Happy Birthday Bro

Gosh, you turn 21 today.

I still remember the first time I saw you in the plastic "cot" at KK just hours you were born.
It was so exciting to have a little brother...until the times when you became that little monster, always getting on my nerves.

Now you have grown up to be the young man that we can all be proud of.
I know you have your own ideas of what you want to do. Remember that despite of all the nagging, we will support you (IF the decisions are not too outrageous lah!).

Getting the "key" today doesn't mean you have all the freedom to do whatever you like.
It means opening up the door to greater responsibilities. Use this key well and continue to believe in what God has planned for you. Be bold and chase your dreams.

Love,
your sis who can't afford to give u a car..yet (haha).

Cold Feet & Hot Donuts

I'm having cold feet. Literally.
The weatherman's reported that it's going to hit 3 deg in Ipswich (1 hour drive from here).
Me toes are cold!
Hope the winter's not going to be too harsh...

Some good (and hot!) news though...Krispe Kreme opens it's very first branch here today! In the city! Yippee! Now no need to fly to Sydney for these yummy donuts.
Definitely better than Donut Factory back home. Trust me. ;)

Nice Talk

Was "hijacked" by an 80-yr old lady on my way to the groceries just now.
She started off by commenting that the traffic lights were slow.
Then as we crossed the road, she started talking about her plans for the day.
Then she started talking about her dentist, her husband in the nursing home,
her son who conducts an orchestra, her daughter in UK, her Taiwanese friend...
Think she would have poured out her life to me if there's the chance. Hahaha.
And all these took place for nearly 15 mins infront of the 7-11 store..with hoards of lunch-time crowd around us.

Gosh...why do I only attract the old ladies and gentlemen?
When would a Orlando Bloom or Matt Damon look alike chat up to me like that???

P.S: explored the newly korean supermarket up the street. not too bad! prices are reasonable too. treated myself to green tea ice-cream from the shop. would have bought more, but i don't have enough cash with me and they don't take EFTPOs (NETs lah). will go there again!

Impulse. I like

We decided to go Gold Coast this weekend.
Coz Labour Day on Mon. So no work and can take a break.
Easy. Asked Hub for the credit card, then make booking at our favourite hotel.
Not likely to shop much, coz most shops will closed anyway.
Just want to have a cuppa and scone by the beach in the morning.
The freedom of just doing something when we want to.
I like.

R & R

I guess my earlier post scared alot of you. Sorry to make you guys worry about me.

I'm ok now. Have quited from that job and thus am Relieved. I no longer have that pressure to keep up and try to be someone I am not. I am much happier now. I did not realised how stressed I was working there, until I know that I have only 2 more shifts to go and with that came a sense of freedom. I cannot slang like the Australians . I grew up speaking Singlish and there is nothing wrong with that. :)

With only 6 more weeks to go, I am Recharged. To really stick my butt on the chair and start writing proper. I wished the words would multiply themselves. But I know they won't lah. So it's hard work. Abit regretting my choice of taking up this longer version, instead of just doing the 6,000 word version. But it's too late now! Have to bite through and complete the deed!

Discouraged, yet again

I don't know if this is the sign that I prayed for.
I don't know if this is the door that God is closing.
I don't know if I could ever speak the way they expect me to.
I don't know if I can withstand any of such discouragements again.

I do know I am beginning to have doubts on my abilities.

D&D

Dates & Decisions

16 July - convocation

30 August - end of visa

It's been nearly 2 months since I applied for the visa extension. It finally came today.
What I didn't expect was the rush of emotions that came with it.

Do I go back to work and spend some time with mum and bro?
Do I stay here, possibly do nothing, but be with Hub?

My heart is now pulling from 2 ends of a string...
My eyes look towards Him..waiting.

Will it? Will it not?

Hubby posted our Sydney trip photos on Flickr. He got an email today from an online map guide: Schmap , requesting for approval to use one of our photos in their guide for Sydney Fish Market.

Haha...but only in the short-listing stage lah. Not sure if it is eventually going to be included in the guide. But already happy to be short-listed lah.

BECAUSE I TOOK THE PHOTO. hehe...

Flopped Attempt

My pandan cake came out flat. Not the least bit like chiffon cake. More like pandan kweh.

Very sad. This is the first baking attempt that I've failed. And failed so badly that I don't even want to post pictures here. And I burnt my 2 little fingers in the process...adding to the misery.

Mixed Berry Cheesecake Brownie

Today weather cold cold...think Autumn's finally here. Hub and I were thinking...if start of autumn is like that, we don't dare imagine how winter will be like. But we could guess that it will be harsher than last year.

So..to beat the cold, I baked today. The oven did warm up the house abit. (:

It didn't look like a brownie...looked more like a cake. But there's always this sense of satisfaction when you start mixing the flours from scratch and end up with something edible (and presentable!) Hee...

The berries don't look exactly yummy like that...but they taste good with the brownie. A tinge of sourness that complements the cheese and chocolate. Yummy...

P.S. I had 2 more spidey encounters..all in the same day! I was cleaning some stuff at work yesterday, and out jumped a spidey the size of a 50-cent coin. I drowned it in baygon. An hour later, I saw another one on the wall..smaller, about 10-cent coin. Drowned it in baygon too. Baygon is definitely better than Mortein!!! I used so much baygon that my entire desk stink of it...and had to use alot of orange-scented Mr Muscle to douse the smell! Hahaha...

I seriously wonder why these little buggers like to ka-cheow me so much!!

Spider Panic

I was collecting my laundry at the balcony yesterday when I saw this:


I let out a gasp. Hubby heard and came out. He jumped when I pointed in the direction and he came face to face (nearly) with this:

There is only one thing to do.

Take out the Mortein Spider Control. And spray. Spray like no tomorrow. It took nearly half a bottle and close to 10 minutes before it curled up..presumably, died. Still hanging on a strand of web.

Courtesy of online spider enthusiasists (eeks), this is the spider that we presumably killed: the Golden Orb Spider. Took me a long time to find this pic, because there are many "varieties" in this species. Got fat ones, silver ones, thin ones. But I'm sure this is THE ONE.

And why did I say "presumably killed"? This morning, I woke up and found the curled up body gone. 3 possibilities:

1) A bird ate it

2) Wind blew and it dropped downstairs

3) It was just faking death yesterday and is now prowling somewhere to get it's revenge on us. (and yes, i read that spiders can close their lung valves and survive on very little air for a number of hours)

Note to MF, MP and SY who are visiting in Jun/Jul - I hope you are prepared for this (: