New additions

We've got a new addition to our place - an IKEA bookshelf! It's for all the books and stuff we've accumulated since we arrived.

And thanks to Colin and Joo Na, who gave us the idea while we were back in Malaysia, we spent almost $90 on jigsaw puzzles! It was meant to occupy us whenever we felt bored... but it only lasted us 2 days!

 

Agnes can cook #5 OR How we celebrated CNY

2010 marks the first time the both of us are away from our families during Chinese New Year. So to celebrate, Agnes tried her hand at baking CNY cookies!

Kevin's favourite peanut cookies

On the eve of Chinese New Year, we decided to celebrate (ie an excuse to eat out) Valentine's day a day earlier, so as to avoid the exhorbitant prices and crowds.

We had our valentine's Day lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe in town

In the evening, we had our 'reunion dinner' at home, just the two of us. Agnes cooked a lovely vegetarian (except for the dried oysters) dish which we had with rice.

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we went to church of course! With the heat of summer in full swing, services will be carried out differently for the next few weeks. The pews have all been removed and replaced with tables and chairs ala cafe style. Instead of sermons, there will be bible studies and discussions. Most importantly, there will be refreshments on each table, including cookies, fruits, juice, coffee and tea.

We chipped in this week by sharing some Chinese New Year cookies that we BOUGHT! ;)

Our Second Honeymoon Part 6

Next stop... Greenbushes! It's a mining town, apparently full of history!

We headed straight to the mining lookout...

After climbing up a few flights of stairs, we were treated to an amazing view, unlike anything we had ever seen before in our lives! Before us, lay an immense crater of a mine. In fact, it looked like it was still in use. We could see a few minute trucks moving about in the distance.

Our last stop was in Bridgetown... supposedly one of the nicest towns in WA. Too bad most of the shops were already closed by the time we arrived. The only thing to do was to sit by the river for a little picnic!

we were interrupted by a few visitors though...

And thus, began our long journey back to Perth, accompanied by yet another beatiful sunset...

Back to reality... back to work!

Our Second Honeymoon Part 5

Our final journey for this trip involved driving further down south... through some of the little towns that dot the south-western landscape.

Our first stop was Donnybrook, home of a number of apple plantations. So we stopped by one of its fruit markets to grab some fruits.

This is just the toilet... :P

It was another dozen kilometres before we arrived at Balingup... apparently famous for its art and craft, set amidst rolling hills and farms...

lunch at the apparently 'famous' mushroom cafe and bakery

the pies and mushrooms were definitely good!

we loved their deco and chairs too!

browsing through art and craft shops...

we also paid a visit to the lavender farm

We absolutely loved this town! If only we had more time... we'll definitely be back!

Then it was off to our next destination!

P/S Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!! ;)