Moist Coconut Lemon Cake

This is a recipe I have to share with you. It is seriously one of the best cakes I have ever made. According to Ben it's THE best cake I ever baked. I found the recipe online but I altered it a little bit with a recipe from a cookbook of mine. Here is the link to the recipe. No wonder it was one of the best recipes of the week.

Picture from the ninemsn website

I added a lemon rind and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the batter and also added some lemon juice to the icing. Lemon and Coconut go really well together and a lot of people commented on the nice lemony taste of it.

If you like coconut this cake is a must!

Christmas Eve in Bondi

I hope you all had a great christmas! I had even though it was pouring all christmas day long. Good thing christmas eve "day" was perfectly sunny.  We had a nice breakfast, then I baked the best coconut cake ever (recipe to come) while Ben finished his last minute christmas shopping. I could never do that, I'd be too nervous that I don't get the gifts I wanted. Ben seems fine with it and does it every year while I usually finish my shopping a week before christmas eve. When Ben came back we went to the beach and relaxed in the sun before we had our own little celebration in our apartment. We had oven baked trout for dinner and exchanged our gifts after our little meal. It was lovely and I was spoilt by my man. He surprises me every year with his thoughtful gifts. I can't wait for especially one of his gifts - he booked a 4 day holiday for us. I need a little break and getaway right now. Christmas time has been hectic in the retail business and being a manager in that time is even more stressful. This is a perfect little holiday before my life will be changing in January. Below is our little christmas tree in Bondi (yes it's a real tree!)

I'm back.

I have taken a little break from blogging. The reason behind this was changes in my life. A lot of changes. I needed some time off and concentrate on my life and future here in Australia. I finished my master degree, graduated, started a job. I also had my parents here in Australia for the first time for almost three weeks and I started to train 5x a week to become healthier and fitter. Food has always influenced my life a lot and as you know I have had a lot of problems in the past with sugar and wheat. Since my last post a lot of time has passed and I am feeling a lot better, I am working 5 days a week (which was quite hard to adapt to after being a student for a year) and Ben and I got our de facto visa approved after only 3 months. We have just been on a little holiday in Melbourne for Melbourne Cup Day. We felt like a couple that recently started dating, walking hand in hand through Melbourne trying to find the best little cafés and restaurants. The holiday was good for both of us, we hadn't been away together since christmas last year and we enjoyed every minute of it. We loved Melbourne so much that we are even thinking of moving there. I wouldn't mind for a year or two. Anyway I recently felt like writing on here again, I really miss it, so I hope you are still interested and are happy to read a little more posts from me again. Considering that I am working 40h a week now I probably won't be writing as much as I used to but I will try and keep you updated on my (now healthier) life and post some recipes again.

Ben and I at the Melbourne Cup

Family in Oz

Right now my parents are here in Sydney to visit me. I am absolutely loving it. It is the first time that I can show someone from home how I am living here on the other side of the world. Every day I show them around in the city that I love so much and spend time with them at my favourite spots. I love to be able to call my mum in the morning, and not think about the 10h time difference, invite her for breakfast and chat with her on our balcony. Even though it might sound weird to some people, we also spend time together just doing domestic things like cleaning my apartment or baking together. It is very new to me to have someone help me here and it kind of makes me sad thinking that I won't have this for very long. Life is a lot easier if you have your mother close to you, just simple things I have no idea of, like cleaning or cooking matters, are different if you can ask your mother about it. I am enjoying my time with them here right now but I also fear the moment when I have to say goodbye to them. It is going to be really hard, but right now I don't want to think about it and rather enjoy them being so close to me.

Something blue...

Ok, I have to admit that I am in love with the new trendy nail polish colours (like mint and blue). I might have said that I don't like them a few weeks ago, but now that I have seen some girls with awesome looking nails in the shopping mall, I changed my mind. Yesterday I got myself one of the new colours - and absolutely love it on my nails!
I am also very busy preparing our new visa. It is more work than I thought and even though I want to hand it in at immigration next week, there's still a lot of forms to fill out. I am still waiting for my police checks from the UK and Australia and I am praying every day that they will arrive on time. My medical check is done and I am also waiting for the results in the post. I am getting a bit nervous but according to Ben we should "definitely" get the visa with all the evidence we are providing. Let's hope so!

Filled Strawberries

Ben has had a hard day at work, so I decided to surprise him with a dessert tonight - Strawberries filled with Banana and Cream. Look how delicious they look, I am so excited! I know he'll love it, it looks so nice and I am sure they'll be divine! Here is the recipe:

What you need:
* Strawberries
* about one big teaspoon Vanilla Yoghurt depending on how many strawberries you have (I used natural yoghurt and added some vanilla syrup)
* a small banana or half a banana
* half a teaspoon sugar
* flaked almonds

What you do:
Mash a banana with a fork and add the yoghurt and sugar.
Cut out the middle of the strawberries, try to let a thin wall.
Then fill the strawberries with your banana yoghurt.
Decorate the ends with the flaked almonds. DONE!

Bastille Day Weekend

Last weekend was just crazy even though we were home no later than 11pm Friday and Saturday. I met up with some friends from Wollongong on Friday and on Saturday we were invited to a house party. An amazing house party! It was Bastille Day this weekend, so my French friend invited us to celebrate with her and her housemates. We brought cheese and wine and chatted over some French finger food before we started some cultural influenced dancing and singing. After a few hours we were trying to have one or more french words in each conversation, and I can tell you all the wine helped. It was a great idea to have a french party and I am thinking maybe I  should have an Austrian Party in October when the Austrian's celebrate their national holiday. I haven't had a crazy going out weekend yet, but maybe for the better considering all the money a night out in Kings Cross costs. I have been saving quite a bit of money the last weeks, which I need because I am going to Splendour in the Grass at the end of next week. A music festival in Byron Bay, about a 10h drive from Sydney. So right now I am saving up all my spare money so I can enjoy my time up there.

Graduation is coming up

Today I got my uni results and my graduation date. Thank god it is in the time frame my parents are here! I was so nervous about that. I don't understand how universities only release their graduation dates a month before. How are international students supposed to arrange travel and accommodation? Well I couldn't wait any longer because I didn't want my parents to pay a fortune on their flights to Australia (considering it's already so expensive to get here). I was lucky! Someone must have heard my prayers to put my graduation date in between a two week timeframe! So now I can't wait until my parents are here, I can start counting the weeks now - 4 in total, and start organising everything for them. It's weird to think of tourist attractions in Sydney now that I am so used to just living here! Good thing is, after one year I know about amazing places to take my parents to and I can't wait to simply show them what my life down under is like!

These pictures were taken during my lunchtime run, isn't it amazing where I live?

Flowers and a new flatmate

Last week Ben and I were walking to the beach. On our way home we walked past the little corner shop that always has those nice flowers at the front. Suddenly Ben goes: "Wait, I gotta get something real quick" and leaves me standing at the front before I can even say anything. Then he comes out with a bunch of beautiful flowers. This is what I like about this guy and it's these little things that make me like him more and more!

Last night I looked at the flowers and saw this little fella in there! So cute! It must have been hiding in the closed poppy flower, because I haven't seen it until the flower opened up! I took it outside today, I don't think it was too happy about being in our living room!

Lunch time Workout

Yesterday was such a nice winter's day that I decided to go for a run to the third furthest beach. I was surprised that I could handle the distance without having to stop a million times. I had some water at the beach and watched people for a little while (some were swimming in the ocean, just watching them gave me goosebumps!) before I ran back to Bondi. I hope the weather will be nice again soon, when it is cloudy and rainy I just can't get myself to work out! Apparently it is the coldest time of the year right now, so from now on it can only get better! This cold is giving me a hard time, especially after coming back from boiling hot Austria a few weeks ago! I shouldn't be complaining about 16°C in winter though, especially when there's days like yesterday.

3 weeks (2)

Here is a little list of things I did in Austria - I think the best point is the weather (I can't believe it was only 8 degrees this morning here in Australia!)

* BBQ's in the evenings in the garden and chatting til 1AM
* Party with my best ones
* Watching TV with my besties and talking until we realise it is 1AM and all of them have to work that day
* Spontanious meet ups and mocktails in the afternoon
* Going shopping with my mum (including grocery shopping - I love to buy food I can't get in Australia)
* 33 degrees celsius
* Vienna - during the day and during the night
* supernatural experiences in Vienna
* Valentina - (almost) every single day
* traditional confirmation of my littlest cousin
* being out til 5 in the morning and forgetting that I have to be up at 9am
* realising my little cousins were out longer than me (but don't look even close as tired as I do!!!)
* meeting up with my family and cousins, talking for over 3 hours at the restaurant until the waiter gives us "the" look
* watching the progress of my little niece learning to walk all by herself and realising that she is able to do that now all by herself in just 3 weeks
* going for walks with my mum at 10 at night
* cuddling my 13 year old dog fearing it is the last time I see him
* going on a night field day and walking 12km in the dark being guided by my friend's cutest sausage dog
* 34.5 degrees celsius (!)
* being able to buy half a litre of the most delicious raspberry punch for 5 euro
* watching the EM with the boys and learning about soccer ("what I should have known already!"
* having the comfort of just calling my friends and them being there for me anytime
* having a late flight home so  I can spend my last day with my family
* getting upgraded on my last flight and enjoying all of it
* secretly crying and pretending to sneeze while watching "Warhorse" on the plane

3 weeks gone like the wind

I can't believe that those 3 weeks were over so fast. I have been home in Austria and I enjoyed every minute of it. There were no blog posts as every moment I lived there felt so natural and not made for the blog. I spent lots of time with my little niece and my sister, in fact almost every day. I tried to fit in as many friends as possible into my timetable and was out and about as much as possible. I also needed a day off - from people or visits and things to do, so I went to Vienna by myself and went window shopping. That day off felt amazing, it was a warm summer's day and the best was the feeling of not being rushed or thinking what do I have to do in an hour.

I also had to say goodbye to something very important to me: my iphone. Someone stole it out of my bag including my wallet. And that happened on my third day in Vienna. Why has nothing like that ever happened to me in Sydney? Last time I was home in November they stole money out of my purse too and I have to say I am one of the most careful people when it comes to watching my bag. (Living in the dodgy parts of London taught me so). After getting told that I have to "watch my stuff better and how can this even happen?!" by the man ordering my new driver's license ("Yes Sir, you know I lost my iphone on purpose because I love paying a ridiculous amount of money for a new one because - as a student - I have loads of it at the moment. Seriously, give me a break.") Well that was just in my head, in fact I said with an understanding face: "I know, I need to be more careful."

Other than that I had a great time back home and so you get an idea too, I'll post some iphone pics (the few I have left after my phone got stolen) in my next post with some details about my trip. To start with, here you can see the beautiful town I grew up in.

Almost one Week

On the 6th of June I went onto the plane and in the early morning of the 7th I arrived in Vienna! It was a 26h flight and I was glad it was over when my sister, her husband and little daughter picked me up from the airport! I was lucky, the day I arrived was a public holiday so when I got home we had a big feast and chatted for hours. The weather was the biggest difference from Australia - it was about 30 degrees and boiling hot. In the afternoon we went for a walk with my little niece and I got sunburnt - not only a little bit - my back felt like it was on fire!

Since that day I was meeting up with lots of my friends, went for walks every day and enjoyed just being at home! One week is over tomorrow and I have two more here in my home-country. I will make the best out of it and try to meet up with as much people as possible! Here are two landscape pics from my stay so far!

My birthday

Wednesday was my birthday. It was a great day and I wouldn't want to change a thing.When I woke up I saw a bunch of flowers on the table, of course from my lovely boyfriend. He also had an envelope prepared for me, I chose not to open it until he was home from work... It was the last day of uni too, so after class we went for a drink on campus. I was lucky, it was sunny and didn't rain! After that I waited for Ben to come home so I could finally open up his gift. And of course that day he had to work late! Oh well, I survived and was happy find a getaway to the 5 star Sheraton in their luxury room, in the envelope. Additionally he got me tickets for High Tea at the hotel. I was shocked that he got me so much, it was more than I had hoped for! After that he took me out for dinner at one of the best restaurants in Bondi. The food was great but I was most excited for the dessert, it was rated one of the best desserts in Sydney in 2010. And the orange granita with sweetened cream didn't disappoint me. Ben even made the effort to tell the waitress to bring it with a candle while I was in the bathroom. It didn't end there - after dinner stayed up and watched a movie with me. What a perfect day - I just kind of missed the warm weather a bit. I am used to have my birthday in hot weather and here in Australia it is the opposite, my birthday is in winter. However, I think I was quite lucky, the sun was shining and we were able to sit outside in the beergarden. So it wasn't too bad! More about my birthday weekend later!

New Furniture

Here you can see what our living room furniture used to look like and how we (or let's say I) changed it. It was an old set of drawers from Ben's old bedroom. I didn't like the look at all so I thought I am going to change it a little bit. I bought new knobs and painted it white. It took me about 4 weeks to finish it as I had to paint it with a primer first and then 2 layers of paint. I think it was worth it though. I also added a another drawer with a shelf. The fact that I did it all myself makes me like it even more! I also changed the bedside table. It looks so much better now and it has a personal touch!

Here you can see photos from the bedside table:

The Anchor

On Friday Ben and I went to a restaurant called The Anchor in Bondi. We always wanted to go there and previously watched the people in there while walking past. It just has this Bondi - vibe in that tiny little restaurant. People seem to be really relaxed and young,  they wear amazing "cool" clothes and are just enjoying themselves while talking to each other. Until now Ben and I always said "we aren't cool enough to go there yet" But the time has come and last Friday our dinner there was amazing. Their specialities, mostly fish, were so outstanding and foreign that we needed the waitress to explain the dishes to us. In the end I decided to get mulloway, a fish I had never had before with sweet potato chips (I never had these kind of chips before - they are better than "normal" chips!) It was the best thing I ever had! I know I always say that, but honestly I couldn't believe how good it was! After reading some of my blog entries from Sydney I have to say that this city has a huge number of amazing restaurants! The Anchor is one of them! We finished off our dinner with a nice cocktail until we went to another bar to meet up with our friends, I have to say the dinner was the highlight of the night though!

It's been a great 6 years...

You, my dear Ugg Boots, I think after 6 years, it is time to go...

There is no detailed pictured of my diseased boots - it is just too heartbreaking.

Today I found you after your wintersleep with huge ugly moldy patches all over you. It breaks my heart but I have to say goodbye.
I remember when I was first in Australia and my Canadian flatmates introduced me to your brand. I was "Uggs? Sheepskin boots? No way!", a week later I was one of those people, wearing you everywhere I went. To uni, to the shops and at home, our cosy Villa 12. I wouldn't have survived the winters without you! I remember when I took you back to Austria and no one knew about you and thought that you looked quite weird. "Too big, and that colour!" people said.  Then, two years later Ugg-Mania also hit Europe. I remember walking past the Ugg-Shop (Yes, a whole shop dedicated to you!) watching people waiting a 10 metre line just to attend the shop. I remember seeing Designer Uggs sold for 250pounds (!) and people desperately trying to fit children's sizes to avoid those ridiculous prices.
I remember seeing boots in the shopping centre in Australia and thinking how the price for Ugg boots has changed in 6 years, gladly looking down onto my own, reliable pair.

And now the era ends...I have to say goodbye. I haven't worn a pair of shoes as much as you- I will miss you!

Dinner home - Dessert at the restaurant

I know that it is normal to go out for dinner, but last week Ben and I decided to go get some dessert. I absolutely love desserts, it is actually the first thing I look at in the menu. Sometimes I wouldn't mind eating dessert only and something savory first. There was an event going on in Bondi, which was really disappointing for us as we couldn't get anywhere in. All the little bars and restaurants were full. So we saw this new little cafe in the middle of all the bars and thought we'd give it a try. I absolutely loved it there. Everything was retro style and people were all chatty and friendly. But even better was the food - I got a banoffee brulee (a mixture of banoffee and creme brulee) served with cream mixed with crushed oreos. It was so delicious! Ben got a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate sauce and cream with mashed strawberries. It really was one of the best desserts we have ever had in Sydney (except the ones I bake)! 

My Birthday Wishlist

My birthday is in exactly one week, so I thought I'll make a birthday wishlist! Just to be on the safe side, you know!

1. Marc by Marc Jacobs Bianca Jane on a Leash Bag: I need a new bag for my Saturday nights out and this one is the perfect size. That would be number 2 Marc by Marc Jacobs bag. WANT!

2. Sophie Kinsella's I've got your number. I am a huge fan of this author. I have read every single book and only this one is missing now! Picture from here

3. J Brand Jeans: I am a tiny bit obsessed with J Brand jeans, they are just so comfy! And I need one in the new pastel colour.

4. Vans Authentic Lo Pro Shoes: Here in Australia it's going to be winter soon and I need a nice pair of closed shoes. I've wanted these for ages, I just never found time to buy them. Picture from here

5. Ice Cream Cake: This is really weird, but I have never had Ice Cream Cake in my whole life. It's not really an Austrian thing. So I think it's about time for me to try! Picture from here

Feel free to get me anything from this list...well, I'm allowed to dream, right?!

9 Days!

So after realising yesterday that I only have about 2 weeks left here before I go home, I started thinking. In fact I only have 9 days left at uni, until I have finished my Master Degree. This is kind of scary. I know that I have said a lot in the past that I would rather work than be at uni, but right now it scares me!
The reason for that is because I don't know what's going to happen after my degree. Things are already planned until August, but after that I don't have any control on what's going to happen in my life.

After my holiday in Austria Ben and I are applying for my new visa. This is going to be really hard. I hope that we can hand it in straight at the end of July and I even more so hope that it won't take longer than 6 months to get the visa. I will be on a bridging visa until then and probably try to find a job.
I am nervous though, I don't know which field I should go into to. There are some industries that interest me, however, I am not sure if I have a chance to become really good at it giving that English is not my first language. These things stress me out, they don't let me sleep at night and make me nervous during the day. I think I should know by now what I want to do, but the opposite is the case. I guess that people can always change their career paths after a few years and I know that my career will be in some kind of communications. It is still scary though, I don't want to waste my time on internships anymore, I just want to start working. Then I also think about the money aspect, of course do I want to earn a fair amount of money in my career, but there are also things that interest me where I don't even need a degree. Of course that means that I am not going to make a lot of money. This is why I am asking myself if I should even try in that industry. So many questions and so many things that need to be figured out! I still have time to think about all that, so for now, I'll just concentrate on my last days at uni.

Let the countdown begin:

9 Days left

Time!

Time is flying by, I can't believe that I am going home in two weeks, that I finish school in 2 weeks and that my birthday is next week! Whoaaa so much is happening! Can someone stop time please? I haven't really thought about all those things happening, as I am so busy in school! I need to seriously prepare myself mentally for all this!

Last week might seem quite uneventful but I had a pretty fabulous week:

Monday: I realised that my morning class may be a little boring.

Tuesday: I was still waiting for my mum's parcel to arrive and spent my day writing my parts for the group assignment.

Wednesday: My parcel arrived, got some nice Austrian treats that made my day! Also - we had a group meeting with our teacher for our final project just to realise after class that no one of us wrote down the room number. It is pretty hard to find out the consultation room on a campus with about 50 buildings and thousands of rooms...we ended up searching for the room until our booked time was up. We blamed this on 3 of us 4 girls being blonde.

Thursday: We spent our whole day finishing up our project and handing it in just on time, at midnight. I also think that we have a pretty amazing teacher. His response to our sent document: "Thanks! Sleep. Go out. Do something other than this!" K, cool, no problem!

Friday: I bought myself some new jeans in a little boutique in Bondi. And how I love my new J Brand Jeans (I got them in the black colour though). I also got myself a dress for my birthday party. Now I can't wait! Ohhh and I bought the book "50 shades of Grey". I have to say it's not what I expected, but to be honest, I don't mind this erotic entertaining read!

Saturday: We went to a big London Reunion/Birthday Party. It felt sooo good to see everyone! I also hurt myself and just realised in the morning when I saw my swollen knees. I guess lifting up people and high heels doesn't really work out that well...

Sunday: I felt mostly sorry for myself for being a bit hungover and having the worst pain in my knees. Good thing: Ben took care of me the whole day.

Monday: (as in today) I skipped my "boring" class and watched a German tv soap opera on my laptop instead. Well I think it was worth it!

Hope you had a great week too!

Poor me!

The weather is cooling down, too quickly for my taste and I can feel my body having trouble to adjust to the colder weather. I have had a cold for the last four weeks and on Thursday I got really sick. I was feeling terrible all day, with cough and a cold, my nose constantly running. I had to go to my Squash class which didn't do me any good. I lay in bed all weekend. I am still very tired and need to rest but the worst part is over. I try to eat lots of vitamins and fruit to get back my strength!
It wasn't too bad to be sick this weekend as Ben was home all weekend too. He had to study, so while he was reading all day I was lying in the couch. It felt good to have someone make you tea and care about you, just like your mum did when you were little. Another good thing was that I couldn't spend any money all weekend! However, I got really bored after two days of lying around. It was the best when Ben woke me up on Sunday morning telling me that we'll go out for breakfast. I had a fresh fruitjuice and amazing scrambled eggs with salmon. That breakfast was the best start into the day - another day on the couch. Even though I can't wait to be good again, being sick does have some advantages. Putting on the sad, poor face definitely got me out of cleaning the dishes, doing some housework etc.

I also booked my flight home last week. I can't wait to be back in Austria for some time! This time I want to use my time to be just with my family and friends. I haven't planned any parties or holidays while I am home. I am counting the days, even though I am really in love with Sydney right now. It really is my new home now, however I miss my family and friends and I am ready for some time with them. I hope you had a great weekend!

PS: Look at this weird kiwi fruit I had last week. 

Bankstown

Ben took me to Bankstown last week. I was very surprised how ethnic that part of Sydney was! It was such a nice afternoon, we had some Thai food for lunch and went for a walk through the streets. They had such different foods in their stores, I couldn't stop taking pictures! I saw seafood (still alive!) that I had never seen before. People chose their crabs for dinner out of a pot (and yes, they were still alive too) and Ben touched the weirdest clams I have ever seen. It was still moving in its shell and looked like a slug. It was such an interesting afternoon, I want to go back soon!

Also, my hardest week of the semester is over, finally! I can take it easy this week and concentrate on my new sports. I am taking Badminton and Squash classes now, it is so much fun, I am glad I decided to go! It is also getting colder now and you can feel it in our apartment already. This is the part I don't like about winter in Australia, houses are not isolated and there are no radiators anywhere, it is freezing! Good thing is - you kind of have to cuddle to stay warm! Hope you had a great weekend!

This is why I love...

Sydney!

Isn't it beautiful?!

Horse Races

I know I know...I have been very lazy with my blog posts last week! The thing is, I am really not lazy but I have the busiest week of my semester right now! Lots of assignments are due this week each worth 40% of my whole grade! I am sure you understand that I would rather write blog posts than write essays for 8 hours a day!
I do have a lot of posts that I want to write, so as soon as this week is over, you will get a lot to read on here!

Now to last week! I haven't been to a horse race in Sydney and since there were big race events on, our friends and I decided to go to one. Thanks to Ben's missing skill called organisation we didn't get tickets for the general admissions (but everyone else did!) He felt pretty bad that we couldn't join our friends because of him and so we still decided to go but into another section which wasn't all that fancy BUT included a picnic basket. That sounded good enough to me and I am glad we decided to go! The picnic was massive and it was nice to sit in the sun with a glass of champaign, watching the races with a strawberry in my hand.  We also bet some money on two horses and we lost. I always get so excited and then get even more upset when I don't win. What a waste of $10! I have always had bad luck when it comes to winning money. After the races were over we met up with our friends and had a great night out. It was fun to dress up and wear a fascinator, it made me feel kind of special and I loved Ben in a suit! I don't know what it is, bug guys just look so handsome in suits!

Hope you all have had a great weekend!

Pizza Rolls

This is one of my favorite snacks ever! My mum usually makes this when I have people over, but it is just as good as a snack during the week. This is the first time I made them myself, but even though they didn't turn out that photogenic they still tasted amazing. Ben loved it, we finished the whole load in less than 24 hours!

Here's what you need:

• 1 pack of pizza dough
• 1 glass of pizza sauce
• 1 small can of corn
• Ham
• 1 onion
• your preferred cheese grated (I took cheddar)
• Flour (to dust your work surface and your hands)
• Oregano

Make the pizza dough according to your pack instructions, flour the work surface and roll out the dough (try to make it a rectangle).

Turn on the oven to 180°C, then let the pizza dough rest for about 10 minutes (or how indicated on the pack), spread the pizza sauce on the dough and start decorating. You can use whatever you would like to have on your pizza rolls, I only had the basic ingredients: onion, ham, corn and cheese; but feel free to add olives, pineapple, etc. and top with pizza seasoning or oregano. Then there's the hard part. Roll the dough slowly lengthwise so you get a long roll. This can take some time, you have to be careful not to tear the dough. My dough stuck to the surface but just do it slowly and use flour on your hands, most importantly be patient, it is worth it. 

When you have the roll in front of you, just start cutting little pieces of about 2cm, it helps to put flour on your knife. Put the little rolls on a baking sheet  and sprinkle with some cheese. Then bake for about 15-25 minutes depending on your oven until golden brown. Enjoy!

Reptile Park on Easter Sunday

During the Easter Weekend, Ben and I had actually planned to go down to the Hunter Valley, NSW's wine area. I was really excited as I am also from Austria's wine area but we got told not to go during Easter as it is really crowded and the traffic is the worst. I still didn't want to stay home the whole weekend so on Easter Sunday Ben and I went to the Reptile Park on Central Coast.
I asked him to go there with me because a friend said that you can touch and pet all sort of animals there. I think you know how much I miss having a pet here, so I thought this was quite a good alternative to the Hunter Valley. It was a really nice afternoon, we watched some shows like the alligator feeding and a talk about the Tasmanian Devil, and fed some kangaroos and emus after. I don't think Ben, being an Australian, has had much opportunity to do this before. All the kangaroos were really tame, and I felt excited like a little kid, trying to spend as much time there as possible. The best thing was when Ben fed the emu and was so scared, I took the funniest pictures of him! I think he really enjoyed this day too! It was a great Easter Sunday for me!

Smoothie

Today I made a smoothie with things I had at home. I have never made one with spinach in it, or anything green, so I thought I'll give it a try. Here is what I used:

* Half a banana (I couldn't resist eating the other half before)
* half a cup of frozen berries
* a handful of baby spinach leaves
* 3 table spoons desiccated coconut
* 1 cup of water
* 1 tablespoon vanilla ice cream (I tried to keep it healthy, you know)

Turned out to be really tasty, I like coconut combined with fruit. I felt the ice cream was essential as it made the smoothie creamy. What's your favourite smoothie?

Park Life

It's already autumn here, but we still enjoy the sun, in fact I think we have even more sunny days than we had in summer! Last week we went to the park. We played frisbee, had our sandwiches and just lay in the sun. After two hours we had to leave our little picnic spot because there was a wedding ceremony in the park. So beautiful! This park is one of the prettiest I have ever seen, even better than Hyde Park in London. You don't get those beautiful cockatoos anywhere outside of Australia! It's not only the birds but also the flowers and trees, everything is so colourful, I love it! In the last 2 weeks we have been about 5 times to this park and I don't mind, it never gets boring. I actually wouldn't mind if it stayed this warm so we could go there every weekend!

My favourites

1. MOR Perfume Oil in Cassis Noir - this is my favourite perfume right now. It isn't too strong and perfect for the day. It is a handy size that fits into every handbag or clutch! Image via here.

2. Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Lotion: is my all time favourite. My skin gets really dry, especially in winter, when I put on this lotion it feels like my skin is "drinking" it. It feels amazing. It is also perfect for sunburnt skin. Image via here.

3. Set Sail: Last week I was at Sydney's busiest shopping street and watched this band for about 30 minutes. Their music is so good, I have never seen so many people stop and listen. I bought their CD after, I really wanted to support them.

4. Sanitarium Crunchy Peanut Butter: This peanut butter is so tasty, I have it almost every day. It is free of added sugar and salt and a healthier option than other nut butters. I love it on apple slices, yum, my favourite snack! Image via here. 

5. Kerastase Elixir Ultime: I think this is the best hair product I have ever had. It might be pricey but it lasts me usually about 6 months, I use it as a hair mask before a shower and as a conditioner after washing my hair. It makes my hair shiny and helps to prevent split ends. Image via here. 

6. Kiwi Fruit: I am obsessed with kiwis at the moment, I need one every morning after I get up. I love sour fruit and I feel like they make me stay healthy. Image via here. 

Yum Cha

I have never had Yum Cha in my life so Ben thought it is a good idea to get some for lunch. We went into this nice Chinese restaurant and I was quite excited. Ben took the menus and I couldn't believe what I saw! They served chicken feet!!!! How crazy is that?! Ben told me that this was a quite normal dish for Chinese and he had it before. He wanted me to get some, but I just can't think of anything worse than eating a chicken's foot! I then discovered another unusual thing on the menu: Marinated trotters. So you could order pig's feet, sliced. I have never seen anything like that before! I don't know if my appetite just kind of disappeared or if the food didn't sit well in my stomach but after we had some dumplings I felt really sick. I think that was the only and last time I have had Yum Cha, maybe I am not used to this kind of food, but I prefer to have a burger or some Italian food over this.

Best breakfast ever

On Saturday I went out for a girls' night, one of those rare nights without Ben. To my surprise Ben decided to stay in, but fair enough, who doesn't want a night in by themselves once in a while?
I came home pretty late on Sunday morning and wanted to sleep in but unfortunately Ben's alarm went off at 10 and woke me up. Good thing about this was that I was ready for a nice breakfast. I can tell you, I got the best breakfast ever! Ben surprised me with a plate of strawberries and honeydew melon with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. After that he brought me an egg and bacon roll AND after that I was pretty full. But I got more, half an hour later he served me a cup of tea with my favourite poppy seed strudel. How did I deserve this?! Don't ask me, I don't know- but the one thing I know is that I am pretty lucky to get a three course breakfast menu!

A new found treasure

On Monday Ben and I went to Centennial Park. It is a really huge park where you can drive in with your car. There is so many soccer fields, lakes and green areas, it is unbelievable. You get all kind of birds there, from pelicans to cockatoos and swans. Since my hip injury I am very conscious of fast movements, I am scared I'll get that pain again if I start working out too soon. So on Monday Ben went for a run while I fed some cockatoos. There was a creepy black swan that slowly followed me for a while, it just wouldn't let me feed the other birds. I am not sure if it just wanted some seeds too but to me it looked more angry than hungry. Finally a dog ran past and chased it, so I could concentrate on all my little cockatoos. Yesterday Ben and I went to the park again. This time I decided to run for the first time in 3 months. I even ran 3km before my hip started to hurt. I felt like it was enough for my first work out. Ben and I decided to come here running more often now as it is just beautiful and the temperature in the evening is perfect now. Seriously, who wouldn't want to run at a place like this:

Free tickets to Sneaky Sound System? Why not!

Our friend asked us if we wanted to go see Sneaky Sound System last week. I haven't listened to their music in ages, but I have heard about their concert since it was on my uni's campus. First Ben said "I think I'm a bit old for them" but then after considering we get to see them for free, we thought "Why not?!" It was weird to be on campus this late and I was surprised how many students were out drinking on a Thursday. I do not feel part of that group anymore. I don't know if it's the fact that I am doing a postgraduate and am not 20 anymore, or if it's because I am not living close to campus. We were a bit annoyed that Sneaky Sound System only started at 9.30pm. It was far to late for the main act considering it was during a weekday. My friend pointed out that she was not really singing and when you watched closely you could tell that she was only moving her lips to the music. I guess it is fine for dance music as people are actually dancing at the concert instead of listening to a band, where the performance is everything. Still, I was a little disappointed.

Tomorrow I am meeting with my brother in law's sister. They are only here for 3 days and I am so happy to get to meet them on their business trip! I hope it will be nice and warm so I can show them around and take them to the beach!

Australia so far...

I never had time  to make a video about my time here, but I always thought about doing it. So finally you can see a clip about my life here in Australia. You will see the cliffs where I live, me and my friends on a music festival (note: it's pretty hot considering it's March), the skatepark right at the beach and much more. I hope you enjoy!

Quiet Night

On Tuesday I decided to go to the movies with Ben. It was "Tightass Tuesday" as Ben likes to call it and so we watched "The Vow". It was the worst movie for a man but the best movie for girls. I absolutely loved it and I had a hard time keeping back tears. I am glad we went to watch it! The day after Ben and I were standing in the kitchen when suddenly the lights started to flicker and slowly died. I have to say it was quite creepy. You know the moment when this happens in horror movies when the lights go off and something scary happens? I expected to see the silhouette of a ghost or something else, but thank god we didn't! We checked the electricity but everything seemed to be fine in our apartment. Then we went onto the balcony and realised that the whole block around our house was dark. Thank god I love candles so we had enough to put some into every room. I don't know what the problem these days in Bondi is, this has happened 3 times in 2 weeks now. Ben and I washed up with candle light and then went to bed. There was not really anything to do without light. I tried to read in bed but the constant flickering of the candle just annoyed me. I have to say that it was quite romantic and refreshing having a night without the tv on. I was glad when I woke up and the electricity was back on though.

Pinapple Quinoa

I made this pineapple quinoa last week and I really enjoyed it. I love having something sweet in my savory dish, I am a fan of pineapple with anything - Schnitzel, burger etc.
This one is quite interesting as it has some soy sauce in it, so it is salty as well as sweet! You can find the recipe here which I altered a bit! I added some bacon, just because Ben prefers to have some meat in most dishes. I also added broccoli. Delicious!