Sunnyvale: 13 July 2010

Sunnyvale and its flowers.

Sunnyvale: 11 July 2010

United airlines, 16 hours of flight and very bad neckache




Our accomodation for the week after a neckaching 16 hours of flight.



Travel buddy.

The Australia Chronicles: Melbourne-Sydney (15 Feb 2010- 28 Feb 2010)

Day 1: SIN-SYD-MEL, Melbourne City (15 Feb- 16 Feb 2010)

It was the 2nd day of the Lunar Chinese New Year (coincidentally, Valentine's Day was on the 1st day of the Lunar new year this year!) and the first time that both of us would miss the entire Chinese New Year celebrations. It was also the first time both of us were going on a trip on our own for that long a time. We had been very excited about the trip ever since we booked the flights and had watched Bondi Rescue on Nat Geo Adventures faithfully every night so that we would know what it was going to be like at the Bondi Beach. =P For me at least...

We took the evening British Airways flight from SIN to SYD and then took a domestic Jetstar flight from SYD to MEL. Arrived at the Tullamarine airport in the morning feeling slightly zonked from the squeezy economy seats. We sat the airport transfer- the Skybus- from the airport to the city terminal at a price of AUD$16 each. When we reached the city terminal situated along Spencer St, we took a short walk to Flinders St for our accomodation at YHA Melbourne Central. We were really happy to be finally there in Australia, in Melbourne after talking about it for so long and I was even more so when the first thing that I saw when we exited the terminal was Krispy Kreme.

My plan: Attack an Original Glazed Donut and hot chocolate every morning for breakfast.

The accomodation at YHA was a surprise. We had both expected the hostel to be really basic and not expecting it to be clean. As it turned out, the hostel was very much like a good 3 star hotel. It was really clean and the front desk officers were really friendly. Security was pretty good as well, with card-access doors on all levels and card access to common toilets and the other facilities. A night at YHA Melbourne Central costed us AUD$95 for an ensuite. Had discounts from the Hostelling International members card I bought in Singapore (Hangout@ Mount Emily). In fact, all our hostels were at YHAs, so we had some small savings on the accomodation. There were no air-conditioners in the room thought, only 1 fan. Yet it was more than sufficient since the night was pretty cooling.

The first day was spent walking through the city streets of Melbourne. We started walking from Flinders St towards the Victoria Market and then through the other busy main city streets like La Troupe and Bourke. The buildings tend to differ slightly when we go into different streets. We ended taking a City Tram around the city until Spring St. From there, we walked on to the Parliament house and the church behind it and then continued on to Flinders. It was pretty massive city tour on foot for us on the first day. I like.....

People in Melbourne seems happy with what they are doing and they look like they are enjoying work. It brings about a really positive energy and I love it. I love Melbourne!

Indeed, Melbourne was a cafe city. All along the streets, there were coffee cafes and people simply gathered at such places for chats and people watching activities. We had our fair bit of experience on the cafe culture on our first day too. It was just too relaxing and enjoyable.

That's what a holiday should be like!

Dinner was at one of the restaurants at the Crown Casino, which was situated just across our accomodation separated by the Yarra River. I do think that the YHA Melbourne Central was at a really good location. The casino was packed! However, given the lack of sleep and the need for a good hot shower after the long flight, we gave the casino a miss on the first night.

So there, the very first day of our 12 days expedition down under, recorded after returning for 2 months in exact.