My 30th Birthday

On the 27^th of September, I turned the big 3 0. This year I decided to mark the occasion by going to an Escape Room with my friends. An Escape Room is themed room where players are locked in the room for about an hour and they have to solve a series of puzzles to get out. The rooms themes usually have a mystery or crime theme. The rooms are monitor via camera and players are usually given a telephone so they can call for clues.

I booked the Forensics room at Strike Bowling in Brisbane. The bowling company has branched out to have themed Escape rooms too. The Forensics scenario is that players are hunting down a serial killer. My friends and I had a lot of fun playing detectives. Unfortunately, we didn’t solve the crime in time. What got us in the end was trying to put a code into a padlock. We actually had the right code but we couldn’t open the lock. It was some solace to my friend when the supervisor let her open the lock after the time ran out because my best friend was dying to know what was inside. If we had to do it again, we’d be more meticulous with the clues rather than turning the room upside looking for clues here and there. We’ve already made plans to go again and I have a feeling it might become a tradition.

Apart from that, I went out to dinner with various friends and family in celebration of my birthday. I got a few presents too, mainly money from family and beauty products from friends. I know it sounds silly but I do feel different by turning 30. I feel more of a grown up and closer to death! So, I feel that I ought to do more with my life such as go travelling and take more risks. 

My 29th Birthday

My birthday was on the 27^th of September and I turned 29 years old. I can’t believe I’m so old! I don’t feel sad about turning older and I still feel that I’m still getting my life together. This year I decided to go out with my friends to celebrate my birthday. I invited my friends to lunch and to the musical Strictly Ballroom.

I had a hankering for Mexican so we went to Guzman Y Gomez for lunch. I had the fish tacos and pink lemonade. One my friends paid for my meal as a birthday treat. My tacos were smaller than I expected, I should have ordered more but I didn’t want to burden my friend.

It started to rain while we were eating our meals. I knew that it was going to rain and had been expecting a drizzle. Instead of a light rain, it was a heavy downpour with a sweeping wind. We even offered our table to some girls who were eating outside as it was raining so hard.

We had to walk in the rain to get to the theatre on time. Fortunately, I brought two umbrellas which we were able to share. We managed to get the theatre on time and not too wet. The show we were seeing was Strictly Ballroom. It started off as a movie directed by Baz Luhrmann who also directed The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge.

The musical is about a young man named Scott Hastings who is an amateur ballroom dancer. He causes a sensation on the ballroom when he starts to dance his own steps instead of strictly ballroom. Scott meets a plain Jane type girl called Fran who becomes his dance partner. Fran and Scott eventually fall in love.

I had watched the movie before so I knew what was going to happen in the play. I thought the dancing in the musical was awesome. I especially liked the opening number and all the glittery costumes. 

I didn’t actually watch much of the play to be honest. On my birthday I was coming down with a sore throat. I also felt a bit sick when I was at the restaurant that one of my friends gave me some medicine. It was the rain and having to entertain that made me worse. My friends don’t all know each other so I had to make sure everyone felt included and keep conversations flowing.  Maybe the medicine made me drowsy or maybe it was just the illness but I fell asleep during parts of the show. By the end of the day, I was close to losing my voice.

My gifts 

After my birthday, I developed a bad cough.It's almost the end of October and I still have it! I've been to the doctor and have been given antibiotics. I didn't wait until the last minute to go the doctor either, it's just that  whenever I have a cough, it tends to be lengthy illness for me.  I was fortunate that my friends took the time to come to my birthday and I appreciate all the nice things they got for me.

2015 Goal: Do something nice for mum's 50th Birthday

One of my goals this year was to give my mum a good 50^th birthday. Mum told me she wanted to do something big for her birthday so I decided to take on that challenge. I told her that I would pay for whatever she wanted to do and I gave her some suggestions. Mum wasn’t exactly happy with turning 50 but recognized it was a big milestone. I listed the usual stuff that people do when people reach a milestone like tattoos, bungee jumping and other thrill seeking stuff. Mum wasn’t keen on doing something that daring so I suggested things like beauty treatments and going to musicals.

In the end, mum said that what she wanted to do was to host a barbecue and invite her friends. Mum requested we keep her birthday a secret though as she didn’t want for them to create a fuss. One of her friends in particular was from interstate and had been visiting for a month. Her friend was leaving on the day of mum’s birthday so everyone was under the impression that the barbecue was a farewell lunch for that friend.  I debated on whether to tell mum’s friends it was her birthday and get a surprise cake. However, I decided to go with my mother’s wishes as it wasn’t about me. I kinda felt bad that we couldn’t acknowledge her birthday. I still wonder if that was the right thing to do but it’s all in the past now.

The next day, we did give mum her presents. She was very happy with her gifts. I bought her a camera that has a screen at the front which allows for easier selfies. Mum struggles with technology so I bought it to make taking photos easier for her. Dad bought her a painting that my grandmother has as well. She was very happy to get it. We didn’t have a day of celebration either as she was busy buying goodies for the friend to take back home to give to our grandmother. Mum is always thinking about other people.

Read about my other goals here:

• Carlyn's goals 

My Birthday Part 2

This year I decided to have two birthday celebrations. I had one small gathering with friends and I went out for the day with my family. My family and I went to the Gold Coast for my actual birthday. The Gold Coast is a beachy touristy area of Queensland.  There is a lot to see and do at the Gold Coast, there are many beaches, casinos, shopping centres, gimmicky places like the wax museum and haunted house and there are national parks further along.

source

We mainly went to the Gold Coast to source the location for a recent job opportunity for me and then we planned on hanging out. The drive to the work opportunity was longer than expected but it led to a nice less commercial beach town. The GPS led us on a merry dance up a steep hill that we later found out was unnecessary. If we just went straight on the main road, it would lead directly to where we wanted to go.

source

After we found the location, we went to Robina Town Centre which is the biggest shopping centre in Queensland. We looked for a place to eat and settle at a Turkish restaurant.  I wasn’t happy with the service as the waitress seemed inefficient. We were finishing our meal before she finally served our drinks.  I didn’t understand why it took her so long to serve them considering how there were only four other diners besides my family and we ordered sodas and coffees.

We spent the remainder of the day browsing the shops. I was given a gift card from one of my friends so I looked around for something to buy with it. I told myself that I had to get something purely for me and nothing to do with work.  I am a teacher and whenever I see some cheap toys or stationery I think about buying them as rewards for my students.

I decided to buy the first season of Adventure Time and Rugrats. I love watching Adventure Time which is a cartoon series about a boy named Finn who lives in a magical land with his brother who is a dog.

                              

I also bought Rugrats for the nostalgia. I use to watch Rugrats in the afternoon when I was little. 

My Birthday Story 2014 part 1

September is my favourite month of the year as it is the official start of spring in Australia, my birthday and school holidays are in September. My birthday is on the 27^th September but I decided to have two celebrations this year. I had a party with my friends last Saturday where I invited them to make paella, chicken and corn soup, lemonade and fried chicken.

I love cooking with people as it’s such a bonding experience. People can feel more comfortable communicating when they have something to do. I invited friends who I knew would enjoy cooking and only enough guests that I knew that could comfortably fit in my kitchen. I had five guests in total, my friends that I had known since high school and my friend that I had met at uni. Most of my outings that I had with my friends centre around food so they were fine with cooking their own lunch with me. I also asked them to bring a cake or dessert instead of a present so that they wouldn’t have to worry about getting something expensive.

The main thing I wanted to cook during my birthday party was paella. Paella is a Spanish fried rice dish which typically has seafood, chicken and seafood in it. I had never had paella before but wanted to try it because it looks so delicious. I like how it is a communal dish with generous bits of seafood, meat and rice. It’s all the kinds of things I like to eat rolled into one.

When the guests arrived, the first thing we made was lemonade. I have a lime tree in my backyard so we really made limonade. I invited my best friend’s niece and nephew for my party as well and they were happy to reach through the undergrowth and get the big, juicy limes. It was just as well that we picked the limes as the tree was beginning to flower so eventually there would be no limes.  I got the children to make the lemonade while my friends and I made the paella and other dishes.

We decided to make two pans of paella due to some of my friends not being able to eat chorizo (a type of pork sausage) that is an essential ingredient in paella. So we had one paella with chorizo and one without. We also decided to leave the seafood on the side so people could eat as much or as little of that as they liked. I think the food turned out good but I can’t compare to anything since it was the first time I had it.

 The only hitch was that I should have labeled the party favors. I gave everyone a plastic tumbler filled with some candy which guests could empty out to put their lemonade in. The trouble was that people had a hard time remembering which one was their tumbler as they moved around the kitchen.  

All my friends had brought desserts. The desserts were all cakes. I got two sets of brownies, lemon cake and a coffee cake. I had to freeze the leftovers so that it wouldn't go to waste.  We also played a party game where I drew a name out of a hat and whoever I called out could choose out a selection of prizes. The next person called out could choose a prize as well which could be something that someone already selected. Everyone really enjoyed the game and there was much laughter as people would refuse to handover things and hide their items. It’s a game you can’t play with little children as they hate getting stuff taken away from them.

It was a sweet laid-back kind of day.

My real birthday will be on this week. I still haven’t decided what I want to do with my family. I want to take them out to eat, so far I’m thinking of seafood, or maybe barbecue chicken or Chinese banquet. 

Little Lamb

Little Lamb

Eight Mile Plains Shop 22/23 Runcorn Plaza 254 Warrigal Rd
Runcorn, QLD 4113

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1698690/restaurant/Brisbane/Eight-Mile-Plains/Little-Lamb-Runcorn

My friends and I went to a restaurant called Little Lamb as a belated birthday celebration back in September. I had never been to the restaurant before and my friend Tina made the reservation as she had heard good things about the restaurant from work colleagues.  Little Lamb is a hot pot and charcoal bbq buffet restaurant. It was the best restaurant that Tina could have chosen because I love Asian food, buffets and cooking with friends!

When we got there, the restaurant was already packed with people. We could barely get inside the restaurant and squeezed into the entrance. Luckily we had a reservation and when we finally reached the front of the queue, we were seated straight away.

The buffet had a wide selection of skewered beef, chicken and fish for the barbecue as well as plenty of things for the soups, such as meatballs, noodles and eggs. There was also soft drinks, juice and tea available as well. We each selected a lot of things from the buffet, not a ridiculous amount but enough for me to regret wasting a little food.

There was a little charcoal barbecue at our table and it had this mechanical rotating thing that turned the skewers so all we had to do was take the food once it was cooked. I really liked the little chicken drumsticks that we cooked on the charcoal as the skin was seasoned with five spice, it was really juicy and crispy. I also loved eating some small fish too, nobody else was fond of it so more food for me!

For our hotpot, we had two different soups. We had a spicy soup on one side and a plain soup on the other. I don’t like spicy food so the plain soup was for me. We added various meatballs to the stock and ramen as well. The soup was yummy. We also had steamboat lamb which was the specialty of Little Lamb. We did wonder about the unusual name for the Chinese restaurant so mystery solved. Steamboat meat is thinly sliced meat, usually a little fatty and used for hotpots and soups.

source

We had discussed having dessert but at the end we were all too full. I would definitely go to Little Lamb again as I really enjoyed myself. I can’t remember the price per person but it was affordable for families. I’m thankful for Tina for organising the dinner as she had a 3am wake up the next day to go on a fishing trip with her family. She even went to some trouble getting the reservation too as when she called, the person who answered said they didn’t speak English and she would have to wait until 3pm for person who could talk to her. Luckily she had a Chinese work mate and he helped her with the reservation.

Carlyn Girl's Diary: Outback Spectacular

I went to Outback Spectacular on my birthday with my brother Paul. Outback Specular is a dinner theatre show where you get a three course meal and a horse show. The show changes every so often and the latest show was Spirit of the Horse: with a tribute to Phar Lap.

There was already a big crowd when we arrived at Outback Spectacular. It was mostly big families and tourists. When the door opened, we were ushered into a foyer which was big enough to host functions by itself. There was a gift shop, dance floor, tables and benches along the wall. Guests could take photos with some of the star animals such as the horses and dogs. There were also photo walls where guests could get a professional photo taken with a ranch backdrop. My brother is a camho so he took all the photo opportunities and I had a photo take too.

There was a singer too to keep guests entertained. He sung well known Australian and country songs. Afterwards, we were all asked to enter the arena via two doors. We were given free cowboy hats when we first arrived and they either had a red or yellow band. The yellow bands went through door A and the others went to door B.

Nobody was allowed to take photos while the show was on as it might spook the horses. The show as fun, definitely good old fashioned family entertainment. There were jokes, songs, stunt riding and plenty of audience interaction. Call me childish but one of my favourite parts of the show was when a man came riding out singing a song to start off the show. I don’t remember what it was about, something about being in the country and with friends. The horse lifted its tail and pooped. That was pretty funny to me. The guy didn’t miss a beat and just rode to the next spot.

The food was a bit bland but good enough. It was well presented and reached the table hot. The servers were efficient moving from row to row quietly and quickly. Sometimes I forgot to watch the show and watched the servers doing their work. We also had servers coming through the rows to top up drinks.

Overall a good night out. I think Outback Spectacular is excellent for big family gatherings. There are discounts for booking for ten people or more and pensioners get a discount too. I think children will love the horses and stunt riding.

photos courtesy of outbackspectacular.com.au and www.smh.com.au

Happy Birthday Carlyn Girl! =)

Happy Birthday Carlyn Girl!

Today is Carlyn Girl's 27th birthday... ahh to be that young again! >.< <---- jealous bear face

Sometimes I think about what it is that makes a birthday special, what makes it stand out compared to any other day and how the tradition of celebrating birthday's came about?  While I don't know the historical answer to the question I think I know the personal one.

It's a day to be recognized for our individuality and what makes us... well... US!  It's also a chance for friends and family to recognize when someone is an important part of our lives. 

Carlyn shares a birthday with noted celebrities such as Lil Wayne, Avril Lavigne, Gwyneth Paltrow and Meat Loaf among others.  Today is also the birhthday of Google.  While it's a day we share with others it is also something that is uniquely ours through the lives we've touched. 

Carlyn has touched my life in a very special way and has been a truly wonderful and dedicated friend.  That's not something that comes easily when two people form an on-line friendship.  It's easy to get involved in our daily lives and forget about someone typing on a keyboard half way across the globe.  She is a very bright, articulate and fun person with an appreciation for arts, crafts, fashion and literature amidst other things that shape a person with real depth of character, identity and personality.  In many ways she has even shaped my identity with her Jon Bear cartoons that I have so come to admire, if not always being quite worthy of his exploits and adventures.  As a very private person myself, she has helped me to reach out to new experiences through our blog.  That is something I am and will be forever grateful for.

Carlyn also gives very sound advice, even when it takes a bear-brain a little time to have it sink in! =P It's such a gift to have someone who really listens to your problems, considers them and gives you a genuine answer/advice.   Thank you for being the best bag-face a bear could ever have Carlyn! <3

So I hope that our blogging community here will reach out with me in wishing her a very special birthday!

Now... normally I would not condone eating a bear... but I have found this bear cake and upon this occasion given the special circumstance I can concede a small measure of indulgence.

picture credit

So once again.. Happy Birthday Carlyn!  I hope it's as special as you are!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON!

Today on the 7th of January is Jon Bear's birthday and he turns 37 today!

So Jon Bear, I hope today you have a wonderful day and a great year.

My birthday story Part 2

On Friday I celebrated my birthday with my family. It was my parents and my brother Sammy’s day off. I booked us to go on the Kookaburra River Queen Cruise for lunch in Brisbane. My youngest brother had gone on the River Queen with his girlfriend for dinner and he raved about the place. So with his recommendation, I chose to go on it for my birthday.

We took the train to Brisbane and had no trouble walking to Eagle Street Pier where the boat was located. There were actually two boats anchored at the pier and we got on boat two.

The River Queen is a lovely wooden paddle boat with three levels. All of us passengers had lunch at the first level. Lunch was a buffet consisting of a few salads, fresh fruits, curries, stir fries, roast beef. The waiters let us go the buffet in sessions to avoid a stampede, it is a small boat and there were about thirty of us there. Unfortunately my family were last at the buffet but someone had to be last. There was still plenty food available and we all had second servings.

As it was listed as a carvary buffet, I was expecting more roast meats on offer such as roast pork and ham and that there would be someone carving. However, the roast beef was already sliced up but that was okay, it more convenient. Dessert was offered near the end of the cruise, which consisted of various cakes and sliced fruits and tea and coffee. I had some sliced pineapple and cake.

When we got on the boat, a Super Hornet Fighter Jet flew past in preparation for Riverfire which is an event in Brisbane by the Brisbane River , where there is a firework and laser display and the at the end of the light show, fighter jets fly by. Anyway, when the Super Hornet flew past, it was such a loud sound that for a moment, I thought World War 3 had started and that a bomb was going to drop.  My brothers thought that as well. The other passengers got up from their seats to look out the window. The jets flew past about four times during lunch and we got use to the sound.

Col, one of the staff regaled us about the history of Brisbane while we ate our lunch; afterwards he played the accordion which I think it is quite appropriate when on water.

(video courtesy of BlossumFlowerGirl :http://www.youtube.com/user/BlossomFlowerGirl)

After lunch we were allowed to wander around the boat. It was fun climbing up the stairs to each level and looking at the view.

This a photo of the boat we went on. I didn't take that many photos as it was such a bright day, that I didn't think the photos would turn out good.

Storey Bridge

The big duck for the annual duck race.

We all had a lovely time. Next time, I might take my grandparents. I think they would really enjoy the trip, they live in Canberra and usually visit at Christmas time.