This is my home made chicken stir fry.

I ALWAYS use breast (skinned) chicken. I'm not a fan of capsicums but I always add it into my dishes because they're very good for you.

Capsicums have:

• proteins
• fats
• vitamin A and C
• and a whole bunch of other things that I don't know what they are... I googled it and came up with "carotenoids" and "scopoletin"- I dont know what that means.. so yes

And some of the benefits of eating them are:

• good for eyesight (I'm blind as bat so anything helps), and smooth skin!!!
• encourages healing and helps the body to ward off infections
• speeds up metabolism and helps burn more calories (man i should be eating these by the truckloads)
• stimulates stomach secretions and improves digestion
• there's a lot more- feel free to google

So anyway- in my stir-fry besides capsicums I've also added: green beans(a handful), shitake mushrooms(a small handful), celery(3 strands) and red onion(1)

I marinate the chicken(300gm) prior to cooking with Hoi sin sauce because I hate eating unmarinated meat unless it's a piece of steak. And the Hoi Sin sauce gives it a sweet tang. Usually 20minutes is fine (it's the first thing I do before I start anything else) and leave in the fridge whilst I prepare everything else.

Then I chop up all the vegetables in small little pieces because I hate chewing on big strands of beans or celery.

I use as little olive oil as possible. It makes it easier when you own some very good non stick pans. And wait for the oil to heat up, add some of the onion and when they start making the kitchen smell nice, I add the chicken in first. I usually add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce for more flavour (I'm still experimenting) and cook the chicken through.

When the chicken's cooked through, I then add the vegetables that have been nicely chopped up and then add three tablespoons of oyster sauce (I love this stuff) and stir.

Roughly about 5-7minutes, everythings done. I usually pull out a bean to see if it's cooked (yet still crunchy) to see what it taste like. Sometimes I add a little bit of water just to dilute it a bit because I'm finding my dishes to be a tad salty...

This usually feeds myself and my sister (and enough leftovers) for lunch the next day.

I always have it with rice.

 

I think minus the rice part- according to the Michelle Bridges book it's about the 300 or so calorie mark.

I like it because it's simple, tasty and EASY!

I've even made this with tofu (except I don't marinate the tofu)

and feel free to add as many vegetables as you like...

 

*yum*

 

When i went to visit my mum in hospital one day, i thought I'd jump on their scales to work out exactly how heavy I'd become.

I nearly died when it said "86.7kgs".

I don't know how all this weight keeps creeping up on me but it does. I can tell you, at that moment- I almost felt like hyperventilating. Stressed with the recent weight gain (seriously this time last year I was 78kgs)... I thought it was TIME that I did something about the weight gain and do something healthy about it.

Obviously as many of you know, I ended up signing up to the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation. The program doesn't actually start until the 13th of May and when I signed up it was only in the "preseason" stage.

One of the challenges was to drink more water which I've blogged plenty about. Obviously I'm not an avid water drinker, give me a bottle of coke anyday. In the beginning to drink 3L of water from 8.30am -5pm was the hardest task possible. Initially I started drinking a cup every half an hour but I'd forget because i wasn't setting an alarm at all and wasn't achieving what i wanted to achieve so I was extremely disappointed. I was so preoccupied on trying to drink so much water that I forgot about coke altogether. For those who don't know- I have a terrible - actually awful coca-cola addiction. I usually have a can with my breakfast and another bottle for lunch.

Then I remember in the first week, I did attempt to drink a bottle of coke, not only didn't I finish it, I felt extremely guilty. By lunchtime, I had already drank 1.5L of water and was so water bloated that the thought of drinking a further 600ml of coke just made me feel sick.

Then I went out and brought 2 Michelle Bridges Cookbook- I know how to eat, I know what taste good BUT we all know I don't know how to cook, I know how to pay OTHERS to cook for me. It was a new experience to go to the supermarket on a weekly basis buying fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. I've also learnt to menu plan myself and work out my meals for the week (or a rough guide). It's safe to say- I'm very good at making stir frys because they're the easiest- everything else... well not so much.

Now I have healthy breakfast, lunches and dinners...and trying to stick to the 1200 calorie mantra. Some might think it's terribly hard to do this. I thought so too in the beginning because I eat a LOT however ever since I started drinking 3L of water, I noticed that my portions gradually became smaller. For example, I had a large (rice bowl equivalent) of muesli with my yoghurt and a banana in the morning, I filled the bowl to the top.. and 3 weeks on, I only eat half of the muesli I used to pour for myself. If the water consumption wasn't part of it, I can assure you I'd be snacking on stuff I know I shouldn't be eating.

In saying that, it doesn't mean I haven't fallen off the bandwagon... I have a few times (here and there), but it's what I've done afterwards matters. I feel guilty as hell, but I just continue to eat healthy for the next meal and keep going with it (until I fall off again) but don't stop. I know too many people who do 1 bad thing and then just give up. I don't give up. I keep going.

So when I jumped on the scales to check out my weight

 

You should have seen how surprised I was... and I'm continually being surprised on a daily basis.

Today I now weigh 81.5kgs.

 

Yes, I do wish that i was at my old weight of 58kgs. But I don't hate myself because I'm not. I'm glad that the weight is slowly dropping. And no, I'm not unrealistic, by no means am I trying to achieve a 30+kg drop. If I get to 75kgs by the end of the 12wbt challenge. I'd be extremely happy.

I think setting realistic goals and keeping at it is the only way that will encourage me to keep eating and drinking well..

 

 

It's a very exciting thing to know that weight is dropping off, I'm hydrating my body like I should and I'm eating better. I can honestly say- I feel 100% better too. I sleep better, I don't feel as tired.

 

 

 

So the last couple of days I've been leaving the house about 15minutes later than usual. It seems the rest of Melbourne must do the same, not only does it take me longer to get into the office but I'm sitting in traffic longer.

For example, today, it took me 1hr and 15mins to arrive to the office.

 

It's not so much the "waiting in traffic" that bothers me, it's the fact that I have to deal with idiot drivers for the duration of the drive...

 

I found this on the interweb- and i find this to be somewhat true

 

The stuff that comes outta my mouth is really outta control. Sometimes I'm shaking my fist, most times I'm abusing the horn and swearing all kinds of profanities at other drivers.

 

Driving is stressful. Next month- I'd be catching public transport... now that's going to be an interesting experience- great blog fodder

Drinking water has been a Godsend. I don't know why i didn't do this earlier.

I drink approximately about 3L a day. Apparently you're supposed to drink 30mls for every kg that you weigh.

In the beginning, I can tell you it was HARD- almost a month on and it's pretty easy.

I do all the water drinking during working hours. I aim for 1.5L(that's how big my bottle of water is) by lunchtime- usually thats around 12pm. So it's about 3.5hrs trying to drink a lot of water

Then the rest by 5pm.

Obviously my toilet trips are frequent but it also means I'm taking the scheduled breaks that you're supposed to take whilst sitting at a pc. The added bonus is the exercise I'm getting just by going to the toilet. Peeing is one way for the fat to be excreted from your body- so the more you go, the more your flushing it out of your body. What a win/win situation.

I've also noticed that my food portions are naturally smaller, my stomach is always full of water that I've got no space to fit in the normal amount of food I'd normally eat. I know some people are conscious are "reducing" the size and when you're doing it but not changing anything else in your "diet" you end up being hungry and then over eating anyway.

 

So far- I've lost almost 5kgs...

 

if you're not drinking the amount of water- you should try it.

I know there's still a year and 3 days left to our wedding... but it annoys me when my FMIL(future mother in law) asks me why she needs to write down her guests lists of people she would like to invite (including family and friends) considering it's such a LONG time away. Bless her, even though she's a LOVELY women... and all. but WTF?

 

I know that it doesn't take days or hours to write down an entire guest lists. My mum did our entire family and friends (140+ people) within 30 minutes. It's not the hardest thing to do- it's not rocket science.

I asked this gently in November 2012.. we are now heading towards the end of April and do I have the list? No!

 

Yes, there's at least a year to go but we still need to work out:

how many bonbenierres(however you spell the stupid things) we need to buy

how many invitations we need to make (we're actually making this ourselves, so the more time we have, the better it is)

and eventually table seating.

 

I'm not one to do things last minute (unless it happens to be a school assignment/work assignment... HAH!) but organizing a wedding is TOUGH work, considering there's approximately 200+ people attending.

We've been lucky that I've been so organized especially considering as we all know, my mum's been so sick that if I had to do half the things I had to do back then, and do it now- i just wouldn't be in the mood.

And I know we just can't afford to wait later in the year to organize our "guests lists" because who the heck knows what's going to be around the corner, will there be enough spare time to organize that?

I've given Mr_54632 a stern warning. Get the list by a set date or prepare to deal with bridezilla. My patience is wearing thin.

 

 

 

Sometimes I can be the most unreasonable person... okay maybe not sometimes.. a lot of the times.

It doesn't help that I'm also short tempered and stubborn. What a great combination.

I'm not sure how Mr_54632 is able to put up with my constant broody mood, sometimes I'm just angry, for no reason at all.

 

Mr_54632 doesn't really believe when I tell him that I've mellowed out over the years, I'm less unreasonable, less short tempered and less stubborn as to what I used to be.

He thinks I'm pretty crazy already...

 

but even he concedes.. that it takes another crazy to want to marry a crazy

 

what a reflection that is

Friday night- we decided to get dinner in the city (this was 8.30pm). For some people this can be a tad late, for others this is THE perfect time to eat. In Melbourne- it's a busy time.

Mamsita had a line coming up their staircase and onto the sidewalk- so we gave that a miss. Supper Inn was no better and even Ling Nam had a 15minute wait. We weren't going to bother with Chin Chin/Movida/Meatballs.

As we walked down Russell street- we decided to go to Edoya(138 Russell Street, Melbourne)- Mr_54632 and I both like Japanese. Lucky for us, it wasn't as packed.

We started off with some endamame beans (which I think are on the house- sorry I didn't pay the bills). They were so so, not the best but not bad. Then we got an "entree" serving of sashimi(assorted fish) - unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the food because... yes, i forgot. I can report that the fish were fresh. No complaints from us

Apologies for the blurring photo of the tempura (these were taken from my phone).

The gyoza came out last(i don't know why considering it was from the entree section) and frankly they shouldn't have even bothered. These were the worst gyozas I have ever eaten in my life so far. They were EXTREMELY dry inside and completely tasteless (i.e sitting in the freezer for donkey years). I ate two and left the rest for Mr_54632. He didn't enjoy them either but didn't want to waste food. I have had better GYOZA from so many different places, if Edoya was my first experience, one would assume that all Japanese dumplings are rubbish. It's not- just the ones from Edoya

The chicken was meant to be deep fried needed a little bit more batter, the chicken itself was nice and juicy. Unfortunately they forgot the mayonaise and had to be reminded about it.

The tempura was pretty good, it was battered lightly, it wasn't soggy (like some places) and wasn't hard or to dry. I think they were the highlight of the meal for us.

 

In general, I can see why on a busy Friday night where all the OTHER restaurants (even the ones with realllllly dated and tired layout) are still doing a booming trade

and why Edoya isn't as busy as everybody else in the vicinity. The food is a complete hit and miss- some good, some bad and some just absolutely terrible (hello- Gyoza). The service is also so so. The waitresses are attentive enough to notice that you've finished your food and remove the plates when necessary but are completely hopeless when they're asked to get "another plate of Endamame beans". The waitress disappeared and didn't come back with a new plate as per our request.

I suspect when Edoya first opened, it probably was something special, not only is it looking tired but it offers nothing new and what it does offer isn't even up to par with it's nearest competitors.

Yet, it's still chugging along, I don't know for how long. But I know for us, it was our LAST and ONLY experience again

 

 

 

I think I'd probably be the LONE blogger out there in Melbourne who didn't enjoy my experience at Meatball & Wine Bar (135 Flinders Lane, Melbourne). This place is a few doors down from the famous and very busy Chin Chin... in saying that- this place is JUST as busy. The first time we tried to get a table (because they don't do bookings unless it's for a large group) we were pretty unsuccessful and I wasn't willing to wait. I'm not a big fan of standing around waiting for my food especially when I'm hungry. Watching OTHERS eat whilst hungry is the worst torture you could inflict on yourself.

 

Anyway, so Mr_54632 made sure that he grabbed a table straight after work - I fear he may have literally ran like a girl to do this... but alas, I was not there to witness it.We sat at the back, on a large shared table that actually sat 8 and seriously the place at 5.30pm was pretty busy as office workers were leaving their offices and all looking for food. And I know, 5.30pm is early for dinner but it's either get in quick or stand around waiting... just not worth it.

 

The menu itself- is obviously full of meatballs (with a name like Meatball &Wine Bar- what did you think? they were going to serve sushi?). Different styles of meatballs. Different sauces.

I don't know why, but I found the menu a tad overwhelming. Perhaps it's the layout- a lot of words where you need to absorb. I guess I wasn't the only one who felt this way- two different waitresses approached us and the first question they asked us was "have you eaten here before" when we said no, they proceeded to explain to us how the menus worked.

 

We had decided on the little burgers- "sliders" which were 3 for $16 bucks for our entrees. We choose the beef with "white creamy sauce" as I was going to have the red sauce and Mr_54632 opted for the pesto.

Unfortunately our sliders came out exactly the same time as our mains. The waitress realized the mistake and profusely apologised. I was somewhat annoyed. It meant that if the food was good, we wouldn't have enough time to enjoy our meal before it got cold.

I don't know if it was the creamy sauce or the bun itself- but I wasn't a fan. I also found it to be a bit of a ripoff. I think if they charged $8-$9- I'd probably be okay with it. They are afterall quite small.

Our mains comprised of 3 meatballs(choice of meat), a choice of sauce and something to sit on. Mine happened to be Beef with red Italian sauce sitting on SB Potato Smash.

Mr_54632 had the chicken with pesto sauce with greens.

Unfortunately for Mr_54632 he found his to be a TAD tooooooooooo oily, when I say a tad, i mean it was dripping in oil. So much so that it put him off.

Mine was okay.

 

I don't know why, but I expected a LOT more from this place. Afterall they specalized in meatballs, but their meatballs- in all honesty wasn't THAT spectacular. The servings were too small for the prices they were asking and the service was haphazard. I wanted their meatballs to be bigger or perhaps tastier. It was neither. I have been to OTHER Italian places where the meatballs are twice the size, half the price and a LOT tastier and lots more "yummier" to eat- I think perhaps I've been far too spoilt for choice over such a long time that I've become perhaps a food snob.. I dunno

 I was extremely surprised after having a conversation with a few friends that it was the "BEST" place to have food. Even on Urbanspoon- it has a rating of 87%. I'm still scratching my head as to how it got such a high rating. But it's okay NOT to like it and be the 13% of haters out there...

 

Maybe I'll give it another try...

but even Mr_54632 who's an easy eater walked out sorely disappointed. (he's also banned from choosing new restaurants)

 

 

 

It was tough morning today.

I had to announce to the office that I had resigned. I didn't think I'd get emotional but I did.

 

I know- I'm getting soft

You know, I actually wanted to blog about my job hunting experience whilst it happened. But I find that when I talk about it- somehow or other I end up jinxing myself and everything falls through.

 

I'm superstitious like that

 

In the end, I went to 2 job interviews, I had a 3rd one lined up today but after getting the letter of offer from my new employer I figured that it wasn't worth wasting someone else's time so I told them not to bother.

Job hunting is really tough. I really empathise with those who are looking for jobs, especially if they're unemployed because it's disheartening. I did mine whilst still employed so I wasn't so fazed by the rejection. Rejection does hurt (slightly for me) but it should make you more determined to keep trying.I just applied for a week straight to almost every single job in the roles that I thought I'd enjoy doing (with limited experience in the field). After a week or so, I started receiving the standard:

"Thank you for your application and interest in the position of XYZ

 After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that your background and experience does not quite match our client’s specific requirements.  We would however, like to thank you for your interest and giving us the opportunity to consider you for this position.

 With your approval, your information will be retained on file and if another appropriate position arises, we will contact you to determine your interest and availability.  Please be assured that under no circumstances would we submit your details to any of our clients without your prior consent."

 

I suspect that THIS is the template that all recruiters/HR have downloaded somewhere off Google because this template(or close enough) was sent to me quite a bit. I just ended up deleting them and not bother to read the email.

Having a great resume is a good start, but exceling in the interview is another thing altogether. Out of the 2 interviews I went to, one liked me (hence the offer) and the other actually ended up sending me a similar email as above. I preferred my first interview (with my new employer) ONLY because it was with the actual employer itself than a recruitment company.

I find recruitment companies although GREAT, can be a bother because they can ONLY ask generic questions but aren't necessary questions that relate to the role or the company itself especially if the role is complex or can get complex. So, there's a high chance that those who are skilled at answering basic questions get through and are presented as "terrific candidates" turn out to be duds. Then it's at the second interview where the employer gets to meet the potential employee (and sometimes it's the wrong person doing the interview as well) who may not be skilled at identifying duds and then end up employing them.

Sometimes your personality clashes with the recruiter or they may not like how you look/dress or whatever and you're cut out of the list whereas had it been the employer you had met, you may have hit it off- but you never know because the chance obviously would never be given. But recruitment companies are there because most people are timepoor or don't have a HR department to sort all of this out.

In the end, it worked out well because the OTHER job offer was going to be outside of the city and would have been a bit of a pain to travel to. There's nowhere to park and it's 2 different trains to catch.

Sometimes, things are just meant to be.