wisdom teeth out

My wisdom teeth is gone forever. and ......I look like a fat pig now.
Already 5 hrs after surgery ...still numbness ....hopefully everything will be alright.

It has been a long time

Have not write anything for my blog for a very long time....so much happened recently that I do not have the time to manage myself to write a blog.

I have been throught stress, depress and exhausted in these recent months. But it is good as I have good friends support me all the time. Thank you so much for them ...if not...I am not sure I can able to write have the time to write the blog..

Old story ...

Just remember a story happened more than ten years ago.....

When I was a primary student, I got new pair of leather shoes every year. My mum bought me shoes from a local shop in Sheung Wan. I still remembered the shop is "Shan Da Shoes shop" and the salesmen there were quite old. Even though I cannot pick the where I shop but my mum allowed me to choose the style.

This habit got changed when I turned to be 11. My parents decided to get me a better quality shoes. We went to a department store and got a pair of leather shoes with cute bow in front. I remember that was around two hundreds dollar (which was very expensive to me). I really love the shoes. I treasure them as it was one of the best thing I ever owned.

I was only able to wear the shoes for a week at school and something bad happened. I was the prefect at that time and I needed to open and close the gate during the school hour. I closed the gate as usual but something got stuck that day and made me push very hard. I could not handle the force and the gate scratched my foot (the gate is a large one which at least two meters high and wide)....that means my shoes also get a big red scratch from the paint (I cried immediately not only because of the pain and also the paint....

Even though my parents did not scold me but it caused bad memory for me. I felt bad to buy nice and expensive thing for a long time....Of course I start buying luxury stuffs again but I left a sad memory that I do not think I will forget...

Birthday dinner @ Aria

Last Sunday was Tao 's birthday and we decided to celebrate it at Aria Restaurant in Brisbane. It is one of the best Australian restaurant that we wanted to try for long.

We ordered the tasting menu which comes with a 7 courses.

TUNA
seared loin and tartare of tuna with pear and daikon salad and ponzu dressing
2009 Logan M Cuvee Brut Sparkling Rosé, Central Ranges, New South Wales

JAMON
with tomato, dried olives, shaved jamón ibérico and toasted brioche
2010 Albariño De Fefiñanes, Rias Baixas, Spain

SCALLOPS
seared and served with merguez sausage, mint, chilli and rice crisp
2007 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia

CONSOMME
Peking duck consommé with duck dumpling and Asian mushrooms
Henriques & Henriques Verdelho Madeira 15 Y.O., Madeira Island, Portugal

PORK BELLY
twice cooked Bangalow Sweet Pork belly with Asian spiced black bean sauce
and an apple, radish and crackling salad
2008 Babo Sangiovese, Tuscany, Italy

RABBIT
assiette of rabbit, corn purée, mushrooms, baby corn and a hazelnut jus
2007 S.C. Pannell Nebbiolo, Adelaide Hills, South Australia

CAKE
pistachio cake with yoghurt panna cotta and pistachio ice cream
2003 Isole e Olena Vin Santo, Tuscany, Italy

I especially like the scallop, Jamon, pork belly and the dessert. The scallop is fresh and nicely cooked. The Jamon is very soft but not too salty. The toasted brioche is a bit sweet and it served as the great combination with the tomatoes and the Jamon.(Highly recommend). Another signature dish is the pork belly. Crunchy skin and tasty meat..nothing much you can ask for.
I do not really like the duck dumplings but it is because I dislike duck ...so I am not objective enough to judge this one.

The dessert is nicely presented. I especially like the panna cotta inside the egg shell..love the idea..love the texture ..love the taste.

Lovely weather with lovely breakfast

Another breakfast @Gun shop Cafe. I miss the corn bread so much and would like to try again. Both of us ordered the salmon with cream eggs and corn bread. The salmon is so fresh and nicely cooked with the eggs. I really enjoy the dish especially the corn bread. It is a big difference compared to the one I tried last Friday.

Tao ordered the strawberry milkshakes. The color is so nice and the strawberry is very sweet. Love it..

Tukka -second round

Sorry that because of the lighting and the quality of my iPhone, the photos are very vague.

It is not the first time we visited Tukka. It is a restaurant that serves indigenous ingredients. You can eat crocodile, emu, kangaroo and varieties of berries. It is for sure a good place if you want to experience real Australian food.

We went there last Saturday as we purchased a coupon for degustation menu on the Livingsocial website. It contained five courses. I really enjoy the smoked emu and smoked kangaroo as entree. Some of the berries on the tasting plates were quite sweet and created a good balance with the smoked salty flavor from the meats.

For the mains, we had crocodile and kangaroo. The kangaroo is one of the softest I had ever tried . Love it.

We had chocolate mouse as dessert. It was very smooth. I have not eaten any chocolate mouse for a while and it is for sure a winner for me.

My new coffee machine

Nespresso Pixi is my new coffee machine. I came across this machine for a long time but never thought I am able to afford it (I guess for such a hygienic and hi-tech stuffs must be very expensive). However, it is just a bit more expensive than normal coffee machine. It is for sure worth the money if you want to save some time for preparation and clean up. I am still trying the sample pack of capsule and will try to find out the flavour most suitable me.

the Gunshop Cafe

Gunshop cafe is the new favourite for brunch on weekends. It is a very cosy cafe that served nice breakfast and coffee in West End . The menu there change according to seasons so you can always try different stuffs there.

I ordered the salmon and egg with corn toast which Tao ordered trout and egg toast. I really love my salmon and egg as it is very fresh and well flavored. The spinach is very fresh and still crispy , neutralized the taste of the scramble egg. The corn toast is quite unique too...you can feel the texture of corn within (it is a bit loose when you try to break it into pieces)... very different to the normal bread which the ingredients and flour were blended together totally....I strongly recommend to try it....

The trout Tao ordered was very nice too...yummy....but...cannot be comparable to mine....hoho

Grill'd

I am not a burger person. Not only because it is not easy to find good quality one, most of them are greasy and made of combination of meat mixture which I felt disgusting. However, I hold a different attitude to my new found favourite-Grill'd.

It is a burger restaurant that serve fresh and good quality burger at a reasonable price. The burger is made of lean meat which is full of flavoured. Even thought it is a huge burger, it is not greasy at all.

Tao ordered the Summer sunset and I ordered the Mini Moo. I guess most girls cannot finish a regular burger and Mini Moo may be a good choice for them. We also ordered the chips with sea salt and rosemary on top. It is one of the best chips I had ...so yum.....

A ring for me

The YSL arty ring is one of the signature fashion pieces that I want for quite a long time. It has been sold out quickly even thought it has quite a numbers of different colours. The most favourite colour is turquoise and lapis.

I have been trying to buy one for quite a long time. I can only found it in US website at quite a high price and limited size and colour available. So, I try to find one in ebay for quite some times and luckily I am able to find one that fit my size and not overpriced. It is a great fashion item that you are not going to miss.

Scales and Ales

Garlic and Rosemary pizza bread

Scallops , pork belly, sweet chili caramel sauce

Crab spring roll

1kg mussel pots with white wine and garlic

Scales and Ales is one of the best fish and chips restaurant in Brisbane. Tao wanted to bring me there for quite a long time and we have decided to try it on Tue.

I wanna try some nice seafood for quite a long time and this restaurant did not disappoint me.

We did not wanna order chips because we want to try more varieties.

We order the pizza bread as starter, two entrees and 1 kg mussels. The pizza bread is so crispy and smelt very nice. I seldom eat more than two pieces of bread at night and I broke routine...hehe.....

I must recommend the scallop and pork belly. It is so yummy and soft. It is a nice combination for the pork belly and the caramel sauces. It is one of the best I have ever try and it is a must try dish for this restaurant. The crab spring roll is quite ordinary and I guess I will try something else.

We have mussels as main and it is cooked nicely. The mussels is well favoured ...yum...yum....and it is the special on Tue so it cost 15 instead of 25...what a good bargain. We did have a great dinner and I guess I will for sure to try again in the near future..

Best cleaning tool

Clarisonic is very popular in recent years as it can clean the face more effectively leaving the skin smooth and fresh. It removes all the dirt from the pores and enables the skin to absorb skin care product. I heard a lot of good reviews and decided to get it even thought it is very pricey for a brush. It is retailed for over 350 AUD in David Jones / Myer ...(charged too much compared to US) so I think it is better to get it overseas.

I got mine in HK thanks for Tao. It was around 200 AUD from Joyce Beauty in HK. I have been using it since I got it in November last year and I believe that it is a good time to have a thorough review .

During the first few times I used it, I felt so itchy around my nose. However, I got used to the feeling after around a week . It works very well cleaning my face. It leaves no dirt at all. When I wipe the toner with cotton pad, I found no residual on my face. After using it for more than half year, I can see a gradual reduction of black heads. For anti-aging result...um....I did not see much difference yet. I guess I need to use it for longer time to see the result.

I think it is a good investment as I always believe cleaning is one of the main factor to better skin. By the way, I got the Clarisonic Pro and it can be used to exfoliate the body with the body brush. It works like a massage which is definitely a treat for the body.

Where is ur dream land?

This is a necklace by Disney Couture I bought yesterday. It have lovely pendant that engraved 'the Secret World of Pixie Hollow ' at front and 'off to Neverland Land' at the back. You can even open the locket which is a paper map of the Neverland. I always like accessories with special details... I can not resist to buy especially it has a big discount....I think it will be good to wear it with a plain T shirt....

rosehip oil

Rose hip oil is one of the effective anti-aging beauty product that loads with fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants. It is good to smooth the skin, even out the skin tone, reduce any scars and pigmentation. Although it is a oil, it does not make my skin oily at all. I usually use it at night after my hydrating serum. I put around two to three drops on my palm to warm it up and then massage it to my face. I will try to do a bit of massage at that time....After that, I will put face cream moisture to lock the moisture.

I found my skin is getting brighter and smoother in the next morning when I wake up.....For a anti-aging product that is able to deliver, it is for sure not a expensive investment. I bought the Kosmea Rose hip oil which is a certified organic oil. It costs around 25 AUD for 20ml. I guess it can last you around 3 months if you only use it for the night time.

For dry skin to normal skin, it can be used in the morning . It will provide a very smooth base for putting the foundation and give your skin a dewy look. I cannot use that in the morning as I have oily combination skin. But I will definitely use it every night to keep my skin hydrated.

Rosehip oil is a wonderful budgeted anti-aging goodies. It is good to buy the certified more....hehe..

Dinner At Montrachet

Foie Gras Brulee

Prawn Ravioli with olive oil, tomato , garlic and herbs

Thinly sliced sugar cured salmon with warm creamed truffle potato gratin

Roasted duck served with Jerusalem artichokes , broccoli and cassia sauce

Roquefort and Delica de Formi

Grand Marnier Profiteroles

Creme Brulee

Montrachet- one of the best French restaurant in Brisbane. Tao booked the restaurant weeks ago and we were able to eat a nice dinner there yesterday. We ordered degustatioin menu. It is a nice restaurant with great food. I quite love it . Of course compare to the Quay , I still think the Quay is better , but I did have a nice dinner there..

what is cruel...?!

When I came across the news yesterday and I cannot believe someone can be so cruel. Just like digging a lovely person 's tomb. How can you broadcast the photos of the beloved dying Diana. It is already a long long time ago and what the reason behind it. Money...fame...or just to defend himself not the cause of the deadly crash....Even though what he did , there is no way he can be free from the conspiracy.

Ricky's @ Noosa Head

We spent our first two days of Easter holiday at Sunshine Coast. Tao insisted to have a relax holiday rather than staying at home. Luckily, we are able to find a reasonable priced hotel at the last minutes....And..the weather is so good in these few days. It is not common to have two ongoing sunny public holidays since last November ....hehe...

We drove to Sunshine coast on Fri 's morning and walked around in Noosa Head. There were a lot of ppl . Tao and I went fishing for a while at Parkyn pde. We did not catch anything...um.....so no fish to eat at night...haha....

We went fishing the other day and after that we had a nice lunch at Ricky's. For the entree, we had the tuna wakama and the scallops. I love the scallops...very yummy. For the mains, Tao had the snapper and I ordered the pan roasted salmon. They are both very nice. I prefer the snapper...it is full of flavour....At the end, we ordered the special dessert-hazelnut pudding. It is so yummy and Tao stole my portions..haha.....

We had a great time at Sunshine coast...

A new sofa

It is getting cold these days and very windy. I find my dog always wanted to sit with me or Tao so he does not feel cold. He likes to get up early with me and begging to sit on the sofa . I guess he likes to have a nice warm place to sit on .....esp we can wooden floor which is quite cold in winter. So I got him a new bed and a new sofa. He now likes to sit on the sofa when I play computer . Also, he has a new warm bed upstairs so he will have a good sleep at night...yeah..

New members

2011 seems to be a year that more than half of my friends are going to welcome their new family members. Three of them are getting marry this year and four of them are expecting baby this year. It is a year full of joy.

My entertainment

Finally I have my new notebook. My old one - IBM Think pad died one year ago and I finally have decided to buy a new notebook. After a long search, I decided to get the Asus A42J. So far it is working very nice . It is a small notebook which I am able to carry around easily. I also got a Logitech speaker lap desk yesterday, so I can able to put my notebook on my stomach without feeling the heat . It is a very good lap desk which work perfectly with my new notebook.

Tao's PS3 broke two weeks ago. He tried to fix it by himself but not successful and he tried to bring it to some technician to do it. However, it seemed it was the motherboard problem which needed to be sent back to Sony to fix it. It costs around 250 AUD so we think it is better to buy a new one instead. ...Hopefully we can get a lot of entertainment from my new notebook and PS3.

To buy list....

After a window shopping today....I have sort out something essential this winter...

I want to get a lot of things ...and hopefully I can able to find and have a good bargain among these:

1. Sheepskin jacket
2. Rabbit fur coat
3. YSL Besace bag
4. Diesel leather jacket
5. Nude high heel
6. 18k / platinum necklace

Nice gift from my best friend

As most of my friends know that I like to buy earrings. I bring a nice earrings holder from HK very long time ago and it is all full now. I have not bought any more holders because I have not seen a beautiful one yet. But thanks for my best friend Helen, I received a very cute and gorgeous butterfly jewelry holder. It can hold not only earrings but other small accessories like rings, bracelets..etc. I really love it and have already put my new collection on this lovely holders. Thanks so much and I hope that I will not fill it so fast.....haha...

Back home

After a two weeks holiday, I am back to Brisbane again.

At first, I thought it will be a bad one as my flight got delayed for 14 hours and would end up not having to able to eat new year eve dinner with my family. However, we got upgraded to business class which I am thrilled...haha. It was a nice experience to enjoy a great service on a 9 hour flight.

We, again shopped a lot during these two weeks in Hong Kong. I got nearly half year stock up for cosmetics and skincare which I believe I saved a lot. It is unbelievable that these products are selling at least double the price in Australia. I cannot figure out why it is the case even though the Australia dollar is so strong right now. It is non sense but just trying to steal money from customers. Tao even got a luggage that only 1/7 prices which is selling in the Australian airport.....?!!!! ridiculous

Most fun part is I can meet most of the friends this time. I can meet friends that have not seen after graduation from high school .....and can also meet my best friends just back from holiday in Argentina. Haha...I can talk about high school stuffs (good memory) and also new things from my friend's interesting holiday. Such a happy gathering...hehe

Nightmare

Brisbane, the city I am living now is having its worst Nightmare ever. Endless rainfall since November have brought tones amount of water in the whole Queensland. Warning started Tuesday this week that Brisbane river is going to break its bank and the third largest city in Australia is going to experience a large scale of flood . After I read the news about flooding at the Mackay, St George ...I had bad feeling that will the flood come to Brisbane. Tao said that the water system is totally different to the middle part and water will not flow to Brisbane but directly to NSW. However, his assumption was not right and my worry has become a nightmare to all Brisbane resident. First, Ipwich river is going to raise to 19 meters and Brisbane river is going to raise to 5.4 meters (later revised to be 4.6meters). Everyone is scared and rushed to the high place. Most people did not have time to put their precious things with them and can only leave with nothing but their lives.

I am very lucky enough to live on the hill side which can escape from the flood this time. The area that I am familiar: CBD, Milton, Paddington, Toowong, Indooroopilly, St lucia, Southbank , West End........etc , they are all under water now. The area that everyone knows , entertains , live, eat.....are all under the dirty water. The university I studied, the colleague I lived...is also under water. I cannot imagine the water level can go up so high . A lot of people had lost nearly everything in this flood. How terrible is it...Video showed horses swimming kilometers to rest on roof after being exhausted to swim in order to survive.

I am good to be able to still have food at home, fresh water to drink ....I know many people do not have power and food to survive as they are stuck in buildings or their suburbs are isolated. I hope that everything can be back to normal asap. God bless QLD.

so comfortable

Once I saw this fluffy slippery , I love it. It is so comfortable to wear in winter ...I am sure about this ....will definitely give me a warm feeling. Although it is still summer time here, I just cannot ignore it but bring it back home..

2010 sum up..

2010 is not a easy time for me. A lot of sad things but also have some nice experience.

1. We get our new car and in January and I am able to drive to anywhere I want....Feel so free with the small car..hehe
2. Had bad experience working for a Taiwan bitch.....the worst working experience ever.
3. Got the new dresser. I can able to wear make up comfortably in front of the mirror and my cosmetics are so organized now.
4. First time to in surgery room to remove a lump on my ear. Feel scared at time time hearing every clipping sound ....
5. Bought a new mattress....the most comfortable ever. It is going to stay with me for 25 years ( 25 years warranty)..haha....definitely a important decision in 2010
6. Earn good experience in working a termpory job.
7. Say yes to Tao's prospose and received my dream ring.
8. Know some good new friends.
9. Go to Sydney a day only for a lunch
10. My notebook died after 5 years...


Hopefully 2011 will have more happy experience ...