fuchsia fragments

What comes to mind this week upon reflection? Food, wine and amazing friends and catch ups. Love you all.

Tuesday we went to a lovely little Thai restaurant in Surry Hills, Muum Maam for dinner with Joyce and John who was visiting from Geelong and then going back to Europe (potentially forever). Food was fresh and vibrant. Wine was awesome (thank you to my colleague @ work for recommending!) and conversation was light. Did I mention the Doves were there too? The place was a little on the noisy-side though. But intimate and relaxing...

Wednesday, Jan and I caught up over some Korean. People have been raving and raving on about the place in the alley behind Albion Hotel. It is not that good. Beautiful decor and above average service but the food is not as authentic and I don't feel that it is the best in Sydney. Its on par (perhaps a little below) those in the City and I actually think there is better in suburbia like Strathfield. Prices were on the dearer side too so it wouldn't be a "go-to" korean place. After this meal, I also don't think Korean is a favourite of mine. Definitely don't mind in every once in awhile but its sort of like Italian, I wouldn't go hunting for it...

Thursday was a blast from the past....... I left work early and eerily, I had a feeling this would happen but was picking up a couple of essentials at Target and crossed paths with Michael. So we had a short chat... its been a long time. And we've been speaking (texting/messaging) since. One of the girls who we use to hang with in the group and who still works there made the passing comment "just like old times" and I said "I wouldn't go that far" but its all water under the bridge and I'm actually really glad that things are the way they are... and I believe they can only get better. Baby steps.

Friday drinkies!!! I said I was going to be the first to be ready. HA HA no... i was last. But we went to the Ivy then had ramen at Regent's Place and watched Transformers. Underwhelming. Trains were stuffed so went to meet sis at Assembly Bar for a lift home. Zzzzzzzzzz by the time we got home it was like 1 a.m. So tired.

So I slept till like 11 on Saturday and had lunch with grandma (are you seeing how this week revolved around food???) and prepared for dinner (i.e., did absolutely nothing) in Maroubra. I didn't even lift a finger and voilla, dessert was ready! ;) It pays to be un-prepared?! Anyways, i totes suck at Mariokart. Doesn't matter which version but I did win once... with a 20? 30? second handicap. Whoop!! I will take that!!!

And Sunday... it was all about North Turramurra and the much anticipated "Rusty Chef". A competition between Jan's friends and I (the "trump card" according to Velda). 3 teams. 3 dinner parties. 3 locations. One trophy. We are apparently called "Team Beat Janice" (poor jan!!!) and we're cooking last. So Team Vio Tinto were up first with Spanish! Impressive but the paella was burnt charcoal on the bottom and the churros were a touch undone in the centre. The double proofed bread was absolutely amazing though. Tomato salad (literally tomato and oil and parsley) was confusing. The croquettes yummy but doughy. They take this competition pretty seriously. Cameras filming, interviewing the cooks and guests, etc etc... I had a lot of fun. But traffic at 10 p.m. at nighttime on King Georges Road... RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!

after a lot of configurating...

i got mario kart to work on our wii!

YAY!!! fun times!!

i had a fight with my wii.

and lost.

so no remotes are now synced.

biatch.

i guess i finally get to know how january in sydney feels like since i seem to have missed the previous heat waves of the past couple of years. but i have to say, it is still bearable because i'm not using the air conditioning.

last night, the girls came over for dinner. we mario-ed some only to discover that we all pretty much failed last night. it was just suicide one after the other. i don't even want to mention the number of continues used. we didn't even get that far either but that didn't stop the screaming.

i think we - no, not we - the other guy present kinda scarred and scared (what difference does it make?) little matt though. is that was he was nicknamed?

so we played some mj. taiwanese style. uhmhmm. its weird. like.. i sort of get it but i think i still prefer hk style. and i think its got to do with the fact that i like to build build build up my tiles (jow pai). like in taiwanese, chicken isn't chicken. O.o and there are faans for almost everything that looks big. lol

then we had some cake. it wasn't soooooooooo bad. obviously, it was a big trial cake that sort of didn't go so well according to plan. next time i won't put kiwi in the filling since it was a bit bitter. stick to the melons and strawberries (but alas, they are so expensive and sour when not in season). need to figure out the cake part. and try to undense it. but it still looked sort of like an asian cake-shop wannabe.. at least when u cut it and see the layers. haha who am i kidding.

since the immature but employed had work, they called it a night. and we planned the next cheese and wine fine dining for val's next monday.

and i drove val home. and the freakiest thing happened. there was like a bird in the middle of the road. and you would think that it would move when you see a car with lights approaching. but it didn't and i really did SLOW DOWN to try to avoid it. but like it was just sitting there and when i turned onto vals street we were like

did i kill it? i didn't right right?

anyhow, dropped her off. got to see her brothers shiny new gulf. (spoilt brat =P) and i had to drive back on to the road we came from by myself. and i THINK i saw a dead bird but it was still pretty plump but i think there was blood. but i'm not sure if i was imagining cause it couldve been like.. normal garbage. since there was barely any street lighting. like.. it didn't look like it had been squished under a wheel? and oh man, that was really freaky. =X =X

but i am SO proud of val for taking the initiative and roughly drafting and planning a cairns trip! i will endeavor to CUT CUT CUT costs (haha i sound like a ruthless company who doesn't care about its workers when its actually completely the opposite). have to plan other major events this year before august! i now also want to go to alice springs and uluru for no reason other than the fact that i can. haha.

who knew 4 player was SO much fun.
we went from world 1 to world 5
WORLD 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHOOOOO

...and cherry had to find a different way home cause m5 was closed. lol.

we screamed our voices hoarse.
EPIC.

i would trade a night like this for dinner out any day.
total cost for 5-6 people <$50
+ hours upon hours of fun
and good food (subjective, of course)

love times like these.

went into tarjay to say bye to people today. lol it was funny when they were ringing me and i was instore. maree and muriell wanted to have a lil chat with me. theyre so sweet when they want to be. and said i would be "truly" missed. LOL. cute. and i was free to come back anytime.. and i would be right at the top of the list always. hahaha so privileged...

then i bummed the rest of the day with val. cafed at mortale. mario super brothers.

WE PASSED WORLD 1.
WE PASSED WORLD 1.
WE PASSED WORLD 1.

... but it took almost 3 and a half hours. yeah.. we suck. -_-"

and we went crazy when we finally got through. lol her dogs were like

WTF?

my sister has about 20 friends over.

they loud. roudy. messy.

and they BRICKED MY WII.
and they BRICKED MY WII.
and they BRICKED MY WII.
and they BRICKED MY WII.
and they BRICKED MY WII.

unimpressed. not impressed. at all.

neither is scout and nessie.

thank the stars my parents aren't home.

that i will miss and treasure.

random impromptu dinner at jans with joyce and michael and gooley. hahaha it was fun cause we had hot pot and put in fish balls and fish paste that they didnt eat. (like on the verge of regurgitating in gooley's case). and then they chucked out all the really fat pieces of lamb and beef. LOL that was like half the packet... like hot pot lamb is like that!! and i never knew u could eat a whole mooncake in one sitting. o_O

do u know how many calories are in one???

still haven't quite worked out the difference between lotus and white lotus. apart from the colour of course. i think i prefer white lotus though. and defintely with yolks. and considering im not a massive fan of mooncakes, theyre tolerable.. during mooncake festival. red bean filling is good too. =) not so much mixed nuts.

the we played wii =D me and shooting games do not mix. sad sad. plus taking cheap shots from behind is.. well - CHEAP! especially when i didn't even have my bearings right yet!! hahaha.

XD

Wii bundle (Wii fit + console + 3 games) ~$499
Additional remote + nunchuck ~$30 each
Silicon cases ~$2.50 each
HDTV Component cable ~$10
Dual charger ~$13

O_O

Friday was a pretty normal day. at least, it was supposed to be normal.

work as usual. but we were going to go to grandmas place straight from waterloo. and we went via sydenham. at the station intersection, there were cop cars, police resue, ambos and fire trucks.

and my guess was right.

fatality.

our detour was in vain anyway since no one was home. =( thats so rare i was a bit cut. haha jks. but definetely rare that no one is home.

went home to make pretty cupcakes for cake day and our family bbq. i made the bestest buttercream. it was so smooth and fluffy and just pwned the one i made for my bday. =)


saturday.

work. asked to stay back. had to say no for the second week in a row. at least they found a replacement. came home for a kiddy bbq. god bro and other family relatives under the age of 16. was fun. loved the summer feel. sitting outside with the sun. i almost felt a bit sunburnt.

then i had to head out to the city. to pick up my bracelet and buy a new charm. they made my decision so much easier when they only had one of the two charms i wanted in stock. the cheaper one too. =D. and instant, no soldering needed. WYNNER!!!

after that, donna and i went to pitt street mall for a much needed juice. then went to myer to get cheap clothes @ 75% off. one dress. one singlet top. one knitted cardigan.

was looking at shoes when the coz calls and says he only just got home. i was like.. R U SERIOUS!? and after a long deliberation, we decided to go bondi via the graniph store. where we picked out two cool t-shirts for a frend of the coz's. even had to do his shopping for him. pfft.

we got to bondi perfect timing.. where justin walked right past us. and didn't stop until donna said

'wai, leng jai!'

at which he turned around instantly O_O

LOL.

coraline in 3D. pretty pictures. boring movie. bit long. began to feel like a lightbulb *refer to picture*

went to gori sushi bar after. where i ate and they chatted. (more lightbulbish moments). called valerie. asked about japan. she sounded like she was extremely busy. ate some more expensive sushi.

then walked next door to max brenner to fatten up even more. mm waffles and chocolate crunch pizza. so good. but so stuffed.

and in the car. i wanted to shrink in a corner and fall asleep. justin offered to take donna home. lol and on our way back, silverwater road was closed. HAHAHA like BULL!!! so we had to detour. funny. got home and crashed.

sunday
mayo txts at 9:20 asking for a lift to work. lol. and "preferably get there with enough time to go to maccas". we went to muffin break. 3 hours of work. went by pretty quick. then went to dan murphys for alcohol. and drove to harrys housewarming.

where i kicked mayo at wii bowling to his disbelief. (actually, we ended up tied). =D
where valerie didn't show up =(
where i had to listen to an ex-st-georgian bitch about my best frend (in the same sentence as rebecca l.i. WTF).
where they had barcadi 151 shots which is (78% alcohol)

"don't worry about washing the shot glasses properly, the alcohol will sterilise it"

where we stayed from arvo to night.

dropped mayo home. i come home and the kitchens like a mess. mums making turnip cake. had a power trip (stupid food processor). yelling across room to monkey. tired. smiles at all the money ebay items are making. =D

didnt get the aspire job.

so i went to eat mars bar cheesecake with jan and michael. lols. tats a lie. we had dinner at bevo to catch up. and complain about the toy sale. and about retail in general.

hahahaha.

that was fun.

so was beating jan on the wii in bowling. 3 strikes in a ROW!!! tat was after she kicked my ass at tennis and boxing. hahaha she was chagrined. =D and she gets really worked up about it.

HAHAHA>>>

yinyin | says (11:50 PM):
val's providing the alcohol
LOL
that girl...sigh~~

this morning, i had a trial run for marble cake. i overbaked it cause i used a different sized tin. and i was using a fan forced oven as well. otherwise, flavours were good. decided that pink coloured cake is a little bit too unsuitable for boys. haha it was more like a napoleon cake cause i made tri colours instead of dual.
CARB OVERLOAD. CARB OVERLOAD. CARB OVERLOAD.
CARB OVERLOAD. CARB OVERLOAD. CARB OVERLOAD.
i'm gonna go crazy!! i srly felt sick after eating it too!! hahahaha
donna was 'right on time' today. promptly got to my place at one.
then we went to vals and walked around westfield so that donna could see the "renovated" westfield (cause she hadn't been down to the centre in a few years). she got her HP DVDs and cracked a joke to the register lady that

"i wasn't her frend back then so i never got her the other HP DVD"

and the register lady thought it was really funny. -_-
thanks donna. hahahaha
picked up my sister along the way.
donna and her did some sort of 'dumb people hug'. its where u try to hug each other and you miss.
ROFL.
oh and i thought the monkeys comment:

"where's the third one?"

was so appropriate and shitass funny at the same time. off with the boys...

we played wii at my place!! [they ate (and ate) and drank tea as well]
tennis and baseball ['foul ball'] and mario party. wheeee

me and my sister as a team? shitass crap.
me and val? can't lose =D.
donna and monkey? dumb + dumber. =P

i got my cake tin from myer.
ANODIZED. ANOLON. tough shit. at least i hope it is. its expensive.
so im gonna have to made a oblong shaped cake. stick two cakes together.
im making the cake board at the moment. sticking them together.
thanks coz for giving me so little notice.. i realised that im actually really really busy this week...

tomorrow:
- final cancer vaccy
- need to do stuff for mum
- need to do stuff fot dad (>>MSY)
- grocery shopping
- second cake trial

wednesday
- ASPIRE day

thursday
- work

friday
- making cake

sometime during the rest of the week:
- wash scout
- clean other fish tanks
- clean room
- clean house in general

weekend:
- work
- big family thing
- jan's 21st
- work
- justin's 21st
- pac for trip
- SLEEEEEEP