From the Corner of my Eyes

Snippets of the parents' visit

2012-01-30T21:08:00.000+10:00

For some reason, forgot to take more photos with the parents while they were here. Somehow is rather pre-occupied with other stuff at the moment. But still, did spent time with them and cherished the moments together. Other than 'Chor Yat' and 'Chor Er' that I have to work, decided to take Wednesday and Friday off so that can have the whole long weekend (Thursday was Australia Day).

Snippets of their visit this year:

Lion dance at Sunnybank Plaza with mum and dad in the background

the parents and Midge at Harbourtown

Dad's belated birthday celebration at Morgans (deluxe seafood platter)

Meal at Haoke before they leave

suddenly I miss them again; almost like homesick

Reunion dinner 2012

2012-01-26T09:58:00.000+10:00

So, we have entered the year of Water Dragon - it has been raining a fair bit in Brisbane and there were reports of flood. Hopefully it won't get worse over the weekend as more rains are in the forecast. As for today, it is Australia Day! Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! This time next year, hopefully I would be an Australian already (reminder to my lazy self: start application process NOW)

Reunion dinner was on the eve of Chinese New Year - that fell on last Sunday. We all headed to Drewvale to be greeted by the feast that was laid on the table. As usual, was getting excited of seeing so many home cooked dishes including the awesome 'Lou Sang' dish. Apparently, 'Lou Sang' dish is only famous in Malaysia & Singapore and not many other Asian countries.

the dinner for 8 people

roast duck

char siew by mum

nem nuong by mum-in-law

mixed vegetables by mum

lou sang

for prosperity

After dinner I insisted on a family portrait together - too bad Michelle was missing in action as she has to work that night.

the family

A toast to the many changes and challenges in 2012 Dragon year ahead!

Inala Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival

2012-01-22T07:30:00.000+10:00

So, the husband promised to take us to the Vietnamese Community Lunar New Year celebration. Vietnamese New Year actually falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year. And last Friday was the start of the 2 days festival that according to the husband is a good place for food like Banh Thieu, Nem Nuong and grilled pork ball. We headed there early at 6pm and the stalls were already set up.

Unknowing to us, that was the official opening ceremony on stage and no wonder there were so many policemen there as later it was announced that the Premier, Anna Bligh and a few well known politicians were there as well.

stage area

We headed straight for the food and was not disappointed. The Banh Tieu (hollow doughnut bun) that we had was so good when it is made fresh. Now I know why the husband loves the fresh ones over the one put on counter for a bit. The grilled pork ball was juicy and just the right flavour but the star of the night has to be the Nem Nuong which is the Beef wrapped in Leaves. That was out-rightly tasty and the combination of beef and the leaves has a awesome aroma to it as well. Then, we had fresh sugar cane to wash it all down.

Other food stall includes the pho (beef noodle soup) but we did not stay for that. Instead, we head to Tan Thanh for our dinner after the 'entree' at the festival.

Food for sale

glorious nem nuong and pork balls

fresh sugar cane juice

Other than that, the festival also offers rides and other performances. One of it is the lion dance that we did not stay back for. Also,there were games as well that offer prizes like hit the tin cans. We stopped by the ANZ game stall as I was attracted to their Dragon money box. The game is to hit the target with the golf ball and initially I wanted to ask Thach to participate. But changed our mind afterwards when found out that they charge $2 for 3 tries (why does bank need to charge more money?)

The lion dance troupe

Gina, Tasha & I

The husband & I

Thach with a politician (no idea who he is..)

The ANZ dragon money box

The golf game

We headed off early for dinner after going two rounds at the oval. Agreed that it was a good adventure and hopefully we can also help to put up a stall next year for our church. Maybe not with fundraising with food, but it is a good avenue for people to get to know us at Inala and surrounding area.

.....it is all worth it.....

2012-01-14T00:44:00.000+10:00

So, we were having a Friday drinks tonight to celebrate 'the last' of my colleague's freedom (from drinking that's it) as his wife is due soon. He loves beer with a passion this English dude. And to him, giving up beer like is one of the ultimate sacrifices that he is willing to do, albeit reluctantly for the newborn.

And some of the experienced dads around the office started 'advising' him that it is not the last thing that he would give up....

'Sleep is the first thing that you would sacrifice, mate'

'After 2 weeks, you would actually be happy to come back to the office'

'Quick, buy whatever gadgets that you want before the baby is born'

'All time will be spend talking about where to get the cheapest nappies instead of soccer'

And then it really hits me - a baby is a really big responsibility. Especially in Australia where childcare is so expensive and things are hard because most of the new parents are both working migrants that usually do not have family support to help take care of the newborn. Not many couples can go on a single income with different sort of commitments (think car loan, home loan and increasing living expenses).

Not to mention about the worry of the child's upbringing, education and also the feeling of just wanting to give the best to your child in spite of the current state of affairs in the world today (think child abduction, rape, murder, etc.).

But at the end of the day, guess what.... - every parent came up with the same concluding line:

'It is all worth it'

.... perhaps?

The Tea Room @ QVB

2012-01-11T22:31:00.001+10:00

One of the thing that I really wanted to do while in Sydney was to try the high tea and since we have not much of agenda for Friday the last full day in Sydney before heading back to Brisbane, decided to book for tea at The Tea Room @ QVB. Heard good reviews of the place and was looking forward to the experience.

Thach has to be dragged to afternoon tea with me as the idea of spending a good amount of money for tea is too much of a decadent lifestyle for him. But since no one else is there, he pretty much does not have any choice!

The interior of The Tea Room is exquisite. The decoration reminds me of the classic Victorian style where I wished I was dressed in high waisted full skirt with collar to enjoy tea in such a beautiful environment. The wait staff has the air of grace without being pretentiously pompous.

The Tea Room @ QVB

The tea set used was beautiful, almost too pretty to be eaten out of. One can imagine an afternoon on the lawn sipping on tea and nibbling on the pastries and cakes and scones. But I would rather choose my coffee over tea, sorry even during afternoon tea! I think the wait staff was a bit amused by this, but of course, nothing was uttered. The food was overall good. Especially love the scones that were warm and added with the clotted cream & preserve it was just wunnerful. The macarons were of course, not as tasty as Zumbo's but the rest of the pastries were rather delightful as well.

Quaint china, ain't it?

clotted cream & preserve for scones

scones

three tiered silver stand of sweet cakes & savoury pastries and finger sandwiches

my flat white

overall, a wonderful experience of relaxation after a day out roaming in the city and I think that the husband secretly indulged in that experience too!

Zumbo-fied

2012-01-10T19:09:00.000+10:00

After the visit to Sydney Aquarium, we decided to stop by Sydney Fish Market for a quick lunch. Was looking forward to the famous fresh seafood but was disappointed. The market was very very crowded with peak lunch hour crowd. And the stall that we chose sold rather disappointing food. And when discussing with our friends 2 days later we found out that they dislike that stall as well.

Sydney Fish Market

Funny sign, not?

fish with chips

lobster with salad and chips

After the rather so-so lunch, we headed to the highlight of the day! Adriano Zumbo's dessert train :-) Sadly, the dessert train area was not open in the afternoon. It is only open from 6pm - 11pm. Feel a bit disappointed at that but then got the next best thing - macarons! Love love love the macarons from Adriano Zumbo. But I heard that his pastries are pretty awesome but too bad seem to be only available in the other outlets.

Not only The Star houses Sdyney's casino but also famous eateries like Momofuko Seiobo by David Chang and BLACK by ezard. Wish can get a booking to dine there but we have already booked for Quay. So, perhaps the next trip down.

The Star casino

dining places that includes momofuku seibo

Zumbo's dessert train

zumbo-fied

yummy beautiful macarons

set of twelve

that totally makes my day!

Sydney Aquarium

2012-01-08T15:57:00.001+10:00

One of the things that we did during the rainy days in Sydney was to visit the Sydney Aquarium. The Aquarium is situated near Darling Harbour so getting there was easy. We bought the Monorail Day Pass and received 25% off for our tickets to the Aquarium. Indeed that was a pleasant surprise.

The Aquarium is more suited for families with young kids but nevertheless we did enjoyed ourselves as well. Some of the highlights were seeing the plentiful of Lego 'statues' and the beautiful dugong! And then we saw a rather comical Maori bluefish.

Aquarium next to Sydney Wildlife

Family Lego

Sharky Lego

Scuba diving Lego

Penguin Lego

Dugong

Seahorse & a unique fish (orange)

Lobster!

Mermaid Lego

Maori fish

Giant crab

Penguins

poisonous fish

it was an adventure that we enjoyed before we moved on to Sydney Fish Market & The Star casino

ENOUGH ALREADY PLEASE

2012-01-08T09:04:00.000+10:00

You know what is frustrating? Life after marriage seem to involve baby. Friends or even strangers at time will keep asking the dreaded question 'When are you guys planning to have baby?' Seriously, at times I am tempted to give some replies that would stop them from asking every single time they see us.

Or even more annoying is whatever comments that I put on FB be it 'suddenly missing this and this food' and 'I can't sleep' or 'Feeling a bit tired today' will generates comments that goes 'Cravings?' 'Sounds like good news soon'. To answer all your queries, I just miss Malaysia food and I am a sleep deprived person.

And seriously, when I am pregnant, I think you guys would notice it from the way the body is going to change. It will be so in your face that you would definitely notice it. Thank you very much.

Happy 2012

2012-01-01T21:23:00.001+10:00

Happy 2012

2011 passed like a breeze - fulfilled my travel itinerary for the year. One oversea and one interstate trip. Was at Vietnam beginning of the year. Went back for friends' wedding and had the opportunity to travel to Singapore. Also, been to Sydney twice and truly enjoyed the experience.

Sydney in June

Lee Ling & Chee Boon wedding in Sept

Singapore in September

Sydney in December

2011 was the year where we decided to try out more places to eat. Enjoy exploring Brisbane's eating places too. Brents has been a truly enjoyable experience and then there's Quay recently! Food can be presented in such a lovely way that it is not only good in the stomach but also to the eyes.

Pretty salmon entree

Venison mains

awesome hazelnut & peanut butter dessert

It was also the year that we met some new friends and some old friends that are not in Brisbane anymore. These friendships, prayerfully would last forever even though we are all at different locations.

The friends @ Tan Thanh, Inala

Poh Lin @ 1 utama

The friends at Levain

Huy Do from Perth

Bernard @ Al Dente

Celine @ Singapore

And of course, the reunions with family, or perhaps sometimes just with the parents. As we are so far apart, I miss the moments with them and look forward to the time that we can be together.

CNY yee sang 2011

Mum's birthday @ Brisbane Oct 2011

Reunion of sorts in Sept 2011

Also, the year that we discovered the married life and what it meant by love - truly it is a choice that you have to make each day.

Happy Anniversary

The choice

Resolutions for 2012? Sorry I do not really make resolutions

Here to a better 2012 ahead - and hopefully will achieve greater things to come

Quay: the long awaited dinner

2011-12-31T14:57:00.000+10:00

Day 6 dinner = Quay. Booking 6 months in advance for this. Since Thach watched Masterchef 3 years ago, he has always wanted to try the snow egg dessert that was featured. After the movie, we went back to the hotel to rest. I had a nap and woke up in time to get ready. We were thinking of whether to take the monorail or the free shuttle to Circular Quay. Decided to get the free shuttle and got to experience the rush hour traffic congestion. Took us about 45 minutes when normally it will just take 10 minutes. As we were still early, took some photos around the area.

Harbour Bridge

Opera House

Quay

Finally went in and got seated. Was a bit disappointed as there were a cruise ship docked at the harbour and blocked our view of the Opera House. And it did feel weird to have people looking into the windows while you were eating. But thank goodness that the ship left during the second course of the meal.

The ship leaving the dock

the view for rest of the night

We decided on the eight course tasting menu. As with fine dining, the courses are all in small portions but it was enough to fill us up. Truly, it was an awesome experience. The food was presented beautifully and the taste filled our taste buds and I loved the lobster course most.

menu - ala carte or degustation

watermelon cocktail

starter - seaweed with beancurd

raw marron, young almonds, bergamot marmalade, pomelo, green mango, elder & chamomile

mud crab congee, fresh palm heart

poached rock lobster, tasmanian squid, golden tapioca & lobster velvet

smoked and confit pig jowl, shiitake, shaved scallop, artichoke

slow cooked quail breast & truffle butter

organic bread with unsalted butter

David Blackmore's full blood Wagyu, bitter choc black pudding & oxtail consomme

white nectarine snow egg

ewe's milk ice cream

latte & flat white

petits fours

After the amazing dinner, we decided to walk back to our hotel. The night scenery of Circular Quay is so beautiful. So was the dining experience at Quay! Do check out the menu at Quay and booking in advance definitely recommended (seatings were fully booked for weekends six months before).

before sunset

after sunset

night view of Opera House

View of Sydney City

Kangaroo LV

Lizard LV

Town Hall Christmas

Mamak: of Roti & Satay

2011-12-31T09:14:00.071+10:00

I'm suffering from not getting enough sleep also from not drinking any coffee - one of my new year resolutions is to cut down the intake of coffee daily. So, looking at these photos isn't helping! Wish I can have a good cuppa flat white on my hand right now.

On Day 6 of our visit, that was the day of our long awaited dinner at the Quay. so, not wanting to do much, we just had plans to have breakfast at QVB. We stopped at Vanto and ordered pancakes to share. The husband has discovered his love of coffee but his choice of coffee actually involve ice cream as well, which is the affogato.

Vanto at QVB

affogato for the husband

my lovely flat white

pancakes to share

Pretty decoration for Christmas and we walked around QVB, city and Chinatown for a while before heading to Mamak for lunch. Mamak is the place where a lot of people actually queue for the food and luckily we were there before the lunch rush. Shortly after we were there, the lunch crowd started to tickle in. Food at Mamak was quite decent but the husband and I both agreed that Little Singapore in Brisbane is comparable to Mamak. But Mamak does has teh tarik which Little Singapore doesn't so I do miss that a bit.

decoration in QVB

The early lunch crowd

chicken satay

mee goreng (uses shrimp paste that the husband does not like)

curry chicken to share

limau ais & teh tarik

As we had decided to not do much, we went to the cinema for Mission Impossible movie. We bought the deal from Chatime but later upgraded to Vmax. That was the first time that we were in Vmax and it was totally worth it. The couple seat is definitely more comfortable than the regular seats!

Bondi adventure

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000+10:00

One of the touristy thing that we did was to pay a visit to Bondi. Set out bright and early at 9am and witnessed the morning traffic as we walked to Central station. Central station is one of the major interchange station and it has 25 platforms! We certainly did feel quite lost as the station is big and all was sorted out when we asked the staff of which platform to board from.

Central station

Arrived at Bondi Junction in a jiffy and started exploring Westfield Bondi. As we were quite early, there were not many people around. Started to notice the crowd when it was time for lunch as we headed to Spiceme Thai (next to Coles) as recommended by Thach's cousin Anh Bao. The Thai food was pretty standard and okay for the price. Continue exploring and decided to head to Bondi beach not long after.

Love the little cafe at the bottom

Christmas decoration in Bondi Junction Westfield

Myer at every floor

Took the bus to Bondi. Upon arriving, headed immediately to the beach. Bondi beach is beautiful. Comparatively smaller than Surfers Paradise. We walked towards the end of the beach and spent some time exploring the beach and enjoying the sunshine. It was a gloriously beautiful moment. The sun, the sea and the sand. What else do we need?

Beautiful Bondi

We then headed back to Bondi Junction as Thach wanted to track down the famous Bondi vet, Dr. Chris Brown. We found his clinic along the streets of Bondi Junction but did not went in as we have no pets with us! *so sad*

We headed back to Sydney city not long after and looked for a place for dinner. Decided on BBQ King at Chinatown as Thach has read some reviews on Urbanspoon. The meal was quite okay but was pretty ordinary. But then, it was a pretty interesting as a group of diners came and we were quite amused of their (little) knowledge of Chinese food! We then had dessert at Meet Fresh. The Taiwanese style dessert was not bad and especially like the winter melon tea with taro balls.

winter melon tea with taro balls

it was a good day out and good company at the beach

Jamie's Italian

2011-12-26T09:00:00.069+10:00

So, after the visit to Taroonga Zoo, we arrived back to Circular Quay at 5pm. Feeling pretty hungry, we decided to head to Jamie's Italian (the one of many Jamie Oliver's successes). We have been hearing good review of the place and heard that there is a constant queue for a table. When we arrived, there is no queue (being 5pm) but already there were a few occupied tables.

jamie's italian at Pitt Street

The decoration of the restaurant is simplistic, modern, industrial yet has a very cosy feeling to it. Not long, we were deciding on what to order and asked for recommendation from one of the waitresses. She has recommended the prawn linguine and the black truffle risotto. We also had crab meat and tomato bruschetta for entree, the recommended mains and also chocolate brownie & panna cotta for dessert.

interior of jamie's italian

The food was absolutely delish! The crab filling for bruschetta tasted fresh and light. The mains was near perfect as the linguine has the freshness of the prawn and the risotto has the right amount of creaminess to make it a truly amazing meal yet not too filling. The choc brownie was served soft and warm - which is by far the best brownie we had ever have before! The panna cotta is refreshing although it's make of cream, milk and sugar.

spanner crab meat, tomatoes & herb bruschetta

prawn linguine

black truffle risotto

chocolate brownie with ice cream

panna cotta & fruit compote

It was a great dinner and the best of it is that it's very affordable as well to dine in jamie's italian as we would expect to be charged more for the famous person that he is. But upon looking on his website, I found that it is his motto to make authentic affordable Italian cuisine. Altogether, that was a lovely meal!

it was raining very heavily when we walked home but could not resist stopping by Martin's Place to take photo of this beautiful Christmas tree

Taroonga Zoo

2011-12-25T18:31:00.000+10:00

1. Taiwanese style breakfast - century egg & pork congee

2. pancake with yu tiao

3. additional yu tiao

4. fan tuan

5. terminal at circular quay facing Harbour Bridge

6. Harbour Bridge - view from the ferry

7. Taroonga Zoo

8. Red eye green frog

9.Starfish turtle

10. Pointing at funny looking lizard

11. Funny looking lizard itself

12. Zebra

13. Seal show

14. Majestic looking lion

15. Meerkat

16. Intelligent bird

Sunday of Love

2011-12-24T22:25:00.001+10:00

The Sunday after wedding, we were supposed to meet up with Jessica, but change of plan and we were heading to Campsie to meet up with the cousin & family. Was at Queen Victoria Building beforehand and got the kids a Cars 2 Lego set. Blame it on the husband hanging out at Hobbysco so much!

Queen Victoria Building

The kids were as excited as when we bought the Lego. Somehow, for me buying gifts for people are far more enjoyable perhaps from receiving gift. We spent the rest of the afternoon building up the Lego set with them. They got really excited about the cars that Thach has helped assemble. Since I have not watch Cars / Cars 2 basically I have no idea what they are talking about when they start reciting names. It dawns on me how it is not easy to be a parent. A parent perhaps has to know almost everything in order to communicate / teach the child. Not an easy responsibility and I always admire Chi Trang & Anh Bao for bringing up such well behaved children.

the three brothers

Later that evening, Anh Bao & family decided to take us out for dinner at Thai Pothong in Newtown. Apparently this shop is really famous and have won awards for being the best Thai food place around Sydney. When we arrived at 6:30pm, the place were pretty packed but thank goodness we reserved a spot. The waiters are very friendly and moments later we were seated and deciding on what to order.

Anh Bao & sleeping Daniel

intense

atmosphere and deco in Thai Pothong

gifts for sale too

Dominic

Ended up ordering quite a few dishes for the day. Anh Bao & Chi Trang has been most hospitable every time we were there! Had wonderful time catching up over delicious Thai food. It is certainly one of the best that I have tried in Australia. Had heaps of extra serving of rice ~~I think that is how I put on weight~~ - good food! Thach ordered dessert of black sesame rice with coconut ice cream and that was phenomenal too. The dessert even looked too pretty to be eaten.

Thai fried rice

BBQ lamb

Chili basil chicken

mixed veggies & green curry

a very delicious mixed seafood dish that i forgot the name

beef salad

coconut ice cream with cream & lychee

black sesame rice with cream

Another funny story happened - the kids were giving a balloon each when they entered the restaurant. Somehow, all three of them managed to lose the balloon and this is photo that captured Dominic & Daniel looking longingly at the balloon that all three of them has lost! After dinner, they sent us home to the hotel.

thank you nguyens

it was great to catch up and thank you for everything

Reynold & Verna's Wedding @ L'Aqua

2011-12-23T21:15:00.004+10:00

So, the main purpose of this trip to Sydney = Reynold & Verna's wedding. Reynold is Thach's friend from uni days and they reconnected recently. After a day of resting, we took the monorail to Darling Park stop and quickly found ourselves at L'Aqua (Cockle Bay Wharf) for the ceremony. As we arrived early (I believe in better early than late), had the opportunities to take a few shoots of the set up before the guests arrive.

Waiting for monorail at World Square

Beautiful guest table set-up - soft & romantic effect

The wedding cake & bridal table

the amazing details on the wedding cake include the likeness of the dress & the dogs

last minute prep?

Preparing for the bridal march

Mr & Mrs Nguyen

beautiful lighting for reception

Ceremony started when the bridal party were ready for the bridal march. Verna had her twin sister as her matron-of-honour follows by another bridemaids and two cute flower girls. The ceremony was beautiful and faces the iconic Darling Harbour.

Waiting for bride

bridemaid & flower girl

matron-of-honour & flower gal

the bride & the father

exchanging the vows

signed on dotted line

Mr & Mrs Lin

Right after the ceremony, we were invited into the reception room. Lounge around while waiting for the newlyweds to rest and take photos together. Canapes served and not long after, time to start the reception. As usual, the newlyweds were introduced for the first time. There were speeches and the first waltz too. The memorable speech was from the mother of the groom and it was touching to know a bit more of Reynold & Verna's love story as well.

Scenery from the reception balcony

photo with the newlyweds

Assorted bread with butter

Seafood platter as starter

entree for her

entree for him

mains for her

mains for him

bridal waltz

the groom's speech

We were delighted after knowing that there would fireworks at Darling Harbour at 9pm. Had the perfect view as the reception balcony was facing Darling Harbour and the fireworks were beautiful. The reception ended with a nice selection of buffet style dessert.

selection of dessert

it was a beautiful wedding and here is to wishing the both of you happiness forever!

The Golden Tree

2011-12-20T22:30:00.003+10:00

So, successfully finished work for 2011 on Friday and went to the airport for our flight to Sydney in the evening. Was really excited as it was the last day of work and also because the long-awaited 8 days trip to Sydney was commencing soon. Friends asked us what were we doing there for 8 whole days? Sydney has quite a fair bit to do. So far, we enjoyed exploring :-)

At Departure Lounge having a quick bite (just a glass of wine prior)

Bleary eyes tired

Beautiful sunshine above the clouds

Arriving at Sydney, we took a cab to our hotel - Pensione Hotel. The hotel was just above a bar and it's basic and clean - most importantly affordable! So far so good. And the location is close to Chinatown and it's on George Street - one of the main street in Sydney's city. Besides, the free shuttle to Circular Quay stops a few steps away from the hotel.

Since it was almost 9pm by the time we checked in, we decided to head to Chinatown for a quick bite. Stumbled upon Yee King - a restaurant that looked busy enough with a good mix of Asian & Caucasians to be a sign that it is good (patronage of Asian customers to an Asian Restaurant is utmost important in trying to gauge whether it is a potentially good or disastrous place for dinner). The dish that we had were a combination of capsicium, potatoes, and eggplant in a good sauce and a sweet and sour pork Northern style - does not like the SS pork much as it seem too starchy.

Chinatown in Sydney @ 9pm

The mixed veggies

Northern Chinese sweet & sour pork

The next morning (the wedding day), we decided to take it easy. Had breakfast at Delafrance (yes, it's not Delifrance). Initially we wanted to have breakfast at Paddy's Market (thinking that it offers food like Brisbane Market) but was disappointed to find out how different it is. Delafrance was recommended by the Receptionist and it is another busy place.

The Golden Tree that Thach was rather obsessed about

Market City - which house Paddy's Market

Inside Paddy's (reminds me of Ben Thanh Market in saigon)

Delafrance

Passed by this guy

Had a ham & cheese baguette with flat white and Thach had the ham, cheese & pineapple crepe with cappuccino. It was good to just relax and soak in the busy cafe atmosphere on a Saturday morning. We then move on to exploring Chinatown and World Square. Had lunch at Din Tai Fung and love love love their avocado chocolate smoothies. Will have to go there again for that before leaving. We heard a lot of long Q for the food but when we were there at 12:30pm it was not that bad. But when we left, we saw what the people meant. The Q was absolutely long.

Ham & Cheese Baguette

Flat white

Crepe

Chatime too!

World Square

Near Din Tai Fung

Hot & Sour soup

Lychee mint

avocado choc

siao long bao

chinatown

a good day and went home to rest and prepare for the wedding ceremony & recption at Cockle Bay Wharf

Greetings from Sydney

2011-12-18T09:13:00.000+10:00

Hello all - am at Sydney for a wonderful week with the husband. Third day here and plenty to do. Been eating a lot and hopefully will be able to walk a lot more the next few days so that we can at least maintain our weight (and not say, GAIN weight).

Good times at the wedding ceremony & reception yesterday. Wedding ceremony follows by canapes and 4 course meal. so, by the end of it, was pretty stuffed.

Some snapshots of the past 2 days... more details later

First night, just landed and looking for food: Yee King for some North China dishes

Breakfast Day 1: Delafrance for breakfast (Yup not Delifrance)

Day 1: Din Tai Fung for some siao long bao

Day 2: Wedding @ Cockle Bay Wharf - beautiful view of Darling Harbour

View from the Ceremony / Reception

The venue

Pretty set up for the wedding

The Pepper Lounge @ Jindalee

2011-12-04T16:43:00.001+10:00

Few Saturdays ago, for some reason we headed out late for dinner. Normally dinner for us is at 6pm (digestion and to avoid the crowd on weekend) but we ended up looking for a place to eat at 7pm. Was around Jindalee area so Thach thought of trying Pepper Lounge. Heard some good reviews about them, so was pretty excited.

As we approach the place, it was fairly crowded with the outdoor sitting area fully occupied. As we were not too hungry, we took our chances and went in for seats. I chose the steaks and Thach decided on the chicken. Decided to skip entree as we wanted to try the dessert.

rather modern decoration

the dessert cabinet

Not long after our order, we were advised that they have ran out of steaks. Was a bit surprised as it was just 7:30pm. Changed my order to rump of lamb.Waited for another 20 minutes and then was told that they ran out of chicken too. At that time we were a bit miffed as we thought they should have known earlier what they have? Anyway, Thach changed to the pork belly.

Seeing that we are irritated after waiting for a long time, the waiter that was attending to us was rather apologetic. He gave us a free serve of garlic bread which tasted really good. Halfway through our garlic bread, mains arrived. The food was okay. Lamb was nicely done but the sauce was lacking; it just taste a lot like soy sauce. The pork belly tasted fine for Thach but I find that it was too salty for me.

garlic bread: complimentary entree

Thach's pork belly

Lamb

Dessert - sticky date pudding with ice cream to share. Perhaps the waiter was feeling rather bad for not having the mains that we wanted or for us to have waited so long, he ofered us a 2 for 1 dessert. I declined as I was rather full and would just share Thach's dessert.

After waiting for another 20 minutes, we realised (not long before the waiter) that they have again forgotten our dessert! He seems to look even more flustered than me and I laughed out loud. Truly, it was a frustrating dining experience but we managed to talk to the waiter and realised that they have not expect such a big crowd since they have just reopen from the flood. We were only charged for the mains that we ordered and the entree and dessert were on the house.

Truly, it was not a pleasant dining experience, but somehow we feel that we might go back for another meal as in my heart, I would really like to give more support to the local cafe / restaurant especially the ones that got affected by the flood.

sticky date pudding with ice cream

Kingsleys @ Eagle St Pier

2011-11-20T18:06:00.000+10:00

Last Friday, we did not have life group so Thach wanted to have dinner in the city. Been a while since we were able to wander in the city after work - usually we were tired and rather go home and rest; but somehow feeling more 'alive' on Friday, we decided to have dinner before heading home.

Thach decided on Kingsleys @ Eagle St Pier. For the steak - the husband of mine likes steak over anything else. Maybe not over potatoes (maybe potatoes is his favourite). Potatoes, in Thach's opinion is a vegetable and virtually the only one that he would eat if given the choice.

Eagle Street Pier

Took a stroll from Hungry Jack's to Eagle Street Pier. Friday night is quite lively in the city. Started around 3:30pm where the people would start filling in at pubs. Yes - that is Australia's culture. Work hard on Monday - Thursday and having it easier on Friday.

Was seated by a friendly staff and got the menu not long after. Was feeling pretty hungry but does not want to over-eat again so decided on just a main course and dessert. Thach wanted to try the King Crab legs so it was a three course meal for him again. Waiter was a young friendly chap. Laughing sheepishly at us when Thach was taking heaps of photos around (playing with his phone camera ~~being typical Asian~~).

Entrance of Kingsleys @ 123 Eagle Street

Playing with photo shoot before ordering

Reluctant 'model' look cause no one else was there!!!

Nice ambience

The Couple 1

The Couple 2

Food arrived not too long after the order - Thach's entree looked so tempting. He did not waste any time getting started, should have taken a photo of how he was eating the crabs (as usual best with fingers). Good thing is, there is complimentary bread with butter as well. Reckon the bread was yummy as the butter was soft and the bread was hot as well. Had three slices cause it was so so good.

Thach's entree: Fresh tasting King Crabs with chilled mayonnaise

complimentary bread & butter

Main course arrived: Thach's scotch sirloin steak looks absolutely divine and mine was pretty good. The only fall back with mine is that I had to have it medium well (all these food restrictions!!!) and I miss my medium rare steak!!!! Had mashed potatoes and salad of pear, parmesan and rocket for sides. All of them were delicious, I especially like the refreshing salad.

Thach's main: Scotch sirloin steak

Sides of mashed potatoes with peppercorn sauce

Sides of pear, parmesan & rocket salad with balsamic dressing

And of course not to miss out the dessert. Vanilla creme brulee with biscotti for myself and vanilla cheesecake for the husband. Both of them were good and Thach has an extra helping of the gourmet ice cream. The ice cream tasted real good as well and we agreed that we must try the gourmet ice cream again when we are there.

Vanilla creme brulee

cheesecake with mascarpone cream and berry compote

extra serving of gourmet ice cream

Overall; a very good dining experience except for the fact that we were seated inside near the bar that was full of people ~~thus it was noisy and was a bit impossible for good romantic conversations~~ (as Thach has indicated sitting inside while booking). That could be easily fix when booking next and and hopefully we could go there again; this time with outside booking facing the Story Bridge.

UNIDUS: Unite Us

2011-11-17T20:27:00.000+10:00

Unidus Community Centre (Illustration)

Unidus Community Centre - that is our future home. Home of Hope Church Brisbane. The beginning of our journey to reach out to the community of Willawong and surrounding. And this project has took us about ten years to complete. The story goes like this. Once upon a time....

Hope Church Brisbane starts from a humble beginning of one married couple about eighteen years ago. This married couple is none other than Pastor Wilson Lim & Pastor Lai Ling Lim. This couple left their comfort zone in Melbourne to Brisbane to pioneer a church. So, the first service started in a small unit in the west side of Brisbane with only about 4-5 people. And today, Hope Church has about 800 strong attendees spawning from services across Brisbane, Gold Coast & Ipswich.

And they have a vision to build a church; not just a church but a community centre. It shall be called Unidus. The word 'nidus' in Latin means a place of nurturing and the church wants to emphasize on the uniting of people - thus the name Unidus for it sounds like 'unite us'. For it is a place of gathering, protecting and growing of individuals. It is a dream for us, THE DREAM. And this dream shall come to pass!

I have been involved in the fundraising project for eight years and loving every minute of it. At times, I feel tired of doing the same thing, but most of the time my heart is so touched and blessed when I see so many countless individuals in church sacrificing their time, effort and resources for this project. Personally, I think that I have received more than I give. Nothing could measure the blessing from God that I receive from being involved in this project. The friendship of the members and the depth of the giving hearts is just so amazing.

I still remember of how Jenny Lee would be so persistent and faithful in her endeavours to raise fund through selling of snacks and Entertainment Book - yes I have work with this wonderful sister for the past 6 years to raise fund. And also, I remember of how individuals would approach me to raise fund through baking (mind you these are students that have a lot on their plates) and also people that sell chocolates to achieve the same objective: more fund to help the dream come to pass sooner. Really grateful for all these individuals that has contributed so much.

We are now at the mid-construction of Phase One of Unidus. By next year we should be be able to move into our new home. And such will be a glorious joy; moments of celebration not just limited to the people in Brisbane but also to the members of church around the world. To the members that have gone home to their respective countries but still have the most giving heart to contribute even they are so far away!

So, back to the present: we have broke our arise and build unidus faith goal for this year!!!! This is truly incredible considering the difficult financial economy that we are having and also the shorten period of the faith pledge. Truly God has shined and inspired His people along the way. And during the last few weeks of the faith pledge, we had an awesome video done by my fellow members in the committee; Robyn. This lady is super talented in creative arts and she has created a video of mural of the building being painted at a park. (too bad I can't upload the video at the moment; shall figure how to) Love love love the spirit of the people :-) And the end results too. It really touched my heart and remind me of the beautiful day that will come.

I shall end with these two photos that I can get from Robyn of their video shooting:

Painting of Unidus

Unidus, Unite Us (It begins with U and ends with US)

Malaysia

2011-11-16T20:58:00.000+10:00

I have left my home country since 2003 - coming to 8.5 years. At that time, I come to Australia to further my study. Since then, I have pay less and less attention to the political situation in Malaysia; well, actually not like I paid a lot of attention in the first place while I was there. Life was pretty good in Malaysia. My sheltered life perhaps; a life that just known about eat, play, study and sleep. Parents' importance were in the studying part; but I guess I have just been an average student since high school.

Growing up, I have this group of friends that hang out together. In primary & secondary school we hung out with everyone and across all races as well. We have Ahmad that speaks more fluent Cantonese than a Chinese and Ah Long that is an Indian being raised by a Chinese family thus making him speaks even better Cantonese than perhaps me and Cikgu Vani until today remains as one of my favourite teachers. Well, what I am getting at is; we as Malaysians got along handsomely while growing up.

Or perhaps I was just naive? Maybe, or maybe that things just changed? Not sure really. All I know is suddenly, everything seem more difficult in Malaysia. And the parents advised me to stay on if possible in Australia. Initially I thought; but what about my family that I miss so much, my relatives and my friends and even the food. What about Malaysia; my home country?

.. and time pass. All this while I was just trying to make a living here. Ignoring perhaps the condition of Malaysia. I heard from the snippets of conversation that my parents have with the uncles and auntie while hanging out at their favourite breakfast place (while me eating my favourite ee mee) of how difficult it is to make a living in Malaysia. Of how this country is slowly being populated by migrants. And these are the same migrants that are 'exporting' our money out when they send their savings back to their home countries.

Also, I heard about the increase of crime rates to the stage where every housing estate has their own jaga. Of how snatch thief is everywhere; even my mum has that experience in Topshop 1 Utama. But it is so common that most people will shrug it off and say that you are lucky that you are not being hurt in the process.

And my personal experience in KLCC a few years back really make me see Malaysia in a different light. Viewing it as its current situation now. Of lately I have been reading on the net from alternative sources and not the mainstream media of what is happening in Malaysia. Blatant corruption cases that goes unanswered, and of opinions that Malaysia is forecast to go bankrupt by 2019 (what happened to Wawasan 2020??) I really shuddered at this thought.

Of recent, we heard a lot about the government trying to 'lure' back Malaysians that are currently residing elsewhere. Personally I have not read in depth about what is the 'offers'. But after talking to my friends back home, I realised that the government perhaps still has a long way to go in terms of fairness and pay scale (let's face the truth, if you can't afford to make a decent living then you would hate the very reason you come back for the love of Malaysia). Having say that, I really admire the people that would go back to make Malaysia a better place knowing fully what they might have to give up.

To add to my surprise is the amount of government jobs that has to be created to 'absorb' in the local graduates that seem to not able to find job in the private workforce. I was rather taken aback by this. And of late, the news from the media that Malaysia's universities has dropped out from the top 200 university list (we used to be on).

All these seem to highlight the brewing trouble of a nation. In my heart, I am really sad for Malaysia; my home country. Yet, it seem like there is a glimmer of hope. Come this GE13 - hopefully there would be a change. A change for a better Malaysia; a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

And I will pray for Malaysia

Home time

2011-11-15T22:20:00.002+10:00

So, when my mum has to change her air ticket she has to use my email address. And thus, Air Asia keeps sending me their offers and promotions. That is how I get to know of AA's promotion for this round. Of course, I quickly jumped onto AA and started to get very excited and checking out the price. Price seem reasonable and since I am not the type that like to check AA all the time, I thought to myself, why not just book it - after all this is the confirmed date that you are going home for Mel & Ming's wedding anyway?

Everything was fine until I made my payment and was waiting for my itinerary to be sent to me, I realised that I have typed the wrong email address! No wonder I didn't receive anything after waiting for 10 minutes. So panic ensured after realisation. What to do; I just grabbed the home phone and start dialling Air Asia Help Desk number. Was on hold for 30 minutes and thank God that someone that speaks reasonably well English came through. So, without delay told her my problem and she sorted it out for me.

Anyway - am just excited that I got my itinerary sorted and can look forward to another holiday. Initially I plan to go Taiwan while I am back home in June but went against that idea - realised that if I do a trip within a trip it would be too tiring and also I would not be able to spend more time with loved ones. This time, I have about 3 weeks back home - a week purely for wedding in KL & Kelantan and 2 weeks just for spending time with friends & family. If I got bored during my last week; mum said that we can plan a last minute trip to somewhere; which perhaps when the time comes - would be nice?

And the more exciting thing is: my relatives are booking their air tickets to come over for Mel & Ming's Australia wedding in April as well! At the same time when I was booking mine! Very power right??? Just when I was thinking that I miss them so much and they are coming again, this time lil' Angelina will be here too - oh my lovely niece!

Can't wait. I shall put up photos of what I miss most in Malaysia.... In no particular order - just cause I miss them so much!!!!!!

Also cause I would be celebrating my birthday in KL!!!!!! ~~please pamper me please friends~~

Relatives visit: September 2010

2011-11-14T10:38:00.001+10:00

So, when the relatives were here last year we brought them around Brisbane and Gold Coast. With so many people, it feel very touristy. Until now, still miss those moments of spending time and having fun together. After the wedding, Thach & myself took a week off so that we can bring them around.

We went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This park is in Brisbane so we do not have to travel far. In Lone Pine, there are many types of animals (of course not only koala!!!). Kangaroos, sheeps, wombats and even owls. Thach being the local has not been to Lone Pine Sanctuary. And this is the perfect opportunity for him to tag along and not feeling so rip out of the admission cost.

all of us

the cuz & aunt with koala

the Wongs

trampling on the grass

happy to see kangaroos

the sisters

This is Michelle being like me; taking photo and upload a year later...

Beautiful owl

Lovely Brisbane weather

Aunt Ha & Yen with kangaroo - notice how excited Mel was at the background

And one of those days, we were at Movie World. Excited about Movie World. Other than the rides and the cartoon characters the best thing is just to spend some time with the relatives. Of course when you are at a place as happy as Movie World you then to act more like a kid too. Had fun with them waiting for the parade, taking photos with the characters and most importantly just spending time together!

No idea who they are anymorre

The parade

michelle being stylo-milo

Mum & daughter

the group

And we were at Surfers Paradise. What trip to Gold Coast would be complete without visiting Surfers? Love the beach and the good weather. Spent some time at the new shopping area near Gold Coast too. Had lunch at the Japanese place (too long ago; the name has slipped my mind).

And we brought them to Byron Bay as well - I love Byron Bay. The relax, hippie lifestyle and the beach culture that are so strong in Byron Bay. Any visitors coming to Gold Coast should definitely pay a visit to Byron Bay. To the light house and then the shops and cafe. Had fun browsing around at the shops and cafe.

the sisters

cousins

see what I mean?

Vespa!

the (famous) lighthouse

Italian @ Al dente

2011-11-07T22:10:00.001+10:00

This is what we have been doing since Thach discovered the front camera function on both our phones.

So, out of the blue Thach has been quite interested to try out some new Italian places. He picked Al dente for brunch last Saturday not knowing that they only open at 12pm. We were there early and have to go for a short shopping trip @ Coles Middle Park and having to wait at the car park for a bit. Were ushered in and seated in.

choosing from menu

caffeine fix

The vibe of the place

Since there were only both of us; we ordered the pasta followed by dessert. Thach had the gnocchi while I had some fettuccine. Both the pasta was delicious and for dessert thach had the choc mousse with cherry compote and cream while I had the pumpkin gelato & brandy glazed strawberry. Both desserts are nice and mine looked so pretty as well!

Gnocchi with sausages

Fettucine with bacon

choc mousse with berries & cream

pumpkin gelato & strawberries

Enjoyed spending time with the husband :-)

Harbour Town

2011-11-02T20:38:00.001+10:00

The weekend before mum left, we went to Harbour Town so that mum can get some supplements and also shopping! Arrived at 11am and head straight for brunch. Was at Nonna's. Ordered pasta for myself and mum and Thach has the mixed grill. As usual; lemon lime bitters for me and mum and Thach with his Coke Zero.

Mum bought some stuffs at Polo - they have 60% discount off everything!! I got myself a red polo shirt! And also a dress from Jay Jays. Had tea at Zarraffa's as well before heading home.

The husband & I

Drinks for 3

Pumpkin & Pine Nut Penne

Chicken, Avocado & pumpkin penne

Mixed grill

Tea @ Zarraffa's

The husband

And before mum left; we had dinner @ Thai Taste .....

Mum & Mum-in-law

All of us

Rocklea market for breakfast

2011-10-24T18:52:00.001+10:00

So, on a Sunday morning, we went Brisbane Market for breakfast. Brisbane market is famous for its wholesale items of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, the breakfast on Sundays are good as well. The selection of food is limited but the food there is nice!

We can choose from Greek, German & typical English breakfast. Mum got herself a chicken souvlaki and Midge got some German sausages. Meanwhile, I was happy just having my flat white. After that, they ordered jaffles as well.

Mum & Midge

my lovely flat white

German sausages stall

Cosie Rosie's

Mum happy with her souvlaki

jaffles without the strawberries :-(

After breakfast, went for a quick walk around Brisbane Market. J & Midge bought a bit of beef jerky at the German smoke house. And then mum did what she does best - shopping :p Ended up she bought a citrus tree!

Mum with ~~the back of~~ Michelle

Mum & me

mum picking the citrus tree

scored!

Mum's birthday celebration

2011-10-23T05:46:00.002+10:00

So, it was mum's birthday and we went out to Oishii Japanese Restaurant for dinner. Oishii is one of the more well-known place for sushi. This place has received mixed review of the food and services but in our opinion, it is considered as one of the better places for sushi.

But that day, an incident happened - although it was minor but still left us quite shocked of the customer service. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the food. Did not ordered a lot of food as there were only the sisters, mum and J. Thach & Ming could not make it as they have prior engagement to attend a buck's night. And of course, dad is not able to join as he is taking care of the business in KL.

Jessie & the birthday lady

eel

salmon & seaweed salad

soft shell crab

garlic vegetarian fried rice

Continued celebration at home - what's birthday without a birthday cake? Since getting Eunice to make our wedding cakes, I have always order cakes from her for all occasions be it birthdays, baby full-moon or engagement party. Mum likes the strawberry fresh cream cake and this cake does not disappoint!

Happy birthday mum!

Mum blowing the candles

Mum with us

Midge & J

Cake cutting :-)

Happy birthday mum!!! Love you and dad heaps and thanks for all the sacrifices that you guys have made for us!!!

Lure for Lunch - Mum's birthday

2011-10-22T17:23:00.003+10:00

So; cause it is mum's birthday we went to Lure for lunch. Blogged about going to Lure before where we tried the degustation menu and like it there. And since we were near there and thinking of where to for lunch; we decided to go there.

Decided to get the entree tasting menu for two. Mum & Thach had good time tasting the oysters,scallops, prawns & sashimi.

Jessie & Mum

Complimentary bread & table set up

Entree tasting plate for two

Continue on with main course; ordered different variety of fish. Came with assorted vegetables.Enjoyed our main course as well as the companionship as we talked to each other and catch up.

Barramundi with soft shell crab

King salmon with quail egg & assorted veggies

Coral trout with prawns

And to make the meal complete; soon after it is followed by dessert. We had two serving of pear & almond tart with cinnamon ice cream & cream. As expected, the pie was quite moist and delicious.

Really enjoyed our time there and the service was excellent as well. More celebrations to follow!

The husband

2011-10-16T07:16:00.000+10:00

It has been a year since our wedding - a wonderful year; but one that also fill with ups and downs as we go through life together. And I know that there will be so many years to come :-) I thank God for you in my life

Thank you for being my companion; the promise of not letting go

Thank you for being the light in darkness; the guidance when I am lost

Thank you for taking car of me; when I couldn't do so myself

Crabs!

2011-10-11T22:14:00.001+10:00

Last Sunday we had a full-on day. Went to visit Moh, Simon and baby Alex right after church! Baby Alex so cute - too bad we can't stay for long and after that went to visit Hannah, Ronald and baby Eliana! Eliana is so cute as well. Babies are so cute!

Right after, went for a BBQ at Camira - Thach's aunt saying thank you (again!) for helping during Tai & HaiVan's wedding. And not long after attended dinner @ Que Hong with NG4. It was a very good gathering and we had fun just hanging out and enjoying the 'star' of the night - crabs!

Fun day - should do that more often!

I'm on a boat!

2011-10-08T19:01:00.000+10:00

Last Friday, we had our annual staff BBQ - perhaps they like the boat cruise from Christmas party so much that they decided to do another boat cruise. Which is awesome cause a spring day out on Brisbane River is as good as it gets *loves*

Walked from the office to Southbank jetty and enjoyed the view; realised that there are so many tourists walking along Southbank - so we pretended to be tourist as well!!!

View of Brisbane City

Ferris Wheel in Southbank

Queensland University of Technology (my alma mater)

the James Cavill boat

Boarded the boat and had good fun just talking to each other while waiting for lunch to be cooked. Before long, started drinking and taking some photos. No long after, lunch was served and it tasted good - I had the rib fillet with sausages and potatoes salad - pretty standard BBQ food.

Fellow colleagues

View from the boat

......the fun starts.......

here we go; doing what Asians do best.....

Paparazzi Thie

half of the crew

Had fun catching up with people that are seldom in the office (but of course, still part of us!). Heard stories of their life in another's office. Miss them being around... like Pieter

Pieter & Jessie

Wonder if this is for site visit as well?? - with our company's very own Sun Lotion

Fav lemon lime bitters before moving onto... wine!

the senior & the junior

the lunch!

Ben with his huge lunch

Just chilling

Not long after, we reach Tennyson -where a new Tennis Stadium is built. And Ben showed me the building that I have estimated a while ago. Looking good from what I see! Such joy to see the building that you are involved in actually being built.

Tennyson

Jessie & Lefoko (new gal in town!)

Happy Dave

And the singing begins not long after...

Pieter with Gary

somewhere in West End

Capturing Zef taking photo

Mark just chilling

Story Bridge

the building that I estimated

the heritage brickwall

Jessie & Ben

Not long after we arrived back at Southbank and it was a great relaxing day out. And loves the warm glow of the sunset against the city!

Amazing view of city in sunset

South Brisbane train station

HaiVan & Tai's wedding reception

2011-10-01T08:39:00.000+10:00

So, after resting at home a bit, it was time to roll. HaiVan & Tai's wedding reception at Landmark Restaurant in Sunnybank Plaza. Pretty excited as this is my first time attending a wedding reception in a Chinese Restairant in Brisbane. Wedding invitation mentioned 6pm start but we were there at 5pm as the bride has requested family to be there earlier for photo taking.

Upon arrival, we only knew that we arrived the same time as the bridal party - the photographers are still helping to set up the stage for the photo taking session. So we took our own sweet time with taking photos as well. Thach brought his camera along and was acting as the unofficial photographer again. He managed to take some nice shoots that the bride even requested this from him.

Arriving together with Grandpa

Landmark Restaurant; perhaps one of the best for Chinese wedding (from what I heard)

Setting without the bonbonaires & glitters

The husband & wife

The bridemaid Helen & us

Mr & Mrs Bui and Mr & Mrs Nguyen

Lovely set up - i love chandeliers

The gals having fun!

The cute cake

Cute cute cute right!!!!!!

Chandeliers!!!!!!

Nancy & Jessie

The guests started arriving slowly - we took our chance to fill in the guest book and take photos with the bride & groom. Then we started taking photos with some family members. Typical Chinese dinner, cause they have 300 guests - some guests turned up late. Luckily, we started dinner at 7:30pm as opposed to 8:30-9pm in Malaysia!

Signing of guest book

The family with the newly-weds

the place card, bonbonaires and glitters on the table

Us with eldest aunt & Aileen & Elliot

The family

With Chu Sang, Aunt Diep & Dianna

Thach's random shot

magic show for the kids

D-O-M-I-N-I-C

Thach with the kids

Me with the mums

D-A-N-I-E-L

Me with Anh Bao & Lilly

The sisters & sis-in-laws

what on the menu?

talking about the kids

playing with the phone

the guys

phone syndrome

...and again... phone syndrome

Me & Huy

start drinking

And the dinner starts with the bride & groom saying thank you to everyone and dinner started. In between of meals we had cake-cutting, first dance and yum seng as well.

Tai saying thank you

Cheers

first dance

cake cutting

first official kiss

bottoms up

:-)

:-))

kid being kid

It was a fun night and I enjoyed myself despite not drowning on much alcohol

HaiVan & Tai's wedding ceremony (ROM)

2011-09-28T06:34:00.001+10:00

So, we had the traditional Viet ceremony in the morning. It follows by the wedding ceremony (ROM) at Forest Lake Boulevard - the location was at a pavilion overseeing a lake. It was a quaint little place and luckily enough the pavilion is situated very near to a car park.

The venue overseeing this lake

What else is there to do while waiting for the bridal party arrival.....

The gals & ladies

The men

Kien & I

Paige boy & Flower Gal

Uncle & nephew

The signing table

The simple decoration

Dominic

The parents & the Paige boys

face 1

face 2

The cousins

the uncles

The groom

trying to figure out the bubbles machine

the family with newborn jacob

The groom was waiting anxiously with the best man & grooms-man when the bride arrived. The bride wore a simple, elegant and beautiful wedding gown. Thus began a simple yet beautiful ceremony of union between a man and and a woman :-) The bride shed tears when she was reading the vows - so touching!

The half of the bridal party

The other half of bridal party with the bride's father

The bride & the father

Flower gal

The exchange of vows and rings

awwww

the signing

Mr & Mrs Bui

the newly-weds with us

the maid of honour getting some rest!!!

After the ceremony we went home for a quick rest before proceeding to the reception @ Landmark :-)

HaiVan & Tai's traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony

2011-09-25T16:46:00.001+10:00

Last Saturday, we celebrated the wedding of Tai & Haivan (Thach's cousin). The day started with traditional Vietnamese ceremony. I was quite excited as this is my second time being the 'girls that carry the gifts' perhaps equivalent to 'chi mui' in Chinese culture; perhaps the difference is just one is carrying gifts and the other is plsying games on the 'heng dai'.

We were to gather at Haivan's house at 7am for breakfast and 8am for the ceremony. As we have to fetch Grandpa from Inala, we planned to arrive at 7:45am - just in time for the groom's arrival. Imagine how surprised we were when Helen called at 7:35am and said that the groom is on their way! Of course, Thach tried to hurry up :p but knowing the husband - he drives very safely within the speed limit - but we still arrived in good time before the groom arrived!

Of course we took a few photos of ourselves before the groom and his 'entourage' arrives.....

Tai & Haivan's wedding

The husband: in suit (standard for man) and the wife in ao dai

The aunts; mum in law & I

The guys; in suits and formals

Nguyens

The Nguyen kids

The husband & wife in front of the house

The family

the 'gift girls'

About half an hour later; the groom and his entourage arrived. Tai has about 20 relatives & friends with him. Usually it will be the uncle & aunt that leads the way to ask for the girl's hand in marriage from the girl's parents with the gift. Uncle Dan & Aunt Phuong were the representatives from our family. The gifts were passed not long after and we all moved to the inside of the house. Tea ceremony followed not long after.

Arrival of groom in Limosiune

The groom; Tai

the groom's entourage

Passing of gifts

The gals with gifts

Sorting out of gifts; the groomsmen in clutches

Tea ceremony for the grandparents

Tea ceremony for the bride's mum

After the tea ceremony, the guests are invited for food and chit chat. Not long after that, the bride and the groom have to move to the groom's house for the tea ceremony. So, we were ready with the gifts (halved) to pass back to the groom's family.

The gals with the gift to pass to groom

The spread of food

groom & me

beautiful carving from pumpkin

passing back of gifts

Jessie & Nancy

Alvin & Thach

The carving

Haivan's extended family!

Glad that the day went well - it was followed by the wedding ceremony & reception!

Singapore: Day 3

2011-09-22T21:01:00.001+10:00

Last day in SG - as usual was ready at 9am and went down for buffet breakfast. Took our own sweet time and then went to shops near USS to get some gifts for friends. Waited for Hard Rock Cafe to open at 11am. It was so hot in SG!

The parents at Hard Rock

Mum & Jessie

The Forum area

Candylicious

Had lunch at Din Tai Fung - first time I eat at DTF - the only shop in Australia is in Sydney - so didn't get to go. Heard that it is really good. According to the parens, the DFT in Malaysia is a bit different in terms of menu and taste as well. Singapore's taste is more bland and clear.

Century egg - yum yum

how they prepare the 'siew long bao'

nice noodles with veggie dumplings

the famous 'siew long bao'

red bean bun

Had a walk around the complex after lunch and waiting for checkout. Check out and went to airport not long after - good thing is Firefly os on time for our return journey!

one for the road - wanton mee @ Departure Hall

It was good fun in SG and can't wait to go again next time!!!!!