Purge

Just went through my bookcase and have decided to get rid of all paperback books that I do not love and very likely will not read again, and even if I did want to read it again I can borrow it from the library and be done with it.

Am ruthlessly purging things out of my house in anticipation of my move next year. Have learnt the hard way that doing things last minute is a very very bad way to go.

Also, am contemplating selling stuff on eBay but not sure if it's worth the trouble. Perhaps I'm better off just giving away clothes to the Salvo's and getting rid of various sundry items by just chucking them out.

Hmm...

Things I've Put Off For Months

1. Selling unwanted items on eBay.
2. Sewing on missing buttons, shortening jeans and various other clothing alterations.
3. Redecorating my surgery.
4. Reorganizing my baking equipment.
5. Finish knitting my cashmere scarf.
6. Burn new CDs to listen to in the car.

Must get act together and get round to at least some of these things soon... I'm starting to get pretty ashamed of my procrastinating nature.

Weekend in Benalla

My friend came over last night and we sat down to watch TV together while eating combination fried noodles from Kim Wah Restaurant.

These combination fried noodles are amazing! It's basically a stir fry with a variety of meats and vegetables, served with deep fried rice noodles. None of us (we're from all corners of Asia) have ever seen this dish before anywhere else. We've concluded it has to be a Benalla specialty and we love it!

I actually haven't been well - my entire practice has been stricken with the flu and I just caught it on Thursday. I was feeling cold the whole night and attributed it to my illness - only to discover that my friend was feeling unusually cold too.

Checked the thermotat and realized... My heating is not working again.

This is probably the 5th or 6th time the ducted heating and cooling has broken down and of course it had to happen over the weekend, and over a weekend that I'm in Benalla, at that.

So here I am holed up in my room with my one portable heater, longing for Monday so that the plumber can come and fix it for the  umpteenth time.

Bah.

Repeat After Me...

I will never be so disorganized ever again.

Ever. Again!!!

Drowning in a sea of paperwork.

I Don't Understand

They say that men are from Mars, and women are from Venus.

As I have sat by and watched relationships around me crash and burn spectacularly, usually due to the guy getting cold feet at the last minute - I guess I never will understand.

If you're not sure, don't say or do anything!

I really feel for my friends who have had to go through the pain of being left after all the empty promises.

The Midnight Train

It was a full year in Benalla before I heard it. The sound of the train chugging along the railway lines, followed by its horn.

It can only be heard during still nights - and to me, it's a very comforting sound. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's the steady rhythm and the accompanying knowledge that the train is headed to its destination.

Am I romanticizing? Lol.

A Feeling All Too Familiar

Just spent half the night researching home loans and now I have a research induced headache.

Reminds me of my undergraduate days. Very grateful it's all behind me now.

Productivity

So for the last 3-4 months I've gotten into this state where I come home from work, talk on the phone, chat to people on the internet, talk on the phone some more, watch silly YouTube videos, talk on the phone some more, read in bed, talk to my housemate, talk on the phone some more and fall asleep.

Very unproductive.

However, last night I managed to drag myself out of the house into the Benalla Cinema to watch SATC2. Yes, movies come out about 3 months later than the original screening time where I am.

Anyway, after that I felt a lot better and managed to blitz through my laundry and housework this morning (I love my Wednesday mornings off!) and finally got round to applying for private health insurance. Oh, I even managed to get round to doing my monthly Continuing Education homework. So very proud of myself.

Now, I just have to:

• drag myself to the bank and start talking about the possibility of getting a home loan
• get income protection insurance
• redecorate my surgery now that I know that I'm going to be there for another 18 months - it's worth the trouble
• start looking at possible future homes in Melbourne

Yes, it's a horribly grown up list of things to do. 

Yes, Mommy? Did I do anything wrong?

Petit Fours

I went for a Petit Four course at the Savour School a couple of weeks back. This is what we produced over 2 days.

I had a good time working on them. I guess I wish I had:

• a vat of tempered chocolate just hanging around the kitchen all the time
• a blast freezer
• every conceivable ingredient just you know, hanging around
• various different moulds and cutters and plastics and what nots

Young And Free

When I was young, the very natural thing to do after school was to climb over the fence to my neighbour's home and play together. Because you know, we were too cool to use the gate.

I look back at the height of the fence now and wonder how we ever did it. I truly doubt I can repeat that performance now.

Fast forward 20 years, this is me and my childhood friend in Melbourne. She came for a fleeting visit and I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with her.

I will always remember those carefree days, where maths homework was a matter of 1 + 1 = 2. Or if they wanted to be really diabolical, 9 + 2 = 11.

Where even though I knew almost no Mandarin, and my childhood friends knew almost no English, we somehow managed to communicate anyway.

Where we would walk to the pasar malam every Wednesday and buy Ramly burgers, sausages, lime drinks and asam flavoured ice cream.

Where we would play hide and seek, video games and just have fun.

We're older and possibly wiser now.

At Long Last

Was left to my own devices this weekend and ended up buying a Kitchenaid to kill time. Yes, one can spend a lot of money even in Benalla.

I've been experiencing a slump of sorts in the cooking department. I guess I've kinda gotten to the point where simple recipes bore me, but complicated recipes are just too much work. As a result, I end up lying in bed eating Cheezels and reading Pollyanna.

Anyway, I brought it home, cracked open the box and proceeded to bake a Japanese cheesecake. I have to say the volume of egg whites I produced was probably about 30% more than usual, even without the addition of cream of tartar.

Very pleased with my purchase, feel that I should have bought this a long long time ago.

No. 44 - Eat At 50 New Eateries (43/50)

I was down in Melbourne last week and one of the places that I went to was Canvas in Hawthorn.

I have to say that I wasn't really prepared for what they had to dish out. The food exceeded my expectations.

2.55am

So here I am up at this infernal hour, listening to Taylor Swift's latest single.

Why? Because I made the huge mistake of falling asleep at 8.30pm. I guess this is the earliest I have ever woken up.

I've decided to stay in Benalla for another year. The allure of a 4 day work week was just too great. Can't wait to have 3 day weekends!!

Life lately has been... confusing. I guess there's so many new developments and experiences it's hard to keep up. Overall though, I'm probably the happiest that I've ever been. Or perhaps, I have learnt to be content with what I have. Which is the key to being happy, I think.