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. ^_^

It’s called ‘Red Velvet’ and it’s dark red in color. Though it’s red, it tasted like chocolate cake. It’s just red coloring I think, and it’s very popular, an Oprah favorite. And that’s cream cheese frosting on top. Yum!

Happy Birthday PL! ^_^

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. ^_^

It’s a rather unusual birthday present (one that’s still in progress and may take a couple of months to complete…) but this year, we decided to spend our present money on our home and use the balcony to extend our living area.

Here’s a sneak peak of what we have so far, along with the surviving plants from last year. And you can see bits of our home in the reflection of the sliding glass.

The balcony is pretty big and originally tiled, but my aunt suggested putting timber decks instead to make them look nicer. And also to add some cushions or seats so we could eat or relax and read a book outside. She showed us some ideas from some decorating books she had… and that was when we realized that we could do so much with the balcony! That night when we got home, we started planning.

The first item we got was the modular decking tiles system which we could assemble on our own, and can be picked up to go when we move. My favorite was the one from Freedom (a furniture store) which went on sale this week. We’ve had our eye on them for quite a few weeks now and when they went on saleeee…. hurrah! It was time to buy! We picked up 6sqm of decking tiles.

Next up, we’ll be putting in our vegetable/herb patch. Not sure if it’s the right time since it’s autumn and winter will be here soon. I’ll have to go find out.

And last, but not least – we’re looking at a 4 burner hooded BBQ. A BBQ is practically a staple in every home here, and for apartment-dwellers like us, it sits on the balcony. Most importantly, it will be capable of producing enough heat or “wok hei” to cook our usual Chinese dishes to perfection. We can’t even deep fry a fish now!

But I must say, having timber flooring really brings a more relaxing effect into your home. It’s really made quite a difference.

She’s taken up crocheting. I’m glad she’s taken up a past time, retirees don’t really have much to do at home. And double the hurrah, because she made this scarf and hat for me!

It looks awesome, and a heck of a lot of work! Thanks Mom!

I can’t wait for it to arrive in Melbourne via a fellow traveler soon. Hehe. So, who’s coming in April?

It was pretty interesting. There was no roaring or attacking as in traditional contact sports, and with all that blood rushing and adrenaline pumping, it felt so weird with no where to let it go!

You hold the ball, and you walk/run/charge forward up until an opponent touches you. Similar to rugby, but there’s no tackling involved. Just a tap will do. (This really takes getting used to!) So if someone taps you – stop, put the ball down and take a step back over the ball. Then another team mate picks it up, and passes the ball backwards. And, you can only pass the ball a limited number of times, I think it was ten times. If you’re not at the goal area by then, your turn is over!

In order to win at this game, you have to focus on your strategy and to be quick, agile and nimble when breaking out in a sprint for the win!

My legs are still kinda sore from the sudden sprinting. I shrieked so often when someone ‘charged’ at me, I kept mentally slapping myself not to! It’s hard not to! You rush to your opponent and face them and then you… tap them lightly. I felt like I had been wired to do the opposite! But the again, I’d rather someone touch than tackle me if I had the ball. Hehe.

But it’s all good fun, and it’ll be a good cardio workout. Team sports are always more motivating than others, and a short season over winter should be good for me and Devin. Hehe.

On another note, it turned extremely cold yesterday. It felt like 9 degrees at night. bRrr… and just as cold this morning. Time to get the heater out. I could barely get up.

It was mostly Devin suffering from Internet Withdrawal Syndrome (IWS) or No-Internet (because I can still go online at work), and yesterday when the line came alive and we successfully connected to our ADSL2+ line… we could almost hear the angels sing, “Hallelujah!”

Hehe. So here comes the fun part!

I wrote this on 16 March 2010 on my to-do list. We were getting desperate, and I was starting to become very nasty to the Telstra people on the phone who were extremely good at flying aeroplanes and cancelling, and rescheduling.

Being unable to get connected = CRANKY.
Being unable to get connected many times = VERY CRANKY.

And yesterday, on 29 March 2010 – we were connected. It’s a good feeling. The journey is finally over, and I crossed off the very last item on my Moving Home to-do list. From an estimated 20 days to get connected (after the phone line was put in), we only took 5 days instead. ^_^

*happy*

The description only appears for a split second when you roll it up, so I got Devin to hold the camera and take a photo when I shouted “Shoot!”.

So I rolled, and this is what we got.

Looks so washed out because there was barely anytime to refocus and adjust the lighting to the TV. Hehe. On screen, you can actually see two pointy type boxes, but here at least you can read the words in the photo!

Their tagline was “Please laugh, we’re risking our lives.”.

And I didn’t realize how shocking it would be! ROFL. We literally laughed their pants off a couple of times. And I nearly fell off my seat so many times! All that crazy shit you see on youtube videos and Jackass, well they’re like veterans in that line. It’s the first time I’ve seen it done live and coupled with Japanese humour, it turned out very fun! (Ahem, but it’s not really family-friendly.)

Image courtesy of http://www.independentweekly.com.au.

There are four of them: Danna San, the Super Milk Man who can drink milk through his nose and squirt it out through his eyes a good meter away! (And he also possesses the Iron Butt! A grown man breaking things with his butt muscles!) Gyuzo San, who has super eyes and puts a live scorpion in his mouth. Nambu San, who is the craziest Number One everrr! He drank a pint of beer through his nose, and brought new meaning to balls of steel. LIVE. And Sango San – he’s mainly the MC and holds the show together.

The audience participation is also pretty crazy. They get us to do their dance, they vacumm-packed someone and cling-wrapped a few others. ROFL. A plastic cloth was provided for those sitting right in front, in the Danger Zone. It was completely mad on stage.

And very dangerous, dangerous. Yes, yes. Very dangerous…

LOL. I haven’t laughed so much in ages! It’s a great start to the Comedy Festival this year! It does somewhat remind me of Gamarjobat, but just a whole lot more focused on the dangerous.

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!