Gnatski

2005-11-29T16:56:00.000+11:00

Photos from Joe

2005-07-30T10:34:00.000+10:00

Nat & Gilbert	Grumpy Nat
Sleepy Gilbert	giveittomehardbigboy

Jindy Ski Trip 2005 # 1

2005-07-26T08:55:00.000+10:00

This past weekend was memorable for a myriad of reasons:
On Friday, somewhere between Comma & Jindabyne while I was skiving off work, I received a call. I was happily sitting in HT’s car looking forward to the snow at Thredbo, singing my way through Les Miserables soundtrack when my phone started ringing, showing “Nathalie Wong”. I assumed that the call was from my voicemail callback, and, not wanting to waste a few bars of my favourite song, picked up the call while continuing to sing at the top of my voice. It took me a few lines of “Do you hear the people sing” to realise that there was no lady telling me how many new messages I had. At this point, I realised the call was actually from work and quickly hung up. fark.

The phone rang again immediately – but this time I was ready. Unfortunately my spazzo fingers were not as prepared – I accidentally pressed the answer button, and this time, accompanying the Les Miserables soundtrack was my voice saying “shit its fucking work again”. This is when I remembered that one of my work colleagues had promised to conference me in to a meeting. Double Fark.

Definitely not a great start to the weekend, but luckily it picked up from there.
Friday at Thredbo was a nice day – long runs and hardly any people – whizzed down the mountain on fresh legs at top speeds! Dinner was an amazing Lamb Roast with yumo roast potatoes & plenty of screw top wine cooked by BEC & JOE – the best I’ve ever eaten.

The rest of the group arrived that night, and after much admiring of snow gear, and new boards (VICKY), followed by some loosely termed “lunch” preparation (spam & mayo sandwiches, dog meat & apple sandwiches) we all went to bed wishing for snow.

Saturday started nice and early with the sound of Vicky & HT talking to each other in their sleep. Vicky “Alright I’m ready, lets go”, HT “I don’t know.” Hmmm… think they were having different dreams. This was followed by Joe’s mobile phone waking us up at 4am. And 410am. Moments later it was 6am, Wayno’s voice was blasting through the door, followed by some insistent banging. I didn’t wake up until jumping Joe started bouncing on me yelling “Wake up HT!”… we don’t look that similar do we???

What an awesome day on the snow! We got to Thredbo so early, we watched the lifts start up! Nice hard packed snow – dry and fast – excellent weather conditions – sunny with little to no wind - with experienced riders made for an exhausting morning. By 1030am we were ready for lunch. At 2pm we were waiting for the lifts to close. But we couldn’t waste an 8hour day of skiing. YDG & Cherie practically flew down the slalom course, and the challenge was on. No one could beat YDG’s amazing time of 18.05 seconds, the closest I came was 18.81 seconds. Close, but no cigar. Next time baby, next time.

Other memorable moments were the naked massages going on in the lounge, loud burping, flatulence and general misbehaviour in front of Ranview co-habiters, the incensed looks from fellow skiers & boarders as a whole hoard of Asians sped down high noon at top speed kicking up snow and ignoring all the “SLOW DOWN” signage, near collision at high speed between YDG&Waynos on Friday Flats in an attempt to take out 3nd place (after Mac & Cherie), Marissa’s huge stack on high noon, Cherie & Waynos jumps over high noon, cookie preparations, running out of water, garlic bread agony and of course poker challenge that lasted all night.

Ahhh… can’t wait for NZ!

Gilbert!

2005-07-13T13:17:00.000+10:00

I stole this cute photo from ahbeng's blog to include in mine. Isn't he a cutie! This dog gives me more lovin that my own boyfriend!!! Gilbert was rescued from a doggy shelter a few years back, and we suspect he is a jack russell x fox terrier. No one knows when his birthday is, so its best to treat him nice everyday. We also think he may have been abused when he's young, beaten on the behind as he sometimes bites your hand when you pat him too far back...

Rise Restaurant Review

2005-07-12T21:12:00.000+10:00

Yesterday HT & I went to Rise, a scrumptious Japanese restaurant in Darlinghurst. Great value at $35 per person for an 8 course degustation, although they make their money back with the drinks. During the night, we decided (after a champagne & lychee caipriosca) to try our hand at food reviews:

The highlight of the night was the pedestrian sounding potato soup. Despite its uninspiring name, the soup had a nice smoky overtone and the oyster tempura was a fantastic mesh of textures. The tofu was the perfect complement to a meal that was both beautifully presented, and perfectly balanced taste-wise.

Despite being touted as the signature dish, the foie-gras stuffed Agedashi tomato was chewy and left an unpleasant residue on the roof of my mouth. The kiwi granita also disappointed with unripe kiwi puree leaving a furry taste on the back of my tongue – ouch!

Service was the typically impeccable Japanese style, although sitting at the sushi counter revealed that a large majority of dishes were pre-prepared (something I am generally not a fan of). Luckily though, this did not impact on the freshness and quality of the meals presented. Overall 7 out of 10.

Menu
Amuse-Bouche: Semi poached egg w sea urchin sauce, salmon roe & shiso
Appetiser: Seared ocean trout sashimi with roasted kingmushroom & thai style sweet chilli sauce Soup: Potato soup with oyster tempura & tofu
Sashimi: Assorted sashimi
Seasonal Plate: RISE crispy fried soft shell crab taco’s; fresh scampi sashimi; eel fresh spring roll Signature Dish: Agedashi organic tomato stuffed with foie gras
Main Course: Rolled chicken with Pumpkin Puree
Dessert: Kiwi Granita with fresh fruit jelly

Poker Face

2005-05-24T15:22:00.000+10:00

I just got back from a Becks bday weekend, where the focus was on three key activities – cooking, surfing and poker. Being generally acknowledged as pretty crap at the first two, I spent a lot of energy throwing myself into the high stakes game of poker – the No Limit Texas Hold’em kind.

There is just something about beating your friends into oblivion that brings me great joy. To see the disappointment on HT’s face when we go head to head, and I win for once makes my heart beat double time. In poker, no one is your friend – they are just a pile of casino grade chips waiting to be colour sorted into my own stash.

This is totally contrary to my normal behaviour where I usually try to make sure everyone remains happy until I myself get pissed off. And I am usually pretty submissive too, so you would think that I succumb to the poker face during the game. But actually, I live for the moments when I can say “ALL IN” and not worry about losing… And also drawing people in to a pot when I know I’ve got the best possible hand (so I can let out a relieved sigh and laugh off my nerves, while I carefully integrate the pot into my own colour coded pile).

My poker tactics are being refined by the continual advice from Chad, Wayne, Shar and Marissa, who I acknowledge as being the real pro’s from a strategic/tactical point of view. Due to this, I am not succumbing to my curiosity during the game – meaning much less aimless betting just so I can see the other person’s hand. This is paying off too, as my win rate jumps from 0% to 50% in a matter of weeks.

I’ll be the first to say that I definitely don’t want to encourage my deviant sinful behaviour by buying my own poker chips, especially as Shar has such a great set! However, tax deductable 6 person texas hold’em on tap, via the O2 mini is sound more and more like a great idea.

2005-02-27T15:17:00.000+11:00

wow! so much has been happening to me this week... very eventful.

Biggest news is that my little sis jess is officially moving out of home! Even though I have been scanning her xanga site, there was no prewarning... I only found out last saturday, and she moved out a week later!!! This makes me quite sad from several perspectives:

1. Our family unit is breaking up! I figure this will be the last time we're all living together in the one house. Jess won't be around to help buffer the nagging from the mumma's & the pappa's. This is very bad, cos most nagging is directed at me (nat, you used my towel again! nat, why don't you fill the water urn when you finish it? nat, don't forget to wash your dishes. put the left overs in the fridge. did you vacuum your room yet? stop treating this house like a hotel etc)

2. I have not moved out of home yet... I want to move out and have my own place too. I feel like I am lagging behind in life stages... my little sister is more mature than me?!

3. It will be lonely! Who will I eat dinner with on Friday nights?

Anyway, I'm sure she'll have a blast, and eat lots of sushi cos its so cheap.

Other news is that I lost my friggin mobile. Again. I got drunk on Wednesday night with some work buddies, and lost the mobile in the cab (done this before) on the way home... Dammit. I must've called HT, then forgot I was holding it. I also got home and had a shower and forgot to wash my hair. I then forgot to dry my hair, and went to bed, but forgot to put on my pj's or turn off my light! I woke up at abt 5am wondering why my light was on. Unfortunately I also forgot to drink a huge bottle of water before going to sleep, so I was quite hung over on Thursday. Had to take a sick day :) Fantastic use of sick day!

Ok, sorry for the outburst... back to work...

Nats Theories on Life #1: Skinny Singaporeans

2005-02-22T17:29:00.000+11:00

Each time I go to Singapore, I am astounded at how short the people are, and how strong the skinny arms are that are shoving me around. But, I have figured out the sad truth behind why Singaporeans are so skinny. Its very scientific, so it must be true:

Singaporeans live in Singapore (duh), which has a very hot and humid climate. This humid climate means that their bodies never crave water – they can just absorb it from the atmosphere. Hence, their bodies have adjusted, and never ever retain water.

However, in Sydney, we have a hot dry climate. Our bodies are ALWAYS craving water, and we have learnt to store it everywhere (back of our arms, thighs, tummy, side of face, neck rolls). We are always going to be fatter than the standard Singaporean.

Sad, but true.

I still call Australia home... I just have to dial international!

2005-02-19T21:22:00.000+11:00

So many of the friends that I love have turned their back on the easy life in Australia, and travelled to places far and wide to live, work and play. What is driving them from the sea, sun, surf and sand that we've all grown up with?

The list is long - of my closest friends I can name 12 who have moved overseas or lived overseas in the last 3 years - Fiona, Marina, Lish, Gavin, Larry, Dion, Eric, Don, Po, Terence, Ivy and more recently Tony. And the list is only getting longer... They've moved to places such as London, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. And spent countless weekends on Jetstar flights to exotic cities around Europe and South East Asia.

But what has driven these young, bright, 20-somethings (and tony) out of their native country? Is it the urge to see what lies on other continents? Experience other cultures? Live a life of luxury? Lots and lots of money? Endless weekend mini-breaks ala Bridget Jones?

Most of these friends vowed that, despite leaving, they "still caaaalled Austraaaaalia hoooome", and would return in "a few years". So why did all these people decide to give up two years in the prime of their life, living in a country they aren't comfortable calling home?

My suspiscion is we're all wishing that we could refresh our lives, as easily as I can refresh this blog! Thinking back on my uni days, I remember I used to dream of working in the "great outdoors" (outside Australia that is) to:
1. Earn heaps of money that I would spend on extravagant items both while overseas and when I returned to Australia
2. Travel around the continent at the drop of a hat and have mad adventures with extroverted strangers
3. Move out of home
4. Meet a rich fella who would pay all my bills and would hire me to become his professional tai-tai

Bottom line being - I wish I could make all aspects of my life dramatically better and lose the pragmatic constraints of money, career and family. Replace these with endless parties, holidays and friends in an alien landscape and you've got the onestop formula for "rediscovering yourself", "taking control of your life" and "realising your dreams".

What a FEELING!

2005-02-14T22:06:00.000+11:00

Does Jason remind you of a telly tubby? (Or is it just me?)

Yes, you guessed it, yet ANOTHER night of karaoke!

Its been a while since my last update, cos I’ve just been so busy with work and KARAOKE. Sat 2 wks ago was fantastic, but I gotta say that the Karaoke just last w/end with the normals (Jason, Becky & HT) and Kim, Mel & Tiff was even better! Think it may have been Tiff’s singing/dancing ensemble… or the sexy Chinese mums singing “what a feeling” (go the full sequin dresses) or maybe just cos everyone was a karaoke virgin, and so they kept offering the mike to me (yay!). Actually, think it was cos everyone was so chilled and having so much fun :)
Anyways, a great night!

Gotta also mention the fun I had at the V-day POPP party - pigging out on Becky's mega gourmet sandwiches and Syls yummy viet summer rolls YUM! trying to swim to the shark net (when i think of it now, its quite stupid!), and learning how to catch waves at the totally flat Nielsen Park! Was so much fun... Marissa, reason i was lying on the sand like a beached whale after catching those "huge" waves in cos was my top sorta came off, so I was hiding myself while doing vital adjustments... hahaha

Home-maid: Living at home in the new millenium

2005-02-04T10:40:00.000+11:00

I read an article in Time magazine the other day that highlighted a new trend in twenty-somethings. We’re all living at home, despite approaching “over the hill” status!

Quick mini tally in my head shows that 50% of my friends still live at home, while the other half have moved out of the nest and into their own abode. You guessed it, the freeloaders are all asian!

Is this yet another indication of our superior calculative brain powers, or just a reflection of the chasm between ang-mor and chinese? Why have we chosen to cling to this last bastion of chinese culture? Are we making sure we get our moneys worth before we move out, only to have our parents move back in with us, this time an all-expenses-paid, free-loading trip for them?

Then I realised that living at home is the new form of freedom for us aussie bred chinese folk – freedom from any chores & all responsibility!

With the right training, your parents will sit quietly through the sex & the city –athon and 3 back to back episodes of will & grace followed by Gilmore girls, without even asking for the control… all on the family funded flat screen tv
You can use the entertainment room to play rounds of Singstar with friends, kicking the rest of your family to the equally functional (if not as impressive) upstairs tv, kitchen tv or bedroom tv
When you know you’re going to lao-sai really bad, you can always use your parents bathroom – she’s had heaps more practise cleaning toilets anyway
Your old-skool chinese dishwasher (aka mum) is way better than those SMEG ones, due to the automatic dish clearing and putting away function. Although they do tend to be a bit noisy and whine a lot!

Hmmm… maybe living at home is not so bad… Something to think about while I eat my home made salad from my mummy (she made it for me before she left for work this morning).

Who's your best friend?

2005-02-02T13:53:00.000+11:00

I was thinking the other day, what makes someone your “Best Friend”? Is it someone you hang out with all the time? Or the person you call when you’re in trouble? Is it the person you’ve known for the longest amount of time? Is there some sort of etiquette, where you must be better friends with the person you’ve known the longest, rather than the person you know the best?

So, I’ve made a quick survey that you can do to figure out who is your bestest friend of all. Don’t cheat! If you’re gonna do it, you can’t read it first, otherwise it won’t work…

VIP list – ok, choose the party you’d most like to have … lets say it’s a pool party… if you were having a pool party and could only invite say 5 people, who would you invite? They don’t have to get along with each other, so long they get along with you. Put these 5 people at the top of your list.
Hanging out time – Rank the 5 ppl in order of how much time you spend with them (this includes how much time you spend talking to them – extra weighting if you paid for the call – but does not include any time you spend talking ABOUT them to others. Extra weighting also if you would actually drive across Sydney to go see them with no particular plans in mind. Disregard all hours spent at dragonboat training)
Who’s your bailer – extra points to the one you call to bail you out. Think of the last time you were really stuck. Maybe your car broke down, or you ran out of money, or some gay guy was trying to hug you on NYE, or you weren’t invited to a party and needed to pretend you were busy, or you WERE invited to a party but you didn’t want to go … who did you call? Who bailed you out?
Known time – how long have you known this person? Ok, now minus all those years you spent avoiding them… And take away the years you spent complaining about them… Now totally disregard that number, cos it doesn’t mean anything.

AND YOUR BEST FRIEND IS… the first person you thought of when trying to answer question 1.

B-oar-dom

2005-02-01T10:02:00.000+11:00

Everyone has heard about the plight of tony’s oar, but I’ll publish the story for those in outlying areas like London and Malaysia to read about.

2 years ago, Tony and some other keen dragonboaters purchased for themselves a fully sic black carbon paddle from burnwater in canada. Tony being the ever generous and supportive coach, lent his $250 USD carbon oar to Terence during the Australian National team training 2004. Terence, absent minded as usual :), left the oar at Penrith on the last day of training… However, he managed to secure another oar from to take to the races in China… Anyways, Joe passed me his oar to give back to Tony (this bit I don’t understand – Joe why are you so generous? Just give your oar away like that?) who had since moved to HK. So I travelled in business class with the paddle in luggage.

When I arrived at the baggage carousel in Singapore I was one of the first off the plane. There was only 1 item out – going round and round the carousel all by its lonesome was Tony’s oar from Joe – sitting in its own luggage box, bubble wrapped with stickers all over. A group of 5 aussie ang-mor guys were standing around looking at it – “what the hell happened to that broom?!?” Tony’s oar was snapped clean through at about 5cm from the handle…

I’ve never laughed so hard in my life!!!

Sorry Tony. Qantas is chasing the claim through for us.

The Chad on XBOX!

2005-01-22T13:14:00.000+11:00

The Chad on XBox

Karaoke Obsession

2005-01-20T16:04:00.000+11:00

It is generally accepted worldwide that if you have black hair and dark brown eyes and hark from the SE Asia area, you are a karaoke king or queen (or both in the case of Jason). But I have to ask, why do us Asians have such an affinity for the mike?

Reason 1: Oppressive childhood, born from the genetically inherited inferiority complex of our parents

As an expert asian (ie I am one, and I know many), I can say with confidence that majority of us have had a repressed childhood. Parents forbidding us to watch TV past 8pm, not getting an allowance, being forced to learn piano/violin, studying algebra at the age of 8, endless family social occasions where EVERYONE seemed to be my aunty (even Aunty Hannah McAllistar), and hours of putdowns from your parents when they thought you weren’t around (nooooo, my one not so smart lah, not like your Angie – she can already shee-shee in the potty and pin her own nappies back up, wor).

Karaoke gives us all a chance to defy our strict upbringing, and show our parents (friends standing in as quasi family) once and for all that we are in fact BRILLIANT, and could have been a rich, famous pop star if only they hadn’t been so strict.

Hmmm… I can’t think of any other reasons…

I really do love karaoke. Was so happy at my Sydney bday party (organised by Syl) cos of all the people that turned up, but also cos of the 3 hours we spent at the Karaoke centre… But I really need to get my karaoke portfolio together to make sure my songs get picked… (see the ultimate Karaoke Rules at http://www.ahbeng.net/).

I spent 2 hours before the party playing singstar at home, and another 1 hour practising singstar afterwards (HT fell asleep watching me). Guess this is quite sad, but I can't help it - I'm obsessed with hearing myself sing!!! Am geared up for the next singstar party, or even just the next time I see HT’s Playstation!

Singstar is better with the immediate feedback of the squiggly line – it means no matter how bad I sound, as long as I hit the notes, I can delude myself into thinking that really, I am a “rising star” (woohoo Maroon5 – This Love AND Video killed the Radio Star!)

Is my boyfriend gay?

2005-01-19T14:50:00.000+11:00

Click on the link, and tell me what you think!

Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, its just that I would prefer it if my boyfriend didn’t leave me for a younger man…

My boyfriend being gay has been a popular topic for discussion between my sisters and mum, and has also been considered by some of my extended family. His impeccable personal habits were the trigger for these concerns - his monthly facials, weekly exfoliation, identical pairs of black shoes, love of cooking and his penchant for fine dining, fine clothes, and anything else that can reasonably be preceeded by the word “fine”. Especially when compared to my messy room, and general disregard for hygiene…

However, I had no question in my mind over his sexual orientation... At least, not until today, when I saw him partaking in an eat-in wheatgrass shot with one of his newest close "friends" - Jason. Just seeing the two of them standing casually at the counter, skulling their two wheatgrass shots in synch sparked a jab of worry in my tummy. The way they both held their elbows out at identical angles (as if the wheatgrass shot was extremely delicate) initiated the flashing red lights and continuous emergency beeps of my gay-dar…

After chatting to my ultrametrosexual-friend Clinton, I thought maybe HT is just ultra-ULTRA-metrosexual, almost off the scale in fact. Started me wondering how exactly you can tell if your (boy)friend is gay or metrosexual…So, I turned to the trusty google to help me make up my own mind. Clinton – you’re right, he’s not gay!!!

metrosexual (met.roh.SEK.shoo.ul) n. An urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle.This definition was found at: http://www.wordspy.com/words/metrosexual.asp

The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere.—Mark Simpson, "Meet the metrosexual," Salon.com, July 22, 2002

Hmmm.... Tony?!

To blog or not to blog

2005-01-18T15:46:00.000+11:00

Sexy sisters in Singapore

Well, after suddenly discovering that I was surrounded by people who blog (both my sisters, most of my friends and even my boyfriend) I started wondering why has weblogging suddenly become so popular?

A whole subculture of faceless nameless people communicating with boldly stated prejudice, opinions, ideas and questions – is it the security of being able to anonymously air your opinions? Or the power you feel when stating your ideas stripped bare of all the PC fluff you need to avoid lawsuits these days? Perhaps it’s the rush of pride you feel knowing that what you think has been put out there for anyone to view – you’re famous (well, failing that, at least you’re published!)

After speaking to a few people, I’ve discovered it can all be boiled down to one common factor - boredom!

One of my sisters has nothing to do at work, so she regularly updates her blog with all the exciting stuff she does in her personal time. My other sister is still at uni, and has so much time to spare in the three months of holidays she gets every summer, she can update her blog weekly, despite our snailspeed dysfunctional dial up. And my boyfriend has taken time out of his daily solitaire sessions at work to view his bare blog… Me, I’ve just returned to the office after a month long holiday, have nothing to do, and am hiding from the managers that assign me work – perfect for daily blogging!

But the biggest rush of all from blogging is when you discover that someone actually read your thoughts and was kind enough to comment! Yay! Thanks Jase & Syl! :)