23. July 2019 10:07
by Rene Pallesen
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8. July 2019 12:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Fairly recently we started the boys on Karate.
We thought it would be a good activity for them to build strength, motor skills and discipline.
Especially Aiden is really enjoying it and putting in the hard work at home practicing. He has become stronger throughout the classes which is great. Before we started he had almost no core strength and now he is able to do sit-ups and pushups.
This weekend both Aiden and Lucas were pulled up for their first proper graduation from the white belts to the red belts and they both passed.
17. June 2019 20:06
by Rene Pallesen
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2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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The Osaka aquarium is massive and very impressive. The centre piece is the massive tank in the middle with two large whale sharks and which is also full of other sharks such as hammerheads.
2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Below the Osaka tower is a restaurant area with lots of yummi food.
The area was once a very modern part of Osaka, and worth a visit during the night.
2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Tontonburi is know as the chefs/kitchen area. Here you can buy everything needed for a japanese restaurant.
It is also full of actual restaurants and other oddities such as more exotic places. It has what is known as Osaka's best Ramen restaurant (the one with the long counter in the photos below) - and Yes, the Ramen was very good.
Here it is also possible to eat specialties such as the Puffa fish.
It was also one of the few places where I saw real Samurai swords for sale.
2. April 2019 20:10
by Rene Pallesen
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Osaka castle is a beautiful multi story pagoda like castle inside these massive moats and ramparts with several layers of defense.
2. April 2019 18:10
by Rene Pallesen
lementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0];s.type = 'text/javascript';s.async = true;s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js';s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1);})();my mum moving out
Some years back my mum had a stroke while my parents were traveling in Thailand. This left totally paralysed in the left side of her body and she has been bound to a wheelchair ever since.
The stroke was most likely caused by heavy smoking and drinking and in general an unhealthy lifestyle.
This all happened a few years after my parents retired and were planning to spend most of the winters traveling in warmer countries. They have always been traveling a lot and never liked the winters in Denmark.
The realisation after the stroke for my parents was that suddenly those dreams were burst and that my mum would need constant care. My dad negotiated with the council that they would look after her one week a month which left my dad with some time to realise some of his dreams and at leaft do some traveling and at the same time provide some relief from looking after mum. It has been a hard blow to my mum and it is still very hard for her to accept that she will be bound to a wheelchair and dependent on other people for simple tasks such as going to the toilet, washing and getting dressed.
My mum some time ago discovered that some of the traveling my dad had done hadn't taken place alone but with an old female school friend (How intimate they were/are I don't know and don't care) but obviously my mum got very hurt and set the ultimatum that either he stops seeing her or she moves out. My dad said that he didn't want to stop seeing her and that he would still keep looking after my mum except for that one week every month.
It has now come to the point where my mum has found an apartment in a care facility and it going to move there this month. I am sure that it hurts a lot for her to move out.
Another blow has been that I am getting married in a few months time and that it is not possible for her to attend my wedding but that my dad is. It will be really hard for her on the day itself and I wish there was something I could do to make it easier for her or somehow allow her to attend.
So how do I feel about this? I am disappointed, angry and understanding at the same time. I am angry at my mum because she insisted smoking and drinking the way she did and tat this caused a stroke.
I am angry at my dad that he's found someone else and that is causing my mum to move out...she is the one totally loosing out. I am disappointed that their marriage and thereby also my family is breaking up.
I also understand why my dad has been longing for some company on different level and at the same time I also understand why my mum is so hurt about it. I am hurt because I know that my mum needs some support but that I am so far away but at the same time my life is here and I am about to get married here.I just hope that she understands that my happiness is dependent on me staying here. Especially since the stupid danish immigration laws will prevent me from moving back to Denmark with my future wife.
I am also hurt because my parents during the last decade has been through so much hardship first with my brother, then with the stroke and now with all this.
This is certainly a year of change...
13. July 2008 09:51
by Rene Pallesen
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A new climbing area in Sydney suddenly popped up on our radar. A new area up in the Mt Ku-Ring Gai national park near Berowra. And and May went there while I was in Hunter Valley and they said it was really hard to get to.
I wanted to experience it myself and convinced Andy that we should go there again. Yes, it is a long walk in (40 minutes) and yes it is hard to find the way but it helped that he'd been there before and it also helps that the track has seen a bit of traffic and marked with cairns.
The first few climbs the rock was a bit cold so the fingers went a bit numb which adds 2-4 grades to a climb. Later when the rock heated up a bit it was really good climbing. The area is new so rock still breaks here and there so it is important to be careful and safe but it is not as bad as Otherland and Stables where the rock crumbles.
During one of the last few climbs we heard some noises in the bushes but couldn't see what it was. Once we finished the climb Andy had a closer look and spotted an Echidna (A large porcupine). I grabbed my camera and went over there and it turned out that there was three Echidnas there trying to hide under a branch.
There are some other cliffs in the area that are being developed so I am sure that we will be spending a fair amount of time there in the future.
13. July 2008 09:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Late June is Kims birthday. We went out for her birthday with a lot of her friends to a restaurant called the Mantra. It was a fun evening with entertainment in the restaurant in the form of belly dancing. Kim also had a go at the sword dance. I thought the belly dancer was pretty good, but Kim having done belly dancing herself said that she'd seen better.
My present to Kim was a trip to the Hunter Valley. I had hired a nice romantic place up there with a Spa, served breakfast on the balcony with a view from the mountains of the whole Hunter Valley. My aim for the weekend was to really spoil her and she loved it. Saturday morning we met up with a couple of Kims friends Linda & Warren do go through the wine districts. As usual we found some really nice surprises and also got confirmed that some of our choices in wine from earlier trips are excellent choices (I can recommend the Silvereye from Misteltoe and the Shiraz from Petersons).
In the evening I took Kim to this really nice restaurant called Mojo's. It is not cheap ($60 for two courses) but the scallops Kim had for entrees were without a doubt the best I've ever had before. They were fresh and just marinated and cooked slightly and still raw inside and really tasty. I had Quail for my entree and for the mains I had a beef ribeye fillet and Kim had the Lamb chops. After two courses we were absolutely stuffed. I saw some of the food other people were eating and it all looked very delicious. After dinner we went back for a nice warm spa bath as it was freezing outside all weekend.
Sunday morning we went to another couple of Vineyards and then drove back to Sydney...a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend.
