Category Archives: Australia

My life in Australia

Bryan Adams Live in concert

One of the concerts I have always wanted to attend was Bryan Adams. I really love his songs and they remind me of my school days. Songs like 18 Till I Die, Everything I Do, I Do It for You, Heaven, Summer of ‘69 used to be our party anthem.

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For those who don’t know Bryan Adams (I think there are many), click here for his biography . As Canada’s best-known ambassador, Bryan Adams has spent the last three decades making music history. He has sold over 65 million records, toured six continents and achieved #1 status in over 40 countries around the world. With hits like, “Cuts Like A Knife”, “Summer of ’69”, “Kids Wanna Rock”, “Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started”, “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”, “Heaven” and most recently “Thought I’d Seen Everything”, Adams status as one of the great songwriter’s of our time, has been solidified. He has won MTV Video Music Awards, Juno Awards, Grammy Awards and American Music Awards.

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Last year, he had come to Sydney for a concert but we were in Nepal at that time so we missed it and not long ago he was in Kathmandu but we had just left Kathmandu so we missed again. I was telling my husband, maybe we will never see him in concert again as he is not getting any younger which means he may not have that many concerts organised in Sydney.

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Lucky for us he had a few concerts organised in Sydney and we managed to get the ticket for Friday.

I was already very happy to go and see him as I knew I would love it. I know most of his songs and I had heard that he is very interactive during his concert and I am glad to report that he didn’t disappoint me.

After work, me and AS met up in the city and went to have dinner first. The concert was to start at 7:30 so we wanted something quick and yummy so we decided to eat Korean. I loved my spicy pork with rice and AS enjoyed his noodle with prawns.

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I was really excited so we went to the concert hall at 7:00. There were already many people waiting in the bar and eating areas. We showed our tickets and went inside to find our seats. It looked like people were already there and excited. By 7.30, the hall was less than 70% full. I was surprised that it wasn’t sold out.

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The light went off and Amy Macdonald was on the stage. She introduced herself as a Scottish recording artist. I have to say her voice was awesome and even though I have never listened to her songs, I really enjoyed her voice. After she was done, the arena got really excited as it was Bryan Adams on the stage soon.

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By then the arena was 99% full. It was amazing that so many people knew that Bryan Adams won’t be on stage till after 8pm. Looking around I realised that most of the people there were a bit older than us. I guessed they must have been in their teens or 20’s when Bryan Adams was very famous. And there were younger people like me as well who must have been in love with him from very young age.

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While we were waiting for Bryan Adams to come on stage, there was a display of his twitter account on the huge screen behind the stage. It was really interesting as people started to send lots of funny tweets like, “Someone just farted” and “Marry me Amy”. As I have a twitter account, I also sent a few tweets and captured them on camera. Have a look 🙂

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It was a really good idea to keep us engaged for a while. Anyway, the light of the arena went dim again and it was the man himself on the stage. I was so excited and happy to see him.

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Straight away, everyone was cheering and the amazing night began. He sang all my favourite songs and I didn’t want him to stop. I really have to admit that he is really great even at 52 years to rock the stage like that for over 2 hours. The audience were standing up and swaying to the beats.

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There were also some taking pictures or video on their phones. We could see the whole arena dotted with the lights of the mobile phone screens like stars on a dark night.

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He normally has great audience interaction and this time as well he picked a girl from the audience to help him sing the “Baby When You’re Gone” duet. I wish I could have gone on the stage but this lucky girl from Penrith did a great job singing the song with him. She was just ecstatic to be there with Bryan and was giving him numerous hugs and kisses that many in the audience would have died for.

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After that he started his love songs and I was just blown away. “Everything I do, I do it for you”, “Heaven”, and “Have You Really Loved a Woman” sounded awesome when it was live. It was like he was taking the audience on an amazing journey to the love land. 🙂

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At the end he acknowledged his band members Keith Scott (lead) and Mickey Currie (drums). Mickey Currie was awesome as he played the drums using only bucket and metal plates at one point. Both me and AS were really impressed.

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You’re welcome back to Australia anytime Bryan Adams.

Do you like Bryan Adams? Which is your favourite song?

Till next post, take care.

M from nepaliaustralia

XOXO

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Enjoying Czech food in Sydney

Some days you want to try something new and then you find it right in front of you. That is exactly what happened to us last weekend. Me, AS and few friends decided to go out for dinner. We were not sure what we wanted to eat so we were walking around looking at the cafes and restaurants in Newtown. Luckily we saw a nice Czech restaurant. The restaurant is called Cheeky Czech. I already loved it because of its name 🙂

During our Europe trip, the Czech dinner we had had was the best dinner on the whole tour so we decided to give this Czech restaurant a go. It was a small family restaurant which offered breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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As we walked into the restaurant, I could see the European vibe with rusty and medieval decoration. There was a beautiful light hanging from the ceiling with a map of the old world. We chose the table next to the window.  The waiter came with menus and glass of water for us.

The menus looked old fashioned, printed on brown paper and clipped together on a board. The items in the menu looked like genuine Czech cuisine and felt so familiar.

So first we ordered Czech beer for everyone and freshly squeezed orange juice for me. Everyone thought the beer was a bit light but they liked it.

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Then we had Pork Belly Roast (Beautiful succulent moist tender pork with light crisp crackling. Served with Czech potato dumplings & braised red cabbage), Farm White Rabbit Roast (Slow roasted rabbit on apples, garlic, onion & caraway seeds, served with Czech potato dumplings & green spinach puree and Marinated Chicken Breast & Mushrooms Linguine (White wine & creamy based served with mushrooms, shallot, onion, semi-dried tomatoes, parmesan & fresh basil).

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We all agreed that the food was just delicious. The rabbit was falling off the bone and the red cabbage was just the way I had eaten in Prague. It was the first time I had rabbit but I didn’t find it any different than chicken.

We loved the pork as it was well done with very crispy skin and linguine was rich and creamy. Overall one of the best meals we have had in a long time. They served fresh, simple, delicious food in a comfortable setting.

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We wanted to try their dessert as well but one of our friends was waiting for us in another café so we went there to have a coffee and cake. The chocolate mousse was just divine.

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International Woman’s Day 2013

Today is International Woman’s Day and it is a day to celebrate us, woman, and have respect, appreciation and love towards us. Because everything starts from you and if you don’t respect, appreciate and love yourself, you can’t share that with the world.

There are many reasons why this day is celebrated but I want to celebrate it by listing all the good reasons why I rejoice being a woman.

  • Woman is a daughter, sister, wife, mother and a friend. I can’t imagine this world without them. Yes, that is who we are.
  • Women have so many choices. They can work or stay home. Be a nurse or a soldier.
  • How can I forget to mention the choices women have in fashion. One can choose to wear jeans or skirts or dress or shorts or Kurta or Sari or Omani or Kimono or Shalwar Kameez. Anything your heart desires.
  • Talking about fashion, how about high heels, they are my favourite and give women an instant boost in height and confidence or they can choose to wear a ballet flat or thongs and still look beautiful.
  • Make-up is a part of our daily regime and we can experiment with different, glamorous looks.
  • Doors are held open for us, chairs are pulled out for us.
  • We could dye our hair and get rid of the gray without being ridiculed.
  • We have the gift of female intuition which usually steers us in the right direction.
  • Women are great listeners and don’t always feel they need to fix things.
  • We can wear coloured nail polish to match the season, mood or our clothing.
  • Women can multi-task with ease.
  • Women are intelligent enough to know there is no such thing as a “Happy Period.”
  • Chances are in front of every awesome man is an awesome woman who made him that way

I think the song by Helen Reddy sums of everything I want to express right now. This is for all the ladies out there. Here is the video and lyrics if you haven’t heard it before.

I am woman, hear me roar

In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back an’ pretend

’cause I’ve heard it all before

And I’ve been down there on the floor

No one’s ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS

Oh yes I am wise

But it’s wisdom born of pain

Yes, I’ve paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

You can bend but never break me

’cause it only serves to make me

More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger

Not a novice any longer

’cause you’ve deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow

See me standing toe to toe

As I spread my lovin’ arms across the land

But I’m still an embryo

With a long long way to go

Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise

But it’s wisdom born of pain

Yes, I’ve paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to I can face anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman

Oh, I am woman

I am invincible

I am strong

FADE

I am woman

I am invincible

I am strong

I am woman

Also there is the song “ I enjoy being a girl”, which I love .

Saying this I don’t hate men. I think we complement each other, like wheels of a bike. It is just that I am happy and content to be a woman and I won’t have it any other way.

To the all the ladies out there, Happy International Women’s Day. Enjoy and be proud of being a woman.

Merry Christmas from Kathmandu

I always wished for a white Christmas. Even though it is not snowing in Kathmandu, I am having a cold Christmas here in Kathmandu unlike in Australia where it is hot and muggy during Christmas.

So from a far far land called Kathmandu, Merry Christmas everyone. May the Christmas spirit keep you warm and full of joy this holiday season.

Kathmandu has changed a lot in the past decade. When I was growing up here, there was hardly any sign of Christmas seen in Kathmandu but these days every shopping mall is decorated with Christmas decorations and every shop has a Santa or mannequin dressed in a red. From the only Hindu country in the world Nepal has changed to be a multi religious secular country.

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My Facebook is full of photos of people from Nepal celebrating Christmas eve and Christmas, It is nice to see globalisation (in every aspect) happening in Nepal as well.

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I also got this picture from my boss; it is of my desk at work full of gifts for Christmas. It was really nice of her. I am eagerly waiting to go back and open them 🙂

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Talking about Christmas I couldn’t help but notice that Bangkok is adorned in fairy lights and Christmas decorations.

According to Wikipedia, 94.6% of Thais are Buddhists followed by 4.6%  Muslims which leave less than 1 percentage of Thai to be Christian. But if you are in Thailand, especially Bangkok, you will be forgiven if you think Thailand is a 100% Christian country. It looks like Thais love Christmas.  As soon as early November rolls around, every year, up go the Christmas trees, the Christmas lights and the Christmas decorations all over Bangkok. We saw Christmas decoration in every shopping mall, every department store, every shop and even many schools and offices decorated for Christmas. It’s actually quite wonderful if you’re a Christian living in Bangkok, as it’s hard to be depressed and miss your family when there’s Christmas cheer everywhere in Bangkok.

Here are some decoration from Siam Paragon, Central World Plaza, Amarin Plaza and other malls and walkway around Bangkok.

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From Sydney to Bangkok

The trip is going good so far. The flight to Sydney was 8 hours and 30 minutes and I rested well during the flight.

We got a window seat and the one next to it for our journey. When we checked in online the day before, we realised that the flight was quite full and we had someone next to us. We always wish to have a seat next to us empty so we can move freely but it had not happened for a while. So when the captain announced for the door to be closed, me and AS both were looking at each other delighted as there was no one next to us which meant that we got 3 seats to ourselves.

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As soon as we took off, we were served lunch. Most people complain about air plane food but I am OK with it. I know it is not great but they are not bad either. We choose to eat Thai chicken curry with rice.

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While having lunch, I watched the movie Bourne Legacy, which I had been thinking to watch for the while. Without Matt Demon, Bourne seems a bit weird but it was not bad.

When I finished the first movie, we still had almost 6 hours before landing. Even though we flew in the morning I was feeling very tired so I decided to sleep. Sometimes being small is an advantage as I could easily sleep on AS’s lap with my leg stretched over 2 seats. I couldn’t believe that I slept for almost 2 hours without waking up in between as it was really comfortable.

AS couldn’t sleep in the plane so he was still watching some movie when I woke up. After that I watched one more movie called Hope Spring. It was a bit slow but very educational for married people. I am glad it is too early for me and AS to be in that situation but I really hope we will be in better place in our relationship when we will be at that age married for more than 30 years. Do watch it when you get some time.

After the second movie it was only few hours before we were to land. We were served a light meal and it was noodles with prawn and some dessert. I really didn’t want to do anything else so I watched Just for Laughs for a while. I really love that show. Look at some of the great gags they have when you have time and I am sure it will make you laugh too.

Just behind our seats, there were 3 people travelling separately becoming fast friends. I know it is bad to eavesdrop but they were talking loudly so I could hear everything. One of the guy was 25, a woman 34 who is travelling international for the first time and an older man. It was nice to hear their conversation about each other and their travel plans :). They exchanged mobile numbers as well so they can hang out in Bangkok.

The flight was on time so we landed at 3pm Bangkok time. As soon as we came out of the gate, I could feel the Bangkok humidity. I was wearing my leggings and I was feeling really hot. I almost forgot how hot it was when we came here last time. Seriously even at that time, it was so hot that I had to run for the shade.

A bus took all of us to the terminal from the plane. From there we cleared immigration and took our bags were off to a taxi stand.

While waiting for our bags, I saw this sign at the Suvarnabhumi Airport which was very confusing for me. Would anyone voluntarily go via the red channel? Would you? 🙂

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It took almost an hour due to traffic for us to reach our hotel. We were booked at Chateau de Bangkok. We stayed at the same hotel last time and we loved it so we booked it again.

Once in the hotel, we checked in and were happy to rest for a few minutes before changing and going out to discover Bangkok all over again.

The room was nice and clean as I remembered from last time.

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I will post more from Bangkok and Kathmandu soon.