ROM Pics

May as well upload some of the pictures from my ROM since I've transferred all the pictures and videos from the camera's memory stick to my lappy. ;)

All the elders. Left's mine. Right's Leon's.

Solemniser Venerable Seck Kwang Phing.
Secretary-General for the Singapore Buddhist Federation.

Vows.

Family(ies) pic.

Dearie & me! :)

Jul & Lu.

Lu, Jiamin & Jia.

Milano Apartments

I know, I know. Procrastination is the bane of Mankind. But it was a really tiring period. It's just so in the nature of Aussies to be inefficient. We've had a terrible time doing the moving. And I'll never complain about the service in SG anymore. It's thumbs-up, definitely!

Alrighty, enough rambling. Pictures of new apartment!

Entrance into the apartment. This is the lounge + kitchenette.

Kitchenette. :) Immediate right of the entrance.

Dining set. Right in front of the kitchenette & beside the sofa.

Sofa. Balcony's on the right of it.

Entertainment area. Opposite to the sofa. See the Buddha figurine? That's the "prayer/offering" area. The entrance on the left leads to a really narrow hallway. Bedroom's to the left. Study's to the right.

Balcony. Great weather right now to be slurping on hot chocolate & enjoying the evening air.

View of the apartment from the balcony.

View from the balcony. The conical structure is Melbourne Central. One of the 4 train stations in the city of Melbourne. Also a shopping mall.

Common bathroom. Right beside the study and has a connecting door to the study so it's like an en suite too. It's housing Pepper for now 'cos we're getting him used to the place before giving him free rein.

Bedroom. Lu, see my Cheer Bear? It's been brought over!

En suite.

The other bedroom a.k.a study. Leon's on the left & the right is mine.

Sofa bed in the study for occasions when we sleep in here instead. Of course, it's the resting area for anything that's still unpacked into where they should belong.

That's it, folks! :)

Pepper!

This post is dedicated to hubby and my dearest little Pepper. For friends and family who have yet to have a glimpse of him. ;)

He was this small, only 2 months old, (that was 4 months ago) when we first got him from a small suburb called Bulleen, south-east of Melbourne, approximately a 45-minutes drive.

This was how he looked like, after a few weeks, having been settled into Southbank, at about 3 months old.

Super cute, eh?

Shall upload recent pictures of him at 6 months old now when I do have the photos in the camera. ;)

No more Saint Cinnamon

I'm utterly devastated. The Saint Cinnamon outlet in Melbourne Central closed down! No more cinnamon rolls for tea. And I've loved those rolls ever since I was a kid. They used to have them in SG, in Wisma and Causeway Point. But they all closed down. Can't fault it. It's not something Asians can appreciate. But I was definitely heartbroken when it disappeared from sight in SG.

And now it's disappearing from Melbourne as well!

Look at them. Aren't they absolutely tempting? I miss them already.

Weather is such a biaatch! Or not.

Honestly, I can't decide if I want to bitch that. That, being Melbourne's weather. While it does give inconvenience when you're outside (you can be clothed in a thick jacket and realised it's an overkill when you walk the streets or you can be freezing your butt off when you realised the sunny sun doesn't do any credit against the chilly Antarctic wind), it's a great welcome from the hot and humid weather I can't stand in SG.

Although to be fair, as much as I abhor the fiery sun with temperatures of over 30 degrees all year round and the super duper high levels of humidity back in SG, it gives me a sense of consistency. Of which I can certainly say there is none here in Melbourne at all. Wikipedia has a phrase to summarise Melbourne's climate - "four seasons in one day". How apt.

And to Janfy: Winter is gone and Spring has come. But wear thick still.

First Posting

My dear friends should be aware that I've moved to Melbourne now. And have already been here for a couple of months. I've decided to start with a brand new blog, instead of reusing the old one I had ages ago and cannot even remember the url anymore. Gold fish memory, I know...

MM LKY envisioned Singapore to be a garden city back in the days when he was still PM. It was his brainchild. On the other hand, Melbourne has often been referred to as Australia's garden city. In fact, the state of Victoria which Melbourne is in was once known as the Garden State. Somehow, it just feels so appropriate to name this blog Garden Cities. I am living into two garden cities, after all.

With all the time in the world now, excluding the time taken up for house work and of course, my dear little PugZu - Pepper, oh, and if I do not get obsessed with my NDS Lite, I certainly will update regularly. :D