White guy cooks Thai

This is a sponsored post as part of RMIT O'week

White guy cooks Thai is a mobile van which goes around Melbourne. They usually reside in Yarraville park but today they showed up on campus as part of Oweek. Meld has done a great article on them.

 

The service was very friendly with smiles all around. Although they had to work twice as hard to feed the hungry hordes the staff were all smiling.

As such there were two choices: Spring rolls with slaw for the vegetarians and pork for everyone else. Being a vegetarian I chose the first one.

The slaw was good. It was fresh and it didn't have too much dressing.

The spring rolls are just as good as the ones you'd find in Asian restaurants. Without the sauce even better.

At the City one I had the Green Chicken curry with rice. The curry was yum without the chicken. I loved the pumpkin in there which made the curry taste nice.

White guy also serves other things like wontons, gyozas and fried chicken.

 I can't wait to try more stuff from their menu. Thanks RMIT for catering for the hungry hordes such as myself.

Little Ipoh

The logo which was supplied.

 

This is a sponsored post as I was invited to try the place by the owner.
Little Ipoh is a Malaysian restaurant in the city. It is on the 1st floor above the Latrobe cafe. I heard that Latrobe cafe will be closing soon.
The place is very close to RMIT.

The meat side of the bain marie

The veg side of the bain marie

Sambal and salad

Teh tarik

I love this motto. This is so me

Things to read

The owner was very accomodating. They have been opened for about ten days now, but they used to be just selling their food at various festivals in Melbourne. Business is starting to pick up now.

Little Ipoh is about Malaysian hawker street food. I had their paus - one savoury and the other is sweet. I loved the red bean one. SO good. I haven't had a savoury one before so I can't comment.

I also had the vegetarian dishes from the bain marie- normally its two meat, veg and rice for $10. But I am a vegetarian so only veg. I tried it with their sambal which is spicy. When I saw biryani rice, I just had to try it. I loved the sultanas and I loved that it didn't have a lot of spiciness in there.

I had their egg dish with rice. One bowl of rice is enough. I couldn't finish it all.

I also tried rojak which in my opinion had too much sauce to it. I think they should put the sauce on the side as it was waaaay too overpowering. Some people don't like sauce. But overall I enjoyed eating fresh fruits and cucumber.

The teh tarik could have been a little bit sweeter; it was too bland.


Verdict: I liked it but didn't love it. I liked that they were different than the others in providing dishes that are not found in Melbourne such as pau and mee hoon and bandung which is easily found in Malaysia  but not in Melbourne.
My main concern is that other Malaysian businesses might start attacking them. Lets hope that they can keep their head above the water.

Jellystone

This is a partially sponsored post as the staff gave me a freebie. Bit the coffee and the muffin was paid for.

Jellystone is a cafe that does great coffee. It is two stations away from RMIT Brunswick going towards Upfield.

My friend works there and he was very friendly. Often when I go these sort cafes I really love the vibe. Its not often that you get this cool vibe, but I guess it is Brunswick.

This reminds me of Stax

I love the grinder

I love the homely feel of the cafe

More of the homely feel

I love the laboratory setting- so Brunswick like.

I loved the complimentary milkshake. It was nice and chocolatey, lovely for a warm day.

Jellystone had lovely cold drip coffee which smelt and tasted like medicine. They roast and sell the beans on site. The beans are by Atomica. The coffee was rather acidic and strong just the way I liked it.

The muffin was moist and homemade. Given that I had breakfast an hour ago I wasn't in the mood for big meals. But they sure do have some lovely vegan meals which I'd be happy to try.

Now I thinks the muffins change daily but I think today's one was a blueberry muffin.

Verdict: Would come back for the coffee and some vegan love in Brunswick. Am not too sure why people dislike the place on Urbanspoon. Oh I loved the little cozy spot by the fireplace with all the books. As a student I could curl up for hours in there with a good book.

Hechos en Mexico by Claudia

Hechos en Mexico is a new Mexican joint on Brunswick st in Fitzroy. It is about a ten minute tram ride from the city. I went on the night that I went to the International Couch. I didn't really like the vegetarian offerings at the couch as they were not substantial for me.

So I went there and got takeaway. Normally I don't do this but I had to rush back to the Couch.

This reminds me of a little of Touche Hombre

More reminders of Touche Hombre

Love the sign

The drinks display

The menu

My burrito which normally costs $10

I love the table settings

The atmosphere reminded of Touche Hombre with its electric style. Here there were lots of lovely artworks which really suited the place.

The lady there was just ok. I think she was friendly, but a little reserved towards her customers. And I had to wait a while for the burrito even though it was quiet.

I bought the $5 Groupon for a large burrito. Only that it was half the size, but it was enough to feed me.

I had a choice of four fillings. I chose the vegetarian one with salsa. Only except the salsa is inside the burrito which is weird. What's also weird is the potato fillings in there. Normally the burrito comes with rice and lots of black bean. This had some black bean, but not heaps. And I found guacamole.

I could have easily bought a drink, sigh. But the Couch is a non alcohol place and they had plenty of drinks there already.

Verdict: Its a nice place for drink, but for a burrito I don't think so. Good on them for setting up shop in Brunswick st as it needs a proper Mexican joint, but there are so many other bars out there. It might be hard for them to keep their head above the water in the coming months but we shall see.

Inspecting a property for rent

A guide for new students.

Renting a house/room is like playing Monopoly for many International students

An inspection takes about ten minutes. You need to make an appointment with the landlord if you wish to rent their property. It is highly competitive as about 15-20 other people will also be renting.

According to Reviewproperty.com.au, rent is set to increase by $100-$200 and many students might not be able to rent a place close to the city. International students will have to face some harsh truths.

A property should be clean and functional. Everything should be working. Including the smoke alarm. We still remember the case when a house burned down in Footscray and the students died due to a bad smoke alarm.

Property owners need to have a smoke alarm in their houses.

If you plan on bringing big appliances such as a washing machine make sure that you measure the room that it will be in. Make sure you measure the front door. I have tried to bring a brand new washing machine into my house on a 40 degree day only to discover that it didn't fit in the front door. Ouch!

If you are happy with everything then sign away on the contract and condition report.

Current International students what are you tips for new International Students starting this semester looking to rent?

Some basic clothes and shoes you'll need for Melbourne and where you can buy them in Melbourne for cheap

Generally you'd try to bring all the things from your home country but if you forgot something here's where you can buy it.

Underwear- there is a Bendon factory outlet in Richmond and in Collingwood.

Sneakers- Sketchers at DFO has Sneakers for about $30-$60 and they are pretty funky shoes which can double as street shoes. Students wear sneakers for class mainly because they are so comfortable.

A jacket for all seasons- I got mine on special from Rivers for $25.

Footless tights/leggings - At Target they are $10 each and you can wear this with anything
Jeans- A t DFO and during the sales you usually buy 2 for $100.

T-shirts- these are everywhere and you buy them for between $10-$25.

A maxi dress- you can find them in vintage shops for about $15-$20 per dress

Pajamas- you can buy a set for $39.95 from Target. But it is better to bring your own from home.
Tracksuit- you can buy them from any sports store

Bathing suits- you can buy them from Seafolly for $89.95. But I recommend buying them in store rather than online as you can try them on in store before you buy and get some assistance

Thongs- In Australia we love to wear thongs out especially in summer. You can buy these at all surf shops for $24.95.

A hat for the warmer weather- you can get them for free from your university at Orientation day.

Socks- At Myer you can buy these for $7-$8 if they are on Special.

A suit for formal occasions- Suits are generally really expensive here about $100-$700 altogether so it generally is better to bring it from home. But if you must buy it from here you could buy it fro MYER or online. Most students just go casual at uni, but if you have a presentation then no.
Sunglasses- now you can buy them for $10 but they might just get broken by the second time you wear them, so it is best to buy a good quality pair of sunglasses.

Sustainable living festival- the big market

The festival was on at Birarrang Marr. Many dogs and people came to this festival. It was on all of Friday and last weekend.

Here there were lots of vegan eats as well as cold treats to hydrate you.

I went on a rather cool day.

There was also a lovely house viewing.

There were some demos but seeing as I went in my lunch break there wasn't lot of time for the demos. Rather this is more of a photo essay.

Heaps of other samples from Loving Earth. These are the museli bars.

Some samples of chocolate for you to try from Loving Earth. I just am so addicted to their chocolate

Organic care shampoo shown at the Open House

Lovely bedroom

Love the fresh produce

And more of these outside the house

The tea samples

1 pack of tea for $10

I think these are some of the beauty products on sale

The only coffee on site

Wishlist of what we want for our suburbs that is "Environmentally friendly".

A prize pack

I love the Good Brew Co. They have been to RMIT's market days heaps of times and I have had a chance to try their non alcoholic drinks.

Yay Kombucha- these are hard to find in Melbourne

A cafe

Bike and blend which is always fun. Below is their menu.

Someone having fun on the bike.

More drinks @ Invita stall

$2 icy pole

Artworks