I went to the blood bank yesterday to donate blood in Australia for the first time. I have given blood before in Hong Kong but not in Australia, so they gave me this blood shape sticker for me to put on so the nurses knew that I was a first timer…

After a series of questions, I proceeded to give blood. They were going to take 470cc of blood out of me. That’s quite a lot because I think I use to give around 350cc in Hong Kong. Perhaps it was a lot of blood to take from me, because I felt a little dizzy after they took the needle out. The nurses were very professional, they quickly put the chair down to let my blood go back to my brain and right away put a cold towel on my forehead & gave me water to drink. It never happened to me before so I felt a little embarrassed. After around 15 minutes I felt much better and I made my way to the lounge. I was amazed how “well stocked” the lounge was. They had biscuits, gummi bears, cheese, juice, milkshakes, tea & coffee, milo, ice coffee (they even had a menu for you to order from!!)…. and there were couches, magazines & newspapers to read.. it was like a Qantas lounge!

I really think that the Australian Red Cross treats their donors very well. They pick you up from work, give you full size drink after and unlimited food to eat, then they drop you back to work! How convenient is that! In Hong Kong we only have juice and plastic cheese. Anyway I guess it’s differences in culture. Chris told me that when he was younger, they even gave you sausages rolls and pies. Gee, free meal when you give blood!!! That should replace Centrelink (for non-Australians, Centrelink is social welfare who gives money to people who is unemployed)!!! I mean, in Hong Kong, if you don’t work, you have no money and the Government won’t help you… so it makes sense if you want something, give something! So in this case, give blood and you can have free lunch there!

Anyway, my thoughts after I gave blood is that Australia is too wealthy in some way, which I’m sure a lot of Australians take for granted.. probably because they do not know any different and they should appreciate it more.

The wooden frame of all seven Terraces are up! The first three Terraces had started brick laying and these are our bricks. Chris and I both like the brick colour

31 Oct 2009 is our last day of our honeymoon trip. We got up and had our buffet breakfast, becuase Chris and I will travel long hours later on, we decided to eat more during breakfast. We caught a bus to the Hakodate Train Station, exchanged the express train U seat tickets and decided to go over to the fish market nearby while we are waiting for the express train. There were a lot of squid product, other seafood and fruit. I ended up buying some fruit; lunch and some last minute gifts before we board our express train to the Airport. We departed Hakodate at around 11am and arrived in Sapporo at around 2:50pm. We checked in our luggage and went directly to our boarding gate. I was a little upset because I was going to do some more last minute shopping at the airport and we went to the gate instead. So I spent some yens on chips and lollies instead.

That’s our honeymoon trip, it was good however Chris was unwell from Day 2, poor Chris…

We still got quite a bit of yen left so we definitely will be back to Japan in some stage!!

Chris and I caught a tram into town after our buffet breakfast. We first visited the landmark of Hakodate – Goryokaku Tower. The tower has the lookout which you can see 360° around Hakodate, it also shows the history of Hakodate and Toshizo Hijikata, and how they designed the fortress. Around the tower, there are parks within Goryokaku, there are plenty of red leaves there, very pretty!

After Goryokaku, Chris and I took a walk to the harbour area to have a look at some more buildings, which has converted into food markets and tourist attractions. We stopped by at this Japanese fast food chain called “Lucky Pierrot”, and had Chicken Burger and Curry Pork Rice, Chris’ favouite!

We then returned to the hotel for a rest and spent some time in on-sen. After the rest, it is time for our dinner again, Chris and I were worried that we will eat the same food as the night before, but we realised the dinner menu is new. Also, the waitness has “cool down” our dinner room, becuase we both found it very warm the night before, we actually finally can enjoy 23 degrees cool dining room!! The new menu includes: Starter (with tofu), sashimi bowl, beef shabu shabu, seafood bake in bun, crab legs with Japanese mayonnaise, little fried fish on rice, cooked vegies, deep fried crab claw and dumplings, and other weird dish which we do not what it was.

After dinner, we joined a night tour to experience the night view of Hakodate, which we have been told that it is one of the top three night view in the world. Since Chris and I already very familiar with one of the three top night view – Hong Kong, we were eager to compare which one is better. We were viewing on the lookout of the mountain and it was a very windy cold night, it made the already sick Chris sicker… poor Chris.

Chris and I went out to celebrate last Friday because I found out that I had a pay raise, and it was back paid from 1 January 2010. This is my first raise since I got promoted last August. The raise was quite sufficient so we decided to go to Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse in Civic to celebrate. This was our first time to dine in this restaurant and we do not what to expect as I heard many people said that place is overpriced.

Chris had already decided what he wants to have before we go to the restaurant, as he checked out the menu online and he said he wanted Wagyu Rib-eye (350 day grain-fed, marble score 6-7, QLD). And I’ve decided to have Alaskan King Crab Carpet Bag. As this restaurant is famous for Steak and Crab, I’ve chosen to have these two indigenous. This is basically a fillet steak stuffed with alaskan king crab & tarragon butter. Sounds good isn’t it?

We also order two cocktails prior to our mains, I had “Pink Butterfly” and Chris had “Rum Punch”. For the red, we had Claymore ‘Graceland’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, and green beans & caramelised onions on the side.

After dinner, we went to next door to KoKo Black to have dessert…

The food was great, however compare to the price, it was okay. And in my opinion, Australian Wagyu beef cannot compare with Japanese Wagyu beef…  I must take Chris to have Japanese Wagyu beef when we next back to Hong Kong!