I see so many people doing this yearbook yourself thing that I just have to try it myself. So here's me from 1950 to 2000. I spent a considerable time trying out with different headshots and adjusting the photos, but still, some turned out super fugly.
I think I look rather okay through the 50s and the 60s.
Then from the 70s onwards, it's pure disaster.
My personal favourite is 1960 - I look like a school principal. 1968 is not bad too - I look like my mum in her younger days. The worst one, I feel, is 1982 - I look like an ape or some other primate!
Go try yearbooking yourself. It's quite fun.
50 years of me
food diary: 22 - 28 sept
Fujiya Japanese Restaurant above Delafrance with its entrance just next to it along George Street in the city serves great shishamo and yaki onigiri! It's open til midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Cool. And you may have noticed I did not have a single proper meal on Thursday because all hell broke loose that morning. Fortunately I could still enjoy my meals and do a bit of shopping on the weekend.
monday
B @ 9am: coffee
L @ 1.30pm: chicken schnitzel, a few wedges, pineapple juice
D @ 8pm: half a murtabak, half a mee rebus, teh tarik
Supper @ 10pm: cheng teng
dump: once
tuesday
B @ 9.30am: mocha
L @ 12.30pm: spaghetti carbonara
D @ 8.30pm: pork ribs with coleslaw and chips
dump: once
wednesday
B @ 9.30am: coffee with 3 chocolate biscuits
L @ 1.30pm: thai gravy noodles, mocha
D @ 8pm: some lebanese wrap thing with hommus
dump: once
thursday
B @ 9am: nil
L @ 1pm: nil
D @ 7.30pm: nil
Snack @ 9.30pm: 1 pear, half a tomato, half an avocado
dump: diarrhoea! 5x
friday
B @ 10am: campbell chicken soup
L @ 1.30pm: beef tortellini in cream sauce
D @ 8.30pm: some korean tofu hotpot with rice, anchovy crackers
dump: nil
saturday
B @ 10.30am: coffee with chocolate biscuits
L : nil
Tea break @ 4.30pm: cappuccino
D @ 6.30pm: herbal chicken soup
Supper @ 11pm: shishamo, agedashi tofu, yaki onigiri, grilled squid
dump: nil
sunday
B : nil
L @ 1pm: assorted dim sum, fruit juice
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 1 pear
D @ 6.30pm: homecooked beef ravioli with mushrooms and celery in cream sauce
Supper @ 9.30pm: double boiled soup (some sea coconut and almond soup thing that's supposedly good for the throat and lungs)
dump: nil
小小白
I was tidying up my portable hard disk drive and backing up all my photos over the weekend when I came across an old photo of my pet rabbit 小小白. This was taken when she was a mere few weeks old. I don't know what she was doing but it does seem like she's having a ball of a time trying to chew my ex bf's precious Nikes to bits. Isn't she cute?
I would wake up in the night several times to check on her and feed her when she was a baby. Now she's larger than a cat or a small dog. I remember once, this pomeranian my neighbour had (I'm not sure if the doggie is still around) ran over to my flat, saw 小小白, jumped, and sprinted right back into his owner's arms trembling. He was petrified. I bet he's never seen a rabbit that huge. He must have been wondering "WTF is THAT?!"
I wonder how 小小白 is now.
a pumpkin meal
I bought a huge pumpkin at the Grower's Market in Flemington a while ago. Besides making tasty pumpkin soup (it was too much and I had to throw away whatever I couldn't finish), the remainder was used to complete a meal as seen in the above pic.
A huge slice of oven roasted pumpkin sprinkled with some black cracked pepper; 2 pieces of boiled chicken breast topped with some dill and some homemade guacamole (a concoction of salsa, avocado, tomatoes, splashes of lemon, onion, salt and pepper); some tabasco sauce to spice it all up. It's easy to make, tastes great and healthy too!
my mother's prom dress
I went to Newtown today after a failed attempt to acquire vintage finds in Rozelle Markets last week and found this gem in Yasime Retro. I have completely forgotten about this shop until I read about it recently on E's blog. I used to always gawk at the dresses from outside the shop but couldn't pluck up the courage to go in and try any of them. That was because I knew I would definitely buy something. I also knew I wouldn't wear what I bought much (that was when I first left SG not long ago and I was too self-conscious to wear vintage dresses in SG in the past).
I can't begin to describe how delighted I was when I spotted this dress among a heap of other messily hung dresses. It is like something my own mother would have worn to her prom night or for a first date. If I show it to her now, I think she will faint from liking it too much. It actually looks a lot better worn (on me!) than on a hanger.
I got the skinny white retro belt from Quick Brown Fox to go with the dress. Now I just have to go search for a pair of shoes and a bag to go with it to complete the look before I find an occasion to wear it to - this is the most difficult part.
Now I am beginning to understand why women can never have enough shoes. Each time I buy a dress, I start to think of getting a pair of shoes to go with it because what I already have almost always don't match, whether true or just pure psychology, I don't know.
OMG. I'm starting to become vain. OMG.
reply to a letter from L.M.
Dearest LM, I have not forgotten about you. I have decided to blog about something today that will partly answer some of the questions you asked in your email. I posted my entry here instead of replying you personally because I know my other dear friends will have more to add to what I write - more brains are always better than one!
You asked: J, how would you know if you like or love a person? And do they feel the same?
I personally don't believe in love at first sight. For me, love is something that develops after you initially take a liking to someone and subsequently get to know more about and share more with the someone. And knowing that you've read all my entries since the moblog days, you will know that I don't believe that love will last forever. I will come to that later.
When you like someone, you want to see him more and more. You miss him when you don't see him or hear from him. And when you do see him, you kinda experience the 'little deer anyhow crash - 小鹿乱撞' feeling. I quote one of the bastard ex-bfs I had when I was in uni: "When I step into class everyday, I look out for her or her stuff on her desk. I feel extremely disappointed and zombified for the rest of the lesson when I don't see anything at her seat. On the contrary, I get so excited I cannot sit still if I know she's there." That was something he told me when we were a couple but the 'her' referred to some other girl. So he was trying to tell me he liked someone else even though he was going out with me. Bastard right? (Sorry, I digress, I just couldn't help it.) But anyways, you get the idea.
Another year in uni, I had this huge crush on a guy (I think he's called Warren if I remember correctly) who used to always sit in front of me in lectures. I seldom attended lectures, but for this particular subject, I would always faithfully be there just so I can see him. I did everything I could to attract his attention: I delivered mooncakes to his hostel when mid-autumn festival was approaching; I had long phone conversations with him at night; I always acted stupid just so I can ask him schoolwork related questions so he can play the hero and 'teach' me. After a while, I just knew that he didn't feel the same for me. Trust me. You will know. My own feelings for him waned after a while too. It was obvious that was just a puppy crush. Nothing like love at all (although everytime you like someone, you tend to think you are in love). Yes, your world comes crashing down if your feelings are unrequited, but it's partly self inflicted due to ego and you pick yourself up fairly quickly cos it doesn't change your life much - that's why I know it's not love.
Sometimes, when your liking for someone is reciprocated, the both of you then start on a journey of exploration. You learn about each other's likes and dislikes, dreams and goals, lifestyles and routines, pet peeves and unusual habits etc. And you decide after a while whether those are acceptable to you or not. Then you either start to fall in love unknowingly or you start trying to find the quickest way out - I've had numerous encounters with those that belong to the latter group, I was usually the one desperately digging my way out. So, I was mostly always the bitch. But it can't be helped. That's part and parcel of life. Why prolong the misery for both parties and deprive ourselves of a chance to find someone more suitable for each of us? Now, I can sincerely offer all these ex-bfs my best wishes when they tie the knot with their loved ones. I'm sure they are now appreciative of me being honest with my feelings way back then. Sorry I keep digressing. But the point is, sometimes it takes getting together and spending significant time together to discover if it's just pure wishful thinking that by liking someone will take you to the next chapter of your life or if it's something that will blossom into something more beautiful. Do note that getting hurt is very possibly part of the entire package. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
When I am ready to give up every damn thing I have for someone; when I share my life and dreams and goals with the vision of the two of us realising them together; and when I put the well-being and safety of someone before me; then very likely, I am in love. I say, very likely, and not definitely, because some people can also experience all these during the 'like' stage. The differences, then lie in how long these feelings are being sustained for and whether these are what you THINK you feel and not what you ACTUALLY are feeling. Human beings are often delusional, even to their own pitiful selves. If you lie to yourself deep inside, then you have to be prepared to be deceived and bear the consequences of discovering the sad truth later on.
I try to recall every ex-bf I've had, both the decent ones and the bastards, and out of all 1x of them, I can only truthfully say to myself, I was in love with only one. I believe when we were together, he loved me as much as I did him. Three years on, we realised the love we had was not the love we wanted anymore. Of course, we had varied opinions on this and one ended up more hurt than the other. Like I said, love is not evergreen. The definition of love (and consequently the expectations of it), within each individual, is not a constant. It evolves as one grows, develops and changes due to all factors surrounding him/her. Whether a couple who starts off loving each other can continue to love each other through the decades depends on both parties' abilities, willingness and the efforts put in to keep pace with each other's evolving definition and expectations of love.
I quote Mr GS (in brackets are my interpretations and my own self-developed philosophy):
"Love in your teens = a rose bud. (Think 含苞欲放 >>> sex).
Love in your 20s = freshly blossomed flowers (You seek material fulfilments like fresh rose bouquet etc to symbolise love).
Love in your 30s = fully blossomed flowers (You have matured and are experiencing the peak of the most beautiful manifestations of love).
Love in your 40s = wilting flowers (here, you are given the option of drying them to make into potpourri. Otherwise, just let them die and you'll have to clean up the mess the dead flowers leave ie. you'll only be left with a heap of obligations and responsibilities).
Love in your 50s and beyond = potpourri, if you chose this option when you were in your 40s (you see, when you decide to preserve the flowers, you have to put in the effort to inject some fragrance every now and then to keep the potpourri smelling good, otherwise they are as good as dead flowers).
But of course, each individual progresses through life (and love phases) at varying speeds. You may be in your 20s but are already at the crossroads of having to decide between wilting flowers and potpourri or you may be at your 50s but just starting to like freshly blossomed flowers."
Dear friends who have endeavoured to read my nonsensical thoughts up to this stage (it's a super long entry sia), I (and LM too I'm sure) would really like to hear your views on this. Hey, at least I've spent a fruitful saturday morning thinking about serious life-shite than snoozing away, it's an achievement, man.
ps: LM, sorry I got sidetracked here and there. I had wanted to share my thoughts on this topic and as I typed, I just got carried away. Btw, I love the 2 verses you wrote about the moon that you sent to me a few weeks ago, please don't stop sending me all these ok?
grow frowers grow
In all my glorious wrath this morning, I cursed someone:
"I hope your arsehole grows frrrowers (flowers)."
Then an afterthought:
"Oh and I hope they are tulips."
stardust
I have just finished reading Stardust. It was an immense disappointment. I think this must be the first time in my life I find a movie better than the book. I find the characters in the movie so much more alive with so much more personalities than in the book. It's no wonder the book is so thin.
I am thinking it could be due to my exceptionally high expectations of the book after reading Neverwhere. Each time I picked up the book, I would doze off after a few pages, the exact opposite of Neverwhere. I think I got bored because everything seems to happen just right. No mishaps. Or maybe there are, but they are minor, not like major life threatening ones that make you scream inside your head "arrggghhhh, is she going to die?" while you frantically read on to find out what's going to happen next. Oh, but I did feel sorry for the unicorn. That the unicorn was killed in such a brutal bloody way surprised me a bit considering the rest of the story is so much of a happily-ever-after kind of fairytale.
E did mention in the comments that Stardust also comes in a graphic novel version that is much more enchanting than the novel. I may try to go find it in a secondhand bookstore when I have time.
I'm now about to start on a Stephen Fry book that I accidentally stumbled upon in the Rozelle Markets. I have no idea what I am going to be reading about. I hope I have a pleasant surprise.
all hell broke loose
Just when I'm about to fully recover from the 2-month long cough, I suddenly developed some form of food poisoning / gastric flu on thursday. I knew something bad was going to happen all throughout wednesday night, as I tossed and turned in bed with a weird feeling in the tummy. Come thursday morning, all hell just broke loose.
Izzy went and grabbed some anti LS and anti puke pills for me. She also donated some re-hydration effervescence pills from her private collection. As I had an important meeting to attend at noon, I gulped down all possible medication I could take and desperately hoped to be well enough to attend it. An hour later, I sent Izzy a text message, "Hey the pills don't work, I'm still pissing through my arse." And so, I missed the meeting.
As such I spent the most part of the day in and out of the toilet, and on the bed at other times. I didn't even have any food because I just couldn't. Then the fever, chills, and migraine all decided to pay me a visit. I swear this is the first time in my life I've had ALL of these happen to me at the same time. I think I must have been cursed or something.
Finally, I had a pear and a few bites off a tomato and an avocado at about 9pm before I hit the bed and continued to sleep til friday morning.
food diary: 15 - 21 sept
This past week was all about experimenting with pumpkins, sashimi and creating new sauces, salad dressings and dips. The homemade guacamole was superb. The raw kingfish and salmon creations left me craving for more. And there's plenty room for improvement for the pumpkin soup. I have also realised that I can't do without coffee for even a day. So much for cutting down on my caffeine intake by reducing consumption to only one cuppa every other day, it's impossible. I can't function normally without it. So I now mostly opt for a mocha than an expresso or cappuccino. Not that it makes a lot of difference. Caffeine is caffeine is caffeine. And mocha doesn't stain my teeth any less than latte or long or short blacks. Bah.
monday
B @ 9am: mocha, half a slice of banana bread
L @ 12.30pm: thai gravy noodles, 1 vanilla latte
Tea break @ 4.30pm: half a slice of banana bread
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - chicken breast topped with homemade guacamole, oven roasted pumkin sprinkled with cracked black pepper and dill, tiramisu with orange peel
dump: nil
tuesday
B @ 9.30am: mocha
L @ 12.30pm: beef tortellini in cream sauce, 1 slice of pizza
D @ 8.30pm: fried noodles, a handful of peanuts
dump: nil
wednesday
B @ 11am: mocha
L @ 2pm: half a large pizza, 1 mocha
D @ 9pm: salad with homemade dressing - tomatoes, radish, avocado
dump: once
thursday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 1pm: rice with butter chicken curry, beef vindaloo, spinach with cottage cheese
D @ 7.30pm: fried noodles, teh tarik
dump: once
friday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 1.30pm: spaghetti carbonara, mocha
D @ 6.30pm: 1 slice of mud cake
Supper @ 11pm: salad (tomatoes, corn and brocolli) with honey mustard
dump: once
saturday
B : nil
L @ 12noon: corn fritters, poached eggs, bacon and toast with hollandaise sauce, cappuccino
D @ 6pm: kingfish and salmon sashimi, 1 beer
Supper @ 11pm: mouthfuls of fried rice noodles
dump: once
sunday
B : nil
L @ 12noon: homemade pumpkin soup with garlic bread, mocha
D @ 5.30pm: spicy beef stew vietnamese noodles
Supper @ 11pm: homecooked double boiled chicken soup
dump: once
spree spree spree
Woohoo! We got our bonus last week. Even though it's a measly amount after tax, it still warrants a shopping spree!
From Miss Shop in Myer: camisoles in many colours at $25 for two. Comfy.
From Supre: sundress in bright pink and pastel green at $40 each. I wanted to get one of each colour (there's yellow, chilli red, blue, black and white too) because they're so pretty but that will be overly indulgent of me. They may look a bit plain on their own but I've already got ideas on sprucing them up with accessories. Great for summer!!!
From Jeans West: a simple soft brown bag at $20. This is to replace the recycleable Supre bags I've been carrying out, so that people will stop laughing at how ah soh I am HAHA.
And accessories: a floral scarf from Myer at $7 that that I intend to double up as a belt at times; a super wide brown belt from Supre at $15; a gold medium width belt from Supre at $15; a skinny brown belt from Jeans West at $9.
There were two other dresses I got but I was too lazy to take photos of them - a black dress for work and a silky bronze coloured evening dress that was on a 50% discount.
Total damage for the day: $295 for 4 dresses, 4 tops, 3 belts, a bag and a scarf. Not too bad huh.
piccolo padre
This is a photo taken of a wall in this cosy little cafe I spent a short afternoon in on a hot sunny Saturday. I couldn't stop looking at the reflection of the spinning fan in the mirror.
Because E keeps blogging about the bargain vintage buys (and they're beautiful) she always manages to find in the Rozelle Markets, I made it a point to pay a visit there this weekend.
I had no luck on the shopping front. I scoured through racks and racks of vintage dresses, and the only 2 dresses I took a liking to didn't fit me. Sad. I ended up getting a secondhand Stephen Fry book so I don't go home emptyhanded. Now I'm jealous of E. Bleah.
I did, however, discover the best risotto in the world - smoked salmon risotto with fetta and basil pesto in a cream sauce, (ok so I exaggerate but you know what I mean) in Piccolo Padre along the main Darling Street in Rozelle. They serve damn good coffee too. I can't help but notice how retro their coffee machine is too but forgot to take a shot of it. I'm definitely coming back to Piccolo's again.
I shall go back to my usual shopping place - Newtown and hope I have more luck with vintage finds. I wonder if I can find something similar to the dress my mum left me but was accidentally disposed of during my apartment move.
wall-e
I watched Wall-E on Saturday night. It's a computer animated film produced by Pixar.
Wall-E, a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class robot is the only functioning robot left on Earth. He spends his days compacting waste and stacking them into skyscrapers so as to clean up Earth for the human beings to return to after living on board a starliner Axiom for 700 years.
Wall-E has a pet cockroach and collects interesting 'toys' he finds while performing his duties. Over the years, Wall-E learns about human emotions through watching old videos.
Wall-E meets another robot Eve, deployed to Earth to scan for plant life and falls in love with her. When Eve goes into sleep mode upon the sighting of plant life, Wall-E panics and tries unsuccessfully to revive her. Wall-E, with the hope that Eve will wake one day, takes care of her and protects her from the elements. However she's taken back to her mothership and Wall-E, thinking she's in danger, follows the shuttle through space to save her.
I went AWWWWWWWWW at the part when Wall-E held an umbrella over Eve during a storm and got struck by lightning again and again, but he never gave up and stood guard beside Eve, sheltering her from the rain while he got abused by the storm. It was so sweet and heartwarming.
I always love a good animation film. When I first saw the trailer many months ago, I told myself I MUST watch Wall-E. And I wasn't disappointed. If you haven't seen it, please do so. You'll be well entertained, I promise.
ps: Madagascar 2 is coming!!! I loved the first one!!!
experimenting with sashimi
Instead of the usual way of eating sashimi with wasabi and soya sauce...
Slices of king fish on small pieces of toasted bread, sprinkled with pan fried garlic, olive oil, chopped onions, dill, some salt and cracked black pepper.
The same for salmon but without the bread.
food diary: 8 - 14 sept
I was (actually am still) quite weak after being sick for so many weeks. I remember my mum used to always make those yucky black chinese herbal soups with black skinny kampung chickens for me. She also made me lug back a few boxes of herbs (not all made it past the Australian customs though) the last time I came back from SG so that I can make soups for myself regularly. And so it was 十全大补汤 for me last week. Double-boiled for 4.5hours! It was not bitter like I expected. Quite nice actually. I totally devoured the half chicken (normal white chicken, not the black ones) used to cook the soup. It shall be dang gui (dunno which dang and which gui) chicken soup next. And I dunno what other herbal soups there are...
monday
B : nil
L @ 11.30pm: fried rice, beef in black bean sauce, 1 mocha
Tea break @ 3.30pm: mocha
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - antipasto black and green olives, fresh ripe on the vine tomatoes, steamed brocolli and cauliflower salad, fusili with mushrooms in cream sauce, some yoghurt
dump: nil
tuesday
B @ 9.30am: lemon and ginger tea
L @ 12.30pm: laksa, mocha
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 1 KrispyKreme doughnut
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - 3 slices of garlic bread, 2 large oven baked portobellas topped with minced garlic, spaghetti in basil pesto sauce, green olives stuffed with fetta and sundried tomatoes
dump: nil
wednesday
B @ 9.30am: 1 mocha, 1 chocolate crunch
L @ 1.30pm: thai gravy noodles
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - porridge with dried scallops, stir fried fresh shitake with baby corn and fresh scallops, fried eggs
dump: once
thursday
B @ 8.30am: nil
Tea break @ 11am: half a ham cheese croissant
L @ 1pm: laksa, mocha
Tea break @ 4.30pm: mocha cheesecake
D @ 7.30pm: hotpot with quail's eggs, enoky mushrooms, fish roe balls, luncheon meat, sichuan cold noodles
dump: once
friday
B : nil
L @ 1.30pm: chicken schnitzel with chips and salad
D @ 8pm: nasi goreng with an egg
dump: once
saturday
B @ 11am: half a burger with the lot
L @ 2pm: homemade salad - cherry tomatoes, avocado and baby radish with a homemade sauce of mustard seed, honey, lemon and olive oil
D @ 7pm: crumbed chicken breast with mashed potato
dump: nil
sunday
B : nil
L @ 12.30pm: salmon and tuna sashimi, fresh oysters, chilli mussels, seaweed salad
D @ 6.30pm: homecooked meal - chicken herbal soup with the chicken meat, chilli mussels
Supper @ 10.30pm: avocado, cherry tomato and radish salad
dump: nil
i love my homecooked meals
Madam J emailed me to say she can't see the photos in my previous entry on the meal I prepared. Does anyone else have this same problem?
Anyways, I have more photos here of another meal I prepared in the last week.
The sides: garlic bread & portobellas topped with minced garlic.
The mains: spaghetti in a basil pesto sauce, topped with some snowpea sprouts and green olives stuffed with fetta and sundried tomatoes on the side.
I really enjoyed the meal. Yumz.
i scare myself
I am posting this photo specially for all my friends who read my blog. Hehe.
I bought a new hydration mask from Jurlique that happens to be of a bird shit green colour. One night, I applied it and thought it looked scary in the orangey light from my bedside lamp. So I took many shots of myself making ghost faces.
A few nights later, I took out my camera to photograph my new shoes. This picture appeared when I turned on the cam to take a close up shot of the shoes and man... I jumped. I had forgotten about the scary pics I took.
Afterwards, I found it so funny I thought I should share with all of you, my friends. Haha.
seafood feast
After the depressing morning shower, the grey gloomy sky made way for a glorious sunny noon (which unfortunately only lasted a short 2 hours). The moment we saw the sun, KT and I hit the roads for the Sydney Fish Market without hesitation. We have been away from the oysters and sashimi for too long now.
After surviving the madness in the market and getting all the seafood we needed for a pig-out session, we saw a fishing boat come in and ran over to have a peep.
Wah! They caught lots of huge yellow fin tuna! I heard one of the men on the boat ask another, "We aren't allowed to bring the shark in, are we?" and lingered about for a while hoping to see the shark. No luck.
Instead of enjoying the sashimi and oyster feast by the docks which we usually do, we brought it back home because we weren't sure if it was going to rain again.
The feast! Fresh oysters (added a lot of lemon, tabasco sauce, cracked black pepper and a bit of chardonnay), salmon and tuna sashimi (wasabi!!!), seaweed salad, some antipasto olives, fresh cherry tomatoes and baby radish with a homemade sauce.
And a bowl of homecooked chilli mussels. YUMZ!!!
ps: I think the cold winter days are permanently gone (til next season). I am starting to cough less as the weather turns warmer. Gonna start going on nice photowalks (need to get my hands on a better camera, my crappy sony T5 is dying soon) and spring roadtrips from next weekend onwards! Woohoo!!!
flemington market
Saturday was a good day to go outdoors. Bright and sunny, it almost felt like summer. I woke up at an astonishing hour - 9.30am (anyone close to me knows what a lazy bum I am, I never wake up before noon on weekends!). The reason for waking early was to go squeeze with 3 thousand others (I exaggerate) to get cheap fruits and veges from the Growers' Market in Flemington.
See how huge the place is? I may not be exaggerating after all when I say a few thousand others were there.
You can get all kinds of fruits and veges from this place. Some, I couldn't even identify what they were.
They sell by the boxes and sacks. People like me who buy 2 tomatoes and 1 carrot when I go supermarket shopping should not even be coming here. That bag of carrots above can last me a year, I reckon. And that sack of potatoes? If I finish those before they go bad, you'll probably see me balloon to 3x my current size.
See how cheap things are here? A box of at least 20 big granny smith apples only sets you back $5. When it gets nearer to closing time, the seller will part with this same box for $2 or even $1. The whole place becomes a nightmare from 1pm onwards, with sellers screaming "$1! $2!" while doing weird things to attract your attention. I barely made it out alive after getting myself some radish, a kilo of brocolli, a tray of ripe on the vine tomatoes, 2 punnets of cherry tomatoes, a tray of mandarins, a box of apples, a kilo of celery, 3 kilos of avocado, an enormous pumpkin and a massive headache. I do not know how the hell I am going to finish all these. But what the heck, the fun was in the bargaining for a great deal.
ps: BH, this is Paddy's Market x10! From the way you were so satisfied with yourself over your $1 for 8 apples (or something like that) I think you will go crazy when you go to Flemington Market!
i've got new shoes
From Wanted Shoes: comfy flats for everyday wear. I've walked 25min to work and up and down the stairs at least 10x in the office building today in this pair and didn't feel pain nor get any blisters.
From Nine West: sexy black patent heels. For the occasional clubbing night out when I have to look tall and sexy to attract pretty boys. Still unworn.
taking my time to savour the food
These days, besides spending time to plan my dinner menu and preparing the meals, I have been trying to improve on their presentation so as to make the food look more appetising. I'm also learning to eat slower so as to savour the food I painstakingly prepare at the end of a long and tiring day at work. I will throw in some antipasto or vege salads and a glass of wine, then have a nice slow dinner while watching The Australian Idol or news and finally indulge in some sweet dessert. Quite the opposite of how I used to always gulp down my food in 2 minutes before rushing to get online on the computer.
Here's what I whipped up in 45min and spent the next half hour savouring tonight.
food diary: 1 - 7 sept
2 weeks into my cough and laryngitis, I got so sick on friday (had intermittent slight fevers and kept shivering) that I missed work again. I was bedridden and didn't have the strength to crawl out of bed to pee, drink or eat. A friend had to come drag me out of the blankets to feed me some dinner, then hunt around the vicinity for a chemist that might still be open at slightly past 8pm (of course we were unsuccessful, welcome to Australia). He even drove me to the nearest hospital thinking we might be able to get something there but no, the pharmacy was closed. My condition was not that life threatening as to get me admitted to the hospital so we made a u-turn and went home. But that trip did us good. At least we found out where the nearest hospital is, just in case of an emergency.
On the meals for the week, the highlight was my homecooked oven grilled portobella mushrooms topped with minced garlic and cracked pepper, chicken and mushroom ravioli with celery in cream sauce with stuffed olives on the side and chocolate truffle topped with orange peel for dessert. I only just figured out how to use my oven. I am gonna explore making new dishes with it when I plan my menu now. Oh, btw, I've started this weekly menu planning thing. I may post a picture of it later.
monday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk, 1 mocha
L @ 2pm: thai gravy rice noodles
D @ 7.30pm: homecooked spaghetti with mushrooms and bacon, half a raw tomato
dump: once
tuesday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
Tea break @ 10.30am: 1 mocha
L @ 1.30pm: assorted sandwiches
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - half a raw tomato, steamed vege salad (brocolli, cauliflower, baby corn and carrots), king island chunky beef pie
dump: nil
wednesday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
Tea break @ 10am: pappadums
L @ 1.30pm: thai gravy rice noodles, 1 mocha
D @ 8pm: homecooked meal - 2 oven grilled portobella mushrooms topped with minced garlic and cracked pepper, chicken and mushroom ravioli with celery in cream sauce, stuffed olives on the side, chocolate mousse topped with orange peel
dump: once
thursday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
Tea break @ 10am: 1 mocha
L @ 1.30pm: 3 sushi rolls (salmon, california and teriyaki chicken)
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 1 vegetarian wrap
D @ 7.30pm: some chicken, noodles, spring onion pancake, grilled mutton
dump: nil
friday
B : nil
L : nil
D @ 8pm: rice, eggplant with minced pork, salt and pepper tofu
dump: nil
saturday
B : nil
L @ 2.30pm: prawn and vege tempura soba, a bit of a japanese seafood pancake (okonomiyaki)
D @ 8pm: some nachos with chicken, some fajitas with beef
dump: once
sunday
B : nil
L @ 12.30pm: fish fillet porridge, a few pieces of yew char kway
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 1 cappuccino, 1 caramel chocolate slice
D @ 7pm: rice, korean ginseng chicken soup, mouthfuls of beef bulgogi
dump: nil
aveda for my hair
I went and blew AUD164 on haircare products today - shampoo, conditioner, and hair treatment cream, all from Aveda. Actually, I bought more than just hair products on my rare Sunday shopping spree... 2 pairs of shoes, a top and a book... gotta survive on air and water for the next 2 weeks.
Because I colour my hair very often, at least once every 2 months due to my grey hair genes, they get very dry and brittle. I need really intensive hair repair products to restore them back to their previous silky smooth condition.
Since I've budgeted money for Project P (sub projects skincare and healthcare) for the last 2 months, I decided to make haircare a sub project too and apportioned part of the budget for it.
I have heard a lot of great reviews from friends (my lesbian lover yen-yen absolutely swears by Aveda) and friends' friends who've used Aveda hair products so I guess it's worth a try. The lady who served me at the QVB outlet offered me tea while I browsed in the shop and spent about 25min (could have been longer if I wasn't in a bit if a rush) finding out about my hair problems and then explaining to me what each product is good for before recommending what's most suitable for me. I was quite blown away by the service. Like that, how not to buy?
I've just used the shampoo and treatment cream for the first time tonight and I love how my hair smells now. I'll see if my hair's texture has improved a month later. Til then.
neverwhere
I first came to know of Neil Gaiman through my favourite tudi. She used to (still does?) rave about the Sandman series. So when I chanced upon this book by Neil Gaiman, I stopped to take a look. The story appeared interesting enough for me to spend AUD20+ on the book although I didn't quite like the cover. I'm not sure if it's just me, but book covers (the design, colour, texture of the paper, font, graphic etc) affect to a very large extent my selection of my read for the month. I was also pleasantly delighted to discover that Stardust was written by Neil Gaiman too. I enjoyed the movie and wouldn't mind getting the book.
Once I got started on Neverwhere, I couldn't stop reading it. Gaiman is really such a good storyteller.
One of the main characters in Neverwhere, Door, has such unique and amazing powers - she and her family possess the ability to open doors. They can create doors where there are no doors, unlock doors that are locked and open doors that are never meant to be opened. They live in a house, if you can call that a house, where there is only one huge white room they call the entrance hall that has no doors nor openings of any kind. Instead the walls are filled with pictures of different rooms in different locations all linked to the entrance hall and only Door and her family can access these rooms with their door opening abilities. Her dad will travel, find places he likes and links it to the entrance hall. I think that is so cool! Maybe that is how our houses will be like in many many many years down the road!
My favourite character is the Marquis de Carabas. I never once doubted his loyalty to Door although he may appear to be the slippery kind. I didn't think he really 'died' when he did because I knew he has to have a bigger role to play than that. Hunter caught me by surprise though. I was always under the impression that Croup and Vandemar were deliberately creating feelings of mistrust by dropping hints of the existence of a traitor in the group. On hindsight, Hunter does seem the most suspicious one most likely to be the traitor among them.
Richard Mayhew is just plain common and a weakling until he passed the ordeal of the key. That totally changed my impression of him. And also when he prepared to sacrifice himself during the final confrontation with Islington. His girlfriend for the first few chapters, Jessica, is a total bitch. She is so like someone I know. *shivers at the thought of it*
I really like the floating market concept. I find it funny that one of the markets took place at Harrods. I wonder how Gaiman came up with all the amazing things one can find at the floating market. There's a stall that sells nightmares. I have lots of them to barter trade in the floating market in Sydney Below, if it exists!
I wonder, if there is a Sydney Below, would I dare venture into it? I think I'll prefer to stay in my comfort zone, hide away under my warm quilt hugging my very soft bolster than to go explore the sewers, get lost in a labyrinth and fight evil angels or ugly beasts.
chocolate & zabaione mousses
Introducing my current favourite snack... *drum rolls*... Crema al cioccolato e zabaione & cacao... it's heaven...
Add some orange peel to it... and you get this...
... and a semi botak orange...
In case you're wondering, you can get the mousse thing at Coles supermarket.
the phantom of the opera
I got 2 front row tickets to watch The Phantom of the Opera as a birthday present.
On Sunday, I dressed up a little and arrived early at the Lyric Theatre in Star City after a quick visit to Darling Harbour where the Malaysian Festival was held. As I didn't get to savour any delicious malaysian food, I had a quick bite at Star City instead. I then had about an hour to kill before the musical started. A bit drowsy from the 'happy juice' concoction (read: cough syrup), I found a comfy couch in a cafe and spaced out until it was time to enter the theatre.
The person I was most attracted to during the whole musical was the female conductor the stage cast affectionately referred to as 'Maestro'. She stood only a few arms' lengths from where I sat. I had an unobstructed view of the stage and the area where the musicians were seated (is there a term for this group of musicians who play for musicals? Don't think it's called an orchestra?). This Maestro is so not the stereotypical old, grey-haired, wrinkly-faced, usually male conductor. She's gorgeous, slim and doesn't look a day past 35. She appeared so relaxed and was constantly smiling at the violinists and clarinetists while keeping her eyes on what was happening on stage. She conducted the piece with such grace and was so charismatic I just couldn't take my eyes off her. I also liked the black slightly see-through uber sexy top she wore. She would definitely be someone I'd go after if I'm a guy or a lesbian.
I was a little surprised by how small the stage in the Lyric Theatre was. The entire theatre didn't seem as grand as I imagined it to be too. I would be interested to go watch something at the Capitol Theatre and the Sydney Opera House just to see how the interior is like.
Anyways, back to the musical. The Phantom of the Opera holds a special place in my heart. I struggled through many songs from this musical in my first days learning to play the flute back in my symphonic band years. I still remember those days when I would stand along the corridor outside the band room everyday after lessons, practising my solos in the heat. Then, shortly after performing this Andrew Lloyd Webber piece for our annual school concert, the Phantom troupe arrived in Singapore (I think that was in 1995 or 1996). Being a poor student, I couldn't afford a ticket and was very upset. I think Sunshine23 went (if I remember correctly). I must have been so jealous then. So I went and bought the book instead. I think I read it a few times. And I never failed to shed a few silent tears each time I read it.
Over the years, I never had a chance to watch any musical (besides the students' performance of The Sound of Music for one of my school's events back in 1992 - I think), partly due to work, partly due to the lack of companions to watch them with (how sad). So so so. The Phantom is my virgin musical! This is rather embarrassing, since I'd played so many songs (and fell in love with them) from so many musicals since I was 13. I remember I hated Miss Saigon because I couldn't master the flute sections for that piece. But I've always wanted to watch Miss Saigon because a mentor-and-friend watched it in London and told me it was one of the best he's seen. He also said I must watch it in London and nowhere else. Okaaaaaaaaaaay. I'll add it to the list of to-do things before I die.
Next up: I'm hoping it will be Billy Elliot at Capitol Theatre. Any sponsors? Hehe.
my happy juice
(If you haven't already read about my previous encounters with the happy juice concoction - cough syrup and/or steroids and/or nasal spray and/or lozenges, you should read them here and here.)
I was quite out of everything yesterday at work. It seemed like I left my brains at home. I took a heavier-than-usual dosage of happy juice in the morning, then again before I went for lunch and again at 3pm after lunch. I promptly forgot about the 3pm consumption and proceeded to take another big gulp from the happy juice bottle at 4.30pm.
I felt high. Happy and high. I felt my brains floating around me.
In the half hour that followed: I typed a document and closed it without saving, thus losing the document and had to retype it; I stared at a form and couldn't complete a simple section on the start and end dates of the financial year; I looked at my neighbour seated at the cube on my left, spoke to her with glazed eyes and didn't know what the hell I was saying; I kept smiling and shaking my head like a silly goose.
La-la-la-la-la. Happy happy juice.
food diary: 25 - 31 aug
I haven't been eating much this past week. Many of the items listed below were mostly mouthfuls of a plate of something or bites off a full portion of something. I seem to take more lozenges and an assortment of other tablets than proper food. I'm sure I've lost a bit of weight.
monday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
L @ 1pm: rice, wanton soup, salt and pepper pork chop
D @ 8pm: assorted sushi, 2 kiwis
dump: once
tuesday
B : nil
L @ 3.30pm: 1 glass of milk, 3 slices of sushi
D @ 7pm: sweet chilli shredded duck hokkien mee
dump: once
wednesday
B @ 10am: mouthfuls of tantan noodles
L @ 12.30pm: mouthfuls of lasagne, mouthfuls of a hot pasta salad, some fruits
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 1 mocha
D @ 8pm: vietnamese beef noodle soup, 1 caramel slice, 1 mocha
dump: once
thursday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
Tea break @ 10am: 1 lemon tart, 1 coffee
L @ 1.30pm: mouthfuls of wanton soup noodles, mocha
Tea break @ 4.30pm: 2 mini duck pancake rolls, 1 mini mushroom ragout, 1 pork ball, 1 small lamb chop (all bite-sized)
D @ 7.30pm: some leftover food from office meetings (didn't eat much)
dump: nil
friday
B @ 8.30am: 1 glass of milk
Tea break @ 10.30am: some chocolate pudding thing
L @ 2pm: spinach and ricotta lasagne with green salad
D @ 8pm: century egg porridge with shredded beef
dump: nil
saturday
B @ 11am: 1 glass of milk
L @ 1pm: chicken katsu don, japanese green tea, few bites of a slice of mud cake, 2 sips of coffee
D @ 8pm: mouthfuls of a prawn tempura udon, japanese green tea
dump: nil
sunday
B : nil
L @ 1.30pm: half a portion of stir fried beef rice noodles, mouthfuls of a mud cake, a few sips of mocha
D @ 7pm: half a beef pie with mashed potatoes and mashed peas, half a hotdog
dump: nil
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