Underneath the Palm Trees

last saturday, when it was 20 minutes before midnight, merrie and i made an impulsive move. we changed into our pullovers and ran to brunettis on lygon street to get a birthday cake for vanessa. we had only 20 minutes, and we managed to reach rachel's house JUST ON TIME. we sang the birthday song, and vanessa was oh-so-surprised.

alright, one of the few un-glam shots on my blog. sleep wear yo! we had katy perry's music blasting in the house, accompanied with blueberry cruisers and a huge mixed fruit tart (the birthday cake). though it was a really short 1 hour, we girls had tons of fun. totally, an unplanned california girls themed mini party.

vanessa's birthday celebration continued later in the afternoon at lindt cafe on collins. she invited more people, mainly from her old college in melbourne. before that, i was shopping with merrie in town and i spent a bomb in a short few hours. bought tons of accessories, a new watch (finally), and a dress for the upcoming icss ball. shall share my awesome buys with y'all someday.

this was the birthday cake. it's a very special cake. we're so not going back to lindt for any birthday celebration. they didn't let us book any tables, we couldn't join tables together, and there was a cutting fee for the cake! it was $1.50 per person, can you beat that! so in total, it was 15 bucks just for slicing the knife through the cake.

having said that, the cake was beautiful. thin layers of dark chocolate ganache, coffee butter cream, and almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup. Besides that, the dark chocolate topping is adorned with a 23 carat gold leaf! really, quite unnecessary. it must have made it so much more expensive, when it's tasteless!

salt caramel macarons are the best! it's my favourite macaron flavour, and lindt's was so good. i tried strawberry too, not really to my liking. speaking of which, i should go get my hands on them tomorrow. yes, it's going to be another short (hopefully) shopping trip with merrie and cindy phua. duck duck goose, here we come for lunch!

laundry gives me fear. i don't complain when i have to do housework. but this is the only thing i wished i wouldn't have to do it myself here in down under. i don't know how and why, but aunty jean does it so well. :(

The Little Cottage

since trinity, i have always wanted to go to dandenong mountains to try their mouth watering scones sold at miss marples. i've heard so much about it from everyone who've tasted them, but just wasn't fated to make a trip up. the chance finally came last saturday. aunty kathy kindly offered to drive us girls up to miss marples for morning brunch.

the place was packed! full of locals and tourists. we had to wait for 45 minutes, and we did. meanwhile, we went over to a little shop called tealeaves, selling tealeaves (obviously) and teapots. haha, my mum collects teapots, so i managed to settle her birthday gift there. bet she'll be super happy when she receives them. siblings at home, don't say anything. thank you. :)

we all had fun browsing through teapots of different shapes and sizes. they were all so pretty that we couldn't decide what we wanted. rachel, cindy and i really contributed a lot to the shop's revenue. we spent 45 minutes in that shop, and when we got back, the table was ready! :)

love the english decor of the cottage. everything was so pretty, and there were flora prints everywhere! apparently, this tea room is named after an english actress who acted as a detective. i thought it was named after the owner or the person who baked those yummy scones.

these are really the best scones in the world, i'm totally not exaggerating. trust me, or you can travel all the way here to try them yourself. you won't regret it. personally, i don't really fancy scones. i feel that they are rather hard, very flour-ly, and not sweet at all. i hardly eat them, probably only once in a year. hence, i wasn't expecting that i will fall in love with them like how the others do. but i did. it was really so good. one scone was so filling!

mummy was so jealous cause she loves scones. i told her i'll drive her up here one day, and she said that i'm talking as though i'm some expert driver who owns a car. haha! HINT HINT mummy, i really wouldn't mind a very lousy second hand car to explore melbourne's suburbs. okay, i think i should only think about it once i find the time to do so. :)

Singapore's Still Our Home!

last monday night, we singaporeans all gathered together at etihad stadium to celebration our nation's 45th birthday. there was a live telecast of the singapore's national day parade. this is our first time in the 3 years spent here that we actually bother to go attend one. i guess we just don't want to miss out on anymore activities since we only have one more year left in melbourne.

for many of us, it was our first time watching the national day parade since primary school. such a sad truth. still, nothing much has changed over these years. the same old march past, choir, and oh-so-colouful costumes. oh, but fireworks seem to increase every year. jonny was saying that we should tear while watching them, as taxpayers (our parents) contribute to the 10 minute of joy. but i sure did enjoy the fireworks! at that very point in time, i wish i was on the top of marina sands. i'll be up there on the year i get to celebrate national day in singapore. well, booking a room on new year's eve sounds pretty good!

singapore, though i do get bored in the little island sometimes, i still love you. we'll still live our lives in singapore despite studying (and/or working) abroad for so many years. no country has good food, transport, safety, and shopping all in one place like you do.

but, i still need to get out of the country at least once every year. :)

Dancing in the Movies

Rick Malambri is so handsome and Sharni Vinson is so sweet! just got home from step up 3D movie with rachel, merrie and jon. the movie was just average for me, nothing much. step up 1 is still the best, love the storyline and dance moves! can they produce another step up movie, but not featuring street dance?!

anyhow, got my cravings for salmon don settled with jonny at a japanese restaurant near flinders for dinner. super awesome, i love it so much. must try the mixed sashimi don the next time i'm there. we girls went for freddos ice cream after the movie on LYGON at 10pm (they just opened after the long winter break)! yes, i think we are crazy.

BECAUSE earlier this afternoon at 4.50pm, 2 people were shot dead outside players on lygon, which is just a few stalls away from freddos. apparently it's some revenge gang fight due to the earlier killing this morning. the crime scene is fenced up, and there were so many reporters and policemen. there was also a helicopter just above college square before i went out for dinner. melbourne is so dangerous man! mummy will totally scold me if i told her went to lygon.

love love love

The Loft on Lonsdale

oh, i'm having so much fun! :) just got back from my ski trip last sunday night and it was such a blast. maximum fun we had during the 3 days and 2 nights and we really wouldn't mind doing some hardcore skiing for a week. HOKKAIDO, here i come in december! i cannot wait. :)

lots of events have happened and going to happen this august. fun-filled august, i like. photos are pilling up, and i have yet to find time to edit and upload them onto facebook and blogger. anyhow, here are some photos 2 weeks back when i went clubbing the 2nd time in a row, on a saturday white night at the loft.

the rachel-s were so nice to let me and merrie join them (made new friends). we had japanese dinner along swanston before walking in the cold to the club. merrie, rachel and i all thought that it was a bar, that's why we agreed. from then on, no more consecutive clubbing sessions. rachel and i got into a small flu and cough due to the late nights and the lack of rest. weak, our bodies are not suited to that kinda lifestyle.

it was our first time clubbing on a white night and in a white club. the music was really good, and the crowd is better than singapore's and probably seven's and eve's. no touching nonsense shit. just pure dancing, and yeah making out couples.

oh yeah, i did it. i managed to drink a shot all at once! but couldn't do the second though. i love the last photo of this post. so candid and funny, credits to the bartender. can tell that all of us ain't good drinkers (probably only rachel, haha)!

bet you won't see anymore clubbing posts anytime soon. back to work! :)

Little Touches

i'm back from my first IFA tutorial for the semester. while waiting for jonny to come and accompany me to walk along lygon street, i shall share a few pictures of the little changes i did to my room before school started last week.

wall decor stickers from typo (it costed me 30 bucks) and a cute white clock from ikea.

changed new photos. :)
bought cute winnie the pooh clips from mini toons, and decided to hang my polaroids up by the window.

spot my hello kitty mouse that i bought from taiwan.

View from 88th

went for my breakfast/lunch/tea at little cupcakes on degraves with rachel last saturday. we girls all had a long good sleep after the previous night's clubbing session. i, gobbled down 5 mini sinful cupcakes, while rachel just sat and watch me eat.

i didn't want to go back to the boring apartment, so i suggested to rachel that we'd go visit the suburbs. but we couldn't think of any where to go, given that we only had approximately 3-4 hours. thanks to bb, we decided to visit the aquarium, and off we went! but we kinda walked past eureka tower, and thought that it would be a better place to visit.
to our surprise, there were so many people, we thought we'd be the only few bored souls. anyhow, we had to take a lift that travels at a speed of 9m/s, to the 88th level. it was super fast, much faster than college square's lift that only needs to travel from ground to the 10th floor.

the view from above was so pretty, rachel and i were so excited when we first reached. they had binoculars placed around the tower that allowed us to view the landmarks of melbourne city. i heard that the view at night is better.

federation square

national galley of victoria

there was a footy match going on. definitely must watch one this semester! :)

albert park, must go there soon too.

this the the edge experience. basically, you just get to stand in a glass box for approximately 5 mins. to enjoy the thrill of "standing midair", you have to pay 15 bucks and wait for an hour! rachel and i didn't try it, cause we found it rather lame.

coolest post box in australia. :)

thereafter, we went to ten ren for some milk tea and osyter omelette. very different from singapore's, but i like it. but it was really expensive though, 7.50 for just a pot of milk tea!

i'm so excited for the coming ski trip at falls creek this weekend. we'll be going to auski on thursday to rent our skiing equipment and shopping for food stuff to bring up to the mountains. :) it's going to be real cold, cause i heard that its snowing up there! yay, its been 8 years since i last saw snow.