The Enchanted Forest

I reckon both Caitlin and Ashleigh Wan can figure out the location of this magical place.....

Back At Bankstown

My fav sauce-mixed noodles with seafood, bean sprouts, chilli cuts and a twist of lime juice

It's not Saigon nor Phnom Penh nor even in Asia.

The diverse variety of vegetables at the mall.

Niche entertainment that livens up what may be another ordinary Sydney suburb.

The several varieties of fruits on sale, most with a Northern Territory or Queensland growth origin.

Menu in a down-to-earth restaurant.

Self-explanatory!

Prepared food that emphasises on salads and vermicelli.

Posers

Where in a Sydney suburb can you still get all this for seven bucks?

And also quick service with this tasty dish. Hint: you have to go to a pub hotel.

Where can you find elegant shoes in Wollongong at more viable prices than Sydney's?

Where can you find this wood tortoise, and does it come alive when no one is watching?

Hint:  It is in an Australian wild bird reserve within an hour's drive from a part of Sydney Metropolitan.

Where can you find this cropped circle? Hint: Don' think of the biggest capital cities in Australia.

What is the name of this fruit?

We Don't Say I Love You Anymore

Memories of bungalow stays, class outings, guitar sessions, foggy late nights and the soothing sounds of gentle waves lapping the shore. Maybe the reality was not that great, but the incessant latent hope and promise were there, like the beacon of moving rays from the lighthouse, literally standing there not far from a sand-swept camp or circle of mates. I cannot recall how and what we ate, but I can never forget the comaradarie, the jokes, the delight of breaking what are now insignificant rules and conventions and most especially, the lyrics of apparently silly songs like this:

We don't walk along the beach at night

And talk the way we used to talk

And look into each other's eyes

After counting all the stars above

And after all this time I know

Sometimes you've felt like letting go

'Cause even when we're all alone

One of us is somewhere else



Maybe I never took the time to say

All these feelings locked inside of me

But if you think that I don't care for you

The way I did before

It doesn't mean that I don't love you

When we don't say I love you anymore



We don't spend our nights by candlelight

Dancing to our favorite songs

And wake up in the morning sun

As I hold you softly in my arms

And after all this time I found

What makes it special in my mind

Is that you were always my best friend

And the dreams we shared are still alive



Maybe I never took the time to say

All these feelings locked inside of me

And if you think that I don't care for you

The way I did before

It doesn't mean that I don't love you

When we don't say I love you anymore

(Glen Medorios - "We Don't Say I Love You Anymore")

Times Are A-Changing

Today at work I attempted to find a more effective way of convincing - trying to get a buy-in from individuals who have been supportive of my requests and initiatives, but who dearly deserve new and innovative ways of being convinced to assist me one more time.  Is it in the way I succinctly present my case or word my case, or have I improved the process and reason better to still capture attention amidst the other things vying for their attention?

Back in my hometown two weeks ago, I was shaken by the realisation that a long-time business had closed, despite its past good track record in catering to the needs of its customers. What causes the shelf life of a business to terminate, even if its products continue to have a longer so called use-by date? Successful businesses can have varying fortunes, but to make that critical decision to close, an entity must have considered many factors - or one single don't look back development. Could it be rising competition, the inability to rise up to cater for increased business, or the unwillingness, sheer and simple, to continue? Maybe this business needed to jump to its next dimension - and no longer had the motivation or energy to do so.  I looked at the closed doors of Hup Loong - and felt the loss by its owners, and more so of the multitude of students and migrants from South-east Asia who have used their premix products for a short way to get some soul food going.

Courtney, starting an exciting role in Singapore, away from the Australian and American campuses of her university days, looked well adapted to the humid temperatures and many shopping centres. I was impressed by her suggestion of choosing a Taiwan restaurant for our lunch meeting, me between flights and she enjoying another Saturday in a new city. I was relieved when she told me that her two biggest problems, three weeks into this career adventure, were finding a good hair stylist and acceptable readily made salad packages.  Both were valid concerns for someone who now works till past 7pm and already embraced fitness regimes as essential to balancing a more intense working environment.

On the last week of February, Eu-Gene came down to Sydney from Melbourne with Sheridan for a mission - to lock in the purchase of an important item. Not yet 30 years old, Eu-Gene has consistently showed various practical and interesting ideas to try and implement at business and at work.  He has had significant targets - and has so far achieved them.  With no doubt, I sensed that he continues to make plans and challenges, and persistently works smartly at attaining them.  I am motivated by his ideas, outlook and action - and that of Sheridan in supporting, complementing and partnering with Eu-Gene in a combined vision and implementation drive.

The full moon is looked forward to on the fifteenth night of the Lunar New Year (Chap Goh Meh), but the Sydney area that evening experienced torrential rains.  The same morning, I tried the typical Australian big breakfast at the Urban Grind, a modest but busy cafe in Balgownie Village. In the evening, I had a spread of home made food in Carlingford from cousin Susan and family to mark the close of the New Year festivities. The yee sang, or literally fresh fish, is  a light stir salad dish that also provides delightful crunchy bits and lots of good vibes for the Chinese community back in Singapore and Malaysia. Here we continued this tradition, to roll in positive energy and wealth for the coming year of the Tiger. Susan and Boo Ann also had poh pniah (Fujian-inpsired rolls) and ingredient-laden fried rice that evening. In one day I thought I had the opportunity to bridge between so-called Australian and Chinese Malaysian food.

The only constant is change, and I am happy I am surrounded with special individuals who face them head on and somehow know how to handle them.