The Great Southern Highlands Adventure

Oh damn! I've loaded the photos in reverse order! So we'll have to start with the end of the trip and finish with the beginning.

Iron Chef Chinese (with his yellow robe) entices us with......

a wonderful array of native Australian meats (bacon and sausages), organic free range, omega 3 laden eggs, hydroponic vine ripen tomatoes and home style fresh bread for breakfast on our final day.

You must be wondering what the hell are these photos about? Well, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant that Saturday night, and were whisked off to their function room as the main room was fully booked out. We were debating whether the "function room" was actually the workers' living quarters as evidenced by the luxurious spa in the enormous bathroom (didn't think it was part of the banquet package) and the very rustic Vietnamese way of hanging the paper towels.

Matty in the town of Bowral, only accessible by diligent uphill driving.

Matty enjoying his proffertjoles (I'm sure I've spelt it wrong), dutch mini pancakes. Not very nice, but then I'm never a fan of pancakes anyways.

Ray and Matt having a taste of the regional wine. There were about 4 wineries on display at the food and wine fair in the Tulip Time festival in Bowral. One winery (which shall remain un-named) particularly stood out for its wine flavoured water with alcohol added.

That's what we are here for!

The magical twin tulip fairies

Now I've got to talk about this pie shop.This is the Robertson Pie Shop, situated in, you guessed it, the tiny town of Robertson. It offers the best pies compared to the Sydney ones (yes its better than the Wooloomooloo shit), but the best pies in Australia as it proclaims? I'm not so sure.

This shop saw the start of a very long joke stretching over 2 days with a certain someone poking fun at the Iron Chef about his love for the best pies in Australia. We were even contemplating making a return trip there for breakfast the next day but the idea was quickly shot down by....who else....The Iron Chef!

Come to me, Mouth....Engulf my crusty exterior and moist filling in your hungry little opening......

Ok, Pie!

The Hills Are Alive....With The Smell of Meat Pies!!!!

My latest fetish, cute Cupcakes from Pitt Street Sydney. That's Tiramisu.

Cappuccino

Choc Mint!

Sticky Date

Strawberries and Cream

Cookies and Cream

On the first night of arrival at the Papa and Nana Gong Elephant Lodge, we were treated to a wonderful roast buffet.

Juicy roast pork topped with crunchy crackling, lovely tender steamed baby carrots, three cheese broccoli and cauliflower bake and low fat air roasted potatoes. Yum yum yum!

This was the entree. Chilli seafood bake with a crusty top. Aptly named "6 of the best".

Whats a dinner party without wine? In daisy laced glasses, no less!

Table settings can make or break a dinner party. Only Nana Gong can make this table look so sexy.

And what happens when 4-5 bottles of wine (and soft drinks) have been consumed?

Thank you so much for inviting us down Ray and Rhonda. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously! And of course, it wouldn't have been so much fun without the shenanigans of Mr and Mrs Lum Ley!

So, what did you do last weekend?

Murder and mayhem, welcome to your real life channel!

Ok is it me or are all the news networks trying to fabricate a real life mystery out of someone's suffering? Ok, young pumpkin gets left at a Melbourne train station and suddenly all the networks are dredging up all the "mysterious" details about the parents and family while the Melbourne police cry like a little girl about being the meat sandwiched between the US and New Zooland police......

Well done to all networks and newspapers capitalising on this, splashing their family pictures on the front pages everyday! The networks must be happy, having this long drawn out story that they can reel people in with, haven't had that since the miners got stuck in a cave, Paris going to jail etc etc....

See how they do it? A little bit of info released everyday, treat them mean to keep them keen...One day the dad is a tai chi master with a very long sword, another day the mother has gone missing....hmm...I suppose little pumpkin doesn't realise she's almost set for life now, given that Woman's Day, Today Tonight, NW, That's Life, A Current Affair will soon be knocking on her door...if only she could talk. Well, even if she couldn't, I suppose she could always have an exclusive photo shoot for some magazine. Maybe Woman's Day can give her a makeover, like what they did with Bindi and Terri Irwin. Make her look like the celebrity she already is....

Speaking of drama, here is one that will beat them all hands down....gosh I thought Keith was bad....

Dream a Little Dream of Me....

Sometimes circumstances can force you to think of the most unlikely situations where you think you can actually become your own boss! That's right, bossing yourself around, tat would be fun and kind of weird yeah?

Just read me cousin's blog (not technically my cousin, more my niece, but we all get confused in Singapore anyways, cos everyone's an uncle or auntie so everyone should be your cousins), and being the self styled fashionista that she proclaims to be, she would be at the fore front of whats hip and happening (oh gosh, can't believe I'm using such MTV language), I thought I'll have a good guide to some fantastic money making schemes when I do go back to Singapore in about 3 years time. If given a choice, I don't want to be stuck in a 9 to 5 job (which in reality in Singapore is a 7:30 to 6:30 job) when I get back. Having travelled far and wide in the southern hemisphere (i.e. Australia), I'd like to bring some retail ideas that I have seen here in Sydney back to Singapore, and hopefully make a big pile of money without having to answer to anyone....

Have 2 ideas which I will be running through her and will then try to source around for franchise opportunities, or try to attend franchisee courses or something like that so I can get a better understanding of small business running.....Hopefully it'll work out then I can start bossing people around....

Otherwise, I could always work at Universal Studios or the Casinos....in 3 years time.....

P.S. Wah! Record breaking eh? 5 bloody comments in my last blog (including one from myself), you must all love me so much, all 3 of you!

Finally, I hear you all say.....

Yes, I'm back. And my comeback is gonna be bigger and better than Britney's (which isn't difficult, judging from her brilliant performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, coupled with her classy dress sense....who would have though that fishnets would look so good against blubber...). Whats wrong with these girls? Can't seem to bounce back from celebrity overload can they? I don't remember so many young stars spiralling out of control in the 80s when I was growing up! Madonna had her far share of knocks, but she's never really had a drug or alcohol problem...ok, maybe she's obsessed with working out, but if you've seen one of her concerts, you'll understand why she needs to keep in tip top shape all the time.

Ok, enough of celeb rubbish. I'll like to thank my one and only true fan who said he/she missed me. It'll be great if I know who you are. All the anonymous comments just makes me feel so stalked. As for the rest of you who read my blog in the dark late at night while playing with yourself, maybe its time you put your other hand to good use and leave me some words of wisdom. Leave your filthy thoughts in your mind though, this is a family disoriented blog alright?

Sydney was in major lock down last weekend because of the OPEC (most overused joke this week) and the threat of 200,000 protesters swarming into the city was enough to drive me and Matt to seek refuge in the Australian state that most resembles Singapore i.e. neat, clean and sterile. We caught a lift with Weiweh and John to Canberra early morning Friday. Didn't think it would take that long, but 3 hours later, we arrived to a cold, windy and wet Crowne Plaza Hotel. I found a good deal online where we paid $215 per night, which included a buffet breakfast and $50 to spend on food and drinks within the hotel restaurants and bars. We stayed 2 nights and the room was fantastic. Didn't do much but that was the point anyway, to get away from the hustle and bustle and constant ringing of the phone (serial stalkers/friends, you know who you are...).

I was surprised by the cafe culture in Canberra. Not much of a cafe person myself, I was suitably impressed by the different styles of cafes they have there, from the ultra modern bar/cafe Cream to the rustic 60s styled coffeehouse Essen. Food was pretty alright too, we had Chinese on the first night and a hotel seafood buffet the second (had to spend the $50 voucher). Ok, enough typing, let the pics do the talking....

Halfway through the 3 hour driving trip...was busting when I took this photo....

How do you know you are staying at a four and a half star hotel?

Answer : The room service

Matt loved the soft center chocolate and macadamia tart. I loved the Annie's Lane 2006 Riesling.

How do you know your hotel is different from other snotty self proclaimed best hotel in the world?

Answer : When they have something like this.....

Where else can you get this?

4 choices of pillows!!!??? And....

an extra large King sized bed. Very very comfy....

I love Lake Burley Griffin and its surrounds, very scenic and peaceful, even though its man made.....

Now, a few random typical Canberrian sight seeing shots.....

That's all for now, folks. Knowing my reliability for regular postings, you should savour every word of this blog. Will try to blog soon, but as usual, I do have more important things to do sometimes, like trying to pick out the correct Lotto numbers every week so I can stop working, combing/blow drying/styling my luscious locks, working out at the gym to get my killer bod etc etc.....