Not in a hundred years....

29 Dec 2006, Friday - A cool holiday....

IT'S December in Queensland and the beaches should be full of half-naked sun worshippers. Instead, the coldest December temperatures for more than a century have forced holidaymakers indoors to throw on a jumper! (Including myself! We had to dig out our jumpers and quilt again!)

Yesterday the greying skies meant Brisbane struggled to hit a maximum of 24C - still well below December's average temperature of 29.6C. Weather bureau forecaster Tony Auden said cool air from the snow-capped areas of Victoria and Tasmania and some prolonged cloud cover over most of Queensland had kept temperatures low.

The 19.2C maximum reported in Brisbane's city centre on Wednesday was matched only by an unseasonable all-time low of 18.8C recorded in 1888. Emerald, in central Queensland, broke a 100-year record, with the mercury reaching a maximum of only 16.7C on Wednesday, compared with 18.3C in 1907.

However, the long-awaited rain has done little to bring real relief to the southeast. No more than 20mm has fallen in key dam catchment areas. But the rain won't last, according to the experts. Weather bureau forecaster Ben Annells said only light rain was predicted for southeast Queensland this week, with heavier falls in the far north.

So, different from previous Christmas, we had a warm Christmas, wet Boxing Day and cold week leading up to the New Year.... Hope summer stays like this all the time!

Excerpts taken from Courier Mail.

And the Shopping begins….

26 Dec 2006, Tuesday – And they’re off……

Boxing Day Sales is on! Stock Clearance Sales is on! Every shop in the shopping centre, city, suburb are having one sale or another! 20, 30, 40, 50, even up to 60% off!

Not one to miss out on good bargains, we joined in to see if the bargains are really that good.

We spent slightly more than a hundred bucks. We bought a new fitted bed sheet set, some towels, a new mop, a camisole and a sport shorts for me. The bed sheet was marked down 60% from AU$150. It’s Egyptian cotton with 600 thread count. (It’s so soft and smooth that we are having trouble getting out of bed!)

We did way, way, way, way better than the locals. They buy by bulk, by trolley loads! It’s as if they have wallets that replenish themselves with wads of cash! They buy anything from toys, to daily necessities, to manchesters, to electrical items and even furniture!

But, offers on electrical appliances are pretty tempting. We are still considering about replacing our current washing machine and fridge! And for the first time, Harvey Norman is selling them cheaper than any other stores around (this is impossible in SG! Harvey Norman will be the last place we will shop for electrical appliances….)

So should we?

And the feasting continues….

25 Dec 2006, Monday – The first day of Christmas….

We went to Leo’s place at Chapel Hill for dinner tonight. It’s a dinner feast that seafood lovers will drool over…

We had fresh lobsters for dinner! They were chopped up, coated with rice flour, fried, stir fried with ginger and shallots, soya sauce, oyster sauce and walla ~ “Jiang Cong Long Xia”!




It’s been the yummiest lobster dish that I’ve tasted so far (not that I’ve tasted a lot) but it was really finger licking good! (Compliments to the cook!).

Apart from lobsters, we also had garlic steamed prawns, steamed red snapper (very fresh!) and Vietnamese salad.


Of course, after the main courses, we have desserts. Ming whipped up a really mean Chocolate Mousse Cake even the anti-chocolate Esmo had 3 slices of!

Last but not least, we ended the evening with a few rounds of Texas Hold’em Poker. No worries, it was healthy gambling, no real money involved. It’s a good way to engage friends after dinner and we are looking forward to playing this game with our group of mates in the near future.

1 sleep to Christmas….

24 Dec 2006, Sunday – And the feasting begins….

When in Rome do as the Romans do. So we did…. We began feasting, stuffing ourselves with so much food that it’s hard to shed off the kilos after that.

But unlike the Romans, we didn’t have turkey for dinner. We had steamboat. It has become common fare to us to have steamboats for most occasions. We even have steamboat dinners when there are NO occasions, simply because it’s the easiest meal to prepare. Just buy the ingredients (you don’t even have to cut them, except for veges), prepare the soup base and dump all ingredients into the boiling matter. It’s also a good way to catch up with friends as steamboat dinners usually take up a longer time to finish. (So be mindful of who you invite for steamboat dinners... you don't want to have awkward silences....)

After dinner (and feeling guilty of having the large quantity of food), we felt like burning off some calories and fats by going to the bowling alley. Alas, unlike Singapore, most shops here are closed on Christmas Eve night.

Seeing that the night is still young, we decided to go have desserts (the notion of burning off calories and fats were thrown out the window at the sight of the closed bowling alley….). We went to Rosalie a.k.a. Little Paris (because of the miniature Eiffel Tower there. But it’s a little weird because the cafes there are selling Italian coffee, so shouldn’t they have the Coliseum instead?).

We stuffed ourselves with coffee, soft drinks, ice creams and cakes and yakked away until the clock strike 11.30pm when we disbanded and headed home to wait for Santa…

Nostalgia...

23 Dec 2006, Saturday - The good old days.....

On our way to UQ for our weekly badminton session, we came across a very peculiar sky.

They were like mini twisters from the heaven, trying to make a connection to earth. And there were lots of them!

After badminton, a group of us proceeded to Redcliffe for some fish and chips.

Who wouldn't be smiling from ear to ear when you have fresh seafood?

Then, we stopped by a market...

admired the scenery....

before the boys travelled back in time to their childhood days.... They played "Guli" or marbles, with seeds found on the ground.

The weapon and the rules....

In no time, all kinds of patterns surfaced, just to get as many "marbles" as possible and to "kill" off the opponents.

The Golden Rooster Stance and the Steady Horse Footing

The boys had a lot of fun with this simple game. I wonder if kids nowadays have ever heard of this game let alone try their hands on it? Will it be as entertaining to them as it was to us?

Get Well Soon....

21 Dec 2006, Thursday - Best of the best of the best of wishes....

One of our relatives underwent a major surgery recently. Though we are not able to give our support physically, we sent a representative and something for entertainment.

Get well soon....

IKEA has moved…..

3 Dec 2006, Sunday – Bigger, but better?

IKEA has moved from Springwood to Logan, on a bigger surface area, so big that it’s a huge shopping mall by itself, boasting more than 1,000 car spaces.

It has now a bigger car park, bigger restaurant cum eating area, bigger signboard and bigger warehouse.








In fact, the warehouse is so huge, I wonder how people are going to get their purchases from the top of the shelf?


Now how the hell do they expect me to get my purchase from up there? Is there a Superman on hire here?







As usual, we went for IKEA’s meatballs (as usual). There’s a slight difference between meatballs in AU compared to meatballs in SG. AU’s meatballs are more beefy (i.e. it stunk more compared to SG’s balls). They are selling $2.50 for 5 pieces (kid’s set), $6.50 for 10 pieces and $7.50 for 15 pieces. How much are they selling them for in SG?

Here in AU, you can also "ta pao" some meatballs back home to cook! We bought 1kg worth so that we could have it when we have pasta for meals.

P/S: Sorry for the backdating…. Haven’t been keeping up with my blog updating schedules… Thousand apologies!

Happy Birthday David!


4 December 2006, Monday - It's been more than a quarter of a century....


We celebrated David's "burst day" in advance by having dinner at a Korean Barbeque restaurant near Pinelands. The food was nice but it was a tad expensive ($20 bucks per person, of which the 4 boys didn't have enough... and we all stank after dinner....)


We then proceeded to Market Square to purchase some Bubble Tea to quench our thirst and "forced" David to go back home for some "family meeting".


He was in for a nice surprise when Kelvin and Winnie (who couldn't join us for dinner) returned with a cake!


























Happy Birthday David, may all your dreams and wishes come true!

Still partying.....


11 December 2006, Monday - The Merry Making continues.....


Today it's party at the office for me.


We each had to bring a dish or two for our office's Christmas Lunch, and we had a FEAST! (I brought Konyakku Jellies and they have been renamed to "Jellyfish" ... haha... )


We also got our presents from our respective Secret Santa.


Itwas fun as we sat down and ate like a family. I hope there will be more of this again!

Party Time - 2!!

9 Dec 2006, Saturday - Party on!!!

Tonight it was Esmond's branch's turn to party. We went to a Sit Down Comedy Club in Paddington.

Again, this is a dinner and show but the difference is that there are no dances. You are only required to sit down and listen to the presenter telling jokes or making jokes about you.

It was something different and there were so jokes that were crude and not pleasing to the ear (by my standards....)

However, the food was superb (or maybe we were all very hungry... haha). We had salad and grilled chicken or lamb.

The show was for 2 hours and upon which Esmond and I joined one of his colleague and her partner to The Manors (Fu Yew) for some late night Yum Cha. (The dinner portion wasn't really enough for the two boys....)

Party Time!!!

8 Dec 2006, Friday - Time to be merry, rowdy and drunk!

It's my company's party night tonight and we are heading to a dinner and show at The Brazilian Touch (no... don't think naughty.... it's not a restaurant where you touch Brazilians or the Brazilians touch you....). It's at McLachlan St in Fortitude Valley.

When the gates open at 7.30pm, we were greeted and welcomed with a cocktail. Being non-drinkers, we chickened out of the green liquid and settled for a non-alcoholic drink (which we have no idea what's in it but it didn't get us drunk - that's what mattered....)

Dinner started around 8.15pm and after an hour of bingeing, the staff removed the buffet table and switched off all the lights.

There were salsa lessons (of which two of my colleagues gamely participated and we were all of the opinion that S had done the Salsa better than the instructor....) followed by various dance shows (e.g. the african tribe dance, Samba etc etc...).

We left at around 10.30pm while the rest of the gang partied on.

On our way back home, we passed by Kangaroo Point and took this picture. The CBD's night view. Isn't it pretty?

Nearly didn't make it....

Next time you buy your tickets with AU cities being the departure ticket, please remember to check with the airline before you leave.

My sis nearly didn't make it for her flight on 24 Nov 2006. Her itinery states that her flight would leave Brisbane Domestic Airport at 1.15pm. But when we got to the counter at 11.45am, the lady asked us "What time did you think that you'll be flying off?". We thought that it was a trick question and found it weird that she was staring at the itinery and asking us.

She then informed us that because we bought the ticket in May, there wasn't any daylight savings then. As it is now December, daylight saving rules applies (BUT it doesn't apply to Queensland!). Since the internet booking is tagged to Sydney's timing, the flight will leave an hour earlier - i.e. 12.15pm~!

Luckily we were there half an hour earlier. Otherwise, my sis would not have been able to catch the connecting flight back to SG as it was pushed forward earlier as well!

There were no information on the itinery to advise of "this peculiar situation" and another push for Queensland to adopt the daylight savings scheme too!

Sydney - Day 4

27 Nov 2006, Monday - Time to go home....


On our last day in Sydney, we were too tired to wake up for breakfast and overslept till 9.30am! We were supposed to check out by 10am!


Hurriedly, we packed our stuff into our suitcases and went downstairs to return the room. Fortunately, we weren't imposed any extra charges and were even allowed to keep our suit cases with the hotel until we collect them later in the day.


We had breakfast at a cafe at the Central Train Station and proceed on our way to Kings Cross.

As there was a two for 1 offer, we paid $10 for our entrances to the Sydney Jewish Museum.


















We were introduced to Jewish origins, cultures and beliefs and of course, their history - the most horendous being The Holocaust in WWII.


The exhibition on The Holocaust exposes the Nazi's plan for systematic annihilation of European Jewry, starting with Hitler's rise to power, continuing through ghettos and concentration camps and ending finally with the liberation and the ensuing pursuit of justice.


In 1990, Australia was involved in the Australian Nazi War Crime investigation and had such ordered a mass grave in Serniki to be excavated to reveal the archaeological and forensic evidence of this heinous crime.


Serniki, located in the north west corner of the Ukraine, in the heart of Polesie, had a population of 3,000 of which half of them are Orthodox Jews. Nazi Germany launched a war of destruction against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. By the summer of 1942 efforts were being made to declare Polesie Judefrei (free of Jews). In a radius of 75kms around Serniki, a wave of Judenaktionen (actions against Jews) wiped out all rural and urban communities.


The Jews of Serniki were murdered in one day in early September 1942. They were rounded up and rbought to a pit 40m long and 5m wide on the outskirts of the village. They were foreced to lie face down on the floor of the pit, while marksmen at the edge of thepit targeted the heads of the victims. Other victims were clubbed to death. A number of Jews escaped the slaughter by fleeing into the forests. Those who were later found were shot. Altogether, about 850 men, women and children were massacred.


A team from Australia's Special Investigations Unit, assistedby Ukrainian officials and soldiers, undertook the task of "Unearthing the Holocaust". Villagers pointed out the location of the killing field, which had remained undisturbed under a pine forest planted in the early 1960s.

As with any war, the children suffers the most. It was reported that a total of 1.5 million Jewish children perished in the war. The museum had a section to commemorate these innocent victims. There were also some exhibits of their belongings such as miniature teacup and saucer, letters written by children to family, toy car, leather school satchel and activity book.

But one question remains. Why are Jews targeted since the beginning of time? What have they done as a community that makes other people hate them to the core so much so that they are willing to exterminate them?

Esmond read Mien Kampf (Hitler: My Struggle) by Aldof Hitler stated that since Germany's lost in WWI, they as a nation have been forced to pay "war tax" to the Allies and were under the suppression of Austria. The Jewish communities were very successful but yet were selfish and operates vice business. The "unfair life" lead by Jewish and the common Germans made him lead his people to revolt. As time goes on, it became a personal vendetta for Hitler to exterminate the Jewish community and establish the superior European community of the Aryan race. He had the most twisted perversion that Jews are inferior and does not have the right to live and "contaminate" the world. Based on some demographics (such as the height of the nose bridge, facial features and circumcision for boys), he started to "weed" out the Jews. The rest as they say, is history....

A coin has two faces. In the same regard, every story / history has two sides. What would the Nazi musuem say about Jews then? Would it showcase Jewish "atrocities" and selfish acts? Would it justify their war against them and others? It'll be interesting to know....

Another intriguing fact is that no matter how many failures or how much torture or hardship that the Jews were put through, they were able to pull themselves together and be successful again. They are rich and successful in society. Are they truly born with superior intellect?

We didn't really have a lot of time so we hurriedly went through the exhibits and didn't have the time to watch / listen to people narrating their personal encounters during the war.


We had to give up our plans to visit Manly (another beach in Sydney) as we were running out of time (it was close to 3pm). So, we made our way back to our favourite restaurant (you guessed it... BBQ King) and had our late lunch. We even bought a whole roast duck back to Brisbane! (which was subsequently shared with friends over dinner the next evening).



Complimentary soup! .... yummy....









































After lunch, we walked back to the hotel to collect our luggage and made our way back to the airport. On our way back, we found the Hills bus. What's so special about Hills bus? Well, they are part of ComfortDelgro - good old ComfortDelgro from SG.... The link between AU and SG is "thicker" than ever... Hills bus, Optus... what next? Qantas? (better not... otherwise that'll be the end of cheapest airfare to AU from SG)




















Thinking that it'd be best to avoid the traffic on the road, we took the train to the airport. However, the train was packed like sardines! For a moment, it was like back in SG again!

We found that people in big cities loose their "courtesy" and common sense. They do not move further into the train, preferring to jam up the doors, there's no greetings or smiles and they were even stunned when you greet them with the common Brissie greeting of "Hi, how are you?". They just look at you - stunned.... like you are an alien and they don't understand your language...


After a half hour delay, our plane finally took off and made its way back to the Sunshine State. We arrived in Coolangatta and drove for an hour to reach home.

It was nice to visit Sydney again. It brought back memories of our first visit and we noted the various changes in 4 years. But we still like Brisbane....

Sydney - Day 3

26 Nov 2006, Sunday - Still catching up....

After the night's rest, we were refreshed and ready to explore more of Sydney again. We had our breakfast (Esmond had his fried rice from the previous night) and headed out to the Central Station to take the train to Circular Key for The Rocks Weekend Market.




Central Train Station - one of the major interchange in Sydney train networks




View from Circular Quay station....

On the way to the market, we stopped by Cadmans Cottage, a cottage dating back to the late 1700s and served as the HQ for Sydney Water Police (a.k.a coast guards), accommodation for sailors and visiting merchant ships and now as a heritage site to provide insight into the colonial past of Sydney.












The Cadmans Cottage was also the residence of John and Elizabeth Cadman. John Cadman was arrested in Brewdley, England on 19th Dec 1796 for stealing a horse and subsequently sentenced to death for his crime. Fortunately for him, King George III was busy populating his new colony in the southern hemisphere and Cadman's death sentence was changed to lifetime in exile in NSW. In 1809, he was employed in Sydney's Government Dockyard and received his condition pardon in 1814. He was appointed Government Coxwain on 01 Jan 1827 and moved into Cadmans Cottage where he lived for 17 years. He later married Elizabeth Mortimer, a 35 year old woman with 2 small daughters in 1830.













It's a little ironic to see a convict sentenced to death and subsequently appointed to be a high ranking government official who was regarded as a "honest, industrious, steady and attentive man". Either the justice system in England back then was flawed (i.e. to sentence a desperate man to death because he stole a horse) or England was so desperate to have people running his new colony that he'd appoint any convict to do the job. This scenario is not limited to John Cadman alone. There are other high ranking officials and successful businessmen who were convicts sentenced to exile who "made it" down under.

We also learnt that aboriginal occupation in Sydney dated 7500 years back from 1769. And when British's first fleet arrived on 26 Jan 1788, they have the cheek to proclaim that Sydney was a free land (a.k.a. no habitation / nobody was living there) and claimed the land to be theirs, writing off the Aboriginees' existence and right to occupy and live there.

The Rocks, a heritage site of old shops and warehouses, was spared the demolition after protests by Sydney residents in 1950s. As the area (now occupied by Sydney CBD, Opera House and Harbour Bridge) was heavily populated by the lower income group. Hence, they were strongly against the demolition of their home for fear of not being able to afford to buy another one at the suburbs surrounding the CBD. There were also another group that were protesting against the demolition of Sydney's history as the site signifies the beginning.

After much protest, discussion and ding donging, it was agreed that a small part of the area (The Rocks) will be preserved, hence this sight...


Old heritage buildings "progressing" into modern structures...

At long last, we came to The Rocks Weekend Market. It's a medium sized market packed with crowds! It's an art and crafts market with some stall selling nibbies (a.k.a. food to stuff the 'itchy' mouth). It's become so popular that it has turned into a market for tourists, with prices specially catered for the visitors too!

This monument was erected to commemorate "the Settlers". Governor Phillip (1788-1792) was given the power to grant land in small parcels to ex-convicts and any other persons who wants to settle in NSW. Not only are they given land, they are also given seed, livestock, farm implements and even convict labour! The first 11 free immigrants (i.e. not convicts, who choose to migrate to AU) arrived in Sydney in 1793, in response to repeated requests for experienced farmers, mechanics and convict supervisors. Between 1788 and 1830, 63,000 convicts and 14,000 free migrants arrived in Sydney. In 1831, land grants were abolished and land were then sold at fixed prices with the revenue going back to the Crown. Between 1830 and 1850, 83,000 convicts and 173,000 free migrants arrived - bringing Australia's population to 400,000. It was said that at that time, there were only 7 women to 10 men. During the Gold Rush period of 1850 to 1860, population increased to 1,145,000 signalling the beginning of the immigration of diverse range of nationalities that make up today's Australia.

So during those days, being a convict doesn't necessarily mean that you are doomed. In fact, quite a few of these convicts made it big in AU. To think that instead of being locked up in a prison, a convict is given land, seeds etc, some were even promoted to take charge of government positions!

And not to be left behind, even Westpac has its own museum on The Rocks!

We also visited The Rocks Musuem (Entry = FOC, any donations are welcomed) which showcased the early settlement and the development of the areas through time. There are also old artifacts , tools, clothes etc exhibited.

Next, we headed down to Sydney's famous red light district - Kings Cross.

- bustling with activities (though somewhat at a reduced level...) even in the day

Don't be mistaken, we are not there for the "shoddy" entertainment. What we are after is something that will never be found in Singapore or Malaysia. Take a guess....

No.... it's not legalised brothels / peep show / gay joints.....

It's a Jewish Museum! By the time we arrived in Kings Cross, it was already past one. So armed with a map, we headed for 146 Darlinghurst Road. On our way there, we went past....

This sign is still here! We saw it when we were visiting 4 years ago!

The overpass offers a view of Sydney CBD from another side of town

We also saw a very peculiar vending machine.

Guess what it's selling....

Shringes! For $2 each!!! This is the first time that we see them sold in vending machines! And there are no QC to check the buyer's purpose... This makes it easy for drug users (which we saw a few during our walk there....)

They even provide them with bins to throw the used needles. Very considerate....

As it was lunch time, we need to satisfy our growling stomach so we will them up with Thai Food. This is the second day in a row that we've had Thai food in Sydney. Seriously speaking, there are A LOT of Thai restaurants / eateries in Sydney.

Don't they look absolutely scrumptious?

We had beef salad, Thai green curry, and fried prawn coated with mince meat for the cheap price of $22! We were so engrossed in our food, that we forgot about the time! And by the time we are standing outside the museum, it was 10 minutes to its closing time. So we decided to return to the museum the next morning.

Waiting for the train to bring us back to Circular Quay...

With some time to kill until 7pm that night, we went back to Circular Quay and strode to the Opera House. There were performers / buskers and a lot of crowd! We had no clue as to the reason for the jammed packed situation. It wasn't exactly peak tourist season yet because it wasn't summer and school breaks were a week away.

A busker with the Didgeridoo....

The temperature dropped! It was a lot cooler compared to Day 2, so much so that we had to put on our jackets!

We ventured towards the Opera House, squeezed through the crowds, had ice cream and coffee by the bay while we enjoy the scenery...

When we got near to the Opera House, we finally knew what was going on.... it was the Australian Idols' finals! There were screaming fans all over and security was quite tight. Some people tried to get into the venue through the back door but was stopped by the guards!

Look at the amount of people there!

We went by the sides to get to the Opera House... They can't possible close off the Opera House coz thousands of tourists visit her everyday. No such thing as a "closed icon"...

Come 5.30pm, we decided to leave the crowd and head for BBQ King (again!) to pack some food for our dinner with Esmond's uncle & family in Epping.

It was great catching up with them again.