Sam Turns Twenty at Sha Tin

With a number of birthday gatherings floating around, I thought it was about time I caught up on a post I promised before the inevitable hiatus announcement.

A few months ago, my brother turned 20 years old.  TWENTY YEARS OLD!! How did that happen?

To be honest, it really is a miracle that we’ve stayed sane and together as a family for that long.

Why’s that?, I anticipate you asking.

Well, if you knew me in real life, you’d also know that Sam, my brother, has autism.  He was diagnosed with autism when he was 4 years old and our family lifestyle and routines have never been quite ‘normal’ ever since.

Little Sam with the beginnings of a continuously growing video cassette collection

I’m sure you don’t hide away scissors, knives and the stove lighter before you go to sleep.  I’m also pretty certain that the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning is not a laptop being thrusted at your face with a demand for the password. Nor are 2 TVs and one portal DVD player constantly being played (all at once) in your household.  These are just some of the realities we deal with on a regular basis because of my brother’s disabilities.  Though there have been many challenges over the years, there has also been much joy and appreciation for the little things in life i.e. when Sam finishes a full sentence that made complete sense without any prompting :).  Being a sibling to a person with special needs has also taught me to be patient with people, recognising that we all have our idiosyncrasies and to accept others just the way they are.

Perth… and the food we ate – Part 1

Being wired the way I am (I think it has something to do with being Asian), trips are mentally broken down into two categories: This is where we went + This is what we ate (can any Asians testify to this? No? Maybe it’s just me then).  So let’s take a trip down memory lane and do just that!

Earlier this year, My parents and I skipped Melb-town for a week to enjoy a much-needed break post-Christmas/family camp/summer subject/internship… my dad asked me if I wanted to go to NZ or Perth (we haven’t been to either place) and I chose Perth :D.

When I’ve told other people of the choice I made, they all looked at me oddly…(I got this reaction from a Perth local too) Seriously? You chose Perth over NZ- another country?!  In retrospect, the better choice may have been to visit NZ before they had their earthquakes but, well… there was a purpose behind my decision :P.  More on that later.

We had booked ourselves into an apartment in Swan Valley, The Vines which is basically in the heart of Perth’s wine country….and, as we have now learnt, it is VERY far from the city! Haha, never gonna make that mistake again!

Anyway, after we checked in we headed back out to the city to find a place for dinner (about a 40 min drive?)…