till next friday...

we're heading out to bangkok tomorrow morning for kale's yearly pilgrimage for the race in thailand. so there'll be radio silence on my blog for a while.

will update when i'm back on friday.. no chance of getting online while i'm in the boondocks. will be happy if i can even find a regular bathroom along the race route instead of a porta-potty, or worse, a bush.. eugh.

okies.. ciaos for now.

brainwash complete

ok, quick update. i've asked the hubby to sign me up for the osim.
dawn, wanna come with?

the brainwash is complete.
3 races in 1 year. wow. never thought i'd see the day.
now it's to see whether i actually DO all 3 races this year. haha.

brainwashed

I've been brainwashed. Not only am I doing that little itsy-teeny-weeny tri in May with Kale and Dawn, but the hubby has also convinced me to do an adventure race in June. I just dropped the application form in the mail.. egads.

Now, the next thing to wrap my brain around is to figure out if I wanna do the Osim again. I just have a phobia of swimming in that sea again after last time around. I need to decide by today otherwise I don't qualify for the early bird discount. Duh.

By the way, just cos we thought we were so funny.. here's our team name for the adventure race - "PC load letter". If you've ever watched "Office Space", you'll totally understand why we picked this one.. imagine the thoughts going thru ppl's head as they scan by this name on the list. HAHAHA.

We head off for Thailand tomorrow.. wish I was more excited. Somehow I'm not. Think it has something to do with me still being at work, and not having started packing yet. I think the whole packing thing is what cues the "omigod, i'm going on a trip" elation. Hopefully I won't be too tired after salsa tonite to pack.. hopefully I'll actually remember everything that I need..

Update more later.. time to actually get down to work. boo.

Busy weekend.

So we had a pretty crazy weekend (especially if you lump Friday as part of that weekend!).

We went to our first salsa class in a loooong time on Friday. Have to say I'm very touched that the hubby agreed to sign up for another round of salsa.. and that I'm very impressed that he could remember some of the steps from the previous classes we took (given that it must have been at least a year ago!) Class went pretty uneventfully, except that we got the same male teacher that we had for the last class, and he sucks! He's so confused he sometimes confuses himself. At least the female instructor this time around seems nicer than the one we got the last time!

My mom left for China on Friday nite so now she's living it up in Beijing...think they're heading up the Great Wall sometime today or tomorrow. hmm.

Saturday came early.. was a morning at the docs. Kale visited the friendly nurses (and doc) for a routine check-up. The nurses are so ingratiatingly nice and patient that it's irritating..and then you feel mean and hardened for even feeling irritated because they're just soooo nice. Ugh. They also do EVERYTHING by the book. Must be nice to live in their ideal world.

Met my dad and sis at Thomson plaza for lunch afterwards at this really cool Thai place that Vanessa intro'ed us to. It doesn't look like much.. looks more like a little hole-in-the-wall cafe.. but damn, the food is good AND cheap! Stuffed ourselves silly.. rounded it off with mango and sticky rice... and then waddled off to the bike shop to pick up the hubby's wheel which had been sent in for repair. After a couple more detours, we headed off to yet another bike shop (yes, there are too many bike shops in Singapore) but this time for me!! =) Kale's roped Dawn and I into doing a mini tri in May.. and since Dawn doesn't have a bike, and I only have a mountain bike, we're going to have to borrow one. So we went to a slightly more affordable bike shop and looked at bike sizes... rode a couple around the parking lot, and all I can say is that I definitely look like a spaz on a bike. Even Kale, the ever patient around me and a bike, uttered the term when I was trying, ungracefully, to dismount!!

Slight sidetrack.. the hubby found this really really pretty bike online.. it's a lavender Specialised road bike.. and it sooo has my name all over it (that's if i'll ever be in the market for a bike).

Ok, anyhow, after that, we met up with my dad for dinner.. and we had, again, too much to eat... went to Outback, I ordered the fried mushrooms and a cup of soup.. Kale had a huge salad and my dad had fish and chips. We were trying to pay when the manager happily shared with us that since we had spent over a certain amount, we were entitled to a free dessert of our choice. By this point we were already busting at the seams, but we hunkered down, ordered a cinnamon apple ice-cream concoction and tried our best to make a dent on it. Rolled our way out of the restaurant and walked around the mall to work off dinner.

I got me some sandals to replace the 2 year old pair that I have that are falling apart.. and a pair of boardshorts for Thailand that I will probably never wear again. So Dawn will probably be the beneficiary of that purchase!

The Candy Empire also finally brought in the Arnotts Rice Cookies from Australia. Woo hoo!!

Sunday was pretty much sleepy... we went out for church, then the bike shop (again), then met my dad and sis for lunch at Parkway.. headed home, watched the inauguration of the Pope on tv, fell asleep and woke up for dinner. That was pretty much our Sunday. Oh, and I left out the part about me falling asleep on every car ride during the day. yeah. Kale estimates I had about 4 hours of sleep (cumulative) throughout the day.

Side-effects of exercise?

I've been eating like a pig since Sunday. All I can think of is food.. and when I'm not thinking about food, I'm snacking. All I can link it to is my hour and a half of exercise on Sunday. Think it totally threw my eating habits for a loop.

Well so much for exercise taking my weight down.. instead, with all the eating I've been doing since Sunday, I'm sure it's going to have a reverse effect.

See, even my last 2 blog entries have been about food... =(

Am craving a "roti boy" right now.. mmmm.. had one at bugis yesterday.. yumz.

Food.. not so glorious food...

So the rest of sunday was pretty uneventful. As a matter of fact, so was monday. Came home after work and my doc's appt and tried to cook dinner. Latest food of choice has been sausages and veggies. Tried pasta salad and failed miserably. Think it was a case of wrong kinda pasta, wrong kinda mayo.. yuk. Kale gamely ate a couple of spoonfuls of it despite the fact that he doesn't like mayo. Have to give the man kudos for trying at least. I have half the batch sitting in the fridge and I guess I'll polish the rest off tonite as supper. *oink oink*

Think I need to start cooking real food again.. I used to be a pretty decent cook when I was in Pittsburgh (or so I think). Had no access to decent chinese food so had to cook if I wanted anything chinesey. I remember the days when I used to cook for all the S'porean students.. being the only girl in my batch made it even that much more critical that I could cook. I used to make chicken curry, sweet and sour pork, tofu, omelettes, fried veggies, tom yum soup, pineapple rice.. etc. And I had to get creative due to the lack of authentic cooking ingredients. I guess the good reviews were possibly due to the lower expectations of my audience. When you have nothing, it's not hard to appreciate anything.. no matter how substandard it is!!!

I moved to Cali.. and was totally spoilt by having a decent chinese, vietnamese, mexican restaurant on every corner... so didn't cook for most of the year that I was there!! Came back and didn't cook at all while I was staying with my parents..and by the time we moved out, work got in the way of cooking real food.

Anyhow.. yeah, should stop rambling. Point of story is I need to start cooking again. Anyone have any good, simple recipes for 2 pax that doesn't require too much prep work? Mrs Mom, I would try eggplant parmesan, but that's just too much work for a weekday.. and I can't seem to get it right, anyhow..=( Any other ideas??

I'm a survivor...

Heh, I survived this morning. Think the worst part of it really was the getting up at 6:30am part. Other than that, surprisingly, it was quite enjoyable. Think the weather helped. It was really windy and cloudy and looked like it was about to pour.. the lack of sun definitely made it easier to take.

I picked my colleague up and we headed out there. Kale was nice enough to meet me there and then we met another girl and headed off, the 4 of us. Made it to the actual riding loop (Changi Coastal) without much incident.. (well, at least for me..can't quite say the same for everyone else...) and then once we got going, I got dropped. YUP. I'd like to think it was cos they were on road bikes and I was on a mountain bike, but I think that's probably just an excuse.. think they're pretty darn fit! Was probably a good idea that we weren't riding all together anyhow.. all 3 of us aren't that stable and that's a recipe for disaster!!!

So I rode the rest of the 20km loop by myself.. until Kale spotted lonely little me as he was going the other way and then swung around to ride with me. Met up with the other 2 girls and cycled back to the car while Kale did another loop.

Borrowed my colleague's bike for a spin around the carpark, just to see if I'd be ok on a road bike. The feel is completely different. Far less stable... but far more addictive.. it's really quite a neat feeling.. heh.. the thrillseeker inside of me was sparked for just a nanosecond.

Anyhow, like I told my colleague, I'll do anything once just for the thrill. The problem is getting me to do something like this again. Since I had an ok time riding by myself..and not with the girls anyhow.. I suggested that perhaps Kale and I can do this on our own on Saturday morning... he can ride as fast as he wants, and I can ride as fast as I can, and we'll just keep passing each other as we do the loops.. works out pretty well. This way he can do his usual Sunday ride, and I can sleep in and then pick my mom up for church. Works better with the transport too.

So yeah, we'll see how long I can keep this up for.. or rather how long I want to keep this up for. It does feel good to do something like this.. cos I feel accomplished.. and I think Kale doesn't mind cos at least he's out on his bike while spending time with me (sorta).

So yes, my husband and I have made plans for a date on Saturday-- a date that involves, us, 2 helmets, 1 car and 2 bikes.. fun. I think this whole brainwashing thing is working... dang.

Tomorrow will be something to see...

Ok, I'm kinda in a fix.. I find myself in the not totally unfamiliar position of having got myself into a situation cos of my big mouth.

We were at a bbq last nite to say farewell to Tina, who's going to join the rednecks in Dallas for 3 years. At the bbq, one of my colleagues gets to talking to Kale about cycling (we bumped into her at a previous triathlon..) and we get to the part where she mentions her weekly ride at Changi and how she can't keep up with the bunch.

This is the part where I stick my foot in my mouth and go "really? well, you might be more my pace... perhaps we should go ride together cos the hubby is really far too fast for me..."

The minute the words came out of my mouth, I knew it was ALL OVER... there was no way my husband was going to let me get away with a comment like that without making me commit to what I said.

Soooo.... ladies and gents, yours truly is getting up at the unearthly hour of 6:30am in the morning to go cycling with a bunch of people I don't even know (save 1 person)... and I can't even (totally) blame the hubby for it! And I can't back out cos I'm supposed to give my colleague a ride there. Doh!

As usual, I should remember to think before I speak... duhhhh....

To Vanessa and Dawn...

READ ME!!!! READ ME!!!!

- says my lonely blog
=(

Hi short buonerbas.... =)

I thought I'd send an E "get well soon" greeting to the short and not-so-short buonerbas in germany. Apparently they were down with a stomach bug but are all recovering.

I don't know if they read this blog (I'm not sure that mommy and daddy let them, seeing as how this isn't exactly a G-rated site)... but if they do..

Get well soon Carissa, Jessica and Wesley!!!

A big hug from the sunny island of Singapore!! =)

The things that make you go "hmm"

So today I was at the post office mailing off some really belated wedding videos off to the in-laws. I was filling in all the forms that need to be filled in when I came to a screeching halt. I was writing my name and address in the "From sender" box on the back of the envelope and I couldn't figure out what name to use.

Just "Denise" just didn't feel right.. didn't quite feel like I should be on a first-name basis with the envelope and the mailman should the parcel get sent back to me. Using my maiden name would otherwise have come naturally, but since I was sending wedding videos to my in-laws (all with my hubby's last name), it suddenly didn't feel quite so right either. I hemmed and hawed about it and finally decided to use my married name. If nothing else, I figured it'd help the parcel to get through customs quicker since all names on the parcel (front and back) were all related.

Something as simple as writing my name and address on the envelope suddenly took on a far greater meaning. (Yes, and you wonder how I didn't end up in drama given my penchance for the melodramatic!)

You see, herein lies my problem (and I'm not sure if I've blogged about it yet).. I have nothing against taking my husband's last name.. in fact I would absolutely love to. BUT the problem is that everyone at work, and everyone I've met through work knows me by my last name.. if I were to change my name, then that would be one horrendous mess at work. No one would know how to find me on the email list, all my clients would be confused.. yikes.

Secondly, no offense to my husband's entire family (and ancestry).. it's one heck of a name to pronounce and spell. In a country where they can't even pronounce Denise (it often comes out as dee-knees or dennis), I shudder at the thought of what they could do with a 3-syllable italian last name.

So anyhow, I used my married name for the parcel (it's probably only the second time I've actually used it.. the first being booking the hotel for our honeymoon)... and will probably use it for all private correspondences. For work though, guess my maiden name will have to suffice until I leave this company and it makes sense for me to start afresh at a new job with a new name.

I'm actually kinda sad that I don't get to use it more often.. I spent most of my childhood wanting to be Mrs so-and-so.. and now that I am actually a Mrs, I don't get a chance to use it! Who would've thunk?

Hooked on meds

So, I've been recovering from a horrid UTI (for those of you who don't know what that is, good on you... it's not something that you want to know about!) and have been given meds for the symptoms and antibiotics to kick the germs.

Problem is, it seems that the antibiotics aren't working fast enough.. as soon as the meds for the symptoms wear off, the symptoms come back. So now I'm paranoid.. I've never been so religious about taking my meds in my whole life!!! Now I make sure I space them accurately throughout the day, and take them as late as I can at night to make sure they last the night.

Sigh.. please let the antibiotics kick in!!!

Weekend update..

T'was a busy week.. had a trip to an air base on Friday for work, and by the time I got back to the office, I was more than ready to head home. But unfortunately, that wasn't to be... had to sort out a colleague's paper.. and I only got out of the office a whole lot later than I had hoped. Met Kale at the mall across from our place (TB Plaza) for dinner. Had Thai food and then bought some snacks and dessert. Came home, switched on the trusty tv and DVD and binged on an episode of Sex and the City Season 6 (courtesy of a colleague, Gabriel).

Woke up on Saturday.. and as you read earlier.. had a very trying morning due to the cats. Spent most of the morning waiting for the HDB contractor to come to fix the leak in our bathroom. Paid the dude $30 to fix a small drip which we could have easily done ourselves. We just didn't want to make the problem bigger!! Owning a house really brings with it problems of its own.

Met up with the family and Aunty Peck Eng and headed out to look at a house near Ocean Park. Didn't quite like it. Had Thai food for lunch (again). Went down with Kale to another condo to have a look around the showroom since my parents were sorta interested in the place. Was really quite swanky..had a spa pool, lap pool, jacuzzi, "fun pool" aka children's pool, gym, function room, etc.

Kale dropped me off for high tea with my bellydance teacher and gang at the Marriott. Was too full from lunch so only had a choc milkshake. Brought my camera to take pics, but was too busy yakking and catching up to remember to take any!!! All of us are having problems figuring out where to continue with classes, so we're all just going to invade one of our friend's classes. She's currently teaching slightly more elementary classes at Jitterbugs, but I figure any dance is better than none!

Got home, crashed, watched some more episodes of SATC... and then headed out to the 'rents for dinner. Hung around till pretty late. Turns out my parents really liked the condo so they booked a flat and have put down a deposit on it. Dawn, I'm sorry to break the news like this, but it's in the West... =(

SUNDAY

Woke up at a decent time for Kale's race. Drove over to Changi Biz Park for the criterium. Was 50 mins plus 3 rounds. His race was supposed to start at 11:45am if you can believe that! Due to a couple of crashes in the veteran's race, it started a little late.. so it was bloody hot by the time they got going. Thank goodness their team sprung for a tent, so there was at least some reprieve from that relentless sun!!

The battery on our camera was all but dead, so I only caught a few pics. Hope they manage to give you a sense of the race. Basically, Andrew attacked at the beginning.. got caught, Ah-rub(from Cycleworx) and some other dude broke away and stayed away for most of the race.. got caught towards the end... Kale attacked and a group of 3 guys went away with him.. they stayed away, 1 more guy bridged the gap to join the breakaway group. With one lap to go the peloton started booking it, but it was too late. Came down to a sprint for the finish and Kale managed a 3rd placing. The guy who came in first was the Asian dude that Kale's team didn't want to win cos he's currently no.1 in points. Duh.

Packed up the tent (less drama this time around...) got in the car and headed for lunch, and guess what? We had thai again for lunch!! Yup.. it's not enough that we're going to Thailand in 3 weeks.. but we've had thai food 3 days running. DAMN.

Anyhow, I'll leave you to enjoy the pics.

Start of the race

Andrew in the first break

Kale showing off his true "white" roots

Nearing the end

Sprint to the finish

We like to start them young

The champs for the open category

Can't believe the weekend's over. Next week is going to be pretty hectic too. Sigh. Time flies when you're having fun.

Stoopid cats

I woke up this morning to find Chewe (the fat one) lying on the kitchen counter staring at me. Then i walked out to the living room and found Kito (the skinny one) lounging on my sofa. ARGH.

Chewe at least had the state of mind to get off the counter and stay off of it after I yelled at her. Kito got off.. I walked into the bedroom, came back out and she's back on it again. I got out the spray bottle and send a healthy dose of water her way. She jumped off... I walked back into the bathroom to wash up.. came back out and there she is again. ON THE COUCH. She knows she's not supposed to be on that couch. She has plenty of other spots she's allowed to sit on.. like the ottoman, the rug we bought SPECIFICALLY for them, the nice rug I just put out that's all soft.. etc. So I sprayed her again.. and she looks all maligned. She has this knack of sitting only on things she's not supposed to.. like my work clothes after I put them on a chair, Kale's jeans when he's laid them on the carpet to pack them for work, my skirt that she pulls down from the back of a chair.. ANYTHING ILLEGAL basically! My blood pressure is RISING. The husband is going to get some when he comes back from his ride later.

This comes barely 2 days after they pee in the bathroom. NOT IN THEIR LITTER BOX.. mind you.. BUT ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR... @#(*ers. Smelled like a damn public toilet in here. It's disgusting.. no one should have to live like this.

Soong Teck, if you're reading this.. and I see no reason why you would be.. but IF you are.. these cats are coming back your way very soon unless they stop acting up!

UPDATE: It's now half an hour after I kicked Kito off the couch for the first time. I've been sitting here at the computer the entire time. I finish writing this entry, get up and where is she? Back on the couch in the exact same spot. I'm going to throw things soon.. just one more time, Kito.. one more time....

Other side of the world...

My major gripe about being over here in Singapore is that none of the good music gigs ever come out here. The furthest out they get is Japan or Australia. It's so depressing.

The only gigs that have come out here recently weren't really my cup of tea - Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan. Would've gone to the Linkin Park one had I bought their CD earlier. Oh yah, and Blue.. which I had to miss due to more important things (our wedding.. heh!) I think I've gone to a grand total of 2 concerts since I've been back - the No Doubt/ Cranberries one back in 2002 which was awesome and the Black Eyed Peas last year which was so-so.

They really need to bring more gigs by here if they want to build Singapore into an arts and entertainment hub.

The main reason for the griping? Destiny's Child is doing their world tour but this part of Asia apparently ain't part of their world. Duh.

It's official!!

So today was a big day. It's finally official. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that the past couple of months have been kind of a rollercoaster at work due to changes in management, portfolios, appraisals, and the like. You'll also know that my request for a rotation was denied and that a colleague of mine was rotated instead. I also alluded to a certain other factor that mitigated the effect of me having a later rotation but wasn't quite able to blog about it yet. (Yes, that was a looong preamble)

So, I can finally blog about it. I got promoted. It's official!! As of 1st April, I'm now an Assistant Head (otherwise known as AH). I just got my letter of appointment today, and along with it my raise and bonus info. All in all, it was better than expected (altho I really didn't know what to expect since it's my first promotion)...so I'm a happy camper.

My first year was really tough, and I entertained thoughts of me being the only Senior Officer (my previous title) who hadn't been promoted at the end of my service of 6 years!!! Guess now I can finally heave a sigh of relief since that's not going to be the case! Guess the past 2 years turned out to be a whole lot better than the first.

On another note, my peer appraisals came back positive too.. so that's good news. It's generally been a good day. Let's see how long this lasts!! =P

Weekend update..

So, a quick update.. spent most of Saturday at a colleague's wedding.. the church ceremony was in the afternoon and then we hung around till the dinner which was at the groom's father's seafood restaurant. The wedding ceremony was sweet, but a little odd for me as a Catholic. I guess I'm so used to the order of mass that a free-form church service leaves me feeling a little uncomfortable. Kale went to a bike friend's place for dinner while I headed to the wedding reception.The dinner started waaay late - at 8:15pm, but ended relatively early at around 9:30. It was ten by the time Kale picked me up, we met Dawn for a quick drink at Macs before heading home. Hadn't seen her since 2 weekends before, and that for us was a record!!

Sunday was spent at my cousin's house. Was her baby's first month celebration. Man, that baby is tiny!! So fragile that you're almost afraid to carry her. My grandma was in absolute heaven.. cradling the baby and trying to wake the baby up to play. (Baby wasn't too happy about that...) The baby's name is Elodie, which I believe has French origins. Faced the onslaught of "when will it be your turn" questions... and managed to successfully dodge most of them.

Dropped mom and sis off at home and they went out house-shopping with my dad. The place they're currently staying in successfully had an en-bloc sale, so they're looking for a new abode. Kale and I went home and crashed. Woke up barely in time for church. Headed over to the 'rents for dinner and then headed home to catch the end of the Apprentice.

We're thinking of re-decorating the master bedroom. The color of the walls are really beginning to irk us both. The walls are also really bare, so I think we can afford to do some jazzing up. Yeay.. something to look forward to!

Back at work today. It's pouring cats and dogs out... good luck to the hubby who has to ride home tonite...

Congrats!!

Congratulations are in order!!

Firstly, the princess got her first scholarship offer, so she's one step closer to studying abroad. Now she just needs to decide where - UK vs USA. Can't believe she's old enough to go away to study. Honestly, I keep on thinking that I was just so much older when I left for CMU, but I guess not.

Secondly, a little belated.. but congrats to Jody and Ted on their engagement!! Too cool!!!

Warning- long entry!! Trip report of recent Perth trip

UPDATE: finally put pics up from Perth. To those of you who tried to access the page last night and got a whole string of pictures in 1 post, sorry about that. I was trying to upload and organise them all, but got tired halfway through and went to bed. Finally cleaned it up this morning.. so Ta Da!!! Enjoy...

Day 0 - Tuesday

Managed to pack everything into 1 bag and I brought that to work with me since I was leaving for the airport from work. Had a couple of questions at work from ppl who were wondering if I was going for a work trip or vacation. Left work early and my mom kindly offered to give us a ride to the airport, so she picked me up and then we headed over to Loyang to get Kale. Got there a leetle early so we stopped for a drink at a really ghetto food center. Headed out to the airport, got on the flight ok, and it was a pretty uneventful (and uncomfortable) 5 hr flight to Perth. Got there about 1am, stood in line for the rental car for another half an hour, and finally rolled out of there closer to 2am. Followed our trusty internet driving directions and was at my aunt's house in under 45 mins - BooYA!! Realised there was no a/c, so plugged in the fan and tumbled into bed.

Day 1 - Wed

Woke up to blazing hot sun. Gross. Realised there were no towels in the house, and we hadn't any with us.. so that meant no showers either. Ventured out into the heat and were sorely disappointed by the weather. We knew it wasn't going to be "cold" cold.. but we definitely didn't expect HOT. And, boy, was it HOT!!! Turned out it was 42 degrees celcius and the hottest day that Perth had seen since the 1920s!!

Decided to drive down to the mall to get my shopping requirements out of the way and to beat the heat. Spent 2 hours at the mall, had lunch at the food court (food is expensive in Ozzy). Kale had a gluten-free quiche, and I had a regular quiche. Not satisfying. hmm. Managed to get my Black Honey lipstick from Clinique which has since been discontinued in Singapore.. so walked out of there triumphant.

Drove over to Fremantle since we were over near there.. parked and walked around in the heat. Started wilting. Damn, it was hot. Got stopped by some chick on the pavement trying to do a survey. As a reward, she handed us a scratch card to see if we won anything.. Turns out she was ALSO trying to sell some time-share like thing.. and that we had won either $1k in cash, a tv or a luxury holiday. Only catch was that we had to go watch a 60 min film. After mulling over it, our cynical selves said it was a scam, and we walked on.. (yeah, we know, we could have walked away from something good, but it all seems just a leeetle too coincidental).
Me looking hot and bothered in Freo

Escaping from the sun..

Pic of the water under Stirling Highway near Fremantle


Left Freo and drove up along the coast.. popped over to Cottesloe beach, since that was on the way, and Dawn had said it was a nice beach. Was too hot to even go down to the beach so we sat under some shade and just talked for a bit.. enjoying being outdoors.. and gaping at how many ppl were on the beach on a Wednesday afternoon.
Kale baking on Cottesloe beach
Drove over to a Cole's (grocery store), bought snacks and a towel and headed back.

Took a shower, and then drove over to Sunset Coast drive.. watched the ppl on the beach and headed over to Sorrento Quay for dinner.

On the way to dinner - along Sunset Coast Drive


Had Fish and Chips for dinner (good, but not cheap again) and then walked to the beach where we sat and watched dogs play in the sea and kids wrestling each other. Perth definitely does NOT have an issue with a declining birth rate. Kids are everywhere!!! It was kinda nice seeing all these families just hanging out by the beach and in the park. Odd thing was that instead of lounging in the sun on the grass, they were lounging under the floodlights.. a really odd sight.

Day 2 - Thurs

Woke up and thankfully it was cool and overcast out. We had breakfast at home and then started the drive down to Margaret River. The radio was warning about traffic on the easter weekend, but traffic was actually not bad. We had a great drive down.. windows down, music blasting, and we got there in under 3 hours. Amazing. Didn't get lost once. I'd like to think it's cos of my awesome navigational skills, but I know it's probably more of Kale's sense of direction. sigh.

Bought lunch at Cole's (yes, we're cheap..) and then trekked over to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse for lunch.. followed a trail to nowhere (literally) .. and sat in a pavilion for lunch. Supposed to be able to see whales, but we didn't see a single one. The trail was hot and full of flies.. yuck.


Eating lunch out on the trail to nowhere and swatting flies

At the end of the trail to nowhere

Kale trying to squish the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

Headed back out to the car, drove down further south and ended up on Eagle Bay... found a nice secluded beach and just hung out there for the afternoon. Saw big fish eating little fish, and seagulls profiteering from the big fish herding little fish inland. Pretty cool.
"Freestyling"

Me inspecting my feet in the ocean at Eagle Bay


Checked into our Bed and Breakfast (Tudor Rose) in Dunsborough. Very cute, highly recommend it! An older couple checked in with their Porsche GT. Oooooh.... couldn't be more different from us!

The Lavender Rose Suite in the Tudor Rose B&B

The Porsche belonging to our neighbours in the B&B


Walked out to the nearby bay for a bit, hopped into the car and drove south to Yallingup. Sat on the beach and watched surfers. Weather was nice and cool. Finally headed back to town for take-out dinner at "Foghorns - Good food fast!". It actually was pretty good fast food.. Kale had a salad and I had mussel pasta. Mmmm... walked back to the car and saw the Porsche again. Those damn rich guys were following us around!!! Of course, I don't think they'd be caught dead eating at Foghorns.. but still...

Returned to the room, enjoyed the whirlpool bath.. watched "Big Fish" on DVD.. and then turned in for the night.

Day 3- Fri

Had a HUGE breakfast at the B&B. Pancakes, juice, tea, sausages, eggs, fruit, yoghurt.. mmmm... then we checked out and drove down to Margaret River. Bumped into Dawn's boyfriend Eddy at a road-side information bay (of all places!). Figured there wasn't much to see in Margaret River, and drove up to the Margaret River Chocolate Company. Was expecting something like Willy Wonka's factory so we were sorely disappointed. Kale DID get to eat his fill of free chocolate buttons though! Bought some choc for gifts and headed off. Had been told that they had a good Chocolate Fondue and was disappointed that they didn't have it.


Driving around...taking pictures WHILE driving

Eddy and I in Margaret River

Caves Road in the Margaret River region

Kale with a handful of free choc buttons, looking very pleased

Bought lunch from Cole's again and headed off in search for a beach. Drove down a road which was marked on the map. Turns out it's an "unsealed" road.. which pretty much means dirt road.. and things got a little too rocky for our rental car, and the beach was nowhere in sight, so we turned around disappointed.
"Unsealed road" to coast

Finally found a beach, perched ourselves on some rocks and had lunch. Chilled out at yet another beach till it was time to drive back up.


Driving back to Perth (I was cold...)

Bad-ass chupa-chup sucking driver

This one speaks for itself.. Oww..


We took the scenic back up to Perth and stopped off in Fremantle for dinner. Man, was it crowded!! Seemed like everyone was there. Guess it had to do with it being Good Friday so things elsewhere were probably not open!! Ended up sharing a table with a Perth-based English family who took pity on us wandering around with our food looking for a table. They were interested in Kale's origins (they don't hear the US accent very often).. and we had a chat with them. Walked around Fremantle and basically people-watched again. The weather was actually really nice and cool.. so we were happy!


In Frematle for dinner - it's actually cold enough for jackets! woo hoo!!

Day 4- Sat

Drove off to the Swan River branch of the Chocolate company to hunt for my elusive choc fondue. Found my choc fondue, but didn't like the stuff that came with it (liqorice, almonds, ugh) so opted for a chocolate milkshake.

Chocolate milkshake at the choc factory...


Started to rain so we headed off to the mall after that to get a couple of last-minute buys. Headed out to Cottesloe Beach again.. but the rain clouds were coming in.. so we bailed and went to a small shopping area near to the beach to pass the time. Very cute, quaint little stores with pretty cool stuff.

One of the many sculptures at Cottesloe beach


Headed back up the coast and stopped by one of the many little beaches on the side to watch the sunset and then headed back up to Sorrento Quay for dinner. Just in time to catch the sun going down.

The beginning of a sunset along, aptly, the Sunset Coast

A moment of mush

Sun setting more..

Crazy sky at Sorrento Quay

Even crazier sky ... picture that's worth a thousand words..


Had Wok in a Box for dinner. Wonder what the real origin of the little chinese takeaway boxes is? I've never seen them anywhere in Singapore before!
Dinner from Wok in a Box

Hung around, had some more ice cream and people watched. The Ozzies like dressing in very little.. Kale thinks that there must be a shortage of shoes and cloth in Australia. All the girls were very very scantily clad, and most of the guys were shoe-less. Makes for interesting people-watching tho.

Day 5 - Sun
Went to church. Was so hot in church that Kale had to leave halfway to stand outside cos he was literally dripping with sweat. Then a little fire started out in the corner of church during the Our Father cos the little candle offering things caught fire. Caused a little commotion as everyone recited the Our Father while wondering if they should do something about it. Finally some wardens came by and put it out with a fire blanket.

Headed back to the house, cleaned it up and then packed up and left for the beach. Bought more fast food and ate it on the beach. The weather was great.. windy and overcast.. perfect lounging weather! Packed up reluctantly at 2:30 or so and drove off to the airport to catch the plane back.

Lounging before the flight home

Packing up reluctantly...

The Perth airport is miserable. The partitions are just depressing, and the lines were horrible. Finally got on the plane and managed to catch 1 and a half movies - Ray and half of Bridget Jones. Touched down in Changi at 10pm, and our honeymoon was officially over.

So there.. that's the rundown of our honeymoon. Warned u it was going to be a long entry...Will put pics up later...