The 1st Anniversary...一週年...一周年...

Kinkakuji 金 閣 寺 in snow in Kyoto....taken by my friend who went to Japan this Jan...it was so beautiful with the snow and everything( i went in Spring) i decided to post it here...my blog did start in Japan so its appropriate too i guess....
UPDATE 16/5/06: Some readers have been asking for updates...but i am currently VERY BUSY as EXAMS are coming...so it will have to wait till after my exams in June....coming posts will include the Chinese century, my thoughts on homosexuality, a stranger coming out to me (*GASP*i know!),and getting to know this really nice guy (who's Tongzhi by the way) whom i actually met 2 yrs ago and recently re-intro in quite special circumstances (by another nice guy WK) ....hope u guys will wait for my posts and not like stop visiting my blog (I HOPE NOT!!) and special thanks for the support shown by the Tongzhi blogging community, thank you so much guys:)
I started this blog of mine exactly one year and a day ago in Tokyo, Japan...i had started it cos at the time, i was in exchange at Japan and so obviously when u are in a foreign land on language exchange, there is just more interesting things to experience and alot of things to blog about....and after i came back to Melbourne, i decided to continue my blog as i thought it was a nice personal space for me to just write topics of my interest and share it with the millions around the world....i initially wrote more about issues of my interest instead of my daily life but gradually i wrote more and more about my life and recently i have also changed the style to include just abit more personal stuff...as i felt it was somewhat ironic for me to call this blog 'a personal blog' if i did not reveal anything personal...i have gradually included more personal things like love, etc...post about gay issues have also increased although i initially did not want to post too much about it in deference to my other readers who may not feel comfortable with it..overall, i hope my readers like the more personal approach now....however i will not include personal stuff in general as i am simply not the kind of person to reveal all to a world of strangers...really personal stuff, for me at least, are to share with friends and not with bloggers or strangers...so i hope people will not get the misconception that i lead such a great and fantastic life from my blog as i can tell my readers now that i censor alot of things i write and ALL negative things about my life do not make it into my blog...so only the positive side of my life is emphasized ...i hope readers will understand...
Milestones of my Blog:
I started out not knowing much about blogging and not a person who visited blogs. But after having my own blog i started visiting other blogs too...there have been a number of milestones in my blogging life in this one year...
I had no links when i first started and did not know how to get linked so i emailed ppl asking them to link me, some were extremely rude and didn't bother a reply and some replied saying they would but didn't...however i now realise it was the wrong approach as ppl should link u only if they feel like it and i personally now also dislike bloggers who advertise on my blog or use my links to advertise on other ppl's blogs....gradually other bloggers started to link to me without me asking and to date i have been linked by Korea-related blogs, Malaysian gay blogs, Chinese-related blogs and even a Portugese blog i think! I credit this to the fact that my blog cannot be defined as within any category and the breadth of my post on a range of issues widens the scope of my readers....for instance i get alot of readers who are interested in korean stuff, gay stuff (an academic quoted by the Japan Times left a comment!), women's rights, chinese studies, the qi pao chinese dress (actually an author of a book on the chinese dress once left a comment!),etc...

Some of my posts have also been publicised on other blogs and forums such as a review of a Japan Times article on Global Voices online, two posts on qi pao and WW2 on Frog Under the Well Blogs' Asian History Carnival and a post on Taiwanese TV shows on East Cathay.

I would like to extend special credit and thanks to the Plunge who was the first and only blogger who actually wrote a post especially recommending his readers to read my blog and he also wrote another post again directing readers to a post i had about gays in korea..his post and links brought alot of readers over as i could tell by the counter i have...i got alot of korea-bashers actually but they seem to have given up posting ridiculous comments which at one point reached 40 over comments making my blog somewhat of a 'celebrity blog'...there were alot of nice ones too, if u still read my blog korea-interest readers, do leave a comment!!

Another special mention goes to Ooby whose link has also brought in alot of readers from the malaysian chinese-speaking blogging sphere, as alot of people visit his blog, i also noticed in my counter that all of a sudden my click rate increased and comments from the chinese-speaking world also increased...and also thank you Ooby for saying that my Chinese name was a nice
name as you have been the first person to say that which touched me(especially the part u wrote about us exchanging names reminded me of this Korean love story!). However i know Ooby probably said that as he mistook me for another blogger and he was prob touched by the other blogger's emotional post about love,etc...and NOT mine But i am touched nonetheless
note that i DO NOT use my Chinese name at all in real life and only my family and taiwanese side of the family would know my Chinese name which is why i have included it on my blog!

I would also like to mention about this one reader who was like THE most loyal reader i had...sadly he is no longer visiting i presume....we had much in common, being malaysians, law students, same law faculty in the same university, and other crucial aspects too and i was overjoyed to find that a fellow law student had come across my blog...i wanted to know him better as i wanted a Tongzhi law friend (i am sooo jealous of alexander and his roommate!) in law school, someone to check out the nice cute boys in the law library whilst we were studying together,u know it would have been nice, however, he did not feel the same and avoided me big time when i asked simply stuff like email or even just which part of malaysia he was from? (i mean isn't that like a normal question?) He refused to give any details as if i was gonna go hunt him down or something....but although i was angry at why a person whom i shared so much in common with whom did not even know how i looked like would go to such length to avoid me, i guess i was more sad and hurt than anything else cos it reflected upon me as a person. That i was such an unworthy person for him to avoid me like this. I guess maybe he felt I had other intentions eg; wanted him as my prospective boyfriend or something (ok to be frank, i had imagined what would happen if he turned out to be this unbelievably good looking, kind, smart, perfect guy...even then i would NEVER have asked for anything more if i felt the feeling was not mutual, i would have kept the friendship and suppressed my feelings) i only wanted a Tongzhi friend in law school...was it too much to ask? ...sigh....oh yeah, forgot to say why i still think he was my no 1 loyal reader cos till now, only he checked my blog almost daily DESPITE me not updating like for weeks and weeks, when i updated, within 24hrs, he would leave a comment ...he checked so often that i was surprised...but then he didn't want to meet me...
可 是 我 已 經 盡 了 我 能 力 了 ﹐ 人 與 人 真 的 是 需 要 把 握 機 會 ﹐ 珍 惜 緣 份 ﹐ 單 靠 緣 是 不 夠 的 。 我 一 方 面 的 把 握 也 是 不 夠 的 ﹐ 他 把我 們 的 緣 分 切 斷 ﹐ 我 除 了 感 到 傷 痛 ﹐ 遺 憾 ﹐ 真 的 什 麼 也 做 不 了 。 如 果 你 還 有 來 我 這 而 看 得 懂 中 文 ﹐ 我 只 想 說 : 如 果 你 改 變 主 意 ﹐ 我 依 然 在 這 等 著 你 。
I have met alot of friends here as well not least CK and my GHB amongst others...thanks for ur friendship and i hope u will understand that i have been busy recently and cannot spend as much time talking to u guys as i would like to...well my GHB is surrounded by so many cute hunky guys, not least his recent cute work colleague!!,i am sure he is keeping himself busy,hehehe...
Also a BIG THANK YOU to all those who have left comments on my blog, i really appreciate it...it is a wonderful feeling to know that someone reads ur blog and likes it enough to comment...(frequent past+present commenters whom i would like to thank are: prinzJ, joshua, mr nasty, goku, lawboycool, executorlouis, xavier, ooby, plunge, alex, the searcher, 滑翔翼,daniel, kimcafe, DMNK, paul, ca va, harvey and many others... apologies if i forgot to mention u!!) another milestone is that the no of ppl viewing my blog profile passed the 1000 visits mark by May 1st, which is a great celebration for my 1st blog anniversary...so if you visit but do not leave comments, leave a comment, it will make me happy and introduces me to ur blog too!

Finally, in celebration of my 1st Blog Anniversary, i will from today onwards for 2 weeks or so, put out an open invitation for my readers to get to know me more...you can leave your email,MSN,etc OR your blog in my comment section and just state you would like to contact me. This is the best opportunity to get to know me better (not that i am important or anything)given that i do not write much personal stuff in my blog...of cos, normally i would still be happy to get to know u but during this period i will basically reply ALL requests, emails,etc....

And thanks once again to all those who've taken the time to visit my blog and entered into one person's story amongst the billions of stories out there in this world...i hope that this blog will continue to its 2nd anniversary....who knows?....thank you...

My Girl and Other Stuff...韓劇 ﹕我的女孩和其他... マイガールと色々

'MY GIRL' KOREAN DRAMA (THE PEOPLE IN WHITE ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS)
I put up an ad a few weeks ago with the intention of advertising myself as a Chinese tutor cos i thought it would be easy money...however, i did not expect people to misunderstand that i wanted to find a Chinese tutor....well, within a day of the ad going up the webpage, i received like 9 or so replies with CVs attached!!! I even got phone calls within just that one day...apparently there are many Chinese students in Melbourne and many whom are very keen to teach chinese as it is easy money...i had to remove the notice immediately and make up excuses to reject all their applications...HOWEVER, one good thing that came out of this was that it was the first time that i got to see thru other ppl's resumes and letters of self-recommendation...i mean i have never and may never get to be in a position where i can look at ppl's CVs and it was indeed interesting to look thru all their qualifications,etc...hehehe...

On another note, i am currently watching the Korean drama 'My Girl' and i am so addicted. In the beginning i didn't think it would be good but after the first few episodes, it became better and better and now its absolutely addictive!! This is definitely one of the better made korean dramas....i watched another one but didn't finish it cos it lacked appeal after a few episodes called 'Prague Lover' but this one is SUPER GOOD!! Highly recommended...as good as my other all-time korean favourites 'Paris Lover' and 'My Name is Kim Sam Soon' which are also fantastic....the girl is just soooo cute and lovable and the guy is the kind i like, fair skin, nice looks,etc...its the typical cinderella story with the girl being poor and having to run from loansharks which her father had borrowed money from...she meets the rich guy somehow and since she is good at lying, the guy asks her to pretend to be his long lost cousin whom his dying grandfather wishes to see as his last wish...since the girl has no money,etc she agrees and lives in his mansion,etc...the original plan was that she meet the grandfather once and she would leave but mishaps occur and she is forced to stay and continue pretending being the rich guy's cousin and living in his house with his aunt....there are MANY funny parts...especially involving the aunt and how she loves this guy who lives in the house...whenever their part comes on, there will be the dramatic european music repeating itself....and the story is also becoming more romantic now as it progresses as the girl falls for the guy and he also falls for her in episode 9 onwards...my heart broke in one scene of her crying and how, despite her skills in lying, love is something u simply cannot lie about and how she couldn't convince herself not to love him and how her heart aches whenever she sees him....and then there is that evil gf of the rich man...she tries to destroy them....sooo addictive...stopping temporarily cos have too much work now....finished episode 10...go watch it!!

So busy...i have TONS of work...so sorry GHB if i can't talk to u esp this week and also others whom i cannot chat recently, i hope u understand the stress i am under and all the work i have after enjoying myself too much last week and not doing much studies...regret,regret....

Also on another note, i dun know if i look super kind or whatever but remember i said that i was stopped in Chinatown twice by strangers asking for directions...well i was stopped by these two elderly couple in a car as they drove passed and asked me for directions to the Royal Melb Hosp just recently.. i mean i was taken abk, isn't it weird to stop someone whilst in the car when that person is crossing the road? and i am an asian student, do i look like the kind whom would know melbourne that well? I dun know....

Also finally, please note that readers are most welcome to read my archives and comment....you can simply comment under the latest post and refer in ur comment to what u r commenting on: eg' ur feb 2006 post about....' and i will reply ur comment asap!

Busy+Social Weekend...歡樂週末...楽しかったの週末

Had a busy and social weekend starting from Friday last week....actually i had not had such a busy day for a looong time now...this post is my best food post so far as it has simply delicious pics of both Asian (Japanese) and Western cuisine so be prepared for hunger inducing pics!!...
met up with a Japanese friend and we went to Chinatown and had David and Camy's Dumpling House dumplings for lunch...i ordered the fried type and she ordered the steamed type...and we had seafood springrolls as well....then went to City Baths to meet another friend and her boyfriend and we went to this nice place on Smith St called Cocoro for a late lunch (they hadn't had lunch yet)...i took them to Cocoro which is like this nice place owned by an Australian with her japanese husband...it sells japanese izakaya-style dishes, cocktails, japanese sake, shochu,wines,japanese desserts, etc and also pottery..so a unique and nice place...quite popular with Melbourne Uni students as we get discount there!! Go try if u haven't Melb uni students!
Cocoro Japanese Restaurant and Pottery on Smith St:

THE BUTTER SQUID+FRIED OYSTER+CHICKEN DISH THE RICE BALLS ON THE LEFT ARE THE FAMOUS GRILLED ONIGIRI WITH SHOYU+BUTTER SQUID IN MIDDLE+FRIED OYSTER ON RIGHT
MY JAPANESE FRUIT COCKTAIL

COCORO, THE SHELF AT THE SIDE SITS JAPANESE POTTERY WHICH IS FOR SALE
i actually also had the popular japanese green tea parfait( a dessert consisting of green tea ice-cream, red bean, mochi,vanilla ice cream, green tea mousse, green tea cake) but i forgot to take a pic and just ate everything...hehe..too delicious....My friend suddenly said she needed to catch the train in 10 mins as she lives quite far and if she doesn't catch that train and catch the connecting bus, she won't be able to get home...so we rushed to the train station and we knew she wouldn't be able to make it as it was already 5 mins past...but she decided to try her luck anyway and ran in...if she missed it, her parents would have to come fetch her...but she sms me later and told me that the train had come 7 mins late and the bus 10 mins late so she made it!! I am writing this just to point out the inefficiency of many of melbourne's public transportation and how, ironically, melbourne's unpunctual public transportation system actually worked to my friend's advantage this time!

Hardware Lane:

Came home+ did some studying and rushed to meet some friends at Asia Centre and we all went for dinner at Hardware Lane...i've always wanted to have dinner at Hardware Lane as i've passed it at night many times and this time we went there for dinner. What can i say? The dinner was FANTASTIC!!!! The atmosphere was great as the whole lane consisted of western fine dining with tables outside, candlelights on each table and a band playing. Instead of ordering a meal each, we ordered different dishes and shared ala Chinese style....this was a good idea as it allowed us to try everything...below are the food pics!!

Dinner at one of the nice restaurants the name of which i can't remember: SEAFOOD MIX SPAGHETTI

A DISH SOMEONE ORDERED

GOURMET PIZZA

CHICKEN BREAST WITH POTATO FILLING

We then headed for the Golden Monkey Bar also on Hardware Lane for more drinks (apparently this place is very popular with the Asian crowd and i loved its Chinese style decor and seats..me being the oriental cheongsam lover, no surprise) ....one waitress asked what we were talking about, by then, the topic had gone on to how oral sex and anal sex is banned in singapore..well the singaporean friend told the waitress we were talking about law, she must have thought we were a bunch of boring ppl talking about law in a bar....of cos he left out the part about oral sex...hehehe....couldn't very well tell her that!

Well, as it turned out, my japanese friends were shocked that in malaysia and singapore, oral sex and gay sex was illegal...they thought it ridiculous and one was appalled that gay sex was illegal as in Japan, anything consensual done in private is legal so she simply could not comprehend how the act could be illegal and punishable by jail which i had to explain to her...she was like ' what about gay human rights?' I never knew she was so liberal and positive towards gay people...funny how some ppl live in countries with such freedoms and liberties that they could be so shocked to hear about conditions in other countries...

Golden Monkey Bar and Asian Tapas:

MY LYCHEE BANG MARTINI

Anyways, nice bar, would like to go again, so melburnians, do give it a try!

I was so full that day.....u can imagine with chinese and japanese and western all in the same day!

Hope u enjoyed the visual food tour!!!

Penangites in Melbourne...檳城人在墨爾本...ペナン人インメルボルン

Thai-style sour fish...
one of my favourite Thai dishes, pandan chicken....

Went out with two Penang friends last night for dinner....two of us initially had planned to go to this Chinese restaurant on Smith St apparently famous for its duck with my mother's friend (and also her mother's friend also) but she cancelled and so we decided to go ourselves with another Penang friend....however, when we arrived we realised it was fully booked and u needed to book seats....there are like two sessions 6pm and 8pm and so i decided to come again next time, i mean if the place is packed, u need bookings and there are eating sessions, i reckon the place must be good....and then we went around walking from Smith St to Brunswick St going thru 8 restaurants or so before we FINALLY decided on this place everybody agreed on. Before, we had changed from Chinese, Korean, to Japanese, to Western to Indian....somehow either someone didn't like the place or it was too expensive....i was so damn hungry by then i just wanted to eat at the very next restaurant we came across..we ended up having Thai at this place in Brunswick St called 'Thai Thani'......

the food was nice....and our conversation was of cos very Penang based as we were all from Penang....abit of Hokkien also lor..penang lang mar...but not alot as we weren't hokkien speakers in general...one friend was from Penang Chinese Girl's School 檳華 and the other from Chung Ling Boys High 鐘靈 , both the top schools in Penang and also both Chinese schools...so the two of them were talking about the subjects they took and their highschool days...we also talked about how Penang was like before we left during our high school days with 'One-stop' being the 'in' place to be at one time, Island plaza and its go-kart and cineplex (both gone now), the old cinemas in Penang before the muliplex era such as Cathay, Odeon, Rex,etc with their upper and lower sections and the kacang putih they would sell...how times have changed since then..

and of cos we talked about Penang food also lor...my friend is really weird, he once ordered Or Qian 蠔煎 (oyster pancake) without the Or 蠔 ,' uncle, or qian ji pua, mai or' (oyster pancake one plate without the oyster) i mean how can it still be Or Qian without the Or???!

Will probably go to the duck place on smith st next time, maybe i'll ask my two friends to bring along their two friends who are also from Penang as well(both i've met and nice ppl), then it will really be a 'little penang gathering' in Melbourne....sounds fun!

HK Actresses in Chinese Dress...旗袍女星們...チャイナードレス姿の女優さんたち...

As anyone who has visited my blog for awhile must know by now, i have a love affair with the Chinese dress 旗袍 .....so below are some pics of HK Actresses in Chinese Dresses.... Hsu Chi 舒淇, Taiwanese actress in Hong Kong wearing a Chinese dress at an awards ceremony.
Joey Yung 容祖兒, Hong Kong singer/actress wearing a Chinese dress somewhere...hahaha, don't know where actually...Cecilia Cheung 張柏芝﹐ Hong Kong actress, getting ready for her TV drama, 'Zhou Xuan' 周旋 about the famous 1930s,40s Shanghai star...
Doing my part to promote the beauty and elegance of the Qi Pao/Cheongsam/Chinese Dress around the world....did i ever tell my readers that i am planning to learn how to make chinese dresses in the future and become a cheongsam/chinese dress tailor?? Hahaha, not as a profession of cos, but i want to do it as part of my hobby and open my very own chinese dress boutique...

Mid-Term Break...期中假...ミッドタームブレック

The past week was a 1 week holiday (i thought it was 2 weeks, it was always 2 weeks in previous years...so I don't know why they changed it to only one week this year!!) and i didn't do much...i procrastinated big time and did not study as much as i should have....have so much work now that its so not funny.....
Also went out and i thought of providing some food photos as it seems to be my habit of doing so now....

My favourite Korean Chanpon Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup with the best panchai (side -dishes) in Melbourne.

On Tuesday went with a Penang friend to Barbarinos and Wong on St Kilda Road...you can get one main course free if you are a Melbourne Uni student and show them your Union Card..so it becomes really cheap! Basically buy one free one.....its Western ribs with Asian food....

I had the famous ribs there and my friend had the lamb....

After that we had desserts on Lygon Street at this place which i shall not name in case i get sued for defamation..haha...the dessert looked pretty but did not taste good....

My mother's friend came to melbourne and treated me dimsum with her friend at Sharkfin's House ....the pic is of a favourite of mine which i normally eat whenever i am bck in Penang. It is called 白糖糕 Bak Tong Gou..i also asked my mother's friend about the Japanese Occupation in malaya cos my mom's friend is like in her early 70s already(but she is very fit and fashionable and travels widely) and she told me about how her cousin was given the water torture (a common technique used in those days by the japanese by pumping water and then stomping on the stomache) and how he is still alive today to tell the tale...of how she and her whole family had to go hide in jelutong (an area in penang) which was then a rural area....how her female cousins hid themselves and cut their hair short and tried to make themselves as unattractive as possible as everyone in Penang had already heard about the lustful japanese soldiers raping women in China...and also how the very first bomb that was dropped in Penang actually landed a mere street away from her house.

I always enjoy talking to old ppl...which is kinda rare for young people i guess but i think the experiences of old people are so invaluable, precious and interesting.....ok...how did an intro on Bak Tong Gou end with Japanese water torture? hehehe..

Another food pic...the nice looking fruit platter at Grandma Kimchi in the City..the food however wasn't good....the kimchi was substandard and the BBQ and BiBimBap did not taste nice too. Wouldn't recommend it...but we ordered the set menu so it may be different for ala carte...anyway, have tasted much better korean food at other restaurants...

The nice wall decor at grandma kimchi...

Me+my friend then had gelati on Lygon St at my favourite gelati store next to Koko Black. I would recommend vaniglio,ciocolatto, and mango...my favourites recently....sooo yummy..although it was so sooo cold that night.....we had gelati whilst we chat at the Italian Piazza on Lygon St till like 2am! But it was a Sat night so it was still quite busy...

The conversation was pretty interesting....actually we had spent 3 hrs over dinner talking about women and men's status in society now...much longer than i thought the conversation on that topic would go for..in the end we reconciled our different views and i no longer thought he was a MCP anymore....he is VERY open given that he is a Christian who goes to Church....he also talks really frankly, like we were talking about how guys were hornier than girls and he would say 'girls can also reach organism, its just that the time takes longer and they can achieve it everytime if the guy used the correct technique'...or 'vasectomy means the sperm cannot go up the....' i was soooo embarassed...i am more used to modest terms unlike the graphic descriptions he was using....he also went against many christian teachings, and he does not believe the Bible word for word. For example, he says that divorce should be allowed under extreme circumstances and pre-marital sex is ok too...that you can do more than the missionary position...how the Bible does not really prohibit explicitly sexual positions nor masturbation...he even had the radical view that no one is born heterosexual or homosexual but that we all become heterosexual due to cultural and social conventions! This was like the most shocking thing i ever heard and something i simply DO NOT think is very Christian...anyway, in the end he changed his mind cos he was persuaded by my arguement that humans are almost all BORN with a fixed sexual orientation (this is where i am in agreement with christians) but that some people are born gay and some straight (this is where i am in opposition to christian views that everyone is born straight)..cos my friend had initially thought that no one could be born gay...after our talk he came to realise that ppl could be born gay...he was never homophobic given his own radical view that he isn't born hetero but my opinion that ppl are born with a sexual orientation changed his opinion........anyways it was an interesting night...always enjoy conversations with him...

On another note...for some strange reason, i have been asked twice in Chinatown for directions to Korean Restaurants.....i mean do i look extra friendly or something? Or do i look Korean? The first time i didn't think much about it cos it was a Korean girl from Sydney who wanted some native food but i was asked by this HK girl and her frens as well, i mean she just suddenly started talking to me when i was walking in Chinatown, and for some reason both times they wanted korean food....

also remember i wrote earlier how i met two bloggers twice by chance on the streets? Well...i bumped into one of them for the THIRD TIME yesterday night...this is either freaky or it could be yuan fen 緣份 ? i think its the later.. so unlike the last 2 times, i said Hi (anyways i also told him i would say hi if i was ever to bump into him again which i thought was highly unlikely) but sadly he was on the phone and we did not get to talk...haha, i think i scared him and his friend as i had to put out my hand and walk close to him to say hi and i'm sure they were abit taken aback by what this stranger was doing.....

anyways, university starts again tomorrow...(i am writing this on Sun AM time..)

Part-Time Work Experience...打工經驗...バイトの経験

I have always wanted to work part-time (something not in the office as i've already got experience working in a law office as a student clerk) and i attempted before to get a part-time and i actually got one as a waiter at a Malaysian restaurant....but i did not go as i changed my mind last minute thinking it would take up too much of my time.

However, this yr i changed my mind again. I thought i should try it out as it would be a good learning experience to try something different. So i applied for a few waitering jobs and most did not reply. However, one did and i was told to go in for a trial period. I was however not used and only worked 2 shifts. I learnt some stuff there like folding the paper napkins and opening wines and beers using the cork-opener and can-opener, stuff i didn't know before.

Then i applied and got a new job at this high-class expensive Japanese restaurant as a waiter. I was overjoyed initially when i got the part-time job as a waiter as i thought it would be a good opportunity for me to use my Japanese and also since it was so classy, the work should be easy. Boy was i sOOOOOO WRONG.....the pay for trainees was really extremely low $20 for the lunch shift and $30 for the dinner shift...which means however many hours u work, u still got payed the same...and it took up alot of my time with lunch shifts being from 11am to 3 30pm and dinner shifts being from 5pm to 11-12 30am (once i only left at 12 30am! it was a friday night)....and thats not the worst part, the worst part was that i and all the waiters and other trainees had to not only set up the tables and mop the floors which would have been within our jobs but we also had to wash the plates and dishes AND trainees alone had to also wash the BBQ pits which was THE WORST cos it was so greasy and the smell was really bad for the health...and trainees mean 14 shifts before u can become a formal employee getting $8 per hour...which is still low...

So i quit the place this week....i thought it wasn't worth it cos it was taking up alot of my study time and also the pay was low and also i had to wash some dishes and most unbearably the BBQ pits.....but i definitely DO NOT regret having worked there as i learnt alot in my 5 shifts there (yes i only worked for 5 shifts) Cos we had to do everything, we also learnt everything....i learnt how to arrange the table cos it was one of those classy places where u had to arrange everything nicely and also how to arrange the tables for reservation which was different again, putting menus, ordering drinks using the touch monitor,how to prepare sauces, prepare kimchi,how to wash dishes fast and also how to wash BBQ pots fast cos if you wash slow, u will never finish! I also had some fun with the other waiters most of whom were nice and helped me alot cos i was new. We would eat the left-over food untouched by customers by taking it to the basement and eating it or when a nice waitress Sou scooped ice-cream for the customers, she would always secretly eat some of the green tea ice-cream and feed me some too! haha...we would joke about getting something from the restaurant for giving us such low wages... i would also secretly eat some of the kimchi (served for the Japanese BBQ) whilst preparing it....this was all done in the basement where the freezers were....cos the restaurant was big and they had a main kitchen, a sushi bar, a drinks bar, and a basement....as well as karaoke rooms and even a japanese style bar....with japanese girls serving drinks and talking with the japanese male clientele!!! It was the first time i had seen a japanese style bar with girls and all and i even saw the mama-san in a cheongsam twice! So cliche like in the movies....the mama-san actually eats with us before opening hours but the japanese bar section is separate from the restaurant management and so we don't go there (on the top flr) at all. Throwing rubbish at the end of the night was also like the movies as the backalley had graffitti and the neon lights coming from the other restaurants, seemed like the New York Bronx area to me...

I learnt alot from this experience and don't regret it although it was TOUGH work!

Books...書...本

BOOK I HAVE READ: BOOK: Coming Out in Japan

This is an autobiography by a middle aged Japanese gay man about his experiences growing up gay in the 1960s and 70s in Tokyo right till when the book was published in 1993. He published a subsequent book in 1994 with his partner which detailed life living together as a gay couple and also included bits about his partner's experience of growing up gay. This book gave me an insight into what it was like being gay in Japan in an era vastly different from now, where it isn't as bad as it was. I was also profoundly touched by the fact that both their mothers accepted their sons being gay and their relationship despite being in their 70s and not being able to comprehend what even being gay meant....nice book and available from the State Library of Victoria.

BOOK THAT I AM READING:
BOOK: Li Xiang Lan, My Life 李香蘭﹐ 私の半生

I bought this autobiography about the most famous wartime actress Li Xiang Lan whilst in Tokyo last yr so that i could improve my Japanese skills through reading as well as my interest in WW2 and Japan.
A brief background history is needed for some of my readers i think. In 1931, north-east China was invaded and occupied by Japanese forces and a puppet state of 'Manchukuo' was set up. The last emperor of China, Pu Yi, was propped up as the leader but in reality Manchukuo was controlled by the Japanese Kwantung Army. The Japanese government encouraged Japanese migration to Manchukuo and eventually came up with a policy to populate Manchuria with at least a 1 million Japanese settlers.

Yamaguchi Yoshiko's family was one of them. She was born and brought up in Manchuria and whilst speaking japanese at home, attended chinese schools. Thus she could speak fluent Mandarin. In 1938, she was selected by the newly established Manchurian Film Corporation (ManEi) as a new film talent to star in its propaganda films. ManEi itself was set up by the Japanese forces as a propaganda tool. It was decided that she should adopt a Chinese persona, being Li Xiang Lan, as it was good propaganda to show a 'Chinese girl' showing such goodwill towards the Japanese. Thus Yamaguchi Yoshiko became Li Xiang Lan and she appeared in all the films and in public as Chinese and almost always wearing the Chinese dress. This is why even today, many Chinese and Japanese people mistakenly assume that Li Xiang Lan was a Chinese when she was actually Japanese.
The films she appeared in were all propaganda films which justified Japanese aggression in China. The storylines invariably went something like this:
Li Xiang Lan portrays a Chinese girl (can be interpreted as representing weak irrational feminine China) who hates the Japanese as they killed her parents and burnt her house. She meets a kind Japanese man (can be interpreted as representing strong rational masculine Japan) who corrects her wrong ways of hating Japan and she falls in love with him in the end. The films all sought to justify Japanese aggression in China as being righteous and Chinese hatred of the Japanese as being irrational and misguided. This included her most well-known film 'China Nights' 支那の夜 which ultimately got her tried for 'treason' 漢奸罪 after the war. However she was released when it was revealed that she was Japanese and not Chinese. She was deported from China after release.

Although Manchuria was supposed to be a paradise for the five races (Japanese, Chinese, Manchurian, Korean, Russian), in reality, to borrow a line from Jung Chang's epic autobiopic 'Wild Swans' , 'If Manchuria was supposed to be paradise, then it was clear that it was only a paradise for the Japanese.'
Excerpts from Li Xiang Lan's autobiography also indicate the discriminatory nature of Manchurian society then despite being Japanese herself:

'I was payed 250 yen whilst the most popular Chinese actress only 40 yen. The other chinese were only given 20 yen. After the new japanese director came, he decided to lift the chinese actors wages as he could not justify the huge wage gap.'

'I did not have any problems using a Chinese name, working with Chinese people and appearing in Chinese language films. I also always thought that it was only natural for all the races to live in harmony in the vast mainland of Manchuria....however the Japanese in Manchuria thought otherwise. They discriminated against the Chinese in every aspect of daily life. For example, at parties and dinners, although we all ate together and drank the same wine, the japanese got white rice and the chinese would always only get low grade coarse rice. I could never undertand the reason for such a discriminatory practice. Why was it that although we all worked together day and night, there was such differential treatment towards the Chinese?'

' I had always dreamed of going to the motherland Japan, the country of advanced technology. The first time i got to go was as the Japan-Manchuria Goodwill Ambassador with Meng Hung. We arrived in Shinomoseki and waited with the other foreigners as the customs officer dealt with the japanese first. As i was travelling with Meng Hung, i waited with the other foreigners too. When it came to our turn, Meng Hung was allowed to pass swiftly and i expected the same too...however the customs officer after seeing my travel documents said ' Aren't u Japanese? As a citizen of a first-class country, why are you speaking the language of a third-class country and wearing the clothes of a third-class country? Aren't you ashamed? If you are a Japanese citizen of Imperial Japan, please speak Japanese!' I was so ashamed and disgusted that i left swiftly holding Meng Hung's hand, the poor girl, not understanding what was going on'. After that incident, my image of my motherland Japan and the Japanese people fell significantly, i thought to myself, what a racist country Japan and the Japanese were! looking down on Chinese people like that!'
A nice autobiography and still working my way through it...

BOOK THAT I INTEND TO READ:

BOOK: Asian Mystique

Came across this book on someone's blog and i found it was interesting....so i am planning to read it next....

Some more Food Pics.....飲食照......食べ物のピクス

Delicious Taiwanese Starch Meat Ball Noodles 肉羹湯麵 at Taiwan Cafe, Chinatown...the closest u can get to authentic Taiwanese ones, though admittedly still not as good as the ones in Taipei..anyway, please be sure to tell them to replace the white noodles (which they normally use and which is NOT nice and NOT authentic) with yellow noodles which tastes ALOT nicer..
My Easter Cake
Cheap Fried Jiaozhi (dumplings) at Chinatown David and Camy's Noodle Place
One of my favourite Japanese-style Chinese Dishes:
Mabo Tofu マーボー豆腐 麻婆豆腐
Had this at Yu.u on Flinders Lane. Yum...

What A Small World...世界真小啊......小さいの世界

THE SUNDAY CHARITY RUN, THE RED BUILDING IS THE CITY BATHS
I have recently realised just how small this world can be. Whilst reading this blog which i can't even remember how i came across, i saw a familiar face in one of the photos which the blogger posted up. I read her blog very often given that she seems to have such a happening social life and given that she lives in Melbourne, it is interesting seeing the tons of pics she puts up of the familiar places and restaurants she goes to....

Anyways, in one of the numerous photos she puts up, i came across a face, a familiar face. And guess who it was? It was my ex-housemate!!!! I mean how small can this world get???
I have been visiting the sister of my ex-housemate's blog for 2 or 3 months without even realising it until that photo! I found out that she is the sister cos i so happened to bump into my ex-housemate's bestfriend one day recently early in the morning. As fate would have it, that morning, i was planning to go to the Thai Festival and i got up late and rushed out only to find Swanston St closed off cos of a Sunday Charity Run....so i buzzed my friend and asked her to come to City Baths to meet as we had to walk down to Fed Sq. As fate would have it, my ex-housemate's friend was waiting for her friend at City Baths too and i took the opportunity to ask her about how my ex-housemate was (she has graduated and gone bck to KL already) and also about her sis. The friend told me indeed the sister was in the faculty i mentioned (the sister put up what faculty she was studying in her blog) and further told me where she was living now (don't know why she told me that!!)....anyways, later when i checked my ex-housemate's sister's blog again, guess what?
She so happened to blog and post up pics of my ex-housemates' bestfriend as they had happened to go out for dinner recently...i mean how coincidental..the sister even mentioned my ex-housemates' name in her blog...which all but confirmed that she is indeed my ex-housemates' sister!

Anyways, thats not the only coincidence, rem the bloggers i said i bumped into in one of my earlier posts? Well, i bumped into two of them again...the good looking one on campus once again and the other one whom i said didn't look the same as his pics just yesterday.....how small can Melbourne be?? bumping into two bloggers who don't know me 2 TIMES within one month....What a small world we live in don't we??

Beautiful Girls in Melbourne 漂亮女孩 きれい女の子

Given that i have blogged too much on good-looking guys, i think its time for me to put up a post on pretty girls (this will benefit my male readers i am sure)...anyways,the past weeks i have noticed so many really really pretty girls (using guy language, i think they would call them 'hot') in Melbourne. They are really really sweet+ pretty and even i was enamoured by their beauty and attractiveness, which maybe an indication of just how pretty they were, such that even i was dumbfounded and could understand why some guys would go all ga-ga over them.....

One time a few weeks ago, i was on the City Circle Tram, and i saw this really really pretty girl, i mean she was really pretty, like one of those who could be appearing in TV commercials, i just couldn't help not staring....i was trying to figure out where she was from, but i couldn't cos she looked Korean, yet also Chinese but she could also pass as Japanese...just really pretty nevertheless... and on this city circle tram, i saw another pretty indonesian chinese girl... and also actually this cute guy.....he had the nice fair skin which i like, and once again i could not figure out where he was from, probably Chinese or Japanese...and then i also this nice looking Indonesian Chinese girl and this Japanese girl also recently both of whom were with their boyfriends, and both very stunning...you know, those whom will turn heads and get guy's attention....my isn't it my luck to be seeing all these pretty girls......

I know i am digressing abit here but i need to post about some cute guys i saw recently too...hehe...how could i not mention the nice boys....i was on the tram a few weeks bck (i have been lazy so thats why i am mentioning it now) and i was deep in thought when i realized this guy standing in front of me. As i was sitting, what caught my attention was the shoes and so i looked up and OMG, standing right in front of me was this SUPER CUTE Korean guy...he was just sooo cute, it was like in the Korean dramas where the the girl is deep in thought and then suddenly the guy appears before her...but of cos UNLIKE in the dramas, we never got to know each other, sigh.....I am sure u are all wondering how i knew he was Korean...well, i seem to have this Koreadar which picks up koreans...he dressed like a korean guy also and he looked korean.......

And then in the law library, i met TWO times this 2 really cute Chinese guys...one of them happened to sit in one of the tables where i could sneak glances at him, and yes i spent a good few mins looking at him study(gasp! I am becoming a perv) Nothing as sexy as seeing a cute guy all intense when he is studying....haha...the guy wasn't a law student though, cos when he left to go somewhere, i had a peek at his notes and he seems to be doing Eng or something....he had such nice skin....i am really becoming like an adolescent with raging hormones...sigh...

So however did this post turn into a post on guys when it was supposed to be on girls? Hehehe...never mind....

The World of Suzie Wong 蘇西黃的世界 スージイーウオンの世界

Nancy Kwan on the cover of 'Life' Magazine, 1960
This 1960 Hollywood classic box office hit introduced the Chinese dress, cheongsam, to the Western world and inspired a short 'China Dress craze' in the West where the Chinese dress 旗袍 became known as the 'Suzie Wong dress' for awhile. It was the equivalent of what u can say 'In the Mood for Love' in HK and 'Memoirs of a Geisha' in present-day Hollywood did in terms of creating a fashion buzz for traditional costumes.

The story is set in 1960s colonial Hong Kong, where an English artist goes to HK to do some paintings for an english resident there. He rents a room at a seedy hotel/bar in Wanchai and it so happens that the bar downstairs is a popular watering hole for sailors who dock at HK and plenty of Chinese prostitutes engage in their business there. He meets Suzie Wong, a fiesty Chinese prostitute who, on the first occasion, pretends to be a high-class girl from a rich family. He finds out her real identity at the bar and thus starts their romance against all obstacles including class status and racism which was extremely prevalent back then.

The film deals with alot of issues and was very progressive for its time, including delving into the psychological aspect of Suzie Wong and how she pretended to be a rich girl as a means to escape from the harsh reality that she was a prostitute, the poverty in HK at the time which forced many girls into prostitution,the treatment of chinese prostitutes by caucasian sailors, and, not least, racism. The film of course is credited for introducing the sexy Chinese dress to the Western audience and, indeed, the array of Chinese dresses worn by Suzie Wong in the film is numerous and all of them display the dress in its finest form.

The Chinese dresses in the film are an accurate portrayal of how Chinese dresses were like back in the 1960s, to the extent of showing those worn by prostitutes as it was indeed the 'uniform of their profession' up until the late 1980s. It is interesting to note that the HK stewardesses on the former BOAC airlines also wore cheongsams which drew the complain of other air stewardesses for 'unfair competition' and drawing attention away from the other girls due to the sexy nature of the dress, no doubt in part to the high revealing side slits...

The official website of Nancy Kwan, the actress who portrayed 'Suzie Wong' in the film is at: http://www.nancy-kwan.com/index so do go check it out for more information about the actress as well as plenty of pics from the movie...

Cafe Times 咖啡廳時光 カフエ タイムズ

At the Cafe today + ate my favourite flourless orange cake + nice ice-blended Chocolate + did law readings = Heaven....ok maybe i am exaggerating alittle..ok mayb more than a little, haha..

On the topic of food, i might as well introduce some foodies i like...such as the Ikan Belado at Es Teller Indonesian on Swanston St, priced at $9 and simply delicious....

Found this at the Asian Grocery on Russell St....its the Imei 義美 Honey Cake which i ALWAYS ate whenever i went back to Taipei for holidays....priced at just over $9...

Taiwanese Entertainment Shows 台灣綜藝節目 台湾のバラエテイ番組

an episode from the Taiwanese entertainment show called 男人搞什麼 where really sexy built men were brought in to talk about what its like to be muscular men and also strip dance for the obviously overwhelmed host here called 羅 碧 雲 。
I want to introduce to readers the world of Taiwanese entertainment. As half-Taiwanese, i am obviously proud of things Taiwanese and so will introduce some things on Taiwan including Taiwanese entertainment...for those who aren't aware, in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwanese entertainment shows are THE most popular and Taiwanese music is also the most widespread amongst the Chinese speaking population. Some who are unfamiliar with the Chinese scene may be surprised to know that it is Taiwan and NOT China which produces the most popular and high quality TV dramas, variety shows and pop music. In China, Taiwanese music and entertainment shows as well as celebrities enjoy a much higher profile and regard as compared to the local Chinese ones. In fact, the Chinese authorities had to issue a directive banning 'taiwanese-style mandarin and accent' on their local productions in 2005 as it was getting very popular for mainland Chinese hosts and tv programs to emulate and copy their more welcome Taiwanese counterparts....

Many shows are not shown in China due to the open and progressive (sometimes too much!!!) nature of the shows as compared to the relatively dull and bland nature of mainland Chinese ones.......it is well known that many, i would say millions of mainland Chinese download Taiwanese variety shows such as the immensely popular, though banned, Kang Xi Lai Le (康 熙 來 了 ) as well as a variety of other programs....

The reason for the prominence of HK and Taiwan music and films in China is due to historical reasons like China opening up and creating its own pop culture in the 1980s and thus much later than the others. However, Chinese celebrities and pop culture is catching up fast too...for the moment though, HK films and Taiwan music and entertainment shows still rule in both China and overseas Chinese communities such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia,USA,Canada,etc thru Chinatown rental shops or cable TV...

Taiwan's entertainment shows are immensely popular due to: (1) the fact that they are in Mandarin which is the official language of Chinese ppl as compared to HK's cantonese (2) they are very creative and come up with new ideas all the time unlike China and HK's more conservative approach (3) they are very liberal and discuss ANYTHING including sex, molesters, affairs, pretty girls going on shows in sexy attire,models and anything and everything as long as it sells....

In fact, they are so inventive that cos pretty girls have been going on shows for so long now, there was even a recent wave of getting male models to go on shows for a change cos it was thought to be boring if every episode was on girls...n it was shocking to see how they made the models dance sexily (see pic) and every show would get cameras into changing rooms as the male models were changing...i even saw guys in speedos dancing in towels in one episode and muscular guys shaking their hips provocatively in another...then there was one which was TRULY shocking, a male model search contest whereby one middle aged man even kissed one of the half-naked models on the nipples in front of the cameras in the middle of Ximenting (Taipei's busiest and hippest section)this was even more daring than anything i ever saw in American shows....very obviously directed at the female and gay male audience if i may say so myself!...for those in Melbourne, the rental shop in Chinatown's mid-city arcade rents the latest Taiwanese shows on DVD (they used to only have them in VHS so i was overjoyed when i found out that they have DVD versions this yr!!)....go see them!

Its times like this when I am grateful that i understand Chinese, i mean those who don't know Chinese really miss out on all these fantastic shows and have to be satisfied with only the american shows which, frankly, aren't much fun!

My First Orchestra 第一個交響樂 初オキストラ

MELBOURNE UNI ORCHESTRA AT HAWTORN TOWN HALL
I went to my first orchestra on Monday with a friend. We had pasta at Universal Pizza and Pasta on Lygon St and then went to Hawtorn Town Hall for the orchestra. (melb uni students get 10% discount there using our union card includ. many other places so go use it mel university students!) It was a nice performance including Tschaivosky. My friend was playing the violin in it and so we took pictures during the interval. Had Gelati at my favourite gelati store on Lygon St next to Koko Black....a nice way to end a nice night....

On another note I came across three bloggers whose blogs i read but whom don't know me this month....the first one was on the road when i was crossing and then i noticed him....he looked different than on his blog which just goes to show pictures aren't always accurate even if unintended....
the next one i met this week whilst having lunch with a friend he passed by and at first i noticed him cos i thought he was kinda good looking and then i realised it was the blogger of a blog i recently am coming to read...he looked better than his pics....
the third one i met today whilst walking past heading for 7-11 and he was having lunch outside and i immediately recognised him cos i have been following his blog for quite awhile now and he always puts up alot of pics....he looked just like how he looked in his blog.....
so wow, for some reason, i've just been bumping into bloggers of blogs i read but they don't know me...is that 緣份 (fate) or something??

CW Games + Festival Melbourne 墨爾本嘉年華 メルボルンフエスチバル

Dinner at Kunming Restaurant in Chinatown w/h Peking duck..yummmm...

The performers on stilts performance
The nice gown at the NGV
Contemporary Commonwealth at ACMI
Girls shaking along with Bollywood music!
Bollywood dancing workshop at Federation SQ part of Festival Melbourne
In conjunction with the CW Games, there was the Festival Melbourne free events which i went as i said in my previous post (previous post on Docklands with Taiwanese friend). I went to see the free art exhibition 'Contemporary Commonwealth' at the NGV and ACMI at Federation Square and it was better than i expected! The program at the ACMI was really good and i would recommend the art installation called 'Instant Asia!' by Singapore's Brian Gothong Tan...the installation on a parody of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is extremely hilarious and even better than the parody circulating around the internet! Geisha is re-made Malaysian style!!! Some people may find it vulgar but i liked it....i won't give away the details but one funny thing is that sayuri is bought in 'ringgit' and there are alot of other comedic stuff too like a spin on singapore's tourism line 'Singapore, Truly Asia' which is turned into...'that is why they call me 'Mameha, Truly Geisha'....fso or those in Melbourne, be sure to go to the ACMI if just for this hilarious installation!! (until May 21)
The NGV had artistic pieces which were a tad too deep but i liked the gowns on display in one section which were truly exquisite....

On Fed SQ i managed to catch the last 10 mins of Bollywood dancing which was fantastic!!
I also saw the fish display at 9pm with their fountain spouting and light display....

On Sat 25 March, i went to see some more Festival Melbourne events and was planning to go see the Bollywood on the Bowl at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl...we went to see the arts performance whereby performers walk on stilts and it was interesting...then just walked around and took photos....had dinner at Kunming Restaurant in Chinatown which was delicious and had Peking Duck which was sumptious and awhile now for me.....then we made our way to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on the CRAMMED tram (which reminded me of Tokyo rush hour!) but by the time we got there, it was already closed off with a large crowd standing outside....so sadly, we found ourselves a spot outside on the lawn like many others and sat down chatting whilst listening to the music... and the topic came to WW2 and Japan. There were a few of my japanese friends (the other was this Chinese girl who was M's friend and JJ)including the swimmer body japanese guy in my previous post. I of cos got into a heated discussion with him as he brought out all the excuses made by the right-wing on why Japan should not pay Asian victims and also things like 'not all comfort women were forced, some did it cos they were very poor and had no other choice' or 'john rabe's diary on the rape of nanking could have been falsified with the Chinese govt paying someone to write it' or the most used excuse ' it was war'..one wonders why the Japanese government takes the viewpoint it does with ppl like my friend working in it (remember he works in the Cabinet office)...in the end neither of us changed our views and he continued to insist that the Japanese government must put the interest of the japanese ppl first which means not paying or apologising to the Asian victims of WW2 as doing so would entail compensating its own citizens as well for forced labour and the draft. After the chat, we turned to less serious stuff and went to the riverside to watch the Fish Display again.... a fun day!

Hanabishi Lunch 花菱午餐 花菱ランチ

MY CROQUETTE SET LUNCH
I had lunch at this famous Melbourne institution touted as serving the best Japanese cuisine in town with some Japanese friends recently. The price was EXCEEDINGLY expensive so be prepared to burn a hole in your pocket when going. The average price for a lunch set is around $25-35 so its very expensive....now, cos we went in a large group, i managed to take a picture of the various sets ordered by my friends. I ordered the croquette set which brought bck some nostalgia for me as i used to love croquette whilst i was in Tokyo and i would go to the デパ地下 (foodcourt of shopping malls) to buy them...other ppl ordered sushi, sashimi, katsudon,tendon,etc...the food was ok, i personally didn't think it was worth the high price we paid but at least it was an experience and next time i can proudly say when ppl ask whether i've tried Hanabishi YES!
oh...and the conversation we had was interesting....the topic turned to Japanese porn@@! I, being the feminist that i am, said that there should be stricter laws to regulate porn and that i have even thought about the proposed bill such as limiting the no of men that can be 'doing it' with the actress...eg: 1 actress with a max of 3 men.. (this is in response to what i hear is the common storyline of having a pack of men with one actress in most porn which is disgusting and unacceptable to me) and the japanese all laughed cos it was the 1st time they had heard of limiting the no of people....and one friend of mine even asked her friend (who by the way has a swimmers body which i noticed instantly when i first met him cos his polo t was just stretched across his formidable chest and he is also on a Japanese govt scholarship here. He worked for the Cabinet Office in Tokyo which means he got to see Japan's PM Koizumi once every 2 or 3 months!) that there was a male habit to watch porn isn't there!! The Q was phrased such that it was implied whether 'he' watched porn himself and as can be expected, he got embarassed haha...

Since i am on the topic of food, i will intro some restaurants i have been to recently...

I had lunch of pasta bolognese and italian hot chocolate mint at Stuzzichino on Lygon St this week. It was nice and the drinks menu is extensive with cocktails,etc and for those who love their chocolate drinks thick, they should try out the nice hot italian chocolates...but cos i DO NOT like my chocolate drinks thick, i was horrified when i saw the drink brought before me! It was super super rich and i had to keep adding water in to dilute it...the place is next to Koko Black.

I came across Kimchi Tray whilst walking by Flinders St on my way to FedSQ for Festival Melbourne last Friday and so i went in. I thought it was Grandma Kimchi, the well known Korean chain in Melbourne but was told though originally under the same owner, it was now under a separate management. The usual korean fare was there and i had chanpon (korean chinese noodles like ramen) An alright place with mainly chinese and korean patrons.

More food pics at My Online Photo Album: http://hcpen1111-marchphotos.buzznet.com/

Photos during The CW Period 英聯邦運動會期間的照片 コマンウエフの間の写真

Southgate Area at Night
The red thing is a temporary seating structure for the CW games
The beachcomber cafe at St Kilda with JJ
Melbourne Museum
Festival Melbourne Culinary Competition
Malaysian flag at the Culinary Competition Mas vs Eng
More pics at my Online Photo album.....