Melbourne - Great Ocean Road

It all started somewhere in the middle of October 2009 when Wai Seng sent us an email to tell us about a promotion from AirAsia. One look at the list of destinations and Melbourne immediately caught our attention - it was dirt cheap flying there in June 2010!! The promotion was going to end very soon so we sprung into action right away and promptly booked the tickets, figuring that even if we end up not going there the losses would have been minimal.

What followed were a few months of procrastination and some frantic last minute planning as June approached. We managed to finalize everything and do all the necessary bookings just a few days before the trip started.

Without further ado, the characters:

The two girls - Elaine and Yen Ping

Yi Wang

Wai Seng

and yours truly

On 3rd June 1.10am we boarded the plane and flew to Melbourne. There were of course people who were fast asleep...
and then there were 3 of us.
We couldn't sleep for the most part of the journey because the seats were uncomfortable. Then again we paid very little for the airfare so this was a form of compromise. For all the lack of sleep I was rewarded with this:
First of the many stunning views that I would get throughout this journey.

We touched down at Tullamarine Airport at about 11.20am(Australian time),
rented a car,
and hit the road right away.
Little did we know then that we were witnessing the rise of Queen of Snooze rivaling even Nobita:
As the trip went on, we got progressively amazed at the amount of sleep Yen Ping was clocking in. At one point we were betting on how many minutes it took for her to fall asleep right from the moment she entered the car - we got even more amazed at the actual result.

Regardless, the coastal drive was awesome - we were feasting on the scenery along the way:
which was a very very refreshing change from all the trees and hills you get when you drive long distance in Malaysia.

We stopped along the way to camwhore a bit...
and found time to play with some random dog.


But the Great Ocean Road was a VERY LONG drive so we had to stop at Apollo Bay to spend the night. The sun set at around 5.30pm so we were basically driving in the dark for about 2 hours before we reached the backpacker hostel in Apollo Bay. Apparently many suburbans and small towns in Australia were so safe that they didn't feel the need to install street lamps in their residential areas, resulting in dodgy looking residential areas at night. When we first arrived at the hostel, we felt that the place was ultra dodgy and were wondering if we made the wrong choice choosing that hostel.

Fortunately we were directed to another branch within the same town, which was closer to the coast and rather well-lit. This was the first of the many backpacker hostels we stayed in:
The shops in Australia generally close earlier(compared to Malaysia and Singapore at least) so we quickly went for dinner after checking into the hostel.
That was our first proper meal in Australia(McDonald's Cheese & Bacon burger and water DO NOT count as a proper meal). After dinner we retreated to our hostel to shower and get some well deserved rest.

Then we set off again the next morning. First stop: The Twelve Apostles.
Breath taking... we stood there awe-stricken, taking in as much of the scenic view as we could. The chilly breeze was forgotten, the morning sleepiness was driven away and we did what we do best:
A proper one with a proper background.
A proper one with a proper background using PHONE.
A proper one with a not-so-proper background.
A classic sunglasses reflection shot.

And then entropy kicked in for some of us:

That's when we realized that we had exhausted all the scenic views available to us there. So we moved on to the next stop: The Arch.

But we took a wrong turn along the way and ended up in a town - as a result we were semi-lost. No need to worry, we resumed once again to what we do best:

We even brought in another important member to camwhore with us!!
(The car was the important member in case you haven't already seen the obvious)

We went back on the road and finally arrived at
the mother of all archs - The Arch.

Due to the limitations of the lookout point, we had to be contented with using the sea as our background.




And the final stop for our Great Ocean Road journey: London Bridge

Yi Wang learned from Elaine and started to emo.
He became suicidal and wanted to jump off the rail.
At the most critical moment Yen Ping appeared and had Yi Wang swooning at her.
They did a Titanic pose, Yi Wang became happy and all was well again.
I had no one to do Titanic pose with =(.

Where were we?

Ah right, new layout to symbolically mark a new beginning for me, and the fact that I'm getting a bit bored with the black background. Having said that changing layout is quite a bitch. There are still some tweaks for the current layout that I'm hoping to implement but first I need to learn how to modify the codes. Now that that's out of the way let's get to the main point of this post...

Right, so I've been to Australia for my graduation trip and back from it... with about 2000+ photos sitting about waiting to see the world(I've uploaded about 400 of them on my facebook if anyone bothers). Anyway, the pictures would need to undergo some post processing before I upload them here so for now I'll just upload the unprocessed version as a sneak peek before filling you up with details in the following posts.

The fun people whom I traveled with:


Melbourne:



Tasmania:



And finally Sydney:



3 destinations, 2 weeks, no idea how many posts to paint the story.

Next post: Melbourne. =D

Aussie

Melbourne
Great Ocean Road: checked
Phillip Island: checked
Melbourne City: checked

Tasmania
Richmond: checked

4 more days in Tasmania and 3 more days in Sydney.

I'll die photoshopping the pictures for the trip after this =P.

This is...

slightly unnerving - a few rejections and not a single interview call up, nevermind job offer.

I hate to admit this but it does put a dent a bit on my confidence.

Is it my credentials? Is it my resume? Is it my virtually non-existant achievement(if the comment that achievement = winning competitions/awards is to be believed)?

I have friends asking me to take it easy and not rush into a job. Well, I'd really hope to get a job soon so that firstly, I'd feel more settled and secondly, I don't need to take money from my mum again. But I guess I really have to take it easy now, don't I?

Chins up.

4 years

We had stupid days:

We had mischevious days:


We had disappointing days:



We had days laughing with each other:


We had sleepless nights completing projects:

Garang Infantry - the boulevard of OUR broken dreams

In short, it has been a ride with mixed bag of emotions:


With friends who will stick with you thick and thin:


It has been a pleasure.

T-14

That's how long more left for this phase of my life.

As it is now, I just feel like I couldn't wait for the day to come any faster. I'm not really sure how I would feel on that day itself though, ask me again on that day.

Leaving that aside, I am thinking about what I want to do with my life. Truthfully, I think I'll feel rather lost because I have been getting a little bit too comfortable with the studying life. At least there is more or less a more concrete target for me when I am studying. Next phase of life? I'm not so sure.

As it is now I'm keeping my options open, it may be a 9-5 job(though realistically working in an MNC in Singapore, it's likely to be longer hours than that), it may be a technical job, it may be a managerial job, heck, it may even be something totally unrelated to what I'm studying. Come what may...

But I think there is something that I would definitely want to be at some point within my life - a professional photographer. After all, it gives me absolute joy and satisfaction taking photos like this:



I am aware that as it is now, I am lacking in skills so I have to improve myself as I go along... hopefully picking up freelance jobs along the way.

I guess for now my plan is to get a job, hone my photography skills and develop my own style during my free time while being on the lookout for freelance jobs. Oh and also get more gears. =P

Let's see how this little dream of mine turn out after years down the road.

Contract

When social contract no longer becomes a social contract:

Picture shamelessly ripped from Elaine without consent.

And suddenly being a janitor with absolutely no career prospect becomes an attractive option.

In a world of their own...