I love pasta~!! Especially pasta marinara. I need to have a pasta fix at least once a week.






Today's pasta was just a-okay. But I had to substitute linguini with spaghetti. And the prawns was a little soggy.

Oil painting

I took this picture when i was almost done with the painting. I just added more clouds and refined some other details.

Snippets of my day

More graffiti - same location but different angles.



I love the little lanes in Melbourne



Best waffles - try the choc waffles. Yum yum =)



St Paul Cathedral - my first time inside. I know there are many of these sort of cathedrals in Europe but there are hardly around in Melbourne as Melbourne is a relatively new city and Australia started as a convict country. So this cathedral is real treasure.





Read the Economist online - Guess which country is the biggest couch potato. Hint: Think Simpsons.



Quotes of the day:

"My cat has retired", the Egyptian grandma said as we slowly savoured her homemade pastries.

Translation: "My cat has passed away"

........

"What sound does a lamb make?" I asked the 4 year old girl.

"Hm....lambs do not talk," she answered.

"What about dogs? Do they talk?" I said whilst holding back my laughter.

"Yes. But i dont have a dog at home. So, I don't know"

O SO CUTE~! I wanna squeeze her to bits~!

For the life she lived

Not remembered for her death but for the life she lived. That was how Prince William and Harry wanted their mum to be remembered.

Death. Still a taboo word in most societies. I dare not mention her name anymore. It was as if her existence was wiped out from our memories. I cant quite remember how she looked like. I was probably a little too young back then. But i clearly remember her presence. I still recall the moment she passed me that tiny gold bracelet. I thought it was the prettiest thing i ever seen in my life because it glimmered in the light and its refine details made it seemed fitting for an angel. And my last gift from her was a board game for Christmas. I was probably 6 years old back then. The day i received the gift was the last time i ever saw her. If i knew her candle would have stopped burning then, I would have savoured every moment spent with her. But i remember her not for her death but for her life. So i try to capture every fading memory I have of her and jot them down in words.

Yesterday in cell group, we had a session where we would write an obituary for ourselves. It was kinda freaky at first. Something our grandparents would disapprove. But, it really made us ponder on what we would want to be remembered for - a billionaire, the first person who stepped on Mars, a peacemaker, a person with integrity, a person who gave his 110%, a person who loved unconditionally, a person who walked the footsteps of Christ. I once read this in a book - "Imagine you were lying in a coffin and all your close friends and family were at your burial ceremony. What would they have said in their speeches? What would you have wanted them to say?"

Inner child

She wondered had she had the peter pan syndrome, would all the pain of breaking out of the nestled shell disappear? She reminisced jumping on fluffy beds, playing with barbies and swimming with mummy and daddy. She chuckled at memories of erred speeches drowned in laughter.

With the sun dancing behind the clouds, the inner child in us leaps out to play with glee.





Docklands, Melbourne



Cow up a tree (Thats the real name of the sculpture) Salad, I took this picture because it reminded me of the fun times we had at Ben & Jerry's @ Singapore =)




Okay, the real reason we were at Docklands was that Jon Ng, Jesse and I went for a jog there. We obviously didnt jog too hard as I was busy taking pictures =)

Jon Ng was the only pro runner out of the 3 of us

Brisbane

We had a fun and relaxin time exploring Brisbane City - We spent most of our time at Southbank. Brisbane Southbank is pretty different from the Melbourne one. Brisbane Southbank is much more green and very family-oriented.



The girls on the tree~!



All of us up on the tree


Try to spot Tim



Candid shot - i put this up cause i thought i look pretty cool here :P Adrian, Jus' cousin wasn't impressed with my over-confidence



Candid shot 2 - okay, not so cool here


Such a sweet couple =)

We actually came up to Brisbane for a wedding, not just a mere holiday. Congrats to Alvin and his beautiful wife, Sarah.

Jus with his mum and aunt

Jesse and I

Nicole and I - off to dinner



Together with the boys



With the beautiful girls



With Ann - whom I miss dearly. I told Jus and Jesse that I need new friends now that Ann is gone. Jesse told me to advertise on my blog.



Dinner venue



With bride and groom



WIth baby Solly and Mummy





Guess who caught the flowers? =)

Yarra Valley

Jus and I spent our Saturday at the Yarra Valley.

Below are pictures taken at Shantell, Yarra Valley. Two thumbs up for this restaurant/winery.

Shan, the winemaker of this winery was born in Malaysia~! He studied medicine at Monash, subsequently practiced as a general surgeon, and now runs a winery. He is now 60 years of age and still practicing medicine part-time~! Wow, all hats off to him =)

He runs this small but lovely vineyard with his wife, Turid from Norway. She studied physics at University of Melbourne and obtained her doctorate in 1971~!



Lovely scenery through a wine glass



Bon appetite - Our entree consisted of a variety of cheeses, crackers, smoked chicken, smoked salmon, mushrooms, beetroot puree, turkish bread, roast beef, salads. Nowadays, i usually try to steer away from smoked items because its too high in sodium. However, this entree dish was great~! Wasnt too salty at all.



My favourite - beetroot puree up close





My main meal - seafood dish consisted of prawns, salmon on lemon mash and squid. Ive never tasted squid so tender before. Yum =)I thought that it was interesting that the dish is served with a lime wedge. I usually have it with lemon instead.



If you are heading up to the Yarra Valley, I recommend that you stop by this winery for lunch. The restaurant is open from Thurs - Sun. For the kiasu Asians, discounts are available if you use the entertainment card =)

One of my favourite photos. Not because I look good in it (I know I don't) but because it seems to capture the essence of my spirit. I love the open sea. Jesse is getting better at taking photos isn't he?

Iron Chef Jesse

Whats a better way to start your week with good food (cooked by a chef~!) plus great company.

Jus and I bought various random food items from the supermarket for dinner tonight. The deal was that Jesse had to use every single item we bought plus any other ingredient/spice of his choice from the pantry.

So we bought :-

3 capsicums (red + green + yellow)
Onions
Garlic
Basa fillet fish
Barramundi fillet fish
Beef
Chilli
Pumpkin
Bak choy
Longans
Eggs
Mushrooms
Proschitto
Lime

Needless to say, he lived up to his reputation~!

So we had beef with capsicums + pumpkin + pine nuts + chilli..+ hm...etc etc (secret ingredients :P)

Barramundi (cooked chinese style with ginger, wine, soya sauce)

Prawns + eggs + other ingredients

Basa fillet fish + longans + lime + mushrooms + curry leaves + curry paste (ever tasted longans in curry? we have now~!)

Bak choy + Proscuitto

The meal was complimented by a beautiful shiraz provided by Kev plus a well-matched chardonay brought by Tim. We also had 2 bottles of sparkling grape juice~!

This was followed by a simple but delicious fruit punch of longans + grapes + ice + white wine.


Jesse at work. Look at how the prawns seem to be flying out of the wok. The art of a chef.





The company (minus Nicole, my brother and I)


Yum. Curry fish (with longans)

Very innovative. Never had bak choy with proscuitto before.