Sad fridge

*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!

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

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!

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.

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

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

Day 2 - Shopping in MEL!

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!