Liza’s Life

Hello folks!

Apologies for the extended absence - busy season kicked in, plus study started taking up WAY too much time!!

I passed EBA, so am now qualified as a Chartered Accountant. The results came out last Friday and was emailed to me. I was at a client surrounded by the audit team. I had decided earlier not to check the email, as I had a bad feeling about the assignment and didn’t want to spoil my weekend. After about 45 minutes (and some pressure from my colleagues!) I caved in and opened the email - and I PASSED!! I couldn’t believe it, it still hasn’t hit me really - no more study ever, ever, ever! Unless I choose to do an MBA (and I would be MAD to attempt that any time soon).

Since then, it’s been a good week. Celebrations started on Friday night, I went out with a mate who was down from KL - we hit The Archer then Scuzzi for a pizza. On Thursday, we were taken out for a bottle of Moet & Chandon by one of the partners. Then this Friday just gone, a group of about 20 from A&A headed out for dinner (to Taj Tandoor - service was ATROCIOUS, I was so cross by the time our food arrived at NINE PM, I didn’t enjoy any of it). As usual when there’s alcohol involved, things got pretty messy pretty quickly. About seven of us hit The Stag after dinner for a few more drinks and a lot of dancing. I like the music at The Stag but the crowd is so sleazy-50-year-old-man!

I think that was the end of our celebrations, life goes on and I have the next chapter of my life to look forward to.

Well, I guess I should note down my trip to Sydney over Easter, before I forget the details!

Madam Stamford and I decided to visit Party Girl, who had moved to Sydney earlier this year. We all used to work together at Firm B and remained in touch. I don’t think I know anyone now in Firm B - everyone’s moved on. Gone to other firms, other cities, Canada … The people left I either didn’t really know, or I don’t care to keep in touch with. BFTP’s ex is still there, but then she’s not going anywhere, the cow. Guess that’s what sleeping with boss gets you.

So Madam Stamford and I caught the red-eye from Adelaide to Sydney on Good Friday. I didn’t get much sleep the night before - too excited! The flight was smooth, apart from this rugby-player-sized dude who had the seat next to me taking up about half my space! MS and I chatted most of the way. I brought my Cole Haan Sierra Satchel as hand luggage, it’s pretty roomy and pretty to look at too.

PG picked us up from the airport. We stopped at Gloria Jeans for coffee. Then to PG’s apartment - it was raining in Sydney, and about 20 deg C. A cold weekend - and 30 deg C in Adelaide!! We rested for a bit, then headed back out, to Manly. I think that’s the equivalent to our Glenelg. We took the train to Circular Quay, then the ferry to Manly. It was smooth going until we hit the heads, then I started feeling queasy. We were sitting outside too, and I felt like any minute I would be thrown overboard. We got onshore much to my relief, had lunch then went for a walk - if you check my pictures out, the one with me and the penguin sculpture was taken at Manly. We followed a walking trail, there were lots of people about with their dogs. It rained lightly now and then. There were sculptures along the trail, set on the rocks that lined the side of part of the walking trail.

We returned to Circular Quay, then headed to The Rocks for dinner. We ate at the Rocks Cafe - cake and bruschetta - real healthy fare! It was nice to catch up with the girls and talk about things. A girly weekend!

Saturday was spent out in town. We had yum cha in China Town for brunch, excellent stuff - beats anything we have in Adelaide! But Citizen on King William is close. China Town in Sydney is much larger than our little bit of Moonta in Adelaide. Then shopping - we went to the outlets, I picked up a few things, tops mostly from Cue, Lili, Ralph Lauren. We then went to Pitt Street and Castlereagh Street. I stopped by Mecca Cosmetica, for some Bumble and bumble, then picked up this gorgeous royal purple satiny dress from MNG. We popped into Tiffanys, Chanel, Burberry, Bally and Louis Vuitton but everything was so pricey. I did like the Batignolle at LV but for $910 I think it can wait!

It was raining a bit more heavily and I just wanted to be home and dry. PG insisted on finding the Lindt Cafe and I was like do we really need to, but we got there and it was gorgeous! If you are in Sydney do have a try, they make the most beautiful chocolate desserts and drinks I’ve ever had!

We had tickets to see Priscilla that night. It’s a musical based on Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and it was playing at the Star City Casino. It was the best time I had in Sydney, it was that good! Just the whole gay thing and stellar music … AWESOME!! I picked up the program and the mug - maybe I should’ve gotten the CD … girls just wanna have fun … eighties music, it does bring back memories!

Then we got rained on some more while waiting for a cab to take us to Darling Harbour. MS and I were a bit tired but PG was raring to go.

TBC…

I had a study leave day yesterday, the purpose of which was to start and complete my initial submission for EBA, my final (hopefully!) module for the CA Program.

I had been stressing about this submission as the furthest I had gotten was reading the requirements and making some notes. It’s hard for me to get more than one hour of study done during week nights as I usually put in a full day at work and consequently come back home dog-tired.

The night before, I fell into bed at 8.30pm, the result of waking up at 5.30am twice this week, and a general tiredness from looking after my team. I had a pretty good sleep, woke up once at 4am, then got up properly at 8.30am. I felt like crap but it was nothing a cold & flu pill couldn’t cure!

I started typing at 10am, and made pretty good progress. By the time I stopped for lunch, I was feeling like yeah, I can do this!

Lunch was with Mrs Director, a friend from Firm B. We went to Goodlife Pizza on Hutt Street. It was practically empty when we got there at around 1pm but the service was still slow! Then we found out that they had a big group out back. I had the Swiss Brown Mushrooms pizza and Mrs Director had the Roasted Vegetables pizza. Excellent stuff, I’ll definitely be back for more!! It was good to catch up with her, she had some great news to share and I’m so pleased for her and Mr Director!

I headed home and continued with the assignment. I reached 1400 words then took a nap. The maximum is 1500 words and I’m 95% done in terms of addressing the requirements, I can get it all done tomorrow, then submit it.

Dinner was with the MC girls, from the first firm I worked at in Adelaide. We first started going out about once a month when I was working there, then continued after I left (which was a couple of years ago!). These two are stellar friends, loyal and they’ve been at every birthday (except that Rapunzel missed my first one in Adelaide but she was ill I think so I forgave her) which, you’ll know if you’ve read my previous posts, means the world to me. We went to Stamps, a restaurant in outer suburbia… no, kidding, in Mitcham? Or in that area anyway. It was excellent, I had the aged beef fillet with sweet potato mash and some mustard dressing. Really good. Then I had dessert while the girls drank another bottle of Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. We headed to The Ed, which I thought was called The Mitcham, for a few more drinks (I had a Baileys on ice and a couple of glasses of Chenin Blanc). I don’t mind The Ed, it’s quite an elegant pub and it wasn’t too noisy. I called it a night around midnight but the girls hit the city.

All in all, a productive, fun day - I really needed one of those!

I popped into Rundle Mall this morning, as per my usual Saturday morning routine. The purpose was to do some chores i.e. pick up concert tickets, tailoring, dry-cleaning…

Naturally I had to pop into David Jones to look at, yep you guessed it, the bags! They are having a pretty good sale at the moment so I thought maybe there would be something worth buying…and there was! Here is the list:

Ralph Lauren Black Belted Tote $249, RRP $599; Escada Sport Fuschia Leather Tote $450, RRP $950 and Emporio Armani Light Blue Leather Bag $495, RRP $790. Pretty good bargains all round! I love David Jones! I’m sure most of these will end up on my eBay listings, I have no room in my closet for anymore bags! It’s so hard to let them go though!

So I’ve stopped dreaming about the blue Balenciaga Le Dix, that would’ve cost me over $1000 as I would need to have it shipped from New York and pay customs and GST on it too! David Jones also had a couple of Chloe Paddingtons arrive last week. I got a call so popped in last weekend, they cost $2400 and I just couldn’t justify that much money on a bag I needed to unlock every time I wanted to open it - so impractical. It is such a lovely bag though, and I envy anyone who has that much money to throw around. Speaking of wanted bags, we popped into the Louis Vuitton store on Castlereagh Street in Sydney (more on the Sydney trip later), and I saw the Batignolle! It was so pretty on my arm! It’s on my list for my next trip to KL…

Ahh… I’m so happy right, my bags are so beautiful!!

I am having quite a bit of fun on eBay at the moment. I’ve bought a few things, a dress by Stella McCartney for H&M arrived from Canada today, it’s a beautiful deep blue silk wrap dress and I love it! I’ve also started selling my stuff - mostly the result of this new season’s clothes and my lack of space. I have too many things, my bags have overflowed on to my bedroom floor. I have sold a Kenneth Cole and an Oroton, along with shoes (most of my heels have gone, I have been banned from wearing heels ever since my doctor in Miri had an x-ray taken, showing I had obvious ’spikes’ which shouldn’t be there), books, foundation, jewellery … I was wondering if I should sell the Burberry but it is a classic tote and will never date plus everyone should have a Burberry or LV so it’s back in my closet. I do want an LV but I always feel like it would look fake. I saw one in the KL store, the Batignolle I think it was called. I’m definitely heading back there on my next trip home!

Anyway, I probably wouldn’t dream of doing this Malaysia but in Australia we have a convenient set-up in terms of Australia Post (very efficient - love the prepaid satchels!) and PayPal which enables buyers to pay with their Visa or Mastercard, along with internet banking.

I still don’t have much space but at least my things are going to someone who would use them more than me!

Lonsdale … down south. It takes me 45 mins to drive there and 45 mins to get back home. I did this for three weeks. Looking forward to my mileage claim! Thank god for my CD player!! My current client is located there and they’re pretty easy going. We get kicked out at 5pm most days, sometimes earlier, sometimes we can stay a bit later (but this is rare).

I have a pretty good team. I was relieved when I realised I could trust them! Blondie has particularly impressed me, she has accepted all tasks assigned to her and done them well. She challenges me, which I need, as it strenghtens my confidence when I can explain issues or technicalities to her. Sweet Thing is perhaps a little emotional (and gets a bit bogged down with some things) but she is eager to learn and happy to be working. Also, she’s only a graduate so I have to rein in my comments now and then, I try not to be hard on graduates, they’re only new after all.

The client has a reputation for being difficult but I haven’t had too much trouble with her. I think as with most things, if handled with respect, people generally respond well.

I’d never been down to Lonsdale before and it’s not too bad. There is the Colonnades (the first Starbucks in SA opened here). I have a weakness for the Caramel Frappucino, I think I’ve had one at least once a week for a while now. It’s only recently that I’ve turned to caramel lattes (maybe cos it’s getting cooler). And Gloria Jeans’ Choc Macadamia Lattes!!! Mmm…that’s a piece of heaven right there! Anyway, so there’s enough to keep us amused when we head out for lunch. We could even check out the Stella McCartney for Target range on the second day of its release, at the Reynella store. I ended up going to the Marion store and bought the dark blue empire line dress. Not sure if I will ever wear it but I have something wearable from the range, at least! That range is SO for tall people!!

We had lunch at St Francis Winery one Friday. Beautiful food. Will definitely be back there. We had lunch at Fasta Pasta one day as well, but the next day Sweet Thing didn’t feel too good … we think it was the olives.

But back to Lonsdale - I am enjoying running a job, I definitely get to see the big picture, my head’s not stuck in payables and detail testing. The client has specific risks too and consolidation, areas which I have had either limited or no exposure to. I have White Knight to thank for this, not that he came to my rescue, I chose him, but he certainly came through for me! I know it’s a small job compared to our platinum clients but that’s the beauty of it - I get the experience I need, and I can try out new things and devise my own testing and if it all falls apart, it’s only a small job. It’d be much worse if I was on one of the platinums, the first time I ran a job. The spotlight would be on me if I failed.

So I am happy at work, despite the drama last year with Mr Vain and all the stress that came with. The partners handled it very well and I feel that I was looked after. I think I’ve found the right balance between a social work environment, challenging work and a future that I can see (and not just promised). I’m here to stay!

Today is the first day in our new office on Waymouth Street. I walked from home today, took me about 25mins, dragging my files and laptop in my wheelie bag. It’s meant to be a green building. I have no idea what that means! The lifts are pretty cool, we have to punch in our floor number on this electronic pad in the foyer and it tells us which lift to take. There are no buttons in the lifts - which is scary, what are we meant to do if we get stuck?

We are on Level 17 and it’s open plan. The view is stellar, much better when we were on Level 4 on Flinders St. The dividers are really low but we have lots of desk space. As Audit people are nomadic, we ‘hot desk’ and have to log online to book a desk before we come in. Then when we come in, we have to check-in, also online otherwise the system reads our desk as unoccupied and it would be allocated to someone else. We also get a locker (keys to come, so my things are still in the mover’s box) and a mug with our name on it - I am stoked about this mug, I like to see my name on things, it’s the narcissist in me! Oh, and there were muffins - with a blue and green topping. Company colours, I think.

All in all, I’m impressed by the new digs, can’t wait to check out the cafes and restaurants this side of town! The only downside is lack of parking - practically non-existent which is HUGE pain but everyone’s in the same boat so I can’t complain too much.

I guess if you know me at all, you’ll know I like my music. That was an understatement - I can’t live without it! I’ve got the radio on now, listening to Snow Patrol. I listen to it while I work, while I exercise (which isn’t often!), while I’m driving. I don’t have a particular genre that I like, it’s pretty much everything, I am as moved by Evanescence’s melodramatic I-want-you dead rants as I am by Mariah Carey’s diva don’t-leave-me ballads. My ringtone for one year was Kylie Minogue’s Love At First Sight, then for the year after that it was a Gavin Rossdale song (can’t remember what it was called, but it was good!). Now I’ve got the D&G Motorola and I can’t be bothered to download a song, but if I could be bothered, it would be a Hinder song. Or even Jesse McCartney - there’s a good one, something about trying and failing to let someone go…

I went to WOMAD a couple of weeks ago. That’s the annual World Music Adelaide festival, held at the Botanic Gardens. It was the first time I’d attended and it was pretty amazing. It was also pretty hot and I was in a barely-there blouse and a skirt (which was more there than the blouse) - I never wear skirts! I ended up having to buy a hat - it’s pink, naturally - and about a tank of water. I now have tan lines - gross. But the music was excellent, I was bopping along to a gamelan group from

Indonesia

(they did a dangdut - doesn’t that bring back memories??) and to Blue King Brown who were just fantastic! The highlight was Mariza from

Portugal

with her fudas. What a voice! She had us in the palm of her hand, she spoke good English and made us sing in Portugese -at one point she stopped us and said ‘no, no, no, maybe if you try in English, ready, sing EMBROIDERY!!’. A fuda is a Portugese style of song, dramatic and drawn out, like a Malay syair (but longer and with music). So we were singing along in Portugese, thinking this is such a dramatic song, I don’t know what exactly we’re singing about but it must be deep and then - EMBROIDERY!! There’s also a Portugese word ‘tempura’ which naturally made me think of the Japanese deep fried vegetables! I ended up buying her CD but to be honest I haven’t heard the whole thing, it’s all in Portugese and somehow not as dramatic as her live performance.

We also went to Evanescence recently. Amy

Lee

can sing, she totally blew me away! I’m not sure the performance had the right flow though, it seemed kind of disjointed and she wore this puffy pink thing that did her no favours. The best parts were when she played the piano. We went to the Governor Hindmarsh prior to the concert for dinner, it was packed and we had to sit outside. I had the lamb, which was pretty good. I’ve spent so much money on concerts this year - there’s Beyonce and Pink coming up. I forgot the Gwen Stefani tickets were on sale on Friday, then by Saturday morning the only tickets left were in section 24, BEHIND the stage - what is the point?? Oh well, I’m sure someone else will come down and I can go to them.

As far as the Malay music industry goes, I’m loving Jaclyn Victor at the moment, she has got some set of pipes! My favourites from her album are Gemilang and Tiada Lagi Indah. And of course Kau Ilhamku by Man Bai. Classic, soppy - perfect! Though some of the lyrics perplex me - they would sound so bad translated into English. I couldn’t find the CD when I was back home over Xmas so ended up downloading it from the Net - I am opposed to this generally as I think it rips off the artist but I made an exception for this song as I couldn’t find it anywhere else!

Now the Iban music industry (if you don’t already know, that’s my race, I am Iban by birth with a bit of Chinese and Kadazan thrown in, and a Malaysian citizen because I happened to be born in

Sarawak

when it had already joined the Federation) is STUCK in the SIXTIES!! Every song sounds the same and I am so embarassed I refuse to acknowledge any of it. Iban music - what’s that?? I know we should be proud of our heritage and support our artists but seriously, can we move forward and modernise the beats a little??

OK I’m off to get changed, I’m lounging around in my skirt (the WOMAD skirt!) and an old t-shirt from one of the firms I used to work for. I’ve got a lunch date with Miss E, we are having yum cha at Citi Zen on King William - good stuff, heaps better than anything on Gouger.

Oh and I’m loving my new hair colour - it’s just black with a bit of a purple/red sheen - but it won’t really show up in a photo so just imagine me with darker hair!

Till next time!

PS I bought a Nappy Roots CD today, it’s got the version of Awnaw with Marcus from POD guesting. It’s brilliant, the guitars and drums totally take the song to another level!

I went out for dinner with The Voice of Reason last night. She is my rock, we’ve been friends since Uni and I remember the first day we met, outside one of the lecture halls at Adelaide Uni, I’m pretty sure it was a Management Accounting lecture (I know, thrilling stuff!). She had just come back from her honeymoon and I was blown away -wow she’s married?? Honestly, I’ve had so much drama (I like drama but sometimes it’s gotten to be high drama and I’m left emotionally wrecked) in the past few years and she has been there every step of the way. Every single step, every birthday (I set great store by my birthday and who attends it, if you’re not there, you’re pretty much not on my list), through the men, the apartments, the jobs, more men (all unsuitable in retrospect, but oh-so-delicious at the time)…I think sometimes she wants to slap me and scream GET A GRIP GIRL!! But to her credit she never has. VOR, if you are reading this, you are a GREAT mate, thank you for all the crisis sessions, I don’t know what I’d do without you!!

We went to Zucca last night, it’s a beautiful Greek restaurant on Holdfast Shores in Glenelg. I love going to Holdfast shores, it’s so nice and elegant. We had a lovely seat with a view of the sea. I guess cos I had booked only SIX weeks earlier!! We had pita bread with dips - tzatziki, a fetta and capsicum one and a potato one. We couldn’t get enough. I love pita bread, compared to normal white bread, I don’t think I’ve had white bread for a while! Then we had mezzes (entree size dishes, there was a list of about 20). I went for the lamb souvlaki and beef meetballs. I couldn’t finish any of it. Then we went to Baskins Robbins on Jetty Road, I had two scoops of the caramel chocolate chip. I couldn’t finish that either. It was a cool night, it had been raining all afternoon but stopped around 6.30pm so we were cold but at least we were dry. We also had a Chain of Ponds Sauvignon Blanc - I recommend it! We are so lucky in South Australia, so much fine wine, and we don’t have to pay through our noses for it! I was wearing my pink furry GAP lambswool sweater with my Dorothy Perkins jeans and Novo boots. That sweater had to be sent with my brother, I had to leave behind 7kg of clothes at the Miri airport, I’m happy it’s arrived, just in time for the colder weather. My boots are fab, they are black and mid calf and have a ribbon - I love this current season’s clothes, it’s all bows and puffed sleeves … so romantic! The jeans are getting a bit loose, I think it’s cos I’m happy at the moment, I eat when I’m stressed (emotional eater!!) and always gain weight.

And a shout out to Ms Bags! Thanks again for the bags, I can’t believe they were held up by customs but I am glad I don’t have to pay duty!! I love green tea and will definitely be enjoying the box you sent over - I still can’t believe you did that, talk about going the extra mile, you’re a star!

Well I should get going, I’m loving this blog, but I need to get to Yellow Strawberry, my hairdresser is going to have her way with my hair. She’s a genius so I just bring a book and let her get on with it. Will upload a new picture if it turns out OK!

Toodly-doo!

So anyway, back to ‘him’. If you read my previous post, I don’t mean that I am actively considering going back there. It was very hard and I wasn’t very nice (I look back on some of the things I did and said, and blush, it was all very juvenile!). He wasn’t very nice either, I think the two of us just rub each other wrong way - so it was passionate but also volatile. Once burned twice shy, you know the saying. I like things to be new and shiny, we have baggage (he’s got a lot more than me but I don’t hold that against him) and starting again would be messy. It’s kind of hard to start afresh when we still have the same issues. And people don’t change, they just get mellower with age.

A lot of it is to do with me. I don’t like the way I feel where he is concerned. I never really did. He always had the upper hand, I don’t like being so vulnerable.

So - see how easy that was? I’ve talked myself out of it, whatever ‘it’ was.

On another topic, I bought the Hinder CD on the weekend, and I think it’s fantastic! I’ve been playing it in my car every day - it’s been keeping me company during my long drives to and from Lonsdale (more on Lonsdale later). Hinder is the band that did Lips of an Angel which is a killer song. I also like By The Way and Better Than Me. I’m obviously more of a ballad girl. The songs are so painful, he’s either devastated his girlfriend is leaving, telling another girl she deserves better, telling yet another girl that she should have known he wouldn’t change and there’s a line in one of the songs that goes ‘i can’t see what’s in front of me, the vodka’s running on empty, i can’t stay sober, cos its over’. I think it strikes a cord with me right now cos I can totally relate to the girl he’s singing to! Anyway, fantastic stuff, do give it a listen if you can.

Still on music, I’m so excited Beyonce is coming to Adelaide - it will be a killer show! I hope our seats aren’t too far back - I’d like to be able to see more than a spot where Beyonce is supposed to be!

OK, off to bed - it’s hot at the moment, and I’m sleepy.