Food Hunting Trip 250613

Yes, 25062013.

JUNE 2-0-1-3.

It is not a typo

Well well, this food hunting trip happened last year in June. Forgive me for finally having it up here after 7 months.  Frankly this draft was completed the week after the trip, I was just too lazy to finalise everything. While I was editing my blog template (as you can see, a whole new blogskin!), I spotted many drafts being saved and they have become the eye sore on the dashboard - it demonstrates my procrastination. To clear the drafts list, aha, there you go!

It was the trip that Esther suggested. We have always been wanting to try different kinds of cafes in Brisbane. Finally in June, after semester one exams, we made it! Along with us, there were Ivy, Vincent and Yap Huan.

It was definitely a difficult job to plan the route, as well as reading the google map. Specially thanks to Vincent who helped a lot in reading the maps too! Also, the rule of this trip was to eat only one dish per cafe, so that we had more spaces saved for more food. 

Before the food hunting trip, we headed to Wellington Point for sunrise. We left home around 5am so that we could enjoy the sun rising moment at 5.48am! 

1. Southside Tea Room @ Morningside

Smoked salmon on toast, with bacon added on.

This was the original portion! Since we had 5 people sharing this, we divided it.

and plated it. :p

Smoked Salmon on toast, per serving. 

LOL LOL. our plating skills improved by the end of the trip.

2. Bungalow 4171 @ Hawthorn

We had opted for the sweet potato hash cakes after asking for recommendations from the owner.
It comes with two perfectly poached eggs, sauteed spinach and toasted wholemeal bread.  Also, some butter to go with the toast? 

I'm not a big fan of sweet potato, hence the hash cakes were just okay for me. However, all of them said it was pretty good!

3. Pompidou Cafe @ Balmoral

Savoury mince. Splendid!

We faced difficulties plating this dish, apparently a poached egg can't be divided into five portions.
In fact, the egg was a little on a solid non-goeey side. The mince are cooked with sweet potatoes and potatoes, as for the topping, there are baby rocket and sour cream. It turned out really well. In fact, it is an eye catching dish, having the mince in a 'basket'! That tastes more like a crispy but thinner pizza dough. 

4. Bunker Coffee @ Milton

We did not include this on our list! Someone just randomly suggested that we should have a cup of coffee after all the savoury food. Having urbanspoon apps on your smartphone is convenient, but we tried to google 'The best coffee in town' and it brought us here!

I love how they camouflage the store with real leaves and twigs! It seems to be the smallest cafe in Brisbane, but hey, don't judge a book by its cover. Trust me, the coffee is really good. I've been there for several times after my first visit, and I will definitely visit them again. soon, yes soon.

[I'm actually drafting another post for Bunker Coffee, too much love to express. Yes, too good]

So, stay tuned lah!

5. Grill'd Burgers @ Paddington

Hot chips from Grill'd. Okay, the trip weren't meant to be like this. I guess the guys were just too hungry as we only had three main meals throughout the morning, and the meals were shared with 5 people!

6. Grub Street @ Gaythorne

Smoked salmon bun, accompanied by baby rocket and cucumbers.

Nothing special, but the staffs were friendly. They were really patient to explain to us their recommended dishes.

7. Willow and Spoon @ Alderly

It took us more than 15 minutes to find this cafe. Apparently GPS isn't that pro enough, but Thank God we found it!
Here, we found our emergency dessert stomach and powered through!

Dark Chocolate Brownies.

THIS IS AWESOME. I'm serious guys. This is really really nice. 

It is rich, dark and fudgy. Full of chocolate flavour, with a hint of bitterness, so it is not overwhelmed by glucose. It has pomegranate as the topping. Who knows pomegranate and chocolate pair so well? The flavours simply marry together and forms a perfect union creating this sinful brownies. 

And it was freshly baked! We waited for 30 minutes, and it was worth waiting :)

As for the icecream, it was quickly devoured by us, leaving no traces to prove its existence. 

8. Gelare @ Southbank

This was our last stop! Because it was a Tuesday when there is this 50% off promotion, we all agreed to have waffles before our dinner time. It was my first time trying Gelare, nice, but the best waffle in Brisbane is dedicated to Passione @ Teneriffe (which is temporarily closed now :( )

I have to say it was a unforgettable day. Besides the food that we tasted, there was this surprise birthday celebration for my 18th at Southbank along the street! They successfully made me burst into tears and laughters, but too slow to cam-record it. bah :p

It was indeed one of the sweetest memories I have in 2013!

Before I end, the cafes that I will definitely visit again are Pompidou Cafe, Willow and Spoon and of course, Bunker (haha, you know how much I love coffee)!

p/s pardon me for my English, not well enough to perfectly describe the tastiness lolloll. I blame my lack of scrumptious food tasting. :D SO! I have to eat more of them in order to get to know more about them.

What's the plan for Cafes in 2014? One more tomorrow, perhaps? 

My Superhero , 2014

Hello 2014! Finally up here on my blog! Dayre has made everything much more easier - I have been blogging on dayre everyday but am always lazy to blog them here. yes yes, on dayre you can just talk nonsense and nobody cares lol.

Here's the screenshot on one of the most nonsense thing I have been telling on my dayre. I apologise for my obsession on superhero film based movies. Somehow I don't live in fairy tales - the prince on the white horse will never be my superhero. The wolverine is my kind of man. muahhahaha. look at his claws, too charming.

lollolll. okay im just joking.

Finally I watched The Wolverine 2013 last night. It was awesomeeee! Am really looking forward to X-men 4: Days of the Future Past.

ohh too much on movies. It is time to get back to studies. The clock is ticking, my final assignments will be due on next Friday, 800 words to go. Yet I have no motivation to do it! I miss those time when we were all together, crashing each others lectures; being bad friends persuading each others to skip lectures just for lunch; dragging each others along to different tutorials etc etc. I need you guys back!

My friend just whatsapp-ed me this photo and I can't stop laughing. and along with the picture, he said, "Look at the wolverine that you love, the veins. omggg so not healthy" 

-.- 

okay sorry lollolllll. I'll stop now. 

Today's been a productive day! I woke up from a 6 hours sleep, had my brunch and headed to the market for some groceries. I felt so tired and lethargic, haven't recover from the muscle pain caused by kickboxing :S and I made some curry puffs to pamper myself.

what a sumptuous indulgence. 

deep-fried some of them but baked most of them as a healthy option. 

Do you hear me?
I'm trying desperately not to.
Promise me you'll remember.
I thought you just told me to forget? Make up your mind. 

Currently reading Bellagrand. A friend of mine really inspires me a lot: her passionate love affair with books. I remember we used to share our Chinese novels in high school! After moving here, I  slowly abandoned my books as I have more access to the Internet. I have always wanted to find my enthusiasm of reading back. Fight for one of my 2014 resolutions - READ MORE!

Okay, time to go. I hope tomorrow will be a productive day in the library - at least 300 words okay? Please. Please Please.

Bye lah! :P

Oh, before that, Pacific Rim is a really nice movie. I would have to watch it again. Raleigh, I love Raleigh too. :p

Final chapter in 2013 - to sum it all up!

I have two hours left to conclude my 2013, I realised that I have been doing this since I started blogging. To be frank I was thinking not to do this because i was too lazy. But hey, my 2013 worth a conclusion I reckon. At least, some pictures of the highlight? hahaha. Okay lah, I'll try my best to recall.

The end of January, I touched down in Brisbane and I would never forget Brisbane welcomed me with heavy rain and thunderstorm. There was this Australia Open Tennis Championship going on that day. 

 Chap Goh Mei - It was my first time celebrating it with my fellow friends! First time making the not-so-traditional lao sheng

The end of February, I started my first year uni on civil engineering. However, by the end of March, I quit and went back to Malaysia. 

And the best moment was meeting up my lovely friends!

Thanks guys for making my 6 hours in KL so wonderful. Thanks again for walking into my life and our friendship never fail. 

Also, I had my Easter Service at the biggest church in Sibu!

Early April, I got back to the Sunshine State, and soon, leaving to Sydney. 

 And guess what? I met our Malaysian hero Dato' Lee Chong Wei. Jealous mah jealous mah?

May and June, I seriously can't think of anything special or anything that worth a sentence.  By the end of June, I had my Tasmania trip, my 19th birthday in Hobart.

By the end of July, it's time to study after a semester break. Back to uni made me happier and upbeat - people I met are really awesome-ly awesomeeee.

 August, September and October 
I really felt thankful for all the advices and encouragement that led me to my decision - quitting engineering and going for something that I love - Food Technology.
And it brought me to this bunch of friends.

 Nothing much to say about uni. Define uni? Assignments. Lectures. Skipping lectures. Guilt. Tutorials are annoying. Dreadful 3 hours laboratory work. Exams.
That's it.

 November with the crazy people!
The greatest achievement in 2013 would be me drinking at least 3 cups of espresso everyday.

December - started my summer course and yes, because of that I am stuck in Brisbane. *you know how much I hated this place? haha no lah just kidding.

Hmmmm, I guess that's the end of my 2013 review? 

To sum it all up, 

Life - life is never easy, but it is always fun. Never give up, don't be stubborn. Just focus. 

Study - Study is the best lifetime event ever, even though it gets a bit annoying when we need to face our compulsory homework. Study brought me my best lifetime companion. 

Love - While meeting up with old friends, Somehow this will always be our hot topic to talk about. Nothing much to say about my love, it had been funny, happy, sad and angry. At the end let's just not to bring it through 2014. Too young to talk about love.

Family - Still the best shelter. Family, F stands for Food too. *if you get what i mean.

Okay lah, last but not least, I really want to thank you Father Lord for guiding me through the year of 2013. Thank you so much for raising me as your child as you has always been there for me. Thank you so much for I'm too too too blessed to be blessed. 

I am really looking forward to the new year. For me I think it is a big year for me because I'm stepping into 20 years old! Okay, the only thing that I look forward the most, at this moment, is my July Malaysia trip. 

p/s I realised this post is really out of tune with my initial draft of what I should be writing. Anyways, wishing you guys a Happy New Year! 

Ciao!

标着Just Do It 的口号 我希望我也是NIKE.

正午后的阳光一点儿也不客气，走在路上的时候那仅有的微风拂过被晒得刺痛的皮肤。

原来那一瞬间就是幸福。

最近很喜欢望着天空，除了恼那太阳公公为何那么来势汹汹，我喜爱天空总是存在的遐想。

偶尔看见飞鸟，偶尔看见缓缓上升的直升机。还有一次很好运地看见了升空的热气球。

热气球上的人儿肯定很兴奋，就那么一点儿热气，载着沉沉的人类飞翔。

坐在车上沿途的风景依然那么熟悉，那是两年以来每个星期固定的路程。

同样的道路，同样的建筑物，还有那与我同名的Clare Street。

在等一个交通灯的时候，坐在静止的车，抬头看见了那台缓缓飞行的飞机。

看似那么近的距离，感觉伸手就能把它捉住。忽地红灯转绿灯，在车开始运行的当下，明白了我们之间的距离是那么地遥远。

我不能像有些人那样回忆当初，感慨这个遗憾那个，因为我就是不容许自己那样。

我不能像有些人那样潇潇洒洒，挥一挥衣袖不带走一片云彩，因为我本能地想把一切都收起来。

或许，我就是一个怪人。

（365乘2）天，同样的我，又或者不同样的我。

这些的起承转合纷纷扰扰，有谁不能更了解人生？

17岁的那一天，直到19岁的今天，19减17也只不过等于2。但这个2要经过那么多的加减乘除，来到了19的时候，我依旧迷茫。

一片黑暗，看不清是什么，因为我们都曾蒙蔽了双眼。

蒙了双眼，蒙不了心。

我们需要的就是那种在黑暗中乱闯的勇气，就是要be adventurous啊。

就算被人认为是mental problem那又如何？至少在跌入谷底的时候曾经开心。

呵呵，什么时候我变成了不三思而后行的人，那是在18岁前的莽撞，在迈入2014年即将变成20岁的当下，我请自己把鲁莽莽撞收起来吧。

我还有3天的时间，去把思绪打包妥当，背了2年零4个月的包袱，2014年我不想背了。

不想战战兢兢，不想草木皆兵。

 New Years Resolution总是不成功，算了吧，别勉强了。

只要把这个包袱给丢了，我想我2014年就算是the best of the year了吧。

险中求胜，我就是个坏丫头。

好了好了，不该把这种坏情绪带到第二天，这样太不值得了，撇开睡觉时间不算，我只剩下不到12小时的时间去快乐。

这个分岔口，我们来到了停顿点，看谁先走向谁吧。是的，你和我一直都是那么地倔强呢。

标着Just Do It 的口号

我希望我也是NIKE.

Campos Coffee @Wandoo St, Valley

Back in Campos Coffee @ Wandoo St, Valley! The last time I was here was a few weeks ago, but I had dessert instead of breakfast there. So yea, this visit was an official breakfast visit!

Story Bridge

Initially our plan was to jog along Brisbane River only, but I came up with an idea to have our brunch after the jog! Since the cafe(Valley) is not too far away from the starting point (Kangaroo Point), we decided to jog all the way there. It took us around 45 minutes and it was a really fresh start of the day! 

 Seasonal Fruit Salad topped with Natural Greek Yoghurt and HoneyComb

This was YUMMMMM. The fruits are really fresh and I really love the natural greek yoghurt. 

The portion is big, sharing is recommended hey! Perhaps it can be the best dessert after your main breakfast. :D

Rare Beef Salad

Served with pawpaw, beansprout, coriander, baby rocket and beetroots.

Again, YUMMEZ to the max. The meat was tender and well-cooked. I love how they mix the veges and fruits. The sweetness of pawpaw accompanied the bitterness that baby rocket has.

(fyi, I can't eat baby rocket without salad dressings)

happy me with my breakfast. 

Oh yea, I had the freshly blended orange, pineapple, apple and watermelon juice!

After that, we shopped around at the James Street Market and jogged all the way back to Kangaroo Point! The afternoon was really hot and my face eventually got sunburnt.

 But it was indeed refreshing after a nice jog!
I'm planning do it once in a fortnight - the jog and brunch morning!

Happy us with happy tummy muahaha.

 Anyways, Happy winter solstice aka 冬至 ! I'm not a big fan of tang yuan, but it is a tradition to eat it during the festival. It is a really really blessed winter solstice as my family touched down in Brisbane this arvo!

It's gonna be busy but relaxing with family around! In fact, I need to catch up with my studies too. I keep on reminding myself that my summer semester has not over yet! Hold on! 4 more weeks heyYy!

Ciao~

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! Finally I'm back to my blog - I've been updating about my life on Dayre since I have an account.  Blogging on phone is apparently much more easier comparing to laptop, but still, I love my blog. 

Christmas break is finally here! We wish you a merry christmas we wish you a merry christmas we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year! muahahaha, I can't tell how happy I am for this christmas break, the happiness that I never never never had before. Perhaps it is due to my summer course.

You know how happy I am?

The picture talks. 

Ciao! Time for drama marathon & FaceTime! 

Two more sleeps till our christmas party! Gotta rock the night. Stay tuned for photos!

No use crying over spilt 'carrot juice'

It was a lazy Sunday for me, forget about studies (even though I have two upcoming exams), I woke up real late around 9.15am. I was watching the show 爸爸去哪儿 throughout the day, had a 2 hours afternoon nap, woke up for dinner and did some novel readings just now. What a lazy day! 

However, life isn't life if there isn't something unexpected. I had this yummy carrot juice this morning. I placed the glass beside my laptop and apparently I was laughing too vigorously together with some hand gestures, I accidentally spilt this glass of carrot juice on my laptop.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, there's no use crying over spilt 'carrot juice'.

Okay, I told myself don't panic, I must try my best to salvage my laptop.
I googled and these are the steps on how to apply an emergency rescue.

1. Remove the battery
Errrrrr. Does Macbook has a battery that I can remove? I might probably need to unscrew my laptop hey?

2. Shut it off!
ohhh, should I? But I need it to refer to the steps on how to rescue my laptop. -.- At last, I did turned it off.

After shutting it down, I did nothing on it. I quickly called my friend for a solution. The final resolution was to put it in the rice tank after wrapping it with a plastic bag.
And THANK GOD for my laptop's strong will to live for me. It is working now - else I can't stay alive without my laptop.

One more week till the Christmas break! Week 4, bring it on. I can't believe that I am half way through my summer courses for the 4 units that will be credited to my whole degree. 要不是为了that 4 units, 我现在已经在马来西亚了.

GRRRRRR. Yes,  还是耿耿于怀.
Still stuck in this gui di fang.

张曼娟笔下的小兽、柳树和矿石

曾经，我是只灵活的小兽，睁着圆亮亮的眼睛，镇日里嘻戏奔跑。后来，我是棵水边静定的垂柳，知解许多秘密却沉默，只在风中妩媚映照。如今，我已经成为一座深深的矿，掩埋着一层又一层，值得或不值得开采的物质。每一个被岁月淬炼过的人，都是一座矿吧，很有价值，却容易被看见。

－－张曼娟《那些美好时光》

曾经，我爱上书本里一个个的方块字，爱上它的奥妙能力，能把彼此拼凑起来而连成一段颇有意义的句子。

曾经，我可以为了书籍而逃到图书馆念书，贪的就是能在温习的空隙中，找到一本让我气定神闲的书。

这些曾经，不知不觉从指间缝隙溜走，把我对书籍的热忱带走，留下的只是无限感慨。

而最近，我逐渐找回了那些曾经，原来它们还时时萦绕着我的生活，一直催着我，盼望着我有一天把书架上的书捧起。

终于，今天下午我耐心地看完了当初我非常爱不释手的蝴蝶小说。

考试即将来临，就在下个星期吧。

找个空挡抽了一本书，那是今年会马来西亚的时候在popular买的。张曼娟在这本书的自序写了这么一段话，与你们共勉之吧。

原来，人的一生会在经历过活泼的小兽，和静默却深沉的柳树后，进阶成俗称死物的矿。

我的一生，原来就是一座矿，我不奢望里头都是闪亮的金银，也不期望有着最坚硬矿石之称的钻石，我要的只是一颗颗足以代表我生命里的人事物的沙粒或石子。

Vision and action. Which one comes first?

I'm in the midst of catching up with my lectopia. Over a semester, I realised that appearing in a lecture hall does not mean that you will get every single bits of information that the lecturer has delivered. In fact, you have to kind of 're-attend' the lectures at home by logging in ECHO, getting your earphones up and yea, start jotting down notes. oh i mean, listening to lectopia.

So, why bother attending the lectures in person? 

haha, oh well, after skipping one lecture, there comes the second, third... and the rest of the semester? no no, I'm not gonna repeat the nightmare that I had last semester. So, Clare! Go to lectures tomorrow.

Whatever. I'm drafting this post because...

I have something for myself.

Hey girl,
I am not as strong as you thought.

"Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely day dreaming. but vision with action can change the world." - Nelson Mandela


It is true - vision with action can change the world. But, bad or good, I do not get a chance to judge it. Normally, others judge you. bah.

Anyways, actually I was planning to copy paste everything that I have posted on my dayre while I was on the way to uni this morning. It reflects my mood over this summer, in summary. But I reckon my dayre should have its own copyright (haha), so here's the link to it! http://dayre.me/thisisclare

Summer isn't summer this year. Everyone rmba how hot it was in summer 2012.
2 more hours to the mid of the week, I can't wait for my christmas break. gatherings, shopping, food & of course, family. :)

Buhbye!

Oh before that, I hope this picture can satisfy my craving. T___T

Image from Pinterest. 

Dayre.me aka Diary?

Because blogspot and instagram are too mainstream, let's get on dayre! I get to know dayre through xiaxue's blog, but did not join dayre as there are not many of my friends owning dayre accounts. 

I eventually decided to create an account because I do not want to spam my instagram! (Actually I've been spamming my wechat timeline but I do not really want my parents to view my post bahahaha) Therefore, dayre.me/thisisclare is born on 5 December 2013!  Want to know the exact reason on me creating this account? Visit my dayre and check it out! bahahahaha. 

Dayre sounds like dairy - I guess it is time to keep a habit on writing my diary! I used to do it in the beginning of this year, not updating my life in the form of words, but drawings! It is really funny, i'll pick a few and post it up in my next post!

Ciao~ Mood gets better, for tomorrow is FRIDAY! But it is sad, still, for I have two assignments to complete. T______T

The most difficult language

Here, let's show our respect to people who do statistics - dealing with numbers, histograms, bar charts and of course the R Statistical Computing.  The R Statistical Computing program is killing me. If I would have to answer what is the most difficult language to learn, instead of chinese, my answer will definitely be the programming language.

Knowing something in our head and knowing how to apply it practically can be two different things. The programming language seems to be as easy as ABC on my textbook, but when it comes to labwork working with computer, DENG, I surrender!

However, I enjoy it. Because I know the greatest tragedy in uni is to study, BUT not enjoy it.

So, I have been enjoying my summer courses so far! (Even though at the meantime, I wish I was in Malaysia - still feeling sad) Throughout the whole semester, my friends may not notice my changes on a daily basis, but as I looked back over time, I saw very definite changes in myself: I go to bed no later than 11pm on weekdays (perhaps this is one of the effects of aging, but whatever lah); I wake up at 5.30-6am without alarms but definitely can sleep again if I want to. Okay, I admit that sometimes I wake up early before uni, just to catch up with the latest updated drama series. hmmmmmmmmm.

10.04pm, time for bed as sleep is the best medicine - I have my own mask and before sleep, I have to take it off - I am a little not happy today.

But I will soon get a hold of my moods. Trust me.

Ciao~! Have a great mid-week Wednesday!

You are the answer, and you can fix it!

Hi guys! Just a little quick update before I go to bed. *I had a seriously long nap from 6 to 8pm and I am tired now for it is 11.30pm. goshh, what's wrong with my body? 

*silly me talking to the spongebob? -.-

A friend of mine has just texted me telling me she is bored. I once had this feeling before back in a few months ago. When you have nothing to do, boredom strikes and I guess being pessimistic is a form of self defense towards boredom. The longer you are bored, the more you will think and the more you will appear to others to be depressed. That's just a... cycle?

It didn't take me long to understand why I appear to be happier and upbeat since semester 2 started in July - and why I had such a wonderful semester. Even though I was busy with studies and assignments, couldn't stop complaining about how much I hated assignments, I did enjoy the time. That was the precious time when I could get rid of boredom and yes, no longer needed that pessimistic to fight.

You may be like me. I simply got off to a bad start in 2013, but I definitely grow up throughout the year. People around me were my role models - for getting in a negative atmosphere around negative people, in the beginning I got defeated but sooner or later I realised the negative attitude that I had developed was MY own problem. I began to observe myself and began to understand: that wasn't what I wanted, I was expecting nothing good.

In fact, on the other hand, for mixing around with positive thinking people, encouragement comes from any source. Recovering from disappointment of any kind is not something that just happens to anyone else. That was the decision to gather the fragments, face the unpleasant past and let go.

Therefore, get a plan up for the days! I'm taking charge of my own life: don't let life to manage you; you manage it. It is not merely getting up every morning, get dressed and waiting to see what happens. Soon, you will realise how much your day would be if you took time to think about what you are about to do before you do it.

Well, just sharing my random thoughts, but this was my true experience. Perhaps my words are not encouraging enough to make everyone to think positively (oh sometimes I do think negatively), you should probably stare at the picture below! BAHAHAHA

HAVE A NICE WEEK AHEAD!

想念

春寒方去，我们迎接烈阳高照的日子吧。
好热，我现在只想跳进我家隔壁那对公公婆婆家的游泳池里。

考完试的那两个星期，我迷恋上了电影。我总觉得电影是电视剧浓缩出来的精华，冗长的故事，复杂的情节，细腻的感情，完完全全地在短短的2个小时，或者不超过三个小时的时限内发挥得淋漓尽致。哦当然，大前提是那得是部不错的电影。

金马奖颁奖典礼星光闪耀，多少大大小小的明星聚集在那个场地。有越老越帅气的刘德华，电力十足的彭于晏（因为分手合约我忽然下意识地觉得他比以往帅了很多）还有非常有气质的章子怡和舒淇。好多好多部电影的精彩花絮，一幕幕地播放出来，这才让我回想起究竟在今年2013年我看了什么电影。

好电影确实很多，但是pardon me我并没有李安导演那么专业能以拍摄手法，剪接手法，音乐效果等等等等来分析并赞扬一部电影。

最震撼的电影 就属小时代了！百看不厌。

小时代里并没有爆炸的那种无比震撼让人屏气再到抽一口气的场面，但它的的确确触动了我们的心灵。或许是因为郭敬明描写友谊的那种真实感，让我们找回我们在高中时期的回忆，同时感叹时间是如何摧残每一段友谊，当然啦也必须献上感谢，谢谢时间如何见证我们高中时期的友谊是如何地纯朴，歌颂它并且庆幸着它并没有因为距离而变得平淡。反之，一年不到五次的FB寒暄，whatsapp中的胡说八道，实实在在地提醒了我：虽然离开了那个自小生长的土地，足迹即会减少，但始终存在的那份友情就像以色列的死海一样不会涨潮也不会退潮，不会衰退。那个土地上有像顾里一样嚣张却会关心人的朋友；有南湘需要人支持鼓励扶持的朋友；有像林萧那样平凡朴素却让人讨厌不起来的朋友；当然还有豁达爽朗的唐宛如形的朋友。唯一美中不足的就是没有简溪，席城和宫洺那般迷人的男生。叹气ing

没有最高的相素，最美最帅的脸孔，却是我在2013年最珍贵的照片。

或许我该把那些应该存在于这张照片的脸孔画进去的。

让我们在大学生涯的初期绽放自己的光芒，背着自己的人生观去让原本平静的生活生起不同的火花，并在我们见面时大方畅谈自己一年来的起起落落－学习，成长和感情。

最后请容许我很小女人地说一句：我真的很想念你们！！！

I can't make lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

It's always easier said than done. You can do it when you succeed to persuade yourself.

At the end of this semester, a decision should be made on whether to leave Australia for 6 months or 1 year on a study abroad program in UK. hmph, why is there so much things to decide and worry about? 

Ahh life, I can't make lemonade. urgh. 

ready to kick start the journey? 

(my footprint from hospital when I was 9 months old in 1995)

Being sociable

Life during summer has been good. I am pretty sure I'm gonna fall in love with it soon.

Being sociable isn't that easy for me. In comparison with some of my friends, without a doubt I will probably be the noisiest one among the gang. However, the moment when I need to meet new friends - ohh, one word. awkward.

I get to know more friends in uni, I'm not sociable, but really thank God for giving me a friend who is really really really sociable. haha, can't describe how sociable my friend is. However, the first impression my friend has on me was bad, oh not that bad though. She thought I was the 'coolest' person in the world! When both of us talked about this, we laughed out loud.

So, yes, I reckon I should take Communication as my electives in order to improve my social skills. bahhh. In fact, according to many, I'm talkative. I talk too much. Of course, to clarify, this happens only when the person I'm talking to likes talking as well!

Everyone tends to stay in their comfort zone. When I have close friends around me, I will not bother to meet new friends! (hmmm, not good!) Anyways, I'm starting to love meeting new friends, different people and different cultures! I smell adventure!!!

Oh well, these people conquered my house last night. Steamboat, followed by a birthday surprise & movie marathon from 10pm - 4am in the morning. Everyone was too tired to go home and decided to sleep at my place! 

After 4 hours sleep, a really old cranky man (yes, he's probably getting grumpier for he needs to work in the early morning) woke all of us up when he was repairing the neighbours garage gate. UH-HUHHH. 

- 

Lala. I can't wait for the girls talk tomorrow night. Another party is on. Before uni comes back into my life! Summer semester officially starts next Monday, and sadly I have 8am classes from Monday to Thursday. Oh wish me luck! 

For those who are going on vacation/already enjoying their holidays in Malaysia, yes I AM JEALOUS and stop making me jealous. 

My phone rejects all photos of durians, laksa, shopping centres and also, the sky. 

mehhhhhhhhh!

A far-off memory for a dream

Aiya, it is the last day of Spring, but it feels like winter. Believe it or not I'm wearing my winter pyjamas. At the same time when I'm typing this, I'm tutoring my sister on Maths B (it is seriously killing me, it was so easy back in my Year 11!). And also, I'm bitting my green apple to ease my gastric pain but it seems to be making me more hungry. Apparently having afternoon tea isn't a wise decision as you will probably skip your dinner!

this might be a point-less post, I have nothing to do when sister is doing the sample questions. 

it's November now. This year has been a really short year, don't get me wrong, there is still 24 hours a day, 30 days a month and 365 days a year for 2013, but I just felt like.. i'm only up to June 2013. A few words to conclude my 2013 - A far off memory for a scattered dream. or perhaps, the other way round, a far off dream for a scattered memory. nah whatever.

There is a time for everything - let's call it the cycle? time to weep, time to mourn, time to laugh and time to play! And I believe God has assigned me the right cycle to follow.

However, I'm afraid to recall, such a big coward to remind me those stupid memories. For the people, for all the chaos. However, the only thing that I would like to remind myself is my courage to give up on explaining - to those who love to think the way that they want to.  I get really tired of doing the same old thing all the time, despite of my determination to do it differently, I'm afraid to do it, to do the new thing. And therefore, I gave up to get out of the rut. For the days in future, I need this sweet little reminder. Everyone needs it anyways!

Which was worse when left unexplained? A life? Death? Nahh, not such a big deal, at least I thought it is not. It's probably just a few second of the scattered memory, which is, yes, only deserves a few second.
But more than enough for a reminder.

Just like what a friend advised me: for a person who comes blank in your mind, without that explanation, you lose nothing. so why bother it? 

Yes, I've learned the lesson hard. I mean it.

Of course, to be optimistic, I can exaggerate my happiness in 2013! Really really counting the blessings where I got the chance to travel around with awesome friends. First was Sydney followed by Tasmania! Nothing's better than travelling around, snapping photos and of course, eating ahaha

Oh wait, I should stop here, leave the rest for my 2013 conclusion post!

*Another apple... nomnommnommmm.

和狗做朋友了

长大了有时候不得不面对从小就怕的人事物。

‘所有动物绝对不会是我的朋友，尤其是狗！’

但是在逼不得已的时候，我和狗做了朋友。就那五分钟，我觉得自己过了五十年，苍老了。

胆战心惊地假装和它玩耍－说了一句“sit” 它却跳到我身上。

接着就是高分贝的尖叫声 -.-

被吓傻了～ 

长大了，接下来就要面对即将出炉的成绩。

再也没有小时候－妈妈先面对我的成绩，而我所必须承受的只有妈妈的脸色，而不是拿成绩的压力。

啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊~ 

Post-exams

Bonjour!

It's the third day after exams, and I'm feeling bored. Opps, sorry I didn't mean to be sarcastic to those who are still having exams this week. I'm pretty sure you guys will feel the same way as me after exams.

The post-exams syndrome? NAHHH not PTS-ing.

Of course, after exams, you get relieved from stress, and you start to question yourself: what should I do? Cleaning? Watching dramas? Shopping? Or for guys, gaming?
You take out your to-do list which you have written during exams period, there are 20 of them.
But then you are too lazy to start the first task.

Thank God I braced up all my determination on Saturday morning and washed my car. It was a sunny morning and I was exposed to that scorching sunlight for at least 3 hours.  I was sweating over once I finished it! (Guess what, there will be thunderstorm in Brisbane for this coming week. oh plssss!)

Then I did my laundry, cleaned my room and settled all the billing stuffs. Headed to church for fellowship, and so concluded my Saturday. Well-spent but seriously exhausted.

Sunday! A morning with God and headed to IKEA after our korean lunch. Somehow I really love IKEA shopping although it is tiring. We spent more than 2 hours there! Got some stuffs for the house but yes, I gotta visit IKEA anytime soon. (blahh.)

Finally, back to gym. Once again I am feeling alive. Running on treadmill for 30 minutes + 15 minutes cross-training + some weight-lifting. The night after, my body was really sore, uhh but the feeling was gooood!

Yea and MONDAY which is today, I woke up late. Sister expected me to prepare breakfast for her but I slept in. A 9 hours sleep from 9.30pm to 6.30am - feeling so refresh! Cooked a really big breakfast to pamper myself, with my favourite green matcha smoothies in the jar. It was a really good kick off breakfast.

However, I got tired/impatient while waiting for an electrician to come to settle the solar system problem. I was lying on my couch watching the TV and felt so lifeless (LOL) Finally, he came, switched on a power switch and left in 5 minutes. I was like O.O cos he could have instructed me on the phone cos it was really super easy to do! Just to get the switch on, that's it. But still, he must be so helpful to come all the way down from (lol, somewhere out there) to help me.

In the mid-day, I got a phone call from an unknown number and was told that my piano was on the way! WUHOOOOO. Oh yeaa my baby is here now, right in front of me.

Apparently I was too lazy to drag myself to gym - too lazy to drive! So I decided to go some toning workout and cardio at home muahahaha. The links below are the workout that I've done today. Try them!

I personally love the Victoria Secret abs workout, it was tough at the beginning when I first started to do it few months ago, but it's getting easier!

Oh I have gained weight! ARGH, I can foresee that during study week and exams period, but still, I felt really grumpy and even scolded myself for the lack of discipline on my food cravings. The main cause of my weight gain is probably because of the eating patterns and lifestyle within these three weeks. I did not get much chances to move around, my butt could stick on the chair for more than 10 hours per day (except going toilet and showering). Meanwhile, we had all those snacks to keep us awake, and I'll never forget the night when all of us were struggling on whether to open that bag of chips or not! opppsieee. Also, 3 cups of espresso EVERY morning has eventually made my body so toxic I guess. Time for detox heyy. 

Time to shed some kilos away for the summer! (sounds so familiar, bahaha)

Procrastination doesn't work - don't slack!  Cheers for a healthier body and better lifestyle.

ahahaha, sorry for this long and lame post. Off to dinner & of course followed by a dessert session! (Yes, I'm still enjoying good foooood!)

Ciao~

Swot vac - I'm still alive.

Hi, the last day of swot vac. Thank God, I'm still alive.

To sum it up,

1. The BSL fighting group
I totally forgot who came up with this idea to create a FB group. All of us should really thank the founder of BSL fighting group. I felt really thankful and blessed to be in one of the members. Those girls and boys in the study group have eventually made 'studies' easier (by a weeee bit). Oh, why is it named as BSL fighting group? Cos our group is rooted to Biological Science Library - the 24 hours study space.

The funniest thing was we are now friends with the old security guard. Remember there is this thin old man who is always punctual, checking our Student ID at 8pm, scolding us for being toooo noisy and also, waking us up if we fall asleep? Yes, that's our new friend! In fact, he is quite friendly.

BSL is the newest library in UQ and everyone likes to study there for its new environment. So I reckon that is one of the reasons why we named the group as BSL fighting group. Not only on studies, but fighting on the group room reservation. Early bird owns the room! Thank God we managed to have a room for at least 6 hours every day during swot vac. And we are seriously in love with Group Room 6 in level 3.

2. Coffee
I can't emphasis enough HOW MUCH I HATE COFFEE now. But I need the caffeine. *sob. All of us have been drinking at least 3 cups of coffee since last friday. Nah, we got them for free! As there is this coffee machine at the side kitchen of International House (one of my friends lives there), and we help ourselves!

Now is the caffeine resistance that worries me a lot, perhaps my body cells have this resistance to fight against caffeine, even three shots of espresso do not work on me! Then the night before this I tried MOTHER and it tastes seriously bad - just like the 'dettol'. I had a few sips and started feeling dizzy so I guess I should really stop drinking caffeine now.

Noted I'm not addicted to coffee, but sick of it.

3. FOOD
All the food lovers gather in the study group! Our new love is the chocolate MARS PODS muahaha. In contrast, we ate a lot of fresh cucumber slices. Yes, at least we can claim that we reached that healthiness equilibrium.

4. Sleep
5 hours sleep is enough for us, but after two days of having only 5 hours sleep, all of us were just like zombie. So on Tuesday, all of us decided to have a really good sleep so that our 'battery' get recharged! That night... I went to bed at 8.30pm and woke up around 5am. FELT SUPER DUPER SHUANG LAH. but too much sleep made me tired again.

what the heck is all of these hormones doing inside our body?

anyways, it comes to an end and it's time to get involved in that WAR!
In 7 days time, I'll be free free freeeeee oh yeahhhh.

Good luck lah guys! All the best.