Looking Back.. III

Once again, here we are, on the last day of the year..

Looking back at my resolution for 2009, I did lose some weight but not quite enough (just 2kg).. Read a few books but didn't meet the target I set out (only managed 27 books).. Didn't take JLPT Level 1 and my Japanese oral skills still suck as ever, and since I have left Japan, the motivation to keep on improving is very much lacking nowadays.. Haven't been updating or refreshing my technical knowledge since my graduation last Sept.. :(

Yet, I must say that 2009 is THE year where my wanderlust is triggered and satisfied.. Been to 11 countries, if I were to include my own country.. Japan (Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Okayama, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto), Taiwan (just Taipei), Hong Kong, Macau, Italy (Rome, Florence, Siena and Milan), France (Nice, Lyon, Macon and Paris), Monaco, Vatican City, Singapore and finally Australia (Brisbane and Gold Coast).. So in a way, I definitely fulfilled two of my resolutions for the year, Explore Japan more and Travel to neighboring countries.. :)

Other than all these traveling, the other "crazy" thing that I have done in 2009 is tandem-skydiving! :) Yes, I paid good (Australian) money to throw myself out of a plane at 14,000 feet in one of the most beautiful skydiving spots in Australia.. as a present to myself on my 35th birthday.. :) The adrenalin rush was indescribable.. after this, everything else pales in comparison.. ;) I feel indestructible!

This year I went to a lot more social events and made quite a few new friends too.. Instead of holing up in my room like I did during most of my time in Japan, I did venture out more often, either with friends or alone.. Didn't watch as many TV series or movies as 2008, but nonetheless I was duly entertained and stimulated.. And I too realized that I can be friendly and chatty if I want to..

Building upon these newly "discovered" sides of me, I have come out with 7 new year resolutions for 2010. I shall try to be as specific as possible about these goals:

• 68kg => This is straightforward enough. 68kg is my ideal weight based on the calculation of BMI.
• Drive => Need to relearn my driving. Felt very restrictive and handicapped without this important skill.
• Swim => Another important skill to have. Unable to fully enjoy the beaches that I have been to. Not going to have that kind of regrets next time!
• 60 books => That means 5 books a month, which is quite achievable. At least a third of them has to be non-English books and minimum 3 Japanese books.
• PhD/Lecturing =>This is a long shot, but I am still putting it in as one of my new year resolutions. I still think that I will make a good lecturer/academician.
• Doing something new every month/week/day => In order not to go back to my "hermit shell", I will try to do something new or different every day/week/month.
• Be open and stay truthful to my believes, feelings and myself.

Although I must admit that I am kinda relieved to let this crazy roller-coastery eventful year go, there is no doubt that 2009 has been monumental in my life in so many ways and I shall not forget it for years to come.. This is the year in which I had experienced many new things and new emotions, with countless euphoric highs and tormented lows that often made me wonder whether I had been "alive" all those previous years.. It is also the year that I have done so many things that I didn't realize I am capable of.. And I won't trade any of these for anything in the world!

Am looking forward to 2010.. hoping for stability and growth in the coming new year.. aimed to start anew and afresh.. :) although I still have no idea where I will eventually end up, I believe that I am ready for whatever challenges that might be thrown at me along the way..

And finally, Happy New Year everyone!! Have a blessed and fruitful 2010!!

Australia 2009: Closure

In 12 hours I will be taking the Air Asia X flight back to Malaysia..

It has been an eventful 5 weeks in Down Under.. been to most of the usual touristy spots around Brisbane and Gold Coast.. experienced the typical Aussie lifestyle.. Gone through some emotional roller coasters with many highs and lows.. Made new friends and (might have) lost an old one.. Jumped off a plane at 14,000ft and survived to tell the tale.. Had plenty of Aussie food and some Asian ones too.. Realized some things and sorted out a couple of my thoughts too..

This was a good trip.. and most probably the last of my globetrotting in the near future.. but again, who knows what will be in store for me in 2010.. :)

Australia 2009: 3rd week

Time really flies and I am already in my 4th week in Australia.. :)

Things have become more or less routine (or monotonous, if you think it passively), as I have been "incorporated" into the kids' daily lives.. :) I will be woken in the morning by Rio, calling out my name outside my bedroom door.. Then it will be helping Voone preparing breakfast or getting the kids to eat.. Lots of reading time, and play time..
Of course, it wasn't always sweet and nice all the time.. kids do have their tantrums and moods, thus sometimes I was really glad that I wasn't their mum.. :p :p But seriously I really must salute these stay-at-home mums with more than 1 kids.. toughest job in the world, in my opinion..

As Christmas is just around the corner, some have put up Christmas decorations.. A couple of them really went through A LOT of effort in decorating their houses.. Here are a few of them..

There is a Christmas Light competition for the suburbs here and the winners' list just came out a few days ago, so we would most probably go around the neighborhood to "hunt" for the winners in the next few nights.. :)

Went to Cody's pre-school graduation too.. Kids will always be kids, whether they are "Ang Mo" (meaning Caucasian in Hokkien) or Asians.. actually, I think the Ang Mo kids are more noisy and harder to "control", since they aren't always being told to "keep quiet" all the time.. :p :p
Made steam egg cakes and Mee-chian-kueh (picture below) for the kids.. and cooked a dinner for Dean's parents too.. I can only say that there weren't any complains from the Reynolds.. so far... :p :p
Visited the Sunday Market at Mt Tamborine.. had some nice home-made truffles and candies.. plenty of nick-knacks, home-made soap, jams and handicrafts..
More interesting activities are lined up for the next week.. :) :) Stay tune!!

Australia 2009: Pizza

On my first night in Australia, I had some of the best pizzas ever.. They were from Pizza Capers..

Once you have tasted these, Pizza Hut and Domino's pizza is NOTHING!! I won't want to eat those pizzas if I have a choice.. Once you have tasted such variety, you won't want to go back to those boring ones anymore.. :p

Yesterday, we had pizzas for dinner again.. but this time round, we bought all our favorite ingredients and proceed to make our own pizza.. :) Dean was the chief chef.. he made us some really tasty pizza.. I also tried my hand in concocting my own.. I put lots of tomato paste, chopped garlic, button mushroom, bacon, gherkins and cheese..

And here is how it looked like.. out of the oven...
Ahh... with such good food, I am definitely gaining weight in Australia.. :x

Australia 2009: Christmas tree

Since I am in the southern hemisphere where it is summer instead of winter, I will not be having a white Christmas this year.. yet it is hard to miss the festive mood that is in the air everywhere! :)

This year, the Reynolds got a REAL Christmas tree, instead of the plastic one.. It is about 6 feet tall and smells really nice.. :) :) kinda piny and fresh.. :p

I am as excited as the kids as this is my first Christmas with a Christmas tree, be it plastic or real.. :) Everyone wants to help decorate it.. Voon is the chief decorator, with Dean, the kids and me being her "little" helpers.. :) :)

A silver ball here, a red star there.. a snowman here.. a candy cane there.. a miniature tin soldier up here, a reindeer figurine down there.. It was fun decorating the tree.. Once we put the lights on, it is just beautiful....

Oh Christmas tree.. Oh Christmas tree.. :)

Australia 2009: Routines

With kids, routine is essential.. Knowing when to eat, play and sleep helps to provide the kids with a sense of stability..

So here is the routine for the kids.. :)

Rio is always the first to wake up, around 5.30am.. he will plays on his own while waiting for the rest of us to wake up, although he will pester his mum or me to wake up to play with him.. between 7 - 8am.. Cody wakes up slightly later than his brother.. sometimes, he gets cranky as most of us will if not enough sleep...

Breakfast is usually at 9am.. either oats, cereal, bread or pau.. Cody is a slow eater while Rio is a messy one.. They will watch kids programs while eating..

Then it is play time.. they will play toys or games or just chase around the house.. With screams of "Mummy!!" , "Mummy, look at Rio!!", "No!!", "Share!!", "骂! 骂!" (means scold! scold!) from the kids every other minutes..

They will have fruits if they are hungry before lunch.. lunch would be something filling yet nutritious.. After which, Rio will take his 2-hour afternoon nap while Cody watches his cartoons or plays his own toys.. When the brother wakes up, it is play time again..

Dinner will be around 6pm, with or without kids programs.. they are allowed to watch TV until their bath time around 8.30pm.. It will be reading time before bedtime, which is around 9pm.. Rio will sleeps when he is tired and will go to bed quietly, with his "pussy cat", "teddy bear", pillow and blanket.. Cody will not turn in until he is scolded or forced to sleep..

In between, there will be lots of screaming, crying, jostling, hitting, pushing and whatever kids do.. I have learned to let the kids sort it out themselves because kids' mood change faster than to say "Stop!".. One second they will be crying, then the next they are laughing.. one second they love you to death for playing with them, the next they punch you for no reason..

And the "cycle" repeats itself everyday.. :)

Australia 2009: TV shows

Haven't watched so many kids program on television since..don't know when.. but a very long time, I must say.. :)

After more than two weeks of "hanging around" with a 4-year old and a 2-year old, I have seen my fair share of kids programs.. but seriously, some of those programs are very interesting.. even for adults!! :p

Live shows like "The Wiggles", "Hi-5", "In the Night Garden", "Thomas and Friends", "dirtgirlworld" and Rio's favorite, "Play School".. and lots of kids cartoons, like "Scooby-Doo", "Looney Tunes", "Tom and Jerry", "Transformers", "Roary, the racing car", "Hello, Kai-lan", "Olivia", "Arthur", "Diego" and many more..

It is interesting to watch the kids watch those shows.. their facial expressions and reactions are so cute.. :) :) Rio would try to follow every moves of the characters during the sing-along, while Cody would try to explain to me why they are doing that or what will happen next..

Sometimes Rio would want me to sit beside him when he watches the show.. sometimes he would show me his imitation of what he saw on the TV.. sometimes he would repeat what he heard to me.. most of the time he just laughs and sing along, mumbling the lyrics in his cute little voice..

Ah... kids.. :) :) :)

Australia 2009: 2nd week

Passed the 14th day mark.. Had lots of fun the last 7 days.. Let me recap.. :)

Went on a day trip to Byron Bay with the Reynolds last Wednesday.. the place was beautiful and very lay-back.. didn't really spend much time at the beach, but the beach was beautiful.. Went up to the light house and the most eastern tip of mainland Australia..
Gone shopping at Pacific Fair, Gold Coast with Voon when the kids went childcare.. Bought some chocolates... and a few books.. Also visited the nearest Ikea store with the Reynolds..

My cousin, Wei, came to fetch me and we went to Surfer's Paradise.. had a good breakfast at Pancake in Paradise, then we went to the beach.. Oh.. the beach was unbelievably beautiful.. in my books, it is ranked up there with the beaches in Nice, France.. here the beach are sandy, not pebbly..
Lastly, went to Sea World.. saw plenty of dolphins and sharks.. went on two rides too... I just loved it!! :)
Shall write more about these adventures separately later.. Looking forward to the 3rd week.. :) :)

Australia 2009: Thai fighting fishes

Dean bought the boys a Thai fighting fish each last week.. together with a small fish tank that has a plastic transparent wall in the middle to separate the tank into two... a removable blue panel is sided so that the fishes could see each other.. house both fishes.. two plastic sea weeds and some pebbles.. :)

Cody named his fish "Tikka", while Rio's was "Samba". Tikka is purple, while Samba is red.. The kids were very excited to have a pet of their own.. wanting to put in the pebbles to their respective "corners" themselves.. then fighting to feed their fishes..

Somehow the fishes the kids choose reflect their personalities.. Tikka is aggressive and will flare up whenever the middle solid color partition was removed, while Samba would just "chill" at his corner and refused to join in the "fight dance".. Just like the boys, where Cody likes to disturb his brother, even when Rio was just happily playing his own toys himself..

Aren't kids interesting?? :)

Western Japan 2009: Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto

Yes, I went to Kyoto AGAIN... :p What can I say, I just love Kyoto.. :) been there four times in my 2.5 years in Japan.. First time with my Japanese class classmates in summer in 2007, then again the next summer with my sister.. then I skipped class and went there again in autumn the same year.. and finally during this Western Japan trip.. Visited the last two touristy places that I missed in my earlier trips..

Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社)


Byodo-In (平等院) Temple


Then I went to Kobe.. for less than half a day.. I ended up checking out a waterfall, Nunobiki Waterfalls (布引の滝) which was just 10min walk from Shin Kobe subway station..


Finally Osaka.. Stayed there with my sister the previous summer.. this time round, I stayed in a budget hotel near Shinsekai (新世界) and saw a shadier side of Osaka.. with run-down shopping alleys, smoky pubs and watering holes, and pachinko parlors..


More photos of these 3 cities here..

Australia 2009: The case of the missing "pussy cat"

Little Rio has two little toys that he has to sleep with.. a little white hand puppet cat and a little white teddy bear.. He is too young to give them names yet, so he just called them "pussy cat" and "teddy bear".. :)

A few nights ago, when he was about to go to bed we realized that his "pussy cat" is missing!! And he refuses to sleep without it..

So the three of us (Dean, Voone and me) went all over the house searching for it.. went into his bedroom, his elder brother Cody's bedroom, the living room, the bathroom, the kitchen, the playroom, the family car, the backyard... and still we couldn't find it.. Voone decided to ask Cody if he had noticed whether his little brother had brought the "pussy cat" into the car and went to the nearby playground earlier.. While Dean decided to ask little Rio if he remember where he kept his "pussy cat".. as Voone went to the car to look for the toy cat again, Dean called out from Rio's bedroom, saying "We found it!"..

It seemed that little Rio had stuffed his "pussy cat" in his socks drawers and covered by another toy, a finger puppet bat! No wonder no one found it.. :) and to top off this little "search and rescue mission", little Rio mumbled rather loudly, "Sorry..", as if he knew he had made all of us waste our energy.. we can't help but to smile when we heard it..

Ah.. Kids... :) :) :)

Western Japan 2009: Okayama and Himeiji

"Black and White".. that was the theme for visiting these 2 cities.. :)

Visited the Okayama Castle (岡山城), or more popularly known as "Crow Castle" (烏城) because of its black exterior.. However, the current castle was a replica built in 1966. So although the sense of authenticity is there but I still felt "cheated" of sort..

Another must-see in Okayama is Kōrakuen (後楽園), which has waterfalls, tiny shrines, teahouses, miniature maple forests, a lotus pond, and even a greenhouse filled with orchids and cacti. It was just walking distance to the Crow Castle..

I went there early in the morning.. was the first few to visit.. there were still dew on the paddy fields..
Okayama is also famous for being the "birth place" of Momotarō (桃太郎)..

I then took the Shinkansen to Himeiji.. to see the Himeji Castle (姫路城), which was also called the "White Egret Castle" (白鷺城). Walked along the Otemae-dōri from the train station to get to the castle. The street was nicely shaded by trees along the street, with shops selling food and local delicacies..


More photos here..

Australia 2009: Day 03

Today the kids was to go to childcare.. so that mummy can have some "off" time.. and do some shopping.. :)

After feeding the kids oatmeal and putting sunblock on them, we walked to the childcare center which was about 5 min's walk (for adult) away.. however, with kids, it took us almost 20minutes.. as the kids kept being distracted by the sights and things along the way.. :)

After settling in the boys with their respective childcare (Cody with Pre-school, while Rio is playgroup), we walked to the bus stop which was, again, less than 5 min away.. but under the hot burning sun, it felt longer..

One begin to appreciate the sheds that Singaporean and Japanese bus stops provide, as waiting under the blazing sun with no shelter was no fun.. Took Bus No. 16 to Harbour Town, a direct outlet shopping center, which cost AUD$2.90 per person.. it was a 30min bus ride.. The bus was clean and well-maintained..

We went looking for breakfast when we got there.. We choose a cafe..and I ordered Eggs Benedict with Mushroom..

Then we went shopping.. there were a lot outlet shops for various famous brands, like Adidas, Cotton On, Fossil, Nike, Espirit, etc.. But I wasn't a shopping person, so I ended up following Voone around, doing her shopping for the kids and getting some household items.. I bought a book for Cody, called "Ghost", cos he was terrified of ghost yet can't say why.. :p and another book for myself, "Guardian Angels".. :) Then we had lunch at this place..
I had cream pasta which was good, but make me very full.. :) we then went grocery shopping at Woolworths (a local hypermart similar to Tesco/Carrefour).. oh.. how I loved it.. the wide aisle and the wide choices.. afterwhich we visited an Asian supermarket to get some Asian food.. This was the place to get anything and everything Asian, from Malaysian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese!!

We took the same bus back and went to collect the kids from the childcare center.. That night, we had fried rice for dinner.. :)

Western Japan 2009: Islands and Mountains

During this trip, I went to two islands and hike up two mountains, as I preferred to "hang-out" with Mother Nature, then to wander around the concrete jungle.. Some of these trips didn't have anything to offer but a good work-out, while some offered spectacular views..

Here are my reviews:
Sakurajima (桜島), Kagoshima
View: 4 out of 5
Fun: 4.5 out of 5
Time spent: 4 hours on bicycle [¥300 an hour] not including ferry trip. Great way to see incredible scenery..


Iojima (伊王島), Nagasaki
View: 3 out of 5
Fun: 2 out of 5, lack of transportation options
Time spent: 3 hours, walking under the sun with temperature spiking at 39 degrees..


Mt Inasa (稲佐山), Nagasaki
View: 3 out of 5 without sunset, 4 out of 5 with sunset and night view
Fun: 2.5 out of 5
Time spent: 2 hours, took the Ropeway and had dinner at the restaurant on top of Mt Inasa..


Mt Misen (弥山), Miyajima, Hiroshima
View: 4 out of 5, worth the hike up..
Fun: 3 out of 5, nothing to see along the hike..kinda monotonous..
Time spent: Spent the whole day in Miyajima, took me almost 80mins to hike up Mt Misen from Daisho-in Temple.


More photos of these islands and mountains here..