Harvey Norman Factory Outlet

I had spoken with Arj (Kate's husband) about some of the specials I had spotted at the Harvey Norman Factory Outlet. Arj was in the market for a new DVD/Bluray player. So we headed to the outlet shop early today. Arj bought a Pioneer for $160 while the ticketed price was $455. They walked away with about $250 worth of stuff. They bought a bluray player, a DVD player which also plays downloaded movie .avi files ($40), some hdmi cables and a rechargeable shaver (a gift).

Upon arrival back home we setup the Bluray player in the lounge and the DVD on the smaller TV in the family room. Ideally the Bluray Player needed a $10 optical audio lead which Arj grabbed later in the day. By the time it was all setup everything was working perfectly. Arj now gets DTS sound through the new optical lead via his Bluray player and everything is perfect.

The cheap DVD player plays most movies I have downloaded beautifully.

Later in the day we rang Eddie and Patsy re our plans to go Vietnamese for tea. Despite short warning we all met up and had a wonderful feast at about $15 per head!

The plan now is to drive to Yass tomorrow (Fri) where we will stay overnight. Then on Saturday we will head in to Canberra and catch up with an elderly aunt. Late morning we will head off to Newcastle where we plan to spend a couple of nights with Janet and Mick (alcohol will be involved) before heading for home Monday.

We should arrive back home later on Monday, possibly even after dark.

I am not sure what internet access we will have so this may be my last post for a couple of days!

At Least It Is Warmer

At least I got to two days of the cricket! The second day was sure warmer but I went dressed in my winter woolies! Australia was 'belted' in the game and well defeated. I watched the last bit of the game on TV this morning.

After lunch Trish and I ventured into Dandenong for a look around the shopping centre there. The Char Kway Teow we had for lunch was great. Cosmopolitan now has an even greater meaning for me. I reckon Europeans were a minority group at this place. But we enjoyed our look around.

Earlier a friend had alerted me to a shop called Harvey Norman Clearance Outlet. Harvey Norman is a huge electrical and furniture discounter here in Australia. This shop was their 'clearance centre'. I bought a couple of HDMI leads which were originally priced at a total of about $70. I bought the two leads for a total of $5. They had amplifiers at almost half price! It is a shame I didn't need any equipment!

Later it was tea at Malaysia Garden with Kate, Arj and the kids. It was an exceptional family get together.

Tomorrow is our last night in Melbourne prior to driving home on Friday. We expect to get to Yass in NSW late Friday, visit Canberra early Saturday before heading to to Newcastle. We will stay there for two nights and eventually spend Monday driving back home getting home Monday evening.

17 Degrees At The MCG Today!

Boy but was it cold! I was up and about reasonably early today to head into the MCG and see Day 2 of the test match against England. Yesterday's play had been disastrous so there wasn't much incentive to head in. It looked a little overcast so i decided to wear a thick shirt and my new coat I brought down here to wear to the footy in winter! I was glad I did because the temperature around lunchtime was a mere 12 degrees and this is meant to be summer. I was on the train and heading home by 4pm just to get warm again. During a quick sunny break the temp 'jumped' to 17 for a few minutes!

Boxing Day saw us head down to Drouin to Barry and Rainy's for the annual Boxing Day BBQ. The morning was nice enough but by the afternoon it was overcast, showery and down to 15 degrees. However it was a great day catching up with everyone again. But once more there was too much to drink and heaps to eat! The photo shows some of the 'mob' seated enjoying a beer and a chat!

I am heading back to the MCG again tomorrow but this will be my last day. Already Australia appears to be on the ropes and ready to capitulate. It has been a long time since we were beaten so comprehensively! And the weather bureau is suggesting it will be a pleasant 25 degrees and I can handle that!

We had a lovely curry dish tonight. The photo below shows Charli helping her mum get our evening meal ready!
Still plenty of rain back home! Looks like another inch and a half today on top of heaps we have endured during the last week or so. It seems to be about an inch of rain a day at the moment back there.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas!

On Thursday we managed to get our youngest daughter Kim to Tullamarine Airport quite comfortably in plenty of time for her flight and a 6 week holiday to India. She was flying in to Mumbai and then had a couple of 'wait line' bookings on trains to Goa. We heard from her yesterday saying she had not been able to get a seat on the train and was now waiting at Mumbai Airport for her flight to Goa.

Our half-price Chinese meal with Chris Wendy & family filled us up but the food quality wasn't a patch on the Vietnamese food we enjoyed a night or two before. But it was great to catch up with Chris, Wendy and our two grand children Andrew and Emily just before Christmas. Chris has recently bought a new TV which has an inbuilt Media Player. After I showed him how well it worked with some of the movies I had, he quickly got 120 movies or so off me onto a hard drive he had sitting there.

Grandson Andrew has discovered Usenet and was delighted with the new Wii computer game he had been able to download. I helped him extract the game and then burn it to disk. It works perfectly for him and he was very pleased with himself. This photo above left shows one of our grand daughters Emily with Trish.

Friday afternoon saw us across the see my brother Geoff for the afternoon. Again about 20 movies crossed over and I introduced him to "Internet Radio". The day was lots of fun and it was great to catch up again. On the way home we stopped off in Springvale for another Vietnamese meal. We had Hokkien Fried Rice with egg and seafood sauce as well as Satay Chicken. We had problems finishing it all!

After we arrived back at Kate's we watched the annual "Carols" on TV before the spanners and screwdrivers came out to put things together ready for Christmas Day.

Christmas Day began early with the patter of little feet and suppressed squeals of glee. The looks on Charli and James' faces made the long drive down from Caloundra all the more worth while. It wasn't long till wrapping paper littered the floor and the two bikes were being expertly ridden around the house.

For Christmas Lunch this year we are again joining Arj's family. It is lunch this year instead of the evening meal which is quite a change. There will be lovely Sri Lankan curries to enjoy, gift giving and even a little carol singing in the true Sri Lankan Christian tradition.

Tomorrow Boxing Day will see us head to Drouin for a BBQ and the day with friends Barry and Rainy, John and Sue and Wayne and Launa. It promises to be a BIG day. On Monday I am off to the 4th Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Merry Christmas to all!

Time For An Update

Things have been busy for us. We have a big Christmas gathering for 8 people each year. The eight make up our good friends from when we lived here in Melbourne. Couples take it in turn to host and prepare the main meal while others provide nibbles or sweets etc. As we don't live here it is impossible (or nearly) for us to take a turn at cooking the main meal. With some help Trish offered to cook the main meal this year. We borrowed June & Keith's kitchen Monday afternoon and Trish prepared an Indian meal which did go down very well. While Trish cooked I re organised and updated Keith's movies on his external hard disk drive, hopefully making it easier for him.

After that it was into Keith's garage to sort out how to tune his TV in his caravan. He now knows it does work and hopefully the notes I have left them will help them out.

The meal was great, the company excellent and the drink over enjoyed! An excellent night was enjoyed by all. We had Kris Kringle and Trish received an ornamental tree and I got another JB HI FI voucher. I now have $100 to spend there!

Tuesday evening we caught up with Patsy and Eddie at our Springvale favorite restaurant. To describe the meal as sensational is an understatement. That we could eat so well and so cheaply is just amazing!

Wednesday morning Kate, Arj and family went swimming at the local heated pool. Trish and I got into some window cleaning! Wow, what an improvement. The grand kids enjoyed their swim and a sit down for us was welcome at the end of the work.

During the afternoon I caught up with good friends Gordon and Anne for a few drinks and catch up on the gossip from my teaching days!

We did some baby sitting that night and watched a very good movie called "Handsome Harry". Earlier in the week we watched "Black Swan" which left us a little bewildered. She started off mad, became madder as the movie progressed and was even madder at the end. The leading actress is expected to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Today after a morning tea with Pat and Graeme we are taking Kim to the Airport for her trip to India for 6 weeks. From the airport we will see Chris, Wendy and the kids and enjoy a half price meal at a local Chinese restaurant. The dim sims are exceptional and all half price!