Hello thirties!

It’s the 25th of February, and I’m now 30 years old! (^_^)

Happy Birthday to me!

The delicious chocolatey cupcakes were baked by Emily and with a little surprise session by the gang for me. *sniff* Thanks guys! (^_^)

Me and my blog.

This blog and I go way back… and together with a couple of cutest hand-drawn pigs (well, most of them looked like pigs), it was one of my most memorable birthday gifts ever. (^_^)

I was twenty-five when this blog and I first began. And when tomorrow comes, five years down the road – it will mark another birthday in my life.

I turn thirty.

Can you believe it? The infamous BIG THREE-OH.

It’s time to step into a new decade of my future. I should be worried, time seems to be zooming by! So much to do, so little time. But each day of life brings new surprises, joys, thanks and challenges. No speeding it up, or slowing it down will make any difference to what has been and what I’m expecting ahead.

It’s been great journey so far, and I can’t wait to see what the next day will bring. ^_^

Beep.

Yes, the blog is still alive. He-he.

It’s Devin’s Birth-month!

Ok, so it’s the birthday boy’s turn to finally… turn 29. I’ve been 29 for ages now, and worse – it’s almost time to face my thirties! Dang.

Birthdays = aging = presents. So we went shopping for the birthday boy’s birthday present last weekend. ^_^

Can you guess what this is?

I actually didn’t really know what it was the first time Devin showed it to me. But that’s what he wanted for his birthday pressie, so that’s what he gets. It’s a spray pump – pour in the oil, pump the container to let air in, and then press valve to spray/mist the oil out. Simple. ^_^

After that – we wandered around DFO a while more, and ended up getting more presents. Hmm… here’s the entire haul of presents from our afternoon shopping session: the CuisiPro spray pump, two pairs of Timberland shoes with a all-purpose protector for the leather and a cool hat for summer.

And it’s not even his actual birthday yet. Looks like we’re celebrating it for the whole month of November this year. Hehe.

Tesselaar Tulip Festival ‘09

A couple of weeks ago, Mr D and I made a trip out to the Dandenong Ranges to experience Melbourne’s famous Tulip Festival. Famous because everyone I know who’s been to Melbourne has mentioned over and over again that I must go see the tulips at the Tulip Festival in Spring! Ok, ok – so we had to go!

We had missed out last year because I had been sent to UK for work. And so, when Spring rolled around again this year, on the very last weekend of the tulip season, we made it. Finally! It was an ‘Irish Weekend‘, but there really wasn’t much Irish about it. I couldn’t find any beer. Sigh.

It had rained that morning, but it was perfect weather when we arrived. Hurrah! Tulips were planted in rows and rows and rows and a riot of bright and cheerful colors greeted us as we walked down the path. Took a photo upwards, instead of facing downwards as the you could see more flowers this way. ^_^

There were plenty of people about, taking photos among the flowers and we joined in. Hehe.

We met Abi and Brian at the Tulip Festival. ^_^

We spent a few hours there, wandering through the rows and rows of tulips. On the other side of the farm, there were some booths selling food and souvenirs. Nothing much of interest. ^_^

Unfortunately, because we had visited on the 2nd last day before the tulips were beheaded – most of them were falling apart and huge holes of space showed where the flowers had been trampled to their deaths. Oh well. It still looked amazingly pretty from afar and we took photos as best we could. Hehe.

lesson of the day // the tulips have to be beheaded (ergo tulip heads removed) in order to aid the development of tulip bulbs. They’re mechanically removed. It’s also called the ‘greening of the tulips’, but I kinda like the term ‘beheaded’ more. Hehe.

It’s amazing how colorful our world is. ^_^

—
If you’re interested to visit:
Tesselaar Tulip Festival (Sept to Oct)
Address: 357 Monbulk Road, Silvan
Entrance Fee: $16 per entry

Nagambie Dragon Boat Festival

It’s been a while since I last blogged. A very good indication of how time flies, and if you don’t make full use of it – it just keeps on going, with, or without you.

I’m a nice toasty brown today, while Mr D is a lovely shade of lobster red. Hehe.

We went for our first Dragon Boat race last Sunday out in Nagambie, a quiet place about 2 hours drive from Melbourne. We left Melbourne at 7′ish, and it was a really hot hot day with temperatures reaching up to 36 C (or more). We spent most of time in the shade, lounging under a nice tree when not out on the boat. It was really hot, but good fun to get back into the boat for a race!

We had cheerleaders! Can you see the letters C Y S M ?

This is my favourite cheerleader. Hehe.

And after a long day out in the sun, here we are! ^_^

Unfortunately, we didn’t bring home any trophies. Came in 2nd place most of the time, but it ain’t 1st is it? ^_^

What a weekend!

Take me to the carwash… ♫

We dropped by the carwash yesterday. It was a cold, rainy day but heck – Bubbles II deserved a wash!

The most cost-efficient a.k.a. cheapest way to wash your car here is by doing it yourself at a coin-operated car wash. There are plenty here in Melbourne and you can do a really good job with 2 persons and $4. They provide all the equipment, and for a few coins, you can use it all and clean your own car easily. A hand car wash could cost you $14 or more. (Labour costs here are high!) Plus, you’re not allowed to wash your car at home. You have to use rainwater (or recycled water) because of the water shortage.

Step #1: Get into a Car Wash Bay
We drove Bubbles II into an empty bay.

Step #2: Degrease the Rims
The rims hadn’t been cleaned properly in a long long time. We sprayed on some specific de-greasers for the rims. Put in $1 for 80 seconds and rushhh!

Step #3: Soap Up the Car
Time to blast off the dirt and grime with a pressure soap spray gun. It’s plenty of fun shooting at the car. Hohoho. From experience, we start from the roof (much like starting your shower by washing your hair first). This costs us $1 and gives us 80 seconds of spray time.

Step #4: Foam and Scrub the Car
Scrub, scrub, scrub. Rub. Slush. Foam comes out of the brush and we foam up and scrub down Bubbles. This step takes the most effort because you gotta scrub hard to make sure all the dirt really comes off. We put in $1 and after 80 seconds of foam, we continue brushing anyway.

Step #5: Hosing the Car Down
Once you’re done scrubbing, we rinse off all the foam by spraying REALLY HIGH PRESSURED water all over. So much fun! Hehe. It’s like playing with a water gun. ^_^ As before, we start from the roof and work our way to each rim. I spent quite a bit of time hosing Bubbles, so we spent $2 and took almost 3 minutes to get her completely clean!

(No photos because the camera-woman was busy shooting water!)

Step #6: Dry the Car Off
We brought our own chamois cloth to wipe Bubbles dry after the wash.

(I forgot what most of the steps were called, so I looked it up online. Here’s my reference: http://bit.ly/JZf6E)

And here we are – less $5 and fifteen minutes later, just the three of us. (^_^) Some cleaner than others. Hehe.

Devin bakes & Hennley eats!

Yum, brownies fresh out of the oven with a scoop of delicious vanilla ice-cream and drizzled a bit of chocolate on top.

Back in the kitchen.

Devin whipped up a quick dinner today – Mexican tacos burritos. Boy oh boy, he does such a good job of making delicious food to eat. ^_^

Made from an Old El Paso Taco Dinner Kit, we added minced pork to the taco seasoning and stir-fried for about ten minutes. Then we lined a couple of tortillas with some bits of lettuce, added chopped baby Roma tomatoes, and sprinkled on some Tasty cheese. Yum!

We had a lot of really good food to eat in KL (maybe too much). I think we won’t be cooking Malaysian food for a while now. Hehe.

Goodbye Kuala Lumpur, hello again Melbourne!

Goodbye Kuala Lumpur. We shall miss you with all the glorious food, great shopping and wonderful people you. Ten days was so not enough! (We won’t miss the hot and humid weather tho!)

Photo of KL taken from the penthouse at Dan and Em’s apartment in Cheras, KL.

And hello Melbourne! ^_^

Just arrived on Monday after a forever long flight on Air Asia. It’s not exactly the best, but it was cheap and we did arrive safe and sound and EARLY. Malaysian’s don’t stick to speed limits no matter where we are. Even in the skies… (@_@)