Fall on your knees - Ann Marie MacDonald

I didnt intend to read this book earlier.
I was reading a different book which already past 5 pages of introductory when the trip to GC forced me to look at a lighter (in volume) book (well 508 is much lighter and thinner than 1075 pages). So I abandoned my current book and packed this one into my suitcase.
The word sisters in the review must have been the 'sold' factor on why I bought the book in the first place. And indeed the book was not short of wow factors. Many times (in life) there are fine lines between fiction and facts, between make believe and events that actually happened and how human memories especially of a child chose to remember it (this book emphasized that). Did it happen or was it a dream? There were 'anticipated' secrets everywhere and each was darker then the one before which was revealed one by one and sometime when you least expected it. And I must say that the last revelation, really blew me away. It's a sisterhood and family epic that cut across several generations. It's no wonder that FYOK won a Commonwealth prize for Best First Book for its author. Not only after I finished reading it that I knew the book was also featured in Oprah's Book Club. Indeed, it was a satisfying read.

Do or do not, there is no try - Master Yoda

An old schoolmate celebrated his birthday last weekend and his wife planned a surprise birthday party for him at Michaelangelo's in Sunway Pyramid. We were amongst the lucky friends who got invited to join in the surprise party. Since hubby was away, I went there with the kids.
The birthday boy or shall I say man is a big fan of automobiles and Star Wars. So amongst the gifts he received was an almost a life size R2D2 (courtesy of the loving wife), replica of a lightsaber and many car miniatures. Even the cup cakes were design according to all the luxury car brands. Lucky man. And bcos of the Star Wars thingy, I thought I borrowed Master Yoda's famous quote for my entry's title. Which have nothing whatsoever related to the story.
I enjoyed the party and the company. Food however was so-so, even though I ordered Rotisserie Cacciatore (recommeded in the menu). But it was just spaghetti with baked cheese and a drumstick of chicken. Hmm..what did they say about ordering food you dont even know how to pronounce? Ha! Ha! Next time stick to the basic, uno pizza, grazie.

of Shrek, Batman and Scooby Doo be doo ...

Having visited Disneyland in the States sooo lonnggg ago, I thought well maybe there's nothing much to surprise me further and this trip was more for my kids - boy was I wrong!! We (hubby and me) were as excited as our kids :)) There were two highlights for me when visiting the Movieworld @ GoldCoast; First was the Shrek 4D animation -Danial my youngest son was absolutely delighted and at awed. He kept reaching out with his hands towards the character, thanx to the 3D glasses. Secondly was my heart stopping Batwing ride which I rode with my eldest Danish. I was proud to be on it bcos my hubby dont dare to :p Maybe that was the last time I could ever go on such ride again. And I was absolutely terrified to be on the Scooby Doo ride. Dont let the name fooled you!! There's nothing cartoonish about that ride. It was awfully SCARY. I'm proud to say we rode on almost all the rides except for the ones that were closed.

Surfers Paradise and beyond

Apart from Surfers Paradise in some of these photos, it include our one day excursion to Brisbane. To be exact on Xmas day itself since all the theme parks were closed on the said day. We went to Mount Coot-tha lookout to see the view of Brisbane city, where we found out the origin of the name Brisbane. And of cos picnic at Southbank where I packed 'nasi goreng kampung' (fried rice kampung style with ingredient courtesy of maggi), fried eggs and tuna sandwich. Mind you, fried rice never tasted so gooodd :) And the kids had another round of splashing in the water. It seemed they never out from their swimming costumes bcos almost every where we went, there always be a place for them to have fun in the water.

A day with nature @ Currumbin Wildlife

Our first stop after taking our hired car at Coolangatta Airport, even before which we checked into the hotel was the Currumbin Wildlife. It was my children first time encounter with real life koalas, kangaroos, tasmanian devil etc .. okay make that all Australian native animals. They had this 'Discovery Channel' look on their face when they spotted a joey came out from its mom's pouch. And mind you the joey is not a tiny winnee fella but quite a big one but still can fit into the pouch. And check out the golden possum. My, that one is reaaally something. So cute and the color is well ... gold.

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GoldCoast Aust - here we come

We touched down at Coolangatta Airport on Dec 20 at 1014am after 8.5hrs flight. Amongst all the food that we brought in, I'm happy to say that only the beef floss didnt make it outside the airport. The immigration officer looked awfully sorry that he had to do that to us. But to be honest we were quite okay with it.

We stayed in this lovely room with a view to kill - across Nerang River facing the Chevron Island. Beauuutiful... And from the hotel it's only 5-7 minutes max of walking to get to anywhere in Surfers Paradise.

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*Happy 2009*

Happy New Year everyone! Gosh time really flies. My youngest son will be entering Primary One this year and my eldest will be in Primary Five. School official starts next Monday.
Any new year resolutions for me? Nahhh... was thinking about it thou' but who am I to kid? I stopped planning for any years ago. So none this year too.
I'm still in the midst of arranging our family travel pics so to start of with, here's my two fridge magnets. Arent they cute? Its 87 and counting ^_^


Wishing everyone good health, peaceful soul, blessed spirit, heart full of love and enough wealth in 2009.
Love and peace.