Enough of the heat already...

So yesterday places here in Australia were hotter than the sahara, then kenya and so on... Im just thankful that i still live by the coast! Where there is a great breeze off the water and if need be theres the beach. (if i brave the UV rays, no shade etc)

Hubby decided i would be spoiled and at 11am we all headed off to the shops!Goodbye 27deg heat in our house ;)
It was much hotter outside! Hurrying off with nappies and formula supplies we went off to go shopping. Hubby decided he would look at water pistols.. i was more interested in the slime gun ;) only draw back is the expensive slime refills x.x

But we came back with none. James decided he'd had enough shopping.. we'd gone to myer (several times) in which we all came out smelling; James- Kourkos or something like that. I like frangipani (found some interesting body mists) and Tia like lime and coconut. I also found a pot that said perfume balm, but there was no tester. :(

When i got back at 3pm with the kidlets, it was 33deg cel in the house. It rose to 36 deg cels and then started dropping when i noticed it was cooler outside.

Decided to have a very early night, not even staying up to finish watching iron chef. I woke up at 5 am to a storm.. a few minutes later (we had our window open) there was a huge crackle of lightning and flash what seemed just outside. The noise was huge! I was pretty freaked out and checked outside to see if there was a tree on fire or something.. but everything looked normal.
Today has been a really nice day (max of 22deg c) with rain and storm up to lunch time. It was not until 10 had a break with the news that we found out that overnight or yesterday many lives had been lost, with fires burning in our state. :( I hope the houses lost were insured, that the people affected will go on to bigger and better things as they start over.

Lameway er Laneway festival

Reading up on the news i came across a article...

basically it said that due to mass numbers (all ticket holders paying out $100) they had to shut doors to keep ticket holding fans out of stage areas (like where u stand to watch a band on a stage).... interesting

Ive never heard of the laneway festival b4, its held in the cdb Melbourne (and in other cities) and boasts indie music as its main drawcards.. i guess also the fact that its held in the streets??? little lonsdale(sp?) was mentioned.. would make it that bit different and interesting??

Anyways from what i read stages where walk away (on different streets) there was ONE toilet block on offer... so i pity anyone walking in the same spots today!! IT MUST REEEEEK!!! (especially in the heat?!!) PEE-YEEW!!!! You had to line up to get in to any stage area.. and apparently people would line up to see a band and by the time they got in that band had already played and finished! OUCH!

But i guess the real thing thats up laneway goers is that the company behind the festival blames the crowd of people at the event for having to close the doors.. leaving some crazy people to climb and get in dangerous spots.. and yet the company isn't accepting that the locations weren't thought out.. that ticket/crowd numbers werent thought out (another big money grab no doubt) that managing the crowd wasnt thought out..

While i might be on some sort of live music hiatus.. not purely by choice.. and i feel old just thinking about how many years ago it was since i went to a BIG event (not something meant to be "little event" like lameway er laneway (no really thats how i typed it.. lol) Big Day out in sydney 2000... 9years ago!! I bought a bottle of coke for $6 and kept it for a year or so (empty).. who pays $6 for a 600ml coke?!! Big day out is always well planned, lots of toilets, planned acts on different stages.. true i did mostly miss out on foo fighters due to lining up to go (and once u get there u dont need to go anymore.. whats with that???!!!) i opted to go to the toilet block and avoid the rental portable loos...

(Its very sad that girl died at perth big day out this year.. and the fact that she took them for fear of being caught out by the sniffer dogs and yet because she was dropped off and didnt arrive by train meant she wouldnt have been searched anyways! Why take all 3 tho?! Could she not have taken one.. or just thrown them all away? ah well..)

anyways clearly these guys dont know how to do a event or accept responsibility in mismanagement and should refund those who had a right to be there but couldn't due to the size of the crowd??!! Until then i suppose the facebook site, LOL! (which was also included in the article) with all the comments left by those who went, saw and want a refund will be a ton of bad press/media for the festival.

Quickly in other festival type stuff.. i missed this years chinese new year.. but how cool did sydneys CNY look! It was the biggest CNY celebration (road parade) outside china! I also read that Melbournes china town is the longest settlement of chinese in the western world.. hmm..

Underbelly

Living in Victoria, where the court cases are still being heard or yet to be heard and judged has meant that Underbelly the tv series does not air in Victoria.. every other state just not here.
And yet i know alot of people who have already seen the whole series, due to the leaks, piracy and so forth..
In truth i couldnt be bothered to even watch it..
i have no interest in it at all..
not even that its considered breaching court orders for it to be screened (mostly in public venues) makes it the slightest more interesting... to me at least.. yet to victorians who can't watch it each week.. theyve gone out of their way to purchase the season and watch it.. lend it around.. watch it via web, download it via torrents and so forth..
But what has me wondering, if why ban it on tv, when the books are ok? What's the point? that to read the book for free you would have to borrow it from the library or the alternative to actually buy it..

KFC Chicken Melts

picture taken from this blog found via google and it was the only one..
Hubby had it when it first came out and ive seen people eating them every so often in the food court.
KFC chicken melts is: a large tortilla, chopped shallots, chopped tomato, grated cheese and a few pieces of popcorn chicken. I have never actually seen it served with the cheese actually melted!!!!!!!!!!(only in pictures) Its pretty sucky, overpriced and a huge mess to eat. Its a tortilla folded in half and then cut into 4-5 pieces..

Heat Rash

A heat wave had hit melbourne.. and it was a few hours till my mum and sister flew in/took the train and arrived. This was Thursday.
It was a easy 30 deg plus day, Tia and i walked at 9.30am to her daycare, then a 20min walk in the path of the sun and no shade to Hubby work to drop off the brownies i made the night before(which he forgot to take that morning) *which i had a sit-down and cool down in the air con* and then walking 20mins back in the other direction to the shops. At about 1.30pm i left the shops, walked home in the heat. 2.30pm back out in the heat 10min walk there and back to pick up Tia.
Trying to clean the house, organize bedding, towels, pillows and other chores.. before doing another 10min walk to the laundromat at around 5-6pm *still baking hot* ordered some hot chips from the shop next door and sat in the h-o-t laundromat for 45mins before walking home again, resting my feet and still trying to de-clutter, clean and organise the house..
and then i saw a huge blotchy blood red patch...
argh instant stress!!!!!!!!!!
My heat rash was on the back of my leg just above my ankle.
My heat rash, is only itchy after waking up in the morning from rubbing on the sheets. Im what 23 weeks pregnant, not far along. But it was the first day or so without taking a few cold showers thru the day to cool down, wearing long pants... usually on hot days i do nothing, stay inside, with cold baths/showers to cool down.
My heat rash looked heaps blotchy, bright blood red. it was really strange. I had no stiff joints, neck, headache, no new cold symptoms. (ruling out anything nasty) i only felt sick due to me stressing over it all.

Day 2 of the heat rash it had gone from blood red to a wine, magenta colour. It was going down. However with walking for 6+hrs shopping locally even in air con. (my pants must have been rubbing the back of my leg) I noticed a faint pink blotchiness that eventually went bright red later that night.

Day 3 was a trip to the city in the afternoon. The first heat rash had dulled even more. The new heat rash in same spot just different patches.. slowly turning magenta. This day was filled with 3-4hrs walking in melbourne, (melbourne central, bourke st mall, lil bourke st, down to flinders st station, then over to southgate and back to flinders st station)

Day 4 was beach day. Old rash still hanging on, light red. New rash being stubborn and magenta. Got cream. paraderm was apparently a good cream for itches, bites and heat rash but has been dis-continued. *no where had it* So mum bought me the new cream, thats supposed to be the same called Medi Quattro First aid cream.

Day 5 was yet another scorcher in the heat wave. stayed home till 2pm and then walked 20mins to the train station to say bye to my mum. poor tia was so hot her face had turned bright red. i decided to take it easy and rest in the air con of the shopping centre for a few hours.
Both rash had gone down a bit more

Day 6 1st rash is a slight orange/pink can hardly see it. 2nd rash clinging on tad magenta pretty dull.

And by day 7-9 it had completely gone.

where have i been?

Busy playing tetris with my mum on the 360, out shopping and showing off all the lolly and the lincraft & spotlight stores among everything else shops we have locally.

***NOTE if anything doesnt make sense and i dont use grammar and everything just turns into 1 big sentenance with sp mistakes its coz its damn fracking hot and the laptop is like typing on a heater. so deal with it. i might be nice and come back when the melbourne heat wave is o-v-e-r. my sympathy to all those in S.A****

umm so anyways i'll have some pictures up tomorrow when i have control of the pc.
i'll let u in on my rash... digestion.... horray.. err

and probably rant about china locking down tibet and making it impossible to get any info out of the area or pictures on any human rights abuses and so forth. come on china, u need not hide it.. we already know ur as guilty as O.J simpson and getting away with it.. olympics anyone????? PAH!!!!!!!!!!

WTH & attacked by a bird

Ugh! yesterday was a ugly ugly day!!!!!!!!!!
The pet shop did not call us. We expressed our interest in a kitten, were told we could not even put a deposit it on the kitten until the vet saw it on tuesday. But our name and number were recorded into the shops daily journal to call us straight after the vet had come/gone.. THAT THE KITTEN WOULD BE OFFERED TO US FIRST.
However i went out on wednesday to see a sign saying our kitten had been sold. I thought perhaps it was gone, somehow... or perhaps it was coz our name was down for it.. never recieved that call for the kitten.. not even for the others. that's right they had all been sold come thursday! Hubby argued with the pet shop staff that night. I was coping that ok my kitten has gone, but theres still the other 2.. but then being told
THEY HAD ALL BEEN SOLD. I burst into tears. (which the pet shop lady was pretty upset about.. upsetting a pregnant woman.. pfft)
So friday morning when the manager was in, hubby called to speak with the manager. Legally the kittens have gone we were told, but they are offering us a discount on any other kittens, with a few new ones added today. Quite rightly i think the staff are in for A TON OF CRAP from the manager. Our kitten was sold right after the vet left, right from under us.. with the staff person not following their policy... and with the rest of them not following the policy.

SO PISSED OFF!!!!!!!!!!! and so is Hubby...

but anyways *i'm at the point were i just dont want to think about it anymore, i just feel so sick*

However, i still do want a kitten!!!!

on the way to the shops, walking..(earlier to kitten incident) i was attacked by a bird. walking under a tree, when i heard a bird noise in my ear and felt something touch the top of my head. I wont be walking under that tree again.. i dont know what kind of bird it was.. i think seagulls could possibly be nesting right now, i've noticed alot more of them more inland than usual.. it happens about this time each year. I remember hearing alot of gun shots when we first moved into the area, and i thought.. gosh this really is a B-A-D suburb.. but after a few shots and listening.. it was used to scare huge flocks of seagulls away.. err.... until they returned a few minutes later..
I'm glad it didnt draw any blood... when i was a kid. I was attacked/swooped on by a magpie and it scratched my forehead. i remember running home shit scared with blood dripping onto my school uniform, and being driven to school the same way.. looking out for *that* magpie. I was late to class, with something for show and tell!!!! For the rest of the week i was driven to school perhaps, and a lady who lived on that street would walk me past that area waving a newspaper in the air.

A great weekend!

started on saturday, i was itching to leave.. early.. but no we left on time.
Got into the city, got off at central. remembered what street the hotel was on, william st! and that is errr where? all i could remember was flagstaff station (inconveniently closed on weekends) flagstaff gardens was opposite and it was north of chinatown. Hubby was happy and kept saying that if he saw the map where it was we would have no problems getting there. lol.. so it took some walking, some consulting of those handy map poles and a long walk.. but we got there
Darn the batteries are flat in the camera! Discovered this on the walk.. Went up to the top 10th floor.. ah luxury!!! What a room! and a real bed! 2 tvs.. hot chocolate, decaff, coffee all waiting to be used or taken home.. hahahaha
But wait... theres wine in a ice bucket and a ox of chocolates.. that wasnt planned.. lucky theres a card.. and gosh its a card from hubbys boss and his wife congratulating us on a year in melbourne!
I dont think we are still over that, how superbly generous and kind.. wow.. i guess the chocolates are for me? i claim them anyways ;) lol
After hubby has a few drinks we go and get some batteries, walk around the place. Checked out minotaur and the sanrio shop! Were im flustered is it being surrounded by hello kitty everything or the prices? $40 for a hello kitty shopping bag?!! i settle for a $8.50 lanyard for my keys and $8.50 on 2 hello kitty hair clips and 2 hello kitty hair ties.. OW! But wait ive already got $7 store credit on my HK membership card!!! whoot! perhaps every $10 spent i get $1 store credit.. awesome..
back to the hotel room with batteries, hello kitty stuff! and sore feet..
Thinking of dinner, not wanting to go far by now.. hmm lets have room service.. lol. never done that before! My lasagna n chips i felt ripped off, where was the belchamel(sp?) sauce? it was just layers of sheets n meat with shavings of parmasan(sp? stinky cheese) cheese. the chips, were amazing! No joke.. Hubbys fish n chips was whiting fillets bout 5 of them pretty small with chips, lemon, tomatoe sauce and some other mayonaise-ish mustardy sauce.
That night we watched foxtel for some reason.. and then went upstairs and checked out the small gym and the spa/pool.. and had a great time. Came back to the room and put tia to bed..
i got in our spa bath, but turned it off as it was noisy and im over the whole spa thing by now.
Into bed and asleep..

next morning we went to the queen victoria markets, which we havent done before. It was massive, always repeating and tiring. *yawn* we went pretty early and by the time we were leaving it was starting to get busy! i found a stall selling churros and got one for all of us... we then tried in vain not to get our clothes covered in icing sugar. doh! Found a stall that was selling fudge! OHMYGOSH! real fudge! And how many flavours?! crikey!!! I got one $3.50 caramel.. Watched the suga factory people make some lollies and found a present for the boss. Rock candy with the words 'thank you' inside.. it was great fun, some of the t-shirts were funny, but you can get those.. also got a awesome heat pack that once i saw was different to the ones u just microwave i had to have it! ;) And hubby has taken it to work today, to show people..

Then it was off to breakfast, magnation on elizabeth st, a games shop, chinatown and the crowds. I was disapointed, perhaps by the time we got there it was 12, last year i thought the lion dances were around 12-1pm, this year they seemed to be earlier. Still there was dragons, massive dragon and lots of lions dancing around and a crowd that followed them everywhere. Dont forget the loudness of the fire crackers ouch! The markets up the top were a joke. this year it seems they were mainly just from banks and boring companies.. the joke was that it being on the road. there was a massive amount of dangerous crowds pushed next to the markets so one lane of the road could be kept open for those to use the car park!!! i kid you not.. the space you get to walk/squeeze thru is about 2m wide. im so glad people didnt get trampled to death! we got out of that quickly, what i thought was quickly but we had not gotten far at all.. i was really pissed at how rude people were considering we had tia. So hubby stayed with our stuff and tia and i went off to get some footage of lions and dragons.. and fire crackers..
it was great, loud and im about to really get nasty at the next person who decides to interfere in my personal space.. as it turns out i didnt have too. Im watching kids making paper lotus flowers with a incense stick i was given when this lady does so and ends up wearing the end of my incense stick ash, stupid woman! It put it out alright, i thinking that might have burnt.. she notices on her red (meant to be lucky) t-shirt that it has ash on it now.. including the black ash.. i cant stop thinking of how dumb she was.. and glad that God gets his own back without us having to do anything..
we found the sonic manipulator guy, getting ready and straight up asked for his cd. i think he was kinda shocked about that, but i did say the next time i saw him we would get his cd.
after that we are walking back to the hotel and then to southern cross station to get a train back home. What a day! Used the heat pack on the train home on my back, hips and knees... got home and went and had a nap. Hubby woke me in time to watch the biggest looser, awww...

Happy Chinese New year weekend slide show

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

first time at smile box. Wish i had some more time to go thru all the designs and ones that would shrink my photos and stuff. but this will have to do.
Pics: Our room, the kitchen, the bathroom and spa bath, the upstairs big spa, night view from rooftop, view from big spa room, view out the window in the morning with a big balloon out there ;), china town chinese new year lion dance, chinese new year dragon, room service lasagna n chips $17 & fish n chips $34!!!, picture of mirror roof in elevator, lil finch birds in macdonalds in the city, sculpture that i studied in school thats in the city, a bottle of lovely local wine in ice and a box of chocolates a surprise arrival gift from hubbys boss!!!!!!!

Everything is going up

Today on the news there was something about the price of bread, pork and lamb prices are on the rise! *sigh* We arent big lamb eaters and hardly ever eat pork, but bread?! Isnt bread at $3-$5 high enough lol! Sure everyone seems to be jumping up and down over interest rates, oil prices. Last time i looked Wheat was selling really well, which is great for farmers. I understand that to make and deliver bread they use farm equipment & big trucks which can be bought via a bank loan and uses oil.
*rant 1 over*

And rent, yes guess who got a call followed by a registered post letter about a rent increase of this crappy box thats 40years old?! With no renovations done (oh i forgot about the newly laid 2nd hand carpet they put in b4 we moved in) No backyard, No laundry, No room for anything to do laundry, the smallest hot water system i ever did see (fits in the kitchen cupboard!), the place were we had to deal with the prostitute next door, the weed dealers further up, constant bombardment of real estate letters 'sell now', 'such and such just listed', 'such and such just sold need more sellers', 'auction coming soon need more sellers', 'such and such saw such a place and wasnt what they wanted looking for more sellers' (i can live with that bit lol).
Rent has always been paid in advance, never been behind. So a rent increase, is great coz we have been trying on and off to get out of here for ages now! I know next door has been sold, new paint, new wooden floor in the living/dining area its going for $165 a week, just listed last week.
Ours will go from $130-$150 a week in 60days time.

"taking into account, factors such as increases in the landlords costs over the year, the current demand for rental accomodation in the area and the length of time you have lived in the property, we believe the increased rent to be in line with the current rental market value and fair to both parties"

Fair to both parties? I'm lost how any of those things make it fair to me? Are being penalized for being good tennants, not breaking the lease and staying for almost a year? (the only fixed thing i got them to do was the toilet as it was constantly running and we dont pay the water bill!)
Ive often thought of a bureaucratic red tape affair of the government valuing houses that they have to have certain standards like a good renovation or being less than 20yrs old stuff like that to moderate house prices, to throw a huge spanner into the market.. of course its not going to happen.. but seriously the crappy places that are listed at such prices is pretty insane. I guess there are alot of people waiting for the housing bubble to burst.. just how much longer can it go? How long will home-occupied owners be pushed out of the market coz of investors spending their equity paying off their mortages by pushing up rents that are 'fair to both parties'.
Is it fair to push up the prices because its harder to get a new place?

I seriously can't wait to get out of here and see how long it takes for someone to see this place and say 'yeah this crap box is worth $150a wk'..

I'm getting my saving boots on and we are going to save extra cash up so we can get the next good place i see with a laundry, a backyard, a fence and actually close to a school! ^^ We save up the extra to sweeten the deal with the agent by being able to pay more weeks in advance when we apply.

"please contact us if you would like to sign another tenancy agreement for the above property"

NO WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY in HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another great chocolate trip.. i mean city trip ;)

What a day! Im glad to be absolutely energy-less! :D
We missed our train that would have gotten us there on time, it seems they have put more trains on in the morning (as usually there was a train 1 hr after that one) so there was only a 15 minute gap between the one we missed and the one we got on! (which was waiting already) The morning was awesome! Windy, cold-ish and some light rain! What a break from the heat and sun!

Got in and waited for the other special people to arrive, read in a directory about the clock how it does this marionette opening thing on the hour. maria and jenna arrived and we waited for the clock thing.. and so was 2 different school groups and other tourists.. it was 3 minutes late! funny!Off to the usual chocolate feast place, max brenners. Jenna had a Popsicle fondue (very interesting!) Maria had a 1/2 or 1/4 strength cappuccino in a kangaroo mug, it has a extra pouch at the side of the mug where melted chocolate can be licked.(photo below) (Tia had a milk hot chocolate (which i didnt actually ask for, but oh well.. she can consider herself spoilt for the day) and a chocolate lick now $2.20 (gone up 20c)I had a dark chocolate mocha which was rather on the dark bitter side than i expected and a rich brownie(which the waiter forgot about til i said i was still waiting on it, she still did a good job remembering our order off the top of her head, how many times did we test her? lol).
Tia enjoying the ribbons from the presents Maria & Jenna gave us! Also wearing her funky necklaces that she got! *forgot to try out the torch tonight, will have to try it tomorrow. ;)Maria and I!
Presents i received. YAY! presents! =D Much appreciated! A Tea towel with christmas theme, (we have survived with only 2 tea towels all year.. lol!) a purrrty basket with mini christmas puddings inside, a good health magazine (which i thought would be great to read on the trip home, but spent more time pointing at 2 pages that were 100kj & 400kj with tia pointing out chocolate, chips, strawberry, cheese, sushi etc lol!) a sample of some special baby bath stuff and some stickers! whoot! ;)

A trip to krispy kreme while the queue was short picked up a chocolate glazed creme filled, to share with hubby.Breadtop for lunch! Wishing there was a local one! Love their little buns, rolls, donuts not keen on pork floss buns or chicken & mushroom donut lol! But they have alot of yummy stuff. Also decided to pick up for later. Some choc chip buns & some Red bean Mochi.Central Groceries? Is the asian imports grocery shop where i stock up on mens pocky and look at the daifuku & other mochi (made in taiwan tho, i rather either Japan or Aussie made.. picky arent i)
A visit to L'Occitane, came across a Honey Massage nectar.

Light and soothing. Blend of propolis, royal jelly and honey from Provençal hives soothes; linden extract and bisabolol extract calm and help reduce irritation. Natural honey aroma pleases the senses. Use as a comforting massage lotion or as a body lotion. Suitable for adults and children ages three and up.

On my wish list! Not oily which is great, i hate giving a massage only to get oily hands and think about how terrible it is for hubbys skin.. especially if he falls asleep. Smells good, not over bearing like some cheap stuff!

It was great day! In L'Occitane Tia was asked if jenna was her sister, lol! And after that Tia was very happy to call jenna 'sister'. Tia cried when went to go home on the train, she wanted her sister! lol! Very cute.

Now to get some sleep... Night all! ;)

yawn

Theyv'e figured out how to clone things, but yet the theories are still out on why we yawn, what happens when we yawn and why is it contagious.
Wikipedia:

"Hypothesized causes of yawning

1. A means of cooling the brain.^[5]
2. An action used as an unconscious communication of psychological decompression after a state of high alert.
3. A means of expressing powerful emotions like anger, apathy, apprehension, remorse or boredom. ^{[citation needed]}
4. An excess of carbon dioxide and lack of oxygen in the blood. [1]
5. A way of displaying (or indicative of) apathy.
6. Tiredness

A recent hypothesis raised in 2007 by Andrew C. Gallup and Gordon Gallup of the University of Albany states that yawning may be a means to keep the brain cool. Mammalian brains operate best when they are cool. In an experiment, he showed several groups of people videos of other people yawning. When the subjects held heat packs up to their foreheads while viewing the videos, they yawned often. But when they held cold packs up to their foreheads or breathed through their noses (another means of brain cooling), they did not yawn at all. ^{[5] [6]}

Another recent hypothesis is that yawning is used for regulation of body temperature."

"The yawn reflex is often described as contagious: if one person yawns, this will cause another person to "sympathetically" yawn.^[3][10] Observing another person's yawning face (especially his/her eyes), or even reading about or thinking about yawning, can cause a person to yawn.
You could possibly be yawning from reading this section or looking at these pictures.^[3][11] However, only about 55% of people in a given audience will respond to such a stimulus; fewer if only the mouth is shown in a visual stimulus.^[12]
The proximate cause for contagious yawning may lie with mirror neurons, i.e. neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates, which upon being exposed to a stimulus from conspecific (same species) and occasionally interspecific organisms, activates the same regions in the brain.^[13] Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for imitation which lies at the root of much human learning, e.g. language acquisition. Yawning may be an offshoot of the same imitative impulse. A 2007 study found that children with autism spectrum disorders, unlike typical children, did not yawn after seeing videos of other people yawning; this supports the claim that contagious yawning is based on the capacity for empathy."

I've been having trouble sleeping lately, i think its due to the all-of-a-sudden summer-like weather. A few hot nights and a few sunny hot days. Today was a yawning day, couldn't stop! perhaps i should have gone for a short walk to get some fresh air, but ive been busy surfing the web, reading blogs and stuck into my book! ;)

I think the santa parade was today in Melbourne? i havent seen any pictures of it in the news or on the web, so perhaps its a bit of a non-event? Even the Melbourne cup parade hardly got any time on the news, no apparently politics, and all the yukky awful stuff that goes on is more important.. bummer

DH is enjoying his work, especially making his databases for his work.. *yawn*
I tried out the nandos hot peri peri sauce and didnt expect it to be quite so hot! but it was! im impressed, now i know not to use so much next time! ;)

So has the summer heat hit your place? how many times have you yawned while reading this post (more than usual hahahaa!)

Today is Remembrance Day!

We were all out clothes shopping at target for the new business development manager (DH) its all been announced in a fancy memo which he (and everyone else) got on his birthday, its all official! YAY! Anyways in target they had the 1 minute silence & the trumpet thingy..
i thought this was interesting (even tho i guessed why they used it)

The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. A Frenchwoman, E. Guérin, introduced the widely used artificial poppies given out today. Some people choose to wear white poppies, which emphasises a desire for peaceful alternatives to military action.

I also didnt know of the poem, i've probably heard it.. but reading stuff stays in my head longer than verbal stuff. (plus i did ancient history at school not modern)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— John McCrae

on another late melbourne cup note: (its over isn't it?)
DH boss, has been the first saab in the melbourne cup parade for a few years now (the one with the major, his kids, the cup and usually a emirates chicky, this year it was singer/actor delta goodrem in the back holding the cup!) :D

Feelin spoilt part 2

all the mobile charms & capsules from the vending machine (and only 1 good guy!) 8 I love egg, 1 disney princess, 1 hello kitty surfing edition & 1 gundam something. i think we got a bit carried away we eventually ran out of $2 coins.. lol!
(pic~ more-than-likely-bootleg hello kitty & charming kitty mobile charms that i put on my bag, since my mobile is already very crowded.. it was from a small shop in a arcade i think.. buy 1 get 1 free for 2bux.. and now i cant sneak up on people and make a constant jingle where ever i go).

My mobile kitty collection by ~o0dust0o on deviantART


(pic~ look its the melbourne central cone view from swanston st from memory..)
Re the hot rods: had some more today weren't as hot.. or as hot as wicked wings, definitely differ from batch/store etc.. ^^

Re: hello kitty shop is (im sure DH would luv me to edit him out so there is no proof he looked/was there but i'm 2 lazy) the real thing, no bootleg stuff here! (it wasnt open when we 1st walked past, had to come back later)(pic~ My hello kitty membership card! and a free sticker!)

Forgot to get pocky at central, so found them cheaper in chinatown.. ^^ Got 2 boxes for gifts, but the rest is for us ;)

Unfortunately the bottleshop in chinatown had no Goshu 40 sake (finest sake) so DH went without :( but he still has his other cheaper sake! ^^ but it would have been nice, considering its the only place that we found that does/did stock it.
We walked back towards flinders, as we decided to visit Magnation (in another attempt to get DH 3d world magazine) which we did find, YAY! And i found this awesome magazine Kateigaho internation edition of KIE its all about Japan's Arts & culture! Its so hard to read!! (its in english) but its hard to read coz its overloaded with awesome stuff, pure overload! you look at the pictures or start reading one page and your mind says 'whats on the next page? why dont u stop reading and go back to drooling over each page again.. over and over'.. and argh! So i havent read much, its a seasonal magazine (Thank God) but im wondering how much 9,520Yen is as thats a 12month (4 magazines) subscription! (jus checked $91 roughly.. phew!)

(pic~ bitter dark choc truffles from patchi, 1 box is a gift ^^)

Then I think we headed home, had some lunch and I asked for a perfume! ^^ (I’ve been wanting it since I saw it on special for half its usual price!) so that’s another perfume to cross of my list ;) hehe! (perfume~ Hillary Duff with love)

(pic~ Max brenners, 1 dark Venezuelan hot choc & 1 milk Venezuelan(sp?) hot choc & the all-famous chocolate lick for Tia. I quite liked both, the milk was sweet, the dark was rich n heavy, also DH had a different theory on how to hold a hug mug by drinking from the pointiest end.. who knows?!)

(pic~ flinders st station, pidgeons & seagulls)

Got home (best train trip back from the city ever! The time flew past!), tried to have a nap.. but couldn’t fall asleep so I stayed up and played poker online (not real money) and lost $900 ouch! (thank goodness its not real! I don’t gamble with real money!!) played more games, made dinner.. ate & watched iron chef the sardine battle.. chen wins even with a sardine, sour cream icecream! Played more video games with DH now and then went to bed.

Sunday was cool! Playing video games with DH, then out shopping (for sake) played some DDR. It’s a super hot day! Like a summer day, the spring we have been having was more winter-ish since its rained a lot. Even today is overcast, but its hot! (think I got sunburnt, dammit!) talked DH into getting a Wii.. got it home and then found out it wasn’t turning on, so DH had to walk back (not happy bout that) and get another one. While out, it was surprising that Tia saw something she wanted and asked for it!(she doesn’t normally.. but has started too) Very cute.. it was a Disney princess game for the wii but its not out yet unfortunately, although a 4 year old doesn’t understand why they have a box but no game!

(pic~ street entertainer near chinatown, i promise to show u more of this guy soon! ;) Sound and all..)

Feelin soooo Spoilt!

(pic~ frankston station on the opposite side the train comes in on..looks dingy huh!)
Gosh!

Well where should i start?
LOL! Ok friday night we took the train in to the city, all nice and slow which was so nice compared to the usual rush-rush some trips/vacations/outings have.. we got into the city at 8pm, checked in at the formule 1 hotel.. to find out that it was a different room and wasnt exactly made/cleaned.. (see pic) we figured they had over-booked the standard room so we got the upgrade (just a extra bed) then we went out into the city and i took the role as 'tourist' taking photos of just about everything.. trams, lights, buildings.. that was fun! (pic~ flinders st station i think)
Had bad takeaway, KFC.. hot rods just about burnt a hole in my mouth soooo spicy! people sitting next to us were french tourists turning a shade of red eating them too. To think DH went for the interview and had the job there if his current Job came thru.. funny enough all 3 jobs DH went for, 2 offered and 1 tried to talk him out of taking the job! And the one he has now is the one where his Boss tried to talk him out of accepting the position as a production worker! ^^ God came thru for us!
(pic~chinatown)
I love being in the cities at night! Especially in sydney.. but melbourne was close!
Walked around a bit, went to chinatown... and the rest is a bit of blur.. DH and I hardly slept at all the night.. it was awful, perhaps to hot (aircon is noisy and right over the top of tia.. not to mention the aircon sucks in the curtain so they are really all BADLY designed rooms.. but for a cheapie hotel who can complain? OH and thanks to the irish guy who decided to have a chat in the hallway at some sort time in the morning when i was almost off to sleep.. ARGH!)
the next morning we set off to go shopping! Had maccas breakie one of those evil deluxe breakfast deli choice rolls ( 2 bacon, 2 sausage patties, 2 eggs on a 6inch roll).. walked to melbourne central.. and we were like... oh how many times did we walk past this place?! lol! (before finding our flat we lived in the city in cheap hotels, the same formule 1 (once it opened) & hotel enterprize which is opposite southern cross station)

So i took DH and Tia to max Brenners (no surprise there!!) and to patchi (for more chocolate browsing etc) went to Borders (to get a magazine for DH, but they were out! I got book 3 in my Rozen maiden manga series & Tia got a powerpuff girls book)
~~ pictures & more to come~~
So we went back to chinatown.. Went to the Sanrio shop!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! thats right, i got spoilt!!! The Hello kitty shop!!! *faints from prices!* i was encouraged from DH to get something (so we could leave!) and because i was getting spoilt! i got a new wallet and another wallet/pocket thing either for a camera or my palm (which i rarely use) and tia got a sheet of stickers for $5!! OW! 0.o It felt good be surrounded by hello kitty stuff (however i think testosterone and hello kitty clash, there was another couple in there and the dude said, 'i'll wait outside' i bet they hear that as much as a bra/underwear shop! hahah) I also got a hello kitty membership and yes, i cried! weird? perhaps.. LOL! (not that i care)
In the chinatown/target arcades are these mobile charm capsule machines.. and theres usually a hello kitty one.. (and there was) but there was also ones for I love Egg!!!! (the cops n robbers series!) to be cont..






----------------
Now playing: Rihanna - Shut Up and Drive
via FoxyTunes

City trip

Loved the birthday card!! Thanks Maria!

(ahem just had to answer the door.. not mormons.. i think 7 day adventists? they offer the watchtower and awake magazine.. i was all smiley and said 'no thankyou but thanks anyways' and they said 'thanks for coming to ur door' um yeah in my pjs on my birthday..)

Yesterday...

Went to melbourne central. (id been thru melb central train station and seen a food court on my way out to the city.. i had no idea it was a huuuggge shopping place!)


I met Maria!

Yay! I thought she oozed self confidence! Go chicky.... and so very thoughful! And patient with me being such a city-noob, oh and that we were a bit late coz i missed the 9am train as the time on my mob was 2minutes slower and apparently the train was running on time if not a wee-bit early.. i almost went on the train without buying a ticket for Tia, she is now 4 and now she has to have a ticket

me im a bundle of nervous energy (but then when aren't i?!) even on my birthday im a bundle of nervous energy.. i tried to think of some sort of conversational piece but my brain was either scrambled in awe or blank..

i thought maria was a awesome, brainy conversationalist. Maria gave me a nutrimetics foot balm and foot scrub and a awesome new bible with a fancy cover, never had one with a spunky cover! Thank you sooo much!!!! Its so special ;)

First off was Max Brenners... and yum! Heres the shop bit:

lots of yummy chocolates! & u can buy the hug mug suckatoo and other fancy mugs & powders to make the drinks...















Maria's drink.. suckatoo? i cant remember the spelling.. way to sweet for me!








Heres my drink the dark java chocolate with orange zest in the hug mug. yumm... rich and filling for a drink!



















tia & her $2 dip n lick.. melted chocolate











Looking at steve madden shoes, i saw one pair i liked, tall steep chunky for $229.00 definately out of my budget! (and for most normal people too!!!!!!!!)
Tia loves shoes!















the blue fire grill place had a chocolate fountain!!


And the pizza was ok.. but i like my pizza to have cheese on it not just a cheese sprinkle was meant to have mozzarella & Parmesan (sp?) Tia wasnt interested in pizza or sitting still, there was this big ottoman and a mirror.. and she loves looking at herself in a mirror.. i think tia was a bit more behaved in that, yes she was not doing the whole 'being good eating out' thing but there was a group there that were heaps rowdy, loud (altho happy) to be cont..