Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Australia Day 2012 – Let’s Eat Baby Sheep With @SamKekovich!

General | Posted by Dean
Jan 26 2012

The Meat and Livestock Australia board have long enlisted aged former AFL player Sam Kekovich to flog its core product around Australia Day. The campaign of 2006 was funny, and centred around Sam shelving the politically correct phrasing and telling us to eat lamb in no uncertain terms. It appealed to the twisted Australian humour like no other advertisement earlier. It is by far the best of the campaigns.

Sam Kekovich Eat Lamb on Australia Day 2006

The 2007 campaign was also a good campaign. It followed in the same manner of the 2006 campaign.

Sam Kekovich Eat Lamb on Australia Day 2007

However it is fair to say that with each year the wit has dissipated and the effectiveness of the campaign must be fading. In desperation it seems that this year the MLA has decided Sam needs help from fellow D-List celebrities. Sam has been joined by:

  • A plastic looking Melissa Tkautz from E Street “fame (… what you forgot about that show)
  • The Justice Crew who won a talent show apparently (wouldn’t know never saw it)

The advertisement has also been made into an all singing and dancing spoof of the Aqua tune “Barbie Girl”. Now correct me if I am wrong, but Aqua were a group from Finland, and “Barbie Girl” was only a hit due to its corniness. Unfortunately the corniness has long faded and the lyrics of the spoof are disastrous. That said here is the latest piece of #ChopCulture.

Sam Kekovich Eat Lamb on Australia Day 2012

And of course the full god awful thing!

Barbie Girl 2012

I am sure I will be labelled as un-Australian, but really are we still really liking this aged campaign?

恭喜發財 – Gung hei fat choi

General | Posted by Dean
Jan 23 2012
Year of the Dragon

Happy New Year 2012

Well tonights the night at Jasbelle Restaurant and Lounge that we will be celebrating Chinese New Year. Looking forward to it immensely and have been for some time now.

I am hoping that this year will allow us all to share in:

大吉大利 – daai gat daai lei – Much luck and much prosperity
心想事成 – Sam seung sih sihng – May your heartfelt wishes come true

Chinese New Year 2012 – Lion Dance Excitement Buildup 3 – Final

General | Posted by Dean
Jan 22 2012

The final Lion Dance I have looked at before my Jasbelle Restaurant and Lounge experience comes from the Docklands area of Melbourne Victoria. Having spent some time down there I think I can picture exactly where it is. This lion has balls!

Melbourne Docklands Chinese Hok San Lion Dance

Chinese New Year 2012 – Lion Dance Excitement Buildup 2

General | Posted by Dean
Jan 21 2012

As part of the build up to the Jasbelle Restaurant and Bar celebratory build up I am looking at Lion Dances from around the globe. It is an expressive art form and I am looking forward to whatever Jasbelle have up their sleeves.

Lion Plays Football

Restaurant Review – 3 – Ocean Beach Hotel

Restaurants | Posted by Dean
Jan 21 2012

After our failed attempt to dine at Zen X Teppanyaki/Sushi Bar we dined at the Ocean Beach Hotel. This is a place that Bobbie has been wanting to try for as long as I can remember. So it was with great pleasure that we entered. After a review of the specials board we were a little taken back by the price and were about to leave when we were served. We decided to stay and give it a go. We decided to sit outside on the balcony overlooking the beach, was a little breezy but the seats and tables were very comfortable indeed.

"Hot - very - Hot Curry Chicken" sans Pappadums

Ocean Beach Hotel - "Hot - very - Hot Curry Chicken" sans Pappadums

After reading the full menu I decided on a “Hot – very – Hot Curry Chicken”. This is essentially chunks of curried chicken served with turkish rice, yoghurt, lime, cucumber and papadams. The curry did live up to its name as the first mouthful confirmed that it had a kick. It was though not enough to hide the quality of the cooking. The meat was tender and the yoghurt and cucumbers offered that cooling effect that a dish like this requires. The pappadams were also full of flavour and very enjoyable, this is unusual for me as I am not a big fan of pappadams generally. A funny story about the pappadams is that when the waitress was bringing my dish to the table they set sail in the wind, a replacement serving was quick to arrive.

"Hot - very - Hot Curry Chicken" with Pappadums

Ocean Beach Hotel - "Hot - very - Hot Curry Chicken" with Pappadums

Bobbie ordered a “Chicken Caprice”. Basically a chicken schnitzel covered in cheese and served with chips and salad. The schnitzel was not the usual wafer thin chicken, it was a good 25mm thick and covered half a dinner plate. As a result the meat was tender and juicy all the way through. The accompanying salad was also generous. I did score the mushrooms from the salad, unfortunately for me they had soaked up the salad dressing and lacked any mushroom taste.

"Chicken Caprice"

Ocean Beach Hotel - "Chicken Caprice"

The atmosphere was suitably relaxed for a weekday and gave me an opportunity to review a crucial document in a pleasant environment. This made for an extremely positive experience and we will not hesitate in visiting again. This goes along with Jasbelle Restaurant and Lounge as a top place to have something to eat whilst in the Shellharbour Village.

Food

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆ 

Service

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 

Atmosphere

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 

Accessibility

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 

SCHWOIT Rating

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆ 

Where 2 Addison Street
Shellharbour NSW 2529 Australia
Phone 02 4296 1399
URL http://www.oceanbeachhotel.com.au/
The Buzz None