miss j* live

2006-10-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

aloha!

2006-09-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

what did the three sisters get up to in honolulu?

day 1 - getting settled
we arrived at 9am on saturday morning and went straight to the "pink palace" to check in. we encountered a few hitches along the way...

hitch #1: amanda was still drugged up from her sleeping pill. at custom's the guy asked her what she did for a living. her response: "turn around." -> !!!

hitch #2: liz got me to pick up her luggage from the carousel. she pointed it out - i saw, i lifted and we left. when we got to the hotel and wanted to change into our bikinis, liz realised she took the wrong luggage! *slaps forehead*

nevertheless, we soldiered on to mai tai bar at our hotel and got some cocktails and food for breakunch.

at mai tai bar

we were still kinda jetlagged on the saturday so after lunch we went back to the room to chill before heading out to get something to eat in the evening. we headed to this place called "chibo" (a.k.a. chibai - for you hokkien folk out there) and then...

oh yes...let the shopping begin...

$500 later, i walked out of guess with 3 pairs of jeans and a corsette... *hi5*

day 2 - fun in the sun

(l-r) after a day of fun in the sun; from our balcony

at the pink palace courtyard

(l-r) at dukes for a drink before dinner; at the cheesecake factory for dinner

by the time we got home from dinner, it was decided that amanda and i were burnt - confirmed lobsters, over.and.out.

day 3 - when a girl can't sun tan, she shops

we started the day pretty early for a morning walk up diamond head crater. i honestly doubted my ability to walk up the damn thing, but when i saw an 80 year old grandmother doing it, it became my challenge to ensure that i climbed up each and every step faster than the grandmother. yes, indeed - i kicked her ass!

(l-r) at the bottom of the crater; half way up the crater

as much as we wanted to go back to the beach, our bodies wouldn't allow us to. so instead, we spent the afternoon shopping. yes, shopping.

$400 later at christian dior, i walked out with a pair of very nice sunglasses.

$200 later at chanel, i walked out with a nice gift for someone.

$200 later at tiffany & co., i walked out with a heart locket necklace and 45 minutes with a very cute sales man.

to be continued...

leaving on a jet plane...

2006-08-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

...don't know when i'll be back again

(actually i do know when i'll be back again *sigh*)

farewell my sushi friend

2006-08-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

mengy left sydney back to perth for good on saturday.

i'm gonna miss him heaps...

just wish him all the best in his new business venture.

hilarious.

2006-08-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

LEARN CHINESE IN 5 MINUTES

(You MUST read them out loud or it doesnt make as much sense)

ENGLISH ....................... CHINESE WAY
1) Thats not right........ Sum Ting Wong
2) Are you harboring a fugitive................... Hu Yu Hai Ding
3) See me ASAP.............. Kum Hia Nao
4) Stupid Man................................ Dum Fuk
5) Small horse.................. Tai Ni Po Ni
6) Did you go to the beach?.................... Wai Yu So Tan
7) I bumped in to a coffee table................. Ai Bang Mai Fa Kin Ni
8) I think you need a face lift...................... Chin Tu Fat
9) Its very dark in here........................... Wao So Dim
10) I thought you were on a diet............... Wai Yu Mun Ching
11) This is a tow away zone....................... No Pah King
12) Staying out of sight.............................. Lei Ying Lo
13) He's cleaning his automobile................ Wa Shing Ka
14) Your body odor is offensive.................. Yu Stin Ki Pu
15) Great..................... Fa Kin Su Pah
16) Whats up........................Wa Sa Pen Ing

when you least expect it...

2006-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

kar meng came over for dinner last night. he picked me up from work around 6pm and we headed back to my new place (yes, i still need to post some pics up...). we were walking up the footpath towards my front door. i opened the door expecting to be greeted by my fabulous maxi but given his new garden etc. it cannot be guaranteed he'll always be at the door. so i opened the door to find... no maxi. i went upstairs to find him... still no maxi. i opened the back door to the garden. yep - you guessed it! no maxi. it quite hit me that maxi was not in the house. i checked all the bedrooms. no maxi. stressed as anything my brain could not function. the reality slowly hit that my baby was gone. maxi had run away. thank goodness for mengy - he remained calm and tried to ask me a series of questions by my brain couldn't think. i felt sick to my stomach and broke down on the sidewalk in front of my house. then he started to ask me if i had the north sydney pound number. the pound?! of course not! why would i ever need the number to the pound?! so mengy suggested we walk/drive around to look for maxi. obviously i was in no state to drive so mengy did the more gracious thing and drove me around. as i looked out the window i felt fear. what if maxi is dead on the street? what if someone has taken him and will never return my baby? mengy finally drove us to the nearby park. i got out of the car (it was pitch black) and started to scream his name (yes, like a madwoman!).

out of the shrubs... my white fluffy maxi appeared. OHMYGOSHINEARLY DIED FROM HAPPINESS.

the pain i felt when i almost lost him... i can only imagine the pain i will feel if something bad actually does happen...

maxi... please don't run away again...

things that p!ss me off

2006-07-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

why.

why do unemployed/slow/geriatrics types have to stroll down pitt st mall during peak hour at lunch?

move people. MOVE!

fun times

2006-07-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

once again, i have been missing in action from this blog. apologies to those who read this - but i don't really think that many read this blog so my mia status shouldn't be too much of an issue.

"so miss j, miss j - what have you been up to?", you ask... well miss j has been up to many a fun times.

starting with a trip to the hunter valley a couple of weeks back - a few members of my project team decided to head up to the hunter valley for a relaxing weekend away. it was one of those 'team bonding' weekends and we had so much fun together just being silly. i think that our silliness was unwelcomed in many-a-wineries but who cares, we were only there for the weekend.

still on work matters, we recently had a huge celebration to mark the end of phase 1 of our project. it was held in a private room at the establishment (yes, yes - the meat market) but when there is free flow alcohol, you can be guaranteed a good night out!

and finally, the visitors to sydney have continued over the past few weeks. i managed to catch up with alan and ben, i ran into michael cai and his gf cheryl, melina and grace were in town (though i didn't catch up with them) and finally, my beloved rachel has been in town.

we caught up for breakfast and the one and only 'le petit creme' for breakfast a couple of sundays ago. rach intended to whack breakfast and attempted to order a serve of eggs benedict and french toast. the guy taking her order simply laughed and told her just to stop at the eggs benedict - so she did.

then last weekend i took her and her friend, carl, out for dinner at my favourite italian restaurant - cafe nino. we had the garlic chilli king prawns, fetticine alla pia (lobster), spaghetti crab and a tiramisu to share. rach and i were mocked by the waiter when it came to ordering our coffees. rach ordered a short machiatto, i wanted something without milk so the waiter suggested an espresso. rach agreed that she wanted something with milk, hence the short mach, the waiter laughed and told rach that the short mach came inclusive with milk. at that point he gave up and just made us short blacks with a side of milk.

after dinner, i took rach out to bar europa, we crashed a masquerade party but the cute, innocent chinese girl face can get you very far in life - so i have come to realise since last weekend. rach and carl called it quits by 2, but jane, chern and i soldiered on to lady lux @ the cross. funny night with awesome people!

the finally, on sunday - rach, sam, grace and i went to the infamous 'rise' for dinner. we had the omakase menu and it was great!

will update this blog soon with pics from the weekend. yes i have been lazy and hence no pics.

i'm really looking forward to the weekend.

we are settling our new house tomorrow and i can't wait to move in!

my dilemma

2006-06-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

i'll be staying up late tonight to watch the australia vs japan match on tv.

i am an avid fan of the japanese team, i have been since i started watching soccer back in 1998. i always enjoyed watching the japs play, especially hidetoshi nakata. in fact, i think he is the reason why i started to watch soccer during the france 98 world cup.

australia has finally made it into the world cup after 32 years. it would be ruthless for me to say that i don't want australia to win - of course i want them to win! but i really want japan to do well this year too.

i went to TAB to place a bet. i stared at the computer screen for ages before i made my decision to bet.

i decided to sit on the fence... i've bet for a draw. :)

i leave you with my two favourite players for tonight's match: hidetoshi nakata and harry kewell.

she can run, but she cannot hide.

2006-06-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

i haven't given up on my blog, i've just been really busy. it really is no excuse but in between work, visitors, family, maxi and sleep - i really have not managed to find much time to blog lately. so what have i been doing these past couple of months you ask? well here is what i've been up to, in summary:

trip to melbourne
started off in the 2nd week of april when i flew to melbourne to surprise mel (and t) on her birthday. spent the weekend celebrating mel c's birthday with what we love doing best. eating. we went to karaoke on friday night, had a late lunch on saturday at my favourite - pelligrini's on bourke st, ate pizza on sat night before heading out to some club at the crowne casino. on sunday, we headed out for breakfast were mel c, t and i divulged 2 breakfasts each, then drove to visit some wineries. then in the evening we ate vietnamese, and PLENTY of it to, and then had hot chocolate at a chocolate dessert shop, where mel c and t caned the dessert menu.

girls trip in sydney
i was a very lucky girl this year. my best friends all flew in to sydney to celebrate my 24th birthday. i had a black n white themed party at the world bar and to my surprise, everyone adhered to the dress code. i couldn't take any time off work but i managed to take the girls out for dinner most nights. the highlight (besides spending time with the girls) was the present i got from the girls. on the eve of my birthday, we climbed the sydney harbour bridge on a lovely evening, and then they serenaded me with the birthday song. it's rare to be able to find good, loyal and loving friends, and i feel so blessed to have 5 of them.

work work work
april and may were extremely busy months for me. in the past 2 months, i have made 2 trips to melbourne and 1 trip to brissie, i've had to work till midnight for around 6 weeks, non stop. all in all, work has taken over and ruled my life. but my hard work has paid off. my performance review was tops, and i won a bi-yearly award for being a 'top performer' so at least the recognition sets me up for a decent pay increase at the end of this performance year.

visitors to sydney
besides having the girls over during my birthday, i've been lucky enough to have some visitors pass through sydney for a multitude of reasons.
s came down under for an IT conference in may so i took him out a few times for dinner and lunch, showed him aussie things like harry's pies, good food, kingscross, the harbour, the opera house and the bridge. unfortunately he was most impressed with something very non australian - krispy kremes and the casino. (!!)
a also came across for work. i spent saturday shopping with him last week, took him to bondi junction, paddington markets and tiffany's. i made sure i helped him to pick out nice gifts for his gf, but more importantly his mum and sisters (*wink mel c*).
my parents have also been in sydney for the past 2 weeks. mum is about to head back to perth but dad will be here for a couple more weeks. it's always so wonderful having them in town. it's strange because i only really realize how much i have missed them once they actually arrive in sydney. strange i know, but true. mum and dad love maxi and though mum is still terrified of touching him, i feel that she does share a strong and loving bond with him and i look forward to the day where she dares to touch him.

long weekends
since my last entry, we've had 3 public holidays/long weekends - easter, anzac day and queen's birthday. during the easter long weekend i was obviously in sydney as it was my birthday.
for the anzac day holiday period, we hired a holiday home at the central coast and spent some time out there. maxi's parents live near shelly beach (where we stayed) so we took him to visit his family. it just so happened his breeder was dogsitting his brother and sister (from the same litter) so it was great for maxi to see his mummy, daddy, older brother and younger sister.
and this long weekend has been spent doing a million and 1 things. i managed to get a day in lieu from work on friday so we drove down to canberra for the day. went to the chairman and yip's for a nice lunch, and then went to visit the parliament house. we went on an educational tour and it was indeed, quite educational.

world cup
i am definitely suffering from world cup fever. i've bought my adidas zip up jacket, supporting the brazilian team. i know i must sound very unpatriotic to australia but i promise that when australia plays against brazil, i will sticky tape australia on the back of my jacket. but i do love the brazilian team and i hope that they can win back to back titles. and ronaldhino is just too good.

maxi
maxi turned 1 on the 19th april. we had a birthday party for him and his friends on good friday and he absolutely loved the attention. he's becoming more and more adorable each day and i hope that one day we can buy him a little sister for him to look after and play with.

so now that i've caught you up with the daily adventures of miss j, i will start to blog on a regular basis once more.

love lots... and promise to update you with pics soon. xx

don't believe everything you read...

2006-05-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

"in this moment you think of love as something you don't need"!?! haha... are you for real?

so long... farewell...

2006-03-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

it's time to say... goodbye...

[to duncan...]

[and to karen...]

i have two friends from work moving on to greener pastures...

duncan has decided to something useful with his life and will be driving around australia... (apparently it's very australian to do this... i personally think its very un-australian to waste time driving when you could easily reach the destination in 1/10th of the time)

whilst karen has decided to do the responsible thing. she is getting hitched and moving to london with her soon-to-be hubby... ~how sweet~

and finally... it is friday... bye bye work!

i don't think so...

2006-03-22T15:23:00.000-08:00

so according to this site, i look like anna kournikova... WHAT THE? i've been looking at this for quite some time now and i just don't see the resemblance - this site is obvious crap... but at least it entertained me for a good hour this morning.

brisvegas baby... brisvegas!

2006-03-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

my sister (liz) and i headed to brisvegas (a.k.a. brisbane) last weekend. the purpose was originally to look at investment properties, but it ended up being a nice weekend of sisterly bonding, eating and sleeping.

we headed up on saturday morning (early morning flights are NEVER a good thing, especially when you only had 2 hours sleep the night before). we checked in and had breakfast at the qantas club lounge. it was way too early for me to even think about eating so i nibbled on some cornflakes whilst feeling sorry for myself for being dragged out of bed so early in the morning.

we arrived in brisvegas a little after 8:00am... as we were walking out of the airplane, these two vicious little 4 and 5 year old brothers started to bash each other. when i say bash, i mean *BASH* - the slaps they were giving each other were powerful. their dad was obviously very used to seeing this kind of behaviourand wasn't really too disturbed, he simply said, "boys, that's not nice - stop it" - in an all too calm tone.

we caught a cab to the hotel we stayed at, but when we got into the city it was jammed! jammed on a saturday morning at 8:30am! brisvegas is happening i tells ya... no really, it was some st. patrick's day celebration so all the roads were blocked etc.

we finally made it to our hotel, checked in and went to grab breakfast. i'm so classy i decided to have a bacon n egg mcmuffin meal from mcdonalds - yeah baby! then we went to see place in ashgrove, had a nice lunch in chinatown and bought myself a strapless dress from the markets at fortitude valley. after lunch i was completely exhausted so we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before our 6pm dinner at e'cco. i wasn't feeling all that great, so after dinner we made our way back to the hotel and watched 'rumour has it' before falling asleep at the early hour of 10pm.

[liz and i - before dinner]

liz and i woke up very refreshed and very well rested on sunday morning. we headed out for an early morning breakfast/walk. we had breakfast at the mall, then walked to south bank. en route, we passed this amazing building called the 'treasury'. at first we thought it was the QLD Treasury building, then we saw this funky cafe and thought - "cool, we can eat here later"... then all these asians walk out and we were thinking, "hmm.. odd!"... then i saw these security guards! not long after, we realised it was the conrad treasury - CASINO! haha... we wasted no time - ran in and ran straight for the pokies... unfortunately on that day, we were both losers...

[did i mention that i hate walking?]

[i'm laying an egg: please do not disturb me...]

[the woman is a freak, actually no, that woman is my sister]

now, onto a more interesting part of the trip... liz and i were walking down elizabeth street and passed this camping shop called "disposals" (i know, such an unfortunate name)... and something caught my eye and i stopped. my sister asked what was wrong... then i started to point at the following poster:

[what the?]

anyway, so sunday was our 'pamper me!' day - we booked a session at the dome retreat on sunday afternoon, but before we headed there liz and i had a nice long lunch at 'il centro'. i had the best lunch ever! and when i say the best, i really mean it. we ordered this meal that was a trio of crabs (read: peking duck style but with crab instead). words can't describe how good it was, but i would fly to brisbane just to eat this meal again.

[top-bottom: sandcrab and avocado salad; softshell crab bruschetta; and sandcrab lasagne]

it was a great weekend getaway, we packed a lot into our trip and definitely enjoyed each others company. look forward to our next sister holiday, not sure when it will be but i'm sure it will be worth the wait!

international women's day

2006-03-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

yesterday was international women's day and my company hosted a day of activities for all the women in the workplace. initially i thought the day would just be filled with boring powerpoint presentations and to be a forum where women could get together to man bash the males they worked with... but nooooooooooo it was nothing like that.

in fact, it was very encouraging and enlightening. we got to hear stories of powerful women around the world who have successfully managed a career with having a family. i always thought that the women in the workplace thing was all about men not giving us the opportunity... but it's not all about that. it's also about us women learning how to set our own boundaries, being prepared and knowing how to maximise our potential. agreed, there are men out there who make it tough for us, but we need to learn how to take away something positive from what would ordinarily be viewed as a negative situation.

so to all my 'sisters' out there who are wanting to be successful at work, at home or socially... we can definitely do it. stay focused, stay strong and true to yourself, your dreams and your values!

*cheers*

fill me in...

2006-02-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

yes indeed... so much to catch up on but really i feel that it's not really appropriate to talk about things which happened weeks ago.

the highlight of my past 3 weeks was last weekend when i took a weekend trip down to sydney to meet up with my home girl mel c for 36 hours of (what felt like) non stop eating.

i arrived at 7:40am... headed back to mel's lovely home and soon after set out on a whirlwind cab ride to a place called "mart 130". we couldn't really fine the place so mel c decided to ask a girl for directions... at which the girl replied..."ohhhhh you mean 'tram 130'?"... *how embarrassment!

so many highlights from the trip... but what it did make me realise is that true friends are precious... one in a million... and i know that whatever distance may fall between mel c and i, it will never change the bond that we share. i would continue to ramble about my trip but mel c summed it all up really well here, so i'm not going to reinvent the wheel...

i had the best time in melbourne. i love the place, but i think it's more the fact that i really missed mel c in my life... all i can say is... APRIL BABY!!!!!!

live to work... work to live?

2006-02-06T01:36:00.000-08:00

i often question whether i'm living to work, or working to live. since i started working, i've always placed such a high emphasis on work and making a career for myself. but recently, i was asked whether i am living to work, or working to live.

the question stunned me as i honestly had no idea which of the two i was doing. i would love to say that i work to live. on first inspection, it may seem to be the case - the money that i earn is used completely to fund my lifestyle. i pay bills, i pay rent, i shop, i eat, i drink and i have a dog. so it would seem highly plausible that i'm working to live. but on a deeper inspection, it may also appear that i live to work. i've been lucky that in recent times, my chargeable hours have been kept to the standard 8 hour day. however, if a project came along that would require me to work 18 hours a day, i would happily do so too. it's not that i love to work, but i do believe that my work is important.

so do i live to work? i really have no idea, and i'm really too scared to explore the truth because i really don't think i can handle the truth.

fit not fat

2006-02-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

i've never been one to partake in recreational activities of any sort. by recreational, i mean anything that requires me to exert physical effort. so you can imagine how unfit and unhealthy i may be. in fact, i'm so lazy that i would drive 20 metres down the road to buy milk... and when i look for places to park, i find the place closest to the lift to ensure that my walking distance is minimised to the best of my ability.

exercise has never been a priority for me. i admit, i have been blessed with good genetics, that i don't have to work out to keep my body relatively in shape. i did join fitness first about 3 years ago in attempt to 'get fit'. the result you may ask? i went 3 times a week, didn't see much change in my body, then became rather demotivated to exercise cos i thought 'what the heck! i am dedicating 20 minutes of my life on this damn bike and no change at all!', i ended up going to the gym only to talk to my girlfriends grace and emily (who used to go at the same time as me) and in the end, was asked to leave the gym as i was a source of distraction... the instructors exact words to me were...'i think you should stop exercising your mouth and start exercising the rest of your body...' my response? i just left, got a medical certificate from my doctor saying that i could no longer work out at the gym... and since then have not stepped near anything that looks anything remotely similar to exercise.

but alas, age has caught up and i now realise that i should exercise not for the sake of purely physical reasons, but just to be healthy. i do many things to my body already that are bad... i feel that now the only redeeming thing i can do for my insides, is to start working out. i've done pretty well so far. i've been going for either a jog or a swim 3 times a week before work. i'm still yet to see any major results but i must admit, i do feel less guilty everytime i shovel a handful of chips down my throat and everytime i pick up a glass of wine (or 10)...

so here is to a fitter me! *cheers*

where my shoes have taken me

2006-01-31T15:44:00.000-08:00

where have your shoes taken you?

gong xi, gong xi, gong xi ni...

2006-01-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

it's the year of the doggie... which means that it is finally my year! i hope that the doggie year will bring you all lots of happiness, love, good luck, prosperity and good health.

my conversation with a childhood friend

2006-01-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

i was talking to my childhood friend today... we grew up together, went to primary school for a bit together... played dress-ups together... drank together... u name it... we experienced it together...

we got to talking about dogs and he mentioned that he was going to be buying a dalmation soon... the conversation went on and on... here are some funnies from our conversation:

talking about desexing dogs...

V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
hmm...when it becomes unmanageable..ill de-sex them
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
but if its ok..i wont
miss j* says:
nah
miss j* says:
need to do it before 6 months
miss j* says:
otherwise they get scarred
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
especially male..they lose their bite if they get the chop
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
oh yah thats rite
miss j* says:
maxi hasn't lost his bite
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
some do ler..bigger dogs do....
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
makes a difference..somewhat
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
but yah...see how lor..
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
if scar then scar lor...its not like its gonna be on a catwalk or anything
miss j* says:
no!!
miss j * says:
as in EMOTIONALLY SCARRED YOU FOOL!!
------------------

talking about naming our dogs (i first suggested 'busta' or 'bailey' or 'beau')

V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
eh eh...name name...
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
bailey? sounds like the liquor..don like
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
beau..sounds aussie...don like
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
busta...
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
gimme more
miss j* says:
call it bb jai!
miss j* says:
hahaha
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
hahahaha
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
bb jai...
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
u have the permanent image of this fluffy white sack of fur still in ur mind rite...
V o C E N E S Q U E ™ 2 0 0 6 - * €..* says:
its a dalmatian for godsake...a big dog
miss j* says:
hahahaa

14 Things to do at K-mart

2006-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

1. Get 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they aren't looking.
2. Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. Make a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the rest rooms.
4. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in housewares. and see what happens.
5. Go the Service Desk and ask to put a bag of M&M's on lay-by.
6. Move a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. Set up a tent in the camping department and tell other shoppers you'll invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding department.
8. When a clerk asks if they can help you, begin to cry and as! k 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'
9. Look right into the security camera; use it as a mirror, and pick your nose.
10. Dart around the store suspiciously loudly humming the "Mission Impossible" theme.
11. In the auto department, practice your "Madonna look" using different size funnels.
12. Hide in a clothing rack and when people browse through, say "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!"
13. When an announcement comes over the loud speaker, assume the fetal position and scream "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"

( And; last, but not least!)

14. Go into a fitting room and shut the door and wait a while; and then yell, very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

birthdays galore...

2006-01-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

the weekend of birthday celebrations started on friday with my sister, amanda's birthday dinner at kobe jones, king street wharf. we had a fine selection of foods... starting with kobe jones' infamous no. 1 special, followed by 3 sushi rolls: the crunchy roll; the volcano roll; and the spider roll, agedashi tofu, beef tataki and baked dynamite scallops. we had some cocktails and wine at dinner and decided to go home before proceeding to minsky's bar. thankfully the birthday girl was too tired to go out and we stayed home to watch a dvd. i have elected not to reveal what the dvd was as i feel that it is way too embarrassing for me to admit to watching such trash on a friday night at home, sober.

saturday was danielle's birthday so we headed to mars lounge at surry hills. there was another birthday party there that night and lucky for us it was themed. we first thought it was a pimp 'n' hoe party, but later it was revealed that the party was themed to come dressed as something starting with 's'. it all made sense... all the girls decided to come dressed as sluts. there was a santa's little helper slut, a snow white slut, a stripper slut and just a plain slut (amongst other characters). quite amusing but very distasteful and disturbing at the same time. anyway, the night was great... nice to hang out with the girls who made me feel welcome in this strange city called sydney.

to finish off the weekend, danielle had a bbq on the sunday afternoon at her place... she called it the hangover bbq... rather appropriate as many of us looked and felt like we had just been to hell and back.

do you have mad woman syndrome?

2006-01-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

i was chatting to t on msn today and we were talking about women being overly sensitive and moody during THAT time of the month. we talked about the issue for a while trying to figure out symptoms, cures and actions for prevention.

unfortunately, we concluded that there will always be one week (give or take a few days) in every month that any given woman will suffer from an evil disease which cannot be mitigated, is unexplainable and incurable. this horrid disease is what my friend rachael from uni commonly refers to as 'mad woman syndrome'.

mad woman syndrome (abb. mws) is defined as the female act of being overly sensitive and moody for no particular reason. it requires that the man is obligated to being patient, to forgive the unreasonable female behaviour he may encounter and that he will endeavour to understand that no matter what the lady may say or do during this period (pardon the pun), such as attempting to 'break up' (seriously, when this type of threat is said when mws is prevalent, it really doesn't count), it will all be forgotten about once the syndrome has passed.

symptoms for this disease include:

unexplainable temper tantrums
e.g. your boyfriend meets your for lunch but you chuck a tantrum because he didn't say anything about the fact that you didn't use black mascara, instead you decided to you dark grey.

unreasonable requests
e.g. asking your boyfriend to drive 2 hours away to buy you a krispy kreme just to prove that he loves you.

expecting that your boyfriend suddenly develops the ability to read your mind
e.g. telling you boyfriend you don't mind if he goes home when in your mind you really don't want him to leave. then when he goes home, you get upset, throw a tantrum and get sulky. i mean surely he could have read your mind and known that when u said 'go home it's late' u actually meant 'it's so nice of you to stay, can you please stay all night?'

cures for this disease include:
there are no cures

how to prevent from getting this disease:

if you are a woman, unfortunately you are born with it and there is nothing you do can prevent you from getting this disease.

if you are a man and believe you had mws, please contact your nearest psychologist - you need some serious help.

please contact the mws helpline on 1800-i-am-a-mad-woman for more information.

my pleasant surprise

2006-01-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

for the past few weeks i have been ranting and raving about wanting to see zhang zi yi's new movie - memoirs of a geisha. i read the novel (no kidding) a while ago and i remember it to be one of the best i've read to date (keep in mind, miss j doesn't really read so comparisons are somewhat limited). on wednesday, i received a pleasant surprise from ian. he sent a dozen roses and 2 tickets to memoirs of a geisha. he says it was to shut me up from talking about it all the time - i think it's because he fancies me... (*wink*) so i guess i have to take him to see it with me?

another thing that i'm excited about is an upcoming trip to melbourne. i haven't been to melbourne since 1999 and back then, i had no idea what it meant to shoptillyoudrop. i am now older, now wiser and to a limited degree, more financially able to experience melbourne at its best! not only that - i also get to spend then entire weekend with my sister mel c!

t and mel c are also planning a trip to sydney for the weekend of my birthday! WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR?!?! can't wait!!