Down memory lane through a memory card

I was rummaging through my backpack in an an effort to organise the increasing clutter within, when I picked up an SD card from one if its pockets.  Intrigued (primarily because I could not recognise it), I inserted the card into my laptop to view the contents.

I found a treasure trove of photos from 2009 - the year when we were just starting to establish our new life here in New Zealand.  What an amazing find!  As I started to whisk these off to my Flickr account, I thought this was the perfect time to blog and share some of the more interesting ones.

I found this photo amusing because in the past couple of weeks, my wife has been making maki and she wondered how come I was no longer making this.  I struggled to remember when the last time was, and now I know.

A visit in a dream

It was the 70s.  We rented out a small, dimly lit room where I, my parents, and my 3 other siblings lived.  I am not sure how everyone fit in that room but we did.  Not that I mind as I was only a kid then with no cares in the world.  Of course, a bunk bed helped a lot - it's a lot like camping.

But one of my vivid memories of that place was of my visiting Aunt as she sat at the corner of the bottom bed, and while she leaned on the ladder leading to the top bunker, she expertly folded a square piece of paper into a bird which can flap its wings.  I sat beside her and watched, mesmerized.  It was my first lesson in origami - and my love of paper folding flourished.

She had been a constant presence in our family until my university days, and so we grew to love and know her well.  The last time I saw her was in 2013 when we visited the Philippines and we stayed in my sister's home.  We were surprised to see her there because we thought she would be in the province but it were delighted to see her nonetheless.  We got to be with her for about a week before she left.  Little did I know, that was the last time I would see her alive.

LEGO Nexo Knights Robin's Mini Fortrex polybag review

Polybags are hard to come by here in New Zealand.  You either get them from special LEGO events, as prizes from contests, or in this case, as a freebie from a magazine!

The LEGO Nexo Knights Robin's Mini Fortrex polybag comes free with this month's issue of K-Zone (AU/NZ edition) so get this magazine while you can!

The build itself is quite easy - my son managed to do it in record time - but what's interesting with this set are the new pyramid-like translucent studs.  We've never had those pieces before.  Well, actually this is our first Nexo Knights set ever; this may well be a recurring theme in the other sets belonging to the Nexo Knights category.

Another special feature of this set is that it includes a minifig in the form of Robin.  According to the LEGO website, Robin Underwood is a freshman student at the Knights Academy. Too bad he doesn't come with accessories but it's still good to have this minifig.

Cacti/succulent acquisition update

I've actually bought some more plants over the past few weeks but wasn't able to share these with you.  Well, last Monday's trip to the Garden Centre got me all excited to update this blog because I finally have Lithops!

Search Lithops on YouTube and you'll see how popular this little cactus is.  It's been given such adjectives as 'amazing', 'interesting', and 'wonderful'.  Actually, it does nothing at all but pretend to be a rock and grow very slowly, but people are simply intrigued by them.  And I am willing to be intrigued as well!