1ST Female PM For Australia.

Someday, it was bound to happen..and it did.

Although I don't see it happening yet for America or Malaysia, primarily in any kind of chauvinistic societies, but I was surprised that happened in Australia today, in the wee hours of the morning. Okay, probably power shift rumblings were already happening invisible to the public eye, but today, I think most were taken by surprise that Julia Gillard decided to step up after Kevin Rudd lost his majority votes for the Labour party, Australia's ruling party in parliament.

Kevin Rudd has given up the leadership of the Labor Party before completing his first term, conceding defeat to Julia Gillard before the spill was even put to a vote, resulting in the installation of Australia's first female Prime Minister. Ms Gillard will be sworn in at lunchtime by Governor-General Quentin Bryce, and will hold a press conference shortly, with details expected to emerge on the mining tax and possible ETS commitments.

There is also speculation an election could be held sooner rather than later due to the leadership change. Yesterday's dramatic crisis within the Labor Party resulted in the positions of party leader and deputy leader being declared vacant at this morning's caucus meeting. According to Labor Party returning officer, Michael Forshaw, Mr Rudd gave a gracious speech to the party room, in which he declared he would not be standing for the position of leader. This left Ms Gillard elected to the position of Labor Leader and consequently Prime Minister unopposed. Wayne Swan was then elected to Ms Gillard's former position of deputy leader, also unopposed. Ms Gillard arrived at this morning's minute at 8.59am accompanied by both Treasurer and now Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan, and a security detail. Upon departing the meeting Ms Gillard said: "I feel very honoured and I'll be making a statement shortly."

Mr Rudd's popularity had been in freefall in recent months and Labor powerbrokers yesterday acted on the dire polling, confronting Mr Rudd urging him to make way for Ms Gillard. Mr Rudd fought the move by putting the leadership to a vote at today's caucus meeting. However, after a night of working the phones, Mr Rudd failed dismally to garner even a respectable amount of support and this morning decided not to put his name forward for re-election as party leader. He is expected to remain on the back bench until the election, when he will most likely leave politics.

How sad.... u know, I did think he started his career in a very good way and built good bridges both locally (with the aborigines) and internationally (China). Mr Rudd listed the apology to the stolen generation, keeping the country out of the global financial crisis and the education revolution as some of the achievements he was most proud of. "I was elected by the Australian people as Prime Minister to bring back a fair go for all Australians, and I have given my absolute best to do that — I have given my absolute all," he said. "I hope I've been able to demonstrate to you that this has been a very busy two and a half years." A pity it had to end in this fashion. Australian politics is hard to crack.. it will be interesting to see what unfolds in the next few months with this new shift in power...

BERYL'S FUNERAL

Today was Mum Beryl’s funeral. We arrived just as it was about to start at Allambie Memorial Park in Nerang. We saw many familiar faces there, including Pastor Dexter, who specially flew in that morning from Malaysia to be at the funeral service, Pastor Len, Beryl’s pastor of Genesis Church, Ebbie, Dexter’s daughter who flew in from Melbourne, Neil Falcke and his dad and daughter, Marnie, Neil Bishop and his wife, Pam from Brisbane, Sue McBeath and hubby Ken as well as church members from Genesis like the Youngs and Brett.

It felt strangely peaceful there in the graveyard because the surroundings were so green and pretty. My first time on an Australian burial ground area and many graves, unlike those grandly ornamented Chinese graveyards, had very inconspicuous tombstones (or rather, plaques ) which lay flat on the ground. Almost stepped on one!! Beryl is a very dear friend of ours and as we laid her to rest today, we knew that she had indeed lived a life that had touched so many others. Here was one ordinary lady who had made her life count for God in an extraordinary way.

This was a closed casket type of funeral so we never got to take one last look of her. At the end of the service, we went forward and scattered petals on her coffin. But it didn’t feel the least bit tragic at all, because she had really lived a fulfilled life in God and went in a dignified, painless, peaceful manner. I think the sadness was more for ourselves, those she left behind.

After the funeral, they held a celebration service for Beryl . Seems like over here, especially for christian practice, they have the funeral service & burial first, attended by the closer friends and family members, then have a subsequent service for others in the form of a celebration service to celebrate the life of the departed. Then again, it may vary according to individual preference of different families.

Dexter gave a 30-minute eulogy on Beryl and ended with one of her fave songs: "You shall cross the barren desert." He strummed it on guitar while Ebbie sang with him.

Peter read from Psalms 91 and her son, Jeff shared about her family background.

Neil Falcke sang a beautiful rendition of ‘To God Be the Glory”. He joked that Beryl told him he must do so, so he said he’d better sing it today, otherwise he might ‘get into trouble’…Neil has been a fantastic spiritual son to her and taken care of her so well. We saw how he faithfully chauffered her for walks, bought shopping items, ran errands and did up her house to be ‘Beryl-friendly’ when she got too weak to climb upstairs. He read scriptures and shared with her when she laid in hospital. He used to cut her toe nails for her when she couldn't bend over. Every Sunday after service, he brought her out for lunch. He is a fine example of a great son and we are so proud of him- such a gem.

So,…Goodbye Beryl for now. You were a caring friend, mum, aunt, confidante to me amongst many others in Gold Coast and I don’t think I will ever meet another quite like you. The tears shed this morning were more for the loss of a great friend, than for your death. We love you and miss you already.

BREASTS FOR SALE

On the way to church this morning, we were so amused to see our favourite butcher advertising his wares in this fashion, getting a staff to ride on a bike at the junction where traffic lights were with a white t-shirt advertising 'BREASTS $6.99/kg' You see, initially they got slapped with several fines for advertising with the guy standing at the corner of the junction with the word 'breasts' which Gold Coast Council said was inappropriate, a traffic hazard causing too much distraction and too far away from their outlet to justify standing there. Lots of publicity over this issue but definitely caught the attention of the public. Don't know if sales increased as a result, but today, the cyclist advertiser sure caught the eye of the public again. And I must say, I am impressed with the creativity of the advertiser. Mobile advertising means wider exposure to different sets of eyes at different times.

Today, probably in their attempt to beat the system, the Mad Butcher (literally that is the name of the butcher shop) got our favourite 'breast man' to ride around with the sign on his bike. He stopped at traffic lights obediently, and pedalled across the street, to and fro, he went...looking just like any other innocent biker, except with this controversial 'breasts' signage displayed behind his bike.

And yes, we did go in after church (the shop is just doors away) and got our breasts (chicken) for $6.99/kg -all 3 of them. So, you see, advertising has its results...

EPISODE 43: GOODBYE FOR NOW, DEAREST BERYL

Today, as we were driving Jordie to school in the morning, a call came in from a friend, Karen, reporting that our dear friend, Mum Beryl has passed away before midnight yesterday. We weren't surprised as she had been ill in hospital for over a week but we were also sad. In that second, we knew we had lost a very dear and encouraging friend of many years to us.

Beryl died on the 1st day of winter in Australia, June 1, 2010 at 83. How significant, the 'passing of the old guard' as we enter a new season. She had been diagnosed with cancer last year but mercifully, she suffered very little pain and went peacefully in an unconscious state.

She had been serving God faithfully since her fifties and travelled to many lands as a missionary including Malaysia, Indonesia and England. She served alongside with Pastor Dexter and Lily in the early pioneering days of Latter Rain Church and had been a great inspiration to many- both young and old. Possibly she had travelled to many different parts of Malaysia more than the average Malaysian would have done, and given her life towards encouraging and teaching many people about God. She made many visits back to Malaysia to be part of the church. Many Latter Rain church members know her and have been blessed by her ministry.

Jordie calls her his "Billabong Granny" (because her residence was called 'the Billabong') and she seemed to be really proud of that nickname. One of the 1st Australians to welcome us when we arrived in Gold Coast, she made sure we were welcomed, settled in well and adjusted when we first moved here.

Can't quite describe the loss, but before we feel sorry for ourselves, we know she is now in a better place. In the last stages of her life, she was actually pretty cheerful and strong about her situation, even though she was in discomfort, she kept her humour and faith in God, always believing Him for the best and seeing even the hospital as her mission field. Last Monday when we last saw her, she was even talking about going next door to pray for another patient who wasn't doing so well....such is her heart and compassion for people around her.

We will miss her heaps. She's been such an encouragement to me during some of my difficult times...

The winter has come but you have gone.

To dwell and enjoy home in a better place

Many lives you have touched, Many seeds you have sown

May we join with you someday to see God face to face.

So, good bye for now. Beryl. Until then, we will always have loving memories of you.

I SHALL WALK HOME RAIN OR SHINE

Jordie had been rather insistent on walking home from school all by himself. He's very proud of his new independence (and freedom) so we try to let go as well, with quite a long list of 'DON'Ts" i.e. don't talk to strangers, don't stop at the bridge and loiter, don't climb on anything on the way back, don't look at the ground in case cyclists crash into you, etc... The weather has been really nice lately.. except whenever the boy announces he wants to walk back, it tends to rain.. and yesterday was supposed to be his 1st attempt to do so all the way, but we didn't know if he would be waiting at school when it started to rain. My agreement with him was rain or shine, you walk back, unless it pours... but I forgot to define what 'pours' means... so when the clouds gathered, daddy got kinda worried that he would get wet, so I drove out but on the way there, saw that the sun was still shining his side of the school, so I turned back, because I knew that fellow would be upset if I didn't keep my promise to let him walk home. Well, as Gold Coast weather would have it, the next thing you know... the clouds gathered again and the rain started, this time, on HIS side of the lake and I had to drive out again...

I knew I would meet him halfway. Sure enough, there was dear old Jordie along the way walking back from school, a little wet but happy. All this guesswork and fussing around!!! - just so a boy can find his own joy of independence to walk back home on his own....

HAPPY DINING....

Of late, it has come to my attention that there is such a thing as “Cakeage” being charged in restaurants in Gold Coast these days. Used to be just for “Corkage” in BYO restaurants and that was fine. But nowadays cakeage may be charged in certain restaurants when you bring your own cake and eat it there. They basically charge you for storing it in chiller, taking it out to serve and giving you clean spoons and dessert plates to go with it. A$2.50 per person average charge. Some people are crying foul over it. This is one good example of how you can't have your cake and eat it too..

Now, what then if the restaurants wanted to make some more money off you and insisted you use more stuff of theirs instead of bringing your own? You would then have to shelve out fees for:-

Drinkage : any other types of liquids apart from wines or champagnes or beer...

Mintage : We got a range of nice branded mints available at our snack counter, sir."

Chewing gumage: " Please feel free to pick up any brand from our cashier's display shelf of goodies//"

Bandage: if you're bringing your own Ipod and they don't get to charge you for renting theirs.

Broadbandage: if you're using your own mobile modem versus theirs and it ain't Starbucks or Zaraffa's...

Milkage: "Ahem, Ma'am we have boxed milk for your kids, you know... It's only $2 per carton..."

OK, finally this is a more straightforward one and nothing to do with bringing your own- I believe some places already charge for these:

Breakage of seats, tables, plates bowls or glasses

Wastage : for stuffing your face silly at a buffet and leaving too much leftovers on your plate when you are finally about to puke...(some restaurants in Malaysia can and will charge you for this based on weight!!- say $5 per 100g leftover!!)

SALUTE TO MOMS

Haha, I love this one! I know there was an earlier version, but this one has more character... The Mom's Song: the universal language spoken by moms..and recognised by husbands and children... they played this at church this morning.

Enjoy....and happy Mom's Day to all the special women I know, whether you have given birth or not.... at some point in your life, you have somehow demonstrated the 'mothering' instinct to people who had come your way. Enjoy the privilege of being female!

TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN AGAIN

Went up with Tamborine Mountain on Monday, which was the Labour Day public holiday here. This time, with 2 other families, my visiting bro-in-law with his family and his in-laws' family from Brisbane. We were blessed with a nice day, with breeze and not too sunny. We took them to Heritage Wines, Witches Falls and Cedar Creek Estate, 3 different wineries. Witches Falls had by far the most equipment on site... as well as its own vineyards to boot. They had some nice flower plants in the garden outside the wineries...Here's some at Witches Falls Witches Falls had some really big tanks processing their wines at the back...I sneaked a few shots of their 'brew' cauldrons in the backyard.

More state-of-the art tanks these days... what to do, the price of commercialisation -need to ensure mass production to keep up with growing demands, ... Witches Falls Winery is small but pretty well-known for their unique wines. They have their own special charming concoction of dessert wine named Granite Belt Botrytis made with a special fungi & gives a pleasant uniquely sweet flavour.

traditional wine ageing barrels like these become curio artifacts on display instead..

Was surprised to see maple trees can grow at the Cedar Creek estate:They gave the place a nice autumny feel......with leaves turning yellow & golden. And that's as close to the 'fall effect' as it gets in Queensland. Cedar Creek is more "tourist-y" and quite a popular stop since it has a glow worm cave adjacent to the winery. We both agreed that this time of the year is a nicer time to come here..cooler and more scenic too.