Home Of Tong

Yes, I am moving house again, this time physically and not virtually. So the last few weeks have been spent packing, and more packing…and even more packing.

House moving is a tedious process, but it is also a good time to review all the junks that have been kept there in boxes (or not) for the last few years. Things that you have never touched for a fews years and probably never will in the next few years.

So do I throw them? Give away? Sell them? Many a times you find that you have difficulties giving them away, even brand new stuff. Perhaps we all have too much junk in our house, so ideally we should be reducing them and not adding them. So came the painful (and logical) decision of throwing them. Somehow it is more difficult to throw them when you just started out packing, and each item have certain value (sentimental or dollar) attached to it. But as you draw closer to the intended date of move, you find that the decision becomes easier, and you are more or less forced into the corner.

So I’ve made decisions to throw, give and store many of the things to make the eventual move easier. The day of the move is coming closer than ever, and my house now looks bigger than ever (with so much less furnitures to clutter all the spaces). Perhaps my next house should be kept as empty as possible as I really like the spacious look, but I know that before long, more things will start appearing again.

Oh, I also want to thank my buddies for offering to help me moved, your help is very much appreciated! I thank God for you!

June is a typically busy month for me in term of celebration. There are birthday, anniversary, more birthday, Father’s Day, and more birthday.

June is the time I got married (in church) to my lovely wife. This year we celebrated our 8th anniversary. Yes, anniversary number EIGHT! I can’t believe it was that long! We have been together through thick and thin, and we have had some tough times, but God was there all the time. Praise God!

Slightly over 12 months later (after our wedding), our number 1 was born. Denver is in Primary 1 now, and is turning out to be quite a fine boy. We celebrated his birthday recently at McDonalds and with him and his friends there together, it finally dawn upon me that my son has grow up. He is in primary school now! With real school and real exams! (read “STRESS”).

June is also the birthdays of my mum and brother, so you can imagine how busy I can get, and how broke I can get sometimes. And not forgetting that Father’s Day is tomorrow! So it off to one celebration dinner tonight, and another tomorrow (in case you are wondering, one is for my father-in-law).

But like I say, it’s celebration time! It’s a good time for families to get together to eat and chat, and to find out how each other is doing. So, June is not a bad month at all, on the contrary,  it’s a wonderful month!

Happy Anniversary Dear Dear!

Happy Birthday Denver!

Happy Birthday Mum! （妈妈，生日快乐！）

Happy Birthday Bro!

Happy Father’s Day Dad! （老爸，父亲节快乐!)

Cheers!

Finally I get to go back to Australia! Yup, it may sound like nothing to some of you but Australia has a special place in my heart, what with me and my dearest spending 2 wonderful time there, one for our honeymoon, and second for our, well, second honeymoon.

This time we are back with our 2 children, 1 only slightly over a year old. And boy was it tough. Perhaps it’s the weather, perhaps it’s the water, or perhaps because he is just not feeling well, my younger boy, Darien, requires my constant attention (and carrying) whenever we are out. But back in the hotel room, he is lively like a tiger, walking here and there and through the door of our connecting room. But his appetite suffered and lost about 100g (or more) in the few days that we are there, not much if you weigh 70kg but a hell lot (at least that’s how I feel) if you weigh just around 10kg.

The water (tap water) in Australia seems a bit on the salty side but the weather (now is the beginning of winter) is superb! Not a drop of perspiration for the entire time. Sometimes I wish Singapore’s weather is like that whole year round! And still have the sun shining through. That will be great!

As you probably know, shopping stops at around 5.30pm (cause that’s the time most shops closes) so if you are a shopperholic, you’ll probably give Perth a miss, unless you are a shopperholica and alcoholic at the same time than you can go to the many bars at night after you are done with all your shopping.

But Perth do have a lot more to offer (during the day that is). Just some examples of what I did during my last trip to Perth.

You can choose to be a Pilot For The Day. A 45-mins adventure to fulfill your childhood dream of been a pilot. Yes, even the bespectacled can join in the fun!

Margaret River has been the famous wine region in Western Australia, but just round about 30mins from Perth City lie another excellent wine region know as the Swan Valley. The black swan is a symbol of Perth and many famous attractions in Perth are named after it. Swan Valley is one of them and it houses a variety of wineries that make it a must visit.

We went for a comprehensive wine tour with Out and About Tour which takes us to 5 very different vineyards, and includes a visit to the Cheese Factory and Chocolate Company to take the experience even further. Included is also a gourmet lunch and ending the day with some tea and coffee at the Valley’s boutique breweries. I totally enjoyed the tour which is usually in group of no more than 15 and with someone else on the wheel, you can drink to your hearts content (yes, wine tasting is included in all 5 wineries, and lots of it).

Other attractions worth a visit that is named after the word ‘Swan’ are the Swan Bells and the Swan River (Cruise) .

Frementle is a must visit and being a fishing harbour, you must try their Fish and Chip that are not only fresh, but taste damn good. Quite a few fish and chip restaurant there and each has its claim to fame, so try them all if you must to judge for yourself which is the best.

Also, don’t forget to visit the Frementle markets that get real busy during the weekend, and basking is often seen at the compound just outside of the market feature artiste from various places. Once you are done, have a cuppa at one of the cafe that lines both side of the road before you head back to the city.

If you like horses, you are please to know that there are a number of ranges that you can do some riding. We went to The Stable Yanchep for our ride and it is a really fun time. But we do like our ride better when we were in Gold Coast previously as the trail looks much more interesting.

There are much more that you can do in Perth and there are many other activities that I have done personally and not done yet that I did not write here. If you want to know more, feel free to ask me and I will do my best to provide whatever info I’ve got. No, I do not work for the Perth Tourism committee, and I won’t mind working for them anyway, but I just love Perth, and for that matter, Australia, and I have did a lot of ‘research’ on what I can do there.

I’ll probably write more about this in the future but for now, I am checking out….*yawn*…and hitting my sack. Later…