The Great Ocean Road

I purposely save this bit for last - one of the best road trips we ever had together. Driving along Melbourne's Great Ocean Road from morning till dark, with beautiful dramatic beaches on our left and breathtaking country-side scenery on our right all the way. For this one, no need to explain further coz in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words. God's creations are wayyy too magnificent - they made us felt soo small Subhanallah.

I'm now head over heels in love with Melbourne~

Cuddly Little Creatures

Of course everybody knows that Australia is famous for its huggable koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and what not kan. So of course we also would grab the chance to meet these lovely creatures while we're there.

They say koala is a nocturnal animal so siang2 ni die tido jek kejenye. But we're lucky to find a fresh-awake little koala bear kat pokok tepi jalan when we stopped to eat while driving along the beach and countryside. Terkejut aa gak tibe2 jek realized that this koala was staring at us from up the tree while we're eating our home-cooked nasi goreng - Ello you up there! You want some of our nasi goreng? Come down herelaaa...come hereeee =p. Seriously CUTE nak mamposss okkk!!! Mata die boolat and badan gumuksss and it was just sitting kat dahan tu mcm org malas that I felt like grabbing it, giving it a BIG bear hug alalala comelll hehe. We also went to the Koala Conservation Center in Melbourne's Philip Island, so there memang sakit leher looking up the trees for the koalas. I'm not really an animal person, but to me koala is the CUTEST animal ever - period.


The next stop - Philip Island's Wildlife Park. Couldn't wait to meet and feed the kangaroos! In the park, they have wallabies, kangaroos, koala etc roaming freely and we can hand-feed them. I was kinda nervous at first but excited at the same time. Takut aa plak kangaroo tu tendang2 dgn kaki die yg super besar tu to protect themselves ke ape kan. But I guess they got used to the human contact so it was FUN. Now, SRB pulak...hehehe...babe, you know I love you very much but I'm sorry I really have to say this - you penakotttt hahaha! SRB was too nervous around the uncaged animals so he's willing to miss the whole feeding business and became the full-time photographer for me and my kangaroo buddies hehe. Rugi dearrrr hihiks~

Now THIS is the most amazing and unforgettable experience in our whole OZ adventure - watching the penguins return home from their daily fish-hunting trip at Philip Island's Penguin Parade. After a day fishing for food in the sea, the penguins make their way across the beach in groups after sunset to return to their burrows on land. There's a platform and sandy area (ade limitlaa tapi) where you just sit and wait for the penguins. We're not allowed to take pictures or record videos coz it will scare them away from their homes (pics you see below were actually some replicas they made in the main building). So we just sat there on the sand, facing the sea and wait for them to berenang kat pantai and terkedek2 die start jalan balik rumah. Very sweet these penguins tau. They usually wait until their group is complete baru they start walking together2. Sometimes ade yg sampai pantai earlier than the rest, so they acah2 mcm nak jalan to the land, but then swam back into the sea to wait for others. Sometimes even in the middle of walking, if ade yg slow and tertinggal kat belakang, the ones in front will stop and wait. And the way they walk, oh the way they walk...aaaaaAAAaaaa so CUTE!!! I can't really explain it here but it was sooo AMAZING - I want to see them again! OMG best gilerr - experiencing nature at its best! Remind me to watch Happy Feet again dude.

Melbourne

Now, Melbourne on the other hand is a city I LOVE!!! It's a bit like New York city, but with less noise and air pollution hehe. We took a tramp around the city, then spent most of the time walking by the river and buying souvenirs for friends and families back at home. If SRB ever gets an oversea assignment to Melbourne, memang I'll quit my job and follow him in a heartbeat mannn, serious!

Getting food is quite easy coz I think 40% of people in Melbourne consist of Asian people - Chinese, Indian, Melayu, Pak Arab, you name it - semua memang bersepah di mana-mana. So there are lots of Asian restaurants everywhere. Nando's there is halal too, so you can always eat there if you can't find any other halal food joints.

Lil brother went to the city a day earlier to meet his friend and saw Siti Nurhaliza, Datuk K and his children in a restaurant. So SRB was kinda hoping we'd bumped into them too when we were there so that we could snap pictures and send them to the tabloids hahaha buduhhh! But no luck there...plus takde keje aku nak jadi paparazzi plak hahaks!

Strolling around Melbourne city really reminded us on those days during our merry years as students (and as a new couple hihihi) wandering through the city that never sleeps - the unforgettable New York City *sigh*.

Perth

Perth for me is a very laid-back, not-too-busy city which is dead by 7PM. Seriously, we walked around the city after dinner by the river and jalan memang lengang takde org and kereta langsung. Most shops of course dah tutup by 5PM except for some souvenirs shops run by Asian people. Didn't know Australians are soo family-oriented that right after work, they all go back to their loved ones at home. Either that, or they're all busy socializing in bars and clubs on some dark alleys somewhere haha. But it was nice just walking around, holding hands, enjoying the city's peacefulness =)

While SRB went to his Oil & Gas convention, I did spent some time sight-seeing sikit during daytime. Nothing much...just took free bus rides around the city to see the suburbs (very modern & contemporary apt designs they have there), the business district, the shopping malls, the city skyline, etc. Walked around a bit to take some pictures, but it was too hot mcm Mesia gak so after getting some great shots, I went back to the comfort of the air-conditioned bus hehe.

After SRB's presentation, we had a little more time before our flight to Melbourne so went to Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) for some 'fishy' experience hehe. It's kinda similar to our Aquaria, but they have so much more weird/unique-looking sea creatures that can only be found in Australian coast and the sharks there were wayyyy bigger than we have in Mesia. Seriau aku tgk eeee.

On Wednesday night, off we flew to Melbourne oh yeahhhh~

The beautiful blooming flowers everywhere

The laid-back city
The Hillary's Boat Harbour

Man and Wife

"Only twice in your life do they pronounce you anything. The first is man and wife. And the second is DEAD."

"What you have to understand is that at different times in her life, a woman is like the world. From 13-18, she's like Africa - virgin territory. From 18-30, she's like Asia - hot and exotic. From 30-45, she's like America - fully explored but generous with her resources. From 45-55, she's like Europe - a bit exhausted, a bit knackered but still with many places of interest. And from 55 onwards, she's like Australia - everybody knows it's down there somewhere but very few will make the effort to find it."

Hello earthlings,
I'm back.
Perth was...meh~
But Melbourne was AWESOME!!!
Best vacation ever so far babyyy!!!

Tak sabar!

I am ECSTATIC (*jumping up and down*)!!! Think I got everything covered for our trip starting this Sunday. Bak kate dear husband, 'tinggal bawak badan aje' hehehe YEAYYY! I am forever grateful that I work close to a shopping mall where I can get most of the things I need.

The suck-ass thing is, have to work this Friday night till Saturday. God...let's get it all over with the damn servers, shall we?!! Need to handover to a colleague who will handle the shaitss while I'm gone - sorry babe hihi. THEN...see ya later alligator, I am off to Land Down Under bebeh! Ohhh tak sabar tak sabar!

Apologize in advance to all friends and families yg buat open-house, kami tak dapat nak menghadirkan diri. Bukan sengaje, but we're getting some fresh, different air, out of this country for a bit. But if you guys buat open-house even after raye dah abis pon, no worries...Insya Allah we'll come.

I am all excited coz I'll be leaving my brain behind, not think about the stuff that matters in life and just relax while enjoying the Australian breeze. But SRB is a bit nervous coz he has to present a paper in some Oil & Gas conference. Oh, did I mention that we are actually going there not just for pleasure, but for business as well? Yesss, as usual...I'm the significant other who always tags along in business trips hihi!

I wish I could see him present in front of a whole bunch of big-shot engineers, but oh well...it's for registered SPE only. But dear, do know that I am proud of what you're doing no matter what happens during the presentation ok? YOU CAN DO IT BABY! Gambatteeee...

The Family Way

They stayed close to their home and the people who knew them best. Because once they strayed beyond the orbit, there were too many questions that infuriated them.
"So when are you two love birds going to start a family?" his mother would ask them with a grin, usually after she had told an anecdote about the wonder of her granddaughter, Chloe.
"We're already a family, Ma," Paulo told his mother, told her again and again until she finally got it. "A family of two."

Dear Tony,
How can I not agree with you, ever?
Sincerely, Me

Too much to do

Around one more week to go before our OZ Adventure huyeaahhh! Will be all jakun going into Business Class of MAS - thanks to dear SRB's extra Enrich Points muahhss muahhss! Since AU Dollar turun from 2.9 to 2.5, the notes in most banks in KLCC dah habissss. I can't believe it. Guess I have to go to some small, cikai but licensed Pengurup Wang hehe. Lil bro said weather in OZ is a bit unpredictable, so better bring a jacket. And I'm thinking...let's shop for a new jacket!!! The ones I wore in US mcm ntah kat mane. Hehehe...

On another note, we are now entering a whole new world of home renovation bebeh. Honestly, I dunno a thing about it. Clueless beb. Growing up, I never really amek tau whenever my parents did renovation to the house. Tau2 jek voila, dah ade bilik baru, dah ade dining area baru. Yup, life as a kid is soo straight-forward hehe.

So now baru nak belajar sikit2. Magazines, internet, Casa Impian series...are all part of our research. How much does sekampit simen cost, wiring we need to consider if nak cabut tiang, structure we need to consider if nak pecahkan dinding, different type of tiles, different type of papan, where to find cheap but good tiles, papan, cat, type of rumput carpet yg bagos, where to find cheap and beautiful stuff for landscaping...omg pening. We are sooo amateur in this. But it's a whole new adult thing to do I guess. It's pretty exciting and at the same time, mencabar kesabaran renovating and decorating our house together (trust me, we don't agree on the same thing most of the time hehe).

Also a new world we are entering now is apartment-renting. Finding reliable agents, deciding type of tenants to consider (students, pak arab, pakistanis - have to be careful with them), finding cheap but durable air-cond to install in some of the rooms, finding cheap but decent TV-set, bed, etc to leave behind for the tenant. Quite a lot of things to manage there, while also juggling with the ever-so-demanding office work huwargghhh.

So, ade sape2 nak rent semi-furnished apartment, 15-minute drive to KLCC? Give us a call okeh?

I think by next year, we'll be soo damn broke that there'll be no money left for vacations isk isk isk. Well...if after all the renovations work our new home turns out to be this little piece of heaven in our world, we'll just go for vacation and relax dalam rumah aje pun dah best hahaks!

Picture Perfect

First Day of Raya at Segamat:

The Salam-salam

The Family

The Aunties & Cousins
The Beloved Grandma
The Cheeky Little Boy

Second Day of Raya at Batu Pahat:

The Raya BBQ - with kuah asam yg masyuukkk!

The Cousins - yg konon2 sebok membakar hotdog hehe
The Penjaga Sate - bile nak siap ni bang =p
The Fireworks - berebut tuuu
The most awaited Green Envelope

The Beautiful Anak2 Dara & Mak2 Dara hehe
The Handsome Heroes
The Family - tak cukup korum daaa

Third Day of Raya back at Segamat:

The Besansss

Last but not least, The Little Family of Two:

I had a BLAST during Raya. I hope you did too...

THE Question

Masih berdua lagi ke sekarang?
Iyee...masih berdua lagi.
Bila nak bertiga pulak ni?
Theeehehehehehe...(sambil senyum2 kambing).

Home Sweet Home

After the journey to Segamat, Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru, Kuala Pilah and Seremban for the past few days, we are now finally back in KL. Nasib baik the traffic was okay tadi.

Aaaahhh, it feels sooo GOOD to get back to our cozy little crib...



...and our own comfy little bed.


Esok kite sambung beraya lagi! Hehe =p