Annie-el: January 2007

So you have to wonder sometimes if this thought has ever crossed your mind (not likely)...........how can you play scrabble with someone who is not physically present with you? Well you go onto webcam (remembering that they don't have a webcam of their own, but they can see us) and face the computer at them......it actually worked!!!!! You may ask why? I guess because you can!
Anisia and I were playing Scrabble....Anisia was talking to her friend Kirstin (aka curse10) via MSN so we decided to invite her into the game as well....Rikki...Did I hear you ask who won?

Just to make your mouths water..........Very yummy

Hello Bunny

Yay....Bunny did come visit again this weekend........having an overseas show and tell night tonight as we haven't had a good look at her overseas pics.....mmmmmmmabout to enjoy some fresh mango and Greek yoghurt....you really must all come to Qld to enjoy our mangoes......officially our favourite fruit....yes they now surpass peaches....sorry SA

Wecome to Queensland Joshua and Colby. My two nephews from South Australia (my sister Marilyn's two eldest boys) have just moved to Queensland (near Redland Bay) to pursue their football careers and a new lifestyle. they are both pretty talented in that area, althouhg Josh has battled injury and illness for some time now. For Colby it's his first time out of home, so a big learning curve for him. Joshua has a job in Brisbane city in a similar line of work as he was doing in Adelaide (working with mortgage brokers) and feels there is more opporunity for him here. Colby is doing a labouring job dockside in Brisbane and seems to be enjoying the mateship of his Kiwi coworkers (learning all about rugby!!!!!; gets ribbed for his love of 'aerial pingpong'), he seems to enjoy the outdoor physical work which also helps with his fitness, along with regular training and gym sessions.
Yay we finally have some relatives in Queensland!

A yummy inseason dessert....cut freestone peaches in half, sprinkle with a spoon of brown sugar and then sprinkle again with some sweet wine (any variety will do). Bake for an hour -ish and eat with ice-cream.
The yummiest and easiest dessert ever. thanks Rachael.

Just had to put this pic up! If others can make up words so can I!
I want to put the word "adulterise" into the English dictionary, but according to the Oxford dictionary it's NOT there....not in terms of commiting adultery but the process by which many parents unintentionally place their burderns and woes upon their children's shoulders as they go through their own personal or marital crises, thus forcing traumas upon their children which they are not yet congnitively able to process6. I see it happen very regularly and the social and emotonal impact is enormous for them......some of these children are as young as 6 years old!

Welcome back Ellie & Neish

Great to enjoy the girl's company this weekend. Neish is back from her 3-week trip to Adelaide where she enjoyed the spoils of her Nanas and the rest of the S.A. family.....along with her taking part in Renee & Matthias's wedding as bridesmaid last weekend. Ellie flew up to attend school friend Brooke Bloxsom's wedding (this afternoon).
Pictured here with Anisia and Ellie are Lauren Stelzer-Brown and Rachael Stelzer, 2 close friends of Ellie's whose company we also enjoy.....Tyson is off in New Zealand checking out the wine industry for his next book.

Welcome back Tony and Becky

Tony and Becky have returned in December from 12 months in Central Australia...........Tony finally had his locks cut to retun to the Gold Coast lifestyle...shame I don't have a before and after picture.

We finally met Dorothea. She is an avid blogger who says that she feels she knows us by reading my unending posts.
Anisia and Ellie were well looked after by Dorothea and her family in Germany for Christmas 2005 and beyond, and have been able to catch up now with her in Australia. It was great to meet you Dorothea.Enjoy Central America and USA.

Catch up with the Qualis.....

We found this T-shirt and took a picture of it. It epitomises Singapore and it's cleanliness very well.

Things I have learned

Things I have learned…….

1. Always check visas or you cannot leave the country.
2. Avoid stand-by tickets at ALL costs, especially for International flights.
3. Languages frustratingly inhibit communication but are a great learning
experience.
4. BIG cities = many, many people everywhere!
5. Twenty million people in one city is far too many.
6. If you don’t push in you will not get where you want to go.
7. There are no road rules in China.
8. Lines on roads mean nothing.
9. If a road has 3 lanes expect to see 6.
10. Nobody has right of way.
11. Beware of young taxi drivers.
12. You can drive on the wrong side of the road.
13. Look left before you look right or you will get run over.
14. Westerners are sitting ducks in China.
15. You can sell anything anywhere in China.
16. There are no Workplace Health and Safety Rules in China.
17. Squat toilets are actually more sanitary.
18. You can always find a clean toilet in a 5-star hotel, or Starbucks if you can
find one.
19. Eat with chopsticks or not at all.
20. Lamb’s blood soup tastes good, if you don’t think too much about it.
21. Don’t look beyond the table and what you are eating when you eat out.
22. Everything!!!!! goes into the soup.
23. Westerners price is 4 times local price.
24. When bartering begin at 25% the asking price.If they agree to a price before
you've walked away, you've paid too much.
25. If you hate shopping don’t go to China (especially with Selina).
26. Always shop with Sam or Selina.
27. Make sure you know ni-hao (hello), che-che (thankyou) and tai-guile (too
expensive) before you go to China.
28. Clear skies are a joyful sight. Find out before you leave if the sun shines
in China because we didn’t see it.
29. Winter in China is very very cold.
30. Take your own cereal to China.
31. Christmas decorations in China are very wrong.
32. Always remove shoes before entering Chinese people’s homes.
33. Tea = green tea.
34. There are 24 provinces in China.
35. There are 56 minority groups in China.
36. Beds in China are VERY hard.
37. People (i.e. males AND females) spit – everywhere.
38. Always take at least 3 small packs of tissues with you wherever you go.
39. If you want a true cultural experience go to China.
40. Chinese people are extremely hospitable.
41. Go to China with a friend.
42. Christian churches are hard to find in China.
43. Remember persecuted Christians in China.
44. We are very blessed to live in Australia.

The last post!

This is the Parkroyal where will have 2 more nights before we head home on Tuesday morning....so this is effectively my last blog post from overseas. :(
We have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful time, and been humbled by the Chinese hospitality. China is truly an amazing country and a huge cultural experience. We can recommend it to anyone. I have made a list of things I have learned since we left Australia on this trip which I will endeavour to post asap.
See you at home.

Some of the beautiful street

s of Singapore......on a Sunday but never much traffic. We found out that public transport tickets cost locals $15 for 7 years.....basically an incentive for them to use the very efficient underground tube and buses to minimise cars on the road, and thus pollution. Singapore has no pollution that we have seen, although they say some blows in from Indonesia with certain winds.

Some people work out in the gym......

........while others enjoy a rest after an evening dip and beer beside the hotel pool.....

Our pool on the 4th floor.....

This is a MERLION which is a cross between a fish and a lion..........much of Singapore's

culture seems to revolve around this symbol. Don't you just love the sneakers......I didn't bring any shoes with, only thongs as we had all winter stuff for China. Unfortunately for us luggage wise but fortunately for some others we have shopped a little here although prices are nowhere near as good as China. Singapore dollar is similar in value to AUD.