24 June, Sun - Day 9, Melbourne

Headed down to Flemington market with my aunt and cousin Steph. Bought a painting and some wooden craft stuff which we plan to put up at our new place. If they don't fade by the time our place is ready, that is. :)

Lunch was Hong Kong fare at Box Hill and then we headed off for last minute shopping at Target again.

After shopping, it was off to Steph's place for some tea. Check out Kieran enjoying his jam doughnuts....

Headed for a quick Thai dinner (notice we've been eating Asian food throughout. The Asian food here is really pretty decent), then it was back to pack all the shopping and head to the airport. Would have loved to pack one more thing in, but alas, I think it would have exploded in the plane.

Why don't they have Schweppes Agrum in Singapore???

23 June, Sat - Day 8, Melbourne

This morning, Uncle Jerry took us to Grants on Sherbrook so that the kids could feed birds - another activity they were looking forward to. We had gone on another day to another park but that particular park had stopped the bird feeding.

To my surprise, the 2 kiddos had no qualms about the Cuckatoos and Rosellas landing on their heads, shoulders and arms to feed!

Lunch was yum cha with my aunt, uncle and cousin-in-law James. Thereafter we headed to Costco - this giant hypermart that sells everything (almost everything) in bulk and humongous sizes. The thing is, at Costco, you need to be a member to shop there. Funny, right? Pretty fun place to shop. We bought a huge (I didn't take a picture, but believe me, it was huge!) pizza for dinner that cost us only A$14. It's so huge you can't fit it into a standard oven. We had to cut it in half! Also bought fresh oysters, as my aunt planned to make "orh lua" with them!

So dinner was another yummy affair of salad, pizza, orh lua, and of course, on the way back home, we had to buy Nandos!

22 June, Fri - Day 7, Melbourne

Today's plan was snow play at Lake Mountain. Lake Mountain was a 2 hour drive away, so we had wanted to start out early so that we could get back before it gets dark, which happens at about 5 plus.

But with such wonderful weather, the kids woke up late again and by the time we were ready to head out, it was already past noon.

By the time we got our rental snow gear and reached Lake Mountain, it was already 3pm! So we gave ourselves a maximum of an hour to play in the snow, return the gear and then head back home. Check out the scenery at Lake Mountain....just beautiful!



Making Ice Kachang



Dinner was pho yet again (we never get sick of it!). This time at Box Hill. Then it was off for dessert just down the road. Unfortunately, this place didn't serve iced desserts, cos as the waitress told us, "It's winter. It's too cold for iced desserts." We were like, "Huh???" Anyway their red bean pancakes and waffles pretty much made up for it.

21 June, Thur - Day 6, Melbourne

Another fun day for the kids.

Today's plan was to head to Chesterfield Farm where the kids could feed the animals and go on tractor rides. The weather was too cold again cos of the wind. But I think they had fun nonetheless.

Then it was back home for steamboat dinner prepared by Uncle Jerry! Steamboat is heavenly in temperatures of 6 degress celsius!

20 June, Wed - Day 5, Melbourne

Rain! And a long drawn one at that. Kept us in most of the day.

We had planned to go to Lake Mountain for some snow, but the weather did not permit. Ended up shopping at Knox City for some shopping at K Mart. Ended up buying things we didn't pick out. Didn't realise it till we unpacked the bags back home! Kaitlyn had picked out 2 extra tees! Then I recalled that she was having a whale of a time picking and putting things in the trolley. We initially pulled out the items she put in, but totally missed out on these 2!

When we got back, I was browsing through some catalogues that came in the mail. There was a sale at Target beginning tomorrow! Then my cousin Steph mentioned that the sale starts tonight actually. So we made plans to meet at Target, Knox City after dinner.

Dinner was at a Chinese noodle and dumpling restaurant at Bayswater. Then it was off to Target for more shopping! Kieran had already picked out what he wanted from the catalogue and was holding on to the catalogue all evening. So we eventually lugged this all the way back!

My husband thinks I'm mad. But Kieran gave up a Thomas tent for this! So he must really like it right? Kaitlyn enjoys it too! And with another one on the way, it's really the cost spread out by 3, no?

19 June, Tues - Day 4, Melbourne

Puffing Billy was the plan for today. We drove to Belgrave Station to catch the 1215 train for a 1.5hour train rider to Lakeside Station. It was freezing cold as we were in an open windowed carriage. Kaitlyn fell asleep. Kieran, with his love for trains (what more steam engines which resembled Thomas and his friends) thoroughly enjoyed it.

Honestly, if it were just Ron and I, we wouldn't have planned a ride on Puffing Billy. We got all sooty and there was really nothing much to do at Lakeside Station before catching the train back to Belgrave. The things we do for our kids. Thing we never thought we would. :) But the smile that our sacrifices put on their faces is just priceless.



Waiting for the train to depart at Belgrave Station



The Steam Engine we took

18 June, Mon - Day 3, Melbourne

Drove to the city today to visit the Melbourne Aquarium as we weren't sure if we sould make it to Phillip Island with weather so cold. So a visit to the aquarium would at least satisfy the kiddos' penguin viewing ( and it's prob closer than they can get to the penguins at Phillip Island anyway).

And then Kaitlyn decided to pull a starfish out of the water!

Then it was back to Olga Street for a nap.

Dinner was home cooked chinese food by my aunt. Yummers!

17 June, Sun - Day 2, Melbourne

Still recovering and adjusting from the time difference and lovely weather, the kids slept till almost 12 noon! As such, today was again spent just shopping at Knox City.

Dinner with my aunt, uncle, cousin Steph and her husband James at Glen Waverly. Had crab noodles, then headed to Dessert Story nearby for dessert.

Waiting for dessert.....

Strawberry Snow Ice has to be Kieran's all time favourite, even in the freezing cold weather!

16 June, Sat - Day 1, Melbourne

After a horrifying plane ride of puking, crying and pooping, we finally arrived at Melbourne at 6am on the morning of 16 June.

This was the start of a totally no-itinerary-planned holiday. It was planned as such, cos with a 1.5 year old and an almost 3 year old, we decided to play by ear.

So we arrived at Uncle Jerry's and Aunty Puay's and planned our itinerary, or what we could. No typical visits to the Great Ocean Road or Yarra Valley as most couples would have planned....it was a totally kiddy itinerary. Still fun nonetheless. :)

Today, we set aside for recovering from the plane ride with a little bit of shopping at Knox City, Vietnamese Pho at Bayswater for lunch and Nando's chicken for dinner (the peri peri sauce is yummers!).

Check out how knocked out they were on the car ride from the airport back to Olga Street.

Reminded Again....

....why I do not like Hong Kong.

At the end of Jan, Ron and I took a short trip to Macau. Just the two of us. It was a good break after Kieran's birth. The time alone was great. The destination however, left much to be desired.

We stationed ourselves at Macau and took day trips to Zhuhai and Hong Kong. I've never been a fan of Hong Kong. Each time I go, I come back telling myself I won't go again anytime soon. Shopping is pricey. Maybe cos I compare it to shopping in Bangkok. Food isn't that great. Perhaps we didn't know where to go. But then, I have friends telling me they eat at any random stall and it's great! Funny. And needless to say, the place was sardine-packed with China, which was quite a big piss-factor. Ironically though, we enjoyed ourselves most in Zhuhai, China China.

Macau was slightly better than Hong Kong, but quite a bore if you're not a gambler. Of course we visited the famous ruins of St Paul's at Senado Square.

Full of loud-talking, shoving people. And I think because the Lunar New Year is nearing, St Paul's got a bit of cheena touch to it. There was a little prayer room (there's a proper name for it but I can't remember it) at the top of St Paul's.

Gives you quite a peaceful and serene feeling, no? Managed to get a shot without loud-talking, shoving people in there. I think it's cos majority of loud-talking, shoving people do not follow the Christian faith. Oh, and there were some remains (bones) in this room. So again, I think loud-talking, shoving people are very supertitious and "pantang", so they "siam" this room. :)

"When you go to Macau, you MUST stay at the Venetian Macau. Or at least visit it." people say. So the husband and I paid it a visit on our last day. Boy, were we glad we didn't get conned by all those promotions online to stay there.

Looks so very pretty right? Honestly, save the money and hop over to Genting. Same atmosphere. Sardine packed with people.

The sky ceiling bit? Pay a little more and visit Venus Fort in Tokyo. Same setting with a better experience.

What's a visit to Macau without gambling right? Being non-gamblers and knowing that casinos are a likely-lose-money place, we reserved our gambling to the last 10 minutes prior to checking out of out hotel on the slot machines. The minimum stake on the machine we chose was HK$0.10 (S$0.02). In that 10 minutes, we made HK$50 (S$10). Not too bad right, for such small stakes. And unlike gamblers who get hooked and play on, we took the money and left. Left HAPPILY for the airport. HAPPY to be heading home. :)

Tokyo, Day 5

Gotemba Premium Outlets. Pretty much the whole day was spent here. Had to catch the bus fron Shinjuku Station at 930am and reached Gotemba at 1110am exactly as scheduled. Loads of branded stuff here at highly discounted rates. Left the place at 430pm and headed back to Shinjuku station where we had a yakitori dinner.

We happened to chance upon this alley and decided to order 2 sets of yakitori to try. Pretty decent save for its cost. Run by a Taiwanese/Chinese (China one), we got ripped off. (So I think it's China one). Paid 4,400 yen for 12 sticks of yakitori, 2 beers and 4 seats. Yes, we had to pay for the seats! And even then it was a squeeze at a table meant only for 2. Each seat cost us 3oo yen.

Thank goodness we only ordered 2 sets, which left us with space for sushi, which we bought from the supermarket and ate back at the hotel.

Tokyo, Day 4

Thankfully the weather was good today.

We started the morning at Ginza and spent the afternoon at Shibuya and Harajuku.

Ginza
Stopped by Sony Building at Dad's request to check out the showrooms.

The streets of Ginza were closed to cars today and lined with branded shops. We walked around Mitsukoshi departmental store, where I managed to get my Blueberry Blue Label handbag. Didn't buy very much at Ginza, except for a blouse at H&M.

Shibuya
After Ginza, we took a train to Shibuya. We walked Shibuya Center Town - the busiest part of Shibuya. One can get lost just crossing the traffic junction! The main streets and alleys are lined with shops popular among the young. A little like Far East in Singapore.

Harajuku
Like Shibuya, Harajuku is filled with trendy shops catering to the young. Check out some of the people there...


Headed back to Shinjuku for dinner at the noodle stall near the hotel.

Tokyo, Day 3

Following Father Giao Gui's instructions, we took a train train to Shiodome and then changed to the Yurikamome line (a monorail) which would take us to Odaiba. Odaiba isn't on the Tokyo Subway Route map - told you the whole thing was complicated.

The monorail actually travels under a suspended bridge known as the Rainbow Bridge. It's quite an amazing structure.

Upon reaching Odaiba, we walked around Aqua City and had lunch there. One one particular floor (think it was the 5th), there are 6 outlets serving ramen from various parts of Japan (Sapporo, Nigata, Tokyo, Tokushima, Hakata). Pretty yummy, except that the ramen we had was the fat yelllow mee kind, which isn't exactly my favourite.



After lunch, we took a walk to Palette Town, whose main attractions are the shopping malls. Venus Fort is structured to look like a medieval European town. Lots of shops and a mini casino. There's also a giant ferris wheel at Palette Town.

Within Venus Fort itself, there's a shop specially catered to selling pet stuff and pets. Check out these 2 cuties we saw there!


It's nice to know that the Japanese really love their dogs - these 2 have got bling bling on them! And I realised that the Japs have a preference for French Bulldogs, Poodles, Corgis and Long-haired Daschunds.

We left Odaiba and headed off for Roppongi. I think Roppongi is overrated. Nothing much to see. Perhaps its was also the weather that dampened our moods. It was raining the WHOLE day.

Let's hope it's better tomorrow.

Tokyo, Day 2

Woke up at 9am this morning and headed out for Asakusa.

When I first saw the Japanese subway maps, I commented that it was confusing and purplexing. Many said, 'No, it's very comprehensive'. I've had my first experience on the trains and I beg to differ. They ARE complicated. So we ended up just checking with the station master each time we were headed somewhere. Not fun. Anyway, we covered 3 places today - Asakusa, Ueno and Akihabara.

Asakusa
The main attraction at Asakusa is Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street that leads to it. The street sells all the typical Japanese tidbits from Mochi and rice crackers to kimonos that all cost a bomb.

Asakusa itself is nice, as it has a feel of olden Japan. Lunch was at another vending ticket outlet. This time we had noodles. Nothing to shout about though, but Dad liked it. Seriously, I think the food tasting better than Jap food in Singapore is really due to the weather. In such cold weather, any hot soupy dish would deem yummy, right? You see that long brownish stuff in the soup? It smells and tastes like fart! I thought it was the usual pickle but it's not! Ok, ok I don't know how fart tastes like, but it sure left a farty after-smell when you bite into it.

Ueno

Ameyoko must be Ueno's main attraction - mainly streets selling dried food stuff, tid bits and clothes. I managed to get another jacket at just 1000 yen (about S$15). RT managed to get some tops from Adidas and Asics at a steal too. This place is a little like Chatuchak in BKK. Except that in Chatuchak, they don't charge you S$8 for an apple, S$1 PER strawberry. Not a punnet hor, A SINGLE STRAWBERRY. For a papaya, it's about $10 a piece, and a watermelon one third the size of what you get in Singapore costs about S$10.

As I'm typing this, I'm eating a White Peach Jelly, probably going to be my source of fruit while I'm here. With fruits costing like that, I think the Japs need to be eating loads of vegetables. Or they can forget about removing their bowels!

Akihabara

Dad wanted to see this place - where all the electronics stuff is sold. So we dropped by the area for a bit. Honestly, all these gadgets don't interest me at all. Tried looking for the Naruto masks as the toy shops, but didn't find them again. The Japanese' fascination with toy figurines is another fascination which is beyond me.

Met the Giao Gui family for dinner back at Shinjuku. Katsu rice at Suzuya. This katsu is apparently the only one of its kind in Tokyo - served on a hotplate and then you pour green tea over the rice or the pork.

After dinner, we walked through Kabukicho. Popped into one of their outlets, which isn't really the outlet. Father Giao Gui explained that it's just a shop front, with computer terminals for the selection of the girls. Once selected, Mr Hamsup is led to another place where the girl is.

Walked over to Krispy Kreme to get some doughnuts. Funny thing is, the minute you're in the queue, you're offered a doughnut free! So in total we had 6 free doughnuts and bought paid only for the 8 we bought. Japanese hospitality.

Tokyo!

Probably my last trip before I deliver. For just $622 per pax, we experienced our first ride on the A380. Honestly, it didn't feel much different from the Boeing 747. Then again, we weren't on the suites.

It got us to Narita airport ahead of schedule though. Which was probably a good thing as we didnt have to wait long for the Airport Limousine. The Airport Limousine is actually a bus, and it cost us 3000 yen (approximately S$50) each - the first indication of how expensive things were in Japan.

After slightly over an hour's bus ride to Shinjuku Washington Hotel, we left our baggage at the reception as check in was only at 2pm. We spent the next 2 hours or so at Times Square Takashimaya and had a lunch of beef rice at "Song Wu" - one of those vending machine lunch outlets. Lunch was not too bad. Headed back to the hotel to check in, slept for about 2 hours and then headed back out to shop again at Shinjuku area and meet Mother Giao Gui and Baby Giao Gui for dinner. Bought myself a light jacket as when evening came, I realised what I had brought along wasn't sufficient.

Dinner had to be the highlight of the day - extremely yummy sukiyaki at this restarurant in Shinjuku called Na Be Zo. For 1900 yen (about S$30) per person, it was free flow of beef and pork and vegetables for 90 minutes.

After dinner, we headed to Yodobashii to get see if we could get the Naruto masks which RT's nephew and niece wanted. Didn't find the masks, but found these 200 yen toy dispensing machines. We were told Baby Giao Gui was fascinated with the machines, especially the Am Pan Man ones. The Japanese fascination with these machines escapes me, but the fascination with Am Pan Man, I can understand. He's quite cute leh. And I think it's also because I like eating Am Pan (red bean bun). Check our Baby Giao Gui - she looks like a fuji apple! Think it's got something to do with the air in Japan.

After that, it was back to the hotel. We were all dead beat. Hotel room is a tad small, but nonetheless comfortable. There's even a massage chair! Great after a whole's day's walking.

Long Overdue Egypt Pics

We've been back more than 2 weeks. These are way overdue. But the thought of having to resize the pitcures before uploading them put me off. Ha.

Here are some of the pictures. No everyday-diary-like-detailed entries simply cos it's been too long and yes, I'm lazy. If it were a short trip like BKK, I might still do it. Anyway, here we go...

The Pyramids of Giza....extremely picturesque from this angle. Amazing how people in ancient times managed to complete these.

The Sphinx - Man head lion body - the Guardian of the Pyramids.

Sunrise from our room on the cruise by the River Nile....

The Temple of Philae - one of the many temples we visited. It's a little like the Cambodia trip. After a while, temple fatique sets in. You see one and you've seen them all.

Some coloured carvings still left after the thousands of years...

An oasis in the middle of the desert...

and part of the arduous journey through the desert...

Part of our Bedouin dinner under the stars being prepared by the Bedouins (people who live in the desert) - roasted baby lamb and their "pita" like bread. Served with Hibiscus tea.

And one of the most uncomfortable modes of transport ever! A short novelty ride in the city of Aswan was fine. But to take one of these for an hour up Mount Sinai was ass-breaking!


Sunrise and the mountainous view from the peak of Mount Sinai. WE woke up at 1230AM, took the camel for an hour or so, trekked up the remaining way of Mt Sinai, reached the peak at 530 am in the morning just for these!


And then we trekked down another 3 hours or so to the foot of Mt Sinai to visit the monastery of St Catherine where we saw the site of the trsnsfiguration.