PLAYING AT THE BEACH

We went away for a few days to the beach. Stayed in villa overlooking the pool where i swam and swam until my ears hurt and then i couldn't swim any more! Behind the pool was a beach where dad got a couple of little waves and we swam together - i even had a little go! We ate fresh sea food straight off the boat and enjoyed prawns and fish.

One day we took a day trip to a little village about an hour and a half further down the road. We had to walk across an old swing bridge and then went through a tiny village to a great little beach with white sand and a long left hander out the front for dad. He said he was frothin' but i don't know what that means - we didn't see him for quite some time. Some of his mates gave me and finn a go on his board and we could see the fish among the coral at our feet. At the end of the day we ate lunch in a little house and played with the goats and chickens and then we travelled back up the mountains home again - a perfect day!

Our last day was dad's birthday and we swam and played and had a great old day - unfortunately dad was a bit sore from a fall from his surfboard so he wasn't too active and couldn't get back in the water again.

What a great holiday - i look forward to seeing my friends again!

Crocodile Farm

Our newest and funnest find of recent time is a crocodile farm hidden down some back lanes with no signs. Someone imported some crocodiles here 50 years ago and they have been living happily in little pools - the largest one is over 6 meters long and weighs over a tonne! the exciting thing is you can buy a live chicken and then using a long bamboo pole fish for the crocodile and he jumps out of the water to grab the chicken! Mum doesn't like it very much but we all think it is great fun!

 
 
 
 

Boiling eggs at a volcano

We went with our Friend Toby to visit a local volcano and we got to boil some eggs in the hot water! i was also adopted by numerous people and had my photo taken as the token white boy!

 
 
 
 

Singkong on the farm

The other day I went to the farm with my friends and I helped bapak pick singkong which is a kind of root vegetable. You have to pull the whole tree up to get it and then you clean it and then cook it. Ibu is cooking it over an open fire in the kitchen. It is particularly yummy when it has been fried up to make singkong goreng! Enak!

 
 
 
 

Riding a bike!

THe other night we had dinner at a friends house and she had a little bike! I jumped on it and with the help of dad and the training wheels I went back and forth across the floor! It was great fun although I am not very good at steering and keep on running into things and Finn always seems to be in the road! I am looking forward to getting a bike of my own one day!

 

Back in the saddle

We have come to Malaysia to visit nanna and poppa and we have been able go to the beach and i have refound my love of surfing even though i don't have a board! we found a piece of styro-foam in the back of nanna and poppa's car and it turned out to be a great board! unfortunately the waves were too small for dad!

Finn Turns 1!

Yesterday we celebrated Finn's first birthday with our neighbours! we had a great party and over 50 kids squished into our lounge room! Ibu Tati and Ibu Sumi and Mum spent a long time preparing food and party bags and party games! At the party everyone came on time dressed in their best clothes. Everyone gave Finn a present and he had to shake their hands.(i was very excited about the presents and now have many new toys which I share with Finn, I think he is too small to enjoy them so I am enjoying them for him!). After that we sung the birthday song and then blew out the cake candle before playing birthday games which was a bit difficult as our lounge room is quite squashy with 50 bodies in the room! We then ate birthday food and cake! Finn loved the chocolate cake and at loads of it! I think i enjoy it when Finn has a birthday because new toys come into our house and I get to enjoy the spoils! My birthday is in March and I am beginning to remind people now so they don't forget (and so i can share my presents with Finn!)

 
 
 
 

My New Rain Coat

Mum bought me a new rain coat with Iron Man on the back! i can now run in the rain and splash in puddles! i love it!

Uncle Pete

We had a flying visit from Uncle Pete who is the shepherd of the flock back in Woonona Pressy! It was great to catch up with him and I had a fun time playing with him and hearing stories of India and life back in Oz. We showed him around our city and he saw lots of different things including the big mosque in the centre of town, dad teaching a class and uncle Pete had a go teaching some English, although dad said sarcasm didn't quite work on the non-English speaking students, we also visited a volcano and Uncle Pete tried to dip his toe in the boiling water but it was too hot! Some people were happily having mud baths in the boiling mud but it was too hot for me! We had a great time and were greatly encouraged by his visit!


 
 
 
 

An American, an Englishman, an Irishman and an Australian climbed a mountain

No joke!

Dad and some of his friends set off at 5 in the morning to climb one of the bigger mountains not too far from our house! At over 2,000 metres high i am told it is pretty high! they scrambled through bush and climbed over rocks, heard monkeys and wild pigs and reached the summit to find it covered in cloud! Everytime i look out our back window i see the mountain and say "dad climbed that mountain!" (well at least dad does!)

bush walk

Last weekend we went on a bush walk to a wonderful waterfall. We walked through a dark cave which was dug out during the war times and then we walked up and up for another 6 kilometers until we reached the waterfall. We saw lots of little monkeys in the trees and running across the road and then saw a wonderful waterfall. The other great thing was a small play area and I was able to swim in the pool for ages while we waited for dad to come back with the car. We had fried rice at a little shop and then drove home. I was so tired i fell asleep straight away in the car!

 
 
 
 

Medical Clinic

On Friday mum and Aunty Sue went to another area of our city and helped out with a medical clinic. This was a free clinic with local doctors providing free checkups and free medicines. About 300 people turned up and were checked. Sue took up a role of checking blood pressure and Corinne became a pharmicist for the day dispensing medicine. As people were going home they were also given a small packet of food and things which helps them to live. They were working alongside a small team from Singapore and they had another clinic the following day way out in the village and about another 160 people turned up. The day was a real sucess and a great encouragement to all involved and provided great links with the community.

 
 
 
 

Corinne Tailor!

We have recently helped one of our neighbours get a small sewing business started. She is making various quilted things, at the moment she is making a series of aprons which are wonderful. The sewing machine is an antique but very strong singa which she is very proud of. The original asking price for the machine was 800,000 and she bargained them down to 350,000 and she was very pleased with her purchase. When another neighbour saw the machine she was so impressed that she offered her 700,000 to buy it off her! She politely refused and is determined to make the most of her new machine. If you have any patterns or things she could use she would greatly appreciate it!