Fun filled weekend...

This entry is ultra long, please read this only if u have the time to do so. Don't say that i didnt warn u! =P

Saturday: I woke up at 7am and got ready by 7:55am and waited until my friends picked me up. They didnt arrive until 8:20am. We headed out to Krispy Kreme in Penrith to meet up with everyone else. We got there at 9am on the dot as per requested. We hung around there for an hour and half - some wanted to get breakfast and others went to Wooleys. We got some groceries and then headed for Blue Mts. We stopped at the Hydro and i told everyone that i would tell all that that was where we were staying, but i wont lie. I took a couple of fotos there though. I'm such a tourist! =P

We then left to go to our motel and got settled in. We all figured that we would go and eat before horsey riding. So, we went to a local pub just a walk away. The air was really crisp and clean...i had one of the best vege burgers ever at the pub. I really enjoyed pity i was on the last days of my detox and i couldnt appreciate the chips! =( My friends were more than happy to polish them off for me! *LoL*

After lunch, we went back to the motel...then headed to the farm where we were going to go horseback riding. It was a really nice location, although the dirt road would have better suited a rally car not a little hatch or any of the sedans my friends were driving. We had to sign a disclaimer, in case of falling off the horse which worried me a little...it was my first time. My horse's name was Dusty. She was a creamy coloured horse who really liked this other horse named Billy. Where ever Billy went, Dusty would be on his tail. I was on the third horse from the guide and it was fun the horse started walking along, but the first time she started trotting, i almost got thrown off. I didnt expect it and i wasnt sure what to do - ur suppose to sorta stand to lessen the impact of the bouncing.

I took some fotos when we walked through the valley. It was quite scary as we climbed a mountain side. The path was like 50 cms wide, and some of our horses loss their footing and slid a little. Freaked a few of us out, because we didnt really want to fall and tumble down the mountainside where there were heaps of sharp rocks. I felt sorry for Dusty...there came a time about 1.5 hours into the trip...Dusty was sort of limping...i kept apologising to her, telling her how sorry i was, this fat arse on her back.

It was a fun experience, but i dont think ill ever go again, i felt really bad for the horses. When i got off the horse my left knee felt really jarred. I dont think i was sitting on her properly. I finally decided to end my detox (although, 2 days early) because on the way back to the motel after dinner my best friend and i bought some Magnum - yes it was the Vice Cream, she really needed it, and i wanted it when i saw it! Then, we celebrated a friend's birthday with a blueberry cheesecake...like it was perfect timing...i couldnt resist! hahaha

Thankfully, when i got back to our room after all the desserts, i did some yoga stretches and when i woke up on Sunday, i didnt feel a single ache. Although, one of my friends, she was hurting really really badly because when she got back from horse riding - she set up Mahjong and 4 of them played until 2am. They didnt really want to give up because they had made a bet and the stakes were quite high. The three losers would have to buy breakfast, lunch and dinner for the person who won 5 games first. (They still havent finished off the bet yet, its to be continued!)

Sunday: We woke up at about 7:30am and bummed in bed still gossiping. One by one we got ready and everyone headed to Katoomba for a big breakfast before we all went to Echo Point to bushwalk. We decided to go and eat at this cafe called "Cafe Trehearne". I ordered a Hot Caramel drink, and a Full Breakfast: bacon, eggs, sausages, potato rotise, mushrooms & toast. Its funny when u go to a outer suburb or NSW and because there is very little asians living around there, the moment u do see asians, u notice them. When three of us girls went inside to claim a table (we had to split up because there was 13 of us and the largest table sat 6 people) there was this table of 4 asian guys...and its a bit daunting...because they followed our every move. In some ways it was flattering. They were continuously checking us out. My friends bf left to go to work that morning and would return for the Murder Mystery dinner that nite, so she was one of the single girls that day. I told her my observations and she noticed it too...we then told our other friend, who was oblivious to it. She decided to test it out by getting up and walking to the other table to speak to someone about something...and we watched their eyes follow her every move. We just cracked up every time one of the guys went to the Men's room...they would come back and before they sat down, they would stare and linger for a long time before they would actually sit down.

Can i just say, i was impress with the music the Cafe was playing...i was swaying in my seat...Michael Buble, all the way! *sigh*

We headed off to Kmart afterwards as some friends still needed some props for the Murder Mystery. We stood outside in the freezing cold and when they came out i saw this couple wearing shorts. The girl had a jumper on, while the guy was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts! Like, wtf? We all hopped into the car and went to Echo Point. Searching for parking was really bad...we circled a couple of blocks a few times.

When we all met up, we decided to go walk to down to the 3 sisters, and then did a walk that took 1.5 hours. Going down stairs is fine, although, technically it jarrs ur knees. Climbing the stairs on the way back was painful! With each step i took, the lactic acid in my thigh increased! *yuck* One of my friends were buddied up with one of the guys for the last leg...we charged up those stairs like we were training for combat, cos we realised that it was nearly due time for the parking meter! *doh!*

Since our breakfast was more like brunch...we didnt eat until it was like 10:45am...so we didnt have lunch. When we got back to our room, we just pigged out on junk food! *LoL* I had the spinach and fetta pull apart from Bakers Delight...the taste of bread...*oh how i miss u so much!* One by one, again, we got ready...but tonite we were dressing up for our Murder Mystery - The Great Chef.

I decided not to wear my short skirt and heels in the freezing cold and opted to wear my jeans first and change in the toilet once we got to Balmoral Guest House. The place was very 1940's, which suited the mood of the mystery. And the food was so delicious...or it could have been the simple fact that i hadnt had any meat for 20 days now that made it so yum...

Entree was a pumpkin soup that had a distinct lemon grass taste to it, which really spiced it up and warmed up my tummy! Main was a 1/4 roast chicken with gravy and steamed veges. Dessert was an apple and berry crumble with double cream on the side and a strawberry to garnish. I got a small scoop...pity...cos i was waiting for the dessert! *RoFL* =P

There was an eerie feel to the place which set the mood for the killing of the Chef - Alan Davies. Everyone got their champagne, while i got my apple juice...and then we all got our scripts...One by one we got up in front of the group and read or acted out our lines. Joe the Slasher ended up being a Kung fu fighting gangster that kept stabbing people between lines, and doing high kicks!
*it was so funny!*

George the Pot Cleaner had an infatuation with Paula the Singer...and he kept saying to her: "...isn't it *pause* Paula?" My friend played this character pretty funny...each time he would read out a line, he'd pause and scour his prop - a pot! It was like those "artistic" poetry readings that were sorta interactive...it sounded a bit like a rap in between also.

General Davies, the Chef's brother was the Best Dressed (in character) in my opinion...even with a safari hat! General Davies was lusting after his sister in law - Mary Davies who was interested in the General cos her hubby was a cheating bastard with many a mistress on the sidelines, who kept his wife hidden from the world! Paula the Singer was one of these mistresses, and her father Fred the Butcher (this was revealed towards the end) was not too happy about this. He also supplied the meat to the Chef and the Cooking Institution, but the Great Chef wanted to cut him off by using a different supplier...he didnt like this fact either.

To me, Fred had the most motive, all the clues supported what we thought except for one. I was picked to adjudicate the group when we tried to agree on the murderer. I said out of jest, but i also suspected that it was be the least expected suspect, that it may have been "Katie the Secretary to the Chef"...I said that my idea may sound bogus, but what if her husband (William, who was only briefly mentioned as not being present in their home when Katie left the Institute that Saturday) and Katie had something to do with it. That her husband went to war - to tie in with the story and she knew how to use the murder weapon...? The group went back to thinking it was Fred.

We ended the night with a little walk around the Guest House...but i decided to stay in the Sitting Room, so that i could make a quick bolt to the car. I couldnt be buggered to change back to my jeans cos everyone sorta up and left before i could...I had changed from my heels to my warm boots earlier on before dessert...and when my friend unlocked his car, i bolted from the front door of the Guest house to the car door. I gotta tell you, that was the most freezing 10 seconds of my life, cos as i ran, my short skirt flounced up, catching a lot of the icy breeze! *grrr*

When we got back to the motel, we had a very funny Charade episode, Boys Vs Girls! Bourne Identity is a laugh and a half...when u give it to a guy to do. They always do the standing version of a woman giving birth, and when all else fails, the boys always go on the backs and do the lying down version of a woman giving birth, in hope that their team will guess "born" and make a correlation with the movie title!

I must say that when i guessed Shrek in like a few moments...the guys were dumbfounded! The reason why i guessed it was because us girls had thought about giving that movie title to the boys to act out! We gave Anastacia to a boy and all he could do was stand their in silence, and periodically say "f***, i dunno how to do this?" ahahahahaha

One of the most ridiculous "objects" i had to show was a bloody G-String. The boys thought that it would be funny to see a girl "act" it out! They were going to give me "Bra", but that would have been way too easy! They gave one of my friends a "cucumber" to act out. The guys were giggling like little school girls, but my friend on our team guessed it in like 2 seconds flat.

And of course us girls were the first to reach the score of 15.

My eyes were buggered, i think its the prolong exposure to airconditioning at work mixed with the continual running of the heaters to counteract the freezing airconditioning (we are also situated next to the server room). But back to my point, so i decided to go back to the girl's family room and sleep, (we were playing in the boy's family room). But when i got back and brushed my teeth my friend already in bed wasnt sleeping and wanted to chat...and soon the other girls returned. One friend couldnt sleep. So, she calls one of the boys and asked what they were doing? He said that they were all in bed, but were still up "talking". So she asked if she could come over and listen as she was still wide awake at 2am.

She then threatened us, that if we didnt go over she would talk about us to the boys...i unwillingly grabbed my sleeping bag, popped my boots on and trudged over with another friend. We got in and the "talk" was good. Good for insight, understanding, and building our friendship. I think i understand the boys more. And i think they gained insight about us girls too. So, either way, it was a beneficial D&M (as one friend termed it during a game of Taboo). Mentioning "taboo"...when we were talking into the wee hours of the day we breached some "taboo" topics, and one friend was very frank and explicit. When we drove home, he asked if it was something that we felt uncomfortable about talking, to guys even? My friend and i in the same car said no it wasnt...i expressed that with my girl friends from high school may feel abit "funny" but i was fine with it!

We all went to bed at about 3:30-4:00am. Some boys were snorring half way through the convo.

Monday: We woke at about 8am, one by one got ready and packed our bags ready to leave. The grocery that we bought, we had decided to go to a picnic area and have as brunch. Then, drive home to have an early dinner somewhere local. We went to Wentworth Falls. Had the food and the group split up to play various things. Some boys set up cricket and played, whilst us girls and some boys were preparing to play some game, which i cant remember the name of, but it was sorta like Bullrush, but not really.

The first go was disqualified cos one girl ran before i said go. The second go was between 2 boys and one of the boys, when he was running to homebase, he dived & slid, doing an action like a touchdown. Only he skidded along some rocks and got injured on his hands and arms. Luckily, there were 3 pharmacists, 3 physiotherapists, and 2 lawyers present.

We decided to quit playing anything rough and chose to play Hot Streak. It was hilarious. One friend said to me Cleopatra and i said in answer to her clue "pharaoh?". I was right, i turned to the next player and said "think pyramid, sphinx is for...?" and then she turned to the next player and her clues were way off...she was talking about the Australian Anthem...? O_o My clue was a bit dodge, but she got the correct word. I think better clues should have been: "Another name for an Egyptian King, Tutenkhamun was a...?, Hatsheptsut was a female...?"

The boys who were playing cricket was playing on the slope of the hill...so it was bound to happen that the ball would be lost at some stage. When they lost the ball, they came over and we did a Boy Vs Girl challenge of Taboo in the Park. Guys tried to swindle a seafood dinner out of us as the prize for the winners. The boys won first round, then the girls won the second round, and then the boys won the final round. I never agreed to dinner, I voiced that from the start! =P

After the game of Taboo, we decided to go for a bushwalk to the Falls, since we were there. When we got down there, we saw this pretty rainbow where the waterfall was. It seemed like the water was being pushed into the atmosphere by the strong winds and the sun just illuminated the drops of water as they rose. Very pretty! =)

We decided to leave after we got back from the walk. We headed home but were going to stop for dinner. We thought since it was a Public Holiday, we were better off going to an asian restaurant. So, we did, and i quite enjoyed it. Let me recap the drive home...

We were listening to a cd M had quickly prepared before we left Sydney...Salt N Pepper's Push It was on and the driver of the car said "Lets do car dance moves for this song...something like this..." and he showed us some hand movements, M modified it to a more girly move. I gotta admit, the whole choreographing dance moves to songs like Usher's Yeah, and some other songs that i cant remember the title of, just made the ride home in traffic fun and quicker.

We had a bit more of the D&Ms...the funniest part was when i asked a friend about a comment he made about me, that he was shy about telling me to my face...fearful that i would be offended. He clarified with a comparison and his hand action, which happened to make M all cheery, claiming he was sweet for giving me such a compliment. I told him that his compliment would keep me happy for at least 3 months! Before i would need another compliment! ahahahhaa

We got back to familiar turf and the driver needed a quick toilet break, so we turned up at the restaurant after everyone else...We, at our table, decided to have a Seafood Steamboad and in the name of being Asian...i got a grass jelly drink too! *LoL* The boys said that they wanted to do Steamboat at someone's place...guess who needs to co-ordinate and organise it? >_<

It was all in all a very enjoyable weekend. I do claim that it was one of the best weekends i've had away in a while now, and it was the first time i went away with the boys from highschool too.

As we all parted to go home and rest, we all hugged and said goodbye. We dropped M off first, and then the boys were going to drop me off there after. The driver was going in the right direction but ended up at another friends house, because he turned left not right to go to my street! *LoL* he said it was a reflex when he got to our area. The last two people insisted that we get the newbies to buy the seafood for the steamboat once the organisation was underway! (I personally think its slack) According to them, there was no point in seniority if we didnt abuse it! Seafood for 12 or more people is expensive. So slack those guys...but it was funny! *LoL*