Helloooooooo world.
Is anyone still out there? š
2 weeks later, and weāre back from our trip to Australia. Much thanks again to Microsoft for sponsoring the whole shebang ā you are awesome. And so we had a GLORIOUS sun-drenched holiday in Australiaās hot summer, joy!!!!!! It was unimaginably blissful to escape Shanghaiās unbearably cold winter and rain, and bask in Sydneyās beautiful weather.
It was a whirlwind of a trip though ā hence why I had zero time to blog. I had to work (urgh) every single night, despite technically being on annual leave/holiday. And during the day, it was a total blitz of:
1) Shopping ā gotta buy anything and everything I couldnāt get my hands on whilst in China. I hardly shop in actual stores in China, the styles donāt appeal to me.
2) Eating ā we had a VERY jammed itinerary that documented every meal, so we could ensure we went to all our fave places that we miss so much.
3) Celebrating Dadās 60th birthday ā right smack on New Years Eve too! HELLOOOOO Tetsuyaās.
4) Catching up with friends ā both in small groups and big groups. It was wonderful to see all my partners-in-crime again! I miss āem all terribly. Made me so happy to see them š
5) Hitting the beaches ā well duh, weāre in Sydney! Oh glorious sand and sun.
6) Alec & Christineās wedding ā last but not least, our dear friendsā wedding. Of which I was a (fairly disastrous) emcee AND wedding coordinator ā more about that in a later post.
Whew.
And so I have about a billion (give or take a few) photos to trawl through, thus here are a few random highlights that excited the socks off me during our first few days in Australiaā¦.
At Manly Beachās pedestrian mall ā I love this place.
MAGAZINES IN ENGLISH!!! OH THE LUXURY!!!!!
Straight to one of my fave stores ā Peter Alexander
Some of my fave brands having a shopping-bag-orgy together
More purchases! Oh shopping ā how much Iāve missed you.
And yet another round of shopping š
Look what I found in the train station!
McDonalds āAngus Beefā burger ā been dying to try this. It was AMAZING.
Let me also tell ya ā I fell into depression at the airport when we had to leave Australia back to China š I miss it so much it makes my insides feel all funny when I stop and think about it. Yet, Australia is part of our past now. We will not return for many, many, many years. And for all its maddening antics, I do like China and it has a great number of benefits over Australia. And so for now, life is all about looking forward and (trying hard to) not look backwards.
Anyway, onward ho with the rest of the Australia postsā¦ coming right up!
Huzzah for being able to catch a bit of Sydney in the summer!
Iām glad that you were able to shop up a storm while you were here š
Sydney summer is just awesome.. oh how iāve missed it!
Huzzah for being able to catch a bit of Sydney in the summer!
Iām glad that you were able to shop up a storm while you were here š
Sydney summer is just awesome.. oh how iāve missed it!
lol McDonaldās burgers look better in other countries than in our ownā¦ they are nasty here in Cali.
Oh ours are shoddy too.. itās only this Angus beef one that looks nice with mixed gourmet lettuce and a nice bun! š
Glad to see you updating again, Bev! And Happy New Year to you and Chris!
I miss Sydney too. Might be heading there (after leaving the place 10 long years ago!) during Easter if we happen to come across cheap fares. The prices of everything there will definitely shock us though š
Ohhh lucky, Iām envious! I wish flights there were cheaper though, along with everything else š
gawd! i miss aust! the food and the shopping! =(
Glad you had a fab trip back!! =)
It was seriously GOOD to be back homeā¦ 1 year is way too long!
Yeah we had to be super organised cos we had SO much to fit in.. bummer we couldnāt be there for a month!
we wanna see loots pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! =)
Iām gonna post it later but toooo much stuff I bought so, erm, will just take pics of a few!
āa fewā??!?!?!?! whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
me, too! None of the clothes in China appeal to me either, so now Iām like a fiend when Iām outside of the country when it comes to shopping. Even for something stupid like socks and bras.
Iām with you, itās weird how some stuff I just canāt find (in my style) in china!
That looks like an amazing burger actually. I hope they have it in Canberra! I am going to try searching for that. :p
And, thanks for reminding that life is all about looking forward, and not looking backwards! š Really do need to remind myself of that!
Hopefully itās AU wide š Itās fantastic! So beefy and the bun is great.
lol McDonaldās burgers look better in other countries than in our ownā¦ they are nasty here in Cali.
Oh ours are shoddy too.. itās only this Angus beef one that looks nice with mixed gourmet lettuce and a nice bun! š
Glad to see you updating again, Bev! And Happy New Year to you and Chris!
I miss Sydney too. Might be heading there (after leaving the place 10 long years ago!) during Easter if we happen to come across cheap fares. The prices of everything there will definitely shock us though š
Ohhh lucky, Iām envious! I wish flights there were cheaper though, along with everything else š
gawd! i miss aust! the food and the shopping! =(
Glad you had a fab trip back!! =)
It was seriously GOOD to be back homeā¦ 1 year is way too long!
How come you wont come back for such long time?
cos weāre living in China for now
I know how you feel. I also have a very special feeling for sydney, it was place where I met my boyfriend 7.5 years ago. š We hope one day we will be able to go back there again!
One day we will move back to Sydney, thatās for sure. But until then, we still have many other countries we wanna āconquerā š
Yeah we had to be super organised cos we had SO much to fit in.. bummer we couldnāt be there for a month!
we wanna see loots pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! =)
Iām gonna post it later but toooo much stuff I bought so, erm, will just take pics of a few!
āa fewā??!?!?!?! whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
me, too! None of the clothes in China appeal to me either, so now Iām like a fiend when Iām outside of the country when it comes to shopping. Even for something stupid like socks and bras.
Iām with you, itās weird how some stuff I just canāt find (in my style) in china!
Aww glad you had a great time in Sydney.
I tried the Angus burger myself but I didnāt like it much. And I love my beef!
Cute dresses btw but I think your bagās print clashes with your floral dress a bit (kinda busy).
Ohhh you didnāt like it? I adored it, better than their regular burgers IMHO
Hah, I was on holiday so of course didnāt bring my entire bag wardrobe to pair it perfectly with all my outfits (nor do I actually care about being matchy-match even back home ā to me, a luxury bag is one that you can throw on and pull it off without being a fashion victim and pairing it perfectly!)
iāll second thatā¦. just like a normal burger but a little fattierā¦ still craving a rockpool full-blood wagyu
You were a fab emcee š
Fortunately people donāt really remember emcee speeches that much nor peopleās mistakes, itās only the person involved that remembers it clearly, lol!
Awwā¦looks fun. Canāt wait until I see your purchases with more detail. How long do you think you will stay in China? How long are your contracts?
Not sure, but itās indefinite for as long as we want.. will likely be until we decide to have kids though
That looks like an amazing burger actually. I hope they have it in Canberra! I am going to try searching for that. :p
And, thanks for reminding that life is all about looking forward, and not looking backwards! š Really do need to remind myself of that!
Hopefully itās AU wide š Itās fantastic! So beefy and the bun is great.
How come you wont come back for such long time?
cos weāre living in China for now
I know how you feel. I also have a very special feeling for sydney, it was place where I met my boyfriend 7.5 years ago. š We hope one day we will be able to go back there again!
One day we will move back to Sydney, thatās for sure. But until then, we still have many other countries we wanna āconquerā š
Aww glad you had a great time in Sydney.
I tried the Angus burger myself but I didnāt like it much. And I love my beef!
Cute dresses btw but I think your bagās print clashes with your floral dress a bit (kinda busy).
Ohhh you didnāt like it? I adored it, better than their regular burgers IMHO
Hah, I was on holiday so of course didnāt bring my entire bag wardrobe to pair it perfectly with all my outfits (nor do I actually care about being matchy-match even back home ā to me, a luxury bag is one that you can throw on and pull it off without being a fashion victim and pairing it perfectly!)
iāll second thatā¦. just like a normal burger but a little fattierā¦ still craving a rockpool full-blood wagyu
You were a fab emcee š
Fortunately people donāt really remember emcee speeches that much nor peopleās mistakes, itās only the person involved that remembers it clearly, lol!
Awwā¦looks fun. Canāt wait until I see your purchases with more detail. How long do you think you will stay in China? How long are your contracts?
Not sure, but itās indefinite for as long as we want.. will likely be until we decide to have kids though