Pretty Successful Weekend - Includes Taekwondo Grading

The weekend just past was pretty good. Friday night kicked off with taekwondo and the first of the AFL finals for the year. Great game between Geelong and Hawthorn. Finals footy is the way it should be played and the way it should be umpired.

On the Saturday I did my normal taekwondo trainng and shopping. Watched a bit of footy as well.

Sunday morning I had taekwondo grading. I'd have to say that it was the most fulfilling grading I've done and I reached red belt three (1st geup). Pretty pleased with my performance but still have quite a bit of improvement to do to prepare for my black belt grading. Practice, practice, practice!

My friend Jay took this photo with me grading - hope he doesn't mind me using it.

Back home in time for meat pies and potato chips and the start of the blockbuster 1st elimination final between Essendon and Carlton. Almost all over by the end of the first quarter and certainly over by half time. Those damn Blues blew away my Bombers. Bastards!! They played much better and deserved the win.

Full time in the footy meant time to mow the back lawn and do some edging followed by cutting up of the palm trees that I chopped down two weekends ago. My blisters had healed enough for me to make another attempt at cleaning up the front yard before the greens collection in a few weeks time. I spent two hours cutting up the trees but it was worth the effort as the front yard looks much better.

After a wash up, well, a shower, we went out for tea to Phill Bean in Shelley. It's a newish Korean restaurant. Man, I tell you, the food is great. It's not expensive but it is very cosy so I can see why you generally need to book. Loved the food and will definitely return.

If it hadn't been for my footy team losing it would have been close to a perfect weekend.

Lazy Weekend

I didn't do a great deal this weekend. Part of the problem was that Tiger Woods was on telly in prime time. Yes, he was playing in Australia. And it was great to be able to watch him at my leisure. On Saturday, during the Australian Open at Kingston Heath in Victoria, he played like an ordinary hacker off the tee and fairway. His short game was brilliant though and recovery shots were excellent. Although he struggled Tiger didn't do much damage to the scoreboard. On Sunday though it was back to the Woods that we all know as he attacked the pins and drove beautifully. Poetry in motion really. And Woods is a deserved winner of the Australian Open.

Araluen Botanic Park and Canning Dam Visit

I had such a great weekend that I thought I might have forgotten to go to work on the Monday and had an extra days rest. Maybe it was because we were quite busy and enjoyed ourselves so much. Or it might have been because I had the Wednesday off to go to the Boy's sports carnival. Yes, I'd say that was it. Or perhaps it was because the footy was shown early

Saturday saw us shopping, cleaning the house, going out for sport and watching a bit more footy.

Sunday - breakfast, bit of washing and then we headed off to Araluen Botanic Park situated in Roleystone in the Perth foothills. One of my colleagues at work told me that she was going to take her parents there for a visit. Seeing as my missus likes flowers, and the tulips were supposed to be in full bloom, I decided to take her there. She put back what she was going to do on Sunday arvo and we made our way there. It was only 30 minutes from our place and the contrast of the hills to the concrete jungle of the city was striking indeed. The Boy couldn't get over how different it was so close to the city. The air was fresh due to morning rain and it was overcast for the first hour or so.

Not as many flowers as I thought there'd be but the place was beautiful. There was even a picnic area for BYO. The amount of Chinese-speaking visitors was huge and rather surprising. Apart from one large group of Croatians perhaps, they used the word "poleka" a few times in muddy, slippery areas where you needed to be careful with your footing, most of the visitors were asian. And the silly people brought cameras with such large lenses that they had to stand such a long way away from the flowers to get a shot. Gee, with the macro on my wife's camera I could get a couple of centimetres away. The waterfalls were delightful and it was such a nice day.

We had scones, devonshire tea and chips in the Chalet Healy Restaurant within the park's confines. All up we spent two and a half hours there. Rather than head home immediately I had noticed on the way in that the Canning Dam, a source of water for Perth, was close by so I detoured to have a look. A map in the BBQ area said that it was a 3km 1 hour walk to visit the dam, which made other family members groan, but it only took 30 minutes in actual fact. The dam is huge but the amount of water behind it isn't quite so. The levels are probably down 3-4 metres from historic levels. It's been a bit dry for the last few years.

After lunch we went swimming. I was so knackered that I could only manage 45 minutes worth. Bulgogi for tea. Great way to finish the weekend. Or was it a long weekend?

Photo album of Araluen Botanic Park visit on Facebook.

Photo album of Canning Dam visit on Facebook.

Didn't Enjoy Sunday Morning Swim Today

Today I didn't enjoy my usual Sunday morning swim. Reason for that is The Boy and I went to do fruit and vegie shopping prior to calling in to UWA for the annual Save The Children Book Sale. It's a fundraiser for the aforementioned charity and there are thousands of books on offer for only a few dollars each, generally.

We spent about an hour and a half there and I bought five books for myself. Last year I purchased four books and only have one left to read. The Boy got some 20-odd books including a few references book that I chose. There was something by Charles Dickens, Robert L Stevenson and several Captain Underpants books in amongst them. He'll finish his books before I complete mine.

The book sale is at Winthrop Hall and concludes on Tuesday. I believe that Tuesday is bargain box day so fill a box with books and pay bugger all. You won't have the choice that last Friday or Saturday offered however. It's all for a good cause and your brain will thank you for the stimulation.

Had a swim in the afternoon but it wasn't the same. And The Boy wasn't feeling too well either. Perhaps to do some laps in the morning.

Not So Enjoyable Weekend

Sunday started off reasonably well. Fruit and vege shopping early on, I cooked pancakes and crumpets for breakfast, and a bit of a read of the paper. Come lunchtime and we didn't head off to the pool for a dip. Thought I might do that later. The Boy wanted to play outside for a bit and then I decided to mow the lawn. Well, The Boy thought that that was a fun idea and so he did most of the mowing. Dammit, he spoiled my fun. I was rather looking forward to doing that. I can be a bit weird at times.

Later on in the arvo the missus wanted us out of the house so The Boy and I headed off to Subway before a kick of the footy and an afternoon swim. Well, that was the plan. We grabbed lunch at Subway, where I specifically asked for a cookie without nuts, and, as it turned out, we were served with a macadamia cookie. Right, that's certainly not got any nuts in it. And what do you think The Boy ate for lunch first? You guessed it, the cookie filled with nuts. And with his instantaneous allergic reaction that buggered up lunch. I gave the person who had served us a serve. The different cookies were labelled very poorly and I guess mistakes can be made when all of the workers have English as a second language. I'm just glad that the nut allergy only makes him very sick and not comatose.

He did feel better a bit later and we listened to the footy in the car. It wasn't life threatening but he felt rather sick. Enough time had lapsed and we decided to go into the pool. As soon as we left the car he complained of a stomach ache so I took him home. Into bed with a hot water bottle. About an hour and one big toilet break later he felt much better.

By the late afternoon I was seriously regretting missing my weekly swim and hit the cycle path nearby pretending to be in the Tour de France. In my head at least as my exploits on the bike were a bit wuss-like. I covered 10 1/2 km and had a reasonable hitout. So many people out walking their dogs at that time of the day. The ride was quite enjoyable.

Monday evening and I couldn't wait another week for a swim so we went to the pool after tea. It was pretty busy and I'll no doubt make the effort for my Sunday swim. And The Boy won't be getting a Kids' Pack with cookie anytime soon. You can be sure of that. It's a footlong sub or nothing. Just to be on the safe side.

More Than My Time Is Worth

The last weekend was a bit of a waste. I bought a new lock for the security screen door and a handle for the shovel that was broken. I spent a good few hours pulling the old lock apart cleaning it, trying to make room for the replacement lock which was a bit deeper and all to no avail. This included several trips to the hardware store and back in the interim. It would have been cheaper to have purchased a new screen door if I considered what my time is worth.

And then the shovel handle. This one gained me some sunburn. One would expect that to remove one screw, remove one handle, to insert one handle and to insert one screw would be a piece of cake. Oh, no it wasn't. The screw came out ok but the handle wouldn't budge. I tried to knock it away with an array of tools and finally had to drill most of it out and then split it up using a screwdriver as a chisel. Once the end of the screwdriver came off I had the bit of round bar that I really wanted to drive the old handle out with and it was only a matter of moments before that eventuated. The new handle went in fine and will do a great job. I'm sure I could have bought a new shovel for less than the cost of my time though.

Taekwond Grading - The Boy Is A Second Gup

This morning the Boy had a grading at taekwondo. It didn't start too well as he forgot to bring his gloves which are a compulsory item of attire. Warm-up was okay and he seemed to remember his patterns fairly well.

Into the grading and he was a little lost in taeguk five. Taeguk six and taeguk seven were pretty good though. His ho shin seul, or self defence, were ok too. Breaking boards was a bit pathetic as he's not that powerful.

Still, a pass is a pass. Two tips on the red belt now so look out black belts (in a few years).

Went to Dome in South Perth for lunch followed by a long walk along the foreshore, which the council is ripping up in many places to install beaches (of all things - don't these people know anything about geography?), and the Boy spent his time riding his new scooter. It's nice to have him out of earshot for a while. He comes back though. He he.

Back home and I did some repairs to the gutter out the front of the house followed by a kick of football in the park with the Boy. Then it was bulgogi for tea - it is Sunday after all.

Quiet Sunday Afternoon

This three day weekend was a most welcome and unusual one. I normally have a day and a half off and it's usually spent rushing around. Friday was pretty full-on with Anzac Day but Saturday was a bit more relaxed.

We went shopping together in the morning and ended up buying another electric toothbrush. Our old one is long in the tooth, if you'll pardon the expression, as it is about nine years old. Bought a super-duper whiz-bang one, with a free hand set, in Myer. They had it on special but I found another shop where it was on sale for $20 cheaper and got them to do a price match. The MyerOne points made the choice for place of purchase.

Saturday afternoon saw me prepare the bathroom for painting. Gee, it took ages just to put the masking tape around the ceiling cornice in preparation and then Miky made a lovely Korean seafood pancake for lunch which interrupted proceedings (nicely). She took the boy off to taekwondo and I did the painting. Once it was finished and I'd cleaned up even though I wanted to watch the football or jump on the computer I controlled myself and cleaned the house.

Sunday, after a sleep-in (I'm a sleep-deprived person [of my own doing]), the boy and I had a Weetbix eating competition. Well, not really, but I made him have cereal for breakfast as all he ever wants is toast and that's not great brain food. He actually started off with a banana and then ate six Weetbix. Yes, six. Scrawny little bugger he is and he managed to put them away. I had eight for breakfast which was a bit of a struggle. I used to have 10 for brekkie. After breakfast we went across the road to kick the football. About 20-25 minutes later I decided that a walk along the wetlands through the bush would be a good idea. Yu-Jin really enjoyed that and just as we finished mum joined us. So we showed her our new walk and that started the ball rolling. She decided that a walk through the wetlands would be a good idea. It was thoroughly enjoyed and talk of bushwalking came about. Maybe next weekend we'll drive up into the hills and do some bushwalking followed by a picnic.

Back home I cooked a BBQ lunch and watched some footy whilst the other two watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which was taped from the night before. Finished reading the Sunday newspaper, which is a rarity in itself and joined them.

Sunday night is bulgogi night so we kept that tradition going followed by viewing So You Think You Can Dance Australia grand final. I'm a bit of a homophobe but I was very disappointed to see that Rhys didn't win and only came runner-up. He's a superb dancer who lives for his art and has captured the imagination of many over the last three months. Maybe the Rainbow vote isn't as strong as everyone would have us believe. Jack is a worthy winner however.

Gardening To Finish Off The Weekend

I didn't work this Saturday. Instead, I took the boy to his music classes and we did the fruit and veg shopping together. Then we met Miky at Myer before going home for lunch. Off to taekwondo before meeting Miky again to choose some DVDs to watch. We chose Unknown for us and Ice Age 2 for the boy. Not a bad movie and we didn't know anything about it except for the three lines on the back of the DVD packet. Nice way to watch a movie, sometimes. No expectation 'n all. Not a bad movie either. I noticed the lead actor's name, Jim Caviezel, but I couldn't tell you which other movies he's starred in. After the movie had finished we turned over to the TV and Terminator 2 was on. I don't know why but we found ourselves watching it until the early hours. I love the movie though. Any movie with Arnie in it is a good reason to watch.

This morning saw the start of daylight savings. So, after a late night it is easy to imagine that we were slow to get started. Following breakfast and a quick read of the paper Yu-Jin and I went to the driving range at Whaleback Golf Club. He wanted to go to the second storey and, as I had done so before, we did. Very different feeling to be teeing off about 4-5 metres above the ground. I gave the boy a few balls to hit. After that we tried out the putting green and he's quite competitive there followed by the bunker. There is a pitching green and that's probably Yu-Jin's strength. He did quite well on occasion.

Back home I put together some lunch and a water play set. He had the most fun by filling up the lock and then removing the sluice gate to act like a tsunami.

Similar to our play set but we have a crane as well.

Then we went to Bunnings to buy some hedges. A couple of weeks ago we turned the soil out the front and emptied our compost bin contents into it. It was time to plant something and we agreed on a particular hedge that will grow up to three metres tall. My job was to plant it after mixing more compost into the soil. Don't think I've done too bad a job, do you?

Hedge row pre-planting.

Hedge row post-planting.

What Use Are Flying Ants?

You may have asked yourself the question, "What good are flying ants?" I've pondered that from time to time. Well, they are great for keeping juniors entertained. Give the a jar and a water pistol and they'll shoot them down and collect them. The boy had his best friend stay over on Saturday night seeing as the holidays were ending. Miky went out for a birthday party that night, but not before making yummy hamburgers, so we had a nice tea together. The boys actually wanted to have a bath together and that kept them busy for at least half an hour.

That night the boys went to bed late and by about 5:30 they were up and playing Monopoly. Strange thing to do for that time of the morning.

Next day we went to Emma's Seafood Restaurant. It's a Chinese place in Vic Park and they serve quite nice dim sum. Every two minutes a trolley goes past and they offer more food. We had fried squid, dumplings, sardines, scallops and a few other food items that I probably don't want to know the name of. But it was quite tasty food. Only problem was you had no idea how much each item cost. Great lunch though and I'd definitely go back.

After lunch the boy and I went to the pool and had a good time. We met up with some people from taekwondo and Yu-Jin mucked around with the kids for a good 45 minutes. Nice way to spend the afternoon.

Not Much Time For Anything On The Weekend

Busy as usual on the weekend. Work, taekwondo and soccer in the park. The boy and I went to Curtin Uni's Open Day on Sunday for a look after having a takeaway lunch from the Dumpling King. There are usually lots of things that interest the kids. I did want to catch up with a friend who has just had another kid but with the weather the way it was decided against that. I didn't wish to put them through that. We went to the physiotherapy department first and they showed Yu-Jin how to use a sling to train damaged leg muscles and then he had a go in a wheelchair. He thought it was great fun and commented, "I want to buy one of these." There was a balance test available and we competed against each other. Pretty well matched, we were. There was also a skeleton to dismantle and reassemble with the bonus of a lecturer to talk to. Managed to find out what happened to my back when playing football in England.

In the next room they had a spirograph for measuring your lung capacity. My lungs are four times the size of the boy's but that just goes to show that I'm a blowhard. Perhaps the most exciting experiment was attaching electrodes to our arm and watching our hands rise and fall without us doing anything. That was a bit freaky.

Just before the day finished we visited the psychology department and had a look at a Mueller-Lyer experiment. The link is a slightly different experiment to the one given to us but interesting all the same.

Back home and we had a game of Monopoly. Need to get a few more players as it's not as much fun with only two of us.

Whole Weekend To Ourselves

It was a bit of a strange weekend as I didn’t go to work and Miky had very little to do either. So I took the opportunity to spend a little time with the boy. I attended his music class on Saturday morning and then we went to the city to go to the Gallery of Western Australia and view the Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre: journey to the Afterlife. There were lots of amulets, limestone tablets, statues, a few sarcophagi, and papyrus from the Book of the Dead on display. Worth the look, and probably the expense, and it kept the boy interested. Unfortunately the only mummy on display was a cat. I can understand that the Louvre would have to keep its best exhibits in Paris but I think it cost me less to visit the Louvre in 1994 than to see a part of its Egyptian collection in Perth. Figure that one out.

After the Egyptian display we had a look at the paintings in the gallery. I was surprised that Yu-Jin was interested enough to see them and he told me how mum had taken to see the paintings. Then we had lunch at KFC before catching a bus to go to taekwondo training. Mum picked us up so that we could do the shopping. That night we watched the Bourne Identity together - very exciting stuff for the boy. It was nice to have a day off.

Sunday morning. Clean up the house, do the fruit and veg shopping, hang a mirror in the sun room, put up some hooks in the boy's room followed by watching the footy - Fremantle vs Essendon. Bummer, we went down by 63 points. I'm slightly glad that I was unable to get tickets for the match. After that we went to the Kim Chee House in Northbridge for tea. It was quite busy and although the food was nice it just wasn't up to the standard of Senoji in Vic Park. When we got home we sat in the car for a while and listened to the radio. There was some nice music on and it was a nice, relaxing way to finish the weekend.

Where Does The Weekend Go?

Saturday morning did see a bit of excitement with that accident. The boy had a birthday party to go to just after lunch. Once again it was at Jungle Gym in Willeton. We haven't seen the family of his best friend since last school holidays. He had a good time but during the meal the boys were only interested in burping and farting. Seven year olds. Later that night we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant in Vic Park - Senoji. The kangaroo that Yu-Jin and I had was fabulous.

Jungle Gym in Willeton

Another pic of Jungle Gym


Sunday morning saw us fruit and veg shopping in Subi. And who should we bump into but the birthday family from yesterday. Then the boy and I went to Auskick in Riverton to see if he would like to play. Yes, was the answer. Back home for lunch and to clean the house. Following that we headed off to Belmont to watch a taekwondo tournament. We knew a few of the competitors who ended up winning trophies. There were some great skills on display and a few poor fighting techniques. Good for Yu-Jin to see what goes on. I managed to stay up to watch the first set of the men's final at Wimbledon. It was the first time I'd seen any tennis as the tv coverage is abysmal in Australia. Shame on you Channel 9 for ruining one of the world's major sporting events.

I didn't get time to read more than a few pages of the sports section in the paper. The weekend just goes.

It's Safer To Work On Weekends

This last weekend was about the first one I haven't worked since the start of the year. When I look back on that that's impressive. But it doesn't come without its pitfalls.

First of all, I had to drop Miky's car off at the garage to get four new tyres and to change the brakes on the front. Then it was off to Junior Music School for Yu-Jin. I haven't been before so that was worth a look. Then off to IKEA to spend copious amounts of money that I wouldn't be earning that day. Never fails. I love shopping at IKEA apart from the money we spend. Before heading home we did the fruit and vegie shopping.

Pick up the car just before two o'clock and pay the sky-high bill, but it was what I was expecting. Straight off to taekwondo class. Later that night Yu-Jin and I played computer games for three hours together.

Sunday morning - we boys went for a nice bike ride and to pick up the paper. Seeing as I was home Miky got me to remove two screen doors that aren't required anymore and a screen over the kitchen window. It certainly lets a bit more light into the place and tidies it up somewhat. Greens collection starts today so I dragged some cuttings out the front. Off to Bunnings to get some slabs of concrete for the front and a couple of boards to make a folding table for Miky to do her fashion gear on. Upon returning the trailer I discovered that they had shut the gate so it took a while to get inside and drop the trailer off. After that the boy and I went to the park and visited a little boy's house to see if he wanted to play, only to find out that it was his grandparent's place and he wasn't there at the time. So we played in the park before heading home for tea.

I need to return to work for a rest.