PappaRich and Messina

went to uni to practice again today. oh, after they released the 9 page document last week about our prac exams, i finally know what OSCE means-objective structured clinical exam. yeah, i'm a bit slow at times. so glad they set out sessions to practice at the clinic, unlike last time where it was constantly full.

traffic to parra today was horrible, probs because of some nrl final or something. still hate parking at parra. like going around the car park, there was a trolley in the middle of the road! like at least push it to the side or something. luckily the car just made it around it without scratching the other parked car and w/o me getting out of the car to move the trolley. and parra parking is more cramped compared to towers.

cheat day, all day everyday. everything i ate today i'm not supposed to eat, and my skin's just going to get worse....it's a once off, so hopefully it won't be too bad...

finally got to try PappaRich. the parra restaurant is quite nice (: i think we ordered just enough. i really like using the button thing for service. there was another restaurant (well quite a few) which have that, but this restaurant was super efficient. the menus are so nicely printed. they don't have the prices on the website, and i forgot the prices as well, but i spend a bit under $20, so it wasn't as cheap as holy basil a few weeks ago, but i guess it's not too expensive. in saying that, i'm quite broke atm, hence i haven't/will try not to go to any brunches/cafes until next year. so good to see almost everyone (: get better soon Tess!

Happy Apple beat me with the photos, haha

Beef Rendang-$14.50ish and deep fried chicken skin-$6.90

the beef was ok, i've had better. first and probably last time i'll have deep fried chicken skin. in primary i would eat chicken w/ skin, high school i peeled off the skin even though we bought organic/free range/no hormone chicken, in uni i hardly ever eat chicken since i'm not supposed to...papparich has a lot of chicken dishes...heard the chicken skin was good. it is really good, but it's fat deep fried in more fat, and i felt so full afterwards from all that oil...

combination flat noodles-$14ish, crispy egg noodle w/chicken-$13.50

both were pretty big servings for the price, they were nice but not spectacular. not many non spicy dishes to choose from

teh tarik-$3.90

i always like comparing the basics. i prefer mamak's milk tea,this one isn't as strong. not that flavourful, and more ice than i would've liked

roti telur w/ chicken curry-$12.90

roti telur-vegetarian-$6.90

the curries were really nice, and i prefer this roti over Mamak. so delicious! light and fluffily (and oily), but lovely to dip into the sauces which weren't too spicy (except for the red one).

even though we were all full, we still got gelato. haven't had messina in a while (:

1L tub: cremino, tiramisu, almond and croissant, coconut and lychee-$19

because i know i would forget what's in the flavours

the cremino's salted caramel wasn't the prominent, probably because the gianduia (chocolate and hazelnut) fudge was quite sweet and overpowering. not salted enough. which reminds me, the connoisseur salted caramel hazelnut flavour isn't salted enough, so i decided to add some himalayan salt and it became really nice. here were little bits of meringue and armaretti biscuits, but i would have preferred more. the almond and croissant was really delicious with buttery almond and some sweet bits of caramel coffee. waffle cones are 50c each, but we didn't manage to finish the 2nd cone...

yay, catching and over dinner and gelato makes me happy (:

another first world problem: the aussie dollar is going down D=

it wasn't too bad even a month ago, but now i'm just losing precious money when i exchange. i guess it's good to go overseas this year rather than later, since after the US puts up more tax stuff etcetc, the aussie dollar will probs return to 70-80c, like prior to the GFC...

it's almost october, which means mac centre has almost finished renovating. so macquarie gets all the fashion: H&M, Zara, uniqlo, gap etc, whilst parra gets all the food: messina, bourke st bakery, Jamie's Italian etc.

watched the Family Guy and Simpsons combined episode today, it's so weird but hilarious. haven't watched those shows in so long.

trying to find a good gen ed course. actually was hard to find something i liked/were wam boosters. i think i found one for the wrong reasons: finished in 2 weeks in Jan, doesn't clash with dec/feb holiday plans, no final exam. the bad thing is it kind of has group work which i really dislike. have a group work debate due next week, and nothing has happened, and you'd think people in your own course doing compulsory subjects would be more motivated, or at least reply, hence group work in gen ed subjects is not ideal...but since there's no finals, it seems pretty good, and no 50% essays and class participation like the law subjects...don't think i can write 3000 quality words

Full licence!

yay! finally after 4 years of driving. it felt like a long time, but it was actually pretty quick. managed to pass it all without repeating (:

most worried about was having to pay another test fee if i failed since one test is over $40. heard from people at church quite a few people failed the first time so i really didn't want to pay to do it again, luckily i didn't (: getting full marks isn't hard, just read the handbook and memorise some stats. i'd say fills is probably the hardest of them (not hard, but compared to L's where it's general knowledge, green P's where you either touch or don't touch, but fuels you need to memorise random crap). tbh. memorising statistic doesn't make you a better or safer driver, so i think these tests are pointless. didn't have to wait too long there, and finished it pretty quick. now i'm stuck with my licence for another 5 years, problem is i signed my signature too small this time D= just doesn't look as big as last time...

i think they forgot to hole punch my licence, and my green p's don't expire until next year, so I guess I have a spare id to use...they also didn't check my eyesight...

went shopping at t2, and finally got a mesh ball. the person was really nice, i asked for 2 samples and she gave me 2 and 3 tsp, then an additional other samples, and i didn't even buy that much.

another 9 page document about our end of semester prac exam. it's the whole time limit thing, and this time they actually have a bell, so you have to move to the next station, and if you can't finish it in time, well bad luck, you've failed. already so scared since our "patients" are random examiners/post grads who can troll you, and you're under exam stress, and prac exams are even more nerve wracking, and might not finish in time...and if i get a supp i'm repeating D=

why does the business school charge full fees for summer courses gen ed? i wanted to do one business related, but since it's going to cost $6000+ and not commonwealth supported, guess i'll have to do something else...

Monday has gone, and already behind in my list to do D= didn't realise modern family was back, i guess it's good i haven't been following it.

i hate this weather already. trying to wear long clothing for as long as possible, since when summer hits, i have shorter clothing to wear/survive the heat. if i wear short stuff now, don't now how i can survive summer. brief reasons why i hate summer: sun is cancerous. you don't hear about cold weather being cancerous, yes people get sick, but they don't get skin cancer compared to summer. the sun also makes your skin dark, and pigmented. also UV not good for eyes. when driving, the steering wheel is hot even after parking in shade. i've mastered driving with only two fingers in this case (not that it's something to be proud of), but the hot weather leaves me no choice. also, i don't like going to the beach since i try to avoid the sun. only go beaches on road trips/overseas. hot weather makes you less motivated to do work. even if i put the aircon on, it's still a waste of electricity and money. survived the whole winter without using my electric blanket or air con.

if you haven't been following the news, well HK right now is pretty crazy. have a look at this article. i really believe HK people should have their own voice. i don't understand why the media focuses on celebrities wedding when there are real life tense situations closer to home. relatives sending me photos, and it's just hard to believe all this stuff is happening over there. some Aussies/westerners live in HK, and they just have barbecues on the streets. last week, i bet that street was brimming with buses, cars, taxis and people bustling to work.

everyday i actually think about how blessed I am to be living in Australia. our defence systems are good to protect us from random military attacks and we get to choose who to vote for. even though we all hate Abbott, at least we can choose to kick him out in the next election. a freedom to declare my faith as a Christian without persecution.

had a prac exam today. idk, they're very unpredictable. last sem, i thought i didn't do great at one set of pracs, but i ended up getting an A for it. the other prac, i knew i did really bad, so i got a D for it..today i kind of faked it...and i think the examiner knew, so she checked my reading, and argh, why did she have to check mine? she didn't check the others...hopefully i don't get too marked down on accuracy. in the feedback right after in the led, she mentioned to people not to make up readings, and the pracs were on during the week...so fingers crossed i wasn't the only one who did that...it's more of the time constraint that you want to hurry up the process. again, this prac isn't worth much (5%) for a 5min prac (actually, time wise, it's worth a lot, like 60% finals in 2 hours,s till about 2min per %...), but it's more the pass mark which worries me most. the "important" pass marks/checkboxes you need in their secretive marking things...

i have such bad luck. get my cornea stained 2 times this week. screw it, still going to wear my CL tonight, need to see at work tomorrow...

haven't done an iOS personal opinion review yet, because i have yet to upgrade. yes, shock horror, i don't have the newest iOS. even though if you connect to your comp to download, i'm still a bit wary of the download space, and apparently it drains your battery more...but i will refs upgrade when Yosemite comes out for macs. i don't use dropbox, so this new feature of starting a document or anything on a mobile device and then finishing off on your laptop just sounds so time saving! like if i get an iPad, i don't have to carry around and worry about my laptop whole battery life cycle decreasing, and it'll hopefully last me for a lot more years to come.

lol at iPhone 6 plus bending. still can't hate apple because their devices are the most beautiful (:

my friend volunteered at the mercedes benz fashion festival! so lucky-helping dress the models, and be up close and personal backstage. and then she got pretty good seats for a few days just watching the shows. all the models' clothes are just divine. too bad i'm too short to wear that stuff (and i'm not willing to fork thousands just for a dress). still have yet to ask her how she got the job, since you need experience dressing models beforehand, but still pretty cool since she sometimes gets free stuff from all those designers there.

got a free boost today, even though my name isn't really lisa. if i got served by this other person, i know i wouldn't have got it, since you could feel she was strict with these things. i got wonder melon, and it smelt and tasted liked those circular red and white striped strawberry milk lollies. this drink was very bland, maybe because it was free so they put more ice in, or they just watermelons are still yet to be in season...also got free subway just from volunteering...why am i telling you this? free stuff makes me happy (: not a big fan of subway, but it's free.

as i said, my mid sem break is non-existent. so behind on everything, and even when i catch up, it doesn't mean i know anything. i do need to back though, since my almond meal is going to expire. unfortunately, i don't have the time to make amcarons from scratch, nor do i have the time to experiment with my kitchen aid hand blender-it's still sitting there waiting to be used D=

decided to stop dancing for next term, hopefully she won't get mad D=

but this means i actually have to make an afford to keep fit. did you know, i bought a pair of nikes last time i went hk, still have yet to go jogging in them...

i feel that everything that could go wrong this week has already gone wrong-and it's only a Tuesday. this sad type of feeling, not emotionally sad, but an "argh" type of sad

exam timetables came out yesterday, and it's ok spaced out, some a day after another. what luck-another exam on a saturday, but it's the day of my dance concert! and it's end of year concert, so rehearsals are compulsory, and i wouldn't feel confident without rehearsing on the big stage. one of my exams is right in the middle of the day, and i also won't be able to make it back for the opening dance. i don't know how to tell my teacher...i'm not in the important positions, but there would still be a gap...if i did my other dances and not the opening, i still would have to go classes but i'd waste half my time there since i won't be in the opening anymore. i know it's exams>dance, esp it's imperative i can't get supps this sem, but they don't see it like that. like all those yr 12's w/ their hsc still do out of school dance 4 times a week...and i really like the dances we're doing this time, the choreographer is really good...so that really sucks...

also, the official unsw exam date end on 22nd nov, but then we receive an announcement that there is a possibility that our prac exam is the 24th. so lucky i didn't book my flight that day...i guess it's good to be in the last slot for the prac exam since you have more time to study, but i was planning to finalise everything and what not for the trip...

then my printer broke last night :'( i was just printing stuff, and it said it got jammed. and then there was paper stuck inside which my bro pulled out, but it didn't pull out "cleanly" and i think a corner is stuck inside the machine. my dad tried taking it apart, but there's only a certain extent which can take it apart. i don't have any hand in assignments due (most of mine are online these days), but it has really thrown me off track and behind in work. and my mum was nice enough to go buy a new printer for me today, but they didn't have any stock until thursday ):

also had another tonometry prac today (measuring eye pressures), and i don't think i used my time as well ): still can't get a proper grip of it, sucks having small hands. too bad we don't get access to it until out prac exam. also used an old dodgy instrument today instead of the nice new ones. it's so easy to say "be stable", but doing it it's really hard. i guess i can practice by holding awkward objects near someone's eyes/face and make sure i don't shake...and it's only a 5min prac exam per person. really dislike these time limits. also, my partner kind of destroyed my cornea today, so tonight my right eye is blurry. what's worse is that since it's not the inside of my eye making my visn blurry but the outside, i can't wear my ortho-k lenses tonight, so i won't be able to see tomorrow. and i was planning to have a fully productive day tomorrow at home, but one clear and one blurry eye just throws you off...

also, i really hate group work. why does no one respond? it's also due in 2 weeks, and it's a debate involving 12 people per group, but don't people realise that it's about a 30min debate per team? that's a lot of research, and i really doubt we can find a mutual time to meet up in the break...i mean it's already hard these days even meeting up with friends, since people have work/other commitments

my mid sem break next week is also non-existent. 2 days of uni, work, eyeball, and that's most of the week gone.

the list was longer, but i'll just suck it up, and power on tomorrow, with blurry eyes and no printer...sorry to bore you w/ trivial matters, but these have been playing around in my head all day ):

first time working saturday and sunday, and all my study time was gone ): 

mum's birthday was today and my cousin came over to help make dinner. it's always so lovely to have good homemade food (:

roast duck take 2, this time it actually has some colour

toblerone cheesecake from Zest Patisserie

original plan was me going to the city, but i had work. also didn't have time to order a cake...but then this was in the cabinets, so we chose this, and we haven't tried it before. it's not too cheesy and sweet. the base is quite nutty, which reminds me of my vegan desserts, hence my brother doesn't like it since he's not a fan of nuts. there's a tiny bit of caramel and chocolate in the base, but there's mainly almonds. those triangle things on top of the cake were interesting, they were this chewy almond/nutty thing, but not sweet nor buttery. i think the price of the cake rose...it's now $37...

didn't have time to get free connoisseur and movenpick ice cream. also didn't bother getting free krispy kreme. i actually do have time if i make time, but then i thought the ice creams isn't worth my time, and i've already had free krispy kreme this year and i'm not a big fan, so no point making a diversion going home. also told my mum about the 7/11 bring your own cup day, and she's also not a big fan of the whole sugar and "unclean" ice. surprisingly, my brother doesn't care as well-he's actually studying! then again, it is just sugar in a cup...i've actually never done any of those 7/11 things before, only one year i got a free slurpee...

i really dislike how we have a prac exam this week, but the only time we get to practice is during our scheduled prac classes, problem is with that instrument, we have to share 3 between 22 people, and everyone is very unwillingly to share...

goodbye savings...

i haven't even spent anything, but i know i will be broke by the time sem 1 starts again next year...

end of year trip is going to cost a lot. a few days at theme parks cost the equivalent of a new gadget. and whilst i'm there i wasn't to go "all out" on shopping, but now i have to reconsider...and i promised my parents i would pay for my share of the trip, and after paying parents back + shopping + other overseas expenses, that trip will be about $8k just for myself...in NZ, even though we had a very economical trip, we still spent about $500 for a few days, and we didn't do any extreme sports/eat out every single meal...america isn't that cheap once you add all the taxes, it's just servings are big so you don't have to order as much i guess. but the aussie dollar is dropping which isn't helping D=

then i do want a new camera and thinking of getting the new iPad when it comes out...i feel that my laptop isn't as fast when it's not plugged in, and taking to uni, i'm always scared something will happen to it since everything is on it...and iPads are so much lighter, and i'll be able to do readings and look at notes more easily on the bus...another $1.2k

and i really want to go to Heston's The Fat Duck (if i get drawn from the ballot). it's obviously over priced compared to the UK where it's about $400AU and in melb it's $525 just for one meal...but i don't have the money atm to fly and holiday in London. when i first heard of heston, i put on my mental bucket list that when i go to London I will also go to Bray for The Fat Duck. stuff there isn't cheap (well it's cheaper than a few years ago but still expensive). i was talking to my friend who went there for an internship, and she said a medium cap is about $7AU D= here it's about $3.50. if i do go to melb, that would cost about $1k, if i also end up eating at other places...will not shop since (hopefully) i bought enough in america. still...i can go to the top 3 restaurants with dinner degustations in sydney and melb for that Heston price, you can't help but cringe at the cost...

the number of brunches/dinners/lunches that i pass when people ask me, and the places i want to go but resist to go isn't enough for that one dinner =/

then people want to go on a road trip...at least that's "cheap". at this stage, anything under $500 is "cheap"

and that's my uni life savings gone.