Friday, May 30, 2008

Pictures from the Phone....

The resolution is not great.

On my Nokia 2300 in low light conditions, not perfect.

.... But a photo image does not necesarily improve with greater definition.

Distortions can add mood and drama....

Monday, May 26, 2008

The Landscape at Lara


We are 60 Km West of Melbourne.

The landscape becomes flat.

But there is a low range of hills near lara, called the You Yangs.

The name means the mountain in the middle of a plain.

The Western Plains go for a thousand miles.

Almost endless.

Kangaroo territory.

More!






More!

Want some pictures?






Well......it's a combination of cute baby shots, sexy Aileen and me looking a bit dumb....




Saturday, May 24, 2008

Saturday night at the dance night.....

More about this later....we are heading to Doncaster.....a chance to dress smart and move to the music!
In a big space, called The ShoppingTownHotel 12 miles East of Melbourne city, there is this Saturday night dance scene with lights and pulsating music.
Unusual now, as the disco craze has become a thing of the past.
For the teens and early twenties there are fifty places in Melbourne called "clubs", where the music is the very latest and the "look" is younger. They fill up around midnight.
Sadly the "old guys", age 28 and over, are not venturing out so much, at home with their plasmas and their delining, inflated lifestyles, their overpriced homes. So many of the discos have closed.
Maybe Ai and I feel at home with this somewhat "retro", older group.

Yes, we had fun, stepping it out, and meeting up with Thomas, a man Aileen located on "CherryBlossom" website, and who has been corresponding with her friend, Angie, in Tacloban.
--- I will post some photos later

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Suddenly it is Now......9 months later!... May 2008



Why did I not keep up the blog?

... Not sure exactly.

But in August 2007, wehad the painful and unwanted parting.

Aillen had been in Australia for 3 months since the wedding in April.

Our requests to Aussir Immigration to extend her visit were rejected..... except one, namely that IF we could provide evidence that it was unsafe for herto fly back to Tacloban, they would be compelled to extend until after the baby was delivered.

Ai was suffering constant sickness and cramps, and we knew ofa specialist who would support her staying here.

BUT, in view of our need to maintain a good profile for the sake of a permanent residence visa,

we decided to head back together to Tacloban.

We stayed in very cheap but decent hotels, and Malou helped Ai to find that rather poor ground floor apartment on the outer fringes of Tacloban.


It was a very difficult time for Ai.

The baby became larger than expected and the strain was enormous.

We counted down the weeks and days, sometimes meeting up on webcam at the internet cafe next to Shakers Pizza in Tacloban, thru to my slow home computer.

We had many phone calls, running to 3 a day, and when Ai needed money for rent or medical or food and clothing, I sent it via the very expensive Western Union.


Sometimes Lou slept there to help her, but it was her mother who was the most constant support and help, and we are very grateful to them both.


The drama climaxed when baby was due, but the doc was refusing a caesarian. Baby was VERY big! Then baby stopped moving. It was an emergency. I was sitting feeling helpless in Melbourne. Ai was telling me on the phone that they had made an appointment on 10 October, late in the day, to open her up surgically.


Then....the news that the baby was delivered.

But he would not be released and was in intensive care because he had contracted a form of pneumonia. His breathing was rapid and difficult.

Ai was also infected with a respiratory bug. Both of them were on antibiotics.

Plus the baby's heart had not sealed and was losing blood, a "hole in the heart" condition that may or may not rectify itself over the firstsix months of life.


When the baby was about 3 weeks old, I rushed over to be with them.

Baby was by then out of hospital, and with some astonishment, after meeting Ai at Tacloban airport, we collected him in a fine new bassinet from the apartment and settled at the charming

Alejandro.


I could not say baby recognised me. He could hardly see. I tried to be awake in the night with

Ai when he needed feeding. I also found I could calm him eby taking him out on the hotel balcony. He loves being outdoors and watching people going past.


Another painful separation after 3 weeks together, when I had to get back to melbourne to pay the bills and do some work. ---- I had airline tickets for us to travel together, but it was clear

that the temporary residence visa for Ai and the Aussie passport for baby, would take an extra month or two.


Our hopes were of Christmas together.

Every Sunday night at that time, I visited friends in St Kilda, Peter and Cynthia, and we called Ai together each week.

Then it was a hope of a new year together.


Ai and baby eventually took shelter at the home of our friends Michael and Dativa in Manila.

- At first, she thought only for a weekend. But with added delays, it ran to several weeks.


On Boxing Day, 26 December, the visa and passport materialised. But Ai was exhausted.

She called me and insisted that I travel next day to join her and help carry the baby and the

bags, also that I travel to the Aussie Embassy to collect baby's passport.


Why the SIA flight was deleyed on take off for 16 hours, I'll save for another blog.

Finally, we travelled from Manila on 29 December, arriving 30 December.


Aillen was given 2 years before converting to permanent residence, James was an Australian citizen by descent, and we were together at our littlehouse at Lara in the extreme heat of Summer!


It felt very good!


In short, after a further five months, it is now May 20.

We have had our first wedding anniversary, two important birthdays, and baby is just over 7 months and crawling, with his first two bay bottom teeth showing.


A few adventures, but going well.

Money is an important feature, as the whole courtship/wedding/honeymoon/pregnancy/ baby/ visas and passports thing had drained my resources. But we have kept it within limits and trying now to reduce the debt burden. Ai would love to find employment, but the bay is until now our first concern. He is healthy. His heart condition has resolved. All is well!