Lego at GOMA

We have had a BIG weekend. It was completely child centric and we enjoyed it immensely. One of the most refreshing things about watching children is witnessing the excitement that they have for simple things and the genuine awe that they demonstrate when presented with something new. As we "grow up", we're often enslaved by appearances and what we think other people might think of us. Also, as children, there are more 'first experiences' where you don't try to compare something with something else from the past.

Well, these past two days, I really felt that we had immersed ourselves completely in enjoying the same things that Aaron and Adrian do. The weekend seemed particularly carefree...

The Museum, State Library and Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) re-opened this weekend after being closed since the January floods. The three places are next to each other and we went to all three. Jurassic Joe played four concerts a day at the Museum, Aaron's Saturday sing-along at the library resumed with a special band playing and GOMA's exhibition was 21st Century: Art in the first decade.

Needless to say, the singing at the museum and library were lots of fun but the "WOW" moment came for me at GOMA.

I have come to love Lego. Didn't like them much as a child but since I started playing with Aaron....I love 'em. So, when I saw the white area with elegant looking mini-buildings, I thought "Thats interesting". But then, I realized they were made of Lego and the table was FULL of Lego brings for anyone to go build.

"WOW!"

Seriously, I was suddenly a child again and I was excited, exhilarated and feeling so happy because it was the first time I had access to so much Lego.

Aaron and I were not there for long enough and we're planning to go back. Richard and Adrian looked through the rest of the exhibition but it was too close to nap time so we had to tear ourselves away. (And I haven't even seen the rest of the exhibition yet!)

What I liked best was that all the bricks were white and I didn't need to do any matching or look for a particular color. There were plenty of bricks of all sizes right there in front of us. No running out of anything! The whole white bricks look just made me think of it even more as heaven....









OK. For all my raving about how much I loved it and how much I like Lego, this is all I had time to make today. Not the amazing structures in the background, the oval building with the double helix is mine....



I need to go back. I would love to try to build something HUGE.

After The Flood

Great! Our own internet is back again. Just when I was getting used to life without it....

The cleanup of Brisbane continues with many streets still looking like a war zones. The devastation to some areas is heart wrenching to look at. Today, we had some 'incidental rubbernecking' when we went to check on our microwave. The day before the floods, we took it to a shop to be fixed. Unfortunately, the first floor of that place was completely flooded to the ceiling and they have no idea if our microwave is amongst the saved items. No big deal....those people have lost so much more.

Anyway, the street that the shop was at was lined on both sides with the destroyed contents of all the shops in the area. There were excavators and dump trucks everywhere, moving back and forth to clear it all up.

I haven't gone to look at the news reports from the past week yet so I don't know if there is any mention of the thousands of people coming to the aid of total strangers during the cleanup. I mentioned that the devastation is heart wrenching but when you see the hoards of people lining up to volunteer for the cleanup, it is heart warming.

The council setup several volunteer sign up points throughout the city where people would go and then get bussed out to the areas that needed help. I think there were two shifts a day and over 12500 people showed up on the first day. The queue to sign up was over a kilometer long! People who owned bobcats, excavators, dump trucks and other equipment that help with the clean would just show up at areas and start working from dawn to dusk - at no cost. Other people who didn't sign up for the council volunteering effort either helped out in their neighborhood or made their own way to flood affected areas, walked into a damaged home and would just start working. There was no chatting or asking if help was needed, people came with their own equipment and just got working.

Each property that was damaged had to be cleared of all the contents of course. But, in addition to that, all the walls, carpets and fixtures were also ripped out. And then after that, we had to shovel, scrape, sweep and shoot out all the mud that was left behind. Needless to say, it was hard work and it was stinky!

Cleaning isn't the only way that people were helping out. The delivery of food and drinks was also clearly visible in many areas. One lady started Baked Relief and has been utilizing her blog, twitter and facebook to co-ordinate between hundreds of other ladies in Brisbane in baking and delivering food. Isn't that amazing?

People are good! Yes, there have been a few (very few) instances of looting, but overall, the people of Brisbane area good people!

Anyway, here are some more photos from some places around our house.

This is our street and the peak of the floods and then aftewards.





The house as the bottom of our street. Thats my brother at the end of the cleanup. It took just 4 hours for us to empty out everything from that ground floor, including the walls.






This is the convenience store that is a 2 minute walk from our house. It was an extremely successful little shop that was always full of people from the nearby commercial area. The water eventually reached the middle of their signboard. In the first photo, the shop is on the left. I didn't have photos from the same angle...





This is a photo of a different area that we happened to drive past.


I think what we all need to remember is that many people will continue to need help over the coming months, even when our streets are cleaned up and things look 'normal' on the surface.

2011 Brisbane Floods (Part 2)

What a week! These past few days have definitely been interesting. A couple of hours after my last post, we lost power. I was naive to say ‘hopefully we won’t lose power’. Of course we would! And we didn’t get it back for three days (although it didn't come with internet or our landline). The strange thing is that we didn’t complain about it and didn’t find it a nuisance. It sort of added to the experience.

Blogging about the floods now is old news because of the widespread coverage of it but I still have to get my story out. You all want to know how I spent my time don’t you?

My post last Tuesday was when the city started flooding. However, the peak wasn’t due until the early morning of Thursday. By mid morning on Wednesday, the little hill that we live on was basically cut off either because of flooded roads or the police closing off roads because of rising water levels.

The people in the lower lying areas evacuated but we chose to stay because we had plenty of food and, to be honest, we wanted to be where the action was. Our house is a good way up the hill and even though power was off, we still had water and gas.

What do you do when there is no electricity (therefore no TV, Wii or internet)? You get a lot of cleaning done in the house, you play Boggle and you walk and ride out to Coronation Drive in the early morning, after lunch and after dinner. We did this everyday from Tuesday to Friday. Coronation drive is one of the main roads leading to the CBD and right next to the Brisbane River.

We weren't the only ones out and about. All the people that had remained in the area were out there and we finally got to meet some of our neighbors. Without the TV and no easy access to a radio (we had to go sit in the car to listen to the news every so often), people were talking to each other and sharing information about what was going on. There was constant coverage of the flood but the people in it didn’t get to watch any of it and we had to keep asking the police or firemen what was happening, what they were planning, where the water levels were up to and where they were expected to reach.

So for today, I’ll share some of the photos from our daily ‘patrols’.

Wednesday morning on Coronation Drive:


Thursday morning (4.46am) view of the city from Coronation Drive. We heard that the peak of the flood was going to be at 4am on Thursday so my brother, Adrian and I got up and went for a walk.


Thursday morning view of the turn off from Coronation Drive that we take to get home. If you look on the left, the four white parking signs will give you an idea of the depth of the water. 0765



Thursday afternoon on Coronation Drive:




Thursday afternoon in Milton:

We haven't got our own internet back yet and I'm now using a borrowed pre-paid mobile broadband. More to come tomorrow if we get our own internet back.

2011 Brisbane Floods

As you've probably seen on the news, Brisbane is finally flooding. Northern Queensland has been dealing with floods for the past couple of weeks and hundreds of thousands of people have been affected. Southeast Queensland, where Brisbane is, started flooding last night. For all the serious stuff, there is plenty to read about here.

Naturally, this disaster has had horrible consequences for thousands of people and everyone is extremely sympathetic. Amidst all the sympathy and worry, there has also been some sort of excitement in the air. By mid morning, many offices were closing and sending staff home. So, it was peak hour, in the mid morning. After lunch, my brother and I went out for a walk.

We're lucky to be living on a hill but the road at the bottom was flooded and the park is now a lake. Actually, the parks are part of the water sensitive urban and designed to act as a catchment during floods.





There were lots of other people walking around with their raincoats, umbrellas and cameras. Everyone just wanted to capture the event for their own photo albums. The atmosphere was sort of serious but not somber. People were wandering around, almost aimlessly, just observing everything around them. Nobody was in a rush and it didn't look like anybody had anywhere else to be. In a strange way, it was quite peaceful.





After walking around for an hour, I went home to get Aaron so that he could see what it was all about. After all, this is going to be the flood that every one talks about for years to come.



This is a photo we took at around 5pm. As you can see, we could still turn right at the time. At 9pm, we excitedly went out to check on the water again and the road was completely underwater and there was a rescue boat sitting where the police car is in the photo.



Its raining as I type it and even though its expected to ease tomorrow, the peak of water from the dams is expected to reach Brisbane on Thursday. We've stocked up on food and movies. Hopefully, there won't be any power outages here...

2 Carriages of Brown Stuff

Happy New Year everybody! We've had two action packed days to the new year and its now time for some quiet time. On the first day of the year, our whole family spent nine straight hours playing Wii games. My right arm is still a little sore from the Bollywood dancing in "Just Dance"! Yesterday, we spent the day with Thomas and Friends at the Ipswich Rail Workshops Museum.

The museum is having a month long event called "Day Out With Thomas" and has "brought" Thomas and many of his friends for a visit. Sir Topham Hatt is there with 5 story telling sessions a day. There is also a play area setup with low tables and all the imaginable Thomas train sets. An under 3s area is also setup to keep the younger ones entertained.

During the story telling sessions with Sir Topham Hatt, he takes the children for short walks around the museum and also has songs incorporated. When he was leading the song "She'll be coming round the mountain", he'd pause each time to ask the children what the carriages were holding. Aaron stuck his hand up in the air each time and I thought to myself that he really has come along way in a year.

BUT. When Sir Topham Hatt asked him what the carriages were holding, he yelled out "Brown Stuff!!!".

That was when I activated my thick mom-skin and shrink to shrink and blend in with the crowd. What could he mean by "Brown Stuff"? My mind immediately went to the worst possible meaning. He made the suspense even worse when he giggled loudly as Sir Topham Hatt asked "What sort of Brown Stuff?"

"Its *giggle* *giggle* *giggle*....its...*giggle* *giggle*....WORMS!"

PHEW!

You can't imagine the relief I felt. Everybody knows that the only predictable thing about kids are that they are UN-predictable. Phew! again....

Here's Aaron telling Sir Topham Hatt that the Island of Sodor is not real...



Real or not, Thomas is still a favorite...


Photo op with Donald...


Here's a photo of all the little tables. I'll have to take Aaron back on a weekday when its not so crowded.


And here's a final one of Adrian...

Tree Climbing

I have had a lot of fun today. We went tree climbing! I actually read about this free activity organized by the Brisbane City Council but forgot all about it because children needed to be 8 years old to participate. Never imagined that Richard, my dad and I would be the ones enjoying it today instead of Aaron.

You'll see from the photos that its more climbing a tree with ropes (and the added safety of them) rather than climbing with your bare hands. This was of course a very easy and tree but the instructor told us there are other areas in Brisbane where they go very high up. This must be what the Greenpeace people do to stop logging....

Anyway, here are our photos.

Aaron was left on the bottom as we all made our way up the tree. When we were about halfway up, we heard "I need to pee!". Oops! All three of us were hanging up in the air. Thankfully, the instructor's wife followed him to a nearby tree and was kind enough to keep him entertained for the rest of our adventure.



Richard and I climbed into the hammock while my father was in a single hanging hammock chair on another branch.





I liked the hammock better after Richard got out and there wasn't the extra person wobbling it.



And now for more news on fun - We'll be going to Caloundra for the next five days for some fun on the beach. YAHOO!!!! Aaron has been waiting months for this. I'm also very excited but the weather forecast is saying that there may be cloudy rainy days coming....lets hope they're wrong.

I won't have access to internet while there so look out for my post with pictures next Saturday. Have a good week everyone.

A Multicultural Weekend

We had a huge weekend! Way too busy for my liking but it was packed with things we had to do.

We had to go for a picnic with Richard's classmates on Saturday morning. Although, I did leave early from that because it was a crazy, windy day. Adrian kept burrowing into my chest, trying to find shelter so I decided to go home.

At the picnic, I met people from Africa, Europe, South America and China. With so many interesting people, its no wonder Richard enjoys his classes so much! Whats even more interesting is that many of these people, from parts of the world I may never get to visit, are going to go on from this Masters course in Brisbane, to other countries (not their own) that I'll also probably not visit.

After the picnic, we dropped Aaron to his Chinese class in the afternoon and I had to go for a clogging 'party'. Yes, yes, the 2pm party was attended mainly by seniors but I had a good time. I've come to know many of the other cloggers and they are a fun bunch. I know this one particular lady that is in her mid seventies and still teaching a weekly class. She also choreographs many dances and very often, she uses music of today. For example, one of her latest ones is to Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. How does a lady her age even come to know of Lady Gaga?? And the dance? Well, it is hard and fast! I am full of admiration for that lady. (Another side interesting note about her is that her husband is a Russian that came from China. Imagine that!)

Yesterday, we had to go to the annual Multicultural Festival. We took Aaron there last year and he liked it so much that I'm not kidding you when I say he has been asking us on a monthly basis if it was time for the Multicultural Festival again. So, it was his day yesterday. We watched Japanese Taiko drums, an Indonesian traditional orchestra, Chinese Lion dance, dancing from South America and many other interesting performances. My favorite for the day was at the end when we were watching a Brazilian band. Initially, we were 'watching'. After awhile, Aaron got this strange, sort of shy look about him. He started dancing where he stood. Then he got me to sway a little with him and after awhile, he insisted that I take him to the dance floor. How could I resist? He really went wild there with the Brazilian beat and he isn't usually a dancer. The last time I remember him dancing willingly was when he was about 18 months and watching the Wiggles DVD. He usually prefers to be the drummer or guitarist.

I found the weekend exhausting but at the same time, this is what I live in Brisbane for!

Distractions For An Itchy Nose

Its hayfever time for me here in Brisbane. If memory serves me correctly, August is one of the more windy months of the year and since we're moving in to spring, those winds are sending the pollen everywhere, especially up my nose.

I had forgotten all about how irritating this time of the year can be. All I can think about right now is how itchy my nose is and how I must not touch it anymore or I'll have a peeling, itchy nose tomorrow. That would be irritating AND ugly!

So, to help with the distraction, here's a list of things, from my experience, to do to distract yourself from an itchy nose:

1. Breath slowly, evenly and not too deeply.

2. Eat something. Crunchy things work best.

3. Have a steaming hot shower.

4. Bite on the collar of your T-shirt. (Unsightly but if you're at home, nobody will see you anyway.)

5. Leave your house and go somewhere else indoors. Walking in the mall is good as a distraction and also helps with the blood circulation which in turn seems to help with the itchy nose (and all the other hayfever symptoms in general.) Note: Don't go to a library. Those places make itchy noses itchier.

Alright, so I did all those things today. I also took one of those little hayfever pills but its not working yet. I think its time for me to go rummage for something to chew on. Let me know what you do when hayfever strikes.

Part Of The Attraction

I meant to do a post about this earlier on but forgot all about it until I looked through the photos.

We went for an early morning breakfast barbecue at The Southbank Parklands a couple of weeks ago. We were the only people there at 8am as it was a Tuesday morning. The place had changed since my last barbecue there fifteen years ago and now the actual barbecuing spot is shared a a short distance from the tables. It was a little troublesome walking back and forth but we still enjoyed the breakfast while looking across the river at all the less lucky people caught in the morning traffic inbound to the city.

Halfway through our extremely long breakfast, a busload of tourists arrived. They strolled around admiring the park and the view of the city. Then as they got close to us they also stared intently at us, as if we were part of the tour's must-see items. The looked at who we were, what we were eating and one man actually waked through our little party for a better look. We, in turn, took photos of them. Here they are checking out our still uncleaned barbecue with the oil, napkins, leftover onions and other bits and pieces.



It was also this day that I found out about the free Mommy-and-me Yoga classes held there every Tuesday. I tried it out for the first time today and it was a workout! Its like yoga with weights because there are many poses that you do while carrying the baby.



The tourists seemed to admire the location as well as the lifestyle that the people of Brisbane lead. And, watching them, watch us, I too thought about our active lifestyle here and how lucky we are to live in a place where enjoyable and affordable outings for families are so easily undertaken. The job of being a mother is definitely more easily carried out here than in Indonesia or Malaysia.

I Need Ear Plugs

I wish I could borrow a noise level meter from somewhere. I'm sure that there are times during the day when there are enough decibels in this house to cause hearing loss. Even if I don't go deaf, my brain is definitely operating at a reduced capacity with the mess I'm often surrounded by.

Aaron has been noisy from the start. At first he was a super cryer. Then he was a constant gurgle of gibberish. And now he is a constant narrator of whatever he's doing while simultaneously trying to join in with any and all conversations around him. Ever since he figured out the CD player, he also plays his dinosaur CD repeatedly and sings along like a rock star. So, add on the times that he is whiney or demanding and you have 24 hours of non stop noise from one little guy.

Adrian is a much quieter baby and often charms us all with a sweet voice that coos and giggles. Nevertheless, he's still a newborn and they're entitled to their Xhrs of crying each day. So, sleepy time, bath time, nappy change time, need-a-burp time and just-feel-like-it tine are all noisy times that very often coincide with Aaron needing something.

And to top it all off, the birds outside are also in on the job of driving me crazy with noise. Each day, at lunch time, the tree behind our house is full of lorikeets feasting and partying. Have you ever been near a tree full of them?? The noise level is unbelievable! They're as bad as lawn mowers. And they do this everyday from about noon until 5pm.

So, are you getting a picture of the noise levels in this house? Three year old chatterbox with CD Player, two month old that communicates with crying and a tree full of partying birds! The noise sometimes makes me feel so messy inside I can't stay focused on a single thought for long. Thankfully, two of the noise sources are asleep now so all I'm hearing is the cheep-cheep-cheep. No wonder its extra hard to blog these days.

The Brisbane Garden

I've done several posts on our garden in Palembang and how I discovered the joys of planting my own vegetables. Well, now we have an even bigger space and a lot more variety to our plants.

My mother has always planted a few things in the garden but towards the end of last year, we got serious about becoming farmers. Actually, there was one farmer, my dad, and two directors. Ha!Ha!

We've been having more than enough curly kale, okra, Malabar spinach and rocket leaves. The long beans, chilli and tomatoes are all starting to fruit right now. The sweet potato leaves had to be replanted but they're coming back now.

Its a really amazing feeling when we're out of food in the fridge and just walk out to the garden to get something. We've also planted a lot of herbs and several ginger plants. The biggest disappointment so far has been the winged beans. This was what I planted in Palembang and they flourished in the clayish soil we had there. Unfortunately, it seems that the soil here is a little to good for them.

Here are a few photos. It isn't exactly the prettiest garden around but it definitely is one of the tastiest.

Here are the kale with some rocket in between:


The much too big plant to the right is lemon grass. The white stuff on the ground
is shredded paper that we use as a sort of mulch. The Malabar spinach is amidst the paper but we had some to eat yesterday so you won't see much of them.


Okra to the right and the much too leafy, yet fruitless, winged beans to the left.


We planted curly kale but looks like the 'curliness' has spread to the okra too. Look at this:


Oh and this last plant is 'katu'. Supposedly the English name is Sweet Leaf Bush and it helps milk supply.

Christmas Time In Australia

Well, we've had another hot day with a high of 34 degrees Celsius today. Several of my close friends live in the northern hemisphere and are starting to talk about the cold. And, preparing for Christmas.

I've only had one Christmas where things were cold and there was snow about an hour's drive away. Other than that, they've all be hot. So, I'm used to watching movies on TV and listening to Christmas songs about snow, warm fires and the cold while sweating in my tank tops.

I wonder what the people who live in those winter wonderland Christmas places think of my Christmasses. They probably don't give it much thought since it isn't the sizzling Christmasses that are commercialized. Ultimately, it isn't the weather but the company that defines Christmas but I'm still guessing that it must be a strange thought for some people to think of Christmas being hot.

I heard a very funny Christmas song at the concert on Saturday night and thought I'd share the lyrics here. Obviouly, it makes no sense singing about dashing through the snow so here is an Australian version of Jingle Bells:

Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden Ute
Kicking up the dust
Esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side
Singing Christmas songs
It's summer time and I am in
My singlet, shorts & thongs

CHORUS:
OH, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS
JINGLE ALL THE WAY
CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA
ON A SCORCHING SUMMER'S DAY
JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS
CHRISTMAS TIME IS BEAUT
OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE
IN A RUSTY HOLDEN UTE

Engine's getting hot
Dodge the kangaroos
Swaggy climbs aboard
He is welcome too
All the family is there
Sitting by the pool
Christmas day, the Aussie way
By the barbecue!

CHORUS

Come the afternoon
Grandpa has a doze
The kids and uncle Bruce
Are swimming in their clothes
The time comes round to go
We take a family snap
Then pack the car and all shoot through
Before the washing up

CHORUS

Has it been three days?

Looks like it. We've had such a full three days that I didn't even notice not sitting in front of the computer for more than five minutes each day.

With Richard here, I managed to get quite a few things done. Part of the Christmas shopping is completed and all my Christmas cards are ready to be posted tomorrow. My sewing projects are still all up in the air but I'm getting there slowly. They'll all be done by the end of this week I hope.

Thanks to Richard, I got some shopping time without Aaron tagging along. The downside to that was that I didn't carry a big bag filled with drinks, snacks, toys and important things like my CAMERA! So, sure enough, I saw something I found amusing. Thankfully, I found this photo of it on an old news article:



This AUD 50,000 buggy is a Brisbane City Council invention and appears to have been cleaning Brisbane's streets since March this year. It really was very cute and had a sign in coloured lights reading "Beware! Chewing Gum Removal In Progress."

While this green buggy was entertaining, I can't help wondering if Singapore's no chewing gum laws are a better way to go. After all, that one may actually make some money.

On to the other photos I wanted to share...

We went for the Lord Mayor's Carols in the City concert last night. Even though the concert didn't start until 7.30pm, the gates opened at 5.30pm. And we were there at 5.30pm. Thankfully there was no chewing gum in the grass we were sitting on but just take a look at the crowd that made it in there before us.





We had an incredibly enjoyable evening even though it drizzled on us three times through out the concert. Aaron enjoyed it so much he didn't want to leave at the end. My favourite act was by James Morrison, the jazz trumpeter. Unfortunately, it did remind me of how many years older I have become since the last time I watched him perform. My father and I went to one of his concerts during the Brisbane Expo in 1988. TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO!

We've got another few concerts to go to this week and next, including THE WIGGLES!!! I love this time of the year....

Fun In The Middle Of Nowhere

I was too tired last night to get my post done. We spent the day in the bush. Well, it looked like the bush but it wasn't really. This place was only about 15 mins drive from the Gympie town center but it really looked in the middle of nowhere.



We went there for a Clogging Christmas Party. Obviously I'm not clogging right now but I still like watching and Aaron seems to enjoy it too. It didn't matter that the temperature must have been in the mid 30 degrees Celsius and that the low roof you see there was made of zinc. Everyone had a fan in hand and was still having a blast. Its great that these people are so enthusiasitic that they don't let these 'minor' discomforts stop them. My parents included!

We packed frozen drinks, a box of popsicles for Aaron and a stack of frozen towels to hang around our necks. Aaron was the only little kid there but most of the crowd were grandmothers so he was kept entertained. Or maybe he was entertaining them, I'm not sure. Either way, we all had a good time.

It took us nearly two hours to get there and then we were in the heat for about four hours but Aaron was surprisingly well behaved. I nearly didn't go because I thought I'd have a miserable time trying to control him and stop him from being a pest to all the people there. But, he surprised me. Isn't that always the case?

A Calendar For Activities!

I still can't get over how many kids activities there are each week here. Right now, I'm using a calendar to keep tabs on everything coming up each week. With Christmas coming up, there is going to be even more. And the best part of this all is that so many of these cost absolutely nothing!

My favourites are all the concerts and there are plenty of free ones. Something is going on in a park somewhere almost every weekend and we have been going to quite a few of these.

Today, we went for one that I had bought tickets for. It was AUD10 per person for the Christmas Capers by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. AUD10 isn't a lot of money but initially, I still wondered why I decided to pay that instead of just enjoying all the free concerts.

Well, I don't regret it at all and I'm already on the look out for another one of these Kiddies Cushion Concerts to take Aaron to. It was fun, had some educational value and tailored specifically for little kids. And of course, the orchestra was good. Its been such a long time since I've listened to any orchestra indoors that I was already thinking "WOW" when they started tuning! They played all fun pieces and had singing and dancing in between. It was of course all very casual and lots of kiddy jokes.

A few weeks ago, whenever I took Aaron to any place where there were many other little children, he seemed very tense and unsure of the crowd. As if he wanted to be part of them but didn't know how. Thats the downside of not going to school and so far, not having any group activities to go to. The upside is that he's picking up fast and today he was joining in and enjoying himself like everybody else. Phew! Thank goodness for all the free kids activities around Brisbane. I still try to balance him with plenty of time at home but these upcoming Christmas activities are irresistable.

Sunday Mass in Brisbane

I have to admit that I find going to Mass in Brisbane one of the most stressful times in my week. Aaron is generally well behaved and has had good training in Palembang because masses there are regularly 90 minutes long. The difference over there is that there is always so much noise in the church from other children or traffic noises when people open and close the doors that any misbehavior from Aaron is often unnoticed.

When we got here in October, we started off going to the parish that we've been to since before I moved away. The priest there gives fantastic surmons and the music used to be great. Unfortunately, that priest is also known to leave his surmons incomplete if he felt he couldn't handle the distractions in the congregations. He'll be very apologetic about it and explain that he's not as young as he used to be but its still awkward. Right?

The last time we were there, a teenager was reading the parish newsletter during the homily. He made a general comment that people shouldn't be reading the newsletter but the teenager didn't hear and continued to. Two minutes later, the priest announced that he just couldn't continue. All this happened at the same time that Aaron was flipping through one of his big story books. I tried my best to turn the pages discretely but it was a big and wide hardcover book.

Anyway, we went back to that church a couple of times but it was just too quiet and tense for my blood pressure so we've gone back to the parish in our area. And its great! There is always a baby making some noise for part of the mass each week and the parish priest seems more than tolerant. He even invites children up to the alter to help him during the eucharistic prayers.

I'm not saying that its completely stress free going here because there is still some level of tension as the church is very quiet (apart from noises from kids) but at least I don't have to sit in fear and hold such a tight leash on Aaron.

Also, they have a joke page on the back of their newsletter that I always read to calm myself before mass starts. Here is this week's:

The Book of Smiles

Q: What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A: Ruthless

Q: What do they call Pastors in Germany?
A: German Shepherds

Q: Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A: Noah. He floated his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.

Q: What kind of motor vehicles are there in the Bible?
A: Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.

Q: Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A: Samson. He brought the house down.

Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A: The area around Jordan. The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Which Bible character has no parents?
A: Joshua, son of Nun.

Pregnancy Perks & Paying It Forward

Celebrities like Jenna Elfman may feel sexy when they're pregnant but ordinary people like me certainly don't. According to her, you've got to show off whats still good looking but if I were to apply that to me, then all you'd be seeing would be my arms from the elbows down. I'm really starting to look round and I've got that silly pregnant person waddle.

Anyway, looking pregnant (especially pregnant with little boy in hand as well) has its perks. Aaron and I had a wonderful morning today. I woke up full of energy and decided we would take the train to the city and then walk across the new Kurilpa Bridge to the State Library for Rhyme Time.

The train was very full and I thought that I'd have to juggle my big handbag, hanging on to Aaron and hanging on to the handrails. Nope. People were nice enough to offer me their seats. I think this may be the first time in my life! Later on, when I was lining up at the restrooms, a lady looked at me and offered to let me go first. It was a great feeling to come across such simple generosity today and it put me in a really good mood and I, in turn, found myself being extra nice to other people as well. The whole pay-it-forward thing was happening for me today.

On top of all that, I had a great time alone with Aaron. We strolled across the bridge and stopped multiple times to watch the ferries go under us. Aaron also had a good time with all the Nursery Rhymes in the library. And before we went home, I took him to the Museum (almost a weekly event) to visit the dinosaurs for a few minutes. They have a musical shadow show with five catchy tunes on various dinosaurs that he loves.

Here is a picture that I took from the middle of the Kurilpa Bridge. The city is on the left and the building to the right is the library. Its actually three photos that I stitched together...the individual photos look much bigger, maybe the panoramic view here has squashed it small (I have no idea). Please click on it to see it properly.

Aaron's New Pets

When we got to Brisbane, over a month ago now, my brother gave Aaron an Ant Farm Kit. They tried looking around the house for ants but all we had were bull ants and at that time, my brother thought they were too dangerous for Aaron since they bite.

Well, for the past few days, my father and Aaron have been hunting for ants around the neighborhood but in the end, today, they decided that it was going to be a Bull Ant Farm.

Back in July, I did a Photostory Friday post on ants and had an incredibly fascinating time observing them at work. Now, we can observe them even closer and they truly are very captivating.

I feel a bit bad about 'imprisoning' them this way so maybe we can rotate this batch of ants with another batch in a week or so. I wonder how long they'd last anyway....





I've told Aaron that he needs to give them water and food every two to three days. Lets see how responsible he is :)

What a gimmick!

This weekend, we went for the 'Inaugural Thomas & Friends Family Fun Day' - organised by politicians! It certainly was a clever crowd drawer on their part because hundreds of little kids, their parents and grand parents turned up. I didn't see much 'political' stuff there and there weren't any speeches or anything like that. In fact, I'm not really sure what the whole message of the day was which makes me wonder how they are measuring the success of the Thomas gimmick. Although.....I do remember the name of the MP that organised the thing so, maybe that was all he was after.

The bulk of the crowd there were all under six years old! Many were dressed in their 'Thomas' clothes, wearing their 'Thomas' hats and carrying their 'Thomas' backpacks. It wasn't a huge event but I can fully understand that to the target market (and their parents), this was a big day.

They organised for a live sized Thomas to be there. Even though it was a stationary model (that didn't talk, whistle or chug along the tracks), I saw little face after little face light up as they noticed it. The Fat Controller was there for storytelling every 30 mins. They also had a jumping castle and a 'train' that drove around the park.

Aaron got there at 9.30am, 30 mins before it officially started, and we stayed until about 1.30pm. This was way past his nap time and he had woken up extra early at 5.30am so the poor little guy was completely crabby, hot and sweaty by then. The amusing thing was that at around the same time we left, I heard lots of other little kids starting to have breakdowns. Guess they all missed their naps for Thomas. And as we drove out, we saw the next batch of littlies arriving - the after-nap crowd I guess.

Here are a few photos:







This final picture is of the park that the event was held at. I can never get enough of seeing beautiful parks like this after having lived with no parks to go to for so long.