GOOD MORNING, BREAKFAST IS SERVED...

Woke up one morning to find this for breakfast, courtesy of hubby on one of his creative moods...

EPISODE 32: LEARNING TO CYCLE

We gave Jordie a new bike for his 8th birthday in advance. He was so pleased with his groovy-looking bike and helped dad fix it up yesterday in our garage....

...then off they went complete with protective gear, helmet, long pants and all to learn how to ride the bike. He managed to learn it in less than 2 hours,... and loves it very much. Another mindset hurdle conquered, because he was a little overwhelmed initially with riding on a real bike with no trainer wheels, but I guess, after scootering around for months, the balancing knowhow did make learning to ride the bike a whole lot easier...

TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN

Have been waiting to explore the food and wine trail in the Hinterland of Gold Coast all these months and finally, we get to do so today! This part of Gold Coast is totally a different world from the sunny beach culture of the east. Further into the Hinterland and up Mt. Tambourine, it is hilly, surrounded by bushes & tree forests and wide expanse of land, about 40km away from the city area. We went primarily for some wine-tasting today and a look-see at this different part of GC. Gold Coast is not super famous for its wines, as the weather isn't optimum here for vineyards, but there are some good boutique wineries on the hills that churn out decent bottles of fine wines at good prices. We visited several wineries, one of which was the Cedar Creek Estate...

..of course not taste all you like, you were only allowed to sample 2 types of wine... and pay extras to sample the rest.

The Wild Duck Lake at Cedar Creek Estate

and also to visit the Glow-worm caves attached next to it. This is an artificially-built cave to cultivate and sustain glow-worms, a very strange creature with lights emanating from its butts..It seems they can be very useful things for cancer research as well as being an efficient bio-energy source for lights. It was only a small cave and very dark,

The entrance to the glow-worm caves..

but was interesting to see the 'starry' look on the cave walls. Unfortunately not allowed to take pictures so, this shot, I borrowed from the internet to show those creatures displaying their glowing bums...

A good educational tour, but methinks the New Zealand one might be better as it is natural and larger... Next stop was the Gallery Walk at Eagle's Heights which has this row of interesting shops selling chocolates, handicrafts, art pieces, cuckoo clocks, yummy fudge squares and candies..

I loved the German cuckoo clock shop and Jordan thot all the clocks were mad as in 'gone cuckoo'..had to explain why they were named cuckoo clocks.. On the way, we stopped by a shop to buy avocadoes.. $2 for a big bag of 7... We also tasted wine at Witches Fall Winery, another wine estate. I was joking that if the cops ever did a random breath test here, everyone would flunk miserably after all the wine-tasting!!

This was one of our first stops, we saw the word 'COFFEE' and our tyres screeched to a stop... gotta have our cuppa, OF COURSE! So here it was, the Mount Tamborine coffee plantation...

small but quaint place... lovely smooth latte and coconut cheesecake. ..Saw coffee beans for 1st time in their natural unroasted form. The skin is actually quite sweet like grape skin and the bean is pale yellowish colour and covered with gooey slime... one of the workers (or owner maybe) told me the birds do eat some of them but they get kinda 'high' so they don't worry too much about them eating too much!

Mount Tamborine also has quite a number of beer breweries but we didn't stop by any of those spots.. we were also on the lookout for the cheese factory but couldn't seem to locate it, unfortunately...They had lots of lovely lodges and holiday units in quaint cottages available for those who wish to stay the night. There are also some waterfalls in the nature parks, which we didn't get to explore. Nice place, would definitely come back to re-explore and recommend it as a laidback holiday outing for those who love foods, wine and scenic drives.

DUST STORM MAY DROP 2ND LOAD...

Oh, oh not good.. just saw the sky turning yellow again. The 2nd dust storm may hit again tonite and we shall awaken to Armageddon skies again. so we are sleeping with all windows shut tight for tonite.. and why did I stupidly go wash my car this morning... for what????

The air feels thick and heavy like dust creeping in... yikes... Lord please send the rain.. we pray...

It seems that this was an 8 year build-up of drought which bundled up sand, dust and all into a heap in the atmosphere. The minute there was a huge wind, all these particles were sent all over. Places all over had looked creepy like Mars or Armageddon-style..Planes could not take off or land...

EPISODE 31: FIRE ON MY STREET!

Scarcely after the dust had settled from the dust storm 2 days ago, another event today. A huge fire broke out in one of my neighbours' house. Thick black fumes crept all across the neighbourhood and I yelled to Samuel to please close all the windows. I had done enuff dust busting 2 days earlier and didn't need another round!! We looked out and saw the house going up in smoke.

Soon, fire engines, police patrol and ambulances came screeching to our street including tv station crew and news reporters. Curious, concerned neighbours from the area all started flocking round to see the scene. The lady in the house had burnt her hands...and thick smoke was choking us. I went out to fetch Jordan home because he was playing at a neighbour's house but smoke was so thick, we had to crouch down and hold a towel over our mouths until the smoke blew off. For the kids, it was their very first close encounter with a fire and the rescue squad, so must have been ultra-drama and excitement for them...they forgot they were inhaling smoke!!

Some people were guessing her notebook got overcharged and exploded. Poor thing! My neighbour Ann first saw signs of smoke and quickly alerted the fire engine to come. So, she was the heroine of the day! This is her taking snapshots of her own home as part of her lawn was being taped off by police as no entry area...don't get dramas like this everyday so she figures this will be nice for her scrapbooking, haha!

Enough excitement for this week, hopefully no more events....

YELLOW YELLOW DIRTY FELLOW

Yesterday had the strangest experience since our move here to Gold Coast. A major dust-storm coming from New South Wales hit Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney as well many other places. I woke up in the morning to see the sky was an unusual yellow colour.. hmm what was this, I thot? Haze? From Indonesia/.... that potent?? Cannot be...How strange... I tried to smell the air for smoke, but could not detect much burning smell, just felt thick, dense and yucky kinda feeling. I did see people lopping off trees along the road, and I thot maybe a major storm was on its way but why the colour? While we were on our way to visit Mum Beryl who was ill at the Gold Coast Hospital, the wind suddenly whipped up and we found ourselves fighting our way into the hospital!! It felt like a sandstorm, but not so strong... the sun was blue or whitish blue in colour, visibility was really poor, our eyes smarted, and noses were acting up..

When we went back later that day, I found to my horror, dust was everywhere in the house as well!! I did a major cleaning session dust-busting the whole house! Vaccuum, mop, wash, change bed linens just to get the dust off... Next time, I've learnt my lesson well- if yellow-looking sky ever appears, do not leave the house with windows open,,, even for 1 cm apart!! AARGH! Jordan and daddy had to lift their feet up while I frantically mopped the floor, nobody move, nobody step anywhere till I am done...while I declared war on dust in the house... Today, was so glad to see the skies blue again. Thank God for fresh and clean air again...

EPISODE 30: MANNA

I get things like that happening to me every now and then. Yesterday morning, the closest thing to 'manna' happened to me. For those who are not familiar with what 'manna' is, read the bible, Exodus 16:31- heaven-sent bread.... I found we were out of bread and I'd wanted to give bread to Jordan for breakfast. Suddenly, my opposite neighbour came over and probably not wanting to disturb me, started to tie a large bag of stuff on my fence. She didn't see us because our blinds were half-down. Hmm... what now? Went out to check and what do you know? Whole bag of bread goodies! Pecan cinnamon, garlic butter, chocolate buns... all the premium stuff.. which I usually don't buy because too expensive. Now, if you don't call that manna of the day, I don't know what you call it..... Thank God for blessings... and very timely at that!

EPISODE 29: GOLD COAST HOSPITAL & SOUTHPORT

My 1st visit to the Gold Coast Hospital, and so far, have never ventured out to Southport yet and today, finally conquer another zone..

Mum Beryl had fallen ill and was hospitalised several days, so I went to visit her. Brought with me some vege soup which I hoped she would be well enough to try.

Parking was really hard to find and after circling around, finally found one metered bay. Beryl was in isolation ward, as they couldn't figure out yet if she had TB. So, before going in to see her, I had to don a mask, vest and rubber gloves, yikes! Felt like I was going into an operation theatre or something. She was happily watching tennis on TV, so she was probably not in too bad a shape.

She didn't recognise me initially because I was so covered up!! but was happy to see me, unfortunately no appetite to eat the soup I brought. We chatted for a bit and it was a relief to see she was not too sickly. Just that they had to keep her in for observation in case what she had was infectious and they were draining fluid from her lungs. Interestingly, her doctor came in to check on her and turns out he was also a Malaysian from KL with a heavy 'ah' accent. So I thot it pretty funny, here was Beryl in the same room with her Malaysian friend and Malaysian doctor...

When I left and discarded the gloves, they left that sickly rubber smell on my hands, yikes, hate it!! I was sweating all over from the coat and mask I had to put on; my fingers were clammy wet from sweat... hope they take her out of isolation soon, poor lady... and poor visitors if they need to put those on everytime.

Later went off to explore Australia Fair shopping centre to unwind after that sweaty hospital visit. Needed some fresh air, had a coconut drink and sandwich for lunch. Southport is one of the busier parts of Gold Coast. It is also one of the older areas and they are going to be building an airtrain station here soon to faciliate workers and students in this area. It is also home to Griffith Uni and Tafe college as well, next to Australia Fair.

Lots of Asians and internationals swarming this side of town- probably students for those colleges. I went to this Asian store and saw some mooncakes but then decided they weren't worth buying. Not exactly craving for them either. At $31.00 x 3= now that works out to about RM$93 per box of 4!! um...kinda like eating gold nuggets. ..nah it's alright! shelve it...

EPISODE 28: HELLO, WE MEET AGAIN.

After rushing Jordie to school this morning(almost late again!)-- I drove back and on the way, along the road, spotted this lady in bright dress with baseball cap and sunshades. She looked familiar and in an instance, I guessed she was Ingrid the Chilean lady. (see Episode 21)...... I pulled over and offered her a ride to Robina. She was so happy to see me again. We had lost touch since the last meeting. She said today was her birthday! Now, how interestingly coincidental! She wanted to buy me breakfast at Robina, but I ended up treating her instead since it was her birthday. We had a lovely chat at Michel's Cafe, my fave coffee hangout place and talked about life and hopes and children and Australian culture and fitting in. Amazing how two ladies who hardly know each other from different cultures can meet and talk like old buddies. .But..it happens only once in a blue moon. She said she believed this was a strange but nice coincidence that we bumped into each other on her birthday. Before she left, I felt suddenly the need to pray for her and I asked if I could. She said yes and hugged me. "Call me yes? This Friday, come to my house, bring your son and swimming costumes.." Strange how people come into your life, ..just like that....

EPISODE 27: SOMERSET MUSIC FESTIVAL -PT. 2

No sweaty palms, just stay calm,..that was our chant today, all the way to his 3rd performance for piano solo post 1900 composers category. He was playing this song, "Minnie Mouse Hits Town" and played it rather well. He made one slight mistake, but was as expressive as he could ever get... for a straight-faced guy.. another boy also played same song. The minute he played, there was a clear difference. I knew Jordie definitely was the better player.. other children did well too, but I knew he was definitely better than the rest...and so, today he won his 1st blue ribbon!! Him and another boy tie.. for 1st place.. He was so pleased with himself. "Getting better and better!" His teacher, though had higher standards. She said he still needed to improve, and the message was blue ribbon wasn't the ultimate goal.. you still need to be watching out for this and that.. until your exams... sigh!

EPISODE 26: SOMERSET MUSIC FESTIVAL - Part 1

Jordie performed for his very 1st time at Somerset Music Festival today. The Somerset Music Festival is held every year at Somerset college for most music instrument categories including even poem reading and voice.We were working really hard to make sure he played some decent music for this competition. It is great exposure to performance for children learning music so that they will want to make more effort towards playing and sounding better. Jordie got enrolled in 2 categories today and he played well. He looked really stressed, poor boy, ..

nervous to perform for his 1st song... and worse still, he was the 1st player, so he didn't know what to expect really...even though crowd wasnt very big, he was still nervous. But he did all the right things except one wrong note...the girls really won hands down, they were such good little pianists... He was given a green ribbon (3rd place). Red is for 2nd and blue is the best. I told him green was good, but I believed he could do better, so I asked him, if a red one *2nd place" was possible for 2nd category, he said he'd try.... and he did get it! So proud of him! no photo tho.. unfortunately, ran out of camera battery...

ORIGINAL BRAND OF HUMOUR, JORDAN-STYLE

Humour is what keeps you alive & going and sane. I love my little boy's humour, he has developed his own brand while growing up. Here are some examples:

~ When he was 4, I peeped into the toilet and asked, "well are you done poo-ing?" He says, "Yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags full."

~ Mum: "Hey what is that brown spot on the toilet floor?" Jordan: "I don't know but it sure looks like Tasmania..."

Your 2nd grand auntie will be visiting soon. She's from this town called Muar. He puckers up his lips for a smacker kiss , "You mean MU-AH!!"

Reading about Old Testament prophets, there was this prophet called Obadiah who went around prophesying doom for disobedience. My son says if in Malaysia, his name will be pronounced in threatening tone as "Obey or Die-ah?"

"Hey, what's this plate made of, is it ceramic?' ...."No it's melamine."

" Oh, what, it's made of 'never mind'? ..guess it won't break .."

When we saw this cute long dog with short legs walking on the street, I told him that it was a dacshund breed pronounced 'dag shend'.

"I think you should just call it a dog sausage." he replied.

He misspelt Happy Father's day in his card as Happy 'Fart'-her's Day. When mistake was pointed out, he said that as far as he was concerned, both were absolutely relevant for his dad!!??

RIDING THE GIANT WAVE

don't think will ever try this in my lifetime..but just watching it gives me this sensation of sheer abandonment and being set free as in who the heck cares anymore about what happens? let go and enjoy....

INNOCENCE IS BEST FOR NOW...

"Mummy, you know what gay is?" asked Jordie one night at dinner.

I sucked in my breath...yikes,what now... another death to innocence?

Pull a straight face, stay calm : "What is it?"

"It means you're happy..." he said with a grin...

PHEW! AM not quite ready at this point to explain what gay's connotation is. Unfortunately he went on to explain his neighbour had said to him when he was playing with a girl, "Stop playing with girls, you look gay." he was told... "So I asked Alex what 'gay' means & he told me,"It means you're happy."

Hmmm....I know that boy fully knew what he meant when he said it, and I knew he was covering it up when he had to explain what it meant to Jordie.. But later I did tell Jordie, there was nothing wrong with playing with girls, he just gotta balance it up also and play with boys as well... so boys and girls, we don't need to grow up too fast now.. just remember: be happy but not 'gay'..

CHOOSE WHO YOU WALK WITH CAREFULLY.

Jordie was reading his Aesop's Fables last night and when he was done, I asked which was his favourite. He said it was the one on the bear and the travellers:

One day, two men were on a journey when they saw a bear. At first, the bear didn't see them. One man got up into a tree as fast as he could. The other man was too slow. "Please help me up," he called. But the first man went further up the tree and left him on his own. "What can I do?" said the man under the tree. "If I run away, the bear will see me, if he sees me, he will eat me." So, he lay on the ground and did not move. The bear walked all round him, then went away. The man in the tree came down. He said, "The bear came very close to you. Did he say anything?" "Yes," said the other man. "It said 'never go for a walk with a man who leaves you when you are in danger.'".. Moral of the story: A real friend will not leave you to face trouble alone..

VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC IN SCHOOLS

Pupil's death puts spotlight on horrific violence in Australian schools Jai Morcom, a 15-year old boy, died after his head was apparently smashed against a wall when he intervened in what appears to have been a turf war over tables at his school called 'table wars'. How stupid is that game? How stupid and sad that someone has to die because of fighting over pieces of table and who should sit at which table... he wasn't even involved. He just happened to be around and became the punching bag of rage.

So, a brutal spotlight now glares on Mullumbimby and a school that is facing angry claims of endemic drugs and violence, calls for the resignation of headmaster Ian Graham and internet rallying for revenge beatings.

But Jai's death is a loud wakeup call for people about bullying and violence across Australia, where schoolyard and suburban beatings and brawls have been filmed on mobile phones and posted on YouTube. Truancy in Gold Coast is also pretty high and recently, police have been survelling neighbourhoods to ensure stuff like that is minimised. Parents and critics complain that conferences, strategies and no-tolerance policies have failed to dent what they believe to be a growing culture of violence that has spurred an exodus from state to private schools. National trends appear to confirm Rosenfeld's fears. Australian Institute of Criminology statistics record an overall 55 per cent increase in assaults between 1996 and 2007, and 48 per cent for juveniles, mostly by males but with a significant rise among teenage girls.

A study by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research found that reported violence in the state's schools rose 46 per cent between 1998 and 2003, and that almost one-third of high school students interviewed had admitted attacking a schoolmate in the previous 12 months. Ironically, all this school violence might actually trace its roots to home and upbringing. "Preventing violence at school is no easy task," said bureau director Don Weatherburn in the study. "Schools trying to inculcate a culture of intolerance towards violence sometimes find themselves dealing with students whose parents condone violent behaviour." Peer pressure has its role of course, but I believe parental involvement is a crucial part to how a kid stands and guards his values before others.

I think a majority of people take school largely to be a government-funded daycare babysitting program here. Don't get me wrong - I think most parents do love and take their kids' daily needs to task, but on the whole, the easygoing parenting style may have contributed in certain measure to all this uncalled for school horror stories of bullying, smoking, outright challenging of teachers and whatnots. On radio, people claim to see teenagers out skating, and having a good time at the park during school hours BLATANTLY and nobody seems to give a hoot about it.

Just a few days ago, my son's school Varsity College had a lockdown due to some thugs fighting in the Oval school field area. Every class was asked to stay in classroom until they were hauled off the grounds. In the wake of school violence, I think nobody wanted to take any chances, which was good.. No one was hurt but police were called in to check that no other intruders came into the school. They had weapons apparently, now that is a scary thot. what if they were guns or knives? these were obviously teenage thugs playing truant... Last weekend, Queensland Education Department research reported to a community forum showed that every week five children in every class are bullied, and up to 70 per cent of suspensions are related to bullying. So parents, let's be worried, be very worried and start looking out vigilantly for your young ones before it's too late..