Hebitch Down Under

A big THANK YOU.

2008-12-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks guys, for opening your homes and your lives to me.
I will never forget the times we shared.
I know it was short but it had been truly unforgetable.

Thanks again for being great hosts. But more importantly, great friends (not just to me, but to each other).

Let bygones be bygones and only remember the good times you shared.
I understand its going to be tough saying goodbye but remember, your friendship will crumble not because of the distance seperating you or the lack of time you spend with each other, it will crumble only if you let it crumble. And I believe you guys won't.

Stay happy and stay in touch.

Goodbye.

The GREAT Ocean Road: Part 2

2008-12-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

So back to the helicopter ride.

The first of the 12 Apostles:

And here are the rest:

The 12 Apostles (Actually if you can count from this picture, there are only 8 left! The 9th collapsed in 3rd July 2005):

I dunno but one of those gorges is the Loch Ard Gorge:

See that seahorse-shaped 'island'?:

The 12 Apostles: Originally the site was called the Sow and Piglets. Muttonbird Island near Loch And Gorge was the ‘Sow’ and the smaller rock stacks the ‘Piglets.’ The name was changed in the 1950s to the more majestic "The Twelve Apostles".*

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Apostles,_Victoria

I wanna do that again!

Equally stunning on land:

It was so amazing!:

To learn more about the Loch Ard history (click on the pictures below to enlarge):

The gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbir Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne.

All but two of the fifty-one passengers and crew perished - Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman immigrating with her family, both of whom were 18 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt.*

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ard_Gorge

Well, according to legend, they were supposed to get married after falling in love; but the lovers had to be seperated when she went back to Ireland and he back to Melbourne.

The Lord Ard Gorge, 10 minutes drive west from the 12 Apostles:

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

Limestone stack:

A cave at the gorge:

Close-up of the cave:

London Bridge (before the collapse; people could even drive their cars on top!):

And now after the collapse:

Click image for more information:

The bridge broke off in 1990. And there happened to be two people on that unbroken part who had to be heli-evacuated!

So that's it folks, drove back the inland way (not along the coast):

The GREAT Ocean Road: Part 1

2008-12-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

I went on the day-tour to the Great Ocean Road on my own the next day. Picked a really fantastic day! Blue skies, blue waters... perfect, just let the pictures speak for themselves.

There are many tours to the Great Ocean Road. So there are many activities you can do and places you can see, but remember to pick a sunny day though (that is the most important!).

The drive starts from Melbourne, then to Geelong, then Torquay, before you drive on the Great Ocean Road itself. See map.

We started early in the morning and the first pit stop was Bells Beach:

Told ya it was the perfect day (even the guide said so).

We had breakfast biscuits and tea on the beach:

One of the reasons why I went alone was cause no one wanted to go for the long drive. Its really long and winding! So if you get carsick easily, maybe you should reconsider BUT if you do go to Melbourne (or Victoria itself) you cannot miss this! Its f***ing B-E-A-Utiful!

Chances of seeing wild kangaroos, koalas and colourful parrots!

Next stop was this really beautiful lighthouse at Cape Otway:

It had a stunning view!:

I love the beaches!:

See the winding road?:

Quick stop:

Next it was to see wild koalas!:

And parrots:

*yawn*

"What do you want?"

*stretch*

"Okay I'm ready for my close-up. Come and get it, boys..."

CUTE!:

More pictures of the coastline:

Had lunch here on the beach in Apollo Bay... and also had time to cam-whore:

Next stop was the Mait's Rest Rainforest walk:

Huge-ass trees:

See the human scale?:

Then it was back to driving by the coastline:

And we reached Port Campbell National Park where the 12 Apostles are. And I had to take a helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles to really see them in all their glory:

It can be affordable if its subsidised in certain day-tour packages:

YAY!

South Gate and the Shrine of Remembrance.

2008-12-20T19:46:00.000-08:00

The next day was all bright and sunny! I miss the sun sometimes. I remember when I was in Alaska and when the sun was out (very rarely though), I would stand under the sun with my eyes closed and palms up, as if to soak in as much of the sunlight I can get. (But the same can't be said when I come back to Singapore... Shade please!)

Took a train to Flinder's Street to have lunch with Ruzi. But first we dropped by the Melbourne Visitors' Centre in Federation Square to check out the promotional pamphlets on tours to the Great Ocean Road.

Beside Ruzi's workplace; nice fine-dining area:

Melbourne's General Post Office (GPO). Its actually a really swanky shopping centre!

Pictures of nearby streets, Elizabeth Street:

Once again, Bourke Street:

Flinder's Station clock tower:

SouthGate Shopping Mall at the Southbank (across the Yarra River):

Pedestrian bridge across the Yarra River:

Eureka Skydeck 88 (the highest viewing deck in the Southern Hemisphere; and has the world's first and only Edge Experience)

Glimpse of Melbourne Central from Yarra River:

You can see Flinder's on the left and St Paul's Cathedral on the right:

This is the Arts Centre:

Continuing southeast along St Kilda road:

Is it just me or in this picture, she bears some resemblance to Victoria Beckham? I think its just me:

The Shrine of Remembrance:

Built in 1934 in remembrance of the 114,000 men and women of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918, the inspiration for the external outline came from one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - the mausoleum at Harlicarnassus to Mausolus, King of Caria in South West Asia Minor.*
*http://www.shrine.org.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1

They were lowering the Australian flag (they were closed by the time we hiked up to the shrine... sheesh, just our luck...).

I like visiting memorial shrines and mausoleums. There is always some air of sombreness derived not only from the architectural designs and (most often) classical ornaments, but also from the monumentality of the urban planning (Washington DC is a perfect example of monumental urban planning for shrines and other governmental buildings).

But of course, there will always be people who are insensitive to the reverence and sensitivity of a place like this. The first guy in the foreground took his top off to pose for a picture, and the three guys behind him (thinking it would be hilarious to 'crash' the guy's picture) did likewise...

The three topless guys did more climbing on the columns to pose for more pictures later before they were reprimanded by the guard there... Like seriously, fooling around in a war memorial? Have you no respect?

The ornaments on the side buttresses:

A tribute statue:

So... we met up with Ruzi after her work, and Miin too. And we later had dinner at this really awesome Italian place along St Kilda Road...

That's it for now!

Docklands.

2008-12-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

Melbourne Docklands is a unique waterfront development in the heart of Melbourne comprising 200 hectares of land and water and seven kilometres of waterfront*.

*http://www.docklands.com/cs/Satellite?pagename=Docklands

Zaha Hadid, by the way, will be contributing to the architecture there with her 'green' building in a few years' time.

But here are pictures of the existing architecture; interesting place (too bad about the weather):

Luxurious waterfront condos:

And lots of places to shop too! This is the newly opened HarbourTown (full of Outlet stores...) with the Southern Star (Ferris Wheel) behind:

Selamat Hari Raye Aidiladha!

2008-12-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

The day after we got back was Hari Raya Haji. So after the early morning prayers at the nearby stadium, we went to the market to buy groceries! (The mosque was too small to house such a large congregation; it was surprisingly a 'family' thing, unlike the majority-male muslims praying in Singaporean mosques for both Hari Raye prayers).

Grocery shopping...

Maknye (the 'mother'):

Bapaknye (the 'father'):
Clayton (check out that yellow building! Its ClubX! lol):
Can sing, can cook. Anyone interested? Anyone? Anyone?

Cutting onions. Real men don't cry:

Ruzi came later to help us with the 'sayur lodeh' for our lontong. Rowds made chicken rendang and chilli prawns, with the help of Abang 'Brahim'.

After cooking and rest, we all got dressed up in our best baju kurungs (maybe just the girls...):

Our Hari Raye feast, from top left to foreground: lontong, chilli prawns and chilli paste, rendang (and not forgetting the sayur lodeh, not in the picture):

'Perempuan Melayu terakhir' (meaning: last Malay lady) trying to take a jump shot... (Perempuan Melayu terakhir konon... meaning: Yeah rite...):

Dzul and Miin:

Yummy!:

We joked that each of us had a really traditional (and not to mention outdated) Malay names; from left: Abang Ramli, Pe'ah, Petom, Tipah, Jenab and Abang Selamat:

And we later had a really wet and slippery time after the dinner (of course we changed out from the nice clothes...). We played games (wrestling especially!) on plastic tabletop covers made slippery with soap and detergent and eggs and water...

It was helluva time! Promise to upload the pictures once I get my hands on them!

Back to Melbourne!

2008-12-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

We took an early flight the next morning back to Melbourne. Miin picked us up from the airport and then we later drove her to her workplace in Melbourne's Luna Park somwhere at St Kilda:
The beach along The Esplanade:

Don't be fooled by the clear blue skies... it was actually VERY COLD. I miss Sydney's weather!

Crazy Melbourne-rs sunbathing and swimming!

We had breakfast at this really quaint (but pricey) cafe-restaurant along the beach.

Obviously the other two were jetlagged...:

We went back to Ruzi's place to sleep!

After a power 'nap' for three hours, we all met up to KARAOKE!

Guess what they were singing?

Hint: "When you look me in the eye.............."

Check out that hand-sway-away-dramatically move:

Non joined us:

Rowds was rapping... Can't remember which song though... So engrossed!:

Then Miin joined us after work. Again with the hair, Rowds...

"Eww... I thought you were in the choir, Shazi..."

"Need to sing with feeling ah, feeeeeeling.":

"Okay, we're tired. Who wants to sing now?"

"I admit, it was me who chose 'I turn to you' by Xtina."

What a fun day it turned out to be!

Bondi!

2008-12-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Early (well not really early...) next morning we went to Bondi Beach! Its quite a distance from Sydney's CBD. Just have to travel south-east along Oxford Street till you reach Bondi Junction and you turn into Bondi Road, finally into Campbell PDE (or Queen Elizabeth Drive for carparks).
Bondi Bay was smaller than I imagined, but the blue water blew my expectations away!
Too excited eh?
It was not so crowded early in the day... And finding a place in the carpark later in the afternoons would be a bitch (we were told...) and paying the parking fee is a bitch too (AUS$4.50 per hour).
Swimmers are encouraged to swim between the marked red and orange flags:
Not yet a hunk... sigh...:
Perasan 'mat' surfer and beach babe ni...
The sun was GREAT. It was scorching hot! And the water was crystal clear and icy cold; perfect to cool down, and its shallow too; you can go for at least a hundred metres into the water at waist depth till it reaches the chest level:
Plenty of sunbathers... and topless ones too (females, duh...)!
We also had some music courtesy of this guy strumming on his guitar behind us, playing Jason Mraz's songs and the likes...:
It was really a perfect day to sun bath and swim and surf... Well, I didn't actually surf, just 'body-surfed'... Dude, the waves are perfect for surfing, big and has alot of that 'peak' or breaking waves...:
I know, I admit... This looks like a typical 'mat' picture:
After we had our lunch, we had time to kill till the parking was due, so we chilled out on the beach:
Look at how the crowd swelled in the afternoon? I can't even see the coastline!
Me and Ruzi! (*miss ya girl!)
So we headed back to our hotel... Oh, this is my poor man's backpacker's room by the way (the girls got an air-conditioned room upstairs):
Then we headed off to have dinner at this hotel/restaurant serving authentic Malaysian/Indonesian food. So while waiting for the restaurant to open, we cam-whored in the car!
Say no to... ermm... peer 'pleasure'?
But before dinner we drove to North Sydney, across the Harbour Bridge:
Came to a park beside Sydney's Luna Park:
Had a great view, we got there by chance actually:
And then we ventured around the northern areas of Sydney with Ruzi driving (she loves driving) and me navigating (I love reading maps too!)...

Drove up all the way to Mosman to take a picture of this:
I realised we had a peninsular blocking us, so we moved on to that peninsular, only to realise there was another peninsular blocking us again...:
Till next time!

'Brue' Mountain.

2008-12-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

Rowds and I decided to go to one of those one-day tours thingy on a minibus to the Blue Mountains. Started early in the morning with the bus picking us up from our hotel.

On the way to the Blue Mountains, we drove pass the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics ground in Homebush Bay:

Had a quick stopover at a really sweet town for morning tea and biscuits.

Haizz... Dunno what that girl doing:

Pro showing how to do it:

Our guide and driver showing us the native flora the aborigines used in their rituals:

Hmmm... I forgot what these were:
Or these... Maybe they were the same thing??:

What I know is that the aborigines used to peel the coverings of these fruits (or are these the flowers?) to get that red furry part which they burn as incense for their rituals:
And this an aboriginal rock engraving of a (you guessed it) a kangaroo. It is not just any kangaroo, its actually used as a marker for travellers (a map of some sort). This solitary kangaroo has a curious triangular structure between his front legs. Nearby is a circular depression, which may resemble the snames at Elvina site in Kuringai National Park*.
*http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/SydneyRockArt/index.html

The line across its belly symbolizes the pouch of the animal, thus indicating that the kangaroo is female:

This rock engraving is dated centuries old and its amazingly located in a very claustrophobic neighborhood with simple houses and narrow streets (suitably named Kangaroo Street).

From there we headed to one of the many lookouts (King's Table) at Blue Mountains. Blue mountains has an area that is dissected by gorges of up to 760 metres in depth, and has high points up to 1,190 metres above sea level*. The Blue Mountains are said to be created slightly ahead of its rival the Grand Canyon in the United States millions of years ago. The Blue Mountains consists of seven national parks and a conservation reserve*:

Why Blue Mountains? It is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. The tinge is caused by mie scattering which occurs when incoming ultraviolet radiation is scattered by particles within the atmosphere creating a blue-greyish colour to any distant objects, including mountains and clouds.It is widely, but incorrectly, believed that this is created by light reflecting off the oil vapors given off by the eucalyptus leaves*.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(Australia)

I love sitting precariously on the edge of the cliff. There is nothing like swinging your legs above a hundred feet drop:
Australia's next top model?:

Its so liberating:

This is the closest she will get to the edge:

Next it was to another lookout point called the Echo Point, can you see the Three Sisters?:

We went to Scenic World located beside the Three Sisters, where there were three types of rides you can take to enjoy the scenery:

I was warmly welcomed by the host:
Warmly welcomed...:
So what is the story of the Three Sisters? It is said that the three sisters were chilling out one day on top of the mountain. They were waiting for their father (an aboriginal 'wizard') who was out collecting herbs at the foot of the mountain. The youngest sister saw a caterpillar crawling near where they were resting so she threw pebbles to shoo it away. The pebbles rolled down and eventually caused huge boulders to roll down to the bottom of the mountain where a monster (or giant, or 'big foot', depending on the version) was living in a cave. Awakened from his slumber (these monsters are always sleeping, no?) and pissed, he began climbing up the side of the mountain to kill the three sisters.

When the wizard returned, he saw all the commotion and with his magic wand turned his three girls into three rock formations to protect them. The monster, more pissed than ever, then turned his attention to the wizard. The wizard turned himself into a bird to fly away from the monster but in his haste, left his wand behind. And that is why the three sisters still stand as rock formations up to this day, and the Australians have this bird called the Groundscraper Thrush, always scraping the forest floors as if looking for a missing wand.
Moral of the story, small mistakes can have large consequences... and don't turn your daughters into stones, next time just kill the monster instead...

So we took the Cableway trip down to the Scenic Walkway in the valley (called the Jamison Valley).

The Cableway:

And then headed to the Scenic Walkway where our guide was showing us more of the native flora and fauna:

Ribbon Gum tree, named because the peeling bark looks like ribbons:
Think this is the Smooth-bark Gum tree:

Huge Blue Gum tree:
Came across this abandoned miner's hut:
The Orphan Rock:There were many 'junk' left behind by the 19th century coal miners, who used to live and work in Jamison Valley:

There was an abandoned mine too. And I just couldn't help it...:

This is the ventilation furnace which I swear gives off cool 'air-conditioned-like' air.Refilled our bottles with water from the natural springs:

They used to use this railway years ago:

Poser... yeah yeah, I know...:

Gorgeous aren't they? The three sisters; their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m).:

Cam-whores!:

So we then took the Scenic Railway up to the Top Station again, a hell of a ride, I tell ya. I recommend you going down in this instead, its a roller coaster-like ride; really steep and helluva fun:

Wild cockatoos:

Hungry and exhausted we went to a small town of Leura for lunch:
We recommend the Candy Store for those of you with sweet tooth:

Next up was the Wentworth Falls:

I think it was over 200 steps down to the lookout for the falls:

It was beautiful with the rainbow and all...:

Can you see the rainbow? Its just beside my chin on the falls:

It started to drizzle for a little bit as we climbed up back to where the minibus was parked:

Next, we drove to a wildlife park, where we saw wild kangaroos!!!

I was so happy, haha...:

The smaller ones are the females:

Itchy itchy:

These two went to the bushes for some alone time...:

The 18th century Europeans were fascinated with these creatures; early explorers described them as creatures that had heads like deers, stood upright like men, and hopped like frogs.

Went back to the Sydney Olympic Park to kill time (cause we missed our ferry and had to wait for the next one):

We ended our trip with a ferry ride along the Parramatta river to Sydney Harbour:

Another rainbow:

Rich neighborhoods along the river:

Sydney skyline:

Harbour Bridge:

And the Opera House peeking behind:

Back to Circular Quay and so we had dinner in front of the Opera House:

We got bored, obviously...

So we watched the sun set, the skies darkened and Opera House started to glow:

Simply a beautiful masterpiece of architecture:

'Lah-ling' Harbour.

2008-12-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

The second day in Sydney was not as sunny...

Started off cloudy and slightly drizzling.
So we decided to do 'indoor things', like shop at Paddy's Market. Its somewhere in Chinatown.

Paddy's Market:

Inside Paddy's; cheap souvenirs:
Chinese Garden at Darling Harbour:
Exhibition Centre:
Sydney's skyline from Darling Harbour:
Other side of Darling Harbour:
Where we had lunch, beside Cockle Bay:
Some street performer:
There are a couple of zoos in Sydney; Taronga Zoo and Sydney Wildlife World (beside the Sydney Aquarium).
We went to the newer Sydney Wildlife World:
Mating butterflies:
There are a couple of crocodiles in the picture actually:
The black widow... the spider, not the person...:

I took a million pictures of this ant trying to take a clear picture... and I realise that it was just a freaking ant you can see anywhere....

A really huge python:

Most poisonous snake in the world:The frill lizard:

Monitor lizard:

And the animal I came all the way south to see, the Koala.

Did you know that they sleep for 20 hours! Its not cause they are drunk from eating the eucalyptus leaves; its cause the leaves are so toxic they need a long time to digest them and the leaves give very little energy too once broken down. And the young eats the poo of the mummy koala once born because the poo contains bacteria to help break down the toxicity of the leaves.

They are as adorable as the soft toys: And of course, the other marsupial that you have to see while you are down under is the kangaroo:Not as big as I imagined though:

Did you know that both the male and female kangaroos have that protruding thing down there? Its actually part of the hip bone:

A common myth about the kangaroo's English name is that it came from the Aboriginal words for "I don't understand you."

More kangaroos, the national emblem of Australia (which together with the emu, are the only animals in a nation's emblem that are eaten in the country; have you tried eating our lions or tigers?):

Cassowary, third largest bird after its fellow country'bird', the emu, and the African ostrich: The main difference between the larger kangaroo and the wallaby is the tail bone. While the kangaroo's is fused to the hip bone, making it able to move only forward; the wallaby's isn't, thus making it mobile in any direction, so you have these species which live on cliffs:

The wombat, the other famous marsupial in Australia. Not as small and cute as I thought they are; they are pretty huge!

More 'drunk' koalas (they are not bears so calling them koala bears is actually wrong):

Koalas in heat are not as quiet as you see now, they can be really loud and 'horny':

Collection of butterfly species in Australia:

Went into the butterfly enclosure:

One of them got attracted to my 'man-boobs':

When we went out, it was an okay sunny day:

Shopped at the rather disappointing Harbourside Shopping Centre:

And we hung out there till late:

There were seagulls everywhere!:

The National Maritime Museum:

Night skyline:

Harbourside:

So it was late and we walked back and on our way we came across the beautifully-lighted up Town Hall:

Till next time:

Sydney! Sydney!

2008-12-14T04:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long hiatus, been really busy shuttling to and fro the accomodation I have here.

Told ya I went to Sydney right?
So from where we were, we took a train to the City and then a shuttle bus to the domestic airport.
And took an EARLY flight from Melbourne to Sydney... Such a beautiful morning.

My first glimpse of what Sydney had to offer was our hotel (more like a backpacker's place, along Wentworth Avenue and Campbell Street)... It was, two words to describe it... "Err.... Ooookaay...."

So after dumping our stuff there, we headed northwards to Circular Quay.

Popped by Hyde Park along Elizabeth Street: The top of the Sydney Tower:

Town Hall along George Street:

Queen Victoria Building across from it, along George Street:

Her Majesty 'herself':Sydney tower:

More of the cityscape:

Till we reached 'The Rocks', and what is that I see?

Its the Sydney 'Coathanger' Harbour Bridge: It was breathtakingly beautiful (we drove under it on another day... but that is for later).

And beside it was... The Sydney Opera House, like duh!:

Of course must 'pose' liddat...

Coincidentally, a couple of days before we went Sydney, its Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, had passed away...Sorry... cannot resist it... Cam-whores:

So beautiful... and so was the day too:

A&F model? The bridge again from the Opera House: Some busybody behind...:

Trying to recreate her picture from last year:

Love this shot:

So lets now marvel at the most iconic architecture in the whole that the great architect, Jørn Utzon, has bestowed upon the nation of Australia:

Tiled 'sails':

Gorgeous underneath:

Interior detail:

The restaurant fronting the two bigger 'sails':

The view, south: Errmm... dunno what the girl is trying to do...

So........ Lets continue:

The two larger 'sails' are the theaters:

And of course must pose right?

Okay... Back to the architecture...:

The bridge from the front of the Opera House: One of the two theatres (left side):

Directly from the front:

On the right side: And we came to the rear again:

So we bidded farewell to the orgasm-ic Opera House (not to be the last time we meet though!). With Opera Bar to the bottom left: We headed to the other side of Circular Quay to The Rocks to have dinner at one of the many many restaurants there (there were a gazillion bars too FYI).

The Opera House at 7-ish across Circular Quay from The Rocks:
8-ish:

That's it for the first day, we headed back south to our 'hotel', fast-marched down for a good 45 minutes or so... Till next time!

A day out with David Goei!

2008-12-07T04:55:00.000-08:00

I was excited on the third day cause I was going to hang out with my army buddy David. He is currently studying in Melbourne too.

Rowds taking me to the city on the train.
Note to self: Fashion mistake number one, too many accesories for a guy.
Too early and too long a ride, this is what you get...:
So while Rowds had lunch with Ruzi at Melbourne Central, David took me to Lygon near Little Italy:
This is Da Wei!!!
Had a fantastic 'lunch' at Koko Black:

Mousse Martini and Iced Chocolate:
YUMMY!:

Nice place to chill out:

Then it was his turn to take me around the city. How to satisfy the tourist in me? Just show me architecture and nature, I told him; I can be easily pleased.

I love brick architecture by the way.
This is the Royal Exhibition Building, a really nice basilica-Florence-Cathedral-like building:

Its beside the Melbourne Museum: Nice dome:

Me with David's scooter that he uses to go around in the city:

He told me that his university, Melbourne Uni uses this for his exam venues; so this building strikes 'fear' in the students rather.

Nice park, the Carlton Gardens, in front:

David had to go off to catch a movie and I met Rowds again at Melbourne Square.

Bourke Street, Rowds favourite place:

Ran into Miin and her friend:

Chinatown:

The sustainable Council House 2 a.k.a. CH2; mentioned many times in my Sustainable Architecture module as an example:

Lourved facades, water wall... and... ermm... many other 'green' features:

St Pauls Cathedral:

Flinders Street Station:

Federation Square, quite happening: Got time to pose... They had a mini-street soccer 'world cup'. Almost all countries were represented (Singapore was disappointingly missing). There was one match between Cambodia and Scotland (I think), and the Cambodian representatives looked barely past mid-teens and the Europeans were huge thirty-year-olds and they trashed the poor Cambodians 10 to 1.

Rowds and I again...:

Went back to Bourke Street to have dinner with Ruzi:

Afer that we went back, and Rowds showed me around Monash University campus:

That's it! We had to rest early cause we had an early flight to Sydney the next day!

Werribee...........

2008-12-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

(updated with new pictures)

We wanted to go to the zoo the next day and after hearing so many people praising the Werribee Open Zoo, we decided to have a roadtrip to Werribee!

The map reader:

The driver:
Somewhere in Werribee:
And after two hours on the road (Werribee is supposed to be an hours drive away... we got lost), we found the zoo!
Really a nice zoo, the entrance reminds me of the one we have in Singapore: We took a 'safari' bus ride:
I look fierce...And saw many animals grazing in vast open fields... Antelopes: Wild horses:
Bisons:Some species of buffaloes: Hippoes:Camels:Hmm.... I'm going to say, Ibex?? Animals roam around the place freely, seperated by fences... Can see rhinos to the right, zebras in the middle and giraffes to the left? No? I thought so.... Can see the zebras? I didn't realise that we were the only ones without kids... Guess we are kids ourselves...:Cute right?:Went to the walk-in Australian outback enclosure...
Roaming emus... and some kangaroos.. which where hiding in the bushes somewhere...:Clearly scared...
Trying to harnest the inner qi... wait, that is different...:Their turn...:The 'African' Village:Zebras on the island:Monkey!Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong distant cousin in Australia:

Dehydrating... :(

Cam-whoring of course... I think we took more pictures of ourselves than there were animals in the zoo:Ralph Lauren Model? (Bought the polo tee just the day before... all my other shirts needed to be ironed...) The lions' enclosure:The hippo's enclosure:Decapitated heads?:Warning: The following pictures are going to depict shameless people, pretending to be ANTM hopefuls. If you are easily turned off by shamelessness, please do not look. "Very nice body posture, a pity your face was slightly covered.""I like the face, very serene and focused; just disappointed with the legs... could have really been more seductive..." "I think you are thinking too much, you are still posing...""Ermmm...""Love the drama.." "Inspiring... Michaelangelo-inspiring..." "Love the suspense..." "Models are meant to be actors; and I can tell your story from just one picture. Faaaaabulous."Miin!:And finally the Cheetah enclosure... Look at it chilling... Peace out!

Thats it for the zoo, a bit disappointed I didn't get to see my koalas and kangaroos... Nice 'open' enclosures BUT too few animals... Its supposely going to be the best zoo in Australia once the planned 100 animals come in a year or two.

On our way back, the Melbourne skyline:Went back to Ruzi and Miin's place where the girls 'jammed'. Miin on the piano and Raudhah on the... ehem... triangle...Later that night, met up with the rest to bowl!Till next time! Chill!

On the first day in Melbourne...

2008-12-02T05:13:00.001-08:00

After a quick nap (my plane landed at 5am, Ruzi, Rowds and I drove off for breakfast at Macs, and then reached Ruzi's place somewhere in the city), my tour guide, Raudhah took me to the Queen Victoria Market that very same afternoon.
Nice day, ay?

My tour guide... Rowds.

Did you know there are more camels in Australia than anywhere else in the world?

Afternoon tea... (notice the Melayu family behind... "Cik ade bende kat misai tu cik...")

Nice to shop, but too much for me to take it all in on the first day. Wait till its the last few days here, then someone will need to tie me on a leash...
After that, we walked around the city. Nice sunny day... :)

The famous tower in Melbourne Central. Frankly speaking, the only Australian architecture I have really came across in archi books are this, the CH2 and obviously the Sydney Opera House (its architect died very recently FYI, the late Jørn Utzon):

A tower conserved... Really nice to look at.

And shopping in Melbourne Central is not too bad itself.

More Melbourne cityscape.

The Library: Australians love to frolick on their green spaces... Then I met up with Ruzi again and another new friend, Miin! Had lunch and then drove back to Rowds's place somewhere from the city in the suburbs (30 minutes drive away?)... On the trip there:

One of Rowds's friends, Zul was throwing a BBQ party at their hostel.

Where we had the BBQ, really nice pavilion:

Where Rowds does her yoga too. She can't do this once she returns to Malaysia though...
They had a pool and a table tennis table... Just like my studio back in Singapore...

Night came and so the party started. Really nice to see all the Melayu faces in a foreign country.
Nasi goreng Zul and his guy friends cooked... not bad...

I love this shot. The 'paparazzi' shot. lmao:

From left; Ruzi, Noreen, Miin and Raudhah.

Noreen:

Raudhah:

Non: Ruzi:
I was happily making alot of new friends at the party... obviously Raudhah was feeling left out:

Raudhah: "What about me?"

Playing pool... Played a table tennis game called 'Donkey' where everyone takes turn to hit with just one bat on each side and then rotate around the table... The final two:
Twice in a row, Raudhah and Ruzi were the final two with each of them winning once.

Finito!

Thanks Zul and Hadi for the BBQ!

Stuck.

2008-12-01T05:51:00.000-08:00

29th November, Saturday evening:
So here I am stuck in Perth Domestic airport, freezing my ass off; bored to death for 5 friggin’ hours.

So what happened? My flight from Singapore to Perth was delayed for an hour and everything just snowballed. So instead of a comfortable one hour transfer from the International Airport in Perth to its Domestic Airport, I came to the latter, just in time... in time to see my plane take off.

It wasn’t my fault but it was the airline’s. So I got myself a free hearty dinner at the domestic airport but still had to wait for a much later flight. Instead of the 6pm one, I am taking the 11.30pm one. Dammit... I was supposed to be in Melbourne by 11.30! Now I would reach there at 5am!

Sorry Rowds and Ruzi, having to pick me up at that ungodly hour!

(Updated)
Pictures from the airport:
My bro-in-law took a picture of my niece and 'I'.Finally a decent shot:
Perth, nice and sunny but a bit chilly... Very chilly actually.

Australians are a friendly bunch of people (so far); all those I met have been the first to initiate conversations. Like this tanned, pretty (but) short girl who recently came back from Mumbai I met in the International airport. She asked me where I was from (I think she assumed I was from Mumbai too; she was the second to think that way, the first was the officer behind the counter). And we ended up talking about Mumbai and her experience and Perth and Singapore...

Second day in Melbourne now. Tonnes of pictures already...
Till then, later!

Countdown.

2008-11-15T07:12:00.001-08:00

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