Getting on the aeroplane... again

Well I'm packed (full of goodies for home) and ready for zero sleep for the next 24 hours. That's right, I'm heading back to the land of yellow pastures and drought. I'm back to perform my duties as a part of a bridal party and don a dress which has been bought in my absence but should fit me nonetheless. If it is too gappy in the bust, then it's Moo's fault for winning the bust wars.

Hopefully there will be time to gorge myself on the usual foodstuffs but I should keep in mind that I can't be looking massive for the photos that will immortalise my late-20s self.

Bubbai! *vroom vroom* I don't how to translate an aeroplane sound to text.

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

I've been pretty sick of my Blogger Rounders 4 template for a while. It was probably my best choice of the so-so designs on offer back in 2006. The thing is, Blogger hasn't moved with the times and the basic templates available now are no different to that in 2006. Most people now have widescreen monitors and even on my laptop, I felt that the post section was just too narrow and there was a lot of wasted space.

Rather than sit around waiting for Blogger to upload more templates, I just went for a search and found a few to my liking. This site is a good place to start and I eventually stumbled on to YummyLolly where I found the template I liked most. I do say 'I liked most' because there are still things I'm not quite satisfied with.

After becoming a *cough* mini html expert *cough*, I managed to modify my template so it was a bit more to my liking. Still not quite happy with it (what's the html code for a vertical dotted line!?!?!) but I'm liking it much more than the previous incarnation :D

My new default font is Trebuchet so the old blogs will still have Arial. As if I could be bothered going back over my 300+ posts to make it consistent with the new font. So yeah, I'm liking the new template but not loving it - if I find something else that tickles my fancy, I'll change it again!

Flight of the Conchords

I'm a bit slow off the mark but late last year I came across an episode of Flight of the Conchords while on an international flight. Specifically it was New Fans and the lads sang Ladies of the World. It was the most funniest shit I've seen in a long long time. I had only vaguely heard of them before and couldn't believe that the episode I was watching was over a year old. Why hadn't I seen this before!?!

Anyway since then I'd watched the entire first series and am currently watching the second series. It was nearly two years inbetween each series. Let's not pressure the guys to make a third series because the last thing we want is for them to make something while uninspired. It won't be funny!

I was going to say that Dave (Arj Barker) was my favourite character but then I thought maybe it's Bret, or Jemaine or... blah! I love them all!

This would have be one of my favourite songs which Jemaine sings after seeing a beautiful girl at a party.

You're so beautiful .... like a ... tree or high class prostitute HAHAHAHA *wipes away tear of laughter*

An Interesting Sign

Someone who lives or works in my neighbourhood has a sense of humour and a lot of time on their hands. They've been putting up funny signs here and there.

Here's one on a pillar in a courtyard.

On closer inspection, this is what it says:

Hehehehehe... cute.

I love this ad!

I frequent Liverpool Street station often. It's close to work and a major hub for City workers. I saw this ad tonight on TV and I just WISHED I was there to see it happen in the flesh! *winces* Too bad, I was sitting at my desk pencil pushing and paper shuffling.

Now this is not a real flashmob. Just a fake one, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They all dance well! The station looks HUGE on the video but for anyone who's been there, it's a decent size, but not that big.

I'm home!

I'M HOME!!!

I survived the flight without any stomach incidents! Wow *pat pat* tummy you are such a good girl.

Good to see the crew at home (yes siblings and parents - I'm referring to you). I especially like the bit when I get to unpack and distribute my UK care package i.e Harrods mugs, European clothes, foodstuffs. I'm a happy pack mule!

Ok, well I haven't slept since jetting in this morning... it's time for bed and timezone readjustment.

I'm outta here!!

YAY!! I've left work early and I've packed my bags. I'm heading off for 3 weeks! A few days stopover in Hong Kong first (to satisfy a few food cravings) and then on to Oz. Yippee! The grey and drizzling rain outside sure makes me feel good about heading home for the beginning of Summer :D To those in Oz - see you soon!

Miley Cyrus

I saw Miley Cyrus in Oxford St Topshop today. I heard the grating type of American accent and didn't give it another thought. I turned around and realised it was Miley, or if you wish, Hannah Montana.

I don't think that it's anything I should be bragging about. Given that I'm not a mother of tweens, I am somewhat embarrassed that I even know who she is! Hahahaha

There were some serious signs of over-styling. Her hair looked like it had the same texture as straw. Bleah.

It's Snowing!

Wtf is up with this weather? Last night's Hens Party wasn't too cold and I didn't notice any signs of freakazoid weather but today I woke up (early for a Sunday dammit) to find snow outside! <-- Don't be fooled by the exclamation mark - I am not excited by this at all.

Here's the view outside my window.

It's Spring for crying out loud. J got so excited she ran upstairs to the rooftop and nearly laid down in the dirty London snow to make snow angels.

Gimme my Spring!

Home!

Yippee! It's been 15 months since I've been back home and yee-haw, was I looking forward to it! The recent Aussie heatwave was not a deterrent on any level. Nah-uh-uuuh. Over the period of June-August I was subjected to what they euphemistically term a 'British Summer'. Really they should have just called it 'Sprutumn' as all that seems to happen is Spring merges into Autumn. The only semblance of Summer was in the uncomfortably humid, body odour suffocation that is the Tube. Definitely not one of your 'glorious Summer days'.

Finally seeing the Australian soil was yipee-fying, although it was a little sad to see how dry it was, especially as I'd gotten used to the green British Isles. Waiting for the plane to land felt like an eternity because I could not wait to experience the 38 degrees - woo hoo! Enough of the ersatz Summer.

Spuey picked me up (hai Spu!) and I refused to allow the car's air conditioning be switched on, preferring to bask in the warmth. After about 15 minutes in the car, the warmth turned to scorching and I succumbed to the wonders of modern climate control. Here's to unseasonbly warm weather!

Oh no, I've become British. All I do is talk about the weather.

I *heart* the Tower of London

As part of my daily commute, I get to pass over Tower Bridge. Sometimes I walk but most of the time it's a bus ride - too lazy and how can you resist the bus stop that is right on the doorstep? Tower Bridge is a lovely suspension bridge in itself but more importantly, it lends to one of the best views of the Tower of London.

I was never a fan of London from day one, but I'll admit it's growing on me and I do think it's pretty damn cool that there is a CASTLE right next to the financial district, sitting amongst the (short) skyscrapers. Wow!! A real castle! We'd never get one of those back home!

The view from Tower Bridge. Mmmm... trees obscuring the White Tower. I didn't have a better photo.

Kt and I will argue on the way to work about the merits of each landmark. She *hearts* Tower Bridge whereas as I stand my case with the Tower of London. Yeah, yeah, yeah the bridge is a pretty pastel blue and it's two little turrets are fairytale-esque but c'mon......can a 114 year old bridge compare to the mystique of a 900+ year old castle?

Sure the castle is old and somewhat run down but.. but... it's a CASTLE!!! IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY!!!

Update

I suppose I should give a general update to compensate for the infrequent blogging and to satisfy Moo - the only person who reads this blog regularly.

I'm off to New York on Saturday for 6 nights - YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last time I went to New York was in 1999 and I fell in love with the place. It was big, busy and dirty back then, but I so wanted to live there on the condition that I was earning truckloads. So I guess that isn't happening anytime soon.

It's been nearly ten years and I'm sure it's changed. I hope it's not too busy. Crowds in New York in 1999 were pleasant in comparison to crowds in London in 2007. I guess it doesn't matter too much. Even if it's just as crowded as shitty London, the shopping will certainly compensate. I can't wait!!!!!!!

Ummm, what else? Yes, I'm still reading that Bill Bryson book. I think the last time I read it was about a month ago.. The same excuses apply - it's too bulky to carry inside my handbag to and from work. That gives me an idea! Buy a bigger handbag in New York. Oh heck, lets just buy a few. Alright, I'm gonna try and finish it while in New York.

Hmmmm not much else to say.

Crab vs. Lobster

After our lobster adventure, Smee had the audacity to circulate my photo to other female members of the Circle. It's a crap photo, my skin looks like shite, my face all puffy from lack of sleep but whatever.

Anyway, J kept referring to Lobbie as Sebastian. Me, being on the same wavelength, totally understood her reference the 'The Little Mermaid'. Last night, on the way to BT's birthday celebrations, Sebastian the Lobster came up into conversation and it went something like this. Also, try to picture all of us on a London double decker red bus on the lower floor, sitting at the backseat.

Kt: Sebastian? He's a crab.

J and I: WHAT?! Nooooooo, he's a lobster!!!! What makes you think he's a crab?

Kt: I wikied it and it says he's a crab.

Me: Whatever. Anyone can write anything on Wikipedia. Look at Sebastian's head, he has a long head! He's a lobster.

J: Yeah, he's a lobster! He looks nothing like a crab!

Kt: Yeah but wikipedia says he's a crab!

J: How did you google it? Why did you google it?

Kt: I just typed 'sebastian, little mermaid, crab' and that's what Wikipedia showed.

J & Me: No way!!! he's a lobster! Look at him!

Mona (pipes up from the seat in front of us after checking the web from his mobile): He's a crab. It says so on wikipedia.

Me: Yeah but anyone can write anything on wikipedia!! Tell me what it says on the Disney site.

(You can see this argument never ending)

J: What!?!? No, he's a lobster!!!

Kt: Have you guys watched The Little Mermaid? I swear they say he's a crab in the movie. It's on the DVD too.

J and Me (indignantly): Nah, no way they say that. Yeah of course we've watched it!

J: Have a look at his head. He has a long head. He looks NOTHING like a crab.

Baoey: (sits in silence and pretends to not know the rest of us)

Parts of the conversation are slightly fabricated, but you get the idea. We must've sounded so silly to the other passengers sitting on the bus. Full grown adults arguing in the back seat about the shellfish status of the Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. We weren't exactly quiet either.

Look at the picture above? Does that not look like one of the lobsters I ate?

Anyway, I can't remember how the conversation changed topic - maybe the bus stopped and we had to get off, but I still was convinced that Sebastian was a lobster.

Today, I had to settle it once and for all. I had to get to the bottom of this Sebastian Lobster/Crab debate. And I concede - HE'S A FRIGGING CRAB!!!

Damn Disney. Can't draw for peanuts! All these years, I believed him to be a lobster. I feel cheated of my late childhood.

Come to think of it, I don't think I have watched The Little Mermaid in it's entirety.

UPDATE: A few days later, I had to ask Mooey about Sebastian - Queen of Stupid Trivia that she is - and she came back with "Lobster". A-ha! Damn Disney.

She was in disbelief, just as I was. As she says, "It was like I believed the sky was green."

Blog Death

There was a short craze about 1 - 1.5 years ago which involved nearly everyone in the Circle setting up a blog. Little did they know how much work is actually involved. For slow witted folk like myself, writing an entry can be time consuming as I do not naturally suffer from verbal diarrhoea. (Hai Moo!) That being said, I do enjoy seeing the fruit of my labour, thus I am driven to complete and post blog entries.

But let's not diverge from what I really wanted to say. See all those blog links on the right hand side? Most of them are dead. I really should just clean up that section and discard the abandoned blogs. They are so unloved, unkempt but do deserve a dignified exit. I've taken it upon myself to be the Grim Reaper of Blogs but I'll stick to killing off only Circle member blogs for the time being.

Even though Mooey is not Circle, I will give her a Special Honour. Mooey started her blog in April 2005 and is still going strong - but then again, I did label it "Mally's Rambling Blog".

Let's get down to business:

Mona wins the prize for Poorest Effort. With just FOUR entries, it is more like a school essay rather than a blog. I will give him credit for his 5/10/2006 entry whereby Bao quoted "That's the most I've ever heard Mona speak!" Mona did have another blog but I deleted that link a long time ago.

Born: 05/10/2006

RIP: 07/12/2006

No of posts: 4

J was a bit late getting into gear but nosedived within a two month period.

Born: 24/10/2006

RIP: 11/12/2006

Baoey's blog started because she was inspired by everyone else. Unfortunately posting became less and less frequent due to laziness (by her own admission)

Born: 26/09/2006

RIP: 28/02/2007

Lymbo started her blog as a place to post up pretty things and to document her life in Canberra. Facebook seems to have taken over. The last post was quite depressing. But I do still click on your blog! Just in case you do post something!

Born: 11/10/2006

RIP: 10/07/2007

Lil Miss J and Mr. L technically don't have a blog, just a gallery. They didn't even give it a proper shot.

Born: 03/04/2007

RIP: 12/04/2007

Kt... aaah Kt. My blogging companion for while. Egging each other on to continually post. London has slowed her pace and she no longer feels she has an audience anymore *sniff* What more do you need? I'm your audience!

Born: 08/08/2006

RIP: 14/09/2007

Kahoons. One of the oldest blogs, Kahoons was notorious for long gaps between posts. I'm not sure about the RIP date.

Born: 02/02/2006

RIP: 02/10/2007????

Leesh's blog is far from death. Although the most recent post was at the end of October it doesn't warrant an RIP yet.

Born: 25/09/2006

Now, being the forgiving Grim Reaper that I am and also a believer of Zombies, any of these blogs can be resurrected at will! If not, I will have to lay them to rest for good :(

It's coming.....

*sigh*

This is a horrible feeling.

After the worst Summer ever, it's apparent that London is not going to get another day above 20 degrees until next year. It's colder, greyer and getting darker sooner. I've never felt so cheated of a summer in my life. It's already dipping to the 14-15 degree mark. Admittedly, they've forecasted sun but that doesn't compensate if I have to wear a furry jacket outdoors.

I'm dreading the worst part - turning back our clocks. I do like the extra sleep but I don't like sun setting at 3-4pm.

I can already feel the depression kicking in.

Ok, I just had to whinge and get that off my chest.

I *heart* Dishwashing

I'm going to blow my own trumpet here. I (unabashedly) pride myself on being an excellent dishwasher. I won't claim to be the fastest. I am of the school of believers who do not always believe that a positive correlation exists between quality and speed.

I had heard about this infamous pot at the Old Kent Road Party House. I had heard that it impaired their ability to cook a meal as they no longer possessed a pot of decent size. I had heard that it made the Empress and Jadey-babes very stressed. I had heard that the pot had been soaked to it's death. I heard that there were some attempts to clean it.

This is where I came to the rescue. I elected to take up the challenge to clean the charcoal-crusted pot.

Mally brought the pot home to me after visiting the Party House. Not knowing what was inside the bag, I gave a little chuckle as soon as I opened it.

THIS POT WAS UNBELIEVEABLE!

Someone had tried to clean it. The black burnt bits varied in thickness, some areas close to 1cm thick. I was not deterred.

I had forgotten to take a photo but luckily Mooey took one on her phone.

Last night we went out for drinks as this was Mooey's final Friday before returning home. We got home fairly late and I only felt the desire to start washing the pot at about 1am. I wasn't drunk - just wasn't sleepy yet.

Patience was the key to this game and I have to say, I outwitted the pot!! Is half an hour too long to spend cleaning a pot? It didn't feel long. Regardless, here is the fruit of my labour.

Ta-daaaah!!! Mission accomplished.

I do need a new scourer though.

Long Weekend/Bai Spu, Hai Moo/Flumps

London has been exceptionally deserted over the past few weeks because this is the traditional time that everyone takes their holidays. I'm not complaining cos that means I get to sit down on the normally-squashy-but-not-as-squashy-as-the-Tube DLR. Woohoo!

Spuey also got back in last night - blacker and skinnier than ever and desperately needing a haircut. I greeted him at the Eurostar terminal and I may as well have collected a homeless guy off the street.

With Spuey departing on Monday, it can only mean that Mooey arrives on Friday! Hai Moo.

Oh here's a picture of a 'Flumps' marshmallow bar. It's just a marshmallow plait but I like the word. It's kinda cute, in an 'I'm feeling Flumpy' way.

A general update

Well it would appear from my lack of blogging that I have nothing to write about. There's a bit of truth in that. I haven't been carrying my camera out much and I kinda think that blogs are more interesting with photos. It's my picture-book mentality. Pop-up books are even better but I have yet to figure out a way to make all my posts 3-D.

But another reason for not blogging is that I've been busy doing the normal five day working week, coming home, eating, general chores and preparing for bed. *sigh* There are just not enough hours in the day! It's not as though I don't have material to blog, but I've kinda been doing the same stuff - drinks at various bars, general Circle gatherings, meeting up with fellow Melburnites or Sydneysiders. Stuff that is somewhat eventful but too lazy to blog about. I figure that Katie and Alisha can fill in the gaps by blogging all group stuff that I omit.

Oh, I quit my current job. Handed in my resignation on Monday. I guess that's pretty big news. I'll still be doing similar stuff in my new job (sitting at computers, typing stuff) but now a different industry. Which means, I'm gonna have to learn stuff.

For anyone who has known me prior to graduation, you will have noticed a steep decline into stupidity. I can't do simple arithmetic anymore despite doing Specialist Maths. My vocabularly is severely lacking and I am prone to sounding like a fob who has difficulty with articulation. I can't do anything without being easily distracted. At least I'm still smart enough to know that I've become dumber.

Hmmm what else? Spuey comes back soon. Which means a possible drink-off to destroy more cerebral matter. Then Mooey arrives within the same week Spuey departs. Uh oh, more drinking to come.

I think I've solved the mystery of my stupidity.

Alright, this was a fairly pointless blog but I was in the mood to write something.

Interesting Photo

Asian grocery shopping was done today. Here's an interesting photo at the store. Yes, that's right. FOR THE CHINESE IN YOU... *points in Uncle Sam fashion*

Yes, I'm short on blogging material.

World's Worst Kept Secret

After being inspired by Moo's entry, I'd thought it would be a good idea to see what celebrity I most resemble. Off to My Heritage I surfed to see what the computer would tell me. Computers don't lie you know?

First pic. Well I supposedly look 75% like Hilary Duff? Whaaa? At least there are few asian faces. I'm 70% Tata Young? Who is she? Not sure about the African American listed there but Smee might dispute that.

I thought I'd try another picture given that the results vary depending on the photo. This was little more promising - 83% Japanese singer. Tata Young again. HOOoold on? Jay Chou?!?!?! This was rather upsetting especially since I called him an Ugmo.

Trying another photo, Tata Young appears again. Tori Spelling?!?!?!?!? I LOOK LIKE A HORSE?!? Ashlee Simpson? Ugh...

Moving on, I look 83% like William Moseley. Who's that? Well according to the computer I look like a pansy Narnia child. Peter Pevensie to be exact.

Nothing belies the legitimacy that is computerised face analysis. It managed to revealed what we've known all along.......my true gender is male! And maybe I can pass for Tata Young's sister but not my own biological one. Sorry Moo.