A bowl of edamame soy beans and a masquerade mask. Not something that you would normally associated with each other. However, when chocolatesuze is involved, anything is possible.
Meet chocolatesuze, or rather an SP Studio version of her.
For those of you who don’t know her, she’s is one of the more popular, well connected and high profile food bloggers in Sydney. So, when she decides to celebrate her birthday with fellow Sydney food bloggers (a masquerade-themed party no less), you know it’s going to be one hell of an occasion!
Thirty food bloggers gathered in a 25 person capacity private room at Wagaya, a Japanese restaurant located in the Chinatown area of Sydney. It was a bit of a tight squeeze but we all managed to get along and enjoy the evening all the same.
Takoyaki (octopus balls), served with bonito shavings and mayo.
Oh. My. God. Ohmygod! That was my initial reaction when seeing how some of the photos had turned out.
As you can see, I was a little excited!
If you’re wondering why the quality of pictures have jumped up dramatically compared to my usual posts, all I have for you are four letters – D, S, L & R. That’s right, DSLR, as in a digital SLR camera.
Sushi roll, which seemed like a deconstruction of a Californian roll.
The camera for this shoot (Canon 5D mkII, 24-70mm F/2.8 L series zoom lens & Speedlite 530ex flash) was a loaner from a photographer friend of mine. Unfortunately my stock camera, the Canon G10 digital compact, had its lens take a bit of an oil bath during my first attempt at a Daring Cooks challenge. Needless to say, it’s somewhat out of commission.
Karaage Chicken.
Lucky me… :)
Anyhow, getting back to the awesomeness of the 5D mk II + L Series lens, though I’m under no obligation to do so, following is a free plug for his photgraphy company 247 Studios, whom he runs in partnership with another close friend.
Photo courtesy of 247 Studios.
Here endeth the plug :)
To finish up on the DSLR tangent and get back to the party, for the bloggers at the party that asked how much the camera weighed…
… it was this much.
The infamous sushi roulette.
Aside from the decently delectable delights indicated previously, and the touch screen menu ordering system (not pictured), one thing that Wagaya is known for is the sushi roulette.
For those of you who are not aware, the sushi roulette is a take on the sadistic game of Russian roulette. In this case, rather than being shot with a bullet if you lose, instead you’re hit with sushi bomb that is pack with as much wasabi as can be concealed within the rice. I think it works out to be the equivalent of a heaped teaspoon of sinus searing pain. Not a pleasant experience for the unlucky victim that comes across the “bullet”.
The dichotomy of the sushi roulette. One blogger throws his hands up in victory (and perhaps relief) while the blogger to his right feels the burn of defeat.
Believe me, I know first hand how it feels to be “burned”. However, that’s material for another post.
Another noteworthy thing to mention of Wagaya is its prompt service. Generally you’ll be serviced with your order in around 5 minutes, depending on how much you’re ordering and how busy it is. That’s rather speedy service! However, imagine if you will the following scenario:
You’ve just been the unlucky victim of the sushi roulette. You need a drink fast but all you have around you are empty cups. You quickly decide between the oolong tea and Coke Zero but which do you choose…?
It worked out on the night that oolong tea won hands down to Coke Zero with regards to speed of service, with a best time of 63 seconds. Coke Zero’s only managed a best time of 200 seconds.
If speedy service is a must, I know what drink I would choose. :)
Towards the end of the night, presents were handed out to the birthday girl and, well, presented for lack of a better word. However, no one at the party missed out. Not only did the birthday girl bring gifts of candy necklaces and lollipop rings for everyone but Trish from sugarlace was thoughtful enough to make personalised cake-pops for all attendees.
Thanks Trish :)
I’m not normally a fan of carnage aftermath shots but when it involves a cute girl, how can I refuse.
Either this is the result of a 30 food blogger birthday party or Betty (pictured with the purple scarf) was a really hungry girl!
Towards the end of the night, whatever food bloggers were still around gathered together to take a group photo. As food bloggers are generally are a camera-shy bunch, in homage to this group photo I present to you…
The above “photo” includes all of the the attending food bloggers for the night, including the ones that weren’t around for the group photo.
Recognise anyone? Might be a little difficult with the above image. So…
Meet the bloggers!
From top left to bottom right: Ellie, Billy, Betty & Richard, Suze, Karen, Howard & Minh, Tina, Eden, Trina, Helen, Richard, Reem, Jen, Pete, Lorraine, Grace, Shez, Belle, Jenny, Leona, Lili, Mel, Steph, Trish, Betty, Chris & Tim.
A big thanks to chocolatesuze for organising a great party, the attending food blogging party goers for making it a very enjoyable night, the guys at 247 Studios for the loan of the most awesome camera I’ve ever had the pleasure to use and to Wagaya for the venue and food.
Happy Birthday Suze. Hope you had at least as much fun as I did! :)
June 26th, 2009 - 5:28 am
bwahahahahha awesome work dude!!! love the southpark avatars in particular billys and of course mine =P
June 26th, 2009 - 5:33 am
Great pics and i loooooove the contrast in poses (win vs fail) during sushi roulette! Hilarious.
And what a herculean effort with the SP characters too. Nice!
June 26th, 2009 - 5:37 am
Haha that is brilliant, I love it! lol
June 26th, 2009 - 5:43 am
hahahaa, i managed to match most of the food bloggers i know with their South Park avatars… awesome job dude!
June 26th, 2009 - 6:01 am
My god, you are too clever! Love the detail in the SP characters, esp. the outfits. Great work, and thanks for doing it.
June 26th, 2009 - 6:02 am
OMG I love the SP characters! You've outdone yourself this time – I love Lili's, Mel's, Reem's and Minh's…it looks so much like them!
And LOL, you even got my tattoo in!
June 26th, 2009 - 6:25 am
That was an epic camera. Great to see the resultant photos! ACK the south park characters are TOO CUTE! I don't know why but I'm finding Reem's one especially adorable. Great post and it was great to meet you there!
June 26th, 2009 - 6:47 am
Again…. lovely photos, genius south park referenced photos, and 3kg camera is the shiznit!!!! :)
June 26th, 2009 - 7:17 am
wow. seriously great photos from you and the cool camera. love the characters hehe
June 26th, 2009 - 2:41 pm
LOL!! OMG. The avatars! Love it! So cute!! hehe. I can't believe you actually put up that pic of me with the carnage :O !
June 26th, 2009 - 4:11 pm
LOVE the southpark characters :P haha
June 26th, 2009 - 4:12 pm
Lol. No wonder it took you so long to finish the post! Full marks for the ones done for Billy, Suze, Lili & Mel – I knew exactly who they were supposed to be!
Still have lens envy.
June 27th, 2009 - 8:46 am
That is so awesome. What an amazing job, I stand right out! :)
So hilarious!
(and wonderful photos, really great)
June 27th, 2009 - 1:42 pm
haha, chocolatesuze emailed me your website and it is awesoem !
and the south park characters, loool kudos to the amount of effort/attention to detail you put in (and the creativity!!)
June 28th, 2009 - 1:54 am
LMAO at the characters!
And that is one heavy camera…!
June 28th, 2009 - 7:09 am
top effort with the SP characters. Stunning camera as well, on my wish list lol
June 28th, 2009 - 10:02 am
LMAO..ROFL …. hahahahaha… I was anticipating your post of this event with all the south park avatars. It's always entertaining to read your posts. Well done!
June 28th, 2009 - 11:18 am
Hi chocolatesuze! thanks. glad you liked it! hehe :)
Hi Helen! Thanks! Love the win/fail photo too! Prolly one of my favs to date.
Hi Lorraine! Glad you loved it! :)
Hi Jen! Glad to see that a lot of them were recognisable. Was concerned with a few but some are dead ringers :)
Hi Belle! Thanks! If it wasn't obvious, the pattern for your outfit was pulled directly from your photo :)
Hi Karen! Loved Lili's & Minh's. Easy to setup and yet so like them!
Tattoo took some time but thought you'd appreciate it. Labour of love! :)
Hi Stephcookie! Great meeting you too and that camera with that lens was something else!
Hi Trisha! Thanks and I agree about the camera. Totally schizzy!
Hi Simon Food Favourites! Thanks dude. Camera rocked!
Hi Betty! I said that I would, didn't I? :)
Hi Iron Chef Shellie! Thanks Shellie! It was fun making then, despite how long it took!
Hi Forager! Thanks! That lens is on my wish list.
Hi Lili! Thanks! Yeah, in a room full of Asians, it isn't exactly hard! Imagine how Pete felt, factoring the boy/girl ratio as well :)
Hi eden! Thanks and thanks for stopping by!
Will have to say hi the next time there is a function on. Didn't know that you were there until party photos were posted.
Hi Tina! Thanks! It was somewhat weighty but well worth it :)
Hi howard! Thanks! On my wish list too, cause I doubt I'll be able to justify one!
Hi Ellie! Aww, you're too kind :) Glad you enjoyed the post!
June 29th, 2009 - 3:03 am
Hehehehe, love the photo/s of everyone, they look fantastic!
July 7th, 2009 - 11:32 pm
dude such an awesome post with the south park characters!!!
& the weight of your cam omg. haha :)
i actually wouldnt mind getting a battery grip for mine, make it abit heavier so my hands dont shake as much (they are okay now, but could be better!)
July 8th, 2009 - 2:53 pm
Hi Anita! Thanks :)
Hi Betty! The camera was quite heavy but wasn't too bad for general shooting.
I have a battery grip on my camera. Makes it somewhat weighty but with double the battery life, easier grip on sideways shots and just making the camera look more impressive :)
July 23rd, 2009 - 3:22 pm
HAHA
this cracked me up
especially the ones of lorraine and mel :D
January 4th, 2010 - 4:48 pm
[...] a single ball that was packed with as much wasabi as I could find around the house, akin to the legendary wasabi bomb from Wagaya’s sushi roulette. This one I affectionately refer to as the Chicken Nasty [...]
March 11th, 2010 - 1:44 am
[...] instance, a masquerade themed birthday party of around 30 food bloggers, crammed into a private dining room at Wagaya that is supposed to only cater for 25. Who else other [...]