Sydney Eras Tour Day Three: Shift Eatery and TAYLOR SWIFT DAY

Monday morning dawned, at it was TAYLOR SWIFT DAY!

It was also walk to the vegan deli and bakery to get breakfast, lunch and pre-show dinner day, so off I went. It was awfully humid and by the time I got back I had to have another shower because I was so hot and sweaty, but I was successful. I then spent the rest of the day resting in the hotel room before the concert that night. It was weird spending a day in Sydney and not doing anything, but I knew I needed a very chill day if I was going to survive Eras.

The deli I went to was called Shift Eatery, and it has been on my Sydney list for YEARS! I was going to go ages and ages ago when I was last in Sydney working at OzComicCon, but that was the time I got so horribly sick that they idea of going anywhere extra was too much. This was long before COVID, just you regular garden variety make you so sick you wish you were dead virus. But finally I made it!

I ordered two sandwiches to take back to the hotel. The first was the Vegan Salmon Bagel, but they were out of bagels so I just had it on bread. It had house-made tomato lox with nori, cream cheese, capers, cucumber and fresh dill. It was really lovely, I enjoyed the smoky tomato lox.



I also got the Reuben's Vegan Brother Steve. I love reubens, and there is no where in Brisbane I can go to get a vegan reuben, which is rude. This had house-made corned beef, sauerkraut, russian dressing, cheddar cheese and westmont pickles on toasted sourdough. Also very good!



They had a drinks fridge, and I couldn't not get this Hibiscus Kombucha. It was so good, I wish I could get it here! I also got a Funky Fudgy Brownie (not pictured), which are some of the best brownies ever. It has been so long since I've had one.



The other place I stopped by was Miss Sina, their second location. They had a bunch of Taylor Swift themed doughnuts there as well!



I got a chocolate croissant (not pictured) and a French Onion Savoury Danish. This was delicious! I wish we had places doing inventive things with pastry around me.



I snacked on those throughout the day, and then it was time to head to Eras! This is me, in my pink Evermore-inspired dress that my friend made for me. Mask firmly on my face, of course.



And my official Taylor Swift Eras light up bracelet! During the show they all lit up different colours, sometimes making patterns in the crowd. It was incredible!





Our seats were in E section, so pretty far back, this was out view. But it was fine because there were big screens and also just being there was enough!



The Eras Countdown Clock! The palpable excitement in the stadium as we started counting down! Like nothing I've ever felt before!



Taylor looking GORGEOUS in the Speak Now era.



Witchy Willow Taylor in the Evermore era.



Bad Blood (1989 era) pyrotechnics!



I have several more blurry photos and some videos, but I'll just leave you with these few. Eras was INCREDIBLE, and I just feel so lucky that I was able to go and see it because a lot of people missed out. Crying during Marjorie and screaming FUCK THE PATRIACHY with over 80,000 people during All To Well 10 Minute Version are just a few of the highlights. For those of you who know Taylor, our surprise songs were a Would've Could've Should've/Ivy mash up on guitar, and a Forever and Always/Maroon mash up on piano. Incredible!!!

We got back to our hotel very late, and had to get up a few hours later to go to the airport to fly back. And then I had a delayed fibro flare/crash the following week. But you know what? Worth it!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Despite giving no indication that she missed me while I was gone, or when I first got home, Eloise did come to join me in bed for a snuggle that night.

Sydney Eras Tour 2024 Day Two: Ordering In From Many Places

Two posts in two days? Who am I?

When I woke up on Sunday, the travel of the previous day kind of knocked me around. I didn't end up getting out of bed until quite late, and I wasn't even hungry. Fibro fun times. But eventually I dragged myself out of bed because I had exciting plans to catch up with my wonderful friend Leigh, who I hadn't seen in so long.

We had planned to watch the final three episodes of OFMD together (we fell down the OFMD hyperfixation hole together), but alas technical issues kept us from our favourite pirates. But we still had a great time talking (yes, a lot of it was about OFMD) and ordering in a bunch of food for delivery for lunch!

We went all out on vegan pastrami, including a Pastrami Sandwich from Suzy Spoons and a Vegan Reuben Burger from Mama B's Vegan Pub Bistro. They were both very good.





We also got an assorted sweet box from Miss Sina, a vegan bakery that had been on my list to eat at for a long time. They choose what goes in there. We had two cinnamon sugar dougnuts (my favourite kind of doughnut), a creme brulee doughnut (incredible, it had a crunchy hard coating and custard in the middle), fruit danishes (always a good time), a cinnamon roll (ruined by so much icing I like them nekkid), and two Taylor Swift themed doughnuts. Everyone was in the Eras mood! The Look What You Made Me Do doughnut had blueberry jam on the inside, which was lovely. And the Peace doughnut was just a straight up doughnut.



As you can imagine, I was very full. I took some of the sweets back to the hotel for my friend I was travelling with. It was her birthday, and she'd been out to lunch with a Sydney friend. We reconvened back at the hotel and decided on trying out BellyBao for dinner. My friend ordered their Beyond Baoguer, essentially a beyond burger but on a bao-style bun. I ordered an Eggplant rice bowl, and a side of greens.



We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and making more bracelets. I'd also made a bunch of bracelets before we left. Here are some of the bracelets I made... half of them were related to OFMD rather than Taylor Swift, but I had to go where the mood took me.

First up, the bracelets I was keeping. These included:
Taylor Swift Related: Ivy, Reputation, Lover, Enchanted, Paper Rings Shiny Things
OFMD Related: Ed hearts Stede, Stede hearts Ed, Boyfriends, You Wear Fine Things Well
Cross-over: Our Flag Means Taylor



And the bracelets I made to give away. These were all Taylor related except for three saveofmd.com ones that I made to share the petition. They were Afterglow, 22, Fuck The Patriachy, Taylor Say Don't Go, and Folklore Evermore.



Then we went to sleep, because they next day was The Big Day!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

You get two photos today! Leigh's lovely cat Momo!

Sydney Eras Tour 2024 Day One: Mother Chu's

Hello friends, a non-Midweek Munchies post! Remember I mentioned going to Sydney last month to see Eras? Well, now is the time to share some food photos with you. And a sprinkle of Taylor photos, of course.

We arrived into Sydney on a Saturday afternoon, and once we were settled in our hotel room we headed out for dinner. We went to Mother Chu's Vegetarian, a vegan restaurant that was only a short walk away from the our hotel. This is what we ordered.

Steamed BBQ Buns, because I can never go past these on a menu.



We also shared some Tofu with Sweet Miso Sauce, which was incredible! The sauce was dengaku sauce, but on tofu instead of eggplant. This dish normally comes with chilli on top as well, but they left it off for me.



My friend ordered this Birds Nest style dish, which had chopped vegetables, mushrooms, and vegan ham in it, plus cashews, served in a crispy noodle nest.



I continued to be the most basic b*tch (/aff) (god I spend too much time online these days) vegan in the world by ordering some tofu, assorted mushrooms, and snow peas in a brown sauce. It was delicious! My favourite sort of dish to order at vegan Chinese places.



On the way home, we stopped by a Woolworths and got some vegan ice cream sandwiches, not pictured. And then spent the night making friendship bracelets on the bed, eating ice cream sandwiches, and listening to Taylor Swift songs like the 42 year old adults we were, living out very best life!

I'll share some of the bracelets tomorrow, but this post I want to show you the fun decorations our hotel had! They had gone full Eras themed, Taylor Swift stuff everywhere, staff wearing Taylor Swift t-shirts (ala Red Era), and non-stop Taylor Swift music in the lobby.









More Taylor and Sydney coming to you soon!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Eloise, being very helpful while I was packing to leave.

Sydney OzComicCon 2017 Part 2

Anyone else keep getting confused about not starting a blog post with the VeganMoFo headed and prompt of the day?

Saturday night in Sydney for OCC is the best night, because it is pizza and ice cream night! For the last three years I have always gone and met up with friends in Newtown for dinner at Gigi, the best pizza place around! As well as meeting up with two of my friends, another OCC friend came with us as well. This friend was not vegan, but was quite curious and excited to see what we would be eating.

I was excited to finally be able to try the croquettes from Gigi's, in the past they have always been sold out. These are perfect little mashed potato balls coated in nuts. Amazing.



We shared some pizzas, including the Ripieno Zucca e Spinachi (pumpkin cream, spinach, tomato and mushroom calzone), the Cavolo (cauliflower, artichoke, pine nuts, currants, capers) and the life-changing Melanzane (eggplant, tomato, basil).







Afterwards we went to Gelato Blue, the most amazing vegan ice cream shop. So. Many. Flavours. Two of us got sundaes, and two just got a cone or cup. I went for a sundae, which had three choices of scoops. I chose the old favourite Peanut Butter Cornotto, and two new friends - Pana Cotta and Waffles, and Strawberry Balsamic Greek Yoghurt. The latter was so amazing, I wish I could have had more!



Tragically, dear readers, by this time I was so, so, so sick. I had a hard time eating or even tasting food. The potato croquettes were perfect for the unwell palate, and the tangy greek yoghurt ice cream was amazing, but a lot of the other flavours of things got lost. There was even some left over pizza, which I sent home with a friend because I just didn't know if I would be able to finish it the next day. That is how serious this situation was. But it is nothing against the food, which is phenomenal. I have posted about how much I love both of these places before. And my OCC friend thought everything was amazing, which is great! I love showing people how wonderful vegan food can be.

Sunday morning. Life was grim. I just managed some overnight oats and fruit salad. The struggle was real. But the end was almost nigh. I forgot to mention, on Saturday the fruit salad came with a tub of yoghurt. HEAD DESK. Today it came with a tub of coconut cream, which was very thoughtful. Of course I can't eat coconut cream, but that is not their fault. Lunch on Sunday was meant to be some sort of vegan pumpkin roll thing, but apparently they realised they could not make that vegan, so I got this random VEGAN BURGER. Eh, it was something. I ate it.



The day came to a close and I hightailed it from the venue as soon as possible to go and have a little lie down. Because this was the last day of the last con for many of us, there was a party being held that night that I really needed to go to. After my lie down, I decided to fuel my sick self with potatoes. No other food was acceptable. So I first went to Grill'd and amused the cashier by ordering just some chips and relish to eat in. Grill'd makes the best chips.



As I was walking down to the venue, I passed a juice place that made me a very gingery beet and carrot juice, which was good. However it was then that my choices went awry. As so often they do, at Lord of the Fries. Readers may recall that my views on LoTF range from adequate to eh to ick. Unfortunately, tonight was an ick factor. Granted, my sickness may have contributed. I also honestly think that the Sydney one is just not as good as other ones, the chips are always terrible. I was just going to order the vegan poutine, but ended up getting the Vegan Halal Snack Pack, minus the chili sauce. They also had a Twin Peaks themed cherry pie milk shake that I was excited to try. The milkshake tasted like cherry pie on the first sip, then just tasted like bland vanilla. The chips just were mushy and soggy and not good, though the toppings were amusing. But I couldn't finish them. Here is a really bad photo of the HSP in some really bad light.



I stayed at the party for a little bit, said goodbyes, hugged or elbow bumped (I was the walking plague at that point), and then dragged myself back to bed and to sleep. And now, for the saddest story of all. The final morning. I had planned to get up and go and get breakfast at this amazing new vegan place called Shift Eatery, but I was so tired and so sick and so wishing I was dead that all I could manage was to drag myself to the hotel lounge for this.



I ended up at the airport three hours early... I couldn't even check my bags... because there were people taking all sorts of different flights. When I finally got through, I went and got a juice from their weird place called Joe & The Juice and I also got some very green salads from Sumo Salad.



I was so glad to finally get home! And then I got a chest infection and went on antibiotics and spent abut four days lying around doing nothing. It was a definite damper on my final OzComicCon experience, but I will always be grateful to all the wonderful people and for all the amazing memories.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Nothing better than being reunited with Dim Sim!

Sydney OzComicCon 2017 Part 1

Sydney 2017 was my final OzComicCon. It all started on Friday, when I flew down to Sydney to be reading for the weekend ahead. Unfortunately, I woke up on Friday feeling rather unwell, and it didn't get any better as the weekend went on. Blergh. To help me feel better, when I got to the airport I got a cup of vegan mushroom and tofu pho from Roll'd. I also managed to find a place that had turmeric lattes!



When we arrived in Sydney and got to the hotel, I settled myself and took a short walk to the Westfield to pick up a pita from Sabbaba for lunch. They had quite a few vegan options, and I picked the Tel Aviv, which had falafel, hummus, salad, pickle and hot chips. It was good, and the pita was so soft and fresh. Very nice!



Unfortunately after this yummy lunch I found a place that had gelato and sorbets, and they had a range of fruit sorbets that I was told was vegan. I picked one, took a bite, went back, and was told Oooops! Every one of the flavours in that cabinet is vegan... except that one that is full of dairy. BLERGH. They replaced it for me, and I was feeling gross so didn't want to really eat anything, but I just needed something to get rid of te dairy film that coated my mouth. BLERGH.

Thankfully I only had a few hours of feeling very unhappy in my tummy, but I was able to feel OK to eat dinner before the cocktail party that night. I went to Mother Chu's, which has been in Sydney forever and yet I have never been to it before, even when I lived there! I ordered a steamed BBQ bun (as a single diner, I liked that I could order a single serve). Also, because I am that vegan, I ordered some tofu, mushrooms and veggies for my main. It was so good! I love tofu and mushrooms together, and the savoury brown sauce was just what I was craving to fully settle my tummy.





The cocktail party was OK, but I was glad to get to bed. Unfortunately my cold meds didn't do much to help me sleep through the night, so I was pretty exhausted as well as since on Saturday. I had some overnight oats at the hotel, and then some fruit salad provided by the venue for breakfast. For lunch, I had chosen the quinoa, pumpkin and coconut salad. This picture makes it look like a tiny cup, but it was actually a huge tub. It was a ridiculous amount of quinoa! I also had a little plate of vegan things smuggled to me from the green room. I was so full after this.





We were at the new convention centre at Darling Harbour this year, which was nice because we could walk to and from there from the hotel (last year we had to catch shuttles and were at the mercy of their timetable). It was quite a pretty walk along Darling Harbour.



I had to break my Sydney post into two so it wasn't just ridiculously long, so be sure to look out for the next post where I go to two of my favourite food places ever!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Of course no trip away is complete without me missing the heck out of this little baby!