Sing A Song

Last minute ticket, not too bad a seat!

Last evening, I had the opportunity to spend some treasured mother and daughter time with Lara. Elliot had auditioned successfully for the school's Arts North choir. The grandparents were still around at that time and happily went to watch him perform at the Sydney Town Hall. Lara had also auditioned successfully to be part of the combined choir for the Festival of Children's Music concert. The choir comprised of children from  choirs of local public schools. Select performing arts groups such as dance troupes, vocal ensembles, string ensembles and bands also took part in the concert.

With both sets of grandparents away, mother had to step up to the plate! I was too happy to arrange to leave work early. The two boys were eager to stay at home with the promise of having chicken nuggets for dinner. Seeing as Lara had to be at the concert venue by 6pm, we took it as a valid excuse to have dinner out together.

We took the train from North Ryde station and alighted at the next stop...Chatswood. We walked around to find the Japanese eatery that took our fancy the most. Lara settled on a new ramen house that we had not tried before. As we were only the second table in the house, the food came very quickly! We munched away happily whilst playing around with the various photography apps on my iPhone.

Lara's choice of dinner venue

The funky interior. Playing around with iPhone apps! This one taken with pudding cam

Lara's dinner...Chashu ramen. Puddingcam again

Kaarage-don. Yum! Plain old iphone camera this time!

It was then time to cross the road to The Concourse, where the concert was going to be held. What used to be a collection of old and dingy buildings had been turned into a wonderful complex consisting of a concert hall, theatre, library, restaurants and shops. It was a far cry from what was there when I was a teenage girl!

The Concourse

After dropping Lara off with her teacher, I had time to give myself a treat. ZenQ was conveniently across the road from the concert hall. Ah...it was bliss to enjoy some dessert with husband or children getting in the way! I went for my favourite grass jelly, milk pudding and pearls. With my stomach sated, I strolled in to the concert hall.

How doesn't love grass jelly, milk pudding and sago pearls!?!?! Instagram photo

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the performances. Most of all, I was proud of Lara for singing with so much gusto. My only regret was not having a video camera to capture all the shoulder heaving, head movements, wide open mouth and those oh so expressive eyes! She really took our family motto of "singing with glory" seriously!

The concert stage and the wonderful children. The band from Pymble Public School was awesome! LOVED the drummer.

The two hours flew by and we were picked up for a ride home. Stay tuned for more concert news...

Travel Agent Extraordinaire

Her name is Beth and she is amazing. Yes this is a shameless plug about my travel agent but I don’t care because she deserves it.

Beth was first recommended to me by a fellow DISboards member about one year ago. I wish I had known about her existence earlier. On that fateful Saturday of October 22 in 2011, I sent her my very first electronic correspondence after being increasingly frustrated at the lacklustre efforts of the various local travel agents. It would prove to be an excellent move on my part. Lo and behold, less than 24 hours later, I received my very first reply that would begin a most satisfying partnership. And what a magnificent reply...

She informed me that she was on vacation at Walt Disney World (already a big nod of approval here. Someone who vacations here must be good). However, she would reply to me at length after the weekend. In the meantime, she had provided a quote for the cruise that I was interested in. She gave us a rundown of our onboard credit, deposits and balance payments with relevant due dates, as well as cancellation policies. This was followed closely by a note that the insurance policy that is offered by the cruise line specifically states that it’s for residents of the US and Canada. She would investigate this further on my  behalf if I was interested in insurance directly from the cruise line. She would also confirm that pricing would be the same for Australian residents.

Bing bing bing bing bing bing... I have hit the jackpot! My heart leapt for joy. She had earnt my respect as a capable and thorough organiser immediately. The emails that followed confirmed my initial impression. She covered dining, transport, visas, pre and post cruise arrangements amongst many other things. She has the uncanny ability to think one step ahead with our interests in mind. Her replies are also always friendly and detailed. She would always specify if there was something that she didn’t know and would then look it up without prompting usually before she sends her next email to me!

As an example of her superb skills, I recently sent her a rather vague email outlining our interest in a Caribbean cruise on one of the new ships for Jan 2014. She replied with a brief run down on the pros and cons of the new ships available and then asked targeted questions to help narrow down our choices. It came down to Allure of The Seas or the Norwegian Breakaway. Remembering our preferences on cruises already booked, she gave us quotes for several options on both ships and asked if we were interested in suites as both ships had some ‘cool’ suites and that it may work out to be good value as there were 7 of us travelling.

I gave her the green light. Of course, as with anything important, it happened late on Friday night. The time difference between Australia and the US didn’t help. The quotes returned shortly complete with photos of the suite on Allure of The Seas that that she had placed on hold for us, as well as a pamplet of the inclusions. There were only 2 suites left and she had pro-actively put one on hold for us as she suspected that we were quite interested. Yes, she suspected correctly! After we had time to look through the suite in more detail, we were so excited that she had secured it for us. However, we had to pay the fully refundable deposit before Beth left for her vacation on Sunday...by now it was Saturday Beth’s time. I sent the email nonetheless...”Please put a deposit down for us if you happen to get this email”. We sent her another email the following day letting her know that it was ok if she doesn’t get to do this after her return. If the suite is no longer available so be it. We were loathe to give the commission to someone else. Amazingly, a reply returned.

She had called and took two people off the reservation so we only had to pay the deposit on five people instead of 7.  She will then add those two back later (at the same price) and pay for them at that time – assuming that we end up keeping the suite.  She knew that we were going to sail on Norwegian soon and that our cruise experience may change our minds. She had also acquired for us information about the kids activities and will get us a copy of the daily newsletter of activities that all cruise lines have.

What a champion!

It is clear that she loves what she does and takes pride in her work. Why can’t the local travel agents offer the same level of service? Beth has won me over. I now happily give her as much business as I can. For me its a no brainer.

Addendum:

I should mention that I have another wonderful travel agent, also American, by the name of Karen. She is a Disney specialist and manages all our Disney reservations. Unfortunately, she doesn’t handle any other travel outside of Disney. This is a shame as she is also amazing!

Goodbye To Babysitting Again!

Sigh...and this time it is farewell to the my parents as they travel to Hong Kong, China and Japan for the next month. They will be joined by my aunts and uncles, one set from Brisbane and the other all the way from Holland.

We helped them purchase and set up a global prepaid roaming simcard called TravelSIM for their travels. My uncle already owns one and it means that they get to call each other for only $0.25 per minute from anywhere in the world which isn't bad. The coverage with regards to numbers of countries is decent, as are the rates. The SIM would definitely come in handy for our upcoming trip to Europe, not just for France and Italy, but also for places like Egypt, Turkey and Israel where we'll need to be contacting shore excursion provides. We, too, are now seriously considering purchasing one.

Unfortunately, they already had dinner plans with my aunt and so it was goodbyes with cake only.
We will be fending for ourselves for the next 2 weeks or so...hanging out until Malcolm's parents return!

Owning More Of The Mouse

With 100 days to go until we visit Disneyland Paris, we received great news...

"We confirm your membership to the Euro Disney S.C.A. Shareholders Club"

Woohoo! In addition to our share in the Walt Disney Company courtesy of our dear friends, we now also own a piece of Disneyland Paris. Timing couldn't have worked out better. We purchased our shares when the share price was just over €4. Shortly after on 24 August 2012, reports surfaced that The Walt Disney Co is considering a possible buyout of the firm that manages Disneyland Paris. Share prices immediately jumped up. It now sits at nearly €2 more than our purchase price. How's that for immediate return in investment!

It means that we are able to maximise the value that we get out of  the benefits of being members of the Euro Disney Shareholders's Club. If we had bought the shares after the price increase, it would have been hard to recoup the initial layout for the shares.

Some of the benefits that we were particularly interested in include:

• 20% off guided tours of the Disney Parks
• 10% discount at Disney Stores in Europe 
• Up to 15% discount at Disneyland Paris Boutiques
• 20% discount on Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
• 15% discount on table service and buffet restaurants in the Disney Parks, Hotels and Disney Village
• Light coffee break at Salon Mickey, at the entrance of Disneyland Paris 

So how do you become a member of the Shareholder's club?
First you need to buy some Euro Disney shares. You'll need at to hold at least 5 shares. Then simply contact the Shareholder's Club and follow the instructions! Keep in mind that with rumours of a buyout, there is a possibility that you will have to sell your shares to the Walt Disney Co which means the likely end of the shareholder's benefit. However, as to if or when this happens is anyone's guess so we'll enjoy in the meantime!
      

Happy Father's Day!

Teppanyaki art

We all woke up early to surprise Malcolm with pancakes, blueberries and maple syrup...but the man chose to indulge in Breadtop and a haircut instead! So off we went to our usual Sunday breakfast fare of Asian bread with Hong Kong milk tea, followed by a haircut by our Korean style team. With two members of the family looking ultra spunky we headed for church, and then met up for lunch to celebrate father's day with my parents at The Pymble Hotel. We think it is a little gem by the railway. Nicely decorated inside with $11 lunch specials! We filled ourselves with steak, schnitzel, sausages and rolled home.

The kids didn't complain about going to Breadtop

Ham bun...mmmm

The Pymble Hotel

Atmospheric interior

Lara eager to show off her new haircut

We had to prepare for dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant. Malcolm had bought coupons on WhyPayMore a LONG time ago. Much to our frustration, the restaurant has made it as difficult as possible to use the coupons. We were unable to book using their online system if we wanted to use our vouchers. However no one would pick up their listed phone numbers. After leaving message after message, we finally got through only to be greeted by a very rude lady who informed us that we were only able to use on Tuesday lunchtime! This was not what was written on the voucher. Reluctant to be beaten by the stingy woman, Malcolm argued the point. She hit back with a "if you want the weekend, you'll have to wait". The husband persisted and asked for the next available weekend slot and finalised the reservation. That was more than 3 months ago! Yesterday, we received a text message trying to tell us that we couldn't use the voucher as it was Father's Day! Unbelievable. Undeterred we went. The food was actually decent! We had a good time as a family. Would I go back? No way. And I don't think Malcolm will be buying cheap coupon deals over the internet in a hurry in the future...

The restaurant that was so hard to make a booking for...

Delicious prawn and fish

Miso beef and teriyaki chicken

Elliot on his way to catching the flying egg

Lara, unfortunately, missed

The Inner Bohemian

I bought this beautiful book over a year ago. It is filled with gorgeous designs that are colourful and perfect for children. It is very much clothes that are not "mini adult" like which I love. Equipped with the Farbenmix patterns, I embarked on an ambitious project of making a reversible jacket with a matching multi-layered skirt. My mother was kind enough to accompany us me on many visits to the Spotlight and Lincraft sourcing materials and trim. Lara was to be the lucky recipient.

One of my many purchases from Amazon UK when they offered free shipping to Australia

One year later, the project is finally finished! Hallelujah! It had been a struggle as the many trims were quite fiddly and I gave up many times. It was a relief to complete it and that it still fit Lara with room to grow!

The back of the jacket

The "other" side of the jacket

The matching skirt

4 Months To Go

Right! Now that all our accommodation has been booked, let me fill you in on the details of our European adventure. As previously posted, Paris will be our first stop! 


Paris - We will have 6 days to explore Paris including one day at Versailles. Detailed plan to come!

Disneyland - We didn't count on staying at the Disneyland Hotel for 4 days...However, when a "pay for 2 nights and stay for an extra 2 nights for free" deal came up, I couldn't resist! We plan on using one of those days to hire a car and visit Fountainebleu and surrounds, as well as going to the outlets at La Vallee Marne.

Carcassonne - From Disneyland Paris, we will catch the train to Montpellier, pick up a car and drive to Carcassonne, just because we love the boardgame that was named after the famed walled city...We will only be here for one night.

Montpellier - We will stop here for 1 night as we head east towards Provence

Arles - Arles will be our base for exploring Provence, with details to be finalised. I fear this will very much be weather dependent. Pray that the Mistral will not rear its ugly head. After 5 nights here, we will commence our drive up the French Alps to the ski resort of Valmorel.

Valmorel is Club Med's newest ski resort. By all reports, it appears that it suits beginner to intermediate skiers which is us! As parents, we are looking forward to the all inclusive break. It will certainly be special spending Christmas and Elliot's birthday here.

Venice - At the end of our 7 days at the Alps, we will drive to Geneva to catch our flight to Venice where Malcolm's parents will join us. We will welcome in 2013 in the city of love...

Bologna - We begin our southbound trip with a train ride to Bologna. After 2 nights, we will continue with another train journey, continuing south towards Florence.

Florence - My parents, brother, aunt and cousin will be joining us in Florence to complete the gathering of the family! We have 6 nights in Florence. We're planning on a day trip to Lucca and Pisa as we didn't get an opportunity to visit them when we were last in the region on our Mediterranean cruise. How can we NOT take a photo of Jonah holding up the leaning tower of Pisa?!?!?

Rome - We have booked a private transfer for the whole tribe to take us from Florence to Rome. We will be stopping at Siena and San Gimignano enroute to Rome. We will have one full day to enjoy the Eternal City before we board our 11 night cruise on the NCL Jade.

Holy Land cruise- It  is very special for the children to be on a cruise with both sets of grandparents visiting such exotic ports. We'll be visiting Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel. I am personally really excited about Israel and visiting the towns and places associated with the early years of Jesus.

Post cruise - We've booked a private transfer from the port to the airport with a tour of Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio in between. Then sadly, its time to fly home...Our parents, however, will both be kicking on. One set will head to the middle east whilst the other set will go to Asia. Darn those people!