I have penned a little something in honor of today, Australia Day, over at Ustralian: the hub for everything Aussie in the United States.

Whenever I see that old Qantas ad with the schoolkids singing Peter Allen’s ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, I break into large, heaving, homesick sobs. Those words, the sweeping music, the images of the physical beauty of the country in which I spent most of my life – it’s the perfect combination to tug on the heartstrings of Australian expats everywhere. Even though I have not lived there for more than six years, I still call Australia home.  Read more…

Australia Day is the day we give our nation three big cheers in honor of her birthday (and she’s looking pretty good for 225, don’t you think?). We kick back with family and friends, with good food, cold drinks and great conversation. It’s a day where we celebrate the traits that make us great: ingenuity, irreverence, cheekiness with a keen sense of humour. It’s also a great opportunity to engage in hearty debate over the issues that affect us, things like whether we should ditch the Queen and become a republic, and whether or we should change our flag.

As for our Australia Day celebrations here in Kuala Lumpur, they’ve been pretty low-key. We’re currently staying in a pretty reasonable hotel in Chinatown. I spent part of the day in the lobby of a fancy hotel, enjoying a Teh Tarik whilst I did a little writing. I wandered around the Petaling markets whilst they were setting up, and then returned to our room to listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100. I have barely heard any new songs in 2012, but I was pleased to hear that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” scored the #1 spot. I first heard Thrift Shop when I was back in Sydney last November and thought it was pretty bad ass.

And tonight, we added this little guy to our family unit. We call him Teddy.

We don’t buy trinkets when overseas as a rule. But we both fell in love with Mr Bean’s Teddy, so he’s coming home with us.

Happy Birthday, ‘Straya!