C'est LA viE

Is long weekend this week, it is Queen’s Birthday on Monday, (aka: Public Holiday!!)

However, I am not going anywhere this time, as is June now, which mean, it’s the transition phase now. Well, for u who not understand what I mean, FYI, my current contract is expired soon in July and I am still struggling to get a new contract. In order to play safe, as my pre-planning personality, I decided to save money and not going anywhere. Moreover, I am really worried about my further step, and I do not have a good mood to travel atm.

Therefore, I just went to Welly for a day trip with Nicole. If I have received plans earlier, my long weekend would have been more fantastic. I received invitations from Carmen and Yen at last minute, Carmen was inviting me to Rotoroa for spa (where I really want to go since long time ago!), and yen asked me to join her to Welly for overnight, and listen to a talk on the next day which I also very interested. But I ald promised Nicole to join her for the short trip.

Anyways, it was a fun trip today.

My big breakfasts! I love they include spinach, and the whole mushroom in it. But, in terms of potatoes, I preferred hash brown. =P.

The café has a good dining atmosphere, I love the interior design so much.

And we also met this super adorable kid, is just a random child from the next table of us. Unlike other kids who afraid of strangers, he could be considered super-friendly and always smile! He approached us, and gave us rose petals! =D

U can tell he loves the camera!

Then, we continued our trip to Wellington and arrived in 2 hrs later.

Our first stop is at the Asian bakery, then followed by the Korean shop. I bought a big bucket of kimchi, u can tell how desperate I was. Shortly, Nicole’s junior come to join us and we basically just walked around and chit-chat a bit.

Actually the main purpose for this trip is to EAT! Lol. So, is dinner time, we do skip the entire lunch as the breakfast really stayed.

This is my dinner: Malaysian nasi lemak, is at a restaurant called Little Penang. Well, is the best nasi lemak so far I tried in NZ, but not very great. I just very picky when it comes to hometown food~, especially u paying triple the price, PLUS NZ CURRENCY! Nicole ordered Penang Asam laksa, and she said it was better than the one she tasted at Penang. Well, I guest is depends on the preference. As I tried their Penang Cha Kuey Tew last time, it was awful, but seems like Nicole quite enjoying it.

We dint eat much this time (but actually still a lot), because we still have next eating plan! Yakitori house (actually also can be considered a Izakaya!!!!

Yes finally! I have been waiting this for so long!! I am now calling myself a die-hard Japan fan. I found this Yakitori restaurant at Wellington called Kazu last month on the food blog, and was so craving for their taiyaki dessert and willing to pay a visit just for a meal here!

I nearly got disappointed at first, cause we dint book a table, and it was so full when we first arrived. Then we decided to come back again later, thanks Nicole, u really knew what I want.

We hanged out at the Deluxe theatre while waiting until 8pm. Apparently there was a movie premier, and so many people dressed up and two guys (I can tell they were drunk) approached us and talked to us. Yes, this is very common in NZ, and in Welly. Drunken people just become friendly and talkative. Well, but not everyone, some could be very aggressive and exposed their racisms. Yea, I really think that they (not all) have this dislike-feeling towards us (Asian) although they pretending welcoming us.

Ok, back to Kazu Yakitori bar around 8pm, and we were very lucky, we got seats by the bar! We ordered so much food, and honestly, the food was very costly. I paid around NZD50 for food and sake…..TT

Back to the food I paid tonight:

The first food I ordered was this Takowasabi, which is actually raw squid seasoning in wasabi. Well, I actually just able to pick up raw meat after I come NZ, but this was the first time I tried raw squid. If u asked me if it was good or not, I will answer: depends…. Well, I don’t like it very much, but still able to eat it. It was quite fishy, or squidy? LOL. Anyways, I was grateful that at least the raw squid did not move….FYI, there’s a dish in Korea named san ojingeo, the feature of this dish is, the fresh raw squid tentacles continue moves when it served, and they still moving in your mouth when u consume them! I am never going to try that! So I guess this takowasabi was my first as well as last one I ordered by myself.

Then here comes my yakitori sticks: Omakase which is the most popular combo. It contains chicken thighs with yakitori sauce, beef scotch fillet with original blend pepper, tuna with wasabi sauce, prawn with seared garlic soy mayo and egg plant. I love the tuna stick the most, never tried tuna skewer before, it was so yummy!

Nicole’s spicy soft shell crabs. It was alright, not very brilliant.

Then I was struggling to get a tamagoyaki dish but eventually decided to order a chicken karaage. I had been craving for chicken karaage for quite some time because there were no nice chicken karaage (so far as I knew) in Palmy.

However, this chicken karaage actually was not very ‘satisfying’, is just normal. I missed the chicken karaage I tried in Dunedin Japanese restaurant which was cooked by Korean. WTH? It is just because I never tried the ordinary chicken karaage? I don’t think so. I think is just the texture problem, more likely is due to the chicken itself.

Anyways, lastly, this was the main "dish" for us: Taiyaki with green-tea ice-cream!

OMG, the taiyaki is so good!! It was crunchy and hot, and the anko (red bean) paste is just perfect, not too sweet~ Damn yummy!!

I am so happy, and up in the sky! And here are some photos of the bar atmosphere:

Anyways, I expected. U can tell I am those kinds of people who don’t care about the price when it’s come to food. Some personal values inherited from my dad, I am willing to pay for food other than anything else! This perception of the food value became even higher as soon as I started working and earning money by myself. An important part of my life is enjoying the food I like because I am a foodie ^^However, I must strongly emphasized that I am not people who simply wasting money, I do save money, and save a lot. I appreciated what I gained and also treasured the efforts my parents brought me to this stage.

We also ordered sake, this is a MUST. I actually was also interested with the plum wine, beer, and Japanese cocktail, but I will try it next time if I can come again. Well, is weird to come here by myself, and is even harder to get people to join me because the food is not cheap.

So, this magnificent yakitori bar experience ended my wellington day trip, we headed back Palmy around 10pm. Thanks to Nicole, being a food company, as well as drive bravely in the night!