My Xmas Menu
Here is what I intend to dish out to my room-mates for Xmas dinner :)
- Turkey with cranberry sauce
- Roast Ham with Pineapple
- Garlic Mash Potatoes
- Mixed Salad with vingerette and fried goat cheese
Shoudn't be too difficult :P all part of my plan..haha
A volleyball Xmas Eve
I have just gotten back from a marathon volleyball session and its now Xmas Eve. Just thought I'd blog it because it is an unusual way (yet fun) for me to be spending the day before Xmas (Eve). Usually at this time now, I would be frantically searching for Xmas presents for people and burning up brain cells to think up new and innovative gifts. Well I can say that I have done my Xmas shopping today :P just went into Myer and got the things that I had in mind...well ok...actually the things came to my mind as I was wondering around Myer (inspiration I like to call it...its usually the source of most of my presents :P). Hmmm...but I still don't know what to get for my parents yet...maybe when I next see them I will buy something nice for them (to go with the new LCD screen they have??? who knows). So after finishing my shopping in a new record time..also another memorable moment (I do just like shopping for people and a purpose :).
Anyway Karen was nice enough to invite me over to her apartment for a home cooked meal (thx Karen!) before the game...Franco, Juliana, Gab, Joseph were also there and I guess its just the feeling of sitting down in a nice place with friends where there is lots of delicious home-cooked food (sigh..I do miss the home cooked food) and Karen is a great cook...there were vegetables, salted egg with mince, some tomato pork thing, fish..and to top it off, there was desert of glass jelly, jackfruit, lotus seed (deliciously cool and refreshing).
After dinner, we went off to the North Ryde RSL to play some volleyball..this was at 8.30pm! There were 3 teams (mainly, actually probably all HK...so hmmm...lets just say that the cantonese was flying everywhere and I didn't really say much during this time, except talk to Karen, Franco, etc). We played about 8 games and finished at 12+...
My knees are going to be sore again...and I have been invited back (thx!) to play again nxt Saturday...now thats what I call a volleyball fix! haha :) oh well its all part of having fun and mixing around with new people...plus its going to be Xmas soon!
My first Kangaroo...
After years of living in Australia, I have finally tasted my first kangaroo :) Yes...Vicki was kind enough to invite me over for dinner a couple of nights ago (maybe to make up for standing me up a couple of night before? :P) and she made this delicious kangaroo salad with these bits of fried cubed cheese...nice. Now kangaroo...it tasted a bit like beef, but is much leaner (ie. less fat) so it does get kinda chewy, still it was an experience to try out new types of meat, plus it is also cheaper than beef (does that mean we have more kangaroos than cows in Aust?). Oh and on another note..after dinner, we played table tennis...and all I can say is 8-0 (I won 8 sets in a row...must be the kangaroo meat) *nxt night she did win 1 set...7-1 :P* haha..
In other news, yesterday my recruiter (for my old job at Westpac) brought me out for lunch @ Kobe Jones
http://www.kobejones.com.au, this fusion Japanese resturant...quite a nice place and plenty of Jap waitresses everywhere. Its located on King Street Wharf on Darling Harbour so it was pretty upmarket (then again..this is Sydney)...anyway he is Irish and as you may or may not know..they just love to drink, and he kept buying me Asahi beers (coz this lunch is all on his corporate card) and was going to buy a bottle of wine (this was lunch on a Wed btw)...if it was only a weekend and I didn't have to work..haha...I still think I would be there with him now (also trying to chat up those Jap waitresses ;) poor things..must be pretty traumatised) haha. Just gotta love those corporate cards and expenses..who knows soon I might be the one at the other end of the table bringing out clients for lunches and dinners :P all part of the service industry I suppose...
My dream come true?
Dear readers, the moment has come where I share something very special with you:
I am going to start a new job! I have been offered (and accepted) a position in a large Sydney CBD law firm as a graduate at law :) which means I am not yet officially a lawyer, but will have to do a year course and (hopefully) will be admitted to the NSW Supreme Court (ie. a lawyer) by the end of 2007 :). This is really a great opportunity to begin a career change (for the better? well we'll soon see)..and sometimes these opportunities only come once in a lifetime...so I am grabbing it with
both hands (I have already tendered my resignation at Westpac). Oh btw..in case you didn't know/forgotten...I have a double degree in both law and commerce so can do law :)
This was totally unexpected...I applied to this law firm coldly (meaning that there wasn't any ads in the paper or website)...I just applied by looking at the law institute website and going down alphabetically. At this stage I have already applied to numerous (but not enough) law firms in Sydney...gone for a few interviews...and got equally numerous rejection letters. Needless to say...my confidence and morale was pretty low and with it being so close to Xmas...the HR staff were unlikely to hire at this stage. My plan was to apply again in 2007 for Melbourne and Perth (because Sydney is so exclusive and hard to get into) to start in 2008. So anyway I was holidaying in Qld (prev post) when I got the call from the firm's HR manager asking me in for an interview...now I have gone for interviews before (all unsuccessful) so didn't really think much about this except to just go for it and give it a shot :) (besides I had just gotten a substantial pay rise at Westpac...so was not desperate).
Now, what had happened was that the firm had its full quota of graduates, but one of them suddenly left (to take up a position elsewhere)..so there was an open position, and I was just super fortunate enough for the HR mgr to have my CV and call me up. Well to cut a long story short...it was one of my better interviews and got on well with the mgr (my interviewer), all my referees spoke highly of me (thank you everyone...buy dinner when I am back in Spore) and in the end I got offered the job.
Nothing beats that feeling of getting what you want after getting rejected on numerous occassions...especially for me coz it fits the criteria of what I was looking for: relatively well paid, large corporate law firm (with offices in Sydney, Melb and Brisbane), nice working environment (Deutsche Bank Place...plenty of IB around) and seemingly nice 'lawyers' (soon I will be called that after a yr...fingers crossed) colleagues haha..
Things were looking down for me in my first few months in Sydney, no friends (other than Thor and Ant), work which I didn't really enjoy doing (but it paid the bills here in Sydney), no support from people whom I thought were important to me making my decision (other than my family whom always were there), cold and wet weather (coz it was winter)...you know the feeling of 'dead-endedness', abandoned and loneliness. However, now it has all changed, got friends, activities to do on my weekends and weekdays...relatively active social life :P, weather is perfect (most of the time :P), made my first substantial investment (go China!)...and now got the job that would bring about a fresh start and a welcomed career change (I have no doubt I will be working long hours...but that is ok...its for a purpose :).
My faith in my future, life and more importantly myself has been restored!
Office Xmas Party #2
On Thurs, we had another office Xmas party...this time on a larger scale (a bit like the end-of year Assurance party) but this time for a very large division of the bank. This will be my last Westpac Xmas party...so I went with the aim of drinking, dancing, and having fun!!! :). There were soo many people and some familiar faces...it was packed. It was held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal @ The Rocks (Circular Quay area) with the iconic Opera house and Harbour bridge in the background (what else :P)...I heard that to rent it out for a function for a night...it costs A$50K (coz my friend enquired it for her birthday party). There was a live band (playing house, retro and R&B music), catering staff serving alcohol (beer, wine, champaign, etc), ice-cream (Magnums), food, and even pool tables for those who thought they were cool pool sharks :P haha...I wasn't there to play pool :P. I got there a little late coz I was supporting my friends' volleyball grand final game :P...so had lots to make up for in my limited time there..haha...Nothing much to say really...except let the pictures (and comments) tell the story:
Overseas passenger terminal...a really really nice place and very futuristic looking despite the name :P
The place was huge...and very very crowded with dance floor and all :)
Some of my colleagues and my 'outgoing' FC...
Live band in background
My colleagues...1 already drunk
Partying hard...
A 'volunteer' who is doing the 'dip' haha...
Some more of the happy scenes at the party...and it was kinda sunny in there :P haha
The party ended at about 11+ (early :P) but me and two colleagues spent about another half and hr looking for a cab and waiting for the bus (they were female and I was just escorting them). It was impossible to catch a cab because I think there were other office Xmas parties going on and it was a good night for cabbies :P. Emily, was getting tired (the curse of the high heels) so we went back to the hotel where I was staying (because my friend was in Sydney and got a room at this super 6 star hotel and invited me to stay the night :P ...lucky it was that night) and called a cab from there. Didn't drink as much as I initially wanted to..but had fun with colleagues and saw the lighter side of things :P haha...I don't think I can ever tire of this...
Thx Vicki
Yeah! Vicki didn't let me down :) its going to be a good night...sigh...why must tomorrow be a working day :P...I will be sooo dead :P will try to be good..haha
...
...
...
...
...
...
5 mins later: she piked out on me tonight (but promised we'll go this week) :P sigh..and I was all ready and changed. Another disappointment brought on by a female :P haha...just j/k Vic!
Westpac Treasury 2006
Leo, Michael A, James, Emily, Amanda, Patrick, Cameron, David, Fergus, Rory, Michael G, Trent and Fergus - most of my colleagues for the past 6mths
6th floor of Westpac Place - 275 Kent St, Sydney NSW 2000
What is it with girls???...
Ok its another one of those late night, just got home from clubbing and drinking ravings :P sorry, but as the title suggests I am still puzzled by the girls in our group (or maybe just girls/females in general :P hah)...this is what happened...we got 2 guys who were pretty drunk and as the time suggests we just finished another hard night of clubbing :) anyway 2 of my friends were drunk and pretty dangerous, yet the 2 sober girls in our group who were driving...insisted and even threatened me to send me home first (and I just lived not too far away coz we were in the city still) and leave the 2 guys sitting by some steps by the roadside. Now fair enough...I can understand if I was the one pissed drunk (which I am definitely not despite having quite a few cowboys and jagerbombs)...but in the girls kind and caring (non-sensical) nature they insisted to send me home first, which I cannot understand :P coz I was quite happy and even looking forward to walking home to you know spend some alone time and breathe the fresh Sydney air to clear my head. Can you?
Anyway, it was another fun night tonight clubbing and having meeting friends for a pizza dinner (good thing I did too...for the amt of alcohol I drank :P haha..) all the things I may have done while clubbing was all in good fun and I am sure that most people won't remember what I did :P ahah...and I hate those stupid camera/video phones haha..oh well :P see how...
Ok now I am definitely behind on my blogging and I definitely can feel the pressure (you know when you leave something alone for awhile and all the things start to build up...and @#$@# you just want to relive the pressure and catch up) well thats how I feel. I do have lots to blog about from my Brisbane trip (again), change in direction, other Xmas parties (nothing beats multiple office parties), some volleyball parties, and some office pics (what?!) haha...
Should hopefully get some time this Sunday to catch up...unless Vicki is going to Equilibrium (hint hint Vic) haha...
Annual Volleyball Xmas Party
On Saturday, the volleyball group had its annual volleyball (its not really an organised organised event :P more like a get-together type) Xmas party @ the picturesque Bondi Beach (above). Most of the volleyball crew attended and the weather, sun and surf was just perfect! :) Nothing beats just chilling out by the beach with friends (especially after a long night/morning of clubbing and partying - prev post..only had about 4 hrs of sleep :P). Everything was good and the conversation very light hearted :). There was just sooo many ppl at the beach that day, and from where I was sitting...could see a few topless sun bathers "P haha
After lunch, we went back to Maz's very very big and nice place for some karaoke, picture viewing, game playing (there was a very dirty dirty santa there who gave out Xmas presents...and I mean dirty not in a hygene sense :P)...and of course a delicious Xmas dinner cooked by Maz and her mum...(see below) There were pork crackle, chicken wings, salads, spaghetti marinara, ice-cream, brownies (cooked by Lysa...very nice) and essentially too much food :P haha...all good :)
THANK YOU MAZ FOR EVERYTHING!!! IT WAS A FUN, DELICIOUS AND FANTASTIC...
Updates are coming...as soon as I get over this hangover
Its 4.20am in the morning...and I have just got back from drinking/clubbing with Nicky, Sandy, Alicia, and Lorris :P needless to say...I think I am pretty drunk from all the drinks and shots..haha. My original plan was to catch up on my blogging tonight and this morning, but due to circumstances my dear readers...I will not be able to blog tomorrow, but maybe tomorrow night? Hopefully there will be no drinking or any sort of drinking games at Maz's annual volleyball Xmas lunch and party (I don't even know if I can wake up on time :P if at all...oh...the world is spinning around..haha), and I can blog my Canberra and Brisbane trips on either tomorrow night or Monday morning (subject to work :P). I had fun and there was lots of macking at the club (thats an aussie term so I have never heard it before)...hmmm...interesting concept and I am quite surprised that there is an actual term for it haha :). There were lots of drinks (think I had quite a few shots and drinks - we took turns buying...so there was a substantial quantity :P) and cheers...and it was fun to go out with the girls haha...
There is sooo many ppl out at this time...its almost seeming to be like S'pore...except they are not going out to eat, but rather to club and drink somemore (lots of girls are dressed up tonight).
Well anyway, hopefully I wake up tom/today and be in time for the lunch at Bondi...wish me luck! and also I hope to update my blog soon :P. Good night/morning :)
Brisbane Pt2
Yes...it has happened again! In the space of a couple of months, I have gone back to Brisbane again (right after Good Neighbour :P..from Tues to following Mon) for another holiday and relaxing session :P. This time Ant was going to go back for some business and so I thought I'd just tag along and visit his parents (and stay there). It was the start of mango season, and everyday I had...mangoes (kindly bought by Ant's parents)...now these were the mangoes that were on steriods coz they were just simply huge! and I am not exaggerating...some were even bigger than my hand :). Needless to say with the mangoes, I definitely had my fair share of Vitamin C for the entire trip :P You could also say that this trip was a bit 'overdue'...you see me and Ant had this tradition that I would go to Brissy once every 4 yrs (usually around the time of the Olympic games) and the last time I went to Brisbane to see his parents was in 2000...so I am about 2 yrs overdue since the Athens Olympics of 2004 haha...well better late than never :P
Ant's house, yours truely, Ant and Rocky, Mangoes!
Myself with Ant's parents at Yum Cha...have never met such kind, generous, nice and hospitable people before...and it does give me a chance to practice my mandarin haha..
Other things I did during my 'restful' trip..was play some basketball :P now this was a sport that
I haven't really had the chance to play much while living in Sydney..and I missed it so much :P the intensity of the faster paced game where you are constantly moving and taking an active part in the game :P (also I think that its the sport to help you keep fit and healthy). It was a good sweat...and we managed to catch JB's bball game too
And yes we managed to catch the movie Borat...such a funny movie...toilet type humour but all a good laugh which we all need at times :P....cheap too! only $7.50
Looking good Ant! ;)
Luckily Weis was still in Brisbane when I was there (she was leaving back to S'pore in less than a weeks time)...so had some time to catch up and see whats been happening. Nice to catch up with her and she was nice enough to spend the day with me just walking around the city, going to the Brisbane museum, going to Newtown for a delicious lunch, and going to the powerhouse museum...and taking the Brisbane City cat which is the ferry service that runs down the Brissy river.
Waiting for the ferry...
Now in case you are wondering...this is the biggest 'gourmet' burger I have ever seen/eaten! It had like olive paste, gourmet lettuce, a hand made beef patty, swiss cheese, some special tomato sauce (not the one from a bottle)...it was absolutely delicious...and its from this little cafe in Newtown which we had to take the ferry for...highly recommended and luckily I have remembered how to get there...served with chunky chips and the triple berry shake was quite nice too :)
One of my more memorable meals :P good food, surroundings, weather, drink, and company :)
So after lunch, we went to the powerhouse museum, which had an exibition on about the researchers living in Antartica...it was pretty interesting and the decor was definitely old graffiti style. Here is me sitting on a wall outside the museum...looks a bit like St James in Singapore right (so I have heard)? haha...
Inside, it was pretty deserted (maybe coz we went on a weekday), but the displays and photographs were good and pretty entertaining...there was even a Tiger at the bar :P...inspired by the numerous photos...I tried my hand at the artistic photos
Life in Brisbane is a bit like Perth...very peaceful and quiet with the weather a bit like S'pore (tropical..hence the mango seasons) and usually pretty sunny all year round (its in the middle of a drough atm..so the lack of rain is not good for the farmers).
Oh, and on 1 of the days Ant took me to one of these 'hidden' Taiwanese resturants in the suburbs (Qld has got a very large Taiwanese community). There were chinese magazines, bubble tea and even the menu was in mandarin (needed Ant to recommend and order for me :P) haha.. The pictures below show the outside of the resturant...looks pretty dodgey eh and run-down..ahah..but inside the decor was pretty pleasant :P good call Ant. Special mention needs to be made about the bubble tea they had (to those lovers of bubble tea :)..they had those bubble tea mocktails..where they mixed non-alcoholic flavours together to create some new bubble tea concoction...something other than your usual red, white, green tea. I had an Ali Baba (couldn't describe the taste except I am guessing it had some coca cola in it :P) and a chicken chop rice...delicious!
That night we had Philipino food for dinner, some very sweet cakes and desert at another regular Brisbane hangout..and played a couple of hours of pool :)
The next morning (4am) we left back for Gold Coast airport...and we took the plane back to Sydney...where I went straight back to work *ouch* soooo tired...well rested but still requiring sleep..haha
On Thurs, we had another office Xmas party...this time on a larger scale (a bit like the end-of year Assurance party) but this time for a very large division of the bank. This will be my last Westpac Xmas party...so I went with the aim of drinking, dancing, and having fun!!! :). There were soo many people and some familiar faces...it was packed. It was held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal @ The Rocks (Circular Quay area) with the iconic Opera house and Harbour bridge in the background (what else :P)...I heard that to rent it out for a function for a night...it costs A$50K (coz my friend enquired it for her birthday party). There was a live band (playing house, retro and R&B music), catering staff serving alcohol (beer, wine, champaign, etc), ice-cream (Magnums), food, and even pool tables for those who thought they were cool pool sharks :P haha...I wasn't there to play pool :P. I got there a little late coz I was supporting my friends' volleyball grand final game :P...so had lots to make up for in my limited time there..haha...Nothing much to say really...except let the pictures (and comments) tell the story: 
Live band in background
My colleagues...1 already drunk
Partying hard...
Yes...it has happened again! In the space of a couple of months, I have gone back to Brisbane again (right after Good Neighbour :P..from Tues to following Mon) for another holiday and relaxing session :P. This time Ant was going to go back for some business and so I thought I'd just tag along and visit his parents (and stay there). It was the start of mango season, and everyday I had...mangoes (kindly bought by Ant's parents)...now these were the mangoes that were on steriods coz they were just simply huge! and I am not exaggerating...some were even bigger than my hand :). Needless to say with the mangoes, I definitely had my fair share of Vitamin C for the entire trip :P You could also say that this trip was a bit 'overdue'...you see me and Ant had this tradition that I would go to Brissy once every 4 yrs (usually around the time of the Olympic games) and the last time I went to Brisbane to see his parents was in 2000...so I am about 2 yrs overdue since the Athens Olympics of 2004 haha...well better late than never :P
I haven't really had the chance to play much while living in Sydney..and I missed it so much :P the intensity of the faster paced game where you are constantly moving and taking an active part in the game :P (also I think that its the sport to help you keep fit and healthy). It was a good sweat...and we managed to catch JB's bball game too
Looking good Ant! ;)
Waiting for the ferry...
Inside, it was pretty deserted (maybe coz we went on a weekday), but the displays and photographs were good and pretty entertaining...there was even a Tiger at the bar :P...inspired by the numerous photos...I tried my hand at the artistic photos
Of course one of the reasons why I went to Queensland was to do a bit of Scuba diving in the warm/hot brisbane sun...and it was definitely that when we drove up to Sunshine Coast. Ok...this was probably my fault for assuming, but I booked the scuba dives thinking that we were going to do a wreck dive (of a sunken naval frigate the HMS Brisbane)...but we missed the one and only morning wreck dive and had to settle for a normal reef dive. Saw the normal marine life you would normally see, but I did improve my bottom time and really controlled my breathing...even outlasting the DM who were accompanying us...haha :)
Heading out to the deep blue sea...
