Australia Day 9

Our second visit to Melbourne city again on the second Sunday. We stopped at Southern Cross Station which had achived some kind of reward for it's building architecture. We went into the shopping outlets located at the corner of the station which is linked together. We didn't manage to get anything except a levis jean for my sister.



At Southern Cross train station.

Then we walked and took tram to the waterfront and had our fish and chips lunch there.

Walking in the city.

We took many photos along the way at some tourist attraction but I don't have them in my camera.

Next we went to Shrine of Rememberance , a memorial for those that fighted in World War II.

Architectures.. The weather was nice although it drizzled a little when we arrived at St Kilda beach.

There was this Malaya word printed on one of the pole too.


The day almost dark but we managed to rush over to St Kilda Pier to watch the sunset. There was this Captain Cook statue which head was full of shit.. :P James Cook was the person who found Australia....

Then we walked to Crown hotel for fireball show. It was said that Crown hotel which owned the only casino in Melbourne created the show on purpose. One will lost his gambling luck after watching the fireball show which lasted for about 10 minutes. There was a lot walking on the Day 9. We took some photos by the river..

Waiting for train to go back home at the famous Flinder Street station.

This is how we ended our 10 day long visit to Melbourne. Tomorrow we will be leaving for Malaysia. We spent the last night and next morning playing board game called "i can't recall" and surprisingly my mom was really good in it.

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Note: By the way, I am in Hong Kong international airport now

Australia Day 8

Today we had a feast at lunch. Even yesterday night we had BBQ at 8pm outdoor. It was freezing cold, the shrimps were fresh and tasty, chicken was good, every other food were really yummy. We were going to fly back Melbourne on the 9th day we stayed in Australia. We spent time packing and getting ready for the airport while another half preparing the food.

Picture taken outside Kevin's house. Baby looked sooooooo cute and happy, youngest and eldest sisters. Our stay in Kevin's place has been more than perfect. We had everything we needed, and were fed like a king. Thanks to Kevin and his family!

My dad and I were in the airport and had nothing to do, so we decided to take a picture with Qantas. We flew with Jetstar by the way.

Hong and big baby niece. Note her pink chubby cheeks... cutie..

I bought Krispy Kreme at the airport and we had some before boarding the plane. They were sweet and mmmmmmm..

Off to Melbourne again!

Australia Day 7

Today was like a brand new day for my dad. Cheryl allowed him carry her and not struggling to get down anymore. We were still in Sydney on the 8th day we arrived in Australia. It was chilly but sunny.. lucky.

On left is the picture of my day carrying his mischievous grand daughter on the way from Kevin's house to the train station. We walked like 20 minutes to the train station everyday.

On the right is the picture of my gleeful mom. She was so happy when she saw orange tree. She quickly ran to the tree which was planted by someone in the neighbourhood and hold one of the orange. She stood there ever ready for a great picture.

This time, we took the train to Katoomba which the journey was like 1-2 hours. It is up at the mountain so the temperature was pretty low. We were advised by my sister to wear thicker clothes :D We were going to Blue Mountain one of New South Wales travel attraction.


This is the small pretty town of Katoomba. We had our lunch in a Chinese restaurant opposite the train station. Then we took a bus to the view point of Blue Mountain.

This is a photo I took which was the view we overlooked from Echo Point. If you can see, there is actually a ruin castle at the right side of the valley. That's Mt. Solitary on the left side of the valley which look like a flat table from here. It is the Kedumba View. Mun-mi-ee is the Gundungarra Aboriginal name for this feature. Blue Mountains are the habitat for many flora and fauna that can't be found at any other places in the world.

This is the famous three sister which we viewed closer from Prince Henry cliff walk.

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From Wikipedia:

The Three Sisters are a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. They are close to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains' most famous sights, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m).
The Sisters were formed by erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers, and the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley are being slowly broken up. Formations like the Three Sisters are created when water seeps into small cracks in the rock, gradually enlarging them over time to form large indentations. Eventually, the Sisters will be eroded away completely.

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We didn't walk down the the Giant Stairway because the day was getting darker and due to member's physical limitation (read too young!). Giant Stairway is a bushwalking trail that will lead us to Three Sisters. That's all for Sydney today!

Australia Day 6

Today is the 7th day we stayed in Australia and was Day 6 of vacation :D We were officially in Sydney! Basically we travelled in train and it was challenging to have 9 adults and 2 babies in train and bus. But we made it though.. The weather changed completely in Sydney, the sky was blue, sun was shinning and everyone was cheerful, especially Cheryl..





Little girl posed with a leaf, happily showing off what she found on the grass..




We were outside an old train station, Central Railway Station which was really big and old.. My post today will be mostly on photos and not much explanation because I am very busy with work.




A strike with my sister and her little girl


We were crossing the road, in the city!

My mom called up her cousin who has been living in Sydney for the past 20 plus years. He came out to meet us and we had lunch together in Marigold, a dim sum restaurant.

After that we walked to Paddy's market, something similar to Victoria market in Melbourne.

Photo taken at the Sydney Chinatown entrace.. and the next two was somewhere in the city where we rested after long walk because the babies were taking nap.

Circular quay overlooking the city

Famous opera house from far, near and day and night.

Harbour bridge at night. OK. THis was actually 5.30pm.

Next, Australia Day 7

Australia Day 5

The 6th day was actually free and easy day in the morning. Our flight to Sydney on Jetstar is in the afternoon. My parents, Hong and I took a morning walk around my sister's house to check out the environment there. I love winter.

The building behind me, that's the Box Hill hospital. It was just at the end of the road where her house is.

Somebody's house around the corner

We walked and walked and walked.. in the cold weather. Note the sky colour, fresh air is everywhere, even in the city.

While my dad and elder sister went out to shop some extra winter clothing because it was SO COLD, my mom learnt to read newspaper online .

After taking lunch, we went to the the airport in Kevin's car and cab. The cab fee was so expensive. Imagine RM400+ for just taking cab to airport!

This is my elder sister and her baby on lap while waiting in the airport.

On the plane, flying to Sydney. It took about two hours to fly from Melbourne to Sydney where we were going to spend some big money again on shuttle. Really expensive!

Australia Day 4

On the 5th day we were in Australia, it rained full day. We saw dark clouds everywhere we went. Our plan today is to visit Ballarat Sovereign Hill. We had to bring umbrellas with us because it was reported to have shower on and off.

We drove about 2 hours to Ballarat in Kevin and rental cars. It is Australia outdoor museum recreated to represent the first ten year when Australia first discovered gold in 1851. We paid like about ~$40 each for the entrance fees. Super expensive! Like it said, Sovereign Hill is where Australia's history comes to life. It is just like stepping back in time because the whole place is built and created just like the gold mine settlement in oldies.

There was the horse barn with real fat horse inside

Parade of the red soldiers

My elder sister with family at the middle of the road in the town. We had to use umbrellas every now and then because it rained and stopped and rained and stopped.

My mom with horse-drawn coach at the back. There were these horse's dung everywhere on the road


There were many shops , hotels, candlemaker, school, entertainment center, hotel, hat shop and many more.

The bar... with costumed bar-tender. There were a lot staff there who wore costumes of old days and you can ask anyone of them for photos.

My parents trying on the variety of hats...

The group at the road junction, without my mom, brother in law and baby niece and ME(behind the camera)

There were sheeps, dog, turkey and donkey outside the villager's house too.

The village in a gold mine

We went to a cottage or small house and my camera baterry went off. That's all for today!

Australia Day 3

By right this was the 4th day we stayed in Melbourne but I marked Day 1 as the first morning we spent in Melbourne in my post, so the 4th day is Day 3. Today the weather did not look very good. The sky was grey and it drizzled a little when we were getting out from the house. We drove rental today too. Everyone had heavy breakfast again, thanks to my sister who woke up early to cook for us. Kevin and my sister prepared burgers and sandwiches the night before to bring out as lunch today.

Our plan was to drive along Great Ocean Road today. We stopped at this beach area which I forgot what's the name. There so many surfers on the day despite the bad weather. It was so cold that I don't understand how could they get into the water.

After a long drive we arrived at the starting point of the Great Ocean Road. Great Ocean Road was build by the three thousand Australian returned servicemen from First World War. These people survived the war and built this long road along bass strait.

My niece with her chuppa chups lollipop.

My mom and I


While driving along the road, we past through a forest of eucalypts trees. This is the tree that koalas love to hang to. We saw many people stopped their car and went down so we knew that there must be a lot koalas there. We took photo with the one nearest to the road.

After some scenic road drive we arrived to this magnificent place..

The twelve apostles!!!! It was really beautiful.





twelve apostles

Razor Back


London Bridge & Curtain Lace on the right

It is winter now in Australia so the day gets dark really quick. Sun sets at 5.15pm. We just managed to get here by time to check out the place last minute before the whole place became dark. I wish we can spend more time at this place because it was really very beautiful. I love it.