A Special Celebration

A few days ago Bruce & I celebrated our 40th anniversary. Wow! Ten years PK (pre kids), developing our careers, 25 years nurturing, feeding and schooling Hayden & Evan and 5 years downsizing and learning to retire. We met travelling and have loved every opportunity to travel since.

When we made plans for our adventure to Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan we didn’t wrap it around this celebration – instead we decided to make the most of where we were. Of course there was no need for gifts, this adventure is as good a way to celebrate our life together as any.

The day started with a luscious, creamy cake from our tour operator Lillian from Novaland. After a token taste in the morning we managed to finish more than half the cake before leaving Seoul. I hope the staff at the SunBee Hotel enjoy finishing it off.  Thank you, Lillian.

It was business as usual during the day – the Jongmyo Shrine, a walk along Cheonggyecheon Stream, a photo opportunity of the amazing City Hall and a visit to Deoksugung Palace, finally braving the Korean underground to return to the hotel to freshen up.

The local tourist office recommended the SamcheongGak Restaurant. It was built in the 70s and is famous as a diplomatic and political meeting place, particularly during attempts to reconcile the north and the south of the country.

We chose a fixed menu that didn’t seem to offer too many of the truly Korean delicacies such as octopus jelly and fermented fish. It was an amazing experience to try all the foods offered in 12 courses, washed down with rice wine.

A celebration hard to beat!

 

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On the road again

With thanks to Willie Nelson, we are singing our favourite song, again…

Goin’ places that I’ve never been.
Seein’ things that I may never see again
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again

Six weeks exploring South Korea and Japan, with a quick reconnoiter in Hong Kong en route.  Currently we are in Seoul – an amazing, modern city with patches of old streets, temples and gardens giving relief to the tall buildings.

I’ve added a new menu The Orient 2013, and will add pics as I can.  Bruce will also be blogging and adding some of his amazing pics.

And our adventures of last year as nomads has been relegated to the travelling menu.

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I have a new toy

In anticipation of a new adventure I have lashed out and treated myself to a new camera. The Panasonic has done well, but now is 5+ years old and lacks a few features I admire in Bruce’s photography.

I chose the Sony DSC-HX300, a “bridge” camera.  The lens is fixed but has a whopping 50x optical zoom.  It has a tiltable LCD and a viewfinder.  There are nearly a million options for fancy photography, which I may never use, but I have had fun experimenting.  Here are a few of my first shots.

NOTE: Update in 2025 – the camera is now discontinued – but here is a link that may work, to it.

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A Winter Solstice Walk

It’s hard to beat a walk along the beach on a crisp and clear winter’s day.  Today we walked from Sandy to Brighton Baths, and back – a 10 km walk.

Birds of all types were out – dive bombing fish, drying wings and hunting for small rodents.  The black swans were sunning themselves.

The iconic bathing boxes, or as the tourists call them “the little coloured houses”, were bright and charming.

Brighton Bathing Boxes

Brighton Bathing Boxes, AKA the little coloured houses

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Help @ Thea

Some time ago, when I was helping people with computing, the phrase “Help @ Thea” began.  I sat somewhere between an email address and “two apples @ tuppence each”.  My aim was to assist ordinary people gain computer literacy.

Well, I have revitalised Help @ Thea as the working web site for my consultancy.  From there I am promoting myself to help people make better use of their computers.  This comes in a number of forms:

  • One-on-one assistance in using computers (how to back up, how to find a file, how to make more space, how to send smarter emails, how to manage photos).
  • Building web sites, using the WordPress framework for blogging or small business.  This might include help to register and host a web site.
  • Finding a special way to send a special greeting for a special celebration.

If you visit Help @ Thea, you may find the look and feel of my own web site is constantly changing – as well as promoting my consultancy, it is actually an experimental platform, an opportunity to find better ways to do things.

Be brave, go there!

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WordCamp 2013, in Melbourne

I'm Attending WordCamp Melbourne 2013
I am really enjoying developing web sites in WordPress.  I have a couple of projects on the go at the moment, and will share them with you when they are up and running.

So, Bruce & I have decided to go to WordCamp and learn more about what we can do in WordPress.

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Happy Birthday Sally

It was delightful to return home and be reunited with Sally.  We are so fortunate to have found some special people who took Sally in and treated her with such love and care.  Sally thrived and at first wasn’t really sure about coming home with us.

It seemed fitting that our new friends Helen & Doug should share Sally’s 16th birthday celebration.  Sally was very happy to have them back, as well.

Happy Birthday Sally

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We are Home and Connected!

We arrived home in time to spend a few days with Ev & Steph before they departed for a six week jaunt in Brazil.  Now we are on Bott (the turtle) feeding duty.  He is always so pleased to see us.

We moved back to our apartment, found the clothes we’d packed away and started filling the pantry.  When we were ready, we reunited with Sally and she looked wonderful.  She is in great condition for a 16 year old dog, and is now settling back into the Stainsby routine.

The hardest task has been connecting to the internet.  A frustrating 16 days where Telstra

  • sold one bundle of phone, internet and Foxtel to us and then told us they had discontinued it,
  • tried to connect us to cable, although it is not available in our building and I had ordered ADSL,
  • couldn’t get our address right
  • and then installed a faulty modem.

A lot of precious time was wasted as I repeated my full name and my date of birth to countless representatives spread around the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  A communications monolith that cannot communicate.  Grrrrrrrr

I am loving catching up with friends and family – it means lots of coffee and/or wine!

So watch this space, as we have an upcoming project and more touring planned.

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The Last Supper

We cooked our last meal in our little apartment in Badalona. We bought salmon from our favourite local fish shop and tried to say good bye.  We finished the rice, the olive oil from Granada, the vinegar, cracked black pepper and Spanish paprika. We also used the last of the bay leaves from Lleida, the rosemary from Park Güell and the thyme from Aix-en-Provence.

I have enjoyed scouring public gardens and parks for fresh herbs – they always taste better.

Now it is just stuffing everything into our bags for the last journey home.

Our fish shop friends say good bye.

Our fish shop friends say good bye.

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Spain for Every Body

Spain, especially Catalunya, cares for every one of its nationals. They especially care for their disabled people. Every underground station has a lift.

Every “Servicios” toilet facility has at least one cubicle suitable for the disabled. And then there is always a baby change table. No matter what the condition of the conveniences are.

Beaches have special water friendly, floating wheel chairs and a board walk down to the water. Volunteers are on hand to help.

Wherever there are steps there is also a ramp. Every car park has well located reserved spaces for people with disabilities.

We frequently see young people with a group of disabled people, leading them out on an adventure.

I am overawed by the consideration given to all it’s people in a country that has struggled with civil unrest and is now struggling with an enormous debt.

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