mikael Bres; Australia’s dancing sensation Hilton Denis; the exquisite French-Canadian aerialist, Evelyne Allard; the unstoppable hand balancer Danik Abishev; and German mind-bending contortionist, Tigris.


I'm loving my new Limequat Candlette from Sohum, mini size $10 and smells citrusy and like pineapple! Well Baby Pineapple, Grapefruit, Coconut Creme, Sicilian Lime, Clementine, White Vodka. The full size candle is $32 and reeds $35. I might get the reeds as a house warming present for myself :P

We're looking at moving to the dorms soon, like mid-November soon.

Thursday

Finishing college is very different to high school, as everyone has different classes there's no groups and that class feel. No one cries, there's no dress up day and you get invited to graduation 6mths after you actually finish.



Before dessert we went to class for our last class ever, and then to Myer for their pre-racing event, Myer's Spring Racing Night of Style. There was pamper stations (hair, make-up, nails, massage) a flower headpiece workshop, what to wear talks and a few canapes floating around.



We couldn't find dessert but we found salads in a jar! There was also hot chips, but we couldn't find the source of them. 

The one talk I went to was running 15mins late and some of the models were a no show, hence I didn't have as much time as I wanted to see/buy everything. Oh and there was bubbles, there always is, and sparkling water. Which I don't actually like. 




Dessert at Fancy Nance in celebration of my last class (unless my career fails and I go back). I still have three projects I'm working on. But for now a celebration of the last class. There'll be a full post coming up soon.

Saturday

Running late for class we didn't go, as last time it finished early, but I shall call and ask for the notes.



We chilled at the office for most of the morning and had spaghetti/meatballs for lunch. I didn't like it, the meat was weird and lacked flavour and the sauce was watery with too much capsicum.







Next we trotted to Chinatown, why trot? I'm wearing heels and they hurt. I took a picture as evidence for my teacher too. Sadly cutard puff balls were closed as they were sold out. So instead I took Lola to the Durian Place. I love durian btw, and it seems I'm the only white person who does :P






Next we went to the theatre to see 'You are nowhere' no where or now here? It's up the audience. I didn't get it, but I did like the bit where they danced. :P Freud liked it, and said it was sci-fi where the main guy is dead and his life flashed before his eyes. We were invited by my friend the workaholic, Emma, hence we rarely ever see her.  


Back to the city we went to dinner, at a new place that just opened up 2 days ago! I'm rarely (never) one to rush in when they first open, but this place was different. I knew the food was going to be good. 









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Sunday 4th October




The best way to spend an afternoon, with the romantic composers including the later works of Beethoven. A competition with different instruments performing different pieces.  How does one compare guitars to voice and piano? Guitar and 2nd piano guy won. All the finalist (performers) were guys with a girl guest performance to make up for the lack of girls?



Drinks afterwards. I'll take a choc milkshake with a mint leaf. Service was busy and so slow half the ice melted before I gave up. From now on it's byo mint.





Off the the beach then average fish and chips. Then to ice cream, regular flavor but ramped up through presentation, textures and color. Connoisseur chocolate but not as rich. 





Milk chocolate base, caramel popcorn,sour coke bottles, sprinkles (100s & 1000s), gummy bears, home-made cotton candy! Served with buttered popcorn nitro-smoke.




Monday

It's summer today at 35. Off to the dentist for 6 shots and half a clean, and it still hurts! Hence we do half at a time.

Bubble cup along the way, red milk tea. Less ice 75% sugar. Room temp. Not nice. Needs to be cold and more sugar.

Home to book all the November events including three days at the races (working).



New month new studio. I do have a favorite though am not particularly a loyal customer, I bounce from place to place though always go back to my favorite. Why? Because most places have a starter deal, $25 unlimited classes for the first month.

At the moment it's 3 nights a week, when I signed up it was 4 nights. But now might go down to 2 if they don't get enough numbers, doubt they will as no one but the grandparents go dancing on a Friday night when they go every other night. So it's only two days a week, so I need to go to another studio at the same time but then there's clashes. Cause days are either mon/wed or tues/thu, not mon/tues.

So how'd it go? Small classes 6 and 7. First class no sweat, second more intense which included the crab walk. Bus always comes 20mins after class so I probably should always plan something to do during that time.

On the way down security says hi again? He thought I just walked past XD Mistaken for another blonde in a floral dress? From his expression he realized I wasn't the same blonde who walked past before because of my accent XD 

Tuesday

I think I'm a bit of a freeloader when it comes to ballroom... Sushi chef doesn't agree. I have no sense of direction and have a vague (though sometimes good imo) idea of the steps but struggle with techniques.

This month we're at a different studio where you need to byo man but I didn't so the teacher has to dance with two girls. The focus is different.  He teaches the technical parts that is for the advanced class where we usually go. So it turns out yes I am a freeloader, for two years I've been doing it wrong. Hoping beyonce will notice that I've been working on it, when I return :P

I'm missing the others though, playing passive bumper cars, surprise turns and speeding around the corner. I suppose this is the closest I'll ever get to the feeling others get from leaving a school that they've been at for a very long time, or a place where they feel like they belong. 

Thursday



Thursday was a busy day where I felt feverish. We posted a gift exchange, went to Priceline (50% off haircare!), stopped by Chemist Warehouse where it was too hot and there wasn't enough air. And then back to the office for lunch. 


Lunch was a tuna and tomato sandwich. Yuck! I hate tuna and fresh tomato. I took a bite but the smell made me feel sick. 

Lay down for a couple hours, missed class!

Off to an event, on the way we stopped by a few shops, and then after wandered through Myer & Target in search of the scrapbook. We found a $4 satin covered lined journal which looks like it belonged to a wedding collection.



At Target we found... red glitter foam! With a sticky back. $3 was what it scanned as. I might be back for more. It came in a pack, as seen in the picture above.

Back to the event. Mini Latif the founder of Ottoman3 Nail & Brow Bar gave us a demonstration to threading and there were refreshments, coffee and turkish delight! There was also a offer for attendees (free tint with threading) as well as giveaways.



I have never won a raffle before O.O ever. My specialization is 25WOL, not random chance. But tonight I won my very first lucky dip! I won the grand prize which was a set of things to use on/for your brows worth $175!

How it worked was everyone got a raffle ticket as they came, but a lot of people left before the end when the raffle was drawn.

And the rest of the week we spent asleep, missed a performance, went to a resume workshop and hibernated as there was a wedding expo on and we had tickets. 

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