Sunday, November 30, 2008

Tupperware Party!

those were the days, isnt it? i was young and carefree and was only there for the food.. i know Mum used to have Tupperware parties at home and we would also attend those that she was invited to.. but i myself have been invited for a Tupperware Party and attended it yesterday!

Sarah from work invited me to her Tupperware Party and i have no doubts whatsoever.. i have to go! when Miyuki and Jo heard that i was attending the invite, they shook their heads in unison! and Jo actually opened the pantry and started counting all my containers! now, i shall not divulge the secret figure! wahaha..

when said that it's a 'party', there will definitely be food, drinks and fun! and it's tick tick tick to all of the above! when i got to Sarah's place, the Paella was already cooking in the big saucepan and one of Sarah's friend, Sally, was going down to get some limes for making Cosmopolitan.. and the 3 punnets of strawberries that i bought for Sarah turned out to be very yummy after Sarah poured some melted chocolate over it!!! there were also Doritos with a tomato dip and crispy nuts.. yum yum yum~

all the above happened while waiting for the Tupperware lady to arrive.. it was all very fun and there were games to play.. one was guessing the names for 12 cocktails which i failed miserably~ so no free Tupperware for me! i ended up with a water bottle and a Christmas Bauble.. hehez.. the damage werent that bad!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

1 more month to go!

Christmas is just round the corner! exactly a month later from today, i foresee myself enjoying a hot Christmas Eve night.. doing nothing at all because of a super long weekend ahead! 2 days of public holidays on Christmas Day and Proclamation Day plus 2 more days of the weekend!!! wahaha!!!

for Christmas in the office, MJ has come up with a Bake-off! today Sarah brought in her Chocolate & Raspberry Cake, which was yummy.. i dont think i have ever wolf down a slice of chocolate cake this fast! ha! last week MJ brought in a tray of current slices, which were very good but a little too fruity for me.. still great though.. there will be 2 volunteers each week from next week onwards.. which means loads of food! and on the 19th, the Christmas 'Party' at work begins from lunch hour and the results of the Bake-off will be announced on that day!

on my part for Christmas, i bought a box Christmas cards.. which is a miserable attempt to get into the mood of Christmas.. ha! even though there will be no snow flakes to catch, it's still a good excuse to do shopping and to send my greetings to friends who are far away.. i like that!

i have been very slack on my reading ever since i started work.. i am guilty of that! last week, Sis called and asked me to check the price of the book 'Twilight', which i have never heard of..

i went to Borders the next day during lunch hour.. i barely finished saying the word 'Twilight' before the lady said, "it's over there" and pointed to a whole wall stacked full of 'Twilight'.. i muttered my thanks, overwhelmed by the fact that i wasnt the tiny bit aware of the existence of such a popular book! i took 2 steps before turning around and asked the same lady, "is it really popular?" Honestly, in my head "DUH~" was the answer.. but the lady was nice and said, "it's really brilliant!"

Gosh, of course it's brilliant! the producers picked Cedric as the lead! Wahaha! imagine my joy! poor Cedric didnt survived long enough in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.. i'm happy that he is now the lead in this movie.. which is pretty much the same genre as the Harry Potter series.. when Sis gets here, we'll be watching the movie together!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Barossa Valley!

Sinnie, whom i got to know back in my Uni days, arrived in Adelaide late Thursday night and i met up with her after work on Friday.. Sinnie brought along her Mum and they are staying at her cousin's cousin, K's place.. does that make sense? i think it simply means they share a common cousin.. haha..

we met up at the Central Market and they were busy shopping for the upcoming steamboat on Sunday night.. after shopping at the Central Market, Coles and also Kim Wang Supermarket, we ended up with a full car boot, filled with groceries!

dinner was at Dumpling King and it was really busy.. i have never had dinner at Dumpling King before.. service, as usual, was non-existent and ambiance was pretty much on the same level.. wahaha.. i think i'll stick to lunches at Dumpling King..

after dinner, they sent me home and we ended up in the TV room watching the last bit of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'.. haha..

and for today, we went to 5 wineries in the Barossa Valley!!! we were a group of 5 as K's friend , P, joined us too.. so we fit nicely into K's car and this time round with bags filled with snacks for the journey there!

Wolf Blass


Peter Lehmann

Penfolds

Jacob's Creek


Grant Burge

after the first 2 wineries, we stopped for lunch at this Italian place..
dinner was at K's place as we went straight back to his place after our tour of the Barossa Valley.. we R & R for a while before dinner.. mainly playing Wii and it was my first time playing Wii!

and dinner was homemade Hor Fun!!! Geez.. i'm not complaining~ K did a pretty good job!

Angst?

did my Melbourne Cup entry agitate somebody? or was it the Spinach & Tuna Pasta Bake entry?

hmmm.. but apparently something i wrote did.. this is the first time i'm receiving a 'hate message' on my blog! now, now.. i have been writing for about 4 years and this is my 3rd blog.. i have never received any 'hate message' before! honestly, i'm actually excited about it!

but well, 'getting lost' is indeed something i do very often.. but hey! i am improving! after work, i managed to get myself onto Gouger Street where Sinnie, her Mum and K is.. and when K is sending me home last night, i could tell him my address but i still couldnt really tell him how to get to my place from where we were.. haha..

so yes, 'GET LOST' is one thing i do very often and will continue to do so, maybe for the rest of my life.. but i'm pretty darn happy about it.. it's just the way i am!

take it or leave it~

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup.. the race that stops a nation? that's a tat too dramatic.. but well, it is the race that stops Australia!

or at least for me it is one where we can dress up to slack while at work.. drink white wine, champagne, soft drinks and orange juice (for me) and eat chips, biscuits with dips, 3 different kinds of cheese, sausages and nuts.. all these while waiting to watch a 3-min race on TV!

Gosh.. i can do this every other day.. so somebody tell me, why do we only have the Melbourne Cup once a year?

anyway, the Melbourne Cup race took place at 2.30pm this afternoon.. me and SR got ourselves to Level 6 of the building at about 2.15pm.. and we were the last ones to be there! everyone was already there from 2pm.. i must say Level 6 is pretty neatly done up!

i participated in the office sweep and felt lucky when i just had enough coins to chip in! the exact amount! i thought today was my lucky day.. maybe Septimus is going to win! well, that was my 'lucky' horsie that i picked from KJ's hat..

Septimus' number was 1 and his odds were pretty low, a 4.5.. meaning that this horse's a really popular bet and the chances of winning are high.. so you dont get paid much if you do win.. but there are other horses having the odds of 151 or other 'random' figures!! so the chances of winning wasnt high but if it turns out to be the 'black horse', you'll be paid $151 for every dollar you bet on.. what kind of luck do i need to win, really?

anyway, my Septimus seemed really optimistic at the start, it was in the first 4 for a big part of the race but really, who knows what happened in between? poor horsie ended up in 18th place! Geez.. it really is anybody's race~

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Spinach & Tuna Pasta Bake

i havent been posting much of my own cooking lately and that's not because i havent been cooking.. i was and still is cooking every weekend but not for leisure.. i was cooking and packing for my lunches and dinners for weekdays!

and lately it's been getting kind of boring.. i had been cooking a pasta and a fried rice for the past 2 weekends! it's so easy to cook one-dish meals and even easier to eat it at my desk!!! wahaha.. that, is my version of alternatives.. should i have pasta or fried rice for lunch today? if i am having pasta for lunch, i'll 'choose' fried rice' for dinner! Geez.. it's a tough choice, huh~!

i realised that the mind is a very strange entity of its own.. last weekend when Simon was in Melbourne, i cooked his version of Chicken & Basil Pesto Pasta that he cooked for us about 2 months ago.. and this week, because Miyuki is back to Japan, i felt like cooking something related to her..

so i went to Foodland yesterday and bought a box of frozen spinach! i didnt know spinach comes boxed up and froze up until i met Miyuki! yup, hence this week's pasta:

Spinach & Tuna Pasta Bake!

Ingredients:
.: 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
.: 1 Tbsp Seeded Mustard
.: 2 Cans Tuna, 185g each (1 Chunks in Brine & 1 Chunks in Olive Oil)
.: 1 Box Frozen Spinach, 250g
.: 1 Bottle of Thickened Cream, 300ml
.: Shredded Cheese, some for melting and some for baking
.: Big Spirals Pasta

heat Olive Oil in pot and stir-fry Seeded Mustard.. add Tuna and continue to stir-fry.. add Spinach and more stir-frying.. in goes some shredded Cheese, whatever amount you are comfortable with.. add Thickened Cream when cheese has melted.. Salt and Pepper to taste.. add Pasta (already cooked).. simmered for a couple of minutes and pour into a baking dish.. top with HEAPS of Shredded Cheese and bake till cheese becomes golden brown!

for dinner, i am again going to bake a dish that is linked to Miyuki.. with bits of modification though.. Miyuki did a Baked Zucchini and Tomatoes with Cheese during her Vegetarian Week.. i'm going to bake Zucchini, Eggplant and Tomatoes with HEAPS of shredded cheese! Hee~