So full!

Dear Mum,

The very last meal that you cooked, I made it today with Bac The, Rice paper rolls with beef in vinegar hotpot. It wasn't difficult, just made the dipping sauce and the vinegar hot pot. Instead of saturating the hotpot in vinegar I put a portion of VB beer in it as well. Your secret ingredient hehehe.

Why we made it was because it was Quoc's birthday yesterday! He's 10 now~ Getting older, but his mind is still so young and cute! I have to lock my bedroom door before I sleep now so he won't come in every morning at 5-6am just to ask where his iPad is!

Dad only bought him a standard cake. Too standard but it tasted good! Fatty buttery goodness from breadtop :D

On Sunday Dad started taking photos of the Youth Group.
I wanted to add photos of the kids on here but due to privacy issues I think it's better not to. But these people won't mind!

Today I did a workout I found on Instagram. 

It's a 30 day squat challenge where you have to do a certain amount of squats each day. I did 50 today, but in addition to that I also did the "Sexy leg workout"  and after I completed all that including my regular workout I usually do at the gym, I just felt like vomiting. It was too much for me to handle and I had to sit on the floor at the gym for about 10 mins to calm myself down. Even though it wasn't cardio it still brought my heart rate up. 

Now I understand how Gia felt when he got random episodes of a condition where his heart would start to beat too fast. He would say he felt out of breath and wanted to vomit (and sometimes he did). We always had to submerge his head into ice cold water to give him a shock to reset his heart. Thank god he had the keyhole surgery though. Since October he has not had it again. It's hard back then because he would get it so randomly, either when he's at school or in the car to church or at someone's house, it was inconvenient and Gia got really annoyed as well. *Knock on wood* So far so good!

I've got some homework to do in addition to my full time work and full time sister duties. I passed the Police Check and have received my Tax training pack! I'm so excited I can't wait to start!

This is totally gonna ruin my social life (if I had any in the first place) but it'll be worth it when I start working!

Mum, I can't believe it's been over 8 months already. I still remember the whole scenario perfectly. The moment where I didn't know whether you can pull through or not, that was the hardest. But when I knew there was nothing left, I learnt to accept it though it was still tough. I sometimes forget you're no longer here and I would say to myself "Oh I gotta ask mum". Like my childhood- who knows it better than you? Now I have no one to tell me what I was like back then, what silly things I did, what idiotic things I said. I cannot wait to see you again! When we meet again, we'll definitely go on a cruise together like we planned a week before you went. But forgive me mum, I might go on a cruise without you this year. I'm sure you've enjoyed the leisure of the afterlife up there :)

Love you loads and loads and loads and miss you incredibly so! xoxoxoxo!!

Your daughter Anna ♥

PHO-tastic!

Dear Mum,


Instead of lounging around at home today, which I really really wanted to do because I'm exhausted, I made myself go out and buy groceries to make PHO!! You didn't write the recipe on your cook book so I decided to go on a whim and try to remember what you did the previous time, because you did try to teach me.

I cheated a little and looked up what I needed to make a basic broth for Pho but the technique (eg grilling the onions, ginger, star-anise etc) I followed yours. And it turned out brilliant! First attempt and it was successful! Only thing I could do better is to make it less sweet. But apart from that I'm truly satisfied with what I have accomplished, without the aid of MSG! Flavorsome broth, tender and juicy beef that falls of the bone, it was truly yummy!

Cooking time of the actual broth was 3.5 hours. I actually wanted it to cook for about an hour or two more but it was dinner time. And I had the thumbs up from Gia- since he is a pho-natic ;)

On Monday night I went to Papa Goose with Curtis for dinner. We ordered a duck liver parfait with brioche to share, and for the mains Curtis ordered Duck and I had Pork loin wrapped in Prawn sheet.  The duck liver parfait was to die for! We even asked for more bread to finish off our serving of the delicious spread. My pork loin was nice and tender, but unfortunately I had a piece of plastic left on the prawn sheet, which detracted me from demolishing the dish. But the waiter was nice and told us to order dessert which was on him. SCORE! I was going to order dessert anyway but it was a whole lot better when it's free!! So I ordered peanut butter and jam, which looked amazing :D Overall, good experience.

On Sunday I went to the Hair and Beauty expo at Melbourne Exhibition Centre. It was sooooooo crowded, the line to just get the badge (even when you have pre-registered) went all the way OUTSIDE towards Crown. So flabbergasted- and even inside you have to squeeze about to get through. Bought many products for the salon but my best purchase: a robe!! I have always wanted a robe, but I wanted a good one, not a mediocre robe where you'd have to discard it after a few uses. 

(I also coloured and cut my hair- just coloured it dark violet and trimmed the dead ends)

Last Wednesday I caught up with my uni friends, Yvonne Ann Leon and Johnny. We went to Joomak because Duyen recommended the place for a nice hideout/hangout spot that has soju cocktails haha. It was well hidden I got to admit, I nearly walked past it because it was in the basement. They have seperate cubicles for a more intimate dinner as well as an open area as well. The food was a tad pricey but I loved it. We ordered Mango rice wine and it tasted so good lol. I was detoxing for a few days and I couldn't resist and break it there and then. The pork belly was nice with the cabbage and the pickled kimchi radish accompaniment. We also ordered Bulgogi beef, Egg roll and Kimchi and Squid pancake. The kimchi was actually spicy for once. Many places dont offer spicy kimchi, which is strange because it is suppose to be a bit heated. Overall I quite like the place and will definitely come back to try the soju cocktails!

After that we went to Passionflower. I felt full so I just ordered Icecream but the guys got their dessert game on. We even played truth or dare.. and it turned out fun lol.

(Sorry Leon and Johnny, my workmate went through my phone and saw this pic of you and just started laughing hysterically  She said you must be class clowns or something. I think you guys are, since just by being in a still photo doing nothing out of the ordinary you can still make someone laugh :P)

Had an eventful week :) It's Quoc's 10th birthday next Wednesday! Maybe I'll cook something different hehe. Will be fun!

Love you always,

Your daughter Anna ♥

Weather change

Dear Mum,


I returned to the Gym on Wednesday (first time in 6-8 weeks) to find the equipment got moved to a different area, which I totally love because it's more spacious. The toilets are new too!

I've got a cold from the bipolar weather Melbourne is so famous for.

Blocked and runny nose, croaky voice ergh not the best thing to have when you gotta work work work. I even got a coldsore. And the irony of it is that the coldsore is in a shape of a heart. Totally trolling with me atm. I remember I had a mozzie bite in NY and it puffed up to the shape of a heart as well. If you don't want to see it scroll past this photo, because it's not pretty!

It was Dad's birthday on Friday. When I gave him his present he had no idea what it was for. I knew he forgot his own birthday!

So I got him a Zara bombers jacket. I actually went into Zara at Highpoint for my own benefit but when I found the jacket in the Men's section it was like killing two birds with one stone. I wanted to buy so many things in there but I didn't need it. Unless I have an event then I'll shop and buy an outfit. But I did go into Faceshop cos I know the owner there gives out lots of samples when you buy something, and you know me, I love freebies! So I got myself a Blemish zero starter kit cos I have nearly ran out of Proactiv and I just wanted to try something else.

Gia made a card for Dad's bday. He just had to use the most unflattering photo of me in there. I got woken up by my grandpa cos he wanted to take a family portrait to send to his American relatives. So I was a tad upset about the whole thing and didn't smile in the photo.

(Yes I look chubby, and yes, there's a slide in my backyard)

Another week of work ahead. I wonder what other dramas will unfold. Everyday is interesting in it's own way :)

Love you always,

Your daughter Anna ♥