♥ angeyy ♥

Road Trip to Great Ocean Road

The third place of our road trip is Great Ocean Road.

The obligatory photo before we set out every morning. Haha.

And what's a road trip without photos of road signs.

After the numerous fields of cows and sheeps, we arrived at Torquay.

Torquay is a town 97km away from Melbourne, and is the gateway to Great Ocean Road. Great Ocean Road is about 243km, starting from here.

It's also home to many surf companies, including Quiksliver and Ripcurl.

As Great Ocean Road is so long, with so many attractions along the way, it's impossible to cover all of them in just one day. You would need at least 3 days for that. Since we only had a day, instead of going by the main road, via Anglesea, Lorne, and Apollo Bay, we went by the back, straight to Port Campbell.

So instead of the coast, it was loads of greenery, and not forgetting the farms. Most of them were quite far out, but there was this particular farm which was just beside the road. So we pulled over by the side and I decided to take a photo with the cows.

It was a little freaky though. When we pulled over, they all looked up. When I opened the door, they all stood up. When I walked over to them, they all walked towards me. And never once did their eyes left me. They were all staring so intensely at me, not moving, even after I went back into the car, so we quickly drove off.

After more nice, green scenery..

Or should I say, blue scenery, we arrived at our first stop - The Twelve Apostles.

Breathtaking.

But also crazily windy and chilly. We were literally shivering and our ears were so cold, it hurts. Totally lost the mood to take any photos of ourselves, not that we can take nice photos though, since the wind was blowing our hair in all directions.

Second stop: Loch Ard Gorge.

It's named after a ship that wrecked there and had 2 survivors.

Which made the whole place so beautiful in a sad way.

Riyan stayed in the car to rest cause his ear was hurting from the cold and also because he needs to conserve energy for the long drive back. Unfortunately for him, Yvonne and I didn't feel like walking all the way down as it would mean having to climb the long flight of stairs up, so we were back in the car in less than 15 minutes. Which means just as he was about to get comfortable and fall asleep, we were waking him up. Haha. Poor thing.

I heard there's a few stuff to look at below though. Oh well. That's what we get for being lazy.

Third stop: Thunder Cave.

Loud noises can be heard when the water hit the cave, like the sound of thunder. Thus the name.

The water current is really strong.

The wind isn't that strong here, so it's photo taking time!

Thunder Cave is like 550m away from the carpark, so it's quite a long walk back.

It's quiet and peaceful though, so I don't mind.

Especially when we can take cheesy photos without the awkward stares. Lol.

Headed back to the town of Port Campbell for lunch.

Right in the centre of the town is Port Campbell Bay, which is an inlet of water surrounded by the Port Campbell National Park.

It includes a foreshore area, a calm sandy beach swimming area, and a jetty.

Nice place to relax.

With that, we started on our journey back home. It was a long drive, and after 3 days, Riyan was pretty exhausted.

Fortunately, we passed by this place called the Driver's Reviver. Free coffee / tea / soda, biscuits / cakes, and a $5 music card for both the drivers and the passengers!

I remember this place because of their advertisement on the radio. Something along the line of "We rather serve you here than pick you up from an accident site somewhere else."

It's true. It's better to take a break than lose concentration / fall asleep while driving. That's really dangerous!

After Riyan freshened up, we continued on our journey.

Nearing Melbourne!

As night fell, we finally reached home.

It has been an awesome 3 day road trip. If you ask me, I loved Phillip Island the most, followed by Great Ocean Road, then Yarra Valley.

I guess it's because I love animals more. And although both Great Ocean Road and Yarra Valley is pretty much all about scenery, I prefer Great Ocean Road for it's natural state and ocean. Furthermore, I get to see all the changes that's happening there due to the water and the wind - works of nature. After all, Yarra Valley is largely man-made. And wine is just not my cup of tea.

Whichever you choose, it will still be an eye opener. And the right company will make a big difference. :)

Time in Melbourne: 12am

Date Published: May 08, 2012 - 8:00 am

Road Trip to Yarra Valley

On the second day, we went on a road trip to Yarra Valley.

With the same awesome people. :)

Passed by a lot more cows and sheeps.

And there's this road with trees lining on both sides, with the leaves in the midst of changing colour.

So pretty!

Yarra Valley's only about 65km away, but it took us close to 2 hours to get there. No idea why, but the traffic seems to be quite heavy, judging by Australia's standards.

So the first thing we did when we were there is to drop by the visitor information centre to get advice from the helpful volunteers.

It's a good thing we did!

She asked what we were interested in and recommended us some places. Unlike Phillip Island, Yarra Valley's more on natural features and agriculture produce. So without her help, we really didn't know where to go, or what to do.

The most important information she told us though, is not the shortcut that only locals know, but to avoid going all the way up, since it was the Easter break and everyone's heading that way. A 40 minutes trip would have been a 2 hours because of the traffic that day.

That explains the heavy traffic.

It's a pity though, cause I heard there's a beautiful waterfall all the way up.

Anyway, the place she recommended, which matched our interest, is Domaine Chandon.

It's where Moet & Chandon's wines are produced!

We decided to join one of the few free guided tours held throughout the day. While waiting, we went out to the garden to admire the pretty, colourful flowers.

Aren't they pretty?

Why don't we have such pretty flowers in Singapore?

The staff in charge came shortly after, so we went back in. She brought us to the machinery rooms and explained the whole process of wine making. There's interactive machines in the rooms for those who did not join the tour, you can explore and learn about it at your own pace.

But the advantage of the tour is the dark room.

Where the wines are being stored for the desired period of time at a constant temperature. Up to years. We have to be careful not to touch anything in the place, cause once our skin comes into contact with the bottle, it will affect the taste of the wine. Amazing.

So much effort goes into making the wine, taking up to years, and people drink it like water, not fully appreciating the taste. Isn't that a waste?

After the tour, we were led out of the door at the back of the dark room, which leads to the cafe.

After being in the dark for so long, our eyes had to adjust to the sudden brightness, and woah, it was a beautiful sight.

I wanted to run out into the fields immediately, but Riyan and Yvonne wanted to do some wine tasting.

For only $5, you get to taste every single wine on the tasting list. There's about 9 of them in total - white wine, red wine, and sparkling wine. If you buy any wine, you get $5 discount, so it's pretty worth it.

I learnt that in wine tasting, people normally do not swallow all the wine. They will swirl it around their mouth before spitting it into spittoon provided, rinse their mouth with water, and proceed to the next wine.

After they are finally done with the wine tasting and purchase, we headed out to the field.

Families and couples alike can be seen lying on the grass sipping wine and enjoying each other's presence. Littles girl and boys can be seen frolicking around.

What a sweet image.

It's a perfect place to take photos too. Hehe.

By the end of the afternoon we were all lying on the grass ourselves, feeling so relaxed and carefree we didn't wanna get up.

We got up eventually cause we were really hungry and needed to grab a bite. Haha.

The volunteer from the visitor information centre also recommended this other place that produce wine and cheese, but when we got there, we just didn't feel like going in. There's just so much wine you can taste. And cheese? It probably will make you really sick at night I guess.

The view's excellent though.

You get to look down at the valley, though it's just winery after winery. It's endless.

Saw more animals on the way back, there's even horses!

The horses are at the edge of the fence, so close you can practically walk up and pat them

To sum it up, Yarra Valley's good for people who loves wine, and maybe scenery. It's a good place to relax the day away sipping on wine with your loved ones.

I'm not so much of a wine person, but I would love to spend the whole afternoon just lying on the grass in the company of my loved ones. ♥

Time in Melbourne: 10.15pm.

Date Published: Apr 21, 2012 - 5:15 am

Road Trip to Phillip Island

As mentioned in my previous post, I went on a road trip 2 weeks back.

Technically, it was 3 road trips. Cause we went to 3 different places in 3 days.

The first place we went to is Phillip Island!

My company for the trip - Riyan and Yvonne.

Poor Riyan had to drive the whole journey, cause Yvonne and I were not familiar with the routes.

We prepared loads of food for the journey, and one of it was potato salad.

It did a good job in keeping us full.

Phillip Island is about 144km away from Melbourne, which is about 2 - 3 hours drive away.

There's lots to see along the way though. Nice scenery, lots of plantations, and farms with cows and sheeps grazing on the grass.

I wonder how it feels to be under the sun all day long doing nothing but eat.

It wasn't long before I was looking out at Phillip Island itself.

We went straight to the visitor information centre, where we found out what was available there and ended up buying a package consisting of admission tickets to the Penguin Parade and 3 other attractions of our choice. It's about $60 per package.

It would be nice if we could choose the attractions from the whole list, but we were only allowed to choose 3 out of the 4 they gave. Not much of a choice isn't it.

First stop: Maru Koala & Animal Park.

The admission ticket includes one bowl of kangaroo food.

It's very useful! The experience will not be the same without it.

It's a small farm with a rooster, some tasmanian devils, dingoes, wombats, emus, and koalas in their enclosure.

For a small fee, you can go into the koalas / dingoes enclosure to pat and take photos with them. There's also hourly talks by the park keepers on the different animals, but we felt that it would be a waste of time.

Then there's the goat, donkey, and alpaca in another enclosure, but you can reach over the fence to pat them or feed them.

It's necessary to have food though, cause they will all rush over and stick their head out.

The alpaca's quite interesting.

It has this "spitting" ability, where it will spit at it's enemies. I got a shock when he spitted at the donkey after I fed it. He must have thought that the donkey was snatching his food when in fact, I was feeding the donkey before he rushed over. So he's the one who snatched the donkey's food! Haha.

The donkey's the first one I chose to fed, while Riyan was taking a photo.

It was a bad choice to take a photo when feeding the animal for the first time though. I didn't know what to expect, and when the donkey ate off my hands, I got a shock at how ticklish it was! Which explains the retarded expression. Haha.

The peacocks wondering around the park is the scariest to feed.

Riyan was just trying to see if the peacock would eat the food when it jumped and pecked at the container, spilling the contents onto the ground. Then it proceeded to eat it off the ground. Haha. Riyan got a shock he almost dropped the whole container. It's a good thing he held it tightly.

And then there's the kangaroos and wallabies in an open enclosure, my favourite!

Aren't they cute?!

The joeys are all in their's mummy's pouches though.

Saw some interesting sights too.

I assume it's drinking milk? I took the first photo at the start with the kangaroo looking at me. After about half an hour, I realised they are still at it so I took another photo. This time, the kangaroo gave me the "Yea, he's still at it. And why are you taking photos of us again?!"look. Haha.

Then we saw 2 kangaroos get into a fight, with the rest watching the show from the side.

And the funniest one of all.

HAHAHAHA!!! This photo never fail to crack me up! I got no idea what it's doing too!

The best part of this though is not because the kangaroos and wallabies are cute, or because there's lots of interesting sights.

It's cause you can go right up to them to pat them, feed them, take self shots with them, or even hug them if you dare!

Self shots! Haha. Love how that kangaroo look like it's gonna kiss Yvonne!

As they got familar to us, they started to be demanding.

Me: Eat slowly! Don't be so greedy!
Kangaroo: *Shrugs* But I want! Give it to me!
Me: No! Naughty boy!

The nicer and smarter ones will just use their paw to make sure you don't take the bowl away from them.

Then I came across this small little thing here that reminded me of Xena!

Doesn't the back view of it's body look like Xena?! Or is it because I miss her too much?

It was all good till I came across this albino kangaroo.

It looks very frail, rarely opening it's eyes, maybe because the sun was too bright. Notice the legs? It's so thin I doubt it can support it's weight. :(

And I got reminded that in life, as some are happy, healthy, and enjoying life, there's always others that are suffering in some quiet corner.

This park might be small and doesn't have much, but the experiences is enough to make up for everything.

Be sure to have the food though, cause that's when they will crowd around you.

Are the 2 kangaroos on the right trying to kiss right in front of our nose?!

It was finally time to leave the animals behind and head to the second attraction. The island's really big. The only way to get from one attraction to another is to drive.

Second stop: Phillip Island Chocolate Factory

Remember how I said we could choose 3 out of 4 attractions? The attraction that we decided to forgo is this, where you can learn everything about chocolate making, from the bean to the bar. We did drop by though, to see if there's anything to buy.

The white truffles chocolate is really nice, though we ended up leaving the place empty handed. Haha.

Third stop: A Maze'N Things

How did the flowing tap hang in mid air?

Spare some coins and dig for gold, or wonder how did the clock hands move backwards.

Inside, there are a couple of illusions rooms, a mirror maze, a rotating room, and lots of other interesting stuff.

Andy's gravity room. Interesting but disturbing.

I felt a little nauseous after being in there for a while.

Ever wondered how magicians make people disappear?

I know now! It's all about illusions!

Hint: Mirror.

Always been the smallest among your peers?

You can now have the chance to tower over them! Muhahaa!

Purchase the photos to remind them that you're small but not weak! Lol.

Puzzle Island.

Are you trying the list of things now? Lucky for you, you're not there. Cause behind that mirror, someone might be watching you. It's actually a one way mirror, which you will only realise when you're at the other end of the maze!

If there's anything I hate there, it's the rotating room.

The sides rotate and make you feel like your world is spinning. Makes me sick in the stomach.

I much rather get tricked by my eyes.

Or be someone's dinner.

Lol at Riyan's expression! Haha.

There's also the main area where there are lots of small little activities.

But the best thing there is the LOOK OUT!!!! Slide, which apparently, is the highest indoor vertical slide in the Southern Hemisphere.

It's really steep. You practically hang there upright and once you let go, you will slide down.

I chickened out and watched the other two go at it. Riyan said it's really damn shiok, while Yvonne said it's really scary. The weird thing is, Riyan's the one who has a fear of heights and Yvonne's the one who's ok with heights. So I'm quite confused.

To leave the place, you have to go through a maze. A huge maze.

We heard a boy crying cause he couldn't find his way out, so we decided to take the emergency exit. Heh.

We would rather attempt to cross this.

Which we did successfully.

This might seem like a place for kids, but honestly, it's quite entertaining for adults too.

Fourth stop: Rhyll Trout & Bush Tucker Farm

When we reached there, we thought we were at the wrong place.

It looks like a cafe of some sorts, nothing like a farm.

Then we realised that it is cafe, but there's 2 doors leading out to the rainforest fishing pool, for beginners, and to the trout lake, for advanced. The door leading to the trout lake also leads to the farm, where you can go on the bush tucker trail. We skipped that cause the sun was scorching and we were so tired.

Went straight to the rainforest fishing pool which is indoors, thank goodness.

One of the staff is stationed there, to help you with the fishing.

He exchanged our baits with his own high quality ones, and Riyan and I both got fishes at the same time, in less than 5 minutes. Yvonne got hers on the second try.

It was my first time catching a fish, and I was pretty excited. I was also wondering why there's so many fishes in the pool and why the staff is so nice to change our baits.

Then I realised...

You got to pay for every fish you catch. $19 per kg.

Say what?!?

They will clean and scale the fish for you for free, and payment ends there if you're gonna bring it home. For $2, they will marinate the fish with one of their three home made sauces and wrap it in foil ready for you to BBQ at the farm or at home. For $6, the fish will be cooked by the chef, either baked or fried.

We chose Fish and Chips. And there's additional payment for the fries.

The portion's really huge, and Yvonne and I could only manage half of it.

We packed the remainder and it became our supper for the night.

The food's not bad, and the price's reasonable too. I just didn't really like how there were cost involved for everything that you do - entrance fee, rod rental fee, fee for the fish, fee for preparing / cooking the fish.

That being said, the cafe's quite a nice place to have a quiet meal with your friends. :)

Fifth stop: The Nobbies

We were done with all the attractions, with some time to spare. So we went to The Nobbies, which is basically a broadwalk where you can try to spot some nesting birds, little penguins, or seals.

Plus, the view's amazing!

And very romantic. Hehe.

Soon, it was time for us to go to the next attraction. The highlight of the day.

Fifth stop: Penguin Parade

Phillip Island is famous for the penguin parade. It's where you can see little penguins in it's natural habitat, waddling up the beach to the safety of their homes in the sand dunes after a day / days out at sea.

We were told to be there at about 5.30pm, 1 hour before their estimated arrival.

Spent the whole hour staring at the waves come in, seeing the sun sets, and feeling the cold breeze creeping up on me.

And then it happened.

Little penguins started appearing on the shore. Every time the wave recedes, there were more penguins than before. It's like they were washed up the shore by the waves. They will then wait up till there's a whole group of them before making their way up to the sand dunes.

After a few batches of penguins has left, we headed to the broadwalks to look at what they're doing.

They will walk in groups, and push each other along when one is lagging behind. As they waddle along the pathway, the group will reduce in size as the penguins make their way to their own sand dunes. They do not enter it immediately though. They will stand at the entrance of their home and wait, calling out here and then, till the rest has joined them before heading in together.

It was a truly magical experience.

While observing the penguins, I heard a loud call from behind me. Rushed over and saw a penguin being pushed to the ground, and then being raped. :/

It's really a pity that no photos were allowed. Though I did manage to take one photo cause this group of penguins went all the way out to the entrance.

Aren't they cute?

Outside, we saw this sign.

They are not joking. It really happens. It's an all natural habitat, so the penguins are free to go anywhere they want to. And occasionally, a penguin will decide to be adventurous.

I was joking when I asked Riyan if we would find a penguin under our car when he surprised me with this little penguin!

We named him Phillip the Penguin. Hehe.

It was a long but fulfilling day. There's a lot more that Phillip Island has to offer, but we didn't have the time.

It doesn't matter though. I brought many memorable experiences away with me as I left the island.

I'm contented.

Time in Melbourne: 3.50pm

Date Published: Apr 16, 2012 - 11:50 pm

Shopping With Someone Special

2 weeks ago, I headed to the airport to await the arrival of a special someone.

She's none other than Yvonne, one of my closest friend from secondary school!

I actually knew her since I was 11, but we only got closer when we were 15. Even so, that's a whopping 9 years!

So for the past 17 days, she has been staying at my place, and I've been trying to bring her around as much as I can.

The first few places that I brought her to were my groceries shopping places that was covered in the previous post. Haha. She loved Queen Victoria Market, and has been there at least 3 times!

And being girls, most of our time were spent at the shopping malls.

Our favourite is DFO South Wharf, which is located just beside the Melbourne Convention Centre.

With the pretty bridge.

And boat.

We went there 2 times!

We also visited Harbour Town, Little Collins Street, and Bourke Street.

Which has this "purse" outside the building on the street. It's not just a display though.

It's actually a bench, for people to sit!

Unique and practical. I like!

Other than that, we also visited some of the tourist attractions.

Flinders Street Station.

Er, I realised that's all. And it's only because we had to change a tram there. Hahaha.

We went on a road trip on 3 days though! Will blog about it separately.

To be honest, I never liked shopping or dressing up.

In fact, I kinda hate it. You know how girls can walk through the whole shopping mall 2 - 3 times just to buy stuff?

First round, walk into practically every shop and look through everything piece by piece. Make a mental note when they see something they like, cause they want to check if there's anything nicer / cheaper elsewhere.

Second round, walk into the few selected shops that they made a mental note of, probably forgetting half of where / which are the shops they made a mental note of. So have to go through half of the first round again.

Then spend ages trying the clothes, asking for opinions, and making up their minds. Which may or may not include another round of walking into shops.

It is crazy. I seriously don't know how they do it.

Maybe that's why I only shop twice a year, when I need it.

Coming here, I realised that I do need to shop more. My wardrobe back home consists of the basics - T-shirts, shorts, jeans, and dresses. Which is not going to be enough here. There's 4 seasons here, and I need to dress up according to the weather.

So it was good that Yvonne's here, especially when she has good dress sense.

However, after spending the past 2 weeks shopping with her, I actually find myself enjoying shopping more.

It's a shopping heaven here! At the factory outlets at least. The clothes are cheap and nice.

And everything looks so good with boots!

Or maybe it's just her company. I'm not sure.

By the time we leave the shopping malls everyday, the sun's already setting.

Such a common sight.

And no, we do not walk through the shopping malls 2 - 3 times.

All good things have to come to an end though, and today was the day she's going back.

Came back home to an empty house after sending her off, and boy, it does feel weird!

It was really good to have her here, though it meant spending a lot! Haha.

Time in Melbourne: 12.35am

Date Published: Apr 11, 2012 - 8:35 am

Living Life - Like a Housewife

After about a month, my internet is finally up!

It's really tough living without a proper internet connection. :/

With the internet, I can also blog more often. Haha.

Life in Melbourne so far has been pretty much the same. I rarely go out, and if I do, it's mainly to do some household / groceries shopping. -_-"

The few places I frequent the most:

QV, for Big W and Woolworths.

Big W for Household items.

Woolworths for groceries.

Melbourne Central.

Where the clock will put on a show every hour.

Coles, for groceries.

Woolworths and Coles is like NTUC and Cold Storage back home. Not much difference actually, just that they have weekly promotions, so I will choose based on whichever is cheaper.

I go to Woolworths and Coles for general stuff only though.

Every Saturday, I will make a trip down to Queen Victoria Market to buy the week's groceries.

Meat.

Vegetables and fruits.

The best time to go is about 1pm, where they are trying to clear the stock for the week and huge discounts are given. Got a lot of good deals!

From time to time, I need some Asian items, and these 2 stores are the ones that I go to.

Minh Phat Asian Food Centre.

Laguna Oriental Supermarkets.

Every alternate Saturday, I also do my laundry.

I have a laundry room in my building, with washing machines and dryers.

It makes washing clothes so much easier, and the dryer's really amazing!

So that's all the places I have been going to in the past 1.5 months.

Living life - like a housewife.

There's trams, buses, and trains here.

Trams are only in the city.

Trains are for getting to the suburbs.

The train's seating arrangement is better than Singapore's MRT I think.

And payment for these can be done using the Myki, which is like our ezlink, though most people hop tram, meaning they do not pay.

In fact, out of 10 people who board the tram, there's probably only 2 who will pay for it.

Maybe it's because it's quite expensive, or maybe it's cause nobody cares. Well, unless the conductor is there to do random checks. If caught, you will be fined $180.

And that is why I practically walk everywhere. Thank goodness it's quite cooling here, and there are nicer things to look at.

Whenever I go to town, I'll walk past these places:

RMIT University. They have buildings all over the place!

Hardrock, indoor rock climbing.

Swanston Street Melbourne City Baths.

State Library of Victoria, where people can be found lying on the grass having their meal, reading a book, or just relaxing. Gonna try that someday!

Somehow, looking at all these pretty buildings make me happy, and gives me the strength to walk.

There, even the clouds here are pretty!

Time in Melbourne: 12.40pm

Date Published: Apr 08, 2012 - 8:40 pm

Hello Melbourne - Home for the Next 1.5 Years

It’s been close to 3 weeks since I touched down in Melbourne.

So what have I been doing?

Setting up my home for the next 1.5 years.

Yes, I came here without arranging for any accommodation. Big risk, I know. But I have faith, and look, it all turned out well!

After we arrived at Melbourne, the boyfriend called to make a Starbus booking.

It’s a shuttle bus from the airport to the city, just that it brings you to your specified destination. It’s kinda like a taxi, just that you got to share it with other passengers. The good thing about Starbus though, is that it’s a fixed price of AUS$18 each and there’s a trailer at the bag for your luggages.

Dropped off at Aarow @ Swanston and checked-in our bags cause it was about 9am in the morning and the check-in time is only at 2pm.

Went to the boyfriend’s school – University of Melbourne for the wifi, before heading for lunch at Norsiah’s Kitchen.

First meal in Melbourne, and it got to be Singapore food. Haha.

Finally it was time to check in, and the room was amazing! Not that it’s gorgeous with amazing view or something like that, but more of how it could be the ideal place to stay in for the next 1.5 years.

You see, majority of the people here stay in studio apartments, which means your kitchen, study area, and bedroom is all in one room, with a small separate toilet.

But the hotel room has a separate bedroom, living room complete with sofa, tv, dining table and is still spacious, kitchen, toilet, and a balcony!

Bedroom with sliding door, dining table opposite, and a balcony!

Living room to the left.

Kitchen and toilet to the right.

The hotel is also equipped with all the glassware, utensils, cooking equipment, bread toaster, and a microwave!

It was actually my first time using a bread toaster. What? Don’t judge me.

Spent the next couple of days arranging and going for inspections, and on 5 March, the boyfriend came back and surprised me with the keys to the apartment!

Competition was tough for this unit and I can’t believe we got it!

It’s a brand new one bedroom apartment, which means there’s a separate bedroom, living room with 2 study desks, kitchen, and a separate toilet.

It’s a pity there’s no balcony.

The next 2 days were spent cleaning and doing up the house before officially moving in.

Welcome to my home for the next 1.5 years!

High Street.

With security entrance.

Kitchen.

Paranoma shot.

Toilet.

Paranoma shot.

Living room.

Paranoma shot.

Bedroom.

Paranoma shot.

And lastly, a paranoma shot of my home.

Pretty cozy isn’t it? :)

Time in Melbourne: 4.10pm

Date Published: Mar 22, 2012 - 11:10 pm

Goodbye Singapore

So on 29 February 2012, I rushed to do some last minute packing and went for the last meal with my parents before heading to the airport.

Checked in my luggage and thank goodness it’s under the weight limit of 30kg!

Phew.

Yvonne and the HR Girls also came to the airport to send me off.

The HR Girls even got farewell gifts for me!

Which is really sweet of them!

Meet Nana, Xena’s replacement.

Though nothing can replace Xena, at least there's Nana to hug when I think of Xena.

Soon, it was time to board the plane.

As I walked through the immigration counter, my heart died a little.

It was my first time leaving home for so long in my 23 years. I won’t deny that I’m afraid. I have always been under the protection of my parents. I have never cooked, never washed any clothes, and never done any household chores. I was literally useless at home. And all these have to change once I’m in Melbourne. There’s no mum to go to when I’m hungry, or when I need my clothes washed. There’s no dad to go to when I’m in trouble, or when I need advice.

I’m surrounded by my family and friends in Singapore, people who loved me for who I am. I’m doted on and pampered by them. And this too, will change once I’m in Melbourne. There’s no one to go to when I’m bored, or when I’m in need. I’m all by myself.

Scary as it sounds, it might be a good thing.

Because I might be forced by circumstances to become a more useful person.

Boarded EK404, which will bring me to Melbourne.

There’s inflight entertainment, headset, pillow, and blanket to keep me comfortable for the whole journey.

Best of all, I have the boyfriend and Nana!

Which is enough actually, so I let Nana watch my movie, eat my food, and drink my Cola, which is actually only 150ml, just the right size for her. Hehe.

Ok, I know I'm acting like a little girl. But I do feel like a little girl with Nana! When I entered immigration, the Cisco officer who checked my passport asked, "Does your bear have a passport?". When I ordered food on the plane, the steward asked, "How about your bear? What would he like?". Haha.

Anyway, Emirates has pretty decent food.

The boyfriend's crazy over the chocolate. Said it was the best thing.

It was a long 7.5 hours flight, but all I did was admire the scenery.

Till I got homesick. Sigh.

Was so occupied being upset, I fell asleep, and before I knew it, we were landing.

Saw our luggages being unloaded while waiting for other passengers to alight.

So cool!

So thank you EK404, for bringing me to Melbourne safely!

And for making my first long flight experience a pleasant one!

I took a leap of faith on leap day.

1 March 2012 marks the start of a new chapter in my life.

May this be good.

Time in Melbourne: 6.00pm

Date Published: Mar 10, 2012 - 11:44 pm

Feed: ♥ angeyy ♥ - AggScore: 18.4

Summary: angeyy

Road Trip to Great Ocean Road

Road Trip to Yarra Valley

Road Trip to Phillip Island

Shopping With Someone Special

Living Life - Like a Housewife

Hello Melbourne - Home for the Next 1.5 Years

Goodbye Singapore

Last Days in Singapore

Flight Details

The Decision

Visitor Rating: 2 (1) (Rate)

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Feed Views: 16

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