Share Four Somethings - April

 Things I've loved and/or disliked We missed Bluesfest this year (which I disliked) because it didn't fall in school holidays so seemed too expensive when we couldn't go for the whole thing. However, we had points to go to Melbourne and a free night in a hotel on points so I loved going down to see Blind Boys of Alabama wiith my husband for a fleeting night away. It's been a long time we've had a night without the kids so it was a real luxury. We left and lunch and were back about 26 hours later so it really was short but sensational.

I'm sharing this song with Tom Jones at Bluesfest (which we missed) but ironically, the reason we had to go to Melbroune to catch the Blind Boys was because their Sydney gig clashed with Tom Jones and we were at that).

Things I've accomplished I don't feel I've accomplished very much. I did write and submit a story but it didn't go anywhere. I got work stuff done but not as much exercise and not really got on top of things as I would have liked to. Too much travel and fun so can't complain...

Some things need improvement I need to watch what I'm eating and exercise more. I need to organise my time better as I seem to always be playing catch up after losing a day to visit family members. 

Things I've noticed Singapore has a population of 5 million people and 55 Michilen Star restaurants, and Australia has none (which doesn't mean we don't have good restaurants, they just don't cover us). But how do so many restaurants survive with such a small population? Our restaurants seem to be still struggling after COVID years and cost of living and interest rates squeeze...theirs are packed, for multiple sittings?

A very short #ShareFourSomethings this month. What have you loved or disliked? What's been going on for you?

What's been on my calendar? Ultra!

My Christmas present was to head down to Melbourne with a friend for Ultra, to see Steve Aoki. With much fear of having to cancel it due to COVID like last year's treat, I was delighted when I finally made it on the plane. 

We went straight to lunch at Supernormal for their sensational food and a few cocktails before heading out to Flemington (as there's virtually nothing for me to drink at festivals - everything is too sweet or with Red Bull....Note to organisers, don't just have Pink Gin, it's disgusting!!). 

The Melbourne weather turned on a treat as did the DJs. But Aoki was even more delightful than I expected - a fun mix of cheesy and kooky. The cake thing, which I never really understood, now fills me with a burst of joy in my chest when I watch the clips, and a smile creeps onto my face involuntarily. 

I keep looking back at my videos of Aoki's set and I feel a wave of wellbeing and bonhomie. It begins in a little ball in my chest and then fans out, inching over my skin and moving up my neck to my cheeks. There's some muscle memory triggered, the warmth of the sun and the physical exhaustion* mixed in with the elation of dancing in a crowd. I can feel my cheeks redden. Being able to harness it at my finger tips is the best Christmas present ever.

*About 24km of the day's exersion was dancing and jumping. I was shattered by the time we headed for the hotel...but nothing a soak in the tub couldn't fix...

On Wednesday night, I went to the theatre and the play ended with Bella Ciao and I was telling my freinds what it was like to be in a crowd of thousands all singing in unison. It really felt like a revolutionary moment. Except we were just having a revolutionary good time! (I have since found out that April 25, while Anzac day for us, is the Day of Liberation from nazi Fascism and the symbolic song is Bella Ciao, a folk song of resistance and freedom). I've been humming it all day today and rewatching the clip.

My clip won't upload but you can see it here, about the 8th pic as you swipe along. 

So that's what's been on my calendar - and alas no music for a few weeks, alas. And no festivals probably until Harbourlife. Boo!

Note there are some swimsuits and shirtless gym guys so possibly NSFW....

Linking with #WBOYC

Now & Then

We returned to the Banyan Tree in Bintan for our 25th wedding anniversary. We had spent part of our honeymoon there all those years ago. 

It was really wonderful to go back, you couldn't help but reminisce as the location triggered a lot of memories that I don't think I would have remembered otherwise. The small insignificant ones, kooky and funny things we did or saw.

The photos 25 years ago were on a camera with film, so it was also interesting how few photos I took back then, or at least how few were good enough to make the album, compared to now, as I madly snap at anything that takes my fancy, always with my phone handy, if not my camera!

You can never go back, nor should you try but return visits are magical as it triggers memories of tiny details that would be lost. It was so worthwhile coming back, and I recommend return visits if possible - not for a re-enactment but the immersive recollection (also highlighting how things have changed, and how you have changed).

25 years doesn't feel like a long time, and in one way it isn't and in others it is. Seeing the change, and lack of change as well as the immersive trip down memory lane was such a wonderful way to celebrate all that happened since.

Linking with #WaterThursday #TravelTuesday #MCoW #WednesdayAroundtheWorld

Anzac Day

April 25th is Anzac Day, the national day of Remembrance in Australia for those who served and died in all wars and conflicts (or peace keeping missions).

The Ode to Remembrance, which is part of all services on Anzac day is part of a poem called For the Fallen, written by Laurence Binyon in 1914. The English poet worked as a medical orderly with the Red Cross on the Western Front. The poem was published in the newspaper in September, which shows you how much death & horror Binyon had seen in the first month of war. (WWI started July 28). For some reason that makes it all the more sadder to me. 

Lest we forget.

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#Allseasons linky runs from Thursday to Wednesday each week.

Link one post that shows something seasonal. Traditional weather wise, a seasonal nature marker or a seasonal celebration. 

Make sure you link back to this  #AllSeasons post. 

Please comment on the post before yours and the host. Don't dump and run

 

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Fly away

This is on one of the neighbourhood power boxes. Very beautiful work. It's a pretyy busy road so I couldn't get t the angle I needed to be (in the middle of the road) to get the shot straight...(or my brain is crooked, which I'm begining to wonder as often my shots need to be straightened!)

Anyway, I'm flying away for a bit, back around the 25th April. #Allseasons will return then.

Enjoy the holidays. Drive safely (and slowly, double demerits).

See you in a few weeks.

Will be on Insta here. 

Linking with #WWOT

“We project to others the image of ourselves that we believe and carry in our own minds. With humble pride think well of yourself and others will do the same.” -Cloudia Charters, Comfort Spiral

 A friend of mine is getting married. She’s had rough years of marriage breakdown and rebuilding a life as a single parent. She’s now met a lovely man and they are cementing a life together. She recently made a comment about losing weight before the wedding.

It got me wondering, how do we as mature women, having lived a full life and embarked on a menopausal journey, still be reduced to this? I am not immune. I was listening to a book on menopause for another post and while my symptoms are manageable, I did start to wonder if I should take HRT to shed the pounds that have decided at this stage of life to suddenly live around my middle. I did shake that idea away but I will admit I pondered it longer than I’m proud of.

Why do we still rarely see wrinkles in movies or a size 14 on tv? Why are all our achievements eclipsed by a few pounds in the ‘wrong’ places?

We are meant to be the guiding lights for our daughters, but I find I’m learning so much more from the younger generations than those that came before me.

I was at the Sumo when the host made a joke that was deemed a ‘fat’ joke and the audience quickly turned, making it clear it was unacceptable. The MC hastily back-peddled and I was a little proud at how far we have come in this mentality, at least when it comes to others. Or is it just when it comes to men?

I am exercising more and trying to eat more cautiously but most of all it’s my thought processes I’m trying to work on. I’ve been experimenting and whenever I wear a dress I think I’m a little too out of shape for, I almost always get a compliment from a stranger. 

Even at this ripe old age, what I see in the mirror is distorted by the beauty standards of my youth. Intellectually I understand this but over-riding the critical vision is much harder.

My question – who put it in there and why is it so hard to update?

As for my friend, I told her to enjoy the dress and she will look wonderful. Confidence is like make-up that covers up our flaws…

(This was a guest post written for & originally posted on #WWWhimsy)

Linking with #HappyNow #TheRandom TrafficJamReboot #WowonWednesday #ConfidentTwosday

Being watched...

I went back to the laneway with the Mows in it while in Melbourne. They are still there though a little altered. I'm not sure why the good art gets scribbled on but for some reason it does. I felt I was being watched and then looked down and saw this:

My favourite was this one - pleasing to the eye and my humour. And out of reach of the talentless defacers.

While this wasn't art, I feel it should be. Warding off intruders, both the artists and the birds.

Linking with #WWOAT #WordlessWednesday