Erskine Falls, Lorne, Victoria, Australia

Rayville Boat House, Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia

Barbeque at Rayville Boat House, Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia

The Great Ocean Road Drive

One of the drivers along The Great Ocean Road.

Anchor

Ice Cream at Docklands, Melbourne

Paul's new image.

The last two photos were taken especially to tempt Serene. Guess why Paul has two ?

A City Built on Gold - Ballarat, Australia

Spaghetti in Melbourne

Federation Square & Melbourne Park

Federation Square

Rod Lever Arena, Melbourne Park

Melbourne Park

Melbourne's Weather

Today, Melbourne is hot! My feeling is that the temperature is more than 33 degrees C. This is first hand experience of the saying that Melbourne's weather is like woman's temper! No offence ladies. :)

They Saved The Day

We were worried when we were told that we could only use the downstairs toilet for small business and do the big business at the upstairs toilet which is located in between 2 rooms occupied by others.

Imagine, in the middle of the night and when you have an urge to do the big business, you have to knock someone's door and ask permission to go in. That's would be weird!

We were told that an object had probably fallen into the bowl and blocked off the proper discharge.

We tried various means to clear the blockage: Pouring bucket of water from ceiling height hoping the rapid flow would dislodge the blockage. Then we got a length of rubber hose to push through hoping to push off the obstruction. All these methods failed.

Finally, it was decided to unscrew the bowl and remove it from the floor. It worked and the obstruction was located and removed. It finally works perfectly well again

That proved one thing. The architect and the engineer team did know their plumbing work well. They were the hero of the day and they saved the day. Hurray!

Melbourne Here We Come

Finally at 7.20am local time on 4 December 2006, our plane from Singapore touched down at the Melbourne Airport.

Our first tour of Melbourne, shopping for grocery at the local supermarket.

Along the way back, we had a few pictures taken at the Library.

Melbourne is colder than I was given to understand particularly in the morning. Fortunately, with a number of jumpers and warm clothing to choose from, I should not expect to suffer from cold bite. Afternoon weather was perfect.

Christmas is Around The Corner

I was in town to collect mails. I noticed a number of shops and hotels have already put up the Christmas trees and decorations.

Before you know it, Christmas is around the corner!

Experience at the 2nd Car Auction

Last Saturday 11 Nov, with the support from my wife, I attended another car auction. This time, I was still eyeing for another Nissan Frontier. My first priority was a one-year old unit. The bidding was a fight between 3 bidders. Reserve price was set at RM54,000.00. I had to give up after my final call at RM57,000.00. I did not think spending more than that amount was worthwhile. It was then up to RM57,500.00 offered by a couple. But this other man who was determined to get it upped another RM500.00 to RM58,000.00. No more call after that.

Because of that unsuccessful bid, I had to ask the auctioneer to go back to another unsold 2005 registered unit. Surprisingly, this was quoted at a much lower reserve price of RM44,000.00 compared to the last unit we acquired. I wonder whether there is any hidden unrevealed defects! This time around, no more bid was received after the reserve price. I got it at the reserve price. I will be going to the store yard to collect it tomorrow. I hope that it is in working condition!

Driving with Joystick

My friend emailed me this new generation of Mercedes Benz. What is so special about it? Well, there is no steering wheel. You drive using a joystick! Amazing! Probably, our grandkids will be "driving" this kind of car in future!

Office Renovation

For people visiting our office since August, the place is like a war zone. Sound of drilling, knocking, hammering, dust all over the place. Staff members wearing face masks as if the office is in some kind of quarantine. We have been breathing air filled with smell of vanish and paint for so long that I am not surprised that by the time this is over, I will be partially addicted to glue sniffing.

Believe me, doing renovation in a normal work place is the last thing one should consider. We have been trying to delay this. But then, we really have no alternative. If we have to do it the normal way, our office business would have to be shut down for a solid 4 months. By then we can close up for good.

But then the good news is that as of today, the place is turning up really well. Most people who visited our new office all gave a thumb up to the new look. Now come to think of it, it is probably all worth the trouble.

Wait for the the final look when it is all done up. My guess is, probably another 3 weeks to go.

Car Auction

Last Saturday, I had my first ever experience in a car auction. The good news is I actually had a successful call and got a vehicle.

Our company has been considering getting a few vehicles for site supervision use for one of our projects. We have been told that it is worth considering getting a vehicle or vehicles in a car auction. The day before, we went to the car storage yard to scout around for potential vehicles. We were only eyeing for 4WD twin cab of 2005 release. We managed to find 3 nos.

The actual auction was interesting. One architect whom I know told me earlier that he was eyeing one Proton Wira. In the Auction, the bet for the Wira was between 2 persons. The call started with RM21,000. At an increment of RM200, the price spiralled to a final call at RM23,600. The architect was determined to get his bet and never yielded until the other party finally gave up at RM 23,400. The architect won. I think it was a good buy.

My 1st bet was a Nissan Frontier 2005 make starting with RM50,000. I raised my number. Then someone responded with RM50,500. I topped with another RM500. She added another RM500. I stopped at RM52,000 at my pre-set target. It was finally sold at RM53,000.

I was successful at my bet for my 2nd choice of another Nissan Frontier. From RM50,000. My opponent finally stopped at RM51,500. I got it for RM52,000.

That was an exciting Saturday afternoon. I will most likely be around at the next auction. It will be another session of test of nerves !

Marginalisation

A word that appears fairly regularly nowadays is marginalization. I can't remember who actually started it. First, someone was saying that Malays in a northern state have been marginalized. Then, a Senior Minister in the southern neighbour said that the Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia are systematically being marginalized.

Then, another ex-Malaysian leader disputed that and said that Malays in the southern neighbour are marginalized.
I think this letter to the local Daily Express today speaks volume to the fact of the case.

There are just people who have big timber logs stuck in their eyes but point to a tooth pick in somebody's eyes!

Cliques

Looking at my Praise Kids of Primary 6, somehow, girls seem more prone to cliques - 2, 2 and 1 lone ranger. The boys on the other hand seem to get along well!

Reunion of Former Colleagues After A Lapse of 9 Years

Just back from a reunion lunch with some ex-Permodalan Bumiputra Sabah staff. This Indian lady who used to be the company librarian married an Aussie and migrated to Australia in 1985. I am not sure whether she married first then migrated or the other way round. 

The last reunion was way back in 1997. This time, the number of attendees has dwindled. May be it's because of too short notice or difficulty to locate some of the staff. Among the group, one is now an Assistant Minister.

This Indian lady who now resides in Perth is now begging to have the next reunion in Perth Australia and she was teasing the organizer to start cracking and hopefully it's not another 9 years later.

I told her that I would have no problem going there because my daughter and son-in-law would be in Perth.

Her address in Perth is 18, Watsonia Road, Gooseberry Hill, WA 6076 Australia. Ph: (61-8)94544632. The couple is Satwant & Doug Bridson. Email : satwantdoug@hotmail.com.

I put this down just in case I lose the name card:)

Sex in the minds of 11+ Years

This morning in my Primary 6 Praise Kids Class, one boy just posed a casual question to me  - "How many children do you have ?"

"Three". To my surprise, his response was like this:
"So, you must have sex at least three times".

Wow, I was caught a bit off guard. In order not to shut off such inquisitive minds, I asked him:
"Where do you learn about sex education ?"
"Encyclopaedia"
"What other things do you know about sex ?"
" Boys have sperms but girls don't have. You need sperms to have baby".

I was amazed that issue concerning sex has already gotten into the minds of an 11 years old. Or was it always like this? Or that kids in the older days were not so daring to express and to desire to learn about this subject.

I wonder whether our boys had ever gotten this issue into their minds back when they were 11 or 12. But there is no denying that TV, internet and the media have contributed to the "openness" of these young minds. Well, it's important that they be properly guided so that this "openness" would not be abused.

Dai Yi Long

Every now and then, my car wipers would be stuck with Ah Long's name cards. At other times, they just dump a few into the mail box. Some opt to throw them into your house compound, squeeze them through the gap under your office door or clip them together with your electricity bill. Loan sharking by these dai yi long seem to be the in thing business in KK nowadays.

Just the other day, I got a call from one claiming to be from Citibank. He said his bank is also offering pre-approved loan of RM18,000.00 to me. Just say yes in the phone and he would arrange to transfer the money into my account. I flatly said no.

I was thinking: Is bank also into dai yi long business!

To The Future Architect

I bumped into Ar. Paul Lau yesterday at the KKIA on my way to Tawau. He was on his way back from Sandakan. The first he said to me was:

" When is Sam coming back ?"
" Should be end of the year"
" Ask him to come and join me, he is smart and a good architect"

I was in cloud nine when I heard it. I just could not imagine the little spider boy who used to hang upside down in the swing in Foh Sang is destined for architecture! :)