EPISODE 18: OUR 1st CHRISTMAS AT GC

Well, today is our 1st Christmas spent in Australia.

Yesterday, we had a nice quiet family dinner, just we 3 " kings of orient" are.. We had seafood pasta alfredo, (white sauce) + spinach&cheese puff pastry+salmon pate on rice crackers. Simple evening meal, but totally pressed down, shaken together & flowing over...Then we had a good time of singing christmas songs and afterwards a short worship session unto the Lord. We were so used to rushing like mad during christmas eve for service and then getting ready for the next morning, so this was a nice change being able to relate as a family together and fully appreciate the meaning of Christmas and also teaching Jordan about true meaning of Christmas.

Woke up this morning, & had a hurried breakfast & went for early church service at Genesis, then brought Mum Beryl back to have lunch with us at our place. She brought along some christmas crackers (read more on what crackers are on web link if interested) which she said was lots of fun to pull before a meal.

It's really nice to spend time with Beryl, relate and share with her our hopes & visions and she likewise. She's a real blessing to our lives.

After that what? Busily sending out SMS xmas wishes, and now in a frenzy packing to fly off to Malaysia tomorrow. We will be away till Jan 14th 2009.

TREATS FOR CHRISTMAS

Neil gave us this nice fruitcake for x'mas and we have already started eating it.. can't wait. Actually, a xmas fruitcake is like a must-have xmas staple over here.. much like loveletters for the chinese during CNY. And to indulge some more in the xmas mood, we baked some christmas cookies. So, MERRY X'MAS TO FRIENDS & FAMILY, wherever you are! May God bless all of you in a real special way during this season and for the year to come...

I'VE GOT THE BLUES

Introducing the blue-tongued alien from planet 'ILIKESLUSH'.... aka slurpee from 7eleven. the flavour is raspberry but the colour is sure off!

CHRISTMAS CONCERT@MOVIE WORLD

Well, we never made it into the theme park itself today, but at Karen Young's encouragement "You gotta get yourself out there. It'll be fun! come on!" to go see the christmas show held at the Movie World car park/field area, we decided ya, why not? Just to also experience some of the OZ culture and love for outdoor stage performances.

The Christmas celebration event is held at Movie World for the 2nd time this year, and we didn't know it but it turns out, Karen, Peter Young's wife was the emcee for the event. Movie World is one of the sponsors, and sponsors the venue, stage props and the fireworks display for this event, but the main sponsor is the Gold Coast City Council.

We got sidetracked to the fun & games being held on the same grounds because Jordie was super-interested in these fun rides. He decided against the dangerous looking ones like rock-climbing and super slide and opted for this ride instead - the harnessed bouncer (Intro to scary rides in theme parks 101). He liked it, bouncing up & down ala trampoline style.

They had nice-looking foodstalls too, but we didn't want hotdogs for dinner...

So, we decided to leave earlier because our stomachs voted for dinner over the fireworks, and didn't even get to watch the carols, but hey, at least we pulled ourselves out of the house for another cultural experience....

THE COMMON DEFINITION OF AGE

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life .. You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

EPISODE 17: MY 40TH BIRTHDAY

So, yes here I am pushing 40, but I'm viewing it positively. Symbolically for me, 40 marks the great threshold of entering into the new, out of the wilderness into the promised land. So, today I choose to step into this promise that I am entering into the new land, and in the physical, I HAVE ENTERED THE NEW LAND... here in Australia where we felt led to come.

My dear hubby flew back from Malaysia in time to celebrate this birthday with me. I do appreciate his thoughtfulness, especially with this new transition and this year being a significant one for me. We went to this restaurant called UNO, (which mean no. 1 in Italian) and had a nice dinner. Jordie tried his 1st oyster baked in cheese (oyster mornay).... I ordered garlic scallops

Babe had veal

and we had afogato drinks (basically kopi super 'kao' + a scoop of ice-cream)... when it arrived, we took one look at it and knew it was a stiff & strong coffee, b'cos the glass was only a quarter full.. ooo la la, but with kick, definitely......

WHERE ARE YOU, JESUS?

Went x'mas shopping today at Pacific Fair Mall, the largest mall in GC.

To my surprise, when I wanted to take photos of Jordie with their xmas display, I found that their christmas nativity scene display at the lobby was sorely missing the presence of baby Jesus.

Some joker who thot it was funny had apparently made off with it.! People didn't particularly pay that much attention to this missing centrepiece of the display.I don't think the management even realised that the baby Jesus figurine was missing.

Food for thot really....they were getting pretty used to not having him around. Where have u gone Jesus ? Are you with us this Christmas? Australia needs you... pretty bad.

EPISODE 16: CHRISTMAS CLASS PARTY

End of the term, sooo fast! Can't believe Jordie has finished his school year already and moving onto Year 3 next year. They held a class party for 2 Green & 2 Orange class and parents were asked to let kids bring something. Jordan's mummy was supposed to bring carrots & celery and popcorn, only the healthy stuff, but then I realised, hey, the rest weren't that healthy actually. But who was I kidding? Kid's party will never be fibre-rich, just sugar-high...anyway, food looked pretty yummy and the kids tucked in!

Jordie & classmates also presented carols as presentation item to parents. That was nice, ..

he was the only oddball wearing non-uniform, he misunderstood that it was free dress day, so anyway, he stuck out in christmas green & red. Teachers said no problem and anyway last days of school were so casual. So, closing of this chapter for this year, it is now officially the school holidays over here till Jan 26th 2009. Let the games begin!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIS!

Today is my eldest sis, Hway Cheng's birthday and I would like to wish her a very happy blessed birthday.

You've been a terrific sis to me and I just wanna say I appreciate you and your quiet understanding and support for me thru times when I was really going thru much difficulties. I've always looked up to you, and admired your strength and quiet resilience even when going thru much trials. You've come a long way from days of uni, settling into Singapore, battling cancer, discovering that Yang had autism and done a really great job both as wife and mum, and especially for Yang.. don't think I could have gotten as far as you with your patience, love and can-do attitude, I have much to learn! So big sis, here's saying I do luv you and you are such a great inspiration to me...

X'MAS LIGHTS FEVER IN GOLD COAST

Okay, I was partially wrong.... the X'mas lights fever has hit GC although it is not in the malls...

... it is in the homes!

The Gold Coast City Council organizes a competition annually for homes to compete in the xmas light-up.. here's just some of the more outstanding ones, some are prize-winners. Every neighbourhood has their fair share of contestants...They can beat the Orchard Road X'mas lightup if combined in one street..... Nowadays, need to put on my sunshades in the evening when I go out for a stroll with Jordie,,,,,

EPISODE 15: CHRISTMAS MOOD IN GC

CHRISTMAS MOOD is finally kicking in at GC with malls like Pacific Fair, Australia Fair or Robina Shopping Centre adding on decors in their lobbies & centre courts... not quite what I expected of Xmas in western culture.. the mood here is very different, not as blatantly commercialised or super-glam festive as seen in Asian cities like KL, Singapore or HK. It is more subdued, no loud and blinking neon lights a la Orchard Road, definitely no xmas lights competitions among malls, no towering 20-ft tall xmas tree or huge centrecourt display extravaganza of lights or white xmas..

they are just more traditionally inclined, with xmas trees, family reunions, gift packages, pies, turkeys, carolling in various city venues, charity for the poor, christmas concerts, etc.

However, although the mood is more traditional, Jesus is not the main theme,.. sad! He is the reason for this season, and yet Santa Claus has hijacked the event. He is more prominent in malls with his special arm chair - kids get to sit on Santa's lap, whisper in his ear what they want for xmas and get some candies... Him, his elves and reindeers have become the tangible heroes of the season, sigh! Lost the plot, totally lost the plot.... can we get bk into perspective, pretty please?

Well, houses in my neighbourhood light up their gardens pretty nicely with santas, reindeers, angels, blinking lights... I got bitten by the bug and got some fibre optic lights for my garden, and started poking them into the ground in the dark..looks like this..... just wanted to light up our xmas here for this year, since our xmas tree was given away,

so how..nice or not...??

THE 'HAND'

VERY INTERESTING CLOUD FORMATION one evening as we were on the way to Brisbane. This was taken at GC Varsity Lakes side, and it looked like the clouds were descending upon the earth and resembles the shape of a giant hand reaching for that house...see those fingers?

It takes awesome nature surroundings like that at times to remind me of how small and insignificant we all are,

so... b4 we take to whining about the next lousy problem or situation in our lives, understand that GOD is big and REALLY GI-NORMOUS (as Jordie puts it) giant+enormous. But as big as he is, He's still REACHING OUT TO US ALWAYS....

DECEMBER -my fave month

Oh, why do I like December? ...guess it is my favourite month mainly because it is Christmas hols and the mood for celebration starts kicking in... sure, my b.day falls on this month as well, but that's besides the point. December is also like a contemplative month for me,... like, what have you been doing so far this year, my dear? A retrospective run-thru on the year's happenings... sooo much has happened, primarily our big move and shift to Australia.

We have committed to stay here for Christmas even though it is Jordie's school hols, we will only fly back on Dec 26th because we want to love this land and relate to the Aussies, Christmas is really really about our Lord Jesus, and the single most reason we are here for this time. Christmas this year will be different though, probably quieter. But I still want to thank the Lord for a smooth transition to a new land, His blessings and new friends & better family relationships...in retrospective = whatever delays in time past, whatever difficulties we had to go thru...that we could not understand is now finally made clear. This year's journey has been both difficult but enriching for us.

It has been a really great year, in spite of a hectic schedule and much adjustments to make, God has been really good to us. So,,, before I say auld lang syne to 2008, I do want to savour December, enjoying every day of this month as I countdown to next year. This weekend, I think I will go buy some lights and decorate my garden just for the kick of it.. with Jordie.. while daddy is away, the rest shall play....

CHEF SAM

OK, how many of u out there know that my husband Samuel is actually a very talented chef. It is in fact one of his lost callings and we are hoping to redeem that over here, oh.. i dunno, maybe in the shape of an innovative Fusion restaurant in GC? Dinner yesterday: CHARSIEW PORK +SIEWYOKE+SPINACH EGG SOUP+ BROCCOLI WITH HAM& EGG TOPPING

He spent the entire day (almost) slaving at the kitchen producing this magnificent piece of gourmet that we all know at Malaysia as SIEW YOKE & CHAR SIEW (BBQ roast pork) -the absolutely non-halal type of which we have been severely deprived of over here, as it is super expensive to buy it outside and probably not that great-tasting. So, he worked his chef muscles and ta-da, the results were yummy and finger-lickin' good....mmmmuahhh!