Sally Cheong : Still Missed, Always Loved

EDIT: I wrote this post yesterday, scheduled to go live today, before the tragic discovery of Miss Meagher's body.  I almost decided not to go ahead with posting this, and I hope you don't think it is in bad taste because that it my very last intention, but I decided that the horrible discovery only highlights more than ever how absolutely serious these cases are.  

When I found out the news this morning, I bawled my eyes out. I cried for Jill, I cried for my dear friend, I cried for those tragically lost and found under terrible circumstances, I cried for those never to be seen again, I cried for the families of victims and the families who would never get to discover the fate of their loved ones, and I will admit I cried for my own pain over the years. Please don't think I'm trying to take away from the tragedy that has happened; but there are so many more cases like this one, and they all deserve a voice too and there are so many families seeking resolution.  

RIP Jill Meagher.  I didn't know you, but your story was very close to my heart, and I wished and hoped for your safety. I hope you're in a better place now, where no one can harm you ever again.

There has been a recent media frenzy lately about the disappearance of Jill Meagher.  It's been so terrible hearing all of the news.  All the attention, footage and investigations following the case will hopefully mean that they will be able to find more witnesses to help lead to her whereabouts, and she can be brought home safely soon.

I hope you don't think that I'm being opportunistic, but seeing this story played out through the news and social media has been a very personal reminder for me. 

In the early hours of the 2nd of April, 2008 my dear friend Sally Sze Wan Cheong went missing from her home in Oakleigh South and has not been seen or heard from since.  She was last seen in their family home around 3am by one of her sisters, and when she failed to turn up for work at the family business the next day, the alarm was raised. 

She left the house somewhere between those times with her wallet, phone, iPod, car keys and a blanket that she had had since she was a baby... however, that is where the clues end.  Her phone was switched off by noon, her credit cards and bank account remain untouched, and her car was still parked safely in its spot when I went to see the family shortly after her disappearance.

Sally was a gorgeous girl, with an infectious laugh, and the carest, kindest, most trusting nature.  Perhaps a little too trusting.  When we met in the first week of high school, she was a timid little soul but we connected and became firm friends.  She wasn't a fan of public speaking, but would chatter away to me with ease, so I would be her voice during class when we were required to speak out loud.  As time progressed, we added friends to our group and developed quite a social circle.  Before I knew it, Sally would be the one to approach newcomers to the school and invite them to join us during lunch breaks.  Over the years, she blossomed from that timid little girl I had first met into the most likeable social butterfly. 

Sally was everyone's friend.  You would be hard pressed to find a person who did not like her.  Actually, scrap that.  You just would not be able to; it was impossible.  She was known for her love of cameras, and she would follow you around the hallways just hoping to snap a candid shot.  We formed our own "family" at school, and she was my twin sister, and a better one I could not have asked for.  I know this whole spiel sounds like something people say in hindsight, to not speak ill of those gone, but every single word of this is the truth.  The only fault I can find with her is the fact that she was TOO good; too friendly and too caring, and since she was everyone's friend I had to share her time with a million others!

I suppose that's one of the things that could have been a downfall in the end and lead to her disappearance.  She had so many friends and was so caring and trusting, and would try to help anyone in need, no questions asked.  We can only assume she crossed paths with the wrong type of person, and would not have suspected a thing because she only ever saw the good in people. 

Her family and friends still live in the hope that she is out there somewhere, and will some day eventually return home to us safely.  So I guess this is the point of my post...

I'm asking if you could please keep your eyes and ears peeled.

This media attention for Jill Meagher means that every person in Melbourne is keeping a watchful eye, hoping to find clues to assist in the case.  Please be on the look out for one more person, and perhaps help find an answer to our questions?

I know that four years is a very long time to be gone, but we're still hopeful, and every extra pair of eyes that are looking out for her helps our chances.

The worst thing about when someone goes missing like this is the uncertainty.  Friends and family don't know whether to grieve, or remain positive and hopeful.  There is no closure on the matter.  We don't know whether she suffered, or whether she is still suffering.  We don't know if we'll ever see her again, and we don't know what more there is that we can do to try and find her. 

But what we do know is that we are hoping with ever fibre of our being that she is happy and safe, and that some day she will return home to us.  That day, should it ever eventuate, will be the most joyous of occasions. 

Sally, if you're out there, we still love you and miss you more than ever.  All we want is for you to be back with us where you belong.  You're never too far from my thoughts, and no matter how much time goes by I won't ever stop hoping I'll see your pretty face again.  My biggest wish for you is that you're happy, and most importantly that you're safe.  Please come home! xxxxxxxx

Father's Day Feasting!

My father is a man of few words.  He can be ever critical, and is as stubborn as they come.  If you don't agree with him, you just must be wrong, and there's nothing you can say or do about it to change his mind.  In summary, he is an absolute pain in the butt.  But I wouldn't have him any other way!

He is the most generous person.  He has always done whatever he can to help, and given me every opportunity in life.  There are so many occasions where he has made sacrifices without a second thought, to instead give me what I wanted/needed.  When I went to unversity, he make the decision to pay all my HECS fees up-front because he wanted to give me the best start in life, rather than coming out with a debt over my head. I owe everything I have in life, including my fabulous new home, to my parents (I know it's Father's Day, but as they say, behind every good man is a good woman!)

Another thing about my father is that he is a simple man.  He does not like fuss, he does not need extravagance, and he shies away from the fancy and over-the-top.  For this reason, our Father's Day celebration this year, as with every year before, were very simple.

Sunday morning I invited my parents to our house for a Father's Day fry-up! Scrambled eggs on lightly toasted sourdough rye, beef chipolatas, streaky bacon, fresh baby spinach, sauteed mushrooms (and I just this moment realised that my hash browns are still happily sitting untouched in my freezer!) washed down with Earl Grey tea.

It was such fantastic weather for the first official day of Spring, and after the meal my dad happily pottered around our back yard taking photos. 

Later that evening, my parents and both sets of grandparents came around to check out the new house (which we are absolutely rapt with, by the way!) and we set off to the local Vietnamese restaurant (walking distance!) for dinner. 

There are actually two Vietnamese restaurants right next door to each other, just around the corner from our house, so we have plenty of choice!  The restaurant was hectic when we arrived with the line out the door, so I was very glad I'd thought to make a booking! Unfortunately there was a mix-up with the ordering, and we ended up having a riculous wait on the food. 

When the food finally arrived though, there were no complaints! The serving sizes were very generous, and everything was very tasty.

For the price, I'm delighted that we'll have such a cheap and easy take away option for the nights that I can't be bothered cooking!  The options are plentiful though, as we have quite a few places within walking distance of our new house!

How did you celebrate your dad? :)

Family Feasting!

This weekend we are going away with family for a mini-getaway down to the country side.  Ever since we were children, our 4 families used to take the opportunity to go away on a big group holiday so that the adults could catch up and enjoy each others company and the kids could play together and wreak havoc!

With my Aunty visting from overseas, we thought it would be the perfect chance to all get together for a weekend of fun again.  Circumstances have changed, families have moved overseas, children have grown up and gone interstate, and various partners have been added to the mix.  Still, sixteen of us (plus my little elderly pup) will be heading down to inland Lorne for the weekend, and I cannot wait!

There is sure to be lots of fun, laughter, and copious amounts of food - these are the prerequisites every time we get together!

If there is one thing that my family is all about, it is definitely food!

We love nothing more than to sit around the table with those that we love and indulge in a fabulous meal, cooked with love.  My childhood reminiscence is highlighted with memories of my grandmother's extravagant meals... the whole family crowding around a long dining table, overflowing and groaning under the weight of the delicious dishes which she had spent days in the kitchen preparing.  Literally days!  My grandfather would often spend his Wednesday mornings at the markets buying the ingredients that were neede, and my grandma would spend the next few days preparing for Friday night dinner.

On this more recent occasion, some of my family met up at my Aunt's house for a family catch up and to say goodbye to my cousin before she moved to Canberra.  Of course where my family is concerned, at any catch up you can be sure there is a feast to be had!

Homemade tangy tomato salsa, a colourful roast vegetable & couscous salad, sweet corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, meaty mushrooms, and a beautiful (there's that Masterchef catch word again!) rare roast beef. 

Can anyone say YUM?!  This meal was perfection.  But it didn't end there...

Of course there's dessert!  A lovely fresh fruit platted for the more health conscious.  And for the rest of us (and nobody could resist a piece!) a gorgeous baked ricotta cheesecake.  My cousin made this, and served it up with double cream.  It was SO good - really fluffy and light tasting.  Not so light on the hips though, I'm sure!

I love catching up with my family.  Not only for the food, although it is one very big bonus!  But spending an evening surrounded by the people that you care about, and consuming mass amounts of tasty morsels!  What could be better?

I can't wait for this weekend! :)

Another Weekend Gone By

Monday again... (whoops, so I started writing this on Monday but didn't quite get it finished!)

I feel like every week I seem to be repeating myself.  Colleagues will ask me how my weekend was, and every week my answer is the same "good, but not long enough!" ugh!

Friday night we headed out with a few friends to see the Butterfly Effect live.

What a fantastic gig! Unfortunately, the Effected tour is their final as a group as the singer is leaving to pursue other things. Mega sadface!

We were lucky enough to meet the group after the gig... top blokes!

I didn't have anything for them to sign, as they took the tickets from us at the door! Instead I rummaged around in my handbag and found the box from my Essendon radio.  Although not the usual fan merchandise that they're used to, they willingly obliged and signed the little cardboard box for me.  Glenn did flip the box over and realise, so we had a nice chat about his supercoach team!

Whilst I did that, Liam papped away and managed to capture a few blurry shots for me. 

We were one of the last people to meet them (I think you actually needed a VIP ticket to do that, but we managed to talk our way through security!) and had the chance to have a chat with Clint about his last shows with the band, and scored a hug as we said goodbye.

After the gig we headed to a bar near by...

...and consumed these shots as well as copious amounts of other various beverages.

These delightful little drinks were part of the reason I was feeling a little worse for wear on Saturday morning, and needed a hearty dose of this to remedy that!

As much as I would have liked to have spent the day lazing around the house feeling sorry for myself, this was not an option.  Instead I was awake bright and early with a day full of house inspections to attend.

We have come across the most GORGEOUS little property, and have both promptly fallen in love.  It's not perfect, and it is missing a few aspects which we had initially thought were important, but this place is absolutely stunning and we both agree that we can work around it.  Unfortunately, however, the property is in the higher ranges of the budget we had set, so we're just trying to work out whether we can sustain this long-term, reviewing all of our options, and trying our very best not to rush in with our hearts instead of our heads. 

Aaaaaanyway! Moving along now... we had dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins on Saturday night.  Liam prepared a yummy pub-style parma meal for us!

He had decided to attempt to make my favourite sweet potato fries in addition to his normal chips, but unfortunately didn't account for the difference in cooking time so ended up massively overcooking the sweet potato... which resulted in crispy potato chips with crumbly bits of crunchy sweet potato through it! Not how he had envisaged, but still very tasty!

My Aunt and Uncle are moving house this week, and have offered us their couch and this gorgeous step cabinet that we have loved ever since seeing it! On Sunday we went over to pick it up and help them pack a few things.

Adeline had other ideas though! Instead of helping pack, she demanded I come into her room and help her build a Playdoh village for the two Playdoh families which we created.  I do as I'm told!

We made green grass, a red sky, and a blue playground for them to play on.

You can't see them, but there are two families living in their little chimneyed houses.  There's the Blue family living in the house on the left, and their neighbours the Greens in the smaller house next door.  However the Greens have a (green) friend called Greece, who also lives with them!

Just between you and me, Baby Blue looks a little too green for my liking...

I think Mummy Blue and Daddy Green are having a little fun on the side!

Wordless Wednesday : Mumbook!

"Scones for Mother's Day breakfast"

"Flowers from Cat on Mother's Day"

"Mother's Day dinner by my son - garlic prawns"

The above photos and captions were taken from my Mum's Facebook page (yes, she is an addict!)

I hope she knows how loved she is. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there! xx

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Ageing Like A Fine Wine...

Happy Birthday, to my darling man!   

This weekend my partner in crime turned the ripe ol' age of 27.  Whilst it means we're approaching the big 3-0 and are advancing way too fast in age for my liking, it was also a relief as it put to an end the "older woman" jokes he has been using since my birthday last month. 

On Saturday night, we headed out for dinner with friends and then to watch a fantastic Hawks victory over the Saints.  We booked a table at our regular pre-game haunt, and indulged in a few bevvies before heading over to the MCG.

I chose the caesar salad with Indian-spiced chicken.  

Liam decided on his usual favourite (what a surprise!) chicken parma.  You know the blogging-world is taking over your life when your boyfriend's meal is placed in front of him and he immediately cries out "oh no - the steam trap, the steam trap!" (a term which I picked up from one of my favourite food blogs) and hurriedly picks his parma up off the chips and onto a separate plate!

After the game, we headed out for a few drinks and I discovered that the amount of photos I take for this blog seems to be in direct correlation with the number of alcoholic beverages I consume.  Research has shown that the higher the drink consumption, the more likely I am to forget about taking a few snaps here and there.  However! Once past a certain number of beverages, happy snaps will often rise up to an all time high.  Although none will be suitable for the public eye.

On Sunday, we headed to Liam's parents place for lunch.  We were feeling rather worse for wear, as you can tell from the above picture where Liam is all decked out in tracky dacks and hasn't bothered to fix his hair at all!  So charming.  Also, note Mark in the background helping Liam blow out the candles on the cake!

Liam's mum cooked us a fabulous Indian feast, and this gorgeous cupcake-cake! 

How cute is it?! Hudson 'Hawka' Knights stands proudly amongst the Hawthorn-themed cupcakes with little goal post candles at each end! There were two types of cupcakes to choose from - chocolate and apricot jam with buttercream frosting.  YUM

As you can see, Liam was too impatient for me to even take a photo before grabbing his birthday cupcake! I can't blame him too much. They were so tasty!

We brought Rocket along with us, to play with the two dogs that Liam's parents have.  

After hours of chasing each other around the garden, they finally tired themselves out and we were able to have a moment of quiet

When we got back to my parent's place for dinner, we discovered that my cousin had been busy baking that day and had put together this little treat! 

Again, Liam couldn't resist long enough for me to take a photo, so there is a huge chunk taken out of the cookie! He's especially looking forward to the big birthday cookie, which he as dubbed as a 'Liam-sized cookie' and has declared to me that all food for him should come in this size.

Next weekend, I'm taking him away for the weekend to celebrate!  The two of us, and our crazy ginger-dog are going to head up to the Gouldburn Valley for a weekend of exploring and relaxation! 

I promise, regardless of how many beverages are consumed over the course of the weekend, that I will take plenty of snapshots to share! :)
 

Wordless Wednesday : Too Cool for School!

Too young, also!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here and here!

Let the Birthday Weekend Commence!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Mine was fantastic.  I got spoilt rotten, and Liam put together a memorable weekend of surprises!
I will update you about all that in another post soon.

On Friday night, we headed to my Aunt's house for dinner.  She does an a-MAZ-ing risotto, one of my favourites, which was on the menu for the evening! Not before snacking on dips, crackers and smoked salmon though. YUM.  Surprisingly, I actually didn't get any photos of the snacks or dinner! I know, I'm amazed too.

I did, however, get a few snaps of my gorgeous little dining companions! 

In her own words, upon seeing the photo - "Oh aww, I look so cheeky!"

After which she promptly turned around and, with a voice full of attitude, yelled out "LIAM! Don't put your hands in my photo again. You stop ruining my photos, now!" If there is one thing that can be said for that girl, she is a sassy little miss, and will give some poor bloke a run for his money and a permanent headache in the future!

Her little brother is quite the opposite though - a real chilled out little fella! 

Here he is, happily snacking on a cracker! The only time I even heard a peep from him was to let me know he'd finished his cracker and would please like another one!

He did look a little perplexed each time I reached for the smoked salmon, wondering why he was not receiving any, however he would happily go back to his plain cracker.  

Here he is whinging because each mouthful is not coming fast enough!

He sure loves his food, and ate his share of risotto like a little champion.  

Straight after which he totally devoured a baby pudding for dessert! What a little guts :) <3

After dinner (having eaten far too much!) I was lying in the living room, playing with toys and having a conversation with my little cousin when my presence was requested in the dining room.  

Adeline grabbed my hand, and dragged me in to a darkened room, lit up only by the glow of candles sitting on top of a yummy looking mango cheesecake! Yum. What a sweet surprise!

As I was trying to take this picture, a little girl was also vying for my attention... "Cat... Cat... Cat!" 

I quickly took the photo and turned my attention to her.  "Here! Take a photo of my cake too!" 

Happy to oblige. 

During dinner, I was interrupted with requests to take photos. Poser! I'll leave you with one more...

"Oh, look at me! I look so wild!" 

Isn't she scary? :)

Another Year Wiser...

So, yesterday marks the date of completing another year of life for me.  27 years on this earth.  I have now advanced out of my mid-twenties, and am well on my way to the dirty thirty. Late-twenties? Scary.

The day began like any other.  I am fairly low-key about birthdays; often I like to pretend they haven't really happened and there isn't an extra year tacked on to my age.  Liam has a surprise planned for the weekend though, and I am excited to find out what!

I trudged to work, and tried to fend off the birthday/age questions from various colleagues.  Facebook! Y U  tell everyone everything?! When lunch time arrived, I threw diet-caution to the wind! It was roast day at the work cafe - roast pork with all the trimmings! Cheesy cauliflower, and of course who could forget crackling? I showed slight restraint and declined a serve of potatoes.

You'd think that should be enough bad food for the day, but... this is me you're talking about! I'm seriously starting to think that this should be turned into a food blog with the amount of talk and photos of eats! Liam and I headed to this amazing little restaurant for dinner, the same place I spent my birthday evening last year! I believe it may just have to be incorporated into my annual birthday routine...  a new tradition, if you will.

They do the most amazing duck red curry! And the interior is beautiful.  Very simple, yet elegant and comfortable.  You just feel at home.  I wish I'd taken a couple of snaps of the interior, but I was too preoccupied with the fantastic meal in front of me :(

My request this year was that my mother make me one of her yummy hummingbird cakes! So when we arrived back, there it was on the table - in all its passionfruit-frosted glory, adorned with a little "Happy Birthday" plaque!  My other request was that she provide me with a cup full of frosting, so that I could cover all sides of my slice in that sugar-y goodness... I wasn't sure if she was going to humour me, but to my delight there was a big bowl of frosting sitting on the kitchen bench with the spatula all ready! My mum is the best!

Okay, now this is the part where I need your help!

Liam revealed one of his surprises to me... he was kicking himself straight after he told me, but I think he'd been waging an internal battle inside his head.  He had wanted to present me with a little blue bag of Tiffany, but knowing how picky I am had no idea what to choose!  His plan was then, as part of my birthday activities over the weekend, to take me to the Collins Street store as a surprise and let me choose what I wanted! He then worried that they may not have the item that I would like. Silly boy! I don't think there is any girl in this world that you could let loose in Tiffanys and have them not find something that they'd like! So many pretties...

Anyway, I have an option to choose a gift from Tiffanys and if I wish, we will go pick it up over the weekend.  I'm wanting to limit the price, as I think it's more important to save as much money as possible to go towards imminent upcoming expenses for when we purchase the house! So the budget is roughly around $350.  Help! Do you have any suggestions of pretty things that I just need to have?!

What would you choose?