Saturday 20 June 2009
Thursday 18 June 2009
Adelaide Trip Day 5 (18 June 2009)
Today, we visited the national wine centre. There was a game allowing you to make your own glass of virtual wine by controlling the factors in wine-making. After that, you were given a grade. Jinxgirl's grade was silver and mine was gold. Caleb anyhow clicked everything so he got an Awful.
After we left, we visited Harbour Town and bought heaps of stuff.
Then, we went for dinner at a restaurant and returned early to do packing.
Jahhhk out
After we left, we visited Harbour Town and bought heaps of stuff.
Then, we went for dinner at a restaurant and returned early to do packing.
Jahhhk out
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Adelaide Trip Day 4 (17 June 2009)
Today we visited the vineyard chain, McLaren Vale. We visited d'Arbenberg, the highly recommended vineyard.
Unfortunately, since it is now winter, all the vineyards are either bare due to the end of harvest season, or newly planted vines to prepare for spring. Jinxgirl got lots of photos of the scenery though. Surprisingly, it was pretty enchanting.
We ate lunch at the restaurant. Jinxgirl's parents had a glass of wine each but the 3 of us treated it as poison and refused to drink a single drop. Jinxgirl's dad tried to drug her water when she wasn't looking but I exchanged her glass of water with an untouched glass.
Soon, we were done and stopped by at Target to shop. Jinxgirl was delighted to find two DS games she had been looking for and persuaded her mum to buy it.
We then headed to visit Jinxgirl's cousins. Min and Wei were tickled pink by Caleb taking photos and giggled as he videoed them dancing and singing. Jinxgirl then created a "Adelaide's Funniest Home Video" of her cousins' antics.
In the car on the way to dinner, Jinxgirl let the twins take photos using her camera. There were some good photos and some really hilarious ones.
The pasta was absolutely heaven! Caleb slurped his down and got tomato sauce all over his horns. The twins giggled. Then, the three of us split into teams: Kee Ann and Caleb vs Jinxgirl and me in a game of Bohnanza! Needless to say, we lost spectacularly, unable to beat the genius that Kee Ann was.
On the way back, the twins took more photos. Caleb was nearly blinded when Min tried to take his photo as she accidentally took a photo of his horn when the flash was on.
Jahhhk out
Unfortunately, since it is now winter, all the vineyards are either bare due to the end of harvest season, or newly planted vines to prepare for spring. Jinxgirl got lots of photos of the scenery though. Surprisingly, it was pretty enchanting.
We ate lunch at the restaurant. Jinxgirl's parents had a glass of wine each but the 3 of us treated it as poison and refused to drink a single drop. Jinxgirl's dad tried to drug her water when she wasn't looking but I exchanged her glass of water with an untouched glass.
Soon, we were done and stopped by at Target to shop. Jinxgirl was delighted to find two DS games she had been looking for and persuaded her mum to buy it.
We then headed to visit Jinxgirl's cousins. Min and Wei were tickled pink by Caleb taking photos and giggled as he videoed them dancing and singing. Jinxgirl then created a "Adelaide's Funniest Home Video" of her cousins' antics.
In the car on the way to dinner, Jinxgirl let the twins take photos using her camera. There were some good photos and some really hilarious ones.
The pasta was absolutely heaven! Caleb slurped his down and got tomato sauce all over his horns. The twins giggled. Then, the three of us split into teams: Kee Ann and Caleb vs Jinxgirl and me in a game of Bohnanza! Needless to say, we lost spectacularly, unable to beat the genius that Kee Ann was.
On the way back, the twins took more photos. Caleb was nearly blinded when Min tried to take his photo as she accidentally took a photo of his horn when the flash was on.
Jahhhk out
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Adelaide Trip Day 3 (16 June 2009)
Today, we woke up at about 7.40 am. After washing up, we read for about 3 hours until Jinxgirl's parents woke up.
We had breakfast at the Aroma cafe again. After breakfast, we walked the major parts of the city in about 2 hours. Jinxgirl took about a hundred photos, including at least 15 photos of swans and magpies. We also visited the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum.
The South Australian Museum was amazing. There was a 2500 kg meteorite on display and dozens of fossils. Jinxgirl took a photo of a skeleton of a T-Rex from an angle that made it look as though it was about to eat her.
We had breakfast at the Aroma cafe again. After breakfast, we walked the major parts of the city in about 2 hours. Jinxgirl took about a hundred photos, including at least 15 photos of swans and magpies. We also visited the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum.
The South Australian Museum was amazing. There was a 2500 kg meteorite on display and dozens of fossils. Jinxgirl took a photo of a skeleton of a T-Rex from an angle that made it look as though it was about to eat her.
There were also lots of realistic-looking "animals" that could be found in various parts of the Earth. Jinxgirl snapped lots of photos of them. The main attraction was a lion. Just as we were trying to figure out why the focus was on it, Caleb jumped violently. "Its tail moved!" he exclaimed. We looked at the tail, and sure enough, it was moving. "Cool! It's a robot!" Jinxgirl exclaimed.
We ate lunch at the food court of the David Jones shopping mall. The beef noodles from the Vietnamese stall was as good as the ones in Singapore and Caleb slurped his down. His appetite these days is alarming.
Pretty soon, we were joined by Jinxgirl's aunt, who glared at Jinxgirl's dad, saying,"Today, I was woken up at 6.30 am by the sound of two monkeys singing karaoke into the microphone of the checkout counter." Jinxgirl, Caleb and I guffawed loudly. Then her dad said,"That's a great idea! I'll bring a karaoke machine next time." Her aunt howled,"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" so loudly that the people at the next table stared at us.
After saying goodbye to Jinxgirl's aunt, we went to shop at Rundle Mall. Jinxgirl's parents dropped us off at Borders while they went shopping. We read about 3 choose your own adventure books while waiting for them to come back.
After Jinxgirl's parents FINALLY remembered about us, we started back for the hotel to drop our belongings. On the way, we saw some really cute and ingenious bronze pig structures.
We stopped by at Haigh's Chocolates and bought a mountain of dark chocolate. I joked that the place was an outlet of Willy Wonka's factory.
Soon, we headed for the beach at Glenelg. Took lots of photos of seagulls and Jinxgirl got a really nice 1 minute video of waves.
Jinxgirl's mum dragged us to K Mart to look around. A cute dog named Diva was waiting outside for her owner to return. At about 7.30 we retired to the hotel.
Jahhhk out
P.S. There are too many pics so I added them in a new post.
Adelaide Trip Day 2 (15 June 2009)
Woken up for breakfast on the plane at 5 am Singapore time, watched Race to Witch Mountain until plane landed. Jinxgirl's dad went to collect our rented car, an Audi. Drove to our hotel, Oaks Embassy Apartments, and dropped our bags. Ate brunch at Aroma Cafe, sandwich was simply to die for.
After that, drove to Aveland Avenue where Jinxgirl's aunt, lecturer husband, 8 year old chess prodigy son, Kee Ann, and 5 year old twin girls, Min En and Wei En live. Kee Ann, Min En and Wei En were the cousins who saw us off last year when we were going on holiday to Hokkaido. (For more information, read the older posts.) Jinxgirl's younger aunt from Singapore was visiting and flying off the next day.
Helped the twins with their Tamagotchi until 2.30. Went for lunch at an Italian place. Fetuccini was delicious and warm. Caleb had 3 helpings. At 3, went to Kee Ann, Min En and Wei En's school to pick them up. The moment Min and Wei saw Jinxgirl, they squealed,"JIE JIE JAN JAN!!!!!" and ran towards her. Once again, Jinxgirl's dad was crushed. Only after several prompts from their mum to greet him did the twins turn away from Jinxgirl for a second, greeted him and promptly turned back to Jinxgirl.
We drove back to their home after picking Kee Ann. Had a wool tug of war with the twins in the car. We won when Caleb sliced the wool in half by accident with his horn. At home, the twins were delighted at their new presents: A checkout counter with a real microphone and a hairdresser set. As for Kee Ann, he was excited to see an adult Scrabble set and several Pokemon card packs.
Wei En promptly got Jinxgirl's younger aunt to style her hair, squealing with delight as she tied Wei En's hair using several coloured rubber bands. On the other hand, Min En made a great deal of noise, barking commands to potential customers using the microphone.
Kee Ann and Jinxgirl played one round of chess and one round of Suicide chess. After that, Jinxgirl gave up. Suicide chess is exactly the opposite of chess, in that the first person to lose all pieces wins.
Then, Wei En was bored with the hairdresser set and switched places with Min En. However, the checkout counter did not really interest her either and soon she was helping Kee Ann, Jinxgirl, Caleb and I build a massive Lego city, complete with dinosaur invaders.
Soon, a loud wailing sound reached our ears. Apparently, Min's hair was in a tangle and hurt terribly when Jinxgirl's younger aunt tried to tie her hair. She was soon pacified when Jinxgirl's dad gave each of the three kids a snack he had bought in the cafe where we ate lunch.
Pretty soon, we went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was sumptuous.
As soon as we got back to the hotel, we all showered and went to our bedroom. This time, we were lucky enough to get a bedroom all to ourselves. The 3 of us shared the twin bed in our bedroom and fell asleep at 8.30 pm, Adelaide time. In Singapore, it was only 7.
Jahhhk out
Our Audi
After that, drove to Aveland Avenue where Jinxgirl's aunt, lecturer husband, 8 year old chess prodigy son, Kee Ann, and 5 year old twin girls, Min En and Wei En live. Kee Ann, Min En and Wei En were the cousins who saw us off last year when we were going on holiday to Hokkaido. (For more information, read the older posts.) Jinxgirl's younger aunt from Singapore was visiting and flying off the next day.
Helped the twins with their Tamagotchi until 2.30. Went for lunch at an Italian place. Fetuccini was delicious and warm. Caleb had 3 helpings. At 3, went to Kee Ann, Min En and Wei En's school to pick them up. The moment Min and Wei saw Jinxgirl, they squealed,"JIE JIE JAN JAN!!!!!" and ran towards her. Once again, Jinxgirl's dad was crushed. Only after several prompts from their mum to greet him did the twins turn away from Jinxgirl for a second, greeted him and promptly turned back to Jinxgirl.
We drove back to their home after picking Kee Ann. Had a wool tug of war with the twins in the car. We won when Caleb sliced the wool in half by accident with his horn. At home, the twins were delighted at their new presents: A checkout counter with a real microphone and a hairdresser set. As for Kee Ann, he was excited to see an adult Scrabble set and several Pokemon card packs.
Wei En promptly got Jinxgirl's younger aunt to style her hair, squealing with delight as she tied Wei En's hair using several coloured rubber bands. On the other hand, Min En made a great deal of noise, barking commands to potential customers using the microphone.
Kee Ann and Jinxgirl played one round of chess and one round of Suicide chess. After that, Jinxgirl gave up. Suicide chess is exactly the opposite of chess, in that the first person to lose all pieces wins.
Then, Wei En was bored with the hairdresser set and switched places with Min En. However, the checkout counter did not really interest her either and soon she was helping Kee Ann, Jinxgirl, Caleb and I build a massive Lego city, complete with dinosaur invaders.
Soon, a loud wailing sound reached our ears. Apparently, Min's hair was in a tangle and hurt terribly when Jinxgirl's younger aunt tried to tie her hair. She was soon pacified when Jinxgirl's dad gave each of the three kids a snack he had bought in the cafe where we ate lunch.
Pretty soon, we went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was sumptuous.
As soon as we got back to the hotel, we all showered and went to our bedroom. This time, we were lucky enough to get a bedroom all to ourselves. The 3 of us shared the twin bed in our bedroom and fell asleep at 8.30 pm, Adelaide time. In Singapore, it was only 7.
Jahhhk out
Our Audi
Adelaide Trip Day 1 (14 June 2009)
This trip was organised to take Jinxgirl's mind off her cancelled school literature trip to UK. Of course, Caleb and I were delighted to be able to visit Jinxgirl's cousins.
In Singapore, while Jinxgirl's parents checked into the Ambassador lounge to wait for our midnight flight, Jinxgirl, Caleb and I went to the butterfly garden to admire the butterflies and plants. Jinxgirl snapped some photos, which I can only download back in Singapore, since Jinxgirl's mum's laptop cannot read camera chips.
After some time, Jinxgirl's dad went for a back massage and Jinxgirl's mum for a nail manicure. the 3 of us were left to look after the bags, but the good thing is we got to play Neoquest.
On the plane, we played Insaniquarium Deluxe until about 3 am when Jinxgirl's mum forced us to go to sleep.
Jahhhk out
And here are the pics!
A butterfly at rest.
Sweet nectar for the butterflies.
Looks like butterflies are camera shy too!
Butterfly food.
In Singapore, while Jinxgirl's parents checked into the Ambassador lounge to wait for our midnight flight, Jinxgirl, Caleb and I went to the butterfly garden to admire the butterflies and plants. Jinxgirl snapped some photos, which I can only download back in Singapore, since Jinxgirl's mum's laptop cannot read camera chips.
After some time, Jinxgirl's dad went for a back massage and Jinxgirl's mum for a nail manicure. the 3 of us were left to look after the bags, but the good thing is we got to play Neoquest.
On the plane, we played Insaniquarium Deluxe until about 3 am when Jinxgirl's mum forced us to go to sleep.
Jahhhk out
And here are the pics!
A butterfly at rest.
Sweet nectar for the butterflies.
Looks like butterflies are camera shy too!
Butterfly food.
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