Scatterbug

It's always crazy this time of year, what with unceasing activities and mounting tiredness.

The parental units are in their element. I've had the unvolunteered opportunity to join them in their 3-day mad rush of last minute shopping, been assigned to think of suitable gifts on their behalf for them to give to others, do all the wrapping for the lot of gifts, get completely and desparingly tanned from major, major gardening and spring cleaning and preparing for a gathering of their friends for Christmas dinner, be present at the dinner and involved in the (unappealing uncle-aunty style) celebrations throughout, get told I am to prepare the roast lamb with nothing but the lamb at hand, make (three) more mad dashes to the store to get all the necessary ingredients the night before, before rolling up my sleeves to marinate my night away, and this is only a brush with my past few days' brand of madness.

There are more stories of last minute tree decorating, unplanned "we have to do something big-ish" for dad's 55th, other insane disorganisation, mental/emotional bullcrap, the works. Seriously, my trips home are never actually holidays. I've not met up, much less spoken, to anyone since touchdown, and my (lack of) energy levels certainly do not help.

Time is running out, though, as it always does, so I'm cramming in as quick a one as I can. I figure I'm beat, but am focusing on my Miss Wong-ed, 3-window seat flight back home, and the fact that I have begun the home-time Eating Pilgrimage, to keep me going this last lap.

I wanted to put up photos before they're expired way yonder, but photo dumping is no quick and easy task. I have in line an Angie-Ashley trio - Angie's hens, tea ceremony, wedding - but the first two will have to do for now.

The decent moments at Angie's hens,
and boy was it hard to find decent ones!

No one is excluded from wowing or shocking (in my case) others.
Audrey-Sue and Vera-Ange take it one step further -
wowing or shocking, you decide.

Can you guess which song they got all hyped up to?


Ash finally wins access to his bride.
Tortured groomsmen complimentary.


Has anyone made a study of Angie's camera radar?
The girl's a pro and a bit.


Just look at Joe grinning - soaking in his
new-found senior status over Ash for all its worth.


Between the ceremony and dinner,
we make good use of our time.


Being in control over boys always puts us in a good mood.
Guess it doesn't hurt that we haven't got
wasabi and what not lining out stomach walls.


You see, we're so good at amusing ourselves when waiting is needed. Alyssa and I do a sunnies-swap and ham it up for the camera before dinner. I'm trying and failing miserably, I know. Zzrrr.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Bad is Good

Lust-infested post ahead - you've been warned:

So after the wedding (photo dump to come), Vera and I were off to the 'honeymoon'. We had the best threesome ever, I just can't get over it. The truth was that we were dead to the world post-wedding, mentally and physically, and sin sin sinfully allowed ourselves to be un-pumped about the whole thing. We were so outta it, we almost degraded ourselves from gold class and stupidly stood at the silver for a whole half hour before figuring something wasn't quite right.

He took his time coming out, the tease, but when he did, boy did he get us worked up, and we let him entertain us, and entertain he did. And yes, I said gold class. We were thaat close. If any performer is an oozer he's one, and I had no qualms lapping it all up.

He's just so bad, I love it!

Looking back at all the pics, I have to say the photos do not at all do him justice. They don't show just how cheeky the rascal is. I said it already, but he's just so bad, I have to say it again. That glint in his eye, the power he blatantly wills, the puppy dog pout, the fun you have with him, that something more he keeps dangling, he's the very devil. And that accent! (got your lipstick mark still on your coffee cup 'well wosh it op!')

Damn, Robbie, you're a charming, charming, baad boy. Your personality is delicious - you can rock my socks any day!

The Other Other Day...

it was Angie's bridal shower. The dresscode was a 'A Touch of Pink'; the theme, 'tea party', and we went a lil' crazy in the food department. What's new, huh?

Lil' Miss Angie is soon-to-be Mrs.


I made these truffles
(quite possibly for the first and last time!)
Baileys, cookies n' cream, plain nuts.


Mash Muffin - I like it that they like it :)


This was the spread...
Part #1.


Then there's Part #2.
We were so happily carried away, we were.
Food prep/presentation is definitely one of my 'happy pills'.


We're camera happy, and proud of it.


Pinkness every which way!


Speaking of which, this was the scene.
Nice work by the sisters.


And speaking of them, they're in their element!
How cute! Posing comes naturally, of course.


Someone in denial of her maternal instincts?
(Heeee. I just like teasing her.)


And finally, this took a number of tries 'cause someone *coughangiecough* had to enforce some QA! ;)
Guess one guilty party can't blame another, heh.

And then, it was off to The Lake House at Daylesford for Kat and Jem's wedding. The whole thing was as original as Kat, from her dress, to her shiny red shoes, to her feathered, bunny-tailed bridesmaids (the headpieces, what were you thinking?!), all of which I thought was very nice and refreshing. And there were ducks and swans gliding merrily in the lake throughout. Guess it's also no longer a secret that Jeremy loves BSB, and that Kat's one of the most sporting gal's around - she did a whole surprise dance-medley parody to a really stunned groom, which was funny as!

Top L to R, clockwise: The cousins, Chris and Jon,
with President Self-Shot, The 3 Quahs.


B and V, girls can self-entertain!,
four different types of matching stripes.


Steph and me between courses, Ange and Keryn, "take full length ahh...", smiling for the camera! (I look like a kid!)


Saz and me doing our standard function photo, the happy couple with another happy couple, Mich and Soony are always so cute in pics, S and Y doing matching, Al, dangling decor.


The maid of honour comes before the bride, Kat and her dad do the walk, eye to eye, bridesmaid #1 and #2, Anne Marie and Esther, the boys in blue ties.

The getaway!

The Other Day...

it was Liz's birthday, so we pumped her with alcohol like never before. The clown was standing at the end of it all, and we just have to drink (again) to that, of course!

"I didn't train for nothin'."


Me and Mary
(have got matching Cue dresses!)

And then, I pottered off to Kat's bridal shower picnic. I'll laze at a park (almost) any day, and with food, too, I had no complaints! ;)

And then, I was off to my favourite uni for pics with Josh. A graduation is always celebrated, and we hammed it up with cameras and food, yay!

Josh is celebrity for the day.
Oh, I beg your pardon, Doctor Lin, I mean.


There needs to be one of the boys...


Since there's without doubt, one of the girls!

And then, I went to see The Guardian with the boy and the sis. We all liked it; she for the buff bodies, he for the choppers, me for the story. And for the best collaboration I have seen between the current and the ex. Not that I can recall having seen any other, I just like saying it. The trouble was, I was almost dying parched from thirst, so I smartly bought two bottles of water before the show. I guzzled one down immediately and got right into the movie of endless seas and swimming pools and water the world over. I even had a tear to go with the H2O theme. You know the rest.

Fragments of a Forgetful Mind

I've been forgetting things muchly, and it's annoying me. The only thing I can recall is the sense of just how many things I've forgotten, but I'm hoping typing them out jogs the memory. I do know that I wanted to blog about some of them, but now I'm just filling the page with words about everything but. Bother.

On another very excitingly nerdy note, I got to typeset for the first time today! Even more excitingly nerdily so, I did it on InDesign! It's all so geeky and my-kind-of-wonderfully-challenging I'm just... giddy with excitement! I said excitement already, I know, but I just so am.

Oh yes. I had fun putting together the Present-A-Present hamper and gifts. All that planning and buying and wrapping and arranging and bow-tying is right in my pocket. T said the kids weren't gonna appreciate any of the artistic effort I put into presentation, but nothing's gonna burst my bubble. This is kickstart to the rest of the planning and buying and wrapping and arranging and bow-tying etc etc this Christmas season, and I love it!

I don't think it'll measure up to the exercise I get clubbing, but it's definitely a start. Groovin' to my spankin' new BopIt, that is. It's better than all the non-exercise I've been doing at any rate.

Lately, my love for shoes is truly needing to manifest itself. To be accurate, it already has in the past couple of days, but it needs to expand further, and I don't think there's any stopping it. (Who am I to object, really?) Happily, I think the boy has acknowledged and accepted and *gasp!* (even if only) marginally supported this fact, so I'm a happyclappy camper.

I feel like doing happy things: watch cutesy movies (Happy Feet, Ice Age 2), cook (roast lamb leg, lush salads, creamy mash), artsy things (Christmas gifts, painting), listen to new music (c'mon Bobby, cut an album!, Over My Head), read (the numerous things on my bookshelf), go crazy at DFO (to do the obvious), lie around at parks then cool off with gelati. There's more, but I'll start off here.

This has gotta be one of the most random posts ever. Hey, I'm random sometimes!

The Prestige

deserves every bit of the prestige it gets.
More convincing here, (as) if you need.
Goodnight.

Misc.

• It's been more than a month now since I blogged, wow.

• Today, the weather was a whoopin' 36 degrees. Far cry from less than a week ago's 14 and snow just before summer. I embraced it by having a toffee nut crunch magnum which was, and I quote, extra thick milk choc coating with peanut and toffee pieces & a divine toffee sauce, unquote. That was it - indulgence, nothing more nothing less. Oh, that and the tip they left on the back of the wrapper: Streets Ultra Magnum is an indulgent adult treat & to be enjoyed occasionally as part of a balanced diet. If you overindulge we recommend some brisk walks or an intimate romp with your partner.
  

• I've cleaned up all evidence of caffeine from my fridge, which is not to say I shall stay away from the call of the bean. Only now, it will be purely for pleasure.
  

• Although the fantasy where you bump into your dream girl on the tube and everything pans out in slow mo like in the movies is (for now) shattered, I'm glad you're staying. Who will we bully otherwise?

• Happy Birthday to very straight-faced Expert. Even after what when down, you are still that impressive! Time for party every weekend 'til dawn? I have at least 3 excuses, if that's what it takes.

• Every coming weekend from now on is one with excuses to dress up!

• Christmas is coming, and I swear I love the planning, listing, buying, wrapping as much as anything else. So I do it for my own sake, sue me.

• I said to the boy something to the effect that I'm probably doing a lot less exercise now than before because I'm wearing heels a lot less often than I used to. To which he said I was probably right. I'm so not gonna check if he was answering in jest; I'm taking it as gospel, and everyone knows you should try and abide by gospel. Besides, I might as well reaps the benefits of having a chiro handy now, shouldn't I?

• I don't care whose money it is, what I did or didn't do to deserve it, when I'm gonna regret it (I won't, never do), why I don't need a reason whatsoever, or how I will be succumbing to my every whim and fancy, I'm GOING SHOPPING!
  

• I handed in my work today. Yup, all six of them. Didn't even check them, don't give a toss. I don't care how well I do as long as I pass (maybe because I'm [too?] confident I will do better than just pass [eek!]), but as of today, I shall never ever have reason to be bogged down by assignments and classes ever again! ...Unless, of course, I forget the pain and decide to do it again, but that's another (very distant, if at all) story. (This, in part, explains the shopping.)
  

Wanting Romance

Which girl doesn't? A certain someone I know says Australia is the place to be for romance - well, yes, I suppose it can be, since all things are relative, but I must add that no, it isn't Australia, rather Melbourne in particular thankyouverymuch and please excuse the bias, that you should refer to.


You want dashing sunsets, fiery skies? I was making dinner looking out to this one night not long ago. I just had to grab my camera - fingers marinating in raw meat and some spice or the other, I forget now - and slip onto the balcony to capture the rays saturating above the city lights. In fact, you should knock yourself out with these photos of the city by night, taken by my friend Josh.

Yes, there are quaint little cafes tucked in cosy lanes and corners of streets, lit in only the softest and most atmospheric of glows, and which serve such that you would never want for anything off commercialised coffee joint menus ever again.

Or, if you preferred, you could take leisurely drives to lavender farms or little townships for scones or a pie, sit by a pier with fish and chips, bask in beautiful parks with sun and gelati for company, the possibilities are endless. Stop for a midnight feast of Greek goodness, or live it up dining on choice seafood or a juicy steak by the river, the choice is yours. Did I mention, we have some damn good Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai too?

I do have to admit though, that if rain is what you want, Bel, then there is no where that rains so gloriously and hard as good ol' KL. And that is one of the things I miss most about home.

Jeez, I sound like some touristy advertistment flyer thing. Or something.

Merry Monkeys

Keryn is a blast - I love the girl for many reasons, not least because she is one after my own heart. For instance, like when she suggested we do something on the night of the mooncake festival a couple of weeks ago. And she mentioned playing lanterns. And getting high on mooncake. Again, as she had me grinning stupidly while we were hatched the night's plans regarding who was to do/get what and call whom, via many an sms. And because she gave me reason to merrily go a-hunting in Chinatown for the night's props. And especially because I was so wanting to do so in the first place, but the boy paid no attention to my very unsubtle hints.

Actually, he did technically pay attention to it. He dismissed my happy-bubble-lantern-thoughts with much disinterest. Until I was saved by the (sms) beep. And lo and behold:

Imagine my delight when I later discovered these photos! They were unplanned and by no means prechoreographed. (We knew photos were being taken, of course, but not how many or when, as we felicitously mucked around.) Just goes to show how our minds are wired one and the same in many ways.

Give us an excuse, and we'll be at it in a heartbeat!

Tug

I don't know what I feel more - loving the sudden jolt of familiarity, of knowing, or, hating the reminder, the knowing - that I felt today, seeing. Suddenly, I am arrested, all my attention funnelled by some random stranger at a near distance whom, by some strange, strange chance, oozes of you. And I stare, fixated, at how her back curves like yours (her arms, body, limbs - they're packed like yours), at the way she gets out of her car (the sort you'd approve), and shuts the door, at how she stands (slightly akimbo), how she walks, how her hair sways the way yours does. How she is made so that her size must always at first belie the confidence within, like you, though the misconception is instantly recognizeable to a trained eye.

It sounds a little freaky, but it isn't like that. It's the small things, things you know but never think about, about someone, things that you know but don't realize you do until you do. And it makes you realize, too, how much you miss. So that you end with nothing, but remnants of memory, and pangs, of love and just a little hate. As the image whose likeness has you hypnotized grows smaller, and the distance grows bigger, now that you are on a tram, boarded fleetly at the last possible second before it pulls away, and that figure of deja vu is nothing but that.

It began a startle, and prompted transfixion. And then a glimpse... was no more than a memory of a glimpse.

More Momentos

Because one serve of photos is never enough. And really, the fact that 2 wedding are a week apart - not really my fault now, yes? OK, and because I am turning undeniably word-lazy. But I have good justification. Those topics which I would blog about are not the unthinkingly happy, celebratory moments you see here. Which is not to say they are all and entirely drab and grey. Still, they require some thought-processing and contemplation, and having to face the facts, so to speak, and which are actually things I could well and long be lazy about. See, rambling on excuses, and I'm not doing so bad in the word-count department now, huh? But enough chitchat, here's more wedded action for the fairytale fans:

Windmill Gardens -
in the middle of Melbourne!

My pseudo-Dutch (had to come up with something when repeatedly
asked what traditional wear I was in) gold-green
matches the bride's champagne gown and the day's backdrop!

The Joyce-Julius wedding party. Can't quite see it here, but the
bridesmaids are adorned in kebaya. If you haven't guessed,
Joyce got us all specifically geared up.

HAH! Loving our photos - and
shameless about it, too! ;)

Why not start them young?
Bek getting into it, complete with fancy gear.

The official photographers,
sneaking in one of themselves.

Baring teeth is what we do best.
I think the sun made our pearlies whiter
...and our eyes water!

It felt so good to have what to wear be my biggest worry
- being only one week apart from the last wedding and all.

I think I'm categorically turning into an aunty
...Help! (But then, Josh is incorrigibly naughty!)

PS: More photos of Gideon and Sue's here, thanks to Shubhra.

Frozen Momentos

GS-style glamour.
The newly-wedded Mr and Mrs Liew.

Morning Moment - one of the very few. We were all too
preoccupied, thinking (and hunting down): "FOOD!"

Bridesmaids Bonanza - buy 2, get 1 free!
Demanding attention in red!
(Or trying not to get caught getting in trouble?)

Clockwise, from top left: With the sister, Sammy - cute enough to steal
some (good amount of) attention!, Keryn, Sophia.
The art of between-courses entertainment! :)

Crime-bud Liz, the bride's schoolies, Yen and Cheryl,
Doctor Joe and Rascal, the dude in pink.

With Euge and May (and baby F!), Dramatic Angie,
Sue and Tash, Life*TV Boys Mike and Steve.

Sue struts her stuff
- figure, gown, and ideal posing position #74 -
in this Carven Ong number.

Entree of enticement, seared veal medalions
versus slow-roasted duck and duck confit mains,
mascarpone and Tia Maria parfait finish.

The Life of a Serial Photo Addict, or She Who Loves Her Pants

Sue and Gideon's wedding allowed, for once in my life, the photohog in me to admit two things without any qualms:

One - that although it seems I am permanently stuck to the front of the camera lens, it really is the fact that my being bridesmaid (and only 'cause) that there were unending requests for photos. So much so to the point I remember being unable to think (apart from thinking I was unable to think, of course), other than autosmile on cue. So yes, I am proudly announcing that I am not (entirely) vain and narcissistic, and that - wonder of wonders! - the manymany photos of me are not *gasp* all my own engineering.

Two - that I have by far more photos of me, than that of the subjects of the night. And why? First, because they were completely hounded by everyone else to comply to endless photos so the rest of the bridal party weren't really with them much of the time (and I thought I was harrassed), and second, because I had to have in hand a bouquet in place of my trusty snapsnap to hound them with as well myself.

Of course, by the time I got to Joyce and Julius' wedding the next Saturday, I was back to my old tricks, though not quite fully having recovered my photomojo. It being one week apart may have had something to do with it. I mean, really, next I'll be comparing attending weddings to changing underwear, and by no means be dramatically exaggerating (the count is now 7 - and there are more to go). All I can say is, boy am I glad to be back in functional wear!

Photos to come. Naturally.