A Clear Autumn Day in Melbourne

Yvonne and I made a quick dash trip to Melbourne on a tax-deduction opportunity. We were lucky to strike a fine, clear day. I scored an unexpected interview with ABC Radio, and we enjoyed the theatre and the Rupert Bunny Exhibition as well.

View of the South Bank.

Yvonne trying to out-stare the sun.

The Yarra from the Convention Centre.

David and Elise Wedding

Kay and I attended David and Elise McLellan's wedding in Brisbane on 15th May 2010.


Of course many people were there . . .

Including the "older" ones !


More photos at my photo blog - David and Elise Wedding album .

Gilly's tricks

Our new kitten Gilly has a way of entertaining herself - and us.

(Sorry, there is no thumbnail image, a blogger.com problem I think, but the video works )

Hello Gilly

We have not forgotten David, but we now have Gilly. She was just 8 weeks old when we got her and so far she is proving to be just as entertaining, though somewhat quieter than her predecessor.

Perth

I made a quick trip to Perth, ostensibly to attend the AGM of Woodside Petroleum but also to meet up with friends and contacts. Outside the venue of the Woodside AGM, a group of protestors were complaining about the impact of an LNG development on the wildlife. When I ventured nearer to find out more on the issue, a reporter interviewed me and had this photo taken next to a friendly looking whale. In hindsight, I wondered if the reporter thought I was a Japanese person inspecting the object of the next meal.


It was good to catch up with former classmates Arthur and Geok Hwee, now residents of WA in the Perth area. After a Cook's tour of Perth arcades and malls, we ended up at "Newton Circle", which we reasonably assumed to be a very close approximation to the one with a rather similar name in Singapore. We were happy with our find, even though the stall very honestly explained that the one in Singapore was not Newton Circle but Newton Circus. This one has made Perth famous.


More photos at Arthur's blog http://i82muchblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/kin-mun-whirlwind-visit-to-perth_01.html

David RIP 20 Oct 2009 - 25 Apr 2010

Yvonne's beloved young cat David was tragically found dead at our neighbour's front garden last night. We believed he was hit by a car outside the house and the motorist kindly moved him to the garden.

Over the past few months we had much joy and fun with David, watching him grew from a kitten to a young adult cat.

He was the most affectionate cat we have ever had and will be sadly missed.

David loved to settle into any snugly location.

He had a clever way of finding the water level.

He had an unusual resting position.

He grew quickly into a young cat.

Vietnam #12 Farewell to Vietnam

Our trip finished in Hanoi and we celebrated at a fine French restaurant - Verticale.

Vietnam #11 Tam Coc

Like everyone else I knew about Ha Long Bay before going to Vietnam, but not Tam Coc, some 100 odd km south of Hanoi. Like Ha Long Bay, the beautiful scenery was carved out of the Karst limestone country. While Kay and Sue were busy shopping in Hanoi, Dave and I made the journey to Tam Coc and enjoyed the hour and half boat cruise along the Ngo Dong river, paddled by a local village boatwoman, meandering along the steep limestone cliffs, along rice fields and through grottoes.


More photos at Tam Coc album.

Vietnam #10 Hanoi

Hanoi, at last. We were brought to the Temple of Literature, a tribute to Confucius and other literary masters that contributed to the Vietnamese culture. Appropriately, the place was teeming with school children.


We particularly wanted to visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where the revolutionary leader still lie, and the spartan rooms where he spent his later days are now on display to visitors.


But of course, apart from the water puppets,


a visit to Hanoi is not complete without a cyclo tour and visit to the shops, if one can survive the traffic and the dusts !


More photos at Hanoi album.

Vietnam #10 Ha Long Bay

We left Bac Ha, returned to Lao Cai on the Chinese border and journeyed back to Hanoi on another overnight train.

There was a glitch in the transfer at Hanoi. When we arrived at 5am in the morning, there was no one at the travel office to receive us. After some frantic calls by the bus driver, we were driven to another office where a young night watcher was woken to let us in, have a rest and use the shop's facilities. We had the rare experience of watching Hanoi waking up.


Hanoi had to wait. A bus eventually turned up to us for the 3 hour drive to the world heritage listed Ha Long Bay.


After some confusion over the pier to board our Indochina Sails vessel, we finally got on board.


We spent the rest of the day cruising around the bay of spectacular karst landscape. We stopped to climb the Titop Hill on one of the islands and visited a floating village. Others went swimming and kayaking.




More photos at Ha Long Bay album.