Uni Heaven

Jan really really loves uni (sea urchin). So when Jan and Andy came to Perth, I purposely researched for Japanese restaurants that served uni (not many in Perth), and was so lucky to find Zen Japanese restaurant whose menu specials include 'Uni Sashimi Special'.


Gill's Beef Tataki.


My Scattered Deluxe Sushi which is essentially my favourite chirashi sushi was SOOO huge and massive.


Andy had the oyster on top which he says was really fresh and good. We ended up sharing the chirashi which was very nice.


Andy's Assorted Tempura, I don't remember whether it was good or not.


Andy also ordered an Assorted Sashimi and Jo and Jan shared a Zen Sushi which was assorted sushi. The chef ended up putting all the sushi on a boat which made me really excited because I've always wanted to have a sushi boat!


We all shared the sushi but guess who had the Uni sushi?


The star of the night, Jan's Uni Sashimi special which came in a shell, since uni is usually very expensive we were quite worried about the portion, but it was pretty generous and Jan was in uni heaven.


Dessert on the house, panna cotta. It wasn't very good panna cotta, the texture was not smooth and light, but still, it's free (^__^) so can't complain much.

Overall I think Zen was a success because the uni was good!

Jo's birthday Y(^_____^(Y

Jo's birthday falls on the 22nd April. Jan and Andy flew in late 21st, just in time to wish her happy birthday at the stroke of midnight (^___^)Y


On the day itself I had to work so I couldn't join them on their visit to the Perth zoo. But I did pack them a special picnic lunch. Hehe, Jan said afterwards that my sandwiches were like 'real sandwiches' haha.


I managed to rush home in time to stealthily intercept the birthday cupcakes delivery (only $5 delivery fee). Look how pretty the cupcakes are! We ordered them online from Velvet cupcakes and specified what we wanted the cupcakes to look like, they came out perfect!


Another look at the gorgeous cupcakes, Jan took this photo with her DSLR.


Dinner at Djimbaran Bali restaurant, the same place I had my birthday dinner, we just wanted to take advantage of it's convenient location right next to Utopia because we wanted to go for karaoke afterwards. I won't blog about the food but I still liked the grilled fish with special Djimbaran sauce best.


Jan and Andy and Jo! The birthday ballon was tied to Jo's chair the whole night and was a present from sweet Gill.

Jan and Jo.

Time to blow candles, or should I say candle. Actually it was a star shaped sparkler, very pretty but not so good in terms of making wishes and blowing. Jo was really surprised and happy about the birthday cupcakes though, it was such a good idea (Jan thought of it and found Velvet Cupcakes online). I think all future birthday cakes will pale in comparison.


The Northshore gang . Jason specially stayed an extra day so he could attend Jo's birthday dinner and Gill organised the flowers and balloons, such good friends right?


For some reason I didn't get a picture of Hads at the dinner, but here he is in Utopia, with his big cheery smile as usual.


Present opening time. Jo was very happy with her Bamboo fun drawing tablet from Jan and Andy.


Hads and I chipped in to get an I-touch for Jo. It had a really cute personal engraving at the back too (haha, giving myself credit for choosing the engraving). I like this picture because Jo looks so delighted.


Couldn't resist putting another picture of the cupcake, the cupcakes not only looked great but tasted delicious too, even Jan said it was a really really good cupcake. We had three flavours, chocolate, vanilla and red velvet (pictured above) and they were all yummy. My personal favourite was the red velvet though.


The whole birthday celebration group! It was a great birthday celebration and I think Jo was extra happy this year because Jan and Andy were here. Happy birthday Jo, hopefully next year the whole family will be here!

Happy birthday Andy!

I hope you're having a wonderful birthday with a great and fantastic year ahead (^__^)Y In celebration of your birthday, I'm posting pictures of Rottnest Island which I took around Easter last year. Hopefully when you come in a couple of days the weather will be great as well.

One of the many beaches around Rottnest.


The lighthouse.

Clear and sparkling waters.

Two more days and counting to Jan and Andy's arrival Down Under!

Jo and Di attend Sandy Lam's concert

Sandy Lam came to Perth and Jo and I attended her live concert held in Burswood Casino. The tickets were a Christmas gift from Hadwin.


Unfortunately, we had really bad seats, in fact the 2nd last row! But because we were really early, Jo and I managed to snag free glow sticks, I swear Jo had a radar for those glow sticks.


Luckily the venue wasn't very big so we still managed to see the stage and Sandy relatively well. Before the show, Jo and I were quite excited and singing the sole Sandy song that we knew 'zhi shao hai you ni.... wo yao bao zhe ni......'


I'm not sure what Jo and I were expecting, probably some slow ballads and Sandy in evening gowns but we sure didn't expect this! Sandy in hot black leather and garter belts!! Belting out fast numbers and dancing with hot male dancers! Wah.... I couldn't help wondering what the Chinese aunties with the giant mushroom perms and cheongs sams were thinking (there were lots of them!)


Then she changed into her 2nd outfit and the slow ballads came. At least we recognised about 2 of her songs and she DID sing Zhi Shao Hai You Ni, haha.


Her live singing was actually very good but somehow, when you've heard A-Mei live (hohohoho), everyone sort of pales in comparison. Anyway, Sandy was very sweet and approachable. While she was changing into her 3rd outfit, her concert executive producer and singer songwriter Anthony Lun Wing Lun( I think everyone had no idea who he was) sang a few songs for us. Poor guy, he jumped down to the first row and said he was going to collect angpows but no one gave him anything! Chio si wa.


Another black outfit and lots of fast Cantonese songs, most of them Jo and I had never heard before. The funniest part was when Sandy started singing English songs, and that Anthony jumped in as well and they went down the stage. So they were singing that 'Hey Mickey you're so fine .. hey mickey!' stupid song, and Anthony suddenly changed it to 'Hey Sandy you're so fine..oh you're so fine, hey Sandy!' I don't think Sandy knew he was going to sing that, and it kinda fell flat. ( = ^ ^ =) Cringe. Cringe. Cringe.


End of show. But it wasn't enough for Jo, the sudden mega Sandy fan. She pretty much STARTED the chant I think 'encore... encore... ENCORE!' She was so enthusiastic that the aunty sitting next to her her turned to her and said 'err. xiao jie, encore shi shen me yi shi?' Hahahaha. The chanting went on and on and Jo changed it to 'Sandy! Sandy! SANDY! SANDY!' I tell you, I was amazed.


So Sandy came out! Haha, another black dress and she sang 'Jin Tian Bu Hui Jia'.


End of concert! Jo and I had a really good time, I wish more Asian stars came to Perth, best if someone comes in April and we can all go together hor? Thanks for the tickets Haddo. (^__^)

Australia Day fireworks

Pretty Matilda Bay in the day, Perth city in the horizon.


Australia Day fireworks at night (Jo took this photo). Coincidentally it was the first day of Chinese New Year as well, so we got some fireworks this year (^__^). The fireworks were really beautiful. But I still prefer the less spectacular fireworks back home, I remember that we get a 360 degree view of the fireworks from our house in Kuching.

I'm not sure whether it's because we've just returned from the family trip, but Chinese New Year felt extra quiet and lonely this year.

Guess what came in the post?

A parcel for me from Jan and Andy! (^_____^) I wasn't expecting any parcels/cards from the family this year since I'd already received the nicest birthday gifts (I especially love Andy's 'meaningful' gift*hiak hiak*) earlier in the year so I was pleasantly surprised and very happy. After debating whether to wait till my actual birthday to open my bday card, I succumbed to temptation and ...


my birthday card and stickers for Jo and I. I loved the pink Hello Kitty paper bags, so cute.


The stickers are so pretty, I don't think I'll ever use them and instead keep them in my sticker collection. I don't know which one I like better, I love them all, haha. So old already still love stickers.


My first thought when I saw the card was 'looks just like Baby!'' (Baby is my very very old and treasured teddy bear with one eye and no nose) Couldn't help laughing when I read Jan's writing that both she and Andy chose the card for the very same reason. I thought the big blue one resembled Baby the most because at first glance, it looked like it had no eyes too. But now I think Baby looks like the greenish one because he's so old/dirty he looks almost greyish-green now. Time for a wash?


We finally put up the bday presents Jo received from Jan last year. The pictures look very pretty and girly in our living room .

So our conclusion is ... Jan and Andy give the best presents!! Wuahahaha. Thank you thank you! Totally made my day. I really love that card lah, it's the *baby* factor.(=^^=)