I'm going to do two posts in a day. This one is to say how much I LOVE my new skirts and dress from a vintage shop in Northbridge. I think it's called Miss Brown's or something like that. Ching and I wandered down William Street after a very scrumptious brunch. I wasn't intending on doing any purchasing but I walked out with two skirts and a dress.
Little brunch at Tuck Shop
Love my smoked salmon!
I have never felt so excited about clothes in Perth before but I love anything vintage and one off pieces. I also have a thing for unusual prints and long skirts/ maxis sand the floral one is a dream combination.We haven't figured out what the red print is about but I love how abstract it is. There were so many prints to choose from and quite a large selection of items. A lot of them were half price too!
Midi skirt, knee length skirt and a knee length dres. All $30 each. I couldn't resist!
Perth definitely has started to catch up with the rest of the world. I can't wait to see more of these stores with one off affordable vintage pieces that are actually wearable.
The sales lady Mary was so helpful (turns out she lived in Hampstead too!) and she had such a delicate and English accent. Made me miss London a bit.HI PENE if you're reading :) Actually I dedicate this post to you because you love vintage too!
Also, love the print of this Zara scarf Ching got for me from her holiday in the states. She knows I love my animals and prints :)
Indeed it was a hot morning and what followed, a very hot day. Would love to make it to the beach with you but I need to save some of my skin for the rest of the summer. Oh and for this weekend too :)
I chose to stay indoors today even though I had a few errands to do.
This is what I drew today.
Graceful treefrog. I call it My Frog Prince.
This is what I bought yesterday. They were all half price so I couldn't say no.
Coral, red and nude.
This is what happened on Friday.
Really friendly strangers that really know how to party
Spontaneously I went dancing and had excessive
amounts of fun. I danced... and danced.. and danced... in heels! Four days later I'm still paying for it :( It was a great night and felt as if I was on a mini escapade because we were at Elephant and Barrow and Mustang Bar and I haven't been there in years. There was live music at both places and the atmosphere was definitely conducive to dancing all night long.
Back to the topic of footwear and wise footwear choices, would you consider pair of those Vikram gorilla feet lookalike things. Or is it called bikram? No, that's yoga.
I love your terrarium! That is sad to hear that poor Phyllis didn't make it over the break. Do you have a name for your new plant?
Also, you have to show me this video that Chinny made. He seems to have a talent in the video field if I recall correctly, they can be rather hilarious if they aren't about you.
So I woke up this morning all energized for a run. I then checked my phone to see what the weather was like and to my horror it was 29 degrees!! At 5.30am!
I decided to take this run easy since it was so muggy, heavy and oppressive. And in light of me taking it easy I decided to try out barefoot running.
I started off with my running shoes on but running on the balls of my feet. I did it for most of my run! It made me slower, but I assumed that I needed to be slower to ease in the different muscles that were being worked.
Panoramic shot of my morning run today. Looks cool, but it was 29 degrees!
I then took a detour and ran up and down the beach with my shoes in my hands. This was no different to me playing indoor beach volleyball.
The hard part came when I ran back onto the path and on the road to go back home barefoot. That was a challenge for my feet, ankles and all those tiny stabilizing muscles. It was hard, but interesting to experiment.
I started thinking about barefoot running because of a TED talk I saw last night:
http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_mcdougall_are_we_born_to_run.html
It was pretty interesting. Chris talks about the theory that shoes have changed the mechanics on how we run, giving us more problems and injuries than if we didn't have shoes. Interesting, but not persuasive enough for me to be a believer. So I'm testing his theory.
As I'm stretching now, the stabilizing muscles on the top of my left foot is throbbing. Those babies haven't been worked out before! Haha!
Oh and when I got back home I checked the weather again:
It's just getting hotter. I hope it stays hot so that I can hit the beach after work!
You're doing a lot better than me in the blogging department! Two back to back posts! Fun for me because I have fun stuff to read!
Your holidays looked so sunny, fun and bright! I lovvvvveee the colours! And the beach! I haven't been to the beach this year! So I really want to go soon!
The drawing session sounds like a wonderful time! I think that so long as you guys are able to finish one piece, whether it's atrocious or art, I think you guys would have achieved something! The time spent together, the catching up, and just being with the 'creative moment'. It is hard to get such moments these days when life is just zooming by. That's the rate that I think life is going on for me at this moment.
How are things going with my new years resolution? LOL terribly!
I've had bad sleep so far this year! Especially Fridays. I come home and get into bed, and then I find myself on YouTube. Terrible! I end up getting to sleep around 2.30am and then I wake at 6.00am out of habit! As a consequence, I am exhausted all Saturday, with only Sunday as my full 'alert' weekend, and by then its now looking towards the new working week.
I have been working on my posture though. That's a plus.
This week has been by far one of the most happiest weeks I've had in the longest time! Obviously it started off when we met up for lunch on Tuesday! You were such a dear to come into the city to see me, and brighten up my day! Not only that you came bearing gifts! Ah! Your homemade muesli is now my breakfast and I look forward to eating it every morning!
Yummy! And so lovingly wrapped up!
Then on Wednesday, I had an awesome time at volleyball! We all played very hard and despite being a little rusty from the holidays, we all played well! Shaz, Els and I played one man short as Kev was sick, and we were so sweaty, puffed and physically tired from the game. But I loved that feeling! After that, we all went to Hungry Jacks to undo our good work and met up with Chins who had finished his basketball game. He also brought his laptop into the restaurant which was a little strange, but little did I know that he had brought it in for a hilarious surprise!
He and Shaz, and a whole bunch of people - Joyce, Suey, Jason, Wilbur, Kev, Els, Seh and Ben had put time in, to make me a song and a music video to go with it! It was a belated birthday present, which I was told was initially made in 2009, but Chins had lost the video due to a computer thing. So this year he re-made it, with a different song, but with snippits of the old song included, and footage from the old video too!
It was so good Chia! It made me laugh and was really really thoughtful and touching. Here's some screenshots of my favourite scenes:
What does it spell? :)
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?
Love it!
The colourful sporty clothes was just soooooooo awesome! I loved it so much! I just love watching it because of all the fun and summery vibes it gave off! I must admit though, seeing Chins and Kev in girls clothing made me also realise that they perhaps have way too much fun in girls clothing... but for the love of the art, I guess they must do, what they must do! HAHA!
Chins and Shaz told me that the park scenes were filmed in 2009, which made sense as Sarah was in the video. It also was filmed prior to Kev and I getting together and also prior to Chins and Shaz getting together. Those scenes just remind me of when life was fun, and reckless and just happy. Everyone would come out to play after work regardless of having work the next day. How times have changed.
Jason, Joyce, Suey and Wilbur's spelling scene apparently was filmed in December last year! They are so cute! They all hopped around the floor to spell my name for the video! Awww guys!
I have loaded the song and the video onto my iPhone now! And I know that when things get too serious, or down, I'm going to listen/watch this song in order to remind me that life isn't always serious and sad!
Then on Thursday, I bought my first terrarium! Something to keep me sane at work!
I've named the little duck Fredrick!
I saw this in a pop up store at 140 William Street called Society Handmade. Kev had bought me a pair of earrings for me from there, and I just so happened to stumble across it when I was walking around during lunch time on Wednesday. I saw this and fell in love! Though it was a little pricey, so I didn't buy it initially. However, on Thursday, I knew I had to have it for work, as my other plants had died over the Christmas break. It's like a little world in there. I am unsure of what tree is inside at this point in time. I've contacted the seller and hopefully I'll find out soon!
Ok I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with the regular blogging as part of my resolution. I'll get there.
Yesterday Christina and I started our little drawing get together. The number one ingredient to a good drawing is a calm and relaxed state of mind. No distractions, no thoughts. Otherwise that is reflected in my drawing. It was difficult to start off with because with Christina next to me, all I wanted to do was talk. Also we were stumped on what to draw. After less than an hour, this was the end result. I can't stand the way I shaded the orange and the shadow. Very poorly. So many things I need to work on.
I wish I took a photo of what she drew. I thought it was rather impressive considering she hasn't done it for 10 years, not since Year 12 Art. She reminded me that was how long it has been since we finished high school or 10 years since we started uni. Wow. Think back to when you started uni, that was a decade ago! Frightening how fast it's gone.
We had a go at drawing each other, but that was disastrous and I
couldn't stop laughing when I sketched Christina and she said she looked
like a sumo wrestler. I regret throwing that one out. From now on I will keep the disastrous drawings especially if they are funny.
Then we had some lunch! I always forget she's Korean. Apparently it's not her best version of the dish (I forget the name, it had pork and kimchi in it) but to me, it was fabulous! I love the strong garlic, vinegar and chilli flavours of Korean food and I took my time savouring each spoonful until nothing was left. Check out my long spindly arms.
Happy New Year to you, friends, readers and the blog!
What a great read of your Bali holiday! I felt like I was on a holiday with your family and Kev and I loved all the photos that you posted. Such gorgeous photos of you and your beautiful family. They were funny especially Kev and Scott's synchronised swimming. Looks like quality Olympic stuff to me.
I really miss diving and reading about your experience was a little nudge to use my frequent flyers for a trip to Phuket. I find cuttlefish a little creepy though. I've seen a couple when diving and also a documentary on them and the more cuttlefish that flashed across the screen, the more alien like they appeared to me (an alien head without a body. EW!) and it started making me nervous watching them swim and change colours. Moray eels are a little scary too. In my experience, they hide in their holes and come out and bare their nasty tiny teeth at you. They always look very angry to me :( Jee I'm sounding like a big wimp here.
I have been to Bali twice but never to Rock Bar. Everyone who has been to Bali seems to have but not me :( Views are spectacular too. How did this slip by me. Hrm... Well the next time I have a handsome gentleman by my side, I will be sure to visit this scenic place for a cocktail or two.
You should also try and make your own kite like the one you liked. Well maybe a simple version? I haven't flown a kite since I was a kid and Perth would be the perfect place to do it since there is usually an afternoon breeze.
What have I been doing? Definitely been doing a lot of eating and not enough exercising. It has come to my attention that my friends can COOK. And better than I can! For years I've secretly thought I was THE culinary expert but now I've been proven wrong and I'm more than happy to throw that thought out the window. These skills have just been revealed to me and I certainly hope it's not the last I experience them :p
On Christmas day I had a scrumptious lunch made by HW. There were other food too but let's focus on her roast pork and vegetables :p They were so wholesome and full of flavour and I think I ate most of the parsnip. Yummo! This meal really meant a lot to me because I've known HW since we were kids and to watch her grow into this domesticated young lady and prepare such a lovely spread melted me away.
I love the cultural integration of this Christmas lunch
Roast pork. Even if it was a 40C day, it went down very well.
I came home and calculated that I ate about 800 calories worth of those rochers. Good thing it was difficult to calculate the calories of her homemade trifle. Heavenlyyyy!
I've also upped the Chia-craziness in the form of dressing.I did not have any Santa hats or reindeer ears so I decided to pin and adorn myself with Christmas decorations that I purchased with HW during our white Christmas last year.
Outrageous colours and decorations. Just because I can!
More eating was done on NYE at Christina's.
She's right, she does make a mean potato salad and for the first time I
tried chicken and pistachio terrine and couldn't believe that she made
it herself. Astounding. There is something about home made food that
makes me feel so.... content and lovvvvvved!
This is what I wore to NYE at Christina's. My inspiration was fun colour combinations. Christina also had a similar outfit and it was fun that we almost matched. I can't wait to channel more colour combinations. I have a few more up my sleeve for that special occasion requiring some craziness. I've had interesting/ hilarious experiences with NYE (last year was in bed watching Mr Bean whilst HW was fast asleep in Munich!!!!) but this year it was great food, company and board games! Who would've thought?I would've loved to party it with you and I've never done a big NYE out in Perth, but I guess this was not the year.
Healthy too! Oh and I marinated those kebabs.
The strangest and worst board game ever. Team Females couldn't even get one question right :/ What a laugh!
This makes me laugh too. Maybe it's the thought of having 4 of me. combined with my duh expression top right. This is the first time I've tried green make up and wow, I am deeeelighted, which is why it felt necessary to bombard you with my face. Last minutely I decided against wearing the earrings to Christina's and opted for subtle green studs instead. Sometimes you just need to know how to tone it down a notch. Haha!
I've been getting plenty of beach too! Bless those that are unemployed/ on leave to keep me company. Very much appreciated :D Mind you, I enjoyed solitude on the last day of 2012 with a good book and beautiful beach weather and calm waters. Is it much of a surprise that I spent the first day of 2013 at the beach too?
Again I went to the beach today with Christina. First time in Scarbs and my goodness, not the best conditions. We were dumped wave after wave. Nothing like an excuse to frolic in the sand and 'make love to the camera' in the words of Christina.
More coral colours and fixing my wind strewn hair.
I know, I know.. I'm getting carried away with instant editing.
Let's get down to more serious business now.
This was my 2012 resolution copied and pasted from last year's post:
1.Get fit and join the gym and classes
2. Keep in touch with my aunty, grandma and family more often
3. Send snail mail frequently
4. Draw and paint more, take up an art class
5. Read more
6. Try anything unfamiliar or new
How I went:
1. I did join the gym in London, did not join any classes though. Coincidentally chocolate consumption and baking increased too.
2. Definitely did not keep in touch with my aunty and grandma enough. But I did organise and had an amazing time in Portugal and Italy with my parents.
3. This did not happen to the degree I expected. It stretched as far as sending Christmas cards.
4. I certainly started drawing more. Very pleased with the effort but I did not find an art class to sign up with.
5. Definitely accomplished this one.
6. This have got me into trouble at times. Otherwise online dating and most recently, nude beach and frisbee-ing is good testament to this.
Time the world knew about my hot pink flying disc.
I would like to carry on my 2012 resolutions and add another 6 for 2013:
(A bit ambitious I hear you say! Don't worry, some of these goals I have already set the wheels in motion.)
1. Get a full time teaching job and move out
2. Spend more time with family and friends that mean a lot to me
3. Get outdoor and explore Perth
4. Enter a drawing/ painting competition
5. Take up contemporary dance class
6. Blog more often, even if it's just a short paragraph and pic
It is exciting to set these resolutions. I was telling Weng the other day that if I put them in print or tell someone about things I want to do, immediately there is some accountability for it. Here you have it, written in pixels or dots or whatever you call it.
Now I was saying that the wheels are already in motion for number 3. If plans go accordingly, next week we will be on a little mini adventure to Lancelin :) More annaandchia adventures to be had. Picture this: a dinky battered camper VW, windows that cannot be rolled up, wind blowing through, tussled hair, me-driving, you- ukele in hand belting out Taylor Swift tunes, me- rolling my eyes but singing along with you (out of tune) and loving it, and all of this recorded on video. Ibiza take two? Yes? Shame it's only a short drive. Haha!
And so I would like to end this post by saying
Life is too short, have fun and do what makes you HAPPY!!!
I am looking forward to the adventures that awaits annaandchia.blogspot.com.
Can you believe how fast time as flown by? We started this blog in 2011 and we are still blogging!
I still love your Europe Christmas photos! It really does look magical, and it reminds me that I too want to experience a White Christmas one day.
I never knew that Christmas wasn't such a big thing for you. That was a bit of surprise given that you make such lovely Christmas gifts such as your Christmas Muesli!
For me, Christmas has always been a big thing. I didn't realise how much I loved Christmas until I was away from my family when I was studying in China in 2007. China of all places, did not celebrate Christmas and it felt quite lonely for me even though I had such wonderful friends who had opened their hearts and home to share their Christmas dinner and merry cheer with me.
I usually get so excited about thinking of what presents to get people and wrapping them up to put them under our Christmas tree. I then get all excited about what I will be cooking for the day. However, this year, I've been a little distracted with things, especially with me and my family and Kev going to Bali for Christmas. We didn't have gifts this year, but we did spend a lot of time with each other, which was nice.
Christmas in Bali
Group shot of Me, Kev, and Scott with Dad and Mom in the back on the plane to Bali
In Bali, I was able to practice my Bahasa Indonesia. I didn't realise how much I had remembered over the years and it was a lot of fun speaking to taxi drivers and bar men. The Balinese are so lovely, and so willing to help you learn Bahasa Indonesia. It was such a refreshing experience compared to other countries where some people do not seem to have the patience to allow you to learn their language.
We all had a low key time in Bali. Just ate, slept, walked around Kuta, swam in the pool and got lots of massages. Kev and I vowed to get a massage a day, which we achieved. Here are some pics of our time in Bali:
Walking on the beach, we tried to avoid stepping on these guys. This one bumped into Kev's toe.
The boys fooling around.
LOL at Scott's face
So Asian
Rainbow ship sailing into the clouds. I loved this kite! I wanted to bring it back, but it was made of untreated wood =(
Family dinner on Christmas Eve
Rock Bar @ Ayana on Christmas Day
At Rock Bar
Enjoying the Sunset
So magical!
Came out of the toilets to find Kev here.
Kev running away from the Tsunami
I love the patterns and colours on the Batik!
Besides walking around, eating and resting, Kev and I also went diving at Padang Bay.
Diving was awesome, and unfortunately I didn't get any photos that day as we went down to 24 metres, which was too deep for my underwater camera. When we looked at the recreational dive planner, we realised that we actually dived outside the recreational limits, which would explain why we felt exhausted afterwards.
Despite that, it was such an awesome dive. We didn't see any turtles, but we saw moray eels (one was yellow and the other was brown), we saw stingrays, octopi (both were hiding in the rocks) and the coolest thing ever; a cuttlefish.
Seeing cuttlefish in person was so unreal! Especially because Kev and I had watched a documentary on them a few weeks prior! It was swimming away initially, but then it saw that Kev and I were watching it so it stopped to have a look at us. It was changing colours; this blue and white. However, as Kev and I got closer, and a yellow and brown fish swam next to it, it dramatically changed into a yellow and brown colour and started raising its tentacles and started swimming towards us. This was quite scary for me, because from the documentary, I knew that this meant that the cuttlefish was feeling threatened and wanted to scare us off. So I swam to the side but Kev stayed put and I watched in intrigue and in fear of what that cuttlefish may do to Kev. However, as it approached Kev, the colours of the cuttlefish reduced in intensity and it swam past Kev onto the reef. We then left it alone and continued exploring. I wish I had a video to share, but I don't. Instead, I'll share with you a video from YouTube. It looked exactly like this!
New Year's Eve
We all returned back to Perth on the 30th which gave us a day to recover before New Year's Eve celebrations. Little did we know how hot Perth was! Admittedly, I wasn't feeling 100% from Bali, let alone felt up to wearing a nice dress out in 40 degree heat. But, eventually I got myself into the mood for the celebrations.
We ended up going to Lost Society on Hay Street for their New Year's Eve 'Sex and the City' function. Here's some pics from the night.
Group Pic from early in the night
Ann and I
Shaz and I
Having a great night out. LOL at Joyce's face.
Kev and I being very squinty. LOL at Shaz and Chinny's photobomb,
With this event, the theme was 'Hits from the 90s'. However, the music was very contemporary and the 90s music only started playing after the count down! It didn't matter anyways, because we all were having a great time. The only downer was that it was difficult to order a drink. But with cocktails at $10, I guess that was the reason!
Anywho. That didn't spoil our night. Kev and I partied on and hung around a little after the count down but were in bed by 1.30am as we were tired and hot.
New Year's Resolutions
2013 I know will be better! I've been thinking of resolutions, but realised that I am working on resolutions all the time. However, for this post these are the things I hope to achieve this year:
1. Better posture (this is an ongoing one);
2. Travel;
3. Learning to listen to myself (and understand what I want) as opposed to external expectations and opinions;
4. Sleep more; and
5. To be truly happy.
