Memories of Sydney – The City

The Sydney Town Hall.

Justine, our ‘I am Free’ walking tour guide. She knows every nook and cranny of Sydney and told us story after story with a lot of enthusiasm.

Statue of Queen Elizabeth, in front of the QV building. Apparently it was donated (some say discarded) by the people of Ireland and ended up here!

Statue of Queen Victoria’s pooch, just next to statue of Queen Victoria. Throw in a coin and it would bark!

The hanging clock within the QV building. I am told that at strike of every hour, the clock will reveal the hanging of one of England’s monarch! LOL!

The dome of QV Building. Very impressive.

Saint James’ Cathedral on Hyde Park.

The Hyde Park Barracks Museum.

‘Il Porcellino‘ – statue of a boar which has become the mascot of the Sydney Hospital, a gift from Florence, Italy. Apparently, if one rubs its nose, it brings good luck – hence the snout was polished by all the rubbing.

Of course some people prefer to rub elsewhere.

Australia Square. The ANZAC Day celebration was held here.

Apparently ‘The Matrix’ (the scene where Keanu Reaves duck the bullet!) and ‘Superman Returns’ was filmed here.

The ‘Bonds of Friendship’ monument placed at the spot where the 1st fleet from Portsmouth arrived in Sydney. It’s supposed to be 2 chain linked together but really looks like 2 doughnuts in embrace.

The Circular Quay Railway Station – the hub where trains, buses and ferries meet. This is the place to go when you want to get on a ferry to any of the touristy places around the Sydney Harbour.

On the pavement along the quay were many street performers which lent to the vibrancy of the place.

The Garrison Church which is a church built specially for sailors.

Unfortunately most of the sailor preferred to get drunk in this pub across the church! We were told that some sailors were made to drink so much rum until they passed out and thereafter they were rolled in a barrel in a tunnel beneath the pub all the way out to the harbour where they were put on board ships to work as slaves!

Umbrellas covering a cafe at the quay.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The most famous landmark in Sydney – The Sydney Opera House! Isn’t she a beauty?!

Luna Park. There is a replica of the park in Melbourne. The difference being the mask at the entrance in Sydney is smiling while the one in Melbourne frowns. Apparently the one in Sydney used to frown as well but it was changed to a smile because children were afraid of it! They still are, despite the smile.

The Rocks – the place to be for some retail therapy at the weekend market, dine at the many cafe there and explore the alley ways. The place had a notorious history, being a red light district and a robber’s den.

I liked the stalls at The Rocks because most of them were selling genuine Aussie products and not cheap China made stuff although there were a number of these shops (you know, stuff you can get in any night market back in Malaysia).

The Rocks Discovery Museum. Spend some time here to get to know the history of The Rocks. Admission is free.

Sydney from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I crossed the bridge on foot.

While those with 3.5 hours and AUD 200 to spare opted to make the bridge climb!

Climbers descending from the peak of the bridge.

The Royal Botanic Gardens. It’s a huge place and would probably take a few hours to cover on foot. However, I feel the one in Melbourne is far better.

The Sulphur Crested Cuckatoo – they were everywhere and were unafraid of humans.

The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, which is a copy of the original (dated 334 BC) in Acropolis, Athens which is a fine example of Corinthian architecture.

View of Sydney Opera and the Bridge from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Fine for parking illegally at Mrs. Macquaties’ Chair – a lookout point at the eastern end of the garden. A whopping AUD 175!!!

The Mrs Macquaries Bushland Walk is a nice path leading from the Mrs. Macquaries’ Chair back to the city.

On the way to the city, I passed by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Domain (a spot where you can stand on a chair and speak on any matters close to your heart – it doesn’t matter if no one is listening!).

Next, I will show you pictures of the mountains.

Staying at Bounce

I stayed at the Bounce Hotel when I was in Sydney over the long Easter break. It was touted as the newest upmarket backpackers hotel in Sydney offering clean and secure accommodation at budget price. It received an average of 77% rating from people who have stayed there.

I have few complaints when I was there. Although the reception was less than warm but it was efficient. The hotel is situated just across from the Sydney Central railway station which is a convenient transport hub if you wanna go anywhere in Sydney. Surrounding the hotel were a number of 24-hour convenience stores so getting essential stuff was easy. Unfortunately, to get to a place with proper food, be it a restaurant or a fast-food joint one must be prepared to walk quite a distance to St. George street where a number of eateries are located.

My only major issue with the hotel has not much to do with the hotel facility (for they were excellent although I wish they would replace the blinking and blacked out light bulbs in the toilet and replace the soiled shower screens) but rather with the guests staying at the hotel. Staying in a budget hotel, in my opinion, does not excuse one from living like an animal.

When I first checked into the 6-bedded dorm my nostrils were assaulted with the awful pungent smell of unwashed clothes and bodies, stinking shoes and stale alcohol. My first reaction was to bend over and puke. The dorm was occupied by 5 barely-out-of-puberty blokes. There weren’t in at the time but the carnage was evident.

*ladies, if you are attracted to these wild good looking Aussie ‘hunks’ please beware that eventually you will have to pick up the mess of a beer-guzzling pot-bellied ex-hunk. Think about it.

Strewn across the floor were worn underwear, shirts and pants. Stinking shoes were discarded everywhere together with soiled socks. There was half-eaten food on the floor and bed and the rubbish bin was full of empty alcohol and soft drinks bottles.

I waded my way over to the last remaining bunk in the dorm and unpacked. The first 2 guys who came back said a cursory ‘hi’ and promptly jumped into their beds with their shoes on. One of them switched on his boom box blasting out songs with lyrics that included words like ‘rape’, ‘kill’, ‘maim’, ‘carnage’ and the ‘F’ word.

Later the other 3 guys came back. Two dropped off to sleep almost instantly. The other sat on the floor busy rolling home-made cigarettes (I wasn’t sure if he used weed) while drinking from a bottle containing what appeared to be vodka.

They were all young, a few with well toned bodies and they were collectively loud. Very loud. None of them made an attempt to clean up the mess on the floor. They don’t even apologize when I can’t reach my locker because of the filth that stood between me and the locker!

I didn’t sleep well that night because they came back from a party + gambling orgy (it was ANZAC day, the only day where gambling in the pubs are allowed) and made even more noise.

Mercifully they checked out the next day. No one checked in the next day and I slept well.

Other guests of the hotel were equally bad. Most were incapable of flushing the toilet after their No 1 and 2s. Many left their dishes unwashed in the communal kitchen. Some stole other people’s food from the communal fridge. My small tub of butter was ravaged without my permission (I hope the guy gets a massive GI upset).

Back to my dorm, eventually a guy from USA and a lady from UK checked into the dorm (yes it was a mixed dorm) and they were polite, nice, clean and respectful.

So, would I recommend the Bounce Hotel? I would, but only if you could book yourself into one of their private rooms with en suite or you have a group of like-minded friends who could occupy the whole dorm. Otherwise, forget the dorms. You don’t want to risk staying in a pig sty.

It’s a first class hotel inhabited mostly by guests with third class mentality. Come to think of it, it’s a lot like home actually.

Sydney on a budget – Day 3

I think the rain follows me wherever I go on a holiday Last weekend when I was in Brisbane it rained 2 of the 4 days I was there. And this weekend when I am in Sydney it rained 2 of the 3 days I am here.

Rain puts a damper on any holiday plans. My Blue Mountains trip yesterday was less than 100% perfect because of the rain and today my plan to do some beach-hopping was more than a little washed out.

Anyway, the plan was to visit 3 famous beaches today – Bondi Beach, Watson Bay and Manly Beach. In order to get around economically I bought a multipass daily ticket which allowed me to travel on all trains, government-run buses and ferries. The ticket cost AUD 20 (incidentally the weekly multipass ticket only costs AUD 41, so it would be fair to say I’ve been ripped off). But then again with so many places to go, this would be the cheapest option.

I left the hotel at around 9.30 am after waiting more than 2 hours for the darn rain to stop. It didn’t. The lady at the reception was aghast when she found out I was going to the beach! “In this weather?!”, asked the lady with a look that says “poor old fool must have lost some of his marbles” when I asked her for directions.

I took the train to Bondi Junction and then hopped on Bus 333 that took me directly to Bondi Beach. Altogether the trip from Sydney central station to the beach took 40 min. The air was chilly, the sky was overcast and the surf was high in the sea when I arrived. Not a good time to be at the beach.

So, this is the famous beach! Apparently, in one episode of Baywatch, Pamela Sue Anderson jumped off the Sydney Harbour Beach to rescue some one and swam ashore onto Bondi – an impossible feat considering that the beach is so far West from the bridge, she would have to swim from the Harbour out to the sea, loop around Watson Bay and head south to Bondi! Actually with those huge pair of silicones fronting her, one would think she would drown at the very Harbour itself like 2 bags of sand! LOL!

But I digress.

Frankly speaking, I think Bondi is overrated. I prefer Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast anytime. It just didn’t have the “Wow!!” factor and there were no beautiful people to see.

Since it was cold and I did not want to subject the family jewels to hypothermia I decided instead to do the 2.5 KM coastline walk from Bondi, passing Tamarama beach to Bronte beach. The end of the coastline walk is actually at Congee beach which is another 1.5 KM south of Bronte.

The walk was pleasant. It could have been more pleasant if it was sunny. Instead it was cold and chilly with occasional drizzle. The view was spectacular with the sea on one side and extremely pricey private residences on the other. I am told a simple apartment here would easily fetch AUD 300 million!!! There was even an advertisement plastered onto a billboard that said “Buy a home viewed by many but owned by the chosen few!”. Goodness!

At the start of the walk is the Iceberg Pool – a private club (but open to public) where patrons swim in icy cold water in the pool next to the sea. How cool is that!!!

The Tamarama Beach is a small cosy stretch of sand along the walk where the surf is very strong and dangerous.

Bronte Beach. The waves are much calmer here, suitable for family picnics and swim. I stopped here for lunch before taking the bus back to Bondi junction.

On the bus I encountered an elderly Chinese lady who seemed to have lost her way! She asked me for help and since she only spoke Chinese (Mandarin) and my Chinese sucks, I couldn’t make out where she was from and where she wanted to go. We got down at Bondi junction where I sought the help of a Chinese speaking grocer but even she was at loss trying to communicate with the old woman. The old woman even got crossed at me for not taking her where she wants to go! Good grief! I wonder if on my forehead are etched these words in Chinese: ‘International Mind Reader & Finder Of Lost Chinese Elderly Women’.

In the end we asked for help from one of the security personnel at the place (Bondi Junction is the terminal where buses and trains meet). He was a burly and grotesquely obese white Aussie (I bet his BMI was > 50). When we explained the predicament of the poor old lady to him, instead of being helpful, he was loud and rude!!

“So? What do you expect me to do?”, he slobbered.
“Is that my problem?”, he replied when I tried to say we need help in getting the woman home. He was positively hostile!

I got really angry and inside I wanted to curse him with the death of a thousand melanomas but then he probably doesn’t go out in the sun very much anyway. I turned to him and said, ” in that case sir (ass), thank you very much, we don’t need you here”.

What an ass!

With that I reluctantly turned to the old woman and apologized and said I could not help her as I was not a local. I then left her with the grocer. I hope she found her way home. The incident delayed my plans by almost 2 hours. Two hours when the sun came out for a while!

The incident also reaffirmed what I felt since I came here a few days ago – that compared to the people in Melbourne, Sidney-Siders are curt, unfriendly and rude!! This has been my experience here throughout be it the receptionists at the hotel, the Asian lady who works for city-link railway, this obese white security personnel, the Vietnamese restaurant lady who tried to cheat me of an extra 50 cents when I paid for dinner, the airport personnel who was dismissive and unhelpful when I asked for directions and many others I encountered. The only people I found to be friendly were grocers from the middle east and the Indian subcontinent and the kindly old ladies selling souvenirs in various shops. It would appear any Aussies younger than 55 years old in are biadab here. (go Google the meaning)

I digress again.

From Bondi Junction I took a train to the Sydney Town Hall and hopped on a another train to the Circular Quay. From here I took the 20 min ferry ride to Watson Bay and from the bay I hiked the 15 min trail to the Lady Bay Beach which is a designated nudist beach.

It was such a disappointing beach. It was nothing more than a sliver of sand filled with rubbish. No one in his/her right mind would want to soak up the sun naked here, what with a lookout point for tourists nearby and a hundred other spots where people can peep. There were also many fully clothed anglers nearby and even a small occupied boat anchored just a stone’s throw away in the water! One would need balls of steel to disrobe here! The only other person on the beach who was not a pervert-tourist, angler or boat owner was a 60++ years old fully clothed man who may have really lost his marbles, seated on a rock and busy scratching his legs and mumbling incoherently to himself!!

What a sad sad place.

Why was I there, you may ask? Well, I was curious and I did bring my towel and sunblock. I had a great time in the sun on a nudist beach in Darwin a few years ago. It was rather ‘liberating’! This one was like a long kang compared to that one. (again, Google the meaning)

Anyway, I took the next ferry back to Circular Quay and finally hopped on one of those free bus (number 555) back to the hotel. There wasn’t enough time to hop onto another ferry to visit Manly beach and with the foul weather, I didn’t want to spend more time out in the rain.

Altogether it has been a miserable day.

Total expenditure today:
1. One multipass ticket: AUD 20
2. Two Bondi beach postcards: AUD 1.50
3. Egg and bacon lunch at Bronte Beach: AUD 11 (far too pricey!)
4. KFC dinner: AUD 9.50 (btw, KFC in Australia tastes horrible – don’t ever try it! I only ate it because I couldn’t find Hungry Jacks nearby and I didn’t want to eat that Vietnamese con-woman’s place again).

Total cost: AUD 41.

I’ve done all that I want to do in Sydney. It’s time to go home to a more pleasant and friendlier Melbourne tomorrow. But before I fly off I’m gonna go to the Apple store near here and gaze longingly at some Apple products. That’s another free thing you could do in Sydney.

Will I come to Sydney again? Probably not.

Jimbo out!

Sydney on a budget – Day 2

Today I headed for the mountains to get away from the chaos of a city that Sydney is. The place to go is of course the Blue Mountains where the Three Sisters (3 sandstone pillars) are located. The area has been designated as World Heritage Site and has, in addition to the Three Sisters, many other natural attractions such as many breath-taking walks, look out points, waterfalls and quaint little towns. There are also unnatural attractions such as the cable car ride (called Skyway) and the Scenic Railway.

The Blue Mountains are named so because of the unique blue haze that hangs around the mountains and is caused by Eucalyptus trees emitting vapor into the atmosphere which, along with fine dust particles and water droplets, scatter blue light more than any other spectrum colour.

Now, if you book yourself on a guided tour to the Blie Mountains you will probably have to pay anything between AUD 70 to 99 depending on the types of activities and sights to be seen. Since I am bugget conscious what I did was to pay AUD 46.80 for a combo train ride + hop on-hop off bus to get around the Blue Mountains.

The advantage of this arrangement, besides saving some money, was that I could plan and do stuff at my own leisure. The train ride from Sydney Central station to the Katoomba railway station and took 2 hours and 4 min (so bring a book!) and from there i hopped onto the double-decker hop on-hop off bus which went on a circuit of all 23 interesting spots on the Blue Mountains.

Unfortunately for me, today was a rainy day in Sydney. By the time I reached Katoomba railway station it was drizzling, foggy and very very cold!!! In this kind of weather the chances of seeing anything spectacular from any look out points were pretty remote.

Nevertheless I decided to make the best of the situation and decided to do a bit of bushwalking which allowed me to see many spectacular sights like the Katoomba Falls below which really took my breath away!

And it was during one of these walks that the rain miraculously stopped momentarily and the fog lifted for just a few minutes which allowed me to see the Three Sisters from where I was at the time!!! (pictures to follow once I get proper Internet connection). The sight was truly amazing!

Today I’ve accomplished the following:
1. Saw the Katoomba Cascades
2. Stood transfixed at the base of the Katoomba Falls
3. Hiked from Katoomba Cascades to Scenic World (took almost an hour in the wet terrain)
4. Explored the coal mine and the board walk at Scenic World
5. Rode the almost vertical Scenic Railway back to the top (it costs AUD 11 but well worth the money spent. It’s the steepest train in the world where you almost have to stand up midway because it was so steep!!! I am told the incline was around 56 degrees.
6. See the Leura Cascades which was an amazingly beautiful cataract of water.
7. Visit the Leura Village and from there took the train back to Sydney.

My only regrets were not being able to see the many panoramic sights from the many look out points and most of all not being able to hike from the Honeymoon lookout to the Three Sisters on account of the rain and thick fog.

Still, I had an awesome time. The cool mountain air was invigorating!

Total expenditure for the day:
1. Breakfast was instant noodles: AUD 2.50
2. Blue Mountain Explorer fare: AUD 46.80
3. Complimentary coffee from the railway station on account of ANZAC day: 50 cents (because I made a donation)
4. Lunch was a cold chicken sandwich: AUD 5.50
5. Scenic World Railway ride: AUD 11
6. Two post cards: AUD 2
7. Tea was an orange poppy-seed muffin: AUD 2.50
8. Dinner in the city: AUD 8.50

Total expenditure: AUD 78.30

I’ve done the city and the mountains. Tomorrow I shall hit the beaches!!

Jimbo out!

Sydney on a budget – Day 1

I arrived in Sydney this morning on what will be my first back packing trip in many years. I can’t even remember the last time I went back packing or struck out to explore a place on my own (moving to Melbourne doesn’t count).

With a limited budget I have to find the cheapest means to get the most things done. So I bought my air tickets when there was a sale (Jetstar typically has a 2-hour Friday afternoon special sale) and booked myself into a back packer’s hotel (AUD 40 per night) where I have to share a dorm with 5 young blokes who stink to high heavens. I hope they check out tomorrow!

I spent 6 hours walking in the city today. The first 3 were spent following a guided walking tour by a very sweet lady named Justine who works for a group called ‘I Am Free Tour’ (check out their website at imfree. These tour guides work for ‘free’ and basically live off tips that you are free to decide on tha amount to give at the end of the 3 hours walk. I gave her AUD 10. A similar tour elsewhere will cost AUD 35. The next 3 hours I did my own exploring using google maps and the ‘tripadvisor’ app on my iPhone.

I’ve basically covered almost every bit of interesting spots in Sydney today:

1. Sydney Town Hall
2. St. Andrew’s cathedral
3. St. Mary’s cathedral
4. St. James’ cathedral
5. ANZAC square
6. Tank street (where fresh water runs under the streets of Sydney from the beginning of the colony)
7. Numerous pubs with interesting stories behind them
8. The Rocks with all the shops, weekend market, cafes, back alleys (did you know The Rocks used to have an all women-robbers team?!!!)
9. The Rocks Discovery Museum
10. The Circular Quay which is the gateway by ferry to various beaches and touristy spots
11. The Sydney Opera House!
12. The Sydney Harbour Bridge (I couldn’t afford the climb which costs AUD 200! and takes 3.5 hours!) but I did cross it and back and the view from there was awesome!
13. Darling Harbour
14. The Royal Botanic Garden (the photo above was taken from here)
15. Mrs Macquarie’s Chair
16. Mrs Macquarie Bushland Walk
17. Hyde Park
18. Queen Victoria Building
19. Art Gallery of NSW
20. Hyde Park Barracks Museum

Quite a list huh? My toes are killing me even as I write.

Total expenditure for the day:
1. Airport to city by train: AUD 15
2. Coffee x 2: AUD 7
3. Japanese sushi + salmon lunch: AUD 10
4. Fridge magnet x 3: AUD 5
5. Beef noodle soup for dinner: AUD 8
6. One apple: AUD 1.25
7. Tips paid to Justine: AUD 10

Total: AUD 56.25.

I think I’m done with the city. Tomorrow I’m heading for the mountains!

*more pics to follow – blogging using the iPhone and loading media can be very cumbersome.

Jimbo out!

What to do in Brisbane?

Photo taken at South Bank, Brisbane. The bloke sun tanning there wouldn’t move and so I had to include him in the picture to get the city at this angle! (Actually he didn’t move for the next 2 hours!).

I spent a few days last week in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia visiting some friends. Some one asked me on Facebook what were the sights to see in Brisbane and frankly, I didn’t really know. If you google Brisbane, you will realize that compared to other major cities in Australia, there isn’t really a whole lot one can see or do in Brisbane.

Anyway, here are some of the things I did/places I visited when I was there.

Because I arrived early in the day and my host was working, I was deposited at the South Bank, a lovely esplanade along the bank of the Brisbane River, until he could fetch me after work. The river flow was slow and lazy that day.  It’s hard to imagine that just a few months ago, the same river was bursting its banks in the Queensland Flood Disaster.

At that time of the day, the place was peaceful and quiet. I enjoyed walking along the esplanade and basking in the warm afternoon sun which was most welcomed compared to the chill in Melbourne!

One can indulge in a bit of eye-candy sights as Brisbanians stripped down to their barest minimum to cool down in the man made pool nearby or simply take in some sun on the many grassy areas there.

It was such a slow afternoon (and I also had a very heavy lunch consisting of 4 pieces of bacon, 2 pieces of buttered toast, 2 eggs, potato wedges and a medium slice of steak!) that I drifted off to sleep on one of the many park benches. I only woke up 1.5 hours later when I heard a small boy exclaiming to his parents, “Look, mummy, there’s a man sleeping on the bench!!!”.

The inner side of the esplanade is lined by these huge arches where lovely blooming bougainvillaea abound!

The South Bank looks very different at night when we returned the next evening for a river cruise on the City Cat (a ferry service along the river). *Some photos are of poorer quality because they were taken using the iPhone.

Along the esplanade at night, there were more people and there was a night market there as well, selling arty-farty stuff. We had a nice dinner at one of the restaurant there, eating grilled spice-coated Barramundi.

A trip to Brisbane would be tragic if one does not make the 1 hour drive south to the Gold Coast which was what we did the next day. The weather was glorious that day ~ perfect for a day at the beach! We took a pleasant drive to Surfer’s Paradise beach in Gold Coast.

Approaching the Gold Coast on the free way leading to the city.

I love Surfer’s Paradise! To the left and right, one can see miles and miles of golden sandy beaches (I am told it stretches for 200 km!). The sun was shining brightly (if you are there, please lather yourself with heaps of sun block! Queensland is the melanoma capital of the world!) and the waves were awesome!

Gold Coast is the place where beautiful people are found in abundance and not-so-beautiful people stare at them! Heh heh! No prize for guessing which category I belonged to. There were eye-candies everywhere.

When I said ‘eye candy’, I was talking about the many unique high rise building there of course. Sssshh…what were you thinking of?!!!

The street was populated by many heavily-tattooed and muscle-bound surfer dudes and chicks in togs covering very little. I didn’t manage to capture any of the latter with my camera because I was afraid of being accused of lurking!

There were professional surfers riding the waves on their boards and there were surfers-wannabes. I went into the relatively warm water (24C) and had the bashing of my life by the huge crashing waves! I think the recovery from my cold (which I got from Lorne recently) was hasten by the multiple  ‘saline’ wash I had as sea water rushed in and out my inflamed sinuses with every crushing wave. It was awesome! I had great fun there!

Personally, I think the place needs more shade/trees and more toilet facility. Otherwise, it was a good place to spend a lazy afternoon. We had a BBQ lunch at one of the park nearby before heading home.

The next day, we took a 2 hour car ride to O’Reilly Rainforest Retreat, in the Lamington National Park. The weather was foul that day and the ride up the mountain was winding. 15 km to the peak, we decided to take a much needed break (before our stomach content made a messy exit in the car) at the Lamington Alpaca Farm – a nice little farm-cum-cafe-cum-souvenir gallery.

In case you are wondering what in the world is an Alpaca, it looks like this:

My first reaction when I saw the animal was, “Llama!!!!”. Apparently it was not a Llama but merely one that resembles a Llama. It is a native South American animal bred mainly for it’s fur. I thought it looks like the offspring of a giraffe and a sheep!

Their fur are used to make apparels like the ponchos above. There are quite nice to feel, although I think one would look pretty ridiculous wearing it, say in Melbourne city centre!

We had a lovely time there, sitting at the verandah overlooking a beautiful view of the valley and a herd of Alpacas grazing nearby. We munched on delicious freshly baked scones washed down with rich aromatic coffee. Yum! It was cool (the rain hasn’t started yet) and peaceful. Bliss!

O’Reilly’s is where you can indulge in a number of activities like feeding the birds (the birds are unafraid of human beings, rather I think the human beings are a little afraid of them!), take a stroll on the canopy walk nearby, do some bush walking to a waterfall or the site of a plane crash nearby, have tea or indulge in a bit of souvenir retail therapy (although they were pretty pricey!).

I must confess I felt a little like ‘Ace Ventura’ trying to stand still while the birds were pecking away from my hand and the utensil containing bird seeds.

The birds were so tame that they allow you to get up close and personal with them without fear.

A bush turkey. These are hardy birds and they roamed freely all over the place. I am not sure if they are edible!

There were also a lot of butterflies nearby. This one is unique in that on the underside of its wings were pretty patterns and colour while the upper side was snowy white! Sadly I did not manage to capture one showing its upper side.

Because it has been raining and it’s after all a rainforest, there were heaps of fungi and you can even go fungi hunting!

The canopy walk was short but fun. It wasn’t half as scary as the one back home at the Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). The canopy walk was made with wooden planks firmly held together with strong metal cables, unlike the rickety one back home, made traversing it a breeze!

This pathway made of wood made the access to the tree top walk easy. Because it had just rained, the forest was misty and looked a little like Pandora in ‘Avatar’!

A monument erected to remember the plane crash (and rescue) nearby. Because of the rainy weather, we did not hike to the waterfall nor the crash site which was a pity.

I’ve had a wonderful time in Brisbane. Truth be told, the best part of Brisbane was not to be found in the city (unless you are a loaded shopaholic!).

And of course, really, the bestest part of the trip was the opportunity to catch up with some good friends and their lovely children! Thanks A, A, B and N for making the trip possible and memorable!

Movie Marathon

I don’t really spend a lot of time watching movies these days. At my age, I find I have a shorter attention span (so any movies above 40 minutes can be quite a struggle – hence short clips like ‘How I met your mother‘ or ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ are a hit with me. Leave your brain outside, spend 40 minutes and you are entertained, happy ending included.

The other reason is because, at my age, 2 hours spent watching a movie can be considered a waste of precious minutes ticking away. So, I choose my movies carefully, preferring to watch movies that are deemed worth spending 120 minutes of my life on.

But of course, that rule is not set in stone. When I fell sick after coming back from Lorne 2 weeks ago, I was confined to my room for several days. There weren’t a whole lot of things one can do in a 10 x 10 feet apartment room.

And so I watched some movies. Seven of them in fact. Here’s what I think of them: (Beware! Spoilers ahead)

I watched Limitless at the movies on a day when I wasn’t feeling too sick. The movie starred Bradley Cooper as a down and out writer who could not write beyond the first word of his new novel. His girlfriend left him and he’s broke. In other words: Total Loser.

Enter his (ex)girlfriend’s brother who’s a drug dealer and the latter passed him a pill promising a ‘change’ when consumed. And oh, btw, the latter gets bashed to death in a most gruesome way.

Our guy takes the pill and thus began his roller coaster ride from the pit’s bottom to the pinnacle of success! Thereafter the movie moved at a rapid breathtaking pace, showing our ‘hero’ achieving one success after another (including getting back his ex-gf and running for president!) while running away from people who are after the same magical pill. I could do with one of them pills.

I thought it was pretty entertaining although the abrupt ending was a let down – a bit like not climaxing after 1.5 hours of foreplay. I give the movie a 5/10.

The next movie I watched was The Adjustment Bureau which was much touted as “Bourne Identity meets The Matrix” or something like that. The movie is about a guy (Matt Damon) who met a girl and fell in love with her in the men’s toilet (love at first sight it seems can happen anywhere, even in the loo) but was thereafter prevented from ever seeing her again by a bunch of men dressed like Mafia goons and running around like rabbits on heat.

As it turned out, these clumsy Mafia clods (and they were really clumsy) were angels working for ‘The Chairman” (read: God) and their job was to prevent the two love birds from falling in love and taking it further (read: copulate) because it was “not according to plan”.

Good grief! WALOC! (What a load of cr*p)

I hated the movie on so many levels. Matt Damon had a BMI of at least 30 kg/m2 in the movie (so any allusion to the Bourne Identity was purely fictional) although his co-star was divine. As for the Mafia goons, if I were an angel, I’d be insulted. And worst of all, the Chairman was portrayed as some one high up there who really doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on and seems to be losing the plot! He seems to make plans on an ad hoc basis! I’d rather be an agnostic than to believe in a God like that!

I give this movie a 2/10. Bleh!

The next movie I watched was Buried. Now, I like Ryan Reynolds. I thought he was cheeky-cum-awesome as DeathPool in Xmen Origins and I thought he was funny in The Proposal. And I’d give my left kidney to have a body like his.

But seriously, his one-actor effort in Buried should be, er…buried. Preferably 60 feet under. Let’s face it,  Ryan is no Tom Hanks in Cast Away (heck, Tom even had a Wilson soccer ball in his movie, so it wasn’t strictly a one-actor gig). The story about a truck driver who got buried in a casket by terrorists in the Iraqi desert for ransom with only a mobile phone as the only means of communication with the outside world and a lighter got illumination was about as exciting as watching grass grow. Even Colin Farrel did a better job in Phone Booth.

I give this one a 3/10.

I watched Surf’s Up on Aussie TV, mainly because there was nothing else to watch that night. The story was  about a penguin (voiced by that Transformers guy) who dreamed of being a world-class surfer dude but failing miserably until he met a surfer-has-been who taught him the ropes with the has-been-dude finding some sort of redemption and vindication in the end.

Ho hum… one could see the somewhat-happy ending a mile away.

Still, it was better than watching grass grow, so I give this one a 3/10.

Despicable Me was a delight to watch. I was actually quite taken in by the story (the 3 little orphan girls in the movie were collectively a major heart string puller). The story about a big-time-thief in his twilight years and his effort to pull off one last job (read: stealing the moon!) only to be challenged by an IT savvy, much younger and arrogant thief on every turn. The 3 orphan girls were in the story because they were connected to the old thief’s effort to steal a device from his younger counterpart which is used to shrink the moon into a more steal-able size. In the end, the old thief lost his despicable-ness and gained a heart.

All in all, it was a very delightful heart warming story. I loved it! I give this movie a 7/10.

I’ve always wanted to watch Pay It Forward but never got around to it, mainly because I’m not  big fan of Kevin Spacey (I always remember him as the sicko serial killer in Seven, although he played his role brilliantly in The Usual Suspects) nor am I a fan of Haley Joel Osment (I always remember him as the unbearably wimpy kid in AI). Helen Hunt, on the other hand is divine in all her movies. Anyway, I digress.

When this movie came on TV, I watched it while nursing a cold, a bad cough and a massive headache. Some how I managed to get through the story about a kid who dreamed up a novel ‘social experiment’ that had a domino effect in changing people’s lives. The trick is simple – do something for 3 other people that they cannot possibly do it for themselves and these 3 recipients of the benevolent acts will in turn do the same for 3 other people. It’s a bit like Multilevel Marketing, really.

The story line was good although I hated the ending – which sorta tells you that you run a risk of being killed while trying to do good! Okay, the kid dies at the end.

I give this movie a 6/10.

And finally, this was the movie I watched while being sick:

I generally shy away from watching horror movies because life itself is scary enough (you know, income tax, bills, Rare Earth Processing Plant, BN, C4, window exits at high rise building, sex videos etc etc….Malaysians will know what I am talking about) without having to add to it. That said, I didn’t feel one bit horrified when I watched this movie starring Sir Anthony Hopkins (one of the finest actor alive in my book) as an American Priest cum Exorcist assigned to coach a young Catholic priest on the fine art of casting out demons from possessed people. Did I tell you that the young apprentice does not believe in the Devil nor God?!!

And therein lies the dilemma. How do you cast out something that you don’t believe exist? And eventually when he was convinced that the Devil really does exist, where on earth does he get the power to cast out the old goat?! No way, unless he also then choose to believe in God, who alone has the power to overcome the evil one! Yeah, the devil got one hell of a whacking in the movie at the end.

I thought the pace of the movie was good, building up in suspense slowly until its climax. I know this movie was panned by most critics, some even suggesting that Anthony Hopkins was insane to play a role that is deemed beneath his acting prowess and reputation. I thought he did a great job portraying the broken priest, although there were moments that I half expected him to pries open the young Catholic’s skull and make sushi with his brain, ala Hannibal Lecter the Cannibal style! Heh heh!

I give this movie an 8/10.

There you have it! I sincerely hope I won’t have to go through another sickness-induced movie marathon anytime soon.

Rain drops on roses

It has been 6 months since I came to Melbourne and it won’t be long before I go home. There are some things that I miss back home.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are TWELVE of my favorite things!

1. A hot steaming bowl of Wan Tan Mee!

2. Followed by a chilled glass of Kopi Ping! (IMHO, it trumps ANY coffee in Melbourne)

3. A nice plate of Fried Kueh Teow for dinner (with extra chilli please) – I confess that when I googled for a picture of fried kueh teow, I almost licked the computer screen! In Melbourne, you only get fried kueh teow wannabes.

4. A good swim in the pool under the hot tropical sun! (I’ve got to work on a new tan)

5. Retail Therapy!!! (In Melbourne, all I had was Restrained Therapy)

6. Followed by a good full body massage (Can’t afford such luxury in Melbourne)

7. Go climb a mountain! (I’m itching to climb again. There is nothing worth climbing in Melbourne)

8. Work on my garden!

9. Take my car for a spin. (I hope I still remember how to drive. Have been walking on average 4 km a day to and back from work everyday here)

10. Sit and listen to the pitter-patter of a heavy rain fall on my roof. Nothing like a good tropical downpour.

11. Get a new pair of glasses. (I can hardly see well with the ones I have now and it’s too expensive to replace them in Australia)

12. Work! Yes, believe it or not,  I miss my patients and I miss what I do back home  (Err….my students – not so much. Heh heh).

Brisbane!

I’m off to Brisbane for the weekend to catch up with a couple of good friends! It’s also good to get to a place warmer than Melbourne!

And I hope to visit the Gold Coast too!

Gonna bring along my togs, just in case. Heh heh!

Cheers!

Pillow Talk

For as long as I could remember, I was always fond of playing with the corners of my pillow. Those days, my pillow was a cotton-filled one, lovingly made by my mum. I would isolate a bunch of cotton at the pillow corner with my fingers and then dig into it with my index finger. It helped me sleep. Those days I went through a few pillows a year as the corners gave way to the constant abuse.

And then I got married.

My wife didn’t like my habit and went about weaning me off it. She got me a pillow without corners! It was hard in the beginning but I’ve more or less got over the habit (unless I chance upon another cotton-stuffed pillow again, heh heh….!). But I digress.

And then our second child, Ryan, was born.

Ryan took to the pillow corner much like a fish to water. He would suck the pillow corner and smell it when it’s dry. (I know, I know…it’s pretty gross). While we have managed to weaned him of sucking the corner, we couldn’t get him of smelling it. Maybe in time he will.

And then, a couple of months ago, we got a dog. His name is Cleffy (we call him that because he was born with a cleft lip and we didn’t think he would thrive but he did!).

Guess what Cleffy is into?

Yup, Cleffy loves pillow corners too!

I guess somethings run in the family ~ like good looks, intelligence, wit…and pillow corners. Heh heh!