Still scorching hot on NYE night. We thought going to the Docklands would be cooler since it was next to the water. Nope. No such luck. Anyone thinking of going to see the fireworks should go to the Docklands!! There were a lot of people but it wasn't overly crowded to the point of being squashed against someone - still a lot of room and plenty of space all across the waterfront to get a good view of the fireworks which were set up to fire from the water. Highly recommended! [View Full Entry]

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Vonnie's birthday, excruciating 44 degrees Celcius. Going up to Dandenong Mountain didn't help, the temperature was only a couple of degrees lower and the sun still burnt. Headed to Miss Marples' Tea Room, very quaint and rustic. Felt like I should be wearing a corset and sipping my tea very very lady-like. I didn't of course. Didn't even order tea. Checked out the shops there - the teapot shop. Okay, so I don't remember the exact name of the shop but it had damn a lot of teapots. Really cute animal ones too. Antique shop was interesting, like a big treasure [View Full Entry]

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Over 60,000 people turned up to perfect 28 degree weather. I'm $25 richer thanks to betting on a horse named 'Glamour Puss'. LOL. For awhile I made that my tactic - betting on catchy names - until I went for a certain 'Miss Potential' who really did have potential - she lead in the beginning. Then she ended up last. Some people had interesting dresses and hats. Being 'Family Day' at the races, we were surrounded by really young pretty people, unfortunately some guys - I mean boys - couldn't even fill out their suits, and some young pretty girls looked [View Full Entry]

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A long 5 hour ride in the minivan, one-hour ferry ride and 20 minute saengthaew (open-air tiny truck) ride to the 2nd largest island in Thailand. A little bit unnerving when the saengthaew is packed to the brim, with some even having to stand and hang on to the roof! Imagine that, and imagine when it's going uphill. We arrived at White Sands Beach in time to witness the sunset while having dinner at the KC Restaurant. At nightfall, the beach turns into a lantern/light-strewn strip. The beach isn't as nice as Phi Phi - the sand isn't quite white, or [View Full Entry]

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Day 1: Arrived in Phuket at 1pm from Kuala Lumpur. Waited ages to get through immigration - apparently they were in the midst of changing their system. Weird how there was no customs check. Took a minibus/van to Patong Beach where they stopped halfway at a travel agent and we got our accommodation and a trip to Phi Phi Island booked. I noticed we were the only ones who booked anything with them - but then again, the other tourist were probably more prepared. We were just hoping to wing it once we got there! Spent some time combing the beach [View Full Entry]

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If you're backpacking, the only place to stay in Bangkok is around Khao San Road. It's the backpackers quarters, there's a sense of belonging because everyone else looks out of place too - there are practically more tourists than there are locals in that area. The famous Chantuchak market supposedly has 10,000 stalls - the humidity was quite intolerable. I know some girls would do anything for a bargain but I'm not one of them. Still, we hung around for 5 hours which was pretty good work, I reckon. We took a river cruise along Chao Phraya River on this really [View Full Entry]

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Sometimes in my line of work, I get perks such as invitations to special events around town. One such event was the Girls Day Out at Flemington Racecourse. This is also where the Melbourne Cup race is held every November. To give you an idea of how big horse-racing is here, Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne. My complimentary invite was to the final of a model search competition going on at one of the sponsors' marquee. Lil came along. Every girls dream to be surrounded by tall skinny models. I reasoned that maybe the free bubbly will [View Full Entry]

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New Year's Day 2005. 3 day weekend should not go to waste. Lil (my spontaneous-travel buddy) and I took advantage of cheap airfares to fly to Adelaide. Glenelg is a beachside suburb about 40 minutes from the Adelaide airport. We didn't do much research for accommodation but found a hotel about 10 minutes walk from the beach. A volleyball competition was going on while we were there. The white sandy beach is beautiful. Needless to say, we spent all our days at the beach. We did have a night out in the city but sadly, coming from Melbourne, Adelaide city really [View Full Entry]

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A bunch of us from Swanston Street C.O.C headed to our first Hillsongs Conference for 7 days. I was with four other girls in one apartment, with one bathroom. Surprisingly we didn't kill each other! I remember Lil being on the mattress next to mine on the floor. When you're seeing and living with the same people every day for 7 days, you develop a bond and Lil, Von, Chrissy and I are still the best of friends until now, despite Chrissy being back in Mauritius. [View Full Entry]

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Chris, Jamie and I decided to pack up and go on a road trip in Chris' beat-up 1978 Volvo (with no air-conditioning!). As per usual, we didn't have any prior planning but having been stressed out by final presentations at Uni, we wanted to head farthest away from Melbourne as possible. So off to Mornington Peninsula we went, about 100kms south of Melbourne. Along the Mornington Peninsula beaches you'll find bathing boxes, which are now heritage listed. Believe it or not, these boxes cost from AUD$5000-$150,000! I kid you not. We found a caravan park in Rosebud, which was really cosy. [View Full Entry]

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