Jowin in Adelaide!

Life as such..

2010-05-10T21:50:00.006+09:30

How many times have i wished that i am somebody else..
without these troubles..
which will continue to arise..

How many times have i wished that i have made the right decision..
so that i dont have to live with the consequences..
of my own choice..

How many times have i wished that the path could be easier..
not so treacherous..
with lighter footsteps..

How many times have i consoled myself..
that things will look up..
all i have to do is to hope.. and believe..

How many times have i failed?
and picked myself up?
Am i really stronger?

Love Lost by The Temper Trap

2010-04-18T11:12:00.007+09:30

Every weekend i would switch on the TV and let it stay on Channel 10..

and wait for this song to come on air.. cute MTV!

------------------------------------------------------------

Our love was lost
But now we've found it
Our love was lost
And hope was gone

Our love was lost
But now we've found it
And if you flash your heart
I won't deny it
I promise

I promise

Your walls are up
Too cold to touch it
Your walls are up
Too high to climb

I know it's hard
But I can still hear it beating
So if you flash your heart
I won't mistreat it
I promise

I promise

Our love was lost
In the rubble are all the things
That you've, you've been dreaming of
Keep me in mind
When you're ready
I am here
To take you every time

Oh, our love was lost
Lost, lost, lost, lost..
Our love was lost
But now its found

REST

Ooh baby, ooh baby
Bereaved lady
Ooh baby

Ooh baby, ooh baby
He carved you like a stone
Then left your side
Stop, stop

Ooh baby
Slow steady
Heaven's waiting
For you baby

Ooh baby, ooh baby
He took your soul
And left you out to dry
Stop

Now, you're home free at last
And the cracking whip
That howled
And scarred your back
Has stopped
Ooh, it stopped

Ooh baby, ooh baby
Love baby
Your, your only crime
Ooh baby
Stop, stop

Ooh baby, ooh baby
Love baby
Your, your only crime
Ooh baby
Stop, stop

Squashed

2010-04-14T21:06:00.006+09:30

Yes, i am officially squashed..not in my apartment (yet).. but in my apartment block.. All of a sudden (after 9 months), i realised i have neighbours!!! *roll eyes* How? Where did all these strange people come from???

There's this strange lady on my right.. let's call her Skinny Blondie..

Skinny Blondie does shift work.. how do i know that, you ask? i came back from work one day and this is in the evening, mind you.. the sort of timing where people listen to the 6pm news

while preparing dinner.. while doing that i heard someone knocking on my door.. i opened it and she started explaining to me that she's resting at the moment and asked if it will be alright for me to lower the volume of my TV.. i was quite taken aback (i didnt expect anyone to be sleeping at that kind of time) and apologise because i have disturbed her rest.. i know how irritating it is to be disturbed by idiots (like the Korean guy on my left, but this is another story, see below)! so i obliged, no worries!

the second time Skinny Blondie knocked on my door, it was a Saturday afternoon.. the house next to my apartment block was having a pool party in their backyard as it was a hot summer day.. they blasted music from their backyard the whole day.. i was sick of listening to their genre of music, so i put on my own from my ipod and the speaker Zen bought for me.. and of course! Skinny Blondie came over and asked me to lower the volume of my music.. i told her it was just to counter the music coming from the neighbour and she said she had already been there to tell them how loud their music was!!! Geez.. i wasnt really that bothered, so i just said, "No problem.." and adjusted the volume accordingly..

last week i had Skinny Blondie knocked on my door before 8am! i was getting ready to leave for work.. she was obviously pissed off this time round when i opened the door.. there were no greetings whatsoever when i opened the door and she asked me, "What's all the banging about?" and i was like, "HUH? What do you mean?" with a totally confused expression.. " it was then she realised she had accused the wrong person - me. What the? Must it always be me? I definitely didnt hear any bangings nor made any!

BUT, whoever lives upstairs was doing a lot of banging last night!!! Gosh, it was after midnight and the idiot upstairs was probably playing basketball or dropping things over and over again! or trying to build a wardrobe like i did a couple of weeks ago but didnt managed to do as well as i did.. ha!

Now, the ultimate idiot.. is the Korean guy on my left! My turn to keep going over and knocking on his door to ask him to shut up!!! i would like to think that i'm giving these kids enough time to have fun and party.. so my limit is midnight.. both occasions are around 12.30am.. but he is now trying his very best to piss me off by laughing very loudly, inviting lots of his loser friends over and talking loudly on his mobile on his balcony at 1am..

our balconies.. are so close i can climb over and and strangle him!!! Watch out, Korean Loser!

2

2010-04-02T23:58:00.007+10:30

Yes, post no. 2 for 2010.. am i slack or what???

It's difficult to write freely when i am now working.. stuck in an environment for 9 hours out of the 24 hours of a day.. so much and so little can happen in the 9 hours and i cannot really write about it, can i? Nope.

Anyway, it's the Easter Super Long Weekend! Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays, plus the weekend and it's 4 days of HAPPINESS!

Yesterday night i received a IKEA wardrobe as a birthday present from Sis and Fish, delivered by Ken and Jeff!!! It was a shock coming out of the shower to see 7 missed calls on my mobile.. apparently Sis has secretly asked Ken and Jeff to run the errand for her, since she is so far away.. well, they arrived at my apartment just as i went into the shower and i didnt hear the phone at all.. that explains the missed calls!

Poor boys were standing in the cold for 20mins and it was a windy night.. when i finally went down, i saw them holding onto the package (taller than them), one on each side, i was dumbfounded.. such great friends! Initially i was thinking of going to IKEA on my own to get the wardrobe, how silly! I just saw how much it weighs just now.. 48kg.. no wonder the boys were struggling last night!

Time really really really flies.. next Friday i have an appointment with a migration agent.. =)

This blog is so dead..

2010-01-24T18:12:00.003+10:30

.. it is not funny.. i used to write a lot and i have always love writing.. but I've been so caught up with life and trying to go through the daily motions that i seemed to have forgotten that i should be doing the things i love and to live life.. easier said than done.

Last night i was at Ken's and Mona's place for dinner.. Jeff told me the theme was Chinese. The best and nearest i could do was the Stewed Pork Belly that Mum taught me when she was here in ADL in September 2008! I have cooked it numerous times since then. Sis said it was the best of all the crap she has eaten when she was here for 3 weeks the December just past. Nice to know.

Jean made an entree of Sushi, Jeff made a vegetable dish of Pumpkin, Celery and Carrot, Ken steamed a whole Fish and Mona made Biryani, not so Chinese but very yummy. Jean also made a pork dish similar to mine except that hers was on the spicy side and mine was stewed with rock sugar. Ken also made Jelly and Chocolate, Banana & Walnut cake. Nice ending to dinner.

So why am i writing again? After dinner we were deciding between 2 movies to watch, A Blind Sight vs. Julie and Julia. Guess which one i picked? So that is the reason why I'm writing again.

No, i don't have any projects that i would be embarking on and even if i do, it certainly will have nothing to do with cooking. Neither am i looking for any fame. No one reads this blog anyway. I just want to write again. Simple as that. Maybe i can add that to my 2010 non-existent resolution list?

Jean's homemade Sushi

Sad fridge

2009-09-09T22:19:00.005+09:30

*hmph* i just threw away 3 of my lunchboxes~ not the containers, but the food contained in my them! duh~ there goes 3 of my lunches.. one was a Stir fried Beef with rice, the other was a Salmon Pasta and the one that i was about to chuck in the microwave was my favourite Eggplant & Capsicum with Chorizo Pasta! so why did i throw them out? because there's mold growing in one of them!!! YUCKS. i got paranoid and chuck all of them out! now i have to cook some instant noodles for supper instead~

i came home on Tuesday night to realise that my fridge has been left opened for the whole day while i was at work!!! i was rushing out of the door and realised i did not have any food for lunch, ran back to the fridge to quickly pull out a lunchbox but didnt check that it's closed properly.. most of the stuff in the freezer has defrosted.. and silly me convinced myself that it'll still be alright to continue bringing them for lunch! and as a matter of fact i did bring 2 lunchboxes to work today, one was the Kimchi Fried Rice that i cooked on Sunday and the other one was a cream based Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini.. well, i ate both and i'm still functioning now.. *cross fingers*

BUT, having said that, i still kept another lunchbox of Kimchi Fried Rice and a Stew Pork with Potatoes on Rice.. and bringing them to work tomorrow! if they look dodgy tomorrow, i'll chuck them in the bin and head out to buy KFC!!!

Beautiful Saturday!

2009-09-05T15:04:00.016+09:30

so glad to be writing again.. and it's been a great Saturday! 'breakfast' was at T Bar @ Central Market this morning.. had black tea as i definitely need some caffeine to kick start the day! i ordered a Guil T and it tasted ordinary, i must say.. BUT it smells so heavenly~ Sarah said it smells like a lolly shop! i also had a yummy slice of 'cake' that resembles a Bienenstich.. delicious! it was very nice to catch up with Sarah!

after Sarah left, i did a bit of grocery shopping at Coles and waited for Jo to arrive.. after which we went straight to Dumpling King! Jo does not understand why we have to use CHOPSTICKS to pick up our food.. to be honest, i don't really know too! and to be even more honest, i'm not much better than Jo when it comes to using the chopsticks!!! just last week, Ken had to get 2 spoons from the waitress when we were at Citi Zen, one for Mona and the other for me! it's not much different this time, i asked for 2 forks at Dumpling King!!! Hehez! Jo didnt eat a lot but more than the last time round! that, is an achievement! both for Jo and myself! *smilez*

my first tub of Kimchi

i went for a walk in the Central Market after Jo left for her Toni & Guy appointment.. i found this Korean shop and i thought,

"why not do a Kimchi fried rice?"

and in i went to buy a tub of Kimchi.. like i would know which one to get, huh~ i went straight to the fridge and peered into it.. and all those big and little tubs/bags of Kimchi all look the same!!! well, when in doubt, ASK! the Korean lady was really nice and went to the fridge to pick a little tub for me.. and told me to squeeze the liquid away before chucking in the seasoned vegetables.. will take note of that later when i fire up the kitchen.. for the moment, Kimchi purchased. mission accomplished.

as i was nearing home, i was attracted by some music coming out of an eccentric looking building.. i realised that it's a Belly Dance Academy!!! my legs carried me there and i looked through the glass door.. there was a class going on but i did not go in, fearing that i may disturb the class.. instead i took a pamphlet at the door.. i studied the timetable the rest of the way home.. i'm really tempted! i've acquired a belly from the winter months, so it should be time to get back into Belly Dance? wahaha!

and it was only when i got home that i realised the lady at the front of the pamphlet was the one who danced at The Greek Mezze the night Ken, Jeff and Ian brought me there for dinner!!! how awesome! she has her own dancing school! halfway through dinner, she came into the restaurant, danced to 3 pieces of music and was whisked away again! very enjoyable!

SYTYCD US 2009 ended last night.. so there's no more dance entertainment for the time being.. i think i need to get my own.. looks like i have to be enrolled into her class now no matter what!

Sofra Kebab House

2009-09-02T22:02:00.003+09:30

that's the new Kebab House round the corner of my apartment! and they are open today! as a matter of fact, they are still open as i am writing this! delighted was the word to describe how i felt when i saw that it was open .. i took no chances, went in and asked about their opening hours..

"12 noon to 12 midnight, everyday except for Monday." Yippie! Music to my ears! now i have a choice of Subway, McDonald's, Australia's Pizza House (if you ask me, the first 3 weren't really much of a choice~ ha!) and Sofra Kebab House!!! and that explains why it was deserted on Monday!

i think they are making use of the Ramadan period to get their business going as there are many Muslims in my apartment.. they can get their dinner there after sundown and after a whole day of fasting.. i must have mentioned they are halal~? of course!

it's been a good day, work was alright and i have got 2 dates sorted out on Saturday! really looking forward! i'm having a cuppa at T Bar with Sarah in the morning and then lunch with Jo at Dumpling King!!!

this is so weird, Jo asking me for 'Chinese'!!! i have to beg and drag her to Dumpling King the last time!!! i am more than happy, of course! Jo's returning home to Nottingham to visit for a couple of weeks and her family has decided to all get together at a Chinese restaurant, to my amusement and to Jo's dismay!

Jo thinks Sushi is ALIEN food.. and to a certain strawberry flavoured extent, i will not argue that.. *ahem* BUT! she's at least making the effort to 'get use' to Chinese food before heading home.. and that is to ask me out for lunch at Dumpling King.. imagine the look on my face, i can only feel it!

i'm also excited to see Sarah, it's been 3 months since i last saw her.. and in ADL, 3 months is a very long time.. anyway, i have never been to T Bar (Adelaide based), not a very tea person.. would pick a coffee anytime over tea.. except when it's closer to bedtime.. that would be a different story.. so i'm looking forward to try some tea and hopefully find my cup of tea!

Merdeka!

2009-08-31T21:02:00.006+09:30

It's Hari Merdeka! We are 52!!!

still pretty young for a country, i would say.. i'm not a very patriotic person but i would never forget this date.. well, not that i celebrate it.. it's just another day for me.. but i would never forget my roots no matter where i am..

it's Monday, not a very good day for work.. haha! but i survived well enough to still write a post! the odds are really against me, with the server going down twice in a day.. talk about Monday Blues! i started with none and ended up blue in the face!

i wanted to get Kebabs for dinner on the way home, knowing that yummy food will help in getting rid of the blues.. i walked home and realised that it's not opened just as i turned the corner onto my street!!! this Kebab House seems like a shop that has been there for a long time.. but at the same time seemed deserted.. and since i've moved into this apartment almost 3 months ago, the only time i actually saw that it was operating was last Friday!!!

last Thursday i saw a couple of guys with take-away styrofoam boxes coming from the direction of Australia's Pizza House just as i was about to enter the apartment from the direction of Light Square.. i know it couldnt be McDonald's or Subway because of the packaging.. it definitely cannot be pizza because you dont pack pizzas in styrofoam boxes.. the only conclusion was that they bought say, garlic bread or wedges from Australia's Pizza House..

i didnt think too much of it on Thursday night until i saw Kebab House opened on Friday night!!! it was a blessing! i can smell those delicious flavours just walking past it!!! i have decided that i need to eat those Kebabs this week, the sooner the better! i've even gone to tell J, K & M when we were at Citi Zen yesterday that we could bring L to have dinner there someday because it's halal!!!

yup, i had my first Dim Sum session in ages yesterday!!! no kidding! i was so excited that i took a cab to the restaurant when i could have just walked!!! okie, i left out the tiny detail that i over snoozed my alarm~ haha! the 8 of us ate heaps and my favourites were the 'You Tiao' Cheong Fun, Bean curd in Ginger Sugar syrup and Mango Pudding! i was actually impressed with the Mango Pudding.. i will definitely go back and take some photos and 'collect' more information! hehez!

now, when can i get those Kebabs?

4 months later.

2009-08-24T19:44:00.021+09:30

it is indeed 4 months later! Geez.. i wasnt too sure if i should still write, but there's no harm in writing another post, isnt it? let's pick up from where i left it 4 months ago..

Zen was in ADL for 3 weeks.. the first weekend was spent celebrating my 26th birthday (yes, i'm older!) by eating loads of junk food and going for a massive game of Skirmish with Karine & Tony & a bunch of other people.. totally fun! and not to mention bringing Zen to all the places i love to dine at and trying new ones!

the 2nd weekend was spent at Victor Harbor, it was great!!! we had a whole house to ourselves and a splendid kitchen where we cooked all our meals.. and seeing the fairy penguins on Granite Island! Cute!

the 3rd weekend was spent on the Murray River Expedition cruising along the River Murray.. enjoying nature and a wonderful campfire BBQ.. plus meeting some very kind oldies on board..

Mid-May came and Zen went home to Singapore.. and i was left with the task of looking for a place for myself to move into.. yes, just for myself! No more sharing!!! it was quite a bad period of time, not knowing if i'll get a decent place to move into before the deadline of mid-June.. and in all fairness, it was a deadline i set for myself and informed the ex-housemate 2 months in advance.. went to view a few crappy places and finally on the 10th of June, i was out of misery! i'm now settled on the West side of city.. and it's the best decision that i have made this year! so far, that is!

well, i thought there couldnt be anymore dramas.. but i was wrong! much more dramas occurred at work and it's still ongoing.. nothing much i can do about it, except to do my job.. and do it well! at the moment, we are preparing for the end of financial year too.. still heaps of work to be done come September and October.. i just have to bite my tongue and plod on for the moment.. and see where the tide brings me..

also fell sick for the first time over a year! this happened last month and i took a day off work.. for the first time too! stayed home to sleep away a fever, cold and cough on a Thursday.. went back to work on the Friday.. not fun at all.. and slept for the whole weekend! been a long time since i slept this much!

work aside, i have made a bunch of good friends since i got here and i shall name them the JKML gang! J for Jeff, K for Ken, M for Mona & L for Lisa!!! we always have loads of laughter when we are together.. really enjoyed that..

of course, when friends get together, we enjoy good food together too! Ken invited us to his place about a month back and cooked Chicken Curry and Cheesecake for us.. Lisa brought her own ingredients and cooked Beetroot with a whole lot of spices.. i wasnt game enough to try it.. have a thing against beetroot!

last Friday, Jeff & Ken wanted to try the legendary Pie Floater and brought me along.. was i glad to be there! i love the concept of eating by the side of the road (still a Malaysian after all!), standing in front of a open concept trailer on a cold winter night, holding a bowl of hot Pea Soup with a Beef Pie chucked in the middle of it! yup, you are reading this correctly! and it was yummy! i had the most enjoyable time!

and last Saturday, i went to the original Penang Hawker Corner with Jeff.. he had Nasi Lemak while i had the usual Char Kuay Tiao! Dessert followed after at Chocolate Bean, where we shared a Chocolate Filth (this thing is sinful!) and each had a Hot Mocha.. mine was a boring original and Jeff had a Gingerbread Hot Mocha, which he really enjoyed..

after Chocolate Bean, we took the bus to Mona Lisa's (Mona & Lisa) house for dinner! home cooked Malay food!!! i really missed Malay food! the girls prepared Sambal Tofu and Chicken Lemak!!! Yummy! a great day spent with great food and company!

i know i should be more diligent with carrying my camera out with me at all times and actually taking photographs! i'll pay more attention to that as i understand that it can be quite boring with just words and no pictures!

if you are still reading, i'm impressed! Wahaha! i'll try to continue writing forward moving and hopefully this blog will be alive again! *cross fingers*

6 hours

2009-04-24T00:44:00.001+09:30

Another 6 hours before i see Zen! Time to sleep..

Day 2 - Shopping in MEL!

2009-04-13T21:20:00.016+09:30

after a good night's sleep, we headed down to Luna Park in St Kilda (near the beach) to take some photos of it.. the plan is also to head back at night to capture some photos of it all lit up! which we did after a day of walking and shopping!

Luna Park at night..

it looked pretty promising on the outside but was pale in comparison when we went in at night.. it's more like a mini fun fair for kids.. that said, entrance is free!

as for the first thing in St Kilda that hit me? it's full of cake shops! there were 4 in a stretch of 50 metres!!! Geez! the cake shops all have a traditional feel to it.. with the window display full of rolls and rolls of goodies..

we decided on this shop in the end..

the window display were amazing to watch.. top to bottom stacked full of yummy stuff!

they looked so good.. we had to have some.. but they tasted alright.. made too pretty and fell short of expectations unfortunately.. after a walk down the main stretch in St Kilda (which reminds me of a quieter version of Rundle Street), we tried to find our way to Chapel Street.. we walked a bit and got on the tram and then got off it again.. and realised that we were quite lost!

But! according to Jo, as long as we have a map in our hands, we were "technically speaking, not lost"! hmmm.. okie, that is subjective since map or no map, i'm lost anyway! Haha..

after asking for directions, we decided to take a long long walk to Chapel Street.. which turned out to be good exercise! there's quite a bit of shopping along Chapel Street! we went into GJ's as i was suffering from withdrawal syndromes since i havent had my fix all morning!!!

we then did a bit of shopping before going into the city, this time round, i opted for the tram.. got into the CBD area and swapped to the free tram, which got us to Docklands.. where the DFO is nearby!!!!!!

the ever familiar tram stop..

the ever familiar cow in the tree!

shopping was fun at the DFO and i must say that the damage was not too significant! wahaha! it was packed though.. since everyone was deprived of shopping on Good Friday and shops will again be closed on Easter Sunday!

Shopping ended early for me as Jo was feeling exhausted and wanted to head back to the apartment for a rest before going out for dinner and walking by Luna Park for a quick photo taking session.. i'm glad because i didnt spend too much! wahaha!

Day 1 to MEL - The Overland

2009-04-13T14:30:00.039+09:30

it's been a relaxing 3 days in MEL.. technically speaking, only 2 days and 2 nights.. since Day 1 was spent on The Overland..

my train to Melbourne..

Keswick Terminal

the name of the cafe at the far end - Choo Choos Cafe.. cute!

the journey started at 7.40am and i only reached MEL at 6.50pm after spending 10 & 1/2 hours on the train.. that may seemed very long but all things considered, i wasnt bored at all and i really enjoyed the trip!

i think the main reason was that i was seated in the Red Premium Service! both Jo and i had no idea that GSR put me on the Red Premium Service as a Familiarisation trip.. i only realised it when i was looking at the menu while trying to decide what to eat for lunch (when i'm still in the process of eating my packed breakfast: Croissant with a piece of Spam).. See the little red box?

the menu that enlightened me..

i must say that being on the Premium Red Service has all the pros and absolutely no cons at all.. once seated a man came into the cabin and started telling us about the train, how long the journey will take, the major towns that we'll pass by, the highest point we'll go (Mount Lofty!), how to use the toilet (very important to press the LOCKED button!), where the cafe is (right next door!), when they will come to take our orders for breakfast and lunch, where we'll like to have our meals (at our seat or in the cafe) and answered any questions we have..

this is the man.. he's quite humourous and reminds me of 'Nigel' in The Devil Wears Prada!

landscape and scenery was nice too.. like a postcard..

if i wasnt eating on the train, i was sleeping! haha.. it was a few hours into the trip when a lady came to my seat and presented me an envelope with my name printed on it.. and in it contained my ticket for The Overland and a Familiarisation Report that i have to complete.. it was then that i realised that I AM working in the travel industry!!!!!! took me 6 months.. wahaha!

the cafe..

my lunch that cost A$12.50.. those bread were yummilicious~!

my runaway bag..

after much rest, food, scenery and toilet breaks.. we drew closer and closer to Melbourne! the landscape changes and the sun starts to set.. it's been an enjoyable ride!

10 & 1/2 hours later, as The Overland pulls into Southern Cross Station where Jo was waiting for me.. my journey on the train has come to an end.. and my journey in Melbourne has just started.. for the second time!

P.S. The Overland went on the Murray Bridge!!! Gosh!

P.S. Dinner was at Nando's in St Kilda after we dropped my bag in Jo's apartment!

Day 3 - Back from MEL! 2nd time!

2009-04-12T23:50:00.030+09:30

got back to the apartment at about 7.40pm.. just in time for SYTYCD!!!!!! i think i'm a bit mad over this dance programme! anyway, got back, switched on the TV and watched it till the next commercial break before rushing down to the 24hr convenience shop to get washing powder in order to do laundry.. got back from the convenience shop and put a load of laundry to wash and continued watching my show.. in the midst of the show, cooked 2 packets of Maggi Asam Laksa and ate it with a can of Tuna for dinner.. i sure can eat! *smilez*

this morning i ate 3/4 of a cup noodle.. it was really yucky (really!!!) but if i dont eat it, i'll be hungry very soon! the brand is SUIMIN and it was the Hot & Spicy flavour.. i normally wouldnt believe any food that has 'Oriental' flavour (can someone tell me what 'oriental' flavour tastes like?!) printed on its packaging.. but i must have been sick from my cold and did this silly purchase! this cup noodle has 'TASTE of the ORIENT' printed on its packaging (i should have known.. it was a warning~) and that was the big warning that i didnt heed! anyway, chucked out the rest of the noodles and move on to eat what's left of my 'Chicken in a Biskit' that i've brought for the trip on the train..

Jo and i finished packing our bags (check-out was due at 10am) before leaving the apartment to go down to the St Kilda Market just along St Kilda Beach.. it was a awesome day.. awesome weather!!! the sun is shinning, the breeze is fresh and light and the sea is clear and calm.. the walk to the beach was funny.. because Jo said biscuits should not taste like 'Chicken', that's more like dog food!!! wahahaha.. Gosh.

at the start of the market..

then a walk down the beach..

sat down at the middle of the jetty for a chat..

it may not look like the black swans are big in this photo, but as a matter of fact they are huge! oh, Perth~!

after the walk down the jetty, we walked back to the apartment to pick up our bags from the apartment.. below are a few photos of the apartment.. the lighting in the apartment and my photography skills didnt do justice to the apartment! i forgot to take some photos of the toilet and shower but rest assure that they are up to standard!

the first thing i saw when i walked through the door on Friday night..

what's on the right hand side after i walked through the door..

the dining table and kitchen..

the living room.. my 'room' for 2 nights in St Kilda!

no, Jo did not torture me by asking me to sleep on the couch.. she personally felt that the couch is very comfy and offered me her bed! gosh, i would be struck by lightning if i accepted the offer.. i didnt and there was an extra single mattress in the 'open' wardrobe.. i covered it with a bath towel.. and i also had a big blanket.. i fold it in half.. one half was my blanket and the other was another layer over the bath towel.. Jo gave me 2 pillows, so i had one for my head and the other to act as a bolster! gosh, slept well i did! (for the first night, that is!)

after picking up our luggages from the apartment, we headed down to Fitroy Street and did internet check-in at a convenience shop and then took the tram into the city to drop our bags at the train station (the same one where i got off The Overland) as we still had time before our Virgin Blue flight in the evening.. my first Virgin Blue flight! we paid A$8 for a locker and dumped our luggages there.. and then proceeded to look for some food..

i brought Jo to the Queen Victoria Market where i managed to get some Dutch pancakes! so cute and yummilicious! i was so hungry by then and ordered pancakes with butter, icing sugar and maple syrup! i reckoned the best part of it? the Salted Butter!!!

I forgot to take photos of them because i was too busy gobbling them up! i managed to find a blogger who had the exact same Dutch pancakes from Queen Victoria Market!

Photo: Courtesy of Broken Lense

we took a quick walk round the market and i can tell that it's not really Jo's thing.. so i went into Sohum and bought more of their products and we got out of there after that! half of my shopping expenditure in MEL was spent on Sohum products! it was at Queen Victoria Market that i knew that Sohum existed and fell in love with their Limequat Body Moisturiser~

we walked to Melbourne Central from the market.. the Central was opened.. but none of the shops in it were.. hmmm.. does that make sense? poor Jo was about to collapse of hunger but luckily we managed to get to a McDonald's on Swanton Street! while Jo went to order, i bought myself a sushi roll (California roll) a few shops down and met up with her again in McDonald's..

after her lunch, we walked back to Southern Cross Station to pick up our luggages and boarded the Skybus to MEL airport, T3.. we were obviously too early for our flight and that's when i went into Hungry Jack's and got myself a Junior Whopper Meal (more food!) while Jo went walking around.. Jo came to HJ to meet up with me and we proceeded to our gate after i've had my fill! i was so tired and full of food.. i fell asleep on the flight back..

the Light shining in the Darkness!

2009-04-07T19:10:00.006+09:30

It's only 7.10pm and it's pitch dark.. and cold! Geez.. been having the runny nose the whole day.. yucks!

the good news out of autumn is that.. i get to wear my boots and use all my scarves and shawls!!!

the other mega good news for this autumn.. i'm looking forward to welcoming Zen to Adelaide!

Returned!

2009-04-05T11:05:00.003+09:30

finally got back the hour i lost 6 months ago! which means i'm now back to an hour and a half in advance of Malaysia/Singapore, 7 & 1/2 hours in advance of Bari, Italy (DST) and 14 & 1/2 hours in advance of Vancouver, Canada (DST)!!! Geez~

No more daylight savings and officially into Autumn.. which was quite obvious with the rain early this morning.. alright, give SA more water!

No bonus!

2009-03-26T22:30:00.003+10:30

*sobz*

i'm not eligible for the OZ bonus payment because i wasnt a taxpayer for 2007-2008!

*SOBZ*

6 months!

2009-03-25T19:35:00.002+10:30

Gosh.. I've been working at Proud for 6 months!

I'm back!

2009-03-21T11:55:00.006+10:30

It's been quite some time since i last wrote.. let's do a quick update..

It's the Clipsal 500 weekend, starting from Thursday for 4 days till tomorrow, which i'm assuming is the grand finale.. this morning the race started at 8.30am sharp, going Va Va Vroom every half an hour! Gosh! There is a concert every night, featuring different bands.. on Thursday night, the main highlight was The Living End.. so at one point in time, i can hear "White noise~ white noise~" coming through my room window.. talk about a live concert, huh? wahaha..

But having said that, since moving into the Botanic Apartments, the noise has been constant! Which means by now i'm immune to it and will be able to fall asleep regardless of all the happenings on Rundle Street! and Rundle Street, i must emphasise, is not Rundle Mall.. and Rundle Mall is really not a MALL!!!

Rundle Mall is the name of the shopping street (a very short one) in the heart of Adelaide, which is also the street that i'll walk through going to work and coming back to the apartment after work.. likewise for Rundle Street.. and from the apartment to work and vice versa, it's about a 15mins walk, along which i'll be distracted by the all the nice and fancy clothes in the display windows!

Rundle Street is the street with all the nice restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs and shops.. though i must add it's also quite a short street, with all the entertainment squeezed onto it!

it's been 2 months and a bit more since i moved in here.. i'm still not quite settled.. it all started on the fateful day in January.. and i was here in the apartment for a week before i flew back to Singapore/Malaysia for Chinese New Year (very enjoyable!).. during this period Zen flew me to Phuket, Thailand, for about 4 days for a very relaxing trip! we also celebrated my Sister's 21st birthday in Singapore a day before i flew back to Adelaide.. and i was reluctant to go after 2 weeks..

it was even more difficult to adjust to the new apartment after being at home for 2 weeks, where everything is familiar and everyone was nice and warm.. compare that to coming back to a new apartment where my stuff were still in boxes and where i was barely living for a week.. that totally crushed me.. the first few days were hell.. after a week.. things seemed to become normal again..

and right now, i'm doing fine.. my stuff were out of their boxes slowly each week.. making my room feels more like mine.. i 'decorated' (not much really) my room the way i like it.. there are 7 photo frames on my little bedside desk.. 3 family portraits, one of me and Zen, one of me & Sis with Ah Mah, one of me, Xiao Wen & Charlene and one of me and Selina from ages ago.. and there's a 2009 Winnie the Pooh calender Wendy sent me before i moved.. i bought sheet designs that i like (of course they must be reasonable priced!) and cleaned and tidy up every week..

since moving in in January, Adelaide has been celebrating its title as the rightful Festival State.. there was the 2009 Tour Down Under when i was back home.. and then there was the Garden of Unearthly Delights, leading to the opening of The Fringe, which is still on going.. another huge weekend was dedicated to the Womadelaide and then there was the Future Music Festival, and now the Clipsal 500!!! did i mention that every one of the above is just situated either on the street that i'm staying on or just round the corner? my tolerance level for noise seemed to have increased.. seemed, i think..

as for work, it's getting better.. there are challenges cropping up every now and then.. but i guess perseverance will see me through.. sometimes it's difficult to embark on a task, but i always feel better after all the hard work and determination to get through it.. right now, i'm more familiar with my job and how it's related to the rest of the other positions in the work chain.. i'm working towards doing an awesome job!

work aside, i went bowling for the second time in my 25 years.. it was with work mates.. i was reluctant to go on the day itself due to fatigue.. but i went anyway since the GF said my place has been paid for.. i was teamed with LR & Glenn and LJ & Dave.. it turned out that i thoroughly enjoyed myself! and i will go bowling again!

i also watched golf on 2 consecutive Sundays (without being forced to!) because we didnt get internet for 5 weeks! 5 bloody weeks! i dont even want to elaborate why but it happened! Anyway, have to thank Mum & Dad for all those Sundays where they hog the TV with golf channels.. at least i understand the terminology while i was watching golf those 2 Sundays.. and my new favourite is Danny Lee!!!

i'm now learning to perfect the art of cooking Green Bean soup.. a couple of weeks ago i boiled Green Beans with Sweet Potatoes.. turned out a little too thick and definitely not sweet enough.. today, i boiled Green Beans alone and make sure that i put enough Sugar Cane sugar.. i give myself credit for getting Pandan leaves from the Central Market!!! i'm quite happy the way it turned out.. but i may try it with Sago next time..

i'm also trying to get back into learning the Italian language and at work i'm trying to get LM to approve my suggestion of attending the MYOB course.. a little itchy about getting my hands on learning again!

also making more efforts to keep in touch with the few people i know in ADL.. one has gone back to Malaysia for good and another has gone to India for social work and will only be back in the second part of the year.. another one is going to the UK in a couple of months! not many left here, isnt it..

alright, just bits and pieces of updates.. the highlight from now till the end of next month is looking forward to welcoming Zen to ADL for the first time!

Cleaning @ new apartment

2009-01-10T01:45:00.004+10:30

we only got home at 11.30pm after doing some cleaning at the apartment just now.. we met up in front of the apartment after work and checked the apartment.. we chucked away the stuff that we dont need and made a list of the stuff that we need..

we went down to Rundle Mall to do shopping after that.. we bought a vacuum cleaner, a kettle and a couple of mattress protectors for our beds.. brought everything back to the apartment and went down to Cafe Primo for dinner! just round the corner!

we did some exploring of the building and the car park so we know where Benjamin can park his Ute for unloading tomorrow.. after dinner, we went back to the apartment and started cleaning.. i vacuumed while Miyuki wiped.. and moved the furniture around.. by 11pm, we were wasted~

what's left?

2009-01-07T22:30:00.003+10:30

another round of packing.. have been doing packing here and there after work everyday..

i have officially emptied all my drawers.. the top shelves of my wardrobe are emptied and so are the bottom shelves.. right now, i still have most of my clothes hanging in there.. well, that can wait till tomorrow when i bring back another archive box from work.. haha..

been trying to clear the fridge by eating all my packed lunches for lunches at work and also for dinners at home.. a few more to go still.. i left all my containers at work so i dont have to pack them.. hehez! my pantry is 70% cleared.. will leave the rest till Saturday morning..

i have dismantled my shoe rack and all my shoes are packed (some are at work).. and i'm going to throw 3 pairs of flats away.. hehez!

i have come to the conclusion that packing, travelling and moving is a big part of my life..

Moving

2009-01-04T16:05:00.006+10:30

Yup, i am going to move again! been packing the whole day.. and at this moment in time, i cant do anymore packing.. not because i have been packing vigorously (packing has become part of me) but because i'm sick of packing.. even though it has been a relaxing one.. relatively easier than before..

i have a new luggage replaced by Qantas because my Lojel has officially been declared deceased (thanks to Kenneth for helping bring it back from The Luggage Place), a big 'Chinese' bag, which look nothing like the 'original' blue-white-red plastic bag.. mine is a cute one with black and white pigs.. i also have 4 little boxes (those that fit A4 size printing paper) and 1 bigger box..

at this point in time, all the drawers of my desk and my bedside table has been cleared.. though i must say that most of my clothes are still unpacked and hanging in the wardrobe.. Geez!

2009

2009-01-01T17:00:00.006+10:30

HAPPY 2009!!!

I reached home at about 3am last night, or rather this morning.. haha.. took a good shower (yup, that includes shampooing my hair) before jumping into bed at 4am..

i had a good start to 2009 by drinking my favourite coffee at GJ's! Yum! the rest had ice cream while me and Mag slurped on our coffees.. Y had hot chocolate as it was a pretty chilly night..

work finished at 4pm and i came home to chill and got ready before Kenneth came over to pick me up.. he invited me to the BBQ party at his place and it was great fun meeting and talking to Mag, Mo, M & Y! and not to mention all the food that was there! hehez!

at about 10pm, we made our way down to the city.. the cars were parked in the city and the initial plan was to catch the tram down to Glenelg.. however, after one unsuccessful attempt to get on the tram and witnessing all those people who were already drunk.. we decided that it's a wiser choice to take the substitute bus for the tram..

it really turned out to be the wiser choice because J & M, who got on the tram before us, reached Glenelg much later than us! the bus was also not as packed as the tram.. it was 11pm by the time we got there.. we walked down Jetty Road, all the way to where the jetty starts.. it was pretty crowded but not as bad as i have expected.. there was a makeshift concert 'tent' and some band was performing..

when the clock finally strike midnight, the fireworks began.. it was nice though nowhere near magnificent.. but it was enough.. my initial plan was to spend it with my bed and TV and it turned out to be much better than that!

after the fireworks ended and the crowded started to disperse, we went to M's friend's place which is really just next to Jetty Road and crash his party.. though i must say most of us were already quite dead at that point in time.. haha! that's when GJ's came into the picture!

it was a night well spent and i enjoyed myself thoroughly!

Bye 2008!

Baby Tee!

2008-12-29T18:55:00.005+10:30

I have just received the wonderful news that Baby Tee has finally arrived in this world last Saturday!!! Woohoo! Well done, Baby!

I welcome with both hands (and legs) the first human being featured in this blog! we have been waiting for a long time, Baby Tee!!!

Proclamation Day..

2008-12-26T18:35:00.013+10:30

It's Proclamation Day today.. Boxing Day for the rest.. they both mean the same thing to me: Public Holiday! Haha! a good 4 days of nothing to do!

Christmas Day was a day of food, more food and much more food.. haha.. the girls of Maylands Manor spent a day cooking, eating and watch the Bourne series back to back, only stopping for lunch break, toilet breaks, nibbles break and desert break! haha!

the day started off with the opening of presents 'under' the Christmas Tree.. which was fun! we proceeded to having nibbles, which i am in charge of.. Beer Battered Wedges and Chicken Nuggets.. while watching Bourne Identity..

we break for lunch and Jo made us a roast 'dinner'.. what can i say? more Yorkshire Puddings! heaven! we watched Bourne Supremacy after lunch and proceed to Bourne Ultimatum after that.. while Bourne Ultimatum was in progress, we had the luxury of eating Miyuki's Christmas Cake! yummy yum yum~!

absolute bliss.. the cream was the tough part.. we took turns to whip it!

the ham!

the whole leg of ham!

by the time evening came, we were all filled to the brim with food.. but as promised, i continued to provide more nibbles.. i made oven-baked potato patties with the ham that Miyuki had sliced off from the whole leg.. and i forced everyone to eat some.. hehez!

Dinner fit for a King.. hee!

2008-12-24T22:30:00.011+10:30

we started the Christmas week early with a Christmas dinner on Monday night.. the table was empty at first.. but my cute little napkins were in place!

Jo's roast dinner and Miyuki's Ratatouille, we are ready!

there! a table ready for our landlady and landlord!

white wine and beer were supplied by Simon and Paul was in charge of desert.. which was great! Sonja & Naz brought over a whole leg of ham! no joke!!! a whole leg of smoked ham which we somehow managed to squeeze into a whole shelf of the fridge in the kitchen.. gosh!

Christmas Lunch!!!

2008-12-19T22:55:00.010+10:30

Full-of-wholesome-goodness platter

Ham platter

Veggie sticks with dips platter

Cheese platter

Fruit platter

what can i say? it's Christmas! work ends at 1.30pm and it was all party after that! heaps of food, that is needless to say.. heaps of fun too.. with the revealing of Kris Kringle or 'Secret Santa' is another term for it.. i managed to guess my 'Secret Santa'! However, the person whom i was Secret Santa for also managed to guess that i was the 'Secret Santa'!

the top 3 were also revealed for the Christmas Bake-off.. and lots of crackers were going off.. a few of us stayed till after work hours.. the plan was to head out for dinner but by 8pm, we were still waiting for a couple of their partners.. i decided to call it a night after i was showered with some white wine down my jeans and shoes! haha.. no harm done, i just smelled like i have been drinking quite a bit..

all in all, it was good fun..

peace, quiet & tidiness..

2008-12-18T21:00:00.005+10:30

Sis has gone home.. her flight was at 2pm this afternoon and i took the morning off to accompany her to the airport.. i went straight to work from the airport and i came home immediately after work to clean my room! haha..

i have come to the conclusion that i cannot share my room with another living thing.. human being, pet, insect, you name it.. i just cant! Geez.. no doubt i'm glad that Sis came to visit.. but i'm still glad to get my room back!

i shall write about Sis's adventures in Adelaide soon!

4AM?

2008-12-09T20:45:00.005+10:30

i CANNOT remember when was the last time i had to wake up at 4am.. but today i did.. and it was not funny at all.. more crazy than anything was that we (me & Sis) only managed to turn in at around midnight.. as can imagine, putting us together in a situation like that only brewed trouble..

i took a shower first and then we were getting ready for the 5am cab that i booked the night before.. 2 of us in a tiny room with plenty of luggages lying around? TROUBLE getting around.. the unearthly hour didnt help.. and Sis was trying on different outfits at 4.30am in the morning! Gosh!

i couldnt take it out on my Sister who is here on a holiday, so i took it out on the cab driver instead! but trust me, he asked for it.. he pressed the doorbell at 5mins to 5am in the morning! hey, all my housemates were still in bed!

so i opened the door and gave him a piece of my mind before he can even say the word 'Hi'.. yup, i did and i didnt bother about my manners at all.. no 'harlow' and 'good morning', there was only:

"OH MY GOODNESS! Why did you press the bell at 5am in the morning? We are ready and waiting for you! Why did you have to press the doorbell? GEEZ!"

well, it was somewhere along that line and i was trying to convey my message in the tiniest voice that i could squeak in.. anyway, poor cab driver was in shock and only muttered, 'oh~'

after that, the very pissed-off me turned around and went back to my room and shooed my Sis out of it and off we go, what a nice start to a lovely day~

when i booked the tickets for Sis, i didnt think that it was that early and the buses were not running yet from where i was staying.. the buses heading towards the airport from the city were available at this unearthly hour though.. so we took the cab to the city to catch the second earliest bus to the airport..

as mentioned, we had a lovely start to the day and the day got even better when it started to drizzle when we were waiting for the bus.. no dramas but it was 'pouring' when we got to the airport.. 'pouring' for SA's standards.. but still considered 'raining' for Singapore/Malaysia..

we were earlier for check-in but the staff for Tiger Airways were late.. hey, it's no big deal except that it's adding on to my lovely day~ when i went through the check-point, i had to remove my heels because they make the 'electronic gate' go 'Di! Di! Di!'.. soil on my heels, i reckon..

breakfast was Chicken Wrap from HJ's for me and a Sausage, Bacon & Egg Wrap for Sis.. and of course a Grande Flat White from CIBO for me.. i have no idea how i survived today, really.. i thought i would have to tell BM that i have to go home because if not, my face will slam into the keyboard some time after lunch.. but i guess the workload kept me going..

Sis flew off at about 7.50am and i headed back to the office.. the bus was really packed on the route back to the city.. to think that i was still thinking about renting along the J1 line.. i have to reconsider..

we were on the Murray Expedition for the weekend, starting from Friday evening till Sunday evening and it was a relaxing and enjoyable trip.. shall update about it in a separate entry as promised, with photos of the 4th longest river system in the world..

amazingly, i didnt get river-sick but i have been land-sick ever since Sunday evening till today.. but it's fading away now.. *phew* i had enough of *floating left & right* and *bobbing up & down* on land~

Tupperware Party!

2008-11-30T17:50:00.002+10:30

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!!!

1 more month to go!

2008-11-24T20:59:00.004+10:30

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!

Barossa Valley!

2008-11-08T22:55:00.027+10:30

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?

2008-11-08T22:20:00.006+10:30

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~

Melbourne Cup

2008-11-04T20:25:00.005+10:30

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~

Spinach & Tuna Pasta Bake

2008-11-02T13:35:00.007+10:30

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~

Weekdays can be great too!

2008-10-31T22:00:00.007+10:30

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! it's FRIDAY again! if time's going to zoom past like that every week.. i'll be 30 before i know it!!! Geez.. 30 actually isnt that far away~ wahaha! anyway, it's been a good week.. actually it's been the best week i have had since i started work!

i'm not sure if i have mentioned it before.. but work officially ends at 5pm every Friday evening for our 'Highs & Lows' session! it's a gathering where everyone announce what they are particularly happy (High) or unhappy (Low) about that week.. we could get away with not mentioning a 'Low' but there must be a 'High'.. and for every 'Low' that was mentioned, there must be a 'High' to balance it out..

it is also a session where we get to know one another better.. we would gather at the lower ground floor and have a few drinks.. normally white wines and soft drinks.. both of which i dont really enjoy! every week i would get asked if i want a drink, and every Friday i would politely decline.. they probably thought i was being shy but this is the week they know i seriously cant drink.. i told them the story of last Saturday's Midori with lemonade! wahaha!

it's been a really good week because for the first time since i started work, i dont have a 'Low'!!! i'm happy about that, really.. and my 'High' was that i dont have a 'Low'!!! wahaha~! i finally felt like i'm on schedule this week, though not without the help of SR! i'm also better prepared this week and have started to fall into a routine.. and i now handle the newspaper delivery guy really well! HAHA! i have also cleaned up the mess at my desk and it's now neat and tidy the way i like it!

also, there's no 'Low' this because i received confirmation that Sinnie is coming from Perth next week and Y is coming the week after!!! BUT, the ultimate 'HIGH' is that Sis is coming in December and from tomorrow onwards.. i can say that my Sister is coming NEXT MONTH! Yippie! what's more, i have gotten her cheap tickets to and fro Melbourne!!! A$67.90!!! wahaha.. i can only cross my fingers that Tiger Airways doesnt cancel their flights as and when they like it (they are apparently quite notorious for doing that here)!!!

ALSO, i have booked Sis and myself for the Murray Expedition*!!! we will be going on it the first weekend she's going to be here! now now, with all these upcoming visits, how can i have a 'Low'?

i also received a letter (snail mail!) from Hello Kitty (you know who you are!) and Hello Kitty's life is going great! Zen is working on his personal project and is almost done with it now.. i'm waiting to view it! Kor is finally having his exams next week after so many years of hard work and studying!!! i cant wait for him to 'graduate'! Mum & Dad are going to Taiwan (again~!) and Miyuki went home to JAPAN today!!! i can feel her parent's joy! i hereby announce that my crazy Japanese house mate will be back in 2 weeks and i sincerely hope that she remembers to get to the airport on time this time round! ha!

and so, i feel great because my aim to enjoy weekdays has been achieved this week! i'm pretty sure it's not 'happily ever after' from here.. there will bound to be days that i would feel down because of work, friends, family, life in general, etc.. but at least for this week, i can be certain that there is one office worker who has enjoyed her weekdays!

*Murray Expedition will be explained later in a separate entry because it is of utmost importance that i explain it correctly!

another weekend gone!

2008-10-26T16:05:00.005+10:30

well, it's Sunday again~ the life of a office worker.. looking forward to Friday evenings and trying to shunt the ever dreaded Sunday night? hmmm.. maybe that is the case.. but if office workers all around the world can enjoy their weekdays too.. wouldnt that be fantastic?

in order to enjoy my upcoming week, i stayed back in the office till 7pm on Friday, so as to get more work done.. it was something that i was supposed to do but i didnt know about it because really, no one told me about it.. so i cant really do something i dont even know existed, can i? anyway, it was completed and i also get all my filing done! i dont need to go back on Saturday!

i did however, brought back the Job Notes file and read through it.. there was also a case left behind by J which wasnt solved when she left.. i brought it home too.. but i'm only going to try to see if i can work it out later.. because i had been occupied with Game Boy Micro since yesterday!!!

wahaha.. there's only the Mario Brothers and Super Mario 2 on it.. but the Mario Brothers kept me occupied for a long time.. and still is actually.. hehez! this cute little gadget belongs to Miyuki.. but it's now sitting on my desk calling me.. Miyuki passed me the charger for it too! just in case, you know~!

as for Saturday, i went down to The Parade to get brunch at Cibo Espresso before grocery shopping at both Foodlands and Coles.. i came home with a whole trolley full! i vacuumed and mopped my room after keeping my groceries away.. and also wiped all surfaces! it's really due to the weather and the fact that we are situated right next to the road that there's so much dust..

the weather's really strange yesterday, it was hot and humid but it wasnt a sunny kind of hot.. it was cloudy the whole day.. and windy too.. i was in the TV room the whole afternoon with the air-con switched on! hehez!

in between Game Boy Micro sessions, i was doing laundry and cooking a pasta and a fried rice.. enough for all my lunches next week and maybe dinners too.. hehez..

last night we girls went to Maylands Hotel, just round the corner, for a drink.. i really cant take much alcohol! one Midori with lemonade and i am down! wahaha..

that's pretty much to it for my weekend.. i'm hoping that the coming week will be fulfilling!

Danny's Thai Bistro

2008-10-23T23:30:00.011+10:30

Miyuki came to meet me on Grenfell St after work today.. her work ended at 5.30pm, which is a rare coincidence.. our plan was to head to Danny's Thai Bistro.. for Thai food, of course! we actually planned this dinner on the day that we were having Indian food at Taj Tandoor!!! eating one cuisine and thinking about another?! wahaha..

we took Bus 123 from Grenfell St straight to Norwood and we were the first few customers there.. we ordered one entree and one main each.. which means lots of food!!!

Fresh Cold Rolls
with fresh vegetables, vermicelli, prawns and pork with special sauce dipping sauce..

Salt & Pepper Fresh Local Squid

Special Fried Rice

prawns & chicken with egg, Chinese broccoli and fresh tomatoes..

Pad Thai

Thai rice noodles with chicken and prawns, ground peanuts and egg..

i must say the Pad Thai was way too disappointing!!! it can in no way be called Pad Thai, really! i can only say it is some kind of stir-fry rice noodles with loads of tomato ketchup~

the Special Fried Rice is not really that special either.. i must admit i dont know what Thai fried rice constitutes or taste like.. but that Special Fried Rice we had tasted just like any Chinese fried rice..

on the menu, it says that the Salt and Pepper Fresh Local Squid is 'Danny's all-time favourite!' and so we paid A$10.90 for it.. Geez, it doesnt seemed all that worth it now.. it's neither wonderfully delicious nor horribly disgusting.. it's.. just alright, you know..

the only saving grace of tonight's dinner was the Fresh Cold Rolls.. but the dipping sauces were again kind of Chinese!!! Sweetened black sauce? Spicy Chilli sauce? isnt that more Chinese than Thai? Gosh, i'm confused now..

i sat facing the interior of the restaurant while Miyuki sat facing the al fresco area.. when we were almost done with dinner, i turned around and saw that other than us and another table of Koreans.. the whole restaurant was catering for Australians!!! i am now appealing to Simon to switch to another Thai restaurant!

Jowin's theory: if you ever see a foreign cuisine restaurant in Australia catering only for Australians, dont bother walking in if you are looking for an authentic foreign cuisine .. that said, you should look out for restaurants like Dumpling King (Karine and I will be lunching there again tomorrow! Yippie!) , they cater for their own nationality too.. which means the food they serve is pretty authentic.. or at least decent, if not cheap!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny's Thai Bistro
123a The Parade
Norwood SA 5067

Work & life..

2008-10-20T21:50:00.004+10:30

i am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! 3 hours on a Saturday has paid off! *smilez*

My dear friend C turns 26 today! she is also going to be a new Mum coming January!!! Gosh.. it's still a little unbelievable.. i actually called C to wish her but got to C's Mum instead.. what's amazing is that we chatted for more than 10mins!

i guess with C's pregnancy, it made me realised that we have indeed grown up.. even though we may not feel like we are and even though we may not want to.. but we are indeed adults now! *gasp* wahaha.. anyway, we are all excited and happy for her!

Oyster Bar, Scampi's & The Pier

2008-10-19T11:15:00.008+10:30

it's been a good weekend.. i went back to the office yesterday to get my desk and in-tray sorted! was there for a good 3 hours and i decided to pamper myself by doing some shopping at Marion Shopping Centre after that! it was a hot day and i'm glad to be spending a couple of hours shopping in an air-conditioned shopping centre.. wahaha..

work on Friday was still quite a mess but at least it's not nerve-wrecking like Monday and Tuesday.. the whole week simply flew by and i constantly felt that time was not enough!!! i felt the same on Friday and soon it was time for dinner at Scampi's! YIPPIE! was looking forward to dinner at Glenelg!

there were 12 of us.. 8 of us colleagues, and 4 of them brought their respective partners.. we first went to The Oyster Bar for drinks till about 8.30pm.. dinner was at this seafood restaurant called Scampi's, which sat on the beach facing the sea..

at that moment in time, i really felt that everyone should have dinners like that too.. the weather's perfect with the sun setting into the horizon.. the sound and smell of the sea.. and a soon-to-be-filled stomach!

our order was taken at about 9pm (more like supper, huh?) and we actually spent a good hour chatting!!! because our food didnt arrive till about 10pm (becoming more and more Italian!)! in my opinion, an hour was really a little too long as most of us ordered deep fried food.. anyway, dinner was made enjoyable with the company, not the food!

after dinner, Jo and Miyuki joined us.. and so did Karine and Tony! we headed to Pier One Bar for more drinks.. time was forgotten until AC mentioned that we really need to go if we want to catch the last tram! we half walked and ran but we missed the last tram still! haha! we took at cab home in the end.. it was great fun!

Work

2008-10-16T22:15:00.002+10:30

i finally feel like i'm breathing again!

Work

2008-10-15T19:45:00.003+10:30

if Monday was tough and Tuesday was a disaster.. then today must be a real challenge!

life

2008-10-13T22:50:00.004+10:30

received a phone call from a friend whom i have not spoken to for a couple of months.. life instantly seems brighter..

Work

2008-10-13T21:00:00.002+10:30

tough day.

Glenelg~!

2008-10-11T23:00:00.009+10:30

Jo brought me to Glenelg today! we took the tram from the city.. when we finally stepped off the tram at its last stop about 20mins later, i took one look around the end of Jetty Road and like it immediately!

we took a walk along the beach and make a turn back to Jetty Road to have lunch at Nando's! Yum yum~ the schedule after lunch was to relax and shop the whole afternoon! hehez!

the plan was to finish walking one side of Jetty Road before crossing over to the other side.. while we were crossing the road, i saw a familiar face from work in a white car.. but because it was a sunny day and everyone was wearing their sunnies, including this familiar face, i couldnt be sure if it was R from IYP..

i was mumbling to myself when Jo saw R too.. it was when R starting smiling that i realised we have indeed met someone in a car whom we know while trying to cross the road! it was pretty ridiculous because we started talking to R in the middle of the 2 lanes while the red light was on.. before long, R had to move on because the lights had turned green! Adelaide is indeed a very big city~ wahaha!

we also went to K's shop in Glenelg where Jo bought heaps of stuff from there! Shop shop! oh, we also saw a guy in this year's Australian Idol! i'm not sure how far ahead he went in the competition but when i saw him performed on TV, i thought he was quite good! he's pretty popular, i must say.. there was a group of people in a car that shouted out to him and a group of girls going, "OH MY GOD~!!!" haha..

i didnt know why i spotted him in the first place.. i thought he looked rather familiar and it took me a while to realise that he was on TV.. but Jo gave a rather interesting answer to why i spotted him first..

she said it was because he was wearing a YELLOW t-shirt!!! wahaha! i thought that was a reasonable reason, yup? i myself had wanted to wear a yellow tank top to go with my black bermuda shorts.. but i reckoned i'll look like a BUMBLE BEE.. so i decided against that! and it just so happened that this guy was wearing a Yellow t-shirt and a pair of BLACK jeans! ha! difficult not to notice a Bumble Bee!

P.S. This is post no. 100!!!

finally paid!

2008-10-10T22:20:00.024+10:30

haha.. i have finally received my pay! but it only came through in the late afternoon.. C and SR brought J and me out for lunch today.. we went to The Office Bar, which offers pretty decent food, i must say!

after lunch i went to check my bank account but pay wasnt in yet, so i was feeling a bit sorry for myself that i cant do shopping tonight! oops~!

anyway, there wasnt much time to think about late night shopping because there were still work to do and stuff to learn before J officially leaves the company this evening..

we had our usual Highs & Lows Meeting at 5pm and that was also to bid farewell to J and M, whose last day is also today.. after the meeting, J passed her key and her work that was incomplete to me before i left for the weekend.. i gave her a big hug and told her that she knows where to send her e-mails to! we were using the same e-mail account at work!

i walked quickly to RAH to meet Miyuki for dinner.. Indian food for dinner!!! this restaurant was recommended by one of Miyuki's colleague.. he's Indian, by the way.. which means we cant go wrong!!!

the restaurant was situated on Rundle Street.. it's called Taj Tandoor Indian Cuisine.. it was quite spacious on the ground floor and there's more tables upstairs too.. i quite like the ambiance of the restaurant..

it's the first late night shopping after DST sets in.. it's also quite a warm Friday evening.. hence all the shops had their windows and doors open for a more al fresco feel.. and the whole street was packed with people celebrating the end of the work week!

we were pretty early and only a few tables were occupied when we got to the restaurant.. we ordered a couple of main courses and Basmatic rice and Naan to share..

Pulao Rice
Authentic aromatic Indian Basmati Rice..

Beef Vindaloo (Hot)

A very hot and sour Goan preparation of beef with hot chillies and vinegar. Delightful favourite for those who like it hot. Also available in lamb or chicken.

Fish Baingan

Fillet of fish simmered in tomato and coconut curry with mustard seeds and eggplant..

Garlic Naan

Naan with fresh Garlic

dinner was very yum~.. especially the Mango Lassi! both me and Miyuki ordered one each.. but it was not enough! we will be back for more! when i finally checked my bank account after dinner, my pay has finally been banked in! yeah! so i managed to do some late night shopping after all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Office Bar
110 Pirie Street
Adelaide

Taj Tandoor Indian Cuisine
290 Rundle Street
Adelaide

tired~

2008-10-09T22:00:00.004+10:30

that's how i feel now..

1. my pay didnt come through! there was a mix-up with my account number and hence it was sent to an invalid account.. now we are waiting for it to bounce back before they can send it through to my account once more~

2. i cant do sales! i was given the challenge of getting on the phone and calling up the VIP list, in the hope that they will use our service/products once again..90% of the time i got to their answering machines instead.. those few that i managed to get in touch were not sold.. haha.. so in a nutshell, i didnt managed to get any sales!

it was an interesting experience though, i must say.. i'm not referring to point 1! hopefully that will come through tomorrow!

mid-week!

2008-10-08T21:20:00.004+10:30

it was raining this morning.. the lucky thing was that the distance from the bus stop to my workplace is really near!

there were loads to do yesterday and today, mainly because a day of work was lost due to Labour Day.. but we managed to catch up today and life was better after the most important bits were completed.. L called to check and see how i was doing, which i really appreciate!

of course! life's even better when you get paid for putting in effort at work! and it's Pay Day today!!! Yeah~! just about time, i would say.. SALE is going on!!! wahaha..

there's an exciting event at work tomorrow and i'm looking forward to it!

Yippie!

2008-10-07T20:00:00.008+10:30

i didnt feel like getting out of bed this morning.. it was still pitch dark when my alarm went off! all thanks to DST!!! finally dragged myself out of bed after a 15mins struggle and got myself into the shower.. immediately felt more awake after that!

got to the office early and still have time to go to Bean Bar for a take-away Flat White! i am trying to limit myself to only 2 coffees (from cafes) a week.. mainly because that will eat into my savings!

initially i was thinking of setting Mondays and Fridays as Jowin's Coffee Days.. but now i have a more flexible plan! my budget for coffees will be A$10 a week.. meaning i could either get 3 small coffees or 2 regular ones each week, depending on how desperate i am! ha! i can still stick to 2 coffees this week because there's only 4 working days!!! i need a regular today, really!

the day started off with a Staff Meeting at 8.15am.. and work begins after that.. J will be in L's office this whole week as L is inter-state.. i am holding the fort myself starting from this week! but thankfully i'll still have J to run to for the rest of this week before she goes away~!

during lunch break i received a phone call.. it was to call me in for an interview which i promptly rejected.. i guess i had enough of job hunting and would like to do well in this job.. because they were the ones who gave me a chance!

the day went by pretty peacefully, albeit really busy.. there was Afternoon Tea at 3pm to welcome D into the IYP team! Lamingtons, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Apricot Bun with Icing! Yum~!

the tension starts to drawn on me at about 4.45pm as i have my first report presentation to do! gosh, was i nervous~ but B, J and SR and the rest were all very kind with their encouragement! i was very glad to have it over and done with! cross fingers that next week will be better!

when i got out of the office after work ended today, it was still bright! and that made me very happy! and for once, i'm grateful to DST~ also, i received a parcel from Zen today! Yippie!

Labour Day BBQ!

2008-10-06T20:50:00.012+10:30

the BBQ was great fun and there were loads of food! the weather wasnt that great though.. it was raining in the morning~ Gosh! the sun only came out sometime after 3pm.. but it was fun nonetheless!

Jo takes really good care of the Maylands Manor residents!

and so does Miyuki!

some of the contributions of our guests!

meat skewers contributed by Nathan, a guest of Miyuki's..

those sausages are my contribution! that's a tray of it.. i bought 3 trays!

we ended up with a table full of food.. and alcohol was in abundance!!! we had 3 rounds of cooking and the BBQ lasted from about 1.30pm to 7.30pm! Geez!

DST begins!

2008-10-05T11:45:00.003+10:30

Daylight Savings Time begins today! it feels weird to have an hour taken away from my life without any reason.. and the thing is, i'll only get it back after half a year!!! which means i'll be 2 & 1/2 hours in advance of Singapore and Malaysia for 6 months! Geez.. i remember the last time i went through DST was in Perth.. and that was only for 3 months! Gosh.. guess i'll be used to it by then~

BBQ Preparation..

2008-10-04T13:10:00.005+09:30

woke up at 9am and went to Foodlands at about 9.45am with Miyuki and Jo.. all of us have to get food for the upcoming BBQ on Monday! Jo was done with grocery shopping and went home first.. we met Simon when we got out of the supermarket! he was there to have breakfast and to get BBQ food too.. haha.. almost all of Maylands Manor were there! Geez!

anyway, came home and had brunch and proceeded to clean my room, which was in a mess.. vacuumed and mopped the floor and wiped my tables, changed the water for my lilies and arranged my things just the way i like them.. now, i can sit back and do nothing for the rest of the day.. wonderful~!

功夫

2008-10-03T23:55:00.011+09:30

i just finished watching Kung Fu Hustle (功夫) in the TV room! i had a good laugh~! really enjoyed the movie and decided to get it!

i remember watching it in Genting with Kor and Sis, on the 1st of January 2005!!! Geez, that was a long time ago!!!

the adults were attending some oldies concert and we were not interested.. so we went to catch Kung Fu Hustle instead.. gosh, almost 4 years already!!!

the DVD was on a sale of A$8.99 at Target and i went there especially for it! and in the process bought a pair of work pants for A$11.89!!! i love Target! hehez.. i love Friday evenings too! late night shopping and a long weekend make me happy!

Dumpling King!

2008-10-02T23:25:00.004+09:30

i had lunch with Karine today! we went to Dumpling King and ordered the usual to share.. i think her diet is much tinier than mine! but it was a very enjoyable hour spent and the sun was bright and sunny! we went to the Central Market after lunch.. she got herself some bananas while i went to Kim Wang to get some chilli..

it was busy at work today, more for J than for me because she is trying to clear up quite a number of matters before she leaves.. what's more, with only 4 working days next week, we were trying to get started on the stuff that is usually done on Monday, so as to be on time when we start the week on Tuesday! it's really not easy at the moment! add oil!

flowers?

2008-10-01T20:25:00.005+09:30

i received a bouquet of flowers when i was out for lunch today.. when i got back, J has already gone for lunch and i saw the bouquet lying on the desk.. i thought it must be sent by a client for one of the superiors or something.. so i went on to put my bag away and get ready for another round of work..

but the bouquet were getting in my way.. already the workstation is small for one person, let alone J and me trying to work with it.. so i was thinking of a place to move the bouquet to when i realised that it's addressed to me!!!

Geez.. i've got a number of questions from various people asking me who the flowers were from.. but i have no idea because there's no other name on the card except for mine.. T was very nice and said i should put the flowers in a vase, and started looking for one immediately.. C was very kind and offered hers when she saw that T was looking for a vase.. so the flowers are standing in a very nice vase on our (J & mine) workstation, under a spotlight (i later realised)!

i guess i vaguely know who the flowers are from?

3/4 gone..

2008-09-30T20:05:00.006+09:30

2008's almost gone.. i still remember how i 'celebrated' the clock striking 12 midnight into 2008..

but i'm just starting and havent had the time to think about the fact i'm finally employed.. learning is on going and i'm learning a lot of things since Thursday..

these 2 days are exceptionally busy and taxing as the bulk of this position are concentrated on Mondays and Tuesdays.. which is a good thing, get it over and done with! and i supposed the week will start to lighten in terms of workload as it progresses.. i will find out about that from tomorrow onwards..

i forgot to bring my work notebook to work today.. left it on my desk when i took it out of my bag last night.. exhaustion is creeping up onto me~

1st Staff Meeting

2008-09-29T20:40:00.005+09:30

8.15am
attended my first Staff Meeting! Jo and i caught the early bus into the city, so as to be early, of course.. it was a short meeting just to inform everyone about the happenings in the upcoming week.. who will be going on holidays or business trips and etc..

11am
there was a Morning Tea to welcome myself and another new colleague! so i'm not the newest newbie! hehez.. it was also to celebrate the birthday of C, the PA.. there was a cake, a platter of fruits and another platter of muffins and cookies!

1pm
the day went by pretty quickly and soon it was lunch time! there were heaps to learn but learning was obstructed by quite a number of things.. phone calls, IT guy, plumbing guy, etc.. but that is part of the job, so on-the-job training is very real in my situation!

2pm
learning continues and the Flat White from GJ's is not helping much.. not sure how much information is going into my brain as there are many steps to perform for the tasks i have to do in the system.. but J is very patient and that really helps! *smilez*

5pm
Sales Meeting time! this is the last time that J will be presenting the Sales report! it'll be my turn next week!!!

Hyde Park

2008-09-28T14:50:00.010+09:30

the weekend has gone by pretty fast and it's the first weekend in 4 months that i'm preparing for an upcoming work week.. the weather isnt that great today, compared to the 32C we experienced yesterday! it's a bit gloomy and rainy, with some sunshine in between..

Hyde Park was interesting and we went into Darriwill Farm .. while browsing, a lady asked if i would like to have a cup of coffee.. i was surprised! a free coffee while browsing at the items in the shop? a first. they sure know how to get to us! i bought a bottle of Creamed Honey there.. yum~

we both bought stuff from Wheel & Barrow.. i bought a Spice Jar for my Chocolate Coated Coffee Beans that i bought on the trip to Victor Harbour!

it didnt take long to finish walking the street and soon we were back in the city.. Jo went home first while i went to Rundle Mall.. i took my own sweet time to shop for a Mug for the office.. got one from Harris Scarfe for A$2! and also attained a couple of items for my wardrobe.. hehez!

i also did grocery shopping for the upcoming week and cooked enough for 5 dinners, Monday to Friday.. so i can come back after work and have microwave-heated dinners!

Late night shopping finally!!!

2008-09-26T23:50:00.006+09:30

now, now.. who says ADL is a sleepy town? People have better wake up from their dreams! it was absolutely crowded in the city tonight!!! i think it's because of the good weather (it's a pretty warm day!) and hence everyone was out in the city..

well, i asked Jo to go shopping with me after work! Firstly, work was great and i learned quite a number of things.. there was a meeting at 5pm to end the week.. it was a casual meeting with wine and soft drinks (if you dont drink alcohol) provided.. at the meeting, everyone addresses their high(s) and low(s) for the week..

for me, the Low was unemployment (before Wednesday 3.45pm!) and the High was being employed from Thursday onwards! that basically cancelled out the Low, i would say.. it's a bit hard to comprehend but i'm excited about work!

anyway, shopping was great and i bought a number of things! 4 items for work, a mini photo album, a book (Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl), boots balloon to keep my boots away (Spring is advancing pretty fast!) and baby stuff for a friend who is pregnant..

it was a good day and for lunch, Jo and i went to KFC.. we each had a Snackbox.. and guess what?! i couldnt have guess it myself but we went to KFC for dinner again!!! Geez.. KFC should make us VIP members or something~!

i just got back to my room after watching 'Save the Last Dance' with Jo and Miyuki in the TV room.. it was really good and i enjoyed it! looking forward to the weekend.. we are going to Hyde Park tomorrow!

First day!

2008-09-25T22:00:00.003+09:30

first day at work was pretty cool! Like what B said, i'm probably the only person to start work at 2pm on my first day!!! Geez!

anyway, it's Orientation Day today.. with J, the girl whom i'm going to replace, showing me where everything is and bringing me around to meet the rest of the colleagues.. there's quite a number of people on 3 different levels and a few of them arent around at the moment.. so i'll probably have a few more names to remember next week..

other than going to the stationery shop to get some stuff for me to use and going to the bank with her, J also showed me the normal work flow for the different days of the week..

at 5pm, there's a meeting (normally on Mondays) which i have to attend with L.. L ran through with me the report she has drawn up for the meeting a few minutes before the meeting starts.. so i wouldnt be too lost.. and guess what? in the near future, i'll be the one presenting the findings of the report!!! cool~ wahaha..

all in all, today's been a great day.. the best thing? tomorrow's Friday!!! wahaha!

All set!

2008-09-25T11:30:00.004+09:30

about a year ago, i started work at SG and it just so happened to be the 'opening ceremony' of the new office at ORQ.. everything on that first day is still very clear in my mind..

now, a year later.. i'll be embarking on a new job! i'm starting work at 2pm later.. even though it's about 2 weeks later than the planned 3 months of unemployment, i'm glad i didnt deplete all of my savings! i still have a tiny weeny bit left! hehez.. for shopping? *ahem*

anyway, i'm all ready to take up the new challenges coming my way!

At Last!

2008-09-24T17:15:00.003+09:30

FINALLY!!! yours truly has been offered a job in the city that she is keen to take up! honestly, this is one entry that i have been wanting to post but havent been given the chance till today.. so yup, as of ADL time 1545 today, i no longer contribute to the unemployment rate!!!!!! WOOHOO~!

Now, i shall proceed to enjoy the rest of my day because i am starting work tomorrow!!!!! *smilez*

why is it raining again?

2008-09-22T12:15:00.012+09:30

it's well into September and yet it's raining again.. the weather has been good since i got back from Melbourne and i went to the city yesterday wearing a T-shirt and jeans! no more long sleeves! but it's quite a different story today..

anyway, the weather forecast did mention a high of 29C some time later this week.. i sure hope it doesnt rain tomorrow as i've got an interview to attend tomorrow! Geez..

it's been quiet and nice the past few days.. quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of Melbourne.. and once again, there were yummy stuff to be consumed in this household!

that is Miyuki's Strawberry and Cream Cake.. made the day that Mum and i flew back from Melbourne.. she even text me and asked if i was coming back! she told me this is a normal cake to make in Japan.. Geez, it sure doesnt taste normal, it's absolutely yummy!

Miyuki also baked some Spinach and Feta Cheese Pastry the day Mum went home.. very yummy too.. Mum missed out on this but shared a slice of Strawberry and Cream Cake with me.. she liked it too and said, "How come you dont know how to bake?" oh well..

Jo baked a Carrot Cake last Thursday that blew me away.. it was so so good.. she proceeded to make Carrot Cupcakes! so cute!

this house is becoming more and more like a bakery.. but i'll be the consumer and not the baker, of course! wahaha..

dinner last night was Sunday Roast cooked by Jo! i have 2 servings of stuffing.. yummy..

while having dinner last night, i received a text from Sis saying that our dog was attacked by a cobra! apparently, the cobra got into the garden and both dogs found it and started barking away madly! Xiao Bao was standing too close and was barking and staring right at it! he was 'sprayed' in his eyes and face the deadly venom of the cobra!!!

but.. according to Mum, the good news is that the poor dog is a bit mad (i mean he has a mad will to constantly drive up our blood pressure~) and is up & running and alive & kicking now.. though his eyes are still a little red and swollen after Dad washed his face and eyes and is constantly using eye drops on him..

Left: his first day into the life of the How family..
Right: wobbly steps in his new environment..

caught by the camera for being naughty.. and still is today.. geez~

yup, it's a very sleepy life being a puppy.. playing all day long..

we are so glad he is alright!

Mum in Melbourne! - 16th Sep 2008 (Tues)

2008-09-19T18:58:00.041+09:30

today's our last day in Melbourne.. we woke up early and checked-out of the hotel at 9.30am! we kept our bags at the hotel's storage room before we went to Victoria Harbour.. but not before i grabbed a Flat White from the GJ's opposite the hotel! haha..

i saw a pair of Fiorelli shades at the DFO yesterday but i wasnt sure if i should get it.. but i have a theory.. if time permits, i should have a night's sleep and if i wake up still thinking about it, i will buy it.. and this is what happened with the pair of shades! we went back to get it on the way to Victoria Harbour! Mum got herself a pair too!!! so we wore our cool new shades the whole morning!

captured some interesting clouds..

dont even ask me why.. i have no idea.. but it's cute!

the view's pretty good!

another interesting tram..

after seeing Victoria Harbour, we went back on the tram and moved on to Queen Victoria Market.. there are over a thousand stores selling heaps of stuff.. mostly for tourists, i guess? there are real markets selling fruits, vegetables and meat too..

we were not very impressed by it.. maybe because it's just like a huge 'Pasar Malam' for us.. but one little shop took up all of our attention and that is Sohum Cosmetics! there's a Limequat Body Cream that i really really like! but i have too much body moisturiser on hand now.. i'll have to get it another time! Mum got me a Lime Rind Lip Balm instead.. haha.. and she bought more Essential Oil from there!

Question: how many bottles of Essential Oil does a woman need?
Answer: about 10.. and counting..

after Queen Victoria Market, we went to Melbourne Central for lunch.. another 'Chinese' Combo Meal to share, this time from another shop! Geez.. well, when you end up in Melbourne Central for lunch, it cant be just an innocent lunch.. shopping will be INCLUSIVE, right? Yes. so more shopping, more bargains and it's time to get back on the tram..

we got back to the hotel at about 3.40pm to be on time for the mini Skybus to pick us up at 4pm.. took our bags from the storage room and did some packing and went out onto the corner of King St and Burke St (as the Skybus telephone operator lady has told me to) to wait.. at 5mins past 4pm, i gave them some leeway.. at 10mins past 4pm, i saw a mini Skybus drove past us!!! i called up Skybus and guess what??? the operator told me there's no booking registered for Kingsgate Hotel!!! this is so not funny! SKYBUS SUPER SHUTTLE = UNRELIABLE SERVICE!!!

well, would i want to miss my flight? it's ridiculous! people not doing their jobs properly still get paid, isnt it??? people in the service line better pull up their socks because someday, somehow, someone will get to you, get it?!

so Mum and i walked down to Southern Cross Station to catch the Skybus to the Airport.. it was a lucky thing that i booked Kingsgate Hotel as our second accommodation as it was much nearer to the station as compared to the City Centre Budget Hotel..

as we were about to board the bus, i took out our tickets to realise that there was only 1 ticket.. the driver let us on after i told him that i'll search for the second one.. so i dug into all corners of my bag, wallet, pouches and whatever i have got in my bag.. Mum said my bag was messy and i said some harsh words back, which i would like to apologise for now.. Sorry, Mummy..

but after all that search, i realised that it may not be with me afterall!!! Mum actually didnt pass her ticket to me but both of us forgot about it!!! oh gosh!!! i was pretty pissed when she found it in her bag~

anyway, we were on talking terms again by the time we reached T4 because once again, T4's Departure Hall rendered us speechless that it's kind of funny.. and we were in better mood after that..

yup, that's pretty much the whole place.. with a tiny Krispy Kreme store.. Mum was sorry that it was all sold out when we got in because she really wanted to buy some back for Dad and Sis to try! it would be my job next time, i guess..

the flight was alright and we were back in ADL at about 8pm and by 9pm we were back at Maylands Manor! i would like to thank my Mum for an all expenses paid holiday! including shopping! no joke~!

Mum in Melbourne! - 15th Sep 2008 (Mon)

2008-09-19T18:58:00.023+09:30

we slept in today as this was the only day that we could.. haha! breakfast was more Krispy Kreme doughnuts (half a dozen is really too much!), milo and coffee.. i had to go down to the cafe to get hot water from the cafe.. life without an electric kettle can be quite sad~ hehez..

today's plan was to head to Victoria Harbour, Telstra Dome and followed by lunch.. however, we didnt know that there would be a very huge barrier in between!!! literally!

the photo on the left shows a tram stopping in front of the station..

we head down towards Victoria Harbour and the first thing that greeted us was the Southern Cross Station.. it reminded me of the days in Europe, where i get to see train stations like that.. only this is cleaner!

and this is my favourite tram for this trip!

there are offices in the station itself.. interesting office, i must say!

we went up the escalator in the station because it will lead us to Victoria Harbour and Telstra Dome.. well, it led us to one other thing called the 'Direct Factory Outlet'!!! THE BARRIER!!! and it kept us there the whole afternoon!!! Geez! shopping, lunch and more shopping! wahaha..

Mum was right, taking it easy is indeed the way to go, huh? lucky me! lunch was at Kebab World in the DFO.. we ordered a Mixed Plate (A$10.50) of Lamb and Chicken with a Salad of Lettuce, Onions, Feta Cheese, Olives and Tomatoes, topped with Garlic Sauce.. it's very difficult to not have something delicious coming out of all these ingredients!

after we finished 'touring' the DFO, we finally moved on to what we set out to do today.. it was getting pretty late and it was really windy when we got out of the DFO..

Mum was pretty adamant about going to Victoria Harbour still.. so we braced ourselves against the wind and moved towards that direction..

Mum bought me a sweater from Cotton On Body that i have been eying!!!

it was initially A$40 and then it was down to A$20 in Rundle Mall.. but i didnt buy it.. and at the DFO, it was going for A$10!!! wahaha.. lucky me!!! the sweater came into good use because the weather took a drastic change and started raining!

from Telstra Dome, we could see Victoria Harbour but we didnt managed to get down to it because the rain and wind was against us! we traced our way back but had to hide under the shelter of the Telstra Dome.. many people who have just got off work were taking shelter there too.. the wind was simply too strong and it started to pour not long after!

Left: this was where we were hiding from the rain and wind.. in the little corner behind the pillar at Gate 1! Right: the bridge leading from Southern Cross Station to Telstra Dome..

we came out of hiding after the rain has stopped.. but it was still windy and very cold.. i really didnt know my finger was that close to my camera lens because i cant feel them anymore!!! if you try hard enough, you can see a rainbow in this photo..

we crossed the bridge back to the DFO and went in to the first warm place that we saw, Theobroma Chocolate Lounge! it was a good choice.. hot chocolate and tea couldnt go wrong in any way! i got Mum a Honeydew Green Tea and myself a Belgian Milk Chocolate, in a mug.. not that i'm craving for that much Hot Chocolate.. but because of the way it is served!

the large one, served in a Mug, has a candle holder at the bottom of the mug! there's a candle burning to keep the hot chocolate warm! i later found out (as usual, goggle it) that they have branches in Malaysia too!!!

Geez.. i'll put this place as my 'must-go' place when i get myself to KL the next time! i promised myself to go back to Melbourne to get that Mug set (they are selling it for A$29!) and the teabags (A$26 for 50 teabags)! looks like i can get them in KL too!

we went to Coles after warming ourselves at the Chocolate Lounge to get more drinking water and fruits.. for dinner, Mum wanted to eat the Nong Shim Shin Ramyun that i had for breakfast yesterday.. but i had enough of instant noodles and bought a Whopper Junior Meal from Hungry Jack's before heading back to the hotel.. we had dinner in the room after getting more hot water from the cafe.. Mum ended up eating half of my Whopper, i know she likes it! haha..

packing was in process after dinner as we'll be checking out tomorrow! what's more, we have got more (much more) things to pack today after the DFO! haha!

Mum in Melbourne! - 14th Sep 2008 (Sun)

2008-09-18T12:20:00.049+09:30

we woke up pretty late today, considering that we actually have to check-out of City Centre Budget Hotel at 10am!

i forgot about the time difference and set the alarm clock on my mobile.. and when it rang, i thought it was still early and went on to slack in bed for a long time! in the end, Mum woke up first and went to the shower while i prepared breakfast.. our breakfast for today can be seen on the left.. haha..

while i was in the shower after Mum got back, a guy came to knock on our door to remind us that the check-out time is well over! Geez.. i have never been late in checking out till now! oh well, there's always a first time in everything!

we were finally ready some time before 11am and went down to catch the tram to our hotel for tonight.. Kingsgate Hotel..

however, the check-in time was at 1pm and Mum suggested that we go round the city on the tram till it's closer to 1pm..

in the end, we made about 1 and half rounds before 'trying' to get off on King Street.. the bus driver didnt hear me shouting at him to open the door!

honestly, not many people (who were sitting near the driver) were helpful in telling him to open the door~ so we got off at Spencer Street and walked back towards King Street.. the hotel was much easier to find, considering that it's on the main street.. we got there at about 12.30pm and the room was ready for us!

it looks good externally and has got a lobby.. haha.. but honestly, i dont like the room that we were staying in.. i thought the light was too dim.. there was no TV, mini fridge and electric kettle like the previous one.. and we suddenly felt quite handicapped without these gadgets!

anyway, after dropping our bags in the hotel, we went out to explore the other side of the city.. we were staying just in front of the Southern Cross Station which linked us to the Telstra Dome and also to Victoria Harbour.. i purposely arranged for 2 accommodations and on different sides of the the city.. which was a lucky thing.. i'll come to that later on Day 4..

anyway, we didnt visit the Telstra Dome and Victoria Harbour today.. in fact, while on the City Circle Tram earlier in the day, Mum kept hearing 'Melbourne Central' and i guess shopping is calling her! hehez..

Melbourne Central

we went straight back on the tram again and went to Melbourne Central to look for lunch.. there was a food court in the basement and we shared a plate of 'Chinese' Combo Meal.. Rice/Noodles with 2 dishes for A$6.50.. i guess it's just 'Economical Rice' if i have to put it in Singaporean terms.. after lunch, we went to buy half a dozen of Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Mum tried a mouthful of each while i got myself a Irish Nut Creme from GJ's.. the usual~

we were walking around Melbourne Central and Myer for the whole day and bought some stuff.. we rushed to Coles to get some drinking water before rushing to the tram stop because the trams stop running at 6pm for Sundays.. but to no avail! 5mins before 6pm, most of the trams have already listed themselves as 'Not in Service'!

in the end, the decision was made for us that we have to walk back to the hotel! which i felt was a good thing because we get to see more of Melbourne City on foot instead of just seeing it from the tram..

just across Melbourne Central is the State Library of Victoria.. how interesting and how tempting! i would do some shopping for myself after a day of studying in the library? wahaha.. we began to walk down Swanston Street before turning right onto Bourke Street..

on the way, Mum saw another Vietnamese restaurant, Vietnamese Grill Bar, and went in.. this time round, we had the Double Cook Duck Noodle Soup (A$10.80) to share.. haha.. we had a good chat in there too.. and it was 'duck' by the time we got out of the restaurant.. hehez..

we continued on the way back to the hotel.. after dropping our stuff in the room, we went to the common area/TV/internet room just opposite the cafe to go through some of our bargains and to plan Day 3! Mum has also decided to leave Day Tours till the next trip.. she said she'll be going back to Melbourne! Geez!

Mum in Melbourne! - 13th Sep 2008 (Sat)

2008-09-18T12:20:00.028+09:30

our flight to Melbourne was scheduled at 1125.. check-in was 2 hours before, so we got up early to get ready and caught the bus(es) to the airport.. travelling light is a luxury to me because i tend to bring too much!!! i would have many what-if scenarios in my head, causing me to bring extras of this and that for just-in-case situations! Mum was really travelling light, so i decided to follow her.. you cant be wrong when you listen to your Mum, yup? of course, please do not apply this rule to all situations, especially not map-reading!!!

anyway, the flight took slightly over an hour.. and time was fast forward by half an hour.. that's the time difference between Victoria and South Australia.. so we were in Melbourne at about 1310 local time.. there was no bridge leading to the terminal from the plane.. simply because there wasnt much of a terminal to talk about.. Mum was shocked by the Tullamarine Terminal (T4).. i dont blame her because she has been too pampered by Changi Airport! i guess i wasnt shocked like Mum, but it was interesting to know that such a terminal actually exists!

this is the area where we walked in from the tarmac where the plane landed.. see the make-shift toilet/container on the left? Mum was in it when i took this photo! wahaha..

this is the area where passengers pick up their check-in luggages from the conveyor belt.. see the bright sunlight coming through? that's because the area is fenced-up~ yup, FENCE and not walls, okie?

and this is the way out of the terminal! again, just fenced-up.. i was standing at the same spot when i took the above 3 photos.. that was how 'big' T4's Arrival Hall is.. hehez..

we walked out of T4 and headed to T3.. found a bench and sat down to eat what we have packed in the morning.. i asked a couple of guys who worked at the airport and they confirmed that the only public transport from the airport to the city is either the shuttle bus or the cab.. and the main shuttle bus operating from the airport is Skybus Super Shuttle.. i must say i wasnt very impressed with their service due to a couple of incidents..

we bought return tickets (A$26 each) and boarded the bus to the city.. never mind that i didnt have a seat for 20mins as the bus was pretty packed.. but the driver of the minibus that we were about to board next was TOTALLY RUDE! when we reached Southern Cross Station Bus Interchange, we have to continue our journey on a minibus so that we can be dropped off at the doorstep of our hotel..

the lady behind the counter asked us to sit down to wait after she has registered me and Mum for City Centre Budget Hotel.. when the first driver called out the names of passengers/hotels, i didnt catch what he said and went to ask him for clarification..

he replied, "You have to wait for your name to be called!" i was taken aback because all i wanted to know was what he has just said.. seeing the shock on my face, he asked, "So where are you going to?" i said the name of the hotel and at this point in time, the other driver of another minibus called out the hotel that i have booked online.. and this RUDE driver goes, "Look! He's calling out for you now!" and shot me a look! I WAS TOTALLY UNIMPRESSED with your employees, SKYBUS SUPER SHUTTLE!!!

anyway, i got up the minibus grumpily.. there were 2 other stops before ours, which was the last stop.. the driver dropped us on a back alley and said, "it's on your right hand side", before driving away.. he did, as a matter of fact, dropped us off at the doorstep (entrance to the hotel was just a door which we missed).. but the back alley looked intimidating and Mum and i immediately went down the lane to the main street.. we actually asked around and went about in a circle before coming back to the same alley where we were dropped off! not believing that we were staying at such a deserted place, we kept doubting our sense of direction.. when we finally got there, i breathed a huge sigh of relief.. it was getting very late, about 4pm in the afternoon and shops closed between 5pm and 6pm since it's a Saturday!

we climbed the stairs to the reception and checked-in to our room.. it looked pretty good, i must say..

there was no bathroom in the room though.. we have to use the one down the corridor.. the hotel is really pretty clean and has a cozy feel to it.. which i liked.. we have a brief look at the rooftop, where the kitchen was.. we both came to the conclusion that it's better not to use the kitchen.. wahaha! also, i asked the lady at the reception and she confirmed that the entrance at the back alley is the front and only entrance! geez..

we left our hand carry bags at the hotel and went out to discover Melbourne! we asked around and finally got our directions right with regards to which tram to take and in which direction.. when we were on the minibus, we past by this street (which i later found out to be Swanston Street) which seemed really happening.. there were heaps of shops and people.. Mum wanted to head there immediately!

we took the City Circle Tram (it's free!) towards Flinders Street Station and Federation Square..

the City Circle Tram..

Flinders Street Station..

we walked down Swanston Street, checking out the shops as we go along.. while looking for Coles, 'Lord of the Fries' caught my attention! Melbourne has quite some interesting shops to offer.. especially those in the little lanes.. which have their own special characters!

we walked past a Krispy Kreme outlet while wondering around and i told Mum the craze about it.. she didnt seemed to understand until i bought her a 'Original Glazed'.. we shared it sitting on a bench by the road while watching the trams, horse carriages and traffic moving along in their hectic manner.. it didnt take past the 2nd bite before Mum was sold! wahaha! she asked me to get another one to share!!! i bought the 'Karamel Drizzle' this time round.. it was still very good but a tad too sweet..

we moved along after Krispy Kreme and came to Swanston Walk Cafe Bar.. their pizza slices were going at A$1.50 each and we bought one to share.. haha.. before long, 6pm came and most retail shops were closing..

we walked back towards the direction of Flinders Street Station and Mum was interested in this Vietnamese Restaurant called Mekong Vietnam.. we went in for dinner because Mum wanted to try!

we ordered a Beef Special to share.. which consist of beef, brisket, beef ball, tendon, tripe, sausage, bone marrow, rice noodles and soup.. it was pretty good.. most of our meals in Melbourne were shared because Mum wanted to try lots of stuff but the servings were too huge for her.. so i ended up being the rubbish bin, sharing whatever she wants to try~ *wink*

by the time we finished with dinner, night has fallen and we continued with our way back to the tram stop that we got off earlier in the evening.. and i saw another interesting 'shop'..

look! Curtin House!

when i took this photo, i didnt know that this is one of Melbourne's coolest building.. now i do.. because i googled it! wahaha! there's a cinema on its rooftop!!! how cool is that~ i will go back for this!

St Paul's Cathedral at night..

my camera didnt do a very good job in capturing it a night..

Flinders Street Station at night..

Federation Square at the background with one of Melbourne's trams..

we got a bit lost after getting off the tram that we took back from Flinders Street because i got off a stop earlier.. we were supposed to get off at the Parliament House, which is nearer to our hotel.. instead, we dropped off at City Museum (i thought it was the Parliament House) and i was trying to trace my way back to the hotel in the opposite direction.. Mum pointed out the right way to go after i couldnt find the hotel!!!

what a day! all we did after we got back to the hotel was to shower, lie on bed and watch TV! we also looked through all the brochures that we have collected at the airport for Day Tours.. Mum finally decided on one that she really liked.. i called up the company but all seats were booked and the earliest was Tuesday! but that was the day that we have to fly back to SA! hence, Day Tours were put on hold..

Cleaning up~

2008-09-17T14:35:00.005+09:30

i have done 3 loads of washing and the 4th one is in progress.. i foresee more to come.. there's too much to wash! woke up at about 7.45am this morning.. had a shower and had breakfast with Mum before leaving for the airport 5mins before 9am..

we took the bus(es) and arrived at the airport at 9.45am.. check-in was a breeze and i accompanied Mum till about 10.45am before she entered the gate.. the last thing she said to me before she went in was "dont be stubborn"..

i have a lot to think about with that.. initially, i was thinking i would be happy that Mum has gone home and my freedom and peace has come home to me.. but i was quite wrong.. after she has left, all i felt was a sense of quietness.. if there is such a thing.. i have no one to bicker with and there's no one telling me what to do and what not to do..

she should be reaching Singapore at around 5.30pm local time, with all the shopping from OZ and maybe more in Changi Airport!!! Fish and Kor will be picking her up and Dad will be in Singapore tomorrow to pick Mum and Sis back to Yong Peng.. i know Mum will enjoy all the story-telling sessions and not let go of any audience in sight!

as for me, i'll be doing more washing and cleaning up.. and watching SYTYCD later tonight! Mum actually enjoyed watching it with me last week.. and more washing tomorrow.. i'll also have some entries up on our trip to Melbourne after all that washing.. i'll be better tomorrow..

Back from Melbourne!

2008-09-16T22:20:00.004+09:30

Mum and i.. we reached Maylands Manor at about 9pm just now.. the first thing Mum did was to head to the kitchen to cook instant noodles!!! she had Nissin Tonkutsu and i had the Original one.. Mum also cooked 2 fried eggs.. and before all these we actually shared a Snackbox (chips & popcorn chicken) from KFC while waiting for the bus in the city!!! hehez!

the first thing i did when i got back was to put a load of laundry to wash.. knowing that there will be more to do tomorrow.. Mum is heading back to Singapore tomorrow morning and i'll be sending her to the airport..

it's my turn to shower now and then help Mum with the packing.. there's quite a bit of shopping from Melbourne to be packed into the Black Lojel~ *wink*

Mum is here! - Day 5

2008-09-12T23:35:00.010+09:30

we slept in today and did nothing much except to pack our bags for Melbourne tomorrow! we finally managed to eat the Stewed Pork that Mum prepared the other day.. Geez! Mum was badly affected by that Pork Hock! hehez..

i think this is really YUMMY but then again it may scare some off, just like what the German Pork Hock has done to Mum!!! wahaha.. we also cooked our first pot of rice with the newly arrived rice cooker!

Mum cooked more Fried Bee Hoon for dinner.. while i went off to Stamford Plaza Hotel for the function that Ernie invited me to.. it was organised by the Australia-Singapore Business Council for Singaporeans~ Geez.. Zen had to explain to Ernie that i'm actually not Singaporean but Ernie was cool about it and also asked Mum along! Ernie is a really friendly guy and agreed to help with my job hunting!

Douglas Foo was the guest-of-honour! pretty interesting to see the owner of Sakae Sushi in person and also to hear about his history, the history of Sakae Sushi and his current/future plans for his business.. and did i mention that Nasi Padang was on the menu for dinner?! wahaha..

Mum is here! - Day 4

2008-09-11T20:45:00.030+09:30

Royal Adelaide Show!!! got up early, had breakfast and made our way to my first RAS! it's a good day because adults entering the showgrounds before 1pm are entitled to pay kid's price of A$11! i dont have to buy a ticket for myself as R, the representative to IYP, paid for my ticket! there were also 2 other guys, S & E.. the 4 of us will be 'on duty' today..

the main dining area..

the main entrance.. from the inside..

it was nice to be 'employed' for a while again! giving out vouchers in the form of cards is not difficult at all.. and it's interesting to see how people react to 'free' stuff! some are nice and polite and the rest are really quite the opposite.. it's strange because i'm not trying to force them to buy anything and i'm very sure i dont have anything on me that's contagious.. geez.. for goodness sake!

a cupcakes stall.. i think it's called Miss Cupcakes..

we gave out cards for a couple of hours and took a lunch break at about 12.15pm.. i met up with Mum and we had the sandwiches, nuggets, garlic bread and coffee that we brought from home.. hearty lunch! after lunch, we went to the Showbags Pavillion and bought a couple of showbags! that's what everyone is there for! showbags!!!

nice fruits!

at 1.15pm, we continued with giving out cards and ended around 2pm.. the 4 of us gave out 5000 cards in total!!! i met up with Mum again after work.. she was lugging a trolley! it turned out to be very useful as we bought more stuff and conveniently stashed them into the trolley..

we went walking around at leisure.. and kept seeing 'The Three Musketeers' .. i have this strange feeling that the Masked Men are the same 3 guys! they must be doing a very tiring job of having to change into different outfits at different times and appearing at different venues of the RAS playing their musical instruments, singing and dancing! but they made me laugh.. they are too funny!

there are also lots of games and rides that one can engage in.. however, for the faint-hearted, which happens to be me, it's better to stay clear of them.. i did.. hehez..

another event that made me feel like the RAS was totally worth my time was of course the following:

PIGS! you cant go to a Royal Show and not see them.. but Pig Racing? definitely my first time.. PIG DIVING?! never heard of!

poor little 'red' pig was lagging so far behind!

'blue' pig has proven that 'Pigs can fly!'

little pig was very cautious..

but the splash was pretty huge, huh? haha..

more walking around before we decided to head home.. while walking out of the showgrounds, Ben called and asked if i was interested in a position in the Finance department.. of course i am! we'll be having an interview next Thursday! and i received another call while in the city waiting for the bus.. it's one of Simon's contacts but i'm not too sure how this will turn out.. i've also got a dinner to attend tomorrow, which was organised by one of Zen's contacts.. *cross fingers* for getting a job soon!

Mum is here! - Day 3

2008-09-10T23:45:00.018+09:30

we woke up pretty late today.. breakfast was Garlic Bread, Potato & Pasta Bake and crumbed Nuggets.. the latter 2 are remnants from Junk Food Night.. wahaha..

by the time we got ourselves to Hahndorf, it was past 2pm! we got off at the Beerenberg Farm and Mum was very busy with buying all the jams and sauces! how usual~ haha! after Beerenberg Farm, we walked down to the town area.. and took some photos along the way..

once we got to the main street of the town, having lunch was our main priority.. we settled for The Hahndorf Inn and sat at the alfresco area because the weather was pretty good.. we were deciding between the German Mixed Grill [A selection of German Wursts, smoked Pork Kassler Chop and herb dumpling, served on sauerkraut with Rhine Potato and a selection of German mustards] and the Giant Juicy Pickled Pork Hock (knuckle) [Served on a bed of sauerkraut with Rhine Potato and a selection of German mustards]..

we finally decided on the Pork Knuckle but it turned out that Mum was not prepared for it! in her mind, it would be something like the Deep Fried Pork Knuckle that we get in Yong Peng but she was so so wrong! i only told her that it would be quite different moments before the dish was served.. she didnt have time to digest this new information and the dish was promptly served on our table.. and Mum was HORRIFIED! she thought it was raw, just RAW.. like that particular part of the pig was chopped off, placed on the plate and served!

the look on Mum's face was classic.. her face was all cringed up and she looked like she was going to cry.. she looked like she was on Fear Factor and her challenge was to eat a plate of wriggling maggots! she didnt dare look at the Pork Knuckle throughout the whole meal and i was given the job of cutting up the Pork Knuckle and serving her small pieces of meat.. while she dug into huge servings of German mustards, Sauerkraut and Rhine Potato.. i think her favourite was one of the German mustards~!

the bar counter and part of the interior of the restaurant..

after the 'freak' incident at The Hahndorf Inn.. we continued down the main street.. we went to the The German Cake Shop and bought Bienenstich to take away.. but it didnt last too long and was gone before we knew it! haha..

also, after taking this photo.. i realised that POP doesnt mean Population, i think it meant Point of Presence.. since that was the year that Hahndorf was founded.. 1839 for population is a bit too low, i think.. but even if that was the case, i'm not surprised.. most people would have gone to the city to look for work and maybe build a life elsewhere..

when we got back to the city from Hahndorf, we went to Woolworths to get some groceries for breakfast tomorrow.. we are going to the Royal Adelaide Show tomorrow!!!

Mum came home and cooked Nission Tonkutsu with an egg for dinner! wahaha.. the Pork Knuckle has gotten to her really badly.. hehez..

*flights and accommodation for Melbourne have been booked! we'll be there from the 13th (Sat) to the 16th (Tues)!

Mum is here! - Day 2

2008-09-09T22:40:00.012+09:30

Mum cooked Pancakes for breakfast this morning!!! when was the last time i ate homemade pancakes?! Geez.. i'm extremely grateful.. haha.. she used plain flour, eggs, milk, sugar, salt and a bit of water.. i think this is her own version of pancakes.. Miyuki said they are more like crepes because they are really thin.. and crispy on the sides! the way i like it!

we went to the city slightly past 12noon after our brunch of Pancakes.. we did some shopping, i mean i did some shopping but Mum did quite a bit! she bought 8 bottles of Essential Aromatherapy Oil from Dusk, 6 bottles of Shampoo(!!!) and 2 bottles of Styling Mousse!

we went to Dumpling King and ordered Steamed Peking Pork Dumplings and Fried Pork Dumplings (Gyoza).. Mum was extremely shocked when both dishes were served at the same time because the serving size simply blew her away!!! she was looking at the waitress in shock! wahaha! we managed to eat 19 of those Dumplings and took away 11.. not a bad job!

we went to Kim Wang and bought more groceries to add on to what we bought yesterday.. Mum bought me all these sauces that she thinks are essential in Chinese Cooking.. we then went to the Central Market about 35 mins before it was closed! we managed to buy 5 big apples for A$1 and a punnet of strawberries for A$2! in the end, we had another 2 bags of groceries again!!!

when we got home, Mum cooked 'Fried Bee Hoon' with the Dried Shrimps that we bought from Kim Wang.. my first 'Fried Bee Hoon' here!!! she used Garlic, Onions, Dried Shrimps, Eggs, Cabbage, Carrots and Bee Hoon.. Mum also cooked 'Stewed Pork'! not for tonight's dinner, but for tomorrow's dinner instead.. we left it to stew for a long time and Mum will continue to stew it when we get home tomorrow..

i stir fry some Onions, Broccoli, Red Capsicum, Green Capsicum with Black Beans and Garlic sauce.. so dinner was Fried Bee Hoon and Stir-fry Vegetables..

good food, shopping, nice weather.. all in all, it's a good day! *smilez*

Mum is here! - Day 1

2008-09-08T22:25:00.007+09:30

woke up at 6am this morning to get ready to pick Mum up from the airport.. left the house at 7am and got to the airport at about 7.40am.. Mum only got out at about 8.20am.. we took a cab back to my place as my luggage is really too heavy! yup, it's my luggage, not Mum's! she helped to bring over the luggage that i did not manage to bring over when i came here the other time.. hehez!

looked what they did to my Rice Cooker!

Mum snuggled into bed the moment she got into my room! i was left to unpack my luggage and moved on to job hunting.. she woke up close to lunch time and i microwaved some of the Japanese Curry that i cooked the night before for her.. she ate it with some rice that i steamed.. dessert was one of Jo's Chocolate Chip Muffin with Coffee and she went back to bed after that!!!

i had a hard time getting her out of bed.. in the end i had to tell her i'm going out whether or not she's coming! wahaha! she relented and finally got out of bed slightly past 2pm.. but all i managed to do was to get her to walk to The Parade for grocery shopping!

she was very interested with all the ingredients that we couldnt get in Malaysia or Singapore.. she was immersed in the Herbs & Spices aisle for a particularly long time and bought Onion Salt, Garlic Salt, Lemon Pepper and Red Wine Vinegar, while i put into the trolley some normal things like Black Peppercorns and White Balsamic Vinegar.. haha.. we bought heaps of stuff and ended up with 2 extremely full shopping bags! both of us were very glad when we finally reached the doorstep of Maylands Manor!

Mum cooked 'Fried Noodles' for me the moment we reached home because i was very hungry! on her very first day here, she's all ready to venture to neighbouring states! the research of flights and accommodation now lies in my hands~~~

Day Trip!

2008-09-06T19:10:00.035+09:30

just got back from the Day Trip with Jo and it was very enjoyable! the weather was very very fine and we really couldnt ask for more.. it was tiring going to so many places in one day but nevertheless, it was very fun and a very good experience because we felt like TOURISTS again!!!

we got up at about 7am to get ready, had breakfast and packed some food with us.. sandwiches, chocolates (i must say we do have a good variety of that!), Tim Tam, apples, water and juice.. we were out of the house slightly past 8am and got to the Bus Station pretty early.. at 9.30am, we were on the bus towards McLaren Vale!

just as the bus got on the freeway, i heard a 'thump' that felt like something has hit the front of the bus.. and the next moment after, i heard the bus driver-cum-tour guide, Robin, goes, "he's dead~"! the 'he' turned out to be a bird! poor bird was flying too low and got hit by our bus! Geez..

on the way to McLaren Vale, Robin stopped by Port Noarlunga for us to take some scenic photos..

we continued on our way to McLaren Vale and we were given about an hour to roam around the area on our own.. for me, the highlight was The Almond Train, even though the area is famous for wine!

we were dropped off in front of Tintara Winery and we realised that it was closed! harlow~ it's a Saturday! anyway, i'm not very interested in wine tasting as i had my fair share of it when i was in Perth.. so it's not considered a loss..

i thought the concept of The Almond Train was cute and cozy.. and i bought some Toffee Almonds and Mixed Chocolate Coffee Beans!!! the latter was very very yum~!

they have many different varieties of almonds and some of them are just too 'interesting' for me.. for example, Crunchy Garlic, Honey Soy, Chilli Thai and Yoghurt! Jo bought a bag of Melting Moments there and it was very yum~ too!

there was also a Robern Menz's Medlow Confectionery and FruChoc Showcase outlet showing how their chocolate are enrobed (coated) on their assembly line..

after McLaren Vale, we headed to Victor Harbor, the main highlight of the day! we were allowed about 2 hours there and Robin dropped us near the area where we could catch the Horse Drawn Tram to Granite Island..

the 'bridge' connecting Victor Harbor and Granite Island..

we decided to get on the Horse Drawn Tram to Granite Island (A$7 for a return trip).. the walk there is not long but we wanted to try the tram!

here comes Billy, the horse that got us to Granite Island and back..

we sat on the top of the tram for some sunshine but the trip across was very windy and cold! in the end, the sunshine didnt keep us warm.. i enjoyed the ride, though Jo was feeling sorry for the poor horse for having to pull such a huge tram with so many people on it.. but as you can see from the 'Horse Talk' sign, the horses are treated quite well and there's no need to call SPCA whatsoever.. i'm sure they are treated humanely, this is OZ you are talking about..

the scenary was very good and and the weather, very enjoyable.. we went to have a look at the Penguin Centre on Granite Island when we reached there but didnt pay to go in.. i'll do that the next time i'm there..

i know i'll definitely go back because i would like to stay overnight at Victor Harbor, so i dont have to rush back home after seeing the penguins come back from their catch at dusk! and we didnt really see much of Victor Harbor because most of our time was spent on Granite Island, having a picnic on the grass and in the sun while waiting for Billy to come back to pick us up.. we sat in the compartment of the tram on the way back because the wind bites on the top!

we rushed to get a serving of Fish and Chips when we got back to Victor Harbor.. we couldnt possibly miss out on the second best Fish & Chips in the whole of SA, can we?! it would be a sin! the runner-up in the State Competition is The Original Fish Shop on 20 Ocean Street!

the Butterfish fresh and the batter light and crispy.. chips are good too! we ate our Fish and Chips on the way to Strathalbyn.. and after such a heavy lunch, i fell asleep for a bit.. when we reached Strathalbyn, i was half asleep while walking around the little town and had to get ice coffee, which didnt really work.. Strathalbyn is a cute little town with heaps of cafes, pubs and antiques.. i continued sleeping when we got back on the bus to head back to Adelaide City.. Jo had to wake me up~

we got home from the city at about 6.30pm.. and were dead beat.. Jo headed straight to bed while i make some dinner.. Thanks for bringing me on this trip, Jo!

Junk Food Night!

2008-09-05T23:58:00.006+09:30

we, the girls of Maylands Manor, are very happy to announce the success of our first Junk Food Night! the food was good (i mean, junk.. haha!), the movie was good and so is the company.. we foresee Junk Food Night becoming a monthly event!

Meat Pies, Chicken Nuggets, Puffy Dogs and Potato Wedges..

i made Potato & Pasta Bake.. which i last made in 2004! Geez.. it's been a very long time.. it's very easy.. peel and boil Patotoes, mash Potatoes and add Salt, Pepper and Milk to taste.. pan-fry Bacon till crispy.. next, stir-fry Onions with Corn kernels, Carrots and Peas.. boil Fucilli till al dente and drain.. add Bacon, Vegetables and Pasta into Mashed Potatoes.. evenly mixed.. scoop into baking dish, top with Parmesan Cheese and bake for 15mins..

Potato & Pasta Bake, the one with Parmesan Cheese at the back and Garlic Bread too!

now, now.. how JUNK is that~!

27 Dresses was worth watching and gave us good laughs throughout the movie.. a light-hearted movie goes very well with all that junk food, which is too heavy for the stomach.. wouldnt you say?

*Looking forward to Victor Harbor, McLaren Vale, Port of Goolwa and Strathalbyn tomorrow!

more changes..

2008-09-04T18:55:00.003+09:30

i did more changes to my resume before starting on my job applications for today.. there must be something wrong with it.. or maybe there's nothing seriously wrong with it.. just that there are other resumes that look a hundred times better! that doesnt sound too good to me..

anyway, in order to score more interviews, housemates and i have come to the conclusion that i should change my name! nothing drastic and i dont have to make a trip to the Malaysia Embassy or anything like that.. just making my name shorter to Jo.. simple? does 'Jowin' sound too foreign? i'm not too sure.. i'm taking out my given name too.. so it'll be just 'Jo How' for the time being.. till i get a job! Also added more 'quality volume' (if there's such a thing) to my resume.. so i'm crossing my fingers once again!

*my Mum is coming! Geez.. she should be here for about a week, if things go as planned.. also, Jo has got me a Day Job (for a few hours) at the Royal Adelaide Show! the best part is that i'll be getting a FOC entrance ticket and still get paid for the hours that i put in! Hooray! and then i'll get to enjoy the rest of the day at the Show! what's more, Mum will be right on time for the Show too! Cheers to Jo!

More Vegetarian..

2008-09-03T22:35:00.006+09:30

Miyuki cooked the vegetarian version of the Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight.. there's heaps of veggies in it, it's so healthy!

there were Onions, Carrots, Celery, Zucchini, Red Capsicum, Mushrooms and of course Potatoes!

peeled Potatoes are boiled till soft and then mashed.. unsalted Butter and Thickened Cream are added and mixed..

stir-fry Onions, Carrots and Celery with Olive Oil.. add Zucchini and Red Capsicum and finally Mushrooms.. add just enough water to cover the vegetables and bring to boil.. add some Orange Lentils to add texture and volume.. add some Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, Sun dried Tomato Pesto and salt to taste.. simmer till Lentils are throughly cooked.. pour into baking dish.. top a generous layer of Mashed Potatoes over.. and finally sprinkle some Cheese over.. bake for 10-15mins..

*SYTYCD Australia is making Audition Calls again!! Cool! Cant wait to watch more of it!

The Da Vinci Code

2008-09-02T23:40:00.005+09:30

all 4 of us were at home to watch The Da Vinci Code together last night when it was aired on 9.. amazingly, the movie managed to lose its viewers not long after.. Miyuki fell into a deep sleep and fell off the sofa! Jo and i had a good laugh over it! But Miyuki did stay on till the end of the movie..

Simon was also in his own dreamland.. when i came back after a commercial break, he was lying on the sofa! Jo left for her bedroom before the movie neared its ending.. Geez.. exciting, huh?! it's been some time since i read the book and i could not remember quite a big chunk of it.. but i felt that the movie has failed to deliver the book..

before the 'movie' starts, Simon came knocking on my room and told me that he has got some DVDs for us to watch! he didnt have to tell me what he bought, i knew it was the 'Saw' series! oh no! Simon wanted to watch it after The Da Vinci Code but i managed to escape right after it ended when he was still groggy from his sleep! wahaha..

My LOJEL

2008-09-01T17:50:00.008+09:30

i finally took my Lojel to The Luggage Place, which is on Gilbert Street.. i almost broke my arms, back and legs in doing so, even though the luggage is empty! that is my 'Blue' Lojel on the extreme left.. it used to be 'Purple' but after travelling with me for almost 5 years, it has aged!

i took the bus to the city and walked from Grenfell Street to Gilbert Street! i checked Google Map before i left the house and had the names of the main streets planted in my head.. but as it happens, i decided to cut some slack and went through the back lanes instead.. when i could not figure out where i was, i had to call Zen for SOS.. it really wasnt quite funny then.. and it was about an hour later when i finally reached the place.. cold from the wind and a light drizzle..

i asked the lady who tended to me if they were any buses that i could take to get back to the city.. and she said, "the tram.. just walk down this street to King William Street and you can get the tram.. FREE TRAM!" Gosh, why didnt i think of that?

it's SEPTEMBER already!!!

Vegetarian Week!

2008-08-31T19:50:00.017+09:30

i skipped The Parade today as the weather wasnt too good.. Miyuki went with Jo instead.. and the sun came out after they left! Geez!

anyway, Miyuki taught me 2 vegetarian dishes that she learnt from a previous Greek housemate! how cool!

Left: Baked Zucchini and Tomatoes with Cheese (Turkish)
.: Slice Zucchini and Tomatoes
.: Pan-fry Zucchini with Olive Oil
.: Arrange a layer of Zucchini and sprinkle a layer of Cheese
.: Next, arrange a layer of Tomatoes and sprinkle a layer of Cheese
.: Continue with the above arrangement, depending on how much veggies you need or how deep your baking dish is and top it off with a layer of Cheese
.: Into the oven to bake till the Cheese has melted

Right: Spinach Risotto (Greek)
.: Stir-fry chopped Onions in a pot
.: Add Rice and Spinach (frozen spinach in a box!)
.: Add about 2 cups of water
.: Add about a Tbsp of Tomato Sauce and another Tbsp of Tomato Puree to taste
.: Boil till rice becomes soft

this is absolutely delicious!!!

Miyuki also cooked some Tomato Puree with Garlic for the Baked Zucchini and Tomatoes.. yum yum~ the above 2 dishes are very simple, healthy, easy and most importantly, YUMMY~! Miyuki declared the coming week as Vegetarian Week.. i dont think i'll be able to stick to Vegetarian meals for the whole week but i managed to do that for today!

No partying..

2008-08-30T22:30:00.012+09:30

the reason why i'm now here typing this entry is because i didnt go to Simon's party.. came home in the morning after a night at The Hilton.. didnt really slept well last night.. i think it's because this time round the room came with a Queen size bed instead of the usual 2 Singles.. i was afraid of making heaps of movement, just in case i disrupt S's sleep..

so didnt really slept well and came home to my dearest bed for a nap in the afternoon.. Jo wasnt feeling too well and still had work to do and hence wasnt able to make it for Masa Sangria.. i didnt want to go alone and sent a text to tell Simon to have a blast without us! we did present him with a handmade card signed by all of us and Jo made him a White Chocolate Chip Cake! it was huge! i called it the 'Superman' Cake!

29th August 2008 (Friday)
got myself to The Hilton at about 12noon but S needed more sleep.. so i watched TV while she snoozed on.. we only got ourselves to Dumpling King at about 3pm.. we ordered a plate of Steamed Peking Pork Dumpling (15pcs) and a plate of Fried Sliced Rice Cake.. and both dishes did not disappoint me!

this look pretty healthy, doesnt it?
it's a tad too oily for both S and me though..

after lunch, we went to Coles to get some Orange Juice and Mount Franklin before going back to the hotel to chill and chat.. a very relaxing afternoon.. S didnt want to head to the city at first because of the cold.. but i finally managed to irritate her with my constant nagging and we finally went out to the city for 'late night shopping'!!! we didnt really buy anything.. just some sushi rolls for dinner and had coffee at Gloria Jean's in Borders..

GJ's Cafe Latte with Whipped Cream and Caramel
(2 spoonfuls were eaten before i could whipped out my camera!)

my dear friend didnt know that we can request for Whipped Cream on top of our coffees at GJ's.. i also squeezed some Caramel Sauce on top of her Cafe Latte with Whipped Cream.. it was so so good, S asked if she could have a second helping of the cream with caramel!!! Geez.. and i actually requested a second helping for her, would you believe it! but the staff at GJ's in Borders were really nice about it and gave us more cream the second time round! yummy~ i ordered a White Chocolate Mocha, which was yummy too!

we went back to the hotel, watched TV, chatted a bit more before showering.. S turned in after that, which was needed to get ready for her flight today.. i went on to watch more TV before turning in..

Nice weekend coming up!

2008-08-28T23:10:00.005+09:30

S, my dear friend, will be here in ADL again tomorrow! she's bringing me a few pieces of my clothes and the rest of my savings!!! Geez.. make it or break it! but i wont worry about that till next week because i'll be accompanying her the whole day tomorrow and staying over at her hotel to do some serious catching up! i am looking forward to it! for Saturday, we'll be attending Simon's "21st" and it'll be grocery shopping with Miyuki on Sunday.. so yup, worrying can wait till Monday!

another test~

2008-08-27T17:05:00.004+09:30

went to meet another recruitment agent today.. i really think that this lady, B, is much more professional and serious about her work.. and there was a much better conversation and discussion.. i also did another round of the Typing, Data Entry, Word and Excel test and i did better this time round! B also requested for the contact details of the person i was reporting to when i was working at SG.. one example of what i meant by being more 'serious' about her work!

i went to meet Karine for lunch after the test ended.. i was having KFC and she was having McDonald's.. yup, in the food court we were able to get all sorts of fast food! you can get Subway and Gloria Jean's in the food court too! it was a good catching up session!

a walk..

2008-08-26T17:10:00.008+09:30

the weather has been really good these few days and i decided to go for a walk.. and in order for this blog not to become a food blog, i realised that i need to have more non-food related photos here.. i also realised that i didnt have many photos of Adelaide, either of the city or the suburb which i now reside in.. so i took my camera and went snapping down the road to The Parade!

i thought the clouds look cute~

some interesting building..

a church at the intersection of Portrush Road and The Parade..

the entrance leading to Foodland..
with House on the left and CIBO Espresso on the right..

Norwood Mall..

the entrance leading to Coles and other nice little shops.. there's Angus and Robertson on the right of the entrance and a Gloria Jeans opposite Coles.. The Parade is really quite a nice place for a walk because it has some of my favourite shops.. i hope the good weather is here to stay!

Chicken Basil Pesto Pasta

2008-08-25T21:10:00.009+09:30

Simon finally cooked.. thankfully none of the ingredients were 'canned' related, so that's good enough for me.. haha! i think it's a great pasta to cook (that's for him.. we only participated in eating!) on a Monday night.. very easy and simple and most importantly, it tastes great! i love Pesto! The Ingredients:

Onions
Zucchini
Chicken
Mushrooms
Thickened Cream
Leggo's Traditional Basil Pesto
Linguine

i guess the best part was to sit in our warm TV room with a bowl of hot Chicken Basil Pesto Pasta and have a good laugh while watching the Perth audition of The Australian Idol! Thanks for dinner, Simon!

Potato Cakes?

2008-08-25T14:05:00.006+09:30

bought too much Baby Potatoes the other day and was wrecking my head for ideas with how to cook them.. went online to search for Potato Recipes.. there must be about a zillion recipes (and counting) with how to cook potatoes but i have limited ingredients and resources to work with yesterday evening.. hence i came up with the very simple and humble Potato Cakes~

Miyuki asked me what i was trying to do when she saw me in the kitchen and i said it was "something like Croquette".. i really wished i didnt tell her that afterwards because my ingredients and method of cooking are just not what the Japanese will agree with for 'Croquettes'.. so once again, i'm trying to fake 'Japanese' here.. wahaha!

anyway, i stir-fry Onions and SPAM together before mixing them into the Mashed Potatoes, to which i added a little bit of Salt, some Pepper and quite a bit of Milk.. i used a soup spoon to scoop 1 spoonful of the mixture, rolled it into a ball and flattened it to about 1cm in thickness.. and then coated it with breadcrumbs.. i managed to get 18 Potatos Cakes!

i lined aluminium foil on a baking tray and oiled the foil with some Olive Oil.. and baked the Potato Cakes at about 200C in the oven for about 30mins.. flipping them over after a 15mins interval.. everyone had second helpings! even Jo! Woohoo~!

now i have to think about what to do with the rest of the potatoes~

New Header!

2008-08-24T16:45:00.011+09:30

i'm pretty sure you would have already noticed the new header sitting on top of this entry! the old one is a default from Blogger and i am more than happy to see the back of it!

All thanks to Zen! he's now my designated Blog Header Designer! the first header he did for me can be seen at DNS..

this new header has a 'Postcard' feel and signifies that every entry here in this blog is like a postcard sent out to all of you (ovunque tu sia) who are keeping track of my steps here in Adelaide! Thanks!

the 'Postcard' showcases The Grange Jetty in the South Australian Suburb of Grange.. there's a Grange Jetty Cafe at the start of the jetty that serves Modern Australian and Italian food and they specialise in Seafood.. i will get myself there someday!

and i have my own stamp! how cool is that~ wahaha.. the stamp gave Zen quite a bit of a headache but he managed to finally get it done to my satisfaction! hehez! oh, it only takes a 2¢ stamp to send this postcard!

all in all, i'm very satisfied with my new header and Zen himself couldnt take his eyes off it.. or was it the food that's making him all dreamy eyes? hmmm~

Serious House Meeting~

2008-08-23T21:30:00.008+09:30

we had a really serious house meeting tonight.. we started off with Miyuki cooking her version of the Shephard's Pie for dinner and it was really healthy! she stir-fried Minced Beef with the below vegetables:

Onions
Red Capsicum
Green Capsicum
Carrots
Mushrooms
Celery

how healthy is that?! she also added a little bit of Chicken Stock and Tomato Sauce to the stir-fry.. and for the Mashed Potatoes, she added Butter, Thickened Cream and Cheese!

the kitchen was a hot zone tonight with Jo doing lots of baking as well! she baked more White Chocolate Chip Muffins and left some plain Cupcakes without icing for me (i find the icing a bit too sweet)!!! she also made us our individual cupcakes with our initials on them, created with White Chocolate Chips! how sweet!

i am thanking little 'Z'!

that's my 'J'!

Simon opened a bottle of Sparkling Pinot Noir and it was pink in colour! matching our individual cupcakes perfectly! and Miyuki provided some Apricot Fruchocs! indeed, it was a very serious meeting, yup?

Spaghetti Bolognese & Tikka Masala

2008-08-21T22:40:00.010+09:30

Yesterday evening Jo cooked us Spaghetti Bolognese and Garlic Bread! it was very good and i had a second helping! i had to stand while watching 'So You Think You Can Dance' because i was just too full!

'Spag Bol' with Oven-baked Garlic Bread..

i stir-fried Cabbage with Onions, Carrots and SPAM for lunch today! a very simple dish with just Olive Oil to oil the pan and a teaspoon of Soy Sauce for some flavour.. i wanted to stir-fry it with Black Vinegar like how LL taught me to.. but i didnt buy the vinegar while at Kim Wang the other day because it was too big a bottle and there's only one size of that vinegar! maybe next time!

i also cooked Chicken Masala (not sure if that's the way to call it!)! i used Pakta's Tikka Masala Curry Paste (Coriander & Lemon) and cooked it with Onions, Tomatoes and Yoghurt! very interesting flavour! something that i have never tried before..

doesnt look too bad here!

P.S. THIS IS NOT A FOOD BLOG! whatever~

Why is this blog becoming a FOOD BLOG?!

2008-08-19T21:15:00.009+09:30

Geez.. really, why is that so? Hmmm.. i'm going to write about food again~

went to Dumpling King for lunch as Miyuki was on leave and she really wanted to try the dumplings there after seeing the entry on Dumpling King..

i ordered a Fried Crumbed Pork Chop on Rice because it looked really good the other time while i was there with XW.. Miyuki got herself a bowl of Chilli Oil Dumpling.. the dumplings, without a doubt, are still very yummy~ the only difference, literally, was adding Chilli Oil to the soup! as for my Fried Crumbed Pork Chop, it was a bit too dry and a bit too hard.. the sauce was alright.. it doesnt taste salty nor sweet.. i dont really know how to describe it.. Miyuki said it felt Japanese after she tried it.. like Tonkatsu!

Miyuki cooked us dinner tonight.. she prepared Baked Chicken and a Pasta Salad.. i think her recipes are more creative than mine, for sure!

Salad Dressing:

Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar (white)
Lemon Juice
Basil
Garlic
Salt

healthy!

Baked Chicken: the drumsticks were coated with a sauce made with:

Yoghurt
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Parsley
Salt
Seeded Mustard

the drumsticks were further coated with Krummies Bread Crumbs!

very enjoyable! thank you, Miyuki!

went to Officeworks today to get my academic transcript scanned because i need to send them as a softcopy for a particular job application.. waited for a long time to realise that the 2 ladies behind the counter are not the 'experts' with the scanner.. and they would probably "take half an hour" to scan my documents!

Geez.. they seemed uncomfortable with the idea of scanning! i didnt want to waste more time there since i have been waiting in the line for 20mins before my turn! they asked if i would like to "book an appointment" for tomorrow so the scanner expert would know that i am coming! Gosh, really! if they dont know how to use the scanner, who else would? absolutely unbelievable!

Blackout!

2008-08-18T12:30:00.003+09:30

Yup, there was a blackout at around 11.20pm last night.. i was using my laptop and suddenly i was consumed in darkness, COMPLETE DARKNESS! took me about 2 seconds to realise that it was a blackout.. i vaguely remembered the last time we had a blackout.. it was in Year 1 of Uni and it was really fun! showering in the dark (with a torchlight!), taking turns to boil hot water for the one in the shower, chit-chatting on the balcony of Flat 23, etc.. it was loads of fun!

but it's winter now.. and it's really not fun at all to realise that..

there's no lights..
we cant turn on the heater..
i cant turn on my electric blanket..
we cant use the kettle to boil hot water!
we cant use the stove to cook!
there's no laptop to keep in touch with civilisation!!!

the only consolation was the emergency light that came on at the common computer while the whole house was in darkness.. all 4 of us gathered there and try to make sense of the situation.. went out to have a look and realised that the whole area was soaked in darkness.. so it's not a matter of a tripped circuit.. we resigned to fate and went back to our cold beds..

i was on the phone with Zen while hiding under my blankets.. and about an hour later.. the electricity came back on! Yippie! back to civilasation! i have learned to appreciate POWER!

Potato Bake, Honey Mustard Chicken and Jo's Cupcakes!

2008-08-17T17:30:00.010+09:30

it's finally my turn to cook for Miyuki and Jo! i prepared a Creamy Potato Bake and Honey Mustard Chicken!

The ingredients i used for my Creamy Potato Bake:
Olive oil, to grease
1.2kg Potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
150g Middle Bacon, cut into thin strips
50g Honey Baked Ham, cut into thin strips
1/2 Yellow Onion, sliced
300ml Thickened Cream
100ml Milk
100g Shredded Parmesan
Rosemary

the main Potato Bake without cheese, for Jo!

this is the one with Parmesan Cheese, for Miyuki!

Honey Mustard Chicken Thigh with boiled Broccoli and Carrots..

The ingredients i used for my Honey Mustard Chicken:
5 Chicken Thighs
4 Tsp Honey
4 Tsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

all in all, i enjoyed preparing and eating the above dishes and i will definitely cook them again!

16 August 2008 (Saturday)
went to the city with Jo to do some shopping.. in the evening, Jo started baking heaps of goodies in the kitchen! the cupcakes below are new creations from the Cupcakes Compendium that Miyuki bought for her!

Strawberry Cupcakes! 18 of them!

and more White Chocolate Muffins! in new MUFFIN paper cups! how cute!

there was also a large Chocolate Chip Cake! Gosh, Jo! you are the MUFFIN MACHINE!

15 August 2008 (Friday Evening)

Simon came home from work while us girls are talking about girly stuff like earrings, dresses and shoes! he opened a bottle of white wine and got everyone to drink with him before going for a serious night out.. Jo didnt want any and so did i! but i was 'forced' to drink some in end and my glass was mysteriously topped up when i went into my room to pick up a phonecall.. of course, both Miyuki and Simon appear not to know anything about it! haha..

because all 4 of us were home and in the kitchen, we decided to do a quick 'spring' cleaning.. and chucked out all the stuff in the fridge that doesnt belong to anyone of us! gosh, there was nothing much left in the fridge after that! but well, we did have a serious house meeting, didnt we? haha!

2 months

2008-08-15T15:10:00.007+09:30

Geez.. it's been 2 months since i first got on the plane for ADL.. Gosh, i've been unemployed for 2 and a half months now.. that's counting the 2 weeks that i was down with Chicken Pox before i came! another month before my 3 months 'plan' to be unemployed is up~ oops.. getting nearer!!!

it's been a peaceful week.. didnt hear anything at all from any prospective employers.. because only one day out of 7 last week was spent job hunting! hehez.. so it's been a really quiet week except for Diana calling to see if i'm still job hunting.. yes, for sure i am~

other than job hunting every morning after breakfast, i've been catching up on my reading this week.. i bought PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern for only A$6.99 last Sunday! finished that in about 2 days and moved on to Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which i brought here with me but havent touched it since i-have-no-idea-when.. finished that yesterday and i just bought Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (also A$6.99!) when i was doing grocery shopping at The Parade just now.. i also have on hand A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which i received in the mail on Monday from Zen! *smilez*

i have also been reading TIME and flipping through Good Taste to see what i can cook for Jo, since she has been really kind to bake us muffins all the time and just last night, she cooked Shepherd's Pie and Yorkshire Puddings and asked us to join her for dinner! this week, she was on leave for 2 days and came up with 3 more flavours of muffins: Lemon, Strawberry and Rich Chocolate Sauce!

been watching Olympics on TV too.. though i have to admit the only programme that i have faithfully turn on the TV for is 'So You Think You Can Dance'.. haha.. i love that!

i celebrated my unemployment last night by doing my own French Pedicure! it was a stretch for my neck and legs but from my height level, my feet is looking pretty good! i try not to look too closely though.. the mess will scare anyone and it's not even Halloween!

Nick moved out on Tuesday, so there's only 4 of us in this house at the moment.. i guess that pretty much sums up my week and i'm pretty sure everyone else is having a more exciting life at the moment! Have a good weekend while i go back to my books!

Gnocchi!

2008-08-10T21:35:00.008+09:30

went to The Parade today with Miyuki to get groceries.. she asked if i would like to have Gnocchi for dinner tonight as she will be cooking some! i was, of course, delighted! Potato Gnocchi, here i come! Miyuki prepared Gnocchi with Onions, Mushrooms and Sun-dried Tomatoes.. it was absolutely yum~

fresh Gnocchi!

i was given the very important job of boiling the Gnocci and making sure that they are scoop out of the boiling water once they have floated! it doesnt take long for them to float.. about 3 minutes.. and they kept me very busy by all floating at once!!! Geez..

boiled Gnocchi!

she sauteed onions with olive oil before adding in mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.. next, she added a tub of Bulla Thickened Cream and simmered everything for a few minutes.. she then added some shredded Cheese and stirred till the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened.. in went the Gnocchi and all ingredients were allowed to simmer for a few minutes before being transferred into an oven-proof dish.. she further topped the dish with more Cheese and sent it into the oven to bake till the Cheese has melted!

baked Gnocchi!

First Job Offer! - Rejected!

2008-08-10T17:45:00.002+09:30

wahaha.. i cant believe this.. i actually rejected my first job offer here!!! Geez.. i've come to the conclusion that as desperate as i may be.. i'm not that desperate yet~ wahaha..

it's too far out of the city and in the middle of nowhere! what's more, never mind that i have to take 2 buses (approximately 45 minutes not including waiting time) to get there, i still have to walk quite a distance before i reached the company! i would have to do that twice a day.. which means that i will be spending about 2 hours on the road everyday? Geez.. isnt that what i was trying to avoid by staying near the city?

the company didnt give me much time to consider when they called me up late Friday afternoon at about 4.40pm.. i was on my way to Zen House Tea Corner.. and they wanted me to make a decision by 5pm, which means i have 20mins! Geez! they wanted me to start the coming Monday and i dont mind starting as soon as possible, come on, it means getting paid sooner! but.. the distance really turns me off.. so there we go, i rejected my first job offer here~

Cheers,
Not-Desperate-Enough

too full!!!

2008-08-08T23:57:00.038+09:30

i must say dinner at Zen House Tea Corner tonight was simply the best that i have had in the 2 months that i have been here in Adelaide! it was a 9-course VEGETARIAN dinner, served like a Chinese wedding dinner.. only that there was rice to go with the dishes too.. which makes me extremely full!!!

the whole restaurant was booked by a colleague of Miyuki from her department.. there were 4 large tables for this occasion.. hence about 40 of us in there.. the restaurant serves a wide range of vegetarian food.. from Chinese to Western, Dim Sum to Burgers, Salads to Sandwiches, etc.. it's not called a Tea Corner for nothing.. they carry a huge variety of TEAS from all over the world.. on our table tonight was a pot of Jasmine Tea and a pot of Rooibos Tea (organic)..

1. Mixed Entree

the first dish was an assortment of their Yum Cha series.. it consists of 5 different dishes.. which was really quite yum~

2. Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables

this is real food, okie?

3. Red Roasted 'Duck'

this dish was quite yummy but a little bit sweet and too red for me..

didnt want to eat rice because there were quite a number of dishes.. but in the end, i have to!

4. Curry 'Fish'

this is my favourite out of the 9 dishes tonight.. i will go back for it!

yup, more rice consumed at this stage! wahaha!

5. Claypot Tofu

this is real food too, alright?

by this stage, we were really very full.. but we just kept on shoving food down.. wahaha..

6. Ginger 'Chicken'

a nice dish.. the 'chicken' was a bit salty though.. but quite good!

i had a hard time trying to explain what's in these fake 'meats'~

7. Hotplate Sambal 'Eel'

i dont see no Sambal in this dish.. too sweet! most people dislike it!

8. Fortune Knoki Mushroom

heaps of people at our table really like this deep fried mushroom! kind of salty..

9. Creamy Yam

i know it's 'Bo Bo Cha Cha'!!! wahaha.. not wonderfully fantastic though..

after dinner, we went to the bar just round the corner of Grenfell Street and Bent Street, it's called 'The Austral'.. Miyuki wanted alcohol real badly and had a glass of beer.. haha.. we then went for hot chocolate (how much can we put in our tummies?!) at this cozy little place called the 'Chocolate Bean'..

it's a nice little place on Union Street which i would never have come across on my own! it's a real chocolate place, with all sorts of hot chocolate! T & A both ordered Orange Hot Chocolate, another guy ordered Chilli Hot Chocolate (it felt and tasted absolutely wrong!!!), Miyuki got herself a Rose Hot Chocolate and i ordered a small glass of Original Hot Chocolate (how exciting~)!

T further ordered a Strawberry Fondue and a Chocolate Filth (a disgustingly [this is exactly what it says on the menu, okie?] large slice of mudcake with shots of white and dark ganache, mousse and cream topped with more chocolate)! Gosh.. it's all very good.. but too much to take after such a heavy dinner~ T finished it all when we couldnt shove down anymore of the desserts!

i realised that there's so many nice restaurants and cafes further down Grenfell Street.. more things to try coming up next! Thanks to Miyuki for bringing me out today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ZEN HOUSE TEA CORNER
17-19 Bent Street
Adelaide SA 5000

CHOCOLATE BEAN
18 Union Street
Adelaide SA 5000

yet another interview on 08/08/2008!!!

2008-08-08T13:35:00.007+09:30

went for another interview at where Jo and Karine were working.. the interview went pretty well and Ben, the guy who interviewed me, was really nice and made me feel totally comfortable.. if only all interviews were like that!

went to the post office to send off a parcel and walked around for a bit.. that resulted in me buying a blouse from Bardot! oops! i like the blouse, it's formal enough to be worn for work and can also be worn for a night out! but i also really like the paper bag! wahaha.. because it's yellow! hehez..

Jo baked muffins again last night.. in the muffin paper cups that i bought for her! the muffins taste good and look cute!

look at that~

i'm excited about dinner tonight as well! Miyuki invited me to join her and her colleagues for dinner at Zen House, a vegetarian restaurant in the city! i didnt realise it until Miyuki told me that the dinner was to 'celebrate' the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics tonight! Yummy food, here i come!

another interview~

2008-08-07T14:25:00.004+09:30

went for an interview this morning and got lost on the way there.. i was almost late! Geez.. it was really in the middle of nowhere!!! it must be some sort of industrial area and the bus that i took was only able to drop me on another stretch of road adjacent to it! Apparently no buses go down the road that this company is on!

i was so lost that i went into what i thought was some sort of factory-cum-office.. the receptionist was really kind and looked up Google Maps for me.. she even asked me what time my interview was supposed to be.. when i told her it was at 10am, she asked me if i want to call the company using her phone because my watch told me i have less than 15mins to get myself there! Gosh, i would have to walk quite a fair bit before getting there..

when i finally reached the company, i dont like the look of it, i dont like the feel of it, i dont like the area it's in and i dont like how long and troublesome it took me to get there.. the interview was alright but it didnt took me long to realise that this is one job that i wish i wasnt offered a position!

i went back to the city after the interview.. and had my usual at GJ's.. my Irish Nut Creme.. i'm kind of into Hazelnut flavoured coffee nowadays, yup? haha.. the drink menu describes the Irish Nut Creme as 'A magical mix of Irish Cream and Hazelnut Italian style syrups, white chocolate, espresso and milk. All beneath a mound of whipped cream and green sprinkles'. Gosh, sounds like me! wahaha.. but i would normally request for a squirt of Caramel on top of my whipped cream though~ hmmm~ *smack lips*

Bye, Miss Neo!

2008-08-06T18:39:00.012+09:30

XW got on the cab to the airport about 10 minutes ago.. life is back to normal and i'm no longer a tourist anymore! it's back to job hunting and attending interviews!

we went to Penfolds, Magill Estate today.. it's so near my place! it sounds a bit crazy to think that there is such a huge winery just down the corner of my street and that the area itself was the start of an empire with such a long history! cool~

we took a tour through their cellar door, costing A$15 each.. we saw the machines that processed the grapes and Mark, our guide, told us the procedures of producing wine.. Mark also gave us heaps of information on the company, its pioneers and of course, their wine!

we started with wine tasting before the tour because we were early and Mark was very kind to show us a number of different wines.. one white and about 5 reds, i think.. i wasnt very impressed with the wine (not that i know anything about them), but i love the port!

we tasted the PENFOLDS Bluestone Ten Year Old Tawny and the PENFOLDS Grandfather Liqueur Tawny.. the PENFOLDS Bluestone Ten Year Old Tawny was so yummy!!! The 'Grandfather' costs about A$100 each! Gosh, i was right to assume that there was a 'Great Grandfather'! Geez.. wonder how much that would cost~

after everything ended at Penfolds, we took a bus down to The Parade.. it was raining and freezing cold the whole day!!! walked XW through The Parade and had lunch at Cherry Blossoms (Japanese cuisine).. we ordered a Pork Katsu Don and a Teriyaki Chicken Don.. i would say that it was pretty value-for-money but the sauce was too sweet for my liking!

from The Parade, we went to the city for some light shopping and then had tea at CIBO Espresso.. i ordered a Ciboccino (hazelnut flavoured cappuccino) and XW had a Cioccolata Italiana (thick dark hot chocolate with a dash of cream.. i had a hard time trying to pronounce it!).. which turns out to be the THICKEST hot chocolate that i've ever tasted!!! gosh, a little bit over! we also ordered a slice of Apricot Cheesecake, which was pretty yummy! went home after tea as XW need to pack for her flight back to Melbourne!

P.S. Photos for today will have to wait till XW gets back to Singapore as my camera ran out of battery and i forgot to charge it!!!

5th August 2008 (Tuesday)
Today was a relaxing day and the only item on the itinerary was Central Market and Chinatown.. we had coffee at The Perfect Cup on Grenfell Street when we arrived in the city after breakfast at home.. i ordered a Macadamia Flat White and ordered the Hazelnut Flat White for XW..

their flavoured coffees were relatively mild in taste as compared to the ones at GJ's.. but i must say the milk was pretty well-frothed! after walking through Central Market and Chinatown, XW decided to have lunch at Dumpling King! it was a good decision! i like both the dishes that we ordered: Steamed Peking Pork Dumplings (15 of them for only A$6.80!!!) and Shanghai Fried Noodles with Sliced Pork and Vegetables (A$7.80).. we cant even finish half of what we ordered! i will definitely go back to try other dishes!

food.. glorious food~

yummy yum yum~

i had an interview scheduled at 5pm and left XW in the city after our late lunch.. it was a group interview for an upcoming promotional campaign.. i have never attended a group interview before and there were 15 people altogether! we were divided into 3 groups of 5 and were asked to choose a brand that we know of and come up with a advertisement for it! it was pretty fun and more like a group discussion than an interview.. met up with XW in the city after my interview.. and on my way to meet her at Borders, i dropped my handphone!!!! gosh, that pretty much ruined my day.. i was really upset about it.. the phone was barely 2 months old!!! *sob*

we went to Woolworths to get groceries for dinner after i grumbled (vent my frustrations, basically~) to XW at Borders.. i should have been more careful than to walk, adjust my shawl and hold on to my handphone all at the same time!!! now it's all scratched!!! i was in a real bad mood..

anyway, dinner was Steamed Dory fillet with Carrots, Tomatoes, Onions and Broccolini! you must be wondering what's that.. it's baby Broccoli! interesting vegetable.. just like how i didnt believe it when they first mixed Broccoli and Cauliflower and get this greenish looking cauliflower.. i think it's called the Broccocauli.. i dont remember.. but for a while it was sold in Woolworths back in Perth.. not sure if they still sell it though..

got home and slacked for a while before steaming the fish.. while we (all of us girls, including XW) were in the kitchen, Nic came in and announced that he's going to move out during the weekend! that was totally unexpected! anyway, that's life, isnt it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Perfect Cup
77 Grenfell Street
Adelaide SA 5000

Dumpling King
Shop 4 & 5
85 Grote Street
Adelaide SA 5000