In early March (yes I’m way behind updating this blog) Mary, myself and Julian drove over 700kms to Adelaide. My parents had won 3 nights free accommodation in some kind of lucky draw, and we decided that it would be nice for us to drive up and join them, so that they can be more mobile with our car around. Of course, I also wanted to put the Prado through its paces and see how it handled over long distances. The drive was surprisingly pleasant, and we made a lunch stop and a few toilet stops each way. It took us about 11 hours to get to Adelaide from Melbourne.
On the 2nd day, we all drove to Cape Jervis and took the Sealink ferry to Penneshaw on Kangaroo island. We spent a day there, and saw the seals on Seal Bay. We also visited a bee farm and took a look at the inland sand dune on Kangaroo island. We weren’t able to do too much as we had to catch the ferry back to the mainland, and considering the cost of the ferry, we should really have stayed at least 3 days if we wanted to see everything on Kangaroo island and make the trip worthwhile. Well we plan to bring the rest of the family on a future trip and will definitely spend more days on this lovely island. The Prado was fully at home on the gravel and dirt tracks of the island.
On the third day, we did a bit of shopping and also visited an authentic German town called Hahndorf where we had a very nice lunch. And in the evening, we met up with Sr. Elizabeth and her mum, and we had a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Citi Zen Chinese restaurant.
We drove back on the 4th day, and again, we made quite good time.
Posted by Tuen on 26th April 2010 in Diary, Family
Wen had been spending the last 3 months rehearsing for her school play, called Back to the 80s. Mary, Ian, Ren and I watched it on Saturday night, and we found that it was the best school production we had seen. The other kids had watched the play on Thursday and Friday.
The story line was good, the songs chosen were lively and the dancing was really good. Some of the singers could have done better and were slightly off key, but considering that these were very difficult songs to sing, they could be forgiven. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening.
Video recording was not allowed, so I had to record only the scenes where Wen was featured, and I did so surreptitiously, without being able to look through the viewfinder.
My eldest child turned 21 on March 5th. My parents flew in specially to celebrate this occassion with us and her friends. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of her grandfather, we had a nice celebration at Shine cafe. Melissa chose “Hollywood” as her theme. We had a nice dinner interspersed with the usual speeches from myself and my father, followed by cake cutting and then the obligatory dance party, which lasted till about 1 am. Jie was the MC and did a pretty good job I felt.
I can’t believe it’s been 21 years since I held my baby girl in my arms for the very first time. Time flies and we are all getting on in years; but it’s been a most satisfying life journey for me so far…
We had two events on 14th of February. Apart from being Valentine’s day, it was also Ian’s birthday and the 1st day of Chinese New Year.
We celebrated Ian’s birthday lunch at Paesano, an Italian restaurant. It was his 18th birthday and he had a few days earlier celebrated it with his friends. Today was a celebration with the family. He was pretty excited to turn 18, as it meant he could booze, get his driver’s license, as well as go to the casino; all 3 of which he duly did within a couple of weeks of his birthday!
In the evening, we celebrated Chinese New Year at the Chongs, together with Joanne’s parents and the Pehs. It was a nice cosy celebration and quite enjoyable.
On 13th February, our good friends James and Jill got married, after a whirlwind romance of less than a year. The wedding took place at St. Mary Star of the Sea church. It was a nice ceremony with a good attendance of friends and relatives.
The dinner celebration was held at the Manningham hotel and was quite a lot of fun. Apart from the usual toasts and speeches and cake cutting, the couple entertained us to a ballroom dance, which they had spent several weeks practicising… The kids especially, but everyone, including us oldies, got onto the dance floor to have a go at dancing that evening; even yours truly with two left feet!
This was our first wedding ceremony in Melbourne, although we had attended Karen’s wedding in Sidney. I now have a much better idea of what to do and what to plan when it comes to my own kids’ weddings. Hopefully, that won’t happen for some time yet. They should enjoy their ’singlehood’ more.
The Toyotal Prado was collected about 2 weeks ago, and I’ve been pretty satisfied with it. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time learning about off road driving and collecting information about the tours that can be done in Victoria. I’ve bought some navigation software as well as topo maps of Victoria for this purpose. Looking forward to our first proper off road trip.
In the meantime, there’s a trip planned to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island, where we can put the Prado through some dirt roads.
Due to the time spent on this new interest, this blog hasn’t been updated much. I’ll try to post some updates especially regarding James and Jill’s wedding which took place about two weeks ago.
I’ve been considering getting a four wheel drive vehicle for quite some time now; with a view to eventually going off road and to places in Victoria and other states where normal vehicles would not be able to go. Well, last Saturday, Tony decided to go test drive a BMW X5, which is a sort of ’soft roader’. It’s a 4 wheel drive, but is not meant for very rough terrain or climbing boulders and crossing rivers, but good enough for some off road driving and for pulling say a camper trailer or caravan. After the test drive, he decided to buy it. We were there together with them when the decision and purchase was made, and that sort of ‘inspired’ me to test drive the Prado. I’d test driven the X5 with my cousin, and even joked about buying one as well; but was met with a very interesting comment from him. Basically (insultingly) he felt that an X5 would be wasted on me because I could not appreciate the finer points of driving a superior car. To me, a car was a means of transportation, and I wasn’t too concerned about the ‘driving experience’. Well, he was right that to me a car was just a means of transportation. But a 4WD car was a slightly different proposition. It’s like my motorbike to me. The bike is not just a means of transport, like a car, but a vehicle on which I could enjoy riding on 2 wheels (or 3 in my case). So too, the 4WD would be a vehicle which I would enjoy driving off road. And that is the main reason why I decided to test drive the Prado instead of the X5. The Prado is a true off road machine, capable of tackling steep climbs and rough terrain and even some river crossings.
Well, the next day, we went to test drive the Prado (a 2nd hand model), and Tony came along as well. And just like him, we decided to purchase it. I am now waiting for delivery.
I’ve been spending the past few days reading up on 4w driving and looking up clubs which I could join. I shall be attending some of the club meetings and see where we go from there.
Posted by Tuen on 24th January 2010 in Diary, Family
Rachael and Tassia came up with Wen and Connie to spend about a week here in Melbourne, and stayed with us. The first and only hitch they experienced was that their luggage did not reach the airport with them. Due to some problems, the airline had to deliver the luggage to us about 10.30pm in the night, about 15 hours after they arrived.
I think the girls had a good time here, and we were very happy to host them. They were out with Wen and Connie most of the time and so had very little impact at home. Most of the meals they ate out, so Mary didn’t even have to cook extra. If I’m not mistaken, they spent a lot of time shopping and sightseeing. They went to the beach and also went strawberry picking at Sunny Ridge.
We all had a nice dinner at Gerard and Marie’s home, who are Rachael’s Uncle and Aunt, and we even managed to organise a badminton game with them.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any photos I can post here, as I didn’t take any, but the girls have got lots, and have posted them on their respective facebook sites. Alas, I am not their ‘friend’ and have even been explicitly ‘unfriended’ by Wen because she felt I was ’stalking’ her!
On the last evening, we had a special farewell dinner for the girls at a Japanese restaurant called Sakaru in Spring. A short video below shows some of the ‘antics’ we got up to.
Posted by Tuen on 16th January 2010 in Diary, Family
We arrived in Singapore on the evening of 15th Dec and as usual, stayed at my parents’ place. Unlike in January when we were here, this time around, we had a much less hectic schedule. We spent a lot of time with my parents and simply relaxed at home. We spent a bit of time with the cult of course, and visited some relatives, but mostly, I did not even announce our visit to Singapore. I even had time to complete the Bali holiday video whilst in Singapore.
We had the usual Christmas gathering where most of the relatives came over to my parents’ place. Other memorable events included a gathering of our former home catechism group, organised by Jobina at her home; a cult visit to St. James’s power station for a pub experience, where Stephen Chua celebrated his ‘birthday’; and a lunch with my Godparents whom I hadn’t seen for a couple of years.
The cult also paid a visit to Francis’ niche where we said some prayers for him.
After two short weeks, we left for home on 30th Dec and arrived on New Year’s eve. It was good to be back. But we left behind our two daughters. The boys of course, were already home, since they didn’t join us on the Singapore leg of the holiday. Melissa is still in Singapore as I write this, and is due back at the end of the month. Wen was originally due to come back around this time, but left a few days after us because Rachael and Tassia were going to come back with us to spend a week here, and of course Wen was going to look after them. More on their visit in a later post.
Some photos of the Singapore visit can be found here.
Posted by Tuen on 7th January 2010 in Diary, Family
The Bali holiday was really good and refreshing, and it was wonderful to catch up with relatives whom we had not met for a while.
The first 4 days of Bali was spent with the Chongs. Since we were coming from Australia and the rest of the clan were coming from Singapore, we felt that since we were going to travel such a long distance, we might as well spend a few more days in Bali, rather than just the 4 official clan reunion days. So the Chongs and us stayed at a place called Villa Alumbrera in Canggu. We had a very good time there, especially the kids, who had their own villa where they could party all they want and leave us ‘oldies’ in peace. We had a staff of several waiters and cooks to look after our needs, and they prepared most of the meals for us. For Aussies, this was a real pampering that we don’t normally get at home.
On the 4th day we checked out of Villa Alumbrera and moved into Hard Rock Hotel. The clan gathering was also very enjoyable and activities included White water rafting, surfing, pool games, shopping, gambling and a Karaoke competition. We stayed for 4 nights there and had a grand time. This gathering was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of a rich relative; Bernard. Bernard has been living and working in the UK for many years, and this gathering was an idea mooted by him and Adeline, another relative of ours.
We left for Singapore on 15th Dec to start the next phase of our holiday.
