Labor Day

Last Monday was Labor Day, so the family decided to make a day out of it and do the Split Bridge Walk.

Nothing much to report really other than it was a really lovely sunny day and it was nice just chilling out with hubby and parents.

Anyways, thought I’d post some pictures I took that day.

Mel's surprise birthday party

Mel had his 29th birthday celebration last weekend. I organized a surprise lawn bowling cocktail party down by the leafy posh harbor side Hunters Hill Club and secretly invited family and friends to celebrate the day with us.

It was quite a daunting task as work had kept me from putting the party together till the absolute last minutes (like 1 week prior… I know. I ought to shot.). And to make matters worse, the week that lead up to birthday Saturday was just Wet. Sad. And down right gloomy. A vision of muddy lawns with sweat shirts and umbrellas didn’t exactly spell a good day. So you could imagine how happy I was to wake up to a beautiful morning promising nothing but pure glorious summer weather. The sun was beaming, the sky was clear and Mel had absolutely no idea of my secret plans. ark ark! *Beam*

The cat was finally let out of the dark bag when we arrived at our destination. Mel smiled his widest smile all week (he thought we were heading off to a picnic which he totally hates doing) and 95% of our guests showed up. It was so unrehearsed and unplanned but oh so … well timed! People rocked up with fruits, home-baked muffins and little butter cakes. It was just awesome.

The club has 2 decks of lawn bowling greens and as the upper deck is usually reserved for members only on weekends. We were placed at the lower deck and had the entire lower lawn to our party. We spent the rest of the afternoon barefoot bowling under the warmth of an unexpected spring day, ate our little snacks, and cooled down over a glass of beer. It was SO relaxing and I was SOO relieved it turned out alright.

After an afternoon of lawn bowling, the family and some friends adjourned to our place for the 2nd part of the celebration. It was really nice to unwind after a day of “sporting” activity. We sat around the balcony, ate barbequed foods and enjoyed the cool of the night and talked about random things. It was a nice end to an unexpected day.

Oh. Incidentally, if you thought Mel had a weird chili chocolate cake for his birthday. The little bright red chilies were used only as garnish to give the cake a masculine make over. Brilliant isn’t it. Thanks again Megan for the beautiful cake. And thanks to you’all who showed up at such last minute notice!

Hope you had a great birthday babe! And YES, the party IS your birthday present so you can stop looking under the bed now.

Cyber Salem

Meet my cyber adopted cat Salem (scroll down). You could play with him, pat him, and feed him. He even reciprocates with a meow.

To adopt your very own cyber pet. Go to Bunny Hero Labs.

Oh. And does anyone know how I might fix my alignment problem??

Ignite

A group of friends and I got together last Saturday evening to attend a short film festival in the city called ignite. We were there to support a friend who made his debut that night.

Ignite is a Christian Short Film Festival that aims at bringing out the truths of the bible through short films. It negates segregation of denomination, age or background, and solely seeks to encourage Christians to understand the bible through creative use of the media and cinematography.

The keyword for the night was 'FIRE'. So films will have to, in one form or another, portray elements of 'fire' in the (no longer then 5 mins) presentation. They will need to draw inspiration through bible passages and shape the film to encompass one of the 7 selected themes. Grace • Humility • Justice • Miracles • Sacrifice • Unity • Wisdom

In a nut shell, it was a good night. I thoroughly enjoyed the screening, even though I had to ask friends to fill me in on several films because I couldn’t figure out where the fire element was (I blame it on my artsy deficient genes).

It was great to be immersed in all the creativity that fueled the night. And to emerge after 2 & ½ hrs later feeling soberly encouraged was refreshing.

If you missed out on this year’s “gig”, do not to fret. They will be at it again next year with a brand new keyword. Light. So log onto to ignite, sigh up and stay tuned.

Yet another fashion post

This. Is. Cool. As.

From its collection to its funky website.

You've got to check it out. Womb

ohh… my heart is starting to flutter…..

Spring

Spring beckons an awakening to our winter slumber. With the emergence of new plant life brings along the renewal of our social engagements of dinner parties, the beloved barbeques and numerous outdoor recreational pass time. I cannot wait to set sail under the harbor bridge again and to soak in all that glorious weather. I simply LOVE this time of the year.

It has been a CRAZY start to spring for me. Work is rocketing off to “never-never” land, church activities and commitments have already filled up most of September. And speared all over my dairy are endless dinner and lunch appointments with enough food to feed a little country. =D

And to top off the exciting Spring saga, my parents have recently moved to Sydney!

Can you imagine the number of family gatherings we will be organizing, not to mention the many. many. MANY. long nights we’ll spend playing our beloved Big 2 card games. Don’t ask. It has become a family tradition through the years.

I say. Bring on the glorious life filled Spring!!! I’m excited. *Glee*

My Ten Dollars Earings

We Dream In Colour

I found this while browsing through a friend's blog and thought I'd post it. I just LOVE how funky some of the pieces are! Site

Remembered

A couple of weeks ago, my gf from Japan sent me an email saying her (could die from cuteness overload) almost 3 year old had asked if he could ride the Kobe ferries wheels with me. It had been over 3 months since my last visit to Japan (where I had my almost made me sick ferries wheel experience. IT was 15 STORIES high alright...!!). So I was absolutely delighted and flattered to hear that I was still in his 1Mbyte toddler selective memory card mind!!

Just look at that face and tell me you wouldn't feel the same.
*BEAM*

Time for another mid week shout out

I like Wednesdays.

I like them because we are now only 2 days away from the glorious weekend, and tomorrow is late night shopping which means ...... NO cooking!!

HAPPY MID WEEK EVERYONE!

Gion Festival

As promised....

A nostalgic moment please.....

An old friend of mine sent me pictures of Gion Festival, an annual event that is currently celebrated in the city of Kyoto (which I will post separately).

If you remember, same time last year, I posted pictures of the festival in my July 05 blog and did a short but (hopefully) detailed enough snippet about the festival. So if you want to read more about the purpose and origins of Gion Festival, you know where to look.

Cause I want to go down memory lane today. =)

This old friend and I (not forgetting another, we were 3) go way back. Way back to the days where long pigsy tails and neat pleads were our main and only focus in life. Back to the time where silly ideas like holding hands while swinging together on the swings in our neighborhood playground in demonstration of our friendship bond was our after school afternoon ambition. And acting out little skids that we wrote (mostly inspired by the movie Jaws.. haha.. it was huge back than alright!!), performing to an invisible audience only to end up belly up with laughter was how life was meant to be. haha.

I cannot help but smile when I think about our childhood memories. The hours spent with our ears glued to the earpiece of the phone, the countless sleepover nights and silly “before and after” makeover sessions we performed on each other. Hahaha… what sweet memories.

Years have gone by now and we are all grown up and adult like. So much so that 2 of my 0ldest friends are now mums and living out their lives in worlds that are apart from mine. But that unspoken bond once demonstrated by physic, now replaced by long distance silence broken only once a year when we made a pack to meet up in our motherland Singapore to fill in the gaps of stories and misadventures of life.

What sweet memories to live for and be surrounded by. I suddenly feel like a millionaire. No. Billionaire! Only that money can never buy the glow I am feeling right now. *BEAM*

A blog about nothing and secret world domination dreams!

About 1 & 1/2 years ago I decided to start a blog. I named it Imperial Salts:
Imperial: a character in my mandarin name that shyly screams royalty.
And Salts: because it was to be my electronic scrapbook of the little and insignificant things that season my life.

I did not have any big plans for it as I have neither any real political views and violent strong opinion of the ways of the world to share, nor dramatic life experiences for readers to indulge in or learn from. It was plainly the simple things in life that made me smile, or fume with frustration or ball up and just have a sulk over.

My readers were (or still are) a group of close friends that I find hard to catch up with on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis due to either impossibilities in the geographical sense or simply because we are all grown ups now and have our own little lives to run.

Whatever reasons it may be, I have gown very fond of this little hobby of mine (though sadly work has taken me away from it more often than I like these days) and in some ways, deep down inside, I am starting to secretly hope that perhaps word would have gotten out about this blog named Imperial Salts and it has started to spread far and wide! And perhaps I even dare secretly hope that in some ways, some 10,000miles away from home, someone is reading my little unassuming blog and having a smile or a frown or even a sulk the very same time as me.

Please spread the word!

Happy reading....!!

Just bec it's SO darn cute!!

I accidentally stumble upon this website game over the weekend and thought I'd post it.

The little pigs gave me heaps of much needed bluey Monday lunch time entertainment!!

It's absolutely mindless and just SO (wanna make u puke) DARN CUTE!!! I love it!!!

Top 8 not meant to be

Australia's world cup dream has abruptly and cruelly come to an end this morning after a penalty kick was awarded to Italy just minutes away from the whistle.

It was controversial, painful and oh SO undeserving.

The top 8 was not meant to be.

But let’s not take away what the Socceroos has done for Australia. We have made a mark in the international realms of football and have played amongst the top 16 teams in the world! Surely that alone is worth celebrating for.

So congratulations Socceroos! It has been a great ride.

GO Socceroos!

11:45pm, 45mins into the game.

Score 0-1 in Japan’s favour.

Anger mounted at the controversial goal.

Getting tired and restless.

Half time… toilet break and a quick silent prayer.

80mins….. waiting for a miracle now.

12.35am…. boy am I going to pay for it tomorrow…

Than.

Amongst the sleepiness and nail biting … the unimaginable happened.

Australia’s first and equalising goal by Tim Cahill!

Suddenly. There is HopE!!!

Come on!!!!!!! …. One MoRE…!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it happened!!!

Breathe held in before the realisation of a wining opportunity!

Jubilation sets in with Aloisi sealing Australia’s final goal.

Score. 3-1.

The whistle ….

VICTORY!!!!!!!!

I say!

What a way to draw the world’s attention to our first World Cup debut in 32 years!

Well done guys! And thanks for a great match Socceroos!!

Come what may Brazil!!! It’s GAME ON!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

Nature Care Clinic

I’ve just had the best massage of my life! A friend of mine booked us in for a much needed remedial massage yesterday. I had stayed up late the night before for the world cup opening game and was feeling the effects after. I was very happy that I’m going to get some treatment for my very sore and stiff neck and shoulders.

It was not our first time there but the lady I got yesterday was incredible. She has really strong fingers but they were not overpowering, and her soothing technique made me feel like snoozing in just under ¼ of an hour.

In short, I was completely relaxed and tense free at the end of the treatment. And it had only cost me $35 for 50mins worth.

If you live in Sydney. Check it out. Nature Care Clinic

Word of warning. It’s a college clinic which means you get student practitioners. The rooms are basic, and it’s pretty limited bookings. But for the price you pay. It’s worth giving it at least one go.

World Cup Fever

Australia has qualified to play in the prestigious 2006 FIFA World Cup. It’s THE king of all kings match in the soccer realms and the whole nation is sited.

Almost every second car has a little gold and green Socceroos flag waving proudly in the rear window. Good luck cheers shouting from all corners of the commercial world to the proud and esteemed team, already crowned as heroes for beating Uruguay in the qualifying match.

I myself (I have to admit) am not a real soccer enthusiast. Though I do enjoy participating in all the fuzz and jazz over 11 men running around madly chasing and manoeuvring a ball. But coming from Singapore, it’s hard to find a real course that would make crazing over a team worth while.

So when Australia made her way into this year’s world cup. I naturally was all hyped up for it. I now have a genuine course in supporting the sport by cheering on the national team of my adopted country. And judging by the performance of the Socceroos in the qualifying match, I trust that they will put up a good fight jammed packed with a truck load of world class football entertainment.

Bring it on!

Work and no play makes..... well.. u know...

I’ve been in my new job for a month over now. It’s still settling in times so things are still cosy and smooth sailing enough. Nothing much to say really… except for the fact that since I’ve starting work, I have found myself being booked in to an endless list of social events all snowballing one after the other! Most not planned and absolutely random and spontaneous!

I’m quite happy with my new ..well.. if you could call it a routine… and am definitely not complaining, though admittedly I would love to have a Sat of just couch sitting and reading. But these weekends curriculum has made the weeks go by really quickly and in a way, makes a week of hard work that much more rewarding!

It’s great!

And to top if off, a good friend of mine will be flying in for a quick visit in a couple of weeks and I've made arrangments to bump over whilst her stay in Sydney. I’ve been dying to visit Bondi markets for ages and now I’ve finally got someone that will willingly go with me!!!! What could be better!!!!

oh. Can I also mention that there is a looong weekend (public holiday) ahead? And come Monday. Japan meet's our very own Socceroos in our long awaited World Cup debut!

It can only go uphill from this on end. Woohoo!!!

Cat Fight

A cold wet night after dinner. Mel and I were settling in for a quiet night of dvds and hot mugs of tea.

“Burr... Salem, u wanna come snuggle on my lap?”

Blank stares at my bath robe……

“Salem…. you want to come sit with me instead….??”

“You know he will come to me. He loves this bath robe!….”

Mel starts to slowly lean back and folded his legs to make a basket like well…

Salem inches forward… Totally aware of what’s happening….

“Here… let me carry you up here.”

“Hey I called him first!!”

“But he loves me more!!!”

“That’s not true!! He’s not purring. Let him choose. Let go!”

“Ouch”

“Here… Come here Salem”

He jumped off the couch and onto his stretching post and gave us both a disapproving stare.

“Now look what you’ve done Melvin. …. He’s just staring at us now…”

“What??!”

Freebie

We have just checked into Singapore Changi Airport and are waiting to board air Vietnam to Ho Chin Mhin city. I spotted this free internet access while buying ourselves ice mocha and thought I'd take the opporunity to do a little blogging. yay!

Last night, we landed at Changi Airport at a quarter to 11pm. After a brief reunion with my parents and exchanges of hugs. We celebrated our reunion Singapore style by whisking off to a late night super of porridge and little pickled veges and meat (Teochew Porridge)!

We chatted, we ate, we laughed, we ate some more. It was great! I felt instantly at home. Meanwhile, a rat ran across the unpolished tiled floor of the little road side restuarant. We shrugged our shoulders and continued while Melvin politely declined eating and quietly sipped his canned ice tea.

Time running out! Got to rush.... Don't you just love free internet access!!!

See you all in Vietnam!!

Holiday frenzy

Oh. My. God!

In 2 days, both Melvin and I will be flying in to Singapore and then Vietnam for 6 days, than back to Singapore for 4 days. And I will be off to glorious cherry blossom spring Japan!!!! AHHH!!

Yes. I will be making a second trip to the land of the rising sun and will be spending a week with my dear friend in Kyoto!!!

I can hardly contain myself! Every living cell in my body is bursting out in anticipation.

What a fabulous April it will be! I’m absolutely high from my holiday frenzy!!!

See you all in about a month!!!

Though I will be logging on and updating all our advantages from time to time, so take a peep every now and than yah! =D

Time out

Mel and I had planned to take a long holiday to visit his sister and brother-in-law in London & a detour to Paris in September this year. We put aside a travel budget and started saving up for it, accumulated our leaves and took note of any flights promotions on offer. We were really looking forward to it.

Earlier this month, I accepted a management role in a new company and will be starting work in June.

In that instance, all our travel plans flew spectacularly out the window.

It was a hard decision to make (not so much for the holidays) but because I have come to enjoy my current job and have grown very comfortable with the company's culture and its surroundings. However, I understand that one has to move on to the greater world out there and take chances from time to time in order to grow in ones career.

So come May. I will be the new States Sales Manager for a switchgear manufacturing company. I will have a team to lead, business plans to draft and goals to map for the future. My direct manager will be the managing director of the company and I will be THE "man" in-charge of the NSW office. And to tell you the truth, if I allowed myself to take all that in one sitting. The apprehension of the responsibilities that awaits me is sometimes far more overwhelming than the excitement of a management role itself! eek!

Anyhow.

With my new job commencing in May, plans for any major holiday this year were no longer a reality. So instead of waiting till 07, I am seizing the opportunity now to take a month off in between jobs. One full month starting April. That should be enough to settle my nerves and take a well-deserved break!

I can’t wait to feel the pre-holiday buzz again and to smell the sweetness of freedom in the air.

We’ve already booked our tickets to Singapore and are making plans for Vietnam and Cambodia!!!

Come what may. I’m ready for any challenges that await me now!!!

The delusional empowerment of holidays! I love it!

Wowhoo!!!

At last.... I'm home alone

It has been way too long since I spent a quiet evening all by my lonesome self. Back in uni when I was living by myself, I treasure the nights when I could throw my feet up, slump my aching body on my comfy lounge smothered in fluffy pillows. One hand armed with a tube of Connoisseur Cookies and Cream, the other, a glass of red and in my DVD, a couple of good quality chick flicks from Blockbuster videos. And just drift away into a world of fantasy and delusional high sugar indulgence!

Very hard to hear yourself speak sometimes after you get married let alone a home free night.

SO. You could imagine how delighted I was when Mel had to stay over a night for a business convention.

I didn’t hit the bed till 1am that night and though I was twitching the morning after from sugar high. I was sublimely happy.

Women. Aren’t we a funny specie?

Bamboo art

Some months ago, we had a working bee day to eradicate bamboo that had run wild in our back creek. I have become a fan of bamboos (thanks to Jamie Durie) and watching them being hacked and dumped like worthless trash made me feel like I had to do something.

So. I decided to salvage some and start a little art project of my own.

It’s not great in the picture. But boy am I proud of my mahogany painted sticks now proudly nested in my chrome vase in the corner of my living room.

I sense a 2nd project coming on..

Stay tuned… yay!

Salem

Salem had recently developed tiny crystals in his bladder. It got to the point that it prevented him from going to the toilet and made him really irritable and uncomfortable.

I sent him to the vet and they did all sorts of things to get him to wee normally again. The hardest thing to vision was the catheter, which they inserted through his “manhood” to drain out the urine from his bladder. The final option if that didn’t work was to go through an operation that will literally transform him into a girl. Arg. It was not a pretty sight.

Anyhow. He managed to escape the operation but the poor thing spent a week in the hospital and managed to rack up a hefty bill of $1031.00.

AARRGGG!!!

I swear. If he clogs up again, we are renaming him Jessy.

A soft mushy weekend

Over the weekend, we attended a friend’s wedding. The reception and ceremony was held along one of Sydney’s beautiful and private northern beaches. It was a perfect day. The sun was shining and the sea breeze was cool and refreshing.

The bridal party was beautiful. The bride’s maids were all in dark sandstone frocks with little fragrant frangipani posies. The men in their traditional black suits and the bride in a long sleek flowing gown. They were beautiful.

I love going to weddings. It just brings out all the softness and mushiness in people and engulfed it all into a night’s celebration that embraces and celebrates the vulnerability that (let’s face it) we are all so reluctant to show these days.
I had a ball and I was so happy to be able to share all that soft mushiness with the man of my life.

Parents-in-laws

I found this while I was clearing out my camera. Thought I’d post it and have a BIG shot out to my fabulous parents-in-law whom in their collected 7 weeks stay with us have done nothing but fed us with the finest food and warm our home with their wonderful company.

So thank you for your care and love!

Come and visit soon!

Melbourne

I flew in to Melbourne for a week of work. I was kind of dreading it because I will be alone and away from the city and all the wonderful shopping. So you could imagine how happy I was when my good friend from Singapore rang to tell me that she would be in town the same week as me!!!

It was great catching up with her. And in a shopping hub like Melbourne! We spell trouble. Just 1st day of her visit. I had already bought a fabulous pair of golden hues, a delicious cherry red silk skirt and a couple of cute little camis.

What a trip it was. Who says work never go with pleasure!*grin*

Cool paper bags

Someone sent these pictures to me. Some of these are pretty cool.

Back in Action

Ok. So I've been slacking off and have not written in my blog for like what.... a month!

January was absolutely crazy!! Mel’s parents were over for a holiday. A couple of friends flew in and stayed over. Lots of dinner parties. Lots of family lunches. Chinese New Year celebrations!! We climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I celebrated my 30th birthday! EEK! And started some mini-reno projects around the house.

Phew!

SO. I’ll be getting right into again, and start filling you all in on my latest gos, coolest trends, latest craze. AND more shopping sites 2006 has to offer.

Stay tuned….

"Twenty something" no more

31st of January 2006. I sadly bid my much beloved “twenty something” title goodbye.

Events from a couple of days before;
- At the gym: Trend mill key in age blinked @ 29.
- Sydney Bridge Climb Declaration Form: age group (25 to 29) ticked.
- Participated in a telemarketer survey for Sydney Herald – accepted category: Late twenties independent professional.

I tell ya. I was adamant to use my "twenty something” title to the very end.

2 days later.

I am now a full fledge, 100%, settled, happy woman. (Alicia Keys "A woman's worth" playing in the back ground).

And to celebrate my womanhood. I had a wonderful 30th Birthday Bash. A yummy classic luxious afternoon tea party! I am after all twenty something no more!! hehe..

A big shout out to all my friends who were there to celebrate this "big" leap with me. =D

Rock on!