List of markets to check out

I came across a list of the Grower's Farmer's Market in Sydney and NSW and thought I'd list it down for future references:
Camden Farmers' Market - Lower John Street, Camden, second and fourth Sat of the month, 7am - noon
Eveleigh Farmers' Market - 243 Wilson Street, Darlington, Saturdays, 8am - 1pm
EQ Village Markets - 122 Lang Road, Moore Park, Weds and Sats, 10am - 3.30pm
The Sydney Morning Herald Growers' Market - Pyrmont Bay Park, first Sat of the month, 7am - 11am
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers' Market - Castle Hill Showground, Carrington Road, second Sat of the month, 8am - noon
Hawkesbury Harvest Farmers' Market - Rouse Hill Town Centre, Market Square, fourth Sat of the month, 8 am - 1pm
Manly Farmers' Market - Short Street Plaza, Sats, 9 am - 1pm
Northside Farmers' Market - Miller St, North Sydney, third Sat of the month, 8am - noon 
The Rocks Farmers' Market - cnr Argyle and George Sts, Fris and Sats, 10 am - 3pm
Warwick Farm Farmers' Market - Childs Park, Ascot Drive, Chipping Norton, Sats, 8am - noon
Blackheath Growers' Market - Blackheath Community Hall, second Sat of the month, 8am - midday
Mudgee Farmers' Market - Nabiac Showground last Sat of the month, 8am - midday
Young and Region Farmers' Market - Anderson Park, Young, First and third Sat of the month, 8am - 11am

Bieber Fever

I woke up this morning to news that a concert due to be performed live at Circular Quay had been cancelled.  Hmm.. who is this performer?  Haven't even heard of him prior to this weekend. 

This 16 year old Justine Bieber, a teenage sensation, had apparently captured the hearts of many 13 - 14 year old girls who have travelled round the country to hear his one and only performance.  He will be performing 3 songs in an open air stage at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

His fans had camped out overnight at The Rocks.  However, despite all the hype, drama and hysteria, his concert had to be cancelled due to the safety of his fans.  Never before has there been such mass hysteria since the Beatles.  The concert had to be cancelled as the teenage fans would not listen to the directions and instructions from the police.  

His fans then converged to various hotels to try to catch a glimpse of Justine but most had camped outside Channel Seven's studio at Martin Place. 

Justin Bieber somehow managed to sneak in to the studio to perform his hit song "Baby".  This guy with the "flipped" hairstyle and has the ability to cause a 3 year old girl to cry, caused such mayhem this morning is definitely someone to keep an eye out for.

http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/

Good bye noughties!

As we approach the end of 2009, I think it's befitting to jog the memories on the events of this past year.  Towards the end of 2008, there was much uncertainty with the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) at our doorstep.  Lehman brothers had collapsed, a big bank splurged with a Christmas bash only to lay off their staff the following day.  Taxi drivers were picking up people made redundant and the outlook for 2009 looked quite bleak as we didn't know how bad the financial crisis was.

We now realise that it was the "North America Tsunami" vs the GFC and Australia was not too badly hit, thank goodness.  Nevertheless, 2009 started with a lot of retrenchments in various sectors and the RBA (Reserve Bank Australia) had to reduce the interest rates.  By the end of 2009, the RBA had raised rates three consecutive times now, with more to come.  The AUD went to as high as 0.94c but ended around the 0.88c.

Some notable highlights for me in 2009 are:
-  celebrated Chinese New Year in Penang, Malaysia.  Great fun collecting angpows and catching up with family and friends.  Hmm..  wonder whether wearing some of the "right" colours and avoiding the usual "red" colour helped...?
-  enrolled in a photography course through the Art Gallery NSW - what great fun it was and this started a new hobby!
-  was bridesmaid at Angela and Andrew's wedding in May.  Short and simple wedding.
- sold my Honda Jazz and bought my Mazda 3 ("Zac") - thanks Chris for coming with me and Ash helped check out the car especially the boot.
- bought a new house in Eastwood and proceeded to sell my house in Baulkham Hills - phew... what stress but wish that dad was around ...
- visited a few new suburbs eg Petersham (through Gourmet Safari) and Haberfield (through KY tours)
-  Sydney was engulfed in the red dust storm
- had a girly weekend in Mudgee.  Loved the wines and the atmosphere.  Thanks for the company girls!
- attended Mao's Last Dancer movie premier - what a night!
- checked out a few new restaurants such as Glass Brasserie, Guillame and Aria
- found David Campbell to be extremely HOT, HOT, HOT - great performance
-  celebrated a milestone with friends and thereafter with family in KL.  Is it downhill from here on in...? 
- had some cooking and baking sessions at the Wan kitchen - what a satisfying time it was!  Some of the sessions included learning how to make bak chang, fried radish cake, pineapple tarts, muruku and string hoppers.  It's no wonder they say the kitchen is the heart of the home...
-  bid farewell to a great lady, Mrs Khoo
-  good bye to Rob and Doris who left our shores for Auckland 
-  Patrick Swaysze and Michael Jackson left this world...
- not to mention, the numerous shopping frenzy with my "twin"... shoes, handbags... etc...I bestow on her "Mrs Handbag" - for the most handbags "accumulated" in 2009!


2009 is going to end with a big hole in my pocket... having bought some new furniture (thankfully, there is the 48 months interest free period to take advantage of...), spending time with family and friends is bliss... but thank God for his providence this past year... thank God for friends who are there by our side and to be a sounding board, thank God for families who keep us sane.

So... goodbye 2009, hello 2010!  May good health be with you and your families and may we have peace, love and joy...  May we make this world a better place for you and for me ...

"Don't compromise yourself, you are all you've got"... Janis Joplin

Welcome 2010!

Cupcakes

Went over to Charmaine's house this afternoon to help decorate some cupcakes for Caitlin who is celebrating her 4th birthday at her child care centre tomorrow.

Charmaine had baked all these lovely mini cupcakes prior to mum and I coming over and had put the base coating ready.  Out came the pink icing... after 2 failed tries in the piping bag... the bags burst, it was third time lucky with new plastic bags which ended up working really well.  Great to be able to "play" and be creative with the various icing colours (pink, light blue, red, purple and green) and the different tips to create all sorts of designs.  There are some skill involved to achieve the desired result.  Ashleigh was having a great time decorating and eating the icing at the same time.

We finally finished close to about 40 cupcakes, all wonderfully and colourfully decorated.  If I were one of Caitlins friends tomorrow, I will have difficulties picking up which ones I'd like to devour first and once finished I will have to say, "... Please Miss, can I have more...?" 

Moving house

It's been 2 weeks now since I've moved to my new place here in Eastwood. Official date of the move was 8 August 2009.

I did not anticipate the amount of planning and physical work that I have done the past weeks, my personal trainer did a good job in building up those biceps!!

The weeks leading up to the move was busy, as I was trying to organise the sale of my old house as well. So, in between "open houses", applying for a new mortgage and completing the purchase of this new place, comes finding the right removalists.

There are so many removalists to choose from... where does one even begin? Some charge by the hour, one came by to see what needs to be done and quoted $1,500, some provide boxes for free while others charges a fee. Some charge the same regardless of whether it's the weekday or the weekend while in most cases, there is a surcharge if you engage them during the weekends and this is usually 10% on top of the price quoted. Arrghh... too hard... thankfully, a friend recommended this removalist that he had used before and found them to be quite good. They are a Korean removalist, charges by the hour and supplies you with boxes which you have to pay a refundable deposit on. They will deliver the boxes and then pick it up a week after you have moved. The move amounted to $500 instead of $1,500!

On the day of the move, 2 Korean guys came, one small built while the other was a tall and good looking guy. The small one was quite strong and seemed to be the more experienced of the two. The good looking guy was a bit clumsy as he was tall and caused two dents in my wall...sigh!
Anyway, one lesson learnt is not to underestimate the amount of stuff you have in your house. I thought it will be a breeze to move my things as I did not have "much"... to my chagrin, the "medium sized" truck was not big enough to fit all my things in including my mum's beloved plants... and pebbles, which she had lovingly and tirelessly picked out!! Oh no... so, for the next few nights, mum and I made trips back to Baulkham Hills to pick up the rest of the things... the final box of pebbles were cleared out last Saturday, hooray! Thanks Charmaine, for helping with an extra load! Thanks to friends who either brought meals or had us over for dinner, it was a real help as the last thing one has the energy to do is to cook after a busy day packing and unpacking.

Next is to get all the change of addresses effected for insurances, be careful that you could end up with either a higher or a lower premium. Initiate a redirect of all mails.. inform friends... and the list goes on.

However, I can now start to enjoy the house... find out where all the switches are... how the locks work...read up on new appliances manual and how they work... the alarm systems...finding more room for my clothes and books...planting new plants to provide more colour...install a new antenna... check out on handyman... consider automating the car porch gate...write to my neighbour about his constantly yapping dog and meeting my new neighbours. And, oh, getting used to the many satellite dishes adorning the landscape!! Why does it have to be so BIG???

Well, a new journey begins... still praying for good neighbours. Praise God, so far, so good...

Volunteering

It has been a while since I last penned a few lines in this blog... gosh! We are already in August, how quickly this year has gone by! Life had been busy and full.

I was up early this morning as this was the first time I am rostered on to volunteer under our workplace program with the Red Cross through their Good Start Breakfast Club. Our organisation send at least 2 of us each fortnight to help existing staff at the Glebe Public School to serve breakfast to the children at the school. All the children can participate in this program. The idea behind this initiative is based on the premise that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having the first meal of the day assists the children with their physical, mental and emotional development. Children who miss breakfast are less able to concentrate, more prone to fidgeting and will find it difficult to concentrate by mid-morning. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that children who miss out on a healthy breakfast are more likely to suffer from obesity later in life.

This program is usually held through schools which are considered to be socially or economically disadvantaged. Glebe Public Schools is attended by children from Aboriginal backgrounds and kids living in the housing commissions.

On this chilly morning, the children start arriving from 8 am with the "peak" period starting from 8.15am when the bus drops them off. They are served cereals or toast and the volunteers and staff keep an eye on the quantity taken eg if a child has consumed more than 4 pieces of toast, he / she will be asked to stop and given an alternative such as some cereals instead. I put too much vegemite for one girl and it was too much for her that she had to ask for just buttered toast!

One of the boys came in and told us that he had recently moved in with his sister who constantly "bashed" him and his brothers... very sad!

Some of the kids are also served dinner before they head home as this was likely to be their last meal of the day before they come to school again the following morning for breakfast. Mind you... dinner is served at 4.30pm!!

It was a good and humbling experience. Good to take stock of the blessings that we have money to put food on the table and are not lacking.

Chicken a la Carte (true story)

Chicken a la Carte : Director: Ferdinand Dimadura Genre: Drama Produced In: 2005

Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

Be inspired and humbled.

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte

KarmaTube: Sound of Music Train Station

"Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden Sun. Me, a name I call myself." That's not quite what you'd expect hear at a train station in Belgium, but that's what happened when 200 people took over Antwerpen's Centraal Station to do a carefully choreographed dance to the song from Sound of Music. As one observer put it, "It showed me that good things are still out there and there are good people in the world. In a small way, I have a deeper understanding of what it is to be human because of the actions of 200 fellow humans in a train station in Belgium."

KarmaTube: Sound of Music Train Station

Shared via AddThis

True friends or ....?

As I prepare for a girlies' weekend away, I thought it timely to reflect on friendships. Who are our friends, why do we choose them and allow them to come into our lives? Why do we have a stronger bond with one and not the other? Granted, we all have different personalities, but why does one move more in synch and have the same values and principles while the other... you hardly hear from until they want something from you... what do we do then? Do we cut them off as friends or do we still accept and be there for them? What happens if you are there for them but they are not there for you? They tell you their life story but is not interested in the happenings in your life? It this person is not your spouse, is it possible for him / her to be a friend for life?

Friendships like any relationships are hard work, we need to water and nurture it. God sends people in to our lives for a reason and a season. If there is only one hand, it cannot make a sound. We need friends to grow together, encourage and uphold each other, be there for you through thick or thin, truthful and not afraid to tell you off but is there to link arm in arm to run the race before us. Life is hard enough as it is to fight alone and I think this is one of the reasons God sends these "angels" to help us along the way when the going gets tough, but it's does not give us the right to take each other for granted!

Here are some thoughts to ponder....

We talk of choosing our friends, but friends are self-elected

AGE is a mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter

Falling in love is easy but staying in LOVE is something very special

A friend, is, as it were, a second self

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get OLD

A friend is someone who reaches for your hand but touches your heart

Wherever you are it is your friends who make your world

Growing old is inevitable, growing UP is optional

A hug is the shortest distance between friends

Laughter is the medicine of life

It is not the years in your life that counts, it is the life in your years

Love doesn't make the world go round but it makes the ride worthwhile

Having a place to go - is a home, having someone to love - is a family

To have a good friend is one of the greatest delights of life

Friends have a way of speaking without words

To have JOY one must share it

It is important to have a twinkle to your wrinkle

Blogging

I've been blogging for nearly a month now. Whoever started this is a genius! I derive a lot of satisfaction from writing and it is a great stress reliever.

Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today (26 May 2009) commented that a survey conducted by Technorati found that of the 133 million blogs they had tracked since 2002, only 7.5 million had been updated within the past four months and, of those, only 1.5 million had been updated within the past 7 days. Wow... quite a significant drop. This means that of the blogs Technorati tracked, only 5.6% are active within the last four months and only 1.1% are active within the past week. The vast majority of blogs are abandoned.

Jonathan then went on to give 6 tips to avoid abandonment.
http://www.bloggingtips.com/2009/05/26/6-tips-to-avoid-blog-abandonment/

I guess part of the motivation behind setting up a blog is that one must enjoy writing. It can be on any topic or a particular subject. For me, it is putting down my thoughts on issues which affect me either positively or negatively, it is a forum which allows me to communicate and update my friends on happenings as well as an opportunity to let my creative juices flow.

The process of setting up my own blog was a simple process. The fun starts in trying to create a certain look and feel of the blog, by adding a different background or accessorising. That took up some time figuring out which templates I liked and which websites to go through. One pointer is that with some downloads, there is a high probability of losing the gadgets which you have picked before after the download which was a bummer... then there is also the possibility that the colours you had picked out before might not suit your new background, so, will need to revisit the colour scheme.

On the whole, it has been a pleasant experience and a great way to pen some of my life journeys.

Hmm... I wonder what the blogging community will look like and where it will evolve to in 5 years time?

To blog or not to blog

It's 1.47am and here I am, writing my first blog! It's taken me a while to decide if I should start my own blog - and whether I have a flair for it. But, given that biggest bloggers are women, I thought I'd give this a go, jump on the bandwagon and see what this is all about.

I think I'll use this as a journal to record highlights of my life given that time is flying past really really swiftly...

Starting my blog page was not as hard as I thought. Websites such as this, Blogger and WordPress made the experience relatively pain-free.

The journey starts now... let's see where this will take me.