to be 10 years old again

On Saturday, we went to the Western Sydney regional parklands, around Cecil Hills, for a BBQ. Since Linh was the one who organized it, it was mostly meat with only one bag of Caesar salad for my sake hahaha thanks Linh. I guess I still need practice on learning how to BBQ meat properly because the chicken wings and sausages that I cooked became quite burnt >.<. Well, it was okay because Linh and Elvis still ate them =). It was a shame when we couldn't finish all the meat that we cooked and we still have some remaining sausages and bacon that we didn't manage to cook. We had so much food left that My Linh decided to feed some to the rats. Rats weren't the only animals there; there was also this strange looking bird that looked like a cross between a chicken and a duck. Sandra and My Linh called them turkeys instead LOL!

After lunch, we went to the park for some fun. To warm up, we played a game of tips =) unfortunately, by the end of it, it just proved how unfit we all were =/. I had fun watching Sandra, Jack, Linda and My Linh screaming and bopping up and down on the see-saw as Elvis and Tae forced the see-saw to move quicker HAHAHA! The swings were just as bad; all the girls and Elvis had a go on the swings and although it was fun, it was scary as well when the  guys started pushing us higher up the swings LOL! When we saw the chance, we took over the flying fox, with Elvis in the lead. Actually, I think some kids were still there and he just when and took the flying fox from them LOL! The kids were about to leave anyways, that's why Elvis when to take it from them, I think? Anyways, before everyone could have a go, the kids came back, so we gave it up to them lol oh wells.

We went to a petrol station after leaving the park for a short pit-stop. We also decided what to do next, which was to go back to Linh's house and wait for the girls to dress up to go to the city for karaoke. Linda when back to her house to get changed, while the rest of us went back to Linh's house. I had no idea we were going to go to the city, so Linh let me borrow her dress and shoes. If I could, I'd buy her dress and shoes because they were cute =D. She even did my eye makeup hahaha xD. I like being pampered =3. We drove to Linda's house to park the car there since Linda lived closest to Cabramatta station. 

When we go to the city, we had dinner at Superbowl in Chinatown. We had sizzling beef, sweet and sour pork and peppered squid. The dishes tasted quite nice, though may be a bit salty. We went to CEO karaoke, but they were full, so we went to Greenbox instead. I guess CEO karaoke is a very popular place. Seeing that I wasn't used to wearing heels, I ended up changing shoes with Linh; she was wearing platforms so even if she's a size bigger than me, it was more comfortable than the heels I was wearing. Anyways, we had 3 hours worth of karaoke alcohol but I guess it wasn't enough for the others because we stayed for an hour extra. We could've stayed longer but Greenbox closes at 2AM. Many thanks to Raymond for paying for most of the alcohol xP.

After we left the karaoke place, Tae and I decided to go home since he had work on Sunday morning. The others stayed back to party at a club instead hahaha. Tae and I took the bus home since the trains weren't running by then. When we got home, we taxi'd it home since both of us were alcohol-induced. It was around 3AM when we got home. 

PS. Thanks Linda and Elin for driving us around =).

PSS. My condolences to Rosalyn and her family.

In a sea of dogs

Birthday shoutouts: 14O511 - Kelly's 19th ; 15O511 - Shirley L.'s 19th; 22O511 - Titan's 19th; Peter D.'s 20th.

Last Sunday, Karen and I volunteered for the Million Paws Walk event. Karen was the one who informed me about the event. Unfortunately, there was track work that morning, so we took the bus to Lidcombe station at 6:20AM in the morning =___='. It was freezing cold!!! I wore 3 - 4 layers of clothing, a scarf, mittens, and 2 pairs of socks and I was STILL cold =____=. Yep, winter's definitely coming. We then took the train from Lidcombe station to Olympic Park station, where the event was held. We signed in and waited for our leaders to take us to our booths. Karen was doing cupcakes while I was doing competitions. We waited for 15 - 20 minutes but still no one showed up so we decided to look for the booths ourselves. After we found where our booths were located, we went to our separate activities. I honestly didn't help much. 

 Competition booth.

Karen and I.

There wasn't much that we could do at our booth besides waiting for customers. I helped stick up photos, but that's about it. I guess the cold weather was draining my excitement away. But then it came back as more and more cute looking dogs came to the competition booth. They were all just so damn adorable! When I saw one of my team members taking photos, I couldn't help myself and started taking photos too. There was a particularly cute puppy that I saw. It was a brown poodle and it was only 3 - 4 months old. The owner said that it cost her $800 O_O pure breed I'm assuming. We encouraged them to enter it, but they didn't. What a shame =(. It would've won, without a doubt. I swear, it looked like a bear plushie, it didn't even sound like a dog when it was crying. IT WAS SO CUTE xD !!!!!!!! I just wanted to steal it and run away with it xO !!! Afterward, I just went around taking photos of dogs and encourage them to enter their dogs in the competitions. I had quite an exercise taking photos of the dogs seeing that most of the time they're too excited to sit still.

The adorable 3 - 4 months old poodle puppy =).

The weather got warmer as it reached the afternoon. To warm myself up even more, I went to get a cup of hot chocolate. While I was waiting in line, there were these HUMONGOUS dogs I've ever seen, well... beside the greyhounds. But these are dogs I've never seen before. Well, there were a lot of dogs I haven't seen before, but at least I know what they are from photos. These dogs, I had no idea what breed it was (something that ends with burger... I swear it did, that' why I remembered it). The owner said that it's a rare breed or something like that. It looked kind of like a German Shepherd, but a bigger and fluffier version. Well, anyways, I was scratching the bigger one on the side and I guess it liked the way I was scratching it, so it sat down (on my foot...) and sandwiched me between itself and the cafe counter ... It was quite hard to turn around seeing my back was against the counter and all. I know I'm not that tall to begin with, but it's like 1/2 - 3/4 my height or something O_o.

The huge dog! To other 'normal' people, it's up to their waist; to me, it's up to my chest...

I went to visit Karen when the walk began at around 10/11AM and then went back to taking more photos =). There was a particularly adorable chihuahua that got attached to me. It was so cute and scared of the other dogs, it crawled onto my lap and stayed there AWWW I wish I could keep it, but I had to put it down =/. After the walk, it was the competitions. There were 3 competitions: a) cutest pet; b) owner look-alike; and c) best dressed. I felt bad for the judging of the cutest pet because it was quite short. All the judging for the competitions were short =/. Some people even missed out because they were late. I also felt bad for them too but then again, they should've been there at the start. Though, some people were late because of the walk. Anyways, out of all the judges, all I remember was Dr. Katrina. She had adopted a dog for herself too (not from the event though, it was from before) and she was judging the cutest pet. The judges chose the best 5 and the audience chooses the winner. I don't remember who won the cutest pet nor do I think I have a photo of the dog. However, I DO know that for the owner look-alike, it was the superman Labrador and a boy who won (I wanted the clown dog and the girl to win though. Both the superman dog and the clown dog were wearing matching costume as the owners) and I think it was because he was child compared to the girl; and for the best dressed, it was the 2 dogs who dressed up as policemen. 

The chihuahua that got attached to me =). It's actually sitting on my lap in that photo.

Dr. Katrina.

 Best dressed winners.

Pet look-alike. It looked more like best dressed to me...

Since the competitions ended early, the competition booth packed up early too. I went to Karen's booth and waited for her to finish. I ate some cupcakes while I was at it. I also bought some doggie treats for Toby and watched how they wash the dogs and what the heck they were doing to make the poor things scream in despair. Turns out that the dog(s) just really hate water. The one I was watching hated it so much that it was crying and clawing and biting into the mat. It was an interesting sight to behold. I also went to the adoption area and saw the dogs up for adoption. I even saw a poster of a chihuahua of 5 months old for adoption. What kind of person or mother would abandon such a young puppy?! But I guess it will be bought quickly since people prefer young dogs than old ones. Most of the dogs were 1 or 2 years old. There was even one that was 5 years old. There was also a rooster who was up for adoption too O_o. There was this particular adoption dog that was quite friendly towards me. It was very energetic and it makes me smile when I look at it =). I wish I could keep it, but I already have Toby =/. I hope they all find good homes. Mum said I should've brought Toby along. I thought I couldn't since I was volunteering. Maybe I will next year =).

 Cupcakes =). I was going to take them home, but I waited too long for Karen that I ate them all there on the stop anyways, as lunch =P.

Afterward, Karen and I just went home with our free bags and movie voucher as a reward for helping out with the event. There were also other things in the bag too like caps, sunscreen, pen and wet wipes =). My assignment was due the next day and I was extremely tired but I had fun. I had no regrets =). Also, I've never seen so many dogs in my life xD.

PS. because I kept missing up the genders of the dogs, I decided to call them 'it' in my blog post instead.
PSS. There were these 2 girls who had rats for pets. That's the only other type of animal that I've seen at the event, besides dogs. I was amazed =D!
PSSS. Throughout the day, we had these duo singing and playing the guitar on stage for us. They had pretty good taste in music, according to my team members anyways =). 

The duo performers/singers and the judge (on the left).

BBQ + Hot Pot

On Monday, Linh invited me to a BBQ at Jack's house. Anthony was the one who drove us there. We stopped by Carrington's Westfields first to buy some food for the BBQ. I did most of the cooking >=D HA dare say that I can't cook huh?! Then again... cooking a BBQ isn't that hard >.> Since it was so hot in the morning, Jack actually hosed us while we were cooking =.=. Thankfully, he didn't do it for long, or else the food would've been ruined.

Anyways, I felt sorry for the magpies =/ the boys were having fun chucking the leftover sausages at them. Actually, I feel bad about wasting food too, but I didn't actually have the stomach to eat it all. I was saving up for Korean BBQ later that night. We didn't end up going. Anyways, it got worse actually; first it was chucking them, then it was batting with them with a baseball bat, and then they decided to through empty coke bottles instead. Half the time, they hit Jack instead LOL xP.

We played snooker, and then another game involving snooker. I don't know what's it called but it goes like this; we all pick a number out of a cup, and we just play snooker. If your ball gets out, you were out too. In this game, the difference was that you're allowed to hit any ball, not only just stripped or solid ones; and you're allowed to hit the 8 ball as well, you didn't need to wait until the end to hit it in. Yes, I was hopeless at it. Everyone was better than me. Jack and Michael ended up hitting the balls off the table half the time; Michael was really good at the game O_O.

We did different things after that. Some of us watched movies, like Alvin and the Chipmunks: Squeakquel and Dinner with the Schmucks. The chipmunks movie was okay but the Dinner wit the Schmucks was pretty funny =D. We watched a bit of 172 Hours. I thought it was pretty gruesome and graphic; maybe because it was based on a true story =/. I digressed. The others played snooker again. Linh and Lisa went for a walk a couple of times too. When Elin came over, the boys started making pancakes while the girls watched a movie. 

Around 7PM, My Linh and Allan came to pick Lisa, Linh and I up. By then, it actually started sprinkling =.= stupid weather. Linh wasn't feeling that well. But since we were all hungry, we ended up going to Canley Vale for hot pot at Red Sichuan. Unfortunately, my friends weren't working that day =(. Anyways, the food was pretty nice; the interior was half decorative, half mundane (maybe they didn't want to overdo it with the decorations); and they had very nice/good services =). We ordered a half normal spicy and half chicken soup base; we doubted if the spicy side was really 'normal'. If that was normal, 'hot' would've been extremely chili. I think it was mostly because of the herbs that made it spicy. The herbs kind of irritated our throats as well. To me, the spice was something I could handle, but it did make me cough a couple of times. We didn't order desserts because we were all a bit full. The bill ended up being ~$110. I guess it wasn't as bad as the all-you-can-eat TK Something restaurant next door. 

Linh drove us home instead since My Linh didn't want to drive. It took a while to get home because we had a short conversation while parked in front of Linh's house. I won't expose the content of the conversation, but it was kind of funny =P. Anyways, I'm thankful towards Linh because she always drove me home =P. Toby cried when I got home *sigh* =P.

PS. Jack's computer tower was HUGE O_O!!!

PSS. My Linh is a really funny driver =P. 
PSSS. Welcome home to those who went to Kiama =).

pancakes at 10 PM anyone?

It took us a while to get to Pancakes at the Rocks, in Northmead, because we were waiting for Jack to get his check up at the hospital. Eventually, Elin left, and then Kenny needed to go home early too, so Linh, Anthony and I had to go with him since he was the one who drove us there. 

Jack assumed it was a spider bite since there were 2 small bite holes in his forearm, but I guess it was either not that poisonous, or it was just a garden insect, because it's been 3 days before he decided to go have it checked up. It was pretty much red and swollen, I guess it's either due to the inflammation of the leukocytes or the poison was finally taking affect on his body. 

Kenny drove us back to Linh's house, and Linh drove us back out to the Westmead hospital that Jack was at. He's been waiting for ~3 hours and it still wasn't his turn yet. Hungry, we all decided to leave and have some dinner at the Pancakes at the Rocks. Linh was so nice to treat me a meal; she said that it was because I just came back from Malaysia =D. I was starving all day, so I was really glad when the food finally came. Strangely enough, even though I was really hungry, I got pretty full from the meal. Usually, I could eat some more food, but today was enough for me. I had the urge to take away the food as lunch the next day but they didn't have that kind of service *sigh*. Many thanks to Linh for the food and for driving me home anyways =). To be honest, I think Linh is one of the smoothest drivers out of all the friends' cars I've sat in. I also think Kenny needs more practice with his manual driving =P. Damn. I still have a lot more things to unpack =(.

Diary Entry #16: Finally home (14O211)

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday Thanh =) . 

It was also Valentines Day. I thought to myself, "great, I'll be home; single, family-less, a garage full of termites and hungry." I guess it wasn't that bad. Again, I had some assistance to help me through the check-out and all. It took longer than I thought because the other people that were with me were having a bit of trouble finding their luggage. Though, it was okay. We get to go into the express lines and all =). When I got out, I met up with Mun uncle and aunt. Mum have asked them to pick me up from the airport. They were her table-tennis and tafe buddies =). Thankfully, the parking fees weren't that expensive, though I did feel bad for making them wait for me for so long. It took a while to find the car because they seemed to have forgotten where they parked it. On the way home, they offered to take me out to lunch, but I was too exhausted and I wasn't feeling too hungry. 

When I got home, Toby was really happy to see me =D. He was so happy and scared that he cried every time I moved away from him, forcing me to let him be close to me. Every time I let go of him, he would cry and try to jump onto me again. Even if I did let him sit on my lap, he still continued to cry. I guess he felt extremely lonely without mum and I there. Uncle looked after him for us, but his presence was brief every day. I felt really bad for leaving him home alone. It went on for  ~30 minutes before he finally settled down. Uncle came over to check up on me and all. I'm really grateful that he had looked after Toby, looked after our mails and looked after our house well. I felt bad when I realized I didn't really buy him a souvenir =/. Hence, I decided to give him one of my fridge magnets =). At least it's something, right?

For the rest of the day, and night, I slept, read and went on the computer. I felt too tired and too lazy to make instant noodles and hence, I starved that night =/. But I'm glad to be home again =). 

On a side note, I'm very grateful and thankful for my relatives hospitality in Malaysia. They looked after me and took care of every thing for me; they even paid for most of my stuff over there. They made me feel right at home, even though it's been years since I last saw them; they made me feel comfortable =). I can't wait to go back there again. I love them =).

Love,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #12: Hokkien praying

Dear Diary,

Happy 19th Birthday to Mark =). 

In the morning, cousin San San, aunt and I went to a fancy looking restaurant called the Levain. Although it looked quite fancy, the price wasn't. Except for the bakery and desserts. I wish I didn't pick out so much bread because I didn't get to finish it all. I just picked them out to take photos of it =P. And again, the parking was ridiculous; they even parked right in front of the entrance of the restaurant ... 

After breakfast, we went to pick up my glasses, and then had another trip to the shops. I bought more Super Junior CDs/DVDs =D YAY!!! This time, it was the 4th album and the 2nd concert video. After cousin San San picked up what she needed to pick up, we headed home.

Later that night, cousin San San and I joined her friends for a CNY dinner. What can I say about them... They were loud. Somehow, half of them acted like they were still in high school or something =P. They seem very nice though. We had 7 dishes all together. I didn't take any photos because I was feeling self-conscious ... So I just took a photo of the restaurant title instead =P.

After dinner, we went back to pick up aunt because we were going to watch a Hokkien style of praying for CNY that night. We arrived at a house who belonged to my aunt's ex restaurant partner. That night, it seemed more eventful and exciting than it was on the first night of CNY. There were fireworks, fire crackers and lanterns everywhere I turned; I had a time watching them all =P. There was even a guy extreme enough to climb up a roof to film it all xD. It was all very exciting =D. Uncle actually went overseas, the night before, for one day, for work so he joined us later that night. Since uncle was there, he took aunt home while cousin San San and I went back to join her friends at her rich friend's house. He actually dyed his white poodle (Timmy, although it's actually a female) with spots of brown and pink hahaha xD. I don't know what to say about it ... she looked ... peculiar? But adorable all the same =D.

That night, things got... interesting. I experienced I never experienced before; I saw things I never intend to see; I did things that I've never done before. I'm pretty sure that that night was the most drunk I've ever been. My eyesight wasn't blurred; I could still read fingers; I wasn't even talking that loudly either. But I actually vomited >.> . Twice, in fact. I think it was the beer; due to the gas, beer can be quite filling. ALSO, I didn't have a hangover the next day. Thank God. That just proved that I wasn't drunk off my head. So my face was really red, and I was feeling dizzy. But that was it, nothing else. Well, that's my opinion anyways. Maybe other people would think I was drunk because I vomited, but in my opinion, you're not completely drunk unless your eyesight's blurred, you vomited AND you have a hangover in the morning. We came home at ~4:30 AM that night. Luckily, everyone was still asleep. Another day gone.

Annyong-hi kyeshipshio,

FiONA =).

Diary Entry #8: Up, up and away!

Dear Diary,


Today was the day we visit Genting, or what Chinese people call 'wun dang' (foggy mountain top). Before the road trip, we had yumcha at a nearby restaurant. Most of the dishes had prawn in them since it's one of my favourites. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it all because there were too many dishes, and my stomach still felt a bit sick.

After breakfast, uncle, aunt, cousin San San and I went to Genting. Cousin Mun Fei and Mun Loong couldn't come because they both had work. Cousin Mun Hong called while we were on the way there. I tried to persuade him, but nothing worked. Not even when I said I wouldn't talk to him anymore. But that's okay, I understand that he had work to do. I feel quite bad for him because he works very hard for very odd hours. He's a baker who specializes in making bread, so his job's quite laborious. And he's so skinny >.< !!! He's practically just skin and bones =( he needs to eat more >=( !!! OH OH OH! His girlfriend is also a baker who specializes in baking cakes. Apparently, she's his junior =). I wish them both lots and lots of happiness =D. Speaking of girlfriend, she works at a restaurant in Genting! That Mun Hong, even if his girlfriend is in Genting, he STILL wouldn't go with us >=( lol I guess he really couldn't get away from work. 


They sure didn't name it wrong when they called it 'wun dang;' it was really foggy. But luckily, it wasn't foggy enough to stop the rides. They say that if it gets too foggy, they wouldn't open the theme park because it'd be dangerous. My aunt said that, at times, it can get so foggy that you could barely see pass your hands =S. We had some hot tea to warm up first; it was kind of cold. They tried to snuggle my into the casino, but it didn't work. Unlike Australia, the minimum age required to enter was 21; I'm only 19. It was kind of difficult for me to look older because 1. I was wearing kid-like clothings and 2. I have a young looking face. But rather than accepting failure, we decided to try again, and this time it worked ! We deducted that because they were in the middle of changing shifts, it was easier for us to get in. I started laughing, but cousin San San told me to not laugh and not look back, just keep walking forward =P. Inside, we played the pokie machines. To be honest, I still don't find pressing buttons and waiting for a jackpot that addictive. Now that's a good thing, or else I would've gone broke. Then again, it was my aunt's money I was using LOL ^_^'. Aunt liked playing pokie machines, so she bet quite a lot. It didn't matter because she won it all back anyways =). 

Miniature model of the theme park.

Made from recycled bottles =D how resourceful is that?!

While uncle aunt were gambling in the casino, cousin San San and I went to the theme park. We bought a ticket for both indoor and outdoor parks. Most of the time, we were outside. The rides were pretty fun, it was just that we had to wait a while to play them since it was so busy. There was a 'Flying Coaster' ride that I forced my cousin to ride with me =). It was kind of scary, but I was laughing more than I was screaming. I was laughing because it was funny hearing my cousin scream, not daring to open her eyes for the entire ride xD. I got K.O'd at the 'Pirate Ship' ride. I didn't mind tossing and turning rides, fast rides, up and down rides, but back and forth rides make me dizzy =S. Thankfully, it wasn't even 36O degrees, or else I would've vomited on the ride =S. Now that wouldn't have been a pretty sight to see. 

We walked around, took photos and looked at animals. They were show casing a yellow and white snake and a lizard (I'd provide the names if I knew them). While I ran towards them, my cousin ran the other way. She's afraid of reptiles and big dogs. Just like aunt and my mum, but my mum's not afraid of big dogs though. I had the urge to run over to her when I held the snake and lizard, but I didn't. It would've been to slack =P. A fascinating merchandise I found was wax hands, as in your own hands being the foundation for the wax. Seeing that Australia didn't have any, I decided to make one myself and bring it back here =). I just hope they'll let me pass the security check with it =S They might think I actually chopped someone's hand off and placed it into my luggage, or think that I shoved drugged into it =/. If that does happen, I'm gonna make them pay for not only the hand, but the plane ticket to go back to Malaysia, to make another wax hand, and then come back >=) . 

My waxed hand =D the 'Star Trek' sign =D !

They're so cute =D !!!

 

 

This was only half, I couldn't take it all in one shot, so I just took the picture of the scarier looking side =).

This was my K.O. *sigh*.

Since we were getting tired, we decided to go play on the inside instead. After watching a 3D movie, we met up with aunt and uncle to eat dinner. We had lunch at this very fancy looking restaurant called 'The Olive.' The interior design was quite classy, quite elegant. I felt I was inappropriately dressed =S. We had an a full course meal: appetizer, entree, soup, main course and dessert; they all tasted quite delicious. The soup was a tad bit salty for my taste, but it wasn't bad. The entree was some kind of duck dish. There was this particular meat that was very soft, very tender; it practically melted in your mouth. It was nothing like any other meat I've tasted. I asked what it was and they told me it was duck liver. I almost wanted to vomit. Not because it tasted bad, but just the thought of eating something that wasn't meat, muscle or skin just turned me off. But I continued eating anyways because it was rude not to finish what was on my plate. I guess my stomach wasn't really with me because I couldn't finish my tender Angus beef (I think it was =S). My uncle ate the rest of my meat. To be honest, I vomited a couple of times today. I guess my flu was really getting to me =/. Aunt paid with her credit points from her Genting card. 

3D short film place.

The 4 meat slices were duck liver... =S.

 I think this one was mine ... tender.

 Chocolate truffles =D.

Chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and tri-chocolate pocky look-alike... ? =S

The 'God of Fortune and Money,' I think?

 That's actually the back, but it's a decorative tree made of recycled bottles =D.

 

After dinner, we continued to play some more indoor games. We went on this ride where people sat on different, appealing carriages to be carried around the building. We didn't travel around the entire building, only a part of it, so the ride was kind of short =/. Our last ride was the indoor rollercoaster ride. This ride actually gave us quite a surprise. At first, it was going quite slowly, so I thought it would be a relaxing ride to take the view of the inside, which is quite beautiful and spectacular actually, even the ceiling was amazing (they painted it like the sky). Then all of the sudden, the rollercoaster sped up O_O. Around a building, and then another. The turn was quite sharp too. My cousin and I screamed a bit, then started laughing. We were seriously surprised and startled by the sudden turns and all =). After the ride, we went to buy souvenirs. Aunt also paid with her credit points. I guess she had a lot of credit points LOL =). They bought me a carousel that played an interesting song =) I really like it =). It was a bit cheaper than the ones in Australia. Thank you auntie =). We went home after that. Another day gone.


Dia leibh
FiONA =).

PS. Some of their decorations are made from recycled plastic bottles and all =D. How resourceful =D !!!