OUTING TO BRISBANE

Well, took Jordie out to Brisbane today by train. Parked my car at the Robina train station and we headed off to Brisbane city today just for the fun of it. Up till noon time, I was still undecided whether to go but decided finally, what the heck, so I didn't even cook lunch and we headed out to the station. Found out that if you travel between 12 noon to 3.30pm on weekdays, you get discounted tickets for riding offpeak hours. Also, your train back must be after 7pm from Brisbane. So I took the offpeak option since I figured we won't have much time if we rushed back earlier than 7pm anyway.

So, armed with just some chocolate biscuits for lunch, we took our 1 hour 15minute train ride and u would think Jordan would be enjoying scenery or something but he took a fascination on the graffiti art on walls, buildings and rocks all along the train ride! I must say there is something about this place that somehow turns vandalism into a legitimate art form. There were some really ugly and badly done ones and some pretty ones too. But I didn't bother taking any pics of those stuff.

We hopped off at Central Station at close to 3pm and with croaking tummies, went to get our delayed lunch at one of the food courts in town. Apparently chinese foodshops were clearing stock for the afternoon, so we paid only $3.80 per box of fried rice and choice of 2 dishes,... quite a bargain. Jordan found the sweet sour pork lip-smacking. H1N1.. what me worry? no, it doesn't affect the food, silly.

Ok now got energy to walk, ...We crossed Ann Street to Anzac Square to look at this memorial monument set up by Queensland folks in honour of fellow Queenslanders who had died serving in the African war between years 1914-1945. The fire at the commemorative "Shrine" called the Eternal Flame was kept burning 24/7 in memory of those heroes. This shrine is an adaptation of the classical Greek shrine. Eighteen columns support a circular inscribed with the names of battlefields where Australian soldiers fought.

The plaque for the memorial

We also saw some interesting metallic kangaroos positioned on some of the benches along the street. They looked kinda comical actually.

Then, we hit Queen street, the main shopping area for Brisbane. Did mostly window shopping. They had David Jones, Target, Coles & lots of beautiful shops here and somehow, the feel was more of the sophisticated upmarket sort, not the "resorty/casual ,happy go luck" feel as in GC shops.

They were having stock clearance at Target and layby sales. Now, here perhaps I need to explain the oz culture of "layby's". You can 'book' the stuff you want now during the sale but pay up only 10% first and the store will hold it for you for about 8 weeks, with a minimal fee charge of $2.50 and you can collect it later when your pay is in or when you feel richer. Of course if you don't collect, you forfeit your 10% and Target is richer by that amount. Some stores will even let you layby up till christmas. ... it's just their way of liquidating stocks before june 30 tax deadline.

Brisbane is definitely on a faster pace than Gold Coast. People walk faster, talk faster, eat faster. I swear the escalators also seem to move faster. The laid-back culture in Gold Coast is well, not so evident here. This is after all a working metropolitan, 3rd largest city in Australia. More international faces and trade than in Gold Coast too. Students from QUT, U of Queensland, TAFE, Griffith, flood Brisbane from different parts of the world. Their families come to visit, like the place, decide to settle here.

We didn't get to go any of the parks or Southbank like the last time. Dog tired by the time we got back on the 7.25pm train. But Jordie still enjoyed himself much. His comment, "Ooh... this is definitely THE CITY area."

enjoying a bag of chips while waiting for the train to go home

So what is Gold Coast then ? It's home....

MICHAEL JACKSON & FARRAH FAWCETT- The Passing of 2 eras

It's sad and quite a shock to find out Michael Jackson died at 50 today. On Thu, USA time, but Friday, Australian time. Saw it on breaking news CNN this morning. MJ was the 80's pop icon and I grew up listening to his music too, not exactly a fan, but just so totally exposed to it. Even Jordie, born 20 years later, knew about him. That's the staying power of MJ.

Strangely, on the very same day (USA time morning) too, BUT with less public attention given, was the death of Farrah Fawcett, one of 'Charlie's Angels' in the 70's. She had been wrestling with anal cancer for a long time and died at 62. But I admired her courage to fight it, and praying till the last bit, determined for healing- yet she was also willing to share her cancer journey with others by allowing her experiences to be shown on TV - in the hope perhaps of inspiring those on the same journey.

So there you have it, the passing of 2 Hollywood celebrities - one expected, one rather unexpected. One very public about her life, the other so private. And Death, when he comes to collect, he takes in batches. Remember Mother Theresa, Princess Diana and Versace and John Denver - all about the same time....

I couldn't help mourning the passing of 2 eras and these two, not just them but also the memories they carried during those times and not that I knew them personally, but it was just like saying goodbye to those years that they had been part of, and now we are moving on to the next era. I do pay tribute to them for the things they have done, in spite of their character flaws, they had given back much for society. So, God bless them.

DREAMWORLD CHOPPER COMES CRASHING DOWN

In Dreamworld, your world can come crashing down on you, literally, if engine failure turns a fun ride into a wild ride in a chopper. On Wednesday, a Dreamworld helicopter crashed with 4 passengers ( 2 Malaysians and 2 Taiwanese) and a Japanese pilot, Mr Mitsumi Sato.

THE Australian Transport Safety Bureau yesterday launched an investigation into the copter crash as two of the victims continued to recover in hospital. Meanwhile, the boss of the pilot who is widely being hailed a hero for his efforts ensuring nobody was killed or seriously injured in the dramatic incident, said his 'humble' employee was 'only doing his job'. Experienced pilot Mutsumi Sato was widely praised for his role in averting a major disaster when the Bell Jet Ranger 206 helicopter he was flying lost power on its way back to the theme park from a joyflight. Mr Sato and his four passengers -- two male and two female tourists from Taiwan and Malaysia -- sustained only minor injuries as the helicopter crash-landed on its side in a vacant section of carpark. No one else was injured.

THE LOCKDOWN

Overslept this morning, waargh!! Jordan & I, we both dashed off to school, he didn't even get time to do his morning poo. Never mind even about lunch or morning tea food to bring... my alarm did not ring this morning and I was knocked out flat...

So, sent him off 1st, then came back to prepare lunch and morning tea for him. When I arrived at school to deliver the food, the school was strangely quiet, like no school was on, very strange and creepy.. like walking into an abandoned site. Got school or not, today> hmmm? Jordan's class was empty when I first looked in, but I saw kids in another room and they were all crouched quietly in one corner with the teacher. Then, suddenly, his teacher opened the door of the classroom out of nowhere and beckoned me in. They & teacher had all been crouching really low, so I didnt see them thru the window at first. I thought what had happened - a shootout or what? She said mummy would have to also join in lockdown to find out what it was all about, so I did.

Turns out, they were having a school-wide 'lockdown' sorta like an emergency drill which they carry out sometimes to prepare the children in the face of emergency, - which is practical and wise. I remember we used to just have fire drill, but this was different. It was teaching the kids to stay very quiet, still and crouch low, in the face of danger like a hurricane, intruder, bull on the loose, or what? missiles from North Korea?

I don't know, anything could happen nowadays, you just never know what's up next...

Q150 Celebrations at Bischoff Park

Queensland is 150 years old this year and they had a celebration fest at Nerang's Bischoff Park today organised by Gold Coast City Council. Great festive mood everywhere and there were lots of fun stuff for kids & adults as well. Balloons, horses, pets, food, BBQ, fun rides, the works.

Leanne and team also put up a Pamper Zone tent giving free pampering like shoulder & hand massage, manicure, hairblowing & stuff for ladies.

Met Brad Lush, who is the community 'face' for Genesis church and as u can see, he was totally into the mood for that day....

Brad is an active champion for community causes in Nerang and helps organise support and events for various needy groups like the homeless and poor.

Peter Young, councillor for Nerang district was also there to officiate the event. He told me there was a band & cannons going off at 12 noon which I missed, shucks. Karen, his wife, MC'ed for the stage performances dressed in a nice gown. Local talents graced the stage with songs ranging from funky to serious opera stuff that sounded pretty glass-shattering. But one thing I must say, they usually avoid putting anyone who might be too destructive on the ears, so generally quite pleasant voices were singing that day.

Bumped into many Genesis church members at the park including Beryl, with whom we had 'Devonshire tea' + scones at this Heritage house, hosted by a group of volunteers who believed in heritage cause of Queensland.

Jordie had a thoroughblast-...went on the Super Slide twice.. at first chicken about it, but after that, very much thrilled by it... just $1.00 for 2 slides - so cheap!

.. and fresh fairy floss (cotton candy)

....and farm animals petting, combing sheep hair out...I think the animals rather enjoyed the attention.

Jordan also found the early times bicycle whatchamacallit, with huge front wheel rather comical..."but how do you climb on it??"

We had sushi & korma lamb curry rice for lunch at half the normal price of a restaurant's. Food was sold cheap for the masses and most people had a good family time there together. OZ culture is just to have a hair-letting down time, sit on the grass, spread your blankie, sit back, enjoy the music, the food smells and the festive mood. Glad we went... just to get Varsity Lakes out of our hair and into some oz culture & mingling for the day.....

NO DOUBT

Ever heard the music, NO DOUBT? If you haven't, it is a really old song written and sung by PETRA, a christian rock group in the '80s. I first heard it when the Gold Coasters from Latter Rain Church came to KL to perform a dance during Christmas in 1980. This song means a lot to me especially now when I need strength to believe and hope to endure.

NO DOUBT means ABSOLUTE FAITH. NO DOUBT doesn't mean you ignore the doubt, .. you acknowledge it but deliberately tell yourself it is a decision that you will not have it on your heart, move on, look to God. Matthew 21: 21-22: " I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ' Go throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."