Birthday Celebrations

Louis’ Birthday was on Saturday.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly busy, unbeknownst to Louis, as I had been planning a surprise birthday for him.

The grand plan was to have a surprise banquet birthday dinner at Silks, in a private dining tent. (Visit the website if you went ‘huh?’)

Carefully wording thoughts and questions was an interesting task, as was getting some of his friends’ MSN addresses off his list when he wasn’t looking.

Unfortunately enough people couldn’t make it (min 6) for me to be able to get the private dining tent, so I settled for booking a normal table.

Thinking of a present was also a challenge, as my original plan to get Louis a phone he wanted all but disappeared when he bought it himself before I could talk him out of it.

-=-

Finally, the big day came. Saturday the 2nd.

We woke up late, as we had a late night from playing Singstar at Kian’s place on Friday. (It’s not quite Neway, but there was no tidbits charge). We changed the day’s plans a couple of times, all the while me trying to pretend I didn’t have any intricate plans and that we were just ‘taking it as we go’.

We headed to the city and met one of Louis’ friends for a snack (our lunch) at 3pm. He bought Louis a Salmon recipe book, which was sweet. (Not tasting, the thought, duh!) and then we walked to Crown to watch a movie Louis has been dying to see – Silent Hill.

After the movie finished, I got my things out of the car (along with Louis’ present) and we headed to Silks. (And Louis still didn’t know where we were going until we got there.)

As we were shown our table, Louis saw Jin and Kian, already waiting for us, just as I had planned. Though not entirely surprised, Louis did his best to display one of those ’shocked’ expressions.

After we were seated, we all gave Louis our presents. Kian and Jin bought Louis a heap of booster packs, and I gave him a shiny black 4gb iPod Nano.

Then, dinner started.

And then, the birthday cake - which I had arranged to be delivered from Cafe Greco. Yes, a WHOLE one of those evil double-chocolate cakes. (There goes next month’s gym results)

After stuffing ourselves silly for what turned out to be 3 hours, we paid the bill then headed back to my place for a little while.

A few vodkas later, we were then on our way to the Peel.

Kian hadn’t been clubbing before, so we thought we should start him off in a seedy place, then anywhere we go next time will look exponentially better.

We stayed on the small dancefloor for most of the time, as the music was better there. We also sat in the chillout room for awhile, watching the creatures that were milling around. Every time I visit Peel, I notice there is an increasing number of lesbians frequenting the place. I’m hedging my bets, but I think this will turn into a lesbian bar before long, though perhaps not officially.

About 4ish we’d had enough, and headed home, dropping Kian and Jin off on the way. Big day, lots of fun. Now for lots of sleep.

I haven’t included any pictures here, because you can just head over to Louis’ blog, and read all about it. I don’t want to steal his thunder. ;)

03.Sep.06 Food, Fun, Home Comment (1) 

Candid Moments

I unloaded the pictures out of my digital camera just before, and realised I had taken heaps of shots over the last few weeks. Here’s a selection of the more memorable ones…


I bought mum an ipod (clone) for her birthday.
The way they talk dirty in the manual makes me hornily too.


Random shot of Federation Square as I was walking to the train station.

A few weeks ago, a whole bunch of us went for a picnic at Albert Park Lake.


Can’t smile… eating..


Jin, also eating.


Kian, being campy not eating.

A couple of weeks ago, we cooked up a feast at my place.


Louis, serving up the main ingredient.


Jin, trying to act scary.


Kian, trying to act cutesy.


Kian at a different time, doing something else strange.


Louis and I. Awww… :P
(and yes, that’s washing hanging up behind us.. shaddap.)

The weekend before last, we visited the Melbourne Museum.


Jin decided to meditate outside, though I think he was trying to pluck up the courage to head inside to the bug exhibit.


Whilst Jin was doing that, I took a photo of Louis with the Exhibition Centre in the background.


Once inside, I noticed Janet Jackson wasn’t the first to have a ‘wardrobe malfunction’…


We didn’t feel like lunch. It would have been slightly chewy, considering it was that old that even its’ glass eye had popped out.

29.Aug.06 Fun, Home Comment (1) 

Trademark Douchebags

When you register a trademark, they make you choose categories (at $300 per category, mind you) that your business falls into.

I was trying to register a trademark. There’s a similar name in a totally different category, and they said mine conflicted. (Cost for that was an additional $90..)

What’s the point of fucking categories then!?

DOUCHEBAGS.

01.Aug.06 Bitching, Home Comments (8) 

No pain, no gain?

More Ow.
Where’s the gain?

01.Aug.06 Home Comment (1) 

Paying for pain

I joined the gym today.

Ow.

$252.50 for 6 months.

Ow.

I think that word’s gonna get a lot of use over the next 6 months.

Ow.

31.Jul.06 Fun, Home Comments (0) 

Tis the season for de-bloating

Yup, it seems to be that time of the year again – Diet time.

I noticed yesterday that Jay’s doing it too – but for different reasons.

I’m not planning on parading myself semi-naked on a gay-day float, i’m losing weight for a far more important reason: Shopping.

Sadly, I love food too much to ever be classed as a buff boy, but I just need to lose a bit so I can comfortably go about my Singapore shopping spree buying everything in an ‘M’ or ‘32′.

I refuse to ever get to the point where I purchase something with a ‘34′ on it – hell, i’ll even develop a bad case of bulimia before that happens. I mean, it works for Paris, doesn’t it?

So anyway, I have analysed my diet and am cutting out the following:

And i’m stepping up on the exercise regime: actually doing some.

Low blood sugar, exercise, and bland rabbit food? Yikes, i’m gonna be one cranky bastard.

08.Jun.06 Food, Holiday, Home Comments (6) 

Sweet ‘n Sour Goldfish!

Dinner was HOME MADE Sweet and Sour Goldfish. Ok, maybe not Goldfishes, but it was golden, and it was fish. Dory, I think. $2.15 worth.

Here’s a picture.

The lighting on this picture is better than previous attempts, mainly because I bought a daylight bulb for my lamp. And some white material for a backdrop. So professional, eh? Yay me. Enquiries for nude photography sessions welcomed. Ok, now back to the fish.

This isn’t your ordinary sweet ‘n sour, this was home-made. Not that red asian sweet n sour, and definitely not a jar of Kan-Tong.

And if you’re wondering what that brown stuff is, it’s rice – the healthy kind. Not the 98% carb kind (white). Not that you skinny bastards have to worry about carbs. :P

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 500g (2 fillets) White fish (Dory is cheap) cut into 1 1/2 inch strips
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp White pepper
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 1/2 cup White vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp Tomato Sauce
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Pineapple juice
  • 2 rings of Pineapple, cut into 8ths
  • 2 tbsp Sambal Pedas
  • 1 pinch White pepper
  • Oil for deep-frying
  • 1/2 small Carrot cut into match-stick -pieces
  • 1/2 Onion – halved, and sliced
  • 1 Spring Onions – cut into 2-inch slivers
  • 1 tbsp Cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
  • 1 packet of Mrs Macks Batter Mix (beats pissfarting around with egg, milk, flour and cornflour)

Cooking:
Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and set aside.

Combine sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a pot and bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add carrot and onion and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cornstarch solution and cook stirring until sauce boils and thickens. Set aside.

Set wok in a ring stand and add oil to a depth of about 2 inches.
Over high heat bring oil to 360 deg.F.
Add fish a few pieces at a time and cook for 4 minutes or until golden brown.
Lift out and drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a 200 deg.F oven while cooking remaining fish.

Arrange fish on a platter.
Pour sauce over fish and serve immediately.

You can increase the amount of Sambal Pedas you put in, if you prefer it more spicy. I reduced the amount from 4 tbsp to 2 tbsp, because I thought it was a little bit too ‘ring of fire’ as a friend phrased it. (And no, it’s not because i’m a white boy.)

03.Jun.06 Food, Home, Recipes Comments (2) 

Mini Minute Catchup

Friday: Left work really late. Note to self: Never approve any production changes to go live @ Friday 5pm in future, regardless of when the business wants em. (Took ages to retrieve a backup when the new files failed).

Saturday: Parents came to visit, dad got lost on the way back from dropping my sister at the airport, and ended up in Coburg. Eventually found their way back to my place. They left late afternoon and Louis made us congee for dinner. Despite having a duck egg in it, I liked it! (Waay more flavour than the white tasteless stuff you get at yum-cha).

Sunday: We got up late, then I worked on my web programming most of the day, and Louis worked on his presentation and speech notes for his upcoming presentation.

Monday: Worked. Although I didn’t wanna. I spent the day comparing the live scripts with the failed ones we tried to put live on friday, and discovered a bunch of differences between them. Bleh.
Louis went well with his presentation on Nanotechnology, so now it’s onto his next task: Lotass notes. Evil has a new face..
I made spaghetti for dinner, then afterwards we booked 2 nights accommodation in the Sheraton (Executive Suite) for when we’re in KL. I love amex points. Cash value: $330 per night – Amex points (40,000 redeemed) vouchers: $0.
A bit more programming in the evening, and Louis did some more of his.


Sheraton – Executive Room… cushy!

Oh, and I downloaded too much this month, being capped SUCKS. Alot. Moreso when there are new anime episodes out. 5 more days….

23.May.06 Food, Home, Web / Programming, Work Comments (10) 

320 grams of Meaty Goodness – and more meat later on..

Last night I cooked Roast Vegies and Steak with Jack Daniels Sauce.

Yum!

Here’s the recipe for the sauce, just to stop you salivating all over the keyboard, ok?

4 cloves garlic – peeled
1 tsp. olive oil
2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
3 Tbls. teriyaki sauce
2 Tbls. soy sauce
1 1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar
1/2 lemon – juice of
1/2 sm. onion – minced
1 Tbls. Jack Daniel’s® whiskey
1 Tbls. crushed pineapple
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

-Slowly sauté garlic cloves in olive oil over low heat until tender; set aside.
-Bring water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to low.
-Press sautéed garlic with the flat edge of a knife to create a paste; stir into sauce along with remaining ingredients.
-Simmer sauce for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After finishing all that and resting awhile, we decided to go clubbing at Peel. Louis’ exams start this week, so it’s the last chance to kick our heels up before he needs to concentrate. Also a whole bunch of his friends seemed to be going.

We got there about 12.30, and after parking we braved the cold night air and made a beeline for the entrance.

Once inside it was the usual, so wandered around to try and find Louis’ friends.
First person I see? Jason. (My ex, Vernon’s friend.) He’s just gotten back from yet another overseas backpacking adventure, this time from the US. I swear all that guy does is travel. And he’s no different to the last time I saw him… still talks the leg off an iron pot.

So most of my night was sorted, but I did manage to slip away a few times and Louis and i had some ‘us’ time, dancing and watching people dance.

Oh and I witnessed my first fight in a nightclub. Not surprisingly, it was between two lesbians, one of them about the height of my knee. Speaking of lesbians, there were HEAPS of them there. Honestly I don’t know why they’re not at their own clubs, instead of infiltrating ours. Anyone want to goto a lesbian bar? Ah, didn’t think so.

Whilst watching the people dance on the back dancefloor, some guy next to me started talking to me. Introduced himself, can’t remember his name, but it was all in aid of trying to hook his friend (Ugly ginger haired white boy) up with one of Louis’ friends. And it didn’t work. 10 points for having the courage to ask though.

Whilst that was happening and I was trying to shout into Louis’ ear, I saw Andrew (my ex) walk past, look at me and keep walking. A hello would have been nice, but i guess that would have been too much effort. Not like we dated for long or anything.. only 2 1/2 yrs.. pfft.

Anyway it was starting to get too crowded in there, so ended up back in the lounge area, and another conversation with Jason. This time complaining that I don’t know any other rice queens to hook him up with. I explained the last rice queen I was friends with hit on my then boyfriend, and the ones i’d met since weren’t worth knowing. I’m sure there are some nice white guys out there, he’ll find one eventually. Oh well. (If you’re one of those nice rice queens and want to meet an outgoing mid 20s top asian guy, lemme know. I might put you in touch. Sluts like S***n, D****l and A**m need not apply.)

13.May.06 Food, Home, Recipes Comments (2) 

Food and Frivolity

Today my friends, Gerard1 and Gerard2, arrived from Singapore. Well, they arrived from Brisbane, but only coz they visited there first, okie? :)

Anyway, Louis and I prepared a bit of a banquet, pics of which I have included below, just so you can salivate over what you didn’t get to taste.


Spicy fried fish with dipping sauce – Wasn’t overly spicy, but G1 doesn’t like too much heat.


Malaysian Beef Rendang, V2 – We (I ) overdid it a smidge with the tamarind, but that’s the amount the recipe said. Their bad. Louis went back for seconds, so that’s all the approval I need.


Garlic Fillet Steak – If you like garlic, or if you want to knock your guests over with your breath culinary skills, this is the dish for you.


Deep Fried Stuffed Mushrooms & Beancurd – Stuffed with pork mince, spices, ginger, garlic, etc… Yum!


San Choy Bow – I wasn’t too keen on the canned crab in this one, might try a different version next time. Oh look, we even had some steamed rice too.

Feel free to request the recipes, if i’m feeling nice, I might even reply!

30.Apr.06 Food, Home Comment (1) 

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