My Life is Brilliant

home sweet home ...

hello from brisbane ... its hard to believe i am back on my side of the world again. Lucky for me i was able to sleep on the plane, so that was a huge improvement on my trip last year. My family were so happy to see me ... and me to them too! i really missed them over the last few days away! Of course the girls were super excited to see what goodies i bought back ... It was fun to see all of their excitement with the gifts! so cute. Of course everyone wore their matching new pj's ... and have ever since, so so cute!

The girls made me this really cute sign they hung from the balcony, i will take a picture tomorrow ... i love it!

I am thankful mum was here helping with everything. She has been amazing, washing and cooking ... she made roast chicken for dinner the night i got back ... so yum!

I am slowly pulling myself back together ... i have alot to catch up on after being away.

My final day in Beijing was amazing. My dear friend took me and another friend of hers Stephanie on a whirlwind tour of the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and then to Summer Palace ... with a bite of McD's for lunch ... almost the same except for a few extra options like corn kernels, and taro pies ...

Tianamen Square was really incredible ... its such a huge space, with lots of people ... one thing that really impressed me with China is their amazing flower arrangements, i particularly liked the "world" map ... so cool. We headed over to the Forbidden City ... i was blown away AGAIN by the size of this place ... Heidi taught us so much about the history and the different colours of the buildings, and mystical creatures, stone carvings ... so much to learn. It amazed me how spread out it is ... and the thought not only of how many people would be involved with building the amazing structure, then all the people that would have maintained and served ... it was quite overwelming the thought of it!

Heidi used the GPS to head us off to the Summer Palace ... and it takes us down this crazy/busy street that was full of people, cars, bikes, and not wide enough for two cars to pass and all the traffic that was on it ... it certainly was a "chinese" adventure getting down it ...

so we made it to the Summer Palace ... and started another adventure. Lots of steps ... the Summer Palace is a stunning place. It seemed so tranquil and peaceful after the busy rush of the Forbidden City. We were blessed to have just a stunning day ... blue skies, not a breath of wind ... as you can see by the photos. It made it more so magical. I really did love it there. Stephanie and I walked down to the water ... so lovely. We got a bit off

track getting back up the hill to the Buddah temple ... we did get there even if we were off the main track. It was a good leg work out!

i took 270 photos on this day ... i got some stunning photos, i just love looking at them. I feel so lucky to have experienced all this.

Gary surprised me with Kylie Kwong's book ... i have already made a couple of recipes from it ... isn't he so sweet!