mini update

I have been meaning to post about the eventful weekend sometime ago... So here it is.

Submitted a pretty big paper of Competitive Advantage within the Australian fast food industry. Went home, suited up and added a bow-tie.

James Bond at The Apartment for Steph's Birthday
A call for all of Her Majesty's MI:6 agents was made to attend The Apartment to help Agent 003's coming of age.

What can I say? Almost unlimited booze, plentiful of finger food and some people really dressing up for the theme and the occasion.

Some key highlights:

• Getting some weird looks whilst walking into The Apartment, because I was sporting a bow-tie and they didn't.
• Shu & Emma's flash and dash run to the party.
• One drink ticket can get you a Long Island Ice Tea!
• Finally able to fish-hook WeyMin.
• Been had to up the ante when some dude gave Steph a single red rose.
• Ash, Z-Man and I being rejected by bunch of "pretty good looking" girls, as the hot one went away.
• This weird yellow thing that Ash & Brianna was obsessed with.
• Been's late appearance to his partners birthday celebrations...

Don't I look smashing?

Steph, Thank You for the night of festivities - enjoyed by all.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600206164721/

Heidi's Drinks
The "Mother Teresa" of friends celebrated her 21st. Well, it's more like 21 and a half year old celebrations.

A great evening of catching up with some old faces and seeing the regular faces that I see week-to-week. Always have a soft spot for Murmur for its good collection of imported beers - love my Belgian beers, in particular Duvel and Leffe.

Some key highlights:

• Brianna introducing the concept of crotch-shots.
• Fish-hooks
• It has been a little more than 10 months since catching up with Cassie and Susie.

Eyes Wide Shut

Heidi, Thank You for the warm chilled-out night filled with oodles of warmth and smiles.
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211624998/

Then WeyMin and I had to leave for this party...

Simon & Michelle's 25th Cocktail Birthday Bash
Simon & Michelle are the greatest party hosts - for any occasions. And this simply raised the bar.

To celebrate their quarter-life crises a Cocktail Birthday Party was in order. And you had to dress up - 80's Aerobics style.

A fantastic night with a massive hangover for it. It is all bit of a blur to be honest, but I haven't this much fun reliving the 80's - music, style, poses... Everything.

Lato & myself

Simon & Mishie - Thank You for a fantabulous night.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211342971/

See Laura's collection here:
http://www.ringo.com/share.html?id=eSodE7fhOee0&origin=photoinvite
And here:
www.ringo.com/share.html?id=OjIcm3_a2qa0
For Mishie's collection:
flickr.com/photos/MichelleHuiseen/sets/72157600216889708/
For Pei-San's collection:
http://flickr.com/photos/Pei-San
For WeyMin's collection:
http://weymin.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWljcm9zb2Z0LlNwYWNlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5GdWxsTW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaFolderID=cns!30B0892927B42D5A!1701&_c=PhotoAlbum

The Tan residence is bit of a nightmare - to escape it, Mishie, Luke, Bretto, Laura, WeyMin and myself headed out to Bebida for brunch. Yum, yum!

With brunch consumed and my hangover rapidly being defeated, I joined up with the Nguyen Clan for our Mother's Day picnic at Studley Park on the banks of the Yarra. A fun-filled Sunday afternoon of relaxing, great wine, good food, ball games and catching up.

Simone and her little brother Duy.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211380167/

Had to leave early to play Indoor Soccer. Played, lost. Went home, showered and changed. Headed out to farewell Fiona. Fiona has wrapped up her Aussie adventure, for now. A farewell dinner at Bali Bagus with some close friends and a good introduction to Indonesian cuisine.

Some key highlights:

• She got some really cool pressies.
• Tomi on guitar and Julie singing; serenading Fiona - it was a lovely gesture.
• The 45+mins wait for Fiona - arriving fashionably late to her own farewell!
• Catching up with everyone there.

We will certainly miss the ever-smiling Fiona.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600211386463/

Had an awesome catch up with my man Kirk, who has wrapped up his time in Australia. A very simple night of good pizza, great wine and awesome conversations between Kirk, Courts, Kenley and myself - talking about philosophy, politics, relationships, theories of evolution, family, parents, issues that we are facing, our dilemmas, everything - loved it.

Little shin-ding at Chau Manor for the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United. Dull game, great party at my place. Much fun had by all.

Mum & Dad's 27th Wedding Anniversary was on Thursday. Went to Tao's Restaurant. It is a seven-course east-meets-west degustation wannabe. Some great courses, some off beat ones, some tried-too-hard ones, some average-maybe-it-doesnt-belong. But, you really cannot complain because for under $50 per head, you get seven courses. Bring a camera if you ever come out to eat here, presentation is spot on. And if you are in Melbourne, 22 July, I'll be hosting a dinner there. Mushrooms was orgasmic. It is that good, that I creamed myself. Lamb cutlets, cooked to perfection. Those are the most memorable dishes. Starter - interesting. Soup, oh yea, soup - it is awesome. I ordered some Japanese inspired soup, no not miso, it was fantastic - the right blend of all the complex characteristics. Fried rice; a very different take. Ice-cream, presenation won me over. The same goes for my entree. It sounds as if I am giving it quite a harsh review, but it was a very pleasant evening as I had the wrong expectations as I drove into the driveway. Overall, a good experience with a few hit and misses.

Went to see Spider-Man 3 with Brianna on Friday night, thank you for the wonderful evening and the film - Spider-man, spider-man...

Last night celebrated Rita's Nameday at La Camera. Ash wrote an excellent update about it, so you can view it here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2450696344&ref=nf

I think that is pretty much it...

lammo :: changes and no changes...

(a quick sigh of relief, project started in November will be completed today, yay!)

Lammo's Belated Mofo 23rd - see the link at the bottom of this post for the blurb.

How a year can change you...
From this:

To this:

But some things doesnt change...
This year:

When we were all young (2004):

And...
This year:

When we were all young (2004):

And he can sleep anywhere...

Just to prove the point (this year):

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/HuyC/sets/72157600181234085/

a healthy record

I have no idea why there is the urge to post this. Maybe for my own personal sake? Quite possibly, taking into account of how vain I am...

My lips hasn't had a drop of alcohol since... Ah yes, the fine reds at Chris' engagement party. So, that is record number one for 2007. That's... 12 days. Not bad.

Record number two consists of playing three indoor soccer matches, all competitive, in the space of four days. My body is aching:

• Right heel is killing me, for every step I take.
• There is a massive bruise (and it is swollen, looks like I have an Adam's apple there) on my left shin.
• Upper right thigh is terribly sore.
• Lastly, my right bum cheek is complaining, probably due to a couple of tumbles in the game last night.

Record number one will be blown out of the water for Lammo's (last years birthday pic), belated, birthday drinks. Then the weekend of 11, 12 and 13 May - a very boozy weekend.

the art of doing nothing

There are quite a number of times when I just do nothing. For example, right now. I am sitting at my desk, in the office and actually do look pretty busy. Because 1) My fingers are pressing some keys and it appears on the screen - it makes me look busy. 2) Excel, Word and Outlook are opened with some files for the just-in-case-I-need-to-hit alt-tab. 3) My manager isn't looking at my screen. 4) Paper work is littered everywhere on my desk.

Ah yes, the art of looking (and feeling) busy.

I even do this at home. Say, I have a report or an assignment to work on. Pretty much, you can say that I am steadily studying with my text books, printed journal articles, Word is open, PDF files are open, etc. This makes me feel that I am studying.

But what am I actually doing?

• Sending random emails to the Boys and making comments about them.
• Sending random emails to the Boys, with pictures, and making comments about them.
• Sending random emails to the Boys, with links from YouTube and other video based sites, and making comments about them.
• Sending random emails to the Boys and making fun of Doogs and/or Been.
• Reading blogs, in particular nomadlife...
• Looking up photos from other people's blogs and photo albums.
• Reading The Age.
• Reading FoxSports.
• Reading The World Game.
• Reading my star sign...
• Googling random words.
• Checking out words in Urban Dictionary and sending them to the Boys.
• Thinking about what I can do better for the Zebra Tonsils (my Indoor Soccer team).
• Drinking lots of water.
• Munching on Rice Cakes, Salada biscuits with Coon cheese, fruits (mainly bananas)...
• Dreaming of a holiday (that reminds me, Tassie vs. North Queensland for June/July).
• Thinking about what I could be doing now.
• Thinking about the pile of work next to me.
• Thinking about how that pile of work will disappear.
• Smiling.
• Thinking about work and/or studies being done and how it will be done.
• Walking to reception and having a chat.
• Planning the next event, organising the next event, thinking about the next event.
• Looking at the clock and wishing it would go faster.
• Checking up, and trading on my shares and to see how they are going.
• Checking up on ASX
• Reading up on reviews for Breakfast/Brunch, Bars, Cafes and Restaurants
• Emailing friends and family abroad.
• My manager making me watch some funny video clips (just then he showed me a clip where a woman ate a spider for a Ferrari... (yuck!)
• Talking about investments (property, funds, shares, etc) with my manager.
• On the phone

In the end, I feel pretty busy.

Any other good tips for "the art of doing nothing"? And secondly, what do you do when "professionally" procrastinating? I'd like to learn some new things today!