Hi all,

Here comes the full report of that Melbourne-Adelaide trip, it serves the purposes of both sharing my happy experiences and also as a reference of what you could expect when you come to Melbourne during the end of the year. Mm.... sounds like a very formal report... Eh.. that's because the thesis is going too be due soon and I think I should start working on it really really hard!

6:30am, woke up after 3 hours of sleep (it's always the case, last minute packing), had some light breaky, then headed to the airport. Got on board at around 8am. One of the foods in the breakfast package served in the flight was quite funny, it's like prepackaged instant oatmeal, you just peal off the cover and eat it, but it first looked very much like "baby's vomited milk". Haha! However it turned out to be very tasty!

Ya, haven't introduced the people I went with. They are Winson Tan, Chong Hui Li 张慧丽 and Neo Tan Liang 梁丹亮. Winson is my current housemate, from KL, doing final year Civil engineering, English speaking background; Hui Li is my neighbour, from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Cong2 Zheng4 graduate, doing commerce final year here, also Chinese Society President now; Tan Liang is the Liang2 Nan2 Mei3 girl, from Seremban, doing 2nd year commerce here, Chinese society secretary.

So, four of us got to Melbourne at nine something, Hui Li's friends was already there. She drove Hui Li, Tan Liang and I to the city while Winson's had his uncle picked him up. We parked the car in crown casino car park and walked around in the city. Had our lunch at 沧浪亭 Cang1 Lang4 Ting2 in Chinatown, big serve and cheap, had dumpling 水饺(shui2 jiao3), Zha Jiang noodle 炸酱面 and fried nian2 gao1 年糕. Full until exploded! Then we went walking around in the city-- Daimaru, the shot towel, huge Nike shop, RMIT's toilet, Melbourne Central, Flinder station, Yarra riverside, etc.. Met up with Winson in the city again and he went to his uncle's house afterwards. Had dinner in Chinatown again. Then we went to Crown Casino for the night. we admired the big hourly gas fire show in front of the fire, can really felt the heat! Saw the laser and water fountain musical display. Went into the casino (haha! the security didn't check my ID).... Got to the first night accommodation at about 10pm. That's Tan Liang's Cousin -- 宋平 Song Ping's house. He's studying in Monash. Actually finished his degree already, going back to M'sia couple of days after we leave Melbourne.

7:30am, Beep beep... Beep beep... Woke up early in the morning, had a very nice breakfast prepared by Song Ping-- sausages, ham and bread. Then we went to get the car rented. It's a very new gold colour Toyota. We got it $10 cheaper per day since Song Ping worked there before. So, it cost us $50 a day including $20 insurance. 11am+ we headed off to Phillip island after picking up Hui Li's friend.

Got there around 1 1/2 hour later, went to info-centre to get some information. Then headed to a beach and some lookouts. Had a great time there until we almost starved to death, then got to the town bought a whole chicken and some chips, tore it apart beside the beach with a lot of hungry-looking seagulls, the chips made us wondered if the salt there was free!!

After filling up our stomach, we went to the seal rock centre. Went to a guided tour ($8.80) and saw a lot of info and story about seal. That place is one of the largest and most important seal breeding location in Australia. Pretty interesting! But it was a bit of a rush because it's almost closing time when we started the tour... We could see some real time seal through binoculars and live camera there. Cool!

After that, it got dark. (that's the bad part of travelling during winter, so it's very good for you who come to Aussie at the end of the year because it'll be summer at that time.) However, it wasn't the end of the day yet. The important highlight of Phillip Island started then. We went to the penguin parade-- A place which fairy penguins land after a day of swimming in the sea. It was quite cold outside. The penguin just came out from the sea and walked towards us, very very cute! Photo taking is prohibited and torchlight is not allowed! A bit disappointed that there weren't too many of them. Anyway, we had some very close-up look at couple of them. happy enough! But the entrance fee is quite dare ($13)!

After that we headed back to Melbourne, had dinner at Box Hill (a very Chinese village). I had Ipoh Hor Fun 怡保河粉. Very nice!

Weather forecast said that it should be a fine day, so we decided to go to Great Ocean Road.

A long drive. Had quite a lot of chitchatting in the car with Song Ping. Talked about Song Hong and Ming also! He likes to say " 太混了 Tai4 hun4 le!" very much! Haha!

It's 4 hours drive to the 12 Apostles. We had lunch on the way, some sightseeing also. We even sighted a killer whale. It had its tail (or should I call it leg?) coming out of the water... cool!

The weather wasn't as forecasted! :( "天乌乌，要下雨 Ti1 O O, Be4 Lo3 ho1", so the photos taken wouldn't be too fantastic! But the view is still breath-taking although I've been there once during '99 summer! And the wave was a lot stronger that day, making it even more 'great'!

Had dinner at box hill again! 梅菜扣肉饭 Mei2 Chai4 Kou4 Rou4 rice. Had a lot of Chinese food during the trip. Because Tassie doesn't have proper Chinese food! Haha!

Woke up early in the morning again, wash wash + a cup of water, we are off to Ballarat. One and a half-hour drive, we got to the town. Grabbed some McDonald breakfast, asked some information in the i-center then we straightaway went to the highlight of the place -- the Sovereign Hill Gold Mine Living History town.

Sovereign Hill is a re-appearance of 1850s gold rush at that place. There are people dressed in costume making stuffs, doing business and acting like living a life in the town. At specific time, there are specific show or demonstration on. The tour guide we met there was very very professional! He's very passionate about what he's talking and had very good interaction with us. Another thing to note is that there is a Chinese Village in the Sovereign Hill because during the 1850s gold rush, a quarter of the miners were actually from China!!! The film there even has mandarin and Cantonese version. There is a Guan1 Gong1 temple in the place also.

Tourists can try panning gold there also. I actually found some gold sand under the tour guide's instruction. It's now safe in the '牛黄消炎丸 Niu2 Hang2 Xiao1 Yan2 Wan2" bottle. Haha!!

Entrance fee for the place is $23 Adult, $16 student. Quite expensive but I thought it's alright since we spent the whole day in there and had a great time with the guide.

Before heading back, we went to a Chinese and Eureka cemetery! Haha! I just wanted to see whether it has got some interesting scripts on the tombs because a friend in Hobart told me that the Hobart cemetery actually has some Chinese buried there and there are interesting epitaphs there. So we just went there to have a look. (Eh..) It was almost dusk, and a bit chilly in there.... We ended up didn't find any Chinese tomb, a bit disappointed, but there is a place for them to burn the body, so I think they must have been all burnt into ash...

Got back to Melbourne at around 8pm. Had dinner in the restaurant where Hui Li's friend is working -- Malaysian Garden. We had Kang kung, nasi lemak and bubur chacha. Wah! Haven't had kang kung for ages! And it was done just like what we had at home!! Very good!

Early in the morning, we drove to St Kilda to see the beach and some fancy nice beach hut (which are in many postcards or calendar). Then we returned the car and took tram to the city. Met Hui Li's friends in the city and we went to Yum Cha in the best HK restaurant in town -- 食为先 Shark Fin House. Very nice dim sum, very good meal! 7 people cost $100. Three of us shared the cost as appreciation for Hui Li's friends since we stayed in their house for 3 days. Still a lot cheaper than living outside.

After that, we went down to Richmond for some shopping. I didn't have anything in mind but Hui Li was searching for some clothes. So Tan Liang and I were following Hui Li going through more than 30 shops!!! I started to examine the texture, fabric and material of those clothing, thinking about how those stitches are done by machines.... :P

Finally after the shopping, we went back to Hui Li's friends' place to pack our stuffs, then had dinner at MeiKong Vietnamese Noodle & rice restaurant. The broken rice and beef noodle are very well known! They even have beef tender. Nice!! We headed to Spencer station to catch the bus to Adelaide at 8:00pm. Cost $80 return, 5 stars bus!

The bus driver was very very funny. He kept making jokes during the sort of briefing of the bus facilities. And the best part was that he said it like it's nothing to be funny about. Ex: " There's a button at the side of the chair, feel free to press it and lean backward to make yourself more comfortable, and usually at the same time crushing the person behind you"; "If anyone feeling sick, there is a plastic bag prepared for you, or you can use the lap of the person besides you." It also showed 'What women want' in the bus but I was too tired to watch.

Arrived at 6.30am South Australia time (1/2 hour later than Tas). Didn't have very good sleep. Tan Liang's friend came to pick us up and sent us to the hotel. Tan Liang and Hui Li checked in straight away but I had to wait for the previous tenant checked out. Hahaha! The hotel is Tan Liang's friend's house. His name is "Gatzat (cockroach)". I was waiting for his friend because they were leaving to Sydney that morning also. So the whole house was nicely emptied and gatzat hosted us very well.

We just hanged around in the house that morning watching some Chinese tapes and then in the afternoon, I called Lee Fong out for lunch, Tan Liang called some more old classmates who are there and also Hui Li. So a big table sitting down and had a real nice old time catching up. After the long lunch, we went to Glenell beach and hang around there for the afternoon.

Dinner was booked at a Chinese restaurant again, Peking duck and other dishes, Very the good!! Haha! didn't expect to have my taste my Peking duck in Australia.... Cost quite a bit also!! $11. After that, we went to a Chinese karaoke. Free entry and their friends paid for the drinks. Sang till no voice!!! Not very good DJ there, anyway, still enjoyed it since I haven't seen all those song for so long....

Later the night, since it was still not too late after we sent Lee Fong back, we went to walked around in the city. There is a water fountain and there were heaps of bubbles coming out at the side of the fountain. We touched it or blew it slightly, it just flied and float in the air, very nice.... Don't know how it turned out to have that much bubbles there... There's none the next day when we passed by....

Had a very good sleep, woke up at 9am. Went to the shop nearby, bought some ingrediences for dinner that night. Then we headed to the Vineyard. Had a historical tour and some smelling and tasting. The tour is mainly about how they made wine before, a very brilliant farmer designed all those things there. They also have quite a number of old brew there, some more than 100 years. Also some special occasion brew, eg. One made when prince Charles was born and only to be open when he become king... Haha!! I didn't buy any thing there myself because none of the wine attracted my taste butts...

After the winery tour, we went to a dam. It's very interesting! It's quite a big dam, with one side water level just 2 meters below the top of the dam and the other side 30 meters down no water but grass and trees growing. What a contrast! But that's not yet the highlight, the highlight is the 'whispering' effect. Because of the curve of the dam, the sound reflects and propagates along the dam and reaches the other end with very low loss. So, although the person looks 5cm in height at the other side, their whisper can still be heard very clearly. Amazing!! I love it! Another phenominon was that if you clap there, there is a very strange 'zooooooom' kind of sound effect. Sounds like a bullet flying pass.... Prabably has got something to do with Doppler effect?? The whispering effect should be pretty much the same as in Tian1 Tan2 in China....

Got back home pretty early that day, cooked at home. (the very only day we were not eating out!!) Gatzat cooked curry chicken, got some fried fish, lettuce and a big pot of soup! More chitchatting there...

After the dinner, we just hang around in the house, looked at some photos and sleep quite early...

Woke up 9am, had some light breaky and went to a nearby beach. Nothing much there... Then we went to the city center - Rundell Mall. Walked in some old arcades, took a transparent lift to 10^th floor having a nice view, and took some pictures...

Had a nice lunch in the food court. Less than $15 for a four dishes meal for five! Good value and full. After that, we went to the University. They went walking around while I went into the electrical department to do my further study research. Talked to some lecturers and met up with a friend from Hobart (Didn't contact him and just bumped into him in the postgrad room.) So he showed me around more and told me some more about the life there.

Had Tio Chew dishes for dinner. Then we headed to the bus station and catch the bus back to Melbourne. The movie on the bus was 'What women want' again! Funny!!

The whole trip to Adelaide was pretty much like friend gathering. Didn't really feel like it's a travelling kind of trip... Quite good anyway...

Back to Melbourne at 6:30am. Didn't have much sleep in the bus! :( So I was extremely tired the whole day. We first put our baggages in the locker in Spencer station, then went to Hungry Jack's to had breakfast. I slept in there for a while also... Then Hui Li called her friend. Together with Tan Liang, they went shopping again because Hui Li was going back that evening. I didn't go with them (so that I won't kill myself, haha!!), instead, I went to Melbourne U. I called a friend whom I just met couple of weeks ago when he came to Tassie with Winson's sister and stayed in our place. So he showed me around in the Uni and sneaked me into the Postgrad computer laboratory to search for some information. After telling me everything I need to know, he left me in the postgrad laboratory and went away to do his own stuffs. I started searching some info about the uni and ended up sleeping in the laboratory for almost 2 hours. Hahaha!!! Unbelievable hey?! After I figure out who I wanted to talk to, I went to see the personnels but unfortunately most of them were not available. So, didn't get much human contact there. But it's ok since I've got like 2 big thick booklets about the research of Melbourne U. Just need to read them up to know what's happening in the Uni...

Called San Gu in the uni while waiting to met up with Hui Li they all. Just found out that it's very very far and time consuming to take a bus to San Gu's place. And we didn't have a car at that time anymore, moreover, bus service to that area is not available after 9pm! Had a nice chat with Gugu though....

Met up with the girls at 5pm in the city. Hui Li's friend drove us back to their place where we picked up our bag that were left there while we went to Adelaide. They sent Hui Li to the airport while Tan Liang and me took a tram-train-bus trip to Song Ping's place.

Hui Li went back earlier because that very day was her boyfriend's birthday. Haha! Well, her bf was with us most of the time during the trip although he's physically in Hobart. Thanks to the mobile phone technology, and also because it's free to call from Mobile phone to mobile phone with the same provider between 7pm to 12am......

With backpack, bags and sleeping bags, we went on to public transport towards Song Ping's place. Everything went fine until we got out of the train and headed to the busstop. Because after we got out of the train, we walked into sort of a tunnel and there's a T junction at the end of the tunnel, and another T-junction at the other end. We got a bit confused about the instruction Song Ping gave. We turned right first, and then left, there's a bustop right there. Yes!! But after 1 minute, Tan Liang found out that it looked like the bus route is heading towards opposite direction. Oh Crap! Went the other way, mmm couldn't really see a busstop nearby.... Found two persons there, asked them and they said there were pretty sure that it's the other side, or we could ask a bus or taxi driver... So we ran back to the first bustop again. Cool, a bus just arrived, we asked him and found out that it's heading towards opposite direction and the driver showed us where we should go to the correct bustop.... Oh NO!! Went back the other side again!!

Note that we are both with heaps of bags all around the body... However, the laughter grew louder and louder every time we walked through the tunnel. Laughing about ourselves and the stupid looking of carrying bags running around like an idiot! Haha!!

Finally we got onto the bus and got off at Monash U terminal which is the closest to Song Ping's house. Gave him a call and he came out and took us to dinner. No surprise, chinese food again. By the time we got home, it was 10pm+ already. Unbelievably tired. Took a shower and switched off.

What a refreshing day after a good night sleep! Had 2 pieces of bread for breaky and SP took us to Monash U. After showing us around for a while, he went off to continue making his kayak (fibre glass), I went to Engineering for information, Tan Liang went to do more walking around.

I got another booklet about the research area of the uni staffs. Went to see the postgrad director but he was busy talking to another person. So I was asked to go back in half an hour time. Well, I just walked around in the department reading some project display. Suddenly I found the room of one of the professors whom I wanted to talk to. Cool! I just walked in and he sounds very passionate about his research. He has got around 15 small robots in his room, around 10cm diameter and they sort of immitate behaviouor of ants. He demonstrated some to me and also a robotic gripper. I was fascinated!! Amazing!!! That lasted for about an hour.

Then I went back to see the postgrad director, talked to him for a while, got to know about some procedure and what kind of scholarship are available. Gave him my contact details and he said he'll send me the form when it's out. Nice!!

Met up with Tan Liang at 12:30pm (30 mins. late) in the library. She was reading a chinese book about characters in Jing Yong novel. There are quite a lot of Chinese books in the asian study section!! Oh, there's even a Chinese grocery shop in the union building!! The boss is Hakka! Haha! We bought a 咸煎饼 Ham3 Jim2 Beng2 in the grocery shop before we did the bus-train-tram trip to the city. Went to 苏杭小菜馆 Su1 Hang2 Xiao3 Cai4 Guan3 for lunch. The 南翔小笼 Nan2 Xiang2 Xiao3 Long2 is very good! And it's one of the cheapest in town.

After the lunch, it's almost 4pm (due to public transport and searching for the right place to have cheap and nice lunch). Went to the Melbourne Chinese Musuem but they were gonna close in half an hour. Too bad! Then we decided to go to St. Kilda beach since that's the only place which doesn't close at 5pm! So we caught a tram and got there, took some photos. The water is suprisingly clear! But it was getting dark...

Got back from St. Kilda at 7pm+, Went to Yarra riverside to see the gas fire show from far, Nice one! But unfortunately it started to drizzle. Then we went into Crown casino again, bought some food in the food court and brought it all the way to the main lobby where the lazer and water fountain musical display is on. We just unpacked the dinner and sit on the floor, eating and watching the show!! Haha! Quite some people gave us a bit of weirdy looks. Who cares, I don't dirty the floor!!

8:30pm, went to catch tram-train-bus back to Song Ping's place again. Very exciting at the train terminal again. We saw people rushing out of the train right after it stopped. So we rushed out as welkl because the bus we were going to catch was the last one already. So we ran down the tunnel, I stopped myself on the T-juction wall at the end of the tunnel, people in front of me ran to the left, Tan Liang didn't stop and ran straight to the right, I followed her to the right and immediately after we were out of the tunnel, Oh Shit!! Wrong one again!!! Hahaha!!! We quickly turned back and rushed to the busstop laughing loudly on the way. The bus just stopped there and we were just in time!!! Shoooh!!

After we got back to Monash terminal, we got a bit lost in the uni again (we could choose to walk along mainroad or took the uni campus shortcut)... Hehehe.... But found the way pretty soon... got home safely...

Song Ping made pancake for breaky. Packed all our stuffs, and said bye bye to Song Ping, we went Monash again because I still have couple of lecturers to see. Fruitful again. Got to the city, put our luggages in locker and headed to Chinatown. Oh crap! We left the tram daypass in the locker!! Too bad, bought a 2-hour ticket on the tram. :( Had lunch at the same place. Cheaper and nice!

Then we went to the Chinese Museum. There's a lot to read in there. Altogether 4 storeys, the basement tells the gold miner stories of 19^th century; ground floor is the entrance and some very "Chinese" fancy display like a huge dragon; 2^nd shows the chinese involvement in Australia society in the past 100 years. 梁启超 Liang2 Qi3 Chao1 is mentioned many times because he came to Australia in early 20^th century to promote his political idea. The top floor has some traditional clothings, traditional worshipping stuffs...

Spent too much time in the museum, after we came out, it was already 4pm+. Quickly took a tram to the Shrine of Remembrance, a big memorial built on a small hill to recognize those who sacrificed in World War I and II. Very holy and grand! It's open 10am-5pm daily. I didn't get to go in last time I went, and this time, when we got there, it was right on 5pm! Haha! So I still didn't get to go in. But anyway, the outside is good enough to make the visit worth! It's got scruptures on the roof, and the view from the memorial is superb! And the sunset makes it even more picturesque.

Our flight was at 7:20pm. The skybus departs from Spencer station every half an hour and cost $12/ person. So we should catch the 6pm one to be safe. I was pretty much running out of cash that morning and I asked Tan Liang if she still have enough money. She told me that she still have $70 and that should be enough and I can pay her back later after we got back to Hobart. It saved some time to search for ATM and get money out. After we finished admiring the Shrine of Remembrance and caught a tram back to Spencer station, it was already 6:10pm. So we missed the 6pm skybus, nevermind the 6:30pm skybus should get to the airport just in time!

So, after we took out our bags, I went into the station canteen to grab some food while Tan Liang went to buy the skybus ticket. After I bought the food and head to the skybus terminal, TL was running towards my direction and told me that she couldn't find the $50 she thought is in the bag. And I only have $9 in my wallet!!! The time was 6:15pm. Shit!!

She put the bags on the floor, and rushed into the station to take money from the ATM. Well, I looked at the bags and started biting the chips I just bought....

6:22pm, finally she came out from the station, I took up the bag and wanted to head to the ticket booth, she was laughing, telling me that she couldn't find her ATM card!!! Oh man!

I said: Shit!! And put the bags on the floor flying into the station! The bloody ATM was located at the very end down the bloody stairs!!!! I ran too fast that I passed by it, asked some people around and finally saw it! Uh! Quickly took some money out and flied back to the skybus terminal. Bought two tickets and hopped on the bus right before it left. I was breathless by then! Tan Liang still looked funny and waiting for me to scold her!!

Got to the airport at 7pm. The plane is calling already so we got to the counter without having to queue. :P Checked in the luggages and went to the standby counter to let them know we were there ready. Then we walked out of the building towards the flight and be the last on board. Haha!!

After we sat down nicely in the flight, I started to clutch Tan Liang!! %$@#%$$% Bloody hugh blur sotong!! Anyway, it was quite an exciting and different experience! I wasn't very worried to miss the skybus because 2 persons taking a taxi to airport will cost only slightly more than $24, and for domestic flight, the check in time is not very strict....

The last fancy thing was that the Tasmania under 18 footy team was on the flight. They just won the championship and were very very proud and exciting. Made hell lots of noise, singing and telling people to be proud of them!! I told them "Good on ya, mate!!" Haha!!

Reach Hobart at 8:30pm, JerMin came to pick us up.

What a journey! I did enjoy it very much. Altogether shot 1x 36 + 3 x 24 films. They are all developed now but haven't got them scanned! Financial wise, Spent $600+ in 11 days. About $60/day. More than half of it goes to transport. A quarter goes to food because we don't have a place to cook. That's a price to pay for free accommodation. But I think it worth it, we had so much different type of good food!

Posted by TzuYen Wong on 18^th July 2001