Port Melbourne to Sandringham (3 Dec 2011)

First time joining a walk. Thought its going to be tough having to socialise with the ang mos. But it turn out differently from how i expected. The people are nice, and its surprising that we kinda talked throughout the walk. What we did was as u walk, u will have different pple next to you. And pple just talk. This guy in the group was really interesting. He works with autistic kids. He was telling us how autistic kids play with toys, and they are more concern about mechanical movement. Autistic kids in general have bigger brains, and are much more logical in their thinking. He was saying that the difference in boys and gals start to diverge at age 5. But as we grow older, both genders start to converge..... Its interesting..... Overall, i like the walk even though i was one of the last few to finish. It was a good walk. Took lots of photos to upload.... Its really an enjoyment. i saw many nice houses too.... Its just in front of the beach. So shiok. makes me wanna work hard so that i can buy one in front.Thinking if i should go for the 1000 steps walk next Sunday..... Kinda doubt my stamina.... lets see how much i ache tomorrow. Hahaha....

Products from Singapore

went grocery shopping on 26 Nov.... and i bought products from singapore.... they look so familiar and safe to eat.... hahaha..... "Safe to eat" cos singapore products are afterall hometown products. and they give this sense of familiarity w the health symbols, etc.... Well, next week gonna try cooking mackarel with the sinsin salt soya beans and chilli. believe it will taste good.... this weekend without landlord's folks is good. less noise, and i can cook more freely.... can cook food that i want to eat without worrying about whether to cook for them also. Cos sometimes scared cook for them then they dun eat, and i got to eat myself....  Next week gonna try frying egg noodles.... put chicken, mushrooms, eggs, vegetables.......

A day of feast....

Been wanting to make pizza for almost 1 whole week.... Finally got to doing it.... Bought the ingredients yesterday when i went grocery shopping.... woke up this morn, and started chopping the ingredients.... kinda feel i should have made 1 more pizza before throwing all the remaining ingredients into my pasta..... maybe i can make baked pasta next week..... shall go get some tin foil..... problem with this pizza is the centre part was a bit soggy... wonder where the water came from.... Regardless, it still taste fabulous...

Bought this sambal chilli from a nearby Asian grocery shop.... and decided to use it to cook sambal fish using basa fillet. Was skeptical about whether how nice it will turn out. but apparently the chilli is really good. can consider making wanton noodles with it next week.... Drools.... feel like cooking it once more tomorrow for dinner.....

Tea was sesame dumpling with ginger soup..... this morning when i cooked, i thought the weather is nice for ginger soup. But apparently the sun came out later in the day..... and the weather was not v nice to drink ginger tea.... Shall try again next weekend.... I am 3-4 days away from summer..... can faint soon when there is no aircon.....

Wine for the week 13 Nov 2011

started drinking this wine on 13 Nov 2011, and finished it on 20 Nov 2011..... but this is one wine that is not v nice....

$11.10

15 Nov 2011 (1st paycheck)

the beauty of working in Melbourne has just shown itself nicely in my bank account today.... there in my account is an amount that i can never earn in a month when i was in singapore. Now, i can earn it over here..... I think its great, and I'm loving it.... glad i made the decision to come. but the figure looks weird. kinda feel they overpaid me. shall see the next month salary.... I am looking forward to 15 December!!!!!

Wine for the week 21 Nov 2011

now that i got my pay, I can drink wine that is a bit more expensive. bought this from Dan Murphy the other day. and started drinking it today. Its nice and pretty easy to drink. lets see how long this bottle will last me. On average, 1 bottle last about 1 week. I am going to be an alcoholic. Come Melbourne and be alcohlic cum gambler.... this saturday might be going for test drive with landlord. Kinda cant make up my mind on whether to buy or not too..... But i can sense that "she" is kinda getting tired fetching me after work. Well, pray i get a good car, with no hidden itineraries in it..... Ti Gong Ma por bi por bi ah...... dun let me buy a lousy car with lots of repair works or even worse. Stolen car....

$14.60

STORM!!!!

been really busy and lazy to blog. but thought this is something that is a must blog kinda stuff. its my first encounter in a storm. It rained hail, and the rain was quick to come and go. But weird thing is after that, it continued to rain. The sound of hail is like many stones being thrown from above. But thank god the hails are like curhsed ice. I asked landlord if i can make coke out of the ice.... hahaha.... took some really nice "end of the world" kinda pics at the railway station just now. shall quickly upload and head for my bed...

 

 

Beautiful contrast!

Clouds movement

Hail!!!! small hail though... like crushed ice...

Wolf Blass Eaglehawk Shiraz 2010

Bought this bottle of wine the other day while it was on promotion. Cost only $6.65.... I shall drink all the different type of wine, and see which is good and cheap... afterall, every week there are different wine on promotion.... Anyway, this one is not nice...

Pre-work preparation (22 Oct 2011)

Gonna start work tomorrow..... Think i am really lucky to find a job in 1.5 months.... Well, cook heaps of food yesterday in preparation for a busy work week ahead. Did many things in 1 day. Check out the list.

Food cooked:
4 rolls of "Wu Xiang"
Fried wanton
Fried chicken wings
1 Ji Dan gao.
1 pot of corn soup (corn, beet root, carrots, celery)

Chores Done:
vacuum room
washed my clothes
iron my clothes

Soon, i will be like my friend who used to sleep punctually at 2200 and wake up at 0615. Total hours sleep will be 8h15mins.

Operation: Coriander

Decided to transfer my coriander to the ground today. The soil it was rooted in, kinda disintegrate when i shifted it. Hopefully it will survive.... else I have to start planting from seeds again!!!! if tmr the leaves start to droop, it means the transplant operation failed. Pray that the mickey stays away from it. gonna sprinkle pepper on the leaves.... And i found many big long fat earthworms in the soil while digging just now. Well, guess it will do the coriander good. Gonna go to the aust post in the mall later and get my tax file no verified. Weather today is nice. not too cold.

Coriander 18 Oct 2011 (transplant op done)

YEAH!!!! FINALLY!!!!

today ends the need to job hunt any further..... I have finally been offered a job by a company..... it has been almost 1.5 months since i first touched base in Down Under.... and during these 1.5 months, i learn the value of the dollars and cents.... Thrifty spending and buying things that are cheap, comparing prices of food that i buy. And most importantly learning how to cook. But lucky i am no big eater. Else, i doubt the money can last me long. I guess the company is really nice to up the salary from 65k to 80k. I guess next i will need to work hard and save hard..... Next year go europe!!!! shall buy car when my parents are here to help me look for 1.... meanwhile, i think landlord is also happy for me. she just asked me where i working.... hahaha..... now, i am starting to feel rich.... Casino? 4D!!!! tmr is saturday..... 1410? 1014? 1809? 0918? think everyone also happy for me.... hehehe..... tonight can sit back, relax and enjoy already.....

Coriander 14 Oct 2011

putting it in the front porch works! the micket does not harress it anymore. can see more leaves growing. but then i wonder when will i be able to eat it..... maybe later take the spade and go to the font porch and plant more coriander seedings..... May the coriander grow up fast and strong.... Shall transplant it to the ground next week....

Coriander on 14 Oct 2011

My first revenue!!!!

today went casino with landlord's parents.... initially lost $15 to the stupid jackpot machines. then after that decided to use another $20 at roulette to win back my $15. well, i won back the $15 i lost, and won another $20!!!! my first revenue in aust from the Crown Casino!!!! $15 compared to what i played in Genting is so chicken. But yet due to current financial status, the $15 is like $50 to me now. but i not so greedy. give me win a bit can alr. can cover my transport cost can already.... shld i take another $20 and try my luck on Tuesday after the interview? if i lose then i lose what i won.... Qian ah Qian..... suddenly every penny counts.... $$$$

Dinner of the day

Dinner was fried rice, fried prawns, fried chicken wings, and boiled broccoli.... think i have master the skill of frying chicken wings. but too much salt... and too saltish.... tmr most prob will eat instant noodles. then monday i have got 2 interviews lined up.... Tuesday is the 2nd round interview for 1 job.

Guang Ying Ma po pi po pi.... po pi me get a job soon.... then i can earn more money and retire early!!! and travel round the world. Next place for hols will be europe! or maybe a cruise around Alaska.... to those reading this.... any takers keen to join? But i know if go Alaska cruise, the hello meow meow sure wun go. Cos too cold for her. hahaha.....

The small chillis....

have always been telling you guys how tiny weeny the chilli here is.... but you guys must be thinking how small can it be. its so small that the flesh is so little that i think cut 3 times, and the chilli is gone.... well, here is a picture of the chilli plant.

美美 Small White Face....

someone sent me a photo over watsapp yest. well, he said after applying the mask, his face will 美美..... and then will have "toi toi" kinda feel.... i present the small white face.... wahoo....

thought it looks like those kinda terrorist! Fwahaha....

鸡蛋糕

Today, 4 Oct 2011. first attempt baking the 鸡蛋糕. It was tiring, having to mix it. but lucky the cake turn out edible. Else, all efforts wasted.  I ate like 1/3 of it. It tasted nice cos its made by me. hahaha.... But it feels v dense. Duno why.

Planted 5 coriander seeds in the bottle. But looks like there are more than 5 shoots.... what are the rest? weeds? Best part is duno which is weed, and which is coriander. Will have to wait till they are bigger before i can tell.

Didnt do anything much today. bake cake, do laundry twice, prepare dinner. thats all. whole day gone... tonight need to send out more resumes....

鸡蛋糕

Coriander (taken on 4 Oct 2011)

Planted Jalapeno seeds and Birdseye chilli seeds in this patch of soil just now. lets see when will it start to shoot. 

Gardening...

Started sowing 5 coriander seeds into this small mineral water bottle 3 weeks ago. and finally it is growing! Soon, i can start to eat fried rice with it, cook noodles with it. but the chilli seedling seems like it has a long way to go in catching up with the coriander. Planted like 4-5 chilli seeds. But only 1 came out.... well, hopefully it will grow fast and flower. Then i will have free chilli..... shall start to dump all the egg shells, vegetable waste in the soil, and hope they can grow faster. seems like it has become my garden.... 

Coriander Plant

Seeds sowed, and waiting:
1. Chilli
2. Coriander
3. Ginger
4. Green Bean
5. Capsicum

Beer Battered Fish

after 4 attempts of fish and chips. i finally figured out how to make one super yummy and presentable fish and chips.... But i used so little beer, that the whole bottle of beer looks untouched. got my recipe from here.
http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=700549&showcomments=true
But as the serving is for 4, i had to calculate and come up with my own recipe for 1.

Recipe for 1 serving
A = 1/4 cup of plain flour + beer + 1/4 tsp of salt.
B = 1/4 cup of plain flour + 1/4 tsp of salt + white pepper.

Dry the fish fillet with tissue. then coat fish with B followed by A.

with the Nandos Peri Peri chilli sauce, it taste even more yummy.... shiok!

1st try

2nd & 3rd try

4th try

4 Sept 2011

went to Caribbean Garden market with landlord today. was roaming around from 0900-1400... the market has nothing interesting for me. But i guess if its my sis, she will be busy browsing ard. But well, eye opener experience for me still. took a few photos of the garden.

Birds at the park. and they make lots of 'kwah kwah' noise. I also know cold....

 

4 vintage cars parked in a row. n i 'booked' the 2nd one from the left...

went many places today. went to landlord's sis house to pick up her sis. followed by to landlord's bro house for dinner. They had steamboat. I ate v little, cos the food is not like what we had back home. but well, got to know more pple. after that went city. didnt know we going city still, and forgot to bring jacket. luck never freeze. overall, v busy day, but got to know more pple, and went more places. casino was really crowded last night. scary.

2 Sept 2011

first attemp cooking mushroom omelette.... not bad. taste nice and its v filling.... 2 eggs, and 6 small mushroom cups... and i got a big fat omelette.

3 Sept 2011

Adventures of the day: 
1. walked from Dandenong Plaza to Dandenong Station.considering its my first time to Dandenong Plaza and Dandenong Station. (thanks to iPhone!!!)
2. met cyber friend Serene.
3. went to Chadstone Shopping Mall
4. went to Springvale to do groceries shopping, cos friend say its super cheap there. and Springvale is vietnamese town...
5. manage to come home from Dandenong station without taking wrong bus. But alight 1 stop earlier.
6. Durian Smoothie..... 


Manage to cook a simple dinner tonight. just had rice and 1 pc of Basa Fish (recommended by friend). indeed the fish is not fishy at all! but 1kg of fish for $10. Ex! slowly cook and slowly lor.....

Friend is nice, and brought me around. Bought small cute looking bread from Springvale breadshop. Its the hard-roll type. 4 for $1. she bought 4, and gave me 2.... tmr can eat w peanut butter for breakfast and make coffee to go w it... Bread smells really good....

bread from friend. 4 for $1.

Pan-fried Basa Fish

Dandenong Rail Station

1 Sept 2011

Dinner for the day:
1. Cabbage soup + Chicken Drumsticks
2. Fried rice w 1 egg.
3. Round beans stir-fry w chicken (left over from last night dinner)

30 Aug 2011

adventure of the day.... first time walking out of home to the bus stop and paying $5 for the full day bus ride. kana TOK! kana lost on the way back. board the wrong bus, and stop 1 stop after the stop i am suppose to alight. but lucky still manage to find my way home.

AUD$5 zone 2 full-day ticket

31 Aug 2011

Dinner for the day.

1. Round Beans + Chicken Fillet (seasoned w soya sauce + hua diao jiu + pepper)

2. 3rd day of potato soup (potato + broccoli + carrots + tomato)