twentysomething

homeowner - yeuh!

2009-06-27T19:54:00.005+10:00

Today marks the occasion where my brother and I have purchased a property in Hawthorn. I didnt attend the auction as I was in Sydney catching a flight back to Melbourne. Nevertheless, Vivi stood his ground and outbidded an AFL Hawthorn star.

A description of the property:

Enjoying views directly over the majestic trees of the Smart Street Reserve this attractive 2-level apartment is secured in a boutique contemporary complex. Offers entry hall, 2 double Bedrooms (BIR's and ensuite), generous Living/Meals area, granite Kitchen with Blanco stainless-steel appliances, stylish bathroom, powder room, European laundry, heating/cooling, 2 balconies, intercom, 2 basement car spaces and storage cage. Stroll to Church Street cafes and trams from this quality-finished apartment that represents an exceptional lifestyle opening or terrific investment.

Some photos of the apartment:

Living Room

Dining & Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Master Bedroom - Ensuite

Balcony

yeah... I know...

2008-04-26T21:02:00.007+10:00

This has been sitting in my drafts for a very long time... In fact, I initially wrote this on 26 April 2008. I did face some technical faults but it seems to be all fixed now.

----- Original Delayed Post -----

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know, Iknow. I do realise that I should post something here. But, I cant be bothered. If you want an update call me or catch up with me in Melbourne (or on the rare occasions in Sydney when I up there for work) or when I am in Europe come August 2008 or when I hope to be in Perth sometime in November 2008

Here are my European trip details (loose dates, as I am arriving in Amsterdam on 20 August and depart from Frankfurt on 30 August):

Amsterdam: 20 - 22
Copenhagen: 22 - 25
Lithuiana: 25 - 28
Frankfurt (via Bonn or Vienna): 28-30 August

Looking forward to catching up with as many people as possible in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lithuiana and Germany!

----- Original Delayed Post -----

In short, I did enjoy my trip. Even though the dates, above, changed (I travelled between 8 - 22 September 2008). It was awesome. Absolutely loved seeing and catching up with friends abroad - many thanks to them for the great time being together. For a photographic review, follow the links below for my photos:

Amsterdam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157607444117712/
Copenhagen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157607447856251/
Vilnius: http://www.flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157607445760018/

you waited long enough!

2007-12-07T15:26:00.000+11:00

My very last, true, update ended up on Sunday, 9 September. It has been three months since that update. That post on Nov 1 was a gap filler. A teaser, if you could call it that.

So, these long awaited updates... Hey boys, hey girls, superstar DJs, here we go!

September

11 Sept - Australia vs. Argentina @ MCG. Great match. Messi was sublime. Socceroos really gave it to the Argentinians. 1-0 loss to the Socceroos. Went with James, James, Tim, Alvin, Ash, Nick and Bri. Also saw Doogs and Simon. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157602014725792/
12 Sept - Breakkie with Marina. I haven't caught up with Marina for a long time, so an 8am breakfast on Degraves Street was in order. I only had a coffee due to having a few beers the previous night.
Various group assignments. All is good. Fair results.
Plenty of Indoor Soccer action with the Zebra Tonsil's and Ari's Agents.
Melbourne Victory. Have only missed on match. We need to score goals. Ernie Merrick, I plead you, give young Kaz Patafta a run!
21 - 23 Sept - Rosebud 2007. Three days, two nights. 16 people. Truck loads of booze. Fly food. Projector, Surround Sound, Wii, Board Games (Twister), Drinking Games, Wineries, Beach, Sun and the Sea that belongs to the Mornington Peninsula. Too much fun. Spent too much money. Great accommodation. You can read my summary and view some photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157602121373492/ We even had an Indoor Soccer match after Rosebud!
28 Sept - The very first Breakfast in the City Series! The last Friday of each month, Breakfast in the City happens between mates who enjoys a decent breakfast, some bantering and perving on suits. The Mess Hall was the venue for September with Mel, Simon and myself. Yum, yum.
28 Sept - Makka's Japanese Birthday. I have always enjoyed going to Ippei's restaurant: Dontac Japanese Restaurant. Great food, plenty of free flowing booze and good company. Plus, hearing to some fun speeches. To continue with the Japanese theme, had drinks at the Robot Sushi Bar - I love their cold milky sake - and to go long into the night. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157602211903043/
29 Sept - AFL Grand Final. The Cats smashed Port Power to oblivion. Shu, thanks for hosting the viewing at your place. At half-time, Simon and I left to finalise Doogs' birthday gift.
29 Sept - The following night, Doogs' hosted his Birthday Drinks at Curve Bar (upon my recommendation. One too many Long Island Ice Teas, at the expense of Doogs, really got the night going on. Great to catch up with quite a few old faces. Dragged the celebrations to Transit Lounge for more drinks and conversation. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157602211925201/ for my summary and photos.

October

The usual things... Indoor Soccer, Group Assignments and Presentations, Weekly Coffee Club, Studying with Makka, Melbourne Victory matches...
5 Oct - Work Drinks & Yi's Birthday Drinks @ the Long Room. After a long hard day slaving at work Sharon, Nevi, Stephen, Salih and I went to the Long Room to wind down with a few drinks. At the same venue, Yi was hosting her birthday drinks - how convenient! I don't have any photos with me, but it was a grand night. Chatting and catching up with people. Meeting new people. A really great night.
11 Oct - Catch up dinner with Doogs, Courtney, Oliver, Bri and myself at Nyala African Restaurant. In a bid to ensure that our "4-6 Weekly Catch Up" was happening, Africa food was the calling. Fantastic banquet, to which we struggled to finish. Interesting food, and a place I wouldn't mind going back in trying some more and something different.
12 Oct - Drinks with Simon at the Deanery, Alley Bar and Charles Dickens (to watch the Melbourne Victory match)
14 Oct - Hindal - JDRF Walk @ Albert Park Lake. A very enjoyable event for a worthy cause; to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research. Walk around the Albert Park Lake, had some good food and met some new and wonderful people.
13 - 26 Oct - Study, study, study. Exams!
26 Oct - End of exams and some drinks to celebrate with the boys.

November

The usual things... Melbourne Victory matches and Indoor Soccer.
I love Simon's effort with Mo for Movember!
2 Nov - Breakfast in the City Series. For the month of October, European (name of the restaurant) was the place to be. The Big Breakfast was good, but not that good, and expensive. This time, Simon and I was joined by Warrick, Nick, and Bri.
6 Nov - Melbourne Cup @ Mathur Lodge. The Maharajah, of Mathur Lodge, invited us to a day full of entertainment. Got smashed, had a good time. For my summary and photos see: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157603099952168/
8 Nov - Oaks Day. So much fun and got burnt (financially and on my face). Simon, WeyMin and I headed off to the Flemington Racecourse to soak up the day full of lovely ladies and of course the horses. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157603100071728/
10 Nov - Chena's Farewell v2.0. To farewell the man, for a month, before he departed for Italy, the boys went out to watch the Melbourne Victory vs. Sydney FC match. Then had drinks at Alley Bar and more drinks at Madame Brussels. A very good night, despite Melbourne not getting the three points needed from the match. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157603104585179/
17 - 19 Nov - Sydney! Went to Sydney using the tickets that I won the previous year from HP. Had an awesome catch up and breakfast with Terri at Kazbah - GREAT food. Dinner at Chintia Ria's with Bri. Caught up with Bretto, Laura, Caesar, Ralph, Westy, Kyle, Di, Will, Jessie, James, Maike and Goranka at the Sydney City RSL. Had a wonderful day at Bondi Beach with Daz to see the Sculpture by the Sea exhibit and I always enjoy my time at the Bondi Hotel. Caught up with Dan Mayoh at the Three Wise Monkeys. Late dinner at Blackbird (I am a fan of Paul Mathis) with Bri. Breakfast at Portobello Cafe and then the whole day at Sydney's Toranga Zoo! See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157603306916097/
21 Nov - Philips Fox Young Professionals Event. Chris invited a few of us to the Young Professionals events that Philips Fox hosts throughout the year. Good food, plenty of drinks, and some mingling around to meet new people. Thanks Chris, I had a good time!
22 Nov - Shu's 21st. Ah... Where to begin? Plenty of booze, some pizzas, meeting some new wonderful and strange people. Great party - I had fun. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157603302672492/
23 Nov - RMIT Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition was good to finally see Tamara's work being displayed and to appreciate and understand the effort needed and sustained throughout the year. Some interesting pieces, some colours, some weird, some great, some just out there, some that suits me. Congratulations Tamara!
24 Nov - (1) Voted in the Federal Elections. Well done Labor. (2) Went to the Corporate Games Soccer Matches to support Simon and VAGO. Got ridiculously burnt in the sun. (3) Doogs and I raced to see Fernanda and Tom at St Kilda Beach for their farewell. Despite being late, we managed to catch them and have a quick conversation. (4) Melbourne Victory Match. (5) Lucy's Election BBQ. Lucy hosts great parties, I want to see more! Yummy food, and free flowing drinks. One very long day.
30 Nov - (1) Breakfast in the City @ Ludo. OMG, the mushrooms are simply the best. Was joined by Simon, Bri, Mel, Oen, Ash and Doogs. (2) Drinks at Little Peninsula with Lucy, Ash, Doogs and Camille. (3) Movies, went to see Lions for Lambs.
30 Nov - I am done with uni! That is, I passed my subjects and did much better than I expected!!! But, I haven't put in my application to graduation. Ops!

December

1 Dec - Christmas Shopping. Bri bought some stuff, I got Mum (from Vivi and I) Scan Pan Titanium Four Piece Set.
2 Dec - Hindal End of Year Function @ Sandringham Yacht Club. A fun and very family oriented event with face painters, jumping castle, Santa and gifts, and backyard cricket. Great food, it was soooooooooooooo good and an unlimited tab. Pity I had to drive and was unable to make use of it. Great conversations with Luly and Nick, Christoph and Lara, Peter and Romy, Neil and Linh, Sharon, Nevi and everyone else from work.

That's the summary of the past few months... The month of December is pretty much packed to the rim. Especially that Vivi is back in town for Christmas and New Years.

Hope that you enjoyed the update and lets hope *fingers crossed* that I don't take too long to provide an update of whats going on with me.

PS: I'll be updating this post from time to time, adding in links, fixing things here and there... Just looking at this effort doesn't really satisfy me...

PPS: My sincerest apology to those leaving me messages in my Facebook inbox and my email inbox. I have countless unanswered emails, numerous pop-up reminders in outlook and several emails that I have marked to respond. So, I'm instituting a no-reply policy (unless you're hot), for now, because I'm sick of feeling guilty about it. In advance, and for those who are waiting, I thank you for your email.

its about time

2007-10-31T22:34:00.001+11:00

It's about time that I got off my sorry ass to post something on these neglected pages. Alas, it will just have to wait. Like any story, there is the central character who believes in something. This character happens to be me, who is too lazy to flip out his diary to provide his usual "one liner updates". I haven't backed myself as a winning horse to share such stories, like a year ago or so, but it's a work in progress. Perhaps, it is still healthy to have the thoughts of "I should do it, but..." and that's all I have.

Anyhow, in short, there are two things:

its about time I've updated these pages - tick.
its about time I've completed my studies (pending on results) - tick.

That's all I have to say... For now.

Oh! My sincerest apology to those leaving me messages in my Facebook inbox and my email inbox. I have countless unanswered emails, numerous pop-up reminders in outlook and several emails that I have marked to respond. So, I'm instituting a no-reply policy (unless you're hot), for now, because I'm sick of feeling guilty about it. In advance, and for those who are waiting, I thank you for your email.

And this I have to share... In breaking news: A380 sex seekers brought back to earth.

i am a...

2007-09-13T11:14:00.001+10:00

Published artist. No, that's going a bit too far. A published photographer. =)

And I find this highly amusing. Let me tell you a story...

I received the following email from the managing editor of Schmap Guides:

"Hi Huy, I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the third edition of our Schmap Perth Guide, to be published early September 2007..."

The email also details the terms and conditions and other fine print. In the end, I do not get paid - so I am still a poor man. I thought, "yeah why not". Clicked on the link to submit my photo.

So a couple of weeks later, I received the following email:

"Schmap Perth Third Edition: Photo Inclusion
Hi Huy, I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released third edition of our Schmap Perth Guide:
Perth Glory Soccer Club
www.schmap.com/perth/events_sporting/p=157250/i=157250.jpg"

That's pretty neat. Here are my thoughts on this:

In the first email it has "Photos are published at a maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and link to high-resolution originals at Flickr." All photos that I upload on Flickr has been reduced in size, pixels and quality. hahaha
I never took that photo in Perth. In fact, I haven't been to Perth since December 2000. The photo was taken at Olympic Park in Melbourne.

Some of the information on the above link is highly incorrect. Let me detail them:

Perry Lakes Stadium no longer exists, it was demolished in 2006. Perth Glory (wiki) never played at this stadium (they have only played Subiaco Oval and Members Equity Stadium (formerly known as Perth Oval)). If it is reference to their HQ / Office, they currently occupy space on Pier Street, Perth CBD.
It is true that Perth Glory played in the National Soccer League ('NSL'), but the NSL has been disbanded / defunct since 2004. It has been replaced by the Hyundai A-League (wiki).
Ericsson Cup was only linked to the NSL. There are two trophies on prize for the A-League - Premiers and Champions.
As mentioned before, HQ is not at Perry Lakes Stadium but in the Perth CBD.
Review is copyrighted for 2007... So who actually did the research and has it ever been updated?

Maybe I should apply to be on their research / review team instead of being a published photographer! =)

a little update...

2007-09-10T11:02:00.000+10:00

It's been a little over a month since a decent update. So here it goes for the August wrap up.

Toby's Birthday Bash. Starting at Manchuria for Peking Duck Rolls, Wasabi Peas and a few drinks to loosen us up. Then headed to Baroq to hit the dance floor with the hard house beats to get us into the groove. But, that wasn't enough. Off we went to The Loft for Club R&B. Another Asian Night, I wasn't too pleased with myself, but I was in good company. So, no real complaints there. Toby, Yi, Chena and myself needed bit of a sober up time at the Supper Club. A great night. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157601212491137/
The Chau family met up for my Grandparent's Anniversary of death. A family gathering where there was plenty of food, playing pool and just catching up with everyone.
Had work drinks at Penny Blue, the little sister to MOO (owned and operated by the guys at MOO). This was probably a dumb idea. I was battling a cold and went out for a night of booze. Met up with Doogs, Chena, Nick, Weymin, Simon, Brendon, Betsy and went on our merry way to Liz's birthday drinks at Ondergrond Lounge. A few drinks, a few catch ups with the likes of Wendy, Susie and Mira. Of course, the birthday girl had a blast!
A phone conversation with my pal Bergio. Who was in Sydney for a business trip all the way from Amsterdam. Was great talking to you buddy.
Had dinner and movie date with Brianna. Die Hard 4.0 was an enjoyable film with some pretty crazy scenes.
Doogs invited Kay, Ash and myself to Cindy & Allan's Cocktail Party in Southbank. A fantastic venue and plenty of booze. It was all fine and dandy until I mixed myself a killer drink: One part vodka, one part white rum, one part peach liqueur, one part gin, one part soho and half a part of green tea. All I remember was Ash saying that my breathe smelt good (go the Soho!)
The massive Yum Cha. I booked 26 people at the Golden Dragon Palace in Lower Templestowe for a huge feast. All I can say is that (1) It satisfied my Yum Cha cravings and (2) We ate like kings.
Quite a number of Indoor Soccer matches with the Zebra Tonsils. Currently sitting 3rd on the ladder and looks like we could be in the mix for the finals. Some highlights (1) Our usual dumpling rituals, (2) Meeting up at Wu's place, (3) Playing indoor after my massive feast from Yum Cha, (4) Playing some decent football.
Coffee Club is back.
Had a DVD night of watching all the Bourne flicks before watching The Bourne Ultimatum.
Lunch / catch up with Flic! It's been a long time since I have seen the biggest smile from her face. Had a very long lunch catchup at Ludo. Was great seeing you babe!
A grand BBQ, at the House of Hello Kitty, to farewell Yaozer before he embarks on his HKU study experience.
Finally have booked my HP Free Flights! Last year, I won a return flight from Melbourne to Sydney. Will be in the Harbour City in mid November.
Jing & Mayling's B'Day drinks and catch at Transit. Was great catching up with Susie, Mira, Wendy, MJ, Chena, Wei, Bee, Leanne (and finally meeting her beau), Doogs and of course the birthday couple.
Tee in town! Brianna and I took Tee to see the Melbourne Victory vs. Perth Glory match at the Telstra Dome. Afterwards, went to Grossi Florentino's Cellar Bar for some delish pasta! Introduced Tee to Melbourne's bar scene; heading out to Gin Palace (where Tee got a free drink!), Kitten Club and ended up at New Gold Mountain.
Father's Day lunch. Yum, yum.
Went to see Ratatouille. A very enjoyable film, the Pixar guys are still producing the goods. Afterwards, had dinner with Mel, Bri and Dino at Pelligrini's.
Had a great catch up with Courts, Nanda, Tom and Bri at Basque on Chapel. Some fine Tapas was consumed and great conversations. Oh, and it was for me to finally give Court, Nanda and Rita's belated birthday pressie of Pole Dancing lessons!
One big night in September. Simon's birthday! It started off with dinner at the Waiter's Restaurant, lots of drinks at Loop and ended up at some bar and coming home at 6am. There is now a massive hole in my wallet, but it was all good. The following day, headed to Simon's place to help install his new DVD Home Theatre system that we got for him. It was real sweet.
Finally took Brianna to Xocatl on Maling Road in Canterbury. Yum, yum. Also did a little shopping at the Lolly Store and the Fine Foods store.
My packed Sunday - Another Yum Cha, this time with Courts, Oliver, Bianca, Marcel, Kat, Anna, James, Bri and myself. Oh my gawd. We simply ate too much but it was good. Then off to the city to do a market research survey. Back to the Eastern Suburbs for indoor soccer, a new team, with Ari's Agents. Playing with Toby, Doogs, Chena, Nick, and Warrick.

Things coming up... Socceroos vs. Argentina on Tuesday. Melbourne Victory's second home match. Rosebud 2007. Studies...

Also, I do apologise for virtually no photos. The camera comes along to most events, but I just dont take any photos. You will have to see the photo albums of Doogs and Yi for most of them. I know that WeyMin took a few snaps on the Yum Cha gathering... So yeah, hopefully I'll get my groove back to take some photos.

omg!!!

2007-08-20T16:15:00.000+10:00

This is fantastic news for Australian Football Fans.

I nearly creamed my pants with such news!

"It’s official. Every A-League team will appear in EA Sports’ new FIFA 08 game.

au.fourfourtwo.com can today end speculation and confirm the new FIFA 08 game will indeed feature all eight A-League teams in the series' new version.

The A-League is one of three new leagues confirmed for FIFA 08 and will debut alongside the Irish Eircom League and the Czech Gambrinus League, taking the game's total number of leagues to 30."

FIFA08 will be heaven. Cannot wait to take the big clubs around the world with my little club Melbourne Victory.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/59393,aleague-will-be-in-fifa-08.aspx

one of those good days

2007-08-02T15:53:00.000+10:00

August 1, 2007. Started on a fabulous note. I have no idea why or what happened. Although the phone call the night before is the main source for this good vibe.

The morning was all smiles, pleasant and was ready for the day.

Mid-morning - bang, bad mood. Too busy. Frustrated. Annoyed. Moody. Don't want to deal with people. More work. More things to worry about. Things falling apart.

Pretty much that continued for the whole afternoon. On the train home, and thought stuff it lets bring on my "angry" game for that nights indoor match (Wu had brought on his angry game too).

Horizon one.

Arrived late, and missed the first couple of minutes.

Came on as a substitute and ran like a mofo. Challenged every ball. Was doing some decent passes. Holding the ball quite well. By half time, I was knackered. Rested up for a good 6-8 minutes. Came back on and tried my best. Was a good solid run, but nothing like my first half performance. We won, 9-3. Go angry game.

Some key highlights from the match:

Jesse's one-on-one with the keeper. Goes right, goes left, goes right, goes left and bang. Brilliant.
Barry's left foot is a blinder.
Bryan's midfield work. A true play maker.
Wu, Jesse and Barry cleaning up my passes/stray shots. Especially the cross to Wu and he banged it home like a true mofo.
Vince, was super in goals as he did save some good shots when our defence was out of place.
Scott's photography shots. Awaiting the results - should be good.
Ting, playing injured, is a true warrior. Just like those Spartans.
My flukey goal. That's the second fluke-type goal from me.

The good vibes started to come back. I was on a high and it felt good. Bye-bye bad mood.

It is tradition for the Zebra Tonsils to chow down one too many dumplings and last night was no different. Just more of it. 7 plates between 5 guys. That's roughly 80 pieces of three to four bites required to consume each dumpling.

That was horizon one.

Check out horizon two.

A call from Amy, all the way from Auckland, NZ. Too awesome. We talked as if nothing hasn't changed. The last time we caught up was in November 2004. Talking about love, life and everything in between. Reflecting upon our year and looking ahead to a bright future. Two hours later, its 2am her time and midnight for mine. I had to force myself to say cheerio lass.

That was horizon two.

Now for horizon three.

An email from the university brought fantastic news. All good.

Fell asleep with a sheepish grin. =)

one liner updates

2007-07-29T12:10:00.000+10:00

So I awoke this morning with the greatest urge to update this blog - for whoever reads these neglected pages...

What has been consuming most of my time? Well, Facebook has pretty much killed anytime for me to update this particular blog. Also, you can add in watching Entourage Seasons 1 and 2 and watching the first season of The IT Crowd. You can also include the examination period where I was somewhat discipline with my studies.

What is the plan for this update? I will be flicking through the pages of my diary to provide one liner updates, with links to the relevant Flickr page (if relevant). But, I do know that I will have to provide a detailed update for my little weekend getaway trips to Sydney and Tasmania.

The last post was upon reflection of hobbling around Melbourne to get from the top end of Bourke Street to Crown to watch the latest Pirates film...

Australia vs. Uruguay at Z-Man's place. Ash, myself and Z-Man watched the Socceroos take on our beloved foe of Uruguay. A 1-2 loss to the Socceroos. I just remember drinking Pure Blonde, the low carb beer.
A few Indoor Soccer matches. The Zebra Tonsils managed to finish in the bottom half of the ladder. Not a bad wrap up to our season. I think our primary concern is the inability to score goals. We create quite a few chances, its just a matter of taking them. Oh, and in the second half, we tend to concede too many goals...
Exams, exams, exams. The less said, the better.
Courts and I attended the premier for Ocean's Thirteen (Thanks Bri for the tix!). A decent and enjoyable film. Followed that up with a massive dinner at Cafe Greco.
Exams - thank you for those sending me "Good Luck" messages; it is much appreciated and blardy useful!
Satisfying our Nacho cravings. Shu and I had some long cravings to work on. Before her belly dancing class with Yi and Emma we had a good portion sized Nacho at Mee Too on Menzies Alley. Went down well with Boags. Yum, yum.
I remember frantically organising my Tasmania trip after my last exam. A lot of phone calls and print outs of bookings and things to do and emailing Emma back and forth.
Oh, Chau Manor is going through a pretty good upgrade. I bought a Projector which will be mounted to the ceiling with a pull down screen. Just need to get mounting kit, screen, cables, video switch and a cable guy to get it all done.
Sydney! The last time I was in Sydney was December 2004. So it has been a long time. Flew up with Makka on Friday 29 June for the weekend. Partied, partied, partied and found some awesome places for breakfast. Thank You to Ausra for being a wonderful host and providing the most memorable Sydney trip ever! See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600583763420/
AIESEC Australia July National Conference 2007 Melbourne - Bar Hop. I was asked to organise the night and it was smashing. In every sense of the word. The morning after was one horrible affair. But, after a fly breakfast at Bebida, Doogs, Z-Man and I visited Fernanda as she recovers from her accident. That was one fly night. And it was awesome to catch up with Fernanda. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600670136074/
July National Conference 2007 - Opening Night. That was a very enjoyable night. Catching up with many alumni and drinking it up at The Long Room. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600670181412/
Tasmania! Emma and I had booked this trip sometime ago. We thought it was pretty crazy to go too an even cooler climate in the middle of winter. The trip itself? Was pure bliss. Loved the Beer Tours of Cascade and Boags. Loved the scenery. Loved the drive along the east coast, down the middle of Tassie and the most mountainous drive I have ever done. Loved seeing Emma seeing and experiencing something new. Loved the wine and dine we did. Loved the time being spent with my best friend. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600729204782/
Attended to some of the July National Conference parties. Changeover night was great. Especially having my name mentioned three times, which was unexpected. More importantly, I got to see Chena - someone whom I recruited, made into OGX guru, and knew that he was always going to be on the MC since day one - wrap up his time in AIESEC. Doogs, Lammo and I went to another party - and it was a real super night. And lastly, we made an appearance at Skolling Night. Which was a lot of fun out in the cold. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600786257305/ and http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600810802511/
Welcome Home Brenna! Was frickin' awesome to see this gal after 53 weeks of her being in France. Golden Monkey was the venue and it was great. Before that, we had a little catch up drinks at the Kitten Club. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600828153709/
Went to see Transformers with Bri. That is one f*cking awesome film. Loved it. Then had dinner with Ralphy, Tilly, Heidi, Kylie, Kyle, Chena, Luke, Mel, Ausra and her brother at a Thai resturant on Swanston. Followed this up with cocktails at New Gold Mountain.
Went to see Missy Higgins! Courts and I had booked tickets to see the gorgeous Missy Higgins in... North Geelong! Ops, we forgot to read the fine print. But, it was a really enjoyable drive out of Melbourne, catching up and seeing a fantastic and intimate concert. Loved every minute of it. Oh, and it was fun observing the people from Geelong. =)
Pei's fabulous farewell. Well before that, a whole group of us went the Oxford Scholar to watch Japan defeat Australia in the Asian Cup. We drowned our sorrows at The Order and to spend some fantastic time with Pei before she headed to HK to find a Fobby boyfriend (and to work with UBS). Will miss you babe! See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600946064348/
Welcome Home Oen! Had drinks at the Golden Monkey (whats with all these welcome home drinks being at Golden Monkey?) Was great to see you babe. Later, a group of us went to the "Show at the Motel". mmmmm yeah. Was a real super night. See: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157601068767467/
Stayed at home, which is the first for a long time, watching a couple of DVDs with a bottle of red.

So that's the one liner updates. Some will need to be explained in detail, especially the trips. And some, you can get a good idea through the relevant flickr page.

nothing out of the ordinary...

2007-06-04T16:57:00.000+10:00

This has been sitting in drafts for some time... I havent edited or completed it. So it really is a crap post. But, I can't be bothered to flip through my diary and spell out what I have done over the past month. Why? I'm off to Sydney for a party filled weekend of catching up with plenty of mofos that I havent seen for a very long time.

Nothing really out of the ordinary has happened recently. No photos or parties of the like that warranted me to take happy-snaps.

Monday 28 May marked a dark hour. Went on the Indoor Soccer pitch as the starting five for the Zebra Tonsils. Played up-front, making a nuisance of myself with the defenders. Here, everything is all of a blur. I went up to header the ball and rolled on my right ankle. I heard a few cracks and went down like a ton of bricks. The defender that was marking me quickly apologised. I dont remember much besides the ref stopping the game, me swearing and hobbling my way off the pitch. One of the centre staff gave me an ice-pack to ice my ankle. In the end, we won 5-1. The opposition team came and apologised agian, to which I said it is all cool mate. Cannot feel my ankle at all, but went out (hobbling around is far more accurate) to celebrate with a few beers.

Woke up, thought about calling in sick. But, I pulled myself out of bed. Hobbled my way to the office. Dont remember much here... Stayed in the office a little later than usual, working on some cool marketing things that will be launched sometime this month.

I had plans to have dinner with Shu and Emma. Whilst waiting for the two late comers, had myself a coffee at Pellegrini's, nice little chat with the barista about Italian politics and some recent Serie A news and rumours. Met up with Shu and waited for Emma at Horoki. This place is awesome. A Japanese tapas type bar with a splendid service. We ordered our drinks; Shu for the Sangaria, Emma for the tea and myself a beer. Love all the settings of crockery and cutlery - certainly a nice touch. The food... The word I used before, awesome, is a good fit. To start off, we had the Sashami salad - great blend of all the complex characters of a salad and the sashami is spot on. Next we had the lamb cutlets on a bed of rocket leaves and mash. Juicy, tender, cooked to perfection. The use of the rocket leaves and the sauce was great. My mouth is watering as I type this... Next, was the fried soft-crab-shell. Not my type of thing, and was the most dissapointing dish of all. Highly overrated... To finish, we had the rice-cake in Chinese sauce. When it came out, it didnt look like much. But it was grand. Imagine four pieces of crunchy rice-cakes that is poured with vegies and chicken cooked in some Chinese sauce.

mini update

2007-05-27T17:57:00.001+10:00

I have been meaning to post about the eventful weekend sometime ago... So here it is.

Submitted a pretty big paper of Competitive Advantage within the Australian fast food industry. Went home, suited up and added a bow-tie.

James Bond at The Apartment for Steph's Birthday
A call for all of Her Majesty's MI:6 agents was made to attend The Apartment to help Agent 003's coming of age.

What can I say? Almost unlimited booze, plentiful of finger food and some people really dressing up for the theme and the occasion.

Some key highlights:

Getting some weird looks whilst walking into The Apartment, because I was sporting a bow-tie and they didn't.
Shu & Emma's flash and dash run to the party.
One drink ticket can get you a Long Island Ice Tea!
Finally able to fish-hook WeyMin.
Been had to up the ante when some dude gave Steph a single red rose.
Ash, Z-Man and I being rejected by bunch of "pretty good looking" girls, as the hot one went away.
This weird yellow thing that Ash & Brianna was obsessed with.
Been's late appearance to his partners birthday celebrations...

Don't I look smashing?

Steph, Thank You for the night of festivities - enjoyed by all.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600206164721/

Heidi's Drinks
The "Mother Teresa" of friends celebrated her 21st. Well, it's more like 21 and a half year old celebrations.

A great evening of catching up with some old faces and seeing the regular faces that I see week-to-week. Always have a soft spot for Murmur for its good collection of imported beers - love my Belgian beers, in particular Duvel and Leffe.

Some key highlights:

Brianna introducing the concept of crotch-shots.
Fish-hooks
It has been a little more than 10 months since catching up with Cassie and Susie.

Eyes Wide Shut

Heidi, Thank You for the warm chilled-out night filled with oodles of warmth and smiles.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211624998/

Then WeyMin and I had to leave for this party...

Simon & Michelle's 25th Cocktail Birthday Bash
Simon & Michelle are the greatest party hosts - for any occasions. And this simply raised the bar.

To celebrate their quarter-life crises a Cocktail Birthday Party was in order. And you had to dress up - 80's Aerobics style.

A fantastic night with a massive hangover for it. It is all bit of a blur to be honest, but I haven't this much fun reliving the 80's - music, style, poses... Everything.

Lato & myself

Simon & Mishie - Thank You for a fantabulous night.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211342971/

See Laura's collection here:
http://www.ringo.com/share.html?id=eSodE7fhOee0&origin=photoinvite
And here:
www.ringo.com/share.html?id=OjIcm3_a2qa0
For Mishie's collection:
flickr.com/photos/MichelleHuiseen/sets/72157600216889708/
For Pei-San's collection:
http://flickr.com/photos/Pei-San
For WeyMin's collection:
http://weymin.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWljcm9zb2Z0LlNwYWNlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5GdWxsTW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaFolderID=cns!30B0892927B42D5A!1701&_c=PhotoAlbum

The Tan residence is bit of a nightmare - to escape it, Mishie, Luke, Bretto, Laura, WeyMin and myself headed out to Bebida for brunch. Yum, yum!

With brunch consumed and my hangover rapidly being defeated, I joined up with the Nguyen Clan for our Mother's Day picnic at Studley Park on the banks of the Yarra. A fun-filled Sunday afternoon of relaxing, great wine, good food, ball games and catching up.

Simone and her little brother Duy.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211380167/

Had to leave early to play Indoor Soccer. Played, lost. Went home, showered and changed. Headed out to farewell Fiona. Fiona has wrapped up her Aussie adventure, for now. A farewell dinner at Bali Bagus with some close friends and a good introduction to Indonesian cuisine.

Some key highlights:

She got some really cool pressies.
Tomi on guitar and Julie singing; serenading Fiona - it was a lovely gesture.
The 45+mins wait for Fiona - arriving fashionably late to her own farewell!
Catching up with everyone there.

We will certainly miss the ever-smiling Fiona.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211386463/

Had an awesome catch up with my man Kirk, who has wrapped up his time in Australia. A very simple night of good pizza, great wine and awesome conversations between Kirk, Courts, Kenley and myself - talking about philosophy, politics, relationships, theories of evolution, family, parents, issues that we are facing, our dilemmas, everything - loved it.

Little shin-ding at Chau Manor for the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United. Dull game, great party at my place. Much fun had by all.

Mum & Dad's 27th Wedding Anniversary was on Thursday. Went to Tao's Restaurant. It is a seven-course east-meets-west degustation wannabe. Some great courses, some off beat ones, some tried-too-hard ones, some average-maybe-it-doesnt-belong. But, you really cannot complain because for under $50 per head, you get seven courses. Bring a camera if you ever come out to eat here, presentation is spot on. And if you are in Melbourne, 22 July, I'll be hosting a dinner there. Mushrooms was orgasmic. It is that good, that I creamed myself. Lamb cutlets, cooked to perfection. Those are the most memorable dishes. Starter - interesting. Soup, oh yea, soup - it is awesome. I ordered some Japanese inspired soup, no not miso, it was fantastic - the right blend of all the complex characteristics. Fried rice; a very different take. Ice-cream, presenation won me over. The same goes for my entree. It sounds as if I am giving it quite a harsh review, but it was a very pleasant evening as I had the wrong expectations as I drove into the driveway. Overall, a good experience with a few hit and misses.

Went to see Spider-Man 3 with Brianna on Friday night, thank you for the wonderful evening and the film - Spider-man, spider-man...

Last night celebrated Rita's Nameday at La Camera. Ash wrote an excellent update about it, so you can view it here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2450696344&ref=nf

I think that is pretty much it...

lammo :: changes and no changes...

2007-05-10T11:34:00.000+10:00

(a quick sigh of relief, project started in November will be completed today, yay!)

Lammo's Belated Mofo 23rd - see the link at the bottom of this post for the blurb.

How a year can change you...
From this:

To this:

But some things doesnt change...
This year:

When we were all young (2004):

And...
This year:

When we were all young (2004):

And he can sleep anywhere...

Just to prove the point (this year):

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600181234085/

a healthy record

2007-05-03T15:50:00.000+10:00

I have no idea why there is the urge to post this. Maybe for my own personal sake? Quite possibly, taking into account of how vain I am...

My lips hasn't had a drop of alcohol since... Ah yes, the fine reds at Chris' engagement party. So, that is record number one for 2007. That's... 12 days. Not bad.

Record number two consists of playing three indoor soccer matches, all competitive, in the space of four days. My body is aching:

Right heel is killing me, for every step I take.
There is a massive bruise (and it is swollen, looks like I have an Adam's apple there) on my left shin.
Upper right thigh is terribly sore.
Lastly, my right bum cheek is complaining, probably due to a couple of tumbles in the game last night.

Record number one will be blown out of the water for Lammo's (last years birthday pic), belated, birthday drinks. Then the weekend of 11, 12 and 13 May - a very boozy weekend.

the art of doing nothing

2007-05-01T11:15:00.000+10:00

There are quite a number of times when I just do nothing. For example, right now. I am sitting at my desk, in the office and actually do look pretty busy. Because 1) My fingers are pressing some keys and it appears on the screen - it makes me look busy. 2) Excel, Word and Outlook are opened with some files for the just-in-case-I-need-to-hit alt-tab. 3) My manager isn't looking at my screen. 4) Paper work is littered everywhere on my desk.

Ah yes, the art of looking (and feeling) busy.

I even do this at home. Say, I have a report or an assignment to work on. Pretty much, you can say that I am steadily studying with my text books, printed journal articles, Word is open, PDF files are open, etc. This makes me feel that I am studying.

But what am I actually doing?

Sending random emails to the Boys and making comments about them.
Sending random emails to the Boys, with pictures, and making comments about them.
Sending random emails to the Boys, with links from YouTube and other video based sites, and making comments about them.
Sending random emails to the Boys and making fun of Doogs and/or Been.
Reading blogs, in particular nomadlife...
Looking up photos from other people's blogs and photo albums.
Reading The Age.
Reading FoxSports.
Reading The World Game.
Reading my star sign...
Googling random words.
Checking out words in Urban Dictionary and sending them to the Boys.
Thinking about what I can do better for the Zebra Tonsils (my Indoor Soccer team).
Drinking lots of water.
Munching on Rice Cakes, Salada biscuits with Coon cheese, fruits (mainly bananas)...
Dreaming of a holiday (that reminds me, Tassie vs. North Queensland for June/July).
Thinking about what I could be doing now.
Thinking about the pile of work next to me.
Thinking about how that pile of work will disappear.
Smiling.
Thinking about work and/or studies being done and how it will be done.
Walking to reception and having a chat.
Planning the next event, organising the next event, thinking about the next event.
Looking at the clock and wishing it would go faster.
Checking up, and trading on my shares and to see how they are going.
Checking up on ASX
Reading up on reviews for Breakfast/Brunch, Bars, Cafes and Restaurants
Emailing friends and family abroad.
My manager making me watch some funny video clips (just then he showed me a clip where a woman ate a spider for a Ferrari... (yuck!)
Talking about investments (property, funds, shares, etc) with my manager.
On the phone

In the end, I feel pretty busy.

Any other good tips for "the art of doing nothing"? And secondly, what do you do when "professionally" procrastinating? I'd like to learn some new things today!

vic state

2007-04-16T09:28:00.000+10:00

Interestingly, I have attended every AIESEC Victoria State Conference since 2000 (minus 2004 when I was in Denmark). Of course, it has been in various capacities and roles. Ranging from Delegate, Facilitator/Trainer, Chair and now (to which I believe as the most important role) Party Delegate/Alumnus.

Doogs, Lammo, Emma and I left Melbourne for Flinders in the Chau GoGo Mobil. With all the rules for the trip defined, (discussed and clarified and argued) and making a little detour at Frankston (to pick up another delegate) it was a fun loving road trip. One key rule was that Emma was appointed the difficult task as the DJ. She would receive a knock on her head for every dumb/boring/whatever track played. This never eventuated - pity, as I was looking forward to such an opportunity.

I don’t recall much from the entire road trip. Because, one might say that we probably partied hard to kill of more brain cells than we would've liked to... oooOOooo Have to say a massive Thank You to Emma for buying us dinner at KFC. Ah the joys of guilt trip.

So we arrive at the site and made the greatest attempt to have a grand entrance. (You can place a tick in that box.) Entering the room whilst delegates were having their dinner and then people came in from left, right, centre, behind, above, below, 45 degree angles, etc to come and greet us. I still believe Lammo had the greatest welcome with Oen (OCP), running and jumping towards him and a great catch that Adam Gilchrist will be proud of.

Things that I vaguely remember...

Preparing the party, carrying copious amount of grog through some sessions to ensure that delegates know what they are in for.
WeyMin pumping up the balloons - it seems she has had practice with similar shaped devices.
Vic Pride; stories, laughs, traditions, made up information in the presentation and chanting.
Line Dances! Yes, I must confess, it is great to be part of the line dances. Many classics are still done today.
Chants! Yes, another thing I must confess. As a true and proud alumnus from Vic and Monash - it is a must to belt out "Who's That Man With the Big Red Nose?!?!?!" And also seeing the likes of Father Abraham and the sort being led by Lammo and Doogs.
Dancing in general; it has been a long time shaking my booty on the dance floor.
Lap dances; just to reinforce how dirty we (alumni) really are...
Drinking games; really when can you have drinking games in the corporate world? The likes of Zoom, Ming Mang Mong, Ah-Shock, Bitches Bitches, etc was played until our hearts were content.
Peeing your name on the barn wall (memories from 2005 when I chaired Vic State)
Midnight instant noodles.
In bed at 6am.
Waking up for Lunch.
Driving off before Closing Plenary.

And the result, I think this says it all...
You can say that I am one (old) happy little AIESECer, being able to relive past times, lead some chants, playing drinking games (and teaching new members of such games), leading the line dances and seeing how AIESEC Victoria will grow with this new generation.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600087643794/

quick update...

2007-04-09T14:12:00.000+10:00

Another quick update...

Every year the Sidney Myer Foundation hosts Free Concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I use to go as a little kid and rekindled my music background and education by attending three of the four concerts. Loved every minute of it.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594536581558/
http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594568693114/

Nick celebrated his birthday. Its seems that the one day in February the boys will party hard. I've always loved The Order of Melbourne; a great venue.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594540018806/

St Kilda Festival, enjoying the sights and sounds of music, shows and the vibe of a festival in St Kilda. Brunch, and later drinks at the St Kilda Sea Baths, with Ash and Oen. More drinks with Magda & Adam and Laura watching Magda and Adam's wedding DVD. It was such a beautiful wedding.

Vietnamese New Year (or Lunar New Year), this year the Nguyen clan went to Grandmas to have a feast only fit for the Nguyen clan. It was too long ago and I don't remember much.

But later that night, I went to the 2006/07 A-League Grand Final. Watching my team, Melbourne Victory, thrashing Adelaide United 6-0. Five goals to Archie Thompson - who simply showed another class.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594544099887/

A few dinners here and there (just quickly scanning through my diary)...

Attended the Melbourne Victory BBQ at Telstra Dome. A free feed and seeing the presentation of the players and the trophies we won!

A few movies... I think Good Shepherd was one of them. If you love spy films and don't mind watching it at a slow pace, you might enjoy it. I enjoyed it.

I now play indoor soccer on a weekly basis. Have only scored four goals out of six matches.

Plenty of TGI Friday Drinks. =) And now thinking of expanding it to include a restaurant experience once a month - thanks to a mates idea.

SoS. Soccer on Sundays. To further build my fitness, I also play social soccer on Sundays with the boys. We are getting pretty good and gelling with each other.

Wannabe Triplets Birthday. Brianna, Tamara and Emma had their birthday bash at Madame Brussels. One of my favourite venues for a drink over the summer. Plenty of Pimms and countless beers. Later on, made our way to Riverland for more beers along the Yarra.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594568701309/

Discovering the joys of FoxTel. Have been staying all hours of the night watching FoxTel at Brianna's place. Now thinking of getting it installed at home too! Well thinking is the key word.

Celebrating Oen's birthday! It's been a while since I dressed up. The theme was "Decadence" and dressing up as if it were the 1920's. Although, you can say, that I failed in such a manner with my poor dress sense.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157594581140655/

On the topic of birthdays... Celebrating Ash getting old at The Apartment. Nice venue, turns into a nightclub. Has been a while since shaking my booty on the dance floor.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600027695630/

And caught up with Chena whilst he was in town. A nice little BBQ with the boys after a good game of soccer.

That's a quick summary of what has happened over the past... Few months. Noticed that I am getting lazy with such a post? No links, no real in depth analysis, etc... =)

thank you

2007-04-09T14:02:00.000+10:00

Just a quick thank you to those that sent birthday wishes last weekend. I had a great time celebrating being another year older.

Feel free to view these photos:

Photos from the two events, not as many as I had hoped for... Because I was simply to smashed!
Drinks:
http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600041451201/

Dinner:
http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600041460585/

nursing an injury

2007-03-29T13:50:00.000+10:00

Being on this self-imposed course to become super fit, I play Football (the round ball type) twice a week. Every Wednesday its Indoor Soccer and then SoS (Soccer on Sundays). Things you notice... You can last longer after each game. You actually become a little better in shooting, dribbling, passing, vision, headers, etc. And most importantly, you gel with your team mates.

Each week I get tips (mainly from Jesse - on technique - and Doogs - on modelling my game on the V-Bomber [Mark Viduka] - ) on how to improve my technique, for example, on shooting. In the early days, my shots tend to loft up towards no-mans land in the air. Now, it is slightly more controlled, the height of the shot is lowered and, if I am lucky enough, I get a good connection between feet and ball. I guess, it is looking good from my end.

So why am I writing this? In desperation to conserve some energy I played goalie last night. In the past, I had some decent reaction times and was an OK keeper. Always had the attitude of not to be scared of the ball. And simply put yourself on the line type thing. Two great saves and later I am nursing a bruised knee and with chunks of skin on the ground. Needless to say, I am no longer the player that I use to be. I was shit-scared. Had no confidence in diving and saving. But, compared to my captain, the Tingmeister, I am in a better position. Poor feller rolled his ankle. Which brings back some pretty good memories of my 'weak' ankles and constantly injuring myself during my teen-years.

Now, this post seem pretty pointless. With my self-confessed and shameless plug about my Birthday celebrations and the love and attention to be received, which is tomorrow, I am looking for some sympathy votes. hehehehe So on the count of three... 1-2-3 awwwwwwwwwwwwww

On a side note. This is a very soft injury, nothing compared to my sliced finger after opening a beer bottle at Simon & Mishies last month.

birthday celebrations...

2007-03-27T13:46:00.000+10:00

There has been a number of birthday celebrations over the past few months... And, my one is just around the corner.

For some, they would know that I loathe such an event. Never really went out of my way to celebrate it. Never really did something about it and all that jazz. But ever since I turned 25 last year. I think I like doing it.

Thinking to myself, as you usually do... Perhaps it is all the booze and partying lifestyle has made some sort of impact where I actually want to celebrate such an occasion. Or the fact that I have a longer list to invite people to help me celebrate it - whether they love me or love the idea of drinking my money. Or could it be the fact that I soooo love to organise things that I thought I might as well do something for myself. Perhaps, I am getting selfish and love the idea of feeling special for that single day of the year.

Whatever the reason it is. Its coming, this Friday and I will be 26. Since, I love myself. I'd like to say - Happy Birthday Huy!

one slack mofo...

2007-02-09T16:23:00.000+11:00

Yes, I haven't touched these pages for a long time. Although my flickr account has been quite busy.

Some albums have mini blurbs and descriptions - so I wont outline them here for the moment.

In order of oldest to most recent events:

So I have been quite the social butterfly. And these are only the ones with photos!

For a general look around, my flickr Album:
http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC

a wonderful morning

2007-02-09T16:20:00.000+11:00

This morning started on such a wonderful note. Staying in the suburb of East Melbourne, I decided to walk to the office. Opening the front door with the MCG to greet you, as all the daily morning rituals are happening. Dogs owners taking a walk together, joggers with their headphones on, people heading into work.

Walking past and admiring the awe-inspiring holy ground of the MCG, strolling through Fitzroy Gardens, noticed that I am running a little late and brisk fully went through Treasury Gardens and down onto Collins Street.

The morning was clear and crisp. Blue skies and not a cloud insight. I feel rejuvenated and re-energised. Almost felt like my morning bike ride in Copenhagen. A brilliant start to the day...

That’s until you get mentally retarded and start doing nothing, except for looking for things to forward on to your mates. RIP Anna Nicole Smith. hehehe

someone

2006-11-20T23:17:00.000+11:00

Someone special came along and said hello today. It lifted my spirits. Enough so for me to actually post a link of, perhaps, the greatest piss up house party that I've been too for a long time.

Click on the link to see photos from Ash's PAR-T

Some key highlights:

# Nick was the first to pass out, within 3 hours of opening time
# Breathing in Vodka makes people high and thinks your beloved shisha is a penis
# Too many people puking everywhere
# Aussie Hang Over Cure Pizza. It wasnt a Cure for us, it was dinner.
# Raj & Ash getting kinky in bed. As well as Emma & Lammo.
# Bolivian Coco Leaves drink. Yum - thanks to Z-Man.

Also thank you to the boys (Doogs, Lammo, Ash & Z-Man) for organising a boys night out. Bird watching is now a key element to our lifestyle. Thanks to the Miss Leggy, the Librarian and the Secretary for entertaining us. And brunch in Camberwell.

But most importantly a massive thank you to my friends (both here and abroad). I have never been inundated with so many messages, emails, chats, phone calls, catch ups, dinners and drinks over the past week or so. I really cannot do it without you. I owe everyone something now...

I am still on the mend.

Let's hope that we all get what our heart truly desires.

broken promises...

2006-11-11T13:44:00.000+11:00

I will have to say sorry that I am unable to detail the happenings of the last two months or so.

And the pages of this blog will go dead for sometime as a situation has forced me to no longer enjoy reflecting & posting things on to here.

Give me some time and hopefully things will go back to normal.

Huy

after hibernation

2006-11-08T16:21:00.000+11:00

Back straight into the driving seat. Well not really, just back in the office. My manager has taken some overdue annual leave and I'm taking on his day-to-day responsibilities, plus mine and the projects that he has gotten me to start on. Three pretty big projects. One that could shape how the firm will change its operations.

And as usual.

I'm slack.

The day is almost over and I haven't touched any of the projects. I see piles of paper work, plenty of emails to respond too and excel (and access) is begging me to play with them.

So far, what have I done...?

-> Looked busy.
-> Lunch.
-> Coffee breaks - and lots of them.
-> Looking busy again.
-> Munching on rice cakes (my new snacks at the office).
-> Hanging out with the receptionist.
-> Reading a magazine as "research".
-> Googled random words.
-> Looking at photos.
-> Looked busy again.

Yeah, not bad...

So during hibernation, a few things I noticed. I'm fat. Yep, I admit that I am. I've been gaining weight since the hibernation began. Mainly due to eating and drinking junk - Fatty, greasy food. And sugary drinks. Snacking on chips, lollies and the like. I haven't eaten a decent meal for weeks. I roughly put on 3-4kgs and thanked God that the scales didnt break under the tremendous weight.

So my workout will have to be intense to ensure that the bulging waistline (and sizable love handles) is nice and slim. Shu & Emma has offered some help - which is nice. Alistair wants me to join him in his kickboxing sessions - not too sure about that. But I prefer a weekly (no, make that twice a week) football match. I think swimming is on the cards again. Will have to plan it out and work with it. Oh and plenty of sit-ups and stomach crunches to be done too. I can actually feel my man-boobs jiggling.

I will provide a somewhat detailed report that I promise to do. Just that, I'm feeling slack and cant be bothered to type it up. So, I guess, people just gonna have to wait.

on leave

2006-10-13T09:05:00.000+10:00

Well I'd like to think that I'm on leave but this blog certainly is showing signs of such a scenario. Study leave is what I'd like to call it.

In order to minimise procrastination and be, somewhat, productive this blog will be empty 'till post 7 Nov.

I do promise to have my recent frolicking posted, starting all the way from 11 September till when I next post.

In the mean time, you can acquaint yourself with some photos:

# Glory in September: AFL Grand Final BBQ
# Ash' take on the same event
# Yi's take on the same event
# Yi's Birthday Drinks