Once a chocoholic, always a chocoholic

Just refer to the two pictures above and you'll get the general idea of what this post is about! :)

Anyway - over the past couple of months or so, I've been going for hot chocolate and various chocolate feasts pretty regularly! And you'd probably guess that I'm a crazy chocoholic who can't live without chocolate! I've always been like this...since the age of 5 (no kidding!). FYI - the "Chocolate Fixes Everything" pic is actually a cartoon on a T-shirt that I wear often...and the second pic below it was taken when one of my mates found that I left a box of chocolates behind in her fridge, and she came up to return it to me...Right - enough of the rambling. Let's get down to some food (oops I mean chocolate) photos! Disclaimer - it's gonna cause LOTS of hunger and drooling.

Fondue...fondue!!

So recently I purchased a Groupon voucher for Theobroma Chocolate Lounge (my favourite chocolate place!) - and this awesome voucher allowed me to get fondue for two, plus two hot chocolates in mugs! Obviously I couldn't finish the whole thing...so I got my friend to come along with me! We split the fondue dish into half and she took one mug of hot choc, while I took the other mug. And we had such a nice time! Of course - I had to take pics - and decided to compile 'em into two collages below:

The "mandatory" close-ups - simply because the lighting was actually decent...and also because I needed some pics to construct those collages above :) In the end I decided to alter the original colour of the photos when constructing those collages...these photos, however, aren't photoshopped or touched up in any ways...

Fruits were fresh and went well with the milk chocolate fondue...and we felt so full after finishing it all! Oh - nearly forgot - here're a couple of pics of the fondue in its full glory, plus the fondue and the two mugs of hot chocolate...

The chocolate fondue trip was probably one of the best trips I've had so far! So glad I bought the Groupon voucher and had such excellent company! Hopefully more of these vouchers are made available...

TCC

Anyway moving on to another chocolate trip - a smaller one though. Now - I went back to Singapore for the Easter and Anzac weekends (was away for a total of 10 days!)...and the main concern I had was that I'd be chocolate deprived, as I am not as proactive in searching for chocolate spots in Singapore! I wasn't chocolate deprived in the end - as I found out that TCC (The Connoisseur Concerto) in Singapore does serve awesome chocolate cakes! It also happened to be Easter Sunday that day - so guess what - my chocolate cake got decorated to look like a cute Easter bunny! Check this out!

Koko Black

Koko Black has been one of my favourite chocolate places - and I go there quite often when in Melbourne (because it is so easy to get to!). In Perth, however, I actually didn't go to the Claremont branch...until maybe about a month ago, when a mate of mine mentioned that she wanted to go. So we went together...and there we go - my first time to the Koko Black branch in Perth!

I remembered that day being cold, wet and gloomy, and we were all wanting to stay indoors...we had had dinner, and were intending to have some more food as all of us were still hungry. So we went to Koko Black for an excellent chocolate-themed dessert! Here we go - yet another photo-collage of what I had...

I initially thought the chocolate bar on top of the cake was a solid one, and was quite concerned about how I was going to gobble it down. Turned out that it was hollow! How cool is this? I thoroughly enjoyed the cake of course...and the hot chocolate that went with it. Belgian Hot Chocolate is ALWAYS awesome!

My mate ordered this caramel dish - and it was really sweet but gorgeous!

Some pics of the exterior before we went for a walk to burn off the calories...

One of the hotels in Claremont had a music-themed bar - and I spotted these musical signs on the railings! Of course I had to take pics of 'em! Now these really made my day...apart from the hot choc of course! By the way - this was also where we had our dinner.

The beautiful (yet ancient-looking) Claremont station...just before we boarded the train...

More Theobroma snapshots...

The Theobroma Chocolate Lounge in Fremantle is the place I frequent most - when I'm in Perth. Every month, I go for a group seminar in the city, and when coming back from there, I'd always deliberately take the train to Fremantle...for dinner. And obviously I'd drop by Theobroma Chocolate Lounge for desserts! Sometimes I'd have dinner at Theobroma as they serve really good main courses too! So here we go!

I like having a cup of hot choc by my side when doing work. And that's what I am having right now :)

Ending off this post with a quote I found in Fremantle...

Soon I'll be posting pictures from Dijon and Paris! I can't wait to head off to France for conference!

Not-so-Hidden City Gems

I found a new hobby - nail art! Decided to draw music notes on my fingernails (against a light pink shimmery base) the other day, as I wanted to de-stress. Wore these for a few days before they started chipping - and now I have plain fingernails with clear nail polish. No more short, stubby nails for me, since I don't play piano as often - I'm growing my fingernails a tad longer these days.

Whoa - time sure flies! I just celebrated my third-month "anniversary" with my PhD thesis. Yes, it's been 3 months since I commenced my candidature, and man, so many things have happened! Lots of writing, reading and all - I reckon I've read at least 80 journal papers already!

Anyway - I managed to take one of the weekends off to gallivant around Perth. I haven't been exploring the Perth CBD for quite some time! I reckon it's been at least 6 months since I explored Perth CBD properly. So this time - instead of going to Fremantle (where I usually hang out), I decided to take a de-tour to Perth CBD...

Stopped by at Theobroma Chocolate Lounge at St George's Terrace for a bite - and since I was craving for hot chocolate, I decided to go for the mug. It was BIG. I'm so glad I'm getting my appetite back now - at the start of the month, I just couldn't eat a single thing...but now, I'm slowly going back to becoming a big eater, like I've always been.

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge was situated in this beautiful heritage building which also housed the Linton and Kay Art Gallery (for some of the older pics of this place - I did a post on this art gallery last year). Speaking of which - the artwork along the main entrance had been updated!

I know I've got plenty of pics of these stained glass windows - but this time I did some changes to the camera settings (including setting my white balance to "Cloudy"), to get a warmer tone to the pics. Last year, I had these pics with a cooler tone...this time I wanted to bring out the warm colours - like the browns, reds and yellows.

The facade of the old Perth Technical School (where Linton and Kay Art Galleries was situated). The old signboard at the door has been replaced by a simple, chic sign on the side of the building.

Not too far away - the Heritage Restaurant and Bar - I kinda "borrowed" this pics from a previous post, simply because this place is awesome and deserves more attention :) Well - let's just say that there's now an option for al fresco dining at this place...and the doors are kept open more often nowadays...I'd definitely go back in for a look someday.

This was my first time (in months) to the newly refurbished Brookfield Place - a hub for restaurants, bars and all. So I decided to have a quick walk through...

Took a walk up St George's Terrace, and spotted this vintage looking entrance. Building was closed for the weekend. But when I looked through the glass on the doors - I saw a really stylish and expensive looking lobby! And that pic was added to my collection of course!

Plaques along St George's Terrace - commemorating eminent Western Australians. I chose Eileen Joyce for a very obvious reason - she's a PIANIST! And I'm a pianist too! :)

The Cloisters - a heritage building not too far away. It's actually a convict-built colonial building - which was constructed as a secondary school for boys in 1858. The building currently houses a cafe, as well as other offices. In front of the original entrance - there's a statue of Bishop Matthew Blagden Hale - the founder of Hale School (prominent boy's school in Perth). Currently, the Cloisters is heritage-listed.

In the early 1900s, before the skyscrapers were built, the Cloisters was a standalone building right in the heart of the city. Now it's been dwarfed by several skyscrapers behind it.

Spotted this beautiful horse sculpture right on top of yet another office building, along St George's Terrace.

Headed down Milligan Street - a place which I rarely go to, and guess what? I spotted this awesome bar here! The Melbourne Bar! Housed in a heritage building - double likes!! Although I've fallen in love with Perth, I still miss Melbourne...and seeing this really made my day...somehow.

Some more heritage buildings in the precinct...

And the famous His Majesty's Theatre along Hay Street! His Majesty's Theatre was built between 1902 and 1904, and is one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Perth. The building was designed by William G. Wolfe in Edwardian Baroque style. I've actually been inside the theatre for a performance of Swan Lake (last August)...and the inside is absolutely gorgeous!

Well - I should also say - the outside is equally gorgeous. Check out the beautiful ornamentation, balconies and all! And the intricate details! 

I should also admit - this is my first time taking pics of His Majesty's Theatre, so all hell broke loose...

I reckon it's rainy season now - so there were puddles on the ground. And one of the bigger puddles had the reflection of His Majesty's Theatre in it! So I experimented with a couple of pics...

Along the way - while walking to the train station - I spotted murals outside some restaurants. So I stopped by to take some pics. 

Took the train to Fremantle -and arrived just in time for sunset! Or rather - I arrived slightly earlier and was engrossed in looking at vinyl records in a record store along High Street in Fremantle :) Either way, I managed to make it in time to Bather's Beach!

There were heavy clouds that day - and I knew that I'd probably not get a full view of the sunset. It didn't really matter anyway - I decided to go with cloudscapes instead! Well - the heavy clouds ended up looking pretty dramatic in the end!

What I like about rainy season - high tide. I had a really nice time taking long-exposure pics of the tide. I should really do this more often, before the tide dies down again!

Made a surprising discovery too - when I was taking pics of the tide, this cute little bunny appeared out of nowhere and came to say hi! He was pretty docile, and was looking around curiously. A couple pointed him out - and I immediately took out my telephoto lens and took a couple of pics of him! He just stood there, posing happily...until the next wave came in and I had to focus on the waves instead!

Ended off the day by having Japanese katsu curry at Gohan's Japanese Cafe, along the Cappuccino Strip. Yet another Japanese eatery to add to my list - this place serves really awesome curry!

I shall end off with a collage of the vinyl records I found in the record store! One day - I'm going to get a vinyl record player and collect vinyl records! 33-1/3 inch long-play (LP) vinyls are THE BEST!

Signing off for now - with more pics coming your way for sure!