30.10.2025 Thursday - highlights of the trip

Favourite places with my favourite person - g despite all the exciting new things and people whom we enjoyed meeting on this trip - the ones that come immediately are the ones I share with Sam. Whether it is a place, like the new Anzac Memorial where she made a bouquet for me, when I was looking for sticks to make into drawing tools, or National Art Gallery where we often spent our university Sundays. Often it is the impromptu pauses along our journey 'aimless wandering' that are the confirms how much our thoughts and feelings; to save the chilli from her Spicy Magarita to cook with dinner that night, and you made me a bouquet when I was simply for sticks to sketch with.

22.10.2025 Wednesday - late afternoon flight

 

5.3.2025 Wednesday - Melbourne. Singapore. Kuching

Sam wakes early to cook up a few days of breakfast for amah; stuff she finds in the fridge is  cooked into a Korean style Bachan (small dishes) for her breakfast in the coming days. Kim-Louie (amah) has been living on her own for 21 years since her husband David died. She is Penang-Chinese from BM, but in the years spent here she has adapted herself well in the local culture. She eats her rice with a fork (much to the dismay of Lena) and says 'yea' with a slight Aussie accent. She is mobile for 82 years, she drives to the local supermarket and takes part in weekly trips to the 'Crown' for pokies, outing with her local community group for lunches in the country, to flower shows  and farmers' markets. She attends the local Catholic church and solves jigsaw puzzles on her iPad (addicted like a teenager to computer games).

At 10 am Lena drives us to the airport, we think one of our bags is over the weight limit, but Sam is good at solving this. My backpack gets heavier..I want a meat pie before we depart Australia, but no luck, and no food until we reach Kuching. It has been raining heavily and everything is a little gloomy, a bit of a let down from the past 9 days - but it is expected. I am looking forward to work tomorrow and have a early night (probably due to the the time difference in Australia).