Golf

I look forward to golf after work everyday. These are taken by Oka today at Whaleback Golf Club while I was practicing my swing.

My early v'day present

was very sweet. I was pleasantly surprised. :)

Good news

• Passed all my papers and have officially graduated
• Collapsed garage ceiling & derailed roller door fixed
• Just had a relaxing facial
• 5 days away from vacation

Chilling at the beach...

Woke up early in the morning today to go to Trigg Beach, accompanied Oka to catch some abalones which we are going to cook for tonight. It was totally refreshing, good weather and all. And we went to the winery to have lunch and some wine. It was such a chill day. Loving it!

There's more to life...

I've been spending a lot of my free time either appreciating nature outdoors or cooking when I'm home. I think I've come to understand that there's more to life than just shopping. Of course I still love shopping, but it doesn't have to be one of those things I must do every single day or weekend anymore. I'm loving my new life. Hee. =). Perhaps this is part of growing older.

Espresso Machine

We bought a home espresso machine y/day, in a hot-red color which I thought was pretty old school. I bought some good quality coffee ground and made my first coffee last night. It was very delicious, nothing beats the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Yummm.

Cirque Du Soleil

Cirque was such a fantastic performance. We had a great time tonight and it makes me realize that anything is possible and that people are talented in their own different ways. This is what makes the world an interesting place to live in. (http://www.hanikusni.com/main.php/v/Perth/goingout/)

Hobby

Photography it is that he has taken up. Oka bought a Nikon D80 Digital SLR in Singapore from our last trip and has since been reading up on photography. Ever since he's taken up this new hobby, I feel that it has improved our relationship. It made us do something different each week, find new places to visit, and at the same time have fun together. Here are some of the photos he has taken over the last few weeks. Today we went to Mathilda Bay & the Bell Tower area. It was such a great day out - sunny with nice constant breeze. And we stopped at a cafe by the river to have a cup of coffee whilst enjoying the greens.

I love

the blue sky, sea, & fresh air of Perth. Today the sun was out, so we went to Trigg Beach to have a walk along the beach. It's a nice way to unwind and it seems whatever problems or issues you have can be resolved when one's mood is calm and peaceful. Having spent the last few years of my life bitching about how boring this place is, I have now come to appreciate the traits that are appealing to so many people who live in bustling cities without the luxury of wide open spaces. There are only 3 cities I would consider living in - Singapore (because of my family, friends, and food), Perth (because of my career, the nature that surrounds this place, wide open spaces), Los Angeles (because of good shopping & Lakers). I guess LA will always just be the city where I will visit as a tourist... but unknowingly, Perth has now become my 2nd home that I have come to love. However, Singapore is still where my root is.

Fresh air at King's Park

This is one of life's little pleasures and it's free.

Liberated

No more exams until the next semester! Woo hoo! Although I envision the next few weeks to be very busy at work, nothing beats not having to study over weekend. And of course, the happiest thought is that my holiday is coming up very soon. Oka's got his citizenship ceremony tonight... I will bring along my camera to mark the event. Hee. :).

Prawn wontons

drizzled in freshly made chilli-oil with grounded szechuan peppercorn & seasalt. I discover I really enjoy cooking, especially when the end-product turns out to be really yummy. And folding those wontons, it was more fun than I had ever expected. The inside of the wontons so soft and juicy... and the aroma of the chilli oil. Yum yum. hahaha. I'm going to cook more. This is definitely a more constructive hobby than shopping. Happiness! =)!

The recipe is from: Kylie Kwong's Cook book. Click here to get it.

Good things

are very often without material value. I recall back to the days when we used to go to this little, unflashy bakery at 3am in the morning on Pico Boulevard for a ham & cheese croissant and chocolate milk. Spontaneous, no planned schedule, fun, and we never ran out of things to say. It's probably not the best croissant in the world and I probably was coming out of a crap phase of my life but I was happy and content. Sadly these days, I find that it's more difficult for me to be content.

平凡，但很开心...

Sleeping

more than 12 hours is not something I have the privilege to do often. But this weekend we didn't have anything planned so we just kinda did things as they came up and if felt great! I think we'll probably go and buy some fresh & yummy fruits from Subiaco market this afternoon and grab dinner at Freo by the waters.

Did lots today

Early morning 8:15 I had my haircut at Toni & Guys. Then we took Milo to the vet for his annual heartworm injection and get his intestinal worming tablets up to date. He was a mess, hadn't bathed for a week. Well, you can actually call him smelly. I felt sorry for the vet. But Milo always does wonder with his looks. Everyone still came over and pat him despite his smell. Oh well, hee hee. He is booked in for another hydrobath this coming Saturday, thankfully!

We had a quick lunch of roast duck and roast pork rice with some chinese veggies. Then headed to the city to do some shopping. We also went to Paul Conti Winery in Wanneroo to get 2 bottles of 2006 release Muscat and a bottle of fresh grape juice from Houghton Wines. Grocery shopping was a brisk one; bought much-needed large garbage bags and too much junk food. Oka bought a teddy bear for me. The bear has a button sewn on its belly button. It's kinda cute. Now I have 2 bears sitting in my backseat.

Late afternoon I washed my car since the sun is out on a beautiful 33 degrees day. Oka did some cleanup and reorganization of our garage.

Then dinner time was spent at Chutney Marys in Subiaco - Indian cuisine. Their garlic naan was super delicious. I am quite amazed we did so many things in a day. I am glad we didn't just veg out at home. =P!

Sunday brunch

We went to "Flipside Burger Bar" in North Fremantle for brunch this morning. I had the red hot burger which was quite spicy much to my liking. My love for spicy hot food didn't develop until my late teenage years. But in recent years, I crave even hotter and spicier food it's kinda scary. But the burger was good and of course no burger should ever be eaten without hot chips. This burger bar is decorated on the basis of minimalism - just a long rectangular table with wooden stools around it. Additionally, it also has a shorter window table. We ate and sat by the window, which gave us a bird eye's view of what went on outside of where we were. It's interesting to just watch other people and cars zooming by. There is also an antique store across the street which had attracted numerous people in the span of an hour. After lunch, we headed to "The Miami Bakehouse" to get an angel sponge cake roll. Today's a lovely day, with the sky back to a jet blue and fluffy white clouds floating around after a day of rain yesterday.

CNY Eve Dinner

We went to "The little Mexican place" in North Perth for dinner tonight. A friend from work gave a thumb's up for this restaurant and we decided to try it out too since we've not had any decent Mexican food since we left the US. The place was quite small but gave you a warm feeling. Waiters were very helpful and even tidied up the table for us when we wanted to take a picture. The price I thought was pretty reasonable too for a 3-course meal.

Drinks:

• Hibiscus drink
  
• Pineapple/lime drink

Entree:

1. jalapeno peppers, stuffed with cheese, served with sour cream
   
2. traditional avocado dip served with corn chips
   

Main:

1. pork braised in citrus juices then pan fried until crispy on the edge
   
2. pieces of chili marinated steak, sandwiched between two flour tortillas with two cheeses then grilled

Dessert:

1. lime and tequila baked cheese cake

Feeling the love

... for my new ride tonight! =)!

Boat harbor on Sunday

1 more sleep

and the resident chef is back. Woo hoo! =)!