Eat Out - Red Petite

Day 607

I broke Gin's Book of Records today. I slept for a total of 12 hours! Slept at 4am on 31 March and woke up at 4pm on 1 April. I am THE Sleeping Queen. How I wish sleeping can help to burn lots of calories, then I won't have to work so hard at the gym. Fat hope I know. Hahahaha. But I do think that sleeping can be useful when dieting because when I sleep, I don't snack and I don't feel hungry. Take today for example, I woke up at 4pm and the only meal I ate was dinner. Yeah! We had an early dinner as Mr Tan's stomach was growling again. (He had lunch btw!) His stomach screams for food almost every 2 hours. We decided to try this small Thai restaurant, Red Petite, that we drove past yesterday. Bad choice. 

Got there around 630 and we were their first customers. Most of the tables had the "reserved" sign on them and as we settled down, diners started to full up the small place and that's when the first sign of bad choice appeared. All angmohs, we were the only Asians. 

Tonight's menu

Tom Yum Goong

Red curry prawns with noodles

Claypot prawns

Tom Yum Goong was not spicy enough and we didn't find the taste to be very authentic. Disappointing.

Mr Tan thought he had ordered red curry chicken with rice so when red curry prawns with noodles arrived, we were both taken aback. Either he had pointed to the wrong dish when ordering or the waiter got it wrong. Bad choice. Too much coconut milk, not enough flavour and wrong meat!

My claypot prawns was probably the best dish. Reminded me of the Claypot glass noodle with soft shell crab in black pepper from Thai Express. *drool* But I would prefer more black pepper to spice things up.

Verdict: Small portions, pricey, not authentic, never going back.

Eat Out - Andrew's Hamburgers

Day 606

Hailed by many as Melbourne' best burgers. 92% out of 1175 people voted in its favour on Urbanspoon. Our verdict: Long wait. Cheap and massive. Grilled chicken breast, onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and fried egg. All for just $11.50. But it didn't do too well in the taste department. The grilled chicken was dry and tough. There wasn't enough sauce so the burger was kinda dry. Conclusion - Not happy. Grill'd serves better burgers.

Thankfully we bought Laurent cakes for dessert. They are yummilicious!! 

Happy happy happy! 

Do you have a bucket list?

Day 605

I haven't been able to watch all my fave crime dramas due to the shutting down of btjunkie and the new VIP status requirement on piratebay. SAD. Emily suggested "xun lei" but it doesn't work either. SAD SAD SAD. I've indeed been crying these few days but not because I've nothing to watch but because I've been watching too many Korean dramas on Funshion. They are tearjerkers! There are funny Korean dramas too but because all of them are in Korean, I have to read the subtitles to follow the plot and sometimes, the translation are a little off and I don't get the jokes at all! Being an impatient person who doesn't like draggy plots, I often fast forward during Korean dramas so I've already completed 3 serials this week. Haha. The 3 serials share a common theme - death. If you know that you are dying soon.....where else do you want to go? Who else do you want to see? What else do you want to do? Have you been living your life to the fullest? Do you have a bucket list? Life is unpredictable, life is short. The drama serials certainly got me thinking about my life.

To me, life has never been about chasing power, money or fame. It's not about how long you've lived but how you've lived your life. My life is complete because of the people I love and the people who love me. Make them laugh and then laugh with them, hug them when they cry and then cry with them, protect them, support them and love them unconditionally.

Gin's Bucket List :)
1. 带老爸老妈和姑妈去旅行
2. Do tandem diving at least once
3. Learn rollerblading
4. Learn piano
5. 环游世界
I want to see and feel LV, SF, LA, NY, Weatern Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and many many more!
6. 到台湾看五月天的演唱会
7. See Aurora Borealis
8. Be Miss Khoo Yuzhi's bridesmaid on her wedding day :)

That's all I can think of now. Will add on when others come to mind and hopefully I'll be able to cross them sooooooon!

60 - The Depressing Number

Day 602

After Saturday's BBQ session at Emily's place, I weighed myself on her bathroom scale and I was totally devastated. My weight has reached an all-time high this month and I'm really depressed as I've not seen this number on the scale for the last 10 years. The last time I was this heavy was 13 years who when I was working part-time before uni. I'm super (X100) depressed at the moment. I went to Big W on Sunday to buy a bathroom scale so that I can monitor my weight closely and make changes to my diet and exercise regime. Mr Tan was just asking me the other day how my classes were and I grumbled that I don't sweat as much as before even though I really enjoy the Body Combat classes. I'm trying my best to stop eating carbs to help bring my weight down but it's really an uphill task to avoid carbs.....sigh...

Gin's Kitchen - 虾酱鸡翅膀

Day 601

Mr Tan loves 虾酱鸡 and would always order it at Dessert House but one man's meat is another man's poison. I find 虾酱 very smelly. *pinch nose* Yucks! He has been pestering me for months to cook it at home but I've been very reluctant to do so to avoid "stinking" the whole apartment! Because I'm such a nice and soft-hearted person, I finally gave in and cooked it today. 


Ingredients
- 4 chicken wings
- 1 packet of Seah's 虾酱炸鸡粉

Directions
1. Clean and pat dry chicken wings
2. Marinate chicken wings with 虾酱炸鸡粉 for at least 1 hour
3. Deep fry chicken wings over medium low heat for about 8-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked

His verdict: 不满意. 不够虾酱的味道，不喜欢.

My verdict: 超满意. 我家还是香香的！*开心* :P

Blissful Friday

Day 509

I went for my very first facial in Melbourne at Chanoyu Spa, thanks to Cudo.com. A 2 hour pamper package that left me totally rejuvenated. 30 minute back massage, 45 minute pedicure treatment and 45 minute Sakura facial! Love the body massage and facial! Shiokness. The Japanese therapists were gentle yet firm in their strokes and I love the smell of the Japanese extracts used during the facial. I'm already planning to utilise the $30 voucher for another facial with them. :) The first thing I'm going to do when I return to SG is to go for facial! I need Vera to extract all the black heads, white heads and everything that's stuck in my pores!

By the time my pampering session ended, it was dinner time @ Cafe Sienna. Thankfully we got a seat inside the restaurant as it was getting really chilly these few days. Service was fast and friendly and although the restaurant was packed, there was ample space between tables and you don't feel stressed or rushed. Nice place to hang out if you don't really care about the food because the food is average despite the higher than average prices. The only dish that we enjoyed was the Mediterranean Dips with Pizza Bread. Not sure what which dip was, but we each found one that we enjoyed so it was voted the best dish of the night. 

Once again, thank you Entertainment Book for the great one-for-one deal! :)

 

 

 

Hot chocolate to warm the hands and tummy on a chilly night

不折不扣的步步迷，吴奇隆迷，郑嘉颖迷

Day 595

Jiaqi and Emily 都是步步惊心迷。她们去年就已经看完了步步，也常在一块儿讨论剧情，讨论四爷，八爷。她们每次见我就会向我推荐步步，说是一部超好看的戏。但对我这个只爱喜剧，警匪法律剧的人来说，有点儿像是在对牛弹琴。几个星期前，我终于被她们说服了。因为知道步步是改编桐华的同名小说，我就先读了读小说。这越读就越对它有兴趣，也开始在 Funshion 看了起来。这一看，就无可自拔了。最后三集更是让我哭得稀里哗啦，眼睛都哭肿了。不知为何，心也痛了好几天，连吃饭都没什么胃口。我想我是中毒了。。。成了不折不扣的步步迷，吴奇隆迷，郑嘉颖迷。为了他们，我下载了微薄，下载了步步里的歌曲，更是在网上不停地找和他们有关的节目和访谈。唉。。真是中毒很深啊。。

为何如此爱步步惊心

1. 真的有点儿历史根据！

史书上对九子夺嫡之事有着详细的记载，我对八贤王很是佩服。虽出生卑微，但一直努力向上，为的就是要为自己争一口气。其能力令众多官员佩服，也都支持他上位，连康熙都对他的影响力有些不安，恐怕他会推翻自己。这样有才，有谋，又有智的八贤王最后的下场却是如此凄惨。“成者王，败者寇”。

对胤禛，有点儿敬佩，又有点儿害怕。心思如此细腻，表面却不露半点而痕迹。雍正登基之事有许多猜疑，但不得不承认他是的好皇帝，勤政为民。很多人都说雍正手段残忍，但看了史书，看到各皇子对那把龙椅的渴望，看到朝堂上有着这么多的贪官污吏，他如果对他们宽容，恐怕就是对自己残忍了。现今社会还不是一样吗？

我的语文程度不差，但读惯了英语书，突然要了解长长的史书，还真是费神。有些字是它们认识我而我不认识它们，又没字典，只能靠猜。有些句子读一次根本读不明白，得读了又读，才开始有点儿领悟。好难啊！可能是因为演员太帅，我不得不对他们有些“怜香惜玉”。 哈哈。

2. 男主角帅呆了！

 
八爷郑嘉颖温润如玉、感情丰富细腻，对女主角关怀备至，眼神里流露出的温柔，爱意，简直被他电到神魂颠倒！再加上郑嘉颖的帅，完全被他征服了，怎能不爱上他啊。。。。

四爷吴奇隆看上去冷酷无情，却理性又现实，虽没八爷的浪漫，但对女主角的爱是刻骨铭心的。心底最柔软的地方，就是对情感的处理。很多年前在吴奇隆还是台湾四小天王时就已经对他倾心，现在简直就是对他死心塌地也！

不单是两位男主角帅，其他阿哥都很好看。看了他们的现代照，觉得各有千秋。尤其是九爷的眼神，也是可以电死很多人的，俊俏的脸孔有点儿像郑嘉颖！神啊，救救我吧！我这毒中的好深啊~~~

Eat Out - Grill'd

Day 592

With less than 3 months to go, we're currently in the midst of trying our best to use as many of our Entertainment Book vouchers and discounts as possible. On a lazy Friday night, we decided to head down Clarendon Street for our dinner. With the Entertainment Book vouchers, we have 2 options, Nando's or Grill'd. Mr Tan really hates Nando's for its measly chicken portion so we settled on Grill'd. Nice wall paper, cosy setting and really friendly staff. :) With the one-for-one main voucher, it was a cheap and yummy meal. I would definitely return for its Chicken Caesar Salad and fries! Although it was chicken breast, it was tender and juicy and the fries were well seasoned and deep fried to prefection. 

Comfort food on a chilly Friday night. *happy*

 

 

 

Magnificent!

Day 586 - 10 March 2012

 Hate morning flights! 
Woke up at 5am..torture torture..
After more than 6 hours of flying and stopover, we're finally at Uluru!

First stop - FOOOOOOD! 

After food, it was nap time before going for our first sunset at Uluru. The sunset today wasn't exceptionally stunning so I was kinda disappointed and there were so many flies hitting on us! The flies continued to hound us for the rest of the trip. 为了赶走他们，我们接下来的几天都变成了无影手! That being said, Uluru was stunning. Nice!

Because of our late lunch, we decided to have cup noodles for dinner. Coupled with the salad we bought from the supermarket, it was a satisfying meal to end our loooooong day.

Day 587 - 11 March 2012
Kings Canyon Day

 

 Started the day with a hearty breakfast as we're expecting a long and tiring day ahead. A six-hour round trip and for us, it was a waste of time. We didn't do the 5.5 km Rim Walk as it would take at least 3.5 hours. Needless to say, we took the other option, the 0.5 km Creek Walk. It was quite an easy walk and along the way, we saw lots of elderly and only elderly. LOL. We were the only young and unfit ones who took that route. It took us about 30 minutes to complete the walk and then it was another 3 hours to drive back. Was it worth it? No way. We wanted to reward ourselves with a good dinner at Arnguli Grill but it was fully booked for the night. So it was back to Gecko's. Turned in early as we plan to watch sunrise tomorrow morning!

 

Day 588 - 12 March 2012
Kata Tjuta Day

This is the first time in 31 years that I've ever gotten up to watch sunrise. Sunrise is not my cup of tea - I would rather see it in my dreams. As compared to sunset, there were far lesser people watching sunrise. See, I'm not alone! :P

After our sunrise outing, we decided to go for breakfast. The boys were famished since last night so the reason they woke up early is to eat! The weather was cooling and nice so we decided to go for a walk at Kata Tjuta. There isn't much to do except to walk, look, fight the flies and eat!

 We did the Walpa Gorge Walk which was much more difficult than the one we did yesterday as it was uneven, rocky, pretty steep in some areas and with almost no shade along the way. At the lookout, we were glad that we were the only ones there because we wanted to pose for silly pictures. Haha.

Our Fave Group Photo!

  By the time we made our way back to the car, we were sweaty, hot, tired and running low on water. We decided not to do the Valley of the Winds walk which is 7.4 km long. If only the sun wasn't so hot and there weren't so many irritating flies hounding us, we would have come back for the walk! I HATE HATE HATE those stupid flies! 

Our last sunset at Uluru. Found a better spot than the recommended spot. 
MAGNIFICENT!

Since it's our last night at Uluru, it's time for a good meal! The dinner @ Arnguli Grill was decent and the service was satisfactory. The most enjoyable best part of the dinner was, there were no flies hounding us! We could finally eat in peace. 

As we walked out of the restaurant, we saw the Milky Way! Magical, mysterious and absolutely beautiful. We decided to find a dark spot to settle down and take in the sight. All of us were awed by the beauty of the star-lit night sky that we sat there for almost half an hour without saying a word. Love love love love love!

Day 589 - 13 March 2012

Since it's our last day, Jasmine, Mr Tan and I decided to catch the sunrise again and I hereby declare, sunset at Uluru is way more beautiful than sunrise. 

Goodbye, Uluru! Thanks for all the magnificent sights!