National Australia Day

It was yet another public holiday i get to enjoy. As a matter of fact, majority of the Australia Public Holidays fall during the period while i'm in Australia! Isn't that cool? Well... with the exception of Chinese New Year - work as usual for me on 9th & 10th February 2005...

Anyway, my colleagues & i planned to spend the public holiday by having a picnic at the Yarra River in the afternoon - considering the weather forecast for Australia Day 26-Jan (Wed) was sunny at 35 degrees top & agreed to sleep through the morning. But i was rudely awaken by the Mamma Mia polyphonic ring tone that came from my handphone at 9am - a public holiday! a day i don't have to wake up at 7am to get ready for work!- guess you figured how frustrated i was then...

The call was from Eva & she asked if i would like to join her for an outing at Torquay beach before we meet the rest of our colleagues for picnic in the late afternoon. An hour later, i was on my way to fetch Eva from her apartment. The moment Eva got in the car, she called her friend Tanya & invited her along for the outing & guess what? We were on our way to Tanya's house at Westfield! It's amazing how people like Tanya & i were so ready to accept her invitation within such short notice...

We arrived at a crowded Torquay beach around 1.30pm that hot afternoon, found a good spot, laid our beach towels & headed for the sea. The water was icy cold - at least to me! Apparently, Eva & Tanya said the water could have been much colder if the sun had not been out that day... Well, even though the water was so cold it could freeze my fingers, i would say it's nothing compared to the 1hr-long traffic jam from Geelong to Torquay (which normally would only take us 15min had it not been a hot public holiday) & not to mention traveling another 1hr from Melbourne city to Geelong on the highway... A total traveling time of 2hrs before arriving at the beach.

The next 3hrs at the beach has turned to a relaxing routine: we went into the water for couple of minutes & back to shore for sun bathing - this went on & on & on until we realized it was 4.30pm & felt hungry for food... We packed & went for fish & chips. By the time we were back in the car & about to leave Torquay - just like most other people, Mr. Thunderstorms hit the town!

The heavy rain fell about 5.30pm & the temperature dropped from 32C to 19C with strong wind gusting up to 120km/hr! Traffic was crawling so slow you never get past 2nd gear! That was when i really wished i was driving an automatic instead of a manual one... Very, very, very bad for my left knee...

Just the return trip from Torquay to Geelong alone, took us almost 2.5hrs & we drove through a total of 4 flooded areas - taking the risk that my lao-pok-ca-ciah might stall & trap us in floodwaters. The thunderstorms was so strong it sent hailstones falling from the sky, hitting the cars & grounds. We also witnessed displays of lightning bolts across the Geelong skyline, saw the powerline near a residential property damaged by the lightning & electric current charged from the live cables as fire engines arrived on site. All the intense actions in 2.5hrs!

Thank God, our timing was excellent! If we had left Torquay 30min later than we did, we would be stranded there because the roads were closed after the heavy rain uprooted some trees & floodwaters made it impassable for motorists.

Fortunately, the highway from Geelong to Melbourne City was not affected & traffic was clear. Traveling at 100km/hr, it took us 1hr to arrive home at a dry & hot Melbourne City of 34C! There you have it: sunny, strong winds, thunderstorms & hail - 4 seasons in a day! Exclusive at Victoria, Australia!

If you're still wondering if we met our other colleagues for picnic that day? Of course not! I was dead tired when i reached home at 9.30pm.

The Sign?

No... today's entry is not about some science fiction stuff - though I admit, the title can be quite misleading...

Isn't it true that "signs" are just about one of the most important thing that human would need? Whether it takes the form of a sign board for road users; or it serves as a warning to the public against littering; or by looking at the clouds to know if it's gonna rain or shine; even as a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (like a confirmation/clue that something has happened) or an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come... Whatever it may be - we always ask or look out for one!

So it was in my case when I was searching for a home church in Melbourne. I asked for a sign that I would know, which of the 3 churches I have attended over the last 2 weeks is D-one God has intended for me. The sign I asked for? That I will be approached by members of the church after service to make me feel welcomed & at home. You may think this seems really easy but it's far from truth... The truth is:

Destiny Church: None! No one came to me or spoke a word to me
City Church Melbourne: Only 1 guy who apparently was on duty to greet & welcome people to church before service starts... I suppose - this is not counted!

I was at Manningham Christian Centre (MCC) last Sunday morning - 20min drive from my apartment. The church is almost similar to Destiny Church - with approx. 150 members. Worship was led by a Pastor who played the keyboard & worship lead simultaneously. Supported by a guitarist, another guy who played the flute & harmonica (between songs) & 3 female back up singers. Though there was a drum set on stage but there was no drummer that day (on vacation, I suppose). Mostly adults with some children - hardly any youths. Wait a minute... doesn't this just described HCC? Ha! No wonder I felt quite at home with this church! * CHAY! * Nah... Many were away on holidays.

At the end of the service, I headed for the exit because I had lunch appointment with Aunty Betty (a friend of my dad). The senior Pastor of MCC was standing at the door to bid farewell to members & he started a conversation with me. 5mins later, he introduced me to Hazel Lee (a Singaporean who migrated to Melbourne 10yrs ago) & I was subsequently being introduced to Ruth then to Robyn & much later to Daryl... Eventually, I stayed for fellowship with these people over a cup of tea & some cookies!

On my way to Aunty Betty's house, I realized God had shown me the sign...

Counting Down?

For some friends i know, they are each counting down to a new beginning of yet another chapter in their lives - 15 days to Melbourne for studies; 15 days to Perth for Murdoch; 20 days to New York for work & counting... I would like to think that Pepper (my dog) is also counting down for my return... hee!

Ever wonder if people do count down for the end of the world? Okay... we won't know exactly what date & time this will happen to do the actual counting down but haven't we been warned to be prepared & watched for signs? Mark 13:7-8, Jesus said: "And wars will break out near and far, but don't panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. Nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, and famines. But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come." Behold! We had earthquake that hit Tasmania (8.1 richter scale) on 25-Dec; earthquake hit Indonesia (9 richter scale) on 26-Dec which also resulted in Tsunami which affected 15 countries; earthquake hit eastern coast of Japan (6.8 richter scale) on 19-Jan; earthquake hit New Zealand (5.5 richter scale) on 20-Jan. See how many earthquakes within a short span of time? Think about it - are you ready for what is yet to come?

Well, i was with some colleagues at the Australian Open Tennis Championship yesterday, 21-Jan (Fri) evening watching a tennis match between Spain's Feliciano Lopez & Swede Joachim Johansson. We had to pay A$20 for a "After 5pm" ground pass & have access to all courts (except Rod Laver Arena) to watch any tennis matches going on that evening. It was at the Vodaphone arena where i watched my first "live" tennis match between the Spanish & Swedish. Very exciting & the match actually lasted for 4 hours - great fight! You should see how the Swedish supporter/fans - most of them painted their faces in blue & yellow (ie. the Sweden flag) - gathered to cheer & shout for J. Johansson. The results? Joachim Johansson (Swe) beat Feliciano Lopez (Sp) 6-3 3-6 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 13-11.

As we were heading back to the Federation Square, the whole Swedish gang was walking right behind us - still cheering & dancing to the victory of their home player! They went: "We are yellow, we are blue, we are Swedish, who are you?" - among the other forms of cheers which i couldn't make out... Anyway, good for them!

1-Month Anniversary

Today marks my 1 month anniversary since the day I started work in Melbourne! It's amazing how time files, isn't it? Another 69 days in Melbourne before I move on to Sydney for another 3 months & very soon, I'll be back home!

I'm taking an advise from a colleague who suggested that I should update my blog at least twice a week rather than posting a super long update over the weekend. So here I am, trying to draft something using Microsoft Word & hopefully, post it up later today. If you like this suggestion, you've got to thank Telmi!

Some quick updates on my visit to the 2 Churches last Sunday:

1. Destiny Church Melbourne, service starts at 10.15am every Sunday

It's a Hillsong Network Church - which in short: if you know how Hillsong is, that's how it is in Destiny Church - only the latter is much smaller in scale, think they have probably 100 members or so? If I'm allowed to give a rating of 1-10 (with 1 being the least) of my personal involvement in this service, I'll rate as follows:

• Worship: 8
• Sermon: 5

2. Planet Shakers City Church Melbourne, services 4pm & 6.30pm each Sunday

It's an AOG Church & the hall was packed by mostly university students with only a handful of adults (minus the Pastor & the Speaker) - just for one service! Very upbeat worship where most people jump as they sing to the fast songs & I stood there fearing that the floor might give way as we assembled on the 3rd floor of the Storey Hall in RMIT. They should have named themselves Floor Shakers instead of Planet Shakers! =P While I didn't quite flow in with the worship part, the sermon by Chris Hill was very anointed! People streamed to the front for prayer as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully & the Word of God touched many lives. My rating based on how much I was involved/ministered during this service:

• Worship: 5
• Sermon: 8

Well, there is 1 more Church I would like to attend this Sunday morning - Manningham Christian Centre before I decide a home church amongst these 3.

Pray with me that God will lead me to the one He has intended for me.

What's up, mate?

It's really hard trying to recall what happened this week when i only get a chance to post my updates on a sat morning... the truth is, work is piling up & i'm too lazy to bring my laptop home just to draft my day's entry - i've had enough of facing the laptop in a day!

This week has been quite an interesting one... Being a freight forwarding company, we are working in conjunction with some Airlines by doing our small part in consolidating all donation items from within the organization as well as our customers & moving these goods to help those suffering in the aftermath of the Tsunami - FOC! This is happening in all our respective worldwide offices.

In the Melbourne office, we have adopted to help aid Sri Lanka & i had the opportunity to organize this together with some colleagues. We spent almost a whole day at our warehouse, repacking all the items donated, labeling them & generating the documents necessary for clearance at the Sri Lanka custom office. It's amazing seeing how people contribute - though it may seems insignificant but little becomes much when you put them all together...

Speaking of which, we have recent news of storm which killed many in the UK, the bush fire in South Australia that claimed 9 lives & of course, the Tsunami. How convenient that people start to blame God the moment such natural disasters struck but are slow to give thanks & praise to God when He had created & gave everything to men for their enjoyment? Is God to be blamed??

I believe God will turn what was meant to be evil into good... Already there are news that people are clinging on to God & their faith strengthen when events like these happened as "wake up calls" for us to realize how helpless & weak we are when faced by things beyond our control - yet, it's in Christ that we are strong & through Christ that we have eternal life which cannot be taken away from us even when death caught us by surprise...

On a lighter note. The weather here in Melbourne changes like a flash! You have to constantly check on the weather report to be mentally & physically prepared to take on the weather... Tuesday's weather forecast was a hot of 39 degrees & my colleague (Eva, the girl who always invites me out) suggested for us to watch a movie at the Bailey's Moonlight Cinema that evening. As the name clearly suggest, it's an outdoor, open air Cinema at the Botanic Gardens near the city - people bring their own mats, foldable chairs, cushions, even pillows! to make themselves comfortable on the grass...

So we made arrangement that evening for me to fetch 2 of my colleagues - Eva & Sven - at 7.45pm. We ta-pow 3 chinese noodles & Eva brought from her house 2 bottles of wine & glasses, a soft camping sheet & some tibbits along... Because of the daylight saving, it was still very bright when we arrived at the Moonlight Cinema at 8.30pm. The ticket cost AUD14.50 each & you can hire a special made cushion for AUD6 (with a AUD10 deposit). Found a vacant grass spot with a good view of the big white screen & quickly set up our comfi-seats...

5mins later, we were eating & drinking as we watched others coming in & as a typical 1st timer like me & Sven, we took some photos (i'll upload the photos on mon, so be sure to check on it next week!)... The show started promptly at 9.00pm & the movie for that day was "The Metallica / St Anger". For a non-metalic/rock fan like me? I didn't quite enjoy the show but it was the company & the environment that made the difference.

Weather was super warm that evening. The wind was basically hot air & lying on the camping sheet, i could hardly find any stars to glaze at... Red clouds usually signifies rain? So there it was, we felt rain drops falling from the sky above & i looked at Eva and we went "not again?!" - recalling how pathetic we were, caught in the rain during our previous outing to watch the Rodeo at Colac. But no one in the Moonlight Cinema moved! I guessed they were so confident it's not going to rain heavy & probably trust the weather man! Or was it the movie that made them glued their butt to the ground?

With a boring movie & couple glasses of good wines, it was really not difficult to doze off & that was what i did - of course, i didn't sleep throughout the show! Around 11pm, the hot wind turned into cool breeze & by 11.30pm, it was cold at a low of 17 degrees! That's how fast the weather changes here... We were like freezing as we walked to the car after the movie - who would expect to bring a jacket when it was so hot just some hours ago? Was on bed at almost 1am.

Almost didn't want to get out of bed the next day, Wednesday morning but i did. Went to the car & was ready to drive to work when the engine won't start! Talk about having a bad start to the day! HA! Called the office & told them that i wont be in till later 'cos of the car rental company don't start work till 9am... It was 7.30am then, and thank God my car was parked in a proper parking lot - which is a meter parking - so i had to pay for 2hrs parking. But it all turn out well - i went back to catch an hour nap, the guy came to re-charge my car battery, i drove it back to the rental company & picked up another car, reported for work at 11am.

So ya... i had another old car - only for this weekend 'cos this one doesn't come with aircon. I'll have to change to another car (with aircon) next monday during lunch time. Guess by the end of my 3 months here, i'll probably get to drive the whole fleet of rental cars!

Friday was slightly busy with work & had a team meeting after lunch. Our dept. now comprises of Fiona (our dept. manager; Eva (who is a German but has been working in Australia for 6yrs); Emily (a 20 yr old who has joined the company half yr ago); Sven (a German guy who just arrived MEL last Fri & will be here till end April before he joins me again at our Sydney office in May. He is attached with Australia for a 1yr training - 4mths in MEL & 8mths in SYD) & myself.

Was helping Sven as he moved in to a rented apartment shared by 2 other guys from 3-5pm by driving the company's ute. We picked up his luggage, 5 cartons of items & a mattress before heading to his new apartment, unload the stuff & went back to the office. Come to think about it, i'm really blessed that the company is paying for my serviced apartment which is really big & clean & i've it all to myself. You should look at the apartment Sven is staying in...

Today Sat! Eva is organizing a BBQ at a horse farm she always frequent during her free time & invited quite a number of colleagues & friends along to celebrate her birthday. We were given directions how to get there & it's approx. 1hr drive from the city. I have to fetch Sven & Marc at 3pm and make our way to the BBQ. So my day is planned!

I've gathered information about 3 churches (non-traditional Anglican service) which i intend on checking them out tomorrow, Sunday. Due to their service timing, i could only attend 2 out of 3... The churches i'm looking at are:

• Manningham Christian Centre
• Destiny Church Melbourne - a member of Hillsong Church in Sydney
• City Church Melbourne - it's located in the city & is related to Planet Shakers & Youth Alive Australia

Guess i'll attend the 10.15am service at Destiny Church & 4pm service at City Church tomorrow while i'll visit Manningham Christian Centre next sun.

What Was I Thinking?

Guess from the frequency of my post update, you probably could tell that work is picking up for me in the office... But no worries mate, i'll check on my tagboard every weekdays & at least 1 post per week is guaranteed to appease those who visit this blog & make the "Visitor Count" meter does its job!

Someone asked me what is the most interesting thing that i've experienced while in Melbourne & i could think of many but here's one to share with all readers out there...

This happened in my apartment last Sunday - the day of rest, the day i didn't feel like cooking, the day i think some fast cook stuff is good enough for dinner & the day i've decided to cook this pack of Classic Asian Singapore Style Instant Rice (aka fried rice) which i've stocked up for a day like this...

And so i read & followed the instructions on the back of the box:

• slide tray out of paper cover and discard the desiccant sachet (paper packet) and mix remaining ingredients with rice in tray
• slide tray back into paper cover and put in microwave oven for 3 minutes on high
• enjoy your rice meal

Beep beep went the microwave oven, the sound which tells me my rice meal is ready for makan, the moment i had a shock of my life! I opened the microwave's door and out came a cloud of smoke & needless to say, the smell of char! I could see (literally) clouds of smoke rises to the ceiling & i really fear the smoke will trigger the water sprinklers & set the fire alarm on in the whole apartment!

After i've gathered my composure - coupled with coughing - i quickly opened the windows & frantically tried to fan the smoke & smell out of the apartment... of course that is not an easy thing to do when the apartment is quite big... Had to close the door to my bedroom so that the smell won't stink my bed & stuff...

In the midst of all these commotion, i think i was fully awake by then & went back to check on the cooking instructions again - hoping that i could sue the company for misleading me (ha! like real...) - & i realized i had missed out on step 2 of the instructions & it should read as:

• slide tray out of paper cover and discard the desiccant sachet (paper packet) and mix remaining ingredients with rice in tray
• pour boiling water into tray until ingredients are covered (approximately 180ml) and stir thoroughly
• slide tray back into paper cover and put in microwave oven for 3 minutes on high
• enjoy your rice meal

Obviously, step 4 didn't come to past when one misses out on step 2 - i didn't get to enjoy the rice meal... Exactly what was i thinking of?! It really "blew off" my dinner plan & i had to eat potato chips instead - yup! Still too lazy about cooking myself dinner that day... Hey! What do you expect? I had to wipe clean the microwave oven & live with the burned smell which lasted for like 2-3 days?!

Come to think of it, this is more of an embarrassing moment rather than an interesting event that had happened to me... sigh!

Monday Blues?

How would you like to have a day off from work on Monday? Well, that was what I did on 3rd January - except that I don't have to apply leave, it's a Public Holiday in Australia! I'm beginning to love it here - so many holidays especially when most of them fall on Monday which makes it a long weekends!! Ha!

Saturday, 1st January 2005
My first Chinese food after my arrival in Melbourne was Tim Sum! 2 of my Singaporean friends who are studying in Melbourne brought me out to Doncaster for a typical Hong Kong style Tim Sum for lunch. It's really nice to know friends who are familiar with Chinese cuisine in a foreign land - they drive you around to suburbs you would never have known how to get there & they really know where all the good food is...

Tim Sum was really nice - the restaurant is so packed with people you can't go without making a reservation. They basically serve only 2 time slots: 11am-1pm or 1-3pm & we were there for the latter. They still serve Tim Sum the traditional way - pushing carts - something which we seldom see in Singapore now because instead of creating space for the push cart to go around, the space could have been used to lay more tables for customers... Besides, placing orders with waitresses are a lot quicker & guarantees higher turnaround time for the business than waiting for the "right" push cart to come around. Yea... the "right" push cart because some cart doesn't carry the kind of food you want to eat? So, you will have to wait again for the next one to come & believe me, they don't come that soon...

Came back to the apartment around 3pm & the rest of the day was spent doing laundry, lazing around watching TV & made myself another yummy dinner!

Sunday, 2nd January 2005
It's my brother's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (I know he's gonna read my blog... hee!)

Must confess that I've not been to Church for 2 Sundays in a row... Couldn't reach my ex neighbor to find out which Church he is attending - probably out of town or something...

There's a Christian radio station here where it plays mostly contemporary Christian songs & some secular ones occasionally. So I had that switched on & was enjoying my own Sunday "Service" in the comfort of my apartment!

This was one of those days I don't feel like going out - so stayed in & really rest my Sunday away...

Monday, 3rd January 2005
Went on a short road trip to Dangdenong alone - driving my rental car. There ain't much in Dangdenong actually - it's a rather small town... Had my lunch there & headed back to the apartment to prepare for an outing with a colleague in the afternoon!

My colleague (the same one I spent my New Year's Eve fireworks with) invited me to this Rodeo event in Colac (approx. 150km away from Melbourne). It's an annual event held in Colac for the cowboys & cowgirls to put their cowboy skills to a series of tests - riding bareback bulls & horses, roping the bull while riding on a horse, etc...

For some reason, the event started at 5pm this year while in the past, it usually starts around 2pm... I volunteered to fetch my colleague from her house & the journey took us about 2 hours - arriving in Colac at 5.15pm. The event started promptly at 5.30pm with drizzle as the people sat on hay stands to watch the first cowboy did his rodeo stunt on a bareback bull.

15min into the competition, the drizzle got heavier & it rained throughout the event - we were wet & cold (with the wind, it's probably like 14degrees) but that didn't stop us & the people from staying on in the show... It got quite wild when the bull tossed the guy off its back & you really watched intensely & prayed he doesn't get stampede by it.

Took some photos of the Rodeo but mostly I've got them on video... The problem is I can't post the video clips on the web like I did for the photos via Yahoo! Photos. If you know of any internet website that provides such a platform (for free), please let me know.

From the video (perhaps the photos as well), you can really see how the bulls & horses went "crazy" trying to get rid of the guy riding on them & you wonder why are these animals so wild? Well, what causes this is the people tie a belt-like thingy around the bull/horse - which is near the hind legs & when the cowboy takes his position on the bull/horse, holding tightly to a rope that goes round the front of the animal, another person will pull the belt-like string so tight that it really hurts the animal's testicle so much that it tries to rid the belt-like string by kicking using its hind legs - thus creating a rodeo ride for the cowboy who tries to balance & stays on top of the bull/horse...

Guess the only way the poor animal could take revenge is to stomp on the cowboy when he falls off its back - which was what happened to one cowboy... Unfortunately, it was not caught on tape... Anyway, the cowboy got up on his feet & walked out of the ring "bravely" - no sign of pain - but the moment he reached the back where most audience couldn't see, he actually collapsed on the ground! But he survived & I hope there is no internal bleeding & pray that he is still alive today...

Happy New Year!

What better way to start the first day of 2005 then to post up an entry in my blog? *CHAY!* Ya... I know I'm getting quite proud about keeping my blog up-to-date! Hee! Well, what to do? I've to entertain frequent blog visitor like you mah... ok, enough of crap...

1st Jan is like every other ordinary day - guess the difference is how you usher in the New Year... Here in Melbourne, most people gather at the Federation Square (City Centre) & the Yarra River for countdown & fireworks once the clock strikes 12am! Despite some public suggestion to cancel the fireworks & donate the money in aid for the Tsunami victims, the Melbourne Council decided to proceed with it & will also set up some collection points so that the public can contribute & raise some funds for the affected Countries...

It was after much contemplation that I finally decided (reluctantly) to join my colleague who had so kindly extended an invitation for me to join her & her friends for the countdown party. I left my apartment around 11.30pm and walked down Collins Street towards Dockland Street to meet with her... But it didn't help very much for a "2 weeks old" visitor like me who isn't very familiar with the place here when she said to me over the phone: "I'm at this open field near the water where the fireworks are gonna be. There are 4 apartment blocks on my right & Telstra Dome is behind me..." and I was thinking to myself like how would I know where the water & the fireworks are gonna be?!

Anyway, we were on the phone for quite a while with me trying to figure out how to get to her & telling her my location & all that stuff... until I heard the fireworks. That's right... HEARD the fireworks! And she went "Ah! The fireworks, come quick!!" and I was like "Ok... I heard the fireworks but I don't see any. So... that means I'm probably quite far from where you are..." And our conversation continued with description of landmarks, etc with the sound of fireworks in the background...

5min past 12, I finally saw the fireworks! In the end, we decided to watch the fireworks at wherever we were then & it lasted for about 15min before the search for my colleague continues... Found her around half past 12 when most of the crowd have already dispersed & our exchange of New Year greetings were actually 30min late...

Standing on the waterfront pier with the water & the CityLink flyover ahead - the view was fantastic! Found out that this place is call New Quay where there are rows of Pubs & Restaurants & some private apartments - it's something like our Clarke Quay in Singapore.

After that I joined my colleague at her friend's apartment in New Quay for drinks & left the party at 4am on New Year's day. Definitely didn't regret meeting the nice people!

Woke up this morning & watched the 9am News broadcasting the people of Ukraine counting down to the New Year "Live" in Kiev...