No grandchildren

.........because Genki got spayed yesterday.

i dropped her off at Flemington Clinic before 8:30am and she was out of surgery by 2.  Poor baby had to wait until Anthony finished work to be picked up at 6pm.

When the nurse led her out, she was incredibly excited to see us and jumped up to give us kisses.,  Besides the cone, you wouldnt have known she had just had surgery.

The bill? $470 which included $15 to have her nails cut.

Once we got home it was a different story.  She went straight to bed (after having a very long pee on her pee mat which I watched with eagle eyes because I had freshly shampooed the carpet).  She was quite dazed the whole time and was sitting a lot.  We don't know if it's because it's painful.

We did take the cone off pretty much straight away because she was having so much trouble with the simplest things, like getting through the front door! 

It was so heartbreaking to see her reduced from her cheeky self to a lost helpless pup.  

And she is extra clingy.

I've taken Monday and Tuesday off work and would dearly love to have the rest of the week off so that I can be with my baby, but my baby likes nice things so.....

I'm Baack

It's been a LOOONG time since my last post.

Admittedly it became too much of an effort to fight May for the laptop every night.  Also because I had to take on a bit more responsibility at work so no longer had the time to update my blog :o)

Cel has been stationed in Melb for her Trainer role so we've been hanging out and having little adventures on the weekend.  Today we drove to Apollo Bay which is just under 3 hours from Melbourne.  We went there to have lunch.

Nothing fancy nor any special ocassion.  Just an ordinary lunch where I had a steak sandwich, Angie had a beef stew, Cel had a vegetarian foccacia and her friends Rupa had a lentil pattie while Jamie and Ant had a big breakfast.

The weather wasn't particularly nice but there were moments when the sun came out.  

The drive was great but I was disappointed I didn't get to show Ant the 12 Apostles.  We decided we didn't want to go further than Lorne.  (12 Apostles is in Port Campbell).  So close and yet so far!

On the way there and the way back, we made pit stops so that Genki could go have a run.  She loved it!

Ant drove me and Genki, though it took a lot of convincing because he didn't want to drive all that way just for lunch.

Angie went with Cel and her friends and based on the laughter when we all met up for lunch, they had a great time on the drive. 

Two weekends I went go-karting with Cel, Angie and John.  It was great, although terrifying.  I completed the least number of laps and the lovely worker there called me a 'safe driver'.  We also went to a winery for an amazing lunch then dinner in the city.  Ant stayed home because he said the car 'would be too full' but joined us for dinner in the city.  I bet he regretted sitting it out!

Then there's the weekend that we all went to Mt Hotham for two nights at Alpine Chalet.  We went after work on Friday night and were all exhausted after the 3.5 hour drive.  Despite this, almost everyone stayed up talking until late.  I immediately went to sleep because I can't function without 8hrs of sleep.

Skiiing is hard, and incredibly expensive.  We plan to go back with Fiona, Marlene and Genki at the end of this month and I will not be forking out for equipment hire or a lift pass since I only used my ski for 2 hrs and was too terrified to go up the ski lift.  Rather, I was terrified of how I could come down once I went up.  Poor Angie went up and had to walk all the way down. 

It'll be incredibly exciting for Genki to see snow.  I was meant to buy her some snow gear but have been very lax about looking it up on ebay.  They're all from International sellers so there's no way any order will arrive in the post by the end of this month!

Looks like it's time to sign off and get searching or my next post will be about how Genki lost a toe to frost bite....

Found: Sparkles

Over Easter we lost Sparkles.  Because my mother left the kitchen door open and Genki jumped at the opportunity to run outside to see her feathered friends.  Unfortunately they were not as excited to see her and Sparkles ran out the yard.

Everyone was busy in the house so no one was aware Sparkles had jumped the back wall to get out.

Anyway the weather during Easter was particularly bad so we didn't really hold much hope of her surviving the freezing cold + neighbourhood cats.

But today we found Sparkles!  Technically i did.  This morning on my way to walk I thought I saw movement in the school yard across the road.  I remembered it's school holidays and it registered that it would be a good hiding place for a jumpy hen.

And as I was gazing earnestly into the school yard, who should strut on by but Sparkles!!

Ant and May caught her - which I am told was very hard to do - and reunited her with white chicken who promptly gave her a few pecks.  Maybe in welcome?



 

Easter Saturday

Docklands Flea Market

Bolte Bridge,  Docklands

Docklands flea market located under the Bolte Bridge.  A great little alternative place that is only just establishing itself.  A great idea is using shipping containers as stalls/ food stands.

They were very pro-active about boosting return customers with asking you to join their mailing list as you exited.

Then we moved on to Costco - it's walking distance but we drove in anticipation of all the toilet paper Lyn planned to buy.

$2.50 hot dog and re-fillable drinks at Costco.  Can you get more value than this?


A long walk to the park with Genks and the hubs.  Her nemesis Tesla went in the opposite direction + lotsa runs with Gypsy and Skittles = great walk

hello Easter holidays



Travancore Park


Hooray for the Easter long weekend!

Wednesday Walks

It's pretty disappointing how much I've neglected my blog.  It seems less motivating to jump on when life is being normal.  As opposed to getting married.

I've been sick the past three days.  Stayed home on Monday and Tuesday which was GREAT.  I mostly slept (hey, I was sick!) but today I soldiered on and went to work.  Big mistake because 3/4 of the team did not show up.

After work Ant and I took Ms Genki-poo to the park where her arch nemesis Tasslar was already waiting.  There's usually a big congregation of dog owners at the entrance of the park and most times it's fine to let Genkie off the leash EXCEPT when Tasslar is around.  

The tiny 10-month old de-sexed puppy is crazy and likes to pick on poor Genks.  His owner says he only started acting up when he got de-sexed.  Something about him wanting to prove he's still a man by picking on the little dogs.  We're waiting for Genks to outgrow him so that she can bully him back one day.

Hurry up and grow faster Genks!  We'll even buy you some overpriced dog milk ($3 for 1 litre) to help you out.

A boo boo

Yesterday on our evening walk to Travancore Park, Genki learnt an important lesson; Don't run across the path of a cyclist.

The silly muppet dashed right across the path of an oncoming cyclist who didn't see her so ended up running Genks over.  Where were Ant and I?  Trying to hide from her because she was being cheeky by running across the park to a family who were minding their own business.  

The cyclist came out of nowhere and I ran out from behind the bush I was hiding when I heard her yelp.  She came running across the field back towards me but was more intent on finding Ant (who had run further away to hide so wasn't aware of what had happened).  Eventually I knelt down and she jumped into my lap where I checked her for injuries.

The poor cyclist came up to me to check that she was ok too because according to him, he had 'clipped her pretty hard.'  He seemed more shaken up than she was.  At least he didn't tell me off for not putting her on a leash.  

That cut short our walk because she seemed to be quite aloof and nervous.  And she smelt really bad - like she had shat herself.  So off home we went and Ant gave her a bath.

Let's see what the next walk brings.

Genki playing with her rubber keys in the frontyard

Hello Sparkles

Today (9th March) I bought a new chicken from Victoria Market. au$25 - she was down from au$30 I was told by the gentlemen. Either that or he decided to lower the price after he saw my expression at the au$30.

Her name is Sparkles and she's a scrawny little golden feathered girl with black splotches. She caused some excitement as soon as I let her out into the back yard by jumping up onto the back door and then the garage roof. She wasn't all to blame; white chicken started bullying her.

So after we caught her, I clipped her wings. But obviously I didn't clip it short enough because shortly after that she jumped onto the fence and onto the neighbour's hills hoist. So her wings got clipped shorter.

Luckily this week is a three day weekend on account of Monday being Labour Day public holiday so I can keep an eye on them. I've decided to partition off the back yard so that Sparkles is out the back and white chicken will have the area along the side of the house - this also allows her to come into the front yard by walking along the brick fence.

I also had to partition off their house with chicken wire- Sparkles has the nesting box while white chicken has the more bigger space.

So far white chicken has been most unappreciative by having very loud rants. And very often. She doesn't like my explanation that Sparkles is there to be her companion.

Introducing a hen to a new hen isn't the easiest thing but we'll get there. Afterall, it took time introducing white chicken to Flitter but in the end they became good friends.

February Catch-Up

Quite a bit happened in February - I meant to get a post in before 29th Feb but time got away from me

 

So this month the highlights were -

• bbq at Leny and Tze Loong's in Yallambie. Besides some yum food, I scored some free yucca plants

 

 

• dinner with Bron and Brad who have moved to Melbourne.  Angie introduced us to a great dessert place on Russell St called Monga.

•  two trips to the beach - one with Lyn, May and Genki. The second with Oy, Paul, Lali, Lyn, Genki and Brownyn, Brad and their friend Kathleen. They have a dog Harry but Genki wasn't really interested.

 

• Fiona's 3 day visit and first meeting with Genki

Saturday was my husband's birthday.  Wow, it still feels weird to say the H word!

I took him out to dinner at Dynasty Restaurant.  Dynasty Restaurant opened for business in Melbourne in Dec 2010. They claim to be "the one and only luxurious fine dining Chinese restaurant" with spectacular decor in Australia.

The interiro is covered with marble and lighted up with crystal chandeliers, setting off a warm golden ambiance.  Staff are immaculately presented in a fusion of cultural and modern suit-style outfits.

The only reason we could afford to eat there was becuase I bought a Scoopon (au$79 for an 8 course meal including dessert + two glasses of wine each).

The below photo's are from their website because we did not take photo's on the night.  We were too awestruck!  In most cases the pictures you see on a company website are more glamorous than the actua thing - in this instance, the photo's accurately capture the restaurant's oppulance. 



Entrance to Dynasty (Dynasty is in a Bourke St arcade)

 

foyer of Dynasty

 

our table



on the way to our table

 And then on Sunday we went to a bbq at Leny and Tze Loong's (Geelong) place in Yallambi.  There we met their friends who were all very lovely.  Genks was allowed to come so she had a great time sniffing around in a new environment.  She was a good girl mostly.  Except when she saw Billy the kitten and tried to play with him which Geelong wasn't too sure about.

Dentist Visit

On Tuesday I had my very first trip to the dentist.  Yes, my very first dentist visit in my 27 years of life.  Amazing huh?

The verdict?  All good!  No fillings, no rotten teeth, not a single problem at all.  Apart from the fact that my wisdoms need to come out soon.

Ms Dentist gave me a calculus clean (funny term!) which according to Wikipedia is also known as tartar.  It is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by the continual accumulation of minerals from saliva on plaque on the teeth. Its rough surface provides an ideal medium for further plaque formation, threatening the health of the gingiva.

Brushing and flossing can remove plaque from which calculus forms; however, once formed, it is too hard and firmly attached to be removed with a toothbrush. Calculus buildup can be professionally removed with ultrasonic tools and specialized sharp instruments during a dental visit.


And that is what she did.  For about au$115.


X-rays on each side cost me au$42 each and a fluoride treament au$33.  The visit itself was au$65.  So altogether au$297 which isn't too bad considering I walked out with cleaner teeth instead of just my gums.

via

Naturally Ant is very jealous.  Not of my dentist visit but the fact that I didn't need anything done.

To Temple

On Australia Day (Jan 26th), Ant and I went with my mum to the See Yup Temple in South Melbourne.

The temple sits on Raglan Street and is made up of a line of 5 buildings, all converted into lovely prayer/ tablet rooms.

Besides leaving with a heavy smell of incense clinging to my clothes, skin and hair, I did some research and discovered some interesting facts;

• See Yup means "four districts", after the area in Guangdong (Canton) that members came from
• it is a Buddhist - Taoist temple
• it was build in 1856 by the See Yup Society through compulsory donations
• South Melbourne was once known as Emerald Hill
• there are 13,000 memorial tablets on display

main entrance to See Yup temple

Flitter's Burial

In my 2011 blog titled Tribute to Flitter, I say good bye to the best pet chicken.  Here I share photo's of her burial.

Flitter going to the Vet

Flitter's final 'resting place' in the front yard

Chinese New Year will be upon us soon and Melbourne is busy celebrating with street festivals!

Last weekend Ant and I were on our way to Ikea in Richmond when the GPS told us there was a traffic obstruction in the road, did we want to choose an alternate route?

We answered Yes, and as we took the detour we noticed a section of Victoria Street was closed off and there was loud music, yummy smelling smoke and fire crackers!

The many many MANY Asian faces clued us in that it was an Asian festival - lunar festival for New Year!!

So after driving around for what seemed like ages, we found a park which was close enough and walked back to Victoria Street to join in the festivities.

This was taken at Footscray Market - Chinese characters on apples!

pork wrapped in betel leaf

the crowd

Next on the Festival 'calendar' is another street festival at Box Hill tomororw.  That's my Saturday plans taken care of!

Lyn in HK

Lyn is in HK and I am very jealous of the all the food, cheap shopping and sightseeing she must be doing.

She inboxed me on FB and practically wrote an essay.  Most of the places she mentioned are spots that Ant and I went to during our honeymoon there...

Lyn is staying with her friend's family in Yau Ma Tei (coincidentally, this is where Ant and I stayed as well!).  This is what she has to say;

The apartment is decent size. Has a small kitchen (but we are never in it except to use the fridge and the washing machine.

Has a lounge and dining area with tv. 2 bedrooms (potentially sleeps 5 people, 6 if someone uses the couch) and a bathroom.

Its right near Yau Ma Tei station.

HK is AMAZING! I would def come back.

I've done some shopping, DisneyLand yesterday. Shenzhen, China - we just went to the shopping centre, that was it. I bought a mustard mulberry bag and a rado watch. All fake of course. Spent about $100 Aussie - which im content with. And yes i bargained! HEAPS!

They initially wanted 750rmb for the bag and i got it for $350.

And the watch they originally wanted 680, i got that one done to 350 too!

They make you feel so bad though, they are all like, OH IM LOSING MONEY HERE. *eye roll* As if!

China was pretty stinky though, the shopping centre smelt like a bar! And it was like a labyrinth of shops!

Also, had Chinese Yum Cha. I tried Chicken feet & congeeled pigs blood! (Which was recently mentioned in the Wudang book im reading!)

Then we got the first class carriage mtr back. Quickly back to the apartment and then went to the Peak (at night). Was pretty.

Would be nice to see all the greenery in the day time though (maybe next time i come here!) but the lights are magnificent!

Tomorrow I will be alone during the day. My plans are to go to Bird market in the morning (as its open from 7am - which is good cos i feel like the morning is wasted here).

Then i will mtr it to Central and go up the escalators to Soho, do some more shopping (particularly H+Ms in Central). Then around 2pm-ish meet up with everyone again and going to Mongkok to look at another H+M in Langham place, plus their other branch/line Monki.

Then to the sneaker street, as i want some converse shoes!

Tomorrow is my last day as i leave mid-day on Friday.

Anything u particularly want?

Such a silly question!  I want everything of course!

Caribean Market

On Sunday Ant drove Lyn and I to the Caribean Market in Scoresby.  It was his brilliant idea to go based on the good time he must have had when he went with his family in December 2010.  Note that I am being sarcastic.

Scoresby is approximately a 45minute drive from home which is quite a hike. 

It was quite boring there and nothing like Victoria Market.  For one, the market area was in a large undercover shed with four walls.  Not great for a warm day.

And it was really full.

Ant had lots of electronics to look at and Lyn bought a few DVD's.  They both bought some magazines.  I bought a bag of sugared cashews and dried liver for puppy.

Though they had a separate restaurant area, we ate hot dogs from the cart in the shed.  Whose stingy decision was that?  Ant's.

After lots of browsing - mostly me trailing behind them reluctantly - we finally decided to leave for Knox Shopping Centre just for something to do.  Knox is where I showed Lyn her first green mango.  Prior to that she claims she has never seen one.

Banana Butterscotch Mousse

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to eat.  But cook?  Not so much.

However Gordon Ramsay, although he has a foul mouth, has created a yummy and easy recipe that even I can make!

And with ingredients like cream and brown sugar, who can resist??