Some random pictures because I am procrastinating...


The salmon lunch I made this morning. I've been thinking of making this dish ever since the boyfriend told me he likes salmon. Finally got around to it this morning. Will maybe post the recipe up later on...my Mom came up with the recipe for the sauce. Yummy!





My birthday cupcakes - minus the one we ate. Raudhah and Mich surprised me on my birthday at midnight. You can read more about it on Michelle's blog.



Chloe celebrating my birthday with me, at midnight as well.



Chloe again...doing her "Joker" impersonation.



Out pub-crawling on the weekend before my birthday. This one was at Workshop - on the corner of Elizabeth and A'Beckett streets.







My birthday surprise dinner at Taste of Asia on Lygon Street. I was supposed to go for a birthday dinner with the boyfriend, which then got postponed to Saturday, which is now postponed indefinitely. Hopefully we'll go soon, then I'll post up pictures of the night :)

And thank you, everyone, for the birthday wishes and gifts, and for your time!

Labels: Family, Friends, Uni life

I'm running...running down an endless hallway.

All around me, little stores. What should be brightly lit and inviting, now pitch black...menacing.

No one is there to help me. There's just the dark figure I am running from, and me. I am running along the hallway, running past the menacing rooms. I don't know where I am going. All I know is that I must run.

I run toward this rink, built at least 3 storeys below the hallway. There is a ladder leading down into the bright, shiny rink. I start climbing down it.

As I watch myself scrambling down the ladder, I start to scream. There is no sound, no loss of breath, but I know I am screaming. It's going to get me. There is no way out of the rink, it will get me once I am down there.
I try to scream in warning, to the little figure still making her way down the ladder. I scream with all the strength and will that I have, but still, no sound is made. I still see myself climbing down the ladder.

It is too late...the figure is approaching.

I ready myself for the inevitable...

And then a white haze takes over, and I see no more. I hear nothing, think nothing, and see nothing except the white haze, getting thicker and thicker, and then...

Nothing.

On a very random note (because the library is the perfect place to blog):

Yesterday, Raudhah and I were on our way down to uni. As the Flinders Street train arrived, this man comes up to us and asks how he can get to Murumbeena. I promptly told him to check the board outside the platform because I didn't know which line the station was on. Then I find out from Raudhah that Murumbeena is on our train line. The guy never made it onto the train. And the sign outside the platform would've told him absolutely nuts.
I'm so mean.

In a conversation with Sharon:
em says:
ah no wonder
dinner with whom?

SharonQ says:
with poh poh, siang yee, ong yee, uncle david. uncle bong? chun yee and yap hang

em says:
so how did you entertain yourself

SharonQ says:
i, tortured an insect and poured soya bean milk on it

em says:
SHARON YOU ARH
LOL
even jason laughing at you

SharonQ says:
hahaa
Hi Jason!

Also, this is what I do to entertain myself when no one else wants to entertain me...



And the other day, I was at the Chinese place at uni with Raudhah, when I saw Evone. Waved hi, and I was about to go up to her and chat when this other girl to my left came up to me, smiling, and said hi. I was waiting for her to say whatever she came up to me to say, but she was waiting with the same expectant expression on her face.
Then, I realised....she thought I was saying hi to her!
I couldn't come up with anything remotely sane to say to her, so instead I went "Do you wanna order something?"
Oh, the embarrassment.

Labels: Uni life

Today, the boyfriend and I tried a new recipe for pancakes.

Wholemeal Buttermilk Pancakes.

They tasted pretty good, but I don't think the wholemeal thing would appeal to most. So here's a plain buttermilk pancake recipe. Trust me, buttermilk makes all the difference!

1 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp butter
1 egg (room temperature)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour

1. Mix together the buttermilk, egg and butter

2. In a separate bowl, combine the salt, baking powder, and flour

3. Pour flour into the buttermilk mixture. Stir only till ingredients moistened - leave the little lumps

4. Lightly grease a medium hot saucepan, drop 3 tablespoons' worth of batter onto pan

5. Heat until some bubbles appear and break on the top, then flip over and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Also, if you can't find buttermilk, just pour out a little under a cup of milk, add two teaspoons of lemon juice, and let sit at room temperature for about half an hour.

Makes 8-10 pancakes.

I also really wanna try this super simple recipe I found on Karen Cheng's blog! (Linked on the sidebar)

250 gms butter
1 ½ cups of sugar
¾ cup cocoa
3 eggs
1 ¼ cups plain flour
½ tsp vanilla optional
a handful of “Rollos”- a chocolate-coated caramel sweet/lolly/candy. I’m sure anything similar will do.

1. Slowly melt butter and sugar in a saucepan, on low heat, until sugar is dissolved.

2. Stir in cocoa, flour, eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Pour into well greased pan. Throw in the “Rollos”.

4. Put into 180C (preheated) oven for 25 minutes.

5. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Cut up brownie while warm.

6. Dust with icing sugar. Serve while warm, with whipped cream.

Labels: Uni life

Almost 22 years I've lived my life.

Not one moment of that life was without the enormous influence of my Dad. He has been the pillar supporting my entire life.

Today is the day I get to celebrate him, and his existence.

Daddy, since I can't be there with you physically (and your gift is gonna be a week or two late), I thought I'd give you a glimpse of your influence in my life.

Here's a short compilation of some of my favourite memories of my Dad.

• My family loves to drink Guiness Malta. Largely, of course, due to my Dad's influence. Way back then, Malta used to come in dark brown glass bottles. I was really young, and I wanted me a Malta. So I walked over to the fridge, took out a bottle, and proceeded into the living room to get my Dad to open it for me. Unfortunately, as I stepped out of the kitchen and waved the Malta bottle to get my Dad's attention, I dropped it. It broke, and I remember brown liquid flowing down my leg. Instantly, I was in my Dad's arms. He took me into our little toilet and rinsed my leg, all the while anxiously checking to see if there was any blood (difficult to tell the difference between Malta and blood). All the while, though, I remember not being scared at all. I mean, jeez, Daddy would take care of everything, right? What did I need to worry about?



• At the beginning of the year, I was going through a rough patch with the boyfriend. Everyone doubted the strength and commitment in our relationship, some even made it clear on my blog. No one was backing me up, no one thought I'd made the right decision. It was a particularly rough time for me. One morning, I settled in, planning to watch a feelgood movie. I checked my email, and found something from my Dad. I read about this woman, talking about having strength when it comes to relationships. It was a pretty inspiring email. Then, right at the end, it was signed, "Lots of love from Daddy Quak, Your Uncle Walk Walk." That did it for me. I started bawling. I still cry when I read that email.



• One of my Dad's pet peeves is people waking up late. So, when I'm home, I make sure not to sleep in too late. Saturdays, we get a sort of free pass. No need to wake up too early. Sometimes, I wake up on Saturday mornings to the sound of music. All of our rooms are equipped with pretty decent stereo systems, so we're definitely capable of waking others with the volume. So on these Saturday mornings, I walk out to find out who's causing all that racket. More often than not, Cliff Richards' 'Devil Woman' is blasting at top volume, and more often than not, as soon as I walk out my door, I see my Dad dancing across the hallway, dragging my Mom along with him.



• When I was younger, we used to get to school early and play around a little before class started. Moms and Dads used to come and wipe up their kids' tables, talk to the other kids, talk to the teachers. My Dad came, too. He used to come and play with us kids. He'd come up with the coolest games, and everyone would wait in line for their turn with my Dad. But I was the most special. See, I was my Dad's kid. I would get special preference, and all the kids would get jealous 'cause my Dad was so cool. Oh, the little joys in life.



• After Charmed ended, I was at a loss as to what to do. I didn't really want to follow any other TV series, and there were some episodes from Charmed that I'd missed, and not yet seen. So I decided that I would buy Charmed DVDs and rewatch the entire series. Making the decision? Easy. Implementing the decision? Not so much. I scouted everywhere for those DVDs. My Dad kept telling me not to waste my money, that it would be easier just downloading it off the net. I would've done that, but I was off to Melbourne soon, and didn't have the time to download everything. What I didn't know was that the entire time he was discouraging me, my Dad was also looking for the DVDs. He made calls, visited people, did everything he could just to satisfy my little kid craving. And satisfy it, he did. Till now, though, what strikes me most is not that I got my DVDs, but that my Dad would take so much time and put so much effort into something so unimportant, all because of me.

This post turned out to be a lot longer than I thought, and yet I have so many other memories I haven't yet put down.

That's how infinitely my Dad has affected and shaped my life. I'd be nothing, and nowhere, without him.



Happy Birthday, Dad.
Because you deserve to be celebrated.

I love you Uncle Walk Walk!

Labels: Family

I am on an all-time high!!

I just found a HUGE collection of paraliminal tapes from two of my favourite audio book producers (I don't know what else to call them). My very sweet boyfriend is helping me download them :)

Also, thanks to my cousins, I've found the motivation to get up and do something once I get back in November. Tell you guys about it when I actually do it!

As for what I've been doing here - take a look :)









Oh, the joys in life :)

Labels: Friends, Uni life

Everything is aligning so well in my life.

I have so many people to thank for that, I have so many things I want to say.

I'm thankful for everything that has happened in my life, and everyone who has made a mark in my life. These events and people have led me to where I am today, and have made me the person I aspire to be.

I'm so very happy. How's your day been? :)

Labels: Random rants