I NEVER feel like working out

I am one of those people you see at an F45 class every morning, does a 14km run, pole dances, goes hiking and practices yoga.
Yes,  I am one of those people you love to hate. I wake up early each morning, get into my active wear and would have burnt off at least 400 calories before I get into work. On top of that, I would do a K-pop dance class and go 1000 steps on the weekends. Then you also discover that I also do pole dancing and some other random crazy sport.

The time I commited to a work out photoshoot

That's correct, I have ticked off almost every box now. For all of you who are hating me now, let me tell you a secret...I NEVER FEEL LIKE WORKING OUT. That's correct, like the rest of you, I would much rather sleep that extra hour or two and the thought of running 10kms bores my mind out. I can also come up with a list of excuses of why I shouldn't be active and I will do it tomorrow, next week, on Monday just NOT TODAY.

But that's just it, I know they are excuses and excuses work. So I motivate myself with reasons on why I SHOULD be active.

To highlight this, here is how my thought process works

Excuses to NOT exercise in the morning:

• it is currently 5.45am, 
• the bed is warm, 
• you are still sleepy
• it's raining and cold outside

That holiday where I knew there would be heaps of bikini time

Reasons to exercise in the morning:

• it is winter, you would probably feel like a hearty, warm meal today and want to eat it guilt free
• summer bodies are made in winter
• you are old and it will only get harder (harsh but true, don't lie to yourself)
• you know you are just being lazy
• your trainer will ask where you were tomorrow
• you want to eat that Lune croissant with your coffee once in awhile 
• the membership is already paid for, not going means you are wasting money
• you promised your friend to drive her, if you bail then she will bail too
• you want to get stronger (you saw the transformation that David went through)
• just get it over and done with for the day
• no need to rush at lunch time or after work to make it to class on time
• beach holiday is just around the corner and you want to look good in a bikini
• you know being active is good for you and great for your mind and body

See what I did there? I gave myself more reasons on why I should over why I shouldn't. I understand that it's easier said than done, which is why I have built being active into a routine. The more often I argue with myself, the easier it gets. Afterall, statistics show that if you are consistent over a period of time it becomes a habit. It’s all about building up good habits within myself.

Where I promised my mum I would do her first ever run with her

I also made a commitment to a friend too, so that way it is harder to wriggle out of. This one is an important one. It is always hard to take that first step of change, but if you make a pact with someone else, there is someone going on that journey with you and help make you accountable and committed to that goal. This doesn't have to be the 5.45am wake up call, this can be just that first step of going on that weekend hike or trying out that yoga class for a week.

Having been in management consulting for most of my career has made me very analytical (see above with all the reasoning) but I also have to be able to see the bigger picture. So this is the bigger picture I have painted myself (aka the other reasons on why I should stay fit and healthy)

• I will be less of burden on my family and other people as I age
• I don't want health issues
• I want to be someone my partner still desires physically when I am older
• I like being able to run after a bus and not feel like dying afterwards
• If I don't invest the time in myself, how can I convince others to invest in me

You may not agree with my reasonings, but the idea is to set myself a long term goal and benefit from it. So for those days where it is extra hard, I think about those reasons and know deep down why I am dragging myself away from my warm bed.

When I confessed this to my partner the other day, he was shocked. He replied, "I thought you loved all that stuff. Wow, I never realized how much determination you had in you." So it really just boils down to that, I used the determination within me, to break down my excuses and lead me to live a healthier life. You don't need my reasonings, make your own. As cliche as it sounds, if I can do it, so can you.

Innisfree - on the road with me

As someone who is always on the go I need my skincare to work hard for me.

I won't lie... I hardly ever sleep 8 hours a night and with my wedding creeping closer this just means my skincare routine need to be on point... even when I am away from home. I will introduce a couple of items that I always take on my trip with me that are not my core skincare routine. 

One of the things I have adapted to over the years is K-beauty. So on my first trip to Seoul 8 years ago I discovered sheet mask and Innisfree. Their My Real Squeeze range is my usual "go to" as it is quite inexpensive and has a huge selection of scents. As I am always on the plane, I usually pack one into my handbag with a sheet make up remover before I board my journey home. This helps give my skin that boost of moisture that the recirculated aeroplane air tends to take away. This doesn't irritate my sensitive skin and I love how hydrating it is. The refreshing scent is obviously a bonus too. Tip: In summer I like to refrigerate these and put them on cold before bed.

My favourite scents are green tea, honey, aloe vera and ginseng. I do use this as part of my normal routine too but at home I tend to mix it up a bit where I will also use a sleeping mask or collagen skin clinic mask.

From having a hectic lifestyle, I need to take care of my body too. This means I work out A LOT, I mean 5 - 6 days a week. With all the weight training I do, it tends to take a toll on my hands. So I like to carry around a hand cream with me. On my last trip to Seoul I discovered the Jeju life handcreams. They come in cute small tubes which are perfect handbag size. This little pocket rocket is a rich velvety hand cream that doesn't leave the hand feeling sticky, it absorbs fast and locks in the moisture. I like to use it after I have washed my hands and in the past month of use I have notice a difference as my hands look more youthful despite the harsh cold weather I am in. There is 12 scents in the form of different months. My go to scent is February (tangerine farm) and December (citrus tea). However I can foresee myself getting a bit out of control with these on my next Innisfree shop up.

My nightly routine is a bit more comprehensive with 8-12 steps but I will save that for another time.

If you are wondering where you can get the 2 things above, well lucky for us Innisfree has opened up in Australia but if you can't get to a store, their website ships to Australia. They normally have a different promotions every few weeks. The Innisfreeworld website is easy to navigate and you will easily fill you your shopping cart with all the goodies they have to offer. Don't say you weren't warned!

Lune Lab experience

If you live in Melbourne and you haven't heard of Lune... then you must be living under a rock. Being crowned the best croissants in Melbourne (or dare I say Australia ... or potentially even the world), it is place that foodies from all across the world go running to when in Melbourne.

For some die hard fans (such as myself) to be able to get my hands on Lune Lab tickets was a very sacred achievement.

With Lune Lab, it is a 3 course degustation. The first course is always the same, it is a classic croissant fresh out of the oven but the second and third course vary by the season.

The ticket price are steep and I wont deny it is a lot to pay for 3 croissants. However if you love (eating) croissants as much as I do, then you might want to hang in there and keep reading.

The first course 

First croissant is one that is 10 minutes out of the oven. Your host will give you a choice from a huge tray, if you like your croissants softer then you go for something in the middle of the tray or if you prefer it more crispy then the edge of the tray. I went with my trusty food buddy (my lifelong eating partner) and tried one of each. When you taste one after another then the differentiation is  there, however if you just taste one, then it is much harder to call out that difference. Either way you pick, you will still taste fresh out of the oven croissant is still warm and the layers of the pastry is defined and fluffy. This is what I would term buttery goodness.

The second course
Second course is the savory croissant. Fortunately for me, I visited during truffle season and had a lovely surprise awaiting me. The dish was Beef Bourguignon. This was a classic croissant served as a classic French dish. It came with a red wine jus, mash potato and generous shavings of truffle shaved in front of you. The croissant was baked perfectly and you cut through layers of pastry and paired with a perfectly cooked beef. The kale crisp adds that extra texture to balance off the dish. I am a tad sad that this was seasonal. As I finished my dish I was thinking to myself that I  am not sure when I will get another chance to taste this again (if only they offered seconds).

The final course
Final course was a Yuzu tart. This is the Lune version of a tart that is made from croissant pastry.

During the whole experience you will have bottomless coffees and hot chocolate. You can drink yourself silly, like my partner did and be very energetic for the rest of the day. The staff won't judge you and be very attentive to ensure all your coffees/hot chocolates arrive promptly.

Final words
I would highly recommend this experience and would go again. If you are questioning why would you pay $60+ for 3 croissants... well this is why

• creativity and thought that has gone behind the process to deliver something exceptional on the plate
• dedication and art of finessing the details of a perfectly crafted croissant
• taste of something that you cannot easily get anywhere else
• being able to taste croissants done in a very different way
• being able to buy as many of the croissants as you like without having to line up
• truely experience and taste the dedication that Kate Reid and her team has gone to, in order to perfect and elevate the humble croissant.

Oh also, I would recommend the first session over the second session. By the end of our session, some of the croissant varieties have sold out. If you don't want to miss out, best to wake up a bit earlier.

Lune Lab tickets need to be bought in advance and sell out very fast. So if you want to go, head to the Lune website and find the next lot of ticket release, set a reminder on your phone and just have super fast internet when the ticket release day comes. Good Luck!!

Additional rambling notes: I have been a loyal Lune fan (since the Elwood days). I honestly think it is the best croissant I have ever tasted in my travels. I set out on a food adventure on most my holidays and yet to find something that comes close to Lune. Would love to hear other people's Lune or general croissant experiences. 

Sushi Dai

With each Tokyo trip, as you research you will see Tsujiri Fish market come up. This is where you wake up before sunset to see the fish actions (why bother right?). However there is also another treat at the market, besides the usual market stalls affairs there is also a place call Sushi Dai.

Sushi Dai (寿司大) is an establishment within the market that has cemented itself as a tourist destination. The reason? Well great fresh amazing nigiri at a very reasonable price.

To eat here people line up around 2 hours starting from about 3am (they open at 5am and close by 2pm). Are people crazy? Well yes, personally I have been here twice before and once to it's main competitor (Sushi Daiwa 寿司大和 next door). Personally I still consider one of the top 5 sushi places I have ever eaten at (including the Michelin ones).

What do you get?
For ¥4000 is the Omakase set (Chef's choice). You get 9 pieces of nigiri sushi selected by the chef and an additional piece of your choice. If you don't like eating raw fish there is also a cooked fish option (but honestly, why would you?)

My Omakase started with steamed egg roll and miso soup. 

The nigiri were as follows:

Fatty Toro

Flounder had a bit of line and salt

Snapper

Japanese Horse Mackerel

Urchin

Tuna

Tokyo Bay Scallops

Cutlass - out of all the nigiri, I liked this one the least. 

Maki roll
Anago (Sea eel)

Round 2 fatty toro (you get to pick another piece of your choice, I went with more fatty toro)

Yellow tail (we paid extra and got a piece of the yellow tail as it was in season, it did not disappoint)

Overall, would I do it again? Well... this was my third visit.... The fish is great and fresh and for what you pay it's very good value. Could you get something just as good in a restaurant? Yes, but you will most likely be paying through your nose for it. The usual sushi trains which you will find across Tokyo, does not even compare to this. So I will leave the choice to you, if you decide to sacrifice sleep for Sushi Dai!

Words of Advice
If you happen to bother waking up before the crack of dawn here are some tips:

• Stay around Ginza. The subways don't start till 5am so unless you want to pay for the expensive taxi fares in Tokyo, Ginza puts the fish market at a walking distance. Each time I visit I stayed at either one of the Mitsui hotels in Ginza.
• Be prepared to wait. Bring a phone charger, you will be playing on your phone for a few hours. The wait at 4:10am on a Thursday morning was 47 people deep. Which translate to roughly eating 3 hours later.
• Know your sushi manners, when you get in, there is only omakase. Just sit down and let the sushi chef do his thing. He will tell you when to use wasabi and soy sauce. Also, there is a massive line of people outside, so they would appreciate if you don't sit around just for a chat afterwards.
• Bring cash, they don't take card. So don't be that person!
• You sushi chef knows you have waited a long time to eat there and they appreciate it, they will ask you questions with their limited English, so don't be surprise when they interact with you.
• There is other food to eat nearby, if you feel like you need more Jap food fix after your omakase, wander around the market and you shall be rewarded.
• The sushi master does speak some basic English so don't worry about not knowing what to do and looking lost. They also offer you an English menu for the extra piece you want to order

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Frequent Traveller

The best part about my job is sometimes also the worst part of my job. Growing up, I yearn to see the world and had a job that allow me to be that "glamorous frequent traveller". Now as an adult, I did make part of that childhood vision true. I am a frequent traveller but at no angle of my travel is it glamorous as I have envisage as a child.

What I thought it would be like when I was young.

The Job
I am one of those that people call a "Management Consultant". In university it was one of those roles that many, many apply for in hope for a prestigious career with endless opportunities. Part of the role also entails consultants to be client facing and hence the travel. In the 4 years I have been a Consultant. I have been fortunate to travel all around Australia, Shanghai, USA and Canada. As I said, the travel part is definitely true, but with corporate Travel polices and companies tightening on spending, the accommodation and flights is far from glamorous. 14 hour work trips on economy class is a far cry from what I had hope for (don't get me wrong, I fly economy in all my personal travels). As I write this, I know
how much of a "first world problem" it is, however it still doesn't change the fact it fell short from my personal expectations

The work is hardly every easy, the job comes with long hours and it is normal to work past 8 or 9pm each night. The days I get to finish at 5pm, I consider that finishing early. Most nights when away from home, dinner would consist of hotel room service or take out. What I would do for a home cooked meal after working for 12 hours straight!

The Travel
Waking up Monday morning at 4am to catch a 7am flight to Sydney can become the norm for about 3 months (average length of projects). Then come back home on Thursday night around 10pm each week. You start to fall into a routine and then BAM project ends and you are sent elsewhere. Since I am from Melbourne, the Sydney projects aren't too bad and if anything I do quite enjoy them. The ones I tend to dread are Brisbane. As I need to fly up on Sunday afternoon in order to show up on 8.30am on Monday. So there goes part of my precious weekend. As you can tell that can fast become boring. However whinging aside, there is perks, I can choose to stay in the city I am working in for the weekend, which then allows me explore. Or visit friends from other Australian cities.

Alone on Valentine's Day in NYC. Only keeping me warm was a coffee from Starbucks

International projects are also on the cards for me. (As I am writing this, I am in Canada on a 3 month project). This obviously has its pros and cons. Obviously due to the distance I don't fly home every weekend. Fly-backs only happen every 6-8 weeks. This can make me very home sick at times. I have lost count of the times I have wished so hard to sleep in my own bed and wake up next to my partner in the morning. I have missed many, many birthdays and weddings. I try to make it home for special milestone occasions but with so many friends and family to account for, it is hard (almost impossible) to not miss out on some of those special occasions. While we are allow to say "no" to projects, it is normally frowned upon when you first joined (I'm talking about the minion stages) to decline project and be difficult to resource out.

I should also mention, we don't always go to big cities. Sometimes you could jump on a small commercial or charter plane and end up in the middle of nowhere. We always go where the client wants us to go or are based.

With all the cons I stated above, there is also a list of pros. I have had the opportunity to work overseas and explore different countries. I do enjoy the idea that I can enjoy a overseas city on the weekend without the stress of thinking how much I am spending on accommodation and flights (ok yes I still do need to stay within budgets set out by work, but you get the gist). I get to assimilate into a local lifestyle for a short period of time without actually having to "move overseas". My weekends can be quite adventurous. I was in Washington 2 days ago and the weekend before that I was in NYC, next weekend I will be Miami. With all the travel you also learn to travel solo and the benefits of it. I went to Universal Studios in LA by myself and was able to finish the park in 4 hours, I was able to take advantage of all the single rider lines and go for round 2 on the rides I like. When I am flying I am also more likely to get upgraded as I am on my own and I have status on the airlines I travel with. Speaking of flying, I also have a lot of frequent flyer points from the flying and being savvy on my credit card points. I have managed to fly myself and my partner to Europe on points on our last holiday. Of course it goes without saying that I also get lounge access, and I am not accustomed to taking the priority line at airports so I can skip the queue (yes I very much need that, as I am always running late). However as fun as it sounds, the novelty does wear off and it's not long before I miss my mum's cooking and my dog coming to greet me when I get home.


The Life

Random weekend exploring NYC

So there you have it, the summary of my so called "consulting" life. Would I change the experience I have? No, it has provided me some of the best work experience I could ask for. Would I still be in this role in 5 years time? Unlikely, you do burn hard and that "work hard, play hard" mentality can't last forever. You do reach a stage where you just want to stay home. However for now, I will continue to allow my adventurous side take over and find new cities to explore and more hotels and cities I can contribute to TripAdvisor.

Good Egg

In Melbourne we have a lot of specialty cafes and restaurants, from BBQ to waffles to Thai breakfast. There is one more to add to the mix now, Good Egg. Located in South Melbourne, they celebrate their hero ingredient the egg in every dish. The yellow and white interior is a good example of how much they worship the egg. Since I was at the egg shop, I had to sample some of their offering.

Scotched egg. The outside was perfectly cook, the pork and fennel with panko crumb was just the perfect naughty treat. The egg inside still had a runny yolk, paired with the roasted tomato relish. Yes I went back for seconds! It was a steal too, at $5.50.

Gorgeous fresh backdrop of the shop, makes it a nice vibrant atmosphere to catch up with friends. Maybe catch up over The “Avo” with it's Mexican flavours, (sliced avo, egg, roast corn salsa, corn chips, jalapenos and lime aioli). The fresh, crisp, creamy, sweet and zesty flavours all come together in every mouthful. If you get greedy, you might ask for some extra corn chips too.

If you want to be more of an 'good egg' they also do an awesome miso soft boiled egg salad. It comes as a  watercrest, broccolini, tamari roasted nuts, red rice and spiced yoghurt salad. A nice non traditional approach to the egg salad.

If you are more on the hungry the B&;E and the Wagyu burger gets my vote. B&E is your classic bacon and eggs with swiss cheese,  house of parliament sauce and mayo. The wagyu burger is a wagyu patty bacon, egg, sharp cheddar, dill pickle lettuce, BBQ sauce and mayo. The patty is juicy perfection and definitely hits the hungry spot without the oily feeling.

Overall, I love the vibe and food Good Egg has to offer. I have since been back to visit a few times, I also learnt that they use local produce. Their eggs are from Real Eggs and their bread is from Woodfrog bakery.... Now it all makes sense on why I love their eggs and burgers so much!

Rockpool Bar & Grill - Melbourne

Rockpool is one of those institutions that most people in Melbourne and Sydney would have heard of, if you haven't then you must be very good at hiding yourself from mass media juggernauts Masterchef. With every institution comes curiosity for those who haven't dine there. Well hopefully I can help you satisfy some of your curiously.

I am fortunate enough to have dined at Rockpool a number of times over the years for various celebrations. I will share my most recent experience with you. I don't get many nights out with Doggy Mummy (DM) so when I do we like to go somewhere nice especially if it's a celebration, Rockpool also happens to be one of DM's favourite places to dine at, so it armed me with a reason to go there.

To start we got a pasta each, DM wanted the lobster omelette but unfortunately it was not on the menu (their menu changes daily) so instead she opted for the Abalone, Brown Mushroom Pasta. For those who are unaware, abalone is a considered a seafood delicacy and is hard to come by. The abalone was cooked with brown butter and bottarga. Besides saying I wanted more, I don't think I could fault the dish.

I ordered the Wagyu Bolognaise. This is one of my favourite things to order here, Bolognaise is one of my favorite food and there is nothing I like better than a classic done with top grade ingredients. I like to consider this a guilty pleasure and treat to myself.

For mains we ordered a streak each. 36 month grass fed cooked medium rare for me. This was cooked perfectly, the meat was tender and it makes me wonder why I would go anywhere else for steak.

DM went with the 36 month rib eye medium rare. It was highly marbled with distinctive beef flavours.

Sides we got dutch potatoes sauteed with wagyu fat, garlic and rosemary. We really didn't need it but I couldn't say no to potato with wagyu fat. It was fluffy and had a great hit of flavour.

To balance out the guilt we also got the Radicchio salad. Good green crunch to cut through the heaviness with the rest of our meal.

For dessert, DM went with the Creme Brulee (I really had no idea how she was still fitting this in). It had the perfect burnt sugar top and paired with candied walnuts

I opted for the petite fours. A nice selection to finish my meal, I love a good canele and this definitely hit the spot.

Overall, I still love it and highly recommend any steak lovers to come and try it (if you haven't before).