A Wong (+others) Christmas

Hi ya'll, 

It has taken me ages to sift through the hundreds of photos taken on Christmas day to give you a recap of what happened on that rainy but eventful day in Sydney. This will be lengthy!

Started off visiting the bf's family and exchanging gifts.. I received so many lovely things! My most prized gift was the new lens that the bf got me! All the photos from Christmas has been taken with my new Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 macro lens. eek! Also to stop me giving up on golf, I received a bag of used callaway balls so I don't feel bad about losing them in water traps. From my family, I received a crumpler camera bag and a gorrilapod tripod. Photo of my feet was just coz...

Then went back home to pick up the meat for the dinner BBQ (twice), then exchanged gifts with my immediate family and also shar, wayne, gregan & simon participated. I don't think i've ever seen our Christmas tree this full...someone was v. original with their 'Happy Birthday' wrapping.

Marissa got stacks! shirt, dvd box set, clothes, dvd player, wine & crumpler laptop bag

Malinda & Lan not so much, an IOU voucher for a BBQ  and wine

 Mum & dad will be getting clothes....

Simon received clothes 

 

Shar received band hero and guitar hero 5 which we proceeded to play that night and also sneakers that i didn't get a good photo of...

Wayne received a wii fit, a bulldogs badge?, a toliet brush?, clothes and other stuff i don't remember.

Cousins started arriving so we fired up the bbq and started feating away ...feasting started at 4 and finished at around midnight...each family brought a dish and we also had meat and salads...so we had way too much food as per usual. Malinda made some yummy eaton's mess for dessert and mum also made mango pudding which was delish!

After finishing the first round of food we launched into Evil Kris Kringle. After 20 minutes of debate around what the rules were, we finalised that a present could be stolen up to 8 times. On the 8th time, the present is no longer allowed to be stolen. 

We all chose a card, and we somehow decided that we would use big 2 rules to determine what is the lowest and highest cards. of course i picked up a 3...

I went first and I picked up an ipod docking speaker thing, and this got stolen immediately by shar. Sylvia picked up some monkey door hangers and Gary picked up the hotly contested brita water filter jug and scratchie. Needless to say the ipod speaker and water jug were both stolen up to 8 times...

Malinda went next and she picked up a Women's Weekly cook book and lollies and Marissa got a Pink set filled with nice smelling candles and scent infuser ...i think. That was stolen by Wayne.

Then it was a good 10 minutes worth of stealing after this point, mostly around the ipod speaker and brita filter jug. Always Olivia who lost out...sorry oli. final winners - ali got the ipod speaker and marissa got the brita filter jug.

 

Gregan patiently waited for his turn and picked up a photo frame with Guy Sebastian and Lan plastered on it. Lan offered to autograph the photo but was turned down with that offer. It's funny that Olivia & Wayne are so interested in the opening of the present.

Lan was quite unlucky, he got his gift stolen 3 times. In the end he stole the air hockey table off me and I stole from Rachel. Gary ended up with pop out speakers for your laptop, Shar picked out a Fred Hollows donation.

Rachel ended up with body shop range of goodies aimed at travellers after I stole her scent infuser

After opening the presents, eating more we then hunkered down for some game playing: Buzz, Guitar Hero, Band Hero, Singstar, Magic Mic, Mahjong & Poker. I think it's safe to say that anyone who tried to play the drums for Guitar Hero or Band Hero struggled. except for Shar.

Suffice to say, people were occupied...

 

Unfortunately for Wayne, he was not 'Poker King' as his shirt said he was.

 

Although the funniest thing that night was the karoke session we all had to participate in. Each person had to pick something from the magic mic and entertain us all. My uncle being the most entertaining as he was serenading his wife. Although no one sounded as good as Sylvia when she sang. 

A very fun Christmas to end 2009, glad I could catch up with my cousins. Last photo is random, marissa insisted I take a picture of her grotesque toe and the toliet roll is just really random from crumpler.  

Hope everyone else had a relaxing and fun Christmas!

mw

 

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Lonesome Star, originally uploaded by mindy_w.

I didn't want to say 'it's beginning to look like Christmas' because that was evident from the end of November - if you noticed all the shopping centres started decorating quite early on.

This week i ventured out to the city during lunch time, and i can say that i felt chaotic. i felt the rush of all the busy little workers as they scrambled to get their Christmas gifts for 2009. I can't believe there is only 4.5 working days left. Have I finished my Christmas shopping? Absolutley not, however I have started - which is saying something.

I like to do things last minute, that's why I am grateful for 24 hour shopping on Christmas Eve. Anyways, the Christmas Carols were on the domain - i wonder if they were any good. At least the weather held up for it.

Anyways, an early Happy Christmas to you all, may you get granted your Christmas wish this year.

toodles
mw

Restaurant Atelier - 3 course dinner

Hi All,

Two of my girlfriends and I went to try out Restaurant Atelier last week because they have a v. good value mid week special - 3 courses for $59. I was so surprised at what great value, service and food we received during the night. The place was pretty packed with other restaurant go-ers and I can see why.

Here are some photos of what we had:

We started off some with some complimentary green olives - green olives are my favourite and we also ordered our wines. We all got different wines, so we didn't buy a bottle. One friend had a white wine, I had the light bodied red and my other friend had the fuller bodied red wine

Then we had our pre-entrees, i can't remember for what the life of me what were stuffed in these balls....all i remember that it was yummy-licous.

Then came our actual entrees, we got the Ginger & Wasabi Cured Hiramasa Kingfish, Dashi Jelly, Pomello, Citrus Sesame Dressing and the Seared Scallops w a ‘Pot-au-Feu’ Terrine, Chive Crisp & a Summer Truffle & Rosemary Dressing. The scallops were cooked to perfection and i really enjoed the truffle & rosemary dressing - v. indulgent!

Next we moved on to our main, the other ladies had the Prickly Ash-Cured Breast of Grimauld Duckling, Crisp Confit Leg, Baby Bok Choi, Shiso Tempura & a Ginger & Garlic Sauce whilst I had the special of the night which was venison wrapped with prosciutto with a few parcels of ravioli filled with goats cheese and fig. So delicious! I usually don't like venison and don't really like meat on top of meat, but this was not overpowering at all, and it worked really well with the goats cheese and fig.

 

After stuffed with the duck and venison, restaurant atelier offered something to cleanse our palatte. it was a basil ...cream? i forget the name but it was v. light and airy like whipped cream and i think we all didn't like the date on top...

 

Finally, we finished off with our desserts: Tahitian Vanilla & Chocolate Fudge Souffle ww Balsamic-Poached Strawberries, Vanilla Ice Cream. I of course had the chocolatey souffle, the way to eat it was to dig out a whole in the middle of the souffle and pour half of the milkshake in the souffle. it was tast Malt Chocolate Ice Cream & a Malt-Infused Milkshake and the Tonka Bean Creme Brulee

Here are some other pics I took during the night. From top left and then clockwise: Interesting wall art that they had, tiny little red blobs that made up a kiss with a few Sydney iconic features in there and also local business names and logos. The next photo is of the view from the restaurant, kinda feels like another era i think, i love thick napkins - its a sign of a fancy schmany restaurant, i love a good wine rack, i liked how they had the illusion of intimacy through their use of thin curtins

Last but not least, a sign of a well fed and good meal -  a messy table or just because i am a messy eater

 Thanks friends for sharing a lovely meal with you

Happy Yule Tide Eating!

mw

*****

the plug

22 Glebe Point Road Glebe NSW Australia 2037

p: +61 2 9566 2112

Mid Week Specials: Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursdays - Starter, Main and Dessert for $59

Steven & Karen's Wedding

Happy Monday Morning, 

I overslept today, this is what happens when you have naps in the afternoon - you are unable to sleep at night. But I have been able to make use of my time and go through some photos I have not yet post processed. Steven & Karen's wedding was actually last month, it was quite a warm day as I recall and it was an early church service at St John's Anglican church out at Gordon followed by a lunch time reception at Curzon Hall. 

Enjoy the pics, i'll be posting a restaurant review of restaurant artelier next...hopefully anyways. 


Nite
mw