A City Trip

After a week of Clayton-ness and home with a housemate on study-leave, a trip to the city seemed eventful and exciting. Seeing how my internship requires me to go down to the city once a week, usually I would have lined up activities such as lunch date, dinner after work or just a muffin-together meeting with friends around the city.

I wore my dark purple blouse and cream Zara pants. I lurve the cutting and comfy-ness of Zara pants. Too bad they only had one of my size left which was totally understandable seeing how they were having sales during then.

One challenge however is: What coat/scarf/ shoes to match with this pair of pants?

I ransacked my whole wardrobe before asking permission to 'look' inside WenJi's wardrobe. Black was too much of a contrast, cream on cream made me a huge walking marshmallow. In the end, I settled for grey. But but but, I still feel there is a shade out there which can be more spectacular. Any insights, girls?

The weather was gloomy and sky was grey imparting a sense of greyness on everything - me, the pavement, the approaching train. It was just sunny yesterday. But oh well, that is Melbourne for you. But I consider myself lucky cause after speaking to Mel later during the day, I realised it was as bad as 3 degrees earlier in the morning. Wah.

The train ride to city takes around 40 minutes. Since I boarded the train at around 11 am, it was quite empty and comfortable. I really don't mind being on trains. I love how it allows me to escape into my world of music with my trusted Sony MP3 player.

On train, you get to see lotsa interesting characters. The cute pink babies, the lady in red applying mascara, the heavily pierced teenager with guyliner on, the fluffy dog you wonder of what breed, the snoring tubby man in bright yellow and so on.

I saw this really cute baby and his/her doting young brother. I find it interesting cause despite his whole get-up which resembles a tough-guy wannabe (revealing his red Bart Simpson silk boxers, black leather cap and a skull pendant), he was playing 'gu jiak gu jiak'.

The loveliest of all? The sudden ray of sunshine. Aaaaa, the sun. (Not something you hear back in Malaysia!) Sun . . . sun!. . . .

. . . .*poob* then we entered a tunnel.

Hello Melbourne Central! . . . in formal workwear! I have always gotten down at Melbourne Central in the casualest or teenager-est wear ever. This time it felt different. Even walking into shops, retail assistants paid more attention to me. So much so that I had to exert extra effort in not being shocked-electric by a price of AUD280 for a coat which resembled one I got from Thailand at a price of RM20 (although it was of a lower quality but still!!)

In the end, I just bought some snacks from Aji Ichiban as a surprise for Mr Tan who would be going off for a night elsewhere for work, but still it costed me AUD 10! Why is everything so expensive nowadays!? Mana pergi keropok 30 sen??

A change of scene. From the quietness of Clayton to the hustle-bustle of the city. From the sweatpants and T-shirt students to the mini-skirt and platform-heels students int he city. From pyjama Me to workwear Me. Excitement excitement :-)

The aromatic temptation from stalls of all kinds.

The colourful characters, concrete buildings and machines you see on the streets.

Interesting ideas everywhere such as this toy dog in the middle of the pathway which was to catch the attention of dog lovers and prompt them to donate to a charity involving giving dogs a home.

The tapping sound of the traffic lights whenever pedestrians cross the roads and trams running up and down the streets.

The workwear and being on the busy streets suppressed my cheesy all-time grin into a smile. Very weird smile.

I was waiting for Mr Tan to arrive from Docklands. And how disappointing. We have never met up in the city both in workwear before. Because he had to go off somewhere straight after work, he was in jeans cherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

We went to the nearest Japanese place for lunch. Kimurakan on Little Bourke Street, the same one I went with Glyniss and Eric last year.

I think we must be the contestants from The Biggest Eater: Couple Edition. Instead of ordering one bento or lunch specials like what couples usually do, we ordered two. One for each of us.

See the small packet of snacks I got him? AUD 10 okay!

Our respective territories. No la, actually we have a habit of picking on each others' food. He used to be quite polite and asked before taking, but gone are those days. Now it is more like, "Eh, where did my jelly go!?".

Bet he was thinking, "Easy prey".

And I was thinking, "Wah so scary, such a big portion, how to finish??"

"Itadakimasu!"

An omnivore. (him)

A carnivore. (me)

A happy tummy.

After that, I met up with Mel who was kind enough to accompany me to get an extra Mayday concert ticket for Mr Tan. I was given a survey form asking me what artists do I wish to see coming to Melbourne in the future.

1. Glay

2. Guang Liang (for the sake of WenJi laa)

3. Utada Hikaru (so that Steve can get mad)

Finally, I went for my internship. This is the building. I think it is really special as it is the only red-brick low building among all the high-rise glassy, grey-esh platinum buildings.

The front door.

After my work, I met up with Yani and we sardin-ed back to Clayton in the train to attend our coursemates' graduation ceremony. Took some pictures, seen some changes in friends and caught up with most of them. Hoping for some alumni event soon!

After dinner at Malaysian Garden with Chitz and Yani, where we talked as much as we ate, I was finally able to kick off my 'apparently' most comfy pair of heels and shower!

A glimpse of my smudgy eyeliner and panda eyes and toilet I am gonna clean today!

Today will be housecleaning day for me boo. You won't believe how messy my house is right now gosh! Do you want to seeeeeeee?

Dedicated to Miss PKN

I stumbled upon this store one gloomy morning.




A shop of the exact same name as Miss PKN.

Thus, this post I dedicate to you Miss Chinese Herbal Acupuncture Centre.

Miss ya loads here!

Today I choose to be Myself

Have you ever really wanted to be someone else?

I have, ever since young.


The first person I ever wanted to be I met in kindergarten. Her name is PanJinYin (PJY). When I first saw her I thought she was the prettiest girl I have ever seen. This is mostly because of her hairstyle. She had long straight hair tied into a high pony-tail with long fringe gel-ed back. So cool.

Before long, I was sporting the same hairstyle as her and became best friends with her. This phase ended soon after that. We became inseparable with sleepovers until high school. The last time I met her back in Sandakan, we barely spoke other than the polite 'hi-bye's. Leading totally different paths in life and having lost touch since high school, really do damage. Wish we were as close as before.

The second person I wanted to be was Sailormars. She was regarded as the most beautiful girl Sailormoon had ever seen. She was mysterious and fiery (attitude and ability). One of the reasons I wanted to be her was because I was extremely lembik at that time.

Well, being an imitator. . .

. . . I eventually became a bit fiery in character. Proof? I rallied to become Sailormars *hard, persistently and shamelessly* in the Sailormoon game we had in primary school and WON. Sailormars was a top choice okay! And I won *tears of joy*

I found my third target during a singing competition in primary school. She was a close classmate of mine and for the competition she transformed (transformed!!) into this cool, bad biker chick singing a Chinese song titled "Wo bu shi huai nu hai" (I am not a bad girl) or something like that. Her name is Irene Lee.

She had always been soft spoken, girly and with different ponytail/braids/ribbons everyday. Then on that day!! Black leather jacket with matching tall black boots, dark sunglasses, black biker cap (I think) and the reddest lipstick ever! Then she had dance moves some more! And when she started the whole crowd went wild~ Malay boys as young as 9 were whistling, teachers were grinning from ear to ear.

Something like that. But way cooler!

In my young heart back then I was screaming, "I want I want I want to be like that too!" So I started listening to pop songs in English since I did not know Chinese and sang like crazy to 911.

I even told another friend LKL that I wanted to be like her to which she replied something really memorable and. . . .wise. "My aunt said there is no need to want to be anyone else cause everyone is good at their own thing, so you just need to find out what you are good at." Wah.

Which explains why she became my fourth target. (No picture permission from her) LKL as a child was always active, funny, and cute in a boy-ish kinda way. I always admired her but really wanted to be here when she told me this one day in Primary Six. "I have six packs now after all the sit-ups I have done."

It was like my 'wanna-be-LKL' volcano erupted. But this did not last long as we were a bit too close I think or more like, once I stepped into high school there were too many people I wanted to be like.

Then there was this very short period of time when I really wished I was like my sister Lowena. Well, to be active, bright, likable, cheerful, funny and witty with an amazing appetite. I was going through my teenage-rebellious phase hence I was always gloomy, quiet, angry and depressed. Of course I kept this stupid wish silent all the while. Or else, cannot lo. But it ended as soon as it started cause somewhere around this time, little Lowena became erm, Supersize Lowena.

My next target was actually Glyniss. Really really. It all started when Chloe suddenly said this one an afternoon when Glyniss was standing near the door talking to some teacher. "She has such a good body shape." Me who had never thought a thing about my own body suddenly realised, "Gosh I am curvelessly flat".

Gyniss is the one in a white dress. This is a vintage photo taken during Form 3. And notice she had the 'very Chinese Girl' hair I was still raving about a few days ago.

When you are fat, you can exercise to achieve curviness. But when you are plain flat everywhere, there is little you can do other than eat. So I shifted my target to a skinnier but equally beautiful target in class - Miss Pik Tau. (No picture permission)

She was really friendly and welcomed me into her gang despite my nerdy and hermit-y nature back then. She was the first who had telephone porridge with me. She was liked by everyone - girls and guys alike, chinese schools and english schools origin alike. Most importantly, she has the clearest, most transparent and fairest skin ever. Again, remember my raving about the 'ver Chinese Girl' looks I wished for *ahem* And she had the 'hair' as well!

Later we took our friendship to a higher lever and she became my pet sister. But as soon as I got closer to her, then I changed target again haha.

During Form 3, I really wanted to be just like Chia. Being smart in studies, witty at conversations, daring to state her point. Sigh. Then she even had a boyfriend. To Hermit Me, it was like a beautiful Taiwan drama, her life that is. I was never extra bright academically, extra popular with guys (minus the 'extra' also still not applicable) or extra beautiful in appearance. It was enough to be close to her and maybe be like a shadow behind her.

This phase pretty much ended once we were segregated into different classes for Form 4. I was allowed to restart as an individual and not continue wanting to be like someone in my class or close vicinity. Form 4 and 5 was a turning point in my life. I was myself. Not trying to be someone else or hoping to be like someone else.

I talked more. I made more friends. I went out with people. I was active in school. I dared to lead. I hada boyfriend *shy*. I was finally living life as a student.

But this took quite a drastic turn when I started my college year in Sunway. Well, from Sandakan to Sunway = old sneakers to sky-high heels, what-is-make-up to full-on-face-coverage, hakka+cantonese to English-ful!! The change of environment was a big impact. I honestly felt so small. Hence I started 'target-searching again'.

The first person I wanted to be like was Tiffany. She looked so sweet and friendly. Er, and she had this hunky boyfriend with her while I was going through endless rough patches in my own relationship :-( But she went on to become Miss Mufy and her boyfriend Mr Mufy and so on. So I figured that was way too out of my league to even 'try' to be like. I basically spent the whole year in my own little world.

Come uni years. The first person I wanted to be like was Amanda. Believe it or not?

Reasons: She spoke perfect English. She was funny and witty. She has perfect washboard abs. She has the 'very Chinese Girl' hair back then too!

It was great when I joined her gang along with Cheryl, PKN and Su-ee cause for the first time I was enjoying life in uni.

Another turning point came during my Exchange year in Clayton. Being detached from everything familiar yet again and having nothing familiar for me to idolise or want-to-be-over, I had another chance to restart and this time for good.

I introduced myself purely as myself to new friends.

From that point onwards, I have always been myself.

Now,
I talk even more. I have even more close friends. I go out with people. I am active in my circle of friends. I dare to speak and act. I have an amazing boyfriend *proud haha*. I am living life as myself.

Of course, from time to time I still go, "Aww, I wish I was as _____________ as ___________". But, by the end of the day, I can always smile or sigh at said statement as Loretta.

Restaurant and Pet Business

I have been immensely addicted to Facebook games lately.

My restaurant in Restaurant City has been booming with business and the only time it is non-operational is actually when I sleep or am away from the computer (reluctantly or by force).

My restaurant currently have 6 staffs! Ray, Steve and I are the main cooks. WenJi and Choo are the waiters. My sister Lowena is the cleaner. WenJi has extensive experience as a waitress having worked as one before here. Choo just can't be the cook else he would eat up everything, or maybe all the taugeh so he is the waiter. Lowena, well she is just toilet cleaning material :-)

This was my restaurant 5 days back! Still modest and with 4 staffs only. But in just 2 days! It is a three times bigger with 1.5 times more staff! Too lazy to put a screenshot here so please visit at Restaurant City Facebook-ies :-) Register if you haven't!

It is funny how people with an average of 22 can get so serious about this game. For example:

A plea, desperate-very-much plea from the top player in my Restaurant City network. Well, he is second now. Kiasu Choo became first.

They spy on your ingredients for trading. Hmm. Actually reading this message again, I could pretty much sue Steve for harassment. Tsk, such suggestive contents.

And some resort to unfair trade. Imagine you best-est friend giving you a one-star corn for a one-star something. I mean, I wanted the four-star pork :-( Best Friends wor. Bau Suk la you.

This message concerns me starving Choo the waiter cause I wanted to save money for new decorations. Well, he always eats a lot so he burns my money damn fast. I then told Steve my grand plan to work him till 0% then sack him off for a new worker. But then. . .

I realised I have to compensate $200 if I were to sack him! Omg, divorce meh? So naturally, I kept him and FED him. Till today he is still part of my staff. Still eating off me hmph.

Another game I am really into is Pet Society. I have this amazingly cute but poor pet named Choppy! The name was chosen by Ray as I had a tough time deciding on the name. He said my pet resembled Chopper from One Piece. Choppy sounded kinda cute right??

I actually had a lot of pictures of Choppy but I was so clever that I don't remember where I put the folder. No idea. At all. Wah, hebat-ness at an entirely new level.

Coincidentally Melbourne was freaking cold today so I took out my trusted white furry with ears hoodie to wear. And on a cold gloomy lonely afternoon at home, inspiration struck me *thunder*

The inspirational coat. A very very comfy coat soft as a baby's bottom with little bear ears on the hoodie.

You know how pets in Pet Society, or any cute cartoon (think Hello Kitty, Boo from Monsters Inc, Chopper, Kon from Bleach etc etc) has a big head and small body?

I am a Pet now! Wait, let me convince you.

Puppy-fied Pet #1.

Shiny Eyes Pet #2.

Sanji-eyebrowed Megawatt Grin Pet #3

Loving Smiley Pet #4

Scaredy Sarcastic Pet #5

PMS Monster Pet #6

Roaring Devil Pet #7

So anyone up for adopting a Pet? (kyahaha, I love doodling) All you have to do is feed me, play with me, pamper me and lurve me.

Which one is your favourite Pet?

Omg. None of them T.T

My new header!

After 3 new posts, I am more than ready to hit the snoozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze button (the z's emphasize the length of sleep). But lemme explain a bit about my new header!

I have been thinking of what to put as my new header since the accident of deleting the blue and cute layout (which was the beautiful work of someone else).

I decided I wanted to make this blog more personal so I wanted to make the header personalise me!

I tried getting a picture with a beam or light (hikari means light in japanese) but it looked corny and amateur-ish cause I have no talent in photography ma.

I tried photoshopping a picture of myself (hikari* is all about me after all) but I do not even have photoshop apalagi the skills for it.

So in the end I decided to doodle.

Anyone who knows me would probably know that doodling is what I do most of the time.

In class. Watching TV. Reading novel. On textbooks. On returned assignments. Of Rukawa. Or imaginary friends. Of ramen. To vent out frustration. To keep awake. For fun.

So tell me, does that remind you of me? (and all the good times we had together haha, like a pop song lyric haha)

A new haunt :-)

Seeing how my casual work has ended and most importantly, Oli came back from Perth, we decided to have a proper day out relaxing.

As Saturday was Anzac Day, we figured a lot of places would be closed so we decided to head straight to Springvale for breakfast.

Springvale is a Vietnamese suburb with lotsa Asian food and markets. So that means, lotsa shops open and in business despite public holidays, wintry cold weather and extreme windiness :-) I love Asian-ism.

Ever since working in that warehouse, I have had no chance to dress up and make up. So naturally, I woke up all agitated to paint my face silly :-D

But it is weird that this new fringe is making me look like I have single eyelids hmmm.

And everyone including my 24-hour aide WenJi told me that I looked skinnier after working. My face looks like it has sulken in or something. Well, it was a matter of 7.5 hours of standing and lifting every single day for 10 days.

It was so windy on that day that, after stepping out for less than 5 seconds to collect some laundry, my hair became like Rainie Yang's jellyfish head. Melbourne's weather is acting up again lately - super strong wind and extremely cold weather.

And instead of wearing the same pair of sport shoes everyday to work, I got to spare 5 minutes thinking of what shoes to wear before finally saying hello again to my sandals :-)

Oli came and picked me and Jess up to Springvale for Vietnamese noodle. Why? We were all craving for something hot, soupy and carbo-ey due to the cold weather. And also for something fast and accurate due to our extreme hunger.

How good was the noodle?

This GOOD only with the right company and right amount of girly gossip time :-)

Seeing how it was so cold and windy that very night, we went over to John's place nearby for some get-together and wine session. It was extremely enjoyable. Simple yet pleasant. John's house has a very good vibe to it. With its Victorian-esque wall paper and curtains and old-fashioned brown carpet, it looks like a vintage bar with a very nice fireplace. We have now a new hangout place. Haunt haunt haunt >:-)

Ray said at the end of the night, "You really love talking and can talk a lot, can't you?"

But the most amazing thing which captivated my attention was this old fashioned heater in John's living room.

You could literally see flame and the metal heating up in red! It was uber warm as well *stares at own electic fan heater*

It continued glowing redder and redder as the night went on making the room warmer and warmer. And the decision to go out into the cold to get back home harder and harder.