Impressions of a Darwin stopover

Darwin International Airport.

Recently we had a short stopover in Darwin for two nights and 3 days.
We flew into Darwin on Jets tar Airlines from Philippines via Singapore,

It was December and the wet season and so the city was relatively  quiet.
Darwin feels like a large provincial town that has been transplanted in the outback. We hired a car and went for a drive around town and then for about 100 km south down the main highway out of town. as soon as you are about 10 km out of town you realise that you are in the real outback where driving has unexpected challenges like road trains. ( A giant truck with 3 or 4 trailers).

The highlights of this trip were the blue lake at springs which had awesome bird life and scary signs warning of crocodiles.  Also the
.......... national park has some really awesome waterfalls. http://youtu.be/nDTIFj8ImaU
http://youtu.be/Hh5rllfS568
A brief stopover in Darwin is enough to realise that the Northern Territory is a place well worth exploring in a more leisurely way in the future.





Jim's loading a luggage.

                                                                                                   

  

Near Darwin Park.

Jim O'Connor Story.

Jim, grew up in suburban Melbourne, Australia in a large and happy family. His mother loved reading and encouraged him to read. A studious young boy he studied hard and was very successful in high school. He won a scholarship and studied at the University of Melbourne. While at University he also worked at various jobs to support himself. He was always interested in travel and whilst at university bought a motor cycle and explored Australia.

After graduating. he sold his motor cycle and decided to travel overseas as a backpacker. First he hitchhiked to Perth, WA then he caught a boat to Singapore. He then explored Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia for several months. Eventually he returned to Australia flying into Darwin from there he hitchhiked to Alice Springs and caught a train from there to Port Augusta and then hitchhiked home to Melbourne.

He then decided to study to become a high school teacher. After completing these studies he started work as teacher and taught for one year saving up all his salary for another travel adventure. The following year he set off again flying to Malaysia and after spending sometime in Thailand, caught a boat to India. Then returning via Sri Lanka to Australia after a whole year of adventures.

After teaching a few more years in Victoria and New South Wales he decided to return to university for more study, once again he studied hard and obtained a scholarship to spend more time at the university. After that he decided to try teaching overseas and landed a job teaching in England. After a year in England he decided to return to Australia.

After all these adventures it is not surprising that he finally started thinking it was time to settle down.

Before too long Jim met Joy from the Philippines and they decided to get married. Jim landed a job in Ras Ak Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, Jim and Joy lived in U. A. E. for several months before decided to come to Australia. They have lived happily in Australia now for 6 years and have a beautiful 5 year old daughter who has just started school. In Australia Jim and Joy have explored Victoria, South Australia, NSW. and Northern Territory They have also travelled together to China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.

Recently they spent some time visiting the Philippines together. Jim and Joy are and happy together and the daughter Celyne's growing up to be hard working, organised and tidy like her mother, as well as studious and fond of reading about science like her dad. She is also growing up to be adventurous and a traveller too. http://youtu.be/UNMAz96ZYZo

China adventures

In September - October 2012  we lived in Dalian, China.
Dalian is in Northern China and is a sea-port. It is a smaller city by Chinese standards with about 6 million people. September October is Autumn in China and the weather is warm.

Our daughter attended the Dalian foreign national school and she was made
to feel very welcome even though she doesn't know how to speak any Chinese. She made some new friends there called Apple, Jason and Brad.

Her teachers were kind and caring. One of her teachers Jam who is  from U.S.A. spoke English very well and kept an eye on her and was very helpful.

Life in Dalian was interesting. We enjoyed some sightseeing. We enjoyed the parks and shopping malls because there was often music and dancing to be seen. The malls and shops were bustling and sometimes crowded but always exciting.

At first it was quite a challenge to find our way about, Taxis were inexpensive but the drivers rarely spoke any English. We found that if we had a visiting card from our destination or at least the destination written in Chinese we usually got there without too much confusion,

                                          http://youtu.be/xdUrId0i6C4

We are hoping to see more of China one day.

Eyre Peninsula the outback, South Australia.

The Eyre Peninsula in South Australia is a region undiscovered by most tourist, but has some fascinating sights.

We explored the Eyre Peninsula in 2010. The region has some e.g. The sand dunes at Sheringa spectacular coast lines and parsley populated and borders on the outback. Make sure your vehicle is reliable because there is often 70-100 km between town and not much in between.

Eyre Peninsula has a relatively low rainfall but still farmers manage to grow vast areas of wheat and canola. The area also produce delicious oysters and sea foods.
Scenic Florence falls in Darwin Northern Territory.

Multicultural Karaoke Party in Portland Australia.

A Karaoke night is always fun. Sandra babes singing with the girls. Last Saturday night was no exception I got together with some old and new friends from Philippines, Thailand, Indonesian, India, Iran and Australian. It was hilarious fun for young and old.

 

Plenty of foods to share.

 

 

There was lots of multicultural foods to share and a good time was had by all.

Sight seeing United Arab Emirates, Persian Gulf.

We went  sight seeing near Ras Al Khaimah in Jan 2012. We saw the Camel race track, a date farms

 and explored the nearby desert and mountains. December and January in Ras Al Khaimah the weather is warm, but not too hot it is a good time to visit. You can easily rent a car and drive with your Australian license all over United Arab Emirates. The road are all in excellent condition the traffic is light once you outside the big cities. Exploring around Ras Al Kkaimah UAE.

 



 

 

 

 

You can watch our videos about Ras Al Khaimah.http://youtu.be/fnsIodxAaEM

Impressions of Cagayan De Oro City after 6 years away.

At Kagay-Anon Restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 My officemates in City Hall.

                                                                                

                                                                                

                                                                               

                                                               
                                                                  At SM mall CDO

                                                                                

                                                                              
                                        My old officemate in City Hall CDO.

                                                                                       

                                                                                 

                                                                                      

                                                                                 

                                                                                
                                     

                                                                                   
                                                       With my workmate Kit.

                                                                               

                                                                                 SM mall.    

                                                                                      

                                                                             
                                          With Ecaranum Family at night Cafe Divisoria CDO.

                                                                                

                                                                               
                                                SGI members in CDO at Kaikan Cugman.

                                                                                 
                                                           Tessie and Jim and Celyne.

                                          Ate Marilyn Ong picking up us  in the Airport.

                                                                             
                                                              Ong's family dinner  in CDO.

                                                                               
After 6 years away in UAE and in Australia and different countries. I recently spent two months visiting my home town Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines. I enjoyed visiting Cogon Market
 Divisoria night market, SM mall. I was impressed with the new  shopping mall Ayala Centrio and the Laguindingan International airport.

It was a great joy to meet all my old friends and workmates at City Hall. The dedication, integrity and hard work of the city hall workers has made CDO, an attractive place for investors. And so has contributed greatly to the progress of the City.

Specially thanks to the Ong's family for their hospitality during our visit.
Also special thanks to Tessie and Robert Yu and Helen Sia and all SGI members for their kindness during our visit.

                                          MAAYONG ADLAW CAGAY-ANONS!