Blood moon and Mars conjunction

Very early on Saturday morning, Earth was treated to the longest total lunar eclipse of the century, and I was stoked to take advantage of this night sky photo opportunity without haze or constant cloud cover or high rise buildings getting in the way! Mars was also in conjunction with the moon and at opposition, making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years. I missed the first part of the eclipse, because the 2-year-old wouldn't let me leave her bedside until 5am, and I blame the unusual night wakings earlier that week on the full moon, the eclipse and Mars at opposition - it's like the moon and the planets were lined up to make my life slightly miserable that week. Ok, I'm only joking, but a small part of me does wonder if there's any scientific truth to that because on Saturday night, the toddler resumed back to sleeping through the night. I used my ancient 13-year-old DSLR - back when it cost over AU$1000 for one - and was happy to know that it still works alright.

The progression of the total lunar eclipse, with totality lasting 103 minutes, making it the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century:

Mars at opposition and in conjunction with the moon:

The moon was still in total eclipse when the sky began lightening as day began to break:

The next day, on Sunday morning, the kids were so excited and happy to see a full double rainbow in the backyard when they came downstairs for breakfast. And yes, I stood in the drizzle in the backyard to take the photo.

"...to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land."

I can tell you that an international relocation with three kids takes a whole lot of hard work and patience, and I'm sure I would have grown many more grey hair than I did, if not for help from my mum, younger sister and bro-in-law during our first week in Melbourne. It is now about two months since we arrived in Melbourne, and it is only now that I can say that we have more or less settled into our new home. Though we often told our friends in Hong Kong that we were "moving back to Australia", Melbourne is still a new city for us to live in, and there is much to experience and explore. I would like to continue blogging, at the very least to document our epic trip to Europe where we covered 12 cities and towns in 5 countries, covering 2400km with 3 kids in 28 days - it sure took a lot of balls, guts and grit to make this trip happen! But for now, here's a shot of the kids and their dad playing in the backyard while I cooked dinner. The garden is the probably the one thing that the kids are most excited about this house, because it means they can finally have a pet dog.

Big News!

It's been a month since I last wrote in this blog, and a lot has happened in that time! For one thing, we have said goodbye to the apartment and city that we called home for the past 7.5 years. We spent two weeks packing and cleaning up (and throwing out many precious things), which was no small feat considering we also had to care for our three children. But that was eventually accomplished with many, many late nights and many, many cups of coffee drunk. It was especially difficult to say goodbye to our friends and all we had established in Hong Kong. The time we spent in HK was almost twice the time we spent in Japan, and we still miss Japan like crazy! Hong Kong will always remain a big part of our lives, especially our 9-year-old who also had to say goodbye to many of his good friends.

Our final day in Hong Kong was relatively clear with low haze and sunny weather! This shot was taken from the balcony just moments after we handed our keys to the landlord:

Right now, we are in the middle of our epic month-long Europe trip. In the past two weeks, we've spent a week in Switzerland, a few days in Munich, and currently in Austria. Loving almost every minute of it, but not enjoying the exhausting part of it that comes with travelling with three kids. I've been in photography heaven in almost every location we've stayed at, most especially the Swiss Alps! I can't wait to share the beautiful shots I've taken. Here's one taken from my phone, unfiltered and untouched.

On top of Mt Rigi, also known as the Queen of the mountains, where we had awesome view of part the Swiss Alps:

Stay tuned!

Sightseeing Taipei: Elephant Mountain, Bopiliao Old Street and Longshan Temple

I went on a girls' trip to Taipei earlier this year with my friend and her then 18-month-old. I brought along my youngest (then just shy of her first birthday) and a nanny to give us an extra hand. Bringing the nanny was the best decision. For the most part, we did everything as a group. But being able to leave the little ones sleeping while we go out at night to explore the night markets was awesome! And while we initially planned to hike up Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) as a group with the little ones strapped onto us in carriers, we rejoiced when the babies fell asleep in their strollers on the way to the hiking trail, and we could leave the sleeping bubs at the bottom of the mountain while my friend and I did the hike. And oh my, while we were climbing those countless steep stairs up Xiangshan, we were so glad the babies were not strapped on to us. We also joined a free night walking tour through Bopiliao Old Street to Longshan Temple - without kids! So yes, getting our nanny to Taipei with us was a good investment of my airline miles!

Just a small portion of the stairs we climbed to get up Xiangshan:

The view of Taipei from Elephant Mountain (click image for larger photo):

My friend and I, glad that we didn't hike up the mountain while carrying the babies!

On the night walking tour, we walked through Bopiliao, a historically important street in a district that was once a prosperous trade center. Just a tad spooky walking through here in the dark:

The exterior gate of Longshan Temple, built in the 18th century:

Beautiful and ornate detail on the gate eaves:

Lighting joss sticks for temple worship:

A huge joss stick holder:

One of the offering tables in the temple:

One of the altars to a deity popular with students who pray for good grades:

There were a few large lanterns, celebrating the Spring Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year. People were bowing and walking under these lanterns:

Outside Longshan Temple:

Vote for me at Mr. DC Food Blog Award

Hey guys, just a short break from my usual blogging to tell you guys about a discount coupon website that was brought to my attention when I received an email from their Junior Project Manager requesting my participation in their food blog award. A website to help us save money? Yes, please! I'll be bookmarking it for my personal use. Mr Discount Code is active in several countries, so check the website to see if your country is on the list. Please click on the banner below, and vote for me! My blog was added pretty late in the game compared to the others, but better late than never :)

Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden

A couple of months ago, my cousin-in-law was in Hong Kong for an acting course. This was her second visit here, and she had already done all the touristy stuff on the first trip, so I suggested we go check out the Chi Lin Nunnery. I'd heard that it's a beautiful place, a tranquil sanctuary from the busy Hong Kong, and it's been on my list of places to visit in Hong Kong since forever. For some reason, I just don't feel like it's the kind of place to visit with kids, and I'm truly too busy on any given day to make the visit on my own, so I've never had the opportunity to visit the nunnery. It's truly quite a refreshing experience to go sight-seeing with a solo female as a solo female without kids. And more so when she is a professional photographer who used to do wedding photography as a job. Let's just say I'm not used to be the one in front of the camera, and it was actually rather enjoyable! She's got an eye for a beautiful shot, and it was great to have someone else also looking out for a good angle. The Nan Lian Garden adjacent to the nunnery was beautiful, and it was nice to escape from my busy reality for a short while.

A gold pagoda and a red bridge in Nan Lian Garden:

The pagoda and bridge stand out a lot with their vibrant colours:

With my pretty cousin-in-law:

The courtyard of Chi Lin Nunnery:

Juxtaposed against the city skyline:

Lotus flowers:

Oh Taipei how I love thee

I was in Taipei last week with a girlfriend and her baby. It was my first time ever leaving any of my kids behind at home for any period of time, let alone two! I took along the baby on the trip, and it was our first girls' trip ever, for my friend and I! We had so much fun, particularly exploring the night markets! I'm really looking forward to blogging about Taipei, so stay posted for updates!

The LOVE sculpture in front of the iconic Taipei 101:

It's a Farm Life (Mount Eccles, Victoria, Australia)

One of the highlights of our time in Melbourne last month was the weekend we spent at my younger sister's mother-in-law's farm. The kids had so much fun with the two sheepdogs! My boy was known as the 'dog whisperer' as he bonded with them and learnt quickly how to handle them. My girl loved picking berries off the bush to pop them straight into her mouth. My baby loved playing with her cousin who is only 5 months her senior. I loved the wide open space and the crisp fresh air that we cannot get in Hong Kong. The farm life is a charmed life!

Tranquility (click image for larger photo):

Picking berries:

Serenity:

Energetic sheep dogs:

Me and bub:

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Happy 2017!

Wishing you all good health and a successful new year! May 2017 be better than 2016.

The view from our balcony just past midnight on 1st January 2017:

Sand and water play @ Brisbane's South Bank Parklands

There is this awesome man-made beach across the bridge from central Brisbane, and it is free and open to the public. My in-laws took us there on a sunny day, and the kids had so much fun! In Hong Kong, our kids don't have much exposure to the beach, so the whole experience was a novelty. The best part was how clean and pristine everything was kept. The South Bank Parklands is highly recommended for adults and kids alike!

Hiking in Sai Kung: Hoi Ha loop

When I was about 5 months pregnant with #3, hubby and his buddy planned to go on a hike somewhere in the countryside of Hong Kong. I love hiking, so when hubby's friend asked our 7-year-old son and myself to join, I jumped at the chance. Since I would be the limiting factor on the difficulty of the hiking trail, I took it upon myself to find an easy but still fairly rewarding route. I read about the Hoi Ha loop at Hike Hong Kong's blog, which gave detailed information about the trail complete with a map and several photos. The loop is within the Sai Kung West Country Park, and access is by minibus or taxi into the area. Our friend drove and parked outside the park, and the four of us took a taxi to Hoi Ha Village to tackle the trail. The 7-year-old did brilliantly as he's always had good stamina (he fared better than me as a 4-year-old when we tackled the tough 3km hiking trail between Monterosso and Vernazza of Italy's Cinque Terre). The Hoi Ha loop took about 2 hours to complete and was fairly flat with beautiful views.

Some houses in Hoi Ha Village at the start/end of the loop:

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Year of Monkey

Wishing all my readers who celebrate the Lunar New Year, a cheerfully marvellous Year of the Monkey! Kids are on a 1-week school break, so I've had my hands quite full, but it has so far been a nice family time together. I'll be hopefully back to regular writing next week.

The grand Yosemite

Now that the winter school holiday is over, I can finally get back to regular blogging. Last April, we took an amazing road trip up the beautiful Californian coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Along the way, we stopped in Santa Barbara, San Simeon, Monterey and finally Yosemite as the grand finale of the trip. We stayed in Mariposa for two nights, which is about an hour's drive to Yosemite. Honestly, no words can fully describe just how beautiful Yosemite is, with its majestic tall trees, cascading water falls, and the serenity of everything. One day in Yosemite and we barely scratched the surface of the Yosemite experience. I would love more opportunities to go back there.

On the 140 to Yosemite:

The scenery got better and better as we approached Yosemite:

A short stop at the Swinging Bridge:

The ever-curious baby girl checking out what was under the bridge:

Facing south-west from the Swinging Bridge (click image for a larger view):

The view of Yosemite Falls north of the Swinging Bridge (click image for a larger view):

Close-up view of Yosemite Falls as seen from the Swinging Bridge:

The wooden Swinging Bridge, which doesn't actually swing. I read somewhere that the bridge is named so because it spans both sides of the river:

We hired bicycles to do a self-guided tour of the Yosemite Valley - the best way to get around and experience nature at the same time:

Tall, tall trees:

Another angle of the Yosemite Falls we'd seen earlier:

We went to the Ahwahnee Hotel for a children's program, held in the Great Lounge. While the kids were entertained for 45 minutes by a geologist, I took the opportunity to take photos:

Leaving the Ahwahnee Hotel:

Back on our bikes, we encountered some wildlife, a couple of mule deer, also known as black-tailed deer:

On our way out of the Valley on the Hwy 140, we followed directions to the Bridalveil Fall, parked the car in the parking area, and took a short walk to the waterfall. The Ahwahneechee tribe believed that inhaling the mist of Bridalveil Fall would improve one's chances of marriage:

The famed Tunnel View, which gives a panoramic view of the Yosemite Valley and all its icons: El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome (click on image for a larger view):

Closer-up shot of the three icons: