Thursday, January 28, 2010
On the 22nd Jan (Fri), my ex-Leo classmates decided that they would celebrate my birthday and Juin's at the same time by treating us to dinner. Juin's birthday is actually on 13 Jan, only 10 days away from mine.
We went to the chinese restaurant Kum Den (I know, cool name huh), in the city. The food was so-so and so was the service but who cares about that when the company is excellent!
It was so good seeing all of the original gang again - minus a couple of people because they've left Melbourne. I've really missed them. They come from different countries and different backgrounds but they are the most down-to-earth, kindest people (lawyers *coughcough*) I know.
I'm so glad that the restaurant didn't play the Happy Birthday song or else I would have died with embarrassment. Ohhhh and the cake was yummy. I think it was triple choc ganache or something. Who knew that Breadtop still produces the cheapest and best cakes with the widest variety of flavours.
We went to a bar for drinks later:
OK, lighting wasn't that great but it's actually quite cosy (because we were all sprawled out on this big comfy sofa) for a quiet chat.
Thank you once again guys :)
Yinny was Joshing around @ 6:24 AM
(0) comments Birthday Part III - Licence to pig out
A very big 'THANK YOU' to everyone's kind wishes this year :) This is the first time I've spent my birthday away from Singapore and family but you guys have made it truly special.
I'm going to do the posts Star Wars style, from Part III onwards, which is the actual day of my birthday.
I spent the whole day (eating) with Juin. We woke up in the morning and had 鸡蛋面线 (egg mee sua) - a must for me (Hokkien). My mom makes sure every one of us has it every year on our birthday.
Then we headed off to Melbourne city, stopping by the Lindt cafe on the way to DFO:
We are totally addicted to their beautiful macarons. They have got to be the best in Melbourne.
The new DFO at Southwarf is pretty much done. Nothing much special - YET. Waiting for Fossil and Burberry to open and you'll see me there on a regular basis.
I heart window shopping.
We felt peckish after so we decided to grab tea at the new Old Town Kopitiam Mamak.
Satay and bbq chicken wings - my absolute favourite
After that we were absolutely stuffed but Juin had dinner reservations at a Japanese restaurant Takumi, click here for website, Melbourne's only Wagyu beef specialists. This restaurant was recommended by food critic Matt Preston, so Juin decided to give it a shot. We had never heard of it before, so dining there was really a whole swaku experience for us.
The theme of this restaurant is 'do-it-yourself' grilling. There is a hole in the middle of the table and the very brilliant Japanese, as usual, have somehow managed to invent this smart way of smokeless barbequeing. Basically they use a wire mesh on top of a pot of hot coal, but at the bottom there's a fan which sucks the air inwards so it doesn't blow everywhere (oh gawd that sounds dirty).
You really can't judge a book by it's cover because in the day, this restaurant's exterior looks as plain as Jane next door, but its interior is really lovely.
The service was excellent - and all by young Japanese girls too (I can hear some of my male friends gawking already).
Anyway we were greeted by a refresher towel and 3 types of sauces:
One of the sauces was sesame oil with salt - the other 2 tasted good but I had no idea what they were!
Once we ordered, our drinks came really quickly followed by starters:
Edemame beans
Wagyu sashimi
Salmon Carpaccio
Their salmon carpaccio was lovely. There was also kimchi that we didn't get a picture of.
The other thing we didn't get a picture of was their ox tongue. I have to say this is the first time I have tried a tongue of any sort, and to be honest in all normal circumstances I wouldn't have tried it if not for my birthday, so I did - and it was amazing. It was sliced so thinly and the texture was so smooth that if I didn't know, I wouldn't expect it to be a tongue. Anyway, the following are pictures of our food that we had a fun time grilling:
Our tiger prawn and scallops - they were fantastically sweet
Wagyu beef from 3 or 4 different cuts of the cow
This is what it looks like when grilling
This is what it looks like when done
The beef was so aromatic and amazing that when you put it on your tongue, the whole thing melts and you've got to chew it slowly to taste and experience the flavours and sensations erupting from that tiny piece of meat - are you salivating already?!
We had grilled vegetables too (mushrooms, zuchinni & pumpkin) but who cares about vegetables when you're having wagyu beef?!?
Red bean and green tea ice cream
Ahhhh I would go there just for their dessert. Because we had a set meal each, each of us was entitled to a scoop of ice-cream and jelly. There were 3 flavours to choose from: Green tea, sesame and red bean - I like them all!! It's a great way to end a meal - with green tea to wash it down and ice-cream to sweeten the deal.
We ended the night with Juin singing a very out-of-tune happy birthday song and me blowing out the candle to my delicious cupcake from my favourite cupcake shop (because we decided we simply could NOT eat cake anymore).
...and then Mr Geok Lin Yeo called and drove us to The Pancake Parlour for supper. OMG!!! By that time we were too tired and too full to eat, so we ordered drinks whilst watching Mr Yeo woolf down his banana split sundae.
The next day we were on a diet, LOL!!!
I must say that I've never met more people celebrating their birthday on the same say as I have. When I went to collect my free birthday Boost Juice, there was a girl who was doing the same just before me. We just smiled at each other and wished each other happy birthday. Then later at Takumi, there was someone also celebrating her birthday in the restaurant with a huge group of friends.
Aquarians are cool XD
Yinny was Joshing around @ 5:21 AM
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Yesyes I am now 25 years young. Sounds old but feels the same to me. I'm glad time is passing fast so that I get to retire. I'm aiming for 60. That's another 35 years. Darn.
Anyways I celebrated my birthday in 3 parts this year...more like 3 times, thanks to my beloved boyfriend and friends. I'm still in the process of uploading pictures from my birthday (there are quite a few) and will post them up in the next few days.
In the meantime, feast your eyes upon my favourite:
Mr Bean!! Mr Bean soy milk, soy milk ice cream (yum!) and chendol soy milk!!
...and facial masks I bought from Singapore...but I heard it's much cheaper in Taiwan/HK...blehhhhh...Apparently it's very popular amongst the girlies now...I didn't know that, I just bought them 'cos they looked pretty!!
Tomorrow is Australia's birthday - you know that doesn't mean anything to me except that it is a public holiday wheehee!!! XD
Enjoy!!
Yinny was Joshing around @ 7:46 PM
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
9 ”So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 ”Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
(Luke 11:9-13 NIV)
And for that Lord, I will be eternally grateful.
Yinny was Joshing around @ 7:20 PM
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
I was relaxing at Starbucks yesterday with a cup of soy green tea latte whilst reading the Daily Bread and came across this saying, "People these days know the price of everything but the value of nothing".
It struck a chord with me because being part of a generation of computers, television and non-face-to-face communication, relationships are beginning to change. People are becoming greedier and greedier and are allowing themselves to become subservient to money and material possessions.
How many cars can we drive? How many pairs of shoes can we wear? How many bags can we carry? How many handphones and Ipods can we use? Material things make us happy only momentarily, and then the instant something new comes along, our focus shifts and our hearts are longing for the faster car or the latest gadgets. We're never satisfied.
So how long can this chase last? I don't know, but it's so easy for one to get caught up in it.
Whilst riches on earth last momentarily, treasures in heaven last an eternity. Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" ~Luke 12:15.
How much have you saved up in heaven so far?
Yinny was Joshing around @ 3:04 PM
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Tuesday, January 05, 2010
2010 doesn't feel like a new year to me. Usually I'm pretty psyched that it's a new year because it's like a new beginning to me. In school it used to be about new textbooks, new stationery, new friends, new uniforms...then it was new Uni diaries, new lecturers, new fat bank balance (thanks to parents)...now nothing has changed after the cross over from 2009 to 2010. It feels like all the burdens, worries and stress has just been carried forward. Maybe I'm just getting old, I don't know.
Yes yes, I'm hitting the big 2-5 this month and apparently according to some experts on the radio, a woman reaches her peak at 25 and then everything from there goes downhill. Hmmm. Which is contradictory to what one of my aunt's said at Christmas ('life begins at 50!!'). Anywho, to me age is just a number (I swear) because everyone (people who don't know me) has under-guessed my age since I was 19. I certainly do feel 25 though: I feel the stress of working, being financially independent, planning for the future (oh gawd)...All I can say is: It ain't pretty growin' up Mister.
Well, life goes on. Also, I won't be posting pictures of America here because it took me a heck of a long time to do it on Facebook since the Application kept dying on me. You guys can check it out on Facebook and save me heaps of trouble thankyew :)
I hope this year will be a good one for you guys, but I doubt it, since the Tiger year is never a good year. Especially not one for giving birth. Especially since it's only 5 Jan and I've already had 2 pieces of bad news. Nope siree, this ain't gonna be a good year all right.
Yinny was Joshing around @ 10:54 PM
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Sunday, January 03, 2010
MUAHHAHAHAHH MOI HAS RETURNED after my epic journey to America and back!!
Will blog soon with heaps of pics and hopefully some videos after I get rid of this jetlag.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip but it's still good to be back. I hope you guys had a good Christmas '09 and New Year 2010!!
More to come...stay tuned...
Yinny was Joshing around @ 10:42 AM
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