Home Sweet Home

Its always good to be home to see my niece and nephew and maintain my favourite uncle status with my 6 monthly bribes of Chupa Chups, Snakes and a big chocolate Easter Egg to top it off.
My flight was delayed by almost 3hrs (which was a relief) compared to the 12hrs initially thought. Apparently we had a 'bird strike' at the engine which required a special camera to inspect the damages. Darwin did not have one and it had to be flown in from Melbourne. To cut the story short, the engineer gave the all clear and we were off.


First thing I did was head to the kopitiam, ordered a bowl of mee rebus, kaya toast and kopi (the one with condensed milk). While I dun crave local food its good to have a taste of home again. Had a BBQ with some Polytechnic mates the next day. I am perhaps one of the few who have deviated from the Engineer background. I dun think I got much into the local electronics / telecommunications conversation but the rest of the common local topics made me wonder if I can ever return back to Singapore. Things like which Expressway is always jam when going to work, $$ never seem to be enough, rising food prices, a friend was even enrolling for medical drug trials for some extra cash, which I must add pays pretty well, the increase in taxi fares etc etc. I guess we all winge and Australia is no exception but having it all hit in one day seem too much to digest.

Second Life

Deep down inside, I think we all have our alter ego. The other side of oneself that is kept hidden but occasionally pops out to real life. Perhaps in the Singapore context; it is covered up by our hectic lifestyle in the pursuit of financial independence. Maybe thats why 'Heroes' was such a hit; ordinary people who one day was blessed with extra-ordinary powers. But my friend Mike seems to be bucking the trend, who went from a couch potato to contemplating his first full iron man triathlon admist his busy work schedule. Certainly in Darwin, my housemate has gone after what she would truly like to do.
Dietitian by day...

Aerial artiste (tisu) or circus performer by night..

Me... maybe I'm still searching for that alter ego. So far its been work and work, or work and just chill out by the pool, soccer or coffee with friends...

Sick Leave please

Whenever I'm home in Singapore, dad always laments on how weak I am as I get sick so often. I could never understand why; I am fed a well balanced meal with plenty of vegetable, daily soups (being Cantonese) and fruits to stack, I never had to wash a single dish and with clothes all washed and pressed. Maybe its the work and stress, maybe its the air, I cant really pin it down. I've been back in Aus for a little over a year now and I've never been to the Doc! Frankly, I dun think I eat as well here and certainly back in Singapore, I'd be physically training with my group od athletes. Felt much more fit back in Singapore.
Everytime I get a sniffle, I go "Wished it turns into a big fat headache so I can rent a DVD and rest at home" (no MC required). NOooo!! It never happens. I'm always fine the next day. Maybe cos the GP's here are so ex to see and you cant exactly walk in when you have a fever. U make an appointment but by the time they are available, u've probably self medicated and felt so much better that seeing the doc is just a waste of time...
Now I understand how a friend managed to chalk up 6 months plus of sick leave and wondered how it wouldnt be such a bad idea if he fell off the ladder and broke his foot...

On a un-related note, as its always nice to see have a pic, here's a nighshot from the Crown Casino looking back on Melbourne, the last time I visited Cat.

Lack of updates

Yes Mike I hear you. I have just been swamped with work at the moment (at least till March where I get my much deseved break back in Singapore). Lets see, where do we even begin:
- I've got my full time job as a dietitian with Diabetes Australia
- Been asked to lecture for the sports nutrition component with Sport Medicine Australia
- Lecturing the Cert IV fitness students at the local Uni
- Commitment to the Northern Territory Institute of Sport for athlete consults

As you can see for the past couple of days, I have been hard at work even at night preparing lecture notes. Now why dosent my bank balance reflect my workload, I seriously dun know!


Adding to my workload; my housemate's dad is really sick so she's flown off to Cairns to be by his bedside leaving me to look after the Cat. As you can sense from my tone, I'm neither a Cat nor a dog person. I may enjoy the occasional pat or two but definitely not looking after it.

Cyclone Helen

'Helen' is here.
We had been placed on alert but that has just been upgraded to a current warning. 'Helen' has decided to change its path and head towards Darwin. You could already feel its fury last night with strong winds and rain leashing out on the window as I tried to sleep.
Should I be concerned? Well, just slightly but my workmates having been through a few are rather panicky right now. Did I mention I havent bought home and contents insurance!

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 9
DARWINat 11:00 am CST [10:30 am WDT] Friday 4 January 2008



A Cyclone WARNING is current for coastal and island communities from Kalumburuin Western Australia to Cape Hotham in the Northern Territory, including Darwin.

A Cyclone WATCH is current for coastal and island communities from Cape Hothamto Goulburn Island, including the Tiwi Islands.

At 9:30 am CST [9:00 am WDT] TROPICAL CYCLONE Helen CATEGORY 1 was located in the Timor Sea approximately230 kilometres north of Wyndham and320 kilometres west southwest of Darwin and moving northeast at 16 kilometres per hour.

The cyclone is likely to take a more eastward track during today toward the TopEnd of the Northern Territory. The cyclone is expected to cross the coast between Darwin and Port Keats tonightor early tomorrow. GALES with gusts to 100 kilometres per hour could affect coastal and island communities in the north Kimberley and western Top End during today. DESTRUCTIVE WINDS with gusts to 130 kilometres per hour could affect coastal and island communities between Darwin and Port Keats tonight or early tomorrow.

Tales of the past

The main reason for going to Auckland besides attending the conference was actually to visit my Auntie Marcelle. Yes, I've got a French Auntie who lives in New Zealand now. As you would imagine, good food is often the central theme. The last time I was in Auckland, I still recall having one of the best pate I've tasted. Everything else after that seems second best. You know that you're in a truly French restaurant when there's a hundred and one cheese at the deli display; in the wine cellar, other than the price on the wine racks and perhaps a few varieties of grapes which I could work out, the rest of the writings are all in French. Its like being a Caucasian in a Chinese shop only the roles are reversed.

There's one thing I never seem to get tired of hearing whenever I visit. Auntie Marcelle would tell me about how she got sent to New Zealand to work and while riding a bicycle had a freak accident which shattered her pelvis. My Uncle David was at that time her physiotherapy. Need I say more... Then there was the time when Uncle David went to Paris to visit her folks and offered to cook dinner. To this day, those that were still alive at that table remember how a 'little' Chinese man was able to dazzle the French palette by cooking up a feast with few ingredients to work with (just imagine looking for oyster sauce in 1970's Paris).

Auntie Marcelle has also got lots of old photographs stashed away which she has chronologically labelled with little bits of sticker. You can never get tired looking at these pictures and listening to tales of the past. Below: Mum and Dad on the left with my sister (1975)
Below: My mum on the extreme right (1970; way before I was born)
Old pictures of my cousins and Uncle Swee Chan among others.
Hope you get well soon Auntie. Love, Jun

Paths cross once more...

Its hard to come by 'available' funds while working for a not for profit NGO. I had to write to drug companies and reps for a nutrition conference in Auckland and time was not on my side. Fortunately, my boss agreeed to fund my expedition perhaps in recognition of my hard work in securing the recent grant proposal.
This trip has been most fruitful; both with work and the friends I manage to catch up with:
I still remember vividly that Samatha picked me up from the Airport and dumped me at the townhouses. Joyce who was a Singaporean teacher was the second person I came to know and thirdly was Debbie. I was looking for a place to stay at that time and Deb was commenting that I would make a great housemate for her then 'boyfriend'(husband now).

Well, what do you know?? She was right. 4 years down the track as housemates and another 3 years later; Adiemus was having a work conference in Auckland at the same time as well.

Cooked sausages and eggs for breakfast. (And trust me, my diet gets worse down the track as Cat would attest to it).

The clause for my funded trip was that my boss would only fund the conference and the airfares but not my accomodation. As you would imagine, I bunked in with Adiemus in his service apartment.
The Auckland christmas party.