imtheloveofHislife's Xanga

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:32:11 GMT

*leave me alone, i'm a twenty something*

the past few weeks have seen me strangely on edge. i haven't been able to put a finger down onto any particular point that resulted in this but it has left me restless and unable to focus. blessedly i haven't had any key deadlines or important projects on at work so it hasn't gotten me into any trouble.

however, i have had heaps of things to do on the personal front - moving house, furnishing it, planning my family's bangkok trip during cny, planning my trip to MEL in Jan and back home in Feb......on top of that, i've been feeling fat and unhealthy, and definitely not on the good end of a beauty regime (i do not like looking at the mirror recently). the latest "excitement" was this burning smell from the car which i ignored for 2 full days before sending it for a check up at the mechanic. turns out, oil was leaking all over the exhaust and i was "lucky" the car didn't catch fire as i kept on driving it (thank God for protection). it cost me a cool $400 though. sigh.

the stress of having to spend $$ and to search for furniture for the new pl is something entirely new for me. even worse was having to get electricity, gas and internet connection hooked up at the new unit. these definitely got me whinging about how i'd rather leave such adult things for my mum to do - i don't wanna grow up !!

it's a big reality check for me, seeing numerous friends getting married and some of them even having kids. oh gosh... that's one reason why i'm still staying on in australia and not wanting to move back to sg.... being here gives me somewhat a type of freedom which can't be found back home. not having to adhere to the norm of having to get married and then buying some blasted hdb flat and eventually having kids and becoming an auntie. that totally screams not being me (not saying that everyone is like that but seeing some photos of sec sch friends on facebook who seem to become like that doesn't bode well for a lovely crystal ball prediction).

whilst i do like calling back home to keep in touch with my family, it sometimes irks me when the mother starts questioning my plans for the future and reminding me in no uncertain terms that i am not getting any younger. yes mum, i am delusional thinking that i am benjamin button and i need you to give me that dose of reality. for sure it gives me the extra motivation not to become the norm and become like her *gasp*. unfortunately sometimes calling home and speaking to my mum feels like a chore and i breathe a sigh of relief when my sister picks up the phone instead.

i'm not saying that my life is perfectly the way that i want right now, but at least i know that it's all in my own hands (God-given of course). What i need to work on is to stop being lazy and actually doing the things that i want to do and to just stop procrastinating. I love sleeping in on weekends and strolling over to the cafe for a late brunch, or popping over to the beach for a relaxing sun bathing session (the mother would always nag me about doing that *rolls eyes*), or just taking a walk in the park, sitting on the grass looking at the pretty flowers, the occasional night out with the few friends i have here, the occasional (ok not THAT occasional) beer at the pub during lunch or a friday night ....and best of all, staying up in the middle of the night to watch sports and cheer on my team (mummy thinks i shld be in bed by 11 pm).... sure they aren't the most productive things or highest contributions to society....

But i'm still having fun and I guess that's the key.

Let me lie in. Leave me alone.

I'm a twenty something.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:38:33 GMT

*lonnngggg weekend*

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:09:36 GMT

*sea-change*

So last week we received the re-application forms for our current unit, with the accompanying rent increase for next year. at $490 a week, it certainly shocked the socks out of us.

it prompted me to get into an apartment-hunting frenzy, trying to check out the market. after some searching, i stumbled upon a nice new unit by Maroubra beach that got me excited. i enquired about the property via email, fingers crossed.

rental property hunting in sydney is a totally different game all together. horror stories have been told by colleagues of the competitive market out there due to the shortage of supply vs demand, esp during the peak periods (hello international students with heaps of money to throw). house inspections are stipulated on a certain day at a certain time period (usually only half an hour). Those desperate enough already have deposits in hand (cash no less) so upon stepping in, taking a cursory quick look, fill in the application forms and slams the deposit down. that way, the other potential tenants don't really stand a chance anymore.

in any case, this is certainly not the peak period for rental so surprisingly, the property agent emailed me back very promptly the next day to arrange for an inspection.

i went for my very first apartment inspection last Friday. i was very interested in the unit as it was brand new (property development just completed a few months back), right by the beach (how to find a beach house in sg???) and it was my favorite beach! the only problem was that it was just a bit small (pretty standard size in sydney to be honest) and that the place was abit too far for the boy to go to sch next year. anyhow, i took the application form back and was seriously considering applying for it.

attempts to discuss this with the boy failed as he was caught up with his thesis deadline and i found it really hard to make such decisions - it's all so very adult and financially-serious! moving would mean me forking out money for rent (i currently don't pay the rent , just pay for all expenses).

in any case, we decided to go ahead to apply for the apartment, and see where it took us. there was a bit of drama as we were rushing to meet the property agent the next day to submit the application but as usual, we were running late. by the time we were on the way there , he had left and gone to another place to show another apartment. we thus made a detour and found our way to Randwick to submit the application and dumped down one week's deposit as well.

the monday after, i texted the property agent and he said that the owners were still considering. but as there was another couple who also applied, i was quite disadvantaged as i was only willing to move in 1 nov while the other couple could move in ASAP. as it is, moving in nov will still incur an extra month's rent as we weren't able to get out of our current lease earlier. i kinda gave up on getting this unit. but i did find another unit in the same building and i decided to go check it out.

in the end, the same day tt i went to see the other unit, the property agent for the first unit called me and said that he was trying to get an answer from the owners that day. i was surprised as i had already taken that unit as a no-go and was planning to apply for the second unit which was cheaper.

to my surprise, an hour later, the property agent called and informed me that i had gotten that unit !!!!!! what are the chances??? seemed that the property agent was pushing for us to get the unit (i later found out that the other couple didn't put down a deposit so that was prob the reason why - the property agent had figured we wanted the unit more). but i shall attribute it to immense favour that the property agent had with us !!

the only downside to this whole saga was that i gave the property agent for the second unit a week's deposit before applying. as it is, 4 hours after that, i got the first unit. the second unit's deposit apparently can be refunded less one day's rate!!! i was incensed as she didn't inform me of that and i didn't apply as well so technically i couldn't be liable for it. i lodged a complain with the office of fair trade - hope i get my full refund back !!!!!

so anyway , finally get to sign the lease to and the realisation is starting to hit me that....... I GET TO LIVE BY THE BEACH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD !!!!!

getting so excited on furnishing the place - gotta be prudent though, coz it's gonna be very costly and well , it's still a rental place , not my real home.

sneak peeks to our new place:

front door leading up to the rest of the unit // bathroom // bedroom // laundry room

kitchen leading to living room (bathroom behind kitchen off laundry room) // proximity view of beach right at the front door

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:21:39 GMT

*THE ENERGY NEVER DIES*

no words can describe the energy on stage.

however, at most times, the energy on stage did not translate up to the seats. all the crowd-pleaser songs were performed, but the bantering from the Peas were not up to par. each had their own individual acts as well , of which most were brilliant except Fergie's as she sang all her old songs. also, does anyone else think that she's very slutty ? do not like "my humps" and her pandering to the demeaning lyrics tbh - did you really need to jiggle your breasts ?? final word on her - not very excellent singing voice , which was really bad on that night with it being very high pitch and sharp.

will.i.am was the most brilliant one of them all. the crowd really got going when he transformed the whole arena into a club and was spinning some great dance tracks including MJ's Thriller. awesome stuff that.

CL and I went nuts together with some others who got out of the seats and went to the open spaces to dance. unfortunately the security ushers had to spoil the fun by ushering us back to our seats. huh like SERIOUSLY ?!??!?!?

going back in time with "where is the love?" , slinging on a philosophical side to it by pushing world peace ; lights turned out and all encouraged to turn on their mobile phones lights to add to the atmosphere of "love"

while we partied inside , it was still raining outside. we ran through the rain to reach the car where the boy awaited -

thoroughly drenched but still on an adrenaline-pumped high

and this completed my outfit on a cold, wet, rainy night

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:51:19 GMT

*full blooded, dry-aged, marble-scored 9+*

so back during the last week of august, our full years results was released and the big boss was in town as per normal.

the usual orphan's dinner was slightly different this time round as there were guests from china to entertain in our usual chinese restaurant dinner + karaoke night out. the next night however , a second dinner out was in the books as well.

I got really excited when the choices for restaurants were either the Galileo or the Quay restaurant. i've always wanted to try out Galileo and this was a perfect chance. however, disappointment hit when both choices were all booked out. well, i wasn't surprised as it was a Friday night (28 aug for the record).

In the end, there was another choice that had a private room available - Rockpool was the scene and it's also considered one of the fabulous restaurants in Sydney.

we happily headed to the restaurant and i was quite surprised to find that it was really quite noisy on the lower level where the other patrons were dining. good thing we had our own private room which made the ambience far better.

when deciding what to order, we were super tempted to order the wagyu beef. however, at $110 a sirloin steak and $90 a rump steak, we were wondering whether it was polite to do so. however, with some specially-crafted conversation and questions to the big boss , got an open invitation to try the extremely expensive and extremely fabulous-sounding piece of meat.

for the entrees, i ordered this fantastic Charcoal Roasted Tasmanian Scallops with Herb Butter ($38 for 6 pcs). the waiter however came in after this point informing us that the sirloin cut was sold out for the night ! he offered the rib off the bone instead , saying that it is also very good. oh well, what else can we say right ?

the lead actor of the night came out in fine style and when my cut landed in front of me , i almost drooled. cutting off the first piece was such an anticipatory moment and when i finally placed that fine piece of fabulous-ness into my mouth , it was just pure heaven. i never liked marbling on beef coz ,well i couldn't eat fats. my body system simply rejects it . but this marbling was the real deal - picky me actually loved it ! it was melt-in-your-mouth awesome and juicy and gosh , simply the best steak i've ever eaten thus far.

unfortunately we didnt bring a cammie so i had to use my mobile . photos do not do justice to food since it was pretty dark in the room.

various sides were also ordered to share around the table. some of them were pretty good (onion rings, potato salad etc) while some were just so-so (there was this dish that absolutely tasted like "kiam chye").

dessert time soon swung by and we had a tough time deciding what to order as everything looked so yummy. we decided to just order different ones to share. we had a great time tasting all the desserts:

my Black Forest Trifle (inspired by The Fat Duck's BFG)

JP's Prune & Armagnac Creme Brulee

CL's QLD Strawberry Tart with Balsamic Ice Cream

YK's Apple Galette with Brown Butter Ice Cream and Candied Hazlenuts

Other desserts tried: Passionfruit Marshmallows (very very nice!!!!!) and Dark ChocolatebArk with Cashews and Sesames

Coffee and tea were served. I ordered a tea and the tea came in the cutest teapot. matching milk jug etc made the whole family thing even cuter:

the menus were so pretty i decided to keep them.

Extremely satisfying meal. not quite sure if i can afford to go back though!!!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:04:33 GMT

*orange skies in the morning, everybody's warning*

so the weather has been slightly crazed the past week (not that it is anything new). from a hot sunny day, to cold winds at night, it became very warm and humid two days back. when humidity hangs low in the air, we know for sure that a storm was brewing and rain would be expected. in addition, apparently 2 weeks ago when i went to albury for the day for work, there was a hailstorm in the vicinity of the office. i completely missed it having landed and gone straight home.

last night it was quite windy and cool. but i reckon no one expected the massive weather occurence today. i awoke to see an eerie orange glow peeking through the window shades. thinking it to be weird, i turned over under the covers, not quite weird-ed out enough to go check. the boy came into the room to wake me up and alerted me that "the sky was orange at 7 am this morning...very weird". as i pulled the shades away, i was stunned to see the view before me awashed in an orange glow. it was that kinda scene where you expect will smith to rock up in a black suit, packing heat in the form of an alien-destroying laser gun. i kid you not.

a massive dust storm has hit sydney.

as i stepped out of the house, it was such a surreal feeling, with the dusty winds swirling around you. upon reaching the carpark , i saw that all the cars were covered in orange dust. my poor car looked absolutely filthy.

apparently yesterday, a low-pressure system formed over southern NSW and gale force winds on the northern edge developed during the arvo. the winds then whipped up a great dust cloud which travelled across the whole state of NSW, hitting Sydney early this morning. i heard that at 6 am, the sky was crimson , slowly changing to orange by the time i woke up.

view outside my house

it totally wrecked havoc for flights with aircraft unable to land. from my desk in the office, i witnessed several qantas flights attempt to land, fail, and then fly around the airspace to join back the queue to land. yes, that's what aircraft do when they can't land - they form a sky-queue.

at about 12 - 1 pm, the skies were beginning to clear and soon we saw the very welcoming blue skies. the storm had actually travelled to queensland, with southern queensland hit till the Gold Coast airport had to be closed.

according to the news, there were more than 300 people affected with breathing difficulties. people were advised to stay indoors and minimise physical activity. my colleagues' apartment building even had the fire alarm triggered off by the smoke at 6 am. this was not uncommon with a reported 600 fire alarms triggered off by the dust storm.

adding to extreme weather problems, two earthquakes hit melbourne last evening.

it's really scary to think about how these extreme weather conditions are so real. oftentimes in singapore you hear about it ,you read about it but it doesn't strike home so closely as it is so hard to fathom such incidences in well-protected Singapore. it is indeed such a blessed country that most of us just take for granted , grumbling about the heat & humidity. i'm guilty of that as well.

it is indeed saddening to think about such phenomenons actually occuring around the world and worse. this is not the life that God meant for us to experience on earth. this is not the type of sufferings that we are created to undergo. i hate it when people label such occurences as "acts of God". it's pure ignorance i must say.

being able to take photos of such occurences and being alive and well? now, THAT is an act of God.

Lord, thank You for keeping us safe and protecting us wherever we are.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:07:21 GMT

*where the sun shines*

So it's been a torrid past few weeks at work as my workload has really been hitting the peak. This has accounted the for lack of updates and well , extremely delayed posts. however, i am still grateful that there are exciting things for me to blog about as i have been living a life and having heaps to do.

So the airline is gonna commence flights from Townsville to Mackay both up in sunny North Queensland. An official announcement was planned on 13 August and initially it was going to be a non-affair, until the big boss stepped in and wanted a small media event. This meant limited preparations and me going up the day before to set up. I got to choose to bring someone along to assist. V has some experience in setting stuff up and there wasn’t really anyone else so it was settled that she would go up with me.

Day 1

Woke up really bright and early to catch the morning flight , with a total lack of sleep since I was scrambling to pack the night before (not because I was packing too much for a one-nighter but because I came home very late from work). There was only one direct flight from SYD to TSV which was at 9 am – the rest were connecting flights which added about 1.5 hrs more to total block time. Got the boy to drive me to the airport and pick up V along the way. And he missed the turn. And we had to u-turn half way in the midst of the busy morning traffic with me panicking about missing our flight.

In the end, we got there just in time to check in the numerous boxes and items that we had to bring up to TSV for the announcement etc. WL, one of our GMs , was also going up to TSV for the announcement and we met him at the departure lounge.

The flight on Virgin wasn’t really the best. I attempted to catch up on sleep throughout since there wasn’t anything else to do and I was definitely not functioning well. Food & drinks as well as inflight entertainment were all available with the swipe of a credit card but being the lowly-paid kiasu Singaporean, it was a no-go. What was great though was the fact that you can actually watch Foxtel on the inflight entertainment system. This means that if I was desperate to catch the football match on Foxsports, I could do so while flying. How awesome is that?

3 hours later, we were in TSV – warmly welcomed by IZ, the representative from TSV airport (TAPL) who was doing a joint announcement with us. After unloading all our stuff into the office, mucking around and trying to get our bearings, V and I grabbed a quick lunch at the airport café, while WL went off for a quick meet and greet with the TAPL COO.

After finishing our official first meal in TSV, we headed back into the office where we met the pilots and flighties based in TSV. We currently provide charter flights for a gold mine, taking over from the previous operator which went under. The previous operator was born and bred locally so it was quite heart-wrenching for the people of TSV when it collapsed.

V and I then headed to the hotel to rest, after arranging with IZ to go for a drive around at 5 pm. As we were in North QLD, the sun wouldn’t have set by then so there would still be sufficient light for me to take photos (required for our marketing efforts). Oh how I miss that!

Stepping into the hotel room, we were very happy. When the locals all heard where we were staying, they all gave praise to the place. The room we were in was like a service apartment room, with a kitchenette, much like the one I stayed at in Terrigal. However, this kitchenette had a stove and all , plus it came fully equipped – pots, pans, utensils, glasses etc. you name it! How awesome was that!

The service balcony didn’t have the greatest view, but if I turned to the left, it had a view of the river (Ross river) that runs through TSV.

After getting all excited, we felt fatigue overcome us. Since we had a bit of time, both V and I sat on the couch and snoozed for a bit. However, IZ soon arrived and we headed out to experience the town of Townsville.

The main attraction in Townsville was this stretch along the sea called The Strand. IZ brought us to one end where there was this large rockpool (man-made of course).

We drove all along The Strand and into the city as we headed to our next stop – Castle Hill. Wasn’t sure if she was trying to make time (we had dinner plans with her boss and WL) or she was just not comfortable with the role of a tour guide, but she went through everything really fast that I couldn’t really capture great photos. I felt that I had to hurry up and go.

Driving up the winding road of Castle Hill, there were heaps of people who were ending their run/beginning their run down and up Castle Hill. It was really quite cool to have a hill/mountain so close by for your daily exercise. Gyms wouldn’t be doing too well in TSV I reckon.

When we finally reached the top, the view was fantastic – the timing couldn’t be more perfect as the sun was just beginning to set.

me and V

me and IZ

Thereafter, IZ dropped us off to the hotel where we got ready to meet for dinner later. We also found out that WL was just in the next room from us -_- the rooms set up was such that there was a main door, then a small space that splits into two doors. Hence our room numbers were like 28A & 28B. this meant that he could always hear us coming and going.

We made our way to “A Touch of Salt” for dinner. It was a really nice and cosy dinner place, although V and I couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest as we were getting a bit tired. Got introduced to her boss, K (COO TAPL) and he was quite enjoyable company. IZ became more amiable as well – V and I both agreed and we reckoned it was due to the more relaxed environment and the fact that we could take our time with dinner.

We ordered a round of beers (me with my favourite Golden Ale) and for the entrée, I ordered the “2 degrees of duck” which consists of a confit leg and a pan-fried breast. It was delish!

After a good dinner , we headed back to the hotel. WL asked if V and I were going to hit the town and we both responded that we were too tired to do anything. However, upon reaching the hotel, we were reluctant to waste our time there and decided to head out to take a walk. The night was lovely and we took a nice walk to check out our surroundings and had a good talk as well. it was quite hilarious as we attempted to keep quiet while walking out, but WL heard the doors slam and us giggling out loud apparently.

front view of the hotel

pool out front

Day 2

The next day, we got up leisurely (after I had managed to wriggle ourselves out of reaching the airport at 9 am), and were greeted with gorgeous weather and not-too-bad view.

Strolled to the nearest café where we were going to have a late brekkie and generally enjoyed the view on the way out.

holiday inn hotel - they call it the sugar shaker

apparently, this is one of the roughest hangouts around

the Ross river

Our ride came and we reached the airport, ready to get the media announcement underway. Everything went off without a hitch and ended off with a nice aircraft inspection

announcement in progress

some networking going on - man in blue tie is the deputy mayor of TSV

yeah i couldn't resist some camwhoring...

aircraft inspection - COO of airport, deputy mayor & WL

media photo op with our own flight attendant and special guests

With some time to spare before we head back to Sydney, V and I decided to have some downtime. We took the company car out and upon getting into the driver’s seat, I was shocked to find out that it was a manual car. The last time I drove manual was back in the US , about 5 years back? But I was game to prove one would never forget how to drive manual and also to keep current on my manual driving. After stalling twice (only because I got stuck at the exit), we left the carpark and found our way to The Strand.

The gorgeous weather allowed us to really enjoy ourselves, just sitting on the breakwater facing the sea. With the wind in our hair, we had a good chat.

really like this photo - the two kids were just enjoying the moment

We realized that we were next to a Cold Rock and we bought one each. I was surprised to learn that V had never tried it. Like , how is that possible?

Too soon, it was time to head back and we barely made it for our flight! Thank goodness we didn’t miss it and we were in Brissy for the connecting flight in no time. By this time we were absolutely starving and exhausted, and had no choice but to settle for the worse airport food ever.

funny toilet sign - virgin-style

very bad sandwich - more like eat and runaway !

brissy airport waiting lounge

V and I on the plane back to SYD !

It was a great trip all in all and am indeed blessed to be able to make the trip. Come October, I will be going up again as the inaugural flight takes off and I hope that I would have even more fun there, with an even more successful event.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:20:42 GMT

*in a class of his own*

Rounding off the delightful month of July was a long-awaited dinner at the famous Tetsuya’s. Having made the appointment a few months back, I was determined to arrive in Sydney from Singapore on the morning of the dinner. In an ideal situation, I would be fully awake and functional when I went for the dinner but I wanted to have my cake and eat it too , hence arriving at the restaurant with only 2 hours of aircraft sleep and a whole day of half-hearted attempts at work.

I was struck by the modernity of the décor of the restaurant. Having known the background of Tetsuya Wakuda, I mistakenly expected at least some traditional Japanese elements , but there was only an outdoor Japanese garden that betrayed the identity of the chef whose namesake was the restaurant.

Meeting E, my dinner companion for the night, we fell into an easy conversation talking about the restaurant as it was also his first time there.

Our waiter for the evening gave a brief introduction to the menu and the elements that will make up the menu - truffle, roe, cavier, wagyu beef, ocean trout …… it all sounded so great I couldn’t wait for it to start. He even stated that if there was anything that we didn’t like / eat , they could arrange for something to be changed. Though I don’t eat fish , I didn’t want to change anything as I wanted to experience what the chef intended for us to experience. After all, it must mean something for him to carefully select the courses. The waiter ended off the introduction with “you can ask me anything, anything at all.” to which I cheekily asked if the chef was in , and if he would see me. The response was positive and I was looking forward to meeting the chef.

We first ordered a bottle of Riesling – Grosset Springfield from Clare Valley, SA. It was a good bottle which lasted us all the way till the end of the meal , almost never-ending!

Bread was accompanied by Tetsuya's special spread - truffled butter with parmesan. It was the best spread ever and I had to reign myself from gobbling up too much bread to make space for the rest of the course.

The first course that came was the Cepe & Chestnut Mushroom Soup with Shaved Mushrooms , which was as light as it was robust in flavor.

Next was the Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar with Egg Yolk. I was surprised at how good it was, esp since it looked very “ocean-y” in taste. The egg yolk was an excellent combination to “break” the taste of the sea.

The third course was the Leek & Crab Custard , which was like a very good chawanmushi. I very nearly wanted to lick the cup clean…….

The second best dish of the night came in the form of Marinated Crystal Bay Prawns with Soy Caramel. I never would’ve expected the raw prawns to be so sweet yet savoury, crunchy and refreshing. I had to put in a great deal of effort to savour the dish and not just gobble the whole thing down.

Conversation at the table was great as well, with us chatting about almost everything under the restaurant lights. I spied the chef around this time, talking to another table.

My sommelier for the night, Nic, was just excellent, proving the great service that such renowned restaurants provide. He was from Southern France and had been working at Tetsuya’s for seven years. He had a great sense of humour as well and I enjoyed having random banter with him in between our top-ups.

Tetsuya’s signature dish was the fifth course – Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Apple, Daikon & Wasabi Seasonal Green Salad. The dish looked as exquisite as it would have been on the cover of a cookbook. As I put the first bite into my mouth, a feeling of excitement rushed over me as I experienced the many different flavours of the combination of fresh ocean trout, konbu (Japanese seawood) and the many other elements in just that one single bite.

Pure bliss.

Oh I didn’t want that dish to end , but it was also such a generous serving of trout that I didn’t feel like I was shortchanged.

Around this time, the chef stopped by my table! He was so down-to-earth and so obliging in conversation that we both really enjoyed our conversation with him. I took the chance to pepper him with questions, in order to get into the mind of such a renowned chef. I know the boy would’ve been so jealous. Heh. When he found out that I was from Singapore, he was heaps excited and said that he calls Singapore his second home. When E told Chef how I purposely landed in Sydney that morning so that I could make it for the dinner, Chef actually said, “thank you, it’s my privilege to have you here tonight.” Like , how humble is that?????? As I was praising his dishes, he just looked so … I dunno…. Shy? Happy? There’s such an honesty and genuine air about him that you can’t help being in awe and full of respect as much as you are aware of his reputation and brilliant way with food.

After such an excitement meeting the Chef and eating the signature dish, the next course of Terrine of Queensland Spanner Crab with Avocado Cream and Buckwheat was the perfect dish to calm the senses. The tender and succulent spanner crab meat melted in the mouth together with the nori wrapped around it.

The Grilled Fillet of Barramundi was next – the barramundi was really fresh but it didn’t impress me that much.

The real meat came out in the form of the Wagyu Beef with Lime & Wasabi. The way to eat the beef was to squeeze a dash of lime, a touch of wasabi and a lick of salt to enjoy the beautiful tender juicy medium rare wagyu beef……. *bliss*

Last of the meat courses was the Twice-cooked De-boned Spatchcock with Spelt Risotto & Manjimup Truffles. I had never tried spatchcock prior and was quite excited to do so. The big sliver of truffle topping the spatchcock was certainly very exciting as well. When the waiter came and placed the dish in front of me, I look straight at him and was stunned. I continued looking at him as he served E because….

Look who was serving me!!

How awesome was that? I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Omg you look like Federer!!!! (yes if you couldn’t tell from the photo, it was a Federer lookalike). The waiter said that I wasn’t the first to say that and he was quite tickled at my amazement. However, the resemblance ended there as he was from Perth. So was the truffle , ok well not exactly Perth but from Western Australia.

The spatchcock was tender and juicy , much like chicken but less of a poultry taste. Not quite sure if that was a result of the cooking or the meat itself.

By this time, I went to the ladies and was rather embarrassed to not be able to figure out which was the men’s and which was the women’s. The modern décor of the restaurant resulted in extremely abstract images on the doors of the toilets which are used to indicate the gender. I took a chance and turned into the first door , pushed open the second door inside and saw a man!!! Quick as a fox, I darted out ensuring that no one ever saw me. Haha.

I went back to the table and saw the waiter approach with a bag – E handed the bag to me with the gift of an autographed copy of Tetsuya’s cookbook! What a pleasant surprise!

The first of the desserts was served, with a savoury spoon of Cannellini Beans with Mascarpone to ease our taste buds into the desserts. It had an interesting taste to it.

Next up was the Spiced Pear Sorbet with Orange Jelly & Custard Apple and Mont Blanc Chestnut Cream with Chewy Meringue . To refresh the taste buds, the spiced pear sorbet was the perfect item – so light, so refreshing yet so titillating to the tongue with the cinnamon spice. I didn’t think too much of the accompanying chestnut ice cream… thought it was nice but just pretty normal. The chewy meringue was very yummy though.

Something extremely exciting came up next - Lemon-Scented Floating Island with Vanilla Bean Anglaise. This was a pretty meringue (the floating island) with a dash of lemon ~~sitting~~ floating on a vanilla bean cream. The meringue was like a taste of heaven , so soft so marshmallow-y, so great…..so…… ooohh……

Last of the desserts was the Chocolate Ganache with Green Tea & Red Beans. Pure chocolate heaven oozing out of the ganache with pieces of green tea and red beans swirled in the mousse beneath.

For my tea, I chose Earl Grey and it came in this great copper vintage teapot.

The petit fours came with the tea: muffin with raspberry centre (not that great), chocolate macaroon (fantastic) and green tea marshmallow (fabulously yummilicious).

Thus ended the extremely satisfying degustation course which made me extremely full – you wouldn’t think that would be the case for a degustation course.

However, the delight hadn’t ended yet. Whilst I had the greatest time bantering with the sommelier and the waiters, not forgetting the great meeting with the Chef and great conversations with my dinner companion, the night culminated with a nice surprise when I went to get my coat to leave. The sommelier handed me a bag saying, “With compliments of the chef.” Inside the bag was a bottle of truffle salsa (for butter), a bottle of salad dressing vinaigrette and a bottle of oyster dressing vinaigrette. These are all Tetsuya’s products which I’ve always wanted to try. I was definitely heaps excited and surprised at this – the Chef must have really enjoyed our conversation that much , or else he really was happy that there was a Singaporean eating at his restaurant.

It was really one of the best dinner experiences of my life and I was just on such a high after that. This was indeed an awesome rounding off to the month of July.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:05:42 GMT

*they came, i stalked, we met*

It’s been too hard to actually keep up with blogging about my many activities in July, as the work load right now is killing me. but I am forcing myself to just note down what I have done, for the mere fact that I am proud of getting off my working butt and getting a life.

So I decided to add another item to my “just do it” list when I confirmed my flights back to Singapore – a spontaneous decision to fly back just to watch the Liverpool game vs Sg, and perhaps throw in a dash of stalking since I wasn’t working anyway. I hadn’t the faintest idea how to do such things and even had a reality-check with God on the absurdness of it. Well, He didn’t tell me that I was crazy nor was I worshipping them humans … and so He gave me the available seats on the flight back with my frequent flyer points and my July was absolutely the fullest it had ever been.

I tried to look for information on the team’s movement in Singapore and got some – the internet is an amazing vehicle. However, I had no concrete plan in mind and just left it as that. I did guess the email of S. McMahon , former ‘Pool player and current Sg football pundit / director of Profitable Group which was the org. responsible for bringing ‘Pool to Asia. And I emailed him indicating how I would like to meet the team and if there were any meet the fans sessions (completely in the dark about all the promos and competitions in Sg). He couldn’t help me due to security reasons *rolls eyes*.

Day 1 – 24 July 09

Anyhow, my journey started when I rushed down to Vivocity after perming my hair to catch a glimpse of the players who were making an appearance. My initial plan was to go to Jurong Point, but Torres wasn’t going to be there. There wasn’t a mention on who was going to be at Vivo, so I took a gamble that Torres might be there (I also mistakenly thought that he was sponsored by Adidas). I wandered around not knowing where the Adidas store was (Vivo is always such a maze) but eventually stumbled upon the mass of people outside the store just peering in, cameras in hand. I joined the crowd.

Couldn’t see anything and asked those around me who were in the store. Their reply? “I think the Liverpool team” DUH. That was what I said to them and demanded to know which players. None knew. *rolls eyes* anyhow , it was Kuyt, Riera, Insua and Kelly , later I found out as they came to the front of the store and waved at the fans through the glass window. And then they were gone.

Completely unsatisfied, I made the decision on the spot to head straight to the Mandarin Oriental, where I knew they were staying at. The stalking begins!

Reaching the hotel, I spotted 2 fans (a couple) on the right side of the entrance. I was surprised not to see anyone else. I headed straight to where they were, wary of the heaps of security milling around the entrance. I spoke to the couple for abit and the security manager came to them to tell them that they had to wait over the other end beyond the barricades. So we walked all the way to the other end, where I saw more Liverpool fans. I decided to wait at the barricades instead of the area where they were all sitting – after all I was alone. After a while, the same security manager walked over and told me, “I tell you something , you dun spread ok? I just checked and the area where you were just now is actually ok for you to wait. Dun tell everyone else lah ok?”

I slowly made my way back to near the entrance – the couple were talking to the other fans and I wanted to tell them that we could wait back there ,but I didn’t want to let the other fans know. Too bad. They saw me walking away and waved , gesturing to me to ask what was going on. So I took a photo of them , pretending to just be taking photos.

I reached the original waiting site and there were two other people there – smoking. I thought they were just guests / staff. One of them, Max, started talking to me, asking if I was waiting for the team - turns out he was a Liverpool fan too, and he was meeting some other friends for dinner at the Oriental before heading for the training session. He also had a pass that allowed him to access some areas – obtained quite not so legitimately. Anyhow, he brought me into the hotel and showed me the areas where the players have been spotted. As we sat at one of the cafes that had a good view of the lifts, drinking my chamomile tea, he gave me a crash course on how to stalk the players, as well as of his experiences in meeting the players. We were sitting at the entrance of the café but still had some areas blocked from our view , so we moved to the seats just outside the café.

And I scored my first sighting – Sammy Lee !

I ran alllllllll the way over to him, very gan cheong, and asking if I could have his autograph and if I could take a photo. I was soooooo excited and a noob at it that I was struggling just to open my marker pen and drew all over my own hand! LOL. That was the end of my stupid gan cheong persona as Sammy Lee was an absolute gem – extremely nice and obliging.

I went back waiting with my chamomile tea and chatting with Max and then we spotted Rafa Benitez coming down the lift (thank God for see-through bubble lifts!). I grabbed jersey, marker and camera and sprinted to the lift lobby where he would be coming out from. I politely asked for an autograph and then a photo. He obliged heartily with a heavily Spanish-accented, “ok ok come on. Click click click!”. As there weren’t anyone else around, I had to engage in taking a “self-take photo”.

S. McMahon was also spotted and I spoke to him. He remembered my email and apologized for not being able to help. He seemed abit … I dunno … stoned? Couldn’t really keep a proper conversation. He did give me an extra “Kop Comes to Asia” scarf though, but he was just a bit of a perve as well.

I subsequently found a good spot to sight the team – they had all their meals in one of the ballrooms and had to come through the lift lobby to the room.

I joined a few of other waiting fans waiting at an area where they had to walk past to get to the meals room, cordoned behind two bars and rope, just waiting for the players to walk past , calling out their names each time they did , and just hoping that they’ll stop and come our way for autographs and photos.

It all became a blur as players after players came by, some stopping, some just walking off acting oblivious to the calls of their name. there were one or two kids with us and even their kiddish voices failed to beckon them over. Some do stop on their way back to the lifts – I reckon a full stomach made them in a better mood. I was extremely excited at seeing those players in the flesh, it’s not like something I have ever done before. They all looked rather tired though and I wasn’t surprised considering their grueling schedule and unfamiliar hot weather. During the times of waiting about , I realized how hard it must be for them. I learnt that they weren’t allowed to leave the hotel at all by themselves to do anything, and if I were them, it wouldn’t be too fun to just be roaming around the hotel with the hordes of fans waiting to grab a piece of them. It’s hard to ignore fans I must say.

G. Johnson was very friendly and i said a very friendly "welcome to Liverpool" to him and he was surprised and replied "thank you very much" in such a geniune manner.

After meal time was over for all of them, many fans headed to the Indoor Stadium for the training session. I was offered a ticket to go but I declined as I had promised a family steamboat dinner at home. I doubt the training session would’ve been much productive for me to be there anyway.

As I headed to the ground floor, I decided to go to the ladies. Walking out of it, I met one of the fans who were upstairs with me. Just as we were chatting about next steps, Kenny Daglish appeared from the lift! Yes, King Kenny himself. As he walked past me with bodyguards around him, I made an approach for an autograph and got swiped away by the bodyguard. I backed off respectfully and next thing I know, Daglish turned around, said “no no, thei re’s time for one. Come on” walked towards me and signed an autograph + took a photo. The other fan who was with me was surprised coz apparently Daglish wasn’t in a good mood the evening before and kinda walked off from all the fans waiting outside for him.

I lingered around behind the cordoned area, waiting for the players to walk through to get out to board the bus awaiting outside to take them to their training session. Sure enough, every single player had to walk through and amidst all the screams, some of them walked through without even turning a head.

Y. Benayoun was one of the few players who stopped. being so inexperienced, i didn't bring a board for my jersey to be signed. he had a bit of problem signing my jersey and he was so nice about it , saying "ok you gotta stretch it ... stretch it more" .... Hahahah ....

J. Carragher stopped but i couldn't get an autograph. he did take my marker pen though and signed for others. after signing for the person next to mine, i thought i would get it, but then he left! and he gave my marker pen to the bodyguard. grr ... wth ?

When Torres appeared, it was pandemonium all around. People who were waiting from another end pushed over and it was just madness. I got to him to sign my jersey, but couldn’t get to asking to take a photo such was the near hyper-ventilating situation there. Same thing happened when Alonso appeared.

I did go back later that night when the players had gone back to their hotel and were to have their late dinner. But I was just a tad too late and missed them. Hanging around there became quite tedious for me as the day had taken its toil on me and I was extremely exhausted. Not to mention the fact that I was meeting a friend for drinks thereafter. This prompted me to decide against going for the river cruise the next arvo as I thought it would be better for me to sleep in and stake out the hotel later in the arvo again.

i met a very crazy fan as well , VJ , who had tattooed his whole back as a tribute to LFC. besides the name and liverbird, he had also tattooed the various titles / cups and the years that LFC had won.

Day 2 – 25 July 09

I was quite focused by now, feeling extremely experienced and knowing what to do. I also had an insider on my last dialed who was one of the many who had booked hotel rooms at the Oriental. Yes, it was quite easy to start talking to the other fans who were hanging around there, and most of them are very willing to help. Fellow Singaporeans mostly. I must say that the china and hongkong fans (esp the female ones) weren’t doing much favour for the image of asian women.

Reached the hotel in good time, when the players were already back from their successful river cruise. Had arranged to meet nessie at the hotel, whom I had excited much with my updated SMSes from the day before while I was meeting the players and she was stuck at the office … LOL. The insider at the hotel had informed me that G. Johnson, D. Kuyt and P. Reina were up at the pool tanning and relaxing. This meant that the players were having some free time to themselves, which kinda meant it was hard to track them down. The upside was that if you were at the right place at the right time, you could meet one of them. After hanging around at the usual spot for some time, I decided to head up to the pool to see if we could catch those players up there, since nessie hadn’t met anyone yet, and I hadn’t managed to get a photo with Reina.

Talk about right place right time, just as we got out of the lift on the level where the pool was, Riera happened to walk through, wanting to take the lift back to his room! I already had a photo with him and his autograph so it was nessie’s chance! He initially tried to ignore but then nessie, in desperation, deployed my pleading “pleaaaaassssseee” strategy and he stopped! LOL ….

Getting up to the pool, it was quite easy to see where the players were – the section where there was a group of fans in red looking eager to get through. We both headed towards the area where we saw the fans get through the guards. But the bodyguard there told us off fiercely with a “no more. leave them alone.” I decided to catch Reina’s attention, coz I know that if the players gave the go-ahead, the bodyguard couldn’t stop us. Catching Reina’s eye, I started gesturing to him that I wanted to take a photo. Initially he gave a sheepish “oops I can’t , the bodyguards are there” look and gesture, then I started gesturing “pleaaaaaseeeee … just one photo!!!”. He then stood up and walked over!!!!

We headed back down to the usual area waiting for the players’ meal time to swing by. It went well as we got a few more photos and autographs – for those players that bothered to stop of course.

J. Carragher finally finally stopped and I requested to take a photo with him. He obliged surprisingly and I had no idea what possessed me to loop my arm around him. When nessie was about to take the photo, this idiot behind her swung a jersey over to try to get an autograph. Nessie move the camera away and snapped. I wanted to take another again but Carragher shrugged me off and moved away. Arrrghhhh …… the photo turned out blurred and dark, but at least you can at least still see us in the photo. Bloody hell. Carragher is known to be impatient and not very friendly though. This other fan was going to take a photo with him but the person helping to take a photo didn’t know how to use the camera and fiddled with it too much. Carragher than said “it’s taking too long” and walked off! Poor guy didn’t get the photo.

Still no Torres photo as it became a mass hysteria again when he came by. As it was a Saturday, there were much more people compared to the day before as everyone were off work / off school. I was so glad that I did my Friday stake out as that yielded way better results.

Unfortunately, as the players were not going for training, it became difficult to monitor their movements next. I had initially thought they were going for training, that meant that they would be leaving at 1830 hrs. I would then head off for my girls night dinner. That did not happen and I had send apologies for a dinner cancellation. Drinks and chicken wings were still on the agenda though and I was determined to leave on time no matter what.

i bumped into C. Rourke though and she had a great new haircut! she's one of the LFC presenters that i watch quite often as i watch the programs on LFC TV on my e-season ticket. she's fab!

From the grapevine, it seems that the players were going out to do a spot of closed-door shopping and monitoring the situation on hand, there wasn’t any point in staying as they were going out through another door where barricades were already set up and the clueless fans who had been waiting outside of the hotel all along were already having their faces pressed against the barricades. i doubted that the players would stop for autographs at all so decided to head down to Holland V to meet the girls.

It took me ages to get a cab out as it was a Saturday and the hotel guests were all eager to go out. But I finally reached Holland V and the girls were also excited at my exploits! Haha!

Day 3 – 26 July 09

This was the last chance to meet the players, as they were playing the national team that evening and flying off straight to England after. I actually got up very bright and early to reach the hotel at 7.30, in order to catch the players to and from brekkie. I had been informed that would be the best time and well , there would be slightly lesser fans around. I got there in good time, driving through the ECP with hardly any vehicles around on a Sunday morning. Of course I had never been around so early in the morning before, and I marveled at the quietness and peacefulness of a cool Sunday morning in Sg.

Brekkie didn’t yield much as the players stumbled to and from the lift to the meals room, probably trying to focus on the day ahead. Torres completely didn’t stop at all. At all. We then made our way down to the lobby as we had received news that they players were going for a last min training session after brekkie. As I took the lift down, Sammy Lee got into the same lift as well! I then confirmed with him that there was a training session and what time training was to get a good gauge of what to do next. Waiting at the lobby, I befriended a couple more other fans, including two blokes from Adelaide (originally from Greece & Cyprus though) who came down to see the team. We learnt how to say “I love you” in Spanish to shout to Alonso when he walked past.

None of the players stopped when they were walking past to get out. We guessed as much as they needed to be focused. But when Alonso walked past, I shouted “Te Quiero” very loudly and he actually smiled! LOL ….

We decided to wait for them to get back. We weren’t allowed to wait at the usual area for the players to come back, so we waited at some sofas, after ensuring that we can get our front line spaces later. It was really funny coz some of the hotel staff completely recognized me after having been there for the past few days!

I grabbed a quick bite from Marina Sq and went back to the lobby, chatting with the other fans. We had informed the hotel staff to signal to us when they received news that the players were coming back. At around the time, the barricades started coming up and we took our places while still chatting and taking photos.

there was a couple there, who were really cool. the lady was pregnant and still chasing the team! but she wasn't too heavily pregnant hence her husband permitted her to do so. they had their wedding photos taken in their liverpool jerseys. they then used those photos to do up a board where they were getting the players to sign on. this gave me the idea to have the boy and i wear our respective man utd & liverpool jerseys for our wedding photos! hahah....

One of the girls, R, was a massive Alonso fan and she was so determined to get a photo with him. By that time I was also only hoping to get a photo with him and Torres. When the players came back, some of them stopped, while others *cough* Torres *cough* didn’t stop at all. Alonso was one of the last few players to come off the bus and he stopped .. at the other side! We were torn between going over to that side or just staying at our side at the front line. Good thing we stayed (we wldn’t be able to get much at the other side) coz when Alonso walked over to our side, he stopped as well !!!! it was pure pandemonium as everyone started pushing and trying to get a piece of him. R climbed over the rope to his side to take a photo (we had exchanged cameras to take the photos for each other). I decided to follow suit and completely climbed onto the ledge of the water pond ornament thing that cordoned us off from the left side. Alonso saw that and was like “be careful! Be careful!” to me. I know, it sounds soooo groupie but I swear it wasn’t that dangerous! This malay girl got to him before me and I had to back off to let her take her photo first. The guy taking the photo for her was sooooo slow and I was so scared that Alonso would just walk off after! The guards and me were shouting “hurry up!” coz it really was taking too long. Finally it was my turn and I literally climbed onto him to get the shot perfect. Unfortunately, R didn’t take a good photo and Alonso was confused with so many cameras he didn’t look straight into my cammie. Nevertheless it was still a good photo and I knew that with him leaving Liverpool soon, it was my last chance.

The bodyguard who was up the pool had made appearaces while i was staking out the different locations. at one of them, i read his name off his pass and said it out loud - Adam Eyre. with quick reflex, he crossed both his arms over the pass to cover it! Hilarious stuff that! after Alonso left, the barricades went off and Adam was still around. i cheekily asked "Adam, can i have a photo with you pleassseeee??" he was stunned and laughed, transforming the very fierce bodyguard face into a friendly smile. hahahaha.... what a transformation!

The stalking was finally over and I headed home, to bring my sister out to celebrate her birthday and to get ready for the match that evening.

Match at National Stadium

It was such a mad rush for me as the outing with my mum and sis took longer than expected. I still had to go to the boy’s place to pass stuff to his parents and to get stuff from his parents. I decided to park the car at their place as I was running late and didn’t really know where to park. the boy’s dad was nice to offer me a ride to the Stadium. By this time, nessie and her family had been at the stadium for some time already. Reaching the Stadium, I was appalled to see the long long long long line snaking around outside just to get up the steps on the East entrance (Kop side).

As I was lining up , there was a group of blokes behind me talking very loudly…. I turned and realized one of them was my friend! What are the chances!

As my jersey had autographs all over, I couldn’t wear it anymore. I didn’t have time to buy a new one and just popped into the queue to buy the new away jersey to wear. They didn’t have female sizes of course and I had to purchase the smallest male size jersey. I finally found my way to the seating area where nessie was. Let the fun begin!

shooting for warm ups.....

I was quite disappointed that our national anthem wasn’t played but YNWA was. I mean I didn’t complain that much coz it was very fun singing it. A big flag was being passed around the stadium and I got to know how it felt like to pass the big flag. It was heaps of fun!

the teams finally came out to cheers and shouts from the stadium...

The first half of the game was very boring with Singapore playing ten-man in the penalty area. Everyone started doing the Kallang wave to entertain themselves. Then Liverpool opened the scoring and I realized one fan in front of us brought poppers to celebrate each Liverpool goal! (wouldn’t know if he would celebrate the Singapore goals coz there weren’t any).

The second half got more interesting as Liverpool got more energized, the Lions got more tired, and the star players started to come on. When I spied “9” on the change board, I shouted to nessie that Torres was coming on! The stadium started erupting when more and more people noticed and when the announcer said “number 9…” it was a mass eruption of cheers and screams with “Fernando Torres” being lost in the noise.

Only the arrival of Alonso brought on louder cheers, with many fans shouting for Alonso waaaaaaay before. I reckon by this time all the fans were on a high, I know I was. We were all having heaps of fun just shouting and cheering with all the near misses. There was this malay boy sitting behind us who was just hilarious. With every cheer that he shouted, he completely went off-key. Was such a pity that we didn’t record it, but nessie and I bend over with rib-breaking laughter each time he shouted.

The atmosphere was a bit boring most of the time though, I was very disappointed that there wasn’t a mass singing of the Torres song. Good thing that after Torres scored (that went crazy), the malay boys started singing so nessie and I joined it. LOL. My classic quote of the game was “this is the more boring Kop ever!” Sigh.

I was more disappointed that the Lions didn’t put up a good enough fight and didn’t even score a goal. I would have been so proud of it. Lionel Lewis was brilliant though and only after he came on did Liverpool stopped the onslaught of goals.

Too soon, the game was over and the players were presented with the “Merlion Cup” *cough cough* and then they took a lap around the stadium waving to the fans.

And then they were gone.

all of us hung around to camwhore for a bit as there were more girls than guys in our group !

re-enacting the new liverpool away jersey ad - the 12th man

And that ends my Liverpool FC in Sg adventure – something I completely enjoyed and didn’t regret. For sure, that spurs me to get my arse to Anfield sooner rather than later.

.YNWA.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:14:34 GMT

*with the snow beneath my feet and the wind in my hair…*

let it snow let it snow let it snow…..

to make up for me not being around on the boy’s birthday (I would be in Singapore catching my beloved Liverpool FC), i offered to pay for the whole ski trip for the boy. This was something we planned to do anyway and we were both stoked when July swung by.

However, our long-awaited ski trip was almost cancelled as the boy was coughing like nobody’s business, and feeling very sick right up to the day before the ski trip. I was very worried that if I forced him to go / he blarfs me that he was fine and still went , he would like contract pneumonia (he has a history) or just get extremely sick when we get back. And it would be my fault. Not to mention, I finally succumbed to the sick people around me and got a cold two days before.

Anyhow, we decided to proceed as he was feeling better and we bought last minute supplies the night before and packed hastily. The plan was to fly from Sydney into Albury (via my airline hence flights were FOC) on the 0750hrs flight, reaching Albury at 0915hrs, catch the Falls Creek bus at 0945hrs and reach Falls Creek around noon-ish.

I managed to wake up on time but we almost missed the flight as the boy had to park the car at my office (really near the airport) and walk to the airport. I had already checked in our baggage and by the time he reached, the flight was closed. Thankfully as I am a staff member, they permitted him to check in (also because there wasn’t any check in baggage). Phew. Stage 1 of travel got through. From then, everything went through without a hitch.

We reached Falls Creek just half past 12 and had to take the oversnow vehicle up to our accomodation – Feathertop Alpine Lodge. This was on the higher part of the mountain and hence it would have been near impossible to lug our baggage, slipping and sliding all the way up. The $17 per pax was a must-incur cost.

Once at the lodge, we wasted no time. I geared up in my hot pink borrowed ski jacket and my ski pants (which I purchased back in the US yons ago – it’s still in extremely good condition and very warm). The boy unfortunately didn’t have any ski gear and we embarked on finding some for him. In the end, he just hired his jacket and pants from the same place that we hired our equipment – me & my skis / poles , him and his snow board.

We were off immediately after purchasing our half day pass. Up onto the chair lift and to the top of the mountain, with excitement in our hearts. I was particularly more excited as the last time I skied was in the US like what, 4 years ago? Gosh. The boy had snow boarded in Japan earlier this year so he was also eager to further hone his skills this time round. Weather-wise was perfect – good snow and the sun was out. What a great day.

I completely only remembered the basics of skiing and had to do the beginner stuff initially. My intention was to take a refresher lesson, but I had already missed the one in the arvo at 1330hrs. after some time of mucking around, towards the end of the day, I decided to go on one of the green runs right down to the foot with the boy – the Wombat run. it was such an exhilarating feeling to just go down a run. Although for the life of me I couldn’t remember how to veer left & right in parallel, I just “pizza pie” my way down. Proudly, I only fell like twice after going out of control with the speed.

We went back to the lodge when the lifts closed. It was such a tragic walk back up to the lodge, balancing the skis and poles, walking in snow boots. Omg when I reached this metal stairs that we had to go up to reach our lodge, I didn’t know if I should be thankful for that or not. Slowly but surely, we reached the side door of the lodge where we could enter the ski room to leave our skis / boards in there (how awesome is it, the lodges are all ski-in/ski-out). I had a lot of difficulty getting up the last slope to reach the door that I was practically crawling up the slope everytime we went back.

outdoor spa just outside the ski room

At the lodge, we relaxed in the front area where there was a real fireplace with some lemon & honey drinks. As we weren’t feeling too good, we brought heaps and heaps of lemons and a bottle of honey. It was a good call I must say as the lemon & honey drink was extremely useful for us.

We decided to have dinner at the in-lodge restaurant which was supposedly well-known. The food was excellent, but a tad expensive.

My mushroom tart

His blue-eyed cod (which he insists it's barramundi)

the most delicious baby meringue dessert

i walked out of the dining area and stumbled upon this picture-perfect scene

The room that we had was really tiny - i was abit shocked by that. when selecting this accomodation, i decided upon it due to the pricing. however, i wasn't inclined to complain much about it since we just needed a place to sleep and dump our stuff.

The next day, we planned to wake up early for the hot brekkie (part of the package) and then go for a full day ski. But as the boy wasn’t feeling too well, we decided to sleep in (though we slept at like , 9 pm the day before!) and go for a half day ski.

It was fun gearing up in the ski room and skiing right to the base where the lifts were, as opposed to walking all the way down. Wheeee !

This time round I went for a lesson but felt that it was a waste of my money. I shld’ve perhaps gone for a higher level one. Nevertheless, I managed to ask him some questions which gave me some tips on controlling my speed. It was much easier doing the runs after that, since I knew what I was doing, compared to the first day where I was more or less just gliding my way down. However, the weather seemed to have gone a tad warmer the night before and hence, the slopes were very icy. The snow machines were turned on and with the snow flying around and the fog that somehow settled, visibility was poor. It was also very very windy and hence very very cold. I had to put on the full balaclava to cover my face as it was getting whipped.

By the end of the day, the boy was very tired so I knew that it was a good thing that we didn’t do a full day run. Dinner this time was the instant noodles that we purposely brought to save money. The hot and salty instant noodles were just so delicious in the extreme cold weather. Haha….

All too soon, the last day swung by and we managed to sneak in half a day of skiing before having to catch our bus back to Albury. We got up bright and early for our hot brekkie and skied to the base. This time round the boy had to carry a backpack filled with our footwear and his clothes to cater for after we returned our equipment. Not very fun.

The weather was slightly better on the third day with beautiful snow. It was snowing but wasn’t too windy. The fog was still there though and visibility was still extremely bad. Going up the chairlifts were heaps fun, except that it was totally freezing when we took the chairlifts from up at the top due to the higher altitude. It was also steeper there so I was completely imagining falling off the chairlift and pathetically being lost in the cold. Ok that was abit far-fetched as could see skiers below us. That means we were above runs and well, someone will surely find me should I be lost there.

The boy popped his shoulder on our second last run , so he trodded back the rest of the way down while I skied. I decided to do another run on my own to utilize the time up till the very last minute. It was an extremely satisfying run.

On the way back to the lodge, I insisted on stopping to play with the snow and cam-whore abit. *lol* …. The snow was really too good to resist.

Reaching back home in Sydney, we were absolutely eager to get back on the snow soon. Perhaps next winter. It really is too expensive a trip to go twice in a year.