Monday, December 15, 2008

MY WORLD ~ 8 The Road Home

Our return from the mountains, a stretch
of 1,000km+, lead us through Melbourne
the capital of Victoria where we stayed with
my sister. From there the long 700km stretch
home.I can no longer travel the distance in one
day, so we like to spand a night in Horsham.
Horsham is a very well-to-do town in the western
wheat belt of Victoria. For us it boasts a number
of attractions, a Motel with a comfortable Q'sized
bed right next door to one of our favourite eateries,
Toys Chinese Restaurant. There is also a garden
ornament shop where the Prof. has been known to
splurge in a very big way.

Leon Toy is a remakable person. Sixth generation
Australian Chinese, the family still speak their
language. Apart from having built up this beautiful
restaurant, Leon had a grand vision and has established
a Chinese garden wonderful to see. Many water features
filled with Lilies and Fish and spanned by bridges, a
mini-golf course tucked away in greenery and to top it all
a beautiful version of the great wall of China to enclose it.

Come and see for yourselves.

Street facade with restaurant in the
background



One of the ponds with the beginning of the great
wall on the left



the Prof. and Leon Toy discussing garden progress



Some magnificent Waterlilies which are there
in a abundance



part of the eating area where the food that Leon
cooks is always delicious, the service friendly and
everything spotlessly clean



the place is decorated with art treasures. these
are two of the clay warriors shipped from China
for an exhibition.



Detail of an exquisite screen inlaid with mother
of pearl.



To finish, another view of one of the ponds.




Click to enlarge photos for best effect.

This is an integral part of our world, now check out
other beautiful places by clicking on the Logo.


As always, my appreciation to the MY WORLD/
SkyWarch team for being our hosts and mentors.

54 comments:

  1. Oh, what lovely photos of your world this week! The restaurant looks magnificent and I can just imagine how delicious the food is and my mouth is watering! Thanks as alway, Arija for sharing your world!

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  2. I love the clouds and that restaurant with scarlet carpet is exquisite!

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  3. Arija, that restaurant looks delightful and such a charming man too. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures and reading of your journey. Best wishes.

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  4. How wonderful this trip must have been! The photo of the waterlilies is excellent for Today's flowers and you have several great Sky Watch photos too. Excellent post!

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  5. Beautiful pictures.This looks like a fantastic place to visit.The gardens must be lovely.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  6. Thank you for the pictures of the restaurant. I taught in China four different times and your pictures brought back many wonderful memories. Thanks!

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  7. Wow .. you must feel like you have been transported to another place when you visit this restaurant! It is just beautiful!

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  8. What fun! I'm glad you took us along!

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  9. Hi Arija - great post. I love this part of Australia and this place is such a find. It is most unusual to find a Chinese Restauarant that isn't surrounded by a concrete carpark. What a wonderful sanctuary. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  10. The images are so beautiful and is was fascinating to read of this family. Linky was workin earlier to now it seems to have disappeared.

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  11. Wow! No wonder you enjoy stopping there. I want to eat there, too. Lovely.

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  12. Looks like an expensive place to eat. But what a beautiful thing to do with the rest of the place. The garden is beautiful.

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  13. What lovely photos! I hope to visit Australia one day.

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  14. Those are all very beautiful and wonderful photos. The story behind the clay warriors from China is really interesting. It may have been one of the top 100 artistic endeavors ever created. So much work in the attempt to live forever.

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  15. Pretty impressive place. Must have taken a lot of work to put it all together!

    Nice collection here. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  16. What a lovely place!

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  17. So nice of them to have preserved their culture. Beautiful garden!

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  18. Thanks for the look at your world. Those water lilies are stunning. Now I'm hungry!

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  19. What a nice treat for you Arija. The gardens are a nice addition to a good Chinese meal. I love the mother-of-pearl panels. A great tour of your world, as always.

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  20. OMG!!! you have such an amazing photos!! I love those Water Lillies, it's lovely!
    My World

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  21. beauties of nature and indoors well presented :)

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  22. Great photos. Everything looks great here. I'd love to see a pond filled with that many water lilies. :-)

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  23. Delightful waterlilies.So nice.
    That mother pearl work: we have a cabinet with similar work and I know those things since I was a small girl, they were very apreciated then and there. My uncle has a low table with little seats with the same work.

    Alfazema

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  24. thank you so much for the wonderful tour!

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  25. Beautiful photos. I love the terracotta statues. Happy Tuesday

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  26. THe clouds in the first photo are awesome! Also love the waterlilies.

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  27. Your photos are just beautiful! I love the pond and the great wall;)
    Marnie

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  28. There was so much good stuff to see in your post. The pond with altocumulus skies was really great and so was the waterlilies.

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  29. love the photos with the reflections. thanks for sharing your world.

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  30. Very interesting.

    What are the flowers in your header. They look like what we call Bluebonnets (Lupine)

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  31. Hello, I'm dropping in for a visit from Ces blog. She visited me from yours. You live in a wonderful place where you can grow lovely orchids in the garden. Just love them. Merry Christmas.

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  32. Great shots and dreaming place.
    Thanks for share.

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  33. This is really a great series of photos. This looks like a fantastic place to visit. I love the composition and the perspective on the first photo very much, and the photos of pond is also great. Among all other wonderful shots I would aslo like to separate that one with waterlilies. Lovely, really lovely!

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  34. Thank you , Arija, for visiting my humble blog.
    This is one big garden! I always think it’s so wonderful when they combine a garden with a Restaurant – would be nice to sit outside and enjoy a wonderful meal.
    Whenever I visit Vancouver, a stop at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is included. It’s a serene place in the middle of a busy town. Of course, Vancouver has many gardens one can visit – but this one is a must for me, not matter how many other gardens I visit.

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  35. The Chinese restaurant looks just great I would love to enjoy a meal there myself, and with the lovely ponds and gardens as well it would be a delightful experience.

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  36. A lovely post of your world! Happy My World Tuesday! :)

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  37. Oh that waterlily photo...Beautiful!

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  38. Wow! I love the pictures.

    Your world is such a wonderful place to live.

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  39. I haven't done any of these officially on my blog, but there are things there that could qualify for that kind of a post. I enjoyed looking around on your blog.

    Thanks for visiting my GBBD blog and for the tip on African violets.

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  40. Great photos. Love those waterlilies, they're breathtaking.

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  41. Oh wow..what a beautiful place...

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  42. Wonderful visit to Mr. Toy's garden and restaurant. I saw the Terracotta soldiers, here, in Southern California. They were wonderful.

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  43. Chinese food is my comfort food. I always eat it when I come home from a trip often straight from the airport. This restaurant looks wonderful.

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  44. Lovely pictures series.
    I like the water lilies the most.

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  45. What a wonderful place to overnight and visit. The waterlilies are beautiful.

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  46. What a beautiful place ! and keeping language and traditions through 6 generations, that's really something !

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  47. Beautiful surroundings for a meal. I would also break up a long journey with a stop here. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures.

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  48. I would love to see this in person. Beautiful. I love your world!

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  49. Oh my.... this is breathtaking.. so beautiful.. no wonder you go to this special place..
    it makes one think there...

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  50. Oh, to be transported from this world of gray we have been living in for days on end now, to this paradise on earth! Incredibly beautiful, thank you for introducing your world!

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  51. A great place to have a memorable dinner. What a wonderful garden.
    I wish you a very happy Christmas.

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  52. Beuatiful collection of photos for sky watch friday. Thanks for sharing with us all and your kind comments on my post earlier.

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  53. What a delightful place! How I would love to visit this restaurant. The photos are great and so is your narrative. I especially like the clouds reflected in the water and the water lilies. Lovely MyWorld!

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