It's been a year

since I first came to Melbourne.

Has it been a good year? I don't know but I will definitely celebrate the things I've learnt, the changes I've gone through, the changes I've made to myself as a person. It was definitely good to be able to reunite with my other half after 4 years of long distance relationship. We were planning and we were hopeful with everything in the future eventhough we weren't sure if it would work. Well, half worked, half didn't. 

There were two things I wanted when I decided to come here - PR and a job. After almost a year, I'm really glad my PR application was approved. With PR, I can stay here indefinitely with Wk while he works and build his career, while I can work without limitations too as well as figuring out what I want as a career. We no longer have to stay apart. Sadly, I still have not gotten a job due to being a full time student now. I came here as a tourist thinking I could convert my visa when we apply for PR. Plans had to be changed when we found out I couldn't apply while I'm holding a tourist visa, I needed to at least be on a student visa. It led me to enrol in a course which I've never wanted to talk about because of many petty reasons. I figured since it's been a year here and after going through so many circumstances, I'm finally feeling comfortable to mention it.

I'm currently a full time student doing a Diploma of Beauty Therapy. The course goes on for a year. You may wonder, what does a beauty therapist do? Nothing related with music that's for sure. A beauty therapist performs all services related to beauty which include waxing, manicure, pedicure, body massage, facial, makeup, spa and aromatherapy. 

Music is a part of my life, I didn't want to waste time and money on a music course or a school that is not decent. Even if I am qualified to enter a good university to do a Masters degree, I couldn't afford to pay the fees as an international student. I'm too old to be taking money from my parents and I have 3 other siblings who need the money more than me. 

What I needed was something affordable, short in duration and I have interest in. I initially only took it as a stepping stone to my PR application as ultimately, I don't want to abandon music. I wanted to do makeup  but was told it's not offered to international students at that time. Instead, I was convinced to do beauty therapy and switch to makeup when it's available, which they presumed wouldn't be long. When I had the chance to switch finally, I decided to stick with beauty therapy. Simply because I was half way into the course  already (6 months) and it would be a waste to not finish it when I'm that close. Besides, I think it has a better career prospect than makeup, it makes me more marketable/employable, and I somehow became interested in it. I still have interest in makeup but I guess the timing was just not right.

I should be finishing before August this year and I have no idea what's in store for me but I have made plans for what to do after this. Now what's left is to hope everything works out fine.

Nothing comes easy, I get it. I just have to keep trying my best.

Some random food pictures, as always.

Beatrix

It's a breakfast place at North Melbourne. It seems to have garnered quite some good reviews and ratings but honestly, I find it so-so. Can't remember what's that roll called, it was a weekend special. Most people praised their sweets. The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was again, so-so.

Homemade Katsudon

The first time I made Katsudon my pork was as tough as old boots because I didn't know how long I should deep fry them for. This time, it was good but I wished it could be a little bit more tender.

Laksa King

Had lunch here after an interview because it was only 2 train stops away. Great place during those laksa-craving days. Their teh tarik is seriously fawesome! Nothing I've tried in Malaysia was as good.

Beautiful night sky view with 2 stars. Can you spot the crescent moon?

Vday '12

If you're on my FB you probably have already known this news. For those who're not.. or those who're on my FB but not nosy/lifeless people who check their FB news feed every 3 minutes... or those who are nosy as hell and want to know the exact story wtf, here's it!

Yesterday morning when Wk and I were waiting for the train to get to work/school, Colin, our lawyer who worked with us on our application for PR called. From the moment he picked up the phone and said "Hi Colin", I almost could not breath.

When I first came to Melbourne thinking application would be smooth sailing, I was wrong. Things changed, the Australian immigration tightened the rules and it was not as simple as we expected and we faced lots of trouble trying to get things done as soon as we could. Nevertheless, after putting in major effort, we managed to lodge our application around August/September. After that, we've never heard from Colin anymore. It's time to wait. No news from immigration to us, no news from Colin, no news from nowhere until yesterday.

Lots of people told us waiting is normal, "No news is good news" because ultimately, you'd rather wait than be informed that your application has been rejected. That only means you'll have to pack up and get the hell out of Australia.

So anyway back to the call from Colin. Wk spoke to him and I was sitting beside him... my mind was completely blank. I didn't know what to think. At the beginning the call sounded serious... there was no indication whatsoever and I was damn freaking nervous. In my mind I was thinking "Oh shitohshitohshit......" Lately things happened and I have not been thinking very positively... including this time.

And then, I heard something like "Oh I see, that's great! So everything's settled now?" With a smile on Wk's face. That was the sign of approval to me and immediately, I calmed down. But still, it could mean anything. Yes or no. 

When Wk hung up, he broke the good news to me. 

Our application for the visa has been granted.

I literally went "WTF". 

And I can't remember how I reacted afterwards wtf. But all I remember is my stomach was feeling funny when I was walking to school. It's as though my tummy was filled with so much of happiness that it wanted to explode lol.

I called my mom and told her and she congratulated me. I called her at 7.30am Malaysian time in her office because I knew she'd be there. She's crazy, she gets to work at 6.30am because she said she hates traffic congestion. And she likes to get everything done before the business runs. She's awesome like that.

Called my dad at a later time because I was busy the whole day... but apparently my mom already told him lol. With my mom, news travel like a lightning hahaha. I called home and spoke to my grandma and she knew too lol. 

Ok technically, nothing much changes. Doesn't mean I get cheaper price for things, or pay cheaper fees if I study. It's just that with this status, a lot of things can be processed easily because I am allowed to stay indefinitely. And also because we've been planning this for years, I'm not even exaggerating. Years. It felt so... indescribably amazing when it actually happened.

So yesterday to celebrate, we decided to eat out and watch a movie :) 

We didn't have plans prior to this good news, yeah it's Vday but come on. We've had nine freaking years of Vdays already lol and we're not the kind who care for Vday anyway. We initially only planned to stay home but obviously, we HAD to get out and celebrate when something so great happened.

Wk got a place at Movida Next Door at the last minute (right after working) but because he couldn't get me on the phone when I was on the way to the city (with grandma on the phone my goodness she couldn't stop talking hahaha), it was canceled. Everywhere else was fully booked because obviously, it's Vday. Lucky us, we managed to get a table at White Tomato, a decent Korean place. It was one of the most relaxing meal ever to be honest. We have so many plans for the future but it didn't make sense to invest when our status was not even assured. Now, it's as though a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Cinema wasn't as packed. I guess people here prefer to have dinner on Vday. We watched This Means War.

I must say at 35, Reese Witherspoon still looks as fresh as she was in Legally Blonde. Chris Pine... meh, typical. Tom Hardy + British accent is SO FUCKING HOT. Excuse the profanity but I cannot help it. It's a great comedy but I didn't like how it ended - who she picked. It's like saying nice guys will always stay behind, only jackasses can get the girl. What a big steaming pile of BS. Seriously who would like a guy, who pretended to like dogs just because you like dogs, and adopted one just to impress you? Hello? It's a life, not a toy. I'm Team Tuck! Who's with me??

How was everyone's Vday?

Nam Yue Spare Ribs, 南乳排骨

One of the many dishes from my grandma I missed the most is Nam Yue Spare Ribs. It's a pork dish, deep/pan fried with a savoury, sweet taste. I tried making them last week. Although it didn't taste like the ones my grandma used to make (at all...) it was nevertheless very delicious! I used this recipe and I do highly recommend it.

I don't have wooden chopsticks so I usually use 2 satay skewers as my wooden chopsticks when I need to deep fry things. Super useful ok! No need to wash and hang it to dry. Just simply throw them away! I mean... how often do you deep fry food anyway right? But you gotta have the skillz though wtf. If you hold your regular chopsticks the wrong way, forget about this. You can use kitchen tongs but I'll explain below why a wooden stick is better.

Make sure your oil is hot, but not hot to the point that it's smoking otherwise your pork will burn or get charred before it even gets cooked.

One way to test is to put your wooden chopstick (or skewer in my case) in the oil. If you see bubbles floating up immediately from the stick, that's about right temperature. You can't do this if you're using a kitchen tong can you? Constantly check your meat. If it's browning very quickly, you probably need to reduce the fire.

Oh and another thing. Never use any type of olive oil to deep fry please - just because it's olive oil doesn't mean it's always 'healthier' to cook with. Olive oil has a relatively low smoking point, and it's not healthy to cook from oil which is smoking - some said it's carcinogenic. Virgin and extra virgin has even lower smoking point which is why it's not recommended to use them to even stir fry. Use vegetable or peanut oil when it comes to deep frying.

Next important thing to do - check your timing.

Obviously this one here is undercooked. NEVER EAT UNDERCOOKED PORK. 

I didn't know how long I should fry my pork as it wasn't mentioned in the recipe. "deep fry till golden brown" really doesn't mean anything. So I googled and found multiple answers. There's 3-4 minutes, there's 8-10 minutes. That is a huge difference when it comes to cooking meat like pork so I started off with 4 minutes. And this was what I got when I cut my pork in half - pink centre. 

So for the next piece, I tried 8 minutes. Still turned out to be a little bit pink. Then I tried 10 minutes and it was perfect. Pork was not overcooked, it was juicy and tender. Overcooked pork will be very tough and hard to chew which means bleeghh. 

Anyhow, my pork was quite a huge piece. If it's smaller, it probably didn't need 10 minutes. I can't give an exact cooking time, best way is to try it piece by piece. Unless you're not particular about the texture of your meat. I am. So I cooked my pork exactly 10 minutes and it was crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside.

Yum!

I didn't have coriander leaves so I skipped that. I think it would have added a different flavour if I had it! Maybe next time. Baking soda basically helps in tenderising the meat. Don't overdose on baking soda and 5 spice powder as it will leave a bitter taste. And I didn't add that much water, just enough to give the marinade some volume so that all the meat is submerged in it. It's easier to mix the marinade (except water) in a bowl first, then pour all over the meat and give it a good stir.

I use a small pot to deep fry because that way, I wouldn't need to use that much of oil. But it also means I can only deep fry one piece at a time. It's slow but in a way, it's good because when you throw in too many pieces of meat into hot oil, the temperature of oil will drop rapidly and the meat will start sticking together and absorbing the oil.

I know this dish takes quite some effort to prepare but if you love spare ribs and Nam Yue, you'll love this! You can also substitute the meat with chicken.

Dinner on me :)

Was looking at my meal planner when I was surprised by this:

:)

Went out for a haircut today. Really liked it! I asked for side-swept fringe and a trim. Hair feels so much lighter and looks healthier! Although while my hairstylist was combing through my hair, he casually mentioned that I need some serious treatment because my hair's so tangled -.- After a wash, he was struggling with combing my hair he had to ask another stylist for help hahaha! And I had to sit there and endure 10 minutes of hair-yanking. Aiya no money do treatment la not that it'll last. Once my stupid bleached ends are gone it'll be healthy no need waste money on whatever treatment. Have to wait about... 2 years la I think hahaha!

Wk took a picture of me while we were waiting for our train and told me I'll look better without my specs. So I took it off and he said I look 10 years younger without the specs. But I'm blind without my specs @.@ Actually kind of cheating one la. The angle in the second picture made me look so much better than the angle in the first. If he took a picture of me from the front without my specs, I'll still look like a grandma wtf.

Remember I said I will never complain about the cold? I take that back. We had to walk home under the rain today because we forgot our umbrella. Omfg so cold. Wk laughed and asked me "Would you walk under the rain in the sun or in the cold?" I said "In the sun" wtf.

A Smoky New Year's Day

On New Year's Day we invited Maggie and Kai Mun over for dinner. Dinner was almost served when I took out my chicken from the oven and Wk was quickly stir-frying the round beans. And then all of a sudden the smoke alarm went off! We thought it was due to all the heavy cooking eventhough really, there was no smoke to begin with. 

Wk tried to turn it off but for unknown reason it couldn't be stopped. After beeping for a good 5-10 minutes, suddenly there's an automated announcement asking us to evacuate the apartment! And it wasn't just announcing in our apartment, it was annouuncing even in the walkway and we guessed it was announcing in other apartments too! At that point everyone panicked. If a smoke alarm is triggered, sometimes it automatically calls the fire brigade and they will come once they get the news. And even if there is no fire, they will charge depending on whose apartment the alarm was triggered! 

While Wk was trying hard (but in vain) to dismantle the alarm to turn it off, we were busy looking for numbers to call through the apartment manual eventhough we know on New Years Day, it is highly unlikely for us to get anyone. Called, no one picked up. At the same time, the freaking alarm was beeping, the automated announcement was announcing, everyone was frantic.

And then suddenly after about 10 minutes the announcement and the alarm stopped. We waited for a while but nothing happened. And then Maggie said "What if it's another person's apartment?" which could possibly explain why we couldn't turn it off in the first place because smoke alarm comes with a button for you to turn off when you need to. But we couldn't understand how could our alarm have went off when it's another apartment that's triggered their alarm. We were so confused but there was nothing we could do so then we proceeded to have our dinner which was already cold by then lol.

Until today, we still couldn't figure out what happened. One thing we were glad for sure, the fire brigade didn't come or else the dinner would have cost a fortune! If it actually WAS another apartment who triggered it... damn we must have looked freaking silly panicking and running around trying to turn it off hahaah. What a day to start our new year.

My brother taught me how to make 烧肉 (Siu Yok) or Roasted Pork Belly so I decided to try making it. It was pretty good except the crackling wasn't good enough. Which was why I asked Wk to try 'torching' it lol! Torching didn't solve the problem, the heat comes out too strong that it charred the skin very quickly. I kinda figured why the crackling wasn't as good so I shall try making this again.

Oh I almost forgot. On New Year's Day, it was 38 degrees. 38 freaking degrees! The temperature went lower at night. And the next day, it went up to 40!!!!!! I couldn't even sleep properly for that 2 days.

It's my first time going through this in Melbourne and I swear it's not fun at all. Seriously thank goodness the temperature has dropped now. I will never ever complain about the cold again. Ever! It's so much better to be cold than hot! And the heat here is crazy. It's hot, the wind is hot, with fan you're only circulating hot air within the apartment, and the air is sooooo dry that it dries your skin out like crazy.

And you know what I saw on the 40 degrees day? A man sunbathing in the park!

%^$!@&%$!!! Seriously??! At 40 degrees?! I couldn't even stand it inside the apartment and that man was out under the sun without clothes. The sun can do so much of damage to the skin, it was like watching a person committing suicide.

Twenty Eleven Reflection

Achievements:

1. Embarked on a new journey

I'm talking about moving over to Melbourne. Not sure if it's necessary to call this an achievement. At least I know I've escaped from doing things I'm not happy about and I decided to give my life a change for the price of familiarity.

Thank you all who came for the gatherings/to send me off ♡ That includes you too Cathy Moo! You must be hiding behind someone in one of those pictures hahaha.

2. Ended long distance relationship

This would most probably be one of the best things achieved this year. It may not seem like a huge accomplishment to others but for Wk and I, we've never been happier.

3. 9 years

On Christmas this year, it's been 9 and half years since we started dating. Gosh... we're so old! :P Hitting the decade omg. I'm so grateful to have met someone I can proudly say I can spend the rest of my life with. Someone who helped and will still help me grow (mentally, not sideways wtf...) and be better, someone who will always be there for me in any situation :)

4. Dyed my hair red

It's one of the 'must do before I die' which I can now happily tick off!

5. Distinctions

3 of my former violin students achieved Distinction in their violin exams! Well technically the credit goes to their new teacher but as their former teacher, I should be proud of them!

6. Topped Scores in Vege Samurai and Fruit Ninja!

I've never been able to top Wk's score in anything because well, he's a gamer and I'm not so it's only normal that he's better with games. But not these 2 apparently :P

I do realise that all these are actually not that substantial at all to be called achievements :P This post is not meant to be super serious anyway. So what if I haven't really achieved anything great? Life's too short to be whining over achievements.

I've learned to:

1. Cook better

I started being active in the kitchen when I was 15, it was more of a hobby thing but as the years passed, I got lazy and the skills just got rusty. Coming here, I don't have my grandma to cook for me anymore. Eating out is just too expensive. And I'm picky with food in terms of taste so in order to keep up to my standards, I'll have to cook and just learn to cook better. It gives a great sense of satisfaction once you hit the right taste and knowing you cooked it from scratch. 

2. Appreciate food

When I was home, I used to not eat whenever I think my grandma's cooking is not tasty and I would choose to eat out even when the food's prepared. I feel so terrible for being such an ungrateful grandaughter :( Having cooked for the past few months myself, I learned to appreciate how valuable everything is not just the food, but the effort to have something served up during dinner.

3. Eat healthy

It probably has to do with being the one cooking. I cook almost everyday that over time, I become more and more conscious about the things I put in my body. But I'm not a hardcore healthy eater. I'm just more aware and I would not find it time wasting to google on information about nutrition of specific foods. Afterall, you are what you eat. That being said, I still eat junk. In moderation of course.

4. Swim

I've always been afraid of water, never known how to swim and always wanted to learn. Fortunately, Wk used to swim when he was a kid and he is a confident swimmer. We go to a community centre 5 minutes walk away from our place to swim every 1-3 weeks depending on our schedule and so far, I'm able to do breaststroke and a little bit of freestyle already! 

5. Have self discipline in spending

Don't think there's much to say about this as I constantly mention how things are so expensive here in Melbourne. I used to be so frivolous in spending only because I've never had any serious commitments hahahah. Coming here, there's rent, there's monthly transportation fares, groceries, household, there's the money you need to save up for rainy days, there's bills... of course, there's that irresistable occasional shopping or eating out but I've learned to be more aware of what I actually need, what I only desire and NOT need, and to watch my expenditure closely. Speaking of eating out...

A collage of most of the food I've tired this year. Seems like a lot but most of it are from one same place. Told ya everything's expensive. If I were to eat out so often... pokai man.

6. Listen to Kpop

and swoon over cute Korean boys lol.

7. Keep in touch

... with my favourite people back in Malaysia. You know who you guys are :)

 

8. Be vain (as always), capture funny moments and have fun :D

Lol I was trying to depuff my eyes by pressing cold spoon on it.

You never regret the things you do but often, the things you didn't. There are so many things I wish I would have done or done better but I think there's no use living in regret. For the new year, I shall:

1. Get. A. Freaking. Job!
I have no excuse for this honestly. I procrastinate and I'm terribly good at it. Yes I am studying and I am aware that it is not an excuse at all because there's plenty of time for a part time job. Need. To. Get. Resume. Done!

2. Still keep in touch
... with my favourite people of course :)

3. Go home...
... during the holidays hopefully?

4. If I ever get to go home
I will eat and finish my grandma's cooking and never ever say no, I will help her cook, and I will cook for her. I miss my grandma so much :'(

5. Decide
Life has been full of uncertainties ever since I came here. First, it was visa issues. Now... something I don't wish to talk about so publicly. This year, I shall decide.

6. Still have self discipline in spending!
Definitely a must!

7. Blog more!
While looking through my archives, I realise in year 2009 and 2010, I have an average of 100 posts respectively. In 2011, THERE'S LESS THAN 50 HOMG! Oh what has age turned me into T_T Hopefully I'll get back into my blogging mojo and start publishing 10 posts a day hahahah! Of course not. But seriously, I should blog more. There's something about it that relaxes me. It's a good way to reflect on your past or yourself too.

8. Get a haircut, period.



Happy New Year 2012 everyone!

*This post was inspired by a blogger. But I'm pretty sure lots of bloggers would do a year end recap/self reflecting post so... if it sounds familiar, that's why :)

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was fun! :D

Last year around Christmas I was at Gold Coast with Wk and his family. Didn't get to do much because weather was horrible there. It kept raining, sky was gloomy, the beach was windy and cold all the time. And we had sucky, overpriced Chinese food as well wtf. On Boxing Day we were at the amusement parks. Was fun but it wasn't really a true Boxing Day activity which supposedly is a shopping holiday where shops will have huge sales and will be crowded with people hunting for bargains.

Made pancakes for brunch because we wanted to use up our milk which was expiring. But guess what... the pancake mix was expired wtf. I knew it's expired before cooking but it's printed as "Best Before" not "Use Before" so I assumed it's fine to consume. Wasn't bad but didn't taste as good as it should be. Oh well. That's exactly why you should toss expired food away. Don't be a cheapo smartass like me. Anyway, to prove that it's fine to consume food that has passed the "Best Before" date... we didn't laosai.

Lazed in the house for a while before heading out to Maggie and Kai Mun's place to cook up our own 'Christmas dinner'. We bought 2 meats from the market the other day; pork and stuffed, rolled turkey intending to roast them. It turned out to be a little bit disastrous because after roasting the pork for a while, we realized the oven was smoking up which was quite an unusual thing for us to see so we panicked. We figured it was the oil so we had to reduce the heat. And we weren't sure about roasting stuff so the meat ended up way overcooked. But the baked veges were awesome! We placed it right underneath the meats to collect their 'juices'. Also, the pork crackling was super crunchy and nice!

The brown thing at the bottom left which looks quite shitty (pun unintended) is our homemade mushroom gravy. Tasted alright, made it just because every dish was dry.

After dinner, Kung Fu Hustle was playing on tv lol. And then a Christmas-related episode of Southpark which as all Southpark episodes are, is twisted, gory and disturbing. We stayed over her place because we've planned to get up early and hunt for bargains during Boxing Day sale. Woke up at 5.30am, got ready and went out to shop at about 6.30am. This is my first time doing such a thing... waking up early just to go shopping. Gotta say it's pretty exciting :P

We could have gone later but I'm so glad we had the determination and went out early. The crowd towards mid-morning was crazy! If I was there when the crowd was massive, I wouldn't even have the mood to browse and shop. We went into Zara with lots of people inside without needing to queue but by the time we walked out (probably 15 minutes after), there was a long queue already.

Quite a 'fruitful' shopping!

The item we bought which I'm most excited about is this Kenwood stick blender.

Doesn't it look so handsome? :D

I've been contemplating for a while whether to get a blender or a food processor. A blender is good for pureeing which is quite impossible for a food processor to do. But a food processor can chop, dice, and mince/ground which is impossible for a blender to do. Solution? A stick blender which comes with a mini food processor! With this, I can mince, chop, dice, shred, slice, ground, whisk, whip, mix, blend and puree! Best part is it's not too expensive and it doesn't take up too much space. It's 20% cheaper than retail and there's a $30 cash back on top of that so it was really worth it. It's only a little bit more expensive than all the other stick blenders out there but it has so much more useful functions to offer.

We did all the homeware/kitchenware browsing and shopping before going to clothes. Clothing wise there wasn't anything impressively cheap in my opinion. I wasn't in the mood to shop for clothes anyway because by the time we get to seeing clothes, the crowd was already creeping in and to look at things with 16123761 other people and looking at the line in changing room, it's just a turn off. Wk got a casual blazer from his favourite brand which he has been eyeing on for some time. 

After dim sum brunch, we headed to Chapel Street because we wanted to look at Topshop. Before getting to Topshop we were browsing at Country Road. There was nothing in the store which I wanted and I was standing at a corner waiting for Maggie to pay for her stuff when I saw this bunch of clothes of mixed styles all hanged randomly. It probably was the bunch of clothes which people tried and the store assistant didn't put them back to where they should be yet. I casually flipped and saw this blazer of a size I thought would fit me. Tried it on... and I regretted trying. 

Its a soft blazer with drooping pockets, it was perfect fit and I loved it T_T and I could use but I don't need another blazer. It was selling at half its original price which was still expensive even with an additional 25% members discount IMO. I love how versatile it looks as you can wear it in both formal or casual ways. Then Wk decided to get it for me T____T virtual tears of joy hahaha.

Along with some bath mats and bowls, that pretty much sums up our Boxing Day. Technically, we went out at 6.30am, had brunch at 11, went back to shop and dropped the shopping bags at Maggie's apartment, chilled for about 30 minutes, then went to Chapel Street. Went back and chilled for about 2 hours then went for dinner before coming back home. We were sooo tired that as soon as we got home, we went to bed straight. Did all the unpacking today. Initially we wanted to put Maggie's idea into use by chopping up a whole bunch of garlic using my brand new blender and use it today as well as store it in the freezer for future use but that didn't happen cos we had to finish up some leftover food before they go bad lol.

How was everyone's Christmas?