Halloween

Kristine's school took half day off to 'celebrate' Halloween at the school sports field. Almost all kids wore some kind of costumes for the ocassions, but a few stayed inside their classrooms. When I asked one of them why he didnt attend the activities, he replied,"It's boring!".

Kristine wore a brand new Japanese yukata from her xiaogugu in Tokyo. A parent of her classmate mistook Kristine as Korean, but never mind.

The ocassion was sponsored by a French bank, the Chief Representative of which sends his child to the school. The bank got a mention at the opening ceremony, and the father got to go on stage and promised to do the same next year.

Construction workers at a building site adjacent to the school stopped work to watch the activities. I left half way through it to come home and prepare dinner.

Photos show Kristine with her English teacher Ms Gao, and Kristine's classmates in another.

My Turn Sending Kristine to Bus Stop

Beijing morning is getting colder and darker. Kristine was pleasantly surprised when I woke her up at 630am, but that didnt stop her from squeezing another 5 mins fo nap time in bed. Kimberley was really still in a daze when she saw me. She came down her bed and crawled to me pretending to be a dog. They went ransacking for their new and familiar old toys and clothes. Photo attached shows Kristine and Kimberley on way to Kristine's school bus stop. Note the boots Kimberley handpicked for herself.

Beijing Huan Ying Ni!

Arrived Beijing 15 mins ahead of schedule, the first of the three trips to Beijing this year.

The checked-in baggage weighed 37kgs. The Chinese lady at AirChina check-ib counter just asked me if I had packed inflammanle materials or laptop batteries, never why she should let me check in so much. The Customs officer in Beijing did ask me what I packed in the cardboard box. I told him we were moving home and the contents were all household goods. That was enough for him ro wave me on to the exit. The 5 kgs of Melbourne fish are still frozen solid upon reaching Beijing home

Flight was not full. The flight attendants were nice. Food was soso. Dinner was niurou fan (beef slices in heavy gravy with rice) and lunch was fish fillets with e-mee noodle (It was supposed to be fish with rice, but someone in the catering kitchen wanted to surprise me).

Keeping me entertained from the window seat next to me is a young lady from Dalian. She and her hubby graduated with bachelor degrees from Ireland but decided to pursue a Masters degree at Deakin in Accounting to seek Australian PR. She lodged her application just a month ago and is on way back to see her 2-yr old child under the care of the grandparents in Dalian. While her husband stays in Melbourne to run their small business, she plans on staying 3 months in Dalian with her child. When asked if she would bring her child to Melbourne once her PR is approved, she replied taking care of small child is very troublesome........

On way home in a taxi, I saw workers taking down Beijing 2008 banners along the airport expressway. Beijing welcomes me back with a few coughs while my throat tries to adjust to the Beijing air.

kristine and kimberley

I am not in Beijing yet, so I dont have any photo to show. Grace just told me Kristine and Kimberley are downstairs outside the apartment building, playing with Scarlet and Jenny. Scarlet is riding a bike, Kristine is riding her sccoter/pushbike, and Kimberley is chasing after them on foot.........

Photos taken at BeiHai Park

Melb Fish

Last evening marked my last fishing trip this visit to Melbourne. Just 4 hours of night fishing with Ken, an old mate. A good chance to catch up. Unfortunately, we didnt catch any fish worth mentioning, just a plain simple rare chance to exchange life stories. Overall fishing has been good out of the 5 trips out. While it is still a little early for snappers, and the early hookups were lost, 4 came home with me. The biggest catch was Peruvian Jacks and Australian Salmons. Plenty to sashimi and panfried for many friends and relatives.
Challenges for the next two days are to mow the lawn, clean the pool, tidy the empty bedrooms, and prioritize what Grace wants to bring to Beijing to fit 30 kgs allowance.

Loose Ends

Today is the day to cancel all credit cards with annual fees. No point keeping any credit card from Australia since they cannot be used overseas cheaply. They charge between 1-2% commissions on each transaction in foreign currencies, making them very expensive to use while travelling overseas, thus the cancellations today. The banks did try their best to hold on to the businesses by persuading me to hang on to the cards, but they didnt sway me one bit.

The Pajero will be assessed by the insurance company for damage repairs on Friday. Once the minor repairs are done, Pajero will be put on the market to sell. The Merz too will be panel-detailed at own cost for possible sale. If market price is lower than the price insurance company insured it for, we will keep it. Interestingly, an auto insurance can lapse for 6 months before all any 'good behavior' rating is sacrificed. The Merz has not been insured for 2 months now. It is siting in the garage collecting dust.

Sea has been rough the whole of this week, but I will try my luck tomorrow from morning to dusk. Heading out early morning. Wind is still strong outside but forecast abating by morning.

Looooong Lunch

Kristine,
I saw Faith today at her home. Melbourne put on a beautiful blue sky with scattered clouds. Auntie Dorothy blamed me for some gusty wind that kept blowing the table napkins away, but you know I was innocent. As usual, Auntie Dorothy and Uncle YowNeng cooked too much. I ate too much. Lunch lasted from 1230pm to 5pm. We certainly received more than our fair shares of Vitamin D from the Sun.
Faith has selected a name for the new baby, but she is keeping it a secret. Auntie Dorothy still cannot eat much. I hope to bring her some fresh, chemical-free, pollutant-free fish next week.

Fish from Melbourne

Dear Kristine, I just want to prove to you your Dad is the best Daddy AND the best fisherman in the world!!!!!

Staying Home To Watch Tom & Jerry

Today I watched Tom and Jerry. I say tom is so dumb becasuse he jumped into a pond. Jerry is so clever becasue he just is. My favorite show is Jerry and the Lion. I did not go to school because I was dizzy that's why I had time to watch Tom and Jerry. --- Kristine

Hello Kitty Has landed in Melbourne

The Hello Kitty sandwiched between Krisitne and Kimberley in previous post has finally landed in Melbourne. The Air China flight was delayed by 2 hrs at Beijing airport due to mechanical problem, discovered only just before take off. The flight to and transit through Shanghai was rather painless, then a long 10 hrs to Melbourne. I was entertained by 1 and 3/4 movies, a dinner, and breakfast, and a pre-teenage boy travelling alone who kept wanting to get out of his window seat in a row diagonally in front of me. I felt sorry for that aisle seat passenger, a big size Aussie also travelling alone who had to get up to let that somewhat oversized boy out so frequently. I had 5 1/2 hours plus another half hour sleep altogether, broken only in the middle of the night by that boy repeating 'Excuse Me!' to his aisle seat passenger to let him get out. That Aussie guy was either deep asleep, or he was ignoring the boy's requests, hoping the boy would give up, but the boy's persistence won in the end, waking me up as well.
Getting through Melbourne Immigration was quick. The officer asked different questions than when I was travelling with the family. No sniffer dog at the luggage carousel that morning. Then a long queue to the Customs Quarantine just to decalre some paste-on medication I bought for Amah. Almost an hour to get through the queue.
Front lawn needs mowing, floors need vacuuming, pool is turning green. Plenty of cleaning to be done.
Felt good to see my fishing gear still stacked upright in the garage.....