The 365th Day of 2006

For more details of how I spent my New Year Eve...
Please visit Rabbit's New Year's Eve 31st Dec 06...

Visitor from Perth - Day 7

[ kevin spacey ] beyond the sea

Initially I planned to bring Rabbit for PuffingBilly ride but Rabbit seemed more into shopping at Brunswick Street so we changed the plans instead... Had big breakfast at one of the Corner Cafe (need to ask Rabbit what's the name of it) at Brunswick Street before checking out the shops.

Well, she bought some stuff for her friends and family of course... and guess what i found?? ...A very cool pants that I've always wanted for a loooooooooong long time... A timeless design... Unique cut that fits perfectly (perhaps 1/2 inch too long but that can be easily fixed)... BUT the price tag is also very very EYE-POPPING!!!

Hmmm... I hesitated a little after seeing the price tag, but I knew I would regret if I don't get it... and yes, it is now sitting in my wardrobe calling out my name to wear it one fine day!!! ...heeeeee... (And this was the Highlight of my day!)

We continue our shopping spree at DFO @ Spencer Street where Rabbit bought a very very beautiful bag for her friend Luyi... and she also bought some very pretty chocolates for her friends/colleagues before we headed to Cuckoo Restaurant to feed our tummy...

As usual, I got lost driving to Cuckoo (getting lost has became a norm to me!!)... Anyway, I was a little disappointed that they didn't performed the song "Edelweiss", instead a Tom Jone's wanna-be sang a few songs... but the usual audience interacting performance were still pretty funny and entertaining as usual, especially the yodeling part (but this time round, there's a few didn't play along which was a pity!!)... I reckon the most funniest show was during the Sydney gang came for visit last year as it was hilarious!! ...

On our way back to Melb, we went into Xchange (Commercial Road) to watch the gays and show... We missed out the start but still managed to check out the hot bodies of the background dancers... Ma Ma Miaa... Fit Fit!! ...and the Queens has the perfect-10 legs not many female could even compete!! ...Anyway, I could not stop coughing and felt that my lung was badly harm for being in there 30-40mins or so... The smoke was terrible... No clubbing for me anymore!!!

Visitor from Perth - Day 6

[ 2fc studio dance orchestra ] b-a-double-l-double-a-r-a-t

Had a great night sleep at Sovereign Hill Lodge... Not sure if I snored... Anyway, check out this photo which we initially wanted to do... Ain't Asian looks funny dressed up like this? ...heeeee... Well, we made an appointment at Sovereign Hill yesterday to dress up and take these photos at 1130am but we realised that by the time they have developed the photos, it might be late in the afternoon!? ...and we didn't wanna spend more time at Sovereign Hill cos we have seen enough...

So we decided to check out the town centre of Ballarat as Rabbit also wanna get some postcards... Ballarat town centre has lotsa old buildings... We found a place to have big lunch before headed to our next destination - Kryal Castle...

It was such a warm day and there's so many flies... I hate flies!!! ...Anyway, Kryal Castle is a medieval Castle that offers "activities including medieval re-enactments, magic shows and Live birds of prey displays. Other presentations include costumes of the World, the largest display of arms and armour in the Southern Hemisphere, Medical Museum, giant maze, chapel ,torture chamber dungeons, comical graveyard, Magna Carta and more"...

Since we missed out the chance to dress up at Sovereign Hill earlier, we couldn't let go of another chance to dress up in mediaval costumes especially seeing so many visitors dressed up and walked around in the castles as noble ladies, the King and his armed guards...

Rabbit dressed up as the Queen, and she found her very good looking and very brave King-to-be in the castle!!! ...And I dressed up as a flower maid (which kinda look like a bride though cos all in white?) and I was rescued by the shining amour hero from the evil Queen (ah-hahahahhhaa!!!)....We had fun dressing up and that's absolutely the highlight of the day... kekekeke....

Anyway, we then came back to Melb and walk around at Williamstown before we headed to Brunswick Street for dinner at Cherry Lounge... It was Friday night and everyone was out for partying/dining... We then headed to Lygon Street for another walk before wethe night ends... (and Rabbit drooled over all the pretty desserts at Brunetti)...

Visitor from Perth - Day 5

[ 2fc studio dance orchestra ] b-a-double-l-double-a-r-a-t

Could not remember if we had breakfast before heading to Daylesford. And I also forgot to bring the address of the Lake House as I made reservation since Rabbit is crazy over The Lake House (which her handsome prince KR starred in). Anyway, the lunch wasn't too bad but we were under dressed. The bright side was that the weather was absolutely beautiful and sunny!!

As we drove to Ballarat, Rabbit said she couldn't get the "ballarat" song out of her head (cos that song was played so frequently on local radio station)... hehee... Anyway, we arrived Ballarat and checked into Sovereign Hill Lodge and browsed around the old cowboy gold mine town... Dinner and the night show was included. I had high expectation for the night show, but it turned out just alright (maybe because it was so damn cold and I was a little tired??)

(Anyway, more photo will be posted to online album soon! Stay tune!)

My Birthday!!

[ friends and family ] happy birthday to you (me!)

My Birthday!!! ...My Birthday!!! ...My very BIG Birthday and I fell sick thanks to Melbourne's extreme weather (4 seasons in one day!!) ...Thankfully I had the chance to sleep in until 12pm as I didn't have to babysit Rabbit cos she's out with her friend from Canberra! ...I woke up for light lunch and back to afternoon nap for another 1-2hours... And *woah-laaaa*... I felt so GREAT after that... Fully recovered and ready for my BIG day! ...heheeeee...

We first picked up Rabbit from city and boy, she looked pretty crook as well... I guess it's all because we didn't get enough sleep and been out in extreme weather for the past few days...

Anyway, we ended up meeting my parents at Box Hill before going into one of the Chinese restaurant at Box Hill due to our favorite Malaysian Restaurant at High Street was closed during Xmas/New Year season... And after dinner, we all went back to my place to sing me a Birthday Song and cut the Mango Gateau (thanks Winnie for the cake!!) ...Yummy!!!

I have received tons of greetings via SMS, Emails and received some lovely presents... perhaps I shall do a list like Cybreed... heeeeeeee... And here's mine:-

Xmas/Birthday presents from friends/family:-
- Parents (dinner & lotsa love!)
- Brother & his gf (Smokey Quartz ring & the Mango Gateau)
- Rabbit (Handmade bag, Klim'sNotebook)
- Luyi (Dragonfly Necklace)
- Elsa (Homemade Butter Cake, Beautiful handmade Necklace)
- Vivian Cheong (Beautiful Card)

Birthday Greetings from friends (via SMS/Emails):-
- Chung, Khanh, Chuan, Rabbit, Elsa, Elaine Wong, Kornelija, Cybreed, Kevin Wong, Jeff Tong, Bryan Johnton, Yoon & Ho's family, Kiddo... (not sure if I have missed anyone else??)...

Xmas Greetings from friends (via SMS/Cards/Emails):-
- Khanh, Cybreed, Chung, Elsa, Kai, Aunty Margaret, Melissa Koh... (and maybe more...)

Anyway, I'm happy to receive so many greetings but in the mean time, I felt terrible because I don't think I remember most of their birthdays??? ...I realised I'm such a terrible friend!!! ... *sob*sob*... I shall take some time out to reflect myself and think about since when I have changed to become such a careless person... And of course to find out when is my friends' birthdays without them knowing !! ...heeeeeeeeeeee...

Visitor from Perth - Day 3

[ savage garden ] the animal song

We got up pretty early to get ready for our Open Vehicle Adventure at 915am! ...Despite losing our way to Werribee Zoo (it's kinda usual for me to get lost anyway!!), we arrived a bit early than expected... So we jumped for some great shots while waiting... (Rabbit sure knows how to jump for the snap!! ...heeeee)

The weather was terrible as it was raining and it was freezing cold by the time our adventure started... We sat at the back of the open vehicle suffering from strong cold wind as the vehicle moved into the first animal territory called Savanah Park (where we saw the muscular Rhinos hanged out with the beautiful Zebras and the elegant Giraffes... Was hoping the rhinos would come and attack our vehicle (yeah right!) but they seemed so tamed!! ...Anyway, we also saw Mongolian Horses and Hippos and Camels and lotsa different kind of African Goats/Deer (no idea what they called them!!)... No, the vehicle didn't drive into the big cat's (Lion and Cheetah's) territories... There's this tours called "Rip Roaring Feed" for closer encounter with the big cats... Perhaps we shall join that next time!! ...hohoho

Anyway, after the Open Vehicle Adventure, we spent some time walking around the Zoo... We saw Cheetah and Lions of course... Well, it's kinda funny cos I was checking out this separate small path next to the main walking area... It's a bush areas where the grass are so tall and the path was so winding, I couldn't see what lies in front of me!? ...Anyway, as I walked further by myself, I heard the Lion roaring SO LOUD like it was very angry that I entered his territory and was going to jump out from the bush and ATTACK me?!!!?... Of course I freaked out and RAN FOR MY LIFE without second thoughts!!! ...and as I ran out from the bush area, Rabbit caught me and laughed at me badly... And we then found out it wasn't a real lion that roars, it was just a sound effect thingy that they installed in the bush area to scare people!!! ...Grrrr... (Thank goodness Rabbit didn't take a snap of my freaked out expression as I ran out from the bush... hehehe)... Yeah that's the highlight of the day...

Anyway, we then went to the Werribee Rose Garden to take some photos as well as checking out the Werribee Mansion before we headed back to Melb for me to take an afternoon nap before meeting up with Rabbit's friend for dinner at 金鼎@Chinatown... They actually drove all the way down to Melb from Canberra just to meet up with Rabbit... How sweet huh!!!

Visitor from Perth - Day 2

Check out Rabbit's blog for the whole Day 2 in details... hehehe...
I must say I almost ruined the holidays for being so careless!!

Well, after YumCha @ Shark Fin House, I parked my car near Crown Casino and we spent quite a while in Crown for the beautiful musical decos and carols, and of course we couldn't resist the beautiful cakes (she had Chocolate Tiramisu, I had Strawberry Cheesecake) at Gecko... I saw Elsa and her hubby at Casino too (Melb is quite small, ain't it?!) ...

Anyway, we then walked along the Yarra River to South Gate, and from Art Centre & National Art Gallery to Federation Square, and she likes the old gothic designed building called "Forum" at the corner of Russel St & Flinders St... Took quite some photos there before we walked along Swanston Street to Chinatown to have some simple Japanese food before we walked back to Crown Casino to pick up the car...

As we approached nearer to my car, guess what I noticed?? ...I forgot to turned off the headlight!!?!! ...No doubt the battery was totally FLAT by then since it's been nearly the whole day we parked the car there... RACV's hotline advise that it would probably take 2 hours for the Road Side Service to come and assist us due to busy night... As we were waiting (probably just 10mins), we saw the RACV Road Side Service truck came by and guess what? ...They came to fix someone else's car not far in front of us!!! ...They said they'll come back to assist us after they have fixed the car in front... Thank goodness we didn't have to wait for 2hours!?!?! ....Happy!! ...hehehe... Anyway, I had my battery changed on the spot!! ...

Well, perhaps Rabbit brought me lotsa luck, because if we had waited for 2hrs for to get the battery fixed, I'm sure we couldn't make it to Werribee Zoo tomorrow morning for the Open Vehicle Adventure... hmmph... Ain't we lucky on X'mas Day?? ...hohoho...

Visitor from Perth - Day 1

[ liang jing ru ] nuan nuan

Woke up today at 5am to pack a few things before picking up Rabbit from the airport... Yes, I have a visitor and I have such a big responsibility now as Melb's reputations will be on my shoulders now... =P

Well, we were both pretty tired after coming back from the airport, and we tried to get some sleep? ...but my tummy couldn't stop making noises... At last we decided to get up and have big breakfast at St Kilda Beach as we could also check out the Sunday Market there... Anyway, the breakfast was great, and the market wasn't that crowded due to it was still early... We then went for a walk at the beach...

Since we were around the area, I decided to take Rabbit to Brighton to check out some colorful and pretty Bath Houses before we headed to Port Melb to check out Mirvac's townhouses... After that, we went to Williamstown via beautiful West Gate Bridge... Williamstown has a great view of the city from the opposite of Port Melb sea... but we didn't really get to walk around Williamstown due to too windy... We then went to Footscray to check out the Vietnamese community before we head home for another afternoon nap (for me only cos I was extremely tired)... hehe

I had 2 hours of Super Power Nap before we headed back to city for another drive... We went to Rememberance Shrine and took lotsa photos before we walked around in Botanica Garden... The weather became pretty bad and I was only able to show her around the city and Dockland by car... After that we went to Chinatown to have dinner and head home...

Covered quite a lot today actually... Let's hope the coming days would cover more (I doubt it, cos the weather is terrible!! ...Hail, rain, and extremely cold wind... and its Summer now?!! ...

First Cake of the year

[ jay zhou ] ye qu

Went for Yumcha with my ex-colleague just to catch up before Xmas or the year end... After lunch, we also spent a good few hours just to walk around the city (to burn some energy for eating so much?)... It's such a beautiful day...

Just right before we went our seperate ways, she took out a beautiful love shaped cake (which she made) and a birthday present for me from her car... I was so surprised!!! ...Very touched and speechless...

I truly appreciate the fact that she remembers my birthday, and I even feel more touched knowing she actually spent her own quality time to make me a beautiful yummy butter cake...

It's truly the thoughts that counts...
The effort that no better gifts could ever replace...

Thank you very much, Elsa sweetie... *muah*

My New Toy

[ kenny g ] song bird

The touch of it... the sound of it... the look if it... I'm loving every inch of it!!
I'm talking about the Xmas and Birthday present that I bought for myself -- Yamaha P70.

I've been playing for a few good hours every day...
I've been printing out so many Music Sheets that I have been collected all these years...
I wished I didn't have to go to work every morning, so that I could spend more time with my new toy... and I couldn't wait till I finish work every afternoon, so that I could rush home to practice the music I love...

I get this peaceful and relax feelings when I play piano... just like when I draw/paint...
It feels like I'm in my own world or in the "zone"...

Summer Night Market @ QVM

[ evanescence ] lithium

SUMMER has started and so is the Summer Night Market at Queen Victoria Market...It runs for 13 weeks only (every Wednesday night during Summer except 27th December)...

I usually would "at least" check out the night market once per year cos I love the Summer entertainment that is a little weird but fun and wonderful... There's many locally arts and crafts, young designers fashion and accessories, and some very innovative and unusual stuff that people could come up with, and of course the International Food stalls that freshly prepared all the yummy food on site...

Check this out! ...hehe... This is the new chinese food stall, but most of them who works there are not Asian... Their outfit are the brightest and their wok and wok-turner are so huge that they attracted so many people... Not many of them buying food there though (maybe not at that time cos it was still early when I got there)... heeeee....

Every year, I would try different food... Last year I tried Indian food, this year I tried Spanish food... I also bought a Turkish pan fried bread that stuffed with cheese and spinach! ...Very Yummy... Maybe next year I shall try some African food hey!? ...hehe

There's ONE thing that I MUST have whenever I go to Summer Night Market... That is -- the BEAUTIFUL cup cakes... OMG!!! ...They are sooooooooooooo pretty!!! ....There's many different flavors with different beautiful icing design... I always find it hard to pick one because I felt like I wanna have all of them... Anyway, this year, I had the Orange Flavour cup cake... It was not bad but last year, I had Sticky Date and it was Oh-So-Very-Nice!! ....

(Rabbit, during the 2nd week of your stay in Melb, if we come back early from our Great Ocean Rd trip, we might be able to go to Night Market the same day... =)

Holiday @ Work

[ thirsty merc] in the summertime

I think my mind has already took off for holidays without taking me... =/
Didn't even invite me to go along... *sob*sob*...

(Just testing to post blog from work... hehe)

Strange... Weird... Norm...

[ kt tunstall ] suddenly i see

Strange... that I don't find THAT strange...
Weird... that I don't find THAT weird...
so... is don't find that strange, strange?? ...
and... is don't find that weird, weird?? ...

...Ermm... Hmmph... *hush*hush*...

Gary's Birthday

[ u2 & greenday ] the saints are coming

Saturday night I met up with an old friend as it's his birthday... We were lucky enough to catch the sunsets before having Mexican food at Williamstown... I was rather surprised that he's never been to Williamstown when he was studying in Melb more than 5 years ago...

Anyway, I bought him this cute little mango cake (yum yum!!!) as it's his first birthday since he moved back to Melb two months ago... Wishing him all the best and many happy and wonderful days to come!!

I like this blurry happy photo... =) ...cos it's very mango!!

Weight of the things...

[卫兰 ] 离家出走

I seldom listen to Cantonese songs...
Late last night a good friend in Melb sent me this song via messenger... I stopped what I was doing to listen to the song... and I liked it...Very melodic and beautifully sung by 卫兰...
I vaguely remember a colleague sorta recommended 卫兰's songs to me, but I gave it a pass... but when my friend sent me this song, I liked it...
We tend to listen to / take advise / willing to open for new things for those people whom we trust more...

I loves presents/gifts...
I receive a gift from a cool friend from Msia, I appreciate his thoughts and kindness... I know him long enough and well enough and I'm in the comfort zone to accept any gifts from him without feeling awkward... (*wink*wink*... more to come yeah?? ...heheheee...)
I receive a gift from a colleague yet that gift has became my heaviest baggage... because I not only cannot give him any kindness in return, I actually felt rather uncomfortable if I didn't make sure there'll never be more than just colleague or just friend between us...
Presents/gifts' value actually comes from the importance of the giver in our heart as it could be just a card from close ones, yet it is enough to warmth our heart...

Original DVDs...
I am not fuss about movies or Dvds... I couldn't care less whether it is an original or copy as long as it is not Telesync... cos I hardly watch a movie twice or thrice...
When it comes to movie that I really really like, I must have the original DVDs no matter how expensive they are... Friends have the original DVD and offer to burn me a copy? ...I still insist to have my very own original...
There's no significant difference between original DVDs and duplicate copies, but there's great differences if I truly like it.

All the matters might seem the same...
But it's our heart that weight them differently...