Category Archives: Living in… Australia

A GORGEOUS DAY FOR A WEDDING!

15 May 2012 23 comments

Our Australia holiday was one of the most UNholidays we’ve ever had. It was the first time we’ve gone for an extended (2.5 weeks) trip with a child and, boy, was it different to our pre-baby holidays!! To be really frank, it was one of the worst experiences ever in terms of sleep deprivation, and has scared me off going on another holiday for a very very very long time :X

Hunter was pretty awesome during the day time, his usual cheery self. But come night-time, all hell would break loose and he would WAIL himself to sleep – no amount of ignoring, or cuddling would placate him. Then, he would wake up every 3 hours or so, whining/crying until he was patted back to sleep. In the morning, more often than not he would wake up crying too. It was INSANE. Considering he was a sleep-through-the-night baby at the tender age of just over 2 months old, it was a HUGE AND NASTY SHOCK for us, to basically be dealing with a ‘newborn’ again.

Even more bizzarely, the moment we arrived back home in Singapore, he IMMEDIATELY went back to his 12-hour uninterrupted sleep – falling asleep by himself, and waking up cheery. I guess he loves being home and in his own bed, and can’t tolerate being away :X So the whole time in Australia, we were zombies and poor Chris had to deal with an extremely irate wife almost daily… oops.

But, at least we had a TON OF FUN during the day! Hunter was so fascinated with everything, loved going out, and we had heaps of fun catching up with family and friends.

Most importantly, we were there for Chris’ sister’s wedding. This was held in Canberra, so we stayed there for a couple of days first. The weather there was so cold though! It was nice in the afternoons, but mornings and evenings were pretty painful. All 3 of us suffered dry/peeling skin and lips as we had to acclimatize ourselves to the climate. However, the benefit was that my hair and skin loved the dry weather. Helloooo good hair days! I really noticed it especially now that we’re back in Singapore and I see how the humidity destroys your hair and skin ;)

Hard to tell that he was a real terror the night before!

"A night terror? Me??"

The wedding was held in a really lovely high-ceiling cathedral, and I loved the black-and-white colour scheme, which I thought was super chic. It also brought back such nice memories of our own wedding.. and was really nice to see Chris’ sister so happy on her wedding day :)

Hunter was supposed to walk down the aisle as well, but it didn’t work out because during the rehearsal, we saw that the aisle was actually really long.. which translated to major distractions for him, and we weren’t confident he would have the focus to make it all the way down, especially with a ton of eyes staring at him!

Saying their vows

Drowsy after waking from his nap in time for the ceremony

I was also delighted to do a reading for the ceremony. I almost pulled out at the last minute, because I developed a bit of a cough and was worried I’d start hacking up a lung mid-reading. But thankfully all went well and I did the reading without any issue – whew!

Doing my reading

Afterwards, we had photos outside the church and in a park/lake. The skies were GORGEOUS… though the temperature was quite chilly down by the water. But Hunter didn’t seem to care and had a fab time tottering around the lake and running around on the grass.

The wedding party

Meeting one of our college friends for the first time, and trying to charm the socks off her

Family pic by the lake

Hunter with his great-grandma and nanna

My 3 loves ;)

The wedding reception was really lovely, with some fabulous food! The beef… OMG *faint*. Chris and I actually shared a large pizza prior to dinner, because we were too hungry. But I still stuffed in appetizer, main, and dessert and cleared my entire plate.. because the food was fab!!

Everyone was having so much fun, and Hunter had an afternoon nap (rare, because he naps 1x/day) so he could stay awake for a bit to join in the celebrations.

Us with our pajama-clad baby

"Hiiiii Uncle Matt!"

Hunter discovered he could make Uncle Matt drink by stuffing the bottle in his mouth and then tilting upwards. I think both boys had a lot of fun with that ;)

The wedding party again. I LOVE that quote!!!

Chic table setting, and Hunter got his own special goody bag :)

Oh and Chris was MC for the evening! He did a lot of public-speaking when he was younger, and is a natural in front of an audience. And he really nailed it. He’s an awesome MC!

Cutest moment ever: we were seated at the table in front, right where Chris was standing. As he was speaking, Hunter kept pointing to him and going “Da da!!!” loudly and happily, much to people’s amusement. And then he would clap his hands in glee, seeing his Daddy up there. LOL!!

Chris the MC

Hunter went to sleep at around 8:30PM so I had to go into a back room and sit there with him. Unfortunately no one brought their maids/nannies, so I had to be there the entire time! It meant I missed out on all the fun stuff in the latter-half of the evening.. and because Chris was MC-ing, he couldn’t really be there keeping me company either. And my iPhone had run out of battery. So I spent the entire time just sitting there staring at the wall. D’OH!! But, at least Hunter slept well considering all the music and noise.. so I was happy.

"G'night guys, it's bedtime for me!"

It was a pretty epic day, but we all dealt with it really well considering the lack of sleep we had. Hunter was in a good mood throughout, and adrenalin kept us going.. though we did leave a little earlier to get ourselves to bed. It’s so nice being at a wedding and joining in the celebrations!

Mary Rizkalla, Mariella Vinces, Kelly Gullock liked this post

SYDNEY: meetup at the Bavarian Bier Cafe

21 January 2010 18 comments

Because we were so jam-packed during our trip – with a lot of sightseeing, even more food-eating, hanging out with my parents, going to the office, etc – we only managed to organise ONE measly meet up with ALL our friends. Very sad, but at least we had a fabulous time!

After an epic shopping day with a girl friend, we met up with everyone else at Bavarian Bier Cafe, an excellent place to have dinner and a few drinks with friends. It’s casual, yet not dodgy at all, and usually has lots of business people hanging out having a drink after work. I love the atmosphere there – you can be as loud as you want and not be out of place :P

Plus, they have fabulous food! Yummy Bavarian dishes which I can’t vouch if they’re totally authentic, but they taste real good. The food always arrives pretty quickly and the beers served even quicker ;) Go early for Happy Hour for deals on drinks and start off your night early! Had a lovely evening/night hanging out, eating good food, drinking good wine/beers and the only thing I would’ve changed was to have ordered dessert. But then their dessert menu is UN-enticing, to say the least, so none of us were inspired.

The lovely interior

A 1 litre beer!

That’s a much more feminine looking beer

Big vs little ;)

*glugs*

My lovely French girl friends

In a French man sandwich

It’s like only one of us is capable of making a normal face at any given moment ;)

SEE?!

Those glasses were gigantic!

Fabulous schnitzel. Though it was smaller than previous times – boo

All the boys

Me and my dear girl friends!

ALL of us were sticking out our tongue. I don’t think we knew :P

A mad happy shot

SCHNAPPS TIME

Was so fab to be with all our friends again!

And so, that was our whole Sydney trip. There were lots more shenanigans but we didn’t take photos of everything (hard to believe, right?) and some I couldn’t be bothered to post about. We had a TERRIFIC time – Dad’s 60th, celebrating new year’s, our friends’ wedding, day trips, lots of eating, a crapload of shopping *ahem*, and wonderful catchups with our friends.

I miss Australia already. It’s hard to believe a year has just flown past.. it seems like it was only a few weeks ago we were packing up and moving our whole lives to China! And what a crazy, fun-filled, and hair-pulling experience it has been. Still, Australia is home and I can’t wait to go back again for a visit :)

SYDNEY: burgers at The Counter

21 January 2010 36 comments

The Counter
118 Willoughby Rd
Crows Nest, Australia
PRICE: $$
RATING:

The Counter opened right near where I lived in Sydney last year.. and I immediately headed there when they opened. Now, over a year later, we just had to go back for some custom-made burgers. Casual and friendly, this is a great place to grab a meal with friends.

For some bizzare reason, people declare their fries serving as “huge”. Not at all – but that’s just me. The regular fries are good, but nothing exceptional – just fries :P I love the sweet potato fries though, which have a lovely mild sweet flavour and go very well with the aoli dip. And the deep fried onion rings.. ohhh I could wax lyrical about these. They are dripping with oil, but are so thin and crispy and TASTY that I eat fistfuls of these with each mouthful. Mmm…

And then, of course, their custom-made burgers. I really appreciate how you can build your own burger, because you can select everything you love, and omit everything you don’t. Why don’t ALL burger places do this?! Their patties are fantastic – so juicy and fresh, and hellavalot more flavourful than Mcdonalds ;) The only thing I don’t like about them is that the burger bun is so thick. I prefer it to be softer (more gourmet) and thinner, so you can taste more of the ingredients.

My favourite’s their Apple Pie milkshake though, which is an outstanding drink. Real apple pie crushed into a rich and creamy thick shake – it’s just luscious! Probably an entire day’s worth of calories in a cup – but worth it :)

Shanghai actually has loads of burger joints, but they all pale in comparison compared to The Counter’s. I will be happy as a clam the day a place like The Counter opens up on Shanghai.

It’s very busy The Counter

Awesome gourmet chocolates, thanks !

Cool ordering system – but tooooo many choices, ahhh

Faffing around whilst we wait for our food

Ze boys

Apple Pie Milkshake – as awesome as it sounds

Regular fries and sweet potato fries – loved ‘em!

And also deep fried onion rings – *%(#@)*$@ THESE WERE GOOD

A very luscious burger, with guacamole and spicy sour cream *foodgasm*

Me and the girls :)

All of us! Can you spot the psycho photo-bomber behind us? ;)

SYDNEY: shopping with friends at Paddington

21 January 2010 18 comments

My girl friends and I decided to hit Paddington on a sunny Saturday, since the fabulous Paddington Markets are on then and we could also potter around all the shops. Paddington easily requires a full day to shop through – and even so, you’ll need to pop into each store quickly. I love it because it’s along along street with little shop fronts, instead of in a big shopping center (yawn!). Paddington’s also home to lots of little Australia boutiques, which I absolutely adore. We actually did a TON of shopping… but you can’t really tell ‘cos all the photos are of, surprise, food. Heh.

But first, brunch! A fabulous, tasty meal at Tiger Mottle, tucked behind the main street of Paddington and offering great food and lovely coffees. It was so nice to sit down and chill out with friends, and then shop up a storm :P I miss doing all these great, outdoorsy girly things!

Tiger Mottle. Cute name, no?

Us!

Luscious mushrooms and cream cheese on toast

“Green Eggs and Ham”, haha! Pesto, eggs, ham and bread

“Bubble and squeak” – bacon, cabbage(?!), peas(?!?!), poached eggs, potatoes

Poached eggs, roast tomato, spinach and toast

Just all round strange

A somewhat more normal pic :)

I looooved my latte

Big berry smoothies

Happily fed

SWEATING LIKE CRAZY, it was stinkin’ hot

Later, for tea, we stopped by our favourite French cafe and had these ‘lil treats. Yum.

SYDNEY: our beloved Kingsford Chinese

20 January 2010 24 comments

Kingsford Chinese Restaurant
426 Anzac Parade
Kingsford, Australia
PRICE: $$
RATING:

I’ve posted about Kingsford Chinese.. oh… maybe 10 times? But actually, we’ve been there more than 50 times – EASILY. It’s actually the place that Chris and I always went to when we were friends, and when we started dating. Located a stone’s throw away from our University (UNSW), we often popped on over for dinner. We ADORE the place. They serve up very reasonably priced Chinese food and OH BOY THE FOOD IS GOOD!!!! It is hands down the absolute best Chinese food we’ve ever had in Australia… and dare I say it… one of the best we’ve had in the world – yes, even compared to the food we get here in China :P

They’re always packed out with people, almost all of which are Asian, so Chris gets to be the “token white guy” there ;) Their outstanding dish is (and all of you will already know this if you’ve read my blog for more than a year)… the Sweet and Sour Fish. Sounds standard and I know every other place has it, but THESE GUYS DO IT BEST. Seriously, no other sweet and sour fish even comes close! This has super tender, moist chunky fish… lightly battered and crisp…. in a mild sweet and sour sauce. Oh it is just divine. I consider myself a sweet and sour fish connoisseur – I order the dish at almost every single Chinese restaurant I go to – and no one can beat this version.

We also love their Sang Tung Chicken, which is always moist and juicy, with thin crispy skin, a tumble of shallots and sliced chillies, and comes sitting in a slightly tangy sauce. It’s so good I could eat it alone with nothing else. Can’t finish the large portion that comes out? Bring it home, and the next day, shred it up to make a chicken sandwich!

And, of course, their Beef Fried Rice. A heap of hot, fragrance rice with lots of tender bits of beef and a generous amount of egg – all tumbled together. I normally only find fried rice so-so – it’s nice but not great. But this one? We get it EVERY time, because it’s superior to most other fried rice. Packed with flavour, it’s pretty much a meal on its own.

This time, we also ordered the Garlic Prawns but they were fairly normal. Nice thick prawns in a creamy garlic gravy, but similar to many other places and nothing stand-out – at least not like their other dishes above.

Hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since we started visiting Kingsford Chinese, and they’re still going strong. I hope and pray they will continue for many more decades to come.. so we can bring our children there too :)

Beef fried rice