The weather in Melbourne last Saturday was absolutely beeeeaautiful, just as Bryan, Ying, and I decided to go check out St. Kilda, one of the beaches nearby. Of course, all of Melbourne was also there to enjoy the warm day and catch some Vit. D. 
Don’t be fooled by the apparent serenity of the water and the cheery faces….
There were some pretty crazy winds (quite normal in Melbourne).
And an extremely glaring sun.
Found this really cute “Crafts for China” promotional button on one of the blogs I visit ocassionally, and spent almost an hour or so reading up about it and the organization, Love Without Boundaries, from which this project spun off.
Love Without Boundaries, a non-profit organization run by a group of Americans out of Oklahoma, seeks to provide help in China to orphans as well as children who need medical attention but have no monetary resources to do so.
The stories of the children featured on one of their website really touched my heart, in particular, those of children who were born with cleft lip and/or palate in China who were able to look “normal” and possibly speak “normally” because of the Anhui Cleft Healing Home. (Then again, how can one not be touched and melted from looking at photos of those cute little faces?)
This organization also reminded me of the famous “Operation Smile” project where a group of volunteer medical doctors, nurses, and speech-language pathologists travel to impoverished countries and cities to provide free cleft repair surgeries to these kids, as well as train medical staff there to handle such cases. (“Freakonomics” guy Steve Levitt has also blogged about this before on the NYtimes). Research has reported that Native Americans and East Asians (especially Chinese) have the highest prevalence rates for cleft lip and palate, hece, one can assume that there might be a ton of children in China needing our help.
Although I haven’t yet made any big donations, my heart goes out to orphaned and impoverished children, and know that my meager few dollars can and will help. The first step is creating awareness, and hopefully this little blog post would have done this movement some service.
God bless these people who have the heart for charity and for children.
We officially signed a 12-month lease to our new apartment in Melbourne this afternoon. The process was actually very, very painless. No broken bones; no dashed hopes; no need to hassle realtors or bid to get the lease. Okay, at least not on our part. We saw, we applied, and we got offered. Pfff. All this time, the anxiety we both had about not getting an offer on an apartment we really wanted, was totally uncalled for. Of course, I want to say, as I always do, we were really blessed.
Anyway, you must be really curious to see pictures, and I tried downloading them but, alas, couldn’t get it to work. However, I’m sure pictures will be on here after we move in at the end of this month!
In the meantime, I’ll try to paint the best picture with words: The apartment comes with 2 smaller-than-we-had-hoped bedrooms, 1 bath, a generous patio (great for the summer!), nice spacious livingroom, and a pretty modern kitchen. We also have space for a washer – hurray. My favorite part of the apartment is probably the patio, which has pretty views of the city and enough space for a grill, a garden, AND probably a little garden table and 2 chairs.
We’re both really excited to finally get to set up house! The apartment is in a fantastic location: just two blocks from the Queen Victoria Market, about 5 mins’ walk from the CBD, about 5 mins’ from Melbourne Uni (great for Bryan), and close to really cute restaurants, bars, and stores that we stingy and poor Asians will probably rarely visit on Errol and Lygon street.
Yes, somehow, I seem to find myself back in this North Melbourne/Carlton vicinity…oh, well. It’s a cute apartment, and it’s in a great location. That’s all that really matters. For now.
Next order of business: Furniture hunting! Whoot!
In the last 10 days in Melbourne, we have done the following:
Of course, Bryan has probably achieved more than me, since he has actually started working. However, he only starts teaching mid-October. I can’t wait to hear about his teaching experiences and how his class is probably half filled with Asian students of which half of them probably come from Singapore or Malaysia.
I have also been watching a ton of television. Catching up on American TV game/competition shows (thank God they have some of it here) such as So you think you can dance? and Wipeout (I can’t believe I missed out on such great television programs), and caught an episode of NCIS (written and co-produced by Bryan’s buddy, Jesse Stern) which was amazing and definitely a show I would put on my TiVo when we get it. I also caught Australian Idol, Australian Deal or No Deal, Taken Out, an Australian dating show, and Rush, a Melbournian television cop drama which was totally watchable. I can’t wait to get cable tv AND TiVo.
It’s funny how I was not really enamoured of Melbourne when I was studying here, but I think the city is starting to grow on me. People here have been much friendlier than I had remembered, and there are actually many activities in this town! Perhaps it’s because spring is here that we have probably something to attend or see almost every other weekend from now till October. Up and coming events:
And, my auntie Christine’s visit in 2 weeks, as well as weekend trips to explore different ethnic enclaves like BoxHill (Chinese/Korean) and Caulfield (Jewish).
Of course, I wish businesses here opened till later but it is slowly but surely catching on. I remember my local Safeway shutting its doors at 9pm and now it’s open till midnight. The day it opens for business 24/7, like Ralphs or Vons, will be glorious. Dare to dream.
We’re here in Melbourne, as you must have guessed! The day we arrived was supposed to be the first day of spring, but, omg, is it still sooo cold here! Of course, both Bryan and I have come here from SoCal via Singapore, two pretty warm cities, so we deserve some buffer time to get used to the cold(er) weather here.
Seven years ago, on September 11 2001, the day that changed America and the world, I was sitting in my College Square apartment, just about 2 streets away from where I am sitting today in my temporary apartment, watching the news and seeing the fall of the World Trade Center. And today, 7 years later, 3 hours short of September 11 2008, I have gone to the U.S., hung out there for a while, visited the World Trade Center rubbles, and am now back in Melbourne, Australia. Serendipity? Maybe, but I am thinking that there is a reason why God brought me, a Singaporean who was very contented and happy in SoCal and who just got married to an American dude, back to Australia.
Only time can tell, I guess.
I do miss SoCal badly. There’s something about America that has always appealed so strongly to me. I miss the loud and obnoxious dudes; I miss the blond valley girls with coarse voices; I miss having 100 channels of cable tv; I miss my little (ex) Corolla; I miss seeing Spanish street and city names AND hearing Spanish spoken; and, boy, do I miss the wonderful people I met there. I guess the thing I miss most is the familiarity of the place and the predictability of the type of career and life I would have had if we had continued living there.
At least Melbourne is not foreign grounds to me. It’s been really nice to be back in this town, with Bryan. It’s nice to hang out in a more laid back city, dwell with the fellow Commonwealth citizens, and know that there are hundreds and thousands of Singaporeans in this town. I am also excited that Bryan is doing something he truly enjoys, is earning relatively good mondy, and that he has found good co-workers and is enjoying the city. I think I will be more happy and at ease with myself once I find a job and start putting my speech therapy training in practice.
Whatever it is, I am truly thankful and grateful for all of God’s blessings so far.
Anyway, I’ve written too much for now. Will talk more about our last ten days here when I update my blog tomorrow – with juicy tidbits, so don’t forget to keep reading!
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