Once upon a time...

2008-02-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

I suddenly have an extremely strong yearning to be in that little tea shop along Chapel Street in Toorak. To spend a day in the sun walking aimlessly through boutiques and having passionfruit cheesecake in Greccos.

I really miss Melbourne.

Our Engagement Party 15 Dec 2007

2007-12-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Initially Bob wanted to have a KFC and Wii engagement party....a bucket of wicked wings...some drinks.....a group of guys gathered over a console of some sort. Every guy's dream. And that it is why there aren't any straight male wedding planners.

At the end of our actual engagement party...Bob said, 'I enjoyed the party. It was nothing like what I envisioned it to be, but I still enjoyed it.'

My Graduation Day Backwards

2007-12-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

Damm shoes......graduations are such painful events....

The things I wear just to look two inches taller

Melbourne Uni Union House information counter - where I spent most of 2006/2007 at negotiating with counter staff for tables and chairs and rooms for Unicef promotion activities

Bailleu Library - where I spent the other half of my uni life erm.....studying....

The library - the bane of every research essay and arts student university life...oh that and the bar...

When I become rich I'll make a mini world for short people...where library shelves have only two tiers of books...

The guy on the treadmill smiled for the photo.....little did he know that we wanted to pretend we were outside a zoo looking in.....

I can think of a really cheesy caption for this photo.....

This is how I spent most of my first year in uni.....lost.

Old arts......so many good memories.....including admin almost forgetting to put my name on the graduation list.....standing in line outside the subject coordinator's room to get a subject approved because international students can't do it online by themselves......I love this shot though...

Ever wonder why the Union house has a laundry room??

Regine has two degrees thus the extra hood which she used as a head gear...

Post-graduation high with Venetia and Regine!!!

Our very very very expensive pieces of paper.........Charmaine and I totally showing it off!

Some guy accidentally dropped his certificate at the foot of the chancellor....thank goodness no dramas for my walk onstage....no robe falling off, certificates dropping or tripping over my own feet...

When you are on stage during the most important time of your university life...all you are thinking is 'don't trip...don't trip...don't trip.....'

The whole of Melbourne Uni graduates under the picture of a naked man with his ass facing the audience.....I felt mildly uncomfortable staring at that picture for 1.5 hours....

Adrian, Regine and I pre-entering the ceremony

'Let's go makan!!'

And the proper graduation photos begin....every Melb uni student knows the 'hot spots' to take photos....

The old law quad...

The clock tower....

The nice archway....

Stressed

2007-11-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

Few more hours before I leave Melbourne for Sydney.

Was getting all nostalgic packing my three years of Melbourne into 5 boxes.

Waited all morning for moving company to move them to Sydney.

And then darn moving company did not come!

In fact, for some strange reason, they deleted my booking.

ARGHHHHHH!! Stupid stupid moving company.

And to top it off, when I called them again, they asked me if I wanted insurance on my stuff. I was thinking, 'WTH! Just get my stuff to Sydney!'

Dinner at Asatsuki 8:45pm Wednesday Night

2007-11-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

Haven't had the chance to take photographs of all the wonderful meals I had this week...including Tenren, Replete Providore which has amazing ricotta hotcakes and corn fritters, and Chocolate Buddha (Japanese curry with tempura prawns...yummmm). However, did remember to whip out the camera at Asatsuki which is a really small, almost claustrophobic-ish small 12 seater cafe in East Malvern. The food was fantastic. Crumbed butterfish. Eggplant with sweet miso. Soft shell crab pancakes. Seared beef. Octopus balls. This is the first Japanese cafe I've been to where the owners or wait staff aren't Japanese but mixed. And the food does steer away from the usual sushi sashimi with more, according to Eu, authentic Japanese fare. Will be back there to try the rest of the menu!

Lost in Translation: The Eyebrow Incident

2007-11-06T19:52:00.001-08:00

Some things you learn through other people's mistakes, and some through experience.

I learned through observation today that one should never wear a cleavage baring top with a bum grazing denim mini and sky hight heels. Even if you have tights under the skirt. It makes one look like a hooker feeling cold in winter.

And I learned through experience that you should never let your eyebrows get done by someone who doesn't speak the same language as you. I was trying to sign language to my Korean eyebrow stylist who doesn't speak any English at all that one side of my eyebrows droop downwards and if she could make it more arched. She took it that I didn't like my eyebrows and waxed half of it off.

Unicef ULO Party

2007-10-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

The 2007/2008 Unicef committee - with a couple of people missing

Playing boxing on Wii!!

It was chicken galore!! KFC nuggets, wicked wings, roast chicken, chicken curry. bbq chicken wings and a custard with lots of eggs in it.

I actually really like being at house parties! Everyone is laughing, joking and just really getting to know each other without feeling like you need to get intoxicated to have fun.

Passing the birthday card between the ex president and the current president, Sara Tajima! We should have a tradition like this every year.

I think some of the most memorable experiences I had this year revolved around Unicef. Two film screenings (both of which the DVD skipped and at one session the projector crashed 20 minutes before the guests started coming in), one flea market and one bake sale. It has been such an awesome experience. Hanging out at the Unicef table during lunch time. Fighting for bubble tea. Running with bags stuffed with clothes. Crazy baking sessions. Meetings in Graduate House. Fretting over the darn DVDs. And just having long random conversations with committee members. It has been such a great learning opportunity.

And as I said in my last speech during the Unicef committee party on Monday, 'Doing Unicef is the only chance in life you get to screw up and not get fired.' Of which the new P and VP told told the new committee, 'Don't screw up!!'

Nostalgia

2007-10-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

I was randomly surfing through facebook when I located a couple of old friends from secondary school. Fairfield Methodist class of 2000. Right now all of us would be in the same stage of life. Just finishing Uni or first year into our debut job. I remember class 4C being known by our teachers as the naughtiest class in the form. We made our geography teacher cry by singing 'This is the song that doesn't end' over and over again. We made our physics teacher cry cuz...I don't even remember why. We were told by our principal that most of us won't make it to junior college or university, so we should apply for a polytechnic.

Fast forward seven years. As I scroll through most of their profiles, not only are most of my classmates in university, some of them are pursuing masters degrees. And we are dispersed across the globe. Dublin. Japan. Singapore. New York. Illinois. Perth. Sydney. Melbourne. England. And they all seem to be living it up. Travelling. Dating. Marrying. Experiencing food, wine, culture. Working. Studying. Painting. Caring. Playing.

It is such a warm fuzzy feeling to know that my fellow classmates, most of which I haven't spoke to for ages are doing well!

It is Almost Halloween!

2007-10-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

I was just casually surfing the net when I 'accidentally' chanced on this photo. I immediately recoiled in horror and closed the window as if I stumbled upon a video of Saddam getting hanged. It was scary. I had to force myself to reopen the page. I'm usually quite impartial to hello kitty. I've been to Hello Kitty land when I was young. I was dragged by my mum. Really. I had one hello kitty contact lens case, one comb, one notebook and some hello kitty sauce trays. But a wedding dress????!!!!! That has to be the freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Hello Kitty Cake....hmmmmmm.....well still kinda acceptable...it is rather cute if that kind of thing floats your boat...but dress..no ..just freaky.

And apparently if you are a child bride or still have an obsession with Disney Princesses as an adult, Disney now has their own wedding gown collection!!

Talk about marketing to kids in order to make them loyal brand followers till they are adults.

OMG!!!

2007-10-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of Charlene, Lou and I re-enacted a shot of chi-chi ladies who have afternoon tea and show off their huge ass rings. Except we are at a budget Japanese restaurant having dinner (as you can see from the artfully placed soy sauce and teapot), the ring while beautiful isn't exactly a knuckle-duster and Lou is totally feigning surprise. It is one of the photos you submit to magazines for the funniest caption award.

The Proposal - Fishermans Beach, Sydney. 23rd September 2007

2007-10-08T22:59:00.001-07:00

So the news about my engagement is finally out faster than it takes to change my relationship status on Facebook. I forgot to take soft copy of the photos with me, so I have to scan in the printed copies on a dodgy scanner. But yes! Photos of the magical moments.

He chartered a seaplane on his birthday to bring us to Fishermans Beach at the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park in Sydney. At that point of time I had no idea what was happening. All I was thinking on the plane ride was, 'Don't crash! Don't crash! Oooh harbour bridge....Opera House...Shit..going over forest..hope we don't crash!' Even when we spread out the picnic mat and he showed me the scrapbook he made for me, I still had no idea what was happening. Even when he showed me the ring, I still had no idea what was happening. All I said was, 'ooohhh pretty ring....' Then of course he said those magical four words, 'Will you marry me?' Of which I answered, 'Are you for real? Are you proposing to me?'

It was an almost surreal moment, when the truth finally hit me. It did take some time to hit me. After all, my dad did warn Bob that I am eh, simple. He should have added slow too.

It was such a beautiful and sweet proposal. I am truly blessed to have Bob in my life. When is the wedding going to be? Sometime 2009. Have I found a gown yet? Well....let's just say I have been imagining a gown since I was 12. Nothing much has changed. Except now I can read bridal magazines in the open and verbalize my wedding thought processes to Bob. And he can't call me crazy for doing so. Yay!!!!

Your Toes Smell Like Natto

2007-09-12T17:03:00.002-07:00

Today I initiated myself into a fully Japanese breakfast: Natto (fermented soy beans) on rice, miso soup, a piece of nashi pear and a pot of genmaicha (brown rice green tea). I wish I would eat like this everyday. It feels so much better than grabbing cereal and soy or oily bacon and eggs.

My reaction to natto was mainly positive. But as I ate and read online(at the same time) how people are repulsed by natto, how it taste like cream cheese under your toes, how it smells like a dumpster on a hot humid day, I started to feel slightly queasy. Heck there was even this couple that launched the natto project (http://thenattoproject.com/) where they had to eat natto for 365 days until they liked it. Apparently people in New York City force themselves to eat natto to look hip. I don't see anyone in NY eating vegemite to look hip.

So as I started feeling quite sick from the taste of natto and the attention its been having, I mused upon a funny fact. I quite enjoy natto, I loooooooove vegemite, I adore blue cheese, I'm a big fan of kimchi but I hate durian. The last time my parents gave me durian, I licked it and barfed. Don't mind durian cream puffs and tarts though. But sorry Mr King of Fruits, you really smell like toes.

My Trip to Fifteen Melbourne

2007-09-11T23:33:00.001-07:00

I think everyone who has been to Fifteen Melbourne (the 'Jamie Oliver' Restaurant) has something to say about how overrated the food is, and how Jamie Oliver actually doesn't cook your food for you (well duh..neither does Neil Perry, Tetsuya or Bill Granger and they actually live in Australia). So I had reasonable expectations when I got there. I liked the way it was set up, with the kitchen as the stage, and all the diners semi facing the 'spectacle' of cheese grating and sautéing, and trying to see if they recognised anyone from the show. Hmm...I wonder if CJ still works here.

The food was really good. The lunch deal was quite a steal, $28 for two courses and wine. We had fried scallops minestrone, and rotola with shitake, spinach, ricotta and burnt sage. It was earthy, it was herby and the flavours were pretty robust. My kind of meal. And the dessert, a sticky date pudding-ish creation with peanut praline ice cream was decently satisfying. And that was one of the best Semillon SB I had in a while.

So yeah all in all it was a pretty satisfying meal. I wouldn't say it was particularly creative or experimental or even gourmet. There was no celeriac foam (trademark of a 'cutting edge' establishment) or lemon chiboust to cleanse my palate. But it is a down-to-earth and wholesome place where you pay $10 more for a dish just because the owner wrote a few cookbooks and has his own TV show.

My Particularly Decadent Dinner

2007-09-10T02:28:00.000-07:00

Warm grilled lamb cutlets soaked in olive oil and rosemary, and dipped into mint sauce. Accompanied with roasted potatoes rubbed with seasalt, herbs and cayenne pepper. Finish off with a slice of homemade chocolate swirl cheesecake. Yummmm.......

47 Minutes

2007-09-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

6:30pm - meet Eu for exotic African dinner at Abyssinian

9:32pm - meet Jo to show him where the good steamboat place is

10:34pm - talk to Bob on skype

11:56pm - end conversation. Look for thumbdrive. Can't find thumbdrive. Turn bag upside down to look. Freak out. Thumbdrive contains my thesis (which is 80% saved on hard drive), presentation for tomorrow, essay due on Friday, essay due next Friday

12:00am - call Bob. Bob suggest going down to uni to look for it now.

12:11am - call taxi.

12:18am - taxi arrive

Arrive at Uni.

Sprint down to computer lab.

Thumb drive seated almost surreally on a stack of paper.

Check if everything is intact.

Thank God many many times.

Back in cab.

12:47am - arrive home

Proceed to triple save everything on thumbdrive, hard drive and email.

Whoever Said Melbourne Only Has Dodgy Bars

2007-09-03T01:07:00.000-07:00

The Long Room defies expectations of a Melbourne bar. It is not down a dodgy alley. It has an enforced dress code of collared shirt and dresses. It is definitely not a casual bar. One wouldn't use the word cosy and quaint to describe it. And there is a seal with horns on its head at the entrance, which Joel politely told me was called a moose.

Foodie Week

2007-08-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

My goal this semester is to stop eating at tried and tested places like Chomp Chomp, Dessert House, Nasi Lemak House etc and really try what Melbourne's foodie scene has to offer. This week has been good so far, besides having hotpot twice in a row.

After walking from 200 Collins to 620 Collins, just to find out that Choix Crepes has shut down, I concluded with the shop next door, BluFish. Tuck in a little alley, their fish was actually quite healthy (grilled), fresh and gourmet. Apparently is owned by a fifth generation angler.

Hotpot on Tuesday and Wednesday. I have no idea what the place is called, but in Chinese it starts with the word 'Gold something something'. It is just behind Crown on route 55 by tram. $15 all you can eat steamboat. With free flow of onion pancakes and dumplings and steam buns. It was so good I went back the day after.

Apparently some part of Lygon was burning when I was having grilled eggplant on polenta smothered with neapolitan sauce at Trotters. Yummm....it was followed by the chocolate delight at KoKo Black....even more yum.....

And dinner was among vegetarians and thai pants yogi types at Moroccan Soup Bar. For $16 we got a banquet of dips, chickpea bake, cous cous and some kind of pilaf with grilled eggplant and almonds. And then mint tea and baklava. So full....could hardly move......It was quite a unique dining experience. I got there at 6pm, when it opened, and the room was already packed. People were thronging in with tupperware trying to get some takeaway. All the menu is verbal and the vibe really made you feel like you are Morocco.

Weekend Away in Toora and Wilsons Prom

2007-08-16T00:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks Kelvin for the awesome photos! I'm already missing the country side and all that fresh air!

10 Reasons Why Melbourne is as Hot as the Fire Show at Crown Casino

2007-08-08T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ever since I posted a scorecard for Sydney, I have spent most meal times defending my statements about Sydney to patriotic Melbournians who feel offended by my lack of taste in city choices. Most of them were outraged that I could find a soulless, brash, crowded city like Sydney palatable to live in.

So, during a lovely meal with my beautiful friend M today, I am persuaded to do up a scorecard for Melbourne.

This is for all you angry raving Melbournians.

10 Reasons Why Charissa Loves Melbourne:

1) The Italian food in Lygon beats Norton's Street - 10 points

Besides one homemade pasta takeaway place and Bar Italia's gelato, the Italian cuisine in Norton is pretty disappointing. While Lygon, and Brunswick has mid range places like Papa Ginos and Coretto and Cafe Italia and Bimbos and a really good pizza place on 40 Holmes street, Norton's Italian ranges from cheap and soggy to expensive designer pasta that is well, expensive.

2) Cosy cafes with good hot chocolate in Melbourne - 10 points
Melbourne has the cafe culture that overspills onto sidewalks in summer, and under heaters in winter. I love the hot chocolate and baked eggs at Animal Orchestra, churros at San Churros, brunch at Filter and the many dodgy cake shops along St Kilda. It is rare to find good hot choc in Sydney (although when its good, it is really good), but its everywhere in Melbourne. Like Koko Black!

3) A proper Casino - 10 points
As much as everyone loves to hate Crown because it is dodgy at night and filled with sleazy drunk clubbers and gamblers, it is very grand compared to Star City Casino. I mean, it has Greco which gets its own 5 points because I've been there a million times and ordered their chocolate cheesecake and passionfruit cheesecake without fail. And there is Mackers and KFC if Greco is not enough. And there is the Singaporean's favourite seafood buffet with oysters. And there is a cinema. And SteakOut and Koko are pretty good. And there is a very expensive game arcade downstairs where you can play air hockey for $2. And to top it all off, there is a freaking fire show every hour like some giant heater where tourists go 'WHA!!!' What more can one ask for. It is the place to be when your relatives are visiting and you have nowhere to bring them at night.

4) Authentic ethnic food in boho cafes - 10 points
While Sydney food is very glam, experimental and celebrity chefs abound, Melbourne's food is kinda like having dinner with an old friend. The best restaurants are tucked away in obscure back alleys, often with non-descript decoration. And Melbourne's food is, even as The Age commented, robust, authentic and solid. Plus the best meal I ever had in my life is in Three, One, Two in Carlton.

5) Singaporean Malaysian food - 10 points
I really missed Singaporean food when I was in Sydney because there was hardly any in the CBD. I love my old favourites like Laksa King, Nasi Lemak House, Norsiah's Kitchen, Chomp Chomp, Bismi, Hawker's Cafe, and other good Asian places like Dessert House and King of Kings. Nasi Lemak is my prozac. And like what I told Bob, it is all about the chicken wing. He also told me that I’m missing the point.

6) Suburbs - 5 points
M said that Melbourne does have its own suburbs. I'm not gonna lie and say that I love Melbourne's burbs' more than Sydney's because I haven't been to that many in Melbourne. But I do love Chapel Street, Brunswick St, Camberwell, Acland St, Glenferrie and South Melbourne.

7) Polite drivers - 10 points
It is refreshing to be able to sit in the passenger seat and not see crazy people dash in front of you while drivers give you the middle finger and honk.

8) Better arts scene - 10 points
Melbourne is cultural capital. The MTC is a knock out most times, Red Stitch and TheatreWorks does wonderful experimental, and international musicals like Phantom and Miss Saigon do touch base with Melbourne first. The NGV brings in world renowned art from Picasso to Guggenheim, and Pixar is in town! I have no idea about the music scene, but Bob says Melbourne's jazz scene is hot!

9) Festivals - 5 points
Food festivals, Fashion Week, Melbourne Cup (it really isn't a festival but I treat it as such), Film Festival, Moomba, Jazz Festival, Grand Prix and my favourite, Spiegeltent!

And now we have the Eye of Melbourne along the river!

10) Last but not least, funky pubs and clubs - 10 points
Sydney does have its 'posh -nosh- won't-let-you-in-unless -you- are -on- the- list' clubs like The Establishment, but Melbourne has some serious themed bars like Croft Institute, Golden Monkey, The Order, La La Land, Gin Palace, Hairy Canary, Bennett’s Lane Jazz Club and the list goes on. And of course, most of them are found in dodgy back alleys. Everything good in Melbourne is found in dodgy back alleys.

If we throw in fair weather and more late night shopping, Melbourne will be perfect!

Wait..no shit..Melbourne is leading by 15 points...oh well...

Post-Globalisation?

2007-07-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

I decided last night, at a networking party, that globalisation is so pre-millennium.

My random stranger friend corrected me, saying that globalisation is so 7 years ago.

So in my dreams, I coined the term post-globalisation, just to realise this morning that it already is an establish term.

So I tried neo-globalisation.

Yup that one is all over the internet too.

So much for my original contribution to cultural studies.

The Idiot Son of the Establishment Speaks

2007-07-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

"What do you expect them to do — fall on the ground and grovel, eat dirt? I mean, get real."
- Alexander Downer, on refusing to apologise for 'mis-detaining' Dr Haneef on terrorism charges

John Howard also refused to apologise. Then again, I think John Howard enjoys erring on the side of arrogance when he comes to national affairs. A certain indigenous issue comes to mind.

But Downer's line is a classic. His media team should get fired, or just quit. Their boss is obviously not only not media savvy, he is also politically suicidal and an idiot. But then again we all already know that, since even Keating called him the 'Idiot Son of the Establishment'

Why I Love Sydney

2007-07-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

There are some cities in the world which I just feel a connection with. Some cities where I feel comfortable in my own skin when I walk the streets. Some cities where I feel energized by the buzz and the culture. And of course some cities where the food is good. So far the cities where I don't mind living in are: Montreal, New York and Sydney. Montreal for their poutine and beautiful streets, New York for knish, mustard and just because its New York, and Sydney was something that recently started growing on me.

One clear night in a revolving bar on the top of the Sydney Tower, Bob and I made a scorecard for Sydney and Melbourne. He reckons Melbourne would win. I was going for Sydney. So here is my tally after spending 4 weeks in Sydney.

Sydney

10 points - Boho markets happening every Sat especially Glebe market where you can get designer clothes for $10-$20, hand made earrings for $10, Peter Alexander inspired pj shorts for $15 and second hand books for $5. I've been there twice in two consecutives Saturdays and I'm going again tomorrow

5 points - Second hand book shops everywhere....every corner you look there is a tiny boutique second hand book store selling current bestsellers and rare books for a third of the going price

10 points - Amazing suburbs with different characteristics. There are so many inner burbs' to explore there is really no need to go to the city...Oxford street in Paddington area is crammed with upmarket shops, Surry Hills and Darlinghaust are areas filled with award winning restaurants, Newtown is funky town with university students, underground designer shops, cheap eats and organic stores, Leichhardt is Italian district, Ashfield is like a really authentic Asian town...

10 points - Habourview..there is Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, Kings Wharf etc. Plus the view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge is always spectacular with what looks like mini people trying to scale the top of the Bridge

10 points - Beaches. I looooove beaches. Manly Beach. Bondi Beach. Fried Mars Bar on Bondi Beach. Pibs Rump and Grill at Manly. Yummmmm.....

10 points - Cultural diversity. Most cities in Australia are pretty diverse, but Sydney takes the cake with 31% of Sydneysiders being born overseas. And it isn't just Chinese people everywhere. Walk down to town and you don't know where in the world you are. There are Sudanese, Lebanese, Eastern Europeans, Asians and everyone that falls in between everywhere. And while in Melbourne most races stick to their cliques, I see a lot more mixed groups of people here. While walking around in Ashfield today, I saw Chinese groceries, Fiji supermarkets, Indian store, Korean supermarket and an Islander store ran by a Chinese couple. And with cultural diversity, out of the mainstream food like Croatian, African and Transylvanian food is more easily accessible.

20 points - Food. The Age did say that Melbourne have better food which I am sure the Sydney Morning Herald would beg to defer. But so far Sydney does have a bigger variety.

Modern European restaurant Pello has a fantastic degustation menu with rabbit and foie gras terrain, veal with chocolate bubbles and a beautiful scallop lagsana made from scallop mousse and mushroom pasta.

Modern Italian restaurant Lucio has delicious squid ink pasta

French restaurant Four in Hand has excellent wine match, beautiful seared salmon, pork neck and sweetbread. I also just found out that sweetbread is made from the pancreas of a young lamb or calve. I'm quite disturbed about that, but damm it taste good.

French bistro Sel et Poivre has one of the best duck I've ever tried.

Thai Pothong is one of my favourite Thai places with really attentive service and good red duck curry.

While Norton Street's Italian food doesn't match up to Lygon's, there is a tiny takeaway that does delicious fresh homemade pasta and sauce, and Bar Italia does gelato that will make Trampoline gelato cry.

Yum Cha at Zilver or East Ocean is definitely at Hong Kong standard.

Balkan does croatian pork skewers, pork neck and a meatball that is made from three types of animals.

360 Bar at the 88 floor of the Sydney tower is a revolving bar with plush couches facing clear glass windows...and the cocktails are divine. And one of the friendliest services for such a posh nosh place.

And Bills is a brunch establishment in Sydney. Corn fritters..yum. I'm bringing myself back next week for eggs and ricotta pancakes.

Sooooo the list of food is a bit obsessive. But I really like eating.

So the total score for Sydney now stands at 65!

My Job is Making Me Fat!!

2007-06-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

9:15am – consume miso soup

10am – wander over to reception area to eat chocolate coins

10:15am – accept call for hot chocolate

11am – eat corn with lots of butter

Noon – Lunch of pasta/veal/chicken rice

1pm – go to supermarket to buy Flake chocolate

1:30pm – tea with Flake chocolate

2pm – tea with cookies

3pm – wander over to reception area for more chocolate coins

3:45pm – eat grapes

4:15pm – wander over to Ama’s table for lindt’s chocolate with caramel centre

5pm – grab biscuit off Ade before heading out of the building

5:15om – grab deep friend potato cutlets on the way home

6pm - dinner

The Definitions in Life

2007-06-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

When does a colleague become a friend? And when does an acquaintance cross the line to become a friend?

When does a boyfriend become a partner?

And how far away from the beach before bathers stop being bathers and become obscene spandex looking underwear?

Sydney is Making Me Fat!

2007-06-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

I have been shamelessly stuffing my face this weekend. I can no longer fit into my jeans without having to pop the button every time I sit down.

Deep Fried Mars Bar on Thursday at Bondi Junction with Mabel and friend was like an orgy of oil, batter and sugar in your mouth. You can feel the fat cruising through your body just looking for a place to plant its home. But its so freaking good. The chocolate melts and its all just a gooey mess in batter.

Cafe Sel et Poivre on Thursday dinner at Darlinghaust
One of the best french I've had. The confit de canard, which I found out is duck was hearty and fatty. Very french bistro with huge portions. Nothing pretentious about it. Even the handsomely grey-haired waiter in tight floral jeans. Like my mum's wall paper from Laura Ashley floral. Only the french can pull that off.

Brunch in the cafe next to Paddington market with Arlene and friend. Lemon poppyseed cupcake from The Cupcake Bakery. And then Dinner at Pancake on the Rocks. That place is like a must see for all tourists, and the first place Sydneysiders bring their touristy friends. It is something like Pancake Parlour, just in a really nice area. Drinks at Opera Bar facing the Habour Bridge to cap off the night.

Sunday Yum Cha at Zilver, touted as the best Yum Cha place in town. I actually preferred East Ocean, but Zilver's salt and pepper fried crab and watermelon dessert was good. Trying to get into the restaurant was like trying to get into the White House to interview Clinton after the Monica case. I was so close to pressing my thumb into the arm of an injured man to get my way in.

Photo Vomit from Whitsunday Holiday

2007-06-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Bob and I trying our hand at mini golf on Hamilton Island

Such blue waters and sky at the Coral Reef Jetty - minutes after jetskiing

Among overcast skies in Hamilton Island

We drove around in our mini bugees and hopped off to get a picture

'I want!' a pretty white wedding in a little white chapel on top of a little hill

Chilling out at the lounge of a posher hotel that we can't afford, since our backpackers only plays country techno to a very rowdy crowd

We spent a lot of time reading and chilling out during those horrid rainy days

The artificial beach in the middle of the real beach..this one is safe from stingers

By the pier at Arlie Beach

Camels on a tour along Arlie Beach

Along the walk to Abel Marina

The blue sky and sea was beautiful!

Along the Marina

On the boat sailing along to Knuckle Reef Pontoon

The coral reef during low tide

All geared up for snorkelling and playing with my sea noodles!

Sunset against Daydream Island

Onboard the Camira, the most turbulent and wettest sailing trip I have ever made. Thank God for seasickness pills!

Rigging the sails

The most famous beach in Australia: The Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Islands.

Off in a little dingy from the yatch to the island

Our little purple Camira yatch

The sand on Whitsunday Island is 90% pure silica sand which makes it look so fine and white. No resorts are allowed on the island in order to keep its pristine condition.

Yup that's our Whitsunday holiday. Drawing on the sand is so cliche. I love it!

In Cold Wet Sydney

2007-06-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I am working/interning at some place that isn’t exactly home. Home being defined as a place I stay more than two months in. This is my second day at work in Sydney and I’m still feeling landsick from being on too many boats during the Whitsunday’s trip. Photos of that to come soon.

You never really appreciate how clean Melbourne is until you come to Sydney. My shoes look like they have been through the war with working through a few things that look like dead animals on my way to work.

But I am excited. Excited and slightly homesick. Considering that I work in the day, and Bob works at night, we still communicate through phone and text messages. We’ve gotten too use to a long distance relationship. And I have to entertain myself in a new place.

I’m signing up for pilates classes tonight, trying to find a gym, looking for the organic food co-op, trying out new recipes from my Japanese cookbook, indulging in fried mars bar on Thu with Mabel, going somewhere with Arlene on Sat and checking out the Sydney Olympics Park Pie fair on Sunday.

And watching a lot of TV.

It is like the first week of Philly all over again but more comfortable.

Dilemmas in life

2007-06-04T04:54:00.000-07:00

Would you rather your boyfriend/husband/partner etc cheat on you with a woman who is older than you or younger than you?

I was thinking about that question as I removed lint from my clothes today as an active step of procrastination.

Then I thought about how all women have an issue with women who are their juniors. Sex and the City had an entire episode about that. Something about them not being able to compete against 20-something year old women yada yada.

Is it because youth is such a prized procession in our society, so younger women have something that older women had? Or is it because it is always assumed that men are after the next youngest thing above the legal age that younger women are seen as the competition? Or is it that thing about how younger women still have shot at having it all?

Anyway I decided it would be better for my partner to run off a woman older than me rather than younger.

Next question, would you rather your partner cheat on you with a member of the same sex, or a member of the opposite sex?

Watching Shakespeare isn't exactly a walk in the park

2007-06-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

During the interval of the MTC's rendition of Othello,

Me: Hey, they all die at the end.

An: Thanks, you just spoilt the ending for me.

Me: It's Shakespeare. We don't watch it for the surprise ending.

An: I might as well leave now.

Me: Eric just did. I also told him the ending.

I think in most Shakespeare plays, the main characters die at the end. In Othello, everyone that matters die. Except Iago. But he'll face trial and get hanged anyway. So basically besides the random extras, everyone died through murder or suicide. It's even more depressing than Macbeth, or Romeo & Juliet, or King Lear. Or Midsummer's Night Dream. But that was because Puck mooned the audience and I was unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it.

Ooh can't wait till King Lear and Seagulls arrive next semester. Sir Ian Mckellen!

During dinner at a Marine Biologist's house

2007-05-25T01:55:00.000-07:00

Me: I'm thinking of snorkeling when I'm at the Whitsundays, are there sharks near the Great Barrier Reef?

Marine Biologist: Yup

Me: Will they eat me?

Marine Biologist: No they normally don't eat humans. They only eat humans when they mistake them for seals.

Me: But I don't want to be mistaken for a seal!

Marine Biologist: Don't worry, they will only take one bite. When they realize you are not a seal they will spit you out.

Thanks joyce for doing a risk assessment on me and the sharks.

Some People Eat to Live....I just don't belong in that category

2007-05-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

If there is a meal worth saving up one year for....this is it: Three, One, Two's Degustation Menu.

Clair de Lune Oysters
White cut chicken, prawn, pork and picked ginger
Crab tart, fennel custard and citrus salad
Slow cooked pigeon, foie gras and chocolate
Seared Wagyu beef with pearl barley, mushrooms and truffles
St Agur with poached quince, toasted walnuts and pain d'epices
Lemon chiboust with vodka granita and fresh raspberries
Chocolate ganache with parsnip cream, malt milk chocolate parfait and tarragon

I can see why this restaurant won best new restaurant and best chef in The Age Good Food Guide. Three days after this meal and I am still having dreams about it. I can still remember the first bite into the wagyu beef, and the creaminess of the crab tart and chocolate ganache. This is the best meal I have ever had. Beats Iron Chef's Morimoto restaurant or anything I have tried in the US. Starve yourself and then go for it.

One day before I also went to Bluefire Grill for my birthday steak and chocolate cake with Dap, Ven and Reg. Their chocolate desserts are seriously good for a steak and meat restaurant! And Bob arrived in Melbourne as a total surprise!

On Saturday we went to the Crown Conservatory Seafood Buffet. Now that's another meal worth starving yourself for. Oysters, crabs, moreton bay bugs, mussels, cold prawns (my greatest weakness is cold prawns with semillion and oysters and champagne).....because I am Singaporean, everytime I hear the word seafood buffet, this light goes off in my head. Everything becomes blurry and all I can hear are the oysters calling my name. The next day I woke up wishing I had more. I can't help it. I'm Singaporean. Buffets and shopping are my national pastimes.

Dinner and drinks with Asia-pac tute people after Unicef Film screening

Viv's Wedding

2007-04-22T01:07:00.000-07:00

Fragility. Impulse.

2007-04-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm just shocked and speechless at what happened in Virginia Tech today. I sat in the library today, feeling a strange chill running down my spine. Looking at the busy faces around. I mended the Unicef booth at the front entrance of Union house today. Laughter. Chatting. People milling around. Twice removed from a campus that sounds and look radically different from mine today. Maybe it is because I did an exchange in the US, that everything reported feels closer to heart. I feel the anxiety to be continually updated about what happened, and an intense sadness.

Shu's Graduation in University of Sydney

2007-04-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

How cool is this...graffiti alley! Anywhere else it would look dodgy, but because it is in USyd, it looks artistic

Uni Syd is way more beautiful than MelbUni...

Once again, point above proven. This is their sports field. When they said Unimelb has the prettiest campus, they lied!

And they get to do their graduation in a hall with a stainglass window...tariq told me to move to Usyd so i can have a fancy graduation that is not wilson hall

Graduations are such boring events..chilling outside when the speeches are on

All the asian visual art students..who said asians were not creative..

Shu and I....she looked the least kooky from all the other students...very professional

Their beautiful quad and courtyard..reminds me so much of upenn

Sydney Randomness

2007-04-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

We have silver man in Melb and they have balancing bike man.

Dinner with Arlene and Bob at Y2K..they have fantastic macha icecream with red bean, and bubble tea. It was good to meet up with old friends in Syd, Arlene, Dor, Shu and Clarence.

Wine Cheese and Chocolate Tour at Hunter Valley

2007-04-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Our really dodgy hotel room on top of a very noisy bar with rowdy patrons and no on-suite bathroom....it was erm...interesting...

Wine tasting tour....after a while its like..we don't care anymore..it all taste the same!

Beautiful view overseeing the vineyards

My First Degustation Meal at Terroir, Hunter Valley, NSW

2007-04-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

This frozen kiwi fruit was suppose to cleanse my palate....not sure what that means but it looked cute

Waygu beef cheeks braised with hungerford hill shiraz, on braised witlof & paris mashed potato, served with bearnaise sauce

Caramalised lemon tart with coconut sorbet...very yummy

Bob and I at Terroir

It had a beautiful interior...nice clean and white..obviously won lots of awards

BBQ duck with sweet pickled lemons on basmati rice & choy sum..this one was a winner

Boudin Blancof prawn, snapper& braised leeks on poached iceberg lettuce with a pinot noir beurre blanc and tapenade...my favourite..

Easter Hoilday in Sydney

2007-04-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Sydney grows on you. It gets pretty when you are walking around slowly in places like darling harbour, circular quay, the rocks, chinatown, oxford street or norton street. Sydney reminds me of a mini-new york. Very fast. Very chaotic. Very crowded. Crazy traffic filled with impatient drivers, rude pedastrians and one-way streets covered with traffic lights. But after 10 days there, I'm starting to grow fond of its bright lights, posh nosh bars and pretty harbour front views. I confirmed my internship there in June/July so I'll be back to explore more.

As sad as it sounds, I spent at least 2-3 hours a day in the state library attempting to do some work. It fell into some sort of routine. Bob goes to work. I wake up. Have a heavy brunch usually involving eggs, lots of meat and hot choc. Work in state lib for 2-3 hours. Msn people back in melbourne on what a loser I am. Meet people for lunch or explore sydney on foot. Dinner with Bob. Sleep at 10pm. Found a fantastic laksa and har mee place called Malay Chinese, and chocolate cake at Lindt's concept cafe was out of this world. Brunetti's can't compare.

Important Words of Advice from the Top Guys

2007-04-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

"What do you mean you don't read the Herald Sun and listen to triple J? Do you also sip soy latte and get the AFR delivered to your doorstep?"

Nothing like an external guest speaker to shake everyone out of the academic ivory tower. This has been the best word of advice I have gotten throughout my university life: If you can't connect with the common folks, your marketing career is over. That and what I learned in Wharton: Always keep duplicate copies of everything you fax/email/mail, and if anything goes wrong, blame the intern.

Everything I ate...in a week

2007-04-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

I first saw this book in the Upenn bookstore and was utterly fascinated. It is a pretty darn difficult task photographing EVERYTHING you ate for one year. Also makes any social dining situation quite an embarrassement. Unless you are asian. For some reason asians like to take photographs of their food, myself included.

So I tried to test my memory and recall all the food I ate/drank in the last week. I was sitting in the library with my head in my hands trying to do that.

Monday:
Brekkie - Soy and cereal
Lunch - Vietnamese rice paper roll with prawns and pear juice from Random Uni Store
Dinner - Steak and pumpkin

Tuesday:
Brekkie - Soy and cereal
Lunch - Dahl and veggie pie from Food Co-op
Dinner - Cabbage meat roll

Wednesday
Brekkie - Soy and cereal
Lunch - half a sushi roll and apple green bubble tea
Dinner - Lamb wrapped in Bacon, salad and a glass of rose at Vibe

Thursday
Lunch - Cabbage meat rolls with Soba
Dinner - Burger and fries from Lord of the Fries
Drinks - Lemon Lime Bitters at Golden Gate Hotel

Friday
Brekkie - Soy and cereal
Lunch - Rice, Sambal Egg, Beef rendang and fried chicken at Norsiah's Kitchen
Dinner - Tapas at Espresso Bar on Degraves: Roast Eggpplant, meatballs and ice chocolate
Drinks - Red wine at Park Hyatt

Saturday
Lunch - Japanese pepper beef cubes and rice
Dinner - Ban Mian at Chom Chom

Sunday
Brekkie - bacon and egg sandwich, soy hot chocolate, apple carrot beetroot juice at Tropicana
Lunch - Soy milk at Wing Loong (I think thats the name of the restaurant)
Snack - Watermelon
Dinner - Japanese pepper beef cubes
Supper - Edamame and juice

Monday
Brekkie - Soy and cereal
Lunch - Nestea, Unagi sushi and peach
Dinner - Oyako-donburi (chicken and egg over rice)

Right now: a cup of warm lemon and honey, yoghurt and muesli

My Quick Update

2007-03-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Night-long salsa marathons. Unicef. Multicultural marketing. Meeting awesome new people. Organising trips and activities for cell. Upcoming Easter trip to see Bob and some friends. I am doing everything I adore. My arms officially hurt from salsa, and someone accidentally stepped on my toe with her stilettos while dancing. But life has been good. I feel happy.

Whipped Cream and Body Butter for the Innocent

2007-03-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

Some of life's biggest indulgences. Hot tea. Warm shower. Whipped body cream from Origins. No not whipped body cream in the kinky sense. The name of the moisturiser really is whipped body cream: ginger souffle.

It is amazing how much you can tell about a person just by looking through her toiletries. Pore-shrinking scrub. Firming body cream. Tanning lotion. Whitening face mask. Anti-dandruff shampoo. Anti-Kink conditioner. Extra strength deodorent. It says a lot about what the person likes (or not like) about herself. What they want to change. What they feel insecure about. I like looking at other people's toiletries. I feel like I am connecting with them at a non-verbal level. It beats actual conversation sometimes. Unless they are guys. Then most labels on their soap/shampoo/face wash says "For Men" or "For Normal Skin". No girl ever believes she has normal skin or normal hair. There has to be something wrong with it. If not the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry wouldn't have survived for so long.

2007-03-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

I realised I haven't blogged for a fairly long time. It happened sometime in late Feburary when I decided to start engaging and stop narrating my life. I had started to look at life through a third party perspective, through that of an author, a spectator, a photographer, and not as a participant. It is funny how little we realise how mediated our lives are. We look at reality through some form of media. We see car crash victims on TV and read about the lives in our neighbourhood in the newspaper. We find out about our friends' mood through their MSN nicks and we tell people things about ourselves through our blogs. The first thing you learn as a media communication student: You can't prove the tree fell in the forest if it wasn't on the 6 o'clock news.

That being said...I did go to a rather nice afghanistan restaurant last week. Afghan food is delicious!

Back to Melby I Go

2007-02-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

One year ago, in about one week's time, I was in Arizona, battling the snowstorm, running from stray dogs, bonding with strangers turn friends and teaching native american school children how to ensure that their friends do not become speed bumps.

This year in about one week's time, I'll be in Tweed Heads, Queensland, seeing my darling for the first time in about two months.

I am absolutely hopping with excitement and apprehension. How will this year turn out? How will honours be? Will I get a job? Will I be moving to Sydney next year? Will I be going home to Singapore? How will it be without bob in melby?

Same place. Same school. New year.

Chinese New Year is About the Food!

2007-02-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

These sushi pieces look so much nicer than the ones I make for lunch in Melbourne....that's cause' my mum made these.....the artistic gene was never passed down to me

Bloody prawn ngoh hiang!!

A still life composition of my bento boxes

The most successful thing I made so far - cashew nut cookies!

Valentine's Day Special With the Family

2007-02-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

My favourite Soonduboo and Mando!! I'll take this over some fancy baby-portion valentine's day set menu at a chi-chi restaurant out to charge you a quick buck to commerate the day they hung st valentine.

And That Is Why I Rather Be a Girl.....

2007-02-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

After observing human beings interact for sometime, my conclusion on the modern failure to relationships: Expectations.

Telling it from a girl's point of view. When the girl first meets the boy, all she wants is for him to turn around and acknowledge her presence. After the first date, all she wants is a call from the guy. When they first get together, all she wants is a few dinner outings here and there. And after a while......she expects dinner dates, constant phone calls, remember her birthday/anniversary/valentine's day/dog's birthday etc, shower her with presents, manja her, sayang her, respect her, kiss her, cuddle her, meet her grandparents, go shopping with her, fetch her to school, fix her computer, watch movie with her...and the list goes on.

And girls being girls, we never tell the guy what we expect! Because the guy is suppose to know! If he doesn't know,we think he doesn't love us enough! I bet this is what all guys think is the ideal relationship:

Girl: Ey next monday my birthday. I want a bud light and we can stay at home and watch footy on TV. You can arrange the strippers and I'll order the pizza.

Haha...not in a million years. The last time my former boyfriend wanted to watch X-Man on our first year anniversary, I flipped. All the guys thought it was the best idea ever, while the girls totally sympathized with me.

Advice to all guys: Never suggest watching a guy flick on your girlfriend's birthday or on your anniversary. She normally wants an activity which involves some form of verbal communication. I think playing Daytona and air hockey cuts it for Bob and I. There is action and communication! It is perfect!

P.s Bob I just checked the price of a 8 person Daytona machine - USD40,000. Airhockey table is about USD2000. Just in case you were considering.

Prawn Star

2007-02-15T02:21:00.000-08:00

I spent about three hours today ripping the heads off squishy dead prawns, brains and blood running down my arm. Then I had to cut open their backs and pull out all the sticky black stuff which I assume is prawn shit or something. After peeling what felt like a thousand prawns while listening to my aunt's hokkein music on a loop, I dug my hand into a pail of bloody mince pork to marinate. Finally, we wrapped the mince stuff into soybean skin and steam it all. And we got Ngoh Hiang!

My hand now smells like a dead animal.

Relationships

2007-02-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

First year together, the boy tells the girl, "It's not that I don't wanna marry you, I just don't have the money."

Fifth year together, boy tells girl, "It's not that I don't have the money, I just don't wanna marry you."

While walking back from salsa class,

Me: Salsa is like a biblical relationship, the man leads and the woman pretends to follow.
Nigel: What? The woman pretends?

There are Salsa Clubs and there are Salsa Clubs

2007-02-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

Departing from our usual salsa club where commoners such as Del, Ming and myself gather, we ventured into Brix, where the rich and old came to frolick.

Instead of diluted cocktails, the poison of choice was red wine and cognac. And gracing the dance floor were middle-aged tai-tais and their young handsome dance instructors/toyboys.

The men there were mostly Caucasian expatriates, hovering around young pretty foreign women whose careers involved nocturnal vice. These ladies with substantial skin showing, mostly stood in pairs or alone, surveying the scene for potential customers. We saw a few transactions being made. One rather matured one came over to our table and started chatting. Turns out she was rather fond of the only male in our group. Unfortunately that affection was not reciprocated.

The tai-tais hung on to their foreign dance instructors (DIs) like their latest Gucci handbag, while these DIs in their skin tight muscle tees looked broodingly bored. A rather crudely large man tried to salsa but looked like he was going to tear the arms off his helpless partner. The couple sitting behind us was bouncing like they were on crack.

It was 12:30am, and the place was throbbing with expensive cigars, Latino music and Valentino-clad socialites. After our new lady-of-the-night friend decided to flaunt her assets somewhere else richer, we made a move, back into the reality of our commoner world.

Pink is the New Black No Matter How Cliche It Sounds

2007-02-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

So it is a bit pink....but it is also Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year...and I felt a bit festive...therefore the pink....and also because I actually like pink.......anyway just testing a new template to see how it goes

Housewife Training Part 1

2007-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Korean cooking class by Tarah, the chef of Togi, a fantastic Korean restaurant near the crossroad of east coast road and still road. I can't wait to try it. My salsa friends say her soondooboo is the best. She was teaching us how to make kimchi, chapchae and bulgogi. The secret to the sweet taste in bulgogi: pear.

Baking party with Clarence. We made vanilla cupcakes with frosted cream and coconut topping. Also made rock hard curry buns. The curry buns were an utter flop, and while we got the texture of th cupcakes right, I think it is too sweet. Oh well, will try again. Also made rosemary and thyme bread with my trusty bread machine. It went well with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

There Should Be an Oscar Nominee For Best Tear Jerker Movie

2007-02-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

Watched Babel and cried so much I think strangers started getting concerned. I was literally sobbing into my skirt. At the end I cried so much I couldn't breathe and had eyes so red it looked like my marriage ended. I cry when I watch any show. I cried when Simba's dad died. I cried when the genie appeared in Aladdin. I cried when Harry Met Sally. I cried when I watched Friends. And through it all, my trusty Fibrewig mascara never ran on me. Who needs waterproof Maybelline when my Japanese kitschy mascara is as trusty as a Honda.

After mopping up the puddle I made, I went for my first tango class. Tango looks deceptively easy on TV than it actually is in real life. The girl has absolutely no idea what the guy is going to do next. And there are no hand signals unlike salsa. I was concentrating so hard it must have been funny to look at. And almost everyone there was married. And with their partners. And so it was awkward for me to dance with any guy there. When the instructor announced, "Everyone find a partner," all the girls glued themselves on to their husbands while I stood around looking like a home-wrecker.

And I miss my boyfriend. Long distance is too long. I have spoken more about him than with him in the last one week. Sigh...... I miss you Bob!! I made you muffins. But I ate them on your behalf.

Good Bye and I Wish I Tried Harder

2007-02-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the first time I confronted someone willingly.

Today is the first time my friendship consciously ended.

Sometimes to love someone is to let the person know that you mean it when you said you had enough.

2007-01-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some old journals I wrote when I was in Penn and this made me smile....

"So it hit me, as I sit in the Philadelphia airport food court, eating my long awaited egg sandwich, waiting for my flight to Vancouver, how surreal this is. Waiting to see my parents I have not met for 3 months. Flying alone. Again. Something that I have fallen in love with.

I muse, how different life has turned out. Right here, in the middle of the paging messages, surrounded my strangers, I suddenly feel more at peace than I ever have. With myself.

How differently life has turned out.

I remember how a year back I wrote in a blog entry about being in a different place from where I was suppose to be, doing a different subject from what I was suppose to do and being in a different person's room from the one I am use to being in. And it was about how I have relinquished being Cherry, and became Charissa.

Today I write that again. Sitting in a different country, with different people, different sensations. Different emotions. And most importantly, I have became comfortable with being Charissa.

I took that step to pursue a crazy dream of coming to America, and after pouring over guidebooks and websites, I am finally here.

Ralista was right. You can never plan too much in life. Because there will always be greater things coming your way that you have never expected.

I am living my dream. Right here, in my teal plastic chair, beauty from the neon red pizza sign, I feel like I am in the centre of my little Universe, right beside Him. "

I am three times removed from that writing, but still feeling every bit of it.

My 6 Hour Chicken Pie

2007-01-29T07:35:00.000-08:00

Who knew an innocent looking chicken pie would be so hard to make? It took 6 hours of making the pastry from flour, butter and water, blisters from the rolling pin, and 4 botched attempts due to recipe typos and burning butter. I will never look at a Jester's pie in the same way again.

Maid CosCafe

2007-01-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

This cafe in Chijmes is based on the Japanese hobby of Cosplay, where people dress up as anime, manga or J-pop/rock characters. In this cafe the waitresses dress up as french maids. And they call you master. That explains the massive number of guys in the cafe. The best part, the cafe is opened by a 16 year old. Which also explains why the red wine came chilled, the japanese curry tasted like spicy risotto, the kebab was charred on the outside and raw on the inside, and the best part of the meal was the coke float. But hey, give her chance man. All I could do as a 16 year old was to bribe my classmates to do my home economics homework and make a lousy scramble egg dish.

The Superstar Theory of Life

2007-01-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

"When you are in high school, you always think that you are going to be that successful professional, the one people ask for dinners, the one that attends the meetings, the one that carries the brief case to work, the one that will achieve something in your given field. Then you go to uni or start your internship, and realise that the world is filled with mediocre hardworking people, who struggle 30-40 years of their lives, only to stay in lower-mid management position, who never get promoted, and who do the same thing everyday of their lives, only to realise at 45 that they have achieved nothing. And then you realise that your chance of becoming one of them far outweighs any chance of success. There is only one or two famous architect, doctor, lawyer, actor or marketing guru in every generation. The rest just slave by in their shadows with no recognition or reward. And those 'rest' is most probably you. This is disillusionment." ~ over dinner with Dino at Thai Express

2007-01-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

When Singapore tries to rationalise increasing GST, they compare Singapore to developed countries like Australia, UK and the EU where tax is higher.

When they want to rationalise not increasing workers' wages, they compare Singapore to other developing countries like India and Vietnam, reminding us that higher wage also means lowered competitiveness.

You are either a developed or developing country. Bloody choose a side for goodness sake.

Meatball Quail Eggs

2007-01-22T04:44:00.000-08:00

Made Meatball wrapped quail eggs for dinner today. It was really easy! Combine mince meat, chopped water chestnuts, chopped prawns, chopped mushroom, chopped garlic, coriander, chili powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and seasoning. Marinate overnight in fridge. Boil quail eggs. Wrap meat paste around egg and shape into a ball. Coat with bread crumbs and deep fry. This is going to be my reunion dinner contribution.

My First Home Made Bread

2007-01-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

Three hours, one electricity trip and an oven transfer later, my first loaf of bread. Honey raisin wholemeal bread. Tasted really good with apricot almond cognac jam. Many more to come in the next week!

An Accidental Tour Guide

2007-01-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

I am seriously considering a career in tourism.

The last one week have been spent promoting Singapore's sights to my overseas friends. First was the mission team to India from my home church in Melbourne. They missed a connecting flight to India and got stuck in Singapore for 8 hours. I had a great time showing them the nicest parts of Singapore. Now they think Singapore only has pretty white colonial buildings, colourful boathouses and a giant spiky arts centre.

Me: This is my church in Singapore. (pointing to St Andrew Cathedral)
Pastor Rob: Is it evangelical?
Me: I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes I guess. I think my priest is.

I had no idea what evangelical meant. Despite having grown up in a church. I just found out it meant that the church preaches the gospel. No wonder he looked worried. Either because he thinks that there is something wrong with my church, or that I am so doctrinally unsound I should be removed from Children's ministry.

The day after the team left, Ryan came from the Netherlands for four days. It was fun and laughter. We clubbed and drank at The Clinic, Dblo, Thumper and Zouk, went to the civic district and orchard. The main reason why I was there was to keep Ryan out of the zoo. And he insisted on going to the Night Safari.

Also there was a story of a British exchange student who got so plastered in Dblo, she passed out in the toilet, woke up, crawled from the toilet through the club and into a cab. Crawled from the cab back to her dorm room. Had to be a Brit, Ryan said, being the massive drinkers they are.

I went to a career conference and tried to talk the Singapore Tourism Board into posting me in Australia. Their answer was a straight no. Then I realised the aim of the conference was to get Singaporean students studying overseas to come back to Singapore. Oh well, at least I got a free keychain from them.

This Proofs That Money Cannot Buy Style

2007-01-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

My Favourite Dressies From the Golden Globes

2007-01-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

I actually kinda like Cameron Diaz's cake looking dress....it looks like a giant cloud...

How to Pick Up a Girl - Tips from Europe

2007-01-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

My two friends who are asian by descent but have been brought up in europe all their lives seem alot more confident in picking up girls at a club.

So there was this really hot girl with some really smooth moves on the podium, and a bunch of guys below the podium just cheaking her out. Every guy wants to make a move, but all they can muster is a) bumping into her b) asking me if she is hot. You know what really sucks in a club. Having random guys ask you if you think another girl is hot. And then guys asking you to hold their drink while they try to pick up the hot girl. I experienced both tonight. The second one was a joke. I hope.

My friend walks right up to her, and ask three simple questions. Are you single? Do you like guys or girls? Can you cook? The third one supposedly thrown in for fun. Within minutes he is dancing with her. In 15 minutes he got her number. So I'm guessing the key to picking up a girl at a club is to keep it simple. Because she most probably can't hear you. Or she's drunk.

My other friend went up to a tall leggy model-looking girl and asked if she is single and if she is a model. He came back and told us she was a man.

There Goes the Diet I Guess

2007-01-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh...I stumbled upon this delectable cupcake website while looking for baking schools. I am so close to clicking order right now except that I don't have $60 and I can't finish a dozen cupcakes. I tore through the kitchen looking for something sweet to stop my stomach from eating itself. And the best part, it is available in Singapore. perfectfairycakes.blogspot.com. I am so having this for my future wedding. Pot luck void deck wedding? Wedding in the zoo? Who cares as long as I have my fill of cupcakes. Bob....I wan cupcake.....

Do We Even Need Sex to Sell a Period Drama?

2007-01-14T08:03:00.000-08:00

Just watched Curse of the Golden Flower. Didn't know they had push-up bras and clevage revealing bodices in ancient china. Also didn't know they had glitter nail polish, golden eye shadow and black bobby pins (I spotted one in Gong Li's hair) in the past.

Well it sure is one hell of a screwed up family where anything taboo happens. And I thought the greeks were screwed up.

2007-01-11T04:43:00.000-08:00

Screw the vegetarian diet. The minute I told my parents I was going vegetarian, the entire fridge was stocked with meat. Bacon, ham, beef, chicken, you name it, we've got it.

Me: I'm cooking beef stew. Shit..I can't take beef.
Dad: Why you so selfish? Why can't you cook it for us, and you can have the vegetables.

Day One of a Meatless Existence

2007-01-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

Mum tempted me out of my diet by bringing me to one of the best laksa place in Singapore. I encircled the stall three times before giving in to my carnal desires. Had half a bowl and ate three cockles. Since cockles don't move much, I don't consider them animal.

Besides that, tuna on toast for lunch, sesame paste for dessert, long beans and tofu for dinner.

This is alot harder than I thought.

Workings of an Idle Mind

2007-01-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago I dreamt I was a molecule on a boxing glove. And each time I was hit against the boxing bag or a fellow opponent, I would yell "Ouch!"

Last night I dreamt that my ex boyfriend and a few of his pals were in a room full of hookers. And a group of us busted their pre-nocturnal vice. Also, I was arguing with a knife-wielding acquaintance.

I sometimes wish I could videotape my dreams down because they sure make good movies. or at least youtube material.

I'm Turning Vegetarian ... and its not because I like animals

2007-01-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

After my mum told me for the sixth time that I should stop wearing clothes too small for new bulkier self, and my dad thinks I have an addiction to crab (ok, so I did consume 4 curried softshell crab and was invovled in the partaking of 3kg of crab in 2 weeks), I have decided to go healthy vegetarian for 2 weeks. One more kg on the scale and I would be the exact same weight as my mum, except she is 3 decades older and had 2 children. So no meat (except fish) or seafood. Half my intake of carbs, and avoid oil. It is gonna be hard. Since I like to pour my rice into beef oil, and eat pork fat on its own. My favourite food is pork trotters. And my favourite part is the pork skin.

Oh ya..and i also need to work out. I swam two laps last week, nearly had a cardiac arrest, collapsed into my bed and slept for 4 hours. Then I woke up and ate. It was very pathetic.

Things I Digged Up While Spring Cleaning

2007-01-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

Stumbled upon my "headshot" for theatre circa 2003. This was taken when I entered the Singapore Repertory Theatre Young Company. I notice I still had a chin 3 years ago.

Our Modern Poverty

2007-01-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

I stood in my room, completely overwhelmed by my mess. I counted, a paper bag jammed with handbags. Over 20 pairs of shoes, some I have never ever wore before or remember buying. Bottles of virtually untouched lotions and creams, crammed into a straw basket. Rows of lipgloss, eye shadow and perfume. Clothes, double of every style and colour, brimming from my cupboard. Notebooks, all half empty, sit around. To add to the mess, coasters, souvenirs, photos and unwrapped presents.

and suddenly I felt extremely empty and hollow and meaningless and undeserving.

Dinner at Wild Rocket & Drinks at Fullerton Courtyard

2007-01-06T04:32:00.000-08:00

Melbourne Uni Here I Come...Again!

2007-01-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

I got into honours!!! Yayyyyyyy!!!! Yipee doo!!!

I'm so happy I made myself a huge plate of fried eggplant to celebrate!! I also booked myself in for underarm waxing as a pat on the back.

Singapore Dreaming - Starbucks Coffee Vs Kopitiam Coffee

2006-12-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

One thing that infuriated me since I was back. The more Singapore progresses economically, the more we lack a kind of morality to treat all human beings as being equally created in the image of God. This isn't even about racism. We treat "Bangalas", Chinese scholars (PRC scholars), Filipino maids, Vietnamese brides like commodities. We ignore people distributing pamphlets like they don't exist. We walk straight through sales people or cleaners, refer to them as "those uneducated people" and effectively created a whole strata of invisible people who are supporting our society. If there is any crime or vice happening, it is because "these foreigners" brought it into Singapore. This makes us the Asian modern version of pre-civil war America. Why is Singapore at the bottom of the World Economic Forum's customer service ranking? If you were paid $5 an hour to be treated like crap all day, would you bother to grin and bear with it?

When the bomb drops, or the famine strikes, or the building collapses, it doesn't matter whether you are a rich university educated lawyer staying in a condo or a foreign worker earning $20 a day. You'll still be in the same hole saying your last prayers. As my father puts it, Singaporeans are just the mediocre Starbucks coffee packaged nicely and put in a nice shop. Many of the foreign workers are good robust home brewed coffee that are packaged in plain battered tins and placed in rundown coffee shops. At the end of day, the thing that matters is what kind of coffee you are.

My Simple Christmas Dinner

2006-12-25T04:23:00.000-08:00

The first Christmas dinner I made for my family involved tomato and basil bruschetta with pinenuts and mushroom flavoured olive oil, pesto chicken with white wine sauce, and mushroom bacon carbonara with sundried tomato. The stove busted on us, so we had to use the campfire stove. We ate it next to candlelight albeit wearing PJs and drinking water out of plastic Ikea tumblers.

And as if we haven't had enough white wine, we submerged lychee in wine and syrup.

Next week I shall try making seafood claypot with white wine and saffron rice.

Too Old for this Shit - The Fashion Faux Pas of a Xmas Romp

2006-12-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

Last night it officially hit me that I'm too old to spend any festivity in a club. The line is too long, the people are too young, the guys look like they are still in the army, the music is too loud, everyone is too sweaty, the cheap alcohol taste really bad and cover charge is too steep. I spent most of my one and a half hour at MOS, this popular club in Singapore, watching the DJ spin with some cool computer software technology. My friends mistook that as my apparent boredom and tried to get me to dance. So I spent the rest of the night staring at the revolving lights.

Some things I observed while sulking. I know it is rainy in Singapore and winter in the northern hemisphere, but what's up with the winter clothes in a club man. I saw so many girls wearing knee high boots with equally high thick winter socks. Think about how bad your feet will stink after that. I saw guys in knitted long sleeved turtleneck sweaters. There were people in scarves. I saw a girl dressed, top to bottom, in white fur. Maybe it is fashionable and all, but between comfort and sweating and smelling like a dead raccoon, I'll choose the former. It was freaking 30 degrees in the club! Do you see people wearing fur in Bali? Or in Malaysia? Or in summer anywhere else in the world?

Other notable things that should never be worn in a club. A fanny pack or a sling bag. It looked like he was going to whip out fake CDs from his pack and try to sell them to me. A polo shirt tucked into beige pants and sports shoes. This is a club, not a golfing range. Also, track pants and runners. Dancing is tiring, but it is not a sport! And finally, huge metallic bling bling hung around the neck. You are not black. Wearing the bling, and your cap backwards along with some really bad hand movements that resembles rapping is not going to make you black if you are yellow skinned with small eyes. Even William Hung is cooler than that.

Retro Christmas Party @ Rick and Jhaney

2006-12-23T02:15:00.000-08:00

I was going for the 60's Edie Sedgwick style. But since tights and belt are in, I just look like every other girl on the street.

For a brief second I considered the afro perm.

2006-12-23T02:10:00.000-08:00

Yanting, Shuyun and me

2006-12-23T02:08:00.000-08:00

The beautiful gals!

2006-12-23T02:05:00.000-08:00

And the guys!!

Merry Christmas Singapore Style

2006-12-23T01:49:00.000-08:00

Its one more day to Christmas but somehow I don't seem excited at all. Just arrived back from Melbourne on the 19th and Bob was a wonderful accidental refugee at my house. His "Kampong" kena flooded, so he stuck in Singapore. It was a pretty wild time of eating XO crab bee hoon, pork trotters, bak kut teh, frog leg congee, beef hor fun...just to name a few.Good stuff. Since I don't have a turkey in Singapore, I'll make do with a slab of fatty pork knuckles and chili crab with fried buns to dip with the sauce. Hmm...now I'm getting excited.

Fresh from a Guy's Mouth.....

2006-12-14T02:50:00.000-08:00

"A hairband on a girl is like sauce on top of meat pie."

"You just reduced my entire gender to meat pies"

2006-12-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

Bob's graduation 3rd Dec

2006-12-14T02:46:00.000-08:00

The happy graduate and the ever proud of him girlfriend

2006-12-14T02:45:00.000-08:00

There were only a few good spots to get your photo taken in Melbourne uni...but im glad we at least have nice buildings to take our photos next to

2006-12-14T02:43:00.000-08:00

Bob's family at his graduation

At Richmond Hill and Larder.....

2006-12-14T02:31:00.000-08:00

Had the best Scampi on Cous Cous with Chorizo jus reduction jam today. The cous cous was completely bursting with flavour, sweet, sour and spicy all in one serve. It made me want to never use instant cous cous anymore. The scampi was so fresh it was actually crunchy and sweet. Bob and I also had veal wrapped in prosciutto with absolutely melted in the mouth, and were tempted into getting cheese from their formage vault. Definitely going to back if I get the chance.

My newest discovery is Bridge road..spent the whole of yesterday shopping there, and having lunch at Chimmy's which had de-li-cious cakes, and then lunch there again today. I'm considering going back again tomorrow but that might be a tad obsessive. The more threatened I feel about my existence in Melbourne, the more I love Melbourne. Flinders lane, Bridge Road, Camberwell, Chapel Street, Brunswick Street....sigh...

Casino Royale: The Blood, Gore and Product Placements

2006-12-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

I feel like an idiot because at the end of Casino Royale I did not understand the plot at all. There were a couple of drawn out car chases and a torture scene that I had to close my eyes. Each time there was a fight I felt like throwing up. Too much blood. At the end of the show I kept telling Bob how sad it is that so many people died. He said "But they are the bad guys" But they still died didn't they. I'm not watching another action show. And this is why I had to pause The Pianist three times because I couldn't take the Holocaust scenes and why I never made it through Kill Bill.

But watch it for the product placements. They are so obvious its kinda funny. Every shot has a product in it. The slow pan of the camera over the Sony Ericsson phone. The wide angle shot of the Ford. The name dropping of the Aston Martin. Even his choice of mixes in his martini includes some brand name alcohol. And my favourite part, "Is that a Rolex?"........."No. Its an Omega." The Rolex PR people must be very very angry.

The Difference Between Men and Women Part 1

2006-12-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

I was in Bennett's Lane Jazz Bar a few nights ago with Bob and Sam re-living my life when I used to hang out with platonic guy friends in Philly. Since I got back to Melbourne, estrogen kicked in, all my friends became girls and I feel awkward sending a "Lets catch up for coffee" to a male person. So Sam was talking to the door person (I told him they were called door bitches and he looked at me like I was being rude) and I whispered to Bob that from the way she was sitting, she was totally not into him. And then Sam came back to the table, Bob leaned over to Sam and said "Charissa said she was not into you."

My mind was fumbling into disarray with a come back line to counter Bob's brutal honesty. But Sam just shrugged and looked thankful for the honest opinion. And then I was reminded about the differences between guys and girls.

Think about it, same situation but with a Samantha and Bobette. Samantha tries to pick up the bartender, but bartender looks distracted. Samantha comes back to the table and squeals about how cute and 'into her' the bartender was. Never in a million years would Bobette say, 'Look, the bartender was so not into you because there was a much prettier blond standing behind you, and he was trying to cut the conversation with you short so he can flirt with her. Besides, you look fat in your skinny jeans.' No. Bobette would say something along the lines of
'Yeah he looks kinda into you...maybe he is distracted because he is shy.' It isn't really an outright lie. An outright lie would be 'He is totally into you, go jump him and make a fool of yourself for our viewing pleasure.'

Bobette's vagueness is needed to protect her friend's feelings. Girls value protecting each other's feelings over brutal honesty. While they most often will still tell the truth, they will opt to say "Those jeans don't quite suit you" instead of "Whao you look like a pregnant whale in that." Because she knows if she says the latter, her friend will spend the entire week thinking about how fat and unattractive she is, how sad her life is, attempt to diet for a few days and feel like a total loser because she doesn't have the necessary discipline. Tell a girl that a bunch of people hate her and she will seriously get upset, spend endless hours thinking she has a personality disorder and either withdraw from that group of friends or overcompensate by being over friendly. Yeah she will get over it, but why inflict the pain in the first place?

So with every question, most girls already have the correct buzzer they want you to press in their head. Q:Am I fat? A: Are you kidding, of course you are not. Besides you look better this size than before. Q: Am I prettier than her? A: Of course you are, her eyes on you wouldn't go with your face shape. Q: Does this dress look nice? A: Yes it does, and it will go very well with a trench coat over it.

Do girls want honesty? Of course they do. They just want it in subtle easy-to-swallow pieces rather than spell-it-out brutal honesty. She is cunning enough in her sentence structure analysis to understand that the hesitations in your answer, the ummm...hmmm....and flippant, "I don't really know..." or "I'm not the best person to ask", is disapproval to her choice of clothes, boyfriend, cooking or choice of room decoration. There is no need to say " I think you boyfriend looks like a cock-eyed humpback penguin with the personality of a Kenny from South Park" to get a message across.

And somehow, girls, during the first 'friend-meets-boyfriend' session, will ask what their friends think about their boyfriend the first chance they get. Do guys do the same thing? I don't know. Or do guys really not care what their mates think about their girlfriend? After Clarence's choice of words over my past partners and after hearing so many guys openly diss their sister/female friend's choice of partners in front of their faces, I have concluded that guys feel that their brutal honesty is appreciated. And as many of my guy friends have said, 'If you don't want to hear the truth, don't ask."

In How Many Languages Can We Say Screwed Up

2006-12-08T00:12:00.000-08:00

You know whats really screwed up. When the exchange department tells you that none of your grades from your exchange will be used in Melbourne Uni. So you play party travel and do what all students who feel no need to do well do, and produce borderline results. You come back and someone in the department echos the same thing. So you slave your ass off alll semester knowing you have a shot since your depressing exchange grades will not be used. Then they screw you over by telling you that they will be using your exchange grades when considering your honours application.

I am so close to smearing shit all over melbourne uni's walls.

I Don't Like You Very Much Melbourne Uni

2006-12-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Darn Melbourne Uni. Their conclusion after me camping outside their office for two days is that they are not going to help me. To begin with, they don't really know who is in charge because there are three departments handling the same issue, and I get pushed from department to department claiming its not their issue. All I want is them to confirm that they are not going to include my exchange grades for honours consideration, something one of them promised me one month ago but forgot.

The system does not take into account international students. They tell you your results, give you one day to decide if you can or want to graduate, give you 6 days to get your family from some part of the world down for your graduation. And what I don't understand is how they can tell you if you recieve honours after your graduation ceremony. But i guess we can go down for the March ceremony which makes it more slightly better.

Today my friend who was due to graduate this Dec 15 found out that she never recieved any graduation material because she was not on the list. The Uni just 'forgot' to put her name down because they 'forgot' that she was completing uni this year. The summary of their response goes along the lines of 'you're screwed and there is nothing much we are going to do about it.'

Little Black Dresses

2006-12-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

So...they haven't email back like they promise they would...so i went to Metalicus and bought a little black dress to kill off the nervous energy. Nothing like a black dress to keep your mind of things. One can never have too many LBDs. This is my 7th or 8th LBD and I'm still counting. I got a tube LBD, a juicy smock top tube velvet LBD, a polka dotted hankerchief vintage LBD, a vintage beaded bodice LBD, a lace bodice tube cocktail LBD, a bubble LBD and my newest addition to the family, a stretchy knee length LBD with crinkled bottom. Little Black Dresses bring peace and harmony to the world.

Pissing in My Pants Worrying about an Email

2006-12-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in the Melbourne Uni library totally pissing in my pants as the academics decide if i can go on to honours next year. The grade to get into honours is a 75 and above, and I got a 75.6. However, that is an average over 5 subjects while the requirement asked for a 7 subject average. My additional two subjects would come from my exchange which I did depressingly in. So I have been here since 10 this morning asking that they only count my current 5 subjects and not 7. I know moping around the university, attempting to break into the Arts International Office and checking my email five times in half an hour is not exactly productive and doesn't really change their decision or speed things up...but its that kind of feeling where you just don't feel like doing anything else. It is no point going for a walk when all I wanna do is keep reloading my email page until I recieve that confirmation email.

Ok I'm going back to check my email and surf style.com until someone emails me something.

2006-12-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

The iconic Sydney Opera House

2006-12-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

Best coffee in sydney...Campos...Bob was a very happy man

2006-12-04T03:57:00.000-08:00

Bondi Beach...houses beach carpark and all

2006-12-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

At the Harbour Bridge before we took the boat to Manly Beach

2006-12-04T03:55:00.000-08:00

Bob was so deeply engrossed in his book that he failed to notice the hot underage blonds around him...