Chinchilla Coffee House, Bankstown

Campos Coffee. 392 Chapel Rd, Bankstown. Spotted this place at random out the car window one day, and thought that a place selling Campos coffee in Bankstown had to be worth a look. As you can see from the photo, there's lots of outdoor seating, but the inside is a comfortable place to sit too.

The menu, the signage and some of the interior photos have a playful typography to them, and the kitchen out the back works busily the whole time we're there, filling orders at a comfortable pace.

One offering they have is something I haven't seen before: it's called a Bombon - espresso coffee poured over condensed milk: you're meant to stir it, and then drink it in one go. It's a syrupy beverage, as sweet as you would expect, but an interesting way to consume coffee.

They have a decaf grinder, and the decaf latte I had was very pleasant. Come for the coffee, stay for the food: try the beef bacon: thinly sliced strips of beef that are cooked up (as far as I can tell) to be a bacon colour,flavour and texture.

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Chinchilla also have Facebook specials for their fans.

Extremes

A couple of moments I wanted to scribble down. Both involve my two year old daughter, who I don't often mention on the blog.

In the last week, she has started wearing shoes. She loves walking and running (having started out with these hobbies fairly late), and the shoes have opened up a world of possibilities for her.

We were walking outside together. She was holding my hand. It had been raining, so there was a little bit of water on the ground: a trail of sorts. This trail was, to her, the best thing in the world. The excitement and happiness she brought to following that trail was the sort of thing you never see a grown-up bring to anything.

Then, later, after bedtime, the sound of crying emanated from her room. I went in, and she was upset (perhaps a bad dream) for a while, then wanted a cuddle, and then was ready to go back to sleep (lurching back out of my arms towards her bed.

It's a good feeling to be useful, but even better to watch her joy.

Blackflower Patisserie, Haymarket

Pablo and Rusty's Coffee. Shop 5, 37 Ultimo Rd, Haymarket. From the creators of Passionflower ice cream and dessert bar comes this new cafe on the edge of Chinatown.

It's these macaroni pyramids that draw me in to have a look at the place - the desserts seem inspired by Adriano Zumbo but with their own approach to naming.

Coffee is not the focus of the place, but their decaf is perfectly adequate as a compliment to the desserts.

Have a look at some more of their offerings: http://blackflower.com.au/

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iview: Enron: the smartest guys in the room

Enron: The smartest guys in the room has been on my to-watch list for a long time, so when I saw it on ABC iview I thought it was worth trying to find the time to have a look. It's another picture of what it means to be human: the greed, the desire to avoid being found out, and the ability of the well-connected to avoid (or postpone) having to answer for their wrong-doing. A cautionary tale. The scenes around the California blackout were probably the worst of human nature on display. One minor quibble: do we really need to see related stock footage when we're establishing that one of the staff used to frequent "gentlemens' clubs"?

movie: cloud atlas

Big, messy and complicated, this rambling movie of an unclimbable book sees its actors combine six stories, each in its own timeline, to tell a story of what it means to be human, with a thread of anti-slavery messaging included in the mix.