Good Food & Wine Show in Melbourne 2015

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So, last Saturday, Mr. C and I trotted along to the Good Food & Wine Show (GWFS) at Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre. He is forever scouting for deals on OZ Bargain with our fellow colleagues and came across free entrance tickets to the GWFS.

I've been wanting to check out GWFS that occurs every year and throughout the year. We saw a line of people at the booth queuing to pay for entrance tickets. If I am not wrong it was about $30+. Definitely not worth it in my opinion if you had to pay to enter.

Ok. My take on GWFS:

1. Too many people and layout of booth made it harder to maneuver around.

2. Had to pay if you wanted to eat/ drink or attend masterclasses/ classes and it's not necessarily cheap.

3. More or all shops should offer samples or sell at a discounted price from their usual to promote awareness

4. The Aussies were jovial and a happy bunch with their drinking and drink holders around their necks! They sure know how to have a good time!

5. We won't be going back anytime soon unless to bring friends/ family and if entrance tickets are FREE!

Masters Knoxfield Free Sample Pot !!

With Project Paint No.52 underway, a free sample pot is always welcomed! That was why I was giddy with excitement when hubby showed me the above Masters brochure early on in the week. 

Masters was giving out Valspar Diamond 500ml sample pot of paint on Saturday and a Crescent 8m tape measure on Sunday.

The catch - be the first 500 customers to present the voucher!

Despite wanting a sample pot that is free, I wasn't kiasu enough to wake up at 6am and head to Masters although the thought did cross my mind. Only for a second though. But hubby and I decided we wanted to sleep in (it is after all the start of our long weekend holiday, lol, 3 day weekend) and head to Good Food & Wine Show.

After the Show, we had plenty of time on hand with nothing else to do. Guess what? We decided to head on to Masters near home and try our 'luck' to score a sample pot. Suffice to say, we made it just in time as there were only a few more left.

Besides purchasing a vase and two plants, we bought three $30 shelves each to better organise our garden shed! Definitely a bargain. I know because I have been eyeing shelves for the past few months. Also have a few more items on my mind to look out for with the upcoming EOFY (End of Financial Year) sales.

And this is why I love this awesome part of Aussie - the specials!

The only setback - we were told the sample pot was more suited for indoor use AFTER we picked a colour, dark grey! I would have picked a lighter, prettier colour had I known it was for indoor usage.

Anyhow, I am still going to try painting the fence under the carport with our free sampel pot and see how it goes. Fingers crossed!!

Fight of the century : Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao

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So, the fight of the century came and gone on 2nd of May 2015. It was between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Was the fight really the ultimate fight? Did it live up to the hype? Did spectators felt their money was well spent? Who was the better fighter? Was it rigged? What was up with both boxers?

Loads of testosterone

Best view

Unfortunately, even as a noob about boxing, I could tell the fight certainty fell short of anyone's hyped expectations of a worthy match.

All our efforts to try and secure a spot at Stamford Hotel intersecting between Wellington Road and Stud Road was for naught. Even as the match progressed, I kept asking Mr. C or more like annoying him with my thousand and one questions "Is this it? Is this really what people want to watch? Where got the chikekness? The excitement? The awesome wow fighting? Why did Mayweather keep dodging and dancing away?? and Pacquiao looks short".

And now, there's a lawsuit due to the lackluster fight. Aaahh.. how American. 

The crowd at the sports bar

Did my good deed for the day - saw an elderly lady standing by the railing without a chair and saw an empty seat. Carried the chair to the lady amidst the loitering male bodies!

Hulk Hogan in Knox Westfield !!

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What a turnout at Knox Westfiled Mall! It seems that everyone wanted their moment with Hulk! Even Mr. C :)

Futsal Thursday Nights at Springers Leisure Centre

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Mr. C plays futsal (indoor soccer) on Thursday evenings at Springers Leisure Centre. 

What I find amazing is every week without fail, Mr. C will ask if I would like to follow him and watch his team play. Even knowing that my answer would 95% of the time be a resounding 'No', he still asks. Not just once on Thursday itself but multiple times throughout a day.

Yes, it can be annoying to a degree but his perseverence just astounds me. And even when I've said, 'no' once in the morning, he might try his luck again on the way home without missing a beat, without being upset with my rejection, without being impatient and asked me hopefully to follow him for futsal.

Sometimes, I'll give in to his hopeful, sad puppy look. Like last night.

The team has come a long way from when it first started last year. At the beginning, it was a mismatch of team members. Some did not know how to play or had never played much but join for the week just to help Mr. C out in filling the numbers to make a team.

However, as the weeks and months passed, he slowly gained a few keen joiners to the team who actually do play futsal as a hobby and passion bringing their skills to the table. Josh, my former Form 4 & 5 classmate was one of them. Then, there is JL, the hubby of my uni mate, Kitt. Both Malaysians who had migrated to Melbourne. 

Then, there is Vboy, a Vietnamese born in Melbourne whom Mr. C met at Springers itself. Somehow they got to talking and he must like Mr. C's friendly demeanor because he joined the team. Gyuri (a nickname) another Aussie (the guy in no.3 jersey in Picture 3 above who shoved his butt in front of my camera just as I clicked the shutter button). Mr. C met him from his Tuesday night futsal matches near home. Once again, it must be Mr. C's pleasant outlook because they got to talking and Gyuri played a couple of matches with Mr. C's team on Thursday nights and eventually became another solid member.

A, PRC colleague has been part of the team from day one. A man of few words, couple of months down the track, he was looking to quit the team. As mentioned earlier, before Josh, JL, Vboy and Gyuri joined, many of the earlier team members were just there as a favour to Mr. C and couldn't really play. Every week, the team was losing consistantly.

I think I will be an Asian mother in future when I have kids 'cos I'll always jokingly tell Mr. C not to come home if he didn't' win the match hoping to spur or motivate him to play better and perhaps score a victory for the team. It is a good thing that Mr. C ignored my joke as they just didn't make it week after week.

But the past season, they have been playing well and it's only a matter of time before they win a medal.

So, lesson learnt, no matter what you do and in everything that you do, persevere and keep forging on. Don't blame life or God or someone or something else when things fail. Failure is part and parcel of life. Everyone goes through failures. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's not a cliche, it's the truth. 

And once you are done sulking about your mishaps, pick yourself up and try again. Keep trying till you succeed. With all the attempts, you are bound to succeed. Chin up and keep on going! :)

Heat Group make up warehouse sales

Few days ago, my colleague, K made a copy of the above flyer for each of us. Seeing how I have been shopping off late and am supposed to be saving money, I told myself I shouldn't bother going. I really didn't give it a second thought 'till today.

After work, I asked the hubby if he minds detouring to this warehouse - 'cos I realised how near the warehouse is to our home - and he said, yes.

I wasn't sure what to expect and told the hubby that my budget is $50 maximum and to make sure that - no matter what - I am NOT to exceed the amount.

We arrived, parked our car and made our way into the warehouse. A guy greeted us at the entrance and gave us a recycle bag to place our desired items. Tables after tables were lined up with boxes of lip gloss, foundation, eye shadow, nail polish, mascara etc from Cover Girl, Max Factor, Bourjois, to name a few. 

Most items ranged between $1 to $3 except by those from Max Factor and Bourjois that ranged from $5 - $8. I am assuming this two are the more 'atas' (higher end) brand.

There were hoard of ladies flitting from one table to another excitedly looking for a steal!

 

Covergirl lip glosses of all colours mainly nude range

Rather lot of Indian looking ladies and a few that kept getting in my path :(

I just bagged items I saw that I liked, thinking I would sort them later nearer to the exit and take out those that I don't fancy as much. Mistake though. 'Cos I ended up putting item after item in my bag! With $1 and $2 or $3 price tag in my head, it plays with your mind that everything is a bargain and worth buying.

I was feeling a bit lost 'cos I don't buy much of make up, hence, I didn't really know how to see if it's a good make up or if the pricing is worth it or if the make up is outdated and shouldn't be bought! What a noob, right?

So, I observed the ladies around me (the pros) as they go about making their choices.

The hubby was a real gem waiting patiently as I walked from table to table bagging items. Felt really bad for the dude but he swore he was fine and he just wanted me to enjoy myself and get what I want.

And bagged items, I did!

Saw a lip gloss in a shade I liked, bagged it. Saw another funky coloured lipgloss , bagged! Nail polish, bagged! Another different colour, bagged! $1 nail polish??? BAGGED, of course!! Oooh, a different sort of lip gloss shade from  my usual boring me, bagged! 

Feeling the adding weight of my bag, I practiced some form of restrain, bagging only those that I really wanted. By then, I had already walked 2/3 of the area. LOL.

Went to the sorting station to sort out my bagged items. I had close to 10 lip glosses lined up and ditched 2/3 of it. Discarded fake nails and foundation and just couldn't discard the rest, so I made my way to pay.

The queue to get items priced and totalled

From a girl who hardly wear make up in the past to wearing light make up everyday for work, I think I did fairly alright with the below. Bought the Tweety Bird body spray for my colleague, H. Not because she smells but because she likes birds and I reckon, Tweety! ;p 

If you have time this weekend, head over to Heat Group at Scoresby for your own make up purchases!! :)

My damage for the night...

Arrived home and tested the lip glosses. Dark lip gloss just makes my thickish lips look thicker. But in the picture, it looks pretty decent! Laughed when I tested the Burgundy one. Not used to dark lips on me. And I realised my upper lips does not have a dip in the middle to give me defined lips. *bummer*

Trying to remove it was a bit of a nightmare. Used tissue to wipe it off but it stayed on. Used cotton pad and it still stayed on. Silly me forgot to read the instructions before hand! So, I read the instructions which said to use an oil based make up remover.

Did that and the lip gloss was finally off! *phew*

Now I know why it's called 'Lipfinity'. *haha* Lip gloss that stays on forever. What the... 

Don't fancy the Red one among all three colours tried. Loved the Matte Pink best! Au natural is the way to go.

Ok. Some lame looking pictures of me and my colourful lips.

Burgundy 

Red (Pardon the round face)

Matte pink (and pardon the closed eyes.. really dislike my SG4's camera!!)

My own lip gloss