October Update

Posted on November 10, 2014 | 7 comments

I can’t believe I haven’t blog much during the month of October and the month is already over. As you know, I have mentioned AS’s uncle and his family were visiting Australia from Nepal. Due to that reason, we were doing many touristy things and were busy. Here is how my weeks have been for the last few weeks.

Sculpture by the sea

Like every year, we went to Sculpture by the Sea but this time we went with visitors. I love Sculpture by the Sea – intriguing, whimsical, inspiring and challenging exhibits set against the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbour, along the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk.

Sculpture by the sea (7) Sculpture by the sea (6)

The exhibition has certainly come a long way since it was established in 1997 by a group of volunteers with no funding. This year there were 109 exhibits from 16 countries.

Sculpture by the sea (5) Sculpture by the sea (4)

Everyone loved the walk and the day was just perfect to spend 3 hours walking by the coast in the beautiful breeze.

Sculpture by the sea (3) Sculpture by the sea (2) Sculpture by the sea (1)

We took heaps of photos during the visit. Also, check out the stunning shots on the Sculpture by the Sea website and on their social media pages Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

The Sydney Tower Eye

I think any visitor on Sydney’s tour won’t be done until they visit the Sydney Tower so we made sure our guests were able to enjoy the tower too.

Sydney eye (4) Sydney eye (3)

Sydney Tower is Sydney’s tallest structure, it is also the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere (after Auckland’s Sky Tower, though Sydney Tower Eye’s main observation deck is almost 50 m (164 ft) higher than that of Auckland’s Sky Tower).The Sydney Tower Eye has been an integral part of the Sydney skyline. It features attractions such as Skywalk, Sydney Tower Eye Observation Deck, 4D Cinema and more.

Sydney eye (1)

We enjoyed the movie and it is a good addition to the tower experience. It is more aimed at tourists than locals but it is a nice one. There is no seating in the cinema so everyone has to stand on a podium.. The movie has spectacular footage that transports you across Sydney Harbour and takes you through the city’s iconic landmarks and important events.

Sydney eye (5)

The observation deck has tall windows without anything obscuring their view. From the window, we could see the Blue Mountains, the spectacular shoreline of the Harbour, bustling Sydney Airport, Botany Bay and more.

Manly beach

Manly Beach is a popular tourist destination located on the North Shore of Sydney it has an extensive coastline with several beaches doted along its length and panoramic views back to toward the city from North Head National Park.

manly (2) manly

AS’s uncle and is family loved the place and we were very lucky with the weather.

manly (1)

Birthday dinner

birthday (2)

Thank you everyone for the warm birthday wishes. I had a fun time with my family this time and here are some of the photos from the day.

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We went to our local Indian restaurant and they served yummy food as usual. Everyone enjoyed the meal and I had fun 🙂 and was spoiled with gifts and cakes.

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Melbourne cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s major thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as “the race that stops a nation”, it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. Please read my previous post for more details about the day.

melbourne cup

Like every year, me and AS got dresses up for the big day. This year I went with the fascinator in orange with matching accessories and a black dress. AS was looking dashing in his black assembly with a silver tie 🙂 . We had sweeps at work and for the first time, I won some money in Melbourne cup. My horse came second giving me something to celebrate.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to vote your favorite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

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Our Story : Wedding preparations and dramas – Part 37

Posted on November 10, 2014 | 3 comments

This is a continuation of my previous posts. Please read the previous posts here.

Once I landed in Nepal, time seemed to just fly and I didn’t realise that it was almost the time AS was going to be in Kathmandu. In the two weeks, I finally found a flower guy who was going to decorate the venue and provide flowers. He was charging me heaps but I was ok as long as he provided what I wanted.

nepali wedding

I also had a meeting with the photographer and was pleased to see his works. He seemed to have a modern outlook with an understanding attitude. I had a very bad experience with the photographer during the engagement so I wanted to make sure that this time we had some nice photos. After negotiating the price I had finally selected the videographer and photographer. The venue was already finalised by my dad and I was happy as it was near our place and very spacious.

Nepali wedding, Newari wedding, Nepali bride , Nepali groom, Traditional Nepali wedding, Nepali wedding Sari

The most important thing was still in limbo, my outfits for the wedding and it’s not that I needed to pick just one dress; I needed 7 outfits in total for different functions. As you may already know in most of the Asian weddings there are different functions and a newari wedding is not any different.

My mum had already bought me one outfit, a red duppta sari and my mother in law had got one for me as well. But for the rest of the functions, I needed to decide what I wanted and to buy them. I have options to go boutique but most of them are super expensive for good one or to buy readymade ones off the shelves.

Nepali wedding, Newari wedding, Nepali bride , Nepali groom, Traditional Nepali wedding, Nepali wedding Sari

In the middle of this crazy preparation, I also needed to go shopping with my MIL as she wanted me to choose the bag, shoes and other stuff that she was going to give me. It was really thoughtful of her so one afternoon, we went shopping and I choose a few shoes, hand bags, and accessories.

AS arrived in Kathmandu and it was so nice to see him again after two weeks. I went with his brother to pick him up from the airport. We had a short time together before they drop me off at my parents’ house and he went to his own parents’ house. From that day, we had 2 weeks for the wedding.

Luckily, when I was talking to one of my friends, she introduced to me to a beauty parlour for my hair and make-up. The last thing to do was buy a few saris and a lehenga for the reception. One afternoon I was determined to finish my shopping so I went with my cousin and bought a lehnga and a few saris. I just didn’t want to think about the outfits anymore as there were so many other things to be organised.

Nepali wedding, Newari wedding, Nepali bride , Nepali groom, Traditional Nepali wedding, Nepali wedding Sari

I also booked for someone to come to our place for our mehendhi ceremony and sort out other details. By then I had one week left for the wedding.

Once AS was in Kathmandu, it was easier for me as I could always ask him to accompany me. We went to order the cakes together. No one was willing to do a cake as per our design. On top of that, there weren’t any nice toppers like we wanted available with them.

So we went to handicraft shops and finally found two different toppers for the two cakes.

Wedding Ceremony

One topper was of a bride carried in olden style basket and the other was of a bride and groom. We loved both of it but again it was hard finding a baker willing to do a cake as we wanted with our toppers.

Wedding Ceremony

Finally, one bakery agreed and we placed our order. We were not sure of the outcome at that point but had no other choice but to trust them.

Later when the cakes were delivered, we were over the moon as they did a great job.

Wedding CeremonyWedding Ceremony

In the mean time I also made 200 packets of Masala (a Sagun bag with lots of dried fruits and nuts) to be given to the Janti.

During that time, it was hard for me to sleep at nights as my mind raced 100 miles an hour thinking of what else needed to be done for the wedding. I never realised that wedding planning was going to be such a tough job but it was. Most nights I slept late and woke up early but things were being done and it was a relief. Every morning I was on the phone and every afternoon running around doing errands. It was such a hectic two weeks for me and on top of that as it was monsoon in Nepal the rain didn’t help at all.

More on the wedding in the next post.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to vote your favorite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

 Go to Part 38

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Our Story : Wedding plans and hiccups – Part 36

Posted on November 9, 2014 | 2 comments

This is a continuation of my previous posts. Please read the previous posts here.

Once we got back from our New Zealand holiday, we had only a few months left before we were to fly to Kathmandu for our big day. The plan was for me to go before AS as he didn’t have many days of leaves. I needed to go ahead and help my parents plan the big day.

During the few months remaining the date of the wedding changed a few times which meant that we need to change out tickets accordingly. I was really annoyed by that but there was nothing we could do from here.

Finally the “Sait” (auspicious time for wedding ceremony) was finalised and according to that the other functions of the wedding were finalised as well. Both our families were busy booking the venues for the functions and receptions.

As most of you already know weddings in Nepal are not a small affair and ours was not going to be small either. Every time we Skyped with our family, they would update us with the progress. Sometimes I felt so helpless listening to them as they were doing so many things and there was not much we could do from here.

From my end, I was trying to organise the photographer and wedding cakes. I also wanted to find a place to buy my bridal outfits and a palour to do my hair and make-up. I think Nepal is one of the worst places to have a wedding if you are trying to find any information online. There are hardly any websites that provide the services and on top of that if you find any and email them, they don’t reply to your queries.

During this time I so wished I had a sister in Nepal who could go around and help me. I felt so lonely and desperate by the end of the process. I was tired, frustrated and annoyed that nothing could be sorted out via the internet. I had to wait until I was in Kathmandu to do everything and I would have only a few weeks before the actual wedding when I got there.

Finally, I got hold of one photographer who seemed good, nothing about the cake was done and my outfits were nowhere near selected. I had a long list of things that needed to be done and most of them were not possible from Sydney. I used to get so annoyed every day but AS was always there to calm me down.

With AS it was easy, he decided that he will wear “daura sural” one day and suits the rest. The only thing he needed to do was give an order for these few suits and everything was sorted for him.

With work keeping me sane and busy, it was finally the day of my flight to Nepal. I was excited and scared at the same time. AS dropped me to the airport and we said goodbye for 2 weeks.

I was praying on the flight that the wedding would go as planned and there would not be any unexpected problems. I really wished someone in Nepal was free so I could get some helping hand with my preparations.

With my mum busy with her job and dad on his business, I was not sure I would be able to manage the list and execute a wedding.

The flight to Kathmandu was fine though long but I was really glad to see my parents at the airport when they came to pick me. I was just glad that I was home and I promised myself that no matter how the wedding was going to go, I would have fun and it would be our special time and nothing should ruin the experience.

Be ready to read about the crazy wedding preparation and wedding in my next posts. Till then,

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to vote your favorite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

Go to Part 37

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Our Story : Hen’s night – Part 35

Posted on November 8, 2014 | 4 comments

This is a continuation of my previous posts. Please read the previous posts here.

Before I left for Kathmandu, I went for an evening out with some of my friends to celebrate my last few days of being a Bachelorette. I didn’t want something that could go out of control so we decided just to go out for dinner and drinks.

Hen's Party (1)

I went and bought a nice designer dress for the occasion, a pleated blue dress. All my friends wore black. We also bought a sash with a “Bride to be” written on it and badges for everyone with “Warning, Hen Party Member”. We picked a Spanish restaurant where they have dance in the evening.

Hen's Party (2)

We started the night with a drink, Sangria. It was amazing and the drinks just kept coming. Sangria normally consists of wine, chopped fruit, a sweetener, and a small amount of added brandy. It was followed by awesome tapas dinner.

Hen's Party (3) Hen's Party (4) Hen's Party (7) Hen's Party (11)

As soon as we finished the dinner, the fun started. There were songs and dancing and they were teaching us how to dance as well. Being the bride to be that day, they took me on to the stage and taught me some steps. It was great a experience with lots of laughter and miss steps. I am sure by that time I was slightly tipsy as well. I hardly drink which means even just a few drinks makes me easily drunk.

Hen's Party (5) Hen's Party (6) Hen's Party (8)

All of us had good fun in the restaurant but we decided to leave the place to go to pub. It was Saturday night so the pub was really full. Good music was on the speakers so we went straight to the dance floor and grooved. We had a few shots of tequila but rest of the evening we were on the dance floor.

Hen's Party (9) Hen's Party (10)

Around close to midnight, all of us were tired so we decided to call it a night.

Overall we had a great night out with the gals and the celebration of the last few days of my freedom.

Next post will be about my wedding preparation.

Take care,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to vote your favorite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

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Our trip to New Zealand : Milford Sound

Posted on November 6, 2014 | 4 comments

While we were in New Zealand, we went to Milford Sound for a day trip.

Milford Sound (5) Milford Sound (6) Milford Sound (7)

Milford Sound is a fiord in the south west of New Zealand’s South Island, within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world’s top travel destination and called the eighth Wonder of the World.

Milford Sound (8) Milford Sound (9) Milford Sound (10) Milford Sound (11)

One of the world’s most beautiful fjords, Milford Sound also holds the dubious honour of being the wettest place in New Zealand. On average, there are 186 days each year when rain falls, dumping almost seven metres of the stuff on anyone unlucky enough to time their visit badly. Although there is less rain during the winter months, there are still sixteen days a month of wet weather in any season. I’d read that the high rainfall totals led to spectacular waterfalls, and, when windy, dramatic updrafts of water.

Milford Sound (21) Milford Sound (20)

Milford Sound is more than 3 hours away from Queenstown so we decided to book a tour rather than drive there on our own. It was an exciting journey for us with beautiful scenery ending with an amazing cruise.

Milford Sound (13)The coach that we were on was perfectly suited for sightseeing in a place as dramatic as the Milford Road, with clear glass windows and roof. The bus stopped every once in a while so we could all take every picture possible on the way.

Milford Sound (1)

Our first stop was Te Anau, which is a lovely little village sitting on the edge of Lake Te Anau. At Te Anau we met up with the famous Milford Road, one of the great drives in the world. It’s quite a long lake, whose coast we followed for a while.

Milford Sound (1) Milford Sound (2)  Milford Sound (4)

The next stop was Mirror Lakes, to take some great photos of the reflections of the mountains in the lake and we were very lucky that the water was so calm.

Milford Sound (3)

Our cameras were on constant work during the whole trip as all the places we saw were so beautiful that we wanted to capture every one of them.

Milford Sound (10)

Then, we stopped at the Chasm walk next which took us into the woods to a couple of bridges where we saw waterfalls that had done amazing things to the rocks around them—gouging holes and depositing tree trunks in holes in the rocks 20 ft. above the current flow.

Milford Sound (7) Milford Sound (8) Milford Sound (9) Milford Sound (11)

We had a few other stops before we reached Milford Sound.

Milford Sound (12)

The road is quite challenging and I was glad we decided to get the tour rather than drive ourselves. We headed through the Homer Tunnel, a 1.2 km long tunnel linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queenstown, by piercing the Darran Mountain range at the Homer Saddle. You could tell it was dug by hand because there were pick marks on the side walls and on the roadway. It was pitch black inside the tunnel and a very different experience. Once we were out on other side, it was downhill with a windy zig zag road that takes you down to Milford Sound.

Milford Sound (2) Milford Sound (3) Milford Sound (4)

Finally, we reached Milford Sound and it was just beautiful and breathtaking. We had a boat waiting or us for the cruise. Arriving at Milford Sound’s boat dock, the sky was a deep blue and we took the opportunity to capture some amazing shots.

Milford Sound (12) Milford Sound (13) Milford Sound (14) Milford Sound (15)

As soon as we boarded, we ate lunch as both of were starving. The sandwich and coffee tasted better with the spectacular view and a hungry tummy 🙂

The cruise started and the pilot informed us about the place and its history. We saw some seals sunning themselves on a rocky outcrop and some beautiful waterfalls along the way.

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A couple of times the pilot ran the boat up very close to a waterfall, so those on the bow got sprayed and AS managed to get some really nice photos.

Milford Sound (16) Milford Sound (17) Milford Sound (19)

After almost 2 hours, our tour wound down and, we got on the bus and headed back to Queenstown happy with how our day went. It was an amazing day with some great memories for life.

Take care everyone,

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

P.S: Do not forget to vote your favorite blog . NEPALIAUSTRALIAN’s Blog Award 2014

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