Five things I’m excited about right now

After a bit of a hiatus from putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) on our blog, I suddenly felt a twinge, an urge, a flash of inspiration, to start speaking up again. I enjoy it… love it, in fact, so here goes!

Fives things I am excited about right now…

1. The fact that we have become oh-so-grown-up and gone and bought ourselves a home. A lovely home, and one that we are excited about making our centre and Universe for family and friendly gatherings, nights-in, weekends in the garden and a sanctuary to come home to after a long work day. Some work needs to be done to the lovely ol’ girl, but she’s got potential to be a stunner.

2. My impending 30th birthday. I have trouble putting those numbers into a sentence. The ‘I’m about to hit the end of my third decade on Earth’ birthday is scary, yet, I am excited all the same. Goodbye roaring 20’s!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. All the colours of autumn, especially in leafy Toowoomba where driving around the streets provides a kaleidoscope of oranges, reds and yellows; colours that are quickly becoming a carpet of leaves on the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Walking around the world in the Global Corporate Challenge, 10,000+ steps a day for 100 days with a team of crazy colleagues. Will keep me at least a little active throughout the winter months, plus will help me gear up for a little fun at Miss Muddy challenge at the end of June!

5. Never ending cuddles with our cocker spaniel… of course this is always on the list of things to be excited about!

Our Colorful Gold Coast Weekend

It’s amazing how colour can affect your mood, feelings and emotions as I’m sure a lot of people are aware of the psychology of different colours. Blue for example elicits a sense of calm and serenity; while yellow makes us feel cheerful and uplifted. Following our incredibly colourful weekend at the Gold Coast recently, it’s no wonder we left  feeling so alive and happy.

These pictures will tell you why…

Melbourne, the street art capital

During a recent weekend trip to Melbourne and being shown around by a close friend, I had the opportunity to photograph some of the amazing art on display in the tight back alleys in the street art capital’s CBD. Below is a selection of photos of our favourite decorated walls.

Hot Rod Show and Shine in Toowoomba

Even though I am suffering from a bad case of the man flu, nothing could stop me from going down to Margaret Street in the CBD of Toowoomba to check out the show and shine competition of the High Altitude Hot Rod Run. There was certainly some well polished  machinery on display for the young and old car enthusiast. Although alot of the cars are much older than me and I don’t know what models they are, I can still see these beautiful cars and appreciate the amount of effort that has gone into restoring them to their natural beauty. Below are just a few of my favourites that were on display.

Matt Edwards Photography

As I sit in a classroom teaching 20 little prep children how to write and read, I cant help but think back to my work at Aston Martin in London, and think how much I miss it. However I am enjoying being a teacher again and am glad that I have such awesome memories of my working time in London. I have also been busy setting up my photography business – ‘Matt Edwards Photography‘. I am enjoying getting my work recognised with more and more bookings coming in. Please check out my Facebook page and ‘Like’ if you haven’t already. Likewise, if you are looking for any photographic work please contact me. My official ‘Matt Edwards Photography’ website is currently under construction so please watch this space.

Two Thousand Twelve

Can you believe it… 2013 is just a day away. It brings about reminiscing the year that was 2012, and what a great year it was. One of the best. For us, there were many personal milestones (travelling the world) and professional ones (taking the next steps in our careers back home) with lots of very special moments in between. We’re so very grateful for all that the Universe has given us this year and the promises that 2013 brings. Here are our highlights of 2012:

{Hanging out with good mates before they jump on a plane back to Australia.}

{Spending our second wedding anniversary in Paris, one of the most romantic cities in the world. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate it.}

{Celebrating others’ milestones and friendships – there were plenty during 2012, including Derrin and Mariska’s wedding.}

{Our London home was so special to us during 2012 as we tried to soak up as much as we could of the city and our suburb during the last six months of the year.}

{Being one of the first to run in the London Olympic Stadium.}

{The Great London Egg Hunt and the interesting trips into streets and suburbs we hadn’t even stepped foot in.}

{Our trip to Holland in the Spring. We will never forget the ‘amazingness’ that is the tulip fields of the country. Just stunning.}

{Our trip to Banstead Woods. The first time we heard of the bluebells that pop up in these woods, we couldn’t resist making the trip to take a look for ourselves. In the shade of the dense foliage, the bluebells make for a pretty sight.}

{Experiencing a night at the famous nightclub Ministry of Sound.}

{My Mum making the oh-so-long plane trip to see us in London and experiencing Scotland with her.}

{Matt experiencing a game of golf where the game itself started… St Andrews Golf Course in Scotland.}

{Seeing one of the most beautiful monasteries in the whole world, Melk Abbey in Austria.}

{Visiting the famous Chelsea Flower Show.}

{Soaking up the very first Summer day rays in London for the year from one of the most beautiful spots in the city – Primrose Hill.}

{Seeing David Guetta at Alexandria Palace – an amazing DJ and an amazing venue.}

{Being in London for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.}

{Going to Wimbledon.}

{Saying goodbye to friends we were leaving behind in true British style… by dressing up in the Best of British.}

{More goodbyes as we say farewell to work and our amazing colleagues.}

{Spending our very last day in London by revisiting those sights we will miss the most. Such a sad day!}

{The amazing countries we travelled through on our trek back to Australia…}

{…Prague.}

{…Krakow.}

{…Budapest.}

{…Slovenia.}

{…Croatia.}

{…Italy.}

{… including witnessing and celebrating the wedding of Noni and Gez in the Cinque Terre.}

{… Egypt.}

{… Jordan.}

{… Dubai.}

{… and Singapore.}

{Flying over Toowoomba on our flight back home.}

{Going back to visit the place we use to call home – the Sunshine Coast.}

{Spending Christmas with our family again.}

HAPPY NEW YEAR from M&M x

Five things… we love about Toowoomba

There is no doubt travelling the world opens your eyes, ears and mind to different cultures, experiences, sights, smells and sounds. But our travels have also helped us see a new perspective of the place we call home as we continue to enjoy rediscovering Toowoomba and those typical experiences you wouldn’t get anywhere else but in Australia. Here’s our five things we’ve been loving about being home:

{1. Beautiful blooms… arriving home in the Spring, the Garden City is full of life and colour.}

{2. Stunning sunsets… there is nothing like an  Australian sunset. The sky glows with gold, crimson and purple in what makes a spectacular sight.}

{3. Beautiful buildings and green spaces… The beautiful Empire Theatre and the stunning Japanese Gardens are favourite Toowoomba landmarks for us. It’s not hard to see why.}

{4. Backyards…  big enough to run around with the kids, be silly and have fun.}

{5. Summer Storms… after a hot steamy day, the storm clouds form in the distance before slowly rolling in, bringing with them a thunder and lightning show and spectacular photo opportunities. We’re looking forward to more over the Summer months!}

Re-living Italy (Read: Australian Times)

It’s been three weeks since we arrived back to Australia. We’ve had drinks with friends, hugged so many of our family, met babies and puppies, awoken to the sound of a good downpour of rain on the tin roof, laid on the beautiful beach of the Sunshine Coast yet again, had a good number of BBQ steaks, driven the car (and the scooter!) and even managed to get back on the Australian pay roll.

Looking back to our three months travelling home, it seems like a lifetime ago that we were in Italy. But luckily, I was able to re-live it by writing about it (yes, that’s what it will resort to now!) And hopefully if you are planning on travelling to Italy anytime soon, this article will help you decide the cream of the crop experiences in the good ol’ boot of Italy.

First Australian Car Show in over 2 years

Well I have been back in Toowoomba for just over 2 weeks and was starting to wonder how long it would be until I would see some amazing cars on home soil, as seeing the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martins in London was a common occurance. I opened The Chronicle news paper on the 26th of Septembeer and to my amusement I read that there was going to be a Holden car show at one of the local football ovals. Becuase it had been a while since I had seen some home grown cars I couldnt help but make sure I checked out these beauties. After reading the date wrong and going up the day before the show, I revisited the park on the correct day and managed to take a few photos of my favourite cars on show which you can see below. Even though they are not Astons or Ferrari, I felt the same excitment when seeing these bacause it made it feel much more real that I am home and we also have amazing cars, at half the price. Thanks to the Toowoomba Holden FJ and FX Car Club for putting on such a great event.

Five sights to see in Dubai and Singapore

As it came time to leave Egypt and Jordan, we knew we were getting closer and closer to the end of our time overseas (sob!). We had only two last stops before we would land in Brisbane – Dubai and Singapore. And while we were itching to just get home it didn’t stop us from enjoying the most of these two fascinating places, both great spots for general ‘chillaxing’ (perfect stopovers to break up long-haul flights!). Here’s what we got up to in Dubai and Singapore:

Dubai:

{1. If you only get a night stopover in Dubai, it’s worth it for the shopping! The Dubai Mall in particular has over 1,200 stores including all of our high-street favourites. It’s worth getting lost for the day (which is exactly what we did!). The Mall of the Emirates is another good one, is much smaller but more manageable. This pic below shows the Dubai Mall.}

{2. Dubai seems to get ahead of the rest the world with so many things, but it’s the Burj Khalifa that is getting the most attention still (including ours). It’s not only the tallest building in the world it’s also the tallest free-standing structure in the world, boasts the highest number of stories in the world (160), has the highest occupied floor in the world, the highest outdoor observation deck in the world, the elevator with the longest travel distance in the world and lastly, has the tallest service elevator in the world (phew!). We travelled only half way to level 124 to reach the observation deck. The views are well-worth it.}

{3. Jumeirah public beach is a beautiful beach to visit in Dubai. The beach is sandy, the water is blue and there are waves! Out of frame in this photo is the Burj Al Arab, the only seven-star hotel in the world.}

{4. Despite this picture showing ‘the souk’ inside the Dubai Mall, there are good souks to visit at Deira (old Dubai). As we visited  Dubai during the end of summer, temperatures were soaring so we didn’t even stay out long enough to get a good picture of the souks here! The Deira souks are more local where you can shop for gold, Arabian slippers and spices.}

{5. If we look cold in this pic, it’s because we were! At minus three inside, the Ski Dubai centre is an excellent way to get away from the relentless 40-plus degree heat outside. Unfortunately we couldn’t ski (our third person had to take lessons and wasn’t guaranteed to get on the slopes) so we spent the day playing in the snow, racing each other on the bobsled, zorbing and tobogganing. We also got close to the resident penguins!}

Singapore:

{1. Eating is the number one thing to do in Singapore. There are sooo many places to eat, it’s hard to choose! A good rule we were told to follow is go where the locals go especially the hawker centres. The hawker centres are basically massive complexes housing numerous stalls all offering inexpensive food. This is our meal we got at the hawker centre at the Vivo City mall… dry beef noodles with a side of beef ball soup! Yummo!}

{2. As we swelted in tropical Singapore, we made a bee-line for Sentosa, promoted as ‘Asia’s favourite playground’. It’s basically an island resort with some good public beaches to visit (basically the only free thing to do on the entire island!). It’s also the southernmost point of continential Asia. At least the water was chilly enough to cool us down. It’s good for a lazy day out.}

{3. A good day out in Singapore is the Singapore Zoo, said to be the world’s best rainforest zoo. It didn’t fail to impress us as we strolled around the lush grounds (including Matt almost getting hit by a snake falling out of a tree! Eek!). It’s always hard to pick a favourite at any zoo, but the Australian exhibit was close to our hearts (something which Steve Irwin apparently had input in designing).}

{4. We found Singapore’s Chinatown a tourist attraction in itself. With endless options to eat, drink and shop, it’s a good place to get a reasonably priced meal and pick up some souviners at the same time. The best thing to see here though is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. We visited during chanting where we saw practicing buddists do their thing (if you go, just remember to respect their ceremony) (see bottom pic).}

{5. Singaporean’s love to relax with a few drinks, something we thoroughly embraced. While many of the locals probably don’t frequent Raffles Hotel (where the classic Singapore Sling can cost you £15 a pop) or the Marina Bay Sands Skypark, Ku De Ta bar (where my white wine cost £20), it’s a must-do as a visiting tourist.}

{6. (We couldn’t help but add this last one!) We saw garden upon garden of endless pretty-ness at the Singapore Botential Garden’s orchid gardens, including Singapore’s national orchid flower (see pic directly below).}