An unforgettable trip (Day 2)

(WARNING: FUCKING Very long-winded entry!)

I'm not sure if it's because of the fact that it's post-exams or that we're on a holiday or the bed at Brunswick Heads Chalet is damn comfortable, but both of us had such a good sleep and we got up automatically at 7, feeling extremely refreshed. Sleep has never been this good. :D

To avoid the strong afternoon gusts, we decided to head down to the Main Beach at Byron Bay for an early sunbath instead.

The beach as you can see, it nearly empty and we had almost the entire beach to ourselves. Unfortunately, due to it's slopping nature, Hyeyoung doesn't really like it a lot. After approximately 40 minutes of sun-tanning, we were up and walking along the beach.

That morning was our first stroll on the beach and I don't think I will ever forget it... :)

This might look like the front of a Land Rover but it's actually one of the best and most popular venues in Bryon to have breakfast, Byron Beach Cafe.

Here's how it looks like from the front:

Situated just by the beach, you get not just good food but good view of the beach as well.

Plus because it's so popular, it's good for people watching too. You'd be surprised by the wide variety of the Byron crowd.

For drinks, we had:

Some cranberry drink to share...

A skinny latte for me (Hyeyoung had a long black but I forgot to take a photo of it before she finished it)...

And a banana smoothie with a hint of cinnamon.

Yes. After staying out in the sun for a while, we were freaking thirsty!

Breakfast was:

Eggs benedict (poached eggs, Virginia leg ham with hollandaise sauce + English muffin) for me...

And Hyeyoung had "pumpkin and ricotta hot cakes with poached eggs, rocket and tomato relish"...

They say breakfast is the start of the day and how your day would go depends on it. Well, I say breakfast is the start of a holiday and after such a big and satisfying breakfast, we were definitely fired up for Day Two.

So we walked back to our car and drove up to Cape Byron Lighthouse for the second time. Unlike the night before, where Hyeyoung was scared shitless because of the sheer darkness and all she could hear are the sounds of the gales howling and waves crashing...

... She could now admire the scenery's full grandeur under the bright Australian sun. :) This btw, is NOT Byron Bay's Main Beach but rather, Tallow Beach.

See how happy she is again! Okay, I admit... It's actually partially because she just bought two scoops of ice-cream. Hahaha.

(!) But wait.
Didn't we just had breakfast less than 15 minutes ago?

Anyway, so here you have it, the oh-so-famous Cape Byron Lighthouse.

And as you can see, it's not very big. Jokes aside, I believe it's at least 5 stories tall and its lights were damn powerful. Imagine, I could see the lights even as I was driving back from Bangalow the night before!

With lots of energy and time to kill, we decided to walk down to the tip of this cape, where the huge splashing waves seemed too attractive to give it a miss.

Another shot of the tip, this time, focusing on the rocks at the tip...

Don't you think this shot kind looks like Hawaii? The slope on the right is actually the cliff that the lighthouse sits on. (Note the huge color contrast between the two of us...)

Now, this is Byron Bay's Main Beach. Check out the sea-front houses!

Given that we had such a huge breakfast (and 2 scoops of ice-cream), we weren't hungry and so we wondered around town for a bit finally settling for Fish Head's Fish & Chips.

I'm not very good with Fish & Chips but Hyeyoung thinks that the batter is much better than the one at Manly beach. All I know that this is way too small. The one at Manly is much, much bigger. But, this one comes with tartar sauce, my must-have when I eat Fish & Chips.

Some seafood basket which we shared. Can't really remember what's in it. I know there's 3 pieces of fish, 2 pieces of Calamari, 2 pieces of scallop and 2 pieces of prawn. Nonetheless, I kinda like the crumbs they were fried in. Light and not very oily.

OH! Hyeyoung had a surprise cookie for dessert as we drove back to Brunswick Head to wash up, rest and get ready for the big dinner that night.

Day 2 of our trip happens to be our 8th 7th week together (I'd miscalculated previously while on the trip). But more importantly, since it's our graduation trip, we ought to have a nice, big dinner to celebrate our graduation. For that purpose, we decided on Satiate in Bangalow.

This is one of the contributing factors why we decided on the place - it was awarded "One Chef Hat" in the renowned Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards. Moreover, the fact that the lady owner of our accommodation knows about it, only reinforces our decision.

This is sleepy Bangalow. Looks kinda like a cowboy town don't you think?

Satiate is located at the upper story of this shophouse while its sister eatery, Ate, sits at the bottom. Both of them are owned and operated by a lovely couple so it's nice and cosy. Apparently, one of them was trained at Tetsuya's.

Having done my research prior to arrival, I'd already gave instructions to Satiate that we're having the degustation menu. In addition, as a surprise for Hyeyoung, I made arrangements to have champagne served immediately as we arrived (so as to have a toast to OUR graduation) as well as a small selection of hand-made chocolates with a hand-written mini-card.

You should see Hyeyoung's face when the waitress said, "Congratulations" to her as she served Hyeyoung her glass of champagne. That surprised look was simply priceless man. Hahaha. Needless to say, the chocolates and card totally swept her off her feet. I know I sound arrogant here but I think I'm confident enough to say that at least it all took her by surprise, which, after all, was the sole purpose of the set up.

Dinner started with this:
Honestly, I remembered the waitress giving a long and impressive introduction but I just can't remember the name of this dish. :p (It wasn't in the degustation menu so I'm guessing it's complimentary entrée.)

Next up is the actual entrée, cured Kingfish with marinated daikon, Tasmanian wasabi and salmon roe. Unfortunately, it's kinda dim inside Satiate so this is the best I can do. I remember we couldn't really taste the wasabi but the Kingfish and salmon roe was definitely very fresh.

Our first main was Queensland Spanner Crab risotto cooked with buckwheat and shellfish stock. I'd grew to be a big fan of risotto after Hyeyoung cooked her first risotto for me and I really enjoyed this dish. The serving of crab was generous (for such a small portion) and the stock is just so yummy. :)

The second main was braised Bangalow sweet pork belly served with prawn tortellini and jus. Though it's pork belly (again!), it was entirely different from last night's dinner. It's well-cooked but both of us still preferred the one from Orient Express. Sheer pity...

The final main was actually a combination of 2 dishes called, "Sous Vide Veal". The veal's the one in the foreground while the one other is the quail. The medium-rare veal was juicy and tender while the quail tasted surprisingly similar to duck. In fact, one of the drumsticks was cooked in "Duck Confit" style and boy, it was sure DAMN good!

Now, moving on to desserts, is a sweet start with this "Chocolate Pot".

Nothing extraordinary really, just a small SINFUL pot of molten chocolate. After this, we were totally set for deserts!

My first Soufflé. (Okay, maybe I had it before but I seriously can't remember.)

Sitting beside the Soufflé is this "biscuit" with Bangalow blue cheese wedged between 2 crackers. I seldom eat blue cheese but this is amazing stuff I tell you. Unfortunately, I can't remember what on the bottom. Perhaps Hyeyoung might remember?

Our table, tucked away in a small room, separate from the main dining hall. Pity we had to "share" the room with this pair of old, loud and snobbish couple.

This are the two awesome chefs who'd prepared our meals for that memorable evening. The one at the back is co-owner and Tetsuya's-trained Shannon Debreceny. Guess what, he's apparently only 30 years old! How admirable!

And so the we left Satiate in high spirits. Nothing makes Hyeyoung a happier girl than good food, unless you coupled it with another surprise... which is exactly what I did. :D

You see, slightly more than month ago, after confirming this trip, I ordered her graduation gift online and it arrived sooner than expected (like in just 10 days from US, complete with engraving by the hand! Talk about American efficiency!).

So here's the box it came in...

And this is the present. :)

Shan't say what it is but anyway, I gave it to her (together with a card) a the top of Cape Byron and I think as much as it sent her to cloud 9, it totally made my night as well. Months of delicate planning had finally put off and there's no better happiness than to see your love one beaming in joy. Well, I think she definitely deserves it.

So (obviously) we left Cape Byron soon after the surprise and head back for a good night's rest. Day 3 is another big day with her debut visit to Sydney Opera House...