The one where I go to beaches, and eat.

(Did I use that Oxford comma correctly? XD)

It seems like the last blog entry I made was almost a month ago. July was rather a boring month for me this year. I’ve finished all my subjects for my Juris Doctor and I just need to do my PLT. Some personal things are in the way currently so I’m looking for work and placement rather slowly. A whole bunch of my friends have or are leaving Sydney for work reasons. A few of my friends are heading off to South Korea to teach English. I’ve been to so many farewells in the past month!

One of my friends had never been to Bondi or Manly and so, before she leaves the country for a year, we went!

I don’t live close at all to Bondi. I’ve been there now 4 times. Maybe. If you’ve never been you can catch the bus all the way to the beach or, like we did, catch the train to Bondi Junction and then catch the bus from there. It’s much quicker than a bus, I feel.

(I need to clean my lens. I can see spots!)






To get to Manly you catch the ferry from wharf 3 at Circular Quay. You can take a billion photos of the Opera House while you ride the ferry. I know I did.



It’s about a 30 minute trip one way. I no longer get concession tickets so it was better for me to get a MyMulti day pass for $21.00 than to buy all my tickets separately. Adult return to Manly via Ferry is $14.00. So steep.





Don’t be like my friend and I, be prepared! We didn’t have thongs or towels or anything. So when we went to splash our feet in the water the bottom of our pants were wet and we were struggling to remove the sand from our feet. Taps, where were you?

We took the 5:15pm ferry back to Circular Quay and got to see the sky change from sunset to night.



Places that I’ve eaten at recently:

Lemongrass Takrai (86 Union Street, Pyrmont)

Reasonably priced, delicious Thai food. Friendly service. They do takeaway. Loved their yellow curry with beef.

Adriano Zumbo at The Star

First time I went to The Star and first time I’ve had Adriano Zumbo macaroons. I got salted popcorn butter and peach iced tea. I can’t believe that the salted popcorn butter tasted so much like popcorn and went so well with the cream. Was so good.

Red Chilli Sichuan Restaurant (3/51 – 53 Dixon St, Haymarket)

Lots of Tsingtao beer was had. My mouth hurt so much when I ate the food from the chilli side. Ate so much. I think my digestive system had some trouble handling all of that food! Going to the toilet was ... yeah XD

Fishouse, Bondi Beach

Fish and chips and potato scallops and deep-fried Mars bar. They were sold out of Pluto Pups though! I wanted them so badly. XD



Deep-fried Mars bar. Very very gooey chocolate. Interesting to try. I probably couldn’t eat a whole one. Just too rich! Wonder if a deep-fried Snickers bar would taste better?


That's been my past month and a bit. I've just enrolled on an online course about journalism to keep me occupied and my brain moving while I look for a job/work experience. I've always wanted to do something in that area but it never happened. And I've been watching The Newsroom too much and yeah. I've enrolled in one unit for the forthcoming online semester about writing. So that should be fun. Maybe you'll see some marked improvement in my writing style in this blog!

And you guys, cannot believe it's August already!

Starbucks, Capitol Square (and stuff)

I took these photos last Monday morning. I had stayed out all night because of my cousin's birthday. We were at Wagaya Lantern until midnight singing (or rather screaming) at karaoke. Then we made our semi-tipsy way to Hungry Jack's on Oxford Street because it was the one where one of my cousins works at and we wanted to see it. It was closed so we went to Oporto next door instead. Then to a random Korean convenience store on Pitt Street to get some snacks and cup noodles. Alas, no photos because I was semi-tipsy. Damn you, red wine.

We stayed the night in the city at a hotel and in the morning I had to leave around 8am-ish because I had to get back to babysit my other cousin, who is 12, because it's the school holidays. But before that I needed my breakfast. And by breakfast, I mean coffee.

And, with that generous introduction over, have 4 photos of Starbucks. XD








I usually sit upstairs when I go to the Starbucks at Capitol Square. I think it's the best looking Starbucks in Sydney. I like the one at Cockle Bay Wharf more but that's because of the view. The inside vibe is rather cold.

Anyhoo, this has been a very slow week for me. The semester's over and I need to look for a job. Yep. Oh, and I'm so aiming to get my Learner's licence this week. I calculated it and, oh my gosh, I won't get my full licence until I'm like 28 or 29.

FYI, I got my Learner's licence when I was 16. Then it expired. Then never bothered to take the test again. Now that I'm 25, I don't need to bring a log book or have had my licence for a minimum period to take the test for the P1 licence. So, so aiming to get my P's by the end of the year. My dad is getting old and he only bought the new car because of me. Our other car was in an accident and irreparable. It's currently sitting on the front lawn because, well, it's worthless and we don't know what to do with it. Anyhoo, he was asking for car ideas and I was like "I want this car!" and he bought it ... yeah. I suppose we needed a new car and he's old and doesn't really want to drive anymore and my brother has a car so it seems only logical, I guess, that the car be one that I would like to drive.

Okie dokie ... that's all. Just trying to kill time 'til the tennis starts! Go Federer!

고진감래 (gojingamlae) - coke, soju, beer cocktail? maybe?

I can't really provide an English translation. I don't even know what the literal translation of the Korean name is. This is basically an alcoholic beverage made with coke, soju and beer. You need a beer glass and 2 shot glasses that fit within the beer glass. We (my friends and I) had an experience at a restaurant where the shot glasses were too wide for the beer glass. So we had to, uh, improvise some other way. XD

So, you put a half full shot glass of coke into the beer glass. Don't fill it up too much because when you put the next shot glass on top it'll overflow.




Then you put in a shot glass of soju on top of the shot glass of coke.




Then fill the beer glass with beer.



And then cheers and then drink in one shot! The coke at the end makes the drink sweet when you get to the end so make sure you drink it! If it gets stuck, then shake your glass!

The first time I encountered this drink was at a sleepover at my friend's house. She's an international student from Malaysia who loves Korean things. We didn't get to buy soju at the time and so we replaced it with vodka. It doe not taste the same. It tastes horrible. So horrible that when we drank it as a punishment when losing a game we were playing, it was an actual punishment.

In Sydney, the restaurants that we've made this at and consumed are Haru, Kobow, Zozo, Milliore and Angry Chicken. You just ask for extra shot glasses. XD

It's a really good drink and the amount of times I've like gotten knocked out from this drink - countless. So drink responsibly!

And BONUS photo:



I was looking through photos and this was in the background. Just a whole bunch of empty cans and bottles. I found it amusing. Hope you do too! XD

LQ photos from my phone

KeepCup and green tea at the train station.

 New takoyaki place at Market City. Freshly made to order. Really good. $8 for 6.

Charlie Lovett. Came in after class had a latte. Really good vibe to it. Shame only had my phone on me to take photos.

 Bumming around at uni.

Starbucks at Cockle Bay Wharf. I like the views it has but the atmosphere is, I don't know, kind of cold. 

 Seems like there were X-Factor auditions on this day (17th May 2012)

Paella for dinner. The whole dinner all up cost me almost $40. Didn't have that much on me and my friend had to pay part of it for me. Internet banked her the next day. Usually we go for Korean which is much cheaper once you divide the bill.

Anyhoo, just felt like blogging something. Exams are coming up so I don't know how present I'll be. But, it's my last exams! So, I'm going to try hard!

La Premiere, Hoyts, Entertainment Quarter

On Thursday night I attended the Nuffnang pre-screening of sci-fi flick Iron Sky at La Premiere at Hoyts, Entertainment Quarter.

After waiting awkwardly at Cinema Paris at the meeting time and place we met up with Kimberley (or is it Kimberly) from Hoyts. She was bright and friendly when taking us on a tour of  Hoyts and their La Premiere section. I've actually never been inside Hoyts at Entertainment Quarter and it's so nice and classy. Not like my local cinema. Why can't all cinemas have such a classy feel?

Some tidbits from the tour:

• La Premiere has a bar! Yep. That was important to me. They also have a menu and they can deliver the food to the cinema. Wonder how they find the person it's for in the dark? XD
• We saw studio/cinema 6. Most of the cinema has seats like a normal cinema. At the back though there's a smaller section of red seats with tables. 
• Seems like seeing film like old school style from actual prints will be a thing of the past. Films seem to be moving to a digital format for broadcast in a cinema. Though, I bet it'll come back like how instant cameras/polaroids are in right now. Just give the hipsters time!

Below are some photos taken with my friend's phone. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't and I should have and I regret it now ... XD

This is studio 12. This is where we watched the film. It seats about 36 people. Though that's a guess. Each row had 9 seats and there were 4 rows. So 36. Pretty intimate space. It'd be a great place to have an event for a birthday or something.

We got free popcorn and water. That Corona is paid for. $9.

It was quite a fun night out. I looked up the ticket prices for Men in Black 3 in 3D for La Premiere. $78 for 2 tickets plus glasses. It's $76 without the glasses. So works out roughly almost $40 per ticket. But that's for 3D maybe the 2D movies are differently priced. But you should check the website for prices because I'm a horrible blogger and I'm writing this from memory now!

I think the only movie I really badly want to see that would justify paying that money would be the upcoming Joss Whedon flick The Cabin in the Woods, if they were showing it in La Premiere. DON'T watch the trailer, is the advice I've been given. You're better off just watching the movie and being surprised because it's that good. Apparently the trailer may give too much stuff away! Maybe I'll just save and treat myself to it one day. XD

(This isn't an ad. I just wanted to blog about it. It was a really nice place XD)

KeepCup

I kept meaning to buy one after seeing honeyhype's post about them. Looking back on her post, I should have been braver with my colour choice. Ah, well. Next time.

I bought these around 5pm on Tuesday and they got here the following Monday. Pretty fast if you ignore the public holiday and the weekend. I wasn't expecting it to arrive on Monday.





You get to choose the colours for almost all of the parts. This is a medium sized cup which holds 340ml (I thought large might be too big?) and cost $14.00. Plus shipping this cup cost $20. Worth it, I think. Think of all the coffee cups you throw away!

I know that if you bring a cup to the coffee shop at my uni that they take 50 cents off the price of your coffee. I think. At least I remember seeing a blackboard sign saying so a few weeks ago. I'm hoping that cafes and coffee shops will let you have their coffee in the KeepCup. Has anyone tried bringing a cup (any cup or travel mug, etc) to a Starbucks or Gloria Jeans? Do they fill the cup for you?

Anyhoo, get your own KeepCup at their website!


(I'm not quite happy with the photos I took. The light in my house is just ... >.< Planning on building my own lightbox sometime soon. Adding that to my list of things to do XD)

Gifts

On the Saturday before my actual birthday my family threw me a party/dinner, which was lovely because they remembered and they thought about me. I spent it mostly looking after my little cousins, making sure they didn't get bored. They ended up playing the PS3 in my brother's room while I sat on the floor watching videos on my laptop. But family parties tend to be more for the grown ups. The children are just ... there. It's not a criticism, it's an observation and I'm totally fine with that XD

Anyhoo after dodging questions about my age (I cannot still, at all, say that I'm 25), I got gifts. Yay, gifts.



I'm pretty sure the only reason I got this was because it says Harajuku on it and they know I love Japan. XD




Scarf, body lotion and a PEN. I love a good pen. I've been wanting to buy a good pen. I'm so glad someone got me a PEN. No sarcasm. No lie. I was thinking that when I hopefully, eventually, get a job I'll need a good pen. I was seriously so happy when I got this.




Shirt and cardigan. Oh, this shirt. This face. XD






The beanie is so cute. I want to wear it out when the weather gets colder. Love the necklace. So pretty. And the tin. I love tins. And random white out tape. I have not used white out or liquid paper since high school. XD




And cheap wine.


I was going to say my immediate family didn't get me anything but my dad buys me things anyway and he paid for my birthday lunch. Plus he gives me money all the time. So, really. Gifts all year round. My brother gave me money to extend my Flickr pro account. So yay.

I did make a list of what I wanted but they're not things I really need. And I can live without them. They were just books, DVDs and CDs. And yeah, I don't need them. My everyday life is not worse off without it. Although, I really want a new lens for my DSLR. Well, I suppose there's always Christmas ... XD

Lazy

I've been on mid-sem break now for a week. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO. Everyone else is either at work or at uni. I HAVE NO ONE TO DO THINGS WITH. So, my mid-sem break has consisted mainly of sleeping. Catching up on sleep even though I know sleep doesn't work like that really.

Today is Thursday. I only have today and tomorrow left of my break and I have done NOTHING. I'm going to catch up on all the uni work I missed while trying to finish off other assessment tasks. Do the demo L's test until I get nothing wrong. Yes, I do not drive or even have my L's. I can't wrap my head around it. I just can't.

I was going to clean my room so I can't even use my desk. My desk is currently just a place where things are stacked. My desk that I use to do uni work and internet things is the dining table. Yep.

Been such a homebody ...

Anyhoo, I did go out yesterday.



Long stretch of road to nowhere, really.

I watched Iron Man 2 and Captain America in preparation for watching The Avengers sometime before Monday. Possibly on my lonesome. Everyone stop being so busy! Makes me feel so ... lazy in comparison. XD