Perth - The rest of it before July comes..

Welcome to Fremantle

On Sunday morning we took a bus and then a train to Fremantle -Perth's equivalent of Port Melbourne. Only about 10 times bigger. LOL :P I must say.. the train stations in Perth are much cleaner.

Ing Fook, Vera and I while waiting for the train.

Vera's housemates - Jean, Delicia, Edna, Vera and I on the train

Fremantle is a port of exquisite historical buildings. I'm guessing early European settlers.

Old Customs House

Fremantle School of Circus

Local Newspaper Office :) And the quiet streets

After almost two hours of travelling, we arrived at our lunch destination :P I don't know how original seafood and fries can be but Cicerello's Fish and Chips were really the Best~ At least they taste like it :P

One of the many anchor replicas lined up opposite Cicerello's

Yummy Fish and Chips :D

One of the many aquariums in Cicerello's :) It's like a mini underwater world.

The Port

Behind me are monuments. Engraved are names of Fishermen from early 19th Century.

The Jetty

Shadows on the Jetty.

Opaque form on the the Jetty :P

007 - We spotted James Bond's antique modifications

Group photo - Vera and Ing Fook's church cellmates

Maritime Museum of Shipwreck Galleries

The ominous weather that finally drove us running for buses and soaking wet as we travelled back home.

Thesis Survey

Hi all~

Below here is a link for my friend's research survey. It's quite interesting. I've already done a paper version myself. It's about the way we relate to people and how tendency to feel embarrassment, shame or guilt. It's also looking cultural differences in experiencing these emotions. This research is attempted to aid counselling processess especially with regards to victims of abuse, rape etc, I would think, who feel these emotions.

It really makes you think about how much we hide embarrassment, shame and guilt. I found difficulty in answering honestly when I did this, but try to do so. It will give you so much insight about yourself as it did me. Thanks~

http://opinio.online.swin.edu.au/s?s=2353

Perth (Day 1)

A trip somewhere always means going without adequate sleep until the very end. This was true for us today. Having fall asleep around 4 in the morning (again, restlessly), I had to call Zhung at 9am to get him up so we could do everything we planned. Hmmmmmm.. Unfortunately he decided to snooze for another half hour, -.-" but predictable =P

Anyways.. we were finally on our way, taking the number 74 bus to Perth City. To prevent from falling asleep, we poked, knocked knees, tickled and snapped some pictures.

Soiyang -.-

Equally Soiyang :D

Our first stop was lunch!! Due to delay (his fault) and several stops before the city (also his fault), the first meal of the day was consumed at 12 despite waking up in time for breakfast.

Lunch at Taka. Zhung's Karange(sp?), my Una Don and our Miso soups.

We strolled around the CBD after that.... picking up some games.. some biscuits, and other stuff on the way..

His Majesty's Theatre.

Some random statue in some random place. Its eyes were streaked with pigeon droppings it looked as if it were crying. Really :)

Perth State Library.

The theme of the day was good food. Why? Positively the best dessert/pastry on Earth as presented as follows....

Corica's Apple Strudel!

Positively sinful.. Mmmmmm... Apple, fresh cream, crumbly pastry base and top glazed with honey :D LOL.. It's like landing in Heaven and never wanting to return.. Ok. I really don't wan to return :P

Zhung and I took the bus back. Well, he slept, I stoned. By then it was pouring! Lucky for us, Chaw Meng had just got off work (apparently earning 20 dollars per hour sorting books at Curtin :P) and drove up to the bus stop to pick us up. All three of us stopped by Zhung's place to taste Heaven and off we go to Meng's after. On the way we drove by Apple Cross, also known as the "rich peeps" suburb.

Here's the embarrasing thing, I fell asleep on Meng's oh-so-comfortable couch for an hour! :P With all our dawdling, by then it was almost 6 so we decided to get going. On the way to dinner, I snapped a picture of the back of their heads from behind. It was too dark the first time so I turned on the flash, took the pic, and scared the hell out of them both :P Haahha! Speed camera scare! Muahahahhahaha~

Said picture :P

Ciao Italia!

Being the busy place that it is, we waited for at least 20 minutes outside in the cold and rain. Meanwhile, we listened to plenty of Italian folk music, Chaw Meng tried to teach Zhungyi how to do the cancan and basically just jiggled around to keep ourselves warm.

My favourite kind of picture - shoes.

One of the many lame pics we took :P

Dinner itself was superb. If you've been to Lygon at Melbourne you clearly havent tasted the best. Ciao Italia's cuisine was another level altogether!

Pizza Bianca - Italian bread baked with herbs, garlic and cheese topped with tomatoes, salty-yet-not-too-spicy pepperoni and sprinkled with a sour blend of dressing.

Spaghetti Ciao Italia - Chicken, sundreid tomatoes, capsicum and their special sauce which is absolutely devine! The spaghetti was cooked just right. Not soggy, not too hard.

Risotto Marina - Seafood, tomato base sauce and risotto. YUM!

Dessert - Puferreto (sp?) and chocolate coated passionfruit icecream!

Chaw Meng and I while waiting for the food - he was my primary schoolmate. Still the same goofy guy, easygoing laugh and a rockin' music compilation ;)

Umm.. the guys being devillishly hungry - I wouldn't let them eat till the pictures were taken. Muahahahah! :P

Me having a go at the dessert.. Heh..

After feeding ourselves from the tips of our toes to our brains, we headed to Burswood which is Perth's equivalent of Melbourne's Crown Casino + golf course + unbelievably classy hotel

Intercontinental - the towers get shorter and shorter down the sides, creating a giants steps effect off the two ends of the hotel.

Beautiful sails in the lobby.

Beautiful sails blocked by me :P

Almost like a mini gallery - wonderful paintings in the lobby

Beautiful pictures again, blocked by me :P

We mucked around, listened to some music (sung by an Australian version of Jay Chou -.-"), made lame jokes, took some lame pictures.

:D I like the shadows in the background :D

Ideallistically killing Zhungyi :P

Lastly, the guys gazing wistfully (Meteor Garden-ishly?) at the hotel at the carpark just before we leave :)

Thanks guys! It was a wonderful wonderful (and tiring) day despite the poor weather! :) It's been good to catch up with old friends again. Cheers~ *huggies* :D

Perth (The First Night)

I couldn't sleep again the night before. Too much on my mind. Now, sitting here in Perth wondering if this physical escape can really clear away all my worries.

First time I've been to Avalon. Deserted place. One flight at a time. It's more like a small port than a proper airport. Costs 34 dollars return trip, taking the Sunbus. Incidentally, the entire group was heading to Perth.

The flight was alright. I managed to scarf a sandwich down which is always a good sign. I don't usually eat on planes. Air sick, bus sick, car sick, train sick, you name it, I got it. The guy sitting in front of me wasnt so lucky though. When we landed, he was waiting desperately to exit the plane and puke. The journey itself was kinda tiring. We arrived half an hour early thank god.

Perth Domestic Terminal

As I exited the airport, the difference was emminent. There were these flocks of parakeets on the trees chirping their lungs out. You can't help but feel at peace. At least I did, just standing there listening to the gentle breeze and watching the sun go down. Around 5, Shu Yee pulled up in a small white car to pick me up as Vera and Zhung were still having exams at 5.30. It took a little while to reach Vera's place but again, the atmosphere was really inspiring. For a while it felt like we were travelling through Christchurch and then there were those houses against the misty Perth Hills that reminded me of the housing areas in Riam. It almost seemed like home.

Curtin campus is a breath of fresh air after Melbourne and Swinburne. It's so damn huge it took Zhung and I more than half an hour to cut across it to get to his place. There are trees everywhere and a gigantic lake in the middle, 3 ridiculously huge car parks (and they're not enough to go around apparently -.-), classrooms which look like chambers and magnificent landscape grooming. We almost walked through activated sprinklers without realizing it -.-

Zhung called around 7.13, supposedly easy exam! Five minutes after, Vera walked through her door and immediately rummaged her room for the missing past year papers. Apparently there was a whole list of questions replicated exactly in the exam. After all the mayhem and getting to know Edna, we exited the campus through a backgate and crossed the road to a section of food centres to grab some dinner. Had the best kueh tiaw I've ever tasted in Australia.

Vera and I

When we got back, Vera and her friends decided to go to the casino but I opted to stay in. That is... until I decided that it would be fun to see what Zhung was up to. By then it was already 10.30. Nevertheless, he came down and we walked through the huge huge huge huge huge, I cannot stress how huge, campus to his place. I bowled over watching Friends while he did his packing. It was fun seeing him again. You know, just to be with old friends and not having to talk to strangers for the sake of talking. What I really needed was easygoing, easyflowing conversation and I got it.

The night ended abruptly when Vera sent me a message saying that their friend had not picked them up and they decided to forgo the idea. By that time it was already 1.30pm and poor Zhung was about to zonk out on his bed (It only took him half an hour to pack. Boys! -.-" ). Heh.. he had to drag his butt up and walk me home which only took... hmmmm... an hour? :/

Tomorrow will be my first official day in Perth and Zhung has organized the trip before leaving for Miri on Saturday. Best get some sleep.. :) He's not the only one who has a lot on the mind.

Nite all.. :)