pre-festival brunch at Nicole's

Last week was Newtown Festival ..initially planned to go there with Maryam, my flatmate coz it is her case study area ...then a couple of days before the festival, Maryam invited me to go with her to her friend's Nicole place for brunch ...she lives in Newtown and orgnised this brunch for her friends before they all go for the festivities ...I tagged along with Maryam and her friend from school, Nabil, ...and guess what, we walked from our place all the way to Newtown ..and it was like a 40-45 mins journey on foot ...it was not bad until i saw some hilly parts, but the weather was kind  of nice ..so walking was ok ..plus there was three of us, and we were talking non-stop, so it was kind of not too tiring ...until ...we came to a very (and I mean very!!!) steep hills ..My God! I would never rent a house that is on the top of the hill..and being the last house on the street ...was really out of breath when I arrived at Nicole's place ...even Maryam who walks to and from school everyday was out of breath climbing up that street ..and it is harder for us coz Nabil kept pressuring us to walk faster as were are actually late! the invitation was for 10am ...but by 10 we were still walking :-)

 wonderful view from Nicole's balcony ...was told that the view of the sunset from this balcony is spectacular!

To my surprise, when I arrived there I saw familiar faces ...Kak Shidah and another Malaysian couple were there ..so happened that she and Nicole were in the same school ...and i get to meet other people as well ..but the food was the highlight of the visit ...My God!!! It was such a huge spread ..and all was homemade ...the hostess is a great cook ..and she did all her baking! Very impressed ...but not many photos coz I was shy to take photos ...and only took the photo after most of the food were gone ...and believe you me, the food were done very quickly...especially the smoked salmon pastries puffs...vege quiche ...and the cakes ..

apple tree at the backyard

Nicole made lots of breads ...and there were homemade jams as well ...one that people kept saying a really good was the one the plum and ginger jam ..I did not taste it as I dont feel like having ginger in my jam and toasted bread ..and there were muesli ...bagels and cream cheese ...various cakes and cookies ...muffins and scones ...and that is not even a comprehensive list!

see - lots of empty trays ...the vege quiche was very nice ...but i love the smoked salmon puffs more! and she just bought a waffle maker - so the highlight of the day was the waffles ...

the plum and ginger preserves

this was my favourite of all ...cheese and tomato scones ...yummy to the max!

one of the loaves that she baked for the party ..

I get to meet a couple of people there ...especially Maryam's friends from school ...it was nearly 2pm that we went down to join the festival ..it was well underway by then ...lots of people, foodstalls selling variety of foods - from Africa, Indonesia, Moroccco, India, Hungary ..just to name a few ...will do another posting on the festival later ...

 one of the food stalls ...

I was joining their group that day ..the lady in white is Maryam's friend ..and the other guy is a friend of Nicole, whom we just met that day ...they were there for the music ...but Maryam, Nabil and I were more for the atmosphere and to what it is all about ..and the food of course ...so, the three of us went back to town by 4pm ...and instead of taking the ubus, we walked for another 45 mins ...a crazy day of walking at such great distances ...and guess what, we did not go home straight away, but went to the Bay and the museum first! Then that night I slept so early ..and didnt wake up till the following day ...was tiring but fun! and the food made it more awesome ...and memorable ..