Guess Where Am I Now?

No prize for guessing. But I might send you a postcard. :D

Chocolate Company and Smelly Cheese Shop

While in Hunter Valley, we visited what most wine country must have other than wine, the two most essential food since the creation of bread:

Chocolate and Cheese.







I like the Smelly Cheese Shop, the name itself attracted me to venture into the shop for a look see.




Wonder why people always have a tendency towards things that smells, the smellier the better. Like durians for asians.







We bought some really kick ass smelly soft blue cheese on the spot (for our dinner), perfect with some sweet dessert wine.

Next to the smelly cheese shop, we ran into a neat chocolate shop that sold the most interesting chocolate.




I was almost tempted to buy a suggest balanced diet from shelves.




Good marketing. Hey, the idea sold (at least to me).

Or you prefer something in case of an emergency.




Or something sexy?




Something sexier perhaps?


from Chocolate Company


Welcome to the adult food section.




First we have something in the male department.




Then to make it fair, something from ladies department.




And I found something that totally defines me.




Chocolate Kissing Cream!! Now why didn't I think of that?!


And I almost bought this.




You know, for fun? *wink*

I love browsing through chocolate shops, they just either drown you in your own chocolate wonderland, or bring you to drool land.








Fudge anyone?


And these chocolates were just adorable!


Penguin and Koala!



Golf balls! Haha!





But my favourite product of all, has to be this.




The essential necessity every girl should have - your very own Chocolate Survival Bag.




It consists of Peanut Chocolates, Chocolate Honeycomb, Chocolate Rocks, Choc Nut Bar, Assorted Chocolates and Candies and finally Chocolate Nut Clusters.


My only dilemma?




The bag, or the rest of the shop.

Life in Hunter Valley and Lillians

Hunter Valley is a beautiful vineyard located next to the town of Cessnock. Or should I say Cessnock is located inside Hunter Valley.

And the main spot is called Lovedale.




Locating Lillians took a bit of effort, we came from the south of the map and headed north. It's located in the 5th column 5th row in the map. Can you find it?




We were pretty excited as we drove up the estate house in the middle of a vast empty land (3-4 acres?).




The house from the driveway already looked pretty promising.

Soon we were at the front porch moving our luggage into the house from the car.




Due to my personal request for a specific dessert wine that I've heard so much about, Bill from Allandale winery (from next door) specially had someone hand-delivered a bottle of Anna Semillon Sauvignon Blanc to our door step just as the evening arrives.







The wine was awarded wine of the year in some competition btw, just to prove my point of how lovely this wine was. :p




We chucked the bottle into the fridge to chill and drove out to a nearby boutique restaurant to have our first wine dining.




Out of excitement, I forgot to bring my camera out. We've chosen Mojo's to have our first dinner in Hunter, a local recommendation.


photo taken from the site.


The dinner cost us almost AUD80 per person, with wine. Not a full three course meal as we're not exactly big eater, but you get the rough idea. Nothing fancy is cheap.

Mojo's was absolutely lovely. I especially adore their cameralised balsamic vinegar they served with their Hunter's own olive oil which you usually dip with home made fresh dinner roll/bread. I even bought the bottle of vinegar and now it's sitting half bottle consumed in my fridge.

That night we got home and took the bottle of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc out and went backyard to spend the rest of our night chatting in the cold winter drizzles.




Nothing beats a lovelier evening. Everything was perfect. If only Kif and I were single back then, damn it. *Potong steam* (kidding :p)




We went to bed separately as the night drew in. But not before placing the frozen croissants on the tray in the kitchen for the next day.




Morning came...




I took the chance to use the beautiful jacuzzi in my bathroom. Ho ho ho...




It got cold so I borrowed a jumper from Kif and pulled it over myself. Brrr....

Morning in Lillians was perfect. The fresh air, the cold quiet lounge, unwashed wine glass on the table. It's something I wouldn't mind waking up to every morning for the rest of my life. We even spotted a few wallabies hopping around the fences out of the kitchen window.




Things got more "homey" when we went to check out our croissants on the table.




It's raised to perfection.

So we stuck the two loaves into the oven and proceeded with our morning hang abouts.




There, our perfect croissants, with butter, for breakfast.


Before and after


After changing, we drove out to explore the rest of Hunter Valley.

Okay, one thing beautiful about living in Lillians or in a vineyard, is that you wake up to a scenery like this every morning.




Makes you wanna skip a few steps everywhere you go.




We visited some chocolate shops (will blog about this more, he he he).




Some cheese shop.




Some wineries.




There was one winery that has everything to do with pigs.










You know the owner is obsessed with pigs when you find the name of the bottle of wine named after this.




Wanted to walk around the Hunter's garden when it started raining. So only got to see the map at the entrance of the garden.




So instead we went back to Allandale and met up with Bill for lunch at Leaves and Fishes.





Bill and Kif talking about the wine industry in Malaysia


Baked salmon and fish & chips here were excellent.







Service was wonderful, so was the humor of the place.



"Stressed is Desserts spelt backwards" Haha! I never knew that!


Making this my new fav phrase, I decided to live up to the phrase.




Wine chocolate! What better choices of dessert in a wine country!

We proceeded to visit more wineries after lunch. And get drunk while at it. Make sure your driver was either a very responsible driver, or pretty darn good drinker.

Having visited more cheese shop and wineries, we ended up making our own candlelight dinner at Lillians.




Perfected with bread, vinegar and olive oil, salads, and steaks as main.


Salad and beef from supermarket in Cessnock.


As a bottle of sparkling sweet rose from a nearby winery.




Dinner, as I may put it, was superb. Prepared by yours truly. :p


Sirloin and blue cheese


We ended the night by playing Oreo Checkers and Kif eating up all my checkers.




On our final morning, we packed our bags and went next door to pay a visit to Allandale Winery. :D







Met up with Bill, manager of Allandale,




chatted for a bit and had him gave us a tour around his distillation.




Bad move, Bill, bad move.




Next thing you know half of your distillation will go missing overnight, especially that distillation tin with Sweet Semillon Sauvignon Blanc listed on it.




We learnt a lot about wine making that day.

Facts like French oak is a favorable choice for aging red wine or Chardonnay, it's one of the most expensive oaks too,




or the fact that you have to change a new oak barrel every five year or so because the wine would have soaked away a thick later of the oak.




or the fact that if you like free wine as I do, make friends with the wine connoisseur of the winery.




By the end of the tour, you'd end up with more than a dozen glasses of wine down your liver.




We then returned to the house and moved our bags into the car to prepare our trip north into Newcastle.

Before we leave, we flipped through the guest book and left a comment, or two.




If you're ever had the chance to stay in Lillians, look for my signature. :)




Till then, we'll miss you Lillians.




Thank you for the most amazing experience.

Lillians Estate House - Vlog

I've been saving this post for a long time.

As for the next few posts, I will be writing about some of the most prestigious places I've stayed over the next few months since Lillians back in August.

From amazing 5 star hotels to some of the most exclusive spas to world class views, but now, let's start with Lillians.


Lillians is a beautiful estate house I stayed in in wine country Hunter Valley, 2 hours drive north of Sydney, courtesy of Bill, manager of Allandale Winery and owner of Lillians.


Starting our drive from Sydney


We arrived Lillians shortly after 4 hours in our rental car. (Kif got lost -.-)




Click on the video for the full introduction of this beautiful home in the wine country. Wine lovers, you'll never want to take your honeymoon elsewhere anymore.




Costing $360 per night for the whole unit, staying at Lillians is one of the most romantic experiences I have had since diving with your love ones.


Lounge



Kitchen


Too bad I wasn't there with my love ones then. sniff.... (Kif, you're a great company. :D)


Couple Jacuzzi!


What I love was the attention to details of Lillians, the candles by the jacuzzi, the scents and shower cream and gel by the toilet sink.




The croissants in the freezer, the milk and wine in the fridge, dish washer and modern cooking devices, the wood by the fireplace, and the music CDs in the DVD player.


Master Bedroom



Secondary bedroom








Next up, more on my experience at Lillians and Hunter Valley. :)

Fresh Air!

I am finally out of the hospital!!

Hurray!!

Just when I thought the bed is beginning to form a hole for my butt and "How I Met Your Mother" TV series are getting to my head.

Now it's time to shower, wash my face and brush my teeth.


Oo.... my poor un-flossed teeth.

6th day in Hospital

And so... it turns out I am still stuck in this hospital.

Life gets pretty mundane once I got around to consciousness from my sickness.

Previously it was just nauseous and feverish-ly for days, time either went really slow (and painfully) but un-noticingly then, or not-that-slow but incredibly boring like now.

Yes I have been feeling better thank you for asking. No more vomiting, fainting, sudden high fever or fast heart pumping action, etc. I am fit as a fiddle if I may say so myself.

So WHY THE F*** AM I STILL HERE?!!!!!



I asked me myself too.

Well apparently since my CT scan, more complications have been found and what was expected to be a one day admittance became a three-day admittance, was soon evolved to 5, 6 as more and more complicatons were found and things-were-not-what-they seemed-mysteries-about-my-body solved,

I've been given antibiotics that cost RM500 per shot, twice a day, only attainable in the hospital and under doctor prescription and advice, and also through the drip hole in my right hand (it has moved from my left because my left hand has swollen on the third day).

HENCE, my stay here.


So now it has become an 8-DAY admittance!!!!!


Eight days!! I have been doing nothing but sleep, sleep, sleep,
then become sleep, eat, sleep, sleep,
then become sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep,
and now becoming sleep, eat, snack, movie, nap, eat, sleep, snack, etc
kind of routine!!!


Do you know how bored this is?!!!!

Hurrr...

I miss the outside world.

Has car flown yet?

Besties Chat

Seeing that I am still in the hospital.

I will show you some random pictures of me and my best friend chatting while I secretly print-screen them. Hehe~~


On one particular night.




I got bored so I uncorked a bottle of wine and continued chatting with Gerald.

Was at my second glass at this screen shot.




Sneezing at third glass.


"Ah-choo"


Getting pretty random/high.


pulled random face


We talked about my Koh Samui trip,




Where Gerald dropped my precious Ipod Mini into the sea.





"er.. opps? :p"


Then we proceeded to make Caryn jealous because we get to take our Advance before her Open Water. LOL




Kakaka...

Man this is really random.

I miss my random posts.

It either gets better, or worse.

So apparently I am still in the hospital, no longer in the ICU, but still feeling equally worse as before.

Typically my daily routine now is to wake up in the middle of the night, shivering uncontrollably, then when the shiver subsides, say, 1 or 2 hours later, in come the high fever, this morning 5am my fever went as high as 40 degree celcius.

Then the nurse will come and feed me two panadols, half an hour to an hour later, I will start to get extremely dizzy, when I'm not on anti-vomiting serum, I will puke, water or whatever little tiny fruit I ate earlier.

So far I have not consumed proper food that has not been puked out for 3-4 days, it's a scary feeling. You feel that you stomach is just full of meds and nothing else.

Then when the paracetamol kicks in, I will finally doze off into wonderful land, which is the most comfortable time I have, and when I wake up say half a hour later, I will be drown in sweats, and I will feel fine for... say... 2 hours? like now actually. Then the whole routine will repeat again and again, basically around three times of shiver-to-sweat a day.

Using the opportunity I was pushed in a wheelchair with my drip still attached to my right hand, "borrowing" the hospital ground floor wifi to do some updates, mainly because I felt that I have been neglecting you guys too much.

Moving to the medical ward is more comfortable, because there are fewer talking nurses and coughing patients at night, and they switch off the lights, and the beds are softer too.

Doctor would still want to me to stay another 2 days in the hospital, I don't know how long this is going to last, I feel like I am going to collapse anytime soon.

Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments, I'm sorry if I am not able to reply each and every one of you, as time is running out and I need to get back to my ward. Sigh~


ps// apparently, according to the doctor, this is due to kidney infection & inflammation (which happens quite often to me over the past few years coz I have a weak right kidney) and not due to food poisoning. But who knows.

Hospital bed

Sorry for the lack of update.

As most of you might not know, i've been admitted to ICU in Melaka hospital. Due to several reasons.

First off I have severe food poisoning. Yes from tioman. I've always had a weak stomach, but this time the situation was worsen by kidney infection and contant high fever, for the past 3 days, measuring at 39.4 degree celcius.

I couldn't walk, couldn't sleep nor eat nor drink for 2 straight days. Facing high dehydration, I was finally admitted into ICU.

I hate hospital, and I hate their beds,most of all, I hate the fact that they don't allow my close ones to stay ovenight here with me, or the fact that they keep waking every hour or so to measure you, or to feed you medicine, after you took so much effort to fall asleep on their hard uncomfortable bed.

I was shivering from 2am to 4am, and no one care or took notice. Then my head was spinning like I was going to puke, and all they did was ask me to stay put.

The day and night had never felt longer when you're lying on a hospital bed.

Sunburst

Short Note: Tioman Tioman here I come! Taking my Advanced Open Water this weekend! Woo!! Thanks Loyd!


When I first heard about sunburst, I thought…

“wow, big bang”




But of course it was far from what I originally thought as the sun or planet bursting into a billion pieces and formed the solar system and many other systems in the universe…

I was close enough.

Well, there is going to be a big bang. Bang your music that is. Sunburst KL09 is a huge concert gathering all the top local and international acts held by UOX.

I’ll name your some of them: Hujan, Bunkface, Meet Uncle Hussain (haha cute name), Skye, Korn (I wonder if their songs are corny).

And show you all the artists.







Now can you tell me who is who? (I pay you RM1 if you can)

Like every concert, and every kiasu ppl out there (such as me), there are ALWAYS ways to win free tickets.

But first, you have to be an UOX member. (What? You’re not? Just join la, so easy.)




If you’re chosen, you win 2 FREE concert tickets worth RM406 in total! (I love free things)


OR… you do this,



So to win a pair of exclusive Meet & Greet passes + 2 FREE tickets worth RM203 each, you will have to…

1. Record your “I WANT TO BE AT SUNBURST KL09” video/picture
2. Send video/picture via MMS to 26388 before 18th March 2009.


To rate, go to http://wap.channelx.com.my from mobile and choose Fun Stuff -> MeTV -> Sunburst.

Now tell me my hand is pretty.

For All Travel Lovers - Matta Fair 2009

Yep, so get your butt over there.

If you want VIP passes (which means you won't need to queue up for hours and pay RM3 and get the regular pass), say you want to go and link me from your blog (preferably a travel blog).

And I shall grant you passes!


ps// Email me also la, so I know. nicootan@gmail.com

Earth Hour Malaysia

It's time for Nicolekiss to do some charity awareness.
(means I'm writing this for free la)

Now don't close the window just yet!

It's not going to be some boring old shit.

Cause what I am about to show you here is something phenomenal.

BEHOLD!

Toronta Canada.



On Earth Hour.


What is this? City went blank? Power Cut?

Nay, this is called the Earth Hour, a world wide charity project to raise awareness aka a powerful message to the rest of the world that everyone can make a difference to our climate change now.




Save electricity, save water, recycle, etc. Save our world.


What started as a city project in Sydney in 2007 where 2.2 millions households and businesses joined together to switch off their lights for one whole hour on 31 March.


Canberra, Australia before and during Earth Hour.


But a year later the project went global and more than 370 cities in 35 cities participated in this project.


oo... lookie! Dubai!


This year WWF (not wrestling ok) Malaysia has signed Malaysia up for this global event. And Earth Hour 2009 is targeting to reach one billion people! Over 1000 cities!

Wouldn't it be nice to see the Petronas Twin Tower and the whole of Bukit Bintang to go pitch black for one whole hour! Everyone will be shouting on the street I bet.

So jot this date and time down.

Saturday 28 March 2009, 8:30pm


In fact there will be a lot of events going on in Bukit Bintang, Sunway, Mont Kiara and most happening of all, Capital Square!

I heard there will be marching parade in Cap Square during Earth Hour, and even the Malaysia Artiste for Unity will be performing there!

You never heard of them?! SHUT UP! How can?!

Watch this video. It's an awesome awesome song.




Right.End of Awareness. I will be in KL that day. Woo hoo!!!! (I feel like buying some luminous sticks)

So let's switch off our lights altogether okay? If you'll still be in the office during that time, show this to your boss and ask him to participate!! Else, come out to town, walk the street and join us to march the parade!

Make us proud Malaysians!!

ps// don't forget to sign up and pledge your support on the website. So that they can keep track.

pps// This is an event for the whole of Malaysia :D

Bondi Beach Wallpapers

Short Note: I am looking for 200 promoters for a 2-hour job distributing flyers this Thursday for RM40 in Klang Valley, Kajang, Puchong, Cyberjaya, Klang, etc. Pay on the spot when job is done. Interested candidate please email me at nicootan@gmail.com

Students are encouraged to apply.


Wallpapers incoming!!
Ready to flood your nearest desktop with some pretty oceanic photos!


First two are from Coogee Beach.


Click for wallpaper size.



Click for wallpaper size.


Some of the other beaches. Not necessary Bondi but it's around the area. :)


Click for wallpaper size.



Click for wallpaper size.



Click for wallpaper size.



Click for wallpaper size.

Coogee to Bondi Beach Walk, Sydney

Short note: Stupid blogger, my blog has been left blank the whole day! Stupid bug!


Those of you who have been to Sydney or who have heard a fair deal about Sydney, will know about Bondi Beach.




If you have not been to Bondi Beach, let me tell you, it's like Beverly Hills up there. Or even Manhattan, where all the rich and famous live. Young and beautiful housewives jogging all day long by the beach, with their beautiful pooch or studly hounds and ipods plugged in their ears.

It's like a Hollywood lifestyle dream, but Sydney style.

Now when you are in Sydney, you should, nay, must! go for a walk at Bondi Beach.

And I don't mean guy-chasing-after-girl-slow-motion-romantic-movie-splashing-water-giggling-by-the-white-sandy-beach-under-the-sunset kind of walk.





Oooh.... that I don't mind though. Growl~


I mean a real walk, that takes hour(s) to complete.

Kind of like my Great Ocean Roadtrip in Melbourne, but this time, you're walking (yes, with your own two feet).

There are many walks one can take at Bondi, whether toward or setting off from.




Some of the main walks are the walk from Bondi to Maroubra Beach which would take 3~4 hours

Or the shorter one which is the Bondi to Bronte Coast Walk, probably an hour or so.

But the more local known was the Coogee to Bondi Beach Walk.

Walking time: 2 hour (if leisure walk), 3 hours (if pause to take photos every now and then)

How to get to Coofee Beach:
You can take State Transit Bus services 372, 373, 374 to Coogee Beach from Sydney Central Business District at regular intervals.

So Stuart and I started off from Coogee Beach at 1pm.



Sunny, cold, bright beautiful people and white sandy beaches.

Coming from Malaysia where islands and beaches are like our home or next door neighbours, as much as I love the beach, it has never been that big of a hoo-ha for me.

For one thing, I would start jumping around shouting for joy when I spotted the edge of the beach from afar.

But I would still have to admit that the view at Coogee beach here was spectacular.







Makes you wonder if you're living in a desktop wallpaper.


Stuart led me to climb the hill next to the beach, which I habitually followed. (pilot mode)




It was late August when set foot in Sydney, and I was glad to be finally moving north again, but it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be as compared to Canberra. By late August, the weather was beginning to warm.





Care to take a bath? Kidding, this is a memorial of the local Australians who died of Bali bombings in 2002


As we move toward Gordons Bay, the path brought us higher.




And higher.




Till it was another spectacular view round the corner.




And then I was standing on rocky stones overlooking the bluest sea off the coast of Sydney.








"Hi"


After the bay you will come to a car park which you need to walk pass toward Clovelly Beach.

Where you will be greeted with a beautiful scene (like in the first photo) of many gorgeous (an expensive) properties by the hillside along the coastal line.


Careful, it's a long way down.


Now on the way to Bondi, you will come across the most idyllic location for a graveyard - Waverly Cemetary.




Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it's where you will find some of the very famous Australians buried (either rich, or famous, or both).




I remember how my mom always remind me (for a good reason and measure) that when she move on in this world, she would want me to take her ash and spread it over the sea, back to the nature and let it float away.




With a view like this, I really couldn't find a better place for anyone to rest in peace.




Walk down the path and around the corner,




you will head straight into Bronte and Tamarama beach.

Now this is where you will start seeing lots of rich beautiful and young ladies, with their posh ipods, jog around in their matching jumpers and pants.

And drool at dozens of million dollar (or tens of millions) properties rising up from the hill as you walk pass.




okay, make that hundreds of those million dollars houses.




If you're feeling overwhelmed and have a sudden tendency to marry rich, I suggest to focus your visual on the sea.




Even though it's getting warmer, the sea was still pretty cold in that time of the month, but looked closely and you would find lots of crazy Australians surfers trying to kill themselves at sea.




After the last corner of Mackenzies Point, you will finally be able to spot Bondi in a close distance!




Oh darn, the sun was setting.

So we quickened our pace down the stone curve and windy pathways.




We managed to catch the view of Bondi as the sun hits the shore.




Now let me tell you a bit about Bondi's properties.

Take any of those these beautiful landed properties/houses, with full on sea view, you will be looking at an easy AUD3 millions per unit.




Now I want to introduce a man here, who has been living in Bondi for the past 35 years, on the cliff overlooking a AUD3 million dollars view, without needing to pay a single cent since the day he moved in.

I even went to his mansion to have a peep (really!), though unfortunately it seemed that the man of the house has stepped out during my visit there.

If you're ever in town, please drop by his place, say hi to him for me. His house might not be easy to access to, but it's not impossible.

You will require a bit of trick to find your way there.

And I can teach you how.

Ready?
Ok.

When you passed Mackenzies point, head straight till you are at the cliff facing the other end of Bondi Bay, like this.




Now stepped over the cliff, and lean your body outward, tilt your head downward.

And hah! You can see his mansion from where you are standing.




Ladies and Gentlemen, let me welcome you to the humble home of the Gypsy of Bondi.

Don't underestimate this guy, he's been living here for so long, when the estate builder wanted to chase him out of his shelter, the locals actually had a petition to have him stay seeing that he has been there for almost forever, he's like part of Bondi now, and the petition won!

He has everything there, his thrown seat, his wok, his bedroom, his night light, his fishing rod for entertainment and food, his wardrobe closet, etc. He's living a king's life!

Not forgetting overlooking the most expensive view in Bondi Beach.


I wonder how he climbs down there everyday.


Someone hand me a rope, I'm gonna invade his house.

My Favourite Part of Sydney: Royal Botanical Garden

Short Note: Hohoho, going Tioman next week to take my AOW diving license. Legitimate night dive here I come!


If there is one place that I love Sydney more than anything, it's their Royal Botanical Garden.




I know it's odd. Of all places beautiful and amazing in Sydney, why the garden?




I don't know, seriously. It's me with the nature, and the Royal Botanical Garden is probably the closest to nature I can find in Sydney, apart from the beach. But then again, the Sydney Palace Garden (also called) is not just any garden, it's a paradise, situated strategically next to the water edge's walk from the Sydney Opera House.




Kif, again, brought me here because he knew this would be a place I would like (according to his guts), and it's also the place where he stole a nap every afternoon after lunch before returning to his office back then. That was before he moved back to Malaysia la.




Also, it's a great place to take some kick-ass photos.




Some of the sculptures here reminded me of ancient Greece, or Rome, or Europe overall actually.




Being bloggers, we kinda went wild with every single stationary objects there.




It's always nice to go out with a blogger, we always understand my each other's need to camwhore every 2 steps taken.




Like this sundial, we stood there trying to figure out how to read the ancient clock, but figured that since there was no sun that day, it's impossible to do that. wtf.


So I hugged the sundial in the end. lol


Taking a walk in the park/garden can be a very romantic thing.




The trees and grass are always so perfect in alignments.

Once or twice you can sit and the bench and cuddle in the cold early spring time, or late autumn.




Take a walk hand in hand down the path surrounds by rainbow color flower beds.




Stop to kiss a flower.




Or pause to look at pretty little flowers.










Bathe in the bed of plants.


No, not these.





That's more like it.

If you really like the flowers you see, you can even buy some seeds of the plant back.




Occasionally you'll spot a weird plant you can't put a name on.


Looks like some sort of inverted red banana flower.





Or a tree that looks like a cactus.




Or cactus that looks like cotton buds.




We landed in the cactus park, which was such a delightful area to play in.




I was am'bushed' by a group of cactusaurers!




Kif found an erected cactus.




I got down to talking emo stuff with a new found cacty friend.




She had problems with her neighbours you see, they thought she was weird. :((

We found the park to be in its late puberty, because we stumbled across some massive pimples on the earth.




Kif tried to cheer them up by doing some quirky stunt next to the riped pimples.


see the pimples about to burst soon? so red on the top


It was really a fun and enjoyable walk in the park. The garden was closing when we did our last stroll in the cactus park.




I was reluctant to leave. :(((

Sydney Opera House & Harbour Bridge

While in Sydney, I managed to take some great photos of the famous Opera House.
(Yes that means you have new wallpapers to use! :D)

Early Evening Opera House


Click for wallpaper size.


Late Evening Opera House


Click for wallpaper size.


I even got a wide angel shot for those wide screen users. :D


Click for wide wallpaper size.


And some close ups.





Click for wallpaper size.


Next to the opera is the beautiful harbour front night view.


Click for wallpaper size.



Click for wide wallpaper size.


Opposite the Opera House, you will find the outstanding Harbour Bridge where they once had the grandest fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Harbour Bridge.





I took this on a moving boat, considering the strong wind and constant wobbliness of the boat, it was a pretty stable shot.



And now... My favourite shot of all~~~~~~



Sydney's Pride


Click for wallpaper size.


Sydney's Pride (Wide angle)


Click for wide wallpaper size.



Share with me some comments. What do you think?

Should I continue sharing wallpapers? Or have you guys had enough of these shots. :p

Popping by the Queen Victoria Building

Kif pointed at a building across the street: "This is the building I want to bring you to, it's one my favourites, and I think you will like it too."




So we walked across the street and straight into QVB, short for Queen Victoria Building.




The building has stood here since 1898 and is now a building housing many coffee shops and fashion stores, kind of like a posh looking shopping mall. Can read about its history here.




There was this very cool little lift inside the building that I couldn't stop fussing about. It's one of those pretty ancient little metal boxes that you only see in the movies.




Those creepy motel movies.




Can't feel it?

Let me change the background.




Feel it yet?

Yea, that's the feeling the lift was giving me.

Creepy~

Inside the lift was all wired fence and it even had the jerks old lifts have when they move up or down.




It was cute, fun and exciting in a way. For me at least.




The QVB was really a pretty little mall, with many nice boutiques and shops, nice architectures and interior.


Kif emo photo.


I especially love the clock tower inside. It's a beautiful clock for one thing. The design was very unique and exquisite.




For one thing, it has a ship that goes round the clock sailing through "time" over some of the well known destinations in Australia.





When the clock strikes (god knows what time but it seemed to be playing when it struck 4pm when we were there), there was even light-up scenes that depicted an event in the past.




I didn't know what historical event was this, all I saw was someone's head being chopped off.




And.. Er... that.. must be Queen Victoria?

My 25th Birthday

Today... is my birthday.

Birthdays over the years have always been a reason for me to seek celebration and attention.

It's that one time of the year that you want to make it about yourself, to reward yourself, to be loved and pampered.

Hitting the quarter of a century, I really want nothing more than to spend it with someone special.

Nothing fancy.




Just some quality time.

I cried last night.

I've been worrying about the things in life, about the uncertainty in the future, about family and friends, about achievements and failures. Of how my twenties is hitting it's mid term and I have yet to be where I see myself to be.

But as the clock struck 12. I sat on the edge of the bed in my hotel suite, welcoming one candle, that tells no age, shows no future, nor past; a cake, 50% off the shelf after 9pm, almost stale in taste except for the chocolate icings; an almost laughable cheap plastic container where the cake sat...

And a heart, of love and kindness, such tenderness and of gentle touch, one that knows no sweet romance, but trying his best to give, to present it in the best possible way, one that trembled with nervousness as I unwrapped his first wrapped gift, which was nicely put together with double sided sticky tape, with a gift wrapper that matched the gift.

And a card that made me laugh.








I want nothing more, nothing less, even if I have a choice, I wouldn't change it for the most extravagant trip to Europe...

Rather... to celebrate this birthday, with one candle, a stale cake placed in a plastic container, a cute card, a carefully wrapped gift and you. Yes, you.


Happy 25th Birthday Nicole.