Precious Moments, Unforgettable Memories

Family Trip Day 4-6 ~ Gold Coast [Dreamworld + Movie World]

2007-12-29T11:54:00.000+10:30

We flew to Gold Coast for the rest of our tour. Byebye to Melbourne~ I'll definitely miss that place =( But I'm sure I'll go there again...somewhere in the future...

Lets talk about our trip to Gold Coast. On the first day, we went to Dreamworld. I would have so much photos to take in such a place. BUT!! My camera's zooming lance got stuck and I couldn't on or off the whole thing. How sad it is for it to spoil on this day~ Well, fated and there's nothing I can do~ So in the end, I went to buy one of the disposable camera. Thats why I'm unable to show you guys any photos of us in either Dreamworld or Movie World.

Despite having such a disaster in the middle of our holiday, my brothers and I were still very keen in trying all the thrill rides in the theme park. I bet that should be able to offset any sad feelings. We spent the whole day in Dreamworld. Walking around trying out different rides. Got a chance to take picture with Spongebox too!! Haha~

The next day, we did almost the similar things at Movie World. Went for most of their thrill rides. My favourite was Superman Escape, its the latest in the theme park. I like it because its super fast but it won't give you that kind of dizzy feeling. Haha~

I managed to 'drag' my parents for Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster. It was an indoor ride so everything was black throughout the ride. Meaning that we wouldn't know when will the car that we sat onto is gonna turn or drop at any time. Mummy was screaming all the time...me too~ Haha~

Besides that, we watched the Police Academy Stunt Show. Lots of awesome high falls, huge explosions and sensational car chases ... and crashes too!! It was really entertaining~ We also went for Shrek 4D Adventure. We get to sit on those motion seats and the show was full of animation and great sound effects.

For our last day in Gold Coast, we went for a cruise. Got to see some beautiful scenery of the coastal line, nice beaches and try out some water sports like skurfing and boom netting.

Skurfing is a bit similar to surfing but we get to hold onto a rope and skurf behind a boat on a surfboard. I was able to skurf quite well at the beginning...but out of a sudden I lost my balance...haha~ Not forgetting to let out a loud scream before i drop into the sea. Lol~ Super funny~

Boom netting is a group activity. Hmm...I think a picture speaks a thousand words so instead of explaining what it is, its better to show you all a picture of it. Save my time...oops...hehe =p

Family Trip Day 3 [Puffing Billy + Picnic @ Lake Emerald]

2007-12-29T09:07:00.000+10:30

This day was our free day so we don't have to follow any tours. However, we did went out of city to visit some places. Thanks to my 2 aunts, they brought us for Puffing Billy, Australia's century-old steam train. It runs along a mountain track so we get to see beautiful sceneries along the way.
A special part of this train is that we can dangle our legs out when the train is moving. Get to breath real fresh air and have a closer look at the nature. All in all, its a very interesting experience. Even my parents enjoyed it!

There're several stops between the starting point and the final station. We hopped off at Lake Emerald to have our picnic lunch. Aunty Hoon and Aunty Kiak prepared sandwiches, drinks, fruits and desserts for us...how nice and sweet of them~ Annoying flies still flying around during our lunch-time...so irritating~ Despite that, it was a simple but enjoyable picnic by the lake~

Me waiting for lunch...hehe =p

After lunch, we went to Blue Dandenongs to feed the colourful Crimson Rosellas, beautiful parrots. Everyone was enjoying feeding the birds, except for me, you know why? Cos I was bitten by one that day!! The white one!! So painful...arghhh~ They might be pretty but dangerous at the same time!!

Family Trip ~ Day 2 [Mornington Peninsula + Philip Island]

2007-12-28T18:10:00.000+10:30

This morning, we had the typical hotel buffet for breakfast, quite nice though~ Bread, bacon & ham, milk n cereal, noodles, pastries, fruits, etc. Eat until so full~ Haha~

We headed off to Mornington Peninsula after breakfast - a popular holiday destination in Melbourne. Had a photo-taking opportunity when the tour guide dropped us at Brighton Beach. The scenery by the beach was very beautiful~ Baby blue sky, crystal clear ocean & fine sandy beach...a perfect combination! My youngest brother enjoyed walking along the beach bare footed! Lol~Next stop - Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm, where we get to pick fresh strawberries. Yum yum~ Before picking the strawberries, we need to wear a layer of plastic bag on our feet so that we don't damage the soil when we walked around the farm. We also get to taste free strawberry ice cream!! It was so nice~ The strawberries turned to be very sweet and juicy...so yummy~

We had our lunch before heading off to Lavender Farm and Ashcombe Maze, its Australia's oldest & largest Hedge Maze.
We definitely had lots and lots of fun in the maze. Once started, there'll always be people who walked way ahead from the others. And of course, lots of shouting! Haha~ You might wonder why do we need to shout in the maze?! Let me tell you why. People like me, who can't find their way out are still able to hear there's someone walking ahead of them, but the problem is that you can hear but you can't see where they are!! So, shouting comes into place~ Haha~ Look at my silly brother...can't find his way out also...wahaha~

Basically the whole journey inside the maze was full of laughter and its indeed very very enjoyable and funny~ Especially when we kept bumping into a dead end. So there goes the endless shouting and laughter...

Further on, we went to Lavender Farm which is somewhere near the maze. Lots of lavender and lots of flies as well !! Its summer, thats why~ They will fly very close to you and the worst thing is that they'll stick onto your face!! Oh my god...i just can't stand that~ Its so horrible! Anyway, despite being irritated by the flies, we still need to some nice nice photos...haha~

On our way out, i saw these very nice flowers...not sure what's the name for it...just felt that its very sweet...hehe =p

Saw this car at the entrance...have a look at its car plate...kinda cool and cute at the same time~

Moving on, we went to A Maze 'N Things, a very interesting place where we'll get ourselves caught in the middle of mental confusion. Haha~ This is because they have funny things like rooms that flood without getting wet, objects that defy gravity - makes me feel dizzy man~ Here's a pic of my youngest bro standing in front of the flooded room.

I D.I.Y a couple of funny pics taken at A Maze 'N Things. Have a look!

Funny huh? Hehe =p

Thats not the end yet! When we got out of the place, I saw this big interesting sign board. So, I sort of 'force' my brothers and mummy to imitate the actions. Haha~ Evil me...can't help it~ But its super funny...I can still recall back to that crazy but memorable day...

Our final destination of the day was Philip Island - to see the award winning Penguin Parade.

Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed as it will scared the penguins away. So, I can only take pictures of the entrance and their souvenir shops. During that evening, the weather was fairly cold with the cool sea breeze. We waited for more than 1 hour before we saw lots of Little Penguins swimming onto the beach at about 8.30 pm. They were soooo CUTE !!

These Little Penguins normally travel in a group and they'll rush into the bush to find their respective 'homes' once they got onto the surface. If they ever felt unsafe, they'll go back to the sea. Thats why we need to be quiet while watching as well.

Wonderful Family Trip ~ Melbourne Day 1 [3 Dec 07]

2007-12-28T12:55:00.000+10:30

At last!! My family flew all the way from Singapore to meet me in Melbourne. So touched~ Like every other tour groups, we toured around the city for the 1st day. Went to a few places like Laigon Street - Melbourne's Little Italy, Yarra River and Federation Square for sight-seeing. We only stopped by at St Patrick's Cathedral and Captain Cook's Cottage.

Then, we went to Shark Fin Inn in Chinatown for 'yum cha' lunch. But mummy couldn't eat much because of jet lag...poor thing~ Never mind...I'll have her share then...hoho~ Luckily they were given some time to rest at the hotel before dinner. I bet they must be very tired after a long flight.

My 2 aunts met up with us after our yummy Thai food dinner and brought us to Crown Casino for a visit. Here's a pic of them...miss them lots =( But Aunty Kiak (my mum's twin, 2nd from the left) will be going over to JB on 2 Jan! So I'll get to see her again...yay!!

Here's a pic of mummy and me at the harbour front.

On our way walking back to the hotel, I saw this super cool car~ Wonder who's in that car? Hmm... I'll never know...must be some VIP or VVIP...haha~

2nd trip to Melbourne...Right after exams!! [24 Nov - 2 Dec 07]

2007-12-28T08:26:00.000+10:30

Yoohoo~ Finally finished with my paper. Its time for holiday~ Hmm...actually to me, the whole experience of exchange already considered as a holiday for me. That means...I have been on holiday since July?!? I guess so...haha~

I went back to Melbourne on 24th of Nov. Anticipating for my family's arrival on the 3rd of Dec, in which I'll be joining them for a tour around Melbourne and Gold Coast. Really can't wait for them to come!! I missed everyone at home~

During my 2nd trip to Melbourne, I went to St Kilda, a nice suburb where I get to visit their arts & craft weekend market, the beach and Luna Park. Have a look at some of the photos.

After lunch, I took a tram back to the city. It was a nice Sunday and the city was crowded with lots of people. I came across this small alley, saw people spraying and drawing on the walls. It was actually a street art project, called "Beyond The CCTV". Sounds cool huh? And it looks cools too!! By the way, the murals drawn were done by a group of professional street artists! Lets have a look at their work~ Its nice isn't it?

Also, I had a 2nd go in baking muffins. This time round, I did it without the help of my aunt. Invented my own flavour too! Hehe~ I call it "Orange, Apricot & Raisin Muffin". Sounds a bit long but who cares...haha~ Not sure if my mum has a muffin tray back home, if yes then I'm sure I'll make some for you guys to try~

First ever Melbourne trip [10-20 Nov 07] I LOVED IT !!

2007-12-28T06:51:00.000+10:30

Recalling back to somewhere near the end of my semester of exchange... Study break starts after 9 Nov and I only have one paper which falls on 22 Nov :S That means i have almost 2 weeks to study for that paper. Thats such a big gap in between!! Oh my god~

Out of a sudden, a question popped up in my mind. "Am i gonna stay in Adelaide? Having nothing else better to do except for that paper?" [Of course NOT!!] I said to myself... Its definitely a waste of money as my accommodation itself already cost about AUD 190 per week.

So, on Nov 10, I decided to spend 150 aussie dollars instead, bought my 2-way ticket to Melbourne where I get to stay with my aunt. She's my mum's twin sister, so in a way, i get to 'see' my mum! Wahaha~ I really had a weird feeling when I saw her that day, partly because its been 4 months since I last saw my mum :(

Well, lets talk about my stay in Melbourne. I've never been to this place and I seriously loved it after my 2 weeks stay. Its beautiful and vibrant, nice city view, friendly people and lovely houses. And there's so much things to do and see. Thats why i didn't manage to explore the whole place, even after my 2nd trip there. Yupe, I went to Melbourne again after exams and stayed there for another week, waiting for my family to come over for a tour.

As my aunt had to work and my younger cousin had to go school, so I basically did my travelling alone. So poor thing~ Haha...but anyway, its another kind of new experience for me. Here's some photos of those places...

Flinders Street Station

St Paul's Cathedral

Federation Square...unique architecture

Queen Victoria Market

When I was roaming in the city, I saw these horse carriages, they are specially catered for the tourists, like me~. Its kinda cute by the way, but I didn't go for it as you need to pay and I think its quite expensive. Haha~

Besides exploring around, I also learned how to make muffins from my aunt. Haha~ We plugged free mulberries from another aunt's place. It was planted right in front of their house. By the way, I have 2 aunts in Melbourne. Hehe =p So we made mulberries muffins with raisins and a bit of oats and crushed nuts as toppings. Have a look~ Its yummy~ !!

'Graduated' from my Ceramics elective!!

2007-12-24T14:36:00.000+10:30

Previously I mentioned about the first project for my ceramics class, it was hand coiling. Later on, we had to do wheel throwing and platters to complete the whole course.

Few months down, I've been able to throw a nice cup without wasting any clay. Haha~ Recalling back to my first few practices, those were really a waste of clay man! Know why? Cos I was unable to control to clay properly when its on the wheel and we had to add water every now and then to shape the clay. I always end up wasting lots of clay without being able to make any nice things out of it.

But things have change and I believe in practice makes perfect, although not perfect yet but at least I can come out with some nice cups. Am glad enough for that level of achievement~ Well, lets have a look at my final work... Not bad huh? Haha~

As for my last project, we have to make a couple of platters. At that point of time, my mum's birthday was approaching so I thought of making her a present using this opportunity. And guess what? She's actually a twin! So, a birthday platter for her and my aunt became the theme of my project. Care to have a look at it? Here it is... By the way, 'A. Kiak' refers to my aunt's name.So what do you guys think of my work? Any comments? =p

Its been quite sometime~

2007-12-20T16:34:00.000+10:30

When was the last time i wrote my blog? Hmm...it seems to be around 1 n a half month ago~ Thats quite long but i feel kinda lazy to update it...lol~

So what have i been doing all this while then?...until i haven't got the time to record down my journey. Basically, I've been travelling, eating, playing, seeing the world...not really the whole world yet but to places that I've never been to before...Everything seems to be an eye-opener for me and I'm enjoying every single moment of it~ though sometimes too much of travelling actually makes you feel a bit exhausted~ Haha...

Guess I'm not really in the right position to complain about tiring cos I get to travel so much and I should be grateful about that. Okay then...no more complaining~ Lol~ Sincerely, I'm really enjoying my life now to the max...Thanks to exchange!! Or else i won't be here...experiencing the BEST of my uni life~

There's so much to share with you guys and for sure, lots of typing to do~ But no matter how, I know I need to continue recording my travel experience for these 6 months and I will !! Just give me some time to refresh my memory and I'll be able to share everything in words in no time!! Stay tune ya ^_^

Tasmania Trip Day 6 ~ Salamanca Market + Historic Richmond

2007-11-05T11:42:00.000+10:30

Time really flies man~ Its already our 6th day in Tasmania and we'll all be heading back tomorrow. But before that, there's still 2 more places to go - Salamanca weekend market and the historic village of Richmond.

We went to Salamanca at around 9 am and started strolling along one whole stretch of stalls. There's lots and lots of stalls at this weekend market. They sell almost everything, like art & craft, clothes, books, food and wine, etc. Its something like pasar malam in Msia but its a morning market in Hobart. Haha~ And they are only open on Saturday morning! Initially we wanted to go back on Saturday but in the end, we decided to stay back for the market cos its really interesting. Lots of people were there and I like that kind of atmosphere. Haha~

My favourite stall was the House of Fudge. You guys know why? Cos they offered free tasting!! Haha~ And I seriously loved chocolates so so so much! I know I'm fat already...but lets not worry about that first...lol~ Anyway, I'm not the only one who went for the tasting ok~ Shirlin and Santiago went as well. And they can't stop trying too! Cos its very nice~ Haha~ And there's so many different flavours...so we ended up trying non-stop...

Eventually, I bought 10 bars!! But I'm not gonna finish it all by myself of course, its actually for you guys...I'm bringing back nice stuffs to share with you all ok~ Faster thank me! Haha~ Here's some pics of the stall, me and my chocolate fudges... =p

I think I skipped lunch that day...felt so full after so many rounds of tasting, lol~

After visiting the market, we joined a half day tour to Richmond, the oldest village in Australia. Since its the oldest place of all, they basically have all the oldest buildings there, like the oldest Roman Catholic Church, the oldest bridge and the oldest prison. Haha~ Here are some of the pics.

By the way, we discovered one funny thing about Santiago and his friends. They have this project where they will bring along a photo of their pet, Oxo, wherever they go... Basically, they will take pictures of new places together with the pet to show that Oxo actually been there as well. Its quite interesting though...but funny at the same time~

I secretly took a picture of Santiago & Oxo at the Richmond Bridge. Have a look~ They looked funny~ Haha~ He'll kill me if he sees this blog... Lol!! But I don't care =p

Tasmania Trip Day 5 ~ Freycinet National Park

2007-11-04T12:06:00.000+10:30

This morning, as usual...we had to wake up early again~ Joining our 3rd day tour ever since we came to Tasmania. Believe me...full day tours can be real tiring sometimes. And the one that we joined today was the most tiring of all~ Well, at least for me it is!! Haha~ Lots of walking + climbing...

We arrived at Freycinet National Park at about 11 plus, we saw this cute wallaby by the roadside. Its carrying a baby wallaby in it pouch somemore~ So so so cute!! Haha~ Here's a pic of them =p

We started off with a brief explanation on the things we need to kept in mind, like we were not allowed to feed the wildlife in this national park or plug any flowers along the way...Basically, we can only leave footprints behind...lol~ Thats what our tour guide said ok~

Yup...so we continue walking, climbing, resting...and walk...and climb...and rest again...haha~ Pretty tiring though...guess i have to do more of these to build up my stamina!!

We roughly walked about 30 minutes to reach Wineglass Bay's lookout point. Phew~ Finally its time to take a deep breath and enjoy the beautiful scenery~ As you can see from the picture i took, the bay actually has a very nice 'U' shape curve, like the shape of a wine glass and thats how it got its name from.

We had our lunch at the lookout point and continue walking down towards the beach where Wineglass Bay is. Its a very long walk and the track was very rocky...not that easy to travel even when we are walking downwards. Half way down the route, we stop for a short rest and took a picture of our shadows. Haha~

After 30 minutes of walking along such uneven tracks, its tiring but worth it! Cos the scenery of the beach is really very beautiful~ The waves were great and the sea was greenish blue in colour...Crystal clear...so so so nice~ The strong wind makes the weather rather cold that day, luckily, with the sun around, we felt more comfortable.

Shirlin was drawing 3 Ss on the beach but I had no idea what that means until she mentioned that the 3 of us have names started with the letter 'S'. I never noticed before that. Lol!! So we took a group photo with our 3 Ss, represent Santiago, Suping & Shirlin. Haha~

Tasmania Trip Day 4 ~ Port Arthur Historic Site

2007-11-03T17:32:00.000+10:30

Today, we're going to join a day tour to Port Arthur, one of Australia's most significant heritage area, it was the former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula in Tasmania. Sounds spooky huh? But its actually a very nice place, I'll tell you guys more about it later.

On our way there, we stop by at Pirates Bay to have a look at its beautiful scenery and of course, to snap some wonderful pictures for our photo album!! Haha~ Here's a pic of Pirates Bay.

When we reached Port Arthur, each of us were given a card to play "The Lottery of LIFE". Each card actually leads to the background of a convict previously brought to this prison. I got Heart No. 6, wanna know who is it? Then go to my photo album to have a look at his story...hehe =p

Port Arthur is indeed very big, we started off by joining a short guided tour where they briefly explain the establishment of the prison. Most of the convicts were actually shifted from England and between 1830 and 1853, there were a total of 12,500 convicts passed through Port Arthur. Can you imagine how many more were brought in until 1878 when they finally closed the prison?

I'll leave that to your own imagination. Hehe =p Lets move on to our first stop as we were given a few hours to explore the place on our own. We arrived at the Separate Prison where convicts were locked in separate cells, they were each given a number, hence, their names were no longer spoken. The guard will constantly checked on them through a peep hole on their cell door. The convicts will spent 1 hour outside their cells for exercise, and for the rest of 23 hours, they will stay in the cell in solitude and silence. And even when they were exercising, they need to be chained and wear a mask to prevent them from having any contact with anyone. Its like living in their own world, all by themselves...hopelessly...

Ok, enough of sad stories, its time for our favourite - photo taking around the whole of Port Arthur!! Haha~ Shirlin & me just ~love~ taking pictures...lol~ So we went to the Church, Museum, Hospital, The Guard Tower, etc. The whole place gave me a feeling as if I'm in the world of warcraft. Lol!! Really...the settings is really nice, with the remains of those historic buildings, the garden, the sea, basically the whole landscape gave me that feeling. And you know what, most of the buildings were built by the convicts, even every single brick was made individually. Pretty impressive huh~

At about 1.30 pm, its time for a ferry ride to the Isle of the Dead where they buried about 1100 people. The convicts were buried at the lower level of the island and they basically have no tombstone on their graves. The higher ground level was reserved for civil and military burials. There was Ghost Tours available at night but we didn't join as we need to head back to Hobart by evening. Honestly, I wouldn't dare to go for the ghost tour also...haha~

So thats basically all about the experience we had for this tour, it involved quite a lot of thinking while we visit the places in Port Arthur, imagine its previously full of convicts, how's life for them in the prison...well...follow your imagination...

Tasmania Trip Day 3 ~ Hobart - Mt Wellington + Dinner Cruise

2007-11-01T17:03:00.001+10:30

This day, we set off to Hobart at around 9.30 am. Its the 2nd oldest city in Australia. From Launceston, we need to board a coach and it took us about 2.5 hours to reach Hobart. I think i slept through the whole journey, haha~ too tired of walking i guess...

Anyway, we reached Hobart around 12 noon. First thing is to check-in to our backpacker hostel, then book the tours that wanna join. Again, i did my 'homework' on where to go beforehand, so we just need the backpacker people to contact the tour agent for us. But there's slight changes for today's schedule as our initial plan was to tour around the city. However, its kinda boring just to do sight-seeing in the city so we decided to go for a half day tour to Mt Wellington. But thats not the end yet, we were discussing what to do at night...and Santiago saw this brochure on a dinner cruise, it costs us 40 bucks!! But anyway, its nice to try something different, rather than just doing sight-seeing all day...Lol~

We need to board a mini bus to bring us to Mt Wellington, heard it'll be colder on top of the mountain. Hope its not....too cold~ The weather was quite ok when we were on our way up...BUT!! It started to rain and the wind was super duper strong when we finally reach there. It was rated the worst weather of all by the 3 of us. Worst weather meaning cold weather + rain + strong wind...really feel like fainting/ dying/ whatever~ I had a feeling that my face was about to crack at any moment and my hands were freezing, you'll feel pain rather than just cold!! But Santiago was so energetic, running here and there under such weather, ya...its for the sake of taking pictures...he took almost every single corner whenever we visit a new place...haha~

After an adventurous visit to Mt Wellington, we finally got back into our coach and headed back to Hobart to catch our dinner cruise. We had a 4-course dinner, 1- soup, 2- main meal, 3- ice cream, 4- biscuits & tea. I felt so so so full~ Haha~ Can't remember when was the last time I had such a heavy dinner... But it was nice, we got to take pictures of the harbour, the night view, everything was very relaxing~ We even got a chance to know other people who went on the cruise, they were indeed very friendly and we had a good time talking and chit-chatting with one another...

Tasmania Trip Day 2 ~ Cradle Mountain National Park

2007-11-01T15:57:00.000+10:30

This day, we joined a day tour to Cradle Mountain National Park. On the way there, we stop by at Sheffield, the town of Murals. This place is very interesting~ Almost all the shops and walls are decorated with drawings and the drawings normally explained some background history about the building. We were shooting photos like crazy~ Haha! Cos the drawings were really nice, some were like real sceneries, here's a couple of it. Beautiful waterfall and the post office. Check out the rest from my photo album...bet you guys will like it =p

By the time we reach Cradle Mountain, its already lunch time. Guess what we had for lunch? Its bread and ham again~ Haha~ On budget, so no choice~ But we did had a good time picnicking beside Dove Lake, what a lovely name, its a beautiful lake at the bottom of the mountain. But we got irritated by some birds, they were flying around, trying to have a bite at our lunch!! So we kinda eating in a very unsecured situation, a bit chaotic though, eating and covering our food at the same time, damn funny~ Here's a pic of Dove Lake and Cradle Mountain. Its kinda cold that day, we can even see some snow on top of the mountain, its 1,545 metres above the sea level~ how high it is...

After lunch, we head towards to the Suicide Rock, lol~ no worries, not going to do anything silly there, but just to have a look at this interesting rock. Haha~ We were teasing one another about the possibility of suiciding if we really jump off that rock. Lol!! There were quite a lot of tourists when we were there, guess everyone was curious about the rock, I wonder if there's any suicide incidents happened before...

Tasmania Trip Day 1 [24/9/07] ~ Launceston city ~

2007-11-01T14:58:00.000+10:30

Today, I met up with Shirlin and Santiago at Melbourne airport to catch our flight to Launceston, the 3rd oldest city in Australia. Hmm...how should i describe this place? Its kinda quiet if compared to big cities like Sydney, and its not a popular tourist spot, the streets are so quiet, even on a Saturday afternoon! Definitely not a shopping place for us, its even quite hard to find some familiar fast-food centres. We spent quite some time asking around, trying to find one, and finally!! We managed to settle our lunch at Subway~

So why on earth do we wanna come to Launceston in the first place? Haha~ Its because we need to join a day tour that will only depart from this city, thats why we are here~ Basically, we just did some sight-seeing around the 'very small' city and went for our groceries shopping, gotta cook our dinner at night. Hehe~

We went to a few places to take photos, like Albert Hall - Launceston Convention Centre, City Park and Inveresk Precinct, where Queen Victoria Museum and the Art Gallery are situated. But we didn't manage to visit the museum and art gallery cos they were already closed when we reached =( Too bad~

Sydney Trip Day 5 ~ Bondi Junction + Bondi Beach

2007-10-21T17:56:00.000+09:30

Time flies~ Today is my 5th day at Sydney and I'll be going back to Adelaide tomorrow =( But 5 days is enough for me to explore the place, at least I've seen and been to the places that I had planned beforehand.

So for today, we'll be going to Bondi Junction & Bondi Beach. We need to board a train to reach Bondi. So the first thing in this morning is to find our way to King Cross station. We spent some time trying to find where's the entrance. And guess what? We managed to find it after asking around, you can't see anything near a train station anywhere on the street at King Cross, but a lift!! So, we actually need to take this lift, from the middle of the road, down to the station. This is something i never tried before~ Weird but interesting at the same time~ haha...

So when we finally reach Bondi, we started off by strolling along Bondi Junction, where there's lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and boutiques.

Again, we settled our lunch at one of the food court then board a bus to Bondi Beach. It seems to be Sydney's most popular beach, especially during summer. Heard the beach would be as crowded as pasar malam during that season of the year. Lol!! What a bad description for a beach~ Haha~

Anyway, we went to get our beach wear ready to take some nice photos at the beach =p Previously I went to Glenelg in Adelaide, and that was during winter so the beach was quite deserted. Haha~ But its totally different at Bondi, we were there on a Wednesday and there was quite a lot of people. The waves were great and thats why surfing was the main water sport. The weather was ok but still a bit cold cos its just the beginning of spring, or i should say winter is still in the air during that period of time. Luckily it was a very sunny day, makes me feel more comfortable with the weather, haha~ never ever loved the sun so much in my life~ not at all when I'm in Spore or Msia.

Around evening, we took a train to North Sydney to meet Li Eng's ex-tuition teacher who migrated to Sydney about a year ago. Along the journey, the train actually traveled across Sydney Harbour Bridge. Cool~ At least i get to go across the bridge, not by myself but with the help of the train. Haha~ We went for Italian cuisine and had Japanese green tea ice cream for desserts. It was a super duper full night~ Lol!!

So, that marks the end of my Sydney trip...The next morning, its time to say Bye-bye to Sydney and Hello~ to my home sweet home in Adelaide~ ^_^

Sydney Trip Day 4 ~ Sydney City + Sydney Tower + Sydney Aquarium

2007-10-19T21:17:00.000+09:30

On our 4th day in Sydney, we went to explore the city. We did look around on the 1st day after we arrived but didn't really took any pictures of the surroundings so today is the day!

First, we reached St Marys' church, its a super big cathedral. Very beautiful~ Need to walk super far from it to take a full picture... I took this from Hyde Park, our 2nd stop of the day. Its a very large park situated right beside Sydney's city. Here's a couple of photos of the park. Just a few corner of it =( But its nice though~ The fountain and the cute cute X'mas-like tree =p Bet I'll be able to take its full picture once i reached the top of Sydney Tower. Hehe =p

Continue walking, we reached the Town Hall of Sydney, a very nice sandstone building built in the 1880s. This is where the city government situated as well as the venue for most of Sydney City Council's meetings.

Queen Victoria Building is just the opposite of Sydney Town Hall. This Victorian style building was completed in 1898, served as a government building until 1986 when the City Council decided to change it into an upmarket shopping complex with boutiques and brand name shops. The interior design of QVB was uniquely crafted. Its really very beautiful~ Can't stop starring at every single corner of the building once i entered. Hehe~ But the things there were expensive!! So its not really a shopping place for me, but more of a photo-taking spot. Haha~There's two very special clocks inside QVB, The Great Australian Clock (on the right), showing 33 scenes of the Australian history and The Turret Clock which screens a puppet show every hour about the English royalty. Very cool clocks...haha~

Next, we went to Sydney Tower, the tallest building in Sydney. You'll get to see the 360 degree views of Sydney from the top of the tower. Using the optical binoculars provided at the Observation Deck, you can see as far towards the Blue Mountains!! And of course, take lots of photos of the whole of Sydney!! I finally get to take a full picture of St Marys' church and Hyde Park! They looked awesome from the top of the tower.

After that, we went for the OzTrek, its a 180 degree cinema using 3D technology, and there's real motion seats also, so cool and super fun~ Really enjoyed it!!

Kinda hungry after exploring so many places, its time for lunch!! But nothing great about lunch today cos we just ate at the food court. Haha~

After lunch, we walked through Darling Harbour to go to Sydney Aquarium which is at the other side of the harbour. As you can see from the picture, it has a very funky entrance, haha~ I kinda like it, as if you are entering into another world, a world full of sea creatures~

The Aquarium has basically everything you can find under the sea, Penguins, seahorses, crocodiles, jellyfish, seals, platypus, fluorescent corals, turtles, etc. Oceanarium is cool, its like an underwater world. We have to go a few levels down to watch sharks!! Its nice watching them swimming above your head, lol! I took video instead of photos. Too bad can't upload it here. Haha~

There's also the biggest display of The Great Barrier Reef at Sydney Aquarium. Lots and lots of beautiful corals, tiny ones...as well as gigantic ones. But overall, its just beautiful. The actual Great Barrier Reef is at Cairns, and I'll be going there around December!! Will be able to experience the real one by then. Anticipating~

I saw Nemo also. Again, i video-recorded it as it kept swimming and playing around, so hard to capture a picture of it, its not just me ok~ Many of the tourists beside me were having a hard time trying to snap a photo too. Haha~ I do have one pic of Nemo, but its a bit blur, anyway, here it is...

Sydney Trip Day 3 ~ Blue Mountains + Jenolan Caves

2007-10-12T21:10:00.000+09:30

This day, we have to wake up early again~ Cos gonna join a day tour to the Blue Mountains (to see the Three Sisters) and Jenolan Caves. Its a fairly long journey, passing by Anzac Bridge, brings us out of the city, then Parramatta River and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park. The coach driver was very nice, explaining every single corner of the journey, but i nearly doze off...Haha~ Not that its boring or what, but maybe i'm just a bit tired of all the walking for the past 2 days.

When we reached Blue Mountains Visitors Centre, i bet its very cold cos i can hear the wind blowing sound even though i'm still inside the bus!! So my first thought was - prepare to run into the building once i got off the bus!! Lol!! Seriously no kidding ok~ I felt as though my face was gonna crack when the cold wind blow against it @_@

So we quickly run into the visitors' centre and queue up to buy our tickets. We get to choose between 3 different ways to go around the Blue Mountains, Cableway, Railway and Skyway. I did my 'homework' before i go and knew that the Railway would be the BEST cos it'll travel along the steepest track in the world!! But to my disappointment, it was not available on that day!! So sad man~ Anyway, we decided to go on the Skyway instead (at least its better than the Cableway, lol! But the Skyway is actually the recommended one as its the newest, and there's a glass floor which will become transparent mid-way over the Three Sisters. We will then be looking down to the rainforest which is 270 metres below us. Sounds cool huh? And yes It is!! Fantastic view~

Let me tell you the story about the Three Sisters, they are Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, 3 young beautiful ladies of the Katoomba tribe. 3 brothers from another tribe fall in love with them but the tribal law forbid them to marry one another so the 3 brothers decide to go the hard way - capture the 3 sisters which ends up causing a tribal war. A witch doctor during that time 'volunteered' to turn the three sisters into stones to protect them from any harm, BUT he was killed in the battle before he even got the chance to reverse the spell. And thats how the three sisters are still remaining in their rock formation until today, serving as a reminder of the battle. Sounds so sad but quite interesting though~

Anyway, lets move on to our next stop, the Jenolan Caves. Its one of the best caves in the world open to the public. There are 4 caves in Jenolan and the one i went to was the BEST - Lucas Cave. The other 3 were Imperial Cave, Chifley Cave and River Cave. Lucas is the most popular cave of all.It has the largest and highest chambers and its not easy to explore, highest level of difficulty, all together 910 steps. But lots of people in my tour group finished the whole journey. There's lots of beautiful & stunning limestone formations inside Lucas. Their most photographed feature would be "The Broken Column" -------->

But my favourite pic of all is this one, the one on the left, i love it so much~ stunningly beautiful formation~

Its so hard to take photos inside the cave cos the lighting was not very bright. Inside a cave...what do you expect~ I forgot how long was the whole journey, perhaps around 1-1.5 hours. But one thing i remembered is that the weather was super duper cold~ Up on the Blue Mountains and into the caves, I was freezing every single moment outside the bus @_@ But still manage to take pictures, as i always do, haha~ Here's a pic after finish exploring Lucas. You can see there's another cave right opposite it.

Sydney Trip Day 2 ~ The Rocks + Sydney Opera House + Harbour Bridge

2007-10-08T18:25:00.000+09:30

2nd day, we took a train to Circular Quay, the nearest stop to The Rocks, the traditional home of the Aboriginal Cadigal people in Australia. This place has the most historic landscape in Aussie. From the shops to the streets, everything looks so...full of heritage. Haha~ Gives you that kind of 'old village' feeling~

I purposely go on a Sunday so that i get to see The Rocks Market which is one of Sydney's premier weekend market. I love the feeling it gave me cos the whole stretch of stalls were housed under a unique sail-like canopy. Many things to see over there, they have art & crafts, homewares, souvenirs, gourmet food, and much much more =p

Finish strolling the market, i guess its time for lunch!! We went to Pancakes on The Rocks, a cafe selling pancakes of course, but! I was told that their pork ribs is very very nice. Haha~ So, its definitely a 'must-see/try/eat' for us. Lol!! I bet its popular enough among the locals cos the queue was quite long when we went in. But everything is worth it cos the food was really really nice~ Perhaps i should say its awesome!! Have a look at the por k ribs and our pancakes. Yum-yum~

After a fulfilling lunch, we head off to the Sydney Opera House. Walking along Circular Quay, we were snapping photo at the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Its so huge that we need to take a few rounds of photos, cos as we walk further from it, the view is better. Haha~ There's a bridge climb thought, but we didn't go for it cos it costs a bomb, 180 Aussie dollars!! You'll get a cert saying that you've climbed the bridge but taking photos of it is more than enough for me. Lol!!

Circular Quay is very nice, lots of cafe along the harbourside. I like the feeling of seeing people dining outdoor along Circular Quay, its kinda relaxing~ But of course its because of the view over there is very beautiful~ This whole stretch of harbour, something like a 'U' shape, leads you from the Harbour Bridge to the Opera House. So they are actually right opposite each other. Here's 2 pics i took at the very end of each side.

I bet everyone knows about the unique architecture of Sydney Opera House. The finals of Australian Idol will be held there!! I'm crazy about it at the moment, every Sunday 7.30pm, i'll lock my eyes on the tv. Haha~ Okok, back to the main topic, this unique building actually has a name for its design, the engineer called it his "key to the shells". Very special right? He did explained the reasons why the design was named after that, as you can see from the pic, but i still don't get it. =(

Guess i just don't really have any architecture genes in me~ But i do believe i have some capabilities in taking nice pictures, haha~ at least i like to take photos, and so far its quite nice also right?? =p

Sydney Trip Day 1 [15/9/07] ~ Sydney Fish Market + Chinatown

2007-10-07T10:28:00.000+09:30

Ok...I'm really sick of assignments, been doing it for the past few days~ So boring!! And i think i should start writing on my trip to Sydney and thats why i'm here again. Haha~ Oh well, lets start! I actually learned a lot from organizing this trip. Its really a brand new experience for me as i have to do all the travelling stuffs by myself, from booking air tickets, research on where to stay, where to go, what tours to book for sight seeing, etc. Its kinda tedious but really interesting~

So on 15/9, woke up at 4am @_@, what to do~ have to reach airport by 5am cos our flight is 6 something. We reached Sydney at around 8.30am, grabbed our maps from the airport and board onto a shutter which brings us to City Resort Hostel at Palmer St. This is the first time i stayed with a backpacker's hostel, well, not too bad after all, its a 3 bed dorm, sharing with another Korean guy (No worries, he's a kind & friendly person). Here's a pic of the dorm.

Then, without any 'dily-dely', we set off to the Fish Market for our seafood platter. Haha~ Not familiar at all with the big city, we start to 'learn' how to read the map and find our way around. I think we almost walk from one end to the other, cos not too sure what bus to take, so its better to walk instead~ So we walk...and walk...and walk...crossing the city, Darling Harbour, and of course, the tourist information center, haha~, just to make sure we are going the right way. Finally!! We reached the Sydney Fish Market! Its a place where the locals did their seafood marketing, very fresh seafood they have, and perhaps cheaper than those sold in the supermarket. Its kinda crowdy when we were there, but i love the crowd!! Hehe~ Have a look at our seafood platter, looks nice huh??

After lunch, we went back to the city. Passing by Darling H arbour, my favourite place of all in Sdyney, simply because its beautiful~ and it is really a great spot for a photo-taking. Haha~ From there you get to see the harbour view of Sydney which is really nice, got lots of boats and ferries, and also tall tall buildings in the city. Wah~ I really love and enjoy every single corner of Darling Harbour.

On our way walking back to the city, we found Chinatown, its bigger than the one in Adelaide though. Lots of Asian food and shops. I think we must be tired of walking that we ended up buying buns in one of the bakery. Lol!! The shop was full of mooncakes as the festival is approaching, but you know what? They are selling one for 10 Aussie dollars!! Its just sooo expensive~ Definitely a 'no-no' for me, and i'm glad that i was not dying to eat one at that moment. Haha~

Fruitful 2 weeks break

2007-10-03T14:56:00.000+09:30

Hi guys, i just got back from my wonderful 2 weeks semester break~ Haha... Went travelling, eating, playing, taking pictures, basically...enjoying life~ Wahaha!! Never ever had this kind of opportunity in NTU cos sem break was meant to rush for assignments :S

During the past 2 weeks, i went to Sydney with Li Eng for around 6 days. Then, came back to Adelaide and rest + do my assignments =p. A couple of days later, i flew to Tasmania with Shirlin and her Mexican friend, Santiago. We spent about 1 week travelling around the beautiful island.

Now that i'm back to Adelaide, it'll be another round of photo-processing, resizing, before i can upload it onto my photo album. Bet i need more time to update my blog cos there's so much to share with you guys...haha~ Just stay tune ya, i'll try my BEST to write everything asap!!

~I just LOVE my dance class~

2007-09-13T23:05:00.000+09:30

Just finish watching "So You Think You Can Dance", my favourite tv program over here. Hehe~ And guess what? I actually did one of my elective on dance as well. Its called Dance, Fitness & Training. You don't find this kind of electives in Spore or Msia uni right? I really love this subject so so so much~ Its interesting, its fun, and most importantly, its something that i always wanted to study!! I went for dancing classes before, but never had it in the form of classes where you have lecture on some dance and body movements theories, then tutorial for group presentation, and finally, the best part of it, our practical lessons!! This is the class i will look forward to every week, in fact after every lessons! Haha~ You can see how crazy i am towards it. Here's a pic of my classroom, secretly took it while watching the other half of the class doing some movements exercise =p By the way, i love the classroom too!! Very spacious...big wide mirrors, typical classroom for dancing.

This morning, it was my group's turn to do the presentation. We presented on Chinese Dance, its something different though, cos so far other groups presented on ballet, yoga, salsa, line dancing and cha cha, more western style of dancing i suppose. So when one of my groupmate who's from China suggested Chinese Dance, we agreed to give it a go. Besides doing some ppt slides, we need to teach the class some dance steps related to our topic as well. At first, we were afraid that our classmates might have a hard time adapting to the Chinese classical music, cos we are all so used to the beats like 5-6-7-8, Go! But surprisingly, the class's response was quite encouraging and our instructor was very satisfied with our performance! Haha~
It makes us feel really really happy~ I took some pics during our practical and here they are, my classmates are cute & supportive, gonna miss them during this coming sem break, 2 weeks before the next class! =(

Looking forward to seeing them again, in the meanwhile, need to practice my funk dance, yupe, its our 'homework' during the break~

Royal Adelaide Show 2007

2007-09-13T16:01:00.000+09:30

Saw my latest photo album at my space? Its about the Royal Adelaide Show 2007, their once in a year event over here. There's lots and lots of stuffs to see, eat & play. You'll probably be able to find anything there. I spent my whole day playing at the showground from 9am to 10pm. Sounds crazy right? Haha~ The crowd was crazy too! Everywhere there's people, you'll find them at every single corner, especially at the thrill rides and fun fair section.

I really don't know where to start telling you guys what i did over there cos its just too much to say. Haha~ Lets begin with...hmm...er...The Farm Expo. Obviously, you can find all sorts of farm animals there, like goats, puppies, cows, etc. And the special part is that they allow you to have close contact with all these animals. I got a chance to hold a baby chick!! Its so light and real real soft~ Somewhere beside the expo, i saw this doggy sort of 'chasing' after 3 nicely 'dressed' geese, making sure that they walk in a line. So funny~ Actually i think its some kind of sheep dog, just that this time its looking after the geese instead of sheep. They also have sheep shearing session where you get to see how a sheep kena 'slaughtered', no lar, its sheared. I describe it as being slaughtered because the sheep looked so helpless, can't do anything but lie there, and i saw some injuries after the shearing, so poor thing =(

Besides animals, they have food tasting at a place named Taste! South Australia, where you get to try all sorts of food, like the Italian bakery, Indian curry, organic cereal, cookies, honey, almonds, candies, wine... Many of these are their very own state products. Then i went to another place - the Dairy Pavilion, to have another round of tasting! Haha~ From there, you'll find milk, yogurts, chocolates & ice creams!! Their chocolate mud cake ice cream is damn nice~ =p

And then, there's this Handicrafts Hall, displaying things like cookies, cakes, plates, tea sets, etc. All of them look so pretty, so cute, can't stop snapping my camera~ Lol !! Here's a couple of it. The Sesame Street one is very cute~ but i think it looks more like a toy than a cake. Haha~

Continue walking around, i went to watch pig racing. Haha~ It sounds funny by just mentioning it. Wasn't able to take any photos cos the crowd was too big but i still manage to see how they did the racing la. Its super funny~ Further on, i went to Dairy Cattle, they were having sessions on how to produce dairy products, like full cream milk, skim milk (low fat), cream, butter, etc. Then you know what?? I get to milk a cow. Oh my god! It feels really weird man~ really~ But its fun though...hehe~

It was evening by the time i finished visiting Dairy Cattle. But there's still events going on. Like there's dog judging session at the Dog Pavilion, where you get to see how doggies perform tricks according to the commands of their owners. Its very impressive~ Then, there was some interesting performance at the Superstar Stage, funky name huh? I stayed until 9pm to watch the fireworks at the main arena. But before that, there were car racing & motorbike performance going on. The car racing was normal but the motorbike performance was quite entertaining~ They did back-flips and stuffs, very cool~ Really spiced up the atmosphere at the stadium.

After watching my favourite fireworks, its really time to go home~ But not forgetting to take a few more pics of the night scene before i go back, haha~ Here's a couple of it. The Ferries Wheel looks much nicer at night right?

One Day Tour to The Toy Factory, Whispering Wall & Barossa Valley

2007-09-10T18:38:00.000+09:30

There's lots of day tours available over here and to sum up my super busy weekend with a nice 'finale', me and my housemate decided to go on a one day tour which brings us to The Toy Factory, Whispering Wall & Barossa Valley. Have a look at our cute tour coach =p

Lets start with our first stop - The Toy Factory where they produced all sorts of wooden toys. From here, you'll get to see the world's largest Rocking Horse!! Climb your way up to the top of it, its cool man~ There's also a baby rocking horse, born when the 'mother' turned 20th.

Next stop is the amazing Whispering Wall. Wanna know the trick of this special wall? Its actually called the Barossa Dam, a reservoir built during 1899-1903. Let me tell you the whole story behind this unique wall. 2 employees were complaining about their boss at one side of the dam and guess what? The boss overheard their conversation from the other end of the dam. Thats how they discovered that voices can be transferred across the dam even though its 140 meters long. Amazing huh? So don't ever try to talk bad about people when you are at the Whispering Wall!!

Final stop and also the main highlight of the trip was to Barossa Valley - Australia's main wine producing region, and in fact, it's one of the world's most important wine regions as well. They have more wineries if compared to Mclaren Vale. We get to visit 4 of the best throughout the tour. First stop was Australia's main wine exporter - Jacob's Creek, who export their wines to countries all around the world. We get to do some wine tasting at each of the 4 wineries. 2nd stop was Vinecrest, i personally prefer their wines more, i don't know, perhaps its smoother & sweeter. Hehe~ By the end of the 2nd winery, my face was like a big tomato, damn red~ Think i'm still not used to taste so many wines at the same time :S

3rd stop we went to Richmond Grove, nice building, nice park, and this was the place where we had our Australian BBQ!! But before that, we went to their wine storing place, somewhere at the basement, its quite cold in there, around 12 degrees, but its the best temperature to keep all those wines.

Now its time for lunch!! Robert, our tour guide prepared the BBQ for us, there's bread, salad, sausages & kangaroo meat!! Oh my god, i can't believe i'm eating that, but you know what? Its actually quite nice and tender. Haha~ Well, i won't eat it that often of course, cos i still prefer to play with the baby kangaroos =p After lunch, had my usual photo taking around the park, loved the grass!! Its so soft & warm~

Didn't pay much attention to the last winery cos too much of wine tasting d. Lol!! Before setting off, we went to the top of Barossa Valley. From there, you'll get to see the whole of Barossa, great, spectacular, awesome view!! And not forgetting to take some photos with my fellow tour mates, here's a pic of them.

Glenelg Beach + Jetty Road Trip

2007-09-10T14:47:00.000+09:30

I had a very very busy weekend a couple of weeks ago. Went Harbour Town for shopping on Friday, then to Glenelg Beach on Saturday, and finally, a one day tour to Barossa Valley on Sunday. Sounds cool huh? Hehe~ To those in NTU, pls don't kill me after reading this, exchange is all about having fun and enjoying life like you never enjoy before!! Haha~ I bet those who went exchange before or currently having their exchange will give you the same answer as i did. Go and apply for one if you wanna experience what i've experienced. Seems like i'm helping the school to promote INSTEP...hmm...can i have my commission pls~ Lol....ok, enough of crap...

Back to my trip to Glenelg, its Adelaide's most popular beach resort, especially during summer. When i was there, its around the beginning of spring, about 20 degrees that day, although its not summer, the crowd was quite encouraging though. I'll need to take a tram from Victoria Square in the city to Moseley Square, the final stop at Glenelg. The tram was cool man, its like a MRT but it operates on normal road and you get to see nice nice sceneries on the way there, houses, shops, etc. Here's a couple of pics of the tram.

Glenelg is really nice despite the fairly cold weather. The sea breeze, great view through the horizon, everything was like pictures of scenery paintings. But its real!! Haha~ There's a jetty to walk along and that's where you get a closer look at the sea and horizon. Then, its non-stop photo taking for me cos i'm in love with it already~

Back from the beach, there's Jetty Road to walk along, lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. Time to grab a bite!! We had fish & chips at The Oyster Shop, it was a "Buy 1 Get 1 free" deal so we ordered 2 sets cos there's 3 of us. Its really nice man~ but fattening i suppose, aiks~ don't care la...enjoy first!! lol !!

Then, we went to the Town Hall, there's a Bay Discovery Centre where it displays the development of Glenelg. Lots of interesting stuffs in there, like the ancient type of buildings and the entertainment gadgets in the past.

Thats all for my trip to Glenelg ^_^

Stay tune for my next post on Barossa Valley k!!

Mclaren Vale + Victor Harbor Trip

2007-09-10T13:18:00.000+09:30

During the 2nd week of my orientation, we went to Mclaren Vale and Victor Harbor. Mclaren Vale is a wine region 40km from Adelaide, located at the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. This place has around 47 wineries producing all sorts of great wine. We had a wine testing session at Shingleback, one of the wineries in Mclaren Vale, then continue with my favourite - photo taking session around the vineyards.

Next, we went to Victor Harbor where you get to see nice beaches and islands. There's a long bridge connecting Victor Harbor and Granite Island, a home to 2000 Little Penguins, too bad i didn't get to see any cos they only come out at night =( By the way, you can get a ride onto their very own Horse Drawn Tram to bring you across to Granite cos its quite a long walk, 600m!!. I prefer to walk along the bridge and take pics (bcos you need to pay for the tram...lol)

Follow the Khaiki Walk, it will takes you 45 minutes to walk one round in Granite but for me, it took longer than that, much much longer cos i think i took photos more than i walk!! Haha~ You get to see lots of funny big rocks around the island and somewhere at the top of Granite, you will be able to see some spectacular views across Victor Harbor.

After touring around Granite, we return to Victor Harbor and have a short walk around the town area where all the shops and restaurants are located. The town is real nice and comfortable. I found some cute cute stalls around the place. Lets have a look at it k!

Adelaide Hills Trip

2007-09-10T10:11:00.000+09:30

Time really flies~ I've been here for 2 months already!! Can time don't fly so fast? Can it be just walking or perhaps crawling is slower? Haha~ Day-dreaming again~ Oh well, i believe i'll just have to keep up with time and try to visit as many places as i could then.

Lets talk about the first few places that i've been to during my orientation week in July. It was a 2-week orientation and we had the normal ice-breaking sessions and welcome tea for all international students. Its has been great meeting people from all around the world, Germany, Denmark, France, South Africa, Sri Lanka (Kasun, in the first pic), and of course, Singapore and Malaysia. I get to learn some of the local languages like "Ta" for thank you, How is it going? for How are you? (Basically, this is what the locals said when they meet you in any places), and you replied with 'Good! How are you?' haha~ Perhaps i should try this when i'm back in SG...lol. Kinda interesting though =p

During the first Friday of the orientation, we went to Mount Lofty and Cleland Wildlife Park at Adelaide Hills. From Mount Lofty Summit, you get to see the superb views over the whole of Adelaide and the coast. Perhaps i should go there again to see the night view, bet it will be damn nice~ There's also a Fire Tower where its used to spot fire in Adelaide Hills, guess what? Its 34 meters high!! Thats where you get the spectacular view of the city.

Nest stop is the Cleland Wildlife Park where i get to take photos with different types of wild animals, like the kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wetlands, etc. For $2, you can get a bag of dried food to feed the kangaroos, its really weird with all the saliva on your hands, but no doubt its super fun!! The baby kangaroos are just so cute~ and their fur is real soft~

The Star of the park was definitely the Koalas. You know they really take good care of the koalas, they are not out all the time, you have to follow the time table and queue to take pics with them. Just have a look at how long the queue is. They even have their own resting hut with a sign outside saying "Shhh! Koala Rest Area" Haha~ Here's some pics of it, cute huh?

Ceramics is FUN!!

2007-09-06T22:29:00.000+09:30

South Australia is a festival state and for sure, there are lots of art courses offered by the South Australian School of Art in my uni, like photography, glass blowing, visual arts, and of course, ceramics. Among all these, i prefer photography the most actually, cos its always been something that i wanted to study even when i'm in NTU, too bad the vacancies available were 'so very little few' and bcos there's no final exam, 200+ people were snatching over that tiny 30 slots. Unfortunately...i didn't get in =( So i decided to take it when i'm on exchange. But why on earth did i ended up in ceramics?!? Well, cos i got this email from the photography instructor saying that we need to spend around $150 aussie dollars buying all those films and materials :-S So...i decided to give up, haha, i believe i can take good pictures even without attending classes, lol !!

At this point of time, Li Eng - a new friend of mine from KL, told me that ceramics was actually quite fun so i gave it a try. And here i am...going through the 8th week of school and guess what? I truly enjoyed the lessons a lot. Haha! Here's a pic of Li Eng and our classroom, messy huh?

Its about the end of my first project where i need to do hand coiling, by using clay, rolling it into strips and coil it up into the shape that you want. It can be of any shapes but the requirement is that the forms have to be at least 35 cm tall, thats quite tall huh? And i'll need to make 2 coil forms plus 2 back-ups, just in case any of my forms exploded during the firing. Yea, after coiling and before sending it for firing, i'll need to add a layer of engobe (colour), which is a mixture of hazardous materials @_@ Thats why i need to wear a dust mask and do it in the glaze room, a room specially designed with exhaust fan.

Firing is the last step and what i really hope is that my forms won't go blown up or else i will cry~ man, cos is quite hard to predict whether or not it will turned out nicely after the firing as "Clays are always so unpredictable~" quoted from my instructor, hehe =p Here are some pics of my finished coiled forms. Will update you guys again on how they look like after the firing. Yupe, they are all being fired at the moment. Lol !!
Stay tune!!

Settling my 3 meals...

2007-09-05T17:59:00.001+09:30

Ever since i reached here, everything seems so expensive! Well, i believe this would be the first phase of my exchange - learn to hunt for cheap cheap things, lol !! Sounds like aunty again :-S

Somehow i felt that this is a new chapter of my uni life where i get to stay out of school. There are much more things that i need to handle myself, from buying salt & pepper to settling water & electricity bills. Living by myself in a foreign country is indeed a lot for me to learn. Kinda enjoy this wonderful experience so far. Haha~

As for my 3 meals, i normally have oats + oranges in the morning, never fails!! Wat to do~ trained by my daddy already, kinda hard to live without oats...haha! He will be so glad when he sees what i wrote man =p. I'll pack my own lunch every morning before i go to school, just sandwiches with ham, tuna or strawberry jam...yea, thats my everyday lunch. Quite a lot of locals having sandwiches as their lunch too, some just ate salad & yogurt, kinda different from s'pore and msia.

I should say dinner is the most interesting part as i get to cook myself, no more mummy's ready made home cooked food =( Well, in a way its a good thing also cos i never really cooked a proper meal before i come, those maggie mee and sardines not counted of course! Over here, i learned to cook a variety of food, sounds pro huh? Haha! From the basic frying to reading manuals on how to operate the microwave oven. Some by trial and error, like baking chicken wings, how many degrees for how long, haha, but so far still manageable, edible and its nice ok, no worries~ Why not have a look at some of my D.I.Y dinner pics? Then you'll know where's my standard. Haha... Remember to leave some comments for me ya~

Where I Stay...

2007-09-04T22:35:00.000+09:30

Guess where i stay in Adelaide? Its called UV Apartments, cool name huh? Situated in the heart of the city which means i need to pay more $$$ la, $187 aussie dollars per week!! Oh my god, i miss NTU already!! Cos all i need to pay is just S$160 per month and i get everything, electricity, water and internet. Over here, my electricity and water bills are excluded from the rental and internet is super expensive =( I dun get to stay in a hostel as my exchange uni doesn't have its own on-campus accommodation so i'll have to rent an apartment. Here's a few pics of my lovely and cozy apartment.

I normally walk to school everyday, its just a short walk of 10 minutes, quite convenient though. And there's this place called Rundle Mall, the main shopping area in the city, its just opposite my apartment, thats how convenient it is, Haha!! And there's Woolworths, a hypermarket like Giant, their homebrand products are quite good, some are quite cheap too, so i get to save quite a lot by supporting their homebrand!! Lol !!

There's also the Central Market in Chinatown, where i get most of my groceries from. This market is super nice, western kind of market, not like the pasar we have in msia, oops~ Something interesting about Central is that they only operate on certain days throughout the week and when it approaches their closing time, believe me, u can get almost everythg in a bag for just 1 dollar!! Like 1 bag of apples, onions, potatoes, garlics, etc....All for $1 !! I'll get so super excited when i got all these good deals...lol...how come i sounded like some kind of aunty?!? Have to save money ma...Anyway, here's another 2 pics of Rundle Mall and Central Market.

Who I Am...

2007-09-04T13:43:00.000+09:30

So far i believe i lead a happy life, i have my beloved Papa, Mummy, and my 2 younger brothers who used to be very naughty but are now more sensible than i thought they would ever be. Here's a pic of my lovely family members. Did it using ppt. Haven got a chance to learn photoshop yet :S

Not forgetting my uncles and aunties who constantly gave me the courage to face challenges and advices that made me a better person today. I hope my friends are not complaining now cos i haven spoke about them yet. Well, dun worry, u guys are always on my mind even though i'm currently in Aussie.

Speaking about my exchange trip to Adelaide, i'm truly truly grateful and super happy that i have this great opportunity. Feel so so so blessed ^_^

Well, i bet you guys wanna know what happen during my exchange and thats why i'm here, creating this new blog specially to record every single moment of this special journey. It would be so wonderful to read it again a few years later. Hope you all enjoy reading my blog and let me bring you through this amazing journey of mine~