Happy Australia Day!

Nothing like an ice-cold Rekorderlig to wash down a home-cooked dinner.... and I even didn't have to lift a finger to cook it! Ha Ha! How did YOU spend your Straya Day, folks?




My favourite! Peking duck! Poor Mom in law broke her denture after her first bite... it wasn't that the food was hard or anything honestly..... She had already broken it exactly 2 weeks ago and was mended..... on a Sunday... that meant EXTRA CHARGES!..... anyway, the same fracture site came apart again. Oh she loves Perth SO much more now.....

Mixed vege with tofu

Bryan grinning from ear to ear!

Tooth Fish with soy sauce

                                                   Tooth Fish with soy sauce


Remember the peking duck? The skin was what was in the rolls. The meat was added into this fried noodle dish.....

Bryan's favourite, the sweet and sour pork (King Toong Kwat)

Yes, you read correctly, makan lagi! This would make it my 4th birthday dinner, with friends and family.... all within the week! I am truly blessed. Last night was beautiful. The weather was juuuuuuuust right. The food was scrumptious. Urbanspoon rated this restaurant quite poorly, with poor service being at the top, but we had really good and friendly service last night to be honest. The portions were huge, so much so we had to tapau home...... Thanks Ange for the wine... White.... lovely.... After that, we went home and ate some more.... birthday cake, ice cream and mangoes!!!!! Thank you Kathryn, the mangoes were so juicy and fragrant!

Birthday Dinner at Marumo

Derrick found this place in Urban Spoon and made reservations months ago for my 42nd birthday. From the outside, it looked like some Kopi Tiam. I can still see a faint "Fish and Chips" shadow beneath the Marumo Japanese Kitchen. From the outside, I couldn't look in through the windows, so I was really amazed when the interior, which looks like a typical kopi tiam, had menus pictured above, on every table. Other than the absence of an "h" in "buckwheat", the menu was very uniquely done.

 

It was a 7 (yes! SEVEN!) course dinner, no a la carte, which started pretty much as soon as we sat down. It started with a complimentary seaweed dish. It was just nice... you know how some Japanese eatery make them a tad bit to tart-y? Theirs were just nice.

 

I didn't take pics of the Freo Octopus Sunomo, fresh cucumber and; wakame dish but I think it looked something like this:

 

 

The next dish was Free Range Pork and Bean Sprout Harumaki with garlic miso sauce... which look like deep-fried popiahs to be honest but when you bite into them, ooh la la.

 

 

 

Next was Mt Barker Chicken Thigh Katsu, Spicy mayo and tonkatsu sauce which was superb!

 

 

Next was Chef's Selection of Assorted Sashimi, grated wasabi and soy sauce (what else??)

 

 

You see the scallops? So sweet! The sashimi was so fresh.

 

 

The next dish was Lightly Torched Tasmanian Salmon Belly Sushi , tiger prawn & tobiko

Now at this stage I was full. Honestly, I was. But when I sank my teeth in one of those, I just didn't care. The torched salmon was so fragrant, "lightly" was right. It was heavenly. When you squish the roe, salmon and tiger prawn together, I tell you, you won't stop at just one. However full I was, I chowed down 2 and reluctantly gave one up to Derrick.

 

You see now, I'd have a very confused palate to enjoy the next dish (so the maitre d' thought). He whipped out little shot glasses of what looked like icecream to me and I said to Derrick "I think they skipped the noodles and are serving us the dessert". I was at that point getting disappointed thinking so. Just then, good ol' maitre d' explained (because a lot of us were looking at the menu wondering why the dessert was being served) that it was their home-made Tangerine sorbet.... their "palate cleanser"... Ahhhhh..... so dinner wasn't over yet.....

 

 

Yes, we got our Organic Buckwheat Noodles, Mix tempura & zaru-soba sauce.

 

 

 

And finally! Dessert...

Cotton cheese cake, green tea cream and seasonal fruit...

 

 

 

So if you count the complimentary dishes, it was indeed, 9 courses altogether, all for below AUD40. Not bad huh?

For My Birthday........

Happy birthday to me! Nice buns... er, I mean CAKE!

Cake and 6 packs... always a good combination.... I want them straight to my hips please....

Night Out With The Ladies

Aaaah..... nothing like a nice, albeit warm, night out for a bite to eat and filling our ears with the "latest news". Sista Bams, Kath and Tanz, here's to many more evenings out, to catch up, to whine and dine. Oh by the way, Sista Bams... you have a very good guy-dar..... There seems to be eye candy everywhere we go, isn't there?

Exercise Anyone?

 

Let's start with your neck. Look at the picture above.

 

Once upon a time, I could do this and variations of this:

 

 

I haven't done any serious exercising for 13 years and I think it's time for me to haul my fat ass to do some. No, it's not a new years' resolution and here's why: Firstly, it's NOT the new year and secondly, I do not make new year resolutions....

Anyway, back to topic..... I shall ...... 'endeavour' to be able to do the splits again... without breaking tendons, muscles or bones either by the end of 2013 or before I reach 70, just like Gran O'Contorta....

 

Where's Bond?

 

Feeling  a little Octopussy the moment.... Managed to submit a Unit of Study in last night... well, this morning at 1am to be precise. 4 more Units to go. Books are thick. On top of that, there are assignments after every Chapter followed by 10 essay questions and 3 Projects at the end of each of the Unit of study. I'm very lucky my mother in law is still here to help me with the cooking and fixing breakfast for the rest of the family. Work wise, busy, with lots more to look forward to.... Will be running education sessions outside of ward as well... going hospital wide! Gasp! This means I may start working full-time from the middle of the year when the ward expansion finally opens.

Very interesting year ahead for me. I feel it will fly past fast very quickly, just like 2012. Quick! Where are the roses?????

Assignments due..... yesterday...

Need to get my ass in line and really get over the holiday season and finish up my assignments.4 more units to go.... I VOW to finish a unit of study a week. This year, dear friends, will be a very very busy year for me, career wise... I mean VERY... Can't really divulge much yet... until I sign papers. Until then I've gotta get my head in the right head space and work hard.... Whatever the outcome is, I'm very thankful to the big Man upstairs for giving me such a great place to work.

Here's To Doing Something Different!

I'm doing something different today. Everyone posted New Year greetings on the 1/1 this year.... Some even as early as Dec.... Facebook postings were inundated with New Year postings... Now be honest, how many of you really read ALL of it..... or did you just let it scroll when you refreshed the "update" page?

So this year, I've decided to sit and wait..... for the whole shebang to be over and, a week into it, wish everyone A HAPPY NEW YEAR! May this year brings you all peace, happiness, smooth sailing at work, getting more sex than ever before (what... as if you're not secretly hoping for it? C'mon!), eat healthy, drink responsibly and more time to spend with loved ones....

And no, I'm not making new year resolutions, third year in a row.........