Posts Tagged ‘review’
Too cold for Ice Tea
So, I got back to work last week, and there was a package of Stolen Recipe ice tea waiting for me. The poor admin staff had had a little worry about it, given it arrived without a name on the address, the name Stolen Recipe, and it came chilled. Liquid explosives, perhaps?
Anyway, according to my emails, I won it to taste test via Tasted by Two… SO here goes…
Digestive 1st Cereal (Yes, Doctor-recommended)
In my list of recommendations from my most recent visit to the GP (along with a coeliac blood test and Buscopan) was to increase the fibre in my diet, and apparently this Digestive 1st cereal was the way to do it.
My doctor couldn’t remember the name of it at the time, just said it was from CSIRO and that it would have much more fibre than the regular muesli I eat. Oh and that if I do have coeliac disease it would probably make me feel worse.
I googled it from my phone, and bought it from Woolies.
I have to say, it’s very sweet (I’m used to the raw oats of untoasted muesli), and I had to get used to it being toasted. I would eat it if I need it, but I think I’d prefer my untoasted for taste and texture reasons. But if you’re a toasted muesli fan, you should probably give it a try. Or the Protein 1st or Heart 1st if that’s what you need!
(I’m back on untoasted this week!)
Crowne Plaza, Darling Harbour
Stayed at the Crowne Plaza Darling Harbour Sunday night for the Amanda Palmer concert at the Opera House… Got a good rate through Last Minute as a Secret Hotel deal (woo!)
The bed was a Queen… Super soft mattress… fought a bit with the pillows to get comfortable. Rish slept well, I tossed and turned a bit. Probably just me ;)
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Addison Hotel, Kensington
Came back last night from a week across Sydney and Newcastle, with more photos than I really need to deal with!
On our first night in Sydney, we stayed at the Addison Hotel which is on Anzac Parade Kensington – chosen because it was about 2 block’s walk from the University of NSW, where Rish had a conference, and where we stayed the rest of the time in Sydney.
I’ll have to admit that, which is room was nice enough, I didn’t sleep too well, bed was hard and I kept going numb, plus I think I may or may not have been worrying about missing my alarm in the morning to trek across the city to my workshop on at Novotel Olympic Park… Rish swears he had a good night’s rest though so it’s probably just me being a little loopy! :) TV had free to air channels, plus a whole heap of Chinese-language television. I was watching a doco on SBS for a while before sleep.
The highlight though was discovering that I’d ordered a package that included not just breakfast, but dinner too at the restaurant downstairs! (for $115, plus the $4.95 booking fee through Wotif)
We didn’t eat as much as we perhaps could have, had we not gone to the welcome reception for Rish’s conference and filled ourselves up on finger food and wine! But, it was yummy all the same. :D No idea about the breakfast – I was out the door at 7am, which is when they were starting to take it around to the rooms. I’m sure it was a standard toast, juice, cereal affair, though. :)
Pocky Review: Milk Flavour
Got these pocky sticks for $1.49 from the HUB Asian grocery in Belconnen when I was up there for a meeting last week…
Cute little cow on the front, and $2 cheaper than the Hello Kitty Strawberry and Thomas the Tank Engine chocolate pocky they had! A little bit grey in colour, but harmless and pretzelly enough :) *crunch* Not a huge amount of flavour, but I shouldn’t expect too much for “milk”… :)
worth the $1.49 ;)
It’s Pink and It Vibrates
I got a chance to try the new (pink) Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser from the girls at the That’s Noice! blog.
I have to say, I think I used it wrong when I first started – I think that you can attach the disposable cleansing pads in 2 ways – and I did it the wrong way and it wasn’t foaming. And then I switched it over, and it did :p My face feels clean, and I like the sensory feeling of the vibrations on my face. Apparently the refills will be $13.99 for 30… sounds a little dear to me, but I might get some if they go on special. (It’s $20 for the thingy itself. Bit of an outlay, I guess. Depends how cheap you are!)
Perhaps I should try it again after a sweaty gross gym session. Or after a day with full sunscreen. That would test it out better! (Keep you posted)
Party, Yum Cha, Boost and Home.
I think we’ve figured out our “Sydney Routine”.
- Check into the hotel (that we’ve booked through Wotif.com or through a new place like Hotels Combined) about 2pm after remember again that we hate the stretch along South Dowling Drive…
- Find lunch. This time around we stuffed ourselves silly with Manchurian Sweet and Sour Pork and some dumplings in Chinatown.
- Shop a bit. *grins*
- See what the hotel’s facilities are like. We checked out the pool. Great view from the 8th floor of the Citigate… but getting cold. And too many kiddies!
- Get ready for whatever the evening has in store for us
- Party?
- Stumble back to the hotel just before sunrise. Not get much sleep before checkout
- YUM CHA BREAKFAST. Highlight of any Sydney trip. Disserting the evening before. Rehydrating from any excessive consumpion of alcohol with the green chinese tea on offer
- Wander/Shop/GET A BOOST SMOOTHIE
- Leave! Take shifts driving because neither one of us has had enough sleep that we really should be in control of a large machine hurtling down the Hume at 100km/h.
- Home and bed
The Citigate was good. Especially for $145/night! We had a room on the second top floor (17th) and the view was gorgeous… from the window near the lift, not necessarily from the room (a great view of UTS). Bed was large, comfortable (for the little time we spent in it!) and the staff were friendly. Shower cap was provided (the one thing I love in a hotel bathroom) … and it was right in Chinatown which fits in with all of life’s plans!
Back to reality again. We signed the lease for our new place yesterday. Get the keys on Tuesday and move on the 1st. Busy busy busy from here on in…
(for the other bloggers and for the facebookers out there… Hotels Combined is given $20 to charity if you blog about them, or $5 if you join their Facebook group. Details here)
Marry me in Vegas
Over the long-weekend, Rish and I took some time for ourselves and went to see 21 (using the free pass I won courtesy of RHP!)
I enjoyed it :) I tend to enjoy most movies that I go to, at least on some level. But this one I walked out of feeling good :) I always wonder how much of a “based on truth” movie is actually true, but I think that if you’re talking Vegas, it could be reasonably far-fetched and still be slightly believable.
Who wants to marry me in Vegas?
Run rabbit
Rish told me to run for 8 minutes… so I ran for 10 :) I think I earned my sticker today ;)
I did a paltry 6 yesterday. I was to build back up to 30… think I can manage it in the next 3 weeks? Not completely sure, all I can do is push myself…
(let’s just ignore the re-swelling of the glands and that I’m a little bit croaky after my final group today…)
:)
And drink excessive amounts of caffeine?? *giggles*
I received a box of 6 bottles of Powerade a couple of weeks back… The idea being that since I was taking up jogging maybe I’d drink it, feel it helps me etc…. Problem is, even though I can see the idea behind it, I just can’t see to drink full-sugared drinks much anymore. Guilt? I’d rather save the calories for something fun. Like chocolate.
So, lucky Rish got himself 6 bottles of powerade. Two of the caffeinated energy edge, two isotonic and two recovery (with protein)
Alcohol with less calories? Sweet!
Amongst all the controvesy recently surrounding “Alcopop” drinks (I had never used that word for a breezer or cruiser until recently – t was always girie drinks or “bitch piss” in my circles, though I suppose we can see why the politicians can’t use it) – it’s nice to see the companies are still bringing out new versions of their popular beverages.
The most recent one I’ve tried: Vodka Cruiser “Free”. Mixed berry flavour. Claiming to have way less calories, I’m sure this would be a sure-fire way to get drunk quicker (if that’s possible on such a drink!) I bought it from Superbarn, as the 4-pack was on special.
So, I have it in front of me now… and it tastes fine. Kinda like low-joule jellies you buy and mix at home. Yeah, like the weight watchers jelly. *shrugs* Obviously there’s less calories in a shot of vodka, but this at least is more drinkable and less likely to burn my nostrils :p And if they start serving it in bars, it means you don’t have to opt for soda water or diet coke if you’re after a sugar-free mixer.
1.1 standard drinks at 76 calories with a sweet berry taste… if you hate that imitation sugar aftertaste, don’t buy it, but if you’re seasoned at poisoning your body with Sweetener 950 – aka “Acesulfame Potassium” and “Sweetener (955)” – sucralose, then why not? :p
Of related interest, an article about sweeteners in diet coke that Rish sent me today. “Sodium benzoate has been linked to damage to DNA and hyperactivity in children, and is used as a preservative in Diet Coke in Australia.” … I decided today that I need to get back to drinking Diet Coke
edit: I have now found out there is an official Cruiser Free website for Australia… and that there are three flavours. The thought of orange and mango though makes me think of warm homebrand poppers in my lunch box at primary school… the site won’t tell you much except seemingly promote that you sould drink cruiser while wearing cut-off denimn shorts and flannos. If that’s you’re thing…
