Little things perks my day ...

I do so like having fresh flowers in the house ...

White Christmas - somewhat

Living in the southern hemisphere means hot year ends and colder mid years.

This year however - we did have a white Christmas of sorts.

Pic taken yday at around 330pm.

What a Christmas Day!!

Christmas Day 2011 definitely created a storm especially here in the North East suburbs. We were fortunate enough to be 'bypassed' by the eye of the storm ( as it always done for some reason ) but the other neighboring suburbs were hit with major storm damage which includes hail stones as big as golf / cricket balls.

'tis the season

Have finally put up our Christmas tree last weekend. Opted for a more muted tone this yr - silver, bronze and blue as opposed to last yrs gold and red.

No presents yet. BF already has his opened and since we are Kris Kringle'ing presents for friends, the tree would most probably be rather empty for a bit.

Love my twinkly lights tho.

Only in Melbourne ...

Do we see old and new going side by side. How quaint is this??? :)

Another week - another airport

In Perth, WA this week. Taking the midnight flight back home that sees me land in Melbourne at 605am.

At least I get to spend the weekend back home at least.

Happy birthday to me!! (slightly overdue)

Oh wow! What an awesome birthday it was. Lots of fun, food, laughter, table top dancing and lots of Drinks!!! Started and ended the night with these -(and we had quite a few in between as well).

Aftermath - for me - lack of sleep but otherwise raring to go. For the rest - hangover baby!!

It is a lonely life being on the road. ...

Another day, another flight.

Beautiful Australia pt2

Like my last work related trip, I am fortunate that I get to see quite a bit of Oz.

This weeks travel has taken me up to the Central Coast, NSW. 2 hours drive from Sydney up the Pacific Highway heading toward Newcastle and I am now here at The Entrance, NSW.

My hotel room faces the beach and am listening to the lull of sea waves as it hits the rocks.

Lovely :)

Kitchen stories - Dried fried chicken (varuvel) and lentil curry

It has been a while since I last put up an update of my kitchen escapades.

So what came out of my kitchen this week? Felt like having some home cooked food like my mum makes.

I didn't have a few spices and forgot to add in a couple of others until it was done but all in all, it wasn't too bad :)

Think BF still prefers the curry version tho.

Happy birthday BF !!

Good friends, good food, good fun.

Weekend fun activities.

The weather was too good on Sat for us to not take advantage off. So what do we do, strawberry picking!

We headed down to the nearest farm to us which turns out to be in Keilor. 1/2 hr later and we are picking and dipping (as BF says, 1 for the basket, 2 for me). Bonus was - it is also the only organic strawberry farm in VIC so we def were eating healthy.

Lovely fresh picked sun kissed warm strawberries... Mmmm...

Back home to Melbourne - and... Guess what I brought back with me?

There has to be something I do to bring the stormy weather wherever I go. After the massive thunderstorm experienced in Sydney yday, guess what greets me after a few hrs back home today ??

Pic taken from my coz who lives in a high rise apt in Prahran.

Drowning Sydney

Like drowning rats, Sydneysiders were scurrying all over the place trying to keep dry - most not very successfully.

It doesn't help either that Sydney CBD is geographically very 'hilly' with ups and downs in numerous areas thus making the torrent of water rushing down in large pools esp near pedestrian crossings.

The aftermath? Blackouts to around 20000 households, downed traffic lights with a stop on rail and flight services 16mm falling in 10mins.

Sydney at night

I figured I'll finish up today's blog entry by snapping Darling Harbour from my hotel room.

Wet Sydney

Raining cats and dogs here now. Melbourne weather has hit!! Although it looks closer to KL rain by the torrent of water coming down.

Work trip - Sydney, NSW (again)

It is a tad gloomy here in Sydney today .... But isn't this a gorgeous view to wake up to every morning.

Long weekend getaway - Fiji

It has been a fantastic weekend. Since it is a public holiday today, BF decided to take advantage and have a mini break thus turning the 1 day break to a long weekend.

So on Friday, he drives us to the airport and announces that we are heading to Fiji! So all the complaining of early morning flights went out the window when one gets lovely surprises as these.

The flight itself was fairly uneventful. We were on and indirect route via Brisbane before heading to Nadi and when we reached Nadi. There was a taxi pickup and after a 1/2 hr drive, we arrived at the Westin Hotel & Spa Fiji on Denarau island.

As it was a short trip, there wasn't much planned except to relax (and eat). I checked the weather beforehand and it was reported to have thunderstorms and showers for the duration of the stay but there was not a dark cloud in the sky for the whole length of stay! Imagine waking up to waves hitting the beach and friendly cheers of 'Bula' from locals and tourist alike. I am not going to lie - I was a tourist true and true on this trip. I didn't venture out of Denarau, being quite content in staying there and just exploring the other resorts and facilities. ( Westin is under the Starwood Group so we could walk to the adjoining Sheraton Hotel and Sheraton Villas, use their facilities and beaches and just charge all back to our room!)

So after 4 fab days of doing nothing, am blogging from Nadi International Airport. Recharged, revived and rejuvenated. Am already considering heading to Fiji again ( different island next time) - or to Cook Islands. Hey, who knows?

View from our hotel balcony :)

Cooking stories - Apple custard tartlet

Wanted to try something different this week. The original plan was for strawberry tarts but since I didn't have enough punnets and I opted for apple tartlets with custard seeing that I had bag of Red Delicious in the fridge.

Result - a fresh take to fruit tarts with apples and custard and a hint of cinnamon :)

I love spring

Blue sunny skies, crisp breeze, blooming flowers.

Anniversarie part deux

Can't believe it has been 2 years since we got registered. (Traditional wedding ceremony coming up in 2 weeks).

How time flies. It doesn't and hasn't felt like 2 yrs.

Just proves a point that time indeed does fly when you are having fun.

Brisbane from the air..

One of the perks of constant work travel is getting to see new things.
Always love my bird eye view of cities esp when you are flying in our flying out.

Here are a few of Brisbane - after the massive floods that hit this beautiful city this yr.

**Kitchen stories** Chewy raisin and oat biscuits

Been into a bit of baking recently - just to kill time as well as it is a lot more satisfying that getting things from the store! So BF found me the recipe and I thought " Why Not".


Ingredients
1 cup raisins (I used sultanas)
1 cup cornflakes (I used Crunchy Nut)
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine raisins, cornflakes, oats, flours and sugar in a bowl.
Whisk oil, egg and 1/4 cup cold water together in a jug.
Stir into mixture.

Roll 2 tablespoons of mixture at a time into balls.
Place balls, 3cm apart, on prepared tray.
Flatten slightly.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden.
Cool on tray. Serve.

Recipe courtesy of Taste.com.au

First round in the oven - this is what is left

Baking...

Another view of baking...

Baked!!!

**Melbourne ** Night Out

A bit behind on publishing some of my blog entries but no matter, it is not like anyone reads this anyways..!

Being in a relationship has its pros and cons, and one of the cons is being so "content" and not really needing to "pick up" any longer *hey, lets be honest here - we tend to go out to check out the meat market, when you are no longer in the scene, it just feels like a bum deal coz you can watch but cant touch!* - lol..

Anyways, I digress.
On 1 of the Saturday nights that we did decide to slap on some war paint and head out, it was to the European Bier Cafe on Collins. Nice selection of European beers off the tap and bottle of course - brought me back to being back in Belgium 2 years ago.

Food wise - it was ok, typical pub grub with some Australian flair - I stuck to the Caesar salad hence no pics but decided to take pics of some of the others instead.


Chicken parma and chips.

Pork chop with crackle - the crackle looked too thick.

Not being a beer drinker, I opted for a strawberry and lime cider :)

And finished it off with a round of squashed frogs shooters- they barmaid really was hopeless at mixing a cocktail tho - a proper squashed frog shooter is suppose to be nicely layered but these came out DEAD! Oh well, still tasted ok tho.

European Bier Cafe -120 Exhibition Street Melbourne VIC 3000

To top the night off, it was to Max Brenner for coffee/mocha and dessert.

Max Brenner Melbourne Central Shop - OE5, Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central Shopping Centre 300 La Trobe Street Melbourne VIC 3000

Falls Creek, VIC

It was a shame really. After a 5 hr drive and with a sense of wanting to taste a bit of snow on the boards, what we got - nothing.

Falls Creek is the only Australian ski resort to boast ski-in ski-out but unfortunately due to the unseasonably warm August (plus heavy rain the week before) all the snow had melted and it was either patchy snow, icy areas or both.

A weekend wasted - could not justify paying another $106 for the daily tix (we had already paid $70 for resort entry, got Alpine fuel and 2 days accommodation).

Thankfully we are heading to Whistler, BC next yr.

View of the only snow on the mountain top. This time last yr - there was snow cover all the way to the mountain valley!

Random thoughts

I get annoyed at times that I don't really have a definite theme to my blog. Is this suppose to be a travel blog? Or foodie blog? Work related - or cooking perhaps? Pure randomness it is... nonsense stuff that comes to my head at a whim and goes as quickly as it does really. Gee whiz, no wonder I get confused!

Sometimes I have to remember to -

Blooming in the garden

Gosh - where has winter gone? It was 21' for the past two days and even the bulbs are getting things wrong. Daffodils blooming in August? So wrong.

Beautiful Australia

I must say, Australia has some of the best landscapes I have seen ......

And how did you spend your Sat night?

You have to simply love a nice relaxed Saturday - esp when you are not the one cooking and washing up * heheh*

Nature and artwork

I must admit - one of the things I like about living abroad is the being able to appreciate small things that you tend to overlook in any other time.

I love simply walking around and bumping into things, finding a lil cafe hidden in an alcove, or finding some gorgeous art work that would be considered graffiti.

Just could not resist taking a snap of this on one of my weekend jaunts.

Sinful Sunday

Not in the physical side of things - unless one counts calories as being physical. But, don't they look lovely???

Angry Birds!!!

You have to simply  it when pop culture becomes an icon.

A picture says a thousand words...

Darebin Creek

It was such a lovely Sunday, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping - essentially a perfect Sunday afternoon.

After a lovely brunch with 'Mr.Paddington', we decided to walk down to the end of the street of our favorite brunch place and just do a bit of exploring down Darebin Creek.

Seriously, nothing beats a gorgeous Melbourne sunny winter day.

Ash cloud = cancelled flight

Who would have imagined a volcanic eruption continents away will affect and disrupt flights in Australia?

The volcanic eruptions in South America and the ash clouds has been creating havoc on air travel here, all flights out of Melbourne has been cancelled from mid day yday. I am suppose to be on my flight today (Mel-Syd) and then taking a subsequent flight later today to Tamworth but as am stuck in Melbourne, it is actually a welcomed respite from the heavy traveling.

Chicken soup for the soul.

When I am sick and can't stand to eat anything solid, all I want I is soup.

Made some chicken and corn soup so at least I get some nutrition in me.

Lovely surprises ..

Anyone who knows me personally know that I have been having a very busy time at work. With constant travel/living out of the suitcase over the past 9 week and feeling under the weather - coming back for the weekend was a relief!

Imagine my surprise when I find BF bought me flowers as a lil pick me up.

xoxo

Welcome to 'sunny' Coffs Harbour!

Delayed flight all around - oh well. The joys of work related travel. Walking in the rain from tarmac to terminal definitely brought no joy.

Another day, another flight

It was great having a 3 day weekend, however - waking up at 430am, cab arriving at 530am to catch the 630am flight to Sydney and then the 820am flight to Coffs really isn't that appealing.

*sigh*

Little things ...

Sometimes, something as simple as scented candles just lifts the spirit.

Saturday Roast Fever!

Just some of the trimmings to go with tonight's dinner - the roast is in the oven! xoxo