23 December 2007

Christmas Season Post.

We had some overseas friends come to Melbourne for a holiday so I took the pleasure to bring them around as we went to places like Mount Macedon and Hanging Rock, where it was cool up there compared to the city, and also to Phillip Island.

We attended a free Christmas concert at a nearby park with a few family friends where many other people attended as well. It was the likes of outdoor park concerts of some symphony orchestra that I used to see on television or DVDs in the US or Europe, where it was nice and cool to have one. The land area of the park was big, so it did not feel closed, cramped, or any other adjective that means a lack of space. The large flat lawn provided a perfect place for a picnic dinner before the concert, in which we brought food and had it. The weather that day was cool for a summer’s day, which really made it more enjoyable. Of course, there were entertainers for the kids, and good singers with many audience sing-a-long items, not to mention Santa (talk about the debate about commercializing Christmas here), and to complete it all, there was a wind orchestra in residence to provide the music for the event. Finally, rounding up the concert was a fireworks display, which was good, and added to the festivities.

So much about receiving, including attending Christmas programs in church, a friend and myself also gave by playing at two occasions: one at a Christmas program in Ballarat, a regional town 110km west of Melbourne, and on the other occasion, at an old folks home to bring some cheer to them with another group of people. That was nice.

This week we also had a few days of freak storms, where too much rain, with windstorms and occasionally hail appears and falls in such a short time. This got many places in Melbourne, VIC, and NSW affected by flooding. As a result the roads were less congested but visibility was poor in the rain. However it’s going to be back to the big dry after this freak storm. These series of storms also gave us a “wintry summer”, where it felt almost like a mild winter in the midst of summer now. So much so, that, I had to take out my winter clothing yesterday to keep myself warm when I went out. As the storms go away, the weather here is also going to heat up back to the summer-styled one and the reappearance of the flies after perhaps one or two days of dormancy.

We took a drive to see the Christmas Lights in the Boulevard, Ivanhoe last night but in our opinion we were disappointed as it was just ordinary Christmas decorations despite almost all the houses along the street were decorated. We were really pleased however, with the few houses near our place that were much more beautifully decorated, including the one which appeared in the newspaper, featuring 100,000 lights, figurine displays, music, and a snow machine. (Here in Melbourne we have a competition for the most well-decorated house (exterior decorations) during Christmas, but I don’t know who won or the website.)

So I guess that’s for now, and I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

27 November 07

It was the trip to the Wilson’s Promontory National Park last weekend starting Friday, more commonly known as ‘The Prom’ which is the southernmost point of mainland Australia, for a bush camp with church friends and other mates as well. It was actually an after-exam program for us to wind down.

Day 1
As usual, my driving expertise was tapped in providing some transport (along with a few others) to the venue. It was a 3-hour drive to the park from Melbourne, and we found a nice big spot, which was big enough to accommodate all 40-ish of us. The logistics team settled all the logistics (of course) and provided all the tents for us. We set up the tents and then had some games at the beach. The beach was a beautiful one (I had come to this place before) with really fine sand, blue seas, the river, and hills in the background. At the same time the cooking team, under a good cook, was preparing a delicious dinner of coconut rice (aka nasi lemak) for us, which we really enjoyed in the dark (we arrived late - we started about 1+-ish). (The logistics team had brought food, gas and stoves for the cooking).

We settled in for the night and we had excellent toilet facilities (for a campsite) that included hot showers.

Day 2
We arose and found out that the wombats shifted some of the items in certain areas the night before as some people had also seen. We then had our morning devotion before proceeding to have breakfast of bread prepared by the food team early in the morning. We had some program at the beach in which all of us enjoyed, before having a lunch of porridge. After lunch we embarked on a 14km return bushwalk to Oberon Bay, as we admired the beautiful sceneries of hills, rock formations, fine white sand, the deep blue sea.

However the highlight of the day was being able to spot a few killer whales in the sea from the cliffs as they came up for air. It was unusual as killer whales are mostly found in the northern hemisphere (although some are in the southern hemisphere) and the whale breeding season had ended. Nevertheless, we were happy to see them.

We returned, feeling really tired (this distance is not easy for untrained people) for dinner of flatbread and dhal prepared fresh by the cooking team. We then had a drive to a place to spot kangaroos and rabbits and saw a few of them crossing the road at that place. By then it was turning dark and we stopped by Norman Lookout on the way back to look at the sunset but it was too cloudy to be seen. We returned back to camp and settled for the night.

Day 3.
We woke up and had our breakfast of pancakes prepared freshly (including the pancake mix) by the cooking team that morning or the night before. We then had our devotion and proceeded to the beach for a free and easy time (as most people were too tired for another bushwalk). Some people had a beach walk, others had a game of soccer and footy, and I took a walk along a short stretch of the Tidal River. It was nice, although I had already been slightly sunburnt from the bushwalk the day before – it was cloudy, but the UV rays were still around. So I wore a hat.

We then disassembled the tents and packed everything up before setting back to Melbourne, stopping at Leongatha on the way back for lunch at Subway or McDonalds.

Overall this was a good and simple camp, which allowed us to get close to nature, including being lucky to spot the killer whales. Kudos to the cooking team also, for being to provide our food throughout the whole camp. Now I am slightly darker for this period due to the UV rays at the Prom.

That's all for now...

26 November 07

It has been some time since the exams were over, and I can only wish and hope for the best in it. My re-enrolment process for next year have also been done and settled. So it’s left for me to spend my holidays thinking of what to do over it.

A cousin came down from QLD for a short trip with her friends last week. In meeting myself and another cousin who also lives here in Melbourne, it was another rare gathering of the ‘three tigers’ (as three of us first cousins were born in the same year as according to the Chinese zodiac). We had a nice meeting and dinner together whilst also catching up on each other.

That's all for now...

02 November 07

As I suddenly felt like writing here, here are some quick updates.

I’ve been feeling not in the mood to do anything much, as exams are coming really soon (and yes I’ve got one on Cup Day too, which is a public holiday – but I don’t watch horse racing and thus it doesn't really matter aside from the train schedules), and of course in my standard, my knowledge is not that good. So that’s it and good luck to me.

However, I’m really looking forward to the time after exams where I have heaps of ideas and places to explore in the countryside. Unfortunately I can’t take the train and reduce some carbon emissions (remember about global warming) as the places are not accessible by public transport. So I have to drive instead.

By the way, my time zone now is GMT+11 as we’re on daylight savings time now (AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight-Saving Time) for the next 5 months.

That’s all for now.

07 Oct 07

Some quick updates.

So it has been a really busy time for me since school started, and it will still be so for the next few weeks, which requires a high energy and time input for me. And yes, I also had my 21st birthday during the past period where I kept it simple. Also thanks to the people who wished me using various communication means. It has also been interesting where we learnt about the types of calendars and their history. It was quite boring and dry but interesting. Did you know that leap years refer to and include years that are multiples of four but exclude years that are multiples of 100 (which are also multiples of 4)? Well there’s a long history behind it.

Last night we also had a "treasure hunt" in the city which was tiring but interesting.

The days are getting warmer and longer, which makes me go and return from school while the sun is up…

Now is the time for me to start to mug and study really hard, which in my opinion is a boring but essential thing to do in preparation for exams in three weeks time.

That’s for now…