The Akira Lifestyle and Foodie Blogs

By RNIS. Telstra have just installed their free Wi-FIi all over Melbourne. It is public and fast sometimes. Cupcake Central's cupcakes are always good and I have always enjoyed the fact that they are not that sweet. Not sickly sweet like other cupcakes. Cupcake central has been loved by bloggers and all. There is a store in Melbourne Central which I have checked out and you can see it here. Cupcakes from RMIT Newintstudents One time RNIS has had a chance to meet the lady behind it and she is very down to earth. In fact she loves her distinctive flavours. In fact today I got to try the vanilla and the pink vanilla flavour with a lovely latte. Now Telstra has free wifi and its great for those that go from place to place. You just simply select Telstra free wi-fi in the settings and sign the agreement and then away you go.

There are two stores for the Brunswick burger buzz. For both of the stores I bought a Groupon and paid the extra $2 for the veggie burger. Veggie burger courtesy of RMIT Newintstudents For both of their stores their burgers seem to be stock standard but the one in Brunswick seems to be a lot better. On the number 19 tram line this seems to be the better one and one that services RMIT students quite well. The guy that works there seems helpful and not cold. I have had their basic burger which seems to be good and bad sometimes. This particular time it was not that great- the patty was a little bit bland and dry and very hard to eat. The Standard burger courtesy of RMIT Newintstudents I have always like my vegetarian burger. I have always loved the vegetarian patty. I have always loved the bun and the lettuce and tomato. The chips is just as good. Nicely salted it works well and you don't need extra sauce which costs a $1. Rating: 13/20- Leandro will buy again, w...

Bar Americano is a prestigious bar in a laneway just off Lt Collins st. This was a little bit hard to find but once I found it it was ok. Drinks being prepared Bar Americano and RNIS invited me on their 1st birthday where all the food was free. Here I enjoyed a hot chocolate. I stopped drinking coffee now because it is bad for my health. I really enjoyed this. The staff were really joyous and they were wearing their white laboratory coats I also enjoyed the free sandwiches coming around and we both loved the white bean one. RNIS loved the cheese one as it had the pickled tomatoes in there. It was sweet I also enjoyed the Panetone (Italian cake usually enjoyed over Easter and other celebrations). It was sweet and very citrusy. The best ever I say. I also enjoyed that fig thing. I really don't know the name of this but it is sweet and candied. Many thanks to RNIS and Bar Americano for the invite. Do come for their breakfasts and excellent drinks

Horse Bazaar is a little tiny hole in the wall bar, or so you think. But inside it was lovely. The place was a little bit hard for me to find given that it was evening.  I went with RNIS on their 10th birthday party. It is a cute Japanese bar with some Mexican influences. For example: the salsa is Mexican. They have a huge winelist and RNIS had some fun watching them at the bar and we always like to sit near the bar. The restrooms are out the back and are funky cool. The ladies room is really cool. The guys that work behind the bar are very friendly and helpful and in fact during the party RNIS chatted away to them about the food and all. For starters we both enjoyed the free chicken karriage. This was the best fried chicken ever. We both enjoyed the spicy one. The chicken meatballs were a little bit overcooked as everything fell apart. For the mains I had the Pon Pon Don which is everything on rice such as calamari, fish etc with salad ($18) I enjoyed this dish a ...

Ordering via Menulog is simple and really easy. Its also good for when I don't have time to wait for takeaway orders at the restaurant. Its also great for when you don't want to order by phone in case they lose your order. Did you know that there is about 3,500+ restaurants online? I did not know that. I could also be in pj's if I was getting a delivery; studying for my latest test or exam. I ordered lunch at Little Ipoh. Using it was quick and easy and I could easily pay by Paypal which was a faster and more secure way of paying. Menulog is a great way of ordering as they call you when they get your order and you'll also get an sms confirming your order. But at Little Ipoh I had to wait a little while for my takeaway. Whilst I ordered roti by itself ($5) I didn't mind the sauce as I got to try it. It was a chickpea curry but it was cold. The roti though was flaky and yum and it had that nice buttery consistency The nasi goreng ($10) was on t...

Ben and Jerry's is a US brand of ice cream and they have two scoop shops in Melbourne. The one that I went to is on Chapel st where Swinburne Uni is. This is not far from Prahran station   And where all the poor students got their ice cream. The line was very long when I got there at 3pm, but it seemed to move very quickly. I have always gone in there for their chocolate and vanilla flavours and seem to enjoy both. As a student I cannot afford to pay $5 for the one scoop. The staff are very friendly and this time there was a security guard who made sure that everyone was in line.  Oh how I w ant to push in the long lin.e. But at least my ice cream is good as it alwasy is. Nice and creamy and lots of sugary goodness. And calories. Another time I have also tried their chocolate chunks and cookies and cream ice cream. Yum. Get yourself down to Chapel st Pronto nd to Ben and Jerry's as this is the only store close to the city.  

Izakaya Chuji is one of my favourite Japanese places in Melbourne. I always buy the Groupon for that place which is $9 for one bento and drink. Here you can choose your dishes from a long list of them. Except this time I could not go so RNIS went. And they didn't really like their bento this time. They knew that Friday would be busy at Izakaya Chuji so they booked ahead on Dimmi. This is what RNIS told me. " The service there was bad. There was one lady that did not smile and that was the older lady. The younger ones explained the menu, this lady did not. Luckily I and Leandro had been there before. Also getting the spoon to eat the Agedashi tofu was really hard as they did not deliver the first time around. I had to ask them again. Also at the door I saw one of the staff members tell a couple that the meal will take a while and finding a seat was hard for a Friday. Luckily we booked ahead and there was a place at the bar, but no sushi chef?" Bento from...

  RMIT Newintstudents is selling the Entertainment book for $65 for one year's membership. This membership entitles you to $20,000 worth of offers and the organisation gets 20% off the sale of the book to go towards helping new International students find their feet in Melbourne. You can also buy books for other states through their site and you don't have to be an RMIT student. Anyone can buy it. There are discounts from Ben and Jerry's, Palate, Vapiano and many others. If you buy the book you can share with a friend. You can also save on groceries and gifts as well as Hoyts movie tickets. Testimonials: "We enjoyed using the book very much and we saved lots" RNIS Newintstudents " They were very easy to buy off and online ordering was easy" a Entertainment member from last year. Do buy them here and look out for their competition where you could win a membership.

Dumplings Plus have been around for a while and now there are a few branches in Melbourne. The quality of the food can be good or bad depending on which one you go to. But they mainly do dumplings. And they have some for you to take home which is made freshly. Dumplings plus in the city by RMIT Newintstudents The Highpoint one has to be the worst, but the city one is better. For both of them I have had the spring onion pancake. The one in Highpoint was the worst by far as it has a lot of MSG in there. But their boiled ones are not that bad. Dumplings at Highpoint by RMIT Newintstudents The ones at Highpoint are the smallest ones and they weren't that fresh. The custard one was a sad little lonely one. But the ones in the city were much better. The offerings in the city are better too with a lot more spicy offerings. Spring onion pancake by RMIT Newintstudents Both of them hardly have any decent service. The service is minimal but both of them do take EFTPOS. The one...

PappaRich is a chain store all over Australia which serves Malaysian food. My favourite dish is the nasi lemak which always has the chicken. I live close to the one in Melbourne CBD but there are branches in the suburbs. Exterior of PappaRich in Chadstone. Image courtesy of RMIT Newintstudents The city one has had its share of good and bad reviews online. Here you queue up, wait for a seat and then be seated. Sometimes I had to sit next to randoms as it was so busy, but I did not mind. Then you write your order down on paper after looking through the menu. Sambal is $1 extra, but I don't really need it. My nasi Lemak is spicy enough as it is. I love the tender and juicy meat in my chicken. If you are a vegetarian you can opt for no chicken and that's what RNIS does. The nasi Lemak already has the sambal. This dish is $11.50. Nasi Lemak. Image by Nny on Urbanspoon The rice is also good though, although RNIS doesn't like the use of msg in these dishes so they usu...

Vapiano is an Italian place in the heart of the city. They have one store in Melbourne and one in Sydney and a few in Brisbane. Free lollies at the cashier. Image courtesy of RMIT Newintstudents blog Vapiano uses a chip card system. They give each customer a chip card when they come in so that its easier for each customer to pay for their own meal at the end. No need to work out as to who ate what and its good for those that have to leave early. Like MYKI you touch and then it works out what you owe in the end. The dining room is huge and you find your own seat. The booth is the best place as it is comfy in there and you can sit and read and catch up over coffee. Servicce is so-so. Some of the times its friendly and prompt and other times it can be difficult to get the attention. Pizza image from RMIT Newintstudents blog Now that summer pasta RNIS describes it as the bomb. We loved their fresh handmade pasta, but it was slightly undercooked like most of their pastas are...

This Baget place has been open for some time and its the little sister of the big store. Here they specialise in banh mi and bhanh mi masterclasses. Their last one was a success. They also have a competition where if you put your business card in the box you could a meal for you and three friends and that's what I did today. The bhanh mi's are always lovely as they take such care in making these things and their pickles are nice Bhanh mi- image courtesy of RMIT Newintstudents blog Today I had the buddha's bowl and the rice vermicelli was warm which I did not like. I loved the tofu and the fresh vegetables. But the warmth of noodles drowned out some of the flavour of the vegetables. I really enjoyed the carmelised onions. The bhanh mi is always lovely as they serve it in these lovely crispy rolls which we learned to make in class. Pity though that the noodles were a little bit warm. But everything else was good. My two friends had iced coffee which was really str...

TGI Fridays is a chain store which serves American food and drinks. I have been to the one in Melbourne and South Yarra and both have equally just as good service. The service there is very friendly and I remembered last time where we talked about the Football. It was during the finals that I went with RNIS. We had heaps of fun arguing over the footy teams. I go for the Cats and Newintstudents goes for the Bombers. The place is always noisy and people love just drinking there. They do happy hour there but we don't drink. I have always enjoyed TGI Fridays for their Jack Daniel's ribs and brownie. At the last one I had their burgers and RNIS had a veggie burger. The food was alright. Here they have lunch specials which includes a drink for $9.95, $14.95 for two courses and $19.95 for three courses. The food is always big and very tasty. And their food always come out fast. I disagree with many of the reviewers on Urbanspoon about this. They have a huge range o...