*Saturday, July 02, 2005*
Back to Singapore on 30 June...hee.. had fun during our aussie trip...hee... here's a mountain turtle who seldom travels and c snow for the 1st time! I really thank KK, Joyz, Junming and little Qi En for giving mi this memorable experience. The pple in Melbourne were also beri friendly =)
I have uploaded some of the photos here... =)
http://community.webshots.com/user/deerixp
16th Jun Thu
KK, Joyz, little Qi En and mi arrive at Melbourne airport at 1 am and the shops at the airport are all closed. When we stepped out of the airport, there was a chill..haha...It was cold...haha..but we are well-prepared with jackets on. Junming fetched us and we checked in at Maroondah Motel. My concept of motel changed when I saw the room. The room was spacious, similar or larger than a hotel room in Singapore. =)
The morning was welcomed by a big dog at our doorstep...Alamak...I am still abit scared of unfamiliar furry animals...haha...Luckily the dog was obedient and kk fed it with some crumbs of our breakfast. I find the doggie really handsome and smart! We walked to the nearby Boxhill Centro Shoppin Centre...Along the way, I saw trams (a unique characteristics of Melbourne transportation) along whitehorse road..The weather was cooling...like aircon...hee
We bought melon seeds and Junming drove us to Mt Dandenong. 1 hr drive from Melbourne. We fed the colourful native birds with the melon seeds at Sherbrooke Forest. It's fun! Junming said usually tourists compete to feed them...haha...but since winter is an off-peak period...the birds compete to let us feed...We were overwhelmed by them! We had scones at Kallista Tea Rm with jam..Really great taste! Dinner was KK's favourite duck rice near Boxhill..Terrific taste and big portion..hee
17th June Friday
We begin drive and arrive at Bright for lunch in the afternoon. Had whiting (fish and chips). It's fresh. Junming drove along Mt Beauty and saw the entrance to Mt Hotham. He was tempted to drive up Mt Hotham. But as we need to reach Albury by tonite and we din have snow chains on the car, we were unprepared for snow. He was rather disappointed tt we din go up. We reached Albury Townhouse Motel and had Coles Supermkt BBQ chicken..hee
18th June Saturday
We continue our drive to Sydney. Albury is in between Sydney and Melbourne. We reached Canberra in the afternoon and went to the Parliment House.Canberra is the Capital of Oz but it's rather boring there with little shops..we had a difficult time to find makan place. Luckily we found Subway. I shared a footlog meatball with kk..We reached Sydney at abt 7 plus nite. The traffic was much messy and more difficult to drive than Melbourne. Luckily Junming's car GPS helped us to navigate throughout the journey. We reached Pensione Hotel. The quad room was a bit small for the 4 of us plus a baby..We went out to a Vietnamese Restaurant for some Pho (recommended by Junming tt Vietnamese food is nice). But the restaurant in Sydney did not meet to his expectations. KK and I recee around the Coles for our breakfast stuff...Think I prefer Melbourne to Sydney...maybe Sydney seemed too fast pace for mi.
19th June Sunday 
The 1st day of Sydney was fun. I had a Gelato Ice Cream bought from a ice-cream van. We walked from our hotel to Pitt St and then to Opera House and Harbour Bridge.Magnificient view! Just like TV..haha... We had a one and half hr cruise with Vagaboard..As the cruise companies are competing along the quay, their prices are competitive. I would say it's a MUST GO. With only 20 AUD, we had tea/coffee and the 4 of us had around 16 chocolate and carrot cakes (of coz it's the ang mo type..hee).. The view on the cruise was nice with cool breeze. We alight at Darling Harbour and I had my 1st McDonalds in Aussie.
20th June Monday
We bought the daily monorail and lightrail tix. Initially we intended to travel the whole day with tt tix. Board on the monorail at PowerHouse Museum for a complete round and alight at Darling Park. We went to Maritime Museum and had fun taking photos.hee. We were goin to meet Junming and Joyz's friend for lunch at Sydney Fish Market. But unfortunately kk dropped the 4 daily tix (AUD15 each) and we had to pay extra for the lightrail to Sydney Fish Market. 
Although nobody blamed him, I think he felt guilty and kept quiet. It took mi some time to make him his normal self...think food helps...haha...The Sydney Fish Market seafood was fresh and cheap. We had a dozen of oyster for AUD 12... the lobster set was only AUD25...we had lobster, oysters, fish and chips and calamari. As we sat outside facing sea, there were those "Finding Nemo" Birds which always said "Mine, Mine, Mine!"
21st June Tuesday
An intense driving for Junming and Joyz today. We check-out in the morning and planned to reach Bright by this evening. We had lunch at Albury and reach Bright at nite to rent our snowchains (for the car although Junming's car no need to put chains since its a 4 wheel drive but it's a law to have chains in the car when travelling in snow). The Sundowner Motel at Bright was spacious and can accomodate 6 pax. Great place...much better than our Sydney one.
22nd June Wednesday
Yeah! We took an hr drive from Bright to Mt Hotham...
As it was Junming's 1st time driving up the snow area...we were all excited and careful. The 1st glimpse of the snow on the ground made us all excited. We paid AUD27 for the entry car fee. When we reached the carpark, it was like 2 degree C. Cars were covered with snow...hee..so funny...The moment we stepped out of the car...it was cold and glaring..Luckily Yuling's gloves kept us warm and played with snow...As little Qi En was only 3 months old...Junming and Joyz tried hard to prevent her from catchin a cold. We played togobanning and built snowman. Skiing and chairlifts were ex..I think...Anyway we were not prepared to ski in the 1st place...I am really contented with the snowplay! It's fun! Nite time we checked in at Kingsgate Hotel.23rd June Thursday
The morning KK and I went to Queen Victoria Market where there are souvenirs, t-shirts and market. We had hot donuts =) We took the free City Circle Tram and walked to Junming's family winehouse. Joyz accompanied us to go to Crown Casino, Flinders Station and Swanston St to confirm our daytours with APT. At nite, Junming drove us to ST Kilda and we bought our 1st pizza hut near their office...pizza is really cheaper there. 2 large pizza at around AUD14. All else food are ex...haha AUD8 for normal food e.g. a plate of duck rice etc..
24th June Friday
The APT coach picked us at our hotel and drove us to Swanston St where we board our bus to Great Ocean Rd.
The starting of the GOR should be Torquay..hee..we went to Bells Beach for a toilet break. Had kk favourite fish and chips for lunch. The Port Campbell National Park where we had our 10 min helicopter ride to view the spectacular 12 Apostles. A "Seahorse" was also seened. Haha...the person actually forgot to charge us..but we were too blur and honest..and there goes our AUD140 bucks...haha...(dun dare to tell Junming and Joyz as they may say us "sa")..Anyway, we had the ride and the money should be paid in the 1st place..haha. We ran to take photos as we were short of time. Then the next stop was Loch Ard Gorge...i think this should be the place with the 2 survivors story. London Bridge was our next stop. London Bridge is falling down, falling down....I find the APT guide amazing. He has to drive, explain along the drive professionally, spot wildlife koala on tree for us while driving and make tea for us...SuperMan..Drive from 8.40am to 8.40 pm.. 12 hr...Driver cum Guide. Applause!
25th June Saturday
Junming and Joyz brought us to eat Hong Kong style Dim Sum today...Yummy...great variety! Then we arrive at Ace-Hi Wildlife Park to feed the kangaroo...think we were afraid of Emu...Alamak...keep following us for food...The shy deers were cute...being bullied by greedy peacocks which kept snatching their food. My 1st attempt with kangaroo...Think i am still scared of them...although I find them cute... We reached Junming's family farm at nite..I saw a shooting star in the starry nite. Make a wish...Some pple say shooting stars are not gd while others say dreams will come true. I choose to believe the gd side. =) The farmhouse has a fireplace...But the room was beri cold at nite since the house is made of wood and there was no heater except for the small portable one we brought..Blankets did not seem to help...
26th June Sunday
Last nite was too cold that there were ice on ground outside the farmhouse. KK had fun driving the mill and I was there screaming...haha...coz he drive too fast...Like a Formula 1 although it's only 30 km/hr...but seem fast to mi with wind blowing my face...Mr Campbell comment, " the guy's getting braver...but the lady is screaming?" So malu...Mr Campbell was nice to show us around...showing us the performance by the sheepdog running and gathering the 300 plus sheeps, we saw the cows and ox, feeding the 3 pregnant horses and George the pony. The lambs were shy and afraid of pple...we had a plan...a bad one...kk, Junming, Steven, Kathy, Owen and Rocky (Steven's house dog) and I planned to ambush the sheeps...We ran and the sheeps also...Kathy managed to catch hold of one! Alamak, got some wool on her hand...souvenir for her! In the afternoon, kk and I continued driving the mill...we got stuck in the mud..so pai say...got to use the tractor and chain to pull the mill out. Had Vietnamese Pho for dinner...this time the food is much nicer than the one in Sydney!
27th June Monday
Our 2nd tour with APT. Along the way, we can heard some noisy young Singaporeans with their "watlau" slang..hmm...a bit pai say..This time is to the Grampians. Haha..We went to the 
Ballarat Wildlife Park. Saw more kangeroos, koalas there...We went to Halls Gap for lunch and see the Jaws of Death Rock and the Mackenzie Falls were spectacular! Had some Deli choice at McDonalds at Araraf for dinner...haha..din take the guide recommendation as its more ex...Think we were smart as can c some of the young tourists only managed to find the McDonalds after we finished our meal...hee. After the tour, we went to the Crown Casino and see the 10pm "Firework". We had egg chiffon rice at A1 Cafe near Chinatown...Yummy.
28th June Tuesday
Joyz drove us to Smith St and Richmond Bridge Rd to shop for some gifts. Bought some shirts for sis. Then we go to Swanston St to buy some more. Hmmm...think we chose the things for too long and Qi En was hungry and crying. Sorry to Joyz for making her wait. But things were okie. Haha...Along the way to our hotel...saw the horses in the city...Initially I wanted to take picture from far. So I asked the owner for permission. He was friendly and guide mi between them...Hmmm ...All unexpected and I am between them! U can c that I am abit scared..haha...Junming dad treated us to a French restaurant beside our hotel...had course dinner and abit of snails...hmmm..actually taste like normal food.
29th June Wednesday
We checked-out of Kingsgate and Joyz drove us to Boxhill to buy nougats and macadania nuts. We had La Porchetta (recommended by Lynette) for lunch...nice pizza at reasonable price! Went to Westfield shopping centre before going to the Melbourne Airport....Haha...on the flight, watched Robots and Hitch....hee....I'm Back!
deerixp enjoyed the view on 10:40 AM
