Category Archives: Australia

IF coffee could speak, imagine the stories it could tell

I am sure lots of you enjoy coffee in the morning. Caffeine doesn’t agree with my body so I don’t drink coffee and but drink tea instead. I saw this article on-line and found it interesting so sharing it here.

So, what does your brew say about you?

Cafe Latte

The latte-lover tends to be a bit softer, like a milky latte. They can be more romantic than others and are probably still friends with their first crush! They are the ones who always stay back at work (and actually mean to) without ever complaining. They would bring in their own heater and high-altitude gear rather than ask for the heating to be turned up. They’re generally pretty nice people.

Flat White

Straight-up types. No fuss or pomp here. On the downside, flat-whiter drinkers may lack imagination. These people are not early adopters – they probably still have their Nokia mobile phones. But they will tell it exactly how it is (if your butt looks big and you ask them, they WILL tell you). They’re traditionalists.

Long Black

This person is all about strength and a long black suits stamina needs. This person is busy, fast and on the go (as kids their parents would tell them they had ants in their pants). They also can tend to show off.

Cappuccino

The capp-lover doesn’t really indulge in their coffee as much as they should. They probably had their first ‘capp’ when they were about 25 and haven’t deviated since. They are still a child at heart who really loves that chocolate sprinkle on the top! They are probably from the country.

Affogato

Beware – the person who opts for the Affagato (scoop of vanilla ice cream in a martini glass with a shot of espresso on the side) may also like a ‘little here and a little there’. These types find it hard to settle down in a relationship, a job or whatever. They’re often reading five books at once and rarely finish any of them. They join the gym, go twice and talk about it thereafter. Unless of course the Affogato is ordered as dessert, in which case, they have excellent taste.

Short Black

The purist. The person who orders the authentic espresso takes life and themselves very seriously. They have no time for fancy adornments like milk or a dusting of chocolate. They want to get straight to business. They are often CEOs and leaders. They make decisions quickly and rarely back down. There’s not much ‘grey’ in this person’s life which could annoy those around them.

Macchiato

What about the person who orders the short macchiato, or ‘short mac’ to those cool enough to drink it? This is the tipple of choice for the coffee-savvy young professional. They work and play fast, so have fun but be careful of burnout! This coffee is on the rise. As young gen Y-ers take over the coffee scene, the short mac is cool and everywhere.

Piccolo Latte

Piccolo lattes are cool in the inner city these days. It’s a quick milky caffeine hit. But really, shouldn’t you be having an espresso? These people are early adopters – they see a trend and jump on it. Pack people.

Vienna

With whipped cream traditionally part of a Vienna, the person who orders this regularly is one who likes the finer things in life. They have high expectations, are demanding and a touch clingy. But they’re also very loyal when all their ducks sit nicely in a row. High maintenance.

Hot Mocha

While this is a great order Après-skiing, it’s probably not appropriate in most urban settings. Those who order it are often drifters. They find it hard to settle down. They always want to be somewhere else. They’re constantly planning trips and dreaming about other places. Indecisive.

Hot Chocolate

Beware of the hot chocolate-drinker. They suffer from Aspirational Caffeine User Syndrome. They can be complete faux coffee-drinkers, posing as latte sippers since hot chocolate is now poured into takeaway cups. Trust issues here.

Melloccino

Marshmallows, seriously? This person may be very in touch with their feelings but they’re not great at dealing with reality. Consider this a red flag.

Chai Latte

Excellent choice for after Bikram yoga, a 40km bush walk or a spot of nude surfing. Cool.

Caramel Latte

Another new, sweetened version of real coffee. Watch for the inordinate amount of hair products, tight jeans and sculpted eyebrows – in either sex. They use lots of ‘likes’ in their speech, take lots of selfies and are always connected. Over-sharers.

Tea

Tea drinkers are real, wholesome and deep-thinkers. Beware the drinkers of newfangled flavoured teas. Tea drinkers are usually early morning people and read books. Real books with pages and ink.

Ristretto

Another Purists Pour. This person is a staunch perfectionist with unreasonably high standards. They can be controlling. They are likely a politician.

Iced Coffee

The Clayton’s Coffee. Great if you are a tradie and can’t find a barista open at 5am but that’s about it. If all the ‘stars’ in LA waltz around with iced Starbucks it doesn’t mean we have to. It breaks so many rules that the coffee connoisseur holds dear to their heart. The only way coffee should be taken cold is as a coffee martini

So what do you drink and what does that say about you ? Do you agree with it?

Take care everyone!

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Griha pravesh and rudri puja

As Hindus, we do a puja and blessing for everything in life so when we move to our new place, we need to perform a puja too. Before entering a new house, a ceremony known as Griha Pravesh ceremony is performed.

Griha means house and pravesh means entry in Sanskrit so this puja is house-entry puja. Generally, in Nepal once the house is ready to be moved into, the family moves in on an auspicious day that is determined by the astrological charts by a priest. But for us, we had to move into our new place according to our contract so we decided to do it on the first day when we were going to spend the night there.

We had a priest who is a friend of my cousin and he offered to do our Griha pravesh puja.

DSC07869It was a very simple puja. The priest put two pitchers on either side of the main door then he put the idol of lord Ganesh on the doorway.

DSC07890He said some mantras blessing us and the house and then we just offered Sindoor, rice and flower first to the Lord Ganesh and then to the pitchers.

DSC07886Also we offered some coins and then lit some tea light candles. After that he went through all the rooms and sprinkled some water all around and blessed each room of our place.

DSC07889After that we established the idols we had brought from our old apartment and lit a candle for the gods.

As a part of moving into a new place,  we needed to turn on the stove and cook something. As we hadn’t unpacked properly, we didn’t have anything to cook so we just boiled water and made coffee and offered to all present.

Rudri Puja is an ancient practice followed by Hindus to bless the house once you move in. Rudri is also done on many other occasions like beginning new things like business , marriage, job etc.

‘Rudri’ means ‘Shiva – the Benevolent’, ‘ the Destroyer of Evil’ and ‘Puja’ means that which is born out of fullness. Through this Puja one can aim for inner peace and fulfilment. In this Puja, Lord Shiva is worshipped in his Rudra form. The reason Rudri puja is done because the world is a play of energy: negative and positive. When we pray to Shiva – the Lord of transformation – the entire negative energy around us in form of disease, depression, and unhappiness gets transformed into peace, prosperity and joy. Then peace surrounds us in body, mind and soul.

For the puja, the priest gave me a list. Here is the list if anyone wants to do the puja.There are still few stuffs missing but most of them are in the list.

Puja saman for rudriThere were many things to be bought but we are lucky that we have Nepali stores here so I went there and bought most of the stuff from there.

rudri puja (8)So on the day of the puja, I woke up early and had a shower, wore my fresh Sari and went straight to prepare for the puja. I made sure everything the priest asked were in order so when he comes in , the puja can be started straight away. AS also had a shower to cleansed himself as he would be sitting for the puja. Neither AS or I were to eat or drink before the puja.

rudri puja (7)Then I made apungo ,halwas and Kheer for Prasad . In the meantime, the priest came and started making different mandpas on the floor.

rudri puja (9)He told us that it would take 3-4 hours for the puja and AS would be sitting on the puja with him the whole time while I would be be called as required, which was a good things as I had so much to do in the kitchen.

rudri puja (10)So while they were doing puja, I tried to prepare other stuffs like cuts the fruits for puja and make the mango leaf garland to put on the door.

rudri puja (2)Each ancient mantra that is chanted gets absorbed in materials like curd, milk, ghee, honey etc. which are used as offerings in the Puja.

rudri puja (14)It is then offered to Lord Shiva with reverence, love and gratitude. The chanting of the mantras is so pure and meditative that it takes one to a different place. This puja was performed with a Shiva ‘linga’ that we had brought from Pashupatinath temple from Kathmandu.

rudri puja (1)I am sure lots of things were done in the puja which I missed but here are some of the pictures of the day.

rudri puja (11) rudri puja (12) rudri puja (13) rudri puja (15) rudri puja (16)I was called twice during the puja to do some praying and blessing.

rudri puja (17) rudri puja (18)In the meantime, with the help of my cousin and my friend we cooked food for the guests. I had around 25 people invited to share the day with us.

rudri puja (6)The food for the day had to be pure vegetarian with no meat, no onion, no garlic and no tomatoes. So we cooked Chana (chick peas), aloo tama, aloo ko achar, cauli aloo . Then we had Kheer, sweets (lal mohan and rash bhari) and yogurt for dessert. It was not an easy task to cook without onion, garlic or tomatoes but it was accomplished and if I say so myself, it was quite tasty. Therefore, by the time the puja was over, the food was ready.

rudri puja (20)Once the puja was over, the priest put tika on the foreheads of everyone present then AS put tika on the the small kids.

rudri puja (3)As my parents were not here, my brother and sister in law prepared sagun for us and brought some fruits and clothes.

Rudri (5)-tileThen AS hung the mango-leaf garland on the door.

rudri puja (4)After the initial process, it was pass mid-day. AS and I had been fasting since the morning so when the puja finished, we were allowed to eat. Everyone including us enjoyed the food and the puja was concluded. We had visitors coming throughout the day from morning to evening but we are just happy that there were so many people here for us to share our happiness with.

rudri puja (5)In addition, I am happy that we were able to perform the puja and get blessing even though we are so far from the Nepal. Both our parents are really glad that we could follow our tradition and culture with our new place too.

Happy weekend everyone and Happy 4th of July to everyone in US.

Take care

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Anniversary dinner @ARIA

As I mentioned in my last post, we went for dinner yesterday to Aria Restaurant at Circular Quay.  As it is winter here it was cold and the rain didn’t help either but it wasn’t able to dampen our spirit.

aria (1)Aria is owned by celebrity chef Matt Moran who has been a guest chef on Masterchefs TV series and other TV shows; and restaurateur, Peter Sullivan.  Aria is one of Sydney’s most established fine dining restaurants and was awarded 2 Chef’s Hats in 2012, cementing its position at the higher end of the dining scene. Apart from its reputation for superb food, it also boasts a postcard perfect view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge through its glass windows, providing a very scenic backdrop for our meal.

aria (2)We were working yesterday so we went to the restaurant after work. We walked in and a waiter took us to our table. We were the first ones in the restaurant so we got the table with the best view.

aria (7)As I looked around, I found that the decor inside isn’t particularly eye-catching but I suppose that’s to avoid detracting from the gorgeous view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge . We had the view of both Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

aria (8)We were swiftly handed menus but both AS and I kind of already knew what we wanted. We decided to go for the three-course meal and we order our meals and drinks.

aria (3)As soon as the waiter who took our orders left, another waiter came with a shot of soup. It was cabbage and potatoes soup with goat’s cheese and walnut. I am not a big fan of soup but this was just delicious and both of us enjoyed it. The taste was just right with a creamy texture.

aria (4)While we were having the soup, another waiter came with sour bought bread and butter. He explained that that the sour dough bread was locally made in Bondi and the butter was Australian made too.  After the soup, we both had the bread and butter while waiting for entrée to arrive. I have to say I have never tasted such a good butter and with sour dough bread it was just perfect.

aria (5) aria (6)By that time, both of us were really impressed with the waiters as they were very professional. They knew exactly what they were doing and they made us feel very comfortable, explaining what each dish was. I guess you need to be the best to work at 2 Chef’s Hats restaurant.

Anyway then came our entrée. I had ordered Pork belly, which was Kurobkta pork belly with chestnut puree and poached persimmons and AS ordered Peking duck consommé with duck dumplings, shaved abalone and mushrooms.

aria (9) aria (10) The consommé was pure brilliance with its broth bursting with the rich flavours of shitake and abalone and a hint of duck. The duck filling for the dumpling was also quite flavoursome and had a nice soft texture. And my pork belly was just awesome with the meat perfectly cooked and the crackling top just yummy.

aria (11) At that point, both of us were happy that we picked Aria to celebrate our anniversary. I was almost full with our entrée. Then the main came. I had ordered roasted lamb rump with crushed borlotti beans, eggplant and nettle pesto while AS had Blue eye roasted fillet with Jerusalem artichoke, Jamon and witlof.

aria (12) aria (13) My lamb was just perfectly cooked and every bite was heaven and borlotti beans and eggplant equally delicious. AS’s blue eye was yummy as well but he didn’t like Jamon (ham) on the plate. When I was finishing my main, I told AS I may not have room for dessert in my tummy so he helped me finish the main.

By that time I was so full that I wished I haven’t ordered dessert. But as we had already ordered them so it came. I ordered roasted almond pannacotta with honey infused mandarins, blackcurrant and almond crumble and AS had Valrhona Jivara chocolate tart with caramelised hazelnuts and vanilla choc ice.

aria (14) aria (15) Both the plates looked so delicious that I forgot I was full. I dug into my dessert and I was very happy with what I had on my plate. The pannacotta was perfectly sweetened and every item on the plate went so well together. I was telling AS that I felt like I was trying food on master chef’s TV show :). AS’s plate was equally delicious. I was really happy to taste some of the chocolate from his plate. It took a while for us to finish the dessert and finally we were done.

aria (16)After dessert, we enjoyed the view for a while and spent some time talking before asking for the bill. Before the bill, they served us with some chocolate plate consisting of Chocolate ball, passionfruit sweet and burnt sugar thins.

aria (18)They looked so delicious but both of us were so full that we tasted one of each item and left the rest on the plate. I wished I had more room on my tummy but I knew I had to stop. Overall, all the dishes were flawless and all beautifully plated. It was the perfect evening.

We had a great celebration and when I looked at my husband next to me, I was thanking god for sending him to my life . I love my husband more each passing day.

 Thank you everyone for your anniversary wishes and blessings. It means a lot to us.

Take care everyone,

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Happy Anniversary my darling husband

Today is our wedding anniversary. So I am writing a letter for my husband.

My Darling A,

I can’t believe that it has been 2 years since we got married. How can I even begin to put into words what being married to you feels like? How do I describe how you make me feel?

Our anniversary is a time to look back at the good times and a time to look ahead to our dreams together. Do you remember when we were first dating? Remember spending every moment possible with each other and spending every other moment thinking about each other? Do you remember talking on the phone for hours and hours about anything and everything? Do you remember smiling constantly thinking about one other and anticipating the next time we saw each other? Do you remember laughing so hard that we both would be crying? Then crying so hard we both would start laughing? Do you remember the joy of being in love and knowing you were loved back just as much? Do you remember the thrill of it all? It is a blessing to fall in love but to fall in love with my best friend is so rare and beyond expectations.

I Love you for many reasons, I Love you for opening my eyes, showing me my self-worth. I Love you for being my strength when I am weak, I Love you for being my rock through hard times and I Love you for the caring person that you are.

I love that we get excited about the same little things. The simple things – a holiday, watching an episode of Games of Thrones, sharing dark chocolate, going for a run, eating rich chocolate desserts, watching Just for Laugh and laughing till we cry. I love that glowing look you get in your eyes right before you tell me you love me. I love that you ask me how I am doing—for no reason. Just because you want to make sure I’m feeling okay.

My words fall short to express what my heart feels so deeply. You love me just the way God created me, with every scare and imperfection. You see past my outward flaws into the depths of my heart and you love me just the same. Just one look from you and I know everything is going to be ok.

We are so alike, and so different, in all the right ways. You are considerably more selfless than I deserve. You are my best friend, and I am so blessed that God chose you to be my husband. And that you feel the same way. We feel equally blessed—and I love that. I love us. I love our life together. I love you.

The way you love me, the way you have come into my life, I wish the journey shall never be end till I die. Thanks for making the day special in my life. Happy Anniversary A, you are my soul mate and I was incomplete without you.

All my love, Now and always!

Yours M

anniversaryP.S: We are going to dinner at Aria tonight so update you more later. Till then take care.

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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Tit – bits

We have finally moved to our new place. The removalists took almost double the time than we had expected but at the end, all was well; nothing broken.

Our new place is bigger than the old one so we are still getting used to the extra space. I love it but I know that the cleaning part will not be as easy as before. I think 80% of the unpacking is done and I am hoping to do the rest by this weekend. Thank you everyone for your good wishes.

During the move, we saw that the piggy bank I was keeping for the coins was full and too heavy to be moved. I have had that for over 4 years now and I was putting all my 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents and some $1 and $2 coins in it.

So, we went to the bank to get it cashed. Here is what it looked like. Guess how much was in it?( Will give the answer later so have fun guessing 🙂 ). I was happy to get the extra cash.

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As bank has the coin-counting machine these days, we just tipped our money and it counted away. Me and AS were happy to see our money count rising. Then a Nepali lady, who is a customer at the bank, came to us and told us that the machine does not work properly and she was short $104 dollars when she put $600. I was worried as it was more than 15% of the total. She even showed us the receipt to prove her claim. At that stage, we were more than half done so we didn’t have a choice but to get whatever the machine printed. But that got me thinking that from the next time I am going to count my coins at home and then only go to the bank. I really hope we did not lose any money.

Has anyone had problems with these machines at the bank? Should we trust it?

Finally, I feel a bit of relief after moving so tonight hubby and I are going to relax and indulge ourselves with an aromatherapy massage. Every part of my body is aching so the massage should do wonders.

Still no phone and internet at home but. Hope by next week that will be resolved as well.

Until my next post, take care, everyone.

XOXO

M from nepaliaustralian

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