DD Dragons ROCK!

Can you believe it has almost been a year since we last raced? and we totally ripped it this time round! To mark the end of Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boat Commission organised races at Darling Harbour on Sunday. We won all four of our races, coming first in our draw, first in our industry race... and 7th overall out of 70 (yes, seven-zero!) teams! We rock!!!



















it was a ridiculously long day, we were all tired ~ who knew the concrete could be so comfortable?? ~ but all in all what awesome fun!!!











Corporate Games are on again on 25 March 2007 ~ bring it on!

mel you old fart

happy birthday mel! i love you lots & lots, you are so damn adorable! and yes, bowling was fun even though i was massively tired. Hope you have a wonderful year, and I'm glad you (and Cam) like my pressie *heHe*

it was an awesome way to spend your birthday ~ good food, good friends, lots of laughs & no one got too trashed *i think*

and i cant believe i wear tiny size 2 shoes!

c is for catty

panu randomly threw some sugar into his coffee this morning and it landed in a 'c' shape. and so he's decided we're meant to be!

*awwwwwwww*

i've had such a massively long week at work and my brain hurts. Here's to the weekend ~ lots on this weekend... stay tuned!

load of crap

i've always been a sceptic and now i will forever be a sceptic.

i have a number of friends who believe in tarot readings and clairvoyants. being a scientist at heart, i've never been spiritual in this way. having said that, i am not against anyone who is ~ to each their own. anyway, i'd been saying for a while now that i wonder if there is any truth to these things, so as part of my christmas present, panu gave me a voucher to a day spa ~ and after being pampered in the spa and a nice long massage, i went for my first tarot reading ever.

the result? when once i was a 99% non-believer, we're now sitting at about 110%.

this lady had no clue, and if she was speaking to my guides, they are a bunch of tricksters! poor lady just could not get anything right. among her useless jabbering, she pointed out to me that:

1) the men in my life are all several years older than me, meaning they are in their mid-20's - guess i looked young and refreshed after a massage!

2) i have been desperately trying to move overseas for years but i can't because...

3) i live at home and spend too much time baby'ing my parents and as a result i feel trapped.

4) i have a sister...

*frown*

5) no, i have brother who is younger...

*shaking my head in humour and disbelief*

6) i mean, older.

7) and my older brother is the less responsible one, he's a party animal who isn't ready to settle down.

my god, being there for 30 minutes was actually pretty painful.

in other news...

boonga is back from cairns for a week so we all headed out to toko for dinner on friday night. toko in Surry Hills opened 2 weeks ago and ita has just started as the dessert chef. needless to say we were fed amazingly well and went home with happy bellies.

still on boonga, we had Chinese New Year lunch yesterday and boy is he sweet! when i was in cairns last December, my brother bought me a little fluoro green koala trinket, it was only $5 from a souvenir shop but it was the thought. anyway, as with all of my other loved things, i lost it when f**king virgin blue lost my luggage. well, boonga bought me a new koala toy all the way from cairns. so. cute.

the rest of yesterday was spent with my sexy boyfriend (yep, i've graduated from saying "my boyfriend" to "my sexy boyfriend") at Clovelly Beach. Absolutely beautiful.

congratulations!

they're getting married! finally! *ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

my brother proposed. Bec cried. i squealed! i'm gonna get me a sister! so happy i'm lost for words ~ almost...!

there are now 3 weddings to attend next year, all in different parts of the world - Townsville, France and Perth... and they are the 3 most important weddings in my life ~ my 2 very best friends, and my big brother. it's going to be a busy year! *excitement*

happy valentines day!

i hope all your days were filled with lots of lovin'! my man bought me a gorgeous bouquet of roses & lillies (which haven't blossomed so it will be unbelievable next week!) personally delivered to my desk *awww*

Nevermind that the flowers probably caused my hayfever, they are still stunning...

I got him the most devilishly delicious cupcakes from this cute online shop. And he gave me the sweetest card. i wont go into detail, no it wasn't dirty *tsk tsk tsk*, but it is hands down the most beautiful card i have ever ever received...

In other news, we're suffering from massive post-holiday depression and are trying to plan our next getaway!

hong kong continued...

day 2 ~ kowloon

day 2 was much cruisier than day 1. probably cos I planned it *grin*.. After a little sleep in, and then yumcha lunch with the rellies, we jumped on the Star Ferry and headed over to the other side, Kowloon.

Though the day was cruisier, we still walked an absolute sh*tload. Once arrived at Kowloon, we caught the MTR 5 stops up to Prince Edward and started making our way back through the famous markets in Mongkok. This side of Hong Kong is no where near as nice as the island... there are some incredibly old buildings, which may shock some people but i personally think it adds character.

We weaved our way through the Mongkok markets & Temple St, and bargained hard. It is truly a sport over there and i dont care if I'm squabbling over AUD$1. It's the principle that matters! Throughout the day we snacked and drank at various stalls and I discovered a new favourite dessert spot - Hui Lau Shan! *yummmm*

Back at the hotel by 11pm, ordered room service (as you do), and had a relatively early night.

day 3 ~ a buddha, a carnival & a foot massage

another panu day - busy busy busy! We had the buffet breakfast at the hotel and stuffed ourselves silly knowing that there is only vegetarian food available at our destination today. Once sufficiently porky, we jumped on the MTR all the way to the end of the Tung Chung line, and hopped on the cable cars for 30 minutes. At the peak of the mountain sat a big bronze Buddha, supposedly the largest in the world. Let's go check him out.












while the Buddha itself was impressive, i have to say that i was extremely appalled by the commercialisation of this temple. well, ok the temple itself wasn't touched (despite the thousands of tourist feet that walked through each day) but leading up to the temple there were restaurants, cafes, numerous sourvenirs shops and goddamn, is that a starbucks?? Incredible!










the temple was beautiful and peaceful, and we ate within the temple at the vegetarian stall. i had a bit of a giggle whilst in the toilet ~ a squatting toilet ~ eavesdropping on some american tourists who didn't know how to use the facilities!

after the trip back from Ngong Ping, we had a power nap and headed out to the Hong Kong World Carnival! I love carnivals because if there's one thing i'm good at, its the games! We played a whole multitude of carnival games from shooting to darts to bumper cars! I also convinced panu to jump on a couple of rides with me! he was ok on the rollercoaster but probably a little queasy after the Tornado, or whatever it was called. Soooo much fun!

and finally to top off the night, my uncle took us to a local foot bath for a massage ~ reflexology, in my opinion, is the most finest of lines between pleasure and pain. Man do you want to scream and cry but it feels sooooooooooooooo good!

day 4 ~ wanchai & causeway bay

our last full day in Hong Kong was spent walking (again), starting from a devine Japanese restaurant in Admiralty, back through Wanchai and to Causeway Bay. We shopped and ate, making sure we stopped at our favourites Tsui Wah & Hui Lau Shan at least once!












day 5 ~ home...

at least i got my luggage home safely with me this time!

hong kong!

day 0 ~ touch down

Touch down in Hong Kong @ 6pm ~ where the ridiculous pollution actually made the sunset incredibly beautiful! The flight was relatively painless, I annoyed Panu with my chatter, and then promptly fell asleep so thank goodness the boy still likes me!

Once checked in to our hotel, we headed straight out to my most favouritest eating place of all - Tsui Wah! - in the heart of Causeway Bay.













Stocked up on unhealthy goodness, we wandered around Causeway Bay, ducking and weaving between little chinese people, before crashing from jetlag... and the fact that it was probably 5am in Sydney time.

day 1 ~ hong kong island

up and awake @ 6am! Big day ahead... Panu the planner man thinks we have unlimited hours in our day (and unlimited leg power!)... anyway, we gave it a shot starting with...

more food! *haHa* followed by...

1. a walk through Hong Kong Park - peaceful, serene, beautiful greenery right in the centre of this bustling city.

2. taking the steepest tram up to The Peak, so damn steep that the buildings all look wonky. scary!










3. being big kiddies @ EA Sports World! Hours of seriously high tech gaming!!

*we're big nerds*

4. travelling up (and walking back down) the world's longest escalator, like seriously, it goes through about 3 suburbs! it was fun though and we managed to see some of the real HK, so to speak, along the way.

5. wandering from Sheung Wan to Central to Wan Chai to Admiralty (yes, lots of walking), doing touristy things like visiting Statue Square and holding the Lion's big paw for good luck *heHe*

6. after a very quick rest, off to dinner with my favourite rellies...

7. took a ride over to Kowloon to view HK Island from the other side. Also managed to check out HK's Star Walk (like Hollywood!), full of statues and bronze stars with little hand prints. Oh, and hugged a big gold bar for more prosperity!



















8. and finally, back on HK Island for some partying with my cousin Jane and ofcourse, Clara! Can't say I partied too much though. After such a massive day, I crashed out at 2am, which in my defence is 5am in Sydney!










And that's the end of Day 1! I need to post this entry now otherwise it will forever live in fear of never being seen! Stay tuned for Day 2. and 3 and 4 and 5.