Friday, May 19, 2006

all good things come to an end. eventually.

i'm so sad to be back in singapore. really. never in my life i had trips that i'm so sad to leave the country i was in. most of my family trips...i'll be ok with leaving..'cos i may miss the weather in singapore (like korea..'cos it was just way too cold) or i may miss the food or just simply missed the comforts of home.

but i was sooo sad to leave australia behind. leave my times with grace davier weiqiang and most of all, leave my happy memories of sydney days with sam behind. i had the best holiday ever. and i thought it was such a happy/exciting/exhilirating/dramatic/real experience.

real because life is never a bed of roses. social interaction, even between friends, is never a smooth one. there will always be bumps and disappointments and anger and frustration. there will be happy times. but there will be unhappy ones too. i've learnt a lot on this trip, though it was a mere 11 days. i've learnt about myself, the people i travelled with, australia and its culture, travelling, sam, my relationship with him and so much more.

a short (ok not very short) account...

brisbane for 2 nights. shopping. meeting janice. having really really good dessert. flea market. really good buskers. sleeping and hanging out in our 2-storey service apartment/loft. talking till late into the night and drinking. watching big brother for the first time. i'll blog about big brother later because it's so fascinating. don't have photos of brisbane 'cos davier was our photographer so everything is up on his site.

***

byron bay for 1 night. shopping. eating good food. watching a most beautiful sun set. taking pictures and walking barefoot on the sand and getting our feet washed by the "warm" ocean water. warm because relative to our cold feet. the light house and a 1 hour trek up. australia's most easterly point. admiring the magnificent view of the ocean and the bay. having $4 beers and listening to good live music. talking on a bench next to the ocean till late into the night and shivering so much because it was freezing.

the lighthouse. with the blue-est sky i've ever seen and a beautiful stroke of cloud.



halfway through our walk up to the lighthouse. spectacular view of the bay.


the lighthouse. taken from australia's most easterly point. perched on top of a hill that overlooks the sea. reminds me of the song "lighthouse" we sang during choir in church.


the other side of the bay that stretches across the eastern coast of australia.


on the way to byron bay. beautiful farms and fields. despite the scenery i still fell asleep 'cos i was so tired. =)


australia's most easterly point.

***
surfers paradise for 3 nights. more and more shopping. grocery shopping. trying to open the 10 liter jug of mineral water. more drinking to finish the vodka. cocoa pops and fresh milk. passion fruit and custard apple. movieworld and the superman ride we never took. meeting davier's aunt's family at their beautiful home and watching rugby/futurorama and having aussie bbq. the beautiful endless surfers beaches. the seagulls that stood sleeping on the beach. the racial discriminatory remarks. that night on the beach where i discovered my friend's amazing strength. much laughter and joy.

on the greyhound into surfers paradise. this was on the left of the bus as the sun starts to slip into the horizon.


while this picture was taken on the right side of the bus. see how different the colours are? i just sat there looking left and right in awe.


the endless beaches of the eastern coast of australia. as far as my eye can see. so straight as compared to sydney (which you'll see later) and byron bay.


the beaches at surfers paradise. white soft sand, nice waters, sea salt in my hair, bright cheery skies and the glorious sun.

***
sydney for 4 nights. sam's comfy cosy apartment. his really nice flatmates. some scandals. the sydney harbour bridge. sydney opera house. watching Giselle, the ballet. walking along a crazy sydney street. sydney fish market and the fresh-est seafood i've ever had. hands down. more seagulls. the beautiful and graceful anzac bridge. bondi and bronte beach and walking on the rocks instead of the pedesterian foot paths. heaps of surfers battling the strong waves. bondi beach sunday flea markets with really nice stuff. cooking healthy meals in his apartment. having long walks and long conversations. eating really good thai food. waking up late. factory outlet stores. watching A$8.50 movie - the squid and the whale. seeing sam after 4 months. being independent and going to sydney myself. walking along sydney streets myself. being so reluctant to board my plane to brisbane from sydney and tearing myself away. being so tempted to tackle sam, drug him and smuggle him back to singapore with me.

the shell of the sydney opera house on my first night there. before the ballet. it's actually not pure white in colour but off-white/light light yellow due to all the weathering. but i like it this way 'cos pure white is just boring. a little colour gives it character.


the harbour bridge that is not lighted! you can hardly see the arch because the lights were not on. sorry that's it's blur 'cos i didn't use flash and the night mode adjusted my shutter speed such that you'll need either really really steady hands or a tripod.


central station in the city. much like our raffles place mrt station but instead of 4 lines, they have almost 30 lines running all over throughout sydney and to neighbouring cities, suburbs and states. very big, complicated and crowded.


bondi beach. before this we were at bronte beach, the one next to bondi and we walked along the cliffs and rocks to get to bondi instead of the pedesterian footpath. quite an adventure. i love the houses sitting on the cliffs. wished i had one of those.


the rock formations along the beach. reminds me of ms. sarah yew my sec sch geography teacher. i loved physical geog a lot. =)


plenty of surfers were surfing the big waves at bondi and bronte on that sunday we went. and there were other beach goers chilling out, having a picnic, playing frisbee or soccer. this surfer dude is probably looking for his friend out in the waves as the sun starts to dip below the horizon.


the sunset colours reflected off the backwash of the waves on the smooth sand. gorgeous. =)


the seafood platter for 2 at sydney fish market. really really fresh and delicious! it consisted of fries, beer battered fish pieces, calamari rings, scallops in their pretty shells, oysters, bbq grilled baby octopus, king prawns and fish sticks. all for just A$23.90. even cheaper than fish & co.

the anzac bridge. a suspension bridge. everybody raves about the harbour bridge and i think this pretty bridge should be given air-time too!


darling harbour under overcast skies. the tall tower to the right of the picture is something like the KL tower. observatory and touristy purposes.


sam and i were chilling out at darling harbour at this fountain which is really a piece of art. this little boy in yellow was running down the spiral fountain in his cute rain boots. he was real adorable and we couldn't resist taking pictures of his adventure. and this bird here is just chilling and drinking water.


darling harbour. i was quite amazed at this photo due to the bright circle in the top. makes me think of how everything else is so gloomy but yet as the heavens open light shines through and gives hope.


a church we passed by on the way to the harbour bridge. it's autumn!


the beautiful sydney opera house. enough said.

(p.s i like it more than the esplanade. who would ever like spiky things when this beautiful opera house is so graceful and gentle and smooth?)


the harbour bridge. taken from one of the light brown structures called pylon lookouts at the 2 ends of the bridge.


looks like a painting huh. =) this is taken by sam, who has a keen eye for such beautiful pictures.

harbour bridge from street level.


the sunset at milson's point. just at the shores of north sydney.


the harbour bridge as night fell. the colours, as i have mentioned so many times, are so pretty. looks at the tiny opera house in the background. =)


blur shot again. same reason. no tripod. but still beautiful on its own.


my last day. sam's university in the heart of the city. like SMU. i love the trees.

***
don't think the account does justice to my trip. but i'm glad the memories will stick with me. and i'm so thankful i got to go on this trip. must have spent a total of $2k on this trip. everything from flights to transport to food to accomodation and of course tons of shopping. but still very very thankful. and like always, i look around me and see the things around me, so beautiful and i think of how God made all of it. it's amazing really. and it's autumn. =)

all good things must come to an end.

This girl posted at 12:06 AM