I'm not a f an of flowers. But rumours of fields of colourful flowers as far as the eye can see was something I wouldn't want to miss. The Tulip Festival signals the full swing of spring. Held over a few weeks every year, parading different sorts of tulips, the event was one many Melbournians visit over the holidays and the weekends. Accompanying that was great food, wine and music.

We went to Marc's church, Victory Family Church in the morning before setting off. Two cars packed with Elisa, Yasmeen, Sue Ann, Lynette, AunLing, Kaitlyn, Marc, Gavin, Nori and myself took a 45 minute drive from Box Hill to a place nearby Mount Dandenong.on the 27th September 2008.

I only needed 10 minutes to be satisfied with the the flowers. By the time we reached anhour, we were pretty stoned and taking lameshots. Of course the girl's could go on forever. It was also a good time for me to test my new Canon A590IS Powershot. Some pictures are taken by Yasmeen.

 

Flowers.. and more flowers!




The two Zhen Yi's (Marc and I share the same first name's, only differentiated by our last name)


What an ass whipe

Gerizmo's at the Tulip Fest!

It was quite a cute sight seeing so many people there together.. and boy, was it fun. The race itself was surprisingly good thanks to a few crashes and mishaps despite my preditions that it'd most likely be a boring race cause of how narrow the lanes are. After the race to our surprised no one wanted to go home. After awhile we realise it's the holidays the next day! We watched a show (Ironman) before calling it a long day.

I was working in the city today running some deliveries. Then I stopped at a junction, waiting for the lights to turn green. I observed this group of construction workers by the side of the road.

One of them was in a trench and was busy compacting the ground. The bulldozer was really close to him. Suddenly, the bulldozer made a sharp turn, reversed, and was headed straight for him. The driver wasn't aware his co-worker was there. The size of the wheel was enough to turn the guy's head into mash. At the last second, the guy in the trench saw the bulldozers wheel less than a meter from him and swung out of the way. Really close call, almost certain death.

How did he deal with it? HE WENT BACK TO WORK.

No shouts, no arguments, no fierce stares, no middle finger.

I love it. What a way to live life! Not letting something bother you and moving on. Bliss..

Who said we live in an unfriendly neighbourhood?

Pitt: Why is it you only feel the thorns in your feet when you stop running?

Wilberforce: Is that some sort of heavy handed metaphorical advise for me, Mr. Pitt?

Pitt: Yes, I suppose it is. We must keep going. Keep going fast.     - Amazing Grace (film)

I love this dialouge. Especially now when I'm nearing the end of uni.. things are going rough and the most rational thing is to slow down and taking it easy. But that it isn't me to give up. I wanna bitch on till the jobs done.

Woke up at 8am on a Saturday when everyone should be asleep - it's the weekend. But this Saturday was special. I was headed down to the Mornington Peninsula. Initially it was just my personal trip down.. really needed it to destress. Had a very discouraging couple of week and I needed time alone. But, I guess God had other plans for me.

I gave Marc two wake up calls which went unanswered. I drove to his house and knocked on his glass window which still went unanswered. Luckily for me, the window to his room was unlock, so it was only a matter of pulling it open and he was right there sleeping. Shoke his leg and hurray. That the second time I had to break into a person's house to wake them up.

We left Berwick in Pastor Ken's Tarago (or Estima) around 10am. Our first stop was breakfast at one of the wineries near Frankston.

Barmah Park Wines (4/5 Stars) Website

We picked this winery cause it was on the way to Sorrento. Located along the Mornington-Peninsula Highway, it's only a 30-40 minute drive from Berwick. It has a nice view with indoor and outdoor seatings. The food itself was first class. Had a decent range of western cuisines, but we only tried the breakfast sets. There is another menu for lunch. They have 7 types of wines for tasting, of which the best I felt is the cherry wine. The wine tasting's free if you're buying a bottle or if you had a meal, otherwise a fee of $2 would be charged per person.

However, I'd only give them a 4/5 rating cause we had to go to a spot to taste the wine instead of having it served to us (like a free bottle) while we're having the food. Was expecting some cheese as well, but that didn't come. So the wine tasting itself fell short of my expectation, but the food itself was excellent.

Chocolate Factory @ Merricks (4/5 Stars)

Not exactly Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, but surely one of many "oo"s and "ah"s. The designs of the chocolates in this factory was one to behold. Fine Belgian Choc. For a fee of $2 you get to sample 1 and a half of their brilliant chocs of random flavours - just 3 types to be exact. You also could opt for their Belgian hot chocolate for $3, but in a very small cup. I found it to taste like red bean soup to be honest. But Marc loved it. Oh well, my defective taste buds.

Everything you see here on display, including the colours and shapes are completely edible.

Human size Oompa Loompas at work

Not bad. But it was REALLY EXPENSIVE! So that's the only draw back. All in all, it's quite worth the visit.

Ashcombe Maze (3/5) Website

This maze, apparently, is the best among the three in the area. I found it to be alright. We went a little too early in the season.. the flowers haven't fully bloomed. But it was alright. The maze was "fun". The lavender flowers were insightful.

There was this interesting moment at the lake. Some toads/frogs were croaking.. produced a really weird sound. Refer to video for more insight. Pardon my heavy breathing.. was quite fasinated. Lol.

  
And... my lame shots. As usual. Another one for places I slept at.

So that was the Ashcombe Maze. I have it a 3/5 rating mainly cause I know nothing about gardens and plants. My parents probably would appreciate it more. It's only worth the visit when it's full spring with all the flowers fully bloomed.

So, moving on.. we came accross this.

From the Ashcombe Maze we headed towards Arthur's Seat, accidentally bumping into this view so worthy for a U-turn and a picture shot.

It was another winery, but the landscape was wondered with this linear and uniform pattern of wineyards.

Too cool.  

Red Hill Brewery (5/5 Stars) Website

We stopped at this brewery at Marc's request. It's the only one in the region. Tasting's free here.. and wow. AWESOME STUFF! It's not like the beer from the factory which is processed and ready made. This one taste pretty good and fresh. There were four types to try. Can't rememeber what they were.. but a must try!

Arthur's Seat (5/5 Stars)

Our last stop before Sorrento was Arthur's Seat. Unknown to my passengers, this was actually an unscheduled stop. I was just curious why there were people around this odd town and just wanted to explore.

I'm so glad I did. Arthur's Seat was high above the sea level, giving us great views of Mornington town and the ocean beside it.

The view was unquestionably breath taking

We left Arthur's Seat only to find ourselves stopping again at the next street corner.. the view was Godly. Haf your vision is covered with ocean.. with the sun shining bright.. sail boats among the waves. Majestic is God's creation... truly.

Marc, Ann Jill, Annebelle, Daniel Wong, Eunice Wee and me at Arthurs Seat

Sorrento and Port Sea (1.5/5) Stars

Sorry to say, our main destination turned out to be really, really over rated. There was nothing out of the usual we can see. It's a beach town.. which wasn't exactly located beside the beach to begin with. The restaurants and galleries probably offered salvation for the misery.. but we didn't have time to investigate.

The only thing worthwhile was sunset by the beach.But we were 10 minutes late.. the sun has already set when we got there. However the view was again, a relaxing one.

Overall, Mornington Peninsula ROCKS! I'm sure to prowl around before I go home.

In quite a few occasions there will be phrase's which I'll totally take to heart. I always wanted to write them down in a journal.. but I don't think I'd ever have one. So I'll just starting doing it here.. listing down quotes from shows, books, friends which I'd find meaningful, amusing and worthy.

"Maybe I can't change the world, but I can change this guy's life." - Hancock (film)

Okay blog. MSN's grounded for the next few weeks. You have a job to do cause you have to replace an odd 30 or so friends and colleagues I often communicate and connect with throughou the week. That includes all of the rants, friendship, sharing and other gay crap I'm good for. Don't worry, Facebook will be your quarter back and hopefull the ball doesn't reach that far back.

Bring out that lonerism that used to be in me on this pseudo-cyber reality. Hopefully my actual reality will be more enriched. Hopefully..

This has been the crappiest week I had in a long long time.

Lost 45 bucks. Must've feel off somewhere when I was rushing at work. 
Monash account got suspended (BitComet was accidentally on when I used my laptop).
My boss hasn't paid me for the THIRD round (6 weeks worth, excluding 13.5 hours he missed out on another occasion).
And other things too personal to mention.

I'm not usually the type that bitches about my loss and pains, but this week.. it's just been too much to take. Sigh.

I choose to stand for You no matter how crappy things may be and no matter how I feel. Help me stay focused and grounded in faith.

Creation – Are events which didn’t exist before “now” and is continuous dynamic process.

If that is “creation” then the act of creation are causal events which lead to a “yet-to-exist event” to unfold.

We can create things simply through thoughts, to actions, be it subtle or extreme. It may be as subtle as a simple smile that creates a sense of warmth from the person receiving the smile and satisfaction for the one sending it, among other created stimulus. Dynamic forms of creation, in its literal form, can be artistic designs where the act of mixing colours, brush types and the inspirations from the artist leading up to art piece – which in itself creates awe and wonder among those who view it (assuming it’s a good piece of artwork).

People often relate acts of creation to new things like inventions, making something and other forms of creation. One needs to realize that creation is not restricted to the new, but to the old as well. Every event is a consequence of another and can affect other multiple events directly and indirectly.

Even destroying, can lead to creating something new. Reflections to the past produces new thoughts and consequence actions for the future. A thought and fresh perspective can create something new in the past.

The concept of causality (cause and effect) can be applied here as acts leading to creation is the result of a certain event – even if the “event” “does not happen”. Therefore, is most respects the act of creation is everything we do (and do not do) and everything that happens (and does not happen) – everything.

Creation is an axiom of events which makes up and defines life.

Acts of creation is life itself.

Observation

The grand master of creation – God. All events and actions are mediated by Him, cause He is the only one ablet to oversee "everything". It’s a complicated process (like duh) no human can trace completely and can only be in controlled by the ONE.

"You stood before creation
Eternity in Your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand"
- Verse 1, The Stand by Hillsong

Always, without fail, without a single doubt, betting on every single penny and all the other metaphors to describe extreme unquestionable certainty - everytime I'm home = I'll be on MSN.

OCF came up with with a 30 day prayer and fasting for E-Night (which also conincides with the 40 day prayer and fasting for the combined Christian groups in uni). We believe fasting (taking away something of need) will increase our dependence on Him and also to make our cries heard.. hence the fast for several occasions, primarily on revival.

For this occasion, I've decided to fast MSN. It's by far the hardest thing for me to do, making the rest seem like peanuts. So, no MSN for the next 30 days.... hmm..

May my soul rest in peace.

And let Christ live within.

A couple of weekends ago, my OCF Clayton CG went to Lakes Entrace (9/8-10/8) for a simple chillax time. Nine of us made the gang, with 2 and a half hours drive from Clayton to our destination. Why's it called Lakes Entrance? Cause it's an entrance to the lake from the sea. Ok, I'm just guessing. But it might be true. 

The big lakes are pretty much cut off from the sea, and the only entrance point is at Lakes Entrance. 

This trip almost didn't happen. I tried booking a place for us 4 days before the day. I expected there to be tons of vacancies as it wasn't peak season. Lakes Entrance is an ideal spot to visit in the summer. Now it's too darn cold to hit the beach. Anyway, my ideal spot was a beach house, right in front of the sea. The first things you see and hear when you wake up in the morning are the waves crashing into the fragile sand. Sunrise. You get the idea.

But it wasn't as easy as I thought.. minimum stay for these houses are two nights when we would really be staying for just one night... location difficulties (I didn't wanna settle for a place without my beach!).. price difficulties. Argh! We only managed to secure a place about 12 hours before we were due to leave at this place called Heyfield Motels. It had an apartment and is located right at the heart of town. Unfortunately, I didn't get my wave splashing environment.

We set off from Clayton at 10am after a few delays, which were mostly my fault. The drive was easy.. a straight drive along the M1 to the A1. Almost didn't need a map. The nine of us consist of Elisa, Aun Ling, Leigh, Sue Ann, Yasmeen, Lynette, Marc, Robin and myself. We got there close to 1pm. First thing was to check-in to the motel and unload our stuff. Then we roamed around town, grabbing a fish and chips lunch along the way.

The town itself was a simple and humble place. It's basically a fishing village, which tourist find attractive for it's awing scenary. The place was beautiful, though I need to say the pictures are abit deceiving - it's not as posh as it looks.. it's more simple. But okay, go wow at the pictures. Taken by Yasmeen.

Before sundown we hanged out quite abit at the beach. We wanted to catch the sunset, but unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the country.

Now for some pictures with friends.

Left: "Sara" Leigh - Our Target Country supermodel! Right: Sue Ann - Miss admin and treasurer

Left: Lynette and me.. Right: Yasmeen and I all furred up.

Me posing with my CG leader, Elisa Mak

At night we got back to the apartments just to chill over dinner (bak kut teh) while watching the Olympics. We also talked quite abit.. though I crashed out before the juicy bits were discussed. Apparently Elisa took a video of me snoring. Darn~!

This is what I like about these getaways. We don't need to worry about anything till the trips over. Just being ourselves and having fun.  

Too bad I slept early cause I was too darn tired. The rest slept at 3-4am. So much for our idea to wake up in time for sunrise. Most of us got up at 10am, while I got up at 9am to prepare breakfast.

We played a round of mini-golf at a nearby mini-golf course, with the fee of $6 bucks for 24 holes. Quite fun, something I've not tried before.

After lunch we hired a boat. Didn't require a license. Just pure fun driving around the lake. We spent 2 hours in the lake, drinking champagne and chasing dolphins. Yes! Wild dolphins! Haven't seen those since standard 4. It was SO exciting! There was also a moment Matc needed to take a leak from the boat. Lol.. polluting the lake.

At 5.30pm, it was time to head home. It has been quite an experience worth every penny. And I gotta say.. I LOVE MY CELL!

OCF Clayton's "Gerizmos" in Lakes Entrance

For related entry, visit Elisa's blog.

My Fishing Tale!

My outing to Lakes Entrance was my 7th attempt to catch a fish in Australia. All previous attempts were insults in my face. But this time, my patience paid off. I caught a salmon! 22cm's long, barely clearing the legal size (in Australia, small fish must be released). The bait used was live shrimp.  

I'm quite glad I decided to bring my rod along, almost didn't happen. I caught the fish by chance. Was actually reeling up cause I didn't want the dolphins to eat my bait (not like they would've since prior to this nothing ever eats my bait anyway. but just a precaution). While reeling up the rod was twisted more than usual, the reel was ringing louder, but there was oddly no struggle. It was until I saw that marvelous flash of white in the water was I sure I caught something.

Imagine the joy! Man. I was like a kid screaming "Yes!!! Yesss!!!!". End of loosing streak!

What's become of the salmon within 24 hours. Yummy.