Cars and I don't gel very well. I don't pay too much attention to them. I've mistaken a BMW for a Honda or a BMW for a Merc many a time. They all look the same to me, so long as its approximately the same colour (all dark colour cars look the same). Two weeks ago, I told a couple of people that K recently acquired a blue Honda Prelude. It turned out to be a blue Skyline. At least I got the colour right. A couple of times, I've walked up to a car, yanked on the door knob and asked myself, "why can't I open the door?!?" only to realise a few seconds too late that I'm trying to open the door of the wrong car.
So, the inevitable occured today.
Today, A accompanied me to buy some fruits and vegetables. I happily picked out my fruits and vegetables for the next week, crossed the road and proceeded back to his car (or so I thought). I then yanked the door open and was about to slide my body inside and plonk myself on the seat, when just in the nick of time, at the corner of my eye, I noticed a man recoiling in horror, with his eyes bulging out, jaw dropped and hands up in the air, like a man at war caught by surprise by his enemy.
Then there was that two second freeze, where I stared at him and he stared at me while I trying to process all that information in my brain, "Why is there a strange man in my seat? Why does he look so shocked? O o..is this the right car? Oh no, I almost sat in a strange man's lap."
I quickly slammed the door shut, did a quick apologetic wave and ran in front. To say I was slightly embarassed was an understatement.
A who then noticed what happened, started laughing and said, "You were about to make a stranger's dream come true."
I glared at him and said, "Don't bring it up."
To which he replied, "It will be tonight's topic of conversation with the boys."
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Crue Coffee Lounge, South Yarra
Hello! First, a short note to say that I'm doing well. A couple of people have asked me where have I been and why have I been sounding so crestfallen as of late. I'm here to say that I'm back and well =) I've learnt so much about myself and life in the past few weeks that I can't wait to share it all on my blog. But till I find the right words to say, I'll leave you guys with some yummy-licious pictures.
Last Saturday, Ivy invited me out for brunch with her hubby and the Sohs. They decided to venture out to this new joint, Crue Coffee Lounge which lies on the other side of town. The cafe is well-known for its good coffees. So we were there to test out this theory and also indulge ourselves in their extensive menu.
Spiced fried eggs with chorizo sausages and rocket leaves on flat bread. Absolutely delicious. A fresh change from the usual poach eggs that I usually have. And you can't go wrong with chorizon sausages.
Ives ordered a rhubarb and cream with bananas on bread. (I think there were bananas although I can't spot them in this picture)
Nasi goreng. They have taken nasi goreng to a different level (!). It won't be everybody's cup of tea especially when you have tried the real thing and you would know they have butchered the original recipe and put a western spin to it. But hey, to each his own. The nasi goreng tasted a little sweet and it was fried with bacon (hello? bacon! nasi goreng being a malay dish is suppose to be halal. but who can argue with bacon. yum yum)
They reserved a cozy corner for us. It's always good to make a booking, especially on a busy Saturday morning.
Overall verdict? You'll definitely see me there again! Lovely ambience. With my knowledge on coffee (almost zilch), I can't say too much about the coffees except to give you the standard answer, "its good". But based on all these numerous reviews floating around the world wide web, its safe to say that the coffee its excellent as many are claiming that its one of the best coffees they have tasted in Melbourne. With regards to the food, oh yumm!!! And, apparently, they change the menu quite frequently. Excellent, I always love a good surprise =)
Do pamper yourself at Crue Coffee Lounge, South Yarra.
194 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Melbourne, Australia
03 9827 5058
Last Saturday, Ivy invited me out for brunch with her hubby and the Sohs. They decided to venture out to this new joint, Crue Coffee Lounge which lies on the other side of town. The cafe is well-known for its good coffees. So we were there to test out this theory and also indulge ourselves in their extensive menu.
Spiced fried eggs with chorizo sausages and rocket leaves on flat bread. Absolutely delicious. A fresh change from the usual poach eggs that I usually have. And you can't go wrong with chorizon sausages.
Ives ordered a rhubarb and cream with bananas on bread. (I think there were bananas although I can't spot them in this picture)
Nasi goreng. They have taken nasi goreng to a different level (!). It won't be everybody's cup of tea especially when you have tried the real thing and you would know they have butchered the original recipe and put a western spin to it. But hey, to each his own. The nasi goreng tasted a little sweet and it was fried with bacon (hello? bacon! nasi goreng being a malay dish is suppose to be halal. but who can argue with bacon. yum yum)
They reserved a cozy corner for us. It's always good to make a booking, especially on a busy Saturday morning.
Overall verdict? You'll definitely see me there again! Lovely ambience. With my knowledge on coffee (almost zilch), I can't say too much about the coffees except to give you the standard answer, "its good". But based on all these numerous reviews floating around the world wide web, its safe to say that the coffee its excellent as many are claiming that its one of the best coffees they have tasted in Melbourne. With regards to the food, oh yumm!!! And, apparently, they change the menu quite frequently. Excellent, I always love a good surprise =)
Do pamper yourself at Crue Coffee Lounge, South Yarra.
194 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Melbourne, Australia
03 9827 5058
Monday, October 05, 2009
Perfunctory
I have been contemplating shutting down my blog for a while. I have lost the ability to express how I feel on this blog. Everything has boiled down to a string of meaningless entries – pictures, what I have been doing and a couple of videos. And my entries are few and far in between. It’s not who I am. In fact, I now don’t know who I am. All I know is that I haven’t been happy for a while. And the state I was in was unhealthy. If there’s anything I learn from the past few months, is firstly to always trust your gut instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it is not right.
Secondly, always remember that you are worthy because you are a child of God. So many words and accusations have been thrown my way – I’m insecure, emotionless, cold, unaffectionate, standoff-ish. I know that the daggers have been thrown without spite or ill intentions but it was out of frustration. But harm has been done. It affected my self-esteem and my sense of self-worth.
Anyway, the point of it all this is to say that I’m in a better place. I hold no grudges. If anything, I now understand myself a little better. I know that tomorrow will be better than today and today is better than yesterday. And that means, I’ll be back to my cheery self. If I could have turned back time, I would have done some things differently. But we make our choices and live with the consequences. Carpe diem.
I'll end this entry with a video. MUST WATCH!
I gotta feelin' that today is gonna be a good day....
Secondly, always remember that you are worthy because you are a child of God. So many words and accusations have been thrown my way – I’m insecure, emotionless, cold, unaffectionate, standoff-ish. I know that the daggers have been thrown without spite or ill intentions but it was out of frustration. But harm has been done. It affected my self-esteem and my sense of self-worth.
Anyway, the point of it all this is to say that I’m in a better place. I hold no grudges. If anything, I now understand myself a little better. I know that tomorrow will be better than today and today is better than yesterday. And that means, I’ll be back to my cheery self. If I could have turned back time, I would have done some things differently. But we make our choices and live with the consequences. Carpe diem.
I'll end this entry with a video. MUST WATCH!
I gotta feelin' that today is gonna be a good day....
Monday, September 14, 2009
San Francisco - The rest of the trip
I feel uneasy every time I view my blog because my San Francisco travel chronicles is incomplete. Since it's too tedious writing daily travel travels, I'll just condense the rest of my trip into one huge entry. So here it is"
The Golden Gate bridge cycling adventure
On the 4th of July, J and I spent Independence Day cycling across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausolito and then finally to Tamira. I recommend all tourists to rent a bicycle from Fisherman's wharf and give it a go! Definitely one of the best things we have done on this trip. The views along the way were breathtaking. One cannot imagine that just a couple of km (okay, many kms) out of San Francisco, you'll experience a huge change in scenery - from one of tall skyscrapers to ducks, swamps and little wooden bridges across creeks. But a word of warning: You need to be fit! There's a lot of uphill climbs! And the entire journey took about 6 hours (granted we rested heaps and spent lots of time walking around the shops in Sausalito)
Happy 4th of July everybody! It was my first time celebrating America's Independence Day. I always wondered what it would be like. It was something I read in novels and watch on tv but have yet to experience. I was so excited, like a little town girl stepping into a big bad city for the very first time. I can now report that, 4th of July was like any other Independence Day (like Malaysia's Merdeka Day or Australia Day). More than anything, the day was used to recuperate and to spend time with love ones.
Off we went. We rented our bikes from Fisherman's wharf.
Families basking in the sun and enjoying their picnics
Fishing and crabbing activity. I've never tried crabbing before. So the entire experience fascinated me. Its actually pretty simple. You grab a huge crab net, dump in some sort of meat (usually chicken bones) together with huge rocks to sink the net. You then drink some beer, chat with your mates, perhaps fish while waiting for the unsuspecting victims to crawl into your net. At this point, its all up to Lady Luck. Because the water is pretty murky, you won't be able to tell whether a crab is now in your net or whether it has entered your net, savoured a delicious meal and now made a quiet exit. So, you pull up your net once in a while to check on your findings (or the lack of). If you are lucky, you'll be having a hearty meal tonight. Otherwise, spare some loose change for pizza across the road.
At the Golden Gate bridge entrance
It was pretty enjoyable riding along the Golden Gate bridge despite the fierce winds. I can now say, I've cycled on the Golden Gate bridge!
Left the Golden Gate bridge. Its 2 miles to Sausolito (why do Americans use miles? why can't they use km like most of the world. So much easier!) Pedal on.
Finally we arrived at Sausolito. It's one of the most beautiful towns I've ever come across. Every shop/house had so much character.
Check out the houses
We had lunch here
A kid caught something. Care to guess what it is?
A stingray!
*At this point, my camera battery died. So no pics =( We took some pics on J's blackberry but unfortunately, his blackberry went for a swim and drowned. I later recharged my camera at a camera store before the 4th of July fireworks*
4th of July fireworks display
We spent our 4th of July night watching the Fisherman's wharf fireworks display.
Man with his American alligator. cute!
Check out the massive crowds. Many families camped out on the grass many hours before the fireworks display in order to grab a sweet spot. The people in the background were standing in a private parking lot. Luckily for us, we didnt have to compete with the masses for a spot as J decided to buy tickets for the 4th of July fireworks boat.
Here's a subpar photo from the boat. Initially, we werent sure whether the tickets were worth it because they cost quite a fair bit. However, our skepticism was blown away the moment we witnessed the fireworks display. It was one of the best displays I've ever experienced! I think fireworks are getting more advanced these days. We even had a couple of smiley faces up in the sky. And a few times, we had Saturn close to earth (planet with huge ring around it).
Wish I could have captured the smiley face instead. Need better camera =(
Alcatraz prison
The next day, we paid Alcatraz prison a visit. The prison tour was very interesting. It was a self-assisted tour. Each of us were given a set of headphones of which we can pause and rewind at anytime. The voice on the recorder would direct us where to walk and stop. The audio even included appropriate noises and sounds (such as prisoners marching, forks and spoons clanking on tables, prisoners throwing punches) that made the whole experience feel really real.
Ironically, the best views of San Francisco city are from Alcatraz prison. This was very depressing for the prisoners, seeing sights and hearing sounds that they would never be able to experience for themselves.
Prisoners clothes and shoes
Grenades were thrown from above during the crossfire between police and prisoners at the time of the Alcatraz siege. It was after this terrifying experience that the Government decided that the prison was to close to San Francisco city. Imagine if the prisoners managed to successful escaped that day.
Empty prisoner cell
Furnished prisoner cell
Kitchen. Notice the black markings where the knives are meant to be kept. This is to ensure accountability of all the knives.
Breakfast menu. The prisoners were served pretty good food.
A real human head? I think not. Dummies were made during one of the famous attempts to escape the prison. Pretty smart I say.
Sutro Baths ruins
A visit to San Francisco is not complete without a visit to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths ruins.
Sutro Baths History
On March 14, 1896 the Sutro Baths were opened to the public as the world's largest indoor swimming pool establishment. The Baths were built on the sleepy western side of San Francisco by wealthy entrepreneur and former mayor of San Francisco (1894-1896), Adolph Sutro. The vast glass, iron, wood, and reinforced concrete structure was mostly hidden, and filled a small beach inlet below the Cliff House, also owned by Adolph Sutro at the time.
A visitor to the Baths not only had a choice of 7 different swimming pools—one fresh water and six salt water baths ranging in temperatures—but could visit a museum displaying Sutro's large and varied personal collection of artifacts from his travels, a concert hall, seating for 8,000, and, at one time, an ice skating rink. During high tides, water would flow directly into the pools from the nearby ocean, recycling the 2 million US gallons (7,600 m³) of water in about an hour. During low tides, a powerful turbine water pump, built inside a cave at sea level, could be switched on from a control room and could fill the tanks at a rate of 6,000 US gallons a minute (380 L/s), recycling all the water in five hours.
The baths struggled for years, mostly due to the very high operating and maintenance costs, and eventually closed. A fire destroyed the building in 1966 shortly after, while in the process of being demolished.
Taken from wikipedia
Sutro Bath ruins
All about balancing
Oops, almost fell
Spot me! Cliff House in background.
Finally seated nicely for a pose on the ruins
Dog and man on rock
Peek-a-boo, from a cave
Jason finds this sign really hilarious because it's (almost unnecessarily) descriptive.
The best lemon sorbet ever!!! From Cliff House. Warning: Will cause a dent in your wallet but its worth it (in my opinion).
Little Italy
Little Italy is definitely worth a visit if you're touring San Francisco. It's adjacent to Chinatown and a stone's throw away from Fisherman's Wharf (at this point, you'll realise that San Francisco is a pretty small city).
Unlike Little Italy in Melbourne (Lygon Street) which feels almost Australian-nise (if there's such a thing), many of the Italian restaurants in that area seem to retain their authenticity. In some of the restaurants, many of the staff speak predominantly Italian, every inch of the four walls are covered with photo frames, the establishment is extremly dimly lit, there's lots of extravagant (almost gaudy?) interior fittings like chandeliers and Italian music is played. I don't know whether its an Americanise Italian thing or whether they are a true representation of Italian restaurants but it sure does feel like the real thing.
One of the restaurants that we loved was a restaurant called Mona Lisa.
Mmm...love the buns. They were garlic-flavoured.
Very inventive. In addition to light source, the candle fixed onto the wine bottle served as a nice decorative piece as well.
Woodfire pizza
Sammie's visit
Sam is one of my best friends from high school. She's currently located in Texas. While I was in SF, she flew over to SF to visit me one weekend. Her visit was definitely a highlight of my trip as I have not seen her in the past 5 years (that's half a decade). She's my motivation buddy over emails and msn chats. You should look at some of our emails. They seem so ridiculous and bimbotic sometimes - "Do or die, I'm going to exercise this weekend! I'm fat!" and then we rant on about how we "almost went for a run but felt so lazy..." haha. She might visit me in lonely Australia next year *cross fingers* =)
We brought Sam to Sausolito again as she hasn't been there before. No cycling this time.
We also visited Muir Woods. Muir Woods National Monument is known for its giant old growth stand of ancient redwood trees that are Muir Woods uniquely sheltered in a hidden canyon protected from ocean wind. These trees are 254 feet tall and over 1,000 years old.
Needless to say, the trees are ginormous.
Old fallen tree
Saturday afternoon was spent at Haight-Ashbury. Haight-Ashbury is a district in San Francisco, named after the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. The neighbourhood maintains a bohemian ambience and its a thriving center of many independent local shops. I saw a few huge stores selling hundreds of varieties of shisha. We entered a store selling solely vinyl records from different eras (we don't get that kind of thing in Melbourne. The demand is too low). We also entered a trickster shop - you know, those tricks you played on others when you were a kid (fake lizards, fake chewing gum, fake farts). I bought a lovely vintage-inspired dress from an independent label store.
On Sunday, we paid a visit to Coit Tower. It was nothing much to shout about, especially since we have been to Twin Peaks a couple of times. It's pretty much a short tower on top of a hill where you can catch a bird's eye view of the city.
Coit Tower was built in Pioneer Park atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. Lillie bequeathed one-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved".
Taken from Wikipedia
View from Coit Tower
San Francisco is a hilly city
On Sunday, we paid UC Berkeley, one of the world's most preeminent universities, a visit. The campus was vast and green.
Gorgeous campus
On the way to residential halls
Famous Lombard St - most croquet street in the world. And may I add, most beautiful street? Look at the lovely flowers. I wouldn't want to live on this street though. You'll have to pick up your daily morning newspaper in full view of the daily throngs of tourists.
Brought Sam to Twin Peaks. Another photo-taking opportunity.
*My San Francisco travel chronicles ends here. The rest of my stay there was pretty repetitive. I wouldn't want to bore you guys with repeats of similar photos*
Overall, I enjoyed my stay in San Francisco. In many ways, San Francisco city plan and tram lines reminds me of Melbourne, only that the city was older, bigger and the people were more diverse. Perhaps, if Melbourne was a hundred years older, it would have resembled San Francisco. But, there's one thing it fell short of - good food. I've come to realise that I dislike American food. Unfortunately, it is what you see on tv - extra greasy, extra large, extra salty and extra sweet (especially at the diners). Sure, there are decent restaurants in SF but many are mediocre or subpar. And very surprising to me, it's very difficult to find a decent juice bar or salad bar (actually any juice or salad bar at all). In Melbourne, if you walk into any random restaurants, chances are they will be at least mediocre or good. In San Francisco, I try not to take my chances. Other than the food, everything else was great. I love the people and especially the fact that its so diverse in culture. Observing the people there, it's almost impossible to describe what an average American looks or sounds like because, everyone is just different!
Till next time! xoxo.
Read about my entire trip here
The Golden Gate bridge cycling adventure
On the 4th of July, J and I spent Independence Day cycling across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausolito and then finally to Tamira. I recommend all tourists to rent a bicycle from Fisherman's wharf and give it a go! Definitely one of the best things we have done on this trip. The views along the way were breathtaking. One cannot imagine that just a couple of km (okay, many kms) out of San Francisco, you'll experience a huge change in scenery - from one of tall skyscrapers to ducks, swamps and little wooden bridges across creeks. But a word of warning: You need to be fit! There's a lot of uphill climbs! And the entire journey took about 6 hours (granted we rested heaps and spent lots of time walking around the shops in Sausalito)
Happy 4th of July everybody! It was my first time celebrating America's Independence Day. I always wondered what it would be like. It was something I read in novels and watch on tv but have yet to experience. I was so excited, like a little town girl stepping into a big bad city for the very first time. I can now report that, 4th of July was like any other Independence Day (like Malaysia's Merdeka Day or Australia Day). More than anything, the day was used to recuperate and to spend time with love ones.
Off we went. We rented our bikes from Fisherman's wharf.
Families basking in the sun and enjoying their picnics
Fishing and crabbing activity. I've never tried crabbing before. So the entire experience fascinated me. Its actually pretty simple. You grab a huge crab net, dump in some sort of meat (usually chicken bones) together with huge rocks to sink the net. You then drink some beer, chat with your mates, perhaps fish while waiting for the unsuspecting victims to crawl into your net. At this point, its all up to Lady Luck. Because the water is pretty murky, you won't be able to tell whether a crab is now in your net or whether it has entered your net, savoured a delicious meal and now made a quiet exit. So, you pull up your net once in a while to check on your findings (or the lack of). If you are lucky, you'll be having a hearty meal tonight. Otherwise, spare some loose change for pizza across the road.
At the Golden Gate bridge entrance
It was pretty enjoyable riding along the Golden Gate bridge despite the fierce winds. I can now say, I've cycled on the Golden Gate bridge!
Left the Golden Gate bridge. Its 2 miles to Sausolito (why do Americans use miles? why can't they use km like most of the world. So much easier!) Pedal on.
Finally we arrived at Sausolito. It's one of the most beautiful towns I've ever come across. Every shop/house had so much character.
Check out the houses
We had lunch here
A kid caught something. Care to guess what it is?
A stingray!
*At this point, my camera battery died. So no pics =( We took some pics on J's blackberry but unfortunately, his blackberry went for a swim and drowned. I later recharged my camera at a camera store before the 4th of July fireworks*
4th of July fireworks display
We spent our 4th of July night watching the Fisherman's wharf fireworks display.
Man with his American alligator. cute!
Check out the massive crowds. Many families camped out on the grass many hours before the fireworks display in order to grab a sweet spot. The people in the background were standing in a private parking lot. Luckily for us, we didnt have to compete with the masses for a spot as J decided to buy tickets for the 4th of July fireworks boat.
Here's a subpar photo from the boat. Initially, we werent sure whether the tickets were worth it because they cost quite a fair bit. However, our skepticism was blown away the moment we witnessed the fireworks display. It was one of the best displays I've ever experienced! I think fireworks are getting more advanced these days. We even had a couple of smiley faces up in the sky. And a few times, we had Saturn close to earth (planet with huge ring around it).
Wish I could have captured the smiley face instead. Need better camera =(
Alcatraz prison
The next day, we paid Alcatraz prison a visit. The prison tour was very interesting. It was a self-assisted tour. Each of us were given a set of headphones of which we can pause and rewind at anytime. The voice on the recorder would direct us where to walk and stop. The audio even included appropriate noises and sounds (such as prisoners marching, forks and spoons clanking on tables, prisoners throwing punches) that made the whole experience feel really real.
Ironically, the best views of San Francisco city are from Alcatraz prison. This was very depressing for the prisoners, seeing sights and hearing sounds that they would never be able to experience for themselves.
Prisoners clothes and shoes
Grenades were thrown from above during the crossfire between police and prisoners at the time of the Alcatraz siege. It was after this terrifying experience that the Government decided that the prison was to close to San Francisco city. Imagine if the prisoners managed to successful escaped that day.
Empty prisoner cell
Furnished prisoner cell
Kitchen. Notice the black markings where the knives are meant to be kept. This is to ensure accountability of all the knives.
Breakfast menu. The prisoners were served pretty good food.
A real human head? I think not. Dummies were made during one of the famous attempts to escape the prison. Pretty smart I say.
Sutro Baths ruins
A visit to San Francisco is not complete without a visit to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths ruins.
Sutro Baths History
On March 14, 1896 the Sutro Baths were opened to the public as the world's largest indoor swimming pool establishment. The Baths were built on the sleepy western side of San Francisco by wealthy entrepreneur and former mayor of San Francisco (1894-1896), Adolph Sutro. The vast glass, iron, wood, and reinforced concrete structure was mostly hidden, and filled a small beach inlet below the Cliff House, also owned by Adolph Sutro at the time.
A visitor to the Baths not only had a choice of 7 different swimming pools—one fresh water and six salt water baths ranging in temperatures—but could visit a museum displaying Sutro's large and varied personal collection of artifacts from his travels, a concert hall, seating for 8,000, and, at one time, an ice skating rink. During high tides, water would flow directly into the pools from the nearby ocean, recycling the 2 million US gallons (7,600 m³) of water in about an hour. During low tides, a powerful turbine water pump, built inside a cave at sea level, could be switched on from a control room and could fill the tanks at a rate of 6,000 US gallons a minute (380 L/s), recycling all the water in five hours.
The baths struggled for years, mostly due to the very high operating and maintenance costs, and eventually closed. A fire destroyed the building in 1966 shortly after, while in the process of being demolished.
Taken from wikipedia
Sutro Bath ruins
All about balancing
Oops, almost fell
Spot me! Cliff House in background.
Finally seated nicely for a pose on the ruins
Dog and man on rock
Peek-a-boo, from a cave
Jason finds this sign really hilarious because it's (almost unnecessarily) descriptive.
The best lemon sorbet ever!!! From Cliff House. Warning: Will cause a dent in your wallet but its worth it (in my opinion).
Little Italy
Little Italy is definitely worth a visit if you're touring San Francisco. It's adjacent to Chinatown and a stone's throw away from Fisherman's Wharf (at this point, you'll realise that San Francisco is a pretty small city).
Unlike Little Italy in Melbourne (Lygon Street) which feels almost Australian-nise (if there's such a thing), many of the Italian restaurants in that area seem to retain their authenticity. In some of the restaurants, many of the staff speak predominantly Italian, every inch of the four walls are covered with photo frames, the establishment is extremly dimly lit, there's lots of extravagant (almost gaudy?) interior fittings like chandeliers and Italian music is played. I don't know whether its an Americanise Italian thing or whether they are a true representation of Italian restaurants but it sure does feel like the real thing.
One of the restaurants that we loved was a restaurant called Mona Lisa.
Mmm...love the buns. They were garlic-flavoured.
Very inventive. In addition to light source, the candle fixed onto the wine bottle served as a nice decorative piece as well.
Woodfire pizza
Sammie's visit
Sam is one of my best friends from high school. She's currently located in Texas. While I was in SF, she flew over to SF to visit me one weekend. Her visit was definitely a highlight of my trip as I have not seen her in the past 5 years (that's half a decade). She's my motivation buddy over emails and msn chats. You should look at some of our emails. They seem so ridiculous and bimbotic sometimes - "Do or die, I'm going to exercise this weekend! I'm fat!" and then we rant on about how we "almost went for a run but felt so lazy..." haha. She might visit me in lonely Australia next year *cross fingers* =)
We brought Sam to Sausolito again as she hasn't been there before. No cycling this time.
We also visited Muir Woods. Muir Woods National Monument is known for its giant old growth stand of ancient redwood trees that are Muir Woods uniquely sheltered in a hidden canyon protected from ocean wind. These trees are 254 feet tall and over 1,000 years old.
Needless to say, the trees are ginormous.
Old fallen tree
Saturday afternoon was spent at Haight-Ashbury. Haight-Ashbury is a district in San Francisco, named after the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. The neighbourhood maintains a bohemian ambience and its a thriving center of many independent local shops. I saw a few huge stores selling hundreds of varieties of shisha. We entered a store selling solely vinyl records from different eras (we don't get that kind of thing in Melbourne. The demand is too low). We also entered a trickster shop - you know, those tricks you played on others when you were a kid (fake lizards, fake chewing gum, fake farts). I bought a lovely vintage-inspired dress from an independent label store.
On Sunday, we paid a visit to Coit Tower. It was nothing much to shout about, especially since we have been to Twin Peaks a couple of times. It's pretty much a short tower on top of a hill where you can catch a bird's eye view of the city.
Coit Tower was built in Pioneer Park atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. Lillie bequeathed one-third of her estate to the City of San Francisco "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved".
Taken from Wikipedia
View from Coit Tower
San Francisco is a hilly city
On Sunday, we paid UC Berkeley, one of the world's most preeminent universities, a visit. The campus was vast and green.
Gorgeous campus
On the way to residential halls
Famous Lombard St - most croquet street in the world. And may I add, most beautiful street? Look at the lovely flowers. I wouldn't want to live on this street though. You'll have to pick up your daily morning newspaper in full view of the daily throngs of tourists.
Brought Sam to Twin Peaks. Another photo-taking opportunity.
*My San Francisco travel chronicles ends here. The rest of my stay there was pretty repetitive. I wouldn't want to bore you guys with repeats of similar photos*
Overall, I enjoyed my stay in San Francisco. In many ways, San Francisco city plan and tram lines reminds me of Melbourne, only that the city was older, bigger and the people were more diverse. Perhaps, if Melbourne was a hundred years older, it would have resembled San Francisco. But, there's one thing it fell short of - good food. I've come to realise that I dislike American food. Unfortunately, it is what you see on tv - extra greasy, extra large, extra salty and extra sweet (especially at the diners). Sure, there are decent restaurants in SF but many are mediocre or subpar. And very surprising to me, it's very difficult to find a decent juice bar or salad bar (actually any juice or salad bar at all). In Melbourne, if you walk into any random restaurants, chances are they will be at least mediocre or good. In San Francisco, I try not to take my chances. Other than the food, everything else was great. I love the people and especially the fact that its so diverse in culture. Observing the people there, it's almost impossible to describe what an average American looks or sounds like because, everyone is just different!
Till next time! xoxo.
Read about my entire trip here
Friday, September 11, 2009
Too cute
On my birthday, dad calls...
Dad: Happy birthday.
Me: Thank you
Dad: How are you?
*me thinks, I just saw you a couple of hours ago. We live in the same house!*
...
Love teasing dad because he portrays himself as oh-so-manly sometimes.
Me: Is Mr... your best friend?
Dad: I dont have a best friend.
Me: But he is your most favourite friend friend, yeah?
Dad: Yeah
Me: So, he is your best friend!
Dad: ...
...
Dad: Will you be home for dinner?
Me: No, heading out
Dad: What about me? Youll be out, shen (brother) will be out, mum will be out. What am I going to do?
Me: You can take my place. I'm always stuck at home while you guys gallivant.
Dad: O...okay.
Too cute!
Dad: Happy birthday.
Me: Thank you
Dad: How are you?
*me thinks, I just saw you a couple of hours ago. We live in the same house!*
...
Love teasing dad because he portrays himself as oh-so-manly sometimes.
Me: Is Mr... your best friend?
Dad: I dont have a best friend.
Me: But he is your most favourite friend friend, yeah?
Dad: Yeah
Me: So, he is your best friend!
Dad: ...
...
Dad: Will you be home for dinner?
Me: No, heading out
Dad: What about me? Youll be out, shen (brother) will be out, mum will be out. What am I going to do?
Me: You can take my place. I'm always stuck at home while you guys gallivant.
Dad: O...okay.
Too cute!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Of trains and watches
I turned a year older last thursday. There were many memorable moments. I thought I'll jot them down before they are all long forgotten.
1) So the big day started with a lunch celebration with my most favourite friend, Ann.
We have not caught up one-on-one for ages. Our catch up was way overdue. Our catch up took place in a relatively new established tucked away in an alleyway off Little Bourke Street, near Hardware Lane. She was my sugar mummy for the day as I forgot to bring my wallet out. She paid for my meal plus a glass of house white =)
I briefly looked at Ann's blog earlier today and clicked on her old archives (starting 2006). We were so young and carefree then. Trips to Victoria Market, GoldCoast, Vietnam, birthday celebrations and weddings. And then, there was my 21st celebration, followed by hers 8 months later. Oh my, how much have we grown!
Our amazing friendship commenced across the corridor where her room was located opposite mine. And then, our friendship blossomed over meals in the huge communal dining hall, walks to biology classes and on the basketball court in Carlton gardens. How I love the summer in Melbourne when the sun sets at 9 pm! Imagine if I stayed on a different level from her, I wouldnt have been as close to her as I am now. How different would life be! *shudder*
2) Just before dinner, I was lying on my bed surfing the web. My brother knocks on my room door, smiles sheepishly, pauses for a bit and said, "I got you a present!" I was pleasantly surprise because it was unexpected. He wrapped the gift up really neatly (in old newspaper). I didnt know that boy could wrap! I shook the box but failed to guess the contents. I unwrapped the present and a CK box was revealed. My first thoughts were, "perfume again?" as he got me a perfume for my birthday last year. He said, "Nope, its not a perfume." I opened the box and found a CK watch! At first glance, I loved the watch. The strap and face was completely silver and resembled a thick trendy arm bangle. Nice!
3) Half hour later, J came by to take me out for dinner. I spotted a forever friends paper bag in his hand. My first thoughts were, "Nooo..tell me its nott a soft toy." I have too many given to me already and I didn't really want another one in my room. Fortunately, he reassured me that it is not a soft toy. I was pretty curious as to what the present was. For the past couple of days, he has been telling me that he was worried I might not like the present and it is rather expensive, so he is hoping I'll like it. I reassured him that I'll like whatever he gets. Sooo, what is this present that he bought for me?
I asked him whether I could open the present then. He said that he thought of giving it to me over dinner. But after a while, he changed his mind and told me to open the present. I took the box out of the bag and saw the words written on it. "L-o-n...g-i-n-e-s..." I tried pronouncing the words. "Don't you know what that brand is?!?"
"Hm....not really," I answered.
"Are you serious? It's a really really expensive and established watch brand. The lady at the counter assured me that you will definitely know that brand..."
I thought, "Watch??? Another one???" The initial expression on my face registered surprise - like shocked-surprise rather than pleasant-surprise. Didn't I just receive another watch 30 minutes ago? It was way too coincidental! I never wear watches and suddenly I had two brand new ones in the span of 30 minutes.
J was upset because it was definitely not the reaction he was hoping. Everyone he met, including the girl he bought the 'forever friends' paper bag from, the guy who did the engraving behind the face of the watch, the lady who was lining up behind him when he did the engraving, all said, "Wow, Longines, she is gonna love it! She is so lucky"
And here I was, not knowing what sort of brand it was and with a new watch sitting on my left wrist. On hindsight, it was almost comical.
I felt pretty bad because I knew that he went through greath lengths to surprise me on my big day special.
Despite my unexpected initial reaction, I do love the watch and I think its absolutely exquisite. Here it is:
There are diamonds on the face of the watch
3) Half hour later, I got ready to head out for dinner. Before we headed out the door, J sighed and said, "Since the Longines watch strap has not been readjusted, you should wear your brother's watch." So, I grabbed the watch, ran out the door and into the elevator. I then put on the watch in the elevator. Guess what happened next? The lift hit the ground floor and we stepped out the lift. That was when we heard the loud CLANK. J said, "Your watch fell down the lift shaft!"
I said "No it didnt. It's still on m....Oops," as I pulled up my jacket sleeve to reveal my naked left wrist. We stared down the lift shaft, and there it was, shining back at us....many many many feet below....my 1 hour new watch! Die! Brother will hunt me down.
Sigh. Not my fault. What's the probability of me dropping an object down such a small confined gap!!!
4) Moving on. J planned a nice dinner for us which involved us dressing up pretty formally =) The destination was a surprise till the taxi driver said, "So, you guys are heading to the tram restaurant?" when J told him which road to drop us at. "Urgh," he cries. "All my surprises are not working out."
5) I was extremely excited that we were eating at the tram restaurant. Just a week before, I asked J whether he has tried the food there. He said no and I said no too but we should check it out one day. Although, the concept seems pretty gimicky, I heard the food was surprisingly good.
We were to board the tram outside Crown Complex. We were slightly early and had time to kill. I turned to him and said, "Nice tie. I really love the colours. J said, "Thanks. The florist thought so too!"
"Huh? What? Florist? What florist? You bought flowers?!?"
"Urgh....I'm so silly. Yes, it was meant to be another surprise but I blew it. Everything is not working out!" he sighs in dismay as his plans went awry.
6) The tram finally arrives. Away from the cold and into the toasty tram!
Definitely not your typical daily tram - No shriveled apple core rolling on the floor, no crushed Mcds paper bag stuffed between seats and no smelly body odors.
The food was definitely up to expectation. Didn't fail to impress at all. If you are a big drinker, you can definitely milk your money's worth as all alcohol on board is free flow.
Here's the menu for those who are interested:
Appetiser
Cream, liver and cognac pate crowned with pink peppercorns
Roasted red capsicum dip served with assorted crisp bread
Entrees
Grilled kangaroo loin brushed with lemon myrtle, thyme and honey, served on vegetable and chive frittata with bush tomato chilli jam
Winter warming soup jerasulem artichoke and potato soup topped with toasted sour dough gremolata
Mains
Macadamia chicken grilled chicken breast on sweet potato mash and baby spinach with a macadamia pesto sauce
Victorian farmed eye fillet of beef on a sweet potato and herb rosti, with seasonal vegetables and wild mushroom jus
Cheeses
Selection of australian cheeses served with pear paste, fruit bread and water crackers
Desserts
Warm Sticky Date Pudding topped with butterscotch sauce served with cream
white chocolate and passionfruit mousse with praline and vanilla raspberry coulis
Beverages
Wine Selected Victorian Red and White Wines
From the Bar Beer / Whisky / Brandy / Gin / Vodka / Bacardi Rum / Dry Vermouth / Bourbon
Coffee / Tea
Liqueurs Port / Cognac (v.s.o.p.) / Drambuie / Frangelico / Cointreau / Tia Maria
Butter in a traditional silver container. Made us feel like royalty =) My butter at home comes straight from a plastic container.
Grilled kangaroo loin
Potato Soup
Warm chocolate and passionfruit mousse
Variety of cheeses
7) After a hearty meal (we couldn't finish our meal but most other patrons looked like they licked their plates clean. How do they do it!), we cabbed back to the city. J presented me with a bouquet of tulips - yellow and purple. (I was surprise! Not. haha) My first ever bouquet from him. Absolutely lovely combination! He proudly admitted that he picked out the colours himself =) Mum loves the tulips more than I do. She now suggests that we should buy fresh tulips every single week as they brighten up the house and makes our home look neater. Flowers do make a difference!
8) I messaged R on gmail chat and said: "It's my birthday today. You forgot but i remembered yours yesterday =( Sing me a birthday song."
He promptly called back and said: But I remembered. I just didnt want to disturb you.
Me: Is that how you want to play it now? Ooo....I'll always remember that line...Sing a song or tell me a joke.
R: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to..whats-your-name-again....Now, thats a song and a joke.
haha...I got to give it to him. That's a good one =)
9) I hopped onto twitter and saw Kenneth's tweet that went "Today seems like a jaded day." I replied him and wrote "Today seems like my birth-day".
Kenneth is one of my most favourite friends in Melbourne. We have known each since we were 9 years old! He used to be this small. haha. (i should stop because he always threaten to tell horrible childhood stories about me to my new friends. About my geeky and tomboyish days) He took me out for Japanese yesterday at a restaurant located near my place and we proceeded to Bennett's Lane, a cozy jazz bar off Little Latrobe Street. We have both taken a liking to jazz music ever since we first patronised that establishment many years ago.
10) O, my other favourite-st friend, Wei Chee, sent over a lovely toga, off-white dress to me. It was absolutely lovely. Many of my clothes sitting in my wardrobe has been either bought or picked by her. We will walking in shopping malls when i go, "I'm tired. I want to sit down. Why don't you pick something for me and I'll just put it on." She loves to dress people up and I love her to dress me up. We make a perfect pair. Must I give you any other reason why we have been best friends since forever =)
11) The one and only Cheryl (whom I affectionately call Salad and also my other favourite-st friend. I can't help it if there's so many people in my top list) sent me a very very cute e-card. I loved it so much that I think I've viewed it 10 over times. I wish I could put it up here but unfortunately I cannot. Salad is someone whom I speak to practically every single day over msn chat and gmail chat. She is someone I rant to all the time from "I'm sad. I have problem a b c" to something random like "I'm eating chicken". During a particular school term break, we used to hang out almost everyday for an entire month. Its still a wonder that we didn't get sick of each other - from ice skating, playing playstation to sleepovers. Great fun!
13) The day before my birthday, Jesse and I were planning to have a game of tennis together. On the way there I said, "Hey, do you know its my birthday tomorrow?" I love seeing people's reactions when I tell them =)
Jesse: No, its not. Don't lie.
Me: Really it is.
Jesse: No, we celebrated it a few months ago
Me: No we didnt! It's in September
Our argument went back and forth for almost 5 minutes.
Finally, he believed me and said, he will treat me supper. The Chinese special combination fried rice was yummy! (why does every single Chinese restaurant name that dish "special" combination? Whats the logic behind it?)
14) Two days ago, Ives, Steve and Ann took Sue and I out for dinner to celebrate our birthdays at a Thai restaurant along Johnson Street (Sue's birthday is today). As a group, we have captured many happy memories before in that restaurant, including Ann's 20(?) birthday. That restaurant has pretty much witnessed our growing up.
15) I've deactivated my facebook a few weeks ago but I turned it back on two days before my birthday to check for a certain event invite. Subsequently, I thought I re-deactivated it but I guess not. A couple of days ago, I tried logging into my facebook and found my wall and inbox flooded with birthday. A big thank you to everyone. P/s: especially Wing yan who smsed me on my mobile and then wrote on my wall. I'm sorry, I have been procrastinating and kept forgetting to personally thank you. So, I'll do it here. THANK YOU =)
pps: We managed to retrieve the watch. Very fortunately, some guys were scheduled to do some lift maintenance work a few days after that incident. Otherwise, it will be 300 dollars just to retrieve the probably damaged watch. And also very fortunately, the watch seems to be in perfect condition. I'm still puzzled at this miraculous discovery. Oh well, I'm just counting my lucky stars =)
Despite many hiccups in J's surprise and the relatively small birthday celebration (as oppose to the huge costume party I threw last year), it was one of the best birthday celebrations ever =) Thank you everybody who made it special.
1) So the big day started with a lunch celebration with my most favourite friend, Ann.
We have not caught up one-on-one for ages. Our catch up was way overdue. Our catch up took place in a relatively new established tucked away in an alleyway off Little Bourke Street, near Hardware Lane. She was my sugar mummy for the day as I forgot to bring my wallet out. She paid for my meal plus a glass of house white =)
I briefly looked at Ann's blog earlier today and clicked on her old archives (starting 2006). We were so young and carefree then. Trips to Victoria Market, GoldCoast, Vietnam, birthday celebrations and weddings. And then, there was my 21st celebration, followed by hers 8 months later. Oh my, how much have we grown!
Our amazing friendship commenced across the corridor where her room was located opposite mine. And then, our friendship blossomed over meals in the huge communal dining hall, walks to biology classes and on the basketball court in Carlton gardens. How I love the summer in Melbourne when the sun sets at 9 pm! Imagine if I stayed on a different level from her, I wouldnt have been as close to her as I am now. How different would life be! *shudder*
2) Just before dinner, I was lying on my bed surfing the web. My brother knocks on my room door, smiles sheepishly, pauses for a bit and said, "I got you a present!" I was pleasantly surprise because it was unexpected. He wrapped the gift up really neatly (in old newspaper). I didnt know that boy could wrap! I shook the box but failed to guess the contents. I unwrapped the present and a CK box was revealed. My first thoughts were, "perfume again?" as he got me a perfume for my birthday last year. He said, "Nope, its not a perfume." I opened the box and found a CK watch! At first glance, I loved the watch. The strap and face was completely silver and resembled a thick trendy arm bangle. Nice!
3) Half hour later, J came by to take me out for dinner. I spotted a forever friends paper bag in his hand. My first thoughts were, "Nooo..tell me its nott a soft toy." I have too many given to me already and I didn't really want another one in my room. Fortunately, he reassured me that it is not a soft toy. I was pretty curious as to what the present was. For the past couple of days, he has been telling me that he was worried I might not like the present and it is rather expensive, so he is hoping I'll like it. I reassured him that I'll like whatever he gets. Sooo, what is this present that he bought for me?
I asked him whether I could open the present then. He said that he thought of giving it to me over dinner. But after a while, he changed his mind and told me to open the present. I took the box out of the bag and saw the words written on it. "L-o-n...g-i-n-e-s..." I tried pronouncing the words. "Don't you know what that brand is?!?"
"Hm....not really," I answered.
"Are you serious? It's a really really expensive and established watch brand. The lady at the counter assured me that you will definitely know that brand..."
I thought, "Watch??? Another one???" The initial expression on my face registered surprise - like shocked-surprise rather than pleasant-surprise. Didn't I just receive another watch 30 minutes ago? It was way too coincidental! I never wear watches and suddenly I had two brand new ones in the span of 30 minutes.
J was upset because it was definitely not the reaction he was hoping. Everyone he met, including the girl he bought the 'forever friends' paper bag from, the guy who did the engraving behind the face of the watch, the lady who was lining up behind him when he did the engraving, all said, "Wow, Longines, she is gonna love it! She is so lucky"
And here I was, not knowing what sort of brand it was and with a new watch sitting on my left wrist. On hindsight, it was almost comical.
I felt pretty bad because I knew that he went through greath lengths to surprise me on my big day special.
Despite my unexpected initial reaction, I do love the watch and I think its absolutely exquisite. Here it is:
There are diamonds on the face of the watch
3) Half hour later, I got ready to head out for dinner. Before we headed out the door, J sighed and said, "Since the Longines watch strap has not been readjusted, you should wear your brother's watch." So, I grabbed the watch, ran out the door and into the elevator. I then put on the watch in the elevator. Guess what happened next? The lift hit the ground floor and we stepped out the lift. That was when we heard the loud CLANK. J said, "Your watch fell down the lift shaft!"
I said "No it didnt. It's still on m....Oops," as I pulled up my jacket sleeve to reveal my naked left wrist. We stared down the lift shaft, and there it was, shining back at us....many many many feet below....my 1 hour new watch! Die! Brother will hunt me down.
Sigh. Not my fault. What's the probability of me dropping an object down such a small confined gap!!!
4) Moving on. J planned a nice dinner for us which involved us dressing up pretty formally =) The destination was a surprise till the taxi driver said, "So, you guys are heading to the tram restaurant?" when J told him which road to drop us at. "Urgh," he cries. "All my surprises are not working out."
5) I was extremely excited that we were eating at the tram restaurant. Just a week before, I asked J whether he has tried the food there. He said no and I said no too but we should check it out one day. Although, the concept seems pretty gimicky, I heard the food was surprisingly good.
We were to board the tram outside Crown Complex. We were slightly early and had time to kill. I turned to him and said, "Nice tie. I really love the colours. J said, "Thanks. The florist thought so too!"
"Huh? What? Florist? What florist? You bought flowers?!?"
"Urgh....I'm so silly. Yes, it was meant to be another surprise but I blew it. Everything is not working out!" he sighs in dismay as his plans went awry.
6) The tram finally arrives. Away from the cold and into the toasty tram!
Definitely not your typical daily tram - No shriveled apple core rolling on the floor, no crushed Mcds paper bag stuffed between seats and no smelly body odors.
The food was definitely up to expectation. Didn't fail to impress at all. If you are a big drinker, you can definitely milk your money's worth as all alcohol on board is free flow.
Here's the menu for those who are interested:
Appetiser
Cream, liver and cognac pate crowned with pink peppercorns
Roasted red capsicum dip served with assorted crisp bread
Entrees
Grilled kangaroo loin brushed with lemon myrtle, thyme and honey, served on vegetable and chive frittata with bush tomato chilli jam
Winter warming soup jerasulem artichoke and potato soup topped with toasted sour dough gremolata
Mains
Macadamia chicken grilled chicken breast on sweet potato mash and baby spinach with a macadamia pesto sauce
Victorian farmed eye fillet of beef on a sweet potato and herb rosti, with seasonal vegetables and wild mushroom jus
Cheeses
Selection of australian cheeses served with pear paste, fruit bread and water crackers
Desserts
Warm Sticky Date Pudding topped with butterscotch sauce served with cream
white chocolate and passionfruit mousse with praline and vanilla raspberry coulis
Beverages
Wine Selected Victorian Red and White Wines
From the Bar Beer / Whisky / Brandy / Gin / Vodka / Bacardi Rum / Dry Vermouth / Bourbon
Coffee / Tea
Liqueurs Port / Cognac (v.s.o.p.) / Drambuie / Frangelico / Cointreau / Tia Maria
Butter in a traditional silver container. Made us feel like royalty =) My butter at home comes straight from a plastic container.
Grilled kangaroo loin
Potato Soup
Warm chocolate and passionfruit mousse
Variety of cheeses
7) After a hearty meal (we couldn't finish our meal but most other patrons looked like they licked their plates clean. How do they do it!), we cabbed back to the city. J presented me with a bouquet of tulips - yellow and purple. (I was surprise! Not. haha) My first ever bouquet from him. Absolutely lovely combination! He proudly admitted that he picked out the colours himself =) Mum loves the tulips more than I do. She now suggests that we should buy fresh tulips every single week as they brighten up the house and makes our home look neater. Flowers do make a difference!
8) I messaged R on gmail chat and said: "It's my birthday today. You forgot but i remembered yours yesterday =( Sing me a birthday song."
He promptly called back and said: But I remembered. I just didnt want to disturb you.
Me: Is that how you want to play it now? Ooo....I'll always remember that line...Sing a song or tell me a joke.
R: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to..whats-your-name-again....Now, thats a song and a joke.
haha...I got to give it to him. That's a good one =)
9) I hopped onto twitter and saw Kenneth's tweet that went "Today seems like a jaded day." I replied him and wrote "Today seems like my birth-day".
Kenneth is one of my most favourite friends in Melbourne. We have known each since we were 9 years old! He used to be this small. haha. (i should stop because he always threaten to tell horrible childhood stories about me to my new friends. About my geeky and tomboyish days) He took me out for Japanese yesterday at a restaurant located near my place and we proceeded to Bennett's Lane, a cozy jazz bar off Little Latrobe Street. We have both taken a liking to jazz music ever since we first patronised that establishment many years ago.
10) O, my other favourite-st friend, Wei Chee, sent over a lovely toga, off-white dress to me. It was absolutely lovely. Many of my clothes sitting in my wardrobe has been either bought or picked by her. We will walking in shopping malls when i go, "I'm tired. I want to sit down. Why don't you pick something for me and I'll just put it on." She loves to dress people up and I love her to dress me up. We make a perfect pair. Must I give you any other reason why we have been best friends since forever =)
11) The one and only Cheryl (whom I affectionately call Salad and also my other favourite-st friend. I can't help it if there's so many people in my top list) sent me a very very cute e-card. I loved it so much that I think I've viewed it 10 over times. I wish I could put it up here but unfortunately I cannot. Salad is someone whom I speak to practically every single day over msn chat and gmail chat. She is someone I rant to all the time from "I'm sad. I have problem a b c" to something random like "I'm eating chicken". During a particular school term break, we used to hang out almost everyday for an entire month. Its still a wonder that we didn't get sick of each other - from ice skating, playing playstation to sleepovers. Great fun!
13) The day before my birthday, Jesse and I were planning to have a game of tennis together. On the way there I said, "Hey, do you know its my birthday tomorrow?" I love seeing people's reactions when I tell them =)
Jesse: No, its not. Don't lie.
Me: Really it is.
Jesse: No, we celebrated it a few months ago
Me: No we didnt! It's in September
Our argument went back and forth for almost 5 minutes.
Finally, he believed me and said, he will treat me supper. The Chinese special combination fried rice was yummy! (why does every single Chinese restaurant name that dish "special" combination? Whats the logic behind it?)
14) Two days ago, Ives, Steve and Ann took Sue and I out for dinner to celebrate our birthdays at a Thai restaurant along Johnson Street (Sue's birthday is today). As a group, we have captured many happy memories before in that restaurant, including Ann's 20(?) birthday. That restaurant has pretty much witnessed our growing up.
15) I've deactivated my facebook a few weeks ago but I turned it back on two days before my birthday to check for a certain event invite. Subsequently, I thought I re-deactivated it but I guess not. A couple of days ago, I tried logging into my facebook and found my wall and inbox flooded with birthday. A big thank you to everyone. P/s: especially Wing yan who smsed me on my mobile and then wrote on my wall. I'm sorry, I have been procrastinating and kept forgetting to personally thank you. So, I'll do it here. THANK YOU =)
pps: We managed to retrieve the watch. Very fortunately, some guys were scheduled to do some lift maintenance work a few days after that incident. Otherwise, it will be 300 dollars just to retrieve the probably damaged watch. And also very fortunately, the watch seems to be in perfect condition. I'm still puzzled at this miraculous discovery. Oh well, I'm just counting my lucky stars =)
Despite many hiccups in J's surprise and the relatively small birthday celebration (as oppose to the huge costume party I threw last year), it was one of the best birthday celebrations ever =) Thank you everybody who made it special.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Exchange of vows
The perfect wedding ceremony.
I can tell that they will probably have a wonderful marriage =)
Monday, September 07, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
The weekend
The Point, Albert Park Lake
Complimentary steak bits starter
Caramelised chicken wings, pumpkin gnocchi, emulsion of potato and black truffle
250g Waygu Scotch fillet
Lorne, Great Ocean Road
I accompanied J for a car cruise at a Great Ocean Road on Sunday morning. A car cruise sounds more interesting than it really is. Basically consist of a huge convoy of cars driving to a certain destination and back. It was an early start. We left Melbourne at 5.30 am, got to Lorne by 8, headed to Apollo Bay but turned back because I started feeling car sick, took a stroll by the beach in Lorne, had brekkie, watched the sky turn gray, jumped back into the car and got back to Melbourne by 11.30 am.
Complimentary steak bits starter
Caramelised chicken wings, pumpkin gnocchi, emulsion of potato and black truffle
250g Waygu Scotch fillet
Lorne, Great Ocean Road
I accompanied J for a car cruise at a Great Ocean Road on Sunday morning. A car cruise sounds more interesting than it really is. Basically consist of a huge convoy of cars driving to a certain destination and back. It was an early start. We left Melbourne at 5.30 am, got to Lorne by 8, headed to Apollo Bay but turned back because I started feeling car sick, took a stroll by the beach in Lorne, had brekkie, watched the sky turn gray, jumped back into the car and got back to Melbourne by 11.30 am.
Friday, August 14, 2009
San Francisco - Day 8 and 9 (Premium Outlet Mall, Japantown)
Sorry for the extremely back-dated entry. I've been lazy. My San Francisco trip seems so far behind me now. Anyway, I thought I still post up my travel entries for friends who are interested in what I got up to when I was there and for those who intend on traveling to SF in the future.
Thursday 2/7/09 (Day 8)
We drove to the Vacaville Premium Outlet (known as Direct Factory Outlet in Australia) in the afternoon. What supposed to be an hour drive took over two hours because of this one minor accident on highway 80. I spent most of my time in the Coach store and walked out with two coach bags. Things were so cheap! Couldn't help it. J waits patiently for me for over an hour till the last 10 minutes when he said, "Can we enter other stores now?” We entered Polo Ralph Lauren where we picked up three polo Ts for him. I thought the shirts look good on him because the shirts were custom-fitted. Also, the inside of the shirt collars were of a different colour to the shirt, making the shirts look unique and expensive.
Before leaving the premium outlet, he buys a Coach clutch for me ☺
We then headed back to San Francisco. Had dinner at a Thai restaurant and then called it a night.
Friday 3/7/09 (Day 9)
We headed to Chinatown to have dim sum at Hang Ah Tea Room. That restaurant established itself as the oldest dim sum restaurant in San Francisco. The dim sum was quite delicious – particularly the har kau (prawn dumpling) and the fried bean curd. However, the service was atrocious. I noticed a couple on the adjacent table complaining a couple of times to the waitress.
I then strolled around Chinatown by myself as J headed back to do some work.
Here's an interesting bit of information. Many Chinese people first migrated over to San Francisco in search of gold. They couldn't really find any but were instead met with hostility from the locals. In order to protect themselves, they had to build their own community. As such, San Francisco Chinatown is very self-sufficient. They have their own doctors, pharmacists, school, bank etc. Also, you'll notice lots of family associations in Chinatown. Each family had to protect themselves during the earlier years of harsh adversity and hostility.
A family association
Murals along Ross Alley that depicts the everyday life of the Chinese American community. Ross Alley is the oldest alley in Chinatown and was known for housing brothels and gambling joints.
Today, Ross Alley is home to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Did you know that fortune cookies did not originate from China? Most people living in China do not even recognise fortune cookies. Some entrepreneur probably invented this cookie and tried to pass this cookie off as a traditional Chinese cookie to make it seem more...exotic? Some argues that the fortune cookie was invented in California. Anyhoo, this factory is always packed to the brim with tourists. It's a very small factory, housed in a tiny shop lot. Initially, there were only two female workers making the cookies but I think they have expanded over time because I saw four people making the cookies when I visited the place.
Fire escapes serve as clothes lines.
J and I met up a couple of hours later and headed to Japantown. Japantown comprises of about six square city blocks in the Western Addition of San Francisco. The area is home to a large number of Japanese restaurants, supermarkets, indoor shopping malls, other shops and more. Japantown is definitely worth a visit if you're traveling to San Francisco.
Photo stickers!!! They bring back sweet memories. I took lots of photo stickers when I went on a student exchange to Japan many years ago. My host sisters and I took photo stickers almost every other day. Photo sticker centers were really popular in Japan at that time but the craze has since that down.
I always loved these nicely packed Japanese desserts. The packaging always look so pretty that I always want to leave the goodies intact as long as I possibly can (that is till I succumb to temptation of stuffing my face with the sinful delights)
Celebrating the Tanabata Fesitaval. Love or wish poems are written down on colourful strips of paper and then hung onto bamboo trees.
After a quick stroll around Japantown, we settled at a Shabu Shabu restaurant for sukiyaki. There are a couple of huge Shabu Shabu restaurants in this area. We just settled on one. We ordered suki yaki and oh boy, it definitely satisfied my taste buds.
I surprised J with a gift for our anniversary. I'm usually very good with surprises as I can put on a poker face pretty well. Unfortunately for me, when we arrived at Japantown, I zipped open my bag to take my camera out and totally forgot about the present. Immediately he saw the mysterious wrapped item and queried, "What's that? Is it for me?"
The waitress explained to us that in Japan, they break raw eggs into a bowl and use the eggs as a dipping sauce. I wasn't used to the idea of dipping my noodles and meat in just cold raw egg, so i mixed some soup with the egg.
We experienced three false fire alarms three weeks in a row. Twice was early in the morning. Once, at 3 am! During the 3rd time (at 3 am), I couldn't be stuffed going down anymore. I told J, "You go. I'll go down if I smell smoke." Mentally, I pictured an escape plan in my head. We were staying on the second floor. I did a rough mental calculation and concluded that I probably could escape the fire (if there was one) since I was only 2 floors up. Worst case scenario, I will jump out of the window and break a leg. J told me not to be silly and sternly forced me to get up. Lesson learnt: I'm not rational and 100 times lazier when I'm sleepy.
My only consolation. Having a picture taken (albeit, a bad one) with the firemen. Men in uniforms. Mmmm...(okay, maybe not this set of firemen. I like my men a bit younger.)
Thursday 2/7/09 (Day 8)
We drove to the Vacaville Premium Outlet (known as Direct Factory Outlet in Australia) in the afternoon. What supposed to be an hour drive took over two hours because of this one minor accident on highway 80. I spent most of my time in the Coach store and walked out with two coach bags. Things were so cheap! Couldn't help it. J waits patiently for me for over an hour till the last 10 minutes when he said, "Can we enter other stores now?” We entered Polo Ralph Lauren where we picked up three polo Ts for him. I thought the shirts look good on him because the shirts were custom-fitted. Also, the inside of the shirt collars were of a different colour to the shirt, making the shirts look unique and expensive.
Before leaving the premium outlet, he buys a Coach clutch for me ☺
We then headed back to San Francisco. Had dinner at a Thai restaurant and then called it a night.
Friday 3/7/09 (Day 9)
We headed to Chinatown to have dim sum at Hang Ah Tea Room. That restaurant established itself as the oldest dim sum restaurant in San Francisco. The dim sum was quite delicious – particularly the har kau (prawn dumpling) and the fried bean curd. However, the service was atrocious. I noticed a couple on the adjacent table complaining a couple of times to the waitress.
I then strolled around Chinatown by myself as J headed back to do some work.
Here's an interesting bit of information. Many Chinese people first migrated over to San Francisco in search of gold. They couldn't really find any but were instead met with hostility from the locals. In order to protect themselves, they had to build their own community. As such, San Francisco Chinatown is very self-sufficient. They have their own doctors, pharmacists, school, bank etc. Also, you'll notice lots of family associations in Chinatown. Each family had to protect themselves during the earlier years of harsh adversity and hostility.
A family association
Murals along Ross Alley that depicts the everyday life of the Chinese American community. Ross Alley is the oldest alley in Chinatown and was known for housing brothels and gambling joints.
Today, Ross Alley is home to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Did you know that fortune cookies did not originate from China? Most people living in China do not even recognise fortune cookies. Some entrepreneur probably invented this cookie and tried to pass this cookie off as a traditional Chinese cookie to make it seem more...exotic? Some argues that the fortune cookie was invented in California. Anyhoo, this factory is always packed to the brim with tourists. It's a very small factory, housed in a tiny shop lot. Initially, there were only two female workers making the cookies but I think they have expanded over time because I saw four people making the cookies when I visited the place.
Fire escapes serve as clothes lines.
J and I met up a couple of hours later and headed to Japantown. Japantown comprises of about six square city blocks in the Western Addition of San Francisco. The area is home to a large number of Japanese restaurants, supermarkets, indoor shopping malls, other shops and more. Japantown is definitely worth a visit if you're traveling to San Francisco.
Photo stickers!!! They bring back sweet memories. I took lots of photo stickers when I went on a student exchange to Japan many years ago. My host sisters and I took photo stickers almost every other day. Photo sticker centers were really popular in Japan at that time but the craze has since that down.
I always loved these nicely packed Japanese desserts. The packaging always look so pretty that I always want to leave the goodies intact as long as I possibly can (that is till I succumb to temptation of stuffing my face with the sinful delights)
Celebrating the Tanabata Fesitaval. Love or wish poems are written down on colourful strips of paper and then hung onto bamboo trees.
After a quick stroll around Japantown, we settled at a Shabu Shabu restaurant for sukiyaki. There are a couple of huge Shabu Shabu restaurants in this area. We just settled on one. We ordered suki yaki and oh boy, it definitely satisfied my taste buds.
I surprised J with a gift for our anniversary. I'm usually very good with surprises as I can put on a poker face pretty well. Unfortunately for me, when we arrived at Japantown, I zipped open my bag to take my camera out and totally forgot about the present. Immediately he saw the mysterious wrapped item and queried, "What's that? Is it for me?"
The waitress explained to us that in Japan, they break raw eggs into a bowl and use the eggs as a dipping sauce. I wasn't used to the idea of dipping my noodles and meat in just cold raw egg, so i mixed some soup with the egg.
We experienced three false fire alarms three weeks in a row. Twice was early in the morning. Once, at 3 am! During the 3rd time (at 3 am), I couldn't be stuffed going down anymore. I told J, "You go. I'll go down if I smell smoke." Mentally, I pictured an escape plan in my head. We were staying on the second floor. I did a rough mental calculation and concluded that I probably could escape the fire (if there was one) since I was only 2 floors up. Worst case scenario, I will jump out of the window and break a leg. J told me not to be silly and sternly forced me to get up. Lesson learnt: I'm not rational and 100 times lazier when I'm sleepy.
My only consolation. Having a picture taken (albeit, a bad one) with the firemen. Men in uniforms. Mmmm...(okay, maybe not this set of firemen. I like my men a bit younger.)
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Live.Love.Laugh
Live.Love.Laugh.
I miss laughing.
I haven't been myself as of late. Which means, I've been thinking lots. Which is not necessarily healthy. But the thinking has led to lots of questioning. What do I live for. What do I stand for. I need to find my answers. I need joy in my life.
I miss laughing.
I haven't been myself as of late. Which means, I've been thinking lots. Which is not necessarily healthy. But the thinking has led to lots of questioning. What do I live for. What do I stand for. I need to find my answers. I need joy in my life.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Difference between XX and XY
A few days ago, my brother stumbled out of his room, groggy-eyed and said in a very casual manner, "I think I need to go to the doctor."
"Why?" I asked.
"O, I think I'm partially blind. I have a blind spot"
"What?!?! What do you mean you think you are blind?" I asked astonished. I was more astonished by the fact that he mentioned it so offhandedly rather than the subject matter itself.
"I played soccer yesterday and some guy kicked the ball right into my eye. I fell down and couldn't get up for a couple of minutes because of the immense pain. I couldn't see for a couple of seconds. I closed my eyes and opened them a few minutes later. My vision cleared a little and I was very happy I wasn't completely blind."
Still extremely shell-shocked by what he told me, I said, "Why didn't you go to the doctor yesterday when this happened? Your retina could be detached. You might need surgery done immediately. This is very important. You could be partially blind forever!"
I couldn't believe that instead of doing what I thought a normal person would do (i.e. check himself into the emergency department immediately), he went to have dinner with his friends instead (in a half-blind state mind you), went to bed and then contemplated going to the doctor the next morning.
Ann who was at my place at the time the conversation took place said, "Boy will be boys. They take things so casually."
Yesterday, my eye was a little swollen. I showed my mum and she said that it's nothing to be concerned about because that happens sometimes. But I insisted on going to the doctor anyway. You can never be too cautious when it comes to your eyes! (I've had pretty severe cases of conjunctivitis before) So I went today and got some antibiotics and ointment for the eye infection.
Men are from mars and women are from venus. Clearly.
"Why?" I asked.
"O, I think I'm partially blind. I have a blind spot"
"What?!?! What do you mean you think you are blind?" I asked astonished. I was more astonished by the fact that he mentioned it so offhandedly rather than the subject matter itself.
"I played soccer yesterday and some guy kicked the ball right into my eye. I fell down and couldn't get up for a couple of minutes because of the immense pain. I couldn't see for a couple of seconds. I closed my eyes and opened them a few minutes later. My vision cleared a little and I was very happy I wasn't completely blind."
Still extremely shell-shocked by what he told me, I said, "Why didn't you go to the doctor yesterday when this happened? Your retina could be detached. You might need surgery done immediately. This is very important. You could be partially blind forever!"
I couldn't believe that instead of doing what I thought a normal person would do (i.e. check himself into the emergency department immediately), he went to have dinner with his friends instead (in a half-blind state mind you), went to bed and then contemplated going to the doctor the next morning.
Ann who was at my place at the time the conversation took place said, "Boy will be boys. They take things so casually."
Yesterday, my eye was a little swollen. I showed my mum and she said that it's nothing to be concerned about because that happens sometimes. But I insisted on going to the doctor anyway. You can never be too cautious when it comes to your eyes! (I've had pretty severe cases of conjunctivitis before) So I went today and got some antibiotics and ointment for the eye infection.
Men are from mars and women are from venus. Clearly.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Happiness is a state of mind
"When I get sad, I stop being sad, and be awesome instead... True story !"
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson - How I Met you Mother
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson - How I Met you Mother
Friday, July 31, 2009
Childhood memories
When I read Karen Cheng's latest post, I couldn't help but recount my childhood. Although I lived in the concrete jungles in Malaysia, I spent a lot of my time hanging off tree branches, plucking fruits, swinging in the hammock tied between two willow trees and playing with my dogs. In that aspect, I had the most fabulous childhood. I didn't need the television or computer to entertain me. I had so much more fun climbing up the papaya (also known as paw paw) trees or the local Malaysian jambu tree (jambu is also known as 'water apple'. What a silly name. Jambu sounds better!)to pluck the fruits when they were in season. I even made a little "cubby house" for myself on the jambu tree. I would balance a couple of sticks between two branches and sit there for ages reading a book, doing my homework or munching on snacks.
I grew up with dogs. I had six dogs in total. I spend a lot of time doing my homework in the garden with the dogs in my lap. We had a wooden slide in our garden. I taught one of my dogs how to climb up the stairs and slide down it like a circus dog. How adorable. Afterwards, he would sit on top of the slide for hours on end, every single day. He must have felt like the king of the world.
I can still vividly recall my very close encounter with a bee swarm attack. Once I was climbing up the jambu tree to pluck its fruits. My fingers were up in the air, ready to grab the bunch of jambus, when I noticed a huge black rugby ball shaped thing hanging from the branches, only 2 inches away from my fingers. It took me about 5 seconds to realise the predicament I was in. I quickly jumped down from where I was (luckily it wasn't a very high jump) and ran back into the house. I reported my findings to my dad who then called the exterminator. The bee hive miraculously disappeared a couple of days later.
Friday nights were my most highly anticipated night. My parents joined a church cell group which congregated in alternate homes every Friday night together with about twenty other parents. You know what this means? 20 parents = 30 to 40 kids! Time of our lives! We played 'cops and robbers' (we call it 'police and thieves'), 'hide and seek', 'ice and water' and lots of other games. Dirt and grime didn't matter to us at all. I remembered hiding in huge drains, in bushes and the best hiding place was under a car. No one could find me for ages till I gave myself up.
Sadly, one day my mum decided to landscape the garden and all the fruit trees were cut down which included, one langsat tree, one rambutan tree, one jambu tree, two papaya tree and two banana trees. Needless to say, I wasn't happy at all but now, I can see how a nice landscaped garden looked better than a disorganised fruit orchard.
And to top everything off, one fine day, our two willow trees decided to give up on us. They died of some sort of infestation. It was like liver cancer - there were no symptoms for years. By the time we discovered the internal infestation, it was too late.
But my love of nature didn't end there. I started hiking and camping in the jungles of Malaysia. We bathed in rivers and when nature called, we gave our disposals back to nature. I learned how to build fires from using just matchsticks, twigs and branches without any fire starters. I learned how to put sulfur around my tent to keep snakes away. I've encountered a wild boar, smelt the urine of a roaming tiger (the guide told us that judging from the urine smell and temperature, the tiger was just ten minutes away), navigated through mountains using a compass. I slept best when I was in jungles. A soft mattress cannot compare to sleeping on the hard ground in the middle of the jungle, free from human pollution. The air always smelt so fresh that I think my lungs would burst.
If and when I have kids one fine day, I want to make sure they enjoy as much nature as they can before the telly, computer and game consoles rob them of their childhood.
I grew up with dogs. I had six dogs in total. I spend a lot of time doing my homework in the garden with the dogs in my lap. We had a wooden slide in our garden. I taught one of my dogs how to climb up the stairs and slide down it like a circus dog. How adorable. Afterwards, he would sit on top of the slide for hours on end, every single day. He must have felt like the king of the world.
I can still vividly recall my very close encounter with a bee swarm attack. Once I was climbing up the jambu tree to pluck its fruits. My fingers were up in the air, ready to grab the bunch of jambus, when I noticed a huge black rugby ball shaped thing hanging from the branches, only 2 inches away from my fingers. It took me about 5 seconds to realise the predicament I was in. I quickly jumped down from where I was (luckily it wasn't a very high jump) and ran back into the house. I reported my findings to my dad who then called the exterminator. The bee hive miraculously disappeared a couple of days later.
Friday nights were my most highly anticipated night. My parents joined a church cell group which congregated in alternate homes every Friday night together with about twenty other parents. You know what this means? 20 parents = 30 to 40 kids! Time of our lives! We played 'cops and robbers' (we call it 'police and thieves'), 'hide and seek', 'ice and water' and lots of other games. Dirt and grime didn't matter to us at all. I remembered hiding in huge drains, in bushes and the best hiding place was under a car. No one could find me for ages till I gave myself up.
Sadly, one day my mum decided to landscape the garden and all the fruit trees were cut down which included, one langsat tree, one rambutan tree, one jambu tree, two papaya tree and two banana trees. Needless to say, I wasn't happy at all but now, I can see how a nice landscaped garden looked better than a disorganised fruit orchard.
And to top everything off, one fine day, our two willow trees decided to give up on us. They died of some sort of infestation. It was like liver cancer - there were no symptoms for years. By the time we discovered the internal infestation, it was too late.
But my love of nature didn't end there. I started hiking and camping in the jungles of Malaysia. We bathed in rivers and when nature called, we gave our disposals back to nature. I learned how to build fires from using just matchsticks, twigs and branches without any fire starters. I learned how to put sulfur around my tent to keep snakes away. I've encountered a wild boar, smelt the urine of a roaming tiger (the guide told us that judging from the urine smell and temperature, the tiger was just ten minutes away), navigated through mountains using a compass. I slept best when I was in jungles. A soft mattress cannot compare to sleeping on the hard ground in the middle of the jungle, free from human pollution. The air always smelt so fresh that I think my lungs would burst.
If and when I have kids one fine day, I want to make sure they enjoy as much nature as they can before the telly, computer and game consoles rob them of their childhood.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Moment of silence
A smsed me the other day to tell me about the sudden passing of her uncle. It happened unexpectedly on a beautiful family vacation while they were hiking. C called me a month ago to tell me that her dad has been diagnosed with cancer. Yesterday, Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia's most celebrated film director died of a sudden stroke. Last month, MJ, King of Pop, shocked the world with his passing. Five months ago, a friend died in the Australian bush fires. What do we make of all this? Sometimes we question where's God hand admist all the grief and sadness? The bitter truth of the matter is, we will never know. We can ask all the whys but the rhetorical question will only drive ourselves crazy.
When my paternal grandmother passed away, my dad did not cry at her funeral. He said it was because she once told him that tears were useless once a person passes away. Instead, give your loved ones all your love while they are still alive. Why release grudges only once a person moves on from this world. Why cry tears of regret. Why cry tears of pain. In one of the Terminator:Sarah Conner Chronicles episodes, Cameron (the good terminator, protector of John) asked John, why do humans cry when someone has passed away? He replied that it was a way to cope with grief.
We should cry all we want, to cope with our grief, but once we get through that phase, we should get out of bed, breathe in and out and try to make the most of our lives - in rememberance of those who have passed away, for your sake and for the people you love that are still living.
By Yasmin Ahmad.
Thanks Yasmin for all your great short films. You may have moved on but you left a legacy behind. You will be sorely missed by many. RIP.
When my paternal grandmother passed away, my dad did not cry at her funeral. He said it was because she once told him that tears were useless once a person passes away. Instead, give your loved ones all your love while they are still alive. Why release grudges only once a person moves on from this world. Why cry tears of regret. Why cry tears of pain. In one of the Terminator:Sarah Conner Chronicles episodes, Cameron (the good terminator, protector of John) asked John, why do humans cry when someone has passed away? He replied that it was a way to cope with grief.
We should cry all we want, to cope with our grief, but once we get through that phase, we should get out of bed, breathe in and out and try to make the most of our lives - in rememberance of those who have passed away, for your sake and for the people you love that are still living.
By Yasmin Ahmad.
Thanks Yasmin for all your great short films. You may have moved on but you left a legacy behind. You will be sorely missed by many. RIP.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Shitake mushroom
My mom and I were shopping at a Japanese grocery store when my dad texted me:
Honey dere,
Buy the shit somthing mush room. We need for hot pot toonight.
-Dady
From mydadisafob.com
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Goodbye San Francisco
Right after J waves me off at the airport, he scurries off to the car rental office and exchanges his rented car for a new one, Bumblebee, the Transformer car. Stuff him! So unfair =(
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Booklist
I go through a lot of books in a year because I buy at least one book every 3 weeks. The unfortunate part is that I have trouble remembering the books I read, especially if they don't leave much of an impression on me. So when friends ask me to recommend books, sometimes my mind goes blank. As such, I'm resorting to jotting down the title and author of every single books I've read, starting from today!
Off the top of my head, here's what I've been reading the past couple of months. I'm sure there's heaps more but as usual, my brain fails me.
The curious incident of the dog in the night time – Mark Haddon
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cairo Trilogy - Naguib Mahfouz
Marley & Me – John Grogan
The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Losing My Virginity – Richard Branson
After Dark – Haruki Murakami
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Leave Me Alone – Nurong
I'm still gnawing at the book, Lolita. From the title itself, one can guess that the content would somewhat controversial. I picked it up because it was listed as one of the Border's staff current favourites. I'm always slightly hesitant to trust the taste of bookshop staff. The last time I asked for a recommendation, I was refered to a book that had the crown jewel's of the protagonist chained to the floor of a dark dungeon. In short, heavy heavy S&M. Not my kinda thing. Surprisingly, this book Lolita wasn't as bad as I thought. I would have imagined that there will be more controversial details regarding certain explicit sexual acts but the author did not dwell too much on those aspects. Instead, he focused his writings on the complicated mind of the protagonist.
....
On a short note, today a stranger was very kind to me. I was looking for a spot at the cafe in Borders. Most of the tables were occupied. A stranger then walked up to me, from the other end of the cafe, and said that I could take his seat as he was leaving. What a kind act, I thought. He took so much effort just to tell that to a stranger.
I relayed the story to J later on. He said in response that the stranger perform that kind gesture because I was female. I was appalled and I said that I would like to believe he did that because he was kind. He wasn't even hitting on me. J asked me whether I thought the stranger would have done the same for him, a male. I said, yes, just to pissed J off.
I guess, being female helped but still, it was a very kind act all the same.
Post-edit: I read this post out to J and he said, "Haven't you thought about why most kind acts done to you are made by men?" I said, "Maybe because men are kinder!!!" Can't people be nice for the sake of being nice??? Surely there are such people out there, otherwise our world is doomed.
Off the top of my head, here's what I've been reading the past couple of months. I'm sure there's heaps more but as usual, my brain fails me.
The curious incident of the dog in the night time – Mark Haddon
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cairo Trilogy - Naguib Mahfouz
Marley & Me – John Grogan
The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Losing My Virginity – Richard Branson
After Dark – Haruki Murakami
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Leave Me Alone – Nurong
I'm still gnawing at the book, Lolita. From the title itself, one can guess that the content would somewhat controversial. I picked it up because it was listed as one of the Border's staff current favourites. I'm always slightly hesitant to trust the taste of bookshop staff. The last time I asked for a recommendation, I was refered to a book that had the crown jewel's of the protagonist chained to the floor of a dark dungeon. In short, heavy heavy S&M. Not my kinda thing. Surprisingly, this book Lolita wasn't as bad as I thought. I would have imagined that there will be more controversial details regarding certain explicit sexual acts but the author did not dwell too much on those aspects. Instead, he focused his writings on the complicated mind of the protagonist.
....
On a short note, today a stranger was very kind to me. I was looking for a spot at the cafe in Borders. Most of the tables were occupied. A stranger then walked up to me, from the other end of the cafe, and said that I could take his seat as he was leaving. What a kind act, I thought. He took so much effort just to tell that to a stranger.
I relayed the story to J later on. He said in response that the stranger perform that kind gesture because I was female. I was appalled and I said that I would like to believe he did that because he was kind. He wasn't even hitting on me. J asked me whether I thought the stranger would have done the same for him, a male. I said, yes, just to pissed J off.
I guess, being female helped but still, it was a very kind act all the same.
Post-edit: I read this post out to J and he said, "Haven't you thought about why most kind acts done to you are made by men?" I said, "Maybe because men are kinder!!!" Can't people be nice for the sake of being nice??? Surely there are such people out there, otherwise our world is doomed.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Beauty queen failure
Amongst many many other reasons, one reason I can never be a beauty queen is because performing the entire beauty routine takes too much effort.
This evening, I've decided to put in more effort in my washing up routine.
The routine went as such: Shower which included washing hair and body, towel drying hair and body, blow-drying hair, putting moisturizer on face, putting eye cream, putting on body lotion, flossing teeth, brushing teeth.
Normal routine goes: Shower which includes washing hair and body, towel drying body, let hair drip dry, put moisturiser on face, brushing teeth.
Activities usually omitted:
Blow-drying hair (I was cursing for the whole 15 minutes! It's sooo tiring. Holding up the hair dryer is tiring enough)
Washing face with facial wash (I forget quite often these days. My bad)
Eye cream (something I should do because of my very dry skin)
Body lotion (again, I should do because of my very dry skin)
Flossing teeth (more of a health rather than beauty thing. The dentist is going to kill me)
The entire routine this evening took one hour. And I didn't even put on any make up.
Being female is tough sometimes.
This evening, I've decided to put in more effort in my washing up routine.
The routine went as such: Shower which included washing hair and body, towel drying hair and body, blow-drying hair, putting moisturizer on face, putting eye cream, putting on body lotion, flossing teeth, brushing teeth.
Normal routine goes: Shower which includes washing hair and body, towel drying body, let hair drip dry, put moisturiser on face, brushing teeth.
Activities usually omitted:
Blow-drying hair (I was cursing for the whole 15 minutes! It's sooo tiring. Holding up the hair dryer is tiring enough)
Washing face with facial wash (I forget quite often these days. My bad)
Eye cream (something I should do because of my very dry skin)
Body lotion (again, I should do because of my very dry skin)
Flossing teeth (more of a health rather than beauty thing. The dentist is going to kill me)
The entire routine this evening took one hour. And I didn't even put on any make up.
Being female is tough sometimes.
Don't sweat the small stuff
Today I walked into a small local camera store with the intention of checking out the Canon 500D. Upon walking into the store, I noticed a woman standing behind the counter. I assumed she’s about 55 years old judging from the crow’s feet at the outer corners of her eyes and the streaks of gray in her hair. But the thing I noticed most about her is the lack of kindness in her eyes.
I stood in front of the glass window where the Canon SLR cameras sat for about 10 seconds when she asked me in a matter-of-fact manner, “Do you have any questions?”
I asked whether I could see the Canon 500D.
She took out the Canon 500D and told me that it was the latest model for its range. She then immediately asked, “Have you seen this online? What’s the price you saw online?”
I said that I’ve only checked the Canon official website and have not really looked around.
She said, “Well, I can’t show you the camera because many people check out the camera and then buy it online. Are you going to buy it today?”
I replied, “I’m not sure yet. It depends. Can I see it?”
She then acutely point to the camera, which is now back in its original spot, securely locked behind the glass window and said, “there, you can see it.” I swear I saw a smug look plastered on her face.
I stared at her with a I-can’t-believe-you-are-so-darn-rude look. Did your dog just die? Did your husband divorce you recently?
I said, “It’s okay. Thanks,” and promptly walked out of the store. What I really wanted to say is, “How would I know whether I’ll be interested if I can’t even have a proper look at it. Even if I’m interested, I would never have bought it from you, evil witch.”
Anyway, I was upset for like 5 minutes before I realise that it’s not worth it. She probably had a bad day/bad life. I always think that you can see that sort of thing from someone’s eyes.
Then I proceeded to Walgreens to get some lip balm. The person behind the counter was really nice. I asked her for the nearest post office and she gave me lots of details with a smile. Then I met a local artist on the street who was handing out his name card and trying to persuade passer-bys to buy his cds. I didn’t buy his cd but I told him I’ll check out his website. We had a small chat and then parted ways.
The point of this short rant is to point out that, for every single horrible person you meet, you’ll meet many more good people. We shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. Otherwise we might miss the bigger picture.
I stood in front of the glass window where the Canon SLR cameras sat for about 10 seconds when she asked me in a matter-of-fact manner, “Do you have any questions?”
I asked whether I could see the Canon 500D.
She took out the Canon 500D and told me that it was the latest model for its range. She then immediately asked, “Have you seen this online? What’s the price you saw online?”
I said that I’ve only checked the Canon official website and have not really looked around.
She said, “Well, I can’t show you the camera because many people check out the camera and then buy it online. Are you going to buy it today?”
I replied, “I’m not sure yet. It depends. Can I see it?”
She then acutely point to the camera, which is now back in its original spot, securely locked behind the glass window and said, “there, you can see it.” I swear I saw a smug look plastered on her face.
I stared at her with a I-can’t-believe-you-are-so-darn-rude look. Did your dog just die? Did your husband divorce you recently?
I said, “It’s okay. Thanks,” and promptly walked out of the store. What I really wanted to say is, “How would I know whether I’ll be interested if I can’t even have a proper look at it. Even if I’m interested, I would never have bought it from you, evil witch.”
Anyway, I was upset for like 5 minutes before I realise that it’s not worth it. She probably had a bad day/bad life. I always think that you can see that sort of thing from someone’s eyes.
Then I proceeded to Walgreens to get some lip balm. The person behind the counter was really nice. I asked her for the nearest post office and she gave me lots of details with a smile. Then I met a local artist on the street who was handing out his name card and trying to persuade passer-bys to buy his cds. I didn’t buy his cd but I told him I’ll check out his website. We had a small chat and then parted ways.
The point of this short rant is to point out that, for every single horrible person you meet, you’ll meet many more good people. We shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. Otherwise we might miss the bigger picture.
Friday, July 10, 2009
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