I'm back! .. with a more chubby face and darker complexion..! Forgot to bring along sunblock..it's still sunny though it's a winter season..*doink*

My flight to Sydney was delayed for about an hour..hmm, I thought SQ has always been on time? Didn't have a pleasant journey coz there was this baby/babies who cried almost every hour! It was abit frustrating when you tried to get some sleep..

It was a hassle to go thru Sydney custom coz the security was tight..and after 7hrs of flight + 1hr of custom clearance.. finally I could breathe in the air of Sydney!

Checked into our hotel - Devere Hotel @ Potts Point near Kings Cross. Didn't know that Kings Cross is actually a VERY dangerous place - a place known for prostitute, gays/lesbians bars, striptease, drugs, you name it they have it!.. until our family fren in Sydney told us!

Since then we always took cab back to our hotel.. Almost every night, I could hear the sirens of ambulance/police car.. and one night, I was woken up by the loud BANGs and fightings!! so, remember NOT to get a hotel in King Cross (unless you wanna experience the extraordinary night life of Sydney, then Kings Cross is THE place!!

Actually the hotel is not baaddd...except that you've to go up and down the stairs within the same level to reach your room (imagine having to pull and push ur heavy luggage while climbing the stairs?) and having the same breakfast every morning... afterall, it's a decent 3 stars hotel...

Nice view from my parents' room

Nice?? Don't be tricked by my mum's thumb-up sign! My mum got so sick of it.. haha

We had been practising healthy lifestyle - sleep early, wake up early. We had breakfast at 7 plus.. yes, y'll were still sleeping then!

the fixed breakfast menu


Our breakfast companion - this parrot would come every morning for its breakfast!


Kings Cross by day - lots of adults shop here.. and there are ppl start drinking in the morning

Outside our hotel - ready to explore the city!

El-Alamein Fountain @ Kings Cross

I really lurve this garden......!!

Such a coincident that USS Kitty Hawk docked in Sydney for a few days and we managed to catch a glimpse of this cool military super-carrier.



I love the name of this place - Woolloomooloo... cool name rite?

Nice view ya!

Then we visited Royal Botanic Garden. Actually we just passed by this garden in order to reach our next destination!

White roses

First time seeing so many bats in the broad daylight!

Everyone who has been to Sydney must have taken photo of this Sydney Harbour Bridge.. it's like a proof that "hey, I've been to Sydney okie?!"

Everyone knows this place too - yup, the stunning Sydney Opera House

Couldn't take a photo right infront of Opera House coz it was too crowded and glaring..

An uninvited guest wanted to take photo with me! hehe

Make Poverty History Petition

In the Circular Quay train station.. and this is the train ticket.

Transportation in Sydney is really expensive. Just travel for 3 station, it costs about AUS$2.40!

And the cab meter goes by seconds.. !! What I dislike most is that there LOTS of traffic lights in Sydney!! Imagine the cab just moved for 30seconds and stopped at the traffic light again for 1min while you see the meter keep increasing!

Now I shall not complain about our SMRT..haha

See.. how complicated the train route is!

It's a double decker train.. this is considered nice and clean train.. ppl can eat in the train.. tat's y the trains are always full of rubbish.. nothing comparable to Sg train!

Continued our city explorer. This is St. Andrew's Cathedral

Finally we reached our beloved Chinatown! My mum and I really love it here.. nice to eat and nice to shop. We definitely wanna stay in Chinatown precinct next time - save the travelling time.

Super big abalone & sharkfin!

Got this nice HK style bakery shop. The q was always that long - never ending.

They were q-ing for this emperor's Cream Puff!

Nice and cheap - feel so great to eat pipping hot puff in cold weather!

I love their crispy egg tart!! so Yummy!!

Time to shop at Market City!
I love the fresh fruits at Paddy's Market

The fruits are so tempting - big, fresh and most importantly it's so cheap!

~ cherries, grapes, custard apples, persimmons ~

See!! this custard apples is bigger than my palm! A giant custard apple can cost about 12bucks here in Sg.. but I got it at just AUD$3 plus..!

tempting right??

One slice is even bigger than a grape!! I was so sad that I couldn't buy back more of these fruits..boo =(


This huge bunch of grapes only cost AUD1 plus..This is the best thing I like most about Sydney! (besides the cooling weather)

Our lunch @ Market City Food court. One plate of fried horfun is about AUD8 plus but the portion is big enough to be shared by 2 ppl.

I had my sushi roll - the soy sauce is cute rite? it's a shape of fishy!

Market City in the afternoon

Market City in the evening - its already pitch dark by 5.41pm. The shopping centre closes at 7 - 8pm

Our dinner @ Chinatown - AUD63 for this dinner... quite ex for a so-so 3 course dinner

Went to visit Paddington Market on Saturday. Walked all the way there just to find out what a disappointment! It's one of the must-visit destination: Paddington is regarded as the place to spot the latest trends in fashion & cuisine. - hmm, not really. Maybe its not meant for us.

Then we made our way to Harbourside Shopping Centre @ Darling Harbour.

Super cool touch screen directory

~ Andersen's Sundae Basket ~

Was curious what was inside this get-fresh red packet. It was actually a wet tissue for you to wipe ur fingers after eating. So considerate...

This is the Cockle Bay Whaft

Really love it here... it'd be very a wonderful sight at night..

I wanna come back here again!

Got this kids' attraction infront of Sydney Convention Centre. It's a swirl of water flowing to the center. Cool..

I wanna play too! What a big kid I am .. haha

Queen Victoria Building - another stunning and outstanding ancient building.

It's indeed very charming..

Interesting pub with 3 monkeys

3 days in Sydney and we had to leave for Canberra.. the journey took 3 hours. Along the expressway, we saw some dead kangaroos.. so poor thing

Canberra is very very cold... colder than Sydney!! We had to cover from head to toe even in the afternoon.

This is our apartment in Canberra - Liversidge Court in my sister's uni - ANU

Not bad - fully furnished apartment equipped with kitchennette

The only different between Sydney and Canberra is that Sydney is too crowded but Canberra is too empty. We could hardly see ppl on the street.. we could only see plenty of cars! Maybe the weather was too cold that everyone was staying indoor.

Nice view from our apartment. We could see the Lake Burley Griffin and Captain Cook's Memorial Jet

It was 7.32am

It was the same spot at 6.49pm. The temperature could drop to 0 at night. Where else couldwe go? So we stucked in our apartment watching tv

very very boring...

The very next morning, we helped my sister to move into her hall.

The scenery along the way - only trees.. no other ppl

Still no ppl... so imagine how difficult it was when trying to search for someone to ask for direction!

The Telstar Tower right behind ANU

The common kitchen with designated cabinet and fridge compartment. I think it's pretty fun coz it's like having party everynight with everyone cooking and having dinner here

Mini garden and resting area. They have TV lounge and pool table too

This gal name Alicia - Acturial Sci student from China - a gal whom we met when we shopped for grocery. Coincidently she's staying at Burton & Garran Hall too. A very cute and friendly gal

This is my sister's room - quite comfy

My mum made sure my sister won't go hungry... a cabinet full of instant noodles and biscuits!

My sister's school - just opposite her hall

Along the University Ave - very Western feel right? haha

This is the so-called Civic / city centre

The Merry-go-round at the center of Civic

So cold.. I need wool... hehe... it was so windy that sometimes my face gone numbed

Finally I had the chance to try Hungry Jack's!

I think Hungry Jack's fries are nicer than McD's! hehe

Went to Commonwealth Place - as it's one of the recommended place to visit in Canberra. We wanted to go to Winter Wonderland to play with snow!

Can you see a single human being??

so empty... wanted to catch the Captain Cook's Memorial Jet but too bad it wasn't operating at that point of time. Or else we could see the jet reaching a max height of 147m!

Finally, we managed to locate the Winter Wonderland. We expected to see real snow and snow stimulated rides (as stated in the brochure)! very excited. We paid AUD5 per person just for general admission excluding ice skating.

Snowing at the entrance

The so-called snow

You gotta pay 18bucks more to ski in this pathetic rink



The so-called snow stimulated rides - each rides required 4 tokens (1.50 per token)

You need to pay 1 token for this short slide

We went out with another disappointment. Seeing our expression, a family approached us asking our opinion of this place.

"Bad?? yeah very bad! go get your refund! we just did! this is totally bulllshit, everything money money!!" urged the family..

Thanks to the family.. we got our money back!

One thing to note is that Australians are indeed very friendly and helpful. Almost everyone we met was so nice !!

Parliament House at the Capital Hill

Me & Churchill

Lake Burley Griffin

My papa looks so cool here.. hehe..

I look so tall here.. heheehe

Mummy hiding in the bus stop - on our way to send my sister back to her hall

at Sydney airport before checking in

Before our departure

Bubbye Sydney... why will I have to chance to see you again?

Bought back 3 dozens of Krispy Kreme. These 36 doughnuts had hard tried coming back to Sg.

At first, custom officers at Sydney airport tried to confiscate! I tot I wasn't allowed to carry on board. Actually .. they were just hungry and wanted my doughnuts for breakfast!

Then when I boarded the plane, a SIA steward with a stern voice told me that he had to take tat away. Again, I thought I wasn't allowed to bring them on board. I nearly tripped and fall!

But then, he was just playing a joke with me!

He was still eyeing at my Krispy Kreme..when he distributed the icecream he wanted to exchange for my doughnuts!

Hello sir! you've already had 2 boxes of your own! Cannot be so greedy hor!

I love this icecream - combi of my both fave fruits - mango + passionfruit!!

Bought alot of biscuits and chocolates

Very cute potato chips - it's 3D and in the shape of kangaroo.. must buy more of this next time

Can't resist the temptation to buy this interesting stuff - flavoured straw. They have chocolate, caramel, and strawberry

That's how I spent my 1 week there. Do I like Sydney? I like the cold weather there and cheap fruits. Other than that, I still think it's better living in Singapore..