My Lumix in Action!!

On my last post, I did say that I will do Zumba review on my next post but decided to postpone it because I wanted to show some pics that I have been snapping with my new Lumix LX3 :D :D
Love love love the color of the results, although I'm yet to master all the features of the camera, I can even take my jewelry's picture with this camera because it captured the details beautifully.

Well, mostly I'm taking pictures of my own cookings LOLz...since I'm not an expert cook, every time I did a successful attempt on a recipe I had to take a picture of the result, just in case my friends don't believe me when I tell them I actually can cook hahaha..

Meuntang (Spicy Fish) :p

Dumplings :)) My fave food to make. Reason: easy to make and to store. I usually make in batch and dump them on the freezer. Great for times when I need a quick meal ;)

Here's what I love to made with my newly acquired food processor. Almond energy balls Lolz don't you love the name? Super easy to make, just a cup of raw almond

6-8 soaked pitted prunes

Throw them all into the food processor and run it for about 3 minutes

Walaaa.... here's the end result :D Healthy nibbles!! I just pop two or three of them to my mouth everytime I want some snacks :D  Next  I wanna make macadamia energy balls!!

Sanma Takikomi Gohan (Japanese style fish rice??Someone help me translating the name pls)

I modify the recipe abit because I don't have all the required ingredients ^^"

Perfect with the dumplings!! :D :D

And I told you I could use the camera to take my jewelry pictures too, here's some of the pictures that were taken with the camera ( I edited the colors a little).

I'm in love with my Lumix LX3  <3 <3  <3 If you're considering this camera I think you should go for it :) I'm very happy with mine

On a side news, I just found out a very heart breaking news re one of my dearest blogger Nehs. My prayers and condolences be with you sister :(((

xoxo

ps. I noticed some new followers, HIII there!! I will soon visit your blog too!! thanks so much! :)

PPS. CHECK OUT THIS COOL NEW ONLINE COSMETICS STORE BY NIC NIC!!! She's having an awesome giveaway too!!

My current fave stuff

One week or so ago I celebrate my 27th birthday, and here's what my husband and friends got me (at my rather obvious hint-full request lolz)

PANASONIC LUMIX LX3

I have had my eyes on it ever since my brother came home with the twin counterpart Leica d-lux4, and since Lumix LX3 is half the Leica price, I want it even more!

Another present that I got is the Breville Multi food processor that I've been wanting too for quite some time. 

I think I'm ready to be a mum. WHY? Because I get excited over a food processor!! @.@"  lolz
cooking is never big in my life, my HS friends would laugh their heads off if they hear me saying "I like cooking" ^^"

So I have been playing with these two things and also accompanying my mum in law who is visiting us, while still trying to juggle things from works.

This might not be a too exciting post, but I am certainly excited over my two new possessions!!
What have you been wanting for a while that you plan to get (or get someone to give you haha) on your birthday?

Next, I think I'm ready to review my Zumba Latin Workout pack :D

Until laters xoxo

I'm still around..but busier...

Hii lovely bloggers..
I'm still around, but I'm getting a lot busier lately..anyway..just a quick post to say a big HI to everyone...
I wish everyone is doing well and happy...
I will be back blogging very soon ^^
Here's what I made for dinner today, sundooboo chige..

There are some viral/virus going about these past days some of my friends have been getting gastro and flu...the weather changes might be one of the reason...I hope you guys are taking care of yourself :)

Until my next post, stay safe and happy! God bless :)

Holiday = eat more = weight more??

Thanks everyone for the input about the dress. I ended up wearing the pink dress and the butterfly ones, the greenish blue one will be kept for the next wedding^^ and the wedding went very very well, thanks for asking!!

I'm on holiday now as you all might have known, and I think most of us will be having christmas holiday soon, away or not from home. Holiday is always identical with eating more and I often heard people remark "It's holiday, it's okay eat some more" lolz...I think it is justified to gain a few kgs while you're on holiday and then try to sweat them off when you're back to work??
True that during a holiday we should treat ourselves nicely which includes indulging in foods and other relaxing activities. But in terms of food department, I dont really like having to sweat some weights off when Im back from holiday, it's almost like paying my credit card bills hahaha XD
How about enjoying holiday, foods, and not gaining weight?? I do think it's possible :D

Here are some things I always do during holiday to keep my weight at check, it works for me MOST of the time hahaha:



1. I tried to eat healthier fast foods, I opt for home cooked fast foods (we have alot available in Asian countries), who eat mcdonalds on holiday anyway? when my fave foods are fattening ones, like Sweet Martabak or Fried Banana (can't avoid those sometimes ^^"), I tried to eat little each time and spread it during the day or two.

picture: half boiled egg, my fave snacks, I'm tempted to add salts but I opt for pepper instead ^^


2. I try to peek at the kitchen's to see the oil they used to fry the foods (some of the resto have their kitchen at the front of their shop). since asian countries seems to have a shabby standard of what is acceptable in cooking, I tried not to eat at the resto where the cooking oil looks old or as pitch black as my car's oil XD XD
picture: the yummy fried garlic to season the dishes, goes well with almost everything X) i miss this so much!


3. I try to go in bigger groups so we can order more things and share, this way I can eat a little of a lot of variety ^^ or when go alone or in pair, I go for smaller portion.
picture: Duck Beehoon, the famous local dish in Medan (where I am now!YAY!)


4. Avoid peanut sauce where possible, but if I must I take a small amount and substitute the rest with chilli LOLz...some people say chilli makes their appetite  stronger but for me it's all the same since I eat chilli very often.

Do you have any tips to share??

Happy holiday for every one of you!

ps. Does everyone know whether blogspot change their feature for adding people to 'blog updates" list? I tried to add people who followed my blog to my "blog updates" and in the past I was able to simply add them from "the existing follower" tab (rather than putting their url address one by one), but I cant find that magic tab now! @.@"  I hope any of you know what I'm talking about.

Can you sleep well?

I was amazed by a story from a friend about her insomnia habit, where she can go on for almost two days with as little as 6 hours sleep. If I put myself in her shoes I think I'd be a walking zombie.


That convo made me recall other conversations with friends or relatives on the same topic, some people do have constant problem with insomnia. I guess being able to sleep deep, well, and sound is one of the blessings that I should be thankful for. I did have a period of time where I had trouble sleeping, and these were what I did to cure it:
*Reduce my intake of tea (since I dont drink coffee)
*Try to be as active as possible during the day
*Not doing any activity in my bed (reading, chatting, etc) except sleeping

Are you suffering from insomnia?or have you had any experience with troubled sleeping?if you have, what did you do to get back to your normal sleeping pattern?

And here's my fave snack for summer time! Fruity Honey Yogurt!! Super easy to make :DJust grab some fruits, top it with plain yogurt (you can use flavored yogurt but I prefer plain because I can taste the fruits better) plus lots of honey :D
I think I've been eating kilos of yogurt in the past few weeks lolz XD XD

Have a good day everyone!!
xoxo

Things that I love about Melbourne: Gardens and Foods

One of the many things that I adore about Melbourne is its many parks tucked a little way off or amidst the city centre. I like just to sit or stroll around those gardens, make a nice escape from the hustle bustle of the city activities. On last fine Saturday, me and hubby went to a friend's picnic at Treasury Garden, which located on the eastern boundary of CBD (near Spring st).

Another things about Melbourne of course is its foods!! Today we went to a nice Korean resto called Han Guuk Guan at Melbourne CBD. Only me and hubby ate, so we only ordered two of their famous dishes, since their portion is SO BIG @.@!!

The yummy and infamous sweet and spicy chicken for AUD27 (we couldn't finish it, and left the resto with a full take away box)

My fave Jajangmyon (enough for two people) AUD10. It tastes pretty good ^^

Here's the address if anyone is interested although I think this resto is pretty well known already :)

13A Victoria St Melbourne VIC 3000 - (03) 9639 1747

That's all for now.. Me and hubby just rented a house so we've been busy moving our stuff back and forth :) and I've been quite overloaded with works too...

So...hopefully my next post will be longer :) meanwhile stay safe and happy!

Have a good day everyone!!

God bless

xoxo

HCMC express :) & Giveaway!!

I went to Ho Chi Minh City -Vietnam for 3Days2nights last time. I arrived on friday night and left on Sunday morning, so practically I only have one full Saturday in HCMC. Here's a summary of what I do and I think you should do if you happen to be there only for one day.

1. Woke up early and headed out for some local pho (it's no vietnam without a pho, me say ;D). This one I had is called "pho le" and was so good! Foods are super cheap in vietnam, even cheaper than Thailand :D



2. Went to ChoLun (the chinatown) which looked like typical chinatown all around the world :p we didnt really walk around, just passed it by in the taxi.
3. Headed out to District 1 (where all the main sightseeing can be found), and hit the Notre Dame church
4. Just opposite the church, was the General Post Office, which I like very much, the building was very pretty (French architecture). Send some postcards back home if you like :) I did!


5. Walked around the surrounding malls. They were generally not very big. And not many variety (yet) on cosmetics departments but I found CLIO (Korean) brand in a mall called "diamond" and snatched some pretty lipsticks :D

6. Next, to the famous theater (but it's not open for public, so just took some pics lolz).
The nice French old style building hotel just across the theater, the building is more than 100 years but still look nice.


7. Walked, a bit, we arrived at the city council buidling. I like this building because it has a nice garden at the front of it.


6. Lunch time. Here's a must visit resto called Quan An Ngon. This resto got featured on Lonely Planet. And although not all resto featured on lonely planet lives up to its description there, this one sure does!! This resto serves bunch of different foods from all over vietnam!! You can watch them live cooking too. Tasted yummy, fab atmosphere, and the price made you smile after the good meals










7. Another walk to one of the surrounding malls. Got myself the famous HIGHLAND coffee (Vietnam is famous for its coffee too). Highland is like the starbuck in Vietnam. Look how clever they made the take away bag lolz...loving the idea so much...


8. Saigon Square is where to buy clothes, bags, and such. The place isn't big and the variety is pretty limited. I found some Foverver21 dresses though ;D



9. Cho Bin Tanh Market is the popular tourist destination. But I didn't go in because I was told the stuff sold there would be similar to what I saw in Saigon Square, with more expensive price tags and heat :p

10. This is the palace, where we spent quite some time to walk around and see many interesting objects.

I missed out the War Museum but was tired already lolz... those places above are all in District 1 and within walking distance (except ChoLun), so it's possible to see them all in one day!

Aside from that I noticed many interesting things in Vietnam:
* Motorcycles are abound here...similar to Jakarta XD
*Many street sellers selling vegetables and foods. This view below is quite common in some areas
*People here are still wearing the straw hats :D I love seeing them walking around with the hats! for some reason XD

*This is the highway. Motorcycles are allowed on highway @.@" I was quite surprised...

*But nothing surprised me more than seeing this cool bicycle on the highway HAHAHAHA..


That's the brief summary of my visit to HCMC. It was a short but pleasant visit. And I found myself liking Vietnam. I would love to go back there again in the future!

Hope you all have a good start of the week
xoxo

ps. Giveaway from my lovely Julie!! Check her fab blog out if you haven't!!