Bargain!

Okay..so...I called mummy today to ask her if she wanted steak knives and mentioned that there's pre-Christmas sales going on now. Then she said, oh, well...maybe I should go and have I look at shoes because I'm on the market for work shoes.

I was actually on the way to the car but I thought that was such a good idea that I just turned around and walked towards Peter Sheppard. I haven't been there for a while because they renovated and brought in all these really funky expensive shoes. And the existing shoes became more expensive too. But, today, it occurred to me I should check them out (and this was even before Mummy confirmed to me that I should obviously go)

It was a bit messy in the sale section but then I tried on a pair of slides that were SO comfortable. And the saleslady there mentioned that they were the same brand as the shoes I was wearing. Coincidence- I think not! I noticed that the colours of the slides were slightly different and pointed that out to her. Apparently sometimes the downlights actually bleach the shoe a little. I asked if there was anything they could do about it. She went away and came back...and...

REDUCED the price even more!! Woohooo...she said, no returns or exchange though, but that was A-ok with me. So, the shoes went from $299 to $39!! Super bargain hor!

And since the sandles are 'camel' coloured, the slight difference is really not very obvious except of course to experienced shoppers like myself *Ahem* ahahahhahhaha

The one on the left is the darker one:

A Day Off

I had my day off a Friday ago and the only set agenda I had was a walk and then a nice breakfast. I actually wanted to be super organised and work to a timetable but then it struck me, It's my day off!!!! So, like a friend suggested, I just went with the flow....

I ended up walking at around 9-ish am and then only ended up at my designated eating place-APTE at 11.30am. I read about APTE here: http://thebreakfastblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/apte-alphington.html and was really keen to try it out. My only dilemma was if I should go sweet or savoury and OF COURSE I went sweet :)

I went for the toasted housemade banana and coconut bread. Can I just say, I know bread when I taste it and this definitely did not fall under category of bread. It was only a bread insofar as potatoes are vegetables. But boy was it good!!!

My breakfast looked like this:
With rhubarb as the stewed seasonal fruit on a mound of honey labna (a little like thick yoghurt) and sprinkled with pistachios:

The infamous Last Bite:

I was so full after that....My 'breakfast' that ended up as a late brunch lasted long into the night..but oh so good ;)

Oh, and there was coffee too that was also very good but obviously not the main star:

Ps. The weather was PERFECT too...which was a gift cause the weekend after that it HAILED!! Yes, in spring...crazy Melbourne...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

Last Saturday I was bridesmaiding for NHT and Minh's traditional official engagement party. It was a real honour as I'm obviously not Vietnamese and not a family member. In fact, Saturday was the first time I even met NHT's family.

They actually asked me during my birthday dinner if I would be one of the gift bearers for the ceremony and I immediately said yes and took leave for it. The catch was, if it was a catch at all, that I would need to wear an au dai- the traditional Vietnamese costume. That wouldn't have been such a problem if NHT wasn't so skinny or myself so bloated from too many birthday celebrations. I told them to give me a few weeks before I went for my 'fitting'.

My 'fitting' happened to be on a major water retention and fat day which meant that it didn't go so well. The first au dai I tried on belonged to NHT's married aunt and was apparently the biggest size they had. It was also really really tight. It only had stud buttons holding it all together and I really really couldn't breath very well in it. Both NHT and her mom thought it was a good fit though which only goes to show how tight those things really are.

Thankfully, there happened to be another one I could try on which turned out to be a much better fit for me. (All au dai's are custom made for the wearer hence the difficulty in trying to borrow one). One Saturday though, I turned up only for NHT to realise that she couldn't find the au dai and so she pulled a random one out of the common au dai cupboard. It was a little too big but since I wasn't used to wearing one, it made the whole experience a lot more comfortable.

From L-R: Me, NHT, Nhi- As you can see..the au dai is made to really really fit...mine was considered extremelly loose...


The engagement was actually held in NHT's house itself. Her family and friends really put in so much effort to get the garage looking like it did. It was so nicely done though. There were aunts everywhere frying spring rolls (a Vietnamese staple) and cousins underfoot everywhere else.

All the food was homemade and there was SO MUCH FOOD. They even made their own preserved red meat. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's a little like bakkwa but not as fatty and on a skewer. I figured, since I already fit into the au dai, I could take a break from healthy eating *grin* Unfortunately, half way through the meal, the stud buttons on my au dai starting popping. HOWEVER, the stud buttons on the girls next to me also popped and apparently it's normal, so there :)


NHT's little cousins put on a dance story which was really cute. It was a story about a boy and girl and how the boy finds the girl. I didn't understand the music though...it was a little reminiscent of Chinese opera...


I stayed back to help clean up and after a while got bored. So, Minh and I tried doing 'typical' Vietnamese poses :)
This is just me trying the Vietnamese pose. It was being directed by a Vietnamese so we're assuming it's Vietnamese. hehee..

And finally, the amazing couple and my dearest friends here in Melbourne. Congratulations Ngan-Ha and Minh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memory lane...

Some pictures of the children I met in South Africa and Lesotho....

Fancy Schmancy

And this my friends is Valrhona chocolate. I found it in the David Jones confectionary section. I thought of getting the plain one for cooking but for that price didn't think I really wanted a chocolate dessert all that much. I just want chocolate. So, I bought this. I think they're chocolate coated almonds because Amandes means almonds right???

Unfortunately, that very evening I tried on the old kebaya top that aunty made for me a few years ago. Despite my best breath sucking efforts, it just would not zip up. Which means that the nice little box of Valrhona will have to wait for another day....or longer.....