Religion is black and white

Religion makes it all black-and-white. I, however, would much prefer life in colour, thanks.

Resurrection?

What kind of life do we need to live that is worth coming back to?
What kind of world do we need to leave that is worth coming back to? #resurrection

Remembering a birthday

If my brother were alive today, we would be celebrating his 32nd birthday.

How interesting. This year marks the point where he has been gone for as long as he had been alive.

What do I remember about him? Not much, to be honest. I was 13.

I grieve not because I miss him, but rather because we lost the opportunity to create more memories together. Because we lost the opportunity to share and experience life together. Simply, lost opportunities.

The dead they sleep...

The dead they sleep a long, long sleep;
The dead they rest, and their rest is deep;
The dead have peace, but the living weep.
~Samuel Hoffenstein

Rest well and in peace my brother.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Asian Women Reveal to Keeping a Man Happy"

Someone posted on Facebook to an article with the heading, "Asian Women Reveal to Keeping a Man Happy". I clicked on it, ready to laugh and roll my eyes at it, thinking it's probably some lame-ass misogynistic article reminiscent of Malaysia's "Obedient Wives Club".

Well, it probably does sound quite subservient on first read. But then I had a good think about it, and realise in some way, I agree with each general statements/headings, albeit with some change to the details or interpretation. Those of you who know me personally will never think 'subservient' or 'demure' as words to describe me (I think 'raging', 'manic', 'loud', 'raucous' would come to mind before 'subservient' or 'demure') but here's the caveat - I think both parties within a marriage should adhere to these statements for a successful marriage.

So here we go!

1. Your man is king: "Remember that your man/husband comes first – before you, your parents, your outside interests or even your children."
   It's not saying that you must let your children go hungry if your husband demands sex then and there. Many marriages breakdown when the children leave the nest, because couples have spent the last few decades focusing on the needs of the children or community that they had forgotten who they had married and why. A more apt statement would be "Prioritise your marriage".
2. Rise early: "Get up in the morning before your man does. Make sure you prepare a healthy breakfast so he gets a good start on the day. Even if you have to leave before him, make sure he has a nice breakfast waiting for him when he comes into the kitchen in the morning".
   Again, this works both ways. Whoever gets up and gets to the kitchen first, make breakfast-lah. It just so happens that it often ends up being me.
3. Never nag: "Never, ever. If he wants to stop off after work and have a few drinks with his buddies, that’s his business.  If he forgot to take out the garbage – do it yourself."
   Haha! This I must admit is not my forte - I maintain my stance that the ONLY reason women nag is because men do not respond when you tell them nicely once! I only agree that there are some things not worth nagging on - pick your battles wisely!
4. Be at home: "Make sure you’re always at home when he gets in from a hard day at the office. Even if you are working, make sure you get home to your man/husband as soon as possible."Again, is this not a two-way thing? It's certainly important to spend time together, and especially nice when the other party has had a shitty day at work. Maybe not necessarily be at home, but just be there.
5. Smile: "Always greet your man with a smile on your face and, if you can, a cold drink in your hand."
   Hahah I find this amusing - "if you can, a cold drink in your hand". This is quite an "abuthennnn" statement - of course a smile if better than a sulk right! And of course, it works both ways. Especially after a long (potentially crummy) day at work, no one wants to come home and see a sulking, moody husband/wife - might evoke a "oh hell - what did I come home to?" feeling of dread)
6. Dinner Ready: "If you are home, or get home first, always have a delicious dinner ready to be served. And if he comes home feeling tense, give him a massage to ease his aches and pains"
   Totally agree with this statement, except that it differs from couple to couple. In my family, I am the cook, so I make it a point to get dinner ready. I personally do enjoy the satisfaction that the Husband enjoys and shows gratitude for his meal. In other families, the husbands do it, which isn't an issue. And I have no issues asking the Husband for a massage when I come home feeling tense, and vice versa.
7. Let him hang with friends: "If your man wants to have his buddies over for a night of poker, or football, or video games, don’t  get mad. Encourage it and make sure you’ve got lots of sandwiches and cold beer on hand to serve them".
   I suppose I agree with this statement possibly because the Husband hardly does this, so when he does, it's perfectly fine. It's a problem if this is happening a few nights each week though. But it's certainly good for guys to hang out - keeps them manly HAHA
8. Ask First: "Always ask him first before you go spending his hard-earned money, or even your hard-earned money, to buy something for yourself".
   This works both ways. It's not about asking for permission, but having a discussion. We have a general rule that if either one wants to spend above a certain amount, we need to discuss it first.
9. Remote Control: "Let him choose the programs you watch on television.   The television is man’s domain… he should be in charge.  And only Netflix/rent HIS  favorite movies or TV shows".
   I lied - I don't agree with all the statements - I disagree with this one!
10. Obey: "Don’t do things your husband doesn’t approve of.  And don’t complain about it. If he doesn’t want you wasting your time watching soap operas or having coffee with a neighbor, obey him.  You’ll both be happier for it".
    Again, this works both ways, dear husbands and wives!
11. Wild in bed: " Be a temptress in bed.  I he likes you in sexy lingerie, wear it.  Be shy and demure when you’re out in public, but once the lights are out, let him know he’s the only man in the world who can please you"
    I don't know about the, "be shy and demure when you're out in public" part - it's hilarious! But who on earth would have advised the opposite of 'wild in bed' - e.g. "lie there like a dead fish"
12. Know sports: "Bone up on sports so you’ll have something to talk about. But always let him start the conversation".
    Perhaps this is could be more aptly named, "show (or if necessary, feign) interest in his/her interests.
13. Keep fit: "Keep yourself in shape and always dress nicely so you’ll be a wife any husband would be proud to have".
    Again, applicable for both parties - ideally, I'd rather have a hottie instead of a flabbie; a stud instead of a dud; a hunk instead of chunk.
14. Cleaning: "Keep your home spic and span at all times.  It should look like you’re expecting company.  And the laundry should always be done.  Your man  should never have to look for clean socks or underwear and his shirts should all be ironed – by you".Uhm.... I can't even get my own clothes ironed, and I wouldn't even suspect a thing if our house got ransacked. Looks like this is another one I can't seem to agree with. Oops.

Double Eek!

We woke up this morning to find our mousetrap was successful - a mouse had been caught. No longer than my index finger, it was tiny.

I left the Husband to dispose of the mouse while I took Angus out for a walk. When I got back, the Husband told me about how when he chucked the mouse into the bin, he realised it was still alive when it scuttled deeper into the bin bag. He thought he saw the mouse only using it's front legs, his hind legs seemingly paralysed. How horrible.

I was adamant that if the mouse was still alive after injuries sustained from the mousetrap, a quick death must ensue. It really is the most decent thing to do, as opposed to have it slowly die :(

I came home in the evening by myself, and lo and behold, the mousetrap had caught yet another mouse (egad!!). This time, the mouse was clearly still alive, and so I could not bear to leave it there in the mousetrap until the Husband came home.

I summoned all the nerves I had, and released the mouse from the trap into a couple of plastic bags double-bagged (shrieking in the process). How incredibly traumatic, I proceeded to smack it against a metal surface 20-30 times until I was certain it could not be anything but dead.

When I was finished, my hands were trembling and my heart was pounding. So stressful and traumatic :(

Rest in peace, little mouse!

Eek!!

We have had a visitor recently - a little mouse who has decided to stay. We think it's been living in/behind/around the stove/oven unit, and this has caused us to be nervous everytime we walk towards the unit.

We contemplated using rat poison but decided against it, as Angus might help himself to a dead poisoned mouse out in the garden.

So we've gone the old fashioned way - a mousetrap with peanut butter as bait.

Fingers crossed that we'll get it asap!

We were just talking about what we ought to do if the mouse trap traps the mouse, but doesn't kill it. The decent thing to do would be to kill it quickly, though the Husband did contemplate on various alternatives, which I think are cruel as they all result in a slow death.

What a disturbing bedtime topic of conversation.

God and Costco

People call me "The Costco Queen", a title I was bestowed, for frequent enthusiastic expounding of the wonders of Costco. I love it, and never hesitate talking about what an amazing place it is to anyone and everyone ("You can buy cheese, milk AND a garden shed, all under one roof!"). I am happy to invite people to come along anytime for a visit (as you need a membership or be a member's guest to visit).
When it comes to God the Creator though, I uhmm, ahh and hesitate before I choose to speak.

For years I had struggled with my lack of ability to "evangelise" - I always thought I was somewhat afraid of what people may think, or just wasn't "gifted" in that way.

Maybe it's still the above, but I think I've identified my main problem:

Costco (along with the other things I get excited about, such as Apple gadgets and Food) are easy to talk about and easy to encourage others to jump on the bandwagon because they are all GOODS and/or SERVICES. Goods and services which give immediate, instant, tangible gratification. The "benefit" or "Pros" of a particular product or service is addressed and experienced immediately.

Food immediately TASTES good; Apple gadgets look and feel technologically sexy; and Costco - you can buy 1.5 dozen of free-range eggs AND 1kg of whole-egg mayonnaise for less than $10.00 (after you buy your washing machine and get your hearing checked, all under one roof!)

But God isn't an instant bandaid who fixes all your problems or Santa Claus who gives you all you want or Mr Costco who will sell it to you at a heavily discounted price, and you'd receive instant gratification.

He's Someone I have a relationship with. He is Someone I am learning to have a conversation with, and journey with daily.

It's like you meet someone who eventually becomes your husband/wife. You get to know them little-by-little; you date; and eventually discover that he is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Now imagine if it was your Mum who first introduced this same man to you, and immediately pounds it into you that "You are to be wed to this man!". No wonder speed-dating or shotgun weddings with God tend not to work. They may, don't get me wrong - I am a testimony of that. But there are certainly problems that are likely to arise.

So - don't worry about what your mum/auntie/cousin/neighbour says- Start dating!

"May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance" [2 Thessalonians 3:5]

Twas a Happy Birthday!

A few weeks back, I celebrated my last "twentysomething" birthday. And what a week it was! It ended up being a four-day celebration, with friends and family spoiling me with food, and gracing me with their company!

The first night of celebration was spent at Cutler & Co, a two-hatted restaurant. I was keen to sample (read: wolf down) their suckling pig and we thought my birthday would be a special-enough an event to make a visit. I couldn't get a table for the evening of my birthday, so we settled for the day before my birthday.

Pre-birthday dinner [at] Cutler & Co

I decided to take my birthday as annual leave, as I could not bear the thought of being stuck inside at work on my birth-day (My husband would tell you I'm BIG on birthdays). The Husband uhmmed-and-aahed, but decided to take the day off as well (I wasn't expecting him to, but well done, well done *clap clap*).

I had already decided to (with or without The Husband) spend the day in the city; thankfully the weather was brilliant! Sunny, but not hot - days like this I love living in this city!

Caught up with my reciprocal bridesmaid (ie. I was hers and she was mine!) for brunch at Hardware Societe. She was going on holidays the very next day so we thought a catch-up would be great. Ah - the life of the stay-at-home-mums/dads..... Anyway, the catch-up was appreciated, however marred by a telephone call by the stupid builder (Thanks Porter Davis for ruining my birthday!) to inform us that we would have to fork out an additional $6000 for this-and-that. A hilarious incident with my birthday present ensued, which lightened up the mood, at the expense of the integrity of my dear friend at David Jones.



We slowly made our way (enjoying the sun!) to the National Gallery of Victoria, to both St Kilda Road and Fed Square sites. Spent quite a few hours at the gallery; it's amazing how much art can be seen and appreciated for free!!

Part of the "10 Ways to Look at the Past" exhibition [at] National Gallery of Victoria

The time finally came for us to head over to Chin Chin to try and get a table, but was told at 5:45pm that it was going to be a long wait, so we hung out at Go Go Bar downstairs. Eventually we were joined by one of our favouritest couples, and we gobbled/comsumed/inhaled whatever Chin Chin could offer us.

"We are soooo, like, kewl", 'cos we hang out [at] Chin Chin 

The next day, me and my work colleagues, with our partners, and our doggies, made our way to the Abbostford Convent, where the Suppermarket was held. There was a live band, food stalls, and other stalls selling what-not.We had decided to go out that evening in celebration of my birthday as well as my other colleague's, whose birthday was only 5 days after mine.

 

 Suppermarket [at] Abbotsford Convent

The next day, a dear friend shouted me lunch at Albert Street Food & Wine Bar in Brunswick. I don't  catch up often enough with her, so each time we do meet up, the time is treasured.

Albert Street Food & Wine Bar [at] Brunswick

The Husband had organised this little lunch date for me, so he could spend the day shopping and preparing a magnificent Chinese seafood dinner feast that night for me and a group of friends.On the menu were Charlie, Coco and Cameron:

Angus curious about the temporary pets...

The Seafood Feast! [at] home

Thus concluded my birthday almost-week long celebration. Many thanks to The Husband of Husbands (inside joke) for cooking up such an incredible spread and being an even more incredible husband.

I think back on my birthday, of the people I have journeyed and shared life with for at least a decade or two and realise once again I am so incredibly blessed with incredible relationships.

Photo albums, scrapbooks, yearbooks

To me, the Bible is kinda like someone's photo album, scrapbook, and yearbook.

You can browse through the Obama's baby photo album with interest. You might say, "oh, what a cute little bubby boy was he!" but not like it would be of any personal relevance to you.

But it's entirely different when the photo album, scrapbook or yearbook holds the stories of someone you love and actually have a relationship with.

You then no longer just browse with lukewarm interest, but instead peruse it carefully, as the stories would help you know and understand the one you love just that bit more.

You could still have a relationship with the one you love, even without looking into the photo album.

But curiousity piques- the more you get to know the one you love in the present, the more you desire to know about his stories.

Fence is up!

We've never been so excited to see a patch of dirt, and some temporary fencing!

Hopefully this means we'll start our build next week!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Farewell, Food-Outs!

I was first adamant that I wasn't going to have a blog solely dedicated to food. I mean, c'mon, I have a life that is NOT just about food!

I began to blog about eating out on this blog, but soon realised that this personal blog, where I'm meant to post about my personal journey, was being FILLED and overrun with FOOD posts! Clearly my little hobby was turning to a slight obsession.

So alas, the time had come for me to choose to compartmentalise my (mild) obsession with talking about food into its own blog.

So I welcome you to bid adieu to the Food-Out label, and hop over to visit I came, I saw, I ate (http://veni-vidi-voro.blogspot.com)!

Food-in: Ngo Hiam (Lobak) and Pineapple Tarts

Decided to make the Husband's ultimate dream come true (no, not THAT dream ;) ) by attempting to make ngo hiam or what we call as lobak, essentially a fried meat roll wrapped in bean curd skin. Ended up buying the WRONG beancurd skin (as M pointed out - the COCK brand is only for 'pak khor foo chook yee mai' @gingko beancurd skin barley dessert broth) - it broke so easily and pretty much started disintegrating :( I tried my best, and it turned out pretty ugly with foochok (beancurd skin) pointing in every direction, but thankfully, edible. Thanks C for pointing out which ones I should have bought - maybe next time I'll experience more success!!

Ugly ngo hiam

In order to make it seem more "Chinese New Year"-sy, I decided to make pineapple tarts.

Too bad I didn't have the pineapple tart mould (the one that makes each tart shaped like a flower)- I remember helping grandma making these ones for CNY; helping her make CNY bikkies was one of my strongest CNY memories from childhood.

Anyway the ones I made were pretty ugly (are you sensing a pattern here?)- hardly any consistency. Taste-wise, pretty good for a first attempt though!

Made the filling from scratch- fresh pineapple (hurray for food processor), sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Took forever to reduce and caramelise (forever meaning 2.5hrs)

I combined two recipes; I wanted to make one recipe's filling but not the pastry as it had too many ingredients I'd have to go out and buy (eg. Cream cheese, shortening, ghee etc etc etc). The pastry I ended up making had a filling recipe using tinned pineapples, which I wasn't keen on.

Overall turned out okay, but I'd love to get the pineapple flower mould next time!

 

Ugly Pineapple tarts

GONG XI FA CAI!

House-building: build a house at your own peril!

House-Building is no easy feat - understatement of the year!

I've been on such highs and lows about the house that one would think I'm manic-depressive.

Porter Davis (and I suppose other builders) haven't been really clear and transparent with us, that now, post-contract signing, there's another $6000 we need to fork out that we don't know exactly what for. The general heading of "site costs" just will not suffice! Especially when you signed up for a promotion that specified, "complete site costs included-just add land!"

Did someone say false advertising?

Prove that "someone" wrong, Porter Davis!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

House-building: Interior plans

We didn't have to upgrade much inside, and made some minor variations. Our only variations were the addition of our alfresco, external window kitchen splashback, closing off our formal lounge area with plaster so it can be a home office, and enlarging some bedroom windows. Oh yeah, we also added a door to the walk-in robe, and sliding door to our master bedroom ensuite, 'cos no one wants to be (and should ever be!) seen doing a Number Two.

 Interior plans - ground floor

 Interior plans - first floor

Our promotion package included Caesarstone benchtops in the kitchen, which is great, but we did have to pay to have Caesarstone tops in the bathrooms. Upgrades include (from what I can remember at the top of my head):

• upgrading toilet bowls! (hehh!)
• Caesarstone benchtops in the bathroom
• carpet and underlay
• downlights downstairs

Choosing colours again wasn't too difficult. We're both into lots of neutrals and earthy tones, and anything that we didn't cared much for remained as the standard option provided (like skirting and architraves!).

Kitchen colour sample

Below my external window splashback we decided to go with the dark brown tile, instead of the glass splashback offered in the promotion. Latte Caesarstone benchtop atop white cabinetry. I would have loved to upgrade the kitchen cabinets to gloss vinyl wrap, and have thicker Caesarstone benchtops with waterfall edges but it would've blown the budget. oh well!

Bathroom colour sample

Again - lots of browns and whites. Floor and wall tiles a light brown; pebblestone feature tiles; Caesarstone Ice Snow benchtop atop white cabinetry.

Urghhh! Blogging about the house now makes me so excited about seeing it in 3D!

House-Building: "look out for the orange door..."

It wasn't too difficult to choose a house design. We quite quickly settled on building the Moreland 27 with Porter Davis (Access Range); it fitted on our small block, and met our needs and requirements. I realised that within a year Porter Davis had decided to remove the house design from their range. Hmm... maybe this will mean our house will be rare-ish and less of a mass-produced, cookie-cutter house then!

Exterior - Cardiff Facade

This is how the exterior will be, ground floor would be exposed brick; upstairs will be weatherboard. I have a tendency to like a mix of textures and materials, so really like how there's a variety of materials used in the exterior. Plus it turned out that it was cheaper than having both storeys brick; so yay - on an extremely rare event, my first preference wasn't the most expensive.

Exterior - colours

The Husband and I almost never disagreed on the design, look or colours when we had to select our materials and colours; for which I am incredibly thankful! Possibly because we either (i) have the same style vision for our home, or (ii) he has not much style, but I'm just ridiculously convincing and can sell ice to an eskimo.

The biggest decision we had to make for our exterior was the brick. We had driven around across town like idiots looking at different houses that were being built with different bricks etc. But on a walk, we had seen a gorgeous riverfront house which expressed what we had in mind, and luckily we brought a photo of it into our Colour Selection appointment. Our Interior Designer who helped us with our colour selection took a look at it, and reckoned we could achieve a similar look by upgrading our brick to a Category 4 brick, i.e. Mocha, and upgrading our mortar to off-white.  This was fantastic, as prior to the appointment, we were thinking that we had little choice but to upgrade to a Category 6 brick (i.e. Espresso) to get what we want.

Ooh, and I was adamant that I wanted to have that orange door.....

House-Building: From paper to brick

Guess I should finally start blogging about our house-building!

I don't know what possessed us to embark on this adventure of having our first home built. I am pretty certain neither of us knew what we signed on for, so for now, we can only sit there, hold on tight, and hope for the best! (with a helluva lots of aggression assertiveness developed along the way).

It will continue to be a challenge to have a house built whilst balancing being assertive (so you have a good quality build), with being able to live a life that represents love, hope and faith (so you don't simply see everyone else as a means to an end, i.e. the house).

We had decided months and months and months ago how our house will look like; we've had the plans and designs for almost a year now, but since we are looking to start our actual build soon, I decided that I should finally start blogging about it, and hopefully can make regular-ish updates on it!

If you are building or thinking about building, and have questions about specifics, e.g. upgrading selections at Porter Davis; feel free to place a comment or send me a message and I'll do my best to respond.

Hope it won't be too difficult to get our house from on paper to brick!

FOOD-OUT: Rockpool Bar & Grill, Southbank (VIC)

I must admit, I was feeling apprehensive about our visit to Rockpool. The Bar Menu seems to get great reviews, but opinions about the restaurant itself seem to be quite polarised, and I generally feel a wee bit apprehensive about 'chain' restaurants. Wanting to make the most of our visit, I spent a good few days perusing the menu and blog posts.

It was relatively quiet when we got there at 6.15pm, but it filled up very quickly. We were soon joined by our friends and were ready to order.

Hand-cut Linguini with with Spanner Crab and Spicy Prawn Oil ($30.0)

Bloggers had talked about this dish, and their other pastas favourably, so we decided to give it a go. The crab and linguini were both extremely fresh and delicious, but it tasted tomyum. This was very unexpected; I had tried to steer away from anything Asian-inspired. Hmm, unfortunately as much as I loved the way the linguini and crab were cooked, I could not help but imagine that if Rockpool had a "spicy prawn oil" disaster, they could have subsituted it with the flavouring packet from this:

 

MAMA's tomyum-flavoured instant noodles

As much as I loved the linguini and crab, needless to say I wouldn't be ordering it again; certainly not for $30 a plate.

Cape Grim dry-aged 36 month old, grass-fed,
Rib-Eye on the Bone, 350g, 65 days ($60.0)

We'll begin with the steaks. My online research indicated that the Cape Grim Rib-eye would be a good one. I was not let down. Although I've eaten nicer textured steak elsewhere, this steak is amongst the most flavoursome I have ever eaten. It must've been the wood-fire that really adds the flavour. The steak, with the tiniest bit of harissa, was ultra-flavourful. Yum yumm yummos.

J and K ordered the Cape Grim dry-aged 36 month old, grass-fed, Fillet 250g ($55.0) - J ordered his rare, which came out fine. K on the other hand, had asked for medium-rare, but felt it was more medium to medium-well. This was slightly contentious, so it wasn't sent back, as the steak was cut into 3 pieces- the middle piece was certainly medium-rare, but the other two were indeed more medium to medium-well. M ordered the Cape Grim dry-aged 36 month old, grass-fed, Scotch Fillet 220g 4+ Marble Score ($49.0). Being Asians, we were happy to share food all around, and the general consensus was that the steaks were incredibly flavoursome. But I was extremely satisfied with the rib-eye.

Grilled Rock Flathead Fillets
with Wood Fire Grilled Vegetables and Olive & Caper Salsa ($49.0)

Being incredibly bossy, I made The Husband order a non-steak dish, just so we could go halfies and try something different. We both enjoyed the fish, together with the salsa.

SPECIAL: King George Whiting with rocket, chilli and something salad

S opted for the special - and he did enjoy it. I had a taste, and remembered that the fish was tasty, but nothing too remarkable. Personally, at fancy restaurants, I don't like seeing fins and tails on the plate.

Side Order of Onion Rings ($9.0)

This was another dish I read online that we had to get. They were seriously crunchy and yummy! They COULD have drain it for longer though; the last onion ring at the bottom of the bowl was sitting in a small pool of oil (which was kinda yuck, but I still had no trouble smacking it on my (by-then) empty plate a few times just to shake off some oil before shoving it into my mouth)

Side Order of Potato and Cabbage Gratin (S $9.0/ L $12.0)

OMG - this was 'eye-rolling'-ly good. I would have used my spoon and scraped the sides and licked it clean if I had been at home. So creamy, so flavourful - my-oh-my!

Caught a quick snap on the way out. Chef on the left: "Whatchu lookin' at?"

After dinner, I uhmmed and aahed over my overall opinion about our visit. It was enjoyable, and the food, especially my steak, were super-flavoursome, but I wasn't too sure about how I felt about the whole experience. Until I woke up this morning and kept thinking about the flavour of my rib-eye steak with the harrissa. 

Overall, the Cape Grim dry-aged 36 month old, grass-fed, Rib-Eye on the Bone, 350g, 65 days steak with side orders of Onion Rings and Potato and Cabbage Gratin are absolutely worth the visit.

The food was good, but the company even better. A special shout out to the wonderful, M and S, one of the fantastic-est couples I know, who shouted all of us dinner on this very special night out! THANK YOU and MUAKSMUAKSMUAKS!!!

welcoming 2012

It's so much easier to blog about food, than it is about life. Food is physical, tangible and easily involves the 5 external senses; life is so much more abstract. Or rather perception about life is more abstract, to be more exact.

On New Year's Day, I was asked to share what I was thankful or grateful for for the year 2011. When you're asked such a question, there really isn't much choice but to reflect on the year.

I am thankful for an unremarkable year.

Nothing our society deems as a great success or accomplishment happened to us this year. We didn't strike the lottery, we didn't have a baby, we didn't get married. Neither did a great tragedy befell us - all have been healthy, and well.

Events in 2011, for us personally, hadn't been particularly significant. But not needing to be overly preoccupied with our situation allowed us to focus on working out our faith, trying to understand how God is working in this chaotic world, and trying to understand the roles we play in global issues, or even just the roles we play to have a positive impact in our community's lives. 

 

An unremarkable year isn't normally something people are thankful for. But this reminds be of Proverbs 30:

^7-9 And then he prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things before I die; don't refuse me— Banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence.Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I'm too full, I might get independent, saying, 'God? Who needs him?' If I'm poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God."

I haven't been able to put much of our reflections, conversations,thoughts into text this year. Hopefully I would be able to pen down my thoughts more this year, to help gain more clarity. 

I am certain 2012 will be a new adventure.

Cookies supplied by the talent at The Buttercup Bakeshoppe

Happy New Year!

The purpose of life is a life of purpose - Robert Byrne

Gastronomic P0rn0gr4phy of Sydney

Thus ends my intense bursts of blogging about our food escapades in Sydney. I haven't blogged about each and every meal; just writing about the highlights have been exhausting (though fun!). The detailed eating itinerary was as follows:

• Saturday
• Brunch: bills, Surry Hills (awesome, awesome, corn fritters)     Likes it
• Snack: sweet pastries from La Renaissance Cafe Patisserie, The Rocks      Likes it
• Dinner: Marque Restaurant, Surry Hills      Likes it  

• Sunday
• Brunch: Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills        Really likes it 
• uhmm... brunch: sashimi from Peter's, Sydney Fish Market       Likes it 
• uhmm... brunch: cooked prawns & lobster from Christie's, Sydney Fish Market  Doesn't like it 
• uhmm... afternoon tea: Adriano Zumbo Patissier, Pyrmont       Really likes it  
• Dinner: Red Lantern, Surry Hills  

• Monday
• Brunch: Din Tai Fung, World Square, Sydney       Likes it 
• Tea-time: Adriano Zumbo Patissier, Pyrmont       Really likes it 
• Dinner: Porteño and Gardel's Bar, Surry Hills       Likes it  

• Tuesday
• Lunch: Quay Restaurant, The Rocks        Really likes it 
• Dinner: Chat Thai, Haymarket        Likes it  

Maybe some time I will think about my wishlist for our next Sydney trip, but until then, I shall end the post with something we encountered on the last of our NUMEROUS visits to Chatime in Sydney:

HARD WORK - is obviously not a phrase in this person's vocabulary

Dog-Friendly: The Slow Food Farmers' Market, Abbotsford Convent, VIC

After searching hard online, I found that the Slow Food Farmers' Market held at the Abbotsford Convent welcomes (well-behaved) dogs (on lead)! I often do feel a bit hesitant bringing Angus anywhere as I don't often know what other people's reactions might be, but right at the St Heliers car park ($2 per entry) someone had already asked to pet him. When we got to the entrance of the market, the lady collecting the entrance fee remarked that Angus was going to have a great time as there were many other dogs at the market.


We spent about $60 (Gulp - more than we had expected), but the produce was amazing.
Purchases:
$14 on 2 tubs of pate (Duck & Grand Marnier, Venison & Muscat)
$ 7 on 160g broken blue cheese
$ 8.5 on a jar of roast pumpkin relish (yum!)
$ 8 on chestnuts
$18.5 on an amazing steak sandwich and snag roll with the works - cous cous, relish, beetroot etc etc etc!

The convent had some lovely, lovely grounds to walk about and have a picnic; we fumbled about our ginormous juicy sandwich and roll on a bench overlooking the grounds - very pretty (the grounds, that is. We were not a pretty sight!)

The market, the convent, and its grounds proved to be an ultra sensory experience for Angus- possibly overwhelmingly so:

Details: Slow Food Farmers' Market

When	4th Saturday of every month, 8am - 1pm
Where	Abbotsford Convent 1 St Heliers St Abbotsford VIC 3067
Entry	$2 entry goes to the Abbotsford Convent Foundation maintenance fund
Booking/Enquiries	www.mfm.com.au