Switch

All members of the G8s that were in the Southern Hemisphere met up tonight, as Jo correctly put it. I think 6/8 is an achievement, really don't remember when we had 8/8...at least 3 years ago though. 

I played the Nintendo Switch last week but only on Mario Kart, which is a go to classic. Didn't realise how portable the Switch is, with super cute tiny controllers! Didn't realise consoles still cost a fair bit, but $500 now is worth a lot less than $500 13 years ago when we got our first big console...Love how the multiplayer games are team games, rather than versing each other. Overcooking is hilariously fun, a stressful fun if that makes sense. Half the time I couldn't see where I was, but I like how it's relatively realistic, like if the kitchen catches fire then you need a fire extinguisher before you can keep cooking. Thanks Tess and fam for having us over and the delicious home made food!

Vegetarian rice paper rolls

Those wrapping skills which I don't have. Love how it's filled with so many veggies, and don't need vermicelli noodles to fill up the space. Peanut sauce with it is so good. I hardly ever have this stuff, and just walking past places at the shops they're pretty pricey compared to buying the ingredients and making it yourself. Just a whole lot of prep to chop up the veggies etc.

Vegetarian peking duck

First time having vegetarian duck, didn't even know it existed. It taste just a tiny, tiny bit like duck. It's still nice for fake meat though. Loved the cute coriander poking out in the presentation. We also had a 'third course' of the typical Chinese beef and bean sprouts stir fried flat rice noodles. Dessert featured Happy Apple and Dandelion's cookies and an ice cream cake we got Nancy last week lol. 

So good seeing everyone. Once again, we didn't end up playing boardgames but just ended up chatting and talking about random stuff. I think the best catch ups are not what you do, but just talking with people and the company. So great to see Happy Apple!

Didn't realise you don't have to do any more tests to get your full licence...I also never experienced the 'paper' temporary licence, and you just get the licence immediately after you pay for it...how times have changed since I got my fulls over 3 years ago...

Didn't realise how much Castle Towers has changed, since nowadays I don't go shopping, and if I do, it's normally in the city since it's on the way home from uni. Or it's overseas since I feel spending money in Aus isn't as worth compared to spending overseas. So many shops have moved around, I feel like at least a quarter of the shops. You can tell which stores are profiting. Pandora is finally in a larger space, cause the Towers one was always in relatively small shop but always packed with people. I have to say, whoever did the marketing for this year's promo, the green is quite an ugly green. Not as ugly as Baulko olive green, but it's like a dark Christmas green which doesn't really match their sort of stuff. I don't mind the green, but seeing people hold multiple bags of that stuff feels like that green doesn't match it. Nespresso also moved into a much larger space since they used to only have a tiny store which sold the pods, but now they demonstrate machines like the store in the city.

Other shops moved into an old bank fit out which is weird, cause they took out the glass windows, but there's still metal poles in between what used to be the service desk and the actual bank behind it...And what happened to the 3rd floor of Myer...they added an extra floor a few years ago and then took it away..? What a waste of money...Apparently Wendy's ice cream got rebranded...There's also more 'hipster' stores like a place that does men hair cuts, and super spacious with a pool table inside, and selling just a few other guys products. Like I'm pretty sure rent ain't cheap, how do they afford such empty/spacious spaces place have room to put in a pool table?

Other photos from the past week and don't know where to put them. Neighbours from across the road made us cute pot plant cheesecakes as an xmas present. 

 

love the whole pot plant and spade spoon

There was too much soil on top, and had to dig a bit before you get to the cheesecake. It's a more lighter Japanese style cheesecake, rather than your usual cream cheese cheesecake. 

Also, fresh xmas trees were on sale for $20 day at our local Woolies. We would have bought one, if not for the fact that you need a proper xmas tree stand so you can continue to water the tree and it'll actually stand up. We also don't have the space at home, and it's a lot of maintenance since you'll need to keep vacuuming and watering daily. We don't even have time to vacuum weekly to begin with...$20 is pretty good price to have fresh pine smells at home, cheaper than flowers and the tree lasts longer as well.

Someone gave us this to try, and I don't like Vegemite, but here it's only a tiny bit salty to flavour it. It's made of bread 'bagels' instead of potatoes, and a lot harder than normal. Also, Tyrell veggie chips are really good.

Internal placements are finally up for the first 6 or so weeks. Always takes a while to figure out how to read optom timetables, esp with each week changing. Like what if I miss a clinic lol.