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Once upon a time in Guangzhou - Pearl River

Was wandering around the Pearl River New Town area back in Sep 2019. Opera house, library and a museum are situated in that area. The Canton Tower is nearby too. Was impressed with the library - the design and the collection. Was a bit let down with the museum. Not much artefacts on displayed, or maybe I wasn't paying much attention on the details. Guangzhou Opera House Guangzhou Opera House Guangzhou Library (main entrance) Guangzhou Library (interior) Guangdong Museum (main entrance) Guangdong Museum (interior) Canton Tower

Desaru

After several months of conditional movement, we took the chance to go for domestic vacation. At last, we went to Desaru Coast in last January (before the lockdown). Basically, nothing spectacular there, just two good hotels and a water theme park. The nearby town toward the south, Pengerang, is a good place to explore though. We managed to buy some local biscuits from a traditional bakery shop there. Due to heavy rain, we didn’t manage to stroll the beach of Desaru. Maybe some other time. Traditional bakery shop The sea view of Pengerang One of the hotels in Desaru Coast Fun at the water theme park Pool view The theme park is just beside the hotel Man-made beach, which is pretty good Try this

Gardening

 Never thought I would have developed an interest in gardening, pot gardening to be exact, and only periwinkle plants. It all started when we snapped two pots of periwinkle from flower expo in Putrajaya last year September. We had the pink and violet flower version. Didn’t take good care of both pots last year, the pink perinwikle died few months later. Not sure what was the cause of dead. But I guess could be due to overwatering or roots rotting. With one pot left, I began to observe and take good care of it since April this year; partly because I had some time at home during lockdown. Did some pruning here and there, and added new soil on it last month. The plant began to thrive. Sadly, the violet periwinle has showed some signs of infection recently. I guess it must be roots rotting as watering doesn’t help to elevate the curling leaves. Guess I need to try to propagate the plant via stem cutting.

Tenet

After watched the movie, probably everyone is trying to understand the logic and sequence of the story like me. For a start, I have to satisfy with my own explanation, especially for the ending scene although I’ve read some articles about the interpretation of this movie. In a same timeline, two events happen concurrently. Surely, this must have been the product of the alternate universe, after the occurrence of the first event (the forward timeline). In order for the second event (the inverted timeline) to occur, a new alternate universe has to be created (like Avengers Endgame). Whatever happens, happens. But wait, the movie’s explanation is about reverse entropy. Entropy itself is already not easy to grasp. To invert entropy, one needs additional external work, for an open system. Maybe the best solution is to follow the movie’s advice: don’t try to understand it, feel it.

The market, the wine and the chocolates

After done The Great Ocean Road trip, the remaining days can be used to explore the city area and its surrounding. One of the must-visit places is Queen Victoria Market. The market offers a variety of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood, gourmet and deli foods. We tried the seafood platter in one of the stalls. The market also has diverse range of clothing and souvenir. The following day we took a trip to Yarra Valley, where one can take wine tasting course. For the children, they can have chocolate tasting course and ice cream tasting. The signage of the market Queen Victoria Market offers clean shopping environment. Seafood platter Wine tasting Chateau Yering The main building of Chateau Yering Ice cream.... Chocolate tasting

Philip Island Penguin Parade

The following day we headed to the Philip Island for penguin parade. Along the way, we stopped at Maru Koala and Animal Park. Plenty of kangaroos and wallabies hopping around in the park. After that, we proceeded to Cape Woolamai, one of the beach strips. Before we headed to the penguin parade venue, we stopped by at the Summerlands. Unfortunately the visitor center was closed due to Covid-19 pandemic. We were lucky though as the penguin parade center would be closed to the public on the following day, again due to the pandemic. The march of the penguin was indeed a view not to be missed. But don’t expect to see thousand of penguins marching in one shot. Feeding the wallaby Practicing  his photography skill The beach of Cape Woolamai Summerlands Panoramic view in Summerlands Spotted a penguin in his burrow Another panoramic view in Summerlands The number of penguin arrival on the previous day Penguin parade (photo taken from the Philip ...

The Great Ocean Road tour

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