Thursday 25 October 2012

Crabbing!


Crabbing season is ON!  We’ve been planning to give this activity a go since a few weeks back but have, unfortunately, had to put it off a couple of times due to various reasons.

Last Saturday, on a perfect sunny day, about 13 of us + a super cute baby set off around mid morning (10-ish am) to Port Parham which is located towards the North of Adelaide.  It took us about 45 minutes from our meet-up point (a friend’s house in Mawson Lakes) to reach the beach.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with crabbing, the season in South Australia is officially open from September to April.  There are many crabbing locations here but I have been told that Port Parham and Port Gawler are probably two of the more well known spots. The high tide on that day happens around 7-ish am whereas low tide happens around 12-1-ish pm.  We arrived about 2 hours before the low tide happens and I found out after the fact that we were there at the best time.  There weren’t a lot of people around at the time of our arrival and most, I suspect, are veterans as they don’t come in groups like we did.  Another way to tell that they are veterans is the fact that there are no screams coming from their directions.


Setting off on a fine day
Everyone pushing on to where the crabs lie
Crab Mowers???
Happy Family =)

Before I go any further, let me list down crabbing paraphernalia you’ll need for the activity:

1)      Rain boots – We spent several days combing shops for cheap and serviceable rain boots in preparation for our outing.  Not willing to fork out $30 for a pair if it’s going to be worn only once so in the end decided to go barefoot.  Do this at your own risk.
2)      Crab rake – The idea is to poke the crabs with it and the crabs would automatically grab onto the rake in attack mode. ßNo fingers allowed!  No baits required.
3)      Kitchen tongs – This is an ingenious equipment for crabbing.  Crab rake doesn’t really work because some of the crabs would let go before we could get them into the bucket.  With the tongs, we were able to grab hold of them and chuck them into the bucket.
4)      Buckets – for the crabs obviously.  We saw some veterans with esky-like boxes tied with a string that is then tied around their midriff.  We think it’s really clever as it frees both their hands for the task.  Must make sure there’s a lid to it though or I imagine the crabs would crawl free and start to sing ‘The Freedom Song’.
5)      Plastic bags – For rubbish and wet slippers and some knick knacks you pick along the way.


It’s a surprisingly long trek from the beach to where the crabs are.  I started off wearing rain boots lent by a friend but took them off midway because the boots were chafing against my legs and blisters had started to form.  A note of advise for those wearing boots : wear socks even though it’s going to end up getting soaked because sea water and gritty sand would get inside the boots regardless. The sand would then act like an abrasive agent and create blisters.   So, wear socks!  It’s been a painful lesson to me as my blisters have yet to heal. T^T  FYI, I had to trek all the way back to the shore to store the boots and then all the way back out to sea again.  All in all it’s been a great workout.  The waters generally came up to my knee but in some parts, I’d be soaked up to my mid thighs.  So another thing to take note of is to wear really short shorts.  Walking barefoot is bearable although some parts would be scattered with broken sea shells and some rather sharp marine weed-like plants.  However, the greatest threat of all for the bare footed is still the crabs themselves. 

First Crab of the Day!
Crab in a Bucket

When we entered ‘crab territory’ and heard screams from, I presume, people who had been privileged by attacks from the crabs, I started to hyperventilate and held on tightly to my sister’s arm.  She’s wearing boots and as such was, in my eyes, my personal savior.   She kept saying to me ‘Don’t worry.  I’ll protect you with my boots.  You just walk behind me ok?’  Lol.   At one point, when I heard a particularly loud scream, I really contemplated climbing onto my sister’s back.  XD  Anyway, I got used to the adrenalin soon and started to keep my eyes peeled for the little beasts.  My first catch of the day happened as soon as I started to relax.  I felt a shocking nip to my ankles, let out a loud scream and automatically reached down with my tongs and grabbed the offending crab off the sea.  All in all, I grabbed 3 crabs for the day and received about 4 or 5 bites.  I have to say that for me personally, the bites weren’t painful at all.  However, my mum and bro both shed a bit of blood.  One bite was particularly painful for mum that when she screamed and lifted her foot, she separated one unfortunate crab from one of its claw.  I guess it depends on where you’re bitten.  Just make sure that your toes are safe and you’ll be fine….hopefully.


Me and baby Lucas - Cute as a button in his boots!
Group Photo!

Another thing to take note of before you start your forage for crabs is to ensure that you refer to PIRSA Fisheries and the Fish SA’s websites for legal sizes of crabs allowed (in our case, for blue swimmers crab, it’s 11cm across the body part) in addition to the number of crabs per bag/person (40 crabs each for blue swimmers). 



We based our estimation on sight only and I have been informed that that is actually not acceptable.  We were lucky that no enforcers were roaming about on that particular day because if we’d been caught without any physical measuring tools, we would either have been fined, or asked to throw back all the crabs we had caught and get kicked off the beach.


After a light picnic and splitting up the crabs (we caught about 50 crabs), we went back to quickly clean and prepare the crabs. 


Cleaned and Prepared Crabs
Steps to clean and prepare a crab (this is going to be gruesome so skip if you’re squeamish):-

1)      As we’re in a hurry and also because there’s no more space in the freezer to freeze them to death, we had to kill them inhumanely.  Use a sharp knife and stab them through the middle.  Sayonara baby.
2)      Flip them to their back and grab hold of the flap at the back of where the head is (head as in the part the eyes are located) and rip the flap away.
3)      Mum suggested scrubbing the crabs with a brush to get rid of the sand but I was lazy so I just rubbed them with my fingers under a running tap.  Make sure to rub between the legs…er claws.
4)      Slide your thumb between the top part of the shell and the body part and crack the top shell off.  The crabs’ intestines will then be exposed.  In case you’re wondering, the intestines are the gill like rubbery strips on the body.  Peel off the gills as best as you can.  Make sure you get them all off as I’ve read that they’re bacteria infested.  Then clean the body part again with water and scrub off any residue sand.  For big crabs, cut the body in half for ease of handling.  Luckily, blue swimmers have much softer shells compared to mud crabs so this was a fairly easy task.
5)      Back to the top shell.  At the very top of the shell, dig around until you find a black sac and pull them off.  Mum called it the shit sac.  I know some people would also clean the top shell of the yellowy mush but we actually find it a delicacy so we left that on.

Wok Tossed Chilli Crabs

After our bath, we congregate again at Jas and Kevin’s house to cook the crabs.  Every household did different versions.  We had Singapore Chili Crabs, Black Pepper Crabs, Egg Crabs and mum did a Red Wine and Eggs Crabs.  A Crab Feast.  We ate till we can eat no more.  We also helped a friend celebrate his birthday that night.  He was not a fan of crabs and didn’t eat much of it.  The cake we bought didn’t come with candles and there were unfortunately no candles available at our host’s home.  In the end, we had to improvise with a lighter.  =.=  I expect it’s one of his worse birthday celebration ever.  Sorry Ah Yi.  Haha.


Crab Feast~
Group photo with the Birthday Boy.  No candles so we used our fingers.  22 for 22nd Birthday XD

Onwards and upwards to other activities! XD  All photos are courtesy of Jaslyn and Ah Yi (the birthday boy).  Thanks guys!

Thursday 11 October 2012

Let it snow!

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/snow-at-mt-lofty-more-wild-weather-coming/story-e6frea83-1226493307107
It snowed at Mt. Lofty,  albeit only around 50mm on the ground BUT STILL it snowed!! In spring! The whole of Adelaide is excited and it’s like Christmas is here.  Wish I could take the day off to play.  It should've snowed when we went there for our hike last Saturday.  Great hike but our endurance was so bad, we had to stop every few minutes during the walk up, which was embarrassing considering  there were people with pom poms along the trail cheering everyone on.  Hmm..I still havnt found out what that’s all about. 


The trail we took was the Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Hike

We hiked through a stretch of bushfire re-growth nearer towards the peak and the trees there are still charred from a bushfire back in 1983.  I just had to stop and wonder at the surprising beauty of it all.  The whole place smells of roasted potatoes, sun’s out and the day was perfect.  It couldn’t have been more obvious that spring is here.  The hike down was so much easier without any stop.  Took us nearly 3 hours to and fro but it’s been fun. 

This week, rain started to pour and it’s been hailing on and off.  Everything has been so disjointed.  What with daylight saving (a waste of my precious hour) and hailing at night, I havn’t been able to catch much sleep.  Been digging out my summer clothes but I guess it’s still too early for that.  =(  It's a love-hate affair with this crazy weather.  I'd forgive the inconvenience if only it'd snow all over Adelaide.   Enough for us to throw snow balls and build a snow man with. =p



Friday 7 September 2012

Jetty incident

Dad has a formidable temper.  I remember our childhood speckled with memories of being disciplined with ‘specially made’ canes.   Dad would get some cane suitable for hitting naughty kids from furniture shop owners.  I remember tagging along once and he said to me “See this? This is for when you don’t listen to me” and bent the cane to test for flexibility and swung it around to test for durability while I stood there watching *sweat*.  I remember as well being chased around the house with said cane and locking myself in a room only to find dad climbing through the windows…by then it’s game over.  I also remember doing something bad and the first thing I did before dad got home was to find the cane and throw it behind the cupboard.  I was right, what I did was bad enough for the cane to make an appearance, but since dad couldn’t find it (to my initial relief), he ended up using one of his leather belt (to my horror).  I think I end up pretty normal though.  I guess it’s just the way kids are disciplined back then.  Kids now are so over protected and pampered.

Anyway, the reason why I wrote all that was to explain how scary dad was.  Dad is so much more mellow now and obviously, the cane has retired.  However, there are still times when his temper would explode and we would cringe in silence.  When he widens his eyes and flares his nostrils in anger, everyone would either 1)stare back in alarm trying to think if we are brave enough to be a smart ass or 2) try not to look, be silent and pretend that everything is going to be A-OK.  That was many years back though.  This then brings me to an incident as related to me by my brother.

There was a period when dad, who was a civil servant, had to work away from our hometown.  Mum would drop him at the jetty very early in the morning and he would catch a boat to another town for work.  Either mum or my brother would then pick him up again in the evening.  They were late in picking dad up from the jetty one day and dad called to tell them to move it.  After hurriedly dropping my sister off for her driving lesson, mum and brother proceeded to drive to the jetty.  Unfortunately, they chose that day to try a different route and ended up getting lost.  To make matters worse, my brother left his hand phone with my sister as she’d forgotten to bring hers, so there was no way to assauge the oncoming storm.

Arriving at the jetty, as soon as they saw dad’s dark face from the car, they decided to 2) try not to look, be silent and pretend that everything is going to be A-OK.  Dad was seriously pissed.  He opened the car door, threw his bag on the seat and slammed the door shut.  Without turning back, my brother proceeded to drive away.  Both mum and brother remained silent, hoping dad would cool down in time.  However, as he’d expected at least a barrage of reprimanding from dad about time keeping, my brother was getting really curious when MANY minutes have passed and still there was not a peep from dad.  Glancing surreptitiously at the rearview mirror, he was shocked to see that there’s no one at the back.  Thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him, he turned around and looked properly.  Still, there’s no dad.  By then, his mind was furiously churning.  Was dad so angry that he opened the door and jumped out of the moving car?  He distinctively heard the door slam shut!  Brother turned to mum and said “Ma, pa’s not there” and mum immediately turned around.  They’re both stumped.  By then, they have almost reached my sister’s driving school and so decided to quickly pick her up and go back to the jetty.  When my sister got in the car, she had the hand phone plastered to her ear.  She whispered to my brother “What happened? Dad’s so angry! Here!” and passed the phone to my brother.  As soon as my brother said Hello, my dad proceeded to let loose a string of swear words.  This coming from a man who abhors crude language and had instilled enough fear in us to never breathe any in his presence.  (in his presence should be in bold..lol)

It transpired that after dad threw his bag in, he did not follow suit as he had to go to the washroom.  However, right after slamming the door shut but before he was able to indicate to them that he’s going to be right back, my brother had driven off without even a backward glance.  My dad ran after our car shouting, but to no avail.  He had been left stranded.  Ta dummmmmmm…..  In the end, too embarrassed to go back to where he was (everyone outside a café was watching), dad legged it until my brother found him.  Apparently he’d walked many miles.  When I asked what happened next and if everyone got a tongue lashing, my sister told me that dad was sheepish when he got into the car.  Cute.  He probably had time to cool down during the walk.  Lol.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Grandma, Wo Hen Tong Ku T^T

Nephew's sick...again.  He asked to webcam last Sunday which I happily obliged.  In spite of a fever and coughs, with a cooling patch stuck on his forehead, he was still very energetic and talked non stop about his Bakugan collection.  He loves them dearly.  Halfway talking, he kept rubbing between his eyes in very impatient movements.  I was baffled but even when I asked what is wrong, he kept on talking.  Da jie heard me and looking at the way he was rubbing, she guessed rightly that he had a headache.  She decided to end the video call so he can have a nap.  As she was leading him away, he kept turning around to wave and blow me kisses.  He even extended his head to make sure that I can see him while he was walking away *melts*

That night, they found ulcers in his mouth and suspected that he had contracted the hand, foot and mouth disease.  Went to the doctor's but was advised that it's not what they feared and was sent home with advise to monitor him further.  The very next day, with more ulcers and fever that would not abate, they went to another doctor and was informed that, true to their fears, it is indeed Coxsackie.  They suspected that he contracted the very infectious virus at nursery.  However, with so many babies with the virus already admitted to the hospital (I think there's an outbreak in Penang so to all parents there, take care!) , he was sent home with antibiotics.  I googled up coxsackie on the net and the images that came up look really painful.  My poor nephew.   I can only imagine how much pain he is in.  He told mum "Grandma, wo hen tong ku" <---"Grandma, I am suffering." T^T  He's started to form blisters on his body as of last night.  Was told that the whole process would take about a week.  My sister's joining a new company today and my heart goes out to her.  She must be under so much stress.  It's definitely tough being a parent.

p/s:  There's so many grey areas in medicine and high likelihood of misdiagnosis, so seek second opinions for sicknesses which are out of the ordinary.  One of my aunt was diagnosed with an illness and given a bunch of medication to take only to be told by another doctor down the track that she had been wrongly diagnosed.  My younger sister had to undergo a major operation which could've been avoided with correct diagnosis earlier.  Thus, moral of the day is...doctors are sometimes wrong so pray really hard and do your own research.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Cute messages

I received a message late last night from da jie, asking me if I am already in bed.  She told me that my nephew wanted to write to me via msn messenger.  Unfortunately, I’ve just switched off the light and hopped into bed, so decided to viber them instead.  While the phone was being passed to mum, I can hear my nephew speaking and singing in the background.  Mum informed me that he is typing a very long offline message to me.  He would occasionally interrupt my mum asking “How do you spell airplane? Or Grandma how to spell next?” and then he’d go on and sing the alphabet very loudly.  When I asked to speak to him, he said to me “Yi yi! I am now writing abc..can you see??” XD  Before I ended the call, da jie warned that I will be bombarded with offline messages when I next log in.

Lo and behold, as soon as my messenger is up and running in the office this morning, I received a string of cute messages from the little guy.

…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:02 PM):
*joel lim is coming  <---XD
*tv
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:03 PM):
*12345678910
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:04 PM):
*100
*90
*80
*70
*60
*50
*40
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:05 PM):
*30
*20
*10
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:06 PM):
*aeroplane <---Because I’ve always asked him to fly to me whenever I talk to him on the phone or via webcam
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:09 PM):
*abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:11 PM):
*nowissoundforabc  <-- Now I sound for abc???? LOL!
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:12 PM):
*nexttime  <--- Next time
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:13 PM):
*one  <--- Supposed to be ‘wont’.  Our bad.  We thought he wanted to spell the number.
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:14 PM):
*yousing  <--- you sing
*with
…@hotmail.com said (Yesterday at 11:15 PM):
*me
*aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc  <--- hahaha, cant stop laughing at this..it’s like he’s really singing here

He stopped at m and went on to write a series of random letters and numbers.  Gosh, he’s so adorable. 

This has definitely made my day.

Friday 6 July 2012

We've Moved!


Yes, we’ve moved!  Am still at the stage where we fall into bed every night with the sound of our backs cracking from sheer exhaustion.  Up to date, we’ve unpacked only about 70% of our stuffs (despite working zealously every night after work) , bought and installed practically the whole of the upstairs furniture, carried things up and down the 2-storey home about a hundred times, and moved enough heavy furniture to make us stunted for the rest of our lives.  (yeah yeah..I know we’re way beyond help BUT STILL..one could always hope)  The muscles to our legs are still aching and I think I’ve sprained one of my foot.  Need.massage.desperately!  I’d like to think that all this is helping to keep my weight in check but the weighing scale in the bathroom showed how wrong I was last night.  I’ve even put on weight…a lot!..a lot of weight.  Dammit.  No wonder my face looks so fat lately.

Things hadn’t been going all that smoothly during our move.  Friday was the settlement date and had been a total nightmare.  We set out to work in the morning happily thinking that everything’s going so well.  Fast forward halfway to work and all hell broke loose.  Our bank agent called with an earth shattering news.  (Not going to go into detail here, suffice to say that it’s enough to give everyone a brain freeze) The rest of the morning was spent flying around the city between the banks and the conveyancer’s office.  I’ve hung up on our agent so many times that my brother has made a joke out of it  “Ahhh…can I call you back!” du du du du du….

I’ve also managed to piss my boss off by taking an emergency leave and have been feeling the pain throughout the week.  Sigh.  So many reprisals.  Started the day really early the next day doing last minute packing, aka chucking everything into black garbage bags.  Our motto is if you have to unpack, there’s no point using duct tapes.  My brother found a Chinese guy who can move some of our heavier furniture for $220 (he initially quoted $200 but complained halfway that we have more things to move than originally informed =p) which is a bargain considering the fact that to rent a 3 tonne truck alone would cost us $197.  Henry came to help with some of the moving even though we said not to and Julia made us a delicious lunch.  We really appreciate it guys.  <3

First night sleeping in the new house felt like staying in a hotel.  Everything’s different and new and smelling of fresh paint.  Reminded me of the home sickness I experienced when I first arrived in Australia as well.  Such a bittersweet feeling =) Sunday was spent furniture hunting.  We bought a wardrobe, bed and narrow table for my bedroom.  I have a vision of all white bed sets.  My sister bought a table and king sized mattress for her bedroom and Maggie had a bed and table for hers.  We got the Chinese removalist to come and transport the furniture for us again and when he arrived and saw all the furnitures, he said and I quote “ Whoa Cow! You already had so many things and you are buying more!”  Anyway, as we were rushing for time, my brother and I went back to the house in Mawson Lakes to try an attempt a preliminary clean up before the prospective tenants arrived.  Unfortunately, they arrived before us.  The first thing they commented when they entered the house was..”Where’s the furniture?” =__= News flash guys, if it’s furnished the rental would be a lot higher.  I bet that’s the last we’ll see of them.  After much consideration and comments of “Peggy, I don’t think you’re tough enough to be a landlord”, and unless I can find a strapping boyfriend who can kick butts before I sign the contract, I’ll be getting an agent to deal with the headache.  T^T  Bye bye dollar sign.  Meeting him this Saturday to start the process.

Night time was spent trying to put our furniture together.  My sister found out that the mattress doesn’t fit her bed even though one’s a king sized bed and the other’s a king sized mattress.  We should’ve gotten a measurement but thought that it’s all universal.  I also found out that wrong items had been selected for the wardrobe and we are missing a few vital elements.  Everyone said S*** the whole night and we went to bed exhausted but with the feeling that nothing much has been accomplished and more headache to resolve.

We’ve managed to return the mattress and wardrobe (the mirrored doors are super heavy!!!!) finally tonight and since we again, had to call out the Chinese guy to help with the transport (we’ll definitely become his most loyal customer of the year) we took the opportunity to buy a washing machine as well.  I’ll be getting a robe specialist to come in for a quote on Saturday.  If their website advertisement can be trusted, we’ll be able to have a full height wardrobe installed for almost the same price.  *sigh* Should’ve thought of this before and save us the pain.  All thanks to mum’s recommendation. 

So there you have it, our week of total torture, rash decisions and utter chaos.  We’ve put up our beds and things are slowly falling into place though.  Loving my room and the house to bits.  We have an invisible drummer neighbor who plays almost every night and made the place sounds so festive.  The bass is loud enough to be heard but not too loud as to be irritating.  I would sit in my sister’s walk-in robe to listen.  Took the bus for the first time yesterday and everything’s so exciting.  New faces and new routes.  It’s like moving to Australia all over again. =)  

Saturday 16 June 2012

Stand by Me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah


I’ve been obsessed with the song for a few days and have listened to many different versions and covers.  Here’s a list of my favorites that I grabbed off Youtube:-

I am putting this live acoustic version foremost as it’s the one that got me hooked.  Go John Park!

By the ever lovable Timon and Pumba (and the frogs of course!)
Pumba : Aaaaa…I don’t think I like this song….XD

Heard this on MyFM promoting the movie ‘First Time’.  Nothing special about the voice but the band’s cool.  By Mark Chao.

One of many remix of Beautiful Girl and Stand by Me.  Never realize how the melodies could be fairly similar.

Julian Lennon & Roland Orzabal’s version.  I actually prefer theirs to John Lennon’s.

By J-Co.  A modern take on the song.

Acapella version by Rockapella

Country version of the song by Tracy Chapman.

And of course, the original by Ben E. King.  Ahhh…love the bass. =)

Which one is YOUR favorite? 

Thursday 31 May 2012

She went S-shaped!!


I got this from the manga 'Immortal Rain' by Ozaki Kaori.  The guy in the white lab coat sneaked up to the one in black garb and ran his finger down his back, making him go AAAAAhh! See how his back is curved into an S shape? I think it's so funny and a bulb kindda went off in my head. *evil laugh*

And so..I decided to experiment on my sis to see if she'd go S-shaped too.  Today, when her back was turned towards me, I acted immediately.  Unfortunately, in my eagerness, I pressed too hard.  She did go AAAAhhh! and went S-shaped but she turned and said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? THAT HURTS!" >__< and she was looking at me all confused.  I got shocked too since I thought she wont have felt the finger too much over her thick jacket.  But seeing her confused face and remembering how her reaction was EXACTLY like the guy in black garb, I had to laugh.  God I am so evil. 

Now you know why I did what I did, bi....  LOL!

Sunday 27 May 2012

Is it because I am so cute?

Was chatting with da jie and she told me about the conversation she had with my nephew.  He's been strangely intrigued by the questions of life and death lately.  Would clutch my sister's hand at night, crying and begging her not to grow old and die.  Poor boy.  I wonder what's caused his anxiety.  Probably something that he came across while talking to his friends at the nursery.  Anyway, this is one of the funnier conversation that came out of the blue.

Joel: Mummy, why will old people die? Is it because they're so old already?
Da jie: Yes
Joel: Why?
Da jie: It's just like your old toys, the wheels will break, the doors are gone, everything's not working anymore.  It's the same with old people.  When they grow old, their body won't function as well.  Their hearts, their kidneys and many other organs in their body will not be doing their work properly.  That's why old people will die.
Joel: Just like old building will collapse issit?
Da jie: Yes
Joel: So old people will go to the graveyard and die issit?
Da jie: ??? No.  How will they know when they're going to die?  They wouldn't know.  You won't expect them to wait at the graveyard right? Who's going to bury them if they die there?
Joel: Because they're old old already. And they're almost dead already.  So they go to graveyard to die.
Da jie: Can they dig their own hole or cover themselves with soil when they die?
Joel: No.
Da jie: That's why they need their friends, or family or someone else to help bury them when they die.
Da jie: (quickly changes topic before he asks anymore baffling questions) Joel, are you cold? If you're cold or hot at school later, you have to make sure you tell your teacher ok.
Joel: Why? Is it because I'm very cute?

LOL!! Was informed by da jie that my nephew always thinks that everything has to do with him being cute.  Probably as a result of being proclaimed so by his adoring mother, grandmother and aunts. =p

Da jie: Don't simply run here and there.  If I don't see you later, bad guys will catch you.
Joel: Why do bad guys want to catch me?  Is it because I'm so cute?
Da jie: No. It's because they think you're a bad boy who never listens to mummy and daddy.  That's why they want to catch you.
Joel: Why do they want to catch me? Is it because I'm very cute?
Da jie: !!! No.
Joel: Is it because they want to eat me?
Da jie: !!!!

Haha..he IS cute!  Da jie told me he did really well in his exam (they have exams in nursery!!! Poor babies!) He's been a really good boy and never complained when asked to do his revision.  Congrats baby <3 Yi yi's so proud of you.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Wedding dresses

I simply adore wedding dresses.  They're so fascinating.  Every time I walk into a shop with magazine stands, I would be tempted to flip open the bridal magazines just to see what people are wearing.  Minimalist design does nothing to my heart beat though.  It seems that the majority of couples now are opting for simple dresses a.k.a sleeveless/strapless, with little details and a sweep/court trains. (barely reaching the ground)  I guess in today's world, practicality overrides aesthetic.

I have always thought that wedding dresses of the past with it's many laces, long trains and intricate details are beyond charming.  I would have to say that Grace Kelly's tops them all.





Isn't it simply gorgeous??  I love the arm fitting lace sleeves, the empire waist, the tiny row of buttons (so chaste and delicate!) and the beaded juliette head dress.  The only thing I would change is the skirt I guess.  I personally think it's a little too stiff.  The sketch of the dress is superb~ <3 

There's been many Grace Kelly inspired wedding dresses, most notably worn by Kate Middleton recently.  My sister likes it though I think it's too simple for my taste.  The best in my opinion is Nicole Richie's.  Frankly, I think I prefer hers to the original.  When I first saw the photos I was like 'GASP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' & swoon.  Lol.




No flaws...nothing I would change about the dress!  Love the fluffy ball gown! I also love how she could detach the skirt and it instantly becomes a slim fitting dress.  Ingenious!

While I was browsing for the photos, I came across a couple of really cool alternative to veils.  These would look really good with minimalist wedding dresses.




I want to ditch architecture and study wedding  dress designs!

Wednesday 23 May 2012

May Day

I love May.  The weather's great!  Getting colder and colder and raining on and off.  The sun's out but the sky is dark.  So romantic.  Having a banana while I am typing away.  Do you know that bruised bananas are actually good for you?  It turns out that the brown is a sign that the antioxidant levels have risen.  It’s a little icky but don’t spit the bruised parts away.  It’ll help you blast away diseases.

I’d been feeling lethargic and strangely depressed after my exam.  Felt lost and tearful, flitting here and there not knowing exactly what to do and not really wanting to do anything.  Turns out, it’s my pre-menstrual syndrome acting up.  Hallelujah! Scared me for a bit since I thought I might be experiencing a post exam depression.  Lol.  FYI, I passed!  m< ^o^ >m.  Mum had a premonition that we’ll receive a mail on that particular day and as soon as I reached home from work, she went to check and found the letter.  Am now licensed to open up my own practice, and get sued if anything goes wrong .….Frankly, I don’t see the point but it’s great to get it out of the way.  No more ‘important scary thing’ to do hanging over my head…except driving.

I've been purging on books lately.  And yes, purge as in reading a lot and vomiting them out again.  Ask me what I’ve read and I can only vaguely recall the plots and storylines.  None that made me want to stay up reading all night.  You might ask, What’s the point in reading then??  And I’ll say, Just because.  I bought 2 books by Linda Taylor online a few days back.  Couldn’t find any of her books on our library’s register, assumedly 1. since she’s a UK author or 2. because she’s not in demand and 3. because our library’s resources are too limited.  I have nothing else to read now except Reader’s Digest so am waiting very impatiently for their arrival.  In any case, our house is not that far from the suburb’s library.  Hopefully I’ll have time to drop in this weekend, bite the bullet and pay my fine of $30+.  I was lax in returning the books borrowed last year and unfortunately one of the books was a reserved copy, hence the fine.  =(  I adore the library here.  There’s bean bags, comfy sofas and full height windows all around.  Heaven~~

P/s : Dad’s coming to visit next weekend for 2 weeks and we have our trip to New Zealand in August to look forward to.  A lot of planning to do and I haven’t even started yet.  My boss came in to chat and told me about all the must visit places on the North of the Island.  Sounds awesome and I can’t wait!

Monday 7 May 2012

Stressed Out!

I am super super stressed!!  I am so stressed I am probably in trauma *back-of-hand-over-the-forehead-fainting-gesture*   Was still frolicking in the sun and having fun a few days back.  Serves me right.  Want to curl up into a ball and just hibernate.  T^T 3 more days to go and I've just received my timetable for the oral exam yesterday.  The letter advised that "due to the large number of examinees this year bla..bla.." Dammit.  If there's a quota for the number of passes then I'm in big trouble.  Have been biting my nails in nervousness and stress ever since.  On one hand, I so want the whole thing to be over and done with, but on the other hand, I want time to slow down in case I haven't prepared myself well enough.  Problem is, I am not sure if I am even on the right track.  *sigh*  So strung up I just want to stand up and pace the room.  OMG! OMG! x___x

p/s: Been popping Vit.B Complex for a few days now with the hope that it'll calm my nerves but it's obviously not working.  Stupid supplements.  I should probably try high intensity yoga routine and hope that the pain will help annihilate my anxiety to nothingness.  -___- Hummmmmm.......(oh wait..that's for meditation  =p)

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Time to unwind?

I know I shouldn't but I really have to write to unwind.  Been spending last night and the majority part of the day cramming for my oral and it's going very slowly indeed.  Not even sure if I'll remember half of what I've read.  =(  So much for enjoying Anzac Holiday.

Anyway, I am currently listening to 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush.  Heard it for the first time on 'the Voice' a few nights back and although my initial thought was 'Eek! Sounds like the girl swallowed helium!'  I am pulled in once she reached the chorus.  So mesmerizing.  You'll find the song on my blog's playlist.

Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Chorus :
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,
I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home,
I'm so cold, let me in a-your-window
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away,
You know it's me, Cathy


Lol.  Such a dark lyric, but so fitting of the novel.  I read it a few years ago when I was really into Classical novels.  Only once and never again.  I don't get the hype about it being one of the most romantic novel of all times.  It depresses me, is cruel and I totally cannot connect with the main characters.  Of all the Bronte sisters' novels, I love Charlotte's Jane Eyre the most.  Should get dad to bring over the books from back home when he visits in June.

I read two novels by an author while I was at uni and for the life of me, could not recall her name.  While I was reading my notes last night, the title of the books hit me like a tonne of bricks.  "Beating about the bushes" and "Reading between the lines" by Linda Taylor.  I'm ecstatic. >_<  Totally love her novels.  They're light, easy and made me laugh out loud.  Feel good novels that I cannot get enough of.  Found out that she'd written a couple more novels since and can't wait to get my oral over and done with so I can start raiding the library for them.

Time for a run and back to studying. *sigh* Wish me luck guys~

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Public Transports

Caught a train home last night and had the unpleasant encounter of having someone who probably hasn’t showered for at least a week, sit on the row in front of me. Tried to act cool at first and resisted pinching my nose but the smell kindda stings and breathing shallowly had me gasping for air after a while. So, I did what the poor guy in front of me did and leaned as far away from the offending person as I could (didn’t help much though).  I have this weird habit of not breathing when I walk pass people, especially if they are running with sweat pouring out of them.  The more shabby and dirty a person looks, the longer I would hold my breath in case the whiff of them haven’t completely disappeared.  I would always choose to sit or stand near a girl/woman.  They generally smell really good and if they’d just washed their hair, I would have to stop myself from sniffing.  Lol.  I love perfumes.

This got me thinking about my experiences in public transports.  There’s an incident in the bus a few years back while I was on my way to the city.  I’ve just taken my seat and a drunkard (he reeked of alcohol..eww) was walking pass me, trying to reach the seat at the back.  The bus started moving and he lost his balance and slammed into the back of my seat.  At the time, he was holding a big glass bottle (seriously..alcohol in the afternoon??) and somehow managed to bang the back of my head with the bottle.  I almost passed out from the pain thinking that I probably have a blood clot that will see me dead the next day.  Shocked and angry, I turned around and said…………….and said “ARE YOU OK??!”  =___=!!

I swear I didn’t mean to ask that.  I was supposed to be saying things like “You banged my head! Careful you idiot!” or “You nearly killed me!”  I guess he really did manage to bash me stupid.  To add insult to injury, he walked off without any word of apology.  Made me want to throw my shoes at him.  I should sue him for physical and emotional damage.

Taking the same bus on the same route for 5 years made a few faces familiar to me.  There’s the kind looking old man who probably had a stroke a few years back since one side of his body is paralyzed.  I always look for him when I reach my bus stop.  If he’s there, it means that I haven’t missed my bus.  He really likes newspapers and is always reading one. I have also observed a girl grown from a cute little child into an…obnoxious and loud adolescent.  I know her name too since she and her mum likes to think that they own the bus and shout conversations over everyone’s heads.  They have breakfast of apples and sometimes yogurt and her mum combs her hair in the bus almost every day.  They sometimes have dinner at ‘nanna’s’ house but she doesn’t really make good pastas so can they please have chinese.  She apparently does well in school, dislikes socializing, etc.  Ugh, even when I’ve mastered the art of tuning out of private conversations, I still know too much.

I don’t dislike public transports though.  The unpredictability and having people around me, even if they’re strangers, are oddly comforting.  Besides, how blissful it is to be able to read while someone else does the driving.  ^_<