Buddha’s Birthday is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism to commemorate the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha and founder of Buddhism. According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures^[which?] (from Pali, meaning “three baskets”), Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu.^[2][3]

According to this legend, briefly after the birth of young prince Gautama, an astrologer named Asita visited the young prince’s father—King Śuddhodana—and prophesied that Siddhartha would either become a great king or renounce the material world to become a holy man, depending on whether he saw what life was like outside the palace walls.

Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him from leaving the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his father’s efforts, Gautama ventured beyond the palace several times. In a series of encounters—known in Buddhist literature as the four sights—he learned of the suffering of ordinary people, encountering an old man, a sick man, a corpse and, finally, an ascetic holy man, apparently content and at peace with the world. These experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest.

Thats the story I found about the celebration and in brisbane this year marks 21st year since this birthday celebration started. 

At the event they have different things to do and enjoy. With the budha bath wish where you are to pour water on the budha statue while saying 3 positive sentences that they paste in front of you. 

Also they have the budha prayer area to get some flowers or candles and you take it to the budha as an offering while you pray and make a wish. 

And also there is the food…yeap…lots of places to indulge in some asian style dishes. 

Over all its a great experience to be able to be here and celebrate the birthday of a great budha. 

And events are on from April 28th till april 30th. 

So after Buddha events we branched out for some more fun…like watching the movie fate of the furious. 

Thats just another prop mj wanted to pose with 

A little witch on the streets of queens street mall

This woman was so great at scaring you…mj was so scared and gave the best night scream ever

Really a day to remember with enough fun to last us the whole weekend. 
Australia EXPLORATION Continues….

So with our large family…transportation can probably be one of our biggest expenses depending in which country we decide to explore.

When we started our trip we th kids were shorter snd grown…but after almost 3yrs things have changed..they got taller and dont look like toddlers anymore so travelling in a taxi or uber can be a challenge for us. 

And Australia is one of those countires that have tested us and made us aware our kids are growing snd we will need a 6 to 8 seater van or take the bus or train or go large and get two taxis. 

But one thing that has really woken us up from our sleep is when i called for a taxi to take us to a place about 25min from us and am told is going to cost us $60 usd one way and am going to need 2 taxis or the maxi taxi for $100 usd. 

I had to let the taxi go since I could not bring myself to pay that much for 25min drive. 

So we decided to dedicate our day and time learning the bus routes and train system. And i must say it paid off bigtime. 

We all buy the gocard which is $8 usd per adult and $4 usd per child. And thr child is from 4 to 14yrs. 

So we all got a bus card which is also for the train. And we load it up with $15 usd each. 

Now right infront of iur apartment is the bus stop which can connect us everywhere. The highest we have paid for a bus ride is $3 usd. And even better for longer distance. So for about $10 usd i can go to the same place that i would have paid $60 usd if i did not know. 

Oh and it gets better…on weekends all child cards travel for free. And during the day off peak thr child fare is half the price. And adult price on weekends is half price too…now thats how we travel. It takes longer but we get to see thr beauty of REDCLIFFE and brisbane and Queensland. 

Comfortable bus and train rides everyday at a cost that will not wipe out our bank account. All beacuse we did the reasearch and now know the system. 

Below is what the cards look like so if you do visit australia dont worry to try out their way of travel..

The child gocard

The adult gocard…
Australia EXPLORATION Continues….

One of the things that has given us a little bit of culture understanding in each country we visit is the free walking tour. 

In most countries there are some volunteers who come together to give free walling tours for tourist like me and my family. 

And in Brisbane they call them “Greeters” and we are so grateful for them. 

This time we had our tour guy name Jonathan and he was so patient with us and knowledgeable with the history of Brisbane Australia. So here are a few pictures of our journey…. 

So we start with iur train ride…it was late so we decided to have a photoshoot…

On the train pose 

The tour started at the city hall..this massive building had art all over it. It shows the aboriginals stopping the britsh people from invading their land… 

This potrays when women where given the chance to start voting…

So this place use to be the place to be for arts…like an opera house..but now this beautiful magestic Building is used as an information center…

Thats the inside of the information center…

The morden Briabane arcade 

Before the moden arcade…this picture was in the 1800’s

Kids are intuned to understand the history of Brisbane Australia 

So around the city they have this street lamps with this creatures…bats..I asked if it meant something but guide said no…actuly the bats are not liked in Brisbane…

Some beautiful buildings…thats the treasury building but now its a casino….yeap…still the money  building

Some beautiful arts around queens street mall..

More arts…

Now the new government building 

The nee developement coming up in Briabane which they have closed the road for and it will take 6 to 8yrs

The parliament house…

This exact place infront of the parliament house is called “speakers corner” and anyone is allowed to stand there and speak up and voice out their opinion in either politics or religion…

One of the first roman churches in the city

She was the first Saint…

Art inside thr church made with a tree…

A replica of the Liberty bell

I love this lawyers corner…the street in that area is actually coveredand beautiful buildings 

Anzac square…anzac is the name given to the new Zealand and Australian military that fought for the British…so in Australia they celebrate Anzac day which is on April 26th…

The eternal flame at the anzac square

So in 2011 Brisbane had a major floodand this is a plaque they have showing flood levels in the past years 

Dinner after our tour…

The pose when we miss our bus…

At the bus station and their brother got stuck on the tree

From most countires…it seem like the British colonized lots of countriesand left lots of their mark..like buildings and the culture of tea drinking and many many others around this cities they usually arrive at. 

Thanks to our guide for teaching us so much about Brisbane and Australia as a whole. 
Brisbane Australia Exploration Continues…

Yes the people in Australia is making us fall in love with the land and what it offers. 

The vast playgrounds everywhere for our kids while I get to watch them climb and play and have some exercise throughout the day. 

So south bank area seem to be one of thr fun areas in brisbane with so much to do and look at. And the huge pools and beach like pools makes it extra special. 

Here are a few memories we have created so far…

Just walking on the beautiful streets of Scarborough 

A safe haven for her to draw…beach time 

My birthday celebration in brisbane

He loves height…i dont…

My birthday  selfie

Morning workout at the beach on my birthday 

My beautiful birthday card from my kids

My birthday card from my hubby

At redcliff lagoon pool…

On the bridge that seperates queens street mall from southbank park

Sitting ontop of the world…brisbane life 

He is loving life in Brisbane 

Beach life is fun…has its perks..

Also we found out finding thr right places we can save some herr with free pools and loads of playgrounds for the kids why pay for another activities. 

Like we found a way to get to the northlake mall for all 6 of us for only $5  now thats awesome right…? Bus ride during the weekend is free for kids and adults pay off peak prices. So you see with a little bit of research we can find means to enjoy even the most expensive cities. 

Brisbane Australia  Exploration Continues….

Today our airbnb host came by and she took us to the airport which is close to the city center. 

So from there marcus and I took the train into central Brisbane…and it was a totally different side of australia. Its more of the side I hope to see more often. 

The cost for our train ride from the airport to the city center was about 20min ride and it was $10 usd per person. Now that is expensive right. Well ig we use our go card it would have probably cost use more all because its from the airport. 

So once we arrived at the city center there was so much to do and see…and lots of shopping and walking. 

On our way back out first train ride from the vity center to our area Radcliff. 

Since we took our train during off peak and it was 1 hour 7min train ride we paid $4.77 aud which is about $3.80 usd. That we think is our kind of travels. And once we arrived in Redcliffe we need to get on a bus from there to our home which is about 17min bus ride. So when we got off thr bus we where both eager to see hoe much that 17min bus ride will cost us. But it did not cost us anything. So if thats the case then we are back in travel business for sure. But we will know all that over the weekend when we make that trip again since on weekends all kids are free which is all my kids and its also off peak prices. So you see our weekends will be very busy….

Anyways we really had a great date out just me and hubby exploring the city center. 

Thats the south end park at the back…they will host one of the largest Buddha birthday festival here at thr end of this month april 28th till 30th…

My kids and I will surely be here to enjoy this celebration and seem like it happens every year

He loved this sign 

We are walking on this very interesting bridge…

They have these vast swimming pools at the park with beach sand…pretty fun 

At the Marine mesuem

Walking through thr park with his luggage he got from thr airport 

Thats the walking bridge far away…and the brisbane river…

The Brisbane sign in the city 

Australian Exploration Continues….

So we live in Scarborough which seem like its a small beach and relaxing town. 

We are about 35min from thr city brisbane. We love our new apartment…and its beautiful and right on the beach..

But!! Yes but!! Things are super expensive out here for our family of 6. 

Let me give you a clue 

To take uber or taxi from our apartment to the closest mall which is about 20min drive cost us 25 usd. Now with our large family we neef 2 ubers. So to go to tge mall is 50 usd. And return back home another 50 usd. Now that is 100 usd just to get out and visit the mall. That is a killer there. 

Now lets talk about the same experience in another country like medelling where we had our last visit. It Will cost us $5 usd for both ways or we can even walk to it. 

So you see we are rethinking already if Australia is for our clan. 

I know, we have to do the zoo and all the islands…but after you have done all the zoos in about 20 different countries I think you will agree all lions look pretty much the same. And once you have done islands in palawan Philippines then you will agree we have done great islands. 

But to dive the great barrier reef i think will be our most cherished moment in the aussie land. So I guess this means we will spend our 2 months here in Scarborough finishing most of our school work and when we move yo cairns for our dive we will then be able to complete australia with  a bang. 

Now lets talk about food…its american style dishes here so its super expensive too… and we have priced stuff from 3 grocery stores like Woolworths, coles and Aldi which Aldi is thr cheapest we have found which is about 20min drive also.

Now the people here are amazing…friendly and so nice. 

Our grocery store

Our beautiful apartment 

So after 22 hours of flights and 5 hours of airport sitting. We arrived in Aussie Land. 

The immigration process was super smooth. Took about 3min for all our family to go through immigration system. They seem to have it downpacked. 

Now once you arrive on an international flight into australia you will walk through immigration and then get your bags from baggage claim and then you re check them in and get on a shuttle to the domestic terminal to get on your next flight. So all that went very well. 

Then we got on our flight from sydney to Brisbane and its just an hour flight. 

We arrived and got picked up in our airport shuttle van which take 6 persons and 12 bags. And we had 17 bags total. But it all fit in the van no issues. 

We arrived at our apartment for thr next 2 months such a beautiful apartment right on the beach of Scarborough. Its about 35min from brisbane. 

We really love our new apartment. We then walked on the beach to the towns nearby. 

And we also found out on sundays they close the road in Redcliff to have what they call sunday market. 

With lots of food and arts and crafts it was a perfect experience for us on our first day in nraisbane australia. 

Then the evening came along and the moments change to a mode of me being super mom. 

Had to take Destiny, my oldest to the emergency room. Which remember its 1am and this is a really small beach town so people are sleep for sure. 

Well thank God for uber. It took 23min for uber to arrive but he did and took us to emergency room at 1:24am

 We live 6min drive from the hospital. The nurses there are super nice took us in fast since asthama attack is considered category 1 emergency here since their weather here is an asthma risk weather. 

But since we are tourist and dont have health insurance she told me she will put her on the nebulizer and if that helps then great but if that does not work then she will have to admit Destiny. 

As always God got this one too…so after about 30min on the machine. Destiny breathing was clear and she is back at 99% and ok to go home. 

From what the nurse said health care in australia is super expensive with insurance. And suggest we get a new nebulizer early tomorrow morning since she will need it in this town(we had one but it broke when we hooked it up this morning and its 220v so not sure why)

But we got through the emergency issue and we went home and all is great. 

So over all our experience in Queensland australia is been great. 

Our first meal in Scarborough 

This is us 

We made it 

At the sunday market in Redcliff 

She is loving the weather 

The Bee Gees walking alley…

Marcus singing “staying alive ”

Emergency with my oldest..

At the emergency room
Queensland Australia Exploration Continues….