Previously @ Down Under…

25.12.2009 (Day 3), Sydney  - It was Christmas, I took a flight back to Brisbane via Jetblue. The flights were packed and reached within an hour 25 mins. Cab was expensive but luckily I booked the airtrain online (CBD Transferin advance since there's a 10% discount. As I walked out from the arrival hall, I glared on a 17" monitor with 'Joseph Teo' on it and chuckled. haha! Man… it looks like I am the one and only to book ticket online. The reservations were prioritize. lols!

The airtrain I sat on was equivalent to our KLIA's ERL, at least it's less noisier and cleaner than normal train. The moment I alighted at CBD Central Station… MAN! It was so deserted! Not even MacD was in business. Summer Christmas down under is all about family reunions or probably there's something hip @ Sydney that I don't know of, definitely not Brisbane! Lawrence was supposed to join his aunties & uncles till evening but was disturbed by this alien traveler who need a lift – and off we go to D-Hao's home for some Christmas reunion (refer video) dinner. Some new faces to me but glad to know that most of them were from Malaysia. What surprised me was the presence of Sarawak Laksa brought over by Shiela. haha… nom nom nom!!! Been craving that for long! Of course, everyone was enjoying themselves, after that it was time for WII Sessions & poker as well. Gawd… I gambled till 4am in the morning… How crazy could this be but it was pretty addictive to play along with those guys. lols. Should I just compile a short video session during poker? oh yes.. check below!

P / S : Click image to zoom

Weather's gloomy on Christmas Day and  taken this @ the bridge, on the way to airtrain.

Inside Aerotrain. It's clean but the seats are not that comfortable. Not too bad!

CBD of Brisbane. This is Anzac Square

Central Station… Aiks… so deserted!

Memorial to men who service NS out of the country, check here.

 

Video Session

Enjoy the video! Click here if you cannot view the above!

26.12.2009 – Boxing Day! Yay!!! It's a whole day of shopping all for us. And this Lawrence got the "bak gua" on his wiper. -.-; I don't understand the parking system in Brisbane! It was so confusing alright.

Queenstreet mall is located at the heart of the city. Surprising crowds here and yeah looks like everyone is on shopping spree. Personally, I had 3 bags with me, some guess jeans, random local brands, some souvenirs and that's it. You hardly had any time for meals since everyone is busy looking for a fit out, you follow suit as well. Ans yeah, the boxing day lasted only within 24 hours. Grab it while stocks last!

The aboriginal and his long pipe! The sound goes…. Bon~~~~~

Some chit chat, some with bags, some counting wallet and that's what people do!

la la la la la la~~~~

Inside one of the mall and saw this huge ferrero rocher christmas tree. I wonder if the choc is real hmmm

There…. Charles Chaplin was shock! haha! The busker was trying some tricks for his audeince. lol

The shopping spree lasted for hours, from noon till evening! Had Hungry Jacks (or what we called Burger King here)  for dinner…

Later, we had a stroll at South Bank Parklands. This is Brisbane Skyline taken there.

One of the footbridge along Brisbane river. Thanks to Lawrence for this shot. Credit to him. I would not have found this image identical without his guidance. It looked marvelous. 

Wheel of Brisbane! Playing Aperture here!

Din't get to try on those.. I thought it was the same as any other Ferris Wheel.. Oh well…

Read this… yes! Brisbane is so similar to Kaoh Siung. The moment I was there, it sensed the identicalness. Check it out here. After this, we head to D-Hao's home and continue the Poker saga. XD

27.12.2009 – Ah, Sunday! You know, it's really nice to have breakfast with friends but holiday season it's unlikely to get any shops open, except a few – chinese owned. I was acknowledged that there's a bread shop @ The Coles (Mall) owned by one of the Sibu (Sarawak Province) family. I had forgotten the name of the shop. I didn't believe until I tasted those bread. Oh, it feels like home.. lols. Oh, we dropped by this chinese restaurant for breakfast and let's see what we have…

The dim sum is not above par, unlike Hong Kong's, still edible. That Cheong Fun taste like Singapore's, they put thick soy + mustard sauce on it (with sesame)… EW!!!!! The pork porridge taste norm, same goes to the fried noodle. Nai Cha (milk tea) is tasteless. X_X

1.5 hours of drive down south to Sunshine Beach, Goald Coast! And visiting The Movie World Theme Park. Oh, I get the annual pass from D-Hao so it's free! LOL! The securities didn't bother to make any comparison between ID & the entrants, well be it. Check out Movie World here. Oh yeah, we got to try a number of 4G rides, it's fun! WEEEEEEEEE! SFW~ It went vertical and then slopes. That's what thrill is all about! Luckily I didn't get cardiac arrest. haha! Still young at heart heh.

The Sweet Escape! NaBeh! Look at that 90 Degree tracks. "Eh Si ar!!! (die literally )" This one!

Wow, if Singapore's MRT can bend! LOL Ahahahahahaha! How I wish there's someone capturing our moment during the ride!

Now here goes! Ascend and Descent!

Eeeee… Rabbit Teeth I have also!

Now this vehicle is so familiar!!!! Yeshhh!

It's Batman! Never knew I still had the chance to shake hand with "Christian Bale" himself! LOL!

Lalat with 2 DC Comic characters, Green Lantern & Flash Man!

Epic! I like this kinda vintage vehicle (with holes on it) LOL!

Scooby Doo Bee Doo, Where are You! Didn't get to try this spooky coaster – oh well!

This picture looks odd, as if am walking into the painted wall!

Ya… am sitting on the picture.. Everyone does that! hahaha!

Did some posing… thanks to Lawrence for the shot!
Eh… I am not narcist….. Posing was just for fun!

The Wildwest Falls Adventure Ride, which I didn't get to try cuz…. you have to get wet!!

The Famous O-Marilyn Monroe heading towards the crowd! She's lovely!

Okay I don't want to do this! But those were my fav. characters behind!

Yeap it's Bugs Bunny! But heck this is kids corner… Yieks!!!!!

Oh… Marilyn Monroe with a flying kiss, heading this way!

I tried this 4G ride (Lethal Weapon)! It's definitely heart Pumpin'!

This ship wreck is a showcase! But uh, we're actually in a factory studio!

Looks peachy!! HAHA!

I wouldn't want to stand next to Mr. Tummus if I were you! Look at stick pointed! LAWL!!!!!!

Some statues from the movie… Here's the 3 accompanied along

It's really huge!!
Yes, this is the ship that you're gonna see in 
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010),
still in the progress of filming…

 

Check this out!

Large dragon head!

Okay the fun was over, let's get the hell out of here and check out the following…

Did a little shopping here @ Harbour Town, a short ride away from Movie World..

After that, we head down Gold Coast!! Weeeeee!

Gold Coast town is relaxing!

Spooky stuff sold here!

Residential tower and hotels around town!

Oh yeah hard rock cafe!

Limosine! First time to see in Brisbane. That's Bentley if am not mistaken!

This is Gold Coast. It was pretty windy an sandy mate! I don't the feel there as you get sticky easily…. Eww! Cuz I didn't brought along my swimming trunks and extra cloths. Yeah again, it's windy!

Sandy shores!

The gangs were craving for Japanese food and we ran into the wrong restaurant, glaring at those scrumptious expensive menus. We decided to leave but it's kinda embarrassed that you sat down and leave within a short period of time. But whalla, luck's at out side, and we found another reasonable Japanese restaurants below….

Steamed Gyoza~ Not Bad.. just like the chinese Wo-Tie made!

Agedashi Tofu! Mmmmm Delicious!

Unagi!~~ just like any other!

Okay I have no idea what's this called, there's some chicken and shredded onions.

Tempura Rice!

Soba with Tempura! Not too bad! Cold noodle is interesting as always.

There you go with 3 fun & exciting days down under. Stay tune for more @ Day 6 and 7 (Epilogue)
Hope you enjoyed!

Previously in Sydney…

24.12.2009 – Day 2 in Sydney. It's was a full blast of adventure I had long awaited. I recalled it was a lovely fluffy cloudy windy Christmas eve and the streets downtown were flocked with last minute shoppers with two or three bags at least. Vehicles jammed the streets so as the pedestrians. I worked out a few locations in my itinerary beforehand and noticed that some of the location took more time to reach so there were some last minute scrapped decisions on the spot. The following are my highlights :-

1) Explore downtown Sydney
2) Explore The Opera House
3) Eat like Sydneysiders
4) Explore Kirribilli & Estates
5) A Cruise to Bondi Beach (via Bondi Explorer)
6) Attend mass at St. Mary Cathedral
7) Free & Easy

Leaf in the wind best describe the place I stayed. Strong winds are inevitable (yeah it was windy) therefore, you could listen to those wavering leaves singing. Oh, am pretty sure about that. Well 2 days in Sydney ain't enough, I missed out the skywalk @ Sydney Tower, Harbour Bridge climb, or even the Sky Dive – probably next trip down with a few. Basically the city is easy-going and accessible. Pay your daily pass and you're set to go.

One thing I like about Sydney are those of significant western europe architecture – well, it's pretty intrigue to check out the beaux architectures. Not specific on the variants but it's total inspiring of how it was being built.

Note : Click image to zoom

Early in the morning, I had a walk around the neighbourhood and there you go.. this is where I stayed – Aspire…

Bloom of dawn!

A short walk to Hay Market and saw this special cloud on the sky. Looks pretty unique. I contemplated for a few minutes before moving forward. That's some rare wonder!

Bought my Single Day Pass for $9.50 but seriously the cabin was so warm due to the spoil air condition. Sometimes you felt pretty stuffy inside that you'd like to stick your head out for some fresh air.

I alighted at Galleries Victoria Monorial Station (Pitt Street) and whalla,.. I saw this! Laksa! Looks alike Penang's Laksa (with fried bean curd on illustrations)! Oh No.. am not gonna have that for breakfast! No way! I don't even crave for it.

Queen Victoria's Building (George Street) at a glance…

That's Greek!

Now that's a Green transport for everyone to pedal to reduce green house emission. Good approach mate! In Singapore, you find this type of transportation as Trishaw but in Sydney they called this PEDAPOD! LOL!

"Anybody care for a ride?" Probably it's too expensive for a ride.. am way greener by using foot.

Okay where am I? At this point I walked to Town Hall Square (opposite) and head to Circular Quay. Staff in the train station were pretty approachable and glad to assist a rookie like me.

There, arrived Circular Quay after 10 minutes ride. Check out my panorama shots here. Rear is Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Standing by the cove and enjoy the breeze. Yieks! There are number of restaurants along for you to dine and of course the menu's price tags are way higher than ordinary ones.

A distance walk to Australia's main attraction – The Sydney Opera House; it is one of the world's famous art performing centres back in the 20th Century and was made UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Should you check the theater when you drop by. 

There were seconds when I adore this angle. It looks like an alien spaceship, literally.

Here's another angle from the concourse. Okay.. enough explore and time for my lunch!

It's rather confuse of what to eat from what you have above. Let's do it the Sydneysiders' way!

Oh… it's that simple with the menu prepared on the list. Can I have one of these?

Oh my… the fillet, prawns and squid are on the teppan. Sizzling hot!

Now this is what you called a meal, whilst enjoying it under the HOT HOT sun, on a bench. Man my skin went tan. Frankly, it's pretty stuffed after the meal and I can't finish it all as the portion were much than expected. The prawn and squid is good!

Hopping on The World cruise would be fun but too bad it's for luxury residences only. I mean if you're gonna hop on that thing, prepare to pay a few K's ($2500 onwards) per night.

Earlier on I bought DAYTRIPPER ticket @ about $17 which includes all public transports – mainly train, bus and ferry. I took a ferry ride to Kirribilli and shot this wonderful cityscape across the strait. The estate was tranquil and organized and took a while to reach a mini wharf and this (above).

The private apartments facing the city…

The floral are basically the same breed.

Hey that's an Audi! LOL! Exploring Kirribilli neighbourhood!

That's a wonderful statue fountain.

Alright, let's get the hell out of here and back to the main wharf – also back to Sydney Cove.

It was 2.30PM and I was having an unusual day really. My watch ticked 11.30AM that was Singapore's time. I thought the day passed by so fast that I didn't even realized. Next, what am gonna do is Exploring Bondi Beach – heard it's a common hotspot for bikini girls. Yeah I did capture some hot ones i my vid.

Some florist shop along the pedestrian walkways.

Just opposite something caught my attention… 2 couples waiting for a cab!

Along the Bondi Explorer, there were stops and most important are the guidelines & explanation on each tourist attraction. At $39, I think it's decent enough to cover the entire route.

There's a point where the bus driver told us to grab some shots here. Look at this! It's simply breathtaking. Oh yeah, the weather started to get gloomy, windy and cooling. I reached Bondi Beach around 4PM.

Long journey are much worth with a few wonderful videography / photography shots around. Look like this pretty hot chick was having siesta on the grass. How relaxing~

Seagulls are everywhere looking for food. Where there's human's, there's food for them. Ironically, it's kinda worry if the seagulls are way too dependent on humans and turned into leeches. It's always good to leave them alone in the habitats.

Looks like this little girl was having fun chasing pigeons and seagulls..

5.45PM – reached downtown Sydney and came across The Sydney Tower.

No.. not on that. but here.. St. Mary Cathedral. There was a 6pm mass held here so I attended. It was crowded alright and barely could find any seat. Luckily I spotted some seats at rear end and proceed on with my silent prayers. 

Father greeted parishioners after the mass ended.

Well, there's the crowd..

Back in the cathedral, I took some snaps and this place is really amazing. I am glad to be here!

There's the altar. Strictly no photography and videography allowed during masses. 

There's the statue of the pope.

Another statue of the pope somewhere…

Later, I wandered around the park and found a number of these birdy.

Oh, Captain Cook statue @ Hyde Park!

Along Elizabeth Street and took a train from Museum Station and back to Central Station.

So I had my little dinner here with ya… there u go! some Smooth Banana Milk Shake, Fish & Chips, and chicken drumsticks. Ya it's photoshopped! Can't get a proper everything in a piece pix. so… LOL!

Day 3 – It's Christmas!!!!!! Yeah I didn't took much photo on this very day as I have some shopping to be done. Everywhere was closed so what I did was shop around Chinatown and Hay Market… and.. Paddy's Market was closed too. Ugh!! Christmas! Great! i have to celebrate it when I get back to Brisbane…

Flight was late afternoon about 4PM. This is the airport concourse.

Took PacificBlue back to Brisbane and the flight was about an hour 25 mins.
There goes my Christmas @ Sydney. Hope you enjoyed.

See you on next post @ Brisbane. I hope I could compile Australia in 1 minute very soon

It was a hot sunny Christmas Eve back in 2009. I alighted at Circular Quay (Sydney) and I was blown away with the scenic around me; at a glance – simply breathtaking! Okay so what I did was taking 5 snaps at a time from left to right. This position is just perfect for my 180° panorama I thought. Stitching the 5 photos is not easy as you gotta remove those excessive contrast and balance up the entire skies along with the objects surrounding it. However, there's some flaw which is apparent (hint : human on the left) but you need to download the photo and spot it Happy hunting! 

Note : This photo is copyrighted | click following image to zoom | download image here (3.36MB)

 

Sydney!

23.12.09 – It was a dang chilly morning and took me half an hour to reach the domestic terminal, thanks to Adam's lift. One thing good about the domestic terminal is no passport required – yes, just flight itinerary. When I stepped in the terminal, all I see was a mediocre public concourse and security check was just right in front of me. I was puzzled that their domestic airport could get as simple as this , being scanned by the security channels and head straight to the first floor. I lingered around and thought something's not right until I realized that I had forgotten to print my boarding pass entirely. Holy SXXX! I ran down the stairs and lucky to find a kiosk to print off my boarding pass immediately. By that time, all counters were closed and my flight was scheduled to depart @ 5am (+10 GMT) sharp. Security check done for the second time and dashed off to the passenger bridge in scurrying manner. Man… I was hasty and looked almost wrecked.

Hop on the plane and first impression goes like this…

"Gosh, Virgin Air is way better than Air Asia! I got an LCD screen in front of me!! LOL!"

There's this chap sitting next to me. He sounds a bit awkward, asking the air stewardess if he's sitting on the right place. The air stewardess replied if he'd look at his flight ticket for verification. Then he nodded with a grin. What the… Can't he read those labels on the compartment? duh! Think he's trying to flirt the air stewardess or okay, maybe we – budget frequent flyers are use to allocate our own seats.

5AM looks pretty bright out there. see yourself. The flight took 1 hour 30 minutes and I hardly could do anything on board but ah, luckily I had my dramas loaded in my Iphone The shimmering sunlight touched my cheek and from certain angle of the window, I witness iridescence. That's a wonder indescribable but looking out the window, I saw jungle of buildings scattered across this metro – this is Sydney! I had a gradual feel that the the locus does looks like The Big Apple (New York). Not quite yet but the aerial view are much colligated with. 

The plane touch down Sydney at about 7.30AM (+11 GMT) and I was kinda lost for the first time in Sydney domestic terminal. I might say the directions printed on the signage was subtle and not conspicuous enough. Heck, the train was just down 2 escalators. Sydney public transportation & guidelines – well….. still below par!

Note : Click on the photo to enlarge …

Took a train downtown at A$15 per way. Man, there's an awful stench in the train and moreover, some lethargic being slept on the seats as if it is their bed or something. So, that's life for some in the metro! The stations sound indications were soft and I hardly could hear what the locomotive engineer said. There's also no door indication of where to alight. Oh…. poor system!

There I reached the central station and you could see lots of passengers traveling around the clock but not as exaggerating as Tokyo Metro. The Sydney Central is the largest railway station in Australia and most of the intercity & interstate rail networks are connected. I was lucky to book a hotel that's very near to the central and some walking distance from it.

Oh that's a Scooby Doo van!

I was really confused with the tram service operating. There were no sign of tickets being sold until I checked the information counter and told me that the ticket are sold on board. The light rail (tram) are relatively expensive as compared to the daily pass. One way is around A$3.40 but I was lucky to have skipped those since my stop was just 2 stations away.  Day pass for both Monorail & Lightrail is more worthwhile @ A$9.

I alighted at Haymarket and continued to walk towards my hotel (Aspire), which is just some walking distance away. Chinatown is just located next to Haymarket and much to my cognizance, these locations are pretty easy to access and convenient for tourist to dropped by anywhere they wanted.

At a glance. When Internet booking made things easier, it's likely for you to have a decent ample room for the grab. A$79 per night (off peak season) not including breakfast & Internet. Can't really live without Internet so I purchase a A$10 internet access from the hotel instead which lasted for 24 hours. Well, I checked-in earlier and they allowed – not too bad since there's not so much room taken.

I was unlucky enough to get this room with a malfunction air condition which they transfer me to another room later on which in other words, the WIFI connection was weaker than the previous room because it was situated nearby the lift and I was exacerbating with such poor connection for 2 freaking days. However, I managed to get a decent connection by sitting in front of the main door. LOL! Looking out my balcony, I could see the Sydney tower and cityscape some distance away. I had a short nap before my adventure begun and that short nap was great!

Neighbourhood along Macarthur St. [ gmap ]

Noticed that building there? They are selling pies. It's Hannah's Pies! Show ya later!

Bench outside the powerhouse museum

Sydney cityscape at a glance. It was a sunny day and everyone was preparing for christmas. You could see shopping crowds downtown.

There's the Haymarket. Looks pretty deserted at this part of the city.

The monorail is yet another intercity transportation for you to enjoy the attractions around, well other than buildings, there's buildings & offices! Nothing fancy! Some more, the air condition doesn't seem to function properly. It felt like a hot sauna inside seriously, those public transports are not well maintained. Shabby shabby!

The convention center are just behind me and look, I just found a waypoint here!

Things in chinatown are rather expensive and of course, not to mention those oriental food that starts at A$8 per bowl. The chinese words read, Within the four seas, all men are brothers! Meaningful idioms. 

And I saw 3 monkeys! 3 Wise Monkey Pubs @ Liverpool Street. Though am not a frequent pub goer but reviews said the security officers are rude, arrogant & causing dismal… and it's an Irish Pub. [ read reviews ] Skipped that!

And all I did was a little shopping here and not forgetting Moon's & Shirley's postcard on the go. It's A$1.30 for a stamp (overseas) & A$1 for a postcard. This is the World Square Shopping Centre @ George Street and yeap, the post office are just around for me to drop those postcards.

Looks like a dragon for this swirl

Busy streets & predestrians doing their last minute shopping. Well, I was busy hunting some fast food as well… and that would be Hungry Jacks (or what they called Burger King in Asia) Ugh.. burgers…

There's a lot of shop in Market City (Halymarket) as well and I bought tons of souvenirs there, from soft toy to house decos.

Can see the busker performing on the streets for hours. I think he's a chinese.

There, I bought this vegetarian pie from Hannah's. A$4.

I didn't get to visit the observation deck of Sydney tower but from here it looks like an airport tower.

I took a short nap before realized that it was already 6PM and the sky was dark and city lit up with wonderful lights. So I made a short stroll around Tumbalong Park and spotted this ferris wheel. Ah, this place is peaceful and playground for couples.

There were buskers around the Darling Harbour performing and the crowds seemed pretty elated with the act. There's nothing much you could do around at night except for some leisure walk, movies and dine-ins along Darling Harbour. The above, nightscape as you can see, is not chromatic / breathtaking enough if you compared to Hong Kong's. But still a popular attraction in Sydney alone. Somehow, the breeze by the bay was gentle and relaxed.

The Harbourside shopping centre @ Darling Harbour. I returned the day after for some windows shopping! And yeap, I remembered 24th December 2009, 8pm when I was in the tram, I saw this little fireworks fires off the sky. Argh!! Timing faulty and I should have be there for the fireworks shootout. Oh well….

From Prymount Bridge to King Street, I chance upon this bakery shop selling CUPCAKES!!!!! Aw… isn't it lovely? This is christmas chocolate muffin cupcakes taken outside the glass panel.

Variant of cupcakes on display. I kinda like the burger cupcakes. Looks good hey!

And there's this huge basket cupcakes! LOL!

French Macaroons – these are huge macaroons that I loved. Small ones was just a mouthful. Served along with red wines, you gotta enjoy every bite from it. The flavors well, it's a wild guess here.

More & More cupcakes. Lemon mousse is refreshing! I kinda like the idea of M&Ms above it.

Now there's even branded cupcakes for sell! LOL!

It was 7.30PM and the train was deserted? Gosh! How could this be? Oh no.. I really don't get use to such scene. I believe most people are driving instead of using the public transport or the booze down under has just started? LOL!!

From King Street to York Street and later, took a ride from Wynyard Station to Circular Quay. Destination? The Opera House Pictorial Session.

I was enfeeble to walk far so I dropped by Copenhagen for a short Ice-cream treat. A$4. I chose Chocolate & Mango, My fav.

A 15 minutes walk from the station to Campbells Cove and standing right just below the Sydney Harbour Bridge… Opposite is Luna Park.

Main purpose here is to shoot this beautiful icon of Australia – The Sydney Opera House.
Download wallpaper here for free – specially designed for your desktop.

Sydney Harbour Bridge. Wish to return and climb this birdge one day!

It was 12AM. Had a little McDonalds meal and walked back to Haymarket by foot! Woah!! LOL! Walkathon was fun! Ah.. this is Harbourside Shopping Centre. There's the information counter!

Stay tune for more coming your way!