When Meng How mentioned that he might be in China on a project, dad and I thought that we should pop in to Perth to see how Serene is managing with her day care, and perhaps lend a helping hand. It would be quite daunting, I imagine, having to run the house and manage the kids - other people's kids.What if there's an emergency? What if she needed to pop out for a few minutes, and the kids all asleep?
As I observed her with the children, I realized, I have a very clever daughter, who's not only capable and organized but very creative, kind and compassionate (but that's another chapter to cover).
So when my sister Alicia, proposed that the 2 of us drive down to Pemberton for a weekend, I was all game for it. We packed a picnic lunch and off we went. We took a scenic drive, covering the smaller towns. We felt we were like Thelma and Louise.
Our first stop was Harvey - that's where Harvey beef, Harvey milk, Harvey cheese, and Harvey orange and apple juice came from. Sabah import lots of Harvey dairy.
Next stop was Donnybrook - the Apple Town. I've never seen so much apples before. Even the street lights had apple-shaped lamps. Besides apple, there were pears, plums and some oranges - but the star of the place was just apples.The owner of this orchard, an Italian, was just too happy to get free publicity.
The next town was no less interesting. Ballingup - the Scarecrow town.Scarecrows welcomed us as we entered the town. Big ones, small ones, gaudily garbed, lined the main street of Ballingup.
Bridgetown was another unique little town, almost a village. A bridge spanned the Blackwood River and linked the 2 parts of the village, hence the name Bridgetown, I guess. The place was just so scenic.
On our way back, we passed a village fair and we decided to stop. The locals were very friendly. Apples, plums, apricots, oranges, persimmons were super cheap. $2/- per kilo on almost everything. We picked some fruits, and whatever we chose, the farmer just said - 1 kilo. (Actually they weighed more). Alicia is passionate about 'support the local farmer' and so we bought some vegetables as well. This girl was just too happy to pose for me.
After driving more than 350 km, we finally reached Pemberton. Pemberton is a timber town and most of the older buildings use lots of timber. The town has cleverly marketed this feature of the town by showcasing its trees - cleverly phrased as "The Giants". Malaysia ( especially Keningau could use this theme creatively too)
Our motel , The Gloucester Motel was a no frills motel, but adequately equipped and we even received a bottle of wine as welcome drink!
We took a tour of the town, and we came to an Op Shop (second hand) runned by the local women. I spotted this wooden horse, still in good condition. How happy Nathan was to have it. How his imagination ran ! He was a prince : "Your Majesty," he bowed to me. He was a tiger slayer : "Don't worry Po Po, I'm going to kill the tiger."His horse became a drill. "Mummy, Po Po, cover your ears - I'm drilling... Tut..tut..tut..."
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