May Happenings (2018)

Life

This month, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. I have a terrible habit of procrastinating. I put off what I need to do, and I think I’m too busy to do the stuff that I would like to do. So, I decided to stop being lazy and have weekly goals. I mainly want to read more, exercise and get more things done.

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I’m always tired so being healthier will help me with the having energy to get things done. I’m going to bed earlier and trying to focus on sleeping instead of thinking about everything.

As for exercise, I’ve started walking for thirty minutes on a treadmill and doing squats and sit ups. I’m going to do Pilates and yoga too. It’s something I enjoyed doing years ago.

Watching

Search Party 

Search Party is a comedy mystery series about a bunch of millennials who try to find their missing friend Chantel. I am watching season two now. I would say the first season is more compelling than the current season. There were lots of twists and turns. What I find appealing about the show is that it is current with trends and events happening. All the characters are little ridiculous in their own way. The second season is more comedic. Australians can watch the show on sbsondemand.

Imposters

Imposters is a show about three people Ezra (Rob Heaps), Richie (Parker Young) and  Julia (Marianne Rendon)  who were scammed by Maddie (Inbar Lavi) . She married each of them and stole all their money. They manage to track her down to confront her and find out that she’s part of a bigger conspiracy. Meanwhile, they are all being tracked by the FBI and a mysterious doctor.  I’ve only watched three episodes of season 2 so far and I like what’s going on. They are in Mexico and it’s just gorgeous there.

Reading

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I’m still reading The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald which has been on my booklist for eight years. It’s a fictional biography of Friedrich von Hardenberg, a German philosopher who lived in the 17^th century. It’s an interesting read. I find the character to be a bit silly, but he is young and a dreamer. The only thing I have contention with, is that he courted Sophie von Kuhn, twelve-year-old girl when he was twenty-two years old. It was something that he really did do. However, I understand that it was a different time.

The characters do find it peculiar that he would be so besotted with a twelve-year-old. They think she’s just a child but Hardenberg says there’s something special about her. He was an honourable man though. Hardenberg asked her father for permission to court her and she liked him. They got engaged when she was thirteen years old. *spoiler* They were to wed when she turned fifteen, but she sadly died of tuberculosis. *

The Ginger Factory

The last day trip my family and I did at the Sunshine Coast was visit The Ginger Factory. The Ginger Factory is a tourist attraction with a working factory, rides and restaurants. Entry to The Ginger Factory is free but the tours and rides cost money.

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We bought a combo pass for all the tours and rides. The first thing we did was take a tour of the ginger factory. It was December 26^th which is a public holiday known as Boxing Day in Australia, so the factory wasn’t operating. Boxing Day is traditionally a day where employers give a gift to their employees after Christmas to thank them for their service but it’s mostly a sale day where all the extra stock from Christmas is sold.

The factory had just opened so it was just my family and another family on the tour. The guide led us through the factory where the ginger is processed. The ginger is used in candies as well as for seasoning for other foods. They also supply ginger for other brands from all over the world.

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After seeing the factory, we were lead to a tasting room to taste ginger products. We ate some meatballs with ginger, a few canapés and crystallized ginger. I heard coughing and gurgling from behind me and I saw that an eleven year girl was chocking. Luckily, she coughed out the meatball and her mum and the tour guide was on hand. I think her mum looked more annoyed than anything else.

The next tour we went to was the Superbee tour as The Ginger Factory also keeps bees. We learnt about honey production which was interesting but I have since forgotten. There was a honey collecting demonstration which I was kind of nervous about but no bees escaped and the bees were in an enclosure.

When the tour had finished we decided to go on the ride called Overboard. The Overboard ride is a gentle ride on a boat that is on a track. The Overboard ride tells the story of a gingerbread man who escaped from some bakers and travels around the world. As it was Boxing Day, we were allowed unlimited rides. It is not an exciting ride and I think small children would like it more but we rode the ride three times just to make the most out of it. I thought the puppets were very good and it was fun to spot where the gingerbread man and bakers and notice things we missed the first time around.

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We also went on the Ginger train which is a hundred years old sugar cane train. The train went around a track around the factory. The best part was when it went behind the building and their free range chickens appeared. The chickens roam about the park and get excited when the train appears. They ran after the train and the driver threw feed out to them.

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The last thing we did at the Ginger Factory was to look at the gift shops. They have a main gift shop selling ginger and honey products as well as others selling homewares, spices, car memorabilia and dolls.   

The other things I got up to on the Sunshine Coast: 

• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast
• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast part 1
• Australia Zoo
• Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba 
• Eumundi Markets