Life, Travel, GRACE

A day tour that every visitor must take in Victoria. We departed from downtown Melbourne all the way to Torquay for a short rest. Then continued along The Great Ocean Road. We stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay. Then stopped over at Great Otwa National Park. And finally Port Campbell National Park for the 12 Apostles. We reached Melbourne around 10 pm. A great trip indeed. Beach at Torquay Beach at Torquay Little boy posing in front of The Great Ocean Road arch Scenery along the road Another scenery along the road Spotted a koala Lunch was fish and chips The 12 Apostles Are there really 12? Scene round the 12 Apostles Port Campbell Park More scene A hidden beach

We took the free walking tour in the city (organized by I’m Free). That’s the easiest way to navigate and understand the city up close. Here are some snapshots during the tour. From the state library, our first stop was the old jail, Next was the Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building. Mind you, this building received UNESCO World Heritage status. Chinatown Performing theater just nearby the Parliament House. Street art (forgot what’s the street name) The Royal Arcade and Block Arcade The Royal Arcade and Block Arcade Passed by St Paul’s Cathedral and Federation Square, we arrived at the art center area. Our last stop, overseeing the Yarra River.

We had made the full payment for the flight tickets and accommodation few months ago. The plan was to have a week holiday in Melbourne during the short-term school break. So we packed and went ahead. A week before our flight, Covid-19 cases in our country was getting more and more but still manageable at the low number of cases. The same applied to the Australia’s. We touched down Melbourne on 15 Mar. We were lucky as Australian government imposed travel ban on the following day. Few days later, Malaysian government imposed movement control order (MCO), and ban on traveling (we were lucky again,?). Then Australian government closed all borders. That’s where panic set in as our returning flight has been cancelled. With some help, we managed to secure our return flight on Sunday, 22 Mar (the last flight before total suspension of international flight by AAX). During our stay in Melbourne, we were blessed with good weather, safe journey and exciting trip, aside on one evening where the pa...

In view of recent political turmoil in Malaysia, some might have lost hope. Of course, most of us were shocked, angry, confused. Regardless the outcome of the situation, as a believer, we should entrust all these to the hand of the Lord. And we pray that God will deliver us from this uncertainty. Perhaps a wise quote by Gandalf (from The Lord of The Rings) can be a good comfort and encouragement. It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.      -  J.R.R. Tolkien -

As usual, lion dance is a must during Chinese New Year. This year we didn’t get to see many performances, even in Sandakan during Chap Goh Mei. Probably no good luck in spotting the lion dance troupe. Anyway, as always, shopping malls in Klang Valley will be the best venue to catch the lion dance performance (although I still prefer the performance by the Sabahan lion dance troupe back in Sabah). Nowadays, kids are rushing to get blessing from the lion after the performance (in Klang Valley). As a result, my younger son has not been able to get the “blessing” (in the form of mandarin orange). Too competitive for the kids though.

Had an opportunity to visit Yinchuan city last October while attending a conference. Yinchuan can be considered as the gateway to Inner Mongolia in the northern part of China; although I didn’t venture beyond that. It is the capital city of Ningxia province, with high concentration of Hui people who are mostly Muslim. Although the province is not large, the city itself and its surrounding offer some good places to visit. Coincidently, the place that I stayed (Yinchuan Macrolink Regent Hotel) is just a walking distance from the tourist bus station. It’s also next to the airport city terminal bus stop. I managed to visit Western Xia Imperial Tomb, Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain and China Western Film Studio, and Yinchuan Museum. Due to insufficient time, and rainy season, I didn’t manage to explore Helan Mountain (it was closed due to heavy rain/snow). Sha Hu and Shuidonggou site are also good for a day trip. Other places like Shapotou is a bit too far from the town. Probably will go t...

When a few friends post in FB that they have purchased tickets for U2 concert in Singapore, I was quite excited. Unfortunately, I was too late. Tickets were sold out for the performance on 30 Nov 2019. Fortunately, they added an extra show on the following day, 1 Dec. So with great anticipation, I waited for the ticket sale for 1 Dec performance. Managed to get 2 tickets with good seats, although the distance from the stage could be far (the venue is in a stadium). We travelled to Singapore via long distance bus although flying in would be a better option. The traveling time was long, coupled with extremely long queueing time at the Tuas checkpoint. It took us almost 2 hours to complete the immigration process (Singaporean government needs to look into this and do some improvement. The queue was ok when leaving Singapore). Because of the long waiting time, the bus left us. We met some good Samaritans where they sponsored us the connecting bus from the checkpoint to Jurong East (that...