Sunday, February 26, 2006
` Sunday, February 26, 2006
No, I didn't visit the famed Great Barrier Reef when I was in Cairns 3 weekends ago. Yes, I must have been bonkers to have flown 2 hours to veg out at a hotel room at the Esplanade. I also must have been kidding myself to have risen at 7am one Saturday morning thinking it was 9am and subjecting myself to a 4-hour super-bendy countryside drive to see a rather disappointing version of the wonders of nature. Who would have thought that Cairns had some of the best budget shopping, (almost) 10,000 Japanese locals and excellent Chinese takeaway food?
The lovely view that I woke up to each morning at the Breakfree Trilogy, a mammoth complex of serviced apartments and hotel rooms still undergoing construction. It's definitely worth raving about the very clean and spacious room with balcony, free security parking, very hospitable front-desk personnel and the middle-of-Esplanade location is tough to beat for a variety of food, shopping and chill-out choices.
Taken on a clear Saturday night, sitting by the Esplanade walkway tucking into a double-scoop Baskin Robbins and reflecting. Aka stone-ing aka my de facto past time. It was a surreal sight and although the picture unfortunately doesn't seem to do justice to that moment in time, it is one of my all-time favourites.
Speaking of which, there was a large swimming lagoon along the Esplanade which was free for all to take a dip. There were people still enjoying the waters before the 10pm closing time. Cool!
I decided against putting up any pictures of the day trip to the Atherton Tablelands (recommended by Malcolm at front-desk who was helpful enough to point out that the Daintree Rainforest visit would be better with a tour guide) . To be honest, it was quite a tiring trip, fraught with never-ending bends on the mountainous Gillies Highway which took at least 25 minutes to clear per way and rather lacklustre attractions.
The interesting thing about Cairns is the sheer numbers of Japanese natives and mainland Chinese tourists who seemed to be everywhere. There was even a DFS mini-mall, which stood out awkwardly amongst the numerous touristy shops.
It was a good break from Sydney, the weather reminded me of home and of course, I had regrets about not visiting the mother of all reefs, but it was all in the name of good relaxation.
(0) comments
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
` Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Strangely, there isn't an overwhelmingly strong desire to celebrate nor whinge about getting a year older this time round.
Perhaps I'm only starting at this slightly over-ripe age to accept adulthood. Perhaps it's just that I have been leading such a blessed life till now that it's hard not to feel contented, despite the frequent negative rantings. Or perhaps I'm just starting to see how positive the future can be with what I have at this moment in my life. I can't put a finger to how it all seems to culminate into a stronger sense of well-being.
Or just maybe I'm finally embracing maturity with forced open arms. It's time to start spouting age-isms to the young 'uns and to preach the virtues of reaping what you sow.
Nah. Maybe I can do that when I hit the big 3-O.
(1) comments
Friday, February 10, 2006
` Friday, February 10, 2006
(0) comments
Saturday, February 04, 2006
` Saturday, February 04, 2006
I have the ability to channel strong currents or various elements and forms of water to every country that I go to. I think Storm from X-Men might be happy to take on a Robin sidekick with such aquatic supernatural powers like yours truly.
Evidence of my prowess? Check out the wondrous 'view' of the Blue Mountains' Echo Point and the famed Three Sisters that greeted us this morning.
Sigh. With great power comes far greater climatic changes indeed.
(0) comments
Friday, February 03, 2006
` Friday, February 03, 2006
Touched down in Sydney on Tuesday. Spent almost the entire day sitting on the plane watching movies so forgettable that at this moment, I can't even recall the titles, with the exception of a CSI episode starring the ever-charismatic Grissom. *Drool*. Don't ask me why I find him so appealingly desirable, despite spotting a super grizzly beard. *Super-drool*.
Now that it's starting to visualise in my head, I had attempted to watch the much-hyped Korean movie April Snow starring the Harry Potter deadringer aka Bae Yong Jun and I-dunno-what-her-name-is-but-they-all-look-the-same-actress. Fifteen minutes later, I was absolutely convinced that I don't have the patience, nor do I want to stick toothpicks into my eyes to finish a mega-melodramatic show like this. The pacing was sooooo slow that by the time my drool was threatening to spill over my chin, the leads were still throwing extended chaste glances at each other. The much anticipated (and probably the only reason why there's an audience for this) culmination of their lust happened to be conveniently censored by my favourite airline. What a waste of my precious fast-forwarding time.
I wasn't prepared mentally nor physically for the waft of high humidity that overwhelmed my senses upon stepping out of the Sydney international airport. Hot! Just like back home! Thankfully, the hotel I'm putting up in for the next 2 weeks is a real gem, situated in the touristy but picturesque Rocks area and just a 5 minutes walk to the office on George Street.
What I didn't realise was how a 3 hours timezone difference would make such a huge impact on my body clock on the first 2 nights. It was a real nightmare trying to get out of bed even though I snoozed on average 8-10 hours on a daily basis. Talk about getting absolutely knocked out.
What was worse was that I started developing a rather major bout of eczema just yesterday. My colleague got bitten by mosquitoes on Wednesday and till today, the bumps were still swelling into 50-cent coin sizes. The pharmacist gave me a mild heart attack when she prescribed hay fever medication for my condition, but later explained that it was similar to an anti-histamine, which would help to ease the itching.
That sums up my not-so-pleasant Sydney experience for now. The shopping preview done at the Pitt Street Mall on Thursday evening turned out several potential purchases and the local manager took us to Bungalow 8, a chillout bar at the King's Street Wharf which had a fantastic waterfront view. Nice. Although it would definitely be better if I hadn't gotten the damn itch which made me feel like a restrained monkey in the office for the past 3 days. ARGH.
On to the Blue Mountains tomorrow. Will be posting pictures once I get the damn picture upload thing to work properly.
(0) comments