It's a beautiful Australian summer day, don't let it get away.

After the celebrations in Melbourne, we headed off on another  road trip in the countryside, this time touring Mornington Peninsula and the Bellarine.
Happily this summer, we escaped the seasonal heatwave. It was cool & bright in the day with clear star-filled skies at night. There was the occasional passing shower in the afternoon, light enough to brave a quick stroll & simply refreshing for the foliage & birdlife.

Theresa planned one early morning to see the Ashcombe Lavender Gardens, which was conveniently close by to picturesque Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula. Looking back at our albums of colourful pictures, we realised that we had instinctively captured yet another beautiful day, filled with beautiful moments recorded forever on digital "film".

A convenient car ferry allowed us to explore the Bellarine Peninsula across the Bass Straits where the boys enjoyed exploring the lovely secluded beaches of Point Lonsdale and the touristy town of Queenscliff. Our home for 2 nights was a boutique hotel called "Lonsdale Views", set on 200 acres of farm & conservation land by the sea. It gave us the comfort of modern amenities (including a private indoor heated pool & jacuzzi, fed by its own underground thermal spring) in an idyllic countryside setting. Special thanks must go to Michael Hanley, the property manager who conceived & created this unique hotel feature.

Needless to say, this Australian equivalent of Japanese onsen baths was popular with everyone and the hotel's full-size billiards table also gave hours of competitive fun for the boys. Just 10 minutes' drive away, our hotel manageress Claire, had recommended "Bellarine Adventure Golf" for everyone to play. This proved to be another highlight of our trip as minigolf putting is our perennial favourite pastime & we found it cleverly crafted with ingenious sand & water traps and surprises at every hole.

Dinner Plain alpine village, Victoria, Australia

Just imagine an alpine high plain within 6 hours' drive from Melbourne. Snow Gum tree-lined tracks covered with 1 metre of fresh powder snow, unlike any ordinary snowscape elsewhere on Earth. That was our dream come true last week when we decided to do a winter ski holiday up on Dinner Plain, Victoria high country with Calvin, who's currently studying design & architecture in Melbourne's RMIT.

Daryl, our second son took a week off work (in insurance/financial planning) to bond with us in the snow. We had mandatory snowball fights, snowman & snow sculptures while Theresa was game enough to join the 2 brothers in learning how to ski, further up on Mt Hotham.

Renting our 3 nights' accommodation in a cosy chalet house at Peppers Rundells Alpine Lodge was value-for-money. It came with a wood-burning fireplace, full-fledged kitchen, washer & dryer, plus ample room and privacy for everyone. We even had snow shovelling equipment, reminiscent of our first white Christmas, 20 over years ago in Boston.

Mount Hotham, Australia

In life, we can plot and plan for success but there's always serendipity and a silver lining behind every dark cloud (pun intended!). Booking the hotel 6 months ahead was the easy part. However guaranteeing snow is really 90% serendipity. As luck would have it, a powerful blizzard piled on the best snow for Mt Hotham in decades.

We were initially complacent about booking ski lessons ahead of time, so when Dinner Plain's schedule was completely sold-out, we decided to hop on the 10-minute bus up the mountain and check out private beginners' class at Hotham Central.

So the silver lining was a special private session for the boys while Mum joined in for no extra charge! Our ski instructor, Jarrad, was ever-patient with us first-timers and at the end of 4 hours' coaching, each boy was confident enough to take to the higher slopes via chairlift.

Springtime in Kyoto, Japan & Hanami

Spring anywhere is always a season for celebration. But especially in Japan, "Hanami" or the happy ritual of cherry blossom viewing is unique and Theresa was ecstatic from Day 1 when we started chasing the blossoms from the valleys of Kyoto and Nara to the mountain regions of Honshu; namely Yoshinoyama, Takayama and finally, the alpine lake region around Mt Fuji, basing ourselves at Kawaguchiko.

This year, tourists and locals alike were relieved to observe that the sakura blooming season was right on schedule, unlike 2013 when it started a fortnight too early (and blooms usually last only 10 days!).

Theresa chose Kyoto over Tokyo for the simple fact that the old capital has lots more history and old architecture. This was all the more poignant when she did her geisha make-over in the historic quarter of Gion district, and was able to stroll alongside the old canal and narrow streets of yore.

Nara and Osaka

 

Although most visitors to Nara take home memories of the cute and not-so-docile deer (they can head-butt & bite!), the city is most significant in keeping alive its past heritage , both in politics as well as religion.

The Todaiji Temple for example is reputedly the largest known wooden structure in Japan, housing the biggest bronze statue of the Buddha. Intrepid tourists of course will take up the challenge of crawling through a tiny hole in a temple support pillar, hoping to succeed & reach nirvana. Theresa just had to prove that she could squeeze through and have me document her achievement.

We only planned a daytrip to see Osaka Castle and chose to join the many Japanese families having their hanami parties on a cool, bright & sunny weekend. It was a day well spent as the somei yoshino cherry trees around the castle grounds were in full bloom.

Mt Yoshinoyama, in Nara prefecture

Imagine, a whole mountainside planted with more than 30,000 yamazakura cherry trees, blossoming in various stages. No wonder it has been voted the best cherry blossom viewing spot in all of Japan. Even so, you'd find very few tourists flocking here from overseas for the simple reason that it's relatively inaccessible.

Luckily for us, we managed to book accommodations in nearby Kashihara and travel on the Kintetsu rail system that mandates a train change at Kashiharajingumae Station for the dedicated Yoshino Line. Logistics aside, we had to prepare our gear beforehand as the fickle mountain weather tested our ability to dress in layers and read the hourly weather forecast in order to dodge the rain (mostly in the afternoons). We also visited the famous Kinpusenji Temple on Yoshinoyama, an UNESCO world heritage site. Dark pink cherry blossoms were on display, much to Theresa's delight.

Takayama, Northern Japanese Alps

They say that Takayama is famous for its sense of history, being timber-rich and known for its gastronomic specialty of Hida beef. We found it both to be true by wandering through its old town streets (thus called Little Kyoto) lined with quaint soot-blackened cedar wood shops, and restaurants selling delicious Hida beef in all its various presentations. Over 5 days and 5 nights, we tried grilled, hot-pot and dumpling styles, all heavenly in taste.

It was also easy to take daytrips by local bus to iconic places like the Shirakawa-go farmhouse region (UNESCO world heritage site). In the Ogimachi Village we entered historic Wada House which has been the residence of the Wada family for 300 years. These village houses are constructed in the architectural style known as Gasshō-zukuri, characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer, to withstand the heavy snowfalls in winter.

Another day was spent on the snowfields of Mt Hotaka. This entailed a 2-hour bus ride from Takayama Station to the base of the Shinhotaka Ropeway, Japan's only double-storey cable-car. We had enormous fun trekking through thick fresh snow under a startlingly blue sky.

Lake Kawaguchiko in the Mt Fuji five-lake region

This is the best-known lake amongst the five (Saiko, Motosuko, Shojiko, and Yamanakako making up the rest). By train, Kawaguchiko is easily reached by the local Fujikyu Rail system, as well as seasonal express bus services during sakura and "moss phlox" viewing.

We hired a car after hopping off the train at Kawaguchiko Station. This allowed us to change our driving plans according to the weather and compare / contrast all 5 lakes nestled at the foot of Mt Fuji. Each lake had a unique flavor, even as we visited on consecutive days, ever-changing with the mountain weather system.

Some area highlights include the scenic 400-step climb up to Chureito Pagoda with Mt Fuji in the background. Theresa was also enthralled by the late-blooming pink yaebeni weeping cherry blossoms along the lakeshore of Kawaguchiko.

Great Ocean Road & the Grampians

 

Last December, we decided to do a family vacation over 2 weeks in Victoria, Australia. This time our itinerary took in the famous penguin parade on Phillip Island to the south of Melbourne, then connected to the Great Ocean Road (GOR) by way of a remarkably efficient (and safe) car ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff.

Along the GOR, we went as far as the seaside town of Warrnambool before turning inland into the mountain region called the Grampians. The beauty about self-drive holidays is the ability to stop anywhere along the way to take in the wonders of Nature. Thus, we were lucky enough to spot wild koalas in the tree canopy on the Otway Cape and a koala mother & baby(on piggy-back) crossing a country road en route to Halls Gap, Grampians.

After hiking the Grampians, we had an interesting one-night stopover in Ballarat on our way back to Melbourne. 30 years ago on our honeymoon, we had no luck panning for gold. This round, we learnt the right technique and caught gold fever in the old mining town on Sovereign Hill. We also had time to gawk at real gold artefacts in the amazing Gold Museum.

Glacier National Park, Montana

It must have been the call of the mountains again. This year, Theresa & I decided to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary by doing a drive-cum-hiking trip in Montana & Wyoming. Starting out in West Glacier, we drove 2000 miles over 3 weeks through some of the most scenic byways in North America.

June is early summer in the northern hemisphere. We wanted to see gushing rivers & full waterfalls from winter snowmelt, spring flowers & wildlife, while avoiding the summer crowds. Conversely, we were expecting unstable weather.

Guess we lucked out ! Have a look at our picture albums (links in the sidebar). The heavens looked kindly upon us as we chased the sunshine & hiked to Avalanche Lake (at left) & Running Eagle Falls (on the right).

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming





Yellowstone. Imagine a super-volcano with the world's largest collection of geysers & thermal features. Bison "jams" holding up traffic. Hundreds of species of flora & fauna inhabiting a vast, wild landscape.

Ancient tribes of Native American Indians had discovered this magical place 11,000 years ago & it became the first national park in the world in 1872. This June, we joined early-season visitors in celebrating the great outdoors in Yellowstone.

We last visited the Park with our boys then aged 10 & 12 years old, in the year 2000. There was a great fire in 1988 and a quarter of a century has since passed. We are happy to confirm for everyone that the lodgepole pine forests have regenerated very well. Such is the wonder of  Nature.

The Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park lies just south of Yellowstone. Yet it has a dramatically different geography. Lofty peaks seem to rise vertically up from the valley floor & dominate the landscape. Tectonic plate shifts over a 40-mile long fault line is still dropping the valley & pushing up the peaks.
As a result, there are numerous scenic lookouts like the Snake River Overlook and challenging trails like our hike into the Cascade Canyon.

"Buffalo Bill" Cody, Wyoming

We planned to explore the nearby scenic Chief Joseph & Beartooth Highways, by staying 3 nights in Cody. As things panned out, we also found time to visit the impressive Buffalo Bill Historical Center & the re-constructed Old Trail Town (do visit picture albums in sidebar).

Cody started out as a small frontier town. It was named after William Frederick Cody, who envisioned it as the perfect eastern gateway to Yellowstone. Larger than life, he was credited with romanticising the American Wild West through his famous travelling shows.

Theresa & The Crimson Sunbird

In July last year,  while hiking our usual forest trail in MacRitchie, we encountered a magical bird of Singapore - an adult male of the Crimson Sunbird species, Aethopyga siparaja.  He posed for us for exactly 1 minute in a shrub of tapioca plants, while delicately sipping nectar from the tapioca blossoms.

Resplendent in his scarlet red, black & grey feathers, speckled with white, some even declare that he's the national bird of Singapore. Indeed, it was fortuitous that we spotted him just a month before our National Day.

 

Yesterday, after lengthening our route to a grand total of 15 km over 4 hours, we were rewarded towards the end by another sighting of Mr Sunbird.

For this, full credit must go to my wife, Theresa. Just as every marksman is well-served by an eagle-eyed spotter, on numerous outdoor adventures, her keen eyesight & woman's intuition have pointed my camera in the right direction. On occasions, she has even taken over the camera, freezing her own breathless moments of beauty like this yellow Oriole & pretty Honolulu blooms in & around our garden-in-the-sky.

Anyway, after hiking the same trail almost every Sunday since climbing Mt Kinabalu together in 2010, we're grown to appreciate the simple joys of Nature. Rain or shine, my trusty Panasonic camera is always with me, for just such moments that take our breath away.

Spirit of Clubmed on Bintan Island

It's amazing how a short ferry ride across blue-green waters can transport you from Singapore to a tropical island paradise. For romantic couples as well as families with children, the Clubmed resort on Bintan Island tries hard to maintain that image.

Over the years, it has somehow managed to fulfill that promise for us. Our 2 sons will always remember our previous family vacations filled with sea, sun & indoor sporting activities complemented with good food & wholesome entertainment. Most times, success must be credited to the Clubmed culture of a young & vibrant team of "GOs" or gracious organisers, and a village chief, who leads by example!

Last weekend, Theresa & I sneaked off to Clubmed Bintan by ourselves, where Mike & his wonderful team gave us our best vacation ever. Theresa was particularly impressed by Syera who served us in the Boutique gift shop. She also led in a traditional dance the first night & proceeded to charm us into modelling their latest sportswear on stage the second night.

On the third night, we were destined to be re-acquainted with their resident musician, Buddy. In celebration, we teamed up to sing a duet as guest entertainers after the usual night show. For Theresa, it was also her chance to take on her stage name Sayuri, singing in public with live accompaniement for an appreciative audience ! After warming up the mike, we were in the mood for some freestyle dancing well past midnight.

Amongst the many talented GOs, we will remember Marco fondly, who loved being in the limelight as the new in-house comedian, alongside Clubmed's resident clown Tam-Tam, who just happens to be the Restaurant Manager in the resort. Talk about wearing many hats ...

Life's A Scenic Adventure

Earlier in March this year, we did more adventuring in Kinabalu, hiking its cool trails around the Park Headquarters with its pleasant temperature range of 15 - 24 degrees C (all year round). There was no pressure this time round to summit the mountain & we planned our hikes to last from 2 to 4 hours. Theresa & I enjoyed the scenic Liwagu Trail the most as we started it upriver near the Timpohon Gate & followed its steep-sided descent to the HQ. Even though we finished it mid-afternoon in drenching rain, we were prepared with raincoats & headlamps, which made it all the more exciting! If you click on our Picasa album in the sidebar, you can see what other adventures we enjoyed in Sabah.

Family Time

When our boys were growing up through their childhood & teenage years, my wife Theresa & I aspired to keep 2 simple promises. A happy home to grow up in, and a broad education.

As a family, we were privileged to have lived abroad in Boston in the last year of my specialist training with the National Skin Centre, Singapore. While I did lab research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Theresa, with initial help from visiting grandparents, gave Calvin & Daryl a carefree childhood. There were no classes in Montessori "early education", or special Math & Science "enrichment". Instead, there was lots of learning through play & each weekend, we planned for little driving adventures in the beautiful New England countryside.

Back home in Singapore, they had more contact time with doting grandparents while we introduced them to creative art, drawing, piano music, swimming, martial arts and all manner of ball games. There was time to fly kites & model aeroplanes and lots of freeplay inbetween. Honestly, on thinking back, parenthood was a truly enjoyable time for us.

Having appreciated the great outdoors in America, we've also taken the boys on leisurely family vacations back to various parts of North America. Of course there were the enchanting excursions to man-made theme parks like Disneyland & Universal Studios but we specially enjoyed rustic road trips through giant redwood forests and across great deserts, to see spectacular mountain ranges, canyons, geysers, rivers, waterfalls & lakes. I didn't realise then that the mountains were beckoning to Theresa. She had always harboured a secret childhood passion to climb a mountain peak & only years later did it become a reality.

Today, we're glad to see Calvin fulfilling his ambition to become an architect in Melbourne and Daryl finishing an exciting officer cadet training course in the airforce. Whether it be Theresa summiting Mt Kinabalu in 2008 & 2010, Calvin aceing his architecture programme or Daryl aiming to be a pilot-officer, I sincerely believe it's what the good professor, Randy Pausch prescribed in his Last Lecture (please see my previous post), chasing our childhood dreams.

It's nice that Theresa & I now have more couple-time for our own pleasurable pursuits. Like Latin dance, movie dates, regular nature hikes in MacRitchie forest and planning for more adventuresome trekking abroad. We'd like to think of Life as one great scenic drive; taking the time to smell the roses along the way, making happy memories together. Call it our joie de vivre.