Holidays

I'm going on a trip to New Zealand and Melbourne starting coming Monday, right after Fiona takes her JLPT level 2 exam. Because it's the end of the year, and because I've basically spent nearly all of my money on presents for the folks back home, I'm having budgeting problems. We've also held off too late deciding on a definate NZ and Melb trip, so even on budget airlines, we're getting the more expensive fares.

But.... we've coughed up the money for the first part of the trip to NZ, and I'm just hoping that I was realistic enough in my budgeting. Heavens forbid that I run out of cash midway.

Pictures galore!

The title says it all!!!

Hm, I think this one is all about the blue mountains and jenolan caves trip that I took recently with June. It was all foggy that day, so June didn't manage to have a look at the Three sisters, but we got a chance to do a small trek through the forest and I managed to go on the steepest railway for the 2nd time, and on the scenic cablecar for the first time. The jenolan caves are extremely spectacular, but I won't be going back there in a hurry. I personally think the guided tours are too large, and it's a lot more fun if you just go exploring the other caves by yourself.

This collage is all about the last night June spent in Sydney before she returned to Singapore the next day without her roomies. We opened the bottle of traminer we got in Hunter Valley after 1/2 an hrs hard work of digging out the cork (we're all first time wine bottle openers!) and celebrated her 'last' night in Sydney, before the start of the next semester anyway. I think this collage also shows us drinking 'Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice', which is a special product of Wollombi. We tried mixing it with Coke, but I didn't much like it. As usual, I got teased for being a non-drinker, and of trying to mix too much Coke with too little alcohol, but at least I didn't puke this time round. :DThis one's all about me n June visiting the town of Wollombi (the first few photos with the metal rhinos in them), followed by the chapel in the town of Roche in Hunter Valley, and a few random photos at the back showing us at the Australian Reptile Park, at Brighton (I think I got the spelling wrong...) Sand Dunes. (The folk in rural australia definately have a sense of humour, I mean, just look at what they do in their free time! Building metal rhinos... hahahaha. )

The picture on the left is the entrance to Haymarket, where the roomies do their weekly shopping, and the picture on the right is of Kura Japanese resturant, whom Fiona introduced all of us to. It serves fantastic value for money Japanese food at all times of the day. A definate must- try if you come to Haymarket in Sydney.

This collage is all about our brekkie outing to Divine Monkey Lounge at the start of Glebe Point Road. It's the cafe with a fantastic view of the purple tree (when it's blooming), we were supposed to eat here overlooking the view, unfortunately, by the time our exams were over, the tree was no longer blooming. The food's alright here, the service good, and the coffee always a great perk- me- up in the morning. Me n June had pancakes, while Fi had the eggs benedict with salmon. This was, I believe, the first leisurely breakfast after our exams.

We visited the Australian reptile Park in the north of Sydney on our way to Port Stephens. I've seen these animals and such in Featherdale Wildlife Park on the other tour I took with Jane, Serene and Choy, so I wasn't too awed. But, I'll say this Park is worth a visit, because the settings are all wonderfully and naturally done, in comparison to the rest of the parks I've seen. It's akin to Singapore zoo, except for its size and the fact that our zoo doesn't have freely hopping roos.
Port Stephens and the sand dunes at Anna Bay. We managed to see quite a few small bottlenose dolphines who reside within the Bay, and captured some amazing views on the search. The sand dunes were absolutely fantastic, and it's a lot a lot of fun. June managed to lose her handphone and then find it again with some help, but let's say that after that day, she's now a legend in the tour group and the guys who run the whole sandboarding adventure thing. :D

These ones are dated quite far back, before the exams, during the week's inter-sem break. We went to Coogee beach where Jane was staying for a while with her Aunt. The whole gang visited the beach, but Serene and Choy left early to go back to the city, while the rest of us stayed for a delicious thai dinner at the Coogee resturant. I remember that it was a really windy day with the sand blowing in all directions. None of us could do any tanning successfully because of the flying sand, but the gals got a dip in the ocean for the first time.
I don't know if I've posted these photos up before, but I was just studying late one night, and I noticed that the moon was really beautiful from my window. It was bright and round on that night, and absolutely alluring. I think I woke Fi up accidentally while digging in my drawer for the camera, but it's worth it, from my point of view anyway. :D

And these pictures are of the lovely herbs we bought and reared. Dill and Basil are now growing well, with all the sun and water that we've been giving them. I don't know if they stop insects from flying into our window, but they are certainly nice to have around. More recently, we also bought a venus fly trap. I have a photo of it courtesy of Fi, but I won't be posting it here since I forgot to add it into the collage.... The lady said the plant will grow larger so that it'll be able to catch fairly large cockroaches, which convinced both June and myself that we've got to get one for the summer months. We got the venus fly trap from the Annual Glebe Point Road fair. I have one or 2 photos of it from my place, but I can't find it atm.
Pictures of the campus at Lidecombe. It's really old and run- down, and it can get very noisy and crowded during semester times, but on Fridays, when nobody has classes, it gets quiet and very meditative. M block is where the RG and RT classes are mostly held.
On the last day of exams, we took a picture with Sook/ Samantha, and went out to strathfield DFO for some shopping. But before that, we had lunch at a authentic Korean resturant where the waitress and cook doesn't speak a word of English. I couldn't believe that such places might exist in Australia in this day and age, but there you go, even in Australia, there are authentic Korean places to eat ok.

Hunter Valley and drinking

I went to the Hunter Valley on Tuesday with June, one of my flatmates, and it was an extremely relaxing day!

We had to wake up really early in the morning to get to the pick-up point, but I think, the loss of sleep was made up by the excellent day we had. APT is a really good tour operator, and I really gained a lot of knowledge while having lots of fun that day. I couldn't take many photos because my camera ran out of juice early in the tour (my extra batteries also ran out of juice) but fortunately, June bought 2 phone-cameras just in case, and between us, we took enough photos.

Wollombi was an interesting stop, because it was just a really really small town, with 1 pub, 1 courthouse, 1 tearoom and... that's about it! People don't stay in town, they just come to town on some occasions only. In those areas, people are farmers and they live mostly isolated from each other. It's really a lot like what Wales was, except that I experienced Wales in autumn-winter weather, so it was really a lot cooler which allowed for more trekking and exploring.
So, it wasn't suprising that while we were driving along the roads from Wollombi towards Hunter Valley, I found myself reminiscing about Wales. I think now, when I think back about the trip, I think I'll prefer Wales anytime. But if you'd ask me if I could live forever in places like Wales or the Australian farm country, I will honestly tell you I don't know. Afterall I violently resisted living in Lidcombe for the city right?

Wollombi sells an interesting liquor called Dr Judy's Jungle Juice, which the tour operator said was only available in Wollombi and nowhere else. I believe him, because I've never seen it in Coles or Woolies. It was supposed to be made up of the dregs of the wineyards, and is supposedly pretty nasty, but its taste has been smoothened out dramatically in modern times, and it now tastes like grape juice (to me, anyway). One can hardly taste the alcohol, though I think if you drank more, it'll be possible to get drunk on it anyway. I bought a small bottle, which I hope to illustrate soon.

That aside, Hunter Valley is a very charming region. You could really travel from one wineyard to the next, tasting endless rounds of wine, and acting tai- tai-ish. In fact, on our tour, nearly everyone was foreign and pretty old. There were only a few other youngish people, but, when we got round to talking during lunch, I thought these young people are really very well travelled. And some part of my mind wondered where they got the money to travel! :D But that's evil of me, so we'll put that thought aside.

I didn't manage to get a photo of my lunch platter, but June took a picture of the lunch setting, which I shall post as soon as I get the photos from her.

The only other thing of note was going to a place called Roche village, built by a person called Mr. Roche. He is of course very rich, and the place reminds me of Holland Village, without the bustling life. This village was built to look like a old English village, but it just seemed too quiet. There weren't many people on a weekday, and it seemed almost spooky. Mr Roche also built a chapel there for his daughter to get married in, and I have a photo of it in June's phone. It's very pretty and cozy, but again, because it was situated in such a remote location within an almost artifical village, it seemed... odd. But then again, it seems unfair of me to pass such a judgement on a place that i've visited only once, and on a weekday at that. Perhaps on a weekend, the picture drastically changes?

So... where on earth am I?

It's been an uncommonly crazy week after the exams, but I enjoy the craziness for once! I've been going around town with Fiona, June and Fi's brothers shopping and eating... It's a great experience, and though I do grumble very much about walking from Glebe Point to Circular Quay on a hot afternoon, I am glad that I did it in the end. It was generally fun walking along the full length of George street, popping into shops as and when we wanted and shopping! Retail therapy was so much fun, with sales to discover and dresses to try on. I think it's worth mentioning that I was looking at a Roxy bag which fits my short stature, but I put it but, because it cost more than what I was prepared to pay. I'm still thinking about it though, and I'm really afraid I just might go and buy it, because it's hard to find bags that you like at first sight, and which fits one to a T.

There, I'm becoming a shopaholic and a material girl huh? But I say, in my defense, that much needed retail therapy was in order to properly destress! I took a few more shopping trips with my roomies and once myself around town while walking to take in the full sights of the city. You'd think that all this time I've been staying in the central city, that I'd have walked all of it already... but in reality, I haven't. This is really the first time that I've the time and mood to go walking in it slowly, taking in the sights and shopping. I've also remembered to bring my camera along, and took some photos, which I hope I'll be able to post soon. :D

Another thing worth mentioning here is the Glebe Point Road Annual Fair. It just happened last Sunday, and it was rather fun, with the road blocks and all. It was a pain in the ass to get the buses to town, but overall, the shops were rather interesting, though if you'd been to circular quay markets and the glebe markets, the stuff on sale would seem rather familiar.

I'm going on a few tours starting tomorrow out of Sydney, and I really hope that it'll be a good time with lots of noteworthy photos.... Though I won't complain if there isn't much shopping to do. I'm bleeding money at the moment, and I hope I'll have enough to end the year on a relatively good note! :D

Exams are over!!!

Dearly beloved,
the exams are finally over, I can watch my movies and vcds, and dvds to my heart's content. I can go out for breakfast, walk the markets at leisure, plan outings and generally slack around! Life has never seemed so promising! More photos and events coming soon!

Mugging like crazy

It's really not that I don't want to update the Aussie blog, or the other blog for that matter, it's more like I'm really really swamped with work! This isn't an exchange so studies and grades are still important... It's not like the modules are either a pass or fail with no implications back home, the exams I have impact on the final certificate! I don't want to do too badly, because really, let's face it, who wants to do badly?

Soooooo.... hence the long long hiatus. It's going to be longer still to be honest. Exams don't end till 2 weeks later, so I'll probably be a lot more optimistic and happier then. I'll post all the lovely pictures I have of Sydney and the changing seasons, pictures of my favourite hangouts.... ugh... Can't wait till I feel free to sleep and whatever time I want, and watch whatever show I want, for any amount of time...

God Bless everyone at home... May He keep all of you safe!

On that note tho... happy advanced birthday to meself. Glad it's pissing here as I type. :D