Exams

The semester is finally over and that means that it is here…exam time!

First we have 1 week of for exam prep where there are no classes then 2 weeks of exams

I have 3 exams…spaced relatively well apart.

Time. To. Study.

Snail Mail

These are my birthday presents from B and C. They were thought to be lost in the mail for a few weeks; they were sent at the end of August but I didn’t receive them until last Monday (12/10)…that’s about 6 weeks! when it should take about 3 or so working days. What happened Australia Post? Hmmm, well they’re finally here so yay to that :)

From C: A very cute forever friends bear holding an “O”, very fitting seeing as my name starts with “O” :P

From B: And a gorgeous pink pashima scarf. It’s so soft!

Love you both ^^

Midsemster Break Recap

Over the mid semester break, I went to Brisbane ^^ it was excellent, I got to catch up with friends from school who I haven’t seen for a few months J I was just revelling in the fact that I don’t have a lab today or anymore for the rest of semester! Yay, so here is a brief recap of what I got up to.

Saturday 26/09/09

I arrived on sat night and went to a friend of a friend’s house for a birthday party…there was a lack of cake so perhaps I’ll rename that to ‘gathering’ or ‘get together’ I always associate birthday parties with cake hehe.

Sunday 27/09/09

C, B and I, of us, chilled at my friend’s house during the day and that night, had dinner with Y and her parents at a little restaurant in Sunnybank.

this is the drink I had, Lychee Ice. It had real lychees at the bottom of it!!

Pork and noodle soup. It was such a huuuge serving as you can see in comparison to the spoon there. lol. I didn't finish it.

Monday 28/09/09

Actually went into the university of Queensland, UQ to do some study!! Gyahhh, defeats the purpose of holidays when there are still assignments to do ne?? Oh well, it was productive nonetheless and B and I got lots done J Curry Udon for lunch was a good reward for us being studious haha

We then went to the city; borders and david jone’s in particular to see what C and B could use their respective vouchers on hehe

UQ lakes

this is called "The Wheel" from memory. It's a ferris wheel in the city

Tuesday 29/09/09

Iceskating!

I am ridiculously unco-ordinated. So needless to say, I struggled. I think throughout those 3-4 hours, about 7 people ended up having to help in one way or another, mainly, holding me up and stopping me from falling. By the end of it, I was getting somewhere on my own! But not exactly ‘skating’, more ‘walking’ on the ice instead. At least I wasn’t grabbing onto the walls anymore like I was at the start. It was heaps fun and I am looking forward to doing it again one day :)

After that, we watched a Pokemon movie, the first one I think? The one about Mewtwo…woops ><

Ice skating snack: Giant cookies B and I stumbled upon at the bakery when we were walking to C’s place.

Dinner that night was Nasi Goreng which B and I shared. C had Haiwanese chicken rice. Yum!

Wednseday 30/09/09

We were supposed to breakfast at 9am in the city with 7 of us, B,C, D, Y, J, K and myself but Y and J couldn’t come. C, B, D and I didn’t get out there until 10… sorry K!

Breakfast burger

This is called a breakfast burger and you eat it just like that, a burger; with your hands! It even came with no cutlery so you had no choice but to eat with your hands. It consists of, avocado, cheese, egg and bacon

B and C had a random…'photoshoot' let’s call it at uni at noon. It was to promote UQ clubs and societies I think…something like that. After another short stint at uni, (am wondering how I end up going to uni on holidays, it isn’t even my uni lol) we went back out to the city and met up with others, including, Y and J, for the Wednesday markets, karaoke, pool and dinner.

Markets

Markets again

Y also took me to a nice little chocolate shop and the chocolates there are sooo good. A tad on the expensive side but you pay for quality. Also no prices on anything…which I always find a bit annoying.

Thursday 01/10/09

Went to breakfast again…this time at pancake manor! Gotta love ice cream and chocolate for breakfast ^^

these were called Jaffa Pancakes from memory;
pancakes, orange slices, chocolate sauce, ice cream and icing sugar

Then got in couple of hours shopping at indooropilly shopping centre.

The rest of the afternoon was most relaxing; chilled with B at her college for the day. My first college experience! I missed out on a college dinner as we went out for dinner…but I am informed that I’m not missing out on much. Lol. Dinner was Chinese; chicken chow mein, curry puffs, salt and pepper squid and some other stuff.

Friday 02/10/09

The day of departure.

College breakfast… of toast lol. I didn’t have any of the hot food. Went into the city early so B could buy herself an iPOD and then onto the train and off to the airport it was and back to Sydney.

Clockwise from top: B, Y, me and C ^^

Mooncake

Saturday was the mid autumn festival.

So a belated “Happy Mid Autumn Festival” Everyone.

Hope you all had lots of mooncake!

I love mooncake, It used to be a real treat because it wasn’t widely available when I was growing up but here in Sydney they are readily available :) For those out there who don’t know, they are like a ‘brick’ of lotus paste, which can be square or circular and covered with a layer of flaky, savoury pastry. This pasty will be decorated with words and patterns. And as mentioned above, they can also come with duck eggs inside; you can get between 1 – 4 eggs per mookcake. Lotus is the default flavour, but there are many other flavours available such as green tea, pandan, red bean. My favourite is just the plain lotus ones with no egg though. Most people I know bar one love the salty, crumbly salted duck egg yolks that some mooncakes have. I personally don’t. Every year I try them in anticipation that my tastebuds ‘come around’ to the flavour; they will appreciate the flavour and I will finally understand how good they are and what I’ve been missing out on… but it never happens, it’s still too dry, too flaky and too salty, just like previous year. Oh well, one day perhaps I will appreciate them, but for now plain lotus all the way lol

A small box of Wing Wah mooncake