Restaurant Review: +39 Pizzeria & Degustation

This is the first time I've reviewed a restaurant, I don't think it will be a common occurrence but I thought it would be interesting to throw one in now and then, especially when I go to places with repaste I'm not entirely familiar with.

On the weekend, my friends and I went to this restaurant on Little Bourke Street called +39 Pizzeria & Degustation.

Image courtesy of TheAge.com.au

As my friend explained to me, +39 is the country code for Italy, hence the name. The food was good, nothing that special though. They serve authentic Italian mozzarella, the white kind not the yellow stuff they sell in plastic at supermarkets, as part of their degustation menu and also in one of their pizza selections. The degustation version is served with cherry tomatoes, and you can also opt to have some toasted focaccia bread (which I would highly recommend, because the cheese is rather thick and creamy and needs something other than the tomatoes to offset this). I read on Wikipedia that degustation means something along the lines of sampling small portions of all a chef's signature dishes in one sitting, or it could also mean sampling a selection of cheeses. This place offers degustation in the latter manner.

They have all kinds of unique pizzas (well, unique to me because I eat the pretty stock standard westernised pizza toppings most of the time). I especially liked this one pizza I ate which had artichoke, ham, mushrooms and olives (the name escapes me) and another which had Italian sausage, I think that one was called Salsiccia(sp?). The dessert was pretty nice too. We shared a non-baked Tiramisu and strawberry Pannacotta, both delicious.

It's a pretty small place, but it wasn't too crowded when we went there, although I'm sure there are times when it does. It is a bit on the pricey side, but I guess it was a good experience in terms of trying unfamiliar cuisine. Would I go back there? Perhaps, but not very often at that price.

I'd probably give it 3.5/5. Good but not GREAT food, nice atmosphere, but a little pricey for the kind of food you're getting. I guess that's what eating in the CBD entails.

Death: Do you have the right to choose?

While watching a random television program on the ABC channel, I came across the news that Terry Pratchett (who was introduced to me by my ex and has since become quite a favourite of mine) spoke up for people having the right to request assisted death (i.e. euthanasia). I think I can sort of understand his point of view after reading an excerpt from his speech. Most people who are interested in him and his writing would probably know that he has a form of early, onset Alzheimer's disease. I guess that, from his personal point of view and from his personal experiences with death, he believes that people have a right to a logical and methodical decision to choose when they die, if they suffer from a disease that medicine can only stave off but never cure.

The question of whether people can choose to die has always been kind of taboo in much of greater society, especially Western Christianised societies. Personally, I am neutral about it. If God has something to say to you regarding your decisions, it's going to be between only you and Him, and it's not really anyone else's business. But I guess when someone who commands so much respect for what he does, and is also someone who you hold in high esteem, speaks so frankly about choosing to die, and so nonchalantly sets the scene for the event, it kind of makes you wonder. Mortality is something which, I think, we have become desensitised towards now that it has become so commonplace in our lives; mostly through our media culture and the constant wars which plague our world.

Just my thoughts for the day.

The summer is fading, January is ending...

It's the last day of January, so I thought I'd put up a token update. So what's been happening?

• It was Australia Day on Jan 26th. I celebrated by going to a friend's BBQ and hanging out there for about 10 hours. It was good fun. We ate BBQ'd lamb and an assortment of other cuisine, hung out and chatted, met some guys who were hilarious and totally on my level in terms of conversation, ate some more and then rounded the night off with dessert (mini cheesecakes made by my big sister, lol) and card games. I haven't had that much fun in ages.
  
  
• On Thursday I went with a friend of mine to, firstly, get her Divison 2 Nursing registration sorted out. It was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. Needless to say, due to that monster called bureaucracy flashing its evil red tape, a whole heap of shenanigans ensued and registration has, as of today, still not occurred. Sometimes it's extremely stupid how formalised systems work, but I guess they are there for a reason. Afterwards, we went to check out the "new" Chadstone Shopping Centre. Nothing really flash, just that they added a whole heap of bloody expensive stores (Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, Chanel, Prada, etc). I didn't buy much because I'm broke, but I did pick up a MAC Feline Kohl Power eyeliner which has been repromoted with some collection they've just released (the name has escaped me), a pair of PJ bottoms from Peter Alexander which were on sale for $15 and a black shirt from Esprit which was reduced to $50. We also went to KoKo Black, where I'm pretty sure the iced chocolate was on the verge of giving me diabetes - delicious, though.
  
  
• On Friday night I went to the same friend's house for dinner, movies and random mayhem. One of our other friends also came along to join in with the festivities. We ended up eating dinner, snacking on chocolate, fruit and cake, and playing Gin Rummy all night long. Boy, were we a competitive trio. I also managed to catch some of the tennis; it was a match between Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer. I was expecting a bit more of a fight, but Fed flew through it in three quick sets. Just like he did tonight in the final against Andy Murray, although Andy actually managed to produce some quality tennis in the third set and almost made a fourth set happen.
  
  
• Lastly, I just made an impulse purchase (well, not really, since I've been researching, reading reviews and even went to try on my size at the store today) on eBay. What did I purchase? Well, I'm sure it's obvious that it is something that is meant to be worn. And here it is:

Skechers Shape Ups - probably the most gimmicky shoe out there right now, but I'm all about the gimmicks, no matter how stupid they are (I'll have to remember to post up pictures of my new Star Wars Edition Stormtrooper Adidas sneakers). If I like how the product looks, I'll believe just about anything if it justifies my purchase of it. Plus, these remind me of a pair of Skechers I used to own back in my early highschool days. My favourite shoes for a long time, if I recall correctly.

These are classified as "fitness" shoes which supposedly promote weight loss, help you tone up your legs and ass, and improve your posture, etc. I don't know if it is right to market the fact that a mere SHOE can achieve all that stuff, but hey, what the heck?If we're honest with ourselves, the fact is we'll believe whatever we want to believe and we'll buy what we want to buy based on our beliefs, whether or not what is advertised about a product turns out to be accurate or not. You can actually purchase them locally in Melbourne at various stores, although an actual Skechers store has much more variety. But they go for a ridiculously overpriced $229.95AUD here, whereas they are priced between $80-100USD! What the hell?! Talk about Australia being an opportunistic, capitalist vampire of a country. I purchased mine for $141+AUD including shipping on eBay - and they wonder why money goes out of the country instead of into it. The biggest motivation for buying these shoes? Cuteness factor. Some people think they look weird and ugly, I reckon they are adorable. If they help me slim down too, that would be an awesome bonus. I can't wait until I receive them.

And I guess that just about sums up the most eventful things in my life of late. I'm starting to appreciate single life more, I think. Sometimes I feel lonely, sometimes I'm still pretty sad, and at other times I still feel like there isn't any point to life, but not so much as I used to and I'm pretty glad for that. I've stopped blaming myself and thinking I need to be little miss perfect for some man to want me. You know what? I kind of like myself. Maybe even love myself sometimes. I don't think it's such a bad thing.

Until next time...

The new guy

I am officially intrigued by another guy. Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing. Can't say for certain I'm *quite* over the other one, but he's become more like an irritating itch that I refuse to scratch.

Not like anything's going to happen with this one. I don't think it will anyway. He's too perky for the inherent cloud of gloom I am, among other more pressing obstacles.

But who knows? Stranger things have happened.

"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes..."

I love you Brandon Boyd, there's always something you sing which speaks to me.

2:00am chatter...random and incoherent. I'm going to relish it while I can.

Sunday at the beach

Today was spent at the beach; Anglesea beach to be specific. It's located somewhere in south-eastern Victoria, heading in the direction of Geelong and towards the Great Ocean Road. We could have gone to Torquay, which is along the same road, but we wanted to go somewhere less crowded (and less populated with teens and tweens, I guess), and Anglesea was the perfect option.

It was a beautiful day today; perfectly clear, blue skies, hot but with a cool breeze. Today was the first time I've had a proper visit to the beach (i.e. in my bathers, to swim and sunbathe) in years. And yes, I was able to don a bikini and walk around in it without shame. I am well aware that I am not exactly svelte, but I am over feeling like I need to look "perfect" to go to the beach. Or to go anywhere for that matter. I'm pretty sure I looked attractive enough, judging by the number of glances I got. I'm currently trying to eat more healthily and be more active, and I'm sure I'll see results in time but I'm not going to beat myself up about how I look in the meantime.

Anyway, I spent the day with an old friend of mine from Uni days who I don't get to see as often as I used to, along with a male friend of her's who she had also invited. I think she invited a whole heap of other people too, but I'm kind of glad most of them declined because I really hate hanging out in large crowds of people I'm not familiar with. I'm not anti-social, I just prefer small groups when I'm just beginning to get to know everyone; it's more conducive to effective interaction, I find.

The three of us sat around in the shallow pools littered across the beach while the tide was still low, also because the temperature wasn't quite hot enough for us to brave the icy spray of the waves. Later, as the sun peaked and began warming up in earnest, we decided to "catch some waves" and swim. Thankfully, the water wasn't as salt-ridden as some of the other beaches I've visited. Afterwards, we indulged in some sunbathing. I swear I reapplied my sunscreen but, for some unknown reason, I still managed to burn the upper portion of my back! Fears of melanoma creep into my mind, but oh well...me going out into the sun to get a tan is about as common as sighting a Tasmanian Tiger anyway.

In short, I had an excellent day at the beach. I got to spend time with an old friend and a new one, it was fun, relaxing and it was even beneficial to the condition of my skin! (i.e. I have now attained a beautiful, glowing complexion (albeit a few existing blemishes) from my day in the sun!) What more could I ask for?