so happy today, spent the best $5 ever on a pair of branded pants which were originally $60 (((:

also for once, zara had sale stuff for under $20. most of it were really big sizes, but were decent for Australia, i guess.

everyone is finally coming down under! by everyone, i mean H&M, too bad they're only going to Melb, but they said they were going to make a special Aussie collection and make it "affordable fashion". i doubt it, the clothes prices inflate whilst they ship stuff down. i love H&M, especially in HK where it's affordable, and during sales the stuff is really nice, cheap and come in your sizes (: i feel like Miranda Kerr is being downgraded from David Jones, Victoria Secret now H&M and other smaller stuff. but i've never really liked Kerr. apparently stores like Uniqlo are coming as well, but i've never bought anything from there, even though i was forced by relatives to get something from the store since it's quite popular there-it's just not my style. i still can't imagine Myer and DJ merging together...

originally $3.90, now $2.15

they have a looney tunes promotion now so they have different flavours, cups and spoons to collect. the "special" flavours were: bugs bunny carrot cake-couldn't really taste the carrot in it but i'm not a fan of carrot cake to begin with, daffy duck's decadent dark choc orange-i normally don't like choc orange things but this one was quite nice-maybe because of the dark choc, (first day today). key lime tart which was slightly sour but was alright. other flavours i tried: peanut butter-it had some sweetness which is weird for peanut butter, almond mocha-tasked like chocolate more than coffee (it looked exactly like the other choc one, so maybe i just blended the two together), matcha green tea-not enough of the matcha powder flavour, key lime tart which was slightly sour but was alright and raspberry tart which had a good balance of sweet and sourness. too bad i missed out on free froyo at rouse hill on the weekend ):

speed skating is the most intense winter sport to watch. it has the most false starts (like that aussie person who represented russia this years but false started twice and couldn't skate, i've already seen 3 double faults...), and people falling which usually isn't your own fault, and people who you expect to lose win. like some of the relays tonight, a team was coming dead last but the 2 teams ahead fell on top of each other and the 2 teams behind skated past. then in one of the women's finals, after the first bend ie. 2 seconds, 3/4 people fell. in that one, the british was penalised since she kinda pushed the others, so the other 3 won medals. but sometimes people fall and at speed skating speeds, you can't dodge the tangle of people in time and imo sucks. sports like downhill skiing and snowboarding when people fall it's their own fault, not someone who tripped you up...

guys always seem to repeat costumes for figure skating, whilst the girls get different ones each time.

Youeni Foodstore

this place is so close to home (well 12 mins drive is close for me), and i've finally had time today to go. actually, it was pretty spontaneous. had some of the bread i made for brekkie, there's something about health foods like buckwheat which just fills you up without eating a lot, so i wasn't really hungry. 

cappucino-$3.50, green juice of apple, celery, spinach and ginger-$5.50

the coffee art is a nice tulip, but i don't think this is a cap even though we ordered one and the receipt says it's a cap. a cap needs some chocolate powder. this one was more like a flat white since it didn't have as much foam and a stronger coffee taste. maybe because this cup is smaller than others. also, the grounded coffee wasn'tt filtered probably since there was some grounded coffee bits at the bottom of the cup =/ i guess the price is decent for castle hill. cafes in towers serve a cup of coffee for well over $4.

the green juice was so refreshing for a hot day like today (: a hint of sweetness from the apple, and the celery and spinach wasn't too overpowering. even though i have a blender, you really need a juicer to have such "clean" juices without pulp and little bits and pieces. 

roast pork shoulder: baked apples, kipflers, fennel seed focaccia-$20

i really wanted to try their baked eggs (yes, even though today was hot) but breakfast ended at 11.30 and i went there quite late. luckily their kitchen closes 3.30pm nowadays. shared this dish with my mum since we were quite full from brekkie. ordered the most expensive thing...but it was nice (: the pork wasn't too heavily seasoned and easily pulled apart, and yes the skin had fat but i just cut that away. potatoes were nicely cooked and the apple was soft but not mushy. the bread was really, really soft, which made us buy a loaf home.

soft 7 grains-$5.50

weighed this at home, and it came to 648g, which is pretty decent. normal loafs we get are about 750g, so i think the price for organic bread at a cafe is good. the crust of this is hard unlike the white bread we had before (which actually cost more by the loaf than the grain one) but this one was still so soft inside (: also, serrated knives are really useful for bread. i feel like we should buy fresh bread more often so i can use the knife more.

after another night of snowboarding, i'm kinda sick of it. from pictures, you can actually tell so chi's half pipe is narrower and steeper than vancouver's. the guys tricks are a lot cooler than the women's though. apparently the names of the tricks are sometimes named after the person who did it first and they just make up a name. names like "yolo" and just some signature moves which aren't official moves but just signature moves which really do look cool. just wiki-ed snowboard tricks, so, so weird. you can probably find the names on a normal cafe menu...

Wet and Wild Take 3

so empty in the morning. hardly had to wait today, literally sliding down, then going up the stairs to the point i was kinda tired from continuous stair walking...can't believe people pay $20+ to go on the sky coaster thing. why would you do that in Australia? i guess it's safer in aus, but the equivalent or better is much cheaper and bigger overseas...really nice day to go today, cloudy but not cold and i left when the sun came out (: 

the snow does seem really powdery and light at sochi. apparently sochi is like the gold coast of aus, and their winters are about 10 degrees. that's not cold at all for snow conditions...cousin in Toronto atm, and they're experiencing -17 degrees clear and sunny days. not sure how they survive...

i didn't even know iTunes radio was released in Australia today! only knew from the news...yay, second country with iTunes radio. i was so happy when they first announced iOS7 that there will be iTunes radio, but then there was that asterisks with "only in US". i don't really download songs anymore nor listen to music. so yay for a variety to stream (:

i personally think the $2m interview for schapelle is ridiculous. i mean from 20 years to 9 ish years of jail to 2+ million dollars richer. i think it's really, really bad. it's like telling people you can smuggle drugs and then get money for it-the only catch is a few years of your life. if you earn 100k a year, it would still take you 20 years to earn that much, but schapelle just sat in jail for 9 years and did nothing but still gets the equivalent of 20 years of full time work. so glad kochi lashed out at channel 7. same thing with that gittany case. the current gf gets paid 145 000 for just saying her bf is innocent.  ridiculous.

Buckwheat and Pear Bread

decided to make some healthy bread using buckwheat flour. the recipe said to use either water or milk, but i didn't have any milk, so i used water. i just think the water made it a less bread texture...the pears were actually "poached". it only they were more ripe to begin with...i used some sugar since i didn't have any coconut sugar, but everything else is super healthy (: another trusty recipe from the whole pantry app (: yay, they had an update a few days ago and there's this super healthy salted chocolate and rosemary tart. the only thing i'm missing is hazelnut spread...

i love winter olympics! actually i love all olympics. didn't have time to watch the whole opening or the encores during plus retreat, but i loved the ballet pieces and circusy inflatables (: no idea what order the countries walked out in, usually it's alphabetical...still think winter has so much more risks, injuries and dangerous obstacles compared to summer.

favourites are definitely figure skating! so glad they showed the ladies free and team pair free, twas so beautiful to watch. love their costumes. i think figure skaters are amazing. they need to know how to dance and have poise, be flexible like a gymnast and combined with flowing ice skating. i like to watch aussies during olympics, but the promotional ads are just a bit over the top. 

the snowboarding girls are all so pretty! i think the snow does good stuff to the skin. and most of the girl competitors are really friendly as well during the winter olympics. you don't see in normal olympics individual competitors hugging and cheering for each other, or still smiling even though they came 4th.

so glad you can switch between channel 10 and 1 for some variety. sometimes i don't know if i should watch mkr, dance or winter olympics! too much choice.

Plus Retreat 2014

went to The Entrance this year, which is a it further than Avoca etc, but not really. i gave up driving at 100, its not much difference compared to 110 tbh, and other red p's and l's were refs going over 100. haven't been there in a while since i managed to skip a few family outings. i remember we used to go there often with family friends at night and go prawning at long jetty. not sure if there are any prawns nowadays...but there used to be heaps to take home and eat (:

took the longer windy road up. it was sooo windy. all the guys just sped off, i'm pretty sure one of the guys just wanted to try their new car (i.e. its been modded over 10 times...)

the main house which we went to for hanging out etc was soo big. our original house was nice but it was really dirty, so we stayed at the smaller but tidier house. the main house was mostly where the guys slept. two levels with beach front views, two kitchens, about 8 toilets and 8+ bedrooms. played sardines in the dark on the first night with about 15 people, and on two occasions, i was the last person to find everyone. hate people who troll...people were so creative by hiding in storage places with stuff blocking them, and it's literally pitch balk so you would have to kick around to see if someone is hiding in the bottom corner or something.

beach views. so breezy (:

topic was on faith and we were all given a raw egg to take care of during the weekend-where ever we go, we had to take it. it ties in to show how we have to hold onto our faith. funny stories: a guy put his egg into his pocket ready to go beach but then walked into a chair and it cracked in his pocket...another guy took his egg out to swim at the beach to show the "great lengths" to protect his egg-it actually survived the waves...the entrance beach is saltier than others =/

i'm so dark now after a few hours at the beach (not even a whole day =/ )

played a new game-Jungle Speed! so fun (: why do people have such fun card games? it's like snap, where you see the same pattern as someone, you grab this plastic pole thing. it can get so aggressive at times. there's another version where there's a wooden pole-ouch, that would hurt so much. was a bit slow at first, but then you start to recognise the patterns and your reaction speed increases (: 

golden gaytime! late night snack. haven't had these in years. last one i had was probably in a kfc crusher years ago, and that just tasted like sugar. the actual ice cream is surprisingly not sweet.

so much food for brekkie, lunch and dinner. but so much carbs =/ first night, the guys took 2 hours to cook pasta =/

after having cereal, wraps, bacon, omelette, potatoes, steak for brekkie on the last day, i was super full. why not have ice cream/gelato for lunch?

500ml gelato: passionfruit, caramelised fig, salted caramel, boyensberry cheesecake, hazelnut-$12

i think this is pretty cheap since it was $3 per person. and it was definitely more than 500ml. so happy they scooped it so it was overfilled (: luckily we didn't need a lid. the passionfruit sorbet was quite sour, i picked the caramelised fig and that was pretty good. the salted caramel wasn't salted at all, and was just caramel. there wasn't enough berry flavour in the boyensberry cheesecake and hazelnut was nice.

also, i thought fish and chips would be pretty expensive here, but it's ok priced.

Devon Cafe

finally had time to go Devon Cafe! what i love about this cafe is that it's so close to central and no hill to walk up! we went at an awkward time when we had to order from the breakfast menu straightaway, or wait till 12 for the lunch menu. i think the kitchen people were on their lunch break. so we could only order drinks for that time. should've came in earlier-their lunch menu is shorter than the breakfast menu! luckily the thing i wanted was on both menus. actually, the lunch menu is just a smaller menu with about 1/2 the options they have for brekkie. the special today was some sort of sandwich, but i never order sandwiches outside (unless it's included in high tea), since you can make you own gourmet or club sandwich at home.

mocha-$4

the coffee was alright. it tasted more like a normal cap, but with a hint of dark chocolate.

breakfast with the sakuma's: salmon, eel croquette, 63 degree egg, radish salad, kepi mayonniase-$24.50

finally had a 63 degree egg! i've been watching so much Masterchef over the years, and not many place have 63 degree eggs, so i knew i had to try this dish! yum, the yolk oozed out and the egg white was runnyish as well. with poached eggs, the yolk does ooze out, but not as nicely as the 63 degrees and the egg white is more cooked. salmon was cooked well. the croquette was yum, a bit different since it has rice in it, but it wasn't too oily even though it was deep-fried. they have the same plates as The Grounds, but their signature colour is red whilst The Grounds is teal blueish colour for their coffee.

had a bit of the Heirloom salad which was beautifully stacked together. i would've preferred the balsamic vinegar to have a stronger kick. 

the guy there was so friendly, it was kinda weird. there was supposed to be $1.50 change, but i think they thought we were giving tips lol. 

four scoops: cookies and cream, burnt creme caramel, green tea, chocolate mud cake $14.50

first time at passionflower, actually first time paying for passionflower. i've had lychee rose, black sesame and another flavour free at O-week last year. people wanted something sweet, so four scoops is a lot cheaper than 1 scoop for $6. passionflower is a bit more expensive compared to other places, and i think it's ok but not creamy compared to Movenpick. i guess it really depends on personal preferences. cookies and cream tasted like Bulla's one, just not as sugary, burnt creme caramel was kinda like toffee-would've preferred it to have some crunchy bits. green tea could've been more bitter, but it was still nice. since everyone picked a flavour, i couldn't tell the person not to choose chocolate. i never get chocolate just by itself. this one was alright, again not too sweet. 

got $10 off a phone case. first time buying a phone case in aus, but when your diary gives you $10, why not use it? i think the case is really cute, but it's the most "unproductive" compared to my other cases and is the thickest. also bought branded notebooks today for uni. the designs of the covers with more pages aren't as pretty, so for the thinner notebooks, i made sure i got the Disney, since trademark/copyrighted stuff always cost a tad more.

i normally love going to airports, but not when it's not me whose going on a plane. what happened to the international airport? since when did it not have signs (outside at the drop off zones) of which the airlines corresponding to the check in counters...

i was got myself excited since going to international airport meant i could try Mak Mak Macarons where they have a special flavour just for the airport. turns out their store is on the other side of security. so i have to wait until i'm going on a plane overseas....passed the store in Newtown the other day, but parking etc was too annoying.

mince meat and cheese-$4.95

i don't know why but i decided to get a pie for lunch. first time having Pie Face. nothing special about it apart from the face. it was really salty, more than frozen pies =/

the house is once again quiet.