Jasmine's Bday Series 1: Nando's and Brunetti's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASMINE!

Our Dearest 'Ah Ma'

We had planned this (in secret) all along! To surprise Jasmine the weekend before her actual birthday. Our friend, Luke even had to miss his badminton training just for this special event! Jasmine and Hao Na had clinic practice till 5.30pm that day, so they met up with us at Melbourne Central, Nando's.

Nando's

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

309 Melbourne Central,

Melbourne 3000

03 9654 9888

A pleasantly surprised Jasmine upon receiving her special Bday Card:

She was happy.. until...

...she opened the card..

It reads.. HAPPY B'day AH MA!!!

Next was her pressie presentation ceremony:

We gave her her all time favourite 'Ah Ma' bag (bottom left) and 'Ah Ma' Scarf...

...complete with 'Ah Ma' Undergarments (Granny Panties)! *Eeew!*

Next, we proceeded with the feast after much (delaying and) fanfare..

This was what we ate:

Nando's Chicken with medium spicyness and low spicyness, fries and chicken Ribs!

JJ Rating: 3/5 - food was quite alright! The spices they use are damn 'shiok'. Real Peri-Peri Peppers. Medium is just right (maybe too spicy for some girls). I loved the fries! When you order 'Ribs', don't expect pork ribs, it's a chicken shop. Expect tiny bite-sized chicken ribs, rather unique! Service could be better though..

BRUNETTI

Brunetti City Square Café - Gelateria - Creperia
214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

This was where we went after meeting up with my uncle at Crown Casino. That's where I received my belated bday pressies! From Crown, we took a nice stroll down to Flinders where we dropped by at Brunetti! This Brunetti has much lesser selection of cakes and tarts and lacks the cosy atmosphere of the Lygon Branch, but it's a nice place to celebrate.. under the stars!

Looks a little like a Glasshouse..

We asked for a B'day Candle..

That's a huge candle!

A sample of what we ate:

We had to pose quickly for these photos! The sparkler was dying down fast!

After sending Xiao Luke off, we headed home.. Time for fun with Ah Ma new clothes!

Surprisingly, the Granny's looked quite good on us!

Jasmine Bday Series 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Jasmine's postal surprise feat:

Greetings from Singapore!

I got a parcel! Neh neh neh boo boo...

'Who is this parcel from!?',

gushes a visibly excited Jasmine

'My first present in Australia!'

Jasmine as she eagerly opens her pressie..

The Cobbler

(intrepretation provided below)

*gasps* Now we all know who it's from!

Admiring the pressies.. All handpicked and thoroughly deliberated..

All items individually hand wrapped.. scientific explanations provided too!

The following are snapshots of our live recording of our Gossip Channel:

Today Afternoon

Our host, HaoNa, interviewing Jasmine on her feelings upon receipt of such a thoughtful gift.

(with resident Violinist, Rachel in background)

Our violinist cum Co-Host, taking stock from Jasmine's room. It turns out that her presents were exactly what she wanted!!! Obviously, the sender knows her well enough to understand her needs.

'It's the same!'

After sending the picture to our expert behind-the-scenes forensic team and psychologists, the team came up with the intrepretation of the photo you saw above.

Our experts wrote:

"This photo depicts an elderly man, who is in effect, a mender of soles (pun intended, Shakespeare). This is evident from the tools he is holding and the posture adopted. Apparently, this man has been doing the same job for years now. It reflects how dedicated he is to his job. Taking pride in his work and never afraid to admit his love for *shoes*.

Throughout his career, he has seen thousands of *shoes. However, for all these years, he has always been holding on to this one *shoe*. This is evident from the picture. (refer to pic for the next line:) Amidst the sea of *shoes, the Cobbler tenderly mends this one *shoe* that he has been holding on for years now..

Even into his twilight years.. this *shoe* remains an integral part of his life.

Always lingering somewhere close to his heart.

*Thank You*!

I have said, on her behalf, what she could not find the courage to say...

Note from Author: It's time to mend your soul!

Singaporean Optometric Gathering (8,9,10th Grad Batch) - THE HIDDEN FOODIE ISSUE!

Ying Thai 2
110 Lygon St
Carlton 3053 VIC
Phone: (03) 9639 1697

This is one of the very rare occasions where we get to meet up like that. Lenny, my senior (Jasmine's batch: 2004 Graduation Batch, 8th Optometry Batch) Singapore Poly Optometry Course, happened to be in town that day (flew down from Queensland) , so we decided to have a mini gathering! Dion (same batch as Jasmine and Lenny) planned everything so we simply tagged along lah..

Instead of harping on the nitty gritty of our gathering, I shall skip straight to what matters.. The FOOD!

This place has been highly recommended by Aussie locals (thanks mates!) and I know why.. As the name suggests.. It serves delicious thai cuisine in a strangely nursery like setting..

The Main Entrance:

They offer Al-fresco style dining too:

So colouful! :

Kids in background playing Singapore Kampong games?

Hao Na and Rachel.

Hao Na and Cutie-Cutie.

HaoNa, Rachel and Carolyn.

(Kids playing Gasing (Gah-Seng) in background!)

Handsome fella in middle is Dion.

I admit, I don't exactly look my best here.

Did I mention he was an Air Force Officer?

Notice the warm and cosy home-like setting..

From Left: Jasmine, Dion, Lenny

They even have authentic Chang (Elephant, in Thai) Plates.

Alright that's all folks. This is not a true foodie issue.. simply because I forgot to take pics of what we ate.. But the Green Curry was absolutely FANTASTIC! I have no idea where they got the ingredients from, it tastes really good, by Australia standards.

Further down the street..

Il Dolce Freddo

Ph: (03) 9639 3344; 116 Lygon St, CARLTON 3053

Gelati Time!! It has always been standard practice amongst foodies to have lunch at Ying Thai2 followed by ice-cream at Il Dolce Freddo..

Look at the winter crowd..

Business is brisk here! They even offer *gasps* DURIAN ICE CREAM!!!

I had the Ferrero Roche Ice cream, it was very awesome. The sell ice-cream exactly the same was as Tom's Palette (Shaw Towers, Singapore), choose a cup size, cone or waffle. And any 2 ice-cream.

'La Fruita Passione'

My NEW Home! I wish...

Hi all, I would like to introduce to you, my *very own bachelor's pad!

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Welcome to Franklin Lofts

FRANKLIN LOFTS, 83-93 Franklin Street MELBOURNE

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My most humble abode.

*after 10 standard drinks

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It's conveniently located in between Queen Victoria market and Melbourne Central. And the best part is, it's just across the street from my favourite supermarket, ALDI (below Milano Aparments.. Hey 2WO Chandra, I found it!)

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The view when you step into the lobby of Franklin Lofts.

Wow, the wall painting looks remotely Buddhist. (Don't quote me)

My friends love coming over to parrttyyy at my place:

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Meet my new friend Carolyn (in white).

I just love it when my friends stand in my balcony, assuming the usual jaw-dropping awe-struck position for up to 5 seconds before remembering to close their mouth again.

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That's the city sky line in the daytime.

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My friends simply love performing Yoga at my place as it's so spacious!

Sometimes, I love looking down on my friends, from my bedroom upstairs:

One thing puzzles me though.. why do all my friends gape in awe of the beautiful sunset?

HELLO!? Haven't you ever seen such a beautiful sunset from such an upmarket, wonderfully constructed, award winning, high rise, perfect-view building before? Jeez... I see this everyday.. B..O..R..I..N..G..

Excerpt from http://www.andrewscorp.com.au/apartment.asp:

The Franklin Lofts offers 189 split-level apartments over 31 floors. Construction began in 2000 and was completed late in 2001. The building was awarded a Master Builder Excellence in Construction award in 2002. The design concept emerged from the idea of two-storey, New York style, lofts in a modernist high-rise building. Investors have enjoyed above-market rental returns and capital gains, and the building remains highly popular amongst the international student market thanks to its location in the heart of Melbourne's educational precinct.

Jealous?

-don't be, it's not mine.

JJ Rating: 4/5 - Time to move !