In-Laws Place Got Burgled!

Last Wednesday evening we received a call from my inlaws telling us their place got burgled. It was only ~3 weeks ago that our neighbours two doors down got burgled. What is this quiet, previously country town, slow growing city coming to?

The police were called in and all losses accounted for. The forensics team ala CSI was brought in to dust for fingerprints and footprints. But as all domestic break ins go, the thieves were wearing gloves so no fingerprints were left behind. The police made enquiries and discovered that there were some eyewitnesses who saw 3 teenage looking boys with backpacks walking down the driveway and subsequently knocking on the front door. Their actions did not arouse suspicion because it was thought that they were fund raising or going door to door to sell stuff. No one was home to answer the door and its our conclusion that they then brazenly broke in.

Entry was via a window at the back of the house and the ransacking was quick. The house is currently in a mess and it will take roughly a week to sort things out. Drawers were pulled out of place and even the night table was turned upside down and tossed onto the bed. Packaged food and bottled drinks were left on the floor and no cabinet was left unsearched. They even went through the freezer, pantry plus pots and pans! They must have known that Asians tend to keep their earthly treasures in the oddest places.

My in-laws have been staying at our place since and hopefully all things will return to normal next week. A burglary/break in always changes the atmosphere in a home. The sense of security has been broken and it will take awhile before confidence in the 4 walls returns.

A total of 6 homes were burgled in the same suburb that day. Each house was on a different street. We figure it must have been the same 3 men.

We pray for security and for angels to look over us and our homes.


cheryl

Friday Work Lunch

We had a special lunch get together at work today. It was a quick yet warm lunch with flavours from India, Italy, Lebanon, Scotland and Australia - delicious meals cooked by fellow colleagues. Our work place is truly international :) I got snap happy and here are some of the pictures from the work place.

All in a row - plates full to the brim

Chocolate rum balls covered with dessicated coconut

Fresh home made tabouli

Fresh home made Italian Bread

Tomato chicken with feta cheese

Indian Onion rice

Indian Beef curry

Homemade strawberry tarts - very visually appealing!

Yummy chocolate cupcakes - also visually stimulating!

Quick shot while going 2 floors down in the lift

Our workplace Monday-Friday

cheryl

Avocado Obsession

I love avocados. Since settling down in Australia, that love has slowly become an obsession. Of late I have been eating an average of 3 avocados a week. I must admit I am a little concerned about my eating them so much because of the high fat content but I suppose since its good fat and since it decreases the LDLs I can eat them to my hearts content right? A single mid sized avocado contains 30g of fat.

Avocados are so much cheaper here than in Malaysia and readily available at any green grocers. I like to buy mine from the markets because I can get them at good prices there - usually AUD 2 for 3 avocados. Good eh? The guy at the markets will often pick them out for me according to their shelf life - ready to eat 3 days later or maybe a week after. Last week he sold me 5 for AUD 2! Hurrah for being friendly with the green grocer :)

How do I have my avocado?

1. Guacamole (the lighting in this shot doesn't do the green justice)

2. Just as it is on a bread roll

3. Tossed in my Caesar Salad

Oh avocado~~ :)

cheryl

Pharmacy Ball 2009

Last Friday was a night of celebrations for the Masters of Pharmacy students at UCanberra. The ball was held at the Hellenic Club and it was a pretty awesome night. It was a formal event themed Gold and Silver. Lecturers, students and their partners made up most of the participants that night but there were some specially invited guests who had kindly sponsored the big prizes of the raffle draw that night. The second prize were female products by SonFx while the biggest prize was two flight tickets with Qantas to select destinations within Australia. Too bad we didn't win it! Another short weekend away would fantastic :)

The dinner was organized by Caspa the pharmacy society at the university of which Alex was the out going president for 2009. I went as Alex's partner (naturally..) and we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

Here are some pictures of the night.

President and 'First Lady' :)

Alex making his speech for the night

A picture with the Andrew from Qantas Link - the sponsor for the main prize for the night

The bar from which drinks were served from that night.

Much action took place on the dance floor-everyone showcasing their moves and grooves

2nd year Master students

There was a guy taking photos for OutinCanberra. Out in Canberra is an independent restaurant, fashion, entertainment and bar website that offers news, offers and latest discounts of popular spots around Canberra. A part of the website holds social photos of people caught out and about in Canberra. We got our picture taken by the photographer and here it is :) Yay!

cheryl

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