It’s a yearly occasion where the family takes time off for a holiday together. Last year we were in Bangkok and that was a week of city madness! This year in conjunction with Josh’s (my bro’s) graduation, we headed down south to Melbourne. In 7 days we captured 3000 over photos (of which a few hundreds are our pre-wedding shots) and a string of stories to tell. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to sieve thru Josh’s and Dad’s collection to bring you a snippet of our holiday.

Allow the pictures to tell the stories as you read short descriptions of places we left footprints on.

The Botanical Gardens together with the Shrine of Remembrance was the first few places we headed after touch down. I miss Aussie gardens and parks and the smell of freshly bloomed flowers. Thankfully flies weren’t a nuisance on that day and the weather was a perfect 18c.

It was our first time meeting baby Jaeda after her birth a few months ago. Sophenie and Andrew met us in Melbourne Central for Vietnamese meal and hopped over to the famous Koko Black for a shot of choc. Needless to say, we were dotting over Jaeda the entire night and everyone got a chance to carry her. She’s adorable and cute like her mommy (oops!).

Josh’s grad was the main reason we chose Melbourne as our holiday destination. It was a year and a half ago that we sent him off to Melbourne. Read about it here. That evening was incredibly significant for him and for me equally. As I experience my own grad 3 years ago, I now watch my older bro crossing into a new chapter in life. With his talents and character I truly believe much more will be added to him for what he gave me. I’m extremely proud of you koko!

Oh, just so you know he celebrated his achievement with a jump on stage when all the other graduates simply shook hands and posed for the camera. A pity we didn’t catch the jump on camera.

We had lunch at a Pizza Parlour along Bridge Road where they served top class pizzas for only $3.80! The restaurant also had rustic deco and whilst waiting for food we grabbed a few shots. I love this one of Dad and Mom kissing. Kind of reminds me of those old Italian couples that appear on Discovery Travel and Living! It also brings to mind a quote that goes…
“The greatest gift you can give your child is the love you have for each other”

Over the years I’ve grown to love Ray. The bond wasn’t instantaneous as I remember we had our share of bickering and squabbles during childhood days. Now we can safely say that we have braved through the valleys and are now journeying on hand-in-hand. Enjoyed the holiday with you Ray!

Josh had a list of places he had wanted to bring us for the photo shoot. But we soon found out that time was limited and spontaneity worked better. This shot was taken upon a colorful wall of graffiti in a tiny lane. Unfortunately we’re unable to reveal any other pictures now as they are confidential until the time

One of the many mouth-watering desserts we had. The one you see below are called Churros. They are Spanish donuts sold in a mobile truck in Vic Market. They are sinfully deep fried and coated with choc fudge and caramel upon serving.

First day on our road trip, this picture was taken on Arthur’s Seat the highest point on the shire of Mornington Peninsula. Gorgeous view isn’t it? At this spot you have a 360 degree sweeping view of the Port Philip Bay.

What a view of a solitary tree amidst the rolling hills. Landscapes throughout the Great Ocean Road varies from blue to green and hues of amber when the sun sets in.

Got milk?
If you’re familiar with the Got Milk? ad campaign, we created a few of our own on this trip too! Mostly with hot choc or cappuccino foam! Yum!

Miss Marples is an old fashioned Victorian restaurant along the Dandenong ranges. People rave about their scones but personally I think their savories and desserts sit on top of the list. What you see in the picture is a mountainous serving of ice cream with… you guessed it – hot chocolate fudge!

At Apollo Bay whilst having fish and chips by the sea, we realized gawking seagulls surrounded us within minutes. As part of entertainment for dinner, we decided to try a lil experiment.
Experiment: A stick of chips as bait on the head of a brave contender with a camera crew of 3 capturing the flight and snatch.
Variables: How much did it hurt? And did the bird SOY (Shit on you)?
Conclusion: None to both.

Contender 1: Terence Ooi

Contender 1: Rachel Chan

Acrobats at Apollo Bay. Ray decided to piggy back me and then came running Josh our photographer who captured this fantastic candid shot!

Onward to Port Cambell is the renown 12 Apostles. I was there many years back and remember freezing my butt out. But this visit took a turn as alighted onto a helicopter and flew 15 minutes along the coastal range. The views were breathtaking and really nothing like what you see from ground. Paying a worthwhile $90, the pilot took us for a ride of a lifetime.

The tall coastal walls looked like slices of cake from the top.

Ground view of the 12 Apostles (only 8 are still standing)

The Werribee Safari Zoo is an open range zoo with animals around the globe roaming the fields. It was interesting but nothing like the African Safari. Nonetheless animals were aplenty. Secretly as the we sat in the bus going through the safari, I wished an animal would act up and start charging into our bus. That would have been a real safari experience! Nothing like that happened. Gentle and docile as they should be animals mind their own business chewing on grass, snoozing and strolling around.

Meerkats huddling for comfort

Lions striking their best pose

We got quite close to this one!

Zebra’s grazing

Wonder where 2008′s holiday spot will be?! Stay tuned!

Excitement was beyond me as the holiday mood preceded the actual day we took off. Work kept me at bay, but the morning of the 15^th finally arrived and I was allowed to spring into full blown excitement! A month before this, Terence and I had meticulously drawn out a power packed itinerary. While I felt as if I was stepping into a time capsule with pictures of familiar places and people flashing before me, Terence had only names of places waiting for a caption and a picture.

Walking out of Perth airport, I turned to Terence and said, “Aw, we don’t have anyone to pick us up”. As I ended that last note, there was Miss Seetho Chi Yenn with a huge cardboard written “THE OOI’S and a CHAN”. Pleasant surprise!

We checked into YMCA and found out that we had to share toilets. The funny thing was that our family room was on a male floor, so we ladies had to either use the toilets on the top or bottom floor to ours.

Rumbling tummies had the better of us, as we set off for an early dinner at Conca’s. Yes! The infamous chili mussels! Having swanked so much about it, I must say that I’m very pleased that the standards have not dropped an inch since the last I tasted it 2 years ago.

We caught the skyline at King’s Park after dinner. Clicking away at the camera, trying the Whispering Wall out, having a moment of silence at the burning torch, dancing and prancing on the spread of green grass, mesmerizing at the blanket of stars above us… that’s King’s Park by night.

We were headed north to Yanchep National Park. I’ve heard loads about it even during my studies (about how the wild flowers bloomed during the season) and this my chance to see it for myself. It’s odd how they segregate national parks in Australia. Where are the exact boundaries? How in the world could animals differentiate one park from another? For example, Yanchep contains a large amount of Black Cockatoos (supposedly at the brink of extinction) but you don’t find those frisky black birds in any other national parks. Weird and intriguing!

The park was a pleasant visit. Standing amongst banksias and Australian grass trees, I envision Rangers having our camps here. We stumbled upon wild kanga’s in an open field with an unperturbed Aussie practicing his boomerang tosses. What an authentic Aussie sight!

Moving on from Yancep we went further north to Lancelin a small town nestled between the ocean and white sand dunes. I was leaping in excitement when I saw the endless snow white dunes. We rented 2 sandboards from a local store and trudged into the colorless desert. I felt as if I was transported into another world, the sand was silky fine, it kind of felt like we were walking on pepper hills. There was no horizon (just white hills and blue skies). Our destination was the tallest peak among the dunes. Terence raced his way up only to realize that it required a lot more energy than he thought. Dragging the board up, he bulleted down with a loud “WooHooooooo!!!!!”. Esther and I looked at each other and raced to the top for our turn at the adrenaline rush. It was pure bliss. I frankly don’t remember how many times we climbed up the dunes only to find ourselves back at the foot of the dune in mere seconds. Climb up – slide down – dust off the sand – climb back up – slide down – dust of the sand… After one hour of unconscious exercise, it was time to go before the sun had the better of us. Lancelin – I’d be back!

The drive to the Pinnacles seemed never ending. I thought to myself, it better be worth the drive, since I heard both good reviews and bad reviews about it. Having tasted (literally) white sand, we found ourselves staring at acres of yellow sand with natural ‘stalagmites’ sprouting from the ground. What beauty, although quite eerie if you actually stand amongst the towering rocks.

With Terence and his cowboy hat – give us two pistols and we’d have a shoot out there. Or better yet, paintball with all the obstacles in place!

Our pit stop for the day – Orchard Glory Farm. We inched our way to the farm and finally reached before sundown. The only problem was, we had no dinner. We had cozy farm house with every necessary facility at our expense but no food to cook! The nearest eatery was 22 km’s away and we were sick of sticking our bum to the seats. So we tried our favor at asking the farmer is he had any provisions to spare. He gleefully gave us 2 cups of rice, potatoes, bread, eggs, milk and some packets of cereal. He even threw in 2 bottles of wine but we returned it back. You guess is right… We had a simple farm dinner (or so I call it).

The morning opened to peaceful stillness and gentle stream of sun lighting the room. I’m under the snuggled under plush blankets and laying on my feather pillow. This is what I call a holiday! Alright get my booties up and be ready to get soiled. Walk down the farm and meet the hungry llamas, sheep, goats and horses awaiting their breakfast. Kick up sand you walk down the vineyards. Pluck fresh figs and grapes, rubbed them on your shirt and have a go at the juicy fruits. It was a gorgeous morning… My first farm stay, but definitely not my last.

From the farm to the city in a barely 2 hours. Wanting to sink our teeth into some strudels from the infamous Corica’s we were met with disappointment as they closed at 12noon. Since our craving for decadent desserts were not satisfied we went to Subiaco to find a compatible mouth watering equivalent. We found two in fact… Lemon tarts from Subi and Wagamama’s ice cream!!! (I highly recommend both!)

At Wagamama’s

After indulging our sweet tooth, we drove down the Great Eastern Highway to our hotel for the day. Julian told us the name of the place – Formula One Hotel. He even gave them a tagline (definitely not one to be used for marketing purposes) “Fast to come, fast to go”. It was tiny with a double bed and a double deck crammed into a puny room. You had to stand to one side to close the toilet door. Definitely not a recommendation for claustrophobics.

That night we had dinner with an old church family friend. The children had grown up in Rangers before migrating to Perth. So meeting them was definitely anticipated. I could barely recognize them as they looked 100% ABC. Lot’s of chitter chatter and food.

I left to have supper with a not-so-old-friend by the Swan River. Lovely night, lovely restaurant, wonderful weather and pleasant company. How much catching up can you squeeze in 2 hours having not seen each other for 2 years? Lots!

Rotto that’s what the Aussies call it – Rottnest Island to be specific. Again it has been brought to my attention a million times but I have not visited the place! Until now… The weather was perfect for a day out on an island. The girls (Chi Yenn, Hazel and I) were going to picnic while Terence dove in Australian waters. We bid farewell to the diver while we explored the huge island by foot. I was astounded by the number of Quokkas I spotted. Only recently did I discover that Rottnest was discovered by a Dutch explorer who named the island Rats’ Nest (see the similarity to Rottnest). It was so because he found many giant rats scurrying around on the island. And thus explains why those Quokkas aka Giant Rats frequently crossed our paths.

After an hour of walking, we spotted a nice place to picnic, under a tree overlooking Thompson Bay. The hours flew by with us exchanging notes, munching on biscuits, chips and dip. Terence came back from his dive with a boatful of stories. From the torturous ride into the ocean to the dolphins that greeted them at the end of the dive!

Hopping from island to city, we met another family friend for lunch. Such warmth emanating from the home. We reluctantly bid farewell as our night stay awaited us in Bunbury, south of Perth.