WoW! I can't ever own a home in the city--not in my dreams. But I did--only a time-shared ownership! Well, that's what my friend in Chula Vista said. Becoming an owner of Wyndham Vacation Resort is like owning a second home. It is nice to think so.
23 December 2013. I got a call from Nimrod--well he always calls to ask how I am after our mother passed away. As usual the talk ranged from Christianity, philosophy and travel. We were talking about the flood in UK when his wife Connie came to consult him about something--it was about their pre-booked accommodation at Wyndham Vacation Resort. They booked this nine months ago so they could spend this Christmas season with us here in Sydney, particularly with our mother. However our mother passed away last June 7, so the reason in the strictest sense, did not exist anymore. In other words, since our mother is gone and with other unspoken reasons, they would not make it here in Sydney.
To cut the story short, my brother and sister-in-law strongly persuaded me to stay in the resort instead of being alone in my house. I said, why not! It doesn't happen everyday that one can just stay in this resort as it is always on "red season"--i.e. on high demand.
I sent a private message both to Daisy and Art if they would like to stay with me, as Cynthia was busy working. I got no reply.
24 December 2013. Early morning, I walked to the house of an elderly woman whom I had helped in few ways in the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and whom I thought did not have any relatives. I thought it would be good if I could do something good on Christmas Day. But after knowing she's got a son and grandchildren, I dropped the idea. After all, Christmas, apart from celebrating Jesus, is about giving love and spending time with your family.
So, with no one to do the A-Z of this holiday, I took the train to the city to find Wyndham on my own before attending our clan's traditional and big 2013 Christmas Eve celebrations. With no big drama, I checked myself in.
As I opened apartment 703, I said "WoW! So nice, so neat and so cute! " It's not that I haven't stayed in any of Wyndham resorts, I have--heaps of times in fact because three of my siblings are owners! However, before I could ever go inside the apartment, chateau or whatever, these are already full of our luggage and Cynthia's "kitchen" stuff (ie as we have all become health freaks, we count on our fingers the number of times we eat out)! Needless to say, I do not really get a good vista of the place exactly as shown in the brochures of Wyndham.
23 December 2013. I got a call from Nimrod--well he always calls to ask how I am after our mother passed away. As usual the talk ranged from Christianity, philosophy and travel. We were talking about the flood in UK when his wife Connie came to consult him about something--it was about their pre-booked accommodation at Wyndham Vacation Resort. They booked this nine months ago so they could spend this Christmas season with us here in Sydney, particularly with our mother. However our mother passed away last June 7, so the reason in the strictest sense, did not exist anymore. In other words, since our mother is gone and with other unspoken reasons, they would not make it here in Sydney.
To cut the story short, my brother and sister-in-law strongly persuaded me to stay in the resort instead of being alone in my house. I said, why not! It doesn't happen everyday that one can just stay in this resort as it is always on "red season"--i.e. on high demand.
I sent a private message both to Daisy and Art if they would like to stay with me, as Cynthia was busy working. I got no reply.
24 December 2013. Early morning, I walked to the house of an elderly woman whom I had helped in few ways in the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and whom I thought did not have any relatives. I thought it would be good if I could do something good on Christmas Day. But after knowing she's got a son and grandchildren, I dropped the idea. After all, Christmas, apart from celebrating Jesus, is about giving love and spending time with your family.
So, with no one to do the A-Z of this holiday, I took the train to the city to find Wyndham on my own before attending our clan's traditional and big 2013 Christmas Eve celebrations. With no big drama, I checked myself in.
As I opened apartment 703, I said "WoW! So nice, so neat and so cute! " It's not that I haven't stayed in any of Wyndham resorts, I have--heaps of times in fact because three of my siblings are owners! However, before I could ever go inside the apartment, chateau or whatever, these are already full of our luggage and Cynthia's "kitchen" stuff (ie as we have all become health freaks, we count on our fingers the number of times we eat out)! Needless to say, I do not really get a good vista of the place exactly as shown in the brochures of Wyndham.
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This is the small dining area. Well, it's not as big as the dining area in my own house, but I really like the big mirror.
After our Christmas Eve Celebrations, my kind niece AJ (thank God!) dropped me off at the resort. It was already 1 o'clock in the morning so I just went to sleep. |
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25 December 2013. Christmas day. I looked out the window and gazed at the street down below. I could see the ground wet. Ah, it has been raining. I suddenly heard ringing on my ears the song, "have yourself a merry little Christmas....No one should be alone on this special day. But here I was alone. It was not that I intended to be alone. I invited my siblings. Daisy would be having Christmas lunch with her children and their friends, Art with his friend's family. I invited a lady whom I met in the bus and became a good acquaintance eventually, but she did not call. From hindsight, I asked myself "was I desperate to have company this Christmas or was I just too kind to share with people this good gift from God?" Yes, I slept well the night before--because I was confident I did not want to enjoy this blessing on my own.
The above photo shows a picture of myself I took using my camera's timer in the small dining area. Here, I drink tea coffee and eat cake, as well as my big meals. I could have eaten out, but I watched a bit of TV on bed after showering and needless to say slept through it. I woke to have lunch, watched TV and slept through a Disney movie which I had the chance to see anyway to get its gist and enjoy it. Daisy rang. I told her I wanted to buy apple juice. She told me I could walk out the lobby and turn right to get to a convenient store. I felt like my day was not complete if I couldn't drink apple juice which I usually drink every day. Daisy also told me I could get free DVDs from the reception. At the reception, I was told they could give me a DVD, yes, but I had to rent it for $7.50. I replied, ''Hm...I'd just watch TV, after all there's usually something on TV. In fact, I could not find time to watch the new DVDs I have at home because I do not want to miss out on what's on TV. The guy asked me what's on TV. I said well I just watched a Disney movie, at which point he threw a laughing glance at his co-receptionist. I borrowed an umbrella at the desk so I could go to Coles which was like a fair bit of walk. I could not decide if I wanted to buy at the convenient store as prices of food commodities here are much dearer. As I walked towards the direction going to Coles, I asked a lady walking in the opposite direction from me whether I was on the right track to Coles. She said yes and quickly added it was closed. I asked why. She laughed and said it was Christmas Day. Hm. That was funny! Yes it was Christmas Day. I must have slept too much I thought Christmas Day was over. 26 December 2013, Boxing Day. The weather improved so I decided to take a walk after the free continental breakfast invitation of Wyndham. I had a marvellous time here having met an old retiree couple who owned a huge property at Moree. I was thrilled because the man said one could still buy a house on an 820sqm block of land for $20000. WoW! However, I had no plans to buy another house. I don't work full time now and there's no way I am going to commit myself to any financial obligation. I walked along Goulbourn Street studying closely which direction to walk from Wyndham as reference point to the Family Court, the Madison Tower and the Downing Centre where I used to do some work before my mother needed a high level care then. It was quite a while since I haven't worked here and it would be good if I'd learned how to walk here again without getting lost. However, for this particular walk I wanted to go to Sydney Eye Hospital as suddenly I realised something was wrong with my vision, as new as my spectacles are for which I paid so much money. To both my amazement and shock, the crowd was unbelievably huge and crazy!!! At many points I had to stop only to realise that I was behind people who would not really move because they were in a queue to get a bargain at Oroton, Prada and other designer labels. As the crowd was uncontrollable and would not follow traffic lights, I saw a few police to regulate both the traffic and the crowd. Hm! Unbelievable, I have been living in Sydney for 25 years but I have never been caught in a big crowd such as these. I got to my destination only to find out, there was only one eye doctor in the hospital and with such a number of patients waiting, I surely could wait till eternity and still would not be seen by the doctor. So I walked back. This time the crowd was even more mad and crazy. I got trapped at the junction of George Street where I was hoping to get into Woolworths a bit easier to get something to eat as I walked back to Wyndham. I could feel my blood sugar was going down. I wanted to go to McDonalds earlier but it was full packed, same with Hungry Jacks. I would not even dare go to Westfield because the streams of people seem to be never-ending. Nevertheless, the crowd moved so I got myself in Woolworths where I just bought apple juice and doughnuts... After a short while, I was back to my R and R. |
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| myself in the study |
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| in the lounge |
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| the small kitchen |
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| tea and coffee |
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lounge and dining
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Well, I took the photo of the bedroom to show that the door has lock and mirror and also TV (that is, in addition to the TV in the lounge.
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Here at Wyndham, in Sydney, I became, not a queen but a king. This king size bed--all to myself. Unlike at home however, where I have two European pillows and four standard pillows, here I only have two standard pillows and those two little cushions.
Do I complain? Not at all! With two more nights and one day of stay, I truly had a good R and R. Thank God!!!
.....loved foretaste of having a Wyndham time-shared ownership? Absolutely!!! I go to the city only to work and hardly find time to walk around shops because I always like to go home before the sun goes down. If I check myself in here, I'll have all the time, not only to walk around the shops but also to the beautiful park nearby plus all the historical spots which although I have already seen during my early years in Sydney, I'm sure these will be equally if not more enjoyable. |
