Weird things in my Garden


What in the WORLD??? This birdy commited suicide in my fishpond. I hope it didn't traumatise/poison my fishies. Hmmm maybe it was trying to eat the fish and the fishies attacked it!!!!



A bird decided to build a nest on my electricity meter.....it tried to build one on top of my main door before this!



How can such an ugly thing turn into a butterfly? I found this THING in my backyard...squirming around.... Don't worry I didn't kill it....I swept it up and dumped it into my green bin

I'm listening to...


I love this song.........its from the Sex and the City Movie Soundtrack which I purchased while in HK

The Heart of the Matter (Indie.Arie)
(originally by Don Henley)

I got the call today, I didn't wanna hear
But I knew that it would come
An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone
She said you found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck,
And all the struggles we went through
How I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love's open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more?

I've been learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning them again
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age
And the trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They're the very things we kill, I guess
Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms
And the work they put between us,
You know it doesn't keep us warm

I've been trying to live without you now
But I miss you, baby
The more I know, the less I understand
And all the things I thought I figured out, I have to learn again
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But my will gets weak
And my heart is so shattered
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

All the people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
Better put it all behind you; cause life goes on
You keep carrin' that anger, it'll eat you up inside

I wanna be happily everafter
And my heart is so shattered
But I know it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
Because the flesh will get weak
And the ashes will scatter
So I'm thinkin' about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if you don't love me anymore
Even if you don't love me anymore

Porgie and Mr Jones....

291 Auburn Rd,

Hawthorn 

Introducing my current favourite breakfast place.

     

Best dish there so far is The Banana Bread + pistachios + berries + other yummy stuff....

They even have Mandarin juice....not just your regular orange juice...

I think I'll be taking Chrystella there next week when I'm back in Melbourne.... 

Safety Glasses....

Don't you think he looks like a dentist?

(Safety glasses acquired from Dental Cocktail Ball goody bag)

Dogs need makeover too



After some pampering (a bath and a stylist hair-do) time...this dog finally got adopted from the Nth Melbourne Lost Dog's Home. I think he's called Roger.....Apparently he's been waiting for someone to adopt him for 27 days...and his time will run out if no one picks him up on the 28th day.......because they will have to send him to doggy heaven........OH NOOOooo

Then the Herald Sun ran a news on him after his beatification process compliments of grooming saloon, and immediately the phone rang like crazy with people wanting to adopt him...

Aint he a little handsome dog (Muffin is MORE HANDSOME!!!!!)

Therefore I urge people to go to the Lost Dog's Home (2 Gracie St, Nth melbourne) to adopt a dog instead of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars at the pet shop.....give these dogs another chance to live....

Soup time on cold cold Melbourne winter nights



Chinese herbal chicken soup this time....trying to get some 'good stuff' into my body....

I didn't take a picture of the soup because it looks like any ordinary chicken soup...

I had chicken soup the past two nights...with rice....and thick ABC soya sauce to dip my chicken pieces...yumm

Oh...and chinese pickled cabbages too..... double yummm

New kitchen gadget (borrowed!!!!)

Introducing the newest addition to my kitchen.....da KITCHEN AID MIXER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aint it the bestest looking thing ever? It whips up the best egg whites....solid....and everything is so even..so pro.....

This cool gadget belongs to one of my bestie...Yi...she has decided to let her mixer stay at my house......(obviously I don't charge the mixer any rent! hehhee)......

Now that I've seen the wonders it can do....I want one too......

We baked Yi's famous Orange/Chocolate Flourless cake (recipe tried and tried and tried and edited 30 times to perfection)...and guess what? We were probably too distracted by the handsome-ness of the mixer that we forgot to double the butter............but the cake turned out pretty good too..a little spongier than usual....but it was still BLISSFUL eating it... (i forgot to take the picture of the finished product!!!!)

Checkout the amount of eggs we used.....(12!!!!!)

With this in my kitchen, I have to make good use of it....so be prepared to see more coming out of Van's Kitchen......

Tea places....

I have a thing for Tea Shops...Just walking into a tea shop and smelling that wonderful aroma is heavenly....

My favourite tea places...to buy tea leaves are:

1) Mariage Freres (BEST TEA SHOP IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!)
Sorry we can't get it in Australia...But u can shop online...but the freight cost is too much...maybe next time when I'm in Paris again I'll buy more for my girls...(i think there's a franchise in Japan....hmmm that would be much much closer)

2) l'epicier (QV)
Nice Japanese tea...but i think the packaging is nicer..hhahaa...most of the Japanese products are packaged very well..I'm a sucker for pretty things..(can't find a nice photo of that place...but u can google it)

3) Tea Leaves (Sassafras)

Haven't been up to Sassafras since 2006 April...and I absolutely adore that Tea Leaves shop...was tempted to buy some more French Earl Grey but guess what? I didn't.....No more unnecessary spending!!!!! There's a whole bag of Mariage Freres French Blue Earl Grey sitting in the pantry.

Have you ever?



Seen such a big Chariot of cheese???? I was gobsmacked when the lady pushed out those cheeses....i didn't know what to pick. There were so so so many types of cheese....i got CHEEZED over...(thank goodness i wasn't the one that ate the one that tasted like 'crap') hehehhee

oh...how i miss the warm weather of Bordeaux...and its touristy town of St Emilion where we stayed for 2 nights..





The day we went hot air ballooning....over the beautiful vineyards.....chateaus.....what a life....

To delete or not to delete....


(a pic taken by Joe...on the way back from Colac.....beautiful canolas)

Dear blog readers....(especially to my train/tram buddy Kevin)....I've been thinking lately should i just get rid of this blog. This is due to my lack of commmitment of updating it....and I shoudn't just leave it as it is...

I'll see if I'm motivated the next few weeks to snap away....and upload pics....

Lemme see....actually I did do something pretty exciting last week which I could have taken a photo of...damn..i should've taken the photo of my first EXO!!!!! The first tooth.....mmmMmmmMmm......

(image from www.mrcad.com)

Breathtakingly beautiful France....

A few pictures taken from our recent trip to Paris..

 

Notre-Dame is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary   

 

Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (Mona Lisa) in the Musee du Louvre

(It was really hard to get a picture of it.....all those tourists!!!!!)

Monet's Water Lilies as displayed in the oval rooms of the Musee de l'Orangerie

Should I adopt Nico?



How can anyone not fall in love with those cute lil puppy eyes....awwww......
As most of my friends know, my dog Muffin was an adopted dog from the Lost Dog's Home. So i'm always promoting dog adoption instead of buying a dog from the pet shops. I think every dog should be given a second chance to have a home and someone to care and love them.

I've been having thoughts in regards of having a 2nd dog. Joe and I do want another dog but we need to consider a lot of things.....2 dogs....double trouble..and if we go away, we need someone to care for TWO dogs..... even though Muffin is an extremely well behaved dog (except his running away problem^^)....two dogs is not going to be easy.

I sent Joe this photo today on MSN...and he said its cute...but its a Jack Russell....it'll destroy our home....and if we were to leave him in the backyard, we'll be proud owners of a backyard with LOTS OF HOLES...as Jack Russells love to dig and dig and dig!!!! Oh dear....what should I do? I guess someone else will definately adopt Nico.....just not me... TT

What In The World????

Introducing THE BOYFRIEND-ARM PILLOW.....


(image from Kameo Corp website)

Japs seriously are weird designers. This is actually pretty freaky. Why would anyone want to sleep on a pillow that has ONE torso, and ONE arm wrapped around you? It might actually give me nightmares instead of making me feel safe.

Apparently this pillow has been selling really well since its debut in 2004. They even sell it on American websites etc etc. I guess I can't really say its a bad thing before actually trying it out. Maybe I should buy one for the sake of investigation? ^^

Looked out from my window a lot today....


















I had a day off from Uni today..
Studied a bit..
Went out to the bank...

Came home...
Ate lunch...sushi time...
Couldn't finish it....



Studied again...
dinner time...
Sushi time...



mmMM....If only eating lecture notes will help with memory...I'd eat them all

Does losing things mean I'm starting to AGE???


Losing Things Can Sometimes Be A Challenge - Wooden Man
(image from google images)

Well I'm over exaggerating....its just that today I was on the train to uni...then realised that I left my pencil case at home...i was looking forward to using the new pen and highlighter I bought yesterday (new pens motivate me to study more..write more)....So I went into Smiggle once i got into Melb Central and bought myself a 2 in 1 pen. (highlighter/pen) for $2.95.

I had fun using it for my 1 hr lecture....went home after that...and decided I should use my new purchase while doing my revision....So I sat down on my messy desk, took out my books/notes, sat down....got the coffee ready too...and started looking for my new pen.....ITS NOT IN MY BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where issit? I dug through the whole bag, looked inside the compartments....even felt for it in the lining (hoping that it fell inside....).....oh noooooooo.....no more new pen........ I just bought it!!!!!!! Thank goodness I still have my other new pen...the one i bought yesterday......hmm....I do not want to start the trend of losing things weekly....

As most of my friends would know by now, I left a library text book on the tram last week!!!!!! I had to pay $135 for it....thank goodness the pen i lost today didn't cost that much......otherwise i'd be pulling my hair out.

Van's mood on this gloomy/wet/windy/cold cold Saturday

My Autumn Garden

On a beautiful (cold cold) autumn day..... I went snapping away....


Magnolias by the window greeting me when i wake up


Part of a very big tree in my backyard....


Fishies in my little pond. i think the fish with the black stripe is the BOSS


Gardenias, my wedding flower. In my GARDEN!


The Real Boss of the garden..Muffin Man


Mushroom on my steps

Is This Man The Future?


(image from www.theage.com.au)


CHANGE
We Can Believe In

More than any other presidential candidate in recent history, Barack Obama has a unique capacity to listen to other voices around the world.

My body works better with Burgen



I've been watching too much The Biggest Loser lately. Can't help it because that's my dinner time...and yes I do eat infront of the telly....I know its bad. But its my habit...and I get entertained while eating. I enjoy looking at them exercise, crying, gossiping about each other....

I'd have to say I wasn't lured into buying the Burgen bread because of the millions of times the Burgen advertisement comes on when the show is on. It was because it was on sale at Boccacio's. The usual price is about $AUD 5? I think that fateful Sunday, it was on specials...and it was bout $AUD 3.26?? Can't remember. I realised that there wasn't much left of the bread on the shelf. There were two Soy and Linseed and 2 Rye. Hmmm...decisions decisions..I picked up the loaf, it was really heavy (must be the gazillions of seeds)...so then came a lady with her shopping trolley. She stood next to me and picked up the Soy and Linseed loaf without even having to check the expirary date!!!! That must be a good choice!!!!!! Ok...that was all i needed to convince me to buy the bread. Give the poor bread a chance..... :) She picked it out of so many breads without thinking...(i'm sure that lady has a brain).

I have been buying it since...I keep it in the fridge...and later in the freezer if I can't finish them...they still taste great after that. I think the seeds are keeping me full.......it just seems healthier....but not when i pile on loads of peanut butter or nuttella tough......sorry bread...i destroyed you.....

Will load a proper picture of the Burgen bread loaf when I take a picture of it.

Can Mouse and Van Live Under The Same Roof?


(image from Wikipedia.org)

Maybe if the mouse was as cute as this one....and looks as though its got his/her hand on a steering wheel....

Mind you, there are no mice (undetectable so far) in my Kew home......but I'm freaked out by this lil mouse in Colac where Joe is currently working. I first saw it 3 nights ago while we were watching telly and it just zoomed past the fire place, straight behind the curtains. Muffin my dog didn't even sense a thing!!!! We even placed Muffin behind the curtain so that he can eventually sense that there is another animal in the house. Sadly i realised that my dream of having a super dog that kills all rodents in my house is dead.....

And moments ago, while i was using the computer, i heard the plastic bag rustle in the sink. Obviously i sent my hubbie to try and capture it...but he said it was too cute...and even suggested we keep it as a pet...hMmmmmMmm...tempting tempting but we can't even catch it so how are we going to keep it as a pet?

A free roaming mouse = a pest

Mouse in a cage with wheels = a pet

Autumn Madness....rescued by Van's Green Tea Ice Cream (Macha Ice)



Its got to be one of the WARMEST day I've ever experienced....the sun seems to have killer rays.... I couldn't wait to get out of the stinky tram and run straight back home.....dash straight to the freezer and help myself to the green tea ice-cream I made the night before.....

I didn't know making ice-cream was this easy! Don't even need an ice-cream processor.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 or 1 if you're feeling greedy)
2 tablespoons/10g green tea powder (macha)
120g granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup/200 ml milk
1 cup/200 ml double cream

1) In a small bowl, mix the green tea powder with 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar.
2) In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks and remaining sugar
3) Pour milk into a small pan and gently heat (do not let it boil) (ideally around 80 degrees Celcius but that hard to achieve without a thermometer). Remove from heat and mix a few spoonfuls of the warm milk with the green tea powder and sugar in a small bowl. When you get a smooth paste, add it to the remaining milk in the pan, then gradually combine with the egg yolks and sugar mix. Leave to cool.
4) Lighly whip the cream and then add to the cold green tea milk mixture
5) Transfer the mixture to a large container and put it in the freezer. As ice crystals start to form, mix well with a spoon to break them up, and return to the freezer. Repeat this a few times as it freezes to ensure the ice cream is really smooth.

I personally only did step 5 twice...cos it was bed time...and i couldn't be bothered. It turned out alright though :)

We Got Married!!!!!

This is not our wedding photo (that would be pretty sad if it was). This was taken on boxing day while we're on our way to HK onboard Cathay Pacific...CX 135. I'll load the pictures when we actually get them back from the photographer (which reminds me....I should call him to tell him that we're back).

Our world tour wedding has finally ended and we were very lucky to spend a week on Koh Samui island....doing tourisy stuff (beach/spa-massages) and most importantly MORE EATING. The place we stayed was called Tongsai Bay and it is absolutely AWESOME...... I highly recommend it to everybody who wants a nice getaway where you get treated like royalties and get fed like one too....the service is amazing. They don't even want you to walk (they have buggies that take you everywhere). We were so sad the night before we left......we didn't want to go...so we decided we have to come back again!!!!!!! Oh my goodness and the food at the restaurant was amazing...and I got the chance to learn a few dishes from the famous chef herself Chef Chom. I even have a certificate of Excellence from her...hahahhaa....Guess who's a Thai convert now? THAI COOKING HERE I COME............(in the next few weeks)

Checkout the toilet at Koh Samui Airport...

Can you see the monkey's side profile?