A remembrance of a dear friend

Today is the exact day a dear friend of mine passed away 4 years ago. In a blink of an eye, 4 years have passed and it seems like it was only yesterday he left us. It's a great grief to have lost a close friend but we have to keep moving on, just like what Sim had told me. Keep the memories but step ahead!

Here's a song dedicated to you, Yih Horng! Rest in peace...I will remember you...We all will...Always will...Miss you so.

'I Will Remember You' by Ryan Cabrera.

8 years later
Time goes by fast
Got my memories
And they will last
I try to keep it simple cause I hate goodbyes
I try to keep it simple by telling myself that

I, I will remember you
And all of the things that we've gone through
There is so much I could say
But words get in the way so
We're not together
I will remember you
I will remember you

We're a picture in my mind
And when I wanna find you
I just close my eyes
You'll never be that far from me
So don't say goodbye cause
You'll never be that far from me
I'm telling myself that

I, I will remember you
And all of the things that we've gone through
There is so much I could say
But words get in the way so
We're not together
I will remember you

You were there when I needed a friend
Thank you, thank you
I never told you how much that meant
God thank you, thank you
I will remember you

And all of the things that we've gone through
There is so much I could say
But words get in the way so
I, I will remember you
And all of the things that we've gone through
There is so much I could say
But words get in the way so
We're not together
I will remember
We're not together
I will remember you
I will remember you

Hiatus!!!

Exam is just around the corner. Sorry, peeps! I gotta give my blog a break so that I can fully concentrate on my preparation for my final exam. There will not be any updates for the next 3 weeks. But do stay tune for more interesting posts ;) Wish me luck! :P I desperately need some >.<

Before I end this post, I would like to wish those who are still studying, all the best in your studies and good luck in your exam. For the rest, please don't lose hope on me. I won't disappoint you guys in the future because without all of you...My family, my friends, my blog buddies, other readers...This blog wouldn't have survived till today. You give me motivation and inspiration to write more.

Now,I will enclose a photo of my study table to prove that I'm really studying hard and trying my best to pass this final exam with flying colours (I hope... :-/ )

See ya soon! :D *Hug*

2nd visit to the Royal Melbourne Show

One might ask: What would you do to de-stress yourself? For me, I would blast the music (And sing along with it :P), clean the house (Yes, I'll feel much better seeing house is spotless and squeaky clean), eat and snack (Both good food and comfort food. Not to mention junk food!), watch a movie (Not a movie freak, myself but on the way to becoming one), go shopping (I could transform myself into a shopaholic overnight), call my mom and cry over the phone (I know it's not good to make her worried, but you can't stop a mama's girl from doing so *smirk*...And yes, I'm a cry baby), and last but not least, hang out with my friends.

Spending wonderful time with a cheerful company makes my day worry-free and carefree. That's why I chose to visit to the Royal Melbourne Show for the second time, but with a different bunch of friends, even though I had an assignment due 2 days after.

Here are some of the photos I didn't get the chance to snap during my first visit.

This is a perfume stall, selling imitation perfumes and scents which they compared to the famous perfumes like Tommy Hilfiger, JLo, Miracle, Joop and many more. You could get 8 bottles of different perfumes that had similar scents with the original ones at only $35!

There was only one spot that I would definitely want to visit again - the Art & Craft Pavilion. We spent about an hour in there, admiring and taking photos of the unbelievable and awesome works of great artists.

Kids' colouring corner.



Lynn loved this particular piece of art. She observed it for a very long time. I gotta admit that the strokes, the details, the tones...Everything about this masterpiece was very subtle.

These were knitted sheep and cupcakes... Aren't they cute?

Puppets

Woodcraft

I loved this mask!

This cute little boy was drooling over the colourful cupcakes, ignoring his mom who was trying to persuade him to move along.

Then, off we went to the Grand Pavilion, where the food heaven was. Since it was the last day of the show, a lot of stuff were being marked down in their prices. And the patrons got to sample the food too. From water crackers to dips, cheese to yogurts and much much more.

Took a photo with the giant koala.

After that, we went to the Victorian Government Expo.

Face painting for the kids


We got our hands printed on a 'Respect Privacy' paper, which implied that everyone is special. Because every handprint is unique and that personal information is worth taking care of. I thought it was a good way to teach everyone to respect each other's privacy.

We even had our names and the Chinese horoscope written down on a poster by this old lady, who has a very creative and artistic handwriting.

Before we proceeded to the Showbags building, we had a brisk walk around the Market Bazaar.

Last stop was the Showbags building. Most of the showbags had been sold out and some even lowered down the prices to clear off the stocks.

It was raining quite heavenly outside, and I was glad I stayed inside the building. When I was looking around, Yuan showed up in front of me in this condition XD He was soaking wet because he got caught in the rain while walking towards this building. Poor Yuan...

Sim bought himself an inflatable pitchfork and a devil's horns. He kept poking and fooling around with his new-found toy.

A group photo of the day

It was already dinner time by the time we left the Royal Melbourne Show. The weather changed and it rained non-stop. I was so cold and wet! That time, I wish I had stayed home and did my assignment. BUT! I was glad that I tagged along soon after because Yuan brought us to this place that serves authentic Malaysian Chinese food, called Laksa King. Look at the long queue! I was pretty sure that the food was good. We waited for about 30 minutes to get a table.

By the look of the crowd, you can judge how popular this place is and the food must be delectable that the customers keep coming back for more.

It's a small, narrow and simple restaurant with 8 or so tables. The restaurants has an attached counter outside for customers to order their take-aways.

A cup of hot tea to warm our bodies up before the meal.

First to arrive was Yenes' Ipoh Fried Rice Noodle (a.k.a Char Hor Fun). It was served with a substantial amount of seafood like prawns and fish slices, fishcake, veggies topped with oyster sauce. I liked the starchy, eggy gravy which tasted the same as the Char Hor Fun in Malaysia. The portion was worth every cent you pay because you could find huge fresh prawns and fish swimming in that bowlful of gravy, and veggies to balance up your wholesome meal.

Sim had Hainanese Chicken Rice. The chicken was steamed to perfection and served with chicken rice and soup. It also came with some fresh, crunchy cucumbers and pickled veggies, and not to mention the essential homemade dipping chilli sauce. I found the rice very fragrant and fluffy, but the chicken could be improved on the taste because I felt that it was a little bland if you eat it alone. But, it tasted fine if it went with the sauce. Not too bad, but Sim wasn't really satisfied with his food and he ordered another Ipoh Fried Rice Noodle O.O

Lynn went for the Hokkien Noodle, which she had been craving for since she came to Melbourne. Thick yellow noodle, seafood, pork, veggies were drowning in a pool of slightly spicy soup, which had the goodness from the essence of the prawns *Thumbs up* But, one thing that I didn't like about this dish was the noodle they used. Because I found it too thick and floury.

Yuan opted for the Fish Head Noodle. It arrived with vermicelli noodle with rockling head and fillets. Although the portion was big, Yuan wasn't happy with the way they served it because he had a tough time biting off the flesh from the fish head XD But he loved the taste of the milky white soup that had the natural goodness from the fish. It looked bland, but it was full of flavours and not too salty.

Neoh decided on the Salted Pepper Chicken Ribs on Rice. He was a little bit disappointed with the portion, but he liked the chicken ribs. He said that although the chicken ribs weren't deep-fried till crispy-skinned perfection, he liked the nicely marinated skin that was adequately spiced and seasoned.

As for me, I went for the Nasi Lemak Special. If I were to choose between rice and noodle dishes, I would prefer to have rice. I was really happy and satisfied with my order. At the price of $8.80, I got on my plate-Fragrant coconut rice served with pickled veggies, crispy anchovies, a hard-boiled egg, peanuts, and a generous amount of chicken curry. For such serving at this price, it was absolutely worthwhile. I simply LOVED the tender chicken which was drenched in a pool of spicy, addictive, authentic curry. It's one of the best curries I had so far, and the spiciness was just the right level for my tastebuds :P" Oh my! I'm feeling hungry now.

Overall, the food was very good and everyone was quite happy with the dishes they ordered. The service was pretty fast, and the staff were friendly and helpful. Despite the steady stream of customers, the food was served quite fast and piping hot. I would definitely go back for more if I get the chance to go there (because it's very far from my house), and of course, when I miss Malaysian food.

Mooncake Festival party @ Danny's

I know Mooncake Festival has long gone but how can I just forget about blogging about it since it's festival celebrated by most of the Asians around the world. Even though you're not staying in an Asian country, you can't avoid having all those mouth-watering, calorie-laden, fattening mooncakes in any place where you can find Asians.

I had been invited to a Mooncake Festival party that day at Dann'y house. The good thing was I got to eat free mooncakes! And Yong Han personally made us spring rolls which he learned from the cooking classes at William Angliss.

The filling was a combination of shredded cucumbers, carrots, celery, mushrooms and tossed with Asian dressing.

Wrapped it firmly in spring roll skin.

After that, deep-fried them in hot oil.

Michael made us some Chinese tea. It miraculously warmed up my body. It's got clear colour and mild flavour.

I loved the cute tea cups :>

It's supper! Danny and his housemates bought different kinds of mooncakes to share with everyone.

Yong Han bought these. The nicely wrapped pale pink and yellow ones were not mooncakes. I don't know what they are called. They had slightly crispy skin but melting filling, which came in different flavours-Mango, pineapple, strawberry and passion fruit. The mini mooncakes had red bean paste filling, which I found it to be too sweet.

This one was strawberry flavour. I thought it was ok.

This one was mango flavour, which I thought was the best among all the flavours.

These were from Michael. These were Vegetarian Mooncakes because Michael is a vegetarian. So, they didn't contain pork lard and eggs. Not too bad.

Michelle bought this for us to try. She tried the other flavours, but she thought this was one of the tastiest ones. It was a Pandan Flavour Snowskin Mooncake. I loved it! Its skin was so smooth, slightly chewy and it gradually melted in my mouth, leaving the fragrant pandan taste. It's best to eat it chilled.

The ladies liked it...

Oh! Don't forget about the the Spring Rolls. It's crispy on the outside, and all the veggie goodness wrapped up inside. One was big enough to make you full.

Yong Han dressed in a traditional Chinese attire, holding a crimson red fan to entertain the guests XD

The guys were enjoying the food.

What is one of Chinese's favourite pass-times?

Playing mahjong. Me and Lynn were kind of surprised to see Michael (the Aussies guy in navy blue t-shirt) played professionally O.O Probably it's because he has stayed in the house with other Malaysians, who taught him some Chinese culture.

For me, Mooncake Festival is just a normal celebration like any other day. But, if you put in effort, like throwing a party, invite friends over, prepare some nice food, a little entertainment, it'll turn out to be a special day that is worth looking forward to.