10 Things About Your Dada

I saw an interesting post somewhere on line the other day, along the lines of 10 things your dad never told you. It resonated with me, as I know there are things that you guys as children don't understand, about me and Mama being your parents. You won't understand some of what we do until you're adults, you won't understand some of what we do until you become parents yourself. And frankly, you may never understand some of what we do, because we're all individuals, and we are all certainly not perfect.

So I figured it made sense for me to try and explain in my own words somewhat, who I am, and what makes me tick. As well as that, what makes me your dad.

I probably could have chosen a better photo, that was my one and only attempt at Movember, back in 2020. This was early in the piece. There is another photo somewhere of me in Week #4, which is decidedly more frightening! I'll leave to you to scour the archives for it.

So, here we go with my list;

1. Childhood friends, schools, etc - my first school was Mimosa Primary in Frenchs Forest, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. I have only the fleetest of visages in my mind of this place, and our home at that time. My first proper memory is of walking the streets in Hong Kong, in 1979, so at the age of 6-7. Then, I was going to Kowloon Junior School, a 15min walk from where we lived in HK. I think I joined it in Form 2, but am not really sure. In KJS my main friends were Ben P and Martin. I ran into Ben P years later, in Leonora of all places, which I will post about elsewhere. I also saw Martin in Singapore, after we had left HK. We briefly reconnected on Facebook at one point, but never really communicated. That is a fact of life unfortunately - we do have a tendency to move on, especially when our surrounds change. Of course that was as it was back in my childhood, without mobiles or internet. Now, even if we left Australia again, you could always stay in touch with your friends online. After HK, we moved to Singapore. I had a variety of friends over the time, changing as my interests changed, and I experimented with different things. The only friend I really have from Singapore now is Melissa - we met her when we moved to Texas, and I have seen her a couple of times over the years. I did get in touch with a few on FB again, but never actually met anyone. I would love to meet the likes of Martin Hagger again, who was instrumental in me improving my life after my 15yo issues, getting fit, and getting into running and sports. At Cobram High, I had a few decent friends too, but none I have remained in contact with. I could, especially as we live here now, but I guess one of the key things about me, and my take on life now, is that I just don't have much time to spare. I could probably improve that, and make time for things like friends, I just haven't got the notion to at this time. 
2. My interests. Gosh, haven't these changed greatly over the years. As you all know, I love Star Wars and Lego, always having had some kind of presence of these toys in my life, throughout yours. Moreso in the display pieces category than the playset one these days though. I have also always loved books, although with such a myriad of competing interests for my time now, I find it hard to read all that often. When I do, my favourite authors are Steven Brust, Bill Bryson, Clive Cussler, Stephen King, Simon Winchester, and a few others. My cousin Phil is an author as well as a journalist, and I have always had a few of this titles in my library too, including one that I feature in! I love sports, but my interest in most of them wax and wane, with the exception of cricket, that I will always adore. I also love supporting Liverpool. I miss not watching rugby anymore too. Maybe we'll try to watch a few Wallabies tests in the future. Apart from those things, I love to travel, I love to eat Asian food, I love computer games, I love writing, and wish I had the ability and discipline to do it for a living. OMG that would be grand! I have always had an interest in the unknown - be it UFO's, ancient mysteries, the paranormal, all that kind of stuff. These days I am more inclined to think most mysteries and enigmas come from the belief that humanity is much, much older than the history books tell us. 
3. How I chose Carlton. This is a pretty simple one really. Back in the HK/SG days, we used to visit Oz every year for our family holiday. Part of that trip was always coming down to Cobram (I say coming down, as we always seemed to base ourselves in Sydney) to see Carlo and Heidi. Heidi was one of Mum's sisters (thus my aunt). Her son, Mark, was three years older than me, and thus I looked up to him. He was sporty, charismatic, and quite the trend-setter. Plus he was an avid Carlton fan. Thus, I became one too, although I knew precisely nothing about footy. My footy heyday was around 1995, when Carlton last won the flag. I was living in Kalgoorlie at the time, had plenty of mad footy friends, no internet, so footy on TV was a pretty big pastime for me. 
4. My love life before Mama. Don't fall in love too easily. Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you're not good enough, because you're the most amazing people I know! I spent a lot of years not knowing what the fuck I wanted. The problem was, as with many men, I was governed by my penis. I loved good-looking ladies, but let's be frank, I was not at the top of the pecking order in terms of looks, except for a brief period of time from the ages of 19-21. Back then, I was too immature to really understand relationships. I fell in love a lot, never was able to read the signs, ran away when they got too close, all of it. Plus I was a fatty a lot of my life, which at a younger age, doesn't do much for your prowess in the romance stakes. Well, as was the case for me. As I mentioned, I had chances, but was too dumb and inexperienced to realise at the time. I did marry once before Mama, and I think I did so because I was kind of surprised anyone would want me. There were plenty of warning signs for me to take heed of prior to getting married, but I ignored them. I do not regret this, because as I say, everything I have done in life has led me here, and here, with all of you, is precisely where I want to be. So no regrets. But as advice, before you make any major commitments, ask yourself some serious questions about whether or not it is good for you. 
5. My spiritual home. Well, this has to be Hong Kong. I guess I define myself largely by my upbringing, and living in HK and Singapore has definitely impacted who I am, and what makes me tick. KL was the last leg that made up that trifecta, and, as with the other two, has become a city that is so dear to me. But through all that, it is really HK that sticks. With me, and with many before me in my family. Probably because it embodies who I feel that I really am - a western man who is a wannabe Asian man. That is, I hold true to my western identity, but feel so much more at home in an Asian climate. A place that allows me to embrace both facets of my persona is, by definition, where I will feel most at home. The only place that ticks all the boxes, remains Hong Kong. Will I ever live there again? Highly unlikely, I can't see me getting work there, nor being wealthy enough to retire there. But visit? And visit fairly frequently? Yes please. This is one of the things that made Besra attractive to me, as any home in SEA gives me much easier access to HK, and all the other places that are special to me, and that I want to be part of my life.
6. My personal challenges. Yeah. This is a tough one. I am such a weak man, in so many ways. Yes, I do love you all with all my heart, I do take pride in the work I do, and I do work towards providing us the best life I can. But for every two steps I take forward, I take one well-and-truly back. Actually, it kind of feels like for every 10 steps forward, I take 8 backwards. I don't think I will ever admit all my shortcomings and weaknesses to anyone, such is my shame for not being able to have better self-control. But largely, it boils down to vices - gambling, drinking, anger, sex, yeah that pretty much covers it. Thankfully I never delved into real drugs, as with my personality, that could have led to disaster, as it does for so many. I am better than I used to be for sure, but I am still a man with many flaws, some of which do cause me shame, from time to time. 
7. What I want to do in retirement? This is a good question. So many people claim they get bored in retirement and I have read many examples of people who retire, then soon die, presumably because they have lost their reason to be. Me, no chance of that. I am dying to have more time to write this blog for instance. To write in general. To read. To build Lego. To walk. To travel. To cook. To eat. To play computer games and watch TV shows. To build my garden. To swim. To relax. To spend time with quality people. To research things like ancient civilisations, UFO's, the paranormal, all that stuff. I could fill a lifetime with all I want to do that is not work related, let alone a retirement!
8. Why I love your Mama so much? Your Mama and I have not always seen eye to eye on everything, it's true. We are both strongly independent characters, and don't like to be reined in. We are also both constantly needing to strike a good balance in parenthood, between providing well for you all, being there for you, and of course, looking after ourselves too. But largely, we get each other, we make allowances for each other, we enjoy being with each other, and we both recognise that we are very imperfect beings. Your Mama does drive me nuts sometimes, but only sometimes, and no doubt less than I drive her nuts. But she loves me, gives me the companionship I want, challenges me where I need to be, and loves me despite all my faults. She and I are both flawed human beings, and as such, are perfect for each other. If she'll have me, I intend to be with your mother for the rest of my life. 
9. Why volcanoes? Interesting question. Well, when I was a kid, about 10, that's when Mt. St. Helens erupted in America. I remember seeing the coverage on TV and being awestruck by it. I also had an opportunity, when at UWC in Singapore, to go on a field trip with our geography class, to visit Anak Krakatau and the Bandung volcanoes, in Indonesia. Anak particularly, was a life-changing event, as it is so raw, and such a simmering cauldron waiting to erupt at any given moment. We had the chance to walk across the crater, which could never happen today. That experience stuck with me, forever, and together with my childhood memories, created the great interest for volcanoes, that I have had ever since.
10. Why I love you being multicultural. This is an important one. 

I love you being multicultural, because that's what I think the future of mankind is going to be. Yes, it is wonderful that all the different countries, races, religions and beliefs have led us to a world as deliciously variable as it is. It's one of the key things that makes travel absolutely amazing and so worthwhile. It is also important, to recognise the fact that you are multicultural, whether you like it or not, and should embrace your Malaysian Chinese heritage as much as you do your Australian one. Of course that can be easier said than done, especially when we don't live in Malaysia any more. I know that things that are foreign or strange are not comfortable, and that may make you veer away from these kinds of experiences. But I strongly encourage you to try and learn a bit more about where you were born, and what makes a Malaysian Chinese person tick. Honestly kids, if you embrace this part of you, so much more of the world will open up to you, and your experiences will be that much broader and more colourful. 

I could write this post forever, but I need to get it out. I think this gives you a good taste of who I am, at least the parts that you may not see all that often. If you read this while I'm still around kids, I encourage you to come talk to me about any or all of it. I hope we get more chances to explore the world together, and I get more chances to impart the bits of it that are important to me, to you.

Loquacious Virtuoso - Words of the day!

So I was reading a book by Jordan Peterson the other day, called 12 Rules For Life, or something like that. I only read about three pages of the intro, because it was so wordy, so convoluted, and lacked the precise and concise message that I look for in non-fiction writing. Interestingly, it was much the same for Peterson's work as well, as I found it too hard to actually get through all the fluff. I like him, and what he stands for, but I find that I can take him in small measures, generally YouTube shorts, rather than a whole book. So I ended up donating his book, with about 1% of it read only. I found that the intro was written in a style where the writer clearly wanted to demonstrate the breadth and depth of his vocabulary, with many words he used foreign to me, and many phrases wildly elaborated well beyond what was necessary to convey the message, in my humble opinion. Anyway, one phrase that this fucker had in there was describing someone as a "loquacious virtuoso", something almost as hard to say as it is to comprehend. So I looked it up for today's words of the day:

Yep, that's exactly how I feel about the guy who penned that intro, even though now I am not sure who he was referring to. 

Recently, I came across another word that tickled my fancy, again while reading one of those dreaded self-help books. Seriously, I need to get back to just reading a nice trashy novel here and there, rather than this heavy shit that I struggle to spend more than 10 minutes on, and get left feeling like I haven't tried hard enough. Fuck those fuckers. Anyway, the word I liked was milieu, clearly French in origin, and one I have heard before, but did not know what it meant. The answer is that a milieu is a person's social environment, so there you go!

Today's Walk - Southern Loop

So I was thinking, looking at my sole blogged local walk to date, compared to my old KL ones, that I needed to up the distance ante a bit. ~5km is a decent walk, but in those days I used to do more like 10. Of course, now I am perhaps not quite as fit as before, but that is something I am keen to address. I am also keen on variety. KL had that in spades, but there are only so many places to walk in an Aussie country town. So I did a bit of investigation into where I could walk, and thought why not consider a loop through the back roads behind home. This is what I came up with:

Just short of 9km looks like a good step-up to me, although I am not all that enthralled with walking along country roads. Still, it will be something different, and should be relatively quiet. 

Aaannnd, today I did it. Many moons since coming up with the idea, and one false start later. That was when I thought to do the walk with the boys and a scooter in tow. We didn't even get to the first main corner before we had to turn back. So today, I went by myself. It was a decent walk, but I was struggling near the end. The Echuca West School Rd is dirt, and quite soft. That made for hard walking. The rest was ok, but I swallowed two bloody flies, got barked at by 100 dogs, and had to contend with a lot of high-speed vehicles, as I was essentially walking on main roads. Throw in the fact that it was all farmland-adjacent walking, and well, it wasn't the best. But I'll take the 9km, thanks all the same!

It's hard to find something to measure up to KL walks, what with their far more diverse nature, and the promise of food and beers at the end. I could certainly think about something along those lines sometime, perhaps to Nico Nico for instance? That would be a nice walk and finish. Anyway, it was a much-needed bit of exercise, and I am glad I have done it. Next time, we'll head towards town methinks.

2025 Family Holiday - Cairns

Well we're back! Exactly one week away from home, including one night in Melbourne and six in Cairns. We all had a ball I think, with many more ups than downs, and some wonderful memories. This post, I'll try to summarise the trip, with a few insights, and also links to my Trip Advisor reviews, of the various places we visited. Here goes:

Day 1 - Friday

So this was Bab's 9th birthday! As has become the norm of late, he had already received all his presents, so there was not much more to do other than wish him a happy birthday. We did this at the AFL Kitchen in the airport. It wasn't much to rave about, but did the job for dins and for my boy.

That first day we left home late morning and arrived at the airport parking lot about mid-arvo. I chose the Premium Car Park, which was expensive, but well worth it, as it was not crowded, and was convenient to both the hotel and the terminal. Here are the kids at check-in:

That's pretty much it for Day #1. We could have done what V did and drive down on the same day as the flight, but that would have meant navigating the 'roos in the early hours and a no-doubt fractious morning to get everyone up and going in time. This cost a few bucks, but was infinitely more relaxing! Also thanks to hotels.com.au loyalty program, as I was able to use a free night to fund most of the cost of what is a damn expensive hotel in the airport Park Royal. Below are the links to my reviews for the day:

AFL Kitchen & Bar

Park Royal

Day 2 - Saturday

Ok, this was D-Day! Up early, across to the airport for check-in, through security, breakfast and then on the plane. Everyone was most excited! It all went well for the most part, apart from a small issue with the bag drop. Overall though, Virgin's automatic check-in process was pretty seamless. Here's us waiting to board:

It was our first flight as a family since we flew in from KL way back in late 2019! Unbelievable really, especially considering that prior to that, we were flying very regularly, like to the tune of 20+ flights per year! Even me, in my work, have only done a small handful of flights over that period. Below is a super view from the plane, that Babs was very much enjoying:

Somehow, Babs made it known to the staff that is was his birthday - technically it was the day prior, but he wasn't missing the opportunity. In fact, come to think of it, the kids had hatched a plan to go to Maccas in the airport, and try the old "it's my birthday, can I have free fries" routine. My self-consciousness wouldn't allow that, so the next best thing was on the plane. To the staff's credit, they spoiled him, giving him cake, making a special announcement on the PA, and allowing him to use the business class toilet. All very welcome additions to the trip, and something special for him.

What really sealed it though, was when we arrived in Cairns, Babs and his brother were invited into the cockpit, where they met the pilot, and even got to sit in the flight seats! See below. They were both absolutely chuffed with this experience!

So from there, we collected our bags, and then I tried to navigate the instructions from Bargain Car Rentals, to find the shuttle bus pick-up location. In hindsight, it was easy and seamless, although at the time I was a little uncertain. Anyway, we soon got the car and headed to town. Footnote - I highly recommend this car hire mob, although if you opt online for the cheapest option, be aware that this is a small vehicle, and really not suitable for five people with luggage. Thus we ended up upgrading. This cost a bit extra, but not much really, so I was very happy with them overall. 

Heading into town was easy, as it was finding out hotel, the Getaway On Grafton. We checked in, and then decided to go for a walk to explore. We found Muddy's Playground, a huge water-play and normal playground on the waterfront. We made a mistake though, in the direction we chose to wander - we basically headed in the opposite direction to all the food and other stuff, finding almost nothing of interest after the park. We eventually found the Cock & Bull pub, which was frankly as rough as guts, and not somewhere I would choose to go after dark! But it did the job for lunch. After that we got back to the hotel, and the kids tried out the pool:

We were bushed by evening, so decided on ordering in some food, a local Vietnamese joint, which was very tasty! Even though our background is in the tropics, we are not used to the humidity these days, so the walk, swim and rest of it had taken it out of us. That was it for Day #2. Reviews below, and onto the first main activity tomorrow!

Cock & Bull

Pho Street

Muddy's Playground

Day 3 - Sunday

Today was the day of our first planned activity - visiting the Daintree. It was also the day we were to meet up with my sister and niece. We started with a simple light breakfast in the motel, and then hit the road. It was a bit over an hour up to Mossman Gorge, which was the beginning of the Daintree. It sounded like a good place to get a taste for it. I had been open-minded about where to from there, thinking we may even follow the rainforest to the north, use the car ferry, and really explore the place. But as it happened, by the time MG was done, we were hot and tired, ready for a swim, and ready to meet up with the others. So it wasn't the huge day I had planned, but it sure was a good one.

Our first stop was a place called Palm Beach, about halfway to MG. It was a lovely beach, albeit narrow from being high tide. There were also heaps of hotels, apartments, bars and restaurants along the strip, so it would be a good place to stay. We were put off by the beware stingers and crocs signs, and didn't at that time realise, that there was a protected swimming area further down the beach from where we stopped. So as usual I was unpopular for not letting the kids swim, but one needs to not learn the hard way where one can avoid it. That's my experience!

From there, we wound our way along the coastal road towards Port Douglas, the main tourist drawcard in the area. Below is an example of a lookout, with a simply magnificent view!

In PD we stopped for a wander in this very touristy town, had some brunch, a toilet stop, and then did some shopping. I had a moment or two, as some of the kids were being jealous of others, wanting to buy god-only-knows-what because others got to, and generally being asses. It is one of the challenges of parenting. Sometimes they are gracious, but others, very challenging. It's only the boys who do this though. I hope they'll grow out of it soon enough.

From PD, we headed to Mossman Gorge, via a visitor centre and a shuttle bus up the hillside. It was lush, scenic, and interesting. The pathways were well-established and maintained, and we enjoyed the walk. As wifey expected, it was cooler in the forest, but because the canopy was not dense, only a little. Thus we sweated our asses off, and were tired at the end of it. Wifey and Lala did the extra walk, while I took the boys to the waterhole for a paddle.

At that point we were buggered, so back to Cairns it was. We were all looking forward to seeing Aunty V and Naomi, and caught up with them at the pool. From there, V took us to the night market, which was a fun experience, but not particularly memorable. She also showed us more of the town than we had found ourselves to that point, which was helpful. Of particular interest was the Esplanade, which we would explore further the next day.

Reviews of our various stops below:

Mossman Gorge

Toast Sandwich Bar

Palm Cove Beach

Port Douglas Market

Cairns Night Markets

Day 4 - Monday

Today was an in-between day, not so much to do in terms of planned activities, but we were keen for V to show us the main part of town. We had chosen the exact opposite way to go when we first arrived in Cairns, hence why we ended up in the hospital district, and at that dodgy pub on Day #1! When walking in the correct direction, we encountered the main part of the esplanade. It was scenic, easy to walk, and enjoyable. It took us past malls, bars, restaurants, and ended up at the marina that we would take our reef trip from the following day.

It also had some cool features, such as parks nestled among the banyan trees, and a lagoon pool, which made up for the lack of coastal swimming here due to the mudflats and crocs. I didn't swim here today but the kids did, and they had a ball. It's a wonderful location, right on the waterfront, and a huge swimming pool, both with traditional and sandy beach edging.

Following that, we were all a bit hot (apart from the kids) and hungry, so we wandered into town to look for lunch. Being a big group it was hard to get consensus, but in the end we decided on Vietnamese. And what a good choice it proved to be! It was wifey's birthday so we spoilt ourselves and had cocktails with lunch, and then enjoyed good quality Vietnamese food that was really well-priced too. It was great! 

That afternoon we had another pool swim, some drinks, and then went for Korean / Japanese near the motel. It was an enjoyable meal but nothing to write home about for me. Overall, another fun day of holiday and proof that one can get just as much enjoyment out of just following one's nose as one can from following a set and planned itinerary! The day's reviews as follows;

Cairns Esplanade

Rendezvous Du Vietnam

Goong Korean & Japanese Food

Day 5 - Tuesday

Day #5 was the day we had all been looking forward to the most - our boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef! The review kind of paints the picture, which is that to be quite frank, it was disappointing to me. It cost basically a grand for the day, most of which was spent in transit to and from the reef. The time we spent there was not as fruitful as I had hoped, with strong currents making the snorkelling an impossibility for us. That none of us were experienced with fins and snorkels didn't help either, but I did feel that the organiser could have done better in terms of catering for families. It is a big undertaking what they do, so I am ok with it. The sub ride was fabulous and made the whole day worthwhile. I did see a little coral, had some massive fish swimming with me when I was snorkelling, and despite the disappointment, it was still a unique and memorable experience.

That evening we opted for some Cantonese fare, as we had not yet been able to have our holy grail, which was yum cha. We found a place just across from the motel, which after all the walking, was a welcome change. The review below says it all but let's just say that to this point, Yum Sing provided the highlight of the trip and was a simply awesome meal!

Yum Sing

Reef Trip Review

Day 6 - Wednesday

Today was a day I was much looking forward to - Yum Cha for lunch! Plus of course, the chance to see Josh again, whom I've seen little of in the last 10 years. I will never forget the trip he, Naomi, V and Ma took to visit us in KL, back in 2012. We had an absolute ball! Those years were a real highlight. V and I picked up Josh from the airport in the morning, got him back to the hotel, and then all wandered down the road for lunch. We had initially considered trying Yum Sing's yum cha, following last night's success, but V wanted to retry the trolley service at a place called Golden Boat, so we went there instead. It was a much longer walk, but hey, when a decent yum cha is in the offing at the end of the road, I am willing to go to some lengths...

As per previously, the detail of our lunch can be found in the linked review below. Needless to say, it was sensational! We all loved the yum cha, it had super variety, excellent quality, and tasted just like Hong Kong. Well done Golden Boat, I will be back for sure!

After lunch the kids wanted to go shopping with their birthday money and savings, so I took them to the central mall, walking distance from the motel. It is a huge mall for a place the size of Cairns, has everything, and presents a nice, cool alternative to the humid heat. We spent a couple of hours shopping there. Afterwards I was bushed though, so no dinner outside, and just a quiet order in pizza at the room to end this day.

Golden Boat Yum Cha!

Cairns Central Mall

Giants Pizza

Day 7 - Thursday

This was our last full day in Cairns. We had initially planned to do the cable car, which looked awesome. However, at close to $500 for our family of five, we agreed it was too expensive. By then we had already spent a lot, so figured we'd go for some less costly entertainment options for our last day. For the kids, that meant only one possible destination - the lagoon pool in town. 

As previously, this was an awesome experience, and I joined them today too. The lovely clean pool, seaside, and in the bright sunshine, just made for a wonderful time, and we just loved it. Afterwards we had brunch at the adjacent café, did some shopping, and wandered back. Later we had bevvies with V and Co and then wandered down to the marina for a seafood dinner. On the way we stopped at the Reef Eye, a ferris wheel that the kids were dying to try. It was ok, gave them a great view, but nothing special really.

So the last stop was the seafood place V told us about. I was so excited for a quality feed of fresh seafood, so was greatly disappointed by what turned out to be over-cooked and under-seasoned nonsense. And bloody expensive nonsense too I might add..

Still, the company was good, and we enjoyed ourselves. We stopped to buy the kids more gibbets on the way back to the motel, and then settled down for a quiet night, prior to our early start and long journey home the next day.

Esplanade Lagoon

Reef Eye

PJ O'Briens

Tha Seafood

Day 8 - Friday

Ok so technically this is more than one week, but this day was just about travelling. Early morning wake-up again, filling up the rental car, off to the airport, check-in and breakfast, then flight, collect gear and my car, and drive home. Tedious and tiring as expected, plus with a small up-chucky episode thrown in from one of the kids, but overall a painless trip home. For once, no lights were on in the house when we returned too!

Looking back, this was a lovely family holiday. Interestingly, the best parts were not the tours, although they were good, it was just the wandering, the swimming and the eating. I might try to keep that in mind next time. Speaking of which, where to next? I am always drawn to KL of course, then there is Bali, then there is that Great Ocean Road roadtrip I thought about. Plenty of options really. Cairns was super - hot and humid yes, but really a cool place to visit, and nice to spend some time with V and her kids.

The last review is for our accommodation, which, while not perfect, suited us just fine, and was good value. Next time we might stay closer to the action, but I was ok with all the walking, it was good for my health. Hanging out now, for the next family holiday!

Getaway On Grafton

Don't Spend A Cent...

Can I? Even for one day? One of the things that vexes me more than pretty much anything else is the apparent fact that money just burns a hole in my pocket. Day in, day out, it's spend, spend, spend! I am slowly burning through my reserves, and do not want to get to a point where I have to sell assets to make ends meet. That is not sustainable!

It is my reality though, if I can't make some changes. So can I do it? 

Short answer - no. Not on that day anyway. Soon after I did manage to go a whole day without spending - right until the last minute anyway, and then I needed to get something for one of my kids. 

I guess the real issue here is stupid spending. #1 gambling - yep I'm ok with the weekly and monthly Lotto spend, but not the rest of it, apart from the once in a while pokie visit with my wife. #2 we have frivolous shopping, like Kickstarter projects, EB Games, Lego, that kind of stuff. I need to keep those in check and limit to only once in a while. 

This is critically important, as I am getting to the end of my cash reserves. Unexpected shit, rates, and all the house projects I have, add up and often enough, so I need to do better at making savings for those rainy days.

It does make me wonder about the expat life even more, as it becomes easier in many respects that way. Harder in others of course, and as we well know, not without significant risk! Anyway, let's see what happens next....