Chinese New Year 2010 (Part 2) {Brisbane Child Photographer}
Well, we survived the dinner. I wish I wasn’t so tired but I was just ready to crash as were my hubby and the girls. I think we just fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow! Thank goodness we weren’t expected at my parents’ house until after 1pm the next day.
The swimming pool at the hotel we stayed in was such a blessing! It saved the girls from boredom as well the oppressing heat and humidity. However, on the flip side, it also indirectly drove me insane because my younger one wanted to stay in the pool whole day! I supposed it can’t be much fun for them when they cannot communicate with my parents and there is nothing for them to watch on tv either. With the foul weather they really can’t bear to go out until the sun starts to set and by then we were all cranky as hell!
You would think that since I grew up here I would be used to the heat but seriously the heat was something that I could not stand, not ever! That’s why my hubby dubbed us “Mall-going people” because that is what we do – go from one shopping mall to another during the day on weekends when we are not working in the air-conditioned offices!
So after 5 days at my hometown, we drove down to the capital city, Kuala Lumpur to stay with a friend. It was that dreaded 4 hour drive again but this time around, there was none of that horrific traffic chaos! The girls were much happier now as well since they have playmates and some tv shows to keep them occupied. However, my younger one was missing her favourite food – Fish and Chips!
So naturally we had to get some Fish and Chips! It was either that or wear ear plugs! Since I was too lazy to carry my camera around when we go out, I had to make do with my iPhone. So some of the dodgy photos were taken with my iPhone! The photographer in me was indeed on holiday after all!
Again, the swimming pool came to the rescue as we didn’t do any sight seeing at all. We only had a few days in KL and I had some loose ends to tie up (bank and government stuff!). The journey home was long as expected and going home via Sydney added 2 hours to the whole trip. I woke up at 4:30am KL time (Brisbane is 2 hours ahead) and didn’t get to sleep in my own bed until 11:30pm Brisbane time – a total of 17 hours of travelling!
I need a real holiday to recover from this “holiday”! This is why it took me 4.5 years to “plan” this trip! Can you blame me? Oh, where is my genie in the bottle?
Yup, full! Now for bed!
I'm eating Mum! No Photos!
My nieces braided her hair.
Trampoline to the rescue!
Trampoline to the rescue
One of the rare times when the weather was not so hot.
Best Friends!
The following photos were taken with my iPhone hence the terrible quality!
Taken with my iPhone, so excuse the crappy quality!
Fish and Chips finally!!! Again, taken with my iPhone. Can't you tell?
Look at the satisfaction in that face!!! iPhone again!
Chinese New Year 2010 {Brisbane Child Photographer}
The last time I celebrated Chinese New Year with my family was back in January 2003. So yes, I was way long overdue for another proper celebration with my family as the last time we were back, it wasn’t Chinese New Year.
It was good to see family and friends but the journey there and back were not something I would want to repeat anytime soon! I wish we could skipped the journey and just “blinked” ourselves there!
After an 8 hour flight (red eye) we arrived a bit excited and couldn’t wait to get into our rented car and drive the 4 hour drive to my parents’ house. Alas, the car rental counter was not opened yet so we had to wait for about an hour which was not too bad since it gave us time to have breakfast. Finally we got into our rental car only to find that we could not locate the “handbrake”! That Toyota Camry must be some new model that we have not seen in Brisbane yet because the “handbrake” turned out to be a foot pedal! I actually ran back into the terminal to find the guy who drove the car to us but by then my hubby had located the foot pedal! Anyway, off we went in anticipation of a quick trip home. It went well from the airport until we got to the city. So for about 45 mins things went smoothly then all hell broke loose…
The 4 hour drive that should have happened turned into a nightmarish 7 hour drive!!! To say I was cranky was an understatement. Bear in mind we had been on board a plane throughout the night for about 8 hours already. Thankfully the girls slept a fair bit but my older one threw up a few times 
My poor baby! The younger was getting antsy. Can you blame her?
The weather was awfully hot and stifling. Every rest-stop along the highway was packed to the hilt! There was absolutely no place to park the car. The toilet queues were miles long… The heat was unbearable. I was in jeans, wishing I could just strip off my clothes!
It took us 3.5 hours to travel approximately 163km which meant an average of 46 km/hour! Finally after about 4 hours, we managed to get up to the speed of 110km which was the speed limit of the highway. I could have kissed the ground when we finally arrived at my parents’ house. To say we were exhausted was an understatement… Just thinking about it and writing this down now is exhausting!
Anyway, we made it home in time for the all important Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner. I had great plans for documenting our trip home this time but that 7 hour drive from hell just sucked all my energy and drained me dry! The weather throughout the whole trip sealed the deal. I just could not stand the heat and felt lethargic all the time. The camera did not get the work out it deserved. On my 5th day home I fell ill. Had stomach ache which kept me up the whole night with trips to the toilet and an achy body the next day. A couple of days later my hubby fell ill too. Thankfully the girls were fine!
Anyway, here are some photos that I managed to take. Will continue tomorrow with the rest of our trip.
Finally we arrived and I can take my shoes off!
Waiting to board the plane
Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner
Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner