Bloody Gecko!

Aaaarrrghhhh......! There is a medium size of 'see-through', slimy look alike, disgusting gecko in the house!

I saw it leaning on my bedroom's ceiling....just right on top of the bed, a few minutes ago. Huhuhu.... and Andrew is not around now. Have to wait for him...before I can sleep.

Hate it!!

My Brain

It balanced! Wish I was more of right brained, though....

You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Manajemen Stress

Bukan berat Beban yang membuat kita Stress,tetapi lamanya kita memikul beban tersebut. (By Stephen Covey)

Pada saat memberikan kuliah tentang ManajemenStress, Stephen Covey mengangkat segelas air dan bertanya kepada para siswanya: "Seberapaberat menurut anda kira segelas air ini?"Para siswa menjawab mulai dari 200 gr sampai 500 gr. "Ini bukanlah masalah berat absolutnya,tapi tergantung berapa lama anda memegangnya." kata Covey.

"Jika saya memegangnya selama 1 menit, tidakada masalah. Jika saya memegangnya selama 1 jam, lengan kanan saya akan sakit. Dan jika saya memegangnya selama 1 hari penuh, mungkinanda harus memanggilkan ambulans untuk saya.Beratnya sebenarnya sama, tapi semakin lama saya memegangnya, maka bebannya akansemakin berat."

"Jika kita membawa beban kita terus menerus, lambat laun kita tidak akan mampu membawanya lagi. Beban itu akan meningkat beratnya." lanjutCovey.

"Apa yang harus kita lakukan adalah meletakkan gelas tersebut, istirahat sejenak sebelum mengangkatnya lagi". Kita harus meninggalkan beban kita secara periodik, agar kita dapat lebih segar & mampu membawanya lagi. Jadi sebelum pulang ke rumah dari pekerjaan sore ini, tinggalkan beban pekerjaan. Jangan bawa pulang. Beban itu dapat diambil lagi besok. Apapun beban yang ada dipundak anda hari ini, coba tinggalkan sejenak jika bisa. Setelah beristirahat nanti dapat diambil lagi.

....... Hmm.... memang gampang buat bikin teori seperti ini. Sayapun setuju 100% dengan ide bahwa kita harus dapat meninggalkan beban kehidupan kita secara periodik supaya hidup terasa enteng, normal, dan tidak terlalu stress. Si Pak Covey memberikan cara untuk me-manage stress dengan perumpamaan yang cukup baik.

Tapi sebenarnya sangat tidak mudah untuk dipraktekkan di dunia nyata. Kita,.. atau terutama saya (*grin*) lebih cenderung untuk memikirkan diri sendiri. Bahkan kadang (kadang2 aja looh) merasa jadi orang paling menderita sedunia. (hihihi).... Kadang saya berpikir.... c'mon... cheer up. Don't be spoiled, Don't be silly. Masih banyak orang lain yang lebih menderita dan kurang beruntung di dunia ini. Kelaparan, ketakutan, kesakitan, dll..... Beban, stress, dan kekesalan yang saya rasakan tidak ada apa-apanya dibandingkan mereka. But true, I have to learn more to Live, Love, Laugh, and be Happy with what you have had, and with what God has given. Life is short, use and enjoy it. Take it easy and less stress, please!

Hmmm you know what,.. won't be harm if I start the day with SMILE and say HAPPY MORNING to the person lay down next to me (which is my bigbaby, of course) every morning. :D

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

ISTJ

Check out the result of my personality test! Did it just for fun,.. but the result is actually quite accurate :D..... Not sure what ISTJ mean, though... anyone know ??

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

What's Your Personality Type?

Sick & Knit

Uuughhh.... not feeling well.... its the time when i'll be in bed all day.... stuffy head, heavy eyes, blocked and runny nose, sore throat, nausea.... oooh so much in pain....! *grin* Well, actually not that bad. But still,... not fun to be sick, especially on weekend. :(

Anyway, I'm in to knitting now. A beginner, genuinely autodidact. Learned from books and internet. Seriously, very difficult to learn without anyone teach and show you how. It gets me maaad!! But after several times of trial and error, I (think) I am now can do Cast On, Knit Stitch, and Purl Stitch. :D. I think I held the needles in a wrong way, though because sometimes it slips or fell off. But I'm pretty happy with the result. I will be more happy if I can make something with it. I can't wait! I have some ideas of what I want to make... but I just dont know how!! So annoying... We'll see in a couple of months...... either I'll make progress, or I'll sick of it and give up. :D

Small World After All

It's been a while since the last posting. I know..., I've been very slack. Anyway, here is the update about the new job. It has been good so far. Got my own desk, computer, internet and e-mail access, just like the old days. Happy about that :) Work was good, simple, not tiring, not difficult, and not too physical. Colleagues were nice, the environment were peaceful, and they have the nice cappucino and ice coffee!

But, there's something else. And the whole thing came up to the surface just because of one simple question.

My supervisor,.. she asked the name of high school I went to in Jakarta. I answered with lot of doubt that she would know my high school (it's a catholic school, with a quite good reputation, but some people in jakarta just dont know about its existence - hiks - Might be different these days, though). Anyway, surprisingly she actually recognised my high school! With excitement she told me that her husband's family lives just across the street from the school. (How odd!... This can't be right!)

I asked what high school did she go to, and we ended up mentioning names of some friends that we know of! (excited)

Conversation followed by telling each other our parents name and her husband's uncle's name. Shockingly, the name of her husband's family name is familiar to me. And name of her husband's uncle is even more familiar. I know him and his family well, because they just live very near to my parents' house in Jakarta.(This is become a bit weird)....

With curiosity, I called my mum the next day asked if she knew this and that name. By my surprise,.. my mum is actually know my supervisor's mum! Mum told me that my supervisor's mum lives only couple blocks away from my parents' house in Jakarta,.. the house that I lived in for about 25 years. How creepy was that ??!! We must have been seen each other at some stage!

From million of people in Jakarta, both of us ended up in same office room in Darwin. We used to be going to the same church, and we used to be neigbours, but we did not know each other before, and now we are going to the same office everyday, and go to the same church again in town. How bizzare! :D I wonder if this happened for a reason... or it's probably only me with my wander nonsensical imagination....

What Next ?

Changes,.....tell me about it. I've been through it so many times in the last 12 months. You name it. Change of marital status, change plans, change country, new environment, travel around, moving places, new home, new friends, new job, new colleagues, new place to shop, new places to look at, new this, new that.... To be honest, although it's exciting, it's also rather confusing and tiring. Especially for me who lived in static monotonous comfortable daily life for more than 30 years.

Not so long ago I started working in this country. Work was ok. Boss, colleagues, doctors, nurses were fantastic! I was so fortunate to have opportunity to work in the hospital environment. Being there every day brought me sad and happy feeling. Sad to see people are very ill, happy to see people cured and leaving the wards, happy to see the beds in emergency or ICU room empty, because this was not only mean it's good to see people are not ill, it's also mean less work for me ;p. Other than that, working with difficult person such as Ms "boot" was such an interesting experience. It brought me to a different perspective in how we supposed to do in the workplace in that kind of situation. But, apparently I did not meant to be too working in that place too long.

Yep! I got another job waiting. Starting tomorrow. This will be, again, another change (of course). It also means, we have to change our holiday plan. I'll miss my best friend's wedding, Andrew will miss his best friend's b'day party, we both gonna miss the opportunity to see and spend time with my lovely family, we gonna miss holiday in Jogja and Bali and all the thing that we planned to do in Jakarta. hu-uh.... :( Ah well,... hope to get there early next year.

Anyway, I am excited about my new job. Looking forward for it. Wish me luck!

A Year Ago

A year ago today, I was on a plane from Jakarta to Adelaide, planned to stay there only for 3 months.

A year ago today, I arrived in Adelaide with love, happiness, hope, and confusion.

A year ago today, I never ever knew that I would end up staying in this country till now.

A year ago today, I started new journey of my life .....

Festive Season

Few pieces from Darwin Festival....

The FourPlay,

an Electric String Quartet band group, was a highlight for me. 4 talented musician played diverse range of artists from Beastie Boys, Radio Head, Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, to Metallica, as well as played arrangement of their compositions, which I think was brilliant. I dont mind to buy their album!

The Surrender,

a unique repertoire played by Chris Abraham and Robert Curgenven. Chris is an Australian improvising expert pianist, performed a solo piece on a grand piano in surround sound. Robert Curgenven performed a field recording, an amazing-excentric electronica music, recorded in a nature, harmonic, ambient and overtune sounds with fantastic field video

as the background. The combination turned to be outstanding. He also played a short solo piece with world renowed classical Sitar player, Kabita Ghosh. Too bad I forgot to bring camera that time.

The Strange Fruit,

a performance of an arts troupe was amazing. This group is based in Melbourne, produces an art performance that combine theatre, dance, and circus using unique elevated medium, which is a 4 metre pole. The group delivers performance, bending and swaying in the air.

Malam Budaya Indonesia,

I initially did not want to go. But Andrew was excited about it. Presenting 4 traditional dances from Aceh, Jakarta, Kalimantan, and Papua, that was the first time I watch professional indo traditional dances live, on stage! Oh, and it also showed traditional indonesian martial arts, Pencak Silat, performed by a group from Melbourne, combination of local and Australian. I am impressed with the 'bule' boys who dressed like a real Indonesian 'pendekar', wanted to learn Silat, able to do it well, and even can talk Indonesian.

Malam Pesona Indonesia,

This was a big event of Indonesian community, with the big stage, more performances, and plenty of Indonesian food (which was the best thing). Without too much to say, just take a look of these pictures and story behind it.

For some reason we couldn't go to some shows that we would like to see, such as, The Mr Big dance show, Cantonese Opera, Offenbach's Comic Operetta, and Sophie Koh. But still, we did pretty well.

Last picture on the left is showing lamps decoration around Botanical Garden, a place where most of the shows on stage held. Pretty, hey?

Bugger Bugs!

Lagi- lagi, komputer kami rusak sejak hari Senin kemarin. Dan lagi-lagi kerusakannya parah. Kali ini hard disk yang jadi sasaran. Akhir taun lalu kejadian juga, tapi entah karena apa. Kali ini gara-gara kena virus. Dan...lagi-lagi saya yang disalahkan,... karena virus tersebut kemungkinan besar masuk lewat program LimeWire, which is program yang saya instal tujuannya buat mendownload lagu-lagu kesukaan saya. Aaarrrgggh......! Sekitar sebulan yang lalu program Lime wire ini sudah membuat ulah. Gara-gara program itu ada orang yang bisa mentransfer uang di account kami lewat internet. Atau dengan kata lain ada orang mencuri uang kami di bank lewat internet. Tapi ini cerita lama... singkat cerita, setelah urus sana-sini, akhirnya uang kami bisa dikembalikan oleh pihak bank. pheuw!

Buat kami, komputer dan koneksi internet sungguh sungguh sangat penting. Komputer rusak sama aja seperti kami kehilangan satu kaki (terlalu bombatis kah?...). Komputer rusak sung amat menyebalkan, karena bukan saja kami gak bisa berhubungan dengan dunia luar, tapi juga butuh biaya cukup besar untuk perbaikan, dan yang paling-paling menyebalkan adalah semua data kami di hard disk tersebut rusak/hilang. Termasuk lagu-lagu yang saya download dari LimeWire! Data yang paling berharga adalah kumpulan foto-foto kami....ihiks ihiks...... Untung saja minggu ini saya sibuk kerja dan kami cukup sibuk dengan jadwal nonton acara-acara Darwin Festival, jadi tidak begitu terasa ketidakberadaan komputer dan internet di rumah.

Anyway, komputer sudah jalan lagi sejak kemarin dengan hardisk, tower case, dan program anti virus baru. And,... I'm back online! Yay! :)

Banyak Acara

Gak seperti biasanya, 2 minggu kedepan udah penuh dengan acara. Soalnya kota ini sedang aktif2nya ngadain berbagai macam acara. Masuk akal kalau bulan-bulan belakangan ini kota ini banyak acara-acara besar, terutama outdoor. Karena cuacanya sangat mendukung. Bulan May - September udara di Darwin enaaak tenan. Gak panas, gak dingin banget. Suhu sekitar 24-27 derajat. Nyaman! :)

Nah bulan ini akan diadakan Darwin Festival. Dalam acara ini akan dipertunjukkan berbagai macam pertunjukan dan atraksi kesenian dari berbagai negara. Saya dan Andrew sudah memilih beberapa pertunjukan dan sudah beli tiketnya. Ada beberapa pertunjukkan yang free of charge. Maunya sih nonton semua terutama yang gratis. hihihi.... Tapi susah juga lah bagi waktunya. So, total kami rencana akan nonton 6 pertunjukkan. Kayaknya sih cukup ok dan seru. :) Kita liat aja nanti.

Footy Night

For the 2nd time in my life, I went to stadium, to watch footy match! The first time was in Adelaide, watching Port Adelaide Vs Geelong. I didn't know anything about the game and its rules, and that was the first time I physically watch sport game in a stadium, with big crowd, so it was a bit weiiird. :) But last night was great! I really enjoyed the game, the crowd, and the atmosphere.

We didn't really supporting both teams, coz Andrew is a Swan's (Sydney) fans. He hope Port will win, just for the Swan's sake. So I decided to support Bulldogs.

The footy players are sort of like a star. They are celebrities. Everyone like them and treat them like a hero. *Gosh!*... The game last night was (of course) broadcasted live on Fox Sport. Our seat was quite close and in the middle of the ground. Good location. We could see the players and coaches clearly. Also can see how busy the Fox TV people broadcasting the game. All so exciting. I like the spirit of the supporter .. eventhough some of them could not watch their mouth.... I like the team's songs, and how they enter the ground at the start of the game. Kinda cool. :)

Anyway,... my team lost.... Ah well,... it was just a game..... :)

Walk

I can't remember when the last time I did the 'real' exercise was. I think the last time was at Clark Hatch fitness centre in Jakarta. It was like... ages ago!

I have not joined any fitness or sport club since I moved here. I joined yoga class for about 2 months, but that was not exercise....

Sometimes I jog, around the block or at the park near our house when I was in Adelaide. Here, I usually walk instead of jog . But its a long walk, took about 2 hours. I like it, I could enjoy the view of park in one side and beach scenery at the other side. Also got my fav music played on my ipod, especially when I walked alone, and had camera to play with. Here are some images taken when I and Andrew had a long walk at Nightcliff Beach side. But it was also not 'real' excercise. I sometimes walk too slow, too busy looking around and took pictures, and hardly sweating. :) ... Maybe that's why Andrew like to go to walk or jog by himself sometimes.... so he can walk faster and longer ;p

Anyway, I might go to an aerobic class with my work mates next week. Excited!

Just Ordinary Days

I wonder,... why does this week go so slow. It's only Wednesday today! Heeeh.....
I know, I know.... I got this Monday off for a public holiday. But I have had enough. Can't wait for another break!

Btw, I had a quiet long week end. Didn't go to Darwin Cup (Horse Race). It's ok. I was not too keen anyway. Had 3 days of sleep in. Went to dinner and lunch with good friends, nice food, beautiful sunset. Went shopping, and watched a long outstanding movie, Pirates of Carribean: Dead Men's Chest. I know... I know.... we were a bit late,.. but we hardly had time to watch it. Lucky it still screened in the Cinema. Despite of all the critics about this film, I personally quite entertained. Easy, funny, well made movie, that's enough for me, at least for now. Not in the mood in watching complicated film. Now, I'm supposed to feel refresh! I was on Tuesday morning....

uugh.... Wish I could have another day off tomorrow.....(*sigh*)

Long and Winding Road to Darwin

Continue ....

Catatan ketinggalan di bulan Januari......

Waktu itu sekitar awal bulan Desember 2005, di Adelaide, dimana Andrew dapet kabar bahwa ia mendapat promosi pekerjaan di Darwin. Dengan segala pertimbangan akhirnya kami memutuskan menerima posisi tersebut dan pindah ke kota yang notabene "baru" buat kami berdua. Karena baik saya maupun Andrew belum pernah mengunjungi ataupun tinggal disana. Dan artinya kami juga harus memboyong semua perabotan ke sana. Setelah repot mengurus ini itu mulai dari administrasi kepindahan, bayar tagihan2 tersisa, dan packing barang seisi rumah, etc etc... akhirnya pada hari Kamis, 12 Januari 2006, jam 16:00 berangkatlah kita ke kota yang katanya beriklim tropis itu. Naik.... mobil! Iya, Andrew memilih untuk nyetir sendiri, dari Adelaide ke Darwin. Dibutuhkan waktu 4 hari 3 malam. Tidak heran, karena kami harus menempuh jarak kurang lebih 3.033 km dari ujung selatan ke ujung utara benua Australia.

Ngomong-ngomong tentang nyetir antar-kota, jangan dikira nyetir antar kota disini sama dengan nyetir antar kota di pulau jawa yang jalanannya cenderung berkelok-kelok, turun naik, berlubang, etc, harus kerja keras salip sana salip sini, serta pemandang rumah-rumah penduduk disepanjang jalan. Nyetir antar-kota disini bisa dibilang kurang tantangan. Selain jalanan yang cenderung lurus, hamparan tanah kosong di kanan dan kiri jalan, dan minim tetangga sesama kendaraan memayoritasi perjalanan kami. Sepanjang 4 hari perjalanan, paling-paling ketemu atau papasan dengan 1-3 mobil doang, malah lebih banyak gak liat mobil/truk sama sekali. Kalau saya yang nyetir, sudah pasti bakal ngantuk tuk tuk.... Tapi gak begitu dengan Andrew. Dia asik-asik dan nyantai aja tuh, nyetir sambil dengerin (and nyanyi2) lagu-lagu kesenengannya dia,.... dan kekeh gak mau digantiin nyetir. Ya okelah..... sedangkan saya, kalo gak nemenin dia ngobrol, saya dengan santainya tidur-tiduran atau nyemil-nyemil sambil liat-liat pemandangan yang sebenernya gak bisa dibilang 'beautiful'. Kalo dipikir-pikir sekarang syerem juga kali yaa... the only mobil - in the middle of no where... kalo ada apa2 gimana atuuh...Anyway, malam pertama dalam perjalanan itu kami stop dan menginap di kota Port Augusta (liat peta). Mulai dari Port Augusta sampai Darwin kami akan melalui salah satu jalan terpanjang di Australia, yaitu Stuart Highway .


Hari kedua, Jumat, 13 January 2006, perubahan suhu udara mulai terasa. Pelan-pelan suhu semakin panas. Kami mampir di kota kecil yang namanya Coober Pedy untuk makan siang. Suhu saat itu sekitar 40 derajat! Tapi kota ini cukup unik. Penghasilan utama penduduknya adalah batu opal (penambang, pengolah, dan penjual). Uniknya, kebanyakan rumah disana adalah rumah dibawah tanah, atau tepatnya dibawah batu. Kayak Flinstone gituuu... Kami makan siang di Underground Restaurant. Memang ternyata dibawah tanah udara terasa dingin, tanpa AC. Cukup amazing bagaimana mereka bisa bikin lubang dibawah batu untuk tempat tinggal lengkap dengan aliran listrik dan air dibawah tanah atau batu seperti itu.

Anyway, hari itu juga kami akhirnya mencapai perbatasan antara South Australia dan Northern Territory. Yay !! Malamnya kami berhasil mencapai Alice Springs, dan menginap di salah satu hotel di sana, yang ternyata jelek abis! huuu huuuu..... AC gak dingin, dan bed sheet nya bau! yucky! bete banget. Mana udah cape seharian di jalan :(

Keesokannya, Sabtu, 14 January 2006, perjalanan tidak semulus hari-hari sebelumnya. Kami sempat mampir di Devil Marble, tempat rekreasi turis untuk melihat batu-batu besar yang terbentuk secara alami di daerah tersebut. Tetapi kemudian cuaca mulai tidak menentu. Kami terhadang oleh badai pasir, yang rada-rada nakutin. Awalnya dari jauh kami melihat langit di kejauhan berwarna merah dan berkabut, lalu ketika kami mulai mendekati tempat tersebut, baru kami sadari bahwa itu adalah badai pasir. Kami berhasil melewatinya dengan selamat ketika kemudian hujan mulai turun. Hujan kemudian menemani sepanjang perjalanan kami hari itu. Menjelang sore, kami hampir saja menabrak kanguru yang dengan polosnya nyebrang tepat di depan mobil kami! Stupid kangoroo! Saat itu sudah gelap dan hujan. Untung aja Andrew cekatan :) Pemandangan sepanjang jalan hari itu juga mulai berbeda jauh dari South Australia. Gersang, coklat, rumput kering, atau rawa-rawa.... dan di sepanjang pinggir jalan, banyak sekali gundukan tanah yang tinggi-tinggi hingga merupai istana semut atau lebih mirip batu besar (belakangan baru saya tau kalo itu adalah Termite Mound). Akhirnya kami mencapai kota Katherine malam itu, dan menginap disana. Ketika sampai di Katherine kami mulai menyadari kalau perjalanan sudah cukup dekat ke kota tujuan. Aneh rasanya melihat pohon-pohon tropis di sekitar hotel tempat kami menginap. Pohon kelapa, palem, akasia, kamboja, dan ... kolam renang! Mirip hotel di Indonesia. Hmmm......

Hari ke-empat, Minggu, 15 Januari 2006, Akhirnyaa.... kami sampai di kota Darwin sekitar jam 2 siang. :D What a trip! Dan Andrew sudah harus mulai kerja keesokan harinya. Berada di kota ini, terasa sedikit aneh....dibandingkan kota-kota lain di Australia yang pernah saya datangi, kota ini sangat berbeda. Udara terasa panas dan lembab meskipun hujan turun rintik-rintik. Pohon kelapa dan palem serta pohon bunga kamboja (frangipani) memayoritasi pemandangan di kota ini. Rumah-rumah berpagar tinggi, dan bertingkat, dan kami melihat jalan di city yang mirip jalanan di Bali karena banyak turis dan bar di sepanjang jalan. Serasa berada di suatu kota di asia! Bukan itu saja, beberapa orang saya liat bertelanjang kaki alias gak pake alas kaki. Beberapa dengan santainya jalan di bawah hujan tanpa payung atau jas hujan, alias ujan-ujanan. Beberapa orang saya lihat berpakaian aneh... gak matching atau berpakaian ala hippie. Dan yang paling mencolok adalah banyak 'orang asli' berkeliaran... yang menurut saya cukup menyeramkan.

kota yang aneh.....

The End

Long Weekend Is Coming.

Really really really glad it's Friday ! Next Monday is a Darwin Cup Day. So, another long weekend. Yay! :D

No plans yet, but one thing for sure,.... sleep in! Zzzzzz........
May go to the horse racing tomorrow. Not so interesting, heh? Thought so too. But we'll see, something new, who knows I'll enjoy it.

Lazy Sunday

I woke up at 10:25 am this morning..... hmm...what a sleep in :) Andrew had gone to walk when I got up. I made some coffee and toasts, put some clothes in the washing machine, and suddenly i felt like.... hair spa! It's been more than a month since my last hair spa. My hair screamed to have it again soon. So, I spent about 1 hour giving my hair and scalp (plus my body skin) a nice treat. 20 minutes to distribute all the cream evenly, and massage the scalp and hair. Then I leave it under warm towel for 15 minutes, while I used the waiting time to scrub my body with body scrub. Then spent another 15 minutes to rinse it thoroughly. My hair and skin felt smooth, soft, moisturised, and aromatic. Sooo nice. :)

I love to sleep in. But the bad thing about it is you'll spend almost half of you day for nothing. It will frustrate me if I actually wanted to do several things on that day because of little time that I have left. Like today..... So many things I planned to do today, but after the hair spa I felt a bit tense because it's already noon, and I have not done none of them. aaarrrggh.... But then Andrew gave me a 'snap' (;p) so that I was calm down a bit.

Anyhow, while Andrew was watching his fav. series, The Shield on 'original' dvd, I cooked the traditional javanese tempe, which usually called tempe mendoan. This is of course, my first try. Think it's a bit to salty,... but Andrew said it's fine, and he liked it. He even dips it in sweet soy sauce (with chili). I have to admit it's really taste the same as my mum's! yummo!! :)

Then it's time for ironing. As usual, 2 baskets of them (only) :(.... To avoid being bored and tired, I did it with my fav. series, Lost, played on the dvd.

It was about 5.30 pm when I finished iron, and supposed to get ready for church. But Andrew got a work call and has to go to work soon. So we missed church again today. Hope to not miss it again next week.

I didn't do some of the things I planned to do, but pretty much happy with what I have done today.

Darwin Show

As I told you, last Friday was a public holiday in Northern Territory. But for what occasion??.... It was actually a Darwin Show Day! I think people here just want an excuse for a day off work. But I don't mind! I had a loooong weekend :) Why can I complaint about that! I got a lazy day on Friday at home. Chit chat with my li'l sister, and conference chatting with old friends. Was a fun laugh! :) Did not go anywhere becoz Andrew had to work.... poor thing.....

I and Andrew then went to the Darwin Show on Saturday. Mmm... that was the first time I went to a show. Apparently every states have their own show. As Darwin considered as a Territory, the Darwin Show was basically an event for Territorian (people who lives in Territory) to have fun, and for them to show what they can do. People were showing 'everything'. From pets, animals, plants, foods, cakes, crafts and arts they made. Lots of races and contests too.

Amazing on how you can see lot of animal and strange creature in this show. Here is the picture of some of them.

The chicken above was soo strange. I called it KLINGON CHICKY.... see, its head have something like Klingon people in Startrek. And look at those cute innocent faces of the big hamster! Little pink piggy was also sooo cute. I have the picture of it's mum. She is big and black! The other blurry picture is the picture of bunch of ducks wear dresses and just finished the race!. Sooo funny. So many more animals in this show, from snake, birds, cat, dogs, to horses and buffalo. I did not take a pic of all. But its so interesting and.... smelly too! :)

To satisy our shopping needs, there were also some commercial stalls selling showbags, clothing, and novelties. But the most interesting things to look are the rides. Sort of like little Dunia Fantasi. Here is some pictures of the rides...

I was quite amazed with some of the rides. I thought I will definitely sick if I took a ride on those things (getting old niiih)... So we didn't take any ride at the end. But I am happy to find fairy floss. It's been ages since I ate those kind of thing. And I ended up win something. Was soooo happy, like a little girl. This is what I got for a prize....

Yes, got the big stupid look blue doggie doll. Andrew said it was bigger than me. hahaha ... But it is sooo cute. I forgot when was the last time I have a doll. This dog is sitting at the corner of the spare room now, watching me typing.... :)

We spent almost 7 hours there, and stayed up to see the fireworks. We found a good spot to watch it where we could see people who released and control the crakers. So it's pretty close. The fireworks was so pretty, and I felt it explodes on top of our head. soo cool!

Got original carnaval hot dog and fairy floss for snacks... and rice with salt and pepper squid for dinner. yummy! Got few of fireworks photos and movie... but i'll share the best one. Wish I had professional camera and know how to use it to make better pic. In the mean time, this will do :)

Stop and Go Bus

Goosh..... first time got into a bus in this town. Had to change buses to get home from work. It only took 45 minutes, but it was really make me (bus) sick! And Andrew may need to catch a cab tonight. All of these hassle caused by stupid man called Will. Heeeeh...... it makes me upset again thinking about him!

Hhmmmm..... i need a hot shower and then lie down for a while....