The Cold Nights

The past few weeks have been wayyyy too cold for me. 

Thank goodness for the clever inventions of:

i)  Electric blankets/fitted sheets

ii) Mini-heaters

iii) Knitted wool socks

I don't know how I'd live without these few objects through winter......

Don't you think my woolie socks look warm? mmMMmm. It keeps my toes warm at night after i've switched off the heated sheets..... and they never fall off in the middle of the night...

Breakfast - with New Gadget

Ever since I laid my eyes on this UFO looking egg poacher/cooker I knew I had to get it. It was just the cutest thing ever! 

It had legs, wings, a tail, and it tweets when the eggs are done.

It came with 2 free egg cups too! Bonus!

Eating soft boiled eggs brought back lots of childhood memories. Most of you would know that I hate eating egg yolks (especially runny ones). I never order poached eggs, always scrambled. Mum used to have to force me to finish my soft boiled eggs...and I'd do it by adding lashings of soya sauce to it...so that I could only taste the soya sauce..and not the eggy suphur smell.

Things haven't changed after 20 ++ years. I'm still adding soya sauce.... love it to bits. I'm so Asian... At least I am eating egg yolks.... I'm only eating it because of the goodness of eggs...

New Kitchen - New Gadget

Joe moved into his new accommodation roughly 2 months ago. It seriously needed kitchen appliances to make it a home...

We took advantage of Myer's Mid-season Sale on the weekend to get him a coffee machine. Nespresso was doing a 15% discount plus $50 cashback. Thats pretty good. Also, there was a new range of Delonghi machines called the Citiz range...and its supposed to be shaped like skycrapers...long and skinny.. unlike my machine 'Le Cube' which is cube-y in shape...

We also got a fridge/freezer unit from the country town's Retravision....which got delivered the next day! These country people are very efficient! Delivery and installation was free too! 

Now my hubbie's kitchen is complete. 

Actually, he needs a wok or sautepan too....That'll be my next shopping trip then.. I'm thinking some Le Creuset pots..hmmmm....haha...NAH!!

Kitchen Addition!

Checkout my all-Stainless-Steel Kettle! Cool huh?

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Its not exactly a kettle.....its actually a kettle shaped Tea-Leaf-Infuser

I had to get it the other day while doing last minute Christmas shopping...This cute little gadget has brewed me good tea from Simon Johnson (can't remember what tea i got...it was some green tea with chestnut i think....) while I dream away in Vampire Land with Edward Cullen. Hah!!!  Someone is going to think I'm CRAZY....

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......

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? ^^

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.

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.

The Moon and my Strawberry Mooncakes


(photo by Peter Matthews @ http://www.theage.com.au/)

Forgot to mention about last week's lunar eclipse...I've seen this before when I was in M'sia many years ago...dun really remember much about it though. But I do remember when it was the sun being eclipsed by the moon!!!!! What issit called again? That was when the day suddenly turned DARK...and we were told not to look directly upon the sun even though it was dark as the rays would be very harmful...And then sleazy sales people started selling "SAFE" sunnies to vulnerable people who want to stare at the sun....thank goodness I wasn't that dumb. I do remember that day.....a very long time ago.

That night in Melbourne when the lunar eclipse happened, I remembered about it around 4 pm but then dinner came....i was too absorbed in eating mum's dinner that I forgot about it until after it happened....I managed to catch the end bit of it...so the moon was covered maybe 20%? Tried taking a picture of it but failed miserably as it was too cold on my balcony....and maybe poor technique (my camera is not crap!!!!) :)

So...to celebrate missing out on the event...we took out our Moon cakes and ATE IT! Yayyyy!!!! This is so random.......hehhee....

This mooncake is imported from HK. Joe's mum use to bring them over when she's here close to the mooncake/mid-autumn festival. But this year, I saw it on sale in Chinatown. You can't see it on the shelves, it would be stored in a fridge as it needs to be kept cold...unlike the usual baked brown ones. This is mochi-style moon cakes and the filling inside is sooooo soooo worth the extra kilos you might pile on...hahaha its not that bad la...

This is the BIGGEST size available....with 8 mooncakes (7 med/1 large)..... my favourite is the sago/pomelo/mango followed by the Strawberry (the sticker says strawberry princess in chinese)..

Is this the way to 'Eating Healthier'?

(Will my bum look smaller after eating this?)


Some munchies during my study period...compliments of my naturopath friend who works at Vitamin Me. She reckons the choc chip bar is the 'Next Big Thing' and is better than Uncle Toby's bars. Apprently its lower in sugar...etc etc... You know I am no expert in health food and I usually just eat whatever my eyes can see....But I'll have to say for something that is suppose to be 'healthy', it taste kinda nice! Its rather chewy! I like it. I think it retails for AUD 2.50 per bar.

The bottled water was also from that shop. Its bottled Water For Women! I like the marketing on that! Its even got Water for Travel etc etc. The water is special cos its gently infused with 8 flower essences and it tastes just like Water! HmmmMMm..

Pamper Time

How I love the smell of this product. The combination of sweet almonds and milk concentrate gives it a very light yet moisturizing effect. It leaves your skin feeling smooth and hydrated. I don't know about the firming and toning properties its supposed to do...but I love it just as it is. I've even bought it for my friends! (I am such a sweety pie). Oh don't get me wrong here...I'm not getting paid for promoting their product.

Coffee Lover

I use to think that coffee was really really really EXTREMELY bitter and only old people drink it. I think my first ever coffee experience was in a cafe at Crown with a dear friend. It was so bitter that we complained to the waitress..hehheee...and she said she will give us something "sweeter". I think we ordered an iced latte. After that incident, I stayed away from coffee until one sweet Sunday morning before church, I decided to give coffee another chance at Laurent. I ordered a skinny latte and then found myself hooked to beans til now. Maybe my tongue's taste buds have changed...but I'm loving the change.

Joe bought me this espresso machine as my birthday present and its doing its job marvellously. I haven't bought coffee from outside eversince........thank you for the present....i really love it and will continue making u coffee before your drive down to Hamilton.

OooOOooo...new nudie!!!


So lovely to have this chilled drink on a warm Sunday afternoon while strolling in the park with my dog. I absolutely love those nudie juices but they're a bit costly. 3 bucks for this teenie weenie bottle of goodness HMMmmm....but this is a limited one so I guess thats a good enough reason to buy it.....hehhee... yummmm. lick lick.

Midnight drink

Finally got to try my Rosehip tea tonight.... kinda bland so I added some honey to it. MmmmMmmM. Good for skin....good for eyebags... (it'd better be true).

Dry Skin anyone?

Discovered this amazing creme by Ella Bache. Winter is so cruel to our epidermis! So love yourself more with this Energising Body Creme. A tad oily but it gives u goddess-like glowing skin. Smooth, supple, good enough to eat.

Pssst*** Ignore my messy living room

Nightmares

Recently I've been getting weird dreams. My dear friend Yi thinks I hv the most creative dreams....dusty toilets to swinging ghost underwear. So I've decided to calm myself with Camomile before i snooze. Haven't tried it yet but will do so tonight.

Rosehip...good for skin, broken capillaries (not that i have any...YET) and a life-saver for eye bags. Oh and it doesn't even taste like ROSE!!!! So try it...

Blocked Nose?

Refresh essential oil (citrus lemon peel/may chang/grapefruit/pine/bergamot).

Burns so well in my Jurlique burner (good investment)!