These tiny speakers sure are unbelievably loud. My work mate nearly fell of her seat when I gave them a test run.

Look how small it is!

I’d been meaning to buy them for a while but never got around to it. So when I saw them on Catch of the day I snapped them up straight away. It’s so bad, I’m addicted to that website. The tight-ass asian inside me must be loving it. I should get my 20 piece container set any day now. And believe it or not, I was so close to buying a snuggie from them. It was only like $6!

We did a quick trip up to Byron for the long weekend and as usual, there was a lot of good food. After years of cooking together we’ve developed a list of tried and tested meals to feed the masses. Here’s one from the list: lamb and feta meatballs with fettuccine and garlic bread. Yum!

We headed to Bangalow markets and boy is it huge! Didn’t get a chance to take a photo of the markets but I did get a nice shot of my potato wedges. Don’t they look delish.

The next day we headed to Esta’s work for breakfast. Love Esta’s cooking.

Pancakes with honeycomb butter, and a little slice of banana. That’s right, I got to eat a banana. Felt like a rich person.

Breakfast salad with soda bread. It’s oh so good! The soda bread was really nice. Full of seeds and grains, so much so that I felt like a budgie eating one of those seed sticks.

Maree’s scrambled eggs with goats cheese and Marjoram. This was really interesting, the goats cheese and marjoram really gave the eggs a extra kick and a twist.

We decided to stay an extra day, the weather was just too good to leave and the fish were biting. Caught a decent size flatty and another that got away.

The only downside about staying that extra day was the horrible long weekend traffic home. We ended up adding two hours to the drive making it a 12 hour drive home.

Can’t believe we drove from 6am to 6pm.
But it was all worth it!

I flew to Perth the other weekend for my cousins wedding. It was such a quick in-and-out trip but it was well worth it.

There’s this cool chat function on the qantas plane where you can chat to someone in another seat. So naturally my cousin and I decided to start a chat session, even though we were sitting right next to each other.

My meal on the plane. Braised chicken with couscous. It mightn’t look very appetising, but it was.

The day of the wedding was pretty jam-packed. The bride only got 1 hours sleep! She had to wake up at 2am for hair and makeup, then it was on to all the Chinese traditions.

I’ve never seen my cousin so happy before. It was really cute seeing the huge smile on his face when Michelle was walking down the aisle. Here’s them exchanging rings.

At the reception I was in charge of welcoming the guest and getting them to sign the guest book. The guest book was actually a photo book. Pretty cool idea huh?

Now on to the food. My cousin’s always been really into food, so I had high hopes for a good feed. He didn’t let me down.

Entree was fantastic, seared scallop with a crispy ring of bacon. Yum! It was a great start to the meal.

The 2 options for main were either fish or beef and because I was sitting next to my Dad, I got to sample both. The fish was okay, but the onion tart – devine! I kept calling it a caramel tart because the onions were so caramelised.

The beef was actually really good too. It looked overcooked but it was perfect, so tender and soft.

The next day we flew home and we were totally buggered.

I checked in with my iphone and used it as my boarding pass. Pretty cool. Though I wasn’t 100% sure if it would work so I got a paper board pass printed out too.

My meal on the plane trip home. Beef rissole with mash. Yum. I actually really like plane food.

The view from the plane. So pretty.

Amy and Jay finally tied the knot. It was a beautiful wedding despite the fact that it didn’t stop raining the entire day. During the wedding Amy and Jay had the celebrant say a few words to Kobie which sent all the bridesmaids into a blubbering mess. All that could be heard was the sound of sniffling noses.

Instead of the usual BonBoneries you get at weddings they had a candy buffet so you could help yourself. Great idea! I think everyone’s inner-child came out when they saw the mountain of candy, I know mine did.

I got in quick and stocked up. Yum!

They had a great idea for the guest book. They got everyone to stamp their finger to act as leaves on a tree.

Everyone busting a move on the dance floor.

Kobie had all the moves, he even did a few spins on the floor.

Congrats Amy and Jay, it’s about time!

btw: If you’re interested, here’s a link to the photographer’s photos. (Thanks for the link Maree)

I’ve had this pot of 50c coins for years now and finally got it to the top. It was a bit of a let down though, I really thought there was more in there. Guess that explains why I never won the jellybean guessing competition at school.

I’ve never seen so much mud before, nor have I been covered in so much mud until Warrior Dash. But as gross and muddy as it was, it was totally awesome.

The race started with a boring 2km run, but after that we reached the fun stuff – the obstacles. They involved climbing ropes, jumping over walls and cars, trawling through mud (multiple times), crossing waist-height rivers with logs in the way or via ropes, walking planks, jumping over fire and much more.

I didn’t have my camera with me so I stole a few photos from Michael. Thanks Michael!

The fire jump was actually higher than I thought. I was half hoping the rain would put it out but it kept strong.

The last obstacle was the really muddy one: crawling under barb wire. We actually saw some hair caught on the barb wire. Hehe.

Thumbs up to those who jumped right in.

Two thumbs up to this guy – face first. Nice one!

After the race we all took a dip in the swamp. Totally gross but we had no choice.

Along the way we saw heaps of shoes that got ditched. One of our friends lost his shoe in the mud pit and when he tried to get it back he pulled up two other shoes that weren’t his. Not sure what they’re going to do with these shoes. Shoe donation pile.

So would I do it again next year?
Totally! Who’s with me?

Any takers?

A bunch of workmates started doing yoga in the park so I thought I’d give it a go. This is probably the best spot in Sydney to do yoga, just look at the view! It was really nice looking up towards the sky and seeing beautiful Sydney Harbour, then extending on the ground while listening to all the little birds. It was so relaxing I almost fell asleep.

It was a much needed stretching session, I over did it at my boxing session on Monday and I’m stiff and sore all over (could barely walk on Tuesday). Fingers crossed I recover in time for the big race on Saturday!

Bring it on Warrior Dash! (eek!)

I spent the past week trying to find this bike (with the help of Bobby and Matt, thanks guys!), and even after finding it we had to go all the way to North Manly to pick it up. Just as well we had air-con in the car, otherwise it would have been a painful drive in yesterdays 40 degree heat.

It seems the demand for womens mountain bikes have really picked up with most bike stores sold out of mid-range bikes. If you’re after a Giant Talon 3 W (2011) in small, good luck! I think I got the last one in Sydney. Phew!

Can’t wait to take it out for a spin. It’s so light and smooth and it feels a lot more sturdier than my old Fluid bike.

Headed to Jay and Amy’s for Australia Day and boy was it a scorcher. Even just sitting there conjured rolling pellets of sweat (charming, I know). It was so hot the electricity couldn’t even hack it, yup we had a blackout. Luckily, Maree could stream Triple J on her phone so we were still able to tune into the Hottest 100 (Yay for Angus and Julia Stone!)

The only thing you could do to combat the heat was drink, and that we did.

It’s been a while since G took out the cocktail set but I guess it’s like riding a bike – you never forget.

Lily wanted to join in on the action too.

Don’t worry, hers was a mocktail.

You’d think Kobie picked up the wrong drink but he didn’t, he just had a little to much fun in the sun and spent most of the afternoon snoozing in the hammock. Almost forgot he was there.

Lily on her cow bed. Aww…

We had everything we needed for a great day in the sun: blow-up pool, water guns, heat wave, blackout, BBQ, drinks, good music and good mates. Gotta love Australia Day!

Three dollars, two toys, one skill-tester hook. I like those numbers.