Emma & Tom's juice

Wanted to have a nice juice after lunch today and saw this interesting blend- orange, mango, passionfruit, banana, pineapple and ginseng... Was looking forward to taste the ginseng, but was hugely disappointed .... I couldn't taste any trace of ginseng... But I've to say the rest of the blend was good, tasted very fresh, as if squeezed fresh. Might try the carrot and ginger one next time.







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Shopping spree on a windy Saturday

While I had all good intention of cleaning the house (thanks to Mr Duststorm...), this morning we got up and found it's another windy day... So what better thing to do than to go shopping!!

First, we got PP a new dining bowl, cos she pulled her current ceramic one off the shelve the other day and gave it some cracks... So time for a new one. Also we've been looking for a collar with bell for her, cos hubby said just as I have a charm bracelet with bell, so should PP... Let's see if PP likes her new collar.

Then hubby- he's had his eyes on a new fishing rod; especially with summer just around the corner; there will many hot nights where he will be able to fish... After like 20 minutes of thinking, he bought this 7.4ft fishing rod... Hope he can catch some nice fishies with it... Ummm yum!!

Me- haha I only had 1 thing in mind, which is this pair of ridiculously high peep toe pump... Saw it in the city on Thurs and it was love at first sight... But when I finally decided to buy it yesterday the shop had just the display pair, plus another new pair but with minor defect to one of the shoe... The sale guy offered to knock $15 off either one of the pair... And I thought, o well probably not meant to be and walked away from it...

Today hubby agreed to take me to the Chatswood store to see if they have a good pair. HAHAHAHAHA they had a new pair and with no defects!!!! What's even better is when I paid for it, the system had the shoes for $20 less than the tagged price.... Hohoho!!!







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Maxim's Moon Cakes (Sydney version)

It’s moon festival next Saturday, and I went and bought some “bing” “pay” (snowy / iced) moon cake today. There’s not much choice in Sydney… so I just went with a safe choice… something I’ve had before- Maxim’s.

The moon cakes came in a variety of box sizes- double pack, rectangular boxed, square boxed and round boxed. I chose the ones in the round tin, cos it’s the largest box of them all, and the yellow circular tin looks like the moon, so is well suited for moon festival.

I had a brief glance at the bottom of the tin, and saw the usual flavours (Sago Cream with Mango & Pomelo; Mango; Sesame; Pineapple; Green Tea with Macadamia Nuts; Chestnut; Green Tea with Red Bean and Yam; and Strawberry).

When I got back to the office, out of curiosity, I looked up the HK Maxim’s site to see if they sell the same stuffs in HK….

And obviously not!!! The HK version of the round tin has:

• Rocky Road;
• Custard;
• Tiramisu;
• Strawberry;
• Sago Cream with Mango and Pomelo;
• Mango;
• Green Bean Paste; and
• BIRDS NEST…

OK I can understand not including the birds nest moon cake because of importation rules… but what about the missing Rocky Road, Custard and Tiramisu flavours? Where have they gone?!

*****
Postscript:-

Have just pre-celebrated moon festivals with my in-laws, and have ate the largest moon cake in the box, which is the Sago Cream with Mango and Pomelo... it's good, not too sweet at all, especially when compared to the traditional ones... YUM~~!!!

Sydney Dust Storm 23.09.2009

When I woke up to the bright orange sky this morning, my first sleepy thought was.... "umm, bushfire?" but as there's no heat, I figured it must be something else... but at 6am in the morning... what better thing to do than to go back to bed....

When we finally woke up and got ready to leave for work, yes I did notice that our white ceramic tiled floor has kinda turned to this brownish red... and I thought, "O... PP- what have you been up to in the garden? playing with the soil with your wet hands & feet..."

It's not only when we got into the car and turned on the radio that we realised this is a dust storm...

Some mundane aftermath of this dust storm on our household:-

• loads and loads of dust came through into our house via PP's doggie door.... which meant we spent some time tonight to mop the floor... and have only gotten rid of the first layer of dust... still will need to use bleach on the weekend, as well as wiping the kitchen, table, chairs etc... (ARGH!!!)
• I had to wash my face with cleansing oil, soap and milk (yes altogether, 3 times) before I feel clean enough to go on with my other cleansing routine...
• PP's turned from a white / dirty grey dog, into this partially light rusty brown coloured dog... it's as if she's got her hair dyed... she needs to be cleaned... 
• cos PP still insists on sleeping on our bed... man, our bed sheets etc all need to be washed... 

fing頭P...

其實我諗PP成曰喺花園食昆蟲... 所以食蟻佢都應該唔係第一次。最攪笑嘅係，我以為佢已經將隻小昆蟲吞咗落肚，咁就去攞啲狗snacks俾佢食（我心諗，希望啲零食可以幫助PP消化...），點知PP聽到我開包snacks時，lur都lur唔切佢隻蟻 （我冇拍到佢lur嗰個過程，因為見隻蟻出番嚟之後，重唔快快手手將佢chung落廁所咩...）

Luxurious Tahiti resort- Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort and Spa

When researching for our last Christmas holiday one of the places I really wanted to go was Tahiti... it's such a romantic place (last Christmas, we ended up in Vanuatu and also had a really good time, best of all was doing our PADI open water course).

Today read about the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort and Spa renovation to their already gorgeous overwater bungalow. The bungalow will become double storey villas, with 2 bedrooms, a living room, PRIVATE POOL (wow wow!!!!!), spa, gazebo and deck. Price? Just over AU$5k a night, with breakfast and dinner included...

Another thing I must do when I win the big lotto jackpot....

Median House Prices in Australia

Latest property price data from RP Data. One interesting point that the SMH mentioned is that the median house price in Western Australia's seaside town of Cottesloe tops the chart over Sydney’s beautiful Mosman…

My colleague was in Perth earlier this year, and told us all how pretty it is in Perth… maybe I can plan an interstate holiday to WA and see for it myself.

Sources:

• http://www.businessday.com.au/business/the-cheapest-the-dearest-20090918-fuif.html
• http://www.rpdata.com/

New South Wales
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Mosman	$1,922,500	Walgett	$100,000
Woollahra	$1,650,000	Hay	$90,250
Hunters Hill	$1,450,000	Bourke	$80,000
Waverley	$1,275,000	Coonamble	$80,000
Manly	$1,150,000	Central Darling	$39,000
Queensland
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Gold Coast	$480,000	Murweh	$140,000
Brisbane	$475,000	Barcaldine	$135,000
Sunshine Coast	$460,000	Blackall Tambo	$125,000
Redland	$440,000	Winton	$92,000
Scenic Rim	$406,000	Paroo	$60,000
South Australia
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Adelaide	$780,000	The Coorong	$145,000
Burnside	$700,000	Cleve	$130,000
Walkerville	$700,000	Peterborough	$100,000
Unley	$625,500	Southern Mallee	$93,750
Norwood Payneham St Peters	$550,000	Coober Pedy	$75,000
Tasmania
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Greater Hobart	$405,000	Southern Midlands	$188,000
Kingborough	$349,000	Tasman	$186,500
Clarence	$314,750	Dorset	$185,000
West Tamar	$276,500	King Island	$172,500
Latrobe	$275,000	West Coast	$89,500
Victoria
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Stonnington	$999,000	West Wimmera	$103,500
Boroondara	$945,000	Loddon	$102,500
Bayside	$925,000	Buloke	$90,000
Port Phillip	$840,000	Yarriambiack	$86,250
Glen Eira	$702,250	Hindmarsh	$81,500
Western Australia
Most Expensive		Most Affordable
Cottesloe	$2,000,000	Northam	$232,000
Nedlands	$1,775,000	Plantagenet	$225,000
Mosman Park	$1,520,000	Wagin	$170,000
Claremont	$1,350,000	Katanning	$156,500
Cambridge	$1,050,000	Moora	$149,000