Qiyuan & Edison turn 3!


They look like the miniature version of their dads.

Now as the 4th-Gen starts to expand, perhaps Big Boss can start scouting for up-rising talents.









Qiyuan is always camera-ready. He is such a gem.
I was so tickled when he tried to relate UP, the movie which he watched earlier in the day.

How not to love the togetherness clan?










The party was held at Econ. It was an awesome family bonding time. For a family where food comes in priority, we always make it a point not to speak while eating and to be merciless so as to get the best seats round the dining table. Econ is our HQ, a la nerve centre of the family where news are exchanged and shared, where the 2nd-Gen see each other almost 365 days round the year, a place for us to earn some allowances during the holidays and of cos, unlimited yakult and hamburger-choc-biscuits during our shifts. 

The on-the-job training received over the years have made us to perfect the skill of communicating via eye-contacts and whispering-while-not-getting-noticed when we do cashiering as Big Boss's mantra is "Xiu Lui Mai Gong Wei!"
 

The crew also developed Three Golden Words which can be used in various permutations - Pay, Here, Can.

(1) Pay Here Can?
(2) Can Pay Here.
(3) Here Can Pay.
 

There's nothing better to end the day with....Esther.
I guessed my idea of watching "Orphan" was brilliant. Haha

 

 

I gave up on having the matcha tea with soft-serve and takoballs after catching a glimpse of Jacelyn Tay @ ION.
That glow must have came from 2 sources - Love/ Healthy lifestyle.
It's hard to get it from the former so I shall embrace the latter.



 

July marks the start of the line-up of local productions that I wouldn't want to miss.
So I caught Own Time Own Target by W!LDRICE, my first theatre production for the year with Yunlong. The tuesday show which I booked was cancelled and I have no idea why it was cancelled. So Budd couldn't catch it with me as he has to run errands before he fry back to melb on fri. Neh mind, I will bring you to another when u're back in Dec. Time will fry past soon.

Unlike the one from last year, this came as a double-bill including Full Tank by Laremy Lee & Botak Boys by Julian Wong. The play was as good as the first time I watched it and Ghazali Muzakir is still as hilarious as ever. Perfect. Whats more perfect was, I found myself sitting beside my favourite secondary school principal - Ms Bandara! She is still as lovely and extremely motherly.

"If you aim for the sky, you will fall on the treetop.
If you aim for the tree, you will land on the ground.
If you aim for the ground, you will end up underground."

It was really nice to see her again after close to a decade of her retirement while I was in Sec 2.  We recalled the teachers back in amkss and who are still teaching there, she laughed when I mentioned Mr Ong. She said, "You girls and your Mr Ong.." Hahaha.
*fyi, Mr Ong was our discipline master and, ahem, the heartthrob of i think, the majority of the female species in school.




Next, as I was about to check out Fly Entertainment's website to enquire if there is any "V" show for this year and I saw this!
They are coming back for the THIRD time!
The Extraordinary V Conference'09
So tickets are booked!
It will be at Zirca for this year and I better be there early to at least grab a bar seat before my feet start to die on me.
They are among the favourite local artistes that I like alot. And both have such great chemistry together!
Quick! Go get your tickets from sistic!

So that's for September.
Coming in October, there is The Hossan Leong Show!



I've yet booked the tickets but soon!

And as I was browsing through the Event Calendar at sistic, I found gems!
Broadway Beng - Jiak Liu Lian is coming back too in Dec!

And there's another one, Beauty & the Beast directed by Hossan Leong in Nov.
And probably another Crazy Christmas musical I hope.

Ahhhh...

I declare, my "local-production-budget-FY2009" goes bust.

This is for Saturday!

June has whizzed past and now August is just a stone's throw away. Please shower me with lots of luck in my job search and give me unlimited cheerleading sessions to boost my morale from time to time. Colleen, I will have u in-charge of this honorable role.

We have a new member in our prestigous Togetherness clan - Torres Toh, affectionately known as 小包 or we can call him 包 junior. =)

And our little niece Yingci has grown in style.


Qiyuan is as adorable as ever. I shall "rent" him from my cousin-in-law and invite my friends like Col and XY who are big fans of him over to my place to have the "Meet-the-Qiyuan-Session".

I haven got to eat my Wan Dou Sek and now contemplating to ask Budd to go with me when we watch OTOT on Wednesday! The Wan Dou Sek craving has been going on and on for a LONG time. Throughout the flight back to Sg from Brisbane, I was thinking about Wan Dou Sek. (The flight meal was horrid.) But we had to give it a miss as we couldn't find a parking lot and wl was rather mad @ an inconsiderate driver.  On the next occasion, I was all hopeful to Wan Dou Sek. But still Wan 唔 Dou Sek. Cos wl said he dun like dim sum. Arghhhh....So 无论如何，i've got to get Budd to WanDouSek with me or I will attempt to erm, find another willing party to Sek with me.

 O 要食HARGOW凤爪RADISHCAKE！

It's 3am.
And I've got to be up at 7am to 开店．　


 

It was a lovely Monday evening.
Let's cast aside the Blues and seek solace in one gem, tucked in the corner of Lorong Liput - Mykii.


I love the decor of the cafe. It exudes an awesome ambience with my all-time favourite numbers of jazz. The facades are white and lined with blue wooden planks as their floorings. I shared my sentiments with zhen that as we looked out of the cafe, it felt like there was waves crashing onto the patio. It really did feel alot like being out of town, cruising away in a resort holiday.






This is Gula Melaka Creme Brulee. I love the pairing of Gula Melaka in desserts and I always feel that it makes a good match with french vanilla icecream. This one that we had came with a twist. The pineapple was infused with an Asian flavour  - spices. A very daring combination but yet an unconventional way to bring desserts to a new height.
It was like pairing sea salt with caramel.
Delightful.


Granny's Smith Apple Crumble with Aloe Vera.
The crumbles are butter cookies crumbs which added extra crunch to what usually would be made of digestive biscuit crumbs.
It was refreshing to bite into the juicy bits of aloe vera but it would be good if the apples were allowed to be cooked a little longer so as to add a tinge of tartness to the overall taste.



I was pleased to be able to meet the pastry chef. Being able to meet one who shares the same passion as me is an awesome experience. She went through the details of their degustation of beer and dessert which is available every saturday from 9pm - 1am.
It is an interesting pairing which I am contemplating to try it soon!


 

Bake Time




An awesome homeware store in Australia which I wished I could move the entire store to Singapore.



They have lovely cupcake cases in shades of pastel. There are always reasons to convince myself that they are indispensable. I also bought a cupcake cookie cutter though cookies are not my personal favourite, but well you see, they are adorable with some icing piping...
Next, I've gotten a mini-whisk. Haha. Perhaps when I intend to make small batches of mousses, it will then be put to good use. hmm.

Opposite YHA is this place called The Barracks which resembles Dempsey in Sg. There is a chocolate boutique called Bittersweet which sells dark chocolate converture and other forms of chocolate for baking. That made me happy!



That is the cupcake stand which I bought at Wheel & Barrow. It was on sale and the lightweight was mercy for my excess baggage.
While at Gold Coast with yl, i got myself more cookbooks to lug home. I have yet built up an impressive collection but I can smell it and hear its calling.

These are some of the exquisite treats from the book.
The 2nd pic from the left is a cupcake topped with miniature choux puffs, drenched in toffee. The 3rd is sour cream cheesecake with blueberry (SH, ur favourite!).

Sis bought green tea powder from Jap.
Oooo...
Time to bake.

 

Time to say goodbye. =(




Wimmy & Emma


Rain & Cherry




Kenji


Chung & Sul from Korea.


Our first get-to-know-you asian dinner.


A lovely picture before we turned pale after Scooby-Doo.


Dinner with another hostel mate from tw.


 With all the HK girls at Story Bridge.

This is the first time that I ventured overseas alone. Though ken is there but I spent the rest of the time on my own and got to know alot of friends who really made this trip an awesome one. While I was on the flight back to Sg, I felt a tinge of sadness that I've cut short my trip and head back home. Been reading the postcard from Wimmy and the truckload of pictures that we took, I thought about the many happy moments spent walking around the city & wishfully hoping that we will return home with slim and toned legs. haha.

世界没那么大.
So till we meet again!


 

The day before I leave Brisbane, I went to Gold Coast with the Hk girls to meet my Uni friend, Yun Long who was also there for holiday with his friends. The day was spent at Movieworld with our lovely ponchos. It was raining for the entire day but it did not dampen our mood.


Waiting for the train to Helensvale!




At Helensvale Station.



Movieworld!
The admission is $69.95 aud. It should come with a free PONCHO!!




The insane Superman Escape Rollercoaster. 打死我也不敢坐。








Met up with Yun Long, my Uni friend who is also in aust for holiday.


This was the first ride we took at MovieWorld - Scooby-Doo Scary Coaster. My heart is too weak for the thrills thus we decided to join the queue for this.
We assumed that it is a 鬼屋。


Thinking that it would be some ride that takes us through the dark tunnels with creatures popping out to make us scream. Dream on. I missed the word ‘Coaster’.  When the cart started to enter the tunnel, it seemed that we were right. Suddenly, it came to a halt in a very dark ‘room’. And the cart was lifted to a height and it went higher and higher and halt again. In the right sense of mind, I thought the gate is going to open and the ride will end. This was when the place became slightly lit and I saw tracks all around. Oh man it was a rollercoaster ride!!! Our cart then started rolling backwards and took a bloody scary plunge and up again and down again. I could not remember what exactly happened next. Only that we grabbed each others’ hands tightly and were yelling all over the place.






The Shrek 4D-show.


The poncho warriors.


We only stood there to scream along as we watched how the raft slided down. No one's in for this ride after scaring our wits out at the Scooby-Doo.

There wasn’t much for us to do in MovieWorld after eliminating the thrilling rides, the kiddy rides and we could not really find a ride that was somewhere in between for our weak hearts. Haha. So we thought perhaps the roadrunner rollercoaster at the Kidz World would fit the bill. After observing that even little kids were taking the ride, so again we assumed that it would be alright. We were wrong! We had forgotten how fast roadrunner runs and how it loves to come to a sudden halt at the edge of the cliff.






We took picture with the Wonder woman & her gang and we wet their outfit with our ponchos. I could see them inching away from our lovely ponchos. Haha. The one in green (oh man can't even see him) was hidden right behind and later we saw that his green suit was blotted with patches of water stains. opps.

I think kids will love this place tremendously. I was spoilt with choices when picking gifts for my little phuas. There were so many things that would look adorable on yingci and qiyuan gor gor.



I left with yl and his friends to Pacific Fair for shopping and dinner. We had Korean for dinner and I finally get to eat RICE! Extremely famished and he has a very funny friend who seemed to be in great distress when in hunger. Haha. I should be thankful that in the end, I did not book a stay at Surfers Paradise YHA or I would be in caught in a rut. Apparently, it is not near to Helensvale and indeed very far from it. Phew. Imagine my backpack and me.







It was a lovely dinner with them. After which, their "Jack" gave me a ride to Helensavle to catch a train back to Brisbane.
Till then!
 

Our last dinner together as the next day we'll be heading to Gold Coast!
Dinner time - my favourite time as the kitchen will be bustling with people whipping different cuisines. It's an awesome time to mingle around!


Nako from Japan. Next was a charming guy slicing onion. haha so sexy.


The ladies at work. That night we were preparing a wholesome salad with fruits, potatoes, garden veg, corns and more!


Grilling our yummy honey&garlic chicken thigh.
Cooking is so therapeutic.


Kenji came to take over the chicken station. Yum Yum.






We occupied half of the kitchen and it looked as if we were preparing a 满汉全席.


dxx would love this place too! U heard it dxx? i would love to bring u here if possible. =) Perhaps the togetherness shall venture out for a trip like this!


Sumptous dinner which cost $4.50aud each. A third of what would usually cost for a meal in bris.


From left: Fisher from Taiwan, Kenji, Emma, Me, Rain, Cherry and Wimmy all from HK.


The major clean-up. We are very responsible hostel mates!

The weather had been gloomy over the weekend so we spent the afternoon walking around Queen Street Mall, grabbing gifts for my family as well as getting Krispy Kreme.  :)



TIme seemed to past by very fast. When the sky started to darken, we would head back to the hostel and oh my it was only 4plus in the afternoon. Coles has been our frequent hangout. haha. I've been there every single day as I am a big fan of supermarket and there are so many interesting things to discover each time. This is what the hk called - 师奶。


Wimmy and Rain moved to the hostel beside YHA as they offered better rates and free wifi. I would call this City Backpacker the authentic backpacker's hostel. It gave a more ruggard feel. It is non air-conditioned (it doesn't matter cos bris is very cold at the moment) so they would open the window at night and there was a caravan parked right outside their window so they were sleeping face-to-face with people in the caravan.




I continued my stay at YHA as I would be checking out in 2 days' time. It is a good idea to stay in hostel while in Australia as we get to mix around with people from different part of the world, exchanging cultures & facebook. haha. It is also a very friendly environment to be with and i guessed it is a gd decision to stay there instead of st lucia.

I got to know a group of HongKong girls who are in Brisbane on a One-year working holiday visas. They came individually and only got to know each other onboard their flight. So an entourage of us from different hostels went sightseeing together. We walked all the way to Chinatown and my legs almost gave way. I could hardly catch their bullet-train style cantonese. It was as if I was in hk. haha. At the end of the 8 days trip, i arrived home with a hk-accent way of speaking mandarin as well as english.











We couldn't find a place to yum cha so we settled for pho instead. The first meal i had in Brisbane was pancakes with ken at a chapel-alike place. It gave me an idea of how they quantify One serving. However, subsequent mishaps still happened like this Pho. I would label this bowl as basin instead. The hk girls finished everything in their bowls and laughed off saying that 香港女生好会吃。


Before heading back to our hostels, we stopped by the Story Bridge!






9 pairs of tired feet.
 

I'm back from Brisbane! I'm home earlier than planned and it feels so good to be home though i missed the weather over there. This is the first time that I traveled alone. Ken is having exams so I was on my own for the rest of the time there. This trip turned out to be packed with heaps of adventures and worth remembering for a lifetime i guessed.

I stayed at YHA Brisbane City instead as it was within the vicinity of the main city centre. It is only a 15 minutes walk to the Queen Street Mall and 5 minutes walk to Brisbane Transit Centre where there are coaches and trains running to other parts in Brisbane as well as Gold Coast. There is a Coles across the road where we got our groceries from.


A keycard is issued to each guest so get us into the different premises and areas in the hostel. I booked the 3-bedded dormitory and for the first 2 nights, i was all alone and it could be rather daunting. The shops closed in the evening and sky darkens before 6pm. So there wasn't much for me to do at night but there was much entertainment going on in the hostel. Apparently, by evening, most of the people will be back and we have movie night every evening at 7.30pm just beside the dining area. And by this time, the kicthen will be bustling with people from different parts of the world cooking up a storm.


There wasn't wifi in the hostel so we had to resolve to using this at the lobby.


The laundry room which i spent 3 hours washing and drying my clothes.


The walkway that connects to the new building which housed more dorms and rooms as well as the kitchen, dining area, patio, game room and movie room.


Ｅｖｅｒｙ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ，　ｙｏｕ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｈｅａｒ　ｓｉｚｚｌｉｎｇ　ｂｕｔｔｅｒ　ａｎｄ　ｓｅｅ　ｓｕｎｎｙ－ｓｉｄｅｕｐｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｋｉｔｃｈｅｎ．　Ｗｈａｔ　ｉ　ｌｏｖｅ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ＹＨＡ　ｉｓ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｗｅｌｌ－ｅｑｕｉｐｐｅｄ　ｋｉｔｃｈｅｎ．Ａｌｔｈｏｕｇｈ　ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｃｏｍｍｏｎ　ｋｉｔｃｈｅｎ，ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｃｌｅａｎ　ａｎｄ　ｙｏｕ　ｃａｎ　ｐｒａｃｔｉｃａｌｌｙ　ｆｉｎｄ　ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ．　Ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｉｓ　ｎｏｔ　ａｎ　ｏｖｅｎ　ｉｎ　ｓｉｇｈｔ．　Ｔｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ｈｕｇｅ　ｆｒｉｄｇｅｓ　ａｓ　ｗｅｌｌ　ａｓ　ｃａｂｉｎｅｔｓ　ｏｕｔｓｉｄｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｉｎｄｉｖｉｄｕａｌｓ　ｔｏ　ｓｔｏｒｅ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｇｒｏｃｅｒｉｅｓ．　Ｗｅ　ｓｐｅｎｔ　ｏｕｒ　ｅｖｅｎｉｎｇｓ　ｈｅｒｅ　ｃｏｏｋｉｎｇ　ｕｐ　ａ　ｓｔｏｒｍ　ａｎｄ　ｉｎｔｅｒａｃｔｉｎｇ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ．


Ｔｈｅ　ｄｉｎｉｎｇ　ａｒｅａ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｊｏｉｎ　ｏｎｅ　ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｍｅａｌ．　Ｔｈｉｓ　ｗａｓ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　Ｉ　ｇｏｔ　ｔｏ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｔｈｅ　ｋｏｒｅａｎ　ｇｉｒｌｓ．　Ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｉｓ　ａｎ　ｏｕｔｄｏｏｒ　ｄｉｎｉｎｇ　ａｒｅａ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａｎ　ａｗｅｓｏｍｅ　ｖｉｅｗ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　Ｂｒｉｓｂａｎｅ　Ｒｉｖｅｒ．


Ｗｅ　ｔｏｏｋ　ａ　ｐｅｅｐ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　４－ｂｅｄｄｅｄ　ｄｏｒｍ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｅｗ　ｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ．　Ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｓｐａｃｉｏｕｓ　ｔｈａｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｎｅ　ｗｅ　ｈａｄ．　Ｉｔ　ｃａｎ　ｅａｓｉｌｙ　ｆｉｔ　ｉｎ　２　ｍａｈｊｏｎｇ　ｔａｂｌｅｓ．　ｈａｈａ


Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｄｏｒｍ　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｉ　ｓｈａｒｅｄ　ｗｉｔｈ　２　ｏｔｈｅｒ　ｇｉｒｌｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　ＨｏｎｇＫｏｎｇ，　Ｗｉｍｍｙ　＆　Ｒａｉｎ．



Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｏｏｆｔｏｐ　ｗｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｈａｄ　ｏｕｒ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ａｓｉａｎ　ｄｉｎｎｅｒ　ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ．　

ＹＨＡ　ｉｓ　Ａｗｅｓｏｍｅ！

Day 4 in Brisbane

James Street Market; New Farm







Hi all, today is Day 4 in brisbane. My legs are falling apart. it's only 9.30pm here but I am dog-tired. I went to their chinatown in the early afternoon and took a bus down to New Farm. There are nice cafes along the street and a very old quaint bakery which looks alot like back to the 60s. I bought ridiculous thing such as sunflower seeds. Shall try my best to germinate them and hope they can brace through the humidity in my sunny island.

I walked 400m uphill (i almost rolled downhill). Next to James Street which I like alot. It looks like dempsey in sg, the part where Jones the Grocer is. There is a market which sells fresh produce and they have a colourful arrays of fruits and vege. Everything spells 'eat me, eat me!'

There is Wheel&Barrow over there so I bought a cupcake stand which was on sale. haha! There were other editions of '500 cupcakes' which I would love to bring them back to sg if not for their bulkiness. I continued my journey by foot, all the way back to Brunswick Street and back took the train back to Roma Street.

The sky darkens at 5pm so I have to hurried back as usual. Sis will be overjoyed as I have bought her a bag from Sportsgirl. It's damn nice, i warn you. haha.

For dinner, I had an awesome time cooking with the girls from hk and korea. Sitting at the rooftop patio, overlooking the river and the city, a savouring dinner below $4aud. Yeah we're lovin' it.

I'm going to sleep now.
oh i miss home still.

First Breakfast in Brisbane.


Southbank


Farmer's market @ Queen Street
 

 

Cupcakes @ Little Stanley Street

Day 3 in Brisbane. The weather is chilly. I nearly froze while standing at the deck of the CityCat, admiring the view of the brisbane river.
ken's having exams now and i am very bored & i couldn't go to melb to look for budd becos of the swine over there.
I miss home and everyone else. there's no where else better than home thou aust is as good too.

Ok, time to cook dinner.