10 - watch an aus open tennis match

i should have clarified that i meant to watch it at the showgrounds, as opposed to on TV which i have done for many years already. so this year, we got ground passes to watch the women's finals but it was a rather lack-lustre match and henin wasn't winning so i turned my attention to gossipping with friends and trying to figure out the waiting period protocol of making/replying to phone calls etc.

not sure if this is counted as a cop-out crossing out... if i'm around melbourne next jan i think i'll invest in some proper seats.

08 - perm my hair

i did this on 28 nov last year actually but i am really slow at updating this blog... anyway it's chinese new year so i felt like it was probably time to take stock of progress. it's a little depressing actually, overwhelmed by STUFF TO DO.

18 - day spa

otherwise known as a D-A-I-Y-E spa.

went to daylesford for a weekend of pampering - late afternoon drive through scenic towns such as woodend (twinge of townal-inferiority on benalla's behalf), gorgeous holiday cottage with an outdoorsy indoors spa in which we soaked whilst watching zoolander, bric-a-brac shopping, awesome chowder, mini golf, lookout tower at wombat hill, dinner at the swanky lakehouse where i had the best cocktail ever (bombay blossom if you're interested, it's a gnt with elderflower and coriander), and finally the day spa treatment the next day.

how was it? meh. nice, but i didn't feel thaaat much better afterwards. the massage wasn't hard enough on my neck and shoulders, the jets in the spa were nice and strong but only lasted 20 mins, i realised i prefer diy facials and the scrub was good but not $280 good. conclusion - i'm glad i did it, but i don't think i'll be going again. i'll just rent a cottage with a spa and spend the rest on a good physio.

 

the daylesford day spa

our own spa at 'home'

ps. i still like benalla.

16 - stay in a 5* hotel

last friday i had a course on oral surgery which was held at the langham hotel - ranked #1 in mebourne according to tripadvisor. we decided it was time to spoil ourselves (not that we usually deprive ourselves) and booked a table at oyster for dinner, and a room at the langham. it was to be a night of luxury - fresh oysters, delicious grilled fish, gorgeous hotel with complimentary hot chocolates on arrival, king bed, and the richest chocolate mousse from the room service menu. We also ordered a banana split - topped with pistachios no less! peanuts are clearly far too pedestrian.

the only downer to the evening was the bitter cold of melbourne streets, and the unchivalrous boys we had dinner with who ignored our unsubtle hints to give us a lift to our car which was parked a few blocks away.

11 - build a snowman

there was never enough time in europe to build a snowman, so this winter, being so close to the snow, i was determined to realise my dream. there's even a snow wombat.

90 - carve a cusp in amalgam

occasionally i see people come into the dental surgery with such shocking oral hygiene (ie non-existant) that i think resin composites will just not last in that mouth. so for ages i was whacking the ol' fuji ix in everywhere, until i figured i should just learn to use amalgam properly. a few weeks ago i had some time out to observe another dentist work for a day, and got some pointers about carving. a few days later, i had to do a cuspal coverage of an upper molar. as i took the band off, my nurse said 'very nice! that's a work of art!' because for once my amalgam had a cusp! it wasn't actually thaaat nice, but a cusp is a cusp :)

he also suggested sketching more teeth to understand the anatomy (uhh.. yeah i'll do that later).