Climate change?!

Weather in Melbourne is pretty hard to predict. Even though it is forecasted to be 36 degrees Celsius in the day, but when a gush of strong wind comes... you still have to pull a jacket on, or hide in a building OR behind the building (like what I usually do).

People describe Melbourne's weather like a woman. You know, fast in changing decisions, and have sever mood swings in a day. Weather here could be sunny in the morning, heavy downpour, then sunny again. And the wind here comes with or without the rain. Normally in Malaysia, when there's a strong wind, we could expect it's going to rain in a bit, but here... strong wind all day long... yet there is not a single drip from the sky. Weird huh...

One thing I would take it as a fact here is that, when you spotted a fly in the morning, that day will be a sunny day for sure! When you don't see a fly during the day even though it is sunny, remember to take an umbrella out. Just to be safe... and dry. As I'm typing now... Here comes a fly at the edge of my lappie. Gahhh...

This is a good website to check the weather forecast: http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/melbourne.shtml
There's also ratings for Fire Danger, & UV rays.

Oh and by the way, sunscreen is a must here. I'm not too sure why, but the ozone layer at NZ n OZ is the thinnest, skin cancer here is really common. So guys, remember to get your sunscreen ready when you are at NZ or OZ, put a layer of zinc would help most!!! and REMEMBER to put it at your ears too!!!

Deck Painting Day

Painted the outer sides of the deck few days back.
Decided to paint the rest of it today. Since it's sunny...

Su Xin's Arrival to Melbourne

It was a super last minute planning, at first she says she doesn't want to come, then her dad says she's coming, then she says not too sure, then they are all discussing... then suddenly her ticket is booked! haha. Tell me about randomosity...

Woooohooooooo!!!

Borsch Vodka & Tears

Had dinner at Borsch Vodka & Tears. It's at Chapel St & High St, can get there by hopping on to tram 78. Serves Polish cuisine, which is something that appeals to me, 'cause it's not something I can get back in Malaysia. We were supposed to meet there at 8pm. But eventually everyone was late. And I was the only one who turned up early.

To have dinner there, it's a must MUST to make a booking. At 8pm, the place was already filled with people. Except the small little table for 4, which is for us was still vacant. When I got in and got a place just like that, those diners who came in with me (who did not make a booking), shove me an evil look. I just looked at the small paper with my sister's name written on it. In my heart was thinking: Haha you lose!

The place is really dark. Loud music. And the deco is nice as well.

I ordered this. Ninja Love. Really good. 

Gave me a good knock on my head, while waiting with empty stomach.

 Evil Eye plate.

And finally they made it to the bar! Look at the top two pictures. You know what?! They took roughly half an hour discussing what to order. It's like their going to have exam half an hour later?! gahhh... And we were soo hungry!

 And finally our food is served! 

The dumplings and crepes were great! We ordered beetroot soup, it tastes pretty unique. So, we did not get much of it down into our belly. (Got what I meant? hehe)

Highly recommended people!!!

Woolworths is RIGHT downstairs!!!

Today is the grand opening for not just only Woolworths, but Chickenfeed and Daiso as well.

For the first time, the shopping complex is flooded with humans.

 Free hotdogs =] 

(Just in case you can't see the words in the pic)

It's pretty crazy. Look at the queue at Daiso.

Even the shisha shop just opened. 

And the one at the far right is selling at 68 aud.

 Jon was pretty thrilled! 

Cos everything now is just downstairs. 

Plus woolworths opens til 12am. yeee haaa...

Then we walked to Subscape Aquarium to look for terrapins. So we can share our unwanted vege with the terrapins. But sadly, only fish. 

 Giganto bandaraya.

On our way back, we saw this --->

Is it authentic LV??? hmm just wondering.

 Nice bridge. Perfect weather today. 

So I did a little walking by myself.

 Ang moh are really "creative" to find spots to pak toh horr.

Everything was awesome today. 

Only one thing, my watch belt tore. =[

No watch til I'm back home again.

Just another day...

Today Jon cooked his Ma Po Eggplant, and me... Curry fish.

Tah Dah.... looks good huh!

We were really satisfied. haha. ok...shiok sendiri kat sini.

Then I made Konnyaku Jelly, which was one of the little things that I know how to cooked a month back.

Finally got jelly to eat. 

Going out to Cook's Cottage with June now. Get back with you guys later! Chao

Cook's Cottage

Went to Cook's Cottage with June. The cottage is actually brought all the way from UK and rebuilt in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooks'_Cottage

This cottage used to be home of parents of Captain James Cook's, that's why it's called Cook's Cottage. Make sense eh?! hehe
Anyway, it really brought us back to the olden days, with the creepy audio played in the background, the Cooks' talking and walking about (footsteps) and the old clothes laid out on the bed, and its really ancient furniture. And we realised that everything was pretty small in size. The entrance were significantly smaller, we were wondering whether in the olden days people are smaller in size. Possibly evolved through the years...

June laughed at me when I was signing the guest book. Want to know why?! Look at the picture below.

 Saw the difference? She doesn't need to bend down while signing. =/ 

"Like that also got reason to laugh about ar, June?"

She was more excited than us. And kindly helped me to put on my coat.

Me as Capt. Cook and June as my wife, maybe, or perhaps mistress, but I still think she looks more like a servant, you know, those who milk the cows early in the morning. I think I looked more like Phua Chu Kang. 

There's also plenty of other attractions to see in Fitzroy Gardens, not just the cottage. Checkout the history of it and the bird-eye-view of the garden here: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Placestogo/ParksandGardens/AllParksandGardens/Pages/4429.aspx

In the garden, we can find:

The Fairies Tree

Sinclair's Cottage 

Conservatory

Tudor Miniature Village

Temple of the Winds Rotunda

Old Band Stand Rotunda

Pretty flowers along the garden paths.

It is said that there is possums living in the garden. Haven't seen one though. They only come out late at night, nocturnal beings.

Us at one of the steps by the pond.

Signing off. Stay tune for more little adventure of mine! =D

Titanic - The Artefact Exhibition

The Artefact Exhibition was supposed to end on 17 October 2010, yet due to high demand, the exhibition extended til 7th of November, which lucky enough for me, I'm able to experience it.

We were given a boarding pass each upon entry. Boarding pass to board Titanic, interesting huh?! At the other side of the boarding pass, printed the details of the passenger who actually boarded Titanic. So, there I was, Mrs. Edgar Joseph Meyer for the day.

I'm sure everyone had watched the Titanic movie, or at least heard of it. A romance story between Jack and Rose, where Rose, from the 1st class deck fell in love with Jack from the 3rd class deck. And then all of a sudden Titanic crashed onto an iceberg, sea water start filling up the bottom compartments and Titanic sank. Apparently, White Star Line (the company who owns the ship) declares the ship is Unsinkable...

Supposedly everyone can be saved from it, yet before Titanic started her journey, White Star Line decided to reduce the number of safety boats for its own aesthetic purposes. And most of the passengers died due to the coldness.

The whole atmosphere gets more gloomy from one gallery to the other. It started off from the Construction Gallery, Departure Gallery, First Class Hallway & Grand Staircase, Passenger Gallery, Third Class Gallery, Iceberg Gallery, Seabed Gallery then Memorial Gallery. At Iceberg Gallery, the whole place was really cold and dark, they mimic the actual situation. And it kind of make us feel depressed until when we reach the Memorial Gallery, there's a wall where the names of all the passengers were written on it and categorised by weather the person is dead or alive. And guess what?! I'm still alive! =] at that time!

From the exhibition, the difference between 1st, 2nd & 3rd class passengers were quite obvious. 3rd class passengers especially, the cups, silverwares, ceramic basin, even their bed linen was labelled White Star Line, as the company is afraid the 3rd class passengers will steal it. So it makes them worth less with the company's name printed on it.

Some interesting facts:

-Cost of a ticket (one way)

• First Class (parlor suite) £870/$4,350 ($83,200 today)
• First Class (berth) £30/$150 ($2975 today)
• Second Class £12/$60 ($1200 today)
• Third Class £3 to £8/$40 ($298 to $793 today)

-A ship, the SS Californian, was close to the stricken Titanic and might have rescued   everyone.  However its sole wireless operator, Cyril Evans, went to bed 10 minutes before Titanic struck the iceberg and did not receive the distress message.


-The Titanic was designed to hold 32 lifeboats, though only 20 were on board; White Star management was concerned that too many boats would sully the aesthetic beauty of the ship.


-Although there were 4 funnels (smoke stacks), only 3 were functional. The 4th (rear most) funnel was added to make Titanic look more impressive.

• 
  -Construction and fitting out time: 3 years

• 
  

-Rivets used in the hull:  3 million

Bak Kut Teh

Cooked Bak Kut Teh for dinner today. Was a success! wheee~

Didn't take any pictures of it. Both of us are too hungry, ended up almost finishing the whole pot.

Gonna cook Tom Yam Seafood with Bihun this Friday. Specially for Jon's birthday request! He wanted Hing Hwa mee, I told him 'you slowly wait lah, that's like level 10!'.

Note: I'm still a beginner in cooking, so haven't officially got into level 1 yet =D

First Time Cooking

This is my first time cooking all by myself. Normally my mom would help, or should I say she will do most of the cooking in the end because I'm too slow. haha. But right now, mommy not here to overlook, and I really, REALLY have no clue how to start...

I've decided to cook Herbal Chicken Soup. Went to the Vietnamese butcher to get some chicken meat. Happily brought the chicken back home, then asked myself what next? Clean the chicken... duhh...
When I put the chicken into the sink, something made me had goosebumps all over. Any idea what's that? Look clearly at the picture below.

Still have no idea?

There! Its feather/ hair is still there!!! Alamak, aku nak pengsan lah... Eeew. It really took me a while to settle down by emotions, and after 2 hours of skinning and screaming I finally k.o.ed the chicken.

Placed the phone there just in case anything happens... 

You know, anything can happen on our very "first time".

Right! So this is how it looks like. My A1 Herbal Chicken Soup.

Looks quite good eh?!

Actually, my cousin and I had a hard time chewing on those meat. Unfortunately, the silly me bought the wrong chicken meat. I bought boiler chicken, which serve the same purpose as chicken stock. It is to be boiled only, and not to eat. =( 'cause the meat is really really... really tough.

Communication problem I guess, as I told the vietnamese butcher it's for soup. So he recommended this. haha. Only then I know there are different types of chicken meat to choose from. "Great Lesson" isn't it...