to say today's exam as hard is an understatement.

completely bombed out on it, even though i did all the readings/online lectures. going to get less than 20% this time, since i literally guessed every single question (and i have bad guessing skills). the rare questions which sounded familiar but you're left w/ 2 options and end up guessing on the 'easier' questions. not even enough time to read/analyse the graphs/results in questions within the 1min per mark. asking us to read the question, write 4 diagnosis within one min, even if i knew them, i wouldn't be able to write that in 1 min let along read the question within a min.

gg. if i don't improve in the next module test (which clashes with another 40% mid sem) going to actually fail diseases. last sem failed mid sem but was able to scrape finals. this sem failed the first one, going to continue to fail the other exams, and no way i can just scrape finals to get even a pass mark in the end. if i fail, going to book a ticket straight overseas. yolo work.

as a friend mentioned, disease is so self-centred. it's so true. everything is always about diseases, all our time is dedicated both at uni and at home, yet we still can't manage to pass. all the other subjects have not been touched...

my heart is hearing from diseases. how to even get over 50%? ))))))))):

here is a photo of cake to break the disease rant.

Black Star Pastry Watermelon and Strawberries cake for friend's birthday (and as a pick-me-up from post disease exam depression)

fortnightly going-to-die from diseases post.

when almost half the cohort failed the first exam (and stuff at the beginning of sem is supposed to be easier), then you know tmr is going to be even worse. and when the group quiz averages dropped, then the individual tests tmr is going to be so bad. how to remember everything? ))))): the only reason why i didn't get the lowest mark last time was because some people didn't turn up to the exam. but have another feeling going to fail this week's one as well D= even though they're not worth much, all together they're still worth a substantial amount...

last sem diseases was all route learning. this sem you have to find your own stuff to remember/learn...it sounds beneficial in the long run, but right now i feel like we're all drowning...

Yum Cha at Crystal Seafood

The previous yum cha here in Carlingford Court lasted for pretty long (compared to the one in Carlingford Village which has had quite a few name/owner changes), and was quite decent.

Came here earlier in the year to try it out after my mum said they finally built a new lift rather than elderly people walking up stairs to get to the main floor on the 2nd level.

Excuse the snap chat with randoms...

dim sum :)

more foood

Straight up I would say it's below average, worse than the previous owners. Even though the new black theme decor makes it look classy, the food isn't that great. On a Saturday lunch, there was hardly any variety, and the things which came out kept on going round and round. No new stuff. We asked for things to be ordered, but waited so long since it never came. This place is pretty price as well. For 5 people it cost well over $100, and we weren't super full. The quality wasn't that good, like the har gaos had quite a thick skin and prawns weren't big, plump or juicy. 

Service was pretty bad. Asking a guy to refill the water for our tea, and he's like, 'refill in this one?' Well obviously, what else is there to refill? Only this tea pot already had the lid taken off and placed at the edge of the table, what other tea pot is there? Also, the others wanted some chilli sauce, but had to ask the guy literally 4 times for it. It felt like he didn't even want to work there.

No more decent and cheap yum cha around me anymore ):

(Posting things which have been in my draft for well over a month. Too much food posts for August, probs have to wait till mid sem break)

KitKat Studio

Didn't go on the opening night, but went this week around 2.30ish to avoid the lines at Westfield Sydney. They're here till the end of the month. Still had to wait about 30mins. These are one of those things which are mainly for novelty. The special flavours sold out early in the morning.

options

production line

fresh!

personalised packaging (:

top: dark choc w/ dried mango, hazelnuts and salted caramel popcorn

bottom: dark choc w/ rose petals, almonds and salted caramel popcorn

8 kit kats for $9

back

I thought they would be the small kit lat size, but it was actually quite a long stick of kit lat, a lot longer than the mini ones/normal ones in shops/Japanese ones.

I was going to get caramelised meringues, but realised my flavour combination was too similar to the Design you own Magnum a while ago, so decided to have some nuts for some texture. Love the rose petals with the colour and fragrance. Salted caramel in the popcorn was very subtle. Tried the other chocolate, and the dried mango was very subtle. There were also quite a few designs that you could choose for the packaging, tried to avoid the boring red ones. You then choose the description of Kit Kats and type in a name. Overall, although I'm not a chocolate fan, still not too excessively expensive, and it's a one off just for fun (:

Sushi Hotaru

The only day where I end uni early is Fridays, and with relatives over, it was the perfect timing to go out for sushi train and catch up with my cousin and uncle. I've walked past this place in The Galeries countless times, but never actually had anything from there. It used to be $2 a plate, last Friday when we went was the last day for $3 a plate. From 15th Aug it's $3.30.

Everything is so fresh and made to order, if you're ordering off the iPad. The stuff on the conveyor belt is also freshly made. The belt at the far end stopped at around 1.30pm, so we just ordered off the iPad. Here's some snap shots of some of the food, and some highlights.

Sushi train! Haven't been in over a year. Too expensive in Aus, last time was in HK. This place is actually pretty cheap

Hand rolls are also $3 each. Soft sill crab at the back :)

Depp fried crumbed oyster with some aioli (I think). Oyster was so creamy and melted in your mouth, and still piping hot inside.

green tea late w/ red bean ice cream, green tea latte, black sesame latte-$5.50

Pretty decent latte, would have preferred it to be a bit milkier. The ice cream was super hard, so don't try to scoop it once the drink arrives...

eating action shot hehe.

My favourites from there were the seared scallops which were ever so plump, seared salmon which just had so much flavour in that tiny strip. Also the eel with cream cheese hand roll-the right amount of creaminess, and we all ended our eating adventures with that since the cream cheese was super filling.

24 plates

So we did spend more than the average lunch price, total of around $88.50, but we were crazily full, and hardly had any dinner that night. We actually didn't have any of the normal sushi...Definitely recommend for a quick and fresh Jap fix :)

Elisa's 21st

thanks for coming everyone! hope you enjoyed the night with delicious food :)

i was originally not going to hold a party just to save my travel money, but money is earned to be spent and memories are to be made. i've had a party for most of the 'important' stages in life, or parties just for fun, and with relatives over, I guess it was a good decision, and one that i don't regret.

organising everything from the start to finish, to arranging cakes, decorations (thanks Dandelion and Happy Apple), spending hours packing party bags, games, extra presents-it was pretty much a solo effect and if i say so myself, it went alright. didn't bother to really make the place fancy, couldn't take photos myself or photos of food (relying on you guys!) and no time to arrange music, and definitely some stuff could be changed, but not bad for a first attempt. one event (apart from a wedding) is stressful enough to organise by yourself, in between studying for exams, uni work etc. it was fun, but i now understand why event planners exist.

have not done any uni work since my birthday las thursday, so I am actually ~10 hours behind in uni, and no idea how i'm going to catch up...

counted at least 4 other 21st parties that night. yay most people could make it.

photos and proper post soon (hopefully), after i catch up on stuff.

21!

can't believe i'm 21 already. people ask me how i feel...old actually. after 21 you don't really reveal your age anymore lol.

skipped a lecture yday and this morning to study for diseases. a test every fortnight means it's likely your birthday will coincide with an exam. it was actually super hard. there were 4 exam options/papers, so the lecturer placed diff papers next to you, in front and behind you. he was like, even if you had your phone on you and wanted to look something up, you won't have time. dayum. 1 min per question, and some questions were longer than this paragraph, so took you almost minute to read let alone think about it. it was so, so hard ): i'll study harder for the next one in two weeks...really need to study in groups for diseases, at least 5 hours online videos, and another 5 contact hours doing exams/case presentations and testing us on that material, on top of other online quizzes at home and readings. no way you can do all the readings/study everything before the 2nd weekly test on top of the other 3 subjects. maybe it'll be doable with 2, but you defs won't have enough time on your own...

anyways, enough about diseases. so screwed even in wk 3.

i was actually super surprised my optom crew organised a cake even though we had an exam today. black star is still in the opposite direction to uni. first time having a slice from an actual cake (rather than slice). 

iconic strawberry and watermelon cake

yumm. an all time favourite. thank you! loved the vibrant colours in the winter sun (:

massive feast back at home. super big pizza, lamb cutlets, duck, salmon, prawns, scallops which mum opened herself (!), asian stuff-mushrooms, dried scallops, sea cucumber, veggies. definitely over ate...

Zumbo V8 Vanilla Cake

Flower

Layers: Vanilla chantilly, Toasted vanilla brûlée, Vanilla water gel, Vanilla macaron, Vanilla almond, crunch, Vanilla dacquoise, Vanilla ganache, Vanilla glaze

look at that gel!

I've wanted to try this cake for a long time, even before it featured on Masterchef 2010. The original one was chocolate (I think). this cake comes and goes, and finally it landed back in winter in time for my birthday! so many layers, so delicious. a bit on the sweet side, but the gel and the crunch helped the balanced the flavour. Was in a rush so didn't make a clean cut of the layers. yummm. yay for leftovers.

Birthday celebrations to continue!