Stuff I like about being in Melbourne

So its been more than five years since we moved over to Melbourne from Singapore. What was initially a short stint of a couple of years became a couple more, and after having an addition to our family, we kinda decided Melbourne will be our home for while more. How long more? I can't really say for sure but just like what James 4:15 says, if it's the Lord's will, we will be in Melbourne for a long while.

Anyway, occasionally when I chat with some old friends via social media or email, I tend to get the question: what do I like about being in Melbourne? Or a somewhat similar question. So here's a list of what I like (not in any order of preference):

1.  The suburb we live in is nice and quiet; especially at night after dark. I remember there was one time when my bro-in-law came for a holiday and he was in our backyard having a smoke at night and it freaked him that the neighbourhood was so quiet and he could actually see the stars.

2.  Lots of parklands everywhere. Just around our house, there are at least 3 parklands that are within walking distance, each with a playground for kids. I think that is a fantastic thing to have especially having a 19 month old boy who has lots of energy to expend.

Gideon roaming around a park 

3. Many interesting places to drive around. I can't say we are very adventurous in our five years here but we do drive out to the country area at least once a year for a break. Either on our own, with family visiting us or with our church going for church camps. Some of the places we enjoyed include Daylesford (spa region), Grampians (national park), Phillip Island, Merricks (had a church camp there) and Lakes Entrance.

4. Work is flexible. At least the employers that I have had so far. I have changed my job from full-time to contract with the option to work from home, and having a part-time job that allowed me to switch days once in while. Taking time off for family emergencies or family matters is usually OK. It is also awesome that Mabel could get a part-time managerial position, so she can spend more time with the little man. To top it off, the work environment that me and Mabel have are awesome.

5. Awesome asian food. We don't eat out very often, but when we do, we often stick to our favourite malaysian or asian restaurants where they dish out our favourite stir fries - char kway teow, char hor fun etc. The other asian stuff we like are the vietnamese food, thai food, jap food and yum cha. I have to add we don't have very high expectations of food generally.

6. Sports engineering. This is one of the reasons I came to Melbourne, to pursue this interest and I have to say, I have been very blessed to have been able to do it for the past 4 years. There's probably going to be more opportunities going forward as a new industry network has been established last year to further this area.

7. Sports as a spectator. There are lots of interesting sports events in Melbourne that makes the weekends a bit more interesting like the Australian Open and the AFL. Cricket is also huge here but I haven't quite figured that out. My research in sports engineering also brought me to the local wheelchair rugby league a couple of times. One other event that I would be keen to go to (and obvious haven't) is the Motogp at Phillip Island. This year maybe?

Australian Open 2013

A Hawks game in 2012

8. Sports. Expanding a little bit on point 2, the many parklands also mean more places to run, not just on the roads but also on trails. There's the Yarra River which is a great place to paddle. There are also bicycle trails everywhere for riding - something I look forward to doing this year too (when I do get a bike); and if I feel 'strong', I may sign up for an adventure race like the Marysville to Melbourne which includes a total of 155km of paddling, cycling and trail running. Yeah, should be fun.

9. My walk with God. I have been challenged a lot more since I came to Melbourne. It might be the peace and quiet (and thus less distractions), or it might be being part of a smaller church (more opportunities to serve), or it might be age, or maybe a combination of everything. But basically I just feel the need to live my life more purposefully for the glory of God and somehow being in Melbourne brought that out.

10. Great friends. Although we don't have any immediate family here, but we do have great friends, friends who are like family to us. Enough said.

Of course there are stuff that I don't like about being in Melbourne but somehow I can't think of any right now. Might be the erratic weather that's messing with my brain...

Make it Count

"Make it Count" is the slogan of the Nike+ Fuel Band that aimed to encourage people (specifically the Gen Y) to live life to the fullest. Another popularly used term is Carpe diem or seize the day. Nike hired this guy to film an ad for the campaign but instead of following the original plan, him and the film editor spent the entire budget travelling around the world. It took them 10 days to use up the money, travelling 34,000 miles, visiting 16 cities in 13 countries on three continents. The result was a four-and-a-half-minute film. It wasn't quite what Nike had expected, but it still featured Nike's "Make It Count" branding and there were quotes from famous people such as:

• Helen Keller ~ Life is either daring adventure or nothing at all
• Franklin Roosevelt ~ Above all try something 
• Albert Einstein ~ I never worry about the future it comes soon enough 
• Giacomo Casanova ~ One who makes no mistakes makes nothing at all 
• Abraham Lincoln ~ In the end it's not the years in your life that counts it's the life in your years

In the video, the guy was running through the cities, doing handstands at renown landmarks or backflips and jumping off high places. Singapore was also one of the visited countries! The Marina Bay Sands infinity pool was featured in the video at around 4:09. Although I noticed that other than the scene where he runs off from his apartment and him coming back, he was not wearing the band in most of the other scenes. I am guessing the battery died during the trip and it was pointless to wear it. Nevertheless, he did make a point with his video, which was to live life to the fullest.

It's a very positive notion to live life to the fullest, except it places too much emphasis on the now and now. If life is just about this life then that will be fine. But the truth is, there is life after this life. My church pastor has a favourite illustration in his preaching. He uses a short piece of rope that's red and maybe about 30cm long, and one end of that red rope is tied to another rope green in colour and is many many times longer. The shorter red rope represents our life here on earth which is very short compared to the much longer green rope which represents eternity. Our life, from the day we are born will end after 30,000 days (assuming an average lifespan of approximately 82 years) and then comes eternity which lasts... forever.

Although there isn't much details in the bible about what happens in eternity or in heaven when we die, we do know a few things for sure. Firstly, if we believe in Jesus, we will have eternal life even after the physical death (John 11:25-26). Secondly, when we go to heaven, we receive an eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-5) and would also be awarded a crown if we fought the good fight and finished the race (2 Timothy 4:7-8). The good fight of faith is to live a life holy and pleasing to God and also to be mindful of God's 'business'. This world can be full of temptations to lure us away from fighting the good fight of faith, but we need to press on to make our life count for eternity.

So this is my goal for the new year.

"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

1 Timothy 6:11-12