Little Miss Dreamer

Sydney Trip

For all who have been faithfully reading my blog.. my apologies for not blogging for so long.. am finally gonna transfer my Sydney trip diary to my blog.. sit back.. relax.. and enjoy my mega post...

18 Nov 2004 (Thu)

1.07pm (Singapore time) - Sunny - Changi Airport Terminal 2 Gate F32
Yohoo! Here I am all ready to fly to Sydney to visit SK and Ben!! Gonna be a super long flight (Spore to Brunei to Sydney).. Hope my excitement will last til I see them..

Feeling more at ease now.. was quite uptight this morning when I found myself not quite ready for the trip.. last minute ran over to Compass Point to buy some necessary stuff.. also changed more AUD so I can survive for a while even if I can't find SK or if my autoroam doesn't work (choy!)

Feeling shiok when I think of how I no longer need to face PW and stupid entrepreneurs wannabes..

Oh they've made the announcement for boarding! Gotta go! =)

1.20pm (I think) - On board BI422 (to Brunei)
OMG! I'm taking seat 50A and nobody's taking 50B and C!! I can have all 3 seats to myself!! Shiok!! Whahahaha...

Oh shit... the last person who board the plane is taking seat 50C.. =(

Anyway the Captain Louis' (the pilot) voice is damn nice! can be DJ.. he said that weather is good in Brunei and we may reach slightly earlier.. not sure if it's a good thing coz I'm gonna wait damn long for the transit! Hmmm....

OMG! They actually play this video prayer to Allah before departure!

OK gonna depart soon... got myself a copy of Straits Times to kill time.. better check out the inflight entertainment too... hope it's not some Malay show..

2.30pm - Still on board BI422
The inflight entertainment is BORING.. showing some stupid "Just for Laugh" thingy.. finished reading the paper... tried to read up a little on Sydney too but gave up in the end.. think better discuss with SK and Ben when I arrive..

Shall wait for the air steward to serve food... yup this kind of Muslim country airline air stewardesses are rare.. plus the air stewards are all Malay and not very shuai4.. sighz..

OK here comes the food.. doesn't look very appealing but just eat lah... =P

3pm - BI422 (still..)
*Burp* I actually finished the mushroom sauce steam fish pasta.. not very nice but bobian very hungry..

The man who's at 50C has been sleeping ever since he board the plane.. still sleeping when everyone's eating.. best...

Getting really sleepy.. the air is so dry.. make my eyes very tired... maybe should take a nap..

Sudden thought: should have brought Eye Mo... shit...

3.17pm -BI422
Dilemma.. to sleep or not to sleep... if I sleep now.. what if I can't sleep on the 6 hour flight from Brunei to Sydney?

Still gotta rot in Brunei airport for 3 hours plus.... =(

4.10pm (Spore/Brunei time) - Brunei Airport
OK here I am in Brunei right now.. gotta rot in this shabby looking transit lounge for 3 hours.. accompanied by some Malay songs playing in the background... irritating.. am getting a headache from it..

5pm - Brunei Airport
Am super bored... 2 more hours to go.. =(

OMG! just spotted this cute ang mo guy sitting behind me!! Nice blue eyes!! Oh no... musn't keep turning back to bio2 if not it'll be too obvious!! Nice hairstyle.. quite boyish looking.. good bod too... waah....

5.40pm - Brunei Airport
I am dying of boredom...

6.50pm - Brunei Airport
Been stoning since I last wrote.. it's hardcore stoning.. just sit there not doing anything.. this is sooooo painful... but what to do? for the sake of a much cheaper ticket..

OK Checked in... shuai4 ge is taking the same flight too! Hee...

Just wanna quickly bored the plane eat dinner and sleep... then wake up in Sydney... Yay! Sydney, here I come~

7.50pm - On board BI 193
Finally board the plane.. just had a BLACK OUT on the plane.. this is horrible... late departure still got so much problem... sighz...

And again I'm right next to the engine.. =( can feel the vibration from the engine.. wonder how am I going to sleep...

8.15pm - On board BI193
The guy sitting next to me had moved to the empty seat in front! I can have the whole row to myself! Yay~


19 Nov 2004 (Fri)
5.15am (Sydney time)/ 2.15am (Spore time)
They switched on the light for breakfast half an hour ago... am still feeling grumpy coz only slept for less than 3 hours.. gobbled down 2 cups of yucky coffee and it's not working...

Can see the sunrise from the plane.. look quite magnificient... if only I can take a photo now..

Think I'm gonna give up wearing contact lens for the day.. my eyes are simply too dry.. look darn ugly now.. =(

8.30am (Sydney time) - SK's house (somewhere in Maroubra)
Finally settled down in SK's place.. quite a nice place actually.. it's a condo.. 3 room apartment.. met Ben and Jake too... but they just went off to U Syd.. Ben's having his last 2 papers of the sem today...

Gonna have a good rest.. then SK & I are going to pick up Ben from school in the afternoon then go to the beach nearby... Yay! =)

1.20pm - SK's room
Bumming ard the entire morning.. stuck in SK's room... gonna be staying in Ben's room actually but his room is out of bound at the moment coz it's still in the exam mess state...

SK was telling me how he wanna rush his research so he can go for mission trip next year.. think he's pretty stressed up.. if only I can help yah... but his research is way too chim for me... phD leh.. guess all I can do is to keep him in my prayer yah?

10.17pm - Ben's room
Went to pick up Ben from U Syd about 4pm.. huge traffic jam on the way there and back.. plus it started raining after that so in the end didn't go to the beach.. but I think they are planning to go on Monday.. am looking forward to it! =)

Btw apparently weather has been fine til I came... in fact it seldom rains in Sydney... wonder why... hmmm.... and SK keeps blaming me for the bad weather... blehz....

Met up with SK's friend Derek for dinner... it was really cold out there with the drizzle.. isn't it suppose to be summer? Anyway Derek is an interesting person.. entrepreneur in the F&B space.. own a cafe and a fastfood place.. cool...

Came back to SK's place after that for Jacuzzi... quite shiok... the condo is really not bad.. got indoor swimming pool, gym, jacuzzi, steam bath.. if only my house got so many facilities..

Going out with Ben's cell group tmr.. followed by service at Hillsongs Church! Yay!


20 November 2004 (Sat)
10pm - Ben's room
Had a full day of walking (yah I know all the travel guides say walking is the best way to sightsee in Sydney)... met up with Ben's cell group at Central Station this morning at 10am.. visited Derek's cafe.. followed by lunch at Sydney Fish Market.. had seafood platter and sashimi and oysters (accompanied by many many seagulls).. yummy..

After lunch we went to Paddington Market.. pretty much like our Pasar Malam except that it sells mainly clothes and accessories.. bought myself a very unique ring (silver with sea shell) at AUD29... ex but I love the design...

After that had a super long walk along the entire Oxford St trying to shop for SK's birthday present.. wanted to get him a shirt but didn't manage to find a nice one... sighz...

Went to Hillsongs for service in the evening.. it's really not bad.. went for dinner with Ben and SK after that... been a super long day... *yawn*

21 Nov 2004 (Sun)
11.15pm - Ben's room
Weather is still super cold... between 15 to 23 degree... nothing like summer...

Ben brought me to Darling Harbour today.. that place is lovely... can see the blue sky.. lots of seagulls... the kind of place where u can just sit by the harbour side, enjoy the seabreeze and have a good chat with ur friends over a cup of coffee.. great to have Ben to accompany me.. looks like he's learnt quite abit on Australian history and culture in the past 1 year..

After that we went to walk ard Chinatown.. lotsa Cantonese speaking pple there.. also went to Market City to shop for SK's birthday present followed by grocery shopping.. found my childhood favourite malted vita soy there!! they used to sell it in bottle in HK.. during winter the canteen uncle would heat the bottles up and my classmates and I would each get a bottle during recess.. damn shiok to drink during winter..

SK came to pick us up after that.. suppose to go to the beach but the weather is still too cold... actually SK and Ben still wanna go.. but I was pretty reluctant as it's really cold.. was such a spoil spot... feeling super guilty... =(

Stayed home to cook dinner... more like watching SK cook... his cooking is really good! Very yummy... After dinner we watched the final of Australian idols... they have it at the Sydney Opera House... even had firework!! super grand.. Cassey won in the end though SK, Jake and Ben thought Anthony's better...

SK is asleep already.. must be tired from teaching the whole of yesterday and the entire of today's morning... I better sleep soon as well.. not feeling too good coz of the cold weather... weather forecast for tmr says it's gonna be 15 to 19 degree.. oooo... cold.....

22 Nov 2004 (Mon)
7.20pm
Started off the day rather late at 10 plus am.. coz it's really good weather to sleep... went to Circular Quay with Ben.. quite a vibrant place.. with lotsa buskers... saw the Harbour Bridge and Opera House too... wonder how pple managed to build them so many years ago when technology wasn't that advanced yet...

Also strolled around the Rocks.. the place looks pretty much like streets in European countries... maybe coz the Rocks was one of the 1st few civilisations in Sydney when the Europeans came... went with Ben to shop for something for Peiling.. in the end he got an opal pendant... hope she'll like it..

Had lunch at "Pancake on the Rocks".. which serves super nice pancakes.. hte best that I've every tried! yummy.. this was followed by a visit to Ken Duncan's Gallery... he's a great photographer who specialises in taking scenic shots in Aussie.. he also did the movie photos for "Passion of the Christ"..

We also went to George St, which is the Orchard Road equivalent in Sydney.. lotsa places to shop except that it's pretty ex... also visited the St Andrew Cathedral and Queen Victoria Building..

Went back to SK's place after that... then went to Maroubra Beach with SK.. which is 5 min drive from SK's place in Maroubra Junction.. Super windy and cold even though the sun is out... SK and Ben still got the courage to go into the cold water... I just stayed on the beach... only stayed there for a short while coz it was freezing...

Will be having chicken curry and pork stew for dinner... can't believe SK is such a good cook... =P


23 Nov 2004 (Tue)
Today started off on a nad note.. SK lent his car to Samuel instead of sending Ben & I to King Cross as promised... we were suppose to go there to rent a car to drive down to Jervis Bay.. in the end we gotta brave the rain and walk all over the place to look for the car rental place... even had to go ard asking for direction... and there we met this really nice Aussie old man who not only directed us to the place but also tell us where to buy umbrella so that we won't get drenched! Aussie pple are really friendly!

By the time we got the the car rental place we couldn't get a car... so we postpone the Jervis Bay plan and ended up walking ard King Cross area.. which is suppose to be the red light district at night... walk til we got lost... when we finally get the direction correct we went to the Australian Museum... they have some good display of aboriginal art and and exhibition of all types of animal skeleton...

Then we moved on the St Mary's Cathedral.. suppose to be the biggest one in the Southern Hemisphere... it has some really nice stain glass.. once again am amazed how pple in the oldern days manage to put up such a mignificient building...

Had lunch in Chinatown.. Ben recommended this really nice Vietnamese beef noodles... the best one I've ever tried! if only they open an outlet in Singapore... =P

Went back and had a good chat with Ben out in the garden... the weather is much better today.. sunny but not too hot.. we talked about lotsa stuff... career... ministry.. relationship.. blah blah blah... great to know that we've been friends for 7 years and we've not run out of things to talk abt!

Had dinner at this Indonesian eating house nearby.. followed by a swim and jacuzzi (which seems to be the 3 guys' favourite post-dinner acitivity)... Plan to go to Jervis Bay tmr! Yay!

24 Nov 2004 (Wed)
Finally went to Jervis Bay!! But am feeling quper guilty now... made SK and Ben drive 3 hours there and 3 hours back... much longer than what I've expected... had to travel from Sydney to Wollongong then to Nowra then to Jervis Bay.. and the weather wasn't good in the morning... almost wanted to stop at Wollongong.. thank God we didn't coz the weather got better in the afternoon... btw the scenary was great on the way there as well... passed by Blue Mountain and the coast...

Went for this Dolphin Explorer Cruise at Jervis Bay... really enjoy the feeling of being out in the sea... and we saw MANY dolphins!!! some of them are really playful and swam along with the boat... could really see them close up!! It's the 1st time I get to see dolphins in their natural habitat in my 23 years on earth! Was super duper excited... Hee...

25 Nov 2004 (Thu)
Didn't do much today... went for breakie with Ben followed by window shopping at East Garden, the biggest shopping mall in the eastern suburb... Didn't really walk ard much too coz gotta send Ben off to the airport.. he's flying back to Singapore 1st.. had lunch at the airport's viewing gallery... had this aussie famous burger Oporto.. also tried this really yummy doughnut called Krespy Kreme...

After sending Ben off I had my 1st bus ride on my own in Sydney.. too used relying on Ben for direction... but I still managed to get back to SK's place on my own... quite an achievement for someone as "direction-less" as me... haha

Went home (or rather, SK's place) and did some planning... going Bondi tmr, taking the Sydney Harbour Cruise on Sat and going Blue Mountain on Mon..

After that heard news about Samuel's accident... Sam borrowed SK's car and drove his friends down to Blue Mountain.. had an accident on the way back... Sam and his friends are OK.. but SK's car is gone.. Am very amazed at SK's maturity in handling the matter... now he really took care of Sam's feeling...

Am thankful that:
(1) Sam and his friends were seriously injured even though the car overturned...
(2) I didn't join them to Blue Mountain even though I was encouraged to..
(3) I get to see the nice side of SK

SK was saying that Diana (his ex) will be driving Sam back.. that's great.. except that for no reason I felt a little upset when I know that SK had discussed this with Diana.. sometimes I wonder what's my feeling toward SK... at times I feel that he's really nice yet at times I get really frustrated with him...

26 Nov 2004 (Fri)
6.08pm - SK's room
Yup.. I've shifted to SK's room... Sam's friends is shifting in..just met them.. the girl is called Stephanie.. she's got some injury ard her left eye from the accident and she's going to stay with us til she finds a permanent place to stay.. she's just came back from Singapore to look for a job... letting her stay in Ben's room while I'm moving over to stay in SK's room... of course, I'm having the bed and he's sleeping on mattress.. =P

Went to Bondi today... love that place... nice beach with fine sand, good weather, fantastic scenary.. the beach is pretty crowded today coz of the good weather... sunny with no cloud at all.. the whole sky is clear blue... got this not sun bronze tan now... =) saw lotsa women suntanning topless! I won't have the gut to do it man... Bondi has got pretty good waves for surfing as well... got lotsa really pro surfers there...

Before I continue on Bondi Beach I shall jot down my achievement for the day.. managed to get to Bondi on my own! Took bus no. 400 to Bondi Junction thinking that Bondi Beach is within walking distance.. but when I reached Bondi Junction it looks like no where near the sea! totally surrounded by shopping malls! was about to give up hope on Bondi Beach when I saw the queue for Bus 380.. everyone was in beach wear! so in the end I just followed everyone on the bus and managed to find my way to Bondi Beach..

After much suntaning I bought myself lunch and sat on the grass patch like everyone else and just ate and enjoy the sea breeze.. also accompanied by flocks of seagulls eyeing on my food.. haha.. also had some yummy gelato for desert before making my way to Mckenzie Point.. Fantastic scenary along the way.. there's this interesting club called Bondi Icerberg where they have a swimming pool right next to the sea!

Still remember that Bondi was the place that made me fall in love with Australia when I came in 1998.. still have the same feeling now.. wish I can just drop everything in Spore and stay in Sydney forever..

SK was talking to Steph just now... think she'll be staying with us for a while.. poor thing.. she seems rather worried that the injury around her eye might leave scar behind.. really pray that she'll be fine..

27 Nov 2004 (Sat)
8.43am
Finally met Diana last night.. she came with Sam to celebrate SK's birthday after midnight.. it isn't too difficult to tell why SK likes her.. she's pretty.. she's sweet.. she's fun to be with...

SK had 3 bottles of beer after everybody left... and he started telling me about what happened between him and Diana.. the problems they had... why they broke up... blah blah blah.. could tell that Diana still has a very impt place in his heart even though he claims that they are just friends now..

10.50pm
Am SUPER tired!!! last minute decision to have steamboat for SK's birthday celebration.. went with Jake to shop for ingredients at 3pm... and prepared the food til 8pm.. all by myself!! Ok I know I'm like the most slack person ard to do the job... so no complaint yah? Also had a beer during dinner... feel like I'm going to knock out any moment.. but promised Steph to go to the bus stop with her later to fetch her bf who's coming to visit her.. Don't think it's safe foe her to go ard on her own anyway...

28 Nov 2004 (Sun)
Today's a super hot day... 36 degree... feel like in an oven...

Went to church in the morning with Jake... Heard a powerful msg on using what you have to serve God.. with faith, what you have is enough, and what you don't have doesn't matter...

After service I went to Paddinton thinking that the wkend market is open... wanted to get the very yummy homemade fudge to bring home for my sis.. after walking for an hour I realise that it is CLOSED! later found out that it's open only on saturdays... sianz... took a bus to Circular Quay.. went to the Rocks market to get some stuff for my sis and LW... then have a quick (and expensive) bite before going for the Harbour Cruise... Reached home about 5pm and immediately went to Maroubra Beach with SK and his friend Say Yong.. suntan a little... can't get anymore chao4 da4...

to be continued.......

posted by XY @ 8:36 PM