Glorious day at The Entrance beach

It's always easy to catch a great picture of this looker.


and erm...this catcher.


Needless to say, us of course.


Daddy Tang and tiniest Tang.


Mummy and Ethan look for catch.


Manny follows tracks in the sand.


Bernice with her sand portrait of Sharon.


The united wait for waves.


Then the runaways.


Meanwhile, Manny yells into a crab hole, "CRAB! CRAB!"


"Look, this crab is almost dead."


Manny basks in the sun.


"Bernice and Sharon are here."


"This is Bernice's foot print." (Note arrows)


Cookie break.


Crowd behind us awaits a country music concert by the beach (note cowboy hats).


Day ended with a hearty Mexican fare, that is, until dessert, when coffee arrived accompanied by a cockroach.


He's been my regular dining partner.

Motivational hula hoop trainer

"You just have to think in your head, 'I can do it! I can do it!' then you'll be able to do it."
- Bernice Tang, 6 years old, Motivational Hula Hoop trainer

Motivational hula hooper demonstrates her mastery which includes posing for a picture, walking, sliding across the room - all with the pink hula hoop around some part of her body (neck, waist, hip etc etc). You'll have to see to believe.

See how she simulates for Sharon. ("Bend your knees and go round and round.")


And how she is so positive and patient.


Through an intensive 9-day training, finally one disciple gets it (the master was clapping wildly behind the scene).

Happily, we pose for a picture.

Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley is 2-hour drive from Castle Hill. We spent two days on our own in Hunter Valley, which was a charming, romantic and secluded wine-growing region. It was tucked away in the western part of Sydney, which made us feel like no one could find us.



This was our room at Thistle Hill cottage, where we stayed for a night. The interior decoration of the room was elegant yet cosy.



Behind me was the swimming pool and dining area at Thistle Hill cottage.



This kangaroo is a pet of Thistle Hill cottage owners. It has been a domestic animal since birth and when the owners walk their dogs, it will follow them for the walk.



We spent the two days exploring vineyards and wineries and tasting wine. This picture was taken at Keith Tulloch vineyard, where we bought a bottle of Chardonnay.



My favourite fruit is grape, so you can imagine how excited and overwhelmed I was when I saw the bunches of grapes at the vineyards. It was a dream come true. Walking in the vineyard and reaching out to pluck a grape to eat was simply pure indulgence. I was so excited that I had to sms my mother immediately.







Much to our delight, we found a little museum that showcased many interesting antiques which related the history of the Australians who stayed in Hunter Valley.



Food at Hunter Valley was simply fantastic. We had dinner at Amanda's. The food and ambience of the restaurant was simply unforgettable.




View from breakfast table.

Breakfast at Thistle Hill was a very pleasant experience too. The view of the mountains and vineyards was such a luxury.

We left Hunter Valley with a sublime feeling of happiness.

Blue Mountains Day

The day started out lazy enough with both of us lounging at the Fusion cafe near Castle Tower (Ling's favourite mall in Sydney, a 15-minute walk from Castle Tang). For breakfast, we had raisin toasts, two lattes and chicken and mushroom filo (we call these Aussie curry puffs minus the curry, but we brought chilli packets to accompany filo, thanks to mum's good thinking. She had packed us handy chilli packs for the trip). As I poured over the Aussie papers, Ling was diligently studying. She's taking up a specialised diploma program in teaching. It was a good morning - even for her - as she loves studying. (Aside: under hobbies section as a child, Ling would fill in 'studying' which often makes me wonder if she used to have friends).

After breakfast, we decided to optimise the use of the rented car we'd gotten two days earlier and drove about an hour to Blue Mountains. We didn't go all the way up but stopped midway at Wentworth Waterfalls. We could have gone further up to see the Three Sisters but figured we'll save that adventure for our next visit. Secretly I think we both wanted to rush home to spend time with the kids.

The following pictures don't do justice to the breathtaking views of Blue Mountains. I told Ling it's almost impossible to get a picture that depicts what it was actually like for us: no photo can capture the beauty of what we experienced. But for a taste, this is us at Wentworth Waterfalls.





We tracked down this way to get an excellent view of the waterfalls.





It was a twenty-minute walk down (which also means a twenty-minute walk up later) to get this view.



Then feeling like we should reward ourselves for the walk-up after (during which there was very little conversation: we were trying to catch our breaths), we headed to a lovely cafe called the Conservatory Hut for tea.



We had a good view of the mountains from the cafe.



And loved how our latte looked.



Then recharged on caffeine, we drove to a nearby town that was very quaint and charming. We were happy to find a bookstore selling old books. Ling found a collector's copy of Little Women (that was at least 40 years old) and got it for a steal. She also bought me a book that she'd discovered through scrutinising the shelves. That, for us nerds, surely sealed our evening.

Featherdale Wildlife Park

At the entrance armed with a passport to collect all the stamps at the various stations. This kind of mission thrilled me to bits.


Our first stop - Koala station! See how interested this koala was in Wei.


It was the first time I saw koalas. Very excited but also very cautious. Hence, that was the nearest I was willing to stand durng the photo shoot.


I was extremely thrilled when I found a koala with the name of Rusty (same name as my beloved dog whom I missed terribly during the trip). Rusty, the koala, was as cute as Rusty, my dog.


Wei wanted to pose like that when I took a picture of her next to the kangaroo. Do they look alike?

The park was very well-maintained and clean. I liked the several sinks found at different stations where visitors could wash their hands. A very relaxing and pleasant visit.

School kids' groupies

Being lecturers, Ling and I always set objectives and outcomes for about everything we do. Our objectives for this trip include (in this order):

1. Spending time with the children.
2. Enjoying Sydney at our own pace.
3. Reading and writing over good latte.

So, we were immensely thrilled this morning when Emmet and JY gave us free reign to send the two older kids to school. Needless to say, we wanted photos along the way. Gamely, the kids humoured us by posing with their smiles and grins.

We made them stop for photos...

Outside, along the school.

At the school gate.

And snapped pictures secretly at the school compound (we didn't want other kids to think the kids had such odd relations: already kids are rather socially awkward). Sharon tries to fit in too, but stands out like an overly-protective adult.

Here, Sharon tries to counsel Ethan who is upset with a girl who was holding his hand the day before (he gets harrassed like this even in Singapore).

“I don’t like school. There was a girl who held my hand too tightly for the whole day.” (Ethan)
“Did you tell her not to hold your hand too tightly?” (Sharon)
“I did but she still held it tightly.” (Ethan)
“Is she an Australian or Asian?” (Sharon)
“She is a Chinese like me.” (Ethan)

The most handsome boy in his class takes off his hat. Sigh, we're such hopeless groupies.