Finally back home in Singapore late last night! Got cut off from the internet since my last post (cos all our log-in accounts were prematurely suspended) hence I couldn't update anymore! Anyway the last two days were very slack cos the programme more or less ended with the valedictory dinner on Fri and it was really just chilling out and going shopping!
On Sat, we brought the kids out for lunch at Mekong Vietnam and then went to the DFO where I bought 2 pairs of Aldo shoes! They are like omg sooooo comfy! I always took a look at the Aldo shoes in Singapore but even on sale their cost is usually in the high 100's or 200s so I never bought them but I bought 2 this time cos one was like 100 Sing dollars and the other 65!
Came back for a supposed BBQ dinner which didn't turn out to be a BBQ but anyway it was actually pretty decent. We had already discussed with the kids though about going out for dinner so after we snacked on some of the dinner food provided we went down to Lygon Street and we wanted to bring them to the nice Italian restaurant (it's called Tiamo) that we were brought to by our host but it was just too full (need to make reservations if you want to go there!) So we just walked along and in the end we found ourselves at another Italian restaurant called Donnini's which served quite decent food and the kids quite enjoyed the lasagna and pasta (though the pizza we had was quite salty due to the salami and anchovies) =)
On the way back we were discussing about what to do since the internet was not available and in the end we decided to play "Ice and Water" (essentially what I used to call "Police and Thief" in my time!) which was very fun! It's pretty much like catching so if you're the catcher and you touch the others, they turn to "ice" and must stay there till they are saved by the others who touch them and turn them to "water". Had good fun for about an hour before I succumbed to cramps lol. It was agonising though and a result of vigorous running with barely any warmup. Gotta learn that I'm not young anymore! Anyway, I chose to be the catcher so that I can moderate my running as I was afraid that my ankle would give problems but good thing was that it held up ok though there was slight pain at the end. Hope to recover fully soon!
On Sunday we went to Queen Victoria Market again to finish our last-minute buying of souvenirs and for me, spamming money on macadamia nuts though I had run out of cash so I had to borrow money from my colleague. Then we went back to finish packing and we were off!
During the flight I caught 3 episodes of "Big Bang Theory" (like finally!) which were hilarious and I learnt a lot about survival by watching 2 episodes of "Man Vs Wild" (it's really good and I marvel at the guy's ability to do all the stuff and eat practically everything from raw crickets and lizards to the most disgusting thing I've seen - deer droppings, which apparently have a lot of nutrients). I also watched a documentary about hoarders (I thought my family was bad but those hoarders were crazier) and 2 episodes of "The Hotel Inspector", which gave me some insights on running a hotel. Fascinating stuff really and I should probably go back to watching more TV to learn more about life!
Reached Singapore at 9+pm and by the time we got out, returned the kids to their parents and reached home, it was already 11.30pm! But I'm just glad to be back in my home sweet home and my messy (but clean and non-dusty) room! =)
My reflections on this trip - the food in the college wasn't always the greatest and the food in Melbourne (and I think generally in Australia) is pretty expensive and it's hard to get good and cheap meals like those at our hawker centres. The transport was so-so but ours is much cheaper and I feel more efficient. I'm not a fan of the weather there cos I didn't like it being so cold (there are quite a few who loved it though). The strengths are probably the people who are generally friendlier (e.g. the drivers also will tend to let you cross at the small roads where there are no traffic lights) and also the great outdoor scenery that they have (though you have to travel quite a bit)... Overall I think it was a pretty enjoyable trip where I learnt lots of stuff and had quite a few unique experiences... =) Oh ya, one last thing I forgot to mention - the lifestyle there I feel is really v slack, as many others would prob feel also compared to life in Singapore and we were joking about it when we were in Melbourne Zoo also cos most of the animals were like sleeping from about 3+pm onwards and the mosquitoes and flies there move sooooo slowly... =p
Then for today I woke up at about 7+ to go for our class CIP at Club Rainbow, which was near Chinatown Point. Surprisingly I was very much awake and didn't feel tired throughout the day and it was quite an enjoyable and meaningful activity as we interacted with the kids and they wrote and drew their Xmas cards and decorated the gingerbread man that we had bought. It was my first time decorating gingerbread man and dealing with cake icing and the process was quite fun!
Also learnt something new from one of the kids there cos he picked up some stuff on yo-yos so I learnt today that there are two main types of yo-yos - responsive and non-responsive. The responsive ones will return to you after releasing when you tug at it (it's like the "normal" ones that you prob have seen before) but the non-resposnsive ones won't and hence you need to use certain techniques to pull them back which allows more room to do those yo-yo tricks that you see sometimes cos there is a greater control. I think it's quite cool and if I have time I'd like to learn that too! =)
After that I carried on from Australia with my shopping spree as I went to Plaza Sing and bought 4 shirts from this new place called "Flexor Empire" which had quite funky clothes and I bought some cos trying to be more interesting / fashionable in my dressing haha.
K, shall just gonna chill today then I'm gonna get cracking on work tmr! What a busy "holiday"! =s
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