Melbourne Chapter1: Meeting the Grands

I got back from glorious Melbourne summers, cool in the mornings and evenings, and wonderfully warm and dry in the afternoons with clear blue skies, colourful birds and some of the most stunning blooms I have ever seen --- Back to a Singaporean winter, where the snow melts before it reaches us on the ground, resulting in endless wet rainy days, where the sun don't shine, and the clothes don't dry.

Should I start hunting for airtickets back?

But yea, it's good to be back home in a way. Blog updates will be forthcoming, so let's start off with Chapter 1: Meeting the Grands

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We arrived at Melbourne on the morning of the 2nd Dec, and rent a car from the airport. We drove around the city first, and then we go to my grands' house.

Which turns out to be about 6 hours drive, since the DF is also terrified of getting slapped with hefty speeding fines, so he sticks strictly to the speed limit all the way. :s

And despite the speed limit, we still kill an ungodly number of flies on the way there. Something about the weather makes them more sluggish than our local flies. You could almost touch one of their wings, and they wouldn't fly off until you were actually touching them. Weird huh?

Which also explains why, our rented car:


Kills this many flies.


Gross eh? And that's just the licence plate. You should've seen the windscreen.

Anyway we reach my grands' hometown, Casterton towards the evening.


Casterton is a town dedicated to... a dog. The kelpie, one of the smartest breeds in Australia.


My Grands' house. About the size of the first floor of my house but large enough for them, 2 Singaporean visitors and the dog.


My Grands' dog, Butch. The poor thing is diabetic, and completely blind, but can acutely smell food dangling from your hand under the dinner table, and can acutely hear his collar and leash dangling from your hand, signalling the start of a walkie.

I think the DF and the Grands are all right with each other, though my Ma's lasting impression of the DF is now how he a) doesn't eat pork and b) doesn't touch alcohol. She was up on the phone that first night exclaiming to my mother in dialect about how he didn't eat pork! My god! I've never met a Chinese who didn't eat pork! while both of us stifled our laughter behind her.

Ma is a great cook and I think one of her greatest satisfaction is seeing people enjoy her cooking, as evidenced by our conversation:

Ma: "You should lose some weight! Look at you!"

Me: "Yes, Ma."

Ma: "You're gonna have an Aussie bum in no time if you continue like this! Better eat less and exercise more!"

Me: "Yes, Ma."

Ma: [peers at my plate, where I've almost finished eating a hefty portion] "You want more mashed potatoes? There are some more in the bowl."

I stare at her. "I thought you said I had to lose weight?"

"Here in my house you eat as much as you like! When you go back then you lose weight!"

"..............................."

But then again, you gotta love the Grands. They have a sign with my name on it on the front gate, over 20 years old, they put photos of you all over the place, even the ones of you in awkward phases you'd rather forget, and they grow your favourite potatoes in their garden.

Yup, Grands are always the best. :)

Next chapter: Birds, Penguins and one Psychotic Santa Kanga