New year.. More Faith, Hope and Love

The end of the year is always a time to reflect. Looking back it has already been 2.5 years since I started this blog. I always talk about being so blessed all time but I don't think it's because I'm lucky, it's because I have a powerful guide, protector and mighty God behind me. 

What have I learnt in 2014?

Stay faithful, hopeful and loving. Faith is my favourite (and sometimes the hardest to have)  because I feel it drives us so much in our lives and affects our attitude in life. It doesn't matter if you don't believe in God but if you have faith you will stay hopeful and you will show love. We've seen so much hatred in this world because someone has lost faith in something which has caused them to see no hope and therefore show no love to people... And then people end up getting hurt. 

One of my favourite coffee places (Coffee Lab) recently posted this up and I think it is really nice and true:

"Faith makes all things possible

Hope makes all things work

Love makes all things beautiful".

This year I participated in a coffee secret santa which runs exactly on this. With faith you trust that this idea would work and hence the organisers putting in hours of work to make it happen, hope that you will receive coffee from someone else and so you will do the same, and love so you will get them the best coffee you can get (and maybe more).  It was an interesting experience and I've never seen so much excitement and positivity from any group. That's how we should be especially as Christians to make a positive impact.

Annabel reminds me everyday to have a kid-like appreciation to life. She claps every time she does something well, for herself. Sometimes we do need a bit of self encouragement too or we get beat down and think we aren't capable to do things. She gets excited at the tiniest things and laughs at the simplest things like our dogs chasing each other or their tail. As we grow up we lose this appreciation and start to become bitter and cynical.

What has happened in 2014?

A LOT. My grandma passed away. Annabel turned 1. I got a new job that is part time and close to home. I helped a friend deliver her baby. I got to go Christchurch and Melbourne. Annabel learning to crawl, stand and now walking confidently. She can also feed herself which makes things messy but fun. She is getting her own personality - a very determined, cheeky, outgoing (most of the time) little girl. And then there are also the times when she is naughty and is selective about what she wants. Starting my Certificate in Christian Studies and getting a really good grade in my first theological paper!!

We really thank God everyday for giving us a solution that was better than we had thought. Both of us were able to go part time so she gets us full time. The biggest challenge for us was to negotiate how we would parent her and the differences were a lot more than what I had thought! However, we have worked through that... So here's to the next year of challenges as she hits "terrific/terrible twos!!"

What will I do in 2015?

Same answer as usual. I don't know. I feel at peace with this "certain uncertainty" (quoted from Pastor Steve Furtick... I think!) because it makes things more interesting but mainly because it allows God to give me the best in my life. I know as a career counsellor there is definitely no certainty in any job so what we should work towards is how we will manage this change when it hits us. Just like our work situation, I couldn't have asked/dreamed of a better workplace, flexibility and being able to go home and it's still daylight is amazing.

There are a few things I will continue to do: I still hope I can be an inspiration to people, help those in need in particular spiritual/emotional needs, be a great mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague, servant of God.

There are apparently a few runs I'm supposed to participate in as well... So watch this space! Haha

Here's to another exciting year!! 🎉🎉🎉

Melbourne - Part 2

Day Three

Our hunt for good coffee continues... 

After getting some wrong information from Beanhunter, the coffee place we wanted to go to was actually closed. Most specialty coffee places in the CBD are closed on the weekend so don't hope for much.

Postal Hall

116 Russell St, CBD

+ an average cup of coffee. On the milkier side.

++ yum smashed avocado on toast. 

++ ok prices for food

Brioche by Philip

114 Russell St, CBD (and other locations)

++ amazing coffee and pastries. Closest that we've had to NZ coffee

++ one of the only places with beans from origins we love - earthy ones

++ did I mention the pastries??

Chadstone Shopping Centre

1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone

Need I say more? 

We took the train to Hughsdale, walked for about 10 minutes on Poath Rd. Easier than getting on and off a bus. 

++ bought a pavlova cupcake. Wasn't great but the passionfruit icing/cream was yum.

++ Annabel found her new toys and got dad to buy them :)

-- great to visit especially if you love high end labels, but because it's so huge it's a bit confusing and you would do a lot of walking.

-- not a great range for food so we had Nandos. Very expensive compared to what we would get here in NZ.

Pho Flinders

233 Flinders St, CBD (and other locations)

After spending all my money on Annabel at H&M and Target, we had to go budget on the food. Actually we had walked along Southbank along the Yarra River and most of the restaurants were too high end for us and didn't look children friendly.

++ smelt really nice as we walked past. Only $9 for a small bowl, $10 for medium and $12 for large. Rice was $9 too.

++ tastes average - maybe don't get the rice but good for a quick and cheap meal

End of day three. Annabel enjoyed her walk back.

Day Four

First stop church. We chose to go to the Uniting Church Gospel Hall as it was close to us and is in Cantonese. 

Next time I will want to go to this one as I really like their name hehe

Mr Kitchen

319 Swanston Street, CBD

Quick stop for brekkie before going to Springvale.

++ nice, quick and cheap Asian breakfast

++ deep fried ghosts and soy milk were the best thing we got

-- congee was a bit on the watery side but again it was cheap and nice to have on a cold morning

Pho Chu The

17-19 Buckingham Ave, Springvale (and other locations)

Springvale is new to us. It is another Vietnamese town with lots of places to eat. This one was the one we went with my mum and her friends.

++ authentic pho, delicious soup with the rice (not like the usual MSG filled ones we get here)

++ great for kids - Bel got her own pho with pretty scissors to cut. Children friendly place

Seven Seeds

114 Berkeley St, Carlton (CBD fringe by Queen Victoria Markets)

++ nice cup of coffee and ice latte

++ pretty decor

++ the food looks good too but we only bought a lamington (and was quite dry)

-- almost missed it because the entrance is not obvious and the sign is on the wall

Flagstaff Gardens

West Melbourne

Nice park to walk and play with the kids.

Next to Queen Victoria Markets.

Something else to do besides eating and shopping hehe

Peek a boo

361 Queens St, CBD

We stumbled upon this one on our way back from Flagstaff Park. Owned by Hong Kong people.

++ nice cup of coffee especially if you like fruity/nutty flavours

++ Asian tasting coffee

++ cute little shop

-- jar cake did not taste as good as I'd hoped.

Mamak

366 Lonsdale St, CBD

Been craving this since Sydney.

++ delicious fresh roti with curry

++ great mee goreng (we asked for no spicyness)

++ no long queues like the Sydney one

-- not as good as the Sydney one, although some might prefer this one as it's more Chinese Malay than South Indian Malay

Day Five

Little Blue Bean

15 Little Collins St, CBD

++ good cup of coffee 

-- only open on weekdays 

We really love Melbourne. It is a very pretty and creative city. Reminds me of Christchurch. There are colours everywhere and they put a lot of thought into their designs. We will be back!!

Melbourne - Part 1

We decided to go on a trip before I was due back for work (that was before I got my new job) and Melbourne was the destination! We love Melbourne - it's technically Bel's second time and decided it was a good time to go because of the weather. The last two times I got really sick... So Melbourne winters don't work for me. Here is a digest of our 5 days.

Day one

We arrived at 9.00pm, had an awesome taxi driver (taxi cost $56 from airport to city) and arrived at the Mantra on Russell.

We were hungry so went to a random Chinese place on Russell to buy congee and noodles. Was to hungry to take photos 😄.

Mantra on Russell 

1 bedroom apartment

++Awesome location++

30 seconds to Chinatown, QV.

5 mins to Melbourne Central, GPO, Elizabeth Street.

10-15 mins to Queen Victoria Markets

 

+ spacious lounge/dining area

- As with most Australian hotels, decor seems dated even thought the room is quite new.

- bathroom/toilets are an ensuite so if you have a 3rd person, they need to come into the main bedroom to use the bathroom

Day two

Nothing was open around our area but we managed to find a China Bar (chain store) in the Target Centre. Limited menu available but was a good start.

Market Lane Coffee

Prahran Markets

++ nice decor, nice cup of coffee

++ cupping is normally on fri / sat at 10am so we just missed that

++ lots of coffee gear available

Prahran Markets

Off Chapel St, South Yarra/Prahran

++ love this market. Heaps of fresh fruit and veges. 

++ my personal favourite market

Master Roll Vietnam

169 Toorak Road, South Yarra

++ maybe it was a super hot day but it was one of the best banh mi that I've had. 

++ fresh bread and pork belly was delish

-- the only that that could make it better is the pate

Einstein's Relative

1/9 Yarra St, South Yarra

++ freeman liked this coffee more than Market Lane Coffee

++ good cup of coffee - reminded us of our brother - in - law Francis' coffee

Melbourne Central

Melbourne CBD

Much of it has stayed the same, except now there is the Shot Tower building which is joined to La Trobe Building, which is joined to the Emporium, which is joined to David Jones. We didn't shop much but used the parents retreat on L2 the most. It's one of the best parents room I've been to. Lots of space for kids to play, ropes to climb on, tv, play kitchen, wooden train table, picnic table for families to eat on, spacious colourful breastfeeding rooms. It is definitely a retreat for parents.

New Shanghai Restaurant

Melbourne Emporium, CBD

++ Happy hour was great. You could choose a dish and drink for really good prices. Xiao long bao and drink was about $6 and fried rice and drink was $10.

-- not the best xiao long bao's but when you have a hungry kid with hungry parents it works out well. Plus it's cheap.

Christchurch - food and coffee

During our 1.5 day stay in Christchurch we tried to fit in as much coffee (and food) as we could. Here are the places that we went to.

Christchurch Farmers Market

Riccarton Bush (near Riccarton Mall)

After a bit of a walk, we found the markets in a very nice park. It could be the season but there wasn't much fresh produce as it had expected but there was a lot of food. German sausages, Gyoza, macarons, bread, fudge, Thai and Japanese food...

It was really nice to get out of the cbd and see how relaxed people are. Nice way to enjoy a sunny Saturday.

Crafted Coffee Company

Re:start mall, Cashel Street

Coffee is ok here. Food is nice. Nice decor, brings a bit of colour back. Great seating area.

Caffeine Laboratory

3 locations- Re:start mall, corner of Walker Street & Montreal street, New Regent Street

After walking to Walker/Montreal street from Central Station, we were a bit gutted that we couldn't find it. It was by accident that we found one of their stores in Cashel Mall (we were so happy). Turns out they have a small cafe on New Regent Street.. Which is right outside our apartments... and which we walked to in the morning but totally missed...

It also turns out that the Walker/Montreal street one only operates on Mon-Fri out of a black container.

Best coffee in Christchurch (or the ones we have tried). Seating is limited at both places but staff is very friendly. There is a great selection of food at Nee Regent Street.

Re:start Mall

New Regent Street

Sakimoto

Cathedral Junction

After having not a luck of finding recommended places to eat that was in close vicinity to our apartment.. We decided to head downstairs to this little Japanese place.

Food was great, fresh and well presented. Prices were pretty good too. Very yum Japanese food. Staff was a bit harder to understand. 

C1 Espresso

High Street

After seeing it on Campbell Live and have been told they have great coffee we decided to give it a try after dinner.

Great quirky place. Very creative use of items such as a sewing machine used as a water tap. The sliders were great $20 for a choice of 3. There were cabinet food as well. The menu for the morning is better with a wide range of breakfast items. Coffee is pretty good. 

You can sense that they have a very different perspective of Christchurch and their view on what is happening (or not happening) with the rebuild.

Black Betty

Madras Street

A very family friendly cafe - more like one we would see in Auckland. Great seating. Great food. Coffee is pretty good too. I ordered their Mac n cheese and was very delicious. It wasn't like a typical one where it was just Mac n sauce. Definitely a must go. Great selection of cabinet food and menu options too.

One thing to really commend the Christchurch coffee places is their ability to do latte art with soy milk. It's a rarity here in Auckland for me to not only have great coffee but also someone who can make nice art.. Instead of a blob that I always get. 

I can't wait until I go back to Christchurch again to try out some of their other restaurants... When it's not so cold!😄

Christchurch - a city of resilience

Our latest trip was going down to Christchurch for 1.5 days with my sister and brother in law. As with any trip, each experience has been amazing and left us with different feelings.

We often see news stories on Christchurch and the people who live there and I guess after 2+ years, we sort of got used to it.  Slow recovery, lack of engineers or people willing to move there, housing shortages, insurance battles, government battles, vandalism and the list goes on. It was only until we got there that we really felt what it was like.

The CBD was literally dead. Cafés and restaurants were open to the few tourists who were around.. And random parts of the CBD would have more signs of life like the Re-start mall. All you could see are damaged buildings, holes, rubble, fences and abandoned shops that still had stock or offices with their gear left behind. It was very heartbreaking to walk around and see this. The suburbs are apparently even worse with empty homes that were once filled with families.

However, it was encouraging to see that amongst all this, the people of Christchurch are trying to bring life back to the garden city. There is amazing artwork on the buildings, small interactive areas such as the sound mat where you can play your own music and it gets blasted on massive speakers, colour is everywhere, and there is a group called the Plant Gang (https://m.facebook.com/plantgang?_rdr) who go around empty sites and plant to make the city cleaner and more attractive.

Despite everything they have gone through, the people of Christchurch have found ways to bring life back, which for most of us will take for granted. It feels like the government has forgotten them but I think that there is still hope for Christchurch because it's not just the buildings and physical structures that make a city a city but it's the people who make a city a city and most importantly, HOME. Huge RESPECT for those living in Christchurch!

Christchurch is a garden city, a city of resilience, creativity, survival and hope. I pray that this spirit of community will continue to help them with whatever battles they have to face next. 

(Photos courtesy of my husband.. And me)

Parachute music festival

This is a long overdue post...

Each year, we always look forward to the Parachute music festival held at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. I think this must be my 7/8th festival that I've been to and over the years it has given me a lot of insights, encouragement and not to mention the fun we have over the weekend. 

This year was not only significant because it was Annabel's first one but also because it's the last Parachute Music Festival. We found out early this year that it wasn't viable for the festival to continue due to increasing costs and yet the ticket prices remained pretty much the same. We were all very sad about the news.

So looking back at this years festival, we were blessed to have Stan Walker there. He was one of my highlights as I've never seen him perform (except on NZ X Factor) but also his testimony was amazing. It really touched me on how he was abused, had a rough life with drugs, stealing and dealing with a miscarriage, he asked God to fix his brokenness, built a strong relationship with God and became who he is now.

MC Jin was another person we saw who had such humility in what he does. We saw him in the Village area with his crew and instead of them serving him, he served them but ordering and buying drinks for them. We also had a photo op with him and as I was taking the photo with him, my husband and little one, he also said "let's take another one, we can't leave out mum". Not to mention that it was raining at the time too.

So here's to Parachute Music - I pray that God will continue to use them to help influence people through music and the work that they do!