• Composer look-a-likes from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra

This test said I am a supreme nerd. I don't believe the results.

My Weekend

View December 2009 in a larger map

1. Friday: dinner at I Japanese Cafe - I had seafood hot pot - oyster, prawn, tofu, vermicelli, bok choy etc
2. Saturday:
   
   
   
   
   
   • Dinner at the Bank Bar and Restaurant - I had vegetables (egg plant, asparagus, pepper, salad etc). The meal was gluten free as well!
   • Movie: The Time Traveller's Wife - so sad! I cried. The adaptation was pretty good.
   • Singstar - we took tuns to belt out pop songs. 'Nuff said.
   • CBD and The Outback - shots then dance the night away
   
   
   
   
   
3. Sunday 12 Days of Christmas Concert at Clarence Street Theatre
   
   
   
   
   
   1. A partridge in a pear tree - Soloist singing
   2. Two turtle doves, - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle doves
   3. Three French hens, - three flute, accordion and harp pieces
   4. Four calling birds, - Four ladies performing in acapella
   5. Five golden rings, - fire dancer with hula hoop!
   6. Six geese a-laying, - pantomime by six geese
   7. Seven swans a-swimming, - what happend to swan lake by man in tutus? I think it was replaced by a whopping seven recorders.
   8. Eight maids a-milking, - Drury Lane dancers performing 'Survivor'
   9. Nine ladies dancing, - Russian traditional dance
   10. Ten lords a-leaping, - Gumboot stomp
   11. Eleven pipers piping, - Ringing Scottish and Caledonian bagpipe band
   12. Twelve drummers drumming, - Wai Taiko drummers
   
   

Hens Night

My sister's hens night kicked off with mini golf at Callum Brae family golf course.

The eighteen holes were increasingly difficult.

This was one of the earlier holes.

Golf Course

25 Callum Brae Drive
Rototuna Hamilton
New Zealand.

Cupcake Decoration

These are some notes I made.

Ingredient

• fondant icing
• food colouring
• chopping board
• knife

Fondant Preparation

1. Cut fondant into smaller blocks
2. Microwave for 20 seconds or soft
3. knead into one piece
4. squash flat and add a few drop of food colouring to center
5. fold and knead for food colouring to spread throughout
6. repeat steps 4 and 5 until desire colour

Note: You can make fondant softer by microwaving for a few seconds and harder by adding some icing sugar. A drop of red makes fondant pinker. It was difficult to make purple by combining red and blue. The blue dye was overpowering.

Cupcake Icing Options!

• Silver Beads
• Hundreds and thousands
• Lollies

Just take some fondant, roll in you hands and press flat. Place on a plain muffin (that's what we NZers call cupcakes). Pat the fondant flat to get a shiny surface.Decorate with beads, lollies etc. There are literally hundreds and thousands of combinations!

Above on the left is the one I made. Hearts and kisses!

Dinner was pizza from Hell. I liked the seafood one aptly named 'Underworld'.

Entertainment involved Singstar. It was mostly pop and 90's songs. We belted out tunes I barely know. I was bolstered by the fact that there were only so few people present. I even woke up the next morning with my voice intact!

Auckland Trip

My long weekend in Auckland seems ages ago now. We were there to visit N and celebrate M's birthday. The plan was to do city centre, Viaduct Harbour, Mission Bay, New Market and Devonport.

Friday

Drive up to Auckland

We strolled through Dress Smart to wait for N to finish work. I got a scarf and top from the Glassons outlet. R waited while I pestered a man selling belts. I got a motorcycle buckle for Richard.

In which Watching TV could be Bad for You

N made capsicum curry for us. Her assortment of Indian spices were kept fresh in a round container. We watched the episode in which Monk gets a cold. R promptly got the snuffles so we decided that was a bad omen. L brought Disney's Lady and the Tramp. I jumped at the chance to watched it again since I had forgotten most of it.

Viaduct Harbour night life

Lenin is a Russian bar. We got lemon, lime & bitters. L took photos of Minus 5 made of ice. I liked Lenin's ceiling lights and those affluent patrons pretend not to shiver next door.

Saturday

Parnell La Cigale French Style Market

I got strawberry-raspberry crepe and Turkish delight to go. M and L recommended almond croissant for lunch. I was dubious about the icing sugar on top. (Reminded by Audrey Hepburn's dislike for those pastries).

Picnic at Mission Bay

We all had sandwiches filled with avocado, egg and tomato. The almond croissant turned out to be the best I've had in my life thus far.

Cake x2 on Dominion Road, Eden Valley

We paid a visit to Well Done Bakery (Taiwanese) and The Gateau House (Korean) on Dominion Road. M's work shout was a chestnut sponge from Well Done with OTT icing. Our less extravagant affair was mango flavoured with fruit garnish from Gateau. I picked out custard crust bun, sun and wife cake from Taiwan to take home. We hurried home to save melting cakes and have mushroom Pasta.

"Mango mousse made with French mango puree mixed with crème anglaise. Generously topped with French mango puree and decorated with seasonal fruits and hand crafted chocolate." - Gateau House.

Skycity Casino

R and I had never been to Skycity so we took a gander. I'm no fan so stayed outside with N. We eventually joined the others in the VIP lounge for supper. L bought a DVD called I'll Never be Your Woman. Unlikely title for a chick flick. I thought it a bit funny and a bit dumb, just right for winding down. We had cake at midnight!

Sunday

Yum Cha

The dim sum dishes were carried on huge platters and pushed around the packed restaurant. The tea helped with digestion. I had delicate shrimp dumplings, various shu mai, chicken feet and sesame seed balls. I was too full by the time the taro croquette came around.

Devonport Outing

The bumpy sea took some getting used to. We got a Clydesdale carriage tour of the town. I was embarrassed because people knew us by sight when we walked around later. I bought a double sided sponge/scrub, tumbleweed bunny, Easter cookie cutter and a turtle for Linda.

Afterwards...

I almost lost the ticket on the return trip. I was drained of energy. The trip home was quiet and I was sad at the prospect of not seeing N for yonks.

The Daily Show Makes You Think

Jon Stewart always makes me laugh at the end of a long week day. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at Comedy Central official website.

Faint-Hearted Scholars Missing over Edge of Paper

Procrastinators beware: PHD comics pokes fun at graduate student life.PHD (not to be confused with PhD) stands for Piled Higher and Deeper. It is a graduate student comic strip. If you prefer reading text, Cecilia's Blog is updated occasionally.

Saturday with Pluto

Busy day, yesterday. I planned to go to the Chinese sports day and Balloons over Waikato. Going into the stadium alone was daunting, but I could freely wander around the venue . The event was well underway, with the tug of war in progress when I got there. I found Ruth - she was busy volunteering. Hester and co. arrived later. (I wasn't the only one late!)

Richard, Linda and I went to the Balloons over Waikato after dinner. Two of us got bunny ears. This reminded me of Gala Darling's new year celebration ideas. The ears glowed in the dark! Hamiltonians crowded the university grounds. Pluto was the band playing this year. The following link is their official website. The balloon lighting display and fireworks show went before 8.30 PM. Mr. Turtle wasn't in the display. I liked the Happy Birthday Balloon and Lady Bird.

We lighted candles during Earth Hour but still watched tv. I guess we cheated! Towards the end of the night I got sick. It was something I ate.

Womens Lifestyle Expo

Went to Hamilton Womens lifestyle Expo yesterday. The event ended at 5 so I didn't get to see every stand. Next year I am taking mom. Below are some of the treats I tried.

• Revitalised feet, shoulders and eyes from Big Foot Massage (Massagical).


• File and dark purple polish from Clinic Indulge. They do all sorts of beauty clinic work. Based in the Lake area.

• Handmade fudge - 9 flavours available made from professional kitchen. I got the Baileys one!


• Saw retired race greyhounds. They are up for adoption.


• Chiropractor consultations.


• Taste spirulina and smoothies.


• Scilla Chocolates from Ohope. Beautiful tins. Yummy!
  

Panoramic Views on the Periodic Tables and far more Eminent Threats

Mock periodic tables make my day. Earlier posts include condiments that go bad and cupcakes.The latest one is for typefaces from Squidspot.

• Periodic Table of the Social Media Elements
• Periodic Table of the Comic Book Elements. I did not understand this one.
  
• The passionate geek can also get the Period Table of Elements Tattooed. Ouch, but whatever floats your boat...
  
• Remember all those element names and symbols? Greek and Latin connections are all over the table as shown in this page.
• Andrew Plotkin designed a Periodic Table of Dessert!
• Kenny Wheeler designed a shirt with Periodic Table of Drinks
• Yes! There are people far more dedicated to tables. For example, Holly Gramazio a.k.a. Raspberry Debacle made this giant Meta-Desserts Taxonomy.
• No! This next one on Matter and Energy. Scroll down to The Elements. Bo-Ring~~

The above was entertaining. I was shocked to discover Uncyclopedia though. I am getting old.

Annual Pi Day

Today, March 14, is Pi Day and Einstein's birthday. Mathematicians around the world celebrate by activities such as memorising digits, baking, singing songs and using memorabilia. Enthusiasts have memorised the constant to tens of thousands of digits, composed poems and named their baby after it.

Pi = 3.14159265

Ratio between circular diameter and circumference. The official website provided a widget to countdown days until the event.

Found Stuffed Kitty

Found Stuffed Kitty
Originally uploaded by GlennFleishman

Society sure could use more kindness like this.

Murder Burger

Their blog is filarious!

Official Location: 128A Ponsonby Road Auckland. Near places of artistic interest even!

Cranium the Game

 

Some Rights Reserved

Met Ruth on Tuesday. I had the banoffee pie again! Last time I had half a serving. It just wasn't enough. We went to visit our friend's new baby. He was adorable.

Made pasta for shared dinner on Saturday. I wanted to make oven baked pasta in a rich sauce suitable for a winter's night. Mom suggested chicken, short pasta and a sauce out of a jar (I don't cook much at all) The photo above by ex.libris is what it would have looked like before being topped with cheese.

Cranium contains 600 cards with instructions for 15 kinds of activities. The four of us had to act, draw (sometimes with eyes closed) and mostly get stuck.

The game designer was really into purple!

fd's Flickr Toys: Do fun stuff with your photos

fd's Flickr Toys: Do fun stuff with your photos

Found this from Flickr...
Will try out some of these in the coming weeks. Looks like fun!