Home (Bitter) Sweet Home

Been back home at last for the past 1-1/2weeks! Have been adjusting back to the slow pace of life here and getting all stuff back in order again..happenings since we got back....

ONLY to find that there's no water the next day after arriving back due to a burst pipe somewhere down the road for a whole day!
THEN, our phone line was still down after a heavy downpour AND landlord increased our rent additional 50%' effective from Nov'07! Big OUCH!!
That's how it is in this country..sigh..try to make the best of it from an already tight budget as, like it or not, it's our own place for the time being, rather than be like a nomad always staying at relatives' house etc.

Anyway, for a spot of good news, the phone is up in the next few days after we got back from Cairns, water tap is full and flowing again, and we've got approval from hubby's boss that we can have so-called wirelessly connected DSL connection which will cost more but will be more reliable and faster AND rent hike approved by boss too instead of having to look for another cheaper accommodation elsewhere and have to re-apply for phone which too Telikom here ONLY 6months to activate :P :P :P. Certainly DO NOT look forward to packing and moving all our stuff after getting all comfortable here and besides, this place is located in quite a safe area, facing the harbour and high enough to prevent any planned robbery :P
Safe weekend all :)

Mostly Adam's self portrait (Nov'06-Jun'07)

What does a 4year old do when he's holding a mobilephone camera?
He takes pictures of himself, Daddy, cloth pegs, pasta that he's eating, 'leng lui' when he sees one (Mummy's ex/colleague, Cathy) but mostly himself!
Only one picture that Daddy took (of Daddy & Adam) after posing an 'ogre' face when Adam was taking his picture.
I quite like his cloth pegs and pasta picture though, shows his creative side :-)
Now that I know how to upload via infrared on my laptop, the phone camera will come out of it's hiding place and placed in his capable hands again ;)

My eldest brother's NZ citizenship ceremony

After staying for years and years and YEARS in NZ, my eldest brother, Jeffrey, has at last decided to apply for NZ citizenship.
He invited Adam & I to the ceremony and we were proud to attend and watch.
They also have a short Maori sing/dance performance later and that's where Adam learnt his Maori 'Kamate' dance as well, funny boy!

Going home...another 2sleeps!

Yippee! Counting the hours..another 2sleeps! Then Adam & I will fly back 'home'.
Port Moresby is not our real home but it's as close to one that we can get at the moment where we can do whatever we like!
Not that I want to sound ungrateful staying at my brother's place while we are in Cairns where my sister-in-law cooks dinner for us every night, but it's always best staying at our own place where we can feel comfortable and I can continue with my 'experimental' cookings since I've hardly ever cooked and now that I'm sorta kinda in charge of the kitchen back home, I'd like to try my hand at cooking stuff that I see in recipe books as they almost always looks so yummy!
Oh...not forgetting that I miss hubby and Adam misses his Daddy too, of course! Haha!

Managed to upload photo into my profile!

Phew!! I did it! All by myself! Took alot of reading and clicking websites back and forth but managed it at last! Don't usually have much patience for such things as tend to give up if I find it too difficult so keep saying to myself, "one last try and then I'll stop, one last try"
I'm happy with myself.
I have a face now! Photo taken with my son, Adam.
I had to edit the photo as it was taken from quite a distance away but I'm happy that I can put a picture to my 'About Me' instead on blogs:)
Pat on the back for me!

Australia Zoo, Beerwah (Steve Irwin's Zoo)

I feel a kinship...I wonder why???!! Maybe because I'm born in the year of the Goat? Hmmm....must be it then!

Some pictures taken of Adam's visit to the Nursery part of the Zoo

Adam & his various antics in PNG (Jan-Sep 2007)

Out in the bush looking for snakes, though we are quite safe from any!

See what Adam has been up to the last 9months that he has been in/out of Papua New Guinea

Adam my little gentleman!

Adam & I was at the Cairns City Library yesterday (Monday/01October). He loves it there as they have a children's PC that he can play some interactive games and some learning CDs that is available only at the library.
He was there at the PC for about an hour and a half when a boy came along (he knew this boy from last week when the boy 'shared' the PC with him; the boy playing and Adam watching!) and he stopped playing to let the boy use the PC. Part of the reason was also because Adam was hungry as it's already 2pm!
Anyway, we went out for lunch, came back an hour later, the boy was till there and he gave up his PC time to let Adam continue his game but there was a girl there (Caucasian 5years old but shorter than Adam) that was also waiting but we didn't know she wanted to use the PC as it's sort of like first to borrow the CD from the library counter gets to use it.
Anyhow, after about 10minutes of sitting at the PC, he came over to the girl & her grandmother sitting on a nearby couch and said, "I'll only be a little while and then you can use the PC!" It's like he's worried they will get tired of waiting and leave without playing on the PC! Haha!
I couldn't help smiling to myself (I was on the other side of the 2way couch) as the grandmother was ever so surprised as well when she answered, "Oh! OK!"
True to form, Adam got up in about 5minutes to let the girl use the PC but he was hovering about nearby, trying to be 'helpful', in case the girl didn't know how to use the interactive CD as I keep overhearing him say, "Do you want me to teach you how to play this game?", "Click here!", "I can show you!". Forever trying to make friends .but some kids might think him a nuisance instead as he doesn't know that normally, older kids know more than him.
We didn't stay on for too long after that as the sky was getting quite dark and I didn't want to risk getting wet but when we walked out, it was not so bad, quite breezy so I asked him if he wanted to walk home so Mummy can save the bus money to buy him ice-cream another day (he has a slight cough). He agreed and we walked about the 4kms back!
He's done this before, walking to the playground (3kms or so) and sometimes further (about 5kms). It's more so that I get abit of exercise but he seems to be able to do it quite well without complaints, though by the time we reach home, he usually is tired out and asleep before 7.30pm! However, he will never admit it, saying he's not tired.
He really is a great kid when he does not try to annoy the heck out of me! Haha!

Adam's such a little gentleman sometimes!

Adam & I was at the Cairns City Library yesterday (Monday/01October). He loves it there as they have a children's PC that he can play some interactive games and some learning CDs that is available only at the library.

He was there at the PC for about an hour and a half when a boy came along (he knew this boy from last week when the boy 'shared' the PC with him; the boy playing and Adam watching!) and he stopped playing to let the boy use the PC. Part of the reason was also because Adam was hungry as it's already 2pm!

Anyway, we went out for lunch, came back an hour later, the boy was till there and he gave up his PC time to let Adam continue his game but there was a girl there (Caucasian 5years old but shorter than Adam) that was also waiting but we didn't know she wanted to use the PC as it's sort of like first to borrow the CD from the library counter gets to use it.

Anyhow, after about 10minutes of sitting at the PC, he came over to the girl & her grandmother sitting on a nearby couch and said, "I'll only be a little while and then you can use the PC!" It's like he's worried they will get tired of waiting and leave without playing on the PC! Haha!

I couldn't help smiling to myself (I was on the other side of the 2way couch) as the grandmother was ever so surprised as well when she answered, "Oh! OK!"

True to form, Adam got up in about 5minutes to let the girl use the PC but he was hovering about nearby, trying to be 'helpful', in case the girl didn't know how to use the interactive CD as I keep overhearing him say, "Do you want me to teach you how to play this game?", "Click here!", "I can show you!". Forever trying to make friends .but some kids might think him a nuisance instead as he doesn't know that normally, older kids know more than him.

We didn't stay on for too long after that as the sky was getting quite dark and I didn't want to risk getting wet but when we walked out, it was not so bad, quite breezy so I asked him if he wanted to walk home so Mummy can save the bus money to buy him ice-cream another day (he has a slight cough). He agreed and we walked about the 4kms back!

He's done this before, walking to the playground (3kms or so) and sometimes further (about 5kms). It's more so that I get abit of exercise but he seems to be able to do it quite well without complaints, though by the time we reach home, he usually is tired out and asleep before 7.30pm! However, he will never admit it, saying he's not tired.

He really is a great kid when he does not try to annoy the heck out of me! Haha!

Power failure in Cairns??

I was replying an email to my cousin when suddenly the power went off in this super modern country!

We (my brother, whose apartment I am staying for my 2weeks' holiday, his wife and I) looked out the window and it was quite dark except for a bright moon and some flashlights from neighbours so we knew it wasn't just a power trip in the apartment.

Surprising thing is, powetr was off for about 30minutes, the longest I've ever encountered in all the time that I've ever been in Australia.

Strange..seeing as I'm so used to power failure back in Papua New Guinea, at least there's power generator backup that kicks in within 1minute but over where I am staying with my brother in a resort/hotel type apartment, I'm surprised they don't have any sort of backup system at all.

Just goes to show that we cannot take things for granted, even in a modern country like this!

Guess it'll be in the papers tomorrow on why it happened.