Monday, January 16

Singapore
Good food, absolutely no shopping (for the 1st time), lots of tears but lovely meetups with friends... so lovely i forgot to take pictures with most of them!
Uncle Vinh & Auntie Shar are the best babysitters in the world - Pav went bike riding, running in the park and got showered with so much love poor Tazzie felt left out :( She also went swimming multiple times in their pool and they made awesome videos (have you seen a dog swim from underwater?) to update us so we never had to worry! I'm not sure if they want the videos to be public so I won't post the link but this pic is from the video - look at the little rat! jel jete-ed @ 9:08 PM
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Saturday, December 24

Gracey was in town!

Not much to say except I had a really good day - haven't felt like this since Summer2007 & 2008 - the days we used to just hang out without a care in the world at a beautiful beach... just a small group of people as most were overseas!
Brunch without needing to wait for a table!
Love love...
...love the girls!

Merry Christmas peeps, see you in the new year! xx jel jete-ed @ 7:17 AM
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Friday, December 23

Engagement Party

We wanted to have one end of 2010 when we got engaged, but looked at over 20 venues and couldn’t find one that was nice enough (I wanted to wear my KM dress) AND within our budget. So we decided not to have one. Then someone asked us what we were going to do for our birthdays this year and we figured why not combine everything! The date was perfect, exactly 1 year to the wedding, a Saturday and in between our birthdays… but Rani was flat out with assignments, out photographer was leaving Melbourne that day and my family wanted to go NZ then! So we postponed the date – worked out well ‘cos we could celebrate rani’s last mba exam (on the afternoon of the party itself) and my yoga graduation too!

Looked at another 10 venues (it was way harder than looking for a wedding venue, which was decided even before we got engaged! lol) and finally decided on the private Short room @ Longroom. Sher celebrated her birthday there earlier this year and we were impressed with the décor (not so much the food). So we decided to avoid the deep fried frozen finger food and go for the tapas menu. Food turned out really good! A little slow at the start but there was plenty –we even had some fish & chips baskets, steak plates and sticky date puddings left at the end! I think the extra 3 who RSVP’d but didn’t show would have polished it off nicely…

The cake which took 3 whole nights to make… I was dissatisfied with look of the end product ‘cos of my lack of equipment and tools (so much easier doing this in a commercial kitchen!) but the flourless mocha cake was still delicious :P even made some small tiffany vanilla cupcakes for kim & mandi who can’t eat/don’t like chocolate!

With kel, the polaroid photographer & MC
He hosted a trivia game which I expected one of the flare people to win since only they would know both of us well. Came up with 18 questions and half the people were wiped out by the 1st question of where we were born... that included ALL the flare people except AiAi… seriously? If only shar was there, she would have won it (she almost did at the Jellies a few years ago, only person with a higher score was rani!) Even Rani’s MBA friends who had never met me before that night were still in round 2! Went through 4 questions (so disappointing) and the winner was Dave – prize was a dozen yummy macarons!

With Bud, our official photographer

Love this pic he took – people were meant to write “advice” to the future bride & groom under the polaroid. “Happy wife, happy life” was there, amongst some cheeky ones, some serious ones and some which missed the point completely and congratulated us… but this was a classic – “Game Over”!

Polaroids are kept nicely in a beautiful album given by Lee - Pav approves!

With Robby, the best man, and the only person Rani loves as much as me obviously...

With the flare family, minus a few!

Didn’t get a chance to speak to everyone as much as I would have liked/take lots of photos but we really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks all for a wonderful celebration (which reminds me I still have to get on to the thank you cards argh) and dear, if you’re reading this… I love you! 318 days more and I can’t wait!

xoxo jel jete-ed @ 11:08 AM
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Sunday, December 18

Shiromi & Dave's Wedding
Rani's cousin got married a day after my birthday. The reception was at the same place we are having it, by pure coincidence. And to make Rani's family from overseas really believe there is only 1 "type" of wedding in Melbourne, they had their ceremony in the botanic gardens too...

Oh well, everything is already booked and even though they had the crappiest weather possible in November (overnight thunderstorm which started the day before and continued into the morning, bucketing down right when they said their vows), we can't really change our plans because of Pavvy :(

At least we had a "trial run" for our big day - and I'm happy to say food and service was excellent! Can't wait for our turn... jel jete-ed @ 10:41 PM
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Saturday, December 17

Spring Pavvy - yes... she still runs like a lamb!
So on the last week of spring, we decided to have an impromptu bbq and the pumpkin was all too delighted to explore the purple petals on the floor. I haven't had a pav photo i absolutely loved for the longest time (mostly 'cos i'm lazy with the camera or she gets demon eyes with the flash) but this is it! jel jete-ed @ 3:36 PM
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Friday, December 16

Mandi, Ness & I turned a year older back in November (this is how behind I am in my posts) and in an effort to have a low key celebration, we gathered at our usual hot spot - Koko Black!

jel jete-ed @ 9:23 PM
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Wednesday, December 7

New Zealand North Island

Wellington1st order of the day - lunch at Martin Bosley's, NZ's top restaurant.
My yummy main: Trio of Tartars
Snapper, Mandarin Peel Puree, Freeze Dried Mandarin, Mandarin Oil
Salmon, Cauliflower, Capers, Lemon, Parsley
Tuna, Umeboshi Plum, Spanner Crab Chawan Mushi, CucumberHoney + Blossoms dessert as featured on Australia's most recent Masterchef
Manuka Honey-Feijoa Cake, Honey-Yoghurt Panna Cotta, Lemon Verbena
Te Papa Museum
The colossal squid, 14m long! Unlike the giant squid, whose arms and tentacles only have suckers lined with small teeth, the colossal squid's limbs are also equipped with sharp hooks The capital was kind of boring for me - parents were visiting all their old friends who I don't remember. They were all talking about the snow earlier this year though! Something nobody expected in the north island. Anyway, this was one of our old houses - wish we could have gone in!

New Plymouth

Te Rewa Rewa Bridge - designed to frame Mt Taranaki when viewed while leaving the sacred ground – promising what is eternal

Napier Mission Estate Winery - one of NZ's largest and oldest established wineries. The entrace was a real beauty!

TaupoHuka Falls - the 1st nature thing this trip. reminded me of why i love NZ so much :) The unique blue colour of the water in the Huka Falls and Waikato River is due to the clear water reflecting blue light
Lake Taupo - largest lake in NZ. The massive area + gloomy day didn't make it nearly as nice as the smaller lakes (Pukaki & Tekapo in South Island - see it here)

RotoruaLady Knox Geyser - named after the 2nd daughter of the 15th Governor of NZThe geyser is induced to erupt daily at 10:15am by dropping a surfactant into the opening of the ventEruptions produce a jet of water reaching up to 20m Wai-O-Tapu (Maori for “Sacred Waters”) is an active geothermal area at the southern end of the Okataina Volcanic CentreYes, the whole park smells really bad, but seeing how beautiful nature is makes it bearable
Oyster PoolHad to make my brother pose at the Sulphur Cave!
Champagne Pool - derived from the abundant efflux of carbon dioxide, similar to a glass of bubbling champagne
It was really neon!
Bubbling mudpools
The luge - a family favourite
Chairlift up Mount Ngongotaha
Extensive views of Rotorua city, Lake Rotorua, geothermal areas and surrounding hinterlands
Zorbing - where it originated. Wasn't as scary as I imagined...
This was pretty scary - I made my dad go with me and I was the one who ended up screaming! Basically it's like bungy but the sleeping-bag-like-case was attached in the middle, not at the feet. We still went head first though! Lookout where one side was the blue lake (Lake Tikitapu), and the other side was the green lake (Lake Rotokakahi). Tried very hard to capture how magnificent it was but even this panoramic photo does no justice.From the air the lake looks emerald green due to its shallow, sandy bottom.The blue colour of the lake can be attributed to rhyolite and pumice on the lake bed. The sun was on the wrong side so we had to go to the lake level for a clearer photo of the blue lake

Agrodome show - 19 breeds of sheep! Sheep shearing
Reminded me of how naked Pav gets after grooming!
Feeding the animals on the farm tour
We had some time (and bread) before dinner so the men went to feed the swans (and birds) while the women hid from the wind in the car

Whitianga We passed by Paeroa on the way to Whitianga and I had to do the touristy thing at the giant bottle - pose with a bottle of L&P (Lemon & Paeroa). Traditionally made by combining lemon juice with carbonated mineral water from the town of Paeroa, it is now manufactured by Coca-Cola. L&P can be found only in New Zealand and has the paradoxical advertising slogan "World famous in New Zealand"... go figure!Terrible weather for a hike but we managed to reach Cathedral Cove just as it got really dark and wet - a gigantic arched cavern passes through a white rock headland to join two secluded coves. The cathedral-like arch gives whole area an air of grandeurTe Hoho - sculpted by wind and water over centuries. It now looks like the prow of a large ship steaming into the beach
Gemstone Bay - all the little "gems"!

Paihia
On the long drive up north, we stopped at Whangarei Falls - it can appear as several parallel columns of water or a large rectangular column depending on whether it has been raining heavily or not
And finally, we come to the best part of the trip. After 1+ weeks of dreary weather, we had the most awesome weather for the Bay of Islands, North Island's must see in my opinion! So we made the most and accomplished so much that day! We started with a helicopter ride from Paihia
Gorgeous views...
Brilliant colous...
The famous "Hole in the Rock" - etched by wind and wave
This photo was taken by the crappy iphone camera so you can imagine how much better it looked in real life
We landed on a heli pad in the middle of the water
and then transferred to a speed boat to continue touring the islands
Crystal clear water - wish it was warmer so I could snorkel!
Bel took this photo without me realising. Look how unprepared I was for hiking! The view at the top justified the mosquito bites and blisters though :)
I could sit there all day and admire the scenery
Because the boat was private, we could pull up at any island that appealed to us. Mandatory jumping shots at the beach!
Our poor skipper had to pull the boat in just so we didn't need to get our feet wet (I was the only one who brough flip flops)
And he was our personal photographer too
When we got back to Paihia, we (or rather my brother) drove (or rather sped) 3 hours to the northenmost tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga - we did the Southernmost tip on our last trip (read about it here)
Yoga pose to celebrate the graduation I missed!
The lighthouse at the end
On a stormy day, you can see the tidal race, as the Tasman Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast. However we had good weather so there wasn't much "meeting of the seas" - can't have it both ways!

Auckland The sky tower at night from our apartment - you could bungy off this if you wanted to
The harbour bridge
The waterfront - where the rich dock
After a lot of research (thanks to Auckland CBD's free wifi for the rugby world cup), we decided to go to Sails Restaurant
Fresh New Zealand Crayfish grilled w lemon oil, fresh herbs & hollandaise sauce
Dessert Tasting Plate (from L to R):
Baked Lemon Creme, sablée crumbs, crisp meringue, kaffir lime sorbet & mandarin
Banana tarte tatin, cinnamon ice cream & mascarpone
Chocolate Delice honeycomb, salted caramel powder, freeze dried berries & sorbet
Cheesecake, raspberry gel, poached rhubarb w vanilla beignet

Turns out this was the best meal of the trip, even though it wasn't ranked number one. What a great way to end the holiday! Thinking back, I'm so blessed to have been able to go to New Zealand twice this year. I think it's the only country I'll happily go back time and time again :) I'm definitely more of a scenery (specifcally water) person than a historic building/great architecture person. Which is why I'm delighted about our decision on the honeymoon! jel jete-ed @ 9:36 PM
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