Flexible Bosses

Here's an extract from a recent memo from management to staff.

To all staff,

We would like to encourage all staff to consider leaving early today. In addition, staff may like to consider, with the agreement of your Manager, starting at different times tomorrow. In view of the extreme heat this week, the department understands that many people may have difficulty in getting home with ease and we would like to encourage you to work flexibly in order to be comfortable during this heat wave.

How would it feel to work for a boss like that?

Melbourne Heatwave

The forecast of four consecutive days of 40 degrees Celsius or more from tomorrow has Melbourne poised to break some hot weather records.

Melbourne has not had three days in a row above 40 since 1959.

The mercury is expected to reach 38 today before climbing to 41 tomorrow then dropping back slightly to 40 until Sunday when it should be a relatively cool 31.

Rest of article here >>

Connex has cancelled 15 peak-hour services in Melbourne this morning (28/1/09).

More than forty trains were cancelled across the network yesterday, due to problems caused by the heat.

Rest of article here >>

The Double Significance of 26 January 2009

26 Jan is a very special day this year. It's Australia Day and also the first day of the Lunar New Year.

In honour of the occasion, we're off to Bendigo tomorrow to see the CNY celebrations and hopefully catch a glimpse of Sun Loong (the world's longest imperial dragon) at the Golden Dragon Museum.

To all our Aussie friends: Happy Australia Day! May the spirit of Australia (and I don't mean Qantas) live forever.

To our family and (Chinese) friends back home who are enjoying reunion dinners and getting ready to visit one another: a very blessed and healthy Chinese New Year to you.

Dead Fish and Sleeping Snakes

Another lovely T-shirt-and-shorts kinda day.

Beth is off on a school holiday program run by the Council. I think it's bowling today. Most days they do art and craft, play pool and Dead Fish/Sleeping Snakes, have workshops on things like taekwondo and science experiments, and trips to the local pool and cinema.

I like having Beth at home. There won't be too many of those days once she starts school. But it's also important for her to get out and mix around with other kids and make new friends. She's a classic introvert and tends to withdraw into herself when she's in a new situation. Am glad she's got Anthea, our friend down the road who's attending the holiday program too. They're the same age and get along really well.

J has moved up in the world. She's gone from the Totts room at daycare to the Toddlers room. According to the centre, "totts" are those between 16 months and 2.5 years and toddlers are those between 2 and 3 years. Hmm....

It's nice that J still gets the same carers that she's used to: Alison and Chloe. I remember Beth's childcare class used to change teachers all the time. A and C are marvellous with J and in fact, I'd say that's the case for most of the carers we've met and spoken with. They're infinitely patient and cheerful and in control of things and they just know how to draw out the best in the kids. Love Wyndarra. :)

Sovereign Hill 疏芬山

Our first weekend back in Melbourne was spent at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat.






The City of Ballarat is about 110 km NW of Melbourne in the Central Highlands region of VIC. It is home to nearly 90,000 people (2007 figures) and along with Bendigo, is one of the largest inland cities.

Getting there

From Hoppers Crossing, we took the M1 in the direction of Melbourne and then the M8. We later discovered that we could have taken a shortcut and saved ourselves about 20 minutes by using the C702 (Derrimut Road - Leakes Road - M8). Alternatively, you can travel on the M1 towards Geelong and take the A300, which is what we did on the way back. Driving time was the same both ways: 1.5 hours.

The day we visited, it was super hot. I'd forgotten to pack enough hats, so only Beth's scalp was saved from frying.

What's good to see and do at Sovereign Hill?

Pan for gold

Beth and CA spent a good deal of time (along with a lot of other hopefuls) kneeling by the stream sifting panfuls of silt and looking for gold. Me, I was busy hunting for shade for J and myself.




Later, we were told that SV actually puts $300 worth of gold dust into the stream once a week. Of course, they didn't say which day they do that!

Find out what you're worth

One of the museums has this weighing scale which lets you calculate (for just $1) your weight and what that's worth in the gold equivalent today.




Explore the Red Hill Mine




This one's not suitable if you're claustrophobic, have poor night vision (as I do) or other health conditions. Leave bulky backpacks and strollers outside.

Your journey starts with a descent down a flight of stairs into the mine, then you walk single file along a narrow tunnel that sometimes goes completely dark. I was glad Beth was holding my hand! A recorded voice tells you where to go and there's a holographic reenactment of the discovery of the second largest gold nugget ever found in Ballarat.

Walk around the replica of a village and see what life was like in the 19th century


Beth was tickled to meet a Mr J. Taylor, who was out and about with a carton of milk with one hand when a policeman invited himself into his house!



We also visited the local school, the church, the Victoria Theatre, the foundry, the gold smelting works where we watched goldsmith transform liquid gold into a 3 kg gold ingot.






Too hot to walk?

Take a coach ride. At least you'll be too high up to smell the horse poo that litters the streets!

New Friend

Meet Emma the kelpie.






Scottie and Emma are already well acquainted cos S stayed with Emma's owners when we were away. Now it's our turn to return the favour. We've got her till Wed night.

There's something about petsitting that's so nice. It sort of says you're deemed worthy and responsible enough to care for someone else's pet!

Emma is camera-shy, loves people and gets along enormously well with Scottie. That's saying a lot, cos Scottie is very turf-conscious.

I've never had a big dog before. I get nervous when they jump on me, but I'm getting used to it now.

I let the dogs in this morning when the gardener came by (else they'll jump on him), and Emma immediately put her head in my lap and nuzzled me while I was reading. Awshucks...

It's really interesting how having another dog in the house alters the dynamics of the household.

The girls have taken well to Emma, especially J, who likes to call out (as she does in this video),"Emma, where are you?"

Now this is summer

It's 37 degrees outside!

I can feel my face prickling from the heat just sitting at my PC.

The deliveryman came by and as I opened the door to sign for the goods, a fly slipped into the house. The trouble with flies is they never seem to exit the way they come in. They just go round and round the house, banging helplessly into glass windows till they eventually die of exhaustion (or maybe the heat).

Jordanne Turns 2

The baby of the family turned 2 on Thursday. How quickly they grow!

We avoided the birthday party fuss and bought her an apple teacake (chosen by Big Jie Jie) from Safeway.

My cousin added to the merriment with a homemade raspberry/peach slice. Yums!

Confused

Our routines have been a little haphazard since we got back from Sg.

The kids wake up between 10 and 12 noon, we eat breakfast at lunchtime and lunch at dinnertime.

Even though Beth gets up at noon, she still insists on eating breakfast, so meals are sometimes just two hours apart.

Someone wisely pointed out today that perhaps our disorientation is due to the three-hour time difference between Sg and Melb. That certainly makes sense.

Gratitude

To everyone who hosted us while we were in Sg (especially my aunt and uncle) : THANK YOU!

We appreciate your generosity, hospitality and effort in making time to meet with us and for the presents the girls received.

It's wonderful to know that most things and people that have significance for us haven't changed. If only the same could be said of Sg's landmarks!

Keep well. Stay healthy. Live joyously.

Weather in Melbourne

According to friends, there has only been one hot day since we left for Sg. "Hot" meaning over 30 deg.

For the past 2 days, the high has been 19 deg.

Feels more like spring than summer.

Hair Makeover Outcome

After my hair post, a few people asked me: so who did you finally go to to cut your hair, Kimage or Reds?

Answer: Neither.

In the end, I walked into a never-heard-before salon called That's Hairdressing @ Novena Square, where my hair was done by Gary ("Call me Lau cos we have three Garys here.").

I chose the salon because I was in a hurry and the salon was empty. The stylists were sitting around when I walked by.

The beautiful thing about Sg stylists is they always know what to do with my hair, and they generally do a good job of it.

GL gave me a concave cut with the ends longer at the front, so it looks like a bob but more stylo. He also cut my fringe assymetrically.

"Er, how come my fringe is longer on one side?"

"I can cut it straight for you," came the reply in Mandarin, "but your face will look very broad."

I thought it wiser to defer to his professional judgement and asked no more questions.

All in, I was very pleased with the service and the cut.

Hopefully, my neighbourhood stylist can help me maintain my new look!

It's good to be home

The past three weeks have been a good reminder of what we miss - and don't miss - about Sg.

WHAT WE LOVE

Efficient Public Transport
We appreciate more than ever the authorities' superb urban planning skills. MRT stations are linked to the malls, and the buses and trains run on time.

In Melbourne, you can never be sure if you'll be on time. You can wait 40 minutes for a bus. If you miss it, good luck to you. Trains frequently break down or arrive late, to the extent that Connex has had to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations. You write in to complain and they send you a free one-day pass.

Makan
Thanks to hospitable relatives and friends who made time for us, we've tried all the eating places worth trying (Pek Kio for kopi, Bishan for duck rice, Soup Restaurant for samsui chicken, Ben & Jerry's, Singapore Poly Staff Centre for excellent Chinese restaurant-style cooking, Evans Road for prata and milo dinosaur).

I mean, sure, we can fry our own prata (the brand we get is actually quite good) and make chicken rice using Chng Kee's Hainanese Chicken Rice Paste, but it's not quite the same as going to the hawker centre and having it all served to you at an affordable price by pros who cook it everyday.

Shopping
I haven't shopped in two years. Not what I call serious shopping anyway.

What I miss is the boutiques in malls like Bugis Junction, where you feel like you're buying something unique instead of something that's available at any chain store.

Except for the rare trip into the city, the whole suburban shopping experience is really basic compared to the astonishing offerings at any Sg mall, especially now that every other mall is being upgraded and expanded with fancy loos and extensions with names like Vivocity, Velocity and Square 2. Singaporeans are truly spoilt for choice.

Not that I'm complaining.

Having limited options is good. You don't waste time wondering "Should I buy this or that?" When you have less, you make do with less, and you find you can get by just as well.

In Sg, I did what Singaporeans love to do: spent a lot of time window shopping and buying things that I am unlikely to get here. That should last me a good two years at least. :)

PET PEEVES

What don't I miss?

The crowds, the kancheong/kiasu culture which is alive and well (love that letter in the press by Angmoh Dan to his parents), and impatient motorists who honk if traffic is just a tad slow-moving.

People have been asking Beth what she likes most about Aus.

Her reply is always the same: "The fresh air and plenty of open spaces to run around."

To that I'll add the relaxed attitude of most Aussies, which is so refreshing and makes pleasant conversation with strangers possible.

It's good to be home.