S.QLD & NSW - Day 1

As soon as I finished my exams on Monday, I booked myself on a bus to Byron Bay on a 2hr shuttle bus with Brisbane2Byron due to depart on the next day.

Reached Byron Bay in the afternoon slightly past noon, and on my way there I had a rough idea what I wanted to do. As I've been there before it didn't take too long for me to navigate around the town centre. I booked myself a dorm bed at Byron Bay Backpackers Holiday Village Hostel. The crowd is predominantly British, and because of its location right opposite Cheeky Monkey - Byron's craziest backpacking pub, the hostel was perpetually full of booze and hyperactive backpackers.

The whole semester has been extremely draining and I wasn't in the mood to do any drinking at all. Dumped my bag in the room and went to the beach of course! Wasn't about to let the day waste away.


The sky had gorgeous clouds because it was due to rain the next day. Knowing that the rain was going to last the whole day, I knew I was going to Nimbin on a wet day. I roamed around the city centre a little more, and at sunset there were groups of musicians/hippies gathering around the rocks. I hung around them for awhile, had a short chat with them finding out where they came from, till it got too windy and cold for me to stay out any longer.


In the evening I met up with Joanne the irish roommate and we made our way down to the beach, we walked for so long that we were almost at the lighthouse. The night was cool and quiet, with only the sound of the crashing waves. The moon was round and luminous, the sky was so bright we didn't need a torch to navigate at all.

Byron Bay at night has a very different atmosphere about the place. In the day time it is filled with surfers, hippies, teens, and at night it's just quiet and peaceful. Sometimes I can imagine this is how Byron Bay was 20 years ago in the daytime, quiet and undisturbed except for a few regular surfers there.

As Joanne had to meet up with the rest of her friends, I went over to Cheeky Monkey with her as well and met up with the bunch of Brits but after half a pint I called it a night because tomorrow would be a long day for I will spend it at Nimbin - town of weed!

Lake Ainsworth, NSW

Lake Ainsworth, NSW, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

QBE Riverfire

QBE Riverfire, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

Sharing a lovers' moment

Sharing a lovers' moment, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

Just got back from a weekend vacation with friends at Byron Bay and Gold Coast. This was taken at Byron Bay lighthouse, NSW Australia.

At Penang National Park

At Penang National Park, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

The mozzies were happily lapping up the fresh blood we introduced to their territory. I was killing them without mercy but these fearless mozzies kept coming on anyway. I like walking in the woods when I'm well prepared - long sleeved shirts and proper shoes. Muddy is different, the boy is so used to such conditions that he didn't find it a problem to walk in slippers. I did though, and eventually the worn-out slippers I had chose to snap right in the midst of the forest. That meant that we had to end the walk hastily and head out of the National Park to get myself some new slippers. I walked barefooted for half of the journey (painful) and after some time the pain got really bad so Muddy gave me his slippers and walked barefoot instead.

The whole walk out lasted for about 20mins and he even walked on the hot tarmac road barefooted till we got out of the park. I found a spot for shelter and he went around searching for a shop that sold flipflops which we did eventually, for RM6. By the time I was sorted out it was already in the evening so plans for a 2nd walk were cancelled.

He was the hero for the day and I bought him afternoon tea at E&O hotel the next day.

Socialist Youth Organisation booth at UQ Market Day

Socialist Youth Organisation booth at UQ Market Day, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

Castro just retired yesterday. I asked her what did she feel about his retirement now that it finally happened.

So I stood there and had a short conversation with the lady. Even though I don't support their cause but I think US should leave Cuba alone. I want their cigars!! She has been to various parts of Cuba and said that now they are developing Havana so it's starting to look really nice. This is one of those places which I really want to go.

A lady I met in Japan once said Cuba is the best place to go to nurse a broken heart because people there are so warm and friendly, and men are very respectful of women.

Tetsuya's

Tetsuya's, originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

This picture got selected to be used on the Schmap guide in Sydney! www.schmap.com/sydney/restaurants_japanese/ Awesome. Many thanks to Brian who brought me there just to walk past it and take a picture, even though we didn't go there for a meal as I heard there is a 1 month reservation waiting list.

"Where you come from, Lady?"

"Where you come from, Lady?", originally uploaded by Mail Order Bride.

I am drawn to children for their innocence and spontaneity. Cambodian kids were a really friendly lot, always eager to practice their English and general knowledge they picked up from travellers. I was amazed at how much they knew (they were particularly good at capital cities of countries) and when I asked them where did they learn all of that from, they said they learnt it from "us, tourists". That was when I realised we could give so much more apart from an extra dollar, if we just sat down and spoke a little bit more with them.

We didn't have much to give, but I tried to make it a point to talk to any kid who approached me, as I believe the gift of knowledge and attention is more valued above most other things.

Muddy and I talked about portable photo printers and I think it's a great idea if we can give the villagers some printouts of the shots we take. Now, to hunt for a cheap and really light printer will be my next thing to-do..

Upcoming - Siem Reap

4 more days to Siem Reap and this time I have nothing planned for it. Due to the recent ongoings in my life, I have been too caught up with other things to really plan for this trip. Moreover planning was also part of the reason why I was feeling so stressed out so Marcus told me let's not plan anything and just go.

In fact, I was feeling so distressed lately I was on the verge of calling it off but it was good that he was around to hold me in place. I don't feel like doing much trekking or anything in particular, not even trying to travel on a shoestring budget.

Perhaps for a change, I will just not do anything and let myself sleep all day, and probably visit some temples and linger around there for a long time for some quiet moments. I have a lot to think through, a lot to expect in the coming weeks.

I don't know what to expect for this trip anymore, except to come back feeling much better than what I feel right now.

Vietnam Day 4 - Nha Trang

This was written on the notepad when we didn't have internet connection

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If I had to compare between Da Lat and Nha Trang, I prefer the latter for its unkitschy sort of tourism, even though it caters more to the foreign tourists rather than its domestic tourists. Nha Trang screams of consumerism. Every imaginable kind of service can be found at every turn of the street. Whether it is foot massage, dive shops, or beauty salons, or even book exchange cafes. I guess it is very much like Pattaya, except that there isn’t as much sleaze like Pattaya.

Below is the videolog Brother and I did when we just reached:



Brother and I just did a quick calculation on how much money we’ve left, and turns out that for the entire trip, we probably need about US$100 per person to budget comfortably within our means. However it is highly recommended that if you have any remaining USD from other trips, use them instead of exchanging SGD for VND because the difference in cost is about 5%. We made a mistake by bringing less USD and more SGD to change into VND as we thought it might be better. Now we are carefully budgeting our USD so hopefully we can avoid using VND at most places whenever possible. Our meals are usually settled at one of the many streetside stalls selling local delicacies. A bowl of pho bo would cost around 8000VND ($0.80) per bowl as compared to restaurants where it costs us about 60,000VND (S$6) per person in general.

The moon is shining so brightly in Nha Trang tonight, and here I am blogging from the rooftop terrace of the hotel, where I can have a relatively clear view of the sea even though it is slightly out of the main cluster area where most shops and bars are located. Our room comes with a balcony and it is just 1 floor below the roof terrace hence other than going to sleep, whenever we are back in the hotel we just slack around the roof terrace. All these for just US$12/night.

Along our bus ride here we made some new friends and tonight we will most probably see them around at a bar around the area. Drinks are dirt cheap over here, with a doubleshot vodka with mixer costing 15000VND (S$1.50). The night is much longer than day, as sun sets around 530pm here. Now the brother and I are here at the roof terrace doing our own stuff, waiting for time to pass before we head down to the bar.. *hic*