Snippets of the parents' visit

For some reason, forgot to take more photos with the parents while they were here. Somehow is rather pre-occupied with other stuff at the moment. But still, did spent time with them and cherished the moments together. Other than 'Chor Yat' and 'Chor Er' that I have to work, decided to take Wednesday and Friday off so that can have the whole long weekend (Thursday was Australia Day). 

Snippets of their visit this year:

Lion dance at Sunnybank Plaza with mum and dad in the background

the parents and Midge at Harbourtown

Dad's belated birthday celebration at Morgans (deluxe seafood platter)

Meal at Haoke before they leave

suddenly I miss them again; almost like homesick

Reunion dinner 2012

So, we have entered the year of Water Dragon - it has been raining a fair bit in Brisbane and there were reports of flood. Hopefully it won't get worse over the weekend as more rains are in the forecast. As for today, it is Australia Day! Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! This time next year, hopefully I would be an Australian already (reminder to my lazy self: start application process NOW)

Reunion dinner was on the eve of Chinese New Year - that fell on last Sunday. We all headed to Drewvale to be greeted by the feast that was laid on the table. As usual, was getting excited of seeing so many home cooked dishes including the awesome 'Lou Sang' dish. Apparently, 'Lou Sang' dish is only famous in Malaysia & Singapore and not many other Asian countries. 

the dinner for 8 people

roast duck

char siew by mum

nem nuong by mum-in-law

mixed vegetables by mum

lou sang

for prosperity 

After dinner I insisted on a family portrait together - too bad Michelle was missing in action as she has to work that night.

the family

A toast to the many changes and challenges in 2012 Dragon year ahead!

Inala Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival

So, the husband promised to take us to the Vietnamese Community Lunar New Year celebration. Vietnamese New Year actually falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year. And last Friday was the start of the 2 days festival that according to the husband is a good place for food like Banh Thieu, Nem Nuong and grilled pork ball. We headed there early at 6pm and the stalls were already set up. 

Unknowing to us, that was the official opening ceremony on stage and no wonder there were so many policemen there as later it was announced that the Premier, Anna Bligh and a few well known politicians were there as well.

stage area

We headed straight for the food and was not disappointed. The Banh Tieu (hollow doughnut bun) that we had was so good when it is made fresh. Now I know why the husband loves the fresh ones over the one put on counter for a bit. The grilled pork ball was juicy and just the right flavour but the star of the night has to be the Nem Nuong which is the Beef wrapped in Leaves. That was out-rightly tasty and the combination of beef and the leaves has a awesome aroma to it as well. Then, we had fresh sugar cane to wash it all down.

Other food stall includes the pho (beef noodle soup) but we did not stay for that. Instead, we head to Tan Thanh for our dinner after the 'entree' at the festival.

Food for sale

glorious nem nuong and pork balls

fresh sugar cane juice

Other than that, the festival also offers rides and other performances. One of it is the lion dance that we did not stay back for. Also,there were games as well that offer prizes like hit the tin cans. We stopped by the ANZ game stall as I was attracted to their Dragon money box. The game is to hit the target with the golf ball and initially I wanted to ask Thach to participate. But changed our mind afterwards when found out that they charge $2 for 3 tries (why does bank need to charge more money?)

The lion dance troupe

Gina, Tasha & I

The husband & I

Thach with a politician (no idea who he is..)

The ANZ dragon money box

The golf game

We headed off early for dinner after going two rounds at the oval. Agreed that it was a good adventure and hopefully we can also help  to put up a stall next year for our church. Maybe not with fundraising with food, but it is a good avenue for people to get to know us at Inala and surrounding area.

.....it is all worth it.....

So, we were having a Friday drinks tonight to celebrate 'the last' of my colleague's freedom (from drinking that's it) as his wife is due soon. He loves beer with a passion this English dude. And to him, giving up beer like is one of the ultimate sacrifices that he is willing to do, albeit reluctantly for the newborn. 

And some of the experienced dads around the office started 'advising' him that it is not the last thing that he would give up....

'Sleep is the first thing that you would sacrifice, mate'

'After 2 weeks, you would actually be happy to come back to the office'

'Quick, buy whatever gadgets that you want before the baby is born'

'All time will be spend talking about where to get the cheapest nappies instead of soccer'

And then it really hits me - a baby is a really big responsibility. Especially in Australia where childcare is so expensive and things are hard because most of the new parents are both working migrants that usually do not have family support to help take care of the newborn. Not many couples can go on a single income with different sort of commitments (think car loan, home loan and increasing living expenses). 

Not to mention about the worry of the child's upbringing, education and also the feeling of just wanting to give the best to your child in spite of the current state of affairs in the world today (think child abduction, rape, murder, etc.). 

But at the end of the day, guess what.... - every parent came up with the same concluding line:

'It is all worth it'

.... perhaps?

The Tea Room @ QVB

One of the thing that I really wanted to do while in Sydney was to try the high tea and since we have not much of agenda for Friday the last full day in Sydney before heading back to Brisbane, decided to book for tea at The Tea Room @ QVB. Heard good reviews of the place and was looking forward to the experience.

Thach has to be dragged to afternoon tea with me as the idea of spending a good amount of money for tea is too much of a decadent lifestyle for him. But since no one else is there, he pretty much does not have any choice! 

The interior of The Tea Room is exquisite. The decoration reminds me of the classic Victorian style where I wished I was dressed in high waisted full skirt with collar to enjoy tea in such a beautiful environment. The wait staff has the air of grace without being pretentiously pompous. 

The Tea Room @ QVB

The tea set used was beautiful, almost too pretty to be eaten out of. One can imagine an afternoon on the lawn sipping on tea and nibbling on the pastries and cakes and scones. But I would rather choose my coffee over tea, sorry even during afternoon tea! I think the wait staff was a bit amused by this, but of course, nothing was uttered. The food was overall good. Especially love the scones that were warm and added with the clotted cream & preserve it was just wunnerful. The macarons were of course, not as tasty as Zumbo's but the rest of the pastries were rather delightful as well.

Quaint china, ain't it?

clotted cream & preserve for scones

scones 

three tiered silver stand of sweet cakes & savoury pastries and finger sandwiches

my flat white

overall, a wonderful experience of relaxation after a day out roaming in the city and I think that the husband secretly indulged in that experience too!

Zumbo-fied

After the visit to Sydney Aquarium, we decided to stop by Sydney Fish Market for a quick lunch. Was looking forward to the famous fresh seafood but was disappointed. The market was very very crowded with peak lunch hour crowd. And the stall that we chose sold rather disappointing food. And when discussing with our friends 2 days later we found out that they dislike that stall as well.

Sydney Fish Market

Funny sign, not?

fish with chips

lobster with salad and chips

After the rather so-so lunch, we headed to the highlight of the day! Adriano Zumbo's dessert train :-) Sadly, the dessert train area was not open in the afternoon. It is only open from 6pm - 11pm. Feel a bit disappointed at that but then got the next best thing - macarons! Love love love the macarons from Adriano Zumbo. But I heard that his pastries are pretty awesome but too bad seem to be only available in the other outlets.

Not only The Star houses Sdyney's casino but also famous eateries like Momofuko Seiobo by David Chang and BLACK by ezard. Wish can get a booking to dine there but we have already booked for Quay. So, perhaps the next trip down.

The Star casino

dining places that includes momofuku seibo

Zumbo's dessert train

zumbo-fied

yummy beautiful macarons

set of twelve 

that totally makes my day!

Sydney Aquarium

One of the things that we did during the rainy days in Sydney was to visit the Sydney Aquarium. The Aquarium is situated near Darling Harbour so getting there was easy. We bought the Monorail Day Pass and received 25% off for our tickets to the Aquarium. Indeed that was a pleasant surprise.

The Aquarium is more suited for families with young kids but nevertheless we did enjoyed ourselves as well. Some of the highlights were seeing the plentiful of Lego 'statues' and the beautiful dugong! And then we saw a rather comical Maori bluefish.

Aquarium next to Sydney Wildlife

Family Lego

Sharky Lego

Scuba diving Lego

Penguin Lego

Dugong

Seahorse & a unique fish (orange)

Lobster!

Mermaid Lego

Maori fish

Giant crab

Penguins

poisonous fish

it was an adventure that we enjoyed before we moved on to Sydney Fish Market & The Star casino