Sunday January 30, 2005

Hello guys!!

I’m back in hot, humid and congested KL. hehehe….makes it sound like I’m hating it already huh? Nah…..I just didn’t realise that I had to reacquaint myself to this lifestyle again. I thought once I got back, everything will fall back into place but well, it’s just feels different.

Anyways, this post will be dedicated to my final week in Australia.

Monday (24/01/05)

Joe and I decided to go down to Canberra for day trip. It was a 3 hrs drive there, spent 4 hrs looking around and it was already 5pm and most places were closed so we decided to drive back. I missed quite a few museums, especially the one with the Vivienne Westwood fashion exhibition but then, well the whole place was just boring. I loved the War Memorial though, very serene.

The Parliament House

Very peaceful War Memorial

The wall of fallen soldiers. Very heartbreaking/warming to know that so many people died to protect their country and loved ones.

View of the  Parliament House from the War Memorial.

On the way back….can u imagine looking at this and listening to Dixie Chics’ ‘Wide Open Spaces’……it’s like heaven!

Tuesday (25/01/05)

It was major shopping and packing day on Tuesday. Went to buy all the things i needed to bring back and later that evening, I turned my house upside down. At first i was thinking, yea, i only have clothes to bring back, it’ll be fine. All i can say is I really underestimated the amount of things i have. In the end, I had to send 3 boxes (2 of which consist of mostly clothes and shoes) via freight.

The state my room was in by the end of the night.

My upturned living room

Have to go get groceries with my mum now. Will continue in a bit.

*Edit*

It took me a while to come back to this. Groceries took forever because of the amount of people at the supermarket stocking up boxes of soft drinks for Chinese New Year. I didn’t realise trolley-rage was possible but I really wanted to ram down the people strolling along the aisle, like they were walking in the park, stopping right in the middle while talking on their mobile phones, and wouldn’t budge even when u say ‘Excuse Me’. Anyhoo, back to my final week in Sydney.

Wednesday (26/01/05)

It was Australia Day and Joe and I booked ourselves in for the Bridge Climb. We seriously didn’t think there would be soooo many people in the city celebrating Aus Day. And to our luck, the time slot we booked for our climb was just perfect because we manage to catch the air show, the sky diving show and the boat race at Circular Quay all from the comfort of up top the Harbour Bridge. It was a perfect day although the weather forecast predicted it to rain. I thought it was going to be a breezy climb up and down the bridge but wooow…i was wrong. By halfway, my legs were already shaking and when we got down 3 hours later, Joe and I were both exhausted, hungry but contented because we’ve just completed a ‘to-do once in a lifetime’ thing.

The massive crowd at Circular Quay!

Checking in for the climb of my life!! 

That night, the Media gang, minus Isa, had dinner at Sushi Suma. Great food, a great crowd and a blistering heat makes the perfect Japanese dinner.

Look at how happy Anj is…hahaha…

A very burned Matt with a thumbs up and a very cheesy grin. Everyone told me I had to post this pic up! hehehe…sorry Matt!

Food!!! Half-finished food that is…

Later that night, after dinner, the whole gang grouped up for desserts at New Orleans Cafe. Anj was craving the Bread Pudding there. It was quite good considering I was too full to tell. Anj, we are always loud, everywhere we go I feel like everyone’s looking at us because we’re always so loud and boisterous. Anyway, it was a good night that ended in tears. I always well-up when I hug people goodbye. It’s the hug, I think if we all just shook hands that night i wouldn’t have teared up. hahahha…

Everyone, minus Joe, who was taking the picture, at New Orleans Cafe.

Narada and Joe. People thought they were brothers so we took a picture to see the similarity. I think it’s the hair.

The Chiccas before crying started.

Thursday (27/01/05)

In a blink of an eye, it was already Thursday and the night before, i pulled an all-nighter packing my stuff into boxes to be sent home by freight. Early next morning, I called the freight service and brought my boxes there personally. I was charge $2.80/kg, which was dirt cheap compared to the $27.00/kg Malaysian Airlines charges for excess baggage. I had about 60kg- 2 boxes full of mostly clothes and shoes and a box of film books and study kit which ‘I think’ I would want to read again sometimes.

I also went to say goodbye to workmates on my way back from lunch, and it was another tear filled goodbye. The lady owner of the shop started sobbing as I hugged her goodbye a
nd i followed suit. How embarassing….

Baby Things, the shop I was working at for the past 2 years.

Kay (who was like my Step-mom in OZ), me, Barbara and Max (the owners of the shop)

I did all I set up to do for my final week in Sydney, so I was happy with that. It was really nice to know that I’ve made such good friends in the 3 years I was there. When i was in the taxi going to the airport on Friday, i recalled some of the things that I’ll miss in Australia and i started to well-up. It was harder than I thought it would be to leave. Now that I’m home, like i said, i have to get used to this lifestlye again, but so far it’s been quite nice being able to spend time with the family, catch up with old friends and dig in glorious food!

Oh…btw, my sister announced her engagement to us yesterday. Her registration date is in February, but the wedding ceremony has yet to be arranged. Me, a bridesmaid, finally!! hahaha……can’t wait!