Thursday, August 12, 2010

EKKA public holiday

No plans to go to the EKKA at all- Overpriced, overcrowded, and too many germs.

Here's what we did instead!

Spoilt ourselves with a nice simple homecooked dinner last night..



Juicy, oven-baked lamb cutlets sprinkled with rosemary and drizzled with red wine/garlic gravy, with a side of squash + zucchini and potato mash with a generous dash of freshly-cracked Sarawak black pepper (I LOVE my pepper!)

Baked an apricot and yoghurt cake this morning..



Served with apricot halves and mango + apricot yoghurt



We basically bummed at home all day because it was gloomy the whole bloody day and it didn't stop raining the night before, which ruined our plans of going night-fishing.

So when the sun finally peeked out in the late afternoon, Eddie and I grinned at each other. B-)

However we had some unexpected company just as we were about to step out, and to cut the story short, there wasn't very much sunlight left when we finally got out of the house.

It was low tide at Spot X (which translates as "no fish"). In addition we were there for only about half an hour? The only time I got a bite was when I was reaching for my camera to capture the beautiful peachy-pink sunset hues reflected on the water O.o



I was totally unexpecting it and it didn't even occur to me that I had to strike to sink the hook so bummer, I lost the fish :( Slimy evidence on the line told us it was a catfish, and as much as I wanted to stay longer, it was starting to get too dark so we had to pack up.

Oh well. At least I got some nice photos :)



Hope everyone had a good day off.

Selamat buka puasa to all my Muslim friends!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

This little piggy...

Mooncake festival is almost here again!

Eddie and I love these piggies that are made with the stuff mooncake skin is made of, and stuffed with bean paste.



Mmm. Can't wait to sink my teeth into a four-yolk mooncake.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Hello it's August!

Today was about as good as a Saturday could get :)

Slept in this morning (LOVE not having to wake up at 6.30am :D). Had a hankering for nachos (even though we had stuffed ourselves sick with Mexican food @ Montezuma's last night), so we went to Dos Amigos for lunch.


Margaritas, nachos, Eddie and his deep-fried jalapeño

The nachos was by far the most SINFUL thing I've ever eaten... The plate was swimming with so much sour cream and sauce and cheese and beans and guacamole that I couldn't even see the corn chips!

We felt so blissed out after lunch that we stopped by Perrin Park on the way home, took out our camping chairs (which I conveniently had in my boot), and sat down in the middle of the park to soak up the lovely sunshine.



Eddie snoozed off!



After half an hour or so, I dropped Eddie home before heading to West End to watch the girls play in the AUG futsal tournament.



They did well and I'm proud of them! :D I half wish I were playing too but I'm glad I'm not cos I'm waaaay too out of shape to run.

Alright I'm off to edit more futsal photos. Am now munching on the slice of yummy blueberry cake Jane brought this morning when she dropped by to pick up some books.


Ma Baker is now in Brissy!!!

Leaving you with photos of kitteh taking full advantage of the heater...


OHAI



Kthxbai! Snore.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Oh, nom..

I love handmade jewellery.

And I clearly have a fetish for kitschy handmade jewellery that ressemble FOOD.



Can't wait for these yummy little things to arrive in the mailbox :D

Saturday, July 31, 2010

You make me wanna...

It's 3.30am and I've been sitting here drooling over Usher's old and new MVs on YouTube.

My sister and I caught Usher in concert while I was home for a short holiday a few weeks ago.



Anyway, I accidentally clicked on one of his suuu-per old clips just now and almost choked on my instant soup when I saw Usher uhm, gyrating in the form of a scrawny teenager on my screen. Same big nose yes, but OMG so not sexy.

Yet the older he gets, the more sex appeal he oozes..

*recalls tudung-clad Malay girls in front of us screaming and swooning as he made love to the microphone stand on stage*



It's not fair, why do men look better the older they get, but women don't??

O.o

Whatever lah. Usher is still hotness.

Facebook photos of the rest of my awesome trip home [ here ].

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Irony

Everything in my life is so stable right now, but I've never felt so uncertain about the future.

My perfect little world is nothing but a fragile little bubble, perched atop a toothpick, waiting to be popped.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

A little love from Japan

This is Miho.

Miho is a pretty little handmade ceramic doll on a golden keychain. (I call her Miho cos she looks like one of my Japanese students called Miho!)



Miho is standing in a sea of tiny packets of delicious crispy peanut rice cakes, freshly made in a shop in a street in Tokyo before they were packaged.

Miho and the rice cakes had travelled all the way from Japan to Brisbane as thoughtful little souvenirs from Raymond, who was there for a holiday! :)

(No pictures of the TDF preserved scallops in equally tiny packets cos they're all gone. I WAN GO JAPAN. NAO. T_T)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Mobile uploads

More random shots from my phone!

Passionfruit freshly-picked from a colleague's mom's backyard...



My first ever passionfruit too! I've never seen bright yellow passionfruit like this before, and I expected it to be really sour too but it wasn't at all. It was just beautiful. Yum.

Went down to the Gold Coast weekend before the last and satisfied our hankering for our favourite dish at our favourite Korean restaurant, Arirang.



Dol-sot-something (can never remember the name, ergh.. but it's basically bulgogi beef drowned in cream cheese and mayo!)

Another one of my cozy little corner at work..



Last week Tanya and I brought the students to the Powerhouse for the World Press photo exhibition



Pictures say a thousand words...



... but the narratives that accompanied these images made them even more powerful.

This one really made an impact on me- It portrays the gruesome details we as consumers oversee/don't think about when we reach for those neatly packaged meat from the meat section at the supermarket



The last picture of the three lambs looking at their friends being skinned made me sad :(

This photo is of a mother helping her son out of bed.



You can't really see from this angle, but the poor guy has a humongous crater on the left side of his head. Part of his brain was blown away while serving as a soldier in the conflict in Iraq :(

This one looked like a painting!!!



It's an amazing underwater shot of a kingfisher snapping up its meal, its eyes closed with membrane-thin eyelids to protect them from the water.

Anyhoos.

Eddie's latest haul..



The super-bright-orange-heeled boots so many players are donning at the World Cup this year! The man acts like a kid in a candy store when he's at Rebel Sports :)

Eddie's also on a cooking frenzy this week... The spicy garlic butter prawns he whipped up for dinner on Monday was sooOOoo TDF I couldn't stop licking my plate clean



It was so hard to resist finishing up the portion I put aside for lunch at work the next day.

Mmm just looking at this picture is making me drool again. O.O

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday Night Love

Skipped after-work drinks with colleagues today for some much needed chill-&-pamper time at home.

Just had my favourite sushi and some darn good strawberry tiramisu...



Blogging to Amel Larrieux now, planning to do my nails in a bit and spend some quality time with my book, after a nice long hot shower and a hot cuppa tea.

:)

Anyway, I got a pressie from two of my favourite (ex) students who graduated today.



I don't know what it's called but it's a beautiful decorative ornamental thingy they'd brought from Korea



It's especially meaningful to me because these two lovebirds met in my class and got together! ♥



Hung it on my notice board at work.

Who says school has to be boring? Magic does happen in classrooms :)

. . . . .

LONG WEEKEND HURRAH

World Cup partay @ FTP tonight!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Food lust

More photos of breakfast/lunch/dinner! (Sorry I just like taking photos of my food.)

Got meself a beef n' potato pie for breakfast last Thursday when I went to Michel's to get a birthday cake for one of my students.



Met up with Eddie in the city on Monday for a dinner date ;) Both of us had noodle cravings so we finally decided to go to Wagamama cos we've been wanting to try it out for ages.

Ordered the duck gyoza for starters, which sucked... Nothing compared to what we had in Sydney *disappointed*



Mains- Eddie ordered the house ramen which was kinda bland, but the grilled salmon ramen I had was pretty good!

Or maybe I was just hungry.



Dessert was banana katsu which was another disappointment. The banana was unripe and starchy, while the coconut ice-cream that accompanied it was only so-so.

Pricing was a little steep for the level of satisfaction we got, so looks like we won't be going back anytime soon.

Yesterday's lunch was café-grilled sandwich again- This time I had the roast chicken with caramelized pumpkin, pinenuts, greens and shaved parmesan. Too goood.



More food photos from our little getaway to Sydney last weekend! [ Click here ] for Facebook photos kthxbai.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Masquerade

Got my beautiful mask and dress laid out but I'm not sure if I wanna go to the party now



It's freezing outside and I'm too tired.

Would rather stay home in my pyjamas with a hot bowl of herbal chicken soup.

Kitteh in a Bag




Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Mobile uploads

Feeling much better now after taking a sickie yesterday and being back at work today. Work makes me happy :)

Anyway, random photos from my phone camera.

Cutest birthday gift from my sister, all the way from Perth!



JODIESAURUS sits on my desk at work and guards all my change for emergency junk food :P

Cuddly teddy bear from a sweet (ex) student..



I supervised a boomerang painting session a couple of weeks ago, and this is my shitty piece of work (as compared to some of the unbelievably beautiful ones the students produced)



Bought breakfast from the café next door last Friday- Peach, ginger and mango muffin + a cappucino.



The muffin from the café wasn't that great, but I l♥ve their gourmet sandwiches; my faves include the turkey/cranberry/brie sandwich, and today I had the roast beef bearnaise with shaved parmesan and semi-dried tomatoes. Toasted of course, to melt all that lovely gooey cheese!

Tempura udon for lunch..



The perks of working in the city :)

Guess who's been super clingy lately..



Kitteh can has warmth cos is colds nao!

And oh.

I bought it.



But no, not the Noe. Caved in to sensibility/practicality and got the Neverfull MM, main reason being that I have plenty of casual bags already but no work bag.

Wait for me my Noe, I will come for you.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Oh Noe!

Bag dilemma.

I've been scouting for a new work bag since mine (a birthday gift from friends many years ago) is falling apart, and I thought that apart from something that best resembles my current bag, it's about time I invested in something lightweight and durable yet chic.

Thus the closest replacement:



I came across the Noe as well on the website, but didn't bother giving it a second glance.



The picture didn't really appeal to me.

Until I came across pictures of some girls and their Noes, while I was doing my research.



Now, a while ago I was on a rampage against anything plastered with LVs because to me they just scream aunty/tai-tai/I-am-superficial.

When I saw these photos I was gobsmacked-there is nothing aunty about these photos at all! The bag is classically gorgeous; it pulls the whole outfit together beautifully and albeit the casualness, I hate to admit, it oozes simplicity and sophisitication without being OTT.



I tried it on at LV last week and instantly fell in love with what I saw in the mirror.

Since then I've been weighing out the pros and cons in an internal debate on whether or not I should get the Noe, or stick to the Neverfull.


What I love about the Noe:

1. The history behind it. This bag was created in 1932 for atas people to tote champagne bottles around in! Fun fact- Apparently it was named "Noe" (pronounced "no-eh") after Noah, who not only loaded an ark-ful of animals onto his ship, but also loved drinking wine :P

2. The casual factor. I love how it's cute and slouchy. I don't dress up very often, and this bag would compliment my regular demin-shorts+t-shirt combo well.

3. Single shoulder strap. As much as I love my double-handled bags, I hate how one strap always slides off my shoulder!

4. Not everybody has it. Most people seem to either love it or hate it, and not everybody can carry it well. On the other hand, even though the Neverfull would still be the best replacement for my battered old work bag, I cannot tahan knowing that there are 9,327,846,918,463 other girls out there who have the same bag as me.

5. It's a classic. Which means it will never go out of style. The fact that LV hasn't discontinued this line since it came out in 1932 says a lot. It also means that it has good resale value (if I ever have to sell it).

6. Craftsmanship and quality. Pretty much the main reason I am willing to fork out shitloads for a designer piece. My parents have never spoiled me with designer goods and I've never been obsessed with brands, but I hated how my $30 bags would always start to disintegrate after a year or two. After getting my first Gucci a few years ago, I have never bothered with another cheap bag again. I've worked hard to pay off my babies and it's worth every single cent knowing that they are authentic and that they carry the craftsmanship, quality and prestige that come with the price tag.


The drawbacks of the Noe:

1. It's a drawstring bag. This means that it may be a bitch to re-tie and untie it when I need to get things in/out.

2. The depth. The bucket shape of this bag means I'd have to dig around for stuff when it's loaded.

3. The base. The fact that the whole bottom of the Noe is vachetta worries me because vachetta is susceptible to water stains and such, and I tend to throw my bags around a bit. (Vachetta is raw untreated leather, which LV is renowned for using for their bags. The creamy colour of new vachetta turns a golden honey brown as it ages (it's called "patina"), which is what gives vintage LVs their value.)

4. It's more expensive than the Neverfull!! And not as practical.

5. I won't be using it as a work bag, which defeats the whole purpose of buying a new bag (but then, does one reeally need a reason to buy a new bag? XP)


So with that, I have come to the conclusion that...










... I still don't know which one to get.

I need opinions! What do you think, Neverfull or Noe?