long time

Ok now i know i haven't exactly been very discipline at updating my blog but there seems to be so much life going on outdoors waiting to be experienced as opposed to being stuck infront of the computer.

For one, we had an awesome day at Bondi beach yesterday. It was the festival of the winds, which is basically a nice way of saying a "kite flying festival". I'm turning 34 (?) in 1 day and this is the first time I've actually flown a kite! Yes, my childhood didn't really comprise of kite flying activities cos I was too engrossed at mastering zero-point.

So imagine my thrill when I could join hundreds of kite flyers, young n old, on the beach, against the always fantastic bondi backdrop, setting the sky alight with amazing colors! I don't know what's more thrilling, the actual kite flying part or watching and being part of a moment where adults and kids alike, truly enjoying such a innocent and uncomplicated sort of happiness and joy of doing something as organic as flying a kite.

Aaaahhh one more reason to love Australia and God for letting me be here.

A for __________

Received a call from a client who's known to be rude & nasty. My caller id showed "Blocked Call" and when I picked up, I was immediately bombarded by a string of barking demands which left me a little confused.

This is how the conversation went:

A: Pearl, where's the report I asked for 2 weeks ago, what happen to...bark bark bark (for like a good 2 minutes)"

Me: Erm hello sorry but who is this?

A: What you mean who this is?! You mean you don't recognise my number??

Me: Erm sorry but no...(tried to explain it showed up as "blocked call" but got cut off with more barks)

A: This is An***!! You mean you don't have my number on your caller id?"

Me: Oh hi An***, of course i've your number in my phone but this call showed up as private number not sure why..."

(What I really wanted to say was: "Oh hi An***! Of course I've your number in my phone, in fact, it's top of my list since it's A for ARSEHOLE!", even my phone blocks out your existence!)

*grumble* why are singapore clients so rude?!

RIP

My basil plant was just buried in my trash can.

Cause of death:

Lethal combination of Pearl's un-green fingers & Frost Bite

Time Spent on Earth:

Short

Tribute:

It led a short but useful life, having graced many salads, soups, stews and sandwiches. It truly did add much flavor to life.

Dearly missed by:

Lemon thyme & Rosemary

RIP

Hanging out with our best friend

My favourite part of the weekend is when the sun's out and the skies crystal blue, we'll make it a point to take raindrop out to the beach for a walk. But before that we'll treat ourselves to a nice big (read: expensive) breakfast at the beach cafe. This is one luxury I really relish and it never fails to making it a perfect weekend. 

The funny thing is raindrop seems to know when the weekend has arrived cos she's usually in a especially good and excitable mood every saturday morning. I'm still scratching my head as to how she knows this, perhaps she can sense my excitement too.

Here're some pics:

Bondi beach walk

Cafe @ Tamarama beach

we had a good time watching some really hot bods (both guys n gals) playing beach volleyball. 

A respectable business?

I just saw an yahoo ad for a Financial Service Firm that read:

"What's your bank trying to sneak pass you this time? It's time for a bank that doesn't act like a bank"

I think this ad says alot about the state of the banking industry and profession right now. In the eyes of the majority, no longer does a bank represent respectability, trust & security in fact it seems it sits on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as these values are concern. 

Sad state of affairs? Perhaps but don't expect any sympathies from me.

One Fine Day

Today's was a perfect day. Woke up to sunny blue skies with light sea breeze and a happy waggy raindrop downstairs greeting me. Since it was the first morning raindrop's home, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice hearty breakfast at the nearby beach cafe. 

Raindrop sensed that we were gonna take her out so she dutifully waited at the door. She expertly & automatically jumped into the back of our land rover, popped her head out through the half open window & waited for her morning adventure to begin.

The cafe was already quite packed with couples, families and dogs even though it was only 8ish. The breakfast like most breakfast you get in sydney was super yummy. I had a nicely done eggs benedict topped with baked ham, hollandaise sauce & rosti. 

With tummies warm and filled with food, we took a long walk along the coast. Raindrop was really relaxed and happy which is a huge change from her usually nervous-self when she's outside. She even wanted to make friends with the other dogs around, amazing! I was so impressed and  tempted to let her off leash so she could run in the open fields but was worried she might run across the road. Guess i'll do that when she's more discipline outdoors. 

Since we had such a wonderful start to the day, a fitting end would be to prepare an equally awesome dinner, so we got busy in the kitchen and outdid ourselves with a roast beef with mash potatoes, salad and accompanied by a glass of cabernet merlot from our favorite vineyard. 

Ahhhh....i'm now tucked in bed feeling very satisfied =)

(i took a couple of pics but too lazy to upload them now....)

going down the checklist

I wrote in my earlier post, 20 reasons why I wanted to move to sydney. I'm happy to report that quite a few of the checklist are being fulfilled and becoming our way of life here:

1) My herb garden

I'm never one with green fingers but I do like the IDEA of having plants even though they don't survive very long under my torment, erm I mean, care.

However, I couldn't resist starting up a herb garden in our courtyard. (with a herb plant, in the event it starts to die on me, I can quickly snip up the leaves and use it to cook....well at least the plant won't die in vain) So far I've gotten myself a pot of Rosemary, Basil & Lemon Thyme. The scent from just touching the leaves is heavenly. My heart still gives little flutters of joy whenever I snip a few fresh herbs in the midst of cooking, there's just something really earthly & wholesome about it. 

Here's a pic of my modest herb garden:

basil and rosemary (notice Raindrop, in the corner of photo, sniffing at my basil plant. she's been taking little nips at it without me knowing)

Lemon Thyme

2) The best things in life are free (almost)

On weekends, we derive much pleasure from doing simple things like packing a simple lunch and having it by the rocks facing the sea, walking along the nearby beach, having a beer at the local pub or just fiddling around the house.

a simple lunch of chicken-salad sandwich with steaming hot cappuccino

nearby beach

our regular beer garden. booze's cheap there but food sucks.

3) Going to the flea markets & festivals

There's always something going on in Sydney. In fact every weekend, there's a whole 20+ page section of the Herald Tribute called the "Weekend" devoted to all the wonderful leisure & entertainment stuff going on that weekend. Eg. We went to the Surry Hills festival which happens annually in support for fringe activist advocating Eco-values, Organic-living, and some rather hocus-pocus stuff like "No-more dollies (basically anti-cloning)". 

Just today, we went to another festival called "Bark in the Park", basically a fair devoted to the pooches. There were all kinds of funny looking dogs, some normal looking ones dressed up to look funny. Like this one here:

Angel & Devil 

Of course there were perfectly normal looking humans & dogs like me & raindrop: