You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August, 2007.
Just one more day and it’ll be officially SPRING! 18 degree afternoons and sunny blue skies betray the bald trees that line the parks and everyone is dressed up for the fine, spring weather. I can’t believe that spring is finally here! Ka-boinggg!!!
On the flipside, it’s hello hayfever. Dammit.
Update at 1.26pm: Winter just had to make its case known. Even in its end today, it’s rather chilly. Mercury levels are at a low of 10.5 degrees, not to mention I almost got blown away by the wind. Brr.
Ditzy post ahead: don’t say I didn’t warn you.
My shoe rack is practically brimming with shoes but I couldn’t resist this gorgeous pair of heels when I hit the stores this evening. You see, the shopaholic in me has been suppressed, what with shops closing at an ungodly hour of 6pm, leaving me with virtually NO TIME to do any shopping after work on most days. We all know that it’s NEVER wise to go on a shopping fast because the shopping binge that follows after is always more deadly than regular shopping. I speak from experience.
Thursdays are for late-night shopping in the suburbs where the malls close at 9. On the other hand, it’s slightly different in the city – the shops close at 7 but is open till 9 on Fridays.
Anyway, my poor feet were hurting from the recent lack of heels (I’ve forgotten how to walk in flats :\) in my diet, and the pair that I had on today gave me some of the evilest blisters I’ve experienced in a long time. So when I came across this gorgeous pair of HEELS in David Jones that met all my criteria – at least 3″ and were comfortable – I grabbed them without thinking twice! What’s more, they were on a 25% discount!
So yes, I’m on my way to becoming the legendary Imelda Marcos. Dad calls Mom, Sis and I “caterpillars”. Well, at least I can blame it on the genes. 
Something tells me that I’m deeply missing the days of painful, arduous triathlon training. It doesn’t help that Singapore’s inaugural 70.3 race is on this weekend, on my birthday, and I will be missing out on all the action. Even though I wasn’t going to participate, I’d still have loved to be in the thick of action and lend my support to the racers.
Pity it still gets dark too early to be out training after work, and it doesn’t help that nowhere in Melbourne is really safe enough at night.
If anything, I miss the discipline of going for swimming classes after work – that progression from dread to accomplishment that I experience each week. I miss the adrenaline, the phyiscal pain, the mental challenge, the sweat. I miss the aches after a good training session.
I’ve now dedicated Sundays to my long runs around Princes Park while the Jman plays his soccer, and on Saturdays we take our bikes out; still, it feels nothing close to the Saturday morning rides on Changi Coastal or long runs along the ECP, and my swim gear has been left to rot in the drawer. I miss brick training the most.
Maybe I should’ve just signed up for the half marathon instead.
Image taken from Jupiter Images.
There’s no sage, rosemary or thyme, but what do you do when you have a whole bunch of parsley and a big fat juicy lemon? Well, you make gremolata of course!
Ever since I was introduced to gremolata last Friday, I’ve been having gremolata-everything! From sardines to tuna and even guacamole…pucker!
Homemade guacamole on freshly-homebaked rye bread and a mesclun salad.
And thanks to my wonderful Malaysian friends, I also had pineapple rice, chicken curry, glutinous rice and bubur cha cha. Mmm…*yawn*.
In winter where sub-ten temperatures knock everyone off the streets and leave them scrambling for heat and shelter, walking to work in a skirt becomes a novelty. Of course I wouldn’t risk my legs for the sake of vanity (though the fact that leggings are the “in” thing now doesn’t make me want to do so either), but when I flicked open the blinds and the local met station reported a high of 25 degrees today, I jumped at the chance and put on a skirt to work and then realised how ghastly pale my legs have become!
But aah, my legs can breathe today. Now let’s see if I can round up the rest, head down to Carlton Gardens for lunch later, and give those legs a tan. The weather’s too good to be true, almost like summer!
Meanwhile, I’ve been cursed with hayfever and had an asthma scare last Friday. I’m walking around looking like one of those asthmatic kids with an inhaler (like the one above) in hand.
The view from Mart 130
Proof that we were there
Corn fritters that didn’t taste as good as they looked
Our first stop at Mart 130 proved a little disappointing despite all the hullaballoo and hype over the corn fritters. It was, in my humble opinion, rather mediocre. The corn fritters were doughy, the relish far too sweet and the spice overpowering, bacon too soggy, and the only redeeming part of the dish was the sour cream. They were a faaaar cry from the ones I had at Wrapido’s in Crows Nest, Sydney, which the Jman and I stumbled upon one day while roaming around M’s place when we visited in April.
I remember the corn fritters to be crisp, the relish/salsa was heavenly, we had crispy bacon and the sour cream wasn’t the show-stealer. I still dream of them every now and then and I’m determined to make some really good ones on my own, otherwise we’d have to make a trip back to Sydney to relive those memories.
Meanwhile, we completed our first cycling trip without much fanfare but with some good stops along the way. We visited Baker D.Chirico’s on St. Kilda (and emerged empty-handed, much to my chagrin), and Batch for a good dose of caffeine. I like Batch – it’s unpretentious and in my opinion, is better than St. Ali. Because I had a cup of bad coffee there once and memories of bad coffee seem to stay with you for a while.
The cycling route we took was rather busy today. I suppose that the weekend and sunshine contributed to the busy roads along the beach. There were also too many traffic lights along the way and got a bit annoying when I had to constantly unclip my SPDs. The climbs were few and far between but they certainly were pretty long. I reckon we got a few good climbs in and that was a nice warmup. The route was only 25km.
We’ve mapped out our next route – a 50km stretch down Beach Road and back. Now that’s pretty exciting, especially if you throw in all the food stops and strolls through the shops. All good for now. I’m just glad we’re getting some wheely action in. Finally.
The Ice Queen has FINALLY been set up! Contrary to popular belief, I did not have the shop fix it up for me; contrary to even more popular belief, I set the entire thing up myself! YAY ME!
Actually, I took it to the shop just 5 minutes away from my house. I was prepared to shell out a whopping $70 to have them fix up the Ice Queen. After all, I wouldn’t trust Little Miss Non-Engineer with an form of bike repairs, right? But when thy opened up the box and took out the parts, I took one look at it and said, “Erm, I could SO do this myself.”
As it turns out, the guys at the shop in Singapore had only removed the front wheel, the pedals, the seat post and the handlebar, and THAT wasn’t going to take rocket science to fix. So I apologised profusely to the shop guys (who were very sweet about it anyway), bought myself a JoeBlow pump (I needed it anyway) and brought the bike back home.
I took another look at it this morning and it took me a mere 15 minutes to put everything together. We’re going cycling down St. Kilda today and we’ll stop over at Mart 130, D. Chirico (according to the Jman this is Melbourne’s most legendary baker) and Batch. That’s 3 food stops in a 20km loop. Haha.
They say that if you want to experience the four seasons, head to Melbourne for a day. That pretty much says it all about Melbourne’s infamous weather, yet Melburnians never ever learn their lesson.
While I was still studying in uni, a burst of sunshine would see everyone scramble out of the house with thin jackets and no scarves, only to have them freeze to an icicle mid-afternoon when the clouds roll out and the sun is no more. Then everyone would start muttering profanities under their frozen noses about how horrid the weather is!
But looking at the weather forecast above, I can’t help but want to do likewise when all we’re promised is SUN, SUN and MORE SUN! Picnics, barbeques, bike rides – you name it, we’ve got it all planned!
Now let’s just hope we don’t get rained out, otherwise I’d be rendered a bl**dy Aussie.
The deed is done! I’ve signed myself up for the Melbourne Marathon’s 10km race in a bid to get my fitness back on track, which has pretty much gone to the dawgs since my arrival in Melbourne. What with all the hot chocolates, latte breaks and gourmet sandwiches, I am already starting to feel like the Michelin man.
Over the weekend, I bought myself a pair of wimpy weights and a stretch cord for the house. They were just tiny 2kg weights, but they’re definitely giving me sore arms and glutes. Besides, I did my math and figured it was cheaper than a gym membership.
The Jman’s also promised to get my bike set up this weekend so, weather permitting, we’re in for some wheely action down St. Kilda Road and South Melbourne on Saturday! I can’t wait to take the Ice Queen out for a spin again! Finally!
