Dessert at N2 Extreme Gelato

It baffles me that I've walked along Dixon Street so many times in my junior years the past, and yet I've never stumbled across N2 Extreme Gelato.

Worth the hype? Maybe.

*Apologies in advance for the shocking quality of the photos

Ordering the deconstructed macchiato, the gelato was pretty smooth and delicious. The syringe of chocolate was a lovely novelty that shot forth mini squirts of chocolate sauce. Combined with the sight of liquid nitrogen flowing everywhere, it was quite a sight to see and I'm glad I had finally made it to this hyped up place.

Indeed the icecream was good, but Westfield's Via del Corso and Gelato Messina are equally excellent gelato establishments (and were it not for the novelty aspect, Via del Corso's green tea and Messina's tiramisu and raspberry sorbets are my undoubted favourites)

Dinner at Madam Nhu Surry Hills

Reuniting with the majority of Michael's 4U gang and lone individuals (looking at you Nat Dam and Helena) from other classes, we had a cute dinner at Madam Nhu where we merrily sipped away at pinot gris and consumed fresh summer rolls, tofu and too many dishes that I TeHe (and others) diligently ordered whilst I was chatting away with Cwilson.

Located just a short walk away from Central station, Madam Nhu is tucked away on a little corner that strikes me as odd that I haven't seen it before. After walking in with a gang of 8 with no reservations, we briefly lingered at bar stools before we were given a table and left to inspect the drink and food menus. Unfortunately we had gone on a Monday, so cocktails were unavailable, but in true classy fashion we all felt like some white wine and went along with a bottle of pinot gris.

Amongst a flurry of summer rolls, we got the BBQ duck fillet summer rolls with hoisin sauce, salad summer rolls w/ hoisin sauce and crispy shiitake spring rolls w/ green chilli sauce. The rolls were all very fresh and crunchy, the accompanying sauces were packed full of flavour and the assortments of vegetables and vermicelli gave each roll a lovely variety in texture - not to mention the serving portions were absolutely perfect for a group as big as our own! It didn't seem like I had an outright favourite, but I think I liked the shiitake spring rolls the best.

For the mains, we shared the bun bo grilled beef and salad, Madame's Fried Chicken (aka MFC), silken tofu with sichuan pepper salt and chilli and salt and pepper squid with shallot and chilli. The bun bo grilled beef salad was absolutely delicious. It was fresh, light, flavoursome, the meat was amazingly seasoned, the noodles perfectly cooked and cooled and (once again) the serving portions were just right. I have to admit that Madame's Fried Chicken was a bit of a let down given how much hype is given about them in the blogosphere and I didn't really enjoy it that much - in fact, opposite to what everyone raves about, on the night that we went I found that the chicken was a tad too chewy and the whole dish was a bit greasy. The salt and pepper squid, albeit quite tasty, was also a bit of a let down only on the basis that it was a bit too battery for my liking - but it was nonetheless very nice and I chomped down more than a few pieces eagerly.

The restaurant itself is very small and cute, somewhere where you could get loud (like our own table of 8) and enjoy a cosy and intimate dinner should you wish to have one. Seemingly very popular with locals, there appeared to always be a few people waiting for a table and upon leaving at around 8, a short line had formed at the door (maybe because people were trying to escape the dismal weather with a hot bowl of pho).

A very casual little place to eat, very much in sync with the vibe of Surry Hills itself, I'm currently on a look out for more places like this that take the atmosphere of casual dining more associated with places for brunch and cafes, to a dinner context and environment.

Bicycling through Manly

The other day when it was a sweltering 32 degrees, we inconveniently decided that we wanted to go scenic cycling at Manly. Driving around Manly in circles in search for more than 2 hour parking, we finally disembarked and went off to find Manly Bike Tours to rent our bikes. We embarked on a lovely self-guided tour which involved me cursing and crashing into little kids due to my absolute incompetence as a cyclist, falling off my bike too many times, bumping into walls and continually apologising for pedestrians who were forced to leave the footpath because of my lack of skill in cycling slowly in a straight line. A little bushwalk led us to a beautiful place (which I can't remember what the name was at all! From memory I thought it was called Queens Cliff lookout or something along those lines but Google has informed me that that is incorrect so now I'm not too sure). Anyway, would highly recommend it! It's an amazing way to see Manly and especially when you get onto the Scenic Drive, the smooth ground and wind through your hair feels pretty damn good. And great beer and German food post-cycle can be found at Manly too!

Happy 18th Cwilson!

M'dear Christie Wilson. 

It's strange that when I think back, we always somehow knew each other in Year 7 (or 8?) but we never were really that close until maybe Year 10. 

You are a top notch friend, unfailingly considerate and tactful, someone I can call up and vent the petty irritations that I have all the time every now and again, a person who has ridiculous moral integrity (ooh what a term, but honestly, there aren't many people I know who encompasses the phrase 'to be a moral compass') and someone who I will share many a breakfast and lunch with on Camperdown this year.

A Biased Third Party's Guide to Choosing Your University

Sure thing! Just to break it down a bit for you (and make it a bit more interesting) instead of just going hardcore with how much I love USyd, I'll try and give an even comparison between USyd and UNSW (which were in essence the only unis on my preference list); so that you can make 'an informed choice' regarding where you'll be spending 3 or more years for tertiary education ahah! xx

Faculty Strengths

As a terrible generalisation, USyd is renowned for its humanities/social sciences/arts faculty and UNSW for its Business School. Hence back in the day when I was seriously considering Comm, UNSW was a big option for me. However because by the end of everything, post receiving ATAR (yes my decision making was that late in the game), I decided that I wanted to do an Artsy degree, USyd was the place to go. More specifically, as I wanted to major in Asian Studies, USyd has the second largest China Studies centre (after ANU) so it just made more and more sense to go there ahah! On the topic of law at either university, discounting my bias, I would probably say that UNSW has a very solid and more updated law program. So my ultimate ultimate choice to go through with USyd is a combination of all of the below factors.

Campus

 I think this was more or less the game changer. To each their own, both campuses are essentially a mini suburb which is what I wanted (and this was the reason at I ruled out UTS or any of the other unis) because I love that vibe. But with USyd I love the main quadrangle, the lecture theatres dotted around, the new law building, the food under wentworth, the wooden walkway into USyd, my preschool (yeah my connections to USyd go that far back ahah), Fisher library...you get the jist I love just being on campus. It feels good and feels like home aha! It feels like a little village which I don't really get at UNSW. It's strange but with UNSW I feel like the campus is very cramped (I think in reality it isn't even that small but hey the bias is there) and I'm constantly walking up stairs to get somewhere (petty lazy problems). With USyd everything is so varied and each part of Camperdown has its own vibe.