Last Day in 2010

Another year has gone.. gone so quickly that if I had to recall how I spent the year 2010, I don't think I can think of many significant milestones. Another birthdays means that everyone in the family has gone another year older, the little one is not a baby anymore as she has passed her 2 year old mark. I finally has broken the 0 egg for passing my 30 plus birthday which means I am not that young anymore, I am starting my life as a thirty something woman and this will marks the beginning of an exciting journey. Let's see.. it means carrying over all the unfulfilled dreams of my twenties onto my thirties. This also means that my teaching skills need to be used to the fullest as next year marks my 24 hour job as a teacher to ensure Shiori has all the skills she needed to enter her brand new world of school.

I guess there are a lot of things to be thankful for this year. I have a great family, great job, great friends, and I wouldn't ask for more than what I already have.

I am so lucky this year that I get to see 2 AFL football match.. So lame, I know but interestingly I found footy interesting.. also because I came second to the Footy Tipping competition.. Great hey, for someone who doesn't follow footy at all.

What a journey 2010 has been.. looking forward to a great year of 2011.. hope you don't dissapoint me..

Perth Good Food and Wine Show 2010

First entry to signify my existence to the blogging world.I had to make a decision to stop blogging for a while due to inadequate resources and time.

However, the Perth Good Food and Wine show on 2-4 July 2010 worth to be mentioned on this blog as I do have a little passion on Food.. but not so much for cooking.. *^o^* Call me lazy but I like being spoil now and then by getting Hubbie to cook stuff for me.. 

I went with my cousin to the GFAW show and we decided that Friday after dark session will be the one suitable for us as Friday is a much more convenient day as it helped us to relieve stress from work.. $30 entrance fee + $3 to buy your tasting glass + lots and lots of sample of Food and Drinks, we don't think its a wrong choice to spend our Friday Night.

This is where we bought our glass and Oh, look at those trolleys, they may come in handy towards the end of the show if you decided to buy lots and lots of goodies.

and below is where we started off.. Baileys stand.. The proper way of drinking your Baileys.. "Shake it with Ice in the Shaker.. pour it cold into your glass... and toast your drinking companion for a good Shot"

and we make our way to start our night of wine tasting.. Angove Winemakers surprised us with their Zibbibo, Oh my, the taste of sweet bubbly smooth down your throat.. what a great way to cruise into the night. Next up, the Wine and Truffle Company, look at those gigantic black thing.. if you don't know what it is.. its a Truffle.. bloody damn expensive I must say.. that whole clump is worth around 1 Louis Vuitton/ Burberry/ Gucci bag.. is that good enough comparison?

On our way to taste some South African wine at Africape Wines, we were stopped by the GFAW staff to see whether we would like a free ticket (seating allocated) for the Manu Fidel show at 6.30 pm. We did not miss this chance and quickly grab our freebies. 

Celebrity Theatre Stage

Manu is a great entertainer I must say, with his circus juggling act and his witty comments, his show is enjoyable. Although what he was cooking was not interesting enough (Fish Sausages).. Hmm.. I don't think it is my kind of plate.. 

Dinner time we head off to the Fifth Leg restaurant to try some of celebrity dishes. I had Manu's Coq Au Vin (Yummo!!) and Gary Mehigan's Creme Brulee. Food was average, I think because it was only the Celebrity Chef's recipe, not really their own cooking. After dinner, we head off to the WA region wine tasting.

Few things not to be missed are the Jack Link's beef jerky stand - absolutely worth getting as $ 20 show bag gives u plenty to stock up.. (Apologies to Hubbie for not getting him 1 bag all for himself as I thought I would share my bag when you are back), Cheesebuddy $7.50 bag we definitely get as the taste of Marshmallowy Cheese bread is a favorite for my little one, Coffee stands such as Griffiths Coffee and Of course the British Sausage Company's $1 sausage

A few section where Harvey beef was at was missed as Friday After dark session is too short and didn't give us plenty of time to ensure our visit to each stand. Of course there are instances that we were stuck at the Brown Brothers stand as being my favorite brand, we practically tried every single wine they have, not too mention repeat tasting of some favorite line.

The night was ended at the Bravo Gelato stand where we gulp our mini ice cream cone before walking back to the Esplanade busport to catch our bus ride home.

One thing I never miss when visiting the Good Food and Wine Show every year is...

The chance to meet a Celebrity.. hehe...  (Gary Mehigan from Channel 10 Masterchef)

Going on a Hiatus

Temporarily taking a break from the blogging world.

Due to pressure in studies and life.

10,000 words essay to be accomplished in 4 months is not a simple task especially when one have to juggle with Work + Little One + Other million things on the agenda.

I wish life is simple, but then again I made it as complicated as it can be,

Till then...

Updates will be at random!

One Sick Boy and One Hyperactive Toddler

So what happen if you combine a grumpy sick old man + one hyperactive curious toddler in one house for the last 48 hours = One Overtired-Need-more-sleep-Panda-Eyes Mum.

I had to work from home for the last 2 days as Hubbie is very very sick. He had fever for at least 3-4 days in a row, went to the GP and he guessed Infection that requires further testing. So he then had his urine and blood tested. The result: We don't know yet at the moment, hopefully we will hear back from our GP today. He is feeling a lot better now and brave enough to try and see whether he can cope alone with Shiori for the whole day today.

As for Shiori, the past 2 days has been an awesome time spending daytime with her. She has been a very good girl, keeping mum company wherever she goes. Mummy needs to go to the office to pick up some stuff for work, she tag along and being one great car companion. Even around the house too, she help mummy water Grandma's plants, help mummy with the washing, even getting light groceries from the car.

In spite all that, toddler will always be a toddler and her love in exploring things are just endless.

When mummy water the garden, she decided to run and stand in front of the hose.. because she is curious about the hose and the water coming out from it.

Result: one half wet toddler.

When mummy took groceries out from the car, she wants to help by carrying the lighter stuff however she never made to the kitchen. She was halfway between the front entrance and the kitchen when she was curious on what is in the plastic bag (it was some chips, biscuits and can food if I am not mistaken).

Result: found her squatting down on the floor with the pastic bag opened and all the contents scattered on the floor. She observed each packet carefully when taking it out from the plastic bag, took it out, put it on the floor, and moving onto the next object.

As most mum knows, Quietness in the house when you have a toddler around is a sign of Trouble. I was busy working on my laptop when the house gone quiet all of a sudden. I scanned around the room and see no sign of her. I thought that she was in the room with her Dad and I was waiting until I can hear a grumble from our bedroom. When I went to get a drink half and hour later, I spotted her in the darkest hallway in the house near the front entrance, by our Shoe cabinet. She had one plastic bag on her lap, one shoe in one hand and the other free hand holding one side of the bag so she can shove the shoe in the bag. Oh, did I mention that she was amongst a pool fo shoes on the floor. It was not a mere 5-6 pairs of shoes, she had more than enough time to empty out our shoe cabinet up to the height that she can reach. I quickly and quietly walked to her side and squat beside her whilst the little one was in her own world of thoughts ( I  bet you her thoughts is in Shoe Land). Once she realised my presence, she quickly turned her head and smiled at me..

Once she finished, I quickly had a firm word with her and supervised her putting most of the shoes back to the shelf. I do have to reorganize the shelf again afterwards but I thought this way of educating her is the best way. I have told her that it is unacceptable to play with shoes and make her clean up after her mess. Maybe this is not the best way, but I hope it is a gentler way for her and she will eventually understand.

There are more cheekiness that she has done besides the shoe incident, If I mentioned all of them it will take me the whole day. For now, enjoy this little laughter and until then..

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas 2009 Everyone..

Hope most of you enjoy a well deserved break, laze around, sleeping in till late, spending time with the family, getting busy with all the dinner parties invite, eat lots of good food, but more importantly... Drink Heaps.. but please stay safe.
Our family, particularly I had a very busy Christmas this year. My Christmas week started on the third week of December where I had 4 Christmas Parties every day in the week, all in a row.
Festivities started on Wednesday afternoon for Christmas lunch with the team at work. We went to South Perth for a big lunch feast. Beef, Steak, Fried Calamari, Garlic Prawn, Pasta followed with Profiteroles and Cookies and Cream cheesecake for dessert.. Ah.. I think I am in Heaven.. but full as a bull.
Here are some of the mouth watering food for your hungry eyes..

Oh, did I fail to mention the bottles and bottles of Sparkling wine, tequila shots, a few glasses of Vodka Lime, and passing out after I got home right after hitting the bed? hihi.. Oh, I am blessed to have a husband who came back from overseas with the daughter on the right time and therefore can pick me up from the venue of this blissful day.

Next up we have the Nuffnang Bloggers Blue Christmas Party at Black Toms in West Perth. My first time ever meeting with all the Nuffnang bloggers in Perth. I had such a great time, meeting people with similar interest, not to mention happily posting in twitter and facebook without feeling guilty. Don't you feel bad to everyone around you when you are busily typing on your phone. This is the only time I can be on my mobile and chat at the same time without making people around you uncomfortable. I honestly didn't go crazy and drink my nights away, I do have drinks here and there but not excessively.. because I am still recovering from Wednesday and Friday I have another Christmas party and might be obliged (due to peer pressure ^_^) to drink like there is no tomorrow. Apologies if I don't mention everyone from Nuffnang christmas party but I just want to let you know my newly found blogger friend, It was so great meeting everyone of you and I loved every single one of your blog - I might not have the chance to read all of yours properly but hopefully amongst my hectic life, I can steal a few minutes of my time to read them..

Childhood101 - you will be my newly inspired Motherhood reading material
Tampaxtowers - loved all your stories, I feel like I see the world through your blog, so many cool things to see and do out there
RetroJetGirl - where I can seek wisdom on Fashion, especially vintage stuff.. umm.. I feel sophisticated
already
Siangmoh - loved all your randomness of your writting. I can hop onto your blog and read about things that I never even thought of writting.
Seraphim - for your wise thoughts in your writting; hopefully I can slowly start to see another side of everything in life.
Tanya and Kimmy for sneak peak into their life.

For more photos of Perth Nuffnang Blue Christmas Party, see the Flicker Collections here..
and Being Jus... and my love of camera and posing..

Next up, the Biggest Christmas Event of the year, Company Wide Christmas Party at work. Food stations type of party where you can visit each food station to get your food and drinks or wait for Canapes to be brought out. Big floor space so that everyone can mingle and talk to your colleagues and partners, and eat without elbowing the person next to you. Oh, did I mention that they have caricature painters who went around and draw a comical version of you, and did I also mention that we have Kevin Rudd impersonators and there is another random dude from Fawlty Towers and the best part of the night is.. they also have Photo Booth. Yes, it is the type of photo booth where you take your passport photos and you might be wondering why it is doing in our Christmas party, but it is definitely A Big Hit!

My final Christmas party is at Besties' house on the 25th where each of us brought a dish to share. It was great meeting everyone again and spend Christmas day with everyone who are left in Perth. Definitely was a night full of Mojitos, definitely worth doing it again next year... but for now, I think I will spend my days up until next Christmas hibernating and recovering.. For I have reached the another Birthday milestone this year and I sincerely think that I am getting old and this body of mine is in need for major service..

May you and your family are blessed with abundance of joy and love this Christmas and may this be a special one to you with lots of great food, drinks and people!

One Stop Shop

I have been keeping stash of Newborn nappies in case of emergency. Don't worry, We wont be having additional headcount in the family any time soon. I bought a few cartons as a stash, in case I will need to make Nappy Cakes for friends that are currently popping little ones out left right and center.

So tonight, when I had a spare 2 hours I made this. Something simple for a newborn baby boy who was born on Friday. I saw his photos in Facebook, he was so gorgeous and was also a whopping 3.8 kg if I am not mistaken.

Just want to post the photo of my latest creation before I forgot. Enjoy!!!

Oh, on another note, I have been putting little Shiori to bed, Me.. all by myself. It might not be the greatest achievements for a Mum point of view, but for this working mum who can never put Shiori to bed at night for some reason, 2 nights in a row means a very happy mum indeed. ^_^