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Well, there has been a bit of spewing and diarrhoea happening here yesterday, interspersed with frequent changes of clothes (due to leakage or vomit)... But despite all this, Elizabeth has been pretty happy and cheerful.... even dancing around... and last night doing somersaults for the grandparents... she was only really been upset when she had just vomitted (understandably.... yesterday afternoon she had a quick nap, threw up in her sleep and woke up with vomit in her eye... I'd be upset too if that happened to me!). She is such a little trooper and hasn't really complained too much at all... And last night she slept through the night without waking once... she woke up at 6:45am... but was still really tired, so I changed her nappy (she still has diarrhoea) and then put her back in her cot and covered up in warm blankets and patted her back to sleep for 30 minutes... and now she's still sleeping... she must be exhausted from this bug.
Yep... it's gastro...
Posted by Clara at 7:30 AM 2 comments
A Stomach Bug...
This morning, I was awakened by Beth at 7am to find that she vomitted sometime during the night, but hadn't even cried out to wake me up. She must have done it sometime in the earlier hours of the morning, because it was mostly dried and she actually managed to sleep on it and it was all dried and stuck the back of her top. She also managed to get vomit over the entire area of the cot... I have no idea how she did that.
I tried to give her breakfast, but she refused her Weetbix, so I gave her a white peacharine and she ate it all and then threw it all up a minute after she had eaten it all. Poor baby.
She is surprisingly in quite a good mood though... Still smiling and happy... she was dancing about to the TV before and right now she is resting in her beanbag watching TV. I'm making chicken stock and chao (congee/rice soup) for her to eat for morning tea right now...
Just wanted to give a quick update... I'm off to go hang out the laundry (containing soiled sheets and quilts)...
Posted by Clara at 8:26 AM 1 comments
Ready For A Garden Tea Party
Posted by Clara at 10:27 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Terrorising the Library, Chasing Birds and "No Deal"
If you haven't noticed, I have been making a big effort to take Beth out somewhere everyday... as she is getting older, (yes... she is just sooo "old" at 16 months) I can see that the stimulation of going out and seeing something different each day is beneficial for her.
So this morning we went to the Chermside library. It had heavily rained overnight and this morning, so going outdoors to a park was just not an option . So I signed up for a library card (only took a few minutes) and then Beth and I explored the library. It is a nice spacious library with a kids area set up with boxes of picture books and board books in the middle and then paperback books for the older kids on the shelves. There is also a wooden ship with cushions in it for the kids to get comfy in and read books and a racing car with foam seats and steering wheels. So Beth and I looked at some books and picked a book out for her to borrow and I also found a Hi5 dvd for her... Then we snuggled down in the cushions in the boat and read a book... and after a story, she tottered off and started pulling books off the shelves! I had to distract her and walked her over to the racing car, which she took a liking to and sat and turned the wheel for a little while. Once she had finished playing there... I decided to venture out and look at some books for me to borrow... we passed a rack of CDs on the way, and Beth decided that the CDs looks much better on the floor than they did on the racks! And then we passed some spinning racks of videos and Beth spun and spun and spun the racks around... We finally made it to the aisle where the photography books were and I had hoped Beth would look at the books on the lower shelves while I had a browse through... but nope... she went *running* down the aisle... and then disappeared out of sight... I put the book I was looking at down and went following her and she had already run halfway down the next aisle and was ready to continue running through the maze of aisles... She is such a little busybody! I (optimistically) decided to try again... so brought her back to the photography books and tried to browse again and Beth went giggling and sprinting off again... She cracks me up with her mischievous... I have to do my best "Mummy-said-no-don't-do-that" voice to try and keep her in line and get her to behave. When I caught up with her, she had grabbed one of those stands (used to hold books up) off a table and was wandering around waving it in her hand! At this point, I just decided to grab the most appealing photography book I could find (based purely on the title) off the shelves and we went and borrowed our books and then headed home. We had had quite enough excitement at the library for one morning!
After her nap, we had some lunch and then we did our weekly grocery shop, came home and frantically put away the groceries before heading out to the park before it started raining... it had gotten a bit warmer during the day, so I was hopeful the park wouldn't be too wet... It was just about to start spitting raining when we got there, but the weather held out for half an hour or so and Beth got some good outdoor time... she got to drive the car at the park... and went down the slippery dip (I taught her how to climb up and walk over (holding my hand) to the slippery dip today... big milestone!)... But she also had fun tottering around in the grass and developed a fasciation with birds... she started chasing a sparrow type bird.. then moved on to the bigger peewee bird... and then tried to go after a black crow... I tried to stop her going after the crow, 'cos it was really mean looking and looked like it could peck your eyes out!
We picked up Phan from work at 5:15pm... and then whilst i was finishing off cooking dinner Phan and Beth were watching "Deal No Deal" (the TV show on Channel 7)... and Phan started trying to get her to do the "No Deal" arm motion (where you cross your arms in front of yourself and say "NO DEAL!")... Well, our smart little cookie, quickly picked it up (much to my chagrin!)... but she does look so funny when she does it... so we can now add "No Deal" to the repetoire of things she can do now!
I think we are starting to see the beginning of words happening... Well, I think she's been doing it a while 'cos she babbles incessantly, but I just haven't been tuned in enough to understand her... so I've been making an active effort to try and understand her.... she says something that sounds like "What's that?" quite often... and then "Up" and putting her arms in the air... and she's really good at saying "Mumumumum" and "Dadadadada"... So working on the talking... Just trying to talk to her lots ... I wonder sometimes if I unintentionally speak too verbosely to her and that's why she does a lot of continous babbling rather than forming singular words... so I'm trying to speak in much simpler terms to her... You are always worryign when you're a mother... before I was worrying about her walking and now she's walking about just fine... so now I've moved onto worrying about talking! I tell myself I shouldn't worry too much, because she understands me just fine... She'll talk in her own time (I hope!)
Posted by Clara at 8:16 PM 3 comments
Last One Standing...
Just a few more random stories about Beth (I am procrastinating about the beach photos... there are just sooo many of them it is a bit overwhelming!)
Today at playgroup, Beth figured out how to jostle at the table to get to the fruit at morning tea... She actually helped herself to the fruit at the table (normally, I pick out pieces and she eats what I give her)... So she picked out nectarine, watermelon, grapes and banana... and we discovered nothing has changed since she was a baby - she still doesn't like banana... she picked up a slice of banana, took a bite, then gave me the rest of it... and then proceeded to do it again! So I made her stop taking banana! By the end of morning tea, she was one of the last kids standing at the table, helping herself to the last of the watermelon... the way she was eating, you'd think I never feed my child!
This afternoon, we had a quiet afternoon at home (after the busy week we've had)... it was nice and laid back ... At one point, I lay in the beanbag and half-dozed off while Beth was playing with her musical activity table... I was rudely awakened a few minutes later by Beth poking me and waving a piece of paper in my face... the piece of paper was about investment advice and how to follow the stockmarket (it was a random bit info that came from our accountant in the mail this week)... and she wanted me to read it to her! (She did this to me yesterday after dinner as well... she is such a strange child!) So I started reading it to her, but in my woozy, half-awakend state, it was just too intense reading for me... so I said to Elizabeth - "Can you get another book for Mummy to read to you?" and off she went to her book box and came back with the most advanced, artistic ABC book you have ever seen... it has beautiful pictures of artwork by Picasso and stuff in it... She absolutely adores this book, which I find so strange... she could go for any of her normal colourful books, but nooo, she'll go for the advanced books!
One last story - earlier this week I was doing some laundry in the late afternoon... I let Beth come outside with me and potter about in our very small backyard while I was hanging out the clothes... She got bored walking around so she decided to climb into the empy wading pool and then took quite a liking to it and pretended to splash in it... She thinks its all quite funny...
Posted by Clara at 9:22 PM 0 comments
She is a "Mini-Me"...
Today at playgroup I had such an "Awwww" moment... you know the kind when your heart just fills up with love and you go all mushy on the inside and you just have to sigh and go "Awwww". Beth had been somewhat clingy on and off for most of playgroup... She would have moments where she would happily potter off by herself... finding toys... (or pots of glue used for the art and craft.. that was like a magnet for her... she wandered over to play with the glue several times!!!) And then there were moments when she would come running back to me and *fling* (and I really mean fling!) herself into my arms as if she was never going to see me again... Towards the end of playgroup though, she found a toy stroller with a baby doll in it and developed quite a relationship with the doll in the stroller... She started pushing it all around the hall... it was just the most adorable sight seeing Beth be a "little mother" and push the stroller around with the doll in it... *insert "Awwww" here*. She happily did that for ages too and gave me a chance to chat to one of the other mums. I also had a lovely chuckle today during the music and singing time at the end of playgroup. Beth decided to stand in the middle of the circle and bop up and down, dance and wave her arms madly in the air to all the nursery rhymes... She might be a mosh-er when she gets older if this keeps up... She normally just sits in my lap and listens intently during song time... but today she was outgoing and loving it...
Posted by Clara at 12:57 PM 0 comments
Our little adventure to South Bank...
Last night, I decided that Beth and I should figure out how to catch the train and that we should go exploring and find out what South Bank is all about. The weather was forecast to be fine and sunny and a glorious 30 degrees... so it seemed like the perfect weather to go and find Streets Beach (which is an artificial beach right on the river front at South Bank). So I packed our togs (queensland speak for bathers) and things last night in preparation for a morning trip. This morning Beth decided to get up at 7:45am... she was pretty worn out from going to the park and the pool yesterday. So after a quick bite of breakfast, we got ready and walked to the train station (Well, I walked, and Beth got to ride in luxury in the strolller... :p). It was only a 5 minute walk (downhill)... so it was nice and easy. We hopped on the train that arrived just before 9am and 5 stops later we were at South Bank Station by 9:15am. It was a short train trip... although, Beth did get a bit nervous, especially when we went through dark tunnels and also when the doors opened at the stations to let people on and off. I managed to keep her in her stroller by singing songs (Old McDonald, Round and Round the Garden, This Little Piggy and other wonderful nursery rhyme favourites).
We got to South Bank and we took a little wander through the Gardens which are so pretty and scenic... it's a lovely layout of beautiful garden greenery and cafes... and Griffith University is right next to it... It would be sooo fantastic to go to uni there... such a fab location! It didn't take long for us to find the beach... and even less time for Beth to start whinging to get in the water... So after changing her into her bathers and then finding a nice bit of shade, we wandered into the water... which was cool but not cold... I think the sun had warmed it up already.
The beach is split into 1 deep part in the middle and 2 shallow parts on either side, so Beth and I went and played in the shallows... They have done a great job of recreating a beach.. the water and the sand are very clean (pristine even!) and make you feel like you're in a resort in Tahiti... well.. it would if it wasn't for all the big buildings about the place and the river on the other side! But all in all... it's a great place to take kids... Not sure that adults would really enjoy it that much because it's not very big... but it's a cool novelty.
We spent a good 20-30 minutes frolicking in the water... Beth was so intent on just walking around... didn't take an interest in the sand at all... She had learnt that she couldn't walk too fast... and the sand seemed to make it easier for her to stabilise herself... and the fact that there were no waves made it even easier for her to negotiate the water. Towards the end of our paddle, she just kept walking into deep water (the water came up to her shoulders!) and then she was bobbing down and trying to dunk her head! She didn't care that she kept inhaling water! She's a crazy one... she has no fear! She also was kind of crawling in the shallow bits which kind of looked like she was swimming... She is such a water baby!
We only had a mini-battle to get her out of the water (I think she knew she was cold too... although, she kept eyeing off the water once I had her wrapped up in a towel!)and we found the toilets/changerooms and changed out of our bathers. And then we walked back to the train station and came home. We could have probably walked around a bit more and seen a bit more of the South Bank, but I didn't want to risk Beth getting tired and being grumpy on the way home.
Beth was much better on the train ride home (she was full of blueberries and grapes) maybe because she was tired from all the swimming. I have to mention here that I came across so many helpful people at the train stations... There is a little step up from the platfrom to the train and everytime I had to get on or off a train, although I could have manoevred the stroller on and off by myself, someone would offer to help lift the stroller with Beth in it onto the train. I accepted their offers gratefully... It was really lovely to come across such friendliness and helpfulness and made me feel like the world is a wonderful place.
So that was our adventure... I am happy that we managed to negotiate the public train system without any problems... and it was really a pleasant train trip without the hassle of driving and parking. It only costs $4.60 for a day trip.
I have a few photos of our mini trip that I took with our point and shoot Canon... I didn't think I could manage to travel on the train with the stroller, handbag, big camera and swim bag... so I forwent our good camera... having said that... I have decided point and shoot cameras do come in very handy... I took the photos of Beth in the water with one hand... I need the other hand free to catch Beth when she falls in the water... so I can't turn my nose up at the good old P&S.. it has a time and place... I would never have been able to take photos of her otherwise.
Posted by Clara at 1:08 PM 1 comments
Afternoon at the pool...
After I finished that last blog entry, Beth woke up... it was about 12:30pm... so after giving her some lunch and letting her digest it, I decided we should go to the Newmarket pool for some fun, seeing as it was a nice warm, sunny day and it wasn't raining. Beth was struggling to get in the toddler pool the minute she saw the water, so I had to battle with her to let me put our stuff down at a bench and take off her shoes before she went running into the water. Once she was in the water (which was cold!)... she was sooo excited, she was moving too fast and kept tripping over her feet... she finally understood that she had to walk slower so that she wouldn't drink the entire pool! She had such a great time playing in the pool with all the spouting water fountains and bubbling springs... When she got cold, I had to drag her out, wrap her in a towel and walk around with her to warm her up so she could go in the pool again... but that didn't last long, because she got cold really quickly... so we tried out the heated 25m pool... She loooved that... and I just walked back forth swishing her through the water... She didn't want to get out... which made it difficult for me to climb out of the pool, because she insisted on clinging onto me, whilst trying to lunge into the pool! She is quite a handful! Then we went into the changerooms and she chattered away to me the whole time... I wish I understood what she was trying to say, but I'm sure it involved "Mum... I don't want to go home!"
There is something about swimming (or rather for me, walking around in water), that really tires me out... so I'm off to bed...
I'll leave you with these snapshots from our daytrip to Caloundra -
Posted by Clara at 10:01 PM 0 comments
The rest of the long weekend...
We have been busy having lots of fun together as a family these last few days... Makes me wish that the long weekends would never end...
Sunday we had a slow paced morning doing absolutely nothing. We had planned to go to Easter Sunday mass... however, Beth was still really, really tired from the excitement of going to the beach the day before, so Phan went and Beth and I stayed home and she ended up having an early morning nap from 10am-12pm!
We went to Bac Chinh's place for a bbq in the afternoon... they live on a huge property (acres of land!), with chickens and stuff. Beth turned into a somewhat "cling-on" baby the moment from the moment we arrived. We think she doesn't like crowds of Vietnamese people that she doesn't know! She did enjoy the food which was really yummy (bbq beef, sausages, fried rice, thit bo xao, che...) she ate everything... and she really enjoyed walking along their really long driveway (chasing her shadow) and looking at the flowers... She was also fascinated by the budgie that they had (a very friendly, smart bird who can say "hello" and sings songs... it's really cute!) Beth was so enchanted by the bird that she tried to put her fingers in the cage! Some 4 day old chicks had also hatched, so Beth got to pat a chick for the first time. It was a bit of a freaky looking chick though because it was black and white and had no feathers around it's neck... but Beth did seem to enjoy the feeling of patting it.
On Monday, Beth slept in until 8am. All the excitement of the previous days must have caught up with her... not that Phan and I were complaining... It was wonderful to have a lie in until 8am...
This morning, Beth slept in until 7am... I took her out Kalinga Park in Clayfield to see what that was like... it's a pretty cool park (not as cool as New Farm Park though) it has a big sandpit thing... little slippery dips... lots climbing things and a big fort type thing. There also looks like there are these large ceramic ducks that spout water.. although that wasn't in operation today, but that would be cool to see. We spent an hour there and had some morning tea before we headed home... and then Beth crashed in the car even though it was only 10:30am... I tried to wake her up when we got home to give her some lunch ... but nope... she was really tired and got annoyed at me for waking her!
Here are some photos from the New Farm Park we went to yesterday...
And here's a photo from going to the park on Good Friday - note the "pigtails".
Posted by Clara at 12:03 PM 0 comments
No Blog Entry Today...
Because Bao complained I hadn't put up any recipes on my recipe blog.
So I put a new post up there - http://alittlelovefrommykitchen.blogspot.com
You can all complain to Bao now for making me blog a recipe instead of putting up lots of gorgeous photos of Beth here on my normal blog... :p (I can only do "so much" blogging... contrary to popular belief... I do spend time doing other things in life and don't just sit in front of the computer all day... :))
I have a tonne of photos to pp... so you might see them next week...
Posted by Clara at 7:25 PM 0 comments
But I want to go in the water...
I hastily took these photos when we first walked down onto the sand at the beach... but because Beth was moving so fast, I hadn't checked my settings, so these were horribly overexposed... I did however, manage to kind of salvage them and quite like the "arty" effect that I unintentionally achieved...
Posted by Clara at 9:37 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Day Trip to Caloundra
We decided to take a day trip today, up to the Sunshine Coast to Kings Beach at Caloundra. Beth decided to get up at 6:30am this morning and was demanding an early breakfast, so by the time she had breakfast and Phan and I had got ready, we were all ready to leave by 8:20am. It took just an hour to get to Caloundra, which is about 80-90km north of Brisbane. There were some really weird patches of weather on the way up... it was sunny when we left... then we hit some cloudy parts... then it started raining... then more clouds... then it poured... followed by a heavy sun shower... we were just hoping for good weather when we got to our destination. Beth fell asleep in the car about 15-20 minutes from our destination... poor girl, was bored... she was very well behaved though... quiet for the whole trip.
We arrived at our destination with no problems... (although the GPS did take us on a roundabout route...) As a side note, Queensland is definitely the king of weird and unusual road names/places... we drove down a road called "Sugar Bag Rd" to get to Kings Beach... and we passed a lot of other unusual names like a place called "Beerburrum"... and then a few kms later "Beerwah"... is there a fascination with "Beer" perhaps here in the Sunshine State?
We woke Beth up... who was quite excited at seeing the beach and after changing into our bathers, we headed down to the beach which was already pretty busy at 9:30am. Its a lovely family friend spot at Kings Beach... there's a lifesaver patrolled beach, a free toddler friendly saltwater pool right on the beach front, clean public toilets, park benches and several bbqs right on the beach front, a spouting water feature thing that kids can play and run through, a little playground and all of this within close vicinity to shops and cafes.
Beth and I played in the sand for a little bit while Phan ran back to car to grab a few things we forgot... but playing in the sand only lasted about 5 minutes and then she was desperate to get in the water! So we toddled down to the surf... lots of waves... and she wasn't scared of the waves at all! Absolutely adored having the waves crash down and have water swirl around her. She basically just sat on the shore and let the waves come up to her... She loved it so much... There was just pure joy on her face. At one point, this massive wave came up and crashed down and submerged her head... and all she did was gulp and inhale water through her nose and gasp a little and she went back for more right away! Even though the sun was shining down strongly, it was quite windy... so it didn't take long for Beth to get cold... maybe 15-20 minutes... and then we had to drag her out of the water (much to her dismay) and I wrapped her up in a towel and we sat on the sand and we built sandcastles and knocked them down for a little while. When Beth had sufficiently warmed up again, we ventured into the saltwater pool. It is really perfect for little kids because it has shallow bits... and the deepest part of the pool is 1.5m... but we just went in waist deep and swished Beth around in the water... She loooved the sensation of "swimming" and could have stayed in there all day if she hadn't got cold. It is amazing how tolerant Beth is to the the cold water... because Phan and I both thought the water was really cold when we first got in, but Beth was happy to dive completely in! We are such wusses compared to her!
After our second little dip, we all got changed (not a trivial task, when you have a wriggly child who won't sit still for you to change them!) and then we sat in the shade on grass parklands and had a seafood platter for 2 for lunch. It had 2 of the biggest pieces of dory we have ever seen, a few of calamari, a couple of crumbed prawn cutlets and chips... Mmmm... yum... There is nothing like fish and chips by the beach.. they just compliment each other so perfectly... it is just a such a simply pleasure in life.
After lunch, Beth had warmed up a bit (her lips were no longer blue!) and she was still perky, so I thought we could wander down to the beach again and I coud try and take some photos of Beth playing/walking in the sand... Hmmm... well... as seems to be often the case these days... that didn't quite turn out as we planned. The minute we walked down onto the sand, Beth was lunging towards the beach and didn't want Phan to hold her because she wanted to walk on the sand out to the water! So after a little bit of struggling, we gave in... and our strong willed little girl got her way... We just let her walk and play in the water with all her clothes on! Lucky, like the paranoid mum that i am, I packed 3 changes of clothes with us... so we had already been through 2 sets and I had a spare set left for her to wear on the ride home... So, I chased her on the beach, trying to get some decent shots and I got a couple of great shots... Phan and I got our own clothes wet from chasing her in the water... so we had to sit through the hour drive home in damp clothes... but lucky it was warm and we dried off a bit.
So after that photo shoot on the beach, we headed home... I expected Beth to fall asleep right away... but she stayed awake and chatted for about 15-20 minutes... and then fell asleep... snuggled up with a blanket...
Once we got home, she woke up... but she was still tired, so I put her down to sleep some more in her cot and she fell asleep right away. Phan and I were both pretty tired too... it's amazing how much the beach tires you out!
We had a slow afternoon... not doing much at all... but we headed out to Trang's Restaurant in the West End for an early dinner at 5pm and had pho (beef noodle soup) and com tam dac biet (broken rice with combination of pork chop, shredded pork and egg). Beth had a whole rice bowl of pho... and probably a half bowl worth of rice and pork... and then a whole glass of nuoc dua (coconut juice). Amazing how she fits all that food in her little belly. I was so satisfied and full after dinner... I was so hungry despite the fish and chips we'd had.
Now Phan and I are thinking an early night is in order... we are knackered from today... our first proper family day trip was such great fun... we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Sneak peek of photos to come - here is one of my favourite shots from today...
Posted by Clara at 8:10 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Turn Your Back For 10 Seconds...
And this is what happens! I was actually attaching the speedlite to my camera so I could take a picture of Beth in her new outfit (courtesy of Uncle Mitch, Auntie Chi and Thomas - thanks again!) while she was eating blueberries (she has quite a thing for blueberries at the moment... I think they are horribly tart..
Posted by Clara at 9:24 PM 1 comments
Labels: photo
The Bunny Outtakes...
Just so you can get a feel for how difficult it really is to photography a 16 month old child, here are some of the "better" outtakes of the bunny shoot -
Today was a low key day... didn't do too much... we did boring household chores in the morning and then went to the park for a bit of energy-burning... Then came home and Beth had some lunch before having a long 2.5 hour nap. When she woke up, gave her a bit more to eat and we played a bit and then we went to Good Friday mass at 3pm... Beth lasted just over an hour (thanks to some blueberries and mini rice cakes) before she started getting antsy, so we managed to stay for most of the mass, but did have to leave before we got a chance to venerate the cross (as did several other people with small children). Then home, and we didn't do much other than have dinner and Beth was pretty tired, so went to bed a bit early.
It has been somewhat of a reflective day for me today... I have missed having family around... missed going to Stations of the Cross and Good Friday mass together... Just a very contemplative day generally...
Posted by Clara at 8:07 PM 1 comments
The Easter Bunny Shoot
This is one very curious bunny!
Posted by Clara at 12:28 PM 1 comments
Bunny doesn't want to play...
There were points during our "bunny photoshoot", when Beth had had enough of the camera... she didn't want to wear the ears... she didn't want to wear the tail... she just wanted Mummy to hold her and she didn't want to have anymore photos taken! This was the only way I could get a full length shot of her complete with ears and tail... (These photos are actually taken of our reflection in the bedroom mirror...) I absolutely adore these shots, because it really shows her personality when she is a "Mummy's girl". I love how she has one foot on top of my foot in that last photo... she does that a lot!
Posted by Clara at 9:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
A Happy and Safe Easter to you all...
And I hope the Easter Bunny brings you all some chocolate... because in this instance, our Easter Bunny seems to have eaten it all before it got delivered!
Yes - this was what my photoshoot yesterday was all about... trying to get some Easter Bunny shots of Beth... near damn impossible getting her to keep the ears on (kept pulling them off!)... so I tried to distract her with easter eggs. I really didn't think the whole easter egg thing through very carefully... I don't know what I was expecting to happen (maybe that she would just play with the eggs), but within 5 seconds of her discovering the eggs, she was peeling foil off the eggs and finding the chocolate... I took away the first 4 or so eggs she opened and then gave up and let her get to the chocolate... so... it was all a bit messy (the quilt was covered in chocolate!)... I did get some great shots though... so stay tuned for them... but I had hoped to get some photos of her looking at the camera... but nope, she was waaaay more interested in the yummy stuff in the foil!
Posted by Clara at 12:47 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
First Good Pic from the New Camera
This was taken today... I actually did a photoshoot with Beth today in our bedroom where I thought there was better light (had to take out all the blockout fabric I've got hanging up to block out the morning light!), but damn it was hot up there (even though it wasn't even that hot today and I had the fan going... didn't want to turn the aircon on though because I had Beth topless). It was a rather interesting experience and didn't turn out anything like I had planned... (you will understand when you see the photos) and it didn't help that halfway through I got a CF card full message because I only put the 1GB card which had leftover photos on it, in instead of my 2GB card, so that just threw a whole spanner in the works. Anyway... the results of today's photoshoot will be put up over Easter when I have time to pp them.
Too tired to blog about what we did today... but it wasn't anything exciting...
On a separate note - Mitch, I'm hanging out for you to get your new lens! :)
Posted by Clara at 10:23 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Still photo-less...
Sorry I'm still photo-less... I had been planning to take some photos this afternoon, but we got caught up running errands.
We started the day early - Beth was awake at 6am. She hasn't done that in a while...
Took Phan to work, then breakfast, shower and then we went out and I finally went and changed my driver's license over... so I now have a qld license... and boy are they primitive. They are laminated cards... much like the ones you used use for id in uni! They look pretty easy to forge!
After that, we went to a nearby park at Chermside... it was a pretty cool park... lots of cool equipment... but we'd only been there 10 minutes when there 2 random big dogs came over... I quickly scooped Beth up and waited for the dogs' owner to appear... and they never did! So Beth and I climbed up onto some high playground equipment and she had a snack and we waited for the dogs to go away... you hear so many scary stories about dog attacks, that I was a bit freaked out... it didn't help that one of the dogs looked like a pitbull x... so we sat up there for 10 minutes and the dogs ran around frolicked together all over the place, but kept returning to where Beth and I were sitting and "play" barking at us... it was still all a bit unnerving... anyway... a short while later, I came to the decision that we were going to be stuck up here because the dogs weren't going away, so I just calmed myself down and we climbed down from the equipment.. the dogs were pretty happy and just ran circles around us... and I just carried Beth high up in my arm (times like this I wish I was a little taller)... anyway, we got to the car okay and I opened the door and ones of the dogs stuck their head in the car... but i managed to get it out of the way, and then Beth and I got into the back seat of the car and I closed the door. We were safe! What a relief! Strapped Beth into her seat and then I climbed from the backseat to the front. At this point, once Beth and I were in the car, the dogs had run off down the street... so they had only been hanging around us because we were humans I think... I think they may have hoped we could help them get home, as I'm sure they just escaped from their home.
So we headed home after that little scary experience... and then Beth had some lunch and had her nap. In the afternoon, popped out to run more boring errands and then caught up with Sharon and Em and we all went to the park for a bit.... then came home, Beth chilled in her beanbag while I made dinner and then gave her some dinner (rice and last night's stew) and then we went to pick up Phan.
Then Phan and I had dinner (com tam bi - broken rice with shredded pork... although, I didn't have any broken rice so I had to use normal rice) and Beth ate again with us... I didn't think she'd like it (which is why I gave her stew), but she loved it... so that was a surprise.
She stayed up a little late... but I think she's pretty tired from all the excitement today... as am I!
Posted by Clara at 10:12 PM 0 comments
Drizzly, dreary weather....
does not make for good photo opportunities...
I've hardly had a chance to play with the new camera today... the lighting has been crap (and I really want to take photos in natural light today)... and it's been raining on and off all day. Despite the lack of photo taking opportunities, Beth and I were busy and had some fun... first thing, we went out and checked out a KindyRoo class at 9:15am... I'm planning to enrol Beth in the classes next term (starts with the school term) but I wanted to see what it was all about... it's quite interesting... has a whole bunch of different equipment for climbing/swinging/bouncing... plus activities and they do a group session which is a bit like interactive PlaySchool and gets the parents to participate with their child and teach them stuff... I figure there's no harm doing it for a term and if we don't like it we can always stop... I think it'll be good to kind of have a structured type of play session like this and then the free play we have at playgroup...
After that, we were going to go to the park, but it was raining, so we went home and I made my first ever batch of playdough... it was a lot stickier than I thought it would be when I was making it ... but it worked out really well... and then we played with it... well actually, I played with it and Beth poked it a lot... but she did manage to get the hang of pushing down on some cookie cutters I have to make shapes from the playdough.
After that, Beth had some lunch and then had a nap that only lasted 1 hr and 15 minutes... but she woke up happy and we had some peacharine and then I had to take the car to go and get a roadworthy certificate so that we can get it registered in Queensland. We spent almost an hour at the auto place... and lucky it had a big office (albeit dirty) so Beth was happy to walk around the office, munch on snacks and rifle through the magazines while we were there... she just walked around the office doing circuits... it made up for not going to the park!
After that, we dropped in to the greengrocer and then we came home ... Beth chilled out with her bottle of milk to Hi-5 and then when she had drunk it all stood up and started dancing to all the music... very funny 'cos she puts her hands in the air and really bops... I had made a beef stew for dinner with green beans and mashed potato which Beth devoured... she really loved it... at a massive bowl and then ate some off my plate whilst I was having dinner.
And that was it for today... weather isn't supposed to be much better for the rest of the week... but I do hope it stops raining for a bit so we can go to the park at least once.
Posted by Clara at 5:05 PM 0 comments
I have a new camera *happy dance*
Although I wasn't seriously in the market for a new camera, somehow today Phan, Beth and I went shopping and at once point started browsing electronics/tv stores (as per Phan's habit of looking at TVs even though we don't need one) and we came across a Canon 40D body (a step above from the entry level 400D which I have)... I've just been wanting to see one in real life to see how big and heavy it is in person (it's 300g heavier than the 400D) and when I saw it I asked to hold it to see what it was like - I was interested in it's weight and it wasn't that bad... it had a pretty hot price on it which we managed to bargain down a bit further... and then got it put on interest free for that bargained down price... so we didn't even have to outlay anything today! I had to wait for the battery to charge up, so didn't get that much of a chance to play with it tonight... but it's significantly different enough to the 400D that I need to read the manual and really have a good twiddle with it to get used to it... But so far, I am loving it... it's actually feels better in the hand because it balances with my 24-70mm L series lens much nicer (felt a bit front heavy with 400D)... and it makes a cool different shutter sound... and boy oh boy is it fast! Not too sure I'll be having too many good photos to show in the near future while I learn how to use my new baby... but I'll be practising... :)
On a separate note... poor Beth has a runny nose that is just dripping like a tap... she's in a pretty good mood considering... but she hates having her nose wiped... and everytime I look at her I want to wipe her nose because it's dripping!
Posted by Clara at 9:36 PM 0 comments
An Artist At Work...
As much as I love improving my photography skills and taking artistic and "beautiful" photos of Beth all dressed up and perfect, I also just love being a mummy and taking normal "happy snaps" of Beth playing... Nothing fancy, artistic or beautiful about these photos... but they just capture everyday moments, which I love... so I sacrifice a bit of artistic flair to capture these moments... It's all too hard and particularly challenging, when I'm trying to stop this particular little artist from eating paint... putting paint on the ground, swiping the clean laundry on the line ... and all this done with (large) camera in hand whilst trying to avoid her getting paint on me and the camera!
Can I mention, that I did not think through the finger painting part of this activity thoroughly enough... I was totally unprepared for the sheer mess she made... that combined with a soiled nappy... getting her upstairs into the bath without getting paint on the carpet was quite an ordeal... It was rather cool having the bath water turn blue though...
Posted by Clara at 12:04 PM 0 comments
Chasing Shadows...
Photoless blog entry today... I'm a bit photo-ed out after that mammoth fairy shoot I just pp-ed...
Yesterday we had a low key, but still fun day... in the morning I let Beth do some painting with brushes and some finger painting... OMG... what a mess! But it was fun... although I was kept on my toes making sure she didn't take a swipe at the laundry I had hanging on the line with her paint covered hands (I didn't plan that very well... note to self, don't finger paint when the laundry is hanging out!) After painting, I had to put her in the bath to clean all the paint off her and once she was all clean I decided we would got for a walk around our neighbourhood instead of going to the park. We walked 1/4 way around the block before Beth got tired and then I had to carry her home... uphill! Beth had a decent lunch and then had her nap... a looovely long one... 3 hours! I even got to have a 15 minute nap while she was napping! Then once she woke up, gave her some grapes for afternoon tea and then we went and did our weekly grocery shop.
This weekend, Phan is working... so he took the car to work this morning (he was feeling lazy and didn't want to ride his bike!)... so Beth and I played ball in the empty garage (bouncing it off the walls) while I was doing the laundry... then came inside and we read some books and stuff and then I decided we would have some water play... I just filled up a bowl with water and gave her a spoon and a whisk and let her play with it outside... she had a ball... and had emptied the bowl within a couple of minutes, but then spent time splashing the little puddles of water on the ground for about 15 minutes. Dried her off after that bit of fun and then we went for another walk around the neighbourhood... we only got about 1/8 way round the when she decided that she would sit on a little patch of grass near the footpath next to somebody's fence and pluck all the yellow flower/weeds out of the grass... We did that for about 10 minutes, before I decided we should get moving before people thought we were really weird! So we started walking back, and then I ended carrying Beth home again! Didn't do too much else today... except we all went to the park this afternoon and Beth spent a good amount of time at the park just walking around aimlessly chasing her shadow... very cute... and then we went home and we had nem nuong (vietnamese meatballs) for dinner which is Beth's favourite... she was shoving whole meatballs in her mouth and devouring it! And she ate without a top on because the bun (rice noodles) just goes everywhere... she makes such a mess when she eats this! I hate cleaning her up afterwards... it just takes forever... but I do love how much she loves eating nem nuong and bun... so it's kind of worth it... lucky we love her so much! :)
Posted by Clara at 7:33 PM 0 comments
Let me tell you a story about a fairy...
Posted by Clara at 10:17 PM 0 comments
A little bit more fairy...
Just another sneak peek of what's to come from the fairy shoot... I've pp-ed half of the photos tonight... (pp = post-process for those of you who are not up with the photography lingo - it basically means photoshopping - converting RAW -> jpeg, adjusting levels, colour, contrast, running actions, tweaking it here and there to give the photos a polished look ... it's a bit of work... but when you have a adorable subject, it makes the whole process more enjoyable... :) I love having beautiful photos of my beautiful girl... :)) so will do some more tomorrow night hopefully and have a decent slideshow going by the weekend... I am loving pp-ing these photos... they just make me feel like I'm in a fairy dreamland...
Posted by Clara at 10:09 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Far, far away... in a magical place...
there lived a little fairy named Elizabeth. ;)
Today we went to park (gosh... I should really stop writing that ... we go to the park *every day*...) I haven't taken my camera out all week ... but I've been wanting to take photos of Beth dressed up as a fairy for ages, so today I finally got ourselves organised to go dress up and do it. (I've been putting it off because it involved ironing her dress... and I generally never iron her dresses... plus I thought it was going to be a battle to get Beth to keep her wings on). When we first got to the park, I got stung/bitten by something within the first 5 minutes (I have no idea what!) on my right leg and on my left arm... I was worried that Beth was going to get stung too because it *really hurt*... but she was fine, so I moved us out of that area of grass and we were fine... I managed to keep shooting photos through the pain (yes... kind of sad that I'm so obsessed with photography that I could forget about the pain... :p). Beth surprisingly was very tolerant of the wings... however, I did have to amuse her with the ball and things...
So stay tuned for more photos of a fairy in the next couple of days... I got another good strike rate for today's shoot ... so either I'm fluking it more consistently, my "shoot and pray" approach is working or I'm actually getting better... :p
Posted by Clara at 10:09 PM 1 comments
Labels: photo
What every mother loves...
a sleeping child! :) Beth fell asleep while having her bottle in the beanbag 3 nights in a row last week... this was the third night she did it... and she hasn't done it since... so I'm glad I managed to capture this precious moment.
Posted by Clara at 1:48 PM 1 comments
Labels: photo
Okay... so I lied...
These are really the last set of photos from the park shoot last week... :p
I wasn't going to show these photos, 'cos there's nothing really spectacular about any of them... but I figure, well I managed to nail the focus on these shots, I may as well show them... plus Bao left a comment on one of my previous entries saying how much she enjoyed looking at the photos... so that's all the encouragement I need... :)
I actually like the first photo of her where she is pointing at the ground... I have no idea what she was actually pointing at... I think she may have actually been poking and enjoying the weird spongy surface (that bit of the ground is spongy to cushion the impact of the kids on the swings). Oh and in case you're wondering what she's doing in the photos in the latter part of the slideshow when she's standing at that grey plastic thing... she's actually picking out bits of dirt and bark out of the little grooves in the grey plastic and either
(a) trying to eat it
(b) generously trying to give it to me as a present
(c) just picking it up and playing with it... sometimes dropping it... sometimes flinging it ... it is so weird what she plays with.
Nothing too exciting going on here today ... we had a rental inspection today that went fine... Beth and I popped out to Coles in the morning and then she dozed off in the car on the way home (it was only 10:15am)... so I woke her up by putting sunscreen on her and then we went out to the park... Home for lunch followed by nap, and then when she woke up we met up with Sharon and Em at Spotlight and then went back to their place for a drink and the girls played a bit.
Beth was a bit less clingy today... but still wanted me to pick her up a lot... and really enjoys sitting in my lap... she is a funny bunny...
Posted by Clara at 8:57 PM 0 comments
We had pho yesterday... mmm....
Just a quick blog entry to mention what we got up to yesterday... we went to 9:30am mass at Inala during which Beth got really anxious... we think she's scared of black people 'cos we were sitting in front of some African people and she kept looking at them and then hugging me really tight... she's a bit of racist... :p...
After mass, we headed out to stock up on vietnamese groceries... and discovered a whole little circle of refo shops... Did our shopping quickly and then headed home... Beth didn't fall asleep surprisingly, so we gave her some lunch and then put her down for her nap. When she woke up we went and did a bit of shopping and then we decided to have an early afternoon tea/dinner and went to a viet restaurant (Trang's Restaurant) in the West End... typical of a vietnamese restaurant you'd find in Mansfield Park in Adelaide... We all got to have pho (beef noodle soup) for the first time in 2 months!!! The pho wasn't as good as back home... but it was still good... although small in size (Phan was disappointed 'cos it's no where near as big as a xe lua (jumbo) sized pho you get at Pho Khang... Mai loooved the pho... ate a whole rice bowl by herself... we'd got her spring rolls too, but she totally rejected them in favour of the pho (clever girl)... and then drank 1/2 a glass of nuoc dua (coconut juice)... lot of food for a little girl!
Today, Beth has been somewhat of a velcro baby... she has just wanted me to hold her *all day* ... I think her teeth are bothering her a lot... she keeps throwing herself at me (literally!) everytime I try and get up and do something (As you can I didn't achieve much today!!!)... it's quite sad but funny at the same time... I think she hopes that if I hold her, her teeth will stop hurting. She was fine if she was sitting on my lap or if I was holding her... but the minute I tried to leave (even though I was in the same room) she would start chucking a tantie like the world was going to end! We did manage to go to the park and she was happy to wander around by herself and sit in the swing for a little while and slide on the slippery dip... so that was good... But even when Phan got home and I was trying to cook dinner, Beth kept coming up to me and tugging on my leg and putting her hands in the air wanting me to pick her up. I got Phan to give her a bath tonight, 'cos I needed a break from Beth's "velcro-y-ness"... and she was kicking up a big drama and fuss... but calmed down once she got in the bath.
So that's pretty much it... No photos today since Beth wouldn't let me put her down... and even if I had, I would have had grumpy faced Beth...
But here's a photo of me and Phan... this was taken before we went to Koh and Vinnie's wedding
Posted by Clara at 9:49 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Okay... last set of photos from that park shoot...
I promise these will be last set of photos from that park shoot I did last week...
Posted by Clara at 10:30 PM 1 comments
Yep... I'm getting more hi-tech....
Have you noticed I've put music to my blog now? :) (If you get sick of it, you can always hit the pause button... it's at the top of the sidebar on the right). "Bubbly" is my favourite song at the moment and I think the words are so apt for my blog... :)
I have also posted video footage for the first time! :) Yeah baby... I don't know whether I'll do that regularly, as the quality of these videos are pretty poor and I'd rather be taken good quality pics... But there's a time and place for video and I think that footage of Beth in the swing is just priceless!
Anyway... quick update of today - Other than going to the park and getting Beth to sit in a swing, we went and visited Dave and Tanya who live on the Gold Coast... we had a lovely late lunch of some bbq Persian food (Tanya is Persian) which was delicious (bbq lamb, chicken and tomatos on this amazing saffron flavoured rice... yummm!) and then Beth and I had a dip in the *cold* pool... which Beth absolutely adored... it was so cold but she was so intent on swimming around and splashing, I actually had to drag her out kicking and screaming! It 68km to the Gold Coast from our place... but it's actually only an hours drive with the M1 freeway ... so much like a drive to Victor Harbour from Adelaide in length. It was a great day out... and we've realised it's really not that far and is very suitable for day trips. :)
Posted by Clara at 9:57 PM 0 comments
A little bit of swing time...
Today we went to the park... and Beth sat in a swing by herself for the first time! And wouldn't you believe, I'd left my camera home... so Phan got out his phone and got this little video snippet...
Posted by Clara at 7:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: video
More Park Photos
Posted by Clara at 9:33 PM 1 comments
Labels: photo
Proud Mummy moment...
Beth's first painting ever... she did this at playgroup on Thursday... At the moment I have it stuck on the fridge, but I'm going to frame it and hang it up one day...
Posted by Clara at 9:11 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Do you think she likes her wading pool?
Posted by Clara at 8:59 PM 0 comments
I think she's adorable... (but I could just be biased)... :)
Posted by Clara at 8:16 AM 0 comments
Labels: photo
A fun day...
We didn't do too much out of the ordinary today... went to playgroup in the morning and I think Beth knows when it's playgroup because her face lights up when we get there! Spent heaps of time playing in the sandpit and sitting at the piano... and today Beth did her first painting! She used a brush and was pretty good at getting the paint on her page... although she did want to keep painting on the page that the little girl sitting next to her was doing... Beth also managed to get paint on her face (red paint and green paint)... if i'd had my camera it would have been a classic photo! Managed to keep her clothes relatively paint free which was amazing... (although we did use an apron to cover most of her!) Beth also spent time at the piano again as usual... and also standing by the toy kitchen turning the stove knobs. After playgroup, Sharon and Em came back to our place for lunch and Beth had her nap while we had lunch and then woke up just as Sharon and Em headed home (Em needed her nap). I gave Beth some lunch, then we played a bit at home before heading out to the park where we pottered around for half an hour... I took the camera again (trying to squeeze in some practise) and today, for the first time I actually got a reasonable strike rate of decent photos... I am pretty happy.
Other than that, some random things that Beth has been doing -
- She sat in her beanbag and talked on her toy phone for *ages* this morning...
- She let me have a shower by myself for the first time ever... I left her downstairs 'cos she wasn't interested in climbing upstairs with me... and she was reading a Mr Silly book to herself... when I got out of the shower and came down, she was still reading the same book! (I am only having 4 minutes showers though, as per the Brisbane water restrictions!)
- She has fallen asleep in her beanbag while having her bottle for 3 nights in a row... but not tonight.
- She has leannt how to bang on the upside down plastic or metal bowl with a wooden spoon... a drummer in the making!
- She likes to stir things in a bowl and pretend she's cooking (I normally put plastic cookie cutters in a plastic bowl).
Here's a sneak peek of some photos from today...
Posted by Clara at 9:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Noodle Photos Close Up
Just thought I'd show all the noodles close up because you can't see her facial expression that well in the scrapbook layout I did...
Posted by Clara at 6:41 PM 0 comments
Posted by Clara at 5:06 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo, scrapbooking
More photos from the weekend...
Posted by Clara at 4:56 PM 0 comments
How time flies by...
Four years ago today, my Mum passed away. I can hardly believe it has already been 4 years... it feels like yesterday that she was still with us... Not a day goes by when I don't think of her... and although I have days where I miss her so much, I have reached a point in my life where I can more often than not think of Mum with a smile on my face and see her as my inspirational light. She shaped my life in my childhood and adolescence and even though she is not here in person, she still continues to influence and shape my life in motherhood. Whenver I have a bad day... which generally involves having a whingy, nagging child hanging off my arm/leg and I haven't been able to do a thing all day and I'm really tired and cranky... all I have to do is take a step back in my mind and think of my Mum and how easy my life is compared to hers... I don't have half the worries she had... and I only have 1 child to worry about, not 3... and as I think of her some of my crankiness goes away (even if the whingy child doesn't.. :p).
Having Mum watch over us keeps my life in perspective... I remember being pregnant and having morning sickness in the early days and thinking "Geez this is awful... but then again, it's not that bad compared with what Mum had to go through - morning sickness and being on boat and escaping from Vietnam... Not much could be worse than that!" My mum was amazing - I don't know how she did half the things she did... But I do know that everything she did was to create a better life for all her children... And I'm happy to say that she achieved that... I know that my life is good and that I'm living a "better life"... and I'm thankful for that every single day.
So Mum... I still miss you and wish that you were here to be a grandmother and see Elizabeth grow up... I know you would have loved it. And although she will never have the chance to meet you, you can be sure that I will tell Elizabeth lots of stories about you as she grows up... and she will know and understand what an amazing, inspiring person you were and how much you mean to me. I love you, Mum. xo
Posted by Clara at 8:33 AM 1 comments
Labels: photo
This is how she fell asleep...
Posted by Clara at 9:36 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Saturday Morning At The Park
Posted by Clara at 9:08 PM 0 comments
Weekend recollections...
Okay... In my fuzzy sleep deprived state, this is what I remember of the weekend...
Friday night - Phan's parents arrived at 9pm and Phan went to pick them up and dropped them off and then went back to the airport to get Jo... Phan's parents were dying to see Mai and snuck into her room to see her sleeping peacefully. Not too much happened that night... Jo and Phan came home and then we settled everyone in for the night, Phan's parents taking the spare bedroom and Jo taking the downstairs area... We were lucky that the weather was beautifully mild (by anyone's standards, not just qld standards) so we didn't need to worry about airconditioning or anybody getting hot.
Saturday morning - Beth got up early at 6:20am and after a failed attempt at putting her back to sleep, we went and harrassed Ong Noi and Ba Noi... You should have seen how excited they were and how much their faces lit up when they saw her. Beth wasn't scared of them at all and seemed to remember them... although it took a few minutes to adjust to seeing them in real life... you could see her mind ticking over and wondering "Why aren't they in the computer?" (from all the webcam conversations we have been having with them). We went downstairs not long after that and Jo was already awake (courtesy of the morning sun that rises at 6am here!) and then we all had a bite of breakfast and showered and stuff. We watched Beth do circuits around the lounge room for a while and Mum and Dad just had so much fun watching her... they couldn't believe how much she moves around and how tall she is. And then we all went to the park (except Ba Noi who stayed home and had a nap - she wasn't feeling very well after taking some medication). The park we normally go to was chocoblock full of people and cars due to Saturday morning sport, so we went to another park... smaller and there was nobody about... Beth just pottered around a bit and played with the jumbo abacus... Then back home and Beth had some lunch and crashed for a 2 hour nap... and we all had some pumpking soup for lunch and then Jo and I sat and nutted out a sudoku puzzle... Ba Noi actually managed to outsleep Beth which was pretty amazing, but by 2pm everyone was awake and Phan, Jo and I got ready to head to the wedding ceremony at 2:30pm.
The ceremony was held at Brisbane Grammar School which is a pretty posh school (a bit like St Peters back at home) and is only about 10 minutes away from our place. It was held in a beautiful hall/school chapel... I hadn't brought my camera 'cos I knew I was never going to get any decent shots sitting in the pews with poor lighting. Despite being without camera, it didn't stop me from checking out the wedding photographer's gear (and his second shooter). I have to say, the wedding photographer had a *heap* of equipment that was very impressive.. he had not 1 but
*2* cameras... and not ordinary cameras but the top of the line Canon DSLRs ... two 1D cameras! I couldn't get over that... combine the cameras with his lenses and he would have been carrying in excess of $20K worth of photographic equipment on his body! Plus a laptop... I was fascinated...
Anyway... the ceremony itself was beautiful... the vows had been written by Koh and Vinnie themselves and were so heartfelt... they both stumbled in their vows at the same line (something to do with being there during sorrow and struggles) and they both laughed and smiled at the same time.... and there was beautiful music provided by a string quartet... it was all so perfect.
After the ceremony we mingled and chatted a bit before heading home for a quick break before going to the reception. We got home to find that Beth hadn't missed us at all... she didn't even cry when we left! She had been a bundle of joy and laughs the whole time we were away... I had pre-marinaded some chicken wings for Mum, Dad and Beth to have for dinner and Phan's Dad ahd started baking them and cooked rice and I just whipped up some soup to go with it... Beth ate it all up... loved it and ate 1/2 a large rice bowl! I don't know where that food goes. Then got her ready for her bath and Mum gave her a bath and we all headed out to the reception.
The reception was at Customs House, which is a function centre/restaurant that looks out over the river and gets a great view of the Story Bridge. It was a beautiful setting, in a gorgeous hall... I took my camera along (complete with big lens and big flash and i managed to hide it all in my gorgeous S&R Georgina handbag... :) Not only is that handbag gorgeous, it is super functional!) and got some great shots... I'm glad I took it along because I learnt alot about the speedlite... But struck up lovely conversation with the people at our table and Jo and I had a boogey on the dancefloor... We had such a fabulous night... great food... plenty to drink... (I had a little wine with my meal for the first time in a long time!)... great company... It was a great night out.
Came home about midnight and Phan's mum said that Beth had been great and no trouble at all... played and read and then easy to put to bed. Went to bed and Beth woke up twice in the night... so I got 5 hours interrupted sleep... Beth woke up at 6:20am again... so we went down and had some breakfast. Then Phan and his parents went to church and Jo, Beth and i stayed at home, but Beth got really sleepy and ended up having a very early nap and then Jo and I just hung out and chatted and did more sudoku! Phan's parents came home... Beth woke up... we had lunch... and then Jo and I went out to DFO while Phan and his parents looked after Beth... I was a bit of a shopping demon... :p... I have been wanting to shop at DFO without Beth because it is so hard to shop with her now because she gets bored and impatient so easily. So I got my chance and boy oh boy did I take advantage of it. I got some essentials (2 pairs of 3/4 pants and a thin summer top from Colarado), new pair of black Easy Steps sandals (my current ones are dying) and a blouse and bargain dress from Portmans ($100 reduced to $20!). I think Jo must have thought i was most easy to please shopper in the world, 'cos basically everything I tried on, I bought! I was just having one of those days when everything I tried on actually fit... which is amazing, 'cos normally it is a literal pain in the butt to find pants/shorts that fit me!
Came home to find Beth in a good mood and to hear that had eaten constantly the whole time we were away (2 hours)... rockmelon, peacherine, grapes, watermelon, rice cakes... she ate it all! Not long after that, Phan drove everybody to the airport and we stayed home (Beth needed a nap and we wouldn't all fit in the car either).
And that was our big weekend... It was so much fun and it felt like a little bit of Adelaide had come to us... it felt like home again... Can't wait to be back in Adelaide in April.
Posted by Clara at 9:00 PM 0 comments
The Perfect Pout...
Posted by Clara at 12:51 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Another photo...
Posted by Clara at 12:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Too Cool For School Sunglasses
Posted by Clara at 8:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Our Sleeping Beauty...
I should be in bed asleep catching up on some zzzs... or I should be finishing the long post I have started about the weekend gone by... But instead, I had to share this photo of our sleeping princess.
I should mention that Beth is not the kind of baby who falls asleep anywhere... she normally only sleeps in her bed or in the car... so it was with great surprise to find that Beth fell asleep while having her bottle of milk in the beanbag tonight... with "So You Think You Can Dance" blaring on TV... right under the bright lounge room light. These moments of seeing her asleep are so precious and so few... After I had finished snapping photos, I picked her up and took her to bed... and just carrying her floppy, sleepy little body in my arms made me feel like I had my baby back again for a moment instead of this new little toddler...
Posted by Clara at 9:18 PM 0 comments
Labels: photo
Need a good sleep...
We have just had a fun-filled busy weekend... I am so tired and am need of a good sleep... especially since last night Beth decided that she would wake up half a dozen times... 10:30pm... 11:30pm... 12:30pm... 1am.. 2am... 4am... 6am... That combined with the 5 hours sleep I got on Saturday night (interrupted twice)... plus all the other excitement has just worn me out... Beth is currently having a nap... and I would love one right now too, except that I have a gardener pulling out weeds and mowing the lawn... so instead of sleeping, I am keeping myself awake by blogging... :p
It was a big photo-taking weekend for us... so I will be posting a few photos over the next week ... Here's a quick one I've just done...
How can you not love that cheeky little grin?
Posted by Clara at 11:24 AM 1 comments
Labels: photo


text:
Neven Dilkov
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MoMo Chicago: Enhancing Mobile Productivity with the Latest Security Technologies
MoMo Chicago
Monday, February 22, 2010 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CST)
Event Details
Please join us for the next gathering of mobile industry professionals & enthusiasts on Monday, February 22, 2010, at 6:00 pm. Reserve the date in your calendar now!
Brian will speak on how to make mobile workers more productive. He will discuss how specific elements of a large scale mobile deployment can impact the end user experience. He will address best practices as well as how Mobile VPN technology is being deployed in today's large scale mobility projects.
Technical elements in this discussion will cover the following:
- Networks (cellular data, WiFi, ethernet, satellite)
- Modems (USB, PC Express, embedded, Gobi, external)
- Applications (web-based, client/server, data sync)
- Security in a mobile environment (SSL VPN, PNsec VPN, Mobile VPN)
- Best practices & troubleshooting ("How to turn the lights on" in your mobile deployment)
This is a great presentation for anyone who wants to learn more about today's enterprise mobile security technologies, especially business leaders, IT staff, and anyone who uses their phone is a key mobile productivity tool. Plus, VCs and entrepreneurs continue to be focused on mobile security technologies as a key area of opportunity and growth.
Date: Monday, February 22, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Topic: Enhancing Mobile Productivity with the Latest Security Technologies
Presenter: Brian Ferguson (NetMotion Wireless)
Location: McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, 300 South Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606
Location Notes: Participants must register to get on the official attendance list. At the venue, please sign-in at the reception desk on the first floor. Picture ID required.
Directions: Please see the McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berhoff web site for details. Union Station is a block away; Quincy/Wells is the nearest El, and the building is well served by buses.
Parking: There is parking across Wacker Drive immediately next to 311 South Wacker Drive. Less expensive parking is available near Union Station across the Chicago River at Jackson & Canal Streets.
6:00 pm – Sign-In / Light refreshments
6:30: Featured Presentation by Mr. Ferguson
7:30 pm > Refreshments / Networking
Prior to joining NetMotion Wireless in 2006, Brian Ferguson held a number of senior level sales positions with leading telecom and wireless companies including Nortel, Xacct Technologies, SBC Communications, Ameritech and AT & T. His extensive background in telecom and wireless technology includes global sales responsibility for developing new business and channels for companies' products and services, selling complex software solutions to carriers, establishing an international customer base and building relationships with Fortune 1000 companies.
Working with highly respected institutions including St. Jude Medical, Travelers Insurance, The Chicago Department of Public Health, First Energy, and Integrys Energy Group, Brian delivered wireless technologies and applications to improve productivity, reduce costs and increase security to the Fortune 1000 companies.
Mr. Ferguson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University in Technology Management.
Please remember to RSVP by noon on February 22, 2010, in order to get on the official registration list for our host's security system.
Special thanks to our generous host and sponsor, McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff!
When & Where
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff
300 South Wacker Drive
Monday, February 22, 2010 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CST)
Add to my calendar


text:
Assassins Run Trailer (2013)
"Everything you trust. Everything you know. May be a lie..." 22 April 2013 Action, Thriller, Crime 90 mins
Maya becomes the target of the Russian mafia after her husband, a successful American businessman, is killed.
Watch the official Assassins Run 2013 trailer in HD below or find more Assassins Run videos on Vidimovie.


text:
I've faced a lot of criticism in my life so far. Probably more than most people who live in my part of the world. Since as far back as I can remember, my family has basically disagreed with everything I think, say and choose to do. When I was younger, this was very frustrating.
Perhaps it had something to do with the generation gap between myself and the grandparents who raised me. Whatever the reason, I have had to live with disapproval from my entire family since I was young enough that it still made me feel pretty bad.
Drawing From Personal Experiences
If you face any kind of adversity in life from those close to you, I can't blame you for being scared. But you shouldn't let it stop you.
I remember in the seventh grade, we were matched up with another student and our assignment was to pick an issue to debate, whether political or social. I ended up with another girl in the class named Bianca and our issue was abortion. We were on totally opposite sides of the matter as well, I might add.
While she argued that it was morally wrong and should be illegal, I stood my ground and believed it was a woman's body so it was still her own choice what she did with it. I know where this position originated in myself too, which was equally as important.
For as long as I could remember, I had always thought that my mother should not have had children if she was just going to abandon them and didn't really want to bother with them. People are a big deal. They matter. It seemed to me that you should not just go around carelessly breeding when you had no intention of being a responsible parent.
In my mind at that time (and still now, to an extent) abortion seemed like the more humane thing to do than bringing someone into the world who was unwanted. Why doom someone to live their life knowing that those responsible for them had no desire to know them or care for them?
You Will Know It When You Feel It
Backing up even further, I also have a very vivid memory of watching a soap opera with my live-in nanny at around the age of seven or so. I remember that one of the female characters was pregnant and she was injured somehow, I don't remember the details.
At some point, there was a scene where one of the male characters either had to save the life of this unborn baby by doing something, or he had to instead save the life of one of the other adult female characters in the show. I remember asking Melanie (my nanny) about it and she asked me something that really made me think, even at such a young age.
She asked, "Who do you think he should save?"
And I answered with the name of the adult female, then followed it up with something about how the other lady could always get pregnant again and have another baby, but they couldn't replace the other character. She already had a name and they knew who she was. That seemed more important to me.
It still does.
You Don't Always Grow Out Of It
I think I had a misconception that perhaps my family would better understand me as an adult. That's hardly been the case, however. My grandparents in particular disapprove of my choice to work as an escort.
While I don't need them to agree with how I choose to live my life, I feel like they are missing out in many ways by judging and discouraging me. Sometimes, you have to let go of people who are supposed to be important and close to you because quite frankly, they give you no other choice.
Yes, it's kind of sad. Yes, it's also unfortunate.
But there is something worse that it can turn out to be if you let it.
It might be the reason you never become who you were meant to be. Personally, I have learned to thrive off of the disapproval of others, rather than let it slow me down. The more they shake their heads at me, the stronger I stand my ground. It's become easier over the years, but it takes practice.
The Courage to Stand Alone
And I mean all alone. If you were in a room full of people who would think badly of you if you told them who you were and what you did, would you have the courage to stand up and tell them? Could you handle standing there completely alone like some sponge for their negative reactions?
No one likes to be the only one in a group of people that doesn't fit in at all. But it's an important skill to have and you need to be able to do it when necessary. It's not easy. It's pretty fucking difficult. You need to have the balls to do this. Without it, you'll never get very far.
Most people would like to think that if a group of people was picking on someone and had singled them out, they would intervene to help the victim…right? But ask yourself honestly if you would have the courage required to do something like that?
Remember that it would be you and the victim up against a large group of people who want to attack you, either verbally or physically. You'd be scared. But you'd know it was the right thing to do.
Just like you need to stand up for what is right to help others, you need to do it to help yourself.
Split Personalities Are Not The Way To Go
While some people seem to have no problem living double lives, it's not really something I can make myself do. When I first set out to market myself online as a freelance writer, I faced a unique challenge.
I could write well, but obviously my clients came from several different industries and so they required writing that catered to an equally as wide range of topics, most of which I knew little or nothing about.
Okay, so what's the big deal? Nothing, I guess. I just did the necessary research or they gave me something similar to what they were looking for to model the writing after, which worked well enough.
Doesn't this work just fine? Sure. But it's not how you take things to the next level. It's not how you infuse your writing with passion and true firsthand experience.
As it turns out, there is something to be said for specializing. Not only can you demand higher rates for your work, but you become an authority in whatever niche it is you know most intimately.
Speaking of intimate niches, mine has turned out to be pretty easy to guess. Since most of my experience comes from working as an escort, I have a unique perspective on adult topics of all kinds.
For the longest time, I was pretty much convinced that since it doesn't totally fit into any existing niches (like porn, for example) that are 100% legal, I was probably out of luck when it came to finding writing opportunities where this knowledge would be useful.
So what did I do? I tried to create two separate identities. One as a writer. The other as an escort.
Big mistake. Not the right way to become who you were meant to be.
Keep Looking Until You Find It
As it turns out, there are opportunities to use both my writing skills and escorting experience all in one place. A while back, I started writing regularly for dating.com about many different topics related to escorting. Not only did I approach them with confidence, but I knew I had the right knowledge and the right words to write for their site.
I actually discovered it by pure accident, in fact. Like it was just meant to be.
Now I'm getting offers to write for other sites in the same niche. Ones I didn't even know about. Maybe there are more out there than I had previously thought. At the end of the day, my advice is to keep looking until you find the right opportunities for the person you really are.
Not who you are trying to be. Not who others want you to be.
Instead of all that bull shit, become who you were meant to be. Be fearless. Don't wait around for things to work out, find a way to make them work on your own terms.


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What is breast actives and how does it work?
Breast actives is essentially a pill which was developed to help women enlarge the size of breast but in a healthy and natural way. The pill is made up of a combination of all natural ingredients which when combined with a regular exercise program, then encourages the development of breasts in a natural way.
The pill, as mentioned above, is made up of natural ingredients that help balance the hormone levels in your body, stimulate breast growth, promotes the development of new cells development in breast tissues, increases blood circulation as well as offers a number of other health benefits overall.
A cream is provided with the pill, which is also made up of a formula which consists natural ingredients. These enter the skin and deliver active substances to enhance breast size by directly targeting the area. As you massage in order to apply the cream, it will stimulate blood flow and aid the breasts in becoming firmer and toner.
An exercise program is also delivered along with the pill and the cream. This also strengthens the muscles in the breasts and help them look more appealing.
Hence, it is a three step program which has been developed to aid in development of larger breasts. Brestrogen
What does the Breast actives pill contain?
As mentioned previously, the pills are made up of all natural ingredients and the ingredients are listed as below:
- Vitamin E
- Fennel seed
- Kelp
- Watercress leaf
- Dong quai root
- L-tyrosine
- Dandelion root
- Blessed thistle root
- Fenugreek seed extract
Whereas the cream is made up of the following ingredients:
- Almond oil
- Chamomile extract
- Red clover extract
- Wild yam extract
- Vitamins A and E
- Pueraria mirifica extract
- Avena sative extract
- Fenugreek extract
- Saw palmetto extract and excipients
Learn about all the benefits you can gain from using breast actives:
Breast active is a natural product; it has zero side effects. It will not only improve the shape and size of the breasts but will also help in boosting your confidence levels. A few benefits of using breasts actives include the following:
- It will provide you with a bigger chest. And this is one of the main benefits that breast actives provides which is why women around the world are eager to use it.
- It will provide you with more curves and it will also give your chest a youthful and robust shape.
- The breast actives product is considered safe to use as it is designed with natural ingredients.
- It has no harmful ingredients which means it has no adverse effects on your body.
- Lastly, as you start to use breast actives product, be assured that you will be able to wear a swimsuit and that too confidently.
Results after using breast actives?
As reviewed and recommended by the users of breast actives themselves, if you use the breast actives you will experience a significant enhancement in your bust size, a youthful contour and an increased self-esteemed.


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Freeware – AOMEI Backupper Review
Aomei Backupper is a type of completely free and professional data backup and recovery software from AOMEI Tech. It is easy to perform for users who don't have computer expertise, only some clicks to help ensure the security of computer data. In collection of user feedback and continuous test from AOMEI's developers, this software has been further improved, no matter user experience or functions. Now AOMEI Backupper performs system, disk, or partition backup tasks, to clone your disk or partitions, to restore backups, and to create bootable media. Here are more features below.
Backup Features
Restore Features
Clone Features
Work Environment
Operating System: Windows 7/8/XP/Vista and Server 2003/2008/2011/2012 (both 32bit & 64bit).
Storage Devices: Supports all storage devices recognized by Windows, such as IDE, SATA, SCSI, SSD, USB external disks, Hardware RAID and so on. Moreover, supports MBR and GPT style, and fully support capacities greater than 2TB.
Currently, AOMEI Development Team is still working hard to enrich functions to meet users. AOMEI Backupper will be updated in short time once collecting enough feedback from users. So very appreciate any feedbacks about the existing features and your any suggestions about the needed features.
Source: http://www.top-software-reviews.com/2013/freeware-aomei-backupper-review-03-19.html


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Use the tools below to refine your search by only displaying reviews with a certain number of star ratings or to only show reviews from a certain time period. Eg click on '1 star' to just display the reviews we have which received a 1 star rating click or 'Within the last month' to display just reviews posted over the last month.
Written on: 09/09/2012
the guest house was excellent good food scrupulously clean and the owners were fantastic they would do anything and were really nice people.i would recommend this to anyone… Read Full ReviewClick here to view holiday offers on Expedia
As rated by our community of reviewers
" Grand once but not any more " Read More
" Food rationing/service " Read More
" Lovely stay but dated " Read More
" VILE RUDE DISRESPECTFUL STAFF. DISGUSTING HOTEL " Read More
" Couldn't be better " Read More
Written by jintye


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Tel Aviv host
Natalie Shell
About the speaker
Meet Tel Aviv based chef and restaurateur, Osama Dalal.
Originally from Acre/Akko, his love for food was awakened first by his grandmother, whose house jutted directly over the sea.
Cooking with her was his version of culinary school. Although he has no formal training in the kitchen he helped her prepare meals since he was 16 - feasts of muhammar with wrapped sardines, kubbe balls formed from chopped grouper fish, and maqluba with thick chunks of octopus glistening among the cauliflower, eggplant and potatoes.
At Maiar, in Tel Aviv, Osama prepares creative dishes influenced by his roots and inspired by his love of food.
…come hear Osama speak on #CMMystery.
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Hosted by Wix MeetUp / Bitan 26
Date January 12, 2017
Nahat Cafe


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Last night the winner of the 2016 Hugo Awards have been announced. In an year marred by puppyness and controversy, quite astonishingly, the winners line-up is extremely good. BRRG is very happy to see that our favorites ones grabbed the coveted rocket!
In this blog post we list the winners, along with our reviews and reactions to their victory.
Hugo Award for Best Novel: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Our review: This is the best story I have read in years. It is very rare to find a book that have it all: exquisite writing, moving, intriguing, and enticing story, memorable characters, astounding and original world building. The Fifth Season is at the same time impossible to put down, and deep. It is the kind of book it will stay with you and make you think.
The book has three subplots adroitly waved together. The first is the story of Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. The second is the story of Damaya, a young girl that is discovered to be a powerful orogenes, and as such kept in a barn as a beast by her parents, to soon be given away. The third is the story of Damaya, growing locked up and used as a de-humanized weapon by the fulcrum.
This is an ambitious trilogy, that while set in a world so different from ours, it succeed like no other to explore issues like slavery, oppression, discrimination, and taboos.
A strongly recommended read.
Hugo worthy? YES! It is the most amazing book I have read in a long long while. This is by far the best (and Ancillary Mercy is an amazing book to compete with).
Our recation to Jemisin's victory: we are thrilled! This was our #1 choice across every Hugo category. Jemisin's victory is a proof that despite the puppy work, the Hugo awards are not dead, but thriving!
Buy: [Amazon]
Hugo Award for Best Novella: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor)
Our review: A little masterpiece, with an unusual, distinctive voice, that sets it apart. I strongly recommend this blogpost by Emily Asher-Perrin (it contains spoilers, so wait until you are done reading it), that very eloquently explains why this book is so special.
This is the story of Binti, the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs. Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach. If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.
Hugo worthy? Yes! It is one of the best and most original story we have read in a while. It does not come as a a surprise that it managed to make it to the finalist even if it was not on a slate. This was one of our nominations.
Our recation to Okorafor's victory: again, we are thrilled, and again Binti was our #1 choice in this category.
Buy: [Amazon]
Hugo Award for Best Novelette:Folding Beijing by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu
Our review: Despite being a finalist because of its inclusion in a slate, the work is not only enjoyable, but also novel and interesting. I found quite interesting to read a book written by a Chinese author, to see the (current and future) world through the eyes of a different culture. The population and economic growth of modern China, its economic inequalities, and its technological and engineering marvels are central to Folding Beijing.
In a claustrophobic overpopulated future, Beijing is rebuild to be three cities at once, each folding into each other, so that only one at a time is up and awake on the surface, while the other two are folded and sleeping. Time is divided across each section according to the "rank" of its inhabitants, so that the best gets to enjoy 12 hours of sun, while the poorest gets just a glimps of dawn.
A dystopian vision of our future, with a very thin and feeble ray of hope mixed in.
Hugo worthy? Yes.
Our reaction to JingFang's victory: Despite this being our #2 choice, we liked the story, and we are very pleased of this victory.
Buy: [free on-line] or [Amazon]
Hugo Award for Best Short Story: Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer (ClarkesWorld)
Our review: I am very partial to this story because it main fictional character, an AI, was born in the datacenters of the company I work for. It is a fun, light read, where the artificial self-conscious being end up behaving like a corky, cat-loving, nosy human.
Hugo worthy? Maybe yes, but it is far weaker than many other short stories that did not make it to the finalist list.
Our reaction to Kritzer's victory: thanks to the puppies, this was one of the weakest category, with nothing that really stood out. This said "cat picture please" was our #1 pick in this category.
Buy: [Amazon]
Related Content
- 2016 Hugo award winner announcement [Official Hugo Awards Site]
- Here are the winners of the 2016 Hugo Awards [the verge]
- Women and authors of color won big this year's Hugo Awards [the verge]
- Hugo awards see off rightwing protests to celebrate diverse authors [the guardian]
- Hugo awards 2016 [all article in BRRG on this topic]


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Legends are created by folklore. And, as far as Australian automotive icons are concerned, very few cars come close to matching the legendary status of the Ford Falcon XY GT.
It was, in its day, the fastest four-door sedan sold anywhere in world and, even now - 43 years after it first hit the road - is still revered as the ultimate expression of an Aussie muscle car.
It built its reputation via its Bathurst winning pedigree, when Allan Moffat dominated the 1971 race at Mount Panorama, starting from a new record pole position time to lock-out an all-Falcon GT podium.
And, because of that, original condition examples are now fetching six figure sums as baby boomer collectors look back through rose coloured glasses and reminisce on what is arguably the glory days of Australian performance cars.
If the XY Falcon GT is considered the pinnacle of Ford's famed two-letter badge, then today's FPV GT F will likely be seen to be as an equally significant chapter in the GT lineage. Sadly, that's not just because it is the most powerful Falcon to ever to wear the badge, but because it completes the story as the last GT Falcon. Ever!
With an all-new – and the final Aussie-built – sedan set to roll off the Broadmeadows factory floor later this year, Ford could not justify keeping the FPV division alive until the Falcon's deathknock arrives before October 2016. So, as a celebration of the icon, the GT F was created, with a limited run of 500 cars built for Australian buyers, each powered by an upgraded version of the locally-developed 5.0-litre supercharged V8 producing (at least) 351kW of power and featuring a host of unique visual and handling upgrades.
Our initial impression (and we're not alone here) is that the GT F isn't special enough – at least above and beyond the regular GT model it is based upon – to put a full stop on the GT's colourful story. But it has been a sell-out success for FPV, with customers more than willing to pay over its $77,900 (plus on-roads) sticker price to secure a piece of Australian automotive history.
One of them even paid almost three times its price for the privilege of the very, very last GT Falcon, and another paid almost double to park the first GT F in his driveaway.
Before the anonymous buyer did that, we took his car – GT F 001 (in Kinetic blue and fitted with a six speed manual transmission for those trainspotters and record keepers) – for one last blast, and a trip back in time, to see if lives up to the legend of the XY GT.
The first, and most obvious, difference between the two is just how far safety has improved over time, with the extent of the XY's live-preserving technology consisting of its collapsible steering column. There's no headrests on the flat and unsupportive bucket seats. The seat belts don't even retract. And the only form of traction control or anti skid brakes is dictated by the speed of your synapses sending inputs to restrain your right foot from mashing either the throttle or brake pedals.
The unassisted power steering is heavy, and it doesn't have anywhere near the precision and feel of the GT F. And the four-speed top loader manual transmission has a fair bit of play in its action.
The brake pedal also has a really wooden feel to it, and by comparison the GT F's ventilated Brembo discs are just as big as the XY's standard 14-inch wheels – although our car was fitted with the optional, slightly larger 15-inch Bathurst Globe alloys.
There's also not as much space in the cabin as you might think – or remember from your childhood – but the sheer expanse of its glasshouse provides a much clearer view of what's happening around you than the heavily-pillared GT F.
With that, there is nothing better than looking out over the skinny three-spoke steering and seeing the 'shaker' poking through the bonnet and dance its little jig when you floor the throttle and unleash the unbridled grunt from its 5.8-litre Cleveland V8.
That is apart from the sound it produces. Where the GT F still has a great V8 exhaust note – albeit a little chopped up from the whine of its supercharger – it sounds completely restrained in comparison to the XY's deeply guttural, and completely addictive, baritone.
The thing that does link them both together is that they are both very fast sedans. Down the quarter mile at Sydney Dragway, there was not much in it on the initial getaway, with the XY making good use of its grunt and lighter kerb weight to almost match the GT F off the line.
It was a different story at the other end of the 400 metre marker though, where the GT F strode to an easy half-second win and felt a lot more stable and secure doing so.
At the end of the day, it's not up to us whether the GT F is a fitting way to end the GT's historical story. Like the XY's status, that will be decided over time.
What is clear though is that, no matter what, it's a shame we won't see the GT progress any further than it has.
- With Andrew Maclean
Price: $77,900 plus on-roads
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Power: 351kW at 6000rpm
Torque: 570Nm at 2500-5500rpm
Transmission: 6-spd manual, RWD
Consumption: 13.7L/100km
Performance: 5.1 seconds (0-100km/h), 13.1 seconds (0-400m)
1971 Ford Falcon XY GT
Price: $5300 (1971)
Engine: 5.8-litre V8
Power: 224kW at 5400rpm
Torque: 515Nm at 3400rpm
Transmission: 4-spd manual, RWD
Consumption: N/A
Performance: 5.4 seconds (0-100km/h), 13.5 seconds (0-400m)


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Program Schedule
Looking for workshop listings? See here.
Friday, January 23, 2015
5:00 PM – Registration Opens
6:00-7:15 PM – Light Dinner (Cafeteria) *** Food service closes down at 8:00pm ***
6:00-6:30 – Shabbat event with singing (open to everyone)
7:30-10:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00) – Friday Night Concert (Auditorium)
Saturday, January 24, 2015
7:30 AM-8:30 AM – Breakfast
8:30 AM-8:45 AM – Opening Ceremony (Cafeteria)
9:00 AM-10:15 AM – Workshop One
10:30 AM-11:45 PM – Workshop Two
11:45 PM-1:00 PM – Lunch
1:00 PM-2:00 PM – Community Meeting (Cafeteria)
2:15 PM-3:30 PM – Workshop Three
3:45 PM-5:00 PM – Workshop Four
5:15-6:15pm – Plenary (Auditorium)
6:15 PM-7:20 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM- 12 Midnight – Round Robin
The Round Robin is a concert in which everyone gets a chance to perform. Given the limited time, please keep introductions to one line. You will have one song, not more than 5 minutes. Priority is given to first time performers, children and those with special needs. Others are chosen by lottery.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
7:30 AM-8:45 AM – Breakfast
9:00 AM-10:30 AM – Workshop Five
10:45 AM-12:15 PM – Workshop Five
12:15 PM-1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30pm-2:00pm – Closing Ceremony
2:00pm-2:30pm – Clean Up
Experienced PMN members, including Kim and Reggie Harris, will be available for one-on-one mentoring opportunities throughout the weekend: get pointers on your guitar/vocal and performance technique, work on your songwriting skills, or just talk to your mentor about finding your way as an independent musician. You may sign up for a session at the registration table when you arrive for the weekend, assignments will be on a first-come first-serve basis. If you are interested in being a mentor to other artists, please contact Ben at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Table One Trailer (2000)
01 January 2000 Comedy 90 mins
Four friends (Stephen Baldwin, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzman and David Herman) who are misfits in the New York City social scene have trouble meeting available women. They come up with the idea of opening a trendy restaurant -- funding their new venture with the help of a local gangster -- in hopes of attracting a large female clientele. It's one comedy situation after another as they stumble through their various misadventures.
Watch the official Table One 2000 trailer in HD below or find more Table One videos on Vidimovie.