A new beginning

I'm seriously losing this whole blogging mojo :( from 4 updates in a month, to 2, to now a pathetic 1. Anywaaaaaay.

Don't really have anything in particular to blog about so I'll just put some pictures and elaborate on them since people these days don't seem to bother reading anyway, most people tend to scroll through and stop at pictures that interest them the most. Correct or not correct or not?? You're lying if you say no. I know because I'm like that wtf.

Recently bought 2 new pairs of Converse shoes. Just thought I could use a pair of hipster-ish sneakers :P Seriously, all I have are sandals, flip flops, boots, heels and a pair of Nike running shoes. Obviously I NEED not one, but TWO pairs of sneakers. Wk got a pair for himself too.

 This is one of the best things that happened lately :) I'll elaborate next time!

Made buttermilk pancakes with bananas, hazelnuts, maple syrup and a side of vanilla icecream. Buttermilk pancakes are so yummy and they're so easy to make! No need to rest the batter, no need to mix till the batter is smooth. Lately I've been trying to eat healthy so I've been trying to cut off foods high in sugar and fats e.g. icecream. But alas, I succumbed. The pancakes with only the bananas and hazelnuts were too dry. If I were to choose whether to have more maple syrup or icecream, definitely icecream! The taste of vanilla, hazelnuts and banana go well together. Plus the combination of warm pancakes and cold icecream...mmm.

Yesterday we went to DFO because I wanted to get myself a pair of shoes which I can wear for work. Yes in case you didn't know, you need a pair of new shoes for every freaking occassion, my bestfriend Esther Toh taught me that tee hee. No but really, I needed a new pair cos I'll be standing a lot so I definitely wanted a good comfy, solid pair that'll last. What was supposed to be 1 pair of shoes, turned into TWO pairs, 2 tops (3 tops for Wk) and a grill pan =_____= 

Anyway no pictures of the shoes because they look really boring wtf. They're from Supersoft by Diana Ferari. Diana Ferari is probably the only place with good working shoes in terms of comfort, quality and design and they're affordable. It was an outlet so everything was discounted, not that cheap but since the shoes felt really good, I think they're worth it.

Why 2 pairs? Because I need to spend that extra money wtf. No lah. Wk picked out the 2nd pair and I really liked it too, so had to get it. HAD TO GET IT - there's no better excuse.

We've been wanting a grill pan for a while now and since there was a little promotion at Matchbox, we decided to get it. It completes the set of cookware we're having at the moment, Jamie Oliver by Tefal. This grill pan came with a cookbook by Jamie Oliver! Can't wait to try out the recipes!

This was one of the tops I got yesterday. It's a russet knit from Country Road and it was discounted heavily! Only $20! It's currently spring here in Melbourne but sometimes it gets cold when the weather decides to have PMS or something. So having an extra knitwear is definitely handy. Check out the length. Kind of like the high-low/dip back type of thingie that's really in style now. I thought that was quite interesting.

Woke up this morning wanted to have my bowl of cereal and saw this. ISN'T THIS THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER?!? It was impossible for me to get my cereal out into my bowl without it spilling everywhere. All thanks to a certain someone who refused to use the freaking scissors to cut it open, but decided rip the shit out of it. Maybe the scissors was inconveniently stored you may guess?

Tell me it's inconvenient. Tell me it's inconvenient and I'll bitchslap you. (Of course I can't but I would love to)

Ok that's it for now. Time to hit the sack. It's Melbourne Cup Day tomorrow. I don't give a shit what day it is but it's a holiday and that's all that matters :D We're heading out to get some stuffs early, Wk thinks I won't be able to wake up. I shall prove him wrong.

An ordinarily special day.

10 years ago, who knew what's going to happen today? No one. Starting off as lovebirds in high school, we went separate ways after school, we were thrown the long distance challenge for 4 years. We embraced it, we learned from it and grew with it... 10 years later, look where we are now! It's like a test which we've passed with flying colours. It's been a year and 4 months since we reunited, it's like a roller coaster ride but it's a good ride :)

Happy anniversary to the both of us. *virtual champagne toast*

Dear readers, friends and family, please stop asking "When are you guys getting married?". Being together for so long doesn't define "just get married". Marriage doesn't only need commitment, it needs money. $$$. Cold hard cash. In case you didn't know, you need to work hard to earn that shit. Unless I grow a money tree, that's a different story. Until that shit piles up, I'll say wait patiently :)

Hot Hombre

Time for some random pictures update ala Instagram.

Met up with Beatrice while she's here for a vacation and look what she got me! This pack of peanut butter goodness is evillll. Wk and I couldn't stop eating it for as long as it's within our reach until I decided to pack it and put it aside where it's not so visible. But as I'm typing this I'm popping one into my mouth because it's right next to the computer. Evilllll...

Tried this new drink from Starbucks, Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Mmm it was perfect for that rainy cold day.

Macarons from Cacao... yummeh.

Chillin' in my new jammies that I got from DFO. Only $20!

Random message made me cannot stop smiling :) I was smiling to myself in the lunch room when a classmate saw and called me crazy lol.

And so we did went out for dinner and watch a movie.

Had a new burger from Grilled called the Hot Hombre. Homaigaah it was so spicy.

Dessert before the movie! Had a BOGO free short stack at Pancake Parlour. I seriously prefer whipped butter over anything but decided to go with icecream because whipped butter is so fattening :( Ice cream's good but it's just not as good as butter. And after going through half the pancake I feel quite sick of it already lol.

We watched Dark Shadows. It wasn't a fantastically good movie but it was entertaining to watch, especially with Johnny Depp in it. Come on, everybody loves Johnny Depp, admit it. Eva Green was stunning, as she was in Casino Royale as Vesper. I like that name, Vesper, sounds so... venomous hahah. Ok nvm.

The Cold Weekend

It's been getting quite cold lately but I'm definitely not complaining, I'd rather it cold than stuffy and warm because I don't remember having such good sleep in the past 2 days for quite some time ever since the weather went warmer early this year.  It's frustrating when all I do at night is waking up in the middle of a sleep, having difficulties to fall back into sleep, tossing and turning because every posture just felt uncomfortable. AAaaaand, the mother of all problems... ants. Since it's not a problem anymore, I won't get into that. Let's just hope I won't have to go into that.

I've never had Sichuan food until last year here in Melbourne and I must say... gosh how much I've missed out! Sichuan food is awesome. This is leftover pork ribs smothered with chili flakes and Sichuan pepper that we didn't finish when we had it in a restaurant. It's not spicy at all... well depending on your spice/heat tolerance. Sichuan pepper gives a numbing sensation when you bite it, it's not spicy or heaty like chili. Which I really like because I find the sensation really interesting! Haha.

For dinner on Saturday we decided to try Chilipadi Mamak Kopitiam. It was ok, nothing to shout about. There're definitely better tasting Malaysian food out there. Went home and it was already quite late but I decided to bake... because I can.

It's Red Velvet (Mini) Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe from here. Mini because I don't have regular cupcake/muffin tins at the moment. I had a little bit of a disaster moment while making it. I added a little more buttermilk than I should have out of carelessness so to make it up to the extra liquid, I added a little more dry ingredients without measuring (blind estimation), I wasn't bothered to throw out the batter and start again. The cake turned out fine! Except that I didn't think the cake would rise since it didn't ask for any raising agent (baking powder, self-raising flour) and I didn't think baking soda/bicarbonate soda is a raising agent, I filled the first batch of cupcakes quite full. Result: muffin top aka the cake 'overflowed'. But apart from presentation, the cake tasted good. Soft, fluffy and moist.

2nd disaster moment is the frosting. I think I shouldn't have used soft icing and should have used pure icing instead. My frosting look 'grainy' for unknown reasons... when it should be a smooth, beautiful opaque cream colour. I'm guessing it's the starches in the soft icing that's causing this ugly outcome. Bleghhh. Also, I would have loved my cream cheese frosting to be more cream cheese and heavy, this one is a tad bit too light and buttery. But I do like the lovely roses I piped out! Can anyone tell it's a white rose... ? Wk couldn't :((

 HAHAHA

Love how my cheekbones make my face look so slim here! <3

Just because I haven't done this in a while :P

Went and watched Hunger Games earlier. Wasn't interested in it at the beginning because the trailer didn't look interesting but apparently it's gotten really good ratings in Rotten Tomatoes so we decided to give it a shot. Not bad... worth the time and money spent.

And that concludes the weekend. Back to school tomorrow and let's hope I'll be able to do much better this week.

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.

On turning 20 something

Do I look like a Korean? =D I thought they look quite cute so I asked for a pair of powerless geeky glasses from Korea when Maggie travelled. 

So we went to Squires Loft Steakhouse on my birthday. But we didn't have steak cos we wanted to eat their lamb scotch fillet which I ate once and really liked, and their pork spare ribs which Maggie recommended. Both were really good! If you wanna have some nicely done red meat, Squires Loft will not disappoint. However, I think Meat & Wine Co. makes better chips so I'd say if you were to pick either baked potato or chips, get baked potato. The chips are forgettable. Their meats are good enough on their own so you can do with our without their sauce, which you'll have to pay for anyway. Also tried the baked mushroom and feta,  quite similar to gratin. Quite nice but quite salty.

I wore this Topshop Fit & Flare Tunic, it's black but it has multicoloured metallic fibre all over which is not visible in this picture. And wore my new heels which almost killed my feet. We boarded on the wrong tram which went the wrong way so we had to get down to catch another tram. But we waited really long and there wasn't any tram and we were running late for our reservation so we decided to walk there. Freaking 1 kilometre. IN THOSE 4 INCHES HEELS. I was cursing and cursing and cursing, and then Wk decided to buy me bag to shut me up lmao.

Got some presents from some amazing friends! =D

When I was at Kit with my friends I was telling them how good this body scrub smelled and I was about to get it but because it was kinda pricey for a body scrub, I decided to put it in my wishlist. One of them got it for me! Aaaaaah it smells so good! Smells like caramel + maple syrup!

Yes an apron! One day my friend asked me if I wear an apron when I cook. I told her I wanted to get an apron but because aprons here are not cheap, I have to put it on hold. (I know, nothing is cheap in Melbourne) And they got one for me! And this apron is so freaking cute ok! It comes with a hand towel with velcro loop, and there's a velcro hook on the apron. So you can actually attach/detach the hand towel to/from the apron. How handy! You can't see it in the picture, but the piece of cloth I'm holding out, that's the hand towel. So when your hand's filthy, just wipe it on the hand towel. No need to dirty the entire apron. I don't know what you can put in an apron pocket... a mobile phone maybe hahahaha.

Another awesome gift from some of my friends - kitchen organisers from kikki.k! More about it later. I always keep recipes, plan my meals and have a shopping list whenever I do grocery shopping. And they got me a recipe organizer, magnetic meal planner and magnetic shopping list! My friends know me inside out ♡♡♡ I used to print a schedule to plan my meals and stick it on the fridge with scotch tape. I also have a regular shopping list pad but it's not magnetic. Now not only do I not need to print, I don't even need to stick. It's magnetic, and the shopping list is right next to it. Handy maximus!

 

I was looking for a new pencil case so about 2 weeks ago I decided to pop into kikki.k and have a look, and I fell in love with these 2 items. The charcoal felt pencil case and the 2012 Botaniska planner. Which then Wk decided to buy them for me for my birthday! =D Look at the emoticons which indicate mood and weather of the day, how cute!

kikki.k is a Swedish lable which designs stationaries and home/office objects. Think ikea design (Swedish too) but in stationary forms. Er... no flat-packing though lol. Their designs are basically simple, elegant and thoughtful. It's one of my favourite places to go to whenever I need stationaries or organisers.

On the same day after our dinner, my parents called me and wished me too. My dad said, "all the best blessing. happy birthday . sour 1st sweet later.owe u a present" lol =')

If any contributor of the presents are reading this, once again thank you! xoxo

Quarter of a century

Does anyone absolutely hate it when you get uneven eyelids? I do. Check out my regrowths. It's as though I dip-dyed/ombre-d my hair. Mine's better. It's FREE! But takes almsot one year for 'results' to show lol.

Hahahahah this picture. I was cooking while Wk was playing Plants VS Zombies. It was kinda chilly that day so he wrapped himself with the throw, which looked really funny so I took a picture. I literally squtted and laughed really hard when I looked at this picture. Oh yeah if anyone's wondering, that's a TV slash PC monitor screen.

Fruit Ninja is dabombdiggity! It's a game in iPhone, super addictive at first but I got bored when nobody could beat my highscore, except myself *proud*. 

Another one which I really like (and am really good at *proud*) is Vege Samurai. This was my last best score, before they supposedly 'upgraded' the game, screwed up the audio and the control system.

***

I've been through birthdays for so many years I think I'm too old to be excited over it already hahah. Tomorrow I'm turning a year older. My usual friends and my family are not with me this year but I'm still grateful that I won't have to be alone. Wk's taking me to a steakhouse for dinner tomorrow. Perfect timing to wear my newly bought Topshop dress.

Have a good weekend everyone!

-

Life isn't as easy as it used to be but I am constantly grateful that I am always very well taken care of. If I feel like it, I'll cook. If I don't feel like it, someone is always there to make my meal for me.

***

Michelle, my former boss in a music school I used to teach at in Malaysia who migrated to Melbourne, asked me to help her relief her piano classes because she is back in Malaysia for the moment. A temporary opportunity to have a job but I think it's going to be a great experience, to know how it's like in the music schools here.

School on the other hand is getting interesting. I'm now thinking of what I really should do. Initially I wanted to change to another course but I couldn't do it because it wasn't offered to international students, it still isn't offered now. I'm stuck with this current course I'm doing because I'm supposed to change only when it is approved by the government and offered to international students. I was convinced that it'll happen in August. Then September. Then October and the list goes on. The last I heard, it's not going to happen till next February. Which will make it 8 months from when I started this course I'm currently doing! Which makes completely no sense if I were to switch after being in it for so long.

I honestly don't mind continuing to do what I've been doing since I'm doing well and I do see some career prospect in it. The thing is I don't feel excited whenever I go to school. I'm only doing it for the sake of the fees I've paid, not for the love or interest of it. But to change after 8 freaking months? I don't know how's that going to happen without needing to pay some extra moolah, which obviously I'm not willing to. I can only blame the institution for tricking me into agreeing to do this course while I wait... oh wait. Maybe I should blame myself for being so stupid. Haihhh.

Plans

So a number of you have been asking me, or must be wondering what the heck am I going to do, leaving everything behind coming here to restart my life. 

The main reason I decided to come here is of course to end my long distance relationship with Wk. It's been 4 years and enough is enough. There's only that much a girl can handle. It was difficult but of course I'm glad we made it. I'm glad we both had faith, had plans and were looking forward to that day to come. Let's put it this way; he got a job and it's either he stays here and work and I come, or he rejects the offer and goes back to Malaysia and I can stay within my comfort zone. 

We had wanted to be together and of course had wanted a better future and here is where we imagined it to be. Shallow or childish, I don't care whatever anyone wants to say because your opinion doesn't matter. This is us and for us. Things happened, a golden opportunity was given to us, it's either we grab it now or never be offered again.

Also another reason is well... I needed a solution to being stuck at my dad's place. I've been wanting to stop working there but just couldn't figure out how. After graduating I was only working part time and it's because I wanted to have more time to practise and prepare for my Master studies application. I have to submit an audition CD which isn't something that can be done in a day or even a month. It's a long story but all in all, I just wanted more time to polish my skills and be better before I apply to study for Masters. 

Of course wanted to come to Melbourne to study because why not? Wk is here. It's the only way (at that time) that I could think of to come here and let us be together, and at the same time do what I really want to do which is to learn to play the violin professionaly. 

But my dad couldn't understand and insisted that I needed to have a full time job. And that was how I ended working for him. He didn't force me but he is my father and he needed help anyway with his business, since I was free I decided it's ok to spare a few days to help him eventhough I was reluctant to. 

I know some of you would say "just say no if you didn't want to". I can only tell you, it's easier said than done.

And a few working days became all the days I'm not teaching. My plan to practise when I'm free was crashed. I was staying with him, there's no way I could sternly tell him I don't want to work for him. I wanted to move out, but its not practical and I couldn't afford to anyway. And I couldn't bring myself to do it cos even if I move out I'll be taking the car and he bought me that car so I feel like I owe it him. In fact I owe everything to him so I feel the responsibility to help him whenever I can.

That's when I slowly see the future I planned distancing away. If I continue to work at my dad's place, I can never ever be able to be better at playing the violin, I can never ever get to go back to studying. I will probably be in LDR for the next few years. It's depressing everytime I think about this. 

Which is the ultimate reason I decided that I had to leave, if I had the opportunity to. I could stay, but I don't see myself doing what I want to do. I see myself chasing away my dreams, and I see myself crying everynight when I think of what the fuck I was doing to my life.

I'm not saying I wanted to leave because I couldn't stand my dad. It isn't. I feel that as long as I'm at home facing him, it's my responsibility to help him whenever I can eventhough I know I have my rights to say no. I know it's selfish to just leave, but I have my dreams too. And I'm immensely grateful that he didn't say no, he gave me his blessing to move to another country and offered to help me if I ever needed it. It breaks my heart but it's now or never, I had to make my decision. My dreams, or the responsibility which only exists in my conscience.

For the past few years my parents was seeing me staring at my laptop screen talking to Wk on Skype. Now it's as though I got sucked into the laptop, into the other side of the world and my parents now have to talk to me on Skype. But I guess it's just part and parcel of life. I'm glad I don't have to burden them with anything right now and I'm more glad that our relationship has gotten better if compared to the past. It's true, you never know what you have until it's gone. I never know how much I meant to them, as well as how much they meant to me until I left.

So as much as I want to come here, it also hurts me that much to leave my family but in life you just can't have it all. I really hope this is for the best.

So the question again, what am I going to do here.

For the first 3 months, because of the visa I'm holding now, I'm not allowed to work. I can't do much right now cos we're moving really soon (in a few days) and everything's all packed so I can't cook. I wanted to practise but there's too many people in the house and it'll be incosiderate to do so.

I still have plans to study which was why I was having violin lessons like crazy before I left. I want to come prepared before approaching violin tutors here. 

I will of course get a part time job. What jobs would I do? I think it's not up to me anymore as this is not Malaysia, I don't have choices. I'll take whatever comes as long as it's not ridiculous in terms of working hours and pay. 

I'm hoping to be able to afford violin lessons and maybe, apply to study Masters part time since it is what I really wanted to do - to study while I still can and want to. International students can only study full time, with a PR we're allowed to do part time. I'm hoping I can earn enough to support myself.

Right now in these 3 months, all I can do is practise whenever I can. And do chores of course lol.

Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens

More pics from Melbourne!

On we drove to Ballarat and visited the Sovereign Hill, which is an outdoor museum where you get to see live presentation of how gold is found, processed blablabla in Ballarat. The admission fee isn't cheap but if you look at the entire recreation it's not difficult to understand how much maintenance is needed to keep the place running nicely.

I've visited the place in winter 2008. Honestly, for places like this, it's worthwile to see it once but not another time. We decided to go again because his family hasn't been there before.

 

Wearing a winter jacket during summer =.=

And exploring the museum took up pretty much the whole day. Can't remember what else we did.

The next day which was also the last day we had the car, we drove around the Mornington Peninsula. We didn't get to do much since we had only one day and most places close at 5.

We wanted to visit a strawberry picking farm but it was not opened due to bad weather conditions. So we visited the Ashcombe Maze and Lavender Gardens which was beautiful! It was quite fun too because once you get in you'll be given tasks and challenges. Of course it is completely up to you whether or not you choose to accept and do them. Honestly, it'll be a lot more interesting to do it than to only stroll along the entire place looking at trees and flowers. 

The moment we entered we were asked to look for little gnomes and fairies in the place. If we could find all of it the reward was a lolly. The whole point is of course not to get a lolly but the fun of exploring every coop and corner, having an objective while enjoying the beauty of nature.

Yes, this is a maze, like the one you see in Harry Potter. 

Apparently the Ashcombe Maze is one of the oldest existing maze in Australia.

Lavender! I've never seen a freshly grown lavender like this in my entire life!

There's this Rose Maze which is one of the oldest circular rose mazes in the world. The challenge here is to get to the centre of the maze.

:)

Then we reached the most beautiful part of the garden, the Lavender Labyrinth!

I was too excited when I saw the lavender and couldn't wait to take a picture with the shrubs. And I accidentally tripped over the fencing =.= If you look at my hand you can see dirt. Wk quickly came over and took a picture before helping me up lol.

Speaking of falling down, I don't know why I always face misfortunes whenever I am in Melbourne. 

The first time I was at Melbourne in 2007, I fell down from a chair in the public while laughing too hard. In 2008, I had ketchup splattered all over my face because I didn't know how to open that shit, yes in the public. In 2009, I slipped and almost landed with my butt in the public again but I was lucky that Wk was right next to me and I managed held on to him. But the public still saw me slip.

This time when I was there, I tripped and fell onto the floor hard when I was trying to chase some seagulls away while we were having a break at Seal Rocks. Oh how could I have forgotten about this?! Some fucking stupid/inconsiderate Chinese couple who were sitting near us fed them for their own amusement. They were throwing potato chips everywhere and laughing at the seagulls fighting for it. 

It's totally fine if they want to be stupid but please do it far away without affecting others. When they fed the seagulls, more and more flew over and surrounded them and at the same time, surrounded us as well and I find it terribly irritating cos seagulls are not afraid of people, they will snatch your food and they are very noisy. That stupid couple then moved away to another table when the amount of seagulls became intimidating, but the seagulls won't leave just because the couple left. The seagulls knew we had food so they stayed and stayed irritating as everrrr. And that is why I got really annoyed and wanted to chase them off before landing on my elbow and knees, which of course still did the trick but in a more painful way T_T STUPID CHINESE COUPLE GROW SOME BRAINS LAH.

By the way everyone, PLEASE DON'T FEED THE SEAGULLS. If you want to do it, do it without affecting the people nearby. Your consideration is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Ok sorry I digressed. Then, fell another time at the Lavender Labyrinth.

=.=

We had lunch at the cafe inside the garden where of course, they serve lots of lavender infused dishes such as lavender scones... ... ok that's all I know wtf. There's also a home made lavender ice cream but we didn't try that. The lavender scones were alright, I still prefer their original unflavoured scones.

Before heading home we dropped by a random park :)

We had dinner at one of my favourite Korean restaurants there, Oriental Spoon :)

Seafood pancake, not very nice.

BBQ meat, best!

Crispy Chicken and Crispy Chilli Chicken, best!