Home sweet home

Short post to say that we're finally back home safe and sound in Brisbane. The flight back was a little bumpy and the bus trip from Queenstown to Christchurch was long but at least we got there in the end.



Can't tell you how happy we were to see that bus pull up in Queenstown. I think we'd have been royally stuffed if we had to try to cancel our flight and look for another plane to take us out of New Zealand in time.



Then we had to wake up at 3AM to catch our flight. Couple of bloodshot eyes at Christchurch Airport.

Now that we're home and somewhat settled it's a bit of a relief. Thanks to kind mums and dads for cleaning up the place and buying food for us to eat. Honeymoon pictures to follow once I get some rest and wade through all the photos.

We just lost the moon

Well our bus trip to Dunedin this morning turned out to be a fizzer. The road to Cromwell was closed once again due to icy conditions and things didn't seem likely to change today. We've therefore decided to scrap Dunedin off the trip and stay in Queenstown till Monday when we'll take a coach straight to Christchurch for our flight. The weather's a lot better today and all reports indicate that things will be clear by Monday. *fingers crossed*

The owner of the B&B we're staying in has been kind enough to give us a super low rate for the next couple of days so we won't have to find alternate accommodation thankfully. She even passed on a couple of DVDs for us to watch. I selected Peter Jackson's King Kong for our afternoon entertainment, geez that's three hours of my life that I'll never get back.

We're still having fun here in Queenstown and managed to pick up a pretty funky teapot in town for an NZ souvenir. Plan is to hang around town again tomorrow and maybe catch a movie at the cinema, my vote's for Pirates 3. We'll be pretty darn happy when we're back in Brisbane on Tuesday... hopefully.

Wedding Media

Stuck indoors with the cruddy weather outside so I figured I'd get moving on putting together the photos from the recent festivities. Haven't gotten around to writing captions yet but we plan to when we get a chance.

Tea Ceremony


Wedding


You can also browse the photos at a leisurely pace on our Picasa Web Album. Tea Ceremony available here and Wedding here.

Alison and I played a little photo montage after our speech at the wedding to say thank you to our beautiful parents. I've uploaded the file to youtube for a quick preview. I'd like to host the original AVI as well but Google Pages isn't being particularly cooperative at the moment.



Photos from the honeymoon will probably take a lot longer to get ready. I've already taken close to 1500 snaps of which hopefully a quarter will be salvageable. Lots of photoshop work lies ahead for me. :P

Derf's demise

I guess things were going too smoothly. We were having a nice day out driving to Glenorchy when a snow storm suddenly hit us with a vengeance. Since we were over half way out of Queenstown we figured it'd be best to try to make it on to our destination rather than turning around. The roads looked a little white but I'd figured that snow chains weren't needed yet. Oh the benefit of hindsight.

Coming down a slope our trusty Corolla lost traction and the brakes locked up. I did all I could and managed to turn the car away from the side wall but still ended up smacking into a road sign and the guard rails. We were pretty shaken even though it was really a rather slow crash. Thankfully someone came along the road in a four wheel drive and escorted us to Glenorchy. The frustrating thing was we were just 2 minutes out of town.



Sad to say we had to say goodbye to Derf at Glenorchy. We certainly weren't game to try getting back on our own and all the locals didn't recommend trying the roads without a four wheel drive, snow chains and nerves of steel. After calling around insurance companies and rental agencies we caught a lift back into Queenstown with some nice staff from Dart River Safari.

The weather report suggests that the snow is going to continue for the next three days at least. Assuming things lift we'll probably get a coach to Dunedin and then on to Christchurch. Right now all the roads are closed out of Queenstown until the snow plows come out.

It's a horrible feeling, especially when we were having such a good time. Looks like tomorrow's going to involve talking to the police and rental car people rather than seeing the local sights but at least we're alive and well. There were apparently over 50 accidents in the area due to the storm including the death of one girl when her van drove off into lake Wanaka. Could be a lot worse.

Kiss my arse!

We've made it to Queenstown and loving the accommodation here. Alsie's definitely done a good job selecting a B&B for us to stay over the next four days. Food is great as usual but the temperature this far south isn't exactly warming. Thankfully there are heaps of pubs with roaring fires to keep us nice and toasty.

Speaking of pubs, I thought I'd share this with the lads from Operation Bullfrog. I realise the proper spelling is Pog Mo Thoin but what the hey.

Greetings from New Zealand!

Ah! At long last I finally have internet access again! Not exactly free but certainly reasonable compared to what we've seen elsewhere.

I'm posting live from Te Anau, a lovely little town which will be our home fro the next two days. Our trip so far has been absolutely terrific. The weather has ranged from a little chilly to "Oh my god my snot has turned to ice!" freezing. Very happy we were loaded up with lots of warm clothing courtesy of John and Sheena prior to our departure.



Here's Derf, our ever faithful companion that has taken us all the way from Christchurch across the west coast. She's been a fun drive so far and has handled everything we've thrown at her. Can't believe how clean and shiny she was when we picked her up. Post journey photo of the car to follow when we return to Brisbane.

Anyways, we've seen a fair bit in the week we've been here so far. Lots of mountains, plains and sea which of course means that I've been taking a heap of photos. Seriously, with country side this beautiful the only way you'd be able to take a bad picture is if you had the lens cap on. Will have to wait till we get back to Brissie before I start sharing the holiday snaps though as I'm not sure how much bandwidth this motel connection will provide.

The trip so far has seen us stopping in at Hokitika, Franz Josef, Wanaka and now Te Anau. The highlight of the trip so far would definitely have to be walking on Franz Josef glacier. A little physically demanding but we were glad that we managed to complete an activity that required "average physical fitness".



Tomorrow we'll be taking the bus to Milford Sound which should present more photo opportunities I'd hope. Then Derf will be taking us to Queenstown for a few days of relaxation before embarking on the last leg of our trip to Dunedin and back to Christchurch. Driving around has been tricky at times with both of us in the car but thankfully the newly weds haven't resorted to grevious bodily harm when resolving disagreements.

On that note, I guess I'd better stop blogging before Alison reaches for the cutlery drawer...

Here comes the bride

The moment we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. The Malaysian mob caught two cabs to the church at a quarter past two just so we could be sure everyone would get a good seat. Cel did his best to keep me calm during what I perceived as the point of no return. Between Pastor Jessup and my old bud I think I just about managed to stave off fainting in the vestry.
We were soon led out to be gawked at by the guests who I swear were hanging from the rafters. Thankfully I didn’t have to sweat under all the staring and pointing for long as Don started to play the processional and Alison’s bridesmaid Mary began to walk down the aisle. Of course soon after that all eyes, mine included, turned to Alsie who looked wonderful. This was the first time I’d seen the dress and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.



James, Kath and Andrew read beautifully and it was really special having them do that for us. Somehow I managed to mumble my way through the vows without getting too tongue tied and before I knew it we both had rings on our fingers and were signing the registry.



With the legal bits complete we were officially introduced as Mr and Mrs Chua and left the church in matrimonial grace. At least that would have been the case if I didn’t keep tripping up on Alison’s dress on the way out. Good thing no one was video taping that bit… I hope…



Trust us to pick one of the coldest days in Toowoomba to have a wedding. I believe the bureau of meteorology had ambient temperature at 10 degrees Celsius but the wind chill certainly made it feel a lot colder than that. Thankfully the photos don’t really show how uncomfortable it was to stand still and be snapped. Our faces were frozen in position so smiling became pretty simple.

We were whisked away to have an obscene number of photos taken throughout the Empire Theatre and by the end of it I was ready to chuck a fit. I can definitely say without a doubt which side of the lens I’d rather be on. The venue was absolutely stunning though and they even let us into the theatre itself.



Once we were allowed to leave the photographers we mingled for a bit and got a chance to talk to all the guests who had come from so far away to share this special day with us. I was rather glad that my pseudo-Sherwani turned out to be a hit. Hopefully I might have started a new fashion movement in Toowoomba.

Dinner itself was held in what used to be the old Wesley church which is attached to the Empire Theatre. The Empire staff worked wonders with the hall with lighting and decorations. I know I had to catch my breath when I entered the hall for the first time. The Chinese characters on the wall are the symbols for Double Happiness in case anyone’s interested.



Our small contribution to the décor came in the form of 1000 paper cranes that Alison and I meticulously folded before the wedding. The majority of these were hung from twisted willow centerpieces with any leftovers used as scatters along the tables. I think all the effort was worthwhile in the end and pretty much everyone we’d talked to took some home to remember the night.



The rest of the night continued with a lovely dinner, touching speeches from the family and a little bit of dancing. It’s a good thing that I managed to avoid stepping on Alsie’s dress while all eyes were on us.



Dessert was rounded up with a super yummy cake baked by my new mother-in-law Sheena and decorated by Alison’s Aunty Fiona. The cute little top pieces were found by Als on our recent trip to Hong Kong. While it’s kinda hard to see in the photo, the girl actually has reddish blonde hair so Alison thought this was rather appropriate for a kwailo (Caucasian) – Chinese couple. :)



I can’t believe how much fun we’d had on the night. It’s really touching how everyone that came were fully willing to enjoy themselves and really get into the festivities. I don’t think I’ll see another Australian wedding where everyone screamed “Yaaaaaaaaam Seng!” (Cheers) for a while. Even the dance floor turned into a mosh pit when what seemed like the whole room got up to have a jig or two. Thank you for making the evening truly magical.

All good things must come to an end though. I’ve been told on many occasions that the wedding just zips by you if you blink but never could I have imagined how fast the night past us by. We’re usually the first ones to retire for the night but this time we managed to last the whole stretch. The new married couple then gratefully accepted a ride back to their accommodation in John and Sheena’s car. Never too old to rely on mum and dad I say.

John put together a scrumptious brunch the next day for everyone to sit down and go over the night. This would be the last time I’d see all the family that flew out for the wedding so it was a rather bittersweet event. I’m glad that everyone had a great time and hope that those continuing on to see more of Australia will enjoy what this country has to offer.



I guess this is just the start of things. Not nearly enough time to post all the photos I’d like to before we have to get to the airport for our flight. Promise to put more up on Flickr or some other site when we have a moment. Next adventure for Mr and Mrs Chua will be touring the South Island of New Zealand for the next three weeks. More blog postings of our travels to follow if Internet access and time permit.

Tea Ceremony

Hard to believe that after months of discussing the tea ceremony it’s finally over with. Lucy, Mak Long, Dominic and Paul flew into Brisbane on Thursday morning and hit the ground running with preparation for the festivities. I don’t believe the cooking stopped until I picked Wing and the girls up from the airport that evening. Even after this all day slog they still had to wake up early the next morning to get things ready for the Bride to arrive at nine.



The food had to be blessed and offered to the ancestors first of course. This has to be done outside and was primarily for grandma and granddad who are no longer with us. I’m sure that they would have enjoyed the feast it’s a shame they never got a chance to meet Alison in person.



Alison and her folks were supposed to meet me up the road so that we could come down together but the traffic from Toowoomba must have been a little better than expected. As things weren’t quite ready yet we decided to head out for a quick drink at McDonalds before making our entrance. Our outfits probably raised a few eyebrows at this point.



Traditionally the groom is supposed to travel to the Bride’s house to escort her to his home, normally a fair distance away. On approaching the groom’s house the party is supposed to make as much noise as possible to signal their arrival which should then be answered with fireworks and crackers. As with most Chinese customs this is supposed to drive the evil spirits away from the area. In our case this was represented by a Mazda car horn and firecrackers of the electronic variety. Not exactly authentic but certainly enough to scare away spirits and annoy a few neighbours.





A brother of the groom is then supposed to approach the car and open the door for the Bride to emerge, but only if the Bride offers an adequate bribe. My cousin Paul must have been happy with his Ang Pow, a red packet containing money, as we were soon allowed to descend and enter the house.





We were then greeted by the family and brought over to pray to the deities and ancestors. This symbolized an announcement of our intent to marry each other and to introduce Alison all the Chua ancestors so that she could be acknowledged as one of the family.





After the ancestors had been informed of a new family member we then prepared to offer tea to our parents and relatives so that they too would accept Alison and me into the family as husband and wife. This involved serving a sweet tea brewed from dried red dates and longan in a special tea set to each family member in turn.



The relatives would then drink the tea to display their approval of the match and express their happiness by presenting us with Ang Pow or gifts of gold. Alison received a wonderful array of rings, pendants and earrings that day from my mum and aunts while I got a beautiful gold and onyx ring with a hammer-set solitaire.



I also served tea to John and Sheena and it was wonderful that they could come to take part of this special day with us. Everyone had a great time and it was a really nice bit of tradition to follow.



After all that the ceremony was over and we had taken our first step towards becoming man and wife. Oh and the feeding frenzy could start of course. :)

Operation Bullfrog

I have an inkling of the amount of effort and planning that the Best Man must go through in putting together a buck’s night. I can only imagine that the challenge of organizing the activities and bookings would be further complicated if you had to do it from half way around the world. Saying that though I think Cel managed to pull up a fantastic effort from Boston, with a little “local” help from Dan and Ding.

The day actually started off a little earlier than I thought it would. By day, I’m referring to anything that contributed towards my physical state the following morning. Cel and Ding have had an ongoing Squash rivalry that has only increased over the past year. Cel’s inability to thwart Ding hasn’t dampened his confidence however and all predictions on his part were fairly confident of a resounding victory. We drove to a squash court in Mt Gravatt to put the issue to rest and sadly the underdog was sent running tail ‘tween legs once again.



I played four sets against Cel, winning two and dropping two but could not find the stamina to finish the game. I didn’t think I was too shabby considering I haven’t touched a squash racquet in over three years. In fairness Cel wasn’t exactly playing his best against me though. We then adjourned to the balcony so that I could nurse my aching thighs and watch Ding get beaten by a girl in the next court.

It was then time for dinner so we caught a train into the city to meet up with lads from work at the Jade Buddha on Riverside. Food was good and the booze started flowing so it’s at this point that my memory probably starts to get a little hazy. Great company though and it was nice to see everyone getting along. Now if I can just get Ding and Cel to stop screaming the Irish curses that Dave taught them.

After dinner we adjourned to Strike Bowling for a quick game of ten pin and more boozing. Blood alcohol level was getting up there by this point but I managed to somehow break a hundred in my wobbly state. Highlight of the night was the fact that both Cel and I beat Ding in a sport! Sad thing was that Ding had drunk the least of all of us by this point.

The rest of the night merged into one pub after another as Dave and Dom led us on a misguided quest to find a decent pint of Guinness in the city. Somehow this eventually resulted in us entering a gay bar in Spring Hill filled with karaoke, lots of gyrating men and a very tall ‘woman’ that would have been quite at home on the set of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I believe it was at this point that all hope was lost.

Final score for the night before stumbling through the casino looking for a cab:

6 Bourbon and Cokes
3 Screwdrivers
3 Shots of Green Chartruse
1 Jaeger Bomber

All up a pretty good night out on the town.

The best man arrives

The time has come! Our Malaysian wedding contingent (mum aside) have started to enter the country. Woke up this morning at five to pick Cel up from Brisbane Airport only to find that his flight was delayed 20 minutes. Grr... 20 minutes more sleep I could have had. Trying not to think about how I'll be back out there again at 11 tonight picking Ding up too... *sigh*.

I'm sure I warned him about the importance of declaring everything humanly possible when passing through Australian Customs. Silly bugger forgot to mention that he had a huge block of wood in his bag. Thankfully the lovely customs lady let him through with my new Goban without a nasty fine.



Isn't she a thing of beauty? Now I just need to find some oil to get those black stones looking slick and sexy. Mmmm...



The man himself enjoying his first meal in Australia. A greasy bacon and egg roll.



Didn't take him long to create a Mii on our Wii. I think I might have just convinced him to getting one for himself. Would be great to play some Mario Strikers online.

Holidays!

Huzzah! Today was our last day of work for the next FOUR weeks! Alison and I both got cards and morning tea put on by work which was lovely. Alsie even got to play a little dress up.



Hard to believe that this time next week we'll be up in Toowoomba getting ready for the start of the rest of our married lives. :)