March 4, 2009
Riley o’Riley
Meet Riley.
"Greetings, stranger with a camera."
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Edwina and Nuno’s retriever puppy who sniffed and licked and pawed his way into our hearts.
He is a __ month old, champagne-coloured Retriever puppy (I overheard them saying he’s a Golden Retriever but he looks like a Lab retriever to me – so I’ll just refer to him as The Retriever puppy), whom they adopted from a breeder somewhere in Mandurah.
Loitering in the kitchen with sad puppy eyes, in attempt of luring some gullible human into feeding him
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While he’s a lot bigger now, Riley was, at some point, a true-blue, toilet paper frolicking Kleenex Puppy.
It's not a retriever puppy until it falls asleep on soft cottony Kleenex.
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And although I was a few months too late for his early stages;, Riley is still a wickedly adorable little thing that runs around clumsily, and flaps his ears in the process like all retriever puppies are supposed to. T.T
Dopey as anything.
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He was a bit timid for a male puppy his size/breed, but which also means that he plays really gentle and doesn’t even tries nipping at your hand when he’s playing.
Which was quite a refreshing change from that-manic-depressive-dog and that other ADHD one in Victoria.
Yeah, you know who you are.
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But, Yang has made it very clear that when we eventually get our own pup, it’s gotta be an ‘energetic and playful’ one.
Which I’m quite sure also means ‘crazy and uncontrollable’ at one point or another. =.=
Quite unlike this one.
Or this one.
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And I wasn’t necessarily referring to the puppy in the photo. 
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Anyway, Riley wasn’t the entire reason we drove half hour South to Edwina and Nuno’s new place.
We were having a pizza night slash pot-luck dinner; and at the same time, for me to visit their new house since I missed out on the first couple of gatherings. =.=
Edwina and Val cooking up a storm, while Nuno doesn't even try to look busy.
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The area was still developing, and the couple was still working on bits and pieces of the house. But it was a really nice place as it was; well-furnished, homey, and inspiring for young couples every where who are saving up for a place of their own. /shy
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And here are the mandatory food piccies:
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November 2, 2008
Halloween: The Untold Story
Once upon a time, very long ago, in the faraway land of Euroverse, there lived a lonely bar maid by the name of Gretchen.
Bier, Sir?
She worked long and hard at the local watering hole – Pub Vandersax – where night after night, she serves countless rounds of drinks to the neighbourhood gangs; the Russians and the Romanians.
Also known as the Mafia and the Drakulas.
The two gangs, as of all history of ‘two gangs in one ghetto’, were constantly fighting against each other.
You vill die vith zis bite!
Often, the neighbourhood watch is on duty to break off any fights or misdemeanour that take place in the town of Euroverse.
Red Batman wtf
But sometimes when Mr. Flash is busy with his other job (i.e. fighting alongside the Justice League to, like, save the world), Gretchen is left to fend for herself and to maintain peace at the premise.
So who does she call?
Oh yes.
True to their credentials, they successfully got hold of Count Drakula (refer to above picture), which by no means was an easy tas,k because the Count kept morphing into a bat and started flapping around the room in search of an escape window.
But with their highly-sophisticated weapons, Drakula was finally captured and sent to another dimension.
**
However, the Ghostbusters boys are only able to capture those of the supernatural realm and villains of horror movies from the past.
Which means that Gretchen still had to deal with:
But being the helpless damsel in distress that she is, it was only a matter of time before her handsome hero emerged from nowhere to save her from all evils of the world.
Hello handsome. *blows kiss*
Gretchen knew it was love at first sight the minute he stepped into her bar, with that gleaming white uniform and charming smile.
So she straightened out her apron, and walked up to him.
“Bier, Sir?”
she asked him.
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Of which the Captain turned around and smiled at her
“Why thank you, my fair maiden.”
To which Gretchen blushed and giggled while sipping her beer prettily.
I wonder if he'll let me have his hat.
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Oh why thank you Captain Handsome, teehee. You like so totally read my mind.
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THEN SUDDENLY, the big bad Mafia showed up again!
Angry, that his life nemesis Drakula had been removed by someone else apart from her, she stormed up to Gretchen and demanded for an explanation.
But once again, as movie history dictates, the Mafia doesn’t do negotiations very well, especially not with the female lead – therefore it was only a matter of time before Mafia whipped out her gun and tried killing Gretchen.
“Noooooo, please nooo! Stay away from me! Somebody, help!”
to which Captain Handsome jumped into action and fought with Mafia.
The fight went on for almost 10 minutes (that’s like, ages isn’t it?), and it looked as though Captain Handsome was about to lose this heated battle, as he was no match for Mafia’s brutality.
Mafia delivered punch after punch, and plastic-pistol-whipped Captain Handsome as he was struggling to keep to his feet.
Yet, just as Mafia thought she was about to secure her victory, Captain Handsome fought back with the ever-inspiring spirit of Karate Kid/Rocky in their death matches, to eventually overcome the mobster’s harsh attacks and beat her senseless with mere charm and handsomeness.
And by sticking his foot out to trip her over.
Gretchen was eternally-grateful to Captain Handsome for saving her life.
And they lived happily, ever after.
The End.
October 2, 2008
jom raya kat beach
To be honest, it wasn’t the best day to be at the beach. Simply because the weather forecast had not been too promising, and I woke up this morning without any direct sunlight blazing in my face. Which meant that it wasn’t going to be bright sunny happy. = =
But the plan has been put in place, our minds have been set (and as I later found out: chicken wings have been grilled, and the shortcakes have been baked) – so come rain or shine we’re still going.
Well maybe not rain as such, but as long as there wasn’t any … precipitation of any kind, we’re not deterred.
Heartbreaking.
***
We arrived at Cott around 1pm, i.e. smack in the afternoon when the sun is supposed to be radiating; but even then the sky still showed no signs of giving us a sunny break.
But on the plus side, we practically had the whole beach to ourselves.
Apart from a cluster of school boys, the odd surfer or two, and a smattering of couples and out-of-season tourists – the beach was empty. Which felt kinda odd, but liberating at the same time (“ohmygawd we can do anything we want!“)
Including having a celebratory drink in open space
No one told me that it was going to be a full-blown picnic outing, otherwise I would have the courtesy to supply, say, drinks and snacks.. or even bake a batch of cookies, even.
All I brought were the essentials (towel, book, mp3 player, water).
They, on the other hand, stocked up for World bloody War III.
The Msian/Sporean staple finger food.
Not in picture: chocolate bars, more fruits, cooler bag-ful of stubbies, strawberry shortcake, Monopoly.
Monopoly! At the beach!
***
So for what lacked in UV goodness, we made up for it with tummy filling, getting to know each other better (especially for me getting to know Olivia whom I’ve just met and am planning to adopt as best fren if only so she can cook for me for as long as I’m here), and of course, that other thing that we know how to do.
Which, will make up the rest of the entry.
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Olivia, Goddess of the Grill.
Darrel in one of her many poser shots.
Social.
Tak Social.
Feeeties!
Rediscovering the glow effect.
Darrel's interpretation of a sexy pose (stretch out and reach for bum).
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Jumping shots!
I think I've uncovered the secret to creating cleavage.
***
And, closing with one of our fav shots of the day:
Wheeee~
***
Thereafter, we packed up and headed for IKEA for a bit of window shopping and “hey we can be spontaneous”.
We each ended up with a yellow shopping bag in tow, grabbing any <$10 items in sight, convincing ourselves that we really do need a cookie jar, a folding spatula, a stuffed puppy, spice jars, a full length mirror, a laundry basket, a can opener, a bottle opener (IT WAS ONLY $1.95 AND FLUORO PINK), Swedish meatballs, Manchester, a clock… and a bit more.
Olivia even tried stealing a shopping basket. =.=
But all in all we had heaps of fun, even if it was pouring so heavily as we were leaving IKEA (hence loading our stuff in the rain, and yours truly standing in the rain yelling for the other two to hurry up and get in the damn two-door car).
Not a very conventional Raya celebration I supposed… but hey, hope you had fun, babe. 
And to all my friends and any Muslim readers that I may have, Selamat Hari Raya to all of you, and hope you have a great one. 
September 22, 2008
Hello how are you (revised version)
I’ve only started raking in a bit more readers than usual when I lost all of them again.
I had a grand total of three readers yesterday; and only two so far.
m(_ _)m I guess given that I’m still on the trial period I have to be more hardworking with my entries.
And for the record my internet has been capped for the past week or so, and is only gonna resume activity in a couple of days, which I think will be too late for me to salvage my readers so here I am, sitting in the campus library, typing away furiously.
***
I actually have a couple of things to blog about; but all of which requires photo attachments. And the comps at TAFE aren’t exactly up to date enough to have memory card ports… so uploading photos will be impossible. And I should have thought about this last night then I can transfer photos to my pendrive hm…. nevermind anyway.
So last week had a bit of flurry of activities. The assignments and presentation that were due (which I’m proud to say I did pretty well for; especially the presentation, which I hate hate hate. Which should be some kind of a bad indication for my career choice, no?), the working over the weekend, the patronage of a certain club which I’ve heard so much of but haven’t stepped foot in until last Friday.
And someone just came up to me and asked
“Excuse me, are you Vietnamese?”
O.o ….
I think he’s Viet himself and trying to find solace in his countrymen, but that was kinda … unexpected. Vietnamese… really? *checks self out in mirror*
No lah where got.
***
Anyway where was I. Oh yes, my flurry of activities last week (which can be sum up in a few paragraphs miah that’s not good). The Court, was pretty nice actually. Not quite the flamboyant, over-excessive glam that I’d pictured it to be – in other words, not Connexions – but good spaces, good prices (no cover hey!), good music in phases, and overall a pretty good crowd.
Good music, because at some point they started playing disco music (which included a Mamma Mia/ Dancing Queen medley, YMCA, and all the other gaynthems) which is always a lot of fun for me. But like I said, only in phases, cos soon after it was reverted back to boring club staples and gahs, trance and techno.
Again. Gahs, trance and techno. +_+
The crowd, I reckon, had a pretty good ratio of the gay, the fag hags, and everyone else. In other words I was well off everyone’s radar (much to the bf’s relief since he was too homophobic to join us, pfft); and so we get to just dance however and wherever we want without anyone (icky) trying to smex us up.
So to a certain someone who thought she ruined my night (whether she remembered saying it like a gazoolion times or not) – no, I had plenty of fun, thankyouverymuch.
The Court Hotel
50 Beaufort St, Perth
Phone: (08) 9328 5292
***
And, in case my internet is still not up within this week, here’s summing up what I have installed for the remaining of this week:
Brownlow
Grand Finals
Perth Royal Show (hopefully)
and Break!
And also saying goodbye to my other half for an entire week while he jets home to be with family. 
m(_ _)m [reviving my old favourite emoticon]
August 30, 2008
I damn legend
Part 1: The One Where Amanda Ruined the Surprise (almost)
For a few weeks now, we’ve made plans to throw Val(lee) a midnight-surprise-with-cake thing; our age-old tradition with early reminiscence of Den Chan’s classic “Happy New Year, Aunty” moment that made this event what it is today.
And by few weeks, I meant 2 weeks ago when we thought her birthday was last week. =.=
When Yang’s car was still running.
And before Vallow joint-ventured with us in this surprise mission.
***
We soon found out that Amanda, in an unforgivable act of treason, had leaked information about our plan to the birthday girl. Nevermind that it was an accidental delivery of text message to Val instead of Vincent (we believe her because she knows her alphabet haha Val). But despite her elementary grasp of the ABCs, Val is a very smart woman, and we figured any attempt to cover our tracks will be futile at this point.
However, based on some verbal exchange with our target, Rach attested that she had no clue about our involvement in this mission (a fact later confirmed by Val). In other words, she was only expecting Amanda, her sister and her friend, and Jen and Vinnie.
And thank goodness for that, as we didn’t have to hide in the storeroom holding a melting cake with Amanda and the rest.
Instead, we had the comfort of Alvin and Vallow driving us there with a Fredo ice-cream cake, which came in a box with instructions wtf. There is, it seems, more than meets the eye when it comes to handling a birthday cake. An ice-cream birthday cake.
Don't underestimate the radioactive colours; it actually tasted pretty nice.
***
By the time we arrived at Jen’s, I texted her and we literally went on tippy toes and, as quietly as could, snuck passed the driveway into the house – er, relatively quietly la, because I dropped my phone (and its full bell glory) halfway through and got abused for it. -.- Good thing that only Val, in her moment of surprise Part 1, failed to hear and recognize my bells.
So we went in, and the rest was history la. We yelled, “SURPRISE!” and Val yelled in surprise, and we did all the sing-song, take photos, blow-imaginary candles (Vallow forgot them), make wish, take photos, cut cake, eat cake, take photos, take photos, etc…
Two Vals and a Cake (and a Bakery wtf)
fatherdaughterCAKE
It was meant to be
***
AND THEN CAME THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT.
***
Part 2: Legend in the making
It all started when Vince bought Val a 2L beer guzzler mug, which prompted a conspiracy to make Val skull beer/ get drunk on her birthday.
Behold the Legendary Mug
Only 4 beers what, Val
And the plan worked out pretty well I reckon; except that she took close to 20 minutes to finish the beer la wth , when she was supposed to down it all in one gulp (or at least, in a couple of gulps back-to-back instead of the many long breaks she took between sips of beer). =.=
I think there’s a video of the entire process somewhere on YouTube, courtesy of camerawomen Vallow and Rach, and YT uploader Vince. ^^
But until any of us come across it, here’s a still-shot illustration of the event:
1) Just getting started baby
2) Bring it on!
3) ... take me home can.
4) Legen.effin.dary
But much more interesting than watching the beer level drop in the cup was to watch Val crash and burn la of course. And it all took place in a pretty similar sorta sequential order too!
First it was all big, tough and no hesitation shiet.
In full stride, brimming with confidence
This, however, only lasted for about 5 minutes.
In no time she was clammering for the toilet, claiming that she only needed to pee. But we all suspected that she did more than that to rid the happy juice from her body, although she vehemently denied it. So yah, on top of taking forever to, coughs, skull the beer – she also had a toilet break!
She should be dethroned from Legendom.
Slowing down heaps towards the end, but kept going on with Vince yelling "LITTLE BIT MORE VAL, LITTLE BIT MORE!" every 5 seconds
After a while, everyone started getting restless because she was taking forever and it was approaching 1am and lots of us had class at 8am the next day. =.= By now, she was halfway to happyland and kept yabbering on about random things (“AMANDA, I PROMISE YOU! 1.00 I WILL FINISH! I PROMISE! YOU KNOW I KEEP MY PROMISE! SORRY YOU HAVE TO SEE ME LIKE THIS! 1.00!”) and slapping her chest to make herself burp in between sips.
Eventually, she did manage to finish it (otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered writing about this, would I). And … well, I hereby present to you our favourite, lesen-kopi, beer-skulling: Lgd Valerie Li Min Lee!
TOLD YOU I'LL FINISH IT YOU BASTARDS!
*crashes*
Instead of hauling her to a couch/bed for her to rest as we rightfully should, we had to cash in on the moment (this was, after all, what we waited all night for – to watch her act all silly and loud), and everyone jumped in to pose with the now borderline-drunk birthday girl. It was worth all the effort of waiting, and then having to prop her up when she’s swaying, just to capture a few shots and have a good laugh.
I'm not drunk.. I can still walk straight..! *falls over*
Come cuddle meeeeee
Look at me, choo choo chooooo twain
And then we packed up, said our goodnights, and left the hammered Valerie in the care of Jen and Vince (whom apparently just left her in the room and went to bed themselves). ^^
WE LOVE YOU VALLEE! You know we do, despite going out of our way to humiliate you on your special day. But that’s simply our way of returning the affection you’ve so kindly showered us with throughout the times we’ve spent together. And of course, we know you’re awesome possum enough to not take it the wrong way, and know that we genuinely, sincerely, from the bottom of our heart-ly think you’re an amazing person, friend, other-sayang, other-mother, etc; and we’re all blessed to have you in our lives.
A (now-belated) Happy Birthday to you my darling dim sum! *hugs* May you have a great many years ahead, if the liver/kidney/brain-damage doesn’t catch up with you. <3 <3
