Those Crazy Hazy Days

it has been a while

2010-01-29T03:58:00.005+11:00

life's a warm fuzzy wonderland because of him
everyday's a whirl of euphoria, happiness and satisfaction
thoughts of him brings lill smiles and tiny flutters of the heart
and there's nowhere i'd rather be, when i'm by his side

please don't let me wake up one day, and find it just a beautiful dream
because once in a while the past creeps back and haunts me
i'm reminded of the pain the tears and the heartbreaks
all those promises, all those lies
the scars remain, reminding me how all things shiny and pretty
seem to fade with time for others

i want to keep eternity, and hold hands till we are 80
can i take the leap of faith, for i have found him
can he hold true to his words, to me, for a lifetime
i am afraid, so i doubt
it is evil, and it hurts him
that, tears me

i cant seem to uproot the doubt totally for now
please pardon me for these moments
i am weak like that
but one thing for certain
he is the one

love.

2008-12-20T09:57:00.000+11:00

and it is goodbye melbourne :(

2008-12-09T19:00:00.001+11:00

i don't know what to do with myself.

hmmm.

the past week

2008-12-06T17:39:00.003+11:00

it was a long drive out to wilsons prom national park but the squeaky beach made up for it. the sand squeaks when u stomp on it! sounds just like sneakers gliding across a polished floor micheal jackson style. i was very much entertained by all the stomping and stamping we did :)

our last friday night drinks before all the parents arrive. giant cocktails make us happy :)

and so, just 2 more weeks before graduation! we've got honeysuckle for our discipline colour and black robes. nice :) the masters gowns came with funny long tails at the arms, which sorta trails behind where our arms stick out from the sleeves. funny stuff.

excitedness for the family to get here! :)

the first day of the month

2008-12-01T19:25:00.003+11:00

1st of dec had been a good day :) early start to the day with release of results at 8am. and i am happy with my results, very much sooo :)) full house for the win! and so, graduation is definitely happening. yoks.

celebrations start with an awesome brekkie at sally's kitchen. egg with truffles, toast and chorizo. bacon and egg pie. skinny latte. cappuccino.

followed by shoppin :))) happinesssss.

♥♥♥

the southern star

2008-11-29T22:18:00.002+11:00

docklands, for the opening spectacular of the southern star :)

felt like winter all over again as we stood shivering in the cold watchin the pretty burst of fireworks ahead.

i love fireworks :)

i heart..

2008-11-26T00:07:00.004+11:00

fifteen, all 10 of us.

the crazy hens' night for sneha, the bride-to-be :)

monday with the girls, waffles, strawberry and chocolate.

then to bani's for an indian feast!

and the 4 girls continued through the night, pjs and all, screaming our lungs out to random songs. 3am scrabble, where clara and i decided we need to read dictionary for leisure.

clara left for singapore today. it's just me in the house now. saded. i miss having everyone around :(

holidays

2008-11-20T19:31:00.002+11:00

so, i haven't updated in a while. and too much have happened over these past few weeks. for one, i'm done with school, exams and thesis :)) student life, finito. helloo cruel work life.

have also moved out of beautiful st kilda back into the city with my new housemate clar-a, who has so kindly allowed me to bunk with her in her awesome apartment complete with gym and pool. yokes. this my home for the next couple of weeks before i hit perth to meet my family for hols :)

my italian housemate has returned to his motherland, so has the bride-to-be sneha. already missing them both heaps. i wonder when the group of us will meet again, all together, once we go our separate ways come end of year. makes me sad. but the world is too small and someday, somewhere, the 10 of us will reunite again for one crazy reunion. and i shall look forward to that, very much so :)

had our rowdy send-off dinner and crazy hens night over the weekend at fifteen and the loft, with hot strippers, fur handcuffs and acrobats thrown in. i have to say, i like hens party very much ;) we partied, we drank and we danced our hearts out. that was one awesome night. pictures up soon :)

musings

2008-10-29T00:01:00.005+11:00

today had been productive. thesis is taking shape :) and i ran, with a smile playin at the corner of my mouth. i'm so in love with st kilda beach, with its alluring sunset and romantic beaches. as i lift my hands to the wind, i felt like i was..flying. i'll hate to leave its beauty behind, and i'll miss all its glory and charm.

saded.

random monday

2008-10-27T23:11:00.003+11:00

am stuffed full from an awesome dinner at claypots with ls. grilled calamari and kingfish cutlets ♥ was lucky to snag the last calamari available after missing it the last few trips to claypots. yay :) my very first cold rock ice-cream after wrapped up the meal nicely.

brunetti lovin on this nice monday afternoon as we shared thesis woes and sorrows.

and what you ask for ms fish. eeks. are you goin to scream at me???

warm days

2008-10-25T18:53:00.006+11:00

the return of vaughan from the bone palace's europe tour. caught up over coffee and beer, amidst flower pots and bricks. conversations took us from chapel st quirky czech cafe to acland st. alfresco rooftop bar. welcome back mr.

attended oliver's graduation dinner over at clayton's kotaraya after. was an intimate gathering of friends and family with good food and flowing wine ♥ it's been a while since my last 8 course chinese dinner :)

drank the rest of the night away at glen waverley's. congratulations oliver! :)

saturday lunch affair at mart 130. i have missed it dearly :)

a much needed run down at the beach saw us swiping flies away half the time. the damn return of the fuckin flies. spring is definitely here.

5th time round

2008-10-24T00:22:00.004+11:00

and great ocean road was still awesome ª 1 impromptu road trip, 7 very high girls and 1 very big tarago. we raced, jumped, screamed and laughed through the ☼, the wind and the rain. totally a blast :))

how i will miss the girls so :(

chasing lights

2008-10-19T17:54:00.005+11:00

it hit 30 degree celsius sat afternoon. i was sweating while draggin my pile of laundry to the laundrette with the housemate. beautiful day nonetheless and st kilda as usual was crowded with people out enjoying the heat and sun :)

dinner at claypots with the rest of the girls in the evening. garlic king prawns, kingfish cutlets, sticky rice with assorted seafood in laksa sauce, pide and sauvignon blanc ♥ i could still taste the succulent prawn in its buttery garlic sauce. so damn yummy gooood.

hit the liquor store after for more bottles of wine, with our spur of the moment wine party at the beachside. it's such a good day out anyways :) sparklers, tealights, ice cream and 8 very happy peeps :)

♥-ing it.

this week marks the end of semester. my very last semester at rmit. how time flies. it's just exams and thesis left before graduation and singapore. much as i miss home, it makes me a lill sad to know i'm leavin melbourne soon :(

and so, i brought myself shopping on thursday at collins street to cheer myself up. very bad. i pretty much shopped myself broke. eeks.

caught burn after reading on friday. bad bad bad. give it a miss. brad pitt and george clooney did not make up for the bad or rather non-existant plot. dinner at grill'ed rocks though. haha.

choc.whore

2008-10-15T13:07:00.001+11:00

b.l.a.c.k.

2008-10-14T01:57:00.003+11:00

♥ ♥ ♥

bright lights

2008-10-12T21:17:00.003+11:00

we had a belated birthday surprise for sam planned last night at clara's, completed with glittery party hats, tiara, mr smiley candles and choc fudge cake. dinner was by the housemate, red cabbage with blue cheese risotto & strawberry risotto. yum ♥ happy belated birthday sam!

the happy crowd left 1904 in a whirl of glitter and laughs. hit 2 waterholes before landing at seven to dance the night away~

was a riot of good fun, laughter and ♥. abso-funkin-lutely awesome saturday night :)

i ♥ friday

2008-10-11T15:39:00.003+11:00

end of a sch day. start of a weekend.

dinner at sara & sam's. yummy ba kut teh, broccoli & honey dew sago :))

it's addictive

2008-10-09T23:07:00.004+11:00

good recipes get me toes wiggling in excitement :) and thursday has somehow evolved into my try-a-new-recipe day. and so, it's chocolate lava cake lovin tonight baby :)

hidden molten glory that oooooze lusciously into view as the spoon dives through the spongy top. it was an all-round hit :)

main course was melanzane alla parmigiana, prepared by the italian chef.

yummilicious!! (georgie, new vegetarian dish for dinner at my place when i get home :))

sara & sam, our weekly thursday dinner guests :)

tis was a great night :)

st kilda sea baths

2008-10-05T22:02:00.002+11:00

we started the pampering with a dip in the heated seawater jacuzzi, followed by an hour long of deep tissue massage. heavenly. knotted muscles feel all nice and relaxed now :) ended with a nice dinner at storkhouse with the sunset as our backdrop. what more can i ask out of a sunday? all i want to do now is curl in bed with a book and while the night away. damn the writing :(

daylight saving starts.

2008-10-05T13:53:00.003+11:00

and that means promises of more sunny days :) yay.

here i am, sitting in the kitchen with my lappie, eating my half-boiled eggs and toast with kaya (ala yakun style) with the sun shining brightly out. a spa session is planned later in the evening at st kilda sea baths. this sets to be a great sunday. the only thing dampening my mood is the writing of the paper we are going to send for publications. it's not even much really, just gotta write out an extended introduction to show my supervisor tmr. i am experiencing immense inertia to writing it, really. all i have gotten down to is spending ridiculous amount of money doing online shopping and writing random post on the blog, such as this.

f**k.

writing pwns my sorry ass. always. i wonder how much money i will end up spending online while trying to write the thesis. omg.

back-logged

2008-10-05T00:05:00.004+10:00

okies, the weeks have gone by in a whirlwind, again.

and so, we made soy-based ice-cream during fvb pract 2 weeks ago. silken tofu, soya bean milk, soya bean oil, blueberry concentrate, dried blueberries & the amazing ice-cream machine :) pretty damn good vegan ice-cream if i would say so myself!

hawks vs cats. AFL finals on the 27th @ adrian's. was an affair of monopoly, lasagna, butter chicken, tea cake, red rocks chips, twisters, beers, breezers, coffee and tons of jeers & cheers. tis was a good day :)

random wednesday brunch @ mart 130. thus started my many colour-accented photo-whoring with the new camera :) coolness. soaring love for the new camera :) love love love.

next fvb pract saw us smoking tomato-flavoured firm tofu. the tomato flavour worked well, but the smoking....horrid. immediate spat with a teeny mouthful. u get the idea.

late night dinners. vietnamese grill bar & little lamb hotpot.

was a lovely sunny day out today. plan was to attend Singapore Day 2008 @ sidney myer music bowl! but, queue to enter = 1 hr ++, queue to get food = 1 hr ++. neh, much as i was looking forward to the local food offered. sadness :( the 2 boys was not allowed to register for the (singaporeans only) event as well. i (being singaporean) got a load of bruised-foreigners'-pride bull from them cuz of that. lol.

met up with clara & mum who were at singapore day earlier and headed to lunch at south gate instead. clara & mum gave up after seeing the food queues heh. they got a bundle of goodies though, of which a bottle of kaya was shared with me :))) the housemate got the childhood toy we used to kick, chantek or something. he was wholly self entertaining himself with it after.

and, dusk at st kilda is really quite beautiful :)

gadgets lovin~

2008-09-30T23:52:00.003+10:00

my sexy new babies :))

loves.

It's Me!

2008-09-23T23:41:00.010+10:00

right. it's been a while since i updated. was feeling a lill lazy heh :) september has been a blast! so here's a quick lowdown (in no chronological order) :)

surfers' paradise, gold coast

with all the airfare and accomodation paid for, gold coast was more like a holiday for us rather than a conference trip :P it was awesome to escape the cold grey weather of melbourne to the gloriously warm gold coast. lots of time spent sun-tanning by the pool and beach no less :) meals was all about fresh seafood, steaks and copenhagen icecream :))

of course, we did spend (minimal) time at the conference. attended talks, gave my presentation which was a very nerve wrecking experience indeed, supported our prof's back to back dual presentation and the poster sessions.

dr. d.m small's gang :)

in short, the trip to gold coast totally rocks my socks! :)

footy finals playoffs, collingwood vs st kilda.

8 girls turned up in full force at mcg for the finals playoffs :) a scary attendance of ~77,000 peeps at the game. Go pies!

the pies played a very disappointing match against the saints :( loads of cursing and angry fans at the game haa. upset by the lost, especially clara, mush and i (cause we are pies' fans while the rest are just pies' fans by default lol), we drowned sorrows at chi :P ended the night with cocktails, dumplings and springrolls.

wedding, 9 darling street.

grand-uncle, grand-aunty, aunty meiling & some distant relatives under the goh family tree represented the goh clan in s'pore for a wedding here down under :) loved the pre-dinner reception with its free flowing drinks, fresh succulent seafood & lill snacks. unlike the traditional chinese dinner with 10 course meal, dinner was an affair of starters, entree, main and dessert. was a great night with too much wine, laughter and getting to know new relatives haha.

nights out

random nights out with the whole gang. good food. good wines. good music. that's what make us go crazy :)

visitor from perth

boyuan came to town! :))) was awesome meeting up with him. headed to fifteen, the brainchild of jamie oliver. i can go on eons on how good the food and place was. seriously. all the chefs there were dressed like jamie oliver with their white starched uniforms and blue aprons with white stripes. i loved the open kitchen concept, which is what i want in my future restaurant (gj, fh take note!). presentation of food was simple yet stylish. boyuan had the wicked sicilian fisherman’s stew: a rich combination of calamari, tiger prawns, pipis, mussels and fish of the day, grilled sourdough and a dollop of saffron aioli. this as told by the waitress was one of jamie oliver's original recipe and is in the menu of fifteen lodon as well. awesomeness. i had the spaghetti marinara that came wrapped in a lill bag. reminded us of hokkien mee when opened (not the expected type of traditional spaghetti marinara) but the taste...ooooh. making me drool now. definitely heading back there again, soon. can't wait to try the tasting menu (wiggle toes in excitement). we thought of you georgie and gj while eating. heh.

and so, my september couldn't have been any better :)

the week

2008-08-16T18:57:00.005+10:00

..has been eventful. first visit to koko black after gazillion years, and it was as remembered, yummiliciously sinful. there's even an online store now if anyone is interested in some indulgence :)

it was bani's birthday week. happy birthday my dear! be astounded by your coming present from us all ;)

now friday is all about coffee-ing and sweets after lecture. tried out the cafe offering flavoured hot chocs. was preety goood :) the food was disappointing though. i half suspect they were making up quality with quantity. those bruschettas were huge!

some brunetti lovin after the giant bruschettas.

followed by a night of bubblies and tipsy friends at charlie's bar :)

some viet food to sober up.

and of cuz, mart 130 brunch on sunday. was a mighty crowd of 8 today :)

leaving for gold coast in 2 weeks' time. have not started on preparing the presentation nor writing the paper. i'm procrastinating :( kick me.

Saturday Spanish Splendor

2008-08-10T11:02:00.003+10:00

and so, our paella [pa'eʎa] dinner party was a roaring success :) sous chef rodney learned under the supervision of master chef claudio, all with wine in hand and nibbles on side.

the colourful array of mussels, chicken, capsicum, lemon, parsley, prawns, saffron, peas, calamari & cherry tomatoes made a pretty platter of paella.

game of death after yummy paella and too much wine was hilarious. these italian play cards that make remembering the suits and numbers all the more tougher did not help. funny funny stuffs :)

i've learned, if you emptied the last drop from a bottle of wine, make a silent wish, blow into the bottle and cap it. so there we go, 3 bottles of wishes to mark the awesome night :)

80808

2008-08-09T18:28:00.005+10:00

fridays always make me happy :) the city feels so much more alive and the buzzzz!!! makes me tingle. we sought out the lill hidden street down at collins filled with its quirky shops and quaint cafes, plonked down at lorca's window bar and simply people watch as we sipped the lattes and munched the sweets.

made our way up collins street after to antica gelateria del corso for some gelato lovin. my light melon gelato rocks. there's something special about eatin ice cream during winter :)

some retail therapy before headin to dinner at some dodgy chinese dumpling restaurant whose queue stamps from the entrance to probs 5m down. and it was cold and wet out. food was pretty good but service was terrible. i wonder why customers are so crazy abt this place and keep returning. hmm.

today was spent stuffing our face with dim sums. yum cha at sharkfins restaurant :) i looovvvveee dim sums. trigger happy :)))

as i trudged home in the light drizzle, a beautiful rainbow greeted me. i continued home smiling like a silly lill girl who has a lolly :)

and so, it's 7pm and we are expectin our guests to arrive soon at our pad. paella dinner tonight!! :) expectin free flowin wine and good paella. yum~

hotpot!

2008-08-06T10:09:00.005+10:00

our hotpot dinner on cold and windy monday night was utterly fabulous. satisfying to the max to say the least :)

little lamb was popular for its finely sliced mutton (hence the name i guess!) and boy, they were not kiddin. the mutton certainly were goooooooood. so were the rest of the ingredients :) everyone was immensely happy and raving about the spread, especially claudio and bani. they have never tried quite a few of the ingredients before. bani wasn't half impressed with the beef tripe though heh. i was :)

the very full and happy troop. myself, rie, claudio, bani, sam and clara! :)

weekend lovin~

2008-08-03T18:34:00.004+10:00

a week has passed. weekend came and is almost gone. why does it always seems so fleeting? :( and so, this beautiful weekend was a myriad of shopping, good food, good wines, good music and great friends.

started off saturday evening with a goofed up dinner reservation which brought us to eno-teca for wine and cheese while waitin for our table at ladro. splendid spanish white coupled with a cheese platter, quince paste, raisins and sourdough bread. so good :)

finally got our table at ladro with its crisp white interior, bustling dining crowd and yummilicious aroma.

the lot. badabing, prosciutto, pizza special for the night, grilled calamari and braised beef cheek with polenta.

the food was great. i particularly lovvveeed the pizza special with calabrese salami, olives, spinach and mascarpone cheese. oooooooh. mouth watering. but we were rather disgusted with them charging us a dollar for the chilli that we requested for. just a small platter of fresh cut red chilli. hmmmm. not very wise of them, really.

headed for corner hotel after for some bone palace loving. martin's new album launch, we're all just monkeys. the booze, the crowd, the crazy monkeys dance, uncle peter, the music..all just made it an awesome night. the band totally rocked. so does their new album.

sunday as usual, was best spent lazing in bed in the late morning, only getting up for some brunch :) mart 130! i missed the place while i was away. scrambled eggs on organic sourdough bread with bacon, poached eggs on organic sourdough bread with goat's cheese, apple rhubard cake with cream and berries. yoks.

a very gooooood weekend indeed :) how was yours?

melbourne

2008-07-30T23:52:00.003+10:00

and so, the last three days had been fabulous.

life in melbourne is preety much back in order.

apartment is spanking clean, laundry is done, sheets are fresh.

met up with research proj supervisors, chatted, planned and a whole load of work awaits.

exciting news. gold coast conference come end august. yours truely is presentin her work. yoks. nervous but definitely gonna be great exposure for me. more work and writing to be done! mee will be there as well. roping in bani and housemate to come along for hols. mid-sem break for us then anyways (mee & i are extendin our trip haa). goin to be awesome :)

as much as i miss home, it feels good to be back. seeing everyone, the independence with time a student has, satc at night, housemate's cookin, eating out, coffee-ing, my double bed, soon to have dinner parties, chillin, poker nights etc. it's a whole different life here...and i know i will miss it when it is time to leave.

oh wells.

first home-cooked dinner by the housemate. interestin colour eh? white against red. creamy cheese mixed pasta on beetroot sauce. yum. i'm building my lill recipe book for future references :)

first coffee and muffin puffin of semester at mr tulk this afternoon. tonight's dinner at rococco with housemate, mee and oliver rocked.

that's melbourne for me, so far :)

Misses..

2008-07-28T22:52:00.007+10:00

our k lunch at home, pre-departure!

awesome end to my hols back home! :)

newton circus with my girls, ms wanyu's birthday celebration.
random bao jokes, bird nest hair lady, too much laughter and a very full stomach.

balaclava with the dudes after work. sapporo beers, french fries and a very loud band.

the fabulous food of home. these are just but some of the lot.

After 7..

2008-07-28T13:49:00.003+10:00

hours, 2 movies, 2 episodes of house and a lil eye wink, here i am back in melbourne again where the toilet bowl seat is always ice cold and gives me a shock everytime i sit. freakin 4 degrees now! gawd.

was good to see the housemate again and he's still as geeky as ever. as i crawled into my warm bed to catch a nap before the 4.30pm class, he was finishing up an assignment and headin for the mornin tutorial class at 9.30am, though he didnt sleep the entire night like me (we both arrived at wee hours in melb, him a couple of hours before me). haa. both of us are nursing our sad lill hearts. we both didn't want to head back here :(

missin singapore and the peeps already. 4 odd months to go before graduation. 4 odd months of torture for the housemate from me. 4 odd months or more before singapore again. time should fly by (crosses fingers!) since i'm expecting a really busy last semester. thesis to write!!!! yoks.

right, time to go get ready for class. headin to good ol' tulk first for late lunch before class.

and so, here we go again.

later peeps.

x

love.family

2008-07-20T13:51:00.003+10:00

bbq @ uncle's. loooovvvvvveeee.

yellow gold. double loooovvvvveeee.

:)))

:)

2008-07-19T20:16:00.002+10:00

we missed you georgie & gj! wished you guys were here!

and so, everyone's embarking on a new phase in their lives..the years have gone by and we have all grown. however, no time seems to have gone by us as we gathered, no matter we far apart we have been or how long we have last seen each other.

we talk, we laugh, we whine, we share. everything under the sun. and this is what friendship is all about :) for that, i feel blessed for having you guys and girls.

on a random note,

fellow interns at cerebos :)

singapore

2008-07-16T23:53:00.002+10:00

okays, singapore has been a blast. just 1.5 weeks left before melbourne :( totally dun wanna head back nowwwwww. hrmph.

anyhows, some updates...internship at cerebos has been going well. my supervisor is fantastic and really niceee. am learning about the industry and having a clearer idea as to what i wanna do when i'm done at melb.

haven't been taking much pictures (sorry gj!)..too lazy haha. meeting everyone has been great :) lovin it!

more lunches, dinners and suppers to keep.

yoks.

i want time to slow down.

l.o.v.e

2008-07-13T15:03:00.003+10:00

it's da bomb. i love my girls.

xxx

sydney airport

2008-06-27T07:41:00.002+10:00

that's where i'm at now. flight back yesterday got cancelled due to the engineers' strike. @#%&. had to stay in sydney for the night but met some amazing people during the traumatic experience. turned out we had hell of a good time instead. will write more about that later. gotta go catch my plane now!

see you in singapore soon peeps x

thought of the day

2008-06-24T23:59:00.003+10:00

i wonder which feels worse..to know everything but didn't have the time to write them down or to know a lill, and just hope the lill is enough?

last paper is done-d. if only more time was allowed for the paper. if only if only. praying for the best!

what can i say, aftermaths of controversial exam papers stinks.

i'm bored

2008-06-23T23:05:00.002+10:00

pardon me a distraction from the notes :P

the cake which turned out pretty well indeed, maybe just a tad too sweet.

random coffee and sweets escapades over the past week

scored myself a huge bruise on my thigh today. &*#@. first ever i think of this magnitude. bleah.

anyways, to end off this totally useless post, i'll be home in 3 days! :)

the unimaginable..

2008-06-22T16:40:00.002+10:00

has happened. my f. wisdom tooth is peeking out :( and that probably explains the headaches and dull ache of the jaw. bleah. to the dentist i'm goin when i get back. i hope i do not have go for an extraction. crosses fingers. i so want to dig into the chicken rice, laksa, cha kway teow, hokkien mee, chilli crab, sambal stingray, satay, prata etc etc.

i'm so dreaming of my summer back home. but i know i will be bitching about the hot humid weather when i get back. oh wells..just lemme dream for now where it is cold and wet out :)

am waiting for the cake to bake in the oven now. housemate's aunt amazing recipe. springy and light sponge cake with choc swirls..ooooohhh. was so goood the first time i tried, pestered the housemate to get the recipe from her. now, let's hope the one in the oven is going to be as good :) the wondrous smell is already filling the house. drools.

meat and fish tech paper coming up on tuesday. i'm taking it all too easy and that is bad. kept getting distracted by random things when i have notes to read. ugh. bad girl.

anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGIE! (don't know if u got my sms). a lill older, a lill wiser or so they say :)

the day after

2008-06-20T14:01:00.002+10:00

and so, adv. immunology paper is done. infinito. have packed away the notes, never to see daylight again. had the best sleep of the week last night after 4 episodes of satc, waking up this morning to cheery sunlight streaming through and feeling warm and cozy in my bed. ahh :)

discovered an interesting site that allows you to create clothing sets with their extensive collection of items from all the online stores. any browsers who is interested in an item of your set can simply click and buy it from the respective stores. tanoshii desu yo!

here's what i create:

i have expensive taste i know haha. not usually a fan of chanel but this bag works well with the outfit. i forsee this webbie is goin to be way too dangerous for my wallet :(

my internship hours at cerebos has been confirmed. 8.30am till 5.30pm monday to friday. faints. way tooo early for my liking but i've just got to get used to it and stock up on concealer for my dark eye rings i guess. the worst part of it...i've got to be in office attire. eeks. it's a good reason to shop, for example for the outfit above :)

office will be at china square central (which i assume is where china square is?) so whoever office is in the vicinity, lunch! :) will be interning all the way from 30th jun till 25th jul, and flying back here on the 27th jul. not much of free time for myself, but i'm consoling myself that this is a good chance to network and score future opportunities with the company. bleah.

okie doks, enough procrastination for the day. shall head off for a run then start the muggin for meat. fish poultry tech paper. can't believe it's the weekend already and just a week more till humid ol' singapore! :)

musings

2008-06-16T13:21:00.002+10:00

i'm a lill bored from studying about b and t cells and what not. need a tiny break from those monsters :)

anyhows, a conversation among the three of us at dinner post sex and the city movie came to mind. steve cheated on miranda with another woman (in the movie), broke down one night and told her about it. said it was a mistake, just sex, he still love her and nothing has changed. (right..) miranda basically freaked and left him.

does ignorance=bliss in this context? do we really want to know if our man is cheating/cheated on us when he still acts/is the part of a loving husband/boyfriend? as he says..it is a mistake done on a whim of folly one lonely night.

meelin was all for the truth between couples and thought steve did the right thing. else, the relationship is just built on lies and all the promises about honesty etc has gone out of the window with the potted plant (which the woman might throw).

claudio, however, stands firm in his belief that if you have the guts to commit it, have the guts/strength to keep it to yourself and not destroy the other person's perfect life because of your moment of weakness. hmm. the woman might forgive, but never forget.

this is tricky. i mean, if it was really just a mistake and not a continuous affair of some sorts, maybe it is better to live in ignorance? in light of that, the man then better make sure he does not make another mistake. otherwise, he's definitely flying out of the window with the pot when the woman comes to know about it, one way or another. bad things always have an amazing way of revealing themselves.

if revealed, perhaps it all boils down ultimately to how much love the couple shares then. if the woman/man loves the man/woman that much, the relationship could be salvaged and this cheating buried in their past (the cheating party must really feel remorse in this case). maybe it might even strengthen their relationship, who knows?

but, what if the man/woman cheats again? there'll always be a niggling paranoia playing somewhere in your head wouldn't it?

this doesn't really seem to be going anywhere does it? hah, much like the egg and chicken question. i guess to make life simpler, it's best to practice monogamy and keep your hands and what not to yourself, if you can.

right.

time to get back to studying :)

oh yes, miranda and steve got back together in the end and live happily ever after.

bleah

2008-06-15T21:43:00.004+10:00

we've just finished sex and the city season 1, three episodes every night after adv immuno muggin. it's medicine for the brain :)

hadn't been up to much apart from daily visits to mr tulk for brekkie before headin into the state library for some brain damage. caffeine addiction has gone onto a new level. 3.5 days more to go before adv. immuno paper. yoks.

checked out a new chinese restaurant in town with sara a couple of nights ago.

pretty good i must say! :) very crystal jade but with an expanded menu.

had to refrain sara from jumping off her apartment balcony from too much gene technologies studying by draggin her arse out for some japanese bento saturday night.

one of my fav jap place for good food at a decent price :)

immunology immunology immunology
i wish the exams questions will come to me in my dreams tonight.
hmmm

goodnight people x

o.m.g

2008-06-13T02:46:00.002+10:00

i believed i had a high threshold for stress.
but i feel overwhelmed tonight.
for some strange reasons.
anyhows, i was shocked at the dismal state of my bank account.
like seriously stunned.
wake-up call.
no more shopping.
and there goes my therapy.
channeling all my de-stress therapeutic energy into runnin instead.
one f. hour on the treadmill yst.
was awesome.
the feel of sweat oozing out of those clogged pores = orgasmic.
runnin tmr again.
but before, adv. immunology muggin.
goldfish memory ain't good friends with adv. immuno.
@#$%.

arty farty muffin puffin

2008-06-08T23:32:00.005+10:00

i like to think of myself as being arty farty. it's got a nice ring to it..just that (fart)y sounds abit smelly thats all. haha. anyways, i did my fourth painting this evening.

no title yet. but it's an engagement present for rodney :) he's gonna propose to his girlfriend during their europe trip this june! he's real sweet. he had the ring custom-made with the diamond specially flown in from overseas. awww. i hope he'll like it. u like? :)

watch out!!

2008-06-08T18:42:00.007+10:00

it's finally coming. martin martini & the bone palace orchestra: we're all just monkeys. no no, don't go rushin to the cd stores yet. as the teaser showed, the release date is 2nd aug 08 (which happened to be my mum's birthday so vaughan the band manager has kindly extended the invitation to her for the album launch hah). but since i've got special connections (as the band manager likes to put it ;)) i've got my hands on the album hot off the recording room.

what can i say? well it's been on repeat for the thousandth time. ok, maybe just the twentieth time, or at least the past 5 hours or part thereof. am totally loooviiin it! :) individualistic style yet amazingly grabbing. ok that word probably didn't make much sense, or probably don't even exist in this context. how should i put it...it's the kind of music that starts playing and your toes, fingers, head start having a life of their own and sync with the music. you tap, you move, you sway, you dance up the walls. then you start hearing the individual instruments beyond the whole assemble..the clarinet, the trombone, the bass, the electric guitar, the drums. how they all come together like pieces of puzzles with the vocals, tellin a story so quirky yet larger than life that you start grinning to yourself (toes, fingers, head all still moving at this point). there, that's what i meant by grabbing :)

monkey and sardine, ding dong lounge 2008

go rushing 2nd august :)

the weekend

2008-06-08T17:42:00.005+10:00

and so, sex and the city movie was smokin. not a blockbuster by any standard, but a great homage to the much loved drama series. i totally dig the humor of the 4 girls, especially samantha jones's (and her boyfriend, not his humor in this case however ;)) to sum it up, if you are not a fan of the drama, or sex, or fashion, you could probably skip it and get it rented in the nearby video store when it's out on dvds...hmm that pretty much means everyone is going to the movies, one way or the other :P

delicious korean dinner at oriental spoon after.

10:26pm dessert at max brenner, joined by vaughan and clara.

night ended with too much sugar, laughter and teabag discussions :) awesome.

~

sun was shining brightly this sunday morning. perfect day for a brunch out in the country.

innocent bystanders, giant steps at healesville.

the search for tables, and the boys with their stool for 4 ;)

coffee, juice and (to die for)bread for starters out at veranda.

the shift to the interior for sun-phobic vaughan.

it's pretty much a winery, bakery, restaurant all rolled into one artistic architecture. my kind of place totally. loveee

the kids against the kids.

abso-f**kin-lutely fantastic place. and this is why i'm lovin melb :)

should i stay or should i go?

guilty as charged

2008-06-07T14:12:00.007+10:00

i'm addicted to:

(in no order of preferences)

procrastination
salami
sex and the city
brunch at mart 130
david jones gourmet food section (eating a meat pie bought there as i type)
ciabatta bread
sourdough bread
online shopping (when i'm home)
shopping (when i'm out)
badminton
omelette
prosciutto
black and white
scented candles
cafe latte
mr tulk

been shopping way too much for my own good the past weeks. feeling guilty as hell but it's like a disease consuming me. somebody stop me!!!! urgh. i'm linking it to the 'subconcious' stress within me. i mean, i don't exactly feel stressed at this moment, but i'm feeling the urge to spend/buy something, anything that catches my eyes. it's the subconcious stress i'm telling ya, and the crazy mid year sales are not helping. i used to feel the urge to eat, now it's shop. i wonder if that is an improvement? yikes. i'm sick.

anyway, my lill brother destroyed the car a few days ago. went and rammed into another car from the back along PIE. front of our car is gone, back of other car is non-existence. fortunately, no one's hurt. scared the shit outta me when i got an sms in the wee hours from my sis tellin me my bro got into a car accident. bet my mum will have loads to bitch about when i call her tomorrow.

and because i'm addicted to procrastination, i've yet to start on my adv immunology revision. been down at the pilot plant with flavio, rigging hplc, kumon, badminton, shopping and bummin. time just pass without me noticing. have to start, have to start!

oh yes, internship at Cerebos this holiday back home! i'm pschyed. the company that brought us the ever important brands chicken essence for exams, range of woh hup products etc :)

alrighty, it's sex and the city movie at melb central lined up for the evening. *tingles with excitement*

enjoy your weekend peeps and get carried away x

week 12

2008-06-02T00:26:00.004+10:00

and so, the semester has ended. crazy last week with late nights, early mornings, assignments, tests and coffee overload. had a visit to a boning plant which started in the wee hours of the morning (again). witnessed the boners in action with their ultra sharp knives that separate the different cuts of a cow carcass from the bones. it's seriously amazing how swift they get around cleaning the carcass. not a job i would fancy at all. thursday was spent finishing up on the 3000 words lit. review for adv. immunology and studying for fish test. spent friday afternoon doing the test followed by questionnaires for all the plant visits and when we finally finished, it was already 8pm. and that's it. no more lectures, tutorials or assignments. just exams to go :)

post test relaxation at max brenner's.

saturday's brunch at rococco's.

sunday's morning extended badminton play

followed by brunch at mart 130 (where else ;P)

pre-dinner ice-cream at trampoline (we are not weird, we just had to wait 40min for our dinner table so why not? :))

dinner at claypots (i know i know, i'm boring ya all with the same ol restaurants. can't help when everyone who's been introduced to claypots by us loves it and wants to head there. haha.not that i'm complaining of cause.)

st kilda on this cold foggy night. eerily beautiful.

and henceforth starts the study weeks.

bleah.

monday blues

2008-05-26T22:08:00.007+10:00

on the contrary, i'm actually feeling pretty good today :) managed to get my laundry done in the morning, thereby finally getting rid of the fishy stink the fish market has left on my sweater and lab overalls (thank heavens). got a worthy stash of scented candles from home & co. while waiting for my laundry. i'm addicted to scented candles. and i do strongly believe they help me sleep soundly and well :) as do sean john's unforgivable for men ;) i even snagged a relaxing eye mask in safari print amongst the lot! lol. i'm looking forward to going to bed tonight :)

i discovered the very item that kept me going during the lectures in nus back in those good ol days, here in an asian grocery shop at melbourne central.

pucca chocolate!!!!

lovee. i used to have them everyday in nus, always trooping down to the nus co-op for a pack before lecture. i missed them. but today, i rediscovered them in the asian grocer that i believed i will be visiting regularly from now on. it's right opposite school too! :) had them en route to kumon centre and that kept me happy all through centre. haha. and since i'm on the topic of snacks..

tao kae noi crispy seaweeds!

my personal favourite (or at least one of the many) that i didn't think i could buy here in melb. i got addicted to them from the first bite prob last year when my bro got a pack. i've never stopped since. anyways, i managed to find them here as welllllll!!!! :) this i discovered just slightly earlier than pucca in a korean grocer shop, which is conviently located opposite school too. try the wasabi flavour, it's yummy and addictive as hell. i feel less guilty piggin on these as compared to chips, which i have, and am proud to announce, cut down considerably this semester. have only gone through 1.5 pack in these 4 mths, and this was prob what i would have consumed in 2 days last semester. still loves them though.

and so, i have just finish a pack of tao kae noi after steak and mash. drinking my barley water now in a bid to hydrate myself. i'm forcing myself to drink more water nowadays, which of cause is a good thing.

i'm just rambling on because i'm procrastinating. am supposed to do my writeup for an application for the conference award/scholarship. oh yea, i will be attending my first ever conference and probably presenting my research in the 58th australian cereal chemistry conference at gold coast this september. the one exciting thing that will be happening next semester :) now i just have to convince them to pay for my airfare and accom or, if they really like me/i'm lucky, an upgrade of my registration to full registration where i get to attend all social functions without additional cost, thus allowing me to rub shoulders with all the right people in this field. awesome.

all i need to do now is to start writing and promote myself. oh boy.

yet another sunday..

2008-05-25T22:42:00.003+10:00

poached eggs.hollandaise sauce.spinach.smoked salmon.sourdough bread.dill.
lamb.spinach.chickpeas.fetta cheese
apple rhubarb crumble.blueberry sauce.cream.
freshly squeezed orange juice. long black.
loooooooooveeee
i heart mart 130.

semester is ending in one f week.
24 more days to advanced immunology exam
29 more days to meat fish poultry exam
31 more days to h.o.m.e
:))))))

beams

a lill buzz

2008-05-23T23:44:00.002+10:00

martin martini was f. awesome down at espy tonight. the venue was great, the sounds were solid, the crowd was high and crazy. everything just works. i was consumed in the energy of it all, getting lost in the buzz and simply moving to the beat. gigantically fantastic :)

this band is going to be big. i can feel it in my bones.

to all who squats in london come august-september, head down to soho theatre to get your socks knock off.

i mean it.

amusing randoms

2008-05-21T23:07:00.005+10:00

the tram that got married on 16/05/08.

the cheerful cap with it's propeller that spins madly as martin dashes down the slope on his bicycle. lovin the red scarf and happy cap combi :) (i look way too dull and sleepy next to him, and i really should stop slouching)

the man with his dual identities

plus another.

i was sitting on a crowded tram this morning next to a guy who was reading a book. when he was nearing his stop, he folded the corner of the page where he stopped reading. he took a plastic folder (the sort you put a piece of paper in) from his bag and put his book in it and sorta wrapped it like a lil parcel before putting it in his bag. makes me wonder why a guy who folds the corner of a page would go through the extra trouble of protecting his book with a plastic cover before putting in his bag. i couldn't quite figure it out. but that's just me.

4.40am, location: footscray

2008-05-20T19:40:00.004+10:00

this is what we crawled out of our warm snuggly beds at 3am for:

another visit for liz's meat, fish, poultry tech course

the mad arrays and varieties of fishes fresh from the fishing boats.

huge ass yellow-fin tunas, swordfishes, salmon, snapper etc

the shellfishes, crustaceans and one of my favourites..octopus :)

was interesting chatting to the sellers about the type and varieties of fishes available, the prices, harvesting methods and how to tell if the fish is fresh. saw a tumbler that softens octopuses/squids by spinning them slowing in a barrel-like mesh cage on a horizontal axis and that was highly interesting. had the most amazingly fresh tuna sashimi in my life after with succulent clams and pan-fried snappers (which i descaled and gutted), all purchased at awesome prices at the market and prepared in the pilot plant back in uni. missed out on the salmon and smoked eel though, cause the salmon took so long to bake and we were all full to the brim by the end of it.

the tuna sashimi was unbelievable and i'm not kidding when i say it's the best i've eaten ever. even without the wasabi and with just a dip of soy sauce (plus it was sliced by the student ourselves from the chunk bought), it has just the right amount of bite with the tuna fresh sweetness filling your tastebuds. no hint of fish stink whatever so.

pure indulgence.

mamma mia!

2008-05-18T18:43:00.008+10:00

some random pictures of the week..

me and my torn levi's to school on monday. my mum hates it, i loveeee it :)

bored at pilot plant with flavio. the strange barrel-like machine is the spray dryer and the cone thingy is the atomizer that makes liquid flavio into powder flavio.

my favourite bocconcini with cherry tomatoes and rocket salad on friday night with sex and the city!

and so, i woke up just in time for lunch on saturday after a late night of sex and the city. ah, the beauty of weekends :) caught 21 at the cinema with the housemate, vaughan and clara. that sparked off a whole night of discussions on statistics, casinos, roulette and beating the system.
very interesting movie, stats for the brain!

met up with the rest after at claypots for a night of merry-making, good seafood and chardonnay. the restaurant was packed and the 10 of us were packed off into the bar area instd. sat along the couch in a single file which was amusing to see but it turned out amazingly well. food had to be divided into 3 portions, served in small platters and placed along the lill bench in front of the line. peeps were goin from one end of the line to another with glasses of wine and nibbling at food at different points. awesome dinner :)

half stumbled happily after dinner to sans churros down the street. ordered generous servings of churros to go round the table with more discussions on stats and brain picking questions.

ended the night back at our st kilda pad with card games and more talk (team meeting in vaughan's words) about betting strategies of roulette. 21 was highly inspiring as could be seen. hah.

spent today chillin at mart 130 again with latte, muffin, cake and lecture notes.

can't help but marvel on the way back at the sheer beauty of st kilda in the evening.

it's off for more sex and the city, assignments and bummin for me now :)

cheers x

pilot plant

2008-05-16T15:45:00.002+10:00

drats, i'm getting bored and sleepy waiting for flavio to be done in the spray dryer..after which is a gruelling wash up of the monster machine. have a thousand scientific papers to read in my file but am just not in the mood to do that at the moment. the high pitched drone the spray dryer gives off doesn't help matters either. bleah. but on a brighter note, weekend is here again! :) that means late mornings, brunch, laze, bum, movies, good food. beams. apart from the impending dateline of the immunology review paper, i'm pretty much happy :)

had the boys-girls badminton playoffs last night and no prize for guessing which team won ;P we girls played an awesome game against the boys. pity we only had an hour! the feather shuttles i bought turned out to be rather weak. started losing feathers after probs 20 hits :( clara and i are so gonna stock up on feather shuttles when we get back to spore in jun hee.

yay, flavio is finally done. time to do the washing and head off to enjoy my friday evening :) peace out peeps. x

sick and miserable

2008-05-13T18:52:00.006+10:00

having flu is the dumps. not to mention the public sneezing and nose blowing is utterly embarrassing as well. the lemspi cold and flu capsules better work its magic tonight :(

the morning started off on a bad note. went to the lab early in the morning planning to run my spray run for flavio, only to be informed that i can't do it today nor tmr due to prac classes goin on. urgh. redeemed the day by plonking myself at mr tulk with my stack of scientific papers on milk allergies and promptly ordered meat balls in sugo with sourdough and cafe latte. finished off with a lemon tart, which vaughan gallantly served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side as a bonus. loveee. martin was at tulk with eddie perfect too and was hugely delighted and excited by my goth martin martini clown tee. hah ;)

badminton's most likely on again this thursday night and vaughan has already issued a challenge for singles. yoks. so guess what i went and bought myself after tulk...a new tube of feather shuttlecocks :) essentials for a good game of badminton! (clara only has plastic ones which i abhor and we ended up leeching on others' discarded feather shuttles the prev. time)

so here i am back home, because i skipped my first lecture of the semester. well, i'm not feeling so good for one pluuuussss the guest lecturer will be doing a similar lecture topic that we did before in molecular biology last year, which was lectured by him. same powerpoint slides and all. pretty much justify my skipping doesn't it? haha. anyhows, housemate being the nerd he is went for the lecture which means meelin and myself will have a voice recording of the lecture :) yay for once to the housemate for being a nerd!

in heaven

2008-05-12T21:54:00.003+10:00

dinner was so totally awesome i feel the need to gush about it. remember the seafood place i mentioned in the earlier post? went back today with adrian and tried their malay and moroccan claypots. we were in awe. speechless apart from the repeated 'this is so so so good' after each mouthful of the rich and flavourful mix of gravy, rice and seafood. the malay was a combi of sticky rice, clams, mussels, stingray and bak choy drenched in a creamy laksa gravy. the morrocan was a combi of cous cous, mussels, clams and eggplants. each delicious in their own ways but i must say i love love LOVE the malay claypot. the laksa gravy was rich, yet light in taste, complementing the sweetness of the seafood to perfection. never knew sticky rice could make such a good player in a main dish (i only knew sticky rice with mango, which i absolutely heart) but it did, and it was a brilliant addition. absolute comfort food on a cold cold night like this and i've never felt more satisfied and content :) doesn't hurt that we topped the excellent dinner with churros dipped in warm dark chocolate and white chocolate ice-cream on the side from sans churro.

i'm in heaven :)

full house.straight.royal flush.double.

2008-05-11T20:54:00.003+10:00

saturday was awesome :) slept in till late noon, did some work for uni, last episode of sex and the city in disk 1 (boo. need to go rent more) and housemate made pizza and bread. a good slow afternoon followed by BADMINTON with housemate, vaughan and clara!! ok, i was terribly excited because i miss playing so much! all those good times playing with the boys at khatib, nus, chinese swimming club and wherever :( well, housemate was skeptical of my skills prior to the game. in his words, he is good by default (though he does not have the faintest idea what badminton is about, much least held a badminton racket) while i think i'm good. rolls eyes. guess who had the last laugh after the game ;) anyhows, doubles against vaughan and clara was good. we are already thinking of making it a weekly affair. yay. the smashings, lobings and drop shots was pure exhilaration. worked all those sleeping back and shoulder muscles pretty hard :)

and so, poker night at clara's place followed after the badminton game. the usual poker faces gathered with wine, beers, baileys, vodka and $$$.

i was happy and high with my wine, baileys, waffles, ice-cream and building towers of chips. lost everything in the end haha. never really have any luck with gambling. bleah. as the saying goes, bad luck on the table, good luck in love? hmmm.

i'm feeling the aches today. doesnt help when i'm developing a cough. pure torture when i go into a coughing fit i tell ya. on a brighter note, abs are developing baby :) anyways, have got the house to myself today with the housemate out at his relative's. made an asparagus and mushroom risotto for dinner with plenty to pack for lunch tmr :) righttt, it's time to give mum a call. need to drop her the 'i'm coming home for holidays' bomb tonight. i hope she has received my mother's day present and is in a gooood mood. haha..

sex and the city

2008-05-10T01:26:00.004+10:00

i know i know..i have been slow in jumping onto the sex and the city bandwagon but here i am, and loving it. it was sexually hilarious. haha. we opted for a tv series instead of a movie tonight and i must say that was a wise move. dangerous nonetheless because series can be ever-so-addictive and you just have to keep on watching. oh wells. time to practise some self restrain :)

had a gorgeous dinner down at acland street in a bustling cozy lil seafood restaurant tonight. started off with a nice range of cold tapas and white wine, while eagerly awaiting the arrival of our kingfish. it did not disappoint, tantalizing our tastebud with its burst of fresh sweetness laced with a hint of sourness from the balsamic eggplant puree garnish. simply heavenly :) no photos to show for unfortunately cause my camera is horrendous under low light conditions. i like the concept of having a side bar room where diners can hang around with a glass of wine while waiting for tables or to adjourn to relax after a good dinner over at the restaurant side. this shall go down in my lill notebook of ideas for my future restaurant ;) can't wait to go back to try their paella, claypots and more fishes. yum.

all i need now to complete this great friday night is to snuggle under my thick soft comforter, bury myself amongst my pillows and catch my beauty sleep :) sweet dream world x

just a click on the mouse

2008-05-06T23:43:00.003+10:00

it's done. i'm officially $1139 poorer. but guess what? SINGAPORE, heeeerrrrrreeeeee i cooommmmeeeee :)))))

the (pseudo) italian stallion

2008-05-05T23:47:00.005+10:00

he have breakfast with me at our lil kitchen table
he cooks me my favourite food when i'm down or hungry
he ask me if i want hot water every night
he goes jogging with me
he watches House and Rocky and what not on tv with me
he listens to me while i whinge and bitch
he buys me books as presents
he serves me more bocconcini in my salad because they are my fav.
he lugs my huge bag of clothes for me during our monthly laundry trip
he gives me massages when i'm tired and stressed
the list goes on..but most importantly,
he knows my (verbal) meanness is a show of love for him
:P

"should we shag it now, or shag it later?"

that's my housemate for you.

:)

the week

2008-05-04T19:40:00.004+10:00

time is suddenly whizzin by. seems not too long ago that i was bloggin about my weekend and here i am again, 8pm on a sunday night. just came back from a run and it was awesome cause i hafnt ran in quite a while. legs are giving me a lill problem though, which is preventing me from runnin the distance i would like :( some sort of water retention near my ankle seem to be happening when i run, you can feel a blob there when you run your hands down the calf to the ankle. feels like it's gonna burst anytime. had the same problem back when i was runnin more during training days as well. some advice dr sj?

anyways, had a look at flavio on friday again (which will be a regular thing) under ESEM. pretty cool machine we have there.

spent saturday sleeping in which was so totally fantastic. been missing those days where no alarm clock is used and i can just wake up when i wake up :) so saturday was such a day and i got my much needed sleep. housemate and i decided to take it nice and easy with a late brunch of fish and salad at acland street with some sweets and coffee at sans churros after. san churros is my latest addiction btw :) the churros with melted dark chocolate spells heaven. as they say, chocolate is our salvation.

we decided to do risotto for dinner again and this time it was with red cabbage, mushrooms and blue cheese. yummmmm! did that over ROCKY III :) bani came to join us after for a movie slumber party, complete with ROCKY IV, lost in translation, chips, cookies, cheese and wine. now that's what i call a nice chill saturday :)

and so, today started real good (cause we slept in again hah) with brunch at my current favourite mart 130. sat out at the veranda with coffee and a good book to start. have i mention before paulo coelho, de author whom i worship, rocks my world and soul? well that deserves a whole new post by itself :)

our brunch and sweets, the reasons for my undying support :)

bani came by after work as well and this concludes our mart 130 escapade for the week.

Mr Tulk

2008-05-01T00:06:00.000+10:00

2 days in a row.

48 hours

2008-04-28T23:01:00.004+10:00

martin martini at Ding Dong Lounge

always happy with some alcohol in hand

this series was hilarious, choreographed none other by the italian stallion

ardent supporters of the martin martini merchandise make shift shop

after a late night out, sunday is best spent slow and chill :)

en route to our sunday brunch venue

MART 130 ("tram" spelt backwards, stop number 130) in an old station master's building on the platform of the no. 96 light rail to st kilda. vintage pieces adorn a chalk white interior with charcoal timber floors, and an enclosed deck overlooks albert park.

easily one of melbourne's most charming cafe :)

the usual: a nice warm cafe latte for the missus and a long black for the mr

the breakfast menu is to die for. voted best breakfast place 2008. i can totally see/taste why. so so so so good!

best brunch ever :) it's going to be our regular brunch hunt now :)))

was supposed to shop for a present for mummy after brunch with mothers' day coming up and all. went back with nothing for her (for now) and 2 new pairs of shoes for myself. lovin my nine west distressed leather booties-sneaks and aldo peep toes, as much as i hate myself for buyin them.

me heart my martin martini evil clown tee too!! so sinister & mobid. i like :)

it's the weekend again

2008-04-26T11:22:00.003+10:00

weekend is here again and i'm grateful for that :) gives me time to take a breather, sleep in a lill and catch up on some work. the past week has been busy. was waking up at 7+am every morning to go to school for laboratory work with flavio before lectures or work and would only get home late in the evening dead beat and zombed out. rodney says get used to it cause it's gonna be that way for quite a while :/ well, rodney is the phd student i'm working with/under for my project. he's kinda like my second supervisor cause my research work is a subset of his phd research. yea..he's cool though. very nice dude from mauritius who came here since he was 5. anyways, am going to be hectic till semester ends, juggling btw research, assignments, exams and work. it's gonna be hell of a ride!

sneak peak of my flavio under ESEM :) pretty cool huh? haha

and so, it is 12 noon on saturday now. will spend the afternoon finishing up on an assignment for Liz then it's chill-out time for the night! dinner with rehan before heading down to ding dong lounge to meet the rest for a martin martini gig and some booze. gonna be wild, gonna be rockin, gonna be awesome!

for now, i just have to be a good girl and get my work done :)

my love.. (continued)

2008-04-25T17:31:00.003+10:00

of cause, i have plenty of loveee to spare :) abercrombie & fitch jackets..

whee. and these are just the jackets. i can probably cover myself from head to toe, inside out with A&F. Haha...i think i go a lil nuts with things i like. as with adidas originals, junk food and watches. not really a good habit. oh wells. speaking of which, my latest addition to my junk food collection:

my love for..

2008-04-24T22:02:00.011+10:00

Adidas Originals Jackets

red cropped with logo vinyl printed on back.
charcoal black cropped with logo vinyl printed on back.
black Respect M.E. by Missy Elliote with crown embossed on back.
cream yellow hoodie with plum stripes down sleeves.

oooh..love love love! am on the lookout for these now:

can't find them :(

risotto & tiramisu

2008-04-20T12:48:00.005+10:00

presenting the strawberry and cream risotto and sausage with saffron risotto. much as i was apprehensive about the strawberry and cream risotto (sounds more like a sweet dessert to me) initially, it was actually really good! an interesting combination of tastes in the mouth as you slowly chew through :) the sausage and saffron risotto was without a doubt yummy to the max. i so heart risotto. will cook for ya guys back home when i get back :)

Sweets was housemate's famous tiramisu. bani was happy with it as always :) and i get extras left for today :))))

it's been a while

2008-04-19T11:27:00.002+10:00

ended the hateful week with a nice cold beer with vaughan. thursday-friday was insane. ok, thats because i was procrastinating writing the project outline draft and project budget due on friday. i'm ashamed :( spent the entire night doing the f. draft (amongst surfing webbies, blogs and online shopping) and finally went to bed at 8am friday morning. set the alarm at 11.30am and wondered why i woke up so early for..since submission is due before 5pm in school. ah wells. fine-tuned the draft a lill more and finally off to school. vaughan calls the beer a celebratory drink to the end of the assignment. couldn't agree more haha except there are so many more to come. the place we were at was charmy..in a dodgey way. it was tucked away in a lill back alley filled with huge dustbins. real nice though on the inside, even has free wireless :) chatting over beer was a nice way to while the afternoon away :)

and so, weekend is here again. dinner is on at the st kilda pad tonight. anyone who sees this is cordially invited :D risotto's on the menu and we are going to do 2 varieties to serve. going to be great! :) for now, housemate and i have to do our one month worth of dirty laundry + housekeeping + grocery shopping. yoks.

specially for the housemate

2008-04-17T22:10:00.003+10:00

gift for the housemate.
because he's a bitch when stressed and i'm nice :)

to my first full-fledged-doctor friend sj :)

2008-04-16T23:34:00.004+10:00

to hell with MBBS!! you did it!!!!!!!!
GRIN.

a lill corner we call home

2008-04-15T23:32:00.003+10:00

one advantage of being a research student: you get a working corner with printing and photocopying services :) and that totally rocks cause we don't have to fight for a computer in the computer lab to print something and most importantly it's freeeeee :) *rubs hands in glee* printing hundreds of scientific journal papers on own account is no joke, it burns a mighty big hole in the pocket. the room might be shared by a few peeps, but it's still nice to have a corner to go to :) had the room to myself today, and it was awesome haha.

my italian housemate

2008-04-15T23:02:00.004+10:00

note the hand gesture ;)

mind over body

2008-04-15T10:01:00.002+10:00

early morning run to start off the day :) body is still not quite used to running after a night in bed. muscles went into anaerobic respiration a whole lot faster haha. but morning runs make me feel goooood and ready for the day :) clocked 7 runs so far since i started with my Nike+, totaling 42.69km. have been running all days that i could squeeze in a run so it's been awesome. i'm a happy girl :) alrighty, body has cooled down from the run. time for a shower then school! long day ahead with too many things to do. bleah :/

peace out x

i'm such a kid

2008-04-15T01:28:00.009+10:00

just how cute is that? :) simply had to buy it when i was browsing in (the most popular stationary store in melb). i must say Smiggle is really good at marketing and packaging their products..i mean almost every kid in Kumon has a Smiggle product! i was particularly amused when a kid at Kumon fished out a lill plastic cartridge (looks like a correction tape) with this white stub sticking out and this stub actually vibrates! ok, somehow that just sounds kinda wrong hahaa..but yea it's a friggin battery operated eraser. you just kinda hold it at the spot you wanna erase and the rubber stub vibrates and erase off the pencil mark!! Check them out at http://www.smiggle.com.au/home.html :)

and so, mr onion-bulb-head is my latest cutsie toy. stamped it onto the front page of my organizer + my housemate's (yea we both own a moleskin because moleskin is legendary and cool hehe :)). he said mr onion-bulb-head is going to be like the mascot of our household now. lol. Brainstorm for a name for mr onion-bulb-head is currently in progress. We are open to suggestions ;)

P.S. in case you haven't figured out, mr onion-bulb-head is a rubber stamp.

Amused

2008-04-15T00:45:00.010+10:00

read this from ms unpredictable's blog and i was highly amused :)

[haha part of my motivation to blog came from dear tingsijin who finally signed up for an account!!! so with that i'm thinking of turning this journal fully locked. the only reason why this entry is still public is cos kookykooks has forgotten her password so she cant login. pls get a new one!! also, she has been blogging v actively...so i must keep up with her...competitive!! hahah yes but keep the updates (and surprise phonecalls) coming...they perk up my day!]

amused because i thought it was the password that i couldn't rmbr but apparently it might have been the user name haa. cause after seeing my user name on her blog, i decided to just try my luck with a password that i always use, and tadaaah i'm back in business! so missy, you can lock your journal now as you please ;)

and just for you ms unpredictable-PYT.

miss ya!
love . love . hug . hug

a lazy saturday

2008-04-13T13:18:00.009+10:00

saturday was spent prowling chapel street with housemate. ended up spending too much money but i simply couldnt resist the lure of adidas originals jackets. too pretty and too comfy. couldnt decide between 2 colours. both ended up in my shopping bag. i'm rather disgusted with myself :(

stopped by Amici Bakery Cafe for a coffee break. it looked really promising with their boutique range of sour doughs and sweets at the counter but i was sadly disappointed with the latte i had. coffee is a sensory experience and a good latte should have the finest foamed and textured milk. hot milk with coffee is just ok, maybe even bad in my opinion. it gets you somewhere but does not at all compare to the texture and full rich mouthfeel of properly steamed and foamed milk. and given that the quality of milk in australia is great, i'm expecting nothing but a good latte, provided the barista does a good job. alas, this barista failed me with his weak latte :( proportion of milk to coffee was wrong and coffee bean was slightly burnt. their bread was commendable though and the frutata i had was pretty good as well.

and so, after the day out, we went for our run down Devil. wind was crazy and i swear i was moving 2 steps forward and 1 step backward on the return. surprisingly though, Neil Armstrong congratulated me on my fastest mile recorded after the run.

ended the night with 2 movies over pasta with asparagus.

Rocky II was awesome to say the least and i could cry when he held his world heavyweight champion belt high (swollen bloody face and all) at the end. i was clapping rather frantically i think haha.

favourite quotes from the movie:

Interviewer: Do you have a criminal record?
Rocky Balboa: Nothin' worth braggin' about.

(at the ring)
Rocky Balboa: It's Apollo.
Mickey: Who were you expecting?
Rocky Balboa: I was hoping he wouldn't show

Gazo: How's about investing in condominiums? It's safe.
Rocky Balboa: Condominiums?
Gazo: Yeah, condominiums.
Rocky Balboa: I never use 'em.

Reporter: Rock, you got anything derogatory to say about the champ?
Rocky Balboa: Derogatory? Yeah. He's great.

second movie of the night was Match Point by Woody Allen. Brilliantly directed and written, as much as i hated the injustice of all that happened. housemate was quick to justify for his mankind about infidelity, lust and raging hormones. *rolls eyes* Slimebags.

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't and you lose.

i have to concur to that.

of early mornings and small goods

2008-04-12T21:52:00.004+10:00

thursdays always start way too early in my opinion. i probably whinge about this before in my previous post but i'm untitled for another post of that (because this is my blog hah) so here's a run down (again) of our bright and early thurdays.

6.50am alarm rings.
6.56am finally crawls out of bed and into bathroom.
7.20am emerges from a steamy bathroom.
7.30am housemate zombed out of his room. knocks on my door & mumbles 'good morning'.
7.45am gather in kitchen and fumble around for breakfast and water.
7.48am dragged heavy feet out of apartment.
7.50am tram comes rolling.
7.51am en route to school.

yoghurt, breakfast on tram for early morning like this. music, essential for all tram rides. kinder bueno, added delight for this trip. housemate, usual companion.

early morning is not a good time for photo (as evidenced).

8.20am arrival in city.

and because we were early for some reasons this morning (tram must have been driving faster), coffee from Mr Tulk to wake us up.

8.30am meat, fish poultry technology lecture with Liz.

it so happen to be Ella's birthday (Liz's daughter) which she celebrated with all of us during break in lecture :) we got treated to cakes and all which in housemate's words: breakfast is settled.

10.30am lecture ends.

and that marks the end of thursday in school. all that drama in the morning just for a lecture. oh wells.

anyways, we had a small goods plant visit on Friday with Liz. small goods = manufactured meats, including sausages, frankfurters, bacon, hams, salamis etc. u get my drift. the factory was located in some distant industrial park that took us forever to get to but the visit was very interesting indeed. got to see the different stations and machinery they used to make the products though it would have been a whole lot exciting seeing them in action. imagine the boners attacking the cuts of carcass and trimming off the meat and flinging them into the vats. whee. we missed that unfortunately cause visit is done after working hours. however, the chiller was quite a highlight:

hee. the cuts of the carcasses hanging on the shackles, chilled and ready to be boned the next day. couldnt take more pictures as none was allowed. had to sneak those when the three of us went back into the chiller to check out the thickness of the pig's skin after everyone has gone out. haha. they have thick skin indeed..with a even huger layer of fats.

shudders.

:)

2008-04-09T22:31:00.007+10:00

a female voice interrupted the song blasting in my ears (think it was She Wants To Move by N.E.R.D) and went "Congratulations! This is your longest workout distance ." oh wow, how encouraging is that? haha. nike+ rocks my socks. housemate and i had a fantastic run today on our usual route nicknamed Devil (see previous post). feelin goooood :) contrary to my skepticism about runnin after sun sets (i have this paranoia about tripping and falling flat on my face cuz i can't see well when it's dark..or so i believe), it actually went really great. clocked our best time to date and we were so pumped and pretty pleased with ourselves after the run. Beams.

anyways, school was awesome today. had a little intimacy time with Flavio in the afternoon and had some closeup shots of him taken (with and without his coat). oooooo watch out for them here ;) lunch was at Mr Tulk with some great peeps. vaughan is working at Mr Tulk now btw. if i hadnt mentioned, he is no longer our supervisor at Kumon. the post is now taken over by a Singaporean of which is another story by itself and since i'm a lil tired now with an impending assignment to do before bed, i shan't go into it. that bitching just gotta wait :) and why do i call it bitching? let's just say kumon life is a tad depressing now. and so, the man himself is now working part time at Mr Tulk, apart from his main job of managing Martin Martini & the Bone Palace Orchestra. works just great for us since Mr Tulk is our hangout place during breaks :) meat fish & poultry technology lecture after lunch with Liz was interesting as usual but the best part of today's lecture was this:

Liz likes to put quotes and lil comics to start off the lecture and i'm lovin this stick men conversation she shared today :) how brilliant is that? well, you might think you are too smart for this but if you ask me, i think you might just be too dumb to get this. Hah.

i should really get going on my assignment. have to be up bright and early tomorrow for lecture as well. eeks. but before i end, i just gotta say this: HOUSE was rock!n (as usual) tonight :)))

The running route

2008-04-08T23:44:00.001+10:00

our usual running route from st kilda beach down to port melbourne and back :) glorious during the evening as the sun sets, casting a rosy glow on the sea. earphones plugged in ears, songs blasting, heart thumping, sweat dripping, muscles pounding, endorphines surging...i so heart runnin now.

dead beat

2008-04-08T00:08:00.008+10:00

it's weird how with 8 hours of sleep, i'm still yawning the whole day like i've barely slept :(

anyways, having a date with Flavio tomorrow. i'm all psyched. (haha)

gonna go for a quick run in the morning before the date too. well, have to keep in tip-top condition ya know *winks*

me thinks i'm full of crap.

me thinks i should just shut up and pop into bed.

right. goodnight lovely world :)

his whole life was a one in million shot

2008-04-06T23:30:00.003+10:00

we've just watched ROCKY and it was goooood :) can't wait to get started on ROCKY II.

[Rocky: Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.]

I'm addicted

2008-04-06T14:11:00.004+10:00

loving this song. it's been on repeat on my playlist for a million times. sorry housemate :)

my power song for the runs. inspiring me to no ends. housemate and i are going to rent the whole series of Rocky for our weekend movie sessions too :) goooooo balboa!

i'm a junkie

2008-04-05T00:15:00.008+11:00

[Founded in 1998 by designers Natalie Grof and Blaine Halvorson, Junk Food has garnered wide recognition as an influential brand of casual lifestyle clothing. It’s soft, weathered fabrications incorporate retro and contemporary pop culture images as well as original artwork. Junk Food, with its loyal celebrity following, has made waves in the image-savvy junior market, while attracting trend –conscious adults and aspirational members of the youth sector. In 2005, Junk Food was acquired by Delta Apparel Inc., creating a relationship that will enable the brand to expand into other exciting lifestyle categories.]

my love for junk food tees is disgusting. i mean, i have a real soft spot for them. the distressed vintage prints screams old school chic, which of cause appeals to me greatly. they are made of the softest and most comfortable fabric ever too. i likeeee :) nothing beats a great looking comfy tee, especially on days where nothing in the wardrobe looks right and it's time to leave the house for sch (happens to me frequently, which explains my expanding stash of junk food tees hah).

P.S. I abhore the spin-offs available in the market. Yucks.

Shout Out

2008-04-04T00:26:00.003+11:00

Cheers and Yays from (retarded) yours truely.

Time to get those dancing shoes out doctor.
:)

my baby

2008-04-03T23:08:00.005+11:00

Introducing the new man in my life...Flavio. He who shall be my baby for the next one year. He who is so smooth and fine to the touch but yet so tough to comprehend and grasp what makes him tick. On closer look, he's filled with voids and imperfections, just waiting for that special someone to come along to fill them up and make life perfect and whole. I have the special someone in mind..but in order to make them fall for each other will take much scheming and planning and right conditions. It's not going to be easy..who says success is easy anyway? Much failures and rejections will be encountered but perserverence will have the ultimate victory. My baby shall be whole and perfect, and I, will be very happy indeed :) To put in simple/ comprehensive/ non-ridiculous terms, Flavio is my microcapsule (formed from spray drying and looks and feels basically like fine powder) containing the ever vulnerable folic acid. Flavio's walls are made up of rice starch held together by pectin and alginate and he serves to protect the folic acid from the cruel world outside. However, his walls are punctuated with gaps that are undesirable to its protection function. These need to be filled and covered to ensure maximum protection for the folic acid. AND this is my responsibility towards my baby. To enpower his walls by playing with different compositions of wall and binding agents and coating with an extra layer to cover the gaps. It's going to be a rather strained relationship we will share i forsee. There will be times i feel like strangling and choking him (in this instance, dissolve him in a solution perhaps) and times where i might go crazy waiting for him to form in the spray dryer. Ah wells, it's a commitment i have sworn to. Just gotta hang in there till i can get a divorce, on mutual agreement of course :)

Wednesday Evening

2008-04-02T23:26:00.009+11:00

Time check: 7.48pm.

ETA of tram 16: -- . (in other words, no idea when it's gonna arrive. could be the next minute, could be 10 min ltr) No good.

Brisk walk down swanston street to bourke.

ETA of tram 96: 7 min. Not too bad, but could be better.

Half ran to collins street.

ETA of tram 112: 23 min (f. !#$%)

Time check: 8pm

started sprinting back to bourke for tram 96. (the red flats were not a gd choice for today)

tram 16 came rolling down swanston street.

mad dash across street.

alas, en route home.

Time check: 8.05pm

time is ticking by..

La Porchetta on fitzroy street in view.

Hopped off tram.

Time check: 8.20pm

1 large vegetarian pizza and 1 medium marinara pizza on the go pls.

boxes of pizzas in hand.

Time check: 8.29pm. (omg)

ran home. (darn those shoes)

plonk down pizzas and bags.

Time check: 8.34pm.

TV on.

All that just for you Dr House.
:)

The joy of meeting pays the pangs of absence

2008-03-31T23:21:00.004+11:00

All days are nights to see till I see thee,

And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me.

~William Shakespeare, "Sonnet XLIII"

Nike+

2008-03-29T22:15:00.001+11:00

My current toy :) Nike Wmns Air Max 180+ ipod. Now, i have my personal workout assistant to track my progress every step of the way. *tingles in excitement* it's time to get rockin baby.

ideas

2008-03-26T22:46:00.007+11:00

Thank you all for the condolences and care. I'm okay, no worries :)

________________________________

I've always talk about having my own restaurant or cafe or both haha..and these are some ideas i've seen along the way that i'd loveee in my lil place next time :)

First and foremost,

The interior setup and choice of crockeries are the fundamental elements that make the place and give it its distinctive edge. The kind of feel it evokes in a new potential customer as he/she steps in either

a) makes him/her cringe and head out (worst possible scenario, in which case i should just close shop and sit in a corner and cry)

b) comfortable enough to linger for a coffee or meal (on my way to repaying those mounting bills incurred)

c) thinking already of the next time who he/she shall bring here for a nice lil chit chatty over coffee (ka-chink $$$...of cause the food/coffee has to be at least of reasonable standard, of which i can assure you, will be in My place :) )

well...my first lil cafe will be comfy with a quirky arty edge. Nothing too posh or outlandish in appearance, just a small simple charm-y place tucked in a corner of a street. As you push through the doors, you'll be greeted and lulled by the sheer electric buzz in the air, the aroma of coffee, steam milk and slight charred smell of a toastie in the oven heating up. I went to a perfect lil place i wanna call mine today, it's moulded exactly how i wanna it (just not the name perhaps) :)

Brother Baba Budan Cafe

Simple lighting, loads of natural light, quirky yet endearing design. i'm enthralled and excited and captivated by this lil cafe. i so love the hanging chairs and shelves and cabinets. Definitely making this my coffee hunt in the city (besides Mr Tulk), worth every distance travelled to get there.

Speaking of crockery, this latte set (from Map cafe) totally grabs me. I mean, such a simple idea yet so elegant and effective. It's like a lil surprise you discover as you sip your latte. Well, at least for me, maybe i'm just easily excited haha.

We made vongole for dinner a couple of days back during Good Friday but because it was Good Friday and the supermarkets were closed and we ran out of linguini at home (shame on the italian haha) and we already had the clams and wine bought and are all psyched up for vongole, we returned to the basics and what we do best: making pasta from scratch. Plenty of practise ala Colosseum from last semester as one fondly remembers.

See the clothes hangers used to dry the pasta? When i have my lil restaurant (i'm thinking authentic italian food because i'm going to rock at that hah), the chef will make fresh pasta and hang them just like how we did in our kitchen. Half open kitchen concept with a woody counter at the dining floor, all white and messy with flour plus a wood fired oven nearby and my chef rolling out pizza base or linguini and hanging them on the hangers behind before sending into the kitchen for that perfect carbonara, Just Like Mummy's. Yoks! The look of the place will be old world charms (much like my cafe), quaint and nostalgic of days spent in the kitchen with your gran (i was thinking of housemate rolling out pasta with his gran during his childhood).

Just to end off, we totally mastered the art of making al dente pasta if i would say so myself.

Pat on shoulder.

Beams.

dedicated to.

2008-03-19T23:44:00.007+11:00

she went away but i couldn't be there.

only at the moment of news does it hit me
i wish she had more out of life

i wish life had been kinder to her

i wish i had done more

i wish i could hug her one more time

and have her grinning back at me

i remember her hugging me affectionately when i first left for melb

with tears in her eyes and calling me her 乖孙女

i remember her being full of energy and zest, only to be reduced to

nothing in less than a year

it is always with a loss that the truth drives home

of how short and fragile life is

of how loved ones should be treasured and held close to heart

because there is no time for regrets nor turning back the cruel hands of time

to the best lady who'll forever be in our hearts and memories

love always.

Sauna

2008-03-18T00:19:00.001+11:00

It has been way tooooo hot these few days for my liking. Hit 40 degree celsius today. Faints. No aircon as well in the house. I forsee myself sweating in bed tonight. EWW.

Btw, any comments made by annon and signed off dubiously with content relating to how great/cute the housemate is IS made by the housemate himself. You will know when you see it, because you simply can't believe anyone else (apart from himself) will make a comment like that. HAHA.

for my dear girl sj

2008-03-12T11:50:00.005+11:00

ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR EXAMS!!!!!!

hopefully my 笨 faces made you laugh just a little :) hang in there my dear!

love love hug hug

范逸臣 . 不说出的温柔 . Love Story

2008-03-10T19:26:00.006+11:00

爱的故事有很多你一定听过他们说最美的爱情像琥珀美的忍不住停留而任性的风吹过了却飘下一片片叶落放开手往北方走留下伤心的树独自忍受你离开我连一句话都不说只默默看着今晚天空星光闪烁看今夜的流星划过了天际像我的心我无法在冷静请你要倾听你是我的唯一我不愿只相信我们之间隔着海洋的距离我的爱已熔化在空气里

i love this song.

My Neighbourhood & Pad

2008-03-09T14:31:00.015+11:00

St Kilda in its best glory

Our cosy kitchen with our very own potted basil plant (very useful in our salads :)), the doorway and spanking toilet

The comman lounge area and the housemate's private corner (behind the couch) haha

My lovely lovely room :)

My work corner

My first painting for the room :)

That's my place for the year :) Loves the space, the sunlight streaming through the window, the sea, the double bed, the cosy corner of the kitchen, the huge mirror in bathroom,..and of cause the geeky housemate :)

St Kilda

2008-03-06T23:34:00.003+11:00

My housemate is standing in the bathroom naked shaving his head now. Haha..just thought i would add that in :)

Anyways, had a real early day in school today. Lecture started at 8.30am this morning and it was Hell getting outta bed with my soft pillows and warm comforter. Dragged my heavy legs to the bathroom, hot shower, packed, grabbed a tub of yoghurt and headed out with the housemate.

We ran for like an hour last evening along St Kilda beach (which explains the heavy legs). Awesome run, probably clocked ~10km, which is a feat for me since it is entirely voluntery hah. Sun was setting at the horizon..the sky was a myriad of colours with sailing boats and yachts dotting the setting. St Kilda is really breathtakingly beautiful at this time of the year :)

Staying with housemate has been great. He's been cooking dinner for me almost every night and making me fat lol. Neh, we are getting into the whole eat healthy shit and salads prob our most frequent dish. Loving it. He makes brilliant salads. My personal fav is one with rocket, cherry tomatoes and bocconcini. YUM. Going to do a steak dinner this weekend with fancy wine and all. Shld be good :) Moomba Festival is up this sat as well. Fireworks baby!! :)

I have been way too lazy with the camera and hafnt been taking any pics. I will get to it soon i promise. Heh.

9am tmr with Dr Small!! Time for bed.

Love love peeps.

Back in Melbourne!

2008-02-29T00:35:00.004+11:00

I'm officially back in Down Under and all settled in my new apartment with my new housemate Mr Claudio (see below) :)

Haha..see the backdrop? That's my new neighbourhood. Glorious beach, palm trees and deep blue sea! :) That is till winter gets here and it gets grey and cold. Anyways, i'm loving the new apartment and my spacious new room with my desirable double bed. Trust me, it is a torture to get out of bed in the morning just cause it is oh-so-comfortable..which is a bad thing when sch starts but i shall worry abt that later :)

Living in St Kilda is beautiful.

+1 Beach is opposite the road

+1 Quaint cafes and restaurants a short walk away

+1 San Churros (my new hunt) in the vicinity

+1 BOOST juice 5 minute on foot

+1 Supermarkets and post office a stone throw away

+1 Gym & heated pool + sauna is at the beach which is opposite the road

+1 Craft market every sunday

HOWEVER,

-5 30minutes on tram to city & school (which means waking up early so as not to be late)

-2 super duber uber cold as autumn approah. i can't bear to think abt winter.

Haha..so it all evens out. Anyhows i'm loving it and will post pictures when i get around taking them :)

Things have been well and slow since i've been back. Did all my packing and started work again at Kumon today. Enjoying my last week of hols before school starts again on tuesday. Will be a busy semester with the research project and all but it should be all good :)

Tah for now!

:(

2008-02-08T20:02:00.000+11:00

I haven't even left Singapore and i'm already missing it.

of late..

2008-01-29T00:12:00.000+11:00

I'm going blind straining my eyes against the strong sunlight and getting a fabulous (not) t-shirt cutout tan. Yoks. 16 hrs everyday at work, only to pop into bed when i get home and totally detached from the 花花世界 outside. Not that i'm complaining, i think i'm actually loving it. I think i'm a work masochist of some sort. I think i'm much of a workaholic.

But i do miss supper and chillouts with the boys, late night partying and lazing in bed after, couching with Bleach or a K drama of some sorts, Wii with my bro and sis, dinners and high teas with the girls, nua-ing with a good book, diving with my buddies, holidaying with the fantastic four and just simply laze in bed.

Oh wells.

มวยไทย, pronounced as [muāitāi]

2008-01-08T21:07:00.000+11:00

Tis my current obession..also known as The Art of the Eight Limbs. I'm fascinated by this form of hard martial arts with its fluid yet viscious moves. The fast but killer punches, kicks and knees just leave me heart thumping. Violence is in my blood.

Before each and every bout, both fighters must perform the Wai Khru Ram Muay. It's a graceful and aesthtic ritual/tradition in which fighters pay respect to their teachers, parents and things they hold sacred and pray for their safety and victory. The ritual has been developed in different ways, in different regions, even under different teachers and therefore it is theoretically impossible for two fighters to perform identical Wai Khru.

We got ourselves ring-side seats during our visit to Lumpini Boxing Stadium while in Bangkok and it was an eye-opener. Every punch and kick landed could be felt and it touches me just how passionate and dedicated the fighters are to this sport. Truely respect from the heart. GJ and FH were highly inspired. And of cuz, I have my personal favourite fighter: Petchsiri P.Siripong :) Video shows a short part of the Wai Khru Ram Muay. Interesting huh? :)

Apparently, women traditionally were banned from entering the Muay Thai boxing ring and there was no women’s boxing in Thailand. This fact originates from long-held superstitions that a female presence may destroy a Muay Thai boxer’s skill, making him vulnerable to injuries. The belief is that female boxers (Nak Muay Ying) will jinx any Muay Thai ring they fight in :(

Would totally love to go for another Muay Thai event..especially if Petchsiri is fighting! Lol. Muay Thai rocks my boat :)