End

It's the last day at Perth. Our flight was at 4.25pm.

It's quite a mixed feeling to leave Perth. Not so much of the holiday. I must said, didn't do a lot of visiting/ travelling as most would have done. We spent most of our time at home and with my sister's family. We rested and relaxed and played with kids. The children were just so adorable. Both not wanting us to come back and they were still young to express the sadness they have. Ya... I hugged, kissed and loved them so much..... :) Not just the family, I missed the cold weather too. Knowing that it will be like furnace back home.

Indeed, we were told that the temperature in KL was 29C... gosh... what's happening..... The food was just alright, but, we were offered ice cream. yummy... :)

Got home about 11.15pm. After took off the socks, we saw our feet were so red, felt numb, and a bit swollen. Why? The heat..... :(

Perth City

We went for yum cha as our brunch. Then, we headed to the city. Walked and walked..... Find that shopping here is not as attractive as S'pore or HK or even back home. Ended up didn't get anything at all.

We stopped for a drink. I ordered an iced chocolate. Yeah... sounded crazy... cold drinks in almost winter time. Well, the iced chocolate here is not as good as the one I had at Albany. The one in Albany is so generous, the whole glass filled with vanilla ice cream and whipping cream on top (not so fancy of this, except the ice cream).... :)

Fremantle

We were blessed with fine weather. We drove to Fremantle in the morning. Walked around at Fremantle market. It was packed full with people. Hardly bought anything. Noticed lots of Chinese were selling things.

Then, we had a short walked to Fremantle city. Lots of cafe especially with the sun. :)

One must not missed the seafood in Fremantle, especially the fish and chips. All use hands to eat without ketchup. Then, we moved on for lobster.. hehehe.... Local seafood is a must to try. :) Yeah!!!

We walked to Round House to look at the history a bit. E Shed like a big warehouse for visitors should be visited too - selling slightly different things than Fremantle market. And things here are cheaper (and I am sure they are still making lots of money)....
Then, we drove back. Nice drive. :)

Hillary's Boat Harbour

A friend, Chai Keng (an ex-colleague from DiGi moved to Perth and now friend) rang up few days ago wanted to take me out to Hillary's Boat Harbour on weekend. It was so sweet of her to do that.

Weather wasn't very good, it was a bit windy and was raining ant wet. We still went. We drove passed Fremantle along the coast to Hillary's Boat Harbour. The waves was big and we saw a lot of surfers in the water. They looked like penguin from far though... :p

We stopped by a few beaches before arriving Hillary's Boat Harbour and we actually saw a full rainbow from land into sea. It was awesome. :)

God blessed us with very good weather once we reached Hillary's Boat Harbour. Indeed a lot of boats. It was a really nice harbour...... :)

Night view of Perth city

The night view of Perth city from King's Park. Was a bit chilly as it was raining and the wind was blowing. Didn't stop for long as the kids were tired and asleep.

Denmark - Walpole - Perth

We drove about 1.5 hours to Denmark and proceed to Valley of the Giants for Tree Top Walk. Lots and lots of farms with cows, sheep, horses on the way....

The trees at the Valley of the Giants were really tall and huge. A suspension bridge was built on top (nearly) of the tree. The highest point was actually at 40 metre high up. Wow.... It was a bit scary.

Then, we went to Elephant Rocks before back to Denmark for a late lunch.

On our way back to Perth, we used another route via Mt. Barker to connect to Albany Highway. Along the way, we saw a lot of vine yards and winery. There were huge. We couldn't resist but stopped to take some pictures.

It was about 8.30pm when we got back to Perth. It was quite a tiring drive, I must admit. There were lots of star. We opened the sun shed and actually able to look up the sky. Too bad that I couldn't see much as I need to look at the road (driving....).

Torndirrup National Park

We took a scenic drive from Albany along Bay View Drive to Torndirrup National Park. We started with Quarantine Hill which was alright. Expected to be able to go up to the hill but, it was closed. Then, we went to Frenchman Bay to experience the beach. We saw a man fishing. I think we were a bit too loud and the guy kept looking at us.
Then, we went to The Gap & Natural Bridge where the two natural features carved from ancient granite by the forces of nature. The Gap features a 25 metre sheer drop to the ocean. The wind was not strong and it was low tide, hence, the waves was not strong. I was waiting for the big waves actually.



It was getting quite hot (~22c) when we were at Blowholes. When the wind is strong and big waves, the water will actually come out from the holes. We saw a few small ones only.




Time to break for lunch. We went to Whale world for lunch. Yummy food after all the walking and hiking....


Then, we continued to Salmon Holes where all the salmons would come in the evening. We saw a man caught a really big salmon. He was saying that there will be even bigger ones later in the evening. Yupe, we saw men were fishing at the beach.


Stony Hill was awesome. We climbed up to the rocks and we were able to see so far. We were really blessed by the sunny weather.


Later on, we drove to Wind Farm where we could see so many windmills. These were here to generate power. Again, there's no wind..

Albany

We planned a weekend holiday down to Albany. It's 409KM from Perth via Albany Highway. We were in 2 cars - Subaru Forester and Totoya Aurion. It was about 4.5 - 5 hours drive. We departed at about 8.30am arrived Albany for late lunch.

Well, we were at at 117KM/h at a 110KM/h zone and was pulled over by police. Wow.... We got warned as traffic was heavy. phew... That's an experience. :p

Had late lunch after checking into hotel, a family style with 2 rooms at All Season and get more information from the Information counter.

We took the rest of the day easy by just going to Middleton Beach. We stopped at a lookout area just to enjoy ourselves.

A lot of seashells on the beach. I was on shoes and decided to take them off to walk on bare foot. The sand is so fine and so soft. Children were busy picking up seashells.

The water was so clear and it wasn't that cold. The whole place reminds me of Seatoun, Wellington, NZ where I stayed for 1 year. It's really nice there.

And we walked on the bridge where it is actually famous for wedding couple to take their wedding picture which we actually saw a couple.

Thereafter we went back to rest and called it a day.

Perth - Day 2

Sis had an appointment with her friend at Deep Water Point so the kids are able to play. We just tagged along. It was quite chilly at the riverside. While the kids and mothers talked, we went for a walk along the river bank. So many locals were having breeze walking (exercise) or cycling. The moms will push the baby or some of them have dogs. Life in Perth....

So far, I still haven't had the feeling that I am actually in Perth. I didn't feel like it at all. I am not sure if this is good or bad. I just feel that I am getting more lazy each day as things here are a bit slower, and I am kinda tired too.

Well, I like the weather here. Wish it's a bit more wind (like Wellington). Day time is about 25 - 27C while night can go down to 8 - 9C. :) I just like it as it's way too hot in Malaysia..... :)

oh.. ya, I am nearer to Antarctica. hahaha....

We didn't actually have much solid plan here. Just really holidaying and spending time with the family. Actually, that's what I like, rather to be a visitor, I would prefer to experience the lifestyle here and be part of it. Didn't I do the same in USA though I had some plans, I did too had quite some 'free' time that I did what the locals did. :) It's nice and I like it. Take it ez...

Going down under - Perth

Why Perth? Never thought that I will visit Australia so soon again. Well, since it's too expensive to go USA this year and I have leaves to clear plus MAS is having really good deal (paying RM1k for a return ticket). Why not?

I actually came with my younger sister to visit my elder sister and family. Ya, they moved here a year + ago and we are going to have 3 girls thingy again. Wow....

I literally knocked-out throughout the whole journey cos I have been working late prior to the trip and had a few local trips. Sister was watching movies all the way from the little LCD in front of her. ha... She thought by telling me that there's ice on the window will make me awake and excited. Well, too bad.... It didn't work quite well. I was actually amazed by how I managed to sleep (though all very shallow sleep). Wow....

The flight was on-time, in fact arrived 15 mins earlier then scheduled. The food was yummy though the nasi lemak was a bit too spicy for me. Custom clearance was smooth considering we had 1 big suitcase of things for sis and her family. :)

We didn't do much for the rest of the day. It gets dark at about 5.30pm- 6pm in the autumn. We went out for dinner instead.

Dinner

Somehow we decided to go for dinner (after the big NASA thingy)....

Where to? Where else.... The same place. Of course, I will demand for my Starbucks after the meal.

I reckon, it is not so much of the meal but the company. We had ppl talked and talked, ppl thought Redbox is a disco instead of karaoke, we had ppl slept in the Starbucks.... we had all sorts of things... :)

Next.....?????

Hike up to Bukit Panorama

We left hotel in Kuantan to head to Sungai Lembing at about 5am. Well, as long as we get up there before sunrise, 6.30am or 6.45am?

The small little quiet town we saw yesterday afternoon was so noisy this morning. So many hundreds of ppl. Wow.....

Everyone was kinda queuing to go up (reminded me of the experience of waiting at the gate at Laban Rata to go up to Mt. Kinabalu summit). But, this was worse. So many ppl that we literally take each step at a time and stopped. We overhead someone said, if someone farted at that moment, all will be fainted (hahaha..... :D) Especially, after durian? wahahaha.... pengsan..

We will require a torchlight/ headlight or any form of light to show us the path as it was really dark out there. There were just countless stairs that we need to go on and in fact, I think it was qiute steep too.

We started at about 5.50am. And it felt like a long journey. It was about 6.35am when we reached the top. My friend told me we took actually about 30 minutes if not because of the ppl traffic that slowed us down.

However, everything was paid-off when we reached the top (already filled with ppl by then). We saw the magnificent view. Seas of clouds. 云海。And the sun was penetrating through the fogs/ mist. All over. Well, it wasn't cooling as I thought it would be. And the night before was raining in Kuantan.

It was really nice. I don't mind going for another time (with less ppl). I think we spent about 1 hour up there just taking the pictures and enjoying it. The view changed every minute. It's just awesome. So many ppl set-up their tripod there and ppl go ready with DSLR. For me, my Ixus is alright. :)

Descending is equally challenging. My friend was gone (ran down) while sis and I were kinda in the ppl jam. hmm..... Again, moving really slowly. In fact, we saw ppl still going up as well. There's only 1 small way up and down thus making it really congested.
And when we finally reached down there. Wow, the quite town was so happening. Market, food court, streets were all filled with ppl. Wow... So amazed.

We went to Gua Charas, errrhh..... won't recommend anyone to even borther to go. So nice of my friend to drove in as I have been saying to go... :)

We went back to hotel for the 2nd breakfast. And the food was running out fast soon. Wow... After shower and rested for awhile, we checked out. Went to Taman Gelora (which we just make a U-turn). hahaha.... didn't borther to go town or take any picture....

And lunch (food again?). Before that, we went to market for something. And friend's friend also joined us. Interesting conversations and guessing session we were having. Well, I didn't pursue for the answer as I think I know the character, they will tell me the answer in due time. :)

And we headed back to KL after the lunch. hmm.... My trip ended... I took a picture on the way back. It was a cloudy day. arh... the traffic? It was smooth. So smooth.... Am I looking forward for another trip? Yes. I do, indeed very much. Spending time with ppl and knowing each other or even new ppl and doing activities together it is.. :)

Trip to Sungai Lembing, Kuantan

Wanted to go to Bukit Panorama @ Sungai Lembing, Kuantan for a long time after I stumbled into a web site showing the wonderful view of it. The timing was just not right. Then, I decided, regardless, I am going still on 1st May. Then, I get confirmation that my sister will join me. And another friend confirmed last minute.

Getting a room at last minute especially over the long weekend was really challenging. We were on waitlist for hotel room and the hotel (Vistana) has the courtesy to called me at night to tell me that they have confirmed booking rooms available for me. Gosh... really thank God.

We departed from KL close to 10am. And the traffic to Eastern Malaysia was just so terribly heavy and I can't remember how long were we in the car. I knew it was very long.

We decided to check-out Sg. Lembing before heading to Kuantan. I asked my colleague in Radio Network Engineering on some brief direction. Was told turn left after exit Kuantan. I think (if not mistaken), Sungai Lembing was about 29KM away from Kuantan toll plaza.

Sungai Lembing was really small. We saw suspension bridge build over Sungai Lembing for the other side, roads were very narrow and for few times, we had to stop to let the on-coming cars go pass. And we saw this burnt and ruin place. Mmy friend was saying, don't need to go to Siem Riap or Ang Kor Wat, we have it here too. (so funny...)

I called up Cheng and Fong for the exact location of Bukit Panorama as we don't seem to see it. as they have been here few weeks for direction. And we found this place. hmm..... Very quite place and very narrow road, no wonder we can miss it. :S

Then, we headed to Kuantan to check-in. Then? Well, I refused to stay in hotel and was a bit hungry. So, called up a colleague in Kuantan and asked for place to makan (eat). He recommended us to to go Hai Peng or Kemaman Kopitiam (not the real Kemaman, just the name of the shop). And I ordered special drink which looks so different from the picture and it tasted different but, alright. And bread too. The kaya was not sweet and was thick. hmm.. very different indeed.


What's next? Well, they started blamining me for not having itinery :( so, solution? Call lor.. Who? Fong. hahaha.. She highly recommended us to go for cruise ride, which we all have 0% interest in it. It's hot and humid and cruise ride? :? We must be nuts. Then, we decided to go to Teluk Chempedak, beach.

The beach was so happening. Played kite, selling bottled sand drawing, etc. The bottled sand drawing attracted me. This man really need a lot of patience to draw it and so, it is not that cheap.



We walked on the bridge where it linked to other side of the beach. Nice, but, too many people especially on public holiday.

Time for dinner. Headed to Tanjung Lumpur for seafood. :) I realised, I know very little about Malaysia food, actually. hmmm..... for me food is food, just eat to fill the stomach. hhaha.... And after that, we were too tired and went back to sleep. As we need to wake up early the next morning for the sunrise.