One Saturday morning in Perth, Western Australia

A very long trip (16 days) away from home this year... to Australia for various reasons.

Perth - Visit Dealers

Melbourne - For work and most importantly, to look for an apartment for myself for my stay... not forgetting to catch the opening week of the Australian Open in the meantime (as my boss always mention)

Brisbane - Attending a meeting and visiting dealer.

Not a good start to the trip when I found that my luggage (Wilson cloth) had been torned due to mishandling by airline (I guess)... painful, which means that I need to buy a NEW luggage, which can be time consuming and of course costly! Managed to arrange with the conceirge to have my luggage pick-up by the airport and will collect when I next return to Perth (most likely in March). I must say that I was quite happy with the service provided by Intercontinental Burswood. I did get myself a soft-case red Skyway luggage which is really BIG! For the amount of stuffs I have this trip, I cannot afford a small luggage...quite happy with the price too, not a bad deal from Harbour Town Outlets. Walking along Hay St reminded me of my visit with May and Sharon last year... we had a good time then.

Saturday, 13 Jan - Had been contemplating to leave Perth earlier (to catch the final of AMMI Classic in Kooyong) or to spend a relaxing morning jogging in Perth. Decided on the later for various reasons, and I was glad I did it...the jog was wonderful. Nice weather, and nice scenary, the only thing missing was my water bottle... which can be a concern in case I couldn't find any shop to hydrate myself. Anyhow, I planned my jog such that I will enjoy my breakfast at a restaurant by the Swan River, call Boatshed (recommended by hotel staff). A very nice choice... a wonderful sunny Saturday morning relaxing an enjoying my BF on the deck of the restaurant...with view of the City of Perth opposite the Swan River (shown in picture above). All in all, did about 12km.

After that satisfying morning in Perth, left for Melbourne where my house-hunting and Australian Open awaits me!

Happy New Year ...

Wishing all readers a good 2007, with Health, Happiness, Peace ('mum' told me this morning), Prosperity and Success. May all that you wished for, come true...

Recap of 2006

Remember last year's New Year's Eve... I was in Shanghai with the Alikido group and that day itself, we had training (if I remember correctly). Anyway, we had fun, but the most memorable event was the Countdown at Xin Tian Di. Through the effort of Huey Yuee, we managed to get tickets to the countdown where there is a BIG concert, with peformance by 2 of my idols, Alan Tam and Hacken Lee. To be honest, it was the BEST countdown party (taking into consideration we don't normally attend many of those! Whatever it is, it was fun... screaming and shouting and NICE fire works! Spectecular indeed. We met up with some people from the Aikido group (Dorothy, Uncle Seah, Tham, and Dan). We went for a drink and supper where Dorothy was "drunk" after just 1 drink! That was really funny... cos she actually slept while standing in the lift... luckily Uncle Seah was around.


Come to think about Life if really full of coincidence and events we can and should treasure and appreciate. It is not bad after all... Take the above countdown for example, I happened to be in Shanghai and Alan and Hacken happened to be performing! The most important thing is of course, my friend's Huey Yuee's effort in helping me to get those tickets! I was honestly touched and appreciate all that she has done... which is not normally what she would do... I remember how impressed and delighted I was, until this day! Something which you can encounter but not asked for (in chinese, ke yu bu ke chiu)...

Other major events in 2006 includes...

1) Confirmation of my posting to Melbourne
This is going to be a huge change for me in 2007 and beyond. Obviously, a lot of well-wishes were received from colleagues, and also concerns from friends who knows my family situation.
2) Watching the Tennis Masters in Shanghai (for the full week) where Roger Federer won the title!
This is indeed one of the highlights of the year. I believe it's going to be more Live tennis for me in years to come. Something which I am really passionate about. Just wished I can play better, but throughout the years, I only see myself improving marginally, no quantum leap at all.. so alittle dissatisfied in that aspect. But I will continue to try to play more and hopefully one day, I will see the difference.
3) Paul's visit to Singapore
We had a few good tennis games and enjoyed some good food together. This is another of such things that happened that one can only hope to encounter, and definitely cannot delibrately crave for it... cause, it will not happened. And of course, treasure the fact that I get to enjoy those few days...
4) Vacation trip of the year with BPC - Osaka & Kyoto in April to see Cherry Blossom.
As usual, all my trips with BPC have been great, and memorable. Likewise, we killed lots of memory space (digital instead of negative based)! Photo after photo... Very nice to be able to enjoy the scenary. Just makes me wonder when will my family members (dad, sis and nephews) get to enjoy these beautiful scenary! With the happiness I experienced, I can't help but wished my dad and sis will one day get to enjoy all these wonderful scenary around the world...at least Australia while I am there.

5) My only Peoria trip in 2006
Luckily, I get to visit Peoria, Illinois again in March this year, and getting to meet up with Dad, Mum, Julie and the EOMP colleagues who I worked with in my previous position.
Somehow, Peoria is not a desirable place without Mum and Dad... the bond I've built with them is so strong (at least that how I feel) that something is missing if I don't get to see them. This year however, I happened to be around when Paul (Judy's brother) passed away. Fortunately, I was able to visit him before he left. Somehow, I always happened to be in Peoria when such unhappy things happened. Previously, I encountered Julie's mother visitation, Maudeen's sickness and now Paul's hospitalization and visitation. I am not sure if I should consider myself fortunate or unfortunate... whatever it is, I am just glad that I can lead a helping hand, mentally. Just hope that the next time I get to visit Peoria (if that opportunity arises again), I will be attending some Birthday celebrations or some Weddings! To share people's JOY and not SORROWS.
6) Health related problems.
First my wrist (both right and left) injury from Aikido... it was the most agonizing 2 weeks when my right wrist liagement was pulled, I can't even open the car door and the pain was undescribable! Actually that injury really "woke" me up and sadly affected my passion of the sports. Still like it, but a little more cautious now since any injury will affect my Tennis and other sports. Because of that precaution, I hurt my left wrist as well...now it is still painfull, and it will never be like before. All I can do is to keep strengthening it and hopefully it'll get stronger over the years.Next, my left hamstrings problem, which got worst and I have to consult Dr Low... where I started my therapy session with Physionique (http://www.physionique.com/) since October. It didn't really recover, just relief after every therapy session.
7) Tickets, Fines & Accidents
2006 year marked the record year of receiving tickets and fines, ranging from Speeding to illegal parking. Honestly, this is not the first time I speed or park illegally, but somehow, I managed to get a record of about 6 this year, from September this year, with 4 demerit points from Speeding! Gosh, really down on luck...wonder WHO I offended. On top of that, believe I was involved in 2 car accidents this year, one a result of not being attentive (involving 2 other cars), and the other a result of a road bully (motorcyclist)! Whatever the cause, both cost me a total of S$7,000 (just my car), not taking into account the amount that was claimed from 3rd parties on my insurance. Sigh, just glad that all these only involved monetary losses and not more. Hope 2007 is a fine free and accident free year.
Despite all these... I believe 2007 is going to be another year of changes, challenges and activities. Whatever it is, let us all appreciate and enjoy the process, so that we can look back to a GOOD and fulfilling 2007.

Countdown to 2007

A hotel room on the Club Floor of Park Royal Hotel (http://www.parkroyalhotels.com/) to relax, a visit to the Asian Civilization Muesum (ACM) and viewing of fireworks display in front of Fullerton Hotel. Those are the events welcoming 2007, with close friends.
All for a Better 2007, when our dreams come true... with more headcount to the group!