Disney finally released their Mediterranean shore excursions today. The first thing that struck me was how expensive everything is! Some sounded like a lot of fun but not for that much money.
I was finally brave enough to write my very first ever pre-trip report on the DISboard. Let's see how that goes
I hope that my new alert - the Disney Cruise Line Horn! - for a new sms isn't too distracting...
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Saturday, 21 November 2009
A video is worth a million words
Well done Elliot! We are so proud of you.
Sydney Opera House - 21 Nov 2009
Sydney Opera House - 21 Nov 2009
Sunday, 15 November 2009
By George, he did it!
What a day! Flying solo the whole weekend when Malcolm is on-call was tough. Managed to scramble the troops together for church and had a yummy chinese lunch before getting ourselves ready for Elliot's first big concert.
After settling Jonah and leaving him in my father's capable hands (cough, cough, splutter, splutter), we headed out to the Theme and Variations showroom at Willoughby. Upon entry, my nerves started to surface. My brain went into overdrive "hope he remembers to repeat, hope he remember to play in time, hope he remembers the dynamics, hope he remembers to keep going if he makes a mistake...". Luckily, it appears that Elliot is still completely oblivious to the concept of being nervous.
To celebrate, we all went to Ribs and Rumps. I lost the battle of wills and ordered a nice juicy cheeseburgers with chips complete with a large glass of coke. The healthy diet can resume another day! Tomorrow, it will be back to the grindstone in preparation for the graduation concert at the Opera House next week.
After settling Jonah and leaving him in my father's capable hands (cough, cough, splutter, splutter), we headed out to the Theme and Variations showroom at Willoughby. Upon entry, my nerves started to surface. My brain went into overdrive "hope he remembers to repeat, hope he remember to play in time, hope he remembers the dynamics, hope he remembers to keep going if he makes a mistake...". Luckily, it appears that Elliot is still completely oblivious to the concept of being nervous.
Elliot on the Steinway concert grand
He walked up to the piano, sat down and started playing without much ado. And he played brilliantly! Maybe that's all that we needed all along, a $300,000 piano. After all, it is for sale...
A close up...
Despite the parental anxiety, I still thoroughly enjoyed every single performance. The music truly was beaufiul and the children all remarkably talented. I still can't believe that Elliot made it into the group chosen to perform. I have never been prouder in my life.
The talented little people
To celebrate, we all went to Ribs and Rumps. I lost the battle of wills and ordered a nice juicy cheeseburgers with chips complete with a large glass of coke. The healthy diet can resume another day! Tomorrow, it will be back to the grindstone in preparation for the graduation concert at the Opera House next week.
Friday, 13 November 2009
A toast to my little springroll
During mother's group today, a friend mentioned how proud she was that her son has passed his grade 3 piano exam. And on facebook, another friend posted a video of an incredibly talented 3 year old practising two of her piano pieces.
And it occurred to me that I should boast more about my own son's achievement. What is wrong with me?!?!? Why is the "competitive Asian parent" gene not expressing itself? So here it is, a tribute to little 6 year old Elliot's piano accomplishments.
We have been practising hard in preparation for 2 big concerts, the first being this Sunday. He is part of a small group who have been picked for the concert to raise money for the children in Cambodia, a charity that his piano teacher champions. He will be playing on a $300, 000 9 ft Steinway. As we madly try to get our scales in the Sonatina to be in time with the metronome, I have to be amazed at how far he has come.
We started lessons at 3.5 but had to stop because of my pregnancy with Jonah. This was a huge setback for Elliot. After a break of more than 6 months, we had to "relearn" everything. And this was a hard slog, not to mention discouraging for a little boy. He didn't understand why he couldn't "learn" new songs. To his credit, he never gave up. He would merrily sing along to all the songs and scales that he practices and still does presently. I should video it one day. Although very noisy, it really is quite cute.
I also have to give great kudos to Erica, his teacher. Ever so patient with such a great way with young children, her endless encouragement and clever teaching no doubt played a big role to keeping Elliot motivated. Elliot has not looked back since. He has flown through book 2 and managed to squeeze in 2 graduations this year. He is very proud that he is now a "Book 3" boy. We eagerly await his Sydney Opera House debut on the 21st of November. Well done Elliot! We are so very proud of you.
Here's to the same for my little char siu bau who started lessons 2 weeks ago...
And it occurred to me that I should boast more about my own son's achievement. What is wrong with me?!?!? Why is the "competitive Asian parent" gene not expressing itself? So here it is, a tribute to little 6 year old Elliot's piano accomplishments.
We have been practising hard in preparation for 2 big concerts, the first being this Sunday. He is part of a small group who have been picked for the concert to raise money for the children in Cambodia, a charity that his piano teacher champions. He will be playing on a $300, 000 9 ft Steinway. As we madly try to get our scales in the Sonatina to be in time with the metronome, I have to be amazed at how far he has come.
We started lessons at 3.5 but had to stop because of my pregnancy with Jonah. This was a huge setback for Elliot. After a break of more than 6 months, we had to "relearn" everything. And this was a hard slog, not to mention discouraging for a little boy. He didn't understand why he couldn't "learn" new songs. To his credit, he never gave up. He would merrily sing along to all the songs and scales that he practices and still does presently. I should video it one day. Although very noisy, it really is quite cute.
I also have to give great kudos to Erica, his teacher. Ever so patient with such a great way with young children, her endless encouragement and clever teaching no doubt played a big role to keeping Elliot motivated. Elliot has not looked back since. He has flown through book 2 and managed to squeeze in 2 graduations this year. He is very proud that he is now a "Book 3" boy. We eagerly await his Sydney Opera House debut on the 21st of November. Well done Elliot! We are so very proud of you.
Here's to the same for my little char siu bau who started lessons 2 weeks ago...
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Good news week
I have been so busy that I've been neglecting my blog! Now I have so much to write about I don't know where to start.
So let's start with our second placing at trivia tonight with a diminished team! The Fruitloops is a tribute to the good old university days when we would travel all the way to the Bankstown Sports Club for trivia every Thursday. The venue has changed but the day stays the same! Minus Sharon, Paul, Fiona, Mr and Mrs Hooker, the Fruitloops managed to hold steady and win the tiebreak to come second in a field of 15. Personally I am most proud of the fact that I could spell Philippines and that I knew the difference between rigatoni and penne.
I also have to congratulate my dear friends for the cute additions to their families recently, notably Vivien and Eugene with Timothy (miracle baby number 2) and Sharon and Paul with Trinity (the one who didn't want to come out). We also had the pleasure of finding out that 2 of my school friends are pregnant and have the same due date. They are also booked in at the same private hospital! It is so nice to see that friends are finally starting to procreate!
My most exciting news, however, would have to be the prospect of being in a Disney parade in December 2010! I am still in a state of disbelief but a current cast member has offered for our little group of 7 adults and 7 children to be in a DISNEY parade. What started off as an enquiry about how to organise something special fo little Elyssa's birthday has become an absolute dream come true.
Will have to update my Europe, New York and Washington DC research another time. Need to sleep...
So let's start with our second placing at trivia tonight with a diminished team! The Fruitloops is a tribute to the good old university days when we would travel all the way to the Bankstown Sports Club for trivia every Thursday. The venue has changed but the day stays the same! Minus Sharon, Paul, Fiona, Mr and Mrs Hooker, the Fruitloops managed to hold steady and win the tiebreak to come second in a field of 15. Personally I am most proud of the fact that I could spell Philippines and that I knew the difference between rigatoni and penne.
I also have to congratulate my dear friends for the cute additions to their families recently, notably Vivien and Eugene with Timothy (miracle baby number 2) and Sharon and Paul with Trinity (the one who didn't want to come out). We also had the pleasure of finding out that 2 of my school friends are pregnant and have the same due date. They are also booked in at the same private hospital! It is so nice to see that friends are finally starting to procreate!
My most exciting news, however, would have to be the prospect of being in a Disney parade in December 2010! I am still in a state of disbelief but a current cast member has offered for our little group of 7 adults and 7 children to be in a DISNEY parade. What started off as an enquiry about how to organise something special fo little Elyssa's birthday has become an absolute dream come true.
Will have to update my Europe, New York and Washington DC research another time. Need to sleep...
Saturday, 24 October 2009
It's never too early
Having spent the yesterday evening researching our options for Disney 2011, we, along with the Kohs, were inspired to do a "practice run" before the real thing. We had to simulate American conditions as closely as possible to see if we could handle American cuisine. Ethel and Jason even came attired in their matching Mickey and Minnie T-shirts from their honeymoon!
First up, yummy golden fried chicken. It was of the Indonesian sort but no one was complaining. Dinner at Ratu Sari hurt the wallet somewhat, but boy was it satisfying. Kangkung belacan, telor Bali, ikan belado...Mmmmm!
That was followed by some good old ice-cream and waffles. We went to an ice-creamery near Arthur's pizza. It is amazingly still present and looks unchanged from university days. The area around it though has turned into a hotspot. It is apparently the place to be. After finally getting a parking spot, we managed to get ourselves into 2 booths and ordered our poison. The children finished theirs in one breath. It was hard work trying to stop the vultures from devouring our share.
If this is what dining in the states will be like, then BRING IT ON! But first, we diet...
First up, yummy golden fried chicken. It was of the Indonesian sort but no one was complaining. Dinner at Ratu Sari hurt the wallet somewhat, but boy was it satisfying. Kangkung belacan, telor Bali, ikan belado...Mmmmm!
That was followed by some good old ice-cream and waffles. We went to an ice-creamery near Arthur's pizza. It is amazingly still present and looks unchanged from university days. The area around it though has turned into a hotspot. It is apparently the place to be. After finally getting a parking spot, we managed to get ourselves into 2 booths and ordered our poison. The children finished theirs in one breath. It was hard work trying to stop the vultures from devouring our share.
If this is what dining in the states will be like, then BRING IT ON! But first, we diet...
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Quiero la leche
I have been busy researching information on Barcelona as well as the various ports that we will be visiting. I am very fortunate that Brian has a Spain lonely planet guidebook which is always a good place to start. In addition, he also has a Spanish phrasebook! Hurray! So now, at the dinner table, we are practising Spanish. There will no more "wo yao he niu nai". It is now "quiero la leche".
So engrossed in my quest for information that I let myself be distracted into reading about Spanish history for 4 hours while trying to find information about a tourist bus. Perhaps my need to "know" down to the minute details may be my undoing. It can't be healthy scouring forums on cruisecritic, thorn tree, tripadvisor and DISboards for hours just to verify the cost of a taxi from Barcelona airport to town...
On the upside, I have discovered that the people on DISboards are quite friendly! We have received offers to be hosted for New Years Eve, offers of a garage to store our luggage and many, many ideas and advice for travel in the United States. Yes, I have switched topic to my "other" Disney holiday... Speaking of which, we have added another family to our Disney adventure...The Marrs!!! It seems like half the church will be away in December.
Which brings me to another realisation. There is just over 9 weeks left before Christmas! I think I really need to update my to-do list. It is too long for me to remember it all in my head.
So engrossed in my quest for information that I let myself be distracted into reading about Spanish history for 4 hours while trying to find information about a tourist bus. Perhaps my need to "know" down to the minute details may be my undoing. It can't be healthy scouring forums on cruisecritic, thorn tree, tripadvisor and DISboards for hours just to verify the cost of a taxi from Barcelona airport to town...
On the upside, I have discovered that the people on DISboards are quite friendly! We have received offers to be hosted for New Years Eve, offers of a garage to store our luggage and many, many ideas and advice for travel in the United States. Yes, I have switched topic to my "other" Disney holiday... Speaking of which, we have added another family to our Disney adventure...The Marrs!!! It seems like half the church will be away in December.
Which brings me to another realisation. There is just over 9 weeks left before Christmas! I think I really need to update my to-do list. It is too long for me to remember it all in my head.
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