Australia

 

Walking down memory lane is always emotional. We have been around the world in wonderful places and have been lucky to get to know so many wonderful people. These photos are taken while we visited Sydney, Australia, with Wan SiFu. We loved every moment of it even I got sunburned pretty badly and looked partly like a boiled lobster. Australia has colours like nowhere else - bright and deep. Seeing the ocean there was breathtaking. The blues of the ocean met with the blues of the sky on the horizon and sunbeams were shooting warm glitter everywhere. The water on Bondi beach was cool and the sun was extremely hot. 

We walked a lot. That is our way of mapping a new location. On foot, we can set our bearings and see where we actually are. I have always been doing this. Recently I realized that not all the places I have been to have been safe. With my husband that is not a problem, no one gets too interested in us. But I have been blessed not to face any troubles wondering solo everywhere. I am sure the reason for that has been my childlike excitement and smile. I have noticed that if you really wish to make discoveries go off the main roads and look up and down. Yup, do all the things you are NOT supposed to do to be safe. BUT to be safe DO NOT go by yourself. Anyway if I had been by myself in Australia, I probably would have gone everywhere and I would have felt safe! No, I am not talking about Australia's nature that is supposed to come and kill you. I am talking about street life. I felt safe and going places was easy compared for example to our second hometown in the Philippines - Metro Manila. The streets around Sydney were clean and well marked. So we walked from Chinatown to Bondi Beach and from Bondi to Opera House wondering around different neighbourhoods. 

Since we were there to support Wan Sifu we had the opportunity to catch up with our Kung Fu family members from all around the world. That was the ultimate highlight of that trip. Well...I want to let you in on a secret. We performed a Practical Wing Chun demo at a theatre and Wan SiFu gave us a topic - women self-defence.  For once I got to "win" when "fighting" with my dear husband. And even it was only an act, it felt pretty good. I must admit that I let my ego enjoy that event and apparently so did my husband - I could feel how proud he was of me. Oh, I know I could have done better, but I was surprisingly excited in front of an audience. I think that one still finds the full show on youtube and Facebook. If you have not watched it yet, you should watch at least the Wan Sifus interview.  No, that interview is not the one below. The photo was taken when WAN SiFu, SiHing Tony Cheng and my husband, SiFu Veka were interviewed by this huge online media... unfortunately I can not remember the English name and my Chinese is still pretty bad. However, I was awfully proud of this group and amazed at the quality and amount of work Tony SiHing had put into Wan SiFu's introduction in Sydney.