Just got back from drinks at Chawan

 

And amongst one of the many things we talked about, one thing in particular makes me kind of proud

That we all turned out so alike yet so different;

That we’re all on different paths and different places in our lives, yet still have so much in common

That, even after all this time and distance (whole continents in many cases!),

We’re all still best of friends.

 

It’s good to be back in KL. But I know that if I could bring all of you with me anytime, then any place would feel like home.

 

:)

finger lickin

I brought out the camera during lunch today for it’s first real-world test. There is still a LOT I have to learn, especially when using the manual settings! But for the most part, i’m still in love with how much detail there is in each picture, and it takes amazing macros! I just have to brush up on my own camera skillz to do this baby justice.

 

Me and Denesh. (He hijacked me to Subang for lunch and some amazing dessert place called Snowflake)

 

We got this cool UFO thing which beeps and flashes and vibrates so we know when our orders are ready for collection! I don’t really get why they don’t just serve it to us, but I suppose buying some beeping ufos are cheaper than hiring wait staff :P

 

Their best selling dessert – some grass jelly thing with stuff on top (I know, my description = epic fail) Those shot glass things are filled with cream, which to me was the  best part! I don’t usually go for these sorts of things, but it wasn’t actually too bad :D

 

And on the way back I tapau-ed my brother some KFC (as if Hot N Spicy wasn’t hot enough, now there’s a Fiery Crunch flavour). I didn’t take a picture of the drumstick because I took a bite out of that one (heehee).

 

I’ve been super busy making phone calls all over the place, not just coordinating times to meet up with different people, but also dealing with China issues. Right now, I’m stuck with living in one of the most expensive dorms on campus, which is still ok, but slightly over budget so I’m hoping something else will turn up. The building we all wanted to get into is full, so we won’t really be able to do much till we actually get there – thank God Lyn is in Beijing and able to check up on this stuff for us otherwise I’d be homeless!

 

It’s soooo hot in Malaysia I’m practically melting as I type this!

doing something productive

I’m packing!

Well…kinda. I can’t get my suitcase out from under the bed, cos the bed needs to be lifted first. So that’ll have to wait till Penguin gets back. But in the meantime, I’m picking out clothes to bring back and deciding what makeup to bring – oh, the decisions!

Took a minute to play with the webcam on my laptop and it’s burst function…

 

Hello hello hellooooo!

 

Dropped something right when the camera went off

 

I’m packing! You should be so proud!

 

My hair was really annoying me so I bunned it. I have such a big head! And you can see my closet in the bg! I know, I have a long way to go :(

A-packing I shall go! Btw, I’m listening to Mongol 800 – very good packing music!

ugh, can’t think!

 

I’m having such a hard time thinking of post titles nowadays! Gosh. Talk about writer’s block.

Anywho, just thought I’d update the blog with snippets of what I’ve been up to. I was looking through my pictures folder and realized there’s a ton of things I’ve neglected to blog about…me and Penguin’s wine tasting trip around the Yarra Valley, the wine and cheese night we had (which involved dodgy makeovers and playing online Taboo, lol) and lots of other outings which I’ve half forgotten about already. Today is my last Friday night in Melbourne, but there aren’t any plans as yet. I’m pretty excited/apprehensive that it’s almost China time! Speaking of which, I think Blogger’s been banned in China, so how the heck am I going to blog/kaypoh on other people’s blogs??? Skype’s also out of the question, which is a bit of a dilemma. I hope I meet some really smart techy person there who’ll help me out with this, otherwise it’s really going to be like, 2 months of seclusion (O.O)

According to Terri, she’s had lots of friends/friends of friends who’ve done the 2 months thing and learnt Chinese really successfully (there’s more pressure on us 2 month-ers to learn more as opposed to the one year people!) so I’m not as scared now that my trip will be an epic fail :D

I’m supposed to be packing right now, but instead I’ve been lazing on the couch drinking lattes and watching Judge Judy. Which is totally justified, because I’ve just come from a gruelling interview which I was kinda not so prepared for. You know how usually when you go for an interview, they make you sit around and wait for a bit before the interview actually starts? I usually use that time to go over some answers in my head and stuff, but today, the minute I arrived at reception, they just launched me straight into it so my answers came out in a croak (which I covered by telling them that I had a sore throat, muahaha!) PLUS, I think my hair was sticking out everywhere because it was really windy out. Ugggh. Am getting sooo fed up of going to all these interviews, but I know I shouldn’t complain because there are some people who can’t even get any. This whole recession thing sucks dot com :(

Okay, time to change out of my interview outfit and start doing something productive!

golden balls.

 

The interview this morning went ok. I’m trying not to get my hopes up prematurely, so we’ll see how it goes, but I should be having another interview soonish? Hopefully? Mmmmf okok let’s not bee too optimistic for now. I don’t want to jinx anything. :)

 

Because I was fussing too much with my clothes and hair this morning, I ended up leaving the house later than I planned. So instead of wearing the heels I originally intended to wear, I put on my black pointed flats and had to scurry down Swanston Street faster than I’ve ever walked in my life (yes, I walked, not ran – I am me, after all :p). Btw, did you guys know that there are tons of clocks hanging over Collins Street? There’s a fancy one hanging over Tag Heuer, and a pretty one being carried by a statue over Tiffany and Co. I want one of those in my house someday!

 

Anyway, the offices were located in this really nice historical building on Collins. It was pretty! The foyer was a huuuuge space with a concierge and a spectacular dome with Italian-style artwork painted all over the ceiling. There’s a set of 6 lifts for every 10 floors, which means that because I was on Level 6, I had to run all the way to almost the back of the building for the lifts that went from level 1-10. But the coolest part of the whole building was undoubtedly the lift buttons – they are humungous golden balls. I KID YOU NOT. They were like, half spheres, bigger than my head, golden, shiny, and they are the freaking lift buttons. You just push the ball up or down for the lift – how freakin’ cool is that!?! Obviously, since it was my first time there, I didn’t know that they were the buttons, but I eventually found out (why do embarassing things always happen to me?!) And on Level 6, the lift buttons are humungous flattened golden balls. Talk about posh (O_O)

 

Anyway. I don’t wanna jinx anything. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed

 

:)

weekend eats

 

I can’t believe the weekend’s flown by already! And I spent it just eating and eating, haha – not good, not good at all. It’s already Tuesday and I STILL feel bloated :D

 

On Sunday, for the first time in aaaages I went for actual BREAKFAST! It was kinda almost 12pm, but whatever, I woke up at 10, which is like 3 whole hours earlier than normal, so I think I deserve a pat on the back! Me, Erwin, Suvs and Ee met up with Dahbuu and his new squeeze at Mart 130.

 

Mart 130 is a quaint little place – all bright and airy and squishy (as in, lots of bodies crammed into one space!) as many top notch Melbourne spots are. Do you guys notice that a lot of Melbie’s most popular places are all usually really small and crammed into dodgy lanes? Well Mart 130 is on a TRAM LINE (Mart – Tram spelt backwards, and stop 130, so you could technically tram, there, get off at stop 130 and have brekkie, heh). Needless to say, we didn’t tram lahhh…I puttered around picking everyone up in my underused (but very loved!) car. Digressing – why do people get surprised when they hear that I drove? Is it THAT unfathomable? Pouf.

 

I had the organic scrambled eggs with sourdough and bacon. It was oookayyy – it’s not the best breakfast I’ve ever had, but it was good enough. I guess I was expecting more because of all the hype. Having said that, the atmosphere was great and at least now I can say I’ve had gourmet breakfast on a tram track :P

 

The Corn Fritters, which are supposedly really good, but none of us ordered it, haha! This very gorgeous picture courtesy of Totally Addicted to Taste.

 

Pancakes with Vanilla and Marscapone – looks amazing, but again, we didn’t order this! My stomach wasn’t even awake, so I couldn’t even finish my eggs and bacon – don’t think I could’ve handled this pancake stack. Once again, I’ve used a picture from Totally Addicted to Taste.

 

We were all completely stuffed after that, but because it was so bloody early and we had the rest of the day to kill, me, Suvs and Erwin traipsed down to Brunswick, where we pottered around the mishmash of shops. I bought some amazing custom blended beans from Jasper’s (MUST go there if you’re ever feeling depressed – they have buckets and BUCKETS of different coffee beans all stacked to the ceiling and it smells like you’ve died and gone to coffee heaven!) and we stuck our fingers into everything in Klein’s Apothecary. How could we not? So many interesting perfumes, bath and body stuff and nice-smelling things in big glass jars!

 

Of course, when you have nothing to do, it’s all about food, so we capped off our Brunswick outing with an AMAZING lemon tart at Babka. OMG. The hype says it’s the best lemon tart in Melbourne, and they were so not wrong – it’s the best lemon tart I’ve ever had, period! Ahhhh I’m getting cravings just thinking about it – must go back!

 

On Saturday, me and the Penguin went to Idibidi in Fitzroy for dinner, followed by dessert (Belgian Spoil for two!) at Koko Black. I miss my Belgian Spoil!

 

On Friday, me and Suvs bailed out of clubbing at Se7en to go rampaging around the city for yummy cocktails, wine and tapas (and good company, of course, of course). Melbourne is never short of interesting bars and lounges to hit up, so thus far we’ve been to a different ones every week! Friday’s standout was Hairy Canary – we ordered handmade chorizo, and were recommended some red wine which went really well with it! And when Winnypoo joined us, we ordered molten chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream, and I got an extra glass of riesling to go with – YUM! (I know realize that I can never start a food blog because I’ve already run out of adjectives to describe good food, haha)

 

Oookay! Whew! That' was kinda long. Am going to run off for dinner now (more food! I kinda feel full just from blogging about  my weekend, dunno how I’m going to eat!)

LOL.

Okay, I know the last thing many of you would want to watch would be a makeup video. But this one is hilarious and only 4 minutes long! So watch it! And if you know anyone who puts on tragic makeup like this, you might wanna do her/(him?) a favour and pass it on :P

 

(I KNOW some of you are going to send this video to me, you mothereffers! Hahaha!)