food food food... ahha in e past month or so, we've only had 2 homecooked dinners, plus one packed picnic lunch. here's some of tlp's meals so far.. some indian curry rice thingy, tomato and basil soup, viet grilled chicken noodles, tomyam soup, giant hazelnut chockie from max brenner, mapo tofu, maxicana pizza from lygon, hainan chicken rice and glutinous rice and yam cake from boxhill. :) bought 10 boxes of macadamia chocolates from boxhill for e aunties (only enuff for one side though), and now mum tells me she wants more.. hoho it's madness. and i dont think e chocolates will do too well in this weather either. had to get e chiller bag from safeway in hope that it'll help e chocolates stay slightly cooler.. shall just check e whole thing in..

oh well.. july is good weather for buying chocolates, and hopefully parents will come down to help lug stuff home.. hehehe

went to qn vic mkt on fri to get souveniors for family, and got these. hehe e roo is for dad, koala for mum, wombat for brother, and platypus for me! actually wanted to get black for e guys, and white for e females, but the white ones didnt stand out as well, so black it shall be. hope all e sizes fit though!

and more tshirts for me, me, and e 2 godbrothers. t croc one and e white roo ones are mine, e other 2 are for e boys. again, hope e sizes are right... really cant tell/remember how big they are.. or how much they've grown. *crosses fingers*.. tlp really likes e croc one.... they're so cute!
hehe and more souveniors... anthony and simon were not too impressed w e pegs when suet showed them hers. they were like "ah... pegs..." when she pulled hers out of e bag, then she said something, and they were like "ah... novelty pegs..." very enthusiastic people.. hehehe e koala has suckers on its paw.. to stare out of dad's car at e driver behind.. hehe and to taunt Angel-dog! mr gonzales says e koala looks like stitch. equally big eyes and nose.. and it's only $2!

e ladybugs are sooo cute! hehe and they're like 1.50 each, which is rather frigging cheap, for russ toys. bought them from e lollyshop in lygon. i want more! tlp wants a whole army of ladybugs..

and the bug like thingy beside e koala is for my never-seen-before baby godsister, who was born in september i think. it's attached to a spring so it goes *bionk boink boink*. think angel-dog will like it too..

and then, at this engraving shop, 4 of us spent like 70$ altogether. tlp made a tag for angel dog, and a keychain for tlp. hehe i love angel's tag.. it was e first piece made, of the 6 items we engraved. e guy's writing is really good stuff! tlp requested a pawprint on her keychain too :)

tlp arrived in melbourne with one stitch.

this is how large e family has grown. introducing Rat, Mr Green, e LoverBugs, Penguin-without-a-name, and Koala-without-a-name.

we went to ikea after the boxhill trip yesterday, and tlp was so tempted to get another 2! hedgehogs/porcupines. they came in one set, one huge, and one teeny one, and they're SUPER SOFT and cuddly! but then, there's no more space on the bed, and as it is, Stitch and Rat sleep under e pillow already.

so after resisting the porcupines, tlp saw mini Mr Green, and wanted to get it. ahha managed to resist too after taking some pics of it.. hehe should get it in sg instead..


yumcha @ the sharksfin something in chinatown on fri, after queen vic, before mel central, and enchanted. they sure price some of their stuff damn wierdly.. glutinous rice which tastes like heh-bi is super deluxe, and so was one plate of veggies. 6 pairs of eyes nearly popped out when e waitress ticked super deluxe for one plate of boiled veggies.

tlp tried chicken feet for e first time.

e desserts were good stuff though! the mango pudding..... YUMMMMMMY! they liked e green tea pudding too..

watched enchanted on fri @ mel central w e girls, mr gonzales, mr wu, and mr hardy. e show did not live up to our expectations! prob cos of all e hype generated by friends, our expectations were raised UPPPPP... ahha all e hooha.. e show was rather corny! hehe but it was nice in it's own disney way la.. tot they could have used a younger, prettier actress though.

aft dinner e 10 of us met maggie in preston for dinner, and got our own little room. and danny explained the significance of the seating arrangements according to their china chinese customs. apparently the highest ranking person sits facing the door, on his left should be his wife, and 2 seats from his left sits the person lowest in rank, who's supposed to foot e bill for e table.

and just for fun, photos taken on new year's eve, while waiting for the fireworks.

and before docklands, dinner at king's cafe..

service today was at preston library, then we had dinner at preston. tlp went shopping alone in e morning, which is very damaging to e bank account. goshhhhhhy gosh~ but then, it'll prob be e last shopping trip before tlp returns home. lalalaaa

this summer weather is really like a roller coaster of hots and colds..

tlp still has not packed! man! she only has 3 days left, of which 2 are gone, cos one day's sheperding and watching movie, another's caregrp day. which effectively leaves only tomorrow. die die die die die. have to wash clothes too. arhhhhhhhhhh denial! tlp needs help! where to start? how to start? GAH. hate packing.

and this is prob e last of the picture-filled posts. *phew*. for a hol which started looking bleakish and empty, it's turned out quite fun, and definately memorable :)

penguin island photo madness

yep yep yep... photo madness it is! ahhha this philip island post is 2 weeks overdue.. it was a trip full of animals - at the wildlife reserve, at e winery, at e nobbies rocks, and at e actual penguin parade itself! animals make tlp happy :) therefore e ridiculous number of pics.. lalala

following shots taken from 2 different angles.. ahha e 2nd one was taken by papa.. and those llamas have super ticklish tongues.. they use their teeth too.. so it feels kinds threatening when they're eating off your hand.. e goat just goes lick lick lick though.. cute, but super greedy..



another photo taken from 2 angles.. papa managed to catch e finger in e middle of chasing flies away. it was a super hot day, and e flies were out in full force.. madness...

these little wallabees dont eat very much...

and there's a goose in the middle of the roos! hoho we had fun chasing 3 geese trying to take pics of them, and cornered them by surrounding them. the poor things looked so shocked and cornered.. and they split in 3 different directions, regrouped, and decided to go back into hiding under a tree. and e 8 of us were happily laughing at them. *evil grin*

and more feeding of wallabees... and again.. this one was being lied to.. hehe we'd run out of food, and decided to try our luck. the poor creature..
hehe and as mentioned, these wallabees eat super little, and they're quite flighty too. eat abit and scamper off. and so this is what happens when the wallabee you're trying to feed gets sick of you and decides to run away - you pretend to feed your friend.. :)

suet and me shared one container of food, and managed to feed abt 3 handfuls to e wallabees, who decided that they'd had enuff. the rest of e food went to e sheep and llamas and goat who were more than happy to help out.
the sign outside the toilet, with an accompanying stuffie..
the 2 lonely dingoes, who had nothing else to do, and it was a really hot day. and i thought dingoes were pack animals? there were only 2 in this enclosure though.
kissing roos! papa managed to take this pic.. so sweet....

and this guy here was our bus-driver-cum-tour-guide. and what is he handing out?

penguins! our free souveniors from the trip.. in case e penguins decided not to come in, we could create our own penguin parade, he said. blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and "plenty of sea". papa's qn to the photographer - any sea?

tlp is taller than everyone else - for once!

and that 2 rocks behind are e nobbies i think. dont know why they're named thus though.
e grass is super pretty... dotted with pink and yellow flowers..

this is what a baby seagull looks like.. eew...
the sign at the penguin parade place.. so cute!this dog lives....

here! what a lucky dog... the scenery is damn pretty.. e winery, where tlp spent more time playing with the dog than tasting wine,

e wines, all lined up.. nobody bought any though.. i think

belly rubs are good for humans and dogs.
and here's us, waiting for our dinner
PIZZA! mmmmm.... yummy~and to end off... another group shot!

~the end~

man... there sure is alot of catching up to do

Happy New Year! it's 8 more days to home and friends and family and food and my dearest angel-dog! arh and 16 days to me bday! wheeee oh joy oh joy!

but then... tlp needs to start packing soon! help! i hate packing, and the room is still in one big frigging mess! arghhhh.... anyway... hehe here are e presents stef and me got for e household:

i received 4 pairs of earrings (one can nv have too many pairs of earrings!), one organiser, 2 tops, 1 box of truffles (from alex, who got a travel hangman set in return - e kris kringle turned into a gift exchange.. hehe), one toothbrush which lights up for 60 secs (to ensure that you're brushing your teeth for the correct amt of time - courtesy of HR), a "star wars" cd, a sweet magnet, a set of 4 mugs for e household, and a pooh photoframe.

xinyi bought a therapeutic footspa (e water massager thingy) for e household! which is still sitting in the hallway.. she says its for us to relax after our long walks to school and stuff..

tricia wins hands down though.. she bought her own household a ricecooker. that lucky rice cooker is gg travelling ard australia with them man.. dunno how in the world they're gg to lug it to sydney, then back to perth.. ahhha madness. they have another huge box to lug back too - a chocolate fondue set tt steph and me bought for them.

so here's us at our belated xmas dinner, which ended up being held on boxing day instead thanks to previously mentioned traffic problems:
and shopping!
and our first group dinner @ shanghai dumplings (or so i think) in chinatown on christmas day, after we gave up the idea of rushing home to cook:
phototaking at docklands!

oooh there's a cow in the tree! papa sil says it's a famous structure/piece of art thingy.
more grp photos
and tlp made papa join in the fun of posing with that channel 7 thingy cos the others were so excited abt it, even though e 2 of us never ever watch tv. the main switch of my tv had been turned off for like e past 4 mths, and only got turned on again yesterday when HR wanted to watch it in my room.
and e tom yam soup which temporarily satisfied my thaifood craving.. tlp and stef are definately gg to thai express man... *mmmmm*

had caregrp in bundoora park today, and buried a timecapsule (i.e. an altoids tin) about our dreams/goals/plans/hopes for the coming year. sharing was about power and courage, and love, which is e root of everything. was e first caregrp tlp attended in 6 whole weeks. but oh well, it's a good start to a new year. =) e weather today was good too!

then we went for an all-u-can-eat dinner @ sophia's... whined about my poor hungry tummy all e way there, and anthony was like: one more time and you're gg home.. sounded like a papa.. ahha but e all-u-can-eat is serious stuff... by e end of e meal, tlp realised how anthony + the remains of all u-can-eat + the number game = pure evil! man... i'm ready to burst!

and there's 0$ in my wallet now! arhhhhhh

had this nearly full length stephen-king-movie style nightmare yesterday. dreamt i was with xinyi, and that ppl were turning into zombies, and we were just running running running in what seemed like a HUMONGOUS house with endless rooms and storeys, until we came to the topmost room, which somehow morphed into a room in this country style cottage on top of a grassy mountain/hill, and we were looking out of e window to see if we were safe, and whether we should go climb out of e window to walk back to e city. then a few cars drove up, all wrecked (like after a zombie attack), and we decided to stay in e house, and were joined by another family with 3 sons (e eldest was e meanest, hmmmmm) and the dream just went on and on and on until i woke up at 12ish again. nightmares are tiring stuff.

egg, jelly or onion?

Emotional Layers - The Onion PrincipleBy Chris Joscelyne
taken from: http://www.positivepath.net/ideasCJ9.asp

Some people are like a raw egg. They have a hard outer exterior, but once their shell is cracked or broken by a stranger, a workmate, a friend, a family member, or by a romantic partner, they start to fall apart.

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Some people are like a jelly. They are soft, squishy and easily devoured. They have no emotional barriers and they are easily manipulated and used by others.

Some people are like an onion. Onions thrive emotionally because they have emotional layers and they know who can be allowed access to each layer … when, and under what circumstances.
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Onions understand their layers and how much of their emotional selves they can reveal and share with others, without the risk of deep emotional hurt. This protects them, while allowing them to reveal and share their emotional layers in safety as they choose.

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The Onion Principle
Layer 1 is the outer layer with smooth protective skin. Outside this layer is the world at large including the people we meet, do business with, work with, and with whom we have social contact.
Layer 2 is the first inner layer. This is for friends, pals and others we know and like.
Layer 3 is the next inner layer. This is for close family members, and close friends we know and trust.
Layer 4 is for romantic, trusting friendship (boyfriend/girlfriend)
Layer 5 is for embarking on a loving long-term relationship
Layer 6 is for the children if the onion is a parent
Layer 7 is for a total partnership of love and commitment
Layer 8 is the innermost layer (the place where your "inner child" lives). It is your most personal, private inner emotional space.

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It is important to understand that an onion does not practice universal mistrust of others. That’s unhealthy. An onion is simply a discerning person who knows that emotional layers are precious, and should only be revealed and shared when empathy, trust and understanding have reached a point where it’s safe to go to the next layer with another person.

Opening up a deep emotional layer to another person prematurely, especially to a person who will not, or cannot respond in kind, is a sure step towards a failed relationship. A problem for some people is that they naively confuse romantic infatuation with real love. This makes them think they can safely share their emotional layer 5 or even their layer 7 when, in reality, they should be only at emotional layer 3 or 4. If they discover that the other person has abused a deep inner emotional layer they have revealed and shared with that other person, the result can be devastating.

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The happiest people I have met are the onions who understand themselves and the people around them. They manage their layers well, knowing which emotional layers are for acquaintances, friends, loved ones and their life partner.

Happy onions also know that taking responsibility for looking after their own inner emotional needs at layer 8 is the greatest gift they can give to themselves. Our inner layer needs our continuing care and attention if each of us is to thrive as an emotionally secure person.

Found this while looking for the "onions have layers, orgres have layers" quote from shrek. interesting article, and it's short and sweet too :) Succinct.

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tlp's biological alarm clock is consistently ringing at 12noon these days, when there are no programmes on. ahha it gets too hot to sleep in anyway. these few weeks have been super duper busy! but fun too!

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on boxing day, we made our post-phoned xmas dinner, stuffed chickens, potatoes, salad and pasta.

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next day: shopping trip to DFO, then tried chili cafe, which is quite alright. thai food.

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fri: Philip island trip! tt was fun... shall be blogged abt in another post. :)

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sat: visited docklands at night - heatwave in e day! e girls went to qn vic, smith street, and dfo in the day. super duper HOTTTTTT. oh gosh. no wonder hell is always portrayed as an inferno.

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sun: combined service, m was actually supposed to hold a bday party, but it got cancelled cos of her health, so we went to max brenner instead (w some ppl from caleb 1 & 2), then to borders, then to chom chom. locoroco is a freaking cute game! ahhha i want a psp for my bday!

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mon (new years eve): went to docklands to watch e fireworks :)

then danny was supposed to send us home, and we took nearly 1.5hours to get back!

we got LOST! went by some wierd route, and ended up at JTan's place at like 2am.

was more or less able to recognise the way back from there, thankfully.

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pics shall be updated later! :)

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man, it is really freaking HOTTTT! i'm just glad it's not humid too.

air con air con air con!