March - Thailand holiday

Mid March was holiday time (again). Shinko and I went to Phuket for a week of rest and relaxation. I had booked these tickets as long ago as October last year. Jetstar opened business to international flights and as a celebration, were selling el cheapo tickets to Bali, Phuket, Bangkok and a whole bunch of other places (sorry, no Malaysia). So for 900 AUD, I managed to secure 2 return flight tickets. Too good to refuse!

Highlights:
- Beautiful beaches and clear blue water
- Snorkelling trip to PiPi Island
- Relaxing on the beautiful Kata beach
- Tasty tasty food! (mmmm fresh seafood) Fav food - Fried Whole Snapper with 3 style sauce.
- Cheap souvenirs - Intricate wooden ornaments for the apartment
- Sleeping in at the bungalow resort - Kata Country House
- Met a friend we hadn't seen for a whole year (hi May!)
- Seeing those 'beautiful' men u can only find in Thailand

Lowlights
- Alcohol has lots of carbs and I had many beers. You can do the math =(
- Lots of Thai-speaking Indians trying to sell tailored suits
- Locals refused to sell pirated DVDs for less than 5 AUD each
- Extremely high ratio of pale skinned (or red, bloated sun-burned) European tourists everywhere you look

Pipi Island. Just beautiful (even after the Tsunami)

Snorkelling in crystal clear waters

dClub Crocodile - Lair of the 'hot' transvestites. Can you see them dancing?

Sunset at the Phuket peninsula

March 3 - Wedding Day

Family reunion time as it was my cousin Megan Tsen and JJ Wong's wedding day. I was asked to play the piano during the wedding ceremony, so there was a little bit in it for me. I had less than 2 weeks to prepare for the hymns and I hope I did an acceptable job.
The ceremony was held at the Police Academy Chapel in Glen Waverley.
The tea ceremony/reception was held at Dragon Boat restaurant on Lonsdale St, Melbourne.

Interesting/Highlights
- Megan arrived and left in a Mini convertible
- The spotlight was almost stolen by the toasting of Jason and Jasmin's engagement announcement the night before
- The introduction of Aunty Casey's fiance Uncle Fred to the Tsen bandwagon.
- Playing of James Brown 'I feel good' as they left the chapel
- The karaoke singing by the Tsens (though it might not be a highlight)
- Uncle Tet's speech (watch out Chris Rock!)
- Uncle Tet and Aunty Pat burning up the dance floor

JJ (Left) Megan (Right)

Baddest boys in at the party

Karaoke madness (thank goodness there is no sound on blogs)

The happy married (and unmarried) couples.

Homeloan shennanigans

Let me tell everyone reading right now that my personal experience with home loans has been a painstaking and confusing one. So many options, so many different lenders, so many people telling you different things, so many blood suckers trying to lock you in for 30 years. Boy are mortgage brokers and banks persistent.

Add to that you need to hire a lawyer also to take care of the legal stuff and it sounds like everyone is out to get you. But alas, we were recommended a great lawyer and she has looked after us very well.

We're going with Westpac for the homeloan. 1 gripe - they did not deliver the loan approval in the time that they promised. Oh yeah I forgot also, 2nd gripe, the also stuffed up the credit card application (I even got a letter saying my application was declined!) which caused more trouble later on in the story....

Jan 26th Australia Day

This is the day that we (Shinko and I) signed the contract for our new apartment at 'The Hallmark'. Being a first home buyer, and not knowing who to trust it was very nerve-wracking. Thank goodness for Shinko being there to calm me down.

Just 20 minutes walk to the city, and sandwiched between the Botanical Gardens and Albert Park lake, this South Melbourne apartment block was completed in 2006. It is by no means a big apartment, but for our current requirements, it is the perfect size and location.

Time to hustle up the money and look for a home loan.

The Hallmark - our future home

Where did the old blog go??

Where did the other blog go to?? It was a long time since I wrote in my other blog (since the world cup) and on logging in there were no more blogs that were editable. What?? So I started up this new one. This one will hopefully be an on going thing; short posts, pics when I get it. At least you get an idea of things. Ok let's get on with it.