The Green Paradise

As usual, I wish to thank our drivers—Ryan and Daniel for their hard work. They each drove 850km in 2 days!

The other members of the trip were—Ye Chia, Yeu Sheng, Chean Ying, Nooi Hoay and Jessica.

Day 1
Southern Section
After a trip to the information center, we headed to Picanniny. It was quite an easy 1.2km walk (round trip). We all enjoyed the walk after more than 5 hours sitting in the car.





The final stop for the day was Mt William (aka Mt Duwil) which, at 1187 m, is the highest point in the Grampians. A steep 1.5-km walking track leads from the carpark to the summit. The weather was frigid with strong wind even though it was the first day of summer. We had to wait till 8pm but the sunset was spectacular!




Dinner was a simple meal with all meat…LOL… by the time we returned to the resort, it was already 9.30pm and everyone was flaked out and just aimed to fill the rumbling stomach with anything available.



Day 2
Central Grampians
We set out early in the morning to complete our trip in Grampians. We had some fun playing on the jumping pillows before we left.

Our first stop for the day was Boroka Lookout which offered the views of Halls Gap and the Fyans Valley, across the mountains to Lake Fyans and Lake Lonsdale. It was just a short walk and the day was still misty.




Afterwards. We headed to Reed Lookout which was also quite an easy walk to enjoy some excellent views of the Victoria Valley and northwards over Lake Wartook. Still filled with energy, we continued with a 2-km return walk to the interesting geographic formation known as the Balconies (aka The Jaws of Death).







Lunch was a small picnic with food bought from the local grocers at the Mackenzie Falls picnic area. We were actually planning to go to more waterfalls; unfortunately some of them were already dried up due to the severe draught. The walk down to the fall was effortless but the walk back was quite a strenuous feat. Everyone was perspiring perfusely by the end of the journey. The scenery at the fall was the best that I have ever seen in my life. I can’t imagine how magnificent the fall used to be when Melbourne still received bountiful of rain water.

With that, the journey came to an end. We spent some time discussing whether to continue with the walk to either Hollow Mountain or the Pinnacle but everybody was exhausted.

Why must I always get suntanned before I come back to Malaysia?

Jessica, Yu Wan, Ryan and I headed to Perth. Theoretically, we did not spend a single cent on the airfare because the flight was a ‘transit’ back to Malaysia. I also wished to thank Ling Weng (she stayed back in Perth for us!) and Bryan who were our hononary tourguides! We also had 5 star accomodation at the 7 bedroom house which Jia Huei, Yee Fang, Yi Jia and the others shared for FREE!!! Thanks Yi Jia for letting us to stay in your room ^^

I can’t imagine how cheap public transport in Perth is! International students are eligible for concession rate there unlike in Melbourne. So, to illustrate, Melbournians need $2.80 to go to the city but Perthians only need $0.77! And the ‘City Cats’ are free for anyone to tour around the city!Amazing, eh?

Day 1
City Tour
London Court is a street with UK architecture. It reminded me of the view in Bukit Tinggi in Malaysia.



Kings park is the place where we can obtain a bird-eye view of the Perth city.



Grass is Perth is definitely lusher and greener than in Melbourne. We enjoyed lying and sitting on the grass so much so that we took quite a lot of pictures there.
After lunch, we stopped by and had Twin Tower from Icey-Ice – the popular dessert in Perth.



The famous Swan Bell tower in Perth is the largest musical instrument I have ever seen!



I posed with the xmas deco in the city :p

We then waited for quite a long time just to taste the food in Ciao Italia. Everyone gobbled down the food when the palatable Italian dishes finally arrived. It’s worth the wait though.

Day 2
Rottnest Island adventure



Since Jessica does not know how to cycle, we split into 2 groups- Jess and Yu Wan boarded the hop on and off bus whereas Ryan and I rented bike each. Ling Weng and the others recommended us to cycle since this is the most popular and unique way to explore the whole island. I was amazed by my own stamina since I hardly ever pushed my bike up the steep slopes. We cycled from 11am to around 3pm and managed to reach West End. The scenery was breath-taking!



Quokka is the name of the cute marsupial!

We even had a dip in the Basin. It was hot summer but the water was icy cold.





Our guides busied themselves by preparing a sumptous dinner for us.

Day 3
Swan Valley self-guided trip

Ryan was of course the driver again. We tasted so much wine that everyone was tipsy by the end of the visit to Sandalford- the largest winery in Swan valley.




Why did everyone posed so weirdly?LOL...

We also visited Margaret River Choclate co. but we found nothing too special about the chocolate there. Lunch was my first fine dining experience in the midst of lush greenery in a winery called Oakover.

There were so much flavour for soft nougat to be tasted in Mondo Nougat factory too. We also visited the oldest yet the most modern winery in Swan Valley—OliveFarm.
The day ended with a quick dinner with the familiar roast pork and duck  and then a tour to the University of Western Australia and also night view at the famous Millpoint.



Moon sun rise!!! (Bryan Lau 2008) We accidentally saw this and this was when the moon was nearest to the earth in 33 years!





Day 4
Fremantle seafood and market
Smelling sea breeze and enjoying fresh seafood is the best combination! The portion was huge and it was really satisfying. Nonetheless, we continued to have dessert at Joe’s—the mouth-watering and rich chocolate brownies (a whooping $10!).




The market, however, was more or less like Victorian market in Melbourne. But, it has a display of more creative handicrafts.

Day 5
A relaxing finish
We accompanied our excellent tour guide- Ling Weng for a shopping spree. Despite that, Jess and I each bought some clothes and Ling Weng went back empty-handed.
In return for their kindness, the Melbournians prepared a farewell dinner to all our friends in Perth. We also bought a gift each to our worthy tour guides.
And this drew a perfect ending to our stay in Perth.

The fruits of labour

I had never known that finding a house to rent can be such a trouble! But I consider myself lucky. Wen Ter and Lin put in 20 over applications just to be accepted for 2 double bedroom apartments. Ryan, Sally and I applied for 3 houses (1 apartment, 1 townhouse and 1 villa) and none was rejected. Our current house in Dandenong is only 10 minutes maximum from the hospital (where I am going to spend my next year studying) and is in a secured complex with 70 over houses around us!

A lot of time was then spent on connecting the utilities, the internet being the most niggling one. Furniture hunting also occupied another half of my summer holiday. Yet the hardwork eventually paid off!

Ryan and I are sharing a bathroom with a huge bathtub!!!!!!

The kitchen !!!

My cosy room ^^

The front view of our house...

I just LOVE my new house!

We had a tiny farewell for Chau Wang and Wen Ter afterwards. Look at what Chau Wang ordered! 98% fat-ladened 'dong po' braised pork!

放屁有罪！

美國‧破壞校園秩序‧亂放屁男孩被捕

2008-11-27 09:58
（美國‧佛羅里達）據報導，美國佛羅里達州一名13歲男孩因喜歡在學校裡亂放屁而被捕。
根據佛州馬丁縣警長辦公室提供的報告，這名男孩在學校裡經常故意放屁，“持續不斷地破壞他所在班級的學習環境”。

報告說，男孩還喜歡強行關閉其他同學正在使用的電腦。
報告稱，男孩11月4日遭到逮捕，目前已經被指控破壞學校秩序。他的母親已經將他領走。


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当哲鹏看到这则报道时，不知道会有什么感想？

不可以在乱放屁了！

想必倩颍和妮惠一定很高兴吧！

LATE updates...

I had been burying myself in the midst of books for my finals. I had to sit for 2 written paper- one for second year finals and the other one for both first and second year materials (VIA) and also one practical(OSCE). It had all been so stressful and I could hardly find time to breathe. But it is all over now! I admit that I am not all so confident about the result for VIA but I am just thankful that I have gone through everything without breaking down. I have heard from the seniors that second and fourth years are the most stressful ones due to the ever increasing amount of assignments as well as the VIA paper.

I am so blessed to have mom and Ryan who are always providing me support. Yu Wan, as always, cooked for us. xoxo!!!! Fawn also baked muffins for us!

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SO, finally I can sweep the 'dust' away from my blog!

I should have blogged about my rural placement 6 months ago but somehow I totally put that at the back of my mind! My experience in Bairnsdale was really awesome. I managed to follow tha social worker to a nursing home and chatted with some patients with mental issues. I also got my first chance to inject a real patient, not a mannequin arm! I was a bit daunted at first since he was a schizophrenic but he was so amiable that I had to thank him for letting me to inject his medication. I also went to the famous Buchan cave. Of course Bairnsdale was where I met some really approachable seniors-- Leo and Su Lynn.


This was my accomodation-- a 4 star resort!


Brendan taught me how to fish! This tiny guy bit on the hook in less than 5 minutes after I casted my rod into the lake in the first photo...


The autumn scenery around Buchan Cave...



The stalactites and stalacmites in the cave!

More pictures from Yu Wan's facebook...

Bairnsdale 1

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As for my hospital attachment, it will be in Dandenong hospital next year. I was so keen to get into The Alfred but it was really a popular choice. Dandenong is a small hospital but I heard that staff there are really helpful to 'lost' third year students. I am just so excited about next year! Some of the head of the hospitals briefed us on hospital life and told us that patients may just decide to call us doctors.... ^^ So I will be Dr. Ho next year!!!!!!!!!! But I will definitely miss the Deakinians...thanks for giving me a wonderful time this year

This is the photo for our recent gathering in Nandos...

I also attended Yee Herng's graduation ceremony in La Trobe University last month. The journey was a good 2 hours from Monash. Ryan was with me and we had a good time enjoying the architecture of the campus and also talking to Yee Herng and her family. It maybe too late a wish, still-- Happy graduation, Yee Herng! I wish I have graduated too!

These are the pictures from Facebook...

Its time to slack and find a house for next year! Maybe I should get a car...

Definitely not insomnia caused by stress!

I was soundly asleep last night when a loud pop aroused me. A pungent smell then ensued. My survival instinct sprung me out from the bed. Adrenaline then surged when I realized that flame and sparks were coming out from my heater! I did not have time to even wear my glasses and I rushed straight out from my room. I banged on Ryan’s door but it was an exercise in futility. I did not want to wake others up since I have no idea about the time. The corridor was deserted. However, the fire alarm was shrieking and the heater producing sparks relentlessly! So, I called him using the public interphone and thank god, he responded after my second banging on the door!



I was so relieved. He remained composed and assessed the situation urgently, then decided to act. After switching off the heater, he also turned off the fire alarm. Curious hallmates then came by to check out the incidence. I was stunned beyond description. After the security personnel came by and took the heater off the wall, there was a charred part of the wall serving as a permanent reminder as to what had happened in that brief 5minutes.






However, as you can probably imagine, I spent the rest of the night worrying about the heater so sleep did not come easily after that. I was scared out of my wits. The hilarious side of it was I was actually more determined to save my notes above the all important IDs and valuables seeing that exam is looming over my head like a dark cloud.


My room is still in disarray and there is an ominous black coating of ash on almost all of my belongings.

Exactly the last thing I need before the exam!

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