Back from Melbourne

In the twinkling of an eye, we are back from our vacation in Melbourne and I only wish we can stay a couple of days more! Living in brisbane is quite different from Melbourne where the city is vibrant and the lifestyle is busier. I'm not complaining but it's nice to have a little change every now and then.

It was nice to see some old friends and it was great for the little man as he played and spent time with his little friends too. For us, it's discovering new places to dine, especially Asian food and we didn't find anything that stood out until our final day in Melbourne. A friend recommended Shark Fin Inn and the dim sum was so good. I later found out that it was a popular restaurant! We went to a couple of 'good' ones including Ocha Japanese (which we thought was so-so) and Hutong whose pan fried dumplings didn't deliver. The skin of the dumpling was so thick that I much prefer the ones in Shangpaign kitchen in Brisbane.

Food aside, Clayton missed few days of school during the Melbourne trip and I believe the memories of hanging out with old friends meant more than those few days in school. He would have many years in school so few days of absence won't hurt too much!

Yesterday, he received a birthday party invitation from his good friend in class and he's looking forward to it. He's already discussing with me about his birthday party and telling me that some of his friends have cool invitations such as Pirate Invitations and superhero ones. He wanted a lego party and a big set of lego... we'll see how he behaves haha.

It's back to baking for me after taking a break for a few days. I miss baking and oh, I miss Koko Black in Melbourne. Since learning that their chocolates are so good, I have been sipping a cup of belgium hot chocolate every morning and I even splurged on a big and few packs of koko black chocolates. I finished the box ones in two days and I am truly missing them!

Till then, Melbourne is a lovely place to visit and we had brought the Queensland sunshine to this city of erratic weathers! I hope to be back again and this time, I must check out all the yummy restaurants with the real locals!

Heading to Sunshine Coast

Finally, school has started for Clayton yesterday and it's a milestone for him and us!

He woke up cranky and I think he was having some jitteries on his new school. After some coaxing, he finally got to school and I was glad that he was feeling comfortable about his new class. We spent some time in the class organizing his stationery and books before saying good bye. And we were off to our first 'day off'! We spent an afternoon in west end and southbank before heading back to school to pick him up.

It's been a very week since our shipment arrived and we managed to clear up all the clutter in the living room. At least we can position our furnitures at the right place so that we can live comfortably. There are still a dozen of boxes sitting in the garage waiting to be cleared. It was stressful that all our things were repacked by the Msia packers and it was hard locating some things.

It's hubby's birthday next week and I'm at a loss of buying him the right gift. Unlike my girlfriend who grabbed some good cigar deals for her hubby, I find it hard to buy hubby anything! I would love to buy him a bike but I have no idea what he wants!

Tomorrow is Australia Day and we'll be heading to Sunshine Coast to the Eumundi Markets. We will be exploring queensland whenever we can and I enjoy these quality family times spent together. I am thankful for these wonderful times and I treasure every moment spent with hubby and Clayton. That's it for now... it's going to be a great day tomorrow!

Loving the City, Southbank and West End

The holidays are especially long during Christmas and New Year and I'm glad that all businesses are back at work today! I know some private companies may stay shut but most will resume business and I'm so happy we can finally see some activity in the city and inner suburbs.

We had a great time exploring with the City ferries and Citycat last few weeks despite the drizzly weather here and there. It was disappointing to see so many shops closing at the west end when we were there due to the New Year holidays and I can't wait to check out this lovely suburb again. We've been doing lots of walks and it's amazing that clayton is doing so well with the walking. I can't believe we actually walked from west end to kangaroo point... it was a real long walk. We did it despite the rain on Saturday. My hubby can't wait to revisit that suburb for some nice Vietnamese noodles! At the west end, you find some quirky stores selling from memorabilia to cigars humidor, artistic fashion and organic stores, this suburb has a character.

Yesterday we had hot chocolate at Max Brenner and DH wasn't happy with the queue at all. But we had a nice long walk at the Botanic gardens and Clayton was so happy to spot few monitor lizards who posed smartly for the camera. Southbank is beautiful though touristy and there are still fun things to do.

Today we are planning for another visit to the botanic gardens and Clayton has promised to wake up early for walks too!

On the Move to Down Under

In two months' time, we should be handing over the keys and by then, everything else should be in the container. I'll then take a break from a work at home mom till we settle down in brissy. The excitement is certainly buillding.

I've been looking at realestate.com.au for rental availabilities while keeping track of rental rates. I'm praying that we'll find a good property before the new year so that we can settle down fast and have our container shipped over.

There've been lots of property seminars and talks going on this year and unfortunately these properties are usually not the cheapest in the marketplace. On the investor point of view, they seem attractive but a real investor should be looking for fire sale or better deals such as Duck foreclosures. Hubby thinks this is not a good time to invest and the prices should correct when there's another interest rate hike.

While buying a property may not be our immediate plan, it's still good to monitor the prices and do our research in the first year. By then, I'll be back as a work at home mom in our new home office and hopefully I can have a work desk facing a bushland, park or a good view.

Packing Time for the Work at Home Mom

Due to my extensive travels in the last three weeks, I can see that my skin isn't behaving the way it used to be! It looks like I would need to take time off for a good facial! That's a pampering treat for a work at home mom - facial therapies and a good massage!

From now, I will be busy with packing with for the move in December. I'm glad we had ordered our furniture and now, it's time to start the packing. With less than three months left, I should start throwing out the things we don't want and reduce the clutter little by little.

I was looking at my drawer full of skincare products and I would need to pack them in a designated box for the movers. In the drawer was some best acne products sent to me some time back and I should put them to good use. Then there are racks of clothing to clear - some to be given and some to be packed for shipping.

I'm glad that things are moving along well and the flexible schedule wouldn't be possible if I'm not working from home. So it's part time work for me now until I settle down in Oz.

a glance at australia vacations

sunset at fremantle harbour

Some of my friends think that Clayton is a fortunate boy. He took his first plane trip when he was barely one year old and last year, we took him to Perth. Australia remains a country that is very close to my heart as I did my postgraduate in Curtin Uni for a year and a half.

My favourite past time was to have a takeaway lunch with my research books in South Perth, along the famous Swan River. On sunny days, I would take the bus to Cottesloe for a nice cup of coffee and on weekends, Fremantle markets was my favourite. The wildflower festival that takes place every year in Kings Park is worth a visit if you love exotic and wildflowers. It will be nice if I can revisit Perth during the International Arts Festival. For some reason, I'm always out of the country during the feb/march period.



As I'm writing this post, I'm missing Perth again. Alot of people have lots of misconceptions of this lovely city. They say it's boring, slow, too quiet... but hey, it's a great place to live! Unlike Sydney which has a lot more people, designer boutiques and definitely busier, Perth is less busy and should I say - peaceful - lol. I do like Sydney too. We did the Bridge Climb few years ago when we were visiting a couple of our friends. The Opera House and Sydney Harbour were my favourite landmarks. I only wished we had more time exploring New South Wales.

I haven't been to Adelaide and I should when we migrate to down under in a few years' time. Well, if you are visiting any of these lovely cities, hotels in Perth are categorized in various classes, depending on your budget and personal style. We prefer to stay in the serviced apartments as it's nice to have a kitchen where we can prepare light meals. Eating all three meals in Australia can be costly for a family of three :)

Travel sites like Cheaperthanhotels offers good deals for hotels in Adelaide, Sydney, Tasmania, Melbourne accommodation and all other suburbs and states. You can search for a hotel in Margaret River or a bed and breakfast in Victoria at the site, it is easy to navigate with the powerful search tools on the site.

let's go brisbane

Whenever I mention about travel Australia, people will be all excited about Melbourne, Sydney and Gold Coast, but if you have never visited Brisbane, you may be missing the big part of fun in Queensland.

My first visit to Brisbane was dated more than 10 years ago and I had been back to this lovely city a few times now. In fact, next year, we may be planning for a trip to check out the property scene, if my DH hasn't changed his mind. What I should include in our itinerary this time around are day trips to some islands like Bribie island, Moreton Bay or Tangalooma. A wildlife trip should excite my little boy and a country drive to the Sunshine Hinterland will be a great adventure for our family.

I would much prefer to pick a Brisbane accommodation in the city or Southbank on one weekend to enjoy the flea markets which is a great place to shop for some local arts and craft and food produce. Besides, I just found an online booking site that has lots of cheap hotels in Brisbane. It is not difficult to find a good Brisbane accommodation with the wide selections at Cheaper than Hotels. Hotels are all categorized in their star ratings or by regional location. Find other attractive deals at the site including Sydney hotels, Adelaide hotels, Perth Hotels and others.