This is SO weird, but due to some fluke calendering, this will be my FIRST Merdeka Day where I will actually be on holiday. Serious.Even whilst working in KL, due to the ‘international presence’, I chose to work during Merdeka Day and take a different day off. I always remember Merdeka Day as the day I zoom down to work double-quick due to the lack of traffic.

And this Merdeka I shall actually be having a lie-in….like millions of other Malaysians. Bliss. Not sure how am I celebrating yet, but am starting the day with assam laksa & nasi lemak that I manage to ‘ta-pau’ from Birmingham on my way home from down south.

Selamat Hari jadi Malaysia

This week’s Awesome Tour of Sydney challenge baton have been completely passed on to Katie whilst I’ve been on holiday…and completely cut off from the civilized world. Not only have I experienced extreme lack of wifi connection, even MOBILE connectiong have been extremely sparse..ugh. This is WHY I cannot live in the countryside…

The awesome Katie have decided on a ‘Group Doddle’ for this week’s challenge….and she had got some peeps together via twitter on helping out with body part bits for the friend of Dave the lonely Kangaroo. If anyone fancy a doodle at a make-believe completely conjured up animal, please leave me a message – or send me your ‘body parts’ at milimail at gmail dot com!!!

Or if you’re on twitter, please add on hashtags #me2sydney if you’d rather twitpic it over to me…we’re getting the #me2sydney movement going over at twitter! So do get involved, join us in the quest in finding Dave the lonely Kangaroo a soulmate!

ps: any body parts are welcomed…even a doodle of a nail…:)

As part of my quest to get under Sydney’s skin, I’ve decided to share and share alike my knowledge on all things great about Sydney! I am guest-blogging for up-and-comming travel site HeadingThere as well…and my first assignment is to tell the world all about the Awesome Tour of Sydney….over the next few weeks I will be blogging there about the sights and sounds of Sydney on the monuments/icons that I have already covered in the Awesome Tour of Sydney. If you’ve been a long-time reader, you would be familiar with my very own Awesome Tour of Sydney & Melbourne, in which I touched on a few of Sydney’s icons…..but my guest blog for headingThere will be much more in depth and more travel-site oriented than me-laughing-at-myself oriented

Oh, as an update on previous challenges, the great peeps at 1000 heads have filmed themselves playing the awesome games that we came up with for first week’s submission; here’s mine if you forgot…the Wicked Wicker Wicket!

I must say that I love kangaroos..they are just so TAME..

Week 3 pwned! We are more than halfway there now! Just when you think that the crazy folks at 1000 heads have used up all their best ideas, they’ve topped themselves again! OMG…when I saw this week’s challenge, I nearly fainted…this is week 4′s challenge:

This week we are looking at Sydney Wildlife. We want you to take inspiration from the various animals that can be found in and around Sydney, and create your own Australian creature – whether it be a mash-up of existing animals (platypus, koala, wombat, emu– there’s plenty to choose from!) or a completely new species.

As always, the medium in which you deliver your entry is up to you, and you’ll be judged on creativity, community involvement and use of the resources available to you.

We’ve made a little video about Dave the kangaroo and his quest to find some Australian mates in London (attached), so we want to see what sort of Aussie creature you’d create for him to buddy up with.

Do click on the above youtube link – it’s really sad in a funny sort of way..and what perfect soundtrack as well!

So guys…c’mon now…lets hear it…what sort of brand-new animal do you think would be the perfect companion for Dave the Kangaroo? Like they say,it can be an existing animal or a mash-up of different types of animals or a newly dreamt up animal…animal…dreaming up a completely new species of animal is not something that we regular folks do often!! I am totally stumped..and doesn’t help that I am actually on holiday at the moment with very limited access to wifi….I don’t believe that I have actually brought my laptop on holiday with me…this is what you call dedication!

To help you along your merry way, I have compiled some facts on the wildlife in Australia….I am, after all, the queen of irrelevant and crazy facts:

DID YOU KNOW…Born the size of a jelly bean, koalas travel to their mother’s pouch where they stay until they are old enough to cling onto her back.
DID YOU KNOW…They aren’t even related to bears. The koala is related to the kangaroo and the wombat. The koala is a mammal. The reason the koala is called a koala bear is because the koala looks like a teddy bear.
DID YOU KNOW…The Echidna is a monotreme, which means that it is a mammal that lays eggs. It’s scientific name (Tachyglossus aculeatus) means ‘spiny fast-tongue’
DID YOU KNOW…Platypuses build two burrows: one to live in, and another for having babies (which involves laying eggs and incubating them until they hatch)
DID YOU KNOW…An emu is a bird, yet it can’t fly, likewise a penguin is a bird, and it can swim.
DID YOU KNOW…A male emu incubates the eggs, he also turns them over once a day.
DID YOU KNOW…When emus drink, they usually take 70 mouthfuls of water, and lift up their heads between each mouthful.
DID YOU KNOW…When wombats fight each other, they generally try to bite each other on the bum.
DID YOU KNOW…Female wombats are bigger than male wombats, and almost always grumpier, especially if she has a baby.
DID YOU KNOW…Wombats generally renovate old burrows, some of these burrows may have been dug 50, 100 or even 1,000 years ago.

They look cute, but their CLAWS hurt bad…who made up that story that koala bears are cuddly beings??
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Also to help you along on your thought process, the peeps at 1000 Heads have come up with a couple of links for you to draw inspiration from. I would recommend that you click on the below links anyway, it does provide a view into what a fantabulous city Sydney is:

See Sydney Day 1
acebook album
Flickr Set
Sydney Wildlife World
Taronga Zoo (do you know Taronga means ‘water view’ in Aboriginal tounge?)

Have fun snooping folks…and remember…please, please let me know if you can help me find a friend for Dave the lonely Kangaroo!

THIS, is an Echidna , if you’re wondering

I heart breakfast…

Week 3′s challenge was very strange for me. Fresh off my designing stint, I immediately thought about taking a picture with the CLugg and calling it a day. Or just reproducing one of the pictures that I took in Sydney whilst doing the touristic route. However, after seeing the amazing ideas that came in from ‘my community’ and their relentless excitement, I definately HAD to do something else!

Zona, my resident Sydneysider, told me all about Breakfast on the Bridge, one of the features of the Crave Sydney month which will be held in October. Crave Sydney will feature a Latin Dance Fiesta, food roadshows, art exhibitions and a seven-bridge walk amongst other activicty. I love their tagline – Curb your cravings with 31 days of food, outdoor art and fun. Crave Sydney is about rediscovering the Sydney, with friends, family, fellow Sydneysiders & the people that love Sydney. It opens up the city’s landmarks, unlocking new ways to celebrate well-loved places and spaces.

Most tourists (like myself) choose the summer months to go Down Under – probably influenced by our lovely depressing winters here. But with the advent of this spring festival, it just shows that any season is good in Sydney – there is no need to wait till Feburary to head Down Under!

And when I heard about Breakfast on the Bridge, the eureka moment hit. That was it. I was in love. Imagine the sun rising over the glittering Sydney Harbour, warm rays dancing over your picnic blanket as you (and 5,999 other Sydneysiders) take in the view from the most spectacular picnic point in the country, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Breakfast on the Bridge, Sydney’s big picnic breakfast, will be held on Sunday 25 October and will give 6,000 lucky people an opportunity to be part of history.

As I am unfortunately not a Sydneysider, (unlike Zona) I have a next to zero chance in being one of the 6,000 lucky souls to be invited to the best picnic breakfast in the world.Sniff…Sniff… So I created my own – in my own backyard. Sourrain.com presents Breakfast on the Bridge:

We love The Coathanger (local affectionate nom de plume for the Harbour Bridge).

Completely made out of breakfast items – criss crossed sausages forms the Harbour Bridge curve, with the infamous Aussie breakfast of Vegemite on toast representing the main throughfare. Thanks to Jim, my Sydneysider ex-colleague who force-fed me Vegemite with cheddar on toast as breakfasts, I have developed an uncanny liking for this very Australian snack. Funny how Vegemite will always remind me of Jim .

The pylons are supposed to be made out of pho noodles, to represent the typical Vietnamese breakfast that is widely available in Sydney, showcasing the diversity that is Sydney. Thanks Moo for reminding me…I love pho!

It was very hard to get the sausages to ‘bend’ over…skewers do not exactly come in a rounded curve!

I love the shadows of the sausage forming the frame of the bridge…you can see the individual links

Not only did I get my neighbour peering outta his window thinking what the…., the cat was very interested as well

…Although for completely different reasons – the cat loved the leftover cut-out bits of the sausages. Yummz

My measurements went askew…had to slice off the crusts before slathering it on with Vegemite

These were very brave beans – doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb…:). Definately recommended for the brave hearted…views are amazing from up-there.

I actually ate it for brunch and it was mm mm good…:)

For more pictures (including every step of the process!) , please see here:

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I did say I was extremely motivated this week didn’t I? It was an absolute waste to let the other brilliant idea go unacknowledged, so this week I have decided that we shall go with TWO ideas…yes, TWO! I couldn’t resist it, and HAD to do this other one as well as I felt it really did touch on the soul of Sydney as a city and the lovely people that reside in it…
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Sydney is not all about the Harbour Bridge ,the Opera House or the Blue Mountains…it is much, much more than that. Inspired by Week 3′s challenge, Katie came up trumps again in this week’s ‘Santa’s little Helpers’ challenge! The Sydney ANZAC memorial made from ANZAC biscuit, frosting, jello….. All things yummy and edible! How inspired is that! Think brownie points are due for concentrating on a less-well known but equally intruiging landmarks of Sydney!

The ingredients….and recipe for ANZAC Biscuits. Did you know it’s actually illegal to call them ANZAC cookies?

Holding all the ANZAC biscuits together with frosting…

Buttercream works best with this structure – fondant looked slightly wonky. Intense concentration required

Pouring Jell-O to make the water element…Katie used orange flavoured Jell-O with some blue food coloring. How inspired is that??Love the reflection that the Jell-O made representing the Lake of Reflections.

Proudly presenting – the ANZAC Monument, made out of ANZAC biscuits! How brilliant is that??

A closer look..

For more pix, please click below:

The ANZAC Monument (or War Memorial) was built in 1934 to honor the Australian Imperial Forces’ efforts in WW1. The memorial is located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern edge of Sydney’s CBD, and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies on ANZAC Day, Armistice Day and other important occasions. ANZAC day (24th April) commemorates the 1915 landing of Australian and New Zealand diggers at what is now ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey.

From the official website of ANZAC Day:

Situated towards the southern end of Hyde Park and centered upon the main avenue, the ANZAC Memorial stands one hundred feet high and, on its main approach, is the ‘Lake of Reflections’, bordered by poplar trees in memory of the battle areas of France.

The central motif of the design is ‘The Sacrifice’. It comprises a bronze group of sculptures depicting the recumbent figure of a young warrior who has made the supreme sacrifice; his naked body lies upon a shield which is supported by three womenfolk – his best loved Mother, Wife and Sister and in the arms of one is a child, the future generations for whom the sacrifice has been made.

It illustrates the sacrifice engendered by war, self-sacrifice for duty and the beautiful quality of womanhood which, in the war years, with quiet courage and noble resignation, bore its burdens, the loss of sons, husbands and lovers.

The ANZAC Biscuits were as meaningful as the Anzac monument. The official Anzac Day website explains the significance of the ANZAC Biscuits (NEVER cookies – apparently it’s illegal!) so eloquently:

During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer – a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

According to Sydneysider-turned-Londoner-turned-world-traveller Kay, Anzac biscuits are not a staple with the regular urban Sydneysider like herself, and is really only popular during ANZAC days and amongst the older generation whom the ANZAC Biscuits holds special significance – some remembers their mothers baking them for their fathers or actually having a hand in baking these biscuits themselves in the war years. Unfortunately the last soilder of the Australian Imperial Forces had passed away - but their heroism lives on in Australia and the rest of the free world. (Skipps might have something to add on the effect of war to the world ect ect..:))

With such a delicious recipe, even though there is no longer a need to make biscuits that lasts, I personally feel that the world should appreciate this Australian heritage. The ANZAC biscuts pays homage to the great men the fought as part of the Australian Imperial Forces and the brave mothers,wives & girlfriends that stayed home and baked this biscuits to keep their men healthy and strong. All the better to return to them with.

Definately a not-to-be-missed landmark in Sydney when I return….hopefully in time for Crave Sydney