Our Neighbourhood

We have some folks over from Malaysia, and we brought them for a walk around the neighbourhood. Tall pine trees, open fields and ovals, busy peak hour suburbia.

The kids took them to their favourite park.

Lachlan is getting real good at the monkey bars

This is my dad, their grandfather...

He turned sixty a couple of weeks ago. But he's still great at abscaling!

We love our neighbourhood.

Day 3| March Photo(s) A Day

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Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog at the Melbourne Museum + Giveaway!

Product Talk by Nuffnang.
Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid sponsored post.

During the school holidays, we were given complimentary tickets to the Melbourne Museum to check out a performance featuring a Victorian aboriginal creation story, Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog. This was a live stage performance by the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre in collaboration with Ilbijerri Theatre Company.



I was excited! This was my first ever true taste of aboriginal storytelling. Having grown up in Malaysia, I know just very little (if anything) about the Australian history and culture. I must admit, I was nervous at the start. My own children will be starting school, and soon there will be endless questions to answer! My husband was born and bred in Australia, but he has NEVER heard of Tiddalik.....(gulp).

I packed all three kids in the car, nearly 2, nearly 4 and nearly 6 years old and explained that we were going to the museum to see Tiddalik. And as I was going to explain who and what it is all about, my nearly 6 spilled out EVERYTHING he knew about the thirsty frog. He learnt about it at kinder the year before. Now, I'm glad someone was paying attention!



Tiddalik tells the story of the Gunai people of Gippsland, Victoria. It's about a greedy frog that has drunk all the water in the land, all by himself, leaving the other animals and plants dry and withering. They needed to find a way to get the water back. It sends an important message about water conservation.


Uncle Herb played his gum leaf. There were lots of dancing, laughing and clapping.

The stage set up was bright and colourful, and the actors were so lively and engaging! The kids sat through 20 minutes of it all, with lots of laughter, dancing and clapping!

Now, if you would like to see Tiddalik, you have to be at the museum RIGHT about now. Unfortunately, today is the LAST day for the performance as part of the school holiday program. So I could not offer you a free ticket to watch Tiddalik. BUT. There are JUST SO MANY things to see and do at the Melbourne Museum. So if you would like to win a free adult pass to the Museum worth $10, (kids enter for free!) do read on.



The Melbourne Museum is one place you would bring the kids back again and again. There's just so much to do, and always too little time. Every little space has so much to explore. The dinosaur walk was one of the highlights of our trip.


Whooaahh dinosaur bones!!

The kids also checked out the dynamic earth, evolving over 600 million years in funky 3D glasses. It was such a stunning exhibition, they were immersed in the formation of the earth, and surrounded by active volcanoes!



Then it was off to the children's gallery, where there were just SO much to keep the kids entertained both inside and outside. The kids played hopscotch, hula hoops, stacked up blocks, skipped ropes and so much more. Now this is the one place you have difficulties getting your kids to leave!



It was such an enjoyable outing and I am sure we will be back for more in the near future.

Give Away – 1 Adult Entry to Melbourne Museum

Thanks to Nuffnang and the Melbourne Museum, I have an additional pass for an adult entry to the Melbourne Museum, valid until 30th of June 2012. To enter:

• Leave a comment below and tell me what kind of dinosaur you would like to be and why.
• The giveaway is open to Australian residents only.
  
• If outside of Melbourne you must be able to use the pass by 30th of June 2012.
• You may only enter once.
• Entries close at 5pm AEDST 12th Feb 2012.
• Good luck!

Fine print:

Excludes special exhibitions and events.
Not valid with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.
Open daily 10am – 5pm (closed Good Friday)


Cost: Additional entry prices to Melbourne Museum – Adults are $10, children and concessions are free!

Going To The Dell

There's a place that we love to go to, just a short walk from where we live. We step into the parkland bush just off a rather busy main street, and we are immediately met with a sense of stillness and calm. It's one of the things I love about this area we live in. There are remnants of the bush, walking trails and wetlands. A lake, where there are ducks and frogs. Tall trees and wild flowers. Open grass areas and picnic tables. If you come to visit one day, I must bring you there!


The boys, their eyes sparkle with excitement as they stumble upon a fort, tall and majestic. They play pirates and make their little sister "walk off the plank". They chatter with the ducks, I kid you not. Both of them squatting on a big rock by the lake, making small talk like "have you had dinner?" "I had ducks in pancakes the other night but I won't eat you for dinner tonight" etc. It was so funny I wanted to cry!


My 1.5 year old toddled about in the grassland, intrigued by the plants, wild flowers, pebbles and the multitude of wildlife droppings. It wasn't very busy when we were there, just a couple of kids walking past after school, dogs on leash with their owners. And in amidst that stillness and the quiet enjoyment of the lovely lush surroundings, a crazy mother was yelling out to her children. NO DON'T GO TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE, DON'T TOUCH THE POO POO, NO PLEASE DON'T TOUCH THE WATER, GAAHHH NO WE ARE NOT HAVING DUCKS FOR DINNER!!!


But it was great! A nice place to stretch out our legs, recharge the soul.

Roll Up! Roll Up!

It's the last day of term, and I thought let's just finish off our week with a trip to the circus, why not? It is school holidays afterall.

The Silvers Grand Magic Circus came to town, just a suburb down from ours. It so happened, we drove past a circus one day, a different one, and I pointed out to the boys, "Look, that's a circus!" and went on to explain what it is, the animals, the clowns, bla bla. Then, that very same day, I received an email from TicketMaster with news that the clowns are in town!



So off we went to the circus, my boys and I. We dropped the baby off at my parents' as I didn't think she's into clowns just yet. First impressions: it ain't no Cirque du Soleil, but hey, we pay for what we get. But what we got, was an unforgettable experience! My boys were in awe, completely enthralled in the night's performances. Balls juggling, batons waving, clowns squealing, techno lights, hoola hoops, tightropes and all.

The big top tent was set up at the car park of a hotel-motel. The seats were makeshift plastic chairs that gave you pressure sores, elevated on the ring sides by wooden crates. The box office is literally just that, a little box of a caravan. A buxom lady dispensing thumb size tickets. The smell of popcorn and candy floss fills the air. This is what a circus is all about!



My personal favourite was the hoola hoop girl, I thought she was simply amazing, juggling so many hoops at the one time. And her b-o-d-y, oooohh aahh!



Lachlan and Lucas both had a lollipop each, given at the start of the show as an extra special treat. They held the lollipop, their mouths agape, eyes wide open for the longest time. They didn't even finish their lollipops by the time the show ended, the longest ever time taken to polish off a lollipop! And the show, was 2 hours long, with a 10 minute intermission.

The grand finale was a show stopper. The death globe. 3 crazy bikies riding their thing, in a web of metal in a form of a globe. The speed, the sound, the terror, a death defying act, enough to make me cringe behind the head of my 4 year old. And the look of glee on my boys... priceless!



If you're planning to go to the Silvers Circus, I suggest you get the tickets online on TicketMaster. There is a promotion running for a limited time for Wed-Fri 7.30pm sessions, with $10 off each ticket (MY TICKETMASTER SPECIAL, the codeword is MAGIC).

$13.95 per child (under 3 is free)
$23.95 per adult
($7 booking fee per transaction)

So, for less than $70, we got a night of entertainment. It usually costs me more to go shopping at Coles!

Otherwise, the prices are as follow:

Adults elevated seating: $30
Adults ringside: $35
Children (3-12 years old) elevated seating: $20
Children (3-12 years old) ringside: $25
Pensioners & Full Time Students elevated seating: $25
Pensioners & Full Time Students ringside: $30

Happy Weekend everyone!

Chinese New Year in Chinatown

I never would have thought that Chinese New Year is celebrated in such a grand scale here in Melbourne. A couple of years ago, we brought little Lachlan to the city to watch the Lion and Dragon Dance procession on Little Burke Street. I was pregnant with Lucas and was in awe.

In Malaysia, we celebrate the new year with family and friends. We stayed indoors. We ate cookies and mandarin oranges. We gambled our red packet money away. The streets are usually quiet. All the shops closed. The streets empty, which is really really weird in an Asian country! No traffic jam!

But here in Melbourne, we walked along Little Burke Street shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other Melbournians. The streets are packed with people from all walks of life, Lion Dances accompanied by the gongs of drums and cymbals and the deafening sounds of firecrackers. What an auspicious cheer!

So this year, on the first day of Chinese New Year, we brought the two boys (and me pregnant AGAIN!) to the city. We took the train which made it an extra special experience for the boys. They loved the train ride!

They watched the procession in awe. I think they were a little bit stunned by the massive throng of people. They just watched in silence, and then covered their ears when the firecrackers blast away. We stayed for a couple of hours, and Lachlan finally asked if we could go home.

He couldn't wait till the next day, so he could tell his teacher and friends at kinder about his experiences. And up till today, the boys are still playing tickets and trains, pretending to be ticket inspectors. I think they were more thrilled with the train ride.

Anyways, here's a clip of the Dragon Dance taken with my little Canon Ixus 80IS.

Cooling Down by the Creek

We have had scorching weather here in Melbourne over the last week or so, a little bit unusual for this time of the year. Last weekend, we took a leisurely drive to Badger Creek. It was a nice little secluded spot up in the Yarra Valley, not far from the Healesville Sanctuary. I packed a picnic lunch and huddled the boys in the car. We drove for about 40 minutes into the picturesque countryside, pointing out to cows, sheeps and horses that dotted the rural landscape along the way.



Soon, the boys are splashing in the icy cool water, fossicking for rocks, twigs, leaves, gumnuts and every other thing from the creek. Despite the hot weather, the water in the creek was numbingly cooooold!



Lachie enjoyed a warm sunny spot after a cool dip in the water. He was hesitant for a little while, but as soon as he saw his little brother jump in, clothes, diapers, sandals, gusto and all, he too charged into the water.


Lucas was a busy little bush ranger. He kept us busy too, for we were at first wary that he might slip from the slippery surface of the rocks. He peered in between the rocks, collecting little objects of interesting shapes, texture and colours and put them in a pile. He climbed up big rocks, and down again. Twice, he stuck his head beneath the water to reach for a pebble or two. He is the dare devil of the two, and yep he definitely takes after his mummy! :)

It was a nice little getaway. I enjoyed the peace and tranquility, the sound of water running down the creek and the chirps of the wildlife amidst the laughter from the boys.

Lachy asked me today, wanna go there again?

A Church Wedding

A few weeks ago, we attended a friend's wedding at a church. It was a beautiful, simple and traditional ceremony, held in one of Melbourne's impressive and monumental churches. This was the first time ever that the boys have entered a church. Lachie was in awe, walking into this ecclesiastical architecture, with its blue-stone facade, high arched ceilings and ornate windows and walls.



The boys were dressed in their little tuxedos. Lachie's striped red tie extended to his mid-thigh when tied at its shortest length, and Lucas didn't wear his tie because it would've swept the floor if he wore it. I must say my boys looked so handsome, I was brimming with pride!



Throughout the ceremony, the boys were pretty well-behaved... except when Lachy discovered that along the rows of pews, there are kneelers in front of the seating bench. Comfortable, padded boards which are elevated about 15-20cm off the ground and they bounce! Just imagine his sheer joy, when he sat bouncing on the kneeler, giggling and laughing like he was at the playground, and my sheer horror!

So, Lucas was also captivated by the whole affair, just a little jittery when the crowd stands to sing certain verses, and demanded to be carried. He wanted to follow what Lachie does. So up and down, they climbed on the pews and up and down, they bounced on the kneeler.



Up until bribery unfolds, a box of raisins for each of them (Hang on, are we allowed to eat in here?). And in return, they would sit quietly like angels. And then guess what? Lucas had to drop his box of raisins, and it went splatter across the aisle. Gaaaahhh! Yep, we picked up every single wrinkly raisin off the church floor. And now the boys are fighting over the last box of raisins. Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Thank goodness, the ceremony was short and sweet. The bride just stunning in her ivory gown, a perfect match for her handsome groom. It was over before we even know it. We enjoyed ourselves nevertheless. The boys attracted much attention, from their "activities" and also a lot of crooning and pinches on their cheeks especially from the ladies. There were all smiles, so it was OK... phew!

Oh, cheeky buggers!

The Day Dadda Took Them Swimming

And he survived it.

Hens Night: Princess & Providore

Last weekend, I was invited for a Hen's Night hosted by a good friend of mine LY and Princess & Providore. The Princess and the Providore is a business partnership specializing in regional Italian culinary classes, olive and hazelnut oils.

This is by far one of the most unique Hen's I've attended, a tasteful and "refined" affair. Not that I was expecting a male stripper or anything revolving around a pole. No really. But olive oil tasting, learning all about taste, cooking with olive oils is really my thing. The closest thing we got to naughty was when the bride to be quizzed us in Italian, what an "Italian Kiss" was, which I shall not write about any further.

The itinery for the night:

Tasting the difference between a good olive oil and everything else not, was a real eye opener. I don't think it will ever be the same again. Really, I didn't know the olive oil I was using on my salad was rancid! The balance of taste and aroma, the fruitiness and piquancy all play an important role.

One last thing worth a mention, the Blood Orange and caramel pie, served with a dollop of chocolate ice cream. Oohh, it was near orgasmic (but only second best to an Italian Kiss!). OK, I was just being a little naughty, it was a Hen's afterall!

*LY and I met at Box Hill Hospital Emergency department. We were both working there as ED residents. We introduced ourselves to each other and having found out that we were both originally Malaysians, we chatted away like long lost friends. And we haven't stopped!

Trivia Mania

Trivia nights are a great way to raise funds for kinder, schools or other organisations. Basically, parents, their family and friends gather in a hired venue, together with the presenter of the night. In teams of ten or thereabouts, they will try to answer as many trivia questions as possible and the questions should cover a wide variety of topics to ensure that everyone has a go. The topics could be random current affairs questions, or TV shows, music, famous faces, who said what, so on and so forth.

Gary and I had attended THAT many trivia nights, we could still fail to answer 80% of the questions! Well, seriously, organisers of trivia nights should think about updating their bank of questions as famous faces that has appeared seem to be as old as Einstein! Music are from the 70's, 80's and 90's. I love music from that era, to dance to! But to my disdain, I could hardly name the songs or remember the names of the artists.

For the last two weekends, we attended 2 trivia nights. The first was for Lachie's kinder, and we were invited as guests for the second by a special someone. Finally last night, there was a section of answers I could answer, almost successfully, almost all by myself! List the words ending with ..."itis".

Mondayitis (That's tomorrow!), Meningitis, Enchephalitis, Sinusitis, Bronchitis, Bronchiolitis, Tracheitis, Pneumonitis, Laryngitis, Pharyngitis, Osteitis, Arthritis, Fascitis, Tendonitis, Myelitis, Polymyositis, Vasculitis, Arteritis, Lymphadenitis, Blepharitis, Conjunctivitis, Episcleritis, Iritis, Thyroiditis, Appendicitis, Colitis, Hepatitis, Pancreatitis, Nephritis, Cystitis, Prostatitis, Orchitis, Vaginitis, MyPantsAreTitis............................................

So despite not knowing everything else, we had lots of fun. It was a great social night, and an excellent profitable fundraising activity. Ah not to mention, we dressed up as witches and wizards too. And we met superheros and ancient Greek gods and goddesses.

Geelong

We heart heart heart Geelong.

It's the birth place of my husband and where he grew up. Geelong is where home is. Geelong means 'a place of the sea bird over the white cliffs', a derivative of an Aboriginal word "Jillong". We see a lifestyle so relaxed and tranquil, pristine beaches within easy reach, yet it still boasts a culture so cosmopolitan and chic. It has all the modern amenities of a big city. We can seriously live there.

In Newtown, beautiful Victorian and Edwardian houses line the streets. Gary's parents still live there. Every now and then, we'd take a drive down to visit them, like we did last Sunday.

We walked along Eastern Beach, weaving through palm trees. We played soccer on a very well manicured lawn. We enjoyed breathtaking views. The boys saw yachts, helicopters, and a sea-plane. We rode on an antique carousel. It was just lovely.

Then we were fed. With lots of love, by some of the loveliest people we know. We had Japanese at a restaurant owned by family friends. We had a lovely home-cooked meal, eating some of the freshest crustaceans from the sea. We had such lovely company.

Like we seriously can live there.

Fujisan Japanese Restaurant

My boys have a good relationship with Japanese food. Give them balls of vinegared rice or sushi rolls anytime, they would lick the plate clean. They also have the capacity to stuff more than their little tummies could fill.

We know of a place in Geelong, the best place in the world to have Japanese food. Big rolls of futomaki filled with plump, juicy morsels of fresh Tasmanian Salmon, shaved carrots, avocado and cucumber, slices of sashimi atop delicious balls of vinegared rice, home-made pork dumplings sizzled hot from the teppanyaki plate. We can order whatever we want, however we want it and it will be made for us. Fresh.

We never ever miss this place every single time we go to Geelong.

Fujisan

148 Ryrie Street

Geelong VIC 3220

03-5224 1555