Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A different type of movie night
Normally, Mo and I will spend our precious Friday nights going for a quiet dinner, and a movie. We'd go for a drive or a walk through the city afterwards, soaking in the cityscape. Either that, or we'd come home, cook up a storm - one heck of a Friday dinner; sure to have leftovers. We'd retire into the night watching multiple movie rentals, usually cheesy horror and action flicks. Sometimes, we'd be blessed with an engaging thriller with some anonymous protagonist starring in the movie.
Somehow, he had a new venue. Maybe he was sick of the usual routine. Come to think of it, the novelty of all that has pretty much worn out more or less. It's still exciting, and very pleasant, but the excitement and the feeling of it being a 'night out' kind of fizzed out.
Drove to the Coburg Drive-In through a handy Melway.
There was a light drizzle, but it didn't faze alot of the drivers who drove over to enjoy a nice drive-in movie.
We chose to watch The Kingdom. A movie shot in Saudi Arabia. It came off feeling like the movie was shot in an extremely closed and controlled environment.
Alot of the scenes were shot in the desert, and in buildings; there were no scenes of life in Saudi Arabia.
It's not very well-known to most who haven't met a Saudi, been to Saudi Arabia or read up about the culture and life there, but taking pictures of women there is a huge offence. It's not unknown for divorces to have the reason of "wife's face was taken in a picture during a women's only party", which somehow went sour and bluetoothed to other phones, including men, who hardly interact with women, to get their hands on such pictures.
We drove in, and we saw what would be described as a huge, empty area of road, peppered with cement/plastic posts with neon tags stuck on them for visibility in the dark, when headlights reflect off them.
These posts flagged the areas you were supposed to drive next to.
We got cosy at a chosen spot right smack in the middle of the screen, only to realise we were at the wrong movie.
The area is open, so all three screens could be seen showing movies at the same time, just separated by fences that had the 'theater' number on them.
We drove to our spot, got off, and decided to grab dinner at the Village Diner.
Our first time at a drive in theater diner! It came off pretty retro looking despite attempts to modernise it with the new menus and all.
I had a chicken schnitzel burger meal, with fries and a coke. Mo ordered fries and and hot jam doughnuts.
The burger was HUUUUGE. Probably as huge as a tea cup plate. Yes, that big. The fries were gigantic as well, thick and yummy.
Strangely, they didn't have sweet chilli sauce, but I guess that's a city thing to cater for the so-called more cosmopolitan urban dwellers who're more ethnic food-savvy.
Later, we went back to the car and found out they actually deliver it to your car if you call them from your spot. Whoops. Anyway, at least we saw the diner.
Movie advertisements. I watched Ratatouille, and the making of Ratatouille at the ACMI (Australian Center for Moving Image) at the PIXAR exhibition.
My advice - Watch it.
Its one of the best 3D animation movies to have come out in a while. Not to mention the exquisite 3D food in there. Wow.
At first, we found it strange that there were these strips of raised horizontal columns that striped the field of the movie area, sort of like those speed humps you see on residential areas, but longer and slightly higher.
But later we found out from observing the other cars was that you actually park the front of your car on these speed humps so that the view from the car is raised, and the view of the raised screen actually becomes larger.
For those wondering how we actually can hear the movie, no, they don't have extra loud outdoor discotheque-style speakers that would bring the sky down!
Much to my surprise, the Coburg drive-in is located quite inside a coburg suburb in a residential area.
We tune in through the radio. That way, we can listen to the sound effects/music as loud as we want it to.
Info brochures.
I thought this was a great deal.
I'd want to visit this place again sometime.
Though it was drizzling, the mood was great, the place was super retro and smacked of the swinging 60's all-American life where these drive-ins were popular as chocolate cherry milkshakes in diners.
Current Mood:
Satisfied
Current Tunes: None
Somehow, he had a new venue. Maybe he was sick of the usual routine. Come to think of it, the novelty of all that has pretty much worn out more or less. It's still exciting, and very pleasant, but the excitement and the feeling of it being a 'night out' kind of fizzed out.
Drove to the Coburg Drive-In through a handy Melway.
There was a light drizzle, but it didn't faze alot of the drivers who drove over to enjoy a nice drive-in movie.
We chose to watch The Kingdom. A movie shot in Saudi Arabia. It came off feeling like the movie was shot in an extremely closed and controlled environment.
Alot of the scenes were shot in the desert, and in buildings; there were no scenes of life in Saudi Arabia.
It's not very well-known to most who haven't met a Saudi, been to Saudi Arabia or read up about the culture and life there, but taking pictures of women there is a huge offence. It's not unknown for divorces to have the reason of "wife's face was taken in a picture during a women's only party", which somehow went sour and bluetoothed to other phones, including men, who hardly interact with women, to get their hands on such pictures.
We drove in, and we saw what would be described as a huge, empty area of road, peppered with cement/plastic posts with neon tags stuck on them for visibility in the dark, when headlights reflect off them.These posts flagged the areas you were supposed to drive next to.
We got cosy at a chosen spot right smack in the middle of the screen, only to realise we were at the wrong movie.
The area is open, so all three screens could be seen showing movies at the same time, just separated by fences that had the 'theater' number on them.
We drove to our spot, got off, and decided to grab dinner at the Village Diner.
Our first time at a drive in theater diner! It came off pretty retro looking despite attempts to modernise it with the new menus and all.
I had a chicken schnitzel burger meal, with fries and a coke. Mo ordered fries and and hot jam doughnuts.
The burger was HUUUUGE. Probably as huge as a tea cup plate. Yes, that big. The fries were gigantic as well, thick and yummy.
Strangely, they didn't have sweet chilli sauce, but I guess that's a city thing to cater for the so-called more cosmopolitan urban dwellers who're more ethnic food-savvy.
Later, we went back to the car and found out they actually deliver it to your car if you call them from your spot. Whoops. Anyway, at least we saw the diner.
Movie advertisements. I watched Ratatouille, and the making of Ratatouille at the ACMI (Australian Center for Moving Image) at the PIXAR exhibition.
My advice - Watch it.
Its one of the best 3D animation movies to have come out in a while. Not to mention the exquisite 3D food in there. Wow.
At first, we found it strange that there were these strips of raised horizontal columns that striped the field of the movie area, sort of like those speed humps you see on residential areas, but longer and slightly higher.
But later we found out from observing the other cars was that you actually park the front of your car on these speed humps so that the view from the car is raised, and the view of the raised screen actually becomes larger.
For those wondering how we actually can hear the movie, no, they don't have extra loud outdoor discotheque-style speakers that would bring the sky down!
Much to my surprise, the Coburg drive-in is located quite inside a coburg suburb in a residential area.
We tune in through the radio. That way, we can listen to the sound effects/music as loud as we want it to.
Info brochures.
I thought this was a great deal.
I'd want to visit this place again sometime.
Though it was drizzling, the mood was great, the place was super retro and smacked of the swinging 60's all-American life where these drive-ins were popular as chocolate cherry milkshakes in diners.
Current Mood:
SatisfiedCurrent Tunes: None
@ 9:00 PM
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Work Deviations
While it can be pretty fun at work because of the relatively liberal atmosphere, Chris and I generally try to keep it half casual, half formal.
Work's still work. But I'd say, compared to the work ethics in Singapore and Malaysia, Australia's workplace standards can be summed up in one phrase - once you've experienced the system you never want to go back to the crappy South East Asian one...at least, as a worker or a salary man.
If you're operating your own business, of course, it's a completely different matter altogether.
Unless you're working a greasy cash-in-hand Chinese/Indian restaurant job that pays you $7 an hour (still probably beats working a $3.50 an hour, 12 hour shift at KFC), working in Melbourne can be a very leisurely and rather fulfilling experience.
...Except for the recent IR laws, which enables an employer to legally strip you of your rights, including docking your pay, underpaying you, no overtime pay and so on. I doubt taking a cue from Asian countries' standard lack of worker's right is the right step forward in terms of progress.
Anyway...
Chris and I were sent out to hand deliver some of the finished work to our company's regular clients. We only send a couple of them out occasionally if they're located in the heart of the city, near the company.
The funny thing about Melbourne is the way the old seem to meld in harmony with the new. Many times you don't actually see it smack in the city. Old buildings looking like they've been standing around since the 1900's.
Old brick factory-like warehouses which look really, really old, but still in use.
This area reminds me of Singapore alot. Singapore has shophouses among a backdrop of glittering skyscrapers. The old and the new. I love that. It shows so much culture and depth. It's a very cultural indictment of the change a country is going through. Oo. Almost started on the couch philosophizing again.
Anyway, we (Chris and I) were really enjoying the whole walkathon, since it gets a little dull staying indoors all the time, 7 days a week. We're similar in the sense that we do enjoy going out for the fresh air and to enjoy ourselves in the great outdoors and shopping boulevards, but don't get much opportunity - not with our current commitments.
As we walked on, we passed by the sides of a building wall, where strange body-like figures hung in hammock nets.
I'm not sure if it's an art piece, but it certainly looks like one.
Each of these figures seemed to differ from one another. Perhaps an artistic jab at Australia's birthrate?
I couldn't really find anything on the net about it...think maybe I might just drop by the little sandwich shop positioned in front of the body bag wall and ask them what it is.
Along the way, we decided to take a detour. We thought we'd stop by Gloria Jean's to take advantage of the Monday 2-for-1 drink offer, which goes on after 3pm. You'd be able to get any drink you choose for free when you buy any drink on the menu. I thought it was a great way to score us both some soothing teas and coffees on the rocks (yes, we're not very alcoholic people. Not in the daytime.).
I decided to drop by The Source. It's this modern mom and pop store that sells lotto tickets, a wide assortment of magazines and newspapers. Perhaps the owner decided to get a bit creative after seeing all the wild and wonderful lifestyle stores peppering the city sidewalks and put up a wide range of assorted, interesting knick-knacks for sale.
I love that store - things are quite expensive there; but generally, I suspect they get their goods as factory seconds or sales at selected suburban outlets of those 'lifestyle' shops selling imported and rare Aussie-made goods for the home and hearth...especially interesting stationary items, that's why they sell their stuff a little cheaper than other stores specializing in the same stuff.
Their bargain bins are wonderful too. I snapped up 3 Kikki.K bookmarks (a popular, contemporary Swedish stationary store in Melbs. Swedes are famous for their industrial innovations, besides the world-famous IKEA. Also known for their outrageously expensive stationary shop imports.) for $1 each.
Really handy and simple. Basically it's just a long strip of patterned coloured cardboard, folded in half to insert into pages of your books, and an extra handy feature - tiny squares of magnets stuck at each end where the cardboard bookmark closes to 'keep' the page, just in case it slips or drops out. It also saves multiple pages. Very handy.
I also got several large fridge magnets in duo tones and grayscale, featuring some really good photography paired with profound sayings from famous people and philosophers. They normally sell for ridiculous prices at bookshops - say $10 - $15.
Spotted more interesting, albeit useless trinkets which appeal to me visually enough to want to buy it.
"Drip clips". A little porcelain dish that looks like a basin with taps. At the tap end there's a mini magnet embedded inside to make the clips and tacks stick to it for ready disposal. At the bottom of the 'sink' clips and tacks well up and collect for further use.
Notice on the right hand side are some loopy mints labelled "Before & After sex mints".
Some other trinkets:
A mini grass kit. Basically its just grass housed in a cute cartoon container. The only use I can think of for it is some measure of sanity for the apartment dweller in Melbourne city. If you scroll through the tens of apartments and studios for rent in the city, you'll find that the space they allocate for people who're willing to part with ridiculously high rents per week is staggeringly tiny.
Dare I say as small as my loo.
That's why I don't live smack in the city centre.
A "Be Monogamous" spray. If only.
Later, we dropped by Gloria Jean's, just opposite from The Source shop, to take advantage of the 2-for-1 offer after 3pm. Basically, if we order any drink after 3pm on Mondays, we get an extra drink of choice free. Good for treating friends. Hehe.
Chris later had to drop by our school to clear up some administrative misunderstanding.
Charity Chocolates for a dollar.
Chris got a Pina Cooler or a Pineapple Hula. I forgot which.
We got the recommendation from the barista to have it with whipped cream or it'd be too sour to taste.
I had my usual Iced Latte. I don't normally like Gloria Jean's much. I prefer the good ol' cafe latte at the cafe downstairs the school building or Starbucks' Double mocha macchiato.
There was this guy near our school building who was protesting the Australian constitution's lack of protection for Australians. Apparently, it doesn't protect the Australian public from harrassment, unlawful indefinite detention by the Government and a whole host of other technically lawful misdeeds the Australian Government can execute.
It's worrying, because I thought only Asian countries had those things.
Apparently, the Australian constitution is more about land laws and ownership and the Queen of England's precedence over Australian civil law, than the protection of Australian rights.
More about that some other time. Chris got a flyer from him and I've not read the whole thing. It's a little worrying, though.
Current Mood :
Sleepy
Current Tunes : (Daft Punk) Interstellar 5555 - One More Time
Work's still work. But I'd say, compared to the work ethics in Singapore and Malaysia, Australia's workplace standards can be summed up in one phrase - once you've experienced the system you never want to go back to the crappy South East Asian one...at least, as a worker or a salary man.
If you're operating your own business, of course, it's a completely different matter altogether.
Unless you're working a greasy cash-in-hand Chinese/Indian restaurant job that pays you $7 an hour (still probably beats working a $3.50 an hour, 12 hour shift at KFC), working in Melbourne can be a very leisurely and rather fulfilling experience.
...Except for the recent IR laws, which enables an employer to legally strip you of your rights, including docking your pay, underpaying you, no overtime pay and so on. I doubt taking a cue from Asian countries' standard lack of worker's right is the right step forward in terms of progress.
Anyway...
Chris and I were sent out to hand deliver some of the finished work to our company's regular clients. We only send a couple of them out occasionally if they're located in the heart of the city, near the company.
The funny thing about Melbourne is the way the old seem to meld in harmony with the new. Many times you don't actually see it smack in the city. Old buildings looking like they've been standing around since the 1900's.
Old brick factory-like warehouses which look really, really old, but still in use.
This area reminds me of Singapore alot. Singapore has shophouses among a backdrop of glittering skyscrapers. The old and the new. I love that. It shows so much culture and depth. It's a very cultural indictment of the change a country is going through. Oo. Almost started on the couch philosophizing again.
Anyway, we (Chris and I) were really enjoying the whole walkathon, since it gets a little dull staying indoors all the time, 7 days a week. We're similar in the sense that we do enjoy going out for the fresh air and to enjoy ourselves in the great outdoors and shopping boulevards, but don't get much opportunity - not with our current commitments.
As we walked on, we passed by the sides of a building wall, where strange body-like figures hung in hammock nets.
I'm not sure if it's an art piece, but it certainly looks like one.
Each of these figures seemed to differ from one another. Perhaps an artistic jab at Australia's birthrate?
I couldn't really find anything on the net about it...think maybe I might just drop by the little sandwich shop positioned in front of the body bag wall and ask them what it is.
Along the way, we decided to take a detour. We thought we'd stop by Gloria Jean's to take advantage of the Monday 2-for-1 drink offer, which goes on after 3pm. You'd be able to get any drink you choose for free when you buy any drink on the menu. I thought it was a great way to score us both some soothing teas and coffees on the rocks (yes, we're not very alcoholic people. Not in the daytime.).
I decided to drop by The Source. It's this modern mom and pop store that sells lotto tickets, a wide assortment of magazines and newspapers. Perhaps the owner decided to get a bit creative after seeing all the wild and wonderful lifestyle stores peppering the city sidewalks and put up a wide range of assorted, interesting knick-knacks for sale.
I love that store - things are quite expensive there; but generally, I suspect they get their goods as factory seconds or sales at selected suburban outlets of those 'lifestyle' shops selling imported and rare Aussie-made goods for the home and hearth...especially interesting stationary items, that's why they sell their stuff a little cheaper than other stores specializing in the same stuff.
Their bargain bins are wonderful too. I snapped up 3 Kikki.K bookmarks (a popular, contemporary Swedish stationary store in Melbs. Swedes are famous for their industrial innovations, besides the world-famous IKEA. Also known for their outrageously expensive stationary shop imports.) for $1 each.
Really handy and simple. Basically it's just a long strip of patterned coloured cardboard, folded in half to insert into pages of your books, and an extra handy feature - tiny squares of magnets stuck at each end where the cardboard bookmark closes to 'keep' the page, just in case it slips or drops out. It also saves multiple pages. Very handy.
I also got several large fridge magnets in duo tones and grayscale, featuring some really good photography paired with profound sayings from famous people and philosophers. They normally sell for ridiculous prices at bookshops - say $10 - $15.
Spotted more interesting, albeit useless trinkets which appeal to me visually enough to want to buy it.
"Drip clips". A little porcelain dish that looks like a basin with taps. At the tap end there's a mini magnet embedded inside to make the clips and tacks stick to it for ready disposal. At the bottom of the 'sink' clips and tacks well up and collect for further use.
Notice on the right hand side are some loopy mints labelled "Before & After sex mints".
Some other trinkets:
A mini grass kit. Basically its just grass housed in a cute cartoon container. The only use I can think of for it is some measure of sanity for the apartment dweller in Melbourne city. If you scroll through the tens of apartments and studios for rent in the city, you'll find that the space they allocate for people who're willing to part with ridiculously high rents per week is staggeringly tiny.
Dare I say as small as my loo.
That's why I don't live smack in the city centre.
A "Be Monogamous" spray. If only.
Later, we dropped by Gloria Jean's, just opposite from The Source shop, to take advantage of the 2-for-1 offer after 3pm. Basically, if we order any drink after 3pm on Mondays, we get an extra drink of choice free. Good for treating friends. Hehe.
Chris later had to drop by our school to clear up some administrative misunderstanding.
Charity Chocolates for a dollar.
Chris got a Pina Cooler or a Pineapple Hula. I forgot which.
We got the recommendation from the barista to have it with whipped cream or it'd be too sour to taste.
I had my usual Iced Latte. I don't normally like Gloria Jean's much. I prefer the good ol' cafe latte at the cafe downstairs the school building or Starbucks' Double mocha macchiato.
There was this guy near our school building who was protesting the Australian constitution's lack of protection for Australians. Apparently, it doesn't protect the Australian public from harrassment, unlawful indefinite detention by the Government and a whole host of other technically lawful misdeeds the Australian Government can execute.
It's worrying, because I thought only Asian countries had those things.
Apparently, the Australian constitution is more about land laws and ownership and the Queen of England's precedence over Australian civil law, than the protection of Australian rights.
More about that some other time. Chris got a flyer from him and I've not read the whole thing. It's a little worrying, though.
Current Mood :
SleepyCurrent Tunes : (Daft Punk) Interstellar 5555 - One More Time
@ 1:59 PM
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
The Holy Grail
One of my dreams has come true.
If you're familiar with my blog (which I take anyone who actually visits to read is), one of the items on my esteemed wish list is the red PS3.
I spotted that while reading my daily dosage of PS3 news.Awesome!
In Masteri red (whatever that means, but it sounds cool-worthy!), the red PS3 is one of a kind. I didn't really read that part as my eyes were glazed over in utter speechlessness and gluttony by the time I skimmed over the words "Red PS3".
I thought they were limited edition, but not that limited edition.
It sold for a whopping $12,100.
I personally wouldn't put down such a dear price tag on a PS3, but I'd probably pay up to several thousand if it really were one of a kind.
So, a little dejected after reading that these money-spinning 'limited edition' items would cost me an arm and a leg to have my grubby little hands on, I surfed the net aimlessly - basically, anywhere but that site I got the tech tidbits from.
One day, while helping a friend find a pink imac to fulfill her long-lost dream of possessing an apple product that isn't sterile white but in her favourite colour, pastel pink, I chanced upon the holy grail.....
...And it's gonna be MINE!!
Muahahaha!
Current Mood :
Excited
Current Tunes : None
If you're familiar with my blog (which I take anyone who actually visits to read is), one of the items on my esteemed wish list is the red PS3.
I spotted that while reading my daily dosage of PS3 news.Awesome!
In Masteri red (whatever that means, but it sounds cool-worthy!), the red PS3 is one of a kind. I didn't really read that part as my eyes were glazed over in utter speechlessness and gluttony by the time I skimmed over the words "Red PS3".
I thought they were limited edition, but not that limited edition.
It sold for a whopping $12,100.
I personally wouldn't put down such a dear price tag on a PS3, but I'd probably pay up to several thousand if it really were one of a kind.
So, a little dejected after reading that these money-spinning 'limited edition' items would cost me an arm and a leg to have my grubby little hands on, I surfed the net aimlessly - basically, anywhere but that site I got the tech tidbits from.
One day, while helping a friend find a pink imac to fulfill her long-lost dream of possessing an apple product that isn't sterile white but in her favourite colour, pastel pink, I chanced upon the holy grail.....
...And it's gonna be MINE!!
Muahahaha!
Current Mood :
ExcitedCurrent Tunes : None
@ 8:52 PM
Monday, October 01, 2007
Almost Typical Saturday Night
It was a pretty dull Saturday. Mo and I had a pretty huffy row over what we'd be spending our entire day doing. Apparently, he had planned to have a 'quiet' day studying (studying = bumming around), and that wasn't about to happen - over my dead body, not especially since we'd been passing off the past few weekends rather quietly.
Yep. Staying home, watching home videos and television reruns. Whoop. Not my idea of a great weekend. I might be a dull person, but I like my weekends inhaling the blustery night air while strolling the boulevard in search of a good place to chill with good company. Usually that just means Mo, because compared to most of my friends and aquaintances, I'm still quite very much domesticated.
Jam Factory
(Photo from http://www.questprahran.com.au/)
Dropped by Borders. This was the first Borders in Melbourne, I recall. It was still in the process of being built when my sister, Mo and I were here the last time.
Quite fortunately, they were having a sale! I'm quite stingy when it comes to buying things, so I unashamedly picked through every item and dug through every nook and cranny within those sale booths for good buys.
Tempted to buy some Mp3 skins and covers but then came to realise I didn't need it. Mo took 2 but later put them back when he realised he didn't have an ipod.
Found a really cute door knob hanger notepad. Just under $2 but I didn't need any more cute but useless clutter in the apartment.
This book on "Anime and Game Character Design" for beginners, intermediates and beyond. The first few pages are pretty much useless but the reference and concept art inside are really useful. It was a steal, considering it retails for about $40.
Dropped by the arcade. The arcades in Australia are really boring, to say the least. It seems like arcades are frequented by tots and pre-teens eager to spend a crap lot of dollar coins on old, outdated games.
But, I could always play myself to death at the arcades in Singapore when I go back to visit!
Yes. The ol' DDR games. I was hooked on this once. My sister and I would just "dance" away for hours. If you haven't tried it before, don't. Besides being a very effective work out machine (I lost more than 8 - 10kg just dancing on these), it makes you look stupid if you're not very good with the eye-leg co-ordination thing.
Basically you just follow the arrows on the screen and step on the arrows accordingly, in sync with the music and flashing lights. It sounds stupid when written down but it really is quite a rush to dance on these, especially since it usually pulls quite an audience if you're really good, or if you suck at it.
Had a go at the Time Crisis 3 game. If I'm not wrong Time Crisis 4 was out in Singapore eons ago. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Time Crisis kabazillion in Singapore later these months when I revisit my favourite old arcade haunts.
Probably the most popular games there. Even then, the prizes for collecting and redeeming the tickets that come out of these crappy machines were puny. My sister was a whiz at these machines when we were kids and needless to say she probably owned the entire arcade in her heyday, winning thousands of tickets and practically hoarding them till she had enough to redeem her prize of choice. She brought toys larger than she was back then. One of her toys was a big fat spider stuffed toy we still have today. It was larger and fatter than two of us put together as chubby kids....okay so I'm exaggerating just a tiny bit, but it really was larger than she was.
Next to the arcade was this spartan little shop lot that houses a mini race track you whiz nifty lil' remote controlled cars around. I think it's $5 an hour for each car. Mo was really envious of the cars there.
I just wanted to grab one of those and run. Little @%&^%@#&^@% buggers get nice remote controlled cars. I think both of us really wanted those when we were kids. :(
We got sick of Maltisers and was mulling over which diabetic-busting candy to bring in until the Halloween edition of M&M's caught my eye.
It didn't glow in the dark very much. :(
Boo. Liars.
So anyway. We caught Rush Hour 3. I was torn between Hairspray (ok, act of desperation due to lack of movie choices!) and Rush Hour 3 but decided to go with happy slapstick.
Had an early night. Everyone was out celebrating Geelong's win at the AFL footy finals. They even blocked the roads for this AFL rally. Couldn't get to work because of it.
They were flipping hamburgers on the barbie (bbq) at the carpark entrance of the office building next to my apartment!
Current Mood :
Happy
Current Tunes : None
Yep. Staying home, watching home videos and television reruns. Whoop. Not my idea of a great weekend. I might be a dull person, but I like my weekends inhaling the blustery night air while strolling the boulevard in search of a good place to chill with good company. Usually that just means Mo, because compared to most of my friends and aquaintances, I'm still quite very much domesticated.
Jam Factory(Photo from http://www.questprahran.com.au/)
So, after some deliberation, we ended up deciding to go to Jam Factory at South Yarra, Chapel Street. My sister and I used to go there to fulfill after midnight hunger pangs at Chapelli's. Contrary to what it might sound like to those unfamiliar with foreign sounding names, Chapelli's isn't an Indian restaurant. It's a 24 hour Italian restaurant where I tasted my first Oyster Kilpatrick - oysters on a bed of sea salt with a dressing of worchestershire sauce, black pepper and served with a wedge of lemon. Yum.
I've had it just once since I've been here in Melbs. All I can say is that too much of a good thing is bad for you. :)
Anyhoos, I was determined to enjoy myself. Mo's still in the middle of his Ramadan (The Muslim fasting month.) and quite admirably, he hasn't once slipped, not even for a day. What a trooper! It's not as easy as it looks (or sounds.). A whole day without letting nary a drop of water or even a crumb of food touch your lips. You can't think unclean thoughts - no smut, no "that-girl-has-a-nice-tush" or "I'd-like-to-smack-that", no lying, no smoking, - basically during this period you abstain from sinful actions and thoughts and commit to a month of fasting and praying. Interesting.
Because of his fasting he tends to get a bit cranky, no food, water or ciggies. But if it makes him a better person, I'm all for it.
Well, we had wanted to go IKEA for quite some time now but never really had a chance to. He and I love the food there and besides walking around the vast shopping centre and hopping into each and every section and aisle of IKEA we always make it a point to indulge in a meal there. At least, during the last 2 times we stepped in there.
But with the fasting month on, he's stuck in limbo from 4.30am to 6.30pm and that slowly shifts according to the timing of the rotating dawn and dusk. So each and everyday you subtract a couple of minutes from the start fast and add a few minutes to the end fast. It gets longer as the fasting period drags on.
Yeah. Living with a guy who actually fasts can learn you quite a bit about foreign customs and religious mojo.
Well, so we dropped by Jam Factory and somehow, fell into the same ritualistic pattern we always get trapped in when visiting any place. When we're at Crown Casino, we'd either have dinner at Gurkhas or the resident food court, then stroll around a bit, go for a Boost smoothie and catch a late night movie. If we go to Melbourne Central it's always dinner at Nando's, and to the movies with a bag of Maltisers and a large Coke Zero.
.....We have to stop being such routine people. I guess it happens when your lives hasn't been exactly very 'routine', in every sense of the word. The minor routines we go through in our day-to-day life probably helps establish a sense of normalacy and stability in our topsy-turvy lives, I suppose.
Anyway, when we're at Jam Factory its always dinner at Pancake Parlour. And we did the exact same thing we always do when we're at Jam Factory. Whee. Exciting people, aren't we?
The highlight of the meal was probably dessert. I'm a very boring person when it comes to my food. I always, always, always choose one particular dish at any restaurant I visit and stick to it religiously. Just ask any of my lunch buddies and friends. Heh. They're forever telling me my personality numerology-style when we're at any place we visit.
The pancakes were predictably fluffy. I practically smothered it with the in-house maple syrup. I love maple syrup.
Anyhoos, I was determined to enjoy myself. Mo's still in the middle of his Ramadan (The Muslim fasting month.) and quite admirably, he hasn't once slipped, not even for a day. What a trooper! It's not as easy as it looks (or sounds.). A whole day without letting nary a drop of water or even a crumb of food touch your lips. You can't think unclean thoughts - no smut, no "that-girl-has-a-nice-tush" or "I'd-like-to-smack-that", no lying, no smoking, - basically during this period you abstain from sinful actions and thoughts and commit to a month of fasting and praying. Interesting.
Because of his fasting he tends to get a bit cranky, no food, water or ciggies. But if it makes him a better person, I'm all for it.
Well, we had wanted to go IKEA for quite some time now but never really had a chance to. He and I love the food there and besides walking around the vast shopping centre and hopping into each and every section and aisle of IKEA we always make it a point to indulge in a meal there. At least, during the last 2 times we stepped in there.
But with the fasting month on, he's stuck in limbo from 4.30am to 6.30pm and that slowly shifts according to the timing of the rotating dawn and dusk. So each and everyday you subtract a couple of minutes from the start fast and add a few minutes to the end fast. It gets longer as the fasting period drags on.
Yeah. Living with a guy who actually fasts can learn you quite a bit about foreign customs and religious mojo.
Well, so we dropped by Jam Factory and somehow, fell into the same ritualistic pattern we always get trapped in when visiting any place. When we're at Crown Casino, we'd either have dinner at Gurkhas or the resident food court, then stroll around a bit, go for a Boost smoothie and catch a late night movie. If we go to Melbourne Central it's always dinner at Nando's, and to the movies with a bag of Maltisers and a large Coke Zero.
.....We have to stop being such routine people. I guess it happens when your lives hasn't been exactly very 'routine', in every sense of the word. The minor routines we go through in our day-to-day life probably helps establish a sense of normalacy and stability in our topsy-turvy lives, I suppose.
Anyway, when we're at Jam Factory its always dinner at Pancake Parlour. And we did the exact same thing we always do when we're at Jam Factory. Whee. Exciting people, aren't we?
The highlight of the meal was probably dessert. I'm a very boring person when it comes to my food. I always, always, always choose one particular dish at any restaurant I visit and stick to it religiously. Just ask any of my lunch buddies and friends. Heh. They're forever telling me my personality numerology-style when we're at any place we visit.
"Wah. __name of dish__ again? I think huh, Yuffie, because you always choose __name of dish__, you are a very stable/loyal/faithful person......"
I'm not going to launch into a whole fooddebacle review, but the apples were really soft and slightly tart. I hate apples to death. Thanks to my gran's sliced apples - she tried to feed that to me at every opportunity. Apples, apples, apples. And always green ones.
But I think these ones were pretty good. The dusting of powdered cinnamon and vanilla ice cream helped ALOT.
I'm not going to launch into a whole food
But I think these ones were pretty good. The dusting of powdered cinnamon and vanilla ice cream helped ALOT.
The pancakes were predictably fluffy. I practically smothered it with the in-house maple syrup. I love maple syrup.
Dropped by Borders. This was the first Borders in Melbourne, I recall. It was still in the process of being built when my sister, Mo and I were here the last time.
Quite fortunately, they were having a sale! I'm quite stingy when it comes to buying things, so I unashamedly picked through every item and dug through every nook and cranny within those sale booths for good buys.
Tempted to buy some Mp3 skins and covers but then came to realise I didn't need it. Mo took 2 but later put them back when he realised he didn't have an ipod.
Found a really cute door knob hanger notepad. Just under $2 but I didn't need any more cute but useless clutter in the apartment.
This book on "Anime and Game Character Design" for beginners, intermediates and beyond. The first few pages are pretty much useless but the reference and concept art inside are really useful. It was a steal, considering it retails for about $40.
Dropped by the arcade. The arcades in Australia are really boring, to say the least. It seems like arcades are frequented by tots and pre-teens eager to spend a crap lot of dollar coins on old, outdated games.
But, I could always play myself to death at the arcades in Singapore when I go back to visit!
Yes. The ol' DDR games. I was hooked on this once. My sister and I would just "dance" away for hours. If you haven't tried it before, don't. Besides being a very effective work out machine (I lost more than 8 - 10kg just dancing on these), it makes you look stupid if you're not very good with the eye-leg co-ordination thing.
Basically you just follow the arrows on the screen and step on the arrows accordingly, in sync with the music and flashing lights. It sounds stupid when written down but it really is quite a rush to dance on these, especially since it usually pulls quite an audience if you're really good, or if you suck at it.
Had a go at the Time Crisis 3 game. If I'm not wrong Time Crisis 4 was out in Singapore eons ago. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Time Crisis kabazillion in Singapore later these months when I revisit my favourite old arcade haunts.
Probably the most popular games there. Even then, the prizes for collecting and redeeming the tickets that come out of these crappy machines were puny. My sister was a whiz at these machines when we were kids and needless to say she probably owned the entire arcade in her heyday, winning thousands of tickets and practically hoarding them till she had enough to redeem her prize of choice. She brought toys larger than she was back then. One of her toys was a big fat spider stuffed toy we still have today. It was larger and fatter than two of us put together as chubby kids....okay so I'm exaggerating just a tiny bit, but it really was larger than she was.
Next to the arcade was this spartan little shop lot that houses a mini race track you whiz nifty lil' remote controlled cars around. I think it's $5 an hour for each car. Mo was really envious of the cars there.
I just wanted to grab one of those and run. Little @%&^%@#&^@% buggers get nice remote controlled cars. I think both of us really wanted those when we were kids. :(
We got sick of Maltisers and was mulling over which diabetic-busting candy to bring in until the Halloween edition of M&M's caught my eye.
It didn't glow in the dark very much. :(
Boo. Liars.
So anyway. We caught Rush Hour 3. I was torn between Hairspray (ok, act of desperation due to lack of movie choices!) and Rush Hour 3 but decided to go with happy slapstick.
Had an early night. Everyone was out celebrating Geelong's win at the AFL footy finals. They even blocked the roads for this AFL rally. Couldn't get to work because of it.
They were flipping hamburgers on the barbie (bbq) at the carpark entrance of the office building next to my apartment!
Current Mood :
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@ 9:18 PM
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