Last Saturday, my parents and I attended BCAC’s church
carnival!
Firstly, an introduction: when we first arrived in Brisbane
after emigrating from Hong Kong in October 1990, we
actually first attended CCCB (or BCCC; I can never remember all these A’s and B’s!
I mean, sometimes I reckon I should plant a church and call it WXYZ! XD and met
Uncle Him Wong!) However, dearest dad heard of Antioch International church, at
that time only offering an English service, but just about to begin a Cantonese
one, so he moved mother and me there.
So there we stayed with AIC, all the way until we’d saved
enough money to build a new church over at Rochedale, and that’s now where we
attend every Sunday: 983 Rochedale Road,
Rochdale.
And last Saturday, we held our church carnival there!
Originally, mother was like, “Well, I have to work in the
morning, but after I get home from work, I’ll take you there.” Only I was like,
“Yeah, but sometimes work is so busy that you don’t get home from work until
like after 2:30pm! The carnival will
finish like one hour after that!”
On Facebook, I had written that I very much hoped that
mother would finish home early and take me to the carnival! Dr. Lee read that
status update and asked me, “Would you like me to organise someone to give you
a lift there?’ I was about to reply “Yes please!” but mother had wandered over
to the computer right at that very moment and forbade me from saying yes! “I’ll
drive you there myself,” she declares. I was like, ugh, I hope she knows what
she’s doing, but wise Dr. Lee reassured me, “I’m sure she has a plan.” XD
Come Saturday morning when mother leaves for work, I call
after her retreating back, “Please come home in time to take me to the
carnival, okay??”
At 10am, my
morning carer Rhi (who’s only twenty!) arrives to dig me out of bed, and after
brushing teeth, I head outside to the dining table for breakfast when the phone
rings. Me, picking it up and answering it, “Hello?’
“Em? It’s me, Meow Meow.”
“Huh? I’m talking to a cat??’
A laugh at the other end, then the voice thunders, “No, it’s
me, MEL MEL.”
Whoops, sorry, Mel Mel, my ears haven’t woken up yet! XD
Mel Mel’s just ringing to say that she and Kwany are going
to the carnival now and would I like a lift? But I say thanks and decline,
because mother has said she’ll drive me there herself.
Sure enough, mother arrives home shortly before 1pm! So while she heads upstairs for a shower,
I wolf down my lunch (half a bowl of fried rice that Rhi has kindly cooked for
me), then when mother comes back downstairs after her shower, she too inhales
some fried rice, dearest dad comes home too, then we all hit the carnival
together!
I’d dared to hope that mother would let me use Sparkless (my
manual wheelchair) to navigate all the different stalls, but alas, that wasn’t
the case. ><
Inside, I immediately headed into the main hall to play some
games! First, some guy had set up several cans of Coke and was giving
competitors a gun with six plastic darts to shoot down. I lined up for a go,
realising that with my woeful aim, I’d probably score zero. XD sure enough, my
first shot smacked the table underneath all the cans, and I realised I needed
to aim higher than where I thought the darts would project. Ah, that was
better; I managed to knock over cans with the rest of my shots, once, I even
managed to ping off two cans simultaneously! For that, I received a little
sheet of Hello Kitty stickers.
Next, I walked to a stall that was selling various items,
and I fingered a particularly beautiful dark blue scarf. Well, turns out they
were only asking for a gold coin donation, so mother kindly bought that for me!
However, you’re all gonna haveta wait until winter next year to see me wear it;
it’s nearing summer right now and I’m not going to wear anything hot enough to
make me melt! XD
Suddenly, I espied this most ADORABLE looking teddy bear
with light blue paw prints! I wandered over to see if he was for sale, too,
then learnt he was actually first prize for a game where the aim was to pick up
as many marbles as you could with chopsticks in one minute. I visibly deflated.
“Oh, I’m no good at using chopsticks anymore…” but the bear was simply
gorgeous! The lady manning this stall laughed. “Here, you can try this game
with a spoon instead!” she invited, handing me a plastic teaspoon. “You’ve got
one minute, I’ll time you. Ready, set? Go!” I immediately began shovelling
marbles into that flimsy little plastic spoon, all the while eyeing that
gorgeous teddy bear from the corner of my right eye. He seemed to be daring me,
“Come on, keep spooning marbles! Take me home!” at the end of the one minute,
the aunty (Amy Kwan, I think she was, from memory. Didn’t she used to sell
sunnies at Sunnybank Plaza?)
said, “Ok, stop!” I immediately ceased my marble shovelling and she counted the
number of marbles I’d managed to scoop up. After she finished counting, she
declared, “Right, you’re in second place right now.” I visibly deflated again. I’d
tried my hardest, but that wasn’t enough! Seeingng my dejection, the lady was
like, “Don’t worry, at the end of the day, I’ll bring the teddy to the winner,
but if she doesn’t want it, I’ll bring the teddy over to you, okay?” Personally,
I thought nobody could possibly turn down this adorable bear, but I said yes
please, waved bye to the handsome lad, and then went downstairs with mother to
keep exploring the carnival.
Downstairs, some other random aunty was serving ‘woon jai
chee’ (say that in Canto; actually, does anyone know what that’s called in
English? Please tell me if you do!) and she flapped her arm at me, saying, “Sit
down, I’ll bring you some.” Mother drags over a chair for me, I plonk my butt
down then share the steamy hot cup with mother.
Then I see Liam! Giving him a big hug, I ask him where Helena
is (she’s at the carnival, too!) and how Jane, Luke, Aisling and Tavi all are.
Oh, I also get my face painted by aggie! She draws for me a
unicorn on one cheek and a bumblebee on the other!
Suddenly, mother spots the SHINE fellowship chinese egg
waffle stand! I immediately head over there, say hello to Little Chow (Vicky; Kathy’s
Mid Chow and Smoky’s Big Chow, got it? XD) and Dr. Dr. Tai and place my order
for some with Karen. When mother receives a small plateful covered with some
chocolate sauce, both parents and I sit down and share the delicious things.
When they’re but memories in our tummies, I continue along
and walk into the room where SHINE fellowship meetings are usually held. Spotting
Dr. Lee, I call out, “Hey, doc, did you remember to leave me a yummy cupcake? You
haven’t eaten them all already, have you??” XD After I choose a
delicious-looking cupcake, I continue along and see Julz making crepes! “Ooh, I
want one!” I squeal happily (Okay, so I don’t squeal; just cheer softly. XD). Then
I feel special, coz Julz gets Masterchef aunty Winnie to make mine! It gets
stuffed with thinly sliced banana, thinly sliced strawberry and chocolate
sauce. While it’s cooking, I look at the table where all the ingredients are
set out and spot a very familiar-looking pressure cooker. “Um, isn’t that ours?”
I ask mother, who laughs and replies, “Yup, don’t you remember Aunty Winnie
coming by last night to pick it up?”
After my crepe has been whipped up, mother and I head back
outside to where a table is, call dearest dad over then sit down together and
share our frightfully yummy treat.
Suddenly, I spot my own small group’s board games stall and
decide I must head over there, where I take a seat beside Pole, and soon, we’re
engaged in a game of double Guess Who against Tony. Ray has this little
portable pinball machine game, which he and Ben are happily taking turns to
play.
Suddenly, Julz comes around with a frozen bag of Zooper Doopers!
You know, those little tubes of frozen coloured ice? Wow, I haven’t one for
more than one DECADE! Yup, I’m sure the last time I sucked one was when I was
back in primary school, all the way back in 1999! So I happily slurped an
orange one, and gave myself brain freeze. XD
Oh, I almost forgot to mention! Aunty Jenny (from the Calamvale
Chinese and BBQ Restaurant) came with Frances and Andrew! Frances
took lotsa happy snaps; they’re up on facebook~
The day was coming to an end; mother came to collect me. Before
leaving, I ducked briefly into A1, where a big garage sale of items was still
being sold, and mother randomly bought me this little cross ornament. It’s blue
and very pretty, but I’m unsure where I’ll put it.
So, one loo trip for me before we leave. Just before
mounting the nine steps back upstairs, I finally bump into Helena!
So we hug and talk awhile. Personally, I was rather desperate to sit back down
(my disability nowadays means that I accomplish most things sitting down; I can
walk short distances when necessary, but the hardest thing for me’s just to
stand there) but ‘twas great to catch up with Helena, who’s studying to become
a nurse, just like mother (well, mother’s already been a nurse for many years; I’m
just saying that Helena’s becoming a nurse also)!
Back home, an afternoon carer comes to supervise my shower. I’m
just about to turn the water on, when I remember my face paint! “Oh, poo,” says
I, “I forgot to take a photo of this, and it’ll wash off once I turn the water
on.” Luckily, my carer grabs her own mobile out and says she’ll take a photo
for me. At first, I’m rather hesitant, seeing as I’m butt naked waiting to
start my shower, but she’s like, “Don’t worry, I’ll just capture your face.” Phew,
sweet. XD
Conclusion: the next day, I’m very happy to see aunty Jenny
and Frances at church! Turns out quite a few people invited them along to our
service yesterday!
Anyways, the carnival was great fun; will our church ever
hold another one, I wonder?
Next post here … should be the Despicable Me2 movie review
and me explaining my love of all the minions. I’ve started it, honestly! Righteo,
until then~
Cheers,
Em. ^^
