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Blackvegetable

I am The Black... Vegetable!
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Another year has passed. Still another round of fun and work, with many a lesson involving food along with the entertainment like some chocolate-related classes, Regional Flavours, Madman Anime Festival, Oz Comic-Con, Supanova and the like.

Of course, life is not without its ups and downs. The first being that my PS4's Disc Drive wasn't working properly. Good thing the warranty's still usable since I was able to trade it for a new PS4. Even though there wasn't any black ones left, a white one works just as well! Then there's the face my mum and I had to upgrade to a new TV... I swear these TVs seem to be getting bigger these days, especially the HD models (sighs)!

Other than trying new things to cook, after many years on two separate occasions, I finally got to meet two famous chefs! One Matt Preston (whom I quite enjoyed his meatloaf recipe), and secondly Adam Liaw (winner of the second Australian Masterchef and primary host of Destination Flavour series)! Both books signed, they were worth the wait! Of course, we still mourn the famous celebrities that influenced our lives over the year. RIP, Aretha Franklin, Stan Lee, Burt Reynolds, Joel Robuchon, Avicii, Anthony Bourdain... you are some of many people who brought much inspiration and joy in our lives! :'(

And last but not least... what do I want for Christmas? Considering that I needed to save up more money, and moments I give on special occasions, I think it's about time I wish for something nice... :santa:

  • An increase to my Core Membership
  • Perhaps some artwork of choice (like involving my Digimon OC just to drive me to update my fanfics again...)

Well, I hope things would improve by the end of this year, and beyond. But until then, stay classy!

P.S. Did I mention I'm going to be an uncle soon? :squee:
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Well, thought I might as well fill you guys in on how the holidays went. I had fun in Europe along with China, though due to the European holiday being a tour, we didn't have enough time to explore everywhere. But it was still good - especially with my mother, aunt and cousin too!

First up from Australia, the plane made a momentary stopover at Guangzhou, China. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to leave the airport so we had no choice but to explore a bit, and sample some fare. Then afterwards we left for overnight, and to avoid the repeat of Ireland back in 2003, I took some sleeping tablets with me. Much better! We then arrived in Paris, France, but we mainly stayed in the hotel due to the fact the staff wouldn't help us with exploration (I knew I should have taken the translation printout with us)!

The following day later, we took the tour bus to Switzerland. Unfortunately due to arriving late, we only did a momentary round of shopping, but on the plus side, I got myself a Swiss Army Knife, and Mum and I got some chocolates too to give to relatives and workmates! Along with photos of the Swiss Alps the next day, I finally got to play in the snow for the first time in thirty years of my life! Okay, it was a short stop at a service station, but it was fun - especially chucking snowballs! Next time I'll give snow angels and a snowman a try!

Arrived in Italy after the snow fun that day, in Milan first for lunch and shopping (mmm, realy Risotto Milanese)! Didn't stay too long due to the crazy New Year's Eve preparation, and we then stayed in Venice after. With the next few days of fun in Venice (despite the rainy weather cancelling some plans, but we got to go on a Gondola ride, shopping and lunch), Rome (Colosseum was cool, no gladiators though), Vatican City (I felt enlightened), Arezzo, and. Florence (home of leather and Renaissance structure and history).

It was then on the 4th we returned to France, starting with Monaco (site of Princess Grace Kelly and damn, that's quite the luxury), Nice (enjoyed garlic snails and frogs' legs in particular), Cannes (film festival site), and then Avignon! Lots of food were involved nonetheless! We finally returned to Paris, said farewell to our fellow tour company, at dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant (France played a role in some of Vietnamese cuisine) and then the four of us had a private tour throughout Paris, were we got to see the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc of Triumph, Alexander Bridge, and of course the Cathedral of Notre-Dame itself! The only regret was that I never got to go to the Le Souffle restaurant (featured in Luke Ngyuen's France), but next time, I'm going there!

Heading back to Guangzhou, Mum & I separated from my aunt & cousin due to my aunt having to get back to work on time. For the next few days we ate, met relatives for shopping (Tianhe Shopping Mall in particular) and eats, also rode on a cruise to and back along the Guangzhou River, took photos and explored at locations like Canton Tower, Nanyue Kingdom Palace Archaeological Site, Lychee Bay, Shangxiajui Street, Shamain Island, Yuexiu Park and the Guangdong Museum. I got in some gym time at least! Alas, the trip came to an end as we then headed for home. I'm gonna miss the places!

Along with Year of the Dog celebrations, finally getting a new computer, and seeing the movies 'The Greatest Showman' and 'Black Panther' there's also my 31st Birthday! Bugger, how time passes! Other than dinner at a restaurant last night, today I received a lovely milk-based recipe book, did a bit of shopping for myself, treated myself to market food once again, and meet up with my sister and brother-in-law not only for a sushi dinner, but we just saw 'Love, Simon'! What a heartwarming coming-of-age story it was! Thank goodness I was taught tolerance and watched shows like Queer Eye, and the film showed that there's love no matter what orientation you are! :) (Smile)

Well, time for bed. What a fun day it was, but from now on, for my 2018 resolutions...

  • I will save up more money.
  • I will contribute my recent patisserie skills whenever I can to my job.
  • Find a girl of my choice.
  • Get along with family more.
  • Live healthier, like going to bed right now.
  • Read more books, and not sit on my ass in front of the computer screen and phone so much.
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So much as happened this year so far. Some would be good, but unfortunately at times, a hit to my wallet like paying the electricity bill, and with the passing of some of our favourite people, like Roger Moore, Antonio Carluccio, John Hillerman, Hiromi Tsuru, etc... :'(

First of all, after serving me after many years, my PS3 decided to bite the bullet. After taking it to EB Games to have it fixed, sad to say, it was deemed impossible to be saved. But luckily, since it was close to my birthday at the time, I got an additional 20% trade value to it along with the accompanying games I didn't need - which was affordable enough to graduate to a PS4! Downside however is that I wished there would have been more Gundam games for the Western audiences...

Secondly, after another driver crashed into my car (my fourth car accident overall, and good thing she paid), Mum and I felt it was about time to trade in my car as the Suzuki Swift 2007-8 model is deemed a safety hazard to be in! Mum decided to upgrade to a Volkswagen Tiguan since her car didn't have enough room in the trunk especially when it comes to carrying luggage (eg. in case Visitors from China come over), and also passing on her Mazda 3 to me. Though I'm more used to smaller vehicles, I'm grateful for the upgrade - more power, safety, and a rear-view camera too! 

Thirdly after about four years, my phone decides to bite the bullet! Even though I got a newer phone, it's not the latest model, and to my annoyance even after clearing some space, it's still annoying to fit any necessary updates in! As the saying goes, you can't make an omelette without sacrificing a few eggs...

Finally since 2012, I frickking swear that the computer lifespans are getting shorter these days! When our family first own a computer, it lasted from 1997-2006 before upgrading to a new one! Now, the current one's a pain due to how many times it crashes unexpectedly via the blue screen! I don't know whether it's from the Windows 10 or something else entirely, but it's driving me nuts! Overall, I would have to save up enough money to obtain a new one, preferably custom-made, and without the bloody bugs! At the moment borrowing my cousin's, and I'm going to have to save up after coming back from a European holiday with family and relatives. 

But it wasn't all bad, despite the shortcomings. I finally got my dream of seeing a Final Fantasy concert, accompanied by my mother! Of course, it was 'A New World' rather than 'Distant Worlds', but it was close enough anyway! I'd like to see the latter one day! And despite having difficulty thinking up of what to contribute to my workplace after my latest graduation, I thought I'd improve by attending a chocolate class - though pricey and I had to catch a train early in the morning to get to Orniston, it was worthwhile and fun! Plus, for those in Australia, if you guys remember watching the kids show, Cheez TV, I got round of meeting the hosts Jade and Ryan again since last year's Supanova Expo! 

And did I mention that I'm heading to Europe? Cause my mother, aunt, cousin and myself are heading off - touring around Paris, Switzerland, Italy and Rome and the like! I wonder what moments will be involved, hopefully for good mostly, and maybe I could obtain myself a Bartolomeo Scappi's Opera book (thank you Antonio Carluccio, bless you)! 

And most importantly... what do I want for Christmas? Considering that I needed to save up more money, and moments I give on special occasions, I think it's about time I wish for something nice...

  • An increase to my Core Membership
  • Perhaps some artwork of choice (like involving my Digimon OC just to drive me to update my fanfics again...)

Well, I hope things would improve by the end of this year, and beyond. But until then, stay classy! 
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Well, it's time to update for this year. And what to say months after my last entry? Well, I'll tell you.

Remember my trip to Tasmania? Though we were mainly holidaying for ten days (wish it was longer, loved the food, scenery, history and peace) the last Friday in October was a major point for a reason. I would like to congratulate :iconcloudrat: for her happy marriage with a new brother-in-law!

Yes, my sister and Chris tied the knot in Tasmania for something unique in a change of scenery! Whilst it was slightly nerve-wracking (due to taking my late father's place to give the bride to the groom), it was wonderful, all in all! The food, the speeches, the music, it brought out wonderful memories! I believe my late father and grandfather would have been delighted! Along with the wedding celebrations, Mum and I travelled to various places along the map - convict histories in Richmond and Port Arthur, tasty food in places like Ross Bakery (inspiration to Kiki's Delivery Service) and Brooke Street Pier in Hobart, seeing Tasmanian Devils and other marsupials at the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo, that was the life! While colder, it was more fun with more bearable temperatures compared to Brisbane's summer heatwave... yeesh!

Along with the usual Christmas Party (this time I utilised some of the ingredients bought from Tasmania to use in my Christmas Ham recipe, I'll see if I can get round to uploading the holiday photos to Facebook later) all good things must come to an end. Of course 2016 has been a bit grim with the passing of famous celebrities like Muhammad Ali, George Michael, Carrie Fisher, Alan Young (and my personal favourites like Kouji Wada and Yuuko Mizutani), but the start of 2017 has been such a pain lately! But before I rant, here's my New Year's resolutions... though I hope to achieve whatever I can of them...

1. Improve my cholesterol level and maintain a healthy weight.
2. Practice my Patisserie skill in order in case I finally go searching for a Patisserie job (even perhaps participating in some classes).
3. Save more money, and even if I try and enter Sunrise Cash Cow everyday (if I can).
4. Try and update on time.
5. Most importantly... find myself a girl of my choice without letting others decide for me! Time to prove myself, in the words of Ultron, that I have no strings!


Other than the fact that along with the usual electricity bill and the motor insurance paid recently, I was hit with how much the Vodafone exit cost (bastards) along with the paying QLD Transport and Brisbane City Council (on separate occasions) for an unwitting parking infringement! Wasn't one fine for a parking infringement enough!? Especially since I was only parking for a workplace secret Santa event, and I didn't realise that I parked in a taxi zone! Plus recently that my PS3, after many years has ceased functioning! Even though I took it to repairs, unfortunately the attempt to fix up the faulty Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card failed. Looks like it's about time to upgrade to a PS4 after saving enough money...

With my birthday coming up, I just hope the rest of the year turns my fortunes to a positive! But what do I want for my birthday? For starters, with my now-defuct PS3 traded for some credits, I'd best utilise the old PS3 games to fund for my upgrade (even though sadly I never got to finish/start playing the games) and with Sony being cheapskates for not making the PS3 backwards-compatible... Other that that, since I wish to save more money this year, what I desire is...

  • An increase to my Core Membership
  • Perhaps some artwork of choice (like involving my Digimon OC just to drive me to update my fanfics again...) 

Well, I'd better get to bed. Nonetheless, it's nice to update again! :)
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My apologies it's been a while since I last filled journal of mine, along with submitting anything since my birthday. Mainly because I seem to have nearly lost my drive when it came to folding origami (including what would have been my 10 anniversary special regrettably) along with the fanfiction. Part of me was either focused on work, gaming, Facebook or most recently my studies (which I was finally able to finish). But what to do from here? There's still much to do, and I'm hoping to hone in my skills in the Patisserie role I have finally obtained in July (despite a few mishaps in the student office). But let's see what I want to talk about.

Bad news: my cholesterol level has risen again! I really need to step up my A-game, especially with my sister's wedding coming up (I'll explain later). Hence a personal trainer worked out a program that could help, whilst along with yoga and fencing I have recently not only attended a 5km group run session nearly every Saturday morning, but I've also recently participated in the Bridge to Brisbane 2016 as a 10km jogger! Only due to the last-minute announcement of the remodelling of the road that's in the original location that I felt like renaming it 'Bridges in Brisbane' instead due to the new location. Then there's the regrettable fact that I've inadvertently crashed my car... for the second time since 2010! GODDAMMIT! Only this came in the form of mistiming a roundabout entry and hitting the ute from behind! Thankfully, the driver was nice, we weren't harmed, and we swapped details - though the car's in the repair shop. One of these days I need a stronger car. :(

Good news: besides gaining some new pet chickens, trying my hand at growing potatoes, and seen some entertaining movies, including Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, The Boy and the Beast, Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Ice Age: Collision Course and Kubo and the Two Strings! Okay, not all of the latter due to the fact that it was interrupted when a fire broke out in one of the Myer department store levels, which marked the second time my movie was disrupted since The Dark Knight! Hopefully, no one was hurt! To ease my boredom, I headed to the site where Thor Ragnarok was being filmed, and man - what a crowd who wanted to see Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston themselves! Also, when next month comes, I'll be attending my sister's wedding in Tasmania! Of course we have the suit shopping and much to prepare for the trip!

Well, I better get to bed. Though I have yet to complete my 10th Anniversary special (should have been June 6th), there's a special tribute that I'm going to post tomorrow! :D
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