About Me

I was born in a small rural town of Kempsey on the mid north coast of New South Wales. The birthplace of Slim Dusty and Akubra hats.

My parents immigrated to Australia in the 1970s. In China my father owned a knitwear factory and was an eastern medicine doctor. My mother was a machinist in a clothing factory. They became restauranteurs in Australia despite speaking very little English.

When I was born, Mum and Dad let the midwife give me my English name.

My siblings and I were the only Chinese children at school. I spoke no English on my first day of kindergarten. I was teased for being different but eventually I assimilated to western culture and loved being a "country girl" with my school mates who lived on farms, the bush and the beaches.

As kids, we often went to the beach until one day I nearly drowned and my mother forbade me to go into the sea again. A fortune teller in Hong Kong told her when I was a baby that my eventual death would be in water so it was a "warning". (To this day I don't tell Mum about my beach escapades.)

I went to an agricultural high school and had a Friesian heifer to call my own at school. I loved working with animals. I was even champion cattle judge the first time I entered at The Kempsey Show!

Our family moved to larger beachy town, Port Macquarie in my two years of high school. Then I moved to Newcastle where I studied finance at university.

I'm grateful for having grown up in such peaceful places. Where grassroots really mean something and there was no overcrowding or stress (relatively back in the day!)

After I graduated, I moved to Sydney. I got a job at a stockbroking company which became part of an international investment bank. It was a energising place to work and learn. Plus it had amazing views of Sydney Harbour.

In my late twenties I started getting itchy feet. Many of my peers had done working holidays in London and I yearned to do the same. I was facing the prospect of settling down so after my father passed away from a long illness, I decided it was time. I quit my job and moved to London.

Now I live in north London, in the lovely area of Hampstead. When I'm not travelling, the Heath and village is where I hang out on weekends, as well as my local cafe and charity shops.

I love cycling and I'm addicted to fitness dancing like Zumba/latino dance/Bokwa and I do at least 5 classes a week.

My first blog is here: www.emmakins888.livejournal.com and now I post to this one, Dances With Balloons. I have another for my girly spending habits www.missy-em.blogspot.com.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave comments.