No.36 got BURGLED!

There was a knock on our door yesterday evening at 8pm. The door was opened only to find a uniformed man in blue with a note pad in his hand. We were told our neighbours two doors down had been burglarized. Notebooks, ipods and mobile phones were taken. The creep or creeps had broken in through the basement laundry room window during the day.

We were asked if we saw anything out of the ordinary, any suspicious vehicle or stranger in the area that day. We couldn't offer much help and since this area is kind of quiet with most folks keeping to themselves I don't think the policeman walked away with much leads. We are not really a neighbourhood of garden parties, summer bbqs or chit chats across picket fences.

We have our suspicions that it was done by someone who is an acquaintance of No.36 because this house is known for throwing parties into early hours of the morning for young crowds. Many a time we have been deprived of precious sleep from the loud music and laughing coming from that house. With strangers trooping through the house, anyone of them could have been the culprit, taking note of the layout and taking note of the coming and goings of the inmates.

Anyhow, a lesson is learnt...... more vigilance is needed to lock all our doors, garage doors, windows and sliding doors. Oh and the nice policeman has signed us up to the Neighbourhood Watch - a community based crime prevention program. Vigilance = check & double check!

cheryl

Grocery Shopping Craze

Its our family ritual to head to the shops for our weekly grocery shopping after church services on Sunday. I headed to the shops this morning with my in laws thinking I wouldn't be spending a cent because we had a fully stocked pantry and fridge. My assumption was so wrong!

All the items you see in the picture each cost no more than AUD 1 except for the tray of 8 burger patties which cost AUD 2. Can you believe it? Less than a dollar! It was better than a treasure find! How could I resist loading them onto the trolley? We went berserk :)
Some of our buys:-

Caesar Salad - 50cents
Italian Salad - 50cents
Iced Coffee - 50cents
Chocolate Milk - 50 cents
Enoki Mushrooms - 1 dollar
Shemeji Mushrooms - 1 dollar

It was a wonderful find. We were at the right place at the right time. The shop had just marked down the items for quick clearance. The salads will be perfect for lunch tomorrow and the day after while the mushrooms are good for stir frys over the next two dinners. Yummy......

I do however feel sorry for the check out chick who had to scan all our items. Although some were similar items, she had to scan each one individually because of the special prices. I did offer my apologies although mostly I just felt rather jubilant about our purchases for the day. Economic downturn = more prices slashed = happy me.

I sound terribly housewife like don't I? ...

Oh yeah, all that good stuff was shared between us and the in laws :)


cheryl

Sugar Creations

While we were at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, I had taken some pictures at the Arts and Crafts show hall which I had not uploaded in the previous post. I figured that the work was so beautiful that it deserved a blog post all on its own.

The Arts and Crafts hall captivated me with all the creativity and hardwork that went into each piece. Awards are given every year to winners of each category. There were paintings, sculptures, glassworks, knitting, best cakes plus best sugar decorations. It was the sugar creations that I took pictures of. I hope the pictures capture the quality of these works giving each of them the praise it so deserves. I always appreciate originality, creativity in the arts but most of all, the blood and sweat that goes into the completion of each piece.

Being recently married, this one caught my eye very quickly

Oh how many brides would love to have such beautiful detail on their wedding cake!

Creative use of toothpicks - At least I think they were toothpicks... Ok, maybe not since it was a sugar deco competition

This crown looks really believeable doesn't it?

This creation was fantastically smart. I initially thought it was really a CRUNCH bar until I took a closer look at the wrapper and the chocolate. In the wrapper is a chocolate Visa card for the 'Credit Crunch - free credit in milk chocolate'

This creation blew my mind... So tiny and a perfect copy of the world's favourite animation in 2008.

Hurrah to creativity! I love the arts! I would so return to the Sydney Royal Easter Show just for this next year.

cheryl

Have A Chuckle..

At the hospital, bloods that come through to the lab for testing come with request forms stating patient details, tests needed plus a small section for clinical details. These forms are usually filled with information by doctors only on a need to know basis. Sometimes we get interesting details and today was one such day. It must have been a doctor with a sense of humour.

Details:
Patient has abdominal cramps and severe diarrhoea..
- works as a chef

I would like to know which restaurant it was.


cheryl

Falling Once Again

I have said it before and I will say it again. There must be something about the Australian air that makes me a bumbling klutz. I have fallen more in the past year than I have in total since I was 21.

This morning marks fall #3. The first time was down the stairs of my front door on a wintry night. The second time was at Woolworths slipping on a small piece of vegetable which was dropped by a very considerate shopper leaving me with a busted knee (this happened in public-ridiculously embarrassing) and today, it was down the stairs between my kitchen and my living room.

I had socks on this morning because of the cold. As I took my first step down the stairs, my feet went out from under me and before I could breathe, I fell 6 steps down the stairs. I would have gone on falling if it were not for the fact that it was only a 6 step stair. I now have a sore bottom and a busted elbow to show for it. This is one of the rare times I am actually happy to have a rather substantial bottom :) I have enough fatty cells on me bum to soften the fall.

Clumsiness is me! I dont know what to do with myself sometimes.... sigh

cheryl

My First Rugby Game

Go Brumbies!!


We watched the Brumbies vs Bulls last night at the Bruce, Canberra Stadium. It was my first rugby game and I had Alex explaining the rules as the game progressed. I'm used to watching football the English way but I must say rugby is pretty captivating - the game was made better by the fact that it was a close score. The Brumbies are from Canberra while the Bulls are from South Africa. The game was 80 minutes long with a 10 minute half time in between. It was a tie between the two teams until 40 seconds before halftime when the Brumbies scored a try. 40 seconds to half time! Talk about being tense! In the end the Brumbies won 32-31.

All scarfed up for the cold night at the Stadium

1 minute before the game was to begin

The Bulls on the field

The Brumbies on the field

I quite enjoyed myself and I think its possible to see myself attending more games ..really getting into it, shout, punch the air, jump up and down in aggravation, wave some flags, holler out player names and of course have some drinks plus hot chips. Heh....

RAWRRRR! :)

cheryl

Our Short Easter Weekend in Sydney - Royal Easter Show

We were at the Sydney Royal Easter Show over the weekend. I was expecting a mid sized fair with some rides and stalls but boy was I surprised. The show surpassed my expectations by leaps and bounds.. we spent nearly 7 hours just roaming the grounds! If it wasn't for our aching feet, we would have stayed past sunset.


The annual Easter show is a showcase of Australian culture and heritage. Its main aim is to recognize agricultural achievement i.e livestock, farming produce, products made in Australia and etc. To add to the event are art displays, live music, sideshows, food, rides and shopping.


I took some photos, as much as I could since our hands were busy holding on to our show bags, pushing past crowds, avoiding baby prams and 2-3 foot high kids.

Our day started at the train station

Arriving at Sydney Olympic Park

The show Entrance

The agricultural display by the Western District - real produced used!

Display by the Northern District

The display by the Central Display

Alex with some of our showbags chowing down on a yogurt sample

Some of the outdoor stalls

Ferris Wheel

One of the many thrill rides at the park

Watching this ride gave me a headache

At the animal hall - Ducks & water fowl!

Ducklings having a blast with their water slide

Chicks hatching from the eggs

Dairy cows are showcased on the first week of every Easter show. Here the crew demonstrates commercial milking with pumps.

Milk came flowing out through the blue tube into a waiting dairy truck. Fresh and creamy! Massive amounts of milk!

Daisy .... or Buttercup maybe :)

I attempted to pat a friendly calf

There were a lot of children at the animal hall. This one looked cute and rather clueless next to the cow :)

This little girl is a real cutie.. A young poser, she totally stole the moment with her cute outfit, smile and the lamb!

We got a passerby to take this photo for us right before we left... really impromptu hence the odd looking clown in the background

cheryl

Weekend Colors

These are some random shots of things that caught my eye over the weekend at the Royal Easte Show in Sydney. I admit I could have taken these shots at better angles but there were just too many people mulling about that I didnt have time to be a perfectionist.

Woolworths shelf showcasing fresh produce

Brightly colored mini pack potato crisps

Jackets galore

cheryl

Our Short Weekend in Brisbane - Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

We had a great time at the Gold Coast. Even though it wasn't the best of times to be on a holiday what with the rain and flooding in some areas of Brisbane plus the fact that we were both not well, we still had a wonderful time. This blog post will have quite a significant amount of photos so you have been warned :)

We rented a car to get us to the Gold Coast from the airport. We got an Audi and Alex was over the moon for it. We had an Audi A6 for our wedding car so this car brought back symbolic memories.

Ours for the day Audi A3

The ecstatic driver

I hate round vents! How is this an accepted aesthetic? It looks like a growth sticking out in the middle of the dashboard!

Dash controls of the car

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Surfers Paradise. It was a nice hotel with a modern touch to its decor, located just down the street from the beach. It’s also a very short stroll to a shopping center and the Surfers Paradise Promenade. Plenty of cafes, restaurants, bars and even a Starbucks within walking distance! I mention Starbucks in particular because all but 23 Starbucks outlets are closed in Australia and I love my Starbucks. Can you imagine having only 23 outlets in the entire country! And none in Canberra too! Horrendous! Anyway, I digress. Right across the hotel is a mini theme park offering bungee jumps, sky shots, 360 degree rides and a mini golf course. The hotel has all the usual facilities, swimming pools including a heated spa, a gym, tennis court and a relaxation centre. So yes, you won’t be for want of activities while staying at the Holiday Inn.

Entrance to Holiday Inn - Surfers Paradise

Giant yellow modern artwork adorning the walls of the ground floor stairway

Minimalistic hotel lobby - Interesting red lip shaped sofas

Sirocco - formal dining restaurant

Our room

Simplistic theme continues in the room

Kinky shower with peekaboo window to the room

Our seafacing balcony gave us great views of the beach

Hotels lining the Gold Coast Highway with the beach on the other side

More views from the balcony

A shopping centre a mere 5 minute walk away from the hotel

The mini theme park across the street

The mini theme park all lit up at night - pretty eh?

We took beach strolls had a typical beach cafe lunch too. There are a couple of cafes lining the beach with some opened early - offering simple buffet breakfasts. We chose to have our lunch at Montmartre by the Sea.

Walkway to the beach

Blue bottle jellyfish washed ashore - this delivers a very bad sting... see this anywhere near you, jump out of the water immediately!

Random shot of beach users

The waves looked scary

Buildings lining the beachfront

The world before me....

Surfers Paradise archway

Surfers Paradise Promenade

Promenade in the evening

We spotted rookie lifesavers in training

Lifeguard post

Ala Baywatch, Bondi Rescue..

Wave crashing... the volume and height makes me nervous

Shadows in the sand

Super hubby making a second appearance :) His first appearance was here

One of the many cafes by the sea

Fish & Chips - typical beach fare

Iced Chocolate

If you are looking for a bigger shopping centre, the Pacific Fair is just a 2.5km drive away. It has all the usual retail outlets and cinemas.

I liked the frames lining the roof of the mall, Pacific Fair

Beautiful stained glass in between the frames

There was a fashion show showcasing winter wear when I was at the mall. I took some shots. Inspiration for a closet change maybe?

The next day we headed to the city, our first stop being South Bank. There we spotted the Brisbane Eye! I did not realise Brisbane had one. It was just too bad that the weather was cloudy and rainy. Gray skies do not make good shots.

It was raining when we took this shot on the bridge

South Bank with the Brisbane Eye

We then headed Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall. This is Brisbane’s premier shopping destination a usual haunt for tourists and locals alike. Alex and I were strolling down the walk when we bumped into some old friends. Boon and Sarah! It was just the day before that I mentioned to Alex that we could bump into these friends and true enough, we did so the very next day! I was so caught up with catching up with Boon and Sarah that I completely forgot to have a picture taken with them. Sigh..

Queen Street Mall

Our trip although short, although rainy and although shadowed by ill health, was a really good one. Being able to go on short holidays in a moment’s notice is a luxury we treasure. Once little Cheryl’s and little Alex’s come along, holidays like these would be few and far between.

cheryl