cong a.k.a jordana site of me and updates (will change soon)

The frightening day we had the day before brought some chilly story to tell from my mum. She told us someone was knocking on the hotel room door in the middle of night for a period of time. And she kept seeing the photographs at S21 in her mind. Well, again, like we always do, we have to brush all that aside with excuses of fatigue and imaginations.

Final day of the tour. We were suppose to have free time for the whole day till we report to the airport. However, what was supposed to have 2 shopping trips in local markets the day before was being postponed to this final day as the guide told us visiting them in the morning is more bearable when comes to the rising temperatures.

No transport for us except to the airport, so we crammed inside the Toot toot and went to Russian Market. Russian Market is like our old style wet market, but more cramped and sells more varieties of souvenirs and apparels. The purse I was looking for as souvenir for someone since Siem Reap was no longer in sight. I should have bought it in Siem reap. But I bought 2 t-shirts for my buddies as well as 1 for myself.

Next we depart for Central Market, newly renovated. It is spacious and roughly sells the same things. The crowds were considerably lesser though. It was more of a sight seeing trip for me while my sisters and mother did the majority of the shopping. No surprise!

I was quite looking forward to the lunch as it was not planned for us. With the tour guide recommending the local favourites, he brought us to a small eatery and tried our taste buds with wild boar meat (still rather familiar as we used to eating in relatives’ house in Malaysia) and rabbit meat cooked in green spicy and sour soup (or green tom yam). I have had rabbit meat before in my visit to Beijing ages back and to Vietnam 3 years back. I thought they were delicious and taste like chicken. But that huge pot of soup were only half a rabbit worth of meat inside, we were told.

Not long, we were due for the airport check in. Some last few glances of the surroundings before the facades of airport appear before me. The feelings sucks. I had that in Perth, I had it again in Phnom Penh. And to think I have to used what I once told someone to look forward to the next holiday in dismissing such shitty feelings to myself. Boo.

More of the photos can be viewed at my facebook album.

Slept at 12+ past midnight (local time), woke up at 5+am. The day began very early, as we need to catch a coach taking us across the country to Phnom Penh. With everything readied and packed the night before, checking out the hotel was a breeze.

The 6 hours of coach ride was unfelt. Majority of the duration I had my earphones plugged in. Neither the sceneries of crops and agriculture outside the window nor the hilarious DVD the coach was showing interest me. My neck was stiffed, my mind was clear. Semi-conscious state again, yet I can see you so clearly in my mind.

Having just a stopover between a 6-hour ride was an ordeal especially when my bladder was filling up. Sharing a coffee with my dad midway at the break did more harm than keeping me awake. I rather snoozed deeply.

Phnom Penh is a crowded city. Traffic is packed and the air was more polluted than Siem Reap’s. Paces of life are a tad more upbeat than Siem Reap’s counterparts as well. Of course, what is indifferent was the delicacies Phnom Penh too could offer. Despite the lunch being one of the most unmemorable, it was still good nonetheless. So it was new City, new environment, and not to forget, new mini van and driver, as well as new tour guide for the rest of the days!

First stop of visit at Phnom Penh was the National Museum. All the triads and sculptures and statues I so used to seeing in my Asian Art Textbook just came alive in front of me. Although they were not exactly (still Buddhas though) what I was studying for the past semester, they are still similar in their appearances and functions which was not hard for me to draw references. I was also able to make comparisons. No longer am I restricted to small black and white photographs of the monuments with italic captions. What was described as 3m tall, you just gotta see it for yourself!

The next stop was the trip further down the district to the Royal Palace. Palaces, libraries (huge), offices (huge), temples (huge) etc, all are for the current aristocracy family. Gloriously built, the compound no doubt is gigantic, thus the reason and capability catering for tourism. Not much to describe my visit there as it concerns the royalty. The locals, the tour guide included, are at more suitable position to really give an insight details. *~gasps~* *~gasps~* Reactions of amazement were some of my reactions. Anyway, the King was there at that period while we were there, as the flag raised gave the signal. We just did not manage to catch sight of him. I cannot imagine if everyday throngs of strangers from everywhere the world would walk around my block. How great it is to be a King?

Final destination of the day was to the Casino! Naga Casino is an entertainment centre in the city district of Phnom Penh. Own time own target, we were “slotted” 1.5 hours there by our tour guide. After my first visit to Genting Casinos, I kinda feel it is a must to play a simple game of jackpots whenever there is a chance to enter a casino. Until Singapore Integrated Resorts are completed, which I do not think I might step in, the feelings of having some possibilities of cash returns in a holiday trip just tickles the euphoric senses, yeah?

I selected a machine based on my satisfactory level on the graphics. A visual person, yeah I know. Then my sister and I were procrastinating over the need to covert 5 USD1 to 1 USD5! Goodness. When I was back from asking the staff on our query, my dad and mum, who were wandering around as a pair reappeared. Conveniently, my dad sat on the machine I chosen. After our queries were solved as I explained to them what I was told, my dad began the game. If he was only going to get 3 tries, he still won it. USD150 windfall poured on him on the 3rd spin of the jackpot machine! A capital of USD5 won him USD150! And the conclusion? IT COULD HAVE BE ME! But, well, that is gamble. 50-50. Win-lose. Yes-no. Simple.

My small bet of USD5 won me nothing, despite tries on 2 different machines. But it was still fun at the casino, except the crowd was not as spectacular as Genting. So a high-tea at the cafeteria outside the casino was on the treat by my dad. Nice cake, nice mousse, and an awesome Singapore Sling for me!

The high tea did not allow much space for our dinner. However delicious the dishes were, we tried our best. Guilt again.

The night was an early retirement to the bed, but another late eventual sleep. I was missing someone then.

2nd day in Phnom Penh brought us to another highlight of the trip. A tragic event of recent Cambodian History, we would be visiting sites related to the Khmer Rouge era.

For those who knew the history behind this (what I would say is a forgotten history, similar to Korea war), Khmer Rouge was the period of 3 years regime during the last 3 years of the 1970s which brought terrible terrible terrible terrible and endless terrible sufferings to the locals as well as a portion of Vietnamese. A socialist state government headed by the notorious Pol Pot, this heinous devil in a human skin ruler practically masterminded the massacre of roughly 3 millions plus people, all within that period of 3 years. To cut long story short, without him, 3 millions plus innocents lives would not be lost. Why he did that? Probably Hitler who were similarly psychotic could answer that.

So tourism spots related to Khmer Rogue were no doubt about deaths, unfortunately. The first stop for us was the Killing Fields. An approximately 30 minutes drive away from our hotel brought us to this cold (not that the blazing sun was not hot), barren parchy land enclosed with fences and walls. Inside the compound we saw a few more excursions buses. A short walk up from the main entrance stood a notice, first of the handful around, telling us what could have happened 30 years back when the innocents were truck-loaded there. But the tower ahead of us caught most people eyes as the central column could be viewed from the outside with the glass windows. Inside the columns were all bones and skulls and remains of the dead and tortured. We bought a flower and some incense, a mandatory rite in my own opinion but not compulsory, and pay our respect to the deceased. It was just so silent.

Walking around the tower we could have a closer look at the remains. Visible fractures, holes, missing fragments could be seen on skulls. A cabinet of the clothes they once used to wear was kept inside as well. More information notices were placed around the tower for the visitors. If the piling skulls and bones were overwhelming, wait till we walked around the complex with our guide.

He brought us around certain paths and areas where more signboards were erected. Those were the prominent spots where the executors carried out their torturings. NC16 content follows. Basic tools like mallets, spades, hammers etc were the executing tools. They scraped, knocked, stabbed and whatever hideous methods they could think of to the prisoners. No guns and bullets. Genders and age groups were separated. Babies were grabbed by their feet and smashed the whole body against the hard tree trunk. There is a type of tree growing in large numbers in Cambodia that has razor sharp and saw-like leaves. Such strong and hard leaves were used to saw the throat of the prisoners as well to drip the blood dry.

Pit holes are commonly seen in the Killing Fields. They were dug for the remains we saw inside the tower. I suspect everywhere we were stepping on there were human remains a few feet below. The guide told us the government has already stopped digging. 3 millions plus of lives. And this is just one of the Killing Fields.

Our faces were all stone-etched from the visit. Basically it was just unimaginable such inhumane acts could be committed. Guess what, the age of those executors then were only 13-15 years old! Oh my god!!

Anyway,  a visit to a temple and lunch was sandwiched in between this trip and another Khmer Rouge site. It was not too far away from our hotel either (jeeze). We were brought to the S21, a secondary school-turned torturing site for the young bastards before they finished them at various Killing Fields.

The place was cold, again, if you get what I mean. Eerie, terribly eerie. This would really be a true gut-test for people comes at night, not that it is opened at night.

A block of the school had individual classrooms locked for single prisoner. Inside each and every room was a bed frame without mattress, a crowbar and a shackle. Plus, on the wall was a framed photograph of what we might expect to see for a tortured inmate. A brief idea on what was done to them, NC16 content follows. Prisoners were first beaten, battered and chained-locked to the bed with chains on their wrists. Shackles were locked to their feet. Terrible thing was, the shackles were one size fits all. So if the ankle was too small to fit, they would be whacked by bars until they were swollen and too big to slide out. If they were too huge to fit through, they would be sliced by knives till the size fits in. Torturing continues with whatever tools the executors were happy with. Scalding, whipping, tearing, I could not bear to think of more action words to describe. One photograph on the wall, take a deep breath,  showed a man helplessly strapped with the skin of his face totally torn off, revealing the skull-like features, with him still alive. Oh my oh my. Sigh.

Blood stains were everywhere within the building. The ceilings stains were especially obvious. Stairways up to the higher storeys showed the path of blood once dripped. The whole place still reeks of pungent blood smells if you are sensitive enough to pick up, especially on such hot and humid day we visited, no joke.

Other blocks have barb wire erected on the front of the whole building, so as to prevent prisoners from committing suicide and ending a fast death. Other rooms were partitioned with bricks to create toilet cubicles-like spaces, only wide enough to stand 3 adults I reckon, for holding prisoners. Photographs of the victims, before and after (considerably lesser) were shown on big panels. Even the young executors brained washed to carrying out these crimes were shown. Totally appalled.

Illustrations were put up too to give visitors a better idea on what nasty things were done. Fingers (not nails) were snipped off, nipples of women were snipped off, centipedes were sent to crawl on these open wounds etc.

Such visual attacks of these gruesome acts were guilty enough, and more so with me describing. The actual performances by the adolescents seemingly in all too common fashion without any sense of human compassion is just sheer bewildering.

The last activity of the day was spent on a boat cruising down Tonle Sap River (different from Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap), and entering Mekong River. We were told the different colour of the respective rivers would not mixed upon meeting. I did not notice. I did not even know when we had reached Mekong or Tonle Sap. Overall, not much of a difference to the experience we had in Siem Reap, but it was an additional activity not inside the original itinerary. Probably that was needed to draft us away from the solemn day we had from the Khmer Rogue sites we had visited.

More of the photos can be viewed at my facebook album.

Cambodia is 1 hour behind us. But my watch was not synchronised throughout the trip. The feeling of clawing back an additional hour for a holiday trip just seemed so worthwhile, if only the plane did not stop by Danang, Vietnam! So I actually travelled to 2 countries to be exact!

Siem Reap Airport was rather barren. Other than the confusing queues to immigration and transit, the procedures through the customs were swift. We met our tour guide after a short walk out. For the ease of my parents, we had requested for a Mandarin-speaking guide, whom, in the end, spoke majority in Cantonese!

To our delight, we were the only people for that group. So it turned out to be a private tour for the rest of the trip! No waiting for others, no sharing of food with others. From transportation to food to explanations, we would be the only personnels catered! Glee!

A lunch buffet greeted us immediately after departure from airport. I should not have taken that much from the SilkAir meal if I had known! My worse regret was not having the ice-cream, nowhere available in the subsequent buffets we gonna have. Yes, there were more buffets in the coming days! We were brought back to our hotel by the mini van after our lunch for some rest before embarking on our first stop, a boat ride through Tonle Sap Lake.

A rough ride to Tonle Sap Lake exposed us to both the rich and the poor. Huge mansions could stand tall on one side of the road, while rough compromises they called "roof" with poor sanitations could exist by the shore of canals and streams on the other side. Harsh reality it might seem. But it is no wonder there is always a tinge of envy, no matter how minute, for city dwellers like us, on the carefree life they lead.

Prior to boarding the boat, and as we would soon find out in subsequent arrival or departure of certain tourism spots, hordes of dishevelled locals, nevermind the age, would cluster around us for donations. Part of the reason my Dad was so eager to change his USD into the local currency was to give out donations he sees prompt along the way. The problem, we knew long ago, was that such actions only invited more begging.

The boat ride was rather monotonous. What were interesting are the settlements peppered around the lake. They are literally living on a river without much proper sanitations and accomodational structures. The kids could not care less. Naked and bare-footed, they roll, they swim, they chase within the mud and in the water. Could one’s wealth buy that? They are not worse than any of us in fact, for they are kicking and alive, YET happy. Who is the winner?

Skiing along the lake brought us to a "kelong-stop", which frankly speaking I am totally clueless about the existence of that stop and the reason for it. Alligators (or crocodiles, I could not tell the difference) are bred there, maybe as a source of food. But what I know was that the snack we had during the stop over was rather unforgettable! Steamed (presumbly) mini-prawns, or shrimps! Simply delicious! Fresh and sweet. The aromatic juice of the invertebrates sucked together with the special dressing of sort seemingly unique to Cambodia made our day. The dressing’s sharp zing of saltiness and soury bit was sealing perfectly with the seafood flavour of the shrimps.

Nothing special on the way back to boarding of our mini van, except the local kids brought to us shocks of our day. Every individual one of us had our face captured, in the most candid manner, and imprinted onto ceramic saucer plates, with decorative motifs around the photo. Served as a momento, it cost USD3 each. Only my Dad bought his. Brilliance of candids, they are definitely masters in their own rights. I am kinda shell-shocked.

Dinner was too early for the day, so we were brought to a local night market for some light shopping. Understandably, there is always a reason why it was called "night market". People normally would not schedule a night market shopping on a time they already deemed is too early for dinner. Instead of experiencing the bustle of such markets, we had a rather quiet moment to our own. So unique.

Dinner was great. All meals were fantastic throughout the trip. My family thought they were quite oily. I am fine with it. Gigantic servings, we could not finish, we were guilty.

First day was so relax and free. I could not help but compare it to the hectic schedule I had to follow on my Western Australia trip. However, this pace should be suiting my parents quite well. And so the tour guide suggested to us to have some massaging to while away the early night, as well as to prepare our body for the next day taxing timetables of visit to the Ang Kor Wat. I am more tense to hear his suggestion. My slip-disc had given me some of the worse experience and pain I could hardly forget up till my current living meter. The thought of such untimely relapse due to possible "unprofessional" (assumptions) pressings and knucklings on my back was just so unimaginable. Suddenly, family pressure, instead of peer pressure, was something I felt for the first time. As I did not wish to strip away the enjoyment for my family, I agreed to it, ONLY to have it done to my feet.

The parlour (I hope that’s the correct/healthy word) is one of the biggest and "cleanest" in Siem Reap, at least that was what the tour guide told us. They greeted us like VVIPs upon entering and led us to a dim, but huge room, with each individual sections divided with curtains. Males and females are separated only by the curtains. It was a requirement to change into a bathing suit of sort which I did not follow for my feet were the only massagable areas.

In summary, the feeling was good, albeit some postures and massaging techniques were interesting appalling.

Breakfast for 2nd day was simple but good. We had a well-rested night throughout, probably due to the massage, as we start the day fresh visiting a wonder of the world. One of the highlights of the trip, Ang Kor Wat was much eagerly anticipated by all of us.

Ang Kor Wat is astonishingly considered more of an archaelogical site than monument, as we were told, because up till now this wonderful ancient kingdom of temples and cities are still deep in the forest or someway in the ground to be discovered. With that in mind, imagine the extensiveness of the full complete structure if the current, surfaced relics are considered humongous, understandably with visiting pass of up to a week (or a month) for sale.

Sculptures, carvings, statues. All made of stones. Extreme engineering, exemplarary feat, extraordinary architecture… Although I did not bring my photographic sense of sight to this trip (just wanna enjoy holidays with family), the pictures, however mediocre some may be, should still be enough to illustrate the grandeur than sometimes meaningless adjectives.

The whole of 2nd day was nothing but Ang Kor Wat. Maybe to my 2 sisters it might have a little extra. They bought a hat each, to their delight, at one stop-over break at some local roadside stalls. The itinerary ended with a view of the sunset in Siem Reap. What was initially thought to be an excuisite orange yolk setting behind the backdrop of the the famous Ang Kor "skyline" was nothing more than a normal sunset over a generic bird’s eye view of Siem Reap plains. But to count our blessings, the weather had been fantastic for the whole day. Still, the hardwork of trekking up the hill and climbing some steep elevated stone steps to catch something Changi Beach could offer was not comforting, especially for my parents.

Dinner was another buffet! Delicious. Period. The bitter part before the meal was when I realised the ISO setting I was shooting for my Fuji Velvia 100 slides was 1600! Terribly sunken. I specially bought Velvia to test out the rich colour saturation, especially so applicable on days like that when the sky was deep hue of blue with awesome landscapes. And I made this schoolboy (not that I am not a schoolboy) noobish mistake. I was switching between Fuji Neopan 1600 B&W and Velvia 100 as and when the situations called. The ISO setting was totally overlooked because of this! 4 stops of difference! All shots taken at Ang Kor Wat with Velvia were underexposed by 4 crazy stops!! And it was not as if I could always spend the time to reshoot again as and when I could. ARGH!!

There were performances of traditional Cambodian dances during dinner. Graceful.

To cap the night off, Spurs lost 1-0 to Wolves. Unbelievable. I did not have a good night sleep. Too much things on my mind. The need to wake up so early the next day for the trip down to Phnom Penh did not help.

More of the photos can be viewed at my facebook album.

So soon another travel when Western Australia road trip was still etched fresh in my mind. Somehow everythings seemed untimely. Unless I keep this blog private, no point for me to divulge why it was untimely, then no point I would blog in the first place.

Flight timing was damn early, at 7.55am! Check-in timing would mean 5.55am! Choatic waking-up of my family members (yeah, forgot to mention this was a family trip) would thus be 4+am! My mum was the real deal, 3+am alarm clock sounded, when I was just only about to sleep! ZzzZZzzzzZ But no regrets. If you are reading this, I owed you this, “thanks”.

Long check-in queues were no surprise at Terminal 2. My mood and handphone were just as unsettling as the luggages being channelled along the conveyor. No pain no gain, no wait no faith. (No link, so don’t bother)

Wanton mee for breakfast at Terminal 3 seemed to be our ritual when we depart early for holidays in flights. The feelings of going with family members and with friends in travelling are just so different. But I had to be happier for I am together with my dearest people in my life. So shut that particular vacancy in my mind for some days and enjoy the closest companionship my life just got another chance to have, I fxxkingly told myself. I tried.

So preoccupied was I nothing special happened for me to take note of. After some snapping of pictures within the airport, 7.55am sharp SilkAir took off. M1 registered my last SMS 10 minutes prior and boom, airplane mode. Period.

Took no photos at all with my DSLR. All these were courtesy of my sisters’ cameras. Just a wee bit more photos for intro here in my facebook album.

Day 7 was early. I was shivering in bed on the upper deck. I did not bother to check the time. Neither did I bother to find out why the heater below was so poor in keeping me warm, when I thought this last night should be the best I would be spending in Western Australia.

It could not be help I guess. Margaret River was surprisingly cold. The night before while I was out to take stars exposures, I had to don my gloves on, the first occasion in the entire trip for me to do so. It was no doubt warmer in the morning. But our car parked outside the gate returning the key for our early check out said it all. It was like a metal meat brought out of the freezer thawing.

Budgeting done the night before showed us we had quite a substantial amount to spend for this last day before we departed for Singapore at 11.15pm. Good food would be our best bet. Our dinner got to be spent with Lester and Baoqi as well. About a 3-hour journey from Margaret River to Perth with more destinations to reach in between spell out the itinerary in between.

Urban Bean was our breakfast place. Directed again by Lonely Planet, it was an affordable meal, if not a filling meal, in Margaret River. Why I said that was because comparing to Keyuan’s order, Vincent’s and mine looked appetising and fulfilling. Streets were clear, so was the sky. Enjoying the breakfast in the cool sunny morning was heavenly. Talking about blending in with the locals, we seemed to do it at this very last day!

We headed back to the route taking us to Augusta. Although kinda inflexible, our budget allowed us to visit Jewel Cave, which cost AD$19.50 per entry! And Vincent and Keyuan were rather keen to visit. Having visited some caves in China Beijing and Vietnam Halong Bay, I somehow concluded all caves in the world are rather similar. Jewel Caves did not prove my hypothesis wrong either.

Jewel Cave was interesting only because the guide managed to create some interactivity with us by playing with the light switches. Maybe it scored in the area of injecting adventure as well since their walkway constructions were not too easy to navigate. But I was hoping the lightings could be more colourful with variations. It would result in more beautiful photographic shots for the tourists. And this brought me to another issue which disallowed me to use tripod while inside the cave. For what reasons I could not fathom.

Drove back up north again, this time we went to Chocolate Factory. Slowly we began to see more cars gathered. At least we were looking like really visiting some tourism spots. A short tour had to be done. Too much time was spent on Jewel Cave and upon reaching Chocolate Factory it was around 12.35pm. Anyway, it was just like a routine shopping stop with chocolates being the only products found to be purchased. But still, the adults would not mind, much less the kids!

Margaret River region is famous for their wineries. Practically it seemed impossible to gauge which one would be the best to visit with cellars and vineyards scattering so densely around the region. Clairault was what Keyuan chose in the end. Like our visit to the Chocolate Factory, free samples were given. Most will know I am more interested in this than chocolates! Cocktails are my field of interest. For wine, I still have a long way to go to fully understand the appreciation. After 3 samplings of Shiraz, Port and Riesling each, I guessed the owner could tell what a newbie we were.

Packed my Riesling into the car, we wrapped up our journey of Margaret River and continued heading North to Busselton. We looked well on time as it was 1+pm as we left for Busselton. But to reach Perth city around evening at 6+pm, we got to leave where ever we are at 3pm, the latest, and begin travelling back which can take 3+ hours.

The weather had been at its best all day. There was no clouds at all. Absolutely no clouds! Our visit to Busselton Jetty was only spoilt by the ongoing constructions midway through the jetty. If only we could go all the way to the end of the Jetty which was 1.8+km in length, we would be able to proclaim another ‘feat’ of landing ourselves on the ‘Longest Jetty in the Southern Hemisphere’!

There had the most crowd in a place of interest we had seen in our entire travel. As I mentioned earlier, blending in with the crowds was crucial, and especially in travels, you might more often be able to find good stuffs you otherwise might miss in places devoid of humans. So the gems we unearthed was actually ice cream! Held in hand by most people in and out of the jetty, ice cream had become our lunch.

Time was well clocked. Estimated time of arrival showed 6.15pm. We knew we had reached the end of our Southern Curl. Looking at the sceneries passing us as we travelled the final phase of this adventure was a reality strike. The heavenly feel of travel inevitably ends prematurely, always, with a hit of stressful realisation that routines will soon resume. As vistas and lawns of countryside sped past us, I seemed to think the past 7 days had only begun yesterday. You never feel the time until the end of a time frame.

We chased sunset once more on our way back to Perth. I was in 2 minds on where and when to stop along the highway. Either the rays were still harsh on my lens, or the foreground was not as good as the last we past by. I was in contemplation. I mentioned before missing a sunset was not the end of the world. But missing it the last time in Western Australia with time in my control would be a slap in the face. Vincent pulled ahead immediately at my request. After running straight to the fence, shutters were clicking non-stop. I felt I lost a minute or two. A sun setting does so real quick. Half of the ‘yolk’ had already been buried below the horizon. The silhouettes of the trees I loved to include in the frame could only make up that much.

So be it. I knew I cannot expect to be rewarded with such wishy-washiness. For I needed 3 days to fill my 8GB memory card, it took me less than half an hour snapping away a 2GB card inside the car out of the window, with the hope of salvaging some sunset frames. Fat hope.

Arriving at Perth was exciting for the first day. Arriving there again was terrible for the last day. After picking up Lester and Baoqi from their apartment, we cruised to their recommendation site for our dinner. 3 huge pizzas were shared amongst us 1 hour later.

Time was short. Immediately after our dinner, we proceeded to their campus for a shot of group photo in front of the main tower (or hall). It seemed to be a tourist attraction anyway, so why not? Last stop of our tour got to be a finale glimpse of the city we landed. Atop the hills at King�s Park was where everybody jumped about. The excitement was only secondary. Main reason was to fight the chilling wind!

Soon after snapping the night panoramic view of Perth city skyline below, both on my camera and on my mind, another group photo in front of the cityscape was the last frame my camera was exposed for this trip.

All was too familiar back at the airport. Returning the car was so swift we kinda regretted not renting it right from the first day of the tour. Got my liqueur. Checked. No souvenirs to be bought at the airport. Checked. Stomach filled. Not bothering me. The timing of the flight was just nice for me to pay back the sleep debt I was already in at Margaret River.

Day 8 at Changi Airport was cold. Place was cold. People were cold. Probably too early. Still, a quick wash up was done and we proceeded straight for a local breakfast (wanton mee!) after our DFS shopping was done.

My parents were expected to show up, despite my constant persuasion to them that the time could be well spent sleeping at home. I did not like the idea still, as I would be kinda stressful eating my breakfast while they were waiting. Fetching home from holidays at airport seemed like a ritual to them. But you cannot deny the fact of how relieve you will be, seeing your kin at the airport after so long away from home.

To cap this entire tour with a sour note, I lost my ice wine worth S$69! With things happening so fast, I only realised my ice wine was not in the cab after a mile away from the arrival hall. The cab driver was “kind” enough to bring me back, allowing me to ask the uncles handling the trolleys if I missed it there. What I remembered was the driver was very helpful in loading� my luggage up the trunk of the cab and he actually gave the trolley a hard push away. I am quite sure the ice wine was not left there after giving it a second look before I left. I did not doubt the integrity of the staffs at the airport as well. That could only bring the suspect to one person.

I swear the ice wine was in my trolley before I board the cab….

Anyway, last few photos for the final Day 7 & 8 of the trip are here in my Facebook album.

Day 5 began with the appointment with EuropCar, our can rental company. Scheduled to collect it at 8.30am, we did so at 9am. Having settled all the necessary bills and contracts, we packed our bags into the car trunk and rolled out!

Vincent was the sole appointed driver, as Keyuan being the other authorised driver did not bring his license along. It beats me how we actually managed to find a McDonalds for our breakfast, after setting our destination to Albany. Grabbing a bite was the utmost important thing that moment anyway. Mcdonalds� breakfast was good over there!

Hitting the highway soon was expected after our departure from McDonalds, as we sort of used the same routes in and out of Perth city. The definition of highway, as we soon got to understand, was by no means what we so used to seeing in Singapore. The hilarious thing was the detailed route map Vincent spent AD$7 on was left behind in Lester’s house! So in the GPS we trust.

I am the lucky one. Without driving license, I could sleep at the back. For half an hour maybe, after which I woke up, sensing something not so right. In the past few days of travelling in and out of Perth city, we could easily see clear and concise directions to the highways one could be heading. Looking at the map, we should long be driving comfortably on Albany Highway bringing us straight direct to Albany without all the turns. But we did not see any “Albany” written in the signs at all in our close to an hour of drive. Using the route markers as recognition points, it was amazing and astounding we were heading to the Great Eastern Highway!

Continue we went, we had to look for a turn that could diverge our way down southwards, and not eastwards! Luckily with the availability of the maps and brochures we had, though not precise, we at last managed to hit back to the Great Southern Highway which will ultimately connect to the Albany Highway. So slightly over an hour was lost on road we should not be travelling, the distance to cover seems immensely great at 450km+. And furthermore we targeted to visit some places of Albany before sunset. The projected drive-hours was 5+ hours, the time when we got the bearings right was 11.30am.

It was as if we left Perth only around 11+am, from the distance we still have to cover. The roads we travelled on seemed more straight forward. Great Southern Highway it might be called, it was a single-lane two-directional rather straight road after all. However, what was speeding past us began to take away any disgruntles we were making. The landscapes along Great Southern Highway were a joy to see. Wide meadows, long fences, lonely tree patches, countless sheep/cows/horses gazing with occasional looming mountain ranges under the clear skies. Wallpapers sceneries we too often see, they were there for us to be seen! If not for the rushing schedule, I would be taking some photos by the road side.

Continue we went, the journey was smooth sailing. The whole world seemed to be devoid of humans except us. That was how barren most of the roads and towns were most of the time we passed through. York, Beverley, Brookton, Narrogin, Wagin, Broomehill, Mt Barker etc. These are hardly any destinations tourists would normally chart in their itinerary map, unless they are really globe trekker. But they were important milestones to our journey, serving us with petrol as well as directions to our destination. Having security considerations, we did not spend much time idling in each and every town, except for toilet breaks. Time was not on our side anyway!

We were told the temperature would be colder as we head south. How true. Rain clouds were gathering upon reaching Mt Barker, edging closer to Albany. It was 3.30pm. Seemed like the timing was good. Did I leak out the speed which we were travelling in? Oops, fear not. Well within safety limits, Vincent was one seasoned driver. He would be more so after this trip with the mileage clocked. And as we began to find out, the GPS was hell of an accurate device in detecting our arrival time had the destinations being plotted correctly!

Heading straight to Mt Clarence which oversees Albany from atop, it was 4+pm. Light was diffused as clouds layered in front of the setting sun. Patches of land below were lighted up inconsistently. Presumably that was the golden hour for photography, narrow dynamic range of digital camera proved hard to capture the best out of it. Strong wind allowed the trees so much movement considerations for HDR were not ideal. So we shall left our portraits there instead.

Enough of the chilly wind, we rolled out to the next target, Two People’s Bay. These destinations we went were circled in our list of brochures the night before, heeding the recommendations by a tour pamphlet. Maybe the weather conditions were not met, we were actually rather drown with disappointment. But at least that was quite a South-eastern tip of Western Australia we could boast of going, with the 3 of us, apparently, being the only beings there at the corner of the Earth!

Albany Backpackers was the lodging for that night. Listed in Lonely Planet guide book, we headed there straight without looking for others. The town had gone quiet after 6pm, and we were just so hungry and tired after a full day of road tripping to recce for other accommodations for comparisons. Not a bad sleeping place after all. Comfortable and considerate house rules, the first few criteria for a good rest. Wolfing down the pizzas and kebabs was our dinner ritual for that evening.

Day 6 seemed like the actual tour of Albany. We went right away to Albany wind farm after our breakfast. We knew we had too little time to spare for day 6, for so many places had to be visited with so much distance to cover. A detailed timetable was drawn up the night before to keep track of our progress. That was some serious stuff!

Albany wind farm was not too far from our hostel. Our car was again the only vehicle up there. I swear it was a jaw-dropping moment of admiration in awe the second after we stepped out of our car. The wind turbine was planted, inaccessibly,� just approximately some less than 400 metres away from us! The distant I quote seemed faraway, however, do consider how often we see wind turbines standing majestically from afar, which we could only associate them with toys. Now they are right in front of us and we no longer could view them from above, but panning your head vertically up was needed to be amazed at the modern marvel! Like an aeroplane engine, each swipe of the turbine cutting through the air generated so much resistance that monotonous whirlings of “frooomphs” could only further enchant your stay.

(above: simply awesome! Picturesque.)

The wind farm was an unbearable place to leave. I really love that! But I am grateful that we were able to cover this visit as going on the guided tour would miss this completely. Turning back the route to where we came, it was not long before we reached the Blowhole. A long walk in was tiring, after much morning energy was spent at wind farm, much less with the presence of strong wind resistance. Standing atop the cliffs overlooking the Southern Ocean, it was dangerous, to say the least, after exclaiming it was beautiful. Advancing to the Blowhole needs all the extra care you will need, since a slip could be fatal. The steep drop which was obscured from your view together with thunderous slapping of waves against the rocks, was the worse of a hell you could land in this heavenly view, if you are not careful.

Too bad the Blowhole was not blowing on our visit. It should be, on occasions when currents bring the water spewing out of the rocks opening, like what a whale would do during their gaseous exchange. So we advanced to the nearby Gap and Natural Bridge. Rocks and cliffs again. Spectacular again as well. It would be a Geography blog if I go on to explain. Pretty self explanatory, and to put it simply and shocking, part of what we stood there was a jigsaw piece to another mass in Antarctica. Our mighty beloved Earth was the architect.

Revving up, it would be another long drive to the next destination, the Valley of the Giants. Away from the coast, but not away from the towering structures. Located in between Denmark and Wapole, west of Albany, we stopped over at Denmark, to my delight, for lunch. Initially we wanted to skip Denmark altogether, luckily we did not. I like the presence of cafes peppering around the relaxing region. We had our lunch over at one which was given by Lonely Planet as the best coffee served around there. Satisfying.

Entering into a world akin to the Lord of the Rings, the Valley of Giants houses a tree-top walk amongst the bi-centennial trees around the forested South of Western Australia. AD$8 for the entrance fee, it was a rather quick walk for us. Although we were at the highest point of 40 metres, the trees were still much taller! Do not look down for those scared of heights! Photographing opportunities with the “Tree Ents” were not to be missed back to ground level!

Pemberton was along the way to our venture westward. More magnificent trees could be seen there, as told by Troy. However, after spending too much time looking for the 48km drive-through which promised us of the glorious view, we had to think ahead and scrape the idea. Next 150+km to Augusta was crucial. It was 3.30+pm.

We wanted to go Cape Leeuwin. We had to be there by sunset to see, of course the sunset. By geographical theory, it should be the best so far in this trip for the sight, as it is situated at the South-western tip of a peninsular of the continent, Australia. Looking out is where the 2 oceans, Indian and Southern Oceans meet! A sight to behold, a breath to hold, as the time of arrival shown on the GPS was 5.48pm. Gasp!

After 5.13pm, the car was silent. Music was apparently loud. Vincent was driving a little bit faster. Time of arrival did not show much of an earlier time, 5.46pm. I expected we would miss the “yolk” of the sun completely, thus I could only hope the tinge of emerald and violet, which was harder to come by after sunset, to appear for that few seconds, at least. Sky was getting darker quick, our “yolkset” was viewed inside the car while travelling. With vistas completing the picture at least, it was still an awesome sight to remember.

The GPS was damn accurate! We hated it for that moment. Rushed down to the shore, my camera was already mounted to the tripod. Trigger, shutter, ISO, aperture, bracketing. I hated that inner soul of myself so obsessive of capturing that shot. I regretted not sparing some seconds to partake in the enjoyment of differentiating and viewing the vastness of the 2 Oceans.

Another blessing in disguise was installed, seemingly. As we travelled up north to Margaret River for the night, 30 minutes drive away, the mere 6.37pm was a completely darkness there. Trees were no longer accompanying us in the journey, the stars did. Thousands and millions of stars did! Even the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way did! Part of my lifelong wish was granted.

I might have missed the Oceans, the Milky Way was a pleasant surprise. Not enough of making exposures by the roadside en route to Margaret River, I took some more in the cold outside our hostel, Margaret River YHA, after settling down. The roads were pitch dark, though behind me was the bustling of the house mates. I was not alone; Keyuan joined me soon after. Still, under the Milky Way, I was not alone. My mind was full of people I could thought of. I really wished they were here, you were there, to share the sight with me. It was unexpected of me to see the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way first. I could never able to describe that purest of joy here in this blog.

More photos for Day 5 & 6 are here in my Facebook album.

Day 3 was the beginning of the 2 guided tours we pre-booked online from Planet Tours. The 1st was a day of travelling up north to the Pinnacle Desert, Cervantes area, Caversham Wildlife Park, together with some fun of sand-boarding and 4WD thrill rides around the sand dunes. 2nd was 3 days tour of down the South-western region, visiting the likes of Albany, Augusta, Denmark, Wapole, Margaret River and Busselton etc. This 2 trips allowed the fees to be paid at a combo rate of AD$551. Paid fully upfront via credit card, these 4 days were the highlights of this tour down Western Australia. And so we thought.

That morning itself was drizzling already. Bad start, bad omen. It was directed to us through email that we should be waiting near All Seasons Perth Hotel, which was located just the corner off our hostel. Timing confirmed was 6.50am. The wait became unbearable, for the rain brought the chilling wind as well. However, the main concern was the bus to pick us up was nowhere to be seen. 7am, we had to split up stationing at some distances away from each other in order to catch sight of any bus. Keyuan had to call the agency, something they should be doing instead, to make sure we did not miss the bus. 7.15am, a huge posh coach with digital signage showing “Pinnacle Tours” arrived. There it was. Confirmation with the driver the was swift, but news from Keyuan came a bad reply from the agency.

Anyway, the trip for that day had no effect from what was a let down from Planet Tours. Just that they told Keyuan the timing for pick up should be 7.10am. Darn! A notification should have been feedback to us the day before when Keyuan made the 1st call to them at AQWA for a confirmation of the tours! A 2nd period of waiting was when our coach met up with 2 more coaches near the city centre, reshuffling the groups of tourists between them. Dozing off inside the coach was just too natural for me.

First stop was the the Caversham Wildlife Park, where we would see native animals of Australia, kangaroos, koalas and wombat. Seeds were given to us from the park trainer to feed the kangaroos. Food was a real draw for them. Without food, it would hard to be taking pictures together with them. But they do look amusing close up! So cute!

Next was the wombat. Looks like a wild boar to me in some ways, the interaction with it was only taking photos together. So for wombat, and the trainer carrying it, it was a morning of being a star!

Lastly, koalas were the limelight stealers. However, they did not bother at all. Because all were sleeping! So many of us travelled from other continents just to see them yet they faced us with their backs! Ha. Anyway, some were huge. Touching them would not wake them up, for they were so deep in their “drunken state”. Well, how precious was that touch.

So the meeting of the native animals only lasted 45 minutes. The next 2+ hours drive was to the Pinnacle Desert which included a stop by a coast. A 1 hour break by a tavern at Cervantes was where we had our lunch, comprises of hams, bread, salads, potatoes and fruits. Meanwhile, a call had to be made to Planet Tours again for a confirmation of the 3 days Southern Curl the next day. The public phone just had no dial tone. Just do not allow the worse to happen, I hoped.

Another 45 minutes drive from our lunch destination finally reach the awaited Pinnacle Desert! The weather had been so unpredictable along the journey after our Caversham Wildlife Park that I had lost count of the number of times we encountered storms. Like the rain, sunshine comes as quickly as it goes away. However, chalked up the chart of luckiness, we scored again. Superb blue skies with fantastic cloud formations followed after a slight drizzle. We moved the slowest, hence we were the last in the group, as they were leaded upfront to the high point. You can see why from the pictures. Can you see any others in our frames?

Another 1+ hours drive brought us near Lancelin. Sand boarding and 4WD thrill were the last of the activities for the day. Clouds had already gathered with rain looking impending. Split into 2 groups amongst ourselves, we started with sand boarding. Fun was going down, not so fun heading up, with feet sunken in sands up the elevation. 3 tries were enough of timing for the groups to swap activities. Seated at the last row of the 4WD minibus, the excitement was top draw. Braking midway down the dunes was simply exhilarating, and only until the wheels rolled again suddenly completes the adrenaline rush. A chance was given for us to alight and take pictures of the bus hanging. I sought the thrills.

Keyuan brought us bad news after a confirmation call was made to Planet Tours immediately we alighted from the coach at the end of the day. The 3 days Sothern Curl was cancelled, due to reasons being 3 of us were the only 3 in the package for that day. How nice of them to tell us by way of us calling them, again! And we thought they confirmed the tour was ongoing the very first time we called! With alternatives already being thought mid-way through the day, we had to finalise them. Contingencies included extension of return flights as they “promised” of the tour the coming Monday. However, they promised us once, didn’t they?

Day 4 began with Keyuan calling the agency yet again. However, the long wait over the phone was the ultimatum we can give as customers. Next interaction with them would be discussions over the refund. Period.

With that, there goes the plan of extending the flights. Might as well, since extending it will have to pay another hundred over dollars. Bags packed, stomach filled, we checked out of our hostel, trying our luck in other tour agencies around Perth city hopefully to find one that offers 2 days tours down the South-west. In the end, we only just found 1 agency out of the 3 I highlighted in our Lonely Planet guidebook. That was the Western Australia Visitor Centre. That visit changed our course of the trip.� The adventure was heightened. The risk had risen. Our excitements could not be hidden.

A talk to the friendly holiday consultant, Troy, had us decided to take up his recommendation, self-driving down the South-west! Although he only suggested us to drive till Margaret River Region, deep down we knew Albany would be the furthest point we would venture. With his assistance to booking of our Hyundai Accent 1.6 Auto car and 2 nights accommodations at Margaret River, we were back on track, back to the Southern Curl itinerary, this time on our own!

With gears fully loaded strapped to our backs, we headed to Lester and Baoqi’s apartment. The initial 1-night home stay over there had to be brought forward as the car could only be collected the next day. So the original plan of touring Fremantle was re-scheduled earlier as well. Travel-light, it made sense to put down our baggage at our to-be-tour guides’ house.

Burden eased, we took our time to travel to Fremantle, along the way discussing and hearing advices from them for our coming 3 days self-drive adventure. Another day of fine weather, we had a rather late lunch at Cicerello, supposedly the famous place for Fish and Chips. The serving was huge! Expected, the fries were too overwhelming and we had to pack them back. It would be another serving for dinner.

Walking around Fremantle after lunch was really carefree. The streets were bustling yet unconstraint to the fast pace of life we Singaporeans commonly see. Parks and spaces were aplenty. You never feel too tiny by high rises over there, but by the amount of spaces around. These differences were such that even monuments or sculptures seemed to feel welcome in space we could find obstructive here locally. A tourist 1st impression maybe.

We visited a market similar to our Bugis Str eet, albeit less cramp. Bought a honey over there to sooth my throat, as well as boomerangs which we can play indoors. Vincent bought 1 additional one which was to play outdoor. Could not fight the excitement, he opened up and played in the park where we came from our lunch. Only the 3rd throw, never mind it did not turned back in all tries, the striking yellow boomerang swerved slightly to the left and caught up the crown of a tall tree. A second of silence, then “oohhs”, then laughters. AD$4 a throw. It was amazing how hard it was to find stones there!

We only got that much time spare to throw stones up the trees. Sun was setting fast. Fremantle was deemed to be beautiful place for sunset, according to Lester and Baoqi. Hurried to the coast, the last available sun ray for the day shining through the gaping clouds already forming was the best we could see for the day. Pity it might be, that day was an eventful and memorable one for me. Missing a sunset should not be taken as loss. You will try harder to pursue the next one. It happens just the next day!

The sky had darkened. Fremantle was then a quiet town. Dusk was a great timing for some photography tricks. While we proceeded to the Maritime Museum to take some long exposures, it was also timely venue to satisfy some of our insatiable photographic cravings.

Heading back home, we are grateful for Lester and Baoqi’s hospitality in allowing us in for the night. The dinner they prepared was the icing of the cake. It was a night of Singaporean flavour in a warm enclosure. The entertainment that night was of course the boomerang, since it could be played indoor!

More photos for Day 3 & 4 are here in my Facebook album.

If food prices had prepared us for the coming expenditure, the taxi trip from the airport to our hostel would be the ultimate adrenaline rush of reminder to our wallets’ sizings. Heading to the exit of the airport was already a 50-cent increment. After that the meter was jumping like a taxi in Singapore driven to the speed of F1. Should not have wasted my money on “Mother” or Nescafe, this lightning speed regularities was enough to drive me awake for the heart irregularities it caused. Total spending in the taxi was a hefty AD$37! But considering the amount of time saved from taking the airport-city shuttle, the mere AD$2 difference turned out to be well worth as we can recuperate inside the warm beds for the coming Rottnest Island trip.

Just less than a minute stepping out of our hostel, the mini bus to Rottnest Island arrived at 7am SHARP, picking us up as promised. Weather reports had been unfavourable for the day, with dark clouds reported to be looming with occasional showers. Despite snorkeling being part of the package we booked, the decision to go into the water had been in contemplation even before we boarded the plane. Our shivering in the early morning streets was against the idea. Yet the lovely sunshine peeking past the delightful clouds gave us as much hope of turning against the weather forecast as to the idea of dipping into the water. It was a unanimous vote of leaving to the afternoon weather should snorkeling be continued, since the scraping of the snorkeling would not make the fees any lesser.

Another 45 minutes were used to catch 40 winks in the ferry before we shiver again. Beating the wind, we cycled to the appointed cafe to use our breakfast voucher that came in the package. Sweet food. Very sweet for a breakfast. Topped with a scoop of ice cream as well. Dumbfounded. The warm coffee was a welcome treat though.

Rottnest Island was not a Sentosa afterall. Apologies for any comparison, but that was my initial impression before I set foot on the island. Man-made features were less seen the more we cycled in. Even with the appearance of lighthouse and wind farm in our frames, it was more of a case of harmonising with the nature in utilisation than creation of any aesthetic via human architectural constructions.

The weather was terrific! Probably the earlier forecast missed this island entirely. The coastlines were awesome. The view from atop was splendid. The cliffs and hills were breathtaking. These adjectives would be repeated in the coming days. Pictures will say the thousand words for now.

Taken with my repaired, 6-year-old, trustworthy Sony W1 digicompact, it lasted as long as it could for that day. My DSLR was left in hostel for the chance we could be snorkeling.

By lunchtime, we almost covered the whole of the island on 2 wheels. Going back to where we started was another hunger torture. Not only were the roads hilly, the chilly wind resistance cut our efficiencies as well as dehydrating us. The included lunch in our package was worthwhile though. AD$15-AD$18+ course of meals to choose from for each of us. Chips would always be inside the course, so heatiness was already building up inside me.

It was really cold after our meals. We were too sleazy to complete the last fraction of the cycling routes. So the afternoon was spent walking around the visitors regions with markets, souvenirs shops, museums etc being our destinations. Pardon us for that since the night before was practically sleepless. 4.30pm was when our ferry departed for Perth.

When the cold wind blows, we missed our homeland food. Piping hot kuay teow soup was the sheer delight for my evening. Never mind the AD$10 price tag. A thorough-bred Asian, just a day eating westernised food had me crying out for rice and noodles. I seek your understanding.

Day 2 was a day of Own Time Own Target (OTOT) self exploration at Perth region. Of course destinations had been plotted in advance. It was also a day of meeting Keyuan’s friend, Lester, as well as my friend, Baoqi. Both of them are currently studying there in University of Western Australia in Architecture. With such coincidence, a meet up was imminent!

Lester and Baoqi were our tour guides to Harbour Town for some shopping. Scheduled only at 2pm, we set off early in the morning touring Perth CBD in CAT bus, as a result. It was a free service shuttling around Perth City. How nice! Swan River and King’s Park were our original destinations, the morning rain just ruined that. Going ahead with plan, we followed the direction printed on its brochure to Aquarium Western Australia, AQWA.

Taking the train for the first time in Perth was an amazing experience, with some embarrassment. They do have a kind of system similar to our Ez-Link. So as tourists, we instead will buy those day trip tickets. At AD$8.80, that ticket allows one, or more depends on types selected, to travel around and within Perth in unlimited trips for that day. That privilege extends to the bus services operated under the same company as the train, which really became the only transportation fee you could be paying for the broad networks they operate.

The train waiting time might be long, but the system of their stopping patterns would not result you in running late actually. They got a few train trips, that only stopped at major busy stations, slotted in between regular train trips, which I thought that was an efficient and productive move. For the embarrassment, we waited for the train door to open which it did not. In Perth, train doors are to be manually pre-pressed for them to open. Well, taking things for granted in Singapore probably.

AQWA was quite near to the place we departed for Rottnest Island the day before, close to Hillary Harbour. Sky had turned great prior to our arrival. That made the mood cheerier for AQWA was one anticipated stop for this trip. At a concession price of AD$19.50, it promised to allow you to view through the aquatic animals within the Australian Coastline in a day. As I have not been to Underwater World in Sentosa, so to me the trip there was fine ultimately. My D80 was a poor contender in noise control, so upping the ISO to capture the surrealistic beauty presented in the aquarium was not in favour for the results would be grainy. Some examples shown are courtesy of Keyuan’s Finepix F200 EXR.

Lunch was fantastic. Because Lester brought us to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum! With a Cantonese flavour, I felt so much closer to home, especially meeting up with local friends abroad.

What would be a holiday without some shopping spree?! We went Harbour Town near City West Station where we shopped around shops of sports and casual brandings with wholesale prices. So you would expect to see “factory outlets” being the common shop names. I did not take many pictures as well. How could I when I am busy shopping? Anyway, it was just window shopping in the end.

Our dinner was Hungry Jacks. Make no mistakes, it was no much different from Burger King. Even the logo. Day 2 seemed short, for we gonna have a long day ahead the next day. Evening was spent at our friends’ apartment, as it would be a night of home stay scheduled in the coming days.

More photos for Day 1 & 2 are here in my Facebook album.

I was fumbling for my wallet already in the cab. Things were not looking so rosy for the beginning of a holiday trip. Called back and checked, but mum said it was not at home. Then found it lying below the seat of the cab. Well, just let that be the last of those scary moments for the rest of the 8 days, I thought.

Maybe it did end there. Because I saw rainbow from inside the plane. A good sign. Call me “bandang” (superstitious in local slang), I am Cantonese anyway! Nonetheless, it was a big, full circular one. Maybe it is common to see that in planes, but it was my first time seeing that.What was not my first sighting out from the plane was the night lightings of the cities. I had reminiscences of landing in Hanoi! That is the similarity between this 2 great cities. Unlike Singapore being flooded with lights from above, Western Australia (W.A) is untypical of what you would expect from a developed country. Well, the stats of having just over 2 millions in population within a state already bigger than some of European countries means I will get more surprises out of this city/state in the coming days.

Rainbow on the left

Rainbow on the right

Arriving close to midnight at Perth International Airport was a hunger torture. We were looking for filling meals for dinner, only to find confectioneries as the only food source. Sweet stuffs are not exactly my likings, especially it was meant to be dinner. Worse, at that hour. So it was AD$6 for a pie, AD$3.50 for a coke! Tell me how much food I can get here in Singapore with that amount! Perfect introduction to Australia standard of living.

Anyway, with me were my poly buddies, Keyuan and Vincent. This trip was initiated in February when I happen to see the return trip to Perth by Jetstar was only S$220! What a steal! So for the next 5 months, extensive research and bookings were made to allow the sharing of another expensive chocolate muffin with Tanqueray Gin at 12.30am in Perth International Airport a reality.

Trip Fellas (from left to right: Vincent, Keyuan, Me)

"Mother" of all Energy

Arrangements were made so we can check in at 6am to our hostel accommodation we booked. That prior night was designated at the airport. I blamed my hunger for my insomnia in the plane. I had to blame the chair (or my chronic slip disc) for another insomnia at the airport “lodging”. Caffeine introduction had to be sought. Coke, “Mother” and Nescafe. All for the coming Rottnest Island adventure.

The reading for coming days to come soon!