So hot today!

The heat is terrible! It reached 42 degrees - a new record for Victoria! When the wind blows it is even worse! It's like having hot air blowing out of an oven into your face. It sort of scorches you. We didn't go out earlier today because it was too hot. Worse still, we had a building evacution just now. Had to climb down 19 floors because the evacuation signal went off. Everyone had to wait downstairs while the firemen went into the building. Standing there with the hot wind blowing was slightly torturous.


Firemen going into building 


Everyone hanging around downstairs in the scorching wind 

Anyway, we are now in my office waiting to see the fireworks. There is quite a good view from here so hopefully we will get some good pics :)

Update (9.30pm): We just saw one round of fireworks! :D So nice!

Yummy Yummy

Saw this cute bunny treat today and I couldn't help getting it for Bobbi even though I know treats are bad :S

This is the bunny equivalent of a waffle basket sundae with toppings. It is a waffle basket with alfafa hay, dried pineapple, banana & papaya pieces and a honey cake of seeds and grains. She was so excited after she tasted a little but it will have to be rationed...the greedy fella :D


Bunny treat! 


Yummy! 

Woo hoo!

The weather is starting to get blazing hot here. There are fire bans on all the time and bush fires appearing in the news everyday. Just going out on the balcony to hang the laundry could give you a tan somewhat (but the clothes dry in no time - it's like being baked). It's beaten Singapore at being hot now even. Apparently it could reach 42 degrees tomorrow!


Weather in Melbourne 


Weather in Singapore 

Cherry picking

We went to Red Hill to pick cherries yesterday since they are now in season :) It was fun seeing all the cherries in the trees and plucking them by the handfuls. The only downside to visiting farms at this time of the year was the flies that are all over the place (according to news reports, there are an estimated 650 billion flies in Victoria at this time!!). The first farm that we went to had too many flies around and didn't really put us in the mood for going out to the trees. When we found the second farm, amazingly, we weren't too plagued by flies. We even picked an entire bucket (5kg!) of cherries! Our entire fridge is stocked with cherries. Luckily I have found that we can freeze them and they will be able to keep for a year even. So now we will have cherries to last us until the next season :D


Cherries in the tree 


Cherries in our bucket! 


The Hooded Cherry Picker 

Sale day!

Sale day! 

Woke up bright and early today because we were all eager to get to the shops for the Boxing Day sales. The shops (i.e.: Myer & David Jones) were going to open at 7am. It turned out that Myer actually opened at 6.30am to "snatch" the crowds from David Jones since Elle MacPherson was going to grace the opening of the sale there. We of course weren't so mad that we were going to queue outside the store before it opened, unlike the hundreds who did that (6am in the morning??!). We only got out at 8.50am, just like we were going to work ;)

Saw lots of people everywhere rushing around with Myer bags (much more than DJ actually). By late morning, all the shops were opened and every one had SALE on their windows. Quite a lot of frantic buying all over. We were quite controlled by comparison though :) No clothes for me even. I did get a Jurlique gift set at 40% off & a fruit cake because I sort of missed having that for X'mas.


A Jurlique gift set & a fruit cake :) 

A Christmas present

My 2 Unazukin - Cherry Blossom & Fei 

I first came across these cute nodding dolls called Unazukin through ohsewpretty's blog as she makes really cute knitted dolls inspired by these toys.

I had to have one of these toys and when I found them in Bangkok, I was so excited and I got 2 - one for my sis and one for me :) I knew she would want one too. It was going to be her Christmas present.

Just before I left Singapore, my sis gave me my Christmas present early and when I saw the shape of the box, I immediately knew what it was. I was so shocked that we could both come up with the same present for each other I couldn't hide the surprise. Well, it turns out that she found it in Singapore anyway and she was hoping I wouldn't find it there :P

I have waited until Christmas to see the actual design she got me and well, now Fei has companion - Cherry Blossom...hehehe! Don't great minds think alike?

All dressed up :P

Look at my "fur collar"! 

Recently it seems that Bobbi bunny has developed her own furry collar that she "wears" while blobbing. Doesn't it look really cute?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas crib at St Patrick's Cathedral 

Went to church this morning and noted that there are a lot more people attending mass on Christmas Day as opposed to normal Sundays. I guess at least people do remember the real reason for Christmas :)

Hail!

Woke up with a shock in the middle of last night to this loud clattering on the windows. I looked out and saw that it was raining. Were the drops so large that they were clattering? Then I realised Hail! hail! (hehehe! I couldn't help that).

It's the first time I am actually seeing hail. Hence the excitement...I know that it can be rather dangerous. They only fell for about less than one minute and then it became normal rain. In five minutes, there wasn't even rain anymore. Even though it was 4.30am, I got out of bed and went out to the balcony to see if I could get any pictures.

The hail stones looked like little balls of ice - something like Mini Melt ice-cream. A few of my little plantlets got a bit knocked about I think so I took them into the house for safety. :)

Just for info, read here for how hail is formed.


Hail on the floor & flower pot 


Closer up 

Looking for last minute shoppers

King of Spades 

We went out for a walk around the city to see if there were any crowds doing last minute shopping but there really wasn't that many people around. Maybe they are all in the suburb malls (some of which are not even closing tonight). Instead, we found the King of Spades growling at shoppers...hmmm....maybe that is why.

3 days to Christmas!

3 days to Christmas! 

As you can see, the Christmas corner is starting to grow slightly compared to a few days ago :) I got presents & cards posted from Singapore from my Godma, mum and sis. In addition, I helped the present pile grow bigger by getting presents for myself...heheheh!

Maximum length of day

Today seems to be the day that daylight stops getting longer and starts getting shorter. The sun fully sets at around 9pm these days and it keeps giving me the mistaken feeling that it is around 7-8pm when it is going to be 10! Well, such information probably doesn't seem useful to many people but well, I just like knowing anyway :P

White Christmas

That is the name of the tea that I just got. It is a black tea, flavoured with apricot and white chocolate and has silver sugar balls in it. When in hot water the sugar balls melt and there are silver flakes floating around. Quite pretty :)


White Christmas tea 

Erratic weather

Just saw the most sudden weather change I have seen here so far. When we went out for lunch, it was all hot and sunny. The temperature must have been in the high 20s. After lunch, I went to one of my favourite tea shops to find a new drink and when I came out (with a tin of tea in hand :)), the temperature had dropped by about 10 degrees (at least that seemed like how it felt) and it was starting to drizzle. Now I see all the dark grey clouds gathering in the sky, ready for a thunderstorm. :S But I am safely indoors with my new tea to sample...hehhehe!

Update (2.00pm): It is now clear and bright again! It's ridiculous!

Blobbing

Blobbin' 

I realised that I have a new word to describe a bunny chilling out - Blobbing (derived from blob, as in a soft, amorphous mass). Heheheh! Blobbin' Bobbi...


Big brown nose 

New plants coming up

Tiny plants 

Tried planting some sunflowers since summer is on the way and all my other plants sort of "disappeared" when we were away for a month :P

In one week, these little shoots have popped out of the soil already. Hopefully more are on the way...there are small bumps appearing in different spots :)

It's getting nearer to Christmas!

In order to help me feel more in the mood for Christmas, I thought that I would put out the presents that I got from Mammo and Mathilda together with the presents from Charli altogether in a little spot which is now known as the Christmas corner, since there is no formal tree for them to go under. Hoops and Yoyo are adding to the festivities...:)


Our X'mas corner 

To provide some Christmas atmosphere, the weather on Sunday was actually cold. It was back to around 12 degrees and people in the street were all decked out in winter-looking clothes. Well some people only...it all gets really confusing, this weather thing - it is supposed to get back to the 30s again in the middle of the week...

Fruity season

Loads of cherries! 


Cherries & mangoes 

With summer around the corner, lots of nice fruit are appearing in the market. There are lots and lots of cherries, apricots, peaches & mangoes. Can't wait to get to a berry farm to pick my own cherries...which is why I am not buying any from the market now.

One more thing I noticed with the warmer weather is the crazy number of flies around. Couldn't help noticing all these flies buzzing around in the air especially in the late afternoon when the sun seems to be the warmest. Don't know what is it that they are after but it is very irritating when they buzz in front of your face and around your ears. Everyone around seems to be fanning flies off their face at some point in time. :S Makes it difficult to want to go jogging or do anything outdoors when they are all over the place.