"The Ball"

So today was spent preparing for the ANZA/ANZCHAM 2009 Grand Charity Ball. We spent the morning relaxing until about 10am when Tara and I headed off to the local Salcedo Market for a look and then onto Starbucks to meet up with some of her friends for coffee.

After a quick lunch at home, we walked down to Red Salon for our hair and nail appointments. Tara's friend Elizabeth met up with us there. We spent a couple of hours primping for the big event before catching a taxi home - so as not to mess up our hair!

At about 5pm we started to get ready. Tara's friends Liz and Elizabeth came over to get dressed at her place too and we started our first pre-ball cocktail. Another two girls Tara works with Susan and Melissa came over about 6 with champagne in hand.

The boys chucked on their suits in 5 minutes flat, we finished a quick glass of bubbles and walked down the street to meet up with some of the other teachers in the other apartment block where we would get into our Jeepneys (see last post) to head to the EDSA Shangri-La. Two silver, decorated and airconditioned Jeepneys were waiting for us and about 30 of us piled into them both.

Despite the "airconditioning" we sweated up a storm on the way there. That coupled with the driver going to the wrong hotel and then struggling to find the right hotel made us all the more sticky but everyone was happy enough in the back and relieved when we finally got there!

In the hotel, the theme of the event was the Orient Express so as you entered everyone was ushered up onto a fake train station platform for the obligatory photos in front of the train before heading in for welcome cocktails. Ross and I met a lot more of the ISM staff before heading into the ballroom for dinner.

The food was great and there was a show on stage while dinner was served however we couldn't really hear it as the sound was really bad so instead we focused on the food and free flowing bubbles. After the main course we headed out to the foyer to have our fortunes told by a Taro reader - all very interesting. Below is a quick summary of my reading:

• No problems in my relationship (good!)
• Be wary of making investments as they will go wrong this year (not good!)
• Travel is in my future and I NEED to travel (love it!)
• Be wary of certain good friends - could be linked with the investments stuff (not good!)

So we'll see what happens with all of that!

We headed back to the ballroom for some dancing and general ball activities including goldfish wrestling and stealing of ball decorations before heading home about 2am. A good night!

Exploring downtown Manila

Today, Ross and I headed into Intramuros to explore parts of downtown Manila. We started at Fort Santiago and wandered around parts of Intramuros looking at various forts, statues, churches and Spanish influenced architecture.

We headed over the Pasig River into Quiapo and the Chinatown area. In one of the squares opposite a church, UNICEF workers were teaching classes to the street kids. As Ross and I stood in the square, children came running for everywhere to sit with the volunteers. They had a great mobile classroom which was on the back of a small hand-pulled trailer. Chalkboards, displays and various games etc. could all be pulled out of the trailer - it was really cool and a simple idea.

Ross and I wandered through Chinatown which was much more authentic than many we had been to in other countries. There were a lot of ancient churches and cathedrals to look at and as we headed more into the depths, the crowds became more and more. Apparently Friday mornings are very busy in this part of Manila with devotees of the the Black Nazarene flocking to worship a black-coloured, life size replica of Jesus Christ found in the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo.

Surrounding the Basilica, markets about with thousands of Filipinos coming to buy everything from religious icons, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and an assortment of other household items (including a lot of moth balls for some reason!). Ross and I were kind of swamped by the amount of people but luckily we both stand almost a foot taller than the average Filipino so we were in no danger of losing each other.

We walked through the market area to another bridge that crossed back over the river under which was a handicraft market with many local, traditional items. Ross and I then headed back to the LRT station to brave the local trains on the way back to Tara and JB's.

The train was an experience in itself. The carriages were divided into male and female so Ross and I had to separate. The women's carriage was pretty spacious with air-con and plenty of room to stand. The carriage Ross was on however was not quite the same, the men were packed in like sardines with barely enough room to stand. At every stop, more and more people tried to cram into the carriages. Men also tried to get in the female carriage but were chased off at every stop by the security guards.

At the EDSA station we changed lines for the short trip on the MRT to Ayala. It wasn't too busy this time but as we went to get off at our station we were met by a wall of people. Ross had to put up a battering ram with his arms and barge his way through as the crowd tried to push onto the train. Not so fun.

That night we headed to a local pub called Murphy's where a few of the teachers from Tara and JB's school play together in a band. We were all pretty shattered so we just had a couple of beers and headed home.

A good, interesting and busy day all up. It gave Ross and I a good taste of Manila. A few things stick out as being unique here:

1. Jeepneys: one of the most popular modes of transport.


2. "Mamsir": Hospitality is pretty big here in the Philippines. Every shop, cafe, store that Ross and I entered we were greeted by the phrase "Hello, Mamsir, welcome to ...". Everywhere from designer boutiques to McDonald's the one word colloquialism of Mam/Sir was to be heard!


3. Cheap coffee: a tall skim cappuccino here costs around $2 at Starbucks - cheap as chips!


4. Christianity: Ross and I found it really different to be in an Asian country with such a strong Christian population - churches can be found everywhere with Catholicism being the main religion.


5. Statues: Obviously, Filipinos like their statues. On every corner or road, it seems there is a statue dedicated to someone or some event.
6. Security: Everywhere you go in Manila, you are met with gun toting security. At malls, banks, trains etc. What I did particularly like is the small little sticks that the mall security guards use to pry open your bag to have a look :-)

Walking around Makati

After leaving Ross at the hotel to do some work, I headed out of the hotel and wandered around Makati - through the malls, down Makati Ave, Alaya Ave. In Greenbelt, I stopped in at the Alaya Museum to check out the exhibition. There was a great display of gold found throughout the Phillipines - jewellery, belts, bowls. It was all very well done.

On the lower floors of the museum, I ran into a school group in the diorama exhibition. Kids are always the same no matter where you are! I spent most of my time saying hello and telling them what my name was - very cute.

From the museum, I headed to the Museum Cafe for a salad and glass of white wine while looking out on the greenery and sculptures in the garden. A very nice way to spend the afternoon. The photo is of the gardens by the cafe.

Tara met us at the hotel and we walked to a pizza place in Greenbelt for dinner. It was a nice, early night.

First day in Manila

After a pretty uneventful 3 & 1/4 hour flight, Ross and I arrived in Manila. The photo on the right is taken from the plane as we are about to land.

We headed to the Dusit Thani where we are staying for 2 nights and were lucky enough to be given a room on the Club level. This means that we get use of the club lounge and most importantly free drinks from 5pm to 8pm each night (a bit like the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain)!

JB rang from school just as we stepped into our room and so we headed out to find a taxi to take us to JB and Tara's place. The taxi we had the misfortune to jump into was pretty bad - couldn't get out of first gear, stalled it 3 times, went the wrong way and had to do a U-turn in the middle of nightmare traffic - but we eventually got there.

JB and Eddie met us in the lobby before we headed up to their apartment. It was great to see Tara, JB and Eddy againa and to see where they live - a great apartment on the 19th floor with good views from all rooms.

Eddie entertained us for a while before heading to bed and some of Tara and JB's friends from school came over to have dinner. It was nice to meet some of their friends here in Manila. A few are also going to the ball on Saturday night so it was good we had a chance to meet them before hand.

After a few too many beers, champagnes, wines, Ross and I taxied back to the hotel.

Titiwangsa morning

I dropped Ross at work this morning and headed to Lake Titiwangsa for a walk. It had raining through the night and was still misty this morning making it nice and cool for walking.

This time, I headed around the perimeter of the lake area which took me past this beautiful water lily pond. I also got a great view of the city through the clouds.

The lake was full of people doing their morning exercise - walking, jogging, tai chi. I must admit I was the only "Western" face amongst the locals. On the other side of the lake, the horses were out of their stables for their morning graze.

I headed back to the apartment for a shower and breakfast before going to Pavillion to get my hair colour fixed. Two hours later and the colour is much better! Thank God!

In the afternoon I relaxed with Black and Blue, had a nap and started packig for our trip to Manila tomorrow.

Oscars and High Tea

Today was a pretty quiet day. I stayed in my PJs until 1pm watching the Academy Awards this morning. No big surprises I thought. Loved Hugh Jackman's opening number!

I then attempted to make the best of the two-tone hair-do and got ready to go to High Tea at Carcosa Seri Negara - the ex-residence of the Governor of Kuala Lumpur. It is now a luxury boutique hotel.

The hotel is in a lovely spot perched high on a hill near KL Sentral train station. We sat on the veranda and despite the thunderstorm it was really nice being outside. As you can see from the photo, high tea came in the form of finger sandwiches, small cakes, scones with cream and jam as well as fresh strawberries and cream - all served with your choice of tea (English Breakfast for me).

The high tea was for Janna (in pink) who is getting married the weekend after next back in the UK. All the girls are involved in the KL Jumpers Netball (see their group on Facebook) who I play with on Friday mornings. I don't think I have actually met Janna before but thought I would go along for the experience and to wish her well!

Sam (next to Janna on the left in the photo), super organizer extraordinaire, also provided a couple of glasses of pink champagne for everyone to top off the afternoon. Julia (sitting to the right of me in the photo) and I got a bit lost on the way back to her place but it all ended up ok.

Tonight Ross and I ordered pizza and watched "I, Robot" which was an ok movie that was made better with the great Yamaha home theatre system :-)

Self-improvement

What a great day! Today I woke up and headed straight to the gym to continue working on my New Year's resolution to get fit. An hour later I returned and found Ross just out of bed. We headed to Jarrod & Rawlins (another butcher cum cafe) at The AmpWalk for breakfast where we also discussed our individual list of goals for the year. After some great discussion, Ross and I finalized our list of things we want to achieve - on a personal level and also together as a couple. It was a really positive way to start the day and we have a lot of action items from our discussion to keep us busy in the short term.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Pavillion to get my hair done. It usually takes 4 hours so this time I was well prepared and turned up armed with my book - This Much I Know by Wally Lamb. The book is about the size of a loaf of bread (well, 900 pages anyway) and I am in the last 100 pages so I was keen to keep reading while they put foils in, cut and blow-dried my hair. I came out of there 4 hours later with an "edgy" new cut and colour. Not too struck on it yet as there is a two-toned thing going on in the back but the cut is great - kind of a graduated bob I guess is the best way to describe it.

I was feeling in the mood to continue the pampering so Ross joined me at the Pavillion and we headed to Kenko's for a fish spa, foot massage and neck, shoulders and back massage with Starbucks in hand. The video (not a picture :-)) is obviously of the fish spa experience. Ross and I headed for the big fish straight away - why muck around with the little ones!

Once at home, I ummed and arrhhed about my hair before making the decision to call them back and make an appointment to have the colour fixed on Tuesday. Oh well, one small disappointment in an otherwise great day isn't too bad. Looking forward to what this year brings!

Relaxing day

I spent the morning on the computer catching up on things before Ross and I headed over to KLCC to do a spot of shopping. I picked up a book on Manila for a trip next week and Ross bought himself some new gym shoes.

After the walk back, we were a bit hot and sweaty! We changed into our togs and hit the pool for a bit of a cool off and some exercise. I swam some laps and then did some lunges and sidesteps in the pool. Ross was kind enough to get us a G&T and our books so that we could relax on the sunbeds for a while. While he was upstairs making the G&T's, he took this photo of me floating about in the pool. Gives you some idea of what things look like from the 11th floor.

After a couple of hours in the pool, we spent the rest of the afternoon reading and then watched The Power of One. A storm came in about 8pm which was cool to watch and you may see some pics in the slideshow of the clouds and rain over the towers.

Working up a sweat

This morning I started by driving out to Julia's place to pick her up for netball. I haven't played since before Christmas.

It was nice to see so many of the girls show up and despite the heat, we had a good run around for and hour or so.

As usual, we headed out for breakfast afterwards (well, we do start playing at 8.30am!). This time we went to Fogal's Meat Market in Plaza Damas - the first time I had been there. Fogal's is actually a butcher but they have a cafe also. Apparently the livestock (beef and lamb?) are imported from Australia and then reared in Malaysia. They them process them in their own plant (this was all something I read on someone else's blog so who knows!). After a couple of cappuccino's and an omelette, Julia and I walked around a few of the shops before I took her back to her place and headed back into the city.

I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing with Black and Blue. As you can see from the photo, Blue decided that the Peter Alexander bag (look familiar Kate?) was a good place to relax for a while. Black was in his usual spot in his basket for most of the day.

Ross came home early and we headed down to the gym for an hour which felt pretty good despite having flogged myself around the court this morning in the heat. After an early dinner, we spent the rest of the evening watching Sienfeld on DVD thanks to the presents that Ann and Dad gave to Ross for Christmas.

Ladies who lunch

Today I caught up on some domestic chores in the morning before picking up my friend Julia for a long lunch over a bottle of wine (or two!).

Sonja and I ventured out to Sri Hartamas to collect Julie and then we headed back into the city, dropped off the car and went to the Summer Restaurant at Quattro in the Avenue K mall for lunch. (There is also a bar called Winter, a lounge called Spring and a club called Autumn - catchy huh?!). The food was pretty good but the service was lousy. Obviously, they cater for more local clients and so they weren't quite sure what to do with our wine order. The first bottle we ordered they did not have and then when our second choice came it was room temperature - not good for white wine on a hot day!

Regardless, we sipped our way through the first one before heading outside (out of the freezing cold air-con) and onto our second. It was great to sit and chat - good and interesting conversation had by all :-) Of course I forgot to take a photo at lunch!

Julia headed off home to meet Phil who was flying back into KL and Sonja and I walked home. On the way, we met up with Earl and Vicky who just got off the Hop-on Hop-off bus at the Mandarin. Apparently, Sonja's son had a band concert he just told her about so we parted ways (although we wanted to continue with cocktails and watch American Idol).

Ross was home already and headed to the gym. I stayed behind and debated over ordering a greasy burger for dinner or cooking. In the end, sense won and I cooked fajitas. We both felt a little flat after dinner so we headed out for a walk over to KLCC. The photo was taken from the street just by our condo. At KLCC, I bought a guide book on Shanghai (for our upcoming trip) and we drank coffee while watching the fountain in front of the mall before walking home.

The results of decluttering

After spending the morning catching up on emails and finalizing travel plans for the next month, I spent the majority of today sorting, chucking and organizing my closets, drawers and shelves. Although you may not notice from the photo, I have actually culled 3 garbage bags worth of clothes all up. I also spent time organizing my shoes (no small task!) as you can see from the IKEA shoe racks at the top of the wardrobes.

Other than that, I barely left the apartment except for a trip to the gym. I spent the evening watching American Idol and waiting for Ross to come home from his day trip to Miri - still not home yet.

A busy day!

I began my day by walking to the Chinese Consulate to try and get my visa organised for visiting Shanghai and Beijing. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be as simple as I thought!

After an unsuccessful trip, I headed to the San Fransisco Coffee at KLCC for some breakfast and caught up with the day's newspaper over a cappuccino. I dropped my passport and application forms off to Ross so that the travel agent at his work could organize a visa for me.

I headed back to KLCC to pick up my neighbour, Sonja and her mother-in-law, Vicky, to take them out towards Sungai Buloh to buy some plants. It was a daunting task as the variety of plants is so huge and then you have to choose from so many great pots too! After an hour or so of deliberation, both Sonja and I had settled on our selections. Sonja chose plants for her patio and I chose some indoor plants for our landing by the lift.

We then headed to The Curve in Damansara for some lunch and shopping at IKEA. Lunch at The Apartment was great as usual (I recommend the duck and mango salad!) and IKEA provided me with some tools for organizing my wardrobes.

By the time we got back into KL, the plants had been delivered. I headed over to Sonja's to see how her's look on the balcony. As you can see from the photo, they look pretty good! The blue pots look great ;-) Once Ross got home, we moved our plants into the landing. As you may see in the slideshow, Black and Blue were pretty interested in the indoor foliage. So far... so good!

Uncluttering

After my morning walk, I headed back home for a few hours before meeting Ross for lunch. We headed to "Delicious" at the Dua Residence which is close to Ross' office. Lunch was great and it is a really nice spot for a quick bite. They also have a small gourmet store which I am sure will come in handy.

I headed out to Midvalley Mall to have my eyes tested for LASIK in the afternoon. Unfortunately, my corneas are too thin for them to do to do the procedure. So even though they could improve my eye-sight, I would still need glasses for distance and for driving. :-(

Once back home, I started to clear out my wardrobes and get rid of clothes that I hadn't worn for ages. As you can see from the photo, I came up with quite a few and that is just from my tops and some of my drawers so I am only about half way through. I will give them to our cleaners or anyone else that wants them. One of my new year's resolutions is to cut out some of the clutter in my life so I am happy I have made a start!

Sunday brunch

As you can see from the photo, we went out with our neighbours, Sonja and Brian, their children, Ian, Emma and Maddie, and Brian's parents Vicki and Earl to Prego at The Westin for brunch.

It was one of the best brunches that I had been to. Besides the free flowing champagne, the beauty of this brunch was that the waiters brought the various courses to the table for you to choose from. So really, you did not need to get up at all. However, I did notice that they did not bring around any dessert so we did have to venture downstairs for that one!

We followed brunch with coffee downstairs at Dome in the Pavillion before heading home. Despite the heat, it was good to walk off the brunch. Ross and I relaxed in the afternoon before heading to the gym and watching Minority Report - a film we hadn't seen for a long time. With the great sound system I gave to Ross for Christmas, it was awesome to watch!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Ross and I had a great day today which started with giving each other our gifts - Peter Alexander PJs for Ross (thanks for your help picking them out Kate!) and Thomas Sabo cherry earrings and necklace for me. We then headed to the gym before 8am.

After the morning workout, we headed to Lake Titiwangsa for a bit of a walk. It was a really nice place to head on the weekend - lots of people out walking, bike riding, picnicking. The track around the lake is about 2.6km so it may become one of my regular walking spots. You also get a good view of the city - KL Tower, Petronus Towers etc.

We did a quick bit of shopping on the way back to prepare for our romantic dinner. The afternoon was spent on the couch with a bottle of Savi Blanc watching Pretty Woman - a pretty good way to kill the afternoon!

I bought back a bottle of Chambord Liqueur (black raspberry flavoured) from Aus so we made up a Chambord Mojito (as seen in the picture). It was beautiful! In case you were wondering how to make it:

• Lime segments
• 8 mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• Muddle the above ingredients in a tall glass
• Add ice, 45ml of white rum, 15ml of Chambord
• Top with soda and stir

For dinner, Ross and I made crab and potato cakes with pomegranate and feta salad (thanks to Kathy McKinnis' recipe from Kuwait) and sat on the balcony with a bottle of Rose. I made up a bit of a trifle with fresh berries, Chambord, sponge biscuits and cream for dessert - delicious!

What a wonderful day!

Spa day

A pretty productive day today. I hit the gym in the morning and then headed out to Kanebo at Starhill Gallery for my monthly massage and facial (thanks to Ross' Christmas present!).

As you can see from the photo - life is good! At this point, I have my peel off mask on which was preceeded by cleansing, steaming, picking and machining. It was followed by more cleansing, an eye treatment, another mask and a massage. Not bad considering this all came after a 2 hour hot stone massage!

The only downside is I walk out of there looking like a bit of a slime ball with oil on my body and in my hair so I pretty much headed straight home.

Tonight we caught up with our neighbours Brian and Sonja who I hadn't seen for a month. We tried a new Thai restaurant (well, new for us) called Bangkok Jazz at Chulan Square. The food was pretty good although it was fairly tame spice wise. We were home by 9pm but apparently after 10 they have live music - we'll have to try out next time.

Settling back in

Today being the first day back in Kuala Lumpur, I thought I would restart my fitness campaign for 2009. On my walk around the park this morning, it was so nice to be in amogst tropical greenery again. The flowering tree in this photo caught my eye on the way around the track.

Other than the morning exercise, I stocked up on groceries, caught up on emails, read my book and that's about it really. I guess this is what a lady of leisure's life is like?!

Going home!

Today I spent the day travelling back to KL. Taxi to Southern Cross Station, bus to airport and then the 8 hour flight back to KL.

I did a bit of duty free shopping in the airport in Melbourne and then had a spot of lunch. When I checked the departures board, I thought it was quite funny that the status of my flight was "Relax".

As we flew out of Melbourne, you could still see the fire front and smoke from the horrendous fires of the past few days outside of Melbourne. I had watched the news in the morning on TV but had to turn it off as it was too upsetting to watch. One story did bring a smile to my face though: Sam the Koala who had managed to survive the fires. Check out the YouTube video of Sam to see more.

The flight was fine except for constant annoying turbulence. Luckily it was a day flight so it didn't really matter too much.

When I arrived home, it was great to see Ross again. Also, he surprised me by going to pick up the cats so I had a great greeting from them too!

It's so nice to be home!

From Adelaide to Melbourne

This morning Dad had to go to work (early!) and I asked him to take some photos of him and the bus. I loved this one in particular taken in the rear view mirror.

After his morning shift, he dropped me at the airport to catch my flight to Melbourne. On landing, I caught up with Dee who came to meet me at my arrival gate before she started work - it was great to have a chance to see her again before heading back!

I jumped on the Skybus into the city and then took the little hotel shuttle to my hotel - Medina Executive on Flinders Street. Although the little apartment was great, it was only accessible by stairs so I left my 27kg suitcase at reception and just took up what I needed for the night.

I headed straight into the Bourke Street Mall to get my last retail fix before leaving Aus. I did pretty well in an hour and a half I had bought 3 dresses, 3 pairs of earrings and some clip-on koalas!

In the evening, I caught the train out to Mount Waverley to catch up with our friends from Doha Sue and Steve and their three children, Gabs, Cha-Cha and Charlie. They were staying at Sue's parents place (Stu and Marg) for a couple of weeks before they head to London for 3 years where Steve will be working for the 2012 games. It was a great night with good food, good company and a glass or two of wine. I was so happy to catch up with them before everyone scattered around the world again!

Almost time to go home

Today is my second to last day in Adelaide. I spent the morning trying to pack my bags and working out how much excess baggage I would have while Dad headed down to IKEA to get his wall cupboard.

We headed down to the Lakeside Cafe for lunch. The photo is the view from the verandah where we sat. The lakes are pretty dry at the moment and alot of the birds have moved elsewhere to find water.

In the afternoon, I finished burning all of the James Bond DVD's and tidied up a few lose ends.

David and Donna invited us to their place again for dinner; it was nice to see them all one more time before we left.

A Lazy Sunday

It's a relief to have cool weather at last. After breakfast at the lakeside cafe and running a few errands, Dad and I just chilled out at home.

Wacky weather

Today was perhaps the weirdest day weather-wise that I have seen for quite a while. For the majority of the day, a wall of dust blew in from the west and the temperature was around 42 with huge winds.

Dad and I were out for breakfast and the cafe's aluminium chairs outside were blowing all over the place it was so windy!

Because the weather was so awful, we spent most of the day inside (read: recovering from last night). In the evening, Dad and I headed into Rundle Street for a wander around the shops, dinner and a movie at the Palace Nova Cinemas where you can watch your movie with a beer or bottle of wine (only in Aus!).

I found some interesting jewellery in the little boutiques. The photo was taken at the intersection between Rundle Street and Rundle Mall looking up at the multi-storey carpark that is now called the Rundle Lantern. Kind of a cool photo I thought.

The movie we went to see was Slumdog Millionaire - an pretty interesting and entertaining movie overall. Don't think Dad was too impressed by the Bollywood style musical number at the end but other than that I think he enjoyed it.

After the movie (and the cool change of 7 degrees in 2 hours!) we headed to O'Connell Street for coffee before heading home.

A productive day

Kate and I headed over to Burnside Village this morning for some more retail therapy and coffee. I walked away with two pairs of shoes, PJs and a necklace - not bad for a couple of hours shopping!
I left Kate and headed up the freeway to Mt Barker to pick-up something that I can't mention here as it is a surprise but it was a productive trip. Mt Barker is a lovely little historic village and if it wasn't for the heat I would have wandered around a bit longer.

Later that night, I met up with Cassie and some of her mates for dinner at Ruby Raja's in Tea Tree Gully. We then headed home and kicked on at Cassie's place until about 3.30am. Not a bad effort!

Counting down the days

My visit to Aus is slowly coming to an end. I'm trying to get around and see everyone again before I leave.

After spending the morning up at Tea Tree Plaza with Dad (returning some of my purchases and looking for any last minute items), I took Dad's car out to the self washing station. Standing out there with Dad's 1996 Ford Falcon with the other blokes and their fancy rides was bit odd but at least it got me out of the house :-)

Later I met up with Kate and we went to the Maylands Hotel where we met up with Stan for a drink and dinner. The pub has been beautifully redecorated and the food was good so another nice evening.

New views of Adelaide

After having to set my alarm for the first time in a month, I drove over to Donna's house before we all headed off to Westfield Marion to catch a "Babes in Arms" session of Marley and Me. Little Patrick was a dream compared to some of the other babes and children in the cinema. For some reason, it seemed that the parents were ok with letting their kids run riot through the cinema. Go to a playgym instead I say!

Donna and I pulled ourselves together (the movie was a bit of a tear jerker at the end) and met David for lunch on King William Road where we had "the best salt and pepper squid in Adelaide" according to Donna - and it was pretty good!

On my way home, I drove through North Adelaide and took time to stop at the top of Montefiore Hill - the first time I have ever done that after living in Adelaide all my life! It gives a great view of the city and was the sight where Colonel Light first made plans for the city of Adelaide.

After wandering through a few boutiques on O'Connell Street I headed home to take a crash course in DVD burning and as we speak I am making "backup copies" of some of Dad's DVDs. A pretty productive day compared to yesterday.

A quiet day

Not too much to report today. After a slow start to the morning, Dad and I headed to Oakden Central for lunch and after a mid-afternoon nap (love being on holiday!), Kate and Luke picked me up to have dinner at their place.

We had a quick swim to refresh ourselves and spent the rest of the evening vegging in front of the TV - about all I could cope with today!

I almost forgot to take a photo for the first time so when we got home, I took this photo of Dad's fish. I am not sure which two fish of Huey, Duey, Louie and Fooie are shown but they seemed pretty content in the spotlight.

Retail therapy

I spent the morning today doing some more retail therapy at Tea Tree Plaza. I think I may have a problem as I can't seem to walk past a shop having a sale :-)

In the afternoon I headed up to my friend Cassie's place to catch up with her and her beautiful twin girls Zaylei (dark hair) and Imogen (blond). It's a been about a year and a half since I last saw them and I cannot believe how much they've changed and how different they are from one another.

We spent the afternoon and evening sipping wine, listening to old school tunes and watching the girls play - they loved the sprinklers and it was too funny to watch!

I stayed the night and woke up to Zaylei's dulcet tones at 7am - not good after a few drinks the night before!

100 year heatwave record broken

Despite the forecasts of slightly cooler weather, today was another one over 40 today. This gives Adelaide the longest run of over 40 degree days since 1908. What a time to be visiting! Actually, it is really a worry with many heat-related deaths in Adelaide and also an arson attack in Melbourne yesterday.

After a slow start to the morning (thanks to that last glass of dessert wine last night!) I headed to David and Donna's place today to get out of the house. This time I remembered to take photos as you can see from Patrick's quirky smile above! :-)

If anyone has a caption for this photo, please let me know and I will pass it on to Donna. The best I can come up with is "How you doin'?" (said in Joey from Friends style).

It was nice just to relax, chat with Dave, Donna, Annabelle and Timmy and get to know little Patrick a bit more.