Each year on 26 January, Australians celebrate Australia Day. My Aussie friends might debate whether the date marked the arrival of the first fleet in 1788 or the day the constitution was formed, but to me, Australia Day is a celebration of the Great Australian Lifestyle.
Someone might be right when he said that Australia Day is just another holiday for Aussies to chill out with family, friends, beers and fire up some BBQ. That is probably how many people celebrated. Gathered at the backyard, lounging on foldable camping chairs, under a pergola or an umbrella or perhaps by the pool. Lamb and sausages on the BBQ and lots of cold drinks in the cooler-box.
We were invited to our friend Alison's home to celebrate Australia Day this year and hers is a lovely place. A perfect example of an Aussie home. Outside, a Federation style facade, fronted by a neat little garden. On the left, the garage which housed a 7-seater and a ute. On the right parked their newly purchased caravan. Inside, a recently renovated modern interior complete with a dining table suitable for 8. Beyond the french doors is the backyard, where most of the action took place. There's a gas operated BBQ stove, a jacuzzi spa, an outdoor wooden table and bench under an umbrella and even a ping pong table and trampoline. There, we spent 5 hours, eating barbequed meat, vegetables and chips, drinking wine, talking to friends and waving the flies away. It was a lazy lovely afternoon.
I wrote about the Australian lifestyle when I first arrived in Melbourne and now, after almost two and a half years of living it, I have to say I'm loving it! One of the greatest things about it is there are so many ways we can spend our weekends and holidays. Although we missed out on family gatherings, we're often invited to friends' homes for casual dinners, birthday celebrations or festive occasions. If we're not going to someone's home, we can choose to go for long drives. Often we organise trips to the country, beach or picnic grounds with them. In the summer months especially, there are so many festivities and weekends are unusually busy.
The lifestyle was different back in Singapore, we often crack our heads deciding what to do during weekends. I find the weather so humid that the only places we can go to during weekends are air-conditioned shopping centers. But the crowds put us back and other prohibitive thing is the parking. Everywhere you go, even to visit people's homes, parking's either limited, crowded or expensive. All these considerations makes it pretty stressful when we want to go out and enjoy ourselves.
I guess, we are lucky also that during our two years plus here, we have made many new friends, almost all of them from Singapore and their families. Some have migrated here by marriage and have fair dinkum Aussie partners. Others moved their complete families over. The husbands talk shop with each other and the wives meet for ladies only buffets sometimes. The children have made friends with each other so it's really great that when we meet, the children look forward to playing with their friends as well. Coming up, a picnic at the playground in Geelong and Chinese New Year festivities! A combined reunion dinner, a trip to the Chinese bazaar by the river and visiting!
I better get going....got to bring the children to get some new pyjamas and hopefully, I get to bake the peanut cookies today.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Exercise Book Exercise
School is gonna reopen in about 2 weeks' time. This year, we decided to purchase KK's exercise books and stationery on our own instead of buying the pack from the school. Reason being, some of the items in the pack are things that we already have, like rulers, glue sticks, scissors and pencils. These things can be used again, there is no need to buy a whole new set every year. We think that is not green and a waste of money as well.
All I needed was to buy some exercise books and display books. That should be pretty easy to get and shouldn't cost a lot, I thought as I set off this morning to Big W. It turned out to be a half-day affair staring up and down the shelves and still not getting everything that I needed. I was both impressed and astonished at the variety and range on offer, not to mention totally lost.
During my school days, exercise books were either lines or squares. Now, and maybe only here in Australia, exercise books are much more complicated. First, there are different sizes (A4, A5 or 334x240?). Then they come in different thickness or no. of pages (36, 48, 96 or more). Lastly, various line spacings (eg 14mm dotted thirds) for you to select. And I have not even mentioned the choice of colours yet.
If that is not 'chim' (confusing) enough, the names on the cover will give you a headache for sure. Scrapbooks, Project books, Display books, Exercise books, Graph books, Lecture notebooks....there seemed to be an exercise book designed specifically for each purpose in school. I even saw some science, maths or biology exercise books on sale. Luckily my son has not reached that level yet but I wonder what's the difference? Sometimes the difference is only marginal. And I mean literally. Example, the difference between a spiral "Lecture notebook" and the "notebook" is simply a margin. God, is this really necessary? No wonder the exercise book section alone need an entire aisle and no wonder every major retailer here is advertising "Back to School" promotions. No wonder also retailers like Officeworks can survive.
Is this whole industry created by ambitious businessman trying to expand their business and make more money or is this fuelled by consumers who cannot be satisfied anymore with boring brown paper exercise books? Or are our students today so lazy that they don't even want to draw their own margins? Probably a bit of everything. Honestly, all I know is, the number of choices is so confusing it's not funny. I see many other parents like me today, browsing through the aisle, looking round and round, up and down, with a book list on their hands, trying to find the exact match. Almost all of them, I'm sure, is hoping someone can tell them where to find what they need.
It's just a few exercise books but I went to 3 different places before I managed to get everything I need. Well, not really. For the Project book, I found the correct 334x240mm size with 18mm lines but it was not one with 64 pages. Heck, I just took the one with less pages (I can always buy more if they use up the whole book) and decided to call it a day. What an exercise! In the end, I spent almost $29. The school pack with everything cost $50. So my advice is, unless you have time on hand like me to shop around and don't like buying a new scissors/ruler every year, it might be easier to just order the book pack from the school.
All I needed was to buy some exercise books and display books. That should be pretty easy to get and shouldn't cost a lot, I thought as I set off this morning to Big W. It turned out to be a half-day affair staring up and down the shelves and still not getting everything that I needed. I was both impressed and astonished at the variety and range on offer, not to mention totally lost.
During my school days, exercise books were either lines or squares. Now, and maybe only here in Australia, exercise books are much more complicated. First, there are different sizes (A4, A5 or 334x240?). Then they come in different thickness or no. of pages (36, 48, 96 or more). Lastly, various line spacings (eg 14mm dotted thirds) for you to select. And I have not even mentioned the choice of colours yet.
If that is not 'chim' (confusing) enough, the names on the cover will give you a headache for sure. Scrapbooks, Project books, Display books, Exercise books, Graph books, Lecture notebooks....there seemed to be an exercise book designed specifically for each purpose in school. I even saw some science, maths or biology exercise books on sale. Luckily my son has not reached that level yet but I wonder what's the difference? Sometimes the difference is only marginal. And I mean literally. Example, the difference between a spiral "Lecture notebook" and the "notebook" is simply a margin. God, is this really necessary? No wonder the exercise book section alone need an entire aisle and no wonder every major retailer here is advertising "Back to School" promotions. No wonder also retailers like Officeworks can survive.
Is this whole industry created by ambitious businessman trying to expand their business and make more money or is this fuelled by consumers who cannot be satisfied anymore with boring brown paper exercise books? Or are our students today so lazy that they don't even want to draw their own margins? Probably a bit of everything. Honestly, all I know is, the number of choices is so confusing it's not funny. I see many other parents like me today, browsing through the aisle, looking round and round, up and down, with a book list on their hands, trying to find the exact match. Almost all of them, I'm sure, is hoping someone can tell them where to find what they need.
It's just a few exercise books but I went to 3 different places before I managed to get everything I need. Well, not really. For the Project book, I found the correct 334x240mm size with 18mm lines but it was not one with 64 pages. Heck, I just took the one with less pages (I can always buy more if they use up the whole book) and decided to call it a day. What an exercise! In the end, I spent almost $29. The school pack with everything cost $50. So my advice is, unless you have time on hand like me to shop around and don't like buying a new scissors/ruler every year, it might be easier to just order the book pack from the school.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Mouse in the house
About 1 week ago, we had a most unwelcome visitor to our home. A tiny little mouse. Actually, I only had half a second to witness its size as it ran out and ran back into the pantry in a flash. It looked like a rolling ball of fur as I caught sight of it from the corner of my eye. From the fact that it can go under the door, I gathered it cannot be too big.
As expected, it scared the wits out of me. Even after I saw it ran into the pantry, I still stood up on the chair, just in case it dashed out again. But of course, it didn't. It must have been so frightened by my scream that it's gone into hiding. KK's reaction was like "Cool, a mouse, can we keep it as a pet?" When Hubby got back, he cleared out the pantry but could not see any mouse. I was the only eye witness so I kind of hoped my eyes were playing tricks on me but there were evidence of its presence in the pantry. Some broken bits of chocolates that were left at floor level and mouse droppings. Damn.
This started a whole series of anti-mice clean up operations. I vacuumed and mopped the whole house. We organised the pantry again and made sure everything had a packaging or container. We threw away food that we thought might have been contaminated by the mouse and wiped with antiseptic solution containers that might have been touched. Bins were cleared or covered and no food or utensils were left exposed overnight. I read that mice hated the smell of mint. So I plucked a bunch of mint leaves from our garden and placed them inside the pantry and around the entrances of the house. Of course, we also set up a mouse trap. We used a small piece of bread smeared with peanut butter as a bait. Mice love peanut butter.
We were quite sure the mouse will be hungry and come out at night to look for food. In the day, we were around all the time and I don't think it would find anything to eat in our pantry that is not wrapped properly. However, we only caught the mouse on the second night, after several failed attempts. The first time we set it up, being inexperienced, Hubby didn't shut the lid of the trap properly and although the mouse went into the trap, it escaped. I was devastated and worried that it will now learn that it was trap and not go in anymore. For 2 nights, I couldn't sleep well, wondering about the its activities and if the mouse will be caught. I will be trying to sleep but my ears were picking out every little sound outside the room. The suspense was killing.
After the first night, we woke up to find the trap activated but there was nothing inside. On second night, Hubby awoke at 12.30am to say he heard the trap and it could be the mouse. He checked and indeed it was inside. Our trap was one that trapped the mouse alive. So we needed to go outside and release the mouse. Hubby said he was not going out so late at night. Now I worried that it might escape during the night and all our efforts will be wasted. In the end, Hubby couldn't take my paranoia and he did dress up and got out of the house in the middle of the night to release the mouse. I reminded him to go further away so it wouldn't run back in. If it were a smart mouse, it wouldn't. Dinner outside was probably more sumptuous.
As expected, it scared the wits out of me. Even after I saw it ran into the pantry, I still stood up on the chair, just in case it dashed out again. But of course, it didn't. It must have been so frightened by my scream that it's gone into hiding. KK's reaction was like "Cool, a mouse, can we keep it as a pet?" When Hubby got back, he cleared out the pantry but could not see any mouse. I was the only eye witness so I kind of hoped my eyes were playing tricks on me but there were evidence of its presence in the pantry. Some broken bits of chocolates that were left at floor level and mouse droppings. Damn.
This started a whole series of anti-mice clean up operations. I vacuumed and mopped the whole house. We organised the pantry again and made sure everything had a packaging or container. We threw away food that we thought might have been contaminated by the mouse and wiped with antiseptic solution containers that might have been touched. Bins were cleared or covered and no food or utensils were left exposed overnight. I read that mice hated the smell of mint. So I plucked a bunch of mint leaves from our garden and placed them inside the pantry and around the entrances of the house. Of course, we also set up a mouse trap. We used a small piece of bread smeared with peanut butter as a bait. Mice love peanut butter.
We were quite sure the mouse will be hungry and come out at night to look for food. In the day, we were around all the time and I don't think it would find anything to eat in our pantry that is not wrapped properly. However, we only caught the mouse on the second night, after several failed attempts. The first time we set it up, being inexperienced, Hubby didn't shut the lid of the trap properly and although the mouse went into the trap, it escaped. I was devastated and worried that it will now learn that it was trap and not go in anymore. For 2 nights, I couldn't sleep well, wondering about the its activities and if the mouse will be caught. I will be trying to sleep but my ears were picking out every little sound outside the room. The suspense was killing.
After the first night, we woke up to find the trap activated but there was nothing inside. On second night, Hubby awoke at 12.30am to say he heard the trap and it could be the mouse. He checked and indeed it was inside. Our trap was one that trapped the mouse alive. So we needed to go outside and release the mouse. Hubby said he was not going out so late at night. Now I worried that it might escape during the night and all our efforts will be wasted. In the end, Hubby couldn't take my paranoia and he did dress up and got out of the house in the middle of the night to release the mouse. I reminded him to go further away so it wouldn't run back in. If it were a smart mouse, it wouldn't. Dinner outside was probably more sumptuous.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Colour Selection - Round 2
Another round of selection. This time, from 1130hrs to 1630hrs. And we didn't even have time to have a proper lunch. Hubby ran off for a while to grab some sandwiches and we munched while we poured over the ceremic tiles.
Turned out Hubby and I were quite similar in terms of taste when it comes to colours. There wasn't any arguments where one liked one colour and the other liked another. Or perhaps he went along with most of my decisions? In the end, we stayed close to earthy and neutral colours and this theme was reflected in many areas of the home. It looks pretty boring but I'm told you can't go wrong with neutral colours.
Besides the tiles, we also had to decide the locations of lights, electrical points and even the security alarm sensors. This included where the light switches will be and which ones will link up. The lady assisting us, Rye, was very helpful and honest in advising us whether the lighting arrangements will be sufficiently bright for our usage of the room. The process was very tedious as we had to envisage the house in the future and what we'll do where, from where will we turn on/off the lights etc. But it's so important to go through it thoroughly now than to regret later.
 |
| The tiles we choose for the bathroom and kitchen splashback. |
In many cases, our colour choices were based more on practicality than aesthetics. Some colours were easier to maintain and does not show up dirt as much as others. I don't want to be scrubbing the wall tiles everyday to remove soap scrubs or oil grease.
 |
| Colours of our house - the bricks, render and roof |
Although there's nothing physically built yet, the house is pretty much completed in our imagination. Instead of just black and white drawings, we have now filled in the colours to our home. The picture in our mind is taking shape and we now can clearly envisage how the kitchen and various other rooms will look like. Still, nothing beats seeing all these plans materialise but we're happy it should be good. So what's the price to pay for all these happiness? I haven't got the final quotation yet, but on top of what we've already committed, the house just got more expensive by another $9,000 after that 2 rounds of colour selections.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Colour Selection
93 decisions in 4 and a half hours. That was the record we set yesterday at the Simonds Gallery. In that few hours, we made some of the most important decisions concerning how our future home will look like.
Some of the things we got to decide were big structural materials and will not likely be changed over the next 2 decades, like the colour of bricks and roof. Other choices, though less permanent, like the design of cabinet handles, still require careful consideration over its shape, length, finish (matt or shiny) and even position (horizontal or vertical)!
The process wasn't as difficult as I'd thought actually. We knew what we liked already for some of items and from there, many other decisions sort of go along the same line. Like we chose a round vanity basin instead of the square one, so an oval bath tub and rounded edges tap ware naturally gives it a more coordinated look. And once we selected the brick colour, that gave us a base to match the colour of the other fixtures like window frames, garage door, gutters and fascia.
Some of the decisions took us a few seconds, like the edge of the mirror (standard polished edge) and the round gooseneck mixer tap for the laundry trough. Others, especially when the choices got too many, gave us a bit more headache. Of course, besides the selection of colours, we had to take into account some choices will cost us additional money. The choice floor coverings was probably the best example of such 'upgrades'. For the laminate timber flooring, we upgraded from the twin strip to a single strip and from 8mm thickness to 12mm for an overall better timber look and more solid feel when you step on it. For the carpet, we jumped from the standard Category 1 to a Category 3 carpet. These 2 upgrades probably cost us the most, approximately $2800 more than what we are already paying for the standard. Not to mention the other smaller upgrades which ranged from $8 more per handle to over $2000 extra for glass splashback. I dread receiving the final quotation when it's ready.
Not that we had much choice sometimes. The carpets under Cat 1 were really crappy. They are rough to the feel, thin and comes with only a form underlay. Only at Cat 3 do we get rubber underlays and a more plushy feel to the feet. Since the house is for ourselves to stay in, we figured that a little investment now will be worth it in the long run.
The other reason the process is not too stressful is our colour consultant Emma. She walked us through all the decisions patiently and gave us advice on our various options. Most importantly, she would make suggestions on matching colours, many of which we accepted. Especially when it comes to paint colours and cabinet laminates, we would be lost trying to choose the ONE from so many colours and samples. Emma would go pick a few that she thinks are suitable and bring it back to us. This way, we were not so confused and our decisions came much easier.
Finally, we would also like to thank our friends Kenneth, Debbie and her son Bradley. While we concentrated on deciding the best choices for our future home, they helped to babysit KK and XX. It was gonna be a long and tedious affair so we were not recommended to bring children along. Without our parents and relatives here with us, we have to depend on our friends to help out in situations like this. We told a few friends of our need and all of them offered their help. I'm thankful for them. In the end, I chose to leave them at Debbie's because I know XX and KK would enjoy the company of another boy best. XX is the one I'm worried about because he has never liked being separated from us. But it seemed that he has grown up. He doesn't mind it so much now if we leave the house for a short time, as long as KK is with him. Yesterday, he survived 6 over hours without even asking for us. Looks like I can look forward to some datings with Hubby soon....:)
Anyway, the decisions are not over yet. In fact, they've only just begun. Monday there'll be another round with the tiles department and also the electrical people. We will need to determine the choice of tiles to use for the bathroom walls, shower bases and kitchen splashback. And for the electrical part, the number and locations of powerpoints, TV points, telephone points, cooling outlets, heating outlets and light points. Which means we got to start planning where we'll likely put our furniture and the usage of the rooms. All these thought processes and the land is not even technically ours yet....
Some of the things we got to decide were big structural materials and will not likely be changed over the next 2 decades, like the colour of bricks and roof. Other choices, though less permanent, like the design of cabinet handles, still require careful consideration over its shape, length, finish (matt or shiny) and even position (horizontal or vertical)!
The process wasn't as difficult as I'd thought actually. We knew what we liked already for some of items and from there, many other decisions sort of go along the same line. Like we chose a round vanity basin instead of the square one, so an oval bath tub and rounded edges tap ware naturally gives it a more coordinated look. And once we selected the brick colour, that gave us a base to match the colour of the other fixtures like window frames, garage door, gutters and fascia.
Some of the decisions took us a few seconds, like the edge of the mirror (standard polished edge) and the round gooseneck mixer tap for the laundry trough. Others, especially when the choices got too many, gave us a bit more headache. Of course, besides the selection of colours, we had to take into account some choices will cost us additional money. The choice floor coverings was probably the best example of such 'upgrades'. For the laminate timber flooring, we upgraded from the twin strip to a single strip and from 8mm thickness to 12mm for an overall better timber look and more solid feel when you step on it. For the carpet, we jumped from the standard Category 1 to a Category 3 carpet. These 2 upgrades probably cost us the most, approximately $2800 more than what we are already paying for the standard. Not to mention the other smaller upgrades which ranged from $8 more per handle to over $2000 extra for glass splashback. I dread receiving the final quotation when it's ready.
Not that we had much choice sometimes. The carpets under Cat 1 were really crappy. They are rough to the feel, thin and comes with only a form underlay. Only at Cat 3 do we get rubber underlays and a more plushy feel to the feet. Since the house is for ourselves to stay in, we figured that a little investment now will be worth it in the long run.
The other reason the process is not too stressful is our colour consultant Emma. She walked us through all the decisions patiently and gave us advice on our various options. Most importantly, she would make suggestions on matching colours, many of which we accepted. Especially when it comes to paint colours and cabinet laminates, we would be lost trying to choose the ONE from so many colours and samples. Emma would go pick a few that she thinks are suitable and bring it back to us. This way, we were not so confused and our decisions came much easier.
Finally, we would also like to thank our friends Kenneth, Debbie and her son Bradley. While we concentrated on deciding the best choices for our future home, they helped to babysit KK and XX. It was gonna be a long and tedious affair so we were not recommended to bring children along. Without our parents and relatives here with us, we have to depend on our friends to help out in situations like this. We told a few friends of our need and all of them offered their help. I'm thankful for them. In the end, I chose to leave them at Debbie's because I know XX and KK would enjoy the company of another boy best. XX is the one I'm worried about because he has never liked being separated from us. But it seemed that he has grown up. He doesn't mind it so much now if we leave the house for a short time, as long as KK is with him. Yesterday, he survived 6 over hours without even asking for us. Looks like I can look forward to some datings with Hubby soon....:)
Anyway, the decisions are not over yet. In fact, they've only just begun. Monday there'll be another round with the tiles department and also the electrical people. We will need to determine the choice of tiles to use for the bathroom walls, shower bases and kitchen splashback. And for the electrical part, the number and locations of powerpoints, TV points, telephone points, cooling outlets, heating outlets and light points. Which means we got to start planning where we'll likely put our furniture and the usage of the rooms. All these thought processes and the land is not even technically ours yet....
Friday, January 7, 2011
Innocent Prayers
Even though we are Christians, we admit that we are not the dilligent kind who goes to church every Sunday. But we do talk about God to KK and he's been believing that there is a spiritual Father out there who can make miracles. He does not believe in Santa Claus but he's treating God like one sometimes, judging from the prayers he makes.
Recently he complained of having nightmares at night and as a result of his overactive imagination, would come to our room at bedtime to report hearing strange noises. I suggested saying a prayer before he sleeps. XX got his first introduction to praying that night. Three of us sat around on the bed in the dark, closed our eyes and clasped our hands. Here are some examples of what they prayed:
KK
Besides praying for himself, KK has learnt to pray for others too.
"Dear God, I wish XX would beat me in one of the games.
I wish Mummy would cook salty AND healthy food for me.
I hope Papa would work 7 hours a day and earn $1 million dollars a day.
Amen"
XX
For his very first prayer to God, he didn't really know what to say. And given he's not too eloquent with words yet, it was a really short one:
"Dear God, I wish I like you. Amen"
On the second night, he improved on his wish:
"Dear God, I wish I like so much food and I can't finish it. Amen"
It was really funny to hear the children pray, especially XX, I nearly burst out laughing. He had no idea what to say so what came out from him was probably the only thing that came to mind. And he was constantly checking if I kept my eyes closed! KK also has this habit of 'adding' on prayers after he has said Amen and interrupting other people's prayers with his!
Even though they treated praying to God like making a wish list, I think it's alright at this stage. It was their very first step in communicating with their Heavenly Father. And if they believed God can help them grant their wishes, they will continue to turn to praying in times of trouble and when in need.
Recently he complained of having nightmares at night and as a result of his overactive imagination, would come to our room at bedtime to report hearing strange noises. I suggested saying a prayer before he sleeps. XX got his first introduction to praying that night. Three of us sat around on the bed in the dark, closed our eyes and clasped our hands. Here are some examples of what they prayed:
KK
Besides praying for himself, KK has learnt to pray for others too.
"Dear God, I wish XX would beat me in one of the games.
I wish Mummy would cook salty AND healthy food for me.
I hope Papa would work 7 hours a day and earn $1 million dollars a day.
Amen"
XX
For his very first prayer to God, he didn't really know what to say. And given he's not too eloquent with words yet, it was a really short one:
"Dear God, I wish I like you. Amen"
On the second night, he improved on his wish:
"Dear God, I wish I like so much food and I can't finish it. Amen"
It was really funny to hear the children pray, especially XX, I nearly burst out laughing. He had no idea what to say so what came out from him was probably the only thing that came to mind. And he was constantly checking if I kept my eyes closed! KK also has this habit of 'adding' on prayers after he has said Amen and interrupting other people's prayers with his!
Even though they treated praying to God like making a wish list, I think it's alright at this stage. It was their very first step in communicating with their Heavenly Father. And if they believed God can help them grant their wishes, they will continue to turn to praying in times of trouble and when in need.
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