So.. since the last time I posted, we've celebrated Mother's day.
We went to the Kiribilli markets and then to Luna Park. Alex had great fun looking at all the colours at the market and then going around Luna Park. We were only there for a short time and so did not go on any rides. As it was threatening to rain all day (and did rain towards the afternoon), we took a few photos and left.
He's wearing a jumper I made for him last winter. It was HUGE on him when I completed it and now just look at it. he's about to outgrow it!
Alex also had fun getting to know his fat little twin in the funny mirror.
We all had a bit of fun with our distorted twins in on of the other mirrors.
However, what he loved most of all was the carousel. We'll have to go back another day and let him ride on the horses. Unfortunately I have a sneaky suspicion that there will be a massive tantrum when we try to leave, and I will be very sick going round and round on it with him!
In June the Old Bus depot Market at Canberra had Wool Day (or was it Wool Week?). We decided to make the trip and take Alex on his first long-ish car ride. He travelled surprisingly well. He slept between Bowral and Canberra and woke up just as we were approaching Canberra city. The first words out of his mouth were.. can you guess?
"Are we there yet?"We stayed at the Mantra on Northbourne and it was great. We had a whole one bedroom unit to ourselves with Alex in a portacot in the living area. The unit was fully furnished and they even provided dishwashing detergent. crockery and cutlery.
We had a takeaway meal on the night we arrived. After hearing a lot of good things about Sammy's Kitchen, we were looking forward to a good meal. Unfortunately it was anything but good. We ordered three dishes and not one was good. Chris described it as being "just on the right side of edible". The vegetables and seafood was frightfully overcooked. The fried noodles lacked flame and flavour. The chicken was a little odd but probably the best of the three dishes.
The following day was market day. Chris was very good and looked after Alex while I looked around and shopped. I didn't end up buying much - just a little fibre to play with and a few cheap (yes, really cheap) skeins of wool and alpaca.
By the time I was done, Alex was restless so we had to let him outside for a run.
Okay, maybe it was a little more than a run. He wanted to play a game he had made up and was busy telling us where to stand, how to stand and where to put our hands. Hilarious for the first couple of minutes, entertaining for the next few and then from there on in... let's just say I got tired of it rather quickly.
After that we went to the Belconnen market and had lunch at Beppe's Tuscan Kitchen. We will certainly go back there again. We ordered two dishes which were both excellent. After lunch we decided to have some dessert and we had a slice of ricotta cheese cake and a coffee and a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was to die for. If for nothing else, I will go back just for that!
It was, according to the lady behind the counter, made from "cream and real chocolate" and frightfully "decadent". It certainly lived up to my expectations, and then some.
On the way home, Alex slept for most of the way and woke up as we were approaching the M7. I think the first thing we heard from him was, "It is dark"; and so it was.
Last weekend, Chris and I celebrated our birthdays by having Alex babysat and going out for a grown up meal and a movie. We watched the new Star Trek movie at the Imax cinema with free tickets thanks to a
local radio station. We both enjoyed the movie, but I thought it was not trek-y enough. It was almost as if it was a commercialised version of Star Trek. It was not dorky enough. Oh, and don't get me started on the romance in that movie. That was just all wrong!!!
I am participating in a birthday swap on Ravelry, and for my birthday, I have received two presents. I know I have at least one more on its way. Yay!
Labels: Alex, birthday, Canberra
It is as if the days just sip right past without so much as a "Hello" or a "good bye". I can barely remember what I did yesterday, let alone last week. Sure, it's been
busy hectic CRAZY at work, and I have a crawler in the house (by that I mean Alex, not Chris), but still.. it is as if the work never ends and the 24 hours in each day are just not enough. Admittedly the current addiction I have to playing Scrabulous on Facebook isn't helping matters (want a game, anyone?).
So.. now that I have a few spare moments before I dial in for my midnight (yes, MIDNIGHT!!!) conference call, I thought I should at least attempt a post on my poor neglected blog.
We haven't been up to much. Things are pretty much the same here aside from a few
small not so small changes and events. Let's start with Alex, shall we? As of yesterday, he has learnt to say "Mama". Well, it's more like "ah...mamamamamamamamamamamama".. but I'd still like to think it's "Mama". I am also choosing to ignore the fact that he calls his food "mamamamama" and he calls his toys "mamamamama" and he calls me "mamamamama". In fact, he's calling everything"mamamamama". That's okay. He'll soon learn that there is only one Mama in his world and she's me! He's probably going to be very confused when he sees my mum again, though, as she is "Ah Mah" - the Hokkien word for 'grandmother'. Will he get "Mama" and "Ah Mah" mixed up? We'll see. Oh, and he is also saying "nanana". We call bananas "nana" in this house and maybe he's heard me ask him one time too many whether he would like some "nana" with his breakfast.
Alex also "sings" along to the radio in the car. Yes, it is a very loose definition of 'sing'. He sort of babbles along with the music when we're in the car. Sometimes he claps along too. Really cute, not very melodic, but adorable all the same. Heck, what am I saying? As long as he's not crying in the car, I'm pretty happy. Babble away, my boy..
Hmm.. what else have we been up to? Not much, really.
We took a trip to Canberra last weekend to get my passport renewed. I was very frustrated with the consulate when they told me that I had to go to the High Commission in Canberra to get my passport renewed, but I accepted it. We made the necessary arrangements for accommodation, leave from work and babysitting for Alex and left on Sunday. On Saturday night, before we left I thought I'd double check that I have all the necessary documents completed and ready for submission. That was when I saw this:
"... Two (2) copies of recent full-face photograph, with blue background passport size. "
What's the problem, you ask?
this is the problem:
"..with blue background .."
Photos in Sydney for passport purposes are taken with a GREY background. Where was I going to find a shop with a suitable BLUE background?
So, at about 11pm, poor old Chris was trying to get a scanned copy of my photo retouched in Photoshop with a blue background taken from one of my old Malaysian passport photos. He did a good job too. Unfortunately the only photo quality paper I had in my printer was deemed "too thin" by the officer at the High Commission and instead he said tha the photos with the GREY background were okay to use.
Geez mate, if they're okay, then why aren't the instructions updated to say so? Had we known that, we would have been in bed asleep on Saturday night rather than fussing over those stupid passport photos!!!
Anyway, I should stop bitching about it as I have my passport now and I don't have to do this again for another 5 years. Thank goodness!
The nice part of the trip was that we did manage to have a nice dinner out on our own. We went to Aubergine at Griffith. Lovely restaurant, and we could not fault the food. We both had three courses and were delighted with each course. the venison that I had for my first course was particularly well done. The place was full that night and as a result, the service suffered. It was not bad, but it just wasn't good either. Nobody told us what the specials for the day were and we didn't even know there were daily specials until I overheard the waiter reciting them to the table behind us. That was a disappointment. The other disappointment was that we asked for teh coffee and petit fours to arrive with our dessert but by the time our coffees arrived, we were well and truly done with our dessert. The petit fours never arrived. It wasn't that we really wanted them as I we were full by that stage but it was just that they were meant to come with teh coffee but never did make an appearance. We enjoyed our meal despite all that. I am not sure whether we will go back again as there are so many other lovely restaurants in Canberra that we are yet to try.
Knitting news? Nothing much happening on that front
Spinning news? What spinning?
Weaving news? Ah.. did I not mention that I bought a loom from
Donni? I have not had much time to play with it yet. There are so many other things waiting for me.. I'll post piccies of my first project soon.
For now.. it's back to work for me. Another 38 minutes before the conference call begins...
Labels: Alex, Aubergine, Canberra, life
