We have now officially left Australia and for a change, we decided to blog in more or less real time. But once we get a chance, we’ll update you on our last few weeks in OZ, including a great week in Cairns with our friends, Shaneel and Heing. While we were sad to leave Brisbane, we were excited for new adventures in SE Asia. Vietnam and Cambodia here we come! First stop - Ho Chi Minh City (more commonly known as Saigon, even by the locals). Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh, we were greeted by an army of blue-masked airport [View Full Entry]

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The Australian Outback conjures up images of a remote wilderness populated only by kangaroos, camels and the few real Crocodile Dundees. The main attraction, Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is one of the most recognizable icons of Australia, although I must confess that I only had a vague knowledge of it until saw some pictures in my Lonely Planet. As I was planning my trip, I came to fully appreciate the true vastness of Australia. Uluru is located in the Northern Territory and is a mere 2,977 km from Brisbane, roughly 1 day and 14 hours straight of driving. The [View Full Entry]

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I fully agree with the old adage, “you are only as old as you feel” - on some days, you feel like you can easily conquer Everest, and on others, it is an effort to even get out of bed! Sidd’s maternal grandmother is a testament to this saying and the belief that one should always stay young at heart. At the spry age of 84, Baa travelled from India to Australia to spend some time with her grandkids in both Sydney and Brisbane - and by herself! Despite some terrible weather, we had a great time showing her, Kavita and [View Full Entry]

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With our second wedding anniversary fast approaching at the beginning of May, Sidd and I tossed around several ideas on how to make it a memorable occasion. As luck would have it, Sidd randomly had a week off of work and I was also able to take a week off from my part-time position. Yes, I did work for 2 months in Brisbane, but must confess that of those 2 months, I was able to take 2 weeks off for holidays! What a life! After much ‘googling’, flipping through the Lonely Planet and canvassing of our friends and colleagues, we settled [View Full Entry]

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With plans of snorkeling through sparkling coral seas, lounging on white silica beaches and generally just enjoying a sunny tropical paradise, both Sidd and I were really looking forward to our week-long getaway in the Whitsundays over the Easter break. The Whitsundays is located midway on the Queensland Coast, approximately 1.5 hours north by plane from Brisbane. It is the largest group of islands offshore from Australia, comprised of 74 tropical islands nestled in crystal-clear azure waters and bordered by the Great Barrier Reef. The majority of the Whitsunday islands are national parks and [View Full Entry]

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Upon arriving in Brisbane in early January, Sidd had a rather lengthy “To Do List” to complete before I arrived - among them: (1) find place to live, (2) obtain medical license in order to be able to work, (3) set up bank account in order to get paid, (4) clean new apartment until sparkling, etc. After about one week, however, he soon found himself with some spare time, having duly checked off all items on his list. At this time, Sidd was working at the Pediatric ICU at the Mater Hospital and his colleagues were avid triathletes. Seeking fellow companions, [View Full Entry]

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Within 2 weeks of Sidd’s parents’ visit, our second visitor, Margaret, one of my best friends, arrived from Washington D.C. to explore our little piece of Australia. This time, as we had full week, we decided to head down to Sydney, home to the famous Opera House, Bondi Beach and more importantly, lots and lots of tasty restaurants! Originally, we had planned for 12 hours in Brisbane to let Margaret sleep and adjust to the time difference. However, due to unfortunate circumstances (HK airport is damn big and the trains/planes are punctual), Margaret ended up missing her afternoo [View Full Entry]

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It has been awhile since I have motivated myself to write anything, but having resided in Australia now for almost 3 months, I thought it would be nice to update you on my perspective of life down under (and Melissa has been constantly nagging me to write something ever since she arrived here). I guess my biggest hesitation to write something (other than my sheer laziness, and the fact that I actually work) is that Melissa has been writing such fabulous entries and I am not sure how I will produce anything even remotely close to hers... so with that being [View Full Entry]

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The grand finale to the 30th birthday celebration took place in the glorious wine regions of McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Barossa Valley. Although neither Sidd nor I consider ourselves to be serious wine connoisseurs, we love sampling new wines and learning as much as we can about the different grapes and the wine-making process. Visiting wine regions is an annual adventure for us - our honeymoon was spent in Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley and our first year anniversary was a trip to Kelowna for a wine festival. Although some of the locals said that the state of South Australia [View Full Entry]

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As Part II of the 30th birthday celebration, Sidd and I headed to South Australia for a wine tour (more on this later) and to visit Kangaroo Island, the 2nd largest island off of Australia. Why, one might question, is it named Kangaroo Island? Is it because it is shaped like a Kangaroo? Or because it is overrun by these bouncy marsupials? Well, no... it’s because the explorers, upon discovering the island, feasted on Kangaroo for their first meal. Yum. KI, as the locals call it, is quite remote and can only be reached by ferry from Cape Jervis (1.5 hours [View Full Entry]

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