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Monday, June 10, 2013

Paddy's Market (Sydney) and The Carrington Hotel (Katoomba)


~ Part 8 ~

That morning, we brought as minimal as we can. Last night, we decided to re-visit Katoomba, to experience the famous Blue Mountains. Apa la guna datang Sydney tak pegi Blue Mountains ye dak?

We did ask few students in Malaysian Hall on that day’s weather, and they said that one-day snow had gone. So it was a perfect day to visit Blue Mountains. Beforehand, we decided to go to Paddy’s Markets, to get some souvenirs for friends and family back home.

Note : Bus stop is just right in front of the petrol station, next to Malaysian Hall. You just need to know the bus number and which way to wait for the bus.
We rode a bus to Central Station and walked through one garden, right opposite the Central Station. Glad that it was a walking distance, in order to reach Paddy’s Markets. In between roads, we say trams that operated around the city. It was an easy and smooth journey in locating the Paddy’s Markets, where we obviously saw a brownish tower building with “Market City” stated on it.
Inside this 150 years market, we saw rows of clothing, jewelry, bags, sunglasses, anything, you name it. Back in 1834, this market were selling secondhand goods like clothes, novelties, toys and pets, targeting the white people. But looking at the vendors nowadays, it is monopolized by the Asians (particularly Chinese) and some know how to speak our language.
Note : Being one of the Australian icons, Paddy’s Markets is a must place to visit, especially when you want to look for souvenirs. It is reachable by bus (#408), train (Flemington Rail Station), or car (park at Wilson Parking Station). More info here :
http://www.paddysmarkets.com.au/index.html

I quickly bought all souvenirs at the same stall, where we bumped into 4 Malaysians who just landed that morning. We managed to change info while selecting tote bags and t-shirts with Sydney, Australia wording on it. I tried to minimize the buying, for we will be going to Blue Mountains afterwards.
From Paddy’s Markets, we walked back to the Central Station and looked for ticket counter. We purchased a return MyMulti3 ticket (AUD11.60 for off-peak) from Central Station to Katoomba, and back to Central Station on the same day. We went to the designated platform (Platform #12 to Lithgow) and waited for the train.
Note : Return ticket is cheaper compared to Day Pass. Lithgow is the last stop. To go to Blue Mountains, you have to disembark at Katoomba. Do not sleep!

A double deck train later arrived. Once we entered the train, “OMG!” I was stunned.
“Vandalism!” Hubby commented. And he continued, “See, so uncivilized…they thought they were doing graffiti. This is obviously NOT a graffiti.” 

“Teruk gile!” I condemned the activity. 

“And guess what? We don’t see this in India, though the carriage was hideous than this.”

Oh ya, these local morons even vandalized the seats! Pfft!
It was a free seating train, so we just picked a spot. Along the way, the train stopped at more than 20 stops including Linden and Wentworth Falls. We killed time by reading maps and video-acting, before we finally reached Katoomba Station, after 2 hours train ride.
The station was quite small and old-school. The building is built and painted nicely in orange and brown colors. There was a cute station master’s office in one of the rooms. On top of the rail track, there were old unused trains and a big billboard of Three Sisters. Hubby and I started to be kiddos and play around with what we saw at the station.
We got out from the station and walked towards a row of shops, where most of them was not operated. We had no idea where we should go and how far was Blue Mountain from there. Thanked God we had everything prepared in our Tour Cookbook.

Note : Bus to Blue Mountain can be found right in front of the Carrington Hotel. Look for Shuttle signboard. It brings you there for about half an hour.

And so we walked. We walked further up the hill and saw the Carrington Hotel on our right. Right in front of it, there was a shuttle signboard where lots of foreigners were queuing in a long line.
“The bus is not here yet, we eat first.” We had another 10 minutes.

Since we had enough time to spend, hubby and I decided to have a quick lunch at this hotel. No, not IN the hotel. IN FRONT of the hotel. Miskin maaaa.
We went to the nearest convenient store called Go-Lo, and bought a can of tuna, tortilla wraps, and a bottle of Arizona ice tea with peach flavor. SUMPAH SEDAP! And it was cheap! Sitting on the bench by the 100 years Carrington Hotel’s garden, we wrapped the tortilla.
We was about to have a bite when the bus came!

“Aaaaa…how? How?” I asked hubby. 

“Nevermind, we take the next bus.” 

We continued eating and while waiting, we killed time by snapping more pictures of the hotel and its garden. Not much, but ok la.
 
"Jom, the bus is here!"

Friday, June 7, 2013

Madame Tussauds Sydney (Sydney)


~ Part 7 ~

I ran towards the Madame Tussauds building and stroked Johny’s face…for at least, 2 minutes! Can’t wait to touch “him”, later. Umph! I purposely forced hubby to include this site in our itinerary, for I really really really wanted to see those famous figures. Well, at least once. Well…mainly because Johny Depp is there. Ehem.
Note : Madame Tussauds is a wax museum, branches in a number of major cities, displaying waxworks of historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and infamous murderers. It is located at Darling Harbour.

I then walked to the entrance and met Mr. Kangaroo, the national mascot. We paid AUD38 and entered the main hall, where we saw a lady surfer stood still on a surfing board. There was a lady with a camera, waiting to snap visitor’s photo.

Approaching “Behind the Scenes” section, hubby and I started to go our own way. While hubby exploring the clay mould, I ran to check on the height of my favorite stars’ shadows, Johny Depp and Michael Jackson. Clearly, I was at their armpit level jer. Pfft!
Feeling sad with my height compared to them, I moved to another section, and met Marie Tussauds, the founder. I asked her why she didn’t wax me but she was keen, adoring that bald man! Next to her, there were Beyonce and Will Smith, along with I don’t know who.
Note : Marie Tussaud was born as Anna Maria Grosholtz in 1761 in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius in Bern, Switzerland, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling.

We then moved to the history section where hubby played his role in posing with the figures. He LOVES history and he knew almost all figures in the room. He went crazy and acted like cute little girl who gotta play with Barbie!

He jumped from a figure to another and posed wild, basically tried to make fun of himself with them. I almost had my jaw dropped when he slowly whispered,

“I want to put my feet on Obama’s table!” He raised his eyebrows and hinted me to “cover” him.

“Huh? Like…seriously??? Hey, got CCTV up there! Are you crazy?” I spoke softly, in a very low tone. Standing before me, was an officer who was on duty, checking on the visitors for any misbehavior every now and then.

Hubby walked to Obama’s desk and I started to look around. “OMG, please, don’t do stupid thing!” I warned hubby from a distance.

He sat on the chair and leaned back. “No, no, no…NO!” I opened my mouth, big enough that he could understand what I was saying.

He was about to lift his feet and then, he laughed at me! OMG! You moron! The officer next to the desk smiled at us.

He did the same to Australia’s Prime Minister, but this time, he took over the mic. Hahaha!

Guess what, hubby didn’t stop there!

He then ran to Nelson Mandela and tried to pick-pocket this good president’s passport! Like a pro, in just a minute, he went to Queen Elizabeth and tried to steal her diamond bracelet! Not only the Queen became his victim, he went to Gandhi and tried to steal his watch! Poor Gandhi!

“Ayang…are you a-okay? Are you done with pick-pocketing?” We had an awkward moment.

“Ok…E=MC2.” Like what? In just a glance, I saw him somewhere else, with messy hair, and posed next to Einstein! HAHAHA!

"So who’s crazy now? Me or you?” I thought I was the one who got excited with waxes.

We then walked further inside the science section and played around with Dr. Chang’s patient. Hubby, again, went crazy and got behind the x-ray thingy and did funny face. I dragged him to the sport session, hoping that he will behave…but he continued acting crazy and grabbed a racket and posed next to Hewitt and Rod Lever. Pfft!

“I want Johny Depp! Where’s Johny Depp???” I looked around. I can’t stand any longer. I need to see my boyfriend!

We passed by the Bollywood section and met Amitabh Bachan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, and Aiswarya Rai.

“Ayangggggg…look at meeeee…” Hubby called me. I saw him trying to steal Shah Rukh’s flower and Ashu’s cluth!

“Enough!” I dragged him. “I need to see Johny Depp!”

We finally reached the superstar section and was greeted by “Sandy”, a role in Grease played by Olivia Newton John. THE BEST MUSICAL MOVIE EVER! I grew up watching this movie, over and over again. I can sing along all the songs in this movie! I quickly grabbed T-Bird’s jacket and acted Danny, a role played by John Travolta.

Further inside, I saw Oprah sitting on a chair. And so I became her guest of the day. Huhuhu! Then I saw Audrey Hepburn in her famous dress and tiara. OMG, she was soooo beautiful! Well, I was invited for a momentary hi-tea with her. Wasn’t that great?
And suddenly, hubby shouted “Marilyn Monroe!” I quickly ran with my camera in hand, played paparazzi, shooting her with her famous white dress, while her standing on top of the wind hole. Hubby then stood next to her, looking affectionately in love with the beauty. How gorgeous she was. Meanwhile, Alfred Hitchcock was looking from behind, looking bored with his own movie. Haha!
On the other side of this section, there were Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, and Jackie Chan. I continued played paparazzi, taking other celebs photo, like Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Keith, and Brangelina.
Hubby then walked towards the superhero section where he fancied Wolvarine and Ironman. He also posed next to the famous Crocodile Dundee, stepping his foot on one huge croc!
Not for long…

“OMG! OMG! IT’S HIM!” I walked slowly to one figurine in suit, messy hair, with black frame spectacles. I know this guy, 100 and 10 percent sure!

I was blushing.

As if he was looking at me and asking me to come closer. Closer to his body.

“I’m coming…honey…” I told him.

I hugged him. I tried to kiss him on the cheek...but…but…TAK SAMPAI! Damn!

“Udah-udah la tu Ayang…” Jealousy strike. Anyhow, I forced hubby to take tones of pictures of Johny Depp and me. Hubby’s feeling? Who cares!

“Goodbye my love, till we meet again.” I was hallucinated. I tried to drag Johny Depp with me but he didn’t move an inch! I had to let him go. I moved on and met the late Michael Jackson and my Romeo, Leonardo Dicaprio, another two men that always be in my heart, for his music and movies. Last but not least, Heath Ledger, may you rest in peace.

That ended the journey of Madame Tussauds. The end. 
Eh…where’s hubby?

“Ayang, look at me. I’m choking Lady Gaga to death.”

*Cricket sound*

“And who will you be?” He was wearing an electric blue short wig.

“Didie Alias.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It was 10 past 9 and we needed to find our way back to the Malaysian Hall. Though it was Saturday night, and we should be enjoying fireworks from the harbour, we chose to go back before it was too late. Hubby asked the man behind the counter (an Indian) and he was kind enough to lead us the way to the nearest subway. 
Along the way, he was telling us that locals were bit crazier during the weekends, especially when they got drunk. He hated them, for destroying the shop, and some even came into the Madame Tussauds souvenir area, and took whatever they want without paying any cents. Even guards can’t do anything and it was considered a lost to the shop. Gile lah!

15 minutes of walking. Super duper speedy walking. “Owh God, he walks really fast!” I told hubby, catching my breath to pace up with this guy.

“Just let him go first…we’ll find on our own.” I surrendered.

We decided to separate at Queen Victoria Buildings and let the guy continued with his “speedy Gonzales” walk. With little memory on the bus number, we managed to catch a bus which the route passed by the Malaysian Hall. Thank God that Malaysian Hall had no curfew and we can freely enter the building at anytime we want. We took a shower and had a good rest…a really good rest.

Then hubby voiced out…“Blue Mountain nak esok?”

“HUH???” Gulp! “But…HOW?”

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Boracay Island Trip Cookbook

Phew! We finally made it! I really had no idea that hubby planned a short "recovery" trip for us. He did all the booking (flight, ferry, and hotel) without my knowledge that led to a very huge argument, positive argument. Anyway, as usual, my job was to prepare the Tour Cookbook. I was extremely excited for this trip and created four sets of front and back cover. We finally agreed to choose the below covers, for Boracay Island in Philippine. It was purely beaches trip!

Stay tune for Boracay Island entries. Highlights were sea snake and diamond ring!

Front Cover

Back cover

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