I love tennis.

I used to follow every single match when I was in school or had full access to the sports channel. I developed a real liking to Roger Federer. And in response, a dislike to Rafael Nadal.

Ever since I went to college, I haven’t really been watching much tennis. Roger Federer, whom I still love, I would occasionally google him to check up on his progress in the Grand Slams.

So, French Open going on now. I googled Federer again. And saw that he, predictably won the 3rd round. He would be playing against a 21 year old Goffin, who happens to be a big fan of his. His response to this knowledge is quite funny.

Informed that his next opponent is an unabashed fan, Federer grinned and replied, "Not the first time it happens."

Extracted from latimes.com

Anyway, my attention flashed to a header ‘Serena Williams's first-round loss at French Open makes history’. OMG! Serena Williams? She couldn’t have faced any top seeds in the first round! Its almost a given that a seeded player would win their first match in a Grand Slam. And i knew that I had to read the article.

She lost to Virginie Razzano, ranked 111th in the world from France. That was quite a news. I read on and then came across a story on Razzano which made me sigh.

The rowdy spectators in Court Philippe Chatrier would have been pulling for Razzano anyway, of course, because of her citizenship. But their support was particularly strong because of her recent heartbreak, well-known in France: Razzano's fiance — Stephane Vidal, also her longtime coach — died at age 32 of a brain tumor in May 2011, a little more than a week before her first-round match at last year's French Open.

He had encouraged her to go ahead and enter the tournament, so she did, honoring his memory by stepping on court to play, a black ribbon pinned to her shirt. When she walked out of the locker room for what turned out to be a straight-set loss, she wore a gold chain that Vidal had given her as a Valentine's Day gift a few years earlier.

Extracted from latimes.com

I am a sucker for these kinda things. It was quite a story. Romantic, that’s what it is. Yea, i had a picture in mind of what Razzano would look like. Probably a demure lady (cause they always are in story books).

Oh well. I googled.

Aih. All muscular. I forgot she was a tennis player.

I have been feeling rather nostalgic of late. It may be because of my work or it could be because I’m just getting older (yeah yeah, don’t rub it in).

As I was looking through my photos my FB, each picture in Europe triggers a different memory. A picture tells a thousand words, indeed. You don’t look at a picture and think of one thing. You look at a picture, and you think of stories behind it.

I think with Europe, there’s a huge difference between dreams… and reality. Before I went there, or even decided to go, Europe was a dream. You look at pictures, watch scenes in movies shot in Europe and read of histories surrounding it, one can’t help but get carried away. We would all think that Europe will be oh-so-perfect. You’ll get to sit at those quaint cafes and sip coffee while watching passer-bys. And french music will be playing in the background adding the final touch to that perfect moment. Wouldn’t that be wonderful. Sigh.

But reality strikes.

What makes a trip, is not just your fantasies. Rather, a lot of factors have to be considered.

The huge huge influencing factor, would be $$. Really. Your budget on the trip. I wished, I could sit at those quaint cafes and sip coffees. But what about the cover charge? And the cheaper the place, the suckier the food. Well, to be honest, food in Europe wasn’t much to shout about. Then again, I was such a cheapo on the trip. [But omg! The gelatos are to DIE for. Really!! I had one cone of gelato a day in Italy. And food in Croatia, is actually not bad. Maybe because, we were at the end of our trip. And comparatively, the food is SOOOO much cheaper compared to everywhere we’ve been to.] Back to the topic. Budget. Your budget decides on where you’re gonna stay, how you’re gonna travel, the comfort of your accommodation and travel, and the time you spent discussing and debating how much one would wanna spend on accommodation and travelling . Cause lets face it. The two biggest expenditure on a trip is 1) transport and 2) accommodation. 

Point is, one must sync their expectations with their ability to compromise their budget. Otherwise, I think its pretty hard to fully enjoy your holidays.

Another thing about reality. Europe is freaking hot during summer!! Freaking. Hot. I’m not kidding you. You think Malaysia’s hot? It’s NOTHING compared to the weather in Europe. So hot. So hot. And that makes it pretty hard to enjoy Europe to its fullest.

Last but not least. The tourists. Haiyo. That’s what spoils the dreamy effect. So so much. Can you imagine. Talk about the phrase, people mountain people sea. That is exactly what you’re gonna face at every tourist spot imagineable.

However, the feeling of satisfaction, of fulfilment, when you see something ever so beautiful that just simply takes your breath away. That is when reality meets fantasies and beyond. And that is when all the s*** you face throughout your trip pales in comparison. And that is what makes everything you go through so worth it. =)

Korean history… quite nice to read.

Eventhough… I am only reading the wikipedia version of the history… but quite nice.

My next attempt… 'Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong'. Yi San’s Mother, Crown Prince Sado’s wife.

If you haven’t guessed that run dome is random… super slow la youuuu.

Hwee! This is overdue but here it is!

To one half of the evil twin, Jing : Tassie is short for Tasmania =D

Day 1:

Before we left

Day was awesomely awesome. We brought our winter coats cause Tassie is going to be cold. But in Melbourne… the day was warm. No need to wear coat =D. And I went out with my new shirt which Sarah wants but couldn’t get =P.

On Tiger Airways, Melbourne to Hobart, at 3pm

Like I said, on TIGER … so delayeddddddd for 1 hour =(. Oh well… as long as I get to my destination.

We reached about 5.30pm and reached our hotel (Wrest Point) at 6+pm. The boys were quite hungry by that time so Queenie, our Tassie ‘guide’ and friend swung by in a taxi to pick us up for dinner at Cargo, Salamanca.

Cargo probably serves some of the most interesting pizzas or rather known as gourmet pizzas.

We ordered 5 pizzas to be shared among the 6 of us. There was smoked salmon pizza, portabella mushroom, seafood, hoisin duck and pork and apple pizza.

My favs were the smoked salmon and seafood =D awesome. A bit sceptical about the hoisin duck – too sweet for my liking.

After that we had ice cream – peanut butter fudge! That tasted so good. Thumbs up!

Our first night there ended with free hot drinks from the casino.

Day 2:

Our day started with free drinks from the casino =D

Haha. Funneh… Well, the free drinks did make an appearance in our morning. But that’s not how we started our day. We started by busying ourselves with searching for cars to rent. The cars in Tasmania were expensive particularly cause their surcharges for underage people were so high and it was compulsory. But… regardless, we managed to find a reasonably priced one in the city.

Nissan Tiida

Anyway, due to the late start to the day, we had to swap our plans around. Hence, Port Arthur ‘today’ Wineglass Bay ‘tomorrow’.

On our way to Port Arthur, we stopped by a few places. Barilla Bay, Blowhole and erm… another version of Blowhole?

Photo on the bottom left was some sort of ‘man vs. wild’ thing that Joey was attempting.

Port Arthur

The settlement started as a timber station in 1830, but it is best known for being a penal colony.

From 1833, until the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia. Rebellious personalities from other convict stations were also sent here, a quite undesirable punishment. In addition Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system.

Drive: 1.5 Hours

Entrance Fee: $25 for bronze level.

We were each given a card, 7 spades, for example. Each card represents a single prisoner. Hence, we would be able to trace the stories of each of our prisoners by using the card as a guide.

I think that when you walk through the place and read each of their stories, for some reason, you will feel extremely sad.

Yes, they were convicts.

But, humans too, no? Most, I read, were transported for life. FOR LIFE. I don’t know, but I probably wouldn’t be able to bear that sort of punishment. And they had this set of cuffs for you to try on. They were heavy. And that is what the convicts had to put around their legs. Ouch.

Yes, they were convicts.

Anyway, after we got out of the place, we went touring around the place as we had some time before the cruise.

We went into a church where Gene attempted to read the bible.

Me: This is Chapter 5, Verse 1. What book is this?

Gene: Err…. the bible?

LOL! Such noobness.

Nyway, after all that touring, it was time for the cruise. There will be a running commentary about the island and stuff. Well, didn’t really listen to it, sad to say, cause there were 2 noisy kids playing around.

After the cruise, rain started pouring!!! Argh! Bad weather. Cold, to say the least. Seriously, it is like going from hot in Melbourne to winter in Hobart. Brr… Cause it was so cold, I didn’t feel like taking pictures anymore. My hands belong in the pockets where it is warm =D.

We head back to Hobart before it got too dark. There are hardly any lamp posts on the road back, only reflectors. Hence, dangerous to drive back when it dark which totally works for me as it means… NO GHOST TOUR!!! (Port Arthur has a few ghost tours scheduled in the evening through to the night).

Went back to Hobart to Fish Frenzy where we were joined by Queenie and Sui Ching. We had their standard fish and chips which were erm… okay. Too fried for my liking. But the scallops were delish =D

Sui Ching told us what to expect at Wineglass bay having been there just a few days ago. Apparently it will be really really cold and windy. Me and Sarah were really worried about it being too cold. So, Sui Ching and Quin offered to lend us their wind breaker =D.

After dinner, we headed to UTAS to collect the jackets. And the boys found their heaven. We spent probably about one hour at the game room waiting for the boys to finish their game of snooker/table tennis.

Meanwhile,

all the signboards stolen by the Uni’s students. Interesting, yes?

Alrighty Folks! PART 1 UP TILL HERE! Only because I can’t bring myself to update anymore than this. Part 2 soon? I hope =D Cross fingers

ps: I omitted some parts of the trip. Cheeeerrrrrssssss

Ahha, ladies and genteelmen… how long have you been waiting for this moment? The moment where I, Rebecca Ng Pey Shin, update my blog with a proper post… instead of posts that are just… well, short. Here goes!

21 Aug

GOLD LEAF, HARBOUR TOWN

Saturday seems to be a day where food hunt seems to be a routine now. We would search restaurants after restaurants on urbanspoon, which will rank them and then we search and read up on the reviews. This will take prolly, a few hours, minimum and stretch right up till a few days.

So, a recommendation coupled with research brought us to Gold Leaf, a dim sum restaurant in Harbour Town Shopping Centre, on Saturday.

The ‘brilliant’ directory at the shopping centre brought us around and around the open air shopping centre. We are not to be played with, especially when our stomachs are literally empty! Anyway, end of misery, we found the restaurant! Finally! And here goes.

This is … simply awesome right at the first bite. It is a fried prawn thing wrapped in bean curd sheets with mayonnaise dipping. The first thing that came into mind when I took a bite was… OOOOOFFFF. Nice!!! Love the crispy skin and the juicy filling!

Congee with preserved egg. This was… not brilliant and rather bland with not much meat or egg. 

Siu mai! Not the most awesome-st ones around. But still pretty good. The wonton skin could be less stiff though.

Chee Cheong Fun with prawn filling. Erm… i find that the chee cheong fun was pretty soggy and soft. But, it was alright. Nothing to shout about.

OOOOOOOMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGG!!!!! So so wonderful!!! The puff pastry was awesome, and the egg custard was soft and nice. Just the right touch. Loved it =DDDD 

This loh-mai-kai was pretty good as well. I don’t order it back in Malaysia as I didn’t like the sticky feeling and it was a bit too heavy. But boy oh boy was this good. This was aromatic, non sticky and not too salty. Likee

Lau sar pau (Golden sand bun). The filling is basically sweetened egg yolk. This was NICE. The egg yolk was hot and runny, as though just melted.

Custard pau. Quite the disappointment after the previous pau. Filling not runny!!!!

Ooh… didn’t take the picture of the tau foo fah we had for dessert. But… no! Don’t order it if you go next time! Twas bland, and no taste. It wasn’t bad… it just wasn’t brilliant.

Overall!!!! LIKE ITTTT!!!!! The bad wasn’t bad but the good were awesome =D

By the time we finished our ‘lunch’, we were so stuffed and full we decided to skip dinner completely! But… we headed over for dessert at Teh Ren.

Teh Ren

This was milk tea (pot) with yam and pearls (cup). Yum Yum Yum! Absolutely loveeee the combination!!!! Love the yam! Love the pearls!

But… it is nice if you have the first 4 cups. Afterwards, it all seems to be just a little TOOOOOO sweet and you find yourself not enjoying quite as much anymore. (Think moderation next time, Rebecca)

I know it looks gooey and unappetizing, but I assure you, it is pretty good as well. It is basically the above, except it had red beans instead of pearls! So milk tea + yam + red beans! Awesomeeee

Verdict: Twas a wonderful Saturday outing =D

杜 u ♥ me?

I’m addicted to this line ‘杜 u ♥ me?’ coz it sounds so cina =P It’s a song title from Wang Lee Hom’s new album btw =D