Michael Jackson has a beautiful song with these lyrics:
Have you seen my Childhood?
I'm searching for that wonder in my youth
Like pirates in adventurous dreams,
Of conquest and kings on the throne...
Last weekend I reunited with my old friend Rodney Quong who I grew up with in Darwin. We last saw each other in (I believe) 1976 so it clearly is a long time ! As fate has it a random photo online led me to ask who was in the background with me, that person was Rodney -- who now lives in the same city as I do.
He hasn't changed, yes we all age and we look a little taller, fatter etc than in our youth. But underneath that we are the same people. It was an incredible experience and exhausting at the same time, to be using a part of your brain that you haven't exercised to recall stories etc
We had alot of catching up and we connected instantly. The depth of our background relationship runs deep and this allowed us to move quickly into the present.
As children we played 'war'; which was politically correct to do then. Cowboys and Indians was less popular and lacked the same heroic overtones that war - of the second world war variety embraced. Rodney and I with our families went to countless parties and sleepovers were a very common event.
Despite our choice of 'war' for play, from my memory we only every fought once in all those years.
Childhood is a wonderful place, caught in our memories. But we need to live in the now so Rodney I look forward to making friends again with my old friend.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Little Engine
The Little Engine is a children's story about a train who is attempting to climb a mountain:
"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can"
Last weekend I was in Sydney to see if Australia could beat New Zealand in the Rugby, I specially worn a wallabies cap marked August 28th 1999 -- this was the last time I was "live" at a game where the Wallabies had beaten the AllBlacks.
Sitting with my two sons; we cheered and sang with the 70,000 crowd with the optimism of that little train. In the end Australia, lost by 1 point and while we didn't win there was the benefit of self-belief and that we are getting closer to the mark.
"I thought I could, I thought I could"
Next year is the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand; a mountain if ever there was one worth scaling and hopefully we then will be chatting:
"I thought I could, I did, I did."
"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can"
Last weekend I was in Sydney to see if Australia could beat New Zealand in the Rugby, I specially worn a wallabies cap marked August 28th 1999 -- this was the last time I was "live" at a game where the Wallabies had beaten the AllBlacks.
Sitting with my two sons; we cheered and sang with the 70,000 crowd with the optimism of that little train. In the end Australia, lost by 1 point and while we didn't win there was the benefit of self-belief and that we are getting closer to the mark.
"I thought I could, I thought I could"
Next year is the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand; a mountain if ever there was one worth scaling and hopefully we then will be chatting:
"I thought I could, I did, I did."
Saturday, September 4, 2010
What's in a name?
You know that I am as guilty as most for giving 'nicknames' to my family members. I've never thought about this too much it just is a natural inclination. For a person who grew up with Boobie, Boob, Jordie and other names it might come as a surprise that I would also wish to create these !
Wikipedia defines nickname as a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience (e.g. "Bobby", "Bob", "Rob", or "Bert" for the name Robert). The term hypocoristic is used to refer to a nickname of affection between those in love or with a close emotional bond.
My sister Kerry got the brunt of this when she was young. It is however a great mnemonic which allows one to remember a name from characteristics of a person. This usually works really well for me as I meet new people and my recall is pretty good.
Even when I first started dating Anna; I told my newington friends that her name was Margaux. This completely threw them off !!!
OK now for a quiz; name this person:
Wikipedia defines nickname as a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience (e.g. "Bobby", "Bob", "Rob", or "Bert" for the name Robert). The term hypocoristic is used to refer to a nickname of affection between those in love or with a close emotional bond.
My sister Kerry got the brunt of this when she was young. It is however a great mnemonic which allows one to remember a name from characteristics of a person. This usually works really well for me as I meet new people and my recall is pretty good.
Even when I first started dating Anna; I told my newington friends that her name was Margaux. This completely threw them off !!!
OK now for a quiz; name this person:
- Bunny?
- Beebum?
- Fatguy Attitude?
- Bullfrog?
- Little Gub?
- Prawn?
- Jane of the Jungle?
- Disco Benny?
- Pumpkin?
- Kobe Beef?
- _____ Bear ?
- Pie Head ?
- Buzzar?
- Bee?
- Samsonite
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Barossa & Adelaide Hills Weekend
Last weekend I was treated to a long weekend at the Barossa, it was about 18 years ago that I last visited and it was indeed a treat. We flew into Adelaide and made our way to Adelaide Hills and the well known Bridgewater Mill for lunch and tasting of the wonderful Petaluma Wines. Next Next we wandered to Shaw & Smith and enjoyed a fleet of wines with matching cheese, the wines were superb and the highlight was having a good discussion with Michael Smith who introduced himself when he overheard a reference to Shanghai -- a place he had just returned from.
Our destination was the Barossa Valley -- renown for fine wines and gourmet food; and we were not disappointed. The Barossa Shiraz wine's are amongst the best in Australia and we tasted many great drops. Amongst our favourite vineyards were:
We also visited Trevor Jones, Penfolds and Jacob's Creek -- each of these were good but not great.
But for my birthday dinner, Anna booked us into Appellation, perhaps the finest restaurant in the Barossa Valley. The food was superb and very much a take on the 3 Michellin star -- Chateau Cordeillan Bages from Pauillac, it was really good but never reached the heights that the Bordeaux classic inspiration must have instigated.
As we had brought various gourmet food items from the Barossa Farmer's market and Maggie Beer's Farm, meant that the experience would linger for many more months after this trip !!!
Our destination was the Barossa Valley -- renown for fine wines and gourmet food; and we were not disappointed. The Barossa Shiraz wine's are amongst the best in Australia and we tasted many great drops. Amongst our favourite vineyards were:
- Rockford
- Torbeck
- Charles Melton
- Henschke
We also visited Trevor Jones, Penfolds and Jacob's Creek -- each of these were good but not great.
But for my birthday dinner, Anna booked us into Appellation, perhaps the finest restaurant in the Barossa Valley. The food was superb and very much a take on the 3 Michellin star -- Chateau Cordeillan Bages from Pauillac, it was really good but never reached the heights that the Bordeaux classic inspiration must have instigated.
As we had brought various gourmet food items from the Barossa Farmer's market and Maggie Beer's Farm, meant that the experience would linger for many more months after this trip !!!
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Bledisloe Cup
Last weekend I took my two sons to the Rugby - a tradition and the most revered game between Australia and New Zealand. It was a special event that I had planned and we had not seen a "Bledisloe Cup' together for at least 12 years.
Having been starved of live rugby for many years, I was looking forward to this game and hosting my boys more than I realised. The weekend together was really great and we spent some time with Anna doing some walks and of course lots of eating.
Anna prepared a feast of 'tapas' and then we made the short walk to the Eithad Stadium, which is just less than 10 minutes away.
We sat in Gold tickets and the view was good, but we wondered how liberal the definition of ''Gold' was applied to the seating arrangements. The Rugby game itself started perfectly with Australia scoring from a freakish kick chargedown, however when NZ scored the same try within 2 minutes ; it was clear that this was not going to be an easy evening.
If I summarised the game, the kiwis were playing a new style of game and trying new tactics. These tactics worked well and Australia simply had no answer. It was hard to watch as NZ were just so good, and as much as the Wallabies tried it was to no avail.
In the end the real winner of the evening was myself -- who had managed to get my two sons down for the weekend.
Having been starved of live rugby for many years, I was looking forward to this game and hosting my boys more than I realised. The weekend together was really great and we spent some time with Anna doing some walks and of course lots of eating.
Anna prepared a feast of 'tapas' and then we made the short walk to the Eithad Stadium, which is just less than 10 minutes away.
We sat in Gold tickets and the view was good, but we wondered how liberal the definition of ''Gold' was applied to the seating arrangements. The Rugby game itself started perfectly with Australia scoring from a freakish kick chargedown, however when NZ scored the same try within 2 minutes ; it was clear that this was not going to be an easy evening.
If I summarised the game, the kiwis were playing a new style of game and trying new tactics. These tactics worked well and Australia simply had no answer. It was hard to watch as NZ were just so good, and as much as the Wallabies tried it was to no avail.
In the end the real winner of the evening was myself -- who had managed to get my two sons down for the weekend.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Lessons from my Dad
All of us have inherited both good and bad traits from our parents. In my case I was fortunate to be adopted by my birth uncle at a very early age of two years old. Thus I grew up with an extended family of two mothers and a father, during these formative years I picked up notions and some of these have stuck. In a similar fashion I can see some of these in the DNA of my own kids -- well not really DNA but more of nurture.
Kindness - Dad was very generous. He was generous with his time with the community as President of the Red Cross, Darwin Chinese Chung Wah Society and a active member of Rotary. We always had parties at our home and if there was a Navy ship or submarine in town, then they were all invited for a dinner and a night of entertainment. My Dad had a soft heart and I remember a time we were in Hong Kong on holidays and he saw a dirty & homeless man on the street - he crossed the road and gave that man money, despite the protests of my mum to be careful.
Respect for education - my father had been sent to college in Western Australia. David had studied accountancy and served as an electrician in the Australian Air Force. However he was a really poor book-keeper and could barely change a light bulb. David did really value education and he taught me how important this is.
Pride (and love) for his family - no doubt all Dads love their kids. My Dad was however at the best of times a little embarrassing and he would always be talking about how great his children or grandchildren were to others (as if we could not hear). We would often cringe and shirk away, so now I am very conscious when I hear myself do the same thing !
Passionate about adventure - David always loved to travel and dine out. The choices that were available in Darwin weren't great, but we would often try new places in town. I remember this even being roadside diners which had just opened. I was instilled at a early age the joys of exploring and trying new tastes -- to this end my own kids have this bug.
Always see the positive - My Dad was obsessed with buying Lottery Tickets. I'm not sure that he ever won anything of significance, but he had boxes of Sydney Opera House Tickets, House \ Car packages in the Gold Coast etc He always was convinced he would win big and then he had a script how he would spend this, give some to me etc. The funny thing is that despite this obsession with lotteries that he did not 'gamble'
These are lessons that I learnt from my Dad - some of these I have managed to pass onto my own kids.
- Kindness
- Respect for education
- Pride (and love) for his family
- Passionate about adventure - love of travel and food
- Always see the positive in everything
Kindness - Dad was very generous. He was generous with his time with the community as President of the Red Cross, Darwin Chinese Chung Wah Society and a active member of Rotary. We always had parties at our home and if there was a Navy ship or submarine in town, then they were all invited for a dinner and a night of entertainment. My Dad had a soft heart and I remember a time we were in Hong Kong on holidays and he saw a dirty & homeless man on the street - he crossed the road and gave that man money, despite the protests of my mum to be careful.
Respect for education - my father had been sent to college in Western Australia. David had studied accountancy and served as an electrician in the Australian Air Force. However he was a really poor book-keeper and could barely change a light bulb. David did really value education and he taught me how important this is.
Pride (and love) for his family - no doubt all Dads love their kids. My Dad was however at the best of times a little embarrassing and he would always be talking about how great his children or grandchildren were to others (as if we could not hear). We would often cringe and shirk away, so now I am very conscious when I hear myself do the same thing !
Passionate about adventure - David always loved to travel and dine out. The choices that were available in Darwin weren't great, but we would often try new places in town. I remember this even being roadside diners which had just opened. I was instilled at a early age the joys of exploring and trying new tastes -- to this end my own kids have this bug.
Always see the positive - My Dad was obsessed with buying Lottery Tickets. I'm not sure that he ever won anything of significance, but he had boxes of Sydney Opera House Tickets, House \ Car packages in the Gold Coast etc He always was convinced he would win big and then he had a script how he would spend this, give some to me etc. The funny thing is that despite this obsession with lotteries that he did not 'gamble'
These are lessons that I learnt from my Dad - some of these I have managed to pass onto my own kids.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Marvellous Marvin Hamilisch
Marvin played last weekend with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - he is an incredible talent who has been a past winner of Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.
We expected a great entertainer and what we got was Marvin the storyteller who played the piano, conducted the orchestra, joked and entertained us. Marvin played some of his best themes and songs, plus he performed songs that he "wished he had written".
Marvin played a medley of songs from the great american songbook - Cole Porter and others. As he related "I do this as you just can't hear this kind of music anymore"
Other highlights of his performance were "A Chorus Line" and that songs from James Bond - " Nobody Does It Better "; that Carly Simon sang.
Marvin was Marvellous indeed !
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