Mum's birthday trip: 3D2N Great Ocean Road and Grampians

Mum and I went for a 3D2N Great Ocean Road and Grampians trip last Wed-Fri. She had initially asked for Great Ocean Road only but I thought since there was an offer and we get to spend more days together on the trip, we might as well go for the one with Grampians as well.

Day 1: The weather was rather bad and cloudy. We had to wake up at about 6am in the morning (5am for me since I take an hour to get ready!) to get to one of the pick-up points. There were a number of pick-up points but we chose Habitat HQ, a backpackers along St. Kilda road.

Itinerary: Bells Beach, Memorial Arch, Beach Stops, Drive along Great Ocean Road, Lorne & Anglesea, Otway Rainforest Walk, 12 Apostles, Loch Arch Gorge, London Bridge and Cudgee Wildlife Park.
The highlight for day 1 was definitely the visit to the Cudgee Wildlife Park. We were each given a bucket of bread to feed the animals such as Wallabies, Kangaroos, Ducks, Emus and more. Mum also had a cute pink parrot who took an instant liking to her. But the best part when we got to hold a wombat and koala. I couldn't quite remember what the other animal I was holding is called, but they were so cute!

Day 2: That day was certainly a much nicer and lovelier day. The sun actually came out and warmed us up when we were driving up to Grampians. We stayed at the Warrnambool Beach Backpackers the night before and so after breakfast, our tour guide suggested a walk around the area.

Itinerary: Stingray Bay, Thunderpoint Coastal Reserve, Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre, The Pinnacle and true aussie BBQ for dinner.

Day 2 was probably one of the most tiring ones with the club up the Pinnacle. The 4.2km trip from Wonderland Carpark took us about 3 hours to get up and back. It was pretty strenuous and mum had to stop halfway and went back down to wait for us. But the rock formations were wonderful and the view from the top was just stunning that it was well worth it.

Day 3: What luck that out of the 3 days, 2 days had to be dampening. Day 3 was also pretty wet and cold. It was raining and pouring the whole night before. We were supposed to also visit the Boroka & Reeds Lookout and the Balconies, but it was just to wet to go there.

Itinerary: McKenzie Falls, Drive along Halls Gap, Wartook Reservoir and Bests Wines Winery.
And the hightlight for that day was certainly the cute and lovable Border Collie at the Winery. He was just so friendly and loving to everyone. They also had a book there on all the dogs in different wineries. We bought some moscato home that evening and boy did it feel good to get home again after much travelling. :)

A visit to waterfront city at Docklands and Crown Casino's christmas splendour

Mum, Ying and I went out to Docklands last friday to see The Southern Star observation wheel which is more easily nicknamed Melbourne eye just like the london eye. It's located at the Docklands and also houses new retail stores there which they call the Waterfront city.

It was disappointing though because mum and I actually wanted to take a ride on it. Tickets were about AUD$29 per person I think, but it wasn't opened yet. It was funny because they recently had an opening ceremony, so you would have thought that means it's open? :o Even then, most of the shops there weren't opened as well, so only a handful of shops to walk around. The "soon to be" opened stores had posters and funny things stuck on the shop front to indicate what kind of goods they sell.

A view of the Southern Star observation wheel from the Tram stop. Trams 48 and 86 from flinders street and bourke street respectively bring you there.

A white christmas tree outside the row of shops which kinda reminded me of Bugis for some reason, Ying also said the same thing. The weather was scorching hot that day lah, not at all a "snowy" christmasy feeling.

As mentioned the unopened shops had a display of images with a combination of things pasted on them to tell you what kind of shop it would be. For example this would probably be a hair dresser or a shop selling hair products. We also saw one that had lots of bowls and cups pasted on the wooden boards.

A snap shot on the second level. Note the shops at the back, most of them on this level are also not opened yet. The white building on the top right are apartments. Imagine staying at one there! You wake up every morning, walk out to the balcony and what a view you get! :D And also all the shopping temptations nearby!

We met darling at Crown Casino when he finished work. After dinner as we were walking towards the hotel lobby to watch the Crown Christmas display, we passed by this seafood restaurant with such an ENORMOUS crab that we just had to take a photo.

In front of some of the christmas decorations with mum. See the glittering Crown logo on my right. heehee. :D That's like a super gigantic "glass" ball or bobble decorations that you hang on Xmas trees.

The choir which performed so many wonderful christmas tunes.

I probably took more video captures as compared to photos because it was better to capture the animated moving performance. It was Crown's annual christmas show where the tree "talks" and then puppets pop out from the tree and the carousal turns with dancing puppets and stuff. And then Santa Clause pops out from a carriage on the carousal.

Gosh it's just so much easier to show it on the video, which I hope (I will not be lazy and upload to youtube) so I can post it up here. Meantime enjoy the photos first... :)

Malaysia/Singapore Trip 2008, a sense of Nostalgia and more thoughts.

Just got back from my Malaysia/Singapore trip last Saturday. For the first time, it actually felt exceptionally good to be back. I've been missing my family and besties for too long. But as it was the usual two weeks holiday only, I had to squeeze as much time to meet up with those that matter. Although a couple of others I really wanted to meet couldn't make it cause we all had time constricts too since it around the Chinese new year period where everyone was busy.

And not forgetting I had to make time for my hairdressing, dentist and eyebrow embroidery appointments too. So here's a snapshot of those dearies I got to meet. Even if it was only for an hour or half hour, it was the fact that we got to at least see each other that mattered. People in the photo from top left clockwise: Joewiz, Len, Denise, Evon, Cousin Aiting, Nephew Desmond, Niece Felicia, Cousins Janice and Kristie, Beiwen, Susan, Sharon, Cindy, Shiguan, Ruiqi and Ailin.

*Full photos of trip available on Facebook ;)

Going back was a mix feeling of happiness, sadness and also nostalgia this time. I was happy to go back to my darlings Tubby and Jasper, but also sad that I only get to see the family and friends close to my heart only once a year. It probably got worse over the years because the amount of time they have been away from me got longer as the years went by. But I was really touched that my chabohs Len and Looloo drove all the way down from KL just to meet me over the weekend. It was short but sweet girls! MUAKS Also I really appreciate my other girlies who got together to meet up when I was back as well... You all know it, I love ya all!

Anyway I was chatting to Denise the other day, she could tell I seemed sad. My feelings of unhappiness were showing because life now is like hanging on tassels. Tubby just graduated last Dec and is now looking for a job around Melbourne. And once he gets one, I'll quit mine and join him a couple of months later. The waiting part is the most excruciating and so is the thought of having to find a new place to stay, looking for a new job, change of environments and stuff. And it doesn't help when Tubby's parents are causing troubles for us; like not liking the idea that we're staying together, and still treating him like their precious baby boy.

It's hard isn't it? A relationship can never be perfect right? When there are no problems with the couples themselves, the family members might be the one causing the conflicts. It's like the saying, "When you marry someone, you marry his whole family too". My parents talked to me about this matter and they warned me future problems. I'm also really vexed sometimes cause I'm not sure if I should give up this relationship just because of them, though I'm not too sure how long more I can take it. From the way his parents are behaving, they are not expecting him to settle down in the next few years; which is what our plans are. So this is a hurdle which seems almost impossible to jump over...

Dinner Gathering @ Lyells', shoppaholic at it again, wishes for end of semester.

Finally the updates from Dinner at Lyell's and Nancy's 2 Sundays(20 May) ago. I know chaboh loo's gonna "kill" me when she sees this cause she's gonna get "oh-so-jealous" about the food. Yup, there were 15 of us in total, heaps of delicious food to go with rice or bread, and awesome desserts for the sweet-toothed. After dinner, we went on to the hilarious game of taboo, where all the shouting and excitement didn't even cause the sleeping Dom to twitch one bit... :D

Then just last Saturday was the long-awaited City shopping trip. I've gotta say I've been deprived of the city for almost 2 months already. And when that happens, it just doesn't bod well because I spent a freaking few hundred plus in total! Ah well, twas to make up for all the "lost" time, or maybe it's just self consolation for the burn in my pocket. :P But anyway, here's the shopping! For a precise item description, please check out my Shoppaholic Blog.

Last week was also the last week of badminton. It was good meeting some new friends over the past couple of weeks of playing. And so, someone came up with the idea of "round-the-court" badminton on the last 2 days. You line up and each person hits the shuttlecock once and run to the queue and the next person has to hit to the next person on the other side of the court and so forth. Whoever misses needs to run around the whole of Binishell. We had a pretty fun time! :)

So it's end of the semester again. Darn, time sure passes really fast. It seemed like just yesterday Mum came back to Gippy with me, and then I met Eileen and Dom and got to know Ying, Ammie and their Dalpura 4 housemates better, started playing tennis with Kal, and got to know 2 cute guys (Don't worry, just lookin!) Ah Hao and Wangwei. All this happened in a time span of 6 months that have just gone by in a flash! Well I'm glad for meeting the new friends to keep me sane (while I miss my chabohs & pooh gang), thanks! Meantime, best of luck for those who have exams coming along! ;)

It's Singin on Culture Night, Cycling Trip and the Competitive "Biatch"

Yeah! Finally I have quite abit of updates. First, thanks to Ammie, She'd ask me to sing for Culture Night again! *Yippie* And what's even better, I've got some pretty girls (Sharon & Sookyan) and handsome guy (Ah Hao) for my cast in the music performance. It will be another chinese song, there will be ballet, fire sparklers and crutches used, and nooo I'm not gonna reveal much, you have to stay tuned for the video which will be up in a few weeks time. And Eileen, Ying and I will be singing another English song too, with Alex and Nick playing the keyboard and guitar respectively. Now the only worry is darling's and my china costumes will arrive in time for the night. *Fingers crossed* :o

Anyway, we went for a cycling trip around churchill and hazelwood power station on Wed. It's was super tiring! We cycled for 4 hours and our arses hurt like hell and the next day was even worse, cause every part of our body felt sore, but it was all good, we had the fun and the exercise. :)

Then, I also received my very belated birthday prezzies from Evon. Never mind they were late, it was the thought that count. See, how cuteeee they are and how "so-mel" they are too. :D

Another thing; I was thinking of joining an upcoming Badminton Tournament. And I'd have paired with darling if only we coordinate better(And if his ankle weren't a "pain"). Sometimes I feel, I can be a competitive "biatch". Somehow I seemed to coordinate better with another malaysian guy called Wangwei, and so I signed up for the Mix Doubles with him instead. I still feel bad though darling doesn't really show it. :( *Promise we'll pair up for tennis matches in future.* B)