My Own SNOW GEAR!!!! (26.08.07)

Omg...omg...omg...omg...omg...omg...omg...omg...omg... after sitting on my ass and just checking out snow gear on the web for the past couple of weeks and just thinking about buying I finally gotten off my ass and went shopping today for my very own board, bindings and boots!

Due to my utter cluelessness (is this even a word?) about snow gear in general, all the research I had previously done on the Internet basically just consisted of me deciding which boards looked better than the other, aesthetically. Originally I had the Burton Women's Feel Good board in mind coz I really liked the psychedelic rainbow patterns, but after speaking to the pro... I learnt that there was way more to buying snow gear than just pretty colours and patterns.

So I went to two shops in the morning. One in Hawthorn and one off Chapel St before I found "the shop"! The first two stops were OK...but the stuff on sale were specific packages that weren't what I liked and didn't look very good quality either, but most importantly, they didn't have good service at all...either too busy for me or just wasn't good at giving me the help I needed (trust me I needed a lot of help too). So my last stop was RPS - The board store, in Elwood. I strolled into the store and just said to the guy there "Hi, I'm looking to get some snow gear, but I'm pretty clueless coz I've never bought before so I wouldn't know where to start"... and this guy, Brendon, he was super duper!! He literally was like, OK no probs...

Brendon gave me the lo-down on absolutely everything and also his expert opinion! First he took me through all the different gears that I would need individually. So we went through boarding boots, bindings then boards. For each he explained to me the differences in quality of the beginner's gear VS more advanced gear and why. There was a lot of jargon thrown around but he was really patient with me and let me ask all the questions that I had in my head (even if some of them were a bit blond lol). He confirmed with me that the boots were the most critical piece of equipment, because at the end of the day I had to be in them for hours and hours so they need to give me good support and be comfortable. In a way they are also what allows me to be in control of my board. After showing me the bindings (which were quick coz there weren't as much to them), we moved onto the boards!! There was a lot more technical things to consider with the board. We also had to take into consideration of my size, the type of riding, my level and how often I would use it. After running me through everything...which would've taken at least an hour, Brendon helped me big time by picking out the boards that in his expert opinion would suit me the most in terms of my level and size. Unfortunately, this did not include the kool Burton Feel Good Board that i was dead set on...(ooooo....)!

Anyhoo....big thanks to Brendon for keeping me in check and always advising against it when I was eyeing off a boards that were good looking but not practical for my level or size, and probably over my budget too! We finally decided on the K2 Va Va Voom board. We then moved onto getting boots. We first tried on the Burton Moto...but decided that it didn't give me enough heel support, then we tried on the Burton Saphire, which was bloody awesome...but double the price (if not more). I could so tell why people pay top bucks for this boot because apart from being extremely comfortable it had all these extra kool features, like detachable padded cushions that can be added to the in-layer of the boots for extra heel support. Although the Saphire was absolutely great, it was way more than what I needed. So Brendon was a champ and sorted through more boots in the back and found me another pair to try on. So out came the Northwave Legend and BINGO! These ones were still very comfortable in terms of the lining of the boots (although they don't compare to the Saphire), had more heel support than the Moto and were half the price of the Saphires. After deciding on the board and the boots, bindings were easy peasy and I settled for the Burton lexa.


So there we go...that was my day of shopping for snow boarding gear. I can't believe that I actually spent more than 3 hours at RPS trying stuff on and all. Now I just have to go back to the store to pick everything up once it's all set up! I can't wait :) Best day EVER!

Chillaxing Saturday (25.08.07)

Junee woke me up this morning at like 8:30am to drive her to Chinese school, man...so much for sleeping in after going out Friday night! Anyhoo...mum duties had to be executed, so I got up and did my part, trying really hard to keep my eyes open on the road. Got home and went straight up stairs to crash back into bed, only to get a blood nose. I was so tried that I just sat on my bed holding my nose together while trying to sleep sitting up right. God knows how long I was in that position for before I realized that the nose bleed had stopped and lay down.

A couple of hours later my alarm went off and I had to get up to meet Junee at Box Hill for some lunch as I thought that I'd better spoil her a bit since she's been such an angel helping out with all the dinner cooking etc... at home! We went to a Viet/Thai restaurant on Carrington Rd. and treated ourselves to the "Special Lunch Set Menus". Junee got set menu A which included: fried wantons for entree and chicken in lemon grass sauce with rice for mains. I got set menu B which was: rice paper rolls for entree, prawns in ginger sauce for mains and I also had a banana cake for dessert (which I shared with Junee). I thought it was quite weird to have banana cake for dessert in an Asian restaurant, thinking that they would have the normal baked banana cakes. However, I soon realized that this wasn't the case. It was actually some type of sweet glutinous rice dish with bananas through it, served in banana leaves. Delicious. It was such a nice lunch as the weather was so sunny and we sat outside soaking up as much sunlight as we could. Afterwards...we went for a walk to a newly opened Veggie bakery to have a look see. Being such pigs...we ended up buying a custard scroll to share before heading home ;P (gluttony is a sin)!

Once we got home, i couldn't get over how nice and warm the weather was still, so I ended up finding my collapsible sun chair and dragging it into the garden and snoozing under the sun! Just like summer times....I can't wait till summer comes back! I actually fell into deep sleep, only to be woken up 2 hours later from being cold as it had turned a bit windy and my cheeks also felt a bit burnt :( It was so nice to be able to just bum around and do nothing in particular in the house... exactly what I needed! I got organized too, and updated my blog entry for Friday night. I thought this was a pretty good effort, considering the fact that it was being done BEFORE the weekend was over (unlike the last couple of weeks)! I also baked some of Stuart's Beer Bread and ended up just nibbling on it the whole day...it's so yummy!

Beer Bread

Korean Inari

Areum (the kwaii Korean student that is staying with us for this term) also made us all some Korean style Inari for dinner, so we didn't even have to cook! Bonus! The main differences between the Korean & Japanese Inaris that I've had are that, the Japanese soy bean pockets are larger and sweeter. Also the Japanese have more vinegar in their rice fillings, whereas the Korean ones have different seeds that are mixed in with the rice filling, but not as much vinegar! I liked this Korean version better actually. We watched Die Hard 2 on DVD as well...and surprisingly I didn't really like it that much... I remember really liking Die Hard 1 when I watched it back in the days... but the acting in Die Hard 2 was pretty bad and the lines were a lot more cornier than I remember! Maybe it's one of those movies that you watch when you are younger and thought was totally awesome...but when you go back to it you realize how crap it really was?? don't know?? Should I go and watch Die Hard 4? That is the question!
Anyhoo... had a super enjoyable day doing nothing in particular :)

Chi Lounge, The Lexington & The Royal Melbourne Hotel (24.08.07)

Although I was still sick when I woke up on Friday morning, I was very gradually feeling better when the end of the day was approaching (actually probably have to give credits to the drugs I was taking rather then my immune system). Apart from being blocked up still, I was starting to psych up about MallyMoodle's going away drinks. The original plan was to go to Chi Lounge for a couple of hours, then go home and rest. However, as I was kind of feeling better, the temptation from Ginger of going to CQ and just having a night out dancing was too great to resist. I just kept telling myself that at least this time round I can sleep in on Saturday and Sunday...so there would be time to recuperate.

Being completely disorganized as we were, I stupidly convinced Ginger to come to Chi Lounge first for a while...then go home and get changed before coming out again. We probably should have gone home first thing after work, got changed, then came out. That way we probably could have had more time to hangout at Chi Lounge with MallyMoodle (Sorry MallyM.)! Plus Ginger and I had a little detour to MNG on the way home coz we were in impulse buying mood, so that delayed our coming back into the city even more. Both of us were dead sick of wearing the same stuff out every weekend. Thank god we didn't buy anything because chances are we would've regretted the results of impulse shopping.

Chi Lounge was such a super duper joint. It was richly decorated with large antique armchairs, opulent modern couches and amazing wall paper. It was full of old world charm and sexy decadence! I'm surprised that the place wasn't packed out, but then it is only one month old. Chi had a great selection of cocktails, imported beers, regional, French and New Zealand wines. There was also an Asian tapas menu available. So the ACBers were the first to rock up and we just chillaxed with style. I ordered a Golden Flower...and it was delicious and huge! I can't remember what was in it exactly...but it was something along the lines of apple, pineapple & honey dew melon juices with honey and rum. There was also honey dew melon pieces in the drink and it was decorated with a stick of rosemary. Slowly MallyM's other friends started to rock up too....but before long Ginger and I had to run off home to get changed into hmm...let's just say clothing that would get us into places like CQ (lol)!

MallyMoodle & Me@Chi Lounge

Nicole, Pete, Me & Markdot @Chi Lounge

Me & Ginger @Chi Lounge

Markdot, Annie, Stewie & Me @Chi Lounge

So after our little MNG and Nandos detour, Ginger and I made it to Melbourne Central Station, and luckily didn't have to wait too long for a train to get us home. We also bumped into KittyKat on the platform so we rode together and had a little gossip catch up session. Once we got home Ginger and I got ready in record time...basically just popped on a dress and that was it. We were lucky coz PowPow's bro was able to give us all a ride back into town, so it really cut down our travelling time (thanx PowPow's bro)! On the way in to the city, I was informed that the ACBers had either gone home or headed to CQ...but MallyMoodle was still at Chi Lounge. So because we love MallyM. so much, we decided that we'd head back to Chi for a little bit and buy her a drink before we went dancing...but in reality, we just wanted to check whether she had broken her drinking rule of "no more than 3 drinks" (NOT). If she hadn't we were going to help her break it ;P But...of course she didn't need our help, MallyM. was quite happy by the time we got back....nevertheless, we got her a golden flower anywayz and made her chug it! Then Ginger and I did stacks on MallyM. before we parted. Man... we were so so so close in getting her to come to The Lexington with us too (CQ was out of the question due to a massive line) but then more of her mates turned up so she stayed put.

MallyMoodle & Co. @Chi Lounge

MallyMoodle chugging her Golden Flower @Chi Lounge

Yay! Stacks on MallyMoodle @Chi Lounge

Ok...so off to the Lex we went. Ginger's mates Naomi & Ebony met us there and we also caught up with Stewie, Hairy Melon and their friends there too. Within a minute of getting there Ginger spotted Lachie (again) ...we had spotted him earlier on the way to Chi Lounge for the 1st time carrying a JB Hi-Fi bag, so I went up and said hi. I wanted to chat to him more...but people were waiting for me at the bar....so I said that I'd catch him around...but before I knew it, Ginger told me that they had just left...coz she bumped into Studds when he came back to grab Lachie's jacket or something...so that was that short lived hello! Anyhoo...I got a really nice cocktail called Zensation...it had green tea, and ....hm...actually I can't remember what else was in it except it was delicious! We sat down for a bit in the main room of the Lex...it's a nice place...but kinda empty for it's size...the crowd was kinda yuppy...some cute guys tho..(the bar tender for one), but they all seemed to be jocks type of guys which weren't so attractive. The music in the main room was OK at times...but in general still pretty shockingly lame. So we ventured into the back room. It was more happening for sure with people dancing...to kind of 80s retro...but really bad corny songs with bad mixing. So we danced for like 2 songs then went back to the main room. By this time Naomi & Ebony had had enough so they said bye. After chatting to p eople for a little while, SJ & Ginger decided that they really really want to dance to some good music so we left the place to go to The Royal Melbourne Hotel. Stewie was originally going to stay behind with Hairy Melon...but Hairy Melon "got busy" so Stewie decided to come with us for some serious dancing fun! We went via CQ and the line had died down, but the stuck up bouncers wouldn't let the boys in with their runners...so The Royal Melbourne Hotel it was.

The Royal Melbourne Hotel was a kool ass joint! This is where they have fashion launch events so there were lots of screens up with fashion labels and models on the walls. The music was a zillion times better. It actually had some decent electronika and people with good moves in the crowd. So we went off and just danced the night away! We also noticed there were quite a bit of gay and lesbian action which was kool (lol). At first we were like "omg ...did those 2 guys just kiss??...kool...OK...omg..did those 2 chicks just kiss...hahah...OK"! But there were also lots of hetero couples too....so wasn't exactly like going to a gay bar I suppose...not that I would've cared coz I just wanted to be able to dance to some decent music!

PowPow, Josh & Me @ The Royal Melbourne Hotel

Stewie & Me @ The Royal Melbourne Hotel

SJ, Ginger & Me @ The Royal Melbourne Hotel

Josh, PowPow & Me @ The Royal Melbourne Hotel

So eventually when we'd had enough...Ahman picked us up and gave Stewie and me a lift home (thanx Ahman, you rock)! Stewie and I also showed Ahman's bugs bunny some loving on the way ;P

Me, Buggs Bunny & Stew in Ahman's car

For all the pictures from the night, please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dancinghula/ChiLoungLexingtonRoyalMelbHotel240807

Oh NO! I'm sick again! (22.08.07)

Man...this is like major dejavu! Exactly the same...well maybe not "exactly" the same as the last snow trip....but I'm sick again! Except this time I've by passed the one night of flu symptoms (thank god) and jumped straight to the bad cold! So I was feeling a little out of it on Monday after sleeping till 12pm (good thing I took the day off), but I just thought that was because I'm recovering from the sleep debt of the weekend. Tuesday came, and I could semi tell that I was getting sick from a sore throat...and today I woke up and felt totally disgusting. As the day progressed, it just got worse and I started to really block up...my nose...my ears...sinus...you name it. Not Happy Jan! Had a quick hangout session with Goce & Anthony after work, then met up with KT to get picked up by Ahman. I felt so sick on the ride home it sucked big time. Thank god to Junee! She's a gift from heaven. By the time we got home through the peak hour traffic, there was yummy Japanese curry waiting for us. I LUV YOU JUNEE....LOTS & LOTS & LOTS & LOTS..............it's like 8:52pm now and I've already hopped into bed with my laptop. Must be asleep by 9:30pm....this is a promise I will keep Markdot ;)

Luv ya Junee...best little sis ever xox

On a more random note, The dodgy curry was being as dodgy as ever. He found some old ass science goggles the other day....with gold rims and all....reminds me of a trucker's version of goggles or something. Of course with no shame..(lol) he has begun wearing them to all his prac classes. He luvs it....what can I say. I do enjoy a good laugh at work :)

Mt Buller Trip #2 (19.08.07)

After going up to the snow last time...I was completely hooked again...and couldn't keep myself away! After practically no sleep (~ 4 hrs) again....I was woken up at 4:15am by SnowmanX on Sunday morning, who was right on time. I ran down stairs in my daggy PJs to let him in then quickly got ready. I don't think he was too impressed with the fact that I had slept in (Sorry SnowmanX)! We moved all our gear and food onto the car and then was off to pick PowPow up before heading to Mt. Buller. We were well on the road by 5am. PowPow was completely f*cked from like NO SLEEP at all. He had gone out Friday & Saturday night...so he pretty much just fell unconscious once he got into the car. Although I was exhausted too (as I couldn't focus my eyes while i was driving in the dark), I was also super hyper from the thought of snowboarding again ;P I chucked on good music and it was all sweet!


There was actually quite a bit of traffic going up to Buller...which was quite surprising. I was expecting less people because it's so close to the end of the snow season. I guess the fact that it's been a good winter with good snow so people are still psyched (like me)! So we made it to Mansfield in record time, got there just before 7am (except this time there was no crazy Johnny driving). Being "a weekend driver" it felt so weird driving over the speed limit of 100 km/h. Usually I feel weird driving past 60 km/h already....so this really kinda got me excited driving between 110-140 km/h....no need to say, the adrenalin rush kicked in early! I let SnowmanX drive up the mountain from Mansfield coz I'm not a big fan of narrow windy mountainous roads. I was stoked when we were there parked, getting ready for some boarding action by 9am. Best time record ever!!

The weather was absolutely amazing! It was super duper sunny, clear and no wind factor. Actually got quite hot. Snow was not the best...it was incredibly icy! I wasn't use to this coz last time we went up it was nice soft snow. Within the first 30 mins going down Burke St. I had stacked and bruised both of my knees badly. After doing Blue Bullet 2 a couple of times....we headed over to Little Buller Spur...only to find out that it had been semi blocked off for competitions. So instead we went down Wombat a couple of times. Boarding in icy conditions was actually harder than I anticipated, you gain more speed and have to work harder to turn and stop yourself as there is not much snow to dig your board into. My battered knees didn't help coz they became hyper sensitive and every time it touched anything it would hurt! Regardless, we kept going coz it was awesome fun! I practiced my turns and was able to carve for most of the time on the blue runs which made me really psyched!


PowPow and I boarded together the whole day coz we are around the same level. SnowmanX did a couple of runs with us before heading to the black runs coz he's way ahead of us in terms of skills! We all met up for a lunch break round 1:45pm....originally we were gona go to Kofflers Cafe...but there was so many people there it looked like packed sardines. So instead we went to the top of Wombat Run were there were some rocks...and set there looking over the mountain. It was breath takingly (did i just make that word up?) beautiful!

After lunch SnowmanX managed to convince us to go down a black run with him once...think it was the Summit...not sure...but it's the one that comes back up with the Howqua lift. At the start it was OK...but then you approach this slope which just looked like a drop....PowPow and I were seriously shitting ourselves. I couldn't even traverse down properly. Instead I was just fully in the stopping position the whole time but still going down fast coz it was that steep, just plowing all the snow up. I also fell on my bum a couple of times, and it was so scary getting up once you are down coz you literally feel like you are gona somersault and just topple over, all I could do was just lean...yep that's right...lean back. At least now I can say "YAY! I'VE BEEN DOWN A BLACK RUN! HOORAY, HOORAH, HOOROW"! Going back to Little Buller Spur after the black run was like "simple...i can do this no probolemo"! I reckon the last 5 runs of the day were the BEST EVER! I had finally got my carving under my belt, the icy snow had been plowed by everyone, so it was nice and soft but not slushy, I got used to the speed factor so wasn't as scared.....and I just went for it coz I knew the day was approaching its end :(

At the end of the day we all met up again to catch the shuttle back to the car park for the ride home. It had been a super duper awesome sick day! There are not enough words to describe how much I luv boarding. I seriously can't wait till the day that i get my own gear! I WANT TO GO UP AGAIN!!!!! Oh...and I finially got to check out my knees out at the end of the day....and lets just say they are totally battered!



For all the photos please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dancinghula/MtBuller2190807

Vic Market & Jud's Picnic (18.08.07)

After 4 hours of sleep I woke up Sat morning around 7:30am and couldn't get back to sleep (must've been the effects of the jager bombs lol)! So I eventually got out of bed and got ready to go to the Vic Markets with Ginger and Junee as there was absolutely no food in the house. Ginger & Bec stayed over at Ahman's place so I had to give them a morning call to get them to come home...which took forever! A couple of hours later they finally rocked up, with Ahman's super kwaii golden retriever "Beanie"! So we slowly made our way into the CT for some Market shopping!

Once we got to the market, first things first....breakfast! Being totally unhealthy as we were...we got Churros and coffee (go Coffea...they have the best coffee in town)! Then we made our way through the vegie ales and got our weekly dose of fruits & vegies! Everyone was high on adrenalin coz the whole time we were rushing to get everything done within 2 hours due to parking reasons...and also I had Jud's picnic at lunch time too! Once our mission was accomplished...we rewarded ourselves with some American doughnuts....man...my junk food eating had begun before Jud's party and it was destined to continue for rest of the day!

So I got dropped off at Jud's place after the markets with the orange cake that I had bought. SeBear, Markdot and Little Sarah were already there when I arrived. I also met Dave, Jud's new Canadian room mate. After Gemma and Jo showed up we packed up all the food (there were heaps!) and started to make our way to the nearby park. However, about 3 meters up the road...it started to drizzle...so we were like "hm....this isn't good". It also looked very cloudy thus we thought that it would be a safer option if we just had an indoor picnic at Jud's place. So we layed down the picnic rug in the living room and layed out all the food. There was a roasted chicken, lots of dips and bread rolls provided by Jud, Markdot's rich chocolate biscuits & shapes, SeBear's potato salad, my orange cake and Little Sarah made brownies. Mukie showed up late with lots more junk food. There was no shortage of food, that's for sure! Man...I wish I had my camera, Ginger had left it in Ahman's car so I didn't have it for the day :( Whoever has got photos please email it to me (Markdot?)!

After stuffing ourselves we all headed to the park to have a kick around with Mukie's footy and we also had a bit of fun with Jud's freesbie. Dave the Canadian was quite fascinated by the Aussie football...so he and Mukie had a good bonding session on "how to kick and bounce an Aussie footy". I was wearing thongs....and didn't want to hurt my feet as I was to go up to the snow for some serious snowboarding the next day, so Markdot was kind enough to offer me her shoes...So she was wearing my thongs with her socks, true Japanese style (lol) Thanx Markdot :) Eventually evening came...and we decided that it was a good idea to go! We headed back to Jud's place and ate more food, topping it all off with a nice juicy watermelon! Afterwards I scored a lift with Mukie (Yay, thanx Mukie)!

So I got home around 8pmish I think....and after doing mum duties, I had to prep myself for going up to Mt Buller the next day...this took quite a while...making lunches...finding equipment and clothing.....so by the time I hopped into bed...no need to say it was quite late...and again....I was destined to be sleep deprived......

Bar Hopping (17.08.07)

Ok, I have absolutely no idea why I have been so freaking hyped up all week but I have. By the time Friday came I was ready to just dance the night away! So when Hairy Melon said that he was gona have a biggie with his mates & might be going to CQ I said count me in! Because mum's away so there were home duties to be done, and also because I've developed a new bad habit of snoozing for like a minimum of half an hour every morning hence no time to pack change of clothing...I had to come home first after work to cook and get changed. I also managed to convince Ginger to come out with me so that I wouldn't be the token girl!

Ginger, Bec & Me training into CT

Everything took so long... eventually we were all ready, so Ginger, Bec & I headed out into the CT to meet up with Hairy Melon & his mates, Stewie and Jimmy. By the time we got into the CT it was past 10:30pm... the others had just left Lexington :( which was a bit of a shame coz i really wanted to check out that place. But apparently it was really empty and nothing was happening. So we met up at Mumur in Warburton lane. It was a nice little cosy joint that resembled a coffee house with funky hip hop playing. They also had a good selection of cocktails and beers. I got a rum lime & sugar (it was so strong) and just hung around and said hi to people. PowPow also met up with us there with his mate Richard and Goce came too. Although it was a nice joint, nothing much was happening, plus I wasn't really in the mood to just hang around as I was too psyched for some dancing so we left not soon after we finished our drinks.

Stewie, me & Ginger@Murmur

The boys@Murmur

Richard, PowPow & Ginger@Murmur

The next two stops were The Apartment & The Turf Bar. Both places were absolutely SHOCKING!! Let's start off the The Apartment...hm....the music was mega poppy trashing and once again, there wasn't a dancing crowd. We sat down at the sofas for a bit and got drinks... fooled around with my sexy camera and just chatted a bit but it was kinda boring to be honest. Then we suddenly realized that Jimmy and Hairy Melon disappeared...so we were like..."oh what?!" coz we were only there coz they wanted to go.....so after people finished drinks...we went to the Turf Bar which is where they supposedly were. So we decided to go to the Turf Bar to convince people to go to CQ or somewhere else where we can dance and exert some of this energy that is ready to explode! The first thing I thought when i stepped into the Turf Bar was "OMG...this is like Pugg Mahones last Saturday" (if you had read my blog entry about Liz's b-day last Saturday you would know what I'm talking about). It was just like a pub with music that was worse than The Apartment...some people dancing...but it was like pub dancing with yucky old bogans....well....just like Puggs...I don't want to refresh my memory of Puggs by writing about it again...yew! By this time i was pretty disappointed with the night...and was thinking about just going home...coz CQ wasn't going to happen due to a massive line anywayz....Goce left coz he couldn't hack it any more (and I don't blame him). I don't think Ginger & PowPow were too impressed either! So in our last effort to save the night....we decided to give Chaise Lounge a try...as it was only like 2 doors up from where we were.

Goce @ The Apartment

Ginger & Stewie @ The Apartment

Me & Ginger @ The Apartment

Jackpot...well not really...but it was free entry and actually happening with a semi decent DJ (surprise surprise...it was electronika) so I went off...and danced like there was no tomorrow...so did Ginger..we were determined to have some fun after all that walking around. I actually had a pretty good time dancing with everyone and just wanted to go on for the whole night. Eventually Ginger had to go coz Ahman was picking her up to go to her place....and PowPow decided to go at the same time with Richard, ditching me behind;( I thought about going too...but then stayed coz I just wanted to dance more so I did, even though it meant that I had to be a token girl. Eventually Hairy Melon & his mates decided that there was no more "talent" for him to checkout and that he wasn't having fun any more...so we left and stood outside trying to decide where to go and what to do.

Richard, Ginger, PowPow & Me@Chaise Lounge

Hairy Melon, Me & Jimmy@Chaise Lounge

Ginger, Richard, Me & Jimmy@Chaise Lounge

Jimmy & Hairy Melon @Chaise Lounge

So one of Hairy Melon's mate suggested we go to the strippers...and initially I was like "WHAT!!!!! are you serious! I've never been to the strippers before!". Then I was like "Hang on...are there male strippers there?" and they were like "Hell No"! So I was like "ooh..there goes my incentive..." But eventually I came around...and was kinda really curious...and I thought, I'm probably gona eventually try it one day in the future...so why not go now that I'm single with a bunch of singletons...it would be fun. So we started walking up towards King st.......so we were walking and walking...then suddenly we walked past a joint...think it was called bar 21 or something....I had no idea where any of these places they mentioned were (coz I'm a newbie), then the boys were like...hang on did we just pass it...blah..blah...it was kinda confusing I'm actually not sure what happened. The next thing I knew we walked back to some place next to bar 21 (which looked like a strip club) where there were some kids hanging around outside...and I sat down next to some boy and started talking to him and asking him what was going on inside the joint...which turned out to be some heavy metal joint...so we were like...um....ok no thanks. So I think by this time Hairy Melon was tired and fed up...so we just all hopped into a taxi and shared a cab home.

Overall it wasn't the night out that I had expected...but at least I did have heaps of fun dancing at Chaise Lounge....and I also learnt that bar hopping is no fun if you are really just in a mood to dance...dance...dance...and dance....and dance............but I'm still glad that I came out and hung out with everyone! Strippers will have to wait till next time (lol) ;P

For all the photos please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dancinghula/BarHopping170807

Sri Lankan Food! (15.08.07)

One random day a while ago Davo, Pete and I started talking about the differences between Indian and Sri Lankan food for no particular good reason. After listening to them rave on and on about how good Sri Lankan food is in the ACB tea room...I was determined to give it a try. So the mass email went out and a night of indulging in Sri Lankan food was organized: Wednesday night 7pm for 7 people! Araliya was the name of the restaurant (http://www.araliya.com.au) and it's situated on Glenferrie Rd. Hawthorn near the corner of Burwood Rd. (Thanx Pete)!

So Pete and Neha (Davo's girl) were super duper and drove us to Araliya (NB. It's faster to go Victoria pde than Johnson St after 6pm from uni)! After studying their menu for a while and still having no idea what most of the exotic sounding dishes were...we all decided to go all out for the banquet and settled for Set Menu A.


We started off with Stack of Thosai for entree, then there were a number of dishes that we shared for mains: Jaggary Beef Curry, Red Lentils with Baby Spinach, Spicy Beans with Cashews, Mallum (Shredded Vegies), Coconut Sambol, Mango Chutney& Cucumber in Yoghurt. These were served with Rice, Papadams and Roti. To top the night off dessert was Polpani pancakes (crepe like with caramelized coconut filling) served with cinnamon ice-cream! The food was absolutely delicious! I enjoyed and savoured every single bite I took. It was a great night with excellent food and company :)

Stack of Thosai

Jaggary Beef Curry

Red Lentils with Baby Spinach

SpicyBeans fried with Cashews

Liz's 23rd (11.08.07)

Yep...i woke up Sat morning with a mini tiny hang over round 11am and had to get my act together to take mum to the airport. It was not fun! I felt sick coz I was so so so bloody damn HUNGRY! After some food i felt a zillion times better and was surprisingly fine for rest of the day except a little tired. Ahman, Ginger and I took mum to the airport around lunch time...and on the way back when we were on the free way...I drifted out of my sleep...and the first thing I saw was a road sign that said "Brunswick Rd exit"....and I immediately jumped out of my seat and yelled..."oh my god...lets go to The Green Refectory"!!!!! This was followed on with an enthusiastic reply from Ginger. So off we went, to The Green Refectory for a second totally random brunch! YUM!

Got home in the arvo...and went straight to bed to prep. myself for Liz's 23rd...(she was dead set to have a biggie)! So I get woken up by a knocked at my door...I looked at my alarm clock and it was already past 5:30pm and Liz was here. She comes into my room completely dressed up in her new Guess dress...and there I was...lying in bed in shorts and a daggy singlet thinking "arrgghhh.....shit! I have to dress up?!!!! man..." So I got my ass out of bed and picked a dress and got ready for the night.

Dinner was at Bridie O'Rileys, on the corner of Little Collins & Exhibition St. Except Liz (being a tool)...told everyone else that it was near Russell St...so everyone was confused and late! So after everyone got here we eventually ordered our meals. I had the calamari salad, it was surprisingly very tasty and filling so I was content ;) After dinner most people went home....except for 6 of us...and Ginger, PowPow, Lisa and Michael also met up with us and we were on our way to ClickClick!!!!!!!!! So we arrive pay and get in..only to find out that a couple of us had been left outside and were refused entry for no particular good reason!!! Being the good mates we are....we all left together, and they wouldn't even refund our $$$ even though we literally walked in then out! GAY! So then Liz being picky as she is....didn't really want to go to any of the bars Ginger and I suggested....coz she wanted some live music....so after walking around lost for a bit Liz led us to Pugg Mahones in Hardware Lane.

I know it's been a long time since my good old pubbing days where me and my mates would go wild moshing to a live band (go yr 12 and 1st yr uni)! However, I swear the crowd at Pugg's was festier and grosser than the pubbing crowd I remember. There was also a fare share of your old women and men who are just so desperate to pick up the young that it was just wrong. Having said that...the cover band was really good and Ginger and I decided that regardless of the disgusting crowd...we were already there...and it was Liz's birthday...so we are just gona make the most of it and have ourselves a little fun! So we got onto the dance floor and started our little own dancing circle. It was OK when PowPow and Michael was around...but after they left...I swear...some of the seedy guys fully started to surround us and tried to get all touchy feeling "accidentally" coz it was pretty packed by that time....yew....so i grabbed Ginger and went up to the front to dance by ourselves. Oh...and before I forget this....I saw the most disgusting thing during one of the band's breaks. I went downstairs to talk to some friends who were sitting down....my back was towards the bar...and I heard this faint...dripping noise....so I just thought that someone at the bar had probably spilt some beer and it was dripping off the bar onto the wooden floor....but after a couple of seconds...this noise kept reoccurring.....so I turn around...and to my absolute horror...there was this guy standing...with his arms crossed, leaning on the bar...and his head down resting on his arms...and vomiting all over the floor with his forehead resting on his arms.....IT WAS SHOCKING....and the most astonishing things was...that there were two people, one each side of this vomiting dude...and they all just kept talking to other people like nothing had happened...no one acknowledged that this guy was throwing up right there....they didn't even flinch at the stench! I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY VERY OWN EYES!!!!!!

So...in the end...lets just say it was a good but interesting night...crowd was absolutely fowl (this included a group of guys from East Gippsland)...except for a couple of guys that we met that were semi-decent....Regardless...we still had a pretty good mosh/dance (the way it should be) ;P But Pity we couldn't stay at ClickClick...coz that wouldn't totally rocked! The important thing is that Liz enjoyed her night out and had plenty to drink!
HAPPY 23RD LIZ!