Guess Who!

I remember telling myself that I will never put up the pictures I took at Sydney's Mardi Gras. Some are too revealing, some are offensive, yet others might find them hilarious. I guess I just wanted to experience first-hand the gay&lesbian festival for once, instead of watching clipets of it on TV for the past 5 years.

But, I'll post just one from that night. No prizes for guessing who's standing next to me...but for those who are clueless, think Australian Idol.

Southern Highlands Winery Trip Pix

Should have uploaded these pictures with my winery trip journal entry before but better late than never, right?



The fresh chardonnays that I had a few bites off



Am beginning to love Wollongong for its weather, well at least more stable than crazy ol' Melbourne



The offensive-looking dead wombat





Little huts dazzled with creepy crawlie plants surrounded the tasting room




Barrels of wine in the storeroom. That's my Italian flatmate. She's awesome

Ooops

I rocked up to work yesterday morning feeling real excited. Finally, I was getting to witness and perform some "real" work experience. Not complaining that my work so far has been dull, but doing logic programming isn't all that fancy. Because we had to do some work on the overhead crane, we were required to wear safety harness. One of the engineers asked me if I had worn a harness before.

"I've worn a flying fox harness. Does that count?". Damn! I should have given it more thought before spitting my unintelligient answers. As expected, I didn't know where and how to tighten the straps. The guys had to help the damsel in distress to put it on. Moving on, we walked up the crane and started doing some testings on the panels. You cannot imagine how much dirt/grime/dust/eeeky yucky stuff is up there. No one ever cleans these machines and how would they? These machines operate 24/7 and once you stop it for any maintenance, it costs the company hundreds and thousands of big bucks. Not feasible. Hence, I had the pleasure of walking on inches of dirt. How exciting.

I came back later in the arvo to supervise (by myself) another mounting near the crane. Speaking like as if I knew what was happening, I instructed the contractors where to mount the reflectors according to the design. Unfortunately, we realised that there was only an inch clearance between those reflectors and the crane. I was a bit concern but was assured that the crane may just miss it. How wrong! By the time I reported the available clearance to the design engineer, the crane had already hit the new reflectors within the hour. Lucky for us the brackets did not fall on anyone working below, otherwise we would be in deep trouble. I was assured by my colleague that I should be alright because I wasn't the design engineer. But still, the cloud of darkness continues to loom over me, especially when the last day of my probation period is TODAY.

First Driving Lesson

Am going for my "first" driving lesson in 1.5 hours time. I have not driven a car for about 3 years now. Driving up Hume Highway to Sydney doesn't count because any idiot who can operate an auto car can also do the same. I must remind myself that I am a fully qualified driver with a qualified overseas driving license. Time is ticking by and I don't have much time to boost my confidence before I shame myself behind the steering wheel.

It Stings...

In my hurry and excitement to drink the chai tea I bought from Gloria Jeans, I burnt my tongue. It must be something new that GJ finally decided to put on their drink list, well not that I ever frequent GJ. No, actually, I've never bought nor step into a GJ coffee shop. How bizarre. I've always had this misconception that GJ don't do good coffees. Hence, I will not buy anything from them.

But the huge ad in their store caught my eye and I remembered how I used to love drinking chai tea everytime I was on duty at Plush Fish (the sushi bar at Melb Uni where I used to work up until last October). And that would mean everyday since I worked full time there. What am I talking about? I'm starting to blabber blah...

Anyway for those who are in the blur, chai tea is an Indian continental favourite made with black tea, spices like cinnamon sticks and star henisse, and a pinch of vanilla. Unlike other tea, chai is brewed with either steamed milk or soy milk. But I would strongly recommend soy milk. I know most of us don't fancy soy milk, especially yours truly, and soy milk is NOT the same as soy bean milk. But the combination of soy and chai is heavenly...and is a definite must for you to try if you are a big big fan of beancurd. You will know why once you've had a sip of chai tea. Plush Fish still makes the best chai tea around. No one has surpassed them in their own concoction of chai tea, which I had the pleasure and priviledge to make and taste.

Hakuna Matata

What a wonderful phrase!
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze

It means no worries
for the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

It was way beyond my expectations. The colours, the costumes, the masks, the voices! Spectacular performance and booming creativity! I love it! The best musical I've ever seen so far.

Am in the office now and I can't concentrate! The Matata song keeps playing in my head. And I can't stop smiling...lalalalala

Tips on Cooking Oil

Tip 1: Never use olive oil as cooking oil. It's meant to be eaten/drank on its own, e.g. poured over a bowl of garden salad.

Tip 2: Refrain from using peanut oil or canola oil.

We had a lengthy discussion with a friend's dad over the best cooking oil to use. He works in a palm oil company and has conducted many experiments in Malaysia and US to prove the goodness of using palm oil over the other oils. Unfortunately, still, it's not as popular and is hardly recognised as palm oil, with manufacturers labeling it as Tropical Vegetable Oil, so I was told. I'll be hunting for a bottle of this in the supermarket. It doesn't look very appealing coz it's not as "see-through" as the rest but it's the healthiest oil around.

And a genius like me popped the question after all this talk on oil...."So what is the best cooking oil to use?" and everyone on the table was silent.

The Most Awaited Bill

I received my mobile bill yesterday. Didn't want to know how much I've cracked the bill ever since my stupid sms blunder last week. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and tore the envelope. The consecutive 42 text smses were not included in the bill period, so that gives me less than a month to be really careful before I press the green button on my phone. No I don't want to be a miser, and I don't want to quit talking and catching up with friends either. I need control. But thank goodness to Yes rollover from the previous month. It could have potentially cost me $62, but I've still got to gulp down $52 worth this time round.

Looking through the calls I've made, I was reminded by a question posed by a good friend: "Tell me something sad that happened in your life". Frankly speaking, I wasn't able to reflect on anything. I felt bad, coz I really wanted to share something from my past yet nothing crossed my mind. I felt bad, coz this friend was going through a tough time, and I wanted to encourage him. I felt lost, coz it seems that I've bottled up any sadness that I've experienced in my life and thrown it into deep sea, hoping that no one will ever find it, and hoping that I will never remember it. And I succeeded.

Life's Little Luxuries

I remember an article I read on my flight back to Wollongong on luxuries. In recent times, more and more people are learning that small things bring great happiness. These little luxuries are providing great satisfaction and reward. This new lifestyle and purchasing patterns we are embracing are representative of a new generation of consumers. Everywhere I go in the mall, I see one in every 5 people sipping a regular size Boost juice. I would add myself to the statistics, since I've become laid back in peeling an orange or even buying a watermelon.

Other changes would include:
Instant Coffee to Starbucks Green Tea Frappe
Discman to Apple iPod
Sorbolene cream to Jurlique
Fish&Chips to Sushi/sashimi (for me, vege tempura!)
Bottled juice to Boost juice
Hot bath in tub to Spa/Jacuzzi

which reminds me that I've got to bug my friend to take me to her building in Sydney and indulge in the jacuzzi. The swimming pool and Jacuzzi is on the top level, overlooking the city, opera house and harbour bridge. What a sight!

The Lion King in Melbourne...

I know I know, most of you Melbournites who have already flown to Sydney to watch it or even took up the entertainment pack must be kicking yourselves in the backs now. But, accept the fact, that they have chosen Melbourne as their next stop. I wonder if they will sell as many tickets as they did in Sydney. For those of you who haven't, the internet presale tickets start TODAY for Ticketek members and will go on sale to the general public on Friday April the 15th. So if you want to get good seats, better scramble! If you want to wait and check on Teng's preview of the musical, then check this page next Monday for first hands-on reviews from the lady herself!

A trip to the wineries

A group of us, 16 brats, made a trip down to Southern Highlands. The whole day event encompassed 5 wineries and a picnic at a small town in Mittagong. First stop Howards Lane Winery where we had a taste of freshly picked chardonnays and a well-explained history of how vineyards started in this area. Two gross-looking electrocuted wombats greeted us at the entrance of the vineyard, placed there on sticks intentionally as a warning to other animals. We then had the pleasure of tasting wine in a cozy cottage-like hut with cheese and biscuits as breaky for some.

Next stop down the road was the Mundrakoona winery. Also a small winery as the first, they produce dessert wine of which most of us found was very nice. We almost wiped them clean of the dessert wines.

Lunch was at McVitty Grove. Unfortunately they only had 3 wines for tasting as they have sold out most of their vintage wines. Saint Derycke's Winery had better choices, though made by a Kiwi, we were assured Kiwis make good chardonnays. =) Final stop was the oldest winery in the area, Joadja.

I've been to many wineries down in Victoria, mostly in Mornington, but I don't think I've drank/sip/tasted/spat so much wine as I did on this trip. But it was all worth it to have added one Cabernet Sangiovese, one Autumn Riesling, one boysenberry liquer nicknamed Brambelini and one dessert wine to my collection. Not to mention the level of sugar and alcohol after all this...but I was deinitely not drunk, thank you very much.

I threw away money....

...by sending 42 empty sms messages to the first contact on my mobile phone list. Sorry Addie for spamming you. Weird things happen when you don't lock your phone.

Say A Little Prayer...

..for Bernard, as he undergoes knee surgery on Friday.

New Naruto episodes!

How bizarre it can be when people get excited over little things. And when you are expecting something in your mailbox, you can't wait to release the joyfulness that has been stored up. Good friends are hard to come by.

The Weekend

The sun was out! Without any hesitation, we headed north to 2 small suburbs in Wollongong, Thiroul and Austinmer. There was an arts festival going on, with makeshift stalls all along the main road. It was fun time, with balloons, shows, ice chocolate and everything nice to colour the festival. Next stop was the beach at Austinmer, just the next town after Thiroul. It was just a relaxing time lying on the beach and trying to get tanned, which obviously did not make much of an impact on me, yet. The perfect breeze swaying past your hair and the gentle sounds of the waves hitting the shores were all I could feel and hear. All other things didn't matter anymore. And then, boredom and cheekiness soon struck, and my friend was cursing me for putting sand in her pants.

Dinner was made up of leftovers from Friday's steamboat. An impromptu suggestion became a reality and the four of us really enjoyed having steamboat, in a rice cooker, MY rice cooker. It won't be too long before one of us ends up buying a proper steamboat where we can control the fire and not having overcooked prawns. And a piece of advise to all : Try not to have steamboat with wine. All of us sort of had a funny tummy round about midnight while trying to outdo one another at ginramy using mahjong-like tiles. Or the culprit may just be the tofu. We also had the projector for the weekend, borrowed. So much better watching Naruto the the "wide-screen" wall then crowding around near the laptop.

Anyway sun's gone now. All I can see out of my office window are grey clouds and wet traces of the rain. Monday blues should really be changed to Monday greys.

Proof I've got Amnesia

Went back to Melb for holidays.
Task at hand (in order of importance):
* Bring back Chloe's 2 kitty bowls
* Vaccination documents
* Chloe's leftover cat food
* Yumcha
* Gelati

I packed them up, and yet, I went home without the kitty bowls and the vac documents.