31.01.07
I dare you
to find a cuter picture!
One of 16 panda cubs that have been born in captivity in China in the last 6 months. I don’t usually fall for those ‘isn’t this cute’ forwards… but when I got this one, I melted.
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28.01.07
Another weekend
I always like to make the most of long weekends, and since we couldn’t go away this time around, it was good to make the most of our time otherwise.
Of course we had an Australia Day BBQ and played with our new toys, which required our spending the entire morning making the house presentable. Although I always think it’s a good thing to have people over regularly – cleaning the house then has a purpose and (in our case especially) we’re more likely to do it 
.
The BBQ was relaxing, sociable and ended with a game of Ticket to Ride (German version) which became quite competitive!!
Saturday we had Haoran’s cousin’s wedding. My first Asian wedding (besides ours) and I’m pretty sure it was my first secular one as well. The ceremony was held in the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour – which I was quite excited about – having never been to the gardens before. And the reception was at a function centre on the harbour. It was all very pretty. The ceremony was conducted by a female celebrant (which kinda says something). I found the whole thing somewhat odd. There was a lengthy description of what the couple felt a marriage was about.. friendship.. commitment.. love. the celebrant stumbled in reading out the vows, and there was a attempt to light ‘marriage candles’ in the strong wind.
I understood fairly early on that the oddness was due to the fact that it wasn’t a Christian wedding. But I wasn’t expecting it to be as strange and unfamiliar as it actually was. I guess making your vows before God is very different to making them before a celebrant. The wedding felt hollow, like a legal transaction. Of course this was perfectly ok, as the couple were not Christian.
Other than this – it was a lovely day. It was nice to feel so ‘part of the family’. And I finally ‘met’ the bride and groom who had been in London previously. I think they felt like they knew me after seeing our wedding DVD. And of course I went a little picture crazy.. see the results below.
22.01.07
Our Backyard
Besides being just a little excited about the fact that I now know how to transfer photos from my shiny new camera to my blog…
I would now like to introduce you to the newest room in our house… formerly known as the jungle that was our backyard. Inspired by our cheaply acquired BBQ, Haoran mowed the lawn and went for a shopping spree at Bunnings. Here, you see the result – which was promptly christened on Friday night.
And yes… it is the very same photo that is on H’s blog… but it’s the new exciting thing at our house and I’m allowed to blog about it too.
I’m especially excited about the fact that it enables us to invite more than two people over for dinner – it is also a very welcome respite from our horribly hot house.
14.01.07
Things Past…
My sabbatical is over and real life starts up again today. Read the rest of this entry »