Kids These Days!

Thank goodness for digital cameras.  

We can take multiple shots without running out of film.

I took these pictures last May during Mother's Day.

I asked the chidren to pose in front of the sign and this is what I got.

(Yes, those are my children.)

Thankfully they allowed me to take a decent shot.

These ones were taken on Christmas Eve.

I had a half-decent candid shot of RD and GI going

until their cousin decided to join the picture when I pressed the shutter button.

And when I asked them to pose for me, this is what I got.

(Undeniably my boys.)

Imagine my frustration if these were were taken during the time 

when 36 was the most number of shots in a camera roll.

I Love You to the Moon and Back

It's the 20th Anniversary Edition of this book.

Just looking at the book cover brings back fond memories.

I still have the copy I read to GI.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's that time of year 

when good friends are near

And you wish you could give more

than just presents from a store.

RD at the Sydney Conservatorium

Wednesday, 02 December 2015

MacGyver drove RD to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

RD had been practicing for his audition for months.

RD's audition was at 10:30 AM. 

He said that despite being used to playing for a big audience at school,

seeing seven people in the panel sort of panicked him.

He could not tell how the audition went
because he had prepared three pieces
but they only asked him to play two.
(And he only got through part of the two pieces.)

Father and son had brunch together in the city after the audition.

RD had several other tests and MacGyver had to go to work.

That left RD on his own for the afternoon.

(I got the blow-by-blow report via text messages.)

I decided I'd work from home  so that I could pass by RD 
and we could ride the bus home together. 

oo00oo

This is the first of many pictures of RD and the Conservatorium.

The Conservatorium is a nice scenic place close to the Harbour Bridge.

We were trying to get the Conservatorium in the background

but we couldn't even see ourselves as we attempted to take our selfies.

Kamehameha!

I spotted a tourist with this bag the other day at the city.

I didn't think Dragon Ball was still popular with the youth of today.

It certainly was popular with my boys

(especially the big one).

The Force Awakens

I knew that Star Wars Episode VII is coming soon.

How can you not know? 

There are Star Wars merchandise all over the place.

You can find mugs at one of the corner stores.

There are toys (of course) in the department stores.

(Yes, even Mr. Potato Head has joined the Dark Side.)

What I did not expect was to find a Darth Vader cookie jar (right)

and a milk chocolate Darth Vader (left)!

I thought I'd seen everything but then 

I found a Star Wars Origami book at Dymocks.

I guess the possibilities are endless and yes,

"It's a trap!"

Christmas Past

May the Force be with you!

Show My Love

Show my love with homemade siomai.

I never knew how easy it was to make dumpling wrapper from scratch.

2 cups flour + 1/2 t salt + 3/4 cups hot water

knead, rest, roll, cut and shape

These were made using a 3" round cutter

and we managed to make about 4 dozen.

MyGirl did most of the hard work for this batch.

After we made these, she shared a link on how to make soup dumplings.

That will be for another day.

SYD-MLA

Last Thursday, we were at Pier One Sydney Harbour.

We met up with a high school friend visiting from Atlanta.

Then MacGyver dropped GI at the airport.

He was off to Manila on his own for a short vacation.

GI arrived safely although it took him about 3 hours to get home.

The traffic didn't dampen his vacation spirit.

In fact, he hadn't been away for 24 hours 

when he decided to extend his stay there until mid-December.

We'll miss you, GI!  Enjoy your trip.

Flowers in the Spring

I could not resist taking a picture of these yellow flowers 

brightening up the road one beautiful spring day.

I often walk down this road and these flowers never cease to amaze me.

Maybe it is particularly so in the month of October.

I had taken pictures of this flowers three years ago

and posted them here with pictures of the kids.

Since it is spring, the weather seems to want to straddle between winter and summer.

It could be very hot in the weekend and cold during the week.

Sometimes you can even see the different seasons in one day. 

This one was taken on sunny day that was about to become a rainy one. 

The yellow flowers are still very beautiful.

Wet and Dry

Have you ever seen anything like this before?

It's pretty clever.

No, this is not a drying rack of sorts.

When serving coffee or tea, you start off with dry spoons.

Once you've stirred your drink, you end up with wet spoons.

The label  will tell you which spoons are clean (DRY)

and which ones are used (WET).

There you have it... wet and dry.

Rolled Out

This is all that is left of the store.

A couple months back, The Dough Collective bread shop opened
at the ground floor of our building.

I was thrilled.

I didn't buy anything from there but it was nice to go inside and 

check out the different kinds of bread they were selling.

(And get a free sample once in a while.)

Then when I passed by the other day,

I found that the store had closed.

(No more free tastes for me.)

Spring!

It's springtime!

Sealed with a Kiss

This picture was taken back in 2010.

This Kiss & Drop Zone is for school children.

I found the equivalent one for adults near the train station.

Kiss & Ride

I've seen a Kiss & Go sign elsewhere.

They all have one thing in common...

Top View

I took these photos last month from the Sydney Tower.

It was the first time for me to go there.

The view was awesome.

Can you see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the background?

Here is a "closer" shot of the Harbour Bridge.

This one has the Anzac Bridge.

In the middle of this picture is the Queen Victoria Building.

And I took a shot of the Citigroup Centre, of course.

I tried to get Town Hall in this picture.

Here is a wider view.

And the panoramic view.

There is St. Mary's Cathedral.

 Check out Sydney from the top.

Yes, we do live in a beautiful city.