Wongs Have a Wright to Have Fun

Looking back over my collection of 2006 photos, I have come to the realisation that one thing my brother and I have in common is that we both have this love for taking silly photos of ourselves:

Jan/Feb 2006
Brian: in Kota Kinabalu ~ stuffing around with the straws from our drinks
Me: at a friend's wedding ~ I felt the need to make our photo more interesting

Dec 2006
Brian: fooling around at his birthday dinner
Me: after taking my hair out of a hairdo

I am proud to say that James has truly become a part of the Wong family.
He is not simply a recruit to this essential family practise, he is a willing participant!
The second of the following two photos is a particular favourite of mine - James' expression makes me laugh. He's so into it!

Edit: I found a couple more photos that I just had to share. These also include my sister Stephanie, proving that all three of us gladly participate in this essential Wong practise. I have a really old sticker photo somewhere too of my mum, me and Steph with matching silly faces... if I ever find it, I'll scan it and post it if you like!

A Berry Fruitful Day

If you have never been to a Strawberry Farm, you have to go sometime... my parents used to take us kids regularly during the summer months and I loved it. For the last 6 years, I have been wanting to visit, but I just never got around to it. Yesterday, James took me. We had so much fun!

On our way there, we stopped in Dromana for my favourite kind of fish n' chips lunch ~ the kind that you eat by the ocean:

Sunny Ridge strawberry farm:

Various berry-picking activities:

They never said we couldn't eat whilst picking!

My first BIG strawberry:

James was wonderful, because he took all the photos, which means we don't have photographic evidence that he was actually at the strawberry farm with me. But here is a picture of him afterwards trying their home-made vanilla bean ice cream (which tastes quites different from normal vanilla ice cream):

Lots of strawberries in our fridge!

And of course I had to have strawberries in my breakfast this morning!

A Very Snarey Christmas Lunch

The Snare family doesn't busy themselves with silly debates about whether an Aussie Christmas lunch should involve cold seafood platters or hot roasted meats... we have a simple solution that does away with any form of argument ~ we serve it all!

James waiting ever-so-patiently for his lunch ;-)

By "we", I mean James' mum Kerry and his aunt Evelyn of course!

The cold seafood platters featured Prawns, Crayfish and Oysters topped with yummy Seafood Dressing ~ I need to get that recipe from Kerry!

The hot dishes featured freshly carved Ham and Roast Turkey, accompanied by Gravy, homemade Cranberry Sauce (containing home grown cranberries!) and lots of yummy Roasted Veggies.

And I forgot to take pictures of dessert! Silly me. Who could forget the individual Plum Puddings (Aunt Evelyn, you outdid yourself this year!) , Contreau Ice-Cream, Brandied Butter, Fruit Salad Cheesecake and Champagne-soaked Berries?

Lunch was fabulous. Apart from the cole seafood, which I rarely get to eat and therefore helped myself to plenty, I was pretty good about watching my portion sizes. Even James, who was sitting next to me, didn't think I ate very much - and yet my stomach told me a completely different story ~ by the end of the day I had eaten so much that my stomach hurt and sitting in the car to go home was decidedly uncomfortable.

However, based on my observations around the lunch table, at least one or two people ate more than double what I ate... what baffles me is how on earth did they fit it all into their stomachs? Even people who are double my size surely don't necessarily have double the stomach capacity! What a marvelous skill to possess.

Carols by Candlelight

My first time at Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl!

Before my family moved to Hong Kong, we spent every Christmas Eve sitting together in our living room with all lights turned off except for those on the Christmas Tree, gathered around the television watching this annual event together and singing along with carolers with the aid of the printed lyrics in the Herald Sun.

It was such an exciting moment in my life to be able to go for real!

The event did not start until 9pm, but the lawns opened from 5pm, so James and I met our friends Chris and Sarah early for a picnic dinner at the lawns.

Unfortunately it rained that afternoon and evening! So I was a little cold and tempted to be miserable too, but Chris and Sarah had such a great attitude about the whole thing that I couldn't help but be influenced by their great example.

So we sat through the bouts of drizzle and occasional shower in our ponchos. Thankfully the rain was not heavy enough to soak through our blanket.

My favourite part of the blog - the photos of course!



Just to prove we were actually there - as if you doubted me for a moment!













Happy couples together on our picnic blankets.















The lawn area was pretty filled with people, in this photo not everyone has arrived yet.












You can't have Carols by Candlelight without a candle!


















View of the stage at night - we had such an awesome time despite the cold and rain.

Note the fashion of the evening - brightly coloured ponchos can be seen on the happy couple sitting in front of us. We had ours on too, of course!

Health & Fitness workshop

Last night at my church's youth group I conducted a health and fitness workshop. I have been excited about doing this workshop ~ it was a small opportunity for me to give some input into these young peoples' lives.

When I was a teenager, "fitness" was very daunting to me. It was more of a burden than an enjoyment, and "being fit" was something I felt I couldn't achieve... so I didn't try. Because of my own experience growing up, the main message I wanted to get across to the youth last night is the same message I want to get across to everyone: we each have a personal responsibility to maintain our health and fitness. As a Christian, we do so to honour God, and as human beings in general, we do it for the sake of our families and ourselves. But it doesn't have to be boring or difficult or scary ~ it can be fun, and anyone can do it. If you've never started a fitness or exercise program before, you just have to start somewhere, start small, and gradually build up your stamina.

My favourite part of course was the practical stuff. We started with some aerobics, and whilst the boys were initially unimpressed or surprised by this idea, they did us all proud!

Unfortunately a lot of the pictures came out quite blurry because of all the jumping and running around we were doing, but I managed to find a few good pics.

Leg squats:

Lunges:

Everyone's favourite ~ sit-ups! :

And finally, here they are - the toughest youth in all of Melbourne!

They did such an awesome job, and did me proud!

P.S. More photos are available at my Picasa web album.

The Ultimate Jewellery Stand

I made a fabulous purchase today: The Ultimate in jewellery stands.

Yes, of course I have a photo to show you! But before I proudly display it for you, please allow me to introduce you to my space ~ not MySpace, but rather, my real-life you-can-actually-touch-it space, located in a corner of our bedroom:

I love my special space, it is like a haven to me.

It took me much thought, arranging, rearranging and more rearranging to get it just how I wanted it.

As a result, it comes complete with any girl's basic desires, including a mirror (of course ~ two actually!), ample shelving and storage space for makeup brushes, makeup, various other facial and beauty products, fragrances, and even some decorative ornaments to add a little touch of personality.

One particular thing to note about my special space is that I have several storage spots for my jewellery:


An earring stand I bought several years ago.

The ladies will appreciate how handy something like this can be - because I no longer have all my earrings just stuffed together in a box, tangled about and difficult to sort through, I don't have trouble finding a matching pair of earrings anymore.

An acrylic jewellery box my mother bought for me many years ago in Hong Kong. This handy little thing is not only able to store both hanging and stud earrings, but has a little drawer at the bottom where I can keep my rings.

And finally - one of the best buys I have ever made.

People often ask me were I got this little baby, saying that it is such a great idea to hang necklaces because it prevents them getting tangled or becoming bent out of shape from poor storage inside a box.

This wonderful item cost me only $8 because it is not a jewellery stand, it is a mug tree! How's that for a great jewellery storage idea for all you out there looking for a better, yet cost-efficient alternative to shoe boxes?



Now that you have seen my jewellery storage techniques, here is my exciting story.

About three months ago, my brother told me about a purchase his girlfriend Carina made at the St Kilda Esplanade Market - a really awesome jewellery stand. Being male, if he says it's awesome then it really must be something! Well, he sent me a photo of this item and ever since I've been thinking about heading to the market to find one for myself.

Today, I got my opportunity to go to the Esplanade market. It was not long before I found the stall I was after, admired the items on display (a variety of types and sizes of handcrafted, metal jewellery stands) and purchased myself a jewellery stand very similar to and possibly the same as Carina's.

I know, I know, you want to see what is so good about this jewellery stand. Words just cannot describe this amazing piece of handiwork, so here it is ~ drum roll....

If this amazing display causes you to want to head out to the Esplanade Market in search of your own ultimate jewellry stand, some things to note:

***This particular stand was the biggest one for sale. As you can see I had no trouble filling it up with jewellery because over the years I have gathered quite a collection. Be not alarmed - there are also smaller ones available. This large size was great for me ~ everything from my mug tree, acrylic box and round earring stand and more are now located on to this one, beautiful stand.

***The metal look is quite simple, and when you first look at the stands you may think they aren't very nice looking, especially compated to the array of beautiful-looking doll-like stands now available at places such as Bevilles Jewellers. When I first look at the stand at home, I had some doubts because the metal finish didn't even look that nice. But noe that my jewellery is on the stand, it looks pretty darn amazing. Simplicity is the way to go because the attention is then focussed on the jewellry rather than the stand.

And finally, a picture of my now updated special space:



Isn't it just lovely?

*sigh!*







P.S. the cost of this stand was $50 ~ in my opinion, a good bargain, especially compared to those doll-like stands at Bevilles which cost $30-$40 and don't hold even half as much as this baby! Smaller stands from this stall started at $20

Blue Fire Restaurant

Tuesday is date night. Last night we went a restaurant at Melbourne Central called Blue Fire.

Blue Fire's feature dinner is the Churrascaria ~ 7 different kinds of meat are grilled on massive skewers. Waiters than bring these skewers to your table and carved you a serving of meat. And it's all-you-can-eat. However, I don't think too many people would be able to get through more than one round of each kind of meat. But if you should choose to rise to that challenged and succeed please let me know!

Blue Fire offers a great deal on Tuesdays ~ if you order the Churrascaria plus either an entree or a dessert item, you food bill is halved. So James and I ate lots of meat, dessert and also enjoyed a drink each for only $70 (note: the Churrascaria usually costs $49 per person). We were also provided bread with dips, vegetables and potatoes, so there was plenty of food.

The service was fantastic ~ all the waiters were very friendly an attentive. I highly recommend a visit!

Thanks Tatenda for telling us about this, and I still definitely want to go with you sometime!



Enjoying our pre-dinner breads with dips.

If I go back again I'll probably skip this portion because after all that meat plus the required dessert, I was so full my stomach hurt.

However the capsicum and cream cheese dip was really good!







Olives... yum!













My dessert ~ lemon meringue tart accompanied by homemade ice cream and a berry compote.
Unfortunately I didn't remember to take a photo of this wonderful dish until I'd already eaten half of it!






I wore this skirt that night.

Okay so the photo is quite irrelevant, it was just a great excuse to show it off because I'd recently bought it and I love it a lot.

The photo doesn't do it justice.

Toasted Muesli

In July at a student retreat, my friend Daniela taught me how to toast muesli. If you toast it yourself, you can put whatever ingredients you want into your muesli! To do this you need raw oats, honey and any other ingredients you want such as dried coconut and sultanas. Dan gave me some leftover muesli to try toasting it on my own at home:
Dan's toasted muesli is on the left, mine (on the right, in case you weren't sure) is a little... overdone.

However in my defense, the leftover untoasted muesli Dan gave me from the camp already had the sultanas and coconut mixed in to the oats. You're supposed to toast the oats with the honey first and then add the coconut and sultanas later.

I gallantly picked out every sultana from the mixture, but have you EVER tried to pick desiccated coconut out of a coconut-and-oats mixture?

The Perfect Breakfast

I know what you're thinking - Where's the cereal? Where's the toast? Is Fiona becoming some sort of diet freak?

Let me put this breakfast into context: every morning I eat my breakfast whilst doing my quality time with God (okay, actually I eat the orange first then drink my tea whilst doing my QT because I don't want orange juice drippings on my bible!). After that I head to the gym for a workout.

I have tried all sorts of before-workout breakfasts from no breakfast at all to a small bowl of cereal. The former leaves me too hungry to work out properly and the latter never fails to give me a stitch ~ my stomach's way of complaining that it is trying to digest food and how dare I try to divert some of it's much-needed blood flow to my other muscles!

But oranges and a cup of tea does the trick - providing me with enough energy to get a good workout each morning, but not enough of a full belly to give me a stitch. Hence The Perfect Breakfast!

Someone should really make a movie out of that title, LOL.

Of course there was another reason I wanted to showcase my breakfast. The way the sun rays were shining across it in those morning hours made me decide that this photo had to be posted in my blog!

Creative Cookery

This blog is rather aimless. So in order to solve this dilemma, I'm going to have a theme for it. This theme may change every once in a while, dependant on how soon I run out of ideas to keep it going at an interesting level.

But in keeping with my blog name, I have a rule: in order for the theme to legitimately be on this blog, it must be fun!

The first theme of this blog is, of course, "Creative Cookery". And you are in for a treat! I've already got a growing library of photos to share with you from my cooking adventures!

Allow me to share the inspiration behind "Creative Cookery":

Wonderful, scrumptious, fantabulous lemon tarts that just melt in your mouth. Made by none other than my friend Daniela, they featured at my recent birthday party. Best yet, I got to take the leftovers home and eat them every day for the next week!