Ouch and Yum

I woke up on the wrong side of bed and pulled my neck and left shoulder muscles. I can't move my head to the left or look up as it hurts like crazy. Driving to work was such a chore especially when I had to look to the left and right for traffic when turning. Never experienced such muscle pain before. I hope the pain goes away soon. Wonder if old age is catching up :(

Keith took a bit of the pain away by cooking up a scrumptious meal tonight. Photos as below. I love the potatoes best.

Dunno what to blog

I check blogs belonging to my friends on a daily basis but yet am so lazy to update my own. Feeling uninspired at the moment and don't know what to blog about. Christmas has come and gone. 2008 is fast approaching but have no resolutions. Wanted to watch the fireworks in Melbourne but Keith's working until 10pm NY's eve so I'll just have to watch it on TV.

We are almost done with the unpacking. Truth be told, Keith did most of the unpacking and arranging of stuff. If it was me, most of the things would still be in the boxes. So thanks for the hardwork darl! :)

Boxing day and year end sales have started but I've been staying away from the shops. Wonder how long it'll last. I've got a list of things I want to get like a pair of thongs (sandals :P), a pair of shorts, knee length cotton pants and a few baby tees/ polos. I've put on weight so my old baby tees are too tight now... don't like over clingy tops that show my fats. And yes, I'm shopping for summer clothes cos it's getting rather hot. The temperature went up to 37 degrees C today and is forecasted to be 43 degrees C on new year's eve. Help.

Anyway, I'm off to play on the PS3 :) If I don't blog before year end, I'd like to wish my family and friends a very happy new year. Cheers to 2008!

Unpack, unpack, unpack *sigh*

Friday 14th December, we moved into our new place in Highton. It took the movers 13 hours to load our stuff from Torquay and to unload in Highton. There were just two of them and they were working at a really slow pace hence the long hours. We had to help them too. It was 10pm by the time they finished.

First thing we set up was our bed. Next was the computer. Saturday we had to go back to Torquay to clean the house, took us 5 hours. By the time we finished, our body was aching all over. Back in Highton, we still had to unpack and Keith got his hifi set up. Our first meal at home was Indian takeaway. Sunday we got the TV, ps3 and wii hooked :) Went to JB Hifi to get some cables and a new ps3 game, Assassin. Doubt I'll have much time to play it though. Also bought a Kris Kringle pressie for a colleague which we are going to exchange at work tomorrow.

There's still heaps of stuff to unpack, don't know how long it's going to take us. The good thing about this place is there's a dishwasher, ducted air conditioning and heating. The night scene is also beautiful with the city lights. Plus we have a special study where Keith and I get to sit next to one another on our own computers haha. So there's 3 computers to play on now, ie. 2 desktops and 1 laptop :) The other thing that I'm happy about is finding my long lost childhood friend. Imagine having no contact with her ever since Standard 3, only to find her on facebook. The sweet thing is she remembers me too! Cheers to facebook :)

Now that we are living in Highton, we are slowly discovering more of Geelong. Ate at a chinese restaurant which is the only place that serves dim sum! It wasn't good at all. So looks like we still have to drive to Melbourne for our dim sum fix. Not complaining though ;) Anyway, good night for now.

Christmas Party

Keith hosted a Christmas party for his forum mates from stereonet. I've taken photos of the leftovers :P Sorry didn't have a chance to take them beforehand as there were too many people and felt embarassed snapping photos with so many people around.

1) Prawn served with seafood cocktail sauce

2) Raw salmon slices with Asian salad, fried shallots and Keith's secret sauce. Sorry no slices of salmon left in the photo :(

3) Caesar Salad. Sorry no croutons, bacon or cheese left.

4) Roast leg of ham with cloves, honey mustard and fennel.

5) 1/8th left of a strawberry mousse with sponge cake

6) Some of the wine we had. There were more but did not bother taking photos of them all.

We also had 2 roast chickens with stuffing but they were wiped clean so no photos of that unless you want to see carcasses :P hehe. It was a very yummy lunch and Keith did all the cooking while I did the washing :)

P/S: I was thinking of KatKat when having the strawberry mousse cake too! I know sleepiekoala's cake looks nicer though :P Hmm... I wonder what cake KatKat is having since we all have cakes to eat to celebrate KatKat's birthday. By the way, I love those old photos sleepiekoala posted of KatKat in college and uni days :)

Hello New House

We will be moving out of our existing house in Torquay as the owners want to move back in. We have also secured a new place to rent in Highton, Geelong. I have about 2 weeks to pack and unpack. So it's going to be a busy month, with Christmas and New Year coming up as well.

Our new place in Highton is far away from the beach but sits on very high ground. So we get to have a very scenic view of Geelong from the balcony. It's a fairly new housing estate and is nice and quiet. It'll be much closer to my workplace and Melbourne. Plus, the weather will be at least 2 degrees Celcius warmer than Torquay. I'm already picturing in my mind how to decorate the house. Some random shots of the new house.

My 32nd Birthday

Oh dear... I'm 32 years old now. Lived almost half a lifetime. The day started normal, having to work. Got birthday wishes and kisses from colleagues. Keith took me out for a nice dinner at Scorched Restaurant in Torquay. Spoke to my family on the phone for 30 minutes, miss them.

Was about to call it a night when I decided to login to facebook. Then I received an email from sleepiekoala asking me to check her blog. And when I did, boy did my whole face light up. I couldn't stop laughing and giggling looking at the photos and the posts she made. What old memories it conjured. She's such a dear, still keeping old postcards and scribblings from me 12 years ago. I wonder what other rubbish I wrote! Those were the days when we were so carefree and crazy. I really cherish the time and wonderful friendship we built. Not forgetting KatKat and Jo too, they might get upset if I don't mention them ;) So here's to you wonderful babes. Cheers!

And once again, thanks sleepiekoala for making my day. You are the best! :) *BIG HUGS*

New Laptop and New Prime Minister!

Keith bought a new Sony Vaio laptop today. I love it as it's ultra portable, slim, speedy and has large keypads. The only thing is it's loaded with Windows Vista so I have to get use to it. Keith will be happy that I won't hog his desktop as much with this new baby to use.

Sadly, John Howard has lost the election after being in power for 111/2 years. Our newly elected Prime Minister is now Kevin Rudd. Hopefully we'll see good things emerging from his leadership and government.

Helium

Customer: Are you on helium?
Me: Err, no. Why do you ask?
Customer: Because your voice is very high-pitched and you sound very happy.
Me: Ooops, no. I'm NOT on helium, pardon me.
Customer: *Chuckles*
Me: Thank you and have a nice day (low-pitch)

*Sigh* I'm trying to speak with a lower pitch these days. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't *shrug* Can't please everybody :)
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Customer: Please could you get your boss to call me back? I'm calling from New Zealand.
Me: Sure thing. What's your name and number?
Customer: Phil 'for sex'
Me: I beg your pardon? Could you repeat that?
Customer: Phil 'for sex'
Me: How do you spell that? F-o-r .... ?
Customer: It's 'for sex'
Me: Ummm, okay. Could I have your number please?
Customer: "for, sex, two, eight.. seven, nine, two, sex"
Me: Oh you mean four, six, two eight, seven, nine, two, six?
Customer: Yes, that's right. Thank you.
Me: Thank you and have a nice day. (Hang up phone and burst out laughing)

Can't get use to the Kiwi accent!
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Glorious Food, Wine, Birthdays, Shopping, Holiday

What a week it has been! I've been so busy having fun I haven't had time to log on to the internet. It started with Keith's sister and hub arriving in Melbourne from Perth on Saturday 10th Nov. We met up with them for dinner at Rockpool Grill & Bar, Crown Melbourne at 9:30pm as it was the earliest slot we could get. Rockpool is owned by local celebrity chef Neil Perry. He has written a few cook books and is famous for his steaks. I had a wagyu steak which was excellent. The dessert of strawberry salad was excellent too. We finished dinner at 1:15am, and by the time we got home it was 2:30am.

Next morning, we went to Melbourne Tullamarine airport to get Keith's mum and stepdad. Took them to our regular dim sum place in Glen Waverley. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table, it was so crowded even at 2:30pm! We enjoyed the food but was dissapointed that the egg tarts were sold out. After lunch we headed to St Kilda to check out the markets. Got 2 bars of home made soap. We then proceeded to Crown Towers Hotel to check-in. It was a breeze and we were given a villa suite. The view was beautiful from the 30th floor overlooking Yarra River and Melbourne CBD. Dinner that night was in Koko's a Japanese restaurant within Crown Hotel. We had teppanyaki, was quite good except that the bill was exorbitant so that took away the enjoyment of it.

On Monday, we went shopping in Melbourne city. Collected my Alannah Hill cardigan and went to Chanel to get my dust bag and care booklet which they ironically forgot to give me. They also lost my authenticity card which is irreplaceable. So pissed off with the service, had no choice but to accept it as it was the last bag in stock and they didn't know when the new ones would come in. We went on a hunt looking for birthday presents for Keith's sis and mum. Settled on a silver necklace and pendant from Tiffanys for his sis and a bag and wallet from Louis Vuitton for his mum.

Dinner at Nobu was excellent. I enjoyed the degustation menu of 8 courses very much. I'll definitely recommend going to Nobu and won't hesitate to go back for another dining experience. Nobu's owned by Robert De Niro and Nobu the chef. The food is very modern with Japanese and South American influence. The dishes were very light, refreshing and tantalising to the tastebuds. The only thing was they could have served us with better utensils instead of the wooden takeaway chopsticks. Here are some photos taken at Nobu.

Tuesday 13th Nov we celebrated Keith's mum's and sister's birthday. We went to Yarra Valley where the wineries are which is approximately 55km out of Melbourne city. The drive was quite pleasant except for the many traffic lights. We went to Tarrawara winery and had lunch there. Wished we had spent more time in Yarra Valley but we had to go back to the hotel early for dinner at Vue De Monde in Melbourne. Here's a photo of Keith, his mum and I at the winery.

When we got back to Melbourne, Keith bought me a black Versace dress to wear for dinner that night. I love it as I don't have any mid-length black dresses. Had to go on a mad shopping rush to get a slip as the material was quite transparent. Also bumped into Mark Webber the Australian F1 driver at the Crown lobby.

Dinner at Vue de Monde a French restaurant headed by Shannon Bennett was over the top. We each had a 10 course degustation menu at $250 per head. Food and presentation was excellent but I was so stuffed at the end of the night. I think 5 or 7 course would have been much better. Anyway it was worth the experience and we got to sit at the chef's table so we could see all the action going on in the kitchen minus the heat as we were sitting next to the ovens and pressure cooker. Get ready for the many pics and be sure not to view it on an empty stomach! :)

1) Photo shoot in the hotel room before dinner2) The chef and cooks working in the kitchen, there were about 20 of them!3) First dish was a soft shell crab with caviar and blue swimmer crab stuffing with Mojo sauce4) Box of whole truffles and white truffles shaved on to the dish of liquid gnocchi with mushrooms, tarragon emulsion, asparagus and cheese

5) Buffalo milk skin coated on top of crayfish dumpling served with bouillabaisse soup

6) Terrine of smoked ox tongue, foie gras and puy lentils with a jelly of Pedro Ximenex sherry served on a slice of toast bread7) Ocean trout soaked in beetroot juice with horseradish and baby beets, served with black cabbage and smoked at the table

8) Sliced wagyu beef with translucent soya yuzu noodle, spring onion and sweet corn puree9) Test tube of sauce poured over roast pork belly with pork rillette pancake and panada stuff baby apple

10) Cheese platter with salad11) Dessert as stated on the box
12) Honeymelon sorbet to clean the palate13) Meringue with apricot sauce, vanilla and apricot ice cream 14) Chocolate stick with fudge served like a cigar 15) Strawberry sorbet16) Complimentary handmade chocolates 17) The party of extremely full, satisfied people

Early Birthday Present

I got an early birthday present from Keith. A large black Chanel double flap lambskin bag with silver chains. I love it very much but it's very fragile. Scratches very easily so I have to be very careful. Can only take it out on special occasions or weekends. Thanks for the lovely present dear :D

Rose for a friend

Does this rose look familiar? I took it from my dear friend sleepiekoala's blog page. It was my first photoshop tutorial I received from Keith on how to make a photo look better. I hope sleepiekoala gets a new camera she's longing for because I believe she has the potential to be a good photographer. I want to see bee shots and many more! I'm sure there'll be amazing photos of nature and wildlife :)

Eyebrows

I had an eyebrow appointment with a brow specialist at the MAC counter a week ago. Here's the before and after shots. I'm happy with the results and will try to maintain them.

Swee Pie

This is a beef wellington pie Keith made. I was clearly impressed with it as it had my name on it. It tasted yummy of course :)

Sunglasses

Keith bought me a pair of Chanel sunglasses last Friday. It's the only frame that suits me as all the others are too curvy for my small flat Asian nose. I love the look, it's a classic. Thanks dear!

Hello Kitty

I was inspired to take a photo of my Hello Kitty bedroom slippers after seeing KatKat's photos of her Hello Kitty collection. I remember sleepiekoala asking me to take a photo of them before. Sorry for the long overdue delay but here it is. Haven't worn them yet as it's a bit too small when I have my thick socks on in the night. Will wait till it gets warmer to wear it.

November baby

It's the First day of November in the Year 2007. It's of course my favourite time of the year as it's my birth month. 26 more days to go before my birthday. Hip, hip, hooray!

Keith's family will be visiting Melbourne in the second week of November to celebrate his mum's and sister's birthday. Can't wait to sample the restaurants. Have booked Vue de Monde, the famous French Restaurant in Melbourne and Nobu, newly opened in Crown Casino and owned by Robert De Niro and Nobu Matsuhisa the chef. Heard plenty of rave reviews but yet to try.

November used to be a very busy month when I was working in UOB as two of my good workmates had birthdays in November too and we were each spread in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th week. So it also meant lots of celebrating, eating out, pressies and holidays. Come end November all of us would be broke and waistlines bigger but the experience worth it. So cheers to November!

Daylight saving

Daylight saving started today, Sunday 28.10.2007 with us in Victoria winding the clock forward by 1 hour. Still can't get use to the time difference, ate dinner at 10:30pm which technically to my body clock was still 9:30pm. I know that it's a bit late to be eating even at "9:30pm" but we had a very heavy "American" lunch of hot dog and burger at 2:15pm.

After lunch, we walked along Chapel St to visit my favourite boutique, Alannah Hill. Tried a few dresses and a top. Loved one of the dresses but decided not to buy as was beyond my budget, plus won't get much wear out of it. As for the top, had a little tussle with the boy as he hated it. But me being a stubborn girl, decided to go ahead with the purchase :PThis is what the "fight" was about. What do you think? Anyway I've been banned from wearing it out when with him so I'll just wear it to work. Otherwise, I'll return it next weekend as they have a 7 day return policy.

Anyway things calmed down after we went to Borders bookshop. I bought a few magazines and a book by Victorian Beckham called That Extra Half an Inch. This is what the book looks like. Not that I'm a big fan of hers, but the contents looked interesting.

Makeover

Saturday afternoon 27.10.2007, Keith and I went to AIX Cafe Creperie Salon for lunch. Being a small crammed cafe, we had to share a table with a family of three. They turned out to be Malaysians, so we chatted with them. Coincidentally, the couple's daughter is a 5th year medical student so Keith advised her, "Change course, don't do medicine!" Surprisingly her mum seconded Keith. Anyway, back to the crepes, I ordered smoked salmon while Keith had field mushrooms. They were quite good except that I wish we had ordered dessert crepes instead. Looked more tempting.

After lunch, I proceeded to get my makeover done at the Lancome counter. Was given a free makeover session after purchasing their skin care products. Felt a bit uncomfortable as it was my first time getting make up done in public with passer-bys to see. Wasn't too happy with the end product as the make up was so full-on. Not used to seeing my eyes so darkly coloured, and lips so red. Felt like I was a totally different person and in a theatrical play. Anyway here's the end product of my fateful makeover. Will it put me off or spur me on?