My Aussie trip 2010 Part#3 - The Caribbean Garden Market

Virginia brought us over to a market, hmmm The Caribbean garden market. Reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean :p.

Not a big fan of touring market (at least at my place anyway) but I won't mind giving it a try since this is foreign and their market should be cleaner (without the slaughtering of animals) and stench free.

They sell all sorts of stuff here, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and... my favorite.. roasted nuts! WH reminded me to get some Macadamia nuts from AUS and I saw it was one of the nuts that are being roasted and packed for sale. We tried some sample and they were very very tasty! roasted with honey mind you. but it's not cheap, 1 pack goes for AUD8 and we bought only 2 - 3 packs.

Next comes the usual stuff that one would see, kitchenwares, toiletries stuff, souvenirs, toys, even pirated discs! gasp.. didn't thought they'd have it there in AUS.. haha.. bought a bunch of smaller stuffs.

Photoshoot in front of the market... haha..

Again, she likes flower, oh ya. It would be wise to ask for permission before snapping away...

There's a nice lovely lake just beside the market... nice view, cool and cosy and relaxing

there's a few ducks on the lake itself.. and eventually some flapped their wings and took off.. I was like.. huh??? .. the ducks here can fly? then I thought about the classic game i used to play.. Duck Hunt... oh yeah... some ducks do fly... :)hahaha.. silly me..

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My Aussie trip 2010 Part#2 - touched down, settle down and some time with Mi~ran-da

Was very excited the moment the plane lands, aside from not able to switch on my phone's cellular data. I didn't miss too much of the action, we walked towards the clearance point and went to collect our baggage. As we brought some food over, needed to be checked in a separate section. They are very strict which I fully understand and this only benefits the whole residents.

Virginia was waiting for us when we proceeded out towards the exit. :) Waited for Alan, I stepped outside of the door to feel the weather, man it's cooling. Not too cold, but cool enough for me. The skies were gloomy as if it was about to rain, felt like Genting (10 years ago). haha...

I saw in front of the car, whipped out my camera.. took some shots here and there. A little bit like what they say 阿牛下城, like someone from village venturing into a big city. hahaha, mostly I'm just thrilled to be here, after all it's my first visit to foreign country and also temporary leaving behind work duties to my trusted colleagues and friends.

Was quite excited to see this lamp post, of which the signs are in English. Back in hometown, it's mostly in Malay and some in Chinese language. This was quite refreshing. :) Reminded me that I'm in a western country.

We went pass Melbourne city, there's like no car around. Turns out that it was the racing day. Sorry I forgot what specific name it was but it's like an annual event whereby ppl will go see race horse competing it out for prizes. So the city looked deserted...rare... :)

Home at last, I loved this type of single store house... wish I can get one in the future...

Mum just loved flowers... "fast fast, take for me" she said. "aiyo, you see the flowers, so nice, so pretty, fast take some shots for me"... little do I realize, I'm her private photographer for this trip already starting at that very moment...

Who do we have here? ooh, Miranda... she really grew a lot since early this year's Chinese New Year when I last saw her. Quite cheeky too... I snapped her, and showed her my camera's screen and asked her.. "who is this?"

"Mi~Ran.da" she said, excitedly and laughed. I then asked her to hold the ball and tried to get some shots again. She's quite patient enough to let me compose a few shots, and each time I showed her the end result she'd smile and laugh excitedly... :)

After a few days staying there, I soon come to realize that she is quite playful (well, normal for her age) and sometimes went a liiiiitle bit overboard. Her parents will bring her to 1 special corner for her to stand (by the name ..... yes you've guessed it.. the Naughty Corner)

Well. what's so special bout the Naughty Corner, nothing. it's just a small corner by the small staircase, but to her it signified that she's naughty at the moment and she would cry when she was put there. :p

And this happened quite a lot.. hahaha.. dare I say at least once per day? But it's cute, everything, the sight of seeing that, hearing that... :) well, might not be so for her parents but we as "outsider" in this ordeal find it to be funny.. she meant no harm, just a bit..well, naughty.

She's quite friendly, likes to lift up her hand and say "Hi~~" to people. Said hi to me a couple of times, I would hi back, even taught her to hi-5! my mum taught her to sing children's song - 客人来.

it goes like this...

客人来，看爸爸，爸爸不在家

我请客人先坐下，再敬一杯茶

Oh, 1 more funny thing we've discovered. She would say, "Kitkat".. then me and my mum was like, what kitkat? there's no kitkat. Virginia corrected us that she meant 这个, zhe ge, not kitkat. hahahahhaa.... :p silly us..

Hope to see you again in a month's time... Mi~ran.da!

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hi 2011

hi, hello 2011. nice to meet you. This would be a welcoming post for the new year and for myself to refer back end of the year around Dec 2011. :)

by no means I wanted to make any personal resolution as I'm pretty darn sure making a few of these and checking back end of the year would make me looked like someone who can't live up to his own words. Instead, I would just like to set some expectation for myself, which I hope I could carry out gradually, consistently throughout the year.

1. learn more new things constantly
2. fully make use of my personal time to do the things I liked which I think are productive
3. healthy eating habit (cutting down on spicy, oily and sweet stuffs)
4. better temper management
5. trust myself more and expect less from others
6. no/minimal regrets when I check back this blog at the end of the year

2011 is going to be an exciting year I'm pretty sure bout that, from all angles. I thing's for sure, I wish everyone a very healthy year. Health enables us to stay strong to pursue whatever that we wanted.

Till then, sit back, take some deep breaths and embrace yourself for 2011.

End of 2010

Wow, just wow. The other day I was digging through my previous year's year end blog post.

Going through that post seems to me that it was still very fresh and I couldn't believe that an entire year has gone by. this to me has only 2 possible explanation, either the year was very busy for me or i don't have much going on this year. hmmm, 2nd point probably not true.

going through this entire year's blog posts to trace my adventures...

I'll keep this strictly as a closure post and post another one for the opening of 2011 and expectations and resolution and stuff. :)

I noticed that...

• this year me and the gang went out far fewer outings compared to 2010. not sure why? less planning and probably because of the global project as well...
• I had far better art posts than photography posts which I strived for, let's keep up the trend. as much as I would like to have both, I just couldn't and will have to minimize the other one
• first time for the following :-

1. went to Air Itam damn with the gang even though I lived here for almost 30 years
2. went to see the majestic Kuan Yin statue on top of Kek Lok Si temple
3. joined Earth Hour campaign
4. went to Bodhi heart sanctuary with the gang
5. went for photoshoot at local Chinese Opera show in 7th Lunar month
6. co-planned and organized and participated in team building at Hard Rock Hotel Penang
7. boarded airplane for cross country flights!
8. went to Australia!
9. went to China!
10. experienced snow and cold cold weather!
11. traveled to foreign country on my own
12. missed my flight and slept at Shanghai airport

Gadgets owned :-

1. iPhone 4
2. iPad

gosh, so few... i gotta start pamper myself more next year.. :p more... i-devices! muahahahahha

thing's I've learned this year :-

1. worked with different types of people from across the world, different culture, different slang, different expectation, different habits, different behaviors, enriching, exciting, exhausting, extreme!
2. time is limited, when u want something just go for it, live a life with as few regrets as possible
3. learn to have some little goals in life for yourself to look forward to everyday, gives you the extra energy and lift when you open your eyes to face a brand new day
4. a lot of people passed away this year, nothing is permanent and so are people around you. not necessary passed away but friends or family could be leaving us to pursue their dreams/goals. cherish each and everyone as much as possible.
5. working hard towards a goal doesn't mean you will succeed in the end, it gives u 50% fighting chance, but if you did not work towards it at all, you have 0%.
6. I don't believe in luck but i do believe that if it were to exists, it would meant that you're prepared and able to embrace the situation to take advantage of it.
7. I had the best relative relationships ever and I cherish my relatives very very much. thank you guys for being the most awesome relatives that a family could ever have!
8. time is catching up to me... my goodness.. i'm.. hitting the big 3-0 already... =_=
9. some that i couldn't think of at the moment... :p

I wanted to express my gratitude towards friends and family members who helped out throughout the entire year. both mum and dad for their support in everything I do, thanks dad for printing out my paintings for me to stick on my wall (for free.. muahahahaha), thanks to mum for carrying out most of the house chores and cooks for us (shy), my uncle and especially my auntie for fetching my mum to hospital for regular checkups and also fetch me whenever I need to travel (thank you thank you thank you guys so very much!). thanks to my colleagues who battled alongside to achieve the impossible! C.F.O. ROQX! (this statement could be contradicting depending on what time you ask me.. :p) thanks for my friends, especially some close ones that chat with me, listened to my stories throughout the entire year (ups n downs) and really needed you guys else I would be consumed in utter madness in the confines of my room. thanks! thanks to Pek Kong for giving our family protection and blessing throughout the year especially while I'm in the cold cold weather in China, Kam siah!

what's your thought about 2010?

My Aussie trip 2010 Part#1

Australia - the land down below, land of kangaroos, koalas, Tasmania? Decided to make a small trip there accompanied by mum.

1 trip 2 destinations.

Took some time to get this blogged and will do it in short series so there are gonna be short posts about the places I've been to and I feel this is easier to do than doing it all at once.

Starting with the beginning, actually my first flight to a foreign country. Quite excited at the same time worried as well, travelling a vast distance (well, some of you might argue places you've been to has to fly further distance but this is not the point)

Having a decent amount of imaginations (sometimes good and bad), travelling high high up in the sky has its fair share of risks. 1 slight mistakes and it's mostly going to be a bye bye, sorry hahaha, started out with such grim sentences, couldn't help it every time I board a plane but statistic wise, it's still the safest means of transport available. Fascinating isn't it?

I tried to keep my mind occupied by either sleeping or turning on my phone (in flight mode) to get a crack of a few games. When we're almost there, I slide out the win blinds and noticed breathtaking views outside... simply.... amazing...

I even managed to capture the moon on top right corner..

Sun is slowly crawling upwards on the far horizon...

Rarely I have the chance to be above clouds...

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