19 Oct 2008

Brendan had been wishing for a day to chill at the beach for the duration I was here, but whenever he had the time, the weather was bad, and if the weather was good, he had to work. Then my last day here, the weather was great on his day off, which saw him planning really quick to meet with Sam at Scarborough beach, or I think it is called that.

We drove around for quite a while and thought we were lost at one point, but managed to get there in once piece with the handy GPS. As it was the first sunny Sunday in about 3 weeks, the whole of Australia had got themselves down to the beach to catch some rays as well. Parking took us about 20 minutes of hunting, and then it took us another 5 to hunt Sam and his 'accessory-of-the-day' hidden in the sea of people laid out on the sand.

The sun was hot, the waves were huge, and the water was still freezing. How cold was the water? As Brendan put it, "you feel burnt by the sun and you decide to step into the water to cool off, but instead u get knee deep and you get so frozen, you don't have balls left!". Yep, that is how cold the water is, but once you're in there, you don't get out after you get used to it or you have to go through the whole process again.

This time I went in to cool off as I know my skin was already burnt by the sun, and if I didn't have sunblock on, I think I would be hurting when I got back. The water was no shocker, but the current was really strong and the waves were much bigger than the ones at other beaches I've been to. At one point, I had a wave crash over me and dragged me in its sandy mess, pushed me further away from the group and got me choking on sea water. That was rather scary. It was also when I learnt how to get out of the water without getting myself killed again!

Later on, my sis met us after she was done with school and we caught the last rays of the sun after having something to eat when she arrived. Once everyone decided that they'd had enough, we left the beach and drove off in the sunset.

After a simple dinner with instant noodles and left-overs, my sis drove me to the airport to catch my flight back home.

UFO

18 Oct 2008

I was woken up by a really loud cat trying to get the whole apartment block's attention this morning. In my sleepy daze, I was actually looking around the room for an alarm clock! I wished someone would have chased the cat away or just give it what it wanted but no one seemed to be as bothered by it as I was.

So managed to get a bit more sleep after getting used to the cat's cries and then we all woke up and got ready to meet my sis in town for some dim sum. After a short bus ride into town, we walked towards a building that looked like something Hollywood would create when they needed a scene with some Asian mafia was to congregate. I guess Chinese restaurants don't stand out that much in Asian countries as there are too many other restaurants that blend them all together.

Anyway, my sis got there before us and was already waiting at a table. Once my aunt sat down, she started ordering the stuff she really liked and then started catching up with my sister. Even though they live in the same country, my sis has been too busy to catch up with anyone not in the same school. So after a few rounds of the dim sum we liked, we headed back to their house to wait for Shane's son, Elias, to arrive with his mom, Kar Mei.

Warnings On The Buses Too.

Waiting For Her Favourite Dish.

First To Chuck Stuff Into His Mouth.

Constipated.

Don't Know Anyone Now.

Kar Mei arrived with Elias a short while after we got back to Aunty Nene's place, and then everyone focussed their attention on the little one. I held him while they got the mattress ready for his nap, and then once he was laid down, his grandma just couldn't keep her eyes off him.

Until now, I still cannot help but laugh every time I see a picture of Shane holding his son and smiling like an idiot. I thought I'd never see the day, and I guess not many people did either. In the end, Elias needed a nappy change and showed off his lung power, and that boy could cry! So after he was changed and settled back to his nap, we decided to head back to my sister's place to rest and get ready for tonight's party.

Replacing Piglet

Who Is Hypnotising Who?

Later in the evening, we met up with Michelle and WaiLing for a night out with the excuse that it was my choice of party location as I was leaving the next day. We started by having dinner at some Chinese restaurant, followed by drinks at a pub while we waited for the club to open.

Seriously, partying here is a bit of a chore when they only accept your passport as identification. Imagine lugging a booklet around when u wanna go out with as little things to carry as possible.

Well anyway, the club opened up and we weren't the first in, but it was still rather empty. Later on, Charlie joined us and went around the club with WaiLing and Brendan to try and find out if they might be playing some House music in some other corner of the club. In the end, I guess they realised that I didn't really wanna leave the place and was already enjoying myself, and they started to try and enjoy whichever way they could.

Best thing about the night was the cute, overly-sweet, shooter we got at the bar. If I'm not wrong, it is a Buttery Nipple revamped, and renamed as a Jellyfish.

Brain Hemorrhage?

Errm... Nothing Special is It?

Tadah! Jellyfish!

I'm left really sore, but happy.

17 Oct 2008

I told Michelle I was thinking of heading to King's Park to check out the spring blooms and we decided to head out there today. We started off by having lunch at Frasers restaurant, which had a really lovely view from it's alfresco area. It was a little too hot to sit under the umbrellas, so we compensated for the view with our seat closer to the restaurant.

After ordering our food, our appetiser and wines came rather quickly but we were left waiting for our main courses. I'm not sure if something went wrong in the kitchen, but we ended up with tasting portions of wild mushroom soup drizzled with truffle oil. Honestly, the soup was lovely, but I'm not sensitive, or experienced, enough to know if the truffle oil actually enhanced the whole dish.

Good thing the main courses came out soon after and it was a nice surprise to actually taste risotto made with barley. As with every other restaurant I've been to lately, I just couldn't leave without dessert.

Pan-fried Fish With Barley Risotto

Deep Fried White Bait

Fish & Scallops For Michelle

Pretty Dessert - Some Tart with Green Apple Sorbet

Once we got our tummies filled, it was time to head out and use up the energy to explore King's Park and it's natural beauties.

Enjoy the view:

Critically Endangered

Later that evening, we went to pick up Mark (Michelle's husband) from his office, and they then dropped me off at Curtin so that I could attend Curtin's annual Pasar Malam. Once my sis was done with work, we went around looking for our dinner, and also got some food for Brendan, Uncle SHane & Aunty Nene. Later on my sis dropped me off at Aunty Nene's place as I made plans to chill and stay over for the night. As I was craving Dominoes Cheeseburger pizza, I exchanged my haul of food for a pizza and was thoroughly satisfied for the day.