Back from Cairns!!
Im baaaack! So much stuff happening, so much to tell! I jz got back from a 10-day trip to Cairns with my MIL, sis-in-law and Jess. It was amazing! We went to so many wonderful amazing places and spending time with the in-laws and without Michael, was a pretty interesting experience in itself.. :p The week before that, i was busy entertaining my cousin, Rudy (aka K.Di), who was here for her first visit to Oz and we did a whole bunch of stuff together. It was jz SO great having her here, made me less homesick i guess ;) So yeah, i got back Monday and has since been busy cleaning the house, getting organised again and getting on with my immi paperwork cos im planning to apply for unlimited working condition sometime this week!
It's good to be home. Very very cold at the mo, winter's just starting and while we're away in sunny Cairns, Sydney's weather has not been that good, with heavy rain non-stop and flooding and the coldest since last August, it was 10 degrees yesterday. It was particularly great to see my hubby again. It was like old times when we're separated for long period of times after sending each other at the airport. I was missing him like crazy! Uweeek, i know..hehehe.
We picked K.Di up from the airport and i was just SO excited to see her! Well, besides the fact that i know she's got packages of rempah kari, keropok and maggi mee that i asked my ma to get me, i was just overly ecstatic to greet a familiar face and just couldnt wait to hear her stories from home!
That weekend, we went to the Blue Mountains. Saw the 3 Sisters,
had a lil picnic,
went to the chocolate factory (of course), checked out the teapot shop (FULL of teapots! my MIL & ma share the same passion for this) and stopped by the lolly shop too. We also went to ride the steepest incline Railway in the world! 415m descent thru cliff side tunnel into rainforest, it was pretty scary! Was glad the ride was over in just 2 mins.
At night we invited the family and Jake's family for a lil welcoming bbq for Rudy. Everyone brought their own meat, as there was no time for me to prepare anything, except for salad & baked potatoes.
The rest of the week was spent going around the city to the must-see Opera House, Harbour Bridge and ferries to the beaches. One whole day was dedicated for shopping alone, at Paddy's Market. I was like a tourist myself buying lots of stuff for her to bring back home and also for my Cairns trip - 2 bags to be exact. I haven't bought any bags (or any accessories for myself) for a LONG time, they're a bargain and i left all of my carry on & 'on a holiday' bags in JB - good enuff justification!
Another day, Jess took us driving along Cronulla beach all the way down the coast to Wollongong, came back just in time for line dancing and then to Loftus where Imelda prepared about 8 dishes of variety of food, for Rudy. We've been eating like crazy. We blame the cold weather! :p Chocolates all the time, and when we shop, more chocolates for family back home, mostly AERO & Nougats. We all love AERO chocolates, the mint one especially and Rudy took ALL the mint AERO chocs at one Coles supermarket to bring home. Oh, and TIM TAMS! They don't taste the same in M'sia!
The night before i left for Cairns, we had to send Rudy to Mrs Cheng's place in Chatswood, bout 45 mins drive from Graysies. See, the tix to Cairns was booked before i knew the confirmed date of her coming to Oz. So for the remaining 5 days of her trip, she spent her time in Sydney with Mrs Cheng, which turned out ok cos she was planning to spend time with Mrs Cheng while she's here. Mrs Cheng is an old family friend. Her daughters grew up & went to school with my mom & my aunt (Rudy's mom) and were good friends and so Mrs Cheng & my late beloved grandma became great friends as well. The Cheng family migrated to Australia in the 80s but the friendship continues on. My grandparents would stay with them when they visited Australia and whenever this country's mentioned, my grandma would always talk about Mrs Cheng, over and over again. Ive heard so much about her and met her once or twice but never ever had any long conversation together. I also remembered that Mrs Cheng looks so much like my grandma. So when we saw Mr & Mrs Cheng outside their apartment, waiting for us to take us all to dinner at an RSL Club, it was a beginning of such an extraordinarily amazing nite for me and for Michael. They're both really old and fragile, in their 80s, yet stil very able and strong. Mr Cheng is such a charming & interesting character with lots of stories and experiences to share nevertheless not at all a bore. Mrs Cheng just reminds me SO much of my grandma. They looked so very similar as my grandma was also Chinese. Dressed the same, have the same short hair and have the same warm caring tone of voice. To me, that nite made me missed my grandma even more so especially when she hugged me goodnite that i had to quickly push her as i could feel my tears heavily building up. To Michael, it was unusual cos RSL clubs used to be his usual hang out with friends jz drinking but that nite we had dinner then dessert where he ordered tea when he didnt even drink tea! He was totally blown away with the whole conversation he had with Mr Cheng. It then continued on to their lovely cosy apartment full of Asian decorations it felt so much like home. We talked and talked, well Mr Cheng did most of the talking and we continued to be mesmerised, he's pretty funny! He kept us interested and was determined not to let us leave!
I left feeling truly blessed to get to know the Chengs better and felt such a close bond with them just because they've got so much history with my grandparents & family. They're both still pretty romantic as well, holding hands, doing things for each other like pushing the chair closer, making sure there's sugar with the tea, lil things that showed they care, just as my grandparents were. Not overly lovey dovey but just lil gestures of affection. I remembered a story when we're teasing my grandparents of stil holding hands and my grandma would say 'bukan apa, takut bah jatuh!' I also remembered when my grandfather was sick and in bed, he'd yell for my grandma like crazy and she'd rushed to him wondering what's wrong with him..and all he said was 'saja, nak bual-bual dgn awak'. I thought that was pretty cute. :) Man, i miss them SOO much!
Anyways, i was also a bit sad leaving Rudy behind, i was feeling pretty bad that i did not get to spend the rest of her hols here and to send her off at the airport. But i didn't have much time to dwell on it cos i had to pack up for Cairns!
Catch my Cairns story next week after ive gotten the pics from my MIL's camera! (then i can be all jumpy excited again to share the story lah) From my not-so-great barrier reef experience to the romantic spanish dreamer story of a castle ruins!
It's good to be home. Very very cold at the mo, winter's just starting and while we're away in sunny Cairns, Sydney's weather has not been that good, with heavy rain non-stop and flooding and the coldest since last August, it was 10 degrees yesterday. It was particularly great to see my hubby again. It was like old times when we're separated for long period of times after sending each other at the airport. I was missing him like crazy! Uweeek, i know..hehehe.
We picked K.Di up from the airport and i was just SO excited to see her! Well, besides the fact that i know she's got packages of rempah kari, keropok and maggi mee that i asked my ma to get me, i was just overly ecstatic to greet a familiar face and just couldnt wait to hear her stories from home!
That weekend, we went to the Blue Mountains. Saw the 3 Sisters,
had a lil picnic,
went to the chocolate factory (of course), checked out the teapot shop (FULL of teapots! my MIL & ma share the same passion for this) and stopped by the lolly shop too. We also went to ride the steepest incline Railway in the world! 415m descent thru cliff side tunnel into rainforest, it was pretty scary! Was glad the ride was over in just 2 mins.
At night we invited the family and Jake's family for a lil welcoming bbq for Rudy. Everyone brought their own meat, as there was no time for me to prepare anything, except for salad & baked potatoes.
The rest of the week was spent going around the city to the must-see Opera House, Harbour Bridge and ferries to the beaches. One whole day was dedicated for shopping alone, at Paddy's Market. I was like a tourist myself buying lots of stuff for her to bring back home and also for my Cairns trip - 2 bags to be exact. I haven't bought any bags (or any accessories for myself) for a LONG time, they're a bargain and i left all of my carry on & 'on a holiday' bags in JB - good enuff justification!
Another day, Jess took us driving along Cronulla beach all the way down the coast to Wollongong, came back just in time for line dancing and then to Loftus where Imelda prepared about 8 dishes of variety of food, for Rudy. We've been eating like crazy. We blame the cold weather! :p Chocolates all the time, and when we shop, more chocolates for family back home, mostly AERO & Nougats. We all love AERO chocolates, the mint one especially and Rudy took ALL the mint AERO chocs at one Coles supermarket to bring home. Oh, and TIM TAMS! They don't taste the same in M'sia!
The night before i left for Cairns, we had to send Rudy to Mrs Cheng's place in Chatswood, bout 45 mins drive from Graysies. See, the tix to Cairns was booked before i knew the confirmed date of her coming to Oz. So for the remaining 5 days of her trip, she spent her time in Sydney with Mrs Cheng, which turned out ok cos she was planning to spend time with Mrs Cheng while she's here. Mrs Cheng is an old family friend. Her daughters grew up & went to school with my mom & my aunt (Rudy's mom) and were good friends and so Mrs Cheng & my late beloved grandma became great friends as well. The Cheng family migrated to Australia in the 80s but the friendship continues on. My grandparents would stay with them when they visited Australia and whenever this country's mentioned, my grandma would always talk about Mrs Cheng, over and over again. Ive heard so much about her and met her once or twice but never ever had any long conversation together. I also remembered that Mrs Cheng looks so much like my grandma. So when we saw Mr & Mrs Cheng outside their apartment, waiting for us to take us all to dinner at an RSL Club, it was a beginning of such an extraordinarily amazing nite for me and for Michael. They're both really old and fragile, in their 80s, yet stil very able and strong. Mr Cheng is such a charming & interesting character with lots of stories and experiences to share nevertheless not at all a bore. Mrs Cheng just reminds me SO much of my grandma. They looked so very similar as my grandma was also Chinese. Dressed the same, have the same short hair and have the same warm caring tone of voice. To me, that nite made me missed my grandma even more so especially when she hugged me goodnite that i had to quickly push her as i could feel my tears heavily building up. To Michael, it was unusual cos RSL clubs used to be his usual hang out with friends jz drinking but that nite we had dinner then dessert where he ordered tea when he didnt even drink tea! He was totally blown away with the whole conversation he had with Mr Cheng. It then continued on to their lovely cosy apartment full of Asian decorations it felt so much like home. We talked and talked, well Mr Cheng did most of the talking and we continued to be mesmerised, he's pretty funny! He kept us interested and was determined not to let us leave!
I left feeling truly blessed to get to know the Chengs better and felt such a close bond with them just because they've got so much history with my grandparents & family. They're both still pretty romantic as well, holding hands, doing things for each other like pushing the chair closer, making sure there's sugar with the tea, lil things that showed they care, just as my grandparents were. Not overly lovey dovey but just lil gestures of affection. I remembered a story when we're teasing my grandparents of stil holding hands and my grandma would say 'bukan apa, takut bah jatuh!' I also remembered when my grandfather was sick and in bed, he'd yell for my grandma like crazy and she'd rushed to him wondering what's wrong with him..and all he said was 'saja, nak bual-bual dgn awak'. I thought that was pretty cute. :) Man, i miss them SOO much!
Anyways, i was also a bit sad leaving Rudy behind, i was feeling pretty bad that i did not get to spend the rest of her hols here and to send her off at the airport. But i didn't have much time to dwell on it cos i had to pack up for Cairns!
Catch my Cairns story next week after ive gotten the pics from my MIL's camera! (then i can be all jumpy excited again to share the story lah) From my not-so-great barrier reef experience to the romantic spanish dreamer story of a castle ruins!
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