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Happy New Year everyone!!! We do hope the new year brings all of you much joy, laughter, good health and happiness. 

2014 is going to be rather big for us we reckon, in terms of work, this blog and our personal life in general. But first, we need to look back at the year that was. 

2013 was pretty spectacular for us. We had many highlights and not very many lowlights, which is a change from our usual roller coaster ride of the last few years. Everyone around is healthy and happy and that’s the most we could ever wish for and want for.

In terms of this blog, The Boy and I continued our very many adventures in our tiny humble home kitchen and surprised even ourselves with some of the final product.

We also dined out at many a splendid cafes and restaurants. Though we didn’t travel far this year or have any holidays, we managed to keep it together, our sanity in check and our feet grounded.

So we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, family and most of all, all of you readers and followers from around the world giving us much strength, courage, support and motivation to keep doing what we do.

As a quick highlight of the year that was, we have compiled the very best of 2013 (in no particular order) in our own humble opinions. We argued for days about who or what should make the cut, and have the below to show you.

Feel free to tell us if you agree or you think we missed out on a post which you think should have made our ‘Best of 2013’! 

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Top 3 Playground Dishes of 2013

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1) Smoked Pommes Puree, Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder, Crispy Red Quinoa, Micro Herbs

2) Monet’s Garden

3) Twin Koi Fish Shaped Salmon Rillettes

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3 Most Memorable Home Bakes of 2013

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1) Matcha Opera Gateau

2) Nigella’s Nutella Cake

3) Lime, Coconut & Olive Oil Cake

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3 Most Memorable Home Cooked Meals of 2013

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1) Slow Cooked Coq Au Vin

2) Chinese Black Vinegar Chicken

3) Sticky Pork Belly with Nam Jim Sauce

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3 Most Memorable Fine Dining Dishes of 2013

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1) Bentley’s Crab with Spaghetti Squash & Yuzu Cream

2) Vue de Monde’s “Aussie BBQ”: Kangaroo, Beetroot, Salt Bush, Munthari Berries, BBQ Sauce & shaved Black Perigord Truffles

3) The Town Mouse’s Pork Jowl

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5 Most Memorable Casual Dining Dishes of 2013

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1) Mr Huang Jin’s Xiao Long Baos

2) Lee Ho Fook’s Yee Sang

3) Wayside Inn’s Pig’s Trotter ‘Pierre Koffmann’

4) Jimmy Grant’s Nonna Maria – Chicken, Mustard Aioli, Chips, Onions & Parsley

5) Thipsamai’s Pad Thai

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5 Most Memorable Desserts/Pastries of 2013

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1) Black Star Pastry’s Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose Scented Cream

2) LuxBite’s Opera of Banoffee

3) Lune Croissant’s Kouign Amann

4) Vue de Monde’s  Tonka Bean Souffle, Smoked Cocoa Ice Cream, shaved Black Perigord Truffles

5) The Town Mouse’s Pear Sorbet

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3 Most Memorable Ice Cream/Gelato Flavours of 2013

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1) N2 Extreme Gelato’s Creme Brûlée

2) Spring Street Grocer’s Fior de Latte

3) Gelato Messina’s Apple Pie

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3 Most Memorable Beverages of 2013

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1) Uncle’s Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk Ice Cream

2) Storm in a Teacup’s Too Drunk to Drive this Russian Caravan (Vodka O, Mirto Liquore, Limone Liquore, Pennyweight Ruby, Ardbeg Single Malt, Russian Caravan)

3) 2007 Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe (Bordeaux, France) – experienced at Vue de Monde

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5 Most Memorable Moments of 2013

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1) Lexus Marquee at Emirates Stakes Day

2) Alex Atala’s Galinhada Party – (The Age Good Food Month 2013)

3) Rene Redzepi’s A Work in Progress: Journal, Recipes and Snapshots Book Pre-Launch – (The Age Good Food Month 2013)

4) Retro Party

5) Wine Food Farmgate Trail Trip

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3 Most Memorable Cafes of 2013

1) Top Paddock

2) Oscar Cooper

3) Flour & Stone

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Best Newcomer of 2013

Ms I-Hua: Lee Ho Fook

The Boy: The Town Mouse Bar & Restaurant

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Best Restaurant of 2013

Ms I-Hua & The Boy: Vue de Monde

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As cliche as it sounds, we did have to place VdM as our pick for the best restaurant of the year. It was simply special (in terms of dining experience and food).

We do so hope you have enjoyed the ride with us in 2013 and we can’t wait to continue our journey with you in the next coming months.

Have a beautiful year ahead 🙂

Much love,
Ms I-Hua & The Boy