Oh Sydney Harbor, I never get tired looking at you. Today, I totally don’t understand my frequent urge to get away from Sydney and travel. Clearly Sydney is home and I can’t complain anything about living in this beautiful city.

We went for a location shoot just before the New Year and Sydney Harbor sparkled like a piece of jewel. This is a perfect view of the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House hiding behind, the Sydney Tower on the right and of course the controversial building next to the bridge sticking out like an eyesore:).

Peace and tranquility before the 2013 NYE celebrationSydney Harbor (1 of 1)

Sydney Harbor bridge  (1 of 1)

Tonight, Sydney Harbor Bridge will be lit up like crazy. We’ll all get ready to ring in the New Year with splendid NYE fireworks, screaming teenagers and full glasses of Champagne.

May this year bring prosperity, peace and happiness.

quote lake diary“It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever,” he said. “Have you thought of going into teaching?”
― Terry Pratchett

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
― Albert Einstein

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
― Groucho Marx

I woke up in gentle sounds of Christmas music and pancakes, and coffee. It felt like the continuation of  a peaceful dream then I jumped out of bed, fully awake. “What time is it? Have I slept all day? Everyone is here already?”

It was 9am in the morning. Tonight we are  going to having a family Christmas Eve Dinner at our place for the first time.  J walked around the house in complete silence. He had put some nice Christmas songs together and got breakfast ready.

Truth to be told Internet, I was a little nervous … Yesterday I spent the whole day tidying up and scrubbing. Today, there were still so much shopping and cooking to do… Yes yes, Christmas is all about peace and joy.

J looked at my worrying face and touched my hands, ” We are happy, that’s the main thing. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Just like that, I started to breathe normally again. Everything will be OK as long as we are happy…

Here’s to our first, Merry Christmas.

strawberry santas

 

 

“The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.”
― Bette Midler

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
― Pablo Picasso

budda

As everybody kept talking about Apocalypse, the end of the world,  I shook my head and found it hard to accept the cruel and relentless marching on time,”it can’t be 22nd of December already. It’s like, early October, the latest. In 2008.”

 At the beginning of this year, I wrote out my goals for 2012. Since it’s Apocalyse today, there’s no better time to review my goals of the year, to see how far I’ve come. It’s time to see what needs improvement, how to grow further, if there’s tomorrow or next year. So here it goes..

Keep a clean desk – the whole year: Significant improvement compared to last year. Still need to do a much better job.

Exercise 4 times a week: Hmm. Not v good. Need to stay motivated all time.

Be a consistent winner in FX trading: A roller-coaster ride. Think I finally found the secret to FX trading.

Be a better friend, sister and daughter: Been very good. On top of that, got engaged and married to my best friend and soul mate. Sounds unreal hey? But it’s true:). Next year’s goal will be harder though: be a better wife…

Travel the world again: Traveled overseas twice this year. Very happy.

Read more and blog more: Bad. Not reading enough. So much to read, so little time. But no excuse, ok?

Grow more vegetables: Tomatoes died (sob) -not enough sunlight. Spinach is growing like weed – good. Found super power fertilizer. Spring onion is looking healthy.

That’s it. I’ve done it, something scary. This is the first time I had personal written goals and actually took time to review it. Promise I’ll do better next year. It’s going to be the whole new world from tomorrow right? And hopefully by the end of next year, I’ll be able to get myself a pair of pants like this:

386369_286219548082093_1882864978_n

Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM Bag

Expensive Gift Or a Super Fake? Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM Bag.

We received a lot of emails/phone calls everyday from people wanting to sell us something; website design, advertising space, SEO service, bags, web hosting, cups, doormats, you name it. We also receive genuine inquires for consignment private sales, which we welcome. However, recently we received a very interesting package. It contained a brand new, never used, Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM Bag its owner offered for sale to us. At a rather high price I might add.

Normally private collectors would send us photos to get a quote before sending the bags over. This bag arrived without any photos sent prior. When the parcel was opened, we saw a gorgeous looking bag. Its leather still pale-new, untarnished. For a used bag this would always be a bad sign. LV leather only looks that pale not for long before it turns into a darker patina. But this is a brand new bag, so its all good. It was so new, in fact, it even had plastic wrapping around the handles.

Hm… plastic wrappers around the handles?   Curiouser and curiouser …



fake damier azure stresa gm bag recieved Bag received

The thing is, new bags from Louis Vuitton stores don’t come wrapped in plastic. It just looks tacky and cheap, and LV is all about style. Well, at least, we’ve never seen such plastic wrappers from any of the Louis Vuitton stores we’ve been to; in Australia, Europe, America or Japan. The owner said that the bag came from an LV store in Macau, and since none of us have purchased from that store before, we examined the bags thoroughly to verify its authenticity.

The bag looked very much like a real Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM bag. Normally 99% of fakes can be spotted with just a glance, but this one was a real challenge. It has the right color of stitching, shape, measurements, right number of wall pockets positioned in the right spots of a Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM bag. The date code is VI2150 meaning: made in 25th week of 2010. The copy of the receipt was dated on December 20th 2010 so it’s all making sense on paper.

It’s quite amazing how sophisticated some counterfeiters have become. We actually had fun spotting the minute differences between the real LV and this bag. We compared it to  a large number of real Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM bags we’ve seen and we want to share the details with you.



Louis Vuitton factories are very consistent with the font, stitching, logo, wording, heat stamps etc on their products of the same model, produced in the similar period of time, which helps a great deal in the authentication process.

  • Wrong date code font: real LV Stresa bags’ date code font is slim and long as shown in the blow photos:
real Louis Vuitton damier azur stresa gm bag (4 of 4)

Real Date Code font is slim and long

This bag’s date code doesn’t possess the correct font. The numbers and letters in the date code are too round compared to real ones and the last 2 numbers “5” and “0” are slightly out of alignment. See the wrong date code font of the bag received in below photo:

Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM Bag Fake: Font is rounder, number 0 looks shorter then the rest

  • Wrong heat stamp: real LV Strasa bags’ heat stamps are pressed lightly on the leather. Letter strokes are thin.
Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM Bag

Real LV streasa bag heat stamps: light and thin

This bag’s heat stamp is deeply pressed into the leather. Letter strokes are much thicker than the ones on original bags.

Fake: heap stamp pressed deeply into the leather.

Fake: heap stamp pressed deeply into the leather.

  • Counterfeit zipper pull. Real Louis Vuitton Stresa logo pulls have the Louis Vuitton logo nicely engraved on the brass, using a special font with a well-rounded “O”.
Real LV zipper pull: Logos are engraved lightly on the brass with rounder logo font

Real LV zipper pull: Logos are engraved lightly on the brass with rounder logo font

Letters on the zipper pull of the bag received are smaller and in wrong font.

Fake: Louis Vuitton logo

Fake: Louis Vuitton logo

  • The bag has incorrect number of stitches on the side leather tab with brass rivet. Louis Vuitton always have the same number of stitches on the bags of the same model, manufactured in the same period of time. Real Louis Vuitton Stresa GM bags have 9 even stitches on each side of the brass rivet on the side leather tab.
Louis Vuitton damier Azur Stresa GM bag

Real LV Stresa GM bag leather tab has 9 stitches

The bag received has only 8 stitches on the each side of the brass rivet, which appear uneven as shown below:

Fake: leather tab has 8 uneven stitches

Fake: leather tab has 8 uneven stitches

Sadly there are so many “close to real” fakes out there. We don’t accept any item that we can’t guarantee its authenticity.  So we had to bring the bad news to the sender that the gift they bought is actually a fake. A very smart fake but nevertheless, not the real deal. In the mean time, watch out buyers. If you see a similar Louis Vuitton Damier Azur Stresa GM bag for sale somewhere, stay away. It might be this bag’s sister from Macau.

More blog posts on Designer Handbag Guide.



Kate Moss famously said ‘Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels’. I’ve never been that skinny so I am not sure how good being skinny feels. All I know is how good it feels having good food. London Borough Market is like a food heaven to me. It is a treat just to wonder around and look at the exquisite produce on offer, if you love good, fresh and sometimes exotic food from all over the world.

London’s oldest market, Borough Market could be traced back to the middle ages. It is now located on the Southward Street and Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge.  The day we went was a Saturday. London’s weather truly lived up to its reputation, tricky summer, that is. The day started mild and dry, then the rain came, then the thunder storm… It rained like it never rained before most of the day, which made it a perfect day out under the cover of Borough Market, eating and drinking.

Feeling good… ready to eat… A LOTYep, it was raining:Feeling  hungry:Cheeeeesssse:Thought I’ve seen bread before until this one appeared:While I was busy eating J kept on shooting:

Tastiest scallops, with the orange bits on.. If you like seafood, don’t miss out on this!

Just out side Borough Market, there’s this coffee shop that everybody goes to. The queue to get in was long and there was no available seat to be found inside on the weekend. The coffee was a bit too strong for my liking but obviously I was the minority there. And it was a nice surprise to see London Olympic torch…

The Olympics torch inside Monmouth

How to get there:

Address: 8 Southwark Street, London.

It is extremely easy to get to Borough market by public transport. Just get off at London Bridge whether you are taking a bus, underground or train.

Borough market open hours is: Thu 11am-5pm, Fri 12pm-6pm, Sat 8am-5pm (retail food section).

Danke Schön (thank you) is the only German I could speak. It pays to be polite… most of the time. You see, it’s always good to learn saying “thank you” first, even before “hello”. When you say “hello” to someone in a foreign country, people might expect you to say something more after the initial greeting. When you have nothing else to say, it’s kind of embarrassing. If you can only say “thank you”, people would understand that you are just a tourist trying hard to speak their language.

We hired a car to drive around and see more of Germany. Before I forget where we went and get all the places and pictures mixed up, I’d better write down the route that we drove through in Germay: Kolgne – Unna – Dortmund – Warburg – Gottingen – Leipzig – Chemnitz – Dobeln –Dresdon.

There are some places I really want to write a bit more about when I’m more settled. Here’s just a brief summary of Germany trip while I’m getting myself organised.

Cologne

Cologne was talked about in this blog: Cologne Highlights.

Unna

Unna is a very pretty, peaceful German town with cute sculptures on the street.

Unna Germany

Unna Germany

Dortmund

We went to Dortmund to catch up with our old friends. The first place they took us was this lake, where it used to be a factory. The only thing remains from the factory today is this huge machinery. Kind of cool huh?

This lake used to be a factory.

dourtmund germany

Warburg

Warburg is oh so pretty, yet an even more peaceful small town. So peaceful that I felt like disturbing it by simply being a visitor. We stopped by Warburg on a Sunday. The whole town stopped for Sunday mass. There was not even one moving car on the street. Every body was at the mass near the church. Nobody, literally, nobody was on any other street.

Warburg Germany

See what I mean? Quiet quiet streets everywhere else on Sunday.

Gottingen

What can I say? Most of German towns are just so picturesque. We stayed in Gottingen for a couple of days and went a bit multinational … from a grand Vietnamese restaurant (always empty, took 45 minutes to serve some bland pho soup) to expensive steak in old town center to a busy African restaurant served hearty food. The African restaurant won our final vote.

Gottingen germany

Gettingen Germany

Leipzig

First German town we visited during this trip that used to be part of Eastern Germany. Fairly large in size, Leipzig boasts a few fairytale looking buildings, big shopping center and a bit hmmm… chocolate.

Lepzik Germany

Chemnitz

Sorry karl, your home town is the least attractive German town I’ve visited. There are ugly, grey, square buildings and huge smoking chimneys everywhere in the city. I couldn’t help but feeling sorry for these beautiful, run down old period buildings that are about to collapse. Karl Marx’s gigantic head sculpture scored the top spot on our turist attraction list.

 

Street in the city center of Chemnitz. Though not pretty, it is clean. Definitely not popular with tourists.

old-town-street-1-of-1-620x413

Dobeln

Dobeln is a gem. I have so much more to say about this wonderfully beautiful town later on. But for the time being, have a little sneak peak of the photos of Dobeln… Isn’t it the prettiest?

Dobeln

Doblen town center germany

Dresdon

Having a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Kings of Saxony, Dresdon is grand. That was the first time I had this one shoulder top on, since I bought it in a Sydney boutique in 1999. Somehow it managed to avoid being thrown out, donated or gifted over the years and ended up in my suitcase to Europe. Now it’s back to life!

Dresdon Germany

dresdon-food-620x457

dresdon-wall-1-of-1-620x413

Dresdon Germany

Shortly after this gorgeous trip to Germany, we are already making plans to go back next year. When I do visit again, for sure I’ll have lots of bratwust and hopefully still remember how to say: Danke Schön!

 



“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“What’s meant to be will always find a way.”
― Trisha Yearwood

A few years ago, I went to this fancy restaurant in Toronto for business dinner with a group of people from all over the world. The restaurant staff came to our table, specially recommended “Australia Barramundi and red wine from south Australia”. I couldn’t help but laugh inside. Yep, as if I flew all the way from Sydney Australia to Canada for Australia Barramundi and wine. But lets’s say that recommendation make me a little proud of being an adopted Australian.

A few days ago, I went to Four Points Darling Harbor with a group of friends. From the a la carte menu I picked the Jewish. That piece of fish was somehow half raw. As I was wondering if they have invented a new way of cooking, my friend complained.

That led me to this recipe. I decided to cook Barramundi at home, the Australian way!

For the record, I refuse to spend too much time cooking cause I’m kind of lazy. Trust me, this dish was super easy to cook.

Main Ingredients, serve for 2 people:
  • 2 Australian Barramundi portions, skin on
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon, cut into wedges
  • Mixed salad leaves

How to make Tomato Caper Vinaigrette:

  • 1 ripe tomatoes, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoons baby capers
  • Chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper  to taste
Ready to cook? Follow the simply steps:
  1. Combine tomatoes, capers, parsley, vinegar/lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Add salt and pepper, mix and set aside.
  2. Pat fish dry with paper towel, add a small amount of oil, salt and pepper to the skin side only.
  3. Using a non-stick fry pan cook fish skin side down on a medium high heat for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to hold fish sown for 30 seconds to ensure the skin is in contact with the fry pan.
  4. Turn fish and continue cooking on  a medium heat until just cooked.
  5. Serve fish with mixed salad leaves and a wedge of lemon. Spoon tomato caper vinaigrette over the top of the fish.
That night J and I fished all the Barramundi, feeling full and content.

 

 

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
― Bil Keane

“I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
― Woody Allen

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Diggers

“That’s Hideaway Island”, on the way to Vanuatu waterfall, our driver pointed it to us. We looked out to the sea. There it was, a sweet looking, tiny, round shaped island in the turquoise water from afar, surrounded by pristine white sand beach (in my imagination). Later it turned out that my imaginary “white sand” beach is fully covered by white coral!
Hideaway Island Vanuatu

An easy, less than 5 minutes boat ride will take you from the main island Efate to Hideaway Island. The boat fare is 1000 Vatu (around $12). That’s about half of an average day’s wage for a local worker but I guess locals needn’t take the boat or pay.  We saw a few of them wading through chest deep water from Hideaway Island to the main island.. or swimming across:).

Hideaway Island Vanuatu

If you ever visit Vanuatu and are not sure what to do, plan a trip to the delightful Hideaway Island. When you go, don’t forget to take your snorkels and flippers. The small coral atoll is surrounded by amazingly clear water and coral reefs. Dive right into the water, you’ll find countless colorful tropical fish.

Hideaway Island Vanuatu

Swimming bare feet there is not such a good idea though, as the coral can be rough on your feet when you walk up to the shore. So take your reef shoes or flippers with you, otherwise your feet won’t like you much…

My imaginary white sand beach.

Hideaway Island Vanuatu
Hideaway Island is very small. It’s a perfect place for complete relaxation. There are no phones or faxes, except in the office but there’s an underwater post office if you fancy the exotic way of communication.

Walking around the island, you see local kids playing in the water, having a great time. You see local people running and jumping into the water, having a swimming competition. You see happy people waving at you with the most incredible, innocent smiles on their faces. And you’ll feel happy too, because true happiness is infectious.
Hideaway Island Vanuatu
There are plenty reasons to be happy. All year round warm weather, relaxed life style,  lots of tropical fruit trees everywhere

Hideaway Island Vanuatu

and the breathtaking view…


No wonder vanuatu people have been voted the happiest people on earth. It is the kind of happiness that money can’t buy.

Naturally I’m the adventurous, reckless type. For the sake of curiosity, I wouldn’t hesitate to travel to places where most people consider dangerous. Try different food. Try different career paths. Go out with different type of people. Dye my hair to different hair colors… But as I grow order (OMG, can’t believe once upon a time I couldn’t wait to grow up!), things have changed.  Suddenly I have a list. An old favorite list.  A list of things like my favorite local Thai restaurant, my favorite gardener when I need something basic to be done, my favorite tailor, my favorite website designer, my favorite handbag brand, my favorite seafood shop in Sydney fish market for mud crabs… I’m still open to adventures but for certain things I stick to my list.  Because I know that way, I won’t get nasty surprises.  Vapiano is my new favorite restaurant when I want satisfying – safe food away from home.

Has it ever happened to you? You were new in town. You wanted to eat out but had no idea which restaurant to go to. You finally picked one to try your luck. The food was awful and you thought even Macca’s was better than that. It happens to me less since I found Vapiano.

Vapiano is a German fresh casual restaurant chain offering Italian food. The concept is to “offer a dining experience that combines fast food and a more extravagant experience.” They are not your usually type of sit and order restaurants. The food was made to order and you get to watch the whole process. Every dinner get a chip card to be waved in front of the bar counter when ordering food and drink. When the dinner is finished, the card is waved in front of the register and the bill appears on the screen.

The best thing I like about Vapiano is the freshness of the food. You order your dish from the pizza or pasta bar, they cook your meal right in front of you. There are many different kinds of freshly cooked pasta in plastic containers, right behind the chef. You pick the pasta/pizza you like and tell the chef what ingredients/toppings you want from the menu. You watch they cook while waiting in line. You take your dish to the dinning table and pick fresh herbs from the pots on your table. I thought that is the cutest idea.

It’s a great place to catch up with friends in a relaxed atmosphere. We had dinner one day with friends at Vapiano Dortmund. It was packed. You’ll undertand after you try… freshly cooked, tasty Italian food for just around 6- 9 euros. Why wouldn’t it be popular? And the tea bottles are so pretty that I want to take them all home.

The good thing in Europe is you get these hop on hop off bicycle racks everywhere. The first half hour is free. Talk about convenience!

There are lots of Vapiano all over the world. I haven’t been to the ones in QLD and Melbourne. There isn’t any Vapiano in Sydney yet. I wonder if that has something to do with the ridiculously high rent and labor cost in Sydney. Luckily I don’t really need one close to home.  If you ever have trouble finding a good, reliable eating place my friend, look out for Vapiano.

“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

– William Ross Wallace.

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”

– John Allen Paulos.

“That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
― George Carlin