Ping Lian

Went to the Paddington Market yesterday to look-see. There are quite a number of stalls selling necklaces and bracelets which I think waiyan would luv! I was there looking for some art/painting for 19P2.

Some nice painting (eg. Tony Rea design) - not cheap either around AUD300-400 for a large print - but what caught my eye was some sketchy paintings from an autistic child named Ping Lian who happens to be from Malaysia!

Spoke at length with Sarah (his mother who's running the art biz on his son's behalf) and really admire her dedication to her son.

Liked two of the paintings - the Rooster and the Sydney City - but since she only accepts cash (and not card), I've to defer the purchase till next Fri where she'll be at Chinatown.

The Sydney City print (above) costs AUD2458 (thankfully AUD has gone down to around 2.3 - 2.5 mark) so likely need someone to get me some AUD dollars! :P

You can check out his art at his own website

http://www.pinglian.com/

Nicol again at World Open

She just keep winning... and this year has reclaimed back both the British Open and World Open which she lost last year!

The World Open finals was an astonishing match with a great fight coming from Vicky Botwright who was actually playing her last game before retiring! Kudos to Vicky for giving her all!

Note: Apparently one of my fave Squash news site - www.squashsite.co.uk has taken the decision to close their site/business. Sad... Read about it here -> http://www.squashsite.co.uk/curtain.htm

Quest @ North Ryde

Reached Sydney early this morning around 9am (SYD time which is 3 hrs ahead of MY time due ot daylight savings). Checked in at the Quest North Ryde service apartment. The trip to Quest from the airport was only about 36km but it cost AUD76.30 for that trip!

Quite a good value at AUD170/nite but I suppose it's location (suburb) meant casual tourists might not be keen to put up here. There's apparently lots of technology offices around here hence they've a steady stream of customers.

Quest have been in business for 20 years and are now the largest service apartment network in Australia with over 100 locations. Could be a useful option when we are visiting Australia.

Writing table, could have been bigger!

Yummy mini-bar... The Quick Breakfast Pack (on left) is from Travelfare. The rooms are also complete with cooking utensils and microwave oven. The 1- and 2-room apartments even include a laundry machine. For studios, there's one laundry machine for general use.

Finally, not forgetting this shot of the toiletries they provide in their bathroom. :)

For the list of all Quest Service Apartments in Australia:
http://www.questapartments.com.au/

Dining at the Quay?

Looking forward to dining here next Wed after my offsite management meeting at Sydney. Apparently this fine-dining restaurant has just been voted as Australia's Finest! Not once, but twice!!

Quay made history this evening when it was named Restaurant of the Year at The Sydney Morning Herald 2009 Good Food Guide Awards. This tops off an extraordinary year, as Quay was also judged Restaurant of the Year at the Australian Gourmet Traveller 2009 Restaurant Guide Awards.

This is the first time in culinary history that a restaurant has received both awards in the same year.

In case you wish to drop by,

Overseas Passenger Terminal
The Rocks, Sydney 2000
P: 61 2 9251 5600
F: 61 2 9251 5609
E: info@quay.com.au
http://www.quay.com.au/

Will post some pics of the dinner later... :)

After a long hiatus, I guess it's time to come back and keep this blog chugging along.... :P

To kick this off, let me intro you to a site that sells acrylic painting based on retro-computers like the ZX Spectrum and Apple II.

The ZX Spectrum is my first computer many many years back and one of the games I was smitten with back then was Manic Miner.

The Retro Painting site seems to have quite a number of painting based on Miner Willy. I like!!

But it's tagged at EU300 *sigh*

Here's one that everyone should be familiar with - the Space Invaders!

If you fancy paying EU300, check this site out. http://www.digitalretro.org/

Hint: Talk to Boris (the owner and the person who did all the painting) - he can give you a sweet deal. ;)