Grandchildren's Wish Lists - Part 1

Our grandchildren have prepared a long list of "To Do Things" during our visit to Perth in December 2022 to early 2023. It's indeed a fantastic idea to come up with a list so as to optimize the time available. They had given much thought into the lists of "Where to Go" and "What To Eat". 

Of the items in the list, we did incredibly well, practically covering all items in the wish lists plus additional bonus items - the quad biking in particular. This holidays will indeed be remembered for a very long time.

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At a local small farm with picnic facilities and cafe.

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Staycation at Lancelin on 21 December 2022 turned out to be the highlight of this trip to WA. For me, it was in Lancelin sand dunes that I had my very first attempt in sand boarding. I was indeed thrilled that I was successful to stay "on board" just after just a few trials. I managed to stay on board from the top of the sand dune all the way to the base. Bravo!  

For the youngsters, it was their very first opportunity to do quad biking entirely on their own. We rented for each a quad bike. The grandparents were riding in separate bike in the convoy. Throughout the ride, we witnessed their gutsiness and determination to complete the feat all on their own with hardly any assistance provided. This is one of the moments that will be remembered for a very very long time......

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For the staycation, we had an overnight stay in an accommodation in Ledge Point, a nearby small coastal town from Lancelin. 

Our grandson who will be going to high school in February this year is now able to help in numerous house chores. In the staycation, he helped in the dinner preparation in the accommodation at Ledge Point.

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The next morning, the grandchildren and their parents had a dip in the sea. We spent our time walking along the beach and enjoying the Indian Ocean ambience.

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December 2022 vs February 2011

As we walked along Hay Street, I couldn't help but stop and got the grandchildren posed at the bronze statue of Percy Button created by sculptors Joan Walsh and Charles Smith. Over ten years ago, the two uncles of the grandkids and their dad posed at this same statue (Read here). The uncles are now happily married and one of them is a dad of two kids. How time flies!

Our walkabout at the neighbourhood of Hay Street ended with a meal at the Chop Chop BBQ. Eating at Chop Chop BBQ is also one in the Wish Lists.

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The culture of street entertainment offered by Percy Button in the 1920's to 1950's never ceases in Perth. Street entertainers still entertain locals and visitors. Twelve days after we stopped by at Percy Button statue in Hay Steet, we went back to Perth on 31 December 2022 evening to usher in the new year 2023. We were entertained by a couple at Elizabeth Quay. Unlike Percy Button who specialized in somersault and handstand, the couple is jugglers.

Story Studio 2

Story Studio was brought to another new level when my wife and I spent our recent holidays with Serene's family in December 2022 in Perth. Thanks to the ingenuity and creativity of our grandchildren, Nathan and Gracie.

Ever since our visit to Perth in April 2019 (Read here), story telling session has become a "Must Do Item" of every reunion with the grandchildren.

Just over a mere six months since we had the previous Story Studio in June 2022 (Read here), Gracie has made tremendous progress in the style and content of her presentation.

Nathan on the other hand has slowly outgrown his childhood phase and moved onto his teenager phase. He now prefers to talk about his personal real live experiences and encounters rather than purely fairly tale story.

Almost nightly at 8.30pm, only exclusive patrons (the grandparents) would be allowed to enter by producing invitation tickets specially prepared by the two story tellers. Studio would commence 

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Story telling was interactive involving both the story teller and the listeners. Gracie took great pain to prepare sketches and drawings in advance for presentation during the actual story telling sessions. These sketches and drawings are meant for option selection by the listeners as the story telling progressed to different sites and "Portals".  Whenever listeners are confronted with powerful guards and obstacles, listeners were asked to throw dice to secure minimum points to overpower them. What incredible way to add fun to the story telling!

The content of these nightly sessions reminded us of the thrilling Avengers sequel where each new story was a continuation of the previous stories.

Like most Avengers movies, the story ended with the bad guys killed and the people who survived lived happily ever after!

Nathan Turns 12

One of Nathan's Wish Lists is to have his grandparents celebrating his birthday together with his family. It's been nine years since we last celebrated his birthday when he turned 3 in Sabah in December 2013 (Read here). From the day he was able to communicate, he has always been a jovial and likeable little fellow (Read here). 

As he matures in age, he has shown to be exceptional in what he does and pursues. Though we do not have regular contact, we could still observe how he has grown to become a confident young teenager. He excels in literary skill and possesses musical abilities. He is an avid reader. He plays his piano well and is a percussionist in his school band. He is a Grade 10 swimmer and he has already been awarded a Junior Black Belt for his Taekwondo. 

Now that he is 12 and with the knowledge and experience already gained, it won't be too difficult for him to move to high school come 2023.

He took pains to learn to play one of the songs I love to listen - The River of Cloud.

Celebrating Winter Solstice & Christmas 2022 in WA

Before Covid-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, it was usual for us to visit Perth at least once yearly during the WA school holidays in April. Before April 2020, we had purchased air tickets to fly to Perth in April 2020. When Covid-19 pandemic stuck worldwide in early 2020, borders were closed and almost all international travels halted. We had no choice but cancelled our trip

When the Covid pandemic was finally accepted as endemic in early 2022 in almost all countries, Western Australia finally opened their border for international travelers in March 2022. We immediately applied for Visa to WA hoping to fly to Perth during the April 2022 school holidays. Since the pandemic, procedures to secure entry permit to foreign countries have changed drastically. Online application for Visa to enter Australia has become more tedious and cumbersome. By the time we received the approval online for our Visa just shy of one month after our application, it was almost early April 2022 and too late to make the trip.

Before our one year-validity Visa expires in April 2023, we decided to fly to Perth to spend our Christmas there. This also coincided with the WA year-end school holidays. 

In the early morning of 18 December 2022, we finally landed at Perth. 

Four days after our arrival on 22 December 2022, we celebrated Winter Solstice, the "Dongzhi" Festival. Together with the grandchildren, we made colourful Tang Yuan - the glutinous rice dumplings traditionally eaten in almost all Chinese families.

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Giving and receiving gifts during Christmas are always happy moments for the family. This Christmas, the grandchildren took great pain to get gifts for their grandparents. Irrespective of the size or value of the gifts, it's the thought that's put in which is of paramount importance.

Gracie displayed all her favourite soft toys
received all these years.

Home-made buns for Christmas dinner.

Relocation

One key question that crosses the minds of many retirees or senior citizens is - where do you stay to spend the final period of your lives? I recall visiting one retirement centre in George Town in Tasmania and considered these homes both practical and ideal for retirees to spend the final part of their lives (Read here). Of course, not everyone finds this attractive!

For Monica, one of the ex-high school classmates chose to relocate to a place not too far from the homes of her children. Her decision to relocate permanently away from KK prompted the organizing of a farewell brunch. This gathering allowed her to meet up with her former classmates before she moves to KL in early December 2022.

This gathering on 25 November 2022 was held barely two months after we last met at Hyatt on 6 October 2022 when one of the ex-classmates came back to KK from Australia for holidays (Read here).

Brunch on 25 November 2022.

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Just a few days ago, a few of us seniors gathered to look at a proposal about building a more high class retirement home/apartment on a piece of land for retirees and senior citizens. The land which is within reasonable distance to major facilities like airport, hospitals, parks and shopping centres is also within a forested area. All agreed that this setting is ideal for this type of development. While there may not be shortage of takers, the long term success of this retirement home depends very much on the health monitoring, nursing, personal care, social and recreational facilities provided and a good operator. Whether this will ever materialize is yet to be seen!

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