Food haul in Melbourne

Dining at the Hotel had it's pros and cons. The food was ok and REALLY FILLING, but the prices was too over priced. Maybe this was due to the lack of guest that stays here?

Day 2 in Melbourne, I had breakfast in my room.  

And pictures tell a thousand words ...

What did I order for breakfast?

The English Breakfast
Consisting of: Bacon, scrambled eggs, hash brown, chicken sausages
toast, pan-fried mushroom and served with a glass of apple juice

We decided to have dinner in the downstairs restaurant. I think the restaurant was called "SPICA".
The setting was nice, but the menu price was more expensive/ over priced compared to the in-room menu.
The menu selection was so limited. There wasn't variety in the meals. BIGGEST downfall.

The restaurant

Pretty empty around 7pm

Dinner Meal: Chicken Parmigiana served with seasoned wedges with a white sauce
topped with spring onion

 This meal was sooo FILLING!. Either the chicken breast was 2 pieces put together to one OR this chicken was a very LARGE chicken!

Desert: Vanilla panna cotta with a citrus salad and caramel flakes
over a citrus dressing

After the main meal, I didn't have enough room for dessert. I managed to only consume 30% of this dessert. It was a nice light sweet and sour dessert to finish off a full meal. :)

Desert: An apple crumble topped with ice-cream and icing sugar

My friend's chosen dessert. He too didn't end up finishing it 

Bunch time! Because the weather felt gloomy on my last day in Melbourne. I decided to order room service for brunch :).

Brunch: Spaghetti carbonara with white wine sauce served with mushroom,
bacon and free range chicken topped off with parmesan cheese and spring onion

 

Only downfall of this meal was the fact that the chicken was too dry. But overall, it was a fulfilling dish :).

Welcome to my new apartment

I actually haven't really moved out. But nevertheless, this was my new home for the next 48 hours.
I stayed at the Mantra Hotel, which was more of an apartment hotel while I was in Melbourne.

**Be warned, this story is only the beginning**

My initial room was on level 12 room 01, which was located at the every far back corner of level 12. The room was pretty small. Once I entered that room, I noticed that there were moths flying round the room. YES! Moths were currently living in that room. So, I called reception and they changed me to a different room.

I must say, for a 4 star Hotel they didn't do a good job of getting the room prepared before a guest would enter their apartment.

Meet my living room

My living room from another angle

Meet my kitchen

My Bedroom

The other side of my bedroom

My bathroom

BAD SERVICE/ INVASION OF PRIVACY!

Oh one huge thing I wanna complain about is the invasion of privacy!. So basically, the 2nd day I was in Melbourne heading to the office, I DIDN'T stick the door handle display saying "Clean this room". So when I arrived back to my room, I noticed that my bed was made, and a few of my things were put neatly together (aka the magazines I was reading that night). I was like, did I put a sign up saying "CLEAN MY ROOM?". So I let that accident slide .....

The next day (my last day), I stayed in my apartment, until it was time for me to check out and leave. I stayed in because the weather was looking gloomy and I didn't want to end up getting sick. So, around 9am a GUY cleaner comes in. He knocks and says "hello", 5 sec later he opens the door with the swipe card. I was currently in the living room watching tv and I didn't get enough time to reply. He walks straight in and sees me, I asked him to come back later. He replied "OK". (BUT he came back 1 hr later and then I told him to come back at 1pm when I was gone to clean up the room).

What made me is a invasion of privacy, was the fact that I didn't stick anything outside my door to clean my room up. It was also the fact that he entered the room after like 5 secs of NO REPLY!. 

What would happen if I was in the shower, and I didn't hear him? and all a sudden he walks in and sees me BUTT NAKED?!? 

OR 

I was in my room changing, and he walks straight in???

Here are some of the pros and cons I have of my stay in this apartment

Pro:

• This room was a lot bigger compared to my initial room. 
• It matched the description of the room that I was supposed to living in when I searched it online
• Gym and pool were free of charge!

Cons:

• Room service, in terms of late meals, was a big down fall. Because room service was opened between 5am to 11pm. So what happens if you want to have a late meal? Well, only solution is a Maccas run on Southbank quay 
• I personally like my bathroom sink table to have a larger space to put my personal items on there. This sink was far tooo small. The only thing that fitted perfectly was the hotel's bathroom amenities.
• Invasion of PRIVACY!!!!
• The walls needed a new paint job! I don't know why this hotel was given a 4 star? I left like I was in a 3.5 start hotel
• The TV channels that were made available was sooo bad! like you only got your normal TV channels and THAT'S IT!, while the Crowne gave you s bit more variety
• The air-con! My GOD! it was bad, the living room air-con flowed nicely in the room, but in the bedroom, there was HARDLY any flow going through. This was me, turning on the air-con for 1 hr. ONLY the living room had some cold air flowing through, the bedroom was a complete humid room!

Overall, my stay at this hotel wasn't a 100% satisfaction. It is a good place to stay if you're the type that travels interstate or overseas for work. Not the best place to stay for a holiday.

My next vlog will be a more detailed about what was in my apartment!

Diary #14: Happy Lunar New Year

Heyy Guys :):):)

**HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!**

As some may not know, its the lunar new year :) SO a BIG HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my Asian readers :)

Hope you all have a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! and remember to party hard BUT stay SAFE :)

Take Care xx

Diary #13: Merry Christmas

Heyy Guys :):):)

Just wanna wish you all;

**MERRY CHRISTMAS**

I hope that you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS :) and remember that Christmas is all about sharing and caring and ALSO ..... The presents too ;)

Until next time

Take Care xx

Sticky note girl

I think I have a slight obsession with sticky notes. Basically I have sticky notes hanging on my wall and my books (especially my Corporation Act Book and Understanding company law) and sometimes even on my laptop.

Sticky note tabs on my CA Book and my Understanding Company Law

But in way, I guess sticky notes are good because they help you remember things :) . The best thing about them is that they come in soo many different colours, shapes and sizes ^^ But I think I should kinda stop buying them frequently cause I have a whole stack of them laying around my study table, waiting to be used. I don't know what I would do without the invention of sticky notes. Because, they generally help me remember things (and yes I feel so old when I can't remeber the simplest of things) and help me find the right page to go to. Especially when your studying law and you have to find the relevent cases quickly.

So I guess it will be awhile until I give up on them :)

International Women's Day

So like, yesterday (8/3) was International Women's Day!. This day means, if anyone doesn't know, celebrates women's achievements in the past to the present (now). It supposed to represent the hardship and struggles women used to face in the past and also until now. I think it's a good world wide event to celebrate women's achievements throughout history.

I mean, if you look at it before, women in the world struggled much more than men did. In history, they didn't have equal rights as men, wasn't allowed to be in the workforce, their roles was mainly looking after the house and family, their level of freedom was limited and also their place in society. If you look at the overall picture from the past til now you can see that women in history have achieved so much reguardless of what society thinks.

Opening and closing doors

In our lives we open a lot of doors. Not the doors where we get in and out from but as a metaphor. I was in church a few weeks ago, when the priest used the metaphor opening and closing doors. This made me think. He said that we open a lot of doors in our lives but we don't seem to close a lot of them before we die. Which means, we always have a thing we started with but never seem to finish/end them before we start a new one.

For example, we might start a new project and then half way through it we might forget about it in the shed. Then a few years later, the project still remains there but uncompleted. Or maybe, we might have an arguement with someone in the family and say things that we didn't mean and wish we didn't say it before they die.

This year, I have opened a lot of doors. For example; new friendships, learning new experiences, given new opportunities and more. The doors which I think I've closed this year would be doubting myself, letting people's opinions get the best of me and more.

Because the year has almost come to an end (about more than 2 weeks) I recommend that we should think of doors which we have opened and trying to close some of them for the New Year (2011). This way, we can start the New Year fresh and leaving the past knowing that we completed something. I for one think that if this year has been a bad year, then try to close the year by fixing up your mistakes and start the New Year fresh and guilty free. :D

3 simple words: No More EXAMS! =]

So, today was the last exam for the semester =] I'm soo glad that its FINALLY over!!!. With exams and uni over all there's left is to look forward to the summer break =]

This week has been such a good week for me =] Because I finally got my ticket to Vietnam, I finished my exams and uni for another year, I didn't need to get a vacination to travel overseas (because I'm still valid for another year which is excellent cause I SERIOUSLY hate needles) and no one in Vietnam (family and friends) know that I'm coming back; unless they read my blog and understand what I'm writing, well in that case .... SSSSHHH!! don't spoil it for the other people who don't know =P

So my plans for the summer break at the moment are:

• My niece and nephew's birthday
• Relaxation aka. Sleep inns =]
• Catching up with asian dramas on xingkong and my dvds
• Catching up on TV shows
• Catching up with friends (hopefully)
• and finally my holiday in Vietnam =]

What I have planned for my Vietnamese holiday is:

• Visit family in both North and South of Vietnam
• Visit my dear grandmother (dad's side) who I thought was dead thoughout my childhood ... 6.6 ~akward moment~
• Go on a MAJOR shopping spree =]
• Go asian accessory CRAZY?!?
• Spend new years and Chinese new years in Vietnam
• Suprise a few friends
• Perhaps teach english at a local school
• Learn perhaps some vietnamese prays (because I'm catholic and my parents assume that because I'm 19 years old I should be able to know the vietnamese prays which I don't =/ *sobs*)
• Maybe have my 20th birthday in Vietnam and leave with a big BANG! =P

What I buy in Vietnam over the past few years =D

So, I managed to take some photos of the things I generally buy in Vietnam. Some of these things I tend to buy heaps of, but by the end of my holiday, I don't seem use them much at all. I tend to go crazy with the cute asian things there and buy a whole heap of them because their sooo cheap over there. =D

But I managed to have some self control at the begining of this year, when I went.

Here is a eye-shadow and lip gloss heart-shaped make-up kit. On the right is the closed kit and on the left is when the kit is open. It's super cute ^^

Some cute books I brought. The one on the right is a diary so you need to press the right combination to open it out (aka press the music notes) and on the right is just a little diary book with colourful tabs

Here is where I put my 1cm stars. It's a special wishing bottle that also lights up when I shake it cause theres a little ball that gets activated when you shake the bottle

The collection of hair clips and hair accessories I managed to always buy and never use when I'm back here in Perth

This here is a hand band/ tiara like hand band that my older sister got me when she was holidaying in Vietnam. I wore this to my Year 12 Ball.

Art + Nails = Nail Art

Everyone in my family basically have a special skill and/ or talent. Like my older sister, who has a strength in drawing. My younger sister, was more in the drama/ acting and english based subjects and for my younger brother, his more into maths and numbers rather than english. As for me, I'm better at art as in drawing and creating. But my strength also lies in leadership skills and dealing with business and numbers.

So anyways, because both me and my older sister have a talent for drawing and creating artwork we both can do nail art. Nail art is getting nail polish and creating pictures and designs on each individual nail. Well, it started off with my older sister learning different designs from my brother-in-law's sister (who worked as a nail designer) and after that my older sister did different nail designs on my nails. Which after awhile, I started to copy and eventually I could do the same designs on my nails or someone else. This was because holding the brush involved a strong and steady hand to paint the different designs.

So here are some nail designs




This is the special pen used to do small detailed designs

Some of the nail art pens and polishes/ brushes I have ^^

The Vietnamese Wedding experience

So, today is my cousin’s wedding and so I decided to dedicate this blog about what a typical Vietnamese wedding is like over here in Perth. From my memory, the only weeding that I’ve been to and have witnessed the whole ceremony was my older sister’s wedding about 8 years ago. So, the whole day consisted of the tea ceremony, the wedding at the church and the reception. The tea ceremony begins with my brother-in-law. His family all meets up and drives themselves to my sister’s house (aka my place). They park their car and he gets 12 guys, who he chosen before the day started, to carry the gifts. The gift consisted of 2 people carrying each 1 cooked chicken, 1 basket of fruits, 1 containers of sweet red rice, 1 bottle of alcohol (usually wine) and 1 pig that has been roasted which 4 people had to carry. Once they were lined up as partners and the 4 with the roasted pig, behind the line of 8 guys, my brother-in-law lead the crowd of people (his family) towards our place. Once he was there, the guys who were carrying the gifts lined up in a single file facing the single file of girls wearing the traditional Vietnamese costume, the Ao Dai. Both my parents were also outside along with our family and friends, whilst my older sister was inside, all dressed up in her room waiting for her queue to enter. My brother-in-law greeted both my parents and introduced them to his parents. He showed my parents what he had brought to ask for my sister’s hand in marriage. Both my parents agreed and shook his hands and his parents and everyone clapped. The guys carrying the gift stepped forward and gave the gifts to the girl who was in front of them. Then everyone made their way into the house, while the girls lined up from the back of the entering crowd. They waited outside the door entrance for their queue to place the gifts on the altar; in the middle of the living room. Once everyone was in, including my brother-in-law’s family who stood on the right hand side of him, each girl entered and placed each gift on the altar. There was a spoke person, who was asked to conduct this ceremony. After all the gifts were placed, my mother went to fetch my older sister. My brother-in-law gave her flowers and they both smiled. Then the tea ceremony began. First off was my brother-in-law family. His parents went off first, then his god parent, brothers and/or sisters and then his uncle and/or aunty. Then came my sister’s side of the family. During the ceremony, you give the gift to the couple and they invite you to drink tea with them, which was just jasmine tea/ green tea/ Chinese tea. The gifts that people tend to give are; gold jewellery and money, just to wish them luck. After that, there was quick pray and then off to the wedding mass. border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517385155223335170" /> Serving the tea The wedding mass is the typical mass, with a priest conducting the while ceremony. After that were the wedding pictures and lunch. The whole day concluded with a wedding reception in a Chinese seafood restaurant that was close to the bell tower. During the reception, the bride and groom visit each table (generally consisting of 10 people) and give their thanks for coming to their wedding. This is generally the chance for those who didn’t give their gift at the tea ceremony or didn’t attend the tea ceremony to give their gift. The gift that most people give during this time is money. After visiting every table, was the cutting of the cake and the end of a long and memorable day.

Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.

So I was watching Criminal Minds last week and the episode was about a killer who stalks your social network and kills you due to his obsession he has. So one of the quotes that made me think was; ‘The internet. Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever’. This was then linked to social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, MySpace etc.... This quote emphasised on the fact that once you create an account on the social networking site then your information is out there forever. Like Facebook for example, once you have made an account with Facebook, you can’t delete your account. I mean, you can deactivate it but you can actually delete all the information because when you signed up for Facebook you clicked on the ‘I agree’ button where it shows you the terms and conditions and that you read all of it and understood it. But if you actually read the terms and conditions, there is a clause that states that Facebook has the rights to keep your information.

Another aspect that this episode emphasises on is the fact that the posting people post up on these networking sites such as Facebook. I mean, they post nearly everything they do to on their wall like someone is interested in what they are doing. For example, one post may say “at home after work” then 5 minutes later “going to take a shower” then 30 minutes later “is cooking dinner, Yum!”. But is there really someone out there, reading all these posts that you posted up? Facebook gives the user the feeling that someone is actually following what you are doing. Just like twitter.

It’s not just social networking sites that gets posted on the internet and remains there forever. Just about anything that is posted up by users can be out there forever and is available to the world at large.

The only security that Facebook gives to the user is the privacy settings and either add or reject a ‘friend request’. But overall, whatever is posted on the internet is always out there forever. So next time when you make a Facebook and/ or twitter status update, just remember that you don’t need to post your daily movements because no one is actually following you (unless they’re a stalker). Also be warned about what information you release on the internet and social networks too.

Money never sleeps

So there’s this movie that’s coming out soon and it called “Wall Street: where money never sleeps”. What I found interesting about this title is that money doesn’t sleep. If you think about it, money is used everywhere but it does sleep. Like, is there a point where money isn’t used in today’s era? For example, is there a time where money completely stops at the exact time all over the world? No, if you think about it. As you think about it, money is being used in exchange for other goods or services. Money is the central point of how the economy works and how people survive. Without money, then the goods or services that you need would be hard to obtain. Without it, we would be living in the “old” days where people would bather or trade to obtain the required goods or service.



Here is a question to think about. Can you survive a day without spending? This includes not using the electricity, water or telephone or anything that will make you pay for it because if you use it then you are spending money. Why you may ask? Well, the amount of electricity or water you use is spending because each month or so a bill will come to you regarding payment for your usage. So can you survive without spending? Think about it. ^^