Am finally home with theboyfie!

After an 8 hour plane ride, I got out to the Arrivals Hall, and there I saw my Konzy!

At an instant, he ran to me with his arms wide open; I jumped in. And the rest was history 🙂

Shower of kisses! 😀 😀 Ima happy gurl

We grabbed lunch in the city and waited for the V-Line train to go home.

I'm still so NOT accustomed to the weather and climate yet! Hell of a difference 🙁 It was 32 °C when I left Malaysia and then when I touched down, the pilot said:

"Dear passengers on board, welcome to Melbourne. 

The local time is 10.30am and the temperature is 5°C"

WAIT A SEC. FIVE???? FIVE DEGREES CELCIUS? *faints*

To make things worse, a heavy downpour began; I was shivering despite the jacket & pillow Konzy brought for me.

So he suggested we drop by Gloria Jeans Coffee and got me my fave Hot Chocolate! 

Yay!!  Nice and warm inside 🙂

And when we finally got into the train, it was time to catch some snoozies.

But not after lots of cuddles of course! 

On the way home!

I could get used to this 🙂

Cold hands of mine. Sitting in front of the heater wearing extremely thick jackets yet still shivering.

Frost forming up against the window panes. Ice on tips of the grass.

A gentle but ice-cold breeze sweeps up as I opne the door.

This is all too familiar.

It felt so surreal, I swear.

Coming home to him and having his arms wrapped around me again.

Coming home to all my friends and we screamed and hugged and girltalked!

Coming home to so much laughter, fun and catching up!

Tears of joy rolled down my face when I entered the house I left 2 and a half months ago.

Kayla & Greg ran to open the door and we had a massive squeezefest!

Olivia banged Kon's room door and demanded I come out!

Laura walked into the house and widened her eyes and we dived into hugs!

Britt had a 5 second lag when she entered the house, staring at me in shock when I jumped

out at her, and THEN she reacted after those 5 seconds –

Like "OHMYGOD!! JESSJESS!" with her mouth wide open. Was so cute!

The rest Facebooked me in anticipation. I hope I see them tonight, if not tomororow or the day after! 😀 😀

Candid photo when I was sitting up on the kitchen counter!

My dosage of borderline racism on Asians. As always. Sigh.

My expression when I'm being Asian-stereotyped

I weel Kung-Fu you and kill your family with chopsticks!

Just like old times. It felt like I never left.

Well technically, I may have, but deep inside, I never did 🙂

I'd die happy from sugar overdose 😀 😀 😀

Watch out Aussieland! My September has just begun 

Yes, as the title mentioned, I did something I didn't even expect myself to do!

What, go visit an abandoned Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine existing since the year 1865 (which I assume is now somewhat haunted), play with fire  there and almost detoured to a cemetery? Geez. Sometimes I shock myself silly.

—————-

BUT FIRST!

I just had to tell you something, especially to all the artsy-fartsy freaks and creative heads out there!

I spotted a campaign about Nescafe Chill Lah on ChurpChurp and….. *drumroll*

Nescafe is giving away 10,000 bucks to someone who best designs their Nescafe tin-can! 

On top of getting that mighty ten grand, the winner will get their design featured on limited edition Nescafe cans nationwide! Finally know how it's like to have your own design on a tin can that everyone across the country will drink from, ey? 

Pretty damn cool, if I say so myself. I'd be so proud! So get your creative juices flowing & submit your designs.

Check out their Facebook page here for more deets 

—————–

So it all began with an impromptu picnic trip my mates and I decided to make on a sunny afternoon

Roadtrip, babeh!

With the days and nights always being less than 10°C everyday, it was such a rare occurrence that we *actually* had full-blown sunshine! So excited. But it was still cold as ever, despite the sun!

Ranga quickly suggested a picnic trip and we were all hey ho, let's go! 

Clear blue skies ahead!

Geez it's so sunny!

And of all days, I forgot all about my sunglasses 🙁 Sigh!

Yes I'm trying hard not to squint.  >____<

Konzy took the easy way out; he shut his eyes instead! 😀

En route to Wallhalla!

How much further?

Our hungry tummies decided we stop by Bert Christensen Reserve in La Trobe City to eat.

If I recall correctly, t'was already 4pm at the time.

Lush green blanket of grass!

But no, we're not sitting on it.

We had KFC to-go, mashed potatoes, popcorn chicken, fries and coke

Yeah yeah, I know it wasn't what you would expect of a conventional picnic.

With the checked tablecloth to lay on the grass, woven baskets containing peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, apples, a jar of lemonade and homemade muffins. Oh and a pet dog.

So it wasn't like this

Nor was it like this

AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT LIKE THIS

Although we ate the same KFC Bucket 

So anyway! After eating, we continued our journey up to Walhalla's famous Gold Mine

We're driving along the top of the hill now!

At the end of this post, you'll see a night view taken from the exact same spot

.

.

.

.

Okay I changed my mind. What? I'm a woman; I'm entitled to change my mind.

 I couldn't wait. I'll show it to you now LOL 😛 😛

I shot this while we were on our way home after everything was over!

Okay, pause right there. Back on rewind.

Where was I?

Oh, right. In the car on the way to Walhalla.

Roadtrip was kinda long, so we all spent our time chatting and camwhoring 😀

And we had arrived our destination! It was pretty damn quiet; just as I expected.

It's an abandoned Gold Mine after all, standing as one of the richest mines in the early 19th century.

Although quiet, it wasn't deserted.

Whee! I went up there to check out the view

In the background : Walhalla Star Hotel

Quite a peaceful little town

There was a creek right below the bridge too

I turned around and Konzy was taking piccies of the stream

And he took a piccie of me too! 

We were all curious and began to explore Walhalla's grounds; reading about its history too.

Here's a tiny cottage bearing words from the Walhalla Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine management.

Read if you can. If not, don't bother squinting your eyes.

It's just some information on its tourism and slight bit of history.

Before we knew it, the sun had already set.

Spooky trees. Melikes.

 hoodies.

When it was dark, we all congregated by our cars and began talking a whole load of crap.

Oddly enough, we fooled around suggesting that we do something daring.

Such as visiting a graveyard or climbing over zinc barricades into the Gold Mine.

Har har har. Funny? Just you wait.

Little did I know that they *actually* meant what they said

T__________T

So off we went into the deep dark terrains of the abandoned mine.

I ain't no wuss or anything but seriously? Going to creepy places in the dead of the night? Geez! 

Don't remind me.

They even scared themselves silly! There was this inanimate mannequin placed right at the opening of those iron bars. The moment you flash your torchlight, that mannequin will flash before your eyes.

Yikes. Nasty, I'm lucky I wasn't the one who saw it lest I shit myself!!! 

BOOOOOOO YAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! 

Hahhahhaa. Naw. That's not an apparition. It's an actual person 😛

It's Alex coming outta the mine because as far as they went inside, there were metal bars there.

AWWWWW. TOO BAD.

MIssion aborted.

But guess what we did instead???? 

Yup yup! Fire twirling 😀 😀 😀

I can proudly say I have did something beyond ordinary on my 22nd birthday.

Went to an abandoned Gold Mine, climbed into a restricted area and played pyromaniac for the night – fire twirling is fun (and dangerous!) I felt #likeaboss. 

The fire-twirling was all thanks to Mossy!

He's the fire-twirler among us.

I love his deft skills when he juggled and spun the flaming staff around effortlessly. Heck, he even took a gulp of petrol and fire-breathed into the air! Now, that's what I call wicked.

Me? Oh. Well. I'm no expert, I swear.

Just trollin' around & having fun 😀 Teehee.

Don't agitate me… or I'll set your house on fire.

 I be kidding!!

In the end, we finally climbed out from the forbidden zone and went back home.

And no, thankfully we did not end up going to the cemetary *wipes sweat* PHEWW!!!!!! 😛 😛

One of the most memorable birthday experiences, I daresay.

You only live once. So make sure you do the extreme 😉

Aight, I'm outta here! 

Remember my previous sneak peak post here about the Egyptian exhibition – Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs? Yup yup, here's the sequel of it!

It all began when my buncha mates wanted to check out the exhibition held in Melbourne city. 

Many of us were interested and made vague plans on going, but only Konzy and I were keen till the very end.

We arrived Melbourne at noon sharp to have lunchies and visit the Melbourne Zoo

There were heaps of banners, posters, digital ads on the Tut exhibition everywhere in the city! 

I just couldn't wait to unearth the mysteries of King Tut

and oggle over those precious Egyptian artifacts 😀

Had a delightful Greek dinner with Konzy at the famous Greek precinct along Lonsdale Street and proceeded to the Melbourne Museum

Saw this awesome building within the museum vicinity!!

So pretty. Especially all lighted up 

Approaching the exhibition 

Also, I made a new friend.

Come on, be nice and say hello.

What? Being judgemental now, are we?

He's a man of few words; or none

Konzy made fast friends with him too 😛

*dramatic cue*

It actually did start with a thunderous rolling sound with a hoarse voice welcoming us to the exhibition of King Tutankhamun. 

Seriously, that recorded speech really hyped me up for what I was about to witness!

Okay, here are only a few pictures from the exhibition.

You absolutely must check it out with your very own eyes. I'm only giving you some sneak peaks to keep you on your toes in suspense for the real thing! 😀 

King Tut's family tree!

King Tut's mom and dad!

More head statues of Egyptian Royalty!

Pretty cool right?

There were a few rooms/sections depicting different eras of the Egyptian sovereignty.

T'was so interesting; I had my eyes fixated on reading up almost every single artifact!

Statues and hieroglyphics

Spooky~

The Gilded Coffin of Tjuya

And a close up of it!

🙂 so pretty!

Hello there! This is Horus, one of the ancient Egyptian gods/deities 

If you didn't already know, his eye is tattoo-ed on my left wrist 

Check out some of my favorite miniatures on display too!

I have the exact same thing in my room 🙂

Bought it during my trip to Universal Studios in Singapore!

I pretty much love all things Egyptian. 

pretty Ankhs! 

This is where the Egyptian royal females put their cosmetics and stuff

I love this!

The Egyptian empire's intricate details and carving really impresses me

Okay that's it! 

Although what I've shared with you is not even a quarter of all the exhibits and information, I don't wanna show you anymore, you really have to personally see it for yourselves and check out what's in store for you!

As though the Egyptian relics aren't already breathtaking enough, do also listen to the audio carefully (headphones) and you will be taken away into their world 

Last but not least, the eerie skeleton inside the coffin!

Rest in Peace 

A closer look at the body, anyone? 😀

I was pretty intrigued by how the skeleton was preserved

Konzy with the skeleton

Spent so many hours in there that I didn't even realize the time when we got out!

Konzy and I sorta both lost each other mid way during the exhibition because we were too carried away reading the info on the displays and scrutinizing all the cool Egyptian relics

LOL I got scared 'cos I was lost all alone in a huge crowd of strangers and a burly female security guard had me describe him. She managed to find him and asked him something like "Do you have a lost Asian girlfriend?"

WTF "lost Asian"

Geez thanks. I felt like a little lost boat person already. -__-

Thank you King Tut (and your clan) and National Geographic for bringing us a good time!

The exhibition runs from April 2011 until mid October. So you still have time to catch it

You can book your tickets at www.kingtutmelbourne.com.au

I bought heaps and heaps of Egyptian souvenirs for myself and thefockers.

The merchandises were amazing, can't wait to put 'em up in my room! 

I went home a very happy girl 

Ya know what makes me sweat, gives me the adrenalin rush and gets my blood pumpin'?

No innuendo induced, I hope. For the answer is none other than – Dance Dance Revolution aka DDR!

DDR and I share a history, and we have come a long way back! 

Been busting it on the DDR machine since I was only 18. Back then, Gurney Plaza had DDR 3 machines and you would see me there almost everyday after college.

Back in Penang : Hitting Queensbay Mall's DDR Extreme!

And ever since then, I've been a DDR regular – hitting the "dancefloor" whenever I see DDR machines around! Oh and, my faves are DDR 3rd Mix, DDR Extreme and DDR Supernova; the others doesn't quite cut it. Sigh!

When I was in Australia for the past half a year, I felt deprived of DDR simply because I had no clue at all whether or not there were any in Melbourne.

BUT when I found out through my mates, I was delighted and just had to go to the arcade right away!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KelX4SjCEZI

Here's a video of Konzy and I bustin' it in Mid Valley.

He's not bad for a first timer! 

I cannot wait to go play again! So far the ones in KL are in Sunway Pyramid and Penang has one in Queensbay Mall. The one in Gurney Plaza has changed to something else, that's why I've stopped playing there!

Any challengers? 😀

Yay Yay! Time for another page outta my lil Chef at Home cookbook! 

One fine day, Verity and I decided to cook up some Asian cuisine for dinner – Black Pepper Stir Fried Beef

in the process! I like my meals with heaps of veggies 😀

Verity helping to chop more veggies! 

Lots and lots of garlic paste in the already-marinaded beef chunks!

Okay to be honest, the original dish was supposed to be Chicken Stir Fry.

But we changed it entirely to Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry! Then again, no one follows the cookbooks 😉

ESPECIALLY ME.

After putting everything in the wok!

Letting it simmer and absorb all the juices 😀 Omnomnomnom

Oh and you know what's our secret ingredient? Wine!  

Lots and lots of it!

After letting it simmer for another half an hour, I just gave it some more herbs and condiments to taste.

Used heaps of black pepper seeds too 😀 😀

Ta-da!! Almost ready!

Erin was on the other side of the kitchen, also busy cooking.

But since she's vegan, all her meals were strictly vegetarian – no meat of any sort!

*sizzle sizzle*

For dessert, we decided to bake a special chocolate cake. *wink*

Omnomnomnom. Ima chocolate maniac, if you didn't already know 😀 

Prepare all the ingredients needed

Melted chocolate, butter and yummy delish stuff 

Pour it in with chopped walnut chunks!

Ooooh look at that nutty chocolatey goodness 😀

As usual, this is what my friends and I do after I've finished pouring the entire cake mix into the baking tin.

Who wants to waste good chocolate? 😛
 

NOBODY. 

Popped it into the oven and waited for the magic to happen.

In the meantime, our Black Pepper Stir Fry Beef was ready to be eaten with steamed rice 

Bon Appetit!

Doesn't look really appetizing in the photo   Cos I was too hungry and couldn't give two hoots about taking pictures. Just wanted to gobble it! I was delighted when my friends loved it just as much as I did!

One of them said it was spicy as! *giggle* Well, toughen up! Get used to Asian spicy food 😛

This was Erin's vegetable dish!

She let me take as many photos as I wanted before she ate 😛 Yay!

After eating and got really full to the brim, it was time to bring out the special chocolate cake! 😉

Walnuts ahoy!

Don't know why we turned the cake upside down and ate it that way instead

Yay everyone liked it!

Okay speaking of which, I'm really darn hungry as we speak.

Imma head out for dindins with the bestie now.

And to all my Muslim readers out there, Selamat Berbuka Puasa!