It's 5 minutes to midnight, the last night in 2007. Soon the countdown will begin to usher in the new year. Thousands of people are at Northbridge tonight, some are at the beach and many more in pubs, all eager to welcome the new year. Tomorrow we enter into 2008.

A year has come and gone and it is a good time to reflect back on what I have accomplished in 2007, the good times and the bad, the laughter, the friends, the hugs and the kisses. I have survived yet another year in this stranger land. I have experienced the 4 seasons, the hot and the cold. A friend said tomorrow we will be a year older, a year wiser. I suppose we will never be wiser.. haha... just more aware of what is happening around us.

May 2008 brings us more laughter, more friends, love and hopefully wealth.. and less stress :-) Thanks to all my friends who have made this year a memorable one. For all our new year resolution left unfulfilled, may 2008 brings us new resolution, to fulfill the old one :-) Cheers everyone!!

Christmas is always a special time, a time spend with family, friends and loved one. This Christmas was spent with friends from home - Lily, Helen, Anda - at Anda's home in Boyanup, a small town down South, about 17 km from Bunbury. Lily, Helen and I took the Australind down to Bunbury after work. The journey took 2.5hrs but it was a pleasant one. Sat next to Emily, a young girl from Bunbury who was on her way home to celebrate Christmas with her family.Had an interesting conversation with her - whole trip too! Anyway, left Perth station at 5.55pm and reached Bunbury at 8.20pm and thanks to daylight savings, it was still light when we reached there. Anda came to pick us up and that is where the Christmas adventure started.

We had Christmas lunch with the Suttons - Aileen, Robert and little Alby.Robert brought a ham and a pavlova (an Aussie desert) and we had a good lunch. Later we went to visit Theresa who lives in Eaton. Theresa is also from Sarawak, but have been here for many years now.

Boxing day was hot day indeed and guess where we went? The beach! Forrest Beach I think the name is. Robert put up a tent so that we could protect our skin from the hot sun. But before that we had a little gift opening session, and look at the happy faces receiving the gift they wanted :-)

Nicolas, Anda's hubby came home from work the next day so that means more places to visit :-)

Went down to Bunbury for post Christmas shopping, had a drive down Ocean drive and then had dinner at One Thai Restaurant, reported to be the best Thai restaurant in Bunbury. Next day we drove down to Harvey and had lunch there before coming home to have dinner with the Suttons, our last dinner at Boyanup.

All in all it was a great Christmas. Lily and Helen went back to Malaysia on Saturday and I sure miss them. I miss the conversation, the company and most of all the laughter. Not only did I spend the most festive season of the year with good friends, I also got to made new friends.

An interesting article from The Star today..

Brain Drain is Colour Blind

It echoes the thoughts of millions who have left their homeland to seek a new life in a stranger land, like moi :-) Does it make us less Malaysian? Does it mean that we do not love our country any longer? I believe that once you are a Malaysian, you are always a Malaysian and by leaving the country to seek the greener pasture elsewhere doesn't change who you are, just where you are. It is what they call , 'a matter of locality' :-)

I have been here a year now and I have learnt that while it is not easy living and earning a living in other people's country, it certainly has brought some 'plus' into my life. Here I learned to be independent, to be brave, to be thrifty, to be flexible and adapt to my surroundings. And oh, I get to things I wouldn't do at home too.. now, now, good things... ;-) ...I have made good friends and though I do miss home, especially during this festive season of Christmas, I am glad I have friends to spend it with here as well. The joy of being away from home is the time when I board that plane to go home, to visit family and friends, to do the things I like to do back home and to eat the food that I miss eating here. And counting down to that day feels like a bonus at the end of rainbow, you know you just need to 'survive' each day ( it's really not that bad.. heheh..)till that day comes. Being away makes me more appreciative of family and friends and I treasure them now more than ever knowing that I don't get to spend time with them that often but they are still dear to me. Maybe that's what all of us need to do, to get away more often so that we do not take our loved ones for granted.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder, I can say now that it is really true. Merry Christmas everyone, may this Christmas bring you joy and happiness... and of course lots of pressies too!!!! :-)

Christmas lunch..

yesterday at Adelphi Steakhouse. 9 of us and we had fun. These faces are of people I work with everyday, and they are a nice bunch of people. Some of them are old too.. haha... and yes, they have been at the Registry like forever!! Come to think of it, yesterday was my 1st anniversary working for the Registry! How time flies. Anyway, we had the secret Santa and everyone had a gift, just look at the happy faces receiving their gift - felt like I was a kid again. Christmas is the best season of the year, tis the season to be happy.

Lets see if I last another year .. hehe... oppps... :-)

Christmas is ....

just around the corner :-) Seems like it was just yesterday that I spent Christmas here in Perth. My 2nd Christmas, and this year I will be celebrating it with some friends from Sabah..oooo.. nice :-)

Anyway, last Saturday Valerie and I went to watch the annual RAC Channel Seven Christmas pageant. Last Christmas we said we were not going to come to this year's pageant and guess what?? We were there again.. hahaha.. People starting camping along the road where the pageant will pass through as early as 4.30 pm and the whole affair didn't start until 8.30pm! Mommies, daddies,grandparents, kids and even babies as old as a few weeks old all came out. They brought mats, picnic chairs, food and drinks, and St George's Tce, William St, Wellington St and Barrack St (the route of the parade) turned into a big picnic ground. It was very cold too and we had to go and get ourselves a jumper, luckily there were sales on. The parade sponsored by Channel 7 and RAC was officiated by the Lady Mayor. There were floats, multi-cultural groups, camels, dogs, dancers, clowns, fairies, samba bands and drum bands as well as the display of luxury cars. It started with the City of Perth band and ended with Father Christmas and Reindeer. Didn't get home until after 10pm.

Here are some pics I captured but they are not very clear as you can see..hehe.. my camera is not equip to take night shots! Bugger!!