Melbourne Trip: A lil' bit of the city

We were back in our hostel at 11.00 am and it was already time for check out. AM and SN did all the packing for us because we thought we'll make it in time but then we were back late huhu Thank you AM and Sn *HUGS!* After that we went out and separate in 2 groups. MR and I went to find rental car and the rest went to get food.

This is the free City Circle tram. It only goes around the Central Business District (CBD) but it is nonetheless very convenient because all the stops are close to all the city attractions and halal eateries. And only by hopping onto this tram, you get to see every nook and cranny of the city. And as we go by one by one of the streets, there was a man's voice on the speaker telling us what are the attractions found in a particular street and some quick facts and histories of the place of interest.

The rest alighted at La Trobe. MR and I chose to hop off at Flinders because there's one big tourist info centre there

This  is where you can get lots of useful brochures that have discount coupons in them. You can also make tour and flight bookings here. You just tell them where you want to go or what you want to do then they'll make an itinerary for you and contact the necessary people and voilla the next thing you know, you're in a tour bus (^^)/ ok.. but we were there to get a car.. but then, we actually have to deal directly with the car rental company.. Yeah.. Tidak booking awal adalah suatu yang dinamakan STUPIDITY.. (-_-")/

Though we were slightly off schedule with no car guaranteed for our trip to Philip Island, MR and I just can't resist to snap some pictures. The weather was so fine and the view around us was so beautiful.. So.. Why not..

Yah! Berusaha mo blend in~

A very ancient-looking church in front of Federation Square. Not that ancient la.. Just I think from the architectural features (macam la aku tau sangat), it could be one built in early 1900 hehe 

Modern architecture.. I think it's unique.. Not ugly hehe

Excited shadows (^^)v

Federation wharf just behind Federation Square.. Thank you burung2 yang bertebangan.. 

Melbourne City.. I mish uuuuu~

Lepas tu, kami makan Lord of the Fries!!! With Italian sauce (^^)/

Xpa la add $ 2 for the tasty Italian sauce pon..

O ya, Actually I ordered the small size.. But then they sort of  skipped my order by mistake and I've to wait a little longer than I should.. And they upgraded my fries to LARGE!!! \(^^) yeehaw! Ini bukan konspirasi menggemokan aku.. Bukan...

Office workers having lunch.. Kalo di Malaysia, basah lencun dengan peloh suda kalo lunch outdoor begini

Jogging di tengah kota at 12 noon... Apakah?? Gaya hidup sehat yang sebenar..

So then, we actually went to Swanston street where all the car rental companies are located lalu kami panick sebab every company was fully booked for the week and we need the car for 3 days! (-_-") Dada penuh dengan penyesalan masa tu.. MR and I were chanting.. 

"Back up plan.. Back up plan.. Back up plan.."

..as we roam the street with despair. We don't have any back up plans! Aaaargh and then from a T-juction I was slightly elated to see the indoor climbing gym and then we saw Avis, Europecar and Budget; the three remaining companies that we haven't check. We chose to try Budget first because Europecar and Avis are known as being a little bit pricey..

"Kalau Budget takde, Avis takde, kite amek je la Europecar walaupon mahal.."

And Alhamdulillah \\(",) tadah tangan tinggi2.. There is one 8-seaters still free for that evening \(^^)/

MR maintained her composure as she usually does. Aku suda sedikit terlompat di depan kaunter.. Dan kami mengesyaki orang di kaunter itu Malaysian sebenarnya though he continued to converse in English...

Soooo.... Bermulalah journey kami ke pulau yang indah itu...

Philip Island map.. Not that big.. But bigger than Labuan hehe

Our 8-seater.. I never drive a vehicle this big so I wasn't that confident at first. But I enjoy driving there. The drivers were ethical and I can just relax and not be surprised by the sudden appearance of a zooming car like reckless drivers in you-know-where does

A meadow overlooking the sea as we enter Philip Island.. Yah.. driver yang baru menelan Dhamotil beberapa jam sebelom perjalanan. Luckily I didn't get drowsiness (^^)

Dan ini plate yang membuat an mpv full of singles menjerit "OMG!!!!!!!!!!!"

Macam menyindir kan.. hahaha ok next post will be Philip Island.. (^^)/ Yosh!

So pengajarannya: BOOK KERETA SEWA AWAL2 YAW!!

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Melbourne Trip: Hot Air Balloon Ride in Yarra Valley

On the way to Melbourne from Grampians, we stopped at this vineyard for wine tasting. Of course, we didn't taste the wine, it was part of the tour. This place is said to be the oldest winery in Melbourne. We went into the cottage to have a look on the storage. Menarik!

We were brought to the basement where oak barrels were kept. These barrels are used as the vessels to contain the wine; for fermentation or as storage since the longer it is stored the tastier the wine will be. The oak barrels adds up additional qualities to the wine. One that I could recall is it gives distinct flavour to the wine; the flavouring agent will be smeared on the inner surface of the oak barrel.

These are the new empty barrels. The old ones which contain wine in them have labels on them. I remember I saw one labeled 1996! That was like 16 years ago!!!

Hehe saya rasa ini comeyl (^^)

Chris dropped us off right in front of our hostel. We were starving but it was raining.. The temperature was almost freezing, and our coats and sweaters were very thin

RA: Mat Salleh punye jaket lagi tebal. Bajet btol ar kte nih

We ventured out to find food anyway.. So hunger-driven..

It was our first time in the city so it took us some time to understand the streets and how the city tram works. But it was already late. The free city circle tram was no longer in service at that hour. So we just walk to the famous Flinders Street and was surprised to find how close it was. There, we got ourselves 3 large size Lord of the Fries with Italian and African Sauce, 3 Chicken Briyani and Kebab. Kuat makan!!

O ya, about the Balloon Ride. I made the booking about 2 weeks before our departure to Australia. The price quoted to us was $315 per pax but  MR found out how to get 15% discount. That's by mentioning Melbourne Official Visitor Guide during booking. The thing about this 15% discount, you won't get a full refund if the flight is cancelled. Alhamdulillah ours went well as planned.

So, the day before the flight, we have to check in with the pilot by calling a number and listen to the weather report and confirm the meeting time. The phone call happened to be answered by a recorded message which I failed to understand because the guy has this very pronounced Australian accent. I have to ask the receptionist at our hostel to help me out with the check in because I can't fully understand the instructions.. Every 'i' was pronounced 'oi' . Like for example 'fine' in Malaysia, we pronounce  in 'fain' there it's 'foin' Adeh.. Bila perkataan yang panjang dan laju, they sound so alien to me...

So we were instructed to wait for the pick up transfer at 3.45 am. We didn't sleep early despite knowing that we have to wake up so early the next morning. We were revising our itinerary that night because we were planning to go straight to Philip Island after the Balloon ride.

Kenapa lelaki itu seperti bersedia untuk diambil gambarnya..?? Hurm.. haha

SN and AM didn't join us. A van waited for us outside the mansion at about 3.50 am. It took about 50 minutes to get to Yarra Valley so all of us just doze off since it was pitch dark and nothing to see outside.

We were brought to this very nice restaurant set inside a vineyard. There we were served with coffee and tea. The place look very luxurious; with the glossy laminated wooden floor, the bar, the tables and chairs, the porcelain tea cups and the shiny cutleries.. Terasa kaya sekejap :p `

We were then introduced to our pilot, Dean, who then gave a safety briefing. The group were then brought to a grass field from where the balloon ride would start.

The take off point is chosen based on the direction of the wind. The point where we started was a slightly slanted grass field. There were kangaroos hopping about when we arrived. Quite a number of them. The basket for passengers was not that big but it could accommodate about 18 passengers at a time including the  pilot. But the balloon was massive! It took some time to inflate it.

And once the balloon was inflated and ready for flight, we have to jump into the basket as quick as possible. So those who are fit and could climb the basket faster are to hop on first.

Honestly, I was quite nervous as the balloon leave the ground. All of us were standing and we cheered during take off. I looked down; because I was never afraid of heights as a climber. But then suddenly there were butterflies in my stomach. I felt some kind of odd movement in my bowel. Like something was churning inside.. Suddenly everything below shrunk.. And I inhaled a deep breath and tried to calm down. I think I was nervous because there were no seat belts haha and there was a time when we almost hit the trees but our pilot wass an expert. he manage to elevate the balloon before we hit the trees. Ngeh!

Sunrise over the horizon

That's the camera we use to take the group photo inside the basket hehe

The best part was when we worked together to deflate the balloon and put it inside its bag! \(^^)/

Pakcik comel itu sungguh pandai bagi arahan (^^)

"Boys at the end! And girls line up!"

Dean: Looks like this lady is struggling over here. Let me give you a hand! 

Okay, tangan tidak cukop besar untuk merangkul belon (^^)v

Hoyeah \(^^)/

After that we head back to the restaurant to have breakfast :)

Thank God it was spring (^^)

My certificate with my misspelled name hehe it's ok! Yang penting the experience!

Dan ini short video during the flight.. O patot besolek dulu.. haha

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Blossom's Wedding (^^)/

Hehe sorry for the interuption of my Melbourne Trip post. But this one can't wait. This is about one of the most important wedding in 2012.. It's HH wedding!!!! \(^^)/ Most importantly, I was the bridesmaid so yahoo!! My face will be in most of her wedding pics hehe


Anyway, why blossom? HH, SJ and I called ourselves the power puff girls and I even set the PPG theme song as the ringtone for both their numbers.. And I think HH should be blossom because she's the eldest hehe

She picked a very nice date for her Nikah; 10.11.12. That's easy to remember :) Last time she said she wanted 10.10.10 then change to 11.11.11 and nah.. dapat jugak kan a nice date. Ko ingat tak ko cakap camtu, HH? Ka lepas kawen dah xde mase jengok blog aku.. huh!

I sat next to her during the Nikah and both of us were very blur. I've no idea how the Nikah works in Pahang so I just sit there and watch and helped wipe off sweat from ruining HH's make up. During the khutbah, HH whispered to me

"Nak buat muke ape weyh?"
"Buat  muke amek perhatian kot hehe"
Alhamdulillah, the Ijab and Qabul was done with one lafaz :) (Btol ka aku cakap ni..)

Lol! Masa ni baru lepas kejadian HH reluctant nak jawab mase kena tanya "Setuju..?" Dia bukan ragu2 tapi tak dengar haha

When you climbed countless mountains and did too many crazy stuffs together.. Gambar ayu begini look so wrong in my eyes hahaha rase macam nak cakap "Eleh! Ayu konon!!" Sebab salu nampak HH wat muka comeyl seperti ini..

Haha tapi memang ayu pon masa nikah tu..

X bole imagine kalo aku.. Mesti lagi nampak fake  haha

Malu2 lagi masa suro pegang tangan.. haha

That night, I spent the night at Mentakab with the other girls because I don't want to miss any updates. All of  uswere exhausted from the long journey; KL-Maran-Mentakab.. But, still, we manage to gather strength to stay up and fill each other with what's been happening in our lives. Not much to share with SJ, MR and RA because we just spent 10 days together. But SHA and HHM was with us and they sure have lots to tell since    it's really hard to see these 2!

We woke up early the next morning and had our breakfast at a mamak restaurant. All the other restaurants were closed. we were enticed to this mamak restaurant by the strong roni canai aroma~~~

Muka belom mandi masing2..

Carpool \(^^)/ I was too lazy to drive that morning ..

And after that we prepared for the wedding.. SHA helped me out with the shawl. I'm not that up to date when it comes to fashion haha

Posted this pic on facebook. Some thought I was getting married! Astaga... Cepat2 betolkan perception.. Jato la saham ni (-_-") hahaha

Masa bersanding..

Yah! Love this pic a lot! Drama kan??

Suap suap kek (^^)

Left alone on the pelamin with no bridegroom beside me.. HH jangan pergi...

With my family except for that makcik in blue hehe that's HH's brother's mother in law.

With the girls!!! \(^^)/ They have to leave early.. Even before the 'sanding'..

Hehe masa salam SJ, MR and RA la poyo..

RA & SJ: Ok gg, jumpa lagi dekat *next destination*

MR: Nanti brooch tu bagi mase kat *next destination* la ye

Hahaha lucu.. 7 months to go but we are already super excited!

Did I cry?? No lah.. Well, I cried when Len got married. At that time, I don't know how it would be after that. I thought I'll lose her.. I thought things won't be the same again. But I thought wrong. She's still the same old bff that I always have. We still have our girly chats once in a while and her husband was never in our way. Siap suro datang ruma lawat baby lagi hehe It's just that she has her own family to commit to. The friendship stays alive (^^) And I know, with HH, it'll be the same for us too.

Tembam nya kao haziah!

Many people were saying "Lepas ni tak lame lagi giliran pengapit la.."

Most people, I know, will say AMEEEEEEEEEEN.. But somehow, I just smiled and say nothing.. Belom ready kah.. Laen post aku creta..

I-don't-remember-who: Gg bile lagi? Nak tunggu yang macam mane..?

GG: *smile*

Dalam hati "Yang 'want to spend the rest of his life with me and none other'

Noktah.

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