Cupcakes Nostalgia from Kambala Days

Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Icing

It was a mid September afternoon, merely hours before I broke my foot. Yes, I broke my foot and this is why I have been AWOL from blogging... well that and my school work. Anyway - stories on how I broke my foot can be re-told if there's demand. Now back to the cupcakes, I have been waiting for this moment since ages. One of my fond memories of my Kambala days was this cupcakes. I was so happy when a Kambala girl friend of mine told me that I can still have this cupcake! She told me where to get them but the last time I went there on a Sunday they were closed and I hadn't had time to return till that fateful day on September 17.

Loving the lettering of the shop's name - so 80s!

It was a step back in time, like going back in the 80s if you're looking at the store from the outside. It's nostalgic and so simple amongst all these new foodie craze in Sydney where cafes, bakeries, chefs compete to create the most innovative new thing, almost like an art design where you kinda just want to look at - so afraid to bite as you might just ruin a piece of artwork. At Dobinson, cupcakes are just cupcakes. There for your eating pleasure. Simplicity is key here with cake bases such as vanillas and chocolates.

Choose carefully - don't let your waistline hate you

Vanilla base cupcake with vanilla icing

Of course I just had to have the vanilla base cupcake with strawberry icing. Expect simplicity, there's nothing too strawberry other than the pink-ish colour, but as I bite into it, I felt like I was transported back to a time where everything was so simple. My partner in crime of the day who doubled as my informant in tracking down this place J, had the vanilla icing. We then got the mini cupcakes each. I also ordered 2 more normal size cupcakes to go. I just had to! It's been 10 over years since I had these cupcakes!

Chicken Mushroom Cheese pie

As it was lunch time and I can't just have cupcake for lunch, J and I ordered a cheesy chicken mushroom pie to share. I am in looooove... So soft and gooey, the chicken pieces were full of flavour - oh so savoury. We also ordered a cappuccino each, which came in this big glasses that I forgot to take a picture of. A total of 4 cupcakes, 2 junior cupcakes, 1 small cupcake, 2 cappuccinos and one savoury pie was around A$20! Love the reasonable price here... I really can't wait to get back. Unfortunately that afternoon I broke my foot - the right one. So doctor say no driving till cast is off. So lesson of this post: don't take your foot for granted and go get those cupcakes and live it up for me.

PS: It is said that the famous Adriano Zumbo once worked here.... Now, aren't you curious?

Dobinsons Cake

10 Newcastle St

Rosebay, NSW 2029

+61 2 9371 7334

Closed on Sundays

A tribute for Rafael Nadal - the greatest tennis player ever

I know this is a food blog and I know I haven't written for a while. It's been super hectic with school lately and I wasn't having the best day either today. The best thing that I've heard today was when I checked my twitter and saw that Nadal had won the US Open 2010.

Women thinks he's hot, men's are divided between him and Federer. For me, he is the greatest tennis player ever. Not just for his sportmanship and the games, but also for his character. Sure, a friend said to me that it's all just for show, and it could very well be. I beg to differ though. You just need to see the way he comforted Federer in Melbourne 2009 who couldn't believe that Nadal won the slam title. Click here for the video. Not just this one time, each time, he always has positive things to say to his opponents, even if he lost. To have this kind of consistency, I don't think it's for the show. It's admirable. Even when he lost the French Open last year, he didn't blame anyone or made any excuses. Even if later on we all find out that other than suffering from tendonitis, his parents were in the process of divorcing. Read this - a tribute for him from the official US Open 2010 website.

To find out today that he has finally won the US Open made me very happy. I don't even know him personally, but his achievement got me all emotional. I never had idols or be a fan of someone before. Nadal, however, is an exception. I truly admire him, not for the looks though it's not bad at all, but for his character. Congrats Rafa!

Day 4 cont'd: Affogato at Sugiyama Cafe and the Cheese Factory

Welcome to Sugiyama Cafe - Furano

As I was preparing photos for this post, I am quite aghast at how many food we consumed that particular day. To recap from the previous post, so far on the same day we have had: lavender ice cream, lavender calpis jelly, lavender cream puff, various soba and grilled mochi. This post picks up where we left off... after lunch, we had some time to kill before our bus to the wine and cheese factories (yes more food I know!!). So we walked back to the station when we came across this cute cafe. The signs were all in Japanese, but if you walk in, you will be rewarded with great coffee and super cute cafe.

Check out the tablecloth's pattern: coffee cups!!

The menu - Affogato for JPY 400! (+/- US$4.00)

I was so excited to find such a cute, cozy cafe and at the same time felt sad because I only had that time to enjoy it. As soon as we stepped in, we could smell roasted coffee beans wafting in the air. The furniture were so retro but at the same time very cozy as there were lots of wooden furniture and chocolatey color that made the atmosphere felt so warm. The AC was full blast, such a cool refuge from the midday heat outside! I absolutely adored the tablecloth, it has coffee cup pattern! I really wish I can transport this whole cafe here to Sydney, or wherever I happen to live.

Check out the retro chairs and the fan... too cute!

The special blend of coffee drip

Waiting for our order and taking a break from the heat

Affogato - perfect cure from the hit and to ensure that we stay after a morning of eating, eating, oh and eating!

There were two baristas and they were very friendly even though we don't speak the same language. This is what I call hospitality service! Well, my broken Japanese don't really count... Anyway, the lady barista spoke English as she lived in New Zealand before. She has the cutest accent! It was so unusual for me to hear Japanese speaking in a non American accent. Anyhow, she explained to us that they have a special brew see picture below - where it takes about 7-8 hours to drip the coffee and yields only 15 cups of coffee per day. Of course we had to try it! We decided to have the affogato. I am also sure that Ginko chan was happy I got the same as her, this way she didn't have to wait for me to take pictures of her orders! I think she got used to it though ;)

Closer to the bus departure time we head back to the station and waited for it to come. First and stop: cheese factory. We planned on going to the wine factory afterwards but it rained so hard that we decided to head back and enjoy our cozy hostel. Bibaushi and Furano area were so tranquil and peaceful, we felt so sad to leave the next day. But hey, it's always better to leave when you still want to stay than being stuck when you just can't wait to leave. I've been on both places and this is way better.

Furano Cheese: you could tell which one is the one with cuttlefish ink, couldn't you?

Unfortunately the cheese factory was closed on the weekend. However, we still get to taste the their specialty cheese which is black cheese made with cuttle fish ink. It wasn't fishy at all but you could taste the squid ink very subtly, the slight pungent taste cuts through the creaminess that would be too much for me. Ginko chan though, preferred the normal cheese. So really, it all comes down to your taste buds and preference.

The emblem, which is kinda funky as it fused Italian and Japanese elements, how they make the pizza and an angel pizza!

The end product and my Hokkaido Milk Ice cream...

This little guy kept us company while we were having ice cream outside, isn't butterfly a sign of good luck?

Remember to get your tickets here first, then give it to the people on the counter.

Then as if we hadn't had enough to eat for the day I had the Hokkaido milk ice cream and Ginko ordered a slice of pizza. Are we crazy? Yeah, I think we were... But then again, we WERE at a cheese factory so how can we not try the dairy products there?! They were really yummy, definitely worth our stomach getting angry at us. Will I do it again? I'd probably try to space all the eating out on a couple of days!

Sugiyama Coffee

〒076-0025 富良野市日の出町12-1
+81 167 23 5277

Opens 10am ~ 7pm

Click here for map

Day 4: 2nd round of Lavender ice cream and soba lunch in Furano city

Lavender soft ice cream Round 2!

At first it was definitely the rain that made us decide that we just had to go back to Tomita farm. However, I confess as you all probably have guessed that it was the Lavender ice cream that really tipped the scale. So it was day 4 in Japan, day 2 in Bibaushi and another visit to Tomita farm. Getting up early, we caught the train to Naka Furano and walked the 20 minutes walk to Tomita farm. The weather was as sunny as it was raining the previous day. By the time we reached Tomita farm, we needed to sit down under the shade and get something cold, yes we got lavender ice cream. Seriously though, it was the heat.

Lavender calpis jelly with poplar trees in the background

I then decided to try the Lavender calpis jelly and Ginko chan got the cream puff, also in lavender flavor. No surprise there eh? The fields were just so beautiful. I couldn't stop snapping pictures. I wish I had a whole week just to spend wondering around this area.

I wish I could have brought my late German Shepherd here, I miss him so much!

Norokko Go Train - Sightseeing train on operation in the spring and summer

Kodamaya front entrance, very summery

The sun was really shinning that day, as if to make up for its lack thereof the previous day. It exhausted us. So we made our way to Furano to get lunch and wait for the bus that will take us to the cheese and the wine factory. The tourist information recommended us this soba place about 7 minutes walk to the north of the station. We were lucky we got table right away because after that, people had to wait for quite a while. There were so many kind of soba to choose from too. I was tempted to get the Anago soba at first, but then saw the kinoko (mushroom) soba which I never see on any soba place menus. That settled it then. Ginko chan opted for the set and we waited for our food to come. We were super hungry.

Ginko chan's set, tempura soba, ikura soba and nama soba - fresh fresh fresh!

Look how fresh the egg is!

Mushroom soba with chicken

Yaki Mochi (grileld rice cakes) - my absolute favorite Japanese snack!

The soba, was really fresh. We ordered the cold kinds perfect remedy for such hot days. Honestly, I'm not really of a soba person, but I was happy here. Service was awesome, food quality was great and the price was friendly to my wallet too! Seriously, I heart Japan. There are so many affordable great quality food there.

Kodamaya

Click here for website

Click here for map

Day 3 cont'd: Aunt Stella's cookies

This is what got me interested in the first place. It had a watermelon scent, but it was rather chocolate chip-py for me. I was amused.

On the way back to Bibaushi, we passed by the basement of one of the department stores nearby and long story short, we ended up getting all sorts of cookies from Aunt Stella's Cookies. It was the first time I had ever seen such a wide variety of cookies. I was so impressed with their creativity. Tell me if you're not impressed after seeing all these pictures!

My favorite was the corn flake cookies. Hopefully soon I will attempt to recreate this. If it works out, I might just share the recipe with you. Or you just have to order it through IEatSweet who will give me commission ;)

Aunt Stella's Cookies

Click here for website

(It's only in Japanese... Sorry! Really I am, I wish I could put through an order)