Melbourne Memories

The journey continues and as I look through the photos , wonderful memories flood my whole being. We visited the Queen Victoria Market on Sunday . It is a good day to go coz QVM is closed on Monday and the butchers sold their meat cheaper and Jac bought a lot. Subsequently we had very good steak, pork and delicious sausages for the next few nights.

QVM is perfect for shopping for souvenirs, artsy stuff , fresh market produce and many other things that could drain your purse if you are not careful. This creative looking “Mussel Pot” dishes out mussels to Faith’s liking.

The tulips from QVM certainly beautifies the hall way of “The Grainger”.

We visited the Shrine of Remembrance @  St. Kilda .

Drove to Torquay. We wanted to see surfers but there were none. It was a blustery cold fly away day. On the way to Torquay , we took a break at Bunnings and hubby bought a lawn mower much to the shock of everyone !!!!

On the way back from Torquay we stopped by Geelong.

Yarra Valley, Phillip Island & The 12 Apostle

We visited the Yarra Valley coz we wanted to see the winery. 1^st stop Domaine Chandon.

Beautiful Glass work @ the Glass  Blowing Studio

At the Bouquet, where gerberas are grown and alpacas are reared

For dinner, we drank the wine bought. Cheers to all for a long healthy life.

Our adventures took us to Phillip Island to see the penguins. They promptly came onto the beach at 5.45pm. It was cold and windy but it was certainly an experience for us all. No photographs allowed at this place though.

We also brought the kids to Phillip Island Wildlife Park to meet the kangaroos and koalas.

Our longest journey ever was the drive to view “The 12 Apostles”. I was car sick for part of the journey even though hubby thoroughly enjoyed the driving. No one told me the road were so winding. The view along the coastal road was breathtaking , the drive thru the Australian bush and country side is something I will never forget and of course “The 12 Apostles” were spectacular.

Our Melbourne Trip

Melbourne was not our choice as a holiday destination but alas Air Asia X axed our flight to NZ so we had to re-route and we found ourselves in Melbourne. No regrets though coz we had so much fun (despite driving in the Melbourne CBD, learning the rules of the streets and the hook turns, all stressed out watching out for the trams , pedestrians and horse carriages and the many “No right turns” that put us in a bind!!!). Nonetheless God is faithful and hubby and Alie learned fast.  Only those who lived in Melbourne know what these means!!!

Memories of our days in Melbourne.

 1 June 2012 - Touch down in Melbourne at 8 degrees C.

The Grainger, the 7 bedroom house is  our home away from home.

The backyard of this old house has a lemon tree filled with lemons ready for the eating.

2 June 2012 – The Melbourne Museum is just down the road from our house.

The Royal Exhibition Hall

Carlton Gardens, the place where hubby jogs everyday.

Having fun at the Docklands amusement centre.

Dinner at Menya , a Japanese restaurant.

To be continued so stay tune.

Melbourne Retreat

We had such a wonderful time in Melbourne. It wasn't just purely a holiday but a spiritual retreat for us as well. Colin & Claire flew in from NZ to join us and they spent about 4 days with us , preaching the Word and praying for us.

We were so blessed by their ministry. Not only did they encouraged us in our spiritual journey but they cooked and baked for us too.



Good steak, apple crumble , bread pudding, pumpkin soup etc. Just so you know how good the food was, look at Faith . A cup of pumpkin soup is not enough. She needs a whole pot !!!

 


During the trip we also had the chance to meet up with Colin's family comprising of his dad who is 90 and his daughter's family. Some of us had the opportunity to share during devotion time and I loved Alie's one on “ Do it Anyway”..... which essentially reminds us to do good even in the face of challenges or adversities.

I know for myself , I feel a strengthening of my faith . This is certainly a refreshing trip and I hope to do this again soon as the Lord leads us.

ODE TO JOY SINGAPORE EDITION

Jordan was away for 9 days in Singapore rehearsing hard for the concert at Yong Siew Toh Music Conservatory. The concert entitled “Marching From Bartok to Beethoven” was held on 17th March.


Hubby had the privilege to fly over to see the concert which he said was truly good and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. The St Joe Band Boys played alongside music students from the conservatory and had master classes with world renown musicians. It was totally a dream come true. I believe many of the younger boys cannot fully comprehend how extremely privileged and blessed there were to be able to learn from the masters. ( My son included !!!).
Jordan had the time of his life. Staying together in the dormitory at the La Salle Brothers accommodation at St Patrick's school was great fun for the 70 boys. Of course they had grueling hours of practice but it was truly worth it in the end.

One of the highlights of their trip was to Universal Studio. He and his friends couldn't get enough of the thrill rides. They went on some of the rides 4 times !!! Universal Studio was the place where Jordan's wallet was completed emptied. He left with a few Singapore coins and RM1.

We realised this son of ours really know how to shop. He went on a shopping spree and bought gifts for all at home and he said it was cheap. He obviously didn't factor in the exchange rate!!! He bought the most gifts for Heather. When he opened the luggage , so many soft toys fell out. He said he bought them coz they looked cute!!! I had to admit he was right.

For us as parents , we felt it was indeed a life enriching experience for a young boy. It is a good thing to learn hardwork and discipline at a young age. We hope he will have more and more wonderful experiences with the band.

What the Pictures Don't Say

Photos bring a lot of memories for us and as I look at some of the photos stored in hubby's computer it brought a smile to my lips.

The annual Christmas photo. We have been taking family photos every Christmas since Heather was born. So we have quite a collection over the years. The photos always show happy eager faces coz after the shots, it's time to open the Christmas presents.

This one was taken during mom and Jordan's birthday. Why the look of jubilation ? What happened was we put 2 candles on the cake. 1 big one and 1 small one to signify their birthdays. We told Jordan he was only allowed to blow the small candle off only. As the 2 candles were placed rather close together , it was not easy but as you can see it …. he managed to do it. YEAH and he was thrilled.
A nice gathering of friends over the new year. My friends knew that I had a very short new year break so they decided to come over and they brought along their cookies and cakes and wine so that we could try each others' yummy food while catching up on each others' lives. So hubby also joined in … not so much to chat but more to eat and the girls of course just stuff him with more food!!!
We celebrated Chap Goh Meh together with dad & Alie's birthday. You will see that 2 grand kids are missing. One had fallen asleep on the chair while the other is at band camp. Jordan being such a food lover was very devastated that he had to sacrifice a dinner at The Hilton. He only had chicken rice ( ta pau from Little Hainan). He has to learn at a young age that life involves sacrifices.
I don't have much time to look at photos but these few photos taken these last few months certainly brought back good memories.

Shoved Into 2012

I don’t know about other people but I do feel that 2012 descended on me when I am not even ready for it. It’s just too soon and I have things that I want to see happening in 2011 which have yet to manifest .

Anyway, one can’t stop the clock , so no use lamenting but move on with grace and style!!! Since the school started, everything is in full swing . Getting my kids off to school means my schooling starts too. It’s now solving Add Maths questions and figuring out Physics ( a most hated subject in my Form 4-5 years!!!) So far I can still solve some of the quadratic equations and work out some of the physics stuff so not too bad at all. I hope this sudden skill to know how to do all these Science subjects will prolong and heighten until Heather completes her Form 5. It saves me so much time on the road …. as I don’t fancy driving her from 1 tuition to the next!!! Those uncles and aunties out there who are engineers, lecturers ,accountants be prepared for my phone calls. Recently Alex had a taste of one Maths question and he called up eventually to say “ I think the question is wrong!!!!” Well said.

With Chinese New Year a few days away, we are all a flurry of activities. Shoppinglah , the dreaded spring cleaning (almost done) and eventually the baking and what not. Hubby and I decided that it will be a super quiet celebration. After all I am working right up till Saturday and going back again to work on the 3rd day means I must really put up my feet and rest. No running around too much this year with visitations. It’s more likely to be lazing at home with a book and watching telly eating away all the new year goodies. The waist line factor will be a consideration after Chap Goh Meh.


My clerk just left for her annual lunar leave so in early Jan I tried to work smart. I made sure that before she left she had to finish all the work which I assigned her and even prepared advance work for her to finish just in case the paperwork is required during her absence. My plan went so well that when I was working one afternoon , I was left with virtually nothing to do. I ended up trying hard not to fall asleep as I was so bored. I tried to keep awake and eventually thought that to stay awake I have to keep my hands busy. No, I didn’t knit!!! I made a fan for CNY and mom saw the end product and thought I was creative. I hadn’t heard that kind of praise from her before… (I mean about me being creative). Got new talent this year.

Finally to all celebrating this auspicious occasion : GONG XI FA CAI