The Household COO

I’ve been thinking about getting a property in Melbourne since last year.  I’m thinking an apartment in the city because apartments are easier to rent out and the city will be an attractive location to be in.  Of course, apartments in the city don’t come cheap, but I managed to find a new block going from around A$200k, called Barton Tower.

Although, I’ll probably be looking at the studio, 1 bedder or the dual key, I couldn’t resist checking out the Penthouse…

Although I wouldn’t want to live in an apartment (unless I were single - I just don’t think the lifestyle is right for a family and young children, especially), I did think this one looked good.  For a change, I find myself quite agreeable to the floorplan as well.  I’m normally quite fussy when it comes to floorplan designs…

After this, I’ll start looking for houses…

Back in the early days when the hubby and I were still dating, we took a trip down to Australia together.  I was initially supposed to make another trip to Krabi but changed my plans after my Dad sounded a little disappointed I wasn’t planning to come home for Christmas.  We went to Brisbane first and then flew down to Melbourne for the second part of our holiday.

I guess a little guardian angel was looking out for me because that was the year the second largest ever earthquake hit the Indian Ocean causing a tsunami that spread as far as Krabi.  Although no one was hurt in Krabi, friends reported a lot of damage done to East Railay.

I digress…  Under the recommendation of my parents, we took a coach tour along the Great Ocean Road and here are some of the pictures from our tour:

Although I had been to see the Great Ocean Road one during my Uni days, I think I had a better time during this trip.  The coach picked up us from Swanston Street in the city took us out west onto the Great Ocean Road.  The driver was also our tour guide pointing out interesting landmarks along the way like the last light house and Shipwreck Coast where numerous ships ended up while trying to aim their way towards Port Phillip Bay.  Back in those days, navigating those waters was apparently like trying to thread the eye of a needle and a lot of ships never made it. 

It was a rather informative trip and a real pity we didn’t have time for more tours…

As I grow older, I think I get more sentimental.  I look back at all my old photos in the archives of my external hard drive and get a little weepy-eyed as I recall the memories.  Then I wonder how time has flown and how much life has changed.  It seems a little sad to keep those pictures in the attic of my hard drive, so I’ve decided to start uploading them to slide and post them here.

Below are photos from Christmas three years ago when the hubby and I had our first holiday together in Melbourne.  It was a BBQ at Al’s house with my former dental colleagues. 

I recently saw the gang again in August…  It’s amazing how old everyone looks now.

Holiday pictures from the hubby’s and my trip down to Melbourne in 2004.  These were taken at Southbank and Federation Square (which is just across the road from Southbank).  It was the first time I ever visited Federation Square.  The photos from Southbank were taken at the Lolly Shop and Charmaine’s Ice Cream (which is unfortunately no longer there).  They used to be the gold medalist winner for ice cream at the Australian Dairy Show.  What a shame they had to go… 

Ripponlea is one of the last privately owned estates in Melbourne. It has since been converted to a National Trust where people can visit to observe what life of the wealthy had been like during the 19th century.

I’ve always loved old-style houses, especially estates because I marvel at the grounds. I would have loved to have been a child growing up in a house like this.

Many of the photos taken inside the house are blurry because I wasn’t allowed to use a flash. This was back before I got the Casio Exilim, and I didn’t know how to toggle with the ISO settings. You can still get a pretty good idea of what it was like to living in an estate back then.

Fitzroy Gardens is probably my all time favourite park in Melbourne. I love the little cafe at the heart of the park next to the Model Tudor Village. During my years studying at Melbourne University, I would take a tram into the city and get off just before the park. I would then walk through the park and all the way up to the Dental Faculty for class.

In my final year, when I needed a break from studying, I would take a copy of my Herald-Sun and a book, and walk all the way from my flat in North Melbourne to the cafe in Fitzroy Gardens. I would then order myself a hot chocolate and sit by the fireplace while I worked on my crossword puzzle.

Yes, Fitzroy Gardens brings back plenty of memories.

When I went back with the hubby for Christmas in 2004, it was one of the places I just had to show him. Here are some photos:

Below: inside the conservatory

Below: Captain Cook’s Cottage

Below: The Fairy Tree

Below: the Model Tudor Village

Below: Inside my favourite cafe next to the fireplace.

There are more photos but Slide.com was undergoing modifications so I couldn’t upload the slideshow. I’ll post up the slideshow when Slide is back online.

When I went back to Melbourne in 2004, Federation Square was a new additional to Melbourne’s CBD that I had never visited before. Federation Square is a bit of an artsy place, what with the Ian Potter Center and the Australian Center for the Moving Images, otherwise known as ACMI.

Unlike my usual inquisitive self, we didn’t end up exploring every last square inch of Federation Square. We only managed to get through ACMI before the hubby got distracted by the need for some tucker.

Below are some photos I took while we were wondering through ACMI. Below was a film recording the eyes of many different people.

In this shot, the hubby was talking to my SIL. It was the first news we received about the Tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean. My SIL’s boyfriend’s sister had been in Thailand at the time where they felt the aftershock.

Christmas 2004, I was originally planning to follow the Posers to Krabi until a telephone conversation with my Dad changed everything. He seemed incredibly disappointed that I was electing to go to Krabi for Christmas instead of coming home. Somewhere, deep inside, I rediscovered my conscience and decided that perhaps I ought to pay my family a visit for the festive season instead of making yet another haj to my rock climbing mecca.

I guess God was smiling down on me because I would have felt the effects of the Tsunami in Krabi had I gone there instead of Australia. Luckily no one was hurt in Krabi. The damage was mostly to the beach front properties.

This was an interesting rocket of some sort.

Below is the future of deities - a kind of robotic Buddha.

When we went there in 2004, the entry was still free so it’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you’re looking for some way to pass the time and keep yourself entertained for free.

Every year, The Crown Entertainment complex in Melbourne will run a lazer light shows in the foyer area between the hotel and the entrance to the casino. Like a moth to the lights, I would be drawn to see the colourful sights. Check out the photos in the slideshow below - can you tell I love night lights?

And every year, houses along The Boulevard in Ivanhoe would put up Christmas lights on their houses. It has become such a tradition that it has become a mini Christmas tourist attraction drawing crowds of people to visit every year. I still remember AP telling me that if you lived along The Boulevard, the neighbours with Christmas decorations would pressure the rest of the houses to decorate their homes with lights.

When I took Charlie to check out The Boulevard in December 2004, I was amazed to see the changes from the previous time I went to see the lights way back when I was still in University. For one, I had never seen so many people walking along a surburban street in the middle of the night. There were road side stalls selling ice cream, snacks, drinks and those glow-in-the-dark toys. The Boulevard had gone from a few houses putting up fancy Christmas lights for their own personal enjoyment to a Christmas feature with its own advertising billboard!

It’s rather impressive to see the lengths some houses go to with their decorations. If you watch until the end of the slide show, there’s a house with a bicycle stuck to the chimney! I have to hand it to the owner of that house - that’s dedication for you! I guess it took a person like that to coin the phrase “in the spirit of Christmas”.