BEaches...

one of the lighthouses at wollongong...

hmm... yummy... just what we really needed even though it was freezing...

at bald hill lookout... you can see the seacliff bridge from here... it was so very cold and windy...

at cronulla beach... i just find this picture really relaxing...

at cronulla beach... it was a really nice day out... not too many people... and there were people surfing...

how very pretty, the seacliff bridge along the grand pacific highway... we even saw 2 whales that day too!


at the seacliff bridge... deja vu... for me... at least this time there was not as many people... we practically had the whole bridge to ourselves...

PiCtOn...

appearances can be deceiving... the car was not as clean and shiny as it appeared... it was seriously filthy...


at the same valley again...

The Burragorang Valley... the view was again... absolutely breath taking... it would be nice if the trees were not blocking it...



nepean dam at picton... the view was gorgeous... but we were all freezing our butts off...

Hawkesbury joUrNey...

and this is why you should not visit the vineyards in winter... there's nothing... except maybe the view...

finally, got some oranges... and that's the only fruit that we could pick during winter...

hmm... the box is empty, maybe we should start picking some oranges...

visited this really pretty but secluded windery just next to the hawkesbury river... too bad I had to drive and could not sample any of the wines there...


amazed by the olden days version of the mailbox... haha... at the town of windsor...

ROad tRip PaRT 3...

MoNday: this one was more of an impromptu one... cos zz is going back on wed so we decided to go on another road trip... this time to wollongong... and wanru said it sounded like "wulong de gong gong" haha... i actually got the joke...

anyway, started our journey to cronulla beach... and it was really nice cos it was a monday and not many people at the beach... but there were some surfers... and people were doing their morning stroll... jo came along to join us... and then we headed down to stanwell park and this lookout place called bald hill lookout... this time jo drove and i could admire the scenery along the way... it was freezing at the bald hill lookout but the view was really good... could see the seacliff bridge from there... which was our next destination... the seacliff bridge... along the grand pacific drive... went there two years ago with uncle et al during easter... but when we went there yesterday, there were practically nobody and we kind of had the whole bridge to ourselves... and according to silvana, it was the migrating season for the whales, so we were all lookint out for them, and i saw 2... really briefly and far away... and only like their tail and the puffs of air that comes out when they exhale were visible... but it was so exciting... walked along the bridge for awhile and there was this public toilet there that was automated... the doors, the toilet paper, the flush and the water to wash your hands... it was really cool, i should have taken a picture... damn...

next, we headed down to this place called austinmer, walked along the beach for awhile, ate ice cream... and then to the next suburb called thirroul... nothing much, just shophouses... did not stay for long there, headed down to wollongong next... it is exactly like sydney, went to the info centre to find out where are the attractions... and bcos we did not have much time left, we only visited the beach, and the two lighthouses... and the lagoon nearby... and then we decided to go to the mall to have some food... on the way back, cos wollongong was not the street directory, and the GPS had no signal for awhile... we were driving blindly for awhile and almost got into trouble... thank goodness nothing happened... dropped jo off at her house and then i dropped the rest back home...

i think these 3 days auris and i have been the furthest in nsw... since i came... it was a good experience, but the only thing was auris got really dirty... both in and out... and i can't believe zz is going back tomorrow... i am going to miss them... will post some pics soon...

ROad tRip PaRT 2...

SatuRday: zz wanted to go to these markets... and we almost got lost on the way to the first market at boot hill... cos the directions were not clear... it was really like a garage sale, where people just come and set up their stalls on the grounds... i was done within half and hour and had to wait for the rest... i was not really into these sort of markets... after that, we headed to another market but could not locate the place so zz said to just go to the next one at camden... the drive there was really nice and camden was really pretty... cos it looked like it was at the bottom of the mountains and the air was really fresh... i preferred the market there... bought a candle holder for annie to thank her for helping me recruit... we were there for quite awhile... cos it was more of an arts and crafts market... after that, we headed to picton... another historical town and dropped into the information centre to check out where are the attractions... and for some reason, my GPS took me on this really windy and narrow road to picton, and i was so scared driving on that road cos i could not see oncoming traffic, but luckily, there were not many cars...

the person at the info centre recommended we take these 2 scenic drives... one was to go look at the nepean dam and the other to this lookout place... the nepean dam was really nice... but we were freezing even though the sky has finally cleared and it was bright and sunny that day... and we were the only ones there... after that, we drove to the other scenic route to the lookout... and it was quite far away from picton and for awhile, we had no idea if we were going in the right direction... but the scenery was really nice... and there were not many cars as well... when we finally got to the lookout, it was really pretty but cold... and i wished that the trees were not blocking the scenery... the drive back down was equally pretty...

we decided to have dinner at strathfield ceci... and bcos we got there quite early... there was no queue and we were starving... but when we were driving out of the carpark, silvana lost the parking ticket and we were like stopped there for 10 mins trying to find the ticket... in the end, the person was kind enough to allow us to pass through otherwise we would have to pay the fine for losing the ticket... and then when driving out of the carpark, the GPS said to turn right, and i did not pay attention and did not realise that it was only a one way road... cars started to honk at me when i turned right... i got such a bad scare... which i guess was partly my fault, i should have paid attention to the road and not be too reliant on the GPS... cos it did a few mistakes in the past already... that was really scary... dropped them back at berala and headed home after... was really tired... luckily only working at night on sunday...

and auris was so filthy after the road trip cos it was raining for the past few days and i have not washed it for like 3 weeks...

ROad tRip PaRT 1...

went on a road trip with zz, silvana and wanru on friday, sat and monday...

FRiday: the weather on friday was really shitty, started to rain when we were starting on our journey, our first pit stop was this 'little sleepy town' called Pitt town... when people say 'little sleepy town', it means nothing to see... which was exactly what pitt town was, nothing much except this row of shops and farms... and it was raining so heavily, that we could not get down to walk and explore the area... so we just drove around the town for abit... saw huge lands, and alot of vegetable farms... then we proceeded to windsor... more shops to see and the rain had stopped for abit... walked around the area, took pics... then drove to tizzana winery which was along the hawkesbury river... when we got there, the man introduced and allowed to sample some of their wines... and bcos i was the only driver, i could not drink and could only watch them drink... but i bought a bottle of wine... along the way, we saw lots of animals... like horses, cows, sheeps, and we even saw alpacas... then we stopped for abit at this church nearby that was supposedly the oldest presbyterian church in australia... then we proceeded to richmond... the weather cleared up abit, and so we decided to stop by the penrith valley orange farm to pick oranges... then we went on to erniskillen orchard... well all i can say was the picture in the brochure looked nicer than it really was... but the scenery was nice though... then we drove back to richmond, and ate dinner there before heading back to berala where i stayed over for the night...

silvana and i watched the movie the forbidden kingdom, and i was so looking forward to the movie... and my advice to those who have not seen it... DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME... it was so stupid... i thought it would be like an action chinese movie bcos both jackie chan and jet li were in the movie... but they made it in english... and they even had the chinese wise men speaking in english... which was so ridiculous... and it had no plot at all...

FReeziNg...

this whole week has been quite uninteresting... it's still raining almost every day and so cold... it's like 10 degrees at night... anyway, euro 2008 is here... and i am so upset that i could not watch the matches, cos they are all either really early in the morning or they are not shown on tv here, cos football is not a popular sport here... i went to look up on the champions of the previous euro 2004 and found out it was greece, and remembered watching most of the matches in singapore, even waking up in the morning just to catch the live matches...

i am confirmed going to melbourne... booked the tickets already... and realised that i should not have booked the tickets so early... cos i will have problems getting to the airport, cos auntie and uncle and michelle will not be here too... alamak... so stupid, i should have thought about it before booking... and now cannot change already...

nothing else, not very happening at the moment... oh, might be going on a roadtrip with zz and the girls this week... but dunno where yet... hopefully the weather will clear up and not too cold...

MY FinGeRs ARe crAmPing...

i have been thinking about this since monday... it's about work... for some reason, i was actually glad to see L at work yesterday when she came in... and i kept thinking to myself... how really weird is that... cos as some of you might know, she was like my number 1 hated person in woolies at that time... i called her the evil woman... recall previous posts... and now... she's like of the few people at woolies who i actually like and get along with... to me, that's just really weird and i just have to vent a little...

anyway... went to karaoke again... on sunday with the girls... cos joan was leaving and they decided to go sing for one last time... too bad we did not get to sing for the whole day... well... wanru's got some really incriminating videos of us singing the group songs... and this particular song called 'ben xiao hai' was stuck in my head since that day... i had fun... going to karaoke with them is always fun cos they are simply hilarious... with their actions to the songs...

this week is going to be boring week again... cos i have like heaps of interviews waiting to be transcibed and analysed... why can't somebody invent a machine that can type the words out as they are spoken?? that will definitely make my life much more easier...

JuNe ALreAdy...

the korean bbq was a success... although not everyone came, but I really enjoyed myself, eating and chatting... i dunno really know why anna said it changed owners but everything seemed the same to me... the food, the layout... the only things that was sucky was the way there and back, missed a turn and missed the turn into the restaurant, had to do some illegal uvees... and on the way back, got honked at by this idiot... and of course, having to smell like bbq for the whole night and the next day... even after showering... prisy came into the room and was like, oh man, you room smells like the 'zhu rou gan'... haha...

heard back from the OT conference, did not get to do an oral paper... was asked to do a poster instead... did not want to do it initially cos it's so expensive... but my supervisor and everyone was telling me that it's a good opportunity so i guess i am going after all... it's in melbourne in september...

went to berala that day and had steamboat with the girls... it was a cold and wet day... so it was nice to have steamboat... chatted and ate alot... can't believe that they have been here for a year already and about to go back soon... i will miss them... cos i could always count on them to understand my singlish sometimes and speak chinese with me... and go karaoke...

watched enchanted that day... i quite liked it... really cheesy but james marsden's character is just hilarious... and secret... by jay chou... it started off really slow at the beginning, and the stupid disc kept pausing and repeating... but it's not bad... quite sad actually...

INdesCriBLebLE...

today was a really exciting day for me... dun think i have been this excited for awhile... number 1) Our Hep C article which we wrote last year as part of the OTTP subject got published in the Hep C Review magazine... really really excited and happy cos it showed that the hard work and effort that we put into that article was not wasted... and not to mention it will be good for the portfolio... i am really thrilled... cannot describe the excitement and joy at seeing my name published... although it's not really a formal formal magazine, but still seeing your name on a published material is really really exciting...

Number 2) bcos we will be having our korean bbq gathering tonight... hopefully the rain will hold up cos the weather this week is really wet and cold...

definitely a good day...