Uncle Chew and his "Cili Padi"

When I was little, well actually even when I wasn't very little, our neighbour Uncle Chew used to call me Cili Padi, which translates to those little red chilli peppers. I dont exactly know why, maybe I was such a feisty lil brat. Tonight, as promised, I had a little house-warming dinner at my place with what little friends I had in Sydney. Spent the day before taking the train to Eastwood, 4 train stops away from Rhodes, where there are alot of asian chinese shops. Was not my day cos I had to brave the very rare torrential rain in my measly 'el-cheapo' 3 dollar umbrella whilst carrying a sackful of noodles, tofu and such. Also didnt expect my golden moon-man shoes to have miniscule decorative holes in them!! Needless to say, I sploshed my way around in wet socks all the way home.

On the menu for tonight, Mee Jawa, my very favorite dish well made by granny. Got her recipe and everything went fine, although i couldnt find Chilli boh so i had to blend my own fresh chillies. In the end, the soup I made was wayyyy too spicy, I almost killed my friends! Was too busy laughing and feeling bad I forgot to take pictures of they bewildered gobsmacked faces. To me, I give it an honest 60% (which is a bad grade for ms. i-want-to-be-perfect) but beggars cant be choosers and despite the whopping hotness, i still enjoyed my first attempt at mee jawa.

Now, got lots of leftovers for the rest of this weekend, kick back, and sip on some leftover alcohol. ahhhh......

Nudies

I bet there are alot of Aussie men and women who love to be nudies..be it on Bondi Beach or next to my pool. Cant say its a pleasant sight, unless you have 5% body fat and your flesh doesn't flop under your weight lying down. The nudies I wanna talk about are Nude mice, or scientifically nomenclatured as nu-/nu- athymic mice. These mice are "special" because they're genetically altered to lack the FOX1 gene, causing them to develop without a thymus gland. The thymus is responsible for generating T lymphocytes, essential soldiers in our immune system. That being said, these mice are extremely fragile and live their entirely lives in sterile environments. Because they have a compromised immune system, it allows us weird science geeks to implant human tumours to study their effects in the animal. Sounds cruel, but would you rather we use human test subjects? I only console myself in tha fact that every life lost adds to painting a bigger picture to understanding human cancer biology. I dont actually know why they're hairless, thought I've noticed that they sprout some sparse facial hair at about 6 weeks old.

"Howdy mate, I love my cage and my industrially processed food. Laine tries to be nice to us, I'll tell the rest not to bite" - Mouse no. 1.2.11 (not actual photo)

Ive started my work with them for about 2 weeks now, and will be working with them for the next 3 years. As important as they are for cancer research, they indeniably would have to be sacrificed at the end of experimentation, a sad ending for such an adorable creature. I've decided not to name individuals, so as to minimise the feeling of attachment to them. Having previously owned hamsters and guinea pigs, you can understand my fondness for these lil things. I never expected it to be so hard to euthanize them, despite having done so with rats back at Monash.


With every prayer before they die, I hope they involuntary involvement in my work brings some meaningful progress to human health and disease. If thats any consolation, Mom has suggested I go vegetarian once a week , great idea I must say. Maybe will save 10 chickens/yr.

Winter 2007 Collection

Come this winter, Sydney presents its latest in fashionable warm accesorries. The hip new look is the WUK, 9lbs of pomeranian fur and flesh, designed to keep any gamer warm in his seat.

Girls in a big city

Just some pics of our day in the city, it was fantastic having my friends over. Does wonders for a lonesome soul.
Sydney Fish Mkt: DROOOLLL...on the menu was sashimi salmon & tuna, fresh oysters, grilled shrimp and octopi, calamari rings, baked giant oyster, fish...with white wine on the side. YUM!

2 days with 3 lovey-dovey couples...damn it DK, you owe me big time!!

Near Circular Quay, with an excellent view of the opera house and harbour bridge (not in pic)

Martin Place, supposedly where they filmed parts of The Matrix 1

Darling Harbour, without our Lindt hot chocolate in tow, it was closed

See what I have to deal with??????

The Makan Squad

Proudly presents: 2nd hand furniture!

Being a "poor" student, and with previous referral to my "i-cant-live-in-a-dump" butt, Ive managed to secure my lux pad and inevitably resorted to furnishing with previously-owned furniture. Its not that bad, got it off from friends of friends who were coincidentally leaving Sydney. Minus the fact I spent an entire afternoon wiping off dust and disinfecting the fridge, my hard labour has paid off with a reveal of my new home! The only thing NEW i got was my mattress and covers cos its too disgusting sleeping on one that has been used, and my new TV which was so generously donated to me from Kim & Ernest. Bless their kind hearts.

Also had some guests to initiate the place over Easter break. Karmen and Vincent flew in from Adelaide and Cat from Melbourne, on the pretense of making sure the lonesome me is well taken care off...awwww..aint that sweet. but they just secretly wanna go to the fish market!

Welcome to Laine's Swingin' Shaggedelic Pad!

So excited! Got the keys to my apartment today...introducing,..first time home-owner (oklah, home renter) Laine Ooi! Boy its been a hectic day, Had to take a bus to the real estate agent to collect my keys and then went to the place to clean it up a little, got my fridge moved in and settled phone line, gas, electricity etc. Its mine!!!all mine!! So here are some pics to show off my brand spankin' new super lux apt. Will be moving in the furniture tomorrow, so will be a day or two before I update the blog with apt + furniture pics.

1. View to the right of my balcony

2. View to the left of my balcony

3. View below balcony...holy smokes!! jump on in!! its 26 deg today!

4. View from my loft-style bedroom

5. My bedroom

6. Ensuite bathroom..too bad I dont have a tub..8(..no more lavender bubble baths

7. View from my big ass balcony, which I intend to also use as my dining area

8. Entrance to my unit..love the dark maroon-brown carpet.

So Laine's lux motel will be officially open for business starting 1st April 2007 at these special discounted rates:

1st degree relatives : FREE (bound by blood...boh pian)

2nd degree relatives : Buy me a nice present

Good friends: Buy me nice dinner

DK: Do laundry, dishes, cook, and be the perfect man-slave

Bee yoo tee fool

Last night, Kim and I were in the city visitng Clem's Mamak stall in Chinatown. Golly you should have seen the queue! Roti telur, roti kosong, satay and teh ais...that was all in their simple menu but they needed a 7-8 man team to keep the passers-by coming back for more. We were merely there for support and also to try out their fare. Have to say it scored pretty well on my tastebuds, just dont compare the pricing to our RM 1.20 roti telur back home. Ouch!!

After mamak we headed over to Darling Harbour, a treat for the senses. Beautiful view, fresh crisp air, ignore annoying seagulls, people just chilling out and unwinding a hectic Friday away. Here's a spoiler of what we had:

Harbourside view of the city....check!

City view from Pyrmont Harbourside.....check!

After that, we headed to Star city hotel & casino. Considering Vegas is still fresh in my mind, you would expect this to pale in comparison. Laine's casino rating: Top Genting by leaps, less spectacular than Venetian. Although there are a few things I like about it. 1. There was a large non-smoking section where people actually obey. 2. Tons of 1 cent slot machines! yippee! Mom & Dad are sure to love this place.

Kim & Ernest have been telling me of this place, reputedly a fav. spot for them. The view was supposed to be undeniably spectacular. With no expectations, on the way home, we went to McMahon's Point , hidden in a street corner, almost hiding from the city that surrounds it, when suddenly.........

TADA!!!!!!!!!!!!....the most perfect view in all of Sydney. Must remember to inhale and exhale.