Today was the Family Group Conference Refresher's training and the trainer, Vince, shared on the role of the coordinator. What is the role of this coordinator? What are the values this coordinator should have? Who should this person be? Amongst the many words to describe the role and values, Compassionate and 聽 left a deep imprint in me.
Prior to this training, Compassion, in my perspective is just a word to describe a feeling. Going deeper into its origin and history, the word compassion comes from the Latin stem Compati, meaning to suffer with. 'Com' is 'together', 'Pati' is 'to suffer'. Compassion, then, is more than just a feeling, more than just feeling. It is a together thing. Compassion is to suffer together with someone.
As the word was explained, I felt that all this while, I had taken this word for granted. Now I know why Jesus chose the nails for me. Jesus is described as compassionate. He suffers together with me, He suffers for me. He does not just feel the pain I go through. He goes through together with me.
We also went through the Chinese traditional word 'listen' - 聽. When we break up the word, on the left hand side, is the word ear, 耳. On the right side is 目, describing eyes. 心 means heart and finally 一 means unity, undivided attention. When we listen to someone, we should listen with undivided attention, noting body languages, listening with our heart and ears.
At the end of the refresher, my heart was in a state of having different feelings all at the same time. On one hand, there was a sudden surge of gratefulness in my heart. I was filled with thanks that someone was so willing to suffer together with me, to suffer for me. It is not something I do not know yet today, it somehow struck me so deeply. On the other hand, I do feel a sense of *hmmm* disappointment with myself. Yes, I tend to be people-oriented, friends do thank me for listening to them, friends have commented before that I am compassionate. However, today I ask myself - Do I live up to the word 'compassion'? Am I willing to suffer with someone? Do I really practice the art of listening? Do I listen with undivided attention? With my heart and my every being? Do friends feel they have my total attention when they look for me? Have I over the years grown cynical? Have I? I remember a few weeks ago, I shared with my buddy that I feel very unheard. Have I been hearing others then? Hmmm..
Ok, food for thought. Enough thoughts for today.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Melbourne Afterthoughts
Last week this day, I was on my way back home from Melbourne. Time flies heh? Often I wonder "What my future lies?" Anyway, just want to jot down my afterthoughts from my 14-days trip.
On caring
People would not know how much you care until they see how much you care.
I was teamed with a classmate for a game called "Present upfront". We were given 10 mins to get to know our teammate - Where are you from? What do you do? What do you like to do? After we got 2 mins to present to the rest of the group who is our teammate.
In the 10 mins while I was questioned, I felt interrogated. However, in the next 2 mins, it was presented like I was my teammate's best friend. I felt queer.
I asked myself "Hmmm... How does my clients feel when I speak to them? Sometimes, the work requires lots of questioning and questioning, in essence, can feel like an interrogation. We do social work because we want to care. Yet, does people know we care if we question interrogatively?
Disclaimer: This is NOT a complain. It was just how I felt at that point of time.
On self-awareness
I was having lunch in a Missions House. This Missions House serves the destitute, the homeless, the poor for specific regions by giving out food. Unless we have a card, we would have to purchase our own lunch, which is very cheap.
Inside the Missions House, my colleague and I did the usual - took photos. As we had a classmate who joined us for lunch, we got a little "high" taking photos, posing here and there.
While we were laughing happily, this old man walked to me and in his indifferent slow speech, he said "I have never taken a photo before because I have never owned a camera before."
Immediately, I teared. I felt so sorry. So sorry that I totally forgot where I was and there I was flaunting my wealth, camera, watch, money to buy food, etc. I felt so shameful actually. I don't mean to but donning the hat of a tourist, I totally forgotten where I was.
On passion
7 years ago, I had wanted so so much to stay on in Oz after my studies. Then, I felt I had the burden for the people because I felt that there were many who professed they are Christians but many were just Sunday Church goer.
In this trip, I realized that 7 years ago, I wanted to stay on because hmm... I think I was young. I wanted to be away from family. I wanted my so-called Freedom.
Over the years since I returned, I have developed a passion for my own people. I remember 4 years ago before I started my internship at Beyond, I questioned myself - Can I love people? Knowing that I have my fair share of complains of Singapore, I prayed for compassion. Sitting through the training, I found myself relating things I learned back to how it can be relevant to who I work with. I know, then, that I have grown to love my home country.
On hospitality
In the first hostel I stayed in, there were so many rooms for its guests. Yet, there were only 3 bathrooms. There were one night where I got so tired waiting for the bathroom that I slept without bathing. Also, when I first arrived, we were not very well-received.
In the second hostel, we were complimented with smiles and 4 eggs. we thought that was it but as we went to level 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the hallway. On the left were all the rooms. On the right were toilets and bathrooms. The ratio between rooms and bathrooms were fantastic.
I kinda thought of the facility I have at work in Sembawang. The facility we have is great. Lots of rooms, more than enough bathrooms so there is no need to fight. Perhaps the only thing we are lack of is probably genuine smile? Hmm.. Hospitality maybe? Understanding of whichever family we have there? As a recipient at 2 hostels, I understand the importance of having the reception understanding my needs and having to meet it! What worked well for my heart was also the warm welcome I received.
On appreciation
In the training, we had classmates coming from various countries - almost all classmates were involved in Social Circus.
In one session, a classmate shared about his youths holding onto pistols and knives, not to fight but to protect themselves. There were more sharing made along this line.
I was humbled. Very humbled. Whatever I did face or am facing is nothing nothing compared to their sharing. I began to appreciate where I am living, a secured and sheltered place.
Now, whenever a complain is at the tip of my tongue, I bite it to remind myself how blessed I am.
On caring
People would not know how much you care until they see how much you care.
I was teamed with a classmate for a game called "Present upfront". We were given 10 mins to get to know our teammate - Where are you from? What do you do? What do you like to do? After we got 2 mins to present to the rest of the group who is our teammate.
In the 10 mins while I was questioned, I felt interrogated. However, in the next 2 mins, it was presented like I was my teammate's best friend. I felt queer.
I asked myself "Hmmm... How does my clients feel when I speak to them? Sometimes, the work requires lots of questioning and questioning, in essence, can feel like an interrogation. We do social work because we want to care. Yet, does people know we care if we question interrogatively?
Disclaimer: This is NOT a complain. It was just how I felt at that point of time.
On self-awareness
I was having lunch in a Missions House. This Missions House serves the destitute, the homeless, the poor for specific regions by giving out food. Unless we have a card, we would have to purchase our own lunch, which is very cheap.
Inside the Missions House, my colleague and I did the usual - took photos. As we had a classmate who joined us for lunch, we got a little "high" taking photos, posing here and there.
While we were laughing happily, this old man walked to me and in his indifferent slow speech, he said "I have never taken a photo before because I have never owned a camera before."
Immediately, I teared. I felt so sorry. So sorry that I totally forgot where I was and there I was flaunting my wealth, camera, watch, money to buy food, etc. I felt so shameful actually. I don't mean to but donning the hat of a tourist, I totally forgotten where I was.
On passion
7 years ago, I had wanted so so much to stay on in Oz after my studies. Then, I felt I had the burden for the people because I felt that there were many who professed they are Christians but many were just Sunday Church goer.
In this trip, I realized that 7 years ago, I wanted to stay on because hmm... I think I was young. I wanted to be away from family. I wanted my so-called Freedom.
Over the years since I returned, I have developed a passion for my own people. I remember 4 years ago before I started my internship at Beyond, I questioned myself - Can I love people? Knowing that I have my fair share of complains of Singapore, I prayed for compassion. Sitting through the training, I found myself relating things I learned back to how it can be relevant to who I work with. I know, then, that I have grown to love my home country.
On hospitality
In the first hostel I stayed in, there were so many rooms for its guests. Yet, there were only 3 bathrooms. There were one night where I got so tired waiting for the bathroom that I slept without bathing. Also, when I first arrived, we were not very well-received.
In the second hostel, we were complimented with smiles and 4 eggs. we thought that was it but as we went to level 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the hallway. On the left were all the rooms. On the right were toilets and bathrooms. The ratio between rooms and bathrooms were fantastic.
I kinda thought of the facility I have at work in Sembawang. The facility we have is great. Lots of rooms, more than enough bathrooms so there is no need to fight. Perhaps the only thing we are lack of is probably genuine smile? Hmm.. Hospitality maybe? Understanding of whichever family we have there? As a recipient at 2 hostels, I understand the importance of having the reception understanding my needs and having to meet it! What worked well for my heart was also the warm welcome I received.
On appreciation
In the training, we had classmates coming from various countries - almost all classmates were involved in Social Circus.
In one session, a classmate shared about his youths holding onto pistols and knives, not to fight but to protect themselves. There were more sharing made along this line.
I was humbled. Very humbled. Whatever I did face or am facing is nothing nothing compared to their sharing. I began to appreciate where I am living, a secured and sheltered place.
Now, whenever a complain is at the tip of my tongue, I bite it to remind myself how blessed I am.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Melbourne Menus
I was on my company budget for the first 5 days. Next 8 days, no way am I ever going to spend $15 per meal! So, travelmate and I decided that COOKing is the next best deal!
List of food stuffs purchased for 8 days:
1 bottle of 4 litre water
2 bottles of 3 litre orange juice
2 bottles of 1.5 litre Coke
1 bottle of 330ml Coke
3 bottles of red bull
2 bottles of white wine
2 bottles of Tasmanian Beer
2 packets of Kettle chips
1 packet of Nachos
2 packets of microwaveable Lasagna
2 bottles of Leggo's cream sauce
2 basket of sliced button mushrooms
200grams of shaved ham
2 round bread
1 Double Brie cheese
1 Brie cheese
1 can of Chunky Beef stew
1 packet of DIY Japanese creamy soup (from Singapore's Daiso)
4 eggs (Free)
3 potatoes
4 corns
1 packet of ready-made fried rice
1 packet of Diana's sauce
1 packet of Black Pepper Steak sauce
1 packet of Kangaroo steak
1 packet of beef steak (Too bad the Rump Steak was not on sale)
2 McDonald's lunches
1 McDonald's hotcakes breakfast
1 Vietnamese Beef Noodles from Mekong at Swanston Street
1 plate of Big Breakfast (Omelette, mushrooms, avocado, bread, etc)
2 Fish & chips
Day 1
Lunch: Vietnamese Beef Noodles @ Swanston Street
Dinner: 2 packets of microwaveable Lasagna
Snacks: Double Brie, Penfolds White wine, Chips
Whilst waiting for Wen to arrive, I made my way to the supermaket to settle dinner. Bought a packet of chips to snack and 2 packet of microwaveable lasagna.
Wen arrived, rested and we made our way to the city, with only one goal in mind - Check out if Mekong, the Vietnamese restaurant @ Swanston Street is still in operation. That would be our late lunch! We were absolutely delighted to make our way in, looked at how physically, there isn't much changes. Yet, I was sort of amused that orders are taken from PDAs. The waitresses saved the trouble from shouting the out loud. She doesn't even have to walk to the counter to place our order.
Anyway, lunch was GOOD. The noodles tastes just as good as 8 years ago. It went so so well with the Vietnamese iced coffee. To 'die' for. Haa! Then we went to the supermarket to get some drinks (juice & wine) and cheese.
Dinner was settled via the microwave - 2 packets of lasagna.
Returned to the room to chat over double brie and white wine. Slept really well.
Day 2
Lunch: Big Breakfast (Omelette, mushrooms, bread, avocado, etc)
Dinner: Carbonara Fettucine with ham and mushrooms
Snacks: Remaining chips and 2 Tasmanian Beer (yucky!)
Slept till I decided I need to go toilet pee. Hee! By the time we set off, it was already about 1030am, I think. We took a slow stroll to St Kilda's beach. I felt that I have been to Melbourne 3 times and yet never been to the must-go St Kilda's flea market. The weather was getting quite scorching so we stopped by to purchase a bottle of coke at a rather steep price. Prior to the flea market, we decided that our stomachs were calling out to us so we stopped by for brunch - Big Breakfast.
After St Kilda's beach, we went to Queen Victoria Market and got 4kgs of nuts! On hindsight, if I knew, IF I knew that I would be going to stay at the backpackers opposite QVM, I wouldn't have bought the nuts so early! Gosh! Lugging 4kg of nuts back to Prahan, Chapel Street was hellish!
Anyway, we were SO hungry after all the lugging so we had quite an early dinner, 7pm. Early because sun sets only at 8pm. Haha!!! Made Fettucine in Creamy Carbonara sauce. We added about 100gms of shaved ham and load of fresh button mushrooms, a MUST.
Now you see it. Now you don't! Yup! I gobbled it up!
Day 3
Lunch: Roasted Chicken and Orange Juice
Dinner: Carbonara Fettucine (Remaining chicken, ham, mushrooms) and Orange Juice
Before we hit the Motorway, we dropped by supermarket to get a roasted chicken for our lunch. After driving about 2 hours, stomach growled. Stopped at a carpark and start gobbling the chick down! Hee.. I tackled the thighs, friend tackled the breastmeat. Very good partnership here..! Hahaha!!! Btw, chicken's cheap and tasty!
Dinner at Port Campbell was at 9pm. We quickly packed our daypack and left our luggage in our boot (Shh.. Haa!), went to our room, put our stuffs and went to the lovely HUGE kitchen to cook.
We didn't finish our lunch so we used the oil from the chicken to fry the remaining of our button mushrooms. Added that oil to the water to boil our Fettucine and we had a HUGE plate of Carbonara Fettucine filled with mushrooms, remaining ham and chicken. It was YUMMY but a little too much for a late dinner.
Day 4
To-go Lunch: Chips
Sit down Lunch: Fish and Chips
Dinner: Chunky Beef soup and 4 eggs
On our way to the Grampians, we WERE searching for food BUT couldn't find any. All we saw, along our way was houses. I asked my friend, do you think we can just knock on their door and ask for food? Hahahaha!!! Well, thank God we had chips and nachos so that became our on-the-way-fill-stomach type of lunch. When we arrived at Halls Gap, we decided that even if we were not hungry, we better eat something. Got into this US-drama-looking quiet restaurant and got a plate of Fish and Chips each (which tastes a little hmmm... too fishy for my liking).
At Grampians, we lodged ourselves at Tim's Place and opened the can of Chunky Beef soup. Cooked the 4 eggs we got with compliments from our previous backpackers. It was yummy! Amazingly, we eat our eggs the same way. I adore the yolks. :P
Day 5
Lunch: Ice cream, remaining chips and nachos
Dinner: Ready made fried rice (thumbs down) and DIY Japanese creamy soup (thumbs up!)
Snacks: Nachos
Returned to Melbourne City. On the way back, we didn't feel like eating. Somehow, personally, no mood for food like Fish and Chips. So after our short trekking trip, we had an ice cream each and the drive back, we finished our remaining chips and opened our packet of nachos.
At City, we went to grocery shopping and bought stuffs to cook for the remaining days.
We had cravings for rice so we got ourselves a packet of ready-made fried rice. I put in a little too much water and the rice was a little too soft. Then again, even if the water was of a good amount, I do not quite like the taste of the fried rice - too much garlic. The packet of DIY creamy soup was good. We threw in carrots, mushrooms and potatoes for our carbo and it tastes really nice!
Conclusion: I am very asian. Hmm.. or am I very Cantonese? I love soups!!! Haa!
Day 6
Lunch: Round bread + ham and coffee
Dinner: Kangaroo steak + Diana's sauce topped with corn, mushrooms, carrots.
Snacks: Cheese and nachos
That's how simply we settled lunch. :)
Somehow, the Kangaroo steaks were really cheap so we went for it. Side dishes were carrots, corn and mushrooms. Pan frying the steak and mushrooms with butter was very nice. Fatty maybe. But nice. Our supply of orange juice never seem to run dry. :P
Day 7
Lunch: McDonald's Angus and Quarter Pounder burger. It was YUMMY! The beef was so juicy.
Dinner: Beef steak + Black Pepper Steak sauce topped with corn, mushrooms, carrots.
Snack: Remaining cheese, nachos and Brown Brother's white wine
Finished up the remaining Fettucine too! Only thing wasted of the entire trip was half a chunk of butter. :P
Day 8 (return home)
Breakfast: McDonald's Hotcakes and remaining Orange Juice
Lunch: McDonald's Grand Angus small meal
Dinner: Singapore Airlines
That's about it! All in the name of saving money and having fun, we cooked! Friend and I decided "If we can do it in Oz, we can do it in Sg." Will definitely do so.
List of food stuffs purchased for 8 days:
1 bottle of 4 litre water
2 bottles of 3 litre orange juice
2 bottles of 1.5 litre Coke
1 bottle of 330ml Coke
3 bottles of red bull
2 bottles of white wine
2 bottles of Tasmanian Beer
2 packets of Kettle chips
1 packet of Nachos
2 packets of microwaveable Lasagna
2 bottles of Leggo's cream sauce
2 basket of sliced button mushrooms
200grams of shaved ham
2 round bread
1 Double Brie cheese
1 Brie cheese
1 can of Chunky Beef stew
1 packet of DIY Japanese creamy soup (from Singapore's Daiso)
4 eggs (Free)
3 potatoes
4 corns
1 packet of ready-made fried rice
1 packet of Diana's sauce
1 packet of Black Pepper Steak sauce
1 packet of Kangaroo steak
1 packet of beef steak (Too bad the Rump Steak was not on sale)
2 McDonald's lunches
1 McDonald's hotcakes breakfast
1 Vietnamese Beef Noodles from Mekong at Swanston Street
1 plate of Big Breakfast (Omelette, mushrooms, avocado, bread, etc)
2 Fish & chips
Day 1
Lunch: Vietnamese Beef Noodles @ Swanston Street
Dinner: 2 packets of microwaveable Lasagna
Snacks: Double Brie, Penfolds White wine, Chips
Whilst waiting for Wen to arrive, I made my way to the supermaket to settle dinner. Bought a packet of chips to snack and 2 packet of microwaveable lasagna.
Wen arrived, rested and we made our way to the city, with only one goal in mind - Check out if Mekong, the Vietnamese restaurant @ Swanston Street is still in operation. That would be our late lunch! We were absolutely delighted to make our way in, looked at how physically, there isn't much changes. Yet, I was sort of amused that orders are taken from PDAs. The waitresses saved the trouble from shouting the out loud. She doesn't even have to walk to the counter to place our order.
Anyway, lunch was GOOD. The noodles tastes just as good as 8 years ago. It went so so well with the Vietnamese iced coffee. To 'die' for. Haa! Then we went to the supermarket to get some drinks (juice & wine) and cheese.
Dinner was settled via the microwave - 2 packets of lasagna.
Returned to the room to chat over double brie and white wine. Slept really well.
Day 2
Lunch: Big Breakfast (Omelette, mushrooms, bread, avocado, etc)
Dinner: Carbonara Fettucine with ham and mushrooms
Snacks: Remaining chips and 2 Tasmanian Beer (yucky!)
Slept till I decided I need to go toilet pee. Hee! By the time we set off, it was already about 1030am, I think. We took a slow stroll to St Kilda's beach. I felt that I have been to Melbourne 3 times and yet never been to the must-go St Kilda's flea market. The weather was getting quite scorching so we stopped by to purchase a bottle of coke at a rather steep price. Prior to the flea market, we decided that our stomachs were calling out to us so we stopped by for brunch - Big Breakfast.
After St Kilda's beach, we went to Queen Victoria Market and got 4kgs of nuts! On hindsight, if I knew, IF I knew that I would be going to stay at the backpackers opposite QVM, I wouldn't have bought the nuts so early! Gosh! Lugging 4kg of nuts back to Prahan, Chapel Street was hellish!
Anyway, we were SO hungry after all the lugging so we had quite an early dinner, 7pm. Early because sun sets only at 8pm. Haha!!! Made Fettucine in Creamy Carbonara sauce. We added about 100gms of shaved ham and load of fresh button mushrooms, a MUST.
Now you see it. Now you don't! Yup! I gobbled it up!Day 3
Lunch: Roasted Chicken and Orange Juice
Dinner: Carbonara Fettucine (Remaining chicken, ham, mushrooms) and Orange Juice
Before we hit the Motorway, we dropped by supermarket to get a roasted chicken for our lunch. After driving about 2 hours, stomach growled. Stopped at a carpark and start gobbling the chick down! Hee.. I tackled the thighs, friend tackled the breastmeat. Very good partnership here..! Hahaha!!! Btw, chicken's cheap and tasty!
Dinner at Port Campbell was at 9pm. We quickly packed our daypack and left our luggage in our boot (Shh.. Haa!), went to our room, put our stuffs and went to the lovely HUGE kitchen to cook.We didn't finish our lunch so we used the oil from the chicken to fry the remaining of our button mushrooms. Added that oil to the water to boil our Fettucine and we had a HUGE plate of Carbonara Fettucine filled with mushrooms, remaining ham and chicken. It was YUMMY but a little too much for a late dinner.
Day 4
To-go Lunch: Chips
Sit down Lunch: Fish and Chips
Dinner: Chunky Beef soup and 4 eggs
On our way to the Grampians, we WERE searching for food BUT couldn't find any. All we saw, along our way was houses. I asked my friend, do you think we can just knock on their door and ask for food? Hahahaha!!! Well, thank God we had chips and nachos so that became our on-the-way-fill-stomach type of lunch. When we arrived at Halls Gap, we decided that even if we were not hungry, we better eat something. Got into this US-drama-looking quiet restaurant and got a plate of Fish and Chips each (which tastes a little hmmm... too fishy for my liking).
At Grampians, we lodged ourselves at Tim's Place and opened the can of Chunky Beef soup. Cooked the 4 eggs we got with compliments from our previous backpackers. It was yummy! Amazingly, we eat our eggs the same way. I adore the yolks. :P
Day 5
Lunch: Ice cream, remaining chips and nachos
Dinner: Ready made fried rice (thumbs down) and DIY Japanese creamy soup (thumbs up!)
Snacks: Nachos
Returned to Melbourne City. On the way back, we didn't feel like eating. Somehow, personally, no mood for food like Fish and Chips. So after our short trekking trip, we had an ice cream each and the drive back, we finished our remaining chips and opened our packet of nachos.
At City, we went to grocery shopping and bought stuffs to cook for the remaining days.
We had cravings for rice so we got ourselves a packet of ready-made fried rice. I put in a little too much water and the rice was a little too soft. Then again, even if the water was of a good amount, I do not quite like the taste of the fried rice - too much garlic. The packet of DIY creamy soup was good. We threw in carrots, mushrooms and potatoes for our carbo and it tastes really nice!
Conclusion: I am very asian. Hmm.. or am I very Cantonese? I love soups!!! Haa!
Day 6Lunch: Round bread + ham and coffee
Dinner: Kangaroo steak + Diana's sauce topped with corn, mushrooms, carrots.
Snacks: Cheese and nachos
That's how simply we settled lunch. :)
Somehow, the Kangaroo steaks were really cheap so we went for it. Side dishes were carrots, corn and mushrooms. Pan frying the steak and mushrooms with butter was very nice. Fatty maybe. But nice. Our supply of orange juice never seem to run dry. :P
Day 7
Lunch: McDonald's Angus and Quarter Pounder burger. It was YUMMY! The beef was so juicy.
Dinner: Beef steak + Black Pepper Steak sauce topped with corn, mushrooms, carrots.
Snack: Remaining cheese, nachos and Brown Brother's white wine
Finished up the remaining Fettucine too! Only thing wasted of the entire trip was half a chunk of butter. :P
Day 8 (return home)
Breakfast: McDonald's Hotcakes and remaining Orange Juice
Lunch: McDonald's Grand Angus small meal
Dinner: Singapore Airlines
That's about it! All in the name of saving money and having fun, we cooked! Friend and I decided "If we can do it in Oz, we can do it in Sg." Will definitely do so.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Melbourne Itinerary
I didn't realize that I have been away from cyberjournalling in this blog for so long (beside the last entry on my trip). Been busy juggling with a couple of stuffs. Three major events would be my boss leaving for her own country, closing my department and preparing for a wedding - mine. Haa.. (Don't mind this blog. It's gonna be LONG cause I'm just transferring things from memory to words)
After my training with NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts), I spent 8 days free and easy in Melbourne City and further down south. A friend came over from Sydney and all we had on hand was a car rented for 4 days 3 nights and an itinerary that heads us to Great Ocean Road. After Day 1, the rest of the itinerary is empty.
Yupz! And so, we collected the lovely Toyota Ascent on Monday. It was lovely! It's an auto car! I forgot how great it was to be driving an auto car. My blackie's on manual gear and it's most troublesome when there are jams! Anyway! Yup! We got our car from Hertz @ Franklin St and thought "Why don't we make enquiries to stay at a backpackers in the city?" We pop into one beside Hertz and it was only $2 above the cost of the existing one we were staying at. Yay! & we thought that staying in the city would have been a huge difference. Well, apparently not. I was SO glad to be out of Back of Chapel, for various reasons. :)
Before heading towards GOR, we went back to pick up our luggage and to cancel our reservations (upon return) and made our way to Safeway & Coles (2 largest supermarkets in Oz). Our plan was to stock up our food storage so that we can have sufficient food for 1 lunch and 2 dinners. (I will have another entry on our meals)
Navigating the GOR wasn't tough other than the winding roads and giving way to tailgating vehicles. It was totally free and easy so we did quite a slow-enough drive and stopped whenever we wanted to. We decided to skip Torquay and head direct for Apollo Bay, stopped by Split Point Lighthouse. When we finally arrived at Apollo Bay, we were undecided. To look for accommodation first as it was already 4ish pm? Or to enjoy the scenery of the 12 Apostles. We decided - Accommodation. However, the one place which we went to has its owner away so we drove off. I forgot how we made the discovery but we were astonished to find that Apollo Bay was not where the 12 Apostles were. Ok, I sound really silly here because any map would have told us that the 12 Apostles is at Princetown. Don't ask me what made 2 of us even think that Apollo Bay is it! Nonetheless, we laughed and we moved along another ~100kms more.
With more winding roads, less ocean scenery and one koala walking along the road, we arrived at the 12 Apostles lookout at about 7ish, I think. That was a total of 292km traveled in total! That was almost almost about the mileage I clocked in Singapore on ONE busy day!
Click click click and there goes my camera. At this stop was also where I found that I am lacking in space on my SD card! Thankfully, I have done my backup so can happily delete the photos. I realized that whilst everyone was busy taking shots of the scenery, I was busy taking photos of the irritating flies that bugged me each time I was out of the car, taking photos of people. I love candid shots. Oh yes, I have made another discovery on myself! I am more interested in taking photos of people than photos of nature. I love to capture "That moment!". I love expressions through eyes, through smiles and laughter. I love those crow lines beside the eyes. The look, a cuddle, a hug.
Now, this is where the highlight of the day/night came in. We stayed at the 12 Apostles for the sunset WHICH was at 8:30pm. Time just flew us by. We did not realize that it was already 8:30pm. Like mentioned, our itinerary mentioned nothing of accommodation. We really didn't know where we would be making our stop so we thought we would enjoy being slightly more adventurous. So yes, we were late. 8:30pm sunset and we reached the nearest town - Port Cambell close to 9pm. Other than the restaurants, we thought we had to sleep in the car. We went to the first motel and woah!!! It was $100, $30 more than our budget per night! Best, we can't cook in a motel. We cannot not cook! We bought food to cook! Well, even if we didn't buy food to cook, we were too broke to eat in any of those atas-looking restaurants. We were asked to make a 5-sec decision. We looked at each other, almost knowing the one thought in our mind - What if this was our last chance at an accommodation? Well, I guess we decided to trust that God will provide. We said our thank you and we left, frantic. Haa! Drove to a backpacker with no one around. Called the number, flew to an operator who wasn't around. Went to another motel and apparently, it was in partnership with the previous motel. Bumped into a Swiss couple and they too were looking for accommodation. We found solace!! We hopped opposite the road to ask a hotel and was told that they were running on a full house BUT, they recommended us to a new hostel - Port Campbell Hostel - that was just round the corner (which we thought was a dead end!) as they may JUST have space.
We had such a warm welcome at Port Campbell Hostel. The place was HUGE. The receptionist was still around and they had a double room for us!!! It was $5 above our budget but it has all we wanted! Wonderful toilets/showers. Fantastic cooking equipments. Lovely dining area. And oh! Why was the welcome warm? The guy at the reception offered us 4 eggs! What awed me was God's providence in all of this. You see... We arrived on 9 Nov. The hostel was opened on 8 Nov!!! God must have, MUST HAVE, gone way ahead of us.
The dinner was goooooooood. Really really truly good... Took our shower and went to get something off the car. What was supposed to be a 5-min take-and-go became a stroll. We were awed by the stars in the sky. We stood there amazed for awhile. That night, we slept very well and woke up the next day - still with no plans in mind. Although, I must say that if the trip to the Grampians can be done within a day, we would do it. Haa! So that was just what we did after breakfast - We asked the reception. She said it can be done in 4 hours. Sounds good! So off we went!
We stopped by a place called Port Fairy, as recommended by the receptionist. She told us that it was a lovely place to swim but guess what? The water was freezing! However, we both enjoyed just dipping our feet into the clear blue water and admiring the lovely skies and enjoying watching families.
After Port Fairy, we got kinda lost. We thought we had to turn right into Expressway B140. However, the map we had wasn't clear. B140 was another Freeway. We kinda made a few U-turns and decided to turn into C178 towards Hamilton. ~200kms, passing lots of farms, stopped by for one ice cream break, lots of chips in our stomach and we reached Halls Gap at about 3:30pm. The weather was SCORCHING hot! After the fish and chips that we had, I felt faint from the heat so instead of roaming around, we decided to look for accommodation. Thankfully, there was an information booth at Halls Gap so we took the easy way out and asked them for directions. Found a backpacker that has one last room - for us! - and it was $5 lower than our budget! Seriously, pause for a moment, it just has to be God. Previous stay was $5 above budget. This stay was $5 lower. In total, we were right on DOT!
The sleep was wonderful. Again, I wanted to go to the car to grab my pen and was once again stunned by the twinkling stars up in the sky. This time, it seemed nicer cause the place was darker and I thought the stars looked as if they were bigger, maybe because we were in mountainous areas. The one thing I really miss seeing is stars. Singapore is too cloudy. It hides all the stars. Then again, Singapore is too well-lited. Stars can't be seen all that well. The vastness of it all is always breathtaking in my sight. If I could, I would photograph it down. If I could, I wish the night would be longer. (Hmm.. maybe that's why I love winter. The days are short, the nights are long.)
Next day, it was back to the city time - boring. Prior to returning back to city, we decided that since we were already at Grampians National Park and that the mornings are USUALLY not full-blasted hot yet, we can trek a little. We decided to go for The Balconies and the McKenzie Falls. My advice - NO Grampians in summer! Hahaha!!! I have to say that the view was okay. Yes, spectacular in its own ways but the weather was a tad too scorching for my liking, really. I was also surrounded by dried up trees. The colors were off, things looks dull. Fogginess seemed smoky. McKenzie Falls was a better choice for me cause it's water!!!!! We walked down to enjoy the feel of water next to skin. It was fantastic! Well, the walk back up nearly "killed" me. Makes me wonder why am I so weak. I do exercise! Hmmmph!!!
ANYWAY! After conquering the Falls, it was already nearly noon. For me, I just wanted to stay in the car and not walk anymore. Hahaha!!!! And so, we made our way back to Mel City. Even if we had wanted to extend another day (which I did thought of it since I do not like being in a city), I better be practical and know that we really didn't have anymore $$$$$$$$$$$$$ for car rental AND petrol. Haaaa!!! This time, the route back was very easy. North-East towards Ararat then East towards Ballarat and finally Melbourne City. We didn't really want to stop midway, don't ask me why. We two very feeling-driven people just didn't feel like making stops that day.
After 892km over the few days, after spending so much time looking at nature, farms, fields of greens, skies of blues, clouds of whites, I really hesitated being in the city, filled with people. I'm funny la... I love observing people. Yet, I struggle with having loads of people around. Well, needless to say, nothing too happening with the remaining days spent. Bought quite a bit of nuts and chocs and toys for family, friends & my P3 kids (funny how I started always not wanting to buy anything for anybody and I ended up buying nonetheless).
It's funny really.. On Friday when I woke up, I went "Yay!! It's Friday! I am flying home tomorrow!" And when I woke up on Saturday, I went "Huh? I am flying home today? Gosh!" No, I was not dreading home. I was dreading NOT knowing what to do before I take off at 5pm. :S I hate waiting.
Ok, post is way too long. I doubt anyone who survived here would have understood my itinerary inside out. Thanks for reading though. Haa! This entry is more to retain my memories... :D Next would be our menus.
Before heading towards GOR, we went back to pick up our luggage and to cancel our reservations (upon return) and made our way to Safeway & Coles (2 largest supermarkets in Oz). Our plan was to stock up our food storage so that we can have sufficient food for 1 lunch and 2 dinners. (I will have another entry on our meals)
Navigating the GOR wasn't tough other than the winding roads and giving way to tailgating vehicles. It was totally free and easy so we did quite a slow-enough drive and stopped whenever we wanted to. We decided to skip Torquay and head direct for Apollo Bay, stopped by Split Point Lighthouse. When we finally arrived at Apollo Bay, we were undecided. To look for accommodation first as it was already 4ish pm? Or to enjoy the scenery of the 12 Apostles. We decided - Accommodation. However, the one place which we went to has its owner away so we drove off. I forgot how we made the discovery but we were astonished to find that Apollo Bay was not where the 12 Apostles were. Ok, I sound really silly here because any map would have told us that the 12 Apostles is at Princetown. Don't ask me what made 2 of us even think that Apollo Bay is it! Nonetheless, we laughed and we moved along another ~100kms more.
With more winding roads, less ocean scenery and one koala walking along the road, we arrived at the 12 Apostles lookout at about 7ish, I think. That was a total of 292km traveled in total! That was almost almost about the mileage I clocked in Singapore on ONE busy day!
Click click click and there goes my camera. At this stop was also where I found that I am lacking in space on my SD card! Thankfully, I have done my backup so can happily delete the photos. I realized that whilst everyone was busy taking shots of the scenery, I was busy taking photos of the irritating flies that bugged me each time I was out of the car, taking photos of people. I love candid shots. Oh yes, I have made another discovery on myself! I am more interested in taking photos of people than photos of nature. I love to capture "That moment!". I love expressions through eyes, through smiles and laughter. I love those crow lines beside the eyes. The look, a cuddle, a hug.
Now, this is where the highlight of the day/night came in. We stayed at the 12 Apostles for the sunset WHICH was at 8:30pm. Time just flew us by. We did not realize that it was already 8:30pm. Like mentioned, our itinerary mentioned nothing of accommodation. We really didn't know where we would be making our stop so we thought we would enjoy being slightly more adventurous. So yes, we were late. 8:30pm sunset and we reached the nearest town - Port Cambell close to 9pm. Other than the restaurants, we thought we had to sleep in the car. We went to the first motel and woah!!! It was $100, $30 more than our budget per night! Best, we can't cook in a motel. We cannot not cook! We bought food to cook! Well, even if we didn't buy food to cook, we were too broke to eat in any of those atas-looking restaurants. We were asked to make a 5-sec decision. We looked at each other, almost knowing the one thought in our mind - What if this was our last chance at an accommodation? Well, I guess we decided to trust that God will provide. We said our thank you and we left, frantic. Haa! Drove to a backpacker with no one around. Called the number, flew to an operator who wasn't around. Went to another motel and apparently, it was in partnership with the previous motel. Bumped into a Swiss couple and they too were looking for accommodation. We found solace!! We hopped opposite the road to ask a hotel and was told that they were running on a full house BUT, they recommended us to a new hostel - Port Campbell Hostel - that was just round the corner (which we thought was a dead end!) as they may JUST have space.
We had such a warm welcome at Port Campbell Hostel. The place was HUGE. The receptionist was still around and they had a double room for us!!! It was $5 above our budget but it has all we wanted! Wonderful toilets/showers. Fantastic cooking equipments. Lovely dining area. And oh! Why was the welcome warm? The guy at the reception offered us 4 eggs! What awed me was God's providence in all of this. You see... We arrived on 9 Nov. The hostel was opened on 8 Nov!!! God must have, MUST HAVE, gone way ahead of us.
The dinner was goooooooood. Really really truly good... Took our shower and went to get something off the car. What was supposed to be a 5-min take-and-go became a stroll. We were awed by the stars in the sky. We stood there amazed for awhile. That night, we slept very well and woke up the next day - still with no plans in mind. Although, I must say that if the trip to the Grampians can be done within a day, we would do it. Haa! So that was just what we did after breakfast - We asked the reception. She said it can be done in 4 hours. Sounds good! So off we went!
We stopped by a place called Port Fairy, as recommended by the receptionist. She told us that it was a lovely place to swim but guess what? The water was freezing! However, we both enjoyed just dipping our feet into the clear blue water and admiring the lovely skies and enjoying watching families.
After Port Fairy, we got kinda lost. We thought we had to turn right into Expressway B140. However, the map we had wasn't clear. B140 was another Freeway. We kinda made a few U-turns and decided to turn into C178 towards Hamilton. ~200kms, passing lots of farms, stopped by for one ice cream break, lots of chips in our stomach and we reached Halls Gap at about 3:30pm. The weather was SCORCHING hot! After the fish and chips that we had, I felt faint from the heat so instead of roaming around, we decided to look for accommodation. Thankfully, there was an information booth at Halls Gap so we took the easy way out and asked them for directions. Found a backpacker that has one last room - for us! - and it was $5 lower than our budget! Seriously, pause for a moment, it just has to be God. Previous stay was $5 above budget. This stay was $5 lower. In total, we were right on DOT!
The sleep was wonderful. Again, I wanted to go to the car to grab my pen and was once again stunned by the twinkling stars up in the sky. This time, it seemed nicer cause the place was darker and I thought the stars looked as if they were bigger, maybe because we were in mountainous areas. The one thing I really miss seeing is stars. Singapore is too cloudy. It hides all the stars. Then again, Singapore is too well-lited. Stars can't be seen all that well. The vastness of it all is always breathtaking in my sight. If I could, I would photograph it down. If I could, I wish the night would be longer. (Hmm.. maybe that's why I love winter. The days are short, the nights are long.)
Next day, it was back to the city time - boring. Prior to returning back to city, we decided that since we were already at Grampians National Park and that the mornings are USUALLY not full-blasted hot yet, we can trek a little. We decided to go for The Balconies and the McKenzie Falls. My advice - NO Grampians in summer! Hahaha!!! I have to say that the view was okay. Yes, spectacular in its own ways but the weather was a tad too scorching for my liking, really. I was also surrounded by dried up trees. The colors were off, things looks dull. Fogginess seemed smoky. McKenzie Falls was a better choice for me cause it's water!!!!! We walked down to enjoy the feel of water next to skin. It was fantastic! Well, the walk back up nearly "killed" me. Makes me wonder why am I so weak. I do exercise! Hmmmph!!!
ANYWAY! After conquering the Falls, it was already nearly noon. For me, I just wanted to stay in the car and not walk anymore. Hahaha!!!! And so, we made our way back to Mel City. Even if we had wanted to extend another day (which I did thought of it since I do not like being in a city), I better be practical and know that we really didn't have anymore $$$$$$$$$$$$$ for car rental AND petrol. Haaaa!!! This time, the route back was very easy. North-East towards Ararat then East towards Ballarat and finally Melbourne City. We didn't really want to stop midway, don't ask me why. We two very feeling-driven people just didn't feel like making stops that day.
After 892km over the few days, after spending so much time looking at nature, farms, fields of greens, skies of blues, clouds of whites, I really hesitated being in the city, filled with people. I'm funny la... I love observing people. Yet, I struggle with having loads of people around. Well, needless to say, nothing too happening with the remaining days spent. Bought quite a bit of nuts and chocs and toys for family, friends & my P3 kids (funny how I started always not wanting to buy anything for anybody and I ended up buying nonetheless).
It's funny really.. On Friday when I woke up, I went "Yay!! It's Friday! I am flying home tomorrow!" And when I woke up on Saturday, I went "Huh? I am flying home today? Gosh!" No, I was not dreading home. I was dreading NOT knowing what to do before I take off at 5pm. :S I hate waiting.
Ok, post is way too long. I doubt anyone who survived here would have understood my itinerary inside out. Thanks for reading though. Haa! This entry is more to retain my memories... :D Next would be our menus.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Melbourne Trip - Training at NICA
I received a call from boss in June asking if I was interested in attending a course, Train the Trainer via Circus Arts, in Melbourne. That - of course - truly was an understatement. I have always been in awe of circus arts. Seriously, gone are the old days perception of Circus where it's all about animals and clowns. Yes, there are still the flying trapeze, tight rope, etc. What intrigue me is Social Circus where Circus Arts is simply a platform, a medium to outreach to people who are hurting, who have been hurt badly. Circus gives people a sense of confidence in being in control of their bodies, which probably may have been battered so badly. It also give people the sense of "Yes I can do it!". It cultivates discipline and increases the importance in their lives. There would be a percentage of kids/youths who may perform badly in terms of academics but maybe be kinestically inclined and one does not need to know how to write and read in order to participate.
So, June, July, August, September, October and you have no idea how long that 5 months had been before I could fly! In all honesty, going through the training was exciting. More exciting was the fact that I could stop work for awhile. Yup, it has been quite a journey at work for me, constantly fighting against something that I can't put my finger on. There were frustrations and inadequacy which no matter how I flick it off, it won't go away. Personally, there were also some changes in life which I had to grapple with. Nothing major but somehow, I was somewhere in life where I feel I was slightly thrown off balance. Maybe a bit too much of work and stuffs thus too little time for a pause.
I planned for a little more than just the training. I extended another week in Melbourne. The training jolted me up a little. For one, I realized that I have forgotten what Fun is like. The entire training was conducted without the need for notes. We were told that Thursday would be a boring day of dry stuffs but that night, I wondered - what was dry? In replacement of notes, the training was conducted via games to bring out topics like Ethics, Outreach, etc. Personally, I also get to experience what's it like to push through challenges through Circus, feeling accomplished somewhat. We had the chance to have a go at tight rope, foot juggling, trampoline, flower stick, juggling, diablo and even simple warm ups. I get to experience, first hand, what's it like to be in total control of my own body, knowing that it's the upper body that I have to control when doing tight rope, lower half of the body I have to control when doing foot juggling, where the centre of gravity of my body is when I jump on the trampoline, how to flip myself over when doing a jump, etc. I was able to understand what this ability to control can be like for a battered wife or an abused child or even a youth who is rejected in school. Personally, I marvelled at how silly I can be when it come to games. Often, I forgot how fun really is like. A lot of times, I tend to be in control of myself, be careful of what I say, be wary of the people around me, be wary of how it may perceive to others, etc.
One other thing I observed of myself is my natural ability to be shy and yet, loves to put myself in challenging situations. Basically, there were only 2 asians in the training, colleague and myself. Seriously, I am just naturally quiet. I never really know how to make or initiate conversations, especially in a group. I do feel intimidated, somewhat. However, given me a one-to-one/small group conversation, I do fine. I can talk until the sun sets. It's interesting also how open a book I was. A few classmates came up to me after the course commending that I was very brave. They shared that they could tell I was very shy and was interested to know why did I even put myself through the challenge of being in the course. It offered myself quite a new perspective. To me, it was usually "Just do it. If fail, then remedy. What can go wrong anyway?"
The adventurous part came after the training. I had a friend who was on a work trip in Sydney so she flew down to Melbourne on Saturday to meet me. Wonderful gesture cause she could have saved the money, save the trouble and return to Singapore. People often say that you can experience 4 seasons in Melbourne in just ONE day. They were SO right. The first week, we were SO SO SO cold. I needed my hooded jacket up my head, I needed leggings underneath my jeans, I needed to protect my neck. It was so so cold. Following week, I needed sleeveless and shorts. Literally, the lesser the better! And so, we rented a car for the road trip to Great Ocean Road (GOR) and beyond on Monday. Sunday was just free and easy spent at St Kilda's beach. I shall blog the road trip in another entry.
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