Cameron Highlands: MARDI Agro Park

Thursday, the busiest and most hectic day out of the week. While waiting for my sis to come home and go for baddy, I decided to write up a quick post about our MARDI Agro Park visit at the Cameron Highlands.

Good time management huh? Time is never enough when you need it most, so better use it wisely.

It was out of the blue that one of us suggested to come by here in the afternoon. Baked in the sun and sweated like a pig. Minus the sweat and sunburn, it's nevertheless a tranquil family-friendly park for people of all ages to enjoy.

Toowoomba's Christmas Wonderland 2012

We had a special guest visiting and staying with us over the weekend. On Saturday, after 6 hours of work in the afternoon, we went downtown to grab some Asian groceries and the fresh ingredients needed to prepare dinner that night.

I made them glorious home-cooked food! *victory pose*

Thinking back, it has been a long while since I last cooked so many dishes for my favorite meal of the day. We later drove William to the upper part of Queens Park (where Toowoomba's Christmas Wonderland is) for an eye-opening sight-seeing and photo-shooting experience.

Ho~Ho~Ho~ Merry Christmas in advance to my dearest family, friends and readers out there!!!

Carnival of Flowers: Sideshow Alley in Queens Park

Instead of going for the "routine" Floral Parade of the Carnival of Flowers like the past few years, we skipped it and brought ourselves to the Sideshow Alley at the lower Queens Park yesterday. I supposed it would be nice strolling and shooting under the bright sunny weather and it indeed was! Despite a little bit of spring heat which made us sweat like summer, I was not hating it at all.

Outdoor Barbecue at Picnic Point Park

We had a joyful outdoor barbecue with friends on last sunny Sunday at the Picnic Point Park. It was quite a last minute invitation and we just rocked up both empty handed. Oh well, we did bring our big bulky camera and some toys for the kids along with us.

New Year BBQ at West Creek Park

Nothing special nor fancy on the first day of 2012. We kick-started another brand new year with an outdoor barbie with a bunch of lovely friends at the West Creek Park. It was sunny yet a bit cold with chilly wind gushing through our skin *shivers* but we really had fun. How about you guys? Are you enjoying the holidays so far?

Summer Photoshoot at the Japanese Garden

Though I'm still not fully recovered from the food poison last night, but I insisted to go out for a walk this afternoon, all because of the wonderful weather outside, blue sky, sunny day, gentle breeze... And we did a summer photo-shoot at the Japanese Garden with no make-up, no professional photographer, just me and the beautiful summer.

New Year Outdoor BBQ at West Creek Park

On the New Year's Eve, we had no celebration or whatsoever countdown party due to work obligations. It was hell of a busy night that night, and I only managed to get home half an hour before the clock strikes 12, thank goodness! My boi and I spent the rest of our night (roughly an hour and a half) "dissecting" the 2.6 kg whole turkey and marinated it with a secret recipe of mine: five-spice powder, light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, Hua Tiao Chinese cooking wine, and garlic mince (don't forget to thank me if you were about to steal my recipe k =p). The turkey turned out to taste and smell so good, and the meat was so tender (another secret to pick up on how to cut and handle the meat before marinating). The next morning, we made up our New Year celebration with an outdoor barbecue at the West Creek Park together with several other close friends of us.

Spring Bluff Railway Station and Gardens

The title says it all! We paid a short visit to the Spring Bluff Railway Station and Gardens which is about half an hour drive away from Toowoomba (our living place to be exact). Everything may seemed peaceful and deceivingly clam in the photos, but the truth is NOT! There were these hateful little blood-sucking flying bugs (forgotten the name of it) following us wherever we go and constantly giving us "love bites" while we were busy taking photos.

Newtown Park State Rose Garden (Queens Park)

I used to mistaken Newton Park as part of Queens Park, but that's not the case really. The historical park is situated right next to Queens Park and it's bounded by Holberton, Taylor, Tor and Pottinger Streets. When my close friend's boyfriend was still in Toowoomba, we paid a little visit there in the afternoon and were completely dazzled by those spring blooming flowers in front of our eyes.

Picnic at the Japanese Garden

We had a pot-luck picnic at the Japanese Garden yesterday, around 4 pm in the afternoon and the weather was considerably warm with bright and sunny sky. My boi and I had brought some fruits and chocolate fruit cake, while Kitt on the other hand prepared these tart-looking mini pizzas.

Birthday Barbecue at Queens Park

Last Saturday afternoon, 14 of us gathered together at the Queens Park in celebration of San's 22nd birthday. The park was pretty packed with kids and families as we reached there. Thank goodness both the barbecue facilities were not occupied by any of them.

Sunday Morning: Preston Manor and Preston Village Chapel

This would be my third visit to Preston Manor and Preston Village Chapel. We came by to take some photos after visiting the Preston Peak Winery. Although it was a bit cloudy when we left our place, but the sky was soon became clear and sunny again in the afternoon.

Japanese Garden: Photo-Shooting

We went for a little photo-shooting session at the USQ Japanese Garden this afternoon. The main idea was to test out my BB's new toy. Yup, he has just got himself a Nikon D90!

Main Range National Park: Cascade Falls + Jungle Trekking

Main Range National Park is one of the largest rain-forests in Southeast Queensland, located 102 km southwest of Toowoomba. The family-friendly park have facilities like information centre, shelter sheds, picnic tables and BBQs, public toilets (most importantly), drinking water, caravan and disabled access. Here, we'd like to thank the lovely Aussie family for taking us on this free great trip, also thanks Melodii for sharing of the info =)

Toowoomba's Heritage Gardenfest '09

Heritage Gardenfest - The Gardening and Gourmet Weekend is being held again this year at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (Queens Park), Lindsay Street Toowoomba from May 2 to May 4. The gates open at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m. on Monday. An entrance fee of $6 will be charged per person, regardless kids or adults.

Mesmerizing Sunset

I had just submitted my forth assignment, CSC8407 Wireless & Internet Technology this morning, but distressingly there are still heaps left! Let me see... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 assignments, 2 projects, and 1 report for me to work on! Sigh, I guess I'll have to spend the coming 2 months struggling and coping with all these hateful stuff.

It's All Green 'n More...

This is something I've been working on last night.
Three of them were taken by my friend,
and I was just being too busybody to help him photoshop the photos I like.
Simply click on the photos to view the original size...

Graduation Trip: Sydney's Palace Garden

Welcome to the the Palace Garden on Macquarie street, which is also known as Harley Street of Sydney, New South Wales.

Graduation Trip: Chinese Garden of Friendship (II)

Most of the stone in the garden has been brought from country west of Sydney beyond the Great Divide, near the township of Cumnock. The rocks are limestone, and contain many fossils. The fluted and sculptured shapes are typical of those traditionally used in Chinese Gardens, but not only are they the correct type of rock, many of them have been chosen to represent animals and figures to give life and to rekindle traditions, such as the dragon in the lake (protecting the mountain).

Graduation Trip: Chinese Garden of Friendship (谊园)

The Chinese Garden of Friendship (谊园) are modeled on the typical private gardens of the Ming Dynasty, located in Darling Harbour of Sydney, Australia. In 1988, the gardens were officially opened as part of Sydney's bicentennial celebrations and they were named the Garden of Friendship, symbolizing the bond established between China and Australia.