Longest post in 3 weeks!

Project Australia Day#20: Final day


I could not think of a more apt picture than this:





Max Brenner's Belgium waffles. This may or may not be the reason that I go on annual trips to Melbourne. Heh.

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Now that I am back home,it's time for a proper meaty post! Randomly sifted through my photo albums for pictures....



Spent a lazy afternoon at St. Kilda the day that my parents touched down in Melbourne--which incidentally, was the first official day we were in Melbourne since we were mostly in Sydney before that. The weather in Melbourne was considerably colder than Sydney's, hence I fished out one of my 'warmest' outfit-- one of my maxi dresses.





Which was backless, fml. It was supposed to be summer!!



Started our day with a good meal at Stoke House:



Half duck, twice cooked, with muscatels.



Risotto of prawn & confit fennel.



Spaghettini alla chittara with crab & pangrattato.



Softshell crab with chilli, garlic & salsa verde.




Salami, pesto & parmesan pizza.


All these pictures are taken with my new Canon S95! Does the food look yummier? :P



We tried to walk off the calories by taking a stroll along the beach. Hello hot people and impossibly cute puppies!









The stroll led us to... dessert. Hehehe.



Nashi (pear) and ginger crumble.



Green tea tiramisu.



Chocolate Harumaki (Chocolate spring rolls with vanilla ice-cream, caramel sauce and almonds).


The desserts were heavenly! I especially loved the ginger crumble and the chocolate spring rolls.





We had our desserts at Ichi Ni, a wooden, charming Japanese fusion restaurant at St Kilda.



Outfit:









Black backless cap-sleeved maxi dress: Bangkok
Gold tassel necklace: F21
Tan woven belt:Bangkok
Rings:YSL/ F21
Aviators: Ray Bans
Black suede sandals with gold chains: Topshop
Burgundy messenger bag: Zara

Project Aussie Day #19: Boxing Day.

Zombie on the rampage hahahaha.

This was us at 4.30am, walking towards the city for the boxing day sales (departmental stores open at 5am). Teeny is obviously not a morning person, haha.

I got myself a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti oxford booties and Marni sandals... at a fraction of their original retail prices! Mad deliriously happy! :D Visuals when I am home.

Can't believe my 3 weeks long Aussie trip is ending tomorrow! :(

Project Aussie Day #17 and #18.

Day #17: X'mas eve



How did you spend your Christmas eve? :)

I spent mine getting dark on a grassy slope with people that I've missed (and will miss soon). I was making a flower garland (y'know, a floral wreath to wear around the head) here, and it turned out pretty well! More pictures later. :)



Day #18: CHRISTMAS!


Picture taken with the fish-eye effect on my camera.


A day is well spent when at the end of the day your camera is filled with silly pictures that make you smile. :)

And yes, I wore red for Christmas.

I am off to do some push-ups and lunges for a last-minute fitness session-- I am waking up at 5am for Boxing Day sales! The day where all women are at their worst, hehe.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Project Aussie: Day #15 and #16.

Day #15

My contacts broke the day before and I did not have any spare! Being the vainpot that I am, I borrowed a pair of contacts from Teeny-- although her power is half of mine. I am blind without glasses/contacts-- so with her colored contacts, I was half blind the entire day. However, wearing contacts which did not suit me left me with a huge migraine at the end of the day, and I had no choice but to wear my glasses the next day:




It wasn't easy to throw together an outfit that will match my glasses though! (yes I insist), 'cause florals/pastels and chiffon/lace (90% of the wardrobe that I brought over) will just look weird with my black frames. But I managed to put together something, and tried to make my glasses look like an accessory, hehe.

Black polyester blend midi dress: H&M
Silver choker: Topshop
Khaki cropped jacket: Bardot, Australia
Tan leather loafers: Aldo



Day #16



(If you are wondering why I am not wearing glasses here, it's 'cause my bestie Jac gave me a pair of disposable lens-- her power is very close to mine. HALLELUJAHHHH!!)

The black bag with the funny camel print on it carries 2 pair of jeans that I bought today! Got myself 2 pairs of Cheap Monday. I am just amazed that I could fit into a 25-waist!! The sales assistant (as well as Jac and Teeny) kept on pushing me to go one size down.

For example, after squeezing myself into a pair that already looked too small for me (looked more like fingerless gloves WTF), I collapsed outside to show Jac and Teeny the jeans. The SA asked, "Are they comfortable?" I held on to my hips, gasping for air (it ain't easy trying to pull on a second skin wtf), and told her "yea, I guess so". She clucked her tongue, "That means you should go one size down!". -_-

Anyway, I am really happy with the jeans! Though putting them requires extremely unglamorous and compromising positions that will make the author of Kamasutra blush WTF. Guess you guys will be seeing me in jeans a lot. :P

Project Aussie Day #13 and #14.

Day #13




Met up with two of my dearest friends! In fact, Jac's picture was stolen from our meeting today-- we were so busy yakking away last night during dinner that we didn't take any pictures at all(HOW CAN THAT BE JAC!!).



Day#14



Picture of my first proper shopping trip in my 2 weeks in Aussie!

And I bought a dress for New Year's Eve. Granted, I was just looking for an excuse to buy the dress... But hey, I reckon I need to look good ushering in the new year! :P

Project Aussie Day #12: My first Aussie outfit post.

I haven't done an outfit post in sometime, so here's one for you guys.




HAHAHAHA. The most unglam picture of us in Australia thus far.

Joshua, Jing's bestie, called us the "Siti in the City", hahahaha. Melbourne is so cold it isn't funny! It was about 10 degrees at night-- whatever happened to summer? At this time 3 years ago (when I was around for my graduation), people were half naked everywhere! Now everyone is bundled in wool coats, knit scarves and leather boots. -_-

Navy jumpsuit: Teeny's
White cardie with navy trimmings: Teeny's
Cream trench coat: Teeny's
Star print wool scarf: Teeny's
Tan loafers: Aldo
Burgundy messenger bag: Zara


Yep, everything on me belongs to Teeny.

Before we came over, I checked with Teeny the weather in Melbourne, and in her exact words she told me:"It's chat hot here! Everything you wear in M'sia will be inappropriate-- it'll still be too hot". With her words of wisdom, I only brought over bits of lace, chiffon, silk and satin. -___-

The only remotely warm outerwear I have is a Topshop denim jacket that I asked my mom to bring over as an afterthought. I have to borrow everything from Teeny here-- and as she is like 2 feet taller than me, I look like a bag lady in all her clothes FML.

Project Aussie Day #10 and #11.

Click *here* for more on Project Aussie.


Day #10



A productive day it was! We were out of the house by 9.30am (that's 6.30am M'sian time, mind you!), and went to Mount Dandenong (that's where this picture was taken) and hit two vineyards where Jing got tipsy from wine-tasting(5 sips maybe?). -_-

I've also stopped asking for entree sizes for my meals-- only full-fledged Aussie portions for me please! My reasoning is that I share my food, so it's okay. That, plus the fact that it's really cold (9 degrees in summer, are you kidding me???) means I burn off my food easily right? Right?



Day#11



My sister is hotter than yours.



Had a really yummy Japanese fusion farewell dinner with my parents-- they are flying back to KL tonight. It feels strangely empty without my dad swiping at the Ipad with 'swoosh swoosh swoosh' sounds in the background, and my mom's hearty laughter and deathly glares to us to hand over the Ipad now. It's silly to be feeling like that 'cause we'll be seeing them after 10 days, hehe.

Today also marks the halfway mark of my trip! Time really flies when you are having fun.

Project Aussie: Day #9.

Congraduations to the baby girl of the family! :)

Project Aussie: Day #7 and #8.

Day #7




I cannot describe how happy I was on this day! My parents came down with a gift for me-- the Canon S95!!! I have been wanting a semi-pro/ pro camera for sometime, but couldn't decide on whether I want to commit to a DSLR (and hence have to lug around a huge ass camera everywhere I go), or to sacrifice functionality for convenience and ease. At first I was thinking of getting the new Canon G12, but after reading some reviews, I decided to go for the S95, which has almost the exact functions as the G12,but is much much smaller! I just casually mentioned it to my dad while he was doing some camera lens shopping for Teeny (whose DSLR went into ICU recently), and he really got it for me-- and brought it down to Melbourne!! HELLO, BEAUTIFUL PICTURES! :D



Day #8

I couldn't decide on one picture only for Day 8 so I am posting two up. It was a toss-up between these two:




Picture taken with the timer on my (new!!) camera right before we left for dinner at maze by Gordon Ramsay. It was such such such a wonderful dinner that my tongue is still smacking and my stomach is purring peacefully till now! Though truth to be told, since my parents have arrived, we have been spoiled in terms of gastronomical delights!

Diet can wait.





My entire family is addicted to Veggie Samurai, hahahahaha. Teeny, Jing, me, my dad, and even my mom. Now the whole family queues up for a turn on the Ipad. Although there's an Itouch and Iphone each in the family, slicing and dicing veggies on the high definition version on the Ipad is much more fun! My mom, who doesn't have email, doesn't know how the internet works, doesn't know how to skype or MSN-- is cursing and swearing while swiping her fingers ala Zorro on the Ipad screen. And my dad, an esteemed doctor, spent 2 hours yesterday trying to beat Teeny's high score.You'll see him muttering "Cannot be cannot be...How can the score be so high...", "Aiyak, miss...","How come this game doesn't give 'life' when I play for so long"... HAHAHAHA.

Oh wait, sorry, I gotta go. It's my turn on Veggie Samurai! :P

Project Aussie.

Remember Project 365? Basically you take a picture a day for a year, and create visual history of 365 days. Well, I have been thinking of how I can update about my trip in Aussie just to let you guys know what I have been up to-- but yet not take up too much time ('cause I do want to spend my holiday chilling and having fun and not blogging)-- and I came up with a great idea!


Project Aussie. :D


I will post a picture a day, everyday, of my trip-- I will be down under for 21 days, hehe. More detailed posts will be up when I am back, I have to share all the beautiful pictures we took, afterall!


Without further ado, let's kickstart Project Aussie:



Day #1:



Touched down in Melbourne in the morning, and went out for a belated birthday lunch with Teeny (her birthday was the day before!). This is me giving her a big kiss for seeing after so long-- but forcefully rejected by her fml.




Day #2:


We were sweating buckets in Sydney at the same time the next day-- the disparity between the weather in Melbourne (rainy and frightfully cold) and Sydney (scorching hot and humid) is huge!



Day #3:



Reunited with my most retarded friend!



Day #4:



I felt so free and happy at the Botanical Gardens... And the magnificent sea view was more than I could have asked for. :)



Day #5:


At Bondi Beach.


Peekaboo! Who is hiding under the Pucci scarf?



Day #6:



I bought a wooden Bambi (ingeniously named by me as... Bambi) while strolling on Oxford Street, and I have decided that Bambi will follow me on all my Aussie escapades. This is Bambi having cake during high tea at Park Hyatt!



That's all for now! The end of Day 6 (i.e. today) saw me back in Melbourne. My parents will be down tomorrow, so I expect more havoc to ensue with all of us squeezed in an apartment. I solemnly vow that I will diligently follow up on the daily pics for Project Aussie!

Jump, skip, dance with macarons in our hands.

We lazed around on the greenest grass, sipping juices with colorful straws, throwing our heads back while running around... while the shimmering sea and the Sydney Habor Bridge witnessed our mirthful laughter.

My favorite day so far in Sydney (it's only Day 3).

Why is Melbourne so cold.

I am in Melbourne now!!! Currently packing in a frenzy, 'cause get this straight, we have to wake up at 7am tomorrow for our flight to Sydney. 7am... Let me see, that would make it 4am Malaysian time FML.

Was pretty much zombified the whole day, due to the incorrigibly uncomfortable Air Asia flight. And am horrified by how cold Melbourne is!!! When checking with Teeny on the weather in Melbourne recently, she told me it's DAMN HOT and that everything I wear in Malaysia would be too hot. So I brought midriffs and sheer pretty pieces AND GODDAMMIT it was raining the whole day!! 18 degrees with no jacket in the rain-- had to borrow a cardie from Teeny. -_-

Am too conked out now to post up pictures from today, so here is an outfit that I wore to watch Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale.







Burnt orange sheer dress with pleated skirt: Bangkok
Multicolor gem necklace: Zhuhai
Rings: H&M/ F21
Bracelet: Thomas Sabo
Black suede platforms: Topshop
Bag: Miu Miu


And if you haven't watched Tangled, PLEASE GO DO SO NOW! One of the most enjoyable shows this year-- and I cried teared at least 3 times during the show. What about you? :P

My (near) future whereabouts.

Some of you asked me for fitness tips, well, here am I to share one useful tip with you all...

BE A VENDOR AT THE LEFTBLOCK SALE!

I lugged suitcases which housed hundreds of items, dragged bags of hangers and accessories, carried a mannequin which is taller than me... And now I have muscles-- even though I haven't been going to the gym for the last month. -_-

That said, the Leftblock sale yesterday was a huge success! The crowd was piling in like... a broken dam, haha.

A BIG HUGE ENORMOUS thank you to all of you who came yesterday! And a little bit of extra love for those of you who bought something from me or Jing, hehe.


My legs are still sore from the sale! Standing for almost 8 hours straight with only 2 cups of coffee + 2 pieces of springroll is no easy feat. But every bit enjoyable though! Met so many lovely, like-minded, chatter-y people, and even exchanged numbers with a few of them. :)

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By the way, I am here to announce something.

I will be off to Australia next Tuesday! Say it with me, WHOOPDEDOOOOOOO.
Yes, I am absolutely maximizing my holiday with truckloads of traveling, and yes, I am enjoying every bit of it. :P

The main objective of trip to Melbourne (there will be slight detours to Sydney,heh) is for this girl's graduation:



The youngest girl in the family.


These are all older pictures from a few months back, when Teeny was back for her winter break.



The only thing worse than wearing the same dress at a party, is having the same HAIR. *bitchy*


Teeny's friend commented on her FB for this picture that I have the nicer bangs between the both of us, because Teeny's fringe looked like it was cut from a bowl, HAHAHA..




The other sister.


Outfit picture depicting me with an unusually large head:





Peach chiffon bow top: Bangkok
Gray highwaisted tuxedo shorts with corseted back: Topshop
Pearl bracelets: Diva
Red patent pumps: Salvatore Ferragamo
Chilli red patent chain link sling bag: Chanel





Terrorizing Forever 21.




I really cannot wait for the three of us to be reunited!






Especially with so many uncertainties coming up in the future, it seems that opportunities for the three of us to be at the same place, at the same time, to become more and more rare. And therefore more and more precious. And I am going to appreciate every single minute. :)


I am probably the neediest sister in the world. But all the more lovable I say! And therefore, Jing and Teeny, I want a bigger Christmas present THANK YOU VERY MUCH.