What have we been doing?

We have been busy the past year. I really intended to create posts of what we were doing for memory purposes but often times I was already too tired to organise our photos, let alone write posts about them. I know I had not been very good with time management on this front as I'd rather sleep a little longer or play with the little man. But this year is different, because Kimi is in childcare centre almost full time now for Kindy, which is only 2 houses away. I will save a bit of time for myself after work or before bed. Yehey!

Here are some of the highlights of our 2011:

Beat the heat!

We watched the Australian Open and Che had the opportunity to have his Aus Open hat signed by Novak Djokovic after winning against Almagro. Lucky that he also won the grand slam and became World # 1! More photos here.

Sleeping kiddo

Dancing the night away



In June, we attended the wedding of my husband's cousin in Sydney. Kimi slept during the ceremonies but had lots of energy for dancing during the party. It was a fun-filled wedding. More photos here.

Kimi and I also experienced our first snow. Oh, Kimi loved it so much that he wanted to learn to ski next time. We were joined by friends, whose family is helping them with taking care of the new mom and the newborn baby. More photos here.

With the Lord Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong

In August, I took my oath as a new citizen of Australia. We celebrated it not just once but 3 times! We had dinner at home with friends, watched a Geelong Cats game at the President's luncheon (what better way to see an AFL game live for the first time?), and indulged ourselves to the 6 course tasting menu of Baveras at the Cunningham Pier (excellent food and service). I still have to try the infamous vegemite, though, to fully embrace Australian life. May be I will do that before I apply for an Australian passport. More photos here.

We drove to Sydney for the first time by ourselves. Yes, just the three of us this time. We visited family and 2 new babies. On the way back, we visited Kimi's god mother and her newborn twin sons in Canberra. We also met with friends from Geelong to see the Floriade, the Parliament House, the Australian War Memorial, and Cockington Green Gardens. Although we only had limited time, we still had so much fun. Note: This trip only proved to us that Kimi is an excellent travel companion. He didn't have any new electronic gadgets to entertain him apart from a good old digital camera from 6 years ago. He slept, sang, read, asked questions about the things he saw, shared stories, and laughed during the 12 hour travel. More photos here.

In December, we went on a "driving holiday" for 6 days on the way to Sydney for Christmas. But, I will reserve it for another post. The details are still fresh my memory.

I also started studying a diploma course in Management offered at work. Although I can opt for a recognition of prior learning to finish it sooner, I decided not to do it because my intention is to learn more about the organization and immerse myself with the local education system (this is distance learning with only a few workshops though). I still have 1 more essay assignment to do for the current module and 5 more subjects before I can finish the course. That is still a lot of juggling in the next 1.5 years. Time flies fast though so I'm sure I will finish it without even realising it.

Cheers to 2012! I look forward to an even more exciting one.

The busy baby turned 2!

We have not been home since I migrated to Australia and our family in the Philippines has only seen Kimi through photos and videos so we decided to visit and have an advance 2nd birthday celebration for Kimi. I was not intending to have a big 2nd birthday party. But since it will not be a usual case for him to celebrate it in the Philippines, I asked my siblings to arrange one for him. I was initially undecided on the party theme. I was looking at several venues - swimming pools, play centres, eat all you can restaurants and fastfood chains. A friend suggested Jollibee. The mere suggestion sparked good memories at Jollibee and I wanted Kimi to experience it as well.

I looked for Jollibee's youtube videos and showed them to him. Kimi liked him instantly especially his dance! Actually, I wasn't surprised. On the day, Kimi couldn't take his eyes off Jollibee. He showered him with lots of hugs and kisses as if he had known him for ages. His joy was priceless. Worth every penny paid. The host was great, the crew were pleasant, and Jollibee was really fantastic with his dance, making the kids and the kids at heart enjoy and strutt. Talagang at home sa Jollibee.

more photos here

To our family and close friends, thank you for celebrating with us. It was great catching up even for a limited time.

To God, thank you for giving Kimi to us and for always guiding and blessing our little family. You are our lucky charm in our journey downunder.

To Kimi, we still have a lot of fun things to do. Tatay and I are just grateful that we can now hug you everyday and marvel at the rate you're growing. Always be happy 'beesy' baby!

PS: Thanks to our friends - Jay Perth Llave, Diana Dig, and Jordee Queddeng for the photos. Sa uulitin!

First Flight

After 4 months of staying and living in Geelong, Kimi would visit Sydney to take part in celebrating Enzo’s 1st birthday. Enzo is hubby’s first cousin and, in fact, Kimi’s uncle. Yes, blood relations can be confusing at times.

I booked our flight early and chose the early flights as usual to maximise our stay. I was excited for Kimi. I know he would be delighted to see a big version of Jayjay the jet plane. However, I saw too many crying babies that the thought of Kimi having difficulty with air pressure also worried me. I shoved the thought away and packed our bags early than usual as this is the first flight I’ll be travelling with a toddler in tow. I packed Kimi’s stuff in my carry on bag to make sure that I got everything he would need – including banana, apple, nuts, raisins, biscuits, and milk to make him eat and chew and release the pressure on his ears and books to pre-occupy him during the waiting time and the 1.5 hour-flight.

On the day, I woke him a little before 4 am just enough time to dress up before the Avalon airport shuttle picked us up. Good enough he woke up in a good mood. He rarely wakes up in a bad mood anyway so it was not really a problem. He stayed awake during the entire wait for boarding, amusing other passengers beside us especially the elder couple a few seats away.

As expected, he was ecstatic to see the Jetstar plane. He was repetitively saying “Jayjay” and “airplane” until we reached our seat. After all the passengers were seated, Kimi started to wind down. Tatay (dad) was preparing the nuts when Kimi positioned himself comfortably on my lap hugging me to sleep. In no less than 2 minutes, he was already in wonderland and woke up 20 minutes before touch down. Upon waking up, he looked at the window and pointed to the beach below saying "water" and "beach" alternately, non-stop, until he got the attention of the passenger next to us. He also marvelled at some of the clouds and mountains. How wonderful it was to see a curious and excited toddler -- both eyes beaming.

Overall, it was a hassle free flight apart from the difficulty of carrying Kimi and some luggages. Kimi was a cooperative travel companion. I guess he sensed it’s not the best place and time to throw a tantrum.

Overdrive

I listened to Eraserhead's Overdrive song all morning to celebrate my passing the P plate driving test (well, apart from celebrating with pizza overload from La Porchetta last night). Yes, finally, I nailed the exam. It was not the best drive I've had as I was still frantically nervous. But, I did not have a major boo boo. After failed exams, it was a relief - one goal out of the very long list. In fact, I can smell freedom.

My journey to getting the licence was no big joke. There was no easy route or shortcut I could have done. I have no relatives to teach me and driving lessons with an instructor was very costly. Fast-tracking my learning was a juggle of budget and time. Thus, if you are intending to migrate and have no driving experience, it might be worthwhile to learn to drive prior to coming over as knowing the basics will save you time and money.

Getting your driving licence

Each state has different processes, policies and parameters in implementing traffic management and issuing licences and registrations. In the state of Victoria, Vicroads is the authorised institution for these.. I listed below the steps from being a learner to getting Probationary driver’s licence based on my experience and circumstances:

1. Book the exam for learner’s permit with Vicroads. You may book online, by phone or by visiting their nearest branch. The fees payable may be found here.
2. Read the “Road to Solo Driving” handbook.
3. Do the Practice Learner Permit test. The more practice tests you do the better.
4. Take the Learner Permit Test and make sure you have the identity documents required as discussed in Vicroads website.
5. Start learning to drive with full licence drivers (relatives or friends), with a driving instructor, or a combination of both. Note that recorded driving experience of at least 120 hours is required in the log book if the learner is under 21 years old.
6. Book and take the Hazard Perception Test when you have completed the 120 hours of driving if you are under 21 years old or when you are confident enough to drive if you are over 21 years old.
7. Book and take the actual driving test for your P plate. The Probationary licence is to be held for 3 years before a full licence can be issued. If you are under 21, a red P plate or P1 licence is issued to you to be held for 1 year before you graduate to the green P plate or the P2 licence to be held for 2 years. If you are over 21, you will be issued a green P plate or P2 licence to be held for 3 years. If you are a holder of an overseas licence for at least 3 years, you may be issued a full licence. It is best to ask Vicroads about this.
8. Drive safely.
   

Since I failed the driving exam a few times, I repeated step 7 a few times too. It was frustrating and heart-breaking. It felt like our life was put on hold. But, it did not stop me from attempting again. Eventually, persistence paid off.

Lesson: Never quit especially if you can see a hint of success.

Getting Lost in Oz?

If you are a new migrant in Australia and have no access to GPS, whereis.com.au is the way to go in getting instructions on how to reach your destination. They are now providing landmarks together with the turn-by-turn instructions either by foot or by car.

But, if you are using public transport in the state of Victoria, I recommend that you check Metlink Melbourne before travelling to plan your trip and get instructions on how to go to your next destination. It includes bus, tram, and train schedule, turn-by-turn instructions when you need to walk, and, of course, a leg and stop map.

In case, you're heading my way, let me know so I can prepare a cuppa!

What's the Fuss about?

Kimi was only 3 months when he left Geelong for Sydney and was only back to Geelong a couple of weeks ago. He has taken the CityRail numerous times on his Sydney escapades but it was only last Sunday that he took the V/Line train to join in the Melbourne Open House. The train's set-up was different with seats fixed and facing with another row of seats. There was not much space to move around compared to the city rail with an area reserved for passengers with prams.

During the first 5 minutes of the train ride, Kimi was silent than usual. It was like he was still assessing the new environment. His eyes were wide open, observing everyone around him and the scenery outside. Two friends who joined us for this trip, sitting next to the window, facing each other, took turns of putting Kimi on their lap to tell him things on the road, from the birds, the dogs, the grass, the people, the hills of the You Yangs, the buildings, to the ferris wheel. The explorer in him was not satisfied with what he saw outside. In between, he was clutching my hand to walk towards the middle of the carriage which joins two cars together. Eventhough I needed to hold on the railings to make sure we would not fall over, Kimi was not even scared a bit. In fact, he seemed to be excited standing on the adjoining portion for a few minutes before heading back to our seat.

Upon arrival in Southern Cross Station, we transferred to the suburban train to get to Flinders Station, which is nearest to Federation Square where we can get a map of the MOH. We arrived early than the official opening time of the participating buildings so we decided to take photos of the facade of St. Paul Cathedral, an Anglican Church and have breakfast at Hungry Jacks (Aussie's version of Burger King). We had burger and Kimi had hash brown. Not healthy, I know, but he doesn't fancy the banana I brought for him.

Capitol Theatre in Swanston St was our first stop. We walked past a long queue of teenagers, waiting for a concert at a nearby building, everyone having a chit-chat. I felt like we were lost in their midst. It was good though that there were a lot of tourist information volunteers roaming around the area, always ready to assist and smile at you. The accommodating lady directed us to a second shorter queue for those going to Capitol Theatre. It was still a long wait that Kimi already started to be fussy even after a bottle of milk. I knew he was already sleepy but we couldn't put him to sleep with all the distractions around him. He wanted to ran around and go up the stairs in the foyer leading to the insides of the theatre. I was always running after him to make sure he would not bump his head. Since it's dark inside the theatre, I held him in my arms and he screamed in a loud high pitch disturbing everyone listening to the guide. I quickly brought him out to the foyer and waited for hubby and our friends. Thus, I was not able to carefully observe the design and architecture of the theatre. But, hubby, eventhough agitated with Kimi's screaming, was still able to take a few photos that I can look at.
We went to our next stop, the Melbourne Town Hall, since it is only across the street. I managed to put Kimi back on to his pram. I pushed him to the Council Chamber at the second level. Kimi behaved for a few minutes so I was able to look around in awe of the grand and intricate designs of the Chamber. It's small but it looks like a miniature council hall of kings and queens in movies, with all the wood sculpture and the chandeliers. To my mind, it has a distinct feel of the Gold Rush period. Other rooms were also open for viewing but I was not able to enjoy them as much since Kimi started to be fussy again. One security lady guard even talked to him to appease him. To my surprise, he held his hand up to the lady guard and the lady guard carried him in her arms for a couple of minutes. There were many other visitors so we stayed in one area to wait for hubby and friends, wandering around and taking photos. Since Kimi is already restless and sleepy and the wind was blowing chills to our spine, we decided to go to the Direct Factory Outlet in Spencer St instead of continuing with the MOH visits. Kimi was not be able to sleep much but at least, we could take a seat while taking turns in looking after Kimi and at the same time doing a bit of window shopping. We took the tram to DFO and stopped at Rialto Hotel Intercontinental. The hotel is also one of the buildings open for viewing so we went in to have look. I am not big on architecture and art, but, I thought it was not as grand as I imagined it would be. There was no intricate designs and chandeliers of old times. But, it shows a contrast of past and modern designs with the steel and glass railings against the brick archs and walls.
At the end of day, when Kimi and I are exhausted and tired, hubby and I made a realisation. It is no longer an easy day to be out and about tugging our little one with us. A lost sleep and a disrupted routine for our toddler can mess up his day and ours. To prevent future frustrations, we will now consider Kimi's rest time in our trips.