Saturday, January 27, 2007
PERTH - exciting first day
My goodness.... so many things have happened in the past few weeks but i haven't had the time to write. The past few nights after returning from Perth were spent working, working and working... sigh.. OK... i shall begin with my Perth trip! *ahem*
I realized that i don't seem to have any affinity with travelling, especially after I started working. Every trip, be it business or pleasure, I have been made to work until the really last minute before rushing off to the airport. This trip was no different. Initially, the Monday which I was to fly off, was supposed to be spent at the hotel. Afterall, it is the day after the wedding. BUT... all thoughts of soaking up some sun by the pool and chilling out were soon replaced with rushing to the office, meeting agencies and doing work. I left the office only at 8.30pm. Reached home at 9pm. Came out of the shower at 9.30pm. Packed my bags and left by 10pm. Went over to pick Black Adder and Wing and reached the airport at 10.30pm. Yes... it has come to this point where i can just pack in a jiffy and rush to the airport. No wonder DC calls me a seasoned traveller.
Wanted to sleep in the plane but attempts to do so were futile. First of all due to turbulance. Second of all, I have this habit of not being able to sleep in unfamiliar places. As the plane taxied into the berth, I was joking with my cousin that the only way to make me drive (I was supposed to be the secondary driver) was to give me 3 shots of espresso coffee. I didn't realize that I was to eat my words (or rather drink my words) so soon. As we went to get the rental car, my uncle realized that he didn't bring his driving license! He tried his best to cajole the Hertz counter staff to let him drive but they were pretty strict about it. So no choice, I became the primary driver and didn't get my 3 shots of espresso....
The next uphill task was to see if my younger cousin J could get into the rental car, a Toyota Tarago. As we feared, the seats were too high and he wasn't able to hoist himself up. So it took my uncle, Wing and myself to lift him into the car. Success!!! So 6 of us were happily bundled into the car and decided to try our luck in checking into the hotel. So we drove to Perth City.
Unfortunately, the directory that we had was the 2004 version. This was the part that tested the patience of my Vehicle Commander, Wing.
Wing: Make a right turn here
Me: Err... can't, there's a no right turn sign up ahead.
Wing: Oh, ok... make a right turn at the next traffic light then
Me: Err... can't, it's also no right turn
Wing: What????
And off we go back on the freeway.... Driving in the city was horrendous. I dunno what is it about Perth and not allowing people to make right turns. But eventually, we did reach the hotel, only to discover 2 things: 1) There is no alighting berth at the front of the hotel; 2) The hotel had no carpark and we had to park our car at the nearby public car park (which had the first 4 levels reserved for office ppl and left us only 2 levels of parking only). That wasn't the worst thing. The hotel staff refused to let us check in early (it was afterall, 10am in the morning). So we decided to head to AQWA - the underwater world of western australia, to kill some time first.
The ride there wasn't too bad, cos it offered amazing views of the ocean. If not for the difference in shade, you won't be able to see where the sea ended and the sky started. And I love the ocean.... it makes me feel so at peace. Unfortunately, that peace was short lived. Upon reaching AQWA, my uncle made a startling discovery: his luggage was missing. After some frantic recalling... he realized that he left it at the taxi stand at the airport. I guess after the initial relief that J was able to get onto the car, we didn't do an inventory count of the luggage. So we all bundled into the car again and started making our way to the airport again.
Travelling back to the airport from AQWA was equivalent to driving from one end of jurong to Changi airport. And being extremely tired, the vehicle started veering. I had to keep myself awake taking sweets. Reaching the airport, my uncle went to the lost and found. In a way... thank god for terrorism. Someone probably thought the unattended bag could be a terrorist threat and brought it to Lost and Found, who promptly made it go through the intensive scanning and scrutiny before labelling it safe. Well, at least my uncle got his bag back. i took the opportunity to drink some coffee... cos soon we were on the road again to AQWA... yup... Jurong to Changi airport again.
AQWA reminded me a lot of the underwater world in sentosa. Not surprising because it was built by the same people, with the trademark underwater track. My aunt said that we have been here the last time we came to Perth. There was some recollection but it was still vague, so being at AQWA was still a new experience for me. One exhibit that I particularly loved was this glass tank that was filled with jelly fish of various sizes. The tank was lit with only ultraviolet light, so u can see the jelly fish dancing about. very pretty. Another exhibit also showcased this particular jelly fish that resembled a toadstool. So imagine a toadstool heading upwards, and once it stops propelling itself, it falls headfirst down. They certainly made it look like it was raining red toadstools. I was also particularly facinated with the lobsters! Gosh! They were HUGE! And being typical Singaporean... i could only think of what a sumptuous meal it would make on the dinner table... Mmmmm.... yum.... But of course I was also surprised that it could do a spider man and cling upside down on the rock face... But Mmmm.... Yummm.... Ha ha
But my biggest regret was not having a diving license. If not, I would have paid A$125 to swim with the sharks. Yes... they were afterall quite harmless... nurse sharks. But, I didn't have a diving license.. so I had to be content seeing them swim over us in the glass track. Along with the graceful manta rays. Wing, being his first trip, was extremely trigger happy.
The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. We checked into the hotel and got some rest before going out for dinner. And we all slept in early. I was particularly shagged out. But decided to take extra precaution by taking 1/2 of a muscle relaxant pill in order to ensure that I have peaceful, undisturbed sleep. Cos usually I can't sleep well in unfamiliar surroundings.
I realized that i don't seem to have any affinity with travelling, especially after I started working. Every trip, be it business or pleasure, I have been made to work until the really last minute before rushing off to the airport. This trip was no different. Initially, the Monday which I was to fly off, was supposed to be spent at the hotel. Afterall, it is the day after the wedding. BUT... all thoughts of soaking up some sun by the pool and chilling out were soon replaced with rushing to the office, meeting agencies and doing work. I left the office only at 8.30pm. Reached home at 9pm. Came out of the shower at 9.30pm. Packed my bags and left by 10pm. Went over to pick Black Adder and Wing and reached the airport at 10.30pm. Yes... it has come to this point where i can just pack in a jiffy and rush to the airport. No wonder DC calls me a seasoned traveller.
Wanted to sleep in the plane but attempts to do so were futile. First of all due to turbulance. Second of all, I have this habit of not being able to sleep in unfamiliar places. As the plane taxied into the berth, I was joking with my cousin that the only way to make me drive (I was supposed to be the secondary driver) was to give me 3 shots of espresso coffee. I didn't realize that I was to eat my words (or rather drink my words) so soon. As we went to get the rental car, my uncle realized that he didn't bring his driving license! He tried his best to cajole the Hertz counter staff to let him drive but they were pretty strict about it. So no choice, I became the primary driver and didn't get my 3 shots of espresso....
The next uphill task was to see if my younger cousin J could get into the rental car, a Toyota Tarago. As we feared, the seats were too high and he wasn't able to hoist himself up. So it took my uncle, Wing and myself to lift him into the car. Success!!! So 6 of us were happily bundled into the car and decided to try our luck in checking into the hotel. So we drove to Perth City.
Unfortunately, the directory that we had was the 2004 version. This was the part that tested the patience of my Vehicle Commander, Wing.
Wing: Make a right turn here
Me: Err... can't, there's a no right turn sign up ahead.
Wing: Oh, ok... make a right turn at the next traffic light then
Me: Err... can't, it's also no right turn
Wing: What????
And off we go back on the freeway.... Driving in the city was horrendous. I dunno what is it about Perth and not allowing people to make right turns. But eventually, we did reach the hotel, only to discover 2 things: 1) There is no alighting berth at the front of the hotel; 2) The hotel had no carpark and we had to park our car at the nearby public car park (which had the first 4 levels reserved for office ppl and left us only 2 levels of parking only). That wasn't the worst thing. The hotel staff refused to let us check in early (it was afterall, 10am in the morning). So we decided to head to AQWA - the underwater world of western australia, to kill some time first.
The ride there wasn't too bad, cos it offered amazing views of the ocean. If not for the difference in shade, you won't be able to see where the sea ended and the sky started. And I love the ocean.... it makes me feel so at peace. Unfortunately, that peace was short lived. Upon reaching AQWA, my uncle made a startling discovery: his luggage was missing. After some frantic recalling... he realized that he left it at the taxi stand at the airport. I guess after the initial relief that J was able to get onto the car, we didn't do an inventory count of the luggage. So we all bundled into the car again and started making our way to the airport again.
Travelling back to the airport from AQWA was equivalent to driving from one end of jurong to Changi airport. And being extremely tired, the vehicle started veering. I had to keep myself awake taking sweets. Reaching the airport, my uncle went to the lost and found. In a way... thank god for terrorism. Someone probably thought the unattended bag could be a terrorist threat and brought it to Lost and Found, who promptly made it go through the intensive scanning and scrutiny before labelling it safe. Well, at least my uncle got his bag back. i took the opportunity to drink some coffee... cos soon we were on the road again to AQWA... yup... Jurong to Changi airport again.
AQWA reminded me a lot of the underwater world in sentosa. Not surprising because it was built by the same people, with the trademark underwater track. My aunt said that we have been here the last time we came to Perth. There was some recollection but it was still vague, so being at AQWA was still a new experience for me. One exhibit that I particularly loved was this glass tank that was filled with jelly fish of various sizes. The tank was lit with only ultraviolet light, so u can see the jelly fish dancing about. very pretty. Another exhibit also showcased this particular jelly fish that resembled a toadstool. So imagine a toadstool heading upwards, and once it stops propelling itself, it falls headfirst down. They certainly made it look like it was raining red toadstools. I was also particularly facinated with the lobsters! Gosh! They were HUGE! And being typical Singaporean... i could only think of what a sumptuous meal it would make on the dinner table... Mmmmm.... yum.... But of course I was also surprised that it could do a spider man and cling upside down on the rock face... But Mmmm.... Yummm.... Ha ha
But my biggest regret was not having a diving license. If not, I would have paid A$125 to swim with the sharks. Yes... they were afterall quite harmless... nurse sharks. But, I didn't have a diving license.. so I had to be content seeing them swim over us in the glass track. Along with the graceful manta rays. Wing, being his first trip, was extremely trigger happy.
The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. We checked into the hotel and got some rest before going out for dinner. And we all slept in early. I was particularly shagged out. But decided to take extra precaution by taking 1/2 of a muscle relaxant pill in order to ensure that I have peaceful, undisturbed sleep. Cos usually I can't sleep well in unfamiliar surroundings.
# posted by Xallista @ 2:13 PM 
