曾经觉得自己的年龄在一天天变大，应该更成熟了，特别是比年龄小的朋友，但自从认识Vivian,我觉得自己的心智是如此不成熟，很多问题没有她看得明白。可往往还自作聪明，觉得自己比谁都明白。傻啊！这就是最傻最傻的傻瓜。“活明白了！”这几个字不是轻易就有认知的，看你将来的路怎么走了.....

我回来了，结束了４天的旅行，带着老多老多的不舍和留恋，又回到了Sydney。我想说,"Gold Coast, 我还会来！"下面总结一下几点感受和经验，仅供参考，如有雷同，纯属巧合。

 

---旅游方式(自助)

我们这次选择了自助游，自定宾馆、机票和租车，这样我们可以自己支配时间和选择自己喜欢的地方。

 

宾馆，我预定的是two bedroom apartment，里面有kitchen and laundry，我们可以自己做饭和洗衣。锅碗瓢盆，应有尽有；洗衣机、烘干机，样样好使。在Woolies买了三天的粮食，bacon、eggs、milk、bread、vegies、chicken wing、fruit，放满了冰箱，幸亏带了in laws，她可是做饭高手，简单的材料到了她手里就变成了人间美味。因为住在海边，每天泡完澡，把湿衣服往洗衣机里一扔，洗完了再往烘干机里一转，马上就能穿上。哈哈！爽！

宾馆我是根据Annie建议，去Surfers Paradise 网上搜的。所有宾馆看一边，价格、条件、环境比较了一下，虽然过程中也经历了等待和无奈，最后终于确认了Bahia。网上递交的住宿申请并用Credit card付了$200 deposit。然后我在出发前三天打电话，和宾馆确认了我们到达时间和car parking需求。还好，挺顺利。

 

机票，我是在1月27日预定的2月18-22日的飞机。之前，我还花了$82申请了Qantas frequentflyer card，为了可以积分，万一哪天给我免费机票呢，所以我只选择Qantas or Jetstar。在网上预定机票的时候，我看到Jetstar相对便宜，而且越早越便宜，当确认好宾馆后，马上我就下了定单，把机票搞定。在澳洲真方便，网上定票，只要知道定单号，机场check in时，不需要任何的paper ticket。现代吧！

 

租车，我是网上google查了半天，又问了鬼佬同事，最后选中Budget carrental。根据自己对车型和马力的需求，选择了适合我们的车款，网上预定，写清我们到达的时间和取车地点，提交定单。当然，我们是在Gold Coast机场取了！！省得打车去宾馆。取车的时候，我发现人家服务真好，车新油满，告诉你如何取车，最后不忘给你本地图....短短辆分钟，我们就开上车走人了。

 

---行程计划（水、动物、植物）

 无数人去过Gold Coast,也有无数的评论。我们究竟如何安排我们的行程呢？还是多听听群众的意见，博采众长。最后我确定的时间表：第一天：Sea World，第二天：Australia Zoo，第三天：Brisbane。

 

我去过Sydney的Aquarium，北京动物园的水族馆和海底世界，但我觉得Gold coast的Sea World是最棒的。无论是表演，还是海洋动物都是我没看过的，具体照片可以浏览我的photos。

 

Crickey! Steve Irwin, Crocos.....这些原因都是我选择去Australia Zoo的原因。对于Home of the crocodile Hunter,我自从知道了Steve就一直想去转转，特别想去Crocoseum坐坐，那是Steve 一生工作的地方和他的funeral举行的地点，当时John Howard都参加了。咱也看看这个Wildlife warrior的家园。Woo-Hoo!不看不知道，的确不一样。我还要说，我去过Sydney and Melbourne Zoo，但是都比不上Australia Zoo，动物种类之丰富，动物居住条件之舒适，每个动物的家都有小山、流水和植物环抱，比我们可住得强多了。Crocoseum---Snake Live,Bird Live, Crocs Live....配合着音乐，情景表演，你好象是在看舞台剧，那些本以为可怕的动物好象都变得温和了，好象已经不是人的天敌，而是你最好的朋友，使你想伸手摸摸。这就是澳洲的教育，它以它亲切的方式让你从小就热爱动物。是呀，如果你热爱动物和周围的一切，怎么能不热爱你的家人和朋友呢？

 

Brisbane，这个澳洲第三大城市，虽没我想象的现代和气派，但也有它独特的韵味。我们去了South Bank，观赏了Brisbane River 旁的高楼大厦和水上乐园；我们又去了Roma Street Parkland, 欣赏了美丽的花草和树木；我们还去了Botanic Garden，观赏了可爱的植物和古老的大树。

 

（旅游安排，可是本人一手安排，很有满足感）

 

---住宿条件（beachfront、Spa)

 Bahia---我们住宿的宾馆，是我们住过的最舒适的宾馆，Beachfront,我们坐在Balcony就可以欣赏潮起潮落，如果想去海边，穿上拖鞋，穿过楼下的小路，直接就到了。太近了！！！所以我们是早上、中午和晚上各一趟，真的体会什么是住在海边了。我是个汉鸭子，根本不敢在大海里驰骋，只好到宾馆楼下的Spa欢娱。让一股股水柱冲击着你的腰、腿及全身的其他部位，那叫一个放松，然后在美美地谁一觉，更不想上班了。

 

几天的旅行，使我更感受到澳洲真是个热爱大自然、动物和植物的国家，我也变得越来越喜欢植物和动物了。

 

写到这，我只能惭愧我的中文和英文水平，脑子里的图画，生生地倒不出来，郁闷啊！！！:-(

 

BT:我没有提到Gold Coast的海和沙滩，那也是我见过的最长的海岸线和最干净的沙滩，文字无法表达我的兴奋，还是亲眼看看最好。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

这两天过得很充实，上课虽然听不太明白，找工作虽然希望不大，带老人们赌钱虽然没有收获，锻炼身体虽然只坚持两天，给辞职的同事送别虽然不在一个site，.....什么都没结果，但还挺累。不行，赶快做点正经事，确认周日的宾馆和机票，和carrental联系，春节该买什么好吃的，什么时候邀请朋友来家吃饭....27日考车没戏了，改期！！！

 

另外，这两天难过了一下，老妈娘家唯一的亲人--姨，离开了，自己虽然几年没见了，心里还是有些难受，为她，更为老妈.....哎，亲人永远是亲人啊！

Very nice to work with my colleagues who are trying their best to let me happy. Just now I got a secret gifts including a rose and a card at the table for Valentine's Day. From handwriting, I know who did---Verena and Jennifer. They are really nice and kind and know I haven't got any flower whenever on Valentine's Day or other days, just give me a surprise and like seeing me smiling. So sweet!

I have been watching DVD taken from parents-in-law and sister's colleague, includuing Xue Se Lang Man(1-3), Zhen Qing Nian Dai. Now I don't want to talk about what happens in the series, just jump into a piece of rule: the older you are or the more you have experienced, the more you can understand watching those sorts love stories. If I were a girl teenager, I would comprehand love superficially not very further know what the story is really described.

 

Actually everyone has his/her own story during the process of grown-up whatever is tragedy or comedy. Evreyone's story can be written a book. Don't comment what kind of life is better. There is no defined life style we should go for, just on the way that you want to go. With the time gone, I don't care what I can achieve but mind what I learn from anything I have experienced, because I know there are two sides, positive and negative, for everything. Is that mature mind? 

I feel knackered or buggered (stuffed) recently and today I feel crook having running nose and sneezing constantly, but I still keep working in dealing with cranky clients who are in menopause or in postnatal depression in front or picking up the phone from spastic ones who are on the other side of the line. Those nut cases get my health worse ...Should I chuck a sickie. However Elliot is on 6-week annual leave, Verena is often on sick leave suffering serious cyst pain, now I am assistant of Paul, Max, Jen, Monette and Andrew. It doesn't mean I am the one who is the most important employee at our site. I would say I love my colleagues so that I don't want to get them in trouble if I am not here because I am a good helper. Anyway, I am not live Lei Feng or someone who would rather give up his/her benefit or right than decline to come to colleagues' rescue. I just want to avoid to hear consecutive grumbling from my parents-in-law about how clucky they want to have grandkids at home. Heihei.....  

My mum-in-law told me she doesn't want to spin out her visit in Australia ever since she arrived in Sydney having a little upset for so quiet place and few people to talk although she has been attracted by green everywhere and crystal clean sky in Down Under. I had predicted they could stay here no more than a month here before they got to. It occured really. There are something she couldn't get over while living in the unfamiliar surrounding.

 

1) Language barrier: Everyday what she can do is sitting beside the window and looking at the vehicles passing through. Fortunately where we live is uphill and has a good long-distance view, otherwise, she would have to watch on the tree and lawn in the yard. I always encourage her to take train and go to city where there are lots of people and more like in Beijng. More importankly, she has huge possibility to meet Chinese and have a relaxing chat to kill the time. But she is afraid of buying train ticket and being lost. I absolutely understand her worries for a person who doesn't have any English skill. To let her lenssen her discomfort and loneliness caused from different language environment, I bring back newspaper Australian Chinese Daily every single day to try to make her feel like she is still in China and can catch up issues or events happening in China. Hopefully, she really feels not late for something.

 

2) Not-enough preparation both in physical and mental: She has been allergic to Australian weather. Somehow, there is pieces of redness on her top-body skin and itch has got her sleepless. Taking antihistamine pills is getting her symptom better but not completely, its side effect is likely to make patient drowsy and in-low spirit. Under this condition, will there be any chance you like this city? Another point I have to say, she must have thought Australia is a country where is more morden busier than China and convenient to go shopping. The reality is opposite. It tooks half an hour by walking to the closest supermarket Coles from where we live as she got used to purchase commodities and tuckers at grocery or shopping center nearly home. This sort of inconvenience might rock her mind in thinking at which side western countries are better than eastern countries.

 

3) Money pressure: My parents-in-law often multiply 6 times of price as they are shopping because exchange between Australia and China is 6:1. They are typical Chinese aged people who suffered the poorer times in China and experienced how hard to raise kids and support big family with little salary. At that stage, they carefully counted how much money they spent on daily house expense, kids' education, parents needs. Although their life has been better and better, their consume habit is hard to be changed which has been rooted in their mind. Sometimes, I think they are over stinting and like cheapskates seeing the 20-year stuff such as a broken steel bucket has been still kept. Actually, our families are not very poor, otherwise its impossible for us to invest more than 700,000 RMB on our study here. but the opinion to money is difficult to be shaken for them.

 

All right, what we can do next is try our best to make them happy, I already booked air-plane ticket and hotel to Gold Coast during Chinese Ney Year festival and I am going to arrange them and my hubby to Melbourne after that. Meanwhile, I plan to accompany them to have a walk around after dinner every day or hang out on weekend to lead and introduce what life of Australian is. By the way they will know more about here and hopefully love it more.

 

Anyother thing I can do is to keep it hush if they complain Australia.

 

Just now I wrote a poem in OZ slang to Andrew, having a fun:

G'Day (hello), mate,

 

You are true blue(patriotic) and like putting on daks(trousers) with OZ flag;

You are a typical OZ bloke and like sinking some piss(beer) and tucker(food) on the beach sometimes got rotton(drunk);

You are yabber(talk a lot) even love talking to dog(unattractive woman) while smoking;

You are a funny oldie(parent) and like grabing kids' lollies(candy) and dog's eye(meat pie);

You are bonzer(great) and doing acer(excellent) yakka(work) which is not piece of piss(easy task);

You are not dil(an idiot) but a ripper (excellent), should give you a fair go (a chance) on your career path.

 

Good on you

.....

Bloody oath!

 

Hooroo!

It has  been one week my legs are suffering bloody serious allergy and currently they turned to red and swollen and look like two carrots, much worse, unbearable itch has made my patience go to the extreme. I did try some itch-free cream bought from pharmacy but no effect. Last Friday, I had to see doctor and was told to do four steps:1) no soap--QV wash and moisturise too, 2) stop any cream I used, 3) Antihistamine trial, it can reduce and my situation could be better and redness could disappear, 4) rub Hydrocotisone cream twice a day. If no better and redness getting worse, I need to come back. Then I went to Chemist to buy Hydrocortisone acetate cream, which is for the temporary relief of redness, itching and inflammation of the skin caused by rashes, eczema, dermatitis, sunburn, insect tbites. As to antihistamine, I already had several kinds so didn't want to spend extra money on it.

 

The weekend I had tablet eaten and cream used, no apparent change is happening. My mum-in-law let me do a traditional effective but cruel way to kill itch. Scratching itchy area then washing it by hot water. Guess what? itch turned into cracking sore. Honestly, I prefer to suffer sore than endure itchy. 

 

BTW, the antihistamine pill has sedating and got me very drowsy the whole weekend and now. 

 

My lord, pls help me to relieve from it. How comes? I have been thinking about it. My body immune system is not as goog as before? or I still can't get used to local weather and water...... 

 

 

I am very sad while hearing Ken resigned and get watery eyes and can't help sobbing. Ken is the site manager at Strathfield and is only HongKong-born staff in our company. You know, there is not many Asian-background employees in IPC, hereby we feel vey intimate and have some special affection to some degree. Everytime I answer his call I would like to give him very hot greeting.  He is more like my brother or good bloke in my mind because we can communicate in little Mandarin although Ken has limited ability to speak Madarin.

 

You know, the reason you stay a company is not completely for money, other factors you could concern, such as management style, working environment, peer relationship, status, career path, promotion.....whatever, having fun in working is the most vital for me. Who can create a happy working environment? Manager! If she or he leaves, it is likely to bring unstablility to the whole office more or less. Kate is leaving at end of this month, which has already got us to guess who would take her position as our new manager. Kate has been doing very well on her position and is leaving big shoes to fill in. If Paul, that will be great, if Andrew, its not too bad, what if someone I've never met? OK, just try to not influence myself and do what I need to do and consider what I am supposed to achieve.....

 

Go Ken, I think you are on the right path with your decision to move.