When One Can't Get to the Fed Square for the AFL Grand Final...

There's always an alternative!

 When I was at a boarding school in Adelaide, the kids were encouraged to go watch the footy at the oval in winter. The school's fleet of buses would pick us up after tea time to take us there for the evening. I must say that I wasn't keen at first. The head carer literally had to drag me to the bus for my first match of AFL football: Adelaide vs St Kilda. Back then I was an Adelaide supporter. I just joined the rest of the kids because it felt like almost the entire school supported Adelaide. In fact, it felt like the entire city supported Adeliade Crows until Port Power came along in 1997!

After I moved to Melbourne, I saw the Carlton players jogging past one day and I fell in love with their logo right away. I had barracked for Carlton ever since then. It was really cool when Carlton was doing really well in the 90's. Julia Morris used to be a neighbour of ours and Carlton players like Christou and Koutoufides used to visit her and cracked jokes in the spa for all to hear.

In the last few years that I was in Melbourne, we created an annual tradition of watching the grand final match at Fed Square. It was just so convenient because we could get there in a matter of minutes. We would take with us junk food like Allens Jaffas, Allens Killer Pythons and Bubble Cup tea with pearls. I had always wanted to explain to curious people that our drinks were Yarra River water with tadpoles but no one ever asked! We would sit on cushions on the steps outside the Chocolate Buddha facing the large screen. That is the best spot I reckon. I believe that watching the grand final match at the MCG would be a phenomenal experience but if one can't get tickets, being among the rest of the population in the Fed Square is the next best thing. It was always entertaining to watch some drunken clowns getting told off or removed by the boys in blue as well. LOL

Today is the 2014 AFL Grand Final Day. I had to attend a talk given by two Taiwanese experts on Alternative Education in the morning. But as soon as we got ourselves out of there, my Mum took me to the shops at The Waterfront. We went to a place called 'The Aussie Barbecue and Bar'. I have always wanted to go there ever since I came back from Melbourne. I used to say to my Mum that I will take the X there but he never bothered to come over. So 3 years and 4 months after I came back to this 'home', we planned to go there today and hoped that they will show the match on TV. They did! It was weird stepping into the place. We were like outsiders butting into a waterhole made for Aussies. I was hoping that it will smell like an Aussie bakery but it didn't. Sadly, they didn't even have POTATO CAKES!!!

We got there just before the start of the match. I ordered an Aussie burger that also came with crinkle cut fries, and an ice lemon tea. My Mum had some kind of salad. The food was good. As expected, no one stood up for the (Aussie) national anthem to which my Mum was somewhat offended. LOL. Soon after the match had started, the place began to fill up real quick. I was quickly satisfied to learn that those who sat around us barracked for Hawthorn. PHEW! I don't know why but I don't like the trophy going interstate. I prefer if it stays in Melbourne even if Collingwood wins to secure it. I just love Melbourne. A young Hawthorn supporter with super gorgeous blue eyes ended up joining our table to eat his serve of Aussie burger. No, I didn't chat him up. He's only 11/12! I love the venue and we will be there again for either Christmas or New Year. I would like to try their Fish and Chips. I wonder if their Fish and Chips will be as good as those served up at the English Tea House in Sandakan before the take over. Hopefully this joint will have Potato Cakes by the end of the year.

It was fun sitting next to people speaking that familiar type of English again. It was hillarious to hear them cheer the teams on. My Mum was amused by the people ordering beer after beer after beer. It was like I was HOME again even though it was only for a little while. AFL Football is truly a fantastic game to watch and that's a fact. No, it is not something that Santa told the Easter Bunny at the Tooth Fairy's house.

Who Wears Jacadi?

Who is that wearing Jacadi? Who is that little sailor?

Why of course, it is little MG!

 

I believe that not many children in Borneo wear Jacadi, Chicco or Bonpoint but MG does. He is one lucky little chappy! No, his clothes are not from the Pasar Malam variety.

Just bought him one of those cowboy style Wonder bib by Mum2Mum but he will have to wait till the next visit to try it out because by the time I came home, he had already gone home. MG has started to dribble and loves to blow bubbles. 

Just Me

That's just me when I was a toddler. I thought that I would let the whole world see what I had looked like back then. The photo was taken at my favourite playground near Prince Phillip Park at Tanjung Aru. It is the one near the children's traffic school. The playground is still there today. It looked like I was attempting to get on a senior swing with a wooden seat. My parents would usually pop me in a toddler swing with a metal seat. Both types of swing seats are deadly if it accidentally hit a poor child wandering too close. Malaysia is a producer of rubber. I simply do not understand why there aren't many rubber strap type swing seats around. A wandering tot getting hit in the face by a swinging child's knees may still get a concussion but it must be better than getting a concussion plus missing an eye because he got hit by a metal/wooden swing seat.