Jeeme the Dog

With so many things going on in life, I really admire peeps who can take the time to write up their blogs and share their thoughts with the world. I certainly haven’t taken the time. It seems like being sociable has been reduced to ‘Status Updates’ or ‘Tweets’. LOL.

Anyway – I’ve been silent on this blog for a while and I find that I’ve missed rambling on about stuff that interest me. Strange, didn’t think I would. But perhaps it’s because this actually… my ‘me’ time. I do find that blogging takes up too much of my day when I could be doing something else with my hubby or dog or just with friends. Plus the fact that I love photos and I always have to have a photo on my post, or it ain’t complete!

So, now – with the iPhone4. Life has changed… again. Hehe. The photos are awesome, they’re easy and they’re quick.

Introducing Jeeme, our dog.
He’s such a little cutie, making is smile, making us laugh and being such a good boy posing for me. Hehe.

This is Jeeme, unedited.

And this is Jeeme, lomo-loved.

This is a instant photo of him – slightly aged, like a worn-out polaroid.

And lastly, a little crop of his toys from the same photo with a little effect.

I just keep taking pictures.

I even took some videos the other day and was inspired to create a little montage for J-boy and his tricks. Spent a couple of hours (which should really have been on the upcoming wedding) but I’m strangely satisfied. It’s all good. ^_^

The Hitchhiker

A hitchhiker popped up unexpectedly last week in our kitchen.

Hitchhiking on a hot-red chili pepper – he (well, I think it’s a he!) slid up and appeared suddenly over the top when I was just about to pick it up and rinse it.

He’s very tiny, (the size of half my tiny fingernail) and covered very little ground… very slowly.

Finally – “All right, Mr. Camera, I’m ready for my close-up.”

And after his photo session, Dennis took him out into the garden to find a new home. ^_^

Hello Autumn, Goodbye Summer

Days are turning colder… the sun is setting earlier, and last Sunday – we had our final Dragon Boat regatta of the season. This was it! All our training for the past summer months for 4 minutes of adrenaline-pumping glory!

RAAAAWWWRRRRR!

And we still came in a close #3. Maybe it’s because we only practice 2 days a week. While #1 has practice 6 days a week. And #2 is made up of young Australian athletes who live, breathe and eat sport everyday. Hmmm…

Anyhow, the races felt good. We may not have won the trophy, but we gave it all we had and that’s what counts. *happy*

Now that the Dragon Boat season is officially over, Mr D and I are going to try a spot of ‘Touch Footy’ this Thursday. I heard it’s like futsal, but it’s not football, it’s rugby. (@_@)

We need the exercise for winter, the wedding is this year!

Top 10 Reasons Why I Think People Play Games on FaceBook

I was going to write some notes down for a friend of mine on how FB games rule our lives… and thought, might as well blog it as well and kill two birds with one stone. Hehe.

FaceBook. It’s like a huge address book that doesn’t require any maintenance – other than clicking ‘Add as Friend’. And it comes with plenty fun and easy-to-play games that have been made in mind for social interaction. And so, here are my Top 10 Reasons Why I Think People Play Games on FaceBook.

1. It’s too easy to sign up and start playing.
2. It’s too easy to help a friend and end up playing the game.
3. It’s relatively easy to learn how to play, just click and drag.
4. Your friends are playing it already and posting about it all the time, you’re curious.
5. You can play with your friends and help each other out, or beat them at it.
6. The game graphics are terribly cute and attractive, or cool and exciting.
7. The simulation games are the best kind and you can personalize your space, be it your restaurant, farm or city any way you like it.
8. It’s time-based, you always want to come back to make sure your little workers or plants or dishes or jobs are okay or ready and collect your money.
9. There’s a reward system to reward you if you login daily (continuously) and constantly send gifts to your friends (which in turns encourages them to play everyday). And the rewards are in terms of more stuff for your game, or some real life prizes.
10. If you want to move ahead faster, you can buy credits with real money.
11. If you want to win, you need your friends to play with you. The more friends, the better so you keep inviting them to play.

And that’s just the tip of the ice berg. Funny how FaceBook has provided an amazing platform for multi-player online gaming.

But for me, I play because I like to sit at the top of the ladder.

Jog, jog, jog.

Got home after a near-stressful day on Friday (the Telstra techie FFK’d our appointment due a messy system glitch. DONKEY!) and decided to go for a walk by the beach to get some sun and sea breeze. Halfway out the door, felt like I had the energy for a jog, so I put on my running shoes and hit the road.

Jog… jog… jog.

The goal was the children’s playground a couple of blocks up.

Jog… jog… jog.

And I reached the playground with still some energy left to go… so I kept it up.

Jog… jog… jog.

Hit my limit just outside this restaurant with lovely smells wafting about. Yumm! And my stomach growled. Okay, time to head home – made a u-turn and started a quick walk back home. It was quite a distance walking home, had no idea how far I’d come. Did some stretches just before our street, then went for a walk on the beach to play with other people’s dogs. Awwwww… I want one or two!

Sat and relaxed out on the sand till it got too cold, and then headed for home. A beautiful day, and a good end to it. Only forty-five minutes of my day, but the clearest and most peaceful moments of it.

Really happy with myself for the jog too! I went home and checked on Google Maps, and I jogged for 1.3km that day. A first for me. Hehe. I’ve never been able to jog much – 0.5km and I’m ready to pass out!

Next time, I’m definitely going further! ^_^

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.

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.

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… (@_@)

Five more sleeps to KL

It’s the weekend already, and it’s five more nights before we get on that flight back to KL.

I’ve got a shopping list here of things to take home.

And another list of things to do in KL.

And… one more list of things to buy and bring back to Melbourne!

Can’t wait! ^_^