Winter holiday highlights

After MYC I crashed so badly on Monday because of sickness :(
On the 19th I went to a Student Life Social, it was at a friend's house. I came ON TIME...but everyone else decided to come late, so I helped prepare the food which was actually pretty fun. When people rocked up we played board games and had great food.

Phil baked these gluten free black forest cupcakes for Tom :D



We revealed our nicknames during icebreakers and people unexpectedly kept laughing at my nickname Jubjub :L ... it's all your fault Wilson.

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On the 20th we celebrated Homan and Heiman's birthday :)!
Homan finally came home from a long overseas study, so we could finally celebrate together woot!

Wilson and I helped Joey shop for Heiman's present one early morning and we ended up choosing these babies:

The twins hosted their awesome BBQ which I honestly look forward to every year. This year I brought along Black Stories which scared some people...but overall it was really fun solving murder mysteries at around the make shift campfire :P 

The chicken wings were so yummmm!! This type of BBQ-ing takes a lot of patience...but it's good because everyone is so cold and hungry that we never stray from the fire.
Twas a great night of good food, good music, fun catch ups and games ^^ 

I made jelly slice and poured it into tart tins this year. We didn't buy a cake so we had to improvise a bit haha...

I was actually really pleased with the tarts, they held together really well and people seemed to enjoy it :)

For more photos of the night...ask Eddie and when he decides to blog, go here.

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On the 21st I went to the city to hang with Phil because she was helping me prepare some stuff. I always have much to learn from Phil, though she thinks otherwise. Thank God for this sister in Christ ♥!
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 On the 22nd I invited the Mount girls over for dinner :) Wynne, Jess, Selina, Chooi-ee and Sannie made it and I cooked them spaghetti. Every once in a while girls just need the company of other girls to share stories, rant and seek advice haha~
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On the 23rd I finally got some exercise by playing some badminton with the CGFers :) Wilson came along and it was fun playing doubles with James and Esther ^^. I'm slowly but surely getting better at badminton! I've been feeling super restless these days because I haven't played netball in a year. I just watched Australia vs England netball Commonwealth game in Glasgow, AND IT WAS SO INTENSE. I couldn't sit still and realised how much I miss the game :( Australia won right at the end, it was a glorious win!
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On the 24th I invited Mish and Ruth over for a catch up session~ Mish and I made some inside heart cupcakes which turned out well and Ruth was unusually favoured by Sootie. He was really friendly towards her and let her pick him up a lot. Ruth must have shifty animal pheromones...

After MYC I really realised how much I should invest my time in people and not useless activities like sitting in front of the computer for a whole day. I was glad I could spend some quality time with these girls :)
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On the 25th I had to play piano for a funeral of an elderly member of the church. A few years ago I played piano for his wife's funeral, so I felt honored to play for his funeral service. He was 93 years old and eager to go to heaven, and instead of feeling sad I felt happy that he could finally find true rest with God in heaven. He was a true believer and I'm happy that he can meet his wife again :)

At night we had YF at Zack's and it was a fun time of fellowship ^^. Esther made us this Horlicks drink with egg and condensed milk. I was really skeptical of it, but it was DELICIOUS! A random snapchat from the night...



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TODAY I went to The Finders Keepers indie market with Eddie at the Royal Exhibition Centre. As always he missed the train, so I got off at Parliament station and wandered down Bourke St. I actually really enjoyed browsing the stores by myself. I liked Thomas' music store a lot, and went to the Salvos and various book and craft shops. Today became a real adventure through Melbourne city.

Finders Keepers was jam packed with people!! There were so many kiddies...and prams derp. The market was basically real life Etsy where artists get to sell their crafts. There were food trucks and live music as well, but Eddie spent like an hour getting food because he skipped breakfast. I ditched him and wandered around the stalls by myself which I enjoyed because I stopped at a lot of jewelry stalls. There was heaps to see and I saw a lot of things I liked, but it was really EXPENSIVE. Majority of people there looked like middle - high class Westerners who had heaps of money to burn.

Quote of the day: "I just choked on my sarcasm" - Edward

I liked these carving thingies. The lantern box was cut using a laser cutter, while the wooden blocks where hand carved. So much detail, I love it! They were from different stalls.

There was a funny stall selling books which turned beloved Australian children's books into stories about a bum. Such class Australia...such class.

This one is meant to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar which turned into The Very Hungry Bum who could eat different coloured underpants. There was also Bum Magic (Possum Magic) and Where the Bum things are (Where the wild things are). 

I got to play with a typewriter today so that was neat but in the end I found these cute heart shaped macaron studs and Eddie bought a notebook. 

After the market I wanted to try kimchi fries from Koba in Hardware St. We decided to walk there and made an unplanned stop at this underground bookshop. There were rows of books for $1 and it was fun to look around. I saw books which I read when I was in primary school which was before manga took over haha.

At Koba the kimchi fries were nice but I wish they had put more kimchi :( I think my expectations were a little too high, but it was worth trying. Eddie ordered the garlic soy fried chicken. I actually really like Hardware St, I wanna go back and try the other eateries. 

I was still hungry after that because I ate breakfast at 8.30am and it was about 3pm by the time I had something to eat. I had this big urge to go into this cafe we walked passed called Cafe Giraffe. It turned out to be the best decision ever! Today was really cold and wet so it was super nice to find such a warm, cosy place to sit and enjoy a hot chocolate. I really felt like I was at home because the decor was so nice, but not only that, everyone talked in like hushed tones and there was an old granny at one table crafting away. The ambience was really relaxing, I loved it. 

Eddie ordered a white hot chocolate and I got the mint chocolate. It was pretty pricey for hot choc, but it really hit the spot. I think this place is my new favourite place in Melbourne city :) 

We walked heaps today so we were pretty knackered, so it was a great place to unwind and it was hard not to get drowsy...

It was a really fun day being a part of the community, exploring people's art, trying new foods and finding unexpected local gems in this great city :)

Tomorrow is the last day of holidays, so I'm gonna fully relax before I launch into another busy semester of uni. I really feel like I'm gonna need to fully rely God's strength to guide me through this because I already feel stressed looking at my timetable.

"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:30-1)