The search for mooncakes begins at Springvale...*a suburb known best for their Vietnamese settlement, good Asian food, cheap fresh produce and...well...more CHEAP stuff*
They had so MANY choices...
*We didn't want to blow a hole in our pocket nor did we want to eat lousy mooncakes*
Thus, we went for the best of both worlds, Fai and I bought one box moderately priced and another one box from Oversea restaurant:) *we're damn patriotic when it comes to mooncakes, lolx*. As you can see below, I have two China made mooncakes and another two from Malaysia's own Oversea restaurant:)
My precious...
I'm savoring each bite...*As the saying goes, you won't miss till it's gone*
2. Arranging my flight to go back to Malaysia from my sister's wedding *so I'll be back on the 20th of Oct then I'll be coming back to Melbourne on the 28th of Oct to sit for my first paper on the 29th. Madness I tell you!!!*
I know it's already August:) Sorry but I haven't had the time to blog about my ski trip to Falls Creek *sue me, I do have a life*
Anyway, the trip was organised by Swinburne University's Chilsom Ski club. 3 days and 2 nights at Mt Beauty Lodge with around 40 participants. Su lin, Hui ling and myself were the only participants from Monash. *we felt alienated cause we were not only from a different uni but we were the only Asians there excluding this ABC*, but we did make friends along the way:)
Below, the view from our lodge, *did you notice there's no snow?*...
That's because the journey from our place to the mountain is around 1.5 hours by bus...
After 1.5 hours on the bus...
Up up and away on the ski lift
Our skis:)
The scenery...I love snow, it makes everything so pretty:)
Some people ski down this hill *this including lil kids from ages of 9*madness!
Beanie us
We had a few hours before our official lesson, hence Phil *a guy from the trip* was nice enough to teach us a thing or two. We practiced skiing, falling on our butts, screaming like hell when we lost control/ when we couldn't stop and for my part, crashing into the gate. *don't you dare laugh if you haven't skied before! rawwrrr*
Anyway, after practicing on the slope, we went to the top using this enclosed ski tube called 'the mouse trap'. It operates the same way as shopping cart on the escalators but instead of grills, the magnetic surface holds the skis:)
The beginner runs ' green runs' which then separates into two routes, wombat ramble and drover's dream. It was extremely tough without formal training. I kept falling and no one helped me out..sniff sniff *and I was so sick that day, down with flu, slight fever, sore throat..you name it I had it*
Despite the first day's shortcomings, I had a blast at the lesson and I kicked ass on the second day:) I didn't fall on any of the runs after we went on a blue run 'intermediate', which had these 'monkey bars' whereby you could put your leg between this pole and it would take you to the top instead of the conventional ski lift. I swore that the slope was almost 90 degrees!!! But after that whole ordeal we had fun going up on the monkey bar and any slope after that seemed like babies!
The trip was so fun towards the end, I did not want it to end. I felt like dying the first day because I was extremely tired from getting up after falling and constantly blowing my nose.:( Luckily the second day was so much fun:) Would I go skiing again?
On the first day I would have said : 'You siaw ah! you want me to die?!?!'
On the very next day: ' In a heart beat!'
The few days after the trip, my body ached from my toe to my head but hey, it was worth it!
*Boys and girls go skiing if you do have a chance, it would be an experience you'll never forget!*
Vibrant Sydney (at least 4 times bigger than melbourne)
Our first stop, (Harry's pie), noted to serve the BEST pie in Australia
The house specialty, pie with pies and mash potato
Chinatown, Jessica indulging in the famous emperor's puff
The queue was CRAZY!!!! (it's not that nice, emperor's puff is well overrated) *OoO..look at the line..it must be good..thus the line grows and grows*-'krispy kreme syndrome'
Pancakes on the ROCKS!* we had chocolate pancake, strawberry pancake and pork ribs:)*DELICIOUS!
We went on the rocks walking tour (the tour was excellent, highly recommended!)
Pictures taken on the cruise around circular quay
More pictures on the cruise
Us (Esther, Jessica and myself) waiting to get into the Sydney Opera House for the tour
The Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Mrs Macquarie's chair during sunset
Watson's bay, just 15 minutes away by ferry from circular quay, a well kept secret and the birth place of the famous Doyle's restaurant
Lunch, Imagine fighting with 100 seagulls to eat your lunch...*Jessica's face got scratched in the process because the seagulls took the food right from her hands*..(word of advice: eat indoors!)
Watson's bay has the best of both worlds, the best view of the city and the ocean
'The Gap' national park's ocean view (watson's bay)
The famous Bondi Beach
'Fried mars bar'
The owner of the restaurant claims that he sells the most mars bars in the region per day, more than 100 (not surprising because it's AMAZING!)
Dinner, We had to wait around 45 minutes to get seats at 'Hurricane'...(I tell you, it's one of the BEST pork ribs I had, BEST, BEST!!!) OMG..it's sooo freaking good (Dad, if you're reading this..I think this could be as good or better than Tony Roma)..and the serving is HUGE...wait..ENORMOUS *enough for 3 people!!!*
Sydney fish market *you can buy your seafood straight from the market then cook it at a restaurant or just buy seafood straight from the restaurant*
These happy campers had one seafood platter, oysters and lobster..yum yum :)
The government house (NSW's governor is a lady) *ahem ahem* girl power! (no pictures were allowed inside, sniff sniff)
Paddy's market
Look at who we meet in Paddy's...(Sponge Bob and gang was there too)
Our last dinner in Sydney, Korean restaurant (Seoul Ria) in the city *look how happy they are cause the food was really good or maybe cause we were really hungry*
On the way back, I thought learning how to play the guitar was hard, imagine playing the guitar and balancing another on your head..*salutes*
One for the album, *us before leaving Sydney, bags packed, anticipating 11 hours on the trains*
My precious...
