JUMP AT DE SUN

weekdays dinner

2009-12-08T23:12:00.002+11:00

I'm not sure where I got this from (probably SMH), but the following is what British people ususally have for dinner:

spaghetti bolognese
roast dinner
pasta dish
meat and two vegies
pizza
casserole/stew
sausages/chips and mash
Indian curry

I have most of them above for my weekday dinner or weekend. I'm not that picky about food, so I haven't had problems with food since I moved to Australia. For the first three months in Australia, I didn't eat rice at all (it has been one of my staple food for over 20 years). In three years now, I have rice only once or twice a week.

Seeing the list above, I recall that once my previous flatmate's German daughter-in-law that said I seemed to have Britainised, seeing the dinner I cooked - i.e. roasted potatoes and sausages. But I haven't been to UK yet and even don't know what the food is like there.

life

2009-12-05T15:08:00.000+11:00

"There is a presence inside you. It is the life force that breathed your first breath when you were born. It is the life force that is breathing you now. It is a presence of unbelievable harmony, peach, and love, and it is inside you. To connect with and feel the life presence, stop, close your eyes, relax, let go of thoughts, and focus deeply on the inside of your body for a couple of minutes.

The more you do this exercise, the more the presence of pure harmony, peace, and love will arise within you."

This is from "Daily Teachings of the Secret" that has 365 pages with each different teachings to help you more focus on the positivity in life. As one of my daily ritual, I copy each teaching with hand-writing in the morning or before going to bed.

When I saw the phrase "the life force that breathed your first breath when you were born..." I realised how amazing the life is - from the moment when I was born, I've never stopped breathing so far....perhaps that'd be why life is called the gift. However, I sometimes forget this "being alive". Well, I'm not perfect, so tend to be overwhelmed by some situations going on in my life and there're still some things I'd never get over. However, I think I should not forget that I'm still breathing no matter what happens...

My wishlist for this summer

2009-12-02T21:53:00.001+11:00

Rice bowls
Oven-bake dish
New sunnies
Comfy small couch
Improving my swimming skill
A long-lasting and loving relationship

Can my wishes count on the Santa?

stir-fried veges & mash

2009-11-28T22:35:00.001+11:00

One of my tasks during this summer is to feed myself with healthy food and stir-fried vegetables in oyster sauce with rice or mash always seem simple and nutritional.

I made this the other day; mash was not creamy enough.

Pan-fry bacon and garlic first.

Then, add boiled cabbage earlier in water to the pan.

potatoes + butter + milk + cream = creamy mash

(guess what is the butter among the cubes in the bowl?)

I didn't have cream at the moment, so used only butter and milk. Nevertheless, the mash was amazingly creamy!

Then, it's time to enjoy mash and stir-fried bacon & cabbage.

The oyster sauce I recently purchased.

I used to buy the one of 'Lee Kum Kee', but the Coles didn't have that one.

Second painting

2009-11-18T00:59:00.005+11:00

I just copied an illustration from a book, "You can heal your life" by Louise Hay that I found genuinely fascinating! And I feel I need to imrpove myself including my confidence for some reasons with this book during the upcoming summer.

First Drawing

2009-09-29T00:46:00.004+10:00

One day, I recalled a book suggested drawing as a way of waking up an inner child. Actually, I've been a bit worried of boredom that I'd have after my best friend'd leave Australia for good. Then, I came up with the idea of drawing for fun.

While colouring with pastel, I was 200% concentrating on my drawing as if all my soul was aborbed into the sketchbook - I felt I threw out all the tense from my gut. And I think I would keep drawing as long as I get inspired.

Orange Sky

2009-09-23T02:39:00.001+10:00

As finishing my mid-term exam yesterday, I went to bed, being excited about the mid-break until the long weekend. I opened my eyes this morning, noticing something was weird outside and a bit scared. The sky looked orange like the sun-set. I wasn't sure what made the sky look like that as it was not the sun-rise time when I woke up. The news was saying it was the dust storm, and flights and ferries cancelled. How lucky I am - I didn't have to catch the ferry. My holiday! But such inconvenience for ferry commuters in Manly.

Other than the colour of the sky, I'm actually familiar with dust storm, which comes every Spring from China to Korea. It was really awful - you'd see the yellow sky all the day and it tends to last over a month.

And I recall when I was talking with a classmate from China when I was doing the English course in UTS, Insearch. I told him that we'd have dust storm coming from China every Spring and it was not good at all. Then, that Chinese boy frowned, saying it was not from China, but from Mongolia. To me, there was no difference whether it comes from China or Mongolia as long as Mongolia is located in the inland of China anyway and dust storm is dust storm. Then we started to argue; he kept insisting Mongolia as the origin of dust storm and I was never to yield my argument, supporting with all I've read or learned from what meteorologists said about or news articles about dust storm in Korea... in the end, the boy admitted that the desert in China caused dust storm and spread to Korea and Japan.

Then, where did this dust storm in Sydney come from? It seems too far to fly about 8000km from Chinese desert?

joyful weekend

2009-09-06T23:58:00.009+10:00

When Katie, my closest and long-time (13 years now) friend, is too busy to visit Manly on weekends, we have brunch, spending the rest of the day with shopping in the city. Since she came to Sydney for her new job as a buyer in fashion industry, she has been my best comfort for my well-being as well as a style adviser with her expert knwoledge in over 7 years' career in fashion. Thanks to her, now I think I need to have a kinda closet Carrie Bradshaw has or a bigger one.

Anyhow, I had another beautiful and joyful weekend with my lovely friend. The weather was shining even though the temperature in the city is always lower than in Manly and the Opera House was glowing to show off its beauty as the symbol of Sydney. I've never thought that I'd see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge every day.

(see, the Opera House is glowing)

When the ferry was pulling over at the Quay, Katie was already walking around the Opera House. Then, we headed to the Rocks for lunch at the Italian place we've been before and we ordered a Mexicana pizza and a small garden salad. When my sparkling water was served, I was drawn to the glass provided which I found so charming - I began to wonder where I could get the same one.

(coca cola glass)

(brunch place in the Rocks)

(a band is playing)

We wandered around the Rocks market, especially focusing on the small souvenirs for gift for Katie's friends when she goes back to her home in a month for good. I got sad when she said she'd not know when she could visit Sydney again...

After the market, we agreed to enjoy the sun at the Royal Botanic Garden with coffee; she got a blueberry muffin and latte and I got my favourite ensemble - a white choc raspberry muffin and white chocolate mocha from the Starbucks. Oh, we also got some magazine at the Rocks news agency on the way to the coffee shop.

(Katie & me)

We chilled out on the bench while having our snack and reading about musicians Katie likes and some hollywood gossip and celebrity pictures - we had a lot of fun! When you are enjoying outdoor relaxing, you would find reading serious topics unsuitable...which might only be my contention.

When we thought we had enough, we decided to start shopping, walking to Pitt St. She was after a particular bag from Sportsgirl she's kept in mind since a few weeks ago, but it was out of stock when we went two same shops in Pitt St and the QVB. We also wandered in the Myer and I got a new wallet of Ben Sherman I've seen on the catalogue for the Father's Day gift. Yes, the catalogue connotes, the wallet is for men. I was actually not interested in using men's wallets or never thought about that, but recalled, some time ago Katie mentioned she prefered men's. Yes, why not? I like the small size of my new wallet and it's got a zip around, so it actually doesn't look like men's. Moreover, I was able to get 25% discount for the Father's Day special! (note - I didn't forget to send a card to my dad overseas)

Before heading off to home, we grabbed apple pie at McDonalds and were sitting on the bench at the Quay for a while, waiting for her train to Auburn and my ferry to Manly. On my way home I was so stoked with my lifted mood and thought the next week back to uni should be fine...having said that, at the moment I'm writing this on Sunday night, I begin to feel a bit groggy like monday morning blues, thinking about tomorrow's classes - Equity and Real Property...

Letting go

2009-08-31T21:54:00.003+10:00

To let go does not mean to stop caring;
it means I can't do it for someone else.

To let go is not to cut myself off;
it's the realisation I can't control another.

To let go is not enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To let go is not to try to change or blame another;
it's to make the most of myself.

To let go is not to care for,
but to care about.

To let go is not to fix,
but to be supportive.

To let go is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.

To let go is not to be in the middle, arranging all the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To let go is not to be protective;
it's to permit another to face reality.

To let go is not to deny;
but to accept.

To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,
but instead to search out my own shorcomings and correct them.

To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.

To let go is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.

To let go is to fear less and love more.

-author unknown

Around the street in Melbourne

2009-07-09T21:19:00.000+10:00

Nightview around the Yarra River

2009-07-09T21:13:00.000+10:00

Sunset at the Yarra River

2009-07-09T21:05:00.000+10:00

Yarra River

2009-07-09T20:47:00.004+10:00

Princess Bridge

Sandridge Rail Bridge

Southgate Bridge

After check-in, I walk around the Yarra River for a while to feel the air of Melbourne. At the moment, it was rush hour, so I was able to see heaps of commuters heading to the Flinders Station.

...sunset around the manly wharf...

2009-06-25T18:03:00.007+10:00

sunset at Little Manly

2009-06-06T19:48:00.005+10:00

On Friday night, before going to grocery shopping at ALDI, I went for a walk to Little Manly to see the sunset as I remembered the owner at the cafe said the sunset is beautiful there when I stopped by last time.
When I got there, the sun was about to leave and as it actually has been a cloudy day, I could not see the sun set I was expecting to see. However, it was still serene and beautiful. Nobody was at the beach at that time. I took the photos with my mobile camera phone.
This is a shot of the Manly Wharf and the bar from the Manly yacht club at the east side. I wish I had a good camera to take all the beautiful night view here...

Little Manly

2009-05-29T14:33:00.005+10:00

Ironically I have not gone for a walk to Little Manly beach while living in Manly for almost two years. One day when I was having day-off I finally decided to explore Little Manly, which is only two blocks away from my street, Addison Rd.

There is one little cafe at the beach and it was closing at the moment when I got there. The dog seemed to belong to the owner of the shop. I talked to the owner and he did not believe me when I said it was my first time to come to Little Manly beach while living in Sydney for nearly three years. Then he said I should come for coffee some day. The cafe opens at 9am.
This is a shot of Addison Rd from Wood St. I think it is the most leafy street in Manly. Thanks to these beautiful trees, you can see heaps of birds - especially noisy white cockatoos.

a fishing pelican

There is a swing at the east side of the Manly Wharf. Recalling when I used to enjoy swing ride in my childhood, I tried it. But I had to get out of it asap because I got so dizzy. lol

building a IKEA EXPEDIT bookcase and my new flat

2009-05-20T23:43:00.010+10:00

Last week, I got three boxes delivered from IKEA and could not resist opening and assembling them notwithstanding that the manual said two persons should work. I recall I had so much fun with building my new bookcase and it reminded me of playing lego blocks when I was a kid. IKEA furniture must be a bigger version of lego blocks. After completing it, I had to have someone help to lift and move the masterpiece to the decent position in my flat. Since the last weekend my flat has become clutter-free and I always get stoked whenever I look at my new bookcase. One of several moments that I was proud of myself.

front door before the small book case was transformed to a shoe case

after the shoe case was made

lounge wall before I had a EXPEDIT bookcase (that small bookcase has become a shoe case)

after I completed assembling the EXPEDIT

Now, my flat has become clutter-free with more lifted vibe. Thank to this, now I have my own home-office so that I can concentrate on my study better than ever, and I more love my castle, which is protected by the Constitution s 51 (xxxi). :-)

2009-05-11T01:30:00.006+10:00

Coincidentally, after the post about my favourite breakfast menu yesterday, I had a chance to go out for brunch at Rocks the next day. I had to go back to Manly with the 12:00 ferry for lunch appointment after I arrived at the Quay at 10:30am and we were ravenous so we did not have enough time to contemplate where to go - we just walked in a certain Italian place offering only one menu of breakfast.

Bacon, egg, sausages, grilled tomato and bread with butter; perhaps this must be most common breakfast as we would normally have ingredients at home. The dish was tasty with a cup of coffee and my stomach was still full till I was around at Choi's house for lunch.

On the way back to Manly, I saw heaps of yachts sailing on the harbour and some of them were so close to the ferry so they were likely to bump into each other. When I was on my way to the Quay, the sky was still dark and shower was unlikely to stop, but when coming back to Manly it was already sunny and breeze was so fresh. Just by seeing gorgeous yachts sailing from the ferry, my mood is always lifted. This could be one of privileges of living in Manly; enjoying every different scenery every day on the ferry.

Then, I headed off to Choi's house in Balgowlah for lunch. As advised by my friend, I used the 'hop skip jump' bus which is providing free ride service between Balgowlah and Manly. It was the first time to use the bus as I always thought the bus might be only for a certain people. The bus service was actually for everyone!

With my full stomach, I was indulged in another tasty food Choi made - chicken drumsticks marinated with mustard sauce and honey soy sauce (of course, there were marinated separately). I think I might want to try the recipe myself. I had a glass of white wine too, then realised even a small amount of alcohol always made me so sleepy - this has happened a week ago when I was catching up with a friend from Melbourne. I fell asleep as soon as I got home and now ended up waking up in the middle of the night, writing a post! After this, I think I would study til the dawn...

french toast & marmalade jam

2009-05-09T12:25:00.005+10:00

Even though I like trying to use varying culinary skills, I barely cook for myself during weekdays because of the lack of time to indulge myself in cooking - rather I prefer to spend that cooking time with reading my textbooks. lol Then, weekend should be the right time for me to feed myself well. Oh, yes, I cooked rump steak with caesar salad myself to celebrate my first tax return last night!

French toast is one of my favourite weekend breakfast menu for it is a good chance to rescue leftover bread which have been dry during the week. Actually I eat oat porridge for my daily breakfast, but I can't obviously have it every morning for seven days even if it is good for health.

Yes, I made french toast this morning and spoiled my toast with the marmalade jam I got from ALDI yesterday. The picture is the last piece of the breakfast and I enjoyed a lot. Then, I realise white bread is always nice for french toast as it gives soft texture when soaked in milk rather than multigrain bread I used to use.

living in Manly

2009-05-05T23:44:00.014+10:00

Except that I lived in Neutral Bay for six months, I have lived in Manly nearly over one and a half years so far. There were some memorable (?) but ridiculous happenings occurred in terms of my living arrangements (thanks to this, I moved four times over two years), but finally I think I currently settled in Manly.

Actually, during those six months in Neutral Bay, I enjoyed the life there a lot - metropolitan atmosphere, short distance to the city and the view of the Sydney harbour including CBD from my apartment... I think that flat I lived in was the most gorgeous and convenient place that I've ever lived in Sydney.

I apparently, however, began to feel missing something there - especially, water and green. Then I started contemplating to move again and decided to go back to Manly in which I was still familiar and most of my friends were living. Amongst all, I seemed to miss the ferry most - I didn't realise until I could only spend 10 minutes on the bus for commuting that half an hour on the ferry would become most enjoyable and refreshing moment of the day. At the moment of that I get off the ferry, my worries or stress of the day are already washed away with the ocean and breeze, and I don't have to be bothered to find peace like the way I do in the city.

Yes, actually there are at least three reasons that made me to chose to live in Manly; beach, ferry and friendly neighbourhood. And if I could add one more - cool surfers even though I cannot surf. :-)

I've heard that a hometown is not a place where I was physically born, but a place where I feel like the hometown. In this sense, I think Manly should be my hometown as far as I recall I have felt myself being a part of this area one day when I was looking over the beach...

law vs math

2009-04-18T01:23:00.004+10:00

I recall that my law classmate compared law to math; reading and learning principles in cases and applying them to problems are similar to solve math problems. At that time, frankly I did not get what my friend said and half-agreed. Later, in every class, lecturers used to emphasise IRAC to solve law problems and one lecturer in contract law class mentioned that students in science would feel familiar or easy to study contract law, which more resembles math learning - acquiring principles and applying them to questions - than any other law subjects (however, most law subjects are quite similar like math in terms of having to use IRAC process).

At the time of that I just finished the contract law assignment, I realise that it is exactly same as math problem solving. As I always do, I attempted to use IRAC - Issue, Rules, Application and Conclusion - in my assignment and I now feel quite satisfied with the outcome of my assignment as for what I have tried to do. I am about to move on to the other assignment of International Law, whose format is quite similar to the contract law assignment. Hopefully it would not take long to figure out my answers with reasonable arguments as long as I am using this magic formula - IRAC, which is actually too obvious among law students as well as practitioners.