&^$#^@#$So what went wrong???

This has been a frustrated week (well 2 weeks).... There aren't much new news from my world as my job already takes up 8 hours a day. So what is there left to do? eat and zzz.

Okie, 2 weeks have passed and I can't even finish 1 experiment.... it's so frustrating!!!! I used to be able to finish 80 samples of wheats a day and now I can't even finish 13 in 2 weeks. Sigh!!! I have no idea what went wrong with the experiments, the chemical I've used were made fresh, so there was no contamination or oxidation of the chemicals used. Things that possible can go wrong: wrong concentration/pH of DMAB, MBTH, NaAc buffer, Hb and LA mix. (this sounds like gibberish... but that's what I'm working with)...

it's back to work again in 15 minutes time... wanna bang the wall.. and throw hissy fits....

Growl!!!!!

1st day of work!

Just another note to myself! I am back in Uni and back to work again!...=) So far, work is a breeze...... nothing interesting has happening yet! =)

Birthday Dinner!!! Part 1

Date: 15 September 2006, Friday
Time: 7:30pm - 10:30 pm
Venue: Shiki Restaurant 四季, Hyatt Hotel

There were 2 different dinner sets of Teppanyaki ordered; Irodori and Mai.
Let's start with the Appetiser(s)

"Set Irodori on the left" "Set Mai on the right"









Marinated Atlantic Salmon SA Prawns and Scallops Japanses Seaweed Salad
(What marination?? with lemon I guess, basic sashimi... hahaha.... the prawns and scallops are fresh with a nice layer of mayo.... )










Kakiage-Prawn & Vege Deep Fried Chicken
(hmmm..... prawn & vege taste like normal tempura.... on the other hand, the deep fried chicken is very tasty, taste like 盐酥鸡... yum!!!)

Dobin Mushi - Woah!!! Fantastic soup!!!!!There are of course 2 of them, but 1 picture is needed only.....
Sensory tasting: the soup has is a Bonito based soup, with prawns, tofu, 白果, chicken pieces and some greens.......

(Don't mind the blurry picture, I have shaky hands... hahaha)




This is not included in the dinner set BUT I love to eat it, that's why it's on my menu(cawamushi..... steam egg)

haha There is something in that egg that's different from other steam eggs I had.... can't put my finger on it....
Sensory tasting: prawns, fish, mushroom, chicken and 白果.. of course the obvious eggs... hahaha)



Main course!!
Then the chef allowed us to share the main course dishes..
Moreton Bay Bugs on the left and SA Oysters.... very fresh as well, and tasty (Wei, yes I don't think I'm cut out to be a food critic!!!hahaha no words to express the food in details)



Herb steak on the left and green peppercorn steak on the right
The herb steak is mushrooms wrapped in thin sliced beef...
The green peppercorn steak was cooked medium rare!!! very juicy!!!



Nah, I didn't take any pictures of the seasonal vegetables, fried rice and fried noodles, miso soup and pickles.... those are quite quite common......... =)

Birthday Dinner!!! Part 2

Dessert!!!!
My Birthday Cake with no candles... no wishes for me.... hahaha it's a complimentary cake from Shiki. It actually taste pretty good!! double layer of mousse and a hard biscuit as base.. with a top layer of strawberry "jam" =P yum!



Upclose picture of my cake!!Strawberrys and cream...... (If it's tiramisu, it'd be better... hahaha but it still yummy!)




Dessert 1: Seasonal Sorbet
Strawberry sorbet and coconut sorbet
The strawberry sorbet taste like sorbet made from strawberry jam and not from fresh strawberries.... sigh...
The coconut sorbet is very coconutish!!



Dessert 2: Honey ice-cream
refresh creamy honeyish taste... quite nice quite nice.. but it doesn't beat the green tea creme brulee I had in Perth... sigh...

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Just a quick short note to my blog..... 15th September!!!! My birthday..... details shall be uploaded in the next couple of days...... big muakz and hugz to myself! as I'm quarter of a century old!!!

Cheer up!!

All this talk about $$$ just gets me down...=(.... so I've decided to chance topic and keep it cheery!!

I've decided to sent an aim for my next big holiday trip! Off to Bora-bora I go!!!

Where do I stay??
Le Meridien Bora Bora (At the Overwater Bungalow)
How long do I stay??
At least 4 days
When do I go??
By the end of 2008 (check out the off-peak price)


Look at the place!!! White sandy beach; crystal clear sea water. It looks too relaxing to be too true. Breathtaking mountain view; you could even feel the sea breeze gently blowing your hair and the warmth of the sun warming your face. Ahh the life!





Ain't it cool!.... sigh.....
Who to go with??
hahaha, who can afford to go with me? okie I guess I have to treat mummy dearest (She needs a looooong nice holiday "Another hole in my pocket")




Breakfast with the fishes .... hmmm I wonder if your allowed to feed them?? =P Will the waiter come over and stop you from throwing buffet breakfast food down to the sea?






Dinner would be so romantic! sigh...








This could be me!! Just give me a year or two to save up $$$.







Did this helping me cheer up?? I guess it did. It's my target! my motivation to work harder and earn $$$...

加油! 加油!

$$$$$ Part 2

A short update on myself:
I am still waiting for my working visa to be approved and I'm currently holding a bridging visa. So does that allow me to work??? Actually, I don't know; gonna find that out tomorrow!

So what is this sudden talk of $$$?? Well, since I'm not working, it's so clear to see the $$$ in my account dropping at a constant speed. sigh... :( Feels like I'm going broke by the minute!
As for the lyrics which I've posted earlier... well, I havn't got the need to go to that extreme to get any.... It's just depressing to look at the decrease.... It was nice looking at it shooting up when I got my tax return....

A few of my frens are facing money problems; juggling with $$$ is such a pain in the butt. hahaha one of them (W) is looking for a Sugarmama... well, the one sugarmama I can think of is the one who had her salary increased recently (J).... As for me, I'm living my life on a reasonable quota (I think) which hopefully enable me to survive to the end of September.....

What expenses I have and where did the rest of my $$$ go??? Starting from the most important one of course...
1. Food
2. Phonebill
3. Road tax
4. Application fees
5. Agent fees
6. The Adelaide Show (showbags, games and food)
7. Birthday presentS (why are there suddenly so many frens' birthday in August,September and October????!!!!)
8. Petrol
9. Carpark fees
10. Bubbletea (yes I have to include this in the list; I'm a bubbletea addict)

I guess that's it so far, expenses soon to come:
1. House rental fees
2. Gas bills
3. Electricity bills
4. Housephone bills
5. Furnitures (Not sure yet, might be renting a furnish place:to buy or not to buy)

Sigh.... deep sigh.... deepest sigh.......
That's it!!!!!! I need my working visa NOW!!!!!!.... @$%#$^#$ what is taking so long??!!

$$$$$ Part 1

Recently, hmmm yes recently..... There are many mentions about $$$. That's when this song pops into mind!!

For the love of money by The O-Jays

Money money money money, money (5x)

Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it

Talk about cash money, money
Talk about cash money- dollar bills, y'all
For the love of money
People will steal from their mother
For the love of money
People will rob their own brother
For the love of money
People can't even walk the street
Because they never know who in the world they're gonna beat
For that lean, mean, mean green
Almighty dollar, money

For the love of money
People will lie, Lord, they will cheat
For the love of money
People don't care who they hurt or beat
For the love of money
A woman will sell her precious body
For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight
Call it lean, mean, mean green

Almighty dollar
I know money is the root of all evil
Do funny things to some people
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime
Money can drive some people out of their minds
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Some people really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Lay down, lay down, a woman will lay down
For the love of money
All for the love of money
Don't let, don't let, don't let money rule you
For the love of money
Money can change people sometimes
Don't let, don't let, don't let money fool you
Money can fool people sometimes
People! Don't let money, don't let money change you,it will keep on changing, changing up your mind

Port Adelaide

Day: Sunday
Date: 3rd September 2006
Time: 0600
Venue: Port Adelaide

I could be considered as an early riser (according to my sisters and some of my frens), more over I'm born in the year of the rooster (now you can guess my age...); But at this hour is just RIDICULOUS. I had to wake up at 4:30am just to leave at 5am to reach Port Adelaide at 6am, just to buy fresh fresh seafood just out from the sea (talk about "kiasu"). Next time I'll reach there at 7 or 8 am, as the fishermen only starts setting up their catch of the day at 6am is itself.

Check out the fresh fish!!!! On of the fish on the left cost only $4 (my dinner... muahaha).







Fishermen buzy at work; setting up fish, cutting fillets, pickling calamaries and prawns, opening oysters......etc
Seafood can't get any fresher than this!!

Before I forget, the price for these seafood are a whole lot cheaper than buying them at the market itself!!! Pick a guess of the oysters price for a dozen; open and unopen.



So have you guessed the price yet??? It's $6.50 for unopened and $7.50 for opened ones (a dozen).... CHEAP!!!!! LE LONG LE LONG!!!!

Oooo I've got the opened oysters picture, but can't get it off from James camera. They are fat and juicy.... real round tummy!!



Of course if there's oysters, you can't leave out mussels!!!

I forgot to take pictures of calamaries, prawns and blue crabs (but then again, it's not like you've never seen seafood in your life)





Right, after some seafood shopping, it's vegetables and fruits shopping... cheap and fresh as well!!! In conclusion; the trip was worth it base on price and freshness..... but not to the extend of time and the degrees I had to go thru (about 5C, i think, feels that way)