New Wonderland

10月4日-晴天

2009-10-05T00:26:00.003+08:00

站在滨海艺术中心外，面对着隔着河的一座座高楼大厦，耳边传来的是一首首动听的老歌，迎面吹来一阵阵的凉风，犹如一位指挥家，挥舞着指挥棒，指挥着千万位乐手；犹如一位魔术师，挥舞着手中的魔术棒，让沉静的生命，再次重生。

New Wonderland

2009-10-05T00:12:00.002+08:00

As per normal, too many things happened in the past one year. Nothing has changed in my favour, nor everything has turned out well yet. But at least, after such a long time, I am now able to see the problems clearly. My aim is to prevent the similar 4 cycles of incidents to be happened again.

國境之南

2008-12-08T12:04:00.000+08:00

New Beginning

2008-05-18T20:20:00.001+08:00

Time flies. My one-year contract is ending soon.

I have just renewed my contract. I like my current job, and I like the environment, I like my colleagues. My boss is nice as well. Everything is so perfect that I can't find any reasons to turn me away from this job..

In life, lots of things has happened in the past one year. From happiness to sadness; from an exciting start to a sad ending; from a start with hopes till an ending with broken hearts. Most of the time in this one-year period, my life revolve around the same issue. Things changed, time continue to pass silently. Everything is over now, but the broken heart remains in pieces. I can forgive, but I can't forget. I'm moving on for a new start.

It's going to be a new start.

原点- The Origin

2008-03-14T01:21:00.001+08:00

As the earth continues to move,
the time passes quietly,
the city changes silently,
the population increases exponentially,
the economic grows rapidly,
the share prices change dramatically,
the life moves on emotionally,
the humanity alters unexpectedly.

The poor remains poor,
my feeling, my thought,
has been left behind at its origin,
remains in its original form,
without any alteration.

The distance continues to increase,
but the feeling has fall even deeper into the soil.

Untitled

2008-03-14T00:30:00.002+08:00

此时无声胜有声...

我内心深处最真诚的感受...

2008-02-12T11:58:00.009+08:00

From Homer Simpson to Baby Pooh

那天，坐在琴房里，你让我看了这张小狗照片，你说这狗好可爱，你非常喜欢它。同一天，同一地点，我把窝藏在我心里好久好久的真心话，告诉了你。把它制成拼图送给你，因为这照片对我而言，意义非凡，而你在我心中的地位也非常特别。

当初你没有给一个答案，只说你从未考虑过这个问题。你说需要时间，我愿意等。我只希望时间能建立起我们之间的感情。这一路走来，再多的苦我都愿意承受，“甜的留给你，苦的我自己吃”，记得吗？很多的事情我都想和你一起去体验，但一直都无法做到。

直到那一天，你告诉我，我们不可能，接着一连串的交谈，我才发现我们之间存在着许多误会。就如你说的，我们之间存在着太多的“不知道”和问号。对不起，这都是我们缺乏沟通的结果。我以为我们已经很熟，很多事情不需太多的交代，只要安排好了就行了，但这却是误会的根源，也是我们不可能在一起的原因。我知道我如何解释你都不会相信，但我只想告诉你，我从来没有要欺骗你的意图，事情也不是如你想象的。

请原谅我。就因为喜欢你，所以怕你：怕伤害你，怕你生气，怕失去你，怕你为难。也因为你主宰着我的喜怒哀乐。也因为我们之间的一些误会和障碍，我从来并没有鼓起我最大的勇气，放开胸怀大胆地爱你。你说我们太熟了，根本不可能。我以为凭着一颗真心，不可能的不会不可能，但却又无法让你找到你要的感觉。事到如今，似乎已经没有回头的余地。请原谅我的固执。你的立场也很坚定，我知道你是不会把心交给我。请原谅我的自私，我并没有给你足够的空间。要是时间能够倒流，我将给你更多的空间，给你更多的关怀，尝试多了解你要求，并弥补我们之间的误会。我也将鼓起勇气，大胆地爱你，不管别人怎么说。毕竟，“我爱你，不是爱给别人看”。

正如范玮琪的“是非题”里所说的“爱越单纯越着迷”。当初我们以朋友的身份见面的那一切是最美好的回忆，我们都不需要顾忌什么。没有你，很多地方我都不会到过。现在留下的，只有回忆和我们的影子。

这三个星期，让我有更多的思考空间。那天聚会很高兴能看见你，更高兴看见你依然漂亮，开心和幸福。我能够放弃和你在一起的愿望，但我无法忘掉过去的这些回忆，更不能承受失去你这个朋友的结局。只要结局能让你幸福，快乐，什么意愿我都会成全你。无论如何，我还是依然爱你。爱一个人，就希望她幸福，快乐，希望她能做她想做的事，和她喜欢的人在一起。爱是不求回报的，不计较公平不公平，只要你快乐，就算不能在一起，也已经很足够了。

只希望我们友谊万岁，也希望你能快乐，幸福。我真心的祝福你。希望接下来不见面的这段日子能让事情平息，但不会冲淡我们的友谊。

半年我都等过了，两个月的时光很快就会过去的...

Ending

2008-01-26T22:29:00.001+08:00

Finally, it is the end of the story.

I'm really tired now and wish to have a rest. I shall start writing the new and more exciting story at least two months later.

Is it over yet?

2008-01-19T11:37:00.000+08:00

Is it over yet? I'm not sure. But it is definitely a new start. This is the best for all of us, I wish.

最重要的是不要在原地踏步... At least we tried.. There is no regret..

约定 Promise

2008-01-09T23:12:00.000+08:00

Four Season- Spring

2007-11-23T23:31:00.000+08:00

This song brought back so much memories. Those were the best and unforgettable moment.

I wish I could play just like him.

Tired

2007-11-17T12:34:00.000+08:00

I am just too tired. Too many things and issues to handle. Please leave me alone..

Untitled

2007-11-15T19:42:00.000+08:00

Music always sings out people's feeling.. Another two songs to share over here, quote from Youtube.

First Love

其实还爱你

My Feeling, My Thoughts

2007-10-28T12:48:00.001+08:00

Music tells a million of things. Couple of songs to share here. Not really new songs. But it means a lot.

遇见- The Moment

好眼泪坏眼泪

Another song that brings some memory back. Just to share this KTV with all my friends and visitors here at My Wonderland.

是非題 Shi Fei Ti

2007-10-17T22:05:00.000+08:00

One of the song I have been hunting for. Plagiarize from Caramello's blog. Love it very much. But I won't talk much about it here. Up to you to digest and interpret.=)

每段故事　都有一篇劇情
每段愛情　都像動人旋律
一顆真心　卻只向著你前進　
也許愛越單純越著迷

你是窗外　另外一片風景
在你眼裡　我是什麼關係
你的呼吸　存在我的愛情里
何時能誠實面對自己

我們從不開口那個原因
那一句　我愛你　永遠像少了勇氣
別人都說我和你之間的關係
沒有人相信　只有關心

我們從不證實那個問題
那一些是非題　總讓人傷透腦筋
我會期待愛盛開那一個黎明
一定會有　美麗的愛情

你是窗外　另外一片風景
在你眼裡　我是什麼關系
你的呼吸　存在我的愛情裡
何時能誠實面對自己

我們從不開口那個原因
那一句　我愛你　永遠像少了勇氣
別人都說我和你之間的關係
沒有人相信　只有關心

我們從不證實那個問題
那一些是非題　總讓人傷透腦筋
我會期待愛盛開那一個黎明
一定會有　美麗的愛情

My Life

2007-10-07T11:53:00.000+08:00

Finally, my appointment was made and went to see Dermatologist on Thursday. Good to find out that it wasn't a big deal nor sensitive to anything. Just a very normal skin problem. Three months of anti-histimine treatment should solve the problem. I'm kind of knowing the outcome before seeing the doctor after reading on my newly-bought Medical Book, quite worth it S$55+. But the medicine is making me extremely tired in the morning, even after a long night sleep. Maybe it was the medicine, I lost my appetite as well, or it might just because of the hot weather?

Again it's happy weekend. Next week is going to be another exciting week.

Time

2007-09-21T21:03:00.000+08:00

Time flies. Every second passes quietly and rapidly.

But I am willing to wait...

Two Minutes

2007-08-30T21:15:00.000+08:00

It was the time when everybody was rushing for home after working so hard for the day. I boarded the train, heading Orchard to meet my friend for dinner. The train was so crowded, and I would say that one has to squeeze if he/she wanted to alight the train.

The train, "fully-packed" with passengers, drove into Somerset station. When the doors were opened, people in the station started to push and squeeze in.

"Come, come, quickly, or else we have to wait for the next train", a lady told her friends.

Everybody was just trying their very best to get on the train and to fight for a very little space in order to reach home faster, while the next train was just two minutes behind.

"Excuse me", a voice appeared. A couple was trying to alight, but the train was so full that they couldn't manage to make their way to the exit. In addition, the crowds were trying to board, this has worsen the situation. Before they were able to reach the exit, the doors were closed, heading to the next station.

If you were the couple, how would you feel?

Nil or Too Many

2007-06-08T09:15:00.002+08:00

没有选择的时候, 什么都没有;
可以做选择的时候, 选择却多得不知哪一个才是正确的

When you are out of luck, you have no options at all, and you don't need to make any choices or decision; when your luck is there, you have too much options, until you don't know which is the best choice, and which is the most suitable one.

This is life, isn't it?

Emergency Lane

2007-06-04T22:10:00.000+08:00

There was a very bad traffic jam at the North-South Expressway near S. Ringgam Exit at 64.5km. The cars were moving very slowly. Badly damaged cars were seen to be towed away from the opposite side of the expressway. Something serious might have happened. Some impatient drivers started to use the emergency lane to travel.

Suddenly, ambulane was heard from distance. With cars jamed at the emergency lane, the ambulance was travelling at a low speed. Shortly later, ambulance passed by, followed by lots of cars at the back. The drivers used this "opportunity" to speed up their journey.

The jam continued. The cars were moving at extremely low speed for another 20km. Finally, the traffic moved smoothly, leaving behind questionmarks on what had happened?

Similar scene can be seen every time, everywhere here, when there was an accident or traffic jam. It creates chaos and sometimes accidents out of accident.

Is it ok to use emergency lane during the traffic jam? This has become part of our culture these days. Is it so hard to follow the queue and to obey the rules and respect other users?

My Way

2007-05-31T17:57:00.000+08:00

After being lost in the jungle of concrete for more than 2 months, I have finally found my way out.

Two months ago, I couldn't find any clue; I have no options, but to try hard to find the way out of it; today, I have found my way out, I have not only 1, but more options than before. I hope that this option I have chosen will be the best for me and hopefully, it is the correct path to guide me to the brighter side of this jungle. Hopefully, this is a more challenging, more exciting one.

After all these days, I have come to a conclusion. In order to survive in this jungle, you need to try hard and work hard. Nobody can help and you are the one who can safe yourself. It is rather a cruel fact but this jungle has gone wild than ever before. The competition is getting stronger. If you are not willing to work hard, there are other people waiting for your position to take over you.

Am I ready to start my new journey? I have two weeks of preparation time and now I am mentally prepared.

The journey, the challenge will begin soon..

Making Decision

2007-05-05T15:36:00.000+08:00

For a given item, you can view it from different sides, directions and angles and found that from these different directions you see this item, it has different apperance. For example, the most symbolic building in Sydney- Sydney Opera House. When you view it from far away, it is so beautiful. When you view at it just under its roof, you can see those little little squares that were used to build it up. When you view at it from different direction, its appearance is different.

Sydney Opera House- view from different distances, different direction.

In one society (or maybe I should say in this world), there is one bright and one dark side. On the brighter side, you see rapid development, wealth and happiness; while on the other side, there lies poor, and the victims from the rapid development. You won't be able to see the dark side of the society unless you look at it closely and you view it from different directions. So, don't judge things by looking at it from one direction only.

When it comes to decision making, you might find that each option has its positive and negative points. You might not be able to find something you are looking at on option A but it appeared on option B but option B does not have another factor you want but it presents on option A.

There is nothing 100% perfect in this world. When you were asked to make only one choice from many equally well options (none of them is 100% perfect), how will you make your decisions?

The Virginia Tech Massacre

2007-04-21T13:37:00.001+08:00

It was really a tragedy. 33 lives lost in the massacre, including the gunman, in two shootings. The first shooting took place at 7:15am last Monday at West Ambler Johnston Hall where two residents were killed. Police officers were called in and a "suspect" was held. While questioning the "suspect", second shooting was reported. It was later determined that the police officers have caught the wrong person. University authorities have been blamed for its response to the first shooting, which they should have closed down the Universities buildings.

An independent panel has been appointed to investigate the incident.

Virginia's governor, Tim Kaine, said that the investigation was not dedicated to lay blame, but to prevent any such incidents to take place in the future. The six-member panel, leads by the former Virginia police chief Gerald Massengill, consists of security and education officials, as well as psychiatrist. The panel will focus on the mental treatment Cho's has been taken and examined if more could have been done to avert the massacre.

"What were the warning signs? Who was warned? What was done?" Mr. Kaine said these would be the questions to be investigated as reported by BBC News.

In fact, signs and warning have been given out. His English teachers raised concerns over his disturbing writing and behavior to the university authorities and police. However, these have been ignored.

The gunman, Cho, posted a package consisted of photographs and video footage of himself to NBC News in between the shooting. "You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today..." quoted him as saying from one of the video footage as reported by BBC News. His messages also expressed his hatred of wealthy.

Cho and his family moved to USA when he was 8. He was reported to be a "loner". In late 2005, he was declared mentally sick and was ordered to seek outpatient treatment.

Robin Kowalski, a psychologist at Clemson University in South Carolina, claimed that five common factors were identified in the shootings. "The first is an acute rejection episode - such as a break up with a girlfriend - which usually takes place shortly before the killer acts." BBC News online quoted her as saying (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6567143.stm, accessed 21st April 2007). Although it was not certain Cho had experienced actue rejection, in Cho's video, he hinted he believed that there was an on-going of rejection which could be another factor that triggered the shootings, Kowalski analysed as reported by BBC News.

I feel so sorry for the victims and their family. Should there be more love, this incident could have been avoided.

Irrigation Ban in Australia

2007-04-21T11:47:00.000+08:00

Since 2006, drought was reported to be one of the biggest problem that Australia is facing. Australia is suffering the worst drought in the history and as a consequences the production of irrigated crops in the Murray-Darling river basin has been affected. On Thursday, the Australian Federal government warned that Irrigation in most places in the country will be banned from mid-May, unless a substantial rainfall in the coming weeks. (BBC News online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6570589.stm, accessed 20th April 2007)

Drought has not only affected crops plantations in Australia, but also water drinking in major cities. In late January, the premier of the state of Queensland warned that the people of the state "will soon have to start drinking water containing recycled sewage" (BBC News Online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6308715.stm). Water recycling has been carried out in Singapore and UK to solve the water shortage issue. Nevertheless, water recycling is costly.

Murray-Darling basin, located in the southeastern of Australia, is the country's major food basket. The river provides water supplies for most of the country's irrigated farm. However, due to the recent drought, the river is running on empty.

The Straits Times on 21st April 2007 reported that the irrigation ban in Australia is likely to lead to an increase in the food prices by five-fold within weeks after the water shut off. The water shut-down will affect the crops production in Australia, including fruit, almond, olive, cotton and dairy farmers and lead to a significant impact to its economic. The Prime Minister John Howard said that the drought might cause Australia to import food although that isn't what he wants to see. "We always like to see ourselves as being capable of meeting our own food needs and, in fact, providing the food needs of others..." the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying.

Having say that, is the drought problem mainly caused by the climate change? Although scientists are linking drought problem with the climate change, there isn't any convincing proof. Quoted from Channel News Asia, Wendy Craik, the government's Murray-Darling Basin Commission chief commented that "we'll never prove it's climate change until after the event…".

"You can't say that definitively…" Professor Wayne Meyer from Adelaide University Natural Resources Science told AFP as reported by Channel News Asia.

Similar issue was raised in October last year when Sir Nicholas Stern, the former chief economist in the World Bank warned that global warming could affect global economy, unless drastic action was taken.

The drought in Australia could be possibly caused by climate change. The weather patterns have changed over the years in many places over the world. Professor Meyer said that the South Australia "rainfall patterns appear to have shifted". Australia might be "the first countries in the world to be hit by the hardship of global warming", he told AFP as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Australia exports a wide range of food products overseas. The Straits Times reported that Singapore imports a large amount of meal, seafood, fruits, vegetable, cereal and sauces from Australia. The same products can also be imported from China and South Africa. Nevertheless if human do not take immediate action to prevent further climate changes, drought or any other natural disaster caused by climate changes will become one of the common problems in more places, and as a consequences, the food products will be severely affected. At that time, starvation will be worsened as a consequences of the decreasing in crops products.

While surfing on Channel News Asia website few days ago, I saw a posters "Say No to plastic bag". Plastic bag plays a role in leading to the global warming, but it is not the sole factor. Human activities such as transportation, land reclamation, excessive cities development and many other activities have led to the production of green house gases. While spending millions of dollars in developing its cities, Governments should also pay attention to its countries' public transport system and encourage the use of public transport to decrease the production of carbon dioxide. Humans are always greedy (well, I couldn't deny I am greedy too), with the current space they have, they will never satisfy but try to bring some impact to its environment to seek for more comfortable life that they are already having...

Streamyx Services

2007-04-16T11:23:00.000+08:00

Have you ever tried connecting to the internet, but it failed and took you a while to log in? It is very frustrated isn't it?

Well, I keep having this problem with Streamyx lately and I always try to calm down by playing my favorite game 1602 (well, quite an old game I believe) or having a nap. Today, somebody was waiting for me to send in some important documents and I have been trying for an hour to connect, then try on my cousin's account, but it failed. Systematically, (well, I should admit that this is my habit, good or not? I am not sure), I found the Yellow Page in the living room, and made a call to the customer service centre. I was not sure if the problem was from the internet provider or it was because of anything from the user. I better checked carefully with them and adressed this problem which I have faced for long.

I have been wanting to address this problem to find out the cause (to confirm what caused this? is it improper usage or the service breakdown), but never did it. As in the account was not registered under my name. On the other hand, I was not quite confident that this problem will be solved and it might make no different for me to wait than call. After having some previous experiences on calling numbers that was not reachable, I was worrying this might make me more frustrated. Nevertheless, I was going to give it a try.

I should say that the efficiency and the professional attitude of the staff impressed me alot!

After indentifying myself and addressing the issue, the problem was immediately identified and was solved on the spot (the problem was caused by improper log off from the user, that means was me.. erhem..), the whole problem was solved in less than 5 minutes! Thumbs up.

Well, after all, I should admit that the customer services here is not that bad. Oh, ya, I never mentioned that my call was answered once connected. =)

It is the time of the week

2007-03-30T18:17:00.000+08:00

It is the time of the week. I know you must be there, doing what we used to be doing at this time of the week.

Yes, it is Friday night grocery shopping. That was something I used to do every Friday night with my friends and buddy. And sometimes, few groups of friends hanging around having dinner at China Town. It was the evening I was always expecting for during my undergraduate in Adelaide. You know how much I missed it!

To all my dear friends in Adelaide, I haven't had the chance to contact any of you for so long. At this time of the week, I know you all must be there, in the city, at the Central Market, doing grocery shopping. I really miss Adelaide so much, where our laughters and tears have been left in the air...

Trip Report- My Australia Trip (Dec 2006)

2007-03-26T14:34:00.000+08:00

~~Note: This trip report was also posted on the forum SQTalk.com with some parts edited over the time here at My Wonderland.~~

Last December, I had had the chance to travel around Australia. This trip report has been dragged for too long and now I'm going to share my experiences here.

First stop- Melbourne (Virginblue, flight 538)
Finally, the day came. I flew from Adelaide to Melbourne to meet my family for a trip there. Booked on Virginblue flight 538 on a Happy Hour deal for AUD$59/=.

Flight DJ538 was scheduled for push-back at 07:10 from gate 13

I did an online-check-in as I always hate queuing. After security check, I was at the gate well ahead of boarding. Boarding started at 30 min before flight, very efficient boarding. The flight was ready by 07:00 for 07:10 pushed back from gate 13. The flight was airborne at 07:25 from runway 05.

I was seated on the seat 7F. The flight was not full and the seat beside me was empty. The cabin cleanliness was ok, but the lavatory was not quite clean. There were stains on the toilet bowl. No in-flight entertainment was available on DJ flights. As it's a budget airline, meals have to be paid. The selection was quite limited and the meal serving was quite slow. I had sandwiches and apple juice for my breakfast.

The flight landed at 08:35 local time at Melbourne at gate 7.

My breakfast onboard.

Melbourne Trip
The flight arrived at Terminal 3 at MEL, and I walked to Terminal 2 to meet my family there. They were arriving from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on Singapore Airlines and Malyasia Airlines. Our airport transfer was ready and we started our tour.

We reached the city at around 10:00am and started our city tour. We were quite amazed by the public transport system here in MEL. According to the tour guide, Melbourne was the first city to use Tram in Australia. Everywhere in the city, you could see the tram lines. The free city circle provided free tour in the city. Onboard the City Circle, detailed information was provided at every stop to introduce what tourist attraction etc is located around the stop.

Victorian Market was another attraction we visited. Here, you could find a variety of vegetable/ fruits sold here. The prices were quite reasonable. Souvenirs could be found here as well.

The Melbourne City. The Flinders St Station. The Federation Square is located opposite it.

The Federation Square. (Picture taken by my cousin, Anling)

We stayed at Batman Hill Hotel, located just opposite the Melbourne Railway/ Coach Terminal. Free newspapers were available in the morning at the reception and free hotdrinks were provided in the room. The Crown Casino, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre were in the walking distance. Federation Square was just few stop away by tram. Breakfast was provided every morning, however, the same dishes were served every morning.

Strawberry farm. My family members were enjoying picking the strawberry while I was busy taking photo around.

"Please check under your car before driving away". The sign at the carpark of the Penguin Centre at Philips Island.

The trip to Philips Island to watch the return of penguin from the ocean was the most exciting one for this trip. We reached Philips Island in the evening. We walked around the penguin centre and reached the beach just before sunset at 8:30pm (note that this was daylight savings time). Photo taking was strictly prohibited at the penguin centre. At approximately 8:45pm, the first group of penguins were sighted. And everybody became very excited. On our way back to the entrance, we could see the penguins just walked nearby!

Gold mine at Ballarat, Melbourne.

The Sovereign Hill at Ballarat was another attraction we visited. Gold was discovered here in the 1850s. Ballarat is the largest inland city in the State of Victoria. After the closure of Old Sydney Town in January 2003, Sovereign Hill is the only historical theme park in Australia. Stepping into this area, we found ourselves walking in the town of late 19th century. There was an indoor theatre here in the gold mine where we watched the story of a Chinese Gold miner who came to Ballarat at early 1900s.

We were quite amazed by the view at The Twelve Apostles. Located at the Great Ocean Road, they are limestone that formed naturally. Due to the erosion, four has collapsed.

Second stop- Adelaide (Virginblue, flight 549)
After spending 5 days in Melbourne, we left for Adelaide. I booked myself and 11 of my family members on the flight 549 from MEL to ADL on Happy Hour deal for AUD$59.

Waiting for take-off clearance. 3 flights ahead of us and another Qantas 747 on the other end of runway. We were on queue number 5 for take off.

As we were a big group, we couldn't use the kiosk or internet check-in. I apprached one of the Virginblue staffs who organized for the check-in for my group. Check-in was efficient and the wheel chair I requested for my guest was ready when I approached the check-in counter.

The flight was scheduled to depart from gate 7. Boarding started at 16:30 and was pushed back at 17:15 sharp. As one of my guests was having difficulty in walking, we were given priority boarding. I was seated on the seat 4C on this flight.

It was the busiest time at MEL airport. Ahead of us, four other flights were waiting for the take off clearance, and another three behind us. Finally, we were airborne at 17:30.

The flight landed at 18:05 local time on runway 05 at Adelaide, arrived at gate 16. I personally felt that the pilots' skills need to improve as the landing was very unpleasant and made most of my guests feeling dizzy.

Adelaide Trip
We went for a one-day trip at Adelaide Hills in Adelaide. Here, we visited Geoff Wildlife Park, where we had the chance to see and take photo with koala. The wildlife park was quite big with a wide variety of animals.

Melba Chocalate Factory. My second visit. (file picture, taken 3 April 2006)

The German Town- Hahndorf, Adelaide. It was raining when we reached Hahndorf. This was the second time I visited this place. (file picture, taken 3 April 2006)

Melba's Chocalate factory was another place we visited where we bought quite alot of chocalates. A variety of chocalate was made and sold here.

It was a pity that it was raining heavily when we reached the German Town at Hahndorf.

Third stop- Sydney (Qantas, flight 730)
After spending 3 days in Adelaide, we headed Sydney. This was our last stop for our Australia trip.

We were booked on Qantas 730. This was the earliest flight departing Adelaide Airport. We left our hostel at 0430 for the 0600 flight.

Sydney trip was not initally on our itinerary. However, as my family couldn't book on a flight depart from ADL, they made a transit here and took a chance to stop by for 2 days.

The cabin was quite empty.

We arrived at the airport at 05:00. Check-in was fast and efficient. After the security screening, we were waiting at the boarding gate. Boarding started at 05:35. I was seated at 25C but then moved to the empty seat at 24A. The flight was ready at 0550 and pushed back at 05:58 and airborne minutes later from runway 23. The flight was quite empty with only approximately 50% load.

Soon after take off, the breakfast was served. The meal was ok, but the portion was small. The in-flight entertainment was available but it was fitted as one for couple of rows. At approximately 07:35 (Sydney time), the captain voice appeared and informed us that we were making intial descending soon and we would arrive Sydney 20 min before scheduled time. The flight landed at 08:05 at Sydney Terminal 3. It was really a very pleasant flight.

Breakfast onboard QF730.

Sydney Trip
We stayed at PiPacific International Hotel in Sydney. It was quite near to China town.

I would say that the Sydney trip was not the most pleasant one. First of all, I think that some of the public facility such as the public toilet here in Sydney was not quite clean as compare to those in Melbourne and Adelaide. It was quite crowded here as well. And finally, I think that the trip was quite rush due to time limitation here and we were generally not statisfied with the irresponsible driver guide.

The Rock, Sydney.

Sydney Opera House. Photo taken onboard Captain Cook Cruise.

A closer look at the Sydney Opera House.

The first day, we visited The Rock, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and went on the Captain Cook Cruise where we met a very unhappy incident.

The ticket to Sydney Tower included the OzTrek. Fitted with 180-degree cinema screen, OzTrek brought us on an amazing virtual adventure across Australian cultural, history and geography.

Onboard of Captain Cook Cruise, we were queuing for our lunch when this Korea tour leader led his group and jumped the queue. We were not quite happy with his action and my aunty warned him not to push her. However, instead of stopping to do so, he started to push us, making three of my guests fall down. The incident has been reported to the relavant authorities and I believed and hoped that the appropriate action was taken.

We visited Sydney Fish Market the next morning. Here, you could buy quite a wide range of fresh fish or fish products or order a fresh fish meal here.

Blue Mountain, Sydney

After visiting the Sydney Fish market, we headed Blue Mountain. Blue Mountain was located at approximately 80km West of Sydney. It was saying that this area was created from volcanic eruptions over 170 million years ago. The scenery here was quite nice and it was quite cold here. My heart beat increased when I looked down the extremely steep cliff. The "Three Sister" stone was another scenery here at Blue Mountain with 922, 918 and 906 metres tall respectively. It was saying that Three Sisters from Katoomba tribe had fallen in love with three brothers from Nepean tribe, however, they couldn't get married because of the tribal law. This has triggered a major tribal war as the three brothers used force to capture the three sisters. In order to protect the lives of the three sisters, a witchdoctor from Katoomba tribe turned the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm and he intended to reverse them when the battle was over. However, the witchdoctor was killed in the war. As the witchdoctor was the only person who could reverse the three sisters, they remain as the rocks here as a reminder for generations to come.

The Three Sisters

The Return (Jetstar, flight 610)
It was the end of my Australia trip. I booked on Jetstar JQ610 heading home. My family members have left Sydney airport earlier on Malaysia & Singapore Airlines to Kula Lumpur and Singapore.

I checked out from my room at 11:00. As my airport transfer won't arrive till 11:20, having some time to spare, I spent AUD$1.00/= on the internet kiosk located at the lobby at the hotel. At 11:15, I was called and my airport transfer was at the door. I reached the airport at 11:40am for 13:05 departure. Check-in was slow and took approximately 20 min.

As I had a invitation from Qantas, I visited Qantas lounge at SYD Terminal 2. The choice of food in the lounge was not much but the food was ok. Internet access was available here and I took the chance to check my email my bus-timetable here. Meeting room and shower were also available here.

Lunch bar at the Qantas lounge (SYD, Terminal 2)

Qantas lounge in SYD Terminal 2

Computers, printer and internet access were available here.

I headed the boarding gate after being called for boarding. Boarding has started when I reached the gate and the flight was ready well ahead of scheduled time for pushed back. This flight was quite full. Jetstar now allowed passengers to pre-select their seat while booking online and I have selected seat 10F.

In-flight entertainment was available on request and charged at a low price. As I was pretty tired after the journey, I did not try on its in-flight entertainment. As it's a budget airline, meals have to be paid. I was sleeping throughout the flight and didn't take any meal in-flight.

Arrived in Adelaide.

Gate 16 at ADL. The gate which I departed from and arrived at on most of my flight here in Adelaide since this new airport was opened in late 2005. (file picture, taken 8 Dec 2006).

The flight landed at 14:35 local time at Adelaide at gate 16. The luggage handling was fast and I get my bag within 5 min since I reached the belt.

Lost in the jungle

2007-03-25T11:01:00.000+08:00

I am lost, in the jungle of concrete, trying to find a way out of it, sending out lots of SOS signals. However, due to the high interference, I'm not sure if the signals were received or went lost or being ignored. I'm starving, and am trying to find my food in this jungle. Which corner of this jungle will I find some food?

Empty mailbox

2007-03-24T13:31:00.000+08:00

I clicked on the refresh button on my e-mail almost every 10 min, but my mailbox remained empty... or maybe I was just a little bit too stress and panic?

Trust No One

2007-03-24T13:28:00.000+08:00

This post was moved from previous blog
All my effort wasted. Now, I'll no longer trust the words of mouth, but the black and white.

Maybe, this was meant to be an experience for me to face the realistic world?

Trip Report- Return from ADL

2007-03-24T13:18:00.000+08:00

A Call from SQ
SQ called me on 27th afternoon, inform me that there's a seat available for 30th Dec. I was on the waiting list for one month by then. It was quite exciting to hear about it. On the other hand, it's time for me to decide to go home or stay here. I only have 12 hours to decide or SQ would give the seat to other people.

Me and my family had quite a lot of discussions over this issue. If I were to stay here, the living costs will be quite high and I can't get a PR unless I get State Government Sponsorship by state government. Even if I get a PR, I think it's quite far from home and I'm going to stay at a place with different culture. Is this the place where I really want to stay for a longer term?

Final Decision
Final decision was made, I boarded the flight Singapore 268 on 30th Dec 2006.

Flight SQ268 to Singapore Review

My friend, Peter came over to my place early in the morning. As I had the feeling that my luggage was going to overweight, I called him for a scale to weight my bag. In the end, I managed to throw away alot more not so important documents and cut down the weight to approximately 40kg.

As I had the approved letter from the International Student Services office to request for 10 more kg allowance, I hope the overall of 40kg luggage could go through. I walked in to SQ office in the city two days before flight, but the lady wouldn't accept it. Now, I could only bring this letter to the airport and hopefully the check-in staff or the supervisor would let me through.

I left Housing at 11:15am, after having stayed here for 4 years, with lots of laughters and tears left in the air.

Check-in
I arrived the airport at 11:45am, 1.5 hour before scheduled departure. I did a online-check-in as I always hate queuing. There was an express lane for the online-check-in and the check-in was fast. I handed in the approved letter to the check-in lady, and after consulting the supervisor, she was able to check in 40kg of my luggage at the most. Phew.. My luggage weighted 40kg. However, my hand luggage was 3kg over-weight. After all, she let me through. She congratulated me for completing my study here and smiled when she saw my Homer Simpson. I wouldn't left him behind, would I?

ADL airport

Long queue at SQ Check-in counters at ADL as contrast to the express lane for Online-Check-in passenger. (file picture, photo taken 29 Nov 2006)

Departure- Immigration & Customs Clearance
Customs clearance was slow and took approximately 20 min.

A SQ flight being pushed-back from the gate at ADL (file picture, taken 29 Nov 2006)

Boarding
Boarding has started when I reached the gate (gate 18).

Flight
Boeing-777-200. Flight registration: 9V-SRO, fitted with AVOD system.

Seat
60K.

Seat 60K on 9V-SRO

At 13:05, the flight was pushed back and airborne at 1315 from runway 05, heading NE, and then made a approximately 90 degree turn towards Singapore. Lunch was served just after airborne.

In-flight entertainment
AVOD was fitted on this flight. With the in-flight entertainment, the 7 hours flight passed very quickly.

Meals
Two meals were served (lunch & refreshment). I ordered for special meal- seafood meal. The food was nice and the portion was just nice.

My seafood meal served just before we arrived in Singapore.

The Singapore Sling

Cabin Cleanliness
The cabin cleanliness was good.

Arrival
The flight landed at 17:15 Singapore time, reaching gate E3 at 17:23.

The moment before touching down at Changi Airport, Singapore

Just after touched down in Singapore, followed by another flight at the back. Can you spot the flight?

Immigration/ Customs clearance
Immigration was quite busy at this time and it took me approx 15 min to pass the immigration.

Luggage Handling
The luggage was ready when I reached the belt.

Overall verdict
4.5 out of 5. Overall a very pleasant flight.

New Blog

2007-03-24T12:42:00.000+08:00

Greetings.

New address, new name, new start and hopefully this will bring some fresh air.

I was trying to move the posts from previous blog, but failed to do so. Anyway, it's going to be a whole new start.

Welcome to "My Wonderland".