preparing for school next year

fagan's preparation for prep school, which is a milestone here in australia's education, is going well. she has been attending her orientation/assimilation program into vermont primary school every fortnight for the past 6 weeks or so.

she is in kinder now.

the program's objective is to allow these young children to blend into primary school life. the slow but smooth transition from kinder to primary school here are done in a fun and participative environment. children are encourage to get to know each other even before school starts. each week, fagan will attend activities in the school; be it art lesson, story-telling session or some physical fun. parents are encouraged to mingle with fellow parents and there are also parent sessions where teachers are on hand to brief parents on school matters and clarify any concerns.

the entire transition last about 4 months and is well thought out. today, school uniform fitting day. we went to the school to get fagan her new school uniform. she's suitably excited.

by the way, her sister paisley will also attend the same school next year.

one year on...

today is just like any other monday for us; the homemaker in da house woke up early to get the kids ready for school, i was doing my routine for the day; work followed by a bit of cycling with a friend in the evening, kids have a bit of some outdoor time post-dinner and bed by 9pm.

however, it is actually a momentous day for us as it has been exactly 1 year since we lay our hats here in melbourne. on the balance of things, i am sure my better half would agree that there have been more positives and negatives, in fact very few of the latter. in many ways, we all still miss singapore. loved ones and food top the list. that said, i guess we need to be forward looking and make the best of what is our family lives now.

my personal observation of the changes that took place:
1. wife's a (way) better cook now
2. kids actually look forward to school
3. the sports side of paisley is blossoming
4. shankly is a more assertive boy (in a good way)
5. fagan is more independant; and more talkative
6. we have dinner together almost daily and that probably brings us closer
7. i (actually) take walks
8. kids enjoy the outdoor more

the major milestone here is we bought our own place (though we won't we living there for some time yet)

looking back, we reckon we made the right decision to come here to start afresh. we obviously still have a long way to go, but the last 12 months has been a blessed one for us.

looking forward, we hope to build on the positives and hopefully our kiddos will better shape themselves to be someone closer to what their heart dictates, inching closer to their own callings.

we must also extend our sincerest appreciations to all our relatives, neighbours, present and new friends made here who extend their help, support, prayers, friendship, advice and more that help us come through unscath in the first 12 months.

for the next 12 months, we look forward to:
1. moving into a place we will call home
2. shankly starting his secondary college, a new phase in his student life and,
3. all of us hopefully finding (more) time and space to pursue our personal interests.

thanks for sharing our journey with us so far....

11th aunt's visit (24 Oct 2009)

from left: shankly, paisley, cecilia, fagan, 11th aunt, nanyau and nanyi

something to remember

this week, the children came back with the stuff they made in school.

shankly came back with a `i-am-not-quite-sure-what-it-is' clay sculpture. it's good effort though; even leonardo starts from the bottom.

paisley's penguin and dove are probably the most recognisable of the lot and....

fagan's parachute is not something you would like to be in possession with if you are doing sky-diving.

in my eyes, all great stuff!

getting away being overweight

"mr chiew, the baggage allowance is 20kg and you are way over..." 3 minutes later, "we will allow excess baggage without charge for you just this time. please bear in mind in the future the luggage weight limit"

since i lost my frequent flyer status in may, i am been flirting with overweight baggage charge by packing to the brim; and testing both my and the ticketing officer's resolve to not charge me. basically, i am bringing remnants of stuff left over in singapore. one could argue that it's not worth risking the overcharge, as every kg over is $60/kg but. still, i get a kick out of seeing if i can get away with this everytime i travel back down under. so far, the score is 4-0 to my favor! my luggages (typically i check in 2 pieces of luggage) weigh anything from 29 to 35kg.

i kind of figure out the following to get the odds in my favor:

a. it helps if you travel with the airlines more than once. it gives you ground to tilt things to your favor.

b. altho' the weight limit is 20kg for economy (provided you do not have a frequent flyer status like pps or krisflyer gold), you can still get away with about 25kg, easy. every kg after that is a risk you take and you need to figure a way out the tangle.

c. it helps to check-in early. typically when the plane is `empty' earlier on, the ticketing officers are more lenient to a lesser extent. if you check-in late, you will not be able to leverage your position especially if that particular officer has checked-in previous passengers with loads of luggage.

d. `choose' your ticketing offer if you can. i once let a passenger behind me thru' because the ticketing officer who's supposed to serve me is rather `strict' looking. i will eye the 1 or 2 options i have where i think the officer is `friendlier'. it worked in that instance altho' i will never know if it was a good call on my part.

e. always smile and don't get defensive. you are basically at their mercy so you will never win if you `exchange words' with the officer. it will also help to casually ask if the plane is full prior. if the plane is half full, you can use this fact to your advantage if needed.

f. always feign ignorance and over-dramatize to look shock when they tell you the weight of your luggage. and then asked if they can waive it. looking distress can help sometimes; pleading works too...

g. if all things fail, asked to see the duty manager. they have the power to over-ride the officer. you need a bit luck though at this stage.

h. a good ruse is to mention that it was your brother/sister/mother-in-law/any close relative that pass you the items to bring over to your brother/sister/wife/any close relative, hence you have little control over the weight of your luggage. sometimes they sympathize with your plight and you get away with it. i did this once when i told the duty manager that it was my my mother-in-law who packed `the other bag' full of foodstuff to her daughter/my wife and that if i can't bring it with me, i will have to discard them in a rubbish bin, rather than to pay the exhorbitant fee. i got away that time too.

i. last but not least, if you were ever once a pps, star alliance (gold) member or any of the frequent flyer privilege card holder, mentioned that you were once their preferred customer. it was the financial crisis that resulted you not traveling so frequently and you ramained a loyal customer to the carrier regardless. sometimes, it can worked as well. unashamedly, i use this trick too once when i was going nowhere; and it worked too.

admittedly, one needs a lot of luck in such instance. but as they say, the more prepared you are, the better your luck will be.

good luck!

disclaimer: i think all of the above will certainly not work if one travels on a budget airline. so, don't even comptemplate it. and of course, i tested the above only on a couple of carriers. i have not tried the others, so don't send me with a lawyer's letter if you got hit with a hefty surcharge if you attempted any of the above.

orange alert, sydney!

i was awakened early this morning with a truly unusual sight of sydney. i looked out the window from the 42nd floor of the hotel (see picture) i was staying in the heart of the city; what i saw the entire city was blanketed with a glowing orange tint. initially, i weren't sure if it was the window tinting on the hotel building playing tricks on me, or that the sun's glow at dawn is overwhelming or that i am simply still sleepy.
as i continued to be awed by the sight, i realized it was dust when i switched on the tv and the local headline news explained the phenomenon. it was a surreal sight, and for a moment, i weren't sure if i should just stay in or if it's safe to go outside.
from then on, it wrecked havoc to what would have been another typical busy working wednesday in sydney. health alert went out to those with respiratory problems to stay indoor. those driving took extra precaution as visibility on the road plummeted. it didn't dawn on me that flight will also be impacted. i have a scheduled 2pm flight back to melbourne the same afternoon.
after my work in the morning, i decided to leave slightly earlier to the airport after a colleague wagered that i will not be able to make the flight. a chaotic scene greeted me at the airport. since i was early, i was able to check in an `earlier' flight even though it is delayed. information from the airport on flights schedule was few and far between. many flights were either delayed or cancelled. as only one runway was used at the domestic terminal for safety reason, flights that are scheduled to take-off have to endure a long queue. my flight finally got the green light to take off at about 4.45pm. as i was waiting at my gate to board the flight, i overheard the announcement that my flight that i was originally scheduled to fly out to melbourne was cancelled. i thanked my lucky stars that i was allocated a seat on an earlier flight.
the flight was bumpy through-out due to the strong winds but when dj842 landed in melbourne at 6.10pm today, i was a tired but happy man. i made it to melbourne by the skin of my teeth.

p.s. i read in reports later that the dust storm is the worst ever pollution that hit sydney. it was 1500 times the normal pollution level in sydney. the dust storm travelled 1500km to hit new south wales and covered almost 600km across the coast of the state. it dumped about 75000 tonnes of dust every hour! it dust storm eventually hit brisbane.

chesterfield farm

school holidays' here again. it is the spring break and the kids have 2 weeks away from school to chill out. we decided to do something fun for them on saturday since weekdays are bad for me. we shortlisted a few places where we can take the kids out for a bit of fun; and after speaking with them, we narrow it down to the melbourne zoo or a farm visit. we decided on the latter since they enjoyed their last farm visit in adelaide.

chesterfield farm is actually not too far away from where we lived. it is located in scoresby and is about 15mins drive from where we live. it sits on an expansive 58 hectares of land. there are many facilities there including picnic areas where visitors can bring their picnic basket and spend a leisurely late morning or early afternoon just soaking in the wonderful spring sunshine. of course, things wouldn't be complete without bbq pits. you can find that too at chesterfield farm!

we arrived at 10am and being the first day of school holiday, there are a decent numbers of visitors already. the demographics are all too similar, young families with young kids in tow.

the animal playpen is the favourite place for all as they get to play & cuddle with lambs, rabbits and goats. in fact, that's where she spent most of her time. we stayed for the animal show too where fagan bravely milked a cow. there was also an interesting demonstration showing how a sheep dog herd and guard sheeps from the vast enclosed field.

we stayed till the weather turned gloomy in the early afternoon and decided to called it a day and return to our familiar urban domain.
we rounded up our trip with a `yum cha' session at knox city. (interestingly, it is my first `yum cha' since i got here)

you (really) can't hurry love in australia

of late, i was very perturbed by the manner and the efficiency level on how things are done here. while i appreciate the thorough manner in which things are processed here, there are also some that borders on sheer indifference and the complete lack of urgency in sorting out matters. this is really getting onto my nerves of late.
last week, i called a state agency to clarify a business matter. not only is the officer is non-committal in his answer (i guess to safeguard himself against any wrongful advise given), i was asked to make an appointment for a face to face meeting to clarify the matter. the problem is they can only accomodate a time/date 3 weeks later. i am not sure why it needed such a long time for them to help clarify on what i feel is a straight forward clarification i sought.
another thing which i quote can't grasp is that one needs to make an appointment to see a doctor. what i don't understand is getting sick is not something we plan for, hence making a doctor's appointment prior is something i still don't quite get it. however, this is something i have to manage regardless.
lastly, i was most unimpressed with the pace of the renovation work i am doing on a home we bought. we engaged a drafter to draw the house extension and the elevation plan that we need to submit to the municipal council for approval. to date, which is almost 3 months to the day we appointed the drafting service company, there is no progress at all. we are still waiting for the drawings to be completed. by no means are we building the next empire state building, it is just a simple extension on a few corners of the house. it is exasperating dealing with them. i resorted to daily calls in the last 2 weeks hoping that they will get their act together, but to no avail. today, they told me plain a simple that they will need `more time' to finish their work. getting a completion date commitment from them is next to impossible. so this begs the question, are they not keen to collect the payment from me quicker so they can move on with the business? i was told the only reason for the delay is due to them having too many jobs on hand. they pick and choose which one they wanted done first, and because of my relentless pounding on them in the last 2 weeks, they may have move my job to the back of their queue.
many sage told me patience is a virtue.
i think they have not been to australia yet.

shimun and shiqi getting older

shimun and shiqi both reach a new milestone in their age this month. shimun turns 5 last sunday and shiqi will be 10 in a couple of days.
as always, we kept the celebration a small family affair where we got them a small cake and enjoyed the moment.
both received presents too from their aunt in singapore and nanny.
time flies. how they've grown!

p.s. yes, we do have a cluster of birthdays in sept. my mum turned 70 yesterday as well. i would like to wish her a belated birthday and may she stays happy and healthy for many years to come.

flowering perennials @ canora

we have what i believe are hybrid kingfisher daisy (felicia bergeriana) perennial outside our house front that i am especially fond of. it's really brighten up one's day just by looking at them when in full bloom every morning. and late into the day, it too look forward for a good rest with petals closed.

the key

today is a significant day, albeit a low-key one (pun intended).

this humble key will shape the next few years (maybe decades) of our lives.

favourite bedtime story II

dr seuss is starting to leave an impression on her of late. fagan's grand-uncle gave her a dr suess story book last month in adelaide and that got her going.

this week, `green eggs and ham' is required reading. luckily there is an accompanying cd in this book we borrowed from the library. i will pop the cd in the cd player she can listen to it when i am done reading it umteenpth time.

as i write, `sam-i-am' is ringing in my ears.

9 august 09

as i write, singapore is probably in the thick of action with her usual dazzling national day parade at marina bay. we never did see a parade `live' other than on tv and on occasions, we drove closer-by to witness the spectacular fireworks. in a way, we miss the excitement this year.

we kind of commemorated this with a small gathering of singaporean here for a makan session at my place yesterday. kok wah and family, who migrated here about a year earlier than us, joined us with chin yuen and his wife. kok wah is a colleague and my cycling kaki now. chin yuan and his wife will live here for 3 years as his wife is on a singapore government scholarship doing her doctorate at the melbourne university.

after a short cycle session at the eastlink trail, we replaced all burnt calories had a hearty meal of decidedly singapore fare of ngo hiang, prawn noodle soup, curry chicken with bread, bubur cha cha, tapioca cake, amongst others.

it was a very nice catch up for all of us.

happy 44th, singapore!

mcg - afl - richmond tigers

Richmond Tigers is the football (Australian football) team I support. As part of the AFL multiculture program, Michael, our football coach said that we could get free tickets to a Richmond game. I was so excited and I couldn’t wait to tell my parents. I told my father and he was excited. My family and I went the MCG, we were amongst the first people to reach the stadium.

We waited so long that I thought that the coordinator won’t be able to make it but finally we got the tickets. We got in and it was so cool how we could see the entire field. This was my first time ever watching a football game live. At first, Richmond was leading but Melbourne caught up, but then Richmond fought back again.

We had to go home at the last quarter. When we got home, I was pleasantly surprised when my father told me that Richmond won the game. Richmond won by a last minute goal. It was so cool. I thought that Richmond was going to lose like the last time.

I enjoyed myself. by Paisley Chiew

paisley embraced the footie and richmond tigers when the team did a school visit earlier this year. her interests in the team grew a little fanatical when she started a scrap book on all things tiger. even her clothes' choice of colors are tiger coordinated on match day. so when her school offer the opportunity to watch the tigers in action this sunday, we thought it is a good opportunity to spend sunday doing what many melbournians do; attending a sports event.

richmond tigers is well over a hundred years old and has cult followings amongst victorians even though success evaded the club for quite a while already. today, it is a mid-table club that's struggling a little bit.

unsure of the crowd or traffic condition, we left early. when there, fans are already there mingling. there is only friendly rivalry between the tigers and the demons fans. i guess it is down to the fact that we are 2 teams from melbourne competing and crucially; the two teams are not really contending for honors this season. as i said, tigers are a mid-table team while the demons are the current wooden spoonist in the table standing.

the mcg is truly an extraordinary sports venue. it has a mammoth 100 000 capacity and a rich sporting legacy. i would love to explore the sports museum and its surrounding on another occasion.

i was completely ignorant of the footie game but admittedly, it has grown on me. i would say i understand about 60% of the game. prior to that, i am always bewildered by this game where grown men run around an oval and inevitably getting into a flare-up at every game. however, once one has basic understanding on the footie, it is quite a remarkable spectator sport.

we left towards the end of the 4th quarter where the 2 teams were neck to neck in the score and exchanging leads. in the end, richmond tigers prevail. and that made someone in the family (very) happy.

match stats:
richmond tigers - 86
melbourne demons - 82
crowd: 37,438 at MCG

1 august 2009

afternoon stroll at the bellbird dell reserve, which is a stone throw away from our new (future) home.

off topic - before and after

i am lucky to have been to china in the last few years for work. the transformation i witnessed is truly astounding. one of the my favourite `side activity' is to take pictures at the same spot over the years so i can see what changed. i recalled reading a news article on beijing that the city map needs updating every 3 months because there are so many new sights and developments completed that changed the cityscape, especially in the pre-olympic years. here are 2 iconic landmarks that helped define the new beijing.


cctv hq building - i literally saw this imposing beauty rise from the grounds up from the 16th floor on my office building opposite this site. it's hard not to stare at it everytime the sight of this building beckons. of course, this building is still unoccupied due to someone's folly of letting off fireworks in an adjoining building late last year. it razed that building into a black shell.

beijing olympic stadium, the bird's nest - nuff' said

circus

the circus came to town last week and we caught it over the weekend. we drove past the circus site on our way home a few times prior, which is just around the corner of where we lived. so, on sunday, we decided it will be a nice change from our `stay-at-home' sunday routine. we walked there; with a haversack of snacks.

the frank gasser's circus olympia that we saw was a slightly watered down version (i think) from what i read about circus olympia. this one is basically a group of travelling circus performers from siberia that is leveraging on the name to draw in the crowd. that said, they are clearly a talented and hardworking bunch. hardworking because most performers also double up as ushers, popcorn sellers, etc. before the show and during intermission. clearly the sign of the times. unlike the good ol' days where the circus is a family treat that most will look forward to and will pack in the crowd; today there are just too many other distractions to draw the crowd into the big tent. there were only about a 150 circus goers in the show we were in.

we enjoyed the 2hr show thoroughly. for weiqimun, this is their first circus; so they had a jolly good time as well. the performers were consumate professionals; they gave their best despite the (small) crowd. mingwei enjoy the fire-eating segment and i personally like the finale, where the `elder' of the circus troop (who's at least 50yrs old and also doubles up as a clown in the earlier segments) entralled the audience by climbing up a 30m high straight pole with a 45kg girl standing balanced on his head. it is hard to imagine, you have to see it to believe it. what strength!

we are unlikely to see another circus in the foreseeable future; that said, we hope the good old traditional circus will be around for a long, long time. they can still elicit smiles from the young and old as they did on sunday, and that can only be a good thing.

downball

Downball, it’s a game that I play with my friends’ the majority of the time. I play it during recess and lunch, that is, when the best walls aren’t taken. The wall we will have to use if that happens is a low wall. It is lousy, because if you hit it too high, it goes on the roof…

Now about Downball, for those of you that aren’t too familiar with it, let me explain. It’s a game that you have to survive in by chucking a ball at everyone. Just kidding, to play it you have to repeatedly hit a Spalding ball or (bouncy ball as my little sister calls it) on to the all mighty and magnificent wall that we always have to dash out to ‘book’ as soon as our teacher dismisses us when the bell rings. As I was saying, if you hit it on the wall, you wait till the ball comes to you after someone else has hit it and you or someone else hits it again. Sounds boring? Well, not if you play it.

Ok, let me tell you the main rules… Well here goes
Firstly, I’ll tell you about the areas
-The Out Area: So, well how should I say it, Ermm well, you just can’t get the ball there. The last person to hit it before it goes out gets on the wall. Oh yeah if the ball goes out, you can serve it from there if you say SOS (Serve Out of Square) or as my friend says it, sauce.
-The In Area: It is the area the ball has to stay in.
Now for the rules
-Double touch: You can’t touch it after you just hit it or you’re out.
-Double bounce: When you hit the ball, it has to bounce only once before it hits the wall or you’re out.
-Fool: After you’ve hit the ball, if it touches the wall before it hits the ground, you’re out.
-Wedge: If it bounces where the floor and the wall meet, it’s a wedge and no one’s out.
-Rebound: If it bounces out and by some miracle it comes back in (without anyone touching it!) It’s a rebound and you have to continue the game.
-Being on the wall: If you stuff up and you’re on the wall and the ball hits you, you’re out. However, if you catch the ball before it bounces off the wall, you’re back to hitting the ball.
Well, that’s it, oh yeah one more thing, you can play the ‘Fools Rally’, you have to win by fooling.
Bye, and have fun!

By Chiew Ming Wei, Shankly

favourite bedtime story

shimun's favourite bedtime story book (for now) is an unlikely book called The Story of Growl. we first read it at the library and she liked it so much that we ended up borrowing it home. it is written by a well-known australian cartoonist and illustrator, judy horacek.
we would cover the story a few times a day without her ever getting bored.
as we are returning the book soon, this is to help her remember this story about a little monster which irritates her neighbours initially with her growls but eventually ended up saving the day.

the little dancer

shimun recently joined her best friend in kinder, catherine, in a dance class. her mum sends her to nunawading every tuesday for this.

here, she's getting ready to leave home for her 2nd lesson, when her elder sis returns from school.

july 18, 2009

apart from some gusty wind around noon, we have a beautiful winter day today.













all pictures: nokia n95

er...you got score or not, ar?

once upon a time, not so long ago (in singapore), my kids will hand us their school report card/progress report with trepidation. it is because that will set the scene for the next 6 months of their lives. whether life is good or otherwise will hinge on what's in the progress report. before you conclude that we are sadist that deprive growing children on their (computer) playtime [admittedly, we do cut down on their itouch games, ps2, gameboy, wii, psp or ds lite time (yes, we have the lots and we are working on the 360 and ps3) during the school holidays if they fell short of our expectations], like it or not, we parents have been conditioned since time immemorial that we measure our children's progress in school by how many band 1s or a1s obtained. the first thing most parent zoomed in is the exam marks. all else is immaterial. and the narratives are unimportant. i received my numerous 1 liner `can be improved' remarks from my teachers when i was young. i often wondered, "improve what ah?"
in singapore, i do know of some people who use their children's progress report as bragging rights. it becomes an intense topic of discussion and rank as high as `what car do you drive?', `this holiday going where?' and `psf, how much?' during lunch breaks. i just make sure i have a mouthful of food and chew slowly everytime such topics surface.
our 2 older kids finished their semester 1 recently. when we were (shockingly) told by the school principal earlier this year that the school doesn't have text books for the kids in school; we were more prepared this time round. still, when we received an a4 envelope of 8 page print-out each of shankly and paisley's progress report, we were pleasantly surprised by the content.
for starter, we couldn't find the exam mark or grade. of course, the kids never have exams. life couldn't have better for them. when paisley excitedly insist that i read her semester 1 progress report, i sense that something is amiss. she was never that enthusiastic about me reading her school report card in singapore. same with the boy.
instead, only grading, or rating as they called it were given on. beside being graded on the core learning subjects like english, maths and science(for shankly); equal emphasis were given on interpersonal development, thinking processes, phys ed, performing arts and creativity, amongst others. and supporting each of this rating is a thorough assessment given by the teachers on how they have performed, areas for improvement and what they have done well. for us parents, it is no longer a situation where we judge summarily if our children have done well through the score of the examination papers they took. in fact, i took a long time to read, reread and understand what is written and it has given me an appreciative view on the education our children are receiving. equally impressive is that the students' view were captured in this progress report. they have their say on what they like or dislike about the school, the challenges they relish or the difficulties they encountered. done over time, this will reinforce the students' ability to think and articulate their thoughts. and lastly, parents too have a say in this. we are encourage to pen our thoughts on what we read and pass back written comments to them. a face-to-face parent-teacher meeting will conclude the semester's progress report.
we were initially worried if our kids will lose that `study smart' competitive edge. i am sure they will not fare well in the singapore education system now, even if only 6 months out of that system. admittedly, singapore's education system has its strengths; but that said, i am personally convinced that it is the right decision to pull them out and embrace a more well rounded education system here. children's education here is more holistic than just emphasize on academic excellence. i realized that singapore's education system is evolving in this direction, but we can't wait. paisley will be a mother of 2 and i, grand-dad when that happens.
and for a change, i no longer can be `blackmailed' into `rewards' for `scoring' in an exam. that part is the gravy....

july 16, 2009

for some of us, it was a meaningful day today.

shimun went to her classmate's birthday party this afternoon and had a blast.

mingwei was in a school excursion today visiting the famed melbourne cricket ground (mcg). of course, the mcg is a sacred place to most sports mad melbournian. he too had a blast trying a game of cricket with his schoolmates. i have always wanted to visit the mcg and never had the chance yet. so the boy topped me on this on 2 counts; he's been there and played a game there. for the latter, it is something i will probably never have the chance to experience.

that said, things went well for me too. i went for my first cycling ride, albeit a short one. having chatted with a colleague on riding together for the past month, i decided to walk the talk and dusted off my bicycle today. we decided a short, easy off-road trail ride. having been off the bike for a good few months, i was a little worried about my conditioning and stamina, and my triathlete riding partner added to the pressure. my mountain bike was not in a good shape, so i brought my dahon p8 for the ride. we started off just before dusk at high street, glen waverley. the temperature was a chilly 10 degrees celcius. the bike trail was fantastic; we passed by numerous parks, farm lands and other scenic places. definitely a part of the neighbourhood i need to explore more. if you can overlook the runny nose, painful ears, dry throat and being left for dead in 2 mini hill climbs, it was actually a very gratifying ride for me. nothing like getting started to get that riding bug again. we finished about 19km in under an hour. once back, i was treated to his wife's home-made nasi lemak to round things off.

lastly, i received my much anticipated ticket to the australian masters via registered post today. the big deal of this is of course tiger woods will be playing here in november. mine's a 6 days ground pass, so i will experience what chasing the tiger is all about this november.

victoria celebrates mini's 50th birthday

the mini turned 50 this year. while the main gig took place in silverstone, england a couple of months ago; victoria took turn to honor the mini celebration with a 2 day exhibition in melbourne showgrounds to bring like-minded people together this weekend for some serious indulgence and celebration. this event was organized by the victorian mini club (inc).

this event makes a great family outing. there is the usual `best dress' competition where visitors will vote for the best mini on display; there are also many other activities like mini rc race, mini souvenirs for collectors, mini techies to exchange notes about carburettors and radiators and so on.

i was there with paisley.

minis of all variation and configuration are there to be admired. from the powerful to the quirky, it's amazing how the first mini that rolled out in 1959 has evolved into such a following that is almost unimagineable today. i marveled at the length to which the mini owners take to customize their mini. to me, each mini has its own story to tell.

my first car was a mini. it is a '77 mini 1000 special. i bought it in 1992 and had for 2.5 years before i traded it for something else. i enjoyed it immensely and even took it to malacca once. i also remember getting stopped by traffic police in singapore more than once who (then) asked me to open up the bonnet to check if i `mod' my ride. my then-manager at work, irene kee, christened my mini `mary jane' after i gave her a ride back to the office after a customer visit. the mini unfortunately is not a practical daily car in singapore. i sold it with a heavy heart but it has always a place in my heart.

i next encountered the (new) mini when i went to new zealand for work for a few days. the company had a high end mini cooper s to move around town. as it is a `looker', it turned heads and therefore created a lot of awareness for the company. i was smitten by it and when i went to auckland for a week's holiday with my wife and shimun the next year, i was able to borrow it. i travelled around north island with the mini and returned the car with 3 speeding tickets after.

settling here in melbourne allow me to rekindle my love affair with the mini. as cars are generally more affordable here, i am lucky enough to be able to consider the mini (again) for my ride. i got hold of the `06 r53 cooper s in feb 09 after tossing between that and the latest r56.

we enjoyed the show throughly. especially for me, it is like a kid in a candy store. paisley & i spoke briefly about passing on mary jane II to her and her brother years from now. as a beetle fan, she's not too excited at the prospect. however, i think i got time on my side.

(clockwise from left) me with mary jane; my short love affair in nz and now with mary jane II

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melbourne-adelaide-melbourne

we decided rather late to take advantage of the victoria school holiday to visit my cousin and his family who live in adelaide. the fact that his parents are there made it doubly meaningful since i have close ties with them; having lived with them in singapore for a number of years when i was schooling there. it is a short trip as we are at the tail end of the school holiday and as i just got back from overseas prior. my cousin in adelaide helped with the planning bit and we were off on thursday at 6am sharp.

we relied on the gps for optimal time efficiency. point-to-point, from my place to my cousin's place in adelaide, the distance is a (daunting) 759km as i found out.

on the way to adelaide, my better half took control of the wheel with gusto. she has never driven interstate before. for some reason, i was a little jaded that day, and she covered a good 3/5 of the total journey.

the journey took about 10 hours with stops. we saw a fair bit of the spectacular view at dawn and also during the journey. seeing the countryside is a refreshing change from the usual brick and mortar we are used to.

halfway thru' when we reached border town (the town that literally borders victoria and south australia), shankly got carsick. we stopped by a pharmacy for some panadol; and after an unispiring chinese meal there, he took refuge at the public library for some rest before resuming.
meanwhile, the youngest one took the time to do some coloring at the bordertown public library as well.





we reached adelaide and our final destination (mawson lakes) at around 4.30pm. it was relief all around and we try not to think of the return journey so soon yet. we like mawson lakes alot and have we not settled in melbourne, we are pretty sure that this will be where we will lay our hats.
it rained pretty much the whole of friday, so we spent the morning browsing at the adelaide central market, checked out the adelaide public library before heading to hahndorf in the early afternoon for lunch. the rain put paid to our plan to visit the animal farm in hahndorf where we had a lot of fun during our last visit; and fagan got her fingers painfully pecked by an emu. fagan thus never has her chance to get even.

hahndorf is full of historical flavour. it is one of the earliest german settlement in australia. it should be a `must visit' place for those who visits adelaide. only 20 minutes away from adelaide, it has quite a few attractions that one can spend the day there. a walk along main street to check out the wide range of shops selling german pastries, sausages to curios is a great way to get acquainted with the smallish town. it has great cafes as well as a (surprisingly)fantastic chinese restaurant. there is also beerenberg, a strawberry jam factory and an animal farm nearby where the kids will have a great time with animals.

meeting with the relatives is the highlight of the trip. this is a rare occasion to catch my aunt and uncle from singapore. this is also the first time we met with our adelaide cousins after a couple of years. after a great home cook meal on thursday, we met for a fine dinner at a restaurant on friday.

just as it was a great occasion for us adult to catch up, it was also an opportunity for the kids to get to know each other better. it was a short but fun time for them

on saturday, we left early to get home in good time. by 7am, both the car and us fuel up at castrol and mcdonalds' respectively to get ready for the journey back.

we had a couple of stops, mainly toilet breaks. it rained pretty much on our whole journey back, so we did not have the opportunity to stop at some of the attractions along the way.

stats:
trip stops: (blackburn south) - horsham - border town - mawson lakes - adelaide - hahndorf - mawson lakes - coomandook - kaniva - horsham - syndenham - (blackburn south)
total distance traveled: 1676km
fuel consumption: 9.2l/100km for the entire trip (best recorded mileage 9.0l/100km) on a volvo xc70