The race began right after I knocked off from work. Mad rush is the only work to describe it. Joey nearly missed her flight, Lizi waited super long for us to finally pick her up and we completed our quiz at the airport's mai dang dang! By the time we set off, it was about 10pm! I can already see Lizi's amused expression of her Melbourne seniors. Tsk tsk.
So off we went! Lizi and Yish discovered they were JC mates, more gossips were along the way, etc. All was well until we went on the Alpine Highway.....
We were diminishing on fuel, there was a petrol station that was CLOSED, we made a couple of wrong turns. With a time scheduled to meet our Sydney friends, we decided to drive on. Soon, we found ourselves on Threadbo Mountain. I felt as though I had been driving forever along the same road. It was like Hansel and Gratel! :(
Yishan and I were dead worried that we will be stranded with no help! There was no mobile reception, no wireless reception and worse, NO FUEL! When dawn was about to break, we decided to stop at a rest stop where we noticed a tent. Pasted a HELP note on the camper's vehicle and decided to rest till it was daylight.
At 7am, the campers were still snoozing away. It was time to wake them up from their dreamland. I arrowed Yishan and Lizi to do the dirty job, tsk tsk. Of course the campers were not very impressed, and they didn't even offer us help except that the next fuel stop is 15mins away! With endless upslopes, prayer that there would be enough fuel was the sole thing on our minds. As I drove, flashes of Discovery Travel featuring a family who got stranded on the snow Alps and lost their fingers due to frost bites whizzed past my mind. Nothing can describe how freaking scared and worried I was! Even the scenic views of the majestic snow mountain did not interest any of us.
But THANK GOD! Thank God we made it JUST IN TIME before our car ran out of fuel!
Look at the sign of relief on Yishan's face! We were on Mount Threadbo! Decided to just meet our friends on the mountain instead! Skiing and Snow boarding here we come!
This was me clad in my discounted Nike ski jacket and pants bought from the warehouse sale. I was getting extremely frustrated with my inability to snowboard properly.
It was so hard trying to get up after falling down! :(
Finally on my feet!
This was the steepest chairlift on the mountain! From what Darren told me, it would lead you to the peak of the Southern hemisphere where there is a nice cafe. Though scared of heights, I decided to SUCK IT IN and take the lift up after extreme frustration from snowboarding! :S
So here I am! With the Sydney gals!
Haha poser shots coming up!
Me and my snow!
Finally a break at the cafe for lunch!
Not taking no for an answer, Darren got me to go snowboarding for one last time before we headed off for Melbourne! This time round, I did much better! At least I fell down only once from the top to the foot!
This was the rest stop where we pissed off the campers! Scary Mary!
This was the crossroad where we had to decide whether to stop. Jindabyne was where we were supposed to meet our friends. 51km away and our fuel tank was E. How is that even possible?
Studio apartment! Nice nice! :)
Cool eh, there's even a plasma TV with cable!
Toilet's decent and very clean too! Yay! Now off to hunt some food!
When I reached the Jap place, it was closed! Arghhh...Ended up walking 30mins to Chinatown for some crappy noodles at Superbowl which the Syd secondees claim is the best supper haunt in Syd. Oh man, there I was, thinking, the food in Syd must be crap! :(
The week flew by quickly, lots of nice brekkie, lunches and dinners. Of special mention is this particular thai place near the railway station that serves excellent thai food in kopitiam style - SPICE I AM. A must try man!
On the friday, I was to move to a hotel as the serviced apartment I stayed had no vacancy. Ended up in a suite! Woohoo! Cool stuff!
Check this out. It's ONLY the living room! I still have another TV in my bedroom!
Tadah! Nice and comfy king sized bed! I liki! ;p
Oh man, the toilet is my fav! There's a shower room as well as a jacuzzi! Bath salts are provided as well! Woohoo!
Time to meet the Sydney secondees for dinner at Pancake parlour, after which we went off for drinks. When I got back, I loaded the bath salts into the jacuzzi and had a long, warm dip while watching crunchyroll. Life's good! Keke, Sydney fish market tomorrow morning!
Maxy was due to pick me up in the morning and as usual, I was late! Woke up 5 mins before I was due to meet the gang! Rushed like crazy! Sydney fish market was my target, an unfinished desire of Yishan's! It was to be my first time meeting Darren in a long time, as well as the junior secondees!
Look at that spread! Haha, very fresh seafood! :D
Finally, group pictures!
Given the recent golf craze and the lack of khakis in Melbourne to pursue the hot crazed hobby, the Syd secondees decided to bring me to the driving range for some action!
I wasn't good at it, but I laughed whenever someone fluked the ball! Haha, but it was a fun time! It's time to get my own set of clubs!
With nowhere to go after golf and before dinner set at this Japanese ramen restaurant in some suburb where there's rumoured to be a freaking chiobu, guess where the Syd secondees brought me.
......Luna Park! Wahlau eh! It's like a freaking fun fair place for kids that enjoy wasting parents' hard earned money throwing balls to win soft toys! I protested and objected violently but to no avail! Ended up, Max and Eugene wasted $20 each so each of them can win a soft toy! Man oh man! With $40, you can get nice ones dudes!
Being the wiser kid from Melbourne, I decided to save my moolah and just snap some shots to rake in the beauty of Sydney.
The opera house. Just like every post card you see at Borders. My short stint at the photography club had not gone to waste! Keke.
Finally at the ramen place! I CANNOT emphasise how relieved I was to LEAVE Luna Park. Haha. But sadly, there was NO chio bu man!
As tradition stands, a kopi session always follow after dinner. As usual, it was just another talking cock session! Up ahead is the Sun Herald 14km walk tomorrow!
As usual, I woke up late! Mad rush checking out and meeting the gang! Ha what a great day to begin with! But first, pictures to glorify the beginning!
It seemed that we were more interested in taking pictures than starting the race!
We walked and talked, talked and walked till eternity before we eventually reached Bondi, our final destination!
Stopping to take pictures along the way. Wan Wan even had the mood to fool HY into thinking that we have long completed the race! Haha and HY actually believed! Oh man!
Haha, finally at the finishing point!
After washing up and some kopi, it was time to head off to Brisbane! Exciting stuff! Can't wait to check out my Westin Hotel! Tsk tsk.
Brisbane Airport. Kind of small scale compared to Melb and Syd. It's funny how each state's cabs are clad in different colour.
Westin's reception. Grand is the word!
Woohoo comfy bed again! YAY!
Finally at my hotel room! Once again checking out the toilet! Again, shower and bath tub! :D
The streets of Brisbane, only on late night shopping nights then only there will be that many people! Haha.
Brisbane casino! Looks Victorian eh?
Southbank of Brisbane! Cool place where I had a sumptuous chinese dinner and watched cheap movie by myself!
Award winning sia! Let's try to see if it's truly deserving! :D
The restaurant's intro...interesting!
The decor of the restaurant looks a tad too corporate and non-oriental.
Haha the dishes I ordered! For just I, me and myself! Hee!
Outcome? The food was ok la, not fantastic and a tad too oily! But still, free food is always good food! Courtesy of my client! ;p
Sydney was beckoning and how best to end off the trip?
Pork knuckle and mango beer at the Bavarian beer cafe at the Rocks in Sydney! It was obsessing my mind ever since I knew I'm going Sydney! Haha, excused myself from the team to enjoy a wonderful dinner by yours truly again!
Yes, you got it! I finished this entire pint by myself! Hee! -BURP-
GREAT trip overall! Oww, I'm beginning to miss Sydney already.....
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