It's the time of the semester again. Felt like I just started the semester but it's actually about to end. Time for the hardcore studying and no-fun days. Weeks to be exact.  No going out, no more drama series, no more slacking and no more procrastinating (HAHA! which is what i'm doing right now, writing this blogpost). But I promise I'll start after this. PROMISE!

Feel like a trapped butterfly in a cage just waiting to be set free.

 

 Can't wait till the 22nd of November, to be finally FREE for the rest of the year! So jealous that most of my friends are finishing their exams like a week or two before mine! Wished mine started earlier so I can just be over and done with it! argh, hate that mine's stretched so late, makes me feel so unmotivated to study!

 I've got so many holiday plans planned for the summer, and I CAN"T WAIT for it! Excited to the max! Free to fly like a butterfly, all the way to Gold Coast (if the plan works out), to Mr.Navigator's birthday, to Singapore, to Bali (BEACH!!!), to KL, to Sipadan (DIVING!!!), to Singapore/KL, to CNY in both S'pore and KL, to Singapore again and back to Melbourne.

 Seriously can't wait to roam around with no worries (at least till the results day), no burden, no class. Being able to wake up anytime of the day I want, relaxing by the beach with the awesome families, shopping and 'yamcha' session with friends (BEEN SO LONG!), to mahjong and band hero sessions again during CNY.

AH CAN'T WAIT! CAN'T WAIT!! :D

 Now, it's back to the books I go. Though I hate it, but I know that...

I apologize in advance for I'll be on hiatus for awhile.

Till then,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! Wished I had a reason to dress up too...

While KoolSandra was here during her semester break, we took the opportunity to experience the Tulip Festival they held in Lilydale.  Had to take a total of 1 and a half hours train ride followed by another 30mins bus ride to the actual location. Back in Malaysia - complain about having to drive all the time; here in Melbourne - complain about having to travel by public transport all the time =.=' sigh... the bittersweet of life.

Anyway, they have different theme every week at the Festival and this week was Irish Weekend. It's gold and leprechauns!

Welcome the Dutch Ladies: Maekhoo, Me and KoolSandra

Sandra and I

Playing tourists with the Leprechauns, dutch lady and Dutchmen. 

They had people playing some Irish tunes. At least I think they're Irish. Lol..

Now it's not a festival without some little random stalls right? These are some of the stalls opened that day.

FYI: the Nuts were pretty good! hehe

A quarter of the crowd that day. Believe me, when you see an empty table, RUN FOR IT!

For brunch, I tried this traditional Turkish Pastry with cheese and spinach called Gozleme.

It was pretty good! Just that I thought it'll be tastier if the pastry was a little more crunchy.

As tourist, when we visit a place, any place, picture MUST be taken! PictureS to be exact. And that's what we did after eating - Roam, soaking up the festive feeling and camwhore!!

KoolSandra, Maekhoo and I

Pretty tulips in different colours! Oh the colours! Don't they just make you smile?

The last picture is actually a picture of Daffodales.

PhotoLeon and I

This picture is one of my favourite picture taken that day.

Can you feel the love?

Not so sexy back... Haha! oh well, worthed a try

Of course, it wouldn't be Irish without blowpipes! They walked around the tulip farm playing their pipes.

Will definitely try to go again next year! Another must-go for next year - Royal Melbourne Show! Missed the 1 this year 

Some photos credit to TetLeonPhotography.

Emoticons thanks to The Opposite of Chocolate (though I still don't really know how to work them well.)

KoolSandra came down to Melbourne for 6 days last week, and as a welcoming present, Maekhoo and I baked her a Hello Kitty belated birthday cake. It was my first time customizing a cake and I must say, it was pressuring yet pretty fun at the same time.

First step to this cake, bake a light butter cake and let it cool. Then customize it to the shape you want. As for me, it was the face of a Hello Kitty. 

Looks more like a face of a bear than a Hello Kitty, LOL!

Next, either beat double whipping cream or get those 'Ready Dollop-on Cream'. For her ribbon and nose, I mixed rose pink colouring into a small mixture of icing cream.

Coat a layer of cream all around the cake.

Making sure the sides are nicely coated as well..

Next, the eyes, we underestimated the size of our chocolate chip so we had to settle with 4 per eye, as though Hello Kitty's eyes were sparkling. Lol..

With the coloured icing, I had to make sure my hand was steady while I drew her ribbon.

Lastly, by using Nutella, I drew her whiskers...

And walah~~~ Hello Kitty cake..

Happy Belated Birthday KoolSandra!!! Your favourite disturbing cat 

Ok, it looks a little retarded, but hey, IT's MY FIRST TIME! 

If it wasn't for the ribbon, it wouldn't look anything like Hello Kitty... hahahaha

What shape should I try next?

To all Melbournians, if you ever get sick and tired of Don Don, have Menya for a change. And for those who don't know, Don Don is a Japanese Fast Food outlet (a seriously fast food outlet) on Swanston street, right opposite QV. Your order will take 5 mins max to be served! And it's CHEAP! Just $6.90, you'll get a really full meal of Beef Teriyaki Don.

Menya on the other hand just cost a few dollars more and it's almost twice the size of Don Don. Even VacuumLeon couldn't finish his portion. LOL!

I like the fact that their menu isn't too wide till you're spoilt for choice, nor was it too narrow till you didn't have any choice.

I know it's normal to serve water with lemon in them or strawberry in them. But in Menya, the presentation of it just makes me go jakun over it. Lemon, Strawberry and Fresh Parsley made the water taste sorta refreshing with a tinge of lemony berry flavor. They also have water with Lemon, Fresh Parley and Cherry Tomato.

As for the food, all that I've tried were not bad to good except 1! Will rate each one on a scale of 10 being the yummiest and 1 being the suckiest.

Gyu Don ($9.50 i think) which is basically Thinly slice beef cooked in Sukiyaki sauce served on rice.

This would be a 7.

Teriyaki Beef Don ($9.50) - Beef cooked with vegetable in Teriyaki sauce served on rice. An Eight.

Niku Udon ($9.20) - Sliced beef served with menma & wakame over udon soup. This was an 8.5 to 9 for me. 

Gyoza ($5.90) - Pan Fried Japanese Dumplings. I rate this 5. It was just so-so for me. Though the skin was crunchy nice but it still lacked taste.

Pork Ramen ($9.20) - Taste Japanese marinated roasted pork slices served with Ramen noodle soup. This was a 9 for me. The soup was just delicious!!! 

Katsu Don ($8.50) - Deep fried crumbed pork fillet cooked with egg on special sauce served on rice. A 6.5.

Geki Kara Soba ($9.90) - Marinated meat in Hot Spicy sauce served with soba noodles. 

This is a 3 for me. It's a big N-O! The sauce wasn't spicy at all, it was too sweet, and it wasn't delicious. The only plus for this dish is the noodles. It was nice and springy. Somehow reminded me of Wantan Noodles. LOL!

Mother Nature's finally showing off her Spring side after a month of 'fake' spring! You see, Spring is suppose to start round September but here in Melbourne, spring in September was no diff from winter. So when the sun finally shined, I couldn't resist not coming out to play. Finally brought Maekhoo to the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanical Garden. Fail right?! Been here for almost a year and have not been to the Royal Botanical Garden. My 1st time there was on my Birthday and that was like after being here for half a year! Hahaha...

The entrance into the Shrine.

Flowers are finally blooming!!! I'm not a big fan of flowers but the COLOURS! How could I resist?!

1 thing I love about Melbourne, I can literally sit on the grass without a picnic mat and not worry about the grass being dirty! Unlike back in Malaysia where we MUST use a mat. =.=' Plus, the grass is much greener here in Melbourne. Well, you know what they say 'The grass is always greener on the other side' - Totally proven.LOL!

With the sun shinning so bright that day, and the grass being greener and cleaner than back home, how could 1 resist not camwhoring?

Maekhoo and I (check it out, same sunnies!)

Also roamed around and snapped some random pictures. 

The above picture is 1 of my best shots that day.

What do you think?