A Princess Diary

It all begin with a 6 hours journey down south..

Everyone was so excited.. just like kids going on their first field trip. All of us had little "surprises" in our backpack.. stuff like kit kats, freddos, crackers and so much more.. you name it, someone is bound to have it.. Gosh, now you know why everyone had such huge backpacks.

We sure had fun on the bus.. All the food and the food.. and more food.
So.. finally, I decided to be abit more "brainy" by taking my notes and make an attempt to read them but.. I fell asleep within 5 minutes. What can I say..

Anyway, we reach Carinya pretty on time. Got our room and then... start looking pretty on photos again..

This is the "Forbidden Room" as Gen might call it.. So yeah, introducing my roomies for the 2 nights.

So after freshening up, we headed for the long awaited.. DINNER!!

Yummy!! Gosh, if only I get such fantastic dinner every night..

After dinner, everyone was just frantic about getting their equipments for skiing.. thereafter, we head back to our room for a Scrabble Challenge.

Ahem.. of cos, Princess Cheerene's team had to win!! After all that brain work.. the Princess finally doze off..

Next morning, we were treated to some really good breakfast. And before we head off to ski.. The ladies have to look pretty on camera again..

So there's Lin and Me


And one of my recent favourite pose.. Lets just call this "Come to mama.."


Introducing the group leaders of the trip, Me - Melissa - Michael - Thomson

So there we head off into the mountains for a day of snowy fun!

Everyone were just so eager to put on all their gear and get onto the snow. So am I (:
Yeah, so we finally get to ski.. and we had a two hour CRASH course to learn how to ski (and crash). Then we were set loose to go skiing for the rest of the day.

Always being accident-prone has sort of became my trademark.. and hence how can my day be complete without abit of misadventure..

Doesn't this remind you of "Luo Han Yu" (Luo Han Fish) that was so much in craze a couple of years back in Singapore? How many of you guys out there can still be so happy after having such a big bump on your head?

Well, beautiful memory hey!
(I swear I wasn't looking at that handsome snowboarder when I skid!! Really!!!)

But that bump will never stop me from taking more shots.. and so..

here is one of Melissa and Me infront of the ski grounds..


Thou I spent my day on my skis.. but that doesn't stop me from looking cool with a snowboard! So here is 1 real snowboarder and 2 who look good with snowboards.


There's Me and Rob just trying to look "Garang" again. As we always say.. we are from the same class, work on the same projects and have the same $@#%&%$@#%& supervisor.

That ends the first day of adventure and a tinnie winnie bit of mishap.

Heading back for Carinya.. everyone was just dead tired..
And little did I know.. Serena actually had a little surprise waiting for me..

TaDaa! She drew a picture for me! It was a picture of a fairy from her book. Don't you think she look so sweet on this picture..


Oh well, we are just as cute as each other.

So after dinnner, we head back to the games room for abit more fun! So we started a game.. Oh.. don't you just love games? I love it especially when someone else has to do the forfeit.


So there's Melissa stealing a ball off the billard table.. That was sure shocking! (Thanks to Princess Cheerene for this great idea)

The next morning, Champian and I woke up early to walk around the place to snap some really good shots..

Thats Champian and Me infront of the rooms.. Ah.. and a little something you will never get to see in Singapore.. Frost on the grass..


Its not a very good thing to have short legs.. It took me 2 minute to climb up there, but took Champian 2 seconds to snap this shot.


After abit of travelling, we came to the groud for Tobogganing. (Shot courtesy of Susan)


A group shot before we start the next adventure..


So this is Tobogganing.. And thats Me with Serena again. As we slide down, we ate so much snow on the way..


This has got to be the greatest shot of the day.. And I, Princess Cheerene, shall bestow it with the title of "Best shot of the Year". Just look at Serena's sweet smile. She is such a sweetheart.

Of course, how can snowy trip be complete without a snowman..

So there you go.. A snowman!

Oh, bet you didn't know this.. You can find Koalas on the Snowy Mountains as well..

Geez.. It was such a rare shot of a HUGE Koala. I almost missed it cos its so well blended into the surroundings.

And not forgetting the 4 Musketeers

Oh.. as always, trying to be funny. Me-Champian-Lin-Robert

Here ends the adventure of Princess Cheerene as she heads back to Wollongong once again..
And thanks guys for the great fun!

Till next time..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Symbio Wildlife Gardens

Its just a small park tuck away in the almost secluded Helensburg, less than 40 minutes from Wollongong.
Getting to see wildlife hopping right next to you is what its famous for. Having a few kangaroos hopping behind your ass is definitely an experience. A funny one indeed.

First we saw a couple of koalas sleeping on the tree.. eww, their poo poo stink the whole place man!


Then after wandering around, I came across something new.. its a Meerkat

They look really cute and funny. Doesn't it reminds u of Ice Age 2? Somehow I kept relating this little animal to that movie.

Going inwards the park brings us to the Dingo.. Some fox look-a-like animals..


Then we had a reptile show thingy.. just a silly show thou. But the best thing is, I was given a free scarf afterwards to keep me warm on winter afternoon..


Then I got a chance to go upfront and personal with some REAL AUSSIES..



Later as we move on, we got a chance to meet a pig-gish looking 30kg-fat Wombat.


Some other random animals include the lamb..


Oh great.. the rest of the pictures just refuse to get online now... Tempremental Internet... Darn.. I will post more next time..


I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Thou is Chinese! Really.

Don't think I speak English means I don't know my Chinese..
Today I really freak a girl out when I gave her a few Mandrine words out of the blue.. Gosh, u should have seen her reaction! It was funny!

Anyway.. Seems like I've been cookin some International Crusine hey.. I better add something "Chinese" on my blog as well.

Celery and Minced Chicken. Its heaps easy to cook this. But how nice it will be, depends on who is cookin lah.

Another dish of the similar genre

Capsicum and Minced beef.. (Sorry, not for buddist friends and Indian friends) opps.

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Tonkatsu

I'm feelin pretty lazy to jote down all the steps to make this great tasting pork chop.. but I'm pretty sure you can find something online about it.. Introducing the Japanese Pork Chop.. Tonkatsu.. I added some tomatoes which I stirred till it almost become puree on top.


It would be fantastic with some brown sauce etc.. but aiya, eat alone, no need to make swee swee right?

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Salmon Curry Set 1.. Upsize please!

Just last week, I bought a new bottle of chilli sauce.. Its an Indonesian style sambal chilli.. EXTRA HOT!

So eager to try, my neighbour decided to make a feast to "test" the hotness of the sauce.. Tested and proven, that sambal chilli was REALLY HOT!

Here is our feast..

Starting from the top left hand corner, we have Basmati Rice, unsalter peanuts, Our new Sambal Chilli, Garden fresh tomatoes with boiled ladies' fingers (this is for eating with sambal chilli), egg-plant in chilli, Salmon Curry and Seasoned Jelly Fish.

YUMMY!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Gong Xi Gong Xi..

I always love Spring Rolls and Ba Gua during CNY.. Nothing thrills me more than these new year goodies.. especially when u are away from home for long.. the longing just gets greater.. so decision comes down to DIY..

Actually I wasn't the one longing for such goodies.. Thanks to my mate for asking abour Spring Rolls.. Heehe.. To them, Spring Rolls is always big (U know the type with Vege inside,etc..). They didn't know there are things like pork floss.. Even my friends from China didn't see this before.. Does it make this an Authentic Singapore Snack?

This is something new to my Aussie mates.. Spring Rolls with Pork Floss.


Gong Xi Gong Xi

And just a little joke I played.. This is Vivien and Me in the UniBar


I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Orientation Part II

Orientation just ended this afternoon..
Woow.. thats heaps of fun and more fun.. As I got in this morning, I started off with extra strong dose of coffee and some cookies as usual. Help out here n there.. then do some attendance stuff then had a debriefing session. It was good.

Then I went over to my "Second home" in the uni.. the Sports hall. I think I don't even frequent labs as often as I frequent the Sports Centre.

So I helped out with ICIS booth to setup the stuff.. and help to look nice on pictures. :)

And here is our booth. And there's Karina, Me and Susan

Then took abit of time off to tour around and talking to various clubs in the Sports Centre. Got myself a chocolate, a stress ball and a cute bottle. Woo..

Later on, I went out for lunchie.. we had a typical Aussie BBQ.. there were some animals being brought in for show as well.. so we had..

A Salt water Crocodile..


And... I didn't really know wat's his name.. sorry.

As I was transferring the pictures to my computer, I realized something... That crocodile looks kind of familiar... I knew I had seen it somewhere.. and I found..

Similarity Index : 85%

My god..

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Creating a Comotion-The Evolution

This post contains lots of evident of "self-indulgence".
What can I say.. I got to love myself since no one else loves me right?

Recently, lots of people had messaged me on MSN saying that I've changed alot.. I'm really flattered by their comments.. but the truth is.. this is taken in Feb 06 (an old picture thou)

The other day I found this picture lingering about in the D Drive, hence I decided to post it up for everyone to have a laugh..

Taken in 2004 in Sentosa, after I graduated from TP. Hey, I miss that smile..


Picture taken in Singapore, just a couple of days before I came back to Aussie.. at PS. The picture that created a WooHaa!


This is a picture taken at an End of Session Party held just before exams. I kind of didnt like that long fringe.. so I finally got it cut off last sunday.

Hope by my next post, my lastest picture (taken on monday) would reach me then. Then I will have more "self-indulgence" to share. Let everyone indulge in it.. heehe.

But still, thanks for all those nice and flattering words! Cheerios! And everyone says..
WEE WUUT WEEET!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Whats for dinner tonite?

So proud of myself again.. I learnt a new thing today!
WooW! I did a whole series of recordings by myself. Yeah!
So what happen was I actually spent the whole day hiding in the most secluded area in the university and did the speech recordings. Well tucked away in one of the furthest buildings from the heart of campus, in a small room where no one knows.. I sat in there for 5 hours just to do some recordings. I almost go crazy man!
But overall, just glad I did something useful again.. Its a step closer to my Final Thesis! Yeah!

Well, my good friend went to brisbane today.. so it would be 4 boring days for me till he is back then. Shall make him some Singapore-Style Curry when he is back then.

Oh, I went over to the Uni's Career Service Office to check on my resume, apparently, it was pretty well written, no editing needed! Whoopee!

Before I go.. I want to share my dinner with you.. I saw a friend's msn nick goes like this.."Chicken Chop tonite".. I'm sorry but I had to laugh at him.. cos.....















There you go.. Baked Lobster with Cheese and Italian Herbs.. Cheerios! I'm not going to write the long reciepe for this dish.. Too lazy le.. just felt like sharing the picture only.. Drool ba!

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

You have a Strong Dislike for Interest Type 1 - Technology and Science

Following is a Job Interest Profile I did prior to commencing my studies in Australia. Hope you guys might find some entertaining values here.

Cheers!
=====================

You would not enjoy applying Physics, Chemistry and maths to design, invention and building of advanced engineering, scientific and technical products. These products include equipment, instruments and machines. Doing research and carrying out experiemtns does not appeal to you, nor does work requiring logical and analytical thinking, knowledge of maths and the ability to understand and apply scientific principles. This type of work often involves the use of computers.

=====================

Now, I'm doing my B-E (Computer Engineering), working on heaps of research for thesis on computer simulation..

What does it say about me?

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Five Spice Stewed Pork and Porridge
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Nostalgia

Definition of Nostalgia:
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

Yeah, winter can be abit boring as night falls really early and I have to call it a day at 5pm. Its really boring. As we see a weekend-Orchard Road being the crowd-magnet, I wonder where did the Aussies go to after dark?

Feeling bored? I decided to do abit of showing off again.. Allow me to share my latest dish.. 5-spice pork with porridge.

Significance of the dish:
I am never a teochew porridge lover. Recalling the days where I would fight with my parents against eating porridge on Sunday afternoons. All those rebelious fight I would put up week after week to "Say NO to teochew porridge". But as I grew up, I still didnt like teochew porridge, but started to fall in love with those kind of porridge u get in hawker centres etc.. I think its sort of Cantonese porridge?? I'm not too sure thou. But I love it, especially when you beat an egg inside.. just love it! My father likes to do it this way too. But my mum simply gets irritated when we do that, she hates the taste.. Perhaps my father didnt really like the egg afterall, maybe he is more interested in irritating my mum? Who knows? Hehee

That teochew porridge is the de-motivator which pulled me away from lunch at home on Sundays. Hence I was never close to my father cos thats the only few time in the week he sits at home for a meal.

My father loves to have that 5-spice fatty pork dish (in Hokkien, we call it lor bak), or stewed pork in dark sauce. I love it with those pig organs etc.. the type you get when you eat Kuey Chap. But my father likes those pig trotter with bean curd puffs and eggs. And sadly, my mum always follows my father's choice. At that very instant, I would start staging my fight against the porridge!

Its a nostalgia feeling that made me feel like cooking such a simple and traditional fare that winter night. Hence, presenting.. stewed pork with porridge.

Ingredients:

• Cubed pork about 300 to 400 grams
• 4 Hardboiled Eggs
• A few Bean Curd Puffs (depending on size)
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 whole Garlic (smashed lightly)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of Dark Soya Sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon of Salt (depending on personal taste)
• Some water lah!
• 1 tablespoon of five-spice powder
• A packet of Maggi Instant Porridge (my personal favourite)

The expert says:
Basically, throwing everything in a pot and sit around for 1 hour would do the trick. Like sometimes I would say, everyone can cook, it just depends on who can do it well. Hence, I've decided to give you a clearer step-by-step instruction.

If you would need any instrcutions to cook INSTANT porridge, please refer to the back of the packet.

For the stew pork, first, a bit of marination would remove all unwanted smell from the pork. Feeling a little lazy this time, I just added salt and pepper to my cubed pork and finally the five-spice powder. Leave it in the fridge to let it absorb the taste. To start cooking, bring some water to boil maybe like 1 cup) then melt the sugar in the water. When its pretty done, add in the garlic, pork, hardboiled eggs and bean curd puffs. Then more water (this is dependent on how thick or thin you want to sauce to be). Add your salt and dark soya sauce as well. Then leave it alone for about 1 hour at least. But pls remember to check on it from time to time, cos sugar will make it burnt easily.

Thats about it I guess.. All you have to do is to keep waiting then. :)
And while you wait, I'm going to catch some sleep now.. Goodnite!


I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak.. Yummy!
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Go Go Go SocceRoos go!

When we talk about the national animals of Aussie..
First to come in mind would be koala and kangaroo..

There is no need to explain why the Aussie Soccer team calls themselves the SocceRoos! Gosh, this is such a hit nowadays.. Everyone is talking SocceRoos! Thanks to World Cup!

Yeah man! Run For Your Balls!

Yup.. So today, I'm going to show my culinary skills again..
We are not going to eat koala.. we are going for some Kangaroo rather.

I love this cos its really not that oily as compared to other meats I get in the supermarket. So I guess its a healthier choice for all.

You can hop, but you cannot hide! :)

Significance of the dish:
Its my first time cooking and eating kangaroo, so this sort of made me a Newbie to it. But nevertheless, it was such a wonderful experience. The meat was soft and tender. Tentalizes my taste bud till the max!

Presenting.. Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak..

Ingredients:

• Garlic and Herbs Kangaroo Steak (other options discussed later)

Sides:

• Carrots
• Celery
• Cauliflower
• Tomato
• Dash of peppercorn
• Small serve of Bell pepper salad dressing with olive oil

The expert says:
The way you cut your veges really depends on how you wanted to present your dish this time, there isn't any rule to it. Boil your carrots and cauliflower, have your celery and tomato raw, they taste good! Sprinkle your freshly grinded peppercorn on top and finish it off with some salad dressing.
As for your kangaroo steak.. there is a couple of options. You can get the marinated ones from the supermarket, or you can get those plain ones and do your personal marination. I've tried both, and I prefer the ones I marinated myself.. Cos I get to control what goes into my steak to fully bring out the taste of the meat.
A bit more on the "traditional" side, I've actually tried 2 different marination for my steak. First is black pepper one, then a more oriental way of garlic and herb style. Black Pepper has always been my fave.. it goes well with almost anything. To do this dish, simply rub your steak in oyster sauce and black pepper. Then leave it for a couple of hours before cooking. For the garlic n herbs version. Grab some minced garlic, a dash of white pepper and your favourite mixed herbs, not forgetting some oyster sauce and start rubbing it in onto your steak. Again.. leave it for a couple of hours to let the taste set in.
The best way to cook this steak is to oven bake it. Its a slower process as compared to grilling, but you can be assured of better texture of the meat. More tender in other words. Don't over do it.. you are gonna waste your money, cos you will end up with a piece of rubber to chew on. About 20 minutes or so would be a good time. A tip to note, you might want to flip it just to ensure both sides get cooked.

Another way to ensure that you meat (this applies to all sorts of meat) is tender, you might want to pound the meat a few times before you marinate them. The purpose of this pounding is to slightly break the bonding in grains of the meat. If you don't have the proper tool (thats a hammer look-alike tool), you can always use the back of your knife.. But a word of caution, over pounding cause the meat texture to go really bad.. (this is a comment by a top chef I saw on TV years ago)

Interesting point: A glass of shiraz really will go well with this dish.

I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Xiao Mei, yao chi fan mah? Tung Fen hao mah?
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?

Whats so good about Tung Fen?
You have really got to taste it before you know why..

Significance of dish: Reminds me of Chewling... so sad rite? hehe
no lah, it reminds me of Short Circuit rather.. and why link to Chewling? Cos she was the one who always spend the "Rush Hour" with me in Short Circuit. Recalling those FYP days.. when everyday was a busy day.. Rush here n there in the name of FYP..

Why linkage to Short Circuit?
Cos the Thai food stall always sells this.. I know I hated that stall cos her food always has so much oil etc.. Well, I think its my taste bud problem cos I always find fault with that stall I think.. I have no qualms with other stall.. especially the Corona stall.. In fact, I'm kind of scare to walk pass that stall now.. each n everytime, without fail, the aunty will shout "Xiao Mei, ni you hui lai le ah?" grumblesss..
But I still miss my TP..

Anyway, still presenting...

Dish of the Day: Fried Tung Fen with Chinese Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 small packet of Tung Fen
• 1 chinese sausage
• minced garlic
• half a tablespoon of Oyster sauce
• dash of pepper

Garnish:

• Spring Onions (chopped)

The Expert Says:
Remember to soak your Tung Fen before you cook them. Maybe for about 20 mins or less will do. Then dice your chinese sausage into little bits (not too small either).
Right, first, you got to fry your minced garlic in the pan with a little oil till almost golden brown, then throw in your diced sausages.. Watch out for the heat cos sausages can get burnt. After a minute or two, dump in all the Tung Fen and mix well with the sausages and garlic. Next, get some water and mix with the Oyster Sauce, stir well, and pour into the pan (onto the Tung Fen obviously). The Tung Fen will soak up the water in a jiffy. Then finish it off with a dash of pepper.

Anyway, just a word of caution.. this dish is suppose to be dry.. Tung Fen is suppose to be springy and nice.. If your dish turns out to be really soupy.. I suggest you change the name of YOUR dish Tung Fen SOUP.

Sprinkle chopped Spring Onions before serving. TaDA!

Me and Mr Ranjit
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Steamboat in winter
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Queenie bday celeberation
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself

Drunkards
I'm so good that sometimes I even scare myself