You know how annoying it is when you are in a mamak food store, suddenly a whole whoosh of pungent smoke comes directly towards your meal and into your face?

Well honestly, I find it utterly rude and unhygienic.

Blow it vertically, because smoke travels upwards! 🙂

Sorry, I don’t look forward to having other people’s gunk of smoke and respiratory particles into my dinner thank you very much. I know how it’s like on the receiving end; hence I certainly do try to avoid blowing in people’s direction.

Another reason why I despise shisha-ing at mamak stores, it’s super uncomfy sitting on stiff chairs or stools anyway.

One night, my prayers were answered.

I found an awesome chilling place to shisha!

What’s also fab is that it has really nice view (especially at night!) behind you as you chill.

Pretty damn windy up here too, as it is located on the higher floor

It’s so comfy!

Ya get to lean back or lie down enjoying your hookah all to yourself or with your friends.

No more sitting upright on steel chairs with your food in mamak stores

Teaching buddy Kelly how to shisha 🙂

She’s a real fast learner. Good on ya!

We drank some cocktails and fruit juices but our tummies were growling as the night went on

Time for food!

We were served Chicken and Beef Kebab

I’m pretty big on kebabs so I was really looking forward to how this one tastes like.

Middle Eastern food FTW!

My verdict? I loved it… and so did Kelly. The meat was really tender and flavorful 🙂

You can have it with rice or with bread, we picked the latter. It was warm and yummeh

On the menu, it is either Chicken Kebab or Beef Kebab 🙂

Don’t be afraid to ask for a 2-in-1 like we did if you can’t decide which satisfies your tastebuds better

Whilst eating, I spotted a familiar face. Bumped into a hometown friend, Arvind 🙂

He was with a group of friends and apparently there were a lot of pubs/bars in this building too.

No wonder it’s so happening!

He used to date my best friend and we happened to go to the same college 🙂

Having our all our drinks finished, we were then recommended to try some Iranian Tea.

Tea directly imported from Iran! Hmm… I’ve only had Chinese, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Peppermint, Chamomile and Green tea before though.

No harm trying this Iranian tea for the 1st time 🙂

(I like this photo! I somehow look excruciatingly thin here LOL)

when the tray came, we were somewhat impressed

I like the set-up of the tiny tea-pot with the candle beneath it, miniature cup and saucers, sugar pot and the authentic design of the glassware in general. The dude looking all regal in the portrait?

Must be an Iranian big-shot or some perennial general, I guess 🙂

Sip sip! Tastes very different from ANY of the tea I’ve listed above.

It has some kind of Chai-cum-Bittersweet flavour to it

It wasn’t long before I got used to the after-taste 🙂

Eventually, we had more. Now, this was a really unique tea to me!

Lemme introduce you to the lady boss *ahem* of this Shisha Lounge

Her name is Newsha and she comes from Iran!

Awesome, share some Iranian goodness with us here in Malaysia

Her lovely joint has been operating for roughly 3 months now

It’s fairly new but beginning to pick up already

Just one visit and it became my instant favorite already 🙂

I cannot wait to come back to Malaysia and patronize this hang out spot with my mates again!

With some new friends at Shisha Lounge 🙂

Newsha’s mates are pretty cool too!

They also introduced me to something new to eat…

Ta-daaaa! In your face! 😀 😀

What is it? It’s one of Iran’s traditional food called the ‘Nimroo’.

Some form of an omelette wrapped with veggies in soft, freshly baked warm bread.

Here’s a close up of Nimroo

(and a close up of his face too haha!)

Kelly and I continued shisha-ing the night away and played with the Iranian chess/checker board game for a bit.

We eventually gave up because we had no clue how to play it LOL

When smoke gets in your eyes~

I had a fantastic night and a “getaway” to Iran this evening. They really give you a true taste of Iran 🙂

With the impeccable service you get, it’s hard not to enjoy yourselves there!

They open till late too, around 3AM so it’s perfect for after-hours session.

So round up your shisha-mates for a great night out and thank me later!

As promised in this post, it's to the city again I go!

It's a voyage I've always looked forward to. Adjourning from the suburbs in Camberwell via Metlink Train.

Can't help that this city girl is always waiting to burst out into the urbans!

I raced the train to capture it passing by!! 🙂

Anyway, excitement over. Let's rewind. First I had to walk to the nearest train station, which was about 15 minutes away by foot. *pants*  So I started walking…

Sucha sunny day today, ain't it?

… and walking  

… and walking

I loved how the insane weather held up just for me 😛  

At least I'd like to think so hehe  

…..and walking  

… and walking! Good thing I put on some real good & comfy kicks.  

So yes, I finally reached the railway tracks half an hour later LOL.   That's due to all the shooting, taking in the perfect view of mother nature and stopping to smell the flowers.

Yeah, literally, I did stoop down to pick up daisies, how ladylike of me *coughs*  

Oh look! I'm standing in the middle of the tracks.  

Let's just hope a train doesn't come by while I work the camera 😛  

Standing right in the middle of the railway 😛  

Okay, enough fooling around 😀  So I finally arrived the train station, Hartwell Station, along the Alamein line  

Bought my Metcard and hey ho, let's go!  

Train was very efficient, it came right on the dot according to the board which displays each train's estimated time of arrival.

So I got in and it was kinda empty, but it'll eventually fill up with people as it gets closer to the city 🙂  

After less than half an hour, hello again city!! 🙂

I can finally breathe some air into my "metropolitan" lungs

Aaaahhhhh *inhales and exhales*

Shot this from the inside of Flinders Street Station

It's one of those beauuuuutiful train stations that never fail to capture the interest of tourists.

In the short moment that I was there, I've already spotted 10 odd foreigners snapping away!

The breathtaking urban life before me

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Melbourne city 😀

Can't helping taking a shot WITH it too 😛

Similarly to Bukit Bintang or KLCC area back home in Malaysia and Orchard Road in Singapore, Flinders Street and Swanston Street here in Melbourne are pretty much always abuzz with a myriad of people… anytime of the day!

Swarming with people at most pedestrian crossings

When I got to the other side, I wanted to take a touristy ride all around the city on a free service called the City Circle Tram. It's a brown tram which circles the main zones of the city.

So hop on with me!

Here I am waiting right opposite Flinders Street Train station at one of the tram stops.

It comes every 5 minutes or so, very efficient!

You can see many other tourists (and some locals) waiting for it too.

I can't wait to see what's in store for me in the city. Elizabeth Street, Swanston Street, Queen Victoria Street Market, Burke Street, the State Library of Victoria, Southbank and so many others!

Walking along Elizabeth Street!

Was too excited touring the city! Sucks that I got hungry at 3pm-ish

Because at that time, most of the yummy food court shops at the Queen Victoria market had all shut 🙁

And if you didn't know, all the malls in Melbourne closes at 5pm.

YES FIVE O' CLOCK IN THE !@#$%^&*( EVENING.

I miss hanging out/shopping in malls till 10.30pm back in Malaysia!

Wonder what do Australians do after 5pm? Dinner and then go home?

Anyway, speaking of my lunch, I was too late! The only stuff available were Subway, Maccas (Yes, that is what they call McDonalds in Australia), Hungry Jacks and all the other fast food stuff. Bummer 🙁 🙁

I ended up with Subway and omg the Subway there has SO MUCH MORE CHOICES compared to the one back in Malaysia.

Okay, nevermind the fact that we don't/can't have pork nor bacon, but I'm also talking about the variety of sauces/bread/condiments!

Disappointed! 🙁

I didn't come all the way to the city to eat fast food nnoooooo

Issokay. There's always another day!

Besides, I headed up to Lygon Street for their Italian food with a good friend of mine, Alexis.

Went to one of the chocolate lounges with buddy Violet and her boyf James

Greek food for dinner with fellow Malaysian pal Rebecca 😀

Now, those were yum! (and a dent in my pocket yeee-ouucchh)

Back in Flinders Street Station the next day to do more exploring!

Where did I go and what did I do on both these days?

That's for another story, ye? Wait for it, dear readers, you'll see pretty damn soon, you bet 😉

You know how I always tweet about being swept away by shopping online? 😛

The joy of just clickety-clicking away on my computer and then receiving parcels of your stuff a few days later always works for lazy retail therapy. Who wouldn't love receiving goodies? (Even if you ordered them yourself LOLOL)

But wait a sec. What is this!?

Something outta my ordinary buys of clothes and heels. It's groceries this time 🙂

(and ignore my sleepy face having just woken up in the morning)

I have to admit, it was kinda fun!

More fun than running over to the nearest Cold Storage or Jusco to stock up my fridge or stash of nomnoms.

Doorstep's descriptions are really accurate that I didn't need to physically touch or read it.

Very specific, If i say so myself  To every kilogram, price, size, brand, type, quantity and etc.

Ingredients or product/dietry information printed on the box are all shown here as well.

I'll show you another example, these are some of the stuff I've purchased from Doorstep this week.

I can't believe how specific they categorized everything. Even better than how the supermarkets do it!

Check out the orange sidebar on the left of the screenshots below.

A loaf of bread for breakfast!

My fave is Gardenia Breakthru Formula Multigrain Fibremeal

Band-Aids to bring to Australia with me!

You'd never know when you'll need 'em 🙂

Accuracy and specifications all down to the last descriptions of that product you're looking for.

Seriously, mom and I were impressed while shopping here!

OMG so many choices of Milo, yummy!

I'm glad that I no longer need to lug heavy tins of Milo back home anymore 😛

WHY? Because……………….

Ta-daaaa!

Cos it now comes to me instead. Doorstep.com.my made this happen yay!

So after ALL that browsing and shopping…… these are the stuff I bought for my household supplies.

the

list

goes

on…

and….

on………..

After I've checked out the stuff in my grocery cart and paid (you can do it via Credit Card or Cash On Delivery),  select when you want your groceries to arrive. Doorstep even does same day deliveries!

So I picked Thursday morning (highlighted in green) because I wanted my stuff for breakfast 😀

And even left them a message to come at a particular time 🙂

So guess who rang my doorbell on Thursday morning?

Doorstep had arrived with my goodies wootwoot 😀

That's my aunt in her PJs opening the gate for them LOL

I peeked inside the van and I saw all my stuff sitting prettily there

Oh and FYI all of us at home has just woken up and still decked in our PJs without nice hair nor any make up.

Can't expect much when the first thing you wake up to is the luxury of your groceries arriving your residence 😛 😛

The dude from Doorstep reviewing and reading out the products I've ordered

counting.. counting.. to make sure everything is in order

Aight! checklist… complete!

Yippee! Thanks boys. I know finding my house was difficult ROFL

Aunt Queenie and mom then began to look through the stuff I bought for the household.

Hey not everything is for the house! 😛 😛 Some are for my personal use too hehe

Vitagen drinks for my cousins

Indocafe coffee for everyone, Maggi Mi Goreng for everyone

Eggs for everyone, Soy Milk for me

Kiwi Kleen for the maid, Band-Aids for me

yadda yadda yadda

Oh and just so you know, they don't actually just leave all the groceries on the floor like that.

I personally requested them to, because I wanted to take pictures of it 😀

Usually, they will help their customers bring the stuff in the kitchen or the pantry.

Mom arranging our new stuff in the fridge

Wookie. Now that we're stocked for the week, it's time to look forward to eating home-cooked food.

San Remo pasta FTW!

Thank you Doorstep for making our grocery shopping a much, much easier one 😀

Thumbs up!

Anyway, if you also think you're too cool to do marketing or groceries, you can always hit them up. (haha I'm kidding!).

But yeah, seriously, if you wanna try this new Doorstep thing out, you should. It's worth a go! 🙂

It's www.doorstep.com.my. They're on facebook and twitter too