charles inn dining room roasted breast of magret duck

We recently had our civil ceremony in this beautiful British inn called the Charles Inn. We had the place virtually to ourselves as it was the low season. The hotel staff was attentive, courteous and friendly. Eventhough the weather wasn't on our side (it was pouring buckets), I couldn't have asked for a better day.

We were so pre-occupied the whole day that we went straight to dinner without having lunch. We were starving. Luckily, we were the first to arrive for dinner. The waiter was attentive, prompt and cheerful, he took the time to explain everything to us.

The Charles Inn Dining Room, like the rest of the hotel, was decorated in this tasteful, elegant way, with crystal chandeliers hanging on the ceiling.

sweet soy caramelised pork

With the universities in Australia, engineering students have to have work experience of at least 3 months before they are allowed to graduate. I was one of those students in Kalgoorlie getting some work experience. I stayed at this residence / dorm called the Agricola College while the local students were home for the summer break and only us vacation work students were there.

Those three months consisted of students having lots of booze and doing lots of crazy things, except me of course, because I am such a good girl. One of the students staying there was this guy from mainland China, let's just call him mr. box for convenience sake (sorry I can't remember your name!). Since we were both very budget conscious, we seemed to cook together in the afternoons every 3-4 days. He cooked almost every day and cooked stir fry mostly, whereas I would cook something that I could store and eat for at least 3-4 days straight. I'm lazy if you haven't noticed.

One day I saw he had this pork dish that smelled absolutely marvellous that required almost no effort. There's a lot of waiting around, but I watched TV while waiting for the dish to finish. This recipe actually is very similar, yet quite different, to my grandmother's sweet soy pork (babi kecap). Since I don't know how to cook hers, I cook this one.

Cooked the pork without the fat for my husband who hates pork with fat, it just didn't taste the same to me, too dry, not succulent

hearty tofu & pork

This is another simple recipe from my late grandmother. She was such a gem. Every time I visited her, she would make this tofu & pork for me because it's my absolute favourite. Each and every grandchildren in our family has their own favourites, and everytime they visited her, she would make it for them. That was how she was, a doting grandmother. Every time I make this dish (which is quite often because it's so easy), I would remember how much joy she brought and all the funny little things that she said.

congee dynasty shredded chicken & duck with egg super bowl congee

I've tried Congee Wong a few times before and found the food to be great but service poor. This time, I tried Congee Dynasty because it's close by. Similar to Congee Wong, Congee Dynasty's food is hearty and its portion huge.


Our shredded chicken & duck with egg super bowl congee came quite promptly. I loved the roast duck in the congee, making it something special. It was just the two of us eating and when we were finished we had two container-full of congee left, and we are no lightweights either. I was not exaggerating when I said the portion is huge.

newbie kimchi pork

I was first introduced to kimchi when I was in China. There were so many Koreans studying in the university that quite a few restaurants nearby were Korean, plus the first few friends I made were Korean. So, it was inevitable for me to love the food. Kimchi is not something I liked straight away though, it takes a bit of getting used to. And, every kimchi is different, different restaurant will have different tasting kimchi. So, I may like this restaurant's kimchi, but I may not love another's.

One kimchi brand that I like is the Chongga kimchi. I think it's because it is the most popular kimchi brand, so they try not to make it too strong, to appeal to all taste buds. It sure works for me.

After almost a few months immersed in the whole kimchi culture, I made this recipe up using kimchi as the main ingredient. This recipe is not authentic Korean, so don't crucify me for it. I just love it for its simplicity.