Hey! Lookit the date! We made it into 2005 and everything's new again. New kids, new workload, new promises, new ideas. For 03A2, it's having to cope with the fact that we're now disbanded and everyone's got new responsibilities, be they military, employment or further studies. I have a notorious memory for people and names, so I'll list you all here as according to my register to acknowledge you, to thank you for being such a major part of my life, and to remind myself that I don't wish to forget you now that you've moved on:
Rach, Mei, Yan, Pris, Farizah, Lynn, Nige, 'nette, Ron, 'rah, 'sif, Fadzli, Fifi, Iqbal, Sarab, Sidi, Farisa, Kareen, Mindy, Chun, and 'gel.
Also, to the members of NYeDC 03-04, the experience of bringing "The Odyssey" to life with you is something I don't want to forget either.
Gid, Sam, Ramzi, Sanjeeda, Anita, Heng Tin, Durga, Meixian, Joanne, Melissa, Junxian, Mei, 'sif, Adam, Ain, Gavin, Reina, Liu Yin, Pei Rong, Shariffah, and Teng How.
It'll be hard going without Cara, my good friend and the den mother holding the club together. I hope Mel can take her place 'cos between Pete and me our people skills are practically non-existent. Bit worried about that.
New challenges to cope with and overcome then for 2005. A couple of days left to hide under my rock then it'll be time to meet the new year with all cylinders firing.
May 2005 be a great year for all of us! Cheers!
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Friday, December 31, 2004
Day 2 of the workplan seminar. More of the same stuff, this time more focused on incorporating the different aspects of yesterday's discussion specific to subjects taught by the individual departments. Most useful demos were strategies to get group members to work together and stay focused and on task. The idea is simple, yet effective: group work needs to be exhibited (regardless of quality) as it requires audience feedback in order to improve. Preferably an audience of peers whose feedback rates more credibly than that of the teacher's.
Discussion broke up into department level then further broken by year. Term 1 for the year 1s in 2005 could be quite fun. The focus will be on developing oral and collaborative skills in our students, so the assessment for the term will be group based and oral in nature though the presentation style may vary according to the preferences of the groups. I wanted to train my tutorial groups in the ancient art of storytelling, so I'm encouraged that both my agenda and that of the department coincide. The term will be pretty short so better watch my time carefully.
Discussion broke up into department level then further broken by year. Term 1 for the year 1s in 2005 could be quite fun. The focus will be on developing oral and collaborative skills in our students, so the assessment for the term will be group based and oral in nature though the presentation style may vary according to the preferences of the groups. I wanted to train my tutorial groups in the ancient art of storytelling, so I'm encouraged that both my agenda and that of the department coincide. The term will be pretty short so better watch my time carefully.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
A reunion for all staff today, well, a working reunion that is. The first day of a 2-day long meeting with each committee in charge of various aspects of the college presenting their plans for the coming year. P opened with the usual reminders of the fundamentals of education, the Ministry's ideas as to how they are going to become a reality in our students, and how hard the various committees have been working on our college's plan for 2005, particularly as the Ministry's new direction is to give every institution more autonomy to customize its programmes for its students.
She also reminded us about setting the right examples for our students in terms of maintaining decorum in behaviour and attire, and while it sounds a bit uppity and elitist I have to agree that the institution of the Junior College is meant to train the elite of our society regardless of a student's prior background/creed/ethnicity/social position, and as such there should be some standard that we need to maintain and exemplify if our students are to acquire the bearing that they need to carry off the elite status they have the potential to attain.
Very idealistic what we want to impart to our students in the 2 years they are with us. Developing the whole being, i.e., more than just the academic aspect but also the moral, physical, social, aesthetic aspects, is nothing new to our college but in 2005 the committees are looking into ways to quantify each student's level of success in developing all these areas in their lives.
Wow, all-round testing for the students, with the assessment in black and white to accompany it. Perhaps we are beginning to see that a person's academic success is, as I've said before, a side-effect of developing the total person. Most every academic success story is about people who do everything well, and we wonder how they find the time to study amongst all the other things they are actively involved in. The simplified answer is that they learn as they do. They don't compartmentalize their study within the subjects they take; rather they learn everything at the same time, everytime, regardless of their activity they are currently engaged in.
I'm not sure filling in monitoring forms will help the process in each and every student, though. I guess it helps us to feel like we are playing an active role in nurturing the positive traits we want to see our students grow in. But ultimately it's not the immaculately filled up forms that's going to do the trick (though it'll make us look good) but rather it's in showing students that we ourselves are successful people living fulfilling lives as a result of developing these traits in ourselves that will make them desirable to our students to emulate for their own success and fulfillment.
Once again, there are good, well-intentioned ideas on the table. I hope we don't get so bogged down by processes and programmes and procedures (an easy rut to fall into) that we forget to be the successful, fulfilled people that are bursting to share the secrets of our success with our junior beings.
Perhaps now I'm being too idealistic?
She also reminded us about setting the right examples for our students in terms of maintaining decorum in behaviour and attire, and while it sounds a bit uppity and elitist I have to agree that the institution of the Junior College is meant to train the elite of our society regardless of a student's prior background/creed/ethnicity/social position, and as such there should be some standard that we need to maintain and exemplify if our students are to acquire the bearing that they need to carry off the elite status they have the potential to attain.
Very idealistic what we want to impart to our students in the 2 years they are with us. Developing the whole being, i.e., more than just the academic aspect but also the moral, physical, social, aesthetic aspects, is nothing new to our college but in 2005 the committees are looking into ways to quantify each student's level of success in developing all these areas in their lives.
Wow, all-round testing for the students, with the assessment in black and white to accompany it. Perhaps we are beginning to see that a person's academic success is, as I've said before, a side-effect of developing the total person. Most every academic success story is about people who do everything well, and we wonder how they find the time to study amongst all the other things they are actively involved in. The simplified answer is that they learn as they do. They don't compartmentalize their study within the subjects they take; rather they learn everything at the same time, everytime, regardless of their activity they are currently engaged in.
I'm not sure filling in monitoring forms will help the process in each and every student, though. I guess it helps us to feel like we are playing an active role in nurturing the positive traits we want to see our students grow in. But ultimately it's not the immaculately filled up forms that's going to do the trick (though it'll make us look good) but rather it's in showing students that we ourselves are successful people living fulfilling lives as a result of developing these traits in ourselves that will make them desirable to our students to emulate for their own success and fulfillment.
Once again, there are good, well-intentioned ideas on the table. I hope we don't get so bogged down by processes and programmes and procedures (an easy rut to fall into) that we forget to be the successful, fulfilled people that are bursting to share the secrets of our success with our junior beings.
Perhaps now I'm being too idealistic?
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Vacation time is practically over. Now is the hangover from Christmas and from running around in a foreign country. The Quake is a horribly sobering reality to wake up to. The work cycle is beginning again in just a few days. I should look forward to starting work again: life gets exciting with the chaos of campus and the camaraderie of colleagues but it's overcoming the inertia that's settled in, the slow creaking of rusty joints and lazy bones that makes waking up in the morning so difficult. We sleep late to make the day last longer, and we curse the morning that's half wasted 'cos we woke up at 10 or 11. No wonder I'm feeling blaah again.
Must get active. Must move around again. Side note: all that walking around in Oz seems to have done me good; my joints don't hurt as much any more climbing stairs! Must exercise! Hey, these imperatives are staring to look like new year resolutions.
Back to work starting tomorrow with our 2-day work plan seminar where they tell us what's going on the coming year and what our responsibilities are going to be. I can't wait. Yay.
Must get active. Must move around again. Side note: all that walking around in Oz seems to have done me good; my joints don't hurt as much any more climbing stairs! Must exercise! Hey, these imperatives are staring to look like new year resolutions.
Back to work starting tomorrow with our 2-day work plan seminar where they tell us what's going on the coming year and what our responsibilities are going to be. I can't wait. Yay.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Whoa! Yahoo's been reporting the biggest quake in 40 years occurring in Indonesia, our neighbouring country. 8.9 Richter is tremendous, and the body count as of now is 7000 across Asia and SE Asia. This event is unimaginable to us, particularly since we didn't feel a thing. No shakes, no tremors, none of the 20ft high waves that crashed into coastal resorts and villages as far away as India, killing thousands and making millions homeless.
And what are we doing here in Singapore? Continuing to celebrate Christmas like nothing's happening anywhere else in the world. We had better stop taking such blessings for granted. We can't count on being so sheltered and insulated every time. We may have been protected this time around, but others have been badly hit. So let's look for opportunities to assist in the relief efforts in whatever form is needed. Keep your eyes open, 'k?
Sigh. After all that, it's hard to record down the clan gathering at my uncle's place tonight. The family of my maternal side meets every year at Christmas as a tradition that stretches back to Great-Grandma's time to the present. My maternal side is a very large extended family and unless we've kept close tabs on who's who and what developments have taken place over the past year, it's hard to believe how quickly members of the family grow up and pair off and even have little ones of their own.
This side of the family tends to have more professionals in the private sector than my dad's side who are mostly government employees. Mom's side tends to have bigger achievers, whether in terms of career, or sporting activities, or scholarship, or family growth, so for an underachiever (read 'slacker') like me it felt a bit more awkward tonight than at Christmas eve with my dad's side.
The gathering was at the Caribbean, a condo project at Harbourfront on the site of the old Empire Docks. Architecture very geometric, full of glass and steel, lots of landscaping and scattered all around with water features of odd metallic designs. I thought the location would serve well as a set for a futuristic movie. Hmm...
So, once again, lots of good food, carol singing, some scripture reading, and quite some gift exchanging. In this large family it gets a bit chaotic (even with a volunteer Santa to help with gift distribution), but it's fun as well. Same time next year?
And what are we doing here in Singapore? Continuing to celebrate Christmas like nothing's happening anywhere else in the world. We had better stop taking such blessings for granted. We can't count on being so sheltered and insulated every time. We may have been protected this time around, but others have been badly hit. So let's look for opportunities to assist in the relief efforts in whatever form is needed. Keep your eyes open, 'k?
Sigh. After all that, it's hard to record down the clan gathering at my uncle's place tonight. The family of my maternal side meets every year at Christmas as a tradition that stretches back to Great-Grandma's time to the present. My maternal side is a very large extended family and unless we've kept close tabs on who's who and what developments have taken place over the past year, it's hard to believe how quickly members of the family grow up and pair off and even have little ones of their own.
This side of the family tends to have more professionals in the private sector than my dad's side who are mostly government employees. Mom's side tends to have bigger achievers, whether in terms of career, or sporting activities, or scholarship, or family growth, so for an underachiever (read 'slacker') like me it felt a bit more awkward tonight than at Christmas eve with my dad's side.
The gathering was at the Caribbean, a condo project at Harbourfront on the site of the old Empire Docks. Architecture very geometric, full of glass and steel, lots of landscaping and scattered all around with water features of odd metallic designs. I thought the location would serve well as a set for a futuristic movie. Hmm...
So, once again, lots of good food, carol singing, some scripture reading, and quite some gift exchanging. In this large family it gets a bit chaotic (even with a volunteer Santa to help with gift distribution), but it's fun as well. Same time next year?
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Fell asleep blogging last night and sat at my desk while dreams of sugarplum faries danced round my head. Jerked awake at 0330 and crawled off to shower and into bed just after 0400. No wonder we woke up so late this morning.
If we were kids, we'd be up by 0600 unwrapping presents; but now that we're older the impatience to count the loot no longer factors into the excitement of Christmas. We're old enough to know that our pressies will still be there whenever we choose to open them, and that noone else is likely to snatch them from us if we're not looking. The rush to open our gifts gives way to the fatigue of carousing all night, so we can afford to wait.
June hid my gift under the comforter by my pillow. I've learned to be careful around times when presents are likely to be given as I nearly got a concussion the first time she tried something like this. I vaguely remember that she hid a hardcover tome INside my pillowcase... much to my surprise at bedtime. It wasn't quite the bonk I was looking forward to. This Christmas she got me a gift voucher from Borders and a box of really nice chocolates. Thanks, June!
I got her a pair of leather-bound sandals in the design that she likes, though she was under the impression that they don't make 'em in her size. I happened to find a pair that fit her, so that was Plan B, as it turned out. The box they came in was a bit bulky so I had to hide her pressie under the bed. I told her Q-tip had crapped under the bed to trick her into looking there to find her gift.
Mary must have heard that we did not receive any invitations to go anywhere for dinner or whatever during Christmas last year (for some reason, everyone we knew had something else to do instead of observing the Yuletide season). She invited us to her family dinner tonight. More good food, pleasant conversation particularly with her Mom who loved to talk about growing up in Penang and how her Singaporean pen-pal became Mary's gramps.
Dinner with the maternal side of my family tomorrow night. I am going to be one stuffed turkey when term reopens next week. But hey, it's only once a year so bring it on!
If we were kids, we'd be up by 0600 unwrapping presents; but now that we're older the impatience to count the loot no longer factors into the excitement of Christmas. We're old enough to know that our pressies will still be there whenever we choose to open them, and that noone else is likely to snatch them from us if we're not looking. The rush to open our gifts gives way to the fatigue of carousing all night, so we can afford to wait.
June hid my gift under the comforter by my pillow. I've learned to be careful around times when presents are likely to be given as I nearly got a concussion the first time she tried something like this. I vaguely remember that she hid a hardcover tome INside my pillowcase... much to my surprise at bedtime. It wasn't quite the bonk I was looking forward to. This Christmas she got me a gift voucher from Borders and a box of really nice chocolates. Thanks, June!
I got her a pair of leather-bound sandals in the design that she likes, though she was under the impression that they don't make 'em in her size. I happened to find a pair that fit her, so that was Plan B, as it turned out. The box they came in was a bit bulky so I had to hide her pressie under the bed. I told her Q-tip had crapped under the bed to trick her into looking there to find her gift.
Mary must have heard that we did not receive any invitations to go anywhere for dinner or whatever during Christmas last year (for some reason, everyone we knew had something else to do instead of observing the Yuletide season). She invited us to her family dinner tonight. More good food, pleasant conversation particularly with her Mom who loved to talk about growing up in Penang and how her Singaporean pen-pal became Mary's gramps.
Dinner with the maternal side of my family tomorrow night. I am going to be one stuffed turkey when term reopens next week. But hey, it's only once a year so bring it on!
The traditional calling together of the clan over the Christmas season is one of the few opportunities for us to gather, when once long, long ago, we met each other practically on a weekly basis. It's always great fun when family on my paternal side organize ourselves together. Loud conversations and lots of excitement in the air, mostly from the older folk. Well, yes and no, because our succeeding generation usually adds its own brand of familial chaos to the dinner table. Tonight's dinner was quieter than usual as more than half the kids in the (extended) family were overseas on holiday, so this year the uncles and aunties dominated.
Too much good food to celebrate Christmas with. 3 roast chickens, a platter of Sakae Sushi, a pot of stewed lamb, kong bak with accompanying dumplings, fresh garden salad, a bowl of stir-fried veggies, roast pork, 2 steamed pomfret, a large pot of mushroom soup with 2 blocks of butter dissolved in it, fried noodles, konnyaku jelly and caramel custard for dessert; and lots of Coke, Heineken, cappucino and red wine. Unlike previous years, there was a significant quantity of leftovers. Most of us got full faster than usual and we generally decided that age is slowing all of us down.
Sang our first carols before midnight; this year it was the remaining kids providing the accompanying music for the first time ever. Nice to see they're starting to earn their keep, eh?
Too much good food to celebrate Christmas with. 3 roast chickens, a platter of Sakae Sushi, a pot of stewed lamb, kong bak with accompanying dumplings, fresh garden salad, a bowl of stir-fried veggies, roast pork, 2 steamed pomfret, a large pot of mushroom soup with 2 blocks of butter dissolved in it, fried noodles, konnyaku jelly and caramel custard for dessert; and lots of Coke, Heineken, cappucino and red wine. Unlike previous years, there was a significant quantity of leftovers. Most of us got full faster than usual and we generally decided that age is slowing all of us down.
Sang our first carols before midnight; this year it was the remaining kids providing the accompanying music for the first time ever. Nice to see they're starting to earn their keep, eh?
Friday, December 24, 2004
Mission failed. I had the perfect idea for the perfect Christmas gift (well, 'perfect' is a matter of opinion) but when I got to the store, there was no stock. New stock will arrive in 2 weeks, guaranteed. Right. Damn. What lousy timing. Time to execute Plan B then. Umm... what was Plan B again?
Had in-laws over for dinner. Mom-in-law brought her annual fruitcake gift for me to deliver to my mom when I see her tomorrow. Mom-in-law's fruitcake is a hot favourite 'cos densely packed as it is with fruit and nuts, it's still light enough to down in quantity. Mom's gift is particularly special because of the additional layer of frosting and the Christmassy figurines that turn a mundane-looking fruitcake into a diorama of a winter wonderland.
Going over to my Aunt's place for Christmas dinner tomorrow evening. I probably won't be back in time, so here's an early "Merry Christmas" to one and all!!! Have a great one, folks!
Had in-laws over for dinner. Mom-in-law brought her annual fruitcake gift for me to deliver to my mom when I see her tomorrow. Mom-in-law's fruitcake is a hot favourite 'cos densely packed as it is with fruit and nuts, it's still light enough to down in quantity. Mom's gift is particularly special because of the additional layer of frosting and the Christmassy figurines that turn a mundane-looking fruitcake into a diorama of a winter wonderland.
Going over to my Aunt's place for Christmas dinner tomorrow evening. I probably won't be back in time, so here's an early "Merry Christmas" to one and all!!! Have a great one, folks!
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Casting began for Drama Night 2005 this morning.
Dom dropped in to deliver Q-tip whose fur has grown enough so we won't mistake her for a chihuahua anymore. She's cute again!
Went to the in-laws to celebrate the Winter Solstice with homemade boiled and deep fried wo tie (Shanghainese dumplings).
There! Just finished uploading our holiday snapshots.
Click here to view them!
Dom dropped in to deliver Q-tip whose fur has grown enough so we won't mistake her for a chihuahua anymore. She's cute again!
Went to the in-laws to celebrate the Winter Solstice with homemade boiled and deep fried wo tie (Shanghainese dumplings).
There! Just finished uploading our holiday snapshots.
Click here to view them!
Went to the Fish Market for breakfast. Steamed lobster (half each), a dozen freshly shucked oysters, beer battered barrimundi, hot beverage. Something to remember for a long time to come.
Walked right up Pitt Street to the main shopping district to spend our last day taking in our last exposure to Sydney life before returning to the Vulcan to pick up our stuff and check out.
Cab to Central, subway to International Airport.
And here, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together and repeats to herself, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."
Hello Belle! Hello Momo! Hello Q-tip, when Dom returns you from boarding tomorrow evening! We missed you all! Oh, and Watson too!
Walked right up Pitt Street to the main shopping district to spend our last day taking in our last exposure to Sydney life before returning to the Vulcan to pick up our stuff and check out.
Cab to Central, subway to International Airport.
And here, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together and repeats to herself, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."
Hello Belle! Hello Momo! Hello Q-tip, when Dom returns you from boarding tomorrow evening! We missed you all! Oh, and Watson too!
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
On our last full day in Oz we mostly rode every public transport vehicle we could in order to make the most use of our Sydney Pass as possible before we left.
Finally got my bacon and eggs at the Vulcan then walked to Central for the subway to Kings Cross to photograph the Al Alamein fountain, a WWII memorial. It was early morning so Kings Cross, the celebrated red-light district of Sydney, wasn't quite awake yet and was therefore unremarkable.
Revisited St Mary's Church and bought a ticket to tour the crypts which we were too late to view the last time we were here. The crypts are beautiful and very peaceful. A large cross decorates the whole of the crucifix-shaped floor, and there is a tranquil, pastoral picture at each cardinal point and a picture of heaven and earth meeting at the intersection.
A few of the Bishops and Archbishops who once presided over the church rest there now and some of the church's old Catholic paraphenelia are on display alongside a static exhibition on the history of the Catholic church in Sydney.
We walked back to Circular Quay for the 1300 afternoon Harbourview cruise. It's a nice, long cruise (2 and a half hours long) and took us around the harbour showing off the splendid sights of Sydney's famous landmarks, its awesome surf, its dramatic cliffs and rocks on which the waves foam and break, and an assortment of luxurious residences all along the seafront. There is no ugly spot to be seen anywhere. Wherever our eyes wandered they were met with a prestine, picturesque landscape.
Back at Circular Quay, we caught the blue Bondi Explorer to see the sights of the Eastern side of Sydney -- the residential and beach side. It was an envious drive past all the gorgeous houses we could never afford. The beaches boast amazingly high waves and only the surfer dudes could be seen braving such surf.
We stopped at the Gap, the entrance into from the Pacific Ocean. Here, the cliffs meet the surf in an explosion of spray and white water -- what a sight!
Caught the last Bondi Explorer of the day back into Martin Square for a wander around before walking back to the Quay for the 2000 evening Harbourlights cruise. A shorter cruise this time (about 1 and a half hours long), but Sydney all lighted up at night is a different kind of magic from its face in daylight. I love the sight of a city lit up at night and this sight didn't disappoint at all. What can I say? Sydney is beautiful. Wow!
Our Sydney Passes are now retired (except for one last ride to the airport tomorrow) but at least they retired smokin'.
Finally got my bacon and eggs at the Vulcan then walked to Central for the subway to Kings Cross to photograph the Al Alamein fountain, a WWII memorial. It was early morning so Kings Cross, the celebrated red-light district of Sydney, wasn't quite awake yet and was therefore unremarkable.
Revisited St Mary's Church and bought a ticket to tour the crypts which we were too late to view the last time we were here. The crypts are beautiful and very peaceful. A large cross decorates the whole of the crucifix-shaped floor, and there is a tranquil, pastoral picture at each cardinal point and a picture of heaven and earth meeting at the intersection.
A few of the Bishops and Archbishops who once presided over the church rest there now and some of the church's old Catholic paraphenelia are on display alongside a static exhibition on the history of the Catholic church in Sydney.
We walked back to Circular Quay for the 1300 afternoon Harbourview cruise. It's a nice, long cruise (2 and a half hours long) and took us around the harbour showing off the splendid sights of Sydney's famous landmarks, its awesome surf, its dramatic cliffs and rocks on which the waves foam and break, and an assortment of luxurious residences all along the seafront. There is no ugly spot to be seen anywhere. Wherever our eyes wandered they were met with a prestine, picturesque landscape.
Back at Circular Quay, we caught the blue Bondi Explorer to see the sights of the Eastern side of Sydney -- the residential and beach side. It was an envious drive past all the gorgeous houses we could never afford. The beaches boast amazingly high waves and only the surfer dudes could be seen braving such surf.
We stopped at the Gap, the entrance into from the Pacific Ocean. Here, the cliffs meet the surf in an explosion of spray and white water -- what a sight!
Caught the last Bondi Explorer of the day back into Martin Square for a wander around before walking back to the Quay for the 2000 evening Harbourlights cruise. A shorter cruise this time (about 1 and a half hours long), but Sydney all lighted up at night is a different kind of magic from its face in daylight. I love the sight of a city lit up at night and this sight didn't disappoint at all. What can I say? Sydney is beautiful. Wow!
Our Sydney Passes are now retired (except for one last ride to the airport tomorrow) but at least they retired smokin'.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
The train ride from Central to Newcastle takes about 2 and a half hours. The journey takes us past the spectacular landscape of New South Wales. So much to see of forests, mountains, rivers and trees. Human development and habitation has only touched the land at the edges and it's really nice to see that the majority of the natural world is still left intact.
Slept on and off in the train, then closer to Newcastle this little kid started reading aloud from his joke book to his family group and try as we could we could ignore him no longer. The jokes were so terribly (as in bad, corny, lame, inane) that they kept us awake and groaning at each punchline. Please, if you value your sanity, do NOT ever buy The Incredibles Joke Book for any little kid you know this Christmas.
Newcastle is a small town with lots of historic colonial buildings. The town is very well maintained for its antiquity and takes great pride in its appearance. But we weren't there to tour the town. We took a short walk (assisted by the amiable locals) to the ferry terminal where we boarded the ferry for a 5 minute cruise into Stockton across the harbour.
What's in Stockton? Blazing heat, heat like we've not felt before. The sun shining brightly down, the air warm, reflecting off the sidewalk. If not for the breezy coastal winds, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it far up the main road to find the water we had foolishly neglected to purchase when we were on the Newcastle side.
Shops in Stockton close early on Sunday -- the newsagent closed at 1000hrs! Fortunately, June spotted an IGA supermarket so we cooled off and bought a 1.5 litre bottle of spring water for later use.
We walked back to the Stockton terminal refreshed and before long, our guide pulled up in his sister's Tucson and we joined 2 of our fellow adventurers on the afternoon Sand Safari tour.
There were 12 of us and 3 guides. 1st, the helmet fitting, then the mandatory waiver signing, then the Land Cruiser ride taking us to our much anticipated dune eating 4x4 Honda quad bikes!
After a short handling and safety briefing, we hopped on our bikes and Indian-file rode out into the desert. Actually, the location is a 2km wide beach with huge sand dunes drifting at the mercy of the wind, so it is practically a desert until the water's edge. We had a couple of photo-ops, one in front of a 30-year old shipwreck that has been left to rot 'cos it isn't worth the trouble to salvage.
Our course was a relatively simple one for beginners and it took most of the afternoon to get around the dunes. The ride was thoroughly satisfying; sometimes revving our bikes to 50kph and lots of ups and downs and arounds to keep it challenging without it being too dangerous.
Not that our guides were blase about the dangers. In fact, they kept recounting horror stories about people who flipped their bikes and got squashed underneath, or that they went up the wrong rise and plummetted unexpectedly down a great height to disaster. The stories were enought to keep us meekly following the bike immediately in front of us to ensure that everyone kept to the same safe paths.
And so the afternoon went in a rush of sweat, adrenaline and diesel. At the end of our ride, our guides provided us with ice-cold tetra-paks of juice. Yeah!
When we got back to the Stockton terminal, the weather took a sudden turn. The wind howled and the rain poured in torrents on our heads. It got cold. Our ferry ride was bumpy, but no danger though.
Arrived in Central after another 2 and a half hour ride. It was dry here, but blustery and cold. We hurried back to our hotel after a quick dinner. No point hanging around in bad weather.
Notice I haven't mentioned much about meals today? Too much of a deja vous from yesterday. Boring.
Slept on and off in the train, then closer to Newcastle this little kid started reading aloud from his joke book to his family group and try as we could we could ignore him no longer. The jokes were so terribly (as in bad, corny, lame, inane) that they kept us awake and groaning at each punchline. Please, if you value your sanity, do NOT ever buy The Incredibles Joke Book for any little kid you know this Christmas.
Newcastle is a small town with lots of historic colonial buildings. The town is very well maintained for its antiquity and takes great pride in its appearance. But we weren't there to tour the town. We took a short walk (assisted by the amiable locals) to the ferry terminal where we boarded the ferry for a 5 minute cruise into Stockton across the harbour.
What's in Stockton? Blazing heat, heat like we've not felt before. The sun shining brightly down, the air warm, reflecting off the sidewalk. If not for the breezy coastal winds, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it far up the main road to find the water we had foolishly neglected to purchase when we were on the Newcastle side.
Shops in Stockton close early on Sunday -- the newsagent closed at 1000hrs! Fortunately, June spotted an IGA supermarket so we cooled off and bought a 1.5 litre bottle of spring water for later use.
We walked back to the Stockton terminal refreshed and before long, our guide pulled up in his sister's Tucson and we joined 2 of our fellow adventurers on the afternoon Sand Safari tour.
There were 12 of us and 3 guides. 1st, the helmet fitting, then the mandatory waiver signing, then the Land Cruiser ride taking us to our much anticipated dune eating 4x4 Honda quad bikes!
After a short handling and safety briefing, we hopped on our bikes and Indian-file rode out into the desert. Actually, the location is a 2km wide beach with huge sand dunes drifting at the mercy of the wind, so it is practically a desert until the water's edge. We had a couple of photo-ops, one in front of a 30-year old shipwreck that has been left to rot 'cos it isn't worth the trouble to salvage.
Our course was a relatively simple one for beginners and it took most of the afternoon to get around the dunes. The ride was thoroughly satisfying; sometimes revving our bikes to 50kph and lots of ups and downs and arounds to keep it challenging without it being too dangerous.
Not that our guides were blase about the dangers. In fact, they kept recounting horror stories about people who flipped their bikes and got squashed underneath, or that they went up the wrong rise and plummetted unexpectedly down a great height to disaster. The stories were enought to keep us meekly following the bike immediately in front of us to ensure that everyone kept to the same safe paths.
And so the afternoon went in a rush of sweat, adrenaline and diesel. At the end of our ride, our guides provided us with ice-cold tetra-paks of juice. Yeah!
When we got back to the Stockton terminal, the weather took a sudden turn. The wind howled and the rain poured in torrents on our heads. It got cold. Our ferry ride was bumpy, but no danger though.
Arrived in Central after another 2 and a half hour ride. It was dry here, but blustery and cold. We hurried back to our hotel after a quick dinner. No point hanging around in bad weather.
Notice I haven't mentioned much about meals today? Too much of a deja vous from yesterday. Boring.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs from the hotel cafe. However in a rare attempt at frugality, we had to forego the $9 Vulcan Big Breakfast. Instead we went again to Paddy's Market, this time to the fruit and vegetable side that we missed yesterday. Cheap, fresh, fragrant stuff.
Found a $10 note on the sidewalk and used it to pay for our breakfast at McD's. Exactly the same as in Singapore except for the sausage that was probably pork and definitely not halal. I still want bacon and eggs though. Sigh.
Caught the Explorer to our 1st stop, The Rocks. Here, June was in her element -- exactly what she had been looking for in a weekend market: unique handicrafts and artworks made by authentic Australian hands. Here is a list of our purchases:
1 x display mobile made of twisted forks and spoons
1 x eucalyptus scented wooden puzzle block
2 x fridge magnets hand-carved from wood
2 x scented wardrobe protectors, guaranteed 3 years
1 x banana bread
1 x lemonade
1 x reproduction painting of Sydney landmarks
1 x book of collected Aboriginal folktales (my purchase)
This is the most shopping we've done since we arrived in Oz!
Loaded with our purchases, we hopped Explorer to view Sydney Opera House up close and personal. From afar, the overall structure is already impressive. Close-up and it's the texture of the tiling that grabs the attention. With all the ceramic layering its surface it looks set to be an alternative space shuttle design. Took lots of photos here.
Explorer to Mrs MacQuarie's Chair, a spot on the harbour that Gov McQ had designated as a garden and as a lookout spot for his wife (i.e., for his wife to look out of, not for him to look out for his wife). Her chair had been carved into the rocks here and it became her favourite hangout. Today women sit on her chair and make a wish. This place is also the best land-based vantage point to frame the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the same photo.
Explorer to Wooloomooloo and the site of the original Harry's Cafe de Wheels. Finally got to order our pies; a Tiger for me, and a chicken and cheese pie for June. Wow! Excellent stuff and reasonably priced too. They are substantial and taste great! Meaty and juicy, crust flaky and light. The addition of mash and mushy peas on the Tiger made it more of a meal. After guzzling our pies, we ordered another hotdog to share, I am unashamed to confess.
Explorer back to our hotel to dump our purchases and get ready for dinner with Charis, Samson and DotDot, their King Charles. We grabbed their pressies and stuff they wanted us to get for them. Went to Central to check out the timetable for our train ride up to Newcastle tomorrow, then went to meet our friends at the bus stop.
It's great to see them again after 2 years. They've settled down in the suburbs and DotDot still remembers us. She's such a dear. We saw their lovely house then drove out to Hurstville for Viet food. Our pho was big with good, lean beef and piles of sprouts and mint leaves. June was very happy to see the saucer of chilli padi. DotDot sat patiently in her seat while we ate, and attracted lots of "so cute" from passers by. Charis and Sam kindly drove us back to the Vulcan after dinner. Wonder when we'll see them again?
Found a $10 note on the sidewalk and used it to pay for our breakfast at McD's. Exactly the same as in Singapore except for the sausage that was probably pork and definitely not halal. I still want bacon and eggs though. Sigh.
Caught the Explorer to our 1st stop, The Rocks. Here, June was in her element -- exactly what she had been looking for in a weekend market: unique handicrafts and artworks made by authentic Australian hands. Here is a list of our purchases:
1 x display mobile made of twisted forks and spoons
1 x eucalyptus scented wooden puzzle block
2 x fridge magnets hand-carved from wood
2 x scented wardrobe protectors, guaranteed 3 years
1 x banana bread
1 x lemonade
1 x reproduction painting of Sydney landmarks
1 x book of collected Aboriginal folktales (my purchase)
This is the most shopping we've done since we arrived in Oz!
Loaded with our purchases, we hopped Explorer to view Sydney Opera House up close and personal. From afar, the overall structure is already impressive. Close-up and it's the texture of the tiling that grabs the attention. With all the ceramic layering its surface it looks set to be an alternative space shuttle design. Took lots of photos here.
Explorer to Mrs MacQuarie's Chair, a spot on the harbour that Gov McQ had designated as a garden and as a lookout spot for his wife (i.e., for his wife to look out of, not for him to look out for his wife). Her chair had been carved into the rocks here and it became her favourite hangout. Today women sit on her chair and make a wish. This place is also the best land-based vantage point to frame the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the same photo.
Explorer to Wooloomooloo and the site of the original Harry's Cafe de Wheels. Finally got to order our pies; a Tiger for me, and a chicken and cheese pie for June. Wow! Excellent stuff and reasonably priced too. They are substantial and taste great! Meaty and juicy, crust flaky and light. The addition of mash and mushy peas on the Tiger made it more of a meal. After guzzling our pies, we ordered another hotdog to share, I am unashamed to confess.
Explorer back to our hotel to dump our purchases and get ready for dinner with Charis, Samson and DotDot, their King Charles. We grabbed their pressies and stuff they wanted us to get for them. Went to Central to check out the timetable for our train ride up to Newcastle tomorrow, then went to meet our friends at the bus stop.
It's great to see them again after 2 years. They've settled down in the suburbs and DotDot still remembers us. She's such a dear. We saw their lovely house then drove out to Hurstville for Viet food. Our pho was big with good, lean beef and piles of sprouts and mint leaves. June was very happy to see the saucer of chilli padi. DotDot sat patiently in her seat while we ate, and attracted lots of "so cute" from passers by. Charis and Sam kindly drove us back to the Vulcan after dinner. Wonder when we'll see them again?
Friday, December 17, 2004
Caught the 0924 back to Sydney. The trip took a little more than 2 hours to arrive because of the morning congestion at Central Station. The train operator kept giving us periodic updates on the ETA while registering his own impatience with the system.
The Vulcan upgraded our room to a very modern furnished one. 202 even has a working fireplace, though this being summer, it's too hot to light it. Besides, it'll play havoc with the air-conditioning.
Today we spent most of our time hopping the Explorer bus and using the 1st day of our 3-day pass as much as we could.
On Friday, Paddy's Market opens for business, so we headed out there and saw... a big pasar malam, manned and operated mostly by more Asian folk. Hence, the merchandise was nothing unusual to us. Clothes, toys, stuff. After a short prowl we gave up and crossed the street into Chinatown...
... where we ordered a char siew fan, a siew ngap fan, and a soi gow tong from a Hongkonger run restaurant. Same thing: high prices, humongous portions. June and I were slack-jawed for a second then worked our way slowly through what looked like half a roast duck, a large fraction of roast pig, a vegetable side, and a number of huge dumplings stuffed with fresh prawns, minced meat and black fungus. Oh, for cheaper meals and smaller portions.
Then back on the Explorer to Argyle place to take pictures at Garrison Church, Explorer to Campbell's Cove to take pictures of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, Explorer to take pictures at the magnificent St Mary's Cathedral and surroundings, and a short walk to the Hard Rock Cafe where the t-shirts cost much less than the ones in Surfers'.
The Explorer bus is a lot of fun, particularly when the driver turns off the canned "tourist info" recording and launches into his own politically incorrect commentary on local politics, Sydney landmarks, famous Australians, and occasionally pointing out the more attractive female passers by whom we might otherwise have missed seeing.
At Circular Quay we had a change of driver. The new guy took over wearing a Father Christmas costume complete with fake beard and sunglasses. He distributed candy to the lone kid seated in the 5th row before driving on. Sydney -- lots of elderly folk, few kids.
Whoever designed Sydney must have been a conglomeration of artists and other people with an eye for the visually stunning. I love the designs that blend the old with the new, the geometric with the organic, the blending of different tastes from different times. What a fun place!
We saw the Giant Christmas tree in Martin Place and we marvelled at the splendour of the Westin occupying No. 1 Martin Place, a Colonial GPO building that the GPO is still operating out of. The Fullerton must have borrowed the idea from here.
We found an Internet cafe opposite Central Station for me to update quidestveritas while June scouted ahead for other attractions. The cafe is run by a PRC and the other patrons are likewise mostly Chinese playing Chinese online games. We've certainly reached far and wide.
June spotted a Harry's Cafe de Wheels at the Capitol and we went to sample their world famous meat pie. We were too late. All the pies had already been sold out and they were closing in 10 minutes. We had to settle for the only thing they had left, a hot dog, but what a dog! A bun filled with a scoop of mashed potatoes, a scoop of mashed peas, a scoop of Mexican chilli con carne, a large sausage topped generously with ketchup, mustard and hot sauce. Everything was spilling out into the paper tray it came in, so the counter dude gave us a fork to eat it with.
The hot dog was just and appetizer. Tomorrow we're off to Harry's main branch early to get us a pie! Count on it!
The Vulcan upgraded our room to a very modern furnished one. 202 even has a working fireplace, though this being summer, it's too hot to light it. Besides, it'll play havoc with the air-conditioning.
Today we spent most of our time hopping the Explorer bus and using the 1st day of our 3-day pass as much as we could.
On Friday, Paddy's Market opens for business, so we headed out there and saw... a big pasar malam, manned and operated mostly by more Asian folk. Hence, the merchandise was nothing unusual to us. Clothes, toys, stuff. After a short prowl we gave up and crossed the street into Chinatown...
... where we ordered a char siew fan, a siew ngap fan, and a soi gow tong from a Hongkonger run restaurant. Same thing: high prices, humongous portions. June and I were slack-jawed for a second then worked our way slowly through what looked like half a roast duck, a large fraction of roast pig, a vegetable side, and a number of huge dumplings stuffed with fresh prawns, minced meat and black fungus. Oh, for cheaper meals and smaller portions.
Then back on the Explorer to Argyle place to take pictures at Garrison Church, Explorer to Campbell's Cove to take pictures of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, Explorer to take pictures at the magnificent St Mary's Cathedral and surroundings, and a short walk to the Hard Rock Cafe where the t-shirts cost much less than the ones in Surfers'.
The Explorer bus is a lot of fun, particularly when the driver turns off the canned "tourist info" recording and launches into his own politically incorrect commentary on local politics, Sydney landmarks, famous Australians, and occasionally pointing out the more attractive female passers by whom we might otherwise have missed seeing.
At Circular Quay we had a change of driver. The new guy took over wearing a Father Christmas costume complete with fake beard and sunglasses. He distributed candy to the lone kid seated in the 5th row before driving on. Sydney -- lots of elderly folk, few kids.
Whoever designed Sydney must have been a conglomeration of artists and other people with an eye for the visually stunning. I love the designs that blend the old with the new, the geometric with the organic, the blending of different tastes from different times. What a fun place!
We saw the Giant Christmas tree in Martin Place and we marvelled at the splendour of the Westin occupying No. 1 Martin Place, a Colonial GPO building that the GPO is still operating out of. The Fullerton must have borrowed the idea from here.
We found an Internet cafe opposite Central Station for me to update quidestveritas while June scouted ahead for other attractions. The cafe is run by a PRC and the other patrons are likewise mostly Chinese playing Chinese online games. We've certainly reached far and wide.
June spotted a Harry's Cafe de Wheels at the Capitol and we went to sample their world famous meat pie. We were too late. All the pies had already been sold out and they were closing in 10 minutes. We had to settle for the only thing they had left, a hot dog, but what a dog! A bun filled with a scoop of mashed potatoes, a scoop of mashed peas, a scoop of Mexican chilli con carne, a large sausage topped generously with ketchup, mustard and hot sauce. Everything was spilling out into the paper tray it came in, so the counter dude gave us a fork to eat it with.
The hot dog was just and appetizer. Tomorrow we're off to Harry's main branch early to get us a pie! Count on it!
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Doh! Woke up later than expected. Began the day with an all-you-can-eat cereal and toast breakfast at the Kurrara. Our plan was to take the walking path to Leura but we detoured first to see the view from Honeymoon Lookout. I thought we needed the delay because the road to Leura didn't seem that long on the map. Uh huh.
The path along the cliff turned out to be less trodden than the trails at Echo Point. The path descended deep into the valley in places, then sloped up steeply in others, making the walking tougher than yesterday.
We took another detour to view Leura Cascades which though not spectacular, was a pretty sight. The path then took a steep turn up a flight of steps cut into the sandstone leading to Leura proper and the path to the Gordon Falls lookout.
Once we got into the town centre (3 hours from when we started walking) we wandered around looking at the candy store, the toy store, the many handicraft stores, the 2 Christmas stores (selling Christmas ornaments all year round), then June developed a craving for pasta.
Now, it's not easy to find pasta in Leura. It's a more Anglophile town than Katoomba which is practically cosmopolitan in comparison. Eateries in Leura do English-style pastries and teas but eventually we found the BonTon Cafe with a menu that fit the bill.
BonTon served up a thick organic vegetable soup almost broth-like in consistency. June had a delicious Seafood Spaghettinni with fresh mussels, scallops and perch; and I had a Rigatonni Arribiata with spicy pork sausage in a tomato sauce.
At lunch we checked our guide book and discovered that we were too late to catch the last train through the Zig Zag Railway at Lithgow so we had to scrap that idea. It was still early afternoon, nevertheless, so we took the train instead to Wentworth Falls just for a look-see of the village. Small, not very exciting, but like everything around here, friendly and welcoming.
We caught the train back to Katoomba eventually and since the sun was still shining brightly even though it was about 1730 we walked back to Echo Point to find the Giant Stairway which we had missed yesterday.
The Giant Stairway is a 900-step stair that descends a vertical cliff face to the bottom of the valley. No way we would have made it all the way down and back by nightfall -- it's a 2-hour trek for healthy walkers. We only went far enough to reach a rocky ledge cut into the 1st of the 3 Sisters. Just looking down from the ledge makes the knees wobbly, so high up we still were.
We made our painful climb back to Echo Point, hungry again. We found the Swiss Cottage on the way back to Kurrara. Here we ordered a thick tomato soup with garlic bread each and then because we were too full to down individual portions we split a saussicon vaudior (spicy pork sausage in homebaked pastry and rossti) and a banana split between the two of us.
The staff at the Swiss Cottage were very busy and yet very cordial, warm hosts. The blonde who attended to us (presumably Monique) was model-pretty and very charming, entertaining our meal-on-a-budget order. When the restaurant got too full, she even turned away other guests who were prepared to place a larger order than ours simply because we arrived first.
Wish I could have left a bigger tip but they didn't take credit cards [WARNING] so they took all the cash I had. I could only leave a 50 cent tip from the change I got back.
Staggered back to the Kurrara where today, it's too warm to light the fire.
One other thing about the Blue Mountains. Outside when it's warm, each one of us is issued with our personal cloud of houseflies who buzz around us and settle on us when they get tired. They literally make us feel like we're the centre of their little universe.
Leaving Blue Mountains for Sydney tomorrow. I will definitely come back here someday.
The path along the cliff turned out to be less trodden than the trails at Echo Point. The path descended deep into the valley in places, then sloped up steeply in others, making the walking tougher than yesterday.
We took another detour to view Leura Cascades which though not spectacular, was a pretty sight. The path then took a steep turn up a flight of steps cut into the sandstone leading to Leura proper and the path to the Gordon Falls lookout.
Once we got into the town centre (3 hours from when we started walking) we wandered around looking at the candy store, the toy store, the many handicraft stores, the 2 Christmas stores (selling Christmas ornaments all year round), then June developed a craving for pasta.
Now, it's not easy to find pasta in Leura. It's a more Anglophile town than Katoomba which is practically cosmopolitan in comparison. Eateries in Leura do English-style pastries and teas but eventually we found the BonTon Cafe with a menu that fit the bill.
BonTon served up a thick organic vegetable soup almost broth-like in consistency. June had a delicious Seafood Spaghettinni with fresh mussels, scallops and perch; and I had a Rigatonni Arribiata with spicy pork sausage in a tomato sauce.
At lunch we checked our guide book and discovered that we were too late to catch the last train through the Zig Zag Railway at Lithgow so we had to scrap that idea. It was still early afternoon, nevertheless, so we took the train instead to Wentworth Falls just for a look-see of the village. Small, not very exciting, but like everything around here, friendly and welcoming.
We caught the train back to Katoomba eventually and since the sun was still shining brightly even though it was about 1730 we walked back to Echo Point to find the Giant Stairway which we had missed yesterday.
The Giant Stairway is a 900-step stair that descends a vertical cliff face to the bottom of the valley. No way we would have made it all the way down and back by nightfall -- it's a 2-hour trek for healthy walkers. We only went far enough to reach a rocky ledge cut into the 1st of the 3 Sisters. Just looking down from the ledge makes the knees wobbly, so high up we still were.
We made our painful climb back to Echo Point, hungry again. We found the Swiss Cottage on the way back to Kurrara. Here we ordered a thick tomato soup with garlic bread each and then because we were too full to down individual portions we split a saussicon vaudior (spicy pork sausage in homebaked pastry and rossti) and a banana split between the two of us.
The staff at the Swiss Cottage were very busy and yet very cordial, warm hosts. The blonde who attended to us (presumably Monique) was model-pretty and very charming, entertaining our meal-on-a-budget order. When the restaurant got too full, she even turned away other guests who were prepared to place a larger order than ours simply because we arrived first.
Wish I could have left a bigger tip but they didn't take credit cards [WARNING] so they took all the cash I had. I could only leave a 50 cent tip from the change I got back.
Staggered back to the Kurrara where today, it's too warm to light the fire.
One other thing about the Blue Mountains. Outside when it's warm, each one of us is issued with our personal cloud of houseflies who buzz around us and settle on us when they get tired. They literally make us feel like we're the centre of their little universe.
Leaving Blue Mountains for Sydney tomorrow. I will definitely come back here someday.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
A day of walking. Left most of our luggage at the Vulcan and with our day packs walked to Central Station. We caught the 0822 which left exactly on time. The ride to Katoomba is nearly 2 hours long. We sat in the upper deck of a double deck train and napped on and off till we arrived.
In Katoomba we're back in small town Oz again. Lots of family run businesses in shophouses, most of which close at 1700. Passed a bakery on the way to our guesthouse and bought a cheese and olive roll and an apple and walnut scroll for brekkie 'cos the smell was irresistable.
Found our guesthouse just off the town centre. It's a beautiful rustic house, lovingly furnished with a mixture of antique furniture. With my day pack on I'm quite nervous walking around inside 'cos with a careless swivel I might just bring down a 19th century ornament or two.
The Kurrara Historical Guest House is run by a friendly middle-aged gentleman by the name of Anthony (his operating licence says, Antonio Minardi), evidently of Italian descent. The house has a few common areas. Where I am right now is the TV room that houses the only anomaly here -- a 42" flat-screen TV. I'm also seated next to a toasty charcoal burning fireplace which Anthony has kindly lighted for us to ward off the evening chill. Books galore, mostly about Australia, are scattered about just begging to be flipped through. Anthony is himself reading Zen and the Brain, such exotic, intellectual stuff.
Oh, right. Walking. We walked from the station to the guesthouse; from the guesthouse to Echo Point (Katoomba's main attraction) which offers the touristy view of the 3 Sisters, a natural limestone rock formation. We took the walking trails from Echo Point to Katoomba Falls, but today it was the getting there that was more than half the fun.
The path took us round the cliffs and into the valley for a spectacular view of the Australian Mountainside. Deep, deep valleys, awesome cliffs and sandstone and shale outcroppings. Trees and shrubs and flowering plants of the temperate variety at the top, and rainforest at the bottom. I kept thinking how much Geog students would learn if they could only see the landscape for themselves.
Katoomba Falls on the map and in pix looks awesome but today the Falls fell short of expectation. Instead of seeing a roar and a rush we saw 2 piddling streams of water falling down a cliffside.
Took the world's steepest railway back up to the top of Scenic World which operates 2 other cable cars besides the Railway. Unfortunately, the Skyway isn't ready yet (will be by Christmas). We did take the Flyway back down into another part of the valley and walked around some more before ascending by the Railway again. The Railway is such a thrill because the cars ascend almost vertically up the cliff. The seats are oddly canted so that on ground level our feet hang in the air, but moving up the cliff we're sitting upright again with a big drop below us.
We walked till about 1600 with only our breakfast rolls as our only meal. Refuelled at The Devino Cafe with a meat pie marinaded in red wine and herbs, and a penne with salmon and capers in a creamy white wine sauce, washed down with a home made choc milkshake each. Yep, every calorie we burned, we stuffed right back again with interest.
We'd been walking for more than 6 hours by then but it was still early so we shopped for souvenirs at K-mart and Coles supermarket.
Hmm... I hate to leave the fireplace. Think I'll sit a little longer.
Tomorrow, the village of Leura, the Zig Zag Railway and Lithgow.
In Katoomba we're back in small town Oz again. Lots of family run businesses in shophouses, most of which close at 1700. Passed a bakery on the way to our guesthouse and bought a cheese and olive roll and an apple and walnut scroll for brekkie 'cos the smell was irresistable.
Found our guesthouse just off the town centre. It's a beautiful rustic house, lovingly furnished with a mixture of antique furniture. With my day pack on I'm quite nervous walking around inside 'cos with a careless swivel I might just bring down a 19th century ornament or two.
The Kurrara Historical Guest House is run by a friendly middle-aged gentleman by the name of Anthony (his operating licence says, Antonio Minardi), evidently of Italian descent. The house has a few common areas. Where I am right now is the TV room that houses the only anomaly here -- a 42" flat-screen TV. I'm also seated next to a toasty charcoal burning fireplace which Anthony has kindly lighted for us to ward off the evening chill. Books galore, mostly about Australia, are scattered about just begging to be flipped through. Anthony is himself reading Zen and the Brain, such exotic, intellectual stuff.
Oh, right. Walking. We walked from the station to the guesthouse; from the guesthouse to Echo Point (Katoomba's main attraction) which offers the touristy view of the 3 Sisters, a natural limestone rock formation. We took the walking trails from Echo Point to Katoomba Falls, but today it was the getting there that was more than half the fun.
The path took us round the cliffs and into the valley for a spectacular view of the Australian Mountainside. Deep, deep valleys, awesome cliffs and sandstone and shale outcroppings. Trees and shrubs and flowering plants of the temperate variety at the top, and rainforest at the bottom. I kept thinking how much Geog students would learn if they could only see the landscape for themselves.
Katoomba Falls on the map and in pix looks awesome but today the Falls fell short of expectation. Instead of seeing a roar and a rush we saw 2 piddling streams of water falling down a cliffside.
Took the world's steepest railway back up to the top of Scenic World which operates 2 other cable cars besides the Railway. Unfortunately, the Skyway isn't ready yet (will be by Christmas). We did take the Flyway back down into another part of the valley and walked around some more before ascending by the Railway again. The Railway is such a thrill because the cars ascend almost vertically up the cliff. The seats are oddly canted so that on ground level our feet hang in the air, but moving up the cliff we're sitting upright again with a big drop below us.
We walked till about 1600 with only our breakfast rolls as our only meal. Refuelled at The Devino Cafe with a meat pie marinaded in red wine and herbs, and a penne with salmon and capers in a creamy white wine sauce, washed down with a home made choc milkshake each. Yep, every calorie we burned, we stuffed right back again with interest.
We'd been walking for more than 6 hours by then but it was still early so we shopped for souvenirs at K-mart and Coles supermarket.
Hmm... I hate to leave the fireplace. Think I'll sit a little longer.
Tomorrow, the village of Leura, the Zig Zag Railway and Lithgow.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Another early riser to catch the 2nd Qantas flight out to Sydney. Had an omelette and coffee for brekkie at the domestic terminal's food court. June spotted Channel U's Michelle Chong seated at the table next to ours and took a pix with her.
Arrived at 1040 in sydney and after some deliberation, we bought a 3-day Sydney Pass ($100 each) for ourselves. The pass covers unlimited travel on most, I repeat, most public buses and trains for any 3 days within an 8-day period. It also covers airport transit 2-way even beyond the 3 days that the ticket is claimed on.
Sydney is the Big City. Lots of people in power suits talking business on their mobile phones; way tall buildings and a curious mix of concrete-and-steel with old red-brick, copper roofed low-risers from a century ago. Bustle and crowded streets... ah, city life.
Our hotel, the Vulcan Hotel, is in the Ultimo district. It cost $7.30 by cab from Central Station. I gave the cabbie $10 and he said, "thank you!" I never got to see my change, but that was to be expected.
Cabbie was Chinese like a lot of the people here. Evidently, Asians are not the minority. This was certainly the case in Darling Harbour while we were looking for dinner. There's no cheap food to be found anyplace. We finally settled on a food court in Harbourside. There's Mexican, American, Japanese/Chinese, Turkish, whatever, food on offer but behind every counter stood an Asian face. That sort of took the authenticity away from the menus but, hey, we're all over the place now -- making up for lost time.
Food at the food court is still expensive though. Large portions but high prices too. Starting to worry about our cash that seems to be drying up faster than expected.
Oops... time warp. Lunch was at Sydney Fish Market -- first place we hit immediately after checking in. June and I shared a dozen Sydney rock oysters and another dozen of the Tazzie variety. They were so fresh, just recently shucked by the guy behind the counter. Cold and briney, no sickening aftertaste. How can we enjoy half-shell oysters at buffets from now on?
Got ourselves sort of lost wandering around downtown with the Queen Victoria Building as our main point of reference. QVB is a beautifully restored old building turned shopping mall and its centrepiece is a massive 3-storey tall Christmas tree wich is a must-take photo op.
From QVB we visited St Andrew's Cathedral and dropped in on Woolworth's for munchies and on Border's where I bought R & G are Dead on DVD. Yay! I've been searching for it for so long.
Our hotel is quite a long walk away from the main action downtown. It seems to be located in something like the forgotten side of town so it's a bit dark and deserted where we are staying. The hotel is nice and comfortable, newly renovated so it's like an oasis this side of town. Fringe benefit from this holiday: good health from all the walking we're doing.
Off to the Blue Mountains by train early tomorrow morning!
Arrived at 1040 in sydney and after some deliberation, we bought a 3-day Sydney Pass ($100 each) for ourselves. The pass covers unlimited travel on most, I repeat, most public buses and trains for any 3 days within an 8-day period. It also covers airport transit 2-way even beyond the 3 days that the ticket is claimed on.
Sydney is the Big City. Lots of people in power suits talking business on their mobile phones; way tall buildings and a curious mix of concrete-and-steel with old red-brick, copper roofed low-risers from a century ago. Bustle and crowded streets... ah, city life.
Our hotel, the Vulcan Hotel, is in the Ultimo district. It cost $7.30 by cab from Central Station. I gave the cabbie $10 and he said, "thank you!" I never got to see my change, but that was to be expected.
Cabbie was Chinese like a lot of the people here. Evidently, Asians are not the minority. This was certainly the case in Darling Harbour while we were looking for dinner. There's no cheap food to be found anyplace. We finally settled on a food court in Harbourside. There's Mexican, American, Japanese/Chinese, Turkish, whatever, food on offer but behind every counter stood an Asian face. That sort of took the authenticity away from the menus but, hey, we're all over the place now -- making up for lost time.
Food at the food court is still expensive though. Large portions but high prices too. Starting to worry about our cash that seems to be drying up faster than expected.
Oops... time warp. Lunch was at Sydney Fish Market -- first place we hit immediately after checking in. June and I shared a dozen Sydney rock oysters and another dozen of the Tazzie variety. They were so fresh, just recently shucked by the guy behind the counter. Cold and briney, no sickening aftertaste. How can we enjoy half-shell oysters at buffets from now on?
Got ourselves sort of lost wandering around downtown with the Queen Victoria Building as our main point of reference. QVB is a beautifully restored old building turned shopping mall and its centrepiece is a massive 3-storey tall Christmas tree wich is a must-take photo op.
From QVB we visited St Andrew's Cathedral and dropped in on Woolworth's for munchies and on Border's where I bought R & G are Dead on DVD. Yay! I've been searching for it for so long.
Our hotel is quite a long walk away from the main action downtown. It seems to be located in something like the forgotten side of town so it's a bit dark and deserted where we are staying. The hotel is nice and comfortable, newly renovated so it's like an oasis this side of town. Fringe benefit from this holiday: good health from all the walking we're doing.
Off to the Blue Mountains by train early tomorrow morning!
Monday, December 13, 2004
What a great day! Caught the early X bus to Movie World without even stopping for breakfast. The chicken salad sandwich I split with June from the Mobil On-the-Run outlet doesn't count. Arrived almost 45 minutes before opening but they started selling tix at 0930 and letting people stream in anyway. Was greeted at the door by Mad Mike, more on him later.
Again, we went straight for the big thrill. Lethal Weapon is a suspended steel monster boasting 5 loops, big and small. A few hair-raising moments; it was a breathless ride, though I think we're getting a little spoiled. The rush isn't quite there anymore.
We made it just in time to the opening of the venue for the Police Academy stunt show where Mad Mike ushered us (i.e., everyone) to their seats. Watch out for him though, he's a trickster and it's his job to catch people off guard and embarrass them in full view of the public. With his arsenal of whistle, tickler, banana, water-pistol and a box labelled "Insanity Dept." he is a load of laughs at the expense of his victims : )
The show itself is action packed with skidding vehicles, pratfalls and explosions. I'm not sure what the "volunteers" from the audience actually did, but I guess it was a way to make us identify with the things happening in the arena >nudge< >wink<. The final explosion at the top of the PA building threw an awesome wave of heat in our direction. No foolin' about, the stunts are dangerous -- don't try them at home.
The Scooby Doo Haunted Castle was an easily underestimated ride by the both of us. It looks like just another haunted house on rails, and it began that way too. 4 in a car, being 'scared' by some cheesy animatronic spooks. The cars then enter an elevator 2 at a time, then with a scream-inducing surprise, the cars then start pulling some serious G's for an indoor coaster ride. What a thrill this ride was. Again!!! But later.
Too many people stood along Main Street blocking each other as they tried to watch the Matrix action show. Luckily, I just happened to be standing right where the action was and caught a reasonably well-choreographed kung-fu fight sequence between Neo, Trinity and some Agents. They're no Shaolin exponents but they danced through their moves safely. Light entertainment.
We went to watch the Loony Tunes break into their own version of Christmas Carols, then joined the line for Batman the Ride 2. This ride is a simulated ride, so expect a lot of jerks and bumps as you explore Gotham City in a modified 'Batwing' along with 19 other fellow passengers.
Lunch was a club sandwich and a Coke, then over to the wild west zone where the ride we wanted happened to be temporarily closed for 'technical reasons.' Likewise the Matrix official exhibition, so we returned to Scooby Doo again. And again. And again. Whee!
Last zone to visit was the Loony Tunes Village at which we rode the Roadrunner coaster. A kids' ride, but the speed was enjoyable.
Managed to get photos with Wonder Woman, Catwoman, the Police Academy team, and Austin Powers, but lost an opportunity with Santa because there were lots of kids around him, and kids get priority. Why was I brought up to be so polite?
All parks around here close at 1700, so by 1600 we made our way back to the bus stop to beat the crowd. We were lucky enough to catch the X bus again without waiting. Back downtown for dinner at the Koreana BBQ Restaurant. June's favourite hot-sour beancurd soup and a small beef bul go gi. Stuffed now, yesterday's fruit still waiting for us back in our hotel room.
We're off to Sydney tomorrow, bus coming to fetch us to the airport at 0550hrs. Guess that means an early night for us. G'nite!
Again, we went straight for the big thrill. Lethal Weapon is a suspended steel monster boasting 5 loops, big and small. A few hair-raising moments; it was a breathless ride, though I think we're getting a little spoiled. The rush isn't quite there anymore.
We made it just in time to the opening of the venue for the Police Academy stunt show where Mad Mike ushered us (i.e., everyone) to their seats. Watch out for him though, he's a trickster and it's his job to catch people off guard and embarrass them in full view of the public. With his arsenal of whistle, tickler, banana, water-pistol and a box labelled "Insanity Dept." he is a load of laughs at the expense of his victims : )
The show itself is action packed with skidding vehicles, pratfalls and explosions. I'm not sure what the "volunteers" from the audience actually did, but I guess it was a way to make us identify with the things happening in the arena >nudge< >wink<. The final explosion at the top of the PA building threw an awesome wave of heat in our direction. No foolin' about, the stunts are dangerous -- don't try them at home.
The Scooby Doo Haunted Castle was an easily underestimated ride by the both of us. It looks like just another haunted house on rails, and it began that way too. 4 in a car, being 'scared' by some cheesy animatronic spooks. The cars then enter an elevator 2 at a time, then with a scream-inducing surprise, the cars then start pulling some serious G's for an indoor coaster ride. What a thrill this ride was. Again!!! But later.
Too many people stood along Main Street blocking each other as they tried to watch the Matrix action show. Luckily, I just happened to be standing right where the action was and caught a reasonably well-choreographed kung-fu fight sequence between Neo, Trinity and some Agents. They're no Shaolin exponents but they danced through their moves safely. Light entertainment.
We went to watch the Loony Tunes break into their own version of Christmas Carols, then joined the line for Batman the Ride 2. This ride is a simulated ride, so expect a lot of jerks and bumps as you explore Gotham City in a modified 'Batwing' along with 19 other fellow passengers.
Lunch was a club sandwich and a Coke, then over to the wild west zone where the ride we wanted happened to be temporarily closed for 'technical reasons.' Likewise the Matrix official exhibition, so we returned to Scooby Doo again. And again. And again. Whee!
Last zone to visit was the Loony Tunes Village at which we rode the Roadrunner coaster. A kids' ride, but the speed was enjoyable.
Managed to get photos with Wonder Woman, Catwoman, the Police Academy team, and Austin Powers, but lost an opportunity with Santa because there were lots of kids around him, and kids get priority. Why was I brought up to be so polite?
All parks around here close at 1700, so by 1600 we made our way back to the bus stop to beat the crowd. We were lucky enough to catch the X bus again without waiting. Back downtown for dinner at the Koreana BBQ Restaurant. June's favourite hot-sour beancurd soup and a small beef bul go gi. Stuffed now, yesterday's fruit still waiting for us back in our hotel room.
We're off to Sydney tomorrow, bus coming to fetch us to the airport at 0550hrs. Guess that means an early night for us. G'nite!
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Another blast of summer heat. Already baked an uneven shade of pink on the forearms and on my face. A pretty colour, if somewhat sensitive, in the not-too-painful sense.
Having a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon sitting in the balcony of Room 108. Am listening to the rock fountain cascading into the swimming pool below. Not much else to see, hemmed in as we are by several other high-rise hotels closer to the beach front.
Woke up at 0530 this morning but the sun was already pouring through the gaps in our curtains. It was so bright I thought it was well past our wake up time. But no, it was bright, it was hot, and it was still an ungodly hour in the morning. We were right on schedule then, heading for the Carrara Markets which open at 0600.
Since the Markets open so early, we couldn't believe that the 1st bus there only started running at 0800. Our concierge told us to wait at the Marriott, the Marriott told us to wait at the ANA, the ANA gave us a bus schedule that confirmed in black-and-white that our pickup was indeed at 0808. We had plenty of time for breakfast and a short stroll along the beach to marvel at the surf.
Pancakes at the Platinum Cafe, a 24 hour place and one of the few eateries that served breakfast this early in the morning. Perhaps we should have been more specific with our order. Instead of getting breakfast pancakes, we got pancakes (good), syrup (ok), butter (fine) and chocolate sauce and ice-cream on top (arrgh!). They did serve a good coffee, though.
Bus came more or less on time. $1 return per pax, nice! Carrara Markets is wonderful for bargains. I expected fruit and veggies, but there was a lot more! Fresh produce from the local farms were in abundance and smelled wonderful. But there were also jewellery, headgear, local arts and crafts, candy, collectibles, gardening stuff, pet stuff, Chinese massage, toys... and if it wasn't for the heat we would probably have spent the rest of the afternoon there too.
I bought a shark's tooth pendant for myself and June got one tiny tooth attached to a tiny surfboard to wear around her neck. The fresh peaches we bought are now chilling in the minibar. For brunch we had 2 meat pies -- one chunky steak and one chicken and vegetable. Hand-sized for convenience. The meat filling was really chunky. The pies were rough and satisfying, and went well with the lemonade that we shared.
Lots of cheap sunglasses on sale too. $10 each, $15 for polarized lenses, but I couldn't find a design I liked. Pity.
Came back to our hotel to nap in the early afternoon. As I sit here and write (at the moment I'm handwriting my blog in my pen-and-paper format) I can see dark clouds returning . Thought we'd seen the last of the bad weather but it may just have been a temporary respite. Hope this doesn't bode ill for tomorrow and Warner Bros. Movie World!
Now transcribing my notes back at the Platinum Cafe. Until next time!
Having a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon sitting in the balcony of Room 108. Am listening to the rock fountain cascading into the swimming pool below. Not much else to see, hemmed in as we are by several other high-rise hotels closer to the beach front.
Woke up at 0530 this morning but the sun was already pouring through the gaps in our curtains. It was so bright I thought it was well past our wake up time. But no, it was bright, it was hot, and it was still an ungodly hour in the morning. We were right on schedule then, heading for the Carrara Markets which open at 0600.
Since the Markets open so early, we couldn't believe that the 1st bus there only started running at 0800. Our concierge told us to wait at the Marriott, the Marriott told us to wait at the ANA, the ANA gave us a bus schedule that confirmed in black-and-white that our pickup was indeed at 0808. We had plenty of time for breakfast and a short stroll along the beach to marvel at the surf.
Pancakes at the Platinum Cafe, a 24 hour place and one of the few eateries that served breakfast this early in the morning. Perhaps we should have been more specific with our order. Instead of getting breakfast pancakes, we got pancakes (good), syrup (ok), butter (fine) and chocolate sauce and ice-cream on top (arrgh!). They did serve a good coffee, though.
Bus came more or less on time. $1 return per pax, nice! Carrara Markets is wonderful for bargains. I expected fruit and veggies, but there was a lot more! Fresh produce from the local farms were in abundance and smelled wonderful. But there were also jewellery, headgear, local arts and crafts, candy, collectibles, gardening stuff, pet stuff, Chinese massage, toys... and if it wasn't for the heat we would probably have spent the rest of the afternoon there too.
I bought a shark's tooth pendant for myself and June got one tiny tooth attached to a tiny surfboard to wear around her neck. The fresh peaches we bought are now chilling in the minibar. For brunch we had 2 meat pies -- one chunky steak and one chicken and vegetable. Hand-sized for convenience. The meat filling was really chunky. The pies were rough and satisfying, and went well with the lemonade that we shared.
Lots of cheap sunglasses on sale too. $10 each, $15 for polarized lenses, but I couldn't find a design I liked. Pity.
Came back to our hotel to nap in the early afternoon. As I sit here and write (at the moment I'm handwriting my blog in my pen-and-paper format) I can see dark clouds returning . Thought we'd seen the last of the bad weather but it may just have been a temporary respite. Hope this doesn't bode ill for tomorrow and Warner Bros. Movie World!
Now transcribing my notes back at the Platinum Cafe. Until next time!
Saturday, December 11, 2004
A complete change of weather, and what a scorcher! It was a beautiful day for Dreamworld. The sun was out and we finally felt the heat that makes Surfers' paradise.
We started the day badly with transport woes. Only 1 public bus to Dreamworld and thought is is very cheap -- $6 per pax return -- it is also infrequent and consequently by the time it reaches the bus stop at our end it's already too full to accept any more passengers.
After an hour of fruitless waiting, we hailed a cab. It cost us $25 but it got us there in good time; within 20 minutes of opening at 1000hrs.
We made a bee-line for the theme park's main attraction. From afar, the 1st thing we saw of Dreamworld was this great phallic symbol pointing skywards. This is the pillar that is central to the 2 most thrilling rides in the park. The Big Drop took us right to the top of the 110m tower and suspended us there for about a minute while we admired the parking lot, or contemplated our fate. Then without warning, the platform plunged into free-fall for a few seconds, making us feel like we left our insides at the top, before the brakes caught.
Next up, the Tower of Terror. The ride seats 24 of us in a car on rails. With a hiss and a bang the car rockets up the same tower vertically, then plunges us back again BACKWARDS. This is supposed to be the fastest and tallest drop for a theme park ride, but really the anticipation is much worse than the actual experience. It just happens too quickly for us to register the terror we should be feeling and then it's already over.
We took a short break on the Runaway Reptar Rollercoaster, which is thematically based on Nick Studio's Rugrats. It's a suspended steel coaster with lots of twists and turns, though on the whole, it was actually quite a mild ride.
Lunch at the CatDog Snack Shack eating (what else?) hotdogs. We're used to cats waiting at tables for scraps, but here stray heron with nasty, long, sharp, curved beaks stalked around looking for windfalls of abandoned food.
The big coaster, The Cyclone, was another steel monster with a double loop. Standard stuff, though compared to what we tried next.
Wipeout is a ride that though remains stationary, spun us around high up in the air, inverted us and swung us headfirst towards the ground a number of times. And just when we though it was over, it sprung it's nastiest surprise. Exhilarating.
The Claw -- a rotary swing is the source of another set of screams. The big swing and the rotating platform sends us up in the air to almost a full inversion, spinning us simultaneously so we either looked at the clouds or at the concrete tarmac before being swung back again with velocity. Crazy!
After this, June too a nap on my shoulder then on my lap. It was so hot we guzzled 3 600ml bottles of Mount Franklin spring water and some Coke too.
Refreshed, we sought out the last thrill -- the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride. It was dark, enclosed with one or two sights to spook, lots of abrupt turns, but again another mild ride.
We said hello to koala, Beltana, and got our pix taken with her. Took a photo with a Spongebob Squarepants statue, rode Wipeout once more, then it was time to go. Park closes at 1700hrs.
We were lucky enough to catch the public bus back and met Dawn and parents (from church)aboard. Small world.
Shopped the early evening away at downtown Surfers', KFC for dinner, then home for an early night. We need it for the early start tomorrow morning.
We started the day badly with transport woes. Only 1 public bus to Dreamworld and thought is is very cheap -- $6 per pax return -- it is also infrequent and consequently by the time it reaches the bus stop at our end it's already too full to accept any more passengers.
After an hour of fruitless waiting, we hailed a cab. It cost us $25 but it got us there in good time; within 20 minutes of opening at 1000hrs.
We made a bee-line for the theme park's main attraction. From afar, the 1st thing we saw of Dreamworld was this great phallic symbol pointing skywards. This is the pillar that is central to the 2 most thrilling rides in the park. The Big Drop took us right to the top of the 110m tower and suspended us there for about a minute while we admired the parking lot, or contemplated our fate. Then without warning, the platform plunged into free-fall for a few seconds, making us feel like we left our insides at the top, before the brakes caught.
Next up, the Tower of Terror. The ride seats 24 of us in a car on rails. With a hiss and a bang the car rockets up the same tower vertically, then plunges us back again BACKWARDS. This is supposed to be the fastest and tallest drop for a theme park ride, but really the anticipation is much worse than the actual experience. It just happens too quickly for us to register the terror we should be feeling and then it's already over.
We took a short break on the Runaway Reptar Rollercoaster, which is thematically based on Nick Studio's Rugrats. It's a suspended steel coaster with lots of twists and turns, though on the whole, it was actually quite a mild ride.
Lunch at the CatDog Snack Shack eating (what else?) hotdogs. We're used to cats waiting at tables for scraps, but here stray heron with nasty, long, sharp, curved beaks stalked around looking for windfalls of abandoned food.
The big coaster, The Cyclone, was another steel monster with a double loop. Standard stuff, though compared to what we tried next.
Wipeout is a ride that though remains stationary, spun us around high up in the air, inverted us and swung us headfirst towards the ground a number of times. And just when we though it was over, it sprung it's nastiest surprise. Exhilarating.
The Claw -- a rotary swing is the source of another set of screams. The big swing and the rotating platform sends us up in the air to almost a full inversion, spinning us simultaneously so we either looked at the clouds or at the concrete tarmac before being swung back again with velocity. Crazy!
After this, June too a nap on my shoulder then on my lap. It was so hot we guzzled 3 600ml bottles of Mount Franklin spring water and some Coke too.
Refreshed, we sought out the last thrill -- the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride. It was dark, enclosed with one or two sights to spook, lots of abrupt turns, but again another mild ride.
We said hello to koala, Beltana, and got our pix taken with her. Took a photo with a Spongebob Squarepants statue, rode Wipeout once more, then it was time to go. Park closes at 1700hrs.
We were lucky enough to catch the public bus back and met Dawn and parents (from church)aboard. Small world.
Shopped the early evening away at downtown Surfers', KFC for dinner, then home for an early night. We need it for the early start tomorrow morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)