A sleepless night

On one of the weekends, I decided to go for a solo trip to Rotorua simply because i managed to secure a NZ$2 bus ticket months before the travel date. Everything went well with the trip except for one incident. When i come to think of it now, it was a rather funny incident but believe me, i was petrified and it haunted me for days after that.

So, it started off with me meeting a French lady whom i had to share a dorm room with. The room was able to accommodate up to four people but Rotorua was rather quiet that weekend and so, both of us knew clearly that only two of us would be using that room that particular night. We talked a little and then we bid each other goodbye as she was heading to one of the pubs for a rugby match whereas i signed up for a Maori cultural show and Hangi dinner.

I got back by around 10pm but she wasn't around. Within an hour, i was dead asleep but i had the lights switched on as i thought she would need the light to do her stuffs when she was back.

At around 3am or so, i was awoken and i couldn't go back to sleep. It was completely dark as the light had been switched off. There i was, tossing and turning on bed, and out of sudden, that French lady shouted at me in French. I thought i was making too much noise and i only made a "huh?" remark as i was still blurred on what had happened. Seconds after that, she apologised. I was even more confused. Was she having a scary dream, a dream of being chased by a tiger or something? Then, the next thing she said was, "Sorry, i thought i was the only one staying in the room tonight," From then on, i was so worried that i couldn't go back to sleep at all. I kept thinking that what if she had forgotten the fact that i was there and she came hitting me, thinking that i was an intruder.

It was seriously a sleepless and terrifying night for me and i left as soon as the sky turned bright. I rather roamed around the quiet little town than to stay fearfully in the dorm. I ended up walking around like a zombie for the rest of the day.

This is the dorm room with just 2 bunk beds and nothing else.

Lake Rotorua with many huge black swans

Hangi meal - Food such as chicken, sweet potatoes, potatoes and corns being cooked in earth for several hours

Maori cultural performance

Simplicity

There is not much entertainment after sunset at the agriculture- and tourism-based highland of Kundasang. Farmers and workers will be sleeping soundly after a day of hard work and tourists will also be sleeping like logs after climbing the Mount Kinabalu. Even when they are not tired, they would prefer (i assume...) to enjoy a sip of hot cocoa/coffee at the nearby cafe rather than wondering around the dark town as Kundasang barely has a few street lights.

I was indeed very excited when i was told that we got to attend a malay-dusun wedding on a Saturday night. Not having any idea on who the bride and groom were and what to bring along as gift, we just followed the crowd up the hill :P

Soon after we reached the brightest and liveliest house, we found the couple to be seated comfortably at the pelamin while the ketua kampung and the respectable figures in the village gave some short speeches and good wishes. The ketua kampung also dedicated a few songs to the newly wed.

Next, the couple went around the 3-tier cake and cut off the ribbons one-by-one. They would then feed each other a piece of cake.

The rest of the well-wishers would then enjoy the buffet spread and some would also start karaoke-ing :)

The buffet spread was nothing fancy but everyone enjoyed their food :) I particularly like their vegetable dish and it seemed to be some kind of edible wild ferns....

The wedding was seriously nothing fancy and expensive. In fact, the house, which i assumed to be the house of the newly wed, was not even completely built. The ceremony itself took less than an hour. Yet, everyone enjoyed the night.....

Happy life can be this simple.......

Travelling is...

money-consuming yet you're happy to empty your purse

something to look forward and reflect

a time to be away from reality
a self-enriching journey

a people-bonding time

purely fun & exciting :P

3-hour walking tour

i don't know if i would ever write about my aussie adventure though i claimed loudly that i would come out with a scrapbook...hehehe

about the 3-walking tour, i think it was one of the highlights of my 3-day sydney adventure. As with the name of tour, we really did walked for 3 hours around the city, approximately 3.8km. No tram, no bus, no train...the best thing is that it was FREE but the guide would appreciate any amount of tips given.

Just a brief intro, the guide is a girl from sydney itself and she is currently an architecture student there. she loves her city so much that she is happy to show anyone the city by walking. no booking is required for the tour and all we have to do is to show up at the designated place and time, whether it rains or shine..by the way, our journey began at A and ended at L as shown in the map below

so, at 2.30pm sharp, we started off the tour at Sydney Town Hall (A). there is a little square with some trees and stone benches for people to relax. It was just after lunch hour and so we saw many working class people puffing away or having burgers as a quick lunch. Next, we walked across the street to Queen victoria building (B). It's somekind of high-class mall with a queen victoria statue and her favourite dog, islay at the QVB entrance

Town hallSt Andrew's CathedralQVB

Floor painting at the entrance of QVB

then, we walked at the underground mall of QVB and reached another exit facing the Westfield mall

we walked a little further to the Hyde Park, where the St Mary's Cathedral can been seen standing in the mist of greenery

then we reached Hyde Park Barracks (D) and it used to house convicts. by the way, this building is in the UNESCO world heritage list as it is well maintained as part of the large-scale colonial convicts transportation.

as we strolled along macquarie street, we got to sydney hospital (E). it was the oldest hospital in australia and it has been a functioning hospital since early 1800s

we crossed the street to the martin place (E-F). This road houses all the major banks and financial centers in australia

at about 4pm, we stopped for a little break at the australia square (G). People is australia really seems to enjoy life to the max as we saw many working class people enjoying a cuppa while chatting with their colleagues.

Then, we got to macquarie place (H) and there were a few statues there which were given by the british as a gift. seeing the bronze chains indicated that we were very near to the port.

Next up, the custom house (I). It doesn't serve as a custom building anymore nowadays. surprisingly, it has a library inside. There is also a miniature model of sydney CBD underneath the glass floor on the ground floor.

Just across the road was the circular quay and we can see the famous iconic bridge and opera house from far.

And we walked and walked.....

then, we reached The Rocks (K). It was the earliest settlement for visiting sailors and it was well known to be a slum. this place is indeed very interesting and it is worth a visit. It even has a weekend bazaar with many interesting arts and crafts, food, painting etc. When night falls, people would come to the happening bistros. since it was thursday when we got there, people started having their alcoholic doses even before the sunset. by the way, the sun sets quite late (about 8.30pm) in the summer...

And we walked and walked ......

finally, we reached Dawes Point (L) and the sydney bridge was right above us. the tour ended here and we slowly made our way back to circular quay.

green grassy place right below the bridge, overlooking the opera house and circular quay the "toaster" at night from the circular quay train station

i personally felt that this tour is the best way to check out sydney in a short time ♥

for more info, please visit http://www.imfree.com.au/ and http://www.peektours.com.au/

week 5

It has already been four and a half weeks since i started on semester 5 and everything seems to be relatively more relaxing than the previous semesters. For the past 4 weeks, only a couple of days that i need to go to university by 9 or 10am and the rest of the days, after 1.30pm. What a 'luxury' and 'freedom' that i never had in the past two years???

The only stressful thing up-to-date was the portfolio task on the management of gestational diabetes mellitus and it was DONE......

Currently, i'm working on the proposal of setting up and managing a community pharmacy with a group of girls. Though we have just started a teeny-weeny bit of the whole project, we came across many amazing ideas in term of interior designs which most of us had never seen in this country. Those designs were so attractive and customers would definitely love to come back just to admire the designs...hahaha.....Of course, those ideas are a bit unpractical when budget is of concern....

till then...