I thought I'd get Mina and mum to do it too since it seems that weak and cracked nails run in our family. Turns out all three generations have the same taste in colour!
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
SNS - 3 Generations
I've recently started getting SNS on my nails to fix a crack in one of my nails that was causing me quite a lot of grief. It's been working really well, and I think my cracked nail is
completely healed but I've kept up with it since I'm quite enjoying
having nice nails all the time.
I thought I'd get Mina and mum to do it too since it seems that weak and cracked nails run in our family. Turns out all three generations have the same taste in colour!
I thought I'd get Mina and mum to do it too since it seems that weak and cracked nails run in our family. Turns out all three generations have the same taste in colour!
Monday, September 24, 2018
Perth Royal Show 2018
Finally, some perfect weather for the show!
I spent the morning with Amy and Ava, I can't wait to spend many more years with them at the show. I quickly realised that the itinerary I had planned (arrive at 9, watch a cow milking demonstration at 9:30) was much, MUCH to ambitious since Ava understandably was quite distracted by the overwhelming sights and sounds of the show (as well less exciting things, like a pile of leaves on the ground), so we decided to stay at one end of the show and enjoy the animal themed things there.
After Amy and Ava left, I managed to track down "the gentleman", which I was very confused about since as far as I can tell this is purely a Buffy thing. He was definitely dressed as one of the gentlemen from Buffy, but I am still very confused at why this was a roaming show at the Royal Show. He was really cool! I told him I was a massive Buffy fan, and because he couldn't speak, he bowed and kissed my hand instead. So cool!
While waiting for Andrew to come in, I went and saw the hypnotist show, Shane St James, and decided, what the hell, I'll get up on stage. It was a very similar format to the only other hypnotist show I've seen (Mindfoolness at fringe) where the performer asks for volunteers who are open to being hypnotised, and are "characters". I decided I was definitely both, and managed to score a spot on stage.
The first part (the whole "you're getting sleeeepy" thing) was really relaxing, and I genuinely felt heavy and sleepy and yawned on his cue. But it took a turn for the worse when he told us that we were now in a band, and needed to pick up our instrument and play to the music. I picked up some drums, and pretended to play.
I also pretended to be Michael Jackson (the rare licence to touch my crotch in public), Mick Jagger (didn't know if he was a singer or played guitar, so I did both), a muscle man (you don't need to ask me twice to show off the guns), Miss Australia (kissy lips and crossed legs) and Beyonce (lots of pointing to the ring finger).
There were a couple of songs that made us do stuff, like be little kids, snake charmers, and in love with a member of the audience (I ended up just dancing with one other lady who also seemed a bit reluctant to go into the audience). A couple of the people got their own personal song; there was a conductor, a boxer, and superman, all of which were very enthusiastically in character. When we "woke up", we were told there would be a bad smell, so I covered my nose to avoid the fake smell, while the lady next to me very convincingly dry heaved.
At the end, the lady next to me (the dry heaver) said she'd had a very intense experience, so I don't know what to think! I was definitely pretending due to a combination of having absolutely no shame, the peer pressure of not being able to leave the stage, and a bit of "what the hell, they're clapping"-ness. I wonder if anyone else had a genuine hypnotic experience, I was very disappointed I didn't get one! It was interesting; I guess it's the most eye opening experience I've had with my eyes closed.
Andrew came and met me in the early afternoon, and we did our regular things like watching the sheep dog trials (the 10 month old pups were amazing), the dairy pavilion (have you ever waited in a line for half a cup of choc milk?), food and drinks (including a gruesome looking "pig in a blanket" that Andrew loved and I refused to try for obvious reasons) and patting bunnies (where we bumped into Shane and Tammy). The gin tasting at Giniversity was really good, I ended up getting the botanical one but they were all top notch.
We decided to have dinner in the members lounge which was really awesome, we'll definitely do that again. The pre-fireworks entertainment was Shannon Noll, who was pleasant background music for a great dinner, and we even got "What About Me" as an encore. We watched the fireworks outside since the view wasn't great from the members lounge, and the trusty old fireworks glasses did not fail to impress.
I can't wait to enjoy everything from our haul this year!
I spent the morning with Amy and Ava, I can't wait to spend many more years with them at the show. I quickly realised that the itinerary I had planned (arrive at 9, watch a cow milking demonstration at 9:30) was much, MUCH to ambitious since Ava understandably was quite distracted by the overwhelming sights and sounds of the show (as well less exciting things, like a pile of leaves on the ground), so we decided to stay at one end of the show and enjoy the animal themed things there.
After Amy and Ava left, I managed to track down "the gentleman", which I was very confused about since as far as I can tell this is purely a Buffy thing. He was definitely dressed as one of the gentlemen from Buffy, but I am still very confused at why this was a roaming show at the Royal Show. He was really cool! I told him I was a massive Buffy fan, and because he couldn't speak, he bowed and kissed my hand instead. So cool!
While waiting for Andrew to come in, I went and saw the hypnotist show, Shane St James, and decided, what the hell, I'll get up on stage. It was a very similar format to the only other hypnotist show I've seen (Mindfoolness at fringe) where the performer asks for volunteers who are open to being hypnotised, and are "characters". I decided I was definitely both, and managed to score a spot on stage.
The first part (the whole "you're getting sleeeepy" thing) was really relaxing, and I genuinely felt heavy and sleepy and yawned on his cue. But it took a turn for the worse when he told us that we were now in a band, and needed to pick up our instrument and play to the music. I picked up some drums, and pretended to play.
I also pretended to be Michael Jackson (the rare licence to touch my crotch in public), Mick Jagger (didn't know if he was a singer or played guitar, so I did both), a muscle man (you don't need to ask me twice to show off the guns), Miss Australia (kissy lips and crossed legs) and Beyonce (lots of pointing to the ring finger).
There were a couple of songs that made us do stuff, like be little kids, snake charmers, and in love with a member of the audience (I ended up just dancing with one other lady who also seemed a bit reluctant to go into the audience). A couple of the people got their own personal song; there was a conductor, a boxer, and superman, all of which were very enthusiastically in character. When we "woke up", we were told there would be a bad smell, so I covered my nose to avoid the fake smell, while the lady next to me very convincingly dry heaved.
At the end, the lady next to me (the dry heaver) said she'd had a very intense experience, so I don't know what to think! I was definitely pretending due to a combination of having absolutely no shame, the peer pressure of not being able to leave the stage, and a bit of "what the hell, they're clapping"-ness. I wonder if anyone else had a genuine hypnotic experience, I was very disappointed I didn't get one! It was interesting; I guess it's the most eye opening experience I've had with my eyes closed.
Andrew came and met me in the early afternoon, and we did our regular things like watching the sheep dog trials (the 10 month old pups were amazing), the dairy pavilion (have you ever waited in a line for half a cup of choc milk?), food and drinks (including a gruesome looking "pig in a blanket" that Andrew loved and I refused to try for obvious reasons) and patting bunnies (where we bumped into Shane and Tammy). The gin tasting at Giniversity was really good, I ended up getting the botanical one but they were all top notch.
We decided to have dinner in the members lounge which was really awesome, we'll definitely do that again. The pre-fireworks entertainment was Shannon Noll, who was pleasant background music for a great dinner, and we even got "What About Me" as an encore. We watched the fireworks outside since the view wasn't great from the members lounge, and the trusty old fireworks glasses did not fail to impress.
I can't wait to enjoy everything from our haul this year!
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Skiing Trip 2018 - Day 9 and 10, Sydney
Sheraton on the Park is the nicest hotel we've stayed at this trip, what a beautiful room. I went to the gym as soon as we got in after the drive from Canberra, then we got dressed-to-impress to head to Quay, one of the best meals we've had in our lives.
Quay was something else. The food, the drinks, the service, and the view were really incredible. The degustation was quite seafood heavy, which I was quite intimidated by at first, but my mind was immediately put at ease after the first course of "Oyster Intervention" was described to us as Peter Gilmore's version of the taste of oysters without the gross texture - I completely agree with you Peter! It was amazing, I would love oysters if they were all served like this.
Every single course was beautiful, interesting, and served in a way that made the experience complete, for example, the "Hand Harvested Seafood" course was served in a bowl that looked like a rock pool. The dessert that replaced the Snow Egg, the White Coral, was exceptional (I even loved the feijoa!).
The menu was almost perfect as it was, with the only change being the sand crab, which Andrew substituted for a cauliflower course. I'm so glad I went with the Malted Barley Crumpets as they were.
As seems to be the fashion at these fancy degustations, the wine pairings were very generous so we stumbled out full and happy.
We had a nice sleep in, used the gym, then checked out and drove to Billy Kwong, Kylie Kwong's restaurant. We were a bit early so we parked then went for a walk to Mrs Macquarie's Chair to get a windy but beautiful view of the bridge and Opera House.
Billy Kwong was seriously good, with every dish being the best version of that dish I've ever had (pork buns, silken tofu), and every dish we'd never tried before (xo eggs, salt bush cakes) being an absolute winner.
The best part is that Kylie was actually there! She was mostly "stalking the pass", but she served us a couple of the dishes from the banquet menu, it was so cool.
Ottoman, Quay, and Billy Kwong; I don't think we'll have a better set of consecutive meals anytime soon.
We're now waiting in Qantas club for our flight. It's my first time in here, I'm happy to be Andrew's guest, and happy they let me in with Ugg boots on! What an amazing trip, I can't believe it's over already!
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Skiing Trip 2018 - Day 8, Canberra
Yesterday we spent the day exploring Canberra, including a long scenic walk around lake Burley Griffin, a guided tour of the War Memorial, drinks and lunch at Bent Spoke, and dinner with Iva and Uncle Paul at Ottoman.
The walk around the lake was lovely, but I definitely regretted not bringing my big jacket when we weren't in the sun! We loved how everything was the "National" version of the thing, with the "nationality" reaching it's peak (well 3 peaks) when we discovered that we were exploring the National Triangle.
The War Memorial was really amazing, so much more than we expected. We thought it might be on par with Te Papa in Wellington, but it was even more impressive. They had so many artefacts, including about 6 planes mounted in the exhibits, and the tour guide was so knowledgable and interesting that we didn't even mind the tour went over the 90 minutes. We didn't set aside enough time, but you would need days to properly explore the whole thing.
We gave into the cold and Ubered to Bent Spoke for beer and lunch. It's a great brewery / pub with a wicked food menu, and the bicycle themed "paddles" were so cool. Almost makes up for missing so many of the beer events back in Perth.
It was so nie to catch up with Iva! And meet Andrew's uncle Paul. Dinner at Ottoman, a two-hatted Turkish restaurant was outstanding. The menu was huge, with the specials alone enough to make up a whole other menu. We decided to share entrees and mains so we'd have the best chance of trying as much as possible, and everything we did try (including the sardines) was infallible.
Today we're going to catch up with Iva again to see her new apartment and grab some breakfast, and then we're off to Sydney!
The walk around the lake was lovely, but I definitely regretted not bringing my big jacket when we weren't in the sun! We loved how everything was the "National" version of the thing, with the "nationality" reaching it's peak (well 3 peaks) when we discovered that we were exploring the National Triangle.
The War Memorial was really amazing, so much more than we expected. We thought it might be on par with Te Papa in Wellington, but it was even more impressive. They had so many artefacts, including about 6 planes mounted in the exhibits, and the tour guide was so knowledgable and interesting that we didn't even mind the tour went over the 90 minutes. We didn't set aside enough time, but you would need days to properly explore the whole thing.
We gave into the cold and Ubered to Bent Spoke for beer and lunch. It's a great brewery / pub with a wicked food menu, and the bicycle themed "paddles" were so cool. Almost makes up for missing so many of the beer events back in Perth.
It was so nie to catch up with Iva! And meet Andrew's uncle Paul. Dinner at Ottoman, a two-hatted Turkish restaurant was outstanding. The menu was huge, with the specials alone enough to make up a whole other menu. We decided to share entrees and mains so we'd have the best chance of trying as much as possible, and everything we did try (including the sardines) was infallible.
Today we're going to catch up with Iva again to see her new apartment and grab some breakfast, and then we're off to Sydney!
Friday, August 17, 2018
Skiing Trip 2018 - Day 7, Skiing, Jindabyne to Canberra
Yesterday was our last day of skiing, and even though our knees were sore, our noses were sunburnt, and both our boots started playing up, we definitely made the most of it. We spent the morning at Mt Perisher, and while I did Happy Valley, Andrew braved the blue runs on Mt Perisher, including the ungroomed Towers run, it sounded crazy!
We met back up at mid station and made our way over to Smiggen Holes for lunch and decided to spend the afternoon there. We did the beautiful green Wood runs a bunch of times, tried the j-bar, then decided to try some of the blues which we heard were very gentle. Blanchy's was NOT gentle! The first section was extremely steep, but I managed to get down (very slowly) while Andrew waited patiently. There was another couple, the girl also called Jess, in the same predicament; other Jess was freaking out and her boyfriend was trying to encourage her down. I went first, but couldn't look back to see where other Jess was; hope she made it!
Andrew continued to do the blue runs off the Wills (or Burke) T-Bar while I did the chair run (also blue run, but actually a gentle one as promised) then we met up to take the Smiggens Escape back to the Telemark T-Bar then back to Perisher. We did the V8 run a couple more times then called it a (well enjoyed) day. Andrew finally gave into doughnut-smell temptation at the Skitube station and enjoyed the mini doughnuts.
Here's some photos from the roaming Perisher photographer!
An overview of skiing at Perisher:
The drive to Canberra was OK but the sun was already down so we didn't see much other than the pretty view of Lake Jindabyne when we first left. The edges of the road were again littered with a massacre of kangaroos and wombats, so we took it quite slowly, especially since we saw a bunch of kangaroos grazing at the side of the road.
I feel the most sorry for the poor dead wombats; they're always positioned so comically with their little paws up in the air, and they're usually spray painted pink (I guess for visibility?) which adds to the indignity of their deaths, poor little things. I guess we're used to seeing roos, but the wombats seemed so much more tragic.
Last night we arrived at the beautiful and stylish QT hotel, such a nice change! The hotel is lovely, but compared to the Wellington QT (which we stayed at last year) the staff are not quite at the same standard. We've had a few confusions, mostly to do with the staff having no idea what the priority guest program is about, but the funniest one was this morning when we noticed we only had 1 non-decaf coffee pod, called to ask for more regular ones, then the staff came back with more decaf coffee pods! Can't really complain though especially since the room is fantastic, and each thing has really just been funny. Drinks, olives, and polenta chips at The Capitol were outstanding (despite having to improvise an olive pip cup).
Today we'll be exploring Canberra and seeing Iva for dinner tonight!
We met back up at mid station and made our way over to Smiggen Holes for lunch and decided to spend the afternoon there. We did the beautiful green Wood runs a bunch of times, tried the j-bar, then decided to try some of the blues which we heard were very gentle. Blanchy's was NOT gentle! The first section was extremely steep, but I managed to get down (very slowly) while Andrew waited patiently. There was another couple, the girl also called Jess, in the same predicament; other Jess was freaking out and her boyfriend was trying to encourage her down. I went first, but couldn't look back to see where other Jess was; hope she made it!
Andrew continued to do the blue runs off the Wills (or Burke) T-Bar while I did the chair run (also blue run, but actually a gentle one as promised) then we met up to take the Smiggens Escape back to the Telemark T-Bar then back to Perisher. We did the V8 run a couple more times then called it a (well enjoyed) day. Andrew finally gave into doughnut-smell temptation at the Skitube station and enjoyed the mini doughnuts.
Here's some photos from the roaming Perisher photographer!
An overview of skiing at Perisher:
- I can't believe how good the snow was in Australia
- There are wombats on the slopes at Guthega, probably why there's a run called Wombats
- Smiggen's Hotel has the best soup of the day
- I can do some blue runs now and not be scared of dying
- I can't believe I did Zali's and didn't die
- Andrew is getting really good, way better than I am, and can do all blue runs without being scared of dying
- The Station is not a bad motel at all, but beware the heater settings
- People may take your skis accidentally since all the rental ones look alike; lock your skis with a friend so there's one of each together to make it harder for someone to make that mistake!
The drive to Canberra was OK but the sun was already down so we didn't see much other than the pretty view of Lake Jindabyne when we first left. The edges of the road were again littered with a massacre of kangaroos and wombats, so we took it quite slowly, especially since we saw a bunch of kangaroos grazing at the side of the road.
I feel the most sorry for the poor dead wombats; they're always positioned so comically with their little paws up in the air, and they're usually spray painted pink (I guess for visibility?) which adds to the indignity of their deaths, poor little things. I guess we're used to seeing roos, but the wombats seemed so much more tragic.
Last night we arrived at the beautiful and stylish QT hotel, such a nice change! The hotel is lovely, but compared to the Wellington QT (which we stayed at last year) the staff are not quite at the same standard. We've had a few confusions, mostly to do with the staff having no idea what the priority guest program is about, but the funniest one was this morning when we noticed we only had 1 non-decaf coffee pod, called to ask for more regular ones, then the staff came back with more decaf coffee pods! Can't really complain though especially since the room is fantastic, and each thing has really just been funny. Drinks, olives, and polenta chips at The Capitol were outstanding (despite having to improvise an olive pip cup).
Today we'll be exploring Canberra and seeing Iva for dinner tonight!
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