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

(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...

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.

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!