The years burn

Fun fact of the day: This morning I found that the opening chord of the song Down by Anberlin is uncannily similar to (if not the same as) the one in Disarm by The Smashing Pumpkins. They’re two amazing songs, by two amazing bands. Two completely different songs, and I guarantee you’ll like at least one of them.

Yesterday James and I celebrated our four-year anniversary with dinner at a lovely restaurant called 168 degrees. It was a mix of Asian and European, or “Asian Fusion”. James found the Eatability.com.au entry and suggested we try it. I had looked endlessly for nice Japanese restaurants and ridiculously fancy places to eat out, but you know what they say about looking too far into something, so much so that you completely miss what’s staring you in the face. I suppose that happened with me on a seemingly endless search for a good place to eat. /um

James made a perfect choice. :D He made a booking on the website even though he was in a bit of doubt about whether it was really a booking service. He got a confirmation email and after looking at it I thought it was pretty legitimate. He picked me up at 5:00 yesterday evening just as my dad came back from picking my mum up from work.

I was pretty confident with directions so I practically insisted James turn off the GPS. I had been around the area as I have family friends who live in the suburbs surrounding the restaurant. We got stuck at a little detour because the road had changed since I’d last been there. Oops. :P We managed to get out alright, though.

We had a table reserved for us at the restaurant and James was pretty surprised that the booking worked. I wasn’t that surprised! The staff were very friendly and welcoming and they made us feel at home. They weren’t snobby or overly formal, which I really liked. (One of the staff reminded me of James’s mum, but I haven’t told him that. /hehe Hahahaha.)

We decided to order an entree and a main meal each. We got these spring roll/crepe hybrids (as James called them on his blog with Angus beef. It was delicious. James got a slightly different one which I think had zucchini and more vegetables. It wasn’t as tasty as mine but it was good.

James was again a bit skeptical about the “whole crispy chicken” he ordered. He doubted it was whole, but when it arrived, it was indeed a whole chicken. It was enormous. I chose grilled salmon. Usually when I have a choice, I go for the salmon. It’s just so hard to resist. /drool I am so used to eating raw salmon in sushi, so when the waitress asked how I wanted my salmon I just said “well done”. I know, I should have been a man and grunted, “medium rare”, but I guess I need a change from the raw fish. :P

After filling ourselves up with our delicious mains, we shared green tea ice cream. It was a really lovely date. /love Since that was also a new restaurant I went to, I successfully crossed something off my 101 in 1001 list, that being to go to ten new restaurants.

We picked up my brother from taekwondo later on. While we were waiting for him, we walked around the nearly-empty shopping centre feeling rather full and content. Since I’ve only ever done it once in my life before, we held hands and walked up the wrong escalator together. It was kind of fun just walking step by step up even though we were slowed down by the escalator moving back down. Hahaha. I heard someone applaud us but after we turned around, confused, there was a man from a distance (possibly a security guard) gesturing at us to stop. He must have felt like a god or something… I don’t know what he got out of telling off a boy and a girl walking up the wrong escalator in the middle of the night when there was practically no one else around. Loser. :D

Last week at work there was a server error, and later we discovered that the backups had failed, and not only that, but the server had its problems and everything was lost. The last backup was from September, meaning that pretty much everything I had been familiar with since I started this job was gone. We didn’t really have to start from scratch to restore everything though, since we had stylesheets and a lot of images – but the databases and most of the content was gone. :( My boss has thankfully come up with backup plans for backing up! I learned my own lesson many years ago when my freeserver deleted everyone without notice… backups are so important.

I have one more day of my education centre job, as I decided to end this week instead of next week – I kind of wonder if the kids are gonna miss me, but hey. XD

Comments on this post

Happy anniversary to you and James! :D I’m glad you enjoyed your fancy date! I’m also on a lookout for a proper Japanese restaurant in my area and a great Middle Eastern one, too. Maybe the security guard needed something to do because he was bored, or maybe he was genuinely concerned for your safety?

Do you know if Anberlin is a fan of Smashing Pumpkins? Perhaps they did it as a tribute to them?

Sorry about the server failure. That’s terrible! I definitely know how you feel. I’ve started making regular backups now, too. I lost my files during that whole No Limits Host debacle. I also lost my domain & files years before that when my host just abruptly dropped her service without letting us know. Never again, I say!

I’m not sure but it’s only the opening chord – Anberiln seem to be a huge fan of The Smiths with the amount of covers they do of their songs. :)

I used to be on a freeserver so many years ago and because one person violated the rules, everyone’s accounts were deleted without warning. From that I’ve learned to make backups all the time!

Happy 4 year Anniversary to you and James!! This is very cute, after 4 years you still love each other like its day one. I love it. I’m glad you had a fun time on your date. The security guard sounds confusing, maybe he was just concerned that you guys might hurt yourself. That server problem sounds horrible to happen to a company, I’m glad he’s sorted a backup plan for if it happens again.

Sorry but how did you do your contact form? i want to do one for me

happy 4 year anniversary to you and james! :D i think it’s amazing you’ve managed to stay together through all that time! a lot of couples at my age break up after a few months together (sometimes even weeks), stating they’re not in love with each other anymore, but i guess your secret then is to fall in love with the same person over and over again haha :D again, congraulations to the two of you, that’s so cute! :D <3

it sounds like you had a lovely date together!! :D haha i guess the security guard thought of you as children having fun and making problems for him. hahaha i remember i used to that as a child! my mom and dad always asked me to stop though.

yeah school always gets in the way somehow. it's starting to become pretty normal by now! though i still wish i had more time for the site. i get disappointed and sad when i see my site's heading into a direction i don't want it to, i used to have full control, haaha lol! thank you!<3

A couple weeks ago when that whole fire sprinkler incident happened in my dorm, Jan and I were attempting to kill some time, so we stopped in at CVS (a convenience store). I had always wanted to walk up a down escalator or down an up one, but I had never done it before. The CVS on campus has two levels, and since we went at like 10 or 11pm, it was pretty empty, so I finally did it! The down escalator was in a pretty secluded space, so no one saw me, and I had so much fun. xD I think going down an up escalator would be pretty scary because the steps are kind of big and I would want to hold onto a railing, but the railing would be moving upwards, so that wouldn’t work, but I’m satisfied having gone up a down one.

Security guards must get off on all that “power”. Jan and I went to my uni’s free art museum yesterday so I could take notes on a painting for an Italian assignment, and he was joking about sliding down the banister when this security guard at a table a bit behind us said “No thank you.” I was like 😳, but Jan totally has no shame. xD

Did James finish the whole chicken? Jan and I ordered way too much sushi when we went out on Friday, but we managed to eat all of it, no thanks to me. xD I ate 11 or 12 pieces out of 29, and he ate all the rest. I was so full though, oh god.

Happy anniversary, again! I miss you, dude.

I wanted to say this before but I couldn’t remember the songs. xD The opening chord of Bob Evans – Your Love is the same as Good Charlotte – 1979, so when I hear one, sometimes I think for a second that it’s the other song.

Yep, eventually got it down. Georgie ate half a drumstick and a portion of breast though :P

Happy Anniversary! It sounds like your dinner was amazing! An entire chicken and some salmon! Whoa, I am totally jealous! Congratulations on crossing off another goal off your 101-in-1001 list, too! :D

Whoa, sorry to hear about the server at your job. That sucks. You’re a pro though so I’m sure you’ll pick everything back up again in no time! :)

2012-02-07 11:10:12′, ‘Ohhh I Love fusion food but I’ve seen it done really badly too haha. Congrats on the 4 years wohh!

XXASAB

wow! you got an amazing anniversary! hihi :3 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! :) the booking idea was kinda interesting >.<' hihi. I haven't tried booking to a certain restaurant. hehe. James is so sweet. ayiiiie!

Congrats to James and you on your 4 year anniversary. I am glad that you enjoyed your experience at the new restaurant. :)

A Whole Chiggen! /bounce fusion food is great. hoho
happy anniversary 😏 /love

Damn security guard. What an ass, haha. Makes me wonder if he was actually..you know. actually a guard. Brandon seems pretty hrb

Ho, not surprised, eh. And yes, the waitress (I’m assuming it’s the chef’s wife) does remind me of my own mum. tahee

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