First Electrical Appliance

We bought our very first electrical appliance this week! It is quite an exhilarating experience making a decision like this, our very first, as a couple, to pay several hundreds for.........










A WASHING MACHINE!




Hahaha... you must think me odd for the added drama about this. But I must tell you having to do this is really quite alien to me, having not stayed anywhere that required me to buy something so 'anchoring' - if thats the right expression for it. It is a significant purchase, the first of the many baby steps we will be taking to build our own home.

Having to be responsible for our finances as a couple is so new. I'm so used to spending my money however I like knowing that its quite impossible to run out of it because I stay with my parents. Now everything is different. R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y. Not that I didn't have any before, just that this is of a different sort.

We have been looking around the shops for bargains and I have been told by multiple parties that ours is a real bargain. Its a front loading, 7kg wash load, fully automatic, LG washing machine. We got it with a whopping $200 discount off its usual price because it was on sale and it comes with 12kgs worth of concentrated wash powder free! That is enough for a year long wash! Do I sound like a house wife or what? :) Hahaha...



In Aus, saving energy and saving water is a huge concern and a big factor to choosing an electrical appliance. Out of a 5 star rating, ours rates 4 stars for each category! Which means less to pay for electricity and water. Whoopee!

Such excitement over a washing machine. Cheryl, cheryl, finally becoming a woman :p ... Coming up, a fridge and a microwave!



cheryl

Engagement Party

We had good fun on Sunday evening with us meeting up with Alex's friends some of whom I have met before, Aaron & Erica and others, Annie and Timothy which I had to pleasure of making acquaintance with. We are looking forward to meeting again on some other nights for dinner. It was a night of good laughs and many times the noise level peaked at an unbearable pitch :)

Photos of us. From left: Me, Annie, Timothy, Kristy, Erica, Aaron, Alex.


We received many nice gifts that night. Thanks guys!

Annie gave us very nice mugs. Our first for our new home. Its a set of 4 mugs with accompanying cookie plates. Perfect for tea! Alex insists he won't touch the pink ones. Haha. He'll have the beige ones.

Aaron & Erica gave us electronic salt and pepper mills. So posh! I will feel so much like a top notch cool chef when using them :) The question at the table that night was if we could use these to grind coffee beans. Anyone know?


Tim and Kristy gave us flowers. It's sitting nicely on the dining room table now.

Wonder what other gifts are in store for us *rubbing hands with greedy glee* Hehe..

cheryl

A Full Week On..

Today is Sunday. And as our usual routine on Sundays go, we wake up and head to church. There was a slight change to our routine today as we decided to leave a little earlier and pop by the fresh produce market before arriving for service. I saw some interesting names for stalls there.

There was "Spuds 4 You.."

And there was the "Happy Apple Stand" :)

The Happy Apple Stand made me so happy I decided to buy myself some apples.

Haha. No, I actually wanted to go to the fresh produce market because I wanted to get the 'Pink Lady' apples which are currently in season. I love those so much! They are really crunchy and this variety is a combination of sweet and sour. I know I won't be able to get these in a couple of months when the season ends so I must make the most of it now. Where else but at the fresh produce market where they don't use insecticides?

So we bought a bag and saw a honey stand but decided to give that a pass.

Church was up next and we went to the Canberra Baptist Church. This is Alex's family church and I was duely introduced to the Minister who will be conducting our marriage counseling. The church is very traditional and has retained much of its original facade. It really is a beautiful church. The pictures below will speak of its beauty without further elaboration.

The front and courtyard of Canberra Baptist Church.

The altar / stagefront of the church.

I took a random shot of the ceiling that shows the elaborate handwork of steel and plaster.

The pipe organ in the church. I couldn't edit this shot hence its a little dark but its no less beautiful.

And finally, the most beautiful shot of all... stained glass windows. These line the sides of the church hall. I believe there are a total of 12 stained glass windows. Could be 14. It is really priceless having stained glass windows that were done with such detail.

So that was the end of the first half of the day. We did a lot today but I will only update the rest in the next few entries. Its a whole new week and I expect to be staying home most of the time again.

Come back soon..

cheryl

Day 5 - Snap happy

So today I got to go around town a bit. Alex had the first half of the day off so we had some time to drive around. The sky was really blue today and the trees looked great against it.

Brown, yellow, orange, red... such warm colours in such a cold environment.

We headed to the banks, medicare center to get my stuff done and into the Civic - city centre, where we walked the shops for a bit and I took some shots of some metal artwork/sculptures. I don't recall me taking pictures of these when I was studying here.

Don't ask me why the sheep has a rag on top its body. Anyone notice it? I myself didn't notice it until I was posting this picture. The sun was glaringly bright and I didn't have my sunnies so I didn't really take a good look before snapping the shot. This sculpture is actually part one of a two-part sculpture. The other part was of another sheep which I found to be too vulgar to have its picture taken as it had its privates up in the air. Kinda like when your dog rolls over with four of its legs in the air? Yeah, not exactly pleasant. I don't know what the sculpture was supposed to mean. Maybe I'll go back for a second look the next time I pass it.

Back home, I ventured out into the garden to take pictures of Alex's dads chilli plants. So I won't be deprived of spice after all! Hoorah! I like the 'freshly cut chilli' kind of spice. Bottled chilli sauce or chilli in oil just doesn't deliver the same effect. Jalapeno, tabasco and hotsauce however falls into a completely different category. Anyway, he has told me that the chilli he grows isn't too spicy. Now if only I can find someone who has the seeds of the extra spicy 'birds eye chilli'...

cheryl

Tallest Building in Canberra

I kid you not.

Telstra communication tower not included, this white building is supposedly the tallest building in Canberra. Unless of course Alex is giving me backdated information.

I bet some of you are gonna count the number of floors this building has :)


cheryl

Day 3 - Of Chattering Teeth and Knocking Bones

I know I shouldn't whinge and whine about the cold but really I can't help it :) Its so cold here! I'm very much a sunshine kinda girl. Even back in Malaysia I like sunny days better than I like rainy ones. I complain whenever it rains. Dry and warm - best combinations. My fingers have not ceased being constantly cold ever since I landed :(

We were told that our house will be vacated by June and that we can check out the place next weekend. So exciting! We went by the house today so I could take pictures and post them on the blog. Here is a shot of the roundabout. It is the first thing that hits your line of sight the moment you turn into our street. Quite welcoming isn't it?



Our home to be looks like this out front. There is the garage out back with a direct entrance to the basement of the house. This should look more homey once we get in and maybe plant some colored, small petaled flowers on the balcony. We expect to be doing some painting, cleaning and lots of moving before settling in. So thats going to take a couple of weeks at the very least.


Our home in 6 weeks - No.32 :)





cheryl

Photos

I just received the pictures taken at the airport on the day of my departure. Thanks Pin! :)


Dear parents and I..... Who do you think I resemble? Mom or Dad? 50-50?

Dear friends and I.... Mace and EuniceO and of course Pin, who was holding the camera.





cheryl

Day 2 - Much to do

I spent most of today sorting out stuff in Alex's room. Now that I am here, he has had to vacate his room and move into another until we get married and move into our own place. I get the his queen sized bed and he has to move into a single bed. Hehe..

We also checked out some electrical appliances for our new place, noting the prices of each brand and how much electricity each one consumes. The electricity factor is a huge influence on our purchase.

We went for a quick walk near the house after our visits to the shops as I insisted I had to take a picture so I can post something nice on the blog today. I couldn't really take many shots as the sun had set even though it was only 5.20pm. The shot above is of the moon. It's full moon tonight and the reason I took this photo was because the moon was really huge and pretty to the naked eye. Unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice.

Hopefully I get to go out a bit more in the days to come. Alex is swamped with work and assignments so we can't do much yet. The cold is also making me want to stay in...

cheryl

Day 1 - Arriving

This will be a short entry since I didn't have the camera on me and hence couldn't take any pictures.

Landing in Canberra refreshed my memories of this place 4 years ago. Even though I have been back here a few times during those years, the last time I was here in Autumn was 4 years go. The moment I walked out the airport doors, I was hit by the light smell of rusty brown leaves, cold and dry air. The sky was stark bright blue without a cloud in the sky. And the wind was blowing as it did years ago. Just like that I was brought back to my memories when I studied here.

One big thing I forgot to do... I forgot my sunnies. Fancy forgetting my sunnies in a land where its occupants are very concerned about sunburn and skin cancer. That says something about the sun here doesn't it? It is my opinion that the sun here is extra bright than in Malaysia. I squint a whole lot more.

Its cold here even though its only Autumn. Lowest is -1 degrees Celcius while highest is 15 degrees. With the wind constantly blowing, the chill factor is much higher. Oh well, winter is around the corner. More icycles then... I need my body to adjust! Real quick!

cheryl

Leaving on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....

I want to post a short entry to thank those who sent me off at the airport. :) Chatting with you guys there really did relieve the pent up emotions and the need to cry. Haha... I know you were all anticipating me to bawl and I even requested you all to bring extra packs of tissue in case I ran out of them but ha.. your presence there actually helped me NOT cry.

So yes, no crying.

Thanks for being there you guys. Gonna miss you all till July! After that, I'll miss you all again when I leave for the second time :)

As for those who had the intentions to come send me off but couldnt make it, its ok. You can still send me off in July! Hahaha...

I was so tired I fell into deep sleep on the Penang-KL flight. I'm just waiting for the next flight to be called now so I decided to post. Next one will be from a different continent in a different time zone!

Keep reading..

Missing home already,
cheryl