Addicted to 'We Got Married'

I've been watching a Korean reality drama show for the past week, almost every night after work right through to midnight. I wished I could watch deeper into the night but since I didn't want to work like a zombie the next day my addiction is severely restricted.

We Got Married is a new reality drama in Korea where Korean celebrities are paired up in a make believe marriage. Couples meet, get to know each other, perform 'missions'. As they spend time with each other, they can choose to stay in the marriage or breakup. I especially like one particular couple - Hwang Bo, a female singer and her 'husband' Hyun Joong, an actor/singer 6 years her junior. He's got such a deadpan look whenever he's cracking jokes that it makes the jokes funny. They've gone from being akward with each other to being really comfortable together. Too bad his busy schedule forced an early exit from the show. Their farewell episode was a tear jerker.

This is such a refreshingly funny show to watch!

Moving Away from Home

I didn't feel the first one, but I certainly did the second one. Residents in Victoria experienced tremors from an earthquake registering 4.6 on the Richter scale on Mar 6. I was just back from work that time, and busy cooking and unwinding. The second one happened last Wednesday, while I was at work at around 4:30pm. It felt like my whole desk was shaking slightly and I thought the guys around me was rattling the desks as a joke. Only after people started talking about the quake that I checked out the news online and found that we'd experienced another 4.6.

Well, it seems that the tectonic plate on which the Australian continent lies, is moving places which has triggered these quakes. The plate is moving at around 7 centimetres per year towards the north east direction, away from the M'sian peninsula. 2 years after moving to Aust, this gives a whole new meaning to moving away from home!

Guess Who's in the Paper?

I received a rude surprise a couple of days ago. It started when the minister who married us emailed us asking how we were going with the marriage, and that he saw our picture in the local papers. In Melb, each house gets a free community newspaper/magazine in their post box every week. The contents differ from suburb to suburb, and carries news, advertising, announcements, real estate data specific to the particular municipality. Anyway, back to the minister... I did not believe him when he said he saw our pic in the papers. Not that as a minister he would lie, but all Asians may look the same to the untrained C'sian eye...

Anyway, on the way to work on Monday, a volunteer was handing out one of these free mags that circulates in the city area. I took one of them and I can't believe my eyes when I saw one of our wedding pic in the 'Weddings and Announcements' page!! My photographer had 'kindly' placed our pic in there as indirect advertising for his services, without our knowledge nor consent! How rude!!

Rainy Day

My tv set probably is suffering from a post traumatic stress from being switched on the whole day today. Never before in its whole life has it been used so much as today. Which goes to show how pathetic its co-owner. She stayed in the house for the whole day because a) it was a rainy rainy day. Oh what a change for Melbourne; and b) she was too lazy to go anywhere

And so I spent almost the whole day in my jammies, cooking up pancakes smothered with honey for brunch, then becoming one with the couch watching episodes of Sex and the City Season 4 and SATC the movie. I just love watching the four girls lead their glamorous lives (oh, they're always so witty and never run of out things to say, so clever, so successful and so... fashionable!). Even when life is not perfect, they always had each other's support. Can't beat that!

I made some dumplings in between Episode 13 and 14, but I don't think Carrie minded if I didn't pay my utmost attention to her every word. It's rather difficult making dumplings, squinting at the telly and getting the jokes at the same time. As age progresses I find it more difficult to multi task these days - the brain cells just ain't what it used to be anymore!

Anyway, this was indeed the most relaxing/empty weekend I've ever experienced!

Fire Alarm

Yesterday at work the intercom start whooping with the fire evacuation alarm. We looked around us in confusion. Two weeks ago, we had a fire drill where all of us had to take 12 flights of stairs down the building and congregate across the street (nearly got hit by cars when we crossed the road illegally to the other side).

'Eh... practice drill ah? I know tis' the season for bushfires, but this is overkill right?'

'No la... they didn't say testing testing at the beginning also??'

'I'm just going to wait somemore... Don't smell smoke oso? I think it's a practice drill la..'

'No la... just go now! Don't think it's a drill!'

So with that, the 100 hundred of us crowded the stairwell and got down the building. And were greeted by THREE fire trucks speeding down the street towards our building. Aha! So it's not a practice drill after all.... Glad we didn't take it lightly.

p.s/ It turned out to be nothing serious. Probably someone smoking in the toilets setting off the fire alarm.

Moomba Time!

Every year the City of Melbourne organises an event held in the CBD complete with a parade, carnival rides, foodstalls, entertainment galore and also a really bizarre sub-event called the Birdman Rally (why, I don't know). This is where people dresses up in the funniest of costumes and jump off a ramp trying to glide their way into the Yarra River. The objective of this act is to glide/drop the longest distance from the ramp. Most land with a splash not far from the jump mark, but the winner of the 09 Birdman Rally managed a 7m glide/drop. Not bad huh?

This family event is predominantly favoured by kiddies which is why when I arrived in the city on the Labour Day holiday on Monday, about 1/3 of the people there were children of all sizes and ages. The other 2/3 of the crowd were their parents. I suppose there were a small percentage of anomalies such as Gaz and myself who didn't have any kids in tow, but the stats were low..

The dragon, unleashed on Swanston St

Darth Vader was rasping for Luke but the latter was nowhere to be found

Humphrey B Bear donned a St John Ambulance uniform, looking for food. He kept motioning us to feed him

The Love Band floated by..

... and released lots of love in its wake

Willy Wonka spotting dreadlocks ditched the Oompa Loompas and came to Melbourne on his own

Even our Indonesian neighbours came. M'sia was too shy to attend the party.

The giraffe escaped from the zoo and was trying to blend in with the crowd

Don't even ask me what these one eyed mascots were...

After the parade, we went to the gardens where the rides and circus shows were. Lots of kiddies, and I felt a bit embarassed taking their spot at the front near the ring so I ended up standing for the show. The circus we went to was called Circus in a Suitcase - two clowns, one suitcase, no lions (endangered, plus too dangerous with the kiddies in close proximity. They had fake horses though). The guys did simple acts, but enough to make Gaz and I smile. Maybe we're simple minded huh? Midway, I felt so tired being stationary on my feet so Gaz and I left.

Although people stared at me incredulously when I told them I was going to the Moomba, I'm glad I indulged the kid within. It was a good experience and even Gaz who were one of the starers had fun that day.

My Saturday

This Saturday was a busy day for us! Not like every Saturday, this particular weekend was special to us because it's part of the long Labour Day weekend, which means I don't have to work on Monday and that every second must be savoured. In short, it means sleeping in, staying up late and cramming every enjoyable thing into into the weekend because I have one full day to be lazy and to recuperate!

We went to a yum cha session with a family friend in the morning, and ended up staying eating, drinking tea and chatting for 2 hours.

After yum cha, we went to a movie - Watchmen. 'Justice is coming to us. No matter what we do.' Being a big Alan Moore and graphic novel fan, Gaz enjoyed the film though commented that the gore and violence is a little too much. Even for him! Needless to say, I being the squeamish one had to close my eyes a litte in between all the blood, hand choppings, head cleaving etc... The film is set in 1985 America, and superheroes were no longer the revered beings, their activities halted by the government (actually with the exception of one of them, none of the superheroes had any super powers). The USSR and the US were locked in potential nuclear war. The superheroes, now retired and unmasked bands together when one of their own were brutally murdered to uncover the culprit.



Next stop was a friend's place for dinner. There were two young children at the dinner. I was feeling quite sleepy towards the end of the dinner that if the young children hadn't needed to be put to bed and therefore the parents asking leave a little early at 8:30pm, I would have left anyway to my bed!

We're battling on to enjoy the remaining Saturday - Gaz is watching Wall-E as I'm typing this. We're determined to make the most of this long weekend!

Can I Have the Cake and Eat it Too?

The resounding answer to that is, YES! I had a friend over for lunch on Sunday where I cooked Prawn Noodles a la M'sian style. Or rather, the instant prawn noodle paste style. She brought over a black forest cake from Breadtop which we were too stuffed to have after lunch. Gaz and I had it as a before bedtime snack. The cake wasn't too sweet but moist and soft, interlaced with black cherries.