Around Bundoora West Campus

This afternoon, I finally made my way to the west campus. The hub have e-mailed me twice since two weeks ago asking me to pick up my new insurance card. I actually go to the west campus each time I drop off Zade at the chilc care, I was just too lazy to stop by the hub. Anyways, since it was a really lovely day today, I took Zade along so that we could enjoy a nice walk around the campus.


In the car before we left


Walking to the hub


Having a banana at the student's cafeteria


Having a nice time in the sun


Zade

Zade and Elmo

Zade just loves Elmo. It started with a book that Aidan left behind in Malaysia. Then it was Elmo's dvd which he asks me to put on everyday. Now he has an Elmo soft toy which he saw at Target and insisted that I get it for him. He is very attached to it. He cleans it, feeds it and sleep with it. As you can see, Zade also watches Elmo on dvd with Elmo.

Banana Cake

Zade and I eat bananas regularly. Sometimes I buy way too much and we don't eat them fast enough. This week I'm stuck with 3 ripe bananas. I'm not a big fan of banana cake so I've never tried to make one before. But I wasn't about to throw away the bananas since they are quite expensive. I went online in search of a a simple banana cake recipe. I found one with good reviews at bestrecipes.com.au. I gave it a try and added some walnuts and sultanas. It turned out lovely. Rich and moist. Banana cake is not too bad after all.

Ingredients
½ cup butter
2 eggs
3 small bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50 mL milk
½ cup caster sugar
1½ cups self-raising flour

Method
1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla.
2. Add eggs separately, beating well.
3. Mash bananas and add to mixture.
4. Dissolve soda in milk and add flour and milk alternately.
5. Bake in 2 greased tins or 1 large tin 180°C for 35 minutes or until cooked.

Max Brenner

Since I was in the city for the AIAC13, I took the opportunity to catch up with a good friend of mine who recently transferred from RMIT to Monash. Ever since she told me about Maxx Brenner, I've been dying to try it out. So we decided to meet at Melb Central as there's an outlet.





It looks like a typical cafe, but instead of serving coffee, they serve chocolate. From chocolate blocks, truffles, beverages and desserts. My head was spinning just looking at the menu. Everything looked so good, I just didn't know which to order. I was actually quite full after the big lunch at the conference, so I decided on something small. On my friend's recommendation I settled on the Milky Max Cookies which was served in an old-fashioned milk bottle while she ordered the Chocolate Cinnamon Babka.

It is as good as it looked. Too bad I couldn't really enjoy it as I was still full. Anyway I definitely will go again to try more of their offereings. I bought a box of the dark chocolate eggs for Zade. He just loves them - and I do too. Yummy.






Later I stopped by Es Teller to get some dinner since I was too exhausted to cook. The nasi uduk tasted ok, nothing to shout about. What happened next was not too good. Zade vomitted when he's sleeping that nite and again the next day. He was also purging for a couple of days. I started vomitting the next day and continued for the next four days. It was just awful. This is my worst experience with food poisoning. However, to my surprise, Zade recovered much faster than I did. Anyway, I'm definitely staying away from Es Teller.

AIAC13 and the Avalon Airshow

The AIAC13 was held at the Melbourne Convention Centre on the 10th and 11th of MArch 2009. I presented a poster for the UAV Conference. I would say it was a mid size conference as I've participated in a bigger one in Malaysia. What I found interesting was that researchers from DSTO presented their findings in this conference. It is highly unlikely for a similar organisation in Malaysia to allow any research findings to leak out.



I was supposed to attend the Avalon Airshow as the entrance ticket was included in the conference registration. The conference organiser provided shuttle to the airshow but the last one leaves at 9 am from the MCC. Since I couldn't get there in time, I decided to take the Vline to Lara. I bought a roundtrip ticket but due to an unfortunate incident, I wasn't able to go. Stephen did go and took some nice pics for me.






All photos from the Airshow are from Stephen. Thanks.

Story Time at Mill Park Library

Mill Park library is about 10 minutes drive from Unimews and about 2 minutes from my camous. The building is just off Plenty Road, and it's pretty hard to miss as it has a fantastic architecture - not what you would expect of a community library. It's quite huge considering it's only meant to serve the local community but I could find more titles at the RMIT library. The one special thing about this library is that it stocks a lot of good books for children and it has a wonderful children's program. Every Friday morning (except during school holidays) the Mill Park library runs story time for babies and kids under 4 years old.

Zade and I have enjoyed going there where there's a lady who sings, dances and reads stories to the children. Each session starts with the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song and continues with other songs and nursery rhymes. Children and parents are encouraged to sing and dance along. Then a few stories will be read with much fanfare. Then more singing and dancing, with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" ending the session.

After story time, Zade usually will go and get a few books to take home with him. Before leaving we usually have a little picnic on the bench outside the library. This is really important, or else Zade will not settle down for the car ride back home. This has been our Friday mornings routine which I really look forward to each week.

Bread Talk II : Sultana Bread

In my second attempt at making bread, I decided to make something sweet. After cheking the pantry for ingredients, I went online to look for a recipe which I could make. I came across a sultana bread recipe which seems easy enough. Since I had all the ingredients, I went ahead and tried the recipe. It turned out quite well.


The dough was balled up and arranged in the baking tray


Hot out of the oven

Testing My Patience

Last weekend Zade taught me a valuable lesson about myself. He tested my patience and I failed. He is now able to get into the fridge and he raided every time I turned my back. Once I caught him eating spring onion from the fridge which he said was "dap, dap" - which is good. And he has discovered that throwing stuff in the toilet bowl is a fun new game. I went crazy and was frustrated. I was yelling and tried to give him time out. But then I realized that he probably didn't understand that what he was doing was wrong. I decided that I needed to take action fast. So yesterday I found child-proof locks for the fridge and toilet bowl. I've put on locks for the cabinets a few months ago, but didn't think to use it for the fridge and toilet! He tried to open them but he gave up after a few failed attempt. Ha ha now the score is even. I'm a happy mummy once more :).


Lock for the cabinet

Lock for the toilet


Lock for the fridge

Bread Talk

Zade and I usually eat two loaves of bread a week, and this doesn't include sweet bread. Each loaf is about AUD4, which means I spend AUD8 for bread a week or AUD36 a month. It could easily be more if I buy sweet breads. There are cheaper breads but they are just not worth buying. Anyway, I've been reading that breads that are sold at the supermarket are not really bread and they are unhealthy as it is full of additives. I've read on a few blogs on how easy it is to actually make your own bread, and not to mention cheaper and healthier. So, I've finally summoned up the courage give it a try.

I found a simple recipe which had only a few ingredients and seem easy enough to make. The ingredients:
1 1/4 cup water/milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt
i teaspoon dry yeast
2 tablespoon butter
4 cups flour

The preparation took about 2 and a half hours which include rising time and another half an hour for baking. But the result is really amazing. The taste of the bread while it's still warm is just scrumptious. Definitely worth the effort. And not only does it taste better than the store bought bread, it cost only a fraction of the price. Yummy!


Dough left to rise in the mixing bowl


Dough left to rise in the baking tin


Ready to bake


A beautiful loaf of bread