It's All About Me, Me & Me

Kaiseki Cooking Class @ Kei's Kitchen, Chatswood

2008-07-12T18:07:00.004+10:00

Note: World Youth Day is fast approaching..and I'm cursing every part/side/up/down of it......except of course the part where I'm using the word W.Y.D to get days off work....:)

After months of waiting, Cecilia and I finally manage to get a spot to go for the Kaiseki Cooking Class offered by Kei's Kitchen. Kaiseki is actually a tradional japanese multi course meal and since I love to eat...and sometimes cook....we thought we would give their winter menu a go. Kei's Kitchen by the way is a privately own thing and is ran by Kei and her daughter Masako at their home in Chatswood. Each class only accomodates a maximum of eight people and spots are kinda hard to get...infact Cecilia and I waited since beginning of the year for a spot....

In Kaiseki meal (after I wiki-ed it) consist of usually 9 course. But in this cooking class we learnt 7 (which is not too bad although more would have been welcomed). Since we were so busy cooking differently and coorperatively, I've decided to list the dishes down as according to the order they are suppose to be consumed. Sakizuke (The Appetizer) we had was soy milk tofu. I find this extremely yummy and it is very healthy (yes nicole is actually being healthy)....After the sakizuke, there is the Wanmono (seasonal broth) which consisted of chicken balls with grated sweet turnip and lemon. This I found 2nd best of all....it was warm, the chicken was tender, and the broth was just heavenly (food for thought: the broth is decorated in such a way to resemble broth).....next was the Mukozuke (cold dish/sashimi) and we had tataki style tuna with sesame sauce...I found the sesame sauce very flavoursome and strong but it really went well with the tuna. Our Yakimono (grilled dish) was ocean perch marinated in saikyo miso and grilled shallot and this I have to say was the best of all!!!! and it not because I was the one who was watching out for it, but the fish was seriusly so tasty and it was cooked extremely perfectly (by me..hehe)....after the yakimono we are suppose to have the Takiawase (simmered dish) and we cooked Hiryuuzu (fried and simmered tofu balls with prawn and vegetables)...this was really good too...full of flavour due to the simmering...definately a must do on my dinner table soon...the Sunomono (pickled dish) we had was red and white pickled salad....me like this the least...but as usual I'm just biased because I don't eat veggies...:)..the last dish was Gohan (final rice) and since it was winter we had steamed sushi..and owww the rice...perfect!!!

Super Big Bully: BOSS3

2008-07-07T12:45:00.004+10:00

Note: See more post now!!!! I'm lack of motivation to work

Ever since I decided to put up a label for idiotic drivers of Sydney, I realised I'm meeting less on the road...Until today that was....but then again is not an idiotic car driver..is a bloody freaking truck!!! and can I say a huge truck that was like super long and big...and bloody freaking noisy to the point i swear to god the bloody driver must be deaf....

So what did BOSS3 (yes that truck got its own customized plate number) do that pissed Nicole off??? Main offence would be making so much bloody noise it was disturbing me listening to my song!!!! Urghhh.....and it was bloody hell in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel going super fast and taking up other lanes...damn bloody dangerous ok!!!! and because it is big it started to swerve here and there and break all the bloody white lines on the road just so it can go faster....luckily no accidents occured..but then is just because it was so big that everybody was avoiding it like crazy....

But seriusly does anyone in Sydney know what number to call to complain about big trucks like this??? Big trucks like that should be banned from the tunnel...is bloody dangerous

Busy Rock & Rolling

2008-07-03T11:38:00.002+10:00

Note: Decided against buying Rockband for the timebeing...too ex....span>

Me admit lack of post is due to busy busy playing my ds...:) I did spend time writing my thesis.....although i think I should spend more time on my thesis rather than the game...but it is so fun!!!!!

Got meself the Guitar Hero: On Tour for ds game last week..super duper fun...kinda ex though....$98 for it...and from last week till now I haven't even finish the game yet..but I think me giving up already..I can finish the easy, medium and barely the hard level...I think the expert level is just beyond me now....Game is kinda fun and you can even play the vs part with another player...either you co-op with them and finish the game or you can even duel each other and attack each other...for eg setting someone's guitar on fire or cutting their guitar string...:) fun fun fun.....so been playing a lot with Zam...haha make that me trashing him!!! I think the practise helps.....

Ford Fiesta ACD 60Y

2008-06-18T16:07:00.002+10:00

Note: 2 posts in a week!!!! I'm so slacking on my thesis writing now...arghhhhh

Now that I have moved house and am driving heaps more....I think my road rage is getting from bad to worse.....but then again I think there are just heaps of incompetent drivers around....

Take for example Mr Bald Head who drives a Ford Fiesta ACD 60Y...who this morning literally just swerve into my lane at the Sydney Harbour Tunnel with no signal whatsoever..And worse of all swerve when there is obviously not enough space for him to move in making me having to jam my brake when I'm travelling at 75km/h...freaking b******!!!!! disturbing my concentration listening to my hubbie's singing!!! urghh......and this Mr Bald Head who literally thinks he is a F1 driver not only pissed me off...he pissed some other cars too..because he did the same thing to a 4WD a few minutes later...luckily no accidents happen...but hope you have diarrhoea the rest of today...stupid idiot!!!!

I'm spending 30 minutes of today..........

2008-06-15T17:37:00.002+10:00

Note: Is it better to get Rockband for PS2 or should I spend that money buy a Wii???

I know I have been missing in action for a while....and a lot of you have been constantly asking me why.....but seriusly I haven't been as free as last time...ever since I got back from my holidays about 3 weeks ago...I've been constantly on the move....to run it all down...

First week was more to the busy getting ready my posters for the IVBM conference....to those of you who don't know it stands for International Vascular Biology Meeting.....or in layman terms...the convention of geeks where "smart" geeks attend this conference and talk about nothing else but vascular heart disease......so yes that brings me to second week where I spent my whole week in that conference...and another conference dinner (yes 2 conference in one week!)....it came to the point I didn't even go home!!!!! I stayed in a hotel nearby!!!! see how pathetic that is?!

Last week has been a bit more free..but I'm actually starting to write my thesis right now...yes I want to graduate from this PHD and get on with my life....so you guess it right..this blog is going to be neglected for a tiny bit longer......but I'll try sneaking in a post here and there...esp if I have anything hiao to report...:)

And this is how I spent 30 minutes of today!!! :)

Holiday Update/Summary

2008-05-24T00:49:00.003+10:00

Note: I'm back!!! but seriusly kinda stressed up with work....had to finish up my poster presentations for the conference in 2 weeks time, finish up a review paper, start another review paper, finish up experiments, write thesis etc......where where where am I going to be able to fit in watching all the DVDs I brought back (if you think I'm behind on my blog posts, I still haven't finish the DVDs I got since last year!!!!)

After one month of absolute no work (wait maybe 1 day out of the one month I shockingly did do work), I'm as usual in my depression mode....but no complains this time...I throughly enjoyed my time and I have to say it was really one whole entire month in Malaysia....absolutely well spent!!!!!

Main reason why I went back would be because of the weddings!!! of course I can't miss my own cousin wedding right??? (actually I have missed a lot...but Denise is special ok!!!!) yes my close cousin is now married and I can now call Jason my "piew jie fu" (cousin-in-law)..I can see him cringing everytime I call him that now...haha......and not to forget my great friend Ee Vern......like how can miss his wedding???? even when I was hinting at missing it due to the wedding being on the same day as my cousin, I actually got an oversea call from him calling me fowl names and cursing me..... :) but hey I made it (although seriusly I really have to scold him for making me having to jump into a plane with my dress right after my cousin wedding...it was so embarassing!!!!) but it was all worth it...got to catch up with heaps of old mates...ahhhh the good times......

And if you think I would miss not going to work and my work mates for a month...talk about being so wrong......I had my lab buddies come visit me!!!! muahaha.....first I had Jeff and Lionel coming to KL for the weekend....Mary came after that for 2 weeks and talk about having a nice tour around Malaysia....and after a bit of drama (ahem as in missing flights) Cecilia and Jimmy finally came to the "Land of ConMen" (there was some issues with the Malaysian Bengs selling playstation)...ah well.....and MIKEY CAME TOO!!!! Air Asia Rocks!!!

Will update in details when I'm free...maybe after the conference???? I hope?????

Antonetta's Big Day Finally......

2008-04-17T23:47:00.003+10:00

Note: 3 post in one day is seriusly breaking all of chroniclesofnicole record....proud of me yet?! I'm so sleeping after this....

So after the night of the dual birthday celebration, next day couldn't really sleep in because I had a wedding to attend at 1pm (hey sleeping in to me means until 3pm!)....this was the long awaited wedding of antonetta (yeah remember the genital cake?)..

Wedding ceremony was held in one of the oldest church in Sydney: St Benedicts Church in Chippendale....i was actually surprised parking wasn't too hard to find..and it was free!!! pheew....after 10 minutes of waiting and taking pics, the bride finally arrived in a horse drawn carriage...ok this is too over the top already...really like royalty dy!!! but she looks so gorgeous there!!! The ceremony went on for about an hour before we all went outside to see the bride and groom release the pigeons...and we others release our little butterflies....so cute!!!!

Because the reception was another few hours ahead..i decided to go home between the ceremony and the reception to unpack some stuffs....and also conveniently get a lift to Luna Park to save on parking...:) Antonetta and Julio really planned it all so well...I was like scratching my head on how I was going to find my way to the ballroom until I saw the various signs to point me to it....and it was located all around Luna Park...so absolutely organised....and the view?!! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!! esp when I was there during sun set....just so beautiful!!!! so envy Antonetta

Antonetta and Julio took quite long to reach the reception...but it wasn't all too bad...we were nicely fed with yummy entrees (mini pizzaz, fresh peeled prawns and raw oysters)....yes it was all good...after the bride and groom arrived and cut the beautiful cake (horse drawn too...and 3 different flavours!), the food started getting served...Didn't take much photos of that...was too dark in the room...and not to mention on every table there was a camera to use....so i was the one busy snapping with that camera...but trust me the food was great!!!!!! and the night wasn't all too formal actually...we were entertained by a pseudo Michael Jackson, Julio dancing with pseudo Michael Jackson, the romantic dance Antonetta and Julio shared......and of course after that most of us started going to the dance floor and dance!!!! Beautiful wedding for a great couple...Wish you guys all the best!!!!! muax.......

Mary & Cecilia Birthday Bash

2008-04-17T21:14:00.002+10:00

Note: I have this feeling Ning is going to come after me with the evil look once he see this post....:)

Due to extreme busy schedule, we decided to have a late bday celebration for Cecilia and an early birthday celebration for Mary together..save time...and double the fun...:) unfortunately the bash had to be on the day I moved house....so yup I was a bit zoned out (not to mention extremely hungry!)...I had to suck up to Jeff for one week just so he would be the designated driver so I don't need to worry about RBT...as usual our dear Cecilia was the latest to arrive (I think 30 minutes after supposed meeting time?) hai...talk about making an entrance

Dinner was at Belgian Beer Cafe...most of us ordered their famous mussels....so yummy....however there are some people who refuse to follow the crowd and ordered different dishes *cough* Vivian *cough* Jeff (although the belgian sausages Jeff had was quite yummy too...)

After the extremely long dinner, half of us decided to follow the plan for the night which was to go clubbing while some of us decided to ditch and fly aeroplane....hai...ended up only Cecilia, Mary, Simon, Sian, Jeff and I who went clubbing...luckily Jimmy was there with a few other ppl...clubbing was fun I have to say (after so many years of not going)...and going back to Tank did bring back some fond memories (and unpleasant ones)....but all was good...and Cecilia and Jimmy looked so cute dancing on the stage with the pole...forgot to take picture of those....darn!!! and supposed 4 girls were "eye-ing" Jeff the whole night....guess I miss that too...darn!!! ...and I even miss the part where Simon went up to the stage and dance with Jimmy...darn!!!didn't club very long this time...left before midnight....after a long day of moving...I have another long day the next day....talk about a busy weekend....

I HATE MOVING!

2008-04-17T20:03:00.003+10:00

Note: One more week before KL and I'm falling sick!! crap!!! going to drown myself with drugs! Must not be sick!!!! Cannot be sick!!! Must hiao maximus

Last week has just been a hideous week...had to pack the old house and move into the new house...my parents got a place across the Harbour Bridge and now I'm officially a Sydney North-sider....arghhh....now instead of the normal 10 minute trip to work...I'm now taking an average of 20-30 minutes per trip....and the $3 toll a day!!! arghhhhhhhh.....

Still in the process of unpacking here..going pretty slow now that I'm sick....and also a bit of too sick of unpacking....finally got the internet working (after 1 and a half hour of screaming on the phone killing all the call operators of TPG)..but is all good now..infact I think the connection is heaps better than iprimus...not to mention the wireless reception is awesome here....doesn't seem to be any black zone yet...(yep I've checked the toilets too)

Come to think of it...any north sydney ppl around here??? I need ideas on where to eat!!!!! I haven't found a McDonald anywhere around me yet!!!!! I need help!!! and please no further than Chatswood ok!!! I'm still trying to find my way around here.....

Welcome Home Dad

2008-04-06T23:27:00.003+10:00

Note: It is going to be a looonnnnnggggg week ahead....packing, moving house, writing and a wedding...and my boss is away for a week....I should be slacking!!!!!

After let me see 7 years of not living in the same house with my dad, my dad has finally decided to retire from his job and come to Sydney to live....and I have to say THANK GOD!!!!!!!! finally I think my mum needs company....my brother definately needs a "male" figure...and most importantly time to brainwash my dad back to normal and forget India (not that I have anything against it!!!)....for eg

1) Indian slang: my dad kinda picked up some indian slang with his 5 years there...and he is even shaking his head at times when he speaks!!!! need to try and get rid of it....can't stand it!!!!!!!!

2) Indian smell: seriusly everytime my dad comes back to Sydney for a holiday, everything of his smells indian!!!! from the luggage to clothes...usually takes my mum a few days of washing and airing to get rid of the smell...infact holding that booklet shown above has the smell too...going to burn it once I finish writing this post.....

3) "Everything in India Is Cheap" mentality: everytime my dad comes back..he would bring back some stuffs from india....from "cheap watches" to jewelry...I know my dad is lovely and means well..and I do like the watch he bought...but jewelry??? my ear hole almost bled from trying to poke the earring through!!!!!!! now I just display the stuffs without wearing them...:) but shhhh don't tell my dad that!!

4) Indian "bullshit": the latest thing my dad asked me to read...as shown above...world class bullshit!!!! like alright ok I admit in my line of work and since my whole PHD is on cardiovascular disease..is obvious the booklet above is more bullshit than anything else...and my dad is asking me my thoughts on it....hai seriusly need to educate my dad and get rid of the "do you know in India........" crap

ok ok maybe I should stop here...India is not such a bad place...really....after all I've been there...

.....

AND TRUST ME ONCE IS DEFINATELY ENOUGH!!!

Which Is Better?

2008-04-01T16:35:00.003+11:00

Note: Talk about dedication to my blog...I "ponteng" half day of work today and I used approximately 30 minutes of it to write a post....:)

After months of waiting for my hair to grow long again, the time has finally come to go and have a hair cut!!!! yup after that drastic short haircut I got almost a year ago, I sort of got sick of short hair and want back my long hair...such a horrible process!!!! for months I swore to god my hair felt more like a broom than a hair...it was growing like a bush and combing it every morning just became such a chore to the point I rather just tie my hair up all the time.....

There are 2 pictures shown this time...one was because I was kinda backside itchy before my cutting hair day and decided to play with the hair straightener at home... :) I thought it turned out kinda well....but hmmm straightening my hair every morning is seriusly a big no no to me....

So since I'm going back to KL in 24 days time (hint hint), it is just about time to get a good hair cut..and after close to 5 hours at the hair dresser doing every god damn thing possible in there (ok that was quite exagerated..it wasn't like i got hair extensions or bleached my hair), I finally came out with my curly hair back!!!!! :D I'm happy once again..although I really can't decide whether I look better in straight or curly.....ah well.....I know I'm kind hard to please...:)

Why Did I Leave My Work To The Last Minute?

2008-03-30T20:53:00.003+11:00

Note: 26 more days till my holiday!!! muahahha Malaysia here I come!!!

Short post...suppose to be doing my presentation slide for the STUPID monday morning meeting....and as usual i'm procrastinating....can't help it..I realise I only like maybe 4 new results to show??? that would mean like 1 new result a week...crap....this is what I get for sitting down on my butt the whole entire 2 weeks just concentrating on writing...and how far have i went with my writing??!!! I don't even want to talk about it!! I'm currently praying for a few miracles to happen now......

1) my inbox would light up with a new email from my boss to say the meeting is cancelled!!! FAT HOPE!

2) I suddenly have diarrhoea/sick/headache or one of those so I can call in a sickie....but FAT HOPE too

3) my mum/bro/sis needs me for something urgently tmr....but then if those emergency comes up sounds kinda bad.....so I guess that is a FAT HOPE too...

4) my computer blowing up!!! urmmmm come to think of it...maybe not...I can't live without my computer....hai

Ok I guess I should get back to work..9pm now...and I still have to scan/take a pic of my results to put in powerpoint....crap crap crap....I just want to sleep!!!!

wooo on a more hiao side....I finally cut/style/curled my hair today...pictures of it??? when me free ok??? I really need to go do the stupid presentation.....

Happy Birthday Cecilia!!!

2008-03-23T22:53:00.004+11:00

Note: hmmm averaging less than a post a week....Naughty Me!!! busy lah!!! trying to catch up on work...and too many social outings...gotta cut down already....just came back from Canberra few hours back...super dead tired

No Cecilia's real birthday is not 21st of March...it was actually on the 20th....and since we work at the same place, I thought I would surprise her with a slice of cake at work (since the previous day she insist she was coming in)...and of course my dead Cecilia did not come in to work on the 20th!!! grrrrrrrr luckily I only got her a slice...ended up having to eat it!!! grrrrrrr

Oh wait back to the celebration....it was quite drama filled celebration I guess....with Kaka, Cecilia and I thinking we were late and rushing from our houses to Kaka's lab to Big Echo to the restaurant (all within 45 minutes!! shockers!)Cecilia initially booked the Bavarian Beer Cafe...and for god knows what reason when we went there, THE PLACE WAS CLOSED!!! no kidding...maybe because it was Good Friday...but still!! luckily we manage there was still Jackson's On George open for a decent meal (although the food took like seriusly 30 minutes to be served...)..we did keep ourself entertained by giving Cecilia her bday present: Swarovski Tinker Bell Mobile Phone Accessory

After stuffing ourself with yummy steaks, we rushed all the way to karaoke...luckily there on time....karaoke was seemingly dramaless.....no one got really drunk drunk...we were playing dice games and Cecilia was quite a pro...even managing to get five 1's at one go...haha now this is what I call "the macau gambling queen"...but just when you think we would end the day dramaless...our karaoke session got cut short by 10 minutes...why??? because it is supposedly Good Friday and the police don't let you open after 11.30pm...so everyone had to be shoo-ed out of the vicinity....ah well...atleast we were refunded back our money...:)

Happy Birthday Cecilia!!!

My Sister Go To Hong Kong And She Only Bought Me....

2008-03-11T21:06:00.002+11:00

Note: You would never imagined how many threats/phone calls/name callings I received over the past few weeks just to put this post up.....

Ok I am FORCED to put this post up by my sister who happened to be extremely jealous when she saw the post i put up a few weeks ago...so here is the post after a long delay...just because i needed to compile everything and take picture (and also going through the list carefully as to not miss anything out or not seriusly I'll be getting screaming phone calls tmr morning)

So anyways just a quick run through of what I got....

1) most importantly she got my concert DVDs (and guess what is not pirated!)....my Leo Ku concert (so nice I tell you)...then she got the Eason Chen (which incidentally is coming to give a concert in Sydney in 2 weeks time and I think I will just save my 70 bucks and not go and watch the DVD)...Jay Chou concert wasn't too bad either...wooo and I have 2 Alex Fong CDs..and 2 new jap drama....ah well that would take me a while to go through

2) Lip Gloss from Clinique....yes a whole entire set...because you would never know what I feel like wearing...:)

3) Cooking Stuffs...the sushi makers are so cool..make life so much easier and the sushi is so much more nicer!!! and cute cookie cups...woo hooo

4) Sun Block Lotion..because she keep insisting Clarins one ze best!

5) Cute House Slippers (for when I move house) and a nice pair of shoes (not too hiao)

6) and last but not least 100 sheets of facial mask....just because is cheap there and way over priced here....

Yes super short summary because I want to go shower and use the facial mask now...muahahaha

In The Past One Week

2008-03-05T22:56:00.002+11:00

Note: Bye bye $$$

Been busy you know...can't update as much lately....just to give you a quick summary of what I've been up to in the past week.....

1) Went to my first ever "homosexual" play...Corpus Christi it is called..heared it was a pretty good show...truthfull speaking it wasn't too bad at all..infact I did quite enjoy it...although I have to admit I did squirm looking at the actors....and talk about feeling out of place and outcast...little or no asians at all..and I can count the number of females with my 2 hands?

2) Went to a hen's night...first ever in Sydney...see that cake?? talk about complete with hair and semen....haha if anyone ever needs to find a place that sell this sort of cakes...come ask me...muahahha...they even have boobs!!! ;P

3) 2 karaoke night out in a row...and 2 alcohol fueled night out in a row...and just one day of seriusly walking around like a dead floating zombie...not too bad eh???

4) and I came to the conclusion that I have this curse with new cars...few years back when I got a new car within months I had a burst tyre....and today?? within 1 month of getting my car I have a punctured tyre....you tell me..is this curse or just retribution???? hmmmmmm

I wonder.........

Lionel & Jeff Return From Tibet Party

2008-02-26T21:38:00.002+11:00

Note: My new year resolution is definately not going to be happening...been cursing a lot lately...and definately not saving money!!!! ARGH

The only efficient thing that Lionel and Jeff did before their holidays was to organise this party...:) Why is it called Return From Tibet party I have no idea since they did go to other places too....maybe is because they actually came back alive and in one piece..before their trip I was already telling them to start writing their "will" and leaving all their belongings to me...:) but I guess now no point...

I went there pretty early to help both of them out making the sushi....since Cecilia said she doesn't trust them and only trust me...haha thanks Ceci!!!! making the sushi was fun fun fun...I think we did a pretty good job...if anyone wants a sushi platter next time call us...but we will charge you for it!!! :) Jeff and I even made 2 very special sushi.....with heaps of wasabi inside....and nicely tucked under the raw fish...and the first sushi Ning picked up after we told him about the wasabi??? the special sushi!!! haha that sure made my day!!!!! the other "special" sushi went to Estella..but we did warn her beforehand...afterall the "special" sushi was just made for Ning...:)

The night continued on with Lionel and Jeff showing us the pictures which they took during the entire trip...pretty long seriusly...but you guys can see some of it if you go to Jeff's blog...hopefully he updates it...:)

Oh before I forget...the first picture on top is of Lionel's bday...since he is so special even gave him 2 cakes!!! one a chestnut cake..and the other a honey dew cake...yes all weird sounding.....he ain't exactly normal you know!!!!!!

Because In Parkes There Are No........

2008-02-20T14:53:00.002+11:00

Note: Happy Birthday "Sugar Pie" Leo!!!!

This week is Su Yin's last week in Sydney before going to Parkes to work...Parkes I think is about 5 hours drive away from Sydney...so chances are won't be able to catch up with her for half a year!!!! so before she go we decided to have a food hopping ceremony so that she can go fat fat fat before going to Parkes (which is in the middle of nowhere!!!) and then when she is there she can slowly lose the weight..muahahaha...and when she comes back to Sydney for holidays, we can then go for more food hopping ceremony!!!!! nice friends eh????

So first stop for the night was Sushi Rio on Liverpool Street...ambience was nice...food was yum....had a few plates there for ourselves....it was 7.45 already that time and I was starving!!!! was controlling myself not to grab more!!!! and I think all of us felt the same way...after getting a few plates, we just quickly move on to the next venue.....Stop 2 was KFC..yes Parkes is that secluded and isolated they don't have a KFC!!! shocking!!! We got the Dinner for 2 Set with additional popcorn chicken to be shared between the 4 of us....me seriusly don't like the hot & spicy chicken in Aus....not even spicy!!! much much prefer the original ones.....After KFC we then went back to Su Yin and Thuan's place to get the car...and drove to Cafe De Wheels at Wooloomooloo for our 3rd stop....I didn't bother getting the pies there...me more a hotdog person...all of us got the hotdog with cheese sauce and chilli...absolute yum!!!!!!! didn't spend much time here since we were too cheap to pay parking...so we instantly went to our 4th and final stop at Pancake @ The Rocks..yup no one makes better pancakes than them...I think.....so since it was our last stop...we decided we would definately order the rack of pork ribs......and one pancake...after winning the Rock Paper Scissors game with Jacinta, we went for the blueberry heaven pancake....I have to say the 4th stop definately killed me...I was so full by the end of it that it was so difficult to sleep after that!!!! but it was so worth it!!!! $25 for 4 places in one night!!! *burp*

Pressies from Hong Kong

2008-02-19T17:12:00.003+11:00

Note: Going on a food marathon tonite....4 places one night!!! I'm so going to be indigested tmr!

Yeh finally Leo and Jeff are back from their long long holiday...make me wait so long for my presents!! but yeh they got me a whole set of those capsule toys!!! different version of Stitch!! so cute!!! especially the one which he was wrapped up in bandage....like "mummy" like that...cute!!!! and the snacks they brought back...super yummy fruit mochis and the nutty candies....unfortunately only one "edible" chocalate.....and 2 chocalate condoms.......god knows why but ah well anything chocalate is good I guess.....

But glad to have you back guys....the lab has kinda been quiet without you 2 trouble makers!!!!

WHAT?! Nicole Exercising?!

2008-02-15T17:08:00.004+11:00

Note: My dad's msn got a bad bad virus...keeps sending files to download...and some of them are kinda porn sounding....and coming from my dad...just make it all the more bad bad bad....

Wow more than a week of not updating my blog...yes it has been a seriusly long long week....I felt like this week lasted for more than 7 days....the picture above shows a pedometer I was wearing just to prove my point..my family didn't believe it when I said that my work is seriusly quite tiring at times...and worse they didn't believe me when I said I'm sure I'm walking more than the recommended 10,000 steps a day..and they were like BULLSHIT.....and so to prove my point I wore the pedometer the minute I leave the house at 7.50am and when I reached home today which was 5pm....MORE THAN 10K!!!! and no I did not cheat in any ways whatsoever!!!! but crap man....I'm actually bloody hell exercising without me knowing it...but hey the more reason now to tell ppl I'm not exercising anymore!!! wasting energy only!!!!

So what else have I been up to???? guess what??!!! My paper is finally online on pubmed (is like google for researchers/scientists) !!!! You can see the big summary of it over here...Unfortunately they published online the wrong version of it!!!! there were some typo and grammatical error....ah well...hopefully they edit it before they actually print it on paper...but woo hoo me so happy!!!! finally!!!!! and now I can finally see a light at the end of the long long journey of my PHD....now to just complete my thesis and then BUM BUM BUM!!!!!!! I so can't wait!!!!

New Year New Car

2008-02-05T15:43:00.000+11:00

Note: Was an hour late for work today because I went to feed the fish at Leo's house and dozed off there....I'm seriusly lack of sleep!!!

I know I haven't got my new Honda Civic Vti-L yet...but I got the phone call this morning telling me the car is ready!!! Anyways should be getting the car on Thursday or Friday depending when the cheque is approved....which is for the better anyway since the next few days is raining like shit!!! I don't want to dirty my new precious...still thinking of what name to name my new car...any ideas anyone????

Come to think of it this week should be a good week...got an email to say that my accepted paper would be available online on the first day of CNY..yeh my first "smart geeky" self....hopefully is google-ble in future....then atleast the Nicole Tan would atleast come out a "smart" one.....then get me new car this week....sis coming back this week with goodies (if no goodies she is walking back from the airport!)......the only thing to complete this beatiful week is if I can sleep to the max this weekend....which so far looks pretty promising...muahahahahahaha

I can't help being MIA

2008-02-01T15:50:00.000+11:00

Note: Finally rain today!!! the whole building finally does not feel like an oven!! The airconditioning has been playing up around here lately...been such a torture the whole week!! especially with the labcoats and glove...yuck!

I know I should be blogging more and catching up on backdated posts...but lately has been super super busy....

1) Mum and bro is back from hols...no more me me me time anymore

2) Work has been building up...doesn't help when all your cells decides to grow so nicely....and worse is when you are still in lala land and can't get into the momentum!!! and the person I report to for radiation in uni is taking a huge holiday so had to rush all the radiation work as much as possible so that there wouldn't be any backlog...

3) Bro started school...so now instead of my usual 8.10 start..we have a 7.30 start....do you know how much sleep I've been missing out?!

4) Getting a new car...I hate it!!! I get no joy in looking for a car...but finally I've decided on the car...truthfully speaking not a car I really like..but got it quite cheap thanks to Cecilia introducing someone to me...so ah well....hopefully next week can pose pose a bit with my new car yar?

5) Just realised next week is CNY....arghhh so unprepared..haven't even had time to do my yearly baking session yet...going to do it this Sunday..too busy tmr to do it...got a bday/farewell party to attend at Jamberoo definately not looking forward to the 6am wake up call....ARGHHHH

6) And the main reason why I can't blog at night now would be my stupid laptop at home!!! is having the uncontrollable "s" syndrome again!!! but it does make me wonder...why is it that most programs have a shortcut key that involves "s" ???? And no I can't get it fixed due to some blunder on the Malaysian side...so now all I can do (unless of course I want to pay a few hundreds for it) is to wait till April when I go back to Malaysia to scream and "cekik" the Sony ppl....

AND TO MAKE THINGS MORE SAD.....THERE IS NO CHINESE NEW YEAR BREAK HERE!!! I NEED THE SLEEP!!!!

Family Dinner @ Oriental Friendship

2008-01-28T13:44:00.000+11:00

Note: My mum and bro has came back from Malaysia....FREEDOM....INDEPENDENCE...is all history.........:(

Backdated post to 29th September 2007

This was when my dad came to visit the whole family....and we decided to bring him to eat one of his favourite food in Sydney...one thing my dad loves about Sydney is the roasted pigeon....as unhealthy and oily as it is, my dad always insist on eating it....hai.....

So we went to Oriental Friendship Restaurant at Beverly Hills (and no the postcode of this place is not 90210)...we got the roasted pigeon (we did come here for it), lobster with noodles (I always like this the bestt!), scallops (anything expensive is good), claypot tofu (just so so), salted egg veggie (my sister's new love) and hainan chicken (seriusly not good..the chicken was so tough and so not soft!)....talk about over ordering because I was so stuffed by the end of dinner.....and this place is one of the few chinese restaurant I go to that actually give free fruits and "tong sui" afterwards...*burp*

During dinner, my sister was busily complaining about the lack of photos Jonathan takes with her....especially since Jonathan and I took so many photos that day...so just for Joyce's sake...here you go....the only picture of you and Jonathan that day..muahaha..admit it Jonathan loves me more!!!! :P

Sugar Hit With Leo and Edwin

2008-01-23T12:34:00.000+11:00

Note: Long weekend coming up!!! but me have to work on Saturday...how absolutely depressing

Backdated post to 31st October 2007

Since it was the last few days of Sydney Good Food Month, Edwin and I decided to atleast go try one of the Sugar Hit. Sugar Hit is basically part of the good food month where participating hotels have a dessert platter along with either dessert wine or cognac for $20 every night for a month...so after reading through the various reviews for different hotels, we decided to go to the best of the best aka Intercontinental Hotel...and I conveniently dragged Leo along since well he is french and chances are he would love it...:)

The one thing I was not too happy about was that the waitress serving us did not ask us whether we wanted wine or cognac and assumed all of us wanted wine...a bit wasted since I heard the cognac was pretty good...but the Brown Brothers dessert wine was absolutely yum!!! and we each had a dessert platter for ourselves...yummm yummmm.....no need to share..woo hoo.... the Caramel Walnut Cognac Slice was to me the best of the lot....it was drizzled with chocalate sauce and gold shavings....absolutely heavenly....the Triple Chocolate Hennessey Pyramid was good too...chocalate was perfect and so smooth!!! My least favourite would have to be the Passionfruit & Strawberry Gelee....I guess I'm more a sweet chocalatey person rather than a fruity sour person...yes the gelee was kinda sour for me...but it had fresh fruits surrounding it and Leo and Edwin liked it....so maybe is just me...but I did like the white chocalate on top..:)

Kinda regret now not going to the other Sugar Hit in other hotels...ah well there is always 2008!!

My Baby Is Saved!!!!

2008-01-22T17:09:00.000+11:00

Note: My laptop at home is seriusly playing up!!! Thank god is under warranty..big problem is that to send it for fixing I have to all the way north of Sydney!! arghhh looks like is going to take me a while to go fix it

Yeh finally me came to to the lab and saved Mikey...the evil duo Cecilia and Jimmy decided to leave Mikey overnight hanging!!! How could they?!?!! E.V.I.L.

Mikey is now safely locked up in my locker now...with the "love nest" key....Leo went for a 3 weeks long holiday with Jeff and I'm suppose to go check on his house intermittently....woo hoo...Party anyone???? Let's trash the place!! Woo Hoo.....

What The?

2008-01-21T21:50:00.000+11:00

Note: There is a huge problem with my stupid keyboard now....either it keeps on having the letter "s" pressed continouly or it doesn't let me type "s"...does anyone know know how to help me out here?

stupid Cecilia....this was the messasge I got from her yesterday afternoon when I was nicely enjoying my weekend...you tell me should I kill her or not? cis