The Running Man: June 2007

Dinner Setting

What do you think about this photo? the lighting, placement of dishes and cups, atmosphere?? ;)

Hurricanes (Inside this time...)

Saturday, was the day. It was the day when finally I get to go inside Hurricanes to eat their famous ribs. Previously, due to immense popularity (see previous previous posts where we had to settle for the take-away ribs), bookings were impossible to get. However this time, thanks to the foresight of Maz, we booked early (this was for a party of 4 people...which would be almost impossible to get)...I am not exaggerating! :P she called up the resturant on Monday for a Saturday night booking...and the only time available was: 6pm...wow...I mean usually if you call any regular-good resturant at the start of the week, you would expect you would get prime dinner times (7-8pm) ;P but seriously, we only had 6pm available (its a horror to book for 4+ people...need at least a month in advance~). The reason for the long waiting list to get in (and popularity) is...

Look at those humoungous ribs!!! the plate is oval...and the ribs just huge...I ordered a baked potatoe (which you can see above the plate) and can be used as a scale to see the size of the ribs. Whilst we were eating, there was always a queue at the door, and the waiters/waitress are always ushering people out (so that the tables are freed). We only had an hour an a half (yes a time limit is given :P...luckily the food came out quickly) to eat :P and it was tough...with my stomach sooo full of meat! :P

Bibs are needed...obviously for the girls :P hahahaha....

Ok, so I need 1 too :P haha...

Look at that meat falling off the bone...and there was a lots of it :P ohhh...and with glazed with that sweet sauce...heavenly!

Maz is slowly picking through it...

Lil is enjoying it (Maz and Lil shared 1 rack...and still can't finish it)

JY and myself, before eating...looking neat and clean

The gals...looking very distinct :P

My Poster...

After about a month of playing around with photoshop and my photo collection, I have sent off and today received from the printers...my collage poster of my experiences from 2004-2007. Although you may not be able to see it clearly...its quite large when printed (50x70cm) and now sits proudly in my room :) Mission accomplished!

Retail Therapy...

Nothing much happened last weekend, except that on Fri Lil cooked for me...

'Bangers' (Sausage - we chose Chorizo sausages...nice and spicy!) & Mash with corn, mushrooms and peas covered with onion gravy :) delicious! Kudos goes all to Lil, she did this all herself whilst I showered, surfed the net, watched tv, haha...

Quiche - Lil made this using the leftover Chorizo sausages and it was for my lunch the following day (since I was stuck at home studying :( )...again another success! JB and myself ate very well for our lunch that Saturday.

On Sunday, we went to the city to do some shopping, my first ever shopping 'spree' (haha) in Sydney...don't want to look at my credit card statement for nxt month :P. The items purchased:

1) Lacoste formal shoes - for the fine dining and clubbing experiences (I thought it was time for an upgrade of my current shoe selections);

2) Puma casual shoes - something that I can wear with my jeans instead of my sports shoe :P at least its looks more 'formal' and classy haha;

3) Columbia Titanium Soft-shell jacket - for the impending snow holiday/trip and the cold & wet Sydney winter coming up (this was something I have always had my eye on ;)

Different Sides of the same story..

Something happened on the train this morning on my way to work which I thought I should recount.
I was waiting at the train platform waiting for my train when this 'bum' walked past. Now I say 'bum' because he certainly did look like 1 :P...very old looking clothes, not groomed, had a face like it was no stranger to alcohol, old, didn't looked like he showered recently (you get my meaning). Anyway, this being Sydney I was weary of him as he ambled past me (thinking he might ask me for money or something like that), but nothing happened and the train came. We boarded, he was in the same carriage as me (and I was still being weary of him and held my backpack close to me). He sat down in the seat facing me, and there was already this asian lady there (maybe Korean or Jap) looking very prim and proper. You should have seen the speed in which that lady just got up and walked to another carriage (even tho the seat she was sitting on had more than enough space for 3 people). At that moment I thought (of the lady): Geez...could you have made it anymore obvious?! and poor guy (yes I did feel sorry for him, as its not a nice feeling when you know that total strangers cannot bear to sit near you, and would rather try to find a seat elsewhere on a busy train - coz of your appearance when you have done nothing wrong). Now I can honestly say that if I was in that lady's shoes (and he sat next to me), I wouldn't have just gotten up and sat somewhere else (coz maybe I am a guy I suppose), but I would have definitely kept a tighter hold of my bag (not too obvious of course).
During the short 10 min train ride, I had time to observe him (as he was sitting directly opposite me) and also noted that no one sat next to him (although there were 2 perfectly good seats on either side of him) male or females who boarded...they'd rather stand :P. He didn't cause any trouble and I felt sorry for this old man as he looked quite harmless and lonely (thats my impression from my observation). Anyway what happened next was quite touching and really highlighted the mindset of some people especially the Aussies. There was this lady who sat next to me, who was bringing her young daughter (maybe 5-7yo) to school...she got up and asked the old man about his foot (he had a bandage on a hole in his shoe - hence the reason for his ambling along) and with her daughter (who standing with her), she asked if he had money to go to see a doctor for his foot...then without any response, she gave him money and left the train at her stop :P. Felt touched by this mother's generosity and kindness...she had her young daughter with her..and being a mother you know how protective they can get...but yet she still approached this guy and wanted to know his well-being :)
At the next stop, the old man got up to go to the entrance...and because of his foot (I assume) he nearly fell over..there was this Aussie guy in a suit next to me and he sprang forward and assisted this old man (not like old old, but kinda elderly) off the train :P awww...
I am just hoping he uses the money the mother gave him for food, accomodation, or medicine :P
Two different ways of thinking and two different sides...

Now if that old man was in Singapore (or any other Asian country)...would anyone have approached him and offered him help?? hmmm...

Snow Season @ Rhodes

Last night on a spur of the moment decision (after my game of volleyball...so had plenty of energy and adrenaline still running), I decided to take out all my snowboarding gear (I'd also bought a pair of new Columbia gloves today :P) from the suitcase and put it on. Since I had already gotten my jacket out I thought I'd might as well take out the ski pants, beanie and goggles as well (Sydney is very very cold now especially at my place...) and put them all on. I even got my room-mate, JB to get his gear as well and put it on too (he must have thought I was crazy with nothing to do...well he still did it...ha...thanks to my powers of persuasion!). So to remember that memorable event (rather silly 1 tho :P haha) we posed for a photo, and I am now posting that on my blog ;) *Sigh...cannot wait for snow season to start and the snow trip(s) in August.

By request: here is a similar photo taken almost a year ago when the Perth boys came up for a hardcore snowboarding weekend from Perth :) Similar story...

then we kept back our gear :P

Nice Pic

Am so happy that things worked out in the end :)

I miss Melbourne...

I am back from my Melbourne long weekend. What an adventure and experience! and definitely such a more happier trip than last time I was in Melbourne :) back in Aug last year(due to other circumstances not related to Melbourne :P) and this time I went with friends and met up with friends (Melbournians) who were locals there :). Plus we also rented a car for the long weekend so mobility wasn't a problem (and had TomTom...so neither one of us needed to read maps...). Although Melbourne streets (especially city centre) is a little confusing with the tram lines, hook turns and numerous roads that deviate everywhere...So happy :) Here are some of the highlights of the trip...Special mention: the weather. For the entire 3 days of the trip...there was no rain (only cold days and nights...but at least its dry), and for Melbourne that is totally unheard of haha...so we were lucky (in Sydney...it was flooding!). I did take tons of photos, so take a look at the slide show (with captions) at the bottom of this post

Fri night

Went to watch my AFL team...the West Coast Eagles v Essendon Bombers. Along the way had supposedly (according to Lil) the best chips in Melbourne..."Lord of the Fries" (now I can hear Mich groan about this haha...) but its quite decent (probably due to the fries uniqueness and the different sauces that came with it) :) and not bad...Now unlike my previous posts...this time, the Eagles lost by 1 point :( so sad...especially since I went with 8 friends whom were mostly all Essendon supporters and really gave me s#it after the game (see the pure arrogance of Ess supporters haha). Other than that to watch footie in Victoria is always an enjoyable experience as Victorians are much more passionate than Sydney supporters :P.

Lord of the Fries

Perfect for a cold Melb night!

Oh well...the result didn't go my way, but at least it was a good night and we all had fun, and after the game we then went to one of the clubs in Melbourne (music was good, plenty of Asian chixs around, atmosphere was nice) unfortunately, Lil and myself weren't dressed for clubbing (we were in our Eagles jerseys) and we had to give it a miss after a drink or too :P. We went back to our serviced apartment at Southbank for instant noodles + canned steak and mushrooms (delicious considering the cold cold cold weather)

The Crowd

Saturday

This was the day when we were supposed to pick up Alicia from the airport (she flew a day later than us) and go shopping. However, due to the all-powerful ceramic gods...Lish missed her flight because she 'drank' too much the night/morning before :P (suspect that her drink may have been spiked as she is usually a good drinker :P..gotta becareful especially if you are female) (Does that bring back memories Mich?? :P haha is it me? but that is 2 trips in a row now when another party has missed their flight :P). So she had to purchase another flight to Melb since the missed flight was non-refundable :( now that is dedication! Having woken up especially early (hard considering the night before) to fetch Lish from the airport, we both went back for a quick nap. Later that morning we caught up with Cindy at a nice breakfast place in Fitzroy, called Madam Sousou...this place's decor was distinctively French. Quite nice and relaxed, and can definitely see all the 'beautiful' Melbourne people around haha...

Corn Fritter

Sausage Omellete

3 of Us

Decor of Mdm SouSou

Chillin...

Looking forward...

After breakfast, we went to the airport to pick up Lish, it was about 1pm then so the day was passing by very quickly. My original plan was to pick up Lish at the airport in the morning, then go the the city for our only day of concentrated shopping, however due to the missed flight, we had to settle for a concentrated couple of hours of Melbourne shopping (shops closed at 5pm). Shopping was sooo good :P sigh, bought a pair of Ben Sherman jeans (picked out by Lil...good spotting/taste Lil!) @ 40% sale discount!!! bargain! fits well and looks casual hehe...with winter coming will definitely be wearing more jeans :P. Lil didn't get anything as she was accompanying me whilst Lish went and hit $500 + worth of shopping in an hour!!! Amazing! that girl can really shop..haha. And of course what shopping in Melbourne is not complete without a stop-over at the famous Koko Black...for a dark hot chocolate (believe me, it really helps with the cold cold Melbourne weather)...ohh....so deliciously rich...melted chocolate (not powder!)...puts all the other 'hot chocolates' to shame really :P.

At KB, Lish bought about $130+ worth of chocolates! luckily they were for friends back in Sydney...yes they are that good!

Poor DQ :P

Us outside KB

Yummm.. KB Hot Chocolate

Tired and hungry we headed back and picked up Mich and Leo and headed for our 10 course Lebanese fine dining @ Ablas! (chosen by Leo...well done!) The food was ok and it was an interesting experience to have experienced the full Lebanese culture and I have never eaten sooo much lamb before (we must have eaten at least an entire lamb that night...seriously.). Price was pretty reasonable too...$45 for the 10 courses - but it felt sooo much more and the servings were huge (warning: should only attempt this if you have big eaters or have a very strong craving for lamb..haha). Please refer to slide show below for more pictures of Ablas and the rest of the trip...

After a very full dinner, Mich went back to pack for her bro's arrival and the rest of us went to Wally's apartment to pick-up the rest of the guys for a night of clubbing! Yes finally get to experience the Melbourne clubbing experience of which I have heard much about :) Went to a Club called the Boulevard. There were tons of people (mostly Asian I saw), and they were all looking cool and pretty (so we fitted in perfectly ;_ haha). Leo booked a table and a bottle of (cheap) vodka...danced (with Lil of course :P) and drank some-more :). We ended the night at about 3am, got back and had instant noodles *delicious*...slept at 4...A fun night!

Cold!!! Brave Girls..

Sunday

We woke up (with a slight headache for myself :P) pretty early that morning, had McD breafast and went to meet Mich and her bro and friend for the road trip up Mornington Peninsula. We stopped by a place called the Church (literally this use to be a church) for lunch and then went to a vineyard for tasting :P (Mornington has numerous wineyards in the region much like Hunter Valley :P). However, after one wineyard, the gals decided to head back to Melbourne city for more shopping (and Lil to get some flat shoes for the partying tonight :P - a priority).
Again we found ourselves in Melbourne city again, this time with about an hour worth of concentrated shoppint, the gals went their own ways (to find their girly things :P) and I went my own way to find my own things :P (I wasn't successful as really nothing caught my eye :P). Despite the limited time, the gals still managed to buy stuff! amazing...it was pretty much see and buy (and Lil did manage to get her shoes). We even had time to have a sit-down hot chocolate/ice-coffee/chocolate affocato @ Koko Black!!! yeah couldn't resist it :P. We went home and had time for a quick 1 hour rest before going out to meet Leo and Wally for dinner and clubbing/bar-hopping.

For dinner we went to eat at Mirkas @ Tolano Hotel in St Kilda. Now this use to be owned by a 'famous' Aussie TV chef (like Jamie Oliver) however, he lost the resturant due to some legal dispute (thats when we lawyers come in! haha). Anyway a picture speaks a thousand words, and the food was absolutely delicious! (watch for reviews on the d0ublecooked blog soon! - Leo). I had the Ox Fillet with chips (not Ox tail, but an entire chucky Ox fillet...never had it before and it was a little different to beef and more tender...yumm!). We ordered Oysters, Mains, Desert, a bottle of red wine, and Coffee and each only paid about $70 pp...good value considering its a Melb fine-dining resturant and we had wine :)

Oysters

Ox Fillet with Fries

Pork Cutlet

ChateauBriand

Later that night, we picked up Yiken and went to explore the Melbourne alleyways...or more specifically the 'hidden' bars (this is also something that Melb is famous for) am so glad we went with Melb locals otherwise would never have found the place and stuck to the mainstream (sucky) local places. We went to 2 bars (since it was a sunday night and most bars would have been closed) Essentially these places didn't let me down...exactly as I imagined, hidden away, with comfy chill out chairs and sofas, a wide assortment of alcohol and capable bar staff, good/unique decor, good chillin music at a good volume, plenty of beautiful people (which the boys seem to know personally...this is Melb after all and I suppose the bar scene is pretty small :P). Let the pictures tell the story...

Enter a door in an alleyway..

Monday

Ahh...:*( our last final hours in Melbourne. We were supposed to check-out at 10am, but due to our activities the night before (and other nights ;) we woke up at 10.30am! luckily managed to secure a late checkout - 11am, woke up Lish...didn't get a chance to do my hair properly (which explains the funky new hair-do I am sporting :P in these pictures) haha...thankfully we packed the night before :P. We then headed out to Waverley (in the suburbs) to meet up with Leo and the rest of the boys for Yum-cha (as all Melb city yum cha sux and is overpriced!!!) at their local place. We got a little lost (no fault of TomTom :P) but eventually managed to pick up Mr Chan and meet the rest of the guys at their Yum-cha resturant. Being a public holiday, it appeared that all the Asians in the Waverley area wanted Yum-Cha at that place (its an Asian area I am told)...so that is always a good sign. Not having had breakfast (due to our quick departure from Melb city) we were all starving... The food didn't disappoint and as I am told by Lil and Lish (being the independent Yum-cha experts) it was quite good!

Sadly, after lunch we all had to depart our separate ways, with Yiken giving a fond "farewell, this is not goodbye only see you later" speech on behalf of the Melb boys that really tugged our heart strings :*) haha... We said our thanks and goodbyes to Leo and the rest of the boys, promising to catch-up and continue the dining/party/clubbing when they came to Sydney at the end of the month :) haha...Party is On! its Sydney's turn now...

Drove to the airport (tired and exhausted) and caught the plane back to Sydney...

Thank you to all who made this trip possible, and sooo much fun fun fun!!! A totally memorable experience! Looking forward to my next trip to Melb in the near future (for longer this time...)

The Running Man

Monday, June 25, 2007

Dinner Setting

Hurricanes (Inside this time...)

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

My Poster...

Retail Therapy...

Friday, June 15, 2007

Different Sides of the same story..

Snow Season @ Rhodes

Nice Pic

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I miss Melbourne...

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