Power Of 5 Km

I don't know how much a gym membership costs here. But I heard from my colleague that her daughter signed up for $800+ a year. We were toying with the idea of joining a gym but hubs felt that it's too expensive. That's why I say working in a hospital is good. I knew we have a gym so I made enquires. It only costs $12 a fortnight which comes up to $312 a year. I can join their free circuit classes & I can join their yoga/pilates/zumba classes for $3 per class. I won't be able to go to any of their classes as they require prebooking & the last class is always at 5 pm. I won't know what time I'll finish work until the last case itself & bookings for classes close the day before.

But gym is good. It's open 24/7 so regardless of my finishing time, I can just head to the gym. I'll need to go for an inital appraisal with the trainer (free) to gain access to the gym. Subsequently, I'm entitled to a free yearly appraisal. The appraisal sessions are all fully booked till tomorrow when I attempted to book mine last week. Since I'm not working tomorrow, I just booked myself in even if it means driving down just for that.

I was feeling gungho yesterday so I went for a 5 km walk. Not jog, just walk. But I woke up this morning with aches. Shows just how unfit I am. I'm looking forward to the appraisal & see what the trainer will plan for me as an exercise plan.

Power Of 5K

It's always great to be working in a hospital. Especially more so in Oz. We're entitled to Smart Salary, which is a company doing salary packaging so you end up paying less tax. Sure, you pay $200+ a year for their services but you save thousands in tax. Great trade off if you ask me. It works by packaging either your living expenses (you get a "credit card" that you use to pay for your groceries or bills), mortgage or rent. Different hospitals have different yearly limits. This amount is $15900 where I work which equates to $611 per fortnight. The company take this amount off before your salary gets taxed. Say I earn $2611 this fortnight. Rather than get taxed for the entire sum, I'll get taxed based on $2k.

There's more. I can choose to take up an entertainment card which is a debit card that I can use to pay for my dine in meals (not applicable for take away). I set the amount that's to be deducted every pay day. At the moment, I've set it at $200. So using the same scenario, I now get taxed based on $1.8k.

There's always more. If I go on holidays, I can package the entire sum of my accomodations, regardless of the cost. So if I spent $1k on hotels, I can package the whole sum or choose to have it done over several pay periods. The campsites I book when I go camping? Yup, packagable too. But if you go on a holiday with a tour group, you'll have to ask your agency to separate out the cost of accomodation for you. If you go on a cruise, there's no way they can spilt it. So they just package the entire sum. My colleague went on a cruise for $13k. Can you imagine how many months where she doesn't have to pay a single cent of tax?

We also get novated car leasing. I'm not too sure how it works, just that they calculate the cost of the new car, how much fuel you use, insurance etc & take this sum pre-tax out of your salary. I've used their calculator before & say if I buy a new lower range car, like Jazz or Yaris, I'll be packaging $300+.

Can you see where I'm going? If I have novated car leasing, I'll be paying tax based on $1.4k of earnings per fortnight based on the initial scenario. I was paying close to $1k tax before Smart Salary. Now I'm paying about $600. In a year, I'm saving about $5k in tax. Not bad eh?

Aviation Diaster

It was a clear sunny day. The perfect weather for outdoor activities. We gathered on a grassy field, whipped out our camping chairs, cold beer in hand & sat catching up with a few friends.

A shadow rolled over us & I lifted my head for a look. It was a plane flying by. Something wasn't right. The plane was way too near, way too low. We watched, horrified as the plane rolled belly up to the left. It kept turning. And turning. The pilot seemed to gain a moment of control & righted the plane. Only to over compensate & rolled belly up to the right. They ran out of height. The plane crashed into the field just hundreds of meters from where we were sitting.

I did something I would be ashamed of. I took out my phone & took a picture of the flame engulfed plane. I finally came to my senses & dialed emergency services as we ran towards the wreckage.

The nightmare occured on Saturday morning, just before dawn. I'm fretful of such dreams for fear that they'll come true. I'll never forget my premonition of a dream many years ago, just 1 week before the tsunami hit. I knew it was very near my birthday. When I searched online, it stated that the tsunami hit on 26th Dec 2004. When news broke of the tsunami, I was shocked beyond words.

I had dreamt that I was standing on the beach with my ex (he wasn't my ex at that time). The shoreline suddenly receded with alarming speed. But all of us on the beach just stared. The huge 12 storey high wave came at us just as suddenly. Everybody was screaming. We tried but we knew there was no way we could outrun it. I was swept away & only managed to save myself by hanging onto the top of a coconut tree with my life. When I came to, I was in a straw hut. I remembered my panic. Was my then ex still alive? Were any of my family alive? The uncertainty, the emotions felt so real.

Till now, I've not had another nightmare of such a scale that came true. Who knows where these dreams come from? How do they come true? Coincidence?

Camping Trip Down South

It was long weekend last week & that means camping. So I've been away camping in Binningup, about 35 km north of Bunbury. When I returned to work on Tuesday, it was busy busy busy all the way till Friday. I knocked off earliest at 6 pm with 1 day at 7 pm. I'll be paying a lot of tax for this fortnight of work, clocking in 90 hours, my highest so far ever since I set foot on Ozzie land. What I'll be earning this fortnight is what I earned in a month in Sg, including overtime. It's good coz my car needs new rotors. Anyway.

Who else but Mr Ton?

We were much more relaxed (or bochup is more appropriate) this time round. We took our own sweet time getting ready, leaving at 5.30 am in the morning. The main difference between the previous trip & this 1 was that being spring, it was already bright by the time we set off. It also stayed bright for longer & we didn't once drive in the dark. We got to the camp site at 8.15 am, with 1 stop over at the 100 km mark in a Caltex petrol kiosk for meat pie, sausage roll & coffee. Setting up the tent also took much shorter than the previous time. Heh. We must be getting better at it.

The campsite is just 5 mins walk from the beach.

It is hard deciding which pictures to put up from the hundreds we took throughout the trip. But I can never go past Ton Ton. There was nothing quite like sitting there, doing absolutely nothing after the tent was up. I may not be born Ozzie but I sure love the lifestyle. The kids from the other families were all loving Ton Ton & I've received a lot of requests to pat him throughout the 3 days we were there. The adults couldn't believe that he's almost 10 when they asked me his age. It seems that everywhere I go, everybody calls him "puppy dog". I don't think it's becoz they've mistaken him for a puppy but rather, an endearing term for him.

We set off to Harvey Cheese in Harvey but skipped Harvey Beef, also in Harvey (lol). We got some cheese & crackers which later became our lunch. Next, we stopped at Harvey's town center to get some food for dinner. I waited outside the IGA since dogs are not allowed. Then came a woman who tied her big dog outside IGA. She told me, "Don't worry. My dog doesn't eat much." Ton Ton naturally went over to say hi. She obviously didn't like that & barked at him. My timid dog hid behind me with his short tail down. Haha. That is just so him.

So, we sat down to cheese & crackers when we got back to our camp site. I was feeling really sleepy so I went in & had a nap. It was too hot & too noisy to really sleep though. Before we started our dinner barbie, we walked down to the beach for the sunset. By the time we sat down for dinner, it was completely dark. There was not a single mozzie the entire day. But omg, once it started to cool down, we were swarmed. I had the repellent but by the time we realised we were mozzie dinner, it was already too late. Needless to say, we sprayed the repellent early on the next day. When we got back home on Monday, I counted 37 bites, with 32 concentrated from my ankles down (coz I was wearing 3/4 pants).

It wasn't as cold at night compared to the previous camping trip which kinda surprised me. It was absolutely freezing even though we headed up north & it was barely winter. This time round, it was barely spring & we headed down south but it wasn't even anywhere near cold. We went off to sleep at 7.30 pm (coz it was dark & we had nothing to do), waking up at 6 am in the morning.

Next stop, Bunbury. Our 1st stop was the Marlston Hill Lookout. Once you get up there, you get panoramic views. The wind was so strong & whipped my hair all over the place. That was when I realised I left my scrunchie in the tent. I also left my jumper in the car. While the cold was bearable, it certainly would have been more comfortable if I had both my jumper & scrunchie.

Bunbury Farmers Market. I didn't know what to expect. It was early so it wasn't hot yet so we left Ton Ton in the car with the window down. I fell in love immediately. They had beautiful produce & there were products I can never find in supermarkets here. Like coconut yoghurt, perfect for vegans. Like the strawberry & cream nougat which was like nothing I've tasted before. They also sold raw paleo products. I wish we have such products readily available to us in the metro area too. Oh well...

Hard to see but there's a house in between the trees. If I have a choice, this is where I'll love to live.

Next stop, Gnomesville. Coincidentally, both my colleague & Nix told me about this place on the same day. It was Monday, we were sitting around having tea when my colleague suggested I visit Gnomesville. Later that night, Nix said the same thing to me. The drive to Gnomesville yielded spectacular views. How I wish I didn't have to leave.

There isn't an address for Gnomesville. It is actually situated around a roundabout. The place is huge with so many gnomes that people have placed there over the years. The moment I got out of the car, I got this intense feeling. This place is very 阴. The energy I was getting was not malevolent. But I won't say it was benevolent either. (I've been to very old catholic churches & they give off a holy energy which I will describe as benevolent.) Definitely something there in Gnomesville. 

Cheeky little naked gnome.

He's fascinated with the cows just as they are with him.

An unusual brew so definitely must try. Lemon lime lager. 

On our drive back down, we went to this brewery on the side of the road. Hubs had beer battered fish & chips while I opted for just a wildberry parfait. He seems to have taken a fancy to black beers (not stouts) so he had a black ale while I had a lemon lime lager. I'm not so much of a beer person but the lemon lime lager was good. Then it was back to the campsite.

On our drive back to Perth, we stopped over in Mandurah & Rockingham. I was surprised that Mandurah is pretty bustling for a town so far away from Perth City. But it was the long weekend & people probably came down for a short getaway. That concludes our 2nd camping trip. 

Mandurah marina. Apartments overlooking the marina costs over 1 million.

Cape Peron, Rockingham.

1st Attempt At Beef Jerky

I love jerky. I especially love the super hard ones that takes forever to chew. Of course, they are super expensive as well. But with homemade ones, you know they're fresh without preservatives or artificial colourings & flavourings. They take many hours to prepare. Overnight marination, followed by precooking & finally dehydration. You need a very lean cut as oils from the fat will make it rancid really quickly. The recipe I got online called for 2 kg of beef which was the amount I used. Even though I knew they would shrink to merely a fraction of their original size, I still thought that 2 kg was a lot. As it turned out, not quite enough. My dehydrator came with 5 trays. 2 kg of meat was only sufficient to fill up 2.5 trays which was a waste of electricity. 5 trays requires 8 hours of dehydration. 2.5 trays also requires 8 hours. So next time, you'll bet I'll make 4 kg of jerky. 

2 kg of beef sliced & marinated overnight.

Lay them out on a cooling rack without overlapping.

Precook them in the oven. You can see that they've already shrunk in size.

Lay the precooked slices on the dehydrating tray, again without overlapping.

Final product after 8 hours of dehydration. 

Blueberry Scented Dog

After his surgery, I made him wear his sweater so it acted as a protective layer against his nails when he scratched himself. As any hair coated dog (coat that grows long rather than sheds), he got matted. But I couldn't brush him out due to his wounds. 

Inevitably, he got so terribly matted that shaving him down is the only way to go. Trying to work out tight knots close to the skin will be extremely painful to him.

As with every groom, regardless of whether he receives a schnauzer cut or shave down, he gets what he dreads. A shower. Several months back, Coles was clearing stock for an organic kids shampoo. They were going for $1 a bottle so I grabbed 2. I finally finished off his previous bottle & I used this new shampoo for the 1st time. Yup, I don't bother with dog shampoo.

I can only imagine that he must feel terribly out of place. Dogs love smelling like their environment. Supposedly goes back to the wolf days when having a scent that sticks out like a sore thumb is like carrying a target on your back. So everytime he comes out from a shower, after blowing him dry of course, the 1st thing he'll do is jump on the sofa & trash about.

He didn't do it today. In fact, he seemed resigned to the fate that he has to carry this blueberry scent around. He smells awfully sweet but I can't help but laugh at him becoz I know how much he dislikes it. He really has it bad this time. Not only is he smelling bad (to him), he also looks like a hairless rat from the shave (can't be helped). Aww... my dear Ton...

Before shaving, also being the 1st on our newly changed sheets.

After shave & shower, looking like a hairless rat & smelling of blueberries.

Celebration For Birthday Boy

As I grow (older), I come to the realisation that there's nothing you can buy as a present that truly means something. We're very fortunate to live a life that needs are seldom a worry. Then, any gifts you can buy with money simply becomes a mean to fill a want. Even then, it's not necessarily beneficial. (Imagine game consoles to kids who spend hours a day on it & you can't tear them away from it.) So rather than buying hubs a present, I chose to buy him an experience that I've no doubt will become a fond memory for years to come.

The only photo we have of the escape the room game.

We were trapped in a science lab, the canister containing the virus in my hand. I could see where the antidote was but I need the code to unlock the cabinet. It was dark. The moment I took the virus off its holder, we were plunged into darkness, similar to that of an old fashioned photography darkroom. I managed to find a single torch. We had only 1 hour to escape. We finally did with 10 mins to spare. But alas! We went straight into another room & we had to solve even more puzzles to unlock the final door to our freedom. I panicked as I watched the timer count down. I knew we were out of time. 

We didn't make our escape. The staff came & ran through what else we needed to do to solve the puzzles. We were allowed 2 hints but the staff came in more than that to push us in the right direction. They later told us that we got the hints immediately which was rare. Just that a successful escape usually requires at least 4 players. Too many & everybody just gets in everybody's way. It was truly something different. 

We went home to get ready for dinner. I had booked a table at the restaurant in Mandoon Estate. It was for 6 pm but I wanted to leave by 4 pm so we could take in the sights. By the time we got home, it was already almost 2 pm. So I slowly started to get ready; have a shower, get dressed, get the make up going. We got there around 5ish. We didn't really get to wander around as it started to pour shortly after we got there. The only place open for business was their beer bar. So, why not? Hubs ordered the Black Swan, their award winning black beer (not stout). In hindsight, I should have chose something else but I went with the safe choice, apple cider. I knew the degustation would be small portioned so I suggested a snack. He wanted a pizza so I ordered a lamb, feta & mint pizza which was absolutely divine. But also absolutely a mistake. I was so stuffed at the end of the night. Totally overestimated how much I can eat.

We finished up at 5.55 pm & walked the 10 paces to the restaurant. We were shown to our seats & I went, "Err... what cutlery are we supposed to use?" It was our 1st ever fine dining experience. The plate with knife on the left was a no brainer, definitely for bread & butter. Hubs was saying that it should be from outside to inside but he wasn't sure. We were thrown off by a teaspoon on the right most outer corner. I said the teaspoon should be for dessert so it should be from inside to outside. He countered that the biggest knife & fork were on the inner most & they were for the mains. Also, dessert cutlery are usually given out later. In the end, I said, "Let's just look up the internet." Yup, outside to inside. But it didn't solve the mystery of the extra teaspoon. 

After bread & butter, we were given a small shot glass of beetroot veloute which wasn't on the menu. I drank it straight from the glass. When the waiter came, he cleared the teaspoon & it was then it occurred to us that the teaspoon was for this. Ooops. It was all good. Food was smashing. While I understood the concept of contrasting textures as valued by the judges in Masterchef, this was the 1st time I experienced it 1st hand. Like on top of the veloute, there was a small piece of crispy sweet potato. Like in the desserts, there was creamy, crunchy bits, soft bits etc. I heard "perfectly balanced" a thousand times in the show. But what is perfectly balanced? No such thing in hawker dishes that we're so familiar with. No such thing with the franchise casual restaurants we've been to (think Jack's Place, Swenson). I knew it meant incorporating a contrasting flavour into the dish & yet have it complement each other. But I've never tasted it. I finally did.

I'm citing the veloute again. (Becoz it's the easiest to describe.) It was sweet but not overpowering so. Then there was a hint of saltiness to it. The bang came from the horse radish cream, gently swirled on top of the veloute. It brought the beetroot veloute to a whole new level. We were unanimous in our opinion that the venison with brussel sprouts was the best dish from the savoury menu. Savoury done. All the cutlery gone. Here came dessert cutlery. Again, there was an extra teaspoon. When the mango sorbet (which wasn't on the menu) came, we knew immediately the teaspoon was to be used for this. Lol. It was then I came to realise that the veloute & the mango sorbet were not on the menu becoz they were palate cleansers. They were not strictly speaking, a dish. We had different opinion on the 2 desserts. I preferred the rose granita with honeycomb & lavender jelly while hubs preferred the sparkling sorbet with strawberries & white chocolate. But, oh wow! 

As I grew as a cook, I found myself drawing away from franchise restaurants. Hog's Breath was 1 of the last we had a meal at. I remembered thinking to myself that, "I can cook better than this. Why am I paying 60, 70 dollars for this?" I think this will profoundly change my restaurant choices in the future. Of course, I still miss economic beehoon/noodles/kuey tiao that is so readily available in kopithiams. But when it comes to restaurant dining, there's no turning back. 

$240 bill (after Entertainment Book discount) concludes our evening. By then, the apple cider that had gone straight to my head had dissipated & I drove us home. Beautiful. You can bet we'll be trying out other restaurants for all future special occasions.

Mandoon Estate Beer Bar. 

1st half of the menu.

2nd half of the menu.