Here's a brief account of what happened during the Aus trip=)
4th June-Monday
Reached the airport at around 6.05pm.Gathered and queued up to check-in our luggages.Something happened to my visas.If I'm not wrong,I have 2 visas to Australia.Took about 20 mins to cancel my extra visa,till i could finally get my boarding pass.
Boarded the plane and my seat was at the window=) Chuan Kai's seat was one seat away from mine,and after some swoping and stuff,Melissa ended up sitting beside me which was in between CK and me.Ooooooo,HAPPY 'FAMILY' XD Was the first time to take a plane overseas.Well,actually not really.Just that i cant remember what it was like in a plane when i was really small.So,I was sort of like a 'suaku' on a plane.Mel and CK taught me to play daidi and we had a few rounds of daidi with me losing almost ALL the time before watching The Number 23 with Mel.
Had dinner half way through the movie.NICE dinner=) The movie was very gross and a little R-rated.
5th June-Tuesday
Slept and woke up a zillion times before breakfast.Watched Spongebob after breakfast before arriving at Melbourne airport.Melbourne was veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery COLD.Peter was our bus driver cum tour guide(oooo 2-in-1)
It was a long and scenic journey to our first stop, Great Ocean Drive. About 4 hours later, we reached the Twelve Apostles Park. Crushing waves, chilly winds and many eroded rocks showing us the destruction and also the creation of nature. There were many information boards providing us with the geographical insights and explanations to the formation of the 'life forms'. The unfortunate part was that, a few minutes after we reached there, a slight drizzle started to fall. Therefore, we had to leave the place early.
Moved on to Port Campbell where we had our lunch at a takeaway eatery. According to Peter, they have one of the best Fish and Chips. The fish and chips was suuuper expensive. Ate a HUGE burger which I didnt mange to finish. Did a little bit of sightseeing before boarding the tour bus again.
It wasn't till about 4 plus when we reached Melbourne (city area) where our hotel was located. Checked-in to Explorer Hotel and sorted out roommates and stuff. My roommates were Masita and Arina. Bathed and changed after which we left the room and assembled at the lobby of the hotel before leaving for dinner. Some of us went to Gosh Café with Mr Halim while most of the others left with Mr Leong, Miss Fang and Miss Soh to McDonalds’. SURPRISE SURPRISE!The food in McDonalds' at Australia isn't halal. Shared a plate of mixed curry of meat and veggie and 3 pieces of chapatti with Melissa.Only like the butter chicken curry as the others looked kinda gross.
After dinner, we did a little sightseeing of night time in Melbourne. Most of the buildings were very traditional looking. There were a couple of historical buildings in Melbourne of which includes the old Parliament house. Not to mention, even the night scene in Melbourne was breathtaking. If gives the kind of peaceful and inspirational feel to the city.
Reached a place where there was a huge space for us to sit down on the cold hard floor and discuss and debrief about the day’s events. There wasn’t much to discuss though as it was mainly sightseeing that day.
An unfortunate event befell Melbourne that evening as well. According to Mr Leong, an accident happened at the subway or tram (I cant really remember, but I know that it’s some sort of train accident) and 8 people were killed in that accident while several others were left injured.From Mr Leong's account,bad stuff always happen when he goes to Melbourne.-_-
6th June-Wednesday
Woke up by a ringing of my phone and also by a knock on the door. Nearly stepped on Masita’s legs while climbing down the bed,but at least i'm the earliest to wake up in the room!Quickly washed up and didn’t even bother to bathe as it was freezing cold. Waited for Masita and Arina to finish bathing and we quickly rushed down for breakfast.
Met Mel at the lobby and we headed for the dining area. We had a BUFFET BREAKFAST!!! Hash browns, toast, orange juice... Ate while Melissa was filling me in on what happened to her the previous night. She had slight food poisoning that night. She vomited at the counter and lao sai-ed(in the toilet,not the counter-_-)after which the poor, kind receptionist went upstairs with her to the teachers’ rooms. Heard that they wanted to check on me but nobody answered their knocks on the door.-_-
Proceeded on to Melbourne High.It was super chilly there (especially us girls who were wearing skirts). The school compound was far better in terms of design, facilities and structure. It was as if I entered Hogwarts School .Went into their school hall and had a short briefing by the schools’ principal and one of their vice-principals. Later, we were split into groups of 4 to 6 and were led by our leaders around the school, giving us a tour around the school and also explaining the functions and systems of the school. Our group leader was Ben and I’m grouped with Mel, CK and Wen Qiang.
Ben's the nice guy with the nice eyes(to Mel, his eyelashes are nice-_-) The facilities...what can I say? There’s the gym,music and arts rooms and many more. The public can also share the facilities, even during the weekends or holidays. Ben brought us to his chemistry, Indonesian and maths class.
The Indonesian class was fun and interesting! The teacher, who’s very easy-going, introduced us to the class and also made the class interact with us.It was really funny! We were requested to write our school's name in chinese characters on the board for the students and i volunteered.All of us werent sure of how to write 'li' for 'si li zhong xue'.It was damn embarrassing,but I attempted and I was RIGHT!(i checked!!!!)But Mel and CK still insisted that I was wrong.GRRRRRR!!!!
Ate Subway sandwiches for lunch and also interacted more with our leader and also some other groups’ leaders. One of the leaders, Eugene, even handed me a box to pass over to Cedric, his host when he was in Singapore.
Reported back in the hall and some of us played a game of ‘bang bang’ with the leaders. After which, the leaders even gave us a small performance (as most of them were from the school’s chorale). Simply love their singing and piano playing skills.ahhhhh!!!
Left Melbourne High at about 12 plus to 1. I sure miss the school a lot. I definitely enjoyed the tour and everything there. Next up,Philip Island!!! It was an extremely long journey there. Changed into warmer clothes in the bus toilet on the way there.
We finally reached the first part of the island, Philip Island Conservation Centre (something like that, I can’t really remember the name of the place), at around 4 plus. Inside, there were many information boards about the lives and times of a koala. Learnt about the koalas’ breeds, feeding habits, how they mate and much other stuff. Went into the place where all the koalas are resting, or more of snoozing. Koalas sure are lazy but they are cute! They spend most of their time sleeping and shitting. Mr Leong even pointed out a few koala droppings,not to mention that he also acted gay in front of Mel and me,haha!
After that was Penguin Parade. As usual, we read a few information boards on the lives and times of the penguins. There were even some displays showing us the burrows where the penguins are staying. We waited till around 5 plus after which the doors to the beach finally opened. We were seated on steps and we were briefed on some of the rules and stuff by a guide.While waiting,Miss Fang was like saying "wow!so cute!" .Then mel was like "where?" Miss Fang,"the waves!"-_- I
t was not till around 20 minutes later when the first batch of penguins finally waddled out. They were super duper cute! Most of the penguins came out in groups but one particular penguin waddled in and out of the waters for like half-an hour till a group of penguins finally joined it. Before we left the beach, we spotted a few Chinese from China, spitting at the penguins just for them to look at them in their direction. Talk about personal hygiene and basic respect and courtesy towards both people and also ANIMALS!
Had dinner at the café in the centre. Enjoyed the buffet dinner! One more point about Australia. We have to clear our own utensils and food scraps after our meals. We don’t have to wash the utensils; just clear the foods scraps off the utensils and also clear the tables.
Did a little bit of souvenir shopping before we left Penguin Parade. And it was also a long bus ride back to our hotel.
At the hotel, all of us were given time to wash up a bit before we were to assemble at the lounge for our nightly debrief and also daily experience-exchange. It was a long, ‘lecture-filled’ debrief, experience-exchange and reflection writing. The debriefing and experience-exchange finally ended at about 1 plus. All of us were beat.
Rushed back to our rooms and I quickly washed up and packed my luggage before dozing off on my bed at around 2 plus while my roommates stayed up.
7th June-Thursday
Over-slept a little. This time it was Masita who woke me up. Washed up and brought down all my stuff to the lounge area. Had the same stuff for breakfast after which we all checked-out from the hotel.
Boarded the tour bus and we departed Melbourne for Cooma where Birrigai was located. Of course, I’ll definitely miss Melbourne.
Most of us, or in fact all of us (including the teachers, but of course not including Peter), fell asleep on the bus. Can’t blame us, we were all dead beat.
Reached Birrigai at around 4 plus to 5 after which we all put our stuff in the assigned cabins. This time, about six to eight of us shared one huge cabin. What can I say about the place? SCENIC and COLD!There were also a group of cute preschoolers (I think they’re around the ages of 5 to 7), leaving in another part of Birrigai. Saw them setting up the tables for dinner and some of us also followed suit (shame on us).
Took turns bathing after dinner as there was only one bathroom and toilet in each cabin. Some of us rushed for the toilet as there were a few ‘calls of nature’ for some of us. I was the lucky one as I was the first to get hold of the toilet. I quickly ‘bombed’ the toilet in case the others waiting outside couldn’t hold back for too long. Wadah(Bruce-'s' Lee), one of my roommates, had to endure the smell of my ‘bombings’. We can’t always have the luxury of time to enjoy your ‘bombings’ in the toilet. We must always learn to take turns and also consider others who are also waiting in agony for the things that you are using and also it is a MUST to take careful care of it or the others who are using it after you will suffer. GOSH!I'm gross....
After bathing and stuff, we went over to the ‘theatre’ where we watched an aboriginal movie about 3 girls who were separated from their families just because of the reason: they’re half-caste. I think that’s totally unfair. So what if they are half-caste? Isn’t that equivalent to people who are of mixed-blood? I think it’s very unfair and I’m sure glad that this isn’t happening in the world anymore but I think there’s still some kind of prejudice against native people in some countries still.
Had supper in the dining room after the movie. The supper include sultana (or was it blueberry?) muffins and Milo (or was it hot choc?). Finished supper and went back to our cabins. Yan Ting and Melissa came over to our cabin for a short while to use our bathrooms to bathe as ours was vacant. Blur Mel had to borrow my slippers. Chatted with my roommates for like 10 minutes before dozing off. Was one of the first to doze off to dreamland. I sure am a sleepy-log. 8th June-Friday
Woke up early to get myself ready to help set up the dining room for breakfast as I volunteered to be a table-setter the day before. Met up with some of the other table-setters outside my cabin after washing up. Ms Fang also met up with us to supervise us on the table setting while she was jogging around the area-_-
It was super duper cold. In fact, it was FREEZING COLD!!! The scarf and jacket didn’t help much though. Took a couple of pictures of the morning view at Birrigai and also of the breakfast ladies and table-setters.
After breakfast, we all proceeded to the theatre with all our packed haversacks with all the stuff we might need for the journey in the outbacks.
Had a short briefing by a guide (I can’t remember his name) before setting off to climb the mountain (or was it a hill?). The guide introduced us to several aboriginal weapons and stuff like the different kinds of boomerangs.
Went for the long, tiring, yet enjoyable hike up the mountain or hill. I simply love the scenery in Australia! It’s so fresh and natural looking compared to urban Singapore. At one point, the slope was very steep and many people were like gripping onto their friends who have better grip on the ground.Mel NEARLY ROLLED down the slope and i SAVED her!Crawled under a cave but i think its more of a hole formed by many boulders and stuff. At that point, most of the tall people were wishing that they were shorter and for once I'm glad that I'm short or I would have lost billions of brain cells by knocking my head against the boulders...
Had some interesting sightings of emus facing their butts at us, cows grazing in the open field, kangaroos bouncing and hopping off, some even with joeys inside their pouches and also the common sight, kangaroo poo. The kangaroos and joeys were this adorable and energetic batch in the outbacks. Upon spotting us, they’ll either hop away but some would just stay there for a few seconds as if they knew that we wanted to snap a few shots of them. What can I say about the kangaroo poo?THEY RESEMBLE LESLIE!=X joking!heh...I guess kangaroos eat a lot, pass out a lot and also digest their food a lot faster than us humans. You can practically say that you won’t miss the sightings of their poo in the outbacks. They can be spotted on the grass that easily that they’re like part of the field.
It was about 30 minutes later till we finally reached the outbacks centre (I don’t know the name of the place). There’s like a souvenir shop and inside there are some information boards. We were led inside and there was a short performance by a guy (I can’t remember his name as well) using a didgeridoo. It was a cool performance!
After the performance, all of us did ‘a little’ bit of souvenir shopping.
On the way down the mountain or hill,Mel and I made a fool out of ourselves in front of nobody as we were behind the rest. (we shouted "bombs away!"while running down)
Left Birrigai. I’ll miss the place dearly and also not to mention the cute preschoolers.
Next stop for us was the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. It’s even colder at Canberra with temperatures that reach to 0 degrees!
Once inside the war memorial, we couldn’t talk loudly as a form of respect, something like that. Then all of us were split into two different groups led by two guides. Our guide’s a girl (and as usual, I can’t remember her name) and she’s super nice and bubbly. We went for a tour around the exhibition area and also went on a few auto-simulation thingies that let us ‘experience’ the things that happen during a war.
After exploring some other places of the war memorial, we moved on to the National Museum of Australia and again we were split into 2 groups. We went around the whole museum, with the guide explaining and asking us stuff about what we just discussed. There were many interesting displays showing aboriginal stuff, prehistoric fossils and old junks, planes and many others. Thanks to ZhanWei,I caught the flu that day...-_-
At around 5, we were brought to Lyndeham (I thing the name’s something like that) Motel.This time my roommates were Wadah,YanTing,Camillie,Shahirah,Masita and Arina. Ate dinner, were assigned partners (Nano’s my partner,she's this cute,short girl who always likes to say "whaaaaaat"), entertained the teachers(actually it's more of them entertaining themselves-_-) by being their so called 'waitress', bathed, watched the news (found out that Sydney was flooding and the snowy mountains-which we’re going to the next day, snowed) and watched Scooby-Doo before dozing off.
9th June-Saturday
It didnt snow=(...here goes...
Daily routine, woke up, ate breakfast and set off for Snowy Hydro Visitors Centre. On the bus ride there,tried to learn more about my partner and vice versa.Crapped(she's also a good crapper=) and i did the nothing-anything-everything thing and she was like "whaaaaaaat" Cute!
A guide there explained some stuff about the location and functions of the dam before letting us watch a long clip about the Snowy Hydro scheme. After which, we proceeded on to do a quiz with our partners. We were the last pair to complete the quiz along with Hafiz.
Went to the toilet alone and didn’t know that the group’s about to leave. My super nice and funny partner waited for me!
Left Snowy Hydro and went to some place where we had lunch on the bus. Lunch wasn’t very nice but we still have to eat it. Did a little bit of snacks shopping before heading over to an education centre at the top of the snowy mountain. The disappointment came as there wasn’t any snow left, just a light drizzle but it was still freezing cold.
Watched another long clip and nearly fell asleep.Did a quiz with an assigned group consisting of me,Bruce-'s' and Hafiz.Bruce-'s' was like super enthu over the quiz,rushing here and there to find the answers.
Went back to the motel at around 5 plus, ate dinner and entertained the teachers or the teachers entertained themselves.
Back in our room,Mel,Heather and Lynn migrated to our room while Arina 'migrated' to another room and Wadah started her bombings again while we started our frequent farting habits.Gossiped and took some pictures with everybody in the room except Masita who was sleeping already.Played truth or dare without dare with L,H,Mel,YT and C while the others dozed off.LOL!Crapped and talked about 'pervertic' stuff like "cut his balls"(extracted from H's answer to the question:"if a guy cheats on you,what would you do?")hahaaa!
Fell asleep earlier than the others due to my runny nose but I think i should be thankful of that cos according to the others,Mel has a 'snoring choir' when she sleeps.They even came to the extend to planning to lock Mel up in the toilet.LOL!
10th June-Sunday
Went over to the National Capital Exhibition Centre after breakfast. Did some last minute souvenir shopping and took some group pictures outside the exhibition centre after the tour. Headed over to the Parliamentary House in Canberra after lunch at the motel.
Departed Canberra for Sydney and it was another long 5 hours journey on the bus. Reached Sydney at around 5. Sydney isn’t very cold compared to Canberra and Melbourne. Checked-into the hostel and washed up and stuff. In the hostel, there weren’t any bathrooms for us to use or share with our roommates in our rooms. We have to bathe and wash up in bathrooms that are shared by people on the same level but at least it’s not mass showering for us (there’re cubicles).
Met up with Melissa, Yan Ting and Camillie to bathe in the bathroom on the second level. Sang and talked about fartings and stuff=P in the cubicles while bathing. When we came out from the cubicles, there was a lady who was applying make-up and stuff and she heard us talking and singing. She was complimenting us on our singing and was like very thrilled to hear us sing. Oooooo...but i think she also heard the farting part....arghhhhhhhh EMBARASSING!!!
Oh ya!And there was this staircase episode.So dui lian!Before dinner,YT,C,Mel and I wanted to meet up in YT's room to chat.They sent Shahirah to tell me the room number(when i was packing)Guess i didnt pay much attention to the numbers.Went out to find them in the room after packing and i got lost and couldnt find them so i decided to head back to my room.On the way to my room,there's this huge stairs leading to the 2nd floor.So as i was walking towards my room and i saw this lady dressed in black and is about the same size as Mel with long hair coming down the stairs.It's known that i'm a person who's partially blind,so as you can guess,i thought that lady was mel so i was doing the half-walking-half-kneeling thing while saying "melissaaaaa where have you beeeeeen!!!!i cant find you!!!!!!" in that super-dramatic way.while i was doing that,the lady was nearing me,like half-way down the stairs and i suddenly noticed that she has long,BLOND,mark my words....BLOND hair!!!Boy,i nearly melted through the carpet!hmmmm what happened next?I will...NOT REVEAL!!!!!!!!but you can ask me personally if you really want to know.
Went to a thai-singaporean-malaysian restaurant to have dinner. For once we were delighted to see rice again after all the fish and chips for dinner everyday. All of us were sick of fish and chips!MinSan who was sitting opposite me during dinner was like "gosh,when i see the eggs,i wanna cry"-_-
Walked around Sydney and took a tram to see some of the places in Sydney.Crapped in the tram with Zahariah,Shahirah,Safirah,CK,ZW,Mel and Hafiz.
I think I still prefer Melbourne and Canberra to Sydney. Melbourne and Canberra are more of those conservative places like Singapore while Sydney is more of the wilder side with wild youngsters smoking and spitting everywhere. But Mel prefers Sydney,dont know why... Returned to the hostel and slept early without having the nightly group chat with my roommates as I wasn’t feeling very 'bright' at that moment cos of my flu.
Before sleeping, i wanted to have a cup of water from the kitchen(as my bottle's empty).Didnt know that the water from the tap in the kitchen was portable so i ended up drinking the boiling hot water from the machine and scalded my tongue.....so sway... Ahhhchoooo!
11th June-Monday
Felt a little better and did a little bit of sight-seeing before leaving for the airport. The only part that I like about Sydney is the Opera House and the harbour.
Headed over to the airport and checked-in our luggage.Did a little shopping in the airport and some of us went bankrupt,one of whom is Mel (the stuff there are duty-free but they're NOT FREE!!!!).She didnt even know that she didnt have enough money to pay for her stuff until she was fumbling for cash at the counter. Lucky for her,I was standing beside her...MELISSA,YOU STILL OWE ME 5 AUS BUCKS!!!!!!!!!! I bought a little snow globe to remind me of Australia=) (of all the souvenirs,i love the snow globe the best)
Boarded the plane and waved goodbye to Australia. I don’t know when I will be able to go back there. [Ohya!i managed to capture a picture of a river(from top view,so i can see the 'branches' and stuff).NICE!]I will definitely miss that place.
Reached Singapore in about 8 hours later and it was home sweet home for all of us!

I SURE MISS AUSSIE....=)


P.S. I wont post the pics here,lazy to post...hehehee
P.P.S. but if you want the pics,you can ask me for them=)
P.P.P.S. I MUST try to STOP embarassing myself in the future=X
P.P.P.P.S. i'm still aussie-crazy even after so long XD


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