Day 3: Rise and sleep again

My finger throbbed with pain the whole of today. I spent ages inspecting it to see if it had any cuts or bruises or something that caused its pain, but found nothing.

Then I remembered. I burnt it against the frying pan this morning while frying an egg for my bacon and egg sandwich breakfast.

Anyway! On to Day 3, perhaps one of the more interesting days, but oh-so-tiring.

From Brisbane AMTA conference 2011

Decided, who needs more than 3 hours of sleep, and got up at the insane hour of 4am. No, scratch that, make it 3:30am.

Day 2: Brisbane

Day 2 started with breakfast~! Checked out of apartment and left luggage behind. Walked around nearby and found a rather populated cafe, decided it's safe to try, and it turned out to be really good.

From Brisbane AMTA conference 2011

Really liked how they used naan bread rather than toasts, and I absolutely loved the olive oil salsa.

Day 1: Sunshine Coast!

So last year I had a couple of posts dedicated to Melbourne because that was where the previous AMTA conference was held. This year, it was in Brisbane, so I headed up there. Unfortunately, next year I won't have anywhere new to go to- it's in Sydney!

From Brisbane AMTA conference 2011

The wonderful thing about Queensland is their transport. Definitely not as primitive as Sydney and its paper tickets. They use a "Go card", which works the same way the Octopus card in HK and in Singapore. Tap in when you get on the bus, tap out when you get off. I find myself fumbling for my card when I'm getting off because I forget about tapping off. How noob.

Just Chillin'

So it's been a week since I came back and things have been getting back to normal pretty quickly. Sure helps that I had a presentation to do the next day after touching down, it was a great way to sink right backinto reality.

From Brisbane AMTA conference 2011

Though I did get a couple of days to just chill out in the sun and splash around in waters.

=D going to do long entries next time when I have time....

Where sun rises at 5:20am

Was hit with a sudden wave of incredible tiredness, and proceeded to climb into bed for a sleep. 2 hours went by. All I dreamt about was playing the violin in a music therapy session with orchestral members playing cello and violins with me...

Woke up feeling like I just worked my arms off, yet it was such a good "dream" session that I wish I had it recorded so I can just use whatever I played as my composition and hand it in as is.

It's times like these when I wish I can keep a record of dreams in avi so I can rewatch them anytime.

On another note, I have returned from Brisbane's 37th Annual AMTA conference! :D

From Brisbane AMTA conference 2011

And have lots of pictures to blog about, but I really need to do some work for now.

Will be back!

Congratulations!

From Weeks 29-???

Ok, so this isn't wine or champagne, but Congratulations to one of my best friends on her engagement! :D The first in our (not so) little group of high school friends!

Oh, and happy moon festival too!

XD

Tradition?

A bit of a sentimental post, this one will be, because I just read my sister's blog post about Mid Autumn Festival (Moon cakes!) and how her husband's family organised a traditional lantern get together. Of course, growing up in Singapore, we get the traditions of walking around the neighborhood with lanterns and eating moon cake, dripping wax from burning candles into water and watching it solidify into pretty dots.

Unfortunately, in Sydney, we've pretty much outgrown those traditions too. It's not about whether we're Gen Y or Gen X, it's about where we are... my parents did buy a couple of boxes of moon cakes, and we did hang some small lanterns up. Otherwise... hm...

From Weeks 29-???

They say that once you move from one country to another, you adapt to their culture in ways like speaking their language and dressing like the locals, but one thing that doesn't get lost is the food. I still like my Asian soy milk (and yes it tastes very different to the ones you get in Western supermarkets, I wonder what the difference is).

From Weeks 29-???

Pigs' ears seasoned with chili and sesame oil.

From Weeks 29-???

This was actually Shanghai food, their stir-fry noodles with peanuts, chili and diced chicken. Amazing flavors, I love how they use a good amount of oil, but not for the sake of making it unhealthy- it's to fry the chili and peanuts till they are aromatic.

From Weeks 29-???

Didn't like this too much. There was the tongue-numbing kind of spices in the soup... and while I appreciate the way it's been made, it's not for me. Still, the food is absolutely great and there are two branches of this Shanghainese restaurant- "Tin Tong" that I know of: one in Eastwood and one at the bottom level of World Square. I'd go there for XLB anyday XD

From Weeks 29-???

Ending with a strawberry mille feuille from Azuma. Not very traditional, but we had it with Hoji Cha! :D

Sakura~~

From Weeks 29-???

I can have my own hanami in Sydney too.

From Weeks 29-???

It is indeed spring, the season of hay fever. Somehow I notice heaps of people sneezing this year... am unaffected thus far, fingers crossed.

From Weeks 29-???

These were just taken a few houses down the road from mine when I walk to the bus stop. Sky was cloudless just two days ago, but it seems like winter is back in town. For the time being.

Loads of work to do!

Belle Saveur- Beautiful Flavor

From Weeks 29-???

It's already spring, but this update will be a backlog from winter. Every season, Nordoff-Robbins (music therapy centre) holds a charity function called the Cafe series, where one is invited to fine delicacies and live music on a fine Sunday afternoon. It started in autumn just this year, also held in the same location: Belle Saveur Patisserie on 551 High Street, Penrith.