I have not been having good night's sleeps, partly because of the sun shining right through the corner of the glass window that's not covered by the blinds. The other reason, I suspect, could be due to the lack of exercise and the weights I have been putting for the last 5 years (to be exact, since I dated Bruno).
We have been planning to go for early morning walk but with the cool weather now, it just makes it harder to wake up in the morning from our warm bed and brace the cold air. In the first place, I don't enjoy walking or jogging. So I decided to try swimming today.
My very kind husband was willing to give up his TV time and ignore his hunger to send me to Olympic Aquatic Centre (just 3 mins from our place). We used Entertainment Book voucher for our entry so we only pay $6.60 for 2 (1 person free). Both of us planned to swim initially but my hubby was probably too intimidated by the crowd there he decided to sit around this time.
The centre was nice, better than what I expected. It looked grand, probably because of the high ceiling. There is a pool for everybody, for serious swimmers, for leisure swimmers (me!), for the big kids, for the small kids and for learners. There was an aqua aerobics class going on when we were there. Man, the moves they did were quite tough, I don't mind joining the classes. The whole area reminds me of 'Ancol', sigh.... especially seeing little kids playing around the water playground.
Now, I just need to get me and hubby to learn how to swim :) I could only swim breaststroke and want to learn freestyle. Maybe I will try to call tomorrow to check if they could accomodate us for the adult swimming classes (the term start tomorrow). Can't wait to go back to the pool!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Restaurants
This weekend, we ate out 3 times and this is not good! It hurt our already-expanding waist line and we're supposed to save $ towards our house downpayment.
First, hubby wanted to eat out on Friday and I suggested a Japanese Restaurant that my ex-colleagues brought me to last week. I think it's good that he knows other Japanese restaurants as we seem to be going to Miso for Japanese aaaaaallll the time (and also because my PIL like it too). His first reaction when we entered Nazimi was "This place is small..". Yeah, it was 'intimate' :) Overall the food was good and I am adding this to my 'to-bring-PIL-to' list. Next time, we'd order hotpot as it would be cold enough for that. Can't wait for PIL to come, it's really hard to order food for 2, restricted with quantity that we could consume.
Oh, I met one of my ex-colleagues who was also at the dinner the previous week, what a coincidence. She must have thought of showing her boyfriend this new place too.
The next day, I chanced upon the entertainment book we bought last year and decided to try any of the cafes nearby our place. Too bad that both of the places we wanted to visit was closed. So we decided to eat at Bakehouse Korean BBQ, which would never disappoint us. We ordered one beef and one pork meat for BBQ and kimchi soup. We are still struggling with the art of cooking the meat and how to eat it (with the lettuce and...?), and I was a bit self-conscious with the waiters kept coming over to change the hot plate.
Today, we decided to try another restaurant using the Entertainment Book and we went to Ecco in Drummoyne. Again, I was a bit self-conscious about eating in fine-dining restaurants, especially if I don't see any asians there. This place is almost 99% 'angmohs' but we did go ahead. We decided to skip Entree and ordered main course only...... and we realised that the main course too a looooong time to arrive. We came up with a theory that maybe, we SHOULD've ordered entree... and because we didn't, we would still get our main course in the same time it would take if we had ordered it hehehe... Maybe that's the reason they have entree, because the kitchen need that much time to cook the main course.
Oh well, hubby was very very hungry (though they served us a piece of bread) and when the food arrived, we tried very hard to eat slowly to savour the 'fine' food (I've tried to convince Bruno to eat slowly anyway). I ordered seafood plate ($39), which won some 'it-looks-good' comments from next table, and Bruno ordered a quail dish ($34) with a glass of white wine and a glass of beer. Somehow he was still hungry after the meal (he should've orderd a pasta dish actually) and I felt guilty for not ordering entree, we decided to order dessert and coffee. The waiter actually forgot to bring us the menu! But since we were 'trained' to wait by then, we just sit obediently until the waiter noticed us (that was when Bruno went to the loo and the waiter could then see me).
I realised that most of the people could stay there for hours, ordering drinks first, then entree, then main course and so on... And I'm so used to eat and get out of the place. Maybe we should do this fine-dining stuff more often to get the hang of it hehee... We calculate how much it would cost us if we do this once a month for 4 people. It's probably around $2k.
On another matter, I just watched 'So You Think You Can Dance' and I'm disappointed that Amy didn't win, I like her. I think Amy and Ben are better than the other 2 but maybe they are older. Down at top 2, I was expecting the guy would win (I forgot his name now) as most girls would do the voting than guys. So it was quite a surprise that Thalia won, I was expecting her to be the first one out from the top 4. And what happened to Ben getting emotional on his thank-you speech, he looks so matured and strong and tough...
First, hubby wanted to eat out on Friday and I suggested a Japanese Restaurant that my ex-colleagues brought me to last week. I think it's good that he knows other Japanese restaurants as we seem to be going to Miso for Japanese aaaaaallll the time (and also because my PIL like it too). His first reaction when we entered Nazimi was "This place is small..". Yeah, it was 'intimate' :) Overall the food was good and I am adding this to my 'to-bring-PIL-to' list. Next time, we'd order hotpot as it would be cold enough for that. Can't wait for PIL to come, it's really hard to order food for 2, restricted with quantity that we could consume.
Oh, I met one of my ex-colleagues who was also at the dinner the previous week, what a coincidence. She must have thought of showing her boyfriend this new place too.
The next day, I chanced upon the entertainment book we bought last year and decided to try any of the cafes nearby our place. Too bad that both of the places we wanted to visit was closed. So we decided to eat at Bakehouse Korean BBQ, which would never disappoint us. We ordered one beef and one pork meat for BBQ and kimchi soup. We are still struggling with the art of cooking the meat and how to eat it (with the lettuce and...?), and I was a bit self-conscious with the waiters kept coming over to change the hot plate.
Today, we decided to try another restaurant using the Entertainment Book and we went to Ecco in Drummoyne. Again, I was a bit self-conscious about eating in fine-dining restaurants, especially if I don't see any asians there. This place is almost 99% 'angmohs' but we did go ahead. We decided to skip Entree and ordered main course only...... and we realised that the main course too a looooong time to arrive. We came up with a theory that maybe, we SHOULD've ordered entree... and because we didn't, we would still get our main course in the same time it would take if we had ordered it hehehe... Maybe that's the reason they have entree, because the kitchen need that much time to cook the main course.
Oh well, hubby was very very hungry (though they served us a piece of bread) and when the food arrived, we tried very hard to eat slowly to savour the 'fine' food (I've tried to convince Bruno to eat slowly anyway). I ordered seafood plate ($39), which won some 'it-looks-good' comments from next table, and Bruno ordered a quail dish ($34) with a glass of white wine and a glass of beer. Somehow he was still hungry after the meal (he should've orderd a pasta dish actually) and I felt guilty for not ordering entree, we decided to order dessert and coffee. The waiter actually forgot to bring us the menu! But since we were 'trained' to wait by then, we just sit obediently until the waiter noticed us (that was when Bruno went to the loo and the waiter could then see me).
I realised that most of the people could stay there for hours, ordering drinks first, then entree, then main course and so on... And I'm so used to eat and get out of the place. Maybe we should do this fine-dining stuff more often to get the hang of it hehee... We calculate how much it would cost us if we do this once a month for 4 people. It's probably around $2k.
On another matter, I just watched 'So You Think You Can Dance' and I'm disappointed that Amy didn't win, I like her. I think Amy and Ben are better than the other 2 but maybe they are older. Down at top 2, I was expecting the guy would win (I forgot his name now) as most girls would do the voting than guys. So it was quite a surprise that Thalia won, I was expecting her to be the first one out from the top 4. And what happened to Ben getting emotional on his thank-you speech, he looks so matured and strong and tough...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Long week
After 5 days of off days (Good Friday til Tuesday), I went straight to long hours in office. Apparently we have quarterly financial schedules to complete by Friday. Most of the stuff are related to my product but everybody is helping all they can. So I stayed til 10pm on Wed, 10.30 on Thurs and an early one at 8.30pm on Friday.
I was supposed to meet a group of ex-colleagues (from Westpac) that Friday for dinner at 6pm. I got there around 9pm where everybody had finished their dinner. So I ordered Dragon Roll and boy, they were good. Even though I managed to chat with them for an hour only, it was fun and full of laughter, updating myself with the latest news from my old team. I'd take Bruno to eat there again, since we keep going back to MISO restaurant (at World Square) all the time for Japanese. This "NAZIMI" restaurant (opposite QVB) is another option now as my friends and I found the food to be very good.
Today, Bruno, Jason and I went to Newtown for lunch and we decided to try this simple Thai restaurant called Thai La-Ong. There were many Thai food along King Street in Newtown and we didn't know which one is good. We decide on Thai La-Ong only because it opened another one almost next to it, called Thai La-Ong 2 (duh!), so it must be good, right? Well, the lunch special is cheap at $6, so we ordered 4 of them plus fishcake. Not bad, I don't mind going back there again. Next time we go Newtown, we'd try another restaurant that had opened a 2nd shop too, Newtown Thai xxx (can't remember the full name). We found another restaurant that sells Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indochinese food called Kammadhenu that boast 50 types of dosai. Our first thought is "Dad is gonna be a happy man here". So we may reserve this place for his birthday next month.
I was supposed to meet a group of ex-colleagues (from Westpac) that Friday for dinner at 6pm. I got there around 9pm where everybody had finished their dinner. So I ordered Dragon Roll and boy, they were good. Even though I managed to chat with them for an hour only, it was fun and full of laughter, updating myself with the latest news from my old team. I'd take Bruno to eat there again, since we keep going back to MISO restaurant (at World Square) all the time for Japanese. This "NAZIMI" restaurant (opposite QVB) is another option now as my friends and I found the food to be very good.
Today, Bruno, Jason and I went to Newtown for lunch and we decided to try this simple Thai restaurant called Thai La-Ong. There were many Thai food along King Street in Newtown and we didn't know which one is good. We decide on Thai La-Ong only because it opened another one almost next to it, called Thai La-Ong 2 (duh!), so it must be good, right? Well, the lunch special is cheap at $6, so we ordered 4 of them plus fishcake. Not bad, I don't mind going back there again. Next time we go Newtown, we'd try another restaurant that had opened a 2nd shop too, Newtown Thai xxx (can't remember the full name). We found another restaurant that sells Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indochinese food called Kammadhenu that boast 50 types of dosai. Our first thought is "Dad is gonna be a happy man here". So we may reserve this place for his birthday next month.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
First appointment
Our first appointment with our IVF doctor today. Nothing interesting though, we just explained our situation and past results and the doctor asked a few questions and explained the options we have. We are asked to do a few mre tests and come back again next month to review the test.
So it's going to be only in June that we'll start our IUI/IVF program. Feels like a long wait, but it can't be any faster than that I guess.
I think it'll be fun to try each method (I could say 'fun' coz I haven't gone through one), so I plan to try IUI, IVF, ICSI and maybe TCM.
Now, I just need to arrange time and date for each appointment. Hopefully I don't need to take too much off-day from work and maybe a couple of hours in the morning. Still, I can't help feeling excited about it.
So it's going to be only in June that we'll start our IUI/IVF program. Feels like a long wait, but it can't be any faster than that I guess.
I think it'll be fun to try each method (I could say 'fun' coz I haven't gone through one), so I plan to try IUI, IVF, ICSI and maybe TCM.
Now, I just need to arrange time and date for each appointment. Hopefully I don't need to take too much off-day from work and maybe a couple of hours in the morning. Still, I can't help feeling excited about it.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Cooking - my first
We are relaxing the last few days and I decided to learn to cook 2 dishes from a Detox cooking guide I bought last week. So we went to Woolies and tried to figure out how to find the ingredients. We didn't know that 'green onion' is shallots until we ask help from Woolies staff. Bruno checked each of the vegetables that I picked and he put them back mostly and chose another bundle/pack that he thought was of better shape/colour etc etc. I have to admit that I have a habit of picking up the first pack in front of me.
I got straight to cutting all the vegetables once we reached home. Bruno showed me how to do some of them, though I doubt he has done any cooking himself hhehee... Internet was quite useful too, I looked up on how to clean mushroom.
Making the soup was quite easy, but cooking the stir-fry was a bit challenging. First of all, I'm not comfortable with frying and the pan was too small for amount of vegetables I put. Again, I asked Bruno to show me how to stir and I just continued from there.
As a safety net, we bought roasted half-chicken but in the end all of the dishes was too much for 2 persons so we had to throw a bit of the stir-fry. My lovely hubby helped me cleaned up afterwards :) while I watched TV. Sigh, how am I going to live without him?
My hands felt a bit wierd, a bit over-used hehee.... And my stomach felt wierd, I hope I cleaned the mushrooms properly!
I got straight to cutting all the vegetables once we reached home. Bruno showed me how to do some of them, though I doubt he has done any cooking himself hhehee... Internet was quite useful too, I looked up on how to clean mushroom.
Making the soup was quite easy, but cooking the stir-fry was a bit challenging. First of all, I'm not comfortable with frying and the pan was too small for amount of vegetables I put. Again, I asked Bruno to show me how to stir and I just continued from there.
As a safety net, we bought roasted half-chicken but in the end all of the dishes was too much for 2 persons so we had to throw a bit of the stir-fry. My lovely hubby helped me cleaned up afterwards :) while I watched TV. Sigh, how am I going to live without him?
My hands felt a bit wierd, a bit over-used hehee.... And my stomach felt wierd, I hope I cleaned the mushrooms properly!
Friday, April 10, 2009
1 year in Sydney
Soon, it'll be one year since we arrived Sydney. I can't really say it has past in a blink of an eye. Well, in general I always feel time is too slow, and wishing I'm in my retirement age by now.
Looking back, we're thankful for the good timing we arrived in Sydney. I'm not sure if we could still get a job if we arrived today instead of last year. We are grateful (to God) for the jobs we have (especially since we each changed to another job within a year). We are thankful for having my in-laws here and that they are sharing and enjoying the adventure of living a new country.
There are still a few more things that are still in progress though. We are not yet to have a baby even though we thought that moving to a less-stressed country would help. I still work the same long hours (if not, more) here compared to Singapore. I was about to quit my current work as I want to concentrate in IVF, but my wonderful boss allowed me to take days off if I need to so I'm staying put for now.
I still need to learn how to drive and maybe, just maybe, how to cook. Both of us plan to learn how to swim, so that's something we could do together.
We initially plan to buy a house but we couldn't find a suitable one. So, we plan to rent a new place (with indoor heated pool, tennis and library) for another 6 months wihile continuing to look for a suitable permanent house.
I tried reading up on adoption but it seems one of us has to be an Australian citizen. It would mean that we need to wait a couple more years. But the good thing is, if we decide to adopt from China, Hongkong or Taiwan, we may be given a priority since I am Chinese and Bruno is half-Chinese. I don't understand why adoption from China cost so much more compared to other countries. Other countries we could consider is Phillippines, Thailand or India (since Bruno is half Indian). I would prefer adopting from Chinese countries though as it would be closer to our culture so it would take less effort when trying to get the adopted one connect to his/her original culture (and giving me more reason to learn Mandarin, I guess).
So, we thank God for everything He has given us the last one year and we put up prayers to Him for everything that we plan for the next 1 year. Exciting year ahead with plan to move, buy furniture, buy house, IVF, getting car license, learning how to swim and, maybe, citizenship.
Looking back, we're thankful for the good timing we arrived in Sydney. I'm not sure if we could still get a job if we arrived today instead of last year. We are grateful (to God) for the jobs we have (especially since we each changed to another job within a year). We are thankful for having my in-laws here and that they are sharing and enjoying the adventure of living a new country.
There are still a few more things that are still in progress though. We are not yet to have a baby even though we thought that moving to a less-stressed country would help. I still work the same long hours (if not, more) here compared to Singapore. I was about to quit my current work as I want to concentrate in IVF, but my wonderful boss allowed me to take days off if I need to so I'm staying put for now.
I still need to learn how to drive and maybe, just maybe, how to cook. Both of us plan to learn how to swim, so that's something we could do together.
We initially plan to buy a house but we couldn't find a suitable one. So, we plan to rent a new place (with indoor heated pool, tennis and library) for another 6 months wihile continuing to look for a suitable permanent house.
I tried reading up on adoption but it seems one of us has to be an Australian citizen. It would mean that we need to wait a couple more years. But the good thing is, if we decide to adopt from China, Hongkong or Taiwan, we may be given a priority since I am Chinese and Bruno is half-Chinese. I don't understand why adoption from China cost so much more compared to other countries. Other countries we could consider is Phillippines, Thailand or India (since Bruno is half Indian). I would prefer adopting from Chinese countries though as it would be closer to our culture so it would take less effort when trying to get the adopted one connect to his/her original culture (and giving me more reason to learn Mandarin, I guess).
So, we thank God for everything He has given us the last one year and we put up prayers to Him for everything that we plan for the next 1 year. Exciting year ahead with plan to move, buy furniture, buy house, IVF, getting car license, learning how to swim and, maybe, citizenship.
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