I am a lover of zoos! I love cute animals! And I love being able to pet and be near cute animals! While looking at the Tasmanian tourist guide, my brother and I decided that it was an absolute must that we check out Bonorong Wildlife Park. I’ve been to a wildlife park at Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, so I knew I would love this too. We got to see so many Aussie wildlife, and of course – the Tasmanian Devil!

We didn’t get to see some animals, because a lot of them were nocturnal and were sleeping during the day :( But we still managed to take A LOT of photos. So please bare me! I’ve posted a lot of photos but trust me they’re worth looking at!

I’ll start with me feeding a kangaroo (above and below is me)! Aren’t they just ADORABLE!!!!!!!

It’s undeniable that Mr. Wombat is also a cutie!

Here’s a peacock! They are just beautiful.

And……. KOALAS!!!!!!!!! CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

The lady was cleaning the Koala cage and then took the baby one out for us to have a closer look and be able to touch the little guy. He was so soft!! Awwwww..

Here’s my dad feeding a kangaroo! Look how cute they are upclose! Look how cute!

Here’s the famous Tasmanian devil…. They look nasty!

Here’s a parrot.

And a cockatoo!

Wallabies! Hehehehe..

They’re so tiny!

Here’s a lazy old kangaroo. Looks like a much older one… Still very cute :)

Here’s an ugly emu… They bob their heads a lot, it was so hard to take this photo!!!

Here’s a kangaroo with a joey in its pouch! THIS IS THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER!!!!!!!!!!

My brother and I watched the joey climb in and out of the pouch and sleep. Awwwww :) :)

We also came across an orphaned kangaroo joey. Please read the story below, it’s sad :( But I’m glad they’re keeping her safe and sound in a simulated pouch. <3

Can you tell that I just LOVED this park? LOVEEEEEEEEE. I always say you can’t go to Australia without seeing the wildlife! I adore them <3

While we were still cruising down the East Cost of Tasmania, we stopped by at a vinyard. Because Tasmania has a cooler climate than the rest of Australia, their wines are distinctly different than in the rest of the country and primarily produces Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Riesling with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon blanc.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Riesling that they had to offer, and snapped that up quick!

Beautiful photos of the grapes and the vinyard are below.

In light of ANZAC Day, I decided to make ANZAC biscuits (or biccies!). I’ve grown up loving ANZAC biscuits (and not just because ANZAC Day is my birthday) but because they are truly delicious!

They are popular in Australia and New Zealand, being made out of rolled oats, flour, coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and boiling water.

I’ve been asked numerous amount of times why these biscuits are called ANZAC Biscuits and I have to be honest, I did not know. I did know however that ANZAC stands for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and ANZAC Day is a national day that we hold in honourary memory of them.

Upon some internet research, I found that the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because they were worried about the nutrition of their husbands, and also the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation. These biccies can stand up to months unrefrigerated!

What I love even more about these biccies is that they are extremely easy to make with very little ingredients. I used this recipe I found online. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
125g (4oz) butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 300F (150C)

Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together.
Melt syrup and butter together.
Mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup.
Add to dry ingredients.
Place 1 tablespoonfuls of mixture on greased tray (allow room for spreading).
Bake for 20 minutes.
Loosen while warm, cool on trays.

Today is my 24th Birthday (ANZAC Day) but we celebrated last night at my place with some drinks and some cake. By the way, Mai says to ignore the cake writing because the lady who did it seemed very new and missed the “Happy Birthday”. Haha!!

Then some of us went to Club XS up at Entertainment District for some HIP-HOP AND R&B. YEAHHHHHH! The music was banging. Totally loved it!

Special thanks to Mai and Louise for helping me set up. Mai especially for the cake and helping me clean up! The place was an absolute mess afterwards!

Thank you to everyone for coming!! Means a lot to me. :) :)

While we were driving around Tassie, just after we passed Swansea on the way to Hobart we dropped by at Kate’s Berry Farm which is known for their cool climate berries. There are handcrafted chocolates, jams, sauces and jellies  - all made from Kate’s home grown fruit.

The desserts cafe offers freshly baked hot scones accompanied by a selection of Kate’s own jams and freshly whipped pure cream, hot crisp Belgium waffles with a luscious compote of poached berries and rich creamy ice cream, Kate’s fabulous fruit pies made from both her own berries and fresh local fruit when in season, in season berries with cream and ice cream, gluten free scones pies and other treats all made in her own kitchens. Also available are mellow espresso coffees, a selection of rich hot chocolate, fine leaf teas in heated china teapots, and milk shakes made with Kate’s own fruit and ice cream.

Check out the photos below to see some of the chocolates and icecream (which we couldn’t resist getting.. and it was extremely good!!)

Here’s a cute pic of my mummy & daddy:

So the other day I got back home from work absolutely starving! I needed to cook something QUICKLY. I searched my fridge and I had some left over beef, onion and green peppers. I then searched my cupboard and I found a brand new jar of Black Pepper Sauce.

Perfect! I can make Black Pepper Beef, but one thing was that I had never cooked it before. But because it’s one of my most loved dishes (and also because I was so starving) I thought I would attempt to make something up. So here we go…

So in went the beef on the pan with some oil. Sizzle sizzle.

This is my Black Pepper Sauce I bought from T&T.

Once the beef is done, add 3 tablespoons of the sauce and 3 tablespoons of water.

Add chopped up onion and green peppers. (By the way, I wish I also had red peppers which would’ve been nice but at this time I was too hungry to care)

And mix it up!

And then serve!

Looking pretty tasty for such a simple dish, right?

I was pretty ready to gobble this up right from the bowl as seen above, but I try to keep my rule consistent: one meat dish and one vegetable dish to eat with rice. So I added some bok choy and some oil to the wok.

Add some soya sauce.

And then serve!

YUM.

I love easy simple meals… Let me tell you – this was soooooo good. I was a very happy girl after this. Hahaha.

I don’t know why, but Tasmania has really beautiful gardens. Flowers are just flourishing everywhere!

Perhaps they get better rainfall than we do in Victoria or just a better climate? Or perhaps they just love gardening more??

While I’m unsure if all of the above are correct, I do know that the flowers are too beautiful not to just walk past by. I had to take photos of them all while walking on the street! Haha!

Enjoy! :)

Canadians sometimes have trouble understanding us Australians, even though we both speak English.

Me (in an Aussie accent): Howyagoin’?
Canadian: Sorry?
Me (trying to speak louder & clearer): Howyagoin’?
Canadian: How’s IT going????
Me: Uhh, yeah.
Canadian: Good!!!!!!

It reminds me of this YouTube video I found awhile ago, which shows the staff of a restaurant say the typical Aussie greeting. Pretty funny. Makes me realise how nasal we sound.

So we’re just one month away until the Youth Festival: “Your Victory is My Victory”, which is taking place on May 15, 2010 at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada. SGI Canada youth members from all over Canada will be performing at this event.

The SGI youth in Toronto will be performing the following:

• Hip-hop
• Latin
• Youth Chorus
• Youth Band

I know that the SGI youth in Vancouver will be dancing alongside with us Toronto-nians in the hip-hop dance, but I am unsure what else may be in store! I’m excited to find out! I’m sure it all will be amazing.

So I’m part of the hip-hop dance group for this event. This is our second last practice until the dress rehearsal! I took a couple of snaps for all of you to take a sneak peak to this much anticipated event.

By the way, if you’re interested in coming – make sure you get your tickets quick! You can purchase tickets at Roy Thomson Hall online or you can simply purchase tickets at the box office. Please make sure you also visit the Youth Festival official website for more information!

After arriving at Devonport, Tasmania by the Spirit of Tasmania we set on our journey to Hobart by driving down the East Coast. It really was beautiful to see the ocean crashing onto coast and the soft sand.

Having heard of the beautiful scenery at Coles Bay and Wine Glass Bay, we took a little detour down Freycinet Peninsula. On the way down, there’s a little shop known as Freycinet Marine Farm with fresh oysters, muscles and lobsters. What makes places such as these in Tasmania so special is that they are located where cool clean water is. Their website states:

“We have no other industries in the area except some forests, vineyards and farms, our water is pure and therefore so are our oysters, we need to neither depurate nor scrub our product before it leaves the farm, it comes straight from the leases to your plate. In fact you can taste the clean waters of Tasmania’s east coast with every oyster that passes your palate.”

As we drove in, we saw the most humongous sunflowers we have ever seen! They’re so beautiful, we had to take photos!

Then we ordered some oysters and muscles. Don’t they look exquisite!