On a less formal note, they are Aunty Pat and Uncle Stu. That's my Aunt from Mum's side - the 4th sister among 11 children and her husband. Thinking of them always brings me back to the time of our very first family vacation to Perth in 1979. A remarkable experience it was, which explains why I've lost count of how many times we've been there since.
From the moment you land in Perth, right up to the time when you get to the departure area to board your flight back, you'll be treated to the exclusive 'Chapmans' ala Golden Club Class touch.
Everything is planned to the most minute detail and there's never one boring moment. How do they manage? Fancy having guests at your place for a whole month and making sure that every second of their trip was well worth it. I doubt if most of us would be able to cope with that. Anyone can play hosts at one time or another, but to that extent? Phew, it must've been utterly exhausting for them every time members of the family flew 'Down Under' for a holiday.
It's been ages since we've had the chance to visit Perth. The last time we went was in November 2006. Enjoyed? You Kidding? Of course we did. To the max. Aunty Norm joined us, so it was double the fun. I love travelling with Aunty Norm, who has all the patience in the world to accompany me while I shopped. She's great company, and we were delighted when she agreed to come with us. So, the night before leaving for Perth, all of us stayed at Mums and Pops house and left for KLIA early the next morning, where we had a nice sumptous breakfast at the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge.
It's been ages since we've had the chance to visit Perth. The last time we went was in November 2006. Enjoyed? You Kidding? Of course we did. To the max. Aunty Norm joined us, so it was double the fun. I love travelling with Aunty Norm, who has all the patience in the world to accompany me while I shopped. She's great company, and we were delighted when she agreed to come with us. So, the night before leaving for Perth, all of us stayed at Mums and Pops house and left for KLIA early the next morning, where we had a nice sumptous breakfast at the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge.
Ok, so I was saying....On the day of arrival, there's always a welcome 'lunch, tea or dinner' depending on what time we arrive. On this particular trip, we arrived in the evening, so it was a 'welcome dinner'. And what a wonderful meal that was. To sit and have dinner with 2 of my favorite Aunty and Uncle in that cosy li'l patio of theirs and the freshness of the late spring breeze right there - that's a treat alright! Aunty Pat has got some great culinary skills, so I'll leave you to imagine how we used to look forward to mealtimes.
Coming down to breakfast in front of their Sunken Garden (a creative alternative of a swimming pool) was always a pleasure. Imagine this...As we sit down to eat, beside the glass of breakfast juice, there'll be a miniature cup with our daily multi-vitamins/medication, all ready for consumption. Forget 5-star hotels, you'll never get that kind of treatment there. This special Couple actually takes the effort to observe all these minor details that the regular Joe wouldn't even have thought about.
And don't you go mentioning about a particular place, food or whatever that you may like to see, eat or buy because they'll go out of their way to see you get what you want.
Uncle Stu doesn't drive, so he normally hires an MPV after the 2nd or 3rd day of our stay there. This, is to give us the oppurtunity to enjoy the bus and train rides, which are so systematic and something I can't imagine happening here in KL. Punctuality is the keyword there...So, we walked to bus stop to catch our ride to Fremantle. On the way back, we stopped over at the City to pick up our rented vehicle. With a map on his lap, sitting in the co-driver's seat, Uncle Stu is the best navigator ever. Aha, he'll take you anywhere you wanna go across Perth. And trust me, have we been to places!!
As all good things must come to an end, so was our holiday in Perth. Daniel's birthday dinner also doubled up as our farewell from Aunty Pat and Uncle Stu. The choice was Miss Maud's of course - it's been a long standing tradition.
sophisticated area. I've seen pictures of the new one and I already love it. But I'll still miss Villa Seremban.
Blogging out this particular post has put me in the holiday mood once again. Looking back at all those pictures and the wonderful time we had Down Under is really making me think if I should go bug Sunny a little...
To my terrific Aunt and Uncle, I'd say they're the best hosts ever. Nevermind if there's no such 'title', but fact remains, no one I know could come close to putting in that much effort to keep their guests entertained every minute of the day. Most importantly, I can't imagine how much they are forced to fork out each time they welcome guests into their home. The sad part is, they don't receive the same VVIP treatment when they come for THEIR holidays. Due to my unpredictable work commitments and schedule, I only had them stayover for 1 night last month, and prior to that, we had them stay with us for only 4 days. Hope to repay their kindness during their next trip here.
So that's it. I sign off with very happy thoughts, reminiscing our family holiday in Perth. And to those of you who stopped by, I'd like to wish you a 'Gooday, Mate'!
