The week my boss was here in Sydney, we had four events back-to-back on the wednesday. The Rex Annual General Meeting at 11am. Quarterly announcement of results followed right after at about 11.30am which ended with a lunch reception. Our Australian Airline Pilot Academy's inaugural Pilot Cadet Graduation at 2pm. An informal BBQ from 5pm onwards. My team and I were totally exhausted afterwards.
When planning for the Pilot Cadet Graduation, I recycled an elaborate roof garden layout I did about a year ago for a much bigger event codenamed "Dusk" that eventually didn't happen. The layout for the Graduation was much more simplified. I suddenly felt like sharing the picture so here it is, a product of humble Microsoft Word:
And in case of bad weather, I even drew up something as contingency:
An entry with photos on the event is on its way.
ps: Madam J, you would be pleased to hear that we utilised much of the "Dusk" stuff (eg. the flower fold-up invite cards) so our previous efforts spent on planning it didn't really go to waste.
event layout
all ready for summer
With my new blue-and-white-full-of-hearts beach slippers (only $10 a pair or $15 for two pairs at JayJays), I'm all set for summer beach bumming.
These orange mini gerberas are a new addition to my walkway leading to the living room. I have a baby pink one by my window at the reading corner in my room too.
stravinsky's petrushka
Rex being one of Sydney Symphony's regional tour partners, was invited to attend their 2009 regional tour meeting at the Sydney Opera House board room. I attended the meeting on behalf of a colleague and got two complimentary tickets for the Emirates Metro Series: Stravinsky's Petrushka which I went for with a friend. This was the first time I actually watched a performance in the Opera House.
An excerpt from the program booklet: "In the Petrushka ballet the Showman plays a hypnotic flute tune to snare his audience before he unveils his magical living puppet show. Music as curtain-raiser. Mozart's symphony in this concert bears all the signs of a curtain-raiser too - one of the best kind. It's in three movements, just like the old Italian opera overtures from which the Classical symphony was born, and captures attention with music that is brilliant and arresting."
I never thought I'd attend another orchestra performance in my life, having been made to go for what seemed like hundreds of thousands of such concerts when I was in secondary school. I was in the school symphonic band then and attending such concerts was a must as that was part of the whole learning package.
I expected to be bored this time. But I really enjoyed it, to my own surprise. I was listening intently to the different instruments: I was very proud whenever the flutes played because I played one myself; I chuckled to myself every time the bassoons came in cos their sounds always create visions of toads in my mind; the oboeists reminded me of the Dutch conductor who tutored my band for a while who performed the oboe solo in Pavane in Blue with our resident conductor Mr Wong who took the trumpet solo; the majestic french horns remined me of Sunshine23; the trumpets brought me back to the days when my bro was learning it at home and I would always scream for him to stop making those horrible noises; the violinists always wow me with their synchronised playing; and I just love the sound of cellos so much. Towards the end of the performance, I suddenly remembered the piccolo solo piece I liked so much when I first learnt to play that tiny intrument - Procession of the Sardar, and kept humming it to myself.
My friend and I had a walk around the Opera House after the concert to admire Sydney's bright city skyline, and then had the best chocolate milkshake we ever had in our lives at Guylian chocolate cafe.
I ended up having a very pleasant Friday evening although it stormed crazily through the night.
those rubber boots...
...are driving me mad with lust. They remind me of the bright yellow and red 'bah-doo 鞋' my grandma used to force me to wear to the beach when I was little.
I tried on the orange pair. They are so cute. And they're only selling for $29 at the DFO. I was so tempted to bring them home. I can really see myself splashing in some muddy swamp areas in them.
But I know I don't have the courage to wear them anywhere so I reluctantly left the shop without them.
end of Q1 madness
Sent off my boss at the airport today and finally got to relax after weeks of madness. I pampered myself with a neck and shoulder massage, foot reflexology, a facial and a bubble bath. Lastly, I need a long undisturbed at-least-10-hours sleep. I'll get back on blogging track next week when I'm all recharged. *switches off the lights and covers face with smelly pillow*
silly email exchanges with BH
I was clearing my archives one day and came across many email exchanges with BH that made me LOL. Below are a few damn solid ones for reminiscing.
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: joy is not going
:/ Yeah. Haha.
If you can’t make it it’s ok also. I can always go another day.
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: joy is not going
Haha it’s ok. I need to go walk walk to rid myself of depression.
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: joy is not going
Depression?? How come?? Tell me who bully you I help you to KS him.
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: joy is not going
Who else but spg? Sianz.
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: joy is not going
Omg. Wa. Donch worri. Ii will go and /find spg and den KS the char. Euu donch worry. Ii got vacuum hax, ii oso got powderfool guild to ks together. W00t. 1337 pwn. Blackcouncii rawks.
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: joy is not going
Haha. Not only ks. But must K I L L. rob her of all her mesos and assets first. Then throw her into the flame boar map (where is that ah? I forgot man). Wah then maybe can make use of her to find the glass slippers for the quest. zzz.
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Can I go and have 1hit biscuit? haha
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Can can. U wan try the very nice Ipoh street coffee?
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Ah okie!
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Meet in kitchen in 2min then
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
I am like, how excited to go home today. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Ya suddenly very excited about the PERFECT FISH & CHIPS
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Yes yes! PERFECT *square*square*square*square* AND CHIPS!
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
I see PERFECT and 4 squares and CHIPS
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Haha. Shit. I laughed out loud in office. Tonight must take photo of the PFAC!
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Edmond Wu
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
PFAC!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good. I’m gonna blog abt the PFAC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Edmond Wu
To: Jacqueline Pak
Subject: RE: i'm gonna have a hot cup of coffee and a few HIT biscuits. HUNGRY. zzz
Yeah man. And I can link my blog to your blog during the 2 months in Sydney . HAHAHAHAHA!
From: Jacqueline Pak
To: Shawn Ang; Joy Su; Half-A-Brain-Cell; Edmond Wu
Subject: grocery
Me and Ed need to grab something from Coles later to make our perfect fish & chips for dinner. Anybody wants to buy groceries? But quick shopping no dilly dallying hor. Shopping time limited to half hour! Cos we want to go home make the PERFECT FISH & CHIPS!
around birmingham street
Seeing how good the weather was last weekend, I took the camera out for a short walk around the neighbourhood.
Even the street name sounds old fashioned. I rike!
Flowers galore! Even my dress is full of them.
I also have no lack of smash repair and auto parts shops in the vicinity to choose from if I ever need one. Not that I have a car though but maybe this can serve as a motivation to get one?
I should definitely consider going for a test drive in one of these from the Porsche Centre just next door eh? This almost new pre-owned baby is going for only AUD74k, about what I paid for my Lancer 4 years ago in SG. TMD.
And this last photo is for Madam J - our favourite nearby bakery with its irresistible vanilla and strawberry creme brulee tarts is just round the corner from my place, about 50m away. I still remember waking extra early on the day you were to leave Sydney for good to have a last cuppa together and to present you with the scrapbook I lovingly put together. Sweet memories. It's now my weekend haunt for my piccolo latte fix.
food diary: 10 - 16 nov
No diary for this past week. I have been too busy with work lately to keep track of what I eat. This week will be worse so I'll probably skip the diary for one more round. But I still try to keep to my daily supplement intake with milk or O.J.
vintage beach edition...
... from Cotton On. My latest addition to the ready-for-summer-beach-bumming gear.
food diary: 3 - 9 nov
monday
B @ 9am: coffee
L @ 12.30pm: fried noodles, mocha
D @ 7.30pm: nasi lemak, 1 pear
dump: once
tuesday
B @ 8am: mocha
L @ 11am: seafood salad, beef lasagne
Tea break @ 2pm: salads, a chicken wing, some chips (Melbourne Cup Lunch @ work)
D @ 7.30pm: homecooked chicken curry with maggi mee, 1 prata
dump: nil
wednesday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 1.30pm: seafood curry with rice, mocha
D @ 8.30pm: bangers and mash, 1 beer
dump: once
thursday
B @ 8am: bacon and egg mcmuffin, mocha
L @ 2pm: chicken burger
D @ 8pm: tonkotsu ramen
dump: once
friday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 1.30pm: chicken with chips and salad, 1 beer
D @ 9pm: BBQ beef bulgogi, pork belly, korean side dishes, kimchi pancake
dump: nil
saturday
B : nil
L @ 2pm: piccolo latte, 2 tarts
Tea break @ 5pm: penne salmon in pink sauce, piccolo latte
D : nil
dump: once
sunday
B : nil
L @ 1pm: cappuccino, sausage roll
Tea break @ 4.30pm: vietnamese beef noodles, teh tarik
D @ 9.30pm: homecooked spaghetti with salmon, chilli and basil
dump: nil
sneak peek at my new place
Here's a sneak preview of my new place. The picture below shows the main entrance into the building. I like the way the building looks so old with all the dark brown solid bricks. I suspect this block of apartments was converted from a warehouse. Unlike all the plaster walls you find in most new apartments these days, my entire apartment unit is made up of solid concrete walls. I quote Izzy: "You can have an orgasm and no one would be able to hear you." This is one of the main factors (the solid walls, not the orgasm) for my decision to take up this unit as I hated how in my old unit, I could hear every sound or movement of my neighbours from their chatterings to the opening and closing of drawers to their toilet flushes. Now, my housemate can blast her music in her room next to mine and I won't hear a thing.
The next few pics are of my bedroom. I found this polka dot quilt set and happily grabbed it at AUD39.99. I also set up a little reading/drinking corner near the old fashioned windows but lack a coffee table and perhaps another couch. I'm on the lookout for garage sales! Must tell me if you know of any taking place. I also have plenty of wardrobe space to accommodate all my rubbish accumulated over the last 2.5years now unlike my previous unit where I had to store them in boxes because they couldn't all fit into the built-ins.
And here's my bathroom. Not sure if anyone would be interested to see how my bathroom looks like but have posted the photos anyway. At least my mum and bro can take a look haha.
And then now the living room and kitchen. As you can see, the hall is still quite bare as we're awaiting the delivery of several pieces of furniture. My housemate commented my oranges create a CNY kind of atmosphere, especially when they're placed on the red table mats on the dining table.
And sorry, no photos of my housemate's room and her bathroom. Privacy privacy!
I'm a lot happier in my new place now. Accessibility is so much better, I now have a straight bus to work (only 3 or 4 bus stops away), straight bus to the city and am only 10min walk away from the nearest train station. Phew I no longer have to walk 25min to work everyday! And no more worries about having to walk back home in the dark! Also, I am now surrounded by cafes, shops, and A LOT OF FACTORY OUTLETS (SHOPPING!). I am so glad the eviction from my old unit has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Wes Carr's black and white
I missed the episode on the Final 5 of the Australian Idol because my new apartment doesn't have a TV yet. Apparently Wes (my favourite idol) gave one of his best performances ever. Check out his rendition of Michael Jackson's Black and White below. It's awesome! Wah I'm so in love with him (Wes, not Jacko). *Drools*
If you can't watch the embedded video above, you can go watch it here.
moving house
I have been busy moving house (again) this whole week, hence the long absence. The new place is still only partially furnished. There isn't any internet set up yet and I'm posting this via my mobile. I will definitely post some pics once it's all done up. After a whole weekend of unpacking, cleaning the house and organising things around, I still have 2 boxes of stuff waiting to be unpacked. It's damn tiring moving house and I've done it 3 times in the last 2.5 years and this is not including the big move from Singapore to Australia. But I'm so enjoying my new place now so I'm really not complaining this time round. Keep a look out for the pics here.
food diary: 27 oct - 2 nov
monday
B @ 9.30am: coffee
L @ 12.30pm: thai curry with rice
D @ 8.30pm: mee goreng, teh tarik
dump: once
tuesday
B @ 9.30am: mocha
L @ 1pm: chicken schnitzel with chips and salad, 2 beers
D @ 8.30pm: hokkien fried noodles
dump: once
wednesday
B @ 9.30am: coffee
L @ 1.30pm: salt and pepper calamari with rice, wanton soup, mocha
D @ 8.30pm: linguine with chilli prawns
dump: once
thursday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 2.30pm: mocha, chicken and cheese sandwich
D @ 8pm: fried rice
dump: nil
friday
B @ 9am: mocha
L @ 1.30pm:
D @ 9pm: beef tofu hotpot, pork belly, korean side dishes, 1 beer
dump: nil
saturday
B @ 10am: mocha
L @ 3pm: 2 slices of toast, mocha
D @ 9pm: century egg porridge, shredded beef, 1 beer
dump: nil
sunday
B @ 11am: fish porridge, assorted dim sum, mocha
L @ 2pm: a few bites of bread
Tea break @ 4.30pm: szechuan spicy cold noodles, spicy shredded tofu
D @ 9.30pm: cheeseburger, onion rings, chicken soup
dump: once
Posts
